Full Moon Adventures

She clenched her teeth. Hasky was right! She needed to know how or where Andrea had found out about all those things about Marcus! But at the same time she wasn´t sure whether or not she wanted to know, what if it would change everything she felt and thought she knew about Marcus? What if he had indeed known about the story but decided not to tell her? Why would he do such a thing? Was it something he wanted to hide?
“Are you going or what?” Hasky asked abruptly and Ella stood up.
“Yeah, of course I am!” Her friend stood up too.
“I´ll uphold the others while you talk to Andrea, but try to make it quick! I don´t know how long I can withstand biting that Ravenclaw-git in his precious little neck...”
“Hasky!” The Hufflepuff swirled around just to find herself eye to eye with a big smile.
“I´m kidding... but please hurry, even if Marcus is the royal protector of whatever we need to find that vampire!”
“Got it!” Ella rushed off to meet up with Andrea before she reached the spot where the patrol was meant to be gathering while Hasky took care of the animagi that had came out to join the first night-shift.

“Hi, Ella.” Andrea greeted her, a bit surprised by the close approach, but at the same time very friendly.
“Hi, look... there is something I need to ask you!”
“Anything! I noticed you got upset with what I told you earlier... are you alright?”
“Yeah... well, to be honest I´ve been better, but it doesn´t belong here. I need to know where you got all that information from! Who told you the tale and who told you it was Marcus?” The two Hufflepuffs stared at each other for two long seconds. One of them anxious, the other one confused.
“He did...” Andrea said, with a tone that suggested it was the most natural thing in the world.
“He? He who?”
“Do you always ask questions like that?!” When Ella didn´t answer the older of the two continued. “Marcus of course, who else?”
“I... I... I wasn´t sure whether... When?” She had trouble finding the right words, it was like the ground split open under her and left her freefalling.
“Last year. Me and Marcus where a couple through our second and third year, but after he reviled the legend, things started to happen and it changed us...” Andrea fell silent and for a few moments everything that could be heard where the deep distance sounds of an owl`s howl.
“What was it that happened?” Ella asked, her voice not as steady as she had wanted it to, but still secure enough to not cause any alarm.
“I´m sorry, but it´s not my story to tell, you`ll have to ask Marcus! I´ve already told you far more than I ever meant to... Ella? Hey, Ella where are you going?” Her surprised echo followed the Hufflepuff as she took off in a sprint towards the quidditch pitch. She was sure Hasky would notice her flight, she new Andrea would understand where she was going, but right now she didn´t care, right now she just wanted some answers and she wanted them from the person who should have told her them a long time ago.

“Ella? Wow, you scared me!” Marcus flew around as she entered the changing room, he was as usual the last one to finish showering and still hadn´t got his shirt on. “I didn´t expect you to be there, I thought you were patrolling tonight?” He smiled and made an effort to hug her but she slipped away under his arm. “What is it?” He asked, suddenly worried.
“Oh, I don´t know?! Maybe I should go talk to Andrea and ask her instead, she seems to know a whole lot!” Ella´s voice was hard and cold and she pierced him with fierce eyes.
“I have no idea what you´re talking about...”
“Oh, you haven´t? You know Marcus, I find that really hard to believe!”
“Ella please, whatever I´ve done to upset you I didn´t mean it, I don´t even know what I´ve done wrong!”
“Well that´s the thing, isn´t it? You didn´t think about telling me your father was involved in some freaky business with a vampire, even though my sister was kidnapped by one! It never crossed your mind to tell me about the damn legend that you would be the chosen one for some royal protection duty, even though you almost died from getting exactly that word cursed into your chest! Why Marcus? What`s wrong with you? Don´t you realise this might be the answer we´ve been looking for for all these months? Don´t you understand that this might be the solution to all the freaky things that´s been going on? Why didn´t you tell me?”
“I... I thought...”
“You thought what, Marcus? Exactly what were you thinking? I want to know now or else I´m out of here! I thought I knew you, I thought I knew you where a person I could trust, that was always honest, just and helpful... but apparently I was mistaken!” When he doesn´t say something she gives him one last glance before storming off.

