Chapter 38. The desert, an unsuspected alliance and one lone ladder.

When the portkey stopped spinning. Jakob and the two girls found themself right in the middle of... Nowhere.

"Did she do something wrong?" Questioned Pansy raising her hoof up to protect herself from the strong sunlight. Jakob and Ivy did the same, and the trio looked around.

They were standing in the desert, seeing only sand dunes and wondered about the thoughts that the Slytherin girl had said out loud.

"Making a portkey is difficult, especially making one 5000 kilometres away. Morgan might have misjudged the exact location or something." Answered Jakob but doubted his own words. She was one of the strongest witches who ever lived.

Not really knowing where to go from here, He started walking in one direction. The two girls who had turned away from him a moment, trying to search for some sign of life, hurried to his side when they noticed that he had left.

"Do you know where we are going?" asked the redhead looking particularly good in her white hood. Ivy and Pansy wore white dresses that glistened in the sunlight. This made her already redhead, and freckles pop out extra more. Jakob turned away his glance as memories of the evening before started to appear in his mind.

"No. We need to get to higher ground to better understand where we are."

"Worst case scenario, we use the amulet to get back and ask Morgan to-"

"No. We are not returning until we have what we came for, Pansy.

We can't assume Morgan will make another one, especially after telling her she did something wrong." Interrupted Jakob as they started ascending the mountain of sand.

The climb was tough, and the sand, which made every step feel three times worse, did not help. Jakob could hear the two girls behind, starting to breathe heavier, even making small groans and grunts halfway up.

None of them complained even once or asked to stop, which surprised the boy until he turned back, noticing the competitive glare the black and red-haired girl gave each other.

He turned back before they could catch his glance and smiled amusedly. This might not be a bad trip after all.

Jakob, who had been training for a while now, got to the top first and looked around with his hand on his waist, taking deep breaths.

Pansy, who felt her arms and legs shaking as the struggle began to win over her motivation to continue, looked over at Ivy. She had started slowing down and falling behind. The Slytherin girl guessed that her more petit body had given her an edge over Ivy's, whose body was curvier and better filled out. This was the first time Pansy wasn't jealous of Gryffindor's body and thanked her own smaller build as she, with renewed strength Climbeed faster and wanted to roar out in victory as she reached Jakob at the top. She satisfied herself with giving the redhead a smirk and a discreet finger instead and turned away towards Jakob.

"Did you find anything?" asked the black-haired girl as she put her hands on her knees, staring down at the sand.

"We are going that way." Jakob pointed towards a large wide path leading further away over the horizon. Pansy frowned.

"Is that a trail? what is that big?" Jakob smirked.

"We will see soon enough."

Now at the top, Ivy sat down, not saying anything as she feared she would pass out at any second.

"You two really need to work out. We have only passed one dune, and you are already in need of a break." Jakob raised his eyebrow at the two girls who were glaring at him.

"How the hell are you not even winded by this?" huffed Ivy as she lay down on the sand.

Pansy ignored her question and asked one of her own.

Jakob sat down and opened his bag, giving Ivy a waterskin which she grabbed quickly and began drinking, making gulping noises. She didn't care that half of what she swallowed was air and made a satisfied moan after emptying the whole waterskin. Jakob looked back out towards the path.

"I believe it's a trail from an army. We will eventually pass into a city if we follow that trail."

"If they aren't as lost as we are," commented Pansy.

After a few minutes of additional rest, the three continued down to the path below.

They continued walking until the sun had passed down the horizon, and the stars slowly became visible.

"Jake, can we please stay for the night? My feet are killing me, and I'm hungry," said Pansy, finally giving in to the hunger and tiredness. The Slytherin didn't even glance towards the girl beside her, knowing that a smirk would surely be on that idiot's face.

Ivy gave a pleasant grin as she had taken this one, and Jakob, who could have stopped for a while ago, halted. He was enjoying the little competition of the two and turned back and gave the Slytherin an approving nod. Pansy didn't meet his eyes as she sat down on the sand, disappointed.

The Quade heir took off his bag, placed it on the sand, and started rummaging through it.

