It was Lavender. She was pointing a shaking hand at the doors into the Great Hall. A young man stood in the doorway looking pale as death and nearly as filthy. Pain filled eyes searched the hall until they settled on Rose. "Vesta," he moaned. Then he slid slowly to the ground, unconscious.
George, Fred, Daniel and Ron were already up and moving towards the fallen man by the time many of the students even knew what had happened. They surrounded him and Ron checked his pulse, finding it weak but steady. Dumbledore stood up, raising his arms for silence. "It's all right. Everyone please continue your dinner. Miss Jameson would you and your class please join me in the infirmary?" They all headed towards the still unconscious man, the Headmaster in the lead. Lunia managed to perch on Rose with Vestan, Phantom with Segan on Ana, Solida ended up on Monica, and to everyone's shock Fianna voluntarily perched on Draco's shoulder. He got many strange looks, most of which came from his own housemates. Especially when he joined Harry and the rest. Upon reaching the four boys standing over the newcomer, he said, "Would you all mind carrying him? It would take much to long to get a stretcher."
They nodded. George grasped the young man under one arm and Fred got the other. Daniel and Ron picked up his feet. He was much lighter than they would have thought, so the journey to the infirmary was not difficult, though it was silent.
Upon reaching the infirmary, the 16 conscious people were met with a concerned and confused medi-witch. She directed them to place the mysterious gentleman on the nearest bed and began examining him. Dumbledore turned to the Guardians. "Miss Jameson, do you know this young man?"
Rose looked at him and then at the new patient. She swallowed hard and glanced at Rhia, who was pale. "His name is Alaster Raine," Rose said. "I have no idea what he's doing here, or how he found me."
"How do you know him?" George asked. He and Daniel were standing on either side of the head of the bed. Madame Pomfrey kept scanning Alaster's mid-section with her wand.
"His family has known of mine for hundreds of years. They've waited centuries to find the Guardians." Rose said. She sighed. "It looks like he finally succeeded where so many generations failed."
"He's sustained a severe injury to his chest Headmaster. Something sliced him up before he reached us," interrupted the medi-witch. She started to remove his shirt. The black cloth was caked with dried blood. There was an even more blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his chest. As Madame Pomfrey cut away the bandage, Monica stepped forward to help. There was a long diagonal slash across his pale chest, still trickling blood in places. George and Daniel stepped back to allow the two healers to get to work. In the meantime, Dumbledore looked at the Jamesons.
"What does he want the Shards for?" Lynne asked. She had turned away from the wounded Alaster to stare at a wall.
"Not the Shards," Rhia said. "The Guardians."
Reggie was staring at the flying fingers of Madame Pomfrey as she magicked the wound clean and wrapped a fresh bandage around it. "What would they want us for?"
"We're not sure," Rose said, "but we've always avoided them."
Dumbledore smiled at them all. "It's coming together."
"What's coming together?" Draco asked. His voice was chilly, but only out of defense against what was before him.
"It'll be revealed to you," said the headmaster, "when it is time." He turned to the medi-witch. "When you're finished, please revive him long enough to talk to them Poppy. There are things he must tell us before much more time passes." She nodded and went to fetch an Awakening potion.
Dumbledore looked once more at Alaster and said, "I think I'll return to the Great Hall. I have some teachers to calm." He turned to the Jamesons again. "I'll send your sister to you." Rhia and Rose nodded. With his trademark twinkle bright and lively in his eyes, Dumbledore left the infirmary.
Madame Pomfrey returned and handed a small vial to Monica. "Wave this under his nose and he should wake up. I've already given him something for the pain, so he should be okay for about twenty minutes. Then he MUST sleep if he is to heal properly." Then she went back to her workstation, leaving the Guardians with the man who had hunted them.
Monica took a deep breath and looked at the others. "Well, here it goes." She waved the vial under his nose. He inhaled pale blue vapor. In the next instant, his eyes were wide open and staring at them. Monica had cleaned his face while Madame Pomfrey was working on his wound. His face was still pale, but clean now. There was a thin scratch under his left eye. His eyes were hazel, no longer pain-filled. He pushed himself into a sitting position, still staring at them silently.
"Hello Alaster," Rose said. Her eyes were as gray as Rhia's. He turned those hazel eyes to her and stared.
"What do you want?" George asked from his side. Alaster turned to look at him. His expression showed disbelief, as he slowly looked at every one of the 15 students that were crowded around the bed.
"Great Light," he murmured finally. "You're all here." He smiled. No one smiled back.
"What are you doing here Raine?" Rhia asked. She had tucked her left hand into the folds of her robe. Harry found it, and held it in his own. Her hand was cold with fear.
