Chapter 27 - The Greengrasses

Daniella couldn't tell how much time had passed. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, but there wasn't much to look at, either way. There was a chair and a desk tucked against the wall, nothing else, and definitely nothing she could use to get out of there.

She hadn't eaten anything all day, Sabrina's light clothes didn't keep her warm enough, her hands were sore from banging on the door and she hadn't heard anything else since Ezra had stopped screaming. She kept telling herself that was a good thing; at least Logan wasn't torturing him anymore.

Where was he? He could be next door, or in a different level… She sat on the floor by the door. "Ezra?" She called out, tentatively. "Are you there?" Her voice echoed through the room, but no answer came. Daniella closed her eyes. "Ezra?" She called out again, louder.

Ezra felt like he'd been hit by a double-decker lorry.

He might have slept for a little while - the dark was conducive to sleeping, and the pain had made him tired. However, sleeping on the floor had made him stiff, and the stiffness brought its own pain. He pressed gingerly with two fingertips against his swollen eye.

He couldn't hear anyone in the office, but that didn't mean that no one was there. He scooted nearer to the door, trying to peek through the crack at the bottom so that he could see into the hallway. The lights were dimmed. All he could see was carpet and empty hallway.

And then, like a whisper, he heard his name. It was so faint that he almost thought he was hallucinating, until he heard it again. Louder this time.

He started, craning his neck to look in the direction of the noise, in vain.

"Daniella?" he shouted as loud as he dared. "Where are you? Are you alright?"

Daniella's heart ached with relief when Ezra's voice reached her. She shifted on the floor, pushing her face against the small crack between the door and the floor. "I'm fine!" she shouted back. His voice was distant, but clear enough. "What did he do to you?! Did they catch everyone?"

Ezra closed his eyes in blessed relief upon hearing that she was okay. It made sense, of course; Logan wanted her safe and sound, of that Ezra was certain. For all their differences, they at least had that in common.

"I'm okay too," he shouted back, now with a better idea of the distance between them. He couldn't be sure, but she sounded like she was on the opposite end of the hallway. Luckily, the echoes carried well. "But my wand is gone. I think the others made it out, she stunned Johnston but Ledger was on his way in when she took me!"

He cleared his throat, which was still hoarse from the screaming he'd done earlier.

"He cursed me, but they can't kill me, so I'll be fine," he continued, after a moment's pause. "Don't give them a reason to do anything to you. I'll try to find a way to get us out of here."

Daniella rested her forehead against the door, relieved that everyone was alright for now. Jo hadn't been caught. She was pretty sure Logan wouldn't waste time when he got his hands on Josiah again, but Noah would've gotten him out of the cottage by now. "They took my wand too… I think Sabrina has it."

She blew out a breath, touching her now bare ring finger for the hundredth time. "Make sure of that," she said more firmly. "Just stay alive, yes? You promised," she shouted. She was silent for a few moments, listening intently to what sounded like footsteps. She didn't dare say anything else, fearing they might just take him further away.

-/-/-

Josiah found himself positioned on the denim-blue pillowed couch, looking through the bay window out over the English countryside. It was a beautiful place to have terrible thoughts.

Alisa had left for her mystery meeting hours ago, and they had been alone in the house since then. He realized that he had forgotten, impossibly, that Mr. and Mrs. Sparks had been killed in June of that very same year… they had been killed fighting a group of ragtag teenagers, presumably Death Eaters fresh out of Hogwarts. It had been in the paper. He'd meant to write to Alisa, but hadn't ever found the time. Now he regretted it very much…

They had been tortured first, of course, for information. They had been Aurors.

Josiah thought with a pang of intense sadness that it almost certainly hadn't always been this quiet of a house.

"I just can't believe we let our guard down," he murmured. "I should have known… I knew, I knew it was a terrible idea. We should have just gone, Noah, shouldn't we have? Nobody cares enough about us to capture us and drag us off somewhere, but them… and we just let them go…"

Tears welled up in his eyes and he put the jar down so that he could rub on them.

"I feel so stupid," he whispered.

"Shh…" Noah pulled Jo into his arms, trying to comfort them both. "You're not stupid. You're the smartest person I've ever met. Besides, they would've gone out, eventually. There's nothing you could've done." He kissed the top of Jo's head. "We'll figure out where they are, we'll bring them home."

Noah's arms comforted him, but they also took away everything except the pain; he was safe, yes, but Dan and Ezra were not. There was nothing he could do except wait and hope that they would still be okay by the time they got there.

He cried until he couldn't cry anymore. It didn't take long, because he was exhausted and scared and hungry. When he looked up, there were two large, wet spots on Noah's shirt. He dabbed at them, sniffling.

"We have to find them," he said in a small voice. "I don't know what I'll do if… if something happened to them. I don't know what I'll do."

He wiped his eyes again, this time with more force.

The back door opened and shut quickly. There was the sound of rustling and footsteps. Alisa called them into the kitchen and looked at them blankly.

"I have good news and bad news about your friends."

Jo looked up at her, wide-eyed. His heart skipped a beat.

"Do you know where they are?" he asked in a desperate whisper. Alisa shrugged.

"One of our Ministry contacts gave a report at the meeting - he says that the entire eighth floor was closed off today due to an accidental explosion of Garroting Gas. The funny thing, though, was that they wouldn't let anybody up to check." Alisa looked at Jo, then at Noah, hoping for some form of recognition of her effort. She found none and rolled her eyes at them, frustrated at having to explain herself. "Eighth floor is the Security Division," she elaborated.

