Authors note: Thanks for reading my story, also if you want to please leave reviews! But I will only accept CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM AND ADVICE, not harassment!

August 7, 1998

In the hotel the day before, Daphne could have been under the Imperius Curse (she hadn't said a word throughout, as a poorly placed Imperius could cause in a victim). She could have been hit with a powerful Confundus Charm (again, Daphne's lack of any dialogue, any expression of even malice or inappropriate sexual needing through their encounter seemed to suggest some sort of mental compulsion). Or she could have even incorrectly brewed a love potion, as terrible as that would be for Annabelle to consider of her childhood best friend (because if Daphne had brewed it up and taken it herself, to make herself able to act on some hidden feelings for Annabelle that she never could have expressed while sober, Annabelle could have at least understood).

Or had that not even been Daphne at all? Polyjuice Potion, human transfiguration? Had someone taken Daphne's form and used it to get to Annabelle? Did they have Daphne now, somewhere, locked up? Was she being held, tortured, raped just for being Annabelle's best friend - and the assailant's ticket to Annabelle? Or had Daphne been killed quickly, painlessly, her usefulness only temporary to the attacker?

All of these thoughts and more went around and around in Annabelle's head throughout the morning. She thought of Daphne while she showered, dressed herself. She thought of Daphne while she was kissing Nikolett (and things with her that went a fair bit farther than kissing), and she thought of her while she was at the dining table, drinking an ice cold glass of water and waiting for Sirius to wake up.

And Annabelle thought: Why didn't I think about all of this at the time? Why didn't I try to subdue her, or even question her? Because she had been hysterical, that was why. She had been terrified, and nothing else. It was one thing to act on instinct, on impulse at times, but what she'd done...? That had been panic. Blind as could be. And it had caused her to make mistakes. Stupid mistakes - stupid mistakes that would cause her to have stupid regrets until she got her stupid self back to face Daphne again. If she ever could. If Daphne wasn't dead, or in hiding, or anything besides somewhere Annabelle could find her again.

"I know what you're doing, kid."

Annabelle looked up from her glass to find Sirius making a groggy, sluggish entrance into the dining room. "What?"

Sirius gave her a sleepy kind of grin. He sat down across from her at the table, rubbed at his eyes and pushed his unkempt dark hair out of his face. "That look you've got going for you right now - I know exactly how you're thinking right now. And trust me, you don't want to start that. I did before Azkaban, did it in Azkaban, and I've done it a hell of a lot after I got out. Especially that first year on the run, when I was tracking Peter." He stole her glass away and drained the last of its contents before sloppily setting it down between them. He cleared his throat and continued on, "You're thinking you should've done something different, something better. Thing is, Annie, there is no better, no different: there's just what you did. And what you do after, and what you're going to do next time. So don't start this, you got me?"

"Okay," Annabelle sighed, tapping her wand to the glass to refill it; she snatched it up immediately as Sirius made a teasing grab for it, that grin of his back a moment. "Any idea when Susan will be showing up?"

Sirius shrugged. "I'd have to mirrorcall her, but usually she turns up a little past noon." He paused. "How're you feeling?"

Like I want to keep unproductively beating myself up, Annabelle thought, even as she recognized the thought itself as such. She sighed again and drained half the glass. Sirius is right; I've got to stop this. "I'm not trying to kill myself, or self-harm, or any of the things I did as a kid, so...I think I'm feeling pretty well, considering."

"Yeah," Sirius said slowly, leveling a serious look at her. "If you do start feeling that way again, though...are we going to have to go through another half a year of you hiding it all from me? Cause you know how we got through those times, don't you? You remember? And if you feel like that again, now, I mean - we're adults, Annie. You can talk to me, right? You can show me? We got you through it before, and we can get you through it again now."

"Yeah," Annabelle echoed her godfather, her tone as serious as his expression. "If I do get that bad again, I won't hide it from you. I won't lie to you. Not this time. Promise."

