Chapter 26 - Polyjuice
Daniella woke up early. She wasn't looking forward to the task at hand, but the wait wasn't any better. She slipped into a knee-length, well-worn linen skirt and a blouse, took the beautifully carved hand mirror she'd gotten for her birthday years ago and met Jo in the kitchen.
"Good morning," she greeted without enthusiasm. "Can you handle all this hair?"
"Morning," Josiah said brightly before catching the look on her face, which sobered him up. He knew it was dangerous for them to go out, but he and Noah couldn't really be expected to go out and risk themselves every time. It really was only fair...
But still, he wasn't sure if it was right.
He pulled out his wand anyway, offering her a brave grin and ran his fingers through her long, soft locks experimentally. "What color, love?"
Daniella ran a hand through her hair thoughtfully. "I was thinking red… it's uncommon enough keep the attentions off of Ezra and definitely very different from my usual color, right?" She said, a bit tentatively.
Josiah smiled warmly, remembering the beautiful deep red color the Head Girl's hair had been in his sixth year. He'd always fancied that color. He began running the tip of his wand through Daniella's hair, trying to reproduce it.
He was silent for a few moments, pensive.
"Don't stay out too long," he murmured finally, worried. "Alright?"
Daniella looked at her reflection in the mirror and wrinkled her nose, amused. "I look so weird…" She had never changed her hair color before.
"Thanks, Jo," she said softly when he was done. "We'll go as soon as you finish up with Ezra and we won't stay longer than necessary. We shouldn't have any problems, though," she said, trying to tranquilize them both. "What are the odds of anyone recognizing us so far from home?"
"Aye, but I think it suits you," Jo said, grinning. No sooner had she mentioned Ezra than he appeared at the door; he was wearing a black shirt and flared denim trousers that fit much better than his pajamas. Jo nodded in approval.
"You look like a proper Muggle, at least," he said, giving the other boy several glances up and down. Ezra shifted uncomfortably; he wasn't sure how he felt about wearing denim in public. Josiah reached up to ruffle through his hair a bit, and Ezra recoiled, if only slightly.
"Now, really," the Ravenclaw chided. "I don't suppose you've given the color any thought?"
Ezra stared at the other boy for a moment, then looked to the side. He shook his head.
"Well, how about I make you both ginger?" Jo suggested, pondering this. "You can pretend you're related…"
Ezra wrinkled his nose.
"Isn't it a bit conspicuous? Being ginger?" he asked finally, feeling as though choosing such a bright color was a bit counterproductive.
Daniella nodded at Jo's words. "That could work…" she said slowly, without looking at the two boys. "Try it, Jo. With a bit of luck, we'll pass as tourists and no one will pay us any attention… even if I mess up with the paper money."
Ezra pursed his lips as Daniella signed off on his impending gingerness; he bent down just enough for Jo to grab a fistful of his hair and run his wand over it. A lock of ginger hair fell down in front of his eyes, and he blew it out of the way with a quick puff of air.
A few moments later, Josiah was stepping back to study his handiwork.
"Well, that's… interesting," he said lightly. Ezra sighed; he didn't have the energy to roll his eyes properly. "I'll do your eyebrows, too. That ought to help, aye?"
Josiah looked back to Daniella sheepishly before turning back to Ezra and waving his wand once more.
"There," he said, with some finality. "Now you just have to stop scowling like a gargoyle, and you'll be fine."
Daniella approached Ezra and gave him a quick, comforting kiss. "You look good… I just hope my fiancé doesn't get jealous," she murmured, playfully.
Daniella's kiss temporarily lightened his mood; it didn't, however, improve the growing tightness in his chest.
"I look ginger," he said dryly, kissing the top of her forehead at her hairline. He joined his hand with hers. He looked pointedly at the other two before departing. "Don't blow up the house while we're out."
-/-/-
At the store, Daniella kept looking over her shoulder with growing uneasiness. She couldn't shake off the feeling that they were being watched.
She was probably just being paranoid, but they stayed together, trying to figure out where everything on the list was. At last, they picked up the rope Jo had asked and went for the register.
"That'll be £13.90, please," the lady behind the register said after helping them bag everything, looking at them with poorly hidden curiosity.
Daniella bit her lower lip, looking at the money with intense focus. "That's 10 pounds," she murmured, taking one note out, then shuffled around the wallet until she found a note with a big 5. "Here," she said a bit anxiously, giving the lady the two notes.
She accepted the change with bothering to check it and turned to Ezra. "Sorry, but I really need to use the bathroom…"
Ezra perused the shelves with a look of incredible concentration. So this was how Muggles got their food… every single Muggle went to one of these grocery stores, as it were, and bought a bunch of things to cook. He supposed that poorer magical people, as they were now, also did things this way; since he'd always had house elves to do it all for him, the process was slightly overwhelming.
He looked at a looming red display of glass bottles labelled Coca-Cola; he might have asked Daniella what they were, if they weren't in such an awful hurry. He watched her pick the Muggle paper money out of her wallet and come to an acceptable amount. He felt an unwarranted sense of admiration for her.
"Hm? Oh, yes," he replied, feeling a bit edgy at being left alone in the store. What would he do? Should he stand by the counter? The door? The restroom? "Of course."
He gathered up the bag of groceries and followed her, slowly and rather awkwardly, to the back end of the store. He stood by a silver contraption that was built into the wall; it had a funny looking spout on one side and a very large button on the front that said 'push.'
