Everything you see here (besides the OC's and some of my messed up plot ideas) belongs to JK. Yeah…I'm not feeling particularly creative at the moment…so that's what you're getting for a disclaimer.
ERRRRRRRRRRG! DAMMIT!!! Ok, I'm better now. Now, you may all ask what that was all about…and I'm going to tell you. JK Rowling has finally put to rest one of the most widespread debates in the Harry Potter world: the sex of Blaise Zabini. Blaise is…a boy! I always thought that Blaise was a girl sigh. I'll just say it here though, in my story Blaise will be a girl…otherwise it would greatly affect one of my larger subplots…one way or the other. I just figured I'd say this here, so that when I do write Blaise I don't any reviews going "But Blaise is a boy…" I don't need them, nor do I want them.
And now on to my wonderful reviewers…life would suck without you.
Atiannala: Hey girl, thanks for yet another wonderful review. Yes, another cliffy…sorry about that, but since you like suspense…lol. Well, I'm not sure if the suspense will end with this chapter (as I'm not done it yet), but I suspect that it will. This night has gone on long enough. Like five chapters…enough is enough…and I want to get on to other stuff. And as to the Draco bit, I felt that we needed to see Draco's feelings towards this, his confusion. Lets just say that I'm going to make Draco make some decisions in the near future (of the fic anyway…not sure how long it will take to post it) that may be rather disagreeable.
Silver Moon Megami: Hey hey hey. Thanks for another review ::cries:: Why do you have to go away all summer…between you and J, I'm not going to have anyone to hang with. Gods…when rereading your review…I realized that I posted this right before Japan…that was a long time ago…wow. And yes, and you know. I did have a great time. Hokkaido boys and dirty Japanese comics forever!!!! Yes…the pie in the face was amusing…and it would burn if you got pie in your eyes…don't ask. And, as much as I hate that rat. I think that he will reform before the series ends…after all, he does owe a life debt to Harry. And yes, Ari is cool, that's why she's so fun to write.
ShawdowJoker924: Thanks for the review Joker, I always love new reviewers, hopefully you return for this chapter. Yeah…Arianna is just a little bipolar…just like me. Ask Silver Moon Megami…she'll tell you all about that. Lol. One of the greatest writers you've ever read ::blushes a shade of red Hallmark has yet to name:: I don't think I'm that great…but thanks all the same. And if you like Remus Lupin, check out my other fic. And 3 ft isn't that much…but it could still hurt. Sorry this took so long…the halls of torture (AKA school) has been murder. Out in three weeks…thank the gods.
emeralddragonofslytherin: Thanks for your review…I love new reviewers. Glad that you like my story.
swimfan: Thanks for yet another review…yes I hat Lucius…so making him fall flat on his face was fun to write…and then Peter falling on him…
Serpent of Light: Thanks for your review. I must say that the first bit was rather amusing…and I soon found my vindictive mind making some rather bloody scenarios ::grins sadistically:: I have yet to decide what I'm actually going to do with the rat. Yes, I do seem to be the queen of cliffhangers…sorry about that…maybe. And as to why the rating is going to go up…a little bit of everything actually ::whistles innocently:: Yes, you are shamelessly advertising…but I've been known to do a little of it myself, so I don't hold it against you. I'd like to check out your fic…but right now school is murder…I have finals in two weeks ::cringes:: So I don't know when I'll have time.
Blacksouldedbutterfly: Thanks for another review girl. And as far as good ol' Lucius getting outsmarted by kids…just wait till you read this chapter. And I had a great time in Japan. Hokkaido boys and naughty Japanese comics forever!!!!!
KiyoshiRi: Thanks for your review girl...but you really need to stop changing your name…it's getting rather confusing. Of course that "bad dudes" aren't incompetent…well…not completely. Lol.
Well guys, I once again apologize for the long wait, but another fic idea ploughed it's way into my mind, and unlike a few others I was unable to suppress it. I've finished the first chapter, but don't expect it to be posted until I have at least six done, my updating is horrid as it is. I shudder at the thought of what would happen if I added another story to the two I already have. Add that to the fact that I had some major writers block with this chapter (shouldn't be to hard to find the places), even so, I like the ending. So it worked for me.
