I dedicate this chapter to my Great Aunt, Debbie Brown, who passed away on March fourth, 2004.
DEATH, to the
dead for evermore
A King, a God, the last, the best of friends -
Whene'er this mortal journey ends
Death, like a host, comes smiling to the door;
Smiling, he greets us, on that
tranquil shore
Where neither piping bird nor peeping dawn
Disturbs the eternal sleep,
But in the stillness far withdrawn
Our dreamless rest for evermore we keep.
For as from open windows forth we peep
Upon the night-time star beset
And with dews for ever wet;
So from this garish life the spirit peers;
And lo! as a sleeping city death outspread,
Where breathe the sleepers evenly; and lo!
After the loud wars, triumphs, trumpets, tears
And clamour of man's passion, Death appears,
And we must rise and go.
Soon are eyes tired with sunshine;
soon the ears
Weary of utterance, seeing all is said;
Soon, racked by hopes and fears,
The all-pondering, all-contriving head,
Weary with all things, wearies of the years;
And our sad spirits turn toward the dead;
And the tired child, the body, longs for bed.
Aunty Debbie, may you forever rest in peace. I love you. Amen.
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I do not own any part of the Harry Potter world. I do however own my original characters, and most of the plot.
AN: Hello my wonderful reviewers. I missed you. I apologize once again for my long absence, but yet again my computer was having problems. Problems which caused it to become little more than an oversized, and ugly paperweight T-T But I'm back, and happy to be so. I missed you guys so much. And Great Grandmother went into the hospital, she's not looking good. And then one of my best friends was going through a really hard time. I wont go into details, after all that's they're business, but I felt it my duty to be a good friend. This authors note also serves the purpose of telling you all that I wont be updating either of my stories again until April, because I'm going to Japan from March 11 – 22. I'VE WANTED TO GO THERE FOREVER. My updates will probably be really erratic (more so than usual if that's even possible ;P), because a bunch of my friends and I have decided to make an anime. And I mean everything, plot, characters, animation (36 - 38 frames per second!), and then the voice acting, that'll be taking up a lot of my time for a while as well. And then my stupid PC lost like half of this chapter. Well, that's about it I think, if I think of something else, I'll say it at the end of the chapter.
Kiyoshi Ri: Thanks for your review my friend, and welcome to my insane world. Yep, ur right J. I wouldn't have minded much. Lol. Yes, I know I'm a genius (no, I do not have problems with Narcissism *whistles innocently*). Best fanfic writer, I don't think so, check out Slytherin Rising by J. L. Matthews. Now she writes some good fics. So does Atiannala and VMorticia (her Draco Malfoys Point of View series is one of my favs). And don't worry, vent all you want, if anything I find it amusing (and I know your brother so I can totally sympathize :p). And long reviews; find me an author who doesn't like long reviews. lol. And the cliffies…you didn't read my bio did you? *grins sadistically* And I want some sweet buns *goes and sulks in corner* You do realize that you used doshite wrong. BAAAAAAKA.
Atiannala: Thanks for your reviews, both of them ^_^. Glad you liked it. Don't worry; I do some pretty stupid shit too. Just ask Kiyoshi Ri (on of my bf's lol) about some of the stupid stuff I do (especially when I'm hyper…which is often). I'm glad you're back I missed you and was afraid that I'd lost you. Yes, school has been crazy for me too, and now a bunch of my friends and I have decided to make an anime. I'm responsible for character design and one of the voices. I'm really anticipating doing this thing. I want to go see Butterfly Effects but I haven't' gotten around to it yet, but I did go and see Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. That was really good. The band geek in me wants that soundtrack really really bad. I love Salsa. And Peter…with decency? Nope, don't think so…you'll just have to wait and find out. Lol. Thanks. Yep, everyone seems to want it to be Ari/Harry now *grins* I promise a really interesting development on that front in a later chapter. But it may not be what you think ^_^ Lets just say you'll be surprised. You poor thing, you have to get up at five for school *cringes* I feel for you my friend, I really do. *looks at clock* but that reminds, me. I need to go and get dressed, or I'm gonna be late for my visit to the halls of torture ^_^
Insaneiac the Maniac: Thanks for reviewing brat. Yes, Arianna is quite the little devil isn't she? Have you noticed that she's basically one of my split personalities? You know, the violent and sarcastic one? Wait a minute…I'm always violent and sarcastic *shrugs shoulders* it's a mystery. Yes, the chase is on. Don't you want to know what happens…well then start reading the chapter damn it!
silverdragonofslytherin: Thanks for your review, I love new reviewers. Yes, don't you want to know how Ari and Harry manage it?
