Raylynx's POV

"There. Done." I stepped back to review my handiwork. "Remember, if you engage in too much magic- dueling, for instance, the magic may wear off."

Lily's gorgeous ginger hair was now silvery-white and I had lengthened her eyelashes. Her cheekbones were slightly lower as well and her skin slightly wrinkled.

Besides her, James laughed as he gave his fantastic beard a twist and watched it untwist under his very overgrown nose.

"James!" I said, irritated. "If you pull it out, I'll have to do it again!"

"Right, sorry," he said, dropping his hand. "But it's just so addicting. Lily, what do you say I grow my mustache out like this for our wedding?"

"Absolutely not, James," Lily retorted.

"Wedding?" Marlene picked up quickly.

"No!" Lily scowled. "He's asked me half-heartedly about a hundred times already! I told you, the answer is no!"

James sighed wistfully. "Almost like being back at Hogwarts again, isn't it?"

We all laughed.

By we, I mean James, Lily, Sirius, Marlene, Remus, and I. Alice and Frank were already busy with Ministry preparations for the ball and Seymour was reporting to Dumbledore.

The plan was complex. Alice and Frank posed as bodyguards. In truth, they would allow us in and cover our exit route, the reason being we were sure the Death Eaters would cast a spell preventing Apparation.

Sirius and Marlene, as pureblood Ministry employees, would be capable of acting like a Death Eater couple to try to discover other Death Eaters.

James and Lily were also masquerading as an elderly Death Eater couple in order to tail Kingsley and protect him from harm.

Seymour, Remus, and I were to infiltrate and find Elgar.

Emmeline, Dorcas, Jay, and Peter were on standby nearby at the Tonks' house if help was needed. We would Apparate to the Tonks' home successfully if all went well.

We all finished with the disguises, putting on this and that. Unlike Lily's dress or Marlene's, mine was quite simple. But my mask was quite ornate because I hadn't Transfigured any of my features. I tried to tie the ribbon in the back, but only growled in frustration as my long hair kept getting in the way, getting caught up in the knot of the mask.

"Here, let me try."

I felt fingers cover mine. I let go and waited patiently as the knot was untied. Then, warm fingers gently brushed aside my hair, whispering warmth against my neck. I nearly shivered.

Then the mask was brought back up and knotted firmly but comfortably.

"Thank you," I said, turning around.

Sirius nodded and turned away.

The doorbell rang. It was Professor Seymour.

"Let's go."


It was a strangely beautiful evening or perhaps everything glistened because the mansion was so grand.

Its front yard was expansive, with rose bushes everywhere and a marble fountain pouring sparkling water.

Immediately after we entered the gates, our group broke apart.

Alice and Frank had let us know that Kingsley had already arrived before us, so Lily and James were slightly anxious to find him quickly.

Sirius and Marlene were already approached by another couple.

Seymour, Remus, and I waited for everybody to relax into the party and hoped that the champagne would blur things. Meanwhile, our eyes were searching all along the ballroom walls for any staircases leading downwards. So far as I could tell, there were four hallways leading straight on, but I could see nothing that obviously led down.

I hesitated. We couldn't go searching through all four hallways. That would be far too obvious.

How can I discover which one of the hallways leads down?

I thought back to the TriWizard Tournament, recalling how I had discovered the illusive staircase.

I gripped my wand and hid my left hand behind my back. I thought hard without speaking.

"Conjurus globula."

I could feel a shimmering small ball drop into my left hand.

Now came the tricky part.

I thought hard again: adsciscimus omnes quattuor partes!

But nothing happened. As I thought, I can't do such high-level magic nonverbally yet.

I headed to the restroom to conjure four of these globes, enchanted to test all four directions at the end of the corridor.

Then, I made my way to the refreshment tables. But when I pretended to pour champagne, I quickly rolled a ball into the dark corridor. I waited, pretending to sip on my champagne.

Then I heard it: Thump! Thump! Thump!

So that was a dead end.

I hastily put down my full goblet of champagne and moved off to another hallway. Pretending to admire the vase of roses that stood next to the hallway, I quickly tossed another globe.

Thump! Thump! Thunk…thunk, thunk, thunk…

That's it! It was a staircase on the western side of the hallway.

