KISS OF DEATH
Hogsmead Village
Scotland, UK
November 11th
2022 A.D.
Heavy rain continued to pour over the entire Scottish Highlands. The few people in Hogsmead ran from shelter to shelter, holding books or umbrellas over their heads.
Albus swore as he received the same answer phone message for the third time. He kept his composer and dialed the number again as a few passers by noticed him standing in the alleyway. They looked stunned for a second before hurrying away.
Finally the phone started to ring.
"Yeah, Wells?" his voice said.
"I been trying to get hold of you for fifteen minutes! I need your help!" Albus said frantically.
"What's happened?"
"Athena's pulled a Houdini! I need to find her!" Albus continued pacing in frustration. "can you get satellite imagery of Scotland?"
"Albus, half of the U.K. is under cloud cover!"
"I know. That's what I need you to look at. Find any strange electrical activity in the sky from about five o'clock yesterday. It started at Hogwarts."
"I'll call you back." the line went dead.
Albus pivoted and jumped up onto the roof of the building next to him. The frightened passers by were probably alerting the Ministry that he was in Hogsmead by now. As he waiting for Wells to call back, he could help feel like things were turning against him. It was hard enough to be on constant alert for anything that might give him information about what was coming but he also had to deal with the fact that he was about to become a father, keeping control his siblings and now try and handle the fact that possibly the most important woman on the planet was completely convinced that he was her soul mate.
When did life get this difficult?
His phone started ringing. "Yeah?"
"A massive electrical burst occurred outside Hogwarts, traveled all the way down to Essex and stopped. Then there was a second that moved across the Channel and ended just outside Paris." Wells voice said quickly.
"City of romance..." Albus sighed.
"You are going to explain this to me at some point, right?"
"I'll try. Thanks Wells." Albus put the phone down and blasted himself towards Hogwarts.
His feet hit the deck a few seconds later. He entered the castle through the massive double entrances doors, still dripping wet and went straight for the headmasters office.
The Gargoyles jumped aside for him as they always did and he continued inside.
"Anything?" Scorpius asked quickly.
"She's in Paris." Albus stated to the entire room. He had gathered everyone together for the search, even pulling Hugo and Lily out of their Transfiguration class. Sophia, Lincoln, Amelia, Aurora, Lynx, Violet, Scorpius, Rose, Ron, Harry, Ginny and Tannis had all simply been waiting for him to return to tell them the next move.
Despite being seen to by Madam Pomfrey, Harry still bore signs of his encounter with Ron in the bathroom.
"I can't fly everyone there so I suggest that you lot use the Floo network and I'll meet you there." Albus said.
"Can I just add the possibility that some time alone may be exactly what she needs?" Aurora pointed out.
Albus didn't look amused. It was plainly obvious why Aurora didn't want to go looking for her and it had nothing to do with being sympathetic towards her.
"And what if somebody else finds her?" Lincoln retorted.
"The Cleric's can't track abilities anymore." Rose said quickly.
She was right, but then, the Cleric's weren't what Albus was worried about. The mysterious parasite that could literally eat a person alive from the inside out and that seemed to be looking for Athena was at the forefront of his mind. He wondered whether or not to inform the others about this but decided against it, considering the amount things that they already had on their plates.
"We need to find her and get her back here. End of story!" Albus ordered. He turned to Ron and Harry. "Can you two go without killing each other long enough for us to find her?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other for a second with a kind of respectful loathing before turning back to Albus and nodding.
"I hate to say it Al but if this girl can travel on Lightning then she could be on the other side of Europe by now." Lynx said.
"There's no cloud cover over passed France."
"Still, she could see us coming and make a run for it."
"I know!" Albus snapped in frustration. "But we can't just sit around here doing nothing and hope that she decides to come back!"
"It'll take us weeks to search the whole city!" Ron moaned.
"Then we'll search for weeks!" Albus growled back.
"She's just upset. I'm sure if we talk to her, she'll be all right." Sophia soothed. "Alex and I will remain here in case sh does return."
"It'll take us weeks to search the whole city!" Ron moaned.