Curiosity gripped him for a moment, so hard that he couldn't resist.
He pushed.
A stream of water flew out of the spout in an arc and disappeared down a drain on the other side of the appliance.
He quickly jerked his hand away, feeling perplexed.
Daniella left the tiny cubicle and leaned against the sink to wash her hands. It had gone fairly well, all things considered. Soon she could relax and-
"Hello, Dany."
Daniella froze, chilled by that voice. Slowly, she looked up at the mirror, her eyes widening at Logan's reflection. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She had to warn Ezra, but she didn't want to give away his location.
"Did you really think I wouldn't recognize you with a different hair color?" He said with a smile that showed a thin line of white teeth. He was standing right behind her, so close she couldn't understand how she'd missed him before.
She started to turn around, reaching for her wand in the process but Logan disarmed her. He locked the bathroom door and murmured "Muffliato!"
"Why are you here?" She asked, trying to keep him talking, trying to have an idea, any idea that could get them out of that situation. She looked at the floor on his left, where her wand had fallen. Maybe he didn't see Ezra, she thought desperately. If he had, he would've just grabbed him, wouldn't he have?
"Sabrina, darling, will you please join us? We don't have much time," Logan said quietly, his wand still pointed at Daniella.
Sabrina emerged wordlessly from the end stall, brushing her long, black hair behind her ear. She eyed Daniella with the reserved distaste that she managed for most human beings; indeed, one might say that it was her default expression. She was also wearing Muggle clothes - she had somehow managed to find a pair of satiny, hot pink running shorts and had paired them with a bright yellow top with a repeating pattern of white daisies. Her pale legs were made hyper-obvious by the contrasting bright colors.
She turned her large, heavily lidded green eyes to Logan, looking as expectant as she knew how. She only had to hold out long enough to find Ezra, and then… then, she could rescue him, and everything would be like it used to be.
She procured a metal sports water bottle from her bag and popped the lid open.
"I won't need much," she said dully, eyeing the head full of red hair.
Daniella clenched her teeth, anger bubbling up inside her for no other reason than Sabrina's presence. Only for existing, the girl had that effect on her.
"You won't need anything at all from me," she spat, taking a couple of steps away from them, wondering what kind of potion she had in there.
"Dany, I'll make this very simple for you," Logan said with strained patience. "If you do what I tell you for once in your life, you might just come out of this alive. If not…" He shook his head. "Don't force me to do this the hard way. Just let Sabrina take one of your precious hairs and get into the stall to get changed."
Daniella closed her hands into fists, glancing at her wand once more. Polyjuice. That bottle had Polyjuice potion. Of course. She swallowed hard, looking at Sabrina. "You'll never fool him. He'll know," she said, wanting to believe her own words.
She looked at the stalls, then looked at Logan. She started walking as if she was going into one of them, but dropped to catch her wand instead.
The next moment, she was shifting back to a standing position, hands empty, a familiar peaceful sensation filling her, all the worry and fear eating at her fading away like a very distant memory.
"Get into the stall and undress," the voice said quietly. The order echoed in her empty mind, and her legs started moving.
Logan's expression had darkened as he picked up Daniella's wand from the floor. He looked at Sabrina and gestured to the stall. "Let me know if she gives you trouble."
Sabrina showed no sign of emotion as Daniella lashed out at her. The words, for the most part, rolled right off of her, leaving no trace. She was doing this for Ezra's sake. Whatever the other girl said made no difference now.
She'd ruined his life. Sabrina was going to make her pay.
She saw Daniella's eyes go distant and cloudy, and she knew immediately that Logan had put his sister under the Imperius Curse. Good, she thought idly. At least the man had resolve. She didn't find him particularly tasteful in a lot of ways, largely because she compared every man to Ezra.
But resolve… resolve she could respect.
She followed Daniella wordlessly into the stall and closed the door behind them. She met the other girl's eyes coldly before pulling her own shirt over her head, exposing a small, sheer-white bra. For a moment, the stall was all elbows; it might have been awkward, if Sabrina was used to feeling awkwardness. Right now, she was all focus. She took Daniella's shirt and began unceremoniously pulling it over her head.
It was then that the glint of emerald caught her eye, even in the dingy light of the bathroom. Her eyes narrowed immediately, and she grabbed the other girl's wrist.
"Why," she whispered, looking down at the ring and then back at the other girl in expectation. No answer came, however; no, of course not. She splayed Daniella's fingers over her palm and grabbed at the ring. "Give it to me," she demanded.
Daniella dutifully removed her clothes, her thoughts vague and out of reach except for a nagging… something, in the back of her mind.
A different voice filled her mind then. An annoying voice. The girl grabbed her wrist, her fingers, tried to take off the ring.
Ezra's ring; Ezra's promise. Her hand closed, her fingers pressing against her palm so tightly it dissipated some of the fog in her mind. "No…" she whispered, starting to pant.
Daniella resisted, which made Sabrina even angrier; her dark eyebrows furrowed in an uncharacteristic display of outward emotion. She dug her fingernails into the other girl's wrist and yanked the ring off. It was heavy and warm in her hand; she closed her palm over it.
The Greengrass family crest. She inspected the ring, feeling a pang somewhere under years of non-feeling. After he'd left home, it had probably been all that he'd had left that was befitting of him… she could only imagine what he'd been subjected to since then.
