Above All Else

Chapter Nine- The Simplicities of Impossible Abilities

DISCLAIMER: JKR is wonderful, ingenious, superb, the greatest, and u get the idea! I take no credit for what she created… what you recognize as hers is hers! The plot and other characters are mine (Merlin, Andy, Adella, Tinka Spitz, Veronica Clearwater, Daniella, Charisma, Maddie, Collin, Tonya Spelling, Corie Blarian, Jen Davies, Jason O'Shanylin, Mia Bones, Kirk McKinnon, Trent Levelle, Dora Fletcher, Teresa Romyln, Arthur Johnson, Kris Wood, Starla Spinnet, Jesselma Flint, Yolanda Wippestein, and anyone else I can't remember…)

THIS CHAPPIE:

~ Where the girls "disappeared" to and what happens when the get there

~An L/Dan argument

Lets get this party started…

~~~~~***CHAPTER NINE***~~~~~

"Guys, I think it's safe to say we aren't in Hogwarts anymore…" Daniella's voice trailed off.

"You could most definitely say that," Lily said, eyes wide as she glanced at her surroundings.

"The only thing is, if we aren't in Hogwarts…" Charisma began.

"… then where are we?" Madison said, finishing Carrie's sentence. The four puzzled girls looked around, each having different variations of bewilderment etched across their features. The girls looked around, utterly astonished at the scenery…. Everything seemed so perfect. It was probably the most peaceful and tranquil place one had ever visited. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, the grass was green, the flowers were in blossom, and everything just seemed wonderful. At first glance it would almost seem as though they were in some alternate reality, after all, nearly anything was possible in the magical community. The girls shrugged off the idea after realizing that it was very possible for a person to stumble across a place like this elsewhere, just incredibly unlikely. The place couldn't be explained in words. Words didn't seem to fit, nor could they quite express the feelings of happiness that each girl was feeling inside of themselves at that very moment.

"Ah, yes, welcome girls. I was wondering when you would be arriving. I do hope I didn't tear you away from anything important," an elderly man said. He had a calming voice to match his eyes. With his white hair and long beard, he looked similar to Dumbledore.

"Oh, Merlin, what is this place?" Lily gushed, she had always been drawn to beautiful places.

"This place is simply a reflection of your innermost dreams, transformed into a lovely picture which you are a part of." (A/N: no, it's not a real picture, if that's what your thinking. It's just a figure of speech) Merlin, seeing the girls questioning glances continued, "It's not a place which can be positioned on a map."

"Merlin, how can we see you? And I mean no harm in saying this, but haven't you been dead for about 2,000 years?" It was Madison's turn to question the ancient man.

"Oh, but of course I'm not alive. I'm merely a preserved image of myself in my younger years," he explained. Daniella, attempting to hide the growing urge to laugh, broke into a coughing fit. The "Preserved" Merlin chuckled. "Well, for a man whose 2,168 years old I thought I was looking rather good." This caused Daniella to blush and mutter an apology. "No matter, I understand completely. But yes, I found this place in my younger years and somehow was able to capture my memory into it, preserving my thoughts, dreams, ideas, wishes, remembrances, among more important things, like teaching the next generation of the Four. But you four are not hear to listen to my life story. This is your Induction, the beginning of your training. At first you shall all train together, mastering control over your skills so you can contain yourselves when feeling upset." His gaze shifted pointedly to Daniella and Lily, who both grew a sudden interested in their shoes. "As time passes, you shall all receive occasional private lessons or you can come here for assistance by your own choice. I'll teach you all how to get here later on. First of all, I should explain to each of you your powers. I'm sure you have most of them figured out already, though."

Merlin pointedly shifted his gaze to Lily. "Lily, you are the Fire. As you have already learned, you can cause insurmountable pain just by concentrating hard enough. You can also cause severe damage and immediate destruction beyond your imagination. This information I believe is new to you, as is the next bit. By focusing on a person's worries, you will find that you can cause their woes to multiply over and over again. This is done by transfiguring the cells in their brain to those which cause them much, much more anxiety. You must be very careful with this, if used for the wrong reasons, the damage would not be reparable. Lily, with this power you can kill someone in a moment or cause an entire city to tumble at your call." Lily shivered at the thought.

"I never would, sir… never," Lily said, more to herself than the others.

