Disclaimer: Still don't own a darned thing. Nothin. Nada. Zippo. Zilch.
Author's Notes: I apologize to my poor neglected reviewers/readers! This has to be the longest I've gone without an update on this story! Yipes. Well this one is a bit longer than the others, I hope it makes up for it. Do forgive me if the visions turned out a bit…well…stupid. I've never tried to write in premonitions before.
The story is slowly pulling together, this is where the new stuff sort of stops and the whole thing gets drawn into a web…gosh I hope I can pull it off….
Chapter 36: Dangerous Business on the Forked Road
"Ow! 'Mione you're on my foot!"
"Sorry Gin!"
"Oof!"
"Was that the row of lockers?"
"That you knocked me into? Yes!"
"Sorry Judy!"
The three girls wandered into the room across the way from Madam Hooch's office but found it quite unlit. Hermione was just about to brandish her wand and cast a spell to light up the torched when they heard the sounds of footsteps approaching. The three had dove through the door and snapped it shut behind them. They scurried through the pitch black of the room and ended up in a very tight space.
"Shh!" Judy whispered harshly as the sound of footsteps grew louder.
The three girls listened very carefully as the footsteps paused, someone muttered a spell, and the telltale clicking sound of a rather permanently locked door greeted them. The three girls took in sharp breaths and listened as the footsteps walked down the hall swiftly and faded away. A minute or so passed before they dared breathe again.
"Great!" Ginny threw up her arms and spoke harshly in her hushed voice.
"Ow!" Hermione must have fallen back into a locker because there was a loud sort of thump. "Ginny, watch where you're flailing!"
"Sorry 'Mione." Ginny squeaked.
"That's it." Judy drew her wand and it swished through the air as she tried to cast a spell. "Lumos."
There was an amazing flash of absolutely nothing.
"What in the world?" Judy asked and tried it again. Still nothing happened.
"You don't think the teachers' would have cast a spell blocker on this room do you?" Ginny asked in a small voice and Hermione piped up.
"They might have, since it was broken into with magic…." Hermione sighed and they stood in the darkness for a while before Judy got an idea.
"Open!" Judy commanded one of the lockers and struck it lightly with the end of her wand.
There was a pause and then the words 'Entrance Denied' appeared in large red glowing letters on the locker's front. Judy tapped the one next to it and the one next to that one. Soon she had enough glowing red light that they could all see somewhat.
"Brilliant!" Ginny smacked a few lockers and they lit up with the same red announcement as the others.
"I can just barely see…can't we make them brighter?" Hermione asked and looked around for whatever the items had been delivered in.
"Right!" Judy tapped the red locker nearest her. "Whose locker are you?" She asked politely and the red letters faded. They were quickly replaced with glowing gold and green letters that read 'Malfoy, Draco Slytherin: Seeker'. Judy continued to tap lockers and soon the room was swimming in an eerie myriad of gold and colored lights. It felt vaguely like they were on the inside of a Christmas tree.
"Well then," Ginny said and clapped her hands together, "Let's get looking!"
The three girls split up and searched high and low for whatever it was they were searching for. All they knew was Draco had called it a black case. After nearly fifteen minutes of searching in the cheerily colored lights the three girls flopped down on the bench that lined the wall opposite the door. They shared looks and all of them groaned.
"If I were a pompous, arrogant, smarmy git…where would I hide the illegal goods that some girl blackmailed me into providing?" Ginny asked rhetorically and stared up at the ceiling.
"Probably in the most obvious place." Hermione commented lazily and sighed. "That way when said girl and her friends came to pick the goods up they'd get caught and suspended." She grumbled and rested her head in her hands, propping her elbows up on her knees.
"Hermione!" Judy exclaimed and grinned at the older girl.
"What?" Hermione shot up, startled, and stared at Judy.
"You're a genius!" Judy hopped off of the bench and examined the wall behind it. "Up! Up!" Judy shoed the other two off the bench and they shot her confused looks.
"What are you doing?" Ginny asked and Judy tapped the 'wall' with her wand. The words 'Potter, Harry Gryffindor: Seeker' appeared in gold and red letters.
"I knew it! There wasn't a bench in here before!" Judy looked down at the 'bench' and realized how they'd mistaken the long, thin, black trunk as a bench in the semi-darkness.
"No wonder we couldn't find it…" Ginny grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'Ruddy Malfoy…' and a few extra expletives that Hermione gasped at.
"Now we've just got to get it out of here." Judy searched the outside of the box and found a small depression that housed a handle on the end nearest her—she could only assume there was one on the other end.
