Hey guys. Just a quick note, seeing as I got a charming review earlier (sob!). I've gotta say, I love writing this story, but it is a work in progress and so there are bound to be errors. If you see any, please tell me so I can correct them and get the story to make more sense so it'll be even better!
In any case, answers to the review if Dave's still reading: 1) Corrected! 2) Catrin got the information from other children, who haven't grown up with Voldemort and obviously aren't scared of saying his name. Cheers, mate! Everyone else, enjoy! :)
Mr Potter led them up the stairs at a fast trot, and although he repeatedly assured them that everything was 'going to be fine', Catrin couldn't help but feel a kind of lurking foreboding in her stomach. If a Death Eater was in the castle, things were most decidedly 'not fine'. In fact, on the freak-out scale, she'd be reaching a ten pretty soon.
In desperate need of a distraction, she decided that couldn't stand another one of Mr Potter's comments. She wanted information about Rodolphus Lestrange- at least they'd know what they'd be up against.
"Mr Potter." She said loudly, cutting across the silence. "Who is Lestrange?"
Harry turned to look at her, surprised. For a moment he was quiet, as though gathering his thoughts, and then he heaved a deep sigh.
"He's a former Death Eater. He was in Voldemort's inner circle before he was killed, and he enjoyed it a little too much. He killed people...he disappeared for two years, actually. Managed to avoid capture from Azkaban for a couple of years...nobody knew where he went, but there were some deaths. " Here Harry's voice trailed off, as though remembering fallen colleagues- or friends.
"Not a nice guy, then." James paraphrased. "Dad, you've never told us about him! Not even when Al begged you to tell us Death Eater stories!"
"He was a monster." Harry stated baldly. "And his wife was even worse... she killed...she." He swallowed again, Adam's apple bobbing vigorously in his throat. "Bellatrix Lestrange killed my godfather."
"She killed Sirius? I thought he died of old age." Fred mumbled to himself, twisting a coppery lock around his finger absently.
"No." Harry didn't meet anyone's eyes at that point, not just Catrin's. "No, he didn't. Sadly. I don't even know how he died."
"From what you've told us, I bet he was a real hero." Fred said enthusiastically, getting out his wand and swishing it about. "He faced the enemy with a smile on his lips."
Catrin couldn't let that one go. "What, like this?" She bared her teeth in a battle grimace, brandishing her own wand at the other three. Fred and James laughed; Harry's eyes widened and he looked away. Catrin instantly felt awful.
"Sorry." She apologized, cheeks flaming up. "I didn't mean to insult his memory."
"What?" Harry looked around vaguely, shook his head. "No, no..." Then he straightened his spine and suddenly he was Mr Potter again. "Come on, we need to get you back to the Common Room."
"Grnghugh." James grumbled as he trotted alongside his father. "I want to see some action."
"Not today." His father corrected him firmly. "Ah, there's Teddy."
Sure enough, a star of light could be seen in the darkness, which was rapidly drawing closer. Suddenly, Teddy's blue head and Victoire's blonde one could be seen. The two quickly stepped away from each other as Mr Potter approached, looking nervous. Catrin noticed, despite everything, that they were trying to hide their hands from view, and hid a secret smile.
"Ah, Teddy, Victoire. Please could you put this lot to bed? Deduct some points, grant detention. The usual. And then stand guard in the Common Room-" Here his voice lowered dramatically "- as Rodolphus has managed to get inside the Castle."
Victoire looked alarmed, and raised her wand higher, as though she could spot the Death Eater with her Lumos spell. Teddy raised his eyebrows, and gestured towards the children. "Come on, then." He said, not exactly unkindly, but looking sterner that Catrin had ever seen him. The children followed, having the grace to look uncomfortable as their Head Boy led them towards the common room.
"Right-seventy points from Gryffindor, and four weeks' worth of detentions, all of you." Teddy said firmly as the portrait hole came into view. "I can't believe that you'd wander around the castle, and on a night like this! You're lucky it wasn't more."
