Tia woke slowly, through a haze of pain and unfinished memories. She didn't know where she was, but there was a fire burning, and for some reason she thought of a cabin in the woods and an unfair board game.

Memory returned with a start, and she leapt to her feet. Or at least she would have leapt to her feet if she'd been able to move. The best she managed was a kind of shiver. A binding spell. Only magic could hold a person that tightly. Suddenly Tia wished she was still asleep. Looking around she saw Kerry, similarly held against a tree a few feet away. He was awake and staring at something on the other side of the small clearing they were in. The trees of the dark forest loomed all around. Obviously, the nightmare wasn't over yet.

"Father. She's awake." Grant was sitting on a stone nearby, watching her.

"Just keep an eye on her. I'm busy." Seldon senior was leaning over a bowl, mixing in some ingredients, and chanting occasionally. Then Tia caught sight of the large red and gold candle, burning brightly. It was very near the end. She swallowed.

"How long was I…?"

"Quite some time." Grant grinned. He was probably enjoying his revenge. "Your magic resistance must be pretty low. Your friend here has been awake for hours."

Tia ignored that. "Everyone at the castle will have figured it out by now." She was fairly certain the teachers couldn't ignore the fact that two students had gone missing, put together with what she had told Dumbledore. "They'll be swarming all over this forest soon."

"You think so? I was under the impression you were on such bad terms with the staff they wouldn't lift a finger to help you."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm still a student…we're still students…they can't let anything happen to any student…" Tia was having trouble thinking straight.

"Actually, we're counting on that. You see, this process gives off quite a bit of magical energy. Enough to bring us to the notice of a sensitive wizard like Dumbledore, even without you trying to warn him. It was a risk we were prepared to take. Until you solved it for us."

"What do you mean?" Tia already knew, but asked anyway.

"You're hostages, of course. Those teachers don't dare come anywhere near this forest so long as we have you alive. We sent them an ultimatum saying as much, and they haven't bothered us since. Really, it was extremely generous of you. I'm sure Lord Voldemort will be very…grateful."

Tia felt sick. Partly because she was listening to a Gryffindor use the most cliché evil lines in the book, but mostly because she'd been stupid enough to get into a situation where cliché lines were appropriate. "You know, I really have no clue how you ended up in Gryffindor." She muttered.

"Oh but I do." Tia hadn't pegged Grant as the type to enjoy showing off, but obviously she'd had it wrong. "It wasn't easy, tricking that stupid rag of a hat, but patience will always prevail. Father started giving me memory charms months before I came to school. Soon, all I could think were silly little Gryffindorish thought about bravely standing up to those awful school bullies I'd heard so much about. I was frightened, but I cast away my fear and…boom! The hat put me in Gryffindor. Once safely ensconced, it was an easy matter for father to remove the charms and restore me to my normal self. And no one ever suspects a Gryffindor. It was a great place to be, even before father came up with this plan." He waved a hand to the side, indicating that she knew the rest of the story.

"So what you're saying, is, you were supposed to be in Slytherin, but you tricked the hat into putting you in Gryffindor."

"Pretty much."

"I'm disappointed. Here I was, really hoping for a chance to catch Gryffindor out, and here you are telling me you're still a disgrace to my House."

"Disgrace?" Grant's father finally turned. "You're not really one to talk. Consider your family. Your mother absolutely refused to join with Lord Voldemort, despite her honorable lineage, and your father was foolish enough to allow her to capture him following Voldemort's temporary defeat. Insults to the Slytherin code." He shook his head in mock dismay. "Your father never should have sent us away. Three together, your mother wouldn't have stood a chance. He must have been trying to protect you…isn't that honorable?"

"My father tried to kill me." Tia corrected, bluntly.

"Oh? Is that what happened. Tsk, couldn't even kill a child right."

"Voldemort himself couldn't kill a child right."

Seldon's eyes flashed, but he controlled himself. Tia was oddly disappointed, she thought she must be losing her touch. Then again, goading the wizard into killing her was probably not the best way out of a hostage situation. Seldon just smiled and continued as if she hadn't spoken. "A shame really, about your parents. They were both so skilled…how they produced you, I won't ever understand.

"Do you realize it was your incompetence that helped us out on another aspect of this endeavor? Ah, I see you don't. This spell required some very rare ingredients, and we were wondering how we could obtain some without causing an uproar over their theft. Then the stock room went up in flames…and suddenly everything that disappeared was blamed on the fire. No one remembered that they'd kept the truly valuable reagents behind fire-proof barriers. They were too busy being angry…at you." He smiled. Tia looked away, met Kerry's gaze. His eyes flickered to the candle and back. Forget the insults, he was clearly saying. We need to do something about that.

