Title: The Young Order
Rating: Probably PG, perhaps PG-13, who knows? Some where in-between there, at most PG-13 just to be safe. God knows what this mindless authoress would write...x]
Disclaimer: I, sadly, own nothing of J.K. Rowling's, and nothing in the HP universe. If I did, do you think would have died?!?! OF COURSE NOT!
Summary: Just read and find out…
Author's Note: BACK AGAIN!!! WOOOOOT!
The girls had decided that every time a full moon rolled around, they would have a slumber party in the Gryffindor fifth year girls' dormitory. It was the last night of the full moon for this month, and Laurel had been steadily getting more and more bitter. She had groused on numerous occasions that there shouldn't be any reason to stay away from the Forbidden Forest, so long as they were careful. But she had promised Remus that she wouldn't go running around at night until she could successfully transform into her own animal, and so indoors she remained.
They stayed up in the Common Room until three o' clock in the morning each full moon night, practicing their transformation either physically or reading up on the theory. Treasure had been practicing extra with James and Sirius, so she had caught up with Laurel and Lily by now. She had gotten as far as a pair of enormous black wings, but when she jumped off one of the tables to try to fly around, she had crashed unceremoniously onto the floor. It was the first time Laurel had laughed in three nights.
Lily was sitting in a squashy arm chair, reading up once again on the technique behind Animagi transformations. "Treasure, it says here that you really have to think about the animal you want to become…" she trailed off at the very cross look on her friend's face. "What the hell do you think I'm doing?" Treasure demanded, flapping around her wings awkwardly. Laura was laying on a couch with her face in her hands, swishing around her bushy white tail.
Lily stood up and sat on a table cross-legged, closing her eyes. Treasure eyed her warily, and smiled as bushy red ears appeared on Lily's head, and her eyes became rounder and larger. By now, Lily was able to transform the more detailed parts of the fox, having each of her fingernails turned into sharp little claws and sometimes even her teeth were pointed. It looked as though Lily was going to be the first successful Animagus among them.
"This is stupid," Laurel said peevishly, picking up her wand and performing the reversal spell on herself. The tail vanished instantly. Treasure and Lily looked sympathetically at Laurel. "Don't worry, we'll get it eventually," Treasure said hopefully. Laurel said nothing, only headed up to the dorms where Lily had conjured a cot for her.
Treasure climbed into her own bed, "Can you believe that April break is almost over?" she moaned, covering her face tiredly with her hands. They had finished all their homework in the first two days and were left with plenty of free time for whatever else they wished to do - unfortunately, Lily made sure that studying profusely for the upcoming O.W.L. exams was something they did for at least three hours a day. Treasure would never succumb to admitting it, but she was grateful.
The only thing that took Laurel's mind off of their inability to become Animagi within a week was the new fashion line that Treasure seemed intent on designing. Treasure dug through all her old skirts, all the uniform skirts that she was forced to wear all week long, and cut them up into asymmetrical skirts and mini skirts and pleated jumpers that she stitched magically into not-so-conservative pseudo-uniforms. Laurel had jumped on the bandwagon as soon as she saw them, and now all the two did at night was cut up more fabric that Treasure had gotten at Hogsmeade from all the times she snuck off there instead of going to Potions.
Lily didn't care for the short skirts, having had enough revealing attire on Halloween.
A topic of conversation that the girls had more often than not was the new girl, Kathrynn. Laurel was still adamant in her in her dislike for the girl, who still had an army of admirers.
"I don't think she's that pretty, personally…awfully pale…sickly looking, like Snape," Laurel said indignantly, as a boy that she had dated the previous year, Richard Draken, went chasing after Kathrynn carrying a cloak - Kathrynn was stepping out for a walk across the grounds. They didn't seem to understand that she was currently unavailable and out of reach, she was dating Lucius Malfoy. Treasure remarked about this quite snidely, "He's a good deal older than her, isn't he?" she asked.
"No, not really," Lily answered. "He's only about twenty-two,"
"I heard he's a right boring old bloke - and mean too," Laurel said, examining her perfect nails. Treasure hid her smile behind her hair.
"Why is she here, anyway?" she asked curiously. "No doubt visiting her slime cousin, Snape," said Laurel viciously. Snape had made a point of snooping around each month when Remus was off - he was dead curious as to what was going on. Laurel threatened to curse him if he didn't leave them alone, but he merely stared at her and walked away. Eva had taken to calling Laurel and Remus the "Creature Feature Couple", which made the Marauders and Company very nervous, because it seemed that more people suspected Remus of his being a werewolf. Laurel was in increasingly bad moods as of late.
