Chapter Six: An Emotional Range Far Larger Than A Teaspoon

Severus Snape stood in the doorway and looked down his hooked nose at the four teenagers.
"Snooping, are we?"

"Uncle Severus!" Beathen exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same about you, Beathen," Snape said.
"I - well, we...um, we were just...um...yeah..." Beathen mumbled.
"We came across this room," Natasha spoke up. "We weren't exactly snooping."
"Is that so, Miss Malfoy?" Snape raised an eyebrow at her, falling into his old teaching manner. However, he spotted something out of the ordinary and immediately went back to being casual. "What's that in your hand, Adler?"
Adler looked down and found that he was clutching the vial which had previously contained Bellatrix Lestrange's memory. Adler handed it to Snape.
"Please, sir, we weren't doing anything wrong," Tamsin gushed. She was a little intimidated by Beathen's uncle.
Snape ignored her and turned to Beathen, "Is this the -"
"Yes," Beathen replied.
"Where -"
"Yes."
"And Dumbledore -"
"Yes."
Adler, Tamsin and Natasha followed the conversation back and forth, barely keeping up with the rate of which it was flowing...or not flowing, for Snape was getting cut off by Beathen's 'yes'.
"So you have seen," Snape said, his voice grave. "I thought the day would come when you would wonder and you would look for closure, but I did not think it would be this soon."
"I've been wondering for a while now," Beathen admitted. "I think ever since the fall of the Ministry...ever since we found out von Rubenstein was behind all this."
"And you know?" Snape gave the others a sweeping look.
"Yes," Adler replied. "We do know."
Snape nodded, "I must ask you to keep this to yourselves, and to keep Beathen out of trouble..."
Beathen looked at them sheepishly.
"Now go, and I will turn a blind eye," Snape said.
"We were never in here?" Natasha asked to clarify what he meant.
"You were never in here," Snape repeated.
They hurried out.

"Beathen, are you sure you're alright?" Tamsin asked worriedly. What they had just seen was so terrible that it would probably scar her for life. She wouldn't know what to do if she was in Beathen's situation. She suddenly felt awful for thinking that her own mother didn't love her.
"I'm fine," Beathen said, remaining strong,
"I can't believe she would do that," Adler said quietly. "I can't believe anyone would even consider doing something like that."
"Von Rubenstein would," Natasha brought up bluntly. "He did it to Ryder's mother."
"You don't think they're working together, do you?" Tamsin shivered slightly.
"Quite possibly," Beathen replied. "I haven't heard much of Bellatrix lately. She must be in hiding...though I don't really understand why..."
"Wait...did she escape from Azkaban?" Tamsin asked. This was the first time she had heard anything about an escape from the wizard prison ever since Voldemort's downfall.
"Yeah, it was just after Von Rubenstein made himself known to the wizarding world," Natasha said.
"It was all hush hush at the Ministry though," Adler added.
"And they didn't want the public to know that a crazy woman got out," Beathen said grimly.
"I bet Von Rubenstein did it," Natasha muttered.
"Hey!" Tamsin exclaimed. "How come you three know about it, and I don't!?"
"Um..." Adler didn't meet her eye. Tamsin looked expectantly at Beathen and Natasha.
"Well...um...you know...um..." Beathen began.
"MUM WANTS YOU!" a loud yell interrupted them.
They all turned to face the door, where Ellen stood with her arms crossed.
"How long have you been here?" Natasha blanched.
"Long enough to know that Von Rubenstein let Bellatrix Lestrange out of Azkaban," Ellen's mouth curved into a small smile.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll pretend that you didn't hear it!" Natasha hissed.
"Oh, but I did!" Ellen continued to taunt her sister.
"Why does Aunt Amelinda want to see Natasha?" Adler asked Ellen. Ellen shrugged.
"Can't be because you're all talking about Hector Von Rubenstein behind their backs or anything..."
"They know!?" Natasha shrieked, "Ellen! How could you!?"
Ellen laughed, "I was only joking."
Natasha glared at her sister, "Well, it's not funny."
"Never said it was," Ellen shot back. She looked around at the others, who shrugged at her. "Anyway, you should go see her."
Natasha sighed, "Fine."
The others stood up too.
"Um, alone," Ellen said. "She wants to see you alone."
Natasha rolled her eyes at her sister and walked out of the door. Ellen followed her.

