O'Bannon didn't even try to settle his rapidly beating heart as he marched into Krallenhurst Hall with Tonks, Rosa and Jared.
Two months. For two months this had been going on. The arguments, the fights, friends turning on friends. Now they knew the reason. Now they knew who was responsible.
Now they would finally be stopped.
"Keep your guard up," warned Tonks, who changed back into her Katerina Ponce guise. "Witches like this could be capable of anything."
O'Bannon nodded, even though he didn't need the advice. Tonks' mother aside, he'd never let his guard down around a couple of Slytherins.
They jogged up the stairs, Tonks in the lead. O'Bannon's face tightened in a mask of determination as they continued down the corridor. He couldn't wait to see the looks on Serinta's and Cecilia's faces when they burst into their room.
And finally Artimus'll see the truth.
The foursome reached the Slytherins' room. Tonks banged on the door.
"Miss Malfoy! Miss Sejant! It's Katerina Ponce! I need to see you both now!"
They waited, wands at the ready.
The door stayed closed.
Tonks pounded on it again. Still no reply.
"Maybe they're going out the window," Jared said.
"They're not getting away that easily." Tonks broke through the door's security charms without much effort and pushed it open.
The room was empty.
"Dammit!" O'Bannon slapped the sides of his legs in frustration. "Where the hell did they -"
"Artimus!" Rosa bolted past him and around one of the beds.
Paralysis gripped O'Bannon. His eyes locked on the still form of Artimus lying on the floor. Fear surged through him like water from a burst dam. The image of Cedric Diggory's lifeless body tortured his mind's eye.
No. Please God, no.
"He's alive," Rosa said in relief.
O'Bannon sighed, the tension in his muscles unraveling. He hurried over to Artimus' side, Jared and Tonks following.
"Art? Art!" Rosa rubbed his head as he stirred. "Are you all right? What happened?"
Artimus slowly sat up, moaning. He massaged his forehead . . . and froze, his gaze aimed at O'Bannon.
"You . . . you okay, man?"
Artimus took a couple deep breaths and turned to Rosa. "She stunned me."
"Who?" Tonks asked.
"Serinta Sejant." A confused look fell over Artimus' face. "Miss Ponce? What are you doing here?"
"The name's Tonks, actually."
Artimus slid back an inch on his bottom.
"Don't worry, man. She's on our side. My friends in Britain sent her here to help."
Artimus stared at O'Bannon, doubt swirling in his eyes.
"Artimus. What exactly happened here?"
He turned to Tonks as Rosa helped him sit up. "Me and Cecilia, we were . . ."
O'Bannon cringed. No matter what Tonks said about her mother, he still didn't want to picture one of his friends macking with a Slytherin.
Artimus went on. "Serinta came into the room, yelling that they had to leave. She said she overheard you guys talking and that you knew everything."
"Well now we know who our little spy was." Rosa gently rubbed Artimus' back.
"Then what happened?" Tonks slid closer to him.
"Serinta saw me and hit me with a Stunning Spell. I-I tried to go for my wand, but she was too quick." Artimus looked up at the bed. "Where are they? Where's Cecilia? Is she all right?"
"Who the hell cares about that?" O'Bannon replied. "Art, all the arguments and the fights and everything, they're the ones behind it. Cecilia's aunt created a potion that magnifies jealousy and resentment in people till they can hardly control it."
"No, no." Artimus shook his head, wincing. "It can't be Cecilia. We . . . she cares about me."
"She's using you."
Anger lines dug into Artimus' face as he glared at O'Bannon.
"We don't have time for this." A stony look formed on Tonks' face. "Did Serinta or Cecilia say anything else? Where they were going, whether they were taking anything?"
Artimus continued to fix an angry gaze at O'Bannon.
"Artimus! Did they say anything else?"
He finally turned to Tonks. "No. I don't . . . wait. Serinta was going on about this book we were using for our History of Magic project. Washington's Wizards. Cecilia kept complaining that she was always taking it without asking."
