Prophecy

The Book of Life

Since the first fell on a Saturday this year, James had given Manticore a playday on Sunday. Most of Manticore ended up in the Hall anyway, as the day was wet and cold enough to keep even the most ardent Quidditch players inside. Most of the Chimeras were not at their table today, because James and Rose were doing the accounts for the Green Flower co and the Jade Lily. As the Jade Lily consisted of just one house, those books were easy to keep. The Green Flower on the other hand, was an entirely different matter. Going through those accounts was enough to make even Rose irritable and what James thought of it, he usually expressed in four letter words.

This year, they had gotten Lisa to help, and she was the one that noted something odd. "Rose," she said, looking at several pieces of paper from Gringotts, "why do you and James have four vaults at Gringotts?"

James and Rose looked at her blankly. "What?" said Rose, as she tried to remember why they would have four vaults.

Lisa consulted the papers again. "You have one, in America that was opened the year you were born."

James nodded. "That's the family account, where we get our allowance."

Lisa nodded and checked that one off. "You also have the Green Flower vault, and the Jade Lily's vault."

Rose nodded this time. "Right, it's easier to keep track of that way."

Lisa checked those two off as well, and then held up the last sheet. "You also have one more, opened in Diagon Alley about two weeks before we started at Hogwarts."

James and Rose looked at each other. "Rose?" said James.

She shrugged, and tried to think back. "We came and did the tourist thing, met with Professor Dumbledore and the rest...." Her voice trailed off as both of them remembered the day they had met Lisa for the first time. They had met her in a bookstore, to keep her father from finding out about the Prophecy, and after they had talked to Lisa, they had browsed through the store. In a box in the back, they had found a book with the Evans family code on the spine. The storekeeper had claimed that Elric and Cassandra Evans had left the book seventy years earlier, and described the twins as the ones that would buy it. Since that was seven hundred and thirty years or so after those two died, that was impossible. Yet, they had the book.

Tiffany was looking at James's memories. "James, I can read what you remember of the third page."

James looked at her. "Did you know about the book?"

Tiffany shook her head. "Not until now, when you and Rose started thinking about it."

James looked at Rose. "Sister mine, how did we forget that book?"

Rose raised an eyebrow at him. "You tell me how two people dead more than seven hundred years could give the store keeper an accurate description of us before our parents were born, and I'll explain the forgetting part," she parried.

James grinned at her, then sobered suddenly. "Rose, as I recall now, there was one page you could read, and then a page I could read, and then six pages neither of us could read. If Tiffany can read that third page, would you care to bet that the rest of Chimera could read the other pages?"

Rose smiled wryly. "Sure, I'll bet you that they can read them. However, I'm not crazy enough to take the other side of that bet." Rose blinked at a sudden flash of anger from James. "James?"

"Not you Flower child. I just have the feeling that we're playing to a script and an audience. I'd like to ask the director some questions." James thought for a minute. "Either that, or punch him in the nose. I hate being played like a trout on a line."

"James, do me a favor will you?" requested Tiffany dryly. "Before you attack something that can bring the dead back, create magic books for people that haven't been born yet, and see the future clearly enough to describe you two sixty years before you were born, let me make out my will."

Rose agreed with her. "And that's even if it has anything resembling a nose."

James looked at them and smiled. They felt the amusement bubbling up in him, and Tiffany put her hand over his mouth. "If you say Calculated Risk, I'll do that thing twice tonight." James shuddered and put his hands up in surrender.

Rose was staring at James. "How do you get a calculated risk out of that anyway?"

James raised an eyebrow at her. "Fairly easily actually. If we are the lead actors in the Prophecy play something is putting on, it needs us for the climax of the story. So it can't do anything too drastic to me before then."

Tiffany and Rose stared at him. "Rose, does insanity run in your family, or is James the first?"

The rest of Chimera had been listening to the discussion over the link, and had drifted back to the table. Emma spoke up. "What do you remember about the book?"

James and Rose thought, and used the twinbond to talk for a few minutes while Chimera waited. Finally, James looked up at them. "Not a lot really. It's as if something is clouding our memories of it. It spoke of something called the Heart of the World and a spell to do something with life, and the willing acceptance of duty."

Rose was staring at Hangeld, who had jerked and sat up when James mentioned the Heart of the World. He saw her staring at him, and answered the unasked question. "I know of the Heart of the World. It's a place where a piece of bedrock reaches from the middle of the earth to the surface in one piece. On the surface, it's a monolith ten meters high and five meters across."

Hangeld sighed and looked at James. "There is one small problem though. It's never in the same place for more than four days. It can appear anywhere on the face of the earth, and as far as anyone can tell, where it appears is completely random."

James considered that. "Interesting problem in logistics for anyone else, but we have Rose. We can figure it out."

Hangeld shook his head. "I hate to burst your bubble James, but nobody has ever been able to predict the Heart. It's the living representative of the Earth Elemental mages for the giants, and they've spent centuries studying it, and they still can't predict it."

Lisa stopped the discussion at that point. "That's all well and nice, but why don't we see if we can even use the book before we start worrying about where to use it at?"

"Lisa's right. We'll ask Professor Dumbledore if he has a trusted messenger that is going to Diagon Alley. We have to talk to him about this year and the first years anyway." Rose said; dismissing the problem in favor of something she could do something about.

James nodded unwillingly. He shook it off and concentrated on the new topic. "Still no changes from last night?"

"None, there are still those two Ravenclaws, three Gryffindors, and the two Hufflepuffs. And Draco Jr. of course," said Melissa quietly.