Tamsin, Beathen and Adler glanced at each other.
"I suppose we can't just forget about all of this?" Beathen asked hopefully.
"No," both Tamsin and Adler spoke at the same time.
"We need to discuss it," Adler said.
"There's nothing to discuss," Beathen argued. He shrugged, "You know everything about me now." 'Except for my friendship with Ryder,' he added in his head.
Tamsin moved forward and hugged him, "I'm sorry."
Beathen hugged her back and whispered, "You don't need to be, it's not your fault."
"Still, I'm sorry."
"I know."
Adler sat back down on the couch, wondering why Beathen did not want to talk about his past with them. He knew that it hurt, but he thought that they were friends. Close friends. And he thought that close friends talked about these kinds of things. He pushed it to the back of his mind as Ryder Crabbe entered the room.

Ryder smirked, "Am I interrupting something?"
Tamsin pulled out of the hug and scowled.
"Crabbe," Beathen said, his voice suddenly icy cold. At least that was what it seemed like to Adler.
"Prince, Peverell," Ryder nodded at them, a smirk still plastered on his face. "Hi Adler."
Adler was surprised that he got a 'hi'. Beathen and Tamsin stared at him, obviously surprised as well.
"Hi Ryder," Adler replied quietly.
Tamsin ignored Ryder, still staring at Adler. This was strange. What was going on between them?
"What do you want?" Beathen asked.
"A word," Ryder replied shortly. He glanced at Tamsin, who was still pointedly ignoring him. He smirked.
"Why?" Adler asked curiously.
Unable to avoid not joining into the conversation, Tamsin provided the answer, "They have, and I quote, 'unfinished business' unquote."
"And so she speaks at last!" Ryder exclaimed dramatically. Beathen rolled his eyes. Tamsin glared at Ryder.
"Well, I guess uh...Tamsin and I will um...leave now," Adler said. He was feeling a little bit uncomfortable watching Tamsin and Ryder staring at each other - Tamsin obviously angered, and Ryder somewhat amused. Tamsin broke off the stare to gather her things.
"Yes! I win!" Ryder pumped his fist into the air. Beathen snorted trying to contain his laughter. Tamsin rolled her eyes. Ryder smirked, "Better luck next time, Peverell."
"Come on, Adler," Tamsin said. She didn't want to waste her time on Ryder Crabbe.
"Bye!" Ryder called after them cheerily. He waved. Tamsin made the mistake of turning around because she caught Ryder in the middle of blowing them a kiss. Revolted, Tamsin sped ahead, Adler trying to keep up with her.