“No! Ella, wait! You don´t understand... I wanted to tell you, but I can´t!” He ran after her, grabing her arm and forced her to turn around to face him.
“Let me go!”
“Not until you´ve heard what I´ve got to say...” Ella stoped fighting and Marcus let go of her, they both stood there, quietly looking into each other’s eyes.
“I couldn´t tell you my secret because I´ve sworn to protect it!”
“But you told Andrea didn´t you? And now she´s told me so why don´t you just tell me the truth!”
“I can´t!”
“You could tell her...”
“That was a mistake! A big one and you´re different!”
“I´m different and you can´t even tell me a simple tale?”
“All I know is that the legend is true. I am the key. I am "royal" because I'm a grandson of a gypsy king. I am protector of the blood!”
“But what does that mean? Do you have any idea what you´re supposed to do?”
“I have more than an idea... I know everything!”
“And...”
“I can´t tell you!”
“What? Why?” Ella got back to her defensive position.
“I´m so sorry, Ella, I truly am!” With that he grabbed her hands and squeezed them hard, then turned around, walking back to the changing room.

“We have got to find a way to sort this out, if Ella and Marcus can´t be around each other on Saturday, we´re through!” She heard Jacob’s voice from the entrance to the Great Hall. The team had gathered at the Hufflepuff table and when she approached they´re falling suspiciously quite.
“Sausage?” Maya asked, trying to sound natural, but without any convincing tune.
“No, I´m off to Hedwig´s sorting! I just wanted to come here and tell you I´m really sorry about me and Marcus... I've never meant to ruin our chances of winning and if you can find a replacement I´m willing to give up.”
“Give up? Ella what are you talking about? You could never give up quidditch even if you tried! It´s in your blood and...”
“It´s in my blood!”
“... you´re one of the best chasers... What?” Correy stopped in the middle of a sentence.
“It´s in my blood! It´s in my blood!”
“In your blood? Ella, what are you talking about?” Roxanne seemed utterly confused and so did the other five Hufflepuffs.
“Correy you´re a genius!”
“Well, thanks! But I still don´t get what I...” But Ella didn´t have time to hear the rest, instead she flew away and rushed off. She would have to attend Hedwig´s sorting and then she must find Hasky, they needed to sort out if her suspicions could possibly be true!

When the patroling team gathered around Hasky, she spoke up. "Alright guys, I hope you're able of multitasking," she teased the boys, who just smiled, taking no offence. "For today I need you to get to know the forest a bit, so you have to look where are you going, watching your mates and looking everywhere around, even on the trees, to notice anything weird." They all nodded. "Is anyone of you arachnophobic?"
The Ravenclaw fox rised his hand, blushing.
"Alrigh, so you enter from the other end. You all, go straight for about 3 miles. Once you reach the river, turn..." she was thinking what was called that dirrection. At the end she gave up. "That way," she showed to the right. "Just follow the stream and wait until the mate from... the other dirrection... comes to you." They all nodded. "Oh and don't forget you'll have to write a report in the morning, so observe carefully. Now let me divide you. Tiger, your name?"
"Micah," responded the Slytherin boy. "By the way, what about... erm, Wilson?" He pointed to the girl, running away from them.
"She's in rage," stated the friend. "She's gonna kill her boyfriend." The girl shot a glare to Andrea who only shrugged. "Alright, Micah, you enter here from Hagrid's Hut. Next, you dog ladies. Names?"
"Melisa," said the Gryffindor.
"Amanda," it was the Hufflepuff.
"This will be my spot. Greya, stay," she commanded her wolf. "Lion, come and name?"
"James," answered the Gryffindor student.
"And?"
"Dan." This was the last Gryffindor dog.
"Dan, you are entering from the pond and Fox, your given name?"
"Michael."
"Mike, you go about 10 feet from Dan."
"Sure."
"Transform." Finally she could look how the team really looked like, so... A nice big bengal tiger, a dingo -And I wondered where her accent came from?, thought the werewolf. A bernese hound, a proud Gryffindor lion, a black shepherd and a red fox.
"What about us?" asked the Ravenclaw eagel.
This time it was Hasky who shrugged. "I would suggest flying over the Horwarts ground."
"Why are you so arrogant?" asked Andrea.
"Bacause I'm not in charge of birds. You have your own things to do." She turned to the eagle boy. "But since you're a Ravy you should have figured that out on your own."
"I rather ask than let myslef being suspended and had a detention for the whole year." He changed into imperial eagle and flew away.
"Ouch, that hurt."
"But he was right," defended the boy Andrea.
"And that's why it hurt. Anyway, what's your problem?"
"Oh?"
"Why do you want to break Ella and Marcus?"
"It's not that. I just want Ella to be careful around Marcus."
"What do you know about him? Why did you tell Ella such a freaking tale? Are you interested in Marcus?"
"Nah, those times are far away. Marcus is dangerous, but don't ask me for details." She was transforming into a bird, but Hasky snatch for her, making her turn back into human.
"I have to. He has things with vampires and we have one on the lose. Don't you think he should explain something?"
"Then ask him, not me. I just wanted to help, icaramba!"
"Vale. Pero cuidate." Alright. But be careful.
"¿Hablas español?" Do you speak spanish?
"Solo si no estoy con lonco." Only if I'm not angry.
The Hufflepuff girl nodded and smiled. Hasky let her fully transform and fly up above the grounds.