And she'd taken even that from him.
"Know your place," she said quietly, pulling on the remainder of Daniella's clothes in the uncomfortably small space, including the ring. Then, without warning, she reached up and yanked a hair out of the other girl's head. She unlatched the door; it swung shut behind her.
Gripping a long, red hair in one hand, Sabrina fumbled with the water bottle, pouring a bit of the potion into the cap and letting the hair curl into it. The small amount of potion began to fizz, morphing; it bubbled a few more times and then turned a dark, stormy silver-grey.
She downed the entire cap full. Her eyes burned from the spice, which was strong like cinnamon with a hint of something else that she couldn't place.
No matter. She'd done her job.
She screwed the lid back onto the water bottle, put her bag and the bottle into Daniella's bag, and threw it over her shoulder casually. Without so much as a second glance toward Logan, she pulled open the bathroom door and found Ezra, staring at something attached to the wall with starry eyes.
It didn't matter what. Nothing else mattered, other than Ezra, and the fact that she was with him now.
The way he looked up at her and smiled a small, child-like smile made her pulse quicken. The smile quickly disappeared, however, and was replaced with a serious demeanor.
"Are you ready?" he asked quietly, adjusting the weight of the grocery bag.
Not wanting to risk talking, Sabrina gave one small, curt nod.
Sabrina kept silent, letting ginger Ezra lead her to wherever they were going. She slipped her arm around his when they came to a stop in an empty alley. A split second later, she eased the hold on him, remembering she was supposed to be someone else.
He Apparated them out.
She looked around at the place she saw in front of her a second later with an appalled expression. It took effort to resume a distant and unreadable expression.
Was this really the place Ezra, the only heir to the house of Greengrass was living in? She stood there, not wanting to go inside that ridiculous, sad hovel.
Ezra's hand hovered over the knob on the front door of the cottage. It turned, however, before he reached it; Josiah poked his head out, looked both of them over, and huffed out a sigh of relief. He smiled warmly and started to open the door fully before his eyes widened, as though he was just remembering something.
"What… er…" he trailed off, trying to think of a decent question. "What did we have for dinner last night?"
Ezra rolled his eyes shut impatiently.
"Roast chicken and gravy with a heaping side of if I remain a ginger for much longer, I'm going to shrivel and die."
Jo swallowed a laugh by pursing his lips into a tight, sheepish grin. He swung the door open to let them in. Ezra, who hadn't let go of his companion's hand, led her under the doorframe and into the front room.
Josiah took his wand out of his pocket and, with two flicks, changed Ezra's hair back to normal.
"Better?" he asked brightly, folding his arms.
Sabrina let Ezra drag her into the building. She kept her eyes on him, more determined to get him out of that place with each passing second. Not only had that girl taken everything from him, she'd also made him live with Mudbloods?
Ezra's hair returned to its normal color. She looked around, holding Hawke's wandloosely at her side. Logan had said Ezra and Daniella were living with two other boys. Only one of them was there.
Josiah's eyes eventually reached Daniella, and he smiled again. She seemed a bit off, but he supposed that was to be expected; it had probably been a stressful trip, and they were all tired, anyway.
"Here, love," he murmured, pushing her into a nearby chair. "It does suit you, but your natural color suits you better, I reckon. Don't you think, Ezra?" he asked with a lilt and a grin. Ezra managed a small lip twitch of approval; it was all he could do under the circumstances.
At least they weren't dead, he thought. And they'd gotten food, too. He wasn't sure now why he had expected everything to go horribly wrong.
His attention was caught by Josiah, who was shaking his wand vigorously and looking perplexed.
Daniella's hair was still red.
"Well that's odd," the Ravenclaw muttered, his cheeks filling with heat almost immediately. "I've done this Charm thousands of- hey!" His voice peaked in surprise as Ezra drew his wand so quickly that it was nothing but a thin, black blur, until it pointed between Sabrina's eyes.
Sabrina's arm flinched at the Mudblood's touch, her teeth clenching when he pushed her down on the chair. He pointed his wand at her hair, trying to change it.
She raised Hawke's wand, but before she could get rid of the Mudblood next to her, Ezra pointed his wand at her.
He was quite fast, but she was faster. She was always faster. A split second later, Ezra's black wand came flying into her hand. She turned to the Mudblood and stunned him before he could understand what hit him.
The boy fell with a loud thud, but Sabrina was looking at Ezra again. He was safe now.
The first moment in which Ezra realized he had been disarmed was by far the most terrifying. His eyes widened instinctively, and he looked at Daniella - no, not Daniella, never Daniella - and back to his empty hand. He balled his fists instinctively in an attempt to protect himself.
Josiah fell heavily to the floor; the impact shook the entire house.
"Where is she," he demanded, panic rising in his voice against his will. "What have you done with her? If you've hurt her… if you've done anything to her, if you've touched so much as a hair on her head, I'll kill you!"
Sabrina looked at Ezra with something that was close to, but not quite, incredulity. She'd never seen Ezra so… unsettled.
Given the circumstances, she allowed herself a small sigh as she tossed his wand onto a pathetic little wooden table. His parents could buy him another one when he started feeling more like his old self again.