Serpent of Light: Thanks for your review. As you can see, I took your advice and lowered that rating. Although, it will be going up again later. And yes, a cliffie. I love them; they keep people coming back for more.
Silver Moon Megami: Thanks for your review dirty girl :p. Yes, now you know that I have my sadistic side. You've only been on of my bf's for how long now? And could anyone be as sadistic as Daemon? (He is SO hot). Yes, Ari is cool. And too your question about Arianna's NEWT level spell, you weren't imagining it…this time. The wand restriction laws in America are different. Children can obtain a wand at the age of seven and do magic, and they can do magic during school holidays as well. So, basically whenever the hell they want. That would lead to preordained knowledge before they start school. And might I add that her parents were the paranoid aurors?
That's why her spell level seems as high as it is…because it really is that high. Yes, she also kicks ass, literally. Did I mention that her mother was the combat specialist at the OFPDA? And to be honest, I don't know what I'm going to do with that tape…probably blackmail. I hate the Rat too. But I think that he'll have his merits at the end of the series.
Clearly Clayr: Thanks for your review. Yes, they are missing the Slytherin Price. And with Lucius being angry…nah. But wait till you see what he does do to Draco. I'm gonna hate writing that. Wormtail decapitated? *grins sadistically* I'm not sure what the Rat was doing during OotP. Cause he did seem mysteriously absent. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with him though. Rambling…I like rambling. It's always amusing. Lol.
swimfan: Thanks for your review. Do they get caught…I don't know. Yes I do, but I'm not telling.
Ladybug the 3rd: Thanks fro the review my friend. Yep, I love my cliffies, and my readers just seem to love commenting about them. Lol. And with the pairings…you might be pleasantly surprised later *grins*. Yes, don't you want to know why Lucius could practically smell them? Don't worry, that will be explain…just not in this chapter. *grins again*. I hate Peter too, but as I always say, I think that he will have his merits in the series. On your favs, *squeals*. I know what it feels like to have to practice an instrument all the time. I play the flute.
blacksouledbutterfly: Thanks for your review. I have to agree with you on the therapy bit ^_^. I love Ari's badassness as well. She's one of my many personalities. But I did read that *tilts head innocently *. Yeah, I liked writing Stan (not his accent though XP that was hard). Well, Ari is the daughter of aurors, she would think like that. I know the felling of having a dead comp. Part of the reason I haven't been updating much. *sigh*
Well guys, enjoy this (hopefully) anticipated chapter…
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Forever and a Day: The Whims of Destiny
By: dragonsprincess
Chapter Nine: The Chase Is On
Draco paced the floor of his bedroom. He was worried, very worried. Lucius had left almost as soon as he'd gotten back to the manor. He'd had a manic glint in his eyes that Draco just couldn't get out of his mind.
He thought back to what Arianna had said when she'd told him about the night that her family had been attacked. She'd said that the one thing that scared her the most was when Voldemort had said: "Malfoy, stop torturing the auror, you know what we came here to do. Now, let's kill their daughter."
Draco sat down in the chair at his Mahogany desk. He didn't know what to do. It was obvious to any mage that Voldemort wanted Harry dead; but now it seemed that he'd added Arianna to that list as well. Why, Draco thought. Why does Voldemort suddenly want to kill Ari?
He put his head in his hands, he couldn't stand this. He knew that his father had gone to tell Voldemort that he'd found Arianna. He simply hoped that Arianna and Harry had had the foresight to leave the house before any Death Eaters could arrive. But as much as Draco hoped, he just couldn't banish the image of his two friends lying in an alleyway, their bodies so mangled that they were hardly recognizable.
Draco clenched his teeth as he remembered something he'd once heard, and never fully understood until now. "That you don't know what you have until it's gone." Harry was his best friend. And he now realized that he did have feelings for Arianna. Feelings that he might always regret not being able to act upon.