She herself got undressed and made a long jump, changing into the silver wolf. She rushed to the forest, the way she had sent Greya. Around acromantulas' nest she slowed down, carefully sneaking around.
"Wait, the SilverWolf!" called one of those monstrous spiders.
Oh bloody... sighed the werewolf and turned back into human from. "Yes?"
"What do students need in our forest?"
"We search for a vampire who attacked another student."
"Not very wise even for you, the SilverWolf."
"I saw a human lion around few minutes ago," said some female acromantula.
"I really hope he is alright for your own good," growled the girl.
"Unfortunatelly we have already eaten."
"Now about your vampire, the SilverWolf. It is not good for you to interfere in business of vampires and humans," said the male.
"I have to. I protect human race."
"And those animagi?" The student kept silent. "Let the key do his job."
"And to risk the reign of vamps? Hardly."
"You did not understand the tale completely."
"First I would need to know the whole story. Not just that we have a gypsy king who turned into a vampire and an archeologist who has a dagger that should protect some blood. And of course his third son who is a key. But what blood? Key to what? Or whom? Why is Marcus dangerous?"
"You have to find out on your own."
"Why did you stop me then?"
"To warn you."
"And for us to have a snack," smiled slyly the female.
Oh shi-zzle! Without any more hasitating, she was back on her four paws and ran. The sound of way too many legs chasing her, made her speed up as fast as she could. Actually she enjoyed it. Running through the forest, jumping over fallen tree trunks.
When the nature was silent again, she dared to stop and turned around. Finally alone again. She took a deep breath in looking for Greya's scent. She found it and followed.
The wolf-girl reached the river where her wolf was already waiting. It spread its front legs, waving the tail. Hasky smiled. Except her sprint from spiders, it did not seem like anything else had happened. Playfully she jumped on her cub, fighting.
Someone barked. The werewolf noticed the group from the west arrived. She was about to change back to human, but stopped herself, realising that standing naked in front of people she barely knew would not be such a brilliant idea. The dingo bent her head rising her eyebrow. The silver wolf nodded that she really is the Gryffindor third year student.
When they all came together and made sure nothing extraordinary happened, they headed back to the castle.

"Get up, lazy butt." Someone threw a pillow.
"Gimme a break, Les," responded the wolf-girl tiredly.
"C'mon or we are without breakfast."
The other girl just murmured something under her blanket.
"By the way, do you know that Ella and Marcus broke up?"
"WHAT?!" That was something to wake her up.
"Corey told us yesterday. They avoid each other like a plague."
Slowly Hasky got up. "So they had a fight. That doesn't mean they broke up. I'll talk to Ella later."

It was evening already. Hasky had not seen her friend all day and started to worry. Of course it was an important day for Ella, because of her sister's shorting, but really? All day?
The girl sat under her favourite tree on the skirt of the Forbidden Forest, reading the Potion book and Greya was curled at her legs.
"Hasky!" a girl's voice shouted. "Hasky, I got it!" Ella was hurrying to her friend. "I-got it!" she smiled happily, leaning on her knees breathing heavily.
"What? When? How? Why? Where?"
"It's in the blood."
"Huh?" wondered the other student, still not understanding her friend.