"Obviously, I have touched her hair, or I wouldn't look like… this," she said glancing down at herself with a hint of disgust. What could he possibly have seen in such a bland little girl? But no matter. They'd wasted far too much time in that miserable place.
"She has clouded your judgment, Ezra. But we will help you see reason again." Sabrina said, reaching out a hand towards him. "Come."
It took Ezra a moment to place the voice he was hearing, but only a moment. He only knew one person who could string syllables together with that little enthusiasm. His cheeks flushed; anger flooded him like wildfire.
"Give me my wand, Sabrina," he said in a deceptively level tone. "And tell me what you've done with Daniella. Who is we?"
It made sense; Sabrina didn't have the drive required to initiate such a plan on her own. The amount of preparation this would have required… his mind began racing, trying to pick out any and every detail of the past few hours.
He took a step back from her, inching away from her hand and toward the small table where his wand was lying, abandoned. If he could get to his wand…
"Your family," Sabrina said evenly, answering only his last question. She took a step closer, raising her wand further as she noticed his movement towards the table. "Me." She took another step closer. "I forgive you, Ezra."
"Jo?!" The voice reached them from outside, muffled by the walls, but it didn't distract Sabrina. It was probably the half-blood. She wasn't afraid of him, but she didn't want to waste any more time either. There was a movement outside the window. "Greengrass?"
Eliminating the distance between them, she grabbed Ezra's hand and Disapparated them out.
Ezra's blood ran cold at the thought of being taken back to his family. No, he wouldn't survive it… they'd brainwash him or kill him. He'd never see Daniella again, that was for certain. He might not see the light of day, depending on how generous they were feeling.
His parents were not the generous type, in general.
"Get out of here, Ledger!" Ezra yelled suddenly, stirred by a familiar voice. He braced himself, preparing to run for the door. "Take Johnston and get o-"
His voice was cut off by an awful, nauseating feeling; they were Apparating. He'd forgotten how fast Sabrina was when she put her mind to it.
He gasped involuntarily upon their arrival, lowering his head somewhere around his knees and taking a few deep, desperate breaths. Fast Sabrina might be, and skilled in offensive magic, but Transfiguration…
Ezra winced as he finally noticed the raw, angry burning along his left hand. His little fingernail was gone, and so was a good portion of his top layer of skin. Blood began beading along the tear.
But there was no time for that.
"Where is she?" he demanded again, straightening up and ripping his other hand away from Sabrina's grasp. He looked around wildly for any clue of their whereabouts; it was only vaguely familiar to him, and it took him a few moments to place the neutral wallpaper and impossibly long hallways with arched ceilings and doors upon doors.
She could be in any of them. His parents could be in any of them…
Sabrina didn't answer for a couple of minutes, as her body was returning to normal. Daniella's blouse was now shorter, leaving her bellybutton and a couple inches of skin exposed.
She noticed Ezra's hand. "Oh… Sorry."
She looked around, not knowing where Logan was at the moment. She'd have to wait until he decided to show up. Then, she could send a message to Mr. Greengrass, to let him know she had recovered his son.
"She's close," she said a bit irritably. When would he stop talking about her? "But she won't get in the way anymore."
A few moments later, a door opened and closed quietly, somewhere down the hall, and the sound of steps reached them.
"There he is, at last," Logan said, coming to stand in front of Ezra, one hand in his pocket, the other one falling at his side, holding his wand casually.
Ezra blatantly ignored her apology, bending his fingers experimentally. The skin protested, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. More importantly, Daniella was close. That meant all he had to do was find her and get out of here, but how to get past the Ministry Security division was another matter entirely, and then he would have to find Ledger and Johnston, and…
His stream of thoughts was interrupted by the opening and closing of the door. But it was the voice… that voice…
Ezra didn't even stop to think. He charged, taking a flying leap onto Logan, taking him into a hard, tumbling roll. His sense of direction was off balance, but all that mattered to him right now was the fact that his fist was hitting Logan's face, or at least places close enough to his face to be effective.
Logan hadn't predicted such a violent, immediate reaction from the younger boy. Before he could do anything, they were on the ground and he'd lost his wand.
Greengrass was enraged, but he wasn't nearly as bulky or as strong as the other boy had been at the pier. A long confusing moment passed, but eventually Logan managed to get a hold of Ezra's shirt, pushing him away. He punched him and pushed the boy off of him violently.
He rolled to his knees, tasting blood in his mouth. He spat furiously, found his wand and turned to face Ezra again. "Locomotor Mortis," he murmured.
Ezra got several satisfactory punches in before Logan managed to land a punch of his own on his sharp, angular jaw. He was stunned more by the force than the pain, and the moment of hesitation was enough for Logan to throw him off and regain the upper hand.
Ezra, who had been in the midst of stumbling to his feet, found his legs bound together. He fell pitifully forward, growling in rage and frustration and bracing himself for the retribution he knew was coming.
In the meantime, he tried to remember why he'd felt that not learning to physically fight had been a good idea.
"I knew I should have killed you," he rasped into the floor, using his hands to attempt to pull himself up.
Logan touched his face. His nose hurt, but it wasn't broken. His lip was bleeding and that little bastard had chipped his tooth.