Jo inhaled quickly, feeling a bit dizzy at the rush of relief he was feeling. If that was true, then… but… His face fell. Alisa nodded.

"That's your good and bad news," she said darkly, pulling a large cardboard box out of the bag and opening it to reveal a family-sized box of fish and chips.

Noah didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. He offered Jo a faint smirk when he pulled away; it was the best he could do, given the circumstances. "They're tough. And they know we'll look for them."

He pulled away when Alisa joined them, keeping one arm around Jo's back, bracing himself for the news. He hadn't expected her to find out anything so quickly.

He looked blankly at her though, not sure where she was going with that story. He looked at Jo, still confused, then back at Alisa. "So… they're in the Ministry?" Oh shit… Ezra had a prize on his head. How would they take him out of there? Dozens of wizards and witches worked in that place.

He rubbed his face with his free hand, overwhelmed with the task ahead of them. "Any ideas?"

Alisa summoned a plate with a lazy flick of her wand and began piling chips onto it. She flopped a piece of fish on top of them and, with some finality, sat down at the table. She gave Noah a searching look, as though she couldn't decide whether to be amused or exasperated.

"They're probably in the Ministry," she said, purposely adding the extra word. "Like I said, they wouldn't let anyone else up, so we can't be sure. But the eighth floor is where the holding rooms are. And," she said, stuffing two chips into her mouth at once. She chewed slowly, drawing out the sentence. "It also happens to be the floor that Logan Hawke works on. I asked after him, just for you."

Jo picked at a chip listlessly. He'd thought that the news would make him feel better, but if anything, he felt even worse. The chances of all three of them getting into the Ministry undetected, finding both Dan and Ezra, and leaving unscathed were abysmally small.

Jo stared off into empty space for several long, thoughtful moments. His eyes widened slowly. He motioned to the water bottle, which was still on the table, looking innocuous.

"What if…" he started, waving his fingers vaguely. "What if we found some way to… use this… and…" He trailed off as the train of thought died out.

"That lying bastard…" Noah muttered angrily. He was certain Logan was behind all that. "That's where he took them, for sure! He's probably holding them there until… until…" he paused.

He'd never really understood why Logan had such a big interest on his sister, to be honest. But that reminded him of something else. "Whatever we do, we need to do it soon. Wasn't the prize on Ezra's head his parents' idea? They're probably going to get him very soon. And then, there's no telling where they'll take him."

He looked at the bottle, then at Jo. A few moments passed in silence. He looked at the bottle again. "I suppose we could disguise ourselves as someone else, but how would that put us in the Ministry?"

Jo looked over at Noah uneasily, not sure that he wanted his boyfriend to finish that sentence he was working on. He looked back at this plate, resuming his thoughts. He stared at the bottle hard, as though it would come to life and cough up some answers for him.

"Well," he began slowly, taking his time so that his thoughts were organized. "Only a select number of people are allowed on that floor. If we knew who they were… and, maybe, if we could…"

He sighed, closing his eyes and trying to calm his nerves. Everything he thought of seemed to be a terrible offense, but under the circumstances…

"We could stun them, you see, or put them in a magically induced sleep, somehow, and… well, become them," he said simply. "And no one would be able to question us going up there then, would they?" He looked over at Alisa, expecting her to be critical of his initial idea. Instead, she looked pensive.

"It could work," she said slowly, still eating with gusto. "I'd need to get a list of all the people in that department. If there are three of them, we're good to go."

Josiah raised his eyebrows, looking surprised.

"You're coming?" he asked in a manner that he hoped wasn't rude. She snorted at him.

"Of course I'm bloody coming," she said, somewhat derisively. "After I save their skins, I'm going to need their help."

Noah followed the conversation while he ate absent-mindedly, his thoughts still on the bottle. His surprised glance at Alisa turned into a calculating look. He had heard of how skilled she was, of course, but could they really count on her? She didn't like Ezra or Daniella.

But then again, he hadn't liked Ezra either, until recently – not that he would admit that in front of the Slytherin anytime soon. If they could count on her help, they might just have a chance of coming out of that alive.

He narrowed his eyes at the girl. "You will help us, even though you have no love to spare on them, because you need their help?" Somehow that thought didn't give him much comfort. "Excuse my bluntness, but when push comes to shove, we've got their backs, just because they're our mates. Do you?"

He chewed on a chip, looking out at the window instead of at them. "You know, it might be the easiest part, getting into the Ministry." He met their eyes and a small smirk blossomed on his lips. "If I look like Greengrass, they'll be eager to get me in there, don't you think? We have his wand too!"

Alisa smiled a small, teasing smile.

"You know what they say, Ledger," she said airily. "The enemy of my enemy, et cetera." She finished the statement by shoving the rest of the food on her plate into her mouth hungrily, with no regard for being ladylike whatsoever. She groaned in appreciation and licked her fingers. She noticed that Noah was still giving her a skeptical look, and so she sighed, once again forced to elaborate.

"Look," she said seriously, folding her hands in front of her on the table. Her hands were small; she had long, thin fingers and wore several bronze rings. "You're right. I don't like Hawke or Greengrass. I don't like Slytherins in general, to be honest. But this is a war, and I'm on the right side. If they are, too, as you say, then that makes us comrades. And I won't leave them behind."

Josiah, who was still picking at his food, wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or terrified. He finally settled on terrified when Noah opened his mouth to suggest a use for the Polyjuice Potion.

