"Your leg doing any better mate?"

Kamen shook his head, "no. If I had been hit with a curse we could have dealt with it a lot easier. I wasn't expecting one of those bastards to come at me with a knife. What a low way of fighting..."

William frowned, "I think we should have Pomphrey look at it. She won't ask any questions. Besides, I have a suspicion that the knife blade was dipped in something. That thing should have at least started to heal by now."

Kamen disagreed, "too risky. I go to the hospital wing I guarantee you one of my parents will find out about it. I think I'll just let it go for now."

"I could look at it for you."

"How'd you sneak up here kid? Last time I checked these were the boys' dormitories."

Sophia rolled her eyes, "I'm a priestess in training, I can get in anywhere I want."

"Sounds like an abuse of power if you ask me," Kamen shot back.

"Fine, don't listen to me. It's not like I've spent most of my life learning Herbology so that I can cure almost anything," she spat sarcastically.

"Fine, have a look then," Kamen rolled up his pants leg exposing a nasty gash on his shin.

Sophia tilted her head to the side and frowned at the wound as she thought. "Chimera blood," she finally declared.

"What?"

"The knife had to have been dipped in chimera blood to do that to a wound. The men's tribes use it on their arrows when they go into battle. Since they usually end up bringing their wounded back to the temple I've seen this before and I've helped the priestesses treat it."

"Fine then, since you're so full of useful information how do I make it better?"

Sophia glared at Kamen. She didn't like the high-handed manner which he used to deal with her.

"Please Sophia, his leg has to get better before his parents notice," William interceded in an attempt to keep peace.

"Well... since one of you has some manners... you need to make a paste of dried hippocampus skin and mare's milk. Put it on the wound and it will draw out the poison so that it can heal."

"Dierna!" Severus caught his daughter before she hit the floor; he gently picked up her limp form and laid her down on the sofa, before retrieving the letter she had dropped. He read it quickly, and sighed deeply as the full impact of the contents hit him.

"Oh dear, whatever is the matter Severus? You must have some smelling salts or something down here so that we can bring her back around."

"No," Severus pulled up a chair and gently took one of Dierna's hands in his own, "no, it will probably be kinder to leave her like this for awhile." He handed the letter to Minerva who looked at him skeptically for a moment before reading the contents of the tear stained letter.

My darling Dierna,
I am so sorry that I must be the purveyor of such horrible news, but our worst fears have been realized. I received word from the Ministry early this morning that they have had no contact with Stefan for the last several weeks, however, several of his personal effects have been found. In short, there is no reason for us to hope. I am so sorry my dear, I know how much you loved my son, and I had so looked forward to the day that you would truly be my daughter. I hope that you will continue to stop by and see me, for I love you dearly and I would hate for our relationship to end due to the untimely death of my son. I am very sorry that I could not come to give you this information personally, but with all that has happened I am unable to get away from home, and, it seems like it is almost easier to write this dreadful news. I know that I can not bring myself to say it out loud. I wish you the very best my darling girl, when you get a chance, please stop by to see me. I know there are several of Stefan's personal belongings that I would like you to have. You were his life and his entire world, he loved you dearly.
With all my love and sorrow, yours,
Maryann MacNeill

"Oh Severus, this is horrible. Your poor girl." Minerva wiped away a tear.

Severus shook his head sadly as he looked down at Dierna. He hoped this wouldn't destroy his daughter. She had loved that boy dearly; he had seen it so clearly every time she was with him. "Minerva, please go find Morgan for me, she needs to be here for Dierna."

"Now what?" Macnair asked quietly.

"We have to wait for a month," Draco replied, "We finish the potion then."

"And the dark lord?"

"He will rise again, more powerful than before. The Quintessence, while it does not make the drinker immortal has certain other benefits."

"Like what?"

"Really Macnair, you'll all by useless!" Draco spat, "but that's what I've come to expect from you... the Quintessence was developed to be a strengthener. Therefore, we can assume that it will strengthen the powers of whoever drinks it."

"We could strengthen our entire army that way," Macnair suggested, "we could be invincible."

"No, the effects of it have never been tested. For all we know there may be some sort of horrible side effects."

"Then is it really safe to use on the dark lord?"

"Of course you fool," Draco was beyond irritated, "he will be willing to overlook any minor problems considering it will be us who brought him back in the first place."

Dierna felt something soft under her head. Her eyes fluttered open but her vision was blurred, she no idea where she was. As her vision began to clear her head began to throb. Everything felt like a dream. A bad dream.

She sucked in her breathe quickly as she remembered the contents of the letter from Stefan's mother. She sat up quickly, then instantly regretted it when everything around her started to spin.

"You need to move slowly, otherwise you are going to pass out again," there were gentle hands on her shoulders, and she recognized her father's firm voice.

