The First Attack

'I can't believe I'm doing this,' Harry thought with a smile as he placed his bag on the table. He sat down and took out his Transfiguration homework. He had promised Hermione that he would have his essay finished before try-outs this afternoon. Ron had suggested that he lie and do it later, but Harry knew that with O.W.L.s at the end of the year, he couldn't afford to slack off as he had in the past.

He hadn't been working for long when he heard a voice. "Well, Harry Potter. Never thought I'd see you in the library on a sunny Saturday morning." It was Robin with a rare smile on her face.

"Well," he replied. "There's a first time for everything. What are you up to?"

"Divination homework...I thought I'd get it done before try-outs and Malfoy's being too loud bragging about his skills in the common room, so I thought I'd come here. Do you mind if I join you?" Harry shook his head, and Robin sat down.

"You know, I had Trelawney. Couldn't take it for more than a year. She is completely nutters," Harry said conversationally.

"I know what you mean. She's already—"

"Let me guess, predicted your death and/or great misfortune?" Harry interrupted.

"Yes. How'd you guess?" Robin answered sarcastically.

"She predicted mine every other class period. After all I've been through, I'm still here," Harry replied laughing.

"Yeah. She did do something weird at the end of class, though," Robin said pulling out her books.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Harry inquired.

"Oh, nothing. After predicting trouble this weekend, her voice...well...never mind. It's really quite silly," Robin said sheepishly.

"Her voice? It didn't change and get really deep and weird, did it?" Harry asked.

"Actually, yes, it did," Robin was amazed.

"Oh no," Harry breathed.

"What?" Now, Robin was worried.

"Well, it's most likely nothing, but the ONLY time she was ever right...well, her voice got weird, and it almost seemed as if it wasn't Trelawney anymore. What did she say?" Harry questioned.

"Well," Robin struggled to remember. "I think she said, 'Watch out for the Star.' What do you think she meant?"

Harry was confused. "I don't know." The two sat in silence for the rest of the morning. When they finally headed to the Great Hall for lunch, Harry realized that neither had gotten much done.

"You have got to be joking." There was no mistaking that snide voice. Riley turned to face Draco and his group of lackeys.

"Do you have a problem, Malfoy?" Riley retorted flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Only with prissy, know-it-alls like you," Draco sneered getting the intended snickers. Over his shoulder, Riley could see a furious Harry reach for his wand.

"Well, Malfoy, it's better than being a slimy, know-nothing-prat like you," Riley responded barely giving him a second thought. She turned to grab her broom only to be stopped by Draco.

"What is a wimpy, book-nerd doing trying-out, anyway? Girls shouldn't even play Quidditch, but especially not girls like you," Draco spat in disgust.

"Oh, Draco, for once I completely agree with you. Girls shouldn't play Quidditch," the group was shocked at her reply. Robin and Nicole, who had just arrived, looked especially confused. "You know, that's why I was so disappointed to learn that you were allowed to play." With that, Riley jumped on her broom and sped to center field. She was gratified to notice Draco's gaping mouth as she flew away.

Nicole looked at Ron. "What did I miss?"

"Riley just put Malfoy in his place." He replied with a grin on his face. Nicole looked at Harry, who had a smile on his face and was looking at Riley with a strange look in his eyes.

"What's with you, Potter?" Robin questioned.

"Hm? Oh...nothing. Why?" Harry asked, a slight blush creeping onto his face.

Nicole arched an eyebrow and smiled. "'Cause, you had the look of complete bliss on your face." Harry's face turned brighter shade of red, and he quickly wished Robin and Nicole good luck before retreating to the stands.

Nicole and Robin grinned at each, shook hands, and after mounting their brooms, flew into the air. They joined the ranks of students eagerly awaiting their chance.

