Chapter Five

The Conspiracy Theories

By Queen Tessandry de Sanyochisei

It all started on the first of September with ten missing person reports in one day, all within a half-hour of each other and in the same manner; one minute there, gone the next.

All in all, the F.B.I. had their hands full, trying to find connections between the nine young women and one boy. About two months into the investigation, the boy reappeared with no memory of what'd happened to him and another boy disappeared in his place.

The first connection that was made was that they all had a LOT of word and HTML files. After copying their Internet histories, they discovered two more similarities, they all went to a site called FanFiction.Net and were members of a newsgroup called Potternews.

There seemed to be a net of them. One, Circe, was a friend of another, Venus, who claimed to be the sister of a person, Queen Tessandrilene Wendracon, whom they couldn't find through any means. Queen Tessandrilene Wendracon was added to list of suspects quickly.  Queen Tessandrilene Wendracon had had a falling out with another, GryffindorArcher, who they also couldn't track down; another suspect. And a boy, Surfer Tsunamiya, seemingly unrelated to any of the others, claimed to be Queen Tessandrilene Wendracon's brother. He was also untraceable and, hence, a suspect.

After taking Xing, the site's owner, in for questioning and downloading the FF.N database, they found that they all posted fanfiction, mainly in, but not limited to, the Harry Potter section.

When the F.B.I. tried to get information from J.K. Rowling in her Edinburgh flat, Scotland Yard and Interpol accosted them, and Interpol tried to get jurisdiction from the F.B.I.

When last looked in on, the heads of Scotland Yard, F.B.I. and Interpol were in a small meeting with the Head of the C.I.A. and the S.E.T.I. director trying to break down the door.

~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~

December 7th~ The Quidditch pitch

"That was so hilarious. To think, Surfer and Tess, suspects in our kidnappings!" Maia laughs as most of the Authors' team leaves the locker room.

"What about GryffindorArcher? Maybe he's the one doing this?" Tawny suggests, almost fearful.

"It's a distinct possibility, Tawny. Circe would know more though. She's known Tess longer than any of us… Other than Surfer of course." Chloe smiles.

The group shared an indulgent laughing session over the possibility and unlikelihood of a romance between the reproachful Ravenclaw and sardonic Slytherin. Alex quickly recovers and calls attention back to the matter at hand.

"Alright but where is Tess? Venus? Maia?" Alex asks, looking expectantly at the Seeker and Beater.

"She said she had to see someone." Venus says, thinking that it was a serious downer to be in a different house than her friend.

"I think she wanted to see the Head Boy." Maia adds.

"Doesn't set her sights low, does she?" Ray smirks.

"She did once." Venus corrects. "A merchant. I forget his name. Gary or something similar."

"Tess' social life is none of our concern." Alex says, gaining snickers from the team. "None of our current concern. We need to be ready to play Slytherin this Saturday. Venus, can you handle both Bludgers on your own?"

"Sure. Naprob!" Venus answers glibly, unshouldering her precious Windrider.

"Alright. Let's go!" Alex says, mounting his own broom and kicking off. The rest quickly follow his example to begin the practice.

Meanwhile…

"Thank you so much for listening, Garret." Tess says, as we walked down a corridor.

"Don't mention it. I let myself in for it, didn't I?" I ask, feigning ruefulness.

She laughs her annoyingly melodic laugh. "Yes, indeed you did."

As we turn the next corner on our little stroll through the school, our conversation petered into an easy silence. I remembered these silences well. It had been the time when she'd take my hand and squeeze it gratefully then rest her head on my shoulder.

Sure as clockwork, she did take my hand in hers and squeeze it but then she quickly let go.

"Still, I haven't been able to talk to anyone like this for a while." She adds with a sigh.

"You've good friends in Venus and Circe. Don't you talk with them?" I respond with false ignorance of her situation.

"Oh sure, when it's something they understand, like boys or music or writing." She says offhandedly, and I inwardly grin at the thought of Tess talking about me with Circe or Venus.

"But it's hard to explain the politics, the war, the death and betrayal that makes it near impossible for anyone to get close enough to comfort me yet far enough to spare me from the pain." She sniffles and rubs at her eyes. I'd managed to hit a nerve. Yes! Oh, how I'd make her regret exiling me.

"I don't know of any girls that haven't had a crush or a boyfriend by your age." I shift the topic to make this more painful. I could see her eyes harden and her hands clench, jangling those omnipresent annoyances of accessories.

