A few days had passed since the incident at Molly and Arthur's. The Christmas spirit had truly died, and as the break neared them, Dumbledore informed Vilandra of the fact that Sterling would not be able to join her and Chaim at Hogwarts. She did not ask why, but she was sad nonetheless.
The rift between the Potter twins and the two Weasley cousins was growing more and more each day. It was becoming so worrying that even the professors were beginning to fear for the relationship. Lupin and Hagrid both urged Vilandra to tell the twins, but she couldn't think of a way to tell them. Their father was being held captive by her father. Perhaps he would even be killed. How would they ever forgive her? How would they ever be able to remain friends?
"The thing yeh have ter understand, Lonnie, is that righ' now, yeh ain't friends with 'em." Vilandra frowned as Hagrid poured tea for Leroux and herself. "Yeh've been ignorin' 'em so yeh dun have ter tell 'em, but they're startin' ter hate yeh both for ignorin' 'em." Leroux and Vilandra shared a look.
"I'd rather them hate me for something like this than know the truth." Vilandra whispered, looking down into her steaming tea.
"Wouldn't yeh rather they hate you for a better reason?" Hagrid asked. "Not tha' they would. Yeh four have been together since yeh were born. Ain't nothin' can break you apart. They'll be shocked, but deep down, yeh'll always be the best of friends. An' yeh know what I think?" He pointed a large finger at Vilandra. "I think they're upset that yeh haven't told 'em. They probably dun care that yeh two are ignorin' 'em. They probably jus' want ter know what's wrong so they can help."
"Help." Vilandra whispered.
"Yeah, Lonnie, you know, help." Leroux insisted. "That thing where other people help carry your burden for a while." Vilandra gave him a look. "Well, you know, you've never asked for it before, so I was just making sure you understood what Hagrid was talking about."
"Oh, you're so funny. My ribs." Vilandra rolled her eyes.
"Leroux's right, Lonnie." Hagrid insisted. "It's time yeh learned that yeh aren't alone. Yeh have people who want ter help. Let them." Vilandra sighed and slammed her head on the table. Leroux jumped and Hagrid cringed.
"Can we rewind the year?" Vilandra asked, her voice slightly muffled. She looked up at Hagrid. "Can we just pretend none of this ever happened?" Hagrid sighed, pushing his tea aside and clasping his hands together.
"Lonnie, the way I see it, yeh think yer doomed ter be like yer dad. Firstly, yer not." He insisted. "Secondly, it's not yer fault. It's nobody's fault. Yeh have ter understand that none of this is going ter change who you are."
"I think we should tell the twins." Vilandra's head snapped towards Leroux. He shrugged. "They'll understand, Lonnie. And you have to admit you miss them." Vilandra looked back down at the table.
"I'd rather miss them than have them stare at me in horror."
"Why would they? It's not you, Lonnie! It's not you, it's not your fault, and you didn't even know about it until a few days ago!" Leroux insisted. "If you tell them, I'm sure—" All three heads snapped towards the door as there came a knock. Hagrid stood up and went to it, opening the door. He heard the bitterness in the voice, and knew who it was, even though they were invisible.
"Great, they're here." Rhett spat bitterly.
"We'll come back later, Hagrid." Hagrid reached out and yanked the invisibility cloak off the Potter twins.
"Yeh'll do no such thing! Come in!" The twins stared at Hagrid worriedly, his voice having been sharp and hard. The twins grumbled as they entered the hut, shoving their hands in their pockets. Vilandra and Leroux stood up.
"Bet you've told Hagrid what's wrong?" Rhett spat.
"He already knew." Leroux defended angrily.
"Sure, come to her defence, Weasley." Talak hissed.