"There you are," he said, satisfied after a moment, and pulled up five wooden rods, one even taller than himself.

He waved his wand, and the tent's skeleton put itself together with two sticks at the front and two at the back, with the taller one lying on top of the X shape at the two tops.

Then he picked up the white fabric, unfolded it and levitated it above the tent.

He looked at the two girls, who were now both sitting down, watching him work in silence. He stopped what he was doing and raised his eyebrow.

"Are you having a nice time? Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes. Do you want me to levitate the spoon to your mouth, or is it enough if I mama bird you?"

Pansy rolled her eyes.

"What do you need, Jakob? And mama birding? disgusting."

"I'm going to let you two figure that out." Answered Jakob sarcastically and continued putting out the mats.

Pansy nudged Ivy, and the two got to work.

The redhead opened her bag, taking out food and water. At the same time, pansy waved her wand, trying to get a magical flame going and putting out three blankets on the sand a meter from the hovering flame.

When everything was done, they all sat down for dinner, watching the fire and stars above them.

"the stars are so beautiful here, aren't they?" asked Ivy, looking up in awe."

Jakob tilted his head as he looked up, while pansy was too tired to even care.

"They are," answered Jakob and took a moment before continuing.

"We need to take turns guarding."

The two girls looked at him with crestfallen expressions on their faces.

He rolled his eyes at the two.

"This wasn't going to be easy, and things will only get harder from here."

The two girls nodded, but their expressions didn't change.

"Jakob, we are in the middle of nowhere. Do you really think it's necessary?" Asked Pansy carefully.

"Pansy has a point," said Ivy looking like she didn't really believe what she just had said. But the thought of staying up now made The Gryffindor almost feel like crying. She had never experienced this with Harry and the others.

"Go on, I will be right there." sighed Jakob, nodding towards the tent. The two girls gave Jakob a careful smile as they both hurried inside, thinking that the tyrant could change his decision at any moment.

He looked into the fire, wearing a faint smile until he heard the two girls bickering silently about the space.

"If you two don't get along, I will change my mind." Sighed Jakob, still watching the fire.

They quieted down fast, and he stiffened a chuckle.

Soon he couldn't hear anything, and he glanced back, seeing the two pressed to each side of the tent, leaving a gap in the middle. Sleeping soundly.

He stood up and looked at the trail that went straight ahead.

"It seems like they are further away than I thought," whispered Jakob. He had hoped they would have been able to see some sign of life this evening, but there was nothing. No sound of an army, no lights of torches, nothing.

Jakob was about to turn back to the tend but stopped as he noticed something. The sand a few meters ahead was moving.

He flicked out his wand and pointed it towards the hidden foe.

He didn't utter the spell to end it as curiosity took over. Instead, he waited for the moving sand to come closer, and when it was only a few meters away, it halted.

He frowned but still held his wand ready, taking slow breaths, knowing that the thing under the sand was waiting for a perfect moment to strike. Jakob smiled and lowered his wand.

"You are not the only one with that strategy." Hissed Jakob, pocketing his magical stick into his holster.

The snake that was about to burst out from its hiding place and sink its fangs into the prey instead slowly rose.

Jakob noticed that it looked like a cobra but had white stripes around its black scales and looked smaller.

"You are a speaker?" Hissed the snake in a questionable tone.

"Yes. Do you still wish to attack one that speaks the noble tongue?"

"No. I'm here to serve." The snake slowly slithered towards him, and Jakob reached down his hand, letting it crawl up.

"You smell of another. A queen from a different age. I would like to meet her, mate with her.

The Slytherin boy chuckled.

"She is not here right now, and I doubt you would succeed, little one. She had devoured snakes that have tried, and they have been greater than you. But I will inform her of your noble request when I see her."

"She sounds like a Queen. I will wait for her answer.

Jakob nodded and looked back into the tent.

"Have you seen any more humans here? They would be large in number."

The snake didn't answer, and Jakob thought back at the experiments he had done in an earlier year where he concluded that Saliza was the only snake with more brains than that Weasley idiot.

Sighing, he tried another approach.

"Have you seen any other animal that can be a threat to us?"

