(A/N: Really sorry for the late update! As you know, I am a high school student in an Asian country and it was the mid-term exam. Blegh… So, sorry again readers and reviewers)
Harry and the gang woke up to the bright light shining through the half-broken stained glass window in the secret room they were in. Harry reached his hands under his glasses and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He let out a big yawn and looked around. The rest of the group were also waking up. Harry smiled but a sense of guilt hit him when he saw that his parents were teenagers and remembered scenes last night's events.
'This is going to be a long term,' Harry thought.
The group still did not visit Professor McGonagall yet. After noticing the current situation, it wasn't really hard to notice it; they immediately got to their feet and headed to the door. Everyone in the small room had a grip on the door's brass handle, one hand overlapping the others and all the bodies crammed up in one small doorway. "Oww!" everyone cried.
"Okay, everyone, shhh!" Hermione whispered loudly. "If someone except for Professor McGonagall sees us, we're going to be in hot water; so, I suggest we keep it low and wear Invisibility Cloaks!"
There was a shuffling of feet and few groans of pain as the Marauders tried to find a place under the Cloaks while avoiding the small corners of the room. Hermione waited silently at the entrance, looking out from a small crack of the door, making sure no one sees them coming out from the secret room. There was a small squeal from Lily under the Cloak. "What is it?" Hermione hissed. "Nothing! Nothing!" Lily said. "Let's just get to McGonagall!"
The group of visible and invisible teenage wizards and witches walked out of the secret room behind a loaded bookcase after the corridor had cleared out. With Harry leading the way, the silent group, fortunately, attracted only a few casual stares and 'hello's. As they passed a partially opened door, they heard a familiar sound from familiar hooves coming in rhythmic 'clip-clops'. Harry and Ron looked into the room and bumped right into Jason and Audrey, literally.
A gasp escaped Harry and Ron's mouths as their chests collided with the strong front of the two centaurs. The rest of the group, visible and invisible, stopped just in time to escape the otherwise, painful collision. "Ouch," Hermione muttered. Harry and Ron sat on the floor, rubbing their heads and taking in heaving breaths. "Sorry," Jason said instinctively. "We weren't watching where we were going," Audrey commented. Another set of hooves could be heard from the room and they saw Firenze walking from the room. "Is anything wrong?" he said. "I heard-" He paused as he saw Harry on the floor. "Harry!" he exclaimed with happiness. He bent down and gripped Harry's shoulders gently and helped him to his feet. "Harry, it feels like months since I've seen you."
"Yeah, same for me," Harry said. "Even though we see each other in the Great Hall every day."
"Odd, isn't it?" Firenze said. "Anyway, Harry, Ron, Hermione, I'd like you to meet my friends, Jason and Audrey. They are from Centaur Forest and came to visit me for the week. Jason's father is a good friend of mine."
"Oh, we weren't aware of that, Professor," Hermione said, forcing a fake smile to her lips. "It's nice to meet you, Jason and Audrey," Hermione said, taking Jason's hands in hers and shaking it. She did the same to Audrey's.
"Nice to meet you, Hermione," Audrey said, smiling as well. Firenze smiled as Jason shook hands with Ron. Firenze turned around and walked back into his room.
Audrey bent low and whispered in Hermione's ear. "Do you remember?" she asked. Hermione smiled and nodded. "We remember," Hermione whispered back. "That's good, because, we have a problem," Audrey said openly. "I know, we all know," Hermione said.
The Invisibility Cloaks were lifted slightly and revealed the hidden Marauders. "We've had a slight mishap with Rose," Hermione said. "Slight?" Lily repeated in a hushed whisper. "This is anything but slight."
"Anyway, what do you remember?" Hermione asked.
"It's okay, we saw everything," Jason said. "And Draco, you can come out from behind James any moment now."
The group's attention was directed back at a glint of platinum blonde under the Cloak, behind James. There was a nervous laugh as Draco stepped out from under the Cloak. "Um, hi," he said. Jason and Audrey were giving him weird looks, in the middle of forgiveness and uncertain trust. "Just to let you know, I was a little cuckoo at that time," Draco said, waving his index finger in a circular motion next to his ear.
"Yes, cuckoo enough to kill of two people," Sirius added. "That's about um… a million points on the cuckoo board?" Draco sighed and rolled his eyes. He gritted his teeth and muttered, "Thank you, Sirius." "And you're quite welcome," Sirius said nonchalantly.
"So, anyway," Jason said. "We saw what happened and you know Hogwarts was attacked." The group nodded. "And we brought over a centaur army," Audrey said. "To help." "Apparently, there was a small but trained group of warrior centaurs in Centaur Forest," Jason said.
"Thanks," Harry said. "We'll need all the help we can get. Right now, we need to-"
"Go to the Headmistress's office, we know," Audrey said quickly, cutting his sentence short. She smiled and stepped a few paces into the room, giving them a clear path to the office. Jason smiled and followed. The group muttered words of thanks and the Marauders donned their Cloaks.
The rest of the trip to the office went without any interruptions and in deep silence as they passed portraits, students, teachers and ghosts. Peeves crossed their path a few times in failed attempts to cover them with ink, other than that, the trip became uneventful and according to Sirius, boring with a capital 'B'.
"What do you propose we do then, Sirius?" Hermione said, annoyed, after many whines from Sirius.
