A.N: Ask and you shall receive!! Well, actually, ask, wait around for a
while, ask again, wait some more and THEN you shall receive!
Oh, and one more thing-mad props must be given to my new best friend-even though it's a website-The Harry Potter Lexicon! (I had a link, but I can't figure out how to get it to display when I uploaded the document, so just...go do a search for it or something...) I swear, this site has EVERYTHING a fanfic writer needs-timelines, maps, encyclopedias of spells and characters-it's the best source of HP info I can imagine, short of J.K. Rowling personally helping me write this.
Anyway, on the story...
Chapter Ten
Time: Past
It seemed like the school year ended just as they were starting to settle into the routine of balancing their training, regular classes, and social lives. And, just as they had all been unusually anxious for to return to Hogwarts, they now found themselves unusually sorry to leave it.
For one thing, finishing school and entering the wizarding world as "adults" would have been difficult enough for the Marauders and Lily without the dangerous times they were living in. For another, Alexandra was not exactly looking forward to a year at Hogwarts without any of them there. She'd made other friends since being drawn into their circle-being Sirius Black's girlfriend tended to improve one's popularity-but it wouldn't be the same without her best friends around. On the bright side, Ally's brother and everyone else's parents had, after weeks of pestering, agreed to let the whole group spend two weeks at Sirius's house in the middle of July.
"You sure your parents are ready to be handling all of us?" Lily asked one evening. The group, including Celina, was sprawled out on several blankets by the lake, alternately studying for their exams and chatting, mostly about their plans for the summer.
Sirius, who was currently engaged in a tickling fight with Ally, snorted. "Hey, my parents have been handling me for seventeen years, and they're still alive and mostly sane. You lot for two weeks shouldn't be a problem."
"I still don't get why I can't come." Celina muttered darkly, her eyes fixed sullenly on her Transfiguration textbook.
Ally glanced over at her while doing her best to pin Sirius's wrists to the blanket. "Because Nick said you couldn't?" Celina's only response was to scowl. "Look, love, it's fun to have you hanging out with us, but Nick doesn't want you away from home with a bunch of older kids for that long, even if those older kids are us."
"And maybe you'd all rather not have me hanging out with you over the summer?"
"Well..." Peter said. "Nothing personal, but.could you really blame us if that was the case?"
Remus reached over and tousled her hair, smiling. "You're the coolest eleven year old any of us have ever met, Cel, but, well..."
She poked him in the ribcage with a bony finger. "I'm still an eleven year old, right? No, I don't blame you-but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
He gave her a brief hug, which left her blushing a little. "That's my girl."
.................................
For about a week and a half, the get-together at Sirius's was one of the best times of any of their lives. Then, about four days before they were planning to go home, Alexandra heard news from her brother that brought their fun to an abrupt end.
.................................
Celina hauled herself up the last few inches and settled herself on the largest branch of the oak, letting her skinny legs dangle as she looked up at the stars. She was trying to pick out constellations-first years at Hogwarts didn't take Astronomy, but Remus had taught her how to recognize some of them.
Celina liked Remus. In fact, she thought she might like him better than anyone else she knew, even Ally. He treated her like a kid less often than anyone else, and even when he did, it always felt kind of nice instead of annoying. There was also something else, that she couldn't really make sense of-she had no idea what kind of dark secret someone like Remus would have to keep, but she got the impression that he knew what it was like to have to keep something about yourself hidden from other people, the way she did. She couldn't explain it, really, it was just a feeling she had-a feeling that they could understand things about each other that no one else could.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft hissing. Looking down, she saw Seti, her snake friend-not "pet snake" like everyone called him, he had too much dignity to be anyone's pet-coiled around the bottom of the tree. He was hissing at her, and Celina could swear he sounded anxious. She couldn't hear him very well, but she tried to concentrate and understand what he was saying.
"Danger...he is coming...I have heard him."
Confused, she started climbing down, hissing back to him as she did so. "Who? Who's coming, Seti?"
"Him...the other who's voice I can understand...I have heard him before but never so close. He is coming and he will hurt you...run!"
"The other one who's..." It dawned on her as she dropped to the ground, and she stumbled backward with wide eyes. "Oh, God..."
Celina was fast, but she didn't get more than five feet from the tree before ropes wrapped around her wrists and ankles from behind. She struggled wildly and screamed until one of them wrapped around her mouth. Then she heard several hushed voices chanting the word "Stupefy!" and then there was only blackness.
.................................
The rest of the group stood, all looking concerned, outside the room where Ally was talking to her brother, who had contacted her rather urgently via the fireplace in Sirius's kitchen. None of them knew what had happened, but they all had an uneasy feeling that whatever it was, it involved Celina.
Finally, Ally walked out of the kitchen-stormed out would be a better term. She looked like she would be crying if she hadn't been so totally consumed with anger, and she was clutching her wand tightly in her hand.
"Do all of you have your wands?" She said in a surprisingly calm voice. They all nodded. "Good-we should get going as soon as we can."
"Ally-" Sirius interrupted. "Get going where?"
"That's what we need to figure out-but we're going to figure it out, and when we do..."
He stepped forward, taking her firmly by the shoulders. She was shaking "Sweetheart, you're not making sense-what happened?"
"Celina-she's been kidnapped by Voldemort."
A.N: This was going to be longer, but I realized that I really have no idea how the hell they're going to find out where Voldy took Cel...so the next chapter will come as soon as I figure that bit out!
