Nikola kept Aria from falling to her knees when they slammed down from the Portkey, and she managed to keep any food and drink she had consumed, though it was a near thing.

For a moment the two of them stood there, breathing heavily, just letting it sink in that they were safe and alive.

"Are . . . are you all right?" Nikola asked, arms still around Aria. He put a hand on her head, and she was reminded that he had said he had a little sister. She gave a small nod into his chest, still too wound up to think about lifting her head.

"You are trembling," Nikola stated.

"C-cold," Aria muttered. Her heart pounded heavily against her chest. She could not seem to slow her shallow, rapid breathing. Her mouth at some point had gone dry and she was finding it difficult to swallow.

Nikola shrugged off Krum's jersey and wrapped it around Aria. She finally pulled out of his arms and pulled the jersey tight around her, well aware that her shirt was torn in two down her front exposing her bra, and that the button and zipper on her capris were broken.

"Vashe Visochestvo."

Several people stepped forward. Aria suddenly realized that they had not been the only ones to Portkey to wherever they were now. Furthermore, she began to realize that the people around them were dressed in the sharp, black uniforms of the guards of the Bulgarian royal family. She tightened her grip on to the jersey.

"Vsichki dobre li sa?" Nikola asked.

"Vie ste pristignalite posledni."

Nikola nodded, heaving a huge sigh of relief. He turned to Aria.

"Ve are the last to arrive for my family," he said. "Come. Mother vill take care of you."

Following Nikola, a thousand thoughts ran through Aria's head. Who were his parents? The royal guards meant that he was someone important, but he had not been in the Top Box with the rest of the royal family. Had Harry gotten to Sirius and Remus? Were the Weasleys okay? Hermione? Seamus, Dean, Lavender, everyone?

They walked through ornate corridors lined with thick rugs and many moving portraits, surrounded by the royal guards. Nikola brought them to a parlor decked in the softest of blues. The tsar and tsarina were there along with the little tsarevich and tsarevna. Aria thought she remembered their names to be Ivan and Desilava. They had both screamed for Krum during the game.

"Blagodarya na bogovete!" The tsarina cried, rushing to Nikola. She embraced him, kissing his cheeks. His two younger siblings rushed him, throwing their arms around his waist.

"Mother," Nikola said, wrapping his arms around his siblings, "this is Aria Bourne. I met her at the YEP Symposium this summer."

"She was in the Top Box!" Desislava cried. "With Harry Potter!"

"Yes, she and he vere with me and the team," Nikola agreed. "Nadya vas to take them back to their camp."

"The c-crowd separated us," Aria stammered. "I tried to get to the trees but . . . but . . ." a new wave of tears fell down her cheeks. Nikola's mother clucked her tongue, coming to Aria's side.

"Death Eaters found her," Nikola spat. "She managed to fight one off but there vere three of them."

"Cowards!" the tsar growled. The tsarina gently opened the jersey, took one look at Aria, and understanding passed across her face. She wrapped the jersey back around Aria and pulled her to her side.

"Come," she said. "Ve will get you cleaned up and in new clothes. "Dimitar vill send a message to Lord Black. I'm sure your friends and family are vorried about you."

She called out in Bulgarian, and a trio of house elves popped up beside them. After giving them instructions, they popped away and the tsarina ushered Aria out of the parlor, down another richly decorated corridor, to a guest room. Aria could not help but gape as she took in the room. The bedroom itself was nearly the size of the Slytherin common room and was decorated with lush bedding and gilded trim. It was everything she imagined a royal bedroom to look like.

The tsarina led her through to the attached bathroom. The bathtub was set into the floor and was already full of hot water and bubbles. The soothing smell of lavender came from the water. A row of potions had been left on the nearby vanity under the mirror.

"Now, I do not vish to be . . . how do you say? Indelicate," the tsarina said as she gestured to the potions. "But did the Death Eaters rape you?"

Aria shuddered, breath hitching briefly.

"No," she managed to say. "Just . . . knocked me down and were trying to get my clothes off. If Nikola hadn't . . . if . . . if . . ."

"There, there, child. It vill be all right. You are safe here." The tsarina carefully plucked a potion from the line of potions. "You vill not need this one then."

There was a soft pop and a set of clothes appeared next to the potions along with towels and other toiletries.

"You vash up," the tsarina instructed. "The house elves vill take care of your ruined clothes. After vashing, you must take these potions. This is for pain relief, and this one is vhat you English call Pepper-Up. Put this paste on any bruises. When you are done, there vill be a guard in the bedroom and they vill take you back to us."

Aria nodded and the tsarina swept from the bathroom.

Taking a deep breath, Aria let Krum's jersey fall to the floor. She carefully slipped out of her clothes, the mirror showing a developing bruise on her back and face where she had slammed against the ground. A rock had pressed into her shoulder, leaving a bleeding cut, and the blood that had come from her nose had dried all over her face and neck. It was amazing Nikola's little siblings had not run off screaming. She looked ghastly!

