"What do you think his reaction would be?"

"Not good, which is why we have to wait until he's out of his office," Kamen hissed.

William absently rubbed his upper arm where his brotherhood tattoo was, "It's just that I'm pretty sure someone is going to notice that we're gone if we go to this meeting, it is school hours after all."

"Taken care of," Kamen whispered back, "I have several people covering for us."

When they were sure that Severus had left his office they snuck in and using a pinch of floo powder traveled to the raven's nest.

"Glad you two could make it," Armand greeted them, "it's about time you new recruits saw some action. There's a riot planned for today, going to be led by dark forces. We're going to show them exactly what we think of their policies."

"So, what's the plan?"

Armand smiled grimly, "most of us are adults out in the real world kid, but there are some things that only the school aged can help us with. Certain diversions..."

"Enter the dungbomb collection you requested," Kamen said as he held up his bag.

"We're going to give them hell kid, hope you're prepared to see some action."

"Colin!" Viviane threw her arms around her husband's neck the moment she entered the flat in Cairo that would be theirs for the time being. She buried her face in his neck, breathing in the comforting scent of hot desert air and exotic spices that clung to him.

Colin gently detached his wife from him long enough to lead her into the bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed and drew her onto his lap, where she once again buried her face in the soft blue fabric of his worn shirt. "I've never seen you this upset Viv, why has this gotten to you like this?"

"I don't know."

"You know that's not the answer I'm looking for, nor is it a complete one."

Viviane mumbled an answer against his chest.

"I can't understand you when your face is buried like that. I don't want to pressure you Viv, but I'm worried about you."

Viviane forced herself to look up into Colin's concerned face. "Have you ever had a feeling that just wouldn't go away? It just keeps eating at you... I just... knew... that Stefan shouldn't have left. I felt like something was going to go wrong. And now this. What if he doesn't come back Colin? How do I face my little sister and tell her that I knew something was going to happen, but I let the man she loves go off into the hands of Malfoy?"

"There was nothing you could have done. Is there anything else hon?"

She ducked her head, "I started thinking about what I would do if the situation was reversed, if I was the one who lost the man I loved..." a broken sob cut off her words.

"Shhhhh... I'm right here Viv and I don't have any plans of leaving."

"People have died Colin, and more are going to. I was just hoping that my family... our family," she amended herself, "wouldn't be directly affected. I guess it was too much to ask for."

Kamen winced as William helped him back towards the Gryffindor tower.

"You bad enough for a trip to Pomphrey mate?" William asked.

"No, I'll survive on my own."

"You sure?"

"Of course. Wasn't the action amazing today?" Kamen steered the conversation in a different direction, "I think we're finally making a difference."

"Yes, a violent one. But anything to help the cause."

Kamen laughed, "we may get beat up in the line of duty, but if nothing else at least we have a wicked tattoo."

Late that night Severus was jolted out of sleep by a muffled scream. He sat up, reaching for his robe, as he glanced down at his wife who was still fast asleep. He cursed softly, that woman would stay asleep even if the whole castle came crashing down around her.

He carefully made his way out of the dark bedroom and across the hall into Olivia's room. He could see the little girl cowering on her bed in the dim glow of her nightlight, and could hear her whimpering softly. "Child, what on earth is the matter?"

Olivia looked up, terror evident in her eyes, "bad dream..."

Severus sighed; this was definitely not his department. He was sorely tempted to wake up Morgan to deal with this, no matter how much effort it took.

"I don't want to stay here alone..." Olivia's lower lip began to tremble as tears once again filled her eyes.

"Can you try to go back to sleep?"

Olivia mournfully shook her head no.

Severus resigned himself to the reality of parenting and scooped the little girl, his daughter he reminded himself, along with Tristan, and carried the two of them back to his room. He tucked Olivia and the stuffed rabbit in next to Morgan and grabbed a blanket for himself as he headed toward the living room. If he couldn't sleep with just Morgan in the bead, he figured he would get no rest whatsoever with too females invading his space.

Morgan rolled over and woke up very slowly. As she finally managed to open her eyes and look beside her in bed she realized that it was most definitely not her husband lying beside her, "hey sweetie, when did you get here?"

Olivia giggled as she snuggled her way into Morgan's arms, "really really late last night." She turned serious, "I had a bad dream and Severus brought me in here... is that alright?"

"Of course it is, I wouldn't have it any other way," Morgan smiled as she hugged the girl close.

Olivia smiled shyly and buried her face in Morgan's shoulder, "I love you Mum."

Morgan closed her eyes as silent tears flowed down her face. It was the first time Olivia had called her 'mum'. "Thank you sweetie," she said, placing a kiss on the top of Olivia's head, "you don't know how much I needed that this morning."

"Why?" Olivia asked innocently.

"Because all of my children are growing up to fast. You better promise to stay little for a long time yet young lady," Morgan laughed, hiding the sadness in her voice, as she mercilessly tickled her youngest daughter.

"Happy Birthday girls!!!" Dinah, Becky, and Kandi chorused as they pounced on the twins, jolting them awake.

"Glorious seventeen, that's officially legal," Kandi pointed out.

