Chapter 7/7 (Year 1)
Sometime in the middle of us escaping the Chamber of Secrets, I had passed out. So I was naturally confused about why I had woken up in the bloody hospital wing, again!
I stared around at the now empty beds that surrounded me. I remember that in the movie that Hermione had been up and about before Harry was up but I couldn't remember if the victims of the basilisk were fine in the book.
Ignoring my thought processes, I pulled myself up and stared at the array of gifts and sweets in front of me.
"Soooo, much candy" I drooled as I reached out toward a chocolate frog.
"I'm not sure Madame Pomfrey would find eating sweets just after waking up is good for you?" Dumbledore's voice came from the entrance to the entrance to the hospital wing.
With a muffled yelp and "Shit" I stared at Dumbledore, all traces of chocolate gone from my hands. He chuckled and sat down on the bed next to mine.
"Professor! What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see an injured student of course, it is you who is injured, right?"
I gulped, talking to Dumbledore always made me nervous, this man was revered as a god in the wizarding world. And fanfiction hadn't exactly given him a good reputation with him being known as a malicious, dangerous chest master that had ruined lives for his so called "Greater Good" So I was a little on edge. I nodded and he brightened up.
"Excellent, I was hoping I hadn't mixed you up with another student like back when your parents were in school, they were terribly confused when I had asked them how they were feeling after getting hit with a bludger"
"Did that really happen?" I asked, curiosity overtaking whatever weariness I had for the man in front of me.
"Well that's up to you isn't it" he smiled and got up. "it seems like you are fine and should be ready to leave the hospital wing just before the leaving feast. Do you mind?" he nodded toward a box of jelly beans. After I nodded he reached in and plucked one. "Ahh, Bertie's, You never know which flavor you might get"
He left soon after that.
When I first stepped into the great hall, the silence was thick enough it could have been cut with a knife and you could hear a pin drop. I was quickly bowled off my feet by my sister taking me down with a hug.
"Ow! Ow! Watch the ribs!" I yelped as Ginny squeezed me so hard that I heard my bones creak.
"you stupid idiot!" She snarled and hit me after she pulled away. "Never do that again"
I smiled wearily and promised her. Luna took her place next and so my ribs nearly broke again.
When we sat down, conversation restarted, although with me being the main topic everyone was talking about. And from the rumours I could hear, pretty much everyone knew I had went down into the Chamber of Secrets. Although the reasons varied a lot.
When food had arrived, I had dug into the food with a gusto that I didn't know existed outside of my brother Ron. I was interrupted by Dumbledore speaking up.
"Now, before you all dig into your food, it's time to award some last minute points. First, to Miss Luna Lovegood, I award one hundred house points. For Miss Ginny Weasley, I award one hundred house points. Mr Henry Weasley, for defeating Slytherin's monster, I award you one hundred and fifty points" With Dumbledore's statement, the Slytherin table erupted into cheers and celebration.
"Now, dig in"
When morning came, I rushed around my room and packed all my things, having not had a chance to pack my bags while I was unconscious.
When I stumbled into the Great Hall with maybe ten minutes left to eat, I was surprised to see Malfoy squaring off against a group of Gryfindors.
After getting closer I began to hear parts of their conversation.
"Look, all I want is to talk to Weasley. Just get him for me already" Malfoy sounded like he was at the end of his metaphorical rope and was ready to start cursing. I hurried my pace and interjected into their argument before it could turn ugly.
"So what's going on here?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the relieved look Malfoy sent me. "Why don't I talk to him?" I offered, one of the Gryfindors grunted and said.
"It's you he's been wanting to talk to"
I led Malfoy over to one of the deserted parts of the table and sat down next Ginny.
"What's he doing here?" Ginny wondered as Luna moved up slightly to allow Malfoy to sit down.
"That's what we're going to find out" I replied.
"I err, wanted to speak with you" Malfoy said, almost guiltily. "You see, when I was..." He paused and carried on as if he hadn't spoken."I remember... Things. And I don't want to be like him. I've seen what happens if I continue doing what I'm doing. I refuse to become like him. So I want to change." He had started getting passionate throughout his speech but quietened down in the end. "So, I wanted your help" He finished quietly.
I shared a brief look with my friends, I mean, he was genuine. I hadn't expected this to have effected him this much.
"We'll help" I said.
And the beaming smile I got in return made all doubt disappear.
After getting Mal-Draco, Draco, to send letters, we left for home. Were one week in we won the lottery and were going to Egypt.
Draco was hard to get used to since I had the exact same friend group for years and I barely even talked anyone other than my two best friends. So it was a bit strange of an adjustment.
