Scientia Potestas Est

by Miss Insane Insanity

ON HOLD. The world is in a terrible state - Voldemort won the war and has been ruling over most of the Magical World. Except for South Africa. A rebellious group called The Ravens fight him and his followers, and took it upon themselves to travel into the past to change the outcome of the war. But first, they need to overcome their own obstacles. AU/NON-CAN/OOC/OC/Swearing

4. Chapter 3 - Mission One

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER, IT BELONGS TO JK ROWLING.

Thanks to my reviewers, you are all seriously amazing! You leave me speechless! Seriously ^^
Special thanks to The Golden Lilys Secret – without your help, I'd be NOWHERE. :D

Chapter Three – Mission One
Kimaine James
Friday, 14 June 2013

"What the Hell?" Vasilisa said from next to me.

My mouth dropped open. My room was a mess. And I'd left it so tidy…I sighed and whispered the Patronus spell. My Patronus, which happened to be a rather large African Lion, turned its head to me. "Mikah, please give this message to Kerri: KERRI ALDERS, COME TO OUR ROOM RIGHT NOW! YOU'RE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE!"

As soon as Mikah was gone, Vasilisa gave me an impressed look. "An African Lion, huh? Impressive, but not as much as mine."

"What's yours, then?" I asked curiously as I took a seat on my bed.

Vasilisa gave me a secretive smile. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

I rolled my eyes and eyed the mess that was my room…er, our room, since I shared it with Kerri (and now Vasilisa, since I asked my brother). The walls were painted a beautiful purple that gave the room a calming atmosphere, and we had one large window seat with some other smaller windows showing the beautiful mountains around us. Our room was magically enlarged, of course.

Kerri's part of the room was covered in a lot of posters and colour photos, documenting her life, basically. She had a dark wooden desk with a laptop on it and a little white lamp. Her sheets were done in silver and black – just like mine and what would be Vasilisa's. Kerri's part of the room was usually very tidy.

Vasilisa's part of the room was basically the same, but instead of posters I'd put up little quotes here and there, along with some cards that Kerri and I had gotten over the years. There was also a lot of pencil sketches stuck to the wall magically. A large bookcase that carried dozens of books of all genres stood proudly next to the bed.

Lastly, my part of the room's wall was covered in black and white photographs. Photographs of me alone, of me together with my friends, one of Adrian and me, and some other random photos that I took in my life – both at home and at Grey's. I also had a dark desk with a black laptop, and my school books. I also had a bookcase – albeit a much smaller one than the one now belonging to Vasilisa.

I loved this room to bits. And now it was all messy! Our beds were unmade, books were strewn all over the floor, and a potion disaster lay forgotten at the foot of Kerri's bed…

"That's your part, Lissa," I told the brunette with a sigh. Her part was the only one that was still neat. By the smirk on her face, Vasilisa was well aware of this.

The bedroom door burst open as Kerri hurriedly entered my room. She grimaced apologetically as she saw my glare. "Um, yeah…about that," she mumbled.

""Alders do not mumble, Kerri!"" I quoted Mr Alders with a deep voice. At Kerri's blush, I laughed and waved it off. "Just clean this mess up, alright? And buy me a milkshake. I might forgive you then."

Kerri smiled brilliantly. "A chocolate milkshake coming right up! Er, well, we'll have to walk next door tomorrow for it."

She was referring to the Muggle café which sold THE best milkshakes. Vasilisa cleared her throat awkwardly, and I felt like slapping myself. "Right, sorry Lissa! Kerri, this is our new roommate Vasilisa West. Lissa, this is Kerri Alders," I introduced. I refrained from introducing her as Lissa, knowing that, at the moment, I was the only one allowed to call her that.

And then I noticed something strange. Vasilisa appeared to be awkward. I started cracking up. Vasilisa, knowing why I was laughing, shot me a nasty glare and straightened her spine. "Nice to meet you, Alders," she said formally.

Kerri lifted her chin haughtily and moved her gaze critically over Vasilisa. A snort quickly ruined this act of hers. "Oh, I can't pretend that I'm better than you!" she chortled. "Honestly, Vasilisa, call me Kerri!"

