Hogwarts - A New Era Has Dawned - A New Lord Has Risen

Jessica could not sleep.

She had already changed out of her school Quidditch robes, and was now wearing her softer and more comfortable Eagles robes. They draped around her more elegantly, and were tailored to her specifications, not those of the previous Center Chaser. Now she lay on her back in the middle of the floor, not willing to grant herself sleep and rest where a strange man had laid his head....

The moonlight glinted off of a teacup sitting on her nightstand...

Moonlight...

Somewhere (she was sure it was in her imagination) she heard a wolf howling.

She had gone an entire day without worrying, without thinking about what the future was going to bring. She had spent the afternoon and better part of the evening up and away in the sky and far from what plagued her.

The Wolves.

She closed her eyes briefly, letting her thoughts whirl. The memories of what had happened in Antigonus's manor still haunted her...it had all been too soon, nothing was going write in this plan...especially not the position of her father. Had he fallen to far into the role he was meant to play? Or was he simply playing the part so well that he had managed to fool even his only daughter?

She rose silently, hugging herself.

She needed to talk to Eden, wherever she was.

Jessica slipped from her dormitory and made her way down the staircase and slipped silently into the Common Room.

Race was standing there waiting for her.

"What are you doing up?" They both asked each other instantly.

Race looked warn and beaten, he hadn't yet changed out of his robes and his eyes clearly longed for sleep. Jessica reached out and held him--he looked as though he were about to fall over.

"You're going out, aren't you?"

"I have to." She said honestly.

"You haven't been yourself these past few days..."

"Isn't THAT the truth." Jessica laughed, unwilling to tell Race the whole story.

The boy leaned in a little closer to her, "Just...be careful, alright? I know there's more going on around you than wht you're willing to say, but just remember that you made more friends tonight playing than what you could ever ask for."

"Alright, I'll keep that in..."

Race leaned in even further and kissed her on her lips ever so gently.

She was the first to step back, looking at him strangely, "I really must go, I need to talk to someone."

Race flushed, and clearly was embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean--I..."

Jessica clapped him on the shoulder, "I'll see you in the morning..."

With that she clambered out of the portrait hall and glided down the corridoor.

It was with great haste that Eden collected her potion-making tools from her dormitory. As it was not yet late and most Ravenclaws were still in the common room, Eden cast an undetectable extension charm on her school rucksack that allowed her to place all the items, even her cauldron, into it.

With that settled, it was only a matter of getting through the common room and out into the hallways in peace. It was only when she had touched the handle of the common room door that she felt a presence close behind her.

“Exley, can I have a quick word?” The sneering tone told her almost immediately that it was Walker.

Eden was in no hurry to look him in the eye, but did so grudgingly. It was evident from the furrowing of his brow that he was still rather upset, but Eden quickly looked past him. “Listen,” she said in a rushed voice, “I’m busy… not that I’d talk with you anyway. It’s a shame that I can see Finch staring at from across the room right now, otherwise I may have actually believed that he hadn’t forced you to come over here.”

Not waiting to hear his reply, Eden rushed quickly out of the room and traveled down the seventh floor hallway. Upon reaching the moving staircases, she journeyed all the way down to the ground floor. The potions room, to be exact, was her destination. Agnello always let her use the room to brew the Elixir, and usually stayed to watch. Eden always thought he was an inquisitive man, but didn’t really mind so long as they had respect for one another. As usual, he was sitting behind his desk marking papers when Eden arrived.

“Eden,” he said with a nod, acknowledging her presence. He didn’t look up from his marking.

“Morose,” she responded, setting her bag down on a desk in the first row. Eden used the potion master’s first name to address him most of the time, although she couldn’t be sure whether or not he minded. Pulling out her medium-sized cauldron first, Eden began unpacking her things. She set up fairly quickly, and made way to the potions cabinet to gather supplies.

“We’re getting low on aconite,” Agnello stated.

“What?” Eden asked, but received no reply. The only sound in the damp stone room was the furious scratching of Agnello’s quill. He was still intently focused on his marking.

Eden cleared her throat. “I need that aconite; you know that. How much is left?”

The sound of Agnello’s quill ceased. “Two vials in crushed form. That should be satisfactory for all the wolves.”

“Yes,” Eden replied. “But it will only last for a month. I’ll need more eventually. It would give me great piece of mind to assume you’ll be growing more.” She opened the cabinet and scanned the shelves before spotting the vials.

“It would do you well to not concern yourself with what I am doing,” the tall man with snow white hair stated. It was not until Eden had situated herself in front of her cauldron that she realized he was staring at her intently.

“Is that right?”

“In case you’ve forgotten, I am letting you use my classroom. It would be a shame to lose this privilege over a silly insult,” Agnello stated. His green eyes were flecked with sternness as he rose from behind his desk.

Eden stayed put, but she did not crumble under his gaze. “It’s never been too much of an issue before, now has it?”

“You take your graciousness with me for granted, girl. It seems as if you talk to me like I am one of your little friends.” He had slowly made his way over to Eden’s desk. “I cannot say I am surprised, although I am thoroughly appalled.”

Swiftly, Eden rounded her desk and was face-to-face with the potions master. “I would expect that from you. Though, I can’t understand why you do this.”

“Do what, Exley?”

Eden glanced at her bubbling cauldron to gather her thoughts. Finally she said, “You pretend not to like it when I use your first name, and you act as if you’re appalled at the way that I treat you.” Eden tilted her head up to look him directly in the eye. “I find it rather surprising myself. You’ll award me house points in class, you’ll give me excellent grades—”

“That’s because you deserved those things. I don’t favor students, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Eden frowned. “Look what you’re doing right now. Does this happen with any of your other students? I tell you things, and you keep them secret. I just don’t understand… are you scared to admit aloud that you may be just a little fond of me?”

The sound of light footsteps echoing near the doorway to the classroom caught Eden’s attention. In a split second, she whirled around, suddenly realizing how close to Agnello she had been standing.

"What is all of THIS?" Walker demanded as he strolled into the potions room, "Exley, how often do you come to your Potions master after hours?"

"Get out of here, Walker!" Agnello ordered furiously, rising to his feet.

Walker nearly staggered back from the sheer volume of this statement, "Professor, i was just wondering--"

"Exley has a question about one of the potions we are brewing in my class, and seeing as YOU dropped out of my advanced class with a T, I don't suppose any of this concerns you!"

Walker blinked, and for a moment looked as though he were about to argue back, but then stopped.

__________________________

Jack sat alone in his study, in the guest bedroom. He had Jessica's wand in his fingertips and he twirled it back and forth with his nimble and skillful fingers.

"Oh my dear..." He muttered, "What have you gotten yourself into?"

She was thousands of miles away from him at the moment, while he was here risking his life playing the most dangerous game known to wizards. He was a master of this particular game, but his only worry at the moment was playing his part so well that he lost the confidence of those that he was trying to inform, those that he was trying to protect..

He had seen the tortured look in his daughters eyes, she didn't believe him, she thought that he had gone over, crossed to the other side.

Because he had allowed himself to become a Wolf.

It had, in all practical senses, been a brilliant move. Antigonus thought that now that he was a Wolf, there was no way that Jack could disobey an order. He had been wrong though, Jack was a strong wizard than what the Wolfram could understand. That was all very well and good, for the moment he needed to play the part of the meek pup giving orders...

"You will give Jessica back her wand."

The words were spoken delicately, but with power in every syllable. Yates crouched on the floor in front of Jack Crosslin, hunched over with his eyes squeezed shut, "You will give Jessica back her wand, or suffer more consequences..."

Yates had the nerve to look up, teary eyed. In the center of his forehead there was branded a strange symbol, it looked like a circle with some insignia in the middle...it was in fact Crosslin's signature.

Jack usually wore dark leather gloves, and now the one on his right hand was missing, revealing that his hand was covered in scars, marks, burns, and rune carvings into his flesh. The skin was hardly recognizable, and now that his job was done he covered himself back up once more.

"You will do this for me and not tell Antigonus. I will tell him myself."

Yates rose to his feet, ready to embark at once...

Jack gave a small smile...

Both Eden and Agnello had instinctually taken a step back, and both were now staring at Walker with narrowed eyes. The boy looked angry at the professor’s insult, and opened his mouth to speak.

“Sir, I only dropped out of your class because I needed to make room for another subject. I was getting a T because you hadn’t given us any assignments yet…”

“That’s enough,” Agnello stated firmly. “I don’t care to hear your pathetic excuses. Now leave here at once, boy. It’s after curfew; you should not be wandering the castle this late at night.”

“But sir, Exley is here—”

“Can’t you see she has my permission you fool? Now get back to Ravenclaw Tower at once, or you’ll have detention with me for the rest of the week.”

Walker sulked off through the doorway, but not before turning and giving Eden a menacingly inquisitive look. She ignored him and turned back to Agnello.

“I’m sorry Professor…” Eden said, deciding to refer to Agnello in the post proper terms even though they were now alone. Her body stiffened as she sat down in front of her cauldron under the heat of his gaze. She stirred the Elixir clockwise five times, adding in another pinch of aconite as she went.

Agnello moved slowly to the other side of the desk, bending over the cauldron ever-so-slightly to inhale the woodsy scent of the potion. He looked satisfied with Eden’s work. It took him a few moments to stop sniffing at the air and straighten up.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but you’ll have to register this potion with the ministry at some point.” His voice was calm and stern like usual. “There could be very serious consequences if you refuse. I assume that once the Ministry gets wind that Antigonus’ wolves can speak while transformed, they’ll have reason to be searching for just such a potion.”

Eden smiled to herself as she stirred. “I’m not worried.”

“And why is that?” Agnello asked.

“I’ve changed my storing methods.” Eden reached into her bag, and after some rooting around due to the Undetectable Extension charm, she pulled out a small glass vial. It was a perfectly shiny glass, so clear that it looked as if someone had just polished it. “You see sir, this looks like a normal potion vial.” She tapped the sides with her finger and opened the lid to prove that it was normal and empty.

“Do go on,” Agnello said dryly, “I find this most amusing.”

Eden stirred the potion ten more times, until the shimmering liquid turned from a pale grey to a light brown, signaling its completion. She grabbed the vial, scooped it full of the potion, and snapped on the lid. Holding up in front of Agnello, the vial appeared exactly as it had before.

“Interesting,” he stated, examining the glass. “A disillusionment charm on the potion?”

“Not quite. I went through quite a process making the vials. They’re composed of the same material that is embedded within an invisibility cloak, only not so much as to make the outside of the vial invisible as well. I’ve also done the liberty of placing refill charms on them, so that the potion never runs out.”

Agnello nodded. He walked back over to his desk. “And you’re positively sure that you won’t take my job when I retire?”

Eden looked at him reproachfully. “I’ve already told you no. Besides, that’s too far in the future for me to have any certainty of whether I’ll be living or not.” She filled up the rest of her vials and started cleaning up her supplies.

“You will be. If there’s one thing I can trust in, it’s your ability to find a solution to anything.” He picked up his quill, dipped it into his ink well, and began marking again. He didn’t look up, but continued to speak. “I trust that you’ll find tomorrow’s class quite interesting. We’ll be making Amortentia, the most powerful love potion ever created. I will be interested to hear what yours smells of, though I suspect that the scent of a bubbling cauldron will be one of them.”