He stood up and walked over to his bed, grabbing a book off of his table. Maybe this would help him keep his mind off of the things he couldn't control. He lay there, not taking in any of the words. Instead, his mind had once again started running over the possibility of sending his two friends an owl. And once again he frowned upon the idea. What if the owl were to be intercepted? That could land him in more trouble than he cared to be in. And what would be worse, would be if somehow, someone followed his eagle owl and found them.
Draco looked back down at his book; and noticed that the page was littered with blotches. He watched as another one landed on the page. It was then that he realized how the water had gotten onto his book. Draco didn't even remember beginning to cry (he hadn't done it since he was a small child). He scowled and furiously whipped the tears away.
"No," he said aloud. "I won't cry! Not until I know for sure that Arianna and Harry are dead!"
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Lord Voldemort sat in his high backed chair, watching his pet snake, Nagini finishing off the rabbit that had been brought for her dinner. His long fingers gripped the arms of the chair. He was not happy, not only had the two brats escaped from him - again - but his Death Eaters hadn't even managed to kill off any members of that blasted Order of the Phoenix. And now here he was, sitting, doing nothing, while his supporters looked for Potter and Moon.
His agitation must have shown for Nagini lifted her head and hissed, "What iss wrong, Masster?" Voldemort looked down at her.
"Notthing," he hissed back.
Nagini looked at him, and he almost grinned. If a snake could raise an eyebrow, she just had. It was then that he heard a knock at his door. He smirked; maybe his Death Eaters had found the two brats. "Enter," he said.
Lucius Malfoy walked into the room, bowing to Voldemort.
"Well," Voldemort said. "Have you found them yet?"
"Regrettably, no," Lucius answered.
"Then what are you doing here?" Voldemort hissed.
Lucius resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably under his master's glare. "For I believe them to be in Hogsmeade, Dark Lord. In fact, I know they are."
"I trust in your senses, Lucius. But I ask you again; if you know that they are there, what are you doing here?"
"Because, Master," Malfoy stammered. "I believe that they may be using Potter's Invisibility Cloak. And even the most perceptive person needs to be close to someone in a Cloak to realize that they are there. I believe that Potter is trying to return to the school through one of the secret passageways the Weasley twins may have shown him. And as many castle secrets I found in my time there, I never found any passageway going from Hogwarts to the village."
"I see," Voldemort said. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then grinned. "You're looking for Pettigrew."
"Yes," Lucius said. Hoping that the fact that his pride had just taken a severe beating at having had to admit that he needed that rats help, was not showing on his face.
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Peter Pettigrew lay on a couch in one of the home's many common rooms, twirling his brand new wand around his fingers. It felt so good to be holding a wand after fourteen years, and a wand that was his.
Peter grinned as the memory came yet again to his mind…
***** Flashback *****
Peter was sitting at the dining table, playing a game of Wizards Solitaire (which is very much like Muggle Solitaire, except that the cards yell at you when you make a bad move), needless to say, the room was rather noisy, what with so many tiny voices squealing out what would have been the better move.
Wormtail was bored. He sat in this house day after day. Not even allowed to step out of the door, lest he be seen. After all, people who are supposed to be dead shouldn't be spotted among the living. He felt completely useless. Sure he'd helped his Master regain his body, but that had been two months ago. And since the Dark Lord now had many more Death Eaters to help him, what use was a dim-witted, talent-less man like himself to his Master?
Peter sighed, placing down his final card. Great, he thought. Lost again. Story of my life. He jumped when he heard the sound of the door opening; Peter turned to see Walden Macnair standing in the doorway, a smug look on his face.
"A little twitchy today, aren't we Pettigrew?" Said Macnair.
Peter glared at Macnair, he didn't much like the man. "What do you want?"
Walden raised an eyebrow at Peter. "Now, why would you have something I want," Macnair drawled. "Unless I'm very much mistaken, you're the one who's confined to this house. I can go anywhere I please. I can go home at night to my wife and do the things that a man is supposed to do."
Peter resisted the urge to shift on his feet. So what if he'd been celibate for the last fourteen years. That kind of thing tended to happen to a man when he'd been hiding out as a rat. It suddenly occurred to Peter that Walden wasn't simply there for a social call; normally he avoided Peter like the plague. "What are you doing here?" He asked. He didn't particularly want to spend his already dismal day talking to Walden Macnair if he could avoid it.