"Now...this is going to be a clean try-out. No malicious playing," she stopped to give the Slytherin team a warning look. "There are two spots open on the Gryffindor team," this received excited whispers, and Madame Hooch shot the crowd a warning glance before continuing, "and one on the Slytherin team. The existing team members will decide who will win the spot of Slytherin Chaser and who gets the spots of Keeper and Chaser on the Gryffindor team. Good luck to you all. Now, I would like all of the students wishing to try-out for the Gryffindor Keeper position to line up center field. The rest of you need to move to the sidelines, please."

Riley grinned at Nicole and jetted away. She was joined by about seven other Gryffindors. Seamus was the only one she knew by name. They politely smiled to one another and focused on Madame Hooch as she began giving instructions. They were to take their position and block as many shots in five minutes as they could. Members of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw team would act as non-biased opponents.

"Lori Castor," Madame Hooch announced. Riley thought she recognized the girl as a fourth year. As she watched, Riley couldn't help but feel for the girl as she was only able to block ten shots.

The next two students did even worse. They were both only able to block five a piece. Riley was beginning to lose confidence. 'Maybe this isn't going to be as easy as I thought,' she pondered as Seamus was called.

Seamus was talented, that much was obvious. However, as the minutes ran down he had barely blocked twenty-five shots. At one point, he almost fell of his broom diving for a long shot. Madame Hooch blew the whistle and Seamus' total was thirty shots block. He had taken the solid lead.

The remaining students before Riley did their best, but still came out short. The closest to Seamus was a third year boy with twenty-one shots blocked. Finally, Madame Hooch called for Riley. She heard Robin and Nicole's wishes of good luck and carried them with her to the goal posts.

'Alright, Riley. Relax, focus, you can do this,' Riley told herself as Madame Hooch blew the whistle. Suddenly, her opponents sprang into action. She was pleasantly surprised to find that even without using her powers; she was able to block the shots with ease. Her reflexes took charge and guided her into position every time. There were a few close calls, but in the end, Riley finished by blocking every shot.

Applause and enthusiastic shouts filled the Gryffindor stands. Riley allowed herself a small smile. She knew that she had just secured a position on the team, but she also knew that in a real game, she would have her work cut-out for her.

Nicole smiled and clapped as Riley finished, then became quiet as it was time to try out for Chasers. She saw a few people she knew, but only by face and not by name. The Chasers had to take the Quaffle and try to make goals at both ends of the field. They had five minutes to make as many shots as possible.

Nicole was the first one to go. She took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves, and as soon as the whistle blew, she was off. She dove as Madame Hooch threw the Quaffle in the air. Catching it, Nicole zoomed off towards the first Keeper, a Hufflepuff. She made for the center hoop and then made a right feint before throwing the ball into the left goal. She caught the Quaffle as it began to fall and flew towards the Ravenclaw.

Before she knew it, her five minutes were up and she had made 30 goals in the five minutes, which was an impressive record. She grinned and then flew back to the sidelines to watch the other ten contestants. Only four were able make 15 shots and some had a hard time getting past the Keepers. Applause broke out when the position of Chaser went to Nicole.

Ron cheered loudly as Nicole was awarded the position. 'Now,' Hermione thought. 'There's only one left to go.'

Harry and Ron didn't even bother to pay attention as the other Slytherins took their turns. They were deep in discussion about, surprisingly enough, classes. Hermione decided it wouldn't hurt to listen in.

"—remember Divination?" Ron asked. "What a joke!"

"Yeah. Speaking of Divination, Robin said the strangest thing to me today in the library. She was in Divination, and Trelawney gave a prediction. She said to 'Watch out for the Star.' Robin said that Trelawney didn't remember a thing! It's like when she predicted that Wormtail would get away. Remember?"

"I remember you telling us about it. What's 'Watch out for the Star' supposed to mean though?" Ron answered.

Harry shrugged. Hermione ran the phrase over in her mind. "Watch out for the Star," she said aloud.

Suddenly, Robin was up. She flew down the field like an expert. Hermione was still struggling with the cryptic warning, though, and missed most of the action.

Ron and Harry stood and cheered, much to the other Gryffindors' surprise, as Robin was given a place on the Slytherin team.

Hermione watched as Robin flew to Riley and Nicole, who were both beaming.