"I know that, Lily dear, but there are other means for someone to use this power, whether you wish it or not," Merlin stated. The four girls knew what he meant by this, he was talking of Voldemort and uses of the Imperius curse.

"Moving on, Charisma, you have almost the exact opposite powers as Lily. You being the element of Wind, can literally blow one's troubles away. You can also use this on their memory, as a modification method. You must exercise vast control if using it for such purposes, however. If you are feeling a strong emotion and not concentrating fully, it is likely that you can wipe the person's mind clear… completely. As of yet, I don't believe that there is any way that you can fix this afterwards. This is another time a method of transfiguration is used. You would be taking's one's memory cells and transforming them for those that are entirely empty." Charisma had never been quite aware of what her Power was, only knowing that it had something to do with easing one's mind. She nodded her head in understanding.

"Madison, you are the Earth. Your power is one which I'm certain that you are already aware of, though are unable to control. You are gifted with the ability to morph. In simpler terms, you are a shape shifter. You can transform into anything or anyone at the blink of an eye, but be forewarned, be careful what you become. I don't mean to worry you, but if what you become is harmed, you in your natural form will be as well." Noticing a confused look in Madison's eyes, Daniella cut in.

"Please forgive me for interrupting, but I think you will find that I've got skills with analogies," Daniella addressed Merlin, whose eyes were twinkling at the girls' youth. She turned to face Madison. "Ok Mad, so lets say you turn into a housefly, only Merlin knows why you'd want that, but lets just pretend." Seeing the other four all looking both amused and perplexed, she suddenly laughed. "Oh, I didn't mean that Merlin! It's just a figure of speech," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Anywho, so back to Maddie being a housefly. So you're buzzing around a nice little house enjoying yourself when suddenly this crazy old lady decides that its time for a little spring cleaning. So she goes into this rampage where she starts cleaning everything and really wants to erm… debug the house. So she picks up a little handy swatter, only I suppose it wouldn't be so handy in your case, and she thwacks you with it. And lets just say, the crazy rampaging old debugging cleaning lady was successful. For alas, there were no little buggies in that woman's house. And since this innocent little housefly was no more, neither would you be. And that ladies and gentlemen, is why you should always be careful when transforming!" Daniella smiled and looked around at the others, all very amused.

Merlin chuckled and then spoke again. "In a strange way, Daniella is right. By the way, I was wondering if you knew a certain young wizard. I can't quite remember his name right now, but he seems to have the exact same characteristics, shall we say, as you. Very random, yet very funny. Charming thing, not at all like the rest of his family. This bloke looks to be about your age and is also a Gryffindor, always causing a ruckus yet very good-natured. Black hair, dark eyes, oh yes! I remember his name! Sirius! Sirius Black!" Lily and Charisma both burst into uncontrollable laughter, Madison smiled knowingly, and Daniella blushed. Lily, trying to control herself, patted her best friend on the shoulder. Merlin, sensing a change in the mood, said, "Why? Do you know him?"

"You could say that he's an acquaintance of mine," Daniella said, suddenly becoming much more nervous.

"Acquaintance? Ha! The two have been rivals since first year, still can't realize how oddly similar they are, Merlin!" Charisma burst out, earning a glare from Danni.

Merlin realized how off topic they had gotten. "Enough talk for one day, girls. I must finish explaining things to you. Madison, you must exercise caution or as Daniella said, or you very well could end up like the housefly. This gift also means that you can do something no one else can. You can spread your molecules about, sending bits of you in all directions so that you are unplottable, even on tracking systems. In many ways, you are a chameleon."

Daniella snorted and said teasingly, "Except she doesn't live in trees and doesn't resemble a gross little lizard with bugeyes, ok so maybe she does, but other than that I can see your point. I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner, I'm sharing a dorm room with a, dare I say it, an animal!" Danni was still trying to keep a straight face, but was failing miserably, resulting in a snort and a burst of laughter. Madison smiled at her friends antics. Charisma rolled her eyes, Lily shook her head, and Merlin chuckled again.