“It´s in the blood... my blood!”
“Ella, you must understand I never thought I´d say this, but... don´t you think you´re being, oh, I don´t know, small-minded, paranoid, egoistic?”
“No, I don´t! How else can you explain everything that´s been going on? Like yours and Pierce´s fight... No, I´m not saying that had anything to do with it...” Ella interrupted Hasky before she had time to open her mouth and protest. “...but even you have to admit it´s pretty strange he leaves Hogwarts and then three hours later the break on my broom just suddenly stops working.”
“Ella you can´t seriously suggest that...”
“No, I´m not, just let me finish! Then we have the fact that Johan visited Hogwarts and then a week later my broom exploded....”
“You´re just rattling events, this has nothing to do with Marcus´s fate, or yours for that matter!”
“Oh, just you wait. I don´t know if you remember, but the morning after the accident Correy and Jake came instead of Marcus because he was too tired, even though he had signed up for guard duty the night before and Roxanne told us she´d seen him in the common room during the night, casting jinxes.“
“So, he was probably working out a way to find out who had sabotaged your broom... I still don´t see the point of all this!”
“Would you just shut it and let me finish for once in your life?” Ella was way too exhilarated to take any serious notice to her friend’s sceptical tone and kept going. “The same day as me and Marcus was in Hogsmeade and received my new broom he was attacked. Coincidence? Wouldn´t say so! Then we have Hedwig´s kidnap and the letter saying: If you want to see your sister alive again, you better keep playing the game! The same letter that started burning and caused the curse in the runes to start to burn too. Don´t you reckon that requires some serious dark magic... even for a vampire? Then lastly we have this legend, the story of a royal key which duty is to protect the blood!” The Hufflepuff stopped, waiting, as if she was hoping her friend would burst into song over the last minutes progress.
“Do I really have to say it again? I DON`T get it! What have any of these things got to do with the key-thing and where for Merlin´s sake do you fit into the legend? You´re just trying to make soup on a nail if you ask me!”
“Maybe I am? Or maybe there is some logic behind all this? Don´t you see it? It´s all there!”
“What´s there? And where is there? I´m sorry Ella, but I don´t...” Hasky stood up to leave but the other girl caught her arm.
“No, wait! Just let me explain!”
“Okay I´ll give you one chance to persuade me that you haven´t completely lost your mind!”
“Alright then... When I, I think that, what I was about to say was... I don´t know! It´s just, I have this feeling that...”
“You have this feeling?” Hasky gave her friend a stern glance.
“Yeah, you know... as if I know it´s true, but I can´t really put my finger on what it is?”
“No, I don´t know! And please don´t go around thinking so freaking much, you´re only hurting yourself!” She smiled and Ella tried to respond, but couldn´t, it felt so weird. “Is it true by the way?”
“Is what true?” Suddenly awakened from her daydreams.
“Is it true you and Marcus broke up?”
“Yeah, I guess... I just feel like there´s something he´s hiding from me, but I don´t know what it is!”
“Seriously Ella! If you´re gonna continue like this, you`ll have to go see a shrink!” They laughed.
“Suppose you´re right, I´ll focus on finding Johan from now on!”
“You do so... speaking of, how is the little kidnapped one? Where did the hat put her?”
“What?” She was still to absentminded to pay much attention.
“The sorting, your sister, Hedwig! Ever heard of her?”
“Oh, yeah... She´s a proud Hufflepuff now!”
“Really? Congratulations! So will she join the team now?” The two friends had started to make their way up to the castle to get some dinner before the patrol.
“If I can´t sort out this mystery with Marcus she might as well take my spot right away!” The Gryffindor stopped, alarmed. “I´m serious, he hasn´t even looked at me since Tuesday and I don´t know how we´re supposed to win against Slytherin if we can´t work together!” They had reached the entrance.
“Well you better work something out! The match is only two days away!”
“I know, please don´t make me think about it again!” Just as they were about to enter the Great Hall Ella noticed a tall and muscular boy with rumpled chestnut brown hair disappear down the stairs to the Hufflepuff common room.
“Hey, where are you going?” Hasky asked when her friend swirled around and started walking in the opposite direction.
“I just need to get something from my trunk, I´ll be up here in a minute!” She yelled over her shoulder before following Marcus down the flight of steps. She wasn´t sure why she didn´t tell Hasky the truth, actually she wasn´t so sure herself why she was doing as she did. All she knew was that something inside of her told her it was time to sort out this business once and for all and the first step was to force Marcus to tell her what her role in this whole mess was!