"I came to help you," he shook his head, "The Guardians, all of them in one place and I found them." He grinned. "At last."
"Help us with what?" Ana asked him.
He smiled at her. "You must be Gaea, the Earth Mother. I am here to help train you in your gifts. My family is one of teachers. I know more about your gifts, than you do."
"That's not her name," Daniel said. "What do you mean you are here to train us?"
Alaster looked at him for a moment. "You are Brand, the sword blade. My family has studied all literature about the Guardians, and the Guardians themselves for centuries. There were only a few families that we were sure had the lineage; the Jamesons, the Emmortals, the Weasleys and the Tasners. We followed the Jamesons, for they were the leaders."
"Yes, but why? Why follow them at all? What was the purpose?" Hermione asked. All those, whose names he'd listed were staring at Alaster, stunned.
He smiled, "You must be Veda, the seeker of knowledge. The purpose is to aid you in your work. Have you not found the training difficult?"
"We haven't even started yet," Neville said.
"Oh. Well that is good Teva, nature walker. That means you don't have anything to unlearn." Alaster said.
"Why do you keep calling them by names that aren't theirs?" Draco asked.
Alaster narrowed him eyes at the Slytherin. "Ah. You are Draco. The dragon. I did not know your birthnames, only your gifts. The names are linked to those."
"But his name IS Draco." Monica said.
Alaster blinked. "Really? How odd. You are Althia of course. The Healer."
"How would you help us?" Harry asked.
Alaster looked at him, and his eyes went immediately to his scar. "You are Barrak. Lightning. I know how you are to control your gifts. I can teach you how to use them to the full extent, for the good of what you Guard."
"Is that why you called me Vesta, in the Great Hall?" Rose asked, before his gaze could move to Rhia.
"Yes. You are the guardian of the sacred fire. The fire of life." Alaster said. "You are also the leader of this band, and the one who needs my help the least, for you know your gift, and have used it throughout your life."
Ron cleared his throat. "You said you knew my family had the lineage. You haven't followed us? How do you know this?"
"You are the fighter, Donaghy. And a Weasley I think. My family keeps a loose eye on all the ones we suspected, but some of you are a surprise." His gaze flicked to Hermione and Monica. "For some of you, our eye was too loose, and we could not spare you pain." Now his eyes fell on Harry and Neville. "But my job is to see that you can do yours. When the time comes."
"You gave us all names. What were they?" Reggie asked.
Alaster frowned and looked back and forth between Reggie and Lynne. "You, and your sister, are the child of the wind Canace and the waterfall, Linne. I cannot say which is which yet. There is also Tivona, lover of nature," He glanced at Ginny, who was pale where she stood next to Neville. "And the staff bearer, Virgil and the archer, Iomar. That must be the two of you," he nodded at Fred and George. "Which leaves you," he looked directly at Rhia, "to be Levina. Your gift is a mystery, because there is only one thing known about you."
"I know what that one thing is, and they already know my gift." Rhia said.
Alaster nodded thoughtfully and looked at them all. He frowned suddenly. "I think the potion is wearing off." Then he was asleep.
"Blessed Hell! What is he doing here?" Cora exclaimed from the doorway. "We don't have time to start this all again somewhere else. And moving 15 people to another country would be extremely difficult."
"Be quiet Cora. He's asleep." Rose said softly. They all stepped away from the bed.
"I don't care if he's bleeding to death. How did he find us?" Cora asked. Her delicate blue eyes were obviously furious.
"We don't actually know yet. He's not here to harm us. In fact he is here to train us." Rhia told her sister.
"Our family has been running from his for centuries and now you're telling me he's not dangerous?" Cora asked.
"She didn't say that. He said his family's been following us, so that when the time was right, they could help us to do our jobs," Ana said softly.
"He gave us names too." Lynne said, "Though mine and Draco's are the same or nearly. Names that fit our gifts."
"You mean he knows of all of you?" Cora asked.
"He does now." George said. "Apparently he's known of our family for centuries."
"And mine," Daniel said.
"And mine," Ana put in. Her voice was still soft, and stunned.
"But Monica and I were a surprise to him," Hermione said.
"Well Monica would be. She was an alternate," Cora said. "But Hermione you,"
"What?" Monica said.
Cora's eyes widened. "Oh. Uh…" She looked at Rose and Rhia. Both of them were frowning at her.
"Professor Jameson," Draco started. "Perhaps you should finish." His eyes were cold again.
Cora cleared her throat. "Raine followed another family line. Until it ended."
"What do you mean?" Monica asked. "He didn't know about me because I wasn't supposed to be a Guardian?"
