Talee joined in the clapping and shouted out above all of the noise,
"Whoop! Awesome!" then resumed dancing with David, whom she had nick-named "Davi".
Dalyce danced a bit longer with Peter but was very bored. She heard him mutter somthing and she was about to say, 'what was that?' when she felt her mind go blank. She barely saw Lucious come over and take over the spell casting for her minds freedom.
"Excellant... now then I need you to try and get the map.."
"What map?" asked Dalyce, confused.
"The Marauder's map... Lily Evans should have it... if not her then Kalistra Constel... or Tera Riddle..."
"Mmm... o..." a part of her mind knew that she shouldn't do this, she had to FIGHT! "No..."
"Do it...." her mind screamed for her to fight it.
"NO!" she felt the grip of the spell intensify. "Alright...." she lied. If she pretended maybe she could get out of this easier...
Lily and James grinned blushing while everyone clapped and cheered. Kal and Remus pushed their way across the floor.
"Congrats." They both said.
Sirius and Tera meanwhile were still watching. As if in a daze Sirius said
"We should go congratulate them."
Tera nodded and they walked across the floor. She plastered a fake smile on her face. She was leaving. Hogwarts. Her only real home. I should leave soon. Can't get attached. They'll all notice I'm gone...but It'll be too late.
"Good job!" said Tera smiling at James
"Thanks" he said smiling
Everyone continued dancing except for Sirius who once again drew Tera away from the crowd. She inwardly groaned. It was the what? 5th time this evening. He didn't say a word. He leaned in to kiss her....
Tera was at first surprised then kissed him back. In her mind she knew that she had to leave soon, that she really shouldn't be doing this. All it would do would make them closer. It's for goodbye... she convinced herself. When he finally stopped she said,
"I gotta go to the bathroom, I'll be back ok?" she said. With a grin stuck on his face Sirius nodded and Tera ran out of the great hall towards where she had left her stuff. Once again she slipped into jeans and shirt and this time ran for the exit.
Sirius suddenly jerked back to reality. Tera would probably try to bolt again. He reached into his pocket for the Map... but it wasn't there. He remembered the contest.
"Lily!" he cried out, he had to get that map to check. She looked at him as if to ask what he wanted. "Can I take a quick look at the map?" Lily knew that this was probably against her better judgement... but she let him take a quick look. His eyes zeroed in on Tera who was already outside of the castle.
Tera cried as she ran away from Hogwarts... her home. Over her back she whispered,
"Goodbye... I'll be back some day!!!" Her tears made a small dotted pattern on the dusty road that she was on. But she was afraid. She was afraid to find Tom. She was afraid to not go. She was afraid of her uncertain future... she continued running down the road then finally cut into the forest, not wanting to be found.
Sirius ran after Tera. He looked around but she was nowhere in sight. He sat down on the ground. He didn't cry but just looked at the sky and whispered
"Why now? Why?"
Lily shook her head. Sirius was always weird so it was no big deal. James and her walked out of the Great Hall where they just sat down on the steps. The stairs jerked into life. Lily fell sideways with the sudden movement. She fell into James lap. She sat up with her head on his shoulder. The staircase moved upwards and connected to another. Lily stood up and so did James beside her. They walked up only to run into man with evil red eyes.
"Now mudblood where is my sister?"
Tera suddenly jerked to a stop. She felt something inside of her pull back towards the castle...
"Oh god!" Tera said, "He's here! He's here! Oh god, don't let me be too late!" she practically yelled as she sprinted back towards the castle. She felt a pulling sensation telling her where to go and she followed it. She was now at the bottom of the grand staircase... she looked up. She continued up and up until...
"I don't know where she is!" said Lily. James was standing defensively between her and Tom. Tera was still several cases away... He smiled that cold, cruel smile.
"I am sure that you know... don't lie to me now!" he raised his wand.
"I'M HERE!!!!" frantically shouted Tera. All three heads swiveled around to face her. Tom smiled again, that smile that said he had just won something and Tera hadn't stopped him at all.
"Ah... Hello dear Sister."
"Tom..." she started.
"Never call me that again!" he hissed with a brief look of pain on his face. Stubbornly Tera tried again.
"Tom! What are you doing here? What do you want? Why do you keep on trying to take me away?" He smiled at her.
"So many questions... but I cannot tell you my answers here..." he turned back towards James and Lily. He performed a charm to modify their memories... To make them forget Tera and him. To forget this incident... He grabbed Tera, again, and silently headed towards his entrance which would now serve as an exit.
"Lord Voldemort!" called out some voices. Impatiently Voldemort turned around.
"Ah yes... my faithful servents!" he smiled. Before him bowing were Severous Snape, Lucious Malfoy, and Peter Pettigrew. "I shall reward you for what you have done once I have completed a task..." they all bowed again and Voldemort continued on his way. Lucious stared directly at Tera and she could still see the lust in his eyes. He came to a window and clutched Tera's arm tighter then jumped. Instead of falling they were flying and they soared towards an old house on a hill in a small villiage. The Riddle House... They landed outside of the village and Voldemort transported them inside.
"What are we doing here?" asked Tera with fury in her heart. "This is where he lived. Our so-called father!"
"This house should prove useful for my needs," he replied.
"Which are?" she asked him. He smiled back at her.
