A matter of loaf and death

[Zane Lestrange]

Zane stared into the identical eyes of his sister. Large brown eyes with small flakes of gold that could only be seen in certain lights. The room was silent, the only sound coming from the clock which was ticking away methodically. The silence seemed to last an age before it was shattered by Charlotte. Zane closed his eyes for five seconds, when he reopened them he was instantly calmer and able to think clearly.

"It was you wasn't it," he said to Kianthra. "I know you to well, always attacking when your opponent's back is turned. You are a coward Kianthra."

Another silence. Zane waited for the angry response and resulting curse, but none came.

The ebony wand and its dragon heartstring core shifted in his hand. Still it remained ready for a duel.

Why were they waiting?

[Teddy Lupin]

Teddy's teeth clenched harder as Rosie hissed at him. "Rosie, one of them tried to freaking hex you, for god's sakes. I'm not backing down till they get what they deserve." he hissed back, his stance still the same. He knew they loved it when his hair flared red, thinking that they could get him so easily just to fire something off. He had a lot more control then that. "I rather be a Weasley then true filth." he spat at Charlotte.

He would not make another move however, he knew how Zane would be disappointed in him if he did. And they would not be the ones in trouble for this midnight duel.

[scorpius]

Scorpius was smiling. Had it been him who'd sent the jinx? Maybe. Maybe not. It was for the Gryffindorks to decide. His had already whipped out his wand, in case that mindless Teddy Lupin decided that now would be a good time to snap; his hair had already begun to change colors. What a dead give away. Scorpius believed it needed practice.

Teddy's comment at Charlotte made his eyes snap to him, and they were filled with anger.

"Oh, so clever. Tell me, what would your mummy and daddy think of their son being a Weasley?"

Perhaps a stab would shut the idiot up. Scorpius looked at Kianthra and Charlotte out of the corner of his eyes.

[Kianthra Lestrange]

"I am not a coward!"

Red sparks flew from the wand causing Zane to step back slightly. Her eyes glinted with anger, glaring at Zane. She was on the edge, the temptation to blast Zane out of the room was overwhelming. Somehow, she managed to stay in control. She looked across at Scorpius and saw he was having the same problem. Wands raised, the two siblings mirrored each other, one waiting for the other to strike. Kianthra heard no sounds even though she knew Scorpius was talking. Seconds ticked by, that turned into a minute, before Kianthra spoke.

"How I loathe you brother," she hissed. "You and your so-called friends. In my opinion your even worse than that blood-traitor and wolf added together. Don't avert your eyes from me!," she whispered with such menace that Zane had not heard before; all he had done was glance at Teddy and nod slightly. She continued in a perfectly audible whisper, "You shouldn't even be alive today. You took Lawrence's place in the world. He would have made a better brother than you will ever be." Of course she knew perfectly well that it wasn't Zane's fault, she just knew that he felt guilty about his half brother's death. In fact it was her fault entirely, Zane and her had been having an argument. She sent a stunner at Zane, Lawrence got in the way and fell down the stairs never to get up again. That had happened even before they got their letter's for Hogwarts. Even now she showed no remorse for her half brother's death but instead used it as a weapon against Zane.

"You no longer have the advantage over me. You see, I've got over that certain person you know about and I have found another," at this she smiled to herself and then said, "I have an idea, why don't you just surrender?"

[Rosie Lupin]

Rosie rolled her eyes. Was she the only person not effected by anger at the moment? God, these people were so easily manipulated by their greatest weakness. Perhaps that was something she needed to teach the New Order. To not let their tempers flare and to keep themselves under control.

"My Lord, Ted, can't you see that's exactly what they want?" she answered, extensively passionate to keep her friend from fighting, even when she saw him being pushed closer and closer to the edge. She was lucky, she knew that, that Zane had a more reasonable temper than Teddy. "Get that temper of yours under control before you do something you'll regret."

Again, that air of warning was in her voice. She knew that if he didn't control himself, he'd do something terrible that he'd kick himself for later.