Catrin balked at the absurdly high amount, and shared a horrified glance with Fred and James, as they stopped outside the entrance. Wait until the other Gryffindors found out who had lost them all those rubies from the hour glass in the Great Hall!
"Out for a late night stroll?" The Fat Lady ruffled her skirts, glaring down her long nose.
"Something like that. Abcedarian." Teddy muttered the password, and then led the disgraced three to the fireside, where- Catrin noticed with a sinking feeling- their friends were sitting, watching with wide eyes. "Right. You can sit here, but not go out of the Portrait Hole- me and Victoire are going to be standing guard outside it. Goodnight." Victoire nervously fingered her shiny Prefect's badge, and followed Teddy's march back out of the Portrait Hole, leaving Catrin, Fred and James under the scrutiny of their friends.
Mary broke the silence. "What happened?" She cried. "We woke up and you were gone. And then the castle started shaking! What did you do? We were terrified!"
Haltingly, and with many pauses, the story of their anti-adventure was told. Whilst Slimy Creep and Valerie seemed impressed, and Alice shocked, Mary had suddenly paled, her round eyes gazing fearfully at them as James related the tale of Rodolphus' entrance and his attack, with quite a bit of relish.
"Oh..." She faltered, hands twisting nervously in her lap. "He's...in the castle?"
"Yup." James flumped down into the seat that he had vacated just an hour before. "This place wants a kitchenette- I need a tea."
"Mary?" Alice asked, concerned. Catrin saw that she was as white as a sheet. "What's the matter?"
"Oh...nothing." Mary attempted a smile, which came out more like a grimace. "Just...tired." She gave a huge fake yawn. "I'll be off to bed now, if you don't mind."
She sprang up with remarkable quickness for someone who was near fainting point, and made to skip off to the dormitories. Without realising what she was doing, Catrin's arm shot out and she grabbed her friend by the hand, using momentum to swing Mary back into her seat like some kind of puppet.
"Mary. You need to tell us what happened with Macnair." Catrin didn't know where her firm words were coming from, but enough was enough- they needed to find out what made her so terrified, and she had a shrewd idea that it was something to do with the Macnair/Suit of Armour/ Embarrassing Plant Incident.
"Woah." Slimy Creep started, goggling at her. "I think Mary's just tired."
"Shut up, ymennydd pin!" She exclaimed, unleashing her frustration. "Mary, if something's up with Rodolphus then it might have something to do with the missing people! We've got to help them- you don't have to do anything, there are a whole lot of dark wizard catchers downstairs! And could you live with yourself if you knew they were dead?"
Mary said nothing, but stared at the fire, the whites of her eyes glinting like glass in the dim light.
"Mary, are you a Gryffindor or not?"
That got a reaction- she started up, eyes suddenly blazing. "Alright, fine! Fine! I was going back from Charms to the Great Hall, and then I spotted McLaggen, Macnair- them and a whole load of Slytherins. They were going up to the Seventh Floor. I knew that you were interested in what they were doing...they looked a bit...creepy. So I thought, why not show off? I followed them up to the seventh floor- that tapestry with Boris- Barnabas- the Barmy. Then they kind of- pulled a body out of thin air."
"What?" The group chorused, Catrin amongst them. The air thickened perceptibly with tension. Mary sat back in her seat in an almost relaxed way- she seemed to have gone beyond terror. "Yeah, that's what it looked like. Then this one Slytherin walked up and down, and a door materialised out of thin air. They dragged the body inside. Then...McLaggen saw me. He was keeping guard." Mary broke off in her story to gulp slightly. "He chased me, and then said that I'd be the next to go. He was going to get me..." She broke off, and let out a shaking sob. A couple of tears raced each other down her cheeks, and she pulled her legs up and buried her face in her knees. Alice and Valerie reached over and cautiously patted her on the back, making soothing noises.