"Enough!" They all jumped and turned to Hagrid. "Yeh lot are family! Yeh've been best friends since before yeh could walk! I'll have none of this in my house! Yeh lot will return to the castle, head to the Room of Requirement, and sort this out!" Vilandra cringed, but no one said anything. Hagrid threw the cloak back at Talak who caught it, stunned. "Off with yeh." Hagrid waved them towards the door. Leroux and Vilandra exited the hut without bothering to get under the invisibility cloak, knowing full well Talak and Rhett wouldn't let them.
A tight ball lodged itself in Vilandra's throat as they made their way back to the castle. Leroux reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"It'll be okay, Lonnie. They're Rhett and Talak. They'll understand."
-----
"You're the reason dad might be dead!" Rhett exploded, jumping off the couch in the Room of Requirement. "Because of your stupid dad, we might never see ours again!"
"Oy!" Leroux hollered, jumping to his feet as well. He pointed his finger angrily at Rhett. "You'd have the right to be mad at her if she had something to do with it! She didn't even know until the Dementor attack, and her mother is also missing, regardless of whether or not the King of Darkness is uncle Ron! So shut up, and sit down!"
"Easy for you to say, you bloody sod! This doesn't affect you!"
"It affects all of us!" They all turned to the door startled as Kei stood in the doorway, entering the room. She glared at Rhett as she headed towards Vilandra and sat beside her, wrapping her arm lovingly around her cousin. She looked at Rhett as she continued speaking. "We are all related here! What Ronald Weasley did affects all of us. Not just you because your father is missing, not Vilandra because her mother is missing, and not because he's her father, but because he is our family, and we have all been betrayed by him. It affects all of us equally because we are all a family. Ronald Weasley was disowned a long time ago, right from the moment Gran and Gramps found out about what he was doing once he'd left Hermione." Everyone stared at her stunned. None had known she knew. Leroux assumed Hagrid had informed Kei that Vilandra would be telling the twins in the Room of Requirement. Vilandra wondered how long Kei had known.
"You knew?" Talak whispered, finally breaking the silence. Kei nodded.
"I found out in Fifth year. They wanted to ensure the rest of you wouldn't snap and attack Lonnie when you all found out. Which, if I'm not mistaken, is sort of what you did." Anger and hatred distorted Rhett's usually handsome features as he took a threatening step towards Kei.
"Our father is missing."
"So is Hermione!" Leroux hollered. Rhett's head snapped back startled. He'd actually kept forgetting that Hermione was also captured, but he never saw this as dangerous for her. She was Ron's wife.
Kei sighed deeply, standing up and pushing Rhett back slightly so he sat down beside Talak. Kei was thankful for Talak. While Rhett had exploded in anger, Talak had just sat there quietly in disbelief. She was thankful she didn't have two people to push back. Kei looked back and forth between the two couches which sat facing each other, two of her cousins on either couch.
"The man who once was Ronald Weasley no longer exists. If he kills his best friend, he can certainly kill his wife. And his children. And his nieces, and his nephews, it doesn't matter, Rhett! He is evil, and he will destroy anyone he pleases, and that includes Lonnie." Kei said in as calm a voice as possible.
Vilandra said nothing regarding Kei's last comment. If what she had said were true, Vilandra's soul would've been sucked out by the Dementor all those days ago. Yet he had stopped it from happening. What did that mean?
"This is a family matter, so we must stick together as a family." Kei continued, pulling Vilandra from her thoughts. "Don't go pointing fingers at Lonnie and Chaim and Sterling, they had nothing to do with it."
Rhett was silent for a long time, staring at Kei. It was almost as if he'd forgotten who Vilandra was. He'd even forgotten about Chaim and Sterling, and about how nice she always was to them. Someone with evil intensions wouldn't be such an angel.
"Do Chaim and Sterling know?" Rhett whispered, feeling guiltier by the second for his outburst. Vilandra shook her head, looking at her hands.
"No." She whispered. "No, I uh—I don't want them to know."
"Alca?" Talak asked. Kei shook her head.
"No. None of the younger kids know, and since Hermione is missing, Vilandra makes all the decisions for her brothers. If she doesn't want them to know, you will say nothing." The twins nodded.