[Zane Lestrange]

"Lawrence's death was an accident and I know that it was you who killed him, but you don't care do you? You just laughed it off saying he shouldn't have been standing there. And they believed you. That just proves you are a coward Kianthra, a heartless coward," He paused and before he had taken a breath, Kianthra was looking at Charlotte for guidance.

"I am not a COWARD!," she hissed

"Prove it,"

Zane waited, he glanced at Rosie who was trying to help Teddy calm down. So she wasn't going to attack? The wait seemed to last hours but in fact it was only a few seconds. Then it came without warning just as Zane was turned towards Teddy. Suddenly the walls appeared to move towards Zane, she was exploiting his claustrophobia. Zane fought for the control of his mind and managed to push Kianthra out. None of the others in the room new what was going on. Non-verbal, of course, Kianthra's speciality.So she did have guts. He took a deep breath and decided not to retaliate. That would only get the others involved. He stood up straight and glanced at Rosie.

We need to get out of here

[Teddy Lupin]

As much as he hated to admit it, he knew Rosie was right, that he would end up doing something he would regret in the end. He took a side glance at Zane, to see how he was handling it. He seemed find, but there was something wrong, something that he wasn't about to share. When he looked back at Rosie, Ted turned back to the evil trio, making sure they wouldn't do anything while Zane and Rosie had their backs turned. He was sure they wouldn't do anything while they had their backs turned, but they seemed to have more class then that. But not much more.

He could tell be the decision that they had decided to leave now. It was for the best, but they would have to hurry off, he wasn't sure how many more insults he could take. But he knew how upset Rosie and Zane would be with him if he did. He let out a mental sigh, wondering why he couldn't control it like them. He turned and looked both Zane and Rosie in the eyes, and with a quick nod telling them that he finally agreed with just leaving.

[Rosie Lupin]

Rosie got drastically more relaxed when Teddy nodded at her. She gave him a weak smile, his massive step in controlling his temper impressing her slightly. Perhaps he was getting better at that, or maybe it was just the fact that he'd been knocked to his senses a bit. Either way, Rosie visibly loosened up a little as he turned to the door to leave.

"Right," she said, a quiet murmur so that the Slytherins across from them would have to strain to hear, "Let's go." She looked from Zane to Teddy, urging one of them to lead the way to safety.

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[Zane Lestrange]

Zane nodded and caught sight of the door in the corner of his eye. Luckily the door was still open from their last escape attempt. The group the house elves had formed was sttod in between the DE and the door. He looked over to Teddy to check that he was ready. "Ok, we'll just have to run for the door. On three..." he whispered to Rosie and Teddy without actually looking at them.

"One"

Zane glanced at Kianthra who seemed to be whispering something to Scorpius whilst Charlotte just looked on. However, they did not ready themselves for an escape attempt.

"Two"

Zane nodded to Teddy. With that single nod, it was understood that Zane would go first, then Rosie and then Teddy. Knowing how close Teddy and Rosie were, he knew that Teddy would want to protect Rosie and his best friend from any harm, which could mean he would counter-attack. Just control your temper Teddy

"Three!"

Zane made a break for the door followed closely by Rosie and Teddy. A few seconds later spells began deflecting off the wall on their left side.

[Teddy Lupin]

Once the three of them were out the door Teddy turned back to the Death Eaters and raised his wand. "Protego!" He called out, attempting to block anymore spells they had to throw out at them and ran after Zane and Rosie, far from the eyes of the DE. For once, he didn't feel like running back there and throwing an Unforgivably curse at Scorpius. For once, he was glad to get out there, and make sure that both Rosie and Zane were okay, which he was sure they were.

The three ran for a while longer before Teddy began to slow down, placing his hands on his knees and looking behind him. "I don't think they are following us." he panted, turning back to his friends again to see their thoughts on the matter.

[Rosie Lupin]

Rosie heard Ted shout his protective spell just as she and Zane ducked through the door. She looked back to make sure he'd gotten out safely before turning and running at top speed up the stairs in the basement to the Entrance Hall, the others right ahead of her. They continued running until all of them needed desperately to catch their breath. By then, they were on the third floor.