"All right." Sirius smiled, then conjured up a cup of hot tea for himself. "Good, good. Ahem, so, besides entertaining Susan and Remus, what are your plans for the day?"

"Mirrorcall a few dozen people," Annabelle replied, smiling too. "Hermione's probably been sitting by hers every minute of the day, just waiting for my face to appear. She wanted to come with me, you know, to South America, and then over to Africa - but she ended up telling me that her other obligations were too much to just go globe-trotting with me, not to mention the dangers involved weren't appealing for her. That's...why I took Daphne instead. She's always been...you know. Herself. I honestly think she doesn't care if she lives or dies. I don't know where it comes from, but she thinks that way." Annabelle shook her head and sipped her water; Sirius sat there with a look of utmost attention on his face, like a perked up dog. "Most everyone is busy starting up their own careers, getting their own jobs, and a few even are starting their own families - so I don't blame anybody for not wanting to or having the luxury to come along with me around the world."

"You think it's a luxury, what you do," Sirius barked his laughter. "What you do, honey, is the most stressful shit I have ever had to hear about."

"You're my godfather, it's supposed to stress you out," Annabelle joked, in a rare moment for her (humor was never her strong suit). "For everyone else, it's exciting."

"If Hermione were to say she's in a place now where she could come along with you when you get back out there, will you let her?" Sirius asked. "She's talented, intelligent, analytical, and...and you haven't seen her since leaving school. I think it could be good for you to have her around again, rather than..."

"Daphne?" Annabelle finished.

"Yes," Sirius nodded, frowning. "Best friend or not, Annie, after what she...I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure she never gets within a hundred feet of you ever again. I don't care if you don't agree, or if you want something different for her or for the two of you. If she shows up near you, and I'm there, I'll do things to her that I haven't done to anyone since the war," he finished, in a low, dangerous tone.

"No you won't," Annabelle responded, a statement of fact and nothing else. "You chose revenge over family when I was a baby, and you know where that got you. When we first met, you chose right that time, and now here we are. You're not going to ruin things for us by choosing revenge this time. If you do, I'm not visiting you in prison."

There was a heavy silence in the dining room. Annabelle sipped at her drink, while Sirius fumed and repeatedly clenched his fists on the table; he was mentally counting up, something he'd had to learn to do in the course of learning how to be a parent to her.

"Right," Sirius finally said, in a tense voice. "Right. Wouldn't want to break up the family, would I?"

"Right," said Annabelle. She picked up her wand and teleported her mirrortalker from her bedroom to the dining table in front of her. Picking it up and waving it at Sirius, she said, "Are you going to leave the room, or am I?"

"You should," said Sirius, that terseness leaving his voice at last. "Take it to the sitting room, please - I'll get breakfast going."

Annabelle stood; she left the dining room for the sitting room. Falling lazily onto the sofa, she held her mirrortalker up to her face and said clearly: "Hermione Granger." The mirror was blank and dead in her hand for a minute, until it suddenly began to vibrate and let out little bird-like trills. Hermione's face appeared in the mirror. And when she saw who had called her, her whole face lit up like the sun.

"ANNABELLE?! Oh my gosh, how have you been - I know where you've been, make no mistake! - but these past weeks I've been hearing and reading about the most incredible things! This morning's Quibbler, in fact, just informed the world that while you were in Egypt you were attacked by someone again? Though I also heard you were successful in your efforts to establish a rapport with the magi-arachnid tribe, so I'm sure you think it was all worth it! And I do agree! But-"

"Yes," Annabelle stated, a smile coming to her lips.

"Yes?" Hermione froze in mid sentence, confusion overwhelming her features.

"I was attacked again, I'm fine, and I succeeded," Annabelle briefly retorted. "It's good to see you again," she went on. "How have things been going with SPEW?"

"Local efforts, unfortunately, haven't been having nearly the same amount of success as your global," Hermione huffed. "At this point I'm sincerely regretting not having agreed to go with you."

"You can still come with me," Annabelle offered. "I'm back home right now, but I'm going to head out again in about a week, and if you're able, I would like to have you beside me."