"Once," her voice broke. She clears her throat and starts again. "Only once, did I put my heart before my job. It wound up a disaster."

She fidgets with her hair, trying to get it away from her face by tucking it under her circlet. She always fidgeted when she wanted to end a topic. I'd had my fun so I let the subject drop. It wouldn't do to wear out all my buttons in once conversation. I'd be out of buttons to push and she might catch on.

"So, did you hear about that dance on the twenty-first?" I ask as we start toward the fifth floor and the entrance to Ravenclaw tower.

"Yes. Professor Jeminye told Ravenclaw last week." She answers, obviously grateful for the change of subject.

"And how many refusals have you handed out to the poor boys?" I ask, shining a false smile at her.

"None actually. I had Maia put out the word that I'm not going."

I blink. That would ruin my plans. She had to be there! Even if I had to be the one to take her!

"Then I guess it'd be futile to ask you myself." I say, schooling my features into a disappointed mask.

"It might not. Try me." Tess teases, a small smile playing on her mouth. She wanted me to ask her! Oh the unexpected irony! This could tear her down even more than I'd anticipated being able to!

"All right then. Tess, will you please come with me to the Christmas Dance?" I ask, making the invitation as polite as possible without seeming smitten. Tess makes an act of thinking about it.

"Alright." She answers with a shrug.

I smile, but not for Tess's made-up reason; my success for getting her as my date. No. I smiled because she'd fallen for my newly laid trap. And when the truth was finally out, she'd hurt all the more.

"I'll see you around, then." She says, snapping me from my grand thoughts of revenge with an unpleasant bump. We'd reached the bookcase that marked the Ravenclaw Tower entrance. She'd turned her back to me, patiently waiting for me to leave so she could give the password.

"See you, Lena."

Almost unable to keep my features neutral, I start to panic in my head. I don't believe that name slipped! If she heard it right, I'm dead in the water.

"Excuse me?" Tess asks, whirling around. I'd almost forgotten how quickly she could do that.

"What?" I ask, feigning ignorant innocence. If she was the least bit empathic, which I doubted, she'd catch me right there.

"What did you call me?" She snaps, advancing and seeming to tower over me for all I was almost half a foot taller.

"I didn't call you anything." I lie. "I said 'See you later'."

She somehow manages to look down her nose at me, sizing me up yet again.

"Good day, Garret." Tess says coolly, turning on her heel and whispering the password to the bookcase.

Only when the bookcase had swung silently closed did I breathe again. She could have caught me, just for that stupid pet name. I'd better cancel that meeting at the Slytherin match. She'd catch on too quickly. Two weeks should be a safe time to wait, long enough for her suspicion to die down to a safe level.

I walk briskly away, heading for the Seventh floor. That was too close. I could only thank my lucky stars that the other Authors hadn't thought to show her my last clue, for all they'd agreed that she would know more about it than the Dimensional Janitor. What idiots… At least it'll give me more time to draw out Tess's suffering.

Authoress's Note and Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all original characters belong to J.K. Rowling. All others, save those listed hence, are mine! Ray Fira is property of Marie (rieb7@hotmail.com), Ariety Blythe and Chloe Frazier belong to Kel (Valentine715@aol.com), Venus McGonagall stars as herself (crystalvenusmcgonagall@yahoo.com), Tawny Miryton belongs to Meg (FunnyGurl895@aol.com), Liz Electra belongs to Liz (Lizard3100@aol.com), Circe Moss belongs to Circe (WatermelonSugar7@aol.com), Delia Phinium belongs to Pat (Trishd29@aol.com), Alex Bakare belongs to Lazymeoo7 (lazymeoo7@msn.com), Maia Rahmlal belongs to Natalia (TOONatalia@aol.com), Surfer Tsunamiya belongs to my brother, Pory (Porygon11@aol.com), Garret Avis belongs to GryffindorArcher (stararcher@yahoo.com), and Tess Wendracon belongs to me!

A note pertaining to Garret Avis: There has been a parting of the ways between GryffindorArcher and myself. However, at the time I posted this chapter, my rights to Garret Avis had not been rescinded. Also, should GryffindorArcher have any qualms about me writing with Garret Avis in this story, he can take it up with me, personally (if he thinks it's worth it), and not do the kid-throwing-a-tantrum-thing by reporting this to the FF.N Admin.

The Slytherin Match in Chapter Six. Tah-tah!

~Queen Tessandry de Sanyochisei~