"All right. Floo to the French Ministry then split up into three groups. Aurora, Ron, Lincoln and Hugo search the North of the City. Amelia, Lynx, Violet and Ginny, you search the South. Harry, Scorpius, Rose, Lily, you search the center. Amelia give Rose your phone." Just as Amelia was about to hand it to her, Lily snatched it out of her hand looking oddly fascinated by it. "You guys search from the ground, I'll search from the air."
As the all moved towards the door, Aurora caught Albus by the arm and stopped him. "What did you say to her to set her off?"
"What? Nothing, it doesn't matter."
"Albus," She gave him one of her serious looks. "we said no more secrets."
Albus sighed. "She...she seems to have it in her head that...that she's my soul mate."
Aurora rolled her eyes. "Wonderful, so she's not just a bitch, she delusional as well?"
"I told her that I was in love with you and that we were having a baby and...I might have been a little harsh."
"Don't expect me to feel sorry for her!"
"Aurora enough! You don't like each other, I get it, but we need to find her! She's too important!" Albus was getting annoyed again.
"Important to the Prophecy and not to you?"
Albus actually looked insulted. "Aurora...I rejected her! I told her I didn't love her! Why can't you just trust me?!"
He barged past her and headed for the door.
The Cleric's Temple
Location: Unknown
November 11th
2022 A.D.
Lisa entered Mathis lab, looking a little out of breath. Mathis and Marshall were looking over a large pile of files stacked on a table.
"Weasley just reported in. Albus is in Paris." she said.
"Alone?" Mathis asked.
"No, he's got a lot of support with him."
"Well, let's hope Mr. Weasley manages to take care of that." Marshall smiled.
"Vanguard isn't ready." Mathis sighed.
"He better be." Marshall said simply. "Lisa, you and Mathis work on trying to isolate his friends."
Mathis got up looking very apprehensive about the whole plan. He followed Lisa out of the room while Marshall walked towards the holding cells. He punched in a key code and stepped inside Vanguards cell.
"It's time." he said.
Vanguard smiled deviously.
"He's in Paris, there's a portkey ready for you. He has friends with him, they're not the target but if they get in the way, kill them." he ordered.
"So...you are finally going to send your little Ginnie pig out to war?" Vanguard chuckled.
"You're not our Ginnie Pig, Derek. You're our soldier."
"Then why have you been experimenting on me? Playing around vith my memories?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Marshall said nervously.
"You think I didn't know?" he grinned. "I only stayed here because you wanted to make me stronger."
Marshall started backing up.
"You think I'd let you keep me here like a caged animal if I didn't want to?
"Derek..." Marshall bumped into the wall behind him.
"Don't vorry. I'm still going to kill the Colossus but not for you...for me!"
Marshall screamed as an inferno of flames shot from Vanguards hands and engulfed him. He didn't stop until Marshall was reduced to nothing more than ash.
Saint-Cloud
Paris, France
November 13th
2022 A.D.
"Billy Jeans not my lover! She's just a girl, claims that I am the one! But the kids not my son!" Hugo had stopped singing for the last twenty minutes. "She says I am the one...but the kids -"
"HUGO! Enough!" Aurora cried.
"What?! Nobodies talking! I hate uncomfortable silences!" he whined back. "we've been searching for hours and I'm starving! Let's go back to the hotel and get some food!"
"I'm inclined to agree with my son." Ron added.
"We can't go back until we find her!" Aurora hissed.
"She could be on the other side of the bloody world by now!"
The Eiffel Tower.
Athena was leaning next to the rail just outside the Jules Verne restaurant looking out at the Paris skyline. The moment was almost void of people considering the bad whether which was nice because she wanted to be alone. That and the fact that the entire structure had the potential of becoming an enormous conductor made her feel slightly safer but it didn't improve her mood.
She had finally worked up the courage to admit her love for him and he had rejected her. She wasn't expecting it to be like a fairy tale although she wouldn't have said no to something along those lines. She would even be able to stomach animals creeping out from the forest and bursting into song or something but being told that the man that she is supposedly destined to be with was having a baby with another woman, a human woman, never entered her mind.