"Now Daniella, you are the One, or the Sky. You are the leader of the Four. This means that you have not only the most power, but also the most to learn and the most you must do. You of course, will be given tasks. These tasks must be kept complete secrets, even these three cannot know about them. You will be told things that not another person living knows. You will become aware of things that will happen in the future, and it may very well be your job to make sure they don't happen." Daniella had never before known the seriousness of what she must do and looked slightly worried, but nodded anyway. "Your have three powerful gifts. The first, you do not know of yet. You are able to control the emotions of others. At first, you will only be able to strengthen or lessen these feelings, but the more you train, the farther you will get. Eventually, you will actually be able to remove certain feelings and add others in. The others powers you know of, wandless magic and the ability to create new spells. These new spells will always finish with the word Caelum, though, meaning Sky in Latin. You are also able to place people into some sort of trance, where time stands still for them. The tasks that I have already mentioned, are entirely up to you whether you choose to do them or not. The Four will partake in some as a group, while others may be just one of you. Daniella, you will have the most dangerous jobs and will be the only one to be asked to go on individual missions. Lily, you will find yourself facing Death Eaters or others, these being the people who may need to be pained into staying put in order to be captured. Madison, you will be used as a spy, but this doesn't pose many threats, except of course the occasional fly swatter," Merlin said, trying to lighten the mood. "Charisma, you will be able to wipe away the memories of those who know too much about certain things or those who are posing a serious threat. Most of the time, they will already be in a trance, courtesy of Daniella, or restricted by some other spell so that they can't very likely harm you. These assignments aren't required of you, but they would do extreme good for mankind, muggles and magical." He shifted his gaze to Daniella once more, noticing how brave she was determined to look. If only the Individual Assignment was anything else… she's only sixteen and already her life is going to… I shouldn't be thinking these things, she hasn't even agreed to it yet. I know I have to tell her it and I know she'll accept, but a part of me can't help but wish she wouldn't. I'm being silly, she'll be saving the whole world by her actions if she chooses to comply…Emerging from his own thoughts, Merlin addressed Daniella. "I'll give your Assignment instructions after you have had a few months of training. Daniella, you must understand the importance of this decision. Either way, lives will be lost. Your decision will be based on whose lives your willing to lose…" Realizing he had spoken too much, he turned back to the others, all looking slightly uncomfortable now.

As Merlin finished speaking, he gave them an hour lesson in controlling their powers.

"Girls, it's time for you to return to school. As I told you this past summer, I am taking the bound off of you that stops you from using your powers when uncontrolled. (A/N: remember when I said back in the chapter Escape From Red Eyes that Merlin had placed a bound on them keeping them from doing uncontrolled magic?) Now that you have started your training, I feel I must take the charm off. It may limit your abilities and hold you back. As you may have wondered, the only reason you were able to use your abilities against Voldemort this past summer, was because it was controlled. You had every intention of doing it. Now, in order to get back you all need to hold hands and say Caelum, Accendo, Animae, Terrenus Coniuratus." You will be transported back to the top of the staircase outside of the sixth year boy's dormitories. I know this is not convenient, but the portrait of the Meadow is there. If you look closely, you'll see it looks exactly the same as the scenery here. It will act as a means of transport to get you from here to there and vise versa. If you sniff the yellow flower in the top left hand corner of the portrait, it will swing forward to admit you onto the girl's dormitory staircase, directly across the way from your room. You must go back now… Goodbye girls. I shall call upon you again soon. You will know when to come…" Merlin suddenly faded from the girls view.

"Remember, you are endowed with what a member of the original Four once said is the simplicity of impossible abilities. Use this power well…" Merlin's voice faded as well.

"That was strange. Merlin's right though, we should be getting back." Lily said. The other three girls all nodded in agreement and held hands. "On three then… One… Two… Three."

"CAELUM, ACCENDO, ANIMAE, TERRENUS CONIURATUS!" In an instant all four girls appeared at the top of the boys dormitory stairs.

"The simplicity of impossible abilities?" Daniella said incredulously. "For some reason, I gather I missed the simplicity of it all."