"There are mostly only lizards and other snakes here, might be some spiders too, but they won't be a threat to a speaker. There are, however, scorpions that have a nasty poison if one is not careful. Hissed the snake in reply. Jakob pinched his nose bridge at the information.

"Jakob Quade killed by a scorpion." Chuckled Jakob.

"Would be real disappointing going through all this trouble and dying to an animal too small to even eat me." The Slytherin boy carefully placed down the snake.

"I'm going to sleep. You will watch over me and those two." he pointed two the sleeping girls, and the snake looked over at the two companions.

"If you sense a threat nearing, you will tell me and await further order."

"Yes, speaker." was the snake's only answer before burying itself back into the sand.

Jakob smiled tiredly and thanked the gift he had before crawling inside and lying between the two.

A man lies beside a light witch and a dark witch. Thought Jakob chuckling quietly.

Sounds like a start of a bad joke. Or a dirty one. Soon his thoughts began swirling around, and the exhausted boy fell asleep.

When morning arrived, Jakob woke up feeling two weights on his shoulders. He looked to his left, seeing the usual sight of the black-haired girl sleeping soundly on his left shoulder but then he frowned and moved his head to the right.

A red-haired head lay on his right shoulder, and both girls had their legs in the exact way position over his, making for a great picture.

Jakob, who was now wide awake, put his head down again, laying there for a moment, taking in the situation he was in and smiled.

Looking towards his feet at the small tent opening. The sun had come up and made the desert feel more alive even though it looked rather dead.

Moving away from the two girls, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, slowly stretching.

Pansy and Ivy also woke by the action of Jakob and the groan of his stretch. They both looked over at the boy with sleepy eyes, still smelling his scent on their bodies.

"Is it morning already?" asked Ivy, yawning and showing a tired smile.

"you look like a monster with that morning hair," commented Pansy, stretching her arms.

Ivy ignored the comment and got up, kicking away one of the sticks as she walked outside to Jakob.

The tent fell over, and Jakob gave her a tired glare while hearing Pansy's muffled voice cursing the redhead.

"I stumbled. You know how clumsy I can get." answered the innocent Gryffindor, making Jakob flick his wand. The tent and stick packed itself inside the open bag, and an irritated Pansy appeared, sitting with crossed arms.

"Remember what you both promised. I heard your comment Pansy, and I'm not an idiot Ivy," said Jakob firmly as he looked at the sun.

"Tempus." the time showed 08.32 in white letters, and Jakob sighed.

"We slept in. We need to hurry." The trio got ready before heading out on their continued journey, taking their breakfast on the go, which was bread, cheese and water this morning.

They began small talking for a while, but as time went on. The sun's rays constantly hit their eyes. A small headache and disappointment from never reaching anything made the trio fall into a long silence.

Jakob noticed that the sand a few meters away moving behind them, showing that the snake still followed him. Arent you a loyal one. I will give you a treat later. Thought the boy giving a small smile towards the hidden snake.

"Can we stop for lunch? We haven't seen anything yet, and I'm starving." huffed pansy as they climbed upwards again on a larger sand dune.

"You are sounding like Ivy," muttered Jakob, a bit annoyed that they didn't seem to get anywhere closer to civilization.

Pansy, who had heard him, stopped and was about to say something when Jakob held up a fist.

"Do you hear that?" Both girls stopped. They did hear something.

It was almost too quiet to hear, but if you held your breath, you could hear something.

Jakob rushed forward, making the two girls behind him raise their arms to protect their faces from the sand.

"watch it!" yelled Ivy, but Jakob was not listening. They were finally closing in.

His eyes widened when he finally reached and gazed over the sand dune. Far away in the distance, he witnessed a magnificent city with high white walls surrounding it. Jakob would have believed he hallucinated paradise if it weren't for one big detail.

There was an army surrounding it.

"I knew it wouldn't be that simple," cried Jakob in frustration, waiting for Ivy and Pansy to arrive.

When the two did, they also had the same wide eyes as Jakob. They looked at the boy who was grabbing sand, throwing it in the direction of the city and sporting a sour face like a child who had just been scolded.

