Disclaimer: Nip

Oh, and the chapter title doesn't really have anything to do with it. It's just the name of a cool song I heard earlier. Heh…heh heh…XD

Chapter Eighteen
Broken Strings

"His name is Blaise Skylark," Octavius explained in a low voice, glancing around suspiciously at all the other passengers. "He's trained in martial arts, weapons, camouflage—you name it, chances are he can do it."

"Swell guy," Sami remarked. "I wonder if he plays cards."

Octavius stared at her.

"What?" she said with a shrug. "I'm just saying it would be nice to have someone to play cards with!"

Octavius rolled his eyes at her. "Sami, we are preparing to stop a war, we won't have time to play cards."

"We have time right now," she pointed out with a smug grin, "but since neither of you know how to play…" she trailed off.

Scorpius shook his head with a smile. "She's got a point, you know." Octavius glared at him. "What?"

"Hey, I didn't know you were married!" Sami suddenly said, grabbing Octavius's left hand and bringing it to her face to stare at the gold band on his ring finger.

Octavius yanked his hand out of her grasp.

"Who's the lucky girl?" Sami asked with a grin.

Octavius glared out the window.

"Oh, come on! You can tell us!"

"Sami," said Scorpius quietly, staring at Octavius with worry, "be quiet."

Sami looked at him questioningly. "But why—?"

Octavius didn't say another word the entire flight.

/

"Come, quickly! Leave you behind Algernon will!" the ancient house elf called, disappearing into the darkness.

"Hey, slow down!" Astoria hissed, crawling as fast as she could through the tunnel Algernon had shown them only moments before.

"Ouch!" Rose snarled as she hit her head on an overhanging pipe.

"Faster, you must move!" Algernon's craggily voice echoed back to them.

"Astoria, where are we going?" Rose moaned, rubbing her head tenderly.

"No idea," Astoria called back to her. "But I trust him."

"I don't," she muttered, her head aching. She picked up the pace and about thirty seconds later she ran smack into Astoria, who wasn't moving.

"Ouch! Why'd we stop?"

"That stupid house elf!" Astoria snarled. "I've lost him!"

"You don't think he purposely left us, do you?" Rose asked, eyes wide. "So we'd starve and die down here all alone?"

"Waiting, Algernon is!" the house elf said, popping up out of an open vent in the ground ahead of them. "What are you doing, Algernon wonders?"

Astoria growled at him as she crawled over to the open space in the ground.

Algernon had a toothless grin as he disappeared down the hole again.

"Would you like to go first?" Astoria asked with a sad smile.

Rose smiled, shaking her head. Astoria sighed. "Fine. Be that way."

Astoria took a deep breath and slid feet first into the hole, pausing as she hung on by her arms.

"Come down right after me, OK, Rose?"

Rose nodded nervously.

Astoria took a deep breath, smiled, and then let go.

/

Edgard MacMillan was doing some light reading, just scanning the index of one of the many books he had been instructed by Avanell to read, when suddenly one of the chapter titles popped out at him: Paralysis Side Affects. He cried out with joy, leaping to his feet, book in hand. He shoved his arms into his bathrobe, slipped his feet into his fluffy slippers, and ran to his bedroom door, holding his lit wand in front of him, the book tucked under his arm.

He ran down the corridor of his apartment building and took the stairs leading down into the lounge two at a time.

The manager, an old Muggle man only known as "Old Gregg" looked at him strangely. "Fancy a cup of Joe?" he asked uncertainly in his deep voice.

Edgard shook his head. "I just need to use the fellytone—"

Old Gregg looked at him strangely again. "The fellytone?"

"Oh, um, the—uh—" Edgard racked his brain for the right word. "Oh! The telephone!"

Old Gregg pointed wordlessly over at the strange Muggle machine sitting on the desk in front of him. Edgard dug into the pocket of his robe and pulled out the card Avanell had given him.

"Only use it if there is no other way to get a hold of me," she had warned him. "I don't need you runnin' up my phone bill." He could apparate to her house, but he's always wanted to use a telephone—and he secretly enjoyed annoying her.

Edgard, feeling excited, punched in each number—harder than necessary, apparently, due to Old Gregg's strange look he was receiving (again).