"I'm most definitely able!" Hermione said quickly. "I just need to properly set up Dean and Seamus for SPEW management efforts, and give Luna and the Quibbler productions a heads-up before leaving. Did Daphne enjoy things out there with you?"

"She's not with me anymore," Annabelle said calmly. "Long story - but it's partially why I'm asking you now, again."

"All right," Hermione accepted, unquestioning and sensitive. "Well, erm, where would we be going next, and how long would these visits last? You spent an entire month milling around South America, I mean, and I can't afford to take that much time away from my work here..."

"I'll make sure you don't get in trouble with your boss," Annabelle assured. "We'll be heading back to Egypt to hopefully get information on possible allies in North America, and then we'll pop over there to look into that. After that, I'd like to revisit a vampire coven down in Thailand, along with a popular pub and inn up in Scotland where I met a few others - plus Gertrude."

"The hag incident. Oh, the papers were running that one for weeks," Hermione sniffed, not in the least amused - she was actually offended on Annabelle's behalf. "What you do in your personal life is frankly no one's business but yours." She hesitated. "However...If I'm going to be along with you on that particular visit, I'll want to not share a room with you on whichever night you decide to be with her, if you please."

"Of course," Annabelle replied. "We're not going to just start having sex in front of you - unless you and Gertrude are all right with threesome, one night stands?"

"No," Hermione said blandly, nose scrunching and cheeks flushing. "No I am not all right with that."

"Okay, then," said Annabelle, smiling a little. "We won't have a problem."

"No, we won't," agreed Hermione, her palor returning to normal. "So, North America, a pop over to Thailand, another pop over to Scotland, and then where would we go after? Do you have any more places in mind?"

"Back to North America," Annabelle elaborated. "Where - I hope - we can pick up Confiance. Last I heard, she was fluttering around New York."

"No." Hermione shook her head on reflex. "Please, not her, why her? Annabelle! She always destroys my hair! She's...a nuisance. She's dangerous, she's- she incites violence wherever she goes!"

"I know," Annabelle said, nodding into the mirror. "That's the last I heard of her, actually - that she was baiting a very dangerous, very infamous minotaur named Ransus. Something about nicking ancient weapons from his private collection. But I think it will be the perfect opportunity to both investigate her safety, and to garner an audience with Ransus. Maybe even his favor, if it comes to it."

"I- I-" Hermione stammered, paling all over again.

"Do you still want to come along?" Annabelle asked, forestalling any high-pitched outbursts on her friend's part.

"Only for the sake of global nonhuman experience, and to further the cause," Hermione said shakily. "But I'm not - I repeat, Annabelle - I am not going with you on that New York gambit! I'll want to sit that one out. Just that one. A crime boss with a history like Ransus's is just...Annabelle, even for the cause, I think trying to open a dialogue with someone like that is going a bit too far."

"Maybe," Annabelle admitted. "But every nonhuman deserves to at least be heard, even if it's just by me - because no one else will hear them yet."

"Okay," Hermione grimaced. "Okay. If you'd let me end the call here, please, I'll go start packing right away, and get things squared away at work?"

"Sure. I'll see you here in a week."

Hermione gave a last nod, then her face disappeared from the mirror; and Annabelle spoke another name in her long list - maybe one she shouldn't have: "Lisa Turpin?"

"Annabelle? Well, isn't this a surprise," a cold, low voice came, as another familiar face from childhood filled the mirror. Lisa's face was pale, scarred, and her features were sharp and hard. Her auburn hair was cut to ear-length, very short, save the fringe. "Do you need something from me? Please tell me you need something from me - so I can have the pleasure of telling you to go screw yourself."

"I'm going to have to disappoint you today," Annabelle responded, calm and neutral. "I just wanted to know how you were doing."

"Oh, you just - just wanted to disappoint me, huh?" Lisa laughed, and the noise was ugly. "Well, that isn't a shock; it isn't like you're exactly new to the concept, are you?"