As soon as they had left the room, Beathen burst into laughter. Ryder gave him a small smile, trying his hardest not to laugh as well, but it was a futile attempt. Whenever Beathen laughed, it was contagious.
"You're not going to stop, are you?" Beathen finally asked. He clutched his side, holding a stitch.
"She makes it easy," Ryder grinned and shrugged.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Beathen asked,
"Yeah, go for it," Ryder turned to him. He made himself comfortable on the couch.
"When did you and Adler get so friendly?" Beathen asked. "You said hi to him."
"You jealous?" Ryder smirked,
"No," Beathen answered shortly. "Just curious."
Ryder raised an eyebrow at him, "I don't know, I just respect the guy."
"So it's about respect, huh?" Beathen said.
Ryder shrugged, "He's alright, for a Ravenclaw."
"So I'm not alright for a Gryffindor?" Beathen asked.
Ryder rolled his eyes, "Would I be friends with you if you weren't alright?"
"I guess not," Beathen said with a resigned sigh.
"What's all this about, Beathen?" Ryder asked.
"What do you mean?"
"This isn't about Adler's hi. You don't care about Adler's hi. This isn't even about my friendship with Adler," Ryder said. "So my question is, what is this all about?"
"I..." Beathen began. He stopped himself, trying to think of how to say it. Ryder didn't push. "I think it's time we speak about why we're not explaining to the others why we aren't speaking."
"Come again?" Ryder asked. He had zoned out and everything that Beathen had just said sounded like gibberish to him.
"I think that," Beathen said more slowly. "We should tell the others why we're friends."
He was met with silence. For the next two minutes, they stayed in that silence, both dwelling on what Beathen had said.
"You're weak" were Ryder's first words. He hadn't meant to say it, but it came out. Beathen scowled.
"When you say it like that, even I wonder why we're friends," he said.
"I'm not going to apologise," Ryder said. "Because I'm not sorry."
"I know you're not," Beathen interrupted.
"But wasn't all this secretiveness your idea in the first place?" Ryder raised an eyebrow at Beathen accusingly. Beathen scowled some more.
"Tell me again why I'm friends with you?" Beathen said angrily.
"Because we called a truce?" Ryder shrugged. "You tell me."
"It can't be anything about you saving my sorry ass the first time we met or anything," Beathen rolled his eyes.
"So this is about gratitude? You feel like you owe me and you're paying me back by being my friend?"
"No," Beathen grumbled. "It's not like that, you don't understand. You're a Slytherin."
Ryder frowned, "So, after six years of friendship, you're going to play the House card? It's not going to work, Prince."
Beathen stayed silent. This was not how he had hoped the conversation would go.
"Look, Prince," Ryder said quietly. "I don't have many friends that I can rely on."
Beathen feigned surprise, "That's odd! How about all your little cronies who go around beating kids up for fun?"
"They're not the only ones!" Ryder raised his voice. "You have a whole line of Lions who are more than willing to do as you ask."
"They do not!" Beathen replied vehemently.
"Oh yes, they do, and you know it," Ryder told him.
"Leave me alone, Crabbe," Beathen folded his arms and sat down on the other end of the couch.
Ryder rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, Tamsin and Adler had gone outside to lay in the shade of a beech tree. Tamsin had wanted to ride her broom around their makeshift Quidditch Pitch, but it was much too hot. Summer felt much longer this year, but perhaps this was because they had not been back to school. Adler attempted to take out a book to read, but Tamsin interrupted him.
"So..." she stretched out the word, indicating that she'd like to talk about something, but was not sure of how he'd feel if she brought it up.
Adler turned his head and looked at her expectantly.
"You and Crabbe seem friendly," she stated, trying to act as if she wasn't at all curious.
"You noticed that too, huh? I thought I was imagining things!" Adler sounded relieved. Tamsin was surprised to hear his reply. "He was a bit rude to you."
Tamsin shrugged, "I'm used to it. Why'd he say hi to you?"
"No idea," Adler replied. "We don't talk."
"I am aware of that," Tamsin said. "The mighty Ryder doesn't notice you if you aren't part of his 'circle' of friends." She used her fingers to indicate the emphasis on the word 'circle'.
"I guess that's true," Adler nodded, and then shrugged. "He's not noticed me before, but I'm not surprised he's started talking to me now."
"Really, why?" Tamsin asked.
"There are only so many people he can talk to here in this castle," Adler explained. "He and Beathen obviously don't get along, he and Natasha get on too well, but have you noticed that it's awkward between them? Especially after she accused him of lying to her -"
"Which he did," Tamsin intervened.
"I'm not saying he didn't," Adler said a little impatiently. "And obviously you don't get along with Ryder -"
"Duh," Tamsin interrupted again. "Sorry," she added hastily as she saw him roll his eyes at her.
"So that leaves me," Adler said, a little bit resentfully.
"He must know you're a good guy," Tamsin told Adler. She had noticed his bitterness towards the end.
"I'm a last resort," Adler said bluntly.
"No!" Tamsin exclaimed quickly. "Don't say that, Adler!"
"Why not? It's true," he argued. "There's nobody else in this castle his age for him to talk to."
Tamsin refrained from rolling her eyes and sighing. "I'm sure that's not true," she finally said.
"Who's the first person you go to if you have news?" Adler asked her.
"Oh, um..." Tamsin was caught off guard. "Gabby Granger. She's my best friend."
"And in the castle?" Adler pushed.
"Natasha," Tamsin replied, a bit confused as to where Adler wanted the conversation to go. "She knows me second best."
"Would she go to you first?"
"Yeah, probably."
"How about Beathen?"
"I'd assume he'd go to you first?" Tamsin said uncomfortably. She didn't like where Adler was taking this.
"No," Adler said. "He goes to you, or Natasha."
Tamsin was about to protest and say 'No, he doesn't!' when she realised that Adler was right. She looked at him sadly.
"I always tell you guys everything first," Adler said pointedly.
"To be fair, we all tell each other everything to do with von Rubenstein first," Tamsin said. "It's only the personal things..."
"So I'm kept out of it?" Adler accused. "I'm not close enough to any of you to know anything personal?"
"We're still getting to know each other," Tamsin said quietly.
"Well, obviously, you aren't making an effort to get to know me," Adler sat up and crossed his arms.
Tamsin stayed quiet. She hadn't really thought about how they treated each other. To her, it felt like they were connected by von Rubenstein - that became clear when Beathen suggested that they join forces to help the Order secretly. Even though she was related to the others, she still felt like they were strangers, and that they were all trying to get to know each other. Adler was right, there were only five of them in the castle that were the same age. He was right in saying that she and Natasha swapped their news first...but she didn't know, or understand, why Adler felt excluded. She had always tried to include him.
'"I'm sorry you feel that way," Tamsin said quietly. "I assure you that it's not on purpose."
"Well, it certainly feels like it is," Adler snapped. He folded his arm and stared across the lawn. He had surprised himself – he hadn't known that these feelings were bottled up inside, but now that he expressed himself, he felt more aware of these emotions.

