Follow Me into the Dark

[Penelope "Wrath" Pinkstone]

Lupus was intercepted right in the middle of his stride and slid down into the grass. He tried to force his legs to support him but failed as was left growling ferociously as he continued to glare at Elena.

Wrath quickly sidestepped the stupefy spell casted at her. She looked on as Adrian jumped to his feet. "Avada Kedavra!" She said with another flick of her wand, this time it was targeted at Adrian as he was diving for his wand that she had previously knocked from his grasp. He snatched it up just in time to deflect the deadly curse.

He looked down at Lupus and back up at her. The look in his eyes was that of fury and anger. "Avada Kedavra!" Adrian shouted in a momentary rise of his temper. Wrath quickly casted the same curse again and a sudden beam appeared between the two of their wands. Adrian gripped his wand tightly as an immense amount of pressure was suddenly put on it.

Wrath, however, looked like she was still simply holding her wand in the palm of her hand like it was a feather. A wicked smile flashed across her face as she jiggled her wand a little while it was still connected to the beam. Sparks started flying from the beam straight towards Adrian. He gritted his teeth and tried his best to ignore the sudden jolts of pain as the sparks slapped into his body.

This would of been a perfect opputunity for Elena to attack Wrath but the shield caused by the priori incantatem would be impervious to any attempt. Adrian was on his own.

The two of them stood forcing their wills against each other. Wrath still looking at ease while Adrian seemed to be losing his willpower as each spark slapped into him leaving burn holes in his attire. "I can't hold it," he grunted to himself as another spark suddenly slapped across his face. He let out a shriek of pain as the smoldering heat burned into his flesh.

He quickly fed upon the pain to serve as a source of more anger. With a twist of his wrist he successfully broke the beam without getting struck by the casted curse. "Expelliarmus!"

Wrath went flying into the ground but quickly rebounded back onto her feet with her wand, unfortunately, still in her grasp. "I expected more from an auror of your caliber," Wrath said still grinning as she walked back to where she was standing. Adrian was almost panting from exhaustion but replied quickly with a grit of his teeth, "I still have a few things up my sleeve."

[Elena Jade]

Elena had never seen a priori incantatem of this scale before - so rare was it for twin wands to ever come into contact, that they usually only covered the anomaly glancingly in Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. So, hoping that she could somehow help, Elena cautiously stepped forward and reached out to touch the barrier. It promptly singed her hand, which she yanked back with a sharp, hissing gasp.

Stepping back, Elena looked around for something, anything, she could do to help. Spotting Lupus still struggling under the Imperius curse to fight towards her, she went over to him - though remaining at a safe distance - and uttered, holding her wand out over him, "Finite Incantatem." She wasn't sure if the spell would work on a curse such as the Imperius, but it was worth a shot.

Turning back to the duel, Elena could only watch helplessly. She wanted to call out encouragement to Adrian, but didn't want to risk distracting him in a critical moment.. So she watched, holding her breath unconsciously.

She let out that breath in a sigh of relief when Adrian broke the beam, escaping unharmed. Hoping that Wrath might still be focused enough on Adrian not to see Elena's spell coming, she cast it silently, thinking the incantation while she flicked her wand at Wrath, "Conjunctivitus!" An orange light jetted towards Wrath's eyes, and immediately following, Elena drew upon her rapidly shrinking power reserves to ignite a ring of fire around the woman, struggling to keep the fire burning tall without setting the entire forest around them ablaze.

[Penelope "Wrath" Pinkstone]

Lupus halted his growling and shook his head. Obviously confused for a moment he then looked back at the death eater and began growling once again.

Wrath spotted a flash of orange out of the corner of her eye and deflected it towards Adrian; whom deflected back at her. She went to flick her wrist again but suddenly encompassed by a ring of fire swirling around her. Her sight suddenly blurred as the curse shot through the fire and hit its target. "Shit," she muttered feeling the heat of the fire but only able to see an orange blur.

"Finite Incantatem," she gasped, the fire was sucking out all the oxygen. She looked up to see that the ring was swirling up almost as tall as the tree tops. Looks like I'll have to wait for another oppurtunity, she thought to herself as she gritted her teeth. She took advantage of the height the swirling fire and used some of her dwindling energy to leap up to an overhanging branch.

[Elena Jade]

Elena felt a rush of triumph as her latest attempt worked, but didn't pause to savor it. She hurried over to Adrian, grabbing him by the arm, and hissed, "Come on - I can't hold it for much longer. We need to get out of here."

Looking back over at Lupus, she asked Adrian quickly, "Is he out of it? The Imperius, I mean? Can I unlock his legs?" An insistent headache was starting to tap at the inside of her temples, warning her that she was reaching the bottom of her energy reserves, but Elena ignored it, continuing to fuel the fire raging around Wrath - or where Wrath had been, though Elena couldn't see past the flames to know that she was now on a branch above.