In apology for my four month delay with this chapter, I give you an extra long one, the chapter itself, minus all comments is four thousand words long. Again I am sorry. Now go and enjoy this chapter…I actually like this one…mostly. Lol.
Forever and a Day: The Whims of Destiny
Chapter Ten: Araneum Petaurus
By: dragonsprincess
Harry and Arianna sprinted as fast as they could up the road; neither venturing a look behind them…they both heard the footsteps, and the two didn't need to be told what that meant.
Suddenly Harry skidded to a stop, grabbing Arianna's arm to stop her. Arianna looked at the store that Harry had stopped in front of; it was a sweet shop, Honeydukes to be precise.
It was only now that Harry and Arianna chanced a look behind them, and what they saw made their stomachs clench into little iron balls. Not only were Lucius and Peter chasing them…but a few others seemed to have gotten the idea as well.
"Shit," Harry said. They may have made it to the sweet shop, but he just couldn't see a way that they were going to get to the secret passage and through the tunnel to Hogwarts before they were caught.
Arianna observed the look on her friend's face; "We aren't going to have enough time," Arianna said quietly, "are we?" She watched in dismay as Harry shook his head. Making a rash decision, Ari once again took her wand from its place at her waist.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked.
"I'm going to distract them, while you're going to get this door open."
"Ari, are you crazy?" Harry said in horror, reaching for his friend's arm. But he was too late, Arianna had already thrown the cloak off of her.
Letting loose a rather colourful string of expletives which seemed to end with "stupid, impulsive Aries." Harry set to work on opening the door…knowing that no shop owner would set a locking charm that any eleven year old could break.
Lucius almost jumped in surprise as the Moon girl materialized out of nowhere, her wand raised.
Lucius looked around and noticed that his fellow Death Eaters had all stopped and were looking at the girl in surprise. He quickly took out his wand as he saw Moon let loose a flamethrower hex at on of his colleagues. Lucius watched as the women went up in flames…Moon obviously wasn't afraid to use whatever was in her arsenal to defend herself.
Harry swore again as yet another charm failed. He looked over his shoulder, seeing that his friend was seriously outnumbered and wouldn't be able to hold up her pace for much longer. Harry knew he'd have to get this bloody door open soon. Or they'd both die.
Pointing his wand at the lock again he muttered "Diducere."
Arianna mentally cursed herself…this had definitely not been one of her better ideas. Not only was she out numbered, but the kind of magic she was using was very draining and she didn't think that she'd last that much longer before she collapsed.
She ducked just in time to avoid a Cruciatus Curse. Arianna jumped when she saw a flash of red knock a Death Eater to the ground. Turning quickly to see where the light had come from, Arianna saw that the jinx had come from Harry's wand, a second look told her that he'd managed to get the door open. Mentally thanking any passing deity she started to run towards Harry.
Harry fired spells at any of the Death Eaters he saw raise their wands as Ari ran towards him. His Quidditch-honed reflexes helping him dodge the spells that were sent his way, as Harry turned to follow Ari into Honeydukes, a misaimed severing charm grazed the side of his face.
Ignoring the now stinging pain in his right cheek, Harry slammed the door of the shop, "Colloportus!" He cried, creating a temporary binding on the door to buy himself and Ari some more time.
Harry led Arianna down the stairs to the cellar. Jumping the last few stairs, then getting on his hands and knees to find the tell-tale groove that would notify as to the location of the trapdoor.
Arianna wasn't quite sure what Harry was looking for, and why was he on the ground? Had he gone totally mental?
Harry finally felt the crack in the floor; "Yes," he called; seemed that something had finally gone right tonight. Getting to his feet, Harry bent over and lifted the top of the trapdoor.
Jumping into the hole, Harry reached his hand up towards Ari. "Common," he said. "Be careful, there's a bunch of stairs at first."
Nodding her head to show him that she understood, she jumped down the trapdoor right behind him.