"Wait, Ron," Hermione yelled. "What do you know about the Tenshi?" The crowd was so loud that they struggled to hear one another.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"I mean, what are the Tenshi names? It's Japanese, right," she replied.

"Oh, Kosetsuno Tenshi, Hoshino Tenshi, and Kageno Tenshi. Why?"

"Hoshino is Japanese for Star, right?" Hermione said

As the realization hit, Harry asked slowly. "Which one is Hoshino?"

"I don't remember." Ron said.

Hermione grimaced. "I think it's Riley." Harry reacted as she suspected. She had noticed the way he acted around Riley and knew that he liked her.

"We have to warn them," Ron yelled.

"But, how?" Hermione asked.

Dumbledore stood up and applauded. "Congratulations one and all. We have three new players for this year. How about we start the season with a little skirmish between Gryffindor and Slytherin, shall we? Captains have 10 minutes to ready their teams."

Robin, Riley, and Nicole looked at each other and grinned. "Good luck, Robin. You're going to need it." Nicole teased.

"I'll be the one laughing when you two lose! You can keep your luck, you'll need it!" She smiled and then flew off to join her team.

Harry raced to the locker room to join his teammates. He was the last to arrive. Katie Bell was the new captain. She smiled at Harry and then told the team what to do. "Nicole and Riley, do what you did during try-outs. Harry, catch the Snitch as soon as possible. We want to win this. It'll set the tone for the year. After a year off and two new team members, this scrimmage is crucial." Before the team left, Alicia Spinnet arrived and wished the team good luck. She explained that she was sorry not play this year, but that her parents had forbid it on account of the upcoming N.E.W.T.s. Everyone grabbed brooms and headed onto the field. Harry struggled to catch up to Riley.

"Riley, I have to tell you something important," Harry began following Riley to the goal posts. "This morning Robin told me that something happened in Divination and—"

He never got to finish. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and Riley scolded him "Harry, what are you doing? We can talk later. We can't let Slytherin win."

"But—" he had to get into his position; Slytherin had possession of the Quaffle, and players were already bearing down on Riley. Distracting her could get her hurt. He tried to clear his mind and concentrate on playing Quidditch, but something was trying to push its way to the front of his brain.

He glanced over at the stands and saw Dumbledore, Remus, Padfoot, and Adrienne. 'Why would she be here to watch the try-outs?' He thought. Then, it clicked. 'It's a test. They're testing the Tenshi.' He released a sigh of relief. 'That means that the prophecy was just part of the test.' He thought, but he still couldn't shake the nervous feeling in his stomach.

The game was furious and fast. Every time Nicole got the Quaffle and tried to get to the Slytherin goals, Robin zoomed in to block her path, forcing her to yield that ball to Katie or Angelina.

Gryffindor was up by twenty points, when Harry spotted the Snitch. He went into a dive and in the back of his mind he knew Draco was following him. The Slytherin beaters were trying to distract him by sending the Bludgers his way, but Fred or George hit them back before they got near Harry. Harry reached out and grabbed the Snitch, then pulled out of his dive.

The Gryffindor team went wild. They had won the practice match with new members. Everyone flooded the field, including the adults of the Order including Padfoot, who were slowly making their way toward the victors. The team landed and crowded around each other, rejoicing in their victory, when they saw Robin come up to them.

"Riley, Nicole. That was great! Congratulations! I guess I should have taken your luck after all." She gushed.

Nicole and Riley smiled and hugged her. "Well, next time, don't hold back on us. Then, you might have a chance." Nicole joked.

As easily as the smile had crossed Nicole's face, it vanished. Riley was the first to pick up on it. "What's wrong, Nic?"

"I'm not sure," she replied concentrating. "But, I feel cold. I think it's Dementors."

"That's imposs—" Robin began. Suddenly, Riley was on her broom and heading across the field. Nicole looked a Robin and shrugged. They both followed after Riley without a second thought.

