AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi guys, this is me again. I'm starting this today (July 5, 2011) but my Internet is acting funny (and not in a funny way, I threw the router all the way across the living room, I was soooo mad at it), so I might not post it directly when I finish it. Anyways, hopefully we will see Casper this time, but no promises.

IMPORTANT: I'VE CHANGED SOMETHING! Casper isn't going to be the grey-eyed guy from all those chapters ago (I think it was three chapters…), he's going to be someone more important! But don't worry; I'll still use the poll results, just mixing it up a bit!

NOW ONTO THE STORY!

WARNING: Some heavy snogging, not sure what else just yet…

DISCLAIMER: one, two, three, four, breathe; one, two, three, four, breathe…

Chapter 18: Slytherins, Through and Through

"Sorry Harry," he whispered, "they want you back now." The verdant eyes only had time to widen in horror and slight betrayal before a single hit sent him into blissful oblivion.

Leaving a saddened grey-eyed teen to ponder his younger brother's fate.

He bolted upright, verdant eyes shooting open instantly, narrowing and taking in their new surroundings. Panicked thoughts circled his mind as the jade orbs darted around his new prison. Silver walls, a door that only appeared to the person on the outside of the cell, titanium shackles that kept his wrists captive above his head and his ankles in front of him; he knew exactly where he was.

"Awake, are we?" the voice startled him out of his observations; it seemed to come from everywhere, and nowhere at the same time. His viridian eyes searched out the source; tiny, almost nonexistent speakers situated in every corner of the room. The disembodied voice chuckled at his observance. And suddenly, the room was plunged into darkness.

When the room was relit, there was a tall, imposing, and intimidating figure standing in front of him, draped in an onyx cloak that seemed to suck the light from the already dimly lit cell. The hood was pulled up over the figure's head. A few strands of white-blond hair fell in front of the figure's hooded face. The only part of the hooded figure's face that was visible was the silvery-grey eyes that watched him triumphantly, maliciously, and with the tiniest hint of remorse. The figure approached him until it was standing directly in front of him.

When the figure reached him, it kneeled down in front of him, raising a hand to brush a stray curl from his forehead; it was something akin to what his brother had done only hours before, only this action lacked the true remorse and love he had felt in his brother's. The hand was wrapped in a fingerless, leather glove, dark as night. The long fingers grasped his chin gently, and tilted it upwards so their eyes met dead on.

Jaded jade green eyes met triumphant titanium silver ones.

They finally had him back. A thought ran through his mind, and a glint of determination entered his verdant eyes, prompting his captor to raise an eyebrow in question. They had him, yes, but that didn't mean he was going to make it easy for them to get what they wanted. His eyes glowed with the challenge he was presented with. They wanted his magic, they would get it.

Just not in the way they expected it.

Shadow

Molten silver eyes watched the chocolate-eyed huntress in the cell opposite, tracing her body with an obsessive air. Shadow had been the one who found him in Knocturn Alley, just before some hag was about to kidnap him. Shadow dragged him to Hunter headquarters, and the first person he met there was her. The moment he had met her, he knew she was the one. Despite the fact that he was only ten years old, the fact was obvious to him, and to Shadow, who had seen it instantly and snorted something like 'Only her.'

He had fallen head-over-heels in love with Huntress Morrigan Skylar at first sight.

He watched as Morrigan turned questioning eyes onto him; she had, no doubt, already felt his eyes on her. He inclined his head in acknowledgement of her question, but continued to watch her with a smirk now present on his face, without any inclination to answer it. His smirk grew as she huffed and turned away, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. She was as attracted to him as he was to her.

The only thing was that she was better at denying it.

He stiffened as he felt an approaching aura, and gestured towards her sharply, frantically. She caught his gestures from the corner of her eyes, brown orbs widening in surprise, before she schooled her face into an impassive mask all Hunters cultivated. She reclined against the cold cell wall, gesturing for him to do the same. He complied.

Now they faced each other from the back of their own cells, waiting for the person walking down the corridor. He noted that the aura belonged to a guard, and his eyes informed his companion of that. In twin movements, they appeared to relax their stances while watching the hall that separated them with impassive stares.

It was time to put their plan into action.