Vasilisa smiled a half smile. "Right. Kerri it is."

A loud, booming voice interrupted our little conversation. "NUMBERS 8, 15 AND 20 – REPORT TO THE ASSEMBLY HALL IMMEDIATELY!"

I frowned. "That's Malkira-,"

"That Middle Eastern guy? And Xander and me, too. I guess I'll have to see what they want," Kerri muttered. "I'll see the both of you later, yeah?"

I nodded. "Bye! See you later, Ker." I gave her a quick goodbye hug.

I sighed and plopped down on my bed. "I wonder what they are needed for?" I thought aloud.

Vasilisa shrugged. "I wouldn't know. A mission, maybe." She hummed in thought for a moment, and then asked who Xander was.

"Oh, I've forgotten that you don't know him. His name is Xander Olivier, and he's been dating Kerri for the last two years." Xander was quite a good friend, and the perfect boyfriend. He loved Kerri with all his heart.

"Wow, that's a long time," Lissa said quietly. In today's society, it really was.

I nodded. Whatever it is that they have to do, I silently prayed, please keep them safe.

xxx

Ozymandias Malkira

"You will be spying on the Death Eaters," Professor Bulero said for what had to be the 100th time. "You are doing this figure out their patrols, plans, and anything else that may be useful. Understood?"

The two standing next to me nodded. Dark brown eyes belonging to the Prof pierced mine. I rolled my eyes and said lazily, "Yes, Professor."

Bulero's eyes gave me a warning look. "Alright. I'll give each of you ten minutes to get dressed. You meet back here, where you will take a portkey to your destination. Dismissed."

Finally.

I did not like teachers, at all.

I started walking in the direction I remembered the dorms being, but stopped when I heard someone calling after me.

"Hey Malkira, wait up!" It was Xander Olivier, number 15. After a second I continued walking. "Hey man, are you deaf?" Xander asked with a grin as he fell into step next to me.

"I heard you." I eyed him critically out of the corner of my eye. He had tanned skin, shaggy black hair, brown eyes, and a muscled body. Nothing special. Definitely a Pureblood, though, judging by his aristocratic features.

"Oh, so you just don't like talking, then?" Xander questioned, still with that silly grin on his face.

I subtly rolled my eyes. Was this guy an idiot?

"Eh, that's alright. Are you excited for the mission? I am! It's the Ravens' first mission, and we were the ones picked-,"

I tuned out his monologue, not in the mood for constant chatter. I was tired and just wanted to get the night over with. Luckily I reached my newly assigned dorm room quickly, but frowned when I noticed Olivier following me into the room. "What are you doing?"

The raven haired teen smiled sheepishly. "I've been assigned to this room, too."

Great.

I walked over to my dresser and grabbed one of my best buys - a wizard Ninja outfit. They were expensive, but well worth the price. I quickly dressed and turned to face Olivier. He was dressed in simple black skinny jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. In his hands he clutched an old, woollen balaclava.

"Shall we go, then?" the raven haired teen asked.

In answer I stood up and led the way back to the Assembly Hall. Within minutes we were there. The girl, Kerry Alders or something, was already waiting with a nervous look on her face. She held up a small key and said, "This is our Portkey. It will be taking us to the outskirts of Hogsback where the first attack was located."

"Great, we'll probably freeze to death," Olivier grumbled. I silently agreed. It was winter, and Hogsback was naturally cold. In the winter, in the middle of the night, it was even worse.

"We'll be fine, babe," Alders said reassuringly, though she rolled her eyes when Olivier wasn't looking. "Okay, hands on the Portkey, people!"

So they were dating, huh? Poor girl. I obediently placed a finger on the key. It immediately activated and I closed my eyes against the horrible sensation that was Portkeying.

Within seconds we arrived at our destination. Alders and Olivier were sprawled on the ground, groaning. I looked down at them with irritation. Didn't they know how to keep standing?

"Don't even think of opening your mouth, Malkira!" the redhead hissed. She quickly stood up with the help of her boyfriend.

