Chapter 16. All For Love

Billie blinked a few times, pushing the sleepiness away, looking around she soon realized she was in an unknown room. As the seconds passed by, her brain registered that, though she didn't exactly recognize the room she was in, it was familiar somehow. As her mind began working properly flashes came to her, memories of what had happened last night, a series of images in particular made her react, as she turned around sharply, moving her hand in the direction of the opposite side of the bed, it was empty, and cold.

A feeling took hold of Billie rather suddenly, a tightness deep inside her she just couldn't name, for a few long minutes she stayed in the same spot, as if waiting for something that just wouldn't happen. Then she finally got on the move, she stood from the bed without a care for her nudity, quickly donned her now dry clothes and with a short spell swiftly flickered out of the unknown-but-familiar house.

.-.

In SF Jade was on the backyard of the Halliwell home, she appeared to be absolutely enthralled by the image of the setting sun in the distance.

"You like the view?" A voice asked suddenly.

"Yes, it's so beautiful." Jade whispered, her eyes never leaving the sky. "It's been so long since I last watched the sun…" she sighed. "Mr. Christopher I…" she caught herself. "Oh, sorry, I keep forgetting that…"

"It's quite alright." Chris assured her softly as he sat on the steps of the back porch. "I don't know if Mel told you, but I have all the memories of that life."

"But, Lady Melinda said Mr. Christopher died when coming to this reality." Jade commented as she took a seat next to him.

"Yes, that version of me died protecting Wyatt from a crazy Elder that went rogue." Chris nodded calmly. "The very same day my mother gave birth to me."

"And you remember both lives." Jade seemed marveled by that fact.

"I do, and I'm not the only one. Bianca does as well."

"The Lady Phoenix?"

"Yes. We don't know if it's because of how we died, or if Mel existing here somehow brought a part of our other selves to this world; what I do know is that I spent the first fifteen years of my life living like any other boy, and then I saw her for the first time, and everything changed. She's told me she too got all the memories the first time we met. It was a bit confusing, what with me being a fifteen-year-old and yet feeling as if I were twenty-three. Mom flipped out when I suddenly changed many of my mannerisms, my attitudes, she found me kissing Bianca and feared I'd been bewitched or something. Oh, from what she remembered of my travel to the past, Bianca was a witch-hunter who had been sent by the Destroyer after me. She never knew that we had been lovers, or that Bianca had turned her back on her own heritage for me."

Jade sighed wistfully, she'd always dreamed of having a relationship like that one, it seemed so perfect, so much like a fairytale; and this new part made it sound even more incredible: they were so meant to be together, that even in a different life they found each other.

"But it all turned out fine in the end, right?" Jade asked.

"Well, after my parents got used to the idea that I suddenly had the memories of two lives, and that Bianca was a very intimate part of that other life…yeah, things turned out alright. It was also at that point that it came to our attention that Melinda too remembered that life."

"It's so…strange, being here. Everything seems to be so absolutely different, and yet some of the most basic things just…are the same. Did that sound as strange to you as it did to me?"

"Je!" Chris couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, but don't worry. I know what you mean. You'll be alright Jade. With some time you'll get used to the differences, you'll learn to see this calm as a normal thing, though truth is we do have our battles once in a while…"

"Like the war going on far in the east?"

"How do you know that?"

"I heard the Lady Melinda talking about some war in Britain and a dark wizard who liked to terrorize the wand-wielders."

"It's true. But one more thing Jade, you don't need to call my sister Lady Melinda every time you refer to her, call her Mel, we all do; also, I'm not Mr. Christopher, but Chris, and my girlfriend very much prefers to be called Bianca than Lady Phoenix. Especially in her case, she left the life of a witch-hunter a very long time ago."

"I see, Mr. C…Chris. I'll do my best to remember everything."

"I'm sure you will, eventually you'll get used to it, I promise. Just like one day you'll get used to our Wyatt, will see he's not the same Destroyer we hated and feared so much…"

With that Chris patted her shoulder empathically before getting on his feet and going back inside the mansion, his mother could probably use his help with dinner.

"But…" Jade whispered to the disappearing sun. "…I don't hate him…"

.-.