"No, not that. You were always a Guardian… even before you were born. He was just first in the Records." Cora said.
"Who?" Monica asked.
"What Records?" Hermione asked. Ron tapped her shoulder to distract her. It worked.
Cora looked at her sisters again. They nodded, resigned now. Cora took a deep breath. "Cedric Diggory."
"But he died," Monica started.
"Yes. He died because he was to be a Guardian. Voldemort thought to disable you all, by taking one of your number. He did not, and I hope to Merlin still doesn't, know of Monica's family. Yours was completely left out of the Records for security reasons, for just such a time as this." Cora explained.
"What Records?" Hermione asked again. She gave Ron a steely look when he tried to distract her again.
"It's a bad copy of your book actually Hermione. And it doesn't have everything yours has." Rose said.
"Unfortunately for us," Rhia said, "It has knowledge enough to be dangerous, and we think Voldemort has it." They were quiet then, thinking of what that implicated.
"Would this be a large, thick book with a green leather cover and a Phoenix embossed on the front?" Draco asked suddenly.
"Yes…" Cora said, staring at him. "How did you know?"
He smiled. "Because I have it."
"WHAT?!?!?!" All three Jameson sisters exclaimed.
"It's in my trunk. I took it from our library at home because it looked interesting." Draco said. He straightened his back and looked more arrogant than ever as what that meant about his family occurred to the group.
"Voldemort knew that Cedric was of the Dianor line…" Rhia said.
Draco's chin went up and his eyes went cold. "I took it this summer. Never saw it before that. I can't even read it. It's in some ancient language."
"Perhaps it will help Hermione with her book if you bring it to the meeting tomorrow." Rose said. "A contribution to the cause." Jaw still set and eyes still cold, he nodded. Monica was looking at him, bewildered.
"What meeting?" George asked.
"I've just decided that we will meet here after lunch tomorrow. It's Saturday, so after the Quidditch meeting I'm sure some of you will have, there will be no classes," Rose said. "We need to talk to Alaster some more and perhaps plan some practice sessions outside of class. And I still need to talk to the Headmaster about a practice field for us."
"Maybe we should go to bed now," Neville said. "It's almost curfew."
"Good idea Neville," Ginny said. "Professor, would you mind escorting us to our dormitories? We don't want to get caught in the halls after curfew again."
It was only then that all dannikits returned to their own companions. Monica patted Solida one more time before the kit went to Fred. Fianna had made not a sound, nor a movement the entire time she sat on Draco's shoulder. He had walked carefully and tried not to unbalance or otherwise bother her, the entire time. She in turn, ignored him completely, even though he had carried her for the better part of half an hour. She leapt to Ron's shoulder and somehow made her way into her box from there. As they left the infirmary, Starlight glided into the room. The cat mrowled at Ron and he wiggled his fingers at her in response. Then she went to Alaster's sleeping form and leaping onto the bed, curled on top of his feet her green eyes staring at the students. "I guess she's taking up guarding him herself," Ron said.
"This is the first time I've seen her in two days and the wretched feline didn't even acknowledge me," Cora grumbled. "Let's go all of you." She escorted them through the quiet castle. They met no one, nor did they talk. Everyone was trying to absorb what they had learned. They left Draco at the end of the hall from the Slytherin dormitory. No one noticed when Monica slipped back around the corner.
She stopped Draco just after he said his password, but before he could step into the empty Common Room, with a hand on his arm. His back was still straight and his chin still up in the air. He whirled on her, an obviously scathing comment on the tip of his tongue and blue eyes that froze her where she stood. With an effort, he swallowed the comment and tried to school his features into a semblance of normalcy. She was staring at him quizzically. "What do you want?" he asked, his tone harsher than he meant it to be.
"Someday," Monica whispered, "I hope you'll tell me what that was about."
"Nothing. It's the past," he said, thinking, [I] but it could be the future as well… If my father…[/I]
"If you say so. Are you all right?" she asked him, her hand coming back to rest on his arm.
"I'm perfectly fine. Shouldn't you catch up to the others?" he snapped.
"Hmmm… You're not fine, but there is nothing I can do about what is wrong," she answered thoughtfully. "Yet." He stared at her, his expression unreadable. She patted his still rigidly straight spine. "But I do know what to do about the broom handle you've got stuck in there."
"What?" He was honestly bewildered now.