It was hard to keep from smiling whist Eden slung her bag over her shoulder and left the room. Her strides were quick, but she was fairly confident that Mr. Booth would not be patrolling the dungeons at this time of night. She took a left, heading for the entrance hall when a voice beside her caught her off guard.

“What are you doing?” Walker whispered as quietly as possible, but loud enough for Eden to hear. He was standing in the shadow beside the gargoyle statue that doubled as the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

“What rubbish, I should ask you the same question,” Eden replied, “Have you been standing there waiting for me?”

“Perhaps.”

“Looks like Finch isn’t around to force you to be pleasant, so what shall I expect? Have you been waiting to jump out and hex me? I daresay your good reflexes may almost be a match for my own.”

Walker frowned, but kept his threatening demeanor. “No, not to hex you. I was thinking more along the lines of asking you why you’re down here with Agnello after curfew.”

Eden chuckled to herself. She pushed past Walker and trotted through the weaving dungeon corridors, making her way to the Entrance Hall. It wasn’t until she had reached the top of the large marble staircase that Walker caught up with her. Neither one said a word until they had reached the seclusion of the seventh floor hallway, heading for the Ravenclaw common room.

“Do I really have to spell it out for you, Walker? Agnello told you I was there to work on a potion.”

“I don’t buy it. What potion could you possibly be working on? You’re too good to need extra help, everyone knows that. There’s something you’re not telling me. It’s written all over your face, Exley. What’s wrong with you?”

Eden ignored him as they reached the common room door. The smooth voice asked, “How can you clasp someone's hands together in such a manner that they cannot leave the room without unclasping them?”

Before Eden had a chance to think about it, Walker replied, “You would clasp them to something in the room that is immoveable, that way they would have to unclasp their hands in order to leave.”

“You are correct.” The door swung open and Eden climbed through first. The common room was nearly empty, as a few hours had passed since she’d been in the dungeons. Eden assumed that it was at least one o’clock or later.

“Have you answered that one before?” she asked once both of them were inside, referring to the door’s riddle. There was a hint of both disbelief and surprise in her voice.

Walker shook his head. “You know I haven’t; it’s different every time.”

“Well it’s about time then. I’d been wondering how the ruddy hell you managed to get into Ravenclaw in the first place…”

Walker shrugged off the insult, only looking somewhat tired. “Listen, I waited around for a reason. We need to talk about quidditch.”

“Oh we do, do we? I guess it’s only acceptable to talk about it when you want to then is it?” Eden turned on a dime and headed for the girls dorms.

“It’s not like that…” he called after her, “I’ve just been thinking about it, that’s all. I discussed it with the team tonight. We need you to keep playing for us; they say Webb’s only getting worse. He hit his head pretty bad, you know. It’s not the kind of thing that’s able to be fixed using magic. He’s got major head trauma. I visited him today at lunch. Madam Lachley says they might even move him to St. Mungo’s…” He paused for a moment, looking worried. “I didn’t want to be the one to ask you, since I know that you’re not very fond of me, nor I of you, but since I’m the captain it’s my responsibility. Will you stay on the team?”

Still hovering on the first stair to the dormitories, Eden took a moment to asses Walker’s sincerity. She assumed it was something very few people got to see, and the two of them would probably go back to an insult basis the next day, but somehow (for the good of the team, she supposed) she decided to say yes and ascend the stairs to her dorm.

The next day came around sooner than Jessica could have hoped. She managed to stagger through without much trouble, the aftermath of the previous days Quidditch match still haunted her and the rest of the team (although the Ravenclaws were directing most of their angst and frustration to Walker, mercifully)

An own came from Jake reminding her that she was to play at this weekends match against the Canadian National Team. Jake had anticipated her actions, and she was granted 150 box seat tickets to the first ones who came for them.

The announcement was posted all over the school by Race, through the comm-link system his voice echoed through the entire institute--if anyone wanted free tickets to the game in Denver Colorado on Potters Day, they had best scat down to the Great Hall. There was instant pandemonium.

Race had assured the Gryffindor house team that they were already in, and Jessica strolled in while the rest of the House was down in the great hall fighting over tickets.

"Its a brawl down there, i didn't realize free National Match tickest were so popular." She grinned.

The next morning was a relief to Eden. She was happy that Herbology went quickly, and was quite enthused for potions (although she didn’t show this fact). It was always exciting to brew a potion for the first time, which was just the case with Amortentia. She’d never had a use for a love potion, so she’d never made one. The class flew by despite this, Eden’s cauldron pleasantly bubbling before her.

Agnello had been wandering through the classroom, handing out criticisms in his usual fashion. The potion had been so hard for one poor Gryffindor girl to make that she’d broke down crying and ran out of class when Agnello had suggested that she learn to follow instructions. Eden knew very well that he had an affinity for picking on Gryffindors most of all, though he would take a shot at anyone who was not up to his standard.

Eden was the first to finish, and once she had let the potion sit for the required five minutes, Agnello passed her on his rounds. He stopped in front of her desk, leaned over her cauldron and inhaled deeply.

“Ah, firewhisky… freshly chopped ginger root, and…” he paused, glancing at Eden quickly before he continued his circle of the classroom.

She desperately wanted to ask Agnello why he hadn’t revealed the third smell that attracted him, but a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach warned her not to dwell on it any further. Instead, she inhaled the smell of the potion herself. It smelled of something musky and unrecognizable mixed with an aroma of the crisp, untouched pages of a book. And lastly, as Agnello had predicted – a bubbling cauldron. As Eden took another lungful of the smell, she understood the identity of the first scent she had detected. It was… a wolf. In particular, the way the soft coat of a wolf smelled when she lay against it.

Panic rose inside of her immediately. Why was this scent something that attracted her? Why did some aspect of the wolves have to creep into her life, even at the most peaceful moments like when she was potion-making? Sick of being immobilized by the most wonderful and horrible thing she had ever smelled, Eden quickly filled her vial with the potion and vanished the rest. She took it up to Agnello’s desk, but as soon as she handed it to him, he knew something was wrong. He didn’t say it, but the look of concern in his eyes was enough.

“May I please be excused from class early Professor?”

Agnello considered the emotion on Eden’s face for a moment before agreeing. Eden made a hasty departure, heading for Ravenclaw Tower right away. She needed to get away from that room… that smell. It was the most wonderful thing she had ever smelt in her entire life, and that scared her more that she could comprehend.

The common room was empty, and Eden took it as her opportunity to use the fireplace. She weaved the usual enchantments on it before stepping through, arriving in her godfather’s second floor study. He was behind the desk, the quill in his hand flying over the parchment below it.

Eden cleared her throat, making her presence clear.

“Do come in. Have a seat, won’t you?” Antigonus said without looking up. “Dear girl, I knew you were there from the second you put a toe through the portal. There is no need to make your presence known with me. I am a wolf, Eden. I can sense my kin whenever they are near.”

Slowly, Eden took a seat in the armchair opposite the Wolfram’s desk. “I have the Elixir,” she said, reaching into her schoolbag and retrieving all seven special vials that contained the potion. She explained their apparent emptiness to Antigonus, who seemed more than satisfied.

“I find it hard to understand why you fight my will when you have the ability to do such amazing things,” he said gently, looking upon Eden with the slightest hint of a smile on his face. “Do you know what you can become? With knowledge comes power. So much like my dear wife you are. Why is it that I offer you everything, and you refuse me?”

“I know what you’re trying to do, godfather. I understand what you have to offer me. I simply cannot join you and slay people for werewolf rights.” Eden rose from the chair. “Whatever angle you try with me, my answer will still be no. If I am to be a wolf, it will have to happen by force.”

“You are more like her than you know.” Antigonus let out a small lighthearted chuckle and continued writing.

“No, I’m not. I could never willingly love someone who has done what you have.”

Just as the comment really sank in, Eden retraced her steps and was through the fireplace. She stepped back into the large airy tower that was the Ravenclaw common room, realizing that two first years were sitting on the couch directly in front of her.

“Obliviate!” Eden exclaimed, whipping out her wand and pointing it at the two girls. They both had a blank look in their eyes for a moment before coming back to reality and beginning to chat with one another as if nothing had happened.

Feeling a familiar low rumbling in her stomach, Eden decided that she would head down to the Great Hall for lunch. Most students were already down there, but as Eden headed for the Ravenclaw table, she noticed there was a commotion at the Gryffindor table. Students were crowded around one end of the table, looking frenzied.

Eden spotted Finch down the table, and took a seat beside him and Randall. “What’s going on over there?” she asked Finch, scooping a sandwich onto her plate.

“Didn’t you hear the announcement about the American International Team’s quidditch game?” he replied.

“Oh. No, I didn’t.” Eden wasn’t going to tell him why she hadn’t heard it. It would be difficult to understand why she’d been at a Victorian Manor thousands of miles away…

“She’s got one-hundred-and-fifty tickets to give away. They’re box seats. I got mine already,” Randall stated. “Though I’m surprised she let me have one after the match against us. I thought she’d be cross about Walker’s foul and all…”

“And what about you, Finch?” Eden asked in a mocking tone, turning from the blond to the brown-haired boy. “You sucking up to Miss America as well?”

“I’m not going, if that’s what you mean,” he replied sourly, taking a bite of treacle tart. “I’ve got too much homework this weekend. I think Potter’s Day is a load of bollocks anyway. Not like I’ll be celebrating…”

Eden scanned the pack of students encircling the Gryffindor table, finally spotting Jessica amidst the chaos. She could have almost been swallowed up by the crowd, if not for Race standing beside her protectively.

“Hmm… I think I’ll have a word after the crowd dies down a bit.”

“Exley, what in the name of Merlin are you going to talk with her about?” Finch retorted, “You don’t even know her.”

Eden chuckled. “Oh, you’d be surprised.” She took another quick look around the Great Hall, her eyes quickly flicking to the Slytherin table where Jasper’s impostor sat. Eden had a long list of things to do this weekend, but nothing involving her brother was there. He would have to get himself out of his own mess. Eden was sick of being required to act like a Gryffindor and save him every time things got tough…

Finch raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Slowly, Eden’s eyes focused back on the boy next to her. She only smiled a very faint smile before taking one last bite of her sandwich and heading for the Gryffindor table. Most of the fuss had died down, and there were only a few remaining students that wanted tickets. Eden made a point of approaching slowly, perfecting her timing so that she could walk up to Jessica when she was otherwise unoccupied.

As Race handed a few Hufflepuff boys some tickets, Eden swooped in beside Jessica. “A word, Vandenbrooke. It’s quite important if you’d like to save your own neck.” Not waiting for Jessica to reply, she tugged the sleeve of the girl’s robes and pulled her aside so that they could talk in peace. “You may want to know that Antigonus is planning something this weekend, and it involves you. Your father is most certainly in on it, but even I don’t know what it is. I just have… a feeling, that’s all. I talked to him today, the Wolfram that is, and he was more calm than usual. That always means he’s been planning something. I need to know, what mode of transportation are you using to get to America?”