He looked down at Ezra. "But you didn't," he said, watching him struggle uselessly to get up, his wand still aimed at him. Oh, he was enjoying watching that smug little rich boy on his knees. "Because you're too weak," he said derisively. "You've always been too weak! You couldn't even keep your…" His head tilted to one side, as if he was amused, "fiancé… safe, could you?" He searched Ezra's eyes. "Yes, she told me all about the ring…"
"Luckily for you, someone still has interest in you…" His lips twisted into a vicious smirk. "But that doesn't mean I can't have some fun with you first."
Ezra's eyes widened instinctively before narrowing again. He couldn't let Logan's words get to him. Anything he said could be a lie. He had no reason to tell the truth… and if not incentive, for what did Logan Hawke work for?
His shoes were sliding uselessly along the carpet; even with his hands free, he didn't have enough strength to pull himself up by his arms. His hand stung terribly. The fight had worn him out.
"Is that all she told you?" he whispered, smiling a feral smile. "Are you going to beat me, Logan? Beat me for loving your sister? Touching her? Being the one constant in her life that you could never be?"
He blew his bangs away from his eyes with a ragged puff of air.
"You're so disappointing," he murmured, looking at the other boy with half-lidded eyes. "You call me weak, but at least the things I cherish also cherish me."
Logan's fingers closed around his wand so tightly the knuckles turned white. The smirk vanished. He forgot all about his orders, about his plans. All he could think of was how much he wanted to hurt that boy.
"You don't know who you're dealing with," he snarled. "Crucio!"
Ezra's scream was strangled at first, frayed with the cracks in his voice that came from the pure shock of pain that only a properly cast Cruciatus Curse could inflict. He fell, hard, and attempted to knit himself together as tightly as possible in a fetal position. The scream was interrupted by a few dry, raspy intakes of breath that were closer to sobs than gasps.
Not even the break in the pain gave him relief; what he felt now was not defiance, or determination, but a sort of resolute fear.
He was going to die, he knew. It was only a matter of how long he could last before his mind or his body gave out, or, alternatively, they sent the Dementors after his soul.
Tears trickled out of one closed eye as he continued to pant, recovering. Inexplicably, a laugh tugged at the corners of his lips, slowly evolving into a rough, mirthless, pain-laced chuckle.
"Have I struck a nerve?" he managed to murmur breathlessly between the heaving of his chest. "Will you curse me until your wand arm tires, Logan, before you go crawling back to my parents for orders?"
The curse had addled his brain a bit, and he wasn't entirely sure what kind of reaction he was going for. All he knew was that Logan couldn't be the one to kill him, and eventually, he'd get tired of being taunted… eventually…
Daniella had woken from the slumber of the Imperius Curse to find herself mostly naked, alone in the same tiny stall, at the grocery shop's bathroom. Logan was outside waiting for her to get dressed. She'd lost both her wand and Ezra, so she reluctantly followed her brother.
He'd brought her to the Ministry and refused to give her any explanation other than repeating over and over that she had to do what he told her or she'd be dead. She didn't really believe he could kill her, and she hadn't seen anyone else yet, so she tried to run away as soon as he let go of her for more than two seconds.
The poor attempt only resulted in her being knocked out and locked in some tiny empty office without any light, any windows and only one door that had been magically locked. When she returned to her senses, she was alone. After unsuccessfully trying to get the door to open, she heard voices outside. She pushed her ear against the door, trying to listen.
Logan was talking to someone, but whom? Could it be Ezra, or Jo, or…
The screaming sent a chill through her skin and she backed away from the door momentarily. It was Ezra. Logan had gotten him.
Desperate to get out of that room, she banged her fists against the door, shouting, "EZRA!" She banged until her hands hurt, pleading with Logan to stop.
Eventually the screaming stopped and an eerie silence filled her small room.
Outside, Logan had lowered his wand and looked to the side, towards the corridor where he'd left Daniella. He hadn't noticed it at first, distracted by his own rage and Ezra's screams, but Daniella had been banging on the door.
He closed his eyes for a short moment, deciding what to do, but Ezra's words made him look down at the sweaty, shaky boy.
"I do not take my orders from your parents, as you know very well," he spat, grabbing Ezra by the collar and dragging him along the opposite corridor from Daniella. He stopped in front of the fourth door on the left. "Look at me, boy." Raw anger filled every nerve, every bit of his soul. "You will never see Daniella again," he muttered, entering the small division and throwing Ezra unceremoniously on the floor.
Ezra was still reeling, and at first, he'd thought the banging was simply the sound of his heartbeat thundering in his ears. Logan looked back, too, though, and then he heard Daniella shouting his name.
"Daniella?" he rasped, unable to make his voice carry. The stress on his vocal cords had seen to that. He remembered again that Sabrina had told him… she was close. Of course. She was right there, and yet… "I'm going to get us out of here, Daniella!"
Louder, but he couldn't be certain that it was loud enough.
Logan's fist around his collar silenced him immediately; he grit his teeth, looking away so he didn't have to look at the other boy's infuriating face. He didn't allow himself to be dragged without a fight, but all the fight that was left in him didn't amount to much. They stopped in front of one of many doors on the long corridor.
At Logan's demand, Ezra looked up, eyes half-lidded. One of them was sporting a bruise. He noticed, though, with some satisfaction, that Logan also had a few purple splotches rising on his fair skin.
Oh, the hatred in those eyes. They far surpassed the hatred in his words.