"Where's the book?" Tonks got to her feet.
Artimus pointed to one of the desks. "Middle drawer."
Tonks strode over to the desk and opened the drawer. She rummaged through it for a few seconds.
"Got it!" She pulled out the copy of Washington's Wizards and set it on the desk. She flipped it open and ran her wand over the pages.
"What are you looking for?" asked Rosa.
"I don't know . . . yet."
Tonks quickly flipped through the pages, until the tip of her wand flickered purple.
"Well, well. Look what we have here."
O'Bannon and Jared got up and walked over to Tonks. Rosa helped Artimus to his feet and joined them.
The book displayed a moving colored sketch of two wizards at the table of some 18th Century tavern, their heads close together as they whispered conspiratorially. Tonks slowly moved her wand around the sketch until it glowed yellow.
"Is that what I think it is?" Rosa leaned closer.
"Yes," Tonks nodded. "It's a Tractus Tergum Charm. Clever way to hide things. Stick them in a painting or a sketch. Most people wouldn't think to look there."
Tonks rolled up her sleeve and pressed her hand against the book. The sketch of the two wizards undulated. Tonks' hand went through the picture. Seconds later she withdrew it, along with what looked like a small, dark jewelry box. She set it down on the desk, used her wand to bypass the security charms and opened it.
"Let's see. Heckathrog Root . . . Hippogriff feathers . . . Orwilco Extract . . . and asp scales. All the ingredients you'd need to make a Projection Potion."
"They must have been in a hell of a hurry if they left that behind." Rosa nodded at the box.
O'Bannon snorted. "I guess Cecilia's trying to get back in the good graces of her family. Get everyone at Salem fighting one another and she can get a piece of the Malfoy family fortune."
"No!" Artimus swung his reddened face to O'Bannon. "She's not involved in this. It's gotta be Serinta. She's the one who was always stealing that book. And now we know why."
O'Bannon frowned and shook his head. Man, this chick had him snowed.
"We have to find them," Tonks stated before O'Bannon could say anything. "Hopefully they didn't get far."
They started for the door.
"Wait one." O'Bannon halted when he saw something on the floor around an open trunk with SERINTA SEJANT inscribed in fancy lettering. He bent down, staring at the small, uneven track of glittering powder. He took a pinch between his thumb and forefinger.
"Floo Powder."
Jared threw up his hands in frustration. "Oh great. They could be anywhere in the country now."
"They wouldn't dare Floo from here." Tonks stared at the powder on the floor. "Not with all the controls the school has on its Floo portals. It'd be too easy to trace them. They'd have to do it somewhere else."
"Ovenderburg," Artimus muttered, referring to the wizarding village near Salem.
"Yeah." O'Bannon stood. "They got a nice little red light district in that town."
Tonks canted her head, a confused look on her face.
"Sorry. Think Knockturn Alley back in London."
"I see what you mean. In a place like that there's probably plenty of unregistered Floo portals she could use."
"But how can they get there?" Artimus' eyes darted among the group. "Students can't open the front gate. And if they try to go over the wall that'll set off the security sensors."
"There is one way." Rosa pointed to the floor.
O'Bannon furrowed his brow. What the hell was she . . .
Realization flared in his eyes. "The tunnels."
"Can we use them to get to Ovenderburg?" Tonks asked.
"Heck yeah," Jared replied. "Before we turned sixteen me and Rosa used them to sneak in there all the time."
"Lead the way, then."
The five dashed back downstairs. Jared and Rosa led them down to the Krallenhurst basement and up to a large, dust covered portrait of a plump middle-aged witch standing over a bubbling cauldron.
"How did this one work again?" Jared looked to Rosa.
She snorted and brushed past him. She held her wand to the top right corner, tapped it twice and ran it down the side. Rosa repeated the process on the left side.
The painting slid across the wall, revealing a large hole in the wall.
"Off to join your friends?" asked the witch in the portrait.