Edgard listened to the odd ringing and jumped when he heard Avanell's voice saying, wide awake, "Yes, yes, what is it? I'm rather busy, you know."

"Hey, Auntie. It's me—"

"Ah, Edgard!" she said, sounding much more friendly. "What are you doing, calling me at—one o'clock in the morning? Where does the time go?" she wanted to know.

"I called because I found it!" Edgard said, ignoring Avanell as she mumbled tiredly.

"Found what?"

"The Cure!"

"What cure?"

Edgard slapped a hand to his forehead. "The Cure we've been looking for the past 36 hours, Avanell!"

"Oh, oh, right! Hermione's Cure! Why didn't you say so, Edgard? You found it! No way! This is great! Rose will be so—" Avanell fell silent, "happy," she finished, her voice sounding even more tired.

"I'm sure she's okay," Edgard said comfortingly. "She's Rose, after all."

"Of course!" Avanell said, too cheerfully and too quickly. "I'm sure she's just fine!"

"Auntie…"

Avanell sighed. "I'm fine, Edgard. Really, I am."

"Do you want me to come over?"

Avanell's voice was very quiet now. "Yes."

/

"This is great, Ed!" Avanell said, her eyes scanning the chapter quickly. "This is exactly what we need!"

Edgard beamed with pride, standing in front of his aunt who was sitting at the desk in her home study, holding up the book Edgard had found. She looked at the cover of the book. "Side Effects to Curses. That's fairly obvious."

"So does it tell us exactly what we need?"

Avanell rolled her eyes. "Honestly, didn't I just say that? And yes, that and more."

Edgard waited for her to clarify.

"It's really simple," she explained. "The Cure is an ancient potion called 'Elixir'. It supposedly doesn't exist and cures every ailment—except death, obviously."

"If it doesn't exist, how is this simple?"

Avanell glared at him. "Because I'm Avanell Griffins."

Edgard grinned. "Good point."

/

Octavius was back to his usual gruff demeanor when the air plane landed in Mohammed V International Airport in Morocco.

"Oooh!" said Sami as they were leaving the airport and waiting for Scorpius to hail down a taxi cab. "It's hot."

Octavius slapped a hand to his forehead, "Oh, brother."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, Sami."

Scorpius cried out in frustration as yet another taxi passed him by, causing Octavius to smirk. He sauntered up to the side of the road, stuck two fingers in his mouth and blew a loud, ear splitting whistle, causing every taxi on the street to screech to a stop.

"That's how you do it, Son," Octavius said, clapping the gaping boy on the shoulder. "Sami! Get the bags, will you?"

"Sure thing, chief!"

Both Octavius and Scorpius turned to stare at her.

"Not working for you?" she asked with a pout.

Octavius shook his head with a silent 'No'.

Sami sighed. "Fine."

/

As soon as Astoria disappeared from view, Rose had crawled over to the hole and swung her feet in, slowly sliding in until she hung on by her hands.

"Astoria?" she called down into the darkness.

"I'm here, Rose!" her voice echoed back. "It's a soft landing, so come on down!"

Rose took a deep breath and let go of the edge, dropping straight down and bumping lightly against the side of a metal chute. As she sped down the chute, her hair being blown out behind her, a foul stench attacked her sense of smell and she felt herself gagging. She shot out the end of the chute and smacked into Astoria.

"Ugh, where are we?" she asked, straightening herself and pinching her nose, looking around the dank corridor. She caught sight of the dirty stream of water running parallel to them and groaned. "Are we in the sewer?"

"Looks like it," said Astoria, looking around with interest. "Hey, Algernon, are we in—Algernon?" she looked around with confusion. "He was here a minute ago…"

"I hope he's okay," said Rose worriedly. "He must've been risking a lot—"

"The only thing I'm really worried about right now is putting as much distance between us and that warehouse as possible," said Astoria. "Let's get out of here."

Without another second's hesitation, Astoria began leading her along the stream of sewer water, both of them holding their breath as they walked.

Rose and Astoria walked along in silence for several minutes, neither breathing a word—both barely breathing at all, due to the horrible smell around them.