"No," he said firmly, at the same time Alisa said "Yes."

Josiah looked at her, mildly scandalized.

"No, absolutely not," he repeated, feeling heat rise in his cheeks. "How do you know that will work? What if they've already sent news down that they've captured him, and-"

"They haven't," Alisa said with finality. "Nobody's been up to get their orders. It would have been in the paper if the news had broken."

Josiah shook his head, undeterred.

"Well, what if… what if…" the sentence trailed off and faded away, and Jo was left with a sinking feeling and very little appetite. He pushed his plate away. "I'm tired," he said shortly. "I need time to think about it."

Noah studied Alisa for a long time, but eventually nodded in agreement. He had the feeling he was missing something, but clearly she wasn't going to tell them anything, so he didn't insist. Maybe Jo could get something out of her later.

He stopped with the half-eaten chip on its way to his mouth, looking from one to the other. "Jo… we don't really have any other chance. We need to get in there and storming in cursing half of the Ministry staff would just get their attention. They'd Apparate Daniella and Ezra out before he got to the eight level."

"Alright, fine," Jo snapped, now visibly irritated. He looked at Noah darkly; his hazel eyes had darkened like storm clouds. "I'll take the potion, then. Give me his wand."

He held out his hand, a pointed, aggressive gesture.

"No," Noah cut him off, and instinctively grabbed the water bottle with the potion, his temper stirring very much unlike him, when it concerned Josiah.

He stood and turned away from the table, teeth clenched, as he tried to control his feelings. He walked to the large window and looked out into the trees.

"Oh, right," Jo said, pulling back his hand and clenching it into an angry fist. "Aye, that's what I thought. Even though I'm better at spells, you have to put yourself in the position of ultimate danger and play hero. It's that bloody motorbike all over again!"

Alisa took a long, slow sip of her drink. When she finished, she cleared her throat. Josiah looked in the other direction, arms crossed.

"Well," she began with mock pleasantness. "I don't really care which of you does it, but it has to be one of you. My voice will give me away. And he's right," she looked pointedly at Jo. "It's our only chance. And if we're going to take it, we have to come to a consensus by morning."

She, too, looked out the window. Darkness had fallen heavily. She stood.

"And with that, I'll be off to bed. Do try not to yell too much. I'm a very light sleeper."

Noah closed his eyes, trying to control his anger, but Jo's words made that much more difficult. Merlin, how he wanted to hit something!

Alisa walked out and the kitchen fell silent.

"I'm not trying to play hero," he muttered, his teeth still clenched. "I may not be the best or the fastest in a duel, but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of protecting myself. I'm not useless!" He exhaled sharply through his nose. "I am the strongest, and they're not going to be gentle…" he trailed off, fighting the temptation to smash the window to release his frustration.

No matter how hard he tried, no one thought he could do anything off of a broom. No one trusted him to keep them safe. Greengrass kept throwing it at his face, and now Jo too. He didn't believe Noah could even protect himself!

"You told me once Quidditch wasn't all I was good at. Apparently, you didn't really believe it…" He murmured, still staring at the trees as if they'd offended him gravely.

Josiah closed his eyes, trying to meditate on the cool black of his eyelids before he spoke again.

"You can protect yourself, aye. You're the strongest, aye. But in this body!" Jo motioned vigorously toward Noah's torso. "You're going to be Greengrass, remember? Merlin's pants, Noah, even I'm stronger than Greengrass!" He stated this with a hint of desperation. "I can lift forty-five kilos of rope straight over my head! But you're going to be Greengrass! I don't think he can lift more than five noodles to his mouth at a time with the help of a fork!"

Josiah let out a large, frustrated sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

"I do believe it," he said lowly. "But you have to be realistic, Noah. And you need to try to understand how it feels, for me, to watch you volunteer for, you know, a glorified suicide mission. That's all."

Noah looked away, and Josiah rolled his eyes, stuffing his hands into his pockets and scowling at the floor.

An unexpected chuckle escaped his lips, but his humor darkened again quickly. "You need to understand it feels the same for me." He was still looking out the window; it made it easier to not give in to Josiah's will. And he couldn't back down; for some reason he couldn't explain, he just couldn't.

"Muscles aren't everything in a physical fight, contrary to popular belief." Noah turned around then, to look at his boyfriend. His sweet, good-natured boyfriend. He shook his head. "It's about knowing how to move, tolerating the pain…" he looked down at his feet. "And having the personality, the anger to hurt someone without thinking twice. That's not you, Jo. It could never be you."

He looked at the bottle and said the words that were stuck on his throat. "If I'm not good enough to do this, then what am I good for? If you don't let me do this…" he hesitated, opened his mouth, but no words came out. Did Jo have any idea how he would hate himself if he allowed Jo to do that in his place?

Josiah looked at the back of Noah's head; he could see his boyfriend's pensive face reflected in the window. He took another long, deep breath. He closed his eyes and tried to listen, tried to understand.

"I know that," he murmured, eyes still closed. The last sentence, though, struck him. It didn't offend him, or hurt him, but it rang in his mind for a few long, poignant moments before he accepted the fact. Noah was right; that wasn't him, could never be him. Hadn't he always wanted to be a Healer? From the very moment that he realized he could use magic to help people, to cure people, to make people happy…

There wasn't enough room in his heart for malice. Not even now.

He opened his eyes.

"Fine," he said, shortly. He might have given in, but that didn't mean that he had to be happy about it. "I never said you weren't good enough," he added, looking stung. "I just… worry about you. I know ye worry about me, too, but it's…"

He looked at the floor.