"Madam, would you care for a dance?"

I almost choked in surprise as I turned to see a pair of dark, cold eyes behind a black mask. It was a man much taller than me in a dashing tuxedo. His impertinent smirk and haughty demeanor marked him as a true Death Eater, but I couldn't identify him.

"I'm afraid she's already been claimed," another voice said, and I recognized Remus' silver mask appearing behind the other man.

The stranger's lip curled up in a sneer, but he managed to dip his head slightly and say curtly, "My apologies, sir." Then, he moved away.

Remus offered me his hand and delicately led me away to the dance floor. We joined the simple waltz, and Remus whispered, "I'm sorry I used such degrading words. I just didn't want to give us away."

"Don't apologize," I whispered back. "Given the situation, you definitely did the right thing."

I then pulled myself closer to him, drawing my arms around his neck in order to whisper directly into his ear. "It's- that- hallway."

"How do you know?" He murmured very quietly. I could feel his breath on the side of my neck.

"It's the only one that leads down," I whispered back.

Suddenly, I felt him stiffen. His hand on my waist tightened the slightest bit.

"What?" I breathed out.

"Someone's watching us suspiciously. That man from before."

I didn't dare turn around, but we continued dancing tensely. Remus spun me out hesitantly.

"Don't, Moony," I muttered. "Don't pause. He'll know."

"I think he already does," Remus said weakly.

Damn, we can't be caught already. How do we act to convince him otherwise? What can I do?

"Is he still watching?" I whispered.

"Yes."

Remus paused again and then he said, "Forgive me."

He drew his hand from my waist, tracing my back, and up to my neck. His fingers slid into my hair and forcefully tilted my head up towards him. I understood what he was doing. He was trying to act possessive of me, as pureblood men did to their wives. His other arm was wrapped tightly around my waist, drawing my body up to his; my torso was tightly pressed against his.

He bent down until our cheeks touched, his soft hair brushing against my forehead. To anyone else, it would seem as though I were but a doll captured in his arms. I fought the urge to run away from this demeaning position.

"I'll cover you. Find Seymour and head down the stairs," Remus whispered urgently and then he let me go.

The song had just ended and all the couples broke apart to merge into one moving, confusing group. Thoughtlessly clapping along with everybody else and using the movement of the crowd to hide myself, I rushed off the dance floor and grabbed Seymour, who was pretending to become intoxicated from the wine.

He could see from the pressing urgency in my eyes that I was willing him to go. He quickly put down the glass and followed after me, slipping into the staircase just as a new song had been struck up.

We rushed our way down, drawing out wands. The staircase took a sharp left as it took us further and further down.

Finally, we came to a long, dank, and dark hallway. There was barely any light and water dripped down the sides of the walls and puddle on the ground. I lit my wand and quickly stepped forth, Seymour right behind me. Our footsteps echoed loudly as we made our way down. Another short flight of stairs and then- "Professor!" Trapped in what was clearly a cage made of black steel was Professor Elgar. He was unconscious, breathing heavily, and had a deep gash on his forehead.

"Professor, wake up!" I said, and reached forward to grasp the bars and shake them to wake him up. But the minute my forefinger touched the metal, I heard a blistering sound and smoke spiraled from my finger as I was deeply burned. I gasped in pain and drew back.

"Idiot girl! There are clearly magical barriers all around the cage," Seymour shook his head. "Step aside."

I did, gripping my fingers in a tight fist against the pain, and Seymour drew out his wand and murmured an intensely complicated series of counterspells.

For a moment, the bars seem to shiver and hum. Then, a silvery-grey cloud began to lift from the bars, and I knew Seymour was removing the barriers. Suddenly, though, the cloud began to condense into a single ball.

"Professor Sey-!" I started to yell, but then the ball exploded, ripping through the walls and pushing out air with amazing force.

I flew backwards through the air, both blinded and deafened by the explosion. I landed hard on my back and cried out in pain- though I couldn't hear it.

I furiously blinked my eyes, trying to get some sort-of vision going.

My hearing came back to me in waves.

Then- "-they are! -truders! Intrude-!"