"Be quiet," I said lowly. I held my wand in my hand and whispered, "Lumos!" The light quickly replaced the nearly suffocating darkness. We were in the middle of a forest, and the ground was wet. There was a certain bite to the air that caused Alders to shiver slightly. "We should start moving."

The couple nodded. We slowly and quietly started navigating our way through the forest. Every crack of a twig snapping had us stopping in our tracks, but I soon realized that there was no one around. I straightened out of my crouch and was just about to complain about the lack of Death Eaters, when I heard approaching footsteps. They were way too close for comfort.

I hurriedly extinguished the Lumos and ducked down, pulling the couple down with me. If I'd waited even a second longer, we would've been spotted immediately.

"I'm telling you someone's there," a woman's voice insisted. As she neared, I studied her features that were lit by her own Lumos. She had an oval shaped face with a sharp chin and button-like nose. Wild curly blonde hair reached her elbows. From what I could see, it hadn't been washed in a while, and needed to be cut. "Just hurry up, you idiot!"

"Call me an idiot one more time, Vic, and I'll-," a deep voice threatened, only to be interrupted.

"You'll do what, kill me?" She laughed - a high, sarcastic sound. "Fenrir would eat your ass if you so much as touched me."

"Fenrir Greyback won't be able to touch me," the man spat. I noticed that his hair matched the woman's, only his reached just past his ears. He had the same oval face and sharp chin, too. His nose was rather large compared to the woman's, though. "He's like, what, 60 years old?"

From the similarities in their appearance, I'd guess that they were siblings, maybe even twins.

"It doesn't matter how old he is, brother dear. He looks like a 30 year old man, and that's good enough for me." The woman – Vic, or whatever – sounded way too smug. Her companion made a disgusted sound, and next to me, Olivier snorted.

I felt like killing him myself when Vic's head snapped up. "Did you hear that?" she asked lowly.

"Hn," her brother agreed.

Slowly the two approached our spot, wands held at the ready. I tensed in anticipation, ready to blow them to pieces if need be. Next to me, the redheaded girl trembled slightly. Calm down already, I thought with irritation. It's really not that bad.

The woman paused with a muffled scream. "It's a snake! A fucking snake! Get it off of me, NOW! OH MY GOD!" she shrieked.

I smirked in the darkness. If she hated snakes that much, how much would she hate me?

Loud chuckles escaped the man's mouth as he banished the Boomslang that'd suddenly fallen onto his sister's shoulders.

"Let's get out of here. I fucking hate forests. I'll send Fenrir in to look for the punk who's hiding in here," Vic growled. "We'll find you, you brat!" she called into the forest, her eyes promising pain.

I seriously doubt it.

"Not so brave now, is she?" her brother crowed as he followed Vic, who was walking quickly in the other direction.

What a bunch of idiots.

Xxxxxx

After another half an hour of fruitless searching, we finally found a Death Camp. Death Camp Zimbini, to be precise. Zimbini was the Xhosa word for two, meaning that this Camp was filled with children.

"This is horrible," Alders whispered, her face pale. "How many children are in there, do you recon?"

I frowned thoughtfully and made a quick count. "About twenty three, I think," I said. Two more little girls appeared. "Make that twenty five."

From what I could make out, there were six Death Eaters standing guard at various places around the Camp. Two were stationed at the front gate while the rest were patrolling all along the fences. The two Death Eater siblings from earlier had entered the small house that was built a few metres away from Camp Zimbini. They'd mentioned a Fenrir Greyback earlier, who was a werewolf, if my memory was to be trusted. Which it was, of course.

"We should get closer," Olivier murmured. "Much closer, if we want to hear anything."

I nodded in agreement. "Alders, I want you to go around from the left side and try to sneak closer to the children. Try to see if you can get any information from the older teens. Make sure that they make no noise," I commanded. The redhead nodded. Turning to Olivier, I said, "I need you to move through the surrounding forests and spy on any Death Eaters that may be lurking there. I assume that you are trained in the art of Legilimency?"

Olivier frowned. "Of course I am."

"Good. Then use it to gain information. Be sure to Obliviate the Death Eaters afterwards. Understood?"

