Humming, Euphemia made her way to clean the Potter library. She was still anxious about the attack at Hogsmeade and cleaning usually helps. Dusting book after book, slowly she got lost in the rhythm of it all... that is until a sudden book randomly fell off from a shelf behind her. Looking down she recognized the red leather bound book to be the Potter lineage, quickly she picked it up and put it back on the shelf before resuming her dusting. Only as soon as she turned, the book fell once again. Completely baffled, she picked it up and began examining the shelf to see why it kept falling... but found nothing. But then the oddest thing happened, the book flew out of her hands and landed a few feet on the floor in front of her. She bent down to pick it up only to pause as the pages began shuffling and came to a sudden stop. Nothing in all her life could have prepared her for what she saw, letting out a great gasp. 'Monty!' she bellowed, 'Monty! You need to see this!!'
Abraxas quickly returned home and made way to his study to pour himself a drink. After the attack today, he definitely needed one. Sitting by the fire he swirled his glass as he stared at the horrendous mark on his arm, it had been burning all day since he ignored the summons. He didn't know how much longer he could bear it, cutting off his arm no longer seemed like a terrible idea. It was while he was pondering whether he'd be able to hold out for Orion's "specialist" during the holidays, that he felt his manors wards shift. Pulling out his wand, he slowly made his way throughout his manor following the family magic's pull. It was as he turned towards the corridor in the west wing, that he realized he was being led to his family's secret vault of artifacts. Though to his horrendous surprise, when he arrived the vault door was wide open and the temperature had dropped down to a point where he could see his own breath. Slowly he crept forward and saw... a very petite girl with long wavy black hair, holding none other than the diary! Before he could so much as do anything she had turned around in shock, her mismatched eyes were glowing and he felt a cold, dark prickling sensation run down his spine. Suddenly he was disarmed and pinned against the wall. Her face morphed into an apologetic expression as she whispered in a soft voice, 'Sorry, I didn't think you'd be back yet.'
She walked up to him as he relentlessly struggled against the magic keeping him pinned, 'Who are you!?' he demanded through his clenched teeth. 'I'm sure Ori will fill you in...' She held up the diary, 'Don't worry. I am going to destroy it, but till then, how about I make it up to you!' She stated to his complete bafflement. Ori? As in Orion? Destroy it? Make it up to him? She pushed back the sleeve on his arm, revealing his dark mark and to his horror she began hissing... Was she speaking parseltongue!? His eyes widened as the pain on his arm slowly disappeared and the mark began to lift off his skin, looking like a thick smoke that evaporated in the air. His mark was gone! He looked at her bewildered, was she possibly Orion's specialist? She smiled at him softly, 'You should get checked out for Dragon Pox, always good to be safe. Don't you think?' Quickly she took a step back and apparated away. He felt the magic release him as he suddenly dropped to the floor, completely bewildered over what the bloody hell just happened! He looked down at his now bare arm, feeling an immense amount of relief as he realized it was officially gone. He was now free of the mark and its pain. He suddenly lifted his head as he finally realized the last thing she said to him, 'Dragon Pox?' he whispered under his breath. Has everyone gone mad lately? Or is it just him!?
Abraxas paced anxiously in front of his fireplace as he waited for Orion, he had gone to a healer right away after yesterday's incident. Luckily, he discovered early that he did in fact have Dragon Pox and was able to take the cure. Any later and the cure wouldn't have done anything to help him. He'd sent Orion letter after letter, only to remember he was off to find a possible Necromancer. So he had had to bottle up his unease over yesterday until today, as Orion was due to arrive any moment. His Floo had flared up but instead of it being Orion, Fleamont Potter had ended up stepping out, to Abraxas' utter bafflement. Damn elf, he told it to only leave the Floo open for Orion! Though he was even more caught off guard by Fleamont's disheveled appearance. 'Fleamont? What -' 'Do you know!? Or is it just Orion!?' he cut off with an accusatory tone. Abraxas looked at him both incredulously, 'What Are you on about? Know what?' 'This!' Fleamont bellowed, as he held open a red leather bound book towards him. Hesitantly he took the book, at first he didn't know why Fleamont was acting in a tizzy about the Potter lineage... until he saw the name "Adhara Potter/Peverell". But even more puzzling was the birth year below the name, 1980/1960! 'Impossible...' he mumbled under his breath, right as the Floo flared up once again. Fleamont and Abraxas quickly turned to stare at none other than Orion, 'Fleamont?' Orion directed his gaze from Fleamont to Abraxas before settling on the book in Abraxas' hand. Seeing what it was, Orion slightly grimaced like a kid caught in the cookie jar, as he couldn't help but automatically whisper out loud, 'Bollocks!'
Abraxas and Fleamont stared in shock at Orion, trying to comprehend everything they'd just been told about Adhara Potter and her life, the future... 'H-how is this possible?' stuttered out Fleamont. 'What aren't you telling us?' accused Abraxas, noticing the slight twitch Orion made when Fleamont asked his question. 'There's a reason I've been looking for a Necromancer, to help translate the book faster... and -' 'And?' chorused the two of them. Orion avoided their gazes as he looked out the window, hands behind his back, 'She made a deal with Death, to come back and change things... in exchange, her soul will suffer in the shades...' The two looked at him horrified and speechless. 'I wish to speak with him and find some way... to help her,' Orion then added in a quiet pleading whisper under his breath, 'I must...' Abraxas studied Orion silently. 'Did you find one? A Necromancer?' Fleamont mumbled out as he tried to wrap his head around everything, 'I left a letter. I believe they may have been hiding nearby, watching. Afterall, they're known to be wary of strangers due to being hunted down in the past. I can only hope they'll contact me, as soon as possible.' A few moments of silence went by before Fleamont got up to his feet with a newfound determination, 'Well then, I have a granddaughter to save, how far along have you gotten with translating?'
