Author's note:

As feared, homework has fallen on me like the proverbial ton of bricks. So, I'm trying to sneak out this chapter in my breaks ... just bear with me. I know it's been a ridiculously long time, especially considering the other chapters were uploaded within days of each other, but too many essays had exhausted my appetite for staying up late typing and burning my eyes out with the glare from the screen ... seeing as I have to do that for school anyway ... argh, that's what A-Level does to you, or me anyway...

Thank you jen, Kivessa, blackmagic, Domixt, leklek, Lady PC, Venus Saturnalia, CharmedHPfanatik and MischiefMagnet for reviewing the last chapter! Anyway, here is - FINALLY - chapter 4...

Disclaimer:

It all belongs to the genius J.K. Rowling; except maybe Dengwert. And the song clip is from the equally magnificent U2 - strictly speaking, it's irrelevant to the story, but it did partly inspire me to write it. Bless their woolly socks!

Rating: PG-13, for language if anything.

Chapter 4: Strange Land

Stranger, stranger in a strange land

He looked at me like I was the one who should run

"OUCH!"

"get OFF me, Fred!"

"er, actually Hermione, it's George"

"GET OFF -"

"ok"

"ow, my elbow"

"- what is it with Weasleys falling on top of me today?"

"er, Hermione? Could you just sort of shift your leg a little, I can't move"

"oh, sorry Percy"

"Hey, Potter! Is that a broomstick in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?"

The wriggling, loudly complaining pile of arms and legs froze; making a rather interesting picture, since on closer inspection, there was a leg too many. Unfortunately, Harry had a pretty good idea who it could belong to, given that drawl.

"Well, fortunately I can't exactly see you, Malfoy."

Another leg appeared; then a torso, then a languid arm threw off the Invisibility Cloak completely to reveal a a sneering face, beneath a slightly ruffled silver-blond mop. Draco Malfoy was lying on the ground near the edge of the sprawling group, beside Ginny, who stared at him with her mouth agape. The others clambered out of their undignified position, looking at each other and at Malfoy in bewilderment as they stood up. Percy, however, walked away, staring around at the place they'd landed in. Hermione followed his gaze; then followed him.

Ron was the first to speak. "Percy," he said nonchalantly over his shoulder, without breaking his disdainful stare at Malfoy, "There had better be a bloody good reason for us being stranded here with Ferret-boy."

Malfoy glared back scornfully. "Yes, there had be, Weasley. I didn't sign up for this impromptu holiday with the B-Team. There I was, just trying to get you in trouble for sneaking out, and spy on your Quidditch tactics - and suddenly your brother decides to go berserk and scare the crap out of everyone for no discernible reason, then whisk us off to Never-Never-Land here for, again, no reason whatsoever. Always knew your whole family was insane. Where the hell are we, anyway?" he asked, getting up and brushing bits of grass off his robes, staring around expectantly.

Ron, scowling, tried to think of a snappy comeback to Malfoy's taunts, but instead he found himself wondering as well. He looked around for Percy and spotted him standing with Hermione a little way away from the group, watching ... one of the most amazing views Ron had ever seen.

The Portkey had deposited them on a grassy knoll, which, after Ron's dazedly turning around to look, proved to be a certain distance up a massive, climbing wave of rock: a mountain with the snow-covered tips of its grey fingers reaching high up beyond the clouds and beyond sight. It was sparsely covered with scrubs of thistle and twisted bushes of faded hue, further up, although by the point where the group stood, this scrawned shrubbery had given way to rough grass and the occasional ancient tree.

Beneath the hill were many other hills; tumbling steeply over one another down to the bottom of the deepest valley Ron had ever seen. Mountains rose to the far left and right, covered equally thickly in dark trees at the bottom and snow further up. Their crisp silhouettes framed the sky, which, he noted thankfully, was at least the same one as that which they'd left behind in Hogwarts. The valley ... was a perfectly carved groove, with the slopes rising in geometrical curves from the narrow central plateau, crawling up and steepening as they reached their white crests.

The massiveness of it all overwhelmed him, and he was forced to sit down, wondering if he could add vertigo to his list of phobias. To his left, he could see the twins, silent for once, look about themselves as he'd done, confused and a little impatient, as if expecting some answer to rise out of the deep. Ginny sat where she'd fallen, gazing down at the vast trailing forest with its almost glassy darkness, with wonderment in her eyes. Harry and Malfoy wore identical stances; arms folded one in front of the other, frowning, they seemed to be looking inwards to some unseen question.

It was only a matter of time before somebody asked Percy where they were, what was going on and what precisely he intended to do about it. While waiting patiently for the question, however, he had taken the opportunity to walk to the end of the knoll, before it sloped down beneath, to survey the land of Dengwert. Hermione stood silently beside him.

The valley - certainly not so narrow as it seemed from this height - snaked away, fanning out in the far distance. The mountains flanking it washed away into a sea of rocky dunes into the horizon, other crisper valleys, other softer mountains - and one black, impassive wall.