"Broom." Jessica muttered back, speaking to Eden, "I'm flying overseas. It may seem ludicrous, but fighting the ocean winds and bitter cold from the ocean will be a good way to throw me back into shape. I"ll end up apparating about halfway there, probably, if it takes me too long. Why do you ask? Do you think something is going to happen at the game? I wouldn't doubt it. There will be loads of wizards there, and most of the players on my team are quite liberal when it comes to matters that concern your cherished godfather. If he tries to wipe them out it will not go unnoticed. They are too public of figures, and there are fans who analyze us and have memories every trick and every trait--there is no way a polyjuiced replacement could pull it off."

She tapped her chin and looked the girl before her up and down swiftly, "We'll be in the sky with hundreds of thousands of wizards watching us. If you think something is going to happen to me or my father or someone on my team, let them try it."

Her eyes gleamed scarlet for only a second, "You know only a part of what i can really do, Exley. We both have a lot of abilities and powers that we keep hidden from the other. Do not underestimate me, and i will not underestimate you. I appreciate the heads up, but i must ask you what prompted you to give me and my cause aide, when you have such close ties to the Wolfram himself?"

“Listen, I am aware that I have close ties with Antigonus, but I – as much as any other decent human being – would like to spare innocent lives if it is possible. I am not foolish nor naïve enough to believe that my godfather will execute any kind of grand plan during your match. If anything is to be done at the hands of his wolves, it will come in darkness, at a time when it is least expected.”

Eden paused to look over the girl before her. She truly was not sure how to feel about Jessica, but she did not hate her. She hoped that it was possible for them to have a mutual agreement about their feelings for one another, whatever those feelings may be. They were certainly not friends by any means, but perhaps a trust of some sort could be set in place without the inconvenience of each girl’s position getting in the way.

“I only ask you to be vigilant when you are alone. America, nor England for that matter, is safe when the Wolfram has his eye on you. Be careful in your travels. And, I know this probably sounds like a load of rubbish to you, considering that we’re not the best of mates, if I could even go as far as to call it that. I just hope that you’ll consider what I’ve said, if not because you believe that I truly do not wish to see you harmed, then believe it because I selfishly wish to have a clean conscience.”

Glancing quickly at the Slytherin table, Eden continued, “My brother is not yet back. He is still being impersonated by the use of Polyjuice Potion. If I’m correct, you may find yourself in his company at some point this weekend. That is of course, if Antigonus has renewed faith in him, which I am truly starting to doubt.”

Eden felt a hot glare boring through her back, and peripherally saw that it was Race. She decided to be quick with the rest of her words before he decided to butt in.

“I’ll be there, in Colorado; keeping tabs on my godfather’s plans for the most part. This may be trite after all I’ve said, but good luck with the match. I was going to cheer for Canada, but I may change my mind yet.” With that, Eden headed out of the Great Hall.

Jessica nodded at Eden's retreating back, taking all her words to heart. Race was suddenly at her side, touching her elbow.

"What did Exley want?"

"Just to talk about the match, I've gotten her her ticket she's coming along this weekend as well." She replied, turning and looking at the boy. The expression on Race's face told her clearly that he didn't believe her, but he was going to let it go. Things were starting to tame in the Great Hall as 150 students triumphantly grasped their respective tickets and marched back to their Common Roms.

"How are you getting to America?" Race asked her as they trotted up the marble staircase, "More importantly, how are we all getting to America?"

"I"ll have a teacher announce it tomorrow, there is going to be a huge Portkey network in Hogsmeade. They arrange things like this every year, the board. Now that they know there will be more people coming from overseas, its all good. And as for me...I"m flying like usual."

Race did not question it, he probably knew already her habit of flying to matches, and as they strolled down the hall he looked at her sideways and asked another question that came out of the blue, "Are your parents going to be there? How long has it been since you've seen them?"

"Mmm....I dunno, they've stopped coming to matches." Jessica said fairly, "Being constantly on tour makes for rather strained family relationships. They can keep tabs on me through articles and press coverage." She changed the subject, "Have you been to America?"

"No." Race said.

They got back to the Common Room, and after uttering the password, ducked through the portrait hole and inside. Jessica was met firstly by Kara's small girlish face, whose countenance was twisted in an expression of worry. Although the girl's frame was slight, she seemed to be trying to block the American girls view of...something in the Common...

"Jess--we're, we're sorry we don't know who--we don't know who did it--"

Jessica sidestepped the girl and looked around the Common Room with a sinking heart.

Someone had done a bit of fancy wandwork, writing "AMERICAN MUDBLOOD MUGGLE LOVER WHORE GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM" in bright red all over everything. It was scrunched on the walls, on various chairs, carved into the ceiling the floor and even the fireplace. Jessica watched a few of the Gryffindors break off from examining the artwork. They looked at her guiltily and stood back.

It was childish, and the words in themselves meant nothing to her, but somehow it was just the sentiment that hurt. Jessica knew America's reputation for being a tolerant country when it came to muggles (even the pures like herself regularly associated with them) and she was a fool to think that this would go over well in Britain, which nursed a healthy dislike of all muggle related things.

"We've been trying to clear it up." Dan grunted sheepishly, "But it just won't....we've tried everything."

Jessica could think of only one name, ~Jasper~?

"We checked your dorm, that's remained untouched." A fifth year girl whom Jessica had Defense Against the Dark Arts with said, "We're sorry, Jess. I can assure you that it was no one in this house. We're all with you."

There was a general murmur of assent to this statement, and slowly the students went back to their lives.

Jessica didn't let herself be bothered by this. The angry fiery red message was still there for the next day or so...even as she packed her things to leave for the weekend. Finally it was the day of the match and she dragged herself down the staircase and into the Common Room. She left quietly, mounting her broom and slipping away in the sky west towards 'where she belonged.'

Potters Day was around the corner.

OOC: So Jessica is on her way, and i trust you to deal with the aftermath of the vandalism in Gryffindor tower.

OOC: Yes, that I can do. It might take a few posts though; I'm working on it.

IC:

Saturday came as quickly as Eden had expected it to, though her sleep was anything but undisturbed. She didn’t really know what to expect from the Wolfram, but the anxiety was killing her. Mostly, her dreams had consisted of Antigonus finding a way to sneak up on the American girl and bite her, spilling a horrific amount of blood each time. It made Eden sick to think that there was a chance, if only a small one, that those dreams could actually become reality…

After dressing quickly and packing all needed supplies into her bag with the Undetectable Extension charm, Eden was down in the Great Hall with the rest of the student population for breakfast. The portkey network was set up in Hogsmeade, which all the students who held tickets would be walking to once they had eaten. The match was not until the afternoon, but as Eden had been told, traveling over an ocean by portkey was a rather dragged out process. Some wizards had compared the feeling to a muggle term called ‘motion sickness’ of which the meaning escaped Eden. Nonetheless, she would not be traveling by portkey.

There was a general buzz about the Great Hall that morning, which Eden attributed to the weekend’s activities. It was only when she had finished two kippers that she found out the real reason.

Eden had sat down beside Paul Ziegler as she most commonly did, but she was pleasantly surprised when Sandra Hughes sat down on the other side of her. She looked a bit flustered, which was unusual for the composed Chaser.

Paul obviously noticed her state as well. “All right, Hughes?” he asked. “If there’s anything going on that shouldn’t be, I need to know about it. It’s my responsibility as Head Boy, you know.”

“I’ve done nothing wrong!” she retorted. “Always assuming the worst, Ziegler. Don’t you ever think about anything besides being the most pompous Head Boy that Ravenclaw has ever seen?” Paul opened his mouth to reply, but Sandra kept going. “That’s not what I came over here to tell you, though. Have you heard about what happened in the Gryffindor common room last night?”

Eden experienced a sinking feeling somewhere in her lower stomach region that had nothing to do with the food she was eating. Her only response was to shake her head and wait for the news.

“Someone wrote all over the walls in huge red letters. Everyone said that the words read ‘stupid American mudblood lover go back home you prat’ or something like that. With the American part in there, you can only guess who it was about…”

The sinking feeling had quickly migrated up to Eden’s chest area, and she felt her breath hitch in her throat involuntarily. She scanned the Gryffindor table desperately, but Jessica was not sitting alongside Race. She was not at the table at all.

“Well, who wrote it?” Eden snapped, her voice coming out angrier and sharper than she’d intended it to. She cleared her throat. “I mean, does anyone know who it was?”

Sandra frowned and shook her head. “It’s horrible. They say Vandenbrooke went straight home to America after it happened.”

Eden barely avoided gasping aloud. “She’s in America already?”

“As far as I know. But, it could all be a load of rubbish though, you know how people talk. I heard from Greta Jones, but she’s in Hufflepuff so I don’t know how she found that out...”

“What’s the big deal?” Paul interjected. “So she went to America, what does it matter? She’s got to be there for the game later today anyway.” He looked from Sandra to Eden with a puzzled expression displayed on his thin face. “If you’re really that concerned, why don’t you ask Professor Bollbach? She’s bound to have seen the message on the wall, being head of Gryffindor. She’d know whether Vandenbrooke is here or not.”

Eden forced herself to shrug. “Hey, like you said – it’s not a big deal,” she lied. “I was just wondering.” She waited a moment before rising from the table. “Listen, have fun at the game Sandra. I’ve got to do a few things, so I’ll see you both later.”

She left the Great Hall at a quickened pace before Sandra could ask her whether or not she’d be at the game as well. It was a good thing too, because Eden was just about sick of having every word that left her mouth be a lie. Her first priority now was to find out who wrote those words on the wall… but somehow Eden already had more than one suspect. She knew it wasn’t a Gryffindor, since all of them loved their newest house member (especially after the last quidditch match). It wasn’t a Hufflepuff, because none had a particular reason to hate the American, nor were any of them crafty enough to sneak into the Gryffindor common room. So that left a Ravenclaw that was extremely cross over the lost quidditch match, or a Slytherin that had been cunning enough to execute such a plan.

Once Eden was back in the seclusion of the Ravenclaw common room, which was empty due to breakfast, she cast her charms on the fireplace and stepped through, making sure to close the portal while she would be gone for an extended period of time.

She was in the grand parlor room of the Manor, quite unsure why she’d stepped through that particular fireplace. The way it worked was that she always entered the Manor through the room that held the most magical energy. It was a talent that most portal-dwellers learned to best ensure where they would end up. Usually, the room that held the most magical energy also held her godfather, but it was not so on this occasion. Antigonus was not in the parlor, but in the room instead was a small wolf.

The animal’s back was turned, and it was standing staunchly in front of the only window in the parlor, which was very narrow and stretched from the floor to the ceiling.

“I see you took my advice,” Eden said quietly.

The wolf’s concentration was broken by her words, and the energy dissipated from the room rapidly. In a flash, the wolf had vanished, being replaced by a small eleven-year-old boy by the name of Noah Radner. He leapt to his feet and whirled around to see the source of the intrusion.

The panic was wiped from his face as he drank in the realization that he was in no harm. “Although you were the first to say it, I had the idea long before. I wasn’t actually going to stay stuffed up inside Hogwarts for the long weekend when I could be here instead.”

