Summary: The wolves captured Oliver and Jusea, but never fear, the twins and Beth are coming to save the day! Is that actually a good thing? Not if they get captured. But they won't. They'll be sensible and go get help…right? And if they don't? They'll face Oliver's wrath.
Here's another chapter to make up for the very long time since you guys have gotten an update.
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Chapter 17
Latin Distraction
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Fred and George grabbed Beth when they caught up with her. "Are you crazy?"
"No. Ah'm just trying to save my brother and Jusea from a bunch of demonic wolves."
"Are you?" George asked.
"Yes. What does it look like?" Beth asked. She tried to twist out of their grips. "Let me go."
"No."
Beth stopped and glared at them.
"Look, all you're going to do is get yourself killed."
"No, Ah'm going to go in—"
"And what?"
"Ah don't know, Ah'll figure it out when Ah get there."
The twins looked at each other. Fred pointed at his head as George spoke. "Look, you can't just run in there. I mean really, are you going to challenge them all at the same time?"
"If Ah have to. Ah know how to kill them by now."
"Right. And then after you kill them all you'll get to see Jusea and Oliver's bodies dead."
Beth's face went white, and her eyes widened. Her lips pulled back, exposing her teeth. "Don't say that." Her voice grated in her throat.
Fred held up one hand, the other still gripping Beth's arm. "Okay, okay. We get away with lots of stuff. Do you know why?"
"It's because we plan."
"Right. We plan, and that's why we get away with things, and say, for example—"
"All right, Ah get the point," Beth said.
"Good," Fred said.
The twins released Beth. "Now, wait, before we go on, you need to answer something," George said.
Beth crossed her arms. "What?"
"What was that?"
"Back there. You're not a witch, but you were using fire."
"Without a wand."
Beth sighed. "Ah'm an elemental user, all right? Now—"
"A what?" Fred asked.
"An elemental user. Ah can control the basic elements. It's a sort of mind over matter thing."
"Oh, yeah. I remember hearing about them in class. Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"Because at first there was the whole thing about me being a Squib, which most witches and wizards would hold against Oliver. And then ye found out anyway, and now…" She shrugged. "The wizarding community and the elemental community don't exactly get along."
"Oh. Oh...yeah."
"Yeah, that's why. Now, Oliver and Jusea."
"Right."
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The human-shaped guards shoved Oliver into the cell. He stumbled and fell against the hard stone. Jusea ran over to him. "Oliver, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Jusea helped Oliver stand up, and he leaned against the wall and placed a hand against his forehead. "Are you sure you're all right?" Jusea asked.
Oliver waved her away. "Of course I'm sure. Don't worry about me," he said. Jusea glanced at the mouth of the little cave, and she moved closer to Oliver. "Um, Jusea?"
She slid the wand from her robes and into Oliver's hands. "I got this for you."
Oliver smiled. "Thanks. All right, let's go."
Jusea grabbed his arm as he moved towards the entrance. "What are you doing?" she whispered.
"Getting out of here."
"I don't think we can exactly just waltz out."
"Then what should we do? Wait for them to..." Oliver looked away.
"Beth and the twins are still out there."
Oliver laughed shortly. "I hope they don't try anything."
"But they're capable of taking care of themselves."
"The twins are, and if they want to do anything, they can, as long as they leave Beth out of it."
"Hey, vermin." The tall, lean guard walked in, flanked by two more 'humans'. "Their Highnesses wish to see you again." He smiled, baring strong, white teeth.
Jusea swallowed. Oliver stepped in front of her. The guard put a hand on his arm. He shrugged it off and strode out, Jusea behind him. She paused in the doorway and turned to the tall guard. "Thank you."
The guard raised an eyebrow, and Jusea followed Oliver into the corridor. The guards herded them into the larger cavern and shoved them to the floor, next to three other humans. Oliver sighed. "Well, so much for thinking my Beaters or my little sister has brains."
Beth smiled bitterly. "Ah love ye, too, Oliver." The smile vanished.
A low growl interrupted their conversation, and they turned to the large, dark wolves sitting before them. The king looked down his long nose. "None of you have exactly been cooperative in giving us the information we've asked for."
"I'm sorry, could you repeat the question? Maybe I could help you a little more. I didn't mean to be so unhelpful," Jusea said.