He crumpled on the floor; the door shut behind him immediately, leaving the windowless room completely dark. He couldn't see the door, but he didn't suppose it would matter if he could. His legs were still locked. He flopped on his back and stared at what he assumed must be a ceiling, although he couldn't make it out.
He closed his eyes, which were still watering terribly, although from pain or emotion he couldn't tell anymore. He thought of how close he and Daniella were now, and yet so painfully far away.
He tried to find comfort in that thought.
-/-/-
Noah had been in the back of the small cottage examining his bike to see how much work it might need when he heard voices inside the cottage.
No answer came when he called for Jo, which made him suspicious. He burst into the cottage at Ezra's sudden warning, wand in hand. He caught a glimpse of the Slytherin boy and a red-haired girl that he assumed was Daniella as they Disapparated.
"Stupefy!" He shouted, but his spell hit the wall harmlessly. They were gone.
Confused, he looked around until his eyes lay on Jo, unconscious on the ground. He kneeled next to his boyfriend. "Jo?!" He pointed his wand at the boy's chest. "Rennervate! Jo? What happened?"
Josiah stirred immediately, his eyes opening wide. The first thing he saw was Noah, leaning over him at a very extreme angle with the arched wooden ceiling as a backdrop. He blinked a few times, then rushed to sit up so quickly he almost bumped Noah's forehead. He grabbed the other boy by the shoulders, looking pale.
"It's not Dan," he said immediately, as though he'd been holding off his reaction the entire time he'd been unconscious. "Where's…" he looked around, desperate. "It wasn't Dan. I don't know who it was, but it wasn't Dan. Her hair wouldn't change. And then Ezra pulled out his wand and…"
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, to no avail. He groped around on the floor, looking for his wand, which he found, although it was tangled in the straps of Dan's bag, which had been left haphazardly beside the chair.
"We have to find Dan," he said desperately, his pulse racing horribly. He grabbed the purse and, with no regard for manners, began to rifle through it. "We can't stay here. We have to find Dan."
Disoriented, Noah fell back on his heels, looking at Jo with a furrowed brow, trying to make sense of what he was saying. "It wasn't Dan?" He repeated slowly, mostly to himself. Josiah's frantic movements were making him nervous, so he held his boyfriend's shoulders.
"Jo!" He said firmly. "Calm down. We'll find them." He paused, giving them both time to breathe. "The girl who was just here, who took off with Ezra… she wasn't Dan? Was she the one who stunned you?"
"Yes," Josiah breathed, relieved that Noah understood. "I mean, no, it wasn't Dan, but aye, stunned me proper, she did, I didn't even see it coming, that, no time to think…"
He closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. He tried to focus on the strong hands on his shoulders instead of the million and one thoughts that were currently racing through his mind. He rubbed his chest absentmindedly with one hand; it ached a bit. After a few moment's pause, he spoke again.
"But, if it wasn't Dan," he began, more slowly this time. "It means that someone else knows we're here, and it's only a matter of time before… before they tell someone who would rather us not be here, or anywhere, other than dead and buried, if you follow my meaning," he finished desperately. "So we've got to go. We can't stay. Help me up, I'll grab my bag… take this, too… and… oh?"
He let go of Dan's purse to fumble around on the table, picking up Ezra's wand and holding it grimly. He looked at Noah with furrowed eyebrows before stuffing it, too, into Dan's bag.
Noah nodded as Jo talked. "Ezra said something, before he left," he said, trying to recall the words. "He told me to leave. He must've known who it was…" What Noah couldn't figure out was how they would know where they'd been taken to, and how he and Jo could help them.
One thing he knew. He would take Jo away from this house and keep him safe. At least that much he could do.
He looked at Ezra's wand and looked away. If he'd lost his wand, how could he possibly defend himself? Ezra's chances had just gotten much slimmer. He decided not to say that out loud, Jo was nervous enough as it was.
He was a man of action, so he got to his feet, his mind focusing on the practical needs. He stuffed his wand into his pocket and picked up the bag with the groceries, to put them away in the bag Jo had hexed to have more storage space. He ran to their bedroom, stuffed some random pieces of clothing in there as well, then looked around, trying to remember what else they might need.
"Where can we go that's safe?"
Josiah followed Noah to the small bedroom they'd been sharing and began grabbing everything he considered absolutely essential to their survival. His medical kit was first - he stuffed that into the bag that Noah was holding - and his clothes were tossed in after it in a flurry. Dirty, clean, it made no difference to him right now.
Once he was apparently satisfied with his own things, he held up his hands as though he'd only just remembered something.
"I should get some of their things, too," he said worriedly, wondering how much more would fit in the bag. He took it gingerly away from Noah and carried it, trotting quickly, into the opposite bedroom. From there, he started tossing things in at an alarming rate: potion ingredients, mostly, but also Dan and Ezra's clothing and a few personal effects. The large silver cauldron, he lamented, would have to stay behind. If Ezra lived through this ordeal, he supposed he could always buy him another as an apology.
His work done, he found Noah again, clasping the bag tightly.
"I reckon it's as good as I can do," he said breathlessly, still looking incredibly worried. At Noah's question, he stopped, trying desperately to think of somewhere, anywhere, that they would be safe…
"Well," he said uncertainly, as though he wasn't sure if Noah would approve of his idea. "There is one place… one of my old housemates… um, you remember Alisa Sparks…"
He'd only been to her house once, and then, he realized with some panic, he wasn't even entirely sure her family still lived there. But she was the only close friend he'd ever had, other than Dan, and it was far better than putting either of their families in danger.