"Lisa, I'm sorry that I hurt you by-"

"You left me at the altar!" Lisa hissed, putting her face so close to the mirror all Annabelle could see were her eyes.

"I did," Annabelle said freely. "And that was wrong of me. I could say we had just turned seventeen, and I could say I didn't really know what I wanted, and I could say I was still working through a lot of my own problems, and I could say that maybe I had just convinced myself that I wanted to marry you...but I won't. I was wrong, I was horrible, and I hurt you in a way that I can't even imagine myself. And I am so, so sorry."

"What the hell do you want?" Lisa sneered, ignoring everything else very pointedly.

"Just to know how you're doing," Annabelle repeated.

Lisa hesitated. Her eyes flickered. She pulled the mirror back, and Annabelle saw her teeth working her lower lip. Then- "I'm on a job right now - North America - very frustrating." Annabelle knew what Lisa's "work" was: she was a certified bounty hunter, for hire by any magical government to track and bring in legitimately marked and highly dangerous targets.

"North America? I'll be heading there in about a week - along with Hermione."

"Is that right?" Lisa breathed, seeming suddenly very deep in thought. There was a silence that lasted almost half a minute before she spoke again. "If you really want to apologize to me, and make things up to me proper, then meet me in New York. Manhattan Beach Park, Brooklyn - I'll be there waiting for you, on a bench in the east corner, on the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth. You go there, you find me there, you get your chance. If you don't, then too bad - I gave you three chances. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Good - bye." Lisa ended the mirrorcall before Annabelle could get out another word.

Sighing to herself, Annabelle spoke another name into the mirror, and hoped her next call would go a little better.

"Susan, it's so good to see you again."

"It's great to see you, too!"

Just past noon, the door to Grimmauld Place had had its bell rung, and Annabelle had answered it to find Susan standing there. Susan, petite, well-muscled, blond, but still giving off a very sweet, kind, soft sort of aura to her. Susan hugged Annabelle swiftly, and Annabelle led her into the sitting room while they chatted away.

"...so your match is in two days?" Annabelle was saying, sitting comfortably next to Susan on the sofa. "Do you think you have a chance at winning?"

"A match or two? Maybe," Susan said anxiously, with a small smile. "But beyond that...I'm still not sure the swap in team members will be enough. Don't get me wrong, we're definitely loads better than last season's lineup, but at the same time we're new in more than one sense; I never honestly expected to get a spot on the team at all!"

"I'll cheer for you," said Annabelle. "Really, really loudly."

"And I'm sure that will mean a lot," Susan replied, blushing. "But you'd know better than anybody that determination alone in a duel isn't enough - skill has to be there, and skill can wipe out determination ninety-nine percent of the time just because."

"I know," Annabelle agreed. "How much have you practiced?"

"Eight hours a day, five days a week - on my own, that is. With the team, it's...it's less. But I think we still stand a good chance of pulling some wins!"

"If you end up having to carry your whole team..." Annabelle shook her head, trying not to laugh.

"I might," Susan said, not holding back her laughter. "And if I do, I'll be asking the others to switch up their training hours to give us all better results next season! But that's still far away, so, better stay focused on this season."

Sirius entered the sitting room just then, with Nikolett trailing along behind him. "Sorry to interrupt you two, but Nikolett...ah..."

Nikolett flicked her tail wildly, wrung her hands as she looked to Annabelle. "I need to speak with you alone, please."

"All right," said Annabelle, standing up and crossing the room. She followed Nikolett down the hall and into the bathroom at the far end - a cool, spacious place that could still be private. Annabelle sat down on the toilet lid, crossed her legs and gave Nikolett her full attention. And she waited; Nikolett seemed to be struggling with her own thoughts, and what she should say. Or maybe how she should say whatever she was about to say.

It took a minute - literally - but Nikolett finally said: "This relationship is not going anywhere."