Macnair's grin faded to be replaced by a scowl. "You see, Pettigrew," he began. "Our Master has appointed me to bring you to Diagon Alley. He thinks that it's about time for you to buy a new wand – after all, what use can you be to him if you can't even cast as much as a Stunning Charm?"
Peter stood there, completely dumbfounded, as if he just couldn't decide if he wanted to be angry at Macnair for saying aloud the things that made Peter feel so unworthy, or jump for joy at the thought of getting a new wand.
Wormtail couldn't resist the urge to grin like an idiot. "Alright then," he said. "Lets go."
***** End Flashback *****
And so they had. Walden had first placed Peter under a Disillusionment Charm. Then the two of them had taken the Floo to Diagon Alley. During the walk to Ollivanders Wand Shop, Peter had been unable to suppress the need to look around. He hadn't been out in so long.
Once they'd reached the shop, Peter had spent about ten minutes trying out different wands before Mr Ollivander had brought out the one he now held in his hand. An eleven and a half inch, pine wand, with the magical core being that of a unicorn tail hair.
Peter placed his sleek new wand back into his pocket. He was just starting to doze of when the door to his little room burst open.
Peter watched as Lucius Malfoy strode into the room, his long, purposeful stride covering the ground between Peter and himself very quickly.
Pettigrew sat up and looked the pale-faced man in the eyes. He watched as the tall blonde man grinned.
"Pettigrew," Lucius said. "I have a little job for you. Turns out that you know more than you give yourself credit for."
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Harry looked down at his watch. It was already one thirty in the morning; he and Arianna had been in the village now for over an hour, waiting for the bustle in the streets to die down.
Harry grinned as he looked around the little village, it was practically deserted, but something was bothering him though. Of the few people he could see in the streets, most of them were men and women he knew to be Death Eaters, and more and more seemed to be popping up every moment. This made Harry uneasy, how could they possibly know with this much certainty that Arianna and himself had come to Hogsmeade? He didn't like it; he didn't like it at all.
Sighing he turned to Arianna, and nodded his head to tell her that they were moving. Harry led Ari down the main drive of the village, the two of them walking slowly as to keep the sound of their feet silent.
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Arianna watched Harry as they walked, something wasn't right with him, she could see it in his eyes, he was afraid. But what she couldn't figure out was why now, why not earlier? That thought scared her.
The two of them continued to walk, Arianna trying to see what was making Harry so scared. Sure, there were still some people in the street, but that was to be expected, no place ever went to sleep completely. Ari started, was it possible? No, surely not. Arianna looked around at the people who were populating the streets in a different light. Harry had told Arianna of the incident that had occurred in the graveyard two months ago. Could these people actually be Death Eaters? Arianna tapped Harry on the shoulder, before they went any further, she needed to know.
Harry stopped and turned, asking her what was wrong.
"Harry," she said. "What's got you so jumpy? Tell me the truth. Are some of these people Death Eaters?"
Harry looked at Arianna's determined face, slowly he nodded. "A lot of them are," he whispered.
Arianna looked at Harry as if he'd just grown an extra pair of ears. "Please, Harry. Tell me you're kidding?"
Harry closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.
"Peter, you are completely incompetent!"
Harry and Arianna both turned at the sound of the voice. It was familiar to both of them.
"I'm sorry Lucius. How was I supposed to know that the tunnel had caved in?"
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Lucius stopped and looked at the short man beside him. "Wormtail, you were the Weasley's pet rat for twelve years. Are you telling me that in all that time you never found out that that tunnel had caved in, cause that tunnel has been blocked for a couple of years at least?"
"How was I supposed to know? I wasn't the Weasley's rat I was Percy and Ron's rat. Percy was too bloody rule happy to go looking for things like that, and Ron's an idiot," Peter protested.
Lucius glared at Peter in contempt, muttering something about 'useless rats'.
Wormtail looked at the taller man, fear suddenly coursing through his body. He knew what Lucius Malfoy was capable of, what he'd do without a second thought. "I…I know of another passageway into the castle, Malfoy. After all, I use to hang out with James Potter and Sirius black, the two of them were completely obsessed with finding secret passageways."