"It's hard," he mumbled, reaching out and pulling his boyfriend into a close, tight hug. "I don't want us to have to fight anymore. It's hard."

He plopped his forehead in the middle of Noah's bulky chest.

Noah slipped his arms around Jo. "You're the kindest, purest person I've ever met, Jo." He rested his cheek against Jo's head. "You looked at me, and saw something in me no one had ever seen before, not even myself. I'll never do anything that makes me lose that. If I'm fighting for you, I have the best reason to win. And I won't stop short of that."

"Plus, you won't be far away," he added after a while, smiling into Jo's hair a bit playfully. "It's not like I'm going to do this alone. I just prefer to have your wand pointed at me, than pointing one at you, that is all."

"I've a right mind to hex you anyhow," Jo said sassily, although his words were muffled by Noah's chest. "You big hard-head."

He rested there for a moment, relishing the feeling, then gave Noah one last squeeze. He leaned up, kissed him on the lips, and pulled away slowly.

"We should try to get some sleep, if we can," he murmured, trying to be sensible about the whole thing despite his terrible feeling. "And you can practice a bit with his wand before bed; it might be fussy, and that would give you right away, I reckon."

He went back to the table, where he had rested his bag. He opened the top and peered in at its contents.

"I'll try to find one of his hairs while you do that," he murmured, hoping that Ezra shed a lot more than his perfect hairline seemed to suggest.

-/-/-

After changing into more comfortable attire (a green silk day-dress under a black open-front robe), Sabrina walked purposefully down the hallway. She stopped at a door on the far end and, using her knotted aspen wand to unlock the door, let herself inside.

She silently conjured light at the tip of her wand and looked at Dan heavily, with half-lidded eyes that seemed to pierce the darkness.

"They've just owled," she said quietly and without context. "They want to see you first. You're to come with me."

She didn't brandish her wand in any threatening manner, because she didn't need to; she thought it was incredibly obvious that one wrong move by the other girl would find Sabrina the victor.

She would relish the opportunity, though, of course, however unlikely…

Daniella covered her eyes with one hand, squinting at the sudden light that hurt her eyes. She'd lost track of time, she had no idea if it was night or day. Logan had brought her a sandwich and water at some point – judging by her stomach, it had been hours ago – but she had refused to answer to anything he told her.

Who was she talking about?! Ministry people? Death Eaters?!

Gritting her teeth, she got to her feet, trying to gather as much strength and confidence as she could. This might be her only chance to get out, if only she could find out where Ezra was being kept.

She blinked hard a few times and lowered her hand, slowly getting used to the light, then searched Sabrina's eyes, refusing to let the girl see weakness. "You have something that doesn't belong to you. Give me my wand back."

Sabrina looked at her, unimpressed by her courage. Apparently twelve hours in the dark with only minimal food wasn't enough to break the girl's spirit.

Well, that was fine. No spirit was unbreakable.

"Your wand will be returned to you when it is deemed appropriate," she said, without emotion. She reached into one of her robe's inner pockets and produced a simple black robe. "Put this on. You'll only embarrass yourself if they see you like that."

She leaned gently on the door frame, staring unflinchingly with no intention of looking away.

Daniella snorted a humorless chuckle, very much unlike her current state of mind. "Well, these were your clothes, remember?" She said sarcastically, but took the robe. Maybe she could warm up now, at least.

She slipped into the robe, then carefully repositioned her hair. It was still red, and pretty disheveled, which annoyed her far more than the clothing, but she wasn't going to ask for anything, for sure. At least the braid was still holding it together, thanks to Jo's handiwork.

"If I'm now deemed presentable, your highness, let's go," she said even more sarcastically. "It's not polite to keep our guests waiting."

Cora Greengrass snapped her silver-covered compact mirror shut between long, thin fingers; her nails were long and claw-like and painted a glossy jet black. Her brown-black hair was wrapped up in an intricate braided bun. As the door opened, her brown, almond-shaped eyes narrowed. She saw Sabrina first, the lovely girl; yes, Cora saw a lot of herself in Sabrina. She was followed by a redhead whom she could only assume must be the Hawke girl.

She studied Daniella fiercely, unapologetically.

"Leon, darling," she said, in a voice so artificially sweet that it was practically nausea-inducing. "Here she is. Our little guest."

She stood, straightening out her emerald green pencil skirt. She took a few slow steps forward, tilting her head down to get a good look at the ratty-looking girl. She let out a small, soft sigh of obvious disappointment.

She thought she'd raised a better son.

"Sit," she said curtly, motioning to a wooden chair on one side of the room with her raven nails. "We have much to discuss."

Daniella stopped abruptly when she saw who was waiting in the room. A terrible sense of dread filled her, but she made her best not to let it show. She'd never met Ezra's father in person, and only once had a brief exchange with his mother, but it had been enough to decide she would rather eat raw rat spleen than "sit and discuss" anything with them.

She met Mrs. Greengrass' eyes, trying not to think of how similar to Ezra's they were and how ragged she must look compared to the woman's appearance.

She looked around and, not finding any sign of Ezra or Logan anywhere, decided she might as well play along until she figured out what was going on.

"Do we?" she said, and was glad to realize her voice didn't show how shaky she felt.

-/-/-

Ezra was starving, but he was far too proud to knock on the door and ask for anything from Logan. He was occupying himself instead by running the events of the previous day over and over again in his mind. What could he have done differently? Was this his fault?