Annabelle blinked. She felt something in her throat. She took a deep breath, let it out, and took in another. She took almost as long as Nikolett had to gather her thoughts. When she did, she said, "I know - and you wanted it to go somewhere - and I thought that I wanted that too. But, I'm sorry, Nikolett, I've sort of realized that I actually don't. It's my work; there's too much to do, so much to do, so many places to go and people to see, help, and learn about...and in all that I've realized that I want all of that right now, and not what I thought I wanted before. At least, not yet. But I don't want to make you wait around for that with me. It'd be years and years of it. And you don't deserve or need that treatment. You haven't deserved the treatment - I haven't been home too often, haven't been with you too much - and I'm sorry."

"That is fine, thank you," Nikolett said quietly, and she smiled. "Do you think that we should end the relationship between us, then?"

"If you do," Annabelle said, mirroring her quiet tones and her smile - for her sake. "Because you're right, and because you're right I do think that we should, at this point. We both want different things out of life, and, like I said, it'd be wrong of me to make you wait until I do want what you want with me."

"All right." Nikolett nodded. "Then our relationship is over. It was a learning experience - about humans."

"And it was a learning experience for me about centaurs," Annabelle replied, uncrossing her legs and folding her hands in her lap.

"Are we still friends?" Nikolett asked, hesitant. "The loss of the romantic relationship does not also mean we lose the ties of the friendship before it, does it?"

"Oh, yeah, we're definitely still friends!" Annabelle said earnestly. "Please don't ever think otherwise."

"I will not," Nikolett replied, smiling in relief.

"Good." Annabelle nodded. "That's good." Nikolett stared at her a while, then she turned and left the bathroom without another word.

Annabelle let out a shaking breath, and buried her head in her hands.

August 9, 1998 - Magical Britain's Estrella International Dueling Stadium, London

"Now that the American team, the Iron Imps, has gotten into their positions, it's time to send out our home team of champions! The home team, the Battle-Hardened Boggarts, consists of: Susan Bones, Julie Vance, Kristina Walberg, David Arterio, Richard Parker, Jasper Hall, Nathan Kimble, and Tamara Edmond! Now, last season the Boggarts unfortunately finished last in the leagues, but, with a few new faces on the team this season, here's hoping they can bring some new and winning talent into the dueling arena with them!"

"It looks like the Boggarts have taken up position, so let's dim the lights and get the first duel of the season going! Those of you up in the stands get ready to cheer your teams on! Those of you watching from home best not think we've forgotten you: your specialized mirrorviewers - which are connected to the multitude of mirrorpanels we've set up around the arena - will allow you to not only watch the matches here, but they will also allow your champions to hear your spirited encouragements as well! And lastly before we begin, I want to assure those of you in the stands this evening that the barrier encircling the arena is perfectly capable of catching and absorbing any stray magic performed by our duelists!"

"We'll begin the match in five...four...three...two...one!"

As the two teams spread out and moved forward into the twisting, almost randomly designed arena of dark corridors, magical obstacles, traps, arena shifters and other oddities, Annabelle leaned forward in her seat and gripped the safety railing, her eyes only for Susan. She'd promised to cheer for her old dormmate and friend, and she was going to do just that tonight.

Susan Bones went as far left as she could, following the curved floor of the arena to take her up and sideways - if gravity had any meaning in here, she would have been basically standing straight out and horizontal by now. As it was, she kept up her rushed pace through the corridors, going left, right, up some stairs, left again, left again...Left felt lucky to her.

It turned out not to be about a minute in, when she turned a corner and ran right into two others from the opposing team - Alice and Jason, they were called. A really good tag team in the arena. Oh great!

Susan ducked and weaved right around Alice, grabbed her elbow in her own and got behind her and shoved it up her back. Alice let out a yelp of pain and shock, and Jason held back with his wand aimed - he didn't want to hit his teammate. Susan swiftly made to jab her wand into the small of Alice's back and utter the incantation for the Stunning spell, but the situation and the darkness of it all meant that Susan's wand ended up poking the woman in the buttocks. Susan cried out the spell anyway, eliciting a little shriek from Alice before she dropped to the floor like a stone. Susan felt a millisecond of sympathy for her; she knew how bad a Stunner to the butt could sting!