"Hold on," she said as Harry went to close the latch.
"What?" asked Harry. Arianna merely grinned.
"Time for one of my specialties, Vigorscutum."
Harry watched with interest as a thin, purple rubber-like substance expelled itself from Arianna's wand, and spread, forming a spider web around the opening to the trap door, then disappearing completely.
He was about to ask Arianna just what it was when he saw her collapse on the stairs. Harry dived down and grabbed her just in time to stop her from falling down only Merlin knows how many stairs.
"Ari," Harry practically yelled, lightly slapping her cheek to rouse her. "Ari!" No response. Arianna seemed to have completely exhausted herself with that last spell…whatever the hell it was.
Mentally cursing, Harry quickly searched the dirty stone steps to find Ari's wand, then shoved it in his pocket. Sighing, Harry then picked up Arianna, and slung her over his shoulder, then started down the stairs. Hopefully she'd regain consciousness before she reached the bottom. It wasn't that she was particularly heavy, it was just that even carrying a small child down hundreds and hundreds of steps would not appeal to anyone; and Ari was definitely heavier than a child.
With one last groan Harry started the slow task of climbing down all those steps.
Harry leaned against the wall of the tunnel, his brow misted with sweat. He had long ago finished going down the many, many stairs. Raising his right arm he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Stretching, he couldn't help but look at Arianna, who was leaning against his side. If Harry wasn't so damn worried about her, he'd probably be angry with her for making him carry her down all those stairs and halfway down the damn tunnel. But she was still completely out of it, and hadn't made a sound in the hour or two since she'd blacked out.
He knew that he shouldn't really be resting. That he should be going as fast as he could towards the safety of Hogwarts castle and of Albus Dumbledore. But Harry was completely exhausted, and he'd needed to recuperate before he continued his way to the castle. Another reason why he'd stopped was that he was hoping against hope that Arianna would wake up. But he didn't think that she would anytime soon, he after all knew what magical exhaustion did to a young mage.
But Harry wasn't an idiot, he wasn't just going to stop and rest in the middle of a dark tunnel when he was being chased by Death Eaters. He'd taken precautions. Harry had cast a Detection Charm along the walls of the tunnel; oddly enough, this charm worked much like a Muggle Laser-Security System because it caused a small magical beam to form at intervals along the ground, and if one of the beams was broken, Harry's wand would become warm, and start to glow a light blue colour. Actually, Harry thought with a chuckle, he'd definitely be buying Ron Weasley one hell of a Christmas gift this year, the spell had been in that book that Ron had sent him for his birthday.
With one final sigh, Harry got to his feet and pulled his friend back over his shoulder, in his exhausted state, Harry could have sworn that Arianna weighed six tons (he'd never say that to her though, he liked his balls just the way they were…still functional). Then started down the tunnel again, hoping that soon he'd find the stone slide on the other end.
Lucius Malfoy watched as Potter and Moon disappeared into the sweetshop, lovely.
"Stop!" He yelled as many of the other Death Eaters started to run after the teenagers. They stopped. "You idiots," he hissed. "We can't just go barging in there, we'd awaken the shop owners," here he glanced at the windows over the shop, checking for lights, nothing, "and our Master wants us to remain as quiet as possible. Don't forget about what else he's planning, if the Ministry were to actually believe he were back, we'd never get our hands on it. Avery, Pettigrew, you come with me. The rest of you…just try to look inconspicuous." With that, Lucius turned and lead the way into the small shop, the other two following after him.
After getting it open, Lucius walked through the door; turning to Peter he said; "So, where is the passageway?"
"In the storeroom," he replied. "It might be a little hard to find though, the trapdoor is very well hidden."
"I see," Lucius said, starting down the stairs to the cellar.
Entering the small room, he lifted his wand "Lumos," he muttered, the light issuing from his wand illuminating every corned of the cellar.
"Well, well, well," he said, lips twisting into a sadistic smile. "Looks like somebody forgot to close the door." This was perfect; after hearing Peter say that the trapdoor would be well hidden, he'd feared that they'd spend too much time looking for it. But to his delight, it turned out that in their haste to escape, Potter and Moon had forgotten the most important thing: closing the entrance to the secret passageway into Hogwarts.