~~~~~*****THE NEXT DAY*****~~~~

"Bloody hell!"

"Lily, calm down," Maddie said.

"I can't help it! Everyone is looking at us strangely! Even the Professors seem cautious around us. It's giving me the heebiejeebies."

Daniella and Charisma snorted and said in unison, "Heebiejeebies?"

"You know what I mean! I knew that the wizarding community would eventually find out. But the press is having a bloody field day! I can't help but feel so stressed! My life is so hard!" Lily said, immediately regretting it. She didn't mean what she said. Oh no, that sounded selfish! "I'm sor…" Daniella, looking extremely upset caught her off midsentence.

"Well did you really expect them to not make a big deal out of a group of people who haven't been around for two flippin' milleniums," Daniella said. Daniella's temper was easy to flare and she was tired of hearing Lily letting everyone else get to her. "Honestly Lily! Carrie, Maddie, and I all have to deal with this too. Look at it this way, your not the one Merlin said is going to have to fight damn Voldemort all by herself! I'm the one whose probably gonna die! Didn't you get it? 'Whose lives your willing to lose' he said! Don't you get it? He was basically telling me to choose who would die, me or someone else! " She turned and stomped down to the dorm, on the verge of tears.

"Dammit, I didn't mean it like that. I'm so sorry! I feel so awful right now. It's just this is so stressful, and don't get me wrong, I know we're all going through the same thing. It's just you know I can't handle pressure, I'm the same way with exams. I feel like an awful person. I just practically made my best friend cry," Lily said, her eyes filling up with water too. Maddie and Charisma both rushed over.

"Don't worry, we understand. It's just, Danni's pretty confused right now too. Aw Lily… please don't cry. Everything's going to be OK," Madison said, as both her and Carrie hugged the crying Lily.