Lisa winced at the mention of her brother. "Rose, are you certain there's nothing we can do?" Rose sighed, but dropped into the deep trance that allowed the clearest view of the future, and examined Draco Malfoy Jr.'s future paths as well as she could. She spent nearly ten minutes looking down every one of his paths that she could find.

She came out of the trance and looked at Lisa. "I'm sorry. He just doesn't have any paths that continue past the start of the war." Lisa winced, and closed her eyes. Rose had been looking for new Manticores at the sorting when Draco had been sorted, and as far as she could see, no path of his was longer than the start of the war.

James frowned, and spoke quietly. "Rose, you and Melissa are responsible for making sure he's one of us at the start of the war."

It took a minute for the implications of that to hit the rest of Chimera, and Lisa was the first to speak. "You're going to use him until he dies."

The tidal wave of emotion that this comment drew from James caught all of them by surprise. Angerselfhatebitterness and a soul deep pain and fear washed over them, making Melissa gasp and causing all of them to freeze. James controlled it after a split-second and looked at them. "You're right, I am, just like I'm using all of you and Manticore. I'm going to make sure that his death means something to Lisa at least, and that he doesn't end up like his father. I'm also going to use those first years from last night and anyone else that joins us, because I happen to think it might help me beat the Patient Child."

James stood up and Tiffany stood up with him. They headed for the door as James continued. "If this war is anything like the last one, by the end of it, sixty percent of Manticore will be dead, crippled for life or otherwise disfigured. By the time this thing is over, I'm going to have a river of blood on my hands, and that isn't even counting the Patient Child's people." James paused at the door, and looked back. "I will do this, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, or the fact that I know some of them will die because I asked them to, or the fact that the woman I love will die decades before she should."

Five faces looked at Rose as the Soulbonded couple went out, and Rose sighed staring after her brother. She spoke quietly; using words as the linked rarely did with each other. "You all know that James can be obsessive, driven and stubborn, but none of you have seen his other side, because he thinks it's a weakness in a fighting leader. He can also be compassionate, gentle and caring. Watch him sometime with the animals in Hagrid's class."

"I don't have to," said Hangeld quietly. "Father said that James is one of the few people he'd trust to take care of his pets if he had to be gone." He smiled faintly. "Considering that I was four before I figured out that Fluffy and Buckbeak weren't just oddly shaped brothers, that's saying something."

Lisa was only one that was not surprised, but she had information the rest didn't, and she was about to say something when somebody else beat her to it.

"Not to mention his actions in saving Miss Riddle, and taking Mr. Fudge under his care." They all jerked at the new voice. They had been so involved in their talk that they had not seen the Headmaster approach. "I take it that Mr. Evans has done something. I saw him and Miss Potter descending the stairs and looking like they would rather not talk right now, so I came up here to talk to you about the first years."

Rose was consulting with James, and stopped with a sigh. "James says we can take care of it."

Hangeld pulled up the chair reserved for the Headmaster on his rare visits to the Hall, and Professor Dumbledore took a minute to look around. The hall had not changed much since the last time he'd been up here, although the sign on the door to the lab was new. He read it with amusement. "Caution: Proceeding past this point can be hazardous to your shape." He had just finished reading it when the door opened, and Emily Kitchen came out with her nose buried deep in another book. She crossed over to a new table in the corner and poured a cup of something, without even looking up from the book, which the Professor recognized as one of the Pendragon spellbooks. He frowned. "I thought those weren't supposed to leave the lab library."

Lisa looked over where he was staring and sighed. "We had to alter the wards to allow them out here. Emily has become addicted to coffee, and she set the wards off so many times walking out here to get a cup, that some of the more emotional Manticores were threatening to turn her into a blind mole."

Rose groaned. "That girl. Did you hear about her accident yet?" she asked the Headmaster.

Professor Dumbledore looked up, his eyes suddenly sharp. "Accident?" he inquired mildly.

Rose smiled. "She was on the northeast tower stairs, just after dinner, and was reading while she walked."

Professor Dumbledore frowned. "I believe," he said, "that those stairs are moving right after the dinner hour."

"They are," said Emma, "and Emily was so involved in her book, she didn't even notice."

Professor Dumbledore stared at them. "Are you saying that she walked off a moving staircase?"

"Aye," rumbled Hangeld in his deep voice. "After Melissa and another of the Manticore Mediwizards healed her, her first comment was about her book."

"James said if she could show that kind of concentration in training, she'd be a team leader in a week," added Lisa with a grin. "Even if he had to make her a Team from scratch."

"I think," said the Headmaster calmly, "that Manticore has quite enough teams now." As a sudden thought occurred to him, he looked at Melissa. "How many injuries have you healed without telling the staff?"

Melissa blushed. "A few. You know once the Healing talent emerges, the Healer has to use it, and most of the Manticores come to me for minor things. Mostly the sprains and injuries that are the result of PT."

Professor Dumbledore understood that. With any sort of intensive physical training, there were going to be a few injuries. He had also caught the modifier Melissa had used. "Mostly?" he asked gently.

"There may have been a few more serious accidents, and a couple of minor injuries that people didn't want to call to the staff's attention." Melissa said, staring intently at the ceiling, not meeting the Headmaster's eyes.

The Headmaster nodded, as something that had been a mild puzzle last year fell into place. "Mercy and the others have been using their skills for the last year or so, and you're helping them." That was a statement, not a question, and Melissa didn't say anything, but the deepening red of her face told the Headmaster everything he needed to know. He had wondered at the lack of injuries among the students last year. Every year, there were those people that tried something they shouldn't be doing, or got involved in something hazardous, but last year there had been a remarkable lack of that sort of thing.