“I thought so.” Eden took a seat in one of the blood red satin-lined armchairs. “You do realize though, that if I had been the Wolfram, or even your father—”

“I would be punished.”

“You are well aware that you are forbidden to transform without permission. You’re lucky that your father doesn’t put a tracking spell on your shapeshifting,” Eden explained, watching the tiny boy flop down into the armchair opposite her. “I am only trying to help you learn the rules of this house. I may not agree with them, but neither of us have the authority to defy them.”

Noah stayed silent. He fiddled with the blue and bronze tie around his neck.

“I’m supposed to watch over you, but I can’t be around all the time.” She rose quickly, swiftly moving towards the parlor door. She undid the wards in Latin, only giving the boy a fleeting grin before the door closed and sealed itself behind her. From there it was up to the third floor. Eden had a strange feeling where she may find her godfather, only all too surprised to realize her intuition had been right.

Antigonus was situated in the third floor drawing room, which had been a favorite place of his wife’s. She spent countless hours there staring out the window, which a hobby that the Wolfram himself had taken up after her death.

He turned to face the door once Eden unlocked the wards and stepped in. She stayed silent though, waiting for him to speak first. The room made her uncomfortable in the first place, as the pungent aroma of stale crumpets was ubiquitous to that room alone, the biscuit having been a favorite of the now deceased woman whose laughter once filled that very space.

“What is it you require?” His voice was scathing, curt. She had clearly interrupted something important.

“I must ask you whether you plan on going to America.”

He laughed. It struck Eden off-guard. “Oh, must you? I’ll be quite frank with you girl – stay out of business that does not regard you. Go to America yourself if you must, but don’t expect to see any wolves there.”

“You’re lying. Jack will be there.”

Antigonus, his steps as light as feathers, was right in front of Eden now. “Why, you wish to see him? Is there a reason behind why you inquire of Jack?”

“Yes, I do wish to see him.”

There was something that resembled mild disgust in the Wolfram’s eyes. His face looked more menacing than it had a few moments ago. “Then you shall. But remember foolish girl, you should never bit of more than you can chew.” He laughed at his own twisted joke. “I really do look forward to our deal. It’s been so long since a female was among our ranks…” he trailed off, looking suddenly as if he might like to lunge at Eden right that second.

He turned away, pointing his wand at the fireplace. He quickly opened up the portal and turned back to face his goddaughter. “To America you go, then.” There was something wicked about his voice that Eden couldn’t quite pinpoint. She wondered why Antigonus was acting this way. “Dare I say happy Potter’s Day?”

The sound of the Wolfram’s laughter filled Eden’s ears as she stepped into the fireplace.

OOC: Here is a list of the players on the American National Quidditch team. And i was thinking that America is the only country that shares the same government as the muggles....meaning that the American President is also consulted about wizarding affairs, there are congressmen that are wizards, stuff like that. It would make politics much more dangerous.

I don't know if it's asking too much or not, but could you have Jasper be the one that tried to intercept Jessica on her way over from the Atlantic? I think it would fit....it Jasper is meant to bite/kill her, then he'd try doggedly again and again until he DOES it. I don't mean to strong arm your characters....if i ever step out of line in that regard, please, please set me straight.



Here's the list anyways.

Jake Grose--Outside Chaser/Team Captain
Timothy Howard--Beater
Jessica Crosslin--Center Chaser
Heath Lewis--Outside Chaser
Joshua Wolf--Beater
Matthew Cooper--Seeker
Sam Keller--Keeper

When i fnished this post, i was like, 'hrm i should have put some women on this team.' but I'm leaving it for now...let me know how it sets with you.

And its obvious that i have an affinity for Denver.

IC:

Jake Grose had to smile as his black limo snaked through the zoo that was Capitol hill. Besides tearing up the skies in a Quidditch match, there was nothing the athlete liked more than coming here--where the world of the muggles and the world of the wizards collided.

He couldn't explain this fascination fully, but he knew part of it was probably brought on by watching the Muggles scurrying around madly trying to come up with scientific explinations for the magical happenings in the country. Men in their gruff voices and sharp suits would mutter away everything he proposed to them, a brilliant system of, 'if you don't look at it too closely then its not there.'

Muggles could be so frustrating.

He had been here to the Capital often enough with reports on the magical situation--a grueling task that had been demanded by the NSA so that the 'nations security would not be compromised' but this time his mission was a little darker...a little harsher. He hoped that the congressmen would hear him out.

He sat in his trim suit with his briefcase on the seat next to him, looking quite dashing (he imagined.) He was amusing himself by tapping his fingers on the black bullet proof glass, grinning as he watched the world flashed by. He dearly wanted just to apparate into the room where the meeting was to be held, but considering the nature of his visit, that would just trample every ethical protocol that had ever existed, and it was also quite as rude as kicking down the door

His wand was tucked in his briefcase, as requested. Damn sharks, they still didn't trust him...

"If you thought the Dark Lord was nasty, you should come down and sit a session of Congress...and see how its REALLY done." was one of Jake's favorite jokes.

The vehicle pulled up to the curb of his destination. Smoothly, Jake slid out of the limo and slammed the door shut. There was no driver to the rig, the thing was enchanted cleverly thanks to his own designs. No one needed to know that, though. Grinning, the man turned on his heel and trotted up the stairs and into the main lobby.

Instantly he joined the throng of other muggles coming in for another days work. He nodded briefly at a few of them, a polite greeting that oftentimes was not returned. These men were here to work, here for business. No time for pleasantries. Jake found himself grinning again.

"Jacob!"

Hearing his name, Jake turned again and was face to face with Mike Rogers, the man he had come to see. Michael was young, younger than most of the balding ancients that floated around the place. Jake beamed when he saw the man, and they briefly shook hands.

"Mike, how are ya?"

"Not good, Jake, not good." Mike's young face was crinkled with worry, "The president has been waiting for ten minutes..."

"Traffic was awful." Jake sighed, which was a lie. He had stopped to get something to eat, "Don't worry, I'll make everything worth his time."

"It's not like he has a choice, he has to listen to you or risk getting shot down by the NSA." Mike said grimly, steering Jake towards the elevator--which was definitely one of the most peculiar muggle inventions, "This is almost deeper than National Security, what you got going on here...oh man, this is so much worse than anything they couldla in Iraq..."

"Really? Let's not talk about it." Jake said pointedly as they stepped into the elevator. His senses had picked up all the cameras and mics that surrounded them, even as the doors to the elevator slid shut.

"Of course, my apologies." Mike pressed the key for the fourth floor, and the elevator slid into motion, "But truly, if someone knew who would believe it?"

"You'll be surprised what Your public will swallow" Jake said with no expression, staring up at the ceiling with his hands behind his backs.

"MY public? What does THAT mean?" Mike said sharply, "Be careful, Mr. Grose. Your particular brand of...Sciences may give you elevated status in some places, but here i assure you that you are as common as the next man."

Tharros had to fight a mad urge not to smack the intern. Instead he ran his fingesr through his hair and sighed, "How little you know..."

"Oh, right." Mike was speaking in a voice of forced respect, "So am i expected to bow before you because of what you are?"

An uncomfortable silence--

"Well, i hope what you've got in that briefcase is special enough to make up for the lost time. The president is a busy, busy man you know. Very busy indeed. He has a meeting with France and Britain in an hour..."

"Somehow i think France and Britain can wait." Jake said, chewing on his tongue as he thought about things, "This is just a LITTLE more important. I mean, we're only talking about the end of humaity as we know it. That's all."

As Jake had hoped, this bit of information struck Mike silent untill they got their destination. There was no secret service at this meeting, because the secret service didn't know about this meeting. Tharros nodded to Mike, and let himself in.

Plush carpet. Designer furnishings. The United States coat of arms splaying not only on the middle of the floor, but on the curtains behind the desk where the President of the United States sat.

"Jake." The man did not rise to greet him, "It's nice to see you again."

"Yeah, don't lie sir. It's unbecoming of a politician." Jake grunted, coming to stand in the center of the room. Instantly he chided himself--this was not the time to talk like he was with his team! He shook his head and continued, "I apologize for being late, sir. I'm just glad that you would take the time to talk to me."

The president sighed, "It's not like i have much of a choice, eh? Let's get down to it then. You mentioned something in your report..."

"Yes sir, that's exactly right, sir." Jake plunged on, "You know of Operation Dragonfly?"

"I believe we discussed it on your last charming visit, Grose, yes. Some plan of action you and your Initiative team took against a...a Wolfman overseas in Britain?"

jake winced at the vague glossing, "Yeah...that. Well...there's been a snag."

The president closed his eyes and massaged his temples, "Jake, do not tell me there has been a snag. Tell me that everything has gone according to plan and that i can get back to other issues instead of having to worry about--"

"Do you want me to tell you or not?"

A beat--

"I don't think i have a choice."

Jake continued then, "The Dragonfly was taken in to the Wolfman's HQ much sooner than what we anticipated. She managed to get out alright, but information from the report she made--"

Here Jake unlatched his briefcase and pulled out one of Jessica's letters, hastily written--

"--We see that the Wolves are closer to infiltrating Amerca than what we thought."

"How close..."

"We think there is....we think there is a sneak."

"You think some of my people are leaking information to this Wolfman?" The president repeated, his eyebrows coming together.

"Yes sir, or some of ours. Or both." Jake said slowly, "No one should know about the Wizarding Community besides yourself and your close advisers. i do hope that you or some of your friends haven't been chatting about it over golf or dinner..."

Jake kicked himself again--was he accusing the president of the United States?

"How dangerous is this?" The president asked, choosing to ignore Tharros's comment.

"We might need to fight." Jake said truthfully, "And the commotion might draw attention. I'm just here to let you know that there's something coming that might force us all to actually join hands and get along."

"What else is in the briefcase?" The president asked shortly, his face creased with worry at all this news.

"Oh, nothing else, really. I sort of just got it since it looks cool." Jake beamed, and then got back to business, "As the leader of the Initiative, I'm going to be completely blatantly honest with you. We do NOT have everything under control. America's Wizarding Community has not needed to buckle down against something like this, so excuse us if you hear some coughs and burps along the way."

"I cannot allow that." The president said simply, "The public cannot know about this Operation, cannot know about the Initiative. I will not allow the people to hear a whisper of your 'Wizarding Community' You and your people need to make sure that everything is done in the dark."

"With a major attack coming, I'm not sure that will be possible." Jake said slowly.

"I'm sure you will find a way." The president said in a tone that screamed, 'i wash my hands of you.' "Are we quite finished?"

"No, not at all!" Jake's opened his eyes wide, "Sir, we have to talk about--"

The look on the presidents face said it all. The meeting was over. Jake knew the cost of forcing the man to listen...so simply he spread his arms out to the side, looking hard.

"Have it your way Mr. President...but when the people are dying and howling at the moon, we'll see what they think of your decision to put social normalcy over human rights..."

With that last one-liner, Jake turned to the side and stepped into the nothingness, making sure to leave behind him a shower of sparks

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was now only two hours before the match was set to start, and Jessica (the star, the homecoming Queen) had not yet arrived.