Jason, now free to start hurling spells, immediately cast a Blasting Curse right at Susan; she threw up a shield, but the force of it still knocked her off balance, and sent her spinning around like a ballerina. Susan was just righting herself again, when Jason's wand flashed silver, and then a corresponding silver magical pulse appeared beneath her feet. She went to lift her feet and throw herself into a backwards dive, but she found the bottoms of her feet stuck to the floor. Jason cast a Stunner, which Susan reflected right back at him. They did this two more times before Susan let herself drop unexpectedly to the floor, bodily and hard enough to hurt. But it let her throw a Blasting Curse of her own for Jason's ankles, which he had to jump straight up to avoid. He came back down and immediately put up a shield to reflect Susan's triple Stunner followup into the ceiling!

Damn! Susan pointed her wand at her own feet and undid the sticking spell, then rolled away and got to her feet with the momentum alone. She took a proper stance again, flashed a smile, and then she ran right at Jason. He looked at her in shock, in confusion, but then he threw up a shield and just stood there, evidently deciding she would just bounce herself right off with her own stupidity and recklessness. But Susan wasn't being reckless. She had closed the gap to five feet when she stabbed her wand directly against the barrier, muttered out a certain special spell of hers, and then a six-inch wide hole appeared in the shield. Susan pushed the tip of her wand through and cast a point-blank Stunner; Jason was caught in the face, his eyes wide with shock, and then the shield fell as he slumped to the floor.

Susan took a staircase two at a time, jumped her way to the second floor landing, and proceeded down a strange, blue glowing corridor. As she hurried down this corridor, she felt a force shifting, working on her, and then she was running in a spiral - going from floor to left wall, to upside down, to right wall, down to the floor again, up to the left wall, upside down again, etc. She couldn't deviate from this movement pattern; she tried to jump, or go any other direction or way, but her body wouldn't do it. She just had to run on and follow the motion. She got through it without any incidents, and took a right corner at the end. She emerged into a "T" shaped hallway. She was coming in from the left of that "T". She had just about reached the middle of it when a blue streak of magic flew straight for her chest from somewhere far ahead.

Susan didn't know what the magic was, so she dodged it by ducking and flattening herself against the wall. She squinted into the dark, but she couldn't see anyone in front of her. Someone must have gotten their hands on an invisibility potion. Well, Susan knew it was rated to last only ten seconds, so she figured whoever it was didn't even have that long left. She had to make that time go down to zero without getting taken out. She put up a shield, thrust her wand out and cast three successive Stunners, followed by a Blasting Curse aimed for the floor a few feet ahead, and she ended it off by pointing her wand at the ceiling and pulling down, while focusing on a transfiguration. A horizontal section of the ceiling, about two feet by two feet, turned to a bubbling liquid, and that liquid rained down to the floor like a waterfall and solidified into a brand new wall in the arena. Susan went back the way she had come, sprinted back through the spiral corridor, and turned and stopped at the landing. She took a few careful steps back down the stairs, so that anyone in the corridor would just see her upper body, and she leveled her wand.

Her visible opponent came around the corner into the blue corridor - Isaac, a short, skinny, fast and agile guy Susan's own age. This guy was going to be a real problem, Susan thought. She was used to being the small, speedy one in combat, not facing them herself. This match-up was going to be a lot harder than it'd been to use Alice's height and Jason's brawny weight against them!

Susan cast six Stunners down the corridor, all of which Isaac blocked and sent into the ceiling. She cast a Blasting Curse, then a Stunner, then a Blasting Curse - Isaac ducked under and around the first Blaster, starting off at a run toward her. He was locked onto the spiral path, to his own disadvantage and confusion. But he kept running, and Susan swore she saw him give an actual shrug about it! On the spiral path, he was able to easily avoid all the rest of Susan's line of spells. And he was getting used to it, understanding the pattern of motion. He ran faster, and he started throwing spells at Susan - from the walls, from the ceiling, the floor! They came in toward her from weird angles, some of them even spiraling and zigzagging, forcing her to actually back down the stairs and catch them awkwardly on her shield - and twice to do a dangerous twisting dodge on the staircase.