He looked at Melissa until she sighed and met his eyes. "I've given them a copy of the Xavier spellbooks, and they need practice. I have been watching over them."

Professor Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. The Xavier spellbooks had no equal when it came to healing spells and knowledge. "What about those spells?" he asked, referring to the spells that could burn out the talent that made a person a Wizard or Witch.

Melissa looked at him calmly. Looking around, she opened her robes enough to show the headmaster a small book, hanging under her shirt. "There is only one copy of those spells at the school, and I have them with me at all times, except when I can't hide them, and then they go in Rose's chest, in that part of it."

"You haven't let James read those have you?" asked the Headmaster.

Melissa blinked. "No, and I made Tiffany extract a promise from him that he wouldn't try without my permission. Which he might get, three weeks after the sun rises in the west."

The Headmaster frowned at her vehemence. "Are they that dangerous?"

Melissa frowned, and bit her lip. "Yes and no. Most of it is a block on the magic. There is one part though, where you have to work in the brain. You know that most Muggles use about ten percent of their brain. Wizards have another part that controls the use of their magic, and part of the spell involves severing the synapses that go to that part of the brain." She hesitated, looking for the right words, and then continued. "The target area is very small and very close to the part of the brain that controls automatic reflexes, breathing, swallowing and that sort of thing. If you make a tiny mistake, you can destroy those synapses by accident, and that would be bad." Melissa had assumed the lecturing tone that she used when explaining a new spell to the Phoenix Mediwizards, and Professor Dumbledore noted she was a very good teacher for her age. "If you do that, the patient will have to consciously think about breathing for the rest of his or her life, along with every other automatic function of the body. Since that is not possible, as everyone has to sleep sometime, the only way for them to live would be to go to the Muggles and be put on machines in full life support."

The Headmaster thought about that, and looked at Melissa again. "Do you know the spell?"

Melissa shook her head slowly. "No, and I won't learn it either, unless I have to."

"Do you mind if I ask why not?" Professor Dumbledore asked, curious as the reason behind her decision.

"Simple. Our fearless leader is a charismatic, persuasive Yank, and I refuse to have him after me to use it."

Rose grinned at Melissa. "You do know that you can stop him with a word to Tiffany, don't you?"

Melissa giggled. "Of course, but I would prefer to save that option for important things, because if we overuse it, it may stop working."

Rose shrugged, and grinned. "Calculated risk, don't you know."

Everyone at the table smiled as Rose imitated James's voice to use his favorite expression. A sudden commotion at the other side of the room made them all look that way. One of the Finnigan twins was dancing around holding his throat. "It's hot," he gasped, as he looked around wildly.

His brother picked up the cup, and sniffed it. "It's coffee, it's supposed to be hot," he said watching his brother down a glass of water.

When the twin drinking the water stopped, he explained, "Not that sort of hot, spicy hot, like chili peppers."

His twin blinked and cautiously tried it. "Ack... " he gasped, "It's not spicy, it tastes like liver."

Suddenly, the cup bloomed, growing a small green flower. "Thank you for testing the latest Green Flower prank. The Cup of Gross Flavors will be for sale soon. Please record your impressions with Chimera." The Finnigan twins turned to look at Chimera's table, where Rose was busily scribbling on a parchment.

"Why us? We haven't sat in your window sill," said one of them plaintively

Rose didn't even look up. "It was just a random cup on the table. It was just bad luck you got it." She did look up then. "I take it that you didn't notice anything strange about the smell or color?"

Most of Manticore just laughed and went back to whatever they were doing, recognizing the signs of one of the Evans twins at work, researching another prank. Rose went to that side of the room, and persuaded a few more Manticore to try the cup out, recording their impressions and comments. Chimera watched with a resigned amusement.

"Those two are impossible," said Emma calmly. "I thought when I came to school, I could stop checking everything I touched for pranks, but they're as bad as my Uncles."

Hangeld patted her hand. "Look on the bright side," he said, grinning at her, "it is always something different with them, and you've created at least a few of the pranks for them."

Lisa turned. "Speaking of that, what do you want to do with your money?"

Emma blinked. "What money?" she asked.

Lisa consulted her papers. "Twelve pranks, at five thousand Galleons per prank equals sixty thousand Galleons."

Emma stared at her in shock. Rose had returned to the table, and spoke absently as she finished making the notes about the Cup of Gross Flavors prank. "James and I decided that since you and Hangeld had made so many of the pranks we're selling, that you should be paid for them. Based on sales, and projected future earnings, we thought that that would be an appropriate amount." She looked up. "Unless it's not enough?"

Emma was still trying to assimilate that fact that she had suddenly earned more money than she had ever even seen. Rose didn't even notice. "Of course that's for you and Hangeld, and you'll have to decide how to split it, but if there are any problems, James and I will be happy to show you how we split our shares up."

Emma looked at Hangeld, who was as stunned as she was. Lisa was grinning at them both, and suddenly winked at the Headmaster. "In fact, I need to know how everyone wants to handle their money."

Adam stared at her. "Would you mind explaining what the devil you're talking about?"

Lisa smirked. "Our leaders have decided that we are in need of being paid, and has set aside a portion of their funds to do so. They also backdated the pay to the first day of school in our first year, and applied interest."

Chimera was so busy staring at Lisa that they didn't notice James and Tiffany settling into their couch. "It's because you won't be able to work at any sort of regular job until this project of ours is over." said James calmly. "It's not much, but it should keep you in the things Manticore doesn't supply."

Adam had a sudden premonition. "Just what do you consider 'not much'?" he asked suspiciously.

James shrugged. "The same thing Rose and I get for our allowance, one hundred and twenty-five Galleons."