Natasha walked back into the room that she had been in before Ellen called her out. She had just come back from speaking to her mother, who had delivered 'very important' news.
"What's going on?" she asked them. She found it to be very suspicious that Beathen and Ryder were sitting on opposite ends of the couch and had not ruined anything in the room. Normally, at least one object was destroyed.
"You tell me," Ryder said bitterly. Beathen didn't say anything. Instead, he stood up and walked out of the room. Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"Ryder Crabbe, you are going to tell me what the hell is going on right now," Natasha told him sternly. "Or Wizard God forbid I will hex you until you'll regret it."
Ryder groaned, knowing that if he didn't tell her, she was more than capable of hexing him into oblivion.
"I guess...I'll have to start from the beginning," Ryder looked at her.
"Where else were you going to start?" Natasha asked, rolling her eyes, sarcasm lacing her tone.
"It was just before our first year..."

*Flashback*
Ryder Crabbe had convinced his mother to let him go to Diagon Alley to get his school supplies alone. She had let him go, reluctantly, after her husband had told her that Ryder was capable of looking after himself. Ryder wandered the Alley animatedly, visiting shops here and there, buying his supplies for school. Before he forgot, he visited Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and spent some money in there. He liked to shop without his mother hovering about. As much as he loved her, she was a pain to shop with. He had never been shopping with his father, so he couldn't compare the two. He noticed a lot of other school aged people about, but that was normal - school was starting in less than a week! Ryder was excited.
"Here you are, dear," Madam Malkin handed him his school robes and thanked him for shopping at her store. He grabbed the brown paper package and headed outside. Just as he was about to visit the Apothecary, a hand covered his mouth and he was dragged backwards.

Ryder looked around. He must have been knocked out. He was in a small, dark room. He heard a bell ring on the other side of the door, and low voices. He looked around and was surprised to see another person in the room with him.
"Hello," he said tentatively.
"Hi," the other person replied.
"Do you know where we are?"
The other person shook their head, "I got separated from my uncle while shopping for school supplies. Next thing I know, I'm in here."
"Have you been here long?" Ryder asked.
The other person shrugged, "I just came around when they brought you in."
"Are you going to Hogwarts?"
The other person nodded, "First-year. You?"
"Yes, me too."
"I'm Beathen, by the way," the other person introduced them-self.
"Ryder," Ryder stuck out his arm, and Beathen shook it.