Now that they were here, how could he keep his promise to Daniella? How was he going to get them out alive?

It comforted him somewhat to know that she was nearby, but it also made his heart ache all the more. Without his wand, he was useless. Without his wand, he could only wait for an opportunity, and then, he would be too weak to manage to fight again… Logan had made sure of that.

It was dark, but his eyes were open, and so he noticed right away when the small amount of dim light coming from under the door was blocked off suddenly, presumably by a body on the other side.

He blinked and looked to the side of his peripheral vision, but didn't turn his head.

Logan stood outside the door long enough to swallow his frustration. He hadn't wanted to leave Daniella alone with those people, not after they said they were willing to kill her. If only she had listened, when he tried to explain to her…

He flicked his wand with too much force, unlocking and opening the door until it hit the wall behind it. He conjured magical flames that floated quietly above their heads and closed the door behind him again.

"Hope you had a nice night's sleep," he said coldly. "It's time for a walk. Stand up."

Ezra's eyes quickly centered themselves on the ceiling again once he heard Logan's voice. If his parents weren't here already, he thought, they would surely be here soon. Whatever Logan was here to do, Ezra wasn't going to help him accomplish it.

It was literally the least he could do.

"No," said Ezra, sounding bored.

Logan exhaled harshly. He knew he should've tortured him longer, knew he shouldn't have given in to his sister's pleading last night. He should've broken his spirit when he had the chance.

He needed to return to that main room quickly.

"I really don't have the patience right now, boy," he muttered, conjuring a black robe to hide Ezra's bloody and dirty clothes – his parents had understood when he explained the need to use some force, but he couldn't present their son to them too damaged.

He leaned over and grabbed Greengrass by the arm, hoisting him up with some effort. "You really ought to re-think your attitude."

"Do you ever?" Ezra asked sardonically, making his best effort at a dead fish impression. He winced slightly as Logan grabbed him by his sore arm; the bone twisted in its socket painfully, and he stood up half-heartedly to relieve it.

Indeed, it did seem that Logan was in a hurry. For what reason, however, Ezra could only speculate…

"They've come, then?" he asked the other boy with thinly-veiled amusement. He locked eyes with Logan then, searching that depth of moss-green.

"You really ought to re-think your fashion sense," he said darkly, eyeing the robe before looking back at the wall.

Logan's teeth were clenched so tightly, his jaw was starting to hurt. He somehow managed to get Greengrass into the robe, after a silent and slightly obstinate struggle.

"Yes, they have. You're done, Greengrass." He then pointed his wand at the boy's face, cleaning the dry blood. He didn't care enough to heal the bruises though – if his parents asked, he would only need to point to the purple bruise around his own eye.

He examined him from head to toe. "You won't look any better than that after they're done with you, anyway. Let's go, move," he said, pushing him towards the door.

-/-/-

Josiah huddled in one corner of the abandoned storage room beside Ollivander's, feeling like a criminal. Which, now that he had time to think about it, he supposed he was. They all were.

He wondered if there was such a thing as a criminal for a good cause.

"Are you ready?" Alisa whispered in his ear. He jumped, even though he had known she was there.

"Not yet," he hissed back, looking frantically at the small amount of Polyjuice Potion that he had divided evenly into three small glasses. He held up a small, corked vial with two hairs in it. He closed his eyes and, taking a deep breath, unstopped the cork and dumped the sleek black hairs into his hand.

He put them carefully into the middle vial, where they dissolved. The potion began to bubble and began to turn rapidly green. He turned back to Alisa, then, nodding silently.

"Ready," he whispered.

Alisa aimed her wand at one of the two guards standing at the front of the alley.

"Imperio," she whispered.

Noah had decided not to bring his wand. He wasn't sure at all now that that had been a good decision, but if he had two wands on him, any other guards might get suspicious. He'd spent a couple of hours last night practicing with Ezra's wand until he was fairly confident he could use it.

That was, if he remembered to be "gentle" with it. He looked at Alisa, then at the guards. Jo was busy with the potions, so he supposed it was his cue to act.

"Imperio," he murmured, aiming at the other guard, with a wrinkle of intense concentration marking his forehead.

Jo pulled his wand out, too; with some dismay, he realized that his hand was shaking. He braced his other hand around his wrist in an attempt to calm it. The guards, under the influence of the Imperius Curse, began to walk slowly and dazedly to their hiding place. Once inside, Jo slid the door quietly shut behind them.

They stood there aimlessly; Josiah found the sight rather distressing.

"Stupefy!" he whispered loudly. One of the guards dropped to the floor; Alisa took out the other one. They landed with a painful-sounding thud; Jo put one hand over his mouth, horrified with himself.

"Which one do you want?" Alisa whispered conversationally, getting to her feet and squinting at the two unconscious men. Josiah looked at her, perturbed, then furrowed his eyebrows in worried thought.

"This one, I suppose," he said, giving up his last vestige of hope that he might do something kind today. He reached down to the older guard's head and plucked a couple of grey hairs. He carried them gingerly, as though they were radioactive, and then dropped them into his own glass of Polyjuice Potion. It bubbled and swirled, eventually turning a chalky pastel yellow.

"Well, whenever you're ready," Alisa said, putting a couple of brown hairs into her glass and watching it with interest as it changed color. Josiah pursed his lips, looking down at his glass again. It smelled like buttered eggs.

"Alright, on the count of three," he said desperately. Alisa nodded. "One… two… three!"

The Ravenclaws drank; almost immediately, their skin began to bubble like wax and change shape.