Adam frowned as he converted that to the pounds he was used to. He blinked. "You're paying us seventeen hundred and fifty Pounds a month?"

Lisa smirked again. "Not a month, a week." She looked at the papers in her hand again. "As of the first day of this school year, we all have fourteen thousand, three hundred Galleons."

James turned to the Headmaster. "I assume you're here about the first year students."

Professor Dumbledore nodded. "The House heads are interested in seeing which of their students you're going to poach from their houses."

James nodded, and handed a sheet of names to the Professor. "These are the ones that will be invited to join Manticore, provided they meet the other standards."

Professor Dumbledore ran his eye down the list, stopping at one name. "Mr. Malfoy didn't seem much like his sister," he said, looking at James.

James winced, and closed his eyes. "He's not," he said, and the bitterness in his quiet voice drew the Headmaster's attention faster than a shout would have. He invited an explanation with a silent look at Tiffany, knowing that James would see it through the Soulbond. "Draco has no paths that go past the start of the war. In the paths that get that far, he only has a few that do anything good. In most of the ones that are not involved with Manticore, he meets either Lisa, me or both of us, and two or more paths end there."

Professor Dumbledore frowned as he thought about the implications of that. Not having a path meant you didn't have a future, and that meant you were dead. If Draco managed to end one or more of Chimera's paths, the Manticores would be in serious trouble. They had to have at least seven of the Eight or they would lose. "Is there anything you can do?" he asked, knowing that James would already be planning something.

James shrugged. "Right now, it's up to Rose and Melissa, and Draco of course. We're going to try and make him one of us." James opened his eyes finally and looked at the Headmaster levelly. "I would rather he was one of the heroes of the war, than one of the villains." Albus Dumbledore figured out the implications of what James was saying faster than Chimera had, and he understood what it cost James to make that decision, as he knew more about James thanks to the Headmaster spells around Hogwarts. He thought about the problem for a few minutes.

Except for Lisa and Rose, the rest of the Chimeras were trying to decide what to do with their money, and conspiring quietly. James and Rose ignored them, as they talked to the Headmaster. Tiffany was also more interested in the Headmaster, as she had already known about the pay they were getting.

Finally, Dumbledore came to a decision. James had to have someone he would talk to at Hogwarts, and that list was very short. Albus resolved to contact the most likely candidate as soon as he was back in his office. He looked at James, and decided to skirt around the problem of Draco for now. "Any of the others have problems like Miss Tzu?" he asked, referring to May-ling.

James accepted the change of subject and shook his head. "No, but Miss Spence interests me for another reason. Did you notice those shoes she was wearing last night?"

Professor Dumbledore had noticed the shoes, because every time she took a step, they had flashed a twinkling blue light. He hadn't really thought about it, assuming it was some sort of spell, a new fad. "What about them?"

James raised an eyebrow at the Professor. "It's a Muggle electronic invention," was all he said, and all he needed to say. Muggle things simply didn't work around large concentrations of magic, as everyone knew.

"Are you sure?" asked Professor Dumbledore.

Tiffany nodded. "I had one of the Manticores check her shoes after they went to bed last night. They're definitely Muggle shoes, but they have a feel of magic about them."

Professor Dumbledore nodded slowly, as he thought about the implications of a spell that allowed Muggle items to work around the shields and magic in Hogwarts. "Keep me informed about that situation," he said. "Anybody else of note in the group?"

"Only personally," said James, with a broad smile. "Miss Wood is the daughter of a Muggleborn Wizard, named Sean Wood, one of the best movie stunt men in the world, and one of my favorite celebrities."

Professor Dumbledore looked at James with a smile. "The fact that she also managed to turn three people's hair blue before the end of dinner wouldn't have anything to do with that interest, would it?"

James was still smiling. "That's just an added bonus." He frowned, looking at the Headmaster. "Rose told me who was responsible, as she did one of the pranks while Rose was looking at her paths. How did you know it was her?"

Albus Dumbledore smiled enigmatically. "Allow me a few secrets."

James grinned at him. "I'll figure it out sooner or later. Speaking of strange things, we've been working on that book you gave us, and we have some preliminary conclusions to discuss with you."

Tiffany's attention wandered as James and Rose discussed the changes they could make to the spells around Hogwarts, as well as the things that would stay, or be updated. She watched James, as he drew pictures and diagrams on parchment, showing the headmaster what they wanted to do. She smiled softly, remembering his declaration of love earlier. They had talked of love between themselves, but this was the first time James had said anything aloud, and it warmed Tiffany's heart to have it out in the open.

James broke off his conversation to look at her. "Do you mind?" he said, reminding her of a private joke.

"Not at all. I love you, Crazy Yank," she said, and watched him blush.

"Brat," he said quietly, with a mental smile. "I love you too. Even if you are a Nutter Brit."

Tiffany smiled at him, and snuggled closer, as he lifted an arm to allow her to rest her head on his chest. It was not a romantic thing, but a side effect of the Soulbond. They simply touched, anytime they were within reach of each other. Melissa wasn't sure why yet, but April and her were planning to research that subject this year. Tiffany drifted, enjoying the touch of her Soulbonded, and not really thinking about anything, until something caught her eye. She watched Hangeld and Emma for a few minutes and smiled.

The other Chimeras were still talking about what to do with the money they were getting, and Hangeld was sitting next to Emma. He was deep in conversation with her as they decided how to split the windfall of prank money they had earned, and Hangeld was playing with a bit of Emma's hair. He also had taken over brushing it out of her face, and Tiffany wondered if he even knew he was doing it.