The three sat in Abraxas's study scouring through the book and translating pages after pages. They had duplicated the book and agreed to split the book into certain sections to work on, so they wouldn't end up translating the same thing. Some pages were full of dark and disturbing rituals that even they couldn't help but grimace at, while some were full of experiments, spells, potions and a bunch of different diary entries from the Necromancers. It was slow, draining and the more they translated, the more their frustration grew at not finding anything. At some point Euphemia came over and joined in the translating. She apparently anxiously baked until she ran out of ingredients and decided she couldn't wait any longer. Hours and several breaks later, Orion finally had a glimmer of hope when the page he finished translating mentioned Thanatos. It was an entry from an Necromancer who wanted to make contact with Death, due to the loss of their sister. He quickly scanned the pages after it and found a page that looked as if it had a ritual on it, feeling hopeful he called the others and they spent the next hour translating the few pages Orion had specified.
The boys sat miserably in the common room, James sat on the floor in a trance as he stared at the fire, Sirius sat on the corner of the couch with his head on his hand staring out the window and Remus sat in the armchair twiddling his thumbs as he stared at the carpet. Not one of them had said a word all day and inside each one of their pockets was a letter Ara had left them. 'What's up with the boys?' Marlene whispered to Alice, as she looked from one to the other. 'Ara's ward pulled her out of Hogwarts, apparently it was too much stress. I think it really hit them hard...' Alice whispered back sullenly. She quite liked Ara and was also very sad she never got to say goodbye to her. Marlene sent her a very confused look, 'So, why are they acting like she's died or something? They could just write her a letter!' Marlene whispered back. Alice rolled her eyes and huffed, then promptly stood up and walked away. 'What'd I say?' Marlene whispered to Dorcas, Dorcas huffed and followed Alice. Marlene then looked at Lily, 'Lily?' Lily turned away from looking at James, 'Huh?' Marlene raised her brow and gave Lily a small knowing smirk, 'Why don't you just go over there and comfort him...?' Lily widened her eyes in shock, 'What are you on about? Wait- where'd Alice and Dorcas go?' Marlene sighed, 'They left. It appears everyone's upset about Ara.' Lily rolled her eyes and let out a little scoff.
Dear Barty,
I'm sorry. If you're reading this, then it means I wasn't able to keep my promise and I left. I never wanted to hurt you, any of you but I couldn't find it in myself to detach. All I ever wanted in my life was to be loved, and I felt that way when I was with all of you. I chose to be selfish and now my selfishness has hurt you, but I don't regret it because spending those days with you meant everything to me. Thank you, for being you. For being one of the most amazing people I have ever had the chance of getting to know. I -
'Barty. You need to eat something...' Regulus mumbled as he pulled open Barty's bed curtains. Barty folded his letter back up and turned over onto his stomach, ignoring Regulus and burying his tear streaked face into his pillow. All day Barty kept replaying every moment they spent together in his head. 'Barty, you haven't eaten anything all day! You've gotta have something...' Regulus pleaded. Barty remained silent as he quietly replayed their last moment together in his head. Regulus sighed and sat on the edge of his bed, 'Dad will find something... I know he will! I know you're scared and worried about her, we all are but the Barty I know would never give up and sulk. He'd be his annoyingly stubborn self that he is and try to make the best of the situation until he finds the answers he was looking for!' Barty sniffled and after a few moments he finally whispered amidst the silence, 'What if... we can't save her? What if we're too late?' Regulus swallowed the lump in his throat, Barty turned over and sat up, 'I love her Reg, I know it's only been a short period of time but - but she's everything, funny, smart, kind, beautiful and I-I can't imagine a life without her. What do I do if she - she - ... What do I do?' he croaked out. Regulus couldn't hold it back anymore as he joined Barty with his own tears, 'I don't know.'
'Merlin!' Abraxas whispered, 'This is it! This is it!' he cheered, with a single clap as he stood up to his feet in excitement. The three others quickly joined Abraxas' side and studied the translated page on the desk in front of them. 'We found it... a real ritual to summon Thanatos.' Fleamont whispered in a mix of disbelief and awe. Pop! The group looked up in shock as Abraxas' elf suddenly popped in, 'What is it Dede?' Abraxas questioned. 'Dede comes to tell yous that Master Black's elf is here!' Orion furrowed his brow before calling, 'Kreacher!' With another little pop! A grumpy, unpleasant looking elf appeared, 'Kreacher comes with news that Master Black waits for... Kreacher has it here!' The elf grumbled out, holding up a dark red envelope with a black seal. Orion took the envelope and sent his elf back to Walburga. He opened it and read, the others watched as his eyes suddenly sparked with emotion, 'The Necromancer agreed to a meeting!' he announced after finishing the letter.