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Joaquin burst to the street when the building caught on fire and pointed his wand at the roof. "Aquamenti!" He shouted and a jet of purifying water shot from his wand to douse the flames. Except that it didn't. Sascha came running out right after him. "Das wird nicht funktionieren. Das ist schwarze Magie," she shouted and pointed to the Lake near the edge of town, dashing off in that direction. Joaquin followed after her. They returned several seconds later with large bubbles of water contained magically to douse the flames on the wand shop. Joaquin and Sascha both hurled their water bubbles at the building, dousing the flame. Joaquin looked up the road, panic in his heart and realized that almost the whole village was ablaze. "Buffy!" he shouted and started to run towards Zonko's. Sascha, instead shouted, "Charlie!" and ran after him. They both skidded to a stop outside the Joke Shop and, using magic, fought desperately to control the flames.

Joaquin saw Buffy and her family emerge from Zonko's and looked visibly relieved, even though he was struggling to control the massive flames. "Buffy thank God! These flames are powerful Dark magic! You need to contain them while me and Sascha get the water to put them out!" He shouted to her, turning his head to look at his sister. "Sascha, gehen Sie zuerst!" he called over the roar of the fire. Sascha searched through the crowd of people exiting Zonko's and spotted Charlie and her heart leapt into her throat. He was safe, that's all she needed to know. The shy quiet girl was gone, replaced by the resolve of a woman on a war path. she merely nodded to her brother before running down to the Lake. She returned moments later with a huge bubble of water, magically enchanted with the curse breaking spell to extinguish the dark magic. She sent the bubble spiraling towards the flames. "Dein Zug jetzt Jo! Beeilen Sie sich!" she called to her brother over the roaring fires and took over fighting the remains of the huge fire. Joaquin broke off and ran towards the Lake. Her resolve set, she called out over the raging fire to Charlie. "Charlie, du bist in Ordnung? Ist jeder in Ordnung?" {Charlie, are you alright? Is everyone alright?}

Her hair was a little frazzled and smelled of burning wood, but other than that, she couldn't tell if there was any damage to herself. Her energy was starting to drain from fighting the fires, but with Charlie next to her, she could fight forever. "Ja... mir... mir geht es gut," she babbled out, most of her concentration going to control the flames. Joaquin came running over now, a huge bubble of water hovering over him. As he skidded to a stop, he launched the bubble at Zonko's. More of the flames extinguished themselves as the curse breaking water began to choke them out. "Sascha, wir brauchen mehr! Gehen!" He added his magical power to the group struggling to control the flames and Sascha retracted hers. She glanced at Charlie before running down to the Lake. "Is everyone out Buffy?" Joaquin asked a strain in his voice as he exerted his small magical might to stop the spread of the flames.

Ferreus watched his siblings work with all of the appreciation of a composer watching his symphony conducted. They were masters of death, mayhem and destruction. All such things were necessary to clear the way for rebuilding of a new world. One filled with new thoughts and a new purpose. Smirking, he watched Raven attack a young female. Ferreus probed her mind and realized that this was the one outside of the chest that he had held at bay.

She was a handsome enough specimen. And for her age, her body was exceptionally strong. But that was not what interested him. Probing through her mind he found murder and plot. But also loyalty and a sense of honor. A soldier of sorts. Her resolve was strong but her purpose was nonexistent. Soldiers needed a general and a mission, Ferreus would give her both. He knew that she would attempt to resist him in the beginning, but he was sure that she would break.

Of course that all would have been null and void had Raven succeeded in cursing her. As it was, another pushed her aside, so he was free to play. Ferreus delighted in games of the mind. Breaking her would prove most enjoyable, he was sure. Raising his wand, he reached out and took hold of her mind. Slipping inside like a ghost and filling her completely, he pulled her to him. He watched as she walked dreamily to him.

In the darkness and seclusion of the side alley, he stepped forth to inspect his new toy. His hands trailing up her arms, encircling her slender neck. He held her mind frozen with his will. He could feel her surging and pulsing against him. He stared into her wild eyes, like a feral beast. But he could tame her. Make her bend to his will. Stepping back in front of her, he stared down with that faint, dangerous smile playing on his lips.

"You will be mine. You will give yourself to me. Body." he reached out and slipped a hand around her slight waist and pulled her close to his large body. "Mind" he filled her mind with hot, erotic images. "And all of your will."

Leaning down, his other hand slipped behind her head, tilting her face up to him. Her lips were hot and sweet, and he felt a stirring of excitement as he tasted tears that had run down her cheeks to her pert little lips. His tongue tasted her lips and swept inside her mouth. He felt her body tense as he granted her the dark kiss. There was no way to avoid the sting, but he flooded her young mind with images of pleasure that he could grant her. Pulling back into the shadows, he disappeared with a dark chuckle. In time she would be his.