James caught the drift of her thoughts, and watched them with her for a few minutes. "With hair like that, they're going to have fun when they start brushing it." James's comment was amused. Tiffany pretended to pout.

"You like her hair better than mine."

James laughed over the Soulbond. "You know better. I'm simply saying that they will enjoy it." Tiffany did know better. Something about the Soulbond made the two of them completely incapable of seeing anyone else in a romantic way. Looking at other people was like looking at a puppy, or a unicorn. He or she might be cute, even beautiful, but they could no more consider having a relationship with him or her than they could the puppy or unicorn.

James had a sudden flash, of Tiffany standing before him, nude but with her hair covering her. Tiffany snickered at him mentally. "Give me a break Yank, I'm not that beautiful."

"Yes, you are." The sudden intensity of James's mental tone captured Tiffany's attention, and her looked up at him, from her place on his chest. James was staring at her, and Tiffany got lost in the reflection of herself in his eyes. Looking at herself, looking at him, and continuing on, like multiple images in mirrors that faced each other. James and Tiffany were quickly lost in each other, until a comment and a nudge from Rose brought them back abruptly.

They blinked, and thought about what had just happened, as James turned back to the conversation with the Headmaster. "What was that? It felt like the rapport, but we weren't doing anything."

"I don't know, but if it starts happening every time we look at each other, it's going to be awkward."

"Fun though."

Tiffany was suddenly very aware of James's body, of the hard muscles that three years of intense exercise had given him, and at the same time, she was aware of James noticing the way her muscles were covered with softer flesh and curves. They had seen each other nude in mirrors often enough that that was no longer a big deal, but this was different, as if they were seeing each other for the first time. James excused himself from the talk, and they concentrated on this new experience. James's body started responding to the thoughts and images of Tiffany, and Tiffany felt herself responding to his interest. They cuddled closer, and the feelings intensified, threatening to overwhelm them as the rapport had done in the beginning until a sharp comment from Melissa broke them out of it.

"Get a room." They looked at Melissa, shocked at the acid sharpness of her tone.

Melissa had her face buried in her hands, and she was hiding with her hair.

James was puzzled. "What did we do?"

"Nothing much," Melissa said, "you were just broadcasting sexual attraction and lust so strongly that you nearly broke my shields over my Empathy."

James and Tiffany colored. "Sorry. We didn't mean to," said James when he had control of his mental voice. He looked at Rose, only to find her staring fixedly at the book she was discussing with the Headmaster. Professor Dumbledore was looking from Rose to James with a sharp-eyed look that told James that Professor Dumbledore had caught on to something happening.

"What was that? We've been snogging for months, and nothing like that ever happened before."

"I don't know. It was as if you suddenly turned into a woman."

"Thanks a lot. In case you haven't noticed, I've been a woman all of my life."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes."

"Whatever it is, we'd better figure it out quickly. If Melissa gets caught in that, and broadcasts it with her Empathy, we'll have all of Manticore looking for dark corners."

"How do you suggest we do that? It took us months to control the rapport."

"I think we need to get far enough away from the rest of Chimera that it doesn't bleed over the link while we work on it."

"China?"

"I was thinking more of Hogsmeade."

"Will that be far enough?"

"If it's not, we've got a serious problem, Greeneyes."

"We're going to have to tell the Headmaster about this you know, Yank."

"I know. We can't wait for every third weekend, if it's going to hit us like this every time we look at each other."

"We can't use the house either. Not if you want to keep it a secret from everyone but Chimera."

"Perhaps Professor Dumbledore will have an idea."

"I hope so. Do you think it's safe to look at each other yet?"

James and Tiffany looked at each other cautiously, only to look away as the feeling started again.

"Does it happen if only one of us is looking at the other, I wonder?"

"You look at me, and we'll see."

Tiffany looked at James, and felt only a mild stirring, that she could easily control. They traded off, and it was the same for James. He sighed. "Melissa is going to have a field day with this."

Melissa and April were documenting the various stages of the Soulbond as they happened, hoping to find something that would help control the frenzy and madness that came with it for the next couple, and Melissa could be very intense about anything to do with the Soulbond. She was forever coming up with more questions that her research uncovered, and she had no shame about asking questions that had them both blushing for weeks.

"We might as well tell her now. You know how she is if we wait." James did indeed know how Melissa got if they waited to tell her something new about the Soulbond.

They spent the next two hours explaining what had happened to Melissa and April, whom Melissa had sent for as soon as she figured out this was something new regarding the Soulbond. Melissa even had them do it again, so she could send the feeling to April with her Empathy. They also had to explain it to the rest of Chimera, who had felt it, although not as strongly as Rose and Melissa.

James did manage to request a private conference with the Headmaster before he left with the names of the first years that Chimera was interested in, and they went to see him after dinner. After they explained the problem to him, he agreed that they needed to fix this as soon as possible, and he made an exception to policy for them, although he cautioned them about letting anyone but Chimera know that they were going into Hogsmeade every Saturday.

James grinned wryly. "We're going to have to tell Jerrick also. If we start disappearing every Saturday, he's going to start looking for us, and he will find us sooner or later."

Professor Dumbledore had to agree with that. He reminded James that he had wanted a good intelligence person, and this was one of the hazards of having one; they absolutely had to know everything, or they would look into it until they did. Jerrick was also discreet though, so James wasn't worried about telling him. James had a private theory that Jerrick tried to keep secrets from himself.

After they finished their talk with the Headmaster, they went back to Manticore Hall, where Chimera waited. As they walked in, Tiffany was amused to see Hangeld playing with Emma's hair again. She looked at the others and was surprised to find Adam doing the same with Lisa, and seemingly unaware of it. James became aware of what was going on, and suddenly looked at Chimera again.