Tonks came back to consciousness with the sharpness of one who had prepared him or herself to be in strenuous circumstances. She kept her eyes closed and breaths regular, holding onto the façade of sleep as she let her other senses work fast and strong, getting information of her surroundings. She made out she was in some dark, damp room, her auror cloak and robe had been removed, the same as her dragon-hide boots and protective vest, her pants and top were still on though, her hands were tied together and she was hanging from a ring on the roof, leaving her whole body painfully strained and her toes barely touching the ground.

Just as she was considering if she should keep the façade for some more time or 'wake up' already, an electric shock sent into her body made the decision for her.

"So, she's finally awake then." A voice called.

Before her the young auror could make out the shady silhouettes of at least four different DE, one right in front of her, another to her left side, with the last two on the opposite end of the room that she was beginning to seem as a dungeon.

"Very well, Miss Auror." The one before her spoke with a sneer. "As you can probably guess already, we're here to hear you sing…"

"I'll tell you nothing!" Tonks spat defiantly.

"We'll see about that." The man whispered.

And then the first torture-curse hit her.

.-.

Piper made her way into her club, she knew her second son would be there with his girlfriend to see to things; still Piper had wanted to go, even if just for a short while. Truth is, she was a little worried about Billie, no one had seen the blonde since early morning, when Phoebe had apparently passed a very important message from her daughters to the other witch. And then Phoebe being her usual aggravating self had refused to tell anyone anything about it, arguing it was Billie's business. Didn't her sister get they were in a war? The greatest war they had been involved in, even if indirectly, since the battle for the Ultimate Power all those years ago. Then there was the fact of who Billie was, and who one of the enemies was…things could turn really bad, really fast. Even if she and her sisters weren't directly involved in the conflict, she still worried; according to both her grandma and her mom it was normal, being the eldest.

Right as Piper reached the offices in the back of the club she caught Billie walking down the stairs that lead to her own apartment.

"Billie!" Piper called. "We were wondering where you had gone to."

Just looking at her Piper could guess Billie had just come out of a shower, and judging from her slightly reddened skin in some areas it had been a very long, very hot shower.

"Are you alright?" Piper inquired, very much worried but trying not to appear too nosy.

"Fine." Billie answered noncommittally. "Thought maybe I would run some patrols tonight. I kinda feel like vanquishing something."

Now that, if nothing else, showed Piper something was definitely wrong; Billie hadn't acted like that, for many years, Piper herself used to say that since she'd finally matured and become a serious witch. In fact, the last time she'd seen the blonde that wound up it had been months after first meeting her, when Billie was still dead set on finding and rescuing her sister.

"Alright." Piper nodded, knowing it would be useless to try and get the woman to talk about her feelings, she was even more obnoxious than Phoebe back when she'd been married to the evil-Cole. "Chris said he and Bianca would keep an eye on P3 for tonight, I just wanted to come take a look before retiring for the night."

Billie just nodded wordlessly before checking some weapons Piper hadn't noticed before she had on her person and leaving through the backdoor.

"Something is definitely bothering her." Piper declared to no one in particular.

.-.

The DMLE was in a flurry of motion. Though it was true things had been in a seemingly permanent hurry since the beginning of the war, never before had it been that bad.

The ambush to the warehouse in the shady part of downtown London had proven to be one of the worst mistakes the aurors had made since the last war. Not only had they lost four of their most experienced aurors but half a dozen more were in St. Mungo's, being treated for mild to very serious injuries, and two more were declared MIA.

And it was just about to get even worse, Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE surmised as she saw Sirius Black entering the department.

"Why didn't anyone tell me Nymphadora Tonks was one of the aurors missing?" Sirius asked. "As her cousin, and Head of House I have the right to know!"

"We sent owls to both you and James earlier, Sirius." Amelia pointed out.

Sirius seemed to calm down, at least slightly, at hearing that.

"That might explain it." He admitted, then when seeing Amelia's questioning look elaborated. "Turns out Dora isn't the only one missing this morning, Remus was supposed to meet James and I for coffee hours ago, when he didn't arrive we went looking for him. We found the door to his home unlocked, which immediately sent red-flags in our heads; Remus is so obsessive with even the smallest details, he would never forget to lock his door. The wards were in place, and that was more suspicious than reassuring. We found his travel cloak hung, next to his rain-boots, but no sing of him being home. We have no idea where he might be."

