Prologue

Water...

Earth...

Fire...

Air...

Quintessence...

There have always been five elements and for as long as those elements have existed there have been those who can control them. Witches and wizards who can harness the power of the elements and use them for good or evil. Many witches and wizards don't even know that they have these powers and almost never use them; stories of elementals were just that stories weren't they? Stories of Merlin who could shoot bolts of lightning from his fingertips and Morgan Le Fay who could control the earth itself with only her mind or The story of the Chosen Five, the five who were masters of their element. Stories told to generation after generation of young witches and wizards around Britain.

The practice had died out many centuries ago but the stories lived on. Very few witches and wizards could control the element they were born under or with and even the most powerful of wizards have struggled to master their element completely. Not even Dumbledore mastered his fully.

Unknown to all this was all about to change, the darkness was brewing and those long forgotten stories would help the chosen few fight. Water, Earth, Fire, Air and Quintessence would stand up against the element of darkness, for one final time.

"My dearest Minerva." Said the portrait of Albus Dumbledore.

"Yes Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked as she tried to stifle a yawn. It was five am in the morning at Hogwarts castle and a week before term restarted. Minerva had been awoken from her sleep by the storm that was raging outside her quarters only to find the portrait of her predecessor wanted to speak with her.

"I have an important matter to discuss with you." The portrait said "This could affect the future of the wizarding and muggle worlds as we know it. I am sure you are familiar with the tales of the Chosen Ones."

"Yes Albus it is an old children's tale but I don't see what this has to do with the fate of the wizarding and muggle worlds." McGonagall replied

"All in good time Minerva." Albus smiled "Can you recount the tale?" McGonagall's frown deepened but with a sigh recounted the tale like Dumbledore had asked.

"There were five witches and wizards, three male and two female if I remember correctly. They fought against the element of darkness controlled by the Cult of Dorchadas. They won but some members of the Cult escaped and vowed future revenge on the Chosen Ones. Albus I really don't see why you are so interested in such trivial nonsense." Albus Dumbledore smiled

"My dear Minerva that tale is far from 'trivial nonsense' it is a true account of a battle between five extremely powerful elementals and the Cult of Dorchadas." McGonagall still looked unconvinced by the statement.

"Albus the ability to control elements is mere myth no witch or wizard has ever proven otherwise." She said trying to reason with Dumbledore who simply smiled at her.

"There is so much the wizarding world does not know Minerva. That tale and many others like it are true yet many do not believe that such powers exist and many fail to recognise them even when they themselves display such talents. Do you not recall Minerva that when I first met you at the tender age of eleven that you told me of the ability to make yourself fly for short amounts of time?" Dumbledore asked.

"I do but it was simple case of childhood magic many students say similar events have happened to them." McGonagall answered with a nod trying to find the reason amongst the madness.

"Not the element of air making itself known to yourself and other like you who are born under the signs of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius? You yourself are a Libra are you not?" Dumbledore pointed out.

"Yes Albus I am a Libra I was born on October 4th but that has little to do with the matter at hand." McGonagall answered rubbing her temples.

"Do you recall what one Olivia Crawford showed you when you told her of magic?" Albus pressed and McGonagall sighed.

"Albus I do not remember every muggle-born that I met!" she said in an exasperated tone.

"You told me that she produced a small flame in the palm of her hand. Is this not the element of fire showing itself to those born under the signs of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius? I myself could conjure flame from an early age."

"Albus please this is mere childhood magic!" McGonagall argued but she felt like she was fighting a losing battle.

"One Adam Messenger told me that he could make plants grow and incredible rates, this surely is not earth revelling itself to those whose signs are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn?" Albus continued to press. McGonagall didn't respond with a counter argument but sat her eyes wide.

"It is true then? All of it true?" she asked in a whisper.

"Yes Minerva all of it is true." Albus confirmed with a nod of his head.

"What of the other elements? Water and Quintessence?" she asked.

"The element of water can be controlled by those who are born under the zodiac signs of Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio. Quintessence is the element I am least sure of. It seems to present itself to those born under any star sign but I have noticed that it seems to run in families but I am not completely sure." Albus said his expression thoughtful.

"So if the stories are true then..." McGonagall trailed of with a look of sudden understanding and then fear.

"I am afraid so the Cult of Dorchadas is also real and from recent events it seems to be reforming after nearly five centuries." Dumbledore face betrayed noting but complete calmness.

"How will we defeat them for a second time?" McGonagall asked the portrait.

"The Chosen Ones will present themselves in time Minerva. It falls to you and your teaching staff to nurture their powers, teach them to wield them and when the time is right they will face the Cult." Dumbledore said

"How can we teach them? We have only just learnt that these powers truly exist! We can't send students to be killed Albus!"

"They will not be killed. If their powers are as strong as those in the stories of old then it is the Cult of Dorchadas who should be afraid." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Which students are they?" McGonagall asked.

"Only time will tell my dear Minerva." Replied the portrait.

Chapter 1: It Begins

Albus Severus Potter was dreaming, or at least he thought he was. How else could he explain being in such a strange place and having no idea where he was or what was going on.

It seemed like he was in a hall of some sort it was about the same size as the Great Hall and almost completely made out of stone with a large window at the far end. The large stone ceiling was held up by massive stone pillars which had various symbols on them, Albus had no clue what they meant he didn't take ancient runes. Albus stared around in confusion but his eyes were drawn to two figures stand a few feet apart about ten yards away from him. The one closest to him had their back to him and looked entirely focused on the other, from what he could tell the one facing his direction was definitely female and the other looked female as well. The figures looked strange like he was watching them from behind heat haze, he tried to move closer but found that he was blocked by a force field.

"Alice! Alice! What are you doing? Alice you'll get yourself killed Alice!" screamed a voice that he recognised as Keith Downes. Albus's eyes widened and he looked closer at the figure with their back to him, it was Alice Downes. How could he have missed that the bob-cut dark brown hair and the small thin frame. The other figure became remarkable recognisable as well it was his girlfriend Ellesheil Darrow.

"Alice don't do this! Alice!" pleaded another voice that came from his immediate right. It was his cousin Rose and standing on her right was Scorpius Malfoy and on his right was Alice's twin brother Keith.

"Rose what's going on?" Albus asked. Rose didn't answer it didn't seem like she heard him at all because she continued to bite her lip like she always did when she was worried.

He noticed that Rose had her long red hair up in a plait which was odd because she never wore her hair up. She was also wearing a green tunic with a symbol on her chest it was circle with a dot in the middle and under the tunic she was wearing a white shirt, trousers and boots. He noticed that Scorpius and Keith were wearing similar outfits except that Scorpius's tunic was grey with a different symbol of an upward facing spiral on it and Keith's was blue with the inverted image of Scorpius's symbol on it. Albus looked down at himself and saw he was wearing a tunic as well only his was red with a triangle symbol on it. Alice was wearing a pink tunic but Albus couldn't see her symbol.

"Rose talk to me. What is going on?" Albus asked again. Rose yet again didn't answer. "Scorp! Keith! What's happening?" they like Rose didn't answer but they looked worried and scared.

"Oh look Alice! Your pathetic brother and friends have decided to join us!" Ellesheil said in a mocking tone.

"Leave them out of this!" Alice snapped "This is between you and me." Ellesheil gave a maniacal laugh and conjured what looked to be black flames. Albus stared in shock she didn't have a wand so how could she produce flames like that. He didn't have time to ponder this as Ellesheil threw the dark flames at Alice. Alice extended her arms with her palms facing Ellesheil and a force field like the one in front of Albus erupted out from them and Ellesheil's flames dissipated when they contacted it.

"Nice magic trick but it won't get you far!" Ellesheil said conjuring more black flames and shooting them at Alice.

"Alice move!" yelled Scorpius and Alice did as she was told she dropped her force field and leapt agilely to her right avoiding the flames. It was Alice's turn to attack now, she balled her hands into fists and to Albus's shock bolts of lightning began to spark around them getting larger and larger and then she shot a large bolt from the palm of her right hand at Ellesheil. Ellesheil wasn't as agile as Alice and threw herself out of the way of the bolt barely missing being hit.

Ellesheil looked murderous now and gave a scream of rage producing more dark flames and shooting them at Alice like a flamethrower. Alice had a hard time of avoiding them while shooting her lightning bolts at Ellesheil. Ellesheil conjured a wall of black flame which completely obscured her but the lightning bolts sailed threw it without stopping and a scream of pain came from the other side of the flames. Ellesheil had dropped to her knees clutching her right arm which was oozing blood.

"Alice!" Albus called. Alice's concentration wavered and she turned to look at him. Her warm hazel eyes met his bright green and she smiled. Her concentration wavered for a second too long and she was hit directly over the heart by a large black flame which caused her to fly backwards and hit the ground. Lightning bolts cracked around her body and then she was completely still Albus didn't see her chest rising and falling to signal that she was breathing, she was dead.

The hall was silent for one long agonizing minute as all took in Alice's body which lay sprawled on the ground. Then a scream of pure agony ripped the silence and Albus turned in shock to find sitting on the ground behind him all bound together were their parents. His own parents stared at Alice's body with almost identical expressions of shock, Scorpius's father stared at the ground and his mother stared sadly at Alice's body, Uncle Ron looked furious and Aunt Hermione had tears welling in her eyes but Professor Downes Keith and Alice's mother was screaming and sobbing while struggling against the ropes that bound her while their father had tears rolling silently down his cheeks. Keith gave a roar of rage and proceeded to bang his fists against his sister's protective force field

"You bitch! You killed my sister!" he yelled in fury trying to batter down the force field. Ellesheil watched them all and then laughed at them.

"I won!" she laughed maniacally. She then looked at Albus and grinned sadistically "Wake up Albus. C'mon Al wakey wakey." The voice didn't sound like her own instead it sounded like James's.

With a jolt Albus awoke and stared into his brother's chocolate brown eyes.

Chapter 2: Return To Hogwarts

Albus clutched James's shoulders for support as he tried to get his breathing regular again, the dream was still etched into his mind.

"Wow Al! Relax! I was only waking you to say that breakfast's ready." James said prising Albus's hands from his shoulders.

"Sorry." Albus managed to say between breaths. "'M fine I'll be down in a minute." James looked at him quizzically but walked out of the room.

Albus ran a hand through his messy black hair stared around his room trying to find something that would shake the dream from his mind. His room was exactly the same as always blue painted walls and matching carpet. A large window behind his bed and a desk near the door. Photos and a calendar on the walls, nothing at all out of the ordinary. Albus threw the covers off himself and climbed out of bed walking over to his calendar to cross off the days until he would return to Hogwarts for his fifth year. Today was September first? He had completely forgotten but had the good sense to pack his trunk as soon as he had gotten his new spell books and robes.

"James! Give me my wand!" yelled his sister Lily

"I don't have it!" retaliated James

"I saw you with it a minute ago! Now give it!" Lily demanded. There was the sound of scuffling outside his bedroom door and Albus poked his head out to see his older brother and younger sister wrestling on the ground for a wand that James held in his right hand as far from Lily's reach as possible. Lily had jumped on top of James who was holding her back with his free hand.

"Get off Lily!"

"Then give me my wand!" Lily demanded.

"James give Lily her wand!" yelled Ginny from the bottom of the stairs "And get down here! Breakfast's ready!" James froze at his mother's voice just long enough for Lily to retrieve her stolen wand. Lily then stuck out her tongue at James and ran down the stairs followed closely by Albus and James.

Ginny was in the kitchen serving pancakes while Harry sat at the kitchen counter drinking a cup of tea and reading the Daily Prophet. Ginny placed a plate of pancakes in front of them

"Have you got your trunks packed?" she asked.

"Hea Um." Said James with a mouthful of pancake

"Swallow and repeat." Ginny said shaking her head and smiling. James gulped down the pancake in his mouth

"I said yes mum." He repeated before stuffing the rest of his pancake in his mouth.

"Albus?"

"I packed mine weeks ago." Albus answered.

"What about you Lily?" Ginny asked turning to her youngest child.

"Finished last night mum." She answered. After eating breakfast and getting dressed in Albus's case, the Potter family was ready to leave for King's Cross Station. The drive took them half an hour which seemed like no time at all despite James poking fun at his sister because she was finally joining the Gryffindor Quidditch team which she responded with teasing him about Nicky Skilling his 'girlfriend'. In no time at all they had arrived and met Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione at the barrier with Rose and Hugo.

"Hi Al!" Rose said happily running over to him and pulling her cousin into a hug. "I missed you! I wish you could have came to Australia with us it was brilliant!"

"But you were only gone a few weeks and it was to visit your grandparents!" Albus pointed out while pulling away from Rose.

"I still missed you and I brought you back something too!" she said.

"C'mon Al! We're going to miss the train!" called James. Rose and Albus glanced around to make sure no muggles were watching them before walking through the barrier.

Platform 9 ¾ was packed as usual with students who like James, Albus, Rose, Lily and Hugo were all returning to or going for the first time to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The steam from the brilliant red train was thick and it was difficult to spot any of their friends.

"James!" Fred Weasley bounded through the thick clouds of steam. He like his mother had dark skin and black hair which he wore in dreadlocks but he had bright blue eyes like his father. Fred was followed by a girl with wavy auburn hair which looked more like red than auburn and sparkling aqua eyes.

"Hey Fred! Hey Nicky!" James said happily. James then disappeared into the steam with them. Albus gave his mother and father a hug and walked off to find their own friends. They didn't have to walk long to find Professor Naomi Downes who was bidding farewell to her husband Evan Downes with their children not far away making faces of disgust at their parents emotional farewell. Alice spotted them first and nudged her brother.

"Hey guys!" Keith called to them. Although Keith and Alice were twins they were almost nothing alike Keith was almost a foot taller than Alice and not as thin. Keith had black hair with baby blue eyes, which according to Alice gave him his name as his mother's Uncle Keith had exactly the same eyes while Alice had dark brown hair and hazel eyes like her mother's. Keith was the more outgoing twin while Alice tended to be more reserved.

"Hi." Rose said grinning at them "How was your summer?"

"We went to Ireland! It was awesome you should see Dublin it's huge! Mum said that Grandma grew up there so we're really retracing our history. It was brilliant fun though especially when we went to Grandma's hometown Kilkenny! We have second cousins there and their all muggles except for one that's showing signs of it." Keith said talking extremely fast which was a habit of his. Alice smiled at her brother and nodded occasionally when he turned to look at her. Albus and Rose listened with bemused expressions when they heard the whistle blow for the train.

"C'mon!" Albus said as all four ran to the doors just as they were closing. Albus waved at his parents as the train rounded the corner and the station disappeared from view.

"I hope Scorp's saved us a compartment." Keith said as he scanned the train. Albus shrugged

"Have any of you heard from him over the summer?" he asked.

"You know I haven't. Dad would go mental if he knew I was friends with Scorpius." Rose said.

"I don't see why!" Keith said in an exasperated tone

"I've told you before it's about our parents." Rose replied.

"You'd think they'd be over it by now." Alice said. Albus nodded. Rose hadn't told Ron about her unlikely friendship with Scorpius, and had threatened Albus with unimaginable pain if he told. Albus knew better than to cross his cousin. He also knew that Rose had a slight crush on Scorpius too and unknown to her Scorpius liked her too. Harry had taken his friendship with Scorpius well especially when he actually met him. He had deemed him a nice boy and completely unlike his father and more like his mother Astoria.

"You should just tell Uncle Ron he'll understand." Albus pressed

"You don't know my dad very well then Al." Rose responded. Albus sensed that it wouldn't do any good to press the subject further although Keith looked like he was going to press on regardless.

"Guys!" Scorpius Malfoy stuck his head out of a compartment grinning at them. All waved and hurried over to the compartment that he had managed to save for them.

"Hey Scorp." Keith said slapping his friend on the back. "Good summer?"

"Can't complain." Scorpius shrugged flopping onto the seat beside Alice "Just the usual stuff like being dragged from fancy party to fancy party and boring stuff like that."

"Ugh! I hear you mate!" Keith said disgusted at the very thought of anything that required him to dress in dress robes. "Did you hear about the qualifiers for the Quidditch World Cup? Ireland and England are through! Hey Al didn't your mum play in the World Cup?" Keith rapidly changed the subject to Quidditch the favourite topic.

"Yeah she was one of the substitutes but that was before James was born." Albus answered. "England will win this year."

"No way! Ireland will." Alice said looking confident.

"Traitor! Dad's on the England team this year!" Keith said glaring at his twin.

"Mum's half Irish and she supports Ireland too! Plus Dad's only a substitute anyway he might not even play." Alice retorted.

"God it must be anarchy in your house." Scorpius joked turning to the girl beside him who stuck her tongue out at him.

"England might get knocked out in the first round like last time." Rose pointed out.

"Does no one in this compartment believe that England'll win? I feel like a loner here!" Keith shook his head. Albus and Rose both raised their hands in response. Alice glanced at Scorpius with a grin or triumph

"Don't look at me like that I support Bulgaria." He said Alice frowned.

"Traitor you're supposed to be the one who sticks up for me." Alice said in a tone of disappointment. Alice and Scorpius had always been close it was actually Alice that brought him into he group because before that Albus, Keith and Rose didn't talk to the son of Draco Malfoy.

"I still am Ali-baba." Scorpius said pulling Alice into a one armed hug

"Don't call me that!" Alice said trying to throw Scorpius's arm off herself. Scorpius laughed and ruffled her hair

"Admit it you love that nickname Ali-baba." He said.

"Piss off Scorpius." Alice said crossing her arms and glaring out the compartment's window.

"You wound me Alice." Scorpius said clutching his heart. Alice stuck her tongue out at Scorpius and he laughed at her. Everyone in the compartment was laughing along with Scorpius even Alice couldn't help but join in.

They spent the rest of the train ride catching up and having fun. The landscape soon became dark and the girls left to change into their school robes. The train came to an abrupt stop at Hogsmead Station and the five friends climbed off and were met with the familiar sight of Hagrid calling for all the first years.

"Firs' years over here!" called the giant of a man. The five friends smiled and waved at him as they all followed the rest of the students to the carriages.

Chapter 3: Air

The carriage ride to the school was uneventful and all five friends sat together in the carriage still chatting and joking with each other.

"Look! We're back!" Rose cried as the carriages pulled up to Hogwarts School and the feeling of warmth and familiarity washed over Albus, Rose, Scorpius, Keith and Alice. They felt like it was a second home to them full of good memories and fun times.

They passed through the giant doors of the castle with the rest of the schools population of students, minus the first years who at this moment were crossing the lake with Hagrid. Chatter buzzed in their ears as they waited patiently in the Entrance Hall before filing into their separate house tables when the doors to the Great Hall had opened. Albus and Scorpius went to the Slytherin table, Rose and Keith to the Gryffindor and Alice to the Ravenclaw. The teachers sat at the high table talking to one and other or watching the students as the house tables began to fill up.

Albus and Scorpius began to chat with Andrew Poole the Slytherin prefect and soon enough Ellesheil Darrow joined them. Her light brown hair was pulled into a ponytail which made her violet eyes stand out more than usual. Albus couldn't help but watch her out of the corner of his eye, she still seemed like Ellesheil the friendly and confident girl and not Ellesheil the merciless and maniacal murderer of his dream. She caught him staring at her and looked at him quizzically.

"Is there something wrong Albus?" she asked her violet eyes full of confusion.

"No, I just missed you that's all." Albus said trying to sound cheerful. Ellesheil beamed when she heard this and gave Albus a quick peck on the cheek.

"How was your summer Ellesheil?" Andrew asked ignoring the obvious scene of affection.

"It was alright. It was kinda weird as well, people in my town are disappearing and the Aurors can't find any trace of them. It's always magical people never muggles." She said sounding quite puzzled yet intrigued at the same time.

"That's odd…have they any leads?" Scorpius piped in.

"No, they haven't got a clue what's going on." She answered.

At that moment the door swung open and the chatter ceased. Professor Neville Longbottom led the new students between the tables to the rickety stool with the Sorting Hat sitting on top of it. Most of the first years looked terrified with some looking bewildered at the Sorting Hat and the rare few looking somewhat confident. The first years assembled themselves before the stool and to the shock of some of them the hat began to sing.