"I know it's very sudden, but maybe… I mean, just for the night…"
He extended his hand and grabbed onto Noah's, squeezing it for comfort.
Noah looked at his broom a bit sadly, but he couldn't take it with him this time. He realized then, for the first time, how empty the house seemed without Ezra and Daniella. He really hoped it wasn't too late to rescue them.
He met Jo's eyes when he returned. "Ravenclaw's seeker, right?" He said, after a thoughtful pause. "Yeah, I remember… let's hope she's willing to help us out."
He took the bag from Jo's hand, and squeezed his other hand back, offering as much comfort as he could in that situation. "Take us there, and we'll figure out what to do from there."
Josiah closed his eyes tightly, trying his best to concentrate properly so that neither of them ended up splinched. With a sharp crack, they rocketed through space, and when he opened his eyes again, they were standing on the lawn of a charming stone manor-house in Durham. Everything was beautiful and peaceful, if not for the fact that there was a very loud alarm going off at the moment.
"Oh, bother," Josiah murmured tiredly, looking around for the source of the noise. It was, more than likely, some sort of detection charm; even if he could lift it, however, he wasn't entirely sure that that would calm Alisa any.
He didn't have to worry about it for long, because the aforementioned came storming out of what Jo could only assume was the back door, wand held aloft.
"Alisa," Jo called out, trying his best to sound friendly and not at all frazzled. "It's me, Jo… and this is N-"
"I know who he is," Alisa said lowly, as she was now close enough to talk with them normally. She didn't, however, lower her wand. Josiah studied her carefully; her hair was as long and free as always, falling down her back in loose platinum-blonde waves. She was wearing all black and studying the pair of them with intense scrutiny. "Or, I know who he's supposed to be," she said after a moment. Jo smiled weakly.
"What sweet did I buy you on the Hogwarts Express in our first year?" she asked Jo, pointing her marbled rowan wand at the other boy's nose.
"A chocolate frog," Josiah answered, as politely as possible. She turned her wand to Noah, narrowing her ice-blue eyes.
"What was the score of the Championship match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw in Fourth Year?" she quizzed Noah, unwavering.
"Really, Alisa, it's him, I've checked…"
"What was the score?" the shorter girl repeated, her voice steely.
Noah had only about three seconds to admire the estate before they had a wand pointing at them and, behind it, a frightening looking girl. He hadn't feared her much on the Quidditch field, even though he'd respected her skills; right now, he was very aware that this was not a girl a man would mess with lightly, if he wanted to come out of it unscathed.
His expression hardened nonetheless and he squeezed Jo's hand more tightly when the girl focused on his boyfriend. Then, she turned the wand to him.
Noah narrowed his eyes, clenched his teeth and didn't quite meet her eyes when he answered, "The score was 210 to 190…" He huffed. "Ravenclaw won," he added grudgingly.
"And don't you forget it," Alisa said smugly, lowering her wand. She studied the two of them again, as though they were stray puppies and she was fighting an inner battle about whether to take them home with her or not. Jo opened his mouth again, perhaps to explain, but the blonde held up her hand and gave her head a curt shake, which silenced him immediately.
"We'll talk inside," she told them simply, turning around and beginning her trek back to the house. Josiah looked at Noah a bit sheepishly and, after a moment's hesitation, followed her.
The house was cozy rather than elegant; the back door led into the den, which was covered in squashy, pillowed fabric-covered furniture. Assorted throw pillows and blankets lay around the room. There was a television in one corner, but it was off. The radio, however, was on; this spurred Josiah into action, and he spoke again.
"Have you heard anything?" he asked, without context. Alisa gave him a calm, surveying look. "About, ye know, anyone being captured, or…"
"This is about your Slytherin friend, isn't it?" she asked in a level tone that betrayed nothing of her thoughts. Jo was silent for a moment, looking uncomfortable.
"Well, yes, but…" he trailed off, and the radio blared on in the background. "It's just that… we've been hiding out. We didn't have anywhere else to go."
There was silence between them for a few moments, wherein Alisa sighed, rubbed her eyes wearily, and came around to stand in front of Josiah. She clasped his hands in her own.
"You're safe here," she assured them both. He gave her a small, watery smile, which she returned by giving her lip a small twitch. "However," she continued. "I'm not making any promises about your snake friend."
Noah followed them into the house quietly. "I'm not sure we're safe anywhere," he murmured. "But either way, thanks for letting us in." He looked at Jo, then gave the girl a long accessing look.
He wasn't sure they would get much help from her, but he supposed if she could give Jo a roof for a few days, Noah didn't have to worry as much about his boyfriend's safety, and he'd have more time to figure out how on earth he'd get Ezra and Daniella back.
"Look," he started. "We just need a place to stay tonight… Then, tomorrow, I can go and…" he hesitated. Go where? Do what?
Alisa returned Noah's look with a hint of amusement.
"And do what?" she asked finally, with piercing accuracy. "Ride in on your white steed with a magical blade and save the day? He hasn't discussed this with you, has he?" The last question was directed at Jo, who was torn between giving Noah a pointed look and sighing.
He settled for both.
"No, he hasn't," Jo said simply, his eyes darting back to meet Noah's again. There was a dangerous aura around him, as though he was keeping some sort of invisible tally. Alisa snorted.