My breath caught- Seymour's attack must have given us away.

Still unable to see, I panicked as my hands ran over the rubble of the floor, trying to find my wand.

I finally felt it and picked it up, just as I regained some hazy vision. I looked up- only to see a wand tip directly in my face. With a snarl, I ducked my head to the side just in time. The curse ripped through my lower arm. Ignoring the sudden spurt of pain, I pushed off the ground and tackled the attacker onto the ground, forcing to barrel straight into his comrade behind him. We all collapsed to the ground. My breath was gone, my ears ringing, my vision hazy, and my head spinning.

Suddenly, somebody grabbed my hair and jerked my head back roughly. I winced in pain, but I pointed my wand up and thought with all my might. "Bombarda!"

A huge chunk of the ceiling gave way, some of it landing directly on my face. I could immediately feel the side of my face bruising and swelling, but the mask had deflected the worst of the injuries. Better yet, it was enough to bury my attackers, who had yelled and covered themselves with their arms to protect themselves. They were, for the moment, trapped with their arms above their heads. It gave me a split second ahead of them to get out. I frantically ripped my way out of the rubble and tripped forward towards the cage.

Seymour had managed to shatter the cage and was trying to revive Professor Elgar.

"You holding up there?" Seymour yelled at me.

I started to nod when I heard shouts and curses from the other end of the hallway.

We both turned to see Remus sprinting madly towards us, with about four Death Eaters on his tail.

Both Seymour and I raised our wands and shouted, "Impedimenta!"

Our spells shot past Remus and hit two Death Eaters on either side of him.

The other two shot their own Stunning Spells straight at us. One barely missed Remus' shoulder as it came straight for Seymour, who was busy with Elgar.

I quickly threw up an Absorption Shield, as a normal Shield might rebound the Spell and hit Remus. But an Absorption Shield meant that I had to take the damage. I winced as I felt something akin to a numbing poison spread through my bloodstream.

Behind me, Elgar began to stir.

"He's alive," Seymour said briskly as Remus reached us, sweating profusely and breathing hard. "Let's get out," Seymour said.

The two remaining Death Eaters were almost on us when suddenly, something smashed through the floor above us and landed straight on top of them. It was a huge grandfather clock and it was completely aflame. The Death Eaters shrieked, trying to douse the fire from their cloaks.

"Now!" Seymour shouted, as even more rubble, all caught aflame, began to rain down on us.

What's happening up there? I wondered. Are they going after Kingsley right now? I hope the others are all right.

"No!" I yelled back. "I have to help the others!"

"You'll never get up there in time, girl!" Seymour roared back. "Your mission is to bring back Elgar safely!"

"He'll be safe with you!" I shouted. Besides me, Remus nodded firmly.

Suddenly, more shouts filled the corridor. More Death Eaters.

"No more time, Professor! Get to Tonks! We'll cover you!" I said. Without further ado, Remus and I took off down the hallway to meet head-on with these Death Eaters.

A book case crashed down just behind us, separating us from Seymour and Elgar. All the pages of the books, on fire, scattered into the air. Some stuck to the "water" on the walls. But it was only when those puddles began to spread with fire as well that I realized they were toxic liquids. Elgar's prolonged unconsciousness, then, though caused initially by torture, was probably lengthened by over-exposure to these liquids.

The fire spread out from our feet and over our heads. It was getting unbearably hot as everything was becoming scorched. The Death Eaters shot spells at us, but they were hard to see in the haze of all the fire. One caught me in the arm and I felt fresh blood spurt from the same mangled arm.

"Are you all right!?" Remus asked, appearing by my side to support me.

Suddenly, screams could be heard from above us.

"THEY'RE TRYING TO TAKE DOWN THE TOWER! THEY'RE TRYING TO ESCAPE WITH KINGSLEY!"

Remus and I looked at each other.

"We have to help them bring down the tower… how?" I whispered.

Remus hesitated, "I think… I think we're right under them, Raylynx."

We were both distracted as the incoming Death Eaters shot more spells at us, which we deflected.

"We might get badly hurt," Remus said to me between spells.

But another piercing scream came from above.

"We'll have to risk it," I said, and I pointed my wand up and shouted, "Defodio maximus!"

