::05::

Harry sat in bed and turned the small snitch in his hand. He studied the inscription upon it. I open at the close.

He still had no idea what that meant. After their discussion with Kakashi, Harry spent a long time talking with Ron and Hermione about the meaning behind the objects Dumbledore had given them. Harry had revealed that he knew the snitch wouldn't react when he touched it, because this was the snitch he had almost swallowed during his very first Quidditch game. After pressing his lips to it, the words I open at the close had appeared, but beyond that Harry had no further way of opening it or deciphering what the words meant.

"Harry!" Ron appeared in the bedroom doorway as Harry stored the snitch away. "What are you still doing here? Mum's gonna blow if she sees you not ready!"

Ron himself was already dressed haphazardly in his dress robes, although his hair was uncombed. Harry quickly dressed and then rushed downstairs where the rest were getting ready.

"Hmm…that should do…" Hermione stood appraising Naruto's new look with a thoughtful finger pressed against her lips. The blond ninja had turned his hair red for the wedding.

"Yeah, we can say you're another one of our cousins, no one will know." Said Ginny.

Hermione looked thoughtful. "But those eyes are just too noticeable…And the whiskers…" Hermione muttered before forcing Naruto to perform his henge again.

By the end, Naruto looked relatively normal. No one would have guessed who he was if they saw him at Hogwarts. For Sai, Hermione had him change his hair from his glossy black to a light shade of blond.

"You can pass for Fleur's cousin." Ginny explained with a giggle.

"Show off." Naruto muttered.

"We got it!" Both Fred and George raced in with a cup of what looked like mud.

Naruto made a face as George thrust the cup at Harry while Fred added what appeared to be fine red hairs to the muddy liquid. Upon adding the hairs, the mud turned to a nice maroon color. Harry winced, wishing he could have been a ninja so he wouldn't have to drink the Polyjuice Potion. He swallowed the potion and found himself the double of a red headed Muggle boy from the neighboring village. He knew this was a precaution so that no one at the wedding would recognize him, but that didn't get rid of the revolting taste the Polyjuice Potion had left behind.

"You can be Cousin Barny." Said Ron grinning as Harry felt his new face.

Unfortunately, this Muggle boy was a bit fatter than Harry. His clothes were baggy in some areas because he wasn't as tall and he felt bloated.

The days of slaving and labor were apparent as the boys stood outside in the yard, looking at the wedding decorations. Naruto, Harry, Ron, Fred and George were waiting for the guests to arrive and each of them was holding a seating arrangement plan. Hermione was still inside getting ready and Sai was down the hill with Mr. Weasley and Monsieur Delacour helping to collect the guests. Naruto adjusted the bow tie around his neck again. It was just as bad as wearing the tie at Hogwarts had been.

"Stop playing with it." Ron hissed. "Leave it alone and you'll forget about it."

"Good lord, here they come." Fred sighed.

The chatter of the oncoming witches and wizards was growing louder and the sun glinted off their brightly colored robes and hats.

"Excellent." Said George moving forward. "I think I see a few Veela cousins."

"Veela?" A familiar voice asked.

Naruto, George and Fred spun around and found themselves face to face with a smiling Kakashi. He had been suspiciously absent come morning and Naruto suspected that he was trying to avoid getting guilt-tripped into attending the wedding he had been invited to by Bill Weasley no less. Weddings weren't really Kakashi's thing.

"Sensei!" Yelled Naruto loudly in surprise, causing a few wizards to look oddly in their direction. "What happened to – !"

Kakashi quickly grabbed the boy, putting his hand over his mouth before he could attract any more attention. "Baka!" Kakashi hissed. "Don't attract any more attention to us!" He quickly released the surprised Chunin who was still gaping open mouthed at his teacher.

"Sorry, Kakashi," Said Naruto sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head, "It's just that you…"

"Clean up rather spiffy." Said Fred leaning in, putting an arm on Naruto's shoulder. "I must say Professor, the ladies are going to have a field day today. If only you remove that irritable mask…"

Kakashi rolled his sole eye at the red head's comment. Kakashi had found himself the object of Fred and George's attentions as they vowed to one day, see what was under that ever present mask of his. Kakashi found it all good fun and games but had to wonder what the Weasley twins were capable of.

But Kakashi's appearance was different from usual. You could see that he made an attempt to somewhat flatten his stalk of hair. Although the mask was still present, his hitai-ate was no longer covering his eye and was instead replaced by an eye patch that reminded Naruto of a pirate. And Naruto supposed that Kakashi did look rather suave in the black pants, shirt and jacket that he must have borrowed from someone. His hands were casually in his pockets and Naruto could see he was still wearing his black fingerless gloves.