She wondered whether or not Aurora was right. She was a bitch but she also seemed to know what she was talking about when she said that Athena was just a silly little girl. Maybe the fairy tale part was actually believing that love exists. Maybe the door had been lying to her. Of course, the more she thought about it, the more she was reminded of just how much she wanted Albus.
"Taking in the sites?" Albus's voice sent a shiver down her spine.
She turned to see him standing a few feet away, staring straight at her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and her body started to feel slightly achy. She hadn't been able to smell him because the wind was blowing the wrong way.
"I always wanted to come here." she admitted quietly.
"Do you know how dangerous it is to be out in the open like this?"
"Dangerous for who?" Athena growled as her anger towards him started to return. "I could electrify this whole building! I wonder if you shield could handle that?!"
"I'd rather not find out."
"Then go away. Go build a nursery or something!"
"I didn't mean to hurt you Athena." Albus sighed.
"Hurt me?!" she snapped. "I confess my undying love for you and you tell me where to stick it! That does a lot more than hurt someone!"
Albus stepped closer. This time she did get a whiff of him which caused a sudden rush of adrenaline to flow through her. Even after what he rejected her, his smell alone was enough to get her aroused.
"Saying no to you was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do! And I've had to do some very hard things in my life!"
"Stop saying hard!" she hissed, fighting the urge not to look at his groan. "it's distracting."
"Athena, I'm trying to protect you. Aurora got half her face blasted off because I failed to look after her once, I don't want to see anything like that happen to you!"
Athena out a shrill laugh. "Still trying to be the good boy! I'm sure you'll be winning father of the year any moment now!"
"What?"
"This isn't who you are! You're going soft!"
"Athena, I'm trying very hard to be nice at the moment but don't forget who you're talking to." Albus shot her a warning look.
"And who am I talking to? Albus-under-Aurora's-thumb-Potter or the Colossus?" she stung. "I've been reading up on you. You have no idea how much the government knows about you Albus and they keep it all on file for me to see! I know about your little superhero phase and about you and your family! I know about all the people you've killed!"
"I'm not like that anymore!" Albus hissed through gritted teeth.
"You'll always be like that! And the fact that you're trying not to is making you weak! I know what you really are!" her words seemed to cut into he like a burning hot knife. "you're a monster!"
Albus looked away in shame. He was trying to leave that part of his lift behind now that he was going to become a father.
"You're a predator! And when you accepted that, nothing could stand up to you! But now look at you! Trying to sort out your daddy issues and be a good little boy for your precious Phoenix!"
Athena was suddenly slammed against the restaurant wall.
"Maybe you'd like to see just how much of a monster I can be!" Albus's voice was dark and vicious. "you think having your heart broken hurts, try this!" He held out his hand and pressed his fingers against Athena's chest. Absolute agony erupted around her body as she screamed out. He had wrapped gravity around her heart like a fist and was now squeezing it.
"So this is what it takes to get you to touch me!" Athena managed to blurt while her face was scrunched up in pain.
"Maybe you're right! Maybe I should be the monster! If I kill you...maybe I'll kill the Prophecy as well!"
"Finally! You're thinking straight!" Athena gasped for air. "you said it you're self...some times you have to do bad things, to stop worse things from happening!"
Albus suddenly stopped and released her. She fell to the ground, groaning in pain. He looked down at her with pale worry all over his face.
"I won't let you become like me!" he breathed.
"I already am like you! I ALWAYS WAS!" she screamed. "you just made me understand it!" She managed to pick herself up while clutching her chest. "we're the same! That's why we're meant to be together! That's why your powers are stronger when I'm around!"
Albus took a step back. His eyes we're wide.
"You think I didn't know about that? Your range has increased, you're more focused! We have a connection!"
"No we don't!" Albus growled.
"Prove it!"
Albus was frozen on the stop as he realized that he couldn't. In fact, there was way more evidence to prove her right than wrong.
"Kiss me." she said simply.
"What?!"