[Penelope "Wrath" Pinkstone]

Adrian looked at the fire swirling in front of him. She's putting out an immense amount of power, he thought to himself. He looked over at Lupus as Elena mentioned him. Lupus looked up at her, "you're damn right you can!" Adrian flicked his wand at the beast and he jumped to his feet in relief.

Wrath looked down upon them but decided to do nothing. A smile crept across her face, playing with them was just too much fun. I just can't imagine all the fun I'm gonna have when I kill them. So many various ways to do so. She layed down on the branch and stared at the sky.

[Elena Jade]

Elena nodded, summoning up a small smile at the ire in Lupus's voice, then wordlessly turned and set off at a trot - as fast as she could manage to go at the moment - in the direction of the school. "What I wouldn't give to have flight be my mage right about now," she gasped out as she jogged.

Her focus still half on the fire behind them, Elena moved so that she was running behind Adrian, so she could just concentrate on following him, and not having to add navigation to her list of mental tasks. As they moved further away from Wrath, Elena slowly began to tamp down on the fire behind them. This was the most difficult part, really - as long as the fire had something to feed on, it would continue to burn. Keeping it contained took more concentration, and putting it out was the hardest, because it went completely against the fire's nature to just vanish. The fire wanted to consume, to keep roaring - it was putting the fire out that most of Elena's training was focused on.

The headache began hammering more vigorously against Elena's skull, as the fire behind them was almost out. "Like little people mining in my head," Elena muttered inanely to herself. She thought she might be able to see light from the school coming into view, though, and took heart from that.

[Adrian Minister Jr]

Adrian slowed down to look behind at the fire dimming down. "Put it out," he said to Elena, a forest fire would not be a good thing to go on his impeccable record. He never was impeccable at being honorable but he always found ways to keep his secrets a secret. "She's probably dead by now anyways." He continued running towards the school, hoping they would get there before any death eaters caught them.

"Lupus," Adrian said as they dashed through the forest, "trail behind us and make sure no one is following." At that, the wolf stopped dead in his tracks to give the two of them some distance. The greatest aspect of Lupus was that he could hide within any shadow and not be seen no matter who was looking. He used this to his advantage time after time.

[Elena Jade]

Elena nodded, murmuring, "Workin' on it." Her gaze was vacant as if she were staring at something very far away that only she could see - her mental representation of the fire behind her, not quite a mental image, but more the equivalent of a heat-sensor display. She clenched her jaw, and finally crushed the last flickers of fire. She kept her focus on where the fire was for a couple moments longer, making sure there were no dangerous sparks remaining in the charred circle of forest detritus. Finally, with a sigh, she blinked, and her focus returned to normal, though the headache was positively drilling at her skull now. "It's out," she confirmed.

They finally broke the forest line, and the castle was just a short trek away across a small grassy field. "Headmistress," she said. "Where would she be at this hour? In her office? Her rooms?" Elena frowned, then asked, "Where are the Head's rooms, anyway?" She shook her head, dismissing the thought. The Head was so eccentric, it was likely she was still awake in her office with her cats anyway.

[Adrian Minister Jr]

Relief rushed through Adrian as the castle was now in sight. There was now way that the death eaters and dementors would follow them this far, unless they were suicidal. "Coast is clear!" Lupus shouted as he followed behind them into the clearing. He dashed forward, easily catching up to them.

"I assume she'll still be in her office," Adrian replied, "she said she'd wait to hear word of the occurances with the portkey. She's usually up this late anyways." The distance from the entrance was becoming shorter and shorter. Soon, Adrian thought filled with a solemn happiness, We'll be on safe grounds and I will have my burns repaired. As he thought of burns, he began to think of the death eater who struck them into him. She was so powerful and yet so graceful. A shudder of fear ran across Adrian. He had never met a foe that could best him in a duel, but she did; with ease. If she was that strong, how much stronger is their leader?

[Morgana Ianthine]

Elena nodded wordlessly, following Adrian at a steady trot. At this point, she wasn't completely positive if she could talk and jog at the same time. She'd definitely need a good long sleep to recharge from this one.

As they neared the entrance, the huge wooden double-doors recognized Adrian as a professor there, and one of them automatically swung open to admit him, and Elena along with him. If it had just been her out after curfew, the gate wouldn't have responded - she knew from more than a couple of occasions when she'd snuck out at night.

Once inside, Elena allowed herself to slow her pace a bit, so she was more power-walking than jogging, and began to make her way blindly to the Headmistress's office. That, too, she had hands-on experience with - she'd been sent there often enough that she knew the way just as easily as the way to the dining hall.