"Don't you have a job to do?" Kakashi questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't fancy my presence then?" Asked Fred. "That's too bad. George's already moved on to snatch up all the veela cousins, that bothersome git, so I don't see the harm in spending some time with you."

"I think I need to find my seat anyway." Said Kakashi. "Besides, I don't want to take you away from the attractive witches over there who are waiting to be escorted."

Fred and Naruto turned to look at where a group of middle aged witches were casting glances over at them, waiting to be seated. Fred groaned and when they turned around, Kakashi had already disappeared, presumably off to find a seat on his own. Groaning again, he and Naruto moved off toward the witches.

Naruto had a bit of trouble locating which person was sitting where, but was managing fairly ok. He felt some relief when he saw a familiar face from his Hogwarts days.

"Naruto, is that you?" Luna Lovegood, wearing bright yellow robes, stared expectantly up in to Naruto's face.

"Yeah." Naruto said sheepishly. "How did you know it was me?" He said scratching his head.

Luna smiled. "Red hair does little to disguise you." Then she pulled something from her pocket. "Look." She held up what appeared to be a shuriken, carved out of wood. The edges seemed quite pointy, however.

"Sugoi!" Said Naruto excitedly.

Luna flung it with ease and it lodged itself in a tree. "I've been practicing." She said proudly.

Naruto felt a new found liking for the girl. "Here," He said pulling out a real kunai from his sleeve. He handed it to her. "You never know."

She beamed at him. "Thanks." She said before bouncing off.

Naruto spotted Harry some distance away seating Luna's father, Xenophilius when Ron walked up, an ancient old lady on his arm.

"Sheesh, who's the hag?" Naruto muttered. From the expression on Ron's face, he seemed to agree.

"Who's this?" She barked at him.

"Auntie Muriel, this is our cousin…Harold." Explained Ron with a gesture toward Naruto.

Muriel took in Naruto appearance with scrutiny in her expression as she looked him up and down. Naruto fidgeted under her gaze. The old bat looked half blind but her gaze felt predatory.

"You Weasleys breed like gnomes." She muttered. "But still, you're more strapping than most…" Which made Naruto turn red and Ron stifled his laugh.

Then Muriel turned to Ron which shut him up quick. "Isn't Harry Potter here? I was hoping to meet him. I though he was a friend of yours, or were you just boasting, Ronald?"

"Umm…he couldn't come…" Ron stammered.

"Humph." Muriel snorted. "Made excuses for himself did he…" Then she turned Naruto. "I've just been instructing the bride on how to wear my tiara." She shouted. "She's a good looking girl, but still…French! Oh well." She sighed. "Find me a seat Ronald, I'm one hundred and seven and shouldn't be on my feet." She ordered Ron.

The wedding was indeed a nice affair. Naruto had never been to a wedding before and Bill and Fleur's had him in utter awe. Fleur was very beautiful in her simple white gown and even Ginny and Gabrielle were stunning in their gold gowns. Naruto found that Harry in particular couldn't keep his eyes off Ginny.

When Bill and Fleur were announced man and wife, golden balloons were released along with birds of paradise and small golden bells. Then, the chairs were magically swept aside and the dance floor was instantly created as the band trooped to the front and the waiters instantly appeared. Ron, Harry and Naruto managed to snag a table for themselves near the back, as far from Muriel as Ron instructed. Hermione appeared moments later, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief, followed shortly by Sai.

Naruto shot to his feet as Hermione approached. "Wow." He said, his eyes wide. He had never seen Hermione's hair look so tame before! Nor had he really seen her in clothes other than her wizarding robes or the large comfy sweaters and jackets she usually liked to wear. Her dress today was lilac and form fitting.

"Oh, thank you." Said Hermione, ducking her head in embarrassment as she patted Naruto on the arm before slipping into a spare seat next to Harry.

"One of the girls with the long blond hair just asked me if I would like to meet her behind that tree over there in ten minutes." Said Sai with a perplexed look as he found his seat. "What does that mean?"

Naruto, Harry and Ron stared at Sai wide eyed for a moment before Harry let out a low whistle and shook his head, amused while Ron groaned and dropped his face into his hands. "…A Veela, no less…" He was heard muttering. "…Doesn't know how good he has it…"

Ron's tirade was interrupted as a large, brooding man dropped into the seat previously vacated by Luna Lovegood. Ron immediately stiffened which put Naruto and Sai on edge. Were they to get rid of him?