"Oh, bollocks," said Jo, after his transformation was complete. One of his shirt buttons had popped off under the stress of his new body's wider middle. "I should have picked the thin one." He hurried off with his clothes, tugging off the older man's uniform. Then, he looked up at Noah expectantly.

"Aren't you going to drink?" he asked, looking down at the remaining glass of potion, which was now sparkling faintly in the dim sunlight.

Noah hesitated, looking into the green contents of his glass, but got distracted watching the others and didn't take his until Jo urged him. "Right…" he said, flushing a little and emptied the glass before he had more time to second-guess that plan.

He dropped the glass, surprised by the taste of the potion and the sensation of the transformation. "Wow, good thing it's just a little. I wouldn't want to go through this plan drunk…" he murmured to himself.

When it was all over, he took a hand to his now longer and dark hair. Then he flexed his skinny arms and sighed. "I am so going to force him to start working out after this!"

Remembering he needed to hurry up, he changed into Ezra's clothes he'd brought.

"Alright, I'm ready," he said, looking at the others and recovering Ezra's wand from the ground. "I'll go out first and… make a mess, I guess."

He offered guard-Jo a smile full of a confidence he didn't quite feel and opened the door, coming out into the main street.

It took an impressive nine seconds for someone to finally look at him and realize whom that face belonged to.

"That's him!" A tiny witch said, not very lowly, to her companion, pointing a finger at him. A few more people looked at them, to see what was happening.

Noah felt suddenly very vulnerable, but there was no coming back now. He raised his wand, aimed at a street lamp and murmured, "Confringo!"

The lamp exploded and all hell broke loose.

Jo, now fully uniformed, straightened his Security badge and gave Noah (who now looked like Ezra) a small smile in return. It felt incredibly strange, knowing that his boyfriend was under that skin… luckily, he didn't have a lot of time to dwell on it.

"They've noticed," Alisa said lowly as the fervor began to pick up outside. It was the explosion, though, that gave Jo a start. Alisa had to drag him out of the storage room by the arm to get him moving again. "Come on!"

Jo followed her as fast as his unfamiliar body could trot, which was apparently not very fast. By the time he'd jogged a few meters, he was gasping for breath.

"Stop!" he yelled at Noah, brandishing his wand and reaching for a pair of charmed handcuffs. "In the name of… the law… bloody hell…"

Alisa got there first, yanking Noah's arms behind his back with such force that Jo worried for him. He quickly recovered, however, and addressed the crowd as Alisa cuffed the apparent suspect.

"It's all under control, folks," he said in what he hoped was a conciliatory manner. "Go back about your business quickly, now, get home to your families. You leave this to us."

The crowd, still murmuring, began to scatter; Jo grabbed Noah's other arm, wincing. Then, with a pang of panic, he looked at Alisa.

"I've never been to the Ministry," he whispered, alarmed.

"I have," she whispered back simply, before Apparating them out.

-/-/-

Logan pushed Greengrass along the hallway, then remembered something and stopped the younger boy, glancing at the end of the hallway. The door to the room where the others were was closed.

He searched his trousers pocket. "Put this back on," he said, holding the emerald ring Sabrina had given him on his open hand.

Ezra stopped, looking down lazily at Logan's open palm, mostly through his puffy eye. It took him a moment to realize what it was; when he did, his heart skipped a beat. He snatched the ring out of Logan's hand angrily, then held it up to the light and inspected it.

He set his jaw and, with great difficulty, slid it onto his finger. It would go back to Daniella soon, but for now… for now, it was all he could do to keep it from someone like Logan.

He stumbled gracelessly through the door, and was instantly aware that all eyes in the room were on him. The first gaze he met was that of his father; under that cold, calculating gaze, Ezra felt fear the likes of which he hadn't felt since he was a child.

He ripped his eyes away from that piercing stare and fixed them on Daniella instead.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice raspy. His mother clicked her tongue, and he looked up at her, eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh, darling, don't look so surly," she purred, coming around the chair that Daniella was sitting in. Her heels clacked on the floor, ringing in the silence. She stopped in front of Ezra and put one cold hand on the side of his face. "We've come to take you home, Ezra. Your father and I have been so, so worried. Sabrina here tells me that you've been living in the wilderness," she continued, looking sideways at Daniella and then back to her son.

"You must be so tired. Come; sit."

She patted another chair, although this one was slightly more padded than the one she had offered Daniella. Ezra gave his mother a look of intense distrust, but he knew that he had no other choice; he limped across the room and, wordlessly, sat.

The black nails that raked through his hair felt less like a mother's loving touch and more like an eagle's talons that had finally closed around their prey. He closed his eyes, feeling hatred well up inside of him. He'd always been so powerless in front of his parents, powerless to do anything but follow their orders.

It wasn't until his father spoke that he opened his eyes again.

"Your payment, as promised," Leon Greengrass said, crossing the room and pulling out a large bag that was surely full of galleons. He dropped it into Logan's hand. "You've done well, Hawke."

After lightening his pockets, Leon straightened himself to full height, slowly turning to look at Ezra more closely. He took several slow, long steps until he was right in front of his son. With one tender hand, he raised Ezra's chin.

With the other, he executed a slap so loud that it nearly echoed.

"Fool," he whispered, taking his handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his hand. "You couldn't be more useless if you tried."

Daniella's eyes settled on Ezra from the moment he entered the room. Her fingers closed on the fabric of her robe; she just wanted to get up and into his arms, but they wouldn't even let her take one step towards him.