"Yea, Dan's never one to stay mad. She'll understand, I think she just really wanted to vent and it's understandable. She'll forgive you. Just let her cool off for a while," Charisma sympathized.

~~~****DOWN IN THE COMMON ROOM AT MIDNIGHT****~~~

The slim form of a crying sixteen-year-old girl was huddled up in an oversized armchair, big enough to seat two people, in a corner of the Gryffindor Common Room.

"DanniBoy, what are you doing up this late? I don't suppose you were getting something to drink as well?" A handsome black haired boy walked over, joking with the girl. As he saw her face his smile immediately diminished "Daniella, what's wrong?" Daniella didn't look him in the eye, she was wiping away the traces of tears that crossed her attractive freckled face. "Don't let those reporters get to you. Really their a bunch of asses, who don't have a clue what their talking about. Come on now, your best enemy will always treat you the same." Daniella gave a half sob, half laugh.

Sniffling slightly she shook her head. "No Black, it's not that, now please just go away." She still refused to meet his gaze. Sirius however, had no intention of leaving. Those he was momentarily shocked at the sudden cold tone she took, he recovered quickly.

Sirius had never in his years seen Daniella Flynn in such a state. He had never seen her shed a tear, and now she looked on the verge of a total breakdown. Realizing how serious (A/N: no pun intended) the situation must be, his voice immediately became softer. "Daniella, c'mon now. Listen to me, I've known you since forever it seems and I've never seen you upset with anyone but me, except that one time you slugged that Hufflepuff, Amos Diggory, for grabbing your arse last year. Now that was great… Oh, that's a bit off topic. You don't let things get to you, that's what I admire most about you. Really, you can tell me. I swear, on my honor… pranking honor that is, I will be a very good listener. You helped me be happy, now it's my turn to help you."

Daniella turned her brilliant blue eyes two meet Sirius' own deep chocolate brown ones. She gave a faint smile. "Merlin says you're exactly like me." This random topic change caught Sirius off guard, but he couldn't suppress the wide grin that was forming across his face.

"Oh yea? Talk about me a lot?" Sirius plopped down next to Daniella in the oversized armchair and slung an arm over the top. He intentionally butted Daniella a bit, so that there would be more room for him in the small, yet still comfy, armchair. Sirius smirked at her rolling of the eyes.

"You wish, he actually brought it up. I guess he has paid notice to you, he thinks your charming and funny. Phh, load of crap if I ever heard it. The man's brilliant, but people make mistakes. You being wonderful was clearly his. You see I was making this quite reasonable analogy of Madison to a housefly…" She went on to explain the meeting with Merlin to Sirius, surprising herself that she was being so open with her worst, ahem, best enemy. The Daily Prophet reporters had already thoroughly researched Merlin's Four and had explained the different powers that the girls probably possess. For the most part, their writings were correct, meaning that no harm was done in spilling out the information to Sirius. For some reason, Daniella felt sure he could be trusted. Her voice became choked as she remember what else Merlin had said. "And then… and then he said that I would have to make a ch..ch..choice about whe..whe…wheth…whether I wou.. would take my m..mi..mission. Bu..but it wou..would mean de..deciding between death an..and others liv..living or liv…living and some…someone else dy….dying," at this point she was in hysterics, crying profusely into her hands. Sirius looked quite sad, as well as shocked at her words.

Fighting a mental battle on how to comfort the crying girl he finally muttered, "Dammit." He pulled Daniella into his arms and spoke into her soft brown curly locks. "It's ok, calm down Danni, calm down. I've never really comforted a crying girl before," he said laughing slightly, attempting to lighten the mood. "Don't stress over it now, it's a huge decision to make I agree, but I know you'll do the right thing, whatever that may be." Even in between the tears he couldn't help but notice how pretty she was. Her eyes shone even bluer from the tears. "Your hair smells good… just like the rain. I love the smell of rain." Daniella smiled through her misery into the muscular chest of Sirius Black. She spoke again, this time in a much clearer voice. "The reason I'm down here ruining your clothes from all my crying is because I had a fight with Lily. She was complaining about how awful life was for her right now and how annoying the papers were. I had been thinking the same things, but I kind of burst. I had been dying to scream out everything I just told you and I did… right at my best friend. I'm an awful person. I have to apologize. I'm a selfish prat. You were right all those years that you called me one…"

Sirius immediately lifted his head from hers and looked upset with himself. "Don't listen to me, things change, just like you told me a few weeks ago. I didn't believe that, I just love seeing you mad. You're not selfish. Anyone would've done the same thing. I think you've held up great, all things considered. Don't cry over it, please don't. It'll be better, she'll understand."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Sirius?"

"Yea?"

"Thanks." She said and leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"No problem, DanniBoy." He meant what he said, he enjoyed having her curled up in his arms, listening to her spill out her problems. I must be crazy! Why do I like having her curled up in my arms? Even if she's pretty, she's Flynn! My best enemy! Oy, what am I doing? She loves Andy and I don't even like her. I don't!

"Sirius?"

"Mhm," he murmured into her hair. He couldn't help but think how much he liked her hair loose and curly, in it's natural form, rather than straightened how she normally wore it.

"Above all else, I will always…"

Sirius cut interrupted her, "remember me?"

"Care for you." (A/N: meant this as a friend kinda thing, not a crush) With that she snuggled closer to him, her sobs putting her to sleep in his arms. Whether it was the grief that spoke for Daniella, no one will ever know. But now, at least they had a beginning to a friendship. Sirius smiled at the sleeping girl in his arms, not wanting to wake her, he pulled a blanket over the two of them. He fell asleep quicker than usual, his last waking thoughts being of how well she fit next to him.

The next morning Daniella and Sirius were awoken by someone drawing open the curtains, letting in the sun. Both, had forgotten where they had fallen asleep and were a bit surprised to find themselves next to their best enemy. Sometime during the night, the sleeping Daniella had flipped over, resulting in her laying on top of Sirius. Sirius had tightened his grip on her, pulling her closer in his sleep. Daniella had ended up cuddled up in his arms, with her head on his quidditch-toned chest, as he hugged her tight with his face in her loose curls. After the two realized where they were, Daniella quickly flipped over so she was sitting next to him. Smiling nervously at him, she mumbled a quick apology. Sirius merely grinned in return, a grin that lit up his entire face.

"Morning, o' fairest enemiend of them all," he said.

"Enemiend?" Danni questioned.

"Well since we are enemies who are friends, I figured we needed a name."

"Clever, Sir Bloody Eyes."

Both looked over their shoulders as they heard two people clearing their throats.

None other than a confused, amused, smirking, yet still slightly upset James Potter and Lily Evans were standing behind them.

Daniella and Sirius immediately turned back in the other direction. "Tell me I'm dreaming," she said.

"I only wish. Maybe if we sleep, it'll all get better. That's what my cousin used to say." Sirius said, equally hopeful.

"Worth a shot. I don't have a better idea." Daniella said, with that the two shrunk back into the comfort of the blanket letting sleep come once more…..

~~~~~~******AUTHORS NOTES*****~~~~~~~

Yay! Longest chappie! It was 4552 words!
I know there is barely any L/J and all Sirius and Daniella, but it's important to the plot. Once they become friends they can help an l/j romance blossom! Heheheh… ok… it's 2 AM and I'm going a little crazy. PLEASE REVIEW! Hope you all liked that chappie… cleared up a lot!

Caelum, Accendo, Animae, Terrenus Coniuratus – Sky, Fire, Wind, Earth United

Luv always,

MissHAPPYBlueEyes