ALIUS EGO ALIUS RUDIMENTUM

CHAPTER X: In which we return to Briara's dimension

Me no own-y

/S/

Draco ambled listlessly around the desolate pitch, kicking the torn up turf out of his way. He was never going to play quiditch ever again. That was for certain. Not after this. The sport had been ruined. Funny that he would be thinking of quiditch at a time like this; truly there were far more important things to stress over. Such as the end of the war. It should be a happy occasion. It was a happy occasion. He just couldn't force himself to be happy. Too many were wounded, dying, dead. Voldemort was gone, true, but at what cost?

When Bri had delivered the killing blow, it had been as if someone had detonated an expanding silencing charm, growing out from its epicenter around Bri and the Dark Lord. There had been dead silence as everyone watched Voldemort stumbled backwards off the glistening blade in Bri's hands and fell. When it became clear that their Lord was not getting back up, the Death Eaters had begun to apparate away, taking advantage of the stunned non-action of their foes. Well, non-action of most of their foes. In a short amount of time Mad-Eye had built up an impressive trail of prisoners which he dragged along behind him as he ran to apprehend the next miscreant. And then just as the first cheers began to sound at Voldemort's defeat, a resounding crack resonated across the pitch accompanied by a brilliant flash of light. When everyone had cleared the spots from their eyes, Briara was gone.

That had been five hours ago. Draco still couldn't believe it. His best friend had just vanished into thin air. Dumbledore had a theory as to what had occurred, but as of yet he had not divulged his suspicions to anyone, including Mr. and Mrs. Potter. The couple was sitting out in front of the expanded hospital wing. Lily silently sobbing into her husbands shoulder as he openly wept. Remus and Sirius stood near bye, offering silent comfort and nursing the physical wounds they had received in the battle. All four had refused to see the healers until Dumbledore told them what he thought had happened to Bri. Dumbledore himself was closeted in his personal library, trying to find more information to back his theory.

"Are you going to be all right?" Draco jumped at the soft voice that appeared right next to him. Hermione smiled slightly at his reaction "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. But truly, are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know." He replied honestly "It can't be real, you know? She's going to take off the invisibility cloak or pop out from behind some tree and laugh at us for being stupid and falling for her trick."

"I know what you mean." Ron said, having caught up to his friends. "But I already found the cloak and checked all her regular hiding spots. She's really gone."

The trio circled around the pitch and came to a stop in front of the goal posts where it had happened. Voldemort's body had been removed along with all the bodies of the dead. The bodies of those fighting against the Dark Lord had all been cleaned and were waiting in coffins in the Great Hall for the hero's funeral that awaited them. The Death Eater's bodies had been gathered together and incinerated. Gryffindor's Sword, as Dumbledore had called it, had been put on display in the Headmasters office, right next to Slytherin's Scythe.

"So what do we do now?" Draco asked.

"I hate to sound cliché, but I guess we just take it a day at a time, live our lives to the fullest. Funstripes wouldn't want us to be all mope-y over her." Ron paused for a moment. "And Dumbledore knows something. It may be possible to get her back. It's defiantly possible to get her back. She will be back."

"Of course she will, Ron." Hermione clasped Ron's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Dumbledore will find her. I have no doubt about that."

"I wish I could have your faith. I have a feeling that she may never be back. I don't think she's dead, but, oh I don't know. I can't explain it. There is another layer to the puzzle that I can't quite grasp." Draco paused and sighed. "Come on, it's getting late, it is late. I could go for a peanut butter and raison sandwich. They were Bri's favorite."

Draco, Ron, and Hermione adjourned to the kitchens. It took the combined effort of all three of them to muster enough laughter to offend the banana. None of them were in a laughing mood. The house elves must have known they were coming; a large platter of raison and peanut butter sandwiches had been prepared, sliced diagonally and with the crust cut off, but not thrown away (they had their own platter.) A pitcher of grape soda and three glasses had also been set out.

They sat cross legged around the small table in the corner and passed the sandwiches around. The soda poured itself into the glasses. And they each grabbed one.