Timothy Howard shouldered his way through fans and reporters alike, his face set and determination etched all over his strong features. He was a strongly built Beater, and was almost a full head taller than most of the security that now flanked him, trying to keep screaming fans from reaching out to him...

Sure, he was the good looking one of the Team. Sure he liked to pose for the camera. But not now. Not when the Dragonfly was late to a game. She was NEVER late. Now he only wanted to make sure that she was alright, coming back from probably her longest journey yet...

"I can handle it." Tim grunted to the security Wizards, who backed off. The tidal wave of humanity swelled again before realizing that he honestly wanted to be alone, and they stepped back a bit. Tim managed to get out of the door and into the parking lot.

Night was fast approaching in the mile high city, twilight was set to fade to its dark onyx hue. The sun was setting behind him, and lit up everything to the east with glistening hues....there was no small figure streaking west towards them. There was no Jessica.

Frustrated, Timothy turned abruptly on his heel and headed back the way he had come.

In a matter of minutes he was power walking down the hall that lead to the locker rooms. He slammed his way back into the room, and walked in on Jake speaking loudly and heatedly about his recent report to the President.

"--I think the president IS a Wizard." Jake was said gruffly, turning on his heel and looking scathingly at the others in their various states of dress, "He's managed to effectively cast an aura of incredible and staggering stupidity around himself."

"That is not fair to say, Tharros." Outside Chaser Heath Lewis stated, as he strapped on his gloves and his guards, "You know he could never truly know what happens here, or what we are about to face. Do you suppose--"

Heath cut himself off, seeing that Timothy had returned.

"Anything?"

"Nothing."

"Damn--"

"It's not like her, its really not." Joshua Wolf, the thin framed Seeker spoke up, taking off his glasses and cleaning them with his robes.

"That's why I'm worried, kid." Timothy grunted, and sat back down, reaching out and snagging his Bat from his bag.

Jake was stalking back and forth, still, like a tiger trapped in a cage as he continued with his story, "He didn't even want to know, i could tell it just by smelling the air." Jake whirled again, launching into another furious bout of pacing, "He's a fool, when the wands start waving and the Wolves start howling they'll all come crying to us for help and protection, you know it."

No one could argue with this logic.

Keeper Sam Keller laced his fingers together and stared serenely at his Captain, "For your love of the Muggle, you do seem easily frustrated at them."

"YES!" In his rage, the magical field around Jake suddenly shimmered. He balled his fists and almost gave a roar. He stopped in his tracks and looked sheepishly over at Keller, "Sorry, mate. You know i don't normally loose my cool like this, but things are at stake here...things that i do not fancy risking..."

"Thinks like Jessica." Keller said softly.

"She's too young, she shouldn't be in this." Jake growled.

"Jack got into it, she was just swept up." Beater Matt Cooper commented.

"From what she said..." Jake looked at his fellow Initiative members, "Jack is playing his role well...too well."

A silence--

"No." Heath whispered, "Jake, if we've lost Jack...we've lost the entire battle."

"We will think of something. Don't worry, when things all start to fall into place the govornment will be on our hands." Wolf said, smiling, "Unfortunately it might mean that we'll have to deal with whoever has been passing along information..."

"It can't be Jack." Jake was muttering. He seemed to follow Heath's line of thinking, "It just can't be..."

With a CRACK-HISS, Jessica was suddenly among them.

All of the men fell back off the benches and onto the floor, all whipping out wands and uttering Saxon oaths. The girl staggered back and slammed against the row of tall red lockers, her sneakers wet and they squeaked on the floor. Her robes were frozen to her body no doubt by driving rain and wind, and her hair was unkempt, plastered all over her face. Her broomstick clattered to the floor as she gave a soft moan--

Jake was there first, dragging Jessica up and preventing her from passing out and cracking her head on the floor.

She was up in a second, her eyes blazing. THAT was the Dragonfly everyone knew, and she looked around.

"Hey guys."

"You're late." Sam said quietly.

"I know." Jessica replied, pushing wet hair out of her face, "I had a little trouble on my way over..."

"Who was it?" Wolf growled.

"Never you mind that." Jessica looked at Jake, "Did you go to the White House?"

Jake gave a derisive laugh, "Do you wanna hear THAT sob story?"

"I'll meet you back here in 30." Jessica said, leaving her broomstick where it was. She threw her head back and walked out of the locker room and into the hall.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"This is incredible!" Kara and Ashley were walking around with their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide as they took in the city of Denver.

Race had eyes only for the Mile High stadium. The thing arched its back into the night sky and was probably one of the most impressive Quidditch stadiums he had ever seen in his entire life. This was his dream--he had looked at this place often enough in book form, stroked the pictures longingly, but never imagines that he would be standing here.....

The other Hogwarts students that had arrived on the Portkey network before them stood on the sidewalk, looking similarly amazed.

"Move along there!" An American wizard grunted, "We've got another group from your Hogsmeade coming in 3....2....1..."

Race practically had to pick up Kara and haul her away from their arrival zone. A handful group of Hufflepuffs arrived, and most of them doubled up instantly, retching.

"Side effect of traveling that far by Portkey." The American Wizard said, amused.

Dan had been to America before, and whispered to Race, "The people here are much more cynical than what we're used to, mate."

The House team joined the other 143 students and as one they all headed inside.

"How do they manage it?" Curt was agape, "This large beautiful place in the middle of a large Muggle City..."

"I can't rightly tell you." Ashley replied.

Race jumped at this chance to enlighten his friends.

"It doubles as the Muggle's stadium for their sports teams...so no one thinks anything of it. Right now all they see is a Bears game going on, but every single Muggle is under the mental impression, 'ah, shoot i can't go to this game, look at all those other people who get to go...' it's really quite brilliant. They've come a long way in that sort of thing, i can tell you that."

They joined the throng waiting to find seats. Although all four houses were present, the spectacle of the Stadium was so great that they forgot to hate the other Houses....

They were wearing their school robes, something that was earning them strange looks from the American and Canadian fans. The Professors on the trip demanded that they show their colors, though, and thusly the students stalked the stadium in their billowing robes...

"Fashions here are different!" A Ravenclaw girl whispered to her friend, "Things are done up a little tighter...a little more stylish, if i do say so myself."

"I hate having to wear this horrid thing now that we're here!" The friend muttered, throwing her arms up in the air, "What if Timothy Howard finds me and I'm in this getup..."

At the mention of the tall handsome Beater, most of the girls in the area erupted into giggles and sighs.

Race rolled his eyes and looked over at Dan, "Its sad, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Dan grinned.

Soon the group found itself in the box seats. Race sidled over to Exley and gave her a hard stare.

"So what do you think of this place?" He asked her.

OOC: Nice post. I hope you don’t mind if I play Jack for a bit. I hope what I’ve used him for is within his character.

IC:

Everything was black, and then suddenly a grand open foyer came into view. The floors were white marble, the walls a similar shade of ivory. There were many large windows that spanned the length of the walls, letting volumes of light into the already luminous space.

Eden stepped completely out of the fireplace, which like the floors was composed of white marble. Two grand curving staircases on each side of the room led to the upper floors. It was quite a spectacular place, and as Eden was marveling at the beautiful architecture, Jack Crosslin moved silently across the white marble.

“Ah, Miss Exley.” His voice was calm and silky, sending a shiver down Eden’s spine once it reached her ears. “Antigonus informed me that you’d be using my fireplace to travel. I hear you’ve never been to America before, is that correct?”

Despite her facial expression being a mix of distrust and surprise, Eden forced herself to meet the Jack’s eyes. She held his gaze for a few moments before speaking. “That is correct.”

“Well then, welcome to America.”

Eden continued to stare at the man before her, wearing his black wolf’s robes with the red trim, but she did not respond. Jack’s newfound hospitality was as foreign to her as the country she had just set foot in.

“Why did you agree to have me here?” She questioned, probing for some kind of answer that she would be satisfied with, though nothing in her mind seemed plausible enough. There had to be a deeper reason as to why he’d agreed. Had it only been on the Wolfram’s wishes?

Jack chuckled softly, his laughter sounding oddly comforting. “I agreed to have you here because I know that despite your best efforts, you will not find any hidden plan to endanger my daughter’s life. You can try looking Eden, but there is nothing for you to find.”

“Listen Jack,” Eden said, taking the bull by the horns, “Perhaps you have covered your tracks well. I understand all wolves’ ability to do so; however, I find myself not the least bit discouraged. It’s a ruddy shame to believe I would give up that easy.”

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.” The silkiness in his voice disappeared. There was a callous, wickedness about it now that could only come from the depths of one’s true intent. “You won’t be attending the match today. I have other plans lined up for you.”

Eden’s hand immediately flew to her wand, but Jack’s was out and pointed at her throat before she could even clutch her own properly.

“Don’t fight me, Eden,” he coaxed, “You’ll have ample time to fight later. Now, you give me your wand and we will deal with this peacefully.” He reached towards Eden’s pocket, ready to rip her hand away and snatch her wand if necessary. His face was angry but strong, and Eden knew better than to fight against him. Even this did not stop her though, and she whipped her own wand out before Jack’s hand was upon it, raising it to his throat in same fashion as he did to her.

“Let me ask you this Jack; do you think that Antigonus values your life more than my own?” She pushed the tip of her wand against the skin just under his jaw. “He might be angry with me, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. If I murdered you right now, I could probably get away with it. I applaud you if you’re not yet scared.”

Jack completed a nonverbal spell that knocked Eden’s wand from her hand just as she’d finished speaking. She lunged for it, but with another nonverbal from Jack, she was immobilized in the air just inches from the ground.

“I have gone up against far more terrifying opposition in my life than you, girl.” He leaned over, grabbing Eden’s wand off the floor. “Pulcey!” he called suddenly. The inept, lanky wolf ambled out from a doorway by one of the staircases. “Take her to the basement. The ropes should be prepared.”

“Yes, sir.” Pulcey neared the middle of the room, pulling out his own wand.

Eden saw the jet of purple light before she felt it, and just as it had when she’d gone through the fireplace to America, everything turned black.
___________________

It was a few hours before Eden woke up and was able to free herself of the ropes that bound her hands. It had been only too easy to chew though them, but escaping Jack Crosslin’s mansion in America was another thing. She had taken too many wrong turns, but somehow had managed to find her wand and walk out the front door without coming across Jack or any other wolves.

As Eden spotted the quidditch stadium in the distance, she wondered whether or not the whole thing had been orchestrated so that she could escape. It had been so easy, and her gut feeling about this trip was beginning to get worse with every passing moment. Seeing the stadium, she was able to Apparate there without too much trouble. She had just settled down in one of the box seats when Race and a few of the other Gryffindor team members walked in.

“So what do you think of this place?” Race asked her.

“It’s certainly strange,” Eden replied quickly, searching the side of the pitch for the place that the American team would fly out from. She desperately wanted the game to be played without hitch, but the sinking feeling in her stomach persisted.

Nothing will happen during the game, Eden reassured herself, If anything happens, it will be afterward, when no one is watching…

OOC: I think i said that the Crosslin's live in Chicago, but its entierly plausible that Jack has more than one mansion. Yes, let's go with that.