"Do you reckon that's a way out?" Rose suddenly asked after ten minutes of silence, pointing a little ways ahead of them at a place where there were rungs in the wall leading up to a manhole.

"Why, yes, that would be a way out," Astoria said, hurrying forward. She shot up the ladder and pushed open the manhole and crawled out, then reached down to help Rose.

Fresh air hit her lungs and she took several deep breaths, gasping as she drank in the city lights. Lights flashed all around them and Rose blinked at the sudden blinding glow of the buildings and the blaring of car horns.

"Where are we?" she asked Astoria.

"If I'm not mistaken," she said, "we are in downtown London."

The manhole they had climbed out of had put them in a dark alleyway between a Dress shop and downtown café. Rose immediately felt her stomach growl at the thought of food.

"Astoria, if you can get me a phone, I can call my parents—"

"Done," said Astoria. "Wait here."

Rose watched with interest as Astoria casually walked towards the open sidewalk, where many Muggles were teeming past endlessly. Rose gasped in shock as Astoria grabbed a random Muggle by the collar of his overcoat and hauled him into the alley, slamming him against the side of the Dress Shop next to them.

"Astoria!" Rose cried out in shock.

"I need to borrow your phone," Astoria snarled to the man, who stared at her in shock.

"All right, all right! Keep your hair on, woman!" the Muggle man cried, fumbling for his pocket. "Take it, you nutter!"

Astoria took the phone, examined it for a moment, and then tossed it to Rose, who caught it with a dazed look on her face. "Astoria, why did you—?"

"Call your mum, Rose. Now."

More than a little shocked, Rose quickly dialed her house number, pressing the phone to her ear and keeping a close eye on Astoria, who still had the Muggle man pressed up against the wall.

As soon as her mother answered the phone, Rose felt her eyes begin to burn as she cried, "Mum!"

"Rosie?" came Hermione's voice through the speaker. "Is that you? Ron! Come quick! Rose is on the phone!"

She heard the sound of running footsteps on the other line and could just imagine Ron Weasley tripping on his way to his wife's side.

"Rosie, where are you?" Ron's breathless voice demanded.

"Um…I'm not sure," she said in a broken voice. "We escaped from where Scipio had held us captive—Algernon helped us get into the sewers and we're somewhere in downtown London…help us, Dad. I'm so scared! And Astoria has—"

Astoria suddenly yanked the phone out of her grasp and said, "We're on New Bond Street, Mr. Weasley. Next to a Bridal Shop."

"I'll be there right away," said Ron, and then the line went dead. Astoria tucked the phone back into the man's pocket.

"You never saw us, understand?" she snarled, yanking him away from the wall.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," he said quickly, brushing himself off, still watching her warily. "Barmy woman," he muttered as he walked away.

As soon as he left, Rose rounded on Astoria. "What the heck was that, Astoria?"

"You needed a phone so I got you one. What's the problem, Rose?"

Rose glared at her. "You didn't need to threaten that innocent man! You know, I'm beginning to think you're not the woman everyone thinks you are!"

Astoria opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a large and familiar Pop! Ron stumbled upon apparating at Rose's elbow and she cried out in shock and then threw her arms around her father, choking on her tears and she tried not to cry.

"It's okay, Rose, I'm here now," he looked past his daughter's head and said to Astoria, "Let's get out of here."

/

"Where we headed, my friend?" the Moroccan taxi driver asked with a flash of ivory teeth directed at them from the front seat.

"Atlas Mountains," Octavius said casually, drawing surprised looks to him on Scorpius and Sami's account. "Preferably as close as you can get us to High Atlas."

"What do you wanna go there for?" the cab driver asked with a perplexed look. "They're Barbary Leopards up there in that area—not to mention the Berbers—"

"That's why we need to get there," Octavius said gruffly. "The Berbers."

"All right, then," said the driver, turning back to face the road. "Make yourselves comfortable—I reckon we'll be in this car for a while."

/

As soon as Ron, Astoria, and Rose disapparated from downtown London and into the Weasley-Granger Living Room, Hermione ushered them all onto the couch.