The girls were whispering by wand light, annoyed that they couldn't plan their own monthly adventures as the boys did. "Then again," Treasure said, grinning, "We have enough monthly events, not usually of the pleasant," she said. Laurel and Lily nodded, giggling.
"Hey, Tres," Laurel said slyly. Treasure looked up, "What?" Laurel was grinning as she leaned over - she was seated on Lily's bed - and pushed Treasure's hair aside, illuminating her neck. "Treasure!" Lily admonished. Treasure flushed, knocking Laurel's wand away and pressing a hand to her neck. "It's nothing…I burned myself while blow-drying my hair," Treasure said. Laurel snorted. "Tres, from the state of your hair, I think it's safe to say that you don't blow-dry it…your wand would explode," she said. Treasure tried to look offended, but gave up as she started laughing. "Too true," she said, smoothing back her unruly hair.
Lily was still staring fixedly at Treasure's neck. "I don't understand why you let them do that…" she said. Treasure looked up, "Do what?" she asked stupidly. Laurel rolled her eyes. "It's not a big deal, Lils, you'll get one…one of these days…James is just biding his ti-"
SMACK. Laurel was knocked off the bed with the force of Lily's pillow. Treasure gave a joyous shout, not caring whether or not she woke up Violet and Isabelle, - in fact, hoping for it - and pounced, thrashing her own pillow around a bit violently.
They tromped around for a good quarter of an hour until Violet shrieked for them to stop. Then they lay, each sprawled pink faced on her own bed with feathers in her hair, catching their breath until they fell asleep.
The Marauders were not present at breakfast the next day, a fact which Treasure and Laurel regarded with worry. They sat together, munching on toast and bacon, craning their necks every few minutes to look around for Sirius or Remus. Lily rolled her eyes, "Honestly, did it every occur to you two that maybe they wanted to sleep in? After all," she lowered her voice, "Running around with a werewolf could be a bit tiring," Lily noticed that Kathrynn was also looking around more often than not. She mentioned this to Treasure and Laurel.
Laurel didn't even care about what Lily had said about mentioned, and Treasure didn't seem remotely perturbed either. They forced themselves to calm down as they went out for a scrimmage Quidditch match. It lasted for two hours, Lily patiently reading in the stands below as her friends zoomed around happily on their broomsticks. Then they went in for a quick lunch, and up to an empty classroom to practice their Animagi training for another three hours. By five they were starving, going down for a dinner feast and then up to the library to study. They studied until nine and went back to the Gryffindor Common Room with their heads throbbing.
"Sirius?…Violet, have you seen Sirius?" Treasure asked, not even deterred from the fact that it was Violet she was asking. Violet smirked, "Oh, did he finally leave you, Belle?" she asked. Treasure walked away, and spotted Peter Pettigrew sitting in a corner, looking frightened.
"Peter! Peter, where's Sirius?" Treasure demanded. "And Remus?" Laurel snapped. "And James," Lily said, shrugging as Treasure and Laurel turned to stare at her. "He was with them, too, wasn't he?" she said defensively, blushing. Peter trembled, "They didn't get back yet?" he asked, his voice quavering. Treasure's eyes widened, "No, why?"
"We got s-separated last night…we were in Hogsmeade at first, and then we went up the mountains to explore the caves up there…"
"What do you mean, you got separated?" Laurel demanded. Peter looked frightened, "Well, I'm not exactly the fastest when I transform," he said meekly. "And the other rats…they were saying that up in the caves…it was dangerous,"
"AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO TELL SIRIUS AND JAMES THIS?" Treasure shrieked. Peter winced, "We were running about with a werewolf…if I transformed back, I might have gotten bitten!" he said.
"Where did you last see them?" Treasure demanded. Peter looked as though he was frightened that she'd curse him. Treasure didn't think that would be such a bad idea. "Just up the t-trail to the mountains…then I turned back…you could still see Hogsmeade from where I was," he said.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Laurel, go get your broom from the Hufflepuff dorm and meet me outside the one-eyed witch statue." Treasure said firmly. Lily stared at Treasure, "What are you on about?" she asked. Treasure was glaring at Peter. "They should have been back this morning," she said nastily, turning around and heading up to her own dorm to get her broom.
"So what are we going to do about it?" Lily asked, hurrying to keep up. Treasure was a good deal taller than Lily, and had longer legs. "We're going to find them, of course."