"Kiss me. If there's nothing there, if you feel nothing...I'll stop. I'll come back to Hogwarts with you...I'll even tolerate the prissy bitch!" she ignored the glare he gave her for that.
"No." Albus knew what she was trying to do and he wasn't going to let it happen.
"Fine. Maybe I'll go find your brother and see if he's a little more accommodating!" she scathed and turned away.
Albus's arm shot up and she was frozen in place.
"Let me go or I swear I will kill everyone in this tower!" she barked.
"You'd actually be willing to side with him just to spite me?!"
"Hell hath no fury remember!"
Albus flicked his fingers causing Athena to shoot around and face him. He walked closes and stood face to face with her.
"Then maybe I should kill you!"
"Or you could kiss me!"
The stood staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity.
MI6 Headquarters
London, England
November 13th
2022 A.D.
Wells burst through the doors looking like he'd just seen a ghost. The room was going wild, alarms were sounding and agents were running all over the place.
"What the fuck is going on?!"
"They just hit the Wall Street Stock Market! Every thing's crashing!" One of the agents yelled back.
"What?!"
"What ever they failed to do to us, they are succeeding in doing to them! They broke through the firewalls in less than ten seconds! The whole system is being corrupted!"
"How much has been lost?" Wells asked frantically.
"They're loosing millions by the minute!" A woman yelled out.
"Jesus! Take a system snap shot of their stock files and -"
"We already did!"
"How did they get in?"
"We don't know, they were just in!" The woman cried. "the Americans are trying to back up all their files but the crash is working faster than they are!"
"Get me the Prime Minister!" Wells shouted.
The White House
Washington D.C., U.S.A.
November 12th
2022 A.D.
The oval office was in a frenzy. The was filled with the Presidents top advisers, all of which were talking on phones or giving suggestions and orders.
"One hundred and sixteen billion has been lost already and that number is still climbing!"
"How the hell did they get in?!"
"Mr. President, we are under attack!" The Secretary of the Defense spelled out. "and we already have a good idea of who's behind it!"
"We don't know that!" The President retorted.
"No one else could have done anything like this!" The Vice President agreed.
"Are you forgetting who's protecting her?"
"We can't simply sit back and allow this to happen because she is being guarded by the Colossus! He has to see reason!"
"Mr. President," Ryan Phillis walked over to the presidents desk and handed him a file folder. "we picked him up on satellite entering Paris. As far as we know he's still there but we think she's still in Scotland."
"What are suggesting?"
"Snatch and grab. Live capture. We can get her to reverse damage she's already done!" The Secretary of Defense suggested.
"You want me to order a military incursion of a wizarding school?!"
"Sir, we have to act now before this countries economy is destroyed!" The Vice President said.
"I can't order that kind of action! It's not our country!"
"We get the Brits co-operation. A joint task force, non-lethal action only." They weren't going to give up on trying to convince him.
"We can't invade Wizarding domain! The Rules of Engagement state -"
"The rules of engagement state that we are allowed to defend ourselves! This isn't even her first attack against us! We've already lost a Sub! Now we are loosing the foundation block of this nation! If the wizarding world is harboring a suspected terrorist, then it is subject to the same punishment and penalties as the terrorists themselves!" Ryan's voice was getting forceful now.
The President sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He couldn't hold off any longer. He reached over and picked up the phone. A few seconds later, he was put through the to Prime Ministers office.
"Mr. Prime Minister."
"Mr. President. I'd like you to know that you have our full support in this." The PM's voice said.
"That's good to hear because we're going to need it." he sighed. "we think we have an idea of who's behind this and we think they're in your country."
"How reliable is this intelligence?"
The Vice President quickly wrote on a piece of paper and held it up so that the President could see it. em85%/em
"It's not solid but it's the best we've got. I need your authorization to prep for an immediate live capture mission." The President said in a slightly shaky voice.
"What's the location?"
The President hesitated. "Hogwarts."
It felt like a long time before the Prime Minister spoke again. "You want to send military forces into a wizarding school?"
"Yes, we do."
