"Rescue me?"I whispered.

"Yes, you don't want to go to Azkaban,"Antonius replied,"they're all saying you killed Kenneth Brass. Once you're in Azkaban, they won't let you out. Here - I got your wand."

He tried to give me my wand. I threw it back at him. He picked it up.

"Why did you have to kill him, Catherine?"Antonius asked.

"I didn't kill him,"I said.

"Come on,"Antonius said, taking me by the arm,"we need to get out of here."

As I followed Antonius, my mind was completely blank. I had no strength to decide whether or not I wanted to stay, or attempt to escape with him.

"Now, listen to me, Catherine,"Antonius said,"when you're on the run, you can't use magic. With your wand or without your wand. Because you're not 17 yet, you still have the trace on you. After you turn 17 in a few months, you'll be fine. I'm fine because I'm already 17, so I can help you for a bit."

Antonius took me through a passage I had never known existed before, but right now, I didn't really think much about my surroundings. I was too distracted, too much in shock, I just followed Antonius along like a dog on lead.

Then a shadow appeared out of the darkness. I screamed! It was Silas!

"Shh, Catherine!"Antonius said, holding me, as I tried to run in the opposite direction,"he's only here to help us."

The last thing I remembered from that point, was Silas waving his wand and saying,"Imperio!"

The next thing I knew, I was in a cave with Silas and Antonius, feeling extremely confused. I remembered Silas had used the Imperius Curse on me. What had he made me do? Why didn't I remember it?

Silas and Antonius were talking to each other loudly, but it took a few moments for me to actually be able to hear what they were saying. It seemed they were arguing about the ritual.

"She told me it requires a human sacrifice, Silas,"Antonius was saying,"of course I'm not going to leave her here with you."

"She lied to you,"Silas said,"there's no way she could possibly know what the ritual involves! I already told you what I need."

"She wouldn't have told me about it, if she didn't believe it, she's not a liar, Silas,"Antonius persisted.

"You stay here with her then,"Silas said,"make sure the both of you stay in this cave while I'm gone. The Basilisk is outside. It can't come in here, but it's uncontrollable when I'm not around. Even if you manage not to look it in the eye, it'll eat you."

Silas left the cave. I looked around and noticed the enchanted runes carved into the walls.

Even though Silas was gone now, we were prisoners.

"What do we do?"I whispered.

"Stay here,"Antonius said.

"We can't be here,"I said,"it's Midsummer's Day! What time is it?"

"About 3 o'clock in the morning,"Antonius answered,"you should go to sleep, Catherine."

We had the whole day yet, about nineteen hours. That was some comfort.

"Antonius, what did Silas make me do?"I asked.

"Here's some water,"Antonius said, handing me a cup.

"What did he make me do?"I persisted.

"Sit down, Catherine, you should go to sleep soon,"Antonius continued.

I looked at the water, starting to feel suspicious of it, but really I was so tired that I probably wouldn't need a sleeping potion, if there was one in there.

"What did Silas make me do?"I went on.

"What are you talking about?"Antonius asked, as he draped a blanket around me.

"When Silas used the Imperius Curse, what did he make me do?"I asked.

"He made you follow us and keep quiet,"Antonius said,"and he made you forget about it afterwards. So you wouldn't remember the way to this place. See, he doesn't plan on sacrificing you. I don't know if what you said about the human sacrifice was true, Catherine. I don't think it is. You must be mistaken,"then he gave me the water again,"please drink it, Catherine. It's just normal water. Look - I'll drink some."

He drank some.

"You need it,"he said.

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I drank it. He put his arm around me, I leaned on his shoulder and he stroked my hair. I allowed myself to relax in his arms as I felt myself succumb to exhaustion.

When I woke up, I felt really uncomfortable. I'd been lying on the floor of a cave. Antonius was asleep next to me. I reached over and gently stroked his hair, whispering in his ear until he woke up.

He yawned and sat up.

"What time is it?"I asked him.

Antonius yawned again and checked the time,"it's eleven in the morning,"he said,"we've been asleep all night!"

"Do you have any more water?"I asked.

"Of course,"Antonius said, looking around for the cup,"Aguamente!"

I drank the water all in one gulp. I realised I was still in a dreadful mess. Covered in dirt. Dirt in my hair, all over my clothes, my hands, my arms. It was probably all over my face too.

"I must look dreadful,"I said.

"You always look beautiful to me,"Antonius said.

I began to realise some things. We were in a cave, in the Forbidden Forest. Silas said there was a Basilisk outside. We were at the very place Silas planned to do the ritual!

"Silas is going to do the ritual today!"I said.

"I know,"Antonius said,"but don't worry, it'll be alright. Silas assured me it won't be as bad as you thought. There's no human sacrifice involved."

"Well, did he tell you exactly what the ritual involves?"I asked.

"It does involve a sacrifice,"Antonius said,"an animal sacrifice..."

"Which animal?"I asked.

"The Basilisk,"Antonius answered.

"No, that... that doesn't make any sense,"I said.

I wondered. Maybe it was a different ritual that Silas was going to perform, not the one I'd read about in the enchanted rune book?