"Ron, floo Draco and inform him his wife is here," Hermione ordered, ignoring the scowl that momentarily passed across her husband's face at the mention of their old schoolmate, but he did as she asked anyway, for the sake of Rose who was shivering on the couch, grime streaking her face and her clothes filthy, her eyes wide, seeing something that wasn't there. Astoria perked up immediately at the thought of her husband.

"And Scorpius?" she asked, looking hopeful. Rose's eyes became more alert as well as she turned to stare at her mother and father.

Hermione frowned. "That's right. You don't know."

"Know what?" Astoria demanded, looking worried.

"He's in Africa."

"Africa?" Rose snapped. "Why?"

"I don't know exactly," Hermione said with a frown, her brow creased. "Something to do with that man, Octavius…"

They were interrupted by running footsteps and, not a moment later, Hugo Weasley came bounding down the stairs.

"ROSE!" he cried, throwing his arms around his sister. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"

Rose laughed, saying, "Hugo, get off of me! I missed you, too!"

"For Merlin's sake, Rose! This is the second time in the past few months I've thought you died!"

"I'm sorry," she said, ruffling his hair. "I'm okay, promise."

"Hugo, I'm sure Rose and Astoria are starving. Why don't you go get them something to eat?"

"All right," he muttered. "Don't get kidnapped while I'm gone, Rosie, okay?"

"Okay, Hugo," she said with a small smile.

Ron, who had had his head in the green flames, finally withdrew, his nose covered in soot as he said, "Malfoy's on his way."

Rose noticed Astoria's fingers had begun to tap her knee impatiently, and couldn't withhold a smile as she watched the woman begin to tap her foot.

"When is Scorpius supposed to be back?" Rose asked a little shyly, not meeting her father's eyes.

Hermione smiled at her. "In a few days, from what I understand. Draco knows more about it than I do."

Rose frowned, her mind churning.

Hermione leaned forward and patted her daughter on the knee. "Rose, why don't you go get a nice relaxing shower and then go to bed. I'll have Hugo take you up something to eat."

Rose slowly nodded, only half listening. "All right, Mum."

"Come on, Rosie," said Ron, putting his arm around her and leading her towards the stairs. "You've been to Hell and back, you need to rest."

She leaned up on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. "Night, Dad. Thank you."

/

Sami doubled over, clutching her sides, sweat beading her forehead, breathing deeply. "How…are…you…guys…not…tired?"

Octavius set down his bag, stretching his back until he felt it crack. "Don't worry, Sami, it's probably the high altitude."

"I feel—like I'm—drowning!" she gasped.

"We can rest for a moment," said Octavius, and at that she collapsed onto the ground, breathing deeply. He shook his head at her dramatic behavior, but Scorpius only grinned.

Sami glared at Scorpius. "How are you not even a little tired? We've been walking for hours!"

Scorpius shrugged, but Octavius said, "It's probably because he has stronger lungs than us, Sami."

But she didn't hear, already snoring on the ground.

"How did she do that?" Scorpius wondered, eyeing the hard mountain ground with distaste.

"We have been up for a while," said Octavius.

"Should I wake her up?"

"Nah, let her rest," he said, sitting down himself. Scorpius did the same, sitting across from him with his back against a boulder. He noticed as Octavius took a sip from his canteen how his wedding band caught the sun and glowed brightly for a moment before he lowered his arm again.

"So…what happened to her?"

Octavius stiffened and he lowered the canteen. "What are you talking about?"

Scorpius gestured to his hand. "Your wife."

"That's none of your business, kid."

Scorpius glared at him. "We're in Africa, Octavius. My grandmother is dead. My girlfriend has been kidnapped. My grandfather is losing it—I have the right to know everything about you."

Octavius glared right back at him, his eyes cold. "She was killed three years ago. Happy?"

"I'm sorry," Scorpius said softly. "I didn't know."

"And you didn't need to," he snarled.

"Octavius, we have to trust each other, and in order to do that, we need to know each other's background. Can we do that?"

Octavius grunted, not meeting his eyes.

"Helloooo?"

"Fine! Godric, just leave me alone!"

Scorpius stared at him, surprised by his childish outburst. "Don't be like that, Octavius. Tell me what happened."

Octavius took a deep breath, looking pained. "I only ever got involved with all of this," he swept his arm around them, indicating something deeper, "when she was killed."