With my patches and my tears,
I must be quite a sight,
But when it comes to sorting students
No hat could be more bright!
Our founders sought to teach the young
Good magical technique,
But though they shared a common goal,
Their values were unique.
In the past our four good founders
Taught their favourites with good grace,
And now I am in charge to find
Each student's proper place.

Perhaps you'll go to Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave and daring;
Or make your way in Hufflepuff,
Hardworking, just and caring;
You might be fit for Slytherin,
Where cunning is admired;
Or find your home in Ravenclaw,
Where wisdom is inspired.

The feast begins as always,
With the sorting and good cheer,
Yet our memories are heavy
From the darkness of yesteryears.
It is time for celebration,
Hogwarts has endured;
And though I still shall sort each year,
I may rest assured:
Our beloved school was tested,
But in that fateful hour,
We stood as one to triumph
Against that threatening power.
But I digress, and now too long
I've held you in suspense,
So step right up! It's time now for
The sorting to commence!

When the hat had finished the Hall broke into a deafening applause. Professor Longbottom unrolled a large piece of parchment and the Hall feel silent once again.

"Andrews, Rachael." He called. A small black haired girl stepped up and sat upon the stool. The sorting hat was placed upon her head and she looked ready to run.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat called after a minute and Rachael bounded down to the cheering table of Hufflepuffs.

"Bridgewater, Caden." Professor Longbottom read off. The tallest boy of the year sat upon the stool and the hat was then placed on his head.

"Gryffindor!" it yelled as soon as it had touched the boys head and he sat down at the Gryffindor table three seats down from Keith and Rose.

"Byers, Matthew." A small boy stumbled out from the crowd and sat like the others upon the stool. He kept glancing around nervously as the whole student body watched him in eager anticipation.

"Slytherin!" the called after considering for several minutes. The boy joined the Slytherin table and Andrew patted him on the back.

The sorting became slightly boring as two girls were sent to Ravenclaw and another boy to Gryffindor. Most of the students seemed to be going to either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw with three more going to Hufflepuff and a boy and girl to Slytherin. Finally when the sorting had finished Professor McGonagall stood up.

"Welcome back one and all to another year at Hogwarts and to our new students I express a warm welcome and well wishes. I would like to make some start of term announcements. Firstly I would like to remind all students that The Forbidden is out of bounds to all students." McGonagall's steely eyes lingered on the Gryffindor table where James, Fred and Nicky were all looking quite smug. "Mr Filtch would like me to remind you that magic in the corridors is prohibited and all students must be in their Common Rooms by 10pm sharp. That is all now let us eat."

As soon as she had spoken these words the tables filled with a huge feast. Scorpius and Albus all but dived on the food leaving Andrew and Ellesheil rolling their eyes at them. When the dinner was finished it was replaced with deserts of all kinds. They ate until they thought they would burst if anyone mentioned the word food.

"All Slytherins follow me!" Called Andrew when the feast had ended. He was standing beside Terra Farren the female Prefect who was smiling at the first years. The first years seemed to cluster around them like they were safe places in a game of tag with the elder students just behind them. Scorpius and Albus joined the throng of Slytherin students as they made their way down to the dungeons.

The students walked through the maze like tunnels of the dungeons with the first years sticking as close as possible to Andrew and Terra as they explained all about life at Hogwarts and some basic rules. Finally they arrived at a blank stretch of wall and Albus grinned

"This is the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room." Terra said placing her hand on the wall.

"But that's a wall…where's the door?" One of the new boys asked, apparently he must be a muggle-born.

"You just have to say the password and the wall will open. New passwords will be posted on the notice board as soon as they are added so don't forget to check." Explained Terra to the confused first year. "The password is Salazar."

As soon as Terra had said this, the wall like she had said opened and the Slytherins filed in.

Albus and Scorpius smiled at the familiar Common Room, it looked the same as ever. Its walls and floor was made of stone with an emerald rug in the middle of the room, which made it look quite old fashioned and there was an eerie yet beautiful green glow. The armchairs were made of leather and the fire which was roaring in the hearth had emerald flames.

"Okay!" Andrew called once everyone had entered the Common Room and the wall had closed behind them "The boys' dormitories are up and to the left, Girls it's the same on your right. All your luggage has already been brought up. If you have any more questions just come to me or Terra."

Albus and Scorpius dropped into two armchairs near the fire and chatted with each other while the other students filed upstairs to the dormitories.

"Night guys!" called Andrew as he himself went upstairs, he had long gotten used to the bizarre tradition of the two friends to sit in the Common Room on the first night. Albus and Scorpius patiently waited until every Slytherin student had gone to bed and then with a grin at to each other they made their way as silently as possible to the dormitory labelled Fifth Years in large letters.

They opened the door just a crack to see if all the occupants were asleep, which they were before sneaking into the room themselves. They walked over to their trunks and opened them yet instead of pulling out pyjamas they pulled out their broomsticks.

"You got a Nimbus Galaxy Scorpius?" Albus whispered as he pulled out his Firebolt 2.0 "Those things cost a fortune!" Scorpius nodded

"My parents got me it for my birthday." He replied in a barely audible whisper as both snuck back out of the dormitory and closed the door behind them. They both tiptoed back down the stairs and then walked through the wall and back out into the dungeons. After making sure that they were completely and utterly alone and not being followed both sprinted to the Entrance Hall.

"Where have you two been? We've been waiting here for ages!" Keith Downes exclaimed once Albus and Scorpius arrived in the Entrance Hall quite out of breath. Keith who was clutching his Comet 500 broom and he was accompanied by Alice with her Comet 500 and Rose who was the only member of the group not to have a broom with her.

"We've only been waiting five minutes!" Rose said rolling her eyes.

"Five minutes that we could have been caught in!" Retorted Keith. Alice rolled her eyes at her brother

"Can we please just go now? I can't stand waiting any longer." She pleaded.

"Let's go then." Albus said now that he had gotten his breath back.

The five friends walked to the Quidditch pitch a tradition of theirs from second year onwards, to go to flying on the first night back at Hogwarts. It had all started when Albus was so eager to try out his Firebolt 2.0 that he had snuck out on the first night followed by Scorpius, Keith and Alice who like him wanted to try out their new brooms as well. Rose was not a fan of flying and had only accompanied them so

"You won't be killed or worse expelled!" as she had put it.

They managed to sneak onto the pitch with Rose taking her place in the stands to watch them. All four mounted their brooms near one of the huge goalposts.

"Race around the pitch! Two laps from the goalpost on one…two…THREE!" yelled Albus as he kicked off the ground and soared into the sky closely followed by Scorpius, Alice and Keith. Albus was momentarily in the lead but was quickly over taken by Alice and Scorpius who were two of the best flyers. They were the seeker for Ravenclaw and chaser for Slytherin respectively.

Alice and Scorpius were neck and neck until they got to the goalpost. Alice turned sharply and almost rammed into Scorpius because they were flying so close together. Scorpius lost his balance and fell off his broom.

"SCORPIUS!" was the collective scream and Alice quickly pulled into a dive to try and save him from his twenty foot plummet. Scorpius was falling too quickly for her to catch up with and was almost ten feet from the ground. Then something strange happened, Scorpius began to wave his arms madly and then he stopped dead in mid-air still flapping his arms like a deranged bird. Scorpius opened his eyes to see why he hadn't felt the agonizing pain that came when he made contact with the earth. He stared in shock at the ground which was about ten foot below him and then up at Alice who was hovering two foot above his head staring at him in utter shock.

"Scorpius what did you do?" Alice asked her voice and octave higher than usual.

"I-I-I I don't know!" Scorpius replied. Then to his utter amazement he began to float gently downwards as if he was wearing a parachute. When his feet touched ground again his flying friends touched down along with him and Rose had ran out of the stands and onto the pitch. None of them noticed the form of a cat slipping into the darkness from the top of the stands.

"Albus!" McGonagall called when she had returned to her office.

"Yes my dear Minerva?" Albus Dumbledore's portrait asked rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"The Air Elemental! It's Scorpius Malfoy!" She said.

"Interesting…very interesting." The portrait mused.

Chapter 4: Not So Ordinary First Day

Albus was shaken awake the next morning by Scorpius. He pretended to be in a deep sleep hoping that Scorpius would take the hint and leave but if anything it only made him shake harder.

"Al get up! We're going to be late for breakfast." Scorpius said when Albus finally opened his eyes.

"Five more minutes." Albus groaned pulling the covers over his head. Scorpius pulled the covers off Albus earning a few well chosen swear words and exclamations of how cold it was but Albus reluctantly climbed out of bed.

"Hurry up I'll be waiting for you in the Common Room." Scorpius said.

Albus got dressed slowly so he could gather his thoughts after last night's "incident" with Scorpius. After Scorpius had fell off his broom Scorpius flew up again to twenty feet and jumped again, although Rose and Alice begged him not to. He like the first time began to wave his arms and he stopped then floated down to the ground. Scorpius had been baffled by his sudden discovery of his unusual talents as most childhood magic stops when a witch or wizard gets their wand. Scorpius discovered that if he moved his arms in a certain way he could produce a large gust of air, he did this and knocked both Rose and Alice to the ground.

When Albus was finally dressed he made his way to the Common Room where Scorpius was waiting.

"C'mon Al! I'm starving!" Scorpius said and as if to affirm this his stomach gave a very audible growl.

"Let's go then." Albus said.

The two friends walked to the Great Hall in silence, last nights events lay heavily on their minds and Albus didn't know if he would look at Scorpius the same way again. When they arrived in the Great Hall Alice waved them over to the Ravenclaw table where Keith and Rose were also.

"Morning." Alice said sounding particularly cheerful "How are you?"

"Oh fine! Despite the fact that I had a near death experience last night and discovered I have these weird powers." Scorpius said as he sat down. Alice shrugged at his sour mood, to say the least Scorpius Malfoy was not a morning person.

"Have the timetables been handed out yet?" Albus asked.

"No, not yet." Answered Rose.

"Ugh! It's a Friday can we not have today off?" Keith groaned earning a death glare from Rose.

"Just because you can't be bothered about your studies." Rose muttered to herself.

"I do!"

"You do not! I practically have to elbow you in the ribs every five minutes because you've fell asleep in class!" Rose pointed out.

"I don't fall asleep in class Little Miss Know-it-all!" Keith hissed.

"This is OWL year Keith! If you want any chance of getting a good job you have to pay attention and study!" Rose said in an exasperated tone. Albus decided to stay out of this argument as the last time anyone tried to intervene they ended up in the Hospital Wing for three days. Mercifully however Professor Longbottom arrived with the timetables.

"Yes! Double potions with Professor Downes first!" Scorpius said punching the air. Albus laughed at his friend, Scorpius loved potions although Keith was best at the subject.

"What have you got?" Albus asked to the table.

"Transfiguration then Defence Against the Dark Arts." Keith and Rose read off in unison.

"I've got double Herbology then Charms with you two." Alice said pointing to Albus and Scorpius.

"Well we'll be seeing you later then." Albus said grabbing his bag and slinging it over on shoulder with Scorpius copying the move. With a wave to their friends the two Slytherins made their way down to the dungeons.

A large line of fellow Slytherins and some Gryffindors were waiting outside the classroom. Albus and Scorpius stood with Andrew and Ellesheil as they waited for Professor Downes's arrival.

"You can go in!" called Professor Downes when she had arrived, her black hair was tied up into a loose ponytail and she grinned at the class who filed into the classroom. The classroom's walls were lined with jars and containers of all kinds, shapes and sizes. The work benches were soon allocated to groups of four.

"Welcome back to potions!" Professor Downes said cheerfully. "We aren't going to be doing any practical work today I'm afraid, instead we'll just be going over some Health and Safety then over the OWL course for this year." The class gave a loud groan, practical work was always enjoyable.

The two hours passed by very slowly, at one point Albus fell asleep again and Scorpius had to elbow him three times to wake him again. When the bell rang to finally end double potions there was a mad scramble to get out. Ellesheil and Andrew waved them goodbye as they were heading for Transfiguration while Scorpius and Albus were heading to Charms with the Ravenclaws.

"Hey." Alice said when they arrived at Charms "You two are late."

"Davies isn't here yet." Scorpius said as he slid into the seat beside Alice while Albus sat on the other side of her.

"He arrived five minutes ago but McGonagall called him to her office." Alice informed them.

"What did she want?" Albus asked.

"I don't know, she never said."

"Scorpius Malfoy!" Professor Davies re-entered the room. Professor Davies was a tall golden haired young man with a small goatee and he was also Head of Hufflepuff, he was admired by most of the female population of the school. He was strict when he needed to be but he was well liked. "Professor McGonagall wants to see you in her office immediately."

Scorpius gave Albus and Alice a quick confused glance before rising from his seat and walked out of the room.

"Don't dawdle!" Professor Davies called after him.

Scorpius didn't return during Charms, he wasn't there for lunch and then dinner. Albus, Alice, Rose and Keith were all worried he had gotten himself into immense trouble for sneaking out last night or worse. Albus went to bed in the Slytherin Common Room and there was still no sign of him.

"Ow!" came a hiss in the night. Albus glanced at his watch and saw that it was half eleven.

"Scorp? That you?" Albus called in a whisper.

"Yeah." Came the reply and Albus felt a huge amount of relief.

"Where have you been all day? Rose and Alice were going mad!"

"McGonagall's Office." Answered Scorpius.

"You have to have been somewhere other than McGonagall's office all day!" Albus pointed out.

"Well I was and I'm really tired so can I go to bed now." Scorpius asked in an annoyed tone.

"What did she want?" Albus asked but he got no reply.

Chapter 5: Scorpius's Mysterious Disappearances

"Have you seen Scorpius?" Alice asked on Saturday afternoon. They were all sat near the lake as it was an unseasonably warm September day. It was two weeks after the start of term and it was difficult for Albus, Scorpius, Rose, Keith and Alice to meet up. Albus shrugged at Alice's question.

"No he was up before I was and wasn't at breakfast." He said.

"Well this sucks…he promised to help me train for Quidditch." Alice said sounding disappointed.

"There's always-" began Keith.

"The trails are tomorrow and Alan Morrison's captain this year. The man is a drill sergeant!" Alice grumbled "He thinks that if it weren't for his "amazing" chaser skills the team wouldn't win half the amount of matches! HAH! Annabeth and Jacob fly rings around him!"

"I think someone's jealous that they didn't make captain." Keith said with a smirk.

"I am not!" Alice snapped causing Keith to jump "I just think that it would be better if someone like Annabeth was captain instead of that pig headed, brainless piece of-"

"Anyway!" Albus interrupted before Alice could finish her rant "Why do you think Scorpius isn't around? I mean he's always up before anyone else, goes to bed at half eleven and is missing on the weekend."

"It's obvious isn't it?" Rose answered Albus "It's because of what happened on the quiddicth pitch."

"I don't see why he needs to be up at the crack of dawn because he can still do some childhood magic." Albus replied.

"They might be trying to squash it out of him." Keith suggested.

"They can't just "squash it out of him" Keith! Magic doesn't work like that!" Alice exclaimed.

"Sorry! Sorry! Just a thought." Keith said rising in hands in surrender.

"Well if anything he seems not to want anyone in on his "big secret". I mean he never answers any questions we ask like where he's been or what McGonagall wanted with him." Alice pointed out and Albus nodded.

"I betcha he's doing something illegal." Keith said

"Keith!" Albus, Rose and Alice yelled causing Keith to flinch.

"I was just kidding!" Keith protested.

"It's not a laughing matter Keith! This is serious!" Rose yelled. Keith grumbled something inaudible and glared at the ground.

"I think McGonagall might have told him something." Albus said "Something he's not allowed to share with anyone. That's why he doesn't answer our questions."

"If she did then why?" Rose asked.

"I dunno." Albus answered.

"I has to be something to do with the quidditch pitch. If it wasn't then she would have called other people." Alice reasoned.

"Good point. That still does explain why he can't tell us anything." Albus said.

"McGonagall swore him to secrecy that's why." Keith said.

"How do you know?" Rose asked with raised eyebrows.

"Think about it! If she didn't he would have told us by now!" Keith answered in an exasperated tone. Rose rolled her eyes

"You all are being paranoid. You are seeing things that aren't there! Scorpius isn't doing anything suspicious and McGonagall isn't swearing him to secrecy! He's probably just studying." Rose said.

"Just because that's all you think about." Keith muttered.

"I do not!" Rose retorted

"You do! All you ever hear from you is study, study, study! If I hear that word again I'll go mad! Is that all you ever think about? C'mon Rose it's the weekend give us a break!" Keith yelled.

"Well excuse me! I'm simply trying to pass my OWLs thank you very much! If you want to waste your life then it's fine by me!" Rose snapped before getting up and storming off.

Rose didn't care where she was going just as long as she was as far away from Keith Downes as possible, that boy made her so angry that she could hex him. She walked for what felt like ten or fifteen minutes then she stood on a twig and looked up, she had walked straight into the Forbidden Forest. She glanced around the unfamiliar surroundings, she couldn't see the Lake.

"Perfect." Rose muttered sarcastically. Rose wandered through the forest trying to remember the way back to the Lake when she heard voices to her right.

"You are breathing too hard! How do you expect to control air currents when you can control your own breathing?" barked the voice of Professor Davies.

"Sorry." Muttered a voice that Rose recognised instantly as Scorpius. Rose followed their voices to a small clearing crept closer and hid in some bushes nearby. Scorpius and Professor Davies were standing with their backs to her.

"Again and focus!" Professor Davies instructed.

"Ok." Scorpius said and sucked in a deep breath. Rose held her own breath wondering why Professor Davies was instructing Scorpius on his breathing pattern.

"You still aren't concentrating!" Barked Professor Davies. "In through your nose then out through your mouth slowly!"

"I'm trying." Scorpius said and by the sound of his voice he was saying it through his teeth.

"Try it again." Professor Davies said his voice not as commanding as before. "Power in air comes from the breath. You must master proper breathing if you want to have full control over your element. Only when you can control the air currents in your body will you be able to control them outside your body as well."

"We've been practising this for a week! When will I actually get to do anything? I did just fine without all these breathing exercises!" Scorpius asked and by the sound of his voice Rose could tell that he was frustrated.

"That was your element at its zenith. When you are in the air your power reaches its maximum you don't have to concentrate as hard as you need to when you are on the ground." Professor Davies explained.

"Then I'll jump out of a tree!" Scorpius said.

"No! You will concentrate and perfect your element on the ground. Now focus Scorpius." Professor Davies said with a note of finality in his voice. Scorpius gave an exasperated groan. Rose was thoroughly confused, she had no idea what Professor Davies was talking about.

Scorpius breathed in deeply and the exhaled slowly and the air around him began to swirl into a miniature tornado. Professor Davies began to clap as the air settled again.

"Well done." He said "You have finally got it. Now you can have the rest of the weekend off but I expect you bright and early on Monday morning for some actual training."

"That's brilliant!" Scorpius said with obvious glee. Rose scrambled away in shock and slight fear about what she had just seen.

Rose ran through the forest heading as far east as she possibly could and she emerged from the forest. Albus, Alice and Keith had gone inside at some point and so had most of the students.

"Hey Rose!" Rose cringed as Scorpius approached her.

"Um…Hi Scorpius." She said sheepishly. Scorpius frowned in confusion which in Rose's opinion made him look kind of cute.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh…it's nothing. I just thought I saw something." Rose lied twisting her fingers behind her back.

"Oh…ok." Scorpius said with a shrug.

"So…um…Alice was looking for you. She said you promised to train with her."

"Oh God! I forgot all about that! Alice is going to be pissed." Scorpius said slapping his forehead.

"Just a little." Rose said with a small smile.

"Any chance you have any suits of armour?" Scorpius asked with a smile that made Rose's heart flutter.

"Sorry I'm fresh out." She joked. Scorpius laughed and grabbed her hand which caused Rose to jump slightly. "Well I guess there is no escape now."

"Don't worry I've got your back." Rose said as they walked back to the castle together.

Chapter 6: Earth

"Can anyone tell me the dates of the main battles of the Goblin Rebellion?" Asked Professor Binns. The class looked half dead and Keith was snoring softly beside Rose who raised her arm.

"Someone besides Miss Weasley." Professor Binns said and Rose scowled before lowering her hand. Rose elbowed Keith awake just as the bell rang and suddenly the half dead pupils sprang to life and were all out the door before Professor Binns could register the fact that the bell had rung.

