Chapter 1 - All Impressions Last

Salazar was slowly going mad; he'd let her follow him into his private room. He watched helplessly as she ran back and forth babbling excitedly and laughing at all his potions and spell books.

"Yes, that's a poison, and if you don't sit down and stop laughing, I'll use it on you..." He groaned in frustration as she continued talking unperturbed. "The language barrier, I forgot," he mumbled miserably.

Salazar began to pace around his room, deep in thought. "What we need is something to help you learn English, because I can't teach you."

"All right..."

Salazar froze, it wasn't possible, "What did you just say?" he turned to face her.

She looked up from a book she was skimming. "Kindos trel?"

"No. No, just before I heard you say something. What did you do?" Salazar knew, even as he spoke, that it was hopeless. He'd already lost her attention to the book. "What are you reading?" He walked over to the large desk and glanced at the page.

She tapped the page excitedly. "Yes, that's Venus," he said. He started to turn when her hand grabbed his cloak. She shook her head and tapped the page again, pointing to a large paragraph.

Salazar read through it quickly. He gave a short laugh when he'd finished, staring at her in amazement. "You sneaky, little witch..." he laughed harder as she glared at him, fuming slightly. "Go get it then, everything... nes tredagres."

She grabbed the book and ran towards a large desk, grinning from ear to ear. She searched through his collection of potion ingredients, humming loudly to herself. She turned quickly as she heard footsteps out in the corridor, knocking over a glass bottle filled with a black liquid.

Salazar casually flicked his wand at the bottle, stopping it before it hit the floor. "Watch it!" he walked over and pushed her away. "Go sit down before you break something," he pointed to a chair in the corner.

Even with the language barrier, she couldn't misunderstand his meaning. She quietly walked over to the chair and dragged it over to a window, sitting down slowly without a sound.

Salazar finished collecting the ingredients and began to brew the potion, muttering darkly every now and again. After several minutes listening to her soft murmurs he walked over and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm not angry with you, I'm angry at that... that... well, at Godric. He thinks he's so great, just because he's Headmaster. One of these days I'm going to put him back in his place," he let out a loud sigh. "He promised us all equal parts, but he's the one running everything and making all the bloody decisions, while I sit in the shadows looking on. When I get all this sorted out, would you like to help me with..."

He broke off as her screams punctured the silence. He turned swiftly to see the potion bubbling, some of it spilling over the sides onto the table and cold stone floor below. Quickly removing it from the heat, swearing profusely, he consulted the book again. "It should be ready... all we need is something to help you carry it around."

They both glanced around the room, looking for something small enough to carry. She shrugged and looked back at him blankly. Salazar shook his head slowly and put his hands in his cloak pockets, instantly pulling them back out. There in his hand was the black crystal he had thrown into the cauldron the previous night. "Perfect!" he muttered, dipping it into the potion.

Conjuring a long string to hang it on, he threw it over to her. "Well? Say something."

"What do you want me to say?" she said as she tied it around her neck, freezing as she heard her voice.

"That will do nicely." Salazar grinned at her. "Now you can understand me and everyone else can understand you. So, if you'll read these, after that we'll see what you can really do."

He handed her several large books and some parchment. "Salazar? What were you planning to do to Godric?"

"Well, I thought you and I could...you know," he broke off with a slicing motion across his neck.

"Why?" she asked putting the books on the desk.

He stared at her for a moment. "Well, you see - You don't even have a name! How careless of me!" he paused briefly. "What do you want to be called?"

"You call me... 'Hey, you!'... Can that be my name?" She smiled sweetly back at him.

"Don't be ridiculous! This is a serious matter... check the books," he shot an exasperated look at her bowed head.

She opened the first book, Brews from the Apothecary. "Pig snout... I like it!"

"Be reasonable, no one calls their... anyone Pig snout! Keep looking." Salazar picked up the next book. "Here's a nice one, Elizabeth and... Jeckles? NO!"

"Thompson," she pointed to a picture of an elderly man, Bernard James Thompson, a famous Potions master.