All five whipped their heads toward the painting.
"Did someone else come through here?"
"There's no need to get snippy." The witch frowned at Tonks.
"Sorry, but it's important."
"That's still no excuse for rude be-"
"Just answer the friggin' question!" O'Bannon hollered. He wasn't in the mood for games, not when they were this close to catching those Slytherin bitches.
The witch lifted her chin, looking down her nose at them. "When you decide to speak in a civilized manner, then I will consider answering you."
"We don't have the bloody time for this. Come on." Tonks waved them into the tunnel. "They could already be in Ovenderburg for all we know."
Wands lit, Jared and Rosa took the lead, with Tonks and Artimus behind them and O'Bannon bringing up the rear. They hurried best they could through the tunnel, their progress hampered as they stumbled from time to time on exposed roots or jutting rocks. At one point Tonks' foot caught on a root. She pitched face first onto the dirt floor.
"You okay?" O'Bannon helped her up.
"I'm fine." Tonks rubbed her forehead. When she lowered her hand, the glow from everyone's wands showed traces of blood on the auror's fingers.
O'Bannon lifted his wand. Blood trickled from a dirty gash above Tonks' right eye.
"Whoa, you got a nasty cut there."
"It's nothing. I'll live." She looked to the others. "Keep moving."
Tonks darted forward, followed by Jared, Rosa and Artimus. O'Bannon started to move when he caught movement out the corner of his eye. Something dark and low to the ground. He swung around and aimed his wand to the floor. Did something move to his right, or was that just a shadow?
"Jimmy!" Tonks called urgently. "Come on!"
He did one last scan with his eyes. Seeing nothing, he joined the others.
"Always watch your back." The words of the fake Mad-Eye Moody bellowed at him from the past.
Every minute or so O'Bannon checked over his shoulder. Once he thought he saw something skittering on the floor. Before he could take a closer look Rosa yelped. O'Bannon whirled around and saw her pointing her lighted wand first at her shoe, then the ground, illuminating a small flattened patch of dark goo.
"Dammit!" She sneered. "Gnome poop. I stepped in friggin' gnome poop."
"Hey," Jared shrugged. "They do use these tunnels to move between the school and Ovenderburg. And when you gotta go . . ."
"Just clean your shoe later," Tonks hissed. "We have to move."
Snorting, Rosa fell in behind Tonks.
O'Bannon took a last look behind him and clicked his tongue. Gnomes. That's what those skittering shadows had to be.
I got more important things to worry about.
He continued down the tunnel.
Many minutes later, Jared pointed to the roof with his wand. "This is it."
He whirled his wand around three times and muttered an incantation. The scraping of bricks echoed through the tunnel. O'Bannon watched part of the solid roof slide apart.
Jared gripped a couple rocks jutting from the wall and climbed through the opening. Rosa followed, then Tonks, then Artimus, and finally O'Bannon. He emerged in a narrow alley. A dumpster overflowing with trash sat immediately to his left. O'Bannon crinkled his nose at the stale, noxious odor.
As he stood, he heard that same grinding sound again. He looked down to see the bricks slide together and seal the opening.
"Which way now?" Tonks looked to Jared and Rosa.
"This way." Jared pointed to his left and began walking.
"Then what?" asked Rosa. "There's plenty of places to hide in Ovenderburg's seedy section."
Tonks smirked. "In a place like that there's bound to be people about. Prostitutes, dark magic peddlers. We'll ask one of them if they've seen Serinta and Cecilia."
Rosa turned to the auror. "I doubt people like that will be very cooperative."
"Don't worry. I can be very persuasive."
O'Bannon raised his eyebrows. From the tone in Tonks' voice, her methods of persuasion probably covered the entire spectrum from friendly to . . . not-so-friendly.
O'Bannon knew quickly when they crossed the imaginary line from the nice part of Ovenderburg to the bad part. All the streets seemed much darker than the rest of the village, even at night. Goose pimples crept up his back.