"God that was boring!" Keith exclaimed as he and Rose walked to the Common Room for their free period. Rose shrugged

"You think every class except Potions and Defence Against the Darks Arts is boring." She pointed out.

"History of Magic takes the cake." Keith grumbled. "By the way can I borrow your Transfiguration notes?"

"What happened to your own?" Rose asked.

"It's a funny story actually." Keith said with a smirk.

"On second thoughts never mind and before you ask I'm not writing the introduction for your essay." Rose said as Keith opened his mouth.

"I wasn't even going to ask that! I just wanted to know if you were going to watch Alice's Quidditch trials this afternoon." The Quidditch trials had been cancelled the previous day by a sudden rain that forced the Ravenclaws to abandon the Quidditch pitch for the warm and dry castle.

"Yes I am and so are Albus and Scorpius." Rose answered.

"She's going mad about Alan Morrison. I think she fancies him." Keith stated with a confident look.

"Then you obviously have the emotional range of a teaspoon. If she's calling him a "flying idiot with ego problems" then she obviously doesn't like him in any sense." Rose reasoned.

"I don't pretend that I know my sister's every thought." Keith said with a shrug.

"You always said you two had twin telepathy." Rose pointed out.

"Did I?"

"You did."

"Oh…well. We do just not at the moment." Keith said.

"Whatever." Rose sighed as the stopped in front of the portrait hole.

"Password?" Asked the Fat Lady.

"Phoenix Tears." Keith answered and they stepped through the opening.

Rose flopped into a squishy armchair near the fire and Keith sat on the floor in front of it. They worked diligently for a good half an hour and by then Rose had finished her work but Keith was still trying to write the essay that his mother set the class. Rose attempted to help him but he insisted that he could do it himself. Rose became bored and decided since the weather had improved and it looked like a nice day outside.

"I'm going out ok?" Rose asked as she stood up.

"Fine by me. I'll see you at dinner." Keith said not taking his eyes of his half finished essay. Rose nodded and ran up to her dormitory to get her scarf before climbing out of the portrait hole.

She made her way down the staircase and out through the Entrance Hall into the grounds. She had been right about it looking nice outside, the sun was shining and the leaves were only just starting to change colour. She wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck as a cool breeze blew by and began to walk to the Lake.

"Hey Weasley!" Called a voice from behind Rose which made her stop dead and reach slowly for her wand. A large 7th year called Terry Dixon and he was flanked by two other 7th years who were equally huge.

Rose glared at them; she hadn't forgotten what they had done to Alice the previous year. She gave a small shudder at the memory of Alice in the hospital wing. It was worse what she said they had tried to do to her, if Albus and Scorpius hadn't shown up when they did. Keith had gone insane from fury and had sent Terry and his friends to the hospital wing as well, with Albus and Scorpius's help. Alice didn't want to tell anyone about what had happened despite their protests and thankfully although it took a very long time, she was able to move forward although she never was really the same again.

"What do you want?" Rose hissed backing away slightly. Terry's friends snickered causing her Rose to shudder.

"You." Was the answer.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Rose declared with as much bravery as she could muster despite feeling the exact opposite. Before Rose could say or do anything more Terry's friends began to move closer to her and she continued to back away.

"Aww, you scared Weasley?" Terry crooned.

"You wish!" Rose spat. Then with speed that Rose didn't know he possessed, one of Terry's friends had grabbed her arms. Rose let out a yell and before she knew it the other boy was behind her. She kicked out and managed to hit the boy in front of her in between the legs causing him to let go of her arms. The boy behind her then grabbed her around the waist and she elbowed him in the stomach causing him to stagger slightly and allow her to escape.

Rose ran as fast as she could with Terry and his friends at her heels. The Forbidden Forest loomed in front of her and she decided that she could lose them in the forest. She increased her speed and ran into the forest. She made a zig-zag path into the forest then hid behind a large clump of bushes.

"Where'd she go?" said heard Terry yell and he sounded close.

"I dunno." Answered one of the boys in a gruff voice.

"Well find her!" Terry hissed.

Rose prayed that she wouldn't be found as she peeked her head over the top of the bushes. The coast seemed clear and she crept out from her hiding place.

"There she is!" cried a voice and Rose began to run again. She ran and it was right into one of Terry's friends who then shoved so hard that she fell.

Rose hit the ground and began to shake with rage and it wasn't just Rose, the ground seemed to shake with rage as well. Rose balled her hands into fists and the trees swayed and their roots began to move of their own accord wrapping themselves around the boy's ankles and legs.

"W-What are you doing?" He yelled as the roots began to twist around his waist and up his chest. Rose didn't care if the roots strangled the boy she just wanted to be left alone. The roots were winding around the boy's wrists and arms then he fell forward. Rose stood up and the earth stopped shaking as violently as when she was lying on the ground.

"Help me!" the boy cried out as the roots wrapped themselves around his upper body. Rose exhaled angrily and the roots stopped their advance. The boys began to writhe on the ground trying to free himself and Rose ran.

Rose ran on through the forest when she tripped on a root and fell on the ground right at someone's feet.

"Nice of you to join us Weasley." Terry said as she stared up at him. She tried to push herself up but Terry and his remaining friend had grabbed an arm each and dragged her to her feet.

"Let go of me!" She screamed and struggled hard against their grip she was then thrown at the base of a tree.

"I like them with a bit of fight." Terry snickered.

"Then you'll love this!" yelled a third voice. Terry was knocked aside by a blonde blur. Her rescuer was now wrestling on the ground with Terry and she got a good look at who it was.

"Scorpius!" Rose yelled in relief. Terry's other friend moved towards her and Rose glared at him. She tried to remember how she had manipulated the roots. The earth began to rumble again. A fissure began to crack the earth under the boy's feet causing him to sway unsteadily on his feet. Rose clenched her fists and the roots began to wind themselves around the boy until they had wound around his whole upper body.

"What is going on over here?" roared a voice and a few minutes later Professor Davies emerged from the bushes. Scorpius and Terry who were still wrestling on the ground stopped instantly. Rose scrambled to her feet as Professor Davies eyes swept the scene lingering on Terry's friend who was struggling against the roots that bound him.

"I was taking a walk and I came across a boy who was trapped by roots like this boy here. Who did that?" He asked. Terry pointed at Rose and Professor Davies gave her a stern look.

"I only did it because Terry and his friends tried to…" She trailed off. Professor Davies looked murderous and he turned to glare at Terry.

"I'm taking you all to the headmistress's office." Professor Davies declared.

Chapter 7: Ravenclaw Quidditch Trials

After lunch almost three quarters of Ravenclaw house made their way to The Quidditch Pitch. Albus walked down with Alice since it was his free period. Alice was a nervous wreck as she always was before every Quidditch trial or match.

"What if I fall off my broom!" she squeaked her knuckles tuning white as she clutched her broom tighter. Albus put an arm around her shoulders and took her broom from her.

"Then I'll catch you." He said "Don't worry Alice you'll be fine! I mean you've played Quidditch since second year and the worst injury you've ever got was a broken wrist. Relax."

"But I'll suck! Royally! I'll royally suck!" Alice said her hazel eyes growing to an almost comical size.

"You won't." Albus said "You'll kick ass like you always do."

"Where's Rose, Scorpius and Keith?" Alice asked.

"Keith's already down at the pitch." Albus answered. "Remember he left early to get us good seats?"

"What about Rose and Scorpius?" Alice asked.

"I don't know." Albus replied. Alice bit her lip and said nothing for the rest of the walk down to the Quidditch Pitch. Albus handed Alice her broom and walked to the stands while she walked onto the pitch.

The Ravenclaws were huddled in groups on the pitch waiting for Alan Morrison to arrive. Alice went and stood with Jacob and Annabeth her two teammates from the previous year.

"Hey Alice." Jacob said. Jacob was a tall sixth year with dark skin and chocolate eyes which made most of the sixth year girls swoon except for Annabeth who ironically was his girlfriend.

"Hi." Alice said with a small smile.

"You nervous?" he asked.

"A little." Alice lied.

"Don't worry." Annabeth said slapping Alice on the back. Annabeth was also a sixth year and had long brown hair which was tied into a ponytail and sea green eyes.

"Thanks guys." Alice mumbled. Annabeth put her arm around Alice just as Alan Morrison walked onto the pitch.

"Right!" he yelled and all heads turned to look at him "Anyone who isn't a Ravenclaw get the hell off this pitch! This is a RAVENCLAW trial and if I see anyone who isn't a Ravenclaw I'll hex their asses into the next century!"

Morrison glared around the pitch and several Hufflepuff girls sprinted for the stands apparently in fear for their lives. He glared at their retreating forms and several petrified Ravenclaw first years followed them.

"Alright I want all the chasers over here you lot are going first." He continued pointing to a spot near the goalposts. Annabeth and Jacob jogged over to where Morrison had indicated. There were three other Ravenclaw boys and two Ravenclaw girls standing with them.

All chasers mounted their brooms and soared into the sky. Morrison let loose the bludgers and Alice bit her lip for her two friends. Annabeth managed to score seven goals while ducking and dodging the bludgers and Jacob scored ten which earned him the shrieks of almost every girl in his year. There was no question of Annabeth and Jacob returning again.

"Beaters over there!" Morrison ordered and several Ravenclaw boys assembled just to his right. All were big, well muscled and brandishing bats although they didn't look like they were capable of getting their brooms off the ground with them on.

They did however manage to get into the sky and much to Alice and most of the spectator's amusement one of the potential beaters shot a bludger at Morrison who had to hit the deck to avoid it. Soon enough the two beaters were chosen, Joshua Burke and Bradley Owen.

"All keepers over there!" Morrison demanded. Four boys and two girls clustered near the goalpost. They mounted their brooms and soared into the sky as did Annabeth and Jacob with the quaffle. Jacob and Annabeth proceeded to pelt the potential keepers with the quaffle. Most of them many to save only two or three of the five shots except for one girl who managed to save four. The new keeper was Faith West a small yet agile third year.

"Seekers!" Morrison yelled "Now the way I am going to do this is simple and straightforward. I'm going to let the snitch go, just like in any normal game, and the first one to catch will be our new seeker, got it?"
There was a murmur from the potential seekers and Alice mounted her broom, "Okay, one...two... THREE

All the seekers shot off like bullets, Alice soared around the pitch all the seekers were zooming around in different directions, and Alice was constantly afraid one of them had seen the snitch. She saw her brother and Albus with Rose and Scorpius slipping in to the empty spots beside them, all of them were yelling and cheering for her. She appreciated her cheering, but honestly, how was she supposed to concentrate?

Alice peered at Albus. He was shouting and waving his arms wildly, pointing. What was he pointing at? Then Alice saw it. The snitch, right where Albus was pointing to near the goalpost. She dove, gaining speed. It was right in front of her! She could hear its tiny wings flitting around!

Suddenly, something smashed into her from the side. It was one of the boy seekers. He knocked her half off her broom, and she hung on for dear life by her hands. She managed to get back on, disoriented, and furious, but there was no sign of the snitch anymore.

Alice soared around the pitch on her trusty Comet 500. Suddenly, she realized that there was a boy on her tail. It was the same one who had smashed into her earlier. He was waiting to see if she saw the snitch, and then he planned to catch her on his Firebolt. She read him like a book.
Alice accelerated, as if she had seen the snitch. She went straight for the goalpost, speeding up. At the last minute, she moved an inch and glided straight past it. She heard a sickening thud behind her, and smiled with satisfaction. A minute later, she saw him lying in a heap on the ground.

"One down, two to go," she murmured to herself.

Alice spotted the snitch. It glinted in the sunlight, golden and perfect. All she had to do is fly up there and get it...

The other girl, a tall 4th year with dark hair also spotted the snitch. Alice was closer, but the girl was riding a Nimbus 2012. They raced to the spot, their hair flying in the wind. They were neck in neck, both reaching for the snitch.

Alice shut her eyes as she collided with the other girl as they both grabbed for the snitch. She felt herself slip off her broom, and grabbed frantically for the handle.

"Accio Broom!" she shouted, terrified. The broom shot towards her and she grabbed it.

"Congratulations." said the girl she had been competing with. Alice opened her hand. A golden snitch rested in her palm, flitting slightly.

"We have our team." Morrison announced "Thank you to all who participated. Team, I'll see you on Wednesday for our first practice session!"

Alice flew down the snitch still in her hand and landed just in front of Morrison. She dropped the snitch into his hand and gave him a curt nod before being nearly flattened by her new teammates.

Chapter 8: Shauna Longbottom

Keith sat in Herbology staring wistfully out of the greenhouse, he was bored stiff. It was a double period and normally his attention would start to waver half an hour into the lesson. His table was deserted as his partner hadn't turned up for the lesson, a wise decision in his mind.

They were learning about some strange plant from the Amazon...or was it from Africa, Keith could remember. Mercifully Rose who loved Herbology wasn't in his class so he would be spared an ear bashing from her for not paying attention.

His mind was drifting further and further away every second. His daydreams took him to the sea were it was cool and the air was salty. The tide was just coming in and the waves were just breaking over his feet, pure bliss.

He imagined what it would be like to be submerged in the blue ocean. Colourful fish swam around him and darted in and out of a coral reef. The vibrant colours drew him closer to it. The tropical fish didn't seem to mind his presence among them if anything they seemed to not even notice he was there at all.

A shoal of fish swam past him perused by a two dolphins. He followed them swimming alongside them as they leapt out of the water. He laughed at their playful antics and dived down to the ocean floor.

"Keith!" his daydream was cut brutally short and he jumped to attention

"Cocoa beans!" he said thinking he was being asked a question. The class sniggered in response to his outburst and Keith wished that a hole would open and swallow him.

"You are telling me that the juice from this plant's fruit cures Cocoa beans?" Professor Longbottom asked clearly unamused.

"No I mean! Uh...hay fever?" Keith said picking the first illness from his head.

"No this plant does not cure hay fever." Professor Longbottom said pinching his nose "It is a key ingredient in all Measles Remedies."

"Measles. Idiot!" Keith mumbled to himself.

Keith tried to stay on task for the rest of the lesson and not daydream again, a task easier said than done. His mind wandered off again and soon he was once again daydreaming.

This time he imagined he was in the centre of a battle, like the ones his parents sometimes talked about from when they were his age. Death Eaters surrounding him and nowhere to run there was only one option, stand and fight.

Ducking and dodging curses that were flying at him he fought. He sent hex after hex at his black robed opponents. They sent Unforgivables back at him, they were aiming to kill and he was aiming to survive.

His imagination summoned allies to help him and out of his mind came his sister, Albus, Rose and Scorpius. They stood side-by-side ready to duel and fight the Death Eaters. More curses fired and more spells shot back. Duck, dodge and fire was how the battle went in his mind.

Alice and Rose fought as a tag team fighting opponents then randomly switching to catch them off guard. Albus, Scorpius and himself fought several they were taking on some of the more aggressive Death Eaters and he seemed to be taking them further away from the girls. More curses fired but they failed to hit any of them while they seemed to be landing more hits.

RRRRRIIIINNGGGGG!

The bell sounded and Keith snapped out of his daydream yet again and moved like his classmates to put his books in his bag and vacate the greenhouse. It was the last class of the day thankfully because quite frankly Keith was ready to go to bed.

"Keith my I have a word?" Professor Longbottom asked. Keith groaned internally, he was really going to get it for not paying attention in class.

"Yes sir?" he asked.

"I noticed you seem to be distracted today. Is anything they matter?"

"Nothing I guess I just…wasn't all there."

"That's too bad because this is a very important year and you aren't doing very well in Herbology."

"I know…but…Herbology isn't really my subject." Keith admitted "No offence."

"Well Keith I'm sorry to hear that." Professor Longbottom said with a small frown "But I can give you extra help if you like…how about a tutor?"

"A tutor?" Keith asked.

"Yes Keith, a tutor." Professor Longbottom replied with a nod. "But first I need you to help me."

"What do you mean?" Keith asked confused about how he could possibly help his Herbology Professor.

"Have you seen my daughter today?"

"Shauna? No I haven't."

"I need you to help me find her. She's going to be your tutor."

"Oh…ok." Keith said with a shrug.

"Thank you Keith you can go now." Professor Longbottom said with a smile. Keith nodded and hurried out of the greenhouse following the other students to the Great Hall. That was all he had to do? Find Shauna Longbottom?

Keith frowned in thought about where he might find Shauna, he didn't really know her that well. He knew that she loved to duel and practically led the duelling club everyone had jokingly nicknamed it "Longbottom's Army". He decided to look for her after he had gotten some dinner.

Keith sat down at the Gryffindor table and pulled a bowl of stew towards himself. It wasn't long before Albus and Rose appeared followed by Alice and Scorpius.

"Hey Keith." They said as they sat down.

"Hey." Keith said swallowing a mouthful of stew.

"S'up with you?" Alice asked "You look very thoughtful."

"Have any of you lot seen Shauna Longbottom today?" he asked.

"No." Albus shook his head.

"Not me." Rose said

"Me either." Scorpius added.

"She was in my Defence Against the Dark Arts class but that was this morning." Alice said.

"Why do you want to know?" Rose asked.

"Professor Longbottom said I had to find her." Keith said "She's gonna be my Herbology tutor."

"I could have tutored you if you asked!" Rose said.

"You're my friend and all Rose but no offence…your kinda bossy." Keith replied.

"I'm not bossy!" Rose cried indignantly "Am I bossy?"

"A little." Albus said sheepishly.

"I am not!" Rose barked.

"You kinda are Rose but in a good way!" Alice said trying to save their friendship. Rose scowled and stabbed her fork into her pork with more force than necessary.

"Anyway Shauna is going to be my new Herbology tutor but Professor Longbottom asked me to find her for him."

"Why don't you ask James? He has the Marauders Map." Albus suggested.

"Yeah!" Keith said "I can't believe I didn't think of that! Thanks Al!" Keith shovelled the rest of his dinner into his mouth as fast as possible and ran off to find James.

Keith walked down the corridor keeping his eyes peeled for James. He saw Fred standing outside a broom closet with a sour expression on his face. Keith ran up to him, if anyone knew where James was it was Fred and Nicky.

"Hey Fred!" Keith called.

"Hey Keith." Fred replied.

"Fred do you know where James is?"

"Yeah, he's in the broom closet. Why?" Fred answered. Keith frowned, why was James in a broom closet?

"I need to borrow the Marauders Map." Keith said moving towards the door. Fred flung him arm across it to prevent Keith from entering.

"You can't go in there."

"But I need to see James."

"Sorry Keith but you can't go in there."

"I really need to see James."

"Seriously Keith! Don't go in there! You really don't want to."

"You don't understand! My Herbology OWL depends on me getting the Marauders Map!" Keith said shoving Fred's arm out of the way.

"Fine but don't say I didn't warn you."

Keith rolled his eyes at Fred and flung open the door of the broom closet and instantly covered his eyes. James and his cousin Nicky were inside and in the middle of a passionate kiss. Nicky and James were both shirtless but thankfully Nicky was still wearing her bra.

"Keith!" Nicky yelled in surprise and instantly stooped down to get her blouse. Keith slammed the door shut again his hand still covering his eyes.

"I told you didn't want to go in there." Fred said with a smug smirk. James emerged fully clothed from the broom closet five minutes later and looked murderous.

"What do you want Keith?" he asked.

"I need to find someone and I was wondering if I could borrow the Marauders Map." Keith said still feeling very awkward. James dug into his trouser pocket and pulled out the parchment.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." James said taping it with his wand before handing it to Keith "When your finished tap it and say "Mischief Managed" and I want that back."

Keith nodded and took the Map from James and muttered a sheepish apology and sprinted off. Looking at the Map Keith saw the dots with names floating beside them moving around the page. Most of them were clustered in the Great Hall but a few were in the Common Rooms and some were wandering the corridors. He scanned the Map for any sign of Shauna Longbottom and found her dot in an empty classroom on the third floor.

Keith ran to the third floor with his eyes glued to the Map praying that Shauna wouldn't move. Mercifully she stayed were she was in the classroom. When Keith arrived at the classroom he tapped the Map

"Mischief Managed." He said and the parchment turned blank once again. Keith pushed open the door of the classroom and saw Shauna standing in the middle of the room with a Transfiguration textbook open on the desk beside her.