Shadow

He had wiped all traces of himself from the room. He had done so twice, knowing it never hurt to be extra cautious, especially in the situation he was in. He ran faster to the edge of the wards, knowing that if he wasn't within them, he could not be blamed for what he did. If he made it to the headquarters he would be in the safe zone.

Of course, once his father discovered that his green-eyed brother was missing, he doubted there would be a safe zone in the world.

With that thought in mind, he ran even faster.

Shadow

She sat on her bed, hands clenched around a photo frame so hard that her knuckles were white. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother peek into her bedroom, watching her with concern before walking down the hall. It didn't matter; it was part of their daily routine now: wake up, eat, watch photo, eat, watch photo, eat, watch photo, sleep. And all the while, her parents would come to check up on her, an air of concern flowing around them.

She'd been in this state for three days now. One day was slightly normal; two days was concerning.

Three days was terrifying. Her parents had no idea how to fix this; they didn't even know what was causing it. They only could hope she got better soon.

Shadow

His magic caressed his skin gently, creating the illusion that he was sleeping. Eyes the color of the Avada Kedavra glowed eerily in the darkness of his cell. He could easily see the high ceiling and glowing violet runes engraved on the walls of his prison, they kept him in while allowing his captor to come and go as he pleased.

He felt his magic spike at the thought of his captor, and forcibly calmed himself before they could discover his illusion. Annoyance flashed in verdant eyes; his challenge was proving to be very hard. It was of the utmost importance that they believed him to be asleep. While he was 'asleep' they would come in and observe him, talk of what they would do, study the flow of his magic and guess how to increase it. But they made sure he could never hear them; they made sure he was always clueless about what was going to happen to him.

Keep him clueless, keep him confused, unresisting, and their experiments would become so much easier. He couldn't resist, after all, if he doesn't know what he's resisting too.

At least, that's what they thought. He smirked.

He didn't know how long he waited before he sensed the door opening almost silently. His viridian eyes lazily trailed the walls until he came across the door. He suppressed the smirk that threatened to cross his features; he knew where the door was, and that made things a lot easier than people would've expected. It was in the corner between the wall to his left, and the one facing him. He let his eyelids droop slightly; watching as a group no larger than five approached his supposedly sleeping figure. They were all wearing different colored cloaks: blue, black, silver, red, and green, all had hoods covering their faces. The figure in green practically ran to him; the figure in silver snorted.

"Gabriel, control yourself." The man in silver ordered coldly, "The boy isn't going anywhere. We haven't harmed him." He relaxed to give off the illusion of sleep; no one would believe he was asleep if he was so damn tense. But he had a reason.

When the man cloaked in silver had called out the green cloaked figure's name, the green hood had fallen back and revealed a very familiar face. He had forced himself to not drop the illusion that kept the five unaware of his state of consciousness when he saw the concerned face of his grey-eyed older brother.

"Just because he hasn't bruises or injuries does not mean he hasn't been harmed." The grey-eyed teen countered just as coldly, "Mental harm can be just as lasting, idiot. You know this very well." He suppressed the smile he could feel coming to the surface; even if it wouldn't be seen through the illusion, if he didn't suppress his emotions, his magic would spike and alert his-ahem- companions to his state of awareness.

"We have not harmed the teen in any way Gabriel." The figure in blue snapped, seemingly at the end of his non-existent patience (by their voices, he could tell they were all male). "Step away from him." Gabriel turned and stuck his tongue out at the blue clad figure, making him want to laugh.

"He's my brother." The grey-eyed teen growled. "Try and make me."

No one dared. Gabriel smirked. The red clad figure snorted. Through hooded eyes he watched Gabriel approach him until he was kneeling besides his chained figure. His brother reached out and brushed a stray curl from his forehead, why is there always a stray curl on my forehead, I feel like Dad (James) somehow passed on his messy hair to me. The other cloaked figures, minus the black cloaked one, had begun discussing different methods of magic transfers (several of which had him wincing), and which ones to use that wouldn't interfere with the original magic around Hel's Gate. All the while, Gabriel watched him. Then he smirked.

"Very Slytherin little brother." The grey-eyed teen whispered, and he felt his eyes widen. He allowed a small portion of his magic to scan his brother, and the urge to do a face-palm made itself known. Of all the times to forget the one, small, yet invaluable ability his brother had, it had to be now. He knew his brother could see past any glamour in the world, so someone remind him why he had forgotten that small detail. The only disguise that could fool his brother was one only a metamorphmagus could do, and he thanked the Maker that he was one; it helped a lot on undercover missions.