"Understood," Olivier said with a determined look.

"What will you be doing, Malkira?" the redhead questioned.

"I shall enter the house and see what I can find out."

Alders's dark grey eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You? Enter the house? And how, exactly, do you plan on remaining undetected?"

I smirked. "I'm an unregistered Animagus." My form was quite impressive, if I do say so myself.

Alders looked impressed. Olivier opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "Enough talking. We need to go now. Shall we meet back here in, say two hours?"

The couple nodded. I rolled my eyes and looked elsewhere as they said their goodbyes. God, with the way that they were acting you'd have thought that they would never see each other again.

With a final nod to me, the couple went their separate ways. Finally. It was time to change. I closed my eyes and pictured a rather small Black Mamba. I imagined my body morphing until it was the form of the King of Snakes. When I opened my eyes again, everything appeared to be a hundred times bigger.

I smirked (or tried to…snakes certainly did not smirk), and slithered through the grass. From what I could remember, the house wasn't too far away from my current position, and I reached it rather quickly. Imagine my surprise when I found the front door wide open. After a few seconds' consideration, I decided to hell with it, and slithered right in. No one was around, anyway.

I heard laughter coming from above me and lifted my head. The sibling Death Eaters from earlier was making their way up some creaky stairs. The man was seemingly teasing his sister for her phobia of snakes, while she grumbled on and on.

"Shut your trap, dammit! Fenrir is waiting!" she growled. Vic stopped to breathe in deeply before she knocked on the closed door at the end of the staircase.

"ENTER!" a gruff voice called.

I supposed that the voice belonged to the famed werewolf. I also knew that, if I were to follow them, I might hear some interesting stuff. So with a mental nod to myself, I slowly sailed up the stairs. It was a long and boring task, but it was worth it.

Or not.

The room had five occupants – the sibling Death Eaters, the werewolf, and two teenagers. The werewolf was an ugly mother, his skin filthy and reeking of rotten meat. His teeth were sharper than what was normal for being in human form, and his hair was all over the place.

Vic and her brother were sitting at either side of Greyback, who was seated at the head of the small table. Tied to a chair opposite one another were the two teenagers. The girl appeared to be around seventeen, with pale skin and dull brunette hair. She was gagged. That didn't stop her from glaring hatefully at Greyback, though, and shooting the occasional reassuring look at her fellow captive.

Said fellow captive looked to be around thirteen years old. He had the same pale lips, square chin, and high cheekbones as the girl. Unlike the girl, he wasn't gagged. I narrowed my eyes as I noticed the dried blood in his hair and down his neck.

I wonder if they are siblings.

"Has she said anything yet, Fenrir?" Vic questioned, shooting a disgusted look at the girl. "It's been hours since we force fed her the bloody potion! She should be spitting out prophecies as we speak!"

"Impetuosa Prophetia doesn't work that way," Vic's brother said in a way that implied that he'd already said this countless times.

The Forceful Prophecy potion, huh? This girl was a Seer, then. The potion would've killed her instantly if she wasn't.

"Silence, Balthazar!" Greyback growled, baring his teeth. The werewolf smirked as the man cowered back.

"Don't do that to my brother, Fenrir," Vic said in a faux stern voice. "Little Balthazar will surely piss his pants if you continue growling."

Balthazar tensed and glared at his sister. Fenrir gave a warning growl, causing Balthazar to change targets. He stood up and moved to the tied up girl. She watched him approach with apprehension. When he reached her, he gently caressed her cheek. "Such a beautiful girl," he murmured. For a few moments, he stared into her eyes intently. He suddenly gripped her chin harshly and glared into her eyes. "Now give us a damn prophecy before I ruin that beauty, you bitch!" He released her chin with unnecessary force, making her almost topple down with her chair.

"Let go of my sister, you ass!" the previously unconscious boy growled. Huh, I'd completely forgotten about him.

The three Death Eaters' heads snapped to stare at the boy. "Did you say something?" Greyback asked lowly, dangerously. Turning to look at the crazy blonde haired witch, he said, "Did he just order Balthazar to let his sister go, Vic?"