"Really," Lucius said. He'd have killed the rat already if he weren't so bloody important at the moment. "Lead the way, Peter," he said graciously. And with that Peter started leading Lucius down the street…
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"Shit!" Harry said.
"What?" Arianna asked. "Lucius said that he didn't know where a passageway was, and that guy seems like a real idiot."
Harry sighed and looked his friend in the eyes. "Ari," he said. "Do you have any idea who that 'idiot' with Malfoy is?"
Arianna shook her head.
"He's Peter Pettigrew-"
"How can he be? Peter Pettigrew is dead?"
"Pettigrew faked his own death to get out of persecution for being a Death Eater. And like he said, he use to hang out with my father and godfather, and they knew the Hogwarts and the village like the back of they're hands. He's probably taking Lucius to the passage under Honeydukes now, shit."
Harry went to start moving; they had to get ahead of Lucius and Peter. Arianna, however grabbed his shoulder. He looked at her and noticed that she'd taken out her wand. Harry raised an eyebrow at her.
"Let me buy us some time," she said, a grin one her face as she pointed her wand at Lucius' feet. "Nodusium," she whispered. Harry turned just in time to see Lucius Malfoy fall flat on his face. It took all the self-control Harry harbored in his body not to laugh at the site. He chanced a glance at Arianna, noting that she had a rather large grin playing on her lips.
Arianna grinned as she turned her wand on Pettigrew now. "Obvias Crustum," she said. Harry watched as a small pie came out of her wand, and started flying towards Peter, gaining size and velocity as it went.
Harry clamped his hand over his mouth to stifle the sound of his snort. He turned to Arianna, and noted the mischievous gleam in her emerald green eyes. Harry looked back at the scene playing out in the street: Peter was running around in circles, screaming bloody murder, and yelling that his eyes were burning. Harry watched in utter ecstasy as the inevitable happened: Peter tripped over Lucius, promptly falling on the aristocrat man who was still trying to undo the ungodly amount of knots which tied his shoes together.
"Common Harry," Arianna said, returning her wand to its place at her side. "I've just bought us the most time I could. We should go as quickly as possible, our quiet escape just flew out the proverbial window."
Harry took one last look at the large mass of limbs and cursing that was Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew; burning this image into his memory forever. Then he turned to Arianna and nodded. And with that the two teens mad their exit.
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"Peter, get the FUCK off of me!" Lucius yelled. His eyes seeming to have clouded and changed color in his anger, he hadn't been this pissed off in a long time. Scowling, he tried yet again to untangle himself from Peter, then he saw it, the flicker of a cloak before it disappeared completely. He clamped his hand over Peter's mouth, then listed hard. Then he heard it, just faintly, but he heard it. The sound of two pairs of feet on solid ground.
Lucius grinned; he knew who had tied his shoe laces together. He pointed his wand at his feet, muttering the charm which would untie his laces. "Peter," he said. "Where's the closest passage way from here?"
Peter continued to whine, saying that his eyes were burning. Lucius lifted his wand and pointed it at Peter. "Evanesco," he said.
Wormtail immediately stopped rubbing his eyes, and looked up at Lucius.
"Peter," Lucius repeated. "Where's the closest passageway from here?"
Pettigrew suddenly seemed to remember where he was, and what he was supposed to be doing. He quickly got to his feet and started running towards Honeydukes. This was his chance to impress his master. For he too had put two and two together, and realized that the people who had tied Malfoy's laces together, and hit him in the face with a pie, were the same two people they were looking for.
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Dun dun dun. What's gonna happen? Sigh, it seems like I say that a lot. I leave too many cliffies. Never thought I'd say that o.O But I did.
To put it on the record, I have to say that I dislike this chapter very much. But my friend, lets call her DY. Assured me like a bazillion times that it was great. So I headed her advice and sent this to you people (I also really wanted to update this before I go to Japan on Thursday anyway). So thank her, or you'd be waiting longer.
Love you guys; you're what keep me going. So please review, and restore my confidence in myself, 'cause I hated this chapter. Just hit the little button at the bottom of the page, you know that you wanna…
See you next time
dragonsprincess