Three years had made a few differences in them, but one thing had been so gradual that it hadn't even registered with any of them. All of the girls had the same length of hair. It didn't matter if it was Emma's bushy red hair, or the silky locks of Melissa; it was all the same length, just past their rears, almost to mid-thigh. James frowned, and looked around at the Manticores in the hall. All the girls in links had the same length of hair, and most of the ones in Phoenix as well. James also noticed that all of the couples in Manticore that were within reach of each other usually fell to playing with each other's hair, much as he and Tiffany did. He also saw four couples combing or brushing each other's hair. James and Tiffany looked at each other, suddenly worried about something they couldn't put a name to.

"That's not normal, is it Greeneyes?"

"Not in the slightest. There is no way you'd get this many girls to agree to the same hairstyle normally, not that it matters; hair grows at different rates, and to different lengths, depending on the person."

"How is this happening then?"

"I don't know. Ask Melissa."

It took James three tries to get through to Melissa, because she was so absorbed in writing notes about the events of the day, but once he did, she looked around, much as they had, and promised to look into it. She scribbled a note in her little notebook, and went back to finishing the notes and whatever else she was writing about the Soulbond from the day's questions and tests.

Emma looked at her, and then at Adam, Hangeld and Lisa. James and Rose waited for whatever it was that they wanted to tell them.

Emma grinned and her eyes alight with mischief. "Being the fearless one, I have been chosen by certain nameless parties to talk to you about what we want to do with our money."

"Those parties," said James in mock puzzlement, "wouldn't happen to have odd nicknames would they? Names like Artist, Half-Human, Healer and Mental Wizard?"

"I believe they might," said Emma after pretending to consider it. "Anyway, they have chosen me as their spokesperson because they think you might be a little upset when we talk to you."

James stilled, concentrating on Emma for the moment. "Why would I be upset about what you're going to do with your money? Unless you use it to help the Patient Child, it's your money."

"Because we want to donate a portion of it to the Winged Flame charity."

James stared at them, frowning. "How did you find out about that?"

"I did actually," confessed Lisa, with a trace of apprehension in her voice. "You know what a news reader is, right?"

"Yes, it's a service that reads all the newspapers and magazines that you designate, and sends you anything that has items that might interest you, or that has words in it that you give them"

"Exactly. I have such a service, and one of the things I'm helping Jerrick do is figure out what the Patient Child is using, or going to be using for funding. To do that, I have the service looking for strange or unusual businesses. When a full-blown charity appeared out of nowhere, that was sent to me, and the name, and symbol, of the blue-winged red flame caught my eyes. I did some more research, and figured out it had to be you and Tiffany."

James sighed. "I was expecting somebody to find it sooner or later, but this is a bit sooner than I expected." James and Tiffany had started the Winged Flame charity with some help from Rose and Cumulus, who had supplied an administrator and about half of the money it used. The Winged Flame promoted greater Muggle-Wizard relations, and ran a house where Muggleborn Wizards and their families could learn about the Wizard world. It also had a place for Muggleborn and Wizard children that were unsafe or unwanted in their current homes. There was a similar charity run by Cumulus in America, and the idea had taken hold, so Cumulus (meaning Mary Evans in this case) was looking into a network of similar charities in each part of the Wizard world.

James grinned as Tiffany said something to him, and looked at the rest of Chimera. "Since the cat is out of the bag, there's nothing I can do, but I would prefer that nobody else at Hogwarts knew about this."

"Too late. Jerrick has the same service, and he's good enough to find it easily. If you really wanted to keep it secret, you shouldn't have used your combined signature," Lisa told them.

James shrugged, unworried. "It's a charity, not a hidden thing like the Jade Lily. I wasn't that worried about it, and it was a nice gift to my lady."

Tiffany grinned at them, and then pretended to be disgusted. "Other women with rich men get diamonds and jewelry, and I get a charity."

"I could give you diamonds," said James absently, as he thought about something else, "But they would pale into ugliness next to you."

Chimera stared blankly at James. James's idea of an extravagant compliment was 'good job', and to hear him sweet talking Tiffany like that had all of them stunned. Tiffany giggled at the dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Even Rose looked as though James had suddenly grown a second head.

Emma was the first to recover. "Who are you?" she demanded, "and what have you done with James?"

James looked up, confused. He looked around to see whom Emma was talking to. Chimera's shock and James's bewilderment was too much for Tiffany, who started laughing. "I've been waiting for this," she said through her laughter, "and it was worth the wait."

James looked at the scene of the last few minutes through Tiffany's memories, and had to smile. "If you're done amusing yourself, we have plans to make, Brat."

Tiffany stuck her tongue out at him, but settled down. James looked around. Not much is going to change this year, although there are a couple of things that we discussed with the Headmaster. First, we'll cover the things that are not going to change. Rose, you and Melissa are still in charge of watching over the first years. Lisa, you and Adam are still helping Jerrick try to identify the Patient Child or his organization." James grinned at Emma and Hangeld. "You two can carry on as usual, but I do have another duty for you. You're going to take control of the new Manticores, that don't have a team yet, and make sure they are doing what needs to be done, until one or more of them shows promise as a team leader."

Hangeld and Emma nodded, and Emma made a note in her little book. The notebooks had started with Melissa and Emily, but they were extremely useful, and almost half of Manticore was carrying one now. Adam was the only Chimera that wasn't carrying one, and when you had a perfect memory, you really didn't need notes.