It's not like you're helpless. There's five of you, including an auror, and you all have wands.
It still didn't make him feel safe in this part of Ovenderburg.
He tried to push his fear aside and focus instead on catching the Slytherins . . . if they were still around. O'Bannon didn't want to think of them escaping to who knows where. After seeing what the Projection Potion could do, he shivered when he thought of its effects spreading through a village like Ovenderburg. Or a city like Boston.
They came across a couple of prostitutes standing outside a dingy tavern. O'Bannon's face contorted as he sized up both witches. One was too skinny, the other looked like the offspring of a troll and a brontosaurus.
And guys pay to have sex with that?
Tonks gave the two a description of the Slytherins. Neither claimed to have seen them. Tonks dropped some silver pieces into their hands.
"Thanks for the free money," said the fat ugly one. "But we really haven't seen them."
O'Bannon scowled as they moved on.
Tonks asked a few other shady witches and wizards about Serinta and Cecilia. None of them had seen the girls. Two of the wizards hit on Tonks, who told them she'd rather sleep with a ghoul. One dumbass actually tried to pick a fight with her. A Body-Bind curse put a quick end to that.
Finally a scruffy, pot-bellied wizard who reeked of the burning odor of fire whiskey told them, after Tonks shelled out four silver pieces, that he saw two "sexy young blonds" headed up the block. The five hurried down the street until the came to an intersection.
"Which way did they go?" Artimus spun around, panic flooding his voice.
O'Bannon eyed him suspiciously. Did he still care about Cecilia in spite of everything they now knew? He shook his head and looked down the street to his left. A group of witches and wizards congregated on the stoop of a ratty-looking inn. Across from them a wizard in ratty robes who looked like he hadn't shaved or bathed in years stumbled along the sidewalk.
"Maybe we should split up," Rosa suggested.
The corners of Tonks' mouth twisted. "I'm not comfortable letting you kids run around a place like this by yourselves."
O'Bannon furrowed his brow at the "kids" reference. Tonks wasn't that much older than them.
"We can take care of ourselves." Jared glanced at Rosa. "For cryin' out loud we were sneaking around troll caves and dragon nests before we even started at Salem."
Tonks sighed. "I don't know."
Jared and Rosa continued to argue their case.
"Hey, how's about a good time?"
O'Bannon turned when he heard the slurred speech of the ratty wizard. The man stood in front of an alley entrance.
"C'mon. You're a couple of cuties. Come play with my other wand. Heh-heh!"
O'Bannon shook his head. He figured the guy was trying to pick up some hookers.
Good luck with that, pal. The wizard probably didn't have so much as a jade piece to his name.
"We're all Seventh Years." Rosa put her hands on her hips. "We can handle ourselves."
"You think so?" Tonks folded her arms.
"Come on, little cuties." The horny wizard distracted O'Bannon again. "Why won't you be friendly?"
"Look." Rosa stepped toward Tonks. "If we get into serious trouble, I'll signal you with a Patronus. Promise."
"I still don't -"
"C'mon, babies!" The old wizard pleaded loud enough for Tonks and Rosa to turn their attention toward him. "I haven't had any for so long, and you're so -"
A red bolt shot from the alley and struck the wizard in the chest. He soared through the air and landed in the middle of the street, unmoving.
"Dammit! Come on! Move!"
O'Bannon tensed when he heard the voice . . . a voice with a British accent.
A second later Serinta Sejant emerged from the alley, pushing Cecilia Malfoy ahead of her.
"You're barking mad!" Cecilia shouted over her shoulder at Serinta.
"Shut up and keep moving!" Serinta's wand dug into Cecilia's back.
O'Bannon cranked an eyebrow. What's that all -
"Cecilia!" Artimus' sudden cry made O'Bannon jump. His friend hurried toward the girls.
"Artimus! No!" Tonks grabbed him by the back of his robes as he shot past her.
"Let me go!"