Amelia shook her head silently. She had no idea if both situations were related or not, but she still didn't like it; the worse part was that there was nothing she could do about it.

"I'm afraid that the most I can do right now is grant you leave off the current situation." The red-haired woman said serenely. "Give you the chance to search for your friend."

"Afraid not, Dora is family, I shall help search for her." Sirius said sternly. "James and Lily are already coordinating a search party to look for Remus."

Amelia nodded, it was good to know they would have the help of one of their best aurors in this moment. Truth is, Amelia had always believed Sirius should have gotten the post as Head Auror, but the man liked his relative-freedom too much, he also had explained, when once being offered the position, that he much preferred being a Field Official. Pretty much the same had happened with James Potter.

Still, in these hard times, it helped her somewhat knowing they had such capable people in the field; perhaps with their help they would be able to make something out of this new situation.

.-.

Wyatt orbed into his mother's home late that evening to find that the place seemed to be absolutely empty.

"Wonder where's everyone…" he mumbled out loud. "Chris and Bianca I know, but the others? Well, might as well do what I came here to do."

The young man approached the Book of Shadows, where he began looking up some things, he had been patrolling the places where portals into the underworld tended to be opened, to make sure things weren't slipping past them unnoticed, but everything seemed to be quiet, too quiet actually for the demon-hunter's tastes. If he didn't know that the main act would be taking place in Britain the shady state of things in SF might be enough to convince him to stay, it still might if he didn't find a logical reason for what was going on.

In the end he found nothing except suggestions of what he expected already: that something big ought to be happening some place else, making all the demon kin concentrate in that point. He still didn't like it.

Right as Wyatt was trying to make up his mind on what to do next he heard noises coming from the second floor; wondering what was going on, since he hadn't heard or seen anyone since arriving, he went down the stairs slowly, searching for who was wandering.

What he found was some unknown figure stepping out of one of the doors, with the face totally covered, feet bare.

"What are you doing?" Wyatt asked in his most stern tone.

The reaction was instantaneous, the white cloth that'd been covering the 'stranger's' face fell, making Wyatt realize belatedly it had been a towel, while the girl before him stood frozen, covered in nothing more than a bathrobe, dark-red hair damp making it obvious she'd been taking a shower, if it wasn't enough the fact that the door behind her was the bathroom's.

"I'm so sorry!" She cried out, green eyes wide in panic. "So sorry Wya…I mean my lo…I mean Mr. Wyatt…I…I didn't know you were coming, else I would have been ready to greet you earlier. Do you wish me to make some tea or just…"

Wyatt was confused by what exactly had brought this up, aside of his tone obviously, until it occurred to him that maybe that had been it, maybe it that moment he'd sounded just like the evil-version of himself…he shuddered just to consider it. Then he noticed where the young woman's hands had strayed to: the sash on her bathrobe, she was loosening it up; he acted immediately, almost unthinkingly, holding her hands immobile, keeping the robe in place.

"What do you think you're doing?!" He practically snapped at her.

"I…I'm sorry!" She was even more panicky now. "So sorry Master I…"

"Jade," He interrupted her. "Jade calm down, you're not in trouble. I'm not your master, I'm just Wyatt, and I will never hurt you, you need not be so panicky with me girl."

It seemed like his words, and his soothing tone of voice finally made her react; with a deep breath she composed herself and nodded self-consciously.

"There now." Wyatt nodded, letting go of her. "I'm sorry if I scared you. When I arrived I thought the house was empty, I've been looking up some things in the Book of the Shadows and was about to leave when I heard noises and decided to check things up. I didn't mean to scare you or hurt you, or anything else."

"It's okay, I'm fine." She assured him. "I too forgot, for a moment, that I was no longer in the Dark World. It happens some times. La…Mel and her brother both say I'll grow used to it."

Wyatt nodded, it looked like he was about to leave, but then turned back in her direction.

"The reaction you had just now…" He began, almost scared. "I know I shouldn't be asking but I really need to know. Did I ever, did my other self ever…ever force himself on you?" He could feel the bile rising in his throat, his self-hate.