"No, they never do," she mused, turning back to the den. "There're sandwiches and tea, if you're hungry," she offered, pointing through the den to a large archway that led to the kitchen. "I'll join you in a moment."
Noah looked back at Jo a bit meekly; his ears heated up, but he didn't say anything until they were alone in the kitchen. "I didn't mean…" He avoided Jo's gaze. "I just thought, until we find out something about their whereabouts…" Sighing, he stuffed a sandwich into his mouth.
"I know," Josiah said, grabbing a sandwich for his own and nibbling at it with interest. "But ye don't have to say it like you're going to do it all by yourself, for starters. And for another thing, don't you think we should make a plan first? Since he's wanted, it's likely they took him somewhere to be held, but there will be security at a place like that. We can't just storm in and hex everyone. And we can't guarantee they'll be holding Dan in the same place."
He polished off the sandwich, looking worried and morose. He looked back at Dan's bag, then gripped it tightly, trying to remain calm.
They were fine. They had to be fine… he couldn't give up hope so soon. It wouldn't be fair to them. Using this thought as his motivation, he began rifling through Dan's purse. It was normal stuff, mostly; he took a large water bottle out of the bag and placed it on the table, so that he had more room to look around. When he took it out, though, the side of it was sticky; he looked down at his hand, then back to the bottle.
"Did we have a water bottle like this?" he asked Noah, sniffing the liquid on his hand. It smelled sour; he wrinkled his nose. Once his curiosity had overcome him, he unscrewed the lid and peeked into the bottle.
"Bloody hell," he murmured, swishing the sludge-like potion around in the bottle. It moved sluggishly. "For certain we didn't have any of this. This is Polyjuice Potion!"
He gave Noah a puzzled look. Then, his face changed suddenly as the realization dawned on him.
"That's why her hair didn't change," he whispered, replacing the bottle on the table. "If someone used a piece of her charmed hair for the potion… yes, that has to be it. But still, it doesn't tell us who it was…" he pondered this, troubled.
"It would definitely make things easier," Noah murmured, but obviously he didn't have the skill and Jo didn't have the cold blood necessary to hex all the wizards that might be holding their friends captive without a proper plan.
He took another sandwich, biting into it thoughtfully. Something wasn't right. It seemed like an awful lot of trouble to catch Ezra, when he'd been right there, out in the open. "If you ask me, her brother is behind this. Why else would they take Daniella? If it was anyone from the Ministry, they could've just arrested Greengrass, right? But you're right, they may not be in the same place…" He sighed and settled to watch Jo peruse Daniella's bag.
"Do you think her brother took the potion?" He made a face at the thought. "He wouldn't, right? That's just creepy…" He was silent for a while, listening to Jo's chain of thought. They fell silent for a long time.
"No, it doesn't tell us who, but it tells us where!" Noah said suddenly. His eyes widened and he straightened up on his seat. "They got her hair this morning, probably in the grocery store they went to, or close by! That's the only time she had red hair!" He looked at Jo excitedly. "She wouldn't have gone without a fight, right?! Maybe someone saw something, maybe… maybe… we should go there and ask around!"
"That's true," Jo murmured, not having realized this before. Dan would have only been taken if she had put up a terrible fight, or, alternatively, if someone had wanted her as much as the Ministry wanted Ezra…
And there was only person who would hunt Daniella with such zeal. If Logan also had Ezra, though… Josiah thought of their last meeting with the Death Eater and was instantly perturbed.
"No, it wasn't Logan," Jo said with confidence. "It was definitely a woman's voice. And if it had been Logan…" he trailed off, suddenly pensive. "I don't think he would have wasted time stunning me."
He pondered Noah's words, finding it helpful to have another perspective from which to think. Perhaps Noah wasn't a Ravenclaw, and perhaps he hadn't been the most stellar of students, but he wasn't stupid, either; indeed, Josiah thought that he had a no-nonsense, organic intelligence that was rather refreshing.
A few moments later, Alisa joined them at the table. She, too, grabbed a sandwich, although she paused to inspect the contents of the water bottle critically.
"Is this yours?" she asked Josiah, who shook his head lightly.
"Dan went out with Ezra this morning to get groceries, and while they were out, we think that whoever captured them used this to turn into Dan to get into our house."
There was a moment's pause.
"Greengrass?" Alisa said icily. "You were living with Greengrass? What the hell were you thinking, Jo? Or do his Death Eater tendencies not bother you as long as he keeps them in the back garden-"
"He's not a D-Death Eater!" Jo said hotly, furrowing his eyebrows. He didn't like to fight with anyone, but that accusation was just too much. "But his family is full of Death Eaters, and they're trying to catch him. That's why... we were trying to keep both of them safe. I know how it sounds, Alisa, but they aren't like you think. I can't believe that he'd hurt innocent people. And whatever you think about Dan, I'm sure you know that she isn't like that."
Alisa's expression was still stony, but she fell silent for a few moments, at least.
"We think Dan's brother Logan might be behind it," Jo added, looking over at his friend with a hint of a plea. The girl sighed, although what was going on in her mind was anyone's guess.
"I'll see what I can do," Alisa mumbled grudgingly. Jo smiled. "I have a meeting this evening anyway."
"A meeting for what?" Jo asked curiously, smile forgotten.
"Never you mind."