"Artimus!" Cecilia cried out. "Help!"
O'Bannon started toward the girls, Rosa and Jared behind him.
"Stay back!" Serinta aimed her wand first at them, then back at Cecilia.
"Drop your wands right now!" Serinta pressed her wand against Cecilia's head.
"We can't do that." Tonks shook her head. "Not with you girls possessing knowledge of the Projection Potion."
"It was all her doing!" Cecilia's voice quivered as she spoke. "She coated the water glass on my nightstand with it. I was drinking it every night without knowing it."
O'Bannon bit his lower lip. Was she telling the truth, or doing what all – most? – Slytherins do in situations like this? Saying anything to save their own asses.
"You're still a Malfoy," Serinta hissed. "No matter how much you and your blood traitor parents have disgraced that name. You'll serve the Dark Lord one way or another."
"Let her go, you crazy bitch!" Artimus shouted. He tried to take a step forward. Tonks still held his robes tight.
"All of you get the hell out of here before I blow her bloody head off!" Serinta pressed her wand harder against Cecilia's temple. The girl closed her eyes, looking like she would cry any second.
"What? Are you going to kill your own weapon?" Tonks said.
"I can always find another dupe to take the potion."
"That'll be hard when we've got all of your ingredients," Jared mocked her.
"You think I can't get more someplace else? Now all of you! Drop your wands or this traitorous little bitch dies!"
"No, please!" Artimus' voice cracked.
"We're not doing it, Serinta!" Tonks aimed a steely gaze at the crazed Slytherin.
"Tonks, for Merlin's sake, you can't let her die!"
Even in the darkness, O'Bannon noticed tear streaks running down Artimus' cheeks.
He also noticed something else. A dark little silhouette scurrying across the street. O'Bannon screwed up his eyes and peered closer.
Oh no way.
He watched the familiar shape stalk toward the Slytherins. If it was going to do what he thought it would do, no way could he let Serinta see it.
"Hey, Slytherin bitch!"
O'Bannon saw Serinta's teeth gleam in the dark as she glowered at him.
"Jimmy, what the hell are you doing?"
He ignored Tonks. "Is that what Salem was to you? A test run for something bigger? Get all of us jealous to the point we start beating on one another? If it works here you take it to a bigger stage? Pawtucket, maybe? Providence? Boston? Hell, why not New York or Washington? Go for the big-time."
"I'm impressed, O'Bannon. You actually do have a couple of functioning brain cells."
Without turning his head, O'Bannon glanced across the street. The little silhouette was about ten feet from the Slytherins.
Keep her talking.
"Well . . . let me continue. I guess if you take that Projection Potion coast to coast, we'll all be too busy fighting one another in this country to stop You-Know-Who and his goons when they try to take over."
"The Dark Lord could take over this pathetic country even without that potion. But like you said, why not make things easy?"
He glanced at the shadowy figure. Almost there.
"Yeah, typical Slytherins. Always take the easy way out. Be it hooking up with some slimeball dark wizard or . . ."
"HOW DARE YOU INSULT HIM!?!" Serinta exploded. She whipped her wand away from Serinta's head and pointed it at O'Bannon. "YOU MUDBLOOD SCUM!! WHEN THE DARK LORD CONQUERS THIS COUNTRY, YOU'LL BE ON YOUR KNEES BEGGING FOR YOUR MIS-"
Cecilia rammed her elbow into Serinta's gut. The girl gasped for air. Cecilia broke free and ran toward them. Serinta looked up at the fleeing girl and started to bring up her wand.
A gurgling squeal caught everyone's attention. O'Bannon smiled as he watched Feetish dash toward Serinta and leap onto her shoe. The girl screamed and kicked furiously. Feetish hung on tenaciously, crying out in perverted delight.
"Get it off! Get it off!" Serinta lost her balance and fell on her ass. Feetish squealed loudly and tugged at her right shoe.