"Let's go," he said jumping into the hole…then getting the surprise of his life when the hole shot him back out again, tossing him into a crate filled with Cockroach Clusters. Isn't this just peachy? Lucius thought sarcastically, pulling himself up and out of the crate, straining his ears to see if the sound had awoken the owners upstairs. Nothing, good.
Lucius Malfoy now turned his attention to the trapdoor. Why hadn't it let him through? Getting down and kneeling, Lucius started to slowly lower his hand into the tunnel, and found that it soon met with a stringy-bouncy kind of substance.
Letting out a string of expletives, getting back to his feet and pointing his wand at the hole, "Sensor Incantatum" he said. Lucius watched as his spell revealed a shimmering violet spider web that was covering the entirety of the entrance to the passageway.
"Shit," Avery said, recognizing the enchantment as well.
"What is it?" Peter asked.
"That, Peter," Avery said dejectedly, "is an Araneum Petaurus Charm."
"Okay," Peter said slowly, he'd never heard of this spell. "What exactly is it?"
Lucius now took his attention from the trapdoor, "The Araneum Petaurus Charm is one of the most useful Shield Charms in existence, Pettigrew. Not because it's all that powerful, but because it's practically impossible to break. There's no counter charm, and it will last for a day or two, pending on how much power the individual casting it uses. The only way to break it is to use a Dilabi Potion.
"That stupid little BITCH!" Lucius growled.
"How do you know that it was Moon?" Peter asked.
"Because," Avery answered, "It's an Auror's spell, one doesn't learn it in school. Moon would have learned it from her parents. We're so fucked…hey, Peter. Why don't you go and tell the Dark Lord that we failed to catch them?"
"What," Peter said in horror, "Why won't we be able to catch them? All we need to do is go brew that Potion."
"No go," said Avery. "The Dilabi Potion takes a week to brew, the charm would have worn off by then anyway. Nope, we're fucked. There's no way we could catch them now, even if we could get our hands on the potion. It'd be too late. Fuck, we're in for it, again."
Lucius' eyes flashed in anger as he slammed the trapdoor shut; no longer caring if he woke the shop owners. The Death Eaters would be gone before they would be downstairs. And sure enough, that seemed to have finally woken up the owners. "Let's go," he said, heading back up the stairs, outside, then Apparated to his Master's side, dreading what would come once he reported that the two teenagers had managed to elude them again.
Harry wasn't quite sure how he'd done it, but somehow he had managed to pull Arianna up and through the slide with him. After taking a moment to calm his beating heart (which he was sure was going to burst out of his chest any second now); he once again picked Arianna up, though this time he was carrying her bridal style with both of his arms, sure that he wouldn't be needing his wand now that he'd returned to the castle.
Double checking to make sure that the old witch's hump was closed, he started to walk up the corridor and towards the hospital wing. Hopefully Madam Pomfrey would be there, Harry had no idea where the matron went during the summer.
After walking for a few minutes, Harry kicked open the double doors and walked into the hospital wing. He was greeted with the familiar clean smell of a room that he had spent more hours in than he cared to count. Looking around, he noted the whitewashed walls, and the white, crisp sheets on the beds in the room.
The next thing Harry was greeted by was a high pitched screech as the Hogwarts Nurse came bustling out of her office. "My gods," she exclaimed, noting the unconscious girl in Harry's arms. "Mr Potter, what happened to her? And look at your face."
"Who cares," Harry said, fighting down the urge to yell at her, and thanking his lucky stars that she actually stayed at Hogwarts during the holidays. "Just make sure that Arianna's alright, okay!"
Nodding Madam Pomfrey, led Harry over to one of the empty beds, telling him to put Arianna there; which Harry was only too happy to do, his arms felt like they were about ready to fall off.
"What happened to her Potter?"
"Lets just say that she exhausted herself with some ace dueling" Harry replied, "But I need to go and talk to Professor Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Hold it there Mr Potter," the matron said a stern voice, "and just what about that cut on your cheek, hmmm?"