"So are we going to get out of here, or what?" Beathen looked at Ryder, a determined look on his face.
"Yeah," Ryder said. He made his way to the door to peek through the keyhole. "It's a shop!" he exclaimed.
"Borgin and Burkes?" Beathen asked.
"It looks awfully like it," Ryder grimaced. "I don't like this very much."
"No, neither do I," Beathen agreed. "Look, there's a window up there."
"That's awfully high up," Ryder commented.
"Scared, Ryder?" Beathen smirked.
"You wish," Ryder said, as he tried to scale the wall. Needless to say, he didn't succeed. "We need rope."
The two eleven-year-olds scoured the room for any materials that could help them.
"We can't do this!" Beathen slouched against the wall, feeling tired.
"Don't give up!" Ryder said.
"You're right, we're not going to get out of here if I sit here complaining," Beathen stood up again, and thanks to Ryder's motivation, started banging on the door.
"What are you doing?"
"Something we should've done ages ago."

They heard footsteps approaching the door. Ryder stood back against the wall and nodded at Beathen. The door opened.
"Stop banging on the door," the person said. He was masked, but his voice didn't sound too tough. His eyes were the lightest shade of green though, and this didn't suit his devilish ways at all, assuming he was the one who captured them, of course.
"We'll stop as soon you tell us what's going on," Beathen said angrily. He started banging on the wall next to him. Ryder took his lead and hit the wall beside him too. The other person tried to stop them, but they were in their own element. They refused to listen to him.
"Okay! Stop! Please!" the other person shouted. It was his 'please' that stopped them. Someone who was capable of being polite surely couldn't have anything to do with the situation that they were in, right?
"Why should we!?" Beathen glared at him.
"They'll hear you."
"Who are they?" Ryder asked curiously. He and Beathen stopped banging. "Why the hell are we in here?" he added.
The other person sighed, "You guys shouldn't be too worried. It's a prank."
"Well, it's a stupid prank," Ryder spat. Who in their right mind would knock eleven-year-olds unconscious and lock them in a room?
"I know," the other person sighed again. "My big brother made me the guard."
"You're not doing a good job," Beathen commented.
"I know," the other person said.
"Who's your brother?" Ryder asked, acting as menacingly as he could.
The other person fidgeted. "I shouldn't tell you."
Ryder and Beathen raised an eyebrow first at him, and then at each other. Simultaneously, they began banging on the walls again, making a loud racket.
"Okay, okay!" the other person hissed. "We're a part of the Mulciber family."

Ryder scoffed. Beathen put on a brave face, but was secretly terrified. From the reading that his Uncle had given him, he knew that at least one Mulciber was a Death Eater. Mulciber looked at them, waiting for their reactions.
"Mulciber, huh?" Ryder asked. Mulciber nodded. "Well, you can tell your brother that my father will hear about this."
"Who's your father then, tough guy?" a taller person arrived at the scene. He too had a mask on, but looked much more aggressive than the first person. The taller person slung an arm around Mulciber's shoulder, "What's up, bro?"
So this was the big brother…Ryder didn't even falter. Beathen had thought that to be very brave of him.
"Vincent Crabbe," Ryder said, with as much gusto as he could manage. He was instantly satisfied when he saw the two other people whiten. "Are we going to get escorted out now?"
"You're lucky, kid," the older Mulciber told them. "We don't mess with other Death Eaters' kids. Let him go." He sneered at his brother.
"He's with me," Ryder spoke up, when he realised that he was allowed a free pass but Beathen was not.
"Not your call," the older Mulciber jeered.
"Really? I don't recall your last name being Crabbe," Ryder said coldly. "Remember, it was my dad who saved you from that burning house. You owe me."
Mulciber glowered at Ryder, but didn't say anything. His younger brother stood idly by, his admiration apparent in his eyes. Nobody ever stood up to his brother.
"Come on," Ryder muttered to Beathen. They walked past the Mulciber brothers and into the gruesomely decorated main room of Borgin and Burkes.
"Hey, there's our shopping," Beathen pointed. They grabbed their bags and headed out into Knockturn Alley. Neither of them said a word until they reached the brightly lit Diagon Alley and were seated out the front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"Thank you," Beathen said a bit timidly. Ever since finding out Ryder was a Crabbe, and therefore also a former Death-Eater's son, he was being more cautious.
"It's no trouble," Ryder replied.
They fell into silence once more. When they had finished their ice-creams, Ryder broke it.
"You know, I really don't like using my name to influence people's decisions," Ryder felt like he owed Beathen an explanation. "I was taught to focus on becoming a better person, rather than relying on my name. But what the Mulcibers were doing were just cruel."
Beathen looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry for judging you."
"It's okay," Ryder said pleasantly. He stuck out his hand for Beathen to shake. Beathen gave him a small smile. "I'm sure we'll be friends at Hogwarts."
"Yes, I'm sure," Beathen agreed.
*End of Flashback*