"To Briara." Hermione said, raising a toast "May the four of us be together again someday."

"To Briara." The two boys echoed.

"All right," Draco said "You both know the drill. Crust first." He picked up one of the cut off crusts and started munching on it. Briara had had the strangest way of eating peanut butter and raison sandwiches. They had to be cut diagonally and the crust had to be removed. The crust always had to be eaten first, no reason, just because. Then the rest of the sandwich could be enjoyed. Grape soda was also part of the PB-R tradition. Bri didn't actually like the drink, in fact she loathed it, but as a result of losing a bet during third year she had been forced to imbibe it whenever she wanted to eat her favorite sandwich. The parameters of the bet had cut off after a year, but the grape soda had become a tradition by then.

They finished eating in companionable silence and then headed up to the Gryffindor Tower to try and sleep away the pain of losing a friend. Normally Draco would have gone down to the Slytherin dorms in the dungeon; however it was all but deserted due to the number of children who had left due to having Death Eater parents. An extra bed had been set up in the sixth year boy's room especially for Draco ever since he had run into trouble earlier that year with his housemates when they had found out that he had been the one to betray his parents and some of Voldemort's secrets to Dumbledore and the ministry. Not that any of them actually made it to their beds. That would leave Hermione alone in the girl's tower. Instead they opted to rest together on the overstuffed couch as they had in the past.

Dumbledore slowly climbed down the stairs leading from his office. Dawn was breaking through the open windows. It had been nearly twelve hours since the fall of Voldemort and the disappearance of Briara Potter. He was fairly certain he knew what had happened to the girl. He had seen the exact bright light and heard that exact same sound once before. It had happened while he was just a student at Hogwarts. Gryffindor had just beaten Slytherin for the Quiditch Cup and the Slytherin captain had been eager to try out a new charm he had learned on the Gryffindor captain. The boy hadn't had enough power to make the charm work; the Gryffindor captain was swallowed by the light and a loud crack and had disappeared . . . to be deposited twenty meters down the pitch five minutes later.

That boy may not have had the power to enforce the charm, but Voldemort most certainly did. Alius Ego Alius Rudimentum was not a charm to be messed with.

Dumbledore drew comfort from the small vial he held in his right hand. Ms. Potter may not be able to come home for some time, however, that did not stop them from sending someone after her to keep her company. He rounded the corner to face the hall outside the Hospital Wing. Makeshift cots lined the walls. Many of them were filled with patients, resting after receiving treatment from Poppy and the Healers who had volunteered from St. Mungo's to aid the cause.

He wound his way through the cots and came to stop in front of two cots jammed together in a corner with four adults sleeping fitfully upon them. He cleared his throat softly to wake them. Eyes slowly flitted open.

"James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, good morning."

"Albus! Are you ready to tell us what happened to my baby? Or do you come to prolong my despair?" Lily's tone was slightly venomous, she was obviously peeved about being kept in the dark.

"If you would follow me to my office, I will divulge all I know. Someone should probably go rouse Mr.'s Malfoy and Weasley and Ms. Granger. Undoubtedly they will wish to hear this news as well."

"I'll get them, Albus. I'll meet you in the office." Sirius patted James on the shoulder and walked a short way down the hall and then disappeared into the wall to retrieve his god-daughter's friends.

When he reached the common room he was not surprised to find all three of the teenagers slumped together sleeping on the large couch. Had the situation not been nearly so serious, Sirius would have taken this opportunity to pull some sort of prank on the sleeping teens. Instead he gently shook them awake.

"Hey. Come on. Dumbledore is ready to talk."

Never had he seen them get up so fast. Hermione didn't even go to the bathroom to fix her unruly hair. She simply threw the wild curls into a quick pony tail and practically ran to the portrait, not even waiting for the others.

In short order, everyone had rendezvoused in the headmasters office.

"Well?" Prompted James "Where is Briara? And how do we get her back?"