"We're sorry." Talak whispered.
"No, I'm sorry." Rhett insisted. "Talak, you didn't say anything." He turned to Vilandra. "Lonnie, I'm really sorry. I just—my temper got the best of me." Vilandra nodded.
"I know, Rhett. It's okay."
"Is it safe, then?" Kei asked her four cousins. "You won't rip out each other's ribcages and use them as hats if I leave?"
"Uh, no, and gross." Talak insisted. Kei nodded, turned, and left the room. As soon as the door closed, there was a long silence. "Why didn't you tell us?" Talak whispered.
"She was scared you'd react the way you did." Leroux replied for Vilandra.
"Still replying for her?" Rhett hissed, and then cursed himself for being such a sod. He just hated that Leroux and Vilandra were better friends than they all were.
"In case you haven't noticed, she's still really upset." Leroux snapped.
"Hey!" Vilandra cut Rhett off before he could speak. "If you don't stop, Kei and I will have new hat-wear!" She looked back and forth between her two cousins and they both calmed down. "I didn't tell you because I was scared you would react the way you did, and I was worried about our friendship. I was trying to prolong the process of telling you, but you should've known I would tell you eventually." Talak nodded.
"Yes. Yes, we should've. And we're sorry for treating you so horribly, but—Leroux knew. We were hurt he knew and we didn't." Vilandra nodded.
"I know, but the reason is that Leroux isn't really involved. Uncle Harry is gone, and I knew it would hurt you to know my—" Vilandra's voice caught in her throat.
"To know who was responsible." Leroux finished for Vilandra.
"How did you find out?" Rhett asked.
"Dementor attack." Vilandra replied.
"I get it. That's why you were in shock." Vilandra nodded.
"Nothing worse than going to get your schoolbooks and finding out that your father controls Dementors."
"Wow." Talak breathed. "This is so intense." They sat in a long silence.
"What happens now?" Rhett asked.
-----
Harry and Hermione sat on the floor in their dungeon, both thinking everything over in their minds. Hermione had taken out the picture of her children and was staring at it again. She missed seeing their faces, hearing their voices—she missed everything about them. She was luckier than Harry, she had a picture of her children. Harry had nothing. She felt a pang of guilt every time she pulled out the picture, because he stared at it sadly, as if wishing the picture she was pulling out contained his wife and children. She couldn't help but wish she had one. She hoped they were okay. All of them.
"—couple of days ago." Both of them turned to the door as they heard a Death Eater speak.
"No way. Weasley senior? They're not worth our spells." Harry and Hermione shared a look, and then stood up, bolting for the door to hear better.
"I heard it only took one guy to take them both down." The first Death Eater insisted. "They crumpled like twigs." He laughed and the other joined in.
"Didn't they have that brat kid with them?" Hermione's heart wrenched in her chest. No! She thought frantically. Please, God, no!
"I don't know about the little boy. Would've been a pain in the ass if he was brought here, anyway." The Death Eater continued.
"What do you think—" And they were out of ear-shot.
Hermione fell to her knees, hyperventilating. Oh, God. Her son. Her Sterling. Was he all right? Were Arthur and Molly all right? What was Ron doing! Had he completely lost his mind!
"I'm sure he's fine, Hermione." Harry reassured, but she could hear the strain in his voice. He wasn't sure. Nobody could possibly be sure. Hermione couldn't bear to lose Sterling. She felt sick to the stomach, and she wanted to scream and blow the door off its hinges. She wanted to find her son and hold him in her arms, promising him that she'd never let him go ever again. She would be with him, always.
They heard footsteps approaching and both turned to the door. The second they heard the voice, they recognized it immediately.
"All right there, scarhead?" Their source within the King of Darkness' stronghold asked.