Her eyes were drawn back to the candle. It was burning very bright, and grew brighter the lower it burned. This couldn't be happening. Voldemort was going to come back, and it would be her fault. Well, partly. The only one of the people to blame who didn't want it to happen, anyway. She couldn't really count Kerry. He never should have been dragged into this. She glanced over at him again, but he was focused on the candle, still trying to think of a way out. Which is what she should be doing as well. Tia forced herself to think, but it wasn't easy.

Grant and his father were watching the flame eagerly. Maybe it wouldn't work. Right, and maybe her wand would fly across the clearing of its own volition and allow her to stop this whole mess before…before…

The wand. Wizards used wands to help channel their energy, to make spells more powerful. A simple spell wouldn't need a wand to work, something that any child could cast. Tia used to make little balls of light dance around her room at home…but what good would a ball of light do? That required too much hand movement anyway, she doubted she could do more than clench a fist…and…she had it!

Tia closed her eyes, concentrating, picturing the clearing around her in her mind. She imagined her hand over it, descending. Then, as quickly as she could against the spell that bound her, she closed her hand around itself. Symbolism was always a big deal in those little spells.

"Noctem." She whispered, and darkness descended. It wasn't as powerful as when she'd cast it back at the school, but it was enough to cover the glade. Someone gave a cry of dismay. Tia felt the spell holding her lift, as it's caster put all his energy into trying to maintain the candle. Tia shot forward in the dark. "Kerry!" she called. "The spell!" She knew the candle was actually still alight, hidden behind the illusion of darkness, and it wouldn't be long before Seldon realized it as well. She flung her arms out wide and connected with something metallic. The bowl. She gripped the edge and flung it as hard as she could. She heard it crash against something, and then the darkness lifted.

Seldon stood, wand ablaze with light, and stared at the remains of the potion, dripping down a tree trunk. Then he spun to watch as the candle, reaching the end of it's life, suddenly flared bright as the sun. They watched as the light diminished, revealing…an unburned candle. The dark wizard gazed at the stretch of tallow, and then turned, very slowly, towards Tia. She took one look at his eyes and ran, just as Kerry headed in the opposite direction.

"Stop them!" Tia heard the shout, and then Grant barreled into her from the side. She tripped and fell, trying to roll out of his way, but he followed too fast. She felt him catch hold of her arm, and then blast of magic flew past her, catching him full in the chest and knocking him against a tree, where he slid to the ground, unconscious yet again.

Tia stood up carefully, looking around in surprise. Professor Snape was standing just outside the firelight, wand still raised and looking like he'd enjoyed the excuse to hit someone, especially a Gryffindor. For once, Tia couldn't have been happier to see him. She turned back to the center of the clearing, in time to see several men, Ministry police by the look of them, take hold of a magically subdued Seldon. The dark wizard turned toward her and caught sight of Snape.

"I should have known it would be you, traitor," he hissed. Snape shrugged.

"Silentius." he said, waving his wand slightly. Seldon's mouth snapped shut, though he looked as though he would like to say more. Tia started to ask, but Snape shot her a glance that said if she so much as opened her mouth, he'd cast the same on her. She choked back the question and decided to file it away for later.

Snape walked past the still-glaring Seldon and into the clearing, where Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore were waiting, with Kerry standing nearby. Tia took one look at the murder in Seldon's eyes and hurried away. She didn't want to be nearby if those Ministry police lost control. Finding herself in front of the three most feared teachers in Hogwarts, however, she suddenly wondered if she wouldn't prefer Seldon. Or Voldemort for that matter.

Kerry ran forward to meet her. "Tia! You're alright…I thought we were both…" He glanced around, saw the teachers glaring at him. "I mean…"

"Miss Tiamat Raven!" McGonagall finally broke in. "Do you have any idea what almost happened here?"

"Do I…have any…idea?" Tia was shocked. What kind of a stupid question was that? And how come they immediately assumed it was her fault? She took a step forward, a millimeter from telling every teacher there exactly what she thought of them and their regard for the intelligence of students, when the glade started to spin around her. Grateful for the hand of fate that saved her from doing something stupid, she decided that fainting would be an extremely proper action, under the circumstances.