"And take it where?" Ginny asked and Judy looked up at her.
"Good question…" Judy looked down at the box and contemplated. "We'll need somewhere that no one ever goes."
"Myrtle's bathroom." All three girls said at the same time and Hermione was struck with a sense of déjà vu.
"Grand, now we need a way out!" Ginny sighed and stared at the door.
"Leave it to me," Hermione assured them and hurried across the tiny, cramped room to start work on opening the door.
Judy and Ginny positioned themselves on either side of the box, grasped the handles as best they could, and lifted with all their might. The two couldn't make it move an inch. They stared at each other and when they both nodded they pulled again. It was almost like the thing was cemented to the ground.
"My back…." Ginny complained and stood up with her hand pressing against a sore spot just above her hips.
"I hope I didn't just give myself a hernia." Judy rubbed her arm and the two girls glared down at the box.
"Figures that Malfoy would give us a box that can't be lifted off the ground." Ginny grumbled and kicked the black container. The container shook and something strange happened.
The top of the box, which they'd assumed was made of metal, started bubbling as if it were liquid. Out of the watery substance rose a gold lock and a small note. Once the note and the lock were displayed quite prevalently atop the case the surface tension returned to that of cast iron and nothing else happened.
"What in the world?" Judy asked in a slightly put-off tone and snatched the small note card off of the black surface. She unfolded the card and squinted to read the impeccably neat handwriting in the dim (colored) light.
"Well, what does it say?" Ginny leaned over and blinked in the semi-darkness.
"Have fun trying to lift it? Don't bother. There's a binding spell on it—didn't want anyone walking away with it. Unlock the block and take out the case. Fortunately I felt no urge to bind that one down, so it is free to go." Judy began flatly and Ginny scoffed. "Sincerely hope you didn't break your foot while kicking, Draco."
"That pompous—." Ginny started but was cut off by Hermione.
"I've done it!" Hermione announced and beamed at them.
"We'll be right there!" Judy said swiftly and pulled the old key out of her pocket.
Judy took the key and hurriedly shoved it into the gold lock. She twisted the key around and the lock gave a sharp yelp. Judy froze and stared at the small item. The lock flung itself open and flipped the top half of the box up at her rather angrily. Luckily it missed Judy and just ended up smacking into the lockers without injuring her. The lock grumbled something incoherent and Judy shared a confused look with Ginny.
"I've no idea." Ginny answered before Judy could ask. Judy shrugged and they both stared down into the hollow black box.
"Please don't snap shut and cut off my arm," Judy pleaded with the black box and reached inside.
Her fingers grazed what must have been the handle of the case Draco had spoken off and she grasped it tightly. She pulled the case out and a series of odd noises occurred. First there was a series of jangling noises—keys were attached to the handle of the small suitcase like item she'd retrieved. Second there was a loud snapping, caused when the black box slammed shut, which echoed through the halls. Third, and lastly, there was a shout that echoed faintly through the halls and was mingled with sounds of running footsteps.
"Hate to alarm you, but that was Filch!" Hermione cried back at them.
They all gave up a startled cry and the three girls bolted out of the small locker room just in time. Had they dove around the corner and run any slower they would have been caught red-handed (as it were) by Filch.
They weren't out of the proverbial woods yet, though. The three girls fled through the corridor, Mrs. Norris nearly at their heels. They managed to turn a sharp corner and dive straight into Myrtle's bathroom. They stopped and listened by the door as both Filch and Mrs. Norris ran past the door and their footsteps faded away.
"Well, well, well."
The three girls spun around and saw Moaning Myrtle floating above them looking very smug, and quite disgruntled.
"Oh good! She's here girls!" Judy announced happily and beamed at Myrtle.
"What? Come to laugh at me have you?" Myrtle growled and glared at them.
"Quite the contrary!" Hermione laughed nervously.
"We just…came to give you a message…" Ginny started uneasily.
"From who?" Myrtle eyed them suspiciously.
"Err…" Judy floundered and Hermione jumped to the rescue.
"Harry!" Hermione cut in and Myrtle was a bit taken aback.
"Harry?" She asked and smiled. "Why what did he want to tell me?"
"He wanted to tell you that he's sorry he hasn't been by to visit, he's been really busy." Ginny forced out and Myrtle looked positively full of herself.
"Oh? Well nice of him to tell me."
"And he wanted to know if we could use your bathroom, just for a little while." Hermione added and Myrtle gave them a strange look.