"Yes," she replied with narrowed eyes. "Yes, he did."

Within a second, Greyback had stood and had his wand pointed at the young boy's face. "Crucio!"

The boy screamed, a loud, half-screeching-half-wailing sound that hurt my ears. What a wimp. He couldn't even take a Cruciatus Curse? Pathetic.

After a few seconds, the curse was lifted, and the boy unconscious. The werewolf addressed the crying girl next. "I will keep torturing him if you don't start spitting out prophecies within the next ten minutes. Understood?"

Muffled words escaped her lips. With a wave of his wand, the rope gagging her disappeared. "You idiot," she seethed. "How the fuck am I supposed to give a prophecy if I'm gagged and tied up?!"

She had a good point, I mused. These Death Eaters really were without brains.

Greyback thought for a minute. "Fine, release her Balthazar," he said with an unconcerned wave. He ignored Vic's protests and glared at a hesitant Balthazar.

"Thank you!" the brunette grumbled. As soon as she was loose, she flexed her arms. She muttered something, and the angry red marks disappeared from her wrists. Next she focused on Greyback. "The potion has long since left my system. If you'd give me another three drops, you'll have your damned prophecy within three minutes."

Greyback gazed down at the brunette, his gaze thoughtful. Finally, after a few minutes, the werewolf grabbed the Potion that was sitting on the table. Inside was a neon green liquid – the one thing that showed that this was, indeed, the real Forceful Prophecy potion. Greyback administered the required amount, and the three settled down for the wait.

I was curious despite myself. Never before had I seen the Impetuosa Prophetia potion in action, and now was my chance. The question was: Am I going to relay the prophecy to the Ravens, or keep it to myself?

Eh, I'd decide later.

The girl suddenly froze her movements, drawing everyone's attention. Her eyes were a milky white, and her mouth hung open. Slowly, words left her mouth:

"During the night of the Red Moon
Faith is lost for the birds
When the second hand upon the clock's face
Hints to the twelfth symbol
Victory shall be theirs."

Her eyes regained colour. She stared at the table, brow crinkled in thought.

The Hell? Birds? What birds? And I've never heard of the Red Moon. I would have to hit the Grey school's library…

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vic cried, interrupting my thoughts. She glared at the teen and growled, "C'mon, where's the rest of it?"

The brunette lifted her chin and stated clearly, "That's all there was."

A slightly crazed look entered the blonde's eyes as she lunged across the table and wrapped her hands around the teenage girl's neck. "No, you're lying! Tell me-,"

She was interrupted by a scream. A scream that had me frowning, since it sounded oddly like that Alders girl…

"INTRUDER!" someone outside yelled. It was followed by a series of crashes, a muffled curse, and then, "STOP MOVING, YOU STUPID LITTLE GINGER BITCH!"

Yup, definitely Alders. She had red hair, after all. Cursing her bad timing, I immediately transformed back into my usual self. The idiot Balthazar barely had time to react before I caught him with a stunner.

Vic let out an enraged scream and yelled out, "Confringo!"

I jumped out of the way of her surprisingly powerful blasting curse and took cover behind one of the chairs. By some sort of lucky shot, I managed to hit the werewolf with a full body bind. Vic, seeing this, Apparated on the spot.

I cursed the blonde witch and followed her example by Apparating to just outside the Death Camp. The sight that met me made me pause momentarily. Alders was locked in a fierce battle with four Death Eaters – she seemed to be losing. Behind her in the Death Camp, a large amount of bodies were laying unmoving on the ground. Were they dead?

Next my eyes slid to that idiot Olivier, who was holding his own against two female Death Eaters. I dismissed him and hurried over to the redhead girl who singlehandedly managed to mess up the entire mission. I sent a low-powered blasting curse at one of the Death Eater's feet, causing him to lose said feet.

"How the hell did you get caught?" I growled at Alders. I hit another Death Eater with a Tickling Charm, leaving him unable to do much except laugh uproariously.

The girl yelled out a curse that shattered her opponent's kneecaps. "They spotted," - she paused and hit an approaching Death Eater with a stunner - "My hair!"