"Shauna!" Keith called and she turned to look at him. Shauna had shoulder length blonde hair, pale blue eyes and a round face like her father and like her mother was a Hufflepuff. Shauna narrowed her eyes at Keith.

"What do you want Downes?" she asked.

"Your dad asked me to find you." Keith answered. "He said you'd tutor me for Herbology."

"Did he?" Shauna said slamming her Transfiguration textbook shut.

"Yeah." Keith replied getting the feeling that Shauna wasn't particularly thrilled about tutoring him.

"Typical! Dad never asks me whether I want to do anything or not." Shauna muttered.

"Please? I really could use your help."

"Fine." Shauna said with a scowl "I'll tutor you."

"That's brilliant thanks!" Keith said happily. Shauna didn't respond to this and walked straight past Keith and out the door.

Chapter 9: The Five Elements Part 1

October 31st in Hogwarts was always a memorable occasion and this year would be no different. The student body was hyped up for the Hogwarts feast and this year there was going to be a party for the whole school which included fancy dress.

The teachers however saw the upcoming Halloween event differently than the students did and set an almost unbelievable amount of homework. This according to Keith was how the teachers celebrated Halloween.

As the holiday inched closer the students' moods soared and even the homework didn't seem to dampen the mood of celebration. The teachers however still set homeworks and expected them to be handed in by the next class, holiday or not.

Saturday 31st of October arrived and the Hall was decorated with pumpkins and live bats as per tradition and rumour was that Professor McGonagall was getting a troupe of dancing skeletons.

"I wish Rose, Terra and Alice would hurry up!" Keith moaned. Albus, Scorpius, Keith and Andrew were standing outside the Girl's Bathroom waiting for their three friends to finish getting ready. Keith was dressed as Frankenstein's monster, Scorpius was Superman, Albus was Indiana Jones fake whip and everything and Andrew was a vampire.

"Mate they're girls. It takes them forty minutes at least to get ready." Andrew said taking out his fake vampire fangs.

"Hey do you think Rose'll dress as Lois Lane for Scorp?" Keith asked with a snigger. Andrew and Albus burst into laughter and Scorpius turned red. "And maybe Terra will dress as that girl…Ella or something for Andrew." Andrew rolled his eyes at Keith while Albus and Scorpius were nearly doubled over in laughter.

"What are you lot laughing about?" Alice, Rose and Terra had all emerged from the bathroom. Terra was dressed as a 'sexy' devil and Rose was in a long eighteenth century dress and had her red hair in an elaborate hairstyle while Alice was wearing a knee-length black dress with purple boots and a purple witch's hat.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Keith asked Rose who rolled her eyes.

"Jane Eyre." She answered.

"Jane who?" Keith asked and Rose slapped his arm causing him to recoil before walking over to stand by Scorpius. Terra walked over to Andrew and gave him a peck on the cheek and they both waved goodbye to the five friends.

"Keith haven't you got anyone to go with?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, Shauna's going with me." Keith answered.

"Did she actually agreed to this or was it all in your head?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow.

"She said "I've nothing better to do" and using my vast knowledge of the female mind I translated that as "Sure I'll go with you"" Keith answered.

"I thought you two didn't get on." Scorpius pointed out.

"We do get on we just…rub either other the wrong way sometimes." Keith defended.

"She still calls you 'Downes' though." Albus pointed out.

"In an endearing way!" Keith argued. "And what about Alice? Why aren't you quizzing her?"

"Because I'm going with you lot and not with a boy!" Alice declared with her hands on her hips.

"Why am I always the last to know about everything?" Keith scowled.

"You should have asked sooner." Alice said with a shrug at her brother. Keith scowled at Alice's response.

"No one tells me anything!" Keith complained.

"Actually it's everyone with a grain of sense who doesn't tell you." Rose responded. "Because they know you'd take the piss."

Keith grumbled something about people having no faith in him and fell silent. The five friends walked to The Great Hall where the feast would be, the actual party would be outside on the grounds.

Shauna was standing outside the Great Hall looking bored stiff. She was wearing a Hufflepuff Quidditch uniform and oddly a pilot's hat. She caught sight of the group approaching and looked up

"Hey Shauna." Keith said with a large grin.

"Downes." She said with a curt nod.

"I didn't know you played Quidditch." Albus said.

"I don't." Shauna replied "This is Jenna Sparrow's uniform. She let it to me because we're about the same size."

"Oh…right." Albus cringed.

"So are we going or what?" Shauna asked.

The five friends entered the Great Hall and then separated to go to their house tables. The feast was as elaborate as ever but it seemed this year more people were interested in the party than the feast. That didn't however make the students any less hungry or the feast any less delicious.

As soon as the feast had ended the students flooded out into the grounds which were decorated with carved pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns. There was also a huge bonfire near the Lake which most of the students were thoughly excited about. There was also a dance floor that the teachers had set up the previous day.

Soon enough students were crowded in small groups laughing and some were dancing. The older students managed to procure Butterbeer and the seventh years had snuck in several bottles of Firewhiskey intent on becoming as James put it "absolutely smashed".

When the next song came on Scorpius and Rose disappeared onto the dance floor and Keith was trying to persuade Shauna to have at least one dance with him. Alice and Albus stood together by the bonfire sipping bottles of Butterbeer.

"They really went all out this year didn't they?" Alice said.

"Yeah, no kidding." Albus replied.

"Bet you five galleons that brother dearest doesn't get Shauna to dance with him."

"You're on." Albus said with a grin.

"He won't." Alice stated confidently

"How do you know?" Albus asked.

"Because Shauna looks like she's going to murder him in a minute."

"You're right actually…she looks pissed." Albus stated with a glance over his shoulder.

"Of course I'm right! I'm a Ravenclaw." She joked

"But I'm a Slytherin so how do you know I won't cheat?" Albus joked back. Alice smirked and rolled her eyes at him

"You're such a dork you know that?" Alice said

"I know but you still like me."

"Just."

"You wound me Alice dear."

"Oh ha ha Albus honey."

"KEITH DOWNES! FOR THE LAST TIME I DON'T WANT TO BLOODY DANCE!" came the yell that caused Alice and Albus to turn around and stare.

"You owe me five galleons." Alice stated with a grin.

"I'll pay you next Hogsmead visit." Albus said with a frown.

"You know you should never make a bet with me. I always win." Alice stated with a smug smile.

"Some people have all the luck." Albus grumbled. Before Alice could respond Ellesheil dressed like Cleopatra walked up to them and wrapped her arms around Albus's shoulders.

"There you are Al." she said "I was looking everywhere for you."

Alice rolled her eyes at Ellesheil and walked away. It was common knowledge to almost everyone except Albus that Alice and Ellesheil got along like a cat and a dog. Ellesheil seemed to think that Alice was after her boyfriend which was completely untrue. True Alice did have a crush on him once but that was in third year and she was over it.

Alice glanced over her shoulder to find Ellesheil and Albus mid kiss. She might have been over her crush but that still didn't explain why she felt like strangling Ellesheil every time she saw her kissing Albus. She put it down to over protectiveness

"Alice are you alright?" Annabeth dressed as a nun had appeared at her side.

"I'm fine." Alice lied.

"Alice what happened?" Annabeth asked unconvinced by Alice's lie.

"Nothing, I just wish Ellesheil would stop trying to eat Albus's face in public."

"I think someone's a bit jealous." Annabeth stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I'm not! Kissing Albus would be like kissing KEITH!" Alice said motioning wildly at her brother "Annabeth you are the Queen of the Gutter! No one's mind is dirtier than yours!"

"I speak only the truth." Annabeth said raising her hands in surrender.

Alice fumed, she was not jealous of Ellesheil Darrow. How could she be? True Ellesheil was more popular than her but she wasn't a petty person, besides she didn't want to be popular anyway. Ellesheil also had Albus but she wasn't interested in Albus as a boyfriend, he was just her very good friend.

The night drew on and soon the younger population of the school flooded back inside the castle while the older students continued to party.

Alice, Albus, Scorpius, Rose, Keith and Shauna decided to take a short walk in the Forbidden Forest to get away from the chaos of the party. They didn't go very far inside the Forest but far enough that most of the noise was faint.

"That was fun." Rose said with a smile.

"They should really do that every year." Keith agreed.

"Yeah there's nothing the teachers like more than hung-over seventh years." Shauna said with a smirk.

"Serves them right for setting so much homework." Keith said with a shrug.

"I'm sure your mother will be so glad to hear that." Shauna said sarcastically. Keith rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like "why do I bother with girls" which caused Shauna to slap his arm.

Suddenly there was a snap of a twig to their immediate left and the six froze. Before anyone could say or do anything a deep voice gave the order

"Kill the children or they will expose us!" over ten jets of black flame shot out at them.

Chapter 10: The Five Elements Part 2

The flames shot out from in front of the six friends and they all ducked to the ground with their hands covering their heads.

"RUN!" screamed Alice. The others did not need to be told twice before they scrambled to their feet. Rose and Scorpius however didn't run.

"Get out of here!" Scorpius yelled over his shoulder "Don't worry about us!" Alice turned around to yell something back at Scorpius but Albus grabbed her arm and dragged her with him.

Rose fell into a wide stance and stamped her foot on the ground causing several boulders to fly into the air. Rose punched them at in the direction that the black flames were coming from. The flames stopped as the attackers flung themselves out of the way of Rose's boulders. Scorpius was at Rose's side sending blasts of frigid air at their attackers.

The attackers began shooting blasts of black flames at the two Elementals, Scorpius moved his arms in a quick sweeping motion producing a shield of air. Rose raised several columns of earth under the feet of their attackers before quickly dropping them again causing them to come hurtling back down to earth and land with a sickening crunch.

Several of their attackers tried to run past them, Rose slammed her fists into the earth and tried to raise a wall to stop them. She had been trying to do this move for the best part of a week with little success. Much to her dismay the wall only was a couple of feet high and some of the attackers were able to climb over it and pursue their friends.

Albus, Alice, Keith and Shauna ran as fast as they could before having to stop.

"We have to go back!" Alice exclaimed between gasps.

"Are you crazy?" Keith said "You'll be killed! Scorpius told us to run!"

"Rose and Scorpius need us!" Alice retorted.

"We can't just leave them to die." Shauna agreed.

"If it was Alice wouldn't you go back?" Albus asked. Keith looked at his feet and then gave a jerky nod.

"Then it's settled, we're going back." Alice said turning around and heading back in the direction they came. They ran back through the forest led by Alice with Shauna, Albus and Keith in hot pursuit.

"Find the others! They haven't gone far!" came a high female voice.

"How the hell did they find us?" Keith asked in disbelief.

"Spilt up!" Albus hissed and pointed east "Shauna go that way with Keith. Alice, you stay with me."

"C'mon Downes!" Shauna said as she turned north and began to run with Keith following her.

Albus turned to Alice and saw she was biting back tears. Albus pulled her into a hug.

"I need you with me Alice." He said " If we're all going get out of this alive."

"I'm scared Al." Alice admitted.

"Don't be, we're all going to be fine."

"Al?"

"Yeah?"

"You're such a dork." Albus gave her a small smile but became serious again. He took a step back from Alice and she took a deep breath to calm herself.

"We have to find Rose and Scorpius." Alice said. "And get these wackos off our backs."

"Let's start with leading them away from Keith and Shauna." Albus suggested.

"Good plan."

"Do you have your wand?"

"Why?"

"I left mine in my dorm. I didn't think I'd need it."

"Me too...damn it!"

"We need a distraction…something that'll focus they're attention o us instead of Keith and Shauna."

"Distraction got it." Alice nodded "Gimme your whip Indy." Albus looked confused but handed the whip over to Alice.

"What are you doing?"

"You said we needed a distraction. I'm giving us one."

"Uh…I don't think that'll work."

"We could some pointed sticks and make them look like wands." Alice suggested.

"I don't think that'll work either."

"Then what do you suppose we do?" before Albus could answer Alice's question a black flame was shot at them.

"Only one thing to do now…run!" Albus said grabbing Alice's arm as they both ran west.

Keith and Shauna ran through the forest as fast as they could. They didn't know what had happened to their friends or if they were being pursued. Trees whirred by and Shauna noticed that they were beginning to thin out. They ran on and soon the forest cleared but they weren't in the school grounds. They were standing on a cliff with the moonlit lake twenty foot below them and to the west they could see Hogwarts, a beautiful sight any other time.

"You have your wand right?" Shauna asked as she produced hers from an inside pocket.

"Funny story." Keith said with a grimace

"Idiot." Shauna muttered "Why the hell didn't you bring your wand? Do you want to be killed?"

"I didn't think I would need it!"

"Newsflash Downes! Always have your wand!" Shauna yelled

"I'm not stupid! I just didn't expect to be attacked or be running for my life!" Keith yelled back

"You should always expect the unexpected! Remember Moody's saying? CONSTANT VILGILANCE!"

"For God's sake Shauna! If I went around like that then half of Hogwarts would be in ruins!"

"Use your brain Downes! You take your wand everywhere with you!"

"Oh shut up!" Keith yelled "You're doing my head in!"

"You aren't a walk in the park either!"

"Then go away!" Shauna scowled at Keith and walked a short distance away. She began to pace like a caged animal with Keith following her movements. She suddenly stopped dead and turned to look at Keith.

"What are you staring at!" Shauna demanded.

"Nothing!"

"Quit staring at me! You're starting to creep me out!"

"Shhhh!" Keith said looking past her into the bushes, he swore that he just saw one move.

"Don't 'shhhh' me! AND QUIT STARING!"

"BEHIND YOU! HIT THE DECK!" Keith yelled. Shauna dropped to the ground and flames shot over her head, she missed them by an inch. Three black cloaked figures emerged from the forest

"Death Eaters!" Shauna hissed. The dark cloaked figures advanced on the two teenagers and Shauna pushed herself to her feet and pointed her wand at them. Keith pushed himself to his feet as well and glared at their attackers.

"Who are you?" Shauna asked.

"Step aside child and we might spare you and your friend." Said one who sounded like a man with a rough Scottish accent.

"Tell me who you are." Shauna demanded.

"That is none of your concern. Now move!" the same one replied.

"I'm not moving until you tell us who you are and why you attacked our friends." Shauna declared.

"This is the last chance I am going to give you. Now move aside little girl."

Shauna didn't move but Keith shifted slightly so he was closer to Shauna, he didn't want her to be attacked how ever much she annoyed him. There was a brief moment of complete silence while nobody spoke or moved.

"Fine, you have made your choice." Before Shauna could do anything a jet of black flame was shot at her. Keith shot an arm out to try and stop the flames from hitting Shauna and suddenly Shauna yelled, not in pain but surprise. A jet of water shot from behind them and extinguished the flames.

He didn't know what had just happened and personally didn't care at that moment because it had just saved Shauna and himself from being flambéed. Shauna had a look of utter amazement and slight fear on her face. Keith tried it again and the water whipped from behind them again and hit the attacker directly in front of them who stumbled back clutching his face.

"It's him! He's an Elemental!" yelled one who from the sound of her voice was female.

"Get him! But remember don't kill him!" yelled the one with the Scottish accent.

Several jets of flame were shot at Keith and he grabbed Shauna's arm and pulled her out of the way.

"Stupefy!" Shauna yelled as Keith dragged her out of the way. The spell was easily dodged and more flames were shot at them. The three closed in on them with more black flames.

"Albus!" Alice screamed as a jet of black flame barely missed his head. Alice pulled her friend with her through the shrubbery of the forest in a desperate attempt to elude their pursuers.

There was a deafening rumble from above and Alice looked up to see thunder clouds rolling overhead and hiding the full moon. She was quickly shaken from her thoughts by a hiss from Albus to hurry up.

They shuffled through the undergrowth but they couldn't hear anyone coming after them.

"Where have they gone?" Alice hissed glancing around fearfully as if she expected someone to jump out from behind a tree at any moment.

"I dunno but be quiet. We might have lost them." Albus replied. The two continued in a stop start pattern through the thick shrubbery hoping that they had eluded their pursuers but Albus felt that they wouldn't have given up that easily.

They quickly scrambled out of the thick undergrowth to a small clearing. They stopped to rest for a few minutes after climbing through the undergrowth. The thunderstorm above them rumbled ominously and lightening flashed above them which caused the two teenagers to look up.

"C'mon we have to keep moving." Albus said when he had caught his breath back. Alice nodded in agreement and started to follow Albus out of the clearing.

"There they are!" yelled a voice.

"How the hell do they keep finding us?" Albus said. He and Alice broke into a run again. The two friends hurled through the woods desperate to escape while black flames were shot at them.

"Ahh!" Alice screamed as she tripped over a tree root. Albus spun around to help his friend but she was almost instantly surrounded by the black cloaked figures.

"Alice!" Albus yelled as he saw one of the figures raise their arm and produce the black flames. Albus didn't know what he was thinking but he ran at the figure and tackled them before they could land the strike.

Albus felt almost uncontrollable rage, they had tried to kill his friends…they had tried to kill Alice. Albus and the dark cloaked figure hit the ground with a loud thump and the sound of crumpling leaves. The hood of the person's cloak slid back and Albus was peering at a young sandy haired man.

Albus readied a punch and the man's eyes widened to an almost comical size. He was staring transfixed at Albus's raised fist. Albus looked at his fist and to his horror it was on fire. Albus jumped up with a yell of surprise, his hand was on fire but strangely he couldn't feel any pain at all.

"You're an…" he began.

Alice pushed herself to her feet and tried to run but was caught by the other two. She struggled with all her might to break free of their hold but it was no use. She watched in amazement as Albus's hand ignited and burned, it didn't seem to be hurting him though. She looked up as another flash of lightening illuminated the clearing throwing light on everything.

Alice felt very odd, she felt something welling up inside of her, and a strange power was rising up inside of her, it was because of the storm. Her captures suddenly yelled in pain and let go of her arms. They quickly moved in to grab Alice again and she put up her hands to stop them and a force field erupted from her palms on either side and it stopped them from coming any closer to her.

Albus saw this and ran at the two cloaked figures who made to attack him but roots began to wind themselves around their legs and the promptly fell forwards. Rose and Scorpius were standing behind them and Rose was manipulating the roots.

"You two alright?" Rose asked when she eased out of her stance. Her dress was burnt so they could see her shins and Scorpius's cape had been torn, their faces were blackened with soot but looked alright save for some minor burns on their arms.

"Uh..." Alice and Albus began unsure how to explain the strange powers they just used.

"We saw what you did and don't worry it's fine." Scorpius assured them.

"Where are Shauna and Keith?" Rose asked glancing around.

"We split up to give them a chance to escape." Alice said.

"Hey!" Came a voice from their right, Shauna and Keith were emerging from the darkness. "Whoa...what'd we miss?" Keith asked.

"You guys won't believe what Keith just did!" Shauna said pointing at her companion. "He did something with the water and froze those Death Eaters to the trees!"

"They aren't Death Eaters." Rose said.

"Who are they then?"

"I have a hunch but I just hope I'm wrong." Scorpius muttered.

"C'mon I want to go back to the castle." Alice said as rain began to fall.

Chapter 11: Secrets Revealed

Professor McGonagall sat in her office reading through a letter. It was from a concerned parent and not two days previous she had received a similar letter from another concerned parent. She could understand their concern, if she herself had received the letter which she had sent to both sets of parents she would reply with concern too.

The father was asking her if his son was completely and utterly safe in Hogwarts, she knew his concern. He had been an ex-pupil of hers and although she hadn't held him in the highest regard then she had to admit that between then and now that pupil had changed.

The contents of the letter slipped through her mind as she read and stored itself in her mind, reminding her to write back as soon as she could and tell him that there was absolutely nothing to worry about.

…my wife and I thank you for telling us this unexpected news and hope that our son will remain safe in your care.

Draco Malfoy

McGonagall finished the letter and decided that some things just couldn't wait so she retrieved a quill and parchment from a drawer in her desk.

There was a sharp knock on door which caused her to look up from the parchment and she sat her quill down again. There was only one reason why anyone should disturb her at this ungodly hour. The storm was still raging outside with the occasional lightening flash illuminating the room.

"Come in." She said. The door open and six dishevelled, ash covered and scared teenagers stood in the doorway accompanied by Professor Davies, Professor Harries and Professor Downes.

"Sorry about the late hour Minerva." Professor Downes apologised. Professor McGonagall put away the parchment and the three teacher and six pupils filed into the room.