Having a particularly sharp stomach cramp when you're running for your life is not exactly the best thing in the world. Nor are short legs. Seeing as both her friends were taller, and thus, had longer legs, they went faster than her, though she eventually caught up. "Thank God," was all she could manage in reply to Ted's comment. She was leaning against the stone wall of the corridor, and attempting to catch her breath.

[Zane Lestrange]

Zane checked over his shoulder and stopped next to Teddy. If I know my sister, she won't just let us get away. They must be following. "Well on the bright side, I didn't see any green spells, just red and purple," he laughed slightly. The corridor was silent apart the trio's breathing. The candles flickering slightly, made Zane check over his shoulder once more. "And before you say anything, I am not paranoid,"

"Why aren't they following? Unless they know that they've got all the exits covered or..." Zane said quietly, he didn't want to attract any unwanted attention, from any teacher, pupil or wandering ghost. "Well I'm glad we got out of that one. You two ok?"

Zane felt a breath of cold air on his neck, followed by a tap on the shoulder.

"Hello brother"

[Teddy Lupin]

Teddy smiled and looked back to Rosie as Zane spoke, he knew that he and Zane both were much faster then her due to their height, so she slowed down right after they had hit the third staircase. He noticed that she was holding her side, and seemed quiet out of breathe, he would make a joke, but Zane began to worry. Before he could say anything, her voice filled the dark corridor, and Teddy had his wand up and pointed at her behind his friend. One thing he should of learned by now, that brother's and sister's know each other a little too well, and that he should never doubt Zane's ideas when it came to Kianthra. Teddy took a step over, to block Rosie from Kianthra's view. He knew that she was tired, and Kianthra would probably take a shot at his friend just to get Teddy fired up. But he was staying quiet calm for the moment, his hair was still it's turquoise color.

[Rosie Lupin]

Kianthra, Kiantha, how could they have underestimated her? Zane had known she would follow. Rosie hadn't been quite sure. However, she now saw that her friend was right. The girl had followed them. And now they were in trouble. Not as much trouble as they would be should all three of the Slytherins come, but for some reason, Rosie was quite sure that the rest of them would be on their way shortly.

Still blatantly out of breath, Rosie was thankful for the protection that Teddy gave her. In the few moments before what she knew would be a definite skirmish, she attempted to regain her breath and pulled out her wand.

[Kianthra Lestrange]

"You're so easy to follow, well you're not the quietest trio are you? Running on the stairs, signalling to us where you were. You might as well have put out a sign saying this way." Kianthra whispered. "And don't try and hide your little friend from view, I know she's there, but in case you hadn't noticed, she's not alone." Kianthra pointed past Teddy's shoulder with her wand, where several members were following Rosie, only a flight of steps behind her. "Shame you chose this corridor to stop, we were quite enjoying our game of cat and mouse. Well with my brother leading you, it's no surprise that you stopped on a corridor with no doors leading off it."

"I think you'll find there's no escape, you'll have to fight us now. And this time, we won't be as nice. There's no one around to hear you, so don't even bother." She nodded to a Death Eater who was casting various charms so no one would over hear the fight. Even if they did, the teachers were on their side, they might even join in, now that would be entertaining. She smiled as she heard Charlotte's and Scorpius' approaching footsteps. "Prepare to fight brother, let's see the pathetic NO defeat the might of the Death Eaters. Of course, I'll still allow you to surrender, that might be the better option for you. After all you're going to be defeated either way, save the hurt and the pain and just surrender. But where would be the fun in that?"

She looked into Teddy's eyes and said, "have you considered my proposition? Or are you a lost cause? If that's the case, I look forward to seeing your duelling first hand whilst trying to protect your girl-friend at the same time." Kianthra switched her attention to Rosie, "tired are we? Get ready to duel blood traitor. For his sake, I hope your competent at spells," she laughed as she said this.