He asked, his voice heavily accented. "Who is that man in the yellow?"

"Sorry, but who are you?" Naruto asked loudly.

"This is Vikor Krum." Hermione explained, seeming nervous. "He's a famous Quidditch player."

"That's Xenophilius Lovegood." Said Ron in a sour tone. "Our friend's father."

Hermione's eyes shifted nervously. "Come dance." She said quickly, grasping Naruto's hand and dragging him onto the dance floor.

Ron seemed a bit angry after that and he too, disappeared.

Krum seemed distracted by Hermione's disappearance. "She found someone new?"

"Uhh…" Said Harry, not knowing how to reply.

"Does asking someone to dance entail dating?" Sai asked curiously.

Krum looked at Sai. "Who are you?"

"Sai." He responded. Krum stuck his hand out and Sai assumed he was supposed to shake it.

"Do you know this Lovegood vell?" Krum asked.

"We just met him today." Harry answered. "Why?"

Krum looked deadly as he glowered at Xenophilius from across the room. "If he vos not a guest of Fleur's, I vould duel him here for vearing that filthy sigh upon his chest." Krum spat.

Harry and Sai looked over at him. "The eye?" Asked Harry.

"That's Grindelvald's sign." Krum explained with disgust.

"Who?" Sai and Harry asked.

"The Dark wizard Dumbledore defeated?" Asked Harry. He recalled that he once spotted Grindelwald's name on a Chocolate Frog card that was featuring Dumbledore.

"Exactly." Krum answered. Krum tightened his jaw before speaking again. "I recognized the symbol at vunce. Grindelvald carved it into a vall at Durmstrang ven he vent there."

Harry was quite confused. Surely Krum was mistaken. Xenophilius might have been looney, but he wasn't into the dark arts. "Are you…er…sure it's his?" Harry questioned again.

"I valked past that sign for several years, I know it vell." Krum replied coldly.

Kakashi paced around the dance floor, much more intent to watch others have fun rather than dance himself. He saw Naruto on the dance floor with Hermione, looking very much like he was enjoying himself. Kakashi knew that the past couple of days had been rough for Naruto, in light of the circumstances of Sakura's kidnapping, but Kakashi was glad that Naruto was able to let loose for a while. Kakashi even saw Lupin spinning Tonks around the dance floor, her newfangled blond hair flying around her face. Kakashi noticed that Lupin had been quite down both yesterday and today and Kakashi didn't have the faintest idea why. As far as Kakashi could tell, Lupin should have been the happiest guy around considering Tonks was pregnant. Kakashi had sensed the additional flare of chakra (or magic) right away and had sent Tonks a little knowing smile when he saw her. Tonks had widened her eyes in surprise before giving Kakashi a coy smile.

"Oi, Kakashi."

Kakashi soon found himself in the presence of Fred and George, each with their arm around his shoulders. He suppressed a groan.

"We've noticed that you seem to be quite the object of desire –" Began George.

" – For all the single inhabitants of this fine and glorious event." Chuckled Fred.

"Hmm…" Murmured Kakashi in response. "I can't say I've been paying attention." Truth was, he had been, but he was hoping and praying that his aloof demeanor and rather frightening eye patch would deter anyone from coming up to him.

"Oh, what a poor ignorant fellow you've been." Mused George. "Don't worry. We've taken the liberty of informing all the single ladies out there of what a fine dancer you are."

"Hope you have your dancing shoes on." Chuckled Fred as Kakashi stared at the two twins in muted horror.

"You…" Kakashi stuttered.

"Don't worry." Said George leaning in and clapping Kakashi on the back. "Most women find the eye patch rather sexy and…mysterious." He said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Ah, the first contender is here." Said Fred as he spied a rather mousy looking witch finally gathering up the courage to approach Kakashi. "Have fun!" He said before the twins moved off, both laughing.

Kakashi sent a glare their way as the witch approached him. Oh it was on.

Hermione dragged a chair up next to Harry's and plopped herself on it, laughing as Naruto joined her.

"That was really fun, Hermione!" Naruto said with a true smile, the most anyone had seen from him in days. "I don't think I've ever been dancing like that before!"

"No!" Exclaimed Hermione in shock as she pulled off one of her heels to massage her foot, "That can't be! You were much too good for that to be your first time. I simply cannot dance anymore!"