"I assume you know why we are here." Professor Davies said the experience was hardly a new one.

"Yes I do Preston." McGonagall said with a nod "But there are six students here, two of which I have seen before."

"There was an altercation on the school grounds." Professor Harries explained. The Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher looked grim; her lime green eyes stared at the floor like a child caught doing something they shouldn't. "It was Cult members and from what we have been told they were here to search for the Elementals."

"I see." Professor McGonagall said, deep in thought.

"These six were found and chased through the Forbidden Forest." Professor Harries continued "The Cult members were trying to kill them."

"Did you know this was occurring Morgana?" McGonagall asked. Professor Harries shook her head.

"I only found out when they ran out of the forest yelling about being attacked." She answered "We followed them and found the Cult members bound in roots and unconscious."

"Hagrid is keeping an eye on them as we speak." Professor Downes added. McGonagall turned her gaze from the teachers to the six teenagers before her; all but Scorpius and Rose looked confused or scared.

"Why is it whenever something happens in this school there is always a Potter or a Weasley at the centre of it." McGonagall asked, Rose and Albus shifted uncomfortably but said nothing.

"It wasn't our fault!" Shauna declared "We were just out walking and these Death Eaters attacked us!"

"They aren't Death Eaters." Scorpius and Rose mumbled.

"I wasn't accusing you of anything Miss Longbottom." McGonagall said calmly. "Miss Weasley and Mr Malfoy are also right, the people who attacked you are not Death Eaters."

"Then…if they aren't Death Eaters then who are they?" Albus asked. McGonagall frowned slightly

"They most likely are member of the Cult of Dorchadas." She said.

"The Cult of what?" Keith asked sounding thoroughly confused.

"Dorchadas." Scorpius and Rose said in unison.

"What do they want with us?" Alice asked. "Is it something we did?"

"No Miss Downes rather it is something you are." Came a voice from the portrait behind McGonagall's desk. Professor Dumbledore smiled at the teenagers "Five of you are more special than you could dream and that is why you were attacked."

"So we were attacked because were special?" Albus asked not following a word that his namesake was saying.

"Yes, the Cult are looking for five elementals they most likely do not know exactly who their targets are. The members who attacked you tonight are most likely scouts."

"Let me guess." Shauna said "They were scouting for the five elementals weren't they?"

"A very good guess Miss Longbottom." Dumbledore's portrait said "I am afraid all we can do for now is guess as to what the Cult is planning but Minerva." Dumbledore's eyes rested on McGonagall "You must make sure that those members do not escape and report back to the Cult."

"I'll send for some aurors and they will be held in Azkaban." McGonagall said with a nod.

"We must now move on to another pressing question." Dumbledore said looking at Scorpius and Rose "We have already two elementals. We must know who the other three are."

Albus, Alice and Keith all looked at each other and stepped forward.

"Us Professor." They said.

"And what about you Miss Longbottom?" The portrait asked.

"I was just there." Shauna answered with a shrug.

"There is no point in hiding the truth from you then." Dumbledore said "No doubt you are wondering what I am talking about."

"Well yeah." Keith answered. Dumbledore looked at McGonagall and gave a small nod

"The wizarding world is in danger." McGonagall began. "The only ones who can stop this Cult from destroying all we hold dear is you five."

"Us?" Albus asked "What can we do about it?"

"You no doubt have heard the story from your parents about five elementals." McGonagall said "Well that story is not mere fiction for a young child's bedtime story, it is pure fact."

"You mean...that story...everything is true?" Alice asked.

"Yes Miss Downes it is true."

"Whoa..." Keith breathed.

"You must not tell anyone of tonight's events or what I have told you six." McGonagall said sternly.

"Why Professor?" Keith asked sounding disappointed.

"Mr Downes information as valuable as this must be kept to yourselves. If Cult members discovered that you and your sister are elementals they would target not just you two but your family as well! It is of the utmost importance that this information remain secret."

"Yes Professor." Keith said suddenly become serious.

"Good. Now it is late and no doubt after tonight you will be happy to see your beds." McGonagall said "Go straight to your dormitories and remember that you must tell no one of what has just occurred."

The six teenagers all nodded and filed out of the office leaving the three teachers and headmistress alone.

"Morgana can I trust you to find Benjamin. Since two of the elementals are in Gryffindor I would like him to be present." McGonagall said. "Preston will you find the other professors as well please.

"Yes Minerva." Professor Harries and Professor Davies said walking out the door.

"You look troubled Naomi." Professor McGonagall said noting the look on Professor Downes's face.

"Minerva." Professor Downes said sitting down in the chair "Tell me honestly...is there a chance that Keith and Alice could be killed?"

Professor McGonagall frowned at the Potions professor, she had gone from a calm and collected teacher to a terrified mother in the space of five minutes. With a sigh Professor McGonagall looked her in the eye.

"Yes Naomi, there is a definite chance that all of them could be killed." She said.

Chapter 12: Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw

By mid November a severe cold snap hit the Hogwarts grounds. Frost lay on the grass and the temperature plummeted yet that didn't stop upcoming the Quidditch match of Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw.

"Place your bets! Place your bets! Put galleons on your favourite team!" Fred Weasley and James Potter yelled. Rose rolled her eyes at the two.

"Are you quite sure that we're related to them?" Rose asked turning to Albus.

"Positive but sometimes I wonder." Albus replied.

"I wonder the same thing about Nicky sometimes." Keith piped in his mouth full of cereal. Rose rolled her eyes at Keith and grabbed another slice of toast. Albus laughed at Rose and Keith before returning to his cereal as well.

It had been a week after the 'incident' on Halloween. At first they had all been really awkward around each other but gradually they returned to normal, well as normal as five elementals could be.

"Morning!" Scorpius said sitting down beside Rose in his quidditch uniform.

"Hi Scorpius." Everyone said in unison.

"What are Fred and James yelling about?" Scorpius asked.

"They are taking bets on the match." She said with a scowl "I swear if I had been made a prefect those two would have detentions by now."

"Calm down Rose." Keith said "They're only having some fun…besides I've put five galleons on Alice to win."

"Hey! What about me?" Scorpius exclaimed.

"Look Scorp. You're one of my best mates but Alice is my sister and she would kill me if she found out I bet against her."

"Good point." Scorpius pointed out.

"Alice! Alice! Over here!" Albus waved at Alice. Scorpius looked up and saw Alice standing frozen with nerves in the doorway of the Great Hall. She looked like she was seriously considering resigning from her position at that moment.

Alice walked quickly to the Gryffindor table where Albus, Rose, Scorpius and Keith were. She slid in between Rose and Scorpius and looked down at her hands.

"After today's match, tell your cousin Louis he can have his old spot on the team." Alice said to Rose.

"You'll be fine." Rose said sliding her over some pancakes.

"I'm not hungry." Alice said looking up pushing the plate away again.

"You have to eat something. Besides they're your favourite." Rose said.

"C'mon Downes." Scorpius said lightly punching Alice's arm "If you don't eat then I can't kick your ass at Quidditch."

Alice gave Scorpius a small smile and grabbed the plate of pancakes.

"I think you'll find that I kick your ass today." She said.

"Whatever Ali-baba." Scorpius said earning him a punch on the arm from Alice.

"I told you yesterday. If you ever call me that again I will punch you."

"Downes!" Alice turned to see a furious Alan Morrison standing behind her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Talking to my friends." Alice replied glaring at him.

"He's Slytherin." Morrison declared indicating Scorpius.

"And you're Ravenclaw." Alice said calmly. Scorpius resisted the urge to laugh and glared at Morrison who was turned a bright shade of red, whether it was from embarrassment or anger Scorpius couldn't tell.

"Which of our tactics did you tell him?" Morrison glared at the two of them.

"Oi!" Keith jumped from his seat "She didn't say anything to him you prat! Get a life! It's only a bloody Quidditch match!"

"Keith!" Rose hissed as most of the students had turned to look at them.

"Keith, just drop it mate." Albus said. Keith gave Morrison a hateful glare and sat down again. Morrison returned his glare to Alice and Scorpius.

"If you ever give me cause to think that you are jeopardizing our team's chances of winning a match. Make no mistake Downes, you will be off the team before you can say "oops"" Morrison warned before turning and stalking off.

"Prat." Alice said before getting up. "See ya on the pitch Malfoy."

"Can't wait Downes." Scorpius replied with a smirk.

The journey down to the Quidditch Pitch was uneventful to say the least. His team mates Thomas Zabini, who was the Slytherin seeker and Elena Moffett, who was a fellow chaser accompanied him.

They slid into the changing room just as Anthony Flint began giving his "pre match pep talk".

"Remember men!" Anthony said earning fierce glares from the three female members of the team "…and ladies. The Ravenclaws are a tough bunch; I'm not going to lie to you. Their tactics are well thought out, their beaters are brutal, their chasers are experienced and well trained their seeker is like lightening…"

Scorpius smirked If only he knew how true that was he thought.

"…But that isn't the point! You are SLYTHERINS! You are the most cunning team out there! I'm NOT encouraging you to play dirty but whatever you do WIN THAT BLOODY MATCH!" Anthony yelled causing the team to jump slightly.

Scorpius and Elena crept away to get their brooms.

"That Anthony, he can sure as hell fuss." Scorpius said.

"Yeah, I think he likes screaming at us." Elena replied with a smirk.

"He probably means no harm."

"But he's really short on charm."

"You have quite a gift for rhyme." Scorpius pointed out with a laugh.

"Yes, yes some of the time."

"No more rhymes now, I bloody well mean it!" Anthony barked at Elena. There was a brief silence

"Anyone want a peanut?" Thomas asked holding up a bag of salted peanuts that he kept in his pocket.

"ARGH!" Anthony yelled "JUST GET OUT THERE!"

The Slytherin Quidditch team jogged out onto the Quidditch field and was met by loud cheers and some boos.

"The Slytherin Quidditch team have arrived!" Roxanne Weasley was commentating "We have Captain and Beater Anthony Flint! Chasers Elena Moffett, Ally Burton and Scorpius Malfoy! Other Beater Lisa Ellis! Seeker Thomas Zabini and last but not least Keeper Brendan Alley!"

The Slytherins mounted their brooms and zoomed into the air. Scorpius flew over the crowd spotting Albus, Rose, Keith and Shauna.

"Go Scorpius!" Albus, Rose and Keith yelled together.

"Knock 'em dead Blondie!" Shauna yelled, using the nickname which made Scorpius cringe he made a mental not to kill Alice after the match.

"The Ravenclaw team are now walking onto the pitch!" Roxanne announced and Scorpius hovered near the Hufflepuff tower to watch them. "There is Chaser and Captain Alan Morrison! Followed by Chasers Annabeth Richards and Jacob Roe! Following them is Seeker Alice Downes! There is Beaters Joshua Burke and Bradley Owen and finally Keeper Faith West!"

The Ravenclaws got a lot more cheers than the Slytherin team had and soon they were soaring around the pitch as well. Alice hovered near Scorpius with a smirk on her face.

"Just to let you know I'm going to kill you for "Blondie" Ali-baba."

"Think of it as revenge for that." Alice said sticking her tongue out at him. They both soared to the middle of the pitch when they saw Professor Wood walking on with the casket of balls.

"Professor Wood has entered the building…err…pitch and is ready to read the riot act." Roxanne's voice echoed around the pitch as everyone went silent.

"I want a clean game from all of you! No biting, no scratching, no kicking, no gouging, no kickboxing, no punching, no slapping, no spitting, no mixed martial arts, no firing bludgers into the crowd, no swearing at each other, no hexes, jinxes or charms! Moffett I'm looking at you!" he yelled.

Elena looked very guilty; she always claimed that she only fired the jet of water because she thought that the Gryffindor's robes were on fire.

Professor Woods set the casket on the ground and lifted the lid. He briefly fiddled with the clasp that kept the two bludgers secure and soon enough they were released.

"The bludgers have been released!" Roxanne yelled as the two iron balls shot into the sky barely missing Annabeth and Thomas.

"Followed by the Golden Snitch!" Roxanne said as the tiny golden ball flew up and hovered briefly in front of Scorpius's face before darting off to the left.

Professor Wood grabbed the quaffle and tossed it high into the air. Immediately the chasers surged forward to grab the ball.

"The match has begun!" Roxanne yelled and the pitch was filed with screams, yells and chants of the students.

Annabeth had the ball and Jacob was flanking her. Scorpius and Elena were right behind them trying to figure out a way of getting the quaffle before Ravenclaw had the chance to score.

Scorpius soared underneath Annabeth while Elena slammed her broom into Annabeth's causing her to swerve slightly but she still kept a tight grip on the ball.

"Richards passes to Roe…who passes to Morrison!" Roxanne yelled. "Morrison aims…OUCH! Morrison is hit by a stray bludger! That one's going to leave a mark!"

Morrison dropped the quaffle and Scorpius saw it falling to the ground. The Ravenclaw Captain dived after it and so did the other Ravenclaws. His team mates wouldn't be able to get to the quaffle in time…unless…

Scorpius glanced around nobody was looking at him; everyone was more interested in the falling quaffle of the seekers who were zooming around above his head. Scorpius flicked his left wrist and a small gust of air blew the falling quaffle over to Ally who caught it expertly.

"I don't believe this! The wind blew the quaffle to Burton!"

Ally quickly turned her broom around and flew full speed to the Ravenclaw goals. She glanced around and spotting Elena to her right chucked the quaffle at her.

Elena caught it and tucked it under her left arm as she flew to the goals. Scorpius was coming up on her left and she threw the ball to him. Bludgers from Ravenclaw were aimed at him so he threw the quaffle back to Elena.

Scorpius flew lower to avoid the bludgers one almost catching him on his left shoulder. Flying up again Elena tossed the quaffle to him again. Scorpius caught it and focused on the goals directly in front of him. The new Ravenclaw keeper looked fast but he was faster. He aimed for the middle goal but at the last second threw it through the left ring. He could hear Roxanne's commentary as she caught up with the events.

"Burton passes to Moffett…who passes to Malfoy…back to Moffett…back to Malfoy. Malfoy shoots…SCORE! 10 points for Slytherin!"

Scorpius raised one fist towards the sky as the crowd broke into thunderous cheers. Then he felt a painful current of electricity flow through his body, as soon as it was there it was gone again.

Scorpius glowered up at the Ravenclaw seeker who was hovering just a few metres away. She gave him a look that said 'I saw what you did' and snapped her fingers. Another painful current flowed though Scorpius's body and he glowered at her. She stuck her tongue out and soared away again.

The match continued and soon the score was at 40-0, with Slytherin winning. Scorpius had scored a second goal shortly after his first and Elena had scored a third shortly after.

At one point Ally punched Jacob for an alleged 'comment on her chasing skills' and it resulted in a fist fight at twenty feet. Professor Woods called a foul and Jacob took a penalty shot but remarkably missed. Ally soon retrieved the quaffle and shot it through the Ravenclaw goals.

The Ravenclaw beaters were becoming increasingly more brutal and attempted to take out Brendan who through sheer luck managed to dodge one bludger but was clipped by the other. From the yell he gave and the resounding snap it was quite possible that he had broken his arm and was sent to the Hospital Wing.

The Ravenclaws played valiantly trying to get to the unguarded Slytherin goalposts, Annabeth, Jacob and Morrison seemed to have choreographed a perfect down pitch assault as they passed the quaffle to each other. The Slytherin beaters had a hard time getting a decent shot at them but thankfully Elena managed to grab the quaffle before Jacob could shoot it into the goals.

"Downes has spotted the snitch!" Roxanne roared into her microphone and suddenly the noise from the crowd became deafening as they either cheered for Alice or urged Thomas on.

Scorpius, Elena and Ally however had no time to watch the two seekers dive for the snitch as they were too preoccupied with getting the quaffle to the goals before Alice could secure a win for Ravenclaw. The Ravenclaw chasers, encouraged by the announcement that their seeker had spotted the snitch, pursued the Slytherins down the pitch.

Scorpius threw the quaffle to Ally, who threw it to Elena, who threw it back to Scorpius. Scorpius saw the goals looming in front of them and saw the right wing practically unguarded as no one had managed a shot through that goal yet.

Taking aim Scorpius hurled the quaffle through the air just as Roxanne screamed:

"Malfoy has scored and Downes has caught the snitch! Ravenclaw wins 150 to 50!"

Professor Woods blew his whistle as the crowd went absolutely mad.

"Ravenclaw wins!" he declared.

The Ravenclaw team let out a loud yell of victory and sped towards their beaming seeker, who had one had one hand punched skyward and looked to be either laughing or screaming something at the top of her lungs. Scorpius laughed as the team all but jumped on her and she was buried under a mound of blue Quidditch robes and people.

Elena flew by and punched his shoulder

"Go congratulate her. I know you had placed a bet on her to win." She said.

"Was I that obvious?"

"Just a little." Elena replied. "See ya back in the Common Room for Butterbears."

"Bye." He called flying towards the celebrating Ravenclaws. Alice saw him coming and waved with her snitch free hand before speeding over to him.

"We won Scorp! We kicked your butts!" she said excitedly "No hard feelings."

"Hey, I'm happy you won." Scorpius said with a shrug "That means next year we can pulverise you lot in our sleep!"

"Yeah, the only time you can." Alice said amused as she and Scorpius descended towards the ground. "In your dreams."

Chapter 13: Falling Snow and Memories

December arrived and so did the freezing temperatures. It rained for almost two weeks straight and when it wasn't raining it was far too cold to do much out on the grounds. That still didn't stop Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures lessons which nobody looked forward to much, especially when it involved getting soaked up to your knees in the Lake as you tended to inch long, baby, flesh eating, Shrieking Eels.

It was November 16th and Shauna Longbottom was sitting in the Herbology Greenhouse by herself. She and her elder brother Frank had to help her father with some plants in her free time, she really didn't mind but she could think of better things to be doing. Her father had stepped out for a minute to talk with Professor Downes about some Potions ingredients that she needed, while Frank had buggered off to Quidditch practice leaving Shauna alone.

The sky outside was an ominous grey, threatening rain, sleet or snow whichever came first and matched Shauna's mood perfectly.

Shauna shoved the last plant pot onto the shelf with more force than was probably necessary before grabbing her bag and leaving; she wasn't in a good mood by any stretch of the imagination. She had a tutoring session with Keith that night and she wasn't looking forward to, it wasn't because she didn't like Keith, it was because he was irritating sometimes and she wasn't in the mood for it.

She walked slowly through the corridors on her way to the Hufflepuff Common Room, hopefully without needing to kick a stupid first year's butt in the process.

"Shauna!" Shauna growled internally and spun slowly on her heel to face Keith.

"What d'ya want Downes?" She asked not bothering to mask her bad mood. Keith seemed annoyingly happy to Shauna at that moment as he stood grinning like he was on crack or something. He grabbed her hand and proceeded to half walk half drag her outside.

"C'mon! It's snowing and Rose can't be bothered so let's have some fun!" Keith said and he flung open the doors. Shauna struggled to release her arm from Keith's vice like grip.

"Get off me! I don't wanna play in the snow like some three year old! You're cracked! You've gone nuts! Get the hell off me Downes! I mean it!" She yelled trying to think of a stinging comment she could make which would make Keith release her. She couldn't reach her wand which was in her bag otherwise she'd make Keith think twice about doing this.

Keith continued dragging Shauna out of the warm castle and into the freezing grounds. Shauna gave a small yelp when she stepped in a freezing cold puddle causing the bottom of her jeans to become soaking wet. Snow was beginning to fall heavily on the grounds blanketing the damp grounds in minutes.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU DOWNES!" Shauna shrieked. Keith laughed and removed his scarlet and gold scarf before wrapping it around her neck. Shauna scowled, she hated the bloody snow! She hated Keith Downes! But most of all she hated this day!

"Oh c'mon have some fun Shaunie!" he said spinning her around. Shauna gritted her teeth. Anger, bad memories and hurt that she had tried to repress, welled up inside her.

"You're deranged!" she yelled wrenching her arm away from Keith. "I'm not in the mood for your childish behaviour! I'm so sick and tired of this day and no one's making it any better! You have all the sensitivity of a cruciatus curse! I've had it with you! You can take your freakish powers and screw yourself! You're a freak and I want nothing more to do with you and your weirdo powers anymore!"