"Should we wait until they have finished fighting? Asked Pansy, glancing for the first time at Ivy, who glanced back at her with the same questioning face, shrugging her shoulders and glancing down at Jakob.

The boy in question sighed as he made his decision.

"No, were are not. This army seemed to recently have arrived, and with those numbers, I don't expect them to call it a day and return home."

"jake, I'm not saying I won't follow you, but this is crazy. I have never seen anything like this. It must be over 10 000-"

"Looks more like 20 000." interrupted Pansy as she squinted her eyes.

Jakob got up and dusted off the sand on his dress, giving the two girls a smile.

"it could be worse. Let's go down and hope the army is friendly."

The two Slytherins began walking down the sand dune towards the fighting, leaven a confused and shocked Ivy behind.

"How could it be worse?!" She almost yelled in question as she followed the two.

"They could have been flesh-eating zombies." laughed Pansy, raising her hand towards a laughing Jakob, who gave her a high five.

As they came closer to the battle, they could hear the roars of vigour coming from the two armies. Jakob noticed that the attackers wore armour covering their bodies and head and white tabards covering their torsos with a red cross.

The screams of vigour coming from the red-crossed armies Soon turned to pain as they mounted an offensive with one lone ladder.

"Are they idiots?" asked Jakob as he stopped and raised his hand to cover the sun's rays, trying to spot if any other tools were used.

"They are definitely muggles." chuckled Pansy as she spotted the same as Jakob.

"What is that supposed to mean?" questioned Ivy with a judgmental tone towards Pansy.

"They are muggles," answered Jakob turning back towards the redhead and giving her a raised eyebrow.

"This is what they do. They destroy everything they see and only seek new ways to call someone an enemy. Using one ladder to bring down a city with walls over ten meters. What would you call that?"

Ivy was about to give Jakob a retort but stopped as she frowned, looking towards the battle ahead.

"Riders are coming towards us." Said the redhead pointing towards the dust could moving ever closer.

Jakob turned and counted 20 white knight riders that were yelling at their horses to hurry.

"Get behind me and be ready to draw your wands but wait for me to do it first. They are ready for a battle and won't hesitate to cut us down if they deem us a threat," stated Jakob firmly as the infantry closed in.

The Slytherin boy raised his hands in surrender as they were now so close that some had drawn their bows.

The one in the front held up a hand, gesturing for his subordinates not to fire as they started encircling the three teenagers.

The leader jumped down from his horse and drew his long sword. It looked very heavy in Jakob's eyes and had a simple design, with only a red cross decorating the pummel.

Jakob observed him. He was covered in a dress made from small metal rings and had the same white tunic over himself with the red cross. He was clean-shaved, which made Jakob suppose that this was someone important and gave a slight bow.

"êtes-Vous un citoyen de Jérusalem?" asked the man looking expectantly towards Jakob.

"I only speak English," provided Jakob, feeling a little stupid that he thought the man would speak his language.

"Ah. You are Englishmen, yes? You understand me now, yes?"

Jakob looked surprised and nodded at the man's heavy french accent.

"We have travelled the world from the kingdom of England to reach the holy city to pay our respect, but I see you beat us to it." the Frenchman smiled at the words and turned his head towards his riders.

"Baissez vos armes." the knight lowered their weapons but remained cautious of the three teens.

"My name Is Godfrey of bouillon, future ruler of the holy city in the name of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ. I lead this holy crusade. Are you followers of our lord Jesus Christ or worshippers of the false gods?" asked Godfrey, giving Jakob a warning look to provide the right answer.

Jakob gave him his charming smile as he gestured to Pansy and Ivy.

"We have come to this Holy city to pay our respect to the lord Christ. That is the only lord to serve, of course."

Pansy and Ivy gave an uncertain smile as the man glanced towards them, and he looked back at Jakob, who was one eye-twitch away from flicking out his wand.

"Very god!" He exclaimed and laughed warmly.

"You are going to be a good addition to our crusade! Your two friends will stay behind with the rest of the camp, aiding the other women when we return back to them."

Wait what? Thought Jakob, who was about to speak his mind, but Godfrey put his iron-clad arm over his shoulder and began walking with him towards the battlefield. The knights followed after, still encircling them from behind.