"Malfoy!" Hermione slammed her hands against the bars of the gap in their door, looking out at the handsome Draco Malfoy. He wore a black cloak like all the other Death Eaters, and bore the mark of the King of Darkness on his hand. But Draco Malfoy was not like the other Death Eaters. He was a spy for Dumbledore, his Occlumency and Legilimency surpassing that of even Snape and Dumbledore themselves.
They'd found out in Draco's Seventh year that he had quite the talent in those two fields, and was immediately asked to become a spy against Voldemort, and then again, spying on the King of Darkness. Luckily, Ron had never known that Draco spied on Voldemort. Only Snape, Dumbledore and Harry knew. They didn't think it would be safe for Draco if too many people knew.
As Hermione stared out at the blond-haired man before her, he looked around cautiously and pulled out a small blue stone. Tapping it with his wand, Hermione felt a cool breeze brush past her, and the entire conversation the three had from then on became silent to everyone else.
"Is it true, Malfoy?" Harry asked urgently. "Did he really attack Molly and Arthur?" Draco nodded gravely.
"Yes, he did. They're fine, though. He's got them in another dungeon." He motioned down the corridor he stood in. Harry visibly relaxed upon hearing this news, but Hermione had more on her mind.
"What about Sterling?" Hermione asked immediately afterwards.
"Sent to the Ministry. I think Ginny's got him at headquarters. Vilandra doesn't know." Malfoy informed. Hermione nodded relieved. Sterling was alive. He was safe. "Hermione?" She looked back at him. He grimaced, as if he were in pain, but spoke anyway. "Vilandra knows."
"I thought you just said she didn't know." Harry insisted, confused.
"No, she doesn't know about Sterling. But she knows about Ron." Hermione's hand flew instantly to her mouth and she fell to her knees again, disappearing from Draco's sight.
"What about Chaim, and Sterling? Do they know?" Harry asked urgently, knowing Hermione would want to know, but wasn't able to ask. Draco shook his head.
"No. Vilandra didn't want to tell Chaim, and she hasn't talked to Sterling since she found out, I don't think." Draco informed. They stood in silence for a few seconds.
"How did she take it?" Hermione whispered from the ground, her hands buried in her hair.
"According to Dumbledore, not very well." Draco said in a quiet voice. "She had a breakdown. She told Leroux, and last I heard, the Potter twins were starting to hate them." Harry's eyes widened.
"No! My boys—how are my boys?" He said, forgetting completely about their original conversation.
"They're fine. They miss you." Draco informed.
"You got company." Harry said hurriedly. Draco tapped the stone discreetly and gave them his ever-famous sneer.
"We'll get your boys next, scarhead."
"Malfoy!" He jumped and spun around, facing Ron.
"My Lord!" Draco fell to one knee, his head bowed. The trembling was a nice touch, and Harry had to admit, the guy could act. He would've made a great actor. Maybe if they all lived through this, he would suggest it to him.
"Go check on the Weasleys."
"Yes, my Lord." Draco stood and disappeared down the corridor, leaving Harry and Hermione with more information than they'd previously known, but not as much as they would've liked. Harry glared out at Ron.
"Don't be like that, Harry." Ron insisted, walking up to the bar.
"We heard Death Eaters talking about an attack earlier. Who did you attack this time?" Harry hissed.
"Why, my parents, of course. I wanted to see my son, but unfortunately, he wasn't there."
"You bastard!" Hermione shrieked, standing up and pushing Harry out of the way so she was taking up the whole window. "You stay away from Sterling, do you understand me Ronald Weasley! You stay away from him!" Ron stared at her a long while, then shook his head, tsk-tsking.
"That's no way to talk to me, Hermione." He insisted. Without another word, he turned and disappeared down the corridor. Harry watched Hermione as she gripped the bars tightly, her knuckles turning white. He put his hand on her shoulder.
"Come on, Hermione. Come on, you should get some sleep."
"How could I possibly get any sleep knowing that—monster is out hunting down my children!" She slammed her fists angrily against the bars and then fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Harry sat down beside her, watching his best friend as tears formed in her eyes.