"And, pray tell, what is so Slytherin about sleeping?" the figure in blue sneered, irritated; Gabriel had interrupted their discussion. Gabriel smiled sweetly at the blue clad figure, most likely to irritate him more. It worked; the man huffed in irritation, and then froze with the rest of the room when they heard laughter.

Deep, rich laughter that came from the one figure that hadn't made a single sound. All eyes-even his under the illusion-turned to the black clad figure. He could tell instantly that it was the same figure who had visited him previously, when he had first come here. The same figure who had started it all….

The man moved like water; fluid and graceful as he advanced on his chained form, resembling a predator circling his prey, teasing it. The man knew of Gabriel's ability, and he had most likely known all along that he was awake. He had just been humoring him, seeing how far he was willing to take this. Silvery-grey eyes glinted at him triumphantly from underneath the shadows of the hood; white-blond hair fell in front of one of the expressive eyes, telling him exactly who he was. They smirked at him, taunting him. Freedom so close, yet so far.

"Gabriel, step away from your brother, please." Though the statement had seemed kind, there was no doubt it was an order. His grey-eyed brother shot him a worried look before complying. The man knelt down beside him, where Gabriel had been only seconds ago. Taking his chin in hand, he raised his supposedly sleeping face so they were on eye-level. And suddenly, he heard a voice speak in his mind.

Asleep, no sh*t. He snorted mentally, and the chuckle told him the other man had heard

Language he informed the man in his best rendition of Marley, which was actually pretty good.

Your brother is right, you know. You would make an excellent Slytherin, from all Draco has told me about the four houses at Hogwarts. He mentally rolled his eyes at the man's comment.

What do you want from me this time? He asked softly, and felt the man's grip on his chin tighten marginally. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gabriel stiffen. He knew instinctively that Gabriel was listening in through their triplet bond, and felt no desire to inform the man invading his mind of this.

Merely some cooperation Shadow; it will not hurt as much then. His eyes narrowed behind the illusion, and a thought was pushed towards Gabriel in an effort to warn him of what would come next. The widened grey eyes were enough to tell him he was successful.

Liar, the man's silvery eyes widened. He had never, ever called the man a liar before. I know exactly what you're doing; I know exactly how you're going to do it. Painless is the one thing it is not.

And how, exactly, do you know what we have planned? We, it was always we, never I, or they, it was always we. He never denied exactly what he did, but he never took full credit for his ideas. This man had been his role model before he had turned to their opponents.

Your subordinates should be careful when speaking to supposedly innocent Huntresses. He, more than anyone, should've known the first thing she would do with the information, would be to tell me. She is my partner, after all. He smirked underneath the illusion.

Angering him is not wise, little bro… another voice chimed in weakly, and the silver eyes swerved to meet slightly guilty grey eyes.

"The triplet bond." He spat, noting the flinch that flew across both brothers' faces. "How long have you been eavesdropping on our conversation, Gabriel?" he practically hissed, not caring for the alarmed looks that crossed the other cloaked figures' faces.

"Not long." The teen muttered weakly. "I can always sense when one uses a part of the bond, it was impossible for me not to notice the conversation.

"Wait, he's awake?" the blue clad man asked. Everyone, even he, turned to the man with exasperation. Talk about slow, he muttered mentally, grinning when his brother snorted in laughter, and tried to cover it up-unsuccessfully-as a cough.

"Obviously" he muttered, dropping the illusion, smirking when the cloaked figures turned to him in shock, irritation, and amusement. His fun was interrupted when the man in black-that sounds pretty cool, bro, came from Gabriel-bellowed:

"SKYLAR!" Everyone in the vicinity jumped at his furious tone, none more so than the red-clad man, who was shaking. The scarlet hood fell back to reveal light auburn hair and startled grey eyes with features he recognized belonging to his partner in the corps. Another man he used to trust and look up to, another one taken by the other side. His betrayal had hurt his partner the most; he was the only family she had.

Draped in scarlet and standing in front of him was Benjamin Skylar.