Riley had flown over to the Slytherin team. As she reached the group, she heard Malfoy's taunting voice. "You may have won this practice match, book-worm, but—"

Suddenly, Riley lunged at Malfoy. She hit him hard, and they both rolled several feet before coming to a stop.

"What in the hell is your problem," Malfoy cursed as he violently pushed Riley off of him. At that moment, the screams began.

Riley was grateful that Robin and Nicole had arrived. They held the Dementors at bay while the Slytherin players scattered.

"Go. Get to the castle." Riley commanded. Malfoy involuntarily shivered and obeyed her icy command.

Harry had reached Ron and Hermione just as the screaming started. He turned and was horrified to see at least twenty Dementors surrounding the trio of Tenshi as the Slytherin team fled.

"Oh my God, I knew there was something to that prophecy," Harry gasped. "I've got to warn, Riley." With that, he sped off toward the fray.

Dumbledore gasped breaking off the conversation around him. "What's wrong, Albus?" Adrienne implored. Before he could speak, they all watched as Riley sped toward the Slytherins and the group of Dementors that had appeared out of nowhere.

"What the—" Remus began.

They watched as Riley saved Malfoy from the Kiss of Death, and as the girls shooed all of the Slytherin players away.

"We've got to do something," Adrienne cried.

They watched in horror as Harry sped toward the girls. Suddenly, Sirius was among them. "Harry!" He shouted.

Ron and Hermione followed Harry and almost crashed into him as he stopped at Sirius' call. Sirius had quickly reached them, but some of the Dementors had drifted from the Tenshi and were fast approaching.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry yelled. A silver stag burst out of his wand into existence. However, the Dementors merely stepped aside, and the Patronus vanished.

Nicole's Patronus Charm flickered into existence in an attempt to gain distance between her and the Dementors.

"Riley, I think your boyfriend is in trouble," Robin muttered, as she tried to figure a way out of the circle of Dementors. Nicole's Patronus was strong, but it wouldn't last for long, and Robin knew that if the Patronus failed, they would be in trouble.

'Dang it. I wish I could use my power against them.' She thought.

"He's not my boyfriend, and if you have an idea about how to get out of here, I'm more than willing to hear it."

"The sooner the better. I can't keep this up much longer, and we left our wands in the locker rooms. So, either do something to help, think of a way out of here, or shut up!" Nicole shouted.

Riley slapped her forehead. "Duh," she said. "Accio broom and wands!"

"Wands? Plural? Can you do that?" Nicole yelled as her Patronus started to flicker. Suddenly, the girls' wands and Riley's broom fell at their feet.

"Works for me," Robin replied. "Petrificus Totalus!" She yelled pointing to a nearby cluster of Dementors.

"Where the hell is my—shit, I forgot it's wrecked. Oh well, I guess I do this the hard way," Riley jumped on her broom and sped over to Harry. She was enraged. 'How dare they show up here?!' She thought. Fueled by her anger, she yelled, "Evanesco!" All six of the Dementors suddenly vanished. "Harry, are you alright?" She asked landing. Dumbledore, Remus, and Adrienne arrived as Riley did.

"RILEY!" Riley could hear the terror in Nicole's voice loud and clear.

She turned and saw that despite her friends' best efforts, their spells were failing, and the Dementors had over-taken them. In a flash, Riley was heading back to their side.

"Riley," Harry yelled. "Wait!" Once again, Harry attempted to follow Riley. Sirius caught his arm.

"Harry, what are you doing? Go back to the school with everyone else," Sirius commanded. Pointing to the other professors that were quickly leading terrified students to the school.

"Sirius, you don't understand. Something's going to happen to her, I have to warn her," Harry pleaded.

Ron watched as Riley flew to try and rescue Nicole and Robin. He saw Nicole's Patronus flicker and vanish. She stumbled back, trying to get away from the oncoming Dementor, when bony fingers latched onto her shoulder.

"Adrienne, Sirius, get the children to safety. Remus, come with me," Dumbledore so rarely gave orders that as he and Remus raced toward the battle, the others stood frozen as spectators.