"As a favor to him." Judy grinned and they waited in uneasy silence for Myrtle to answer. If she said no then she'd surely send them out to deal with Filch. If she said yes they'd be saved.
"Well," Myrtle said in a very wishy-washy sort of voice, "I suppose for Harry, but one comment about me and you're out!" She finished and disappeared into one of the toilets. The three girls shared a relieved look and pondered what they were going to do next.
"That's the third time…"Ginny whispered to Hermione and Judy.
"Who would have thought Filch wanted to catch us this badly?" Judy asked and leaned back against the stone wall.
"We're going to be stuck here all night…." Hermione whined and closed her eyes.
"Stupid Filch…stupid Malfoy…oh I'll get him…." Ginny grumbled and closed her eyes as well.
They were trapped in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with Filch and Mrs. Norris ready to pounce on anything that moved. This was very bad. After nearly thirty minutes of sitting with nothing better to do both Hermione and Ginny fell fast asleep. Judy, however, remained awake by convincing herself that she was keeping some sort of vigil.
Judy sat for what felt like hours, and her eyes started to close of their own accord. She was about halfway between the sleeping and waking worlds when she heard the strangest noises coming from the sink just a few feet away from her. Judy got to her feet slowly and stumbled over to the curious fixture only to find it full of water, right up to the brim, and pictures forming on the surface.
What shocked her most was she could hear them.
"Orihalcon?"
One of the two men in the picture looked at the other with an expression that matched someone who'd seen the Titanic return from it's maiden voyage.
"Can it be possible?" He asked and the other man shrugged.
"You saw as well as I did," The second man began and looked down at the poorly formed shield. "A spell like that, blocked by this little sheet of metal—no thicker than a paper…"
The second man shook his head and the entire scene faded into the grey, unclear waters that filled the sink. Judy didn't dare speak; she had the distinct feeling that anything she said would wipe away whatever vision this happened to be. Judy stared down at the water and it seemed for a moment that her body moved of it's own accord.
Her hands lifted up and she heard some word in Latin, some spell she didn't know, in her own voice despite the fact that she couldn't remember speaking. The water mixed up and a thin veil of mist formed over the top. She moved her hands to the side and the mists parted showing her a scene. One of the scenes she'd seen before.
Hermione was standing on a platform and the sounds of the crowd cheering echoed through the bathroom. The crowd wasn't just cheering though; they were absolutely euphoric about something that Hermione had obviously done. The important looking man with a large trophy, shiny medal, and fancy robes stepped up to the edge of the platform and spoke.
"It is my great honor and privilege to bestow upon you, Miss Hermione Granger, the highest award any Wizard can receive." He spoke loudly and held out what was surely the wizarding world's equivalency of the Nobel Prize. "Though I can't offer you anything truly worthy of what you've done—I hope you enjoy it."
"I'm sorry." Hermione shook her head and smiled sadly at the crowd. "I'm flattered that you'd offer me such a thing, but I can't accept it. I was only part of the creation."
Hermione looked out at the crowd. The crowd, as a single entity, gave a little disappointed moan but then broke out cheering harder than they had been before.
Judy watched the scene with wonder, and then was very compelled to see what might happen should she change the vision. She lifted her hands and waved them over the sink, just as she had done to the silver basin before. The water in the sink churned and then a new vision appeared on the surface. For a moment before the picture formed fully Judy thought they were the same vision, but the applause in the other had only been replaced with pouring rain and quiet sobbing.
Hermione had looked like she was sitting in the first vision, this time she was kneeling down on the wet grass and staring at the two dark headstones before her. There was sobbing that echoed through the rain but it was for others in this graveyard. Hermione's eyes were blank and sort of lifeless as she stared at the graves.
"I'm sorry." Hermione shook her head, but this wasn't spoken as happily as it was before. There was no smile present. "I'm smart, but I'm not a sage…Now I'm not even sure if I can call myself smart anymore…"
Hermione's hands dropped limply to her sides and tears started slowly slipping down her cheeks. They were hardly distinguishable from the rain.
"They've gotten to her. Locked her up and they'll execute her with what's left of the Aurors…Just because she was our friend, our Ginny…" Hermione turned her blank face up to the sky and remained still as if waiting for something to strike her down and end it all. "Oh Harry…Ron…"
Judy stared at the vision in horror. This couldn't be the future; there was such contrast between the two it was staggering. One was a dream come true, the other a horrible nightmare. Judy lifted her hands weakly and moved on to the next vision.