James looked at his notes, and turned to Lisa and Adam. "While you're working with Jerrick, pass the word about this. If any Manticore wants to going into Hogsmeade on the weekend, it's the same as for the older students now. As long as they meet the standards, they may miss that day of training." James paused, thinking. "I don't believe we have anybody that is having problems this year, either in school or physically, so that shouldn't be a problem."

"The rest of this is things that are changing or new, so pay attention," said James. "Tiffany and I will be in Hogsmeade every Saturday, trying to get a handle on this new facet of the Soulbond, and you'll have to cover for us, as Professor Dumbledore doesn't want anybody knowing that we're there on the non-visit weekends."

"Melissa, will you be continuing the lessons with the Centaurs?" At her nod of assent, James nodded. "Then I would appreciate it if you would get Rose to accompany you, and the two of you tried to recruit a few of the non-humans to help us. Rose knows our limits, and I trust you two not to offer anything we can't pay."

"I also have an appointment with them," Rose reminded James.

"I remember, and we'll keep it." James debated saying something about the private talk he'd had with his father, but decided to wait until he knew for sure.

"The last thing I have is from the Headmaster as well as myself," James said, and he waited until all of them were looking at him. "Some of you are going to be noticing a few changes in yourself this year, and he wants you to tell April and Melissa about them as soon as they start happening. Hangeld, that includes your elemental magic manifesting. The rest of the changes, and who they happen to, the headmaster would prefer me not to say anything about yet, as premature knowledge might affect the development of these things, and he doesn't want that."

Emma grinned. "Finally. I've been waiting for this for over a year now." James merely looked at her. "Please. Everyone has some sort of special talent to help deal with the Patient Child, and we already know about most of them. Hangeld is an Elemental Mage, Lisa is smarter than any two people, Melissa has the healing, Rose is a Seer and you can make spells sit up and beg. I was wondering when my talent would manifest."

"Speaking of talents, that reminds me of something." James tore out a sheet from his notebook and handed it to Lisa. "Find out when these people are free for an optional class. Optional, but I don't think you'll have any problem getting them to agree to it."

Lisa was running through the list. "None of us have any spare time, Yank. Emily will take any class, but Mercy and Jerrick are as busy as we are, and a couple of the others have OWLs or NEWTs this year, and two of them aren't even in school anymore."

"If anyone on the list would rather pass up the chance to be Animagi, they can, but I don't think they will." James grinned at the reaction that brought from everyone but Adam, who looked confused. James smiled at him. "The plural of Animagius is Animagi."

Adam stared at him. "You mean we're all going to be turning into cats, like Professor McGonagall?"

James shook his head. "Most Animagi have a shape that fits their personality and character."

Lisa choked on something and rolled her eyes. "Wonderful. Our leader is either going to turn into a wolverine or a St Bernard."

Chimera followed Lisa's mental pictures of James turning into a berserk wolverine or a helpful rescue dog, and broke into laughter. Even James smiled, although he had a sudden thought. He smirked at Lisa. "How about a wolverine the size of a St Bernard?"

Adam, Lisa and Rose all groaned at that, and the rest of them stared at them. Emma asked, "What's wrong with that?"

"That depends. A normal wolverine is about ninety pounds, and is the most dangerous carnivore alive, pound for pound. They've been known to chase full-grown bears away from a kill. St Bernards on the other hand, while more peaceful, usually weigh about a hundred and fifty pounds fully grown. James is talking about nearly doubling the size of an animal that will attack a full grown grizzly bear." Rose finished her little speech, and James grinned at her.

"So you were listening to me, all those times I told you about the animals."

"Like I had a choice? You kept dragging me off to rescue everything that was injured within a hundred miles of the house, and I had to know which ones would trample, bite, claw, gore, poison or otherwise attack me, and which attack I had to look out for." Rose smirked at James, and added one more comment. "At least I was smart enough not to get bitten or clawed."

"North American Mountain Pixies." Rose blushed, as Tiffany started laughing.

"The Unicorn." It was James's turn to blush.

"Wood elves."

"Momma Wolverine."

"Baby Naga."

"Eagle chick."

Chimera, with the exception of Tiffany watched the byplay in confusion. Tiffany, who knew what each phrase meant, was laughing so hard, she could barely breathe, and both of the twins were a deep red.

"Would one of you that can talk, mind filling the rest of us in on what's so funny?" Tiffany was starting to choke from laughing, and James stopped to pat her on the back. At the question from Adam, James and Rose blushed even harder, and answered him simultaneously. "Yes, we would mind."

Tiffany was wiping tears from her eyes, and smirked at the twins. "That's OK, I'll be glad to tell them all about it."

James looked at the smirking Tiffany, and bent over her to whisper something in her ear. Tiffany was the only one that heard it, but whatever he said made her blush as dark as the twins and stop smirking.

"Well?" said Emma after Tiffany was silent for a minute.

Tiffany turned innocent eyes on her. "What?"

"You said you were going to tell us what was so funny."

"Did I? I'm sorry, I must have forgotten." Tiffany's face glowed with innocence and sincerity.

James grinned at her. "Nice face, Brit brat, but you need to come up with a better excuse. That one was a hair too close to lying."

"I'm sorry, but I could never do the stories justice, you should listen to them from somebody that was there." Tiffany looked at James, who was thinking.

"Still close. Try something like this: 'It wouldn't be nice of me to tell those stories without the permission of the owner,' or just tell them to go to hell."

Tiffany nodded, as Chimera watched in bemusement. "Pardon me," said Lisa calmly, "but are you giving her classes in avoiding the truth?"