And don't worry about having Jasper as the one who almost ran Jessica out of the sky, I was planning on having that be Yates. Earlier I had Jack giving him a mission....

btw this thread is swiftly becoming MAJOR epic....way to be amazing, lol! I wait for this thread to get replied to because all my other ones aren't half as awesome lol.

And i just realized that i said Crosslin in my last post...I have a character named Jessica Crosslin, but for this thread i changed to to Vandenrbooke for a more approriately dutch sounding name...sorry for the confusion!

IC:

"...AND?" Jessica finished her story, taking a deep breath, "I STILL DON'T HAVE MY WAND!"

The teen produced Yates wand with a flourish and the expression on her face was enough to curdle milk.

The young woman who had been listening to this tirade looked at Jessica with pity in her eyes, "Honey, that should never have happened. What on earth possessed you to go with that boy into his common room?"

"I didn't think he'd DRAG me there, to be sure." Jessica sighed, "And i sure didn't think he was that powerful..."

The young woman had a tattoo of an eye on her left shoulder, and the tag around her neck displayed the fact that she was a journalist for the newspaper called, 'The Initiative.' It was all a fake identity, of course. Sarah Cunningham was one of the Initiatives top national field agents, her accent was now American instead of British, and her hair short and blonde instead of medium length and brown. Jessica hoped with all her might that Race wouldn't recognize his sister, who was supposed to be on honeymoon with her new husband...

The new husband was announcing the match, and would be clenching the microphone with a hand that had a tattoo of an eye on it. The Initiative was everywhere at this match, because of what had happened to the Dragonfly. Something big was going down...

A nearby gossip shark had heard the exchange and nearly exploded with excitement, "Ms. Vandenbrooke! What is this i hear about you meeting a boy in a common room in the dead of night, and nearly being overpowered...you being DRAGGED...."

The man held that know-all tone that Jessica so hated in reporters. She nearly told him to shove off, but that would have sparked him to follow her even more. For a second she thought that he had heard her story about the wolves, but saw now that this man had heard the end of the tale and now assumed that she had a midnight lover. Oh well. She had been accused of pregnancy, illegal firewhisky consumption, and Dark Magic all before on multiple occasions. Whatever the papers came up with now couldn't hurt her.

Sarah changed tack, grabbing Jessica's arm and dragging her away, "I"m glad that you came to find me, dear, but you should be down with the others on the Team practicing..."

"I know..." Jessica looked at Sarah, "Be careful up here, ok? We don't know what's going to go down during this match!"

"You be ok first, Dragonfly." Sarah winked.

Jessica beamed before slipping away, "You've got the American accent down pat..."

__________________________________________________

The box was situated at the highest point of the stadium, and rather unaccustomed to having a hundred and fifty Hogwarts students stuffed inside of it. Race grabbed a few of his friends and crept back to the stairwell while others streamed around them. Grinning recklessly, Race clambered up the few remaining steps until he was in the even smaller announcers box.

"Race--What--Are--You--DOING?" Kara hissed, but she followed him anyways.

Ashley, Dan and Curt swiftly followed, and they were treated to the sight of Race gripping the announcer around the throat in a gruff neck hold. For one moment the others thought that Race and the announcer were fighting, perhaps about to get thrown out of the match, but the American wizard gave a roar and suddenly hugged Race as though they were brothers.

Seeing the confusion on his friends faces, Race emerged from the bear hug, "Guys, i want you to meet my brother-in-law James Kotsier."

Ashley laughed, "Emily WOULD snag a yank, wouldn't she?" She looked at the announcer, and dipped her head "That wasn't meant to be an insult..."

"Aw, Race you never told us you had a brother in law that was an announcer!" Dan complained, "You could have gotten us to so many matches..."

James looked to be the typical American with his worn jeans and name brand sweatshirt. The students there in the box couldn't help noticing that there was a sort of rugged aura around the man, and kara and ashley both found it alluring.

"Nah, it's not that great of a job. If you have the voice, that's great, but if anyone gets hates letters its the Announcer for not getting players names straight at 150+ miles an hour." James winked at them, "You're the group from Hogwarts, clearly..."

Curt looked down morosely at his robes, "Why does everyone poke fun at us, honestly.."

James laughed, "Hey now, I was just making an observation. And the school robes at Crossed Wands looked almost the same when i was there a few years ago. No shame, no shame. You guys have come a long way for this match. Did the Dragonfly get you tickets?"

"She did!" Ashley said, grinning, "And a bunch of our other classmates."

"Happy Potters Day to ya'll." James twirled his wand on his fingertips.

Race's eyes were drawn to a tattoo of a blue eye on the man's neck. He thought it was a little strange, but upon further contemplation he realized that the eye looked a lot like the eye sported by the American National teams Eagle...so James was probably just an Eagles fan, wasn't he?

"It's way too crowded in that box, they're going to have to reroute some of the kids down a few levels." James tapped his chin, "I took a peek in there before i came up here...Race I'll be a few galleons that's how you knew i was up here, you saw me! Anyways, your friends won't be all that happy, that top box isn't mean to hold that many people."

"Oh, you watch, no one will move!" Kara giggled, "No one will want to move from those prime seats, everyone would rather tread on each others toes than give a place like that up!"

Race stepped forward and looked down. Even for a Quidditch player like himself, the heights were dizzying. The National field stadiums were far larger and far more extravagent than anything they had at Hogwarts. Race took the oppertunity to look at people from his lofty positions as they filed into their seats...

Rows upon rows of humanity, sheer wizardy.

James winked at the other kids, "Alright, its go time!"

He pointed his wand at his throat and said clearly, "~Sonorous~!"

James leaned forward and spoke out through a funneled device so that his own magically magnified voice would not echo in the box and deafen them all, "Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome! Welcome to the match! We have two great North American teams here about to clash, and i sure hope you're ready for a party!"

The lights in the box dimmed slightly, and the lights on the field were turned up. Race felt his heart beating even harder as things slowed down....this is what he had been longing for for a long time...

_________________________________________

OOC: Yeah, I’m so proud of our progress. I think this is one of the longest rp’s I’ve been a part of. It was my first on this site, and I really like how it’s turning out. Epic is certainly a great way to describe it!

Yeah, and I was thinking along the same lines about the mansion. Jack probably has more than one, and this one is just to stay in if he wants to watch Jessica’s games, had business there, etc.

I hope that we can keep this going for a while to come. I love this story. Oh, and by the way, I hope you don’t get too freaked out by slash-y situations, because there’s one near the end of my post. It isn’t slash, but it might seem like it (depending on how you look at the situation I guess). It just seemed like something Antigonus would do.

IC:

Ever since sitting down, Eden had held her ground in the first row of the box. There were one hundred and fifty Hogwarts students packed into the tiny box built only to seat sixty. Race and the rest of the Gryffindor team had taken seats next to her, but had quickly risen and gone somewhere else. In that short time, Sandra Hughes wandered down the walkway and spotted Eden.

She squeezed through the row, taking the one empty seat on Eden’s left. They had just started up a quick conversation when the rest of the Gryffindor team returned to claim their seats.

Race took his previous spot on Eden’s right, Ashley, Curt, and Dan sitting down to the right of him. That left Kara, whose seat was now occupied by Sandra.

She had kept on going down the row until she passed Eden and realized there were no empty seats. She frowned, looking at Race.

He offered nothing more than a shrug in response.

“Where I am supposed to sit, then?” Kara stated. She was looking at Eden and Sandra with a hint of anger in her eyes.

When no one looked ready to offer up their own seat, especially not Eden or Sandra, Dan finally said that Kara could share his own seat if she wanted.

Eden stayed particularly quiet after that. She scanned the stands for hints of trouble; mainly, for any wolves. The other side of the pitch was so far away that it was hard to see anything, let alone something as distinct as a person’s face. Nonetheless, she kept going. It was a few minutes later when her eyes rested upon a man’s figure in a black cloak. He sat in the most expensive seats across the pitch.

Just before the lights on the pitch were turned up, Eden was able to see a long ugly scar on the man’s neck just under his right ear. Quickly the realization struck her that this was a man; someone recognizable, but unfamiliar to her. It was a seventh year Hogwarts student by the name of Jasper Exley.
______________________

“Anton, listen to me dear. There is nothing to worry about. You are too powerful to be defeated now, or ever. You will not make the same mistakes that… he did.”

“You don’t understand, my love. I have not split my soul into Horcruxes the way Voldemort did. If anything, that makes me much more susceptible to death. With one curse, I could be dead.”

“Don’t you dare think like that! Both you and I know you’re much too powerful to be killed in such a manner.” She paused, looking over her husband with doting care. “You have Eden to protect you.”

The Wolfram laughed, hard. He clutched his stomach.

“Why do you laugh? Do you not believe that her talent at potions can be of use to you?”

“Of course I believe she can be of use to me,” Antigonus stated. “I only laugh at the notion of a small nine year old girl protecting the greatest wolf of all time.” He relaxed into the armchair, but Fiona was quick to kneel before him and take his hands into her own.