Then I added,"how would he even be able to sacrifice a Basilisk?"

"He must have a way,"Antonius said,"and the Basilisk listens to him. Anyway, it'll be fine. After today, we won't have to worry about the Basilisk any more, and we can get away from here and go somewhere else, if you want."

"Won't people wonder where you are?"I asked,"back at Hogwarts?"

"They'll have found out I helped you escape, and I'm running away with you,"Antonius said.

"So, you're going to stay with me?"I asked.

"Of course,"Antonius said,"I'll stay with you for as long as you need me."

I still felt a bit confused from all that had happened, like my mind was trying to process things. Part of me just wanted to settle down and go back to sleep, pretending the world outside didn't exist; and part of me was desperately trying to make sense of things - I couldn't get rid of the feeling that there was something I needed to do - urgently!

"Antonius,"I said, suddenly remembering something important that I hadn't told him,"I didn't kill Kenneth Brass. Silas did."

Antonius looked at me confused,"why would Silas do that?"

"I don't know,"I tried to explain,"he killed him with my own wand in front of me - when the Aurors were looking for us. Then he gave me my wand and told me 'welcome to the fugitive life' and he left me to get found by the Aurors - with Kenneth dead."

Antonius looked at me, puzzled,"are you sure you're alright, Catherine?"he asked.

"That is what happened!"I insisted.

"That doesn't make any sense,"Antonius said.

"I know, it doesn't make sense to me either,"I said,"Silas could just have obliviated him, but instead, he killed him."

"What did happen while you and Kenneth were missing?"Antonius asked,"they were going to put you on trial."

"They did try,"I said,"but I escaped. I ran into the Forbidden Forest, Kenneth and Silas chased me. It was just the two of them. Then Kenneth and I fell down this thing called an Earth Trap."

"An Earth Trap?"Antonius asked.

I went on to explain everything that happened.

"What did you mean when you said 'Silas could just obliviate him'?"Antonius asked.

"Oh - that,"I said,"when we were in the Earth Trap, and the ground was swallowing us up, Silas said he could only rescue one of us, and he chose me instead of Kenneth. I refused his help, and when Kenneth tried to grab the rope he threw down to us, Silas hit him with a stunning spell. He only wanted me to escape. It didn't matter in the end, anyway, because we both got buried. Kenneth was really angry at Silas for that."

"Do you know why Silas only wanted to rescue you?"Antonius asked.

I decided to tell Antonius everything, including the part where he drank Verita Serum and asked me to obliviate him afterwards.

"Max and I managed to convince Professor Longbottom, and he went to send an owl,"I finished.

Antonius was very quiet for a few moments, then he said,"Catherine, I'm sorry."

I was about to say something, then stopped when I noticed the look on his face.

"Catherine,"he continued,"I've let you down. I've let us both down."

"How?"I asked, a feeling of dread collapsing over me.

"I told Silas you knew about the ritual,"he said,"after you told me about the human sacrifice, I asked him about it. He got me to tell him how I knew you knew and what I knew you knew. He used the Imperius Curse on me."

"No,"I whispered.

"That was when he told me it was the Basilisk he was going to sacrifice instead,"Antonius went on,"but after he knew you knew about the ritual, he got APS to spy on you all day. In the early evening, one of his spies warned him she'd overheard you and Castellanos snitching on him in the Greenhouses to Professor Longbottom. Silas went after Professor Longbottom and obliviated him before he had a chance to send an owl."

I realised, in horror, that no help was on the way; but then I remembered Max.

"Max knows though,"I said,"he could still do something."

"Silas knows he knows, Catherine,"Antonius said,"Max won't be able to do anything."

"What can we do?"I asked.

"You could be wrong about the ritual,"Antonius said, hopefully,"after the ritual is over..."

"As soon as the ritual is over, one of us might be dead!"I interrupted in frustration.

"But if we try to escape now, with the Basilisk out there, both of us will be dead!"Antonius said.

"Well, while we're in here, let's just look around this place,"I said, reading the rune carvings on the walls.

The carvings included directions to the sacrificial chamber. I made my way through the tunnels in that direction.

"We can't wander too far,"Antonius warned,"we'll get lost."

"It's alright, I can find my way back,"I said.

"You're sure?"Antonius said, looking at me with uncertainty.

The next cave was the sacrificial chamber. There was an opening high up in the ceiling, daylight poured down from it. Directly underneath was a stone table with shackles on it.

"What's this?"Antonius asked.

"It's the sacrificial chamber,"I said,"do you see how Silas is going to get the Basilisk in here?"

"Are you sure this is?"Antonius said, starting to look uneasy.

There were enchanted runes everywhere, and I didn't like the sound of what they seemed to be describing. The dark force that would be summoned, sounded extremely dangerous. Silas seemed to believe he would obtain the power through this ritual, but the more I read from the runes on the wall, I started to get the idea that any power Silas managed to summon would end up consuming him, possessing him - he would no longer be himself, but - something else.

As I read more of the runes, I realised this ritual did require a human sacrifice. Not an animal, not even a magical creature as powerful as a Basilisk. It was written in the runes. A witch or wizard of pure-blood.