For beyond where the valley's sharp groove branched out into hairline cracks through the landscape, there was one other mountain. It was faded by mist from this great distance, but Percy could still feel the dark solidity of the huge rock, could feel that thick texture as if he was brushing his fingers up and down its long sides; better, even, since his skin was blunted through the Spell. He could sense it. He could sense the way all else, all the other life in the valley, rebounded against this one rock, falling back weakly. A rock in the middle of a stream.

He noted, too, that between the flaky edges of the valley and the abrupt rise of the mountain, the forest faded too. So did the shrubbery ... so did, even, the soil. The view from the mountainside was of a sea of rock, with patches of green, of white, of grey - rising more steeply here, sinking more gently there. And one massive tidal wave, towering black, straight ahead ... and, one featureless trough. At the foot of the wave was the only flat plain in sight. It was tiny in comparison with what crept up behind it, but instinctively Percy knew that it was truly far from small. That it was vast and cold and foreboding - that it was flat and grey and hard, as hard as that mountain - that it was harsh - that it was dead - that it - contained the - the -

"Percy!" He turned from the far-off smudge of grey, pressing a hand to his head, facing his angry brothers. Hermione was fearful to see that the agitation was back in his eyes, after being replaced briefly by fascination, even admiration of the strange beauty of the land. She noticed the Pensieve for the first time, hovering like an obedient hummingbird at his side.

Fred and George stood side by side, annoyance and curiosity blending in their expressions. The others had also turned to watch.

"Percy, could you kindly explain just what the bloody hell is going on?"

That was the one thing Percy could not do. He groaned inwardly, worried his brothers wouldn't take no for an answer, wondering how he was going to do this, feeling guilty that he'd dragged them all into this. And yet, there was no way he could have left anyone behind - who knew which of the others had heard? Not to mention that there was strength in numbers...

With these thoughts jumbling through his brain, Percy nevertheless kept his face impassive and raised a steely tone to his voice. Prefect training.

"There is a great danger near Hogwarts - it has already taken one boy's life." Don't sound too pompous, my man. Percy paused, and continued in a quieter tone, "As I'm sure you all know, I was in Hogwarts on Ministry business" - an involuntary glance towards Ron, who squirmed guiltily - "and I was given orders to protect you all. It became necessary to do just that, on the school grounds before. We're here because it's safer here, and ... I can't tell you why, because, it's, er, confidential Ministry, erm, stuff." The others looked quizzically at the vast, rugged landscape. Percy cringed inwardly. He wondered quickly whether he should continue with his commanding-leader act, or explain as much as he could to them.

He waited for the questions to arrive, but none did - in truth, he was rather disappointed at the lack of Weasley spirit present. Ron was still making a concerted effort not to look over the precipice, while Ginny was gazing down into the forest. The twins looked at each other, at Percy, at their surroundings. I bet they think it has to be true - why else would snotty Percy voluntarily go on a trip to the great outdoors? Percy thought, then berated himself for being so uncharitable. He also felt slightly worried that he was getting used to the echoing of his thoughts in his "hamster ball" - it was comforting, like having a radio on or ...

"Percy?"

Hermione. She was still standing by him. She spoke quietly, so that the others wouldn't hear; she felt that Percy was keeping something back and would not take kindly to the others being alerted to this. "What are you trying to protect us from, exactly?"

Percy sighed, and took her arm gently, leading her away from the group and keeping her close. So she had asked the dreaded question - he didn't want the others to hear, too. Hermione was also very aware of how tall he was beside her, and she was feeling a little intimidated by this proximity. He turned his face to her, big grave-looking brown eyes peering at her. Hermione felt a sudden, irrational urge to giggle, probably brought on by the terrible seriousness of it all ... probably.

"Hermione, listen. We're in danger here too. I can't tell you or the others why, or it will place you in danger too. That's about as much as I can explain, and you have to trust me on this."

"But wouldn't we be safer if we were prepared?"

"You'd think ..." he frowned. "But no, actually. I - I can't explain it to you. You just have to trust me, just ... trust me," he finished lamely, wondering if he even trusted himself. To his surprise, Hermione nodded.

"I will." His eyes widened with bemusement, though he quickly reassumed his grave expression. She wanted to laugh again. "One word of advice, though - go easy on the "Ministry business" thing, I don't think that argument, er, carries much weight with them. I do suggest you find some way of explaining things as much as possible. I trust you know what you're doing, but believe me, it won't be long before people start asking questions."

"Will you be one of those people?"

"Probably," she frowned. "This is scarier than any of us - particularly Malfoy over there - are letting on, I'm sure, but, Percy, you're - you're a Ministry worker!" He winced inwardly at the sudden pain of a label he'd heard so many times.

But Hermione wasn't mocking, she was serious as could be. She waved a hand ineffectually, "you're, you work with danger all the time." James Bond, then. "well, anyway - I've never seen you like this before." Percy found himself wondering, fleetingly, how she'd perceived him before.