“I only wish that you did not place so much significance in your mortality. It is not for us to tamper with fate. Why do you think Voldemort was killed by a seventeen year old boy? He tried to ensure his continued survival, and went about it all wrong. You are not like him, not in the slightest. You have the ability to love, and be loved. You have friendships, you can laugh and cry. These things are what keep you powerful, Anton, not the dark magic you use to tether your life in place.”

~~~

At the sound of knocking, Antigonus jolted upright. His dream had been only too real, his wife was right there in front of him…

But she was not. She had died the most horrible death, and for what? For helping her husband gain power. Fiona did not deserve the fate that she came to herself, and even though her death had long passed, the wounds would never truly heal.

“Who is there?” The Wolfram asked, rising from the chair and nearing the drawing room’s door.

“It is Exley, Master.”

“You may enter.”

Jasper pushed the door open and stepped through quietly. Antigonus could not deny the boy had changed. His young foolishness was now almost completely eradicated. Those days of merciless torture in the cellars had taught him well, as Antigonus knew they would. He would never have subjected the boy to that kind of punishment if there was no chance that he would reform. And reform he had.

His appearance was very different. The long gash on his neck that had faded to a scar gave him the presence of a man who had endured pain, and who knew what it meant to persevere. This was very endearing, and very strange to see on the boy who had previously failed at most of his tasks.

Exley carried a new maturity about him. It was something that his father had never had, despite the countless years that he served the Wolfram. Spencer Exley was as good as dead to Antigonus now. What good could he do his master in Azkaban?

With a spark of imagination, Antigonus decided to test Jasper. He beckoned the tall cloaked man to him, and Jasper obeyed without hesitation. Grabbing his arm, the Wolfram pulled him nearer, so near in fact that he had a close-up view of the deep scar on Exley’s neck.

“Did this hurt you?” Antigonus asked, extending a long index finger to gently run along the length of the scar.

Jasper seemed a bit confused by the question, but did not coil back at the touch. His eyes darted to his master’s face momentarily before he continued to stare off somewhere directly ahead of him.

“I deserved it, sir.”

“Mmm, that you did. Now, why do you believe you deserved this punishment?” His stroking continued on the boy’s neck, the touch so gentle that it seemed to have a slight calming effect.

Of course, as calm as he seemed, Jasper was on his toes. “I failed you Master. That is not acceptable…” His eyes contained much sadness.

Antigonus tilted the boy’s head towards his own, looking deep into his emotions. “Exley, failure is not always avoidable. You were too young and inexperienced. I should have known better than to rely on you for such important things.”

Jasper looked at his master with surprise.

“What I needed you to gain from your punishment was maturity. You can only know so much, but pain can show people the error of their ways. For you, it was to rid you of all naivety. I hope you can understand my motives.”

“Y-yes Master. I only wonder…”

“What is it you wonder?” Antigonus encouraged, still lightly touching the scar.

“May I speak freely sir?”

“You may.”

Jasper faltered, not sure where to begin. “I… I want to understand why you care so much about me. Why didn’t you just kill me for my naivety, or when I failed you?”

The Wofram studied the pained face of the youngest wolf that served him. He found it hard not to straighten up and reprimand the boy for asking such a question, but he truly found it necessary to continue explaining to Exley. His free hand gripped Jasper’s shoulder while the other one cupped the side of his face gently.

“You are loyal to me and you have struggled greatly to serve me. Why would I kill someone who cares so much about our cause? Jasper, I need you to understand that I would never sacrifice a wolf unless he directly betrayed me, or any other wolf that serves me. We do not kill our own kind unless there is no other way. It would defy the purpose we are striving for.”

“Master, I do understand.”

At last, Antigonus let himself straighten up into his cold, unforgiving form. He let his hands drop to his sides and walked slowly over to the drawing room window that he found himself in front of so often. He let this thoughts mull over for a moment, before half-turning back to Exley.

“You have been informed of your next task?”

“Yes sir, that is correct.”

“You may use this fireplace then. Jack will be waiting for you in Denver with your tickets to the game. Radner will accompany you there. After that, you know the plan. Pulcey and Levett are at the mansion already, so Jack will fill them in.” Antigonus paused, glancing out the window again. “Jack is holding your sister prisoner there, but she will escape in due time. If she interferes, find a fireplace and send her here. You may leave.”

“Yes, Master.”

As Antigonus continued to stare out the window, a great silence enveloped the room. When he turned around once more, the hem of Jasper’s robes disappeared through the fireplace, and he was alone again.

The match was one of the fiercest and most brutal that Jessica had played. The Canadian team seemed to think that since she had been overseas for a few weeks, that her game would have diminished, and thus they pushed even harder to break past their strong defense to snag goal after goal after goal.

The Eagle's offensive responded in turn, coming right at the Canadian team with all the devastating force it could muster. Jessica saw again what made a good pair of Outsider Chasers--Jake and Heath almost seemed to communicate telepathically, without seams as they glided around making complex passes and intricate plays. She was in the midst of this web of communication, as well, shouting commands and coded messages just as she had done at the Hogwarts match...

The Canadian beaters were (if possible) larger and more muscular than Timothy and Joshua. The latter two had the advantage of speed, however, and when one opposing Beater tried to slam Timothy into the glass of the top box, the American Beater was able to roll and thusly evade--while his attacker hit the box at top speed and fell down to the ground. He connected solidly on the ground with a THUMP that could be heard throughout the entire stadium.

"Ohhhh...." James leaned forward a bit and watched the medic wizards racing onto the field. His brow was furrowed, "Nice try, Laidlaw...."

"All right, Ashley?" Curt chuckled. The girl in question had jumped when both Beaters had flashed past.

"You reckon that hurt?" Race laughed to Dan as the match continued without too much delay.

Up in the sky, Jessica could not deny that the Canadians were a good team. They concentrated most of their efforts on protecting their own Seeker, and attacking Matt Cooper. Jessica couldn't count the number of times she had swept in and blocked a charge, or shouted warning to Matt about a bludger flying in at blistering speeds...

In addition to this rather vexing tactic, the Canadian Seeker was locating the Snitch more and more. The last time had been about fifteen minutes ago, and Matt had been too far behind. Jake knew that there was no way they could outstrip the opposing chaser, and had quickly committed a foul on the opposing Keeper.

It had been a good call, and Jessica was preparing to do it herself it Jake hadn't gotten to it.

"That was a good move.." Dan had whispered to Kara, looking at her and grinning, "The American Captain knew that the match was almost over right here..in exchange for a shot on his goal posts, he just secured himself another chance."

"I assume then, that Captain Grose has faith in his Keeper..." Kara tugged on her lip, a habit that Dan found very cute while others found odd. He grinned at her stupidly before returning his attention to the match.

Presently, the Eagles were leading by a very fine margin. The Canadians seemed to not be caring so much about scoring with the Quaffle as making sure that their Seeker had every chance to get at the Snitch. In response, America's Chasers were quickly trying to get a lead of more than 160 points in case the Snitch was caught by the opposing Seeker.

All eyes were on Cooper as the frantic chase for the Snitch went on. Matt was instructed not to leave the Canadian Seeker' side, and he tried his best. For his part, the opposing Seeker was pulling all the best tricks in the book, but careful not to pull a foul. Those brief moments while the ref called him out would be enough time for Matt to slip somewhere and snag the Snitch.

There was so much tension in the air that Jessica could almost taste it as she whizzed this way and that. She had replaced Heath for the moment--Heath was now sticking close to both Seekers to fend of charges and to warn of Bludgers. (Seeing as the man was larger and bulkier than Jessica's solid yet slender build.) Jake and Jessica were now playing a heavy offense with both of their Beaters drifting around them like satelites....

"And America scores!" James' magically magnified voice echoed over the shouts and catcalls, "And again!...."

The crowd was going nuts. Soon America pulled ahead by a hopeless lead of 300 points....

Jake called his Seeker and Outsider Chaser back in, and the team focused more on defense...

"They're just toying with them now.." Race commented to Eden, Kara, Dan, anyone within earshot, "Now that America has pulled ahead at an almost hopeless lead, they're just sitting back and letting the other Seeker get the Snitch if he wants...while at the same time keeping their defenses strong so that the Canadians can have no chance at getting those points back.."

"We'll be here forever if one team doesn't finally cave and give in to what the other wants!" Ashley exclaimed.

"THIS is National Quidditch!" Curt whooped in pure joy.

The Canadian team called a time out. The ref tweeted his whistle, and both teams swooped in.

"Alright, we've got them right where we want them." Jake was panting. Bludgers had been coming at him almost nonstop for the past hour and a half, and he was looking tired, "If we can hold them for another hour, I can guarentee that they'll cave, and their Seeker will get the Snitch."

"I've been watching him..." Joshua said in a low voice, although the opposite team was more than 100 feet away, "He's gotten close to the Snitch, he's just teasing it, not catching it. He doesn't know if their team can pull back or not."

"Well we're not about to let them!" Jessica said, grinning.

There were numerous protective spells on the team now that they were huddling, spells that would prevent anyone from eavesdropping on their game plans and other conversations. Tim Howard decided to use this to his advantage, and he looked around at his fellow Initiative members.

"We have a few minutes yet, guys. This may be the only time we can talk with complete assurence that we're not being listened too. There are two Wolves in the top box with the Hogwarts students...I think they might be aiming to take Race, Sarah's younger brother. What they're going to do with him, we can only imagine."

Jake suddenly was worred, although he smothed it over, "How did--How did you--"

"Jack sent Yates to me before the match, before Jessica even showed up." Tim said in an even softer voice, and they all drifed in to him, "Jack burned the mark of the Initiative into the poor man's forehead. He'll be dead before morning. He managed to walk up to me and relay this information to me, and then walked away. The muggles will find him dead on the street before we even leave the city."

"Can we trust Jack's intel?" Was Jake's next question.

"If we can't trust him, we can't trust anyone!" Joshua Wolf said in a voice full of conviction.

Jessica felt herself going numb...Race...What were they going to do?

"They must know...they must know that Sarah's part of the Initiative! What are we going to do? What else has Jack leaked to Antigonus! What if--"

"We can't think about that now." Jake calmed her down, "We're in the middle of a match. Concentrate, guys. Tim, good call telling us now. There' s no telling when we'll be able to talk again, all seven of us together. We'll be prepared once the match is over. Alright...looks like the Canadians are calling break. Come on guys we can DO this!"

And as she flew back out to her positon...Jessica suddenly wasn't so sure...

OOC: I'm not sure exactly what you want me to do... would you like Sarah and Race to be a part of the wolves' plan? I can do that, but you'll have to explain the 'initiative' to me. Is that something to do with the Coven, or is it bad? I'm not sure if what I believe it means is correct. I'll wait until you reply to post.

OOC: O shoot....now i feel REALLY dumb. *sigh* curse my fail at writing, the Initiative is meant to be the Coven...I must have changed the names accidentally, seeing as I screwed up. Lol.

Let's call it the Initiative for now, forget the junk about the Coven. All of it is the Initiative.

I think Jack told Antigonus that Sarah is part of the Initiative, and Sarah was ready for that, but she wasn't ready for Antigonus to order Jasper or someone to take Race back to the manner and make a Wolf out of him--so i guess its like a test of Jack.

The Initiative is kinda like the Aurors that Britain has....except its appropriately secret/underground. I suppose you could say its like the secret service. Politics are much more deadly now because wizards are starting to get more into muggle politics, and vice-versa....so its a group meant to keep the peace between wizards and muggles...kind of a combination of a lot of stuff....

You can do what you want, I took a creative liberty with Race/Sarah, you can do whatever you want, i trust you more with your own plot.

OOC: Alright, that makes sense now! I shall get on with the story then.

IC:

Eden was worried. It was an emotion that she rarely felt, and never this strongly either. It was Jasper’s shadowed face across the pitch that triggered a sinking feeling in her stomach. Soon after, she realized that Radner was sitting beside her brother, his frame rigid and menacing. If she was certain of anything at that point, it was that the two wolves were not there to see the game…

She had to get over there. It was crucial that she stop whatever they were planning. So before the game had even started, Eden found herself leaving the expensive box seating area. There were calls from behind her. The voices came from Sandra and Race, but she couldn’t turn to face them. There was too much to do; they couldn’t possibly understand. After all, no one besides Jessica realized her ties with Antigonus and the wolves. She couldn’t bear to risk exposing them now.