I stopped moving completely. Was she fucking serious? Her bloody bright red hair ruined an entire mission?! The hell!

"Look out!" Alders yelled and bumped me to the ground. She took the spell that was meant for me, and I watched without any real emotion as a large gash appeared from her right temple to the corner of her lips. She grimaced in pain. "GET UP, MALKIRA!"

I rolled over, narrowly missing the deadly green Avada Kedavra. I jumped up and sent a Jelly-Brain jinx at the stupid woman who'd tried to kill me. It was Vic.

She laughed uproariously as she dodged, her blonde hair lifting in the sudden wind. "That won't do shit to me, brat!" She lifted her wand and screamed, "Reducto!"

I cursed and barely managed to dodge the curse. I fired off a Leg-Locker curse that hit its target. I followed it up with a quick stunner that she was able to stop with a hurriedly shouted "Protego!" She undid the jinx on her legs and bared her teeth at me.

A shout drew my attention to Alders as she shot off a Blasting curse that broke her last enemy's leg. He fell with a pain filled groan. She looked up and gave me a grin. I almost smiled back, but stopped myself just in time. She was of no importance to me.

I noticed another masked Death Eater appear behind Alders. I ran over to the girl and threw her to the ground, just in time to get her out of the way of a deadly-looking yellow spell. "Constant vigilance, you idiot!" I growled at her and jumped up. Alders grimaced and quickly stood, moving to attack the masked Death Eater.

I turned my attention to another Death Eater that had taken Vic's place. Where she'd disappeared off to, I didn't know. I could just feel that this Death Eater was weak, and this was just proven when I was able to take him down with a simple Stunner.

"KERRI!" the pain filled scream instantly drew my eyes to Olivier. He was staring at Alders, his eyes wide with shock. His hand clutched his side, where a huge chunk had been…bitten off. He reached out a hand in the direction of Alders. "KERRI!"

A smirking Greyback was standing a few metres behind Olivier. When did that bastard reappear? Before I could do anything, Vic reappeared next to the Werewolf.

Alders screamed one last Finger-removing jinx and jogged to my side. Her eyes widened and a scream escaped her lips as she saw her lover sinking to the ground.

Vic moved forward to the barely breathing Xander – no, Olivier – and crouched down.

"I-I tried, Kerri," he gasped out.

Vic slowly looked up to meet my eyes first, and then Alders's. With one last, slow smile, she said clearly, "Avada Kedavra!"

Olivier was dead instantly.

Next to me, Alders sank to the ground with an anguished scream.

Fuck, get up you idiot!

When she made no move to do so – and the werewolf and Vic started advancing – I put my arms around the fallen girl. I closed my eyes, concentrating hard on the forest just outside of the Grey school. I barely even knew the girl, and I certainly didn't feel any sort of attachment towards her, but I couldn't just let her die.

With a pop, we Apparated. I fell violently to the ground. I groaned and threw the girl off of me. She was crying hysterically. And she was heavy.

"Stop being weak!" I snapped at her. I stood up from the wet forest ground and brushed the leaves off of my ass. "Stop sniffling, it's unbecoming."

She stood up and glared at me, her eyes filled with a hate I hadn't thought her to be capable of feeling. "Why did you take me?" she demanded, her voice like steel. "Why did you take me away from Xander? I wanted to stay there with him, Malkira! I loved him! HOW COULD YOU JUST MAKE ME LEAVE HIM BEHIND?!" Her voice cracked and she clutched at her chest, as if feeling physical pain. Her tears mixed with blood, creating the rather gruesome image of blood tears.

Against my will, anger started to churn in my gut. I usually prided myself in not feeling any real emotion, but this girl was so stupid that I couldn't help myself. "You are even stupider than I'd originally thought," I told her through clenched teeth. "How can you say that you loved him? If you loved him, you would've done something and not stayed on the ground like a weakling. How can you say you loved him, and still sit here being pathetic?!"

"Don't you dare call me pathetic!" she shouted. Her magic acted up thanks to her emotions. A strong wind nearly blew me over, but I managed to stay upright.