"Elizabeth Thompson. All right, it has a nice sound to it. Elizabeth, get a move on, we have to find out somewhere to sleep." He walked over to the door, held it open for her and led her towards the Slytherin Common Room.

"Here's your timetable and this is your classroom," Salazar smiled at her nervousness. "Don't tell me your scared."

"Maybe a little, but look at them all!" She pointed to a large group of students in the corner, laughing at three other students. "Who wouldn't be nervous?"

"Stay here." He laughed as he walked off towards the large group of students and pulled a boy away from the crowd. He had been standing in the middle of the pack laughing the loudest at the others.

"Yes professor?" the boy asked innocently.

"I have a little job for you, Ranulf. See that girl over there?" He motioned over to Elizabeth, who was staring out the window. "Look after her, make her feel welcome."

"In other words, lose my reputation just to watch her? No way!" He turned to leave though Salazar threw out his arm to prevent his departure.

"It'll be worth every moment... your marks and maybe a little bit of gold on the side," He whispered grinning as he turned back.

"I'm listening..." The boy grinned in reply as Salazar gave him a few Galleons, and then followed him over to where Elizabeth was standing.

"Elizabeth?" Salazar put a hand on her shoulder. "I'd like you to meet William Ranulf. Ranulf this is Elizabeth Thompson."

Elizabeth's gaze swept over him, his wind-swept brown hair, cool grey eyes, and the firm set of his mouth. He smiled at her, but it was a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. As he picked up her hand and pressed it to his lips, his grey eyes never left her face. "I'm very pleased to meet you."

"Ranulf will be showing you around." Salazar smiled at her shocked look. "Have fun, I'll see you later. Take care of her Ranulf," and without another word Salazar walked off leaving them alone.

"So..." Ranulf grabbed her hand and dragged her over to his friends. "Miss Thompson, this is everyone, everyone this is Elizabeth Thompson. No, you don't need to know everyone's names." He glanced at her quickly. "Just, Charlie... err... Charles Kenward,

Professor-in-the-making, James Alderly, our very own star Quidditch player, and Gregory Stone."

She eyed them warily before finally offering her hand. "Pleased to meet you all."

Charles took her hand and pulled her forward. "Always a pleasure to meet a pretty lass, such as yourself."

"That's enough, Charlie. You don't want to frighten her." Ranulf glared at him as Elizabeth blushed slightly. "Although, if you'd like to get to know her - she can hang around with you."

"I'd love to." Elizabeth walked over to Charles and took his hand. "Will you show me around? I'm afraid my previous guide, Mr. Ranulf, wasn't very happy with his post."

"My pleasure, Elizabeth." He took her into the classroom and sat with her at the back of the room. "Welcome to senior Charms, Professor Ravenclaw teaches it."

"I was joking about you taking her!" Ranulf yelled as he strode into the room furiously.

"Well, I wasn't." Elizabeth said, sitting closer to Charles. "I'm pretty sure Charlie isn't complaining either!" She threw Ranulf a knowing smile before turning to Charles. "You don't mind if I call you Charlie, do you?"

"I prefer it, Charles sounds too proper. I'll call you Elizabeth, because Liz and Lizzie sounds too childish." Winking quickly at Ranulf, Charlie dropped a swift kiss onto her lips, catching her unaware, before turning to listen to Rowena talk about disappearing charms.

After class, Elizabeth and Charlie walked hand-in-hand to their next class, Arithmancy, when Ranulf came up and drew her aside.

"Listen, Salazar told me to look after you, not Charlie. AND he definitely didn't tell me to give you a boyfriend!" Ranulf ran his hands through his hair. "You're going to get me killed!"

"No!" she waved a hand airily in reply. "I'll make you suffer all the fires of Hades first, then I'll kill you." Elizabeth smiled at him cheekily before turning and running after Charlie.