Dierna closed her eyes for a moment as her head cleared; when she opened them again she fought back the tears that were threatening to form. She was in her father's office on the couch in the corner, with her mother sitting next to her. Her father was kneeling in front of her concern etched on his face.

"He can't be..." Dierna was desperate. This had to be a cruel joke, it couldn't be real. "Please tell me that it's not real." She was beginning to panic. She felt so lost and helpless.

"I'm so sorry child, this shouldn't have happened." Severus gently moved his hands down from his daughter's shoulders to grasp her hands.

"No..." Dierna quickly stood up, she felt like there had to be a way to fight this, it just couldn't be real. Her legs started to shake, and she could feel herself starting to fall.

Severus slid an arm around Dierna's waist as she started to collapse again. "Easy, you are going to hurt yourself if you aren't more careful." He gently lowered her back onto the couch.

"Please... please don't let it be real," Dierna started to get up again as her voice turned frantic, "I have to go, I can find him, he can't be..." she couldn't say the word, it was too horrible.

"Hush child," Severus tried to calm her, "the only place you are going right now is to bed."

Severus glanced into his bedroom, at his bed, which he had given up last night, and was satisfied to see that both his wife and daughter were still sleeping. Thankfully Morgan had no classes this morning so she could stay with Dierna awhile longer. However, this left him to make sure that Olivia got to her class on time.

He was about to go find her when he felt a tug on his sleeve. "Are you ready to go?" he asked his youngest, who was looking up at him expectantly.

Olivia nodded as she stole a glance into the master bedroom, "is she going to be alright?" she asked quietly.

Severus sighed, "Dierna will be fine, given enough time."

Olivia seemed to consider this for a moment, and then nodded in agreement, her black curls bouncing.

The walk to the classroom now used for the younger girls' classes with Mrs. Figg was surprisingly silent. Severus looked down at Olivia with concern, usually she had something to chatter on about, and he didn't like the way she refused to look at him when he asked her about it. But, he decided to brush it off, it was probably nothing. He could have groaned when they reached the classroom and Olivia attached herself to Diana. It seemed his children were determined to plague him, what with one being best friends with Potter's daughter and now Olivia and the young Weasley girl.

As soon as he left for his own classroom and they had made sure that Mrs. Figg's back was turned, Olivia and Diana slipped back out into the hallway and ran down the corridor giggling.

"Finally, a chance to explore!" Diana exclaimed.

Olivia had a feeling that they really shouldn't be doing this, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. This was going to be an adventure, "where should we go first?"

Severus paid little attention to his morning classes, rousing himself only to reduce two second year Gryffindors to tears, and to send a clumsy Hufflepuff to the infirmary. His mind was on other matters.

He turned over the situation of Stefan's disappearance in his mind. He had one very strained and desperate sounding letter from Viviane that did not give him any reason for hope. And then there reports from the Ministry that Macnair had been acting awfully smug for the last few weeks, and Malfoy's followers were getting bolder and bolder. In short, the situation was not a good one and there was not a doubt in his mind that if Malfoy had decided to dispose of Stefan it had been done.

He saw no reason to give his daughter false hope. It would be too cruel. This was only confirmed when a raven flew in midmorning with a letter from Eric. Although the old man knew nothing for sure, he knew that Malfoy had overseen several human sacrifices, and that he doubted anyone who had been his prisoner had survived. It was altogether discouraging.

He was still pondering what to do for Dierna as he headed towards the Great Hall for lunch. And he was feeling particularly useless. Comforting the children had always been Morgan's forte. He often found himself at a loss when the girls ran to him for comfort. Their emotions were simply beyond his comprehension.

He was searching about for some form of inspiration on the subject when he was shaken out of his reverie by Mrs. Figg.

"Professor," she gasped, out of breath, "I don't know where they are, we've been searching all morning. I left Sir Nicolas with the other girls."

"What on earth are you getting at Arabella?"

"Olivia and Diana disappeared this morning, we can't find them anywhere!"

"How do we get in?" Diana frowned at the large painting of a fruit bowl.

"I know!" Olivia said, "Serena told me how to. You have to tickle that green pear. But I can't reach it..."

"Ummm..." Diana looked around, "lets use that bench, we can drag it over here," she pointed at a heavy wood construction sitting against the opposite wall.

With much effort the two small girls managed to push and pull and tug the bench across the short expanse of hallway so that it was directly in front of the painting. They were both sweaty and more than a bit dirty by the time they finished, and they had a bad case of the giggles.

Finally they both clamored up on the bench and tickled the pear together. They shrieked with delight when it turned into a door handle and they were able to enter the large kitchen.

"What can we do for the little misses?" a house elf asked in a squeaky voice as she hurried forward.

The girls looked at each other and grinned.