"I have a good feeling about you…." Laughed the nobleman and self-proclaimed winner of the starting war. He looked over at the now calm schene as the battle had halted.

"I haven't even asked for your name," remembered Godfrey, turning his head towards Jakob expectantly. Still shocked and confused, Jakob didn't have time to think of something, knowing that the noble would notice the wait and call his bluff.

"Quade, Jakob Quade." Godfrey's eyes widened.

" saint dieu au ciel. You are related to Geoffroy Quade?"

Pansy's eyes widened in shock, and Ivy looked like they had just been caught. Both stared at Jakobs back as the boy was silent for a moment.

"My family name is widely spread. My father's name is Thomas Quade, but I doubt that we speak of the same person." chuckled Jakob, making Godfrey laugh while patting his back. The heavy arm made Jakob stumble forwards a little, Making the older man laugh a little higher as they continued forward.

"No. No, If lord Quade had a son, he would be executed. He is a priest welding god will. He Is From Germany as well, but I can see some resemblance between you. I will order for you to meet after the crusade is won." Jakob was about to open his mouth when he heard a knight yelling in french, and everyone turned.

The snake had still followed them and was now in two pieces.

Jakob glared at the black-bearded man who had killed his snake, promising he would also be in two pieces before leaving this place.

Three of the knights started driving Pansy and Ivy away, talking to them in french, and they looked at Jakob with questioning frowns.

"They will lead them back to camp. They are safe there. You have my word Quade." provided Godfrey giving him a reassuring smile."

Jakob nodded to Pansy and Ivy but gave them a wary glance which they understood as they followed the three knights breaking off to the right.

"Is the priest in the war camp with you?" asked Jakob, curious about his ancestor.

"He is in the follower's camp, healing the wounded. Our first attempt did not go the way we planned, so we are regrouping with Raymond the fourth and Raymond of Normandy."

They entered the war camp and headed towards the royal tent.

"lord Godfrey you attacked the holy city with one lone ladder. I don't mean any disrespect, but what would you expect?"

The Frenchman stopped and stared at Jakob, his knights sensing the situation stopping, resting their hands on the hilts of their swords.

"With fate, anything is possible. Believe in the lord, and he will provide."

Jakob gave a slight bow in response, and Godfrey laughed again while continuing onwards.

"I prayed for a miracle and saw you walking towards us. You are sent from God, and we will win this holy crusade. You will see, Quade, that I am right."

Godfrey swiped his hand, opening the tent flap releasing Jakob from his arm and gesturing for him to follow.

The teenager looked back, noticing that the knights behind him had stopped. The weight of the man's arm made Jakob move his shoulder in a circular motion while he proceeded inside, where men were arguing in loud french voices.

Godfrey raised his hand, silencing the seven men that were all now staring at Their leader and then towards Jakob.

One of them stepped forward and sized the boy before speaking with the man who had dragged him inside.

"c'est quoi ça? Pourquoi avez-vous amené ici cet imbécile?"

Jakob might not know french, but he did know the word imbecile but held his tongue as the leader answered for him.

This Raymond is the answer to our prayers. I prayed for a miracle, and when the mounting of the holy city didn't succeed, my eyes witnessed him walking towards the battle alone and unafraid of the dangers ahead." Forgot to mention my two companions? Why not say that I walked naked as well. Thought Jakob, doing his best not to roll his eyes.

Godfrey looked at everyone with something in his eye that Jakob had never seen before. It was a mixture of hope and love but stronger than both. The man then turned and gave a smirk towards his blonde beard and beer-bellied ally, who examined Jakob suspiciously.

" His name is Jakob Quade." Raymond's eyes widened as he heard the name, getting on one knee.

"I'm sorry. It was not my intention to insult the lord's will." he raised a hand up in the air, and Jakob, who looked unfazed by the reaction, wanted to laugh in confusion.

These muggles are so weird. At least Magicals only act like this when we have our dark lord in front of us. But they show something I haven't seen before. A devotion and loyalty that not even Voldemort or Dumbledore had succeeded in achieving. I need to learn more about this Jesus and his secrets thought the Slytherin Boys before Godfrey gestured for him to walk over to a table where everyone was standing.