"The Mulcibers!? The nerve of them!" Natasha exclaimed after Ryder had finished his recount. She had never met them, but had heard many stories of them circulating the Common Room during her time at school. "What were they planning to do with you?"
"Well, during the year, I found out that they just wanted to scare the first-years," Ryder said. "Obviously, it didn't work in my case."
"I don't get it though…you were friends with Beathen before school started. Why did you pretend to hate each other?" Natasha asked. She had very strong ideas about what friendship was, and what Beathen and Ryder had – in her opinion – was not a friendship.
"Well, he was Sorted into Gryffindor and I was Sorted into Slytherin," Ryder shrugged. "We had to keep the house rivalry alive!"
Natasha frowned, "Inter-house unity was enforced when we were in our third-year."
"By that time, we had already made it clear that we 'disliked' each other," Ryder pointed out. "It was much easier."
"I don't understand," Natasha furrowed her brow, feeling frustrated.
"I didn't think you would," Ryder sighed impatiently.

"Hey guys," Beathen approached Tamsin and Adler, who were still sitting underneath the beech tree.
"Hi," Tamsin greeted him. Adler ignored him, which Beathen found very odd. Adler was always very friendly. Beathen sat down next to him, curious, but he didn't pry. He knew that when Adler wanted to talk, he would. Adler, however, was feeling furious – Beathen hadn't even asked him what was wrong! Adler knew he was being silly, but he wanted to have a little bit of attention, considering he didn't ask for it often.
Beathen yawned, "I'm so tired!"
"Yeah, me too," Tamsin replied. Adler tried not to glare at the pair of them. He felt that they were now excluding him from the conversation. Tamsin had noticed that Adler was keeping quiet. She knew that he was mad, though she didn't understand why. They were having a conversation in front of him, he was very welcome to join it. She turned to him, "What should we do about von Rubenstein?"
Adler looked at her, making sure that her question was directed to him before answering with a shrug.
"Tamsin!" they heard someone call. A figure had just come out of the castle's front doors and was slowly making their way towards the beech tree that Beathen, Tamsin and Adler were sitting under.
"Ahhh, it's Bridget," Tamsin sighed. "I should go see what she wants." She stood up and left them, in an attempt to stop Bridget before she did any damage – for Tamsin thought all her sister did was cause trouble.
Beathen watched Tamsin leave, and then turned to Adler. "What's wrong with you?" he asked.
Adler chose not to answer Beathen's question. Instead, he said, "Did you know that we're sitting under a beech tree, and I have a beech wand?"
He pulled out his wand to compare it to the tree's wood.
"Um, Adler?" Beathen asked, suddenly worried.
"Yes, Beathen?" Adler tried to keep out the snap of impatience in his voice. Unfortunately for him, Beathen noticed.
"Did I do anything wrong?" Beathen asked. "Because I don't think I did, and you're still treating me like crap."
Adler thought about it, about telling Beathen everything, how he had felt, how he was now feeling…but a little voice inside his head told him that telling Beathen would make him seem weak. And Adler did not want to be seen as weak.
"No, of course you didn't," Adler finally said. "I'm just not in a good mood. I'm sorry."
Beathen relaxed, "That's okay." He pat Adler on the shoulder. Beathen asked, "So what are we going to do about von Rubenstein?"
"I've no idea," Adler replied. He felt that he should at least answer some questions. Not doing so would result in more questions about whether he was pissed off at the others or not.
"Well, in any case, we should somehow find out what happened during the meeting this morning," Beathen said when he realised Adler was not going to elaborate. Adler nodded in agreement.

