BLOOD TRAITOR'S ALLEY
"You want my Chocolate Frog card? It's Merlin—"
"No, look at these! They help you see in the dark—"
"—oh, can I have your Fever Fudge—thanks—"
"—should make sure everyone in the D.A. have them—"
Ron walked with Harry down Hogsmeade's High Street, clutching his goods. Because it was mid-October, it was getting rather chilly; their jackets and scarves were worn tightly wound about them. Dark clouds loomed in the east, threatening to spill at any given moment.
True to Dumbledore's word, Ron and Harry were being shadowed by two Auror guards. Ron wasn't sure what their names were, but they reminded him a bit too much of Crabbe and Goyle for his liking—both in size and in scowl.
But Ron couldn't complain. He and Hermione were almost not allowed to come. Having Crabbe and Goyle lookalikes stalking him everywhere was a very small price to pay for having the freedom to load up on as many sweets and junkfood as he could carry.
"Too bad Hermione chose not to come with us. I saw some deluxe sugar quills she might like," Harry said. "Where did she go, anyway?"
Ron shrugged, trying to look nonchalant but also knowing full well where Hermione was.
"I think she and Ginny were going to the bookstore, last I saw. Ginny normally doesn't frequent anywhere that doesn't have food, clothes, or broomsticks, but she said something about needing something for a paper that's due tomorrow," he explained, then reddened. "Speaking of girls, Lavender wanted me to go out with her today too—I barely dodged her in time—"
Lavender was becoming quite unbearable, Ron was quickly finding out. She might always have been, but he'd been so wrapped up in the snogging that it took him several weeks to figure this out.
When he said nothing else, Harry prompted him. "Continue…"
"Well...I mean it's just...Lavender just always wants us to do stuff together. I mean...she's nice and all, but...I mean, she's not...she's not...Hermione…you know?" Ron trailed off, staring dreamily at the sky. Then he remembered himself, turning pink. "Or you. You know, how we can just hang out. Talk. I mean, Lavender sure does love to talk, but...really, I don't want to spend that much time with her. She's a bit...annoying."
"You've just noticed this?" said Harry dryly.
Ron's ears grew red and he focused intently on an item at the very bottom of his bag, not watching where he was going.
He didn't see the something that bowled into his legs.
Hermione picked a book off the shelf and admired its gold-edged pages as she opened it and began to rifle through it. They were at Tomes and Scrolls, one of Hermione's most favorite places in the world. It was so quaint and quiet and…
...well…
...at least it would be quiet if she didn't have a certain redhead breathing loudly in her ear…
Ginny sighed, irritated.
"I'm bored," she moaned.
Hermione raised a brow at Ginny's childishness then, just as quickly, reproved herself for being rude. Ginny was raised by a mother who spoiled her, a father who fiddled with Muggle toys, and six older brothers who were all obsessed with Quidditch.
It wasn't Ginny's fault that she prefered playing over reading.
"You didn't have to come along, you know," Hermione reminded the redhead.
"I thought spending the day with you would be more fun. You know...trying on clothes at Gladrags, talking about boys over a butterbeer, shopping for unhealthy junkfood at the Magic Neep that's liable to make us fat. Girl shopping," said Ginny, irritable. "We haven't even gone to Splintwitches yet!"
"You were the one who said you needed a book," Hermione chided. Her arms swept all around her at All The Books."You're welcome," she said sarcastically. "Go wild."
Ginny grumbled and stared at a bookshelf. Hermione went back to her book.
However. Five minutes later, and Ginny was still trying to find the right title to no avail.
Hermione watched her hopelessly for another minute before giving in.
"All right, fine, I'll find the book for you. Why don't you give me your list and you can go play in the corner with the toy brooms and magical floating blocks while I find it?" she said. "We'll be out in two minutes and then we can go get a pint."
Ginny grinned. "Thank you, dearie!"
She practically threw the crumpled paper in Hermione's face before going to the child's corner and sitting next to the other three year olds to play.
Hermione sighed and bent down to pick up the fallen scrap. When she came back up, however, she found herself face to face with—
"Cormac!" she said in alarm, dropping the paper scrap in surprise.
His blond hair curled around his face quite handsomely, but Hermione was not one for looks. He could grin and wink at her all he like, but she was still not amused.
"Hermione!" he greeted in turn, bending down to pick it up and hand it to her again. "I must say, I am surprised to see you here."
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"You are surprised to find me, Hermione Granger, in a bookshop? Do you know me at all?" she asked.
"Oh, but I mean to say, I thought you were banned from coming to Hogsmeade?" he said quizzically.
"Is everything I do public knowledge?" she muttered to herself. To him, she announced, "No, I have not been banned yet, thank you for the concern. They've decided on two bodyguards for me this time."
She gestured to the two Order members standing by the door. It was Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks today who were keeping a close eye on her and Ginny, as well as the street and environs.
But Hermione had more important matters to attend to.
She walked around Cormac and scoured the rest of the aisle, determined to find Ginny's book quickly so she could be removed from the frustratingly arrogant pretty-boy.
Her finger glossed over the titles, looking through the P's of the Potions section until she found the one she wanted. The only reason Ginny couldn't find it was because although the book's title was Quick Quidditch Cures, it was a part of a series and thus next to its prequel, Potion Cures for the Curious.
Although if she worked at Tomes and Scrolls, she would have more of a mind to categorize books the Muggle way and shelve them by genre first and author's surname second.
She grasped the navy and silver book and opened her mouth to call out for Ginny.
There. That was quick enou—
She turned around and bumped into Cormac again. Her book fell to the floor.
"Cormac!" she said again, far more irate this time.
"Hermione!" he said as if she bumped into him on purpose and he was merely catching her in the act. His voice was lower, and his eyes more earnest in this new attempt to woo her, as he handed her the book. "Must we keep bumping into each other like this?"
Fed up with him, she snapped, "No! We really mustn't!"
She shoved past him