"What do you mean?"

"This Scipio Xavier business," he clarified. "His more…eager followers…decided to carry out his plans from when he was alive back in the time of the Founders—to kill off all the Ex-Death Eaters. But since my father is dead, they decided to target my family instead. So they killed my wife," Octavius twisted his wedding band on his finger, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. "She had the most beautiful voice…"

"So that's why you're so set on stopping him," Scorpius said, suddenly understanding.

Octavius nodded sadly.

"We'll get him, Octavius. I swear, we'll make him pay."

Octavius smiled briefly at him. He groaned, shaking his head and shivering, trying to collect himself. "We should continue on our way," he said. He kicked Sami lightly in the foot, causing her to groan and sit up.

"Are we going on?" she asked sadly.

"Yes," said Octavius, picking her bag up and slinging it over his own shoulder, along with his own.

"Awww, thanks, Octo!" she said, standing up. "So…how much longer till we get to this village place?"

As she rambled on, Scorpius and Octavius exchanged glances. Octavius thanked him quietly, with just a nod of his head. Scorpius only smiled.

/

Rose slowly dragged the hairbrush through her wet hair, staring at her reflection in the mirror, not really seeing herself, but a scared girl.

A knock on the door woke her up from her dreamlike state, and she turned to watch as Hugo walked in, a tray of food in his hands.

"Hey, Rose," he said casually. "I brought you a sandwich."

She smiled softly at her brother. "Thanks, Hugo."

He set the tray down on the top of her vanity. "You're thinking about Scorpius, huh?"

"Hmmm?" she said, running her fingers through her hair. "Oh, yes. I'm worried."

"So are the Malfoys," he said. "They're still downstairs."

"Why?"

Hugo surprised her by hugging her again. "Rose, they're talking about taking us somewhere."

"What?" said Rose, leaning back to stare at his face. "Why?"

"I dunno, they wouldn't let me stay in there. And by the time I found some of Uncle George's old Extendable Ears, I had missed quite a bit. But from what I gathered, Mum and Mr. Malfoy think Scipio will come looking for you and Astoria."

Rose bit her lip. "That makes sense. Did they say where we were going?"

"No, but Mum's really scared. All of her wards were completely faulty, proven by how easily Xavier got in here. She's afraid we'll have to get a Secret Keeper and relocate to a different city."

"Move away? Out of London?" Rose cried out, shocked.

Hugo nodded. "But don't take my word for it. The connection was bad. I think these Ears need a hearing aid." He took the Extendable Ears out of his pocket and examined them. "I'll take them to the shop to see if Uncle George can fix them. I'd get them replaced, but I think they were Uncle Fred's back in '95." He shrugged and put them back in his pocket, looking thoughtful. "Where do you reckon we'll go?"

"I don't know, Hugo," said Rose softly. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and she brought a hand to it, feeling its wetness. "I…don't know."

/

It was deadly quiet. The only sound was the rustling of the leaves by the high altitude wind, causing Sami to shiver. Scorpius found himself a little ways ahead of the other two, his mind churning with barely comprehensible thoughts.

Sami and Octavius's voices drifted up towards him, along with a sound he couldn't quite place.

"Hey, Scor, why've you stopped—?" asked Sami.

"Shhh!" he said, throwing up a hand, listening hard. "I hear something…"

He held a finger to his lips as his eyes quickly scanned the trees and underbrush lining the path they were standing on, his ears perked up for the slightest sound.

Octavius heard it too and silently took out his wand, motioning for Sami to do the same. "There's someone watching us," he muttered, his lips barely moving.

With his heart pounding, Scorpius saw something move in the shadows. He felt a growl forming in the back of his throat as his eyes narrowed dangerously and his muscles tensed, preparing for a fight.

The stranger flew out of the bushes, headed straight for Octavius, who aimed his wand right for the man's heart. The tall, muscular, tan skinned stranger gripped him by the wrist and knocked the wand out of his hand, and it skidded across the ground. Sami chased after it while Scorpius threw himself into the fray, shouldering the man in the chest and knocking him away from Octavius.