...Which will hopefully NOT be another month from now!
Oh, and one more thing-mad props must be given to my new best friend-even though it's a website-The Harry Potter Lexicon! (I had a link, but I can't figure out how to get it to display when I uploaded the document, so just...go do a search for it or something...) I swear, this site has EVERYTHING a fanfic writer needs-timelines, maps, encyclopedias of spells and characters-it's the best source of HP info I can imagine, short of J.K. Rowling personally helping me write this.
Anyway, on the story...
Chapter Ten
Time: Past
It seemed like the school year ended just as they were starting to settle into the routine of balancing their training, regular classes, and social lives. And, just as they had all been unusually anxious for to return to Hogwarts, they now found themselves unusually sorry to leave it.
For one thing, finishing school and entering the wizarding world as "adults" would have been difficult enough for the Marauders and Lily without the dangerous times they were living in. For another, Alexandra was not exactly looking forward to a year at Hogwarts without any of them there. She'd made other friends since being drawn into their circle-being Sirius Black's girlfriend tended to improve one's popularity-but it wouldn't be the same without her best friends around. On the bright side, Ally's brother and everyone else's parents had, after weeks of pestering, agreed to let the whole group spend two weeks at Sirius's house in the middle of July.
"You sure your parents are ready to be handling all of us?" Lily asked one evening. The group, including Celina, was sprawled out on several blankets by the lake, alternately studying for their exams and chatting, mostly about their plans for the summer.
Sirius, who was currently engaged in a tickling fight with Ally, snorted. "Hey, my parents have been handling me for seventeen years, and they're still alive and mostly sane. You lot for two weeks shouldn't be a problem."
"I still don't get why I can't come." Celina muttered darkly, her eyes fixed sullenly on her Transfiguration textbook.
Ally glanced over at her while doing her best to pin Sirius's wrists to the blanket. "Because Nick said you couldn't?" Celina's only response was to scowl. "Look, love, it's fun to have you hanging out with us, but Nick doesn't want you away from home with a bunch of older kids for that long, even if those older kids are us."
"And maybe you'd all rather not have me hanging out with you over the summer?"
"Well..." Peter said. "Nothing personal, but.could you really blame us if that was the case?"
Remus reached over and tousled her hair, smiling. "You're the coolest eleven year old any of us have ever met, Cel, but, well..."
She poked him in the ribcage with a bony finger. "I'm still an eleven year old, right? No, I don't blame you-but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
He gave her a brief hug, which left her blushing a little. "That's my girl."
.................................
For about a week and a half, the get-together at Sirius's was one of the best times of any of their lives. Then, about four days before they were planning to go home, Alexandra heard news from her brother that brought their fun to an abrupt end.
.................................
Celina hauled herself up the last few inches and settled herself on the largest branch of the oak, letting her skinny legs dangle as she looked up at the stars. She was trying to pick out constellations-first years at Hogwarts didn't take Astronomy, but Remus had taught her how to recognize some of them.
Celina liked Remus. In fact, she thought she might like him better than anyone else she knew, even Ally. He treated her like a kid less often than anyone else, and even when he did, it always felt kind of nice instead of annoying. There was also something else, that she couldn't really make sense of-she had no idea what kind of dark secret someone like Remus would have to keep, but she got the impression that he knew what it was like to have to keep something about yourself hidden from other people, the way she did. She couldn't explain it, really, it was just a feeling she had-a feeling that they could understand things about each other that no one else could.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft hissing. Looking down, she saw Seti, her snake friend-not "pet snake" like everyone called him, he had too much dignity to be anyone's pet-coiled around the bottom of the tree. He was hissing at her, and Celina could swear he sounded anxious. She couldn't hear him very well, but she tried to concentrate and understand what he was saying.
"Danger...he is coming...I have heard him."
Confused, she started climbing down, hissing back to him as she did so. "Who? Who's coming, Seti?"
"Him...the other who's voice I can understand...I have heard him before but never so close. He is coming and he will hurt you...run!"
"The other one who's..." It dawned on her as she dropped to the ground, and she stumbled backward with wide eyes. "Oh, God..."
Celina was fast, but she didn't get more than five feet from the tree before ropes wrapped around her wrists and ankles from behind. She struggled wildly and screamed until one of them wrapped around her mouth. Then she heard several hushed voices chanting the word "Stupefy!" and then there was only blackness.
.................................
The rest of the group stood, all looking concerned, outside the room where Ally was talking to her brother, who had contacted her rather urgently via the fireplace in Sirius's kitchen. None of them knew what had happened, but they all had an uneasy feeling that whatever it was, it involved Celina.
Finally, Ally walked out of the kitchen-stormed out would be a better term. She looked like she would be crying if she hadn't been so totally consumed with anger, and she was clutching her wand tightly in her hand.
"Do all of you have your wands?" She said in a surprisingly calm voice. They all nodded. "Good-we should get going as soon as we can."
"Ally-" Sirius interrupted. "Get going where?"
"That's what we need to figure out-but we're going to figure it out, and when we do..."
He stepped forward, taking her firmly by the shoulders. She was shaking "Sweetheart, you're not making sense-what happened?"
"Celina-she's been kidnapped by Voldemort."
A.N: This was going to be longer, but I realized that I really have no idea how the hell they're going to find out where Voldy took Cel...so the next chapter will come as soon as I figure that bit out!
...Which will hopefully NOT be another month from now!