Carefully stepped into the pool-like tub, Aria immediately sighed as sore muscles were immediately soothed. The house elves must have added something to the water besides lavender.

Even though she would have loved to just lay against the side of the tub and relax, Aria knew that she could not, not as an unexpected guest to the royal family of Bulgaria! She carefully washed her hair and body, climbing out of the tub once the bubbles were all gone. She dutifully took the potions as she had been instructed and rubbed the bruise paste on the parts of her she could reach, mostly her face.

The clothes she had been given were soft. The trousers were loose, and the tunic dress fell to her knees. A pair of boots were also supplied, and she pulled those on. With the brush given to her by the house elves, she brushed her hair, hoping that her curls would not frizz too badly as they dried as she had not been given any other hair care products.

Stepping into the bedroom there were two female guards waiting for her. The two gave her kind smiles before escorting her back to the parlor she had first been taken to. The royal family was there. Nikola had also bathed and changed and now lounged on a sofa. He and his father rose to their feet as she entered. She hesitated for a moment, unsure how to greet them, but settled on a wobbly curtsy.

"No need for that," Nikola said, waving her over to the sofa. "Come. Sit. Father has sent a message to Lord Black."

"How will we know that he's got it?" Aria asked.

"My people vill not leave until Lord Black is ready to come get you," the tsar answered. "Now, are you hungry? Thirsty?"

"Um . . ."

A tea service popped onto a table along with a tray of finger sandwiches and an assortment of cookies. As Aria eyed the cookies, Desislava sidled up to her.

"Aria," Nikola said, a little exasperated, but no less fondly, "my little sister, Desislava."

"You're friends vith Harry Potter!" the girl cried. Nikola groaned. "I heard Nikola got to party vith you and him. Does he fight monsters?"

Aria scrambled to find an answer that would not completely crush the little girl's heart. Her father, however, beat Aria to it.

"Desito," he said calmly, "ve have told you that those stories are most likely not true."

"Da," Nikola jumped in. "In fact, it is not Potter who fights monsters but Aria!"

Aria glared at him, but he ignored her as Desislava and Ivan inched closer.

"I have it on good authority that two years ago, Miss Aria fought a basilisk!"

The two children gasped, appropriately awed. The tsar and tsarina gasped, appropriately horrified.

"A basilisk?" the tsarina cried, clutching her chest. "You vould have been vhat? Eleven?"

"Twelve!" Aria retorted. "And Nikola . . . er His Highness . . . makes it sound far more exciting that it was."

"Just call me Nikola."

"One of Hogwarts Founders left his pet basilisk deep in under the castle," Aria told the two little children. "And somehow it was still alive and decided that, instead of hunting in the Forbidden Forest, it wanted to hunt in the castle."

Desislava and Ivan were wide-eyed with awe.

"Tell us more about Hogvarts!" Ivan begged. "Ve are going to go to Durmstrang."

Aria thought back to reading Hogwarts, A History.

"Hogwarts founded by four friends around the year 990 AD," Aria told them. "Their names were Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. Our castle was built by them in the highlands of Scotland, and it's believed that the Founders infused so much of their own magic into the castle that it's partially sentient."

"Vhat is that?" Desislava asked her elder brother. Nikola answered in Bulgarian, and his siblings nodded in understanding.

"Every student is sorted into four different Houses," Aria explained, "this is where we live within the castle, and they are like little families and support groups. Each house is named after a Founder, and we are sorted based off what we find important and how that matches with what each Founder found important in a person. For example, my house and Harry Potter's house, Slytherin, is known as being the House of the cunning and ambitious while Gryffindor where our best friends Ron and Hermione are, they are known as the House of bravery and chivalry."

"Vhat about Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?" Ivan asked.

"Ravenclaw is the House of wit, wisdom, and intellect. Hufflepuffs value loyalty and hard work. Each house has its own animal emblem. Slytherin is a snake, Gryffindor is a lion, Ravenclaw is an eagle, and Hufflepuff is a badger."

"Durmstrang does not have houses, ve simply have boy and girl dormitories," Nikola told Aria. "Two years are grouped together vith the seventh-year dorms completely separate. It is in the far north of Europe, surrounded by mountains and lakes. It was founded by Nerida Vulchanova in 1294; not quite as old as Hogvarts."

"I believe Durmstrang is the youngest of the three large schools," the tsar said. "Though it's the best."

A royal guard entered the parlor, bowing stiffly to the tsar and tsarina.

"A Lord Sirius Black is here," the wizard said.

"See him here," the tsar stated. The royal guard stepped out of the room for a moment and returned promptly with Sirius in tow. The man was certainly frazzled. His robes had scorch marks on them, and his hair looked hurriedly combed while he now used a cane to keep himself steady. His eyes settled on Aria and his shoulders slumped in relief.

"You are a sight for sore eyes," Sirius said, completely ignoring the royalty for a moment. "Harry was inconsolable after he got to our campsite until we got word of where you were." He limped and the tsarina sent a chair towards him with a flick of her wand. Sirius sank into the chair gratefully, nodding his head towards the couple.