"You realize how much protection that structure has on it?"
"Yes, we do."
"I can't accuse the wizarding world of harboring a terrorist! Relations are already stretched to breaking point, this may tip things over the edge!"
"And I cannot allow my countries economy to be crippled. This will destroy the lives of over two hundred and fifty billion Americans!"
"And what if they view this as an act of war?"
The Secretary of Defense slipped the file in front of the President and pointed to a line in the middle of the first paragraph.
"Well, then...we outnumber them two thousand to one."
Again the line was silent.
"How soon can you get troops to that location?" The Prime Minister finally asked.
Again the Secretary of Defense pointed to a line on the file.
"Nine hours...we'd need your forces to set up a defense parameter before our arrival." The President said.
"You have authorization." The Prime Minister said gravely before the line went dead.
The President put down the phone and sighed. This wasn't something that he ever wanted to have to deal with while he was in office. The decision to attack another society was the hardest thing he's ever had to do.
"Move our forces into position." He ordered.
The others in the room sprang into action. They made more called and handed down new orders to others. The Secretary of Defense picked up the file that was obvious an outline for possible hostile action against the wizarding world.
"Ryan," The President said stopping him. "you get in, you grab her and you get out. No one gets hurt!"
"Yes, Mr. President." He turned away and flashed the Vice President a look of triumph before leaving the office.
Saint-Denis
Paris, France
November 13th
2022 A.D.
Aurora's phone started to ring and she answered it instantly. She listened to Albus's voice for a few seconds.
"Wonderful," she said sarcastically. "oh, don't expect me to be happy about this!"
She hung up the phone and turned to the others. "He found her. Everyone is going to meet at the Eiffel Tower, let's go."
"Can we get some food on the way?" Hugo asked but everyone just ignored him.
About ten minute later they three groups converged on the base of the tower. Albus and Athena were sitting on a bench just next to one of the legs. Athena groaned, knowing that everyone was going to give her a hard time about leaving and she was right.
"Athena, do you know how dangerous it was running off like that?!" Lincoln said instantly.
"What if you'd been hurt?!" Amelia agreed.
"Hogwarts is safe, you shouldn't have left!"
"Bloody hell you're fit!" Hugo blurted causing everyone to roll their eyes.
"Thank you." Athena crooked her head and smiled.
"You're single right?" Hugo asked, gawking at her. Athena shot Albus a look but he simply looked away.
"It wouldn't matter to you if she wasn't Hugo!" Rose scathed.
"Please don't ever leave again!" Hugo said ignoring his sisters comment.
"Enough, let's get back." Albus said standing up. "you guys are okay to floo ba -" Albus stopped, suddenly looking very confused. "where's Lily?"
Everyone looked around but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Where the hell is my sister?!" he demanded.
"She was right behind us!" Scorpius said quickly.
"She's got a phone! Call her!" Rose suggested.
Albus pulled out his mobile phone and quickly dialed Amelia's number.
"She's probably mesmerized by a dress or something she saw in a shop window!" James moaned.
"Lily, where the hell are you?!" Albus said instantly as the line was picked up on the other end.
"Hello Colossus." A deep Hungarian voice said back.
Albus's eyes went wide. "Where is my sister." he spoke in a low cold tone. Everyone else in the group suddenly looked horrified, even Athena.
"She's fine. She not the one I want."
"What do you want?"
"I want to meet you. Only you, send your friends away." The voice said.
"Where?"
"Don't vorry. I'll make it easy for you to find me." As soon as he finished speaking there was a horrible screeching sound and the phone went dead.
"What's happening?!" Harry asked, going pale.
"He's got Lily."
"Albus, give me the phone. I can trace the call." Athena said quickly.
"He destroyed it." Albus was looking into the distance, deep in his own thoughts.
"Take Athena back to Hogwarts. I'll handle this."
"She's my daughter, there's no way I'm just -" Harry was cut off.
"He wants me alone. If you stay, he'll probably kill her! Leave! Now!" Albus growled.
He shot a look at Athena. She was right. He was going to have to be a monster again.