fourteen | oo30 [ voice // action ]

( Sokka | Locked 100% )

... I need your help. And you can't tell anyone, okay?

( Aqua | Locked 100% )

Aqua... I know we haven't spoken that much, but I need to ask you a really, really big favor.

( Sanji | Locked 100% )

[ a long silence goes here. ] ... could I stay at your house tonight?

( Luke | Locked 100% )

I'd -- [ ... ] Can I see you?

[ Xion is out of the house today. Mostly because it's become almost impossible to stay there. She hasn't slept for more than a handful of hours since Vanitas attacked -- three days ago. She's so exhausted she can barely stay on her feet, but better awake and moving than a sitting target.

Who could sleep, knowing that at any minute someone stronger than you and your friends could break into your home and kill you whenever he wanted?

It's this question that drives her to address Luceti at large, once she's got herself settled on the railing of That One Bridge. Hey, it's like right next to her house and she wanted to sit on a bridge, so sue her. ]

( filtered AWAY from Vanitas and Saix | Locked 100% )

What would you do if you didn't feel safe in your own home anymore?

[ and this is to say nothing -- not a damn thing -- of how she feels about Roxas right now. He had no excuse -- what defense could you give? -- and Axel almost died -- for what? Why? Why had any of this happened? Does she blame Roxas, for extending the invitation, or Vanitas, for taking it? Even if she had something to say to him, she couldn't -- he hasn't been home in days.

It's a very numb Poppet that's sitting on that there railing, swinging her legs and staring at the water below. Please interrupt her thoughts -- for they are very grim ones. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Xion takes the time to improve that filter. Even if it's just the tiniest bit -- she's loathe to take any risks at all right now. ]

... that's what I did. But I can't stay away forever... and I don't want to put my other friends at risk, either. There has to be another way...

[Hermione pauses. She doesn't often offer this sort of thing, but she did it once for Terra, so why not for Xion?]

Perhaps a magical security system would work better. [pause.] Spells and the like. If it's a person you're talking about. [She's assuming it is. If not, well, she can offer other things, too.]

... it's a person.

[ she almost doesn't dare to hope. ]

Magic... like what sort of spell?

There are a few of them. It's... difficult to tell how well something works here until you need it because of the power cap, but there are a few ways I might be able to help. The Fidelius Charm is what I used before. I'm not... certain it worked perfectly and it's difficult to maintain. It requires that someone very trusted be chosen as a Secret-Keeper when the charm is cast. Once cast, the hidden object is only able to be seen by those whom the Secret-Keeper has told, either verbally or in written form, and only the Secret-Keeper is able to speak of the object and its location. It works best on something that's stationary.

[She pauses to think through her options.] Like I said, it's very tricky and I don't know how well it works yet. The person my last attempt was to hide from disappeared shortly after the charm was cast. The other option is a group of spells that will also hide location, prevent anyone from seeing the house or apartment, and prevent them from hearing anything that goes on inside. I can also add a spell that might be able to repell those who will ill on their fellows, but that might take me a little longer to perfect. Usually, I only use something like that to repel non-magical people at home, but it ought to work in a different way here, as well. Perhaps Protego horibilis would work instead of Repello...

[She lapses into silence for just a moment ans she frantically runs over a list of spells.]

It would be a far more temporary and primitive solution than the Fidelius Charm, but either ought to at least help. And I ought to be able to set up a Caterwauling Charm as an alarm in case this person manages to get in anyway.

Edited 2011-01-08 05:17 (UTC)

[ Xion is silent during this long explanation, mostly because she is stunned. Such an offer -- such magic -- it's more than she could have hoped for, could have dreamed of. It's the first thing so far to sound like a real solution. ]

The -- the Fidelius charm! Please, could we try that? If you really think it would work... it'd be perfect! I -- I mean ... [ the other options sound good too. but she knows what she wants to try. still, Hermione's the expert here. ] Whatever you think would work best... all of this ideas are better than anything I've been able to come up with so far.

You'd have to be very careful about how you enter the protected area, but for all intents and purposes, if the charm goes as it ought to, the most anyone will notice is that you've disappeared. I might put up Protego Horribilis anyway just to be sure. It's a more specialized version of the Shield Charm we were working on in the D.A.

When would you like me to drop by for this?

Careful...? Why? But... I-- it's worth it, if all we need to do is be careful to hide from Vanitas forever.

Um -- [ right now? no, no, she has people to talk to first... ]

Tomorrow? I need to talk to my friends and make sure they're okay with it... and then I need to ask the person I'd like to be Secret Keeper. [ a pause, as she considers the fact that only she is close with Sanji. Might they want someone else...? ] Can there be more than one Secret Keeper?

So you don't give away the secret unintentionally. It's mostly the Secret-Keeper who will have to be careful. I'd suggest someone outside your house just so they won't have to worry about Apparating- er, Teleporting into a very specific place every time they enter or exit the house.

[She listens and hesitates.] Yes, it's possible to have as many Secret-Keepers as you want, but... with each Secret-Keeper, the risk for the secret getting out is multiplied. It's up to you, really, but they'll need to be there when I perform the charm.

Unintentionally...? How can you do that? [ nods. ] The person I have in mind is someone who doesn't live in our house... so that should be okay.

[ a pause. ] ... I understand. Thank you, Hermione. Thank you so, so much. I'll contact you tomorrow after I've spoken to my friends, okay? Just ... thank you. [ there are tears hiding in her voice, tucked away, but she manages to keep them back. she has possibly never been this grateful to anyone, ever. ~~overstatement, but hey, that's what it feels like right now.~~ ]

Well, imagine it. Say I'm the Secret-Keeper for my house. The perimeter of the spell ends just at the doorstep. I Apparate every day just inside the perimeter, right on the front porch, so that no one can see me enter. Say I miss my entrance one day and land too far back or that someone grabs a hold of me while I Apparate and they end up inside the circle of the charm. This would effectively give them the secret. In theory.

[Speaking from experience, NO OF COURSE NOT. There's a smile in her voice as she continues.] You're a friend, Xion. It's the least I can do to make the village a little safer.

Ohhh. So that would give it away... we'll have to figure out a new way of getting into the house that'll be harder to see, but that's still a lot easier than constantly moving and trying to hide that way.

[ oh Hermione. |D we still love you. ] ... you're amazing, Hermione. [ she laughs ] I'm looking forward to tomorrow now!

I think... I think if it's anyone who isn't the Secret-Keeper, it ought to be okay. But it can't hurt to be careful. I could extend the perimeter of the spell so you can come into it from the back, walk around, and still get in the front door...

It's nothing, really. I've just had to study a lot of magic. [She considers herself lucky!] I really hope it helps.

That would be perfect! Can you really do that...? [ amazed. ] Your world's magic really is incredible...

[ laughs again, the sound of it so much more cheerful than the tone of her voice at the beginning of this conversation. ] It sounds to me like it paid off.

I ought to be able to. It shouldn't be too difficult. It's all a matter of placement.

[She can tell and she's glad she could help.] It's paid off before, at home. [And under much more dire circumstances.] I'm glad it can still work here, even though it's not up to full strength.

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