Remus shielded me from the incoming Death Eaters, but in a few seconds, they were too close, and we had to engage in direct dueling.

Lily's POV

Breathlessly, I shot another Stunning Spell at the Death Eater aiming for Kingsley Shacklebolt. It hit its mark, but he was immediately replaced by another Death Eater. I moaned. We were properly trapped. We'd run upstairs, trying to divert attention from the attempt to break out Elgar. But we'd run straight onto a tower and there was no further place to run.

A Dark Spell headed straight towards me. With a snarl, James leapt in and deflected it. It rebounded off his shield and nearly took out its original caster.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was only half-engaged in the dueling as his brilliant mind tried to discover a way to get out of the situation.

Finally, he said, "Watch your feet! Be ready to deploy Cushioning Charms."

"Why?!" I asked, blocking another curse. To my right, James successfully disarmed a Death Eater and proceeded to punch him in the face. I love the elegance of Magic, but I must admit there's nothing quit as satisfying as winning a good bout of Muggle dueling.

"I'm going to try to bring the tower down," Kingsley explained.

"You- wha-!?" I said, but Kingsley was not one to hesitate.

"Defodio!" he shouted, pointing his wand at the floor. It left a huge crater on the floor. He shouted again and successfully blasted through to the floor below, which I glimpsed was a library of some sorts. James hissed in pain as a curse caught him on his arm.

"James!" I shouted. "No, Stupefy!"

Kingsley jumped down into the room and immediately began blasting the walls, looking for the structural arches of the tower above.

"I'm fine," James said, shaking his arm as if to throw the pain away. "What's Kingsley trying to-?"

But explanation was not needed as the entire floor of the tower suddenly wobbled unsteadily. The stones underneath the Death Eaters feet began to cave in. One of them screamed and the others started to run back. But one Death Eater ripped off his mask. It was Lucius Malfoy. With a snarl he jumped into the growing hole of the tower floor and landed in the room beneath us, where Kingsley was.

Immediately, they began to duel.

"Damn it! What do we do?" James said frantically.

"We've got to help Kingsley bring down the tower. That's our only option," I pointed out. He nodded.

"I'll do what I can. Cover me," he said and I assumed a defensive position.

James chose a few well-selected words that formed a purple fireball, which burst into the now-exposed wooden support beams of the tower. It spread extremely quickly, climbing up the tower and down the blasted craters into the room above.

We heard Lucius Malfoy yelp and even Kingsley let out a shout.

"You all ri-!?" I started to yell down to Kingsley but suddenly, two different curses shot out at us. I barely deflected it, and grimaced as it shattered my shield. But the next moment, James' fire had caught onto one of the Death Eaters. He screamed in pain just as the tower entrance collapsed and more of the floor caved in. There was less than half of stable ground now.

Suddenly, a loud shout of pain occurred from below us. I was unable to decipher who it was coming from.

"James, go help Kingsley!" I said. "I've got it up here."

James looked at me with eyes full of worry.

"The mission!" I reminded him before turning back to the remaining Death Eater. I didn't have to look to know that James had decided to trust me, and jumped down to help Kingsley.

The other Death Eater shouted loudly, even as were trading jinxes, "THEY'RE TRYING TO TAKE DOWN THE TOWER! THEY'RE TRYING TO TAKE KINGSLEY!"

I felt my heart sink at the thought of more Death Eaters. We were barely holding up as it was. Smoke began to pour out of the craters in the floor.

"JAMES!?" I shouted, risking a moment of open spellfire to check on what was going down below.

"Lil-!" I heard him start to shout, and then suddenly, I heard two voices faintly shouting, "Defodio maximus!"

Then, I screamed as everything gave way into pitch-black darkness, darker than even the smoke rising from the crater.


"…ly! Lily, wake up!" Somebody shook me roughly.

I blearily opened my eyes. "Si-Sirius?"

"You all right? Listen to me. I've taken you outside the Apparation boundaries."

I sat up and realized we were in the forest just a few hundred yards behind the burning mansion.

"Lily, I need you to go and alert the others at Dromeda's, all right?"
"Alert the others?" I said, sitting up. "Why!?" Suddenly, my mouth felt dry. "Are the others still in there?"