"We want to have a tea party."

"But not with tea, can we have juice instead?"

"And little cakes and cookies?"

"And can we have it down here, this kitchen is really wicked," Olivia grinned as she tested out her new vocabulary, she had picked up 'wicked' from her new siblings and was particularly fond of this new saying.

"Of course little misses, right away!" the house elf scurried off to fulfill their requests. A few short minutes latter the girls were set up at a small table, complete with a tea set, which was filled with juice not tea, and more sweets then they could ever begin to consume.

"This is definitely funner than going to school," Diana giggled.

Arabella wrung her hands as she paced back and forth across the teacher's lounge, "I can't believe I lost them when they were under my care. I knew it wasn't a good idea to have a useless squib like me watching over the children."

"I'm sure that they're perfectly fine and will be found shortly," Professor Flitwick assured Arabella. "And if they are, then they most certainly will not be by the time Severus and Charlie get through with them."

Arabella managed a tight smile, but she was still nervous. The death eaters had become much bolder lately. Would they stoop so low as to enter Hogwarts and abduct two young girls? She sighed, it seemed farfetched, but it was a possibility. The granddaughter of the displaced Head Minster and the daughter of a traitor would make excellent targets for Malfoy.

"Zach, you're sure the girls haven't been down here?" Minerva asked, her brow creased with worry.

"Not the ones you're looking for, however," he gave Angie, who he was holding onto by the neck of her robes a little shake, "I found this one."

Minerva gave a curt nod and headed back towards the castle.

"You're not going to write a letter to my parents are you? Or tell my uncle will you? Can't we just keep this between us? Please..." Angie pleaded.

Zach rolled his eyes, "I'm tired of chasing you away from the dragons Miss Weasley. I'm not going to tell your uncle, because he has too much on his mind right now. And I'm not a teacher here so I don't have authority to write to your parents. However, I'm sure your head of house would be more than happy to write to them."

"I won't go near the dragons again, I promise! Please don't have Lupin write to my parents."

"Mmm-hmmm... that's what you told me last time and look where we are now."

Angie groaned, "But I really mean it this time."

"I'm sure you do."

"I'm not getting out of this am I?"

"Nope."

"Bloody Americans."

"I heard that, its not helping your case. The dragons are here for a reason, to protect the students, and they can't protect you if you're trying to get eaten by one."

"I can't help it if they're sooo cool, I just wanted to see them up close," Angie protested.

Zach smiled at her passion. It was the same way he felt when he had been in school.

Severus and Charlie worked on searching the castle from top to bottom as the afternoon drew to a close. Morgan had remained in the Snapes' chambers with Dierna, while Meg was waiting in her and Charlie's rooms in case the girls came back there. The atmosphere had become very tense as people began to fear the worse. Not even any of the portraits that had been questioned remembered having seen the girls all afternoon.

"Maser Snape, Master Snape!" Misty the house elf, dressed in a ruffled, pink pillowcase caught up with Severus and Charlie where they were searching the dungeons, "Misty knows where the little misses is!"

"Where?!" both men spun around and asked as one.

Misty fought to catch her breath, she had hurried to find them as quickly as she could, "Dobby is saying that the little misses have been in the kitchen all day playing. They is still there now Dobby says."

Serena wrapped her arms around Nick's waist and kissed his neck.

"What do you want hon? I'm working on tactics for the next game."

Serena sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, "nothing I guess."

Nick turned his head to look at her and shut his play book, "ok, spill, that is not what you look like when there is nothing on your mind."

Serena shrugged, "if you're busy..."

"And now you're avoiding the subject, we can do this the hard way or the easy way, but I have every intention of finding out what is bothering you. And you know I'm never too busy for you."

Serena started to cry as Nick's arms encircled her. "I don't know what to do for Dierna. We're so used to sharing everything, but now that Stefan is... is... gone... I don't know what to..." she choked on her tears as she leaned against her boyfriend. "It's just not fair!"

Nick held Serena, just letting her cry. When her tears subsided enough that he thought she would hear what he had to say he tried to comfort her, "I know how you feel hon. Dierna is my closest friend. I can't stand to see her hurt, and it's so hard to watch you hurting over this too."

Serena sniffled, "Mum and Dad have never talked about the last war against Voldemort. They won't bring it up, and when any of us have ever asked about it they don't answer. But I wonder... if maybe this is what its like. Losing people you care about. And for no apparent reason. Why does this happen? What is the point? I'm not sure it's worth the lost lives... not when it hits our family like this."

"I think the cause is worthwhile though. We can't let Voldemort win."

"No we can't..."

Meg started sobbing when Charlie brought Diana back to their rooms. She alternated between nearly crushing the girl in a hug and looking her over to make sure she was unhurt. "What happened sweetie? Where have you been all day? You're not hurt are you? I'm so glad that you're alright. I've been so worried... when I think what could have happened to you..."