“Why the rush my dear?” Helga Hufflepuff was just as gentle as always.
“I need to talk to Marcus! Is he in there?” Ella asked while anxiously stepping around on the spot.
“He´s in here alright, but there is no hurry, you`ll have time to sort everything out. Now, I was very pleased to hear your sister joined my house today, it´s an honour to be blessed by such lovely girls!”
“Splendid!” The girl said, without much passion. “About me... getting inside?”
“Oh, oh of course dear! I was lost in thought!” The elderly witch swung open her portrait and Ella rushed in through the tunnel. The common room was empty, everyone was having dinner or studying in the library and Marcus wasn´t there either, but she didn´t hang about to worry but instead turned her feet towards the boys dormitories. When she finally stood outside the door leading into the 4th years room she draw one last deep breath, then flung it open.
“Aaah!” Marcus screamed and threw himself on the floor and in the same instant drop the thing he was holding.
“You know, for a protector you are quite easy frightened?” Ella said and bent down to pick up whatever it was that had fallen out of his hand.
“No, don´t touch that!” But too late, she had already seen what it was, a dagger. Slightly scared, but very curious she took it and turned it around. There was a writing protect the blood.
“So it is true? You really are the key!” Her voice was barely more than a whisper and Marcus quickly snatched the knife from her.
“I already to you the legend is true!” He muttered and stored the dagger at the bottom of his trunk, under a pair of ugly looking pants that Ella had never seen him wear.
“I know... but I still had my doubts.” Marcus stood up and turned to face her, surprisingly enough she found that his eyes were filled with tears.
“You have all right to distrust me...” He sank down in his hammock and Ella was left standing with her mouth slightly open. She had know she would get some kind of reaction, but this was the last one she´d expected.
“What do you mean?”
“I think you already know... it should have been long enough for you to realise by now!” Although only half of the words made sense to her, it was at the same time as if some part of her knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Let´s pretend I don´t.... Couldn´t you tell me?” An heavy silence fell between them, but then Marcus drew a heavy suck of air and shrugged.
“I might as well... I won´t keep on playing anyway!” Somehow that felt vaguely familiar to Ella but she kept quiet to let him speak. “It all began when I turned eleven and received a letter, saying I had been accepted into Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was overexcited, I had no idea I was a wizards and I had never known there were such things as magic, it was like all my Christmases had come at once. But the joy didn´t last for long, my father took me aside one day, invited me to his office, we never got to be inside that room, he told me he was a wizard and that he had once been on a mission to Romania where he had found a chest... yeah, he told me the whole story with the dagger and my grandpa turning into a vampire... then he took out the dagger from one of the drawers in his desk. I´ve never been that scared before in my life! He said to me that he had sworn to protect me from the magical world, he had even given up his own powers to stop me from getting involved in the mystery, but in vain, destiny has its own ways, as he said. That day I didn´t just get accepted at Hogwarts but also got to know I was the key to a legend darker and more mischievous than most others...” Marcus fell silent again, but Ella didn´t dare to ask what had happen next, she knew he would continue when he felt ready and indeed. “As it turns out I went to Britain to start my education and of course my father was very worried, but he never told me the full story. I was naive enough to think that his misery was based on the fact that I one day would have to use the dagger in a fight between vampires and humans, but that wasn´t all! You see, there was another prophecy, a tale that told: The key cannot fulfil his mission as long as the greedy arms of worldly things keep him grounded. The key cannot alter his true identity before the one keeping him tranquil is eliminated. The one who is half in more ways than one shall win his heart and from the same she must pay the price which is constrained.” Marcus stopped talking once again and this time Ella felt shivers down her spine, although she had came to hear the truth she was no longer so sure it was such a wise thing to do. “Basically that means everyone is waiting for that to happen... for me to kill the half one who wins my heart... waiting for me to kill her so I can fulfil what has been requested!” At his last words he lifts up his head, and his eyes find Ella´s. There is as if the air itself holds still and not even beat of their hearts can destroy the impression of being isolated by death.
“You mean...” She begins, but she can`t dare to finish the sentence.
“You are that one, you have won my heart, it´s you I have to kill!” Something in his voice keeps her seated, even though her brain tells her to get out of there as soon and quick as possible.
“So... will you?” That was probably not the most sensitive or cleverest question to ask, but it was one she needed to know.
“I was about to... ever since I first saw you I knew you were the one! I didn´t knew in what ways you were half, but then it came to the surface that you were and animagus, a twin and that your mum was a witch whiles your father was a muggle. I thought that if I tried to love you like the legend didn´t exist, if I tried to pretend nothing was wrong, and then maybe it would all disappear! But it didn´t take long until I understood that wasn´t the case... I could never be normal...”