"But…why don't we just wait 'til morning? I'm sure Remus and Sirius can take care of themselves…James too," Lily added. "Well, they would have been back by this morning…and Remus is not always in top shape after a full moon,"
"He does look a bit peaky afterwards, but that's no reason -"
"Lily, are you going to come or not?" Treasure asked, pulling out her broom and a cloak, it still got a bit cool at night. Lily hurried over and pulled at her cloak as well, as Treasure hastily tied back her hair. "I don't have a broom," she said. Treasure shrugged, offering a wry grin. Lily had the idea that Treasure was just itching for an adventure.
Laurel was standing rather confused by the one-eyed, hunchbacked witch. Treasure and Lily hurried over, both with their wands out and lit. "What do you presume we do, Treasure?" Laurel said. Treasure didn't bother to answer, only tapped the hump on the witch's back with her wand, muttering "Dissendium," as she did so.
Both Lily and Laurel watched in amazement as a hole big enough for one person to squeeze through opened up on the witch's hump. Treasure darted through and started running, leaving Lily and Laurel to run behind her. The hump would close on its own, eventually.
"What…is this place?" Lily asked, breathing heavily after a few moments of silence.
"It's a secret passage," Treasure explained, nearly as breathless but not willing to slow down. "No shit," Laurel muttered, nearly tripping as they had to climb stairs. "It leads to the Honeyduke's Cellar," Treasure said, taking the steps two and three at a time. It took them a good few minutes to reach the top where Treasure hastily shoved at an inconspicuous tile and pulled herself through to Honeydukes.
She pulled Lily up after her, and turned around to give Laurel a hand up.
"And you wanted to get late night sweets why?" Laurel grumbled. Treasure glared. "Because Peter said that they were in Hogsmeade last night…there might be a chance that they're still here…as soon as I find Sirius I'm going to tell him that we have to expand the Marauder's Map past Hogwarts grounds, I swear," she muttered to herself.
They ran out of Honeydukes without so much as looking at the candy, shivering in the cool night air. "Mount," Treasure said, climbing onto her own broom. Laurel sat gracefully atop her Shooting Star, and Lily climbed onto the back of Treasure's Lightning 957. Lily held nervously onto Treasure's robes as they rose higher, not very fond of broomsticks or heights. Laurel's shining silver hair was glinting as it reflected the waning moon. Treasure was mumbling something about wishing she had an Invisibility Cloak.
"Wait!" Lily said suddenly, and both brooms halted in mid air. Lily pulled out her wand and said "Point me,", and the wand rotated lazily in the air before stopping to point north. "The mountain's are that way," Laurel said. Treasure nodded, and off they flew.
"Look!" Laurel said, pointing down. They flew lower, Lily nearly strangling Treasure as they descended, and saw unmistakable footprints of a rather large dog, a stag, and of course -
"Remus," Laurel whispered, speeding up considerably and staying close to the ground so she could follow the footprints. Treasure was right on her tail, and Lily seemed to feel better now that they were closer to the ground.
"Who's that?" Lily asked, peering over Treasure's shoulder. A tall, dark figure was running ahead of them. Laurel shot forward, "Hey!" she called. Lily smacked her forehead. "Oh great…why don't we just beg to be injured?" she muttered. The figure stopped and turned around. Laurel made a very rude sound in the back of her throat.
It was Kathrynn Sabre. The tall girl was glaring at them, her hands on her hips.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. "We could ask you the same damn question," she snarled. Kathrynn's violet eyes flashed as she looked disdainfully upon Laurel, who was looking back in very much the same manner.
"We really don't have time for this," Treasure said loudly. Kathrynn nodded, "By all means, then, be on your way," she said. Treasure looked as though she wanted to say something very nasty, but refrained. "We will be," she said curtly, making to fly past her.
"You're looking for three boys, are you?" Kathrynn asked. Treasure stopped her broom so quickly that Lily slid forward. "And if we are?" Treasure asked coldly, glaring at the tall, pale girl in front of her.
"I know who took them," she said.
"I bet it was you!" Laurel shrieked angrily, whipping out her wand. Treasure grabbed Laurel's wrist. "How do you know?" Lily piped up from behind Treasure, taking out her wand too. Treasure would have rather asked WHO took them, but Kathrynn was already answering, a grim smile on her lips.
"Because they took my cousin as well," she said.
"Who, Snivellus?" Laurel asked, rather crudely. Kathrynn's hand twitched, as though she was just itching to hex Laurel into oblivion.