She only had time to nod to answer his question before his mother positioned herself between them, hiding him from her view.

Hatred bubbled up in the pit of her stomach as she saw Logan accepting that bloody money. "Traitor," she murmured contemptuously when he met her eyes. He didn't answer. For some reason, he looked nervous and less confident now that he was not in charge.

When she looked back at Ezra, his expression made her want to scream. She opened her mouth, but before she could call out to him, his father…

"Stop that!" she yelled before she could stop herself, rising to her feet.

Leon ignored the stupid girl's plea, but he did move to stand behind Ezra instead of in front of him so that he might look at her properly while he taunted her.

A girl like that would never learn unless they paid dearly for their mistakes. He could see now that his son was far more troubled than he thought; there was only one solution now. He raised his wand, gripping his son by the hair and pulling up his head. Ezra fought, trying to jerk away.

"Hold him," his father said mercilessly. Cora stepped forward, putting one gentle hand on Ezra's arm; her grip tightened, and she held him with all her might against the back of the chair. Even though his mother wasn't strong in the least, he was so weak, so sore…

He was still struggling as he felt the pointed tip of his father's wand against his temple.

"Look at her," Leon whispered into Ezra's ear. Against his will, Ezra obeyed; he looked at Daniella, searched her eyes. He tried to apologize without words. His vision began to cloud with water. "This is the price you pay, Ezra. Look at her."

"No," he said through gritted teeth, rocking in the chair desperately. His father grabbed his shoulder and pinched, hard. A thin white mist began to emanate from his wand; it worked its way into Ezra's ear, his nostrils, his open, gasping mouth. His eyes slid out of focus; a tear fell from one eye.

Daniella didn't know what they were going to do, but she didn't want to find out. Desperately, she looked around, trying to find her wand, any wand, something.

His father rested his wand against Ezra's head. "Please, don't hurt him…" she breathed. She met Ezra's eyes, but everything was tear-blurred. She moved, tried to lunge at his father, do something, but Logan grabbed her arms and pulled her back.

"Ezra?" She called, struggling, trying to release herself from her brother's grip, her eyes never leaving Ezra's. "Ezra, stay with me, fight it. Let me go, Logan, please…"

"It'll be over soon, Dany," Logan whispered in her ear. His hands were like iron claws around her arms. She was so angry, but nobody moved, nobody cared…

His eyes slid out of focus…

"LET HIM GO!" Heat spread through her body, and suddenly Logan let out a cry of pain and let go of her. At the same time, the chair where they kept Ezra exploded and his father and mother were thrown on their backs, as if pushed by an invisible hand.

"Stupid girl!" Leon roared, rolling through the rubble of the chair with surprising dexterity. He rushed forward, wand held aloft. "I knew I shouldn't have let you live! Worthless bitch!"

Ezra lay slumped in the pile of wood, completely limp. His eyes were still open, and his chest was still heaving uncomfortably, but the cloud that was made by the spell hadn't lifted. His mother, who hadn't yet recovered from the shock of the blast, fumbled around for her wand…

Meanwhile, in the hallway outside, Josiah was struggling to keep up.

"I can't run anymore," he panted, bracing himself against the wall. "I'll stand guard here, you… go on…" Alisa looked back at her friend, concerned.

"Got it," she said simply, rushing ahead of Noah and toward the room where the noise had only recently exploded. She looked sideways at Noah, eyebrows furrowed.

"How do you want to do this?" she said seriously, holding her aspen wand tightly as they stood behind the door at the end of the hallway. "I'll follow your lead."

Logan stared at his burned hands, lips curled in an expression of pain. How had Dany done that?! He didn't have time to think about it, though, because one moment later she was taking a step away from the wand Leon Greengrass aimed at her chest.

He looked in the man's eyes and knew instantly what was going to happen. He forgot the pain.

Nobody… Nobody touched his sister and lived to see another day! He raised his own wand as the older Greengrass opened his mouth to curse Daniella.

"Avada Kedavra!" The flash of green light filled the room and the sudden silence was only interrupted by a loud thump as Greengrass fell, eyes still wide open and lifeless.

When he heard the explosion, Noah hoped the potion was almost wearing off. He gave Jo a quick concerned look, but didn't say anything. As far as he was concerned, it was just as well if his boyfriend stood out of harm's way.

He approached the door silently. They couldn't make out the words. "I'll go in first," he whispered. "I still look like Greengrass, it might confuse them and buy us a few seconds. You go in right behind me and-"

They heard those two deadly words perfectly, and Noah watched the flash of green light coming from the floor, under the door with a mix of terror and disbelief.

"Shit," he muttered and, grabbing the doorknob, he ran into the room, forgetting all about any plans.

Alisa heard the words at the same time as Noah, and her eyes widened then narrowed in resignation. She followed him so closely that she almost stepped on his heels; giving no thought to the fact that she had a female voice and a male body, she pointed her wand at the nearest person she didn't recognize - which turned out to be Logan - and yelled "Stupefy!"

She then whipped around, ready for battle; however, there wasn't much of a battle to be had. She surveyed the scene quickly, but her thoughts were interrupted by a strangled scream of fury from someone on the far side of the room. Cora Greengrass, her hair unpinned and curly around her shoulders, had finally gotten to her feet.

The two women exchanged a few hexes, none of them hitting the other, before Alisa saw the other woman's candy-red lips start to form that familiar shape - the first syllable of the Killing Curse.