Susan had reached the first floor again, and she was in a full retreat now that took her past the Stunned figures of Alice and Jason. She didn't really take note of them as she passed them by...but she really should have. Isaac came down the stairs hurling three spells to her one, evidently not just a fast mover: he was fast with his spellcasting too. Faster than really anyone Susan had ever seen. Susan cast a Blasting Curse - Isaac blocked it, and then he sort of paused.

Susan sort of paused.

It was a weird moment. It was dark, silent, and they stared at each other, together in that corridor. And then Isaac smirked, raised his fists and shifted his stance, and things for Susan got way worse. She'd heard the term versatile used for American mages, and of course she knew that they practiced heavily with wandless magic as opposed to wand magic, but what happened next was just...madness. Isaac kicked out to his left with a foot, and a blue light flashed out from the side of his ankle. The light struck Alice, and then she was awake and jumping to her feet again. Isaac punched his fists at Susan rapidly, and she blocked six rapid Blasting Curses even as she watched him kick out with his right foot toward Jason; the same blue light flashed, and then Jason was getting up again.

And Isaac just kept coming! He was whirling and twisting, almost like a dance, kicking out and swiping his hands in front of him, sweeping his legs around, and every single motion just flowed effortlessly into the next, adding and complimenting, and then all sorts of magic and spells were heading for Susan. She didn't know what to do, where to go, so she made a shield and just kept backpedaling. But some of those spells weren't just effect-on-contact. There were charms and transfigurations in there! Susan's boots sprouted pale, skinny arms on each side that reached right up and seized her wrists, hips and shoulders; the ceiling twisted inward and turned into a writhing tentacle of stone that swung for Susan and caught her in the sternum, sending her flying back several feet with a loud cry of pain; and when Susan lay there and tried to do away with the arms coming out of her boots, her shirt suddenly constricted and lengthened, trapping her arms at her sides.

Alice and Jason both took advantage of Susan's helpless state and cast Stunners at her almost simultaneously! Susan continued to lie there until the spells were just a few short feet away, and then she rolled onto her side and jerked her legs up to her chest, catching the Stunners both on one of the enchanted arms. That arm fell limp, to hang uselessly from her boot like a wedding gown trail. The other was still a problem, as was the way her shirt was trying to nearly eat her like a giant constricting snake!

Susan bent her wrist and twisted her body enough to point it at her shirt, and she hastily began casting reversion spells on it. Alice and Jason weren't nice enough to give her the time to do that; they both started forward and began hurling Stunners at her again. They didn't let up! It was almost a constant stream of them, Susan saw. She bent her wrist outward and threw up a shield; the spells battered away at it, going every direction. Susan pointed her wand at herself again behind the shield and finished off the anti-spell, and her shirt shrunk back to normal and let up on her. She reinforced the shield with another casting and set to work on the arm still coming out of her right boot. The arm was swerving and trying to grab her wand hand now. She grabbed onto it with her free hand, stabbed her wand into the side of it and cast a Blasting Curse.

That wasn't really her best idea ever. The force of the spell confined inside her shield hit her in the chest like a moving car, and she felt something in there break. She gasped, saw stars, and her shield fell. She lay there in horrible pain, desperately aiming her wand at herself and trying to focus on a healing spell, but she couldn't do it.

She felt weird all over, she felt tears in her eyes, and she knew she was whimpering and moaning like a dying animal.

A dim part of her noted that Alice, Jason and Isaac had stopped pressing her, stopped advancing on her. This part of her was the one to notice the trio hurry over to her and drop down to the floor at her side. They raised their hands and directed their palms at her almost like one entity, and the center of their hands glowed blue as they muttered out some spell she didn't know.

