Well....here goes.

***

Chapter 14: Calm Before The Storm

The next morning, Albus appeared in front of the Griffindor Tower's Fat Lady, looking quite urgent and bold. He had waited outside that door for two hours, I knew, as I pulled on my cloak, preparing to go outside with the others to play with the newly-fallen snow (it had become cloudy quickly after Trunks and I had gone to sleep and had snowed even more onto the ground).

However, my plans were spoiled as Albus took in the sight of me and sighed.

"We need to talk, Angel," He exclaimed anxiously, as though the this was something to be apprehensive of. I immediately knew it had something to do with Dirken. Why must that pink-skinned idiot bother me so?

"You guys go on ahead," I called into the common room, "I'll be out later!" I turned back to Albus. "What did he do?" Albus began to walk quickly down the corridor and I followed without haste.

"It seems he's tried to get past Fluffy last night," the headmaster said with a sigh. "I expect that you know who I speak of?"

"Yes, Fluffy is Hagrid's three-headed dog who guards the You-Know-What from vault 713 at Gringotts," I recited perfectly. "And you are saying that Dirken tried to get past him? Or did he?"

"He tried. I don't know exactly how strong this Dirken is, but he's done some considerable damage to one of Fluffy's heads."

"Oh, no," I groaned, "How is he?"

"We aren't certain, but the pup's front two teeth have been knocked out." I sighed in relief upon this information.

"We're lucky Dirken didn't kill Fluffy. Are you sure he didn't get to the next stage?" I looked straight into Albus' eyes as he nodded. "Good. It seems the time-jumps have weakened him. Either that, or he took a body not truly capable of doing much damage. He can't leave his host because they wake up too quickly. He found that out with my brother only too soon." I grinned as I remembered my little brother's shocking performance in Dirken's cave.

"Yes, we are most fortunate he cannot do such things without leaving his host," Albus said with a wry smile. "All the same, I'll be glad when this fiend is gone from this castle."

"As will I, Professor, as will I," I said, shaking my head. "I'll be most happy when he is gone from this world all together. We can't just kill him, either. He'll escape the HFIL."
"What's this HFIL and how can he escape it if he's dead?" Albus asked, surprise written all over his elderly face that seemed so full of youth.

"The HFIL is the Home For Infinite Losers, the place evil people go to when they die in our dimension. He can escape and force an angel just like me to rebirth him on the Earth and he can re-gather his strength and come back twice as powerful," I sighed. "And there are some angels that would join him. I know some that would give anything for a second life. Even their place in heaven."

"Well, the excitement has toned down quite a bit, but I just wanted to let you know about this, in case you thought anything could be done."
"Nothing can be done, Professor. The only thing that we can do is hope and have faith that we'll someday beat him." I smiled as I shook his hand and headed back outside. "See you later, Albus." He nodded and waved his own farewell as I did the Instant Transmission, landing directly behind Trunks.

"Guess who?" I asked in a masked voice as I covered his eyes with my hands. Several of the others giggled, but I held my grip firmly.

"Angel, is that you?" Trunks retorted, laughing.

"How did you ever guess?" I smirked and wrapped my arms around his neck from behind, my ki keeping me up so I wouldn't choke him. His own arms reached up and he tackled me to the ground, tickling me until I couldn't take another breath of air.

It was good to have a little bit of fun after such a long morning.

***

The others returned at the end of the winter holidays, full of excitement and anticipation of the first Quidditch match, where we would be going head-to-head with Hufflepuff. Wood was training us harder than ever, with my help, of course.

It was the third to the last practice when it happened. It was a rainy day that we found to be quite unnerving, with the exception of me, of course, as I could just power up to Super Saiyan and remain dryer than if I'd had three umbrellas over my head the whole time.

Wood let us know the bad news that Snape was going to be the referee the next game. George and Fred had been playing on their brooms as if they were falling off. I was still trying to get used to the familiarity of all these scenes from the book that seemed to play themselves right in front of me. I think the only thing that was really different was the fact that Trunks and I were there and that Harry and company weren't worried about Nicholas Flamel because I'd already told them about Dumbledore's partner.

Of course, then I'd remember all the other things that were different. I think one of them was the fact that George wasn't the only one who fell off his broom. Fred had as well.

Only Fred didn't get up after he fell.

"Fred?" George inquired. "Fred, don't joke around right now."
"Fred?" I asked also. I noticed that his already-weak ki had fallen substantially. I shook him roughly again and again. "Harry! Go get Madam Pomfrey, right now!" The other boy raced toward the nurse's office faster than I'd ever seen him.