I sneered at her. "You are pathetic! Look at you. You're barely sixteen, girl, and you've been dating for what, two years? You can barely even understand what love is!"

Unbidden images surfaced in my mind's eye, torturing me. A kind, full smile. Soft brown curls lifting in the wind. The ghostly whisper of "I love you…"

I pushed those images away angrily. Now was not the time.

"Don't say a fucking word, Malkira! You have NO right to say that! I loved him! I loved him with everything I am! Who the hell are you to say otherwise?" she yelled, her voice strong once again. "Now take me back, I need to get him!"

I growled at her stupidity. He was no more than Werewolf food by now. "No," I said forcefully. Before Alders could open her mouth, I continued. "Xander is dead. Do you hear me? He's dead and never coming back."

I watched as her face crumpled, feeling a sick sort of satisfaction.

"If you go back now, they will kill you. That idiot Olivier wouldn't want you to die, because that would be a complete and utter waste. Do you want him to have died in vain? He died to protect you, Alders, you get that? If you go back now, he would have died for nothing, all because you're being a stupid little ginger idiot." I breathed heavily and watched as Alders grew more and more subdued. Good. I had one last message for her. "If you really want to honour his memory," I said lowly, "Then you'd do your best to beat the ever-loving fuck out of the people who killed him."

The girl's head bowed down as silent tears dripped down her cheeks and her chin. She'd deflated rather quickly. With one last heart-broken look at me, she turned tail and ran off into the deeper parts of the woods.

I sighed and rubbed a hand over my face. I hadn't meant to get so riled up. With a final sigh, I began walking to the school. I needed to inform the Profs about the events that had transpired.

But for now, I'd keep the prophecy to myself.

Xxx

Kimaine James

I sighed and closed my book. I couldn't concentrate any more. It had been hours, and still there was no word from those who had gone on the mission. I was worried despite myself.

"Calm down," Vasilisa said for the umpteenth time. "They'll be back soon."

"I-I know," I said with a sigh. I gnawed at my bottom lip and added, "But I have a seriously bad feeling."

"Don't worry; everything will be oka-,"

The bedroom door burst open, revealing an insanely worried Adrian. "Kim, you need to come with me," he said, his voice tight.

Shit, I knew something had happened! I shot Vasilisa a panicked look, but she gave me an encouraging smile. I smiled back faintly and followed my brother as he practically flew through the hallways. We soon reached the Assembly Hall, where a blood-covered Ozymandias Malkira stood calmly, with Professor Bulero and Frost on either side of him.

What was the potions professor doing here? I wondered. Well, she was a Mediwitch, too…

"What's going on?" I asked hesitantly, looking at the grim faces. I glanced suspiciously at Malkira's strangely emotionless face. My apprehension only intensified.

The next few moments will forever remain one big blur in my mind.

The only thought that stuck, was:

Xander is dead. He's…gone. Forever.

Voices called to me, trying to break through the terrifying thoughts. I snapped my head up and demanded, "Where is Kerri? Where is my best friend?"

For a moment, no one said anything. Finally, Malkira spoke up. "She ran into the forest. Um, it was near that place where I saw you the first time."

Yeah, when I saw what a jerk he was! Without saying anything else, I Apparated on the spot. I ignored the shocked faces. Yes, I could Apparate, all thanks to Lefu. The forest was cold and dark, but I moved without the Lumos spell. I knew these woods like they were my home. Which, in a way, they were.

Within moments, I reached the clearing. The clearing where everything started between Kerri and Xander: first meeting, first date, first kiss… Just like I'd suspected, Kerri was curled up in a little ball in the middle of the clearing, underneath the light of the moon. My heart nearly broke at the sight.

I silently walked over the collapsed figure and fell down to my knees. Tear-filled grey eyes met mine, filled with pain. I felt my own eyes well up. A sob escaped Kerri's lips and I immediately wrapped my arms around her. I hugged her to my chest, silently offering my support and sharing her pain.

Xander was loved by all. Most of all, he was the love of her life.

And he was gone, now.

He was the one who kept my best friend together. That job fell to me now.

"I'm here, Ker," I whispered into her hair as she cried. I'll always be here.