A map was pinned to the wooden table by two daggers on each corner and showed The city and ocean. Pieces bigger than the ones used in chess were placed in different places. Jakob noted different crosses and other symbols.

"We have 12 thousand men, 11 thousand infantry and about 1200 knights. The city will fall with this mighty army, but as you know, we do not have any siege weapons. We have limited food supplies, and the heathens have salted or burned the surrounding crops here and here. We need a miracle now," Said Godfrey as he pointed towards the different crosses and turned to Jakob.

"Why did you assault a city with no siege weapons?" asked Jakob, confused and Godfrey looked over at his generals.

"You have travelled from England. You should know that it's not the easiest path to bring the timber required to build."

Jakob inclines his head, looking towards the sea on the map.

"What are those?"

"It's our reinforcement. Said one of the men to Jakobs right.

"They were supposed to attack from the sea, but the Jaffa has blocked them out. Their fleet was... greater than we had foreseen, useless galleys." Answered one of the older men standing to the left of the table.

The men around chuckled at the last comment from the wise man, but Jake didn't laugh. He gave the men a look that asked if they were all idiots. He sighed and looked over at Godfrey.

"You have your timber right there." The leader looked confused at where his miracle was pointing.

"The sea? It would take weeks to get the timber needed by boat. I'm sure that there is another-"

"Send a messenger and tell them to pick apart their boats. Start making the required tools, and don't do anything rash. Have a good strategy before attempting another attack." Interrupted The annoyed boy and caught himself disrespecting the leader of more than 20.000 troops.

There was dead silence in the tent. Everyone looked at the map and then over at Godfrey, who was deep in thought, seeing if this idea could work. After a few more seconds, he switched to stare at Jakob, shocked. A wide smile grew and soon covered his face, and he burst out in victorious laughter.

" tu es magnifique Quade! You are truly sent from the lord!" he turned to one of the men standing further away from the table.

"Envoyer un messager pour donner les ordres." commanded Godfrey, and the man hurried forward, kneeling and receiving a ring from the man before he hurried away.

"If this succeeds, you will always have a place in this new world Quade. You will always be welcomed into my kingdom of heaven," said Godfrey with a smile as a younger boy walked up to them, carrying a tray of cups filled with wine.

Jakob looked at the red liquid, and with a nod from the leader, he grabbed one of the chalices raising it with the others.

"To God for sending this miracle to help us claim the holy city. To Jakob Quade."

"To Jakob Quade. To God!" said the others in unison and began drinking their whine together with the now insecure boy. Was he really having a drink with muggles?

When night fell, Jakob stumbled out from the tend, needing to relieve himself from the wine for a second time. The stone shard in his body did not seem to heal the poison that was alcohol, and while he sighed as the piss poured out, he thought about Pansy and Ivy.

"Wonder what they are doing right now. Hope they are having fun and not fighting with each other's" said the boy in a low voice as he looked over to the follower camp further back from the city and the war camp.

Back at the Followers camp.

"Ivy, if we don't burn his wound now, he will die!"

Pansy yelled frustratedly as she pressed a red-soaked piece of cloth on the man's amputated arm. Ivy was in the middle of heating the sword over a fire. Her sweat dripped from her forehead down to her nose as they had been doing this for hours.

"It's almost finished. I just need to-"

"He is dead." interrupted Pansy as she checked the now still man's pulse.

Ivy, who had blood all over her dress and almost a tired, teary expression, dropped the sword and sat down defeated beside Pansy. They looked around the sea of injured soldiers. The redhead had never been around death this much and was about to break down, but Pansy caught the sign and grabbed her hand.

"You can't cry now. You need to be strong, especially now. Jakob already has a lot on his mind and doesn't need more to worry about.

Ivy squeezed her hand, giving a weak smile.

"How are you this calm? We have seen so much death today, and you seem alright."

Pansy shrugged.

"I don't fear death. I actually feel calm around it. I've seen this kind of world before and would have been dead if it weren't for Jakob. He has always been the calm one, telling me everything will be alright. I don't know. It's just… I feel this is a test to see if I have learned something from him, you know?"

