Considering that I wrote the last chapter while I was rather ill with the worst flu I can ever remember having, I'm surprised you all seemed to like it so much and didn't spot the numerous typos I had there.
Oops.
Anyway, those errors are corrected to the best of my ability and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
"We're back." Harry announced his arrival stepping into his squad's "base cave" (as he had taken to calling it) a few steps before Aki did.
Sliding down his night vision goggles and exchanging them for his regular glasses, he greeted Darian, who was standing just inside, with a firm handshake.
"Harry," Darian nodded. "Everything went well on our end. Not even a rat passed by this cave. How did your little scouting trip go?"
"Well enough," Harry eyed Jasper over his glasses, who was sitting up and drinking another bottle of water that Lucas had apparently given to him.
Lucas looked up just then and met Harry's eyes.
Saying something briefly to the boy that Harry couldn't hear, he got up and joined the other three teenagers just outside the cave.
"Status report? he asked as they all stood just outside the cave.
"Everything is as reported by Jasper. All the information he gave us was accurate." Aki said.
"Indeed. Four kidnappers. Three males and a female. The pathway to their holding area was as described. They had loads of weapons. Also as reported." Harry added.
"What were they like? The kidnappers?" Darian asked.
"I didn't actually see two of them. I just heard them. Aki?" Harry turned to him.
"Oh, I saw them. I saw the bastards alright," Aki nodded. "I had a good vantage point from the trees along our route." He picked a twig out of his hair.
Lucas looked as if he dearly wanted to ask exactly why Aki had chosen to travel via the trees in the first place, but stopped himself from asking, raising an eyebrow instead.
"The two Harry didn't see- one of the males and the lone female... That guy kinda looked like me in the height department. Perhaps taller. Similar build too. He carried some guns on him and was twirling one of them around idly on his index finger, as if it was just a toy, so he's obviously very comfortable with them." Aki said. "The woman on the other hand, was about average height, slightly overweight, had a gun and a wicked looking knife on her. Even if I were to see them casually walking down a street in Magix City, they looked like people I'd steer clear of..."
"That kind of menacing aura around them, huh?" Darian asked grimly.
"Oh yeah..." Aki nodded. "Like you wouldn't believe..."
"Their conversation about what they'd done was so nonchalant... They didn't care about either little Jasper back in there..." Harry glanced back in the cave. "...or Amethyst in the slightest. You should have heard what they had said about her..."
"Basic summation: they don't really give a shit if they find Jasper or not at this point because they consider to him to be a lost cause and there's still a market out there that they could sell Amethyst to the highest bidder through." Aki explained.
Darian began to swear quietly under his breath and Lucas was not far off in joining him, drawing a brief look from Harry from his (understandably) out of character behaviour.
"What about the other two?" Lucas asked sharply, breaking his muttered chain of swear words. "You encountered those two away from the... holding area. What about the other two kidnappers who would have surely been guarding Amethyst there?"
"We found it alright." Harry described the general location of the cave they'd found. "And they had Amethyst in there, chained up like a bloody dog," he scowled. "guarded by the other two. Not like that was necessary since she was chained up inside a damn cage..."
They all shared angry looks at that statement.
"I have two younger brothers," Lucas started, breaking the silence. "One of them is fourteen and the other is ten. To see this happen to kids in their age range..."
"I get what you mean," agreed Darian. "I'm an only child, but I have cousins around that age too..."
"I have an older sister that graduated Alfea the year that we started at Red Fountain and a younger sister that's going to start at Alfea herself next year. I would never want something like this to ever happen to them..." Aki said.
"Only child here. You all know why," Harry remarked a little too casually. "but I have friends back home that I consider like my siblings. My family..."
He straightened up. "So, men. I do believe we have a rescue mission to plan..."
"Indeed we do, Harry. Indeed we do..." Darian nodded as they all sat together to discuss details and plan the rescue.
"Ah, breakfast. My favourite meal of the day." Ron grinned before piling on his plate the biggest stack of the breakfast foods around him that he could reach.
"So is lunch." Neville remarked as he calmly helped himself to some scrambled eggs.
"And dinner." Ginny buttered some toast, then waved at Luna, who was just coming in.
"Pretty much any bloody time of the day that he can eat something is his favourite time of day, really..." Hermione eyed him disapprovingly between spoonfuls of porridge.
Most of them in hearing range burst out laughing.