Shauna knew that she had hit a sensitive spot but to be completely truthful she couldn't give two fingers about anything at the moment. Keith stared at her with his mouth agape looking somewhat like a gold fish and somewhat like someone who just got slapped.

"And shut your trap! You look like an idiot!" Shauna turned on her heel and marched back up to the castle intent upon hurting the first poor unfortunate soul that crossed her path.

A hand wrapped itself around her arm and she gave an audible growl as she was spun around to face Keith.

"I'm not going to let you go until you tell me what the hell that was all about." Shauna had to give him credit, he bounced back fast.

"Go screw yourself Downes! Don't act like you know me! You haven't got a clue!"

"Then tell me and I'll have one because at the moment you're hurting. Some one once told me that 'a burden shared is a burden halved' so how about testing that one out?" Keith asked.

Shauna really wanted to tell him the truth but she couldn't…she wouldn't it was too painful.

"I'm going to say this once and then I'm never saying it again. I'm not broken. I'm not some psychodrama that you can pat yourself on the back for noticing. Yes, I'm hurting right now and the last thing I need is some idiotic elemental sprouting proverbs and shit that he thinks will make everything better because it's all rainbows and lollipops in Keithland!"

Keith kept a firm grip on Shauna's arm and looked her dead in the eye. She wanted to turn away from his gaze but she held her ground, she would never back down to anyone.

"I know that I'm probably the last person you want to talk to but trust me it will help." He said slowly. Shauna glared at Keith for some inexplicable reason she didn't have the strength or the will to fight back anymore. Shauna glared at the snow covered ground and Keith slowly let go of her arm.

"I'm not in need of a shrink alright!" Shauna said as a warning "It's just this day…it brings back stuff I'd rather forget."

"Like what?" Keith asked.

"Well it happened when I was eight…" Shauna began

"Shaunie! Shaunie! C'mon! It's snowing outside!" An eight year old Shauna looked up at the five year old girl who looked just like her except with longer hair.

"Well c'mon then! Last one outside is a mountain troll's-"

"Shauna! Eleanor where are you two going?" Their mother's voice made the two sisters stop in their tracks.

"Outside to play." Answered Eleanor pulling on some woollen mittens and a powder blue winter coat. "It's snowing."

"Be careful." Hannah Longbottom warned "There are still some Death Eaters running around out there and one was spotted near here yesterday so don't go too far."

"Yes Mum." The girls said in unison as they walked out the door into the courtyard. Shauna reached up and tapped the bricks so that the entrance to Diagon Alley was revealed. Promptly a snowball made contact with the back of her head and she spun to glower at Eleanor who stuck her tongue out at her older sister.

"Can't catch me!" she declared racing past Shauna. Shauna bent down to scoop up some snow to make her own snowball before chasing after her sister.

"Betcha I can!" Shauna yelled. The girls ran through the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley making the shoppers stop and stare, those who knew that they were the Hannah Longbottom, the landlady's children waved at them.

Shauna aimed her snowball at Eleanor's back. Her aim was true and it smacked into Eleanor's back causing her to loose her balance and fall over.

Shauna was at her sister's side in an instant and offered her a hand to help her up. Eleanor didn't cry even though she had landed badly on the cobbled street, she took her sister's hand.

"It hurts Shaunie." Eleanor said pointing at her knee.

"C'mon let's get home and Mum'll make it feel better." Shauna suggested. She supported her sister as they limped slowly back to their home, The Leaky Cauldron.

There was a shriek further ahead of the siblings and a flash of green light. Shauna knew that this was bad news and turned around taking her sister the other way as fast as they could go.

"Shaunie! Home's that way!" Eleanor cried pointing behind her. People were starting to run past them now, they were screaming and some were hit with a jet of green and fell face forward onto the snow covered street.

Shauna was now half dragging half running as far away from the mad person behind them who was slaughtering innocent people as they ran. Shauna glanced over her shoulder to see a jet of green heading her way. She was shoved to the side and their was a high pitched scream.

Shauna clenched her eyes shut afraid to open them; she heard her father's voice and his friend's voices too they were yelling for people to move. There were more bangs and some shrieks but still Shauna kept her eyes clamped shut. Eventually she felt arms around her, she was being lifted up by someone.

"Shauna, it's ok it's me." It was her father.

She finally dared to open her eyes, she was staring into her father's ministry robes. She turned her head around and she then saw the sight that would haunt her forever. The sightless gaze of her younger sister as she lay on the snow covered street.

She made a vow that horrible day, she wouldn't show weakness again! She wouldn't be helpless! She would be strong for Eleanor.

"They caught the bastard eventually. He was an escaped Death Eater who was trying to prove that the Death Eaters were still a threat." Shauna said her voice thick.

"I'm sorry about your sis-" Keith began moving to hug Shauna, but Shauna instantly pulled away from him.

"I don't need your pity!" She snapped tears running down her cheeks.

"Shauna it's alright to cry." Keith said softly.

"I'm not crying!" she snapped rubbing her eyes fiercely "My eyes are dry that's all! If you tell anyone about this I'll end you!"

"I wasn't going to-" Keith began again.

"Goodbye!" Shauna yelled storming up to the castle. Shauna ran back to the Hufflepuff Common Room as fast as she could, storming up to her deserted dormitory where she could have peace to cry until she couldn't anymore.

She was too harsh on Keith, she knew that but he was the only one who could weather her temper and abuse and still come back again. Maybe she should've given him a chance but it was too late for that now. She just couldn't have relationships with people because no matter what, she always ended up hurt.

Chapter 14: The Book

Why are we going to the library again?" Scorpius asked as he, Rose and Alice walked to the school library.

"We need to find more books on elementals." Rose answered.

"And more training material." Alice added.

"We've already worked through all there was. Dumbledore must have had more books than that so we're going to look for them." Rose continued.

"Uh…OK but why am I here?" Scorpius asked sounding confused.

"Three pairs of eyes are better than two." Rose said.

"Besides we couldn't find Albus and Keith." Alice added.

Scorpius shrugged at the girls' logic it was best if he didn't argue with them, after all they were just as powerful as he was. Besides they really did need more training material, the few books that they had managed to find from Dumbledore's private collection wasn't going to be enough. Half of the books had pages falling out from old age.

The library wasn't very busy when they entered, it never really was unless exams were looming. Madame Pince regarded them coolly and Rose handed her a pass signed by Professor McGonagall that would allow them access to the Restricted Section. Madame Pince examined the pass for a long while trying to detect any hint of forgery but found none.

The three teenagers made their way to the Restricted Section and split up to find the books they needed. Scorpius moved over to where Alice was checking through books.

"You not just here to check books are you?"

"What gave you that impression?" Alice asked replacing a book she had taken out.

"You let Rose do most of the explaining." Scorpius said "You let other people do the talking when you're planning something."

"Why would I be planning something?"

"You and Albus have been looking for a good excuse to get me and Rose together."

"I'll take it you haven't asked her out yet."

"No I-"

"Are you planning to?"

"Well I-I mean I-" Scorpius stuttered.

"Look Scorp." Alice said putting down the book to look at Scorpius "You and Rose both like each other, you have been friends since first year and you've been dancing around each other almost as long. I don't see why you two can't see what's in front of you."

"What about you then? You're a prime example of the single life too."

"I prefer to help other people." Alice said with a shrug picking out another book from the shelf.

"Avoiding the question." Scorpius muttered.

"I'm simply not interested in any boys." Scorpius could tell Alice was lying at this point.

"Don't believe that for a second Ali-baba."

"Using the nickname won't make me admit anything, especially if there is nothing to admit."

"You forget I know you."

"Couldn't forget if I tried. You insist on interfering in my private life. I don't know who is worse, you or Keith! You know it's called a private life for a reason. " Alice said sounding annoyed.

"This is Hogwarts." Scorpius said gesturing around "Nothing is private."

"Scorp." Alice said exasperation clearly evident in her tone "There is nothing I haven't told you. If something changes you'll be the first to know, you're my friend not my brother."

Scorpius smirked "Whatever you say."

Alice rolled her eyes and shoved the book she was holding in her hand back into the shelf and stalked off.

"You're welcome!" Scorpius called after her.

Rose who was on the other side of the shelf and heard the whole conversation stood in shock.

"Any luck?" Scorpius asked as he moved to the other side of the shelf. Rose snapped out of her trance and quickly grabbed the first book she could.

"Nope." Alice replied.

"Nada..." Rose muttered stopping and pulling a book of the Dark Arts off the shelf.

She flipped through it slowly to see if there was. Graphic illustrations showed people being tortured and having gruesome injuries. Bile rose in Rose's throat and she quickly slammed the book shut and put it back on the shelf.

Alice picked up a small leather bound book from the shelf she stared at the front cover which had five symbols on the front. They were runes; she knew that because she and Rose took Ancient Runes. A small note was sticking out of it like a bookmark.

"Book of the Elements… it read

"Over here!" Alice said opening the book. The book was written in runes, they were very old even older than the ones she was used to translating. She closed the book puzzled by the strange runes.

Scorpius and Rose raced over to Alice's side, staring at the book in wonder. Rose folded up her piece of parchment and slid it in an inner pocket of her robes.

"Good job, Alice." Scorpius and Rose said in unison.

Alice stared at the book with a puzzled expression.

"Rose have you ever seen runes like these before?" Alice asked showing Rose the book "I haven't."

Rose took the book from Alice and peered at the runes on the front of the book. There was an upward spiral, a circle with a dot in the middle, a triangle, a downward spiral and a symbol that looked somewhat like yin yang only on its side.

"No." Rose muttered with a frown "I can ask my mum. She might know what these symbols mean."

"It's nearly Christmas so…do you want to take it or should I keep it?." Alice asked.

"I'll take it." Rose said.

"I think we should show Albus and Keith first." Scorpius suggested.

"Albus and Keith don't take Ancient Runes so they probably wouldn't be interested." Alice pointed out "Well…Keith wouldn't be interested."

"I think we should show them." Rose said "They would want to know."

"Shauna would want to know about this too." Alice said.

"Good point." Rose replied with a nod.

"I vote we spilt up." Scorpius said "We'll be able to cover more of the castle. We could all meet in the Room of Requirement."

"Ok." Rose said with a nod "What time?"

"Um…seven?" Scorpius suggested and the two girls nodded.

"See you later then." Rose said walking away.

"Bye." Scorpius said with a small smirk at Alice who glared at him. She spun on her heel and walked down the corridor keeping her eyes peeled for either Keith or Albus.

She searched the castle for half an hour before she finally found Albus in the Entrance Hall, talking to Andrew.

"Albus!" Alice called. Albus looked up and quickly finished the conversation with Andrew and jogged over to her.

"What's wrong?" Albus asked.

"We're all going to be meeting at the Room of Requirement at seven tonight." Alice said.

"Has something happened?" Albus asked getting slightly worried.

"Oh no! Everything's fine." Alice assured him "Rose, Scorp and I found something in the library I think you, Keith and Shauna should see."

"What is it?" Albus asked.

"I can't say here." Alice replied dropping her voice "It's elemental stuff."

"Oh right." Albus said with sudden understanding.

"So I'll see you later tonight?" Alice said with a smile.

"Yep." Albus replied smiling back. "Can't wait."

Alice waved goodbye to Albus and ran off to find her brother or Shauna. Neither Albus nor Alice noticed a pair of violet eyes watching their exchange from the shadows with suppressed fury.

Chapter 15: The Meeting

Seven o'clock came and Albus went quickly to meet up with Alice, Rose, Scorpius, Keith and Shauna. The castle's corridors were almost deserted as Albus made his way to the Room of Requirement.

Albus started to pace back and forth in front of the blank stretch of wall and in his mind he repeated the phase:

I need to meet up with my friends

I need to meet up with my friends

I need to meet up with my friends

A door materialized on the wall in front of Albus and he quickly pushed it open.

The Room of Requirement looked like a large living room the walls were covered in tapestries of scarlet and gold, green and silver, blue and bronze and yellow and black. There was a fireplace at the far end with a warm fire roaring in the hearth. Rose and Scorpius were sitting in two armchairs near the fire while Alice, Keith and Shauna were sitting in beanbags.

"What took you so long Al?" Keith asked. "We've been sitting here for ages!"

"It's only been five minutes Downes." Shauna said rolling her eyes.

Albus walked over and sat down in a green beanbag beside Alice's blue one.

"It doesn't matter." Rose said "Al's here now."

"Right Alice said something about the library. She said you guys found something."

"Yeah." Scorpius replied "We found this."

Scorpius held up the small leather book so that everyone could get a good look at it.

"Well that was sort of anti-climatic." Keith said. "It's a book. What else would you find in a library?"

"Oh shut up Downes." Shauna said shooting Keith a glare "Daffodil, Blondie and Sparky wouldn't have got us all if it wasn't important."

"Thanks Shauna…I think." Scorpius said looking unsure of whether he'd been insulted or not. "Anyway. This book is 'The Book of the Elements'"

"But we have a problem." Alice added "It's in runes and-"

"I thought you and Rose took Ancient Runes." Albus said.

"We do." Replied Alice "But these are like nothing we've ever seen."

"I've done a bit of digging." Rose said "According to Professor Gates, they're Celtic Runes. We don't study them until N.E.."

"Really?" Alice asked.

"Yep." Rose answered with a nod of her head.

"So…is there any way you two can translate them?" Shauna asked.

"Well…I don't know." Rose replied. "They're very difficult to translate even for N.E.W.T level students…I could ask my mum."

"Good idea." Albus said "I think Aunt Hermione took N.E.W.T level Ancient Runes."

"She did." Rose nodded.

"Well then I guess we can ask Aunt Hermione to help translate them."

"One question." Keith said "How are you going to get the translation to all of us?"

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"I think Keith means, how are we going to get the translation to all of us without it being intercepted or anything like that." Alice explained.

There was a beat of silence before Albus asked:

"Are all of you going home for Christmas?"

"Yeah." Alice and Keith said in unison.

"Yep." Scorpius said with a nod.

"I am." Shauna added.

"What are you thinking Al?" Rose asked knowing Albus probably had an idea.

"I can ask my parents if I could invite you all down to the Burrow for New Years." Albus suggested. "That way we can get the translation and nobody but us would know."

"Do you think Grandma and Grandpa would be ok with that?" Rose asked sounding slightly worried "I mean, I'd know they'd be fine with Alice, Keith and Shauna but what about Scorp?"

"Well I can ask but I can't promise anything." Albus said.

"It's ok." Scorpius said with a shrug "If I can't come at New Years you can just tell me when you get back to school."

"Great then we've everything sorted out." Shauna said "What time is it?"

"Um…" Albus said checking his watch "Quarter to nine."

"I'm going back to my Common Room." Shauna declared "See you lot at breakfast."

"Me too." Keith said "I've got some stuff to do."

"You mean your Transfiguration homework?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Er…"

"C'mon, I'll help you." Rose said standing up.

"Did I mention how awesome you are Rose Weasley?" Keith grinned.

"Nope but you'd better start." Rose laughed.

"I'll meet you back at the Common Room Al." Scorpius said. Albus nodded

"See ya." Alice waved.

"Aren't you going back to your Common Room Alice?" Albus asked.

"Nope." Alice shook her head "All the other girls drive me crazy."

"That bad are they?" Albus asked with a small laugh.

"You've no idea." Alice grinned. "Did you know half of them drool over you and your brother? It's embarrassing!"

"Well I've heard Potter guys are supposed to be quite handsome." Albus said nonchalantly "Strong, good Quidditch players-"

"Oh shut up!" Alice laughed "Al have I told you you're a dork?"

"Yes, loads of times."

"Well just to make sure." Alice grinned "Albus Potter, you are a dork."

Albus stood up and gave Alice an evil smirk. Alice looked up at him with a look of pure terror.

"Al what are you doing?" she asked. Albus didn't say anything but slowly approached Alice. "Al?"

"Alice you had better run." Albus grinned. Alice stayed seated in her bean bag, crossed her arms and glared up at Albus.

"You don't scare me Potter."

"Oh really?" Albus said then launched himself on Alice and proceeded to tickle her.

"A-ALBUS" Alice screamed between laughs "G-Get the h-h-hell off m-me!"

"Nope." Albus smirked "Not until you say you're a dork too."

"W-What?"

"Say you're a dork too."

"A-Alright!" Alice laughed "I'm a dork and so are all my friends but we're proud of it!"

Albus smirked "We're all dorks?"

"Yep." Alice said with a nod "And we don't care."

"True." Albus nodded standing up again.

"Let's face it Al." Alice said pushing herself to her feet "If we weren't it would be bloody boring."

"If you say so."

"Oh I know so."

"See ya tomorrow Al." Alice said giving Albus a one-armed hug.

"See ya Alice." Alice released Albus and gave him a smile before turning and walking out of the room. Albus grinned after Alice, he hadn't had a lot of free time lately with elemental training and classes but he always had a good time around Alice.

He stood for a few minutes then decided that he should go back to his Common Room too. He walked out the door and into the deserted corridor. The door vanished behind him and he smiled.

"Have fun did you?" Albus nearly jumped three foot in the air as Ellesheil rounded the corner arms crossed and glaring at him.

"Oh Elle, it's just you." Albus said breathing a sigh of relief.

"Yeah it's 'just Ellesheil'." She said approaching him "Just bloody Ellesheil!"

"Elle what are you-"

"How stupid do you think I am?" She demanded, her violet eyes narrowing dangerously.

"What?" Albus asked confused.

"Don't you dare play dumb!" Ellesheil warned.

"Elle I really have no clue what you're talking about."

"Yeah right!" she spat.

"Elle just tell me what I've done!" Albus said placing a hand on her shoulders but Ellesheil quickly shrugged it off.

"Like you don't know!" she growled "I've seen you! With that Downes girl! "So I'll see you later tonight?" "Can't wait!" Don you think I'm that blind! You think I can't see what's going on in front of my face! YOU LOVE HER!"

Albus stood for a few moments in shock, he liked Alice that was true but only as a friend. He had never really of her in any romantic way since he had first met her, even if he did Keith would murder him if he tried anything.

"Elle, you got it wrong we're-"

"Don't you dare say you're "just friends" don't you bloody dare!" she hissed "I've seen the way you look at her! How else do you explain the fact that you're never around!"

"Elle." Albus said "If I could tell you I would but I can't."

"Why?" Ellesheil demanded.

"I can't say why." Albus answered.

"Forget it." Ellesheil snapped "I don't know what I ever saw in you! I hope you and her are happy together. You deserve each other!"

Ellesheil spun on her heel and stormed down the corridor. Albus stood in shock for a second then ran after her.

"Ellesheil!" he called after her.

"It's over Albus." Ellesheil said not turning to face him before running down the corridor while Albus stood and watched her run.

Chapter 16: Cold Shoulder

The next morning at breakfast Alice found Albus sitting at the Gryffindor table with a bowl of untouched porridge in front of him. Rose, Keith, Scorpius and Shauna sat eating their own breakfasts in silence, which was odd because there was always someone talking about something.

"Morning." She said sliding into the seat beside Albus. Albus then grabbed his bowl of porridge and sat on the other side of Scorpius. Alice looked confused at Albus's sudden move. Scorpius gave her a look that said 'we'll tell you later'.

Alice grabbed a slice of toast and tried to remember what she had done to make Albus act like that. She felt a strange prickling on the back of her neck that told her she was being watched. She turned to see Ellesheil glaring at her from the Slytherin table. She turned back around, eyebrows furrowed and wondering why Ellesheil was glaring at her.

Breakfast past in complete silence so Alice went to her first class in a state of utter confusion. Luckily her first class was Ancient Runes so Rose could tell her why Albus and Ellesheil were acting so oddly.

She sat in the middle row of the classroom and five minutes later Rose sat in the seat beside her.

"Sorry about Albus at breakfast." Rose said getting the books out of her bag.

"What's going on with him and Ellesheil?" Alice asked "She was glaring at me during breakfast."

"They broke up." Rose declared.

"Really?" Alice asked in astonishment "When?"

"Last night." Rose answered. "She accused Al of cheating on her…with you."

"What! B-But we never-" Alice began.

"We know." Rose said sympathy clearly evident in her voice "But Al is upset and he's looking for someone to blame. Unfortunately that person is you. Don't worry he'll come around in a few days."

Alice frowned and rested her head on her arms. She understood that Albus had every right to be hurt but surely he knew she wasn't to blame. Typical of Ellesheil to use her as a scapegoat because she was having relationship trouble. It hurt her to know Albus was angry at her when he knew she wasn't to blame.