Susan felt better a few moments later. A whole lot better. Most of the pain was gone, but there was still a weird tingling all over her body. Including on her face. "Thanks," she told them uncertainly as she got to her feet. "But I don't think I needed it?"

"Do you not know how bad you were hurt from that?" Isaac spoke, incredulous. "How bad you're still hurt? They might call off the match, you might have died on us, we might have to-"

"You cast a Blasting Curse inside a shield," Jason interrupted, in a deep but kind voice as he loomed over Susan. "You could have died. You have burn injuries that still will need to be treated at a hospital, even after your on site medi-mages get down here."

Susan felt her face, and she realized just how bad things were. She leaned into the wall, feeling a sudden dizziness wash over her. "I want to continue with the match," she said anyway - really dumbly. She even raised her wand and pointed it at Jason. He just tore it out of her hand and shoved it into his pocket, all while shaking his head at her.

"No," Jason refuted. "Sorry, but you're done."

"I don't want to forfeit!" Susan said firmly, doing her best to stand upright and show she still could fight. But even as she said this, the universe contradicted her; the dark walls of the arena turned translucent as glass, letting in a flood of light bright as day. Susan could hear concerned cries and murmuring coming from all around the stadium. "I don't forfeit! I don't...I don't...don't-"

Susan's world went dark, and she hit the floor with tears in her eyes that had nothing to do with her injuries.

Annabelle watched things go to hell for Susan, and she tried to stay calm and in her seat - unlike a lot of others in the stands. She wanted nothing more than to pull out her wand, jump down there into the arena and do whatever she could for her dormmate...but that was foolish thinking; she couldn't do anything for Susan, not with the state she was in. Not even after those three opposing team members had come together to heal her, right off the bat and without hesitating. No, the only people who could really help Susan were the medi-mages swarming the arena to converge on her.

Anything Annabelle tried to do might actually make things worse for Susan. So she stayed in her seat. She listened to the commentary, the calls for calm, for orderly behavior, and she watched Susan's teammates rush across the now empty arena to be with her.

After the medi-mage team had been working on Susan for a few minutes, they portkey'd out of the stadium, and a call went out to everyone in the stands instructing them to leave (calmly and orderly, of course), and telling them that they could have half the price of their tickets refunded at the entry booth.

Annabelle looked at Sirius, who was gazing almost longingly at the refund line. Then he shook his head, took her hand and disapparated without much of a warning. Annabelle unsteadily reappeared in the sitting room of Grimmauld Place; she immediately went for the sofa, falling into it and closing her eyes.

"Sorry," Sirius murmured, collapsing beside her. He ruffled her hair, put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him.

"It's okay," Annabelle muttered back, burying her head in Sirius's chest.

"That was a really dumb, dangerous move on Susan's part," Sirius said quietly, sounding like he was talking to himself more than to Annabelle. "She could've just taken the loss, been out for the team and taken the chance that a teammate would have come along to wake her up. But instead she decided to blow herself up just to not lose."

Annabelle agreed - though not so crassly - but she said nothing. She couldn't really think of anything to say, anyway. She just hoped Susan would be okay in the end.

August 14, 1998

"You ready to get going?" Annabelle asked Hermione. She got a smile in return, along with a handbag held up to her face.

"I think so, yes," Hermione said brightly. "Everything's cleared with my boss, I've got everything I'll need in here, and I've even spent the past few days brushing up on my dueling skills - in case we run into trouble. Considering it's you, I'm sure that's going to be something of a given," she added with a bit of a laugh.

"Then let's go." Annabelle took Hermione's hand, gave it a squeeze. "Remember when we get there that I'll have to leave you a ways outside Nyllia's territory, and that no matter what happens you should not try crossing that border, or you will die."

"I remember," said Hermione, with a gulp and a serious nod. It seemed to have just really set in for her how real things were going to get from here on out. And how dangerous.

Annabelle concentrated on the Sahara Desert, and she apparated, taking Hermione along with her.