So she followed the dim lights in the stairwell all the way to the ground. It was difficult to find her way around the large stadium, but it had to be done. She couldn’t very well Apparate on top of Jasper’s legs, could she? That would ruin the surprise. However, she had to hurry now, as after locating her, Jasper would have noticed seat empty. He would know exactly where she was going.

It took a good ten minutes for Eden to follow the tunnel that resided at ground level, snaking around the whole pitch. Once she had reached the opposite side, she climbed the staircase to the very top, spotting the back of her brother’s head almost immediately. Curiosity arose in her mind about the origin of the newfound scar on his neck. She could never cease to care about Jasper, even if she didn’t agree with what he was doing. Jasper was all Eden had in the form of family, besides the Wolfram himself. Even if it was a twisted and highly dysfunctional family, it was one she could call her own.

Jasper loved her. Eden knew with all of her heart that this was true, but a curious question still floated in her mind. Did Jasper care more about Eden, or his duties as a wolf? That was the question that Eden desperately needed an answer to. It lingered in her mind incessantly as she silently slipped into the empty seat next to Jasper.

“Hello, brother. It’s nice to see you again.”

Jasper must have sensed her approaching, as he didn’t jump at her presence nor give any indications of shock or surprise. He stayed infinitely calm, turning to his sister with the slightest hint of a smile playing across his lips.

Eden suddenly felt small. With his flowing black robes, facial scruff, scar, and shrewd expression, Eden could not help herself from seeing the drastic changes Jasper had undergone during his stay at the Manor. He was not her brother, a cunning Slytherin, older than her by a year. He was a man, one who had seen death; one who had seen conflict and who had suffered, only to come out with a scar on his neck and a new perspective on life.

“It’s nice to see you too Eden.”

It was then that Eden’s mind traced back over a conversation she had with the Wolfram not so long ago. She remembered something that the Wolfram had told her, something that explained why Jasper had not been startled in the least by her sudden presence beside him.

I am a wolf, Eden. I can sense my kin whenever they are near.

Although Jasper was not nearly as powerful as the siblings’ godfather, he was a wolf. Antigonus had said that this ability was common to wolves. Now, Eden could not help but stare at her brother with intent. What other abilities did he possess that she was not aware of?

“How has Hogwarts been in my absence?” Jasper asked. His voice was smooth, his intent was clear. This was small talk, Eden knew. It was designed to occupy her from asking the important questions. “I trust that my replacement has been doing a fine job of representing me. It would be a shame to return to Hogwarts, only to find that my reputation has been ruined. Although, I don’t plan on returning.”

Eden admitted to feeling shocked by Jasper’s plans, though she tried not to let it show on her face. “You’ll let the impostor attend your N.E.W.T’s for you? You simply can’t Jasper, they will know.”

“No dear girl, I do not plan to attend my N.E.W.T’s at all, impostor or not. What do I need them for? I have already dedicated my life to something I believe in. School is not important to me anymore.”

After all of his changes, Eden still knew her brother well. She knew the things that would make him change his mind. “You may not be concerned about your academics, but I know for a fact that you wouldn’t miss a single quidditch game if you could help it.”

“There are more important things than quidditch, Eden. You will come to find out what truly matters very soon. I believe that you will make the right decision.”

“Jasper,” Eden said pleadingly, “This ambiguity isn’t doing any good. If you’re going to say something like that, tell me what you mean.”

“You really want to know?” There was nothing but scorn in his voice now, though the smooth tone persisted. “Making the right decision would consist of getting up and walking out of this stadium right now. Walk back to Jack’s mansion, and then go back to Hogwarts. Do you understand?”

“Don’t try and deter me with this bullshit Jasper! Do you take me as the kind of person that would just get up and leave when I know you’re planning something horrible? I am staying here, and you are not biting anybody. Not Jessica, nor anyone else.”

Radner spoke for the first time since Eden had sat down. He turned to Jasper, his face stern. “Exley, you mustn’t let this continue. People will notice. Stop playing games with her and either take her back to Jack’s, or keep her here, but keep her silent.”

Jasper looked at his sister, a momentary glance of determination, and then with his wand concealed within the sleeve of his robes, he muttered an incantation quietly and Eden could not speak. After another spell she felt cold metal on her wrists and ankles. The metal fastened itself to the armrests of her seat, and she was bound in place. When Eden looked down, she realized that the shackles were invisible.

There was no way she could move, or speak. She helplessly looked on as Jasper turned his attention to the pitch, and the game that was about to begin.

"Oy!" Dan leaned over and yelled into Race's ear, "Where did that Exley girl go?"

"I've no clue!" Race answered back, "She can wander off if she wants to, can't she?"

The Canadians had just called break, and after conferring, they were now back together. Race had been watching the American's for the duration of the time-out, and wondered why the Captain, Jake Grose, hadn't been illustrating in the air the course of action they were about to take. Maybe they already had a solid plan that wasn't yet threatened? Something like that, he supposed. He didn't know what else it could be...

So now both teams assumed their positions once more. Race wondered what the Canadians were going to do, they were in quite a state. No matter what they did, they were going to loose.

"They might have their Seeker catch the Snitch anyways, just to end the game on their own terms." Kara was saying to Ashley, "I mean, that's not at all uncommon. I've read about that being done before."

"Exactly, and if Canada looses this match, its no big shakes for them. I mean, this is only the start of the season." Ashley was saying back, and both girls turned their attentions back to the match.

____________________

There was the drop. Jessica snagged it and wound through all the players, avoiding sure death at least thrice before slipping the Quaffle past the Keeper and into the goalposts. The crowd was laughing, going nuts. The margin of win was growing immensely--it was now almost five hundred points. Some in the spectators were laughing while America taunted and teased the other team, some just wanted this match to be over with.

Five hundred points, now six hundred. Some people were actually leaving, vacating their seats, figuring that they'd just read the final score in the paper or hear it from friends.

Everyone except Jessica was getting tired. She had the energy that often kept her team going through a match, and right now Heath and Jake were just giving her the Quaffle while she danced around other players.

Finally...

"END IT, COOPER!" Jake bellowed to his Seeker, much to the relief of the audience.

As though on cue, Matt Cooper fell from the sky in a graceful dive, as close to his broom as his body would allow. The opposing Seeker was on the opposite side of the pitch, and didn't even try. It had been over before it started. There was no way it was even worth it.

Cooper came out of his dive with a bit of gold in his fist.

"Aaaand no surprises here, the Eagles win the match!" James Kotsier was saying into the stands, with his magically magnified voice.

"Good game!" Joshua wheezed, flying to Jessica's side. The man looked worn down, "I was wondering when Jake was going to call it--"

"I think he wanted time to think." Jessica turned to look at her Captain, who was hanging motionless, suspended in the air while the world around him was erupting, "He's the only man i know who can play a mean game of Quidditch and still contemplate the meaning of life. He literally could play a match with a hand tied behind his back, while at the same time thinking about what's for dinner."

"Look at yourself, Dragonfly!" Joshua grinned, still breathing hard, "Here we are, the rest of the team, worn ragged, and you haven't even broken a sweat!"

Jessica shrugged, "O well. I hope Jake got his time to think on what Tim told him. I wonder if Jake is going to enlighten us about his plans?"

Joshua looked at her. She was hiding how scared she really was, it was obvious.

"You know this kid, don't you?"

"Yeah...yeah."

The other team members came zooming in for what looked like a victory hug, but really it was Jake slamming all their heads together at once so that he could whisper ferociously into their ears, "~Do. Not. Let. Them. Get. Him."

The team did their customary victory lap around the pitch, and as they passed the top box where the Hogwarts students were, Jessica cast one quick glance into the place. She saw Race and Dan shouting at each other, high-fiving...and she realized with a sinking heart that Eden wasn't present...

~If you knew about this, Exley, I will KILL you...~

She had been thinking this whole thing tonight was about her...but really it had been about something else, something a little larger. Her father had betrayed them!

_________________

Sitting alone in his manor, Jack listened as down the street, the stadium erupted.

"Another win, I assume..."

His eyes began to glow a deep sapphire as he stared down at his palms....where a symbol of an eye gazed back...

OOC: As you can tell by now, the Eye is the mark of the Initiative.

OOC: Sorry for the long wait. I’ve been so busy -.-

IC:

As soon as Cooper dove for the Snitch, Jasper undid the spells he had cast on his sister and rose from his seat. He looked to Radner, who gave a quick nod in response.

“Let’s go,” Jasper stated quietly. “Imperio!”

Eden was suddenly aware of a force surrounding her. She tried to get up, but she had already risen from her seat and trailed along behind Jasper, quickly moving down the length of the aisle and out of the seating area before the game had even been won. Radner followed close behind the two siblings, bringing up the rear. When the stadium erupted into deafening cheers and applause, Jasper and his entourage were already halfway down the staircase.

Just as the trio had reached the ground, people had begun to exit their seats and flow out of the stadium. Eden hung behind her brother as they waited. She watched the faces of all the American witches and wizards as they passed. They were all painfully oblivious to what was really going on. But then again, so was Eden…

“Second level. He’ll be coming this way in just a few moments,” Radner explained, keeping watch on the people passing by.

Eden wanted to scream. Who was this person Radner spoke of? And it was a HE? There was no way she could have anticipated a plan like this, but her job now was to break free of the Imperius curse and stop it.

Suddenly, a stream of Hogwarts students had reached the stadium exit. They were flowing out the door in packs, chatting excitedly. The Gryffindor team were all together, looking starry-eyed to say the least. It was with utter horror that Eden watched Jasper motion to Radner at that point; but what made Eden thoroughly disgusted was that she couldn’t stop herself from following.

It was clear now. With predatory nature, Jasper stalked along behind the Gryffindors. The plan had to involve one of them, but Eden couldn’t figure out whom. She watched her brother meticulously as they continued to follow, her legs moving on their own accord. Jasper pulled out his wand, muttered something incomprehensible at the group, and suddenly Race dropped the rucksack he was carrying, all of his things spilling out onto the ground.

“No, go on. I’ve got to gather up my things. I’ll meet you all at the portkey!” His voice could barely be heard, as Jasper had made certain to keep his distance from the boy, but they were close enough for Eden to pick up on what was going on.

Race… they wanted Race? Why?

Without her consent, Eden jumped into a nearby patch of bushes and trees after Jasper and Radner. Radner then made sure to grab onto his arm tightly, Eden doing the same at her brother’s will. Then, Jasper reached out from the wooded area and grabbed Race, Apparrating so quickly that the Gryffindor had no chance to react.

“Ah, welcome everyone.” Jack’s voice.

Eden looked up form her place on the white marble floor. She again found herself in front of Jack Crosslin inside of his mansion. Jasper and Radner walked over to the man, flanking him on each side. Eden tried to fight against it, but the curse was so strong. She too walked over to the wolf, taking a spot near him, but behind her brother.

“Race Cunningham; nice to have you with us.”

“Who are you?” Race shot back defensively. He rose to his feet facing Jack. His eyes veered away from the man for only a moment, but in that quick period of time he had already spotted Eden and Jasper. His face was a contorted mix of confusion and suspiscion. “Eden, what the hell is going on? Exley…” he said, turning to Jasper accusatorily, “What am I doing here?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” Eden said, trying her hardest to fight against the words leaving her mouth. “There’s something about both of us you aren’t aware of.”

“You’re familiar with who the Wolfram is, I presume?” Jack asked, taking a step closer to the boy in front of him.

“Yes…” Race’s eyes lit up for a moment, but he quickly resumed his defensive expression.

“I fear that your knowledge is lacking. How much do you really think you know about the most powerful wolf that ever lived?” Jack’s tone was demanding, rushed. “I am a wolf, Race Cunningham. So is Jasper. We are of the Wolfram’s clan. I believe that you will soon be more familiar with how this works.” He took another step towards Race, his black robes with the red trim billowing out behind him.

OOC: I wouldn’t mind if you could play Race… I hope that’s okay. I just don’t know how to do him justice, as I don’t know if he realizes who Jessica’s dad is or anything of that sort. I’m not sure if Sarah tells him any information from the Initiative.