James put on his best innocent face, the one that made him look like an angelic being, which did absolutely no good since Lisa knew him better than that. "Pay attention, Brat." He turned to Lisa. "Me? Lisa, have I ever lied to you?"

"Yes, you, and no you haven't." Lisa answered the questions in the order he asked them.

"So if I tell you that I would never do that, it must be true, right?"

"Yes." Lisa was suspicious, but it was true that James never lied.

"Well, there you go then."

"Wait a minute," said Adam, catching on to James's game, "now tell us you wouldn't do that."

"There comes a point, Brat," James said, "where you are reduced to just one response. I have a couple of options left at this point, which you should be able to figure out. In the interest of getting back to business, I'm going to skip to the last step."

"Adam, go to hell."

Adam smiled at Lisa. "You have to pay attention to exactly what James says. He asked if he said something, it must be true, but he didn't actually say it."

"You two are bad enough, why are you teaching Tiffany to be like you?" asked Hangeld, as he thought about the scene they'd just witnessed. "And why were we privileged to see it?"

Seeing the confused looks around him, Hangeld explained. "James and Tiffany could have had that whole conversation over the Soulbond, and we'd never have known. Instead, they used the Chimera link, with means they wanted us to hear it."

They all looked at James, who was staring at Rose. After two years of watching linked people, all of Chimera knew the twins were arguing about something, just by the feel of them and their body language. Hangeld sent a smirk over the link. "See what I mean? James and Rose are using the twinlink, and none of us can hear a thing."

Tiffany caught their attention while the twins argued. "Don't worry about it, although our fearless leader wouldn't mind if none of us lied. It's a family thing that he's trying to get permission to tell us about, seeing as we're going to be together for awhile."

Lisa was putting bit and pieces of things together from the last two years, and using her head. She nodded as another piece fell into place. She almost said something, but seeing Tiffany looking at her and shaking her head slightly, she remained quiet. They sat quietly, waiting for the twins to finish arguing.

Suddenly she froze. She had been thinking in her own head, not over the Chimera link, and Tiffany had known what she was thinking. She looked at Tiffany again, but Tiffany was getting a cup of coffee for James.

Before Lisa could pursue the questions in her head, James and Rose stopped their argument, and looked at them. "Sorry about that," James said, "Rose and I are having a minor disagreement, and we'll have to wait to finish this until tomorrow, unless somebody has something that can't wait?"

Nobody had anything pressing, and in the round of good nights and chatter as most of Chimera headed for bed, Lisa forgot about Tiffany's strange knowledge.

An hour or so later, James made a quick check on the lab, and found Emily still reading in the library. "Hey, it's almost midnight. You're going to have to sneak back to Ravenclaw."

Emily didn't even look up as she answered him absently. "OK, I will."

James sighed, and gently took the spellbook from her. "Now, Emily."

Emily frowned, but got up and followed James out of the lab.

James and Tiffany made sure that Emily got back to Ravenclaw, and went to the Gryffindor common room, where they sat in front of the fireplace and cuddled up close. They watched the fire silently, just enjoying the touch of their other half until Tiffany yawned. "Time for bed, Greeneyes."

"Don't I get a good night kiss first?"

"Of course."

James and Tiffany had been Soulbonded for two solid years now, and they had aged six years in that time. They had passed the point of chaste kisses some time ago, and the kiss James gave her was not a delicate kiss, but the passionate kiss of a man for his lover. They broke apart, and James smiled at Tiffany. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Tiffany looked at her Soulbonded, and bit her lip. "I want you to go to bed now too. You can't do anything about anything tonight, and you're a grouch in the morning if you sit here and worry."

James stood up and picked Tiffany up, smiling at her. "Shall I take my favorite teddy bear with me?"

"Put me down, you big ox. I'm not a teddy bear."

"No, you're the woman I love, and far better to sleep with." James set her down, but kept his arms around her, lifting her head to kiss her again.

Tiffany kissed him back, while replying to his comment over the Bond. "You haven't slept with me yet."

"Yes I have. Making love would just be icing, it's holding you that is the best part of touching you, and you know it."

"You haven't slept with me either. We've fallen asleep together, but we've never gone to bed to sleep or make love."

They separated and headed up their respective stairs after another kiss. James was thinking about what Tiffany had said. "A lot of that has to do with the fact that if we did go to bed together, we'd want to make love, and you don't need to be a mother at thirteen, no matter what your physical age is."

"I know. We're going to have to find a way around that potion problem, or we're going to be very irritable this year."

James and Tiffany had found out that gender based potions, spells and even Muggle style medicines would make the other half of the Soulbond ill until it wore off, and that included every form of birth control that their discreet research had found. With the accelerated aging of the Soulbond, came accelerated hormones, and the frustration they were hiding from everyone was getting worse.

Physically, they were about seventeen, and they were very much aware that the snogging and occasional making out was just not enough anymore.

"We could use those rubber things, the ones Muggles use." Tiffany's voice was hesitant, and James understood why.

"I would prefer to not be wrapped in rubber the first time we make love. I want to make love with you, not merely satisfy an urge with you."

They discussed it a bit longer, but neither of them had any answers that they had not already explored. The problem was the age at which they had bonded. Until James and Tiffany, most couples didn't bond until their twenties, and they were free to do whatever they wanted. Bonding at eleven, with school and the Prophecy ahead of them, made their life slightly more complicated.

"James, do you remember what you said this morning?" Tiffany's voice was muggy with sleep, as she drifted off.

"Of course, why?"

"Don't worry about me dying before my time, Love. I've had the Bond and us. I'm not sure I need any more than that."

"I love you too"

James's last thought as they drifted into sleep was to wonder if he'd get the owl from his father tomorrow.