"I can get rid of it." He blinked at her. She smiled with a twinkle in her purple eyes. "It belongs…" She took a deep breath, "in a broom closet." His jaw dropped. Her grin grew until she was nearly laughing out loud. He told himself later that he did it to keep her from laughing and possibly getting them caught… but he didn't do a good job of convincing himself. With a suddenness that shocked them both he swooped down and kissed her. Before she could even move, he was gone. After a stunned moment Monica grinned again, then hurried after the others.
When the rest of the Guardians reached the Ravenclaw dormitory, where they were to drop off the Emmortals, Ana and Monica, the latter was looking a little more flushed than usual. She came from behind the others and slipped into the Ravenclaw Tower without a word. Then the Gryffindors made their way to their own Tower and their beds. Cora left them at the portrait of the Fat Lady.
All four Weasleys were thoughtful and the twins barely managed their goodnights before disappearing up the stairs to their dorm. Ginny was pale as she stumbled to her room, Erian whirring comfortingly. "Good night you all," Neville muttered as he too made his way up the stairs. Hermione hugged Ron, Nildur trilling worriedly as she turned and without a word, went to bed. Now there was only Rose, Ron, Rhia, and Harry left in the Common Room.
"Good night," Ron said. "See you in bit Harry." Then he too was up the stairs.
Rose looked at Rhia, who was looking at Harry, who was looking back at her. "Good night you two. See you at Breakfast." She got no response. Smiling slightly, she shoved aside the tapestry over her door and disappeared.
"You want to ask me something, don't you Harry?" Rhia said. She sat down on the couch, pulling him down beside her.
He smiled, "Yes, actually." He glanced up at Kali'na's front paw, all he could see of her. She climbed from his head to the back of the couch. She settled there, staring into the fire. His green gaze returned to Rhia's. "Alaster said your gift was a mystery. How is that possible, when he knew everyone else's?"
She smiled at him, her gray eyes sparkling with mischief. "I'm very good at hiding."
He grinned. "I would imagine so." His hand found hers again and they watched the fire for a while.
"That wasn't all, was it Harry?" Rhia asked softly.
"I just wondered what the one thing that is known about you was." He looked at her solemn face. "You don't have to tell me. I just wondered."
Rhia sighed. "I can't tell you, not yet. Too many things hang in the balance. No matter how much I wish I could, I can't."
He was drowning in her eyes. Those imploring gray pools had just sucked him in, without so much as a warning splash. "It's all right," he heard himself say. "I understand." She smiled in relief. He stared at her. "I have one more question." She nodded. "May I kiss you goodnight?" She went completely still, then nodded once again.
He leaned in and kissed her. The shock was different this time, almost painful in its intensity. But it was gone after the first contact. Then there were only his lips, and hers. He pulled back first. Those beautiful gray eyes of hers were cloudy and dazed. He grinned a purely male grin. After a moment, she blinked to clear her vision and she saw that grin. He never saw the fist that hit him in the gut. He grunted, still grinning, albeit painfully. She slipped free the hand he still held and stepped away. "Mr. Potter, you are positively shocking," she exclaimed, glaring at him. After a pause he let himself chuckle. She allowed herself a small smile. "Okay, bad choice of words." She sat down on the couch again, but a bit further away from him. "It's a good thing Alaster is here I suppose." Her smile stretched. "He can teach you how to kiss…" Harry frowned. Rhia laughed. "…without zapping me."
"That would be useful." He said grinning at her. They both laughed.
"Good night Harry," she said finally.
"Good night Rhia," he answered, but neither of them moved until Kali'na trilled. He stood, scooping her up. Rhia remained sitting. He headed towards the stairs. At the top he turned back only to be momentarily blinded by the light from the settling fire and to find her already gone. He sighed and turned to his door, nearly tripping over a pacing Shadow. "Oh, sorry Shadow, did Ron shut you out?" He pushed it open and watched as the gray cat ran ahead of him to his bed and jumped gracefully onto it. Ron had kindly left one candle burning in the candelabra for him. He changed quickly, and climbed under the covers. He fell asleep smiling, with Shadow purring and Kali'na whirring.
***
"That's wonderful George. I'm so glad. We're going to need that sort of thing all too soon." Harry whispered back.
"There's more," George said as they rounded a corner and passed through a crowd of third years headed outside. "We've made you a silent partner."
"You've what?" Harry burst out. They got some strange looks from fellow students and Harry waited until they were in an empty corridor before asking again, "You've done what?"
"We've made you a silent partner, because of your investment," George said with a grin. "That means we make the jokes, and you will eventually get a share of the profits. When there are some."
"But that's not why I did it George. I don't want,"
"Stow it Harry. You deserve it. We don't even know if we'll make any money at all." George said. But there was a gleam in his eyes that said otherwise. Harry gave up trying to argue as they reached the Library.