Sascha returned with the last bubble of water and tossed it onto Zonko's, extinguishing the last of the flames licking at the joke shop. The girl looked harrowed and weak in the face. "Mehr von dem Dorf steht in Flammen. Wir müssen es retten," she said breathlessly. Joaquin nodded and looked to Buffy. "It's going to get really dangerous here. Take your family and get them out of here." He looked over towards the Lake and gestured to Sascha. "Sie nehmen die Nordseite des Dorfes. Ich nehme die Südseite." She nodded and ran off towards the Lake, leaving Joaquin with Buffy. He gave her a look of longing and then ran off after his sister.

Roland had been scrubbing the floors. Well, enchanting the brushes to scrub while he sat glumly at a corner table with a glass of Ogden's in his hand. He had been quiet and distant ever since the other day. He didn't even have Romeo to keep him company, since the little jerk had picked Buffy over him. He couldn't say that he blamed him. It was just getting old, being second best.

He wasn't quite sure what had been worse. Happening upon Buffy snogging Yuki from the Hog's Head. Or having her telling him that she was done with him. Neither felt good. He had just smiled, nodded, assured her that it was alright. He understood, but if she changed her mind....

"I'll still be the sad sack that is sitting around waiting..." he muttered, finishing his thought.

Neither Zeb or Rowena had much to say to him and neither commented on his new found dedication to his job. He supposed they were happy with this development. But Roland just needed something to do to take his mind off of Buffy. The brushes had finished the floors and Roland stood with a flick of his wand to gather up the cleaning supplies. With a wave of his hand, the chairs flipped up onto the tables upside down and all of the lanterns in the dining room extinguished. Only the lantern in the stairs and the faint glow from the kitchen gave guiding light. And a glow from outside. Turning, Roland walked slowly back to the doors. It was a warm orangey glow, like there was a big bonfire in the street. Looking out the window, his throat clenched and went dry.

Hogsmeade was on fire.

There was a wizard in the street setting fire to the buildings. Just as Roland got a good look at him, the man turned to the Three Broomsticks and the flames blasted the structure. Roland shouldered his way through the door and the wall of flames. Hitting the street he dropped and rolled, extinguishing the flames licking at his trousers. Turning his head, he wanted to make a run at the arsonist b*****d but he heard a scream. A dainty, feminine scream. A familiar tone behind the scream.

His head whipped down the street and he strained to see towards Zonko's there in the street, a dark and dangerous looking witch was pointing her wand at Buffy who was writhing in pain on the ground. Roland's body set in motion. Running down the street, his wand drawn, he flicked it at the woman. "Expelliarmus!"

He cried the spell out just as he reached Buffy, skidding to a stop in front of her.

First Year Slytherin Student: SaLevera Sykes



Levera's mind screamed at her to do anything to stop her feet from moving her closer to the handsome man. If Levera had any concept of physical attraction she'd probably be drooling over him like American women did over Brad Pitt. Ferreus was the prime example of physical perfection with chiseled features and a body Adonis would kill for. But Levera had been trained specifically not to fall for physical attraction she didn't even completely understand the concept of romance.

She couldn't stop her feet though, and it wasn't long before she was practically pressed up again Ferreus and his arm was around her waist and then his tongue was invading her mouth. And then the visions.

It was the visions that did her in, and tears started streaming down her face from the mental violation. Erotic visions ran past her mental eyes, each one lasting milliseconds but each one feeling like it lasted eternity. A vision of Levera, her body older and much more filled out, fixated in her mind longer than the others. She knelt by Ferreus's feet, her eyes blank as he ran his fingers lazily through her hair.

In the next Levera was covered in blood, she had just sheathed her sword and she sauntered sensuously towards Ferreus before falling to her knees at his feet and nuzzling against his leg, begging for praise of a job well done. Her eyes had that same blankness in them from the first vision, but she raised her head as he ran his fingers through her hair, looking everything like a very content cat.

Then Levera was sprawled lazily over Ferreus's legs and lower body as he lounged back, watching bored as Raven tortured some poor wizard. Levera watched the man scream through half lidded eyes, before she too bored of it and she nuzzled her cheek against Ferreus's hip bone.

Levera screamed in disgust as Ferreus pulled away form her and she snapped back into her physical body. She stumbled backwards, rubbing at her lips, wincing as her tongue burned where his tongue touched. Levera roughly rubbed at her eyes to wipe away the tears and then looked up, glaring viciously at Ferreus...but but he was gone and Levera was left standing there feeling used and violated.


~~
“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.”

Joaquin worked his way over towards the Three Broomsticks, which was now ablaze, carrying with him a huge bubble of water. Straining as he fought against the water, he extinguished the fires licking at the restaurant. With most of the fires out, he stepped through the door. "Rowena! Roland! Zebulon! If you're in there, get out! The building is on fire!" He turned and ran back towards the Lake to get more water to extinguish the rest of the fires. Meanwhile, Sascha carried a bubble of water to Honeydukes to extinguish the fires destroying the candy shop. She too was struggling to maintain the water. Neither witch nor wizard were incredibly strong magically, so the effort was physically straining to them. As the waters washed over Honeydukes and extinguished the flames, Sascha caught sight of the one who cast the flames, light brown hair and wild eyes. She quickly dipped into an alleyway and drew in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. The air was ragged with smoke and ash, but Sascha stole herself some calm and slipped back towards the Lake.