"I dunno," Sirius said, shrugging. "I just wish that this time would be, well, like last time we went to McGonagall's office."
"So, you want to tie me up and lock me in a closet, is that what you want?" Draco asked. "'He's seen too much' 'We must dispose of him' Dispose of him, my ass!" Draco imitated the Marauder's past words with a deep, mocking voice.
"Speaking of your as, it's pretty nice," Sirius said, jokingly.
Draco made a move to hit him but took in a deep breath and continued walking. "I hate you, Black," he muttered. "You made me aware of homosexuality one too many times."
"Thank you for that compliment," Sirius said.
The group, which most fought the urge to laugh, came to a large, stone gargoyle. The torches flickered in their stands and cast odd moving shadows on the floor. "Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans," Harry said. The gargoyle leaped aside, revealing a spiral white marble staircase which began to rotate. Harry and the rest hopped on and soon, they came to the familiar polished oak door. There was a commotion in the room and the group heard a scream from their Headmistress. Harry barged in and saw Rose pointing her wand at the Professor. "Avada-" she began.
"Sectumsempra!" Harry yelled, slashing his wand frantically. Rose's reflexes were amazing. She stopped her spell mid-way and yelled, "Protego!" A green light took the shape of a shield and the curse from Harry's wand was reflected. "Bloody hell," Ron said. "Take cover!" Harry yelled. "Ahhhh!" The group yelled as the spell traveled in a zigzag pattern towards them. "Protego!" Hermione said. The spell bounced back and ricocheted all over the room. "Goodness!" Many portraits of the past Headmasters yelled as they ducked for cover behind their frames. The spell came to a halt as it tore Professor McGonagall's desk into splinters. "Now, now, that was my favourite desk," the portrait of Dumbledore 'tsk'ed.
"Rose, no!" Viktor yelled as Rose started to say the Killing Curse again. He tackled her to the ground and her wand was tossed into the air, before dropping into James's outstretched hands. Viktor and Rose rolled over and over on the floor, one trying to overpower the other. "You vill do no more harm to others!" Viktor yelled. "Stop fighting the losing side, brother," Rose hissed. "The losing side is the right side!" Viktor yelled.
"Viktor, now!" Harry yelled. Without hesitation, Viktor let go of his sister and rolled away as the group surrounded Rose with their wands pointed straight at her heart. "You think you've won, but you're only far from it," Rose said with a smirk on her face. With a fast motion, supported by her hands, she spun around and kicked Hermione and James's legs, causing them to buckle and fall. Rose ran and took her wand from James's pocket. As she saw the others closing in on her, she grabbed James's collar and held her wand to his heart. "Don't move!" she yelled. The others froze in fear.
"You all are completely avair that I can perform the Killing Curse," Rose said, a wicked grin coming to her face. "If you vant this pahvetic boy alive, I propose you clear off and stand close to the valls." She paused. "NOW!" she yelled. There was the immediate scuffle of feet and everyone stood in horror as Rose made her way to the fireplace, a bag of Floo powder in her hand. She dragged a frightened James along with her. As she came to the fireplace, a maniacal grin came to her face. She sprinkled the powder on the grey ash in it and a green fire emitted from the fireplace. She yelled something in the Bulgarian language and put a foot in, still keeping a firm grip on James.
"Ve did vot we ver told, Rose," Viktor called out. "Now, let James go! You promised!"
"I said no such thing!" Rose said with a laugh. "I said I vould keep him alive. I did not say I vill let him go. Now, listen carefully, if you dare to track me down, he dies. Got it?"
"Wait!" a lone voice said. The group gasped to see who it was. "Take me instead!"
Rose smirked and looked as though she was in deep thought. "Very vell."
James was thrust back into the room. He fell on all fours and groaned in pain. "Goodness gracious," Professor McGonagall gasped. "Draco!" Danielle yelled, running to the fireplace as Rose dragged him into the green flame. Viktor grabbed her waist as she tried to make her way into the flame. "No, Danielle! No," he said, restraining her as she kicked and punched. "Let me go, let me go," Danielle yelled. "No, Danielle," Viktor repeated. Draco looked at her and gave an encouraging smile as he was engulfed in the flame. The flame disappeared. He was gone.
Viktor let go of her and she fell to the ground in a fit of tears. "Why?" she yelled, her voice choked with tears. "Why, Viktor?" "Because, Draco sacrificed himself for us, for you," Viktor said, kneeling down in front of her. He took her shoulders in his hands and gently led her gaze from the fireplace. "Look at me, Danielle. Look at me." He demanded. Danielle looked at him with tears streaming from her eyes. "He sacrificed himself for you. If you followed him, he vould be held responsible as you are tortured. He vould not have vanted that." "Where?" Danielle demanded. "Where has he been taken!" Viktor hung his head. "I do not know," he said. "How could you not know?" Danielle said, slamming her fists onto his knees. "What is the translation of what she said." Viktor kept silent, looking away. Danielle sobbed as more tears went down her cheeks. "Tell me!" Danielle sobbed uncontrollably. "She said," Viktor said, solemnly. "She said 'the Dark Lord's Quarters'."
Danielle looked at him through tear-filled eyes and pressed her face to his shoulder, sobbing in muffled, pained yells.
(A/N: So dark the con of Rose… So dark indeed…)