A Quest For Backup.

-}{- Twelve -}{-

The room was simple enough, a study by the looks of it. 

Book shelves along one wall, a desk on the other. Stacks of papers and files, piled up. The rug in the middle of the room was a bright purple, like the chair behind the desk. 

And on that rug, laid four people. All wearing white shirts and black dress pants or skirts. Their collars turned up, as if ties were ripped from them. 

The first to sit up had black hair, curly and everywhere, and green eyes, like chips of emerald. 

"Ugh," He grabbed his head and bent over his knees. The girl beside him stirred then, sitting up. Her blonde hair fell to her shoulders, and it bent as if it had been held back a headband. She got to her feet but leaned on the desk beside her. 

The next one up, was a brown haired boy, brown eyes scanning around, his spiked hair patted down in the back, and a total mess in front. He patted around, finding his glasses in his shirt pocket. 

The last one to wake up had black hair, a bunch of tiny braids holding back the course hair from the girl's mocha skin. Her hazel eyes blazing as she sat up and groaned. 

"What happened?" The blonde asked, rubbing her pale green eyes. 

Little did they know, there were many like them. In rooms just like theirs, four people to each. The same uniforms, in equal states of rumbled. Just wake up. 

The green eyed boy rubbed at his forehead. "I don't know. What are your names?" He held himself up with a hand on the desk behind him. 

"Amara." The blonde said, taking inventory of where she was and what she had on her. "Slytherin." Amara frowned at her skirt. 

The brown haired boy went next. "Tommy, Ravenclaw." He cleaned his glasses with the edge of his shirt and then fixed everything as best as he could. 

"Chelsey, Hufflepuff." The brown haired girl, that was taller than anyone of the others, said. She crossed her arms, not bothering to fix her shirt that sat slightly askew. 

"Harry, Gryffindor." 

"We know." Amara said, rolling her eyes. "What do we do now?" 

"Well, I assume this is some sort of test." Tommy rambled, the others looking at him as if he had three heads. "We're all together, four students, one from each house, and anything that could tell us from the other houses had been taken. If I were to jump to conclusions I'd say Percy and Annabeth were fed up with us, and wanted to give us something to think about." He chuckled and put ran a hand through his mop of brown hair. 

"Right." Harry dismissed him and looked around. Amara slid her hands into her pockets and looked confused. "What?" She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. 

"It's a riddle." She said while blinking. 

-}{-

"It's a riddle." The brown haired girl spat. Her blue eyes brimming with anger. "So Billy was right, this is a test." The girl talking was a short, wearing pants, and sat on top of the desk in their room. 

"Billy" Glared over at her. "Just because I solved it before you, Ravenclaw, doesn't mean you get to be pissy about it!" His blue eyes were slightly darker than the girl before him, but his hair was black. "Just because I'm Slytherin doesn't give you the right to be a brat, Sydney." 

Sydney sneered over at Billy. 

But another brown haired girl cut in. "Just let me see the riddle." Her hair was poofy and fell around her in a could like shape. Her brown eyes were bored and fighting glaring at the others in the room. 

"Fine, Miss Granger." Sydney fake smiled. "Because you have to be the only one with brains in the group, right?" 

"I just want to look at it." Hermione snapped. 

"Guy!" A boy, baby faced and the shortest of the group, tried to smile. "We're here for a reason, I bet it was Percy and Annabeth. Let just work together, and get this over with." His blonde hair curled around his ears, and his brown eyes looked like pools of chocolate. 

-}{-

The redheaded girl looked the piece of paper she found in her pocket. "It gives instructions, and had a riddle at the bottom." She started pacing. She started reading. 

"You all probably have figured out what's happening. A test. And you all are from different Houses, that's on purpose too. The door out of the room you're in is charmed. There are two ways out, find the key or know what spell will open the door without it rebounding off you. No it's not the simple unlocking charm. Good luck." 

"Nice." A boy rolled his eyes, his black hair dipping to his brow as she placed his hands in his pockets and rolled his brown eyes. "This should be fun." 

"Shut up, Brendon." Another boy snapped. His blonde hair was cut close, and his brown eyes were slightly darker than Brendon's, but rimmed with orange. 

"All of you are ridiculous." The last boy sneered. His red hair and green eyes contrasting his pale skin. No freckles, unlike the girl from before. "Ginny was about to read the riddle." 

"Just because you want in her pant, Kent, doesn't give you the right to say anything to me." Brendon smirked. 

Kent smirked back. "Would you rather I get in your-"

"Enough." Ginny snapped, brown eyes blazing. "We have to work together, so all of you stop trying to have a pissing contest and focus!" 

-}{-

Sat on the floor, a dirty blonde swayed from side to side with her silver eyes closed. 

"I have many spines, though I do not move. I hold many tale, but I do not speak. I hold what you seek, however it might take some searching." A girl with black hair said, pushing a curl behind her ear. Her hazel eyes scanned the paper again. "Luna, you're the Ravenclaw. What does this mean?" 

"I know." The blonde on the floor mused. "But I'll give all of you a minute to think." 

The black haired girl sighed. "Fine, Slytherin is "cunning", what is the answer Mort?" She mocked, the boy standing beside Luna. His black hair was cut short and swept up. 

He rolled his brown eyes and frowned. "What, are you admitting that Gryffindors are stupid? Is that's what going on Linda?" She went bright red. 

"You both are insufferable! It's a bookshelf!" A small and fiery girl glared at them all. "The key, and probably the spell we need are in the bookshelf." She stomped over to the bookshelf and reached behind the books, feeling around. ON the second shelf she gripped a metal key and yanked it out. "There." She flung it to Linda, who fumbled before finally catching it. 

"Nice going Janet." 

-}{- 

"I bet this means . . ." The brown haired boy trailed off as he reached into the bookshelf. A minute later he pulled out the key and grinned. "There we go!" 

"Nice Neville." Clapped a boy with slightly longer black hair and blue-grey eyes smiled. 

"Oh look at the little Hufflepuff being so happy for the Gryffindor." The blonde girl fake gagged. 

"Leave Henry alone, Mindy." Neville scolded. "We can get out of here now. So stop being mad that you're here and lets get this over with." 

"Don't let the fact that a Gryffindor solved it before you, a Ravenclaw, get your feathers ruffled." Joked the other boy in the room. His green eyes twinkled with amusement, as he ruffled his light brown hair. 

"Shut up Patrick." Mindy growled.