Nicole heard a scream, possibly her own, before losing herself to her memories.

She had come home late, well early for her. Her foster father was up, which was surprising considering it was midnight. She could smell the beer on his breath. He leered at her and smacked her. Before she could move though, he was on top of her. His face and lustful eyes burned into her mind. She struggled, but he slapped her again and she ceased struggling. Tears rolled down her face and she ran out of the house an hour later, her clothes torn and her innocence lost.

Robin was distracted as she lost sight of Nicole. She heard a scream and thought that it came from Nicole. However, as the hand of a Dementor touched her, she was no longer so sure.

They had been fighting for hours. Nobody could withstand them. All who stood in their way perished. Robin—or the soul that would later become Robin Goodfellow—couldn't believe the immense success of this operation. Camelot would be saved. Evil would be defeated. 'Hell, maybe we'll all live happily ever after,' she though.

"Robin" never saw the arrow that shot "Nicole" and halted her progress. The distraction was all the man had needed. He swept in and ran his sword through "Nicole's" stomach. She fell to her knees, tears gathering in her eyes, tears that never got shed. She fell back, an expression of sadness, hope, and relief on her blood-stained face.

"Robin" angrily avenged her friend. She successfully made the man regret his actions before his death. In her grief, Robin was temporarily unaware of the battle raging around her. "Nicole" was so innocent. 'I should have protected her,' she thought letting a single tear escape. Her moment of distraction was all that the enemy needed.

"Riley" saw the enemy archers turn aiming at "Robin's" unprotected back. She ran and knocked "Robin" to the ground. "Robin" recovered and turned to look at her friend. "Riley" had been pierced with at least five arrows, her eyes already beginning to cloud over in death. She tried to smile at "Robin", but hadn't the strength to move even her mouth. Her eyes closed, and her body went limp. "Robin" was alone.

"No!" Riley yelled. "Reducto!" Without a wand, however, she only managed to cause the Dementors to stumble. It did delay them from giving her friends the kiss, though. She had reached top speed and had no intention of slowing. She plowed into the two Dementors that held Nicole and Robin in their clutches. The two girls looked terrified and didn't move.

"It's her," Riley distinctly heard a Dementor screech. "This is the one the master sent us for."

'What?' Riley's mind screamed. 'Me? Voldemort sent them here for me? Just me?' One glance at her friends, and Riley knew what she had to do. It was the only way to save them and the rest of Hogwarts, as well. "You want me? Come and get me."

Riley sprinted away as fast as her legs would carry her—her broom had snapped on impact. She was careful to lead the Dementors as far away from anyone else as possible. She had not, however, counted on running into another group of Dementors. Sadly, she realized that she was trapped. As the Dementors surrounded her and stepped closer, Riley began to lose herself to the cold and memories.

"Riley" was standing in a beautiful chamber with Hotep. "You must use the power of the three, my love. Use the power of the three, and kill them."

"Riley" gasped. "Kill them? They are as sisters to me. I could no sooner kill them than kill you."

"You kill me to deny me," Hotep roared. Suddenly, his voice changed. "It is the only way for us to be together, my love."

A tear slowly slid down her cheek. "I can't," she whispered. She could feel her heart breaking.

"I understand. Then, I will do my part. However, in order to defeat the Dark Lord, you must call on the power of the three. To summon your friends would be to sentence them to death, for surely any who defeats him will forfeit her life," Hotep lovingly embraced "Riley". She nodded and closed her eyes. After a moment, Hotep could feel the power. "One last kiss?" He asked. As her lip met his, "Riley" could suddenly feel his soul enter her body.

As if she had no control, she found herself summoning her friends. As they appeared, she heard her own voice say, "At last, I will reign supreme." Before her mind could register what was happening, she waved a hand in the direction of her puzzled friends, and they collapsed, dead before they hit the ground. "NO!" Riley screamed. The rage she felt forced Hotep back into his own body. "You betrayed me. You used me. You killed them," "Riley" accused. Her voice grew menacingly colder with every statement.