Sirius' eyes were hard as he informed me, "Seymour's successfully left with Elgar. Alice and Frank covered their escape route, and then left with Kingsley."

My brow furrowed. "I thought they were supposed to stay until the end, to cover all of us. Are you saying it's just us out here?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, James forced them to take Kingsley Shacklebolt back so that he could stay behind to find you. He ran into Marlene and me trying to break into the Rookwood's study room. We were trying to do some detective work and discover a list of Death Eaters or something. I left with him to find you, but we ran into Remus and Ray. They weren't doing so good. But I got separated from them dueling and found you in the rubble, unconscious. So I took you here, where you could Apparate."

I got up unsteadily on me feet, but my voice was firm as I urged him on. "Then you need to go. We both need to hurry."

A wave of dizziness overtook me but when Sirius tried to help me, I pushed him away. "Sirius, don't waste any more time on me! Go help them! I'll alert the others now."

Sirius nodded and in the light of the blazing mansion and amidst screams and shouts, I saw him race back. I took a deep breath before I spun into the crushing oblivion, thinking hard of the Tonks' house.


Raylynx's POV

I groaned from beneath the rubble.

"Well, I'd say that was successful," I muttered through gritted teeth as I stared up at the huge tunnel carved out all the way up to the night sky.

Besides me, Remus gingerly pulled out a shard of marble from his shoulder.

"Raylynx, can you get out?" Remus asked me.

I nodded and said simply, "Wingardium Leviosa." I lifted several scattered stones and a huge boulder and flung them aside.

Remus looked at me with an arched eyebrow. "Was that easy for you to lift?"

I looked at him curiously. "What d'you-?"

"Duck!" Remus shouted as curses pierced the air directly behind us.

I dove behind the boulder and took cover. Five Death Eaters came into view, all of them with their masks off. Macnair, Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, and Rookwood.

Good, so Regulus isn't one of them.

But five against two, especially when those two had just been crushed under stone rubble, were never very good odds.

Just as I thought that, James and Sirius skidded into view behind them, simultaneously shouting hexes. Sirius' hex caught Macnair and he collapsed on the ground, unconscious. The Death Eaters snarled and turned. At that moment, Remus and I both leapt out from behind the fallen boulders and directed our own jinxes at them. Curses rebounded everywhere and duels began.

Crabbe and Goyle turned to James and Sirius, and Malfoy and Rookwood to us. Sirius took on Malfoy with a savage pleasure in his face, starting off the duel with an aggressive attack that pushed Malfoy back to the other end of the hall. Sirius followed him, pressuring him to slip in his Shielding.

"Expelliarmus!" I shouted, and Crabbe's wand went spinning out of his hand.

Goyle snarled and shot a Blasting Curse at me, which missed by mere inches. Remus directed a well-aimed Stunner at him, but Crabbe took the opportunity to charge at me like a bull.

"Stupe-" I started, but his hands wrapped around my throat and choked, hard. I gagged, my breath and my spell cut off.

I struggled desperately, bringing my wand up and thinking hard, "Impedimenta!" But with a growl, Crabbe grabbed my wand hand and directed it away from him, up towards the floor. It blasted into the already mangled ceiling, and a huge chunk of rubble came down close to us. I let out a choked cry and he shouted, rolling away. It landed in the dead center of the hallway, far too close to my head for comfort. It had also blocked Remus, James, and myself from Sirius. For a moment, I was worried about Sirius, but there was no time to consider that too deeply. I immediately got to me feet and pointed my wand at Crabbe. My breath was still too choked for me to speak properly so I thought hard Petrificus Totalus!

To my surprise, it actually worked and Crabbe fell over immediately, Petrified.

I hurriedly looked over at the others. James clearly had the upper hand in his duel, but Remus, exhausted, was barely keeping Goyle at bay.

I turned my wand on Goyle and shouted in my mind Stupefy!

It was in astonishment that I watched a red jet of light fly from my wandtip and hit Goyle, slamming him into the wall before properly Stunning him.

I… performed two Nonverbal Hexes… successfully?