Tamsin had managed to escape her sister, sending her off to check up on Ellen and the younger kids. Bridget had scowled but accepted the dismissal. Tamsin was roaming the castle's corridors and hallways, looking for Natasha – she needed to tell her about what Adler had told her.
"That is not a friendship, Crabbe!"
Tamsin heard Natasha's voice rising and frowned when she heard her mention Ryder's last name.
"Maybe not to you, Malfoy," Ryder replied. "You know, not everyone has the same idea of friendship as you do."
"But my idea of it is right!" Natasha yelled. Tamsin could almost imagine an eye roll.
"I'm not going to sit here and argue with you about friendship, Natasha!" Ryder yelled back. "This is stupid."
"You're stupid," Natasha snapped. Tamsin decided it was time she walked into the room.
Natasha was sitting on the floor, casting 'Wingardium Leviosa' on the objects around her. Tamsin found the floating furniture quite amusing. The only piece of furniture that was not levitating was the armchair that Ryder Crabbe occupied.
"Hi Tamsin," Natasha noticed her. Ryder's head snapped up and he looked at her.
"Peverell," he grinned at her smugly. She chose to ignore him.
"I need to talk to you, Natasha," Tamsin said.
"Okay," Natasha said. She pat the ground next to her, inviting Tamsin to sit down.
"Alone," Tamsin glanced in Ryder's direction.
"Oh, you want me to leave!?" Ryder stood up quickly and said quite sarcastically. "All you needed to do was ask!"
Both Tamsin and Natasha rolled their eyes.
"Actually, can we leave?" Tamsin asked. She glared at Ryder, "You can stay."
"Yes, ma'am!" Ryder saluted her.
"Let's go, Natasha," Tamsin literally pulled Natasha up and dragged her across the room.
"This conversation isn't over, Crabbe!" Natasha called.
"Oh yes, it is, Malfoy," Ryder taunted her back. He grinned at her. She glared at him.

Tamsin informed Natasha on all that Adler had told her.
"I had no idea he felt that way!" Natasha exclaimed.
"Nobody did," Tamsin said pointedly.
"Why didn't he say anything to anyone?" Natasha asked.
"He told me," Tamsin said.
"But –"
"Look, we've got to be extra nice to him now," Tamsin cut across her.
"We've always been extra nice to him," Natasha said.
"Well, we need to include him more," Tamsin said.
"We've always included him!" Natasha paused, "Does Beathen know?"
"I don't think so," Tamsin replied.
"Well, I think we have bigger troubles right now," Natasha said grimly. She bit her lip.
"What is it?" Tamsin asked.
"Looks like our parents are flying away," she walked towards the window and pointed into the sky, where a dozen or so broomsticks could be seen.
"What!?" Tamsin furrowed her brow. She turned around and looked in the direction that Natasha was pointing.
"Come on," Natasha broke into a run. Tamsin followed her.

"Did you see them?" Natasha almost crashed into Beathen and Adler. They had also seen the broomsticks in the sky and were going back into the castle to find the girls.
"Of course we did," Beathen said. "Where do you think they're going?"
"I'm not quite sure," Natasha said.
"Wait, I'm confused, what did we actually see?" Tamsin asked.
"Members of the Order of the Phoenix flying away," Adler informed her. "I assume they found out some valuable information in their meeting."
"Come on, let's go badger someone," Natasha said. She turned and made her way back into the castle.

The first person they bumped into was Ryder.
"Well, if it isn't the Fab Four," Ryder smirked.
"Go away, Crabbe," Tamsin said.
"No, I think I'll just tag along," Ryder sauntered to the back of the group, where Beathen was standing. "Hey Prince."
Beathen raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't answer. Ryder raised an eyebrow back at him.
"Well, come on then," Natasha said, taking the leadership position. She was still annoyed at Ryder, but didn't think that they'd get rid of him without a fight.