Seamus in particular was cackling like mad and Dean nearly choked on his pumpkin juice when he laughed.
"It's not even that funny..." Ron looked annoyed.
"Apparently, to them it was..." Hermione rolled her eyes as she calmly continued to eat.
"It was more your expressions, really..." Colin pointed out.
Sometime later, after they had all settled down and around the middle of breakfast, the mail delivery began.
A beautiful brown owl with flecks of dark gold flew into the Great Hall and headed straight for the Gryffindor table.
More specifically, it headed for Hermione Granger.
Hermione noticed it and raised an eyebrow.
"Who would be writing to me? Harry gave us not only those new versions of the communication mirrors, but those magical cell phones as well so he could call Ron or I if he needed or wanted to. As for my parents, they're... deceased..." the bookworm thought as she retrieved the letter the owl carried (after casting some detection spells on both it and the letter), the bird flying off as soon as the letter had been taken.
Ron watched her as she opened the letter.
"Greetings, Granger,
I know that this letter coming from me in particular may be a surprise, but I felt that this was necessary to attempt. I addressed this to you as I felt that between you, the Weasley siblings, Lovegood and Longbottom, you would be the most reasonable about this.
This is also not very easy for any of us Slytherins to admit, but some of us are actually interested in joining your little club. Yes, we all know about it. Especially with a certain toad's and ferret's involvement. It is pretty much a Hogwarts open secret at this point and has been for a while.
With things as they are, we (that is, the more 'neutral' Slytherins) felt that it was a good idea to try and approach you about this. We have valuable knowledge to share of different spells, runes, potions, etc and I am sure that we could teach each other many things.
If you send an affirmative response, perhaps we could work out a meeting between us during the next Hogsmeade weekend.
Looking forward to your reply,
Daphne Greengrass.
P.S. This letter is charmed to disintegrate as soon as you've finished reading it."
As Hermione finished reading, the letter did indeed disintegrate into a pile of fine, grey ash that gathered neatly beside her now empty porridge bowl.
"So," Ron spoke between mouthfuls of jam covered toast. "what was that letter all about?"
Hermione looked around the Gryffindor table at those pretending not to eavesdrop on their conversation and casually glanced over at the Slytherin table where Daphne briefly met her glance, before resuming a conversation with her sister.
"Later," said Hermione. "Away from prying eyes and ears..."
"Eh. Alright then." Ron shrugged and happily resumed eating his breakfast.
Hermione shook her head, but smiled at her boyfriend's antics.
Then she returned her attention to finishing up breakfast and considering Daphne's proposal.
Rainer sat in the dining hall, stirring her bowl of corn flakes idly.
Roxy, who was seated next to her, noticed her unusual lack of chatter.
"Hey, Rainer." Roxy stuck the spoon she held into what remained of her fruit salad and focused on her.
"Hey Roxy." Rainer took a spoonful of the cereal and chewed it slowly. "What's up?"
"I just missed your usual chatter, is all. I know you're worried about Amethyst and Jasper, but seeing you like this is more than offsetting..." Roxy admitted.
Krystal was holding court further down their table with other friends, while the twins were seated at another table entirely that morning, otherwise they would have fervently agreed with Roxy's assessment of Rainer's current mood.
Artu, seated at Roxy's feet barked once in agreement.
"This entire thing is offsetting..." Rainer sighed, taking another bite of breakfast.
"I can't blame you." Roxy smiled slightly as she watched Artu put his head on the other fairy's lap and Rainer patted him idly.
"Yeah. We weren't even all that close, but we got along well enough when we visited one another. Amethyst is a budding fashion designer herself and is vey artistic in general. Jasper is a little entertainer in the making. Loves acting and jokes. But will he even have any jokes left in him after all this?" Rainer wondered.
"I'm sure he will. He and his sister will be fine. They'll be rescued, their kidnappers caught and justice will be served. I just know it!" Roxy assured her.
"I sure hope so. The way Momma worries about them, you'd think she'd had four children instead of just Nephele and I. I don't blame her, but I hate to see her worrying like this. Not to mention what this must be doing to their parents. And Amethyst and Jasper themselves, of course..." Rainer sighed.
"Are you going to be monitoring the news channels all day today now, since we have no classes?" asked Roxy.
"No. That's not gonna help anyway. I'll just call home and check in with the parentals when we get back up to the dorm. Maybe we could round up the other three and head out to Magix City for lunch..." Rainer said. "Hey. When Amethyst and Jasper are saved, they could go to lunch in Magix City too! I'd love for them to come with me sometime!"