For the first time since it had happened, Harry remembered about the one spell that had hit him, realizing that it had stopped stinging and now felt slightly numb. Harry brought his hand up to the two-and-a-half inch laceration on his cheek and felt dried blood. Removing his fingers from his face Harry looked Madam Pomfrey in the eyes.
"Madam Pomfrey," he said in a stern voice of his own, "I need to speak with the headmaster. It's urgent, and I promise you that I'll be a good little patient when I get back. It's not bleeding, and the chances of it getting horribly worse in the next half-hour are rather slim. Now, would you please tell the password to Professor Dumbledore's office?"
Madam Pomfrey stood there, doing one of the best angry-Jewish-mother impersonations that Harry had ever seen in his life, the only other contender would be Mrs Weasley after she'd found out that Fred had accidentally dropped a Ton-Tongue Toffee for Dudley to sample. Harry smirked at the memory…Oh happy days. He'd pay the twins to do that again. Not that they'd need the money after he'd given them his Triwizard winnings last term. Then again, Fred and George would probably do it for free.
"Please Madam Pomfrey," Harry said; pulling his best set of puppy-dog eyes, the chumps fell for them every time. The matron's expression softened immediately.
"Well, alright. Just make sure that you come straight back here after you're done Mr Potter. The password is 'Fizzing Whizbees'."
Sucker.
"Thanks you Madam Pomfrey, I'll return as soon as I'm finished." With that Harry turned and left the infirmary, mumbling a think you to his best friend. Draco had been the one who'd given Harry "the saps can't resist the puppy-dog eyes" speech, and that knowledge had been useful to Harry many times since.
With one final breath, Harry started sprinting towards the staircase that would take him down to the second floor to Dumbledore's office.
Reaching the stone gargoyle Harry took a moment to compose himself (though still very aware of all the dirt and blood on his person), then said the password.
Immediately the gargoyle moved aside revealing the rotating staircase up to the Headmaster's office. Stepping up, Harry allowed them to carry him upwards towards to office. And it suddenly occurred to Harry that the last time he'd been here was the night that Voldemort had returned to power, the night he'd seen Cedric die.
"No," Harry said to himself, "I won't relive that now."
Knocking on the large oak door, Harry waited for an answer, and one came almost immediately.
"Come in," came the voice of the aged Hogwarts Headmaster through the door.
Stepping in to the office, Harry quickly crossed the room and sat in one of the chairs opposite Dumbledore, "Hello Professor Dumbledore", he greeted.
"Good morning, Harry."
Morning?! Harry looked around the round room full of interesting silver instruments to find a clock. Harry's eyes widened in shock when he found one. It was four thirty in the morning.
Dumbledore chuckled, bringing Harry back onto the planet. "Lost track of time did we?"
Harry simply gave the headmaster an annoyed look, which did little more cause the old man to laugh some more. Harry mentally growled. Dumbledore had obviously spent way too much time around Severus Snape if he thought that an annoyed look out of a Slytherin was something to be amused about.
Waving his hand as if to clear the air (though his eyes still held their mischievous little twinkle). "Harry, why don't you tell me what happened tonight. Then Poppy will be able to mend that nasty little cut on your cheek there; and you can find out if Miss Moon's feeling any better."
Harry had long ago stopped being amazed at his headmaster's near omniscient tendencies; in fact, he'd be surprised if there was something going on in this school that Dumbledore didn't know about. Instead, Harry started to explain everything that had happened tonight, starting from when Harry, Draco, and Arianna had returned to the Dursley's to find that Lucius Malfoy had turned up unexpectedly to pick Draco up. Dumbledore's eyes had twinkled more than ever when Harry had told him about Arianna practically tackling Stan Shunpike).
But when Harry reached the point when Arianna had cast her spell on the trapdoor, he was no longer quite sure what to say. "Professor, just what was it that Arianna cast on the trapdoor?" he asked once he'd described the spell to the headmaster.
To Harry's astonishment, Dumbledore simply chortled. "Wonder what other amusing spells Arianna learned from those parents of hers?"