"To create a weapon so powerful that it could destroy plenty of everything and anything. A weapon that will only respond to me... A weapon that needs to be formed still." he looked straight into her eyes. "And that weapon, dear Sister, is you."
"But how? I'm not powerful at all!" she tried to tell him. He merely smiled again and shook his head.
Lily woke up. She was on the staircase...with James? What happened? She looked around. She couldn't remember. She jumped up and checked herself. Shoes...yes, clothes...yes, purse....yes. Just then James stirred. Lily jumped. James looked at her frowning.
"What happened?"
"I...I'm not sure..."
Thye walked up to the Heads Room. Kal, Remus and Sirius were waiting up for them.
"Where were you two?" asked Kal reproachfully
"Where's Tera?" asked Sirius immediately
Tera....the name stirred something in Lily's head. Then a picture flashed across her mind. A black haired girl....red eyed man....window. Her thoughts were jumbled. She shook her head and muttered
"Don't know..."
Then Prof. Dumbledore walked into the room looking grave yet not so grave. Lily thought she saw a flash of relief cross his face but when she looked again she was sure that she had imagined it.
"I have some news....terrible news." Said Dumbledore shaking his head.
Talee said goodbye to "Davi" then quickly left. She had to talk to Dalyce because she could just sense that something wasn't right. Somthing was terribly wrong. Just then she saw Dalyce and quickly ran up to her.
"Hey, Dalyce!" mechanically Dalyce turned towards Talee.
"Hm?" Talee looked catiously at her friend.
"Uh Dalyce somthing seems to be wrong with you!" she looked left and right as if hoping to see a sign telling her exactly what was wrong. She saw Lucious and instantly she blamed him. Might as well blame him if not some one else. She thought back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class she'd had the day before yesterday.
D.A.T.D.A. Class
"Class," started their teacher, "Today's lesson will be on the three unforgivable curses. The first one is the Imperious curse. When this curse is used the caster may control the person they've spelled. If I were to perform this spell upon one of you, which I won't because it is illigal, you would feel a blankness enter your brain and you would be able to hear my voice commanding you. You would find it nearly irrisistable to fight against it. However, if you have the mind to do so you could brake it. Ah, Yes Talee?" Talee had had her hand in the air.
"Professor, how do you know the effects so well if it isn't supposed to be performed?" the professor looked taken aback.
"I've read books," he responded airily. This time Dalyce raised her hand. "Yes Dalyce?"
"But I thought that you said last class that books can not describe the true feeling of any curse, that one of the only ways to truely know is to either preform it or to have it done to you?" Their teacher looked flustered now.
"Very well class, I believe that's enough for one curse..." he tried to back away from the subject. Talee raised her hand again. The teacher ignored her.
"But Sir, if you've already performed it, why deny it? It's not as if the Ministry of Magic would believe us even if we did tell them. Besides, who would trust a bunch of third year students of Hogwarts?" Talee asked. The teacher figited but ignored her.
"The curse has been performed on myself but I shall not go into details! Now then, ways that one might behave if this curse is upon them could be: mechanical, distant, or automatic. Also, mostly when this happens to oneself your pupils become smaller, and you cannot see clearly into someone's eyes. Now then, moving on to the next two curses..."
Back to Reality...
Talee looked closely into Dalyce's eyes. Her pupils appeared smaller and glasslike... Talee couldn't see anything in them. They were like dark tunnels leading into eternity...
"I'm sorry but Tera Riddle has been kidnapped by her brother." Said Dumbledore gravely
"Tera?! What happened....her brother....who is it?" asked Sirius frantically
Lily's mind was full of flashing images. She remembered! Tera....her best friend....kidnapped by her brother....Lord Voldemort....wait was there....no there couldn't be....deatheaters....at Hogwarts.....she saw fleeting images.
"Are you sure?!" exclaimed Kal
"He's telling the truth Kal." Said Lily crying
James held onto Lily and she sunk into his arms crying. Kal looked as if she was about to but she held back.
"We have reason to believe that Voldemort (everyone flinched at the name) is going to come after Tera's friends....and people close to her." His eyes lingered on Sirius and Lily. "For that reason it has been decided that all of you will be living here in the Heads Room and you will have to give handprints every time you would like to enter. I'm sorry but it's the only thing we can do." Said Dumbledore
Lily nodded still crying. Dumbldore nodded and walked out of the room. Kal burst into tears then.
"S...she....t-told us and w...we n-never did anything!" sobbed Kal
Remus patted her back. Lily looked at Kal. She had never seen her friend this upset.
"Would you feel this way if I were to disappear?" asked Lily grinning a bit
"YES!" said Kal and James at the same time. James blushed and muttered "While I would..."
Talee looked around, surely someone knew how to remove the curse if Dalyce couldn't fight it. She quickly ran towards the head's room. Surely one of them would know how... after all, they were the top of the seventh year. She knocked,
"It's Talee, and I really need help!" there was no answer. "PLEASE! I really need help... I think my friend is under the imperious curse and I don't know what to do!" Talee banged harder on the door. She could hear muffled debate, but why would someone need to think twice about helping some one under the Imperious Curse? "If you don't know me, I'm a friend of Tera... If that helps!" she could suddenly hear two people burst out crying at the name.