"Hermione, when we were younger, you always told me the one thing I should always have is faith. I should always try and believe the best is yet to come. I should always believe in myself." Hermione sniffed.
"It's hard to believe in ourselves when we're stuck in here." She whispered.
"Then don't believe in us." Hermione turned to Harry. "Believe in them."
-----
"We are not going after him, are you mad!" Leroux hollered angrily.
"And what do you suggest we do?" Rhett demanded. "Sit here and let them rot in a prison cell somewhere?"
"At least they're not dead!" Vilandra argued back.
"Dad, aunt Hermione and uncle Ron went after Voldemort every time he reared his ugly head!" Talak argued back. "We're their children, we should follow their example!"
"You're mad!" Vilandra insisted. "Don't you think this would be like giving him what he wanted?"
"You're daft, Lonnie. He doesn't want us, he just wants to get rid of us!" Rhett insisted.
"So we should go and knock on his door to let him get rid of us more easily?" Leroux demanded. "Have you forgotten all the attacks? How close we came to dying? He doesn't care about any of us! If he did, he would have ensured our safety during all the attacks, but you know what, he didn't."
"He hasn't killed dad or aunt Hermione yet." Talak reasoned. "There has to be some good left in him if he spared their lives."
"He may just find they're not a threat." Leroux insisted.
"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger Weasley not a threat?" Rhett asked incredulously. "What planet are you on, Leroux, because it's obviously not Earth."
"Well, then maybe he needs them alive for something." Vilandra insisted. "Who knows, Rhett? There could be hundreds of reasons why mum and uncle Harry are still alive."
"I think you're wrong, and you're both too bloody chicken to go and find out." Rhett insisted, half-hoping the comment would insult the two cousins enough to join them.
"Rhett, if you and Talak go after the King of Darkness, I'm going straight to Dumbledore." Vilandra said. The twins shared a look, then turned back to her, stunned.
"You wouldn't dare."
"We're not pulling pranks and having fun anymore." They were stunned to hear the deadness in her voice. "This is real, and a lot of people are going to get injured. A lot of people are going to lose their lives. If you want to bring the King of Darkness down so badly, ask Dumbledore to join the Order of the Phoenix. I'll join, I've already decided on what I'm going to tell him. But don't go off half-assed and get yourselves killed. Revenge on the King of Darkness is not worth your lives."
"Says you." Rhett said, and the second the words left his mouth, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. Vilandra's face hardened, and her eyes became slits as she glared daggers at her cousin.
"You think I don't want revenge." She hissed vehemently, walking slowly towards Rhett. "You think I wouldn't take pleasure in ripping off the sod's head and kicking it across the room? You think the pain he put my mother through doesn't hurt me?" Rhett fell back onto the couch now because Vilandra was right in front of him. "You're very, very wrong, Rhett Potter, if you believe that. If anyone in this room deserves to have revenge, and kill the son of a bitch, it's me." Rhett swallowed hard at the look she gave him, and nodded.
"I know, Lonnie." He finally replied. "I just think… I don't actually know anymore." He ran his hands through his hair, sighing. "Everything is turning out so wrong. Everything is so different."
"Everything's changed." Talak added.
"Now, it's time for us to change." Leroux shot in. "It's time for us to get ready for the war. It's inevitable at this point, and even if we're just four Fifth-years, we're the children of bloody heroes. It's our turn to pass on the torch. It's our turn to be heroes." He looked at Vilandra. "You want to join the Order? I'm with you. One hundred percent. We're making uncle Ron pay for what he did to our family." Vilandra nodded and the two turned to the Potter twins.
"No doubt about it, I'm in." Rhett agreed. "The wanker—no offence, Lonnie—is going down."
"Yeah." Talak agreed. "This will be the biggest family war the worlds of man and wizard alike have ever seen." Vilandra smiled slightly.
"I say we go live up to our names, boys." She turned on her heel and the four of them disappeared into the corridor, heading for their dormitory.