"What?"
"That, Harry was an Araneum Petaurus Charm. It forms a shield that looks like a spider web, as you noticed. The substance formed is rather springy, and anything that hits it will be sent in another direction with a force that is three times stronger than the original. And, unlike most other stationary shields, this once is invisible after it's initially cast."
Harry suddenly had the most amusing image of Lucius Malfoy bouncing around in the cellar under Honeydukes like some kind of rubber ball; and the best part of this image was that it could have actually happened.
"I'm guessing that after performing that charm was when Miss Moon fainted?" Dumbledore asked. Harry simply nodded. "I thought so, that's a ridiculously advanced charm. Please continue Harry."
Harry finished up his story in about another minute or two.
"Thank you Harry," Dumbledore said. "You have been most helpful. Now, why don't you return to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey clean you up a bit? Once she is finished, why don't you go down to your dormitory and get some sleep? All of your things have been brought there for you."
Harry nodded, not bothering to care just how his belongings had gotten to Hogwarts. "Yes, Professor, I will. Thank you. See you later I guess?"
"Yes, Harry. Bye then. Oh yes, the password is regis domi."
After he'd left Professor Dumbledore's office he'd gone to see Madam Pomfrey, who was still attending to Arianna. The matron had taken a moment's break to heal the cut on his cheek, and send Harry on his way to the Slytherin Common Room. Oh, how he'd missed it the last month. Then he'd headed straight to his dormitory, opened his trunk and grabbed his shampoo and beelined it to the bathroom to have a nice, long, hot shower.
An hour later Harry was sitting on his bed, finishing a letter to Blaise and Theo who were in Rome; telling them about what had happened tonight. They'd both asked Harry to send an owl to them if something out of the ordinary happened, and if this wasn't out of the ordinary, Harry didn't know what was.
After giving the letter one final reread, Harry signed it with:
See you guys in a few weeks,
Harry.
He then rolled it up, and tied it. He'd send it with Hedwig in the morning. Harry had considered sending a letter to Draco as well, but he'd figured that a letter from Harry right now might very well get his best friend in trouble. Not only that, but Harry was sure that Draco would be able to find out on his own if the he and Arianna had gotten away safely. Perhaps he'd write some for Ron and Hermione in the morning as well, but he had the odd feeling that he'd be seeing them soon anyway.
Harry took off his glasses and placed them on his bedside table. Stretching his arms, Harry got under his covers and lay down, falling asleep before his head had even hit the pillow.
On the other side of the country, a tall blonde boy was standing on a landing on the first floor of an old manor, waiting for his father to return home. It was almost half past four in the morning, but if this boy knew the time, he didn't care. He was very worried about two people who were very dear to him.
The landing that he was standing on just happened to overlook to only place that one could Apparate in this large home.
The blonde perked his ears when he heard the tell-tale CRACK that told him his father had returned. Angling himself so he could peer around the corner, the boy observed the man.
The man in question bore a very strong resemblance to his son, on perhaps the other way around; they both shared the silvery-blonde hair, and grey eyes. Though right now, the older mans long hair had streaks of fresh blood on it, and he was swearing in a way that would make even the devil himself stare in awe.
The boy could tell that the blood on his father was his own, and in the colourful rant the blonde had caught the words 'Potter' and 'Moon'. Add that to his fathers obvious anger, and the boy knew that his friends we're safe.
Letting go of a breath he'd been holding for the last six hours, Draco Malfoy turned and headed through a tapestry that would lead him to the fourth floor and his bedroom. He would now be able to sleep in peace.
Phew, finally done. I think I might just crawl into a hole somewhere and die of exhaustion.
And for those of you who have been following this story for a while. O My Gods, it's not a bloody cliff hanger. Lol. This night was just getting WAY to long, and it needed to end here, I need some plot advancement or I might just die. What about you guys, I at least know how it all ends, and who ends up shagging who…OPPS…did I just say that? HEHEHE.
Well, bye bye for now,
dragonsprincess
Now, go and press the button and leave me a review, it would make my day.