"Correction, my dear: You killed them," Hotep smiled. For the first time, "Riley" could see him for what he was. With barely a second thought, Hotep was dead. She had run him through with the dagger he had given her.

Tears clouded her vision as she knelt by the bodies of her fellow Tenshi. She could hardly breathe for the grief. "What have I done? I'm sorry," she whispered. Suddenly, her voice grew emotionless and cold. "Never again. Hoshino Tenshi will never again be used as a tool for destruction." Muttering a spell, "Riley" insured that no future Hoshino would remember this day or the power of the three or the weakness of love.

Robin snapped out of her memories as the Dementors fled. She glanced at Nicole and knew that they had both been down terrible roads. Dumbledore and Remus arrived at a sprint as they stood.

"Where's Riley?" Robin questioned glancing behind them. Dumbledore and Remus merely kept running.

Over his shoulder, Robin heard Remus explain, "She led them away." Robin and Nicole immediately raced after. Soon they had over-taken them and were in hot pursuit of the Dementors. It wasn't long before they began to feel cold. As they reached the edge of the forbidden forest they heard screeches and shouts.

Dumbledore, Robin noticed, had come to a stop. She gave him an impatient look and noticed the uneasy look in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Nicole questioned timidly. It was obvious that she dreaded the answer.

"They are gone." The calm in Dumbledore's voice made Robin want to explode.

"What do you mean 'they're gone'? Did they take Riley? Is she okay? Why don't we try and follow them?" Robin was really getting worked up as movement in the Forest caught her eye. Without thinking wands were raised and hope was back. Could it be Riley?

Robin was disappointed as a centaur slowly stepped before them. He was followed by two others. "Firenze?" Dumbledore seemed to know him, so the others lowered their wands.

"Is this yours?" The centaur behind Firenze stepped forward holding a limp form.

"Riley!" Nicole rushed forward. Robin almost collapsed in relief. Suddenly, Harry raced up to the group followed by the others. Robin could tell that Sirius was pissed. Apparently, Dumbledore had ordered them to fall back to the castle and had been disobeyed.

"Is she okay?" Harry managed kneeling by Nicole's side. Nicole felt for a pulse and smiled.

"I think she's just unconscious."

"Thank you," Dumbledore said to the centaurs. "May I ask what happened and why you changed your minds?" The last part of his question seemed to be directed at the two centaurs, who, if Robin was right, were not pleased to be here.

"Bane and Ronan finally saw things as I did when we found those foul creatures attacking this poor girl," Firenze motioned to Riley.

"We have done what we could to keep those things from our forest. We will do no more." With that, Bane strode back into the Forest. Ronan nervously pawed the ground and followed.

Firenze looked at Dumbledore. "I will do what I can, but I can make no promises. We centaurs are set in our ways. The girl should recover. We arrived before they reached her." He bowed to Dumbledore and retreated as well.

Remus walked over to Riley. "Ennervate!"

Riley suddenly jerked awake. Her eyes were wide. "What the hell? Where are the Dementors? What happened? Is everyone okay?" She did a quick head count as she stood quickly. "Why am I here? The last thing I remember is running into the Forbidden Forest. I was trying to protect you all. Why did you follow me?" At this point, she threw a particularly nasty glance at Harry, Nicole, and Robin.

"Protect us? You thought you were protecting us by playing the hero? Why did they follow you, anyway? And, did you say you just remember running into the Forest? According to Firenze, they found you surrounded by Dementors. How could you not remember that?" Robin involuntarily shivered. Images of the deaths of her friends still flashed before her eyes.

"Who is Firenze? And, what are you talking about? They didn't surround me. I just told you I ran into the forest. They were still a ways behind me. Then I woke up out here," Riley explained.

Robin looked at Nicole. Nicole nodded. Riley was telling the truth. She didn't remember a thing. She noticed that Dumbledore was watching them with interest. "I believe we should talk. I will address the students and station the teachers as guards around the castle. Then, we will meet in my office," he stated before marching toward the castle. Stressed and exhausted, the group silently followed.