Serena took the early morning awakening with good grace and instantly bounded out of bed, while Dierna tried to hide under her blankets. She was not a morning person, she reveled in nighttime activity.

The twins' roommates gave up on Dierna after awhile, and left Serena to get her up while they headed down to breakfast.

"You might as well get up."

"It's the weekend, I don't have classes, I'm staying in bed as long as possible."

"I think there's a package for you here from Stefan..."

Dierna instantly sat up and dove for the end of her bed, quickly sifting through the small pile of gifts to locate one from her boyfriend.

Meanwhile Serena had already started on hers. She smiled as she unwrapped a small stone statue of Sekhmet, "look sweetie, it's the same as you," she said as her sand colored kitten, named for the Egyptian lioness-headed goddess, sprang up on her shoulder. "My sweet little goddess of war and divine vengeance," she crooned to the kitten.

Dierna snorted, but kept her opinion on that matter to herself. She located the gift from Stefan and tore off the letter first. She scanned it briefly, apparently Stefan had gotten the gift last time he was on leave from his mission and had left it with his mother to forward. She smiled as the paper came away from the gift revealing a small framed print of Hiroshige's "Inside Kameido-Tenjin Shrine". She smiled at it. She had pointed out the print to Stefan one time nearly a year ago and told him it was her favorite of Hiroshige's work. And he had remembered. She couldn't wait until she could see him again.

"A bath."

"Some of Mum's biscuits."

"Warm blankets."

"A stiff drink."

Stefan laughed mirthlessly, "this has got to be the most depressing game ever."

Percy smiled weakly, "it passes the time."

Stefan shrugged, "I suppose so." He absently fingered the stubble on his chin, if nothing else he could see what he would look like with a beard. If he had a mirror...

"You don't know what it means to have company like this."

Stefan shot a sideways glance at his cell mate, "I didn't think of that. How many years have you been here now?"

Percy frowned, "no idea. They tend to run together when you're in captivity. And when you know they're going to kill you."

Stefan nodded; he'd caught snatches of conversation from their captors. It appeared that the end was near. If only he could see his family one more time. And Dierna... he sighed. If he'd known this was going to happen he probably wouldn't have been such a gentleman.

Both men looked up as the door creaked open. Walden Macnair gave them a broad smile, one that was not to be trusted.

"Well gentlemen, it seems to be time."

"Time for what you slimy git? Time for you to step down from your assumed position as Head Minister and give the government back into the hands of its true leaders?" Stefan spat.

Percy picked up the line, "or maybe its time for you to take your illusions of grandeur and shove them up your..."

"That's enough!" Macnair sneered. "You can't imagine the pleasure I'm going to get from watching you two die." His smile slowly returned, "We are nearly completion of our own batch of Quintessence, however we have opted to use human sacrifice."

"So..."

"So...?"

"You look beautiful today."

"Remus honestly," Kalliope rolled her eyes, "if you're going to interrupt my lessons you better have a good reason."

Nimue hid a smile behind her hand as Remus winked at her and moved to wrap his arms around Kalliope. "Do I need a reason to come see you love?"

"When I'm trying to teach someone how to block and summon visions at will, yes you do."

Remus took the hint, "fine, I have a class to teach anyways," and he slipped back out of the room.

"Now, where were we?"

"Reaching a state of relaxation and awareness so that you can summon a vision," Nimue supplied.

"Good. Now close your eyes child, and stretch out your senses. Be aware of all that is going on around you. Breathe deeply and relax. When you're ready I want you to stretch out with your senses, out of your body, and see what happens..."

Nimue did as she was instructed; she could feel her skin tingling with the electricity that she was picking up from the air around her.

When Kalliope was sure that her student was where she needed to be, and when she had established a mental connection of her own, she gave the girl further instructions, "see the temple of the goddess in Greece, my home..."

Nimue felt a tug in her chest, and when she opened her eyes she was surprised to find that she could see herself sitting on the floor. She didn't stop to dwell on that, but focused her energy on her assigned task, the temple in Greece.

She closed her eyes again. Or at least that's what it felt like for her formless self that was outside of her body, and when she seemed to open them again she was presented with a scene from the interior of the temple. She observed priestesses feeding the temple's serpents, and priestesses accepting offerings in the name of the goddess. She wasn't sure how long she watched, it was so peaceful in this realm...

Eventually she became aware of someone calling her name. She ignored it at first, but the voice grew more insistent. When she tried to locate the source of the voice she suddenly found herself back in her own body, sitting on the stone floor of the empty classroom where she had started out.

"Well little one, I think you are ready."

"Ready for what?"

Kalliope smiled, "as soon as I can get you to Greece you can be initiated into the Mysteries. Provided that you are ready to devote your life to the goddess, you are ready to be a priestess."

Viviane wasn't sure she missed England at all. She and Colin were happily set up in what was commonly referred to as the refugee camp. They were in an apartment complex, which was unplotable, that was completely occupied by magical folk who were being kept out of Malfoy and his minions' reach.

Right next door were the Weasleys. Viviane and Molly had taken to spending their days going out into the city under the cover of burqas and full length dresses. There was no risk of them being recognized that way, and they could explore to their hearts' content.

