AN: From this point on, everything in Italics that is not a spell is in Italian. All dialog that is not in italics is in English.
Her feet hit the ground in Hogsmede Main Street. There was a moment where she relaxed and pulled out her wand before a shrill shriek made her jump out of her skin. Instinctively she leapt into the shadow of two buildings, but no one came forward to answer the Caterwauling Charm.
Where were the others? Then Isabella realized with a sinking feeling that, while she had known exactly where to Apparate, they had only had the picture to help them. Some of them may have splinched, or not made it at all, or... There were figures moving in the alleys across from her. They were in shadows, and Isabella could not see their faces. Death-Eaters?
A light spilled from a window out onto the grass and one of the strange newcomers stepped into it. They immediately jumped out of the square of light, as though determined not to be seen, but Isabella caught a flash of golden hair and blue framed glasses.
"Zala!" she whispered. And the others were with her, too. They must have Apparated outside of the village and were now stealthily making their way in.
Isabella wondered how to alert them to her presence without drawing unwanted attention. She considered using the salute Viva Italia, then quickly decided against it. Just because no one had answered the Caterwauling Charm didn't mean that no one would hear them. Isabella instead cupped her hand around the tip of her wand and whispered, "Lumos." Her wand lit, but the light was stopped from spilling out of the alley by her hand. Instead, it went up and illuminated her face.
Across the street, wands and faces turned towards her, then lowered when they recognized her. Abruptly, the Caterwauling shriek silenced, leaving a tangible quiet.
"Nox," Isabella whispered, extinguishing her wand. Tapping her wand on the top of her head, she shivered of the feeling of a raw egg slithered down her spine. She held up her hand to the wall and examined it critically. With the help of the shadows, it just blended in.
Isabella stepped lightly into the street, her wand still at the ready. The Caterwauling Charm did not go off again. She snuck across the street and came under the eave of the house opposite. Keeping close to the wall, Isabella tiptoed around the building and almost knocked Caterina over. The older girl steadied her and helped take the Disillusionment Charm off.
"Everyone okay?" Isabella breathed, checking to make sure the dozen or so people she had brought were all there.
"Yes, but we think the Death Eaters are closing in on the village," Caterina whispered. "We saw a dark mass of people heading this way. We had to get undercover quickly."
"Okay, so we've got to get up to - " A warm hand closed over Isabella's and she started, whipping her wand around to attack her assailant, but no one was there.
"What's wrong?" Emiliano asked, his eyes narrowed as he peered into the darkness.
Yet again, the feeling of a hand gave Isabella a push forward, encouraging her to continue down the alley. Rowena was guiding her again.
With one look back over her shoulder, Isabella indicated that her friends should follow. Then she started down the alley and, when she came to the end, felt a small tug on her right sleeve. Isabella obediently turned right. Rowena's invisible presence guided her through the winding backways of the village to the end of Main Street. Her friends shadowed her twists and turns like wraiths.
Mariano grabbed Isabella's wrist and squeezed it tightly. When she looked back over her shoulder, she saw him nod towards the now distant Main Street. A large crowd of people wearing black ghosted along before the houses and business of Hogsmede, heading for the other end of the village.
There came a soft sound, and Isabella looked back in front of her, wand raised. A door at the very end of the town creaked open and a man with a was silhouetted in the dim light from within.
"In here, quickly!" the man whispered gruffly. Isabella hesitated, trying to see the man's face behind his grimy glasses and white beard.
"They're getting closer," someone hissed. Isabella had no choice, she slipped past the strange man and through the door. The members of the VI followed quickly and quietly.
"Upstairs," the tall man muttered. Isabella saw, by the stuttering lights of a single candle, the grubby, sawdust-strewn bar of the Hog's Head. When she looked around, a few of her friends were eyeing the barkeeper suspiciously and he was staring back at them, clearly bemused by their matching purple robes.
"Come," Isabella ordered them, gesturing up the rickety wooden staircase behind the counter. They climbed up, still saying nothing, and entered a sitting room with a threadbare rug and a small fireplace. A portrait hung above the fireplace depicted a sweet girl with long blonde hair and a sweet face.
"Who the hell are you?" the barkeep asked Isabella gruffly. No one answered, and Isabella realized with a start that she was probably the only one who spoke English.
"Isabella Petrroci O'Reagan," she said, extending her hand. The barkeep did not take it. "I was called?" she prompted, fishing the fake Galleon out of her pocket.
"You and everyone else," he grumbled. "Suspect you want to get into Hogwarts as well?"
"How did you...?"
"You're the fifteenth group I've had," he explained. "The last one was a red-haired boy. Barely even noticed me he was in such a hurry - "
"Red hair?" Isabella asked, her throat closing up a little.
"Isabella, who is this? When are we leaving?" Zala demanded, looking nervous and defiant.
"This is - " Isabella looked at the barkeep who glowered back at her. "A friend I think."
"Look, sir, but there's about a hundred Death Eaters in Hogsmede heading for the castle," Isabella told the barkeep. "Unless you can help us to the Honeydukes or the Shrieking Shack - "
"All passages up to the castle have been close off," the stranger told her shortly. "But I can get you up to the castle."
"How?"
The man walked to the portrait of the girl and tugged on its frame. The painting swung forwards on the wall like a little door and the entrance to a tunnel was revealed.
"All the way through, all the way up," he told Isabella. "And tell Longbottom I don't want any more people traipsing through my pub." Even though he spoke gruffly, when Isabella went to the door, the barkeep kindly helped her up onto the mantlepiece and into the tunnel. Isabella helped the others up as well and reached to close the frame.
"Thank you,..." she began.
"Aberforth," he muttered.
"Thank you. Hecate bless," Isbella said, closing the door on his confused face. She turned and saw her friends waiting.
"On and up," she told them, making her way to the front of them. "On and up."