But we made it work.
He was a bit disappointed when we said that we were going to Egypt but he could still visit Luna and we could write.
We took a nauseating portkey that ended up with me nearly falling over a bridge into the River Nile. That was fun.
Bill showed us our "hotel"(Read shack) and took us on a expedition through the pyramids.
I cried out as I fell through the fall, listening to the sounds of alarm from my family as the floor opened up and swallowed me whole.
I coughed and spluttered as dust coated the back of my throat. I summoned a small ball of light and looked around, checking for a way out.
"I'm fine!" I yelled up to my family. "I'll look for a way out from my way" I ignored my family's protests as I started forward. Even though I tried to ignore it, I still remembered something from when I tried to rescue Luna. All I remembered was... go to the ancient pyramids of Egypt.
I needed answers. Wouldn't you want to know why you had gaps in your memory.
I stumbled along the corridor that I had found, one hand on the wall to know if there was a split in the path. I stared as I entered an enormous room that seemed to be as big as the Great Hall, if not bigger.
I started up the stairs in the middle of the room. I stared at the paintings on the walls as I walked to toward the top. The paintings never stayed the same, all changing, the only thing that stayed the same, was some weird piece of stone.
I stared at the stone tablet depicted in the pictures that sat in front of my on this altar. I looked left, then right for any traps. I wasn't going to die from any deadly traps that protected this clearly important tablet.
I reached out to touch and just when my hand brushed the cool stone that the stone was made out of, disaster struck.
Sand rushing through open hands.
A dragon's beating heart.
The flame's of Prometheus trapped in a jar.
The eye of an all seeing creature.
Magic
I jerked back, nearly falling back off the altar's platform as the visions raced through my mind.
"What... the fuck was that!" I gasped as I replayed the scenes in my mind. Without much thought I reached my hand out and touched the stone tablet again.
Sand rushing through open hands.
A dragon's beating heart.
The flame's of Prometheus trapped in a jar.
The eye of an all seeing creature.
Twenty kilograms of carbon.
Thirty five kilograms of water.
Four litres of ammonia.
One kilogram of lime.
Eight hundred grams of phosphorus.
Two hundred and fifty grams of salt.
One hundred grams of saltpeter.
Eighty grams of sulfur.
Seven grams of Fluorine.
Five grams of iron.
Three grams of silicon.
Magic
Instead of just the images, I got words. Great. I ripped a piece of my sleeve off and wrapped it around my hands. I nervously reached a cloth covered hand to the tablet. I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn't hear any voices or have any visions.
My relief was short lived as a groaning, creaking noise started up, I looked around wildly as I tried to find what was making the noise. I figured it out when my eyes fell on the spot where the tablet had once rested.
Of course! The platform was weighted, if the stone tablet wasn't replaced with something of equal weight then it would set off a booby trap. My fears were confirmed when I heard the sound of something heavy rolling towards me. A part of the wall raised and out came tumbling out a ginormous ball.
"Shit!" I screamed as I charged down the stairs as the ball collided with the stairs, destroying part of it in an instant. I sprinted through a side corridor and heard the rapidly closing in ball thundering behind me.
I hated how the giant ball of death could fit in the hallway.
I through myself through a wall, blasting it to pieces as I lunged through the small gap just as I was about to be crushed. I turned up the brightness on the ball of light that I had been using and stared at the sight that stared back at me. I said a line that fit very well with this situation.
"Why is it always snakes?" In response to my question, the snakes raised their heads and hissed at me. I gulped and ducked out just as the closest snakes lunged at me.
I jogged down the labyrinth's path as I tried to locate the entrance. I had just passed the same crumbling wall with snakes for the third time in ten minutes.
"Ugh" I groaned as I leaned against a wall. At this rate, I would never get out.
I sunk lower and lower until I was sitting down. I slammed my head back as I tried to think of a solution. After the moment of pain, I realised that wall's didn't have some kind of clicking noise. Before I could do something, the wall spun round, sending me flying down a slide.
I was unceremoniously dropped before my family.
"Hi" I groaned from the floor in front of them.
Fun fact: Sometime during my wanderings, I had made it to the top of the pyramids. Neat.
After dealing with my stint in the pyramids of Egypt, the rest of the trip turned out nice and relaxing. It was when I got home that trouble started again. I stared at the grainy picture of Sirius Black sat at on our kitchen table.
"I forgot about Sirius!"
AN: Draco redemption was something I had planned for a long time and it's something you don't see much so I'm hoping it'll be cool. He's not going to instantly be a better person, that will take time.