She pursed her lips, unwilling to follow the path of her parents so soon.

"Avada Kedavra!" she rasped, not quite loud enough to be a shout, and yet the words seemed to echo forever… the woman fell, dead, and Alisa paused for a moment, stunned. The shock lasted for only a moment, however, before she worked up the mental faculties to keep moving.

"Get out of here!" she yelled at Daniella, motioning vigorously with her wand. She then turned to face Sabrina, her brow furrowed. She always had wanted a rematch…

Daniella stared in shock at her brother; when he fell down, stunned, she found herself looking at a man on guard's clothing with a woman's voice. Beside that man was… "Ezra?!" She looked at the Ezra on the ground, then back at the Ezra that walked towards her.

"It's me, Noah!" He looked around the room, holding Ezra's wand so tightly it had been firing red sparks since he'd entered the room. Seeing Alisa dueling with the only opponent left standing, he focused on Daniella again.

"What happened? Are yo-" But Daniella wasn't listening anymore. She'd dropped on her knees, searching Logan's clothes feverishly, ignoring the stranger with a girl's voice.

A curse flew right beside her ear, ruffling her red hair. She found her wand on Logan's back pocket, retrieved it and hurried to where Ezra was, still looking unaware of his surroundings.

"Ezra?" She whispered, her voice shaking as she rested a hand against his chest. His eyes were blank but he was still breathing. "Can you hear me? Come on, love, talk to me…"

Noah dropped to his knees beside her. "Daniella, we need to get out…"

Sabrina circled the guard slowly, stepping emotionlessly over Logan's stunned body to get a better vantage point. Suddenly, however, his flesh began to bubble and peel away… her eyes widened, then narrowed at the shorter, blonde girl in front of her now.

"You," she said with monotone dismay.

"Me," Alisa replied, mockingly. She flung the first hex, a violent blue streak like lightning that sizzled through the air and made the entire room feel hot for a moment. Sabrina dodged it, but only barely; she sent a stunning spell that was easily deflected.

Jo burst into the room, clothed in a baggy uniform that no longer fit him; he had tightened the belt around his waist and looked around in a panic. It was then that he saw all the people lying on the floor, some of whom were surely…

"Oh," he said weakly, holding his wand out and rushing toward Noah. "Noah, we have to get out, the Security is coming, I heard it over the radio-"

An orange hex came hurtling toward his head, and he ducked. He looked down at Ezra; Noah and Dan were huddled around him. His eyes were clouded, a sort of vague milky glaze that Josiah had definitely seen before.

"Carry him," he told Noah desperately before grabbing Daniella by the arm. "Alisa, we have to go now!"

No sooner had he said the words than there was a bloodcurdling scream; he released Dan's arm instinctively, running toward his friend, who was now on the floor, motionless. Sabrina lay across from her, stunned.

"Alisa?" he shouted, bending over to take her pulse. It was there, but faint. "Oh no… alright… Noah, we have to get out! Take Dan and Ezra, I'll take Alisa, and…"

Noah, looking like himself again, looked over when Alisa screamed. Everything was going wrong; he looked at Jo, heard muffled voices in the distance…

He grabbed Daniella's arm with more force than necessary to get her attention. "Help Jo, get Alisa out. I'll take Ezra."

"No, I won't leave him!" Daniella's eyes were bright with tears, and she looked about to lose control. What would happen if she stayed there any longer, Noah couldn't tell.

"Go, Dan!" Noah insisted, hurrying her. "Jo needs help carrying her and I can't Apparate the two of you out. I'll be right behind you, go!"

Daniella hesitated, but released her grip on Ezra and ran towards the corner where Jo was trying to carry Alisa. She took one of the girl's arms and helped pulling her up. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure Noah would follow, she said, "Take us out of here, Jo!"

Noah slipped Ezra's wand into his back pocket and shifted Ezra, then hoisted him up with effort. He wasn't quite as light as he seemed. "Come on, mate, let's get out of here before the real security gets here."

He had just started the movement to Apparate out when a Trip Jinx made him stumble over and fall under Ezra's dead weight.

"Not so fast, boy!"

He wriggled out from under Ezra and turned around. Logan was getting up on his feet, looking slightly deranged, wand aimed at Noah's eyes. He reached for his back pocket, but Ezra's wand wasn't there.

"I'm tired of you people always ruining my plans!" Logan said silkily.

Noah crawled away from Logan, all the while trying to feel the floor for the wand. He looked over Logan's shoulder at the door; the voices had gotten louder.

Logan heard them too, turned to the door, and flicked his wand. It shut violently, keeping everyone else out. Surely the guards would get through it in a matter of seconds, but Noah had to take Ezra out of there before that.

"I'd prefer to end the Mudblood's miserable life, but you'll do just as nicely. You can't even fight like a real wizard!" Logan glanced at Ezra. "Then I'll take care of him."

Noah hadn't found the wand because he didn't dare look away from Logan, but he found one of the legs of a broken chair. "No, I don't," he said quietly to keep Logan's eyes on his. "I fight like a Mudblood!" He swung the piece of wood like a Quidditch bat, hitting Logan's knee with as much force as he could gather.

Logan swore viciously, grabbing his knee, and sent a curse that hit the wall behind Noah harmlessly. Noah ran towards Ezra and found his wand on the floor next to him.

He turned his torso around and raised the wand. "Stupefy!"

He didn't look long enough to check if he'd hit him. He held the wand with his teeth, hoisted Ezra up again and Apparated out of that damned Ministry.