"Where?" Lily asked. Kathrynn shrugged. "I'm guessing up in those caves," she said, pointing. "You should come with us," Treasure said quietly. "What?!" Laurel gasped. Treasure glared. "We need to find them, now. Lily…ride with Laurel. Kathrynn, you're with me. Now, who did you say took James and Sirius?"
"And Remus," Laurel said angrily. Treasure nodded. "And Severus," Lily added, shrugging once again when her friends turned to look at her. Kathrynn sat on the broom easily. "Well, seeing as how all those who were taken were males…and they were around mountains and caves…I would say that it's the work of a succubus," Kathrynn said quietly.
"A what?" Laurel asked.
"A succubus…female demon…we studied them in Care of Magical Creatures, remember? In our third year…according to what the Professor said, succubae are related to sirens and veelas…I would have thought you'd know that, Laurel…They are more closely related to veela, because they can shape shift…They usually appear in human form, as incredibly beautiful females…to lure men to them…"
"But…well, Sirius and James and Remus…they're only sixteen…that hardly qualifies as men," Treasure remarked as they flew along quickly.
"Not only men, although, unless I am mistaken - and you must correct me if I'm wrong Laurel, is it? - they prefer men. Stronger…" Kathrynn said, tossing Laurel an icy glare. Laurel flushed.
"Stronger for what?" Treasure demanded.
"When succubae lure their victims, they then perform an act of passion - the more, shall I say…zealous, the better - and drain their victim of their energy,"
Treasure and Laurel were both blushing now.
"But…they're victims…can refuse, can't they?" Treasure asked.
"Well, they can. But they don't usually…a succubus is, as your friend said, incredibly beautiful. Six feet tall, long black hair and skin that looks as if its been carved from ivory…it would take a very strong man to resist such a woman," Kathrynn sounded a bit amused.
"Well, your damn cousin is in the same spot, so I wouldn't be sounding so happy about it," Laurel snapped angrily, while Treasure sped her broom up even more.
"We should be nearly there," Lily said.
Treasure thought it would be a difficult place to find, but it really wasn't. There were a handful of caves scattered about the mountain, but they headed for the biggest one. "In there," Kathrynn said, pointing a delicate hand. The cave was, of course, dark, and the each of the girls lit their wands, still on their broomsticks but so low that their toes could brush the ground.
"They'll be at the deepest part of the cave," Lily said nervously, holding her wand up a bit higher. Treasure narrowed her eyes, happy that she couldn't see any scattered bones or what not. In fact, it was completely silent, and very, very clean. They traveled for what had to be at least a quarter of an hour before coming upon a slightly lit part of the cave.
"Do you see them anywhere?" Treasure whispered, and Kathrynn slid lightly from the broom and took a few tentative steps forward.
"Who dares to enter this lair?" said a breathy voice from the shadows. Lily could just make out the faint outline of a very tall woman, a glow seemed to hover around her skin, the palest silver. Laurel slid forward too. Treasure had no idea what she intended to do.
"This is my lair," Laurel said angrily. Treasure's eyes widened…What the hell?
The succubus stepped forward - not noticing Kathrynn as she slid around and walked silently past her - into the light of their combined wands. "Is that so? Who are you, little veela…" she asked, smiling almost flirtatiously at them. Treasure felt as though she would be sick.
"Laurel Lovegood, and you are not wanted here," Laurel said bravely, lifting her wand. The succubus smiled further. "A mistake you have made, little veela. One, my cousin demons do not carry wands… nor do they have such common human names…but you are welcome to stay and share this lair," the succubus added with another snide smile. Lily gripped her wand tighter.
"You've taken our friends," she said loudly. The succubus watched her. "Such a pretty siren, aren't you? Red hair…green eyes…we could be very happy here," she said. Lily looked disgusted, holding her wand out at ready in front of her.
"We've come for our friends," Treasure said strongly, still perched easily on her broom as she inched forward, her wand out. "Do not make us take them back forcefully," she warned. The succubus laughed, a deep, breathy laugh.
"You have all of sixteen years…even with your magic you could do little but tickle me," she said. Treasure didn't know what to do.
"They're here!" came Kathrynn's voice from deeper in the cave. Treasure shot forward on her broom, knocking over the succubus, and Lily zoomed forward too as Laurel hopped on behind her. They sped away deeper into the cave, hearing the screech of the succubus behind them.