The waters swirled and the next image was Ginny. She was seated, limply, in a lone black chair that stood in the center of a very sad place. Outside the heavy wooden door stood a creature that chilled the water and the air, made the entire vision cold somehow. But not Ginny.
Ginny remained outwardly unaffected by the creature. Judy could see her eyes, however, and they showed the reaction she'd had to the dementors. They were dim and flat. Lifeless.
The sound was muted and difficult to hear but Judy could make it out. There were people screaming outside the walls and there were people cheering. The sounds closest, and loudest, were the sounds of footsteps.
"Step aside."
Judy recognized the voice and watched the vision as the door in the back swung open and a figure in long black robes entered the room. It was Draco. He walked right up to the broken Ginny and stared down at her with something near contempt.
"Are you ready Weasel?" He asked flatly and Ginny miraculously pulled herself out of the chair. She stood in a fashion that reminded Judy of a rag doll, and she made no move to harm or fight back.
Draco led her out of the room and the vision swirled. It showed Ginny standing, alone, on a wide stage awaiting her execution. She looked out at the masses of black robed figures and a voice came up from behind her.
"Any last words?"
Ginny looked up at them all and she spoke in her once strong voice.
"Sound the bugle now…" Ginny turned her head slightly and looked at the flying flags of the death eaters that now rose over Azkabam.
"Play it just for me…and as the seasons change remember I used to be…" Ginny would have saluted the empty pole where the ministry icon once hung, but she was far too exhausted. The death eaters hissed and jeered at her, but none of them moved to kill her.
"Now I can't go home, I can't even start…" Ginny shook her head and the jeers began calling to her, mocking her. She paid them no mind. "I've got nothing left, just an empty heart…" She held up her hand and placed it over her heart.
"I'm a soldier, wounded so I must give up the fight." Ginny looked back at the prison and everyone could feel the symbolism of her words. They hated it. "There's nothing more for me." The crowd fell silent and glared at her as she said her final words, which, in the end, would ring historic.
"Lead me away, or leave me lying here."
The crowd jeered but Ginny wasn't finished. The only reason they went on listening was because of the amusement. They were amused to hear the futile last words of those who'd fought till the very end. Those who'd lost.
"Sound the bugle now, tell them I don't care." Ginny's voice began to gain back some of its old fire, but the only one who knew it was Draco Malfoy. "There's not a road I know that leads to anywhere."
The crowd laughed, they thought she was confessing. What she was really doing was far from it.
"Without a light I fear that I will stumble in the dark. Lay right down and decide not to go on."
The crowd cheered for that, though they still wanted her blood.
"Then from on high, somewhere in the distance, there's a voice that calls 'Remember who you are!'" Ginny stepped forward and held her head up high. "If you lose yourself, your courage soon will follow! So be strong tonight and remember who you are! You're a soldier fighting in a battle to be free once more…" Ginny turned around defiantly and stared Draco straight in the eyes.
"And that's worth fighting for." Ginny had no more than finished her last word when she was struck down.
Judy stared at the water and, for the first time in her lift, fought to remember something. She wanted to remember every one of those words. She waved her hands over the sink and the water swirled to what had to be the happier alternative. Judy was grateful to see it.
"Ginny!" Colin called jubilantly and sat down at the table. The two began to discuss the speech Hermione had made but Judy couldn't make out any of the words. Both Harry and Ron walked over to them and started talking. They were interrupted but the waters swirled to grey before Judy could see why they'd stopped talking and started applauding.
Judy was almost afraid to wave her hands over the water the next time, but she did anyway. The dark waters showed Judy, lying dead on the ground. Judy waited but she couldn't make out anything in the background. There was shouting, crying, and the sounds of spells being fired off in all directions.
The only two things she could seem to make out in the vision aside from herself were a few drops that fell on her face and a plant. The drops had to be tears, she could nearly identify the dark mass at her fallen self's side as a human. The plant was just a stem and an unopened bud that sat on top, nothing special. But if it wasn't special then why could she see it so well?
There was a bright green flash and then the vision simply went out. The water drained out of the sink and Judy was left alone with her thoughts.
"I've got to figure out what's going to decided which of those two futures we have…" Judy looked up at the sleeping girls and sat down with her back against the sink. She watched them sadly for a while and then closed her eyes.
Reviewer Thanking Time:
Duckchick- Disaster averted, and it should make for an interesting contest. Judy and Draco ought to have a reasonable friendship by the end. Most of their 'bonding' is going to happen over the Christmas Vacation though (*late and therefore pointless spoiler warning*). I figured the Quidditch fans would react rather…chaotically to such an event. After all, I would.