Naruto beamed and turned to say something to Harry when he noticed Harry's vacant and dumb looking expression. Naruto touched Hermione lightly on the shoulder and she turned, her smile morphing into a concerned frown. "Harry, are you ok?" She asked, lowering her voice.

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off they all turned to look at a lynx Patronus that landed in the middle of the dance floor. Kingsley's low voice echoed out of it.

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

Sakura felt another fat teardrop roll down her cheek and soak into the pillow under her head and she weakly brushed her hand across her eyes. 'I promised myself I would stop crying.' She berated herself.

Another tear drop fell. 'I'm supposed to be stronger.' She thought again.

She thought back to the time when she visited Naruto in the hospital after the Valley of the End. He was bandaged and bruised, but he still promised that he wouldn't let her down, that he would bring Sasuke back. That time showed her how strong Naruto was. After that, she vowed to herself she would always help him. She never wanted to be that weak again. But here she was, yet again in the damsel in distress position.

The paralysis had finally faded from her body, giving her limbs free movement, but unfortunately she was too weak to even sit up in bed. Whatever had been used to knock her out for such a long period of time had certainly wrecked havoc on her body. She was so weak that she could just barely mold her own chakra! She hadn't eaten in what felt like days although every so often, a glass of water would appear on the table beside her bed. Caution and suspicion had forced her from diving for the water when it first appeared, but she had caved a couple hours later. She could go for a week without proper food, but would last only a couple of days without water and she had no idea how much time had passed.

She suspected, however, that the water had some sort of mild sedative in it because she always feel into a deep, dreamless sleep not too long after drinking. And when she awoke, there was always a fresh glass of water there. She never saw anyone.

But it was time to change that. She needed to do something!

With a tremendous amount of effort, Sakura managed to push herself into a sitting position. She shut her eyes against the wave of dizziness that ran through her and her fingers gripped the sheets until her knuckled turned white. When it finally passed, Sakura let out a deep breath and opened her eyes. She still couldn't see anything in the darkness, but slowly, very slowly, she began to pat the air around her to judge her surroundings.

To her left was a solid wall. And when she managed to swing one leg toward the edge of the bed and then off of it, she found the floor.

She was beginning to test her strength by pressing her foot against the floor when something clicked and a sudden bright light assaulted Sakura's senses and she cried out, throwing up a hand to block the light as she fell back on the bed.

"Haruno Sakura. So it seems you aren't the most useless member of Team 7 after all."

She would know that voice anywhere. Blinking as her retinas slowly widened to their usual size, she brought her hand away from her face and sat up. She still had to squint against the bright light, but she could now make out his form. Broad shoulders and a well-developed chest covered in a loose fitting white kimono. His posture was arrogant and his features now had a cold edge to them now that he had lost all remaining baby fat.

"Sasuke." Sakura sneered, although her voice was raspy and rough from disuse.

So this was all Orochimaru's doing. She felt anger and disgust bubble up from deep within her, chasing away some of the lethargy still lingering in her system. First Orochimaru had manipulated Sasuke into becoming his slave. And now he had her kidnapped, although for what nefarious purpose, she had yet to find out.

Whatever reason Sasuke had to be here now, after all this time, couldn't be good. The only problem was that she had no weapons and she barely had enough strength to stand on her own two feet.

"I can't honestly imagine what Orochimaru plans to use you for. You always were the weakest link." He smiled and shifted slightly from his position in front of the doorway. "Or did you learn something these past couple of years you spent chasing me?"

She would not dignify his comments with a worded remark. So instead she spat at him. It didn't land on him; instead landing in a wet plop at his feet, but it made her feelings clear enough.

Sasuke smirked. "You at least grew a backbone."

Footsteps were echoing toward them and the initial intensity of the light had faded enough so that Sakura could see there was a hallway beyond the doorway where Sasuke stood. She needed to act now. She gripped the sheet in her hand and ripped it off the bed, flinging it at Sasuke. While he was momentarily distracted by the sheet, Sakura threw herself at him, letting gravity and her weight do most of the work.

But before she could even touch him, the breath was knocked from her lungs by an invisible force as she flew back from Sasuke and into the bed once more. She barely had time to gather her wits before tight ropes were wrapping around her wrists and ankles, securing her to the bed.

There's no way Sasuke should have been able to do that...

A woman with a sharp face and wild black hair strode up to Sakura, an undeniable swagger in her gait and peered down at her as Sakura began to struggle weakly against the bonds. She held her wand delicately between her fingers and smiled down at Sakura. Sakura could see madness brimming in her smile.

"Well darling," Said Bellatrix Lestrange, "Shall we begin?"