"Fred!" Oliver was shouting in the red-haired boy's ear.

"Don't worry, Oliver, he isn't dead," I told our captain. "But I'm not sure about his injuries. He fell from pretty high up." I looked into the air where Fred had been. The boy had been a substantial height above where he had fallen. It had to be at least two stories up.

"Will he be all right?" Katie Bell asked me worriedly, also giving him a small shake, to no avail.

"I don't know right now," I told my fellow Chaser. "But I hope so. He isn't dead, but that's all I know right now. Wish I'd taken first aid now." Trunks, I said in my head, Trunks, get down to the Quidditch field, Fred's fallen off his broom. And I don't think it was an accident. I didn't tell my Oliver this for fear of getting scolded. But Fred looked as though he'd been shoved off his broom by an unknown force.

And I think I know exactly what that "unknown force" was.

"Trunks is coming, he oughta know what to do," I told Oliver, who was still shaking Fred hysterically. "Oliver, leave him be, shaking him harder isn't going to wake him up right now." I heard a rush of air and felt Trunks' presence as I turned around.

"What happened?" Trunks asked as he knelt beside Fred's limp body.

"He just fell off!" George cried. "It was like he had lost all balance at once."

Trunks, I think Dirken might have used some of his powers to push Fred off the broom. But don't tell Oliver, I don't want him any more worried than he already is, I said in his head.

Worried about what? He asked as he checked the boy's vital signs.

Snape is refereeing our next match against Hufflepuff, I answered. I saw a flicker of surprise in his eyes that stared down into Fred's eyes, checking for his reaction.

"He's only been knocked out as far as I can see," Trunks said firmly. "But he might have broken a bone or two."

Harry came out a few seconds later, followed by Madam Pomfrey.

"He's fine, as far as I can-" Trunks began, but was cut off.

"AH!!!" Fred yelled suddenly, "My legs! My legs! I can't feel my legs!" Madam Pomfrey tried her best to sooth the poor boy, but to no avail.

"What do you mean, you can't feel your legs?" George asked in panic.

"I can't feel them!" Fred yelled, tears coursing down his cheeks. "It's like they're-"
"Not even there," Madam Pomfrey growled. "This was no accident. Someone took your bones out, boy."
"My bones?!" Fred yelped.

"Oh, great," I snarled sarcastically, "This is just perfect!" I saw the familiarity in the scene at once, but said nothing. I knew the boy was going to have the worst time in his life regrowing those bones. (In the second book, the guy who had the Defense of the Dark Arts job "accidentally" removed the bones in one of Harry's arms. Its a very painful procedure.)

"Regrowing bones is a tricky business," Madam Pomfrey said as she got Fred into a bed. "And with as many as he's lost? It's going to take at least two weeks! He's not playing Quidditch for a while yet, I tell you."

"Come on, guys, Fred is going to need plenty of rest before the pain sets in," I exclaimed, ushering them out of the room.

"Who's going to replace Fred?" Oliver groaned plaintively.
"What about one of my sisters?" I asked, glancing at the other boy, "Or Trunks? Both of them can beat those Bludgers pretty darn well."

"We can try," Oliver said uncertainly. "I'd rather have Trunks, though." He looked at my boyfriend out of the corner of his eye. "It was hard enough to tell Fred and George apart without help."
"I'm not playing without Fred," George spoke stubbornly. "I'm nothing without my brother." We coaxed him to try and found his theory correct. "I tell you, I'm no good without Fred." The dastardly duo that I knew so well were apart and I found that twins often are much better together. I realized just then how much Pan, Chee, and I weren't truly triplets, but only look-alike friends. Both Chee and Pan refused to take George's place.

However, I found our replacement quite a lot easier than I'd intended. It was the day after Fred's bones had mysteriously disappeared from his body that it hit me like a flood. The simple fact was standing there in front of me. Tom. Why hadn't I thought of Tom?

"Hey, Tom, you want to be a Beater for us tonight?" I asked him casually. "Fred and George are willing to lend you and Trunks their brooms."

"Sure, I'd be happy to help," Tom grinned. "I wish I could help Madam Pomfrey grow Fred's bones back faster, but I guess a first-year wizard isn't going to be much help."
"Yeah...let's get going, Oliver is waiting." I smiled at him and led him and Trunks to the fireplace, where Fred and George had left their brooms to my disposal.

I was amazed, to say the least. Tom and Trunks were a natural team (though they weren't as good as Fred and George, but I think that's only because of lack of practice). Both were able to block the Bludgers away from us while at the same time dodging them toward their moving targets that passed as the other team for us. George watched us with a sullen face as we moved in a stream of grace that I found to almost be unnerving.