"As Harry would say: 'That sounds like a bloody brilliant idea!'" Roxy giggled.
"Oh indeed!" Rainer giggled too. "Better watch him, Roxy. He's gorgeous and his accent is too. Some other girl might try to snatch him away from you!"
"Not a chance in hell, Rainer Del Mar. One of Harry's many awesome qualities is loyalty..."
"What if one of them comes in here and finds me while you're gone?" Jasper looked as if he was in sheer terror. "What if one of those terrifying wild animals comes for me again?"
"All of those are valid concerns," said Harry, glancing out of the cave at the late afternoon sky.
"I'm scared..." Jasper whimpered, sinking down against the wall of the cave and holding his knees close to his chest.
Harry sat next to him.
"I know what it's like to be scared. To think that the bad guys are going to come and hurt you at any time and hurt someone you care for."
In the background, Aki, Darian and Lucas paused in their preparations to watch.
"Really?" Jasper looked up at him, eyes wide.
"Since I was a toddler, an evil wizard wanted to murder me. After a few years forced break, he and his followers returned, and are back for my blood at any cost, regardless of who they have to hurt in the process. All of that is a long story, best suited for another time." Harry waved that off.
"We're not going to let that happen to you. They will never hurt you again. I have some things that may help you feel safe."
Harry stood up and went for his backpack, pulling out a few things.
"This here is a shield bracelet. Protects from mild to moderate jinxes, hexes, curses and other damaging missiles." Harry held one he'd had in the bag and slid it onto Jasper's left wrist.
Jasper's eyes briefly widened as he felt the flare of magic around his wrist.
"And these right here..." Harry pulled out a small pouch of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products. "are the inventions of a pair of rather brilliant twin brothers from back home who also happen to be good friends of mine and quite the pranksters too."
Jasper's eyes brightened at that and Harry noticed.
"You're a bit of a prankster too, aren't you?" Harry asked him.
"Yes..." Jasper admitted as he examined each product in great detail. "I love playing pranks on people. My sister doesn't like it very much when I prank her though..."
Harry, Aki, Darian and Lucas snickered.
"I can imagine..." Harry calmed himself down and began to explain what each product did for Jasper's benefit.
"And then... Jasper, I'm going to trust you with something very important to me..." Harry's tone became more serious, causing Jasper to look up at him sharply and Harry's squad mates to look at him.
Harry retrieved his Invisibility Cloak.
"This is an Invisibility Cloak." Harry explained as he held it out to the boy. "It's been in my family for centuries. My dad would have passed it down to me himself were he alive, but it came to me via a family friend who had possession of it at the time he and my mother died."
Jasper looked at it in awe as he took it in his hands.
"Put it on and try it for yourself!" Harry smiled encouragingly.
Jasper draped it around himself and looked amazed when he saw himself become invisible.
"This is so amazing!" his voice called from somewhere on Harry's left. "You can't see me at all?"
"Not a bit!" All four teenagers called out in unison.
"Whoa..." Jasper lowered the cloak and folded it back up. "I've seen a lot of amazing magical things, but... I want one of these..."
Harry chuckled. "All the better to prank people with, huh?"
"Yes!" Jasper exclaimed, eliciting another round of chuckles from the teenagers. "I can't turn myself invisible and no one else would ever do that for me!"
"I can certainly understand why..." Harry smiled, seeing Jasper more perked up than he ever had been.
"That's to help hide yourself if you need to. Just remember that it doesn't hide sound, so you'd need to be quiet while under it." Harry's tone became serious again and Jasper's expression changed to suit.
"I'll take good care of it while you and your friends go rescue my sister. I promise! I promise!" Jasper said.
"That's good to hear." Harry nodded, glancing out the cave again.
It was getting darker.
Soon time for himself, Darian, Aki and Lucas to go out on their mission.
"We have to go now, Jasper. I promise you, when we return, your sister will be safe with us." Harry said.
Jasper ran up to him suddenly, giving him a hug around the waist.
"Be careful, Harry. You and your friends!" Jasper cried and exclaimed at the same time.
"We will." Harry's face hardened. "We will, Jasper..." He patted Jasper on the shoulder.
"Guys..." Harry and his squad mates left the cave. "Are you lot ready for this?"
"Oh yeah." Darian's eyes glinted. "We're ready..."