"I'm sorry..." Catrin said awkwardly, trying to battle her guilt. That was the second time this night she'd put her foot in it.
"It's okay." Mary's muffled voice came from her knees. "I'll just hope that you guys get to deal with them first."
Catrin thought about the 'pulling a body from thin air', certain vanishing potions...and then a sudden, industrial-size lightbulb clicked into being above her head. "Diw." She breathed. "Y pobl sy'n diflannu...the people who disappeared!"
"Merlin's..." Fred obviously couldn't think of a swearword bad enough. "We've got to tell someone where Rodolphus is going- maybe they can head him off at the pass."
"Teddy's at the door!" Alice cried, jumping to her feet.
"Then let's go and tell Teddy!" James led the sprint to the Portrait Hole, leaving Mary behind and ignoring the bangs coming from the dormitories. Their shouting had obviously woken someone up.
But when they pushed the portrait open, they saw a blank canvas and a crumpled shape at its foot, spilling vibrantly blonde hair like a carpet across the stone-flagged floor.
"Victoire..." James groaned, following his cousin over. "Oh my god..."
"She's alive!" Fred called from his crouch. "Looks like she was hit with the same spell as you, James. I think Teddy must have taken off after whoever came this way- I think Rodolphus must've gotten a bit lost."
"What are we going to do?" Slimy Creep was standing trembling just inside the Common Room, not displaying the qualities one might expect in a Gryffindor.
"We'll have to go and find someone." Alice spoke up firmly. "Maybe we can follow Teddy- help, you know."
"Okay. Drag Victoire inside the Common Room- she'll be safe there and someone will find her." James seemed to have taken control, which was good, because Catrin was feeling more than a little lost. Whilst Slimy Creep and Valerie hastened to do as he said, James turned to the other three.
"Alright. We've only been in the Common Room for about ten minutes. So I don't reckon Rodolphus has gotten to the Room yet."
"Run for it?" Alice asked lightly, drawing her wand in one fluid movement.
James nodded. "Yup."
And as the other two peered out of the Common Room, Fred, Catrin, James and Alice sprinted off towards the seventh floor.
They arrived, panting and slightly out of breath, ten minutes later.
Fred leaned against the stone, mopping his forehead with his sleeve. "I didn't get enough sleep to be doing this twice in one night."
Catrin agreed with him- she was sitting on the floor, staring at Barnaba's foolishly hopeful face on the weaving opposite. Foolishly hopeful probably described their situation at this moment, too.
"I told you we should have put Pepper-Up Potion in all the Gryffindor's drinks this morning!" James mumbled from next to him. "But we had to content ourselves with Dawlish."
"The teacher?" Despite everything, Catrin was intrigued.
"Yeah. He was literally bouncing off the walls. McGonagall had to conjure up a straightjacket for him. Revenge is best served...ultra-caffeinated." Fred allowed himself an indulgent grin, before turning his attention to the matter at hand. "Right. Alice, do you wanna do this?"
"Well, no-one else is here..." Alice glanced around, and nodded. "Then I'll wait here for someone to come. Or I'll just run and see if I can bang into someone."
She stood up, and began pacing in front of the wall, muttering to herself under her breath again and again, while the others waited and tried to retrieve their breath from wherever it had fled.
After her seventh walk, a door materialised in the stonework, the polished wood gleaming like metal. Alice stopped, and turned to face them.
"This is it."
"Indeed." James grinned. "It's been a pleasure knowing you, Longbottom. Though in future, I'd change the name."
"Likewise. Except for the name." Alice offered a smile in return, and spun around and sprinted back the way they'd come.
"Good luck, everyone." James turned his attention to the other two. "If we get through this, I'd buy you a beer- but I'm underage, so you suckers won't be getting anything off me."
"Idiot." Fred said fondly, smacking his cousin around the head. "Okay. Let's go."
He turned the door, and they stepped inside.