The second person they walked into was Sirius Black.
"Uncle Sirius!" Natasha greeted.
"Hey there, kiddo," Sirius's playfulness didn't quite reach his eyes. That was the first thing Adler noticed.
"Where were all those brooms flying to?" Adler asked him, cutting to the chase. Natasha was surprised – Adler hadn't really taken initiative before. She was proud of him.
Sirius bit his lip, but said, "Don't tell anyone I told you, but the Order think that we've found von Rubenstein's headquarters."
Beathen, Tamsin and Ryder gasped.
"Where is it?" Natasha asked.
"Not at the Ministry, like we previously thought," Sirius told them. He sighed, "We have reason to believe that he's using The Burrow."
"No!" Tamsin exclaimed. "He can't!"
Sirius nodded at them sadly, "I should go and inform the allies."
"Okay, thank you for telling us, Uncle Sirius," Adler said.
"Yes, thank you," Natasha echoed. She turned around to look at the others. They looked at her. "Where's Ryder?"
"Oh no," Beathen said, as he realised something.
"Oh no," Natasha repeated.
"He wouldn't!" Adler said uncertainly. "Right? He wouldn't?"
"I don't know…he is Ryder Crabbe,,," Tamsin said, just as uncertainly.
"Accio broom!"
They heard a loud yell come from outside. A Firebolt whooshed past them.
"He would," Natasha blanched.
"Don't do it Ryder!" Beathen ran out and stood on the top step. He had forgotten about their fight, about their friendship. He forgot that the others didn't know about them being friends. He just cared about Ryder's safety.
"I have to," Ryder said. "You, out of all people, have to understand that."
He mounted the broom and kicked off hard.

A/N: I was so tempted to write "What an idiot" at the end. But I thought that that may ruin the mood. So a quick summary:
- Nobody, but Snape, knows that they were in that store room – to be fair, not a lot of time has passed since they were caught.
- Bellatrix escaped from Azkaban when von Rubenstein came into power – Natasha thinks he has something to do with her escape – but Bellatrix is now in hiding. Why?
- Adler has expressed that he has been feeling excluded from the group. Tamsin doesn't understand why because she feels that she has always included him. Adler mainly blames Beathen – perhaps this is because Adler feels that Beathen is the only other boy in the castle his age (Ryder had only just come)…so they should share things. However, Adler does not want to seem "weak" – remember, he is a sixteen year old boy, with a lot of bottled up feelings. :)
- Adler mentioned that his wand is of beech wood, and according to Pottermore: "is a true match; if young – wise beyond his/he years, if full-grown – rich in understanding and experience. When it is properly matched, it is capable of subtlety and artistry rarely seen in any other wood." – I hope you can get a bit more out of Adler's character with that description.
- Both Beathen and Ryder were "kidnapped" by the Mulcibers before their first year of school, and became friends because of that experience. They pretended to hate each other to keep the house rivalry alive, and when they were able to openly say they were friends, their reasoning had been that they had 'disliked' each other for too long. Natasha doesn't understand why they're friends because her idea of friendship (which she believes to be right) is not the same as their idea of friendship.
- They see members of the Order flying off on broomsticks. Sirius tells them that the Order believe that von Rubenstein's new HQ is at The Burrow – which Tamsin is super shocked about, which is understandable – she's half a Weasley after all (her mum is Elladora Weasley – Arthur Weasley's sister).
- Ryder Crabbe flies off, we assume, after them – after telling Beathen that he should understand why. And I'm hoping you know why he flew off like that – he wants to avenge his mother's death. And you know, they now think that they know where von Rubenstein is, so of course, Ryder wanted to go with them. But he is a "think now, act later" kind of guy so…will this get him into trouble?
- Tamsin mentioned that her best friend at school was 'Gabby Granger'. We may or may not get some more information on her...but it won't be a lot. If you're wondering - yes, we did make her related to Hermione Granger - Gabby is her cousin.

I've realised that for the past couple of chapters, it has been very much Beathen-central, but I've tried to answer all the questions we had about him, and tried to move onto a new character to …discover (Adler). And even though there are lots of questions about Ryder, he is not a main character – it is called the Golden Quartet after all.

Thank you for reading. :) x

What to expect next chapter:
- The events that take place after the Order and Ryder fly off.
- Why Amelinda wanted to talk to Natasha.

Disclaimer: What you mostly recognise is owned by J.K. Rowling (including that bit about wand woods, taken from Pottermore), there is a mention of the 'Fab Four' in here, which I took from Veronica Mars(owned by Rob Thomas), and everything else is owned by my friends and I.