Shoving aside my confusion, I rushed over to Remus just as James sent Rookwood's wand spinning and then successfully Stupefied him.

"What about Sirius?" Remus said immediately.

"He'll be all right," James answered. "He was definitely winning before that rock came crashing down."

"James…" I said, suddenly noticing something. "Where's Lily? Wasn't she with you? And what about Kingsley Shacklebolt?"

"I got Kingsley out with Frank and Alice. But about Lily…I don't know," James said, and his face crumpled.

"What!?" Fear shot through my heart. "What do you mean you don't know where she is?" Remus' breath caught.

James shook his head. "We…we got separated protecting Kingsley." He swallowed hard. "I- Help me! Help me find her, please."

"Come on," I said. Taking his hand, we raced through the hallways, looking for that pretty red hair, and hoping desperately that she was all right.

We were so focused on finding Lily that we would have reacted poorly to any Death Eater we'd run into. It was, therefore, extremely lucky, that when we turned the corner and collided into people, they weren't Death Eaters, but rather, Order Members.

I screamed and jerked James back, but it was only Emmeline, Peter, and – Lily!

"Lily," James said breathlessly and ran at her to sweep her up in his strong arms. She embraced him tightly, almost crying.

"We've been looking for you!" Peter said to us breathlessly.

"What about the others?" I asked. "You guys are here, so they must be back at Andy's?"

Emmeline shook her head. "Lily came to alert us. We split up from Dorcas and Jay."

"So Sirius and Marlene aren't back yet?" I asked in a taunt voice.

"No, but I bet they're waiting for us," Lily said. "I saw Sirius just before I left. He managed to save me before running back, so I think he's okay." Remus and James simultaneously breathed soft sighs of relief.

"Come on, then. Let's go before more Death Eaters find us," Emmeline urged, and we started running again.

"There's a back way out," Lily informed us. "It'll be less obvious than the front gates."

Emmeline nodded and we followed Lily out through the back and into some sort-of woods.

"I Apparated here," Lily said, stopping. She held out her hand and James took it. They disappeared together.

I turned too, stepping into that void that would bring me to Andy's house.


"Password?"

"Phoenix."

Ted opened the door and we piled in. Cries of relief filled the room. My eyes also quickly swept over everybody in the room, making sure that we were all okay.

Andromeda came to me and hugged me tightly. I returned her hug, but when we parted, I asked straight off, "Where is Professor Elgar? Is he all right? And Professor Seymour?"

Andromeda nodded. "Elgar is receiving treatment in Ted's room right now. I believe Professor Seymour went to report to the Headmaster."

Then Seymour must know the answer to Dumbledore's question.

"Is Professor Elgar awake?" I asked pressingly.

Andromeda hesitated. "Well, yes, he's conscious, but…"

"May I see him?"

She looked at me with a curious eye for a bit, but then she said cautiously, "I suppose so. Just don't be disruptive."

I nodded and then stepped to Ted's room.

Professor Elgar lay in the bed, staring up at the ceiling and murmuring to himself.

His voice was so hoarse, almost grating to the ears. But if his lips weren't moving, he'd look like a corpse.

I slowly approached him.

"Professor?" I said. "Professor Elgar."

His eyes flickered around for a slight moment before they found me.

"It's Raylynx Kingsley. I was your student at Hogwarts," I spoke quietly.

His eyes seemed almost hollow. For a moment, I wondered if he didn't remember me, which wouldn't have shocked me that much, as I was never a star student in his class.

But he finally whispered, "Yes. Raylynx. Gryffindor, am I right?"

I nodded.

"What is it?" he asked me.

"Did he succeed? Voldemo-"

"Don't! Say! The Name!" he whispered-screamed, his eyes bulging slightly.

I immediately fell silent, shock and guilt collectively washing over me.

A long moment of tense silence passed by, and then he said, in an even softer voice, "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has many methods of discovery."

"Like Legilimency?" I asked quickly.

Elgar gave me a hard look. "Yes, like Legilimency. But I withstood those, naturally. Nonverbal magic hardly ever works on me. But when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named fails at discovery, he turns to… persuasion."

He shut his eyes then.

"And he succeeded there," I guessed quietly.