"I am not exactly sure as to where your daughter is, nor am I quite certain how to get her back." Lily and James did not look happy with this news. "What I can say is that I am reasonably sure that she is alive, at least for now. From what I know, or can deduce, she has been sent to another dimension. Getting back will be up to her, little we do here will have an effect on her return."

"So what can we do?" Remus asked "We can't just leave her there."

"No we cannot. Which brings me to the reason it took me so long to bring you all here," Dumbledore held aloft the vial he had been carrying with him. "This is the Potion of Lost Souls. Luckily, a previous headmaster had this made many years back. It was simply a mater of my finding it. Otherwise it takes three months to brew the potion, not terribly long, but three months would feel like a lifetime in a situation such as this."

"How does the potion work, Professor? I have never heard of it." Hermione said.

"It's quite simple really. It will take the drinker to the one who is lost. No matter where they are. In this case, to Briara. There are certain rules however. The drinker must be closely connected to the lost. I do not think we will have any problems with this clause in this group. The other issue is that there is no way to bring the drinker back. They must find their own way. Of course, if Briara finds her way back, whoever is there with her could simply drink another of these and follow her, so that problem too is circumvented. The biggest problem will be which of you is to go? Of course, we can brew more potions, but it will take time."

Lily and James looked at each other. Which of them would be best equipped to help their daughter? They did not even have a chance to argue the point when a voice rang out.

"I'm going." Everyone turned to look at Draco, who had stood foreword with his proclamation. Lily and James looked at him, stricken. He was like a son to them, but Briara was their daughter. If anyone where to go it would be one of them.

"Listen, Draco, we appreciate your . . ."

"No, I'm going." Draco cut off James "Look, you and Mrs. Potter are needed here. You are both needed here. As fully trained wizards, you can do a lot to help everyone here during the aftermath of the war. There are still Death Eaters to hunt down and I'm not exactly qualified to do that yet. I'm still a student. I won't be missed. After a few months, when things have settled down, then you can come with the second batch of potion."

"Young Mr. Malfoy is correct." Dumbledore said "I myself would have suggested sending one of the younger generation had not Draco so valiantly volunteered. A friend is most likely what Briara needs right now."

"I don't like it, Albus, Lily or I should go. She's our daughter."

"No, we should let Draco go." Lily said, putting a hand on her husbands arm "Think about it, Dear. When you were her age, who would you rather have with you on some grand adventure? Which is exactly how Briara will view this whole thing, she is YOUR daughter after all. Would you rather have Sirius and Remus or your dad?"

James sighed. "You're right. You or I would probably cramp her style. All right Draco, you can go."

"Thank you sir."

"How many times must I tell you to call me James?"

"You know I only do it to bug you. So where are we going to do this? Here?"

Dumbledore provided the answer. "I thought it would be best to 'do this' at Order Headquarters. Being as the school year is over here, I do not wish to take the chance that you would appear in a nearly empty castle. Members of the Order should be able to care for you once you arrive and help you find Briara. And so, if you will all just step to the fireplace, I believe the Floo system is up and running again."

Once they reached the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix they each took turns telling Draco goodbye and giving him messages to pass on to Briara. Lily and Hermione each gave him a hug and he shook each of the men's hands. And with no further ado, he downed the potion.

It was a strange feeling. First he rose up off the ground about four feet and then it was if someone had pinched his nose and was using it to lead him around. A high pitched whine filled the air. Darkness stole over his vision and he began to feel rather nauseous, especially after he began to spin in circles. And then, after what felt like ages, the movement stopped, light began to filter through his eyes and the whine dulled. Now he could hear the clinking of cutlery on plates. Obviously the Order was in the middle of a meal.

Suddenly he dropped from the air and fell about a foot before landing on a table with a thud. All sounds of eating stopped as eyes fixed upon the figure on the table. Draco opened his eyes . . . and then immediately closed them. Shit. He opened his eyes again, fixed a smirk upon his face and boldly faced the person in front of him.

"Hello Father! It's positively spiffing to see you again." Obviously Malfoy Manor had not been converted into the headquarters for the Order in this dimension.

/E/

Ta-da!