"You're scared, too; that's why I'm trusting you, for now. I'll just," she shrugged, "try to convince everyone else."

There was a pause, the breeze carried scraps of voices over from the others. Then, Percy surprised them both by breaking into a glad grin. "Thanks, Hermione. You couldn't be helping more." He realised he was still holding onto her arm, and let it go hastily. Then he turned and walked back to his brothers, who were waiting to know what came next.

Hermione, for her part, wondered why she had been so quick to trust him anyway. Perhaps it was an inbuilt obedience of authority figures - you'd think I'd have got rid of that, hanging around with those two ... Thinking of which, she noticed that Ron was giving her an odd look - since when had he been watching?

She turned away quickly, wondering if maybe there wasn't something else. Something indefinable about Percy told her he was telling the truth. And yet - Hermione always tried to keep her judgement objective but - did she just really want to trust him? Since she'd "saved" him this morning, been dragged along as an ally, been fallen on by him...

Oh dear.

He had been rescued by her, had fallen on her, and had whisked her off to another world ... all in one day. Certainly not enough to form a crush on ... in just one day? But there was no denying it: not a crush, but an awareness, and yes, formed in mere hours. Suddenly she found herself his only ally among all their friends trapped in the bizarre situation: because she could not relate, suddenly, to Fred and George's impatient, anxious interrogations, because she had seen the glassy fear shot through Percy's eyes when he'd heard Harry and Ron had escaped. Because she felt danger radiating off him in dark waves. He was laid open to her in a way she'd never seen before, elevated suddenly from acquaintance to friend - to person, not "indeterminate role model / friend's sibling". And being after all a fairly normal girl (who did have a mild crush on Professor Lupin, thank you very much) - suddenly Percy was, amazingly, a boy as well.

How irrational, she thought annoyedly (and not for the first time in her life), then realised she was still standing there alone, blushed, and went to join the group.

When she got there, Percy and the twins were arguing. They had regained a bit of their usual rebelliousness, particularly regarding Percy, while he'd been away. Indeed, Ron, observing the scene, could have explained that this was probably because he'd been talking to her and not them. A betrayal of Weasley solidarity, perhaps.

Percy, for his part, was getting flustered, and when he got flustered he got long-winded. Currently, he was throwing out tangled lines of reasoning in which the words "danger" and "Ministry" featured prominently. His neck and ears were sanded with red, his shoulders pressed with tension, poised as a teacher trying desperately to explain some essential point in the last five minutes of the lesson.

Hermione walked up, glancing over at the two remaining Weasleys and Harry, watching the familiar workings of the sibling argument; Draco too, with the idle engrossment of someone reading the back of a cereal packet for lack of anything else. She felt the need to say something, anything, in Percy's defense. He was just as thrown by this weird place as everyone else, but while Ginny went silent, Malfoy indifferent, Ron wry and Fred and George angry, Percy collapsed in on himself. Shrinking down to a core of dignity inside a big sack of babble, about to be shot full of holes by said brothers.

"People -"

Nothing. Argh.

"WEASLEYS!" Heads turned, sentences hanging on the next breath. She took the brief pause to launch into a diatribe of her own, the loud earnestness and "Hogwarts: A History"-promotional-campaign voice another familiar constant in all the strangeness.

"Almost like home." Ron said to Harry.

"... and we're here whether you like it or not, do you honestly think your brother would drag you to the wilds of nowhere for kicks? There's something wrong in Hogwarts, you know it, so does he and more besides, so why don't you trust him?"

"Why are you so eager to? The Ministry is not what it used to be, it's not safe! Dad knows it, but Percy ..."

The pause was enough; it blew Hermione's argument back from her lips. Percy stood still. The twins combined defensiveness and discomfort in their stance: the dark idea escaped was now alien in the bland air.

Hermione's retort sprung out as if on elastic, with the tang of fear as well as anger.

"He's your brother!" Five minutes in this place and they were already suspicious of each other. It went far beyond the understandable impatience and curiousity, or sibling rivalry.

Pause. Attention, like magnets, was now drawn to that invisible point of decision soon approaching.

"Do we - you - know where we're going?

"Yes. Down through the valley, the mountains are too treacherous and the forest will provide us with all we need. Just, straight ahead." Mundane details blunted the tension of the moment, and the next words came with inevitable relief.

"Let's go."

There was another pause, then instinctively, people began to move. The group drew in on themselves, picked their way down the steep slopes, Percy leading the way with Ron and Hermione flanking him. The valley stretched before them, a plate of moss over scratched rock, surging into the horizons. Immense glass sky above had a peculiarly insulating effect, like distance seen through clean windows. And, far off, in this white haze, the vast mountain watched the descending strangers like a beacon of negative light, the stained grey plain stretching out beneath, curling into the far ends of the silent valley.