Elgar drew in a rattling breath. "There is a reason I specialized in Nonverbal Magic. It was to learn Necromancy."

My eyebrows raised in surprise. Why would he want to learn Necromancy? Was he interested in the Dark Arts?

"The reason I wanted to learn Necromancy… was to stop it from ever happening again. When I was young, I saw the true horrors of Dark Magic. My family was-" He paused, and then went on in deepest grief, "But it seems I have failed in the worst way possible."

A single tear escaped from his closed eyelids.

"It is a terrible, terrible thing, to be unable to protect your aim in living. Don't let it happen to you."

Another silence hung in the air, thick enough with grief to catch in one's hands.

Suddenly, the door cracked open.

"Raylynx?" It was Andromeda. "The others are asking where you went."

I looked back at Professor Elgar. His eyes were still closed. He was weeping, I knew. But I could not think of words of comfort to offer him. He had failed. What more could be said? I exited quietly and returned to the others.

A strange atmosphere of tingling excitement was apparent in the group, and I found this quite odd, given the situation we'd just come out of.

I peered over Alice's and Frank's shoulders to see Lily, Marlene, and Dorcas huddled together on the couch, looking at some fancy letter in their laps.

"What's going on?" I asked Alice and Frank.

"Marlene was able to break into Rookwood's study. She thinks she's found a list of Death Eater members," Alice explained.

"Only thing is, it's in code," Frank said. "So they're trying to decipher it."

I watched as James slyly tried to sidle himself into the discussion, but Lily knew his tactics far too well at this point.

"Get out of here, James," Lily chided, but she couldn't help the smile appearing on her face.

"I just want to help- Ow!"

She'd roughly pushed his head out of the way of reading the letter.

Sirius and Remus laughed as James landed on the floor.

"Oh no, I'm not letting you push me away so easily," James said teasingly, and grabbed Lily's leg. With a happy shriek, Lily was pulled off the couch and straight into James' arms.

I took Lily's place besides Marlene and made them scooch over so I could gently pull Alice down on the couch too. I glimpsed at the paper. It was filled with seemingly complicated hieroglyphics.

"But, see, I think that would be the last name…" Marlene was saying.

"No, you idiot, that translation wouldn't work for the previous line," Dorcas responded.

"But don't you switch every other letter when it's lined up in fours like that?" Peter asked. Having sidled up to Alice, he was leaning over very enthusiastically to peer at the paper. His mousy nose fidgeted.

"No, its lines," I said quietly. "You never switch letters when it's lined up in fours." I had learned that in Ancient Runes.

"Oh… but um, yeah. Yeah, and then after that it's uh… blocks locked… crosslock… or-or something. 'Cause then you have to figure out the starting point and all," Peter mumbled, not quite meeting my eyes.

I frowned slightly at Peter. He's right. Does he know translation somehow? How does he know coding? He never took Ancient Runes…

"Do you mind if I look at that?" I asked Marlene. She shifted towards me so I could see better.

I studied it for a while. The base of the language was most definitely runic; though I was sure they had used a crosslock or at least a sliding mechanism in order to disguise the lettering. But they had to have some sort-of mark as the start point… Aha. There it is, same as ancient Egyptian numerology coding. So if you…

I turned my head around at an awkward angle.

"Ray?" Alice said tentatively. "What are you-?"

"It's not a roster," I confirmed. "It's an order for Rookwood to recruit the sirens in the Ice Caves and convince them to join him."

"What?" Marlene said.

"It's a mission statement," I explained.

"You read the whole thing? Just now?" Marlene said in disbelief.

I looked at her, confused. What's the problem again? "Well, yes…?"

There was a stunned silence.

"We should let Dumbledore know," I said. "He'll probably want to send a group to persuade the sirens otherwise."

"How did you decipher that?" Dorcas asked me.

"Well, Pete talked about the starting point located within the pattern and the rest… I probably just picked it up in Ancient Runes or something," I said, handing the paper back to Marlene. But how did Peter know? I mentally shrugged. He was probably just trying to be helpful and spouted off some things he'd heard others saying.

I got up from the couch and went to get some water from the kitchen, unaware of the slightly offensive awe that abruptly followed me.