The two girls stared at each other. Having been doing this all day had forced them to push aside their differences and work together. There was no Slytherin or Gryffindor. No blood traitor or dark witch. Just life and death. Their competition and fighting would continue, but for once, the two girls knew they only had to rely on each other.

"My brother has been marked as the future leader of the light ever since we were small." Ivy looked out and saw the torches burning, lightening up one particular soldier lying on the ground with his hand in a praying gesture or what remained of them, at least. He had been one of the unlucky ones, showered in hot oil, and now prayed with almost half his face melted away, waiting for his God to collect him.

"You talk about Jakob in a way that no one has talked about Harry before. Unlike most of Harry's fan club, I feel like you would follow Jakob, even if it meant dying." They saw how the dying soldier's hands slowly fell limb to the ground. The man took his last breath, and his neck relaxed, making his head tilt to the left, away from them.

"Jakob doesn't seek fame or power. He has a goal and protects those he cares for. He can be rude and sometimes say stuff that hurts, but…." Ivy turned as she noticed that Pansy had stopped. She stared over to the war camp, where her leader was.

"He only does it because he cares. Jake is powerful and strong, but he has one weakness."

"What weakness could he possibly have?" asked Ivy, now intrigued.

Pansy looked over at the girl giving her a tired smile.

"The weak people around him. It doesn't matter if Jakob trains and gets stronger if I get kidnapped or injured. I will not be the reason for his downfall. And to answer your other question." said Pansy releasing Ivy's hand and standing up.

"I would follow him into the gates of hell if he asked me, but I'm pretty sure he would rather walk in alone. He is stubborn like that. That is why I don't like people like you near him. You don't understand what Jakob is capable of and the gift he is."

Ivy looked away from the firm gaze Pansy gave her. There was no hate, annoyance or even anger in it. Only truth.

The redhead nodded, understanding the boy she had cared about on a whole new scale. He was everything the light leader was not and everything she hoped to be one day.

Back to the present timeline.

" Father, we can't let them continue on like this! Every day that goes by is-"

" Don't tell me something I already know, Emma!" Roared Thomas, slamming his hand on his desk, silencing his blonde daughter.

Emma jerked with tears in her eyes but held her tongue from speaking.

Thomas sighed as he stood and walked over to his daughter, putting a hand on her cheek and pushing away one of her tears with his thumb.

" You look so much like your mother. And you are acting more and more like her the older you get." he sighed as he turned towards the window that showed the great backyard outside.

" I do everything in my power to get him back, but the unspeakables Have never seen anything like this before. Rockwood informs me that they are closing in on something but won't give me any details until they are certain."

" I can't let him go, dad. Even if I know the truth, he is still my baby brother. If our last meeting was-"

" I know, Emma. I was there. I cursed him. My own son." sighed Thomas in regret, turning around and giving his daughter a sad smile as he sat down, feeling like he had aged 10 years in just a week.

" Can't the other families do something? Can't Luscious?"

Lord Quade shook his head.

" No. They have other things to take care of. The recent attacks on magical families have made everyone cautious, making the cowards hide behind their wards. Malfoy is on his own path of war and has already given aid where he can, but all we can do now is wait."

Emma nodded and turned, walking out of his office without saying goodbye.

Thomas looked out as he saw the water droplets hitting the window and turned his gaze toward the paper he needed to write. Something he had postponed long enough now.

" You will be fine, Jakob. You are stronger than Emma, stronger than even your mother." he lifted his Quill and started to write the letter he hoped to give to his son one day.

Authors note: I thought this would take longer, but getting nice reviews makes my motivation to write burn like a furnace, so thank you all for the kind words!

This battle has actually happened. It's called the first crusade and was led by, you guessed it, Godfrey of Bouillon. The army ( who was as large in number as I wrote in the story actually tried their first attack by using only ONE ladder. Crazy, I know. If you want to read more about it (and spoil who wins), you can search for it on google. Hope you all have a nice day, and I will see you in the next chapter.

Ps: the snake (R.I.P) was a Naja arabica. For those interested in that.

Cheers!