Shadow

It was the Weasley look-alike, which made him mentally sneer in disgust while simultaneously jump for joy. This was the guard they were going to take out. They had waited too long to escape, this would be their only opening if they were going to save Shadow. They had both received the telepathic message that Shadow had been kidnapped right under his father's nose. He was in the Experimenter Lab in Southern France, near the sea. That message had come from Shadow himself.

They were both reclined against the cold, metal wall, waiting for the man to walk directly to the center of the hall; that is when he would strike.

As the man reached the center, he gently wove tendrils of compulsion magic around the man, telling him to turn to the grey-eyed boy, why not watch him for a second, better than the dull grey monotony of the rest of the prison. He smirked as he watched the compulsion take hold, and then wiped away the smirk to form an impassive mask as the man turned to him. Behind the guard, Morrigan had risen silently, gracefully, and crept to a corner near the bars.

As the man's Dumbledore blue eyes *grimaces* met his silver orbs, his eyes began to glow dimly. The silver in his eyes became more prominent, and swirled hypnotically among the mercuric grey irises. The man was caught in his hypnotic gaze, and he let a lazy smirk cross his face. His eyes glowed with the power of his Veela inheritance, manipulating the thoughts of the poor, unskilled, and weak willed wizard in front of him.

Get your wand, silly boy it teased the blue-eyed man, Unlock him, silly boy, why should such treasure be locked up his magic taunted the guard. Morrigan had moved into a crouch by the bars, whispering something in French that was too soft for him to hear. The bars on her cell began to glow a light blue, nullifying the wards around them. She shot him a triumphant smirk that had his heart racing, and it strengthened the Veela compulsion. A Veela was stronger when his or her mate was nearby.

And inheritance or not, he knew he had found his.

As Morrigan slipped out of her prison, she disillusioned herself, making herself invisible to his sight, but not his sense. He saw her aura, clear as day, encasing her, embracing her, swirling around her in a delicate dance of prosperity. It reached out to taunt him, to tease him, most likely without his Huntress's knowledge.

Encouraged, he strengthened the Veela compulsion he had surrounding the Weasley look-alike. Open the door, silly boy; he's hurt, silly boy, open the door so he can heal, silly boy. And finally, the guard unlocked the door and opened the cell with his wand. He walked out, triumphant, and manipulated the compulsion to make the guard give him the wand and sit in the cell. He sealed the cell with a negligent flick of the wand. Turning, he saw the grin on her face and barely saw her move before he felt her arms around his chest, hugging him for all she was worth. Still giddy over his accomplishments in forwarding his training involved with his Veela heritage, he did the first thing he could come up with in response.

He kissed her.

Surprise didn't keep her from reacting. Instinctively, she pressed back against his lips, hands coming to rest on his shoulders, while he did the same, drawing her closer. The kiss was chaste and sweet. They parted and looked into each others' eyes. Mercury-grey swirled with silver met deep, melted chocolate brown. She grinned.

"Well? Are you going to stand there and stare all day, or are you going to kiss me?"

That was all the incentive he needed.

Shadow

He stared at the bed, almost uncomprehending of the sight that greeted him. The sheets were messed up; there were small traces on the floor that suggested someone had been dragged out the door. On the pillow there was a faint trace of blood, which suggested that the person on the bed had been knocked out with a hit to the head.

The sight had rage building in him, his magic pooling around him. And to add to that, there was no trace of magic in the room. He knew the teen within the room couldn't have done anything; the cuff would've alerted him to anything the teen tried. He had raced up here when the tracker had alerted him rather frantically that it had been nullified somewhere in France. He had frozen when he realized that his son had been somewhere in France before someone had nullified his tracker. That was when he spotted everything.

His son had been kidnapped right under his own nose, from his own house, his own rooms.

The whole city of Little Hangleton and even Greater Hangleton froze as each person heard a roar; a roar filled with emotions: anger, rage, fear, hate, and loss.

Completed on: Wednesday, July 06, 2011 11:25pm

This chapter clocks in as my largest with 3,586 words! Thanks guys, your support is amazing! I got 12 reviews in the first two days, and I was so shocked with the amount of people who wanted me to update. Just so you guys know there is a new poll up about Alyssa.

CHALLENGE: I'm also curious as to who you guys think the silver-eyed man is. I've given you guys enough clues to figure it out, so I want to know what you guys think. The first person to get it right gets virtual cookies!

Love, Em =D