In Defence Against the Dark Arts Albus was still giving her the cold shoulder and refused to let her sit beside him. Scorpius and Andrew had to play peacemakers and Scorpius sat beside her while Andrew sat with Albus.

She managed to stay out of Albus's way the rest of the day deciding that she would give him some space. She walked with Shauna and Rose down to dinner, Shauna offering to beat some sense into Albus all the way.

They were just entering the Great Hall when Ellesheil was entering.

"Whore." She snapped on the way by. Alice stopped in her tracks and so did Rose and Shauna.

"What did you say?" Shauna hissed turning to face the other girl.

"Stay out of this Longbottom. That bitch stole my boyfriend! She's nothing but a dirty whore!" Ellesheil growled.

"Unless you want your next period to come out your nose I suggest you leave."

"You don't scare me Longbottom. Better watch your back so that skank doesn't steal your boyfriend too."

"Don't Shauna." Rose warned. Shauna ignored Rose and slammed her fist into Ellesheil's face. There was a loud crunch as Shauna broke Ellesheil's nose.

"What's going on here?" Professor Longbottom arrived on the scene and Alice fled with Ellesheil's words ringing in her ears.

"Alice! Wait! Come back!" she heard Rose call after her. Alice didn't stop running she was too upset to think clearly and she wasn't really focused on where she was going until she arrived at the blank stretch of wall.

I need somewhere to cry

I need somewhere to cry

I need somewhere to cry

The door materialized and she shoved them open and slammed them shut behind her. The room was exactly the same as it was last night only the tapestries were blue and bronze only. Alice flung herself on a beanbag and sobbed. She knew that it was more than slightly childish but at the moment she just didn't care.

It could have been minutes or hours later when she heard the door open and footsteps approach her. She looked up, her hazel eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. Scorpius sat cross-legged on the floor beside her.

"Rose sent you to find me right?" Alice asked rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah." Scorpius said softly "They were worried about you."

"They?" Alice asked.

"Rose, Shauna, Keith, James, Nicky, Fred, Lorcan, Lysander, Lily, Albus-"

"Albus?" Alice asked unsure if she had heard Scorpius right.

"Yep, even Albus." Scorpius said with a nod.

"But I thought Albus wasn't talking to me." Alice said confused.

"He saw and heard what happened in the Entrance Hall. Keith and Shauna were ready to punch him for being such a git. He's really sorry if it makes you feel any better." Scorpius said.

"Not really Scorp." Alice replied.

"It's not Albus giving you the cold shoulder that's the problem is it?" Scorpius asked.

"No." Alice answered.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm in love with one of my best friends and now I have to get over him." Alice said "I tell everyone I want to be single and that I love it but in all sincerity…I just want to find love. I want to find it, keep it and be happy and sometimes I wish I had the guts to actually do it."

"Alice-" began Scorpius.

"I know what you're going to say." Alice said "You're going to tell me that it'll all work out and not to worry etc."

"No actually I wasn't." Scorpius replied "I was going to say that I know that you've fancied Albus since third year. I also know that he liked you too."

"Liked?" Alice asked.

"Yes liked." Scorpius nodded "He just didn't know what he wanted then. He liked you but he also liked Ellesheil, he didn't know who or what he wanted. Of course Ellesheil made the first move and you know the rest."

"You're still not making me feel any better Scorp."

"Just listen Alice." Scorpius pleaded "Albus liked you and from what I know he still does. I know it's not very comforting but sometimes it's the little things that matter."

"Little things don't matter Scorp." Alice said in a deadpan voice. Scorpius was silent for a few moments before he looked up at Alice.

"You remember back in first year?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah." Alice answered unsure of what Scorpius was getting at.

"Remember the time when a group of Hufflepuff boys pushed me down the stairs and I broke my arm?" Scorpius asked "I went to the Hospital Wing and I had my arm in a sling for a month. Do you remember what you did when you visited me in the Hospital Wing?"

"Not really." Alice answered. She remembered the incident quite well but she couldn't remember her actions in the Hospital Wing.

"You hugged me and told me everything would be ok." Scorpius said with a smile "I believed you Alice, that day was the day you and me really became friends. You changed my world with a hug. Don't ever tell me the little things don't matter. I think it's time I returned the favour."

Scorpius shifted closer to Alice and wrapped his arms around Alice. Alice buried her head into Scorpius shoulder with a smile.

"It's going to be ok Alice." He said.

Chapter 17: Training

In the days after 'the incident' involving Albus and Alice there was an air of awkwardness that lay over the whole group. Whenever Alice and Albus were together they hardly talked to each other and during meals there was silence.

"Awkward silences are fun." Keith declared at breakfast a week later. Shauna rolled her eyes at Keith and everyone else snorted into their breakfast.

"There wouldn't be any awkward silences if it weren't for her." Shauna spat.

Albus and Alice cringed somewhat and kept their eyes down. Rose and Scorpius exchanged a short but worried glance and Rose bit her lip.

"Shauna." Keith hissed noticing his sister's mood. Shauna glanced up at Albus and Alice and muttered a barely audible

"Sorry."

"It's fine." Albus muttered. They once again lapsed into an uneasy silence. The silence didn't last long as a large barn owl swooped down and dropped a Daily Prophet on the table.

Rose picked it up and scanned the front page with a deep frown.

"What's happened?" Scorpius asked. Rose wordlessly handed him the newspaper and Scorpius read out the headline

Bodies of couple found. Ministry suspects serial killer.

"Killers." Keith corrected. Everyone looked at him with puzzled expressions "Everyone's thinking it; I'm just saying it out loud."

"The Cult." Shauna growled.

"What's the article say?" Alice asked. Scorpius returned his eyes to the newspaper and read:

This morning the bodies of Howard and Lucy Appleby were discovered in their South Hampton home. The couples' bodies were burnt beyond recognition only muggle dental records positively identified them. This murder is being tied to the thirteen other murders, Head Auror Harry Potter urged the magical community to "stay vigilant" as the Ministry are suspecting the murders to be the work of a serial killer.

"The rest is just interviews with aurors saying their "doing all they can to catch the person responsible"." Scorpius said folding the paper and setting it on the table.

"They're obviously not." Shauna said rolling her eyes "If they were they would've known it was the Cult by now."

"Wonder what they did to get themselves killed." Albus mused.

"That's obvious too isn't it?" Shauna replied "The Cult's recruiting and the Applebys didn't want to join."

"What makes you so sure?" Keith asked.

"Shauna could be right." Rose said "After all they did lose members at Halloween. They might want to increase their numbers before trying to attack us again."

"That still doesn't explain why they decide to kill two innocent people." Scorpius pointed out "They're on a rampage."

"Well they might've thought the Applebys might expose them so they killed them to keep them quiet." Rose suggested.

"You realize now you five have to train harder than ever." Shauna pointed out "If they can kill two adults they'll have no problem killing five teenagers-"

"Thanks for the pep talk Shauna." Keith groaned.

"Keith let her finish." Alice admonished.

"As I was saying." Shauna said with a glare at Keith "You guys need to do some serious training. No offense but right now you're nowhere near ready to face the Cult. I'm calling a training session tonight. You guys' have to bump up your elemental training if you ever want to kick those Cult peoples' arses."

"Shauna has a point." Scorpius nodded "We still haven't mastered the basics and the Cult are getting more and more active. We'll need to step in soon or there's going to be even more innocent people killed."

Keith and Rose nodded in agreement with Shauna and Scorpius's logic. Alice and Albus glanced at each other before nodding as well; evidently there was still an air of awkwardness.

"Then it's settled." Shauna said with a nod, her eyes on Albus and Alice "See you lot after dinner at the Room of Requirement."

Shauna grabbed her bag and walked swiftly out of the Great Hall. Keith stared after her with a look of confusion.

"What's with her? It's like she's planning something." He said.

"She didn't tell you?" Scorpius asked "I thought if she was she would have told you something."

"What are you talking about?" Keith asked. "Why would she tell me?"

"Well you two have been spending a lot of time together." Scorpius smirked.

"Well duh!" Keith replied with a roll of his eyes "She's tutoring me remember?"

"You talk about her a lot." Scorpius continued.

"Yeah, and most of it is complaints." Keith argued.

"You sit beside her a lo-"

"Are you trying to make a point Scorp? 'Cause all I hear is you repeating yourself a lot."

"I think you like her." Scorpius declared.

"And I think you're deranged." Keith shot back "And I don't like her in that way. She barely tolerates me!"

"That's Shauna's way of saying "I like you Downes"." Scorpius said as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"How the hell would you know?" Keith asked "You barely spend any time with her."

"I can read people Keith." Scorpius said "I've learnt to do it before I could walk. It's a thing all the old pureblood families teach...that and how to find a good obedient little pureblood wife if you're a guy." Scorpius said "Not that I'm looking for one." He quickly added when he saw the seething look on Rose's face.

"Look I'm not in any way interested in Shauna. She's my friend nothing more, nothing less."

"Whatever you say Keith." Scorpius responded with a knowing smirk.

"Wipe the smirk off your face Scorp. You're making me want to vomit."

"Nice image Keith." Rose said wrinkling her nose in disgust. Scorpius smirked at Keith who glared at Scorpius.

After dinner Albus, Alice, Keith, Rose and Scorpius all went to the Room of Requirement. Shauna hadn't turned up to dinner which scared them all slightly, obviously she was planning something.

They pushed open the door and Shauna was standing waiting for them. The Room had a large training ring in the middle with benches and equipment surrounding it.

"Alright." She said "Pair up! Downes you're with me. Daffodil you're with Blondie. Sparky you're with Hothead."

Alice and Albus glanced at each other and shuffled closer to each other. Rose and Scorpius shared a brief look of worry and Keith shrugged.

"There! Now time to spar! Sparky and Hothead are going first." Shauna declared.

"What!" Albus and Alice yelled together.

"Spar!" Shauna said "You know you two fight against each other."

"I can't fight her!" Albus argued.

"I can't fight him!" Alice argued at the same time.

"You don't have to kill each other!" Shauna said in exasperation. "Just try and knock each other out of the ring! No murder involved!"

"Except for the fact that Albus'll be lobbing fireballs at Alice." Keith said.

"And Alice will be throwing lightning bolts at Albus." Rose added.

"As long as they stop before they kill each other they'll be fine." Shauna said waving her hand dismissively. "Now into the ring."

Alice and Albus gave one last protest before Shauna shoved them to either end of the ring. Rose, Scorpius and Keith sat on one of the benches to the side of the ring.

Albus looked at Alice as if to say 'I'm sorry about this'. Alice gave him a smile and a small nod. Keith, Rose, Shauna and Scorpius waited to see which one would make the first move.

Albus drew back his fist ready to punch a fireball at Alice. Alice raised her arms ready to produce a force field but neither attacked.

"Why aren't they doing anything?" Keith whispered to Rose.

"They waiting to see which one breaks first." Rose said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Albus took a step to the right, Alice took a step to the left and the two began circling each other. Albus and Alice were completely focused on each other and then Albus punched forward shooting a fireball at Alice. Alice ducked but the fire singed a few strands of her hair on the way past her. A force field sprang up in front of her as another stream was shot at her.

Alice dropped her force field and shot another bolt of lightning at Albus. He met her lightning with a jet fire causing a minor explosion. Both took a step back and shield their eyes before glaring at each other again.

Albus moved forward and Alice moved back conjuring another small force field to act like a shield. He blasted fire at her and she put her hands and force field in front of her face to protect herself. She lunged forward with a strike of her own and it was his turn to take a step back.

Alice dropped her shield and called up more lightning he responded with a small spurt fire. She jumped to the side to avoid the small explosion. Their strange and deadly dance of flame and lightning continued.

He moved forward, she moved back. He shot fire, she responded with a force field and a shot of lightning. He moved back, she stayed in place. This was going nowhere fast.

Alice ran forward catching her opponent unaware she tried to deliver a punch to his chest but Albus easily blocked her. Alice ducked as Albus shot a small flame at her head and she manoeuvred so she was standing behind Albus. He turned to try and face her but she mirrored his movement following his turns so that she always stayed behind him.

She traced a small pattern with her fingers and her right hand became covered with an electric current. She reached out and touched her opponent's spine but before she could Albus grabbed her wrist and pulled her round to face him. He gave her a cheeky grin

"I win." He said and gave her a small push so she was out of the ring.

Alice looked indignant "I let you win."

"Whatever you say." Albus grinned.

"Right everyone training session over!" Shauna declared.

"But none of you sparred!" Alice pointed out.

"Next time then." Shauna said with a shrug as she walked out of the Room of Requirement.

Chapter 18: Returning Home

The final weeks of term went by in a blur and soon it was time to leave for Christmas. The grounds were blanketed in several inches of snow which had been falling steadily since mid November. The mood inside the castle was one of excitement and festive cheer.

Soon it was time for all those who were leaving for Christmas to get ready. The Entrance Hall was flooded with leaving students all ready to board the Hogwarts Express.

"Goodbye Hogwarts! Hello freedom!" Keith grinned.

"A whole four weeks off. Plus we get to go to The Burrow for New Years." Alice nodded.

"What I can't believe was they were ok with Scorpius coming too." Rose said wrapping her Gryffindor scarf more securely around her neck.

"Don't push it." Scorpius advised "They can still change their minds."

"I just can't wait to get out of here." Shauna said sitting on her trunk "The sooner I get home, the sooner I can relax."

"I can't wait for the Chudley Cannons game on Christmas Eve. They might have a chance of winning."

"And I'm a purple thestral with silver wings and a tiara." Shauna replied "

"I think they'll win if they don't play Anderson." Scorpius grinned.

"You lot are hopeless." Shauna declared with a roll of her eyes.

"We're going too!" Alice grinned "They're playing against the Appleby Arrows. Dad's the keeper."

"So don't feel bad if the Cannons don't score any goals." Keith smirked.

Albus shook his head and smiled at his friends.

"What's up with you Hothead?" Shauna asked.

"Nothing." Albus answered.

"Look!" Alice said "Everyone's starting to leave."

The students were starting to file out of the Entrance Hall and to the carriages that would take them to Hogsmead station. Students flocked to the carriages and Albus managed to grab one for the six of them before it was taken. The ride to the train station was filled with jokes and sarcastic comments and soon they stood on the platform staring at the familiar red steam engine.

"Quit staring and c'mon Hothead!" Shauna yelled. Albus quickly snapped out of his daydream and boarded the train after Rose.

The train was already crowded with students trying to find a compartment. Albus walked quickly after Shauna but then something caught his eye.

Ellesheil sitting in an empty compartments staring out the window with her arms folded across her chest. If she knew Albus was there she didn't give any indication as she simply kept staring out the window.

"Oi! Hothead! You coming?" Shauna's voice made him jump "You're really out of it today aren't you?"

"I'm fine." Albus mumbled. Shauna rolled her eyes at him

"Sparky and Blondie have found us a compartment."

"Fine." Albus nodded.

"What's up with you lately?" Albus fought the urge to smirk this was typical Shauna, no tact at all.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Albus replied.

"Yeah right Mr Mope." Shauna rolled her eyes.

"I don't mope." Albus said indignantly.

"Whatever you say."

"Look there's nothing wrong." Albus was adamant.

"And I'm a purple thestral with silver wings." Shauna replied sarcastically.

"Shauna I'm not lying. I'm fine." Albus insisted.

"You're not." Shauna stated "I'm not blind and neither are the others. All we want is you to be back to normal."

"Well what do you want me to say then?" Frustration finally caught up with Albus.

"I'm not blind and neither are the others. Don't think we've not noticed you moping around. All we want is you to be back to normal."

"There's no going back! Nothing will be normal again! Not after this! Alice still doesn't look at me the way she used to! Everyone treats me like I'm about to explode! There! Now will you leave me alone?"

Albus tried to storm past Shauna but she stuck her arm out to prevent him from going.

"Is that the truth? Or is that what you want to believe?" Shauna asked.

"Both."

"No it isn't."

"How would you know?" Albus snapped. Shauna glared at him and Albus took a step back.

"'Cause I know what it's really like have something happen that there's no going back from! It'll never be normal or ok again! But you can move on with your life! There are millions of girls out there who are ten times better than Ellesheil Darrow! So stop moping about and move on!"

Albus stood for a minute while Shauna calmed herself again, he knew better than to ask exactly what Shauna was referring to.

"C'mon." Albus said "They'll think we've jumped off the train or something." Shauna didn't reply but nodded.

The train ride was faster than any of them imagined and soon the train was slowing and they rounded the corner to be met with the crowd of parents waiting for them.

Trunks were gathered as each of them promised they would write over the break. Alice and Scorpius stepped off the train still deep in conversation. Rose and Albus followed them silently and started scanning the crowd for their family.

"Shauna." Keith approached Shauna who was standing with her arms crossed trying to spot her mother. She turned to look at Keith with a look of annoyance

"What do you want Down-?" The rest of Shauna's sentence was cut off as Keith pressed his lips to her's. Keith was in bliss then he was lying on the ground looking up at Shauna. His hand flew to his jaw where she had punched him. Then she turned without a word and walked away.

"Shauna! Wait! I'm sorry!" It was no use she had disappeared into the crowd.

Keith pushed himself to his feet rubbing his sore jaw which would have a rather large bruise tomorrow to prove his idiocy.

Albus, Rose, Scorpius and Alice were biting back laughter as they had seen the whole thing.

"Shut up." Keith grumbled as they burst into laughter.

Chapter 19: Christmas Gift From No One

The car journey home from King's Cross Station was quiet, normally it would be anything but and that's what made Albus nervous. He suspected that his parents had probably received a letter from Professor McGonagall about his abilities and he wondered if that's why the car was so quiet. James and Lily were probably quiet because the tension in the car could be cut with a bread knife and all this made Albus sink a little deeper into his seat and dread arriving home.

Inevitably the car stopped outside their house in Godric's Hollow and even Albus had to admit he was a little glad to see it. Trunks were then dragged out of the car boot, into the house and up to their rooms.

Albus sat in his bedroom until dinner was ready, he wondered why his parents hadn't wanted to talk to him yet but he knew, just like he knew that the Chudley Cannons wouldn't win the Christmas Eve match, that they would pull him aside eventually.

Dinner like the car ride mostly silent, the most conversation that happened was James asking Lily to pass the gravy. After that however the conversation picked up a little and Albus internally sighed in relief.

After dinner Ginny asked Albus to help her with the dishes, Albus knew there was no escaping it and grabbed a dish towel.

"You never told us how school has been." Ginny said, apparently it would be just his mother talking to him.

"You know...really boring." Albus answered drying a plate "Nothing very exciting...well Keith kissed a girl and she decked him but other than that not very much to say."

"Really? I'm sure there must have been more than that." She was prompting him to bring up the letter, he knew it.

"Er...Ellesheil and me...we..uh...broke up." Albus said hoping after this statement his mother would drop the subject.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ginny replied, Albus could feel the sympathy in her voice but he knew she wasn't done yet but it could hurt to hope right? "Albus, I know that you know what I'm talking about."

Albus sighed "I really don't want to talk about it."

"Albus we need to talk about this." Ginny said putting down the plate she was washing and drying her hands "Professor McGonagall sent us a letter just after Halloween, she said that you were one of those elementals and she explained all the risks. Albus you could be killed doing this."

"I know mum." Albus said looking up at his mother, he could tell she was worried "But everyone's counting on me! It's not just me mum! Rose, Shauna Longbottom, Keith, Scorpius and Alice are all in this with me!"

"I know Albus, but your father and I just want you to be careful."

"But mum! What if something happened? You're saying I should just stand aside and let my friends be killed!"

"No Albus I'm not saying that." Ginny replied placing a hand on Albus's shoulder "I just want you to make it out of this, whatever it is alive. Please Albus, think before you run off and be a hero."

Albus looked down at his hands then back up at his mother.

"Don't worry I'll be fine." He promised.

There was no more mention of elementals, it seemed that his parents had dropped the subject but there was always a sense of unease in the Potter home.

Before Albus knew it he was being shaken awake by Lily on Christmas morning, grumbling he threw his duvet over his head. Lily said something inaudible under the thick duvet then he fell onto his bedroom floor with a dull thud.