A stone statue of a sphinx lay across the entrance to Professor Simmons's office, guarding the way. Hearing people approach, it raised its head, blinked sapphire eyes at them, and then lazily got up, stretched, and stepped aside. It, too, recognized Adrian, and didn't challenge him for a password. It was not so much the sight of him that the statue and the door recognized, though, but rather his psychic imprint - the school's precautions would not be easily fooled by something such as a Polyjuice potion.

The Headmistress's office was a clutter of books and papers, with portraits of Headmasters past hanging on the walls. Most of these were asleep, or at least feigning it, to give the Headmistress and her guest some privacy. Professor Simmons sat in the large chair behind her desk, a cat in her lap and another lying in a clear space upon a bookshelf behind her. Across from Simmons was an equally plush but less grand chair, occupied by a woman with sharp, pale green eyes and a tumble of long, dark hair. She wore a gauzy, deep purple form-fitting dress and black strappy heels, but was otherwise unadorned. She required no baubles to make her stand out, though - she had a commanding presence for one so comparatively young, and was a remarkable enough beauty without having to surround herself with gaudiness.

This woman turned with an arched brow to regard Elena and Adrian as they entered the office, an amused half-smile upon her lips.

"Professor," Elena gasped out, still catching her breath. "Portkey. We found. Death Eaters. Dementors. Red hair. Dead hostage. Fire. Fire.." She swayed slightly on her feet, and waved a hand vaguely at Adrian to indicate he should continue her very poor report while she composed herself.

[Adrian Minister Jr]

Adrian looked at Elena for a split-second as she made her exhuasted report before turning back to the head mistress. He was about to speak before noticing a most peculiar and familiar face. An auror he was once partner to was sitting in the room. He quickly refocused as the importance at hand hit him. "The portkey I investigated with the assistance of Elena, my prized student, is habited by death eater of the original order started by you-know-who." He paused for a second thinking of what to say next. "They are more powerful than anyone could of imagined. I suggest we warn the Ministry immediately!"

[Morgana Ianthine]

Elena leaned tiredly against the doorframe, watching the proceedings silently. When Adrian mentioned her being his prized student, she mustered up a faint smile and a peace sign, but remained silent as he continued the explanation.

"This is a very grave matter indeed," Professor Simmons said when he was finished. "I will go to the Ministry directly and meet with the Minister and the Head of the Aurors. This may take a good while - we will need to organize reinforced protections for the school." She gently dislodged the cat from her lap, setting it down on top of the desk, then stood and went over to the fireplace. "I will trust you and the other professors to hold down the fort until my return," she said as she took a handful of Floo powder before stepping into the fireplace. "Ministry of Magic," she said, enunciating carefully and throwing down the Floo powder. The Headmistress quickly vanished in a wash of green flame.

The woman seated on the other side of Simmons's desk made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat and said petulantly, "Of course Sullivan would send me away right when things are getting good." She sighed woefully, then leaned forward to set the teacup she had been holding down on the Headmistress's desk, with the rest of a small set - the two had obviously been taking tea together before Adrian and Elena had entered. The woman settled her gaze on Adrian, and with a wry half-smile, said, "Well, well - Adrian Minister Jr. So we meet again, you dastardly traitor."

Elena frowned, looking confused, but said nothing.

[Adrian Minister Jr]

"I didn't!.." Adrian hesitated before replying more calmly, "come now. Let's not talk in such ways in front of a student," he said motioning to Elena, "you'll find there are many things you won't get away with at a school that you would as an auror. Besides, I had a chance oppurtunity to join this school's faculty and I had to take it. No auror in their right mind would turn down a Defense Against the Dark Arts spot." Adrian wanted to say more but he couldn't for the sake of Elena. "Speaking of school, what are you doing here? When I first came in I almost thought the school had already alerted the Ministry."

Lupus trailed into the office after accidentally getting lost when he was distracted by a trash can that smelled of meaty leftovers thrown out. He nudged Elena out of his way and stepped forward. Recognition of Morgana made him stop. He looked at Adrian and then back at Morgana, "crap." He then turned around, obviously knowing that he didn't want to get involved in anytype of bad history the two had. As he walked out of the office he nudged Elena out of his way once again.

[Morgana Ianthine]

Morgana finally spared a glance for Elena, as though just noticing she was there, and said flatly, "Oh, right." Turning her attention back to Adrian she said with a tragic sigh, "I have always said that Sullivan is a cold, unfeeling robot, and recent evidence only reinforces my theory. He threatened to fire me, just because I wouldn't let incompetent morons get in my way. Morons that you abandoned me with." She waved a dismissive hand, then, and continued, "So anyway, Sullivan cut a deal with me. If I came to fill the spot of Divination professor until they can find a more suitable replacement, I could come back to the Aurors with a clean slate."