Without wasting any time, and not winded at all, the man whipped around, bringing his leg up and kicking Scorpius in the chest, sending him flying back and skidding across the ground.

"EVERYBODY STOP!" Sami roared, appearing so suddenly they all froze, turning to stare at her, Octavius's wand held in hand. She pointed it at each of them in turn. "Would one of you please tell me what the heck is going on? You!" she said, turning the wand on their attacker. "What's your name?"

He held his hands up slowly. "I do not wish to harm any of you," he said in a low voice. "I thought you were one with the Moonraiders."

"Who are they?" she demanded, surprising Scorpius and Octavius with her viciousness.

"They are the ones who raided the village I was staying with."

"Clarify," she snarled. When he hesitated she yelled, "Now!"

"The Berbers of the High Atlas," he said, barely flinching at the loudness of her voice.

She eyed his weapons: the bow slung across his back, the dagger strapped to his waist. "Remove your weapons," she commanded.

"Again, I bring no you no harm," he said, as he slowly reached behind him and removed his bow and quiver. He slipped his dagger out of its sheath and slammed it into the ground, where it quivered for a moment before stilling. "My name is Blaise Skylark. I was positioned here to watch over the Berbers."

Sami shot a look towards Octavius, who stepped forward.

"I am Octavius Greyback," he growled. Blaise's eyes widened. "You've heard of me?"

"Of course I have. And I know why you're here."

"Good, this simplifies things—"

"You're wasting your time," Blaise interrupted. "I can't help you."

Octavius seized him by the collar of his shirt. "You can and you will, boy. Understand? If I think you're worth anything, you are. Got that?"

Skylark yanked himself free of Octavius's grip, his eyes cold. "I would if I could, Greyback, but I have strict orders to remain here—"

"Where?" Octavius demanded. "Here in the middle of nowhere? You said yourselves the 'Moonraiders' burnt down your village! Where are the Berbers now, huh? Answer me that!"

Skylark's gaze darkened. "They're dead. All of them."

"Then there's nothing more you can do."

"I can hunt down those murderers and make them pay."

"Which is a waste of time compared to what I need you for," said Octavius. "We're trying to stop a war. You want to help us or not?"

Blaise Skylark stared hard at him for a moment, then glanced at Scorpius and Sami. "Do you believe he can be stopped?"

"With all of my being," said Octavius firmly.

"Then I will fight by your side."

/

Rose tiptoed down the hall and towards the staircase, listening to the low murmuring of the adults down in the living room. When she got to the stairs she sat down on the top step, now close enough to hear what was being said.

"…I agree, Ronald," Hermione was saying, "but we have no place to go! The Burrow's not an option, because that would be the first place they look for Rose! Same with Malfoy Manor, in Astoria's case!"

"Hermione, even if we have to buy a new place, I am willing to do just that!"

"I know," said Hermione, sounding tired. "I never said you weren't. But how would we move without anyone finding out? Are you suggesting we just leave all of our things here for anyone to take? We have family valuables here, Ron!"

"If I may, Mr. Weasley," said Draco, "there is a place I know of that is indeed unplottable."

"I'm not taking my family anywhere you suggest, Draco," Ron snarled.

"Ronald!" Hermione reprimanded.

Rose could hear the sneer in Draco's voice as he went on, "And I, as the Secret Keeper, can tell you where it is."

"Who's property is it, Draco?" asked Hermione.

"Nott has a cottage in a remote place somewhere in the English countryside. It's big enough that we could all live there for the time being and not even see each other once."

"That's pretty big," Hermione remarked.

"Of course it's big!" Ron snapped. "Purebloods like them always have to flaunt their wealth!"

"Ron, we don't live in an exactly small house ourselves," Hermione reminded him.

"Nonetheless!" Ron yelled, and was immediately shushed by his wife.

"So?" said Draco. "Is there where we've agreed to stay?"

"No!" said Ron, just as Hermione said, "Yes."

Rose stood up and hurried back to her room, where Hugo was sprawled on top of her bed watching Muggle television. "So?" he said once she had closed the door. "What did you find out?"

"We're leaving the city," she confirmed. "And moving to the country."

"Yeehaw," he said with no expression written on his face.

"Yeah," said Rose. "Yeehaw."

/

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