Elizabeth and Charlie grew close as the days turned to weeks. No one else knew, except for William Ranulf, though he was too busy running after his girlfriends to worry about them. Salazar continued to pay Ranulf; he never saw Elizabeth without him, and that was the way they'd agreed to do it. Until things got a little tricky... People began to disappear without a trace.

"Third one this week! If this keeps up there'll be no more bloody students left!" Godric roared at the others. "Salazar, any luck?"

Salazar shook his head. "Nothing. They're just disappearing." He turned to Elizabeth. "How are your classes? Anything seem odd?"

"No, nothing. I've been checking everything twice, the room... nothing-" she paused, deep in thought. "As a matter of fact – nothing was out of place. The bed was slept in and..."

"And? And what?" Rowena asked curiously lowering herself into the chair opposite Elizabeth.

"I have to go! I've just thought of something." Without waiting for permission to leave, Elizabeth ran out of the door and headed for the Gryffindor Tower.

When she arrived in the room, she searched everywhere. 'Poor Greg! He didn't deserve to die. What did he do?' She dropped to her knees and started to sob softly, several tears rolled down her cheeks. 'I'm being stupid. I haven't been upset when everyone else disappeared, so why now? I didn't know him that well. Poor bastard!' she thought as she slowly stood, her skirt catching on something under the bed.

She leaned down and lifted the heavy blankets only to find a black bra, made of pure satin. "I don't believe it!" she screamed. Elizabeth ran out of the room towards the Headmaster's office.

"Godric! Look at this!" Elizabeth ran into the office and threw the black undergarment at him.

"Elizabeth? I don't particularly want to see your underwear!" Godric threw it hastily back at her.

"Firstly, it's not mine. Secondly…" She sat down opposite Rowena once more. "Look here. There is something on it." Elizabeth couldn't believe the stain she saw...

"Blood?" Salazar peered over their shoulders. "So, did she get hurt as well? Or did she do it?"

"No one could have been hurt - the sheets were clean!" Rowena said sharply. "But why would this have blood on it, if nothing else did?"

"Come on, we'll go look around up there again." Godric lead everyone out of his office towards the tower.

"Where did you find this?" Salazar asked as they came to a stop in the middle of the perfectly clean room.

"Under the bed." Elizabeth bent down and looked under the bed once more, seeing nothing she felt around underneath it. After only a brief second she withdrew her hand sharply, gasping loudly as she found it covered in blood.

The founders dropped to their knees and checked under the bed, rummaging around under their for several minutes before withdrawing their spotless hands.

"OW! It burns... Get it off!" Elizabeth screamed as the crimson stain on her hand turned jet black.

Salazar leapt to his feet quickly and grabbed her hand, wiping the blood onto the bed sheet. "There, is that better?" Elizabeth massaged her hand nodding slowly.

"Salazar! Look!" Godric whispered as he pointed to the stained sheet. "It's... Disappearing?" The stain was shrinking into nothing, leaving behind the perfect white sheet.

"What does this mean, Godric?" Rowena whispered fearfully.

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out. We are dealing with a dark, evil being and nobody is safe." He stood up and slowly walked to the door, he turned gradually as he reached the threshold. "Get all your students together, they have the right to know..."

"Charlie? Where are we going? You heard Godric, we have to stay inside the castle..."

"Elizabeth, nothing bad is going to happen, I'll protect you. I just want to show you something." Charlie grabbed her hand and propelled her forward. "We'll only be gone a few seconds."

Elizabeth couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched, no matter what she did, and it wasn't until he pushed her around the corner of the courtyard did she forget everything. Above the forest, a pale orb was suspended, the light radiating through the night sky bringing an eerie glow to their shadows.

The full moon had cast her into a state of utter calmness and nothing else seemed to exist but her. Charlie stepped beside her, watching her reaction. "This is the first time you've seen something like this, isn't it?" his voice sounded so far away, almost from another world. "Elizabeth? Are you all right?"

"Hmm?" She dragged her eyes away from the moon and stared at him helplessly. "Yes, I'm fine." Elizabeth kept her eyes focused on Charlie, not allowing them to leave his face. "I'm just worried about everything, about Greg and all the other students that have gone missing."