Morgana glanced over at Elena again, then said, "This is probably one of those things it's best not to talk about in front of a student, though, isn't it? Would it be terribly upsetting to the Headmistress if I cast a memory charm on her?"

"Yes," Elena said dryly, wondering when she had gone from equal and back to "student" in Adrian's mind.

[Adrian Minister Jr]

"You're the one filling in the spot as the Divination Professor?!" Adrian exclaimed in surprise. "You hate kids though! Not to mention I think Sullivan was just bluffing when he said he'd fire you."

Adrian looked back at Elena and then back at Morgana, "oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce the student that we've been mentioning and technically threatening." Adrian motioned for Elena to step forward, "Morgana, this is Elena Jade. She's my prized student and if you could of seen her earlier you would definitely know why." Adrian then motioned towards Morgana, "This, Elena, is Morgan Ianthine. She used to be my partner at the Ministry when I was an Auror before I came here."

[Morgana Ianthine]

"I wish he had been," Morgana said. "But that was most definitely not bluffing. He looked as livid as a robot can. I tried to wriggle out of it, but he said something about the sound of Chrysanthemum, or whatever her name was, her crying was still ringing in his ears. Honestly, though, what sort of Auror goes and cries in the boss's office anyway?"

Elena raised an eyebrow at that, but looked pleased when Adrian lauded her abilities, nodding to Morgana and saying politely, "Nice to meet you, Professor."

"Ha! Professor - that'll never get old," Morgana said, looking amused. "Hello, Elena. I do believe you're bleeding."

Elena looked down at her arm and said, "Oh, nah - that's all dry. Just scabbing up now. Should probably get it fixed up in the Infirmary though. And maybe beg a tonic for this stupid headache too."

[Adrian Minister Jr]

Adrian looked down at Elena's arm, almost forgetting that the two of them probably looked pretty disgusting. Elena had dried blood all over her arm and Adrian had burn marks all through his outfit, including one on his cheek. "I think we should indeed go to the infirmary if we are to prepare for any further type of outburst from the death eaters. Who knows how many of them are lurking in the forest. Morgana, since you are here perhaps you could gather the professors while Elena and I fix ourselves up."

[Morgana Ianthine]

Morgana nodded, then said, "As long as the professors' apartments are in the same places as when I went here, I can do that." She stood, smoothing her dress out, and as she walked past them to the door, she paused by Adrian and brushed a kiss on his cheek."Good to see you again, Adrian. Even if you are a traitor." Then she swept past them and out the door to go and alert the rest of the professors.

Elena was silent for a moment after that exchange, then cleared her throat delicately and said, "Well, then, I suppose we'd better be getting to the Infirmary." She pushed herself off of the wall and headed for the door. When she passed through it, Morgana had already vanished.

[Adrian Minister Jr]

Adrian paused a bit surprised by Morgana's kiss, "good to see you too." He looked down at the ground not knowing what else to say. He looked up as Elena mentioned the infirmary, "yes, I suppose we should." He wasn't sure what else he should say since he felt a bit awkward being kissed in front of Elena. Though, he didn't realize that the awkwardness happened becuase Elena was present.

Adrian walked out into the hallway and saw that not only Morgana was out of sight too, but Lupus was as well. He must of left with Morgana, Adrian thought to himself as they walked through the hall.

[Elena Jade]

Elena walked mostly in silence, partly because of her exhaustion and the headache that seemed to be blocking much of her brain functions, and partly because she was suddenly uncertain of where she stood in the scheme of things. In the forest, things had been fine - they were just two people working together to investigate a problem. The situation had made status irrelevant. But now, back in the school, with the Headmistress and other professors and Morgana - whoever she was to Adrian - around, Elena wasn't sure if it would be acceptable for her to continue her familiar behavior with him, or if he would put her at arm's distance, firmly back in the "student" category.

When they reached the Infirmary, there was one mediwitch up, tending to a student who'd been injured in a Quidditch match and who was now asleep over in one corner. Without even being told to, Elena flopped down on one of the empty beds, holding her arm out dramatically, and said to the mediwitch, "We have both been mortally injured in a courageous fight against the forces of darkness. Also, my head may explode at any moment." The mediwitch took her seriously about the second part of her statement for a moment, and was quite alarmed, but went straight into scolding them for being so careless when Elena assured her that her head was not, in fact, fit to explode from some nefarious spell. The mediwitch then began bustling about, fetching gauze and bandages. She flicked her wand over Elena's cut to clean it, then with another flick, the cut began to knit itself together delicately - a temporary measure. The mediwitch then went over to Adrian and asked, looking him over, "Where all are you burned?"