"Thank you, Feetish." O'Bannon figured the sicko garden gnome had been responsible for the shadows he saw in the tunnel. Had he been trailing them the whole way and at the last minute targeted Serinta for some reason? Or could he have been stalking the Slytherin since she and Cecilia came through the tunnel?
He didn't know and he didn't care. Thanks to the little perv, they had Serinta.
O'Bannon started toward her when a blur of movement made him turn. He saw Cecilia leap onto Artimus. His friend wrapped his arms around her in a crushing hug. Cecilia buried her face in his shoulder.
"It's okay." Artimus stroked the girl's hair. "You're okay. Thank Merlin you're okay."
O'Bannon just stood there watching them with wide eyes. He could almost feel the intensity of their hug.
Artimus looked his way. O'Bannon tried to read the expression on his face. Something between anger and pleading for understanding.
Artimus turned back to Cecilia and kissed her on the head. The Slytherin girl responded by hugging him tighter.
"Get off me, damn you!" Serinta kicked furiously at Feetish.
With a final tug, the garden gnome yanked off her shoe. He held it over his head, jumping up and down and gurgling in triumph.
Serinta brought up her wand.
Tonks dashed forward.
"Redacto!" the Slytherin shouted.
"Expelliarmus!" Tonks shouted.
A second too late.
Like a potato in a microwave, Feetish exploded. Guts and blood shot through the air and splattered on the street.
O'Bannon's lungs seized as Serinta's wand spiraled out of her hand. Rosa gasped behind him.
Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus. He gaped at the puddle of gore that used to be Feetish.
"Don't move!"
Tonks' voice snapped O'Bannon out of his daze. The auror stood a few feet away from Serinta, wand aimed at her. The Slytherin fixed Tonks with a death stare.
O'Bannon made his way over to them, careful not to step on any of Feetish's remains.
I can't believe she blew him up.
"So what are you going to do with me?" Serinta glowered at Tonks. "Take me back to Britain? Hand me over to the Ministry? You think they'll send me to Azkaban? The only way for that to happen is for the Minister to admit the Dark Lord is back. And that old fool loves his office too much to do that."
"The people I'm with don't need the Ministry. When I get you back to England, you can expect there'll be a nice goblet of Truth Potion waiting for you."
"I'll never betray my master!" Serinta hissed.
Someone rushed past O'Bannon. He whipped his head left just as Cecilia reared back her foot and kicked Serinta in the gut. The girl wheezed and fell on her side.
"You and your 'master' can go to hell!" Cecilia spat on her. "How dare you put that vile potion in me?"
Serinta took a raspy breath to refill her lungs. "You're a traitor to our House and all it stands for."
Cecilia bent over, her narrowed eyes aimed at Serinta. "Our House prides itself on ruthlessness and cunning. There was never anything about murder or consorting with You-Know-Who."
O'Bannon held his breath, gazing at Cecilia Malfoy. He never would have believed such words would come from the mouth of a Slytherin. My God, the girl actually sounded like she had . . .
A conscience.
"You'll pay." Serinta breathed so harshly spittle flew from her lips. "Blood traitors and Mudbloods, you'll all pay!"
"From where I'm standing, looks like you'll be doing all the paying, you friggin' psycho hag." Jared smirked at her.
"Get her up." Tonks nodded to Serinta. "Let's get her back to Salem. Then we can -"
A sharp crack cut off Tonks. Then came another, another, and another.
O'Bannon's head snapped up. Four shadowy figures suddenly appeared in the middle of the street, each one in black robes and hoods.
His heart beat out of control. His legs trembled uncontrollably. He'd seen pictures of these people many times in books.
But never in his life had Jimmy O'Bannon come face-to-face with Death Eaters.
Feminine laughter echoed in the night. Evil laughter. Somehow he took his eyes off the recently Disapparated Death Eaters and looked at Serinta. She chortled madly.
The Slytherin girl regarded them with a predatory smile. "As I said. You'll . . . all . . . pay."
TO BE CONTINUED