"Ow!" Albus groaned rubbing his now sore ribs "What are you playing at Lily?"

"I told you if you didn't get up I'd trail you out of bed." She said with an air of nonchalance. Albus rolled his eyes at his younger sister, ever since they discovered she was a magical prodigy she acted like she owned the world.

Dragging himself down the stairs he couldn't help but smile when he smelt his mother's traditional Christmas morning breakfast of toast, bacon, sausages and eggs wafting from the kitchen. He had almost no control over his feet as they pulled him towards the kitchen.

Everyone was sitting at the kitchen table, James wolfing down his breakfast while Lily rolled her eyes at him. Albus slid into his seat beside James and eagerly tucked into his breakfast.

After breakfast Lily ferociously attacked her presents followed by James then Albus as he was the last to finish his breakfast. They had all received more sweets and chocolate than they could possibly eat and many items that they never expected. Finally Albus pulled the last gift towards himself; it was a large white box with string tied around it and no card. Untying the string and lifting the lid off the box he peered at his gift.

It was an outfit; there was a long-sleeved white shirt, a white sash, white trousers and white boots with black straps and some red material. He lifted out the red material and unfolded it, curious to know what it was. It was a...dress? A red dress that would reach about his knees that had a side split up until the waist and short sleeves with a white triangle symbol on the chest.

"Hah!" James laughed when he caught sight of it "Someone sent Al a dress!"

"It's not a dress idiot." Lily replied walking over to examine it "It's a tunic. You know you wear it over your clothes."

"I know what a tunic is Lily." James replied.

"Who sent it?" Ginny asked taking the box from Albus.

"Dunno." Albus answered with a shrug. Who would send Albus an outfit like this? He bet it was one of James and Fred's jokes. He caught sight of his father who had a strange expression on his face somewhere between confusion and remembrance.

"Albus. What's that on the floor?" Lily asked pointing to his feet. A small piece of parchment lay beside his right foot and Albus stooped to pick it up.

It was time the gauntlet was passed to you and your generation young fire elemental. Wear this uniform with pride like the fire elementals that came before you.

Albus passed the note to his mother and took the box from her before refolding the tunic and placing it back inside the box. Albus gathered up all his presents in his arms and turned to his parents.

"I'm going to go put these in my room." He said before running up the stairs, he really needed to write to his friends.

Chapter 20: New Years

All of them had received a uniform, the only difference it seemed was that each tunic was a different colour with a different symbol on the chest and Rose's uniform came with black fingerless gloves. No one knew who had sent them their uniforms and each theory was as unbelievable as the one before, eventually they gave up the topic.

As soon as Christmas was over Albus was looking forward to seeing his friends at New Years. He hadn't had any contact with Scorpius, Alice, Keith and Shauna apart from their letters which were often brief.

The days flew by and sooner than he imagined he was standing in the Burrow after flooing there with his parents. Almost instantly Rose threw her arms around his neck in a crushing hug.

"Rose!" Albus gasped struggling for air "You saw me at Christmas!"

Rose took a step back from Albus as he gasped for much needed oxygen.

"I know." she grinned.

"Is that Al?" Yelled a voice from outside. Keith suddenly appeared at the back door to the kitchen his cover in a layer of white snow. Albus walked over and they clasped forearms.

"Missed you mate." Albus said.

"Same here."

"Where's everyone else?" Albus asked noticing that the only teenagers here were himself, James, Lily, Rose and Keith.

"Fred declared a snow war." Keith explained. "Rose, Alice, Shauna and me against Fred, Lucy, Molly and Roxanne."

"COME BACK HERE AND TAKE IT LIKE GRYFFINDORS!" came a shriek from outside. Keith and Albus exchanged a look

"Shauna is very competitive." Keith said.

"That is the understatement of the century." Albus replied.

Albus, Rose, Keith, James and Lily all trooped outside to find Shauna and Alice huddled behind a large snow wall. They didn't hear them approach as they were too busy trying to keep the snow wall from collapsing on top of them. Alice looked frantic while Shauna was busy preparing another snowball.

"It isn't going to last much longer!" Alice said covering her head with her hands as snowballs thumped into the wall behind them.

"It'll hold long enough for Downes to drag his arse out here and fix it!"

"Lucky I'm here then!" Keith grinned. Shauna and Alice's heads snapped up to look at the group and both smiled at Albus. Alice pushed herself to her feet and pulled Albus into a hug. Albus stood there for a second before hesitantly wrapping his arms around Alice. They stayed like that for a few minutes before a snowball collided with Albus's arm causing both of them to jump apart.

"You guys joining or what?" Fred asked a snowball in one hand. Rose shook her head

"I'm not. I'm going to wait for Scorpius." She replied.

"Then Lily and James join us and you guys can have Al and Keith." Molly said.

Rose made her way back to the safety of the Burrow while everyone else began to pelt each other with snow balls. She stamped her feet on the kitchen floor to rid her shoes of snow and walked into the warm living room. All the adults were talking about work or other boring topics so Rose paid no attention to them, instead she settled herself into an empty armchair and waited.

Finally there was a loud knock on the door of the Burrow, by the time the adults looked up Rose had opened the door and flung her arms around Scorpius's neck. Draco Malfoy stood staring inside the Burrow as if trying to ignore his son and Rose embracing.

"It's so good to see you Scorp." Rose said into his shoulder.

"You're acting like you haven't seen me in years!" Scorpius laughed. Rose's response was muffled and nobody understood what she had said. Finally Rose stepped back from Scorpius and allowed him to say goodbye to his father before Draco Malfoy walked away and disapparated.

"Thank you for letting me come." Scorpius said in a slightly sheepish voice directed at Mrs Weasley. Mrs Weasley smiled at Scorpius and almost instantly Scorpius relaxed.

"Where is everyone?" he asked turning to Rose.

"Outside in the snow." Rose answered "My cousin Fred declared a snow war and nobody turns down a snow war."

Scorpius chuckled "Let's go then."

"Just let me grab my coat." Rose said with a smile then dropped her voice to a whisper "Don't worry. My dad doesn't bite."

Rose ran into the kitchen and Scorpius was left alone with the Weasley family. He tried to ignore the fierce whisper fight that Hermione and Ron were having, he knew they were discussing him so he said nothing. Rose mercifully returned quickly with her coat and lead Scorpius outside to the others.

They all stayed outside until the sun began to set then everyone trooped in, covered in snow and laughing to eat a huge dinner made by Mrs Weasley. After dinner Rose called Albus, Alice, Keith, Shauna and Scorpius upstairs and led them into a room with Chudley Cannons posters adorning the walls.

"Muffliato." Said Albus before sitting down in the small circle formed by his friends. In the centre sat the little leather-bound book looking completely innocent.

"Did you manage to translate it?" Shauna asked Rose who nodded in response.

"Most of it." She answered "It's really interesting because it's not a normal book…it's a journal."

Albus and Alice glanced at each other with looks of confusion while Keith looked somewhat shocked, Scorpius looked interested and Shauna looked bored already.

"A journal?" Scorpius said.

"Yes," Rose nodded and picked up the book. She flicked through several pages "This is a rough translation: this journal was penned by Alfred son of William, wizard and fire elemental."

Five pairs of eyes turned to look at Albus and then back to the book.

"Is it like "Dear diary, today I kicked butt, the end"" Keith asked with a smirk. Shauna rolled her eyes at Keith and slapped the back of his head. Keith rubbed his head and shot an annoyed look at Shauna.

"No." Rose said annoyance clear in her voice "It tells all about the last elementals…the ones from the stories."

"Really?" Alice asked curiously.

"Yes," Rose nodded "and that isn't the most interesting part."

Everyone leaned forward anxious to hear Rose's interesting discovery from the book. Rose flipped a couple of pages in the book searching for something then finally finding what she wanted, lay the book in the middle of the circle and pointed out a symbol on the page. It was a circle with two swirls inside of it; everyone looked at it in confusion.

"It means spirit." Rose said "What makes it interesting is the symbol beside it." Rose's finger shifted to the symbol to the right, it was an arrow with two heads point left and right "That means change or move."

"Ok." Keith said still looking perplexed.

"Spirit change…reincarnation!" Rose explained "Elementals' spirits are reincarnated!"

"So you mean…I wrote that." Albus asked motioning to the book.

"Sort of." Rose answered "It doesn't go in to detail but what that means is that there were elementals before us…loads more before us."

There was silence as everyone took in this news; everyone glanced at each other not knowing what to say. Rose closed the book and stared at its leather-bound cover with an unreadable expression.

"If there were more. Why didn't they say anything? Why didn't they make themselves known? We could've learned so much…know more…it would have been so much easier. Why didn't they tell anyone?" Alice asked softly.

"We'll never know." Albus replied. Alice sat sadly and Albus placed a hand on her shoulder in hopes of comforting her somewhat.

Rose, Scorpius, Shauna and Keith all stood and Rose lifted the book taking it out of the room with her, Albus and Alice soon followed after them. Rose slipped outside when no one was looking.

Snow was falling again and Rose watched it from the kitchen door with a small smile before trudging out to stand by the snow wall which was still miraculously standing. In the darkness she could make out the igloo Keith had made earlier in an attempt to impress everyone. The wind picked up slightly

"Rose?" Rose turned to see Scorpius leaning against the door "What are you doing outside? It's freezing out here!"

"Just thinking." Rose replied.

Scorpius hooked his thumbs in his jeans "You're going to get a cold if you stand out in the snow without a coat."

Rose smiled at Scorpius's concern "Trust me Scorp I've had worse."

Scorpius smiled and shook his head before trudging outside to stand beside her. Rose gave him a smile and the wind picked up again, whether this was natural or Scorpius's doing Rose wasn't sure.

"You…uh…you…er…have a good Christmas?" Scorpius internally smacked himself, not what he had planned to say at all. Somehow whenever he went to pay Rose a compliment or ask her out he always became incredibly tongue-tied.

Rose chuckled "Scorpius you've asked me that three times in your letters."

"I have? Er…sorry…I…uh…what I meant to say was…um…uh…R-Rose…would you…I mean only if you want to but…uh…Will… Will you…WILLYOUGOOUTWITHME?"

Then before Rose could respond, without thinking, without even considering the possible outcomes of his actions, he kissed her and to his surprise and delight she kissed back.

Neither of them noticed Alice standing in the kitchen doorway, her hazel eyes admiring the scene. She slipped away without either Rose or Scorpius noticing her presence with only one thought in mind

It's about time.

Spies And Shauna's Plan

A week later and it was time to board the Hogwarts Express for Hogwarts. The journey back to Hogwarts was a short one; it almost seemed as if they hadn't left at all. Soon it was back to classes and the day to day routine of the school year. That was until one Thursday two weeks after term began again

"What's all the commotion?" Rose asked indicating the crowd in the Entrance Hall. The six friends were walking down the Grand Staircase when they saw a large crowd gathering in the Entrance Hall all whispering to each other.

"Dunno," Albus replied "but it can't be good."

"Crowds gathering around something and whispering in Hogwarts is never good. It's like an unwritten rule." Shauna declared.

"Albus!" Lily came running out of the crowd with Hugo, Lorcan and Lysander behind her, all of them looked frantic. "Someone's wrote something on the wall! Come look!"

She grabbed Albus's arm dragging him into the Entrance Hall before pointing. On the wall, in black paint was a symbol of a crescent moon with a dot beside it and underneath was written

The Cult's spies are in Hogwarts. Elementals be warned.

Everyone stood motionless staring at the message. Rose's blue eyes were wide, Keith and Scorpius looked solemn, Shauna had a look of barely suppressed fury and Alice looked at Albus with fear in her hazel eyes.

"What are we going to do?" she asked. All eyes were suddenly on Albus as he struggled to think

"I-I don't know." He said after a couple of minutes.

"We fight these people." Shauna declared "We don't back down and we don't let them know we're afraid."

There was a sense of determination that radiated off her but before anyone could say anything more she had turned and left. Albus and Alice shared a look of confusion while Keith ran after her. Rose and Scorpius stood side-by-said before Rose said softly

"We should tell Professor McGonagall about this."

Keith ran up the Grand Staircase after Shauna, she was walking all the way up to the seventh floor and Keith had a suspicion that she was heading to the Room of Requirement.

"Shauna wait up!" he called after her.

Shauna stopped half way to the fourth floor as Keith caught up with her.

"What Downes?" she asked. Keith stopped a moment to catch his breath after his mad dash up the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

"Why's it any concern of yours?"

"Are you planning something?"

"What makes you think I'm planning something?"

"Are you going to answer or are you just going to reply with another question?"

"Annoying isn't it?" Shauna smirked.

"Shauna." Keith grumbled.

"Alright fine." Shauna sighed "There is no way you five are going to defeat the Cult-"

"Thanks for the positive thinking Shauna. Really inspiring."

"Shut up and listen!" Shauna snapped her pale blue eyes blazing "You five won't defeat them alone! You need help. You're going against an army! If you think five of you are going to have a chance at taking out an army then I think you need a reality check."

"We did it before." Keith pointed out.

"Five centuries ago and you actually were masters then." Shauna retorted.

"Good point." Keith admitted.

"You five need more people to help you. You won't be able to defeat the Cult alone...you need an army too."

"What are you getting at?" Keith asked looking intrigued and slight apprehensive.

"Remember who my dad is." Shauna said.

"Professor Longbottom, I know that Shauna but what does that have to do with anything? Unless your dad has an army locked in the castle dungeons."

Shauna rolled her eyes "What did my dad do during the war?"

"He led the...DA." Keith answered with sudden understanding "You want to bring back the DA. To fight the Cult."

"Yes...well sort of." Shauna replied "I want to start an army like the DA and train them to fight."

"Isn't that what the DA did?"

"No." Shauna replied "They only taught defence and I want to teach them defence and offence."

"But didn't the DA teach offences when-"

"Downes..." Shauna cut him off with a glare.

"Shut up?" Keith asked.

"You're learning. Not much but you're learning."

Keith grumbled something inaudible but quickly stopped when Shauna glared at him.

"I need help rounding up people and you're going to help me." Shauna said with a clear tone of authority.

"Well…who are we going to get?" Keith knew better than to argue with Shauna.

"Everyone." Shauna said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Everyone?" Keith asked in disbelief.

"Yes, everyone we can. James, Lily, Lorcan, Lysander, Nicky, Fred, Roxanne, Lucy, the Quidditch teams, the duelling club, Ellesheil-"

"Ellesheil? Are you mad?" Keith asked astonished.

"No I'm not mad." Shauna replied her eyes narrowing dangerously "We need everyone we can think of, including her. She's a horrible person but we need her on our side."

"Fine, but I'm not happy about it." Keith grumbled

"Neither am I but we all need to make sacrifices." Shauna said.

"So we'd better get started." Keith declared.

"Yeah, tell them to meet us at the Room of Requirement tonight at seven." Shauna instructed.

"Ok. See you there." Keith nodded turning and heading back towards the Entrance

"Downes!" Shauna called after him.

"Yeah?" Keith asked turning to look at Shauna

"Don't tell Hothead, Sparky, Blondie and especially not Daffodil!"

Chapter 22: The Elemental Army

The Room of Requirement was full until bursting point with students. Keith and Shauna had spent all day rounding up students to join their club. It had taken them most of the day but they had finally rounded up everyone they could.

The Room of Requirement looked like a giant hall with a small stage at the front and standing in the Room of Requirement were the House Quidditch teams, James, Nicky and Fred who were both laughing at some joke among themselves. Lily, Hugo, Lorcan and Lysander were all talking in hushed whispers and in the very back stood Ellesheil. Keith and Shauna stood on the stage

"Well?" Keith asked Shauna "Do you think that's enough?"

Shauna scanned the crowd of students gathered and gave a small nod "It'll do."

"Now what?"

"We tell them about you five and why they're here." Shauna answered after a brief pause.

Keith nodded at Shauna's words; he knew that eventually people would find out. It was only a matter of time. Shauna gave Keith's arm a light punch and he smiled at her.

"You ready?" She asked. Keith gave a short jerky nod and Shauna smirked and then yelled "Oi! Pack it in!"

Instantly the noise died and all eyes flew to Shauna and Keith. A sudden rush of nerves hit Keith and he suddenly felt very exposed. Shauna however took the sudden attention in her stride.

"As you all know we asked you to come here today because we need people to start a club. I want you all to know before you get any ideas…this is going to be exactly like the DA. I'm not going to lie to you, this will be dangerous. There is no grantee that you'll all make it out of this."

There were murmurs throughout the room but all instantly died when Shauna gave a small cough.

"The reason we started this in the first place is because they're evil people out there. Those murders that have been happening are not coincidents. The Cult are behind them and they are trying at this very moment to get into Hogwarts…and they've succeeded. You all saw that message in the Entrance Hall but you have no idea exactly how much is at stake here. These people will kill if given half the chance. They're ruthless and will stop at nothing until they kill all five elementals."

"There's no such thing as elementals!" yelled Ellesheil "They're just an old bedtime story."

"That's were you're wrong." Shauna declared earning several gasps and even more muttering "Elementals are real…I know that they're real and I can prove it."

"I'd love to see you try." Ellesheil replied folding her arms. Shauna turned

"Keith is an elemental." Shauna declared.

"Really?" Lorcan asked.

"Yes, and he can prove it too." Shauna nodded then walked over to Keith and whispered "This is our shot. Don't blow it."

Keith steeped forward and everyone looked at him expectantly. Several people leaned forward to see what he would do. He and Shauna had practised exactly what they would do when it came time for him to prove his abilities.

"Aguamenti!" Shauna cried and with a flick of her wand a small jet of water streamed from her wand. Keith expertly caught the water forming it into a ball, earning 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from the crowd of students. Keith rocked back on his heels and pushed the water forward and it formed into a long thin whip. Everyone stared in shock and slight fear as Keith manipulated the water in front of them before finally he dropped it to the floor and Shauna dried the puddle from the floor.

Silence.

"That's not possible." James Potter said.

"It's just a trick, how stupid do you think we are?" Ellesheil yelled from the back.

"Whoa…that was—that was…can you teach me to do that?" Lily Potter asked excitedly.

"How long did you know you could do that Keith?" Fred asked.

"I can't believe this." Lorcan and Lysander muttered together.

"I've seen myself what he and the others can do. I was like all of you…I didn't believe at first but I know now that this is far from a fairy tale." Shauna spoke up "But these Cult people are going to try and kill Keith and the other elementals…they are the only people who can defeat them once and for all but they can't do it alone. We need you to help us. Five teenagers can't defeat an entire army. It's impossible."

"That's why you need us right?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, we need you guys because you are the only people we can count on to help us now. You are stronger together than the whole of the Cult combined. You know what the DA did during the war and together we can do it again."

There was excited chatter amongst the crowd of students. Shauna watched them all with an unreadable expression while Keith clapped her on the shoulder.

"I think we did it." He whispered. Shauna merely shrugged in response. The next hour was spent finding out who exactly was going to be signing up for their club which Shauna had dubbed The Elemental Army, or T.E.A for short, Keith had sniggered at that acronym and ended up with some sore ribs for his trouble.

After about two hours or so everyone had left the Room of Requirement and everyone had joined the club, even Ellesheil but Keith still was unsure about that.

"We did good…well you did good. I just improvised." Keith said as he and Shauna left the Room of Requirement themselves.

"At least it didn't take much to convince them. I thought it would have been harder than that." Shauna replied with a shrug.

"It's Hogwarts. It impossible happens everyday here."

"You might have a point there."

"Wait a minute." Keith said looking clearly amused "Are you actually saying I might be right?"

"No. I was implying

you might be right. That's different."

"I really hate you sometimes." Keith grumbled and Shauna smirked.

"No you don't." she declared.

"How would you know?" Keith asked "I could hate your guts to hell and back and just pretend to like you."

"I know you don't hate me. You forget I can read you like a book." Shauna replied looking, if possible, even smugger by the minute.

"You think

Shauna. You think

you can read me like a-"

Keith was silence by Shauna who had grabbed him by the collar and kissed him. She quickly pulled away with a smirk and said

"You see Keith. If I didn't know you I would have simply told you to go away only less politely." With that Shauna walked down a corridor and vanished from sight leaving a very red faced and dumbfounded Keith in her wake.

Impressum

Texte: I'm NOT JK Rowling and I don't own Harry Potter anything you don't recognize belongs to me!
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 29.09.2010

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