"What? No!" Her answer was so sudden, so vehement it couldn't have been faked, when she calmed down she explained. "Never. I, I know it's probably very hard to understand, but even though I was a slave, I was never mistreated, not really. True, I was punished a few times when I displeased my master, but it was never actual torture. And about…the other thing…" she went suddenly very red. "Master could be really persuasive sometimes…"

"But I…he didn't force you?" Wyatt wanted to make sure, it was one thing to know he was en evil-bastard in another timeline, but some things just couldn't be.

"No." She smiled softly. "I was always willing. I…I loved…love him."

By the last part Jade was so self-conscious she was speaking under her breath, and Wyatt was so relieved he wasn't paying that much attention anymore.

The sudden calm was broken again when, unexpectedly, her lips made contact with the corner of his mouth. Wyatt was so shocked he practically jumped back, almost making her fall, though in the end she was still looking at him with a mix of confusion and consternation.

"I…" Wyatt had no idea what to say, so he did the only thing he could. "I gotta go."

He ran away.

.-.

Henry had arrived that evening for his daily training session with Cho, to find the girl taking a cup of tea, that was very different from the way he usually found her. But that may also have something to do with what he himself had told her the day prior. After her explanation on why she wanted so much to master her gift, he decided she might be able to pull off the intensive-training those wiccans with the most-volatile talents were given in Magic School. The first part was an hour-long meditation that she was expected to get through before he arrived; then he would begin pressing her to act on her powers, at the beginning with verbal pushes, and if that wasn't enough with something more physical, maybe even some magical attacks to 'motivate' her. The meditation, as he had explained to her, was meant to help her get in closer touch with her magical core and the base of her gift, the second would push her to her limits, making her break them over and over, until conjuring came to her as naturally as the wand-magic she had been doing for the past seven and a half years.

"The meditation go well?" Henry asked.

"I'm not sure." Cho admitted. "I mean, I know I felt something, but I don't know if it was what I was supposed to feel, or if it will be enough."

"We'll be seeing that." Henry replied. "Still, don't expect any 'amazing' results to happen today, even with intensive-training you'll need a little time to be a master; I'm not even sure yet if it's even a good idea to put you through the intensive-training…I have a feeling some of my former professors would flip if they found out…"

"But I need this." Cho told him. "You said that if my resolve was strong enough I would be able to pull it off."

"Which is why we're still going through with this." Henry pointed out. "Now lets go."

And so their training began; and as it did Henry could only look outside the window, a feeling nagging at him from the inside…something wasn't right.

.-.

Nymphadora Tonks began moving after what seemed like forever. She found herself laying on the cold stone floor, feeling as if a horde of hippogriffs had just passed over her; the young auror was pretty sure one of her legs was broken at least in two parts, as were several of her fingers in both hands, her left shoulder was dislocated and she had a twisted ankle, aside from too many lesser cuts and bruises to be counted.

"Don't know if I ought to be thankful I'm alive, or curse whoever decided not to grant me the peace of death already…" She mumbled to herself as she tried, unsuccessfully to sit up.

"I for one happen to be glad you're still among the living Dora, though I'm also pained that you're in such a state." A voice told her.

"Remus?" She gasped, it hurt to talk, one or more of her ribs were either bruised or broken.

"It's me Dora, don't speak, and try not to move, you're much too hurt." Remus told her softly, even as he helped her sit against a wall, he gasped again when seeing her bloody and bruised face under the little light coming in from the window. "What did those monsters do to you?"

"Their own ve…version of an i…interrogation." She answered slowly. "Guess the…they didn't l-like my answers tha…t m-much."

"I can see that." Remus nodded, using a piece of his own robe to try and clean some of the blood from her face. "You look awful."

"You r-really know…how to sweet-talk a…a woman, d-don't you Rem?" She questioned with a hint of a joking tone.

He didn't answer, he was much too worried about her to joke in that moment. And the reason of his worry became ever so clear as his eyes kept straying in the direction of the window and the darkening sky outside every few seconds.

"Not a co…incidence we're c-cellmates then?" She asked softly.

"I'm not sure how I even got here." He admitted shaking his head miserably. "Last thing I remember is getting home, it was raining outside, I smelled someone was in my house, and then I thought I saw…but no, it's just impossible. Still, I lost consciousness until I woke up here. No one so much as came close to here all day, until they brought you. I feared you might be dead already, until I realized you weren't, and that was exactly their plan…" he shook his head, a very deep anguish in his deep eyes.