"I think that's a good start for us all," Oliver smiled happily, "You two can be our replacements for when things like this happen. I know this team is going to need some new players in a few years, too."

"This was fun," Tom grinned, "I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner!" Trunks laughed.

"I'm with you on that one, kid," Trunks gave Tom a noogie on the side of his head and I laughed as the boy tried, very much in vain, to escape Trunks' grip.

***

In the days that followed, we were quite content. Dirken hadn't shown his face, in fact, he hadn't shown anything at all since he had emptied Fred of his leg bones. We played Hufflepuff without trouble and were overly exhilarated by the final match that was slow in its approach. Fred got his bones back, finally, and both he and George resumed their places on the team. Tom and Trunks, however, stayed on and practiced with the team as stand-ins, as they would have to be prepared to replace any one of us.

I just hoped that it would never be Harry.

Days turned into weeks. Dirken still hadn't made himself known and Quidditch practices continued, as did classes. I learned plenty and tried to remember every last thing I did learn in the school.

It finally came to the climatic chaos of the term. It was ten weeks before the exams that would decide if we got into second year. I was studying every chance I got, even though my memory was pretty good when it came to school subjects. The teachers were piling so much homework on us that even I had a hard time keeping with it.

That's when I remembered that this was the time of the first year that Hagrid was supposed to get bribed into telling how to get past Fluffy. I remembered Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback quite well from the books and stiffened in apprehension. What if Dirken decided to do the same thing?

I slammed my Potions book shut and stood abruptly. My feet carried me as fast as I could without running, but Trunks caught up with me and stood in my way. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Tom caught up as well, followed soon after by Jupiter.

"Angel, where are you going?" Trunks asked me breathlessly.
"I'm worried," I looked out the window anxiously. "Follow me, I'll explain on the way."

"Okay."
"In the book at exactly the ten-week mark before the exams, Hagrid was supposed to get into a spot of trouble at the Hog's Head, one of the bars in Hogsmeade," I said as I made my way down the stairs. The others nodded and I continued. "Well, he was supposed to get into a game with a man who played with him about a dragon. They tie and Hagrid, being drunk as he is, gives the guy the information to get past Fluffy and Hagrid gets a dragon egg, a Norwegian Ridgeback he names Norbert."
"You mean Hagrid might have a dragon named Norbert in his hut?!" Hermione hissed under her breath.

"Yeah, that's it," I said grimly. "No one's really supposed to know about Fluffy except Albus and Hagrid, but Hagrid has a pretty slippery tongue." The others nodded gravely as we headed out the front doors to Hagrid's tiny house.

"Hagrid?" Harry called as he knocked on the wooden door. I heard a crash and then Fang barking ferociously. I rolled my eyes as Hagrid answered the door.

"Oh, hello," Hagrid smiled at us nervously, "Come on in." We did as he said and I gasped in terror as I spotted the black egg on the fire.

"Hagrid, please tell me that is not what I think it is!" I groaned as I stared at it.
"It's a dragon egg," he said proudly.

"A Norwegian Ridgeback?" I asked, moaning in my hands.

"That's right," he said, "What's wrong, you look like Nick just patted your shoulder."

"Tell me you didn't win that egg in a game of cards in the Hog's Head and that you didn't tell your opponent how to get past Fluffy!" I wailed as I stared at the dragon egg.

Hagrid's eyes suddenly widened beyond my own belief that he could. He looked more than just anime. He looked close to early Disney.

"I told her!" He shouted, "I told her!" He suddenly looked so frightened that he couldn't possibly have moved from the spot if we hadn't started moving quickly.

"That's all I needed, Hagrid," I told him. "Come on, guys. We're going down into the trapdoor." We left quickly and went into the castle, heading toward the common room.

"Where are we going?" Tom asked as we rushed on.

"We're getting something from the common room first," I told them. They followed wordlessly and I was glad it was more around lunchtime at the moment, because no one was in the common room. I grabbed my Invisibility Cloak. "Harry, go get yours." He nodded and raced up the spiral stairs, returning moments later with his cloak.

"Half of us under mine, half under Harry's," I ordered. "We've got to remain unseen to get there quickest. We get to the third floor. The minute we do, anyone who can sing, start it up."

With that, we took off on the slow journey toward the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side. I knew Albus was gone on urgent Ministry of Magic business (on false pretenses) and that trying to go to him would only arouse questions.

It was up to us to stop Dirken.

***

Ooh! Cliffhanger! But only for about three seconds...I'll load the next one up too.