"I cannot tell you how thankful we are that Aria found her way to safety with you," Sirius said. "We are glad that in the chaos she was able to take refuge."

"I was hoping one of her parents would accompany you," the tsarina said to Sirius, pouring him a cup of tea and floating it over to him. "I wanted to discuss how Nikola found her."

Aria felt her heart stutter.

"Her father is unfortunately recovering from a brief illness," Sirius answered. "Else he would be here. And her mother, unfortunately, passed before she entered Hogwarts."

Aria bit into a cookie to keep a straight face. Something in her gut told her to keep quiet for the moment. She recalled deciding to keep her Muggleborn status secret from Nikola at the YEP Symposium and wondered if Sirius thought it was better to conceal the fact as well.

"I have charge of her at the moment," Sirius continued.

"Do you have any female relatives?" the tsarina asked Aria, turning a sharp, concerned look at her. Aria shook her head. "No grandmothers? Aunts? Cousins?"

"It's just me and my dad," Aria answered.

The tsarina tsked before recovering her composure. She said something in Bulgarian to the two youngest and, even though they whined a bit, Desislava and Ivan said their good-byes and left the parlor.

"Tsarevich Nikola found Miss Aria being attacked by Death Eaters," the tsarina told Sirius. Aria felt her cheeks burn and she could not help looking at her lap, her fingers twisting in the hem of the tunic dress. "If Nikola and his guards had not stepped in, she vould have been raped."

Aria winced at the candidness.

"I see," Sirius said. "Does Aria owe the tsarevich a Life Debt?"

"Ne."

"Are you certain?" the tsar demanded. Nikola gave him a sharp look.

"I am certain," the teen snapped. "I did not go out of my way to help her. I saw someone in distress, and I helped. Like any good vizard vould. That is it."

The tsar looked back at Sirius.

"There is no Life Debt," he said. "Ve vill not acknowledge it."

Sirius nodded.

"Very good," he said. "If that is all? I would like to get back to England else my godson will most likely charge Bulgaria to find Aria."

Aria giggled, a little wetly, and she rose to her feet, going to Sirius' side.

"Thank you," she said to the royal family, dropping another curtsy. "I . . . I don't . . ."

"You are velcome, young lady," the tsarina answered with a smile.

Sirius led Aria out of the parlor and they were led back to the room that Aria had first arrived in. Sirius was handed a cup which he held out to Aria.

"Our Portkey," he said. Aria sighed and grabbed hold of it.

They arrived in Aria's backyard.

Darkness was over Cokesworth. She had not realized how late it had been in Bulgaria but hearing the far-off clock tower of the church ring 12am was jarring.

"Let's get you inside," Sirius said. "You'll be tired from everything including two international Portkeys."

"Are you all right?" Aria asked, pointing to the cane.

"This is just not what my healers meant by taking it easy," Sirius told her. "I was allowed to take the trip to the World Cup because I have been so diligent in my medical regime, but fighting Death Eaters and portkeying across Europe twice is not what they had in mind."

"I'm sorry," Aria murmured as they entered through the backdoor. "You could've sent Remus."

"To the Royal Family of Bulgaria? I've already put Remus through the wringer too much recently. Bulgaria, unfortunately, has not changed must from my own days of youth. At least, from what little I've been able to ascertain between getting the message that you were safe and in Bulgaria and getting to Bulgaria." He looked around the kitchen. "They're still quite the pureblood society. Their government backs Durmstrang's continued resistance to admitting Muggleborns into its hallowed halls."

"Good thing I didn't mention I was Muggleborn," Aria said, a little nervously.

"While I'm certain the royal family has enough sense not to attack a British citizen, yes, it was a good thing."

The two of them stepped into the living room. Every light was one and one of the late-night variety shows played in the background on the television. Kenneth, Remus, and Harry were all sprawled on the couch, Kenneth underneath Remus, and Remus underneath Harry. They were sound asleep.

"Do you have a camera?" Sirius asked. Aria shuffled into the hallway drawer where she was keeping her stash of disposable cameras.

The flash of the camera made Harry shift and grumpily open his eyes. It took him less than a second to register that Sirius and Aria were standing in front of him.

"ARIA!" he screeched, scrambling up, landing an elbow in Remus' stomach in the process. Remus gasped awake, startling Kenneth underneath him.

"Aria!" Kenneth cried, shoving Remus off to rush at Aria. She threw her arms around his neck, and he held her tight. Tears dripped onto her shoulder and Kenneth's shoulders shook.

"I'm okay," Aria whispered, her voice cracking. "I'm not hurt."

"Bit of a stretch," Sirius said. "The Bruise Balm works fine, but not that fast. Your face still hasn't faded back to normal."

Aria grimaced.

"What happened?" Kenneth asked. "Harry said you lost your grip on each other because of the crowd?"

Aria nodded shakily.

"What else happened?"

Aria took a deep breath and told him.