"I didn't think you'd be back yet," Viviane said with a smile as she unwrapped herself from yards of fabric and plopped down on their bed. She reached for a pitcher and poured herself a cool glass of water. Early April in Cairo was warmer than she would have thought.

Colin smiled at her; he had been out in the desert for the last week working on a temple to Pachet. The alarms on a hidden vault of Gringotts there had gone off, and the culprit had turned out to be a wandering catoblepas. "I've been thinking."

"About what?" Viviane leaned up against her husband.

"Well... I was thinking that maybe after all this is over we would stay here, in Cairo. But I was worried that you might not like living so far away from your family."

Viviane worried her lower lip as she thought about it, "I can't say that my parents would be overly pleased to have us living so far away. But I want to, I really love it here."

Dierna gently polished the jars before placing them back on the shelves that lined her father's office. She spent every detention with her father in the same way, always cleaning his office. At least this was mindless work, her thoughts began to wander. She started in on her usual daydreams, always about her and Stefan. This mission had lasted so long; he should be coming back to her any day now. A half smile played at her lips, it was so pleasant building castles in the sky, and a wonderful distraction from the drudgery of detention.

She thought about how wonderful it would be to be with Stefan again, to have him hold her, to feel his touch. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around, nearly dropping the jar she was holding in the process.

"Be careful with that," Severus quietly admonished her, "those are rare," he took the jar from her and placed it back on the shelf. "You missed an entire section back there." He indicated several shelves that she had inadvertently skipped, "daydreaming again?"

Dierna blushed, "yes sir."

"Well don't let it interfere with your work; I want my office to be spotless before you leave."

"I think that you just give me detentions when your office needs to be cleaned so that you don't have to do it yourself." Dierna's eyes sparkled mischievously; it was rather fun trying to bait her father.

"Really? I think that you earn yourself these detentions with your impudent attitude and your appalling habit of talking back to me." Severus crossed his arms over his chest and looked sternly down at his daughter. "It's barely the middle of April and I've already had you in here five times this month. Well?" He raised a questioning eyebrow, "do you agree with my assessment of the situation or am I going to get another impertinent answer?"

Dierna mimicked her father's stance and the raised eyebrow and returned his piercing stare without flinching. "I still think that you're just using me for slave labor. I find nothing wrong with my attitude."

"Ahhhh... yet another insolent answer, but that is what I have come to expect from you. However, you need to get back to work. Now." His stern expression melted away as he drew his daughter into him for a quick hug, "I want this finished soon." His voice was firm, but he smiled at Dierna.

Dierna rolled her eyes as she turned back to the shelf she was working on. Honestly, the man never left her alone. She continued to work, the stillness only broken by the soft clink of the glass jars as she wiped them off and then returned them to the shelf. The silence was broken a few moments later by a knock at the office door.

"Enter," Severus didn't look up from the papers he was grading, it seemed like there were always interruptions when he was trying to get work done.

"Professor McGonagall, please say you've come to liberate me." Dierna left her place at the shelves and held her arms out, entreatingly, to the headmistress.

Minerva smiled at the exuberance that Dierna put forth, so different from the outward display of her father, yet the two were so very much alike. "And what are you doing down here Adelaide, not detention again?"

Dierna rolled her eyes and dropped her voice to a dramatic whisper, "it's not my fault if some evil professor has a grudge against me and I end up in detention for no good reason now is it? Honestly, it's not very fair to me."

"That is quite enough of that," Severus came up behind Dierna and placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her back towards the shelves, "get back to work," he gave her a slight push.

"Just a moment dear, I ran into Serena on my way down and she asked me to give this to you. She said an owl just brought it." Minerva handed a creased letter to Dierna, who frowned in uncertainty at the letter. She couldn't quite place the handwriting on the address; it was familiar, yet somehow different.

"Do you need something sweetheart?"

Olivia mournfully shook her head no.

"Is anything wrong?"

Another shake of her head.

"Come here sweetie," Morgan opened her arms and wrapped them around Olivia as she climbed into her lap. "You can talk to me about anything Olivia. I love you very much and I don't like to see you moping around her like this."

Olivia buried her face in Tristan, "nothing's wrong," she mumbled into the stuffed rabbit.

"Are you sure?"

Olivia nodded mutely. Yes something was wrong, but she didn't think she could tell her new mother about it. She and Diana had something they really wanted to do, and she had a feeling it was something they shouldn't do.

"Minerva, I'd be willing to wager that you did not come down here just to play currier service. What can I do for you?" A smile pulled at the corner of Severus' mouth.

McGonagall sighed, "I came to discuss with you our options concerning the rest of the quidditch season, we have to think of what the safest course of action will be."

Dierna spun around quickly, "Don't cancel the rest of the season! You can't do that to us."

"Dierna! I though I told you to get back to work."

"Give me a chance to read my letter first," Dierna muttered something else under her breath, hoping her father didn't catch it, as she finally opened the letter. Then she felt as though her heart had stopped. She scanned the contents of the letter once, and then again. "No..." the letter fluttered gently to the floor as she felt her knees buckle and her world went black.