Diana looked uncertainly between her parents as she bit her lower lip in indecision.

"Tell her where you have been," Charlie commanded in a tone that Diana knew better than to disobey.

Diana shifted from foot to foot nervously, "Well..."

"Tell her," it was a much harsher command this time.

Diana looked down at the floor, "me and Olivia thought it would be fun to explore, and we found the kitchens... soooo... we've been playing down there all day."

Meg clutched her daughter to her chest, "I'm so glad you're alright, but I can't believe you did that! I've been worried sick. I don't know if I want to hug you or smack you at this point."

"I know what my vote on that issue is," Charlie crossed his arms over his chest.

Diana's lower lip began to tremble as she realized just how angry her father was.

"I cannot believe the stunt you pulled today young lady."

"I'm sorry."

"That doesn't change the amount of worry and fear you put your mother and me through today."
"Diana, what you did today was completely unacceptable," Meg inserted quietly. She glanced at her husband before continuing, "I want you to go to your room now and think about how much trouble you caused for everyone today. We'll be in to talk to you in a few minutes."

"Am I in a lot of trouble?" Diana sniffed.

"Yes." Meg waited until their daughter was in her room before turning to her husband, "I know you're angry Charlie, so am I. But we're not going in there until you calm down a little bit. She knows she's in trouble, she doesn't need to be scared of you on top of that."

Dierna decided to retreat back to the Gryffindor tower for awhile when her father, who looked absolutely furious, returned dragging a whimpering Olivia behind him.

She was grateful to find the 6th year girls' dorm empty. She wasn't in the mood to talk. She sank down onto the edge of her bed and buried her face in her hands. But she didn't cry. There hadn't been any tears yet. The part of her that wanted to believe Stefan was still alive, despite all the evidence to the contrary, knew that if she cried she'd be accepting the fact that he was really gone. She wasn't ready for that yet.

"Hey... would you like some company... or I can just go away if you want," Nimue said tentatively from the doorway.

Dierna managed a small shrug, "you can come in if you want. It doesn't really matter. It doesn't feel like anything matters anymore..." she was no longer talking to her sister, but staring vacantly off into space.

"I was wondering..." Nimue looked at her sister apprehensively, "I was wondering if you'd opened the box that Stefan gave to you before he left."

"What?" Dierna's eyes grew large as she stared at her sister for a long moment, "I'd forgotten about that..." she practically dove off of her bed to dig underneath it for the small box that Stefan had left her with. The one that she was instructed to open only if something happened to him.

She resurfaced from under the bed cradling it in her hands. It was so small really, and yet it was all she really had left from him at this point. A part of her wanted to break down and cry, to scream at the top of her lungs, to curl up in a little ball and just stop living, as she realized this was the last thing Stefan would ever give her.

"Would you like me to leave?" Nimue asked in her quiet way. Dierna would have killed to possess that kind of constant calm and composure at this point. How did her little sister manage it?

"No, you can stay. I'm not so sure I want to be alone after all."

Dierna didn't realize she was holding her breath until after she had the twine untied from the box. She pulled out the contents, a folded piece of parchment. As she carefully unfolded it something small and gold fell into her lap. She wrapped her left hand around the small metal object as she read the letter, written in Stefan's familiar hand.

My dearest Dierna, I can only assume that if you're reading this you have either disobeyed my instructions and you're going to have to answer for it when I come home, or that something has happened to me. I would like to think it is the former, but I've known all along that it was likely to be the latter. It was so hard for me to tell you goodbye this summer, especially knowing that there was a good chance I wouldn't be coming back to you. But I couldn't tell you that, I couldn't be selfish and ruin your last memories of me by destroying all of our hopes and dreams for the future. There is so much I wanted to tell you in this letter, but I'm starting to question how much I should say. In short, I love you. From the moment I set eyes on you I was infatuated. You're everything I ever hoped for and so much more. I wanted to marry you; I was only waiting until I was sure your father wouldn't kill me for asking. You'll find enclosed what would have been your engagement ring, had I been given the chance to give it to you. I would have liked to have given it to you the night I left. To go down on one knee and give you the kind of proposal you deserve. But somehow it didn't seem right, I didn't want to claim you for myself when I knew the odds against my returning to you. Please keep the ring. I would be honored if you wore it and thought of me.
I will always love you,
Stefan

Dierna sighed heavily as she tightened her grip on the ring before opening her hand to look at it. She fingered the smooth gold band set with a pearl with a small diamond on either side, "he always knew pearls were my favorite..." She hesitated a moment before slipping it onto her left ring finger. It fit perfectly, but she ripped it off again right away. If she put it on herself she was admitting he was gone. He was supposed to give it to her.