"There's nothing you can do about it. It's not your fault" He placed a comforting arm around her and pulled her towards him, just as several tears rolled down her cheeks. "It's okay, let it out."

After several minutes, Elizabeth began to notice slight changes in Charlie's body, his breathing grew harder, and his heart began to race. "Charlie? Charlie, what is it?"

"I'm not made of stone, Elizabeth!" He tilted her head back and kissed her feverishly.

Elizabeth didn't try to stop it, she liked the feeling of him pressed against her, and she didn't protest when he picked her up and carried her to his dorm.

William awoke to a scream. It took him a few seconds to register he was awake, that he wasn't still asleep. He leapt out of bed to see Elizabeth wrapped in a sheet, sobbing hysterically on the floor.

When she saw him, she flung herself into his arms and started babbling hysterically. "Shh... It's all right. What happened?" he soothed. He ran his hands through her hair slowly.

"It's Charlie... I woke up, he didn't move... We were covered... It was horrible! And... it... hole there!" He hugged her closer, trying to make some sense of her fragmented sentences.

William sat her down on his bed and lowered himself down next to her. "Hold on. Take a deep breath, and start again. Why are you here, dressed in a sheet, in the middle of the night?" he asked slowly.

She stopped and stared at him, before pointing to Charlie's bed and beginning to cry again. He walked over to the bed and pulled back the deep crimson curtain hanging around the bed.

"James! JAMES! Get up, you lazy... Get the founders! Get Godric! GET SOMEBODY!" He motioned to Elizabeth to stay where she was as he dashed over to James' bed, tearing back the curtain as soon as he was there. "Elizabeth! Get Godric now! NOW! GO!"

She didn't need to be told twice, without getting dressed she ran all the way to Godric's office, explaining quickly what was wrong and then running to find the other founders.

"Ranulf? What is it?" Godric asked as they all ran into the room moments later.

William, who was sitting on his bed silently, looking unnaturally pale, motioned to the two beds, and without saying a word Elizabeth sat down next to him. Godric walked over to James' bed, turned hastily and darted over to Charlie's bed. The other founders stood behind him peering down at the mangled body of Charlie. They all stared in horror at the hole where his heart should have been, at the bloody sheets and

pillows, at the two small bite marks on his neck coupled with the eerie smile and relaxed, content look on his face. "Godric?" Helga whispered.

"Get everyone together now." He dragged the sheet over Charlie's lifeless figure and progressed to James' bed once more to repeat the process. "Go, now." Godric didn't yell he didn't need to. The room was deathly silent and at his command everybody but William and Elizabeth left.

"I'm not going to ask why you're here, dressed like that, Elizabeth, for that doesn't seem very important anymore. Though I want you to get dressed and meet us in the Great Hall." Godric paused to look at William. "Wait for her, escort her down and guard her with your life!"

Everybody cried that night... Hearing about poor Charlie - the smartest boy in school, funny and loved by everyone, and James... Nobody could believe that the schools star Quidditch player could just up and die. It wasn't until Godric explained to everyone the seriousness of the situation did everyone start to panic. But no one had suffered a bigger shock than that of Will's and Elizabeth's. Godric told everyone they weren't to go anywhere without at least ten other people or a teacher. Things were getting pretty hectic...

"Stay close," Salazar muttered to his class as he shepherded them to their next room. "Elizabeth? Where are you?"

"I'm right behind you. Mr. Ranulf is looking after me" She smiled at Will subtly. "Aren't you, William Ranulf?"

"Yes, exactly." The class paused as they turned a corner, allowing another group of students to walk past.

"Ranulf, you watch her! Anything happens to her and I'll make you regret it." He stopped outside the Charms room and turned to leave. "Remember, Ranulf, you watch her."

William put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him. "Elizabeth is safe with me. Nobody will be able to even look at her without me knowing about it."

"See that they don't!" Salazar muttered harshly as he walked away slowly.