Treasure leapt off her broom upon seeing Sirius and knelt down beside him. He was pale, and asleep. James was next to him, in a similar state. Obviously, they'd known that Remus would transform back into his human form and had given him their cloaks to wear.
"Silly little girls try to invade my lair," the succubus said, raising her arms. A few lone candles lit, and Treasure could see that indeed the books were true. The woman was tall and thin, but shapely. She wore a thin dress made of blue silk and no shoes. Her hair was as long as Treasure's, and as raven dark…but it was shiny and thick and not unruly. Her eyes were a sickly yellow, as opposed to Treasure's gold, her skin was white and smooth, and she had perfect features. But she was angry now.
Huge black bat wings had erupted from her shoulder blades, and her nails grew long and resembled claws. Laurel was the only one who did not seem surprised by this.
"We should try to Stun her…all of us at the same time…grab the guys' wands too," Laurel said. Treasure picked up Sirius's wand, Lily had James's, Laurel, who was kneeling by Remus, noticed he didn't have one. Kathrynn was already standing, her wand and Snape's ready in front of her.
"You should let us go…it would be best for you that way." Treasure said, flipping her hair back and standing, both wands gripped tightly in her hands. The succubus smiled, "Ah, yes…he is your lover then?" she asked, sneering down at Sirius. "He was the easiest to capture…very similar, you and I are, at least that's what he seemed to think."
Treasure snarled and flung a hex at the succubus, who waved it away as if it were a fly. She hurled back a ball of red flames at Treasure, who barely had time to shout "Protego!" and send the flame back to the succubus.
The succubus had not been expecting this, and dodged her own fire narrowly. She looked wary now, her eyes were flashing red. She hadn't expected these four young witches to find her lair, nor had she expected them to be brave enough to invade it.
"On three," Laurel said. All of the girls raised their wands. The succubus looked nervous. "One…two…"
"THREE!" Lily shouted, distracting the succubus as red light erupted from the tips of every wand, seven in all. Each hit the succubus square in the chest, and she tumbled without a sound to the floor of the cave.
"She'll be out for a while," Kathrynn said helpfully, conjuring a stretcher for Severus and making her way to the mouth of the cave without another word. Treasure knelt beside Sirius again, pocketing his wand and setting aside her own. She touched his face gently, he was the palest of them all.
James was already waking up, seeing Lily and having a cheeky grin cross his face. She glared and shoved his wand into his hand, pulling him up reluctantly. "Come to be my hero, Evans?" he asked. Lily said nothing, only waited until the other two boys awoke. Remus was the next to wake up, looking up at Laurel and smiling. She had conjured up some clothing for him and everyone turned around so he could dress. They walked out, Remus leaning heavily on Laurel, to join Kathrynn and Snape.
"He's not awake yet?" James asked worriedly, looking down at his best friend. Treasure shook her head, watching as James muttered a Revival spell. Sirius opened his eyes wearily.
"What a night," he said, sitting up and pressing a hand to his head. James grinned, as if their capture and almost death was amusing to him. Lily scowled, "James Potter, you are the most immature-uncaring-ungrateful wretch I've ever had the misfortune to meet!" she said, marching out of the cave and dragging Laurel's broom behind her.
"Evans…Evans, wait!" James said, offering an apologetic smile to Sirius as he hurried out after her, avoiding the Stunned succubus as best he could in the narrow cave. Treasure smiled at Sirius.
"Gone about kissing other women, have you?" she asked, buttoning up his shirt absentmindedly. Sirius grimaced, "You call that thing a woman?" he asked, casting a nervous glance at the still form of the succubus. Treasure grinned. "So how did all of you end up here?" she asked, helping him to his feet and picking up her wand. She pulled his out of his pocket and handed it back to him, and walked over to her broom.
"Remus went off chasing a woman last night…it looked like you, Treasure, at least from a dog's point of view…and we tore after him…I was so afraid he'd hurt you…and then we were here. Out of the full moon, Remus transformed. And then that thing was there, and we knew it wasn't you…Remus was weak, and James and I tried to fight her off but -" Sirius blushed. Treasure mounted her broom and he clambered on behind her.
"You, Sirius Black, are entirely too easily seduced," she said as they flew out of the cave and into the cool night air.
A/N: I know the succubus battle/fight thing was a bit anticlimactic…but oh well…But in my brother's DnD version of the Monster Book of Monsters, it said that succubae weren't really fighters…hence the short fight scene. Hope you enjoyed…I think this chapter was the most fun I've ever had in this story.
Love always,
-Crystyna