Oliver, Beth, Fred, and George turned to look at Jusea. "What are ye doing?" Oliver hissed.
"Well, if you want. How many more are there of you?" the king asked.
"What exactly are you talking about, because if you're talking about the world, that's a very large number, and I don't exactly have that count. But, then again, are you talking about where I'm from, or where those two are from, or where those two are from?" She pointed to Oliver and Beth, then to Fred and George. "But, I-I'm really sorry, because I don't really have that count either."
"Where you five are from." A snarl tinged the king's voice.
"Well, I'm from Australia, but then those two are from Scotland, and those two are from England. But I still don't have that count, but if you really want me to get it—"
"Silence." The king sighed, shaking his head. "What of you four? How many more are in your group?"
Oliver and Beth glared at the king. Fred opened his mouth to speak, glanced at Oliver, and shut it.
"No one?" the king said. Jusea raised her hand meekly. The king looked at her, and he breathed deeply, nostrils flaring. "What?" His voice rumbled in his chest.
"Well, I—it's just, I'm sorry, I really am, but I have a question."
He waited, blue eyes narrowed.
"Is it really necessary for you to know exactly how many people there are?"
"It is if I say it is."
"Well, if you don't mind me saying, no offense, I mean, I do it, too, but isn't it a little childish? Sometimes I do that, too, but my mother says—"
The king stood, growling, but he paused. His eye twitched. He turned away from Jusea. "Take this babbling idiot to the dungeons."
The guard stepped forward, grabbed Jusea's arm, and hauled her to her feet. Oliver started to stand, his hands balling into fists, but Fred and George lunged for their captain and pulled him back. He struggled against their grips, but they weren't Beaters for nothing. Beth stood as well, but after a moment of glaring at the wolves, she turned to Oliver. "Don't. Not..." Her voice dropped too low for Jusea to hear.
The guard sneered at Oliver and led Jusea to a new corridor. She stopped before they left the cavern. "I'm sorry I wasn't much help for you." The guard tugged her away.
She followed the morphed wolf down the winding corridors, and he pushed her into a new cave. A small torch burned in the high corner of the cell, the light shining on the damp walls. Jusea shivered, hugging herself against the dank coolness of the cell.
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Beth sat cross-legged next to Oliver in the middle of the wolf-filled cave. Fred and George were on her other side. The wolves were watching the humans steadily. Beth suppressed a dry chuckle. Did the wolves think she and Oliver were going to try something? Well, well, well, they were smart after all.
Oliver rested his chin on his hand. "Trying to think of a plan?" Beth whispered.
"Aye."
"Any ideas?"
"We could charge the guards."
Beth noted the wolves shifting, their ears turning towards the prisoners. "We're too outnumbered, and they can hear us."
"We could pretend to pass out from sheer terror."
"And they'd fall for it?"
"We could scream bloody murder and hope someone finds us."
Beth cocked an eyebrow at Oliver. "Right. Somehow Ah doubt we'd be in this predicament if there were many humans in the area." She sighed and laid her head on her hands, elbows braced against her knees. Something dug into her ribcage. She straightened and put her hand to her side; she felt the long, tapered piece of wood in her borrowed Hogwarts robes. She looked around, and her eyes fell on two serpents twining around the queen's paws. More serpents slithered across the floor and amongst the wolves. Beth smiled. "Oliver. Can ye provide a distraction?"
Oliver blinked at Beth's use of Latin; they didn't exactly speak it on a daily basis. After a minute, though, he responded. "What are ye thinking of doing?"
"Yes or no."
"Beth—"
"Sure we can," George answered. Oliver glared at the red-haired wizard. He grinned back and turned to the king and queen. "Excuse me, O mighty one?"
The king blinked. "Finally feel like talking?"
"Yep." Fred stood. "We offer our services in abetting the mystification of your noble and august thoughts."
"What?"
George stepped up next to his brother. "It is our sorrowful regrets that these paltry words show the margins of our faculties, and we humbly aspire to enhance our capacity."
Beth stifled her laughter and checked the wolves; they were all staring at the Weasley twins. She focused on herself, and she started shrinking. Her limbs folded in, her nose elongating, robes sucking into newly-scaled flesh. Soon she was looking at a very large Oliver. She winked at him and slithered off.