"Worry n-not." She whispered back at him. "We'll…f-find a way out."

Remus didn't dare telling her there was no way, she was so injured, and he would transform in an hour at the most; and considering he hadn't had wolfsbane, there's no way he'd recognize her as someone dear to him, he would kill her. He would rather she somehow killed him first, facing death himself was much preferable to knowing he would be delivering it to her. And suddenly he'd an idea, a very macabre, extremely stupid idea:

"That necklace you're wearing, is it silver?" He asked quite suddenly.

"Yes." She nodded, eyeing him with her good eye doubtfully. "What a-are…you planning?"

"To do what I must to ensure your survival." He admitted, as he went to take the necklace.

"No!" She moved her arm to stop him, causing herself even more pain in the process.

"Stop moving!" He exclaimed. "Do you want to make your wounds worse?!"

"Y…you won't be ta-taking m…my necklace." She told him sharply. "I…I w-won't l-let you do any…anything stupid."

"I'm just trying to save your life!" He cried out. "Right now I'm the worst danger for you, even more so than your injuries. You might survive those if you're lucky, you won't survive a crazed werewolf." He sighed sadly, almost crying. "Please Dora…"

"No…" She refused firmly again. "We…we'll f-find ano…another way."

"But don't you see? There is no other way! The full moon will be up in less than an hour! I have to do this while I'm still coherent. Please Dora, please allow me to do this."

"N…nonsense."

"Oh for Merlin's beard woman! Can't you see that I love you?!"

The declaration was so sudden that for a moment Dora felt as if she had been left breathless again, except it was very different from when the DE had punched her or cursed her.

"Oh…Remus…" She whispered lovingly. "If y-you think tha…that after that d-declaration I'm…letting y-you go…then you're e-even cra…zier than…than I thought. We'll bo…both m-make it out of…this one." And before the werewolf could argue with that as well she raised her face to the ceiling and called with all the strength she could muster: "Samuel!"

.-.

Cho's full focus was on keeping the small wooden horse still on her hand, it would flicker in and out of existence every so often, and Henry explained it was 'cause she hadn't yet anchored the object to the material world. Even though Cho felt as if her work wasn't yet good enough, Henry had pointed out that just the previous day her creations wouldn't stay in the real world for more than two seconds at a time and then less than a minute before vanishing completely; she'd been concentrating in solidifying the horse for the last fifteen minutes, and each minute that passed the figurine stayed solid a second longer and gone for a few less.

"You're doing so well, it's amazing." Henry assured her. "I know you don't want to believe it, but it's the truth. I still remember when I first developed some of my gifts, like my restoration, there were some times I would end destroying something even more instead of fixing it. And my mother, from whom I inherited my gifts, when she first began using her telekinetic orbing she would only make the objects vanish and reappear on the very same spot every time, it took her a while before learning how to move them short distances, and even longer before she could call or send objects in larger spaces."

"So this is good?" Cho asked as she extended her hand to him, she had finally managed to completely solidify the little horse.

"It's great," He assured her with a proud smile. "Now…"

He stopped mid-phrase as he sensed something, he was hearing a call, it was so low, as if someone were whispering; or on the other hand screaming to him from a location his senses had difficulty reaching.

"Henry?" Cho asked, confused as to his sudden dazed expression.

"I'm sorry Cho." He told her as he got on his feet, deciding it was better to be safe than sorry. "I'm afraid I'm gonna have to cut this session short."

"Is there something wrong?" Cho questioned, suddenly worried.

"Spirits, I hope not." Henry told her honestly. "Someone's calling me, a charge of my mom's that she left under my care because I would be closer to her, more accessible. I have to go, make sure she's alright."

"What if she's in trouble?" Cho questioned.

"I'll do what I must, she's in my charge, after all." Henry resolved.

"Be careful." Cho told him, even in the short time she had known Henry (as more than another student from Hogwarts), she'd come to consider him a friend, and didn't want him to be hurt.

"I will." He nodded. "You be careful yourself as well. Remember, if you need me just focus your magic and call my name and I'll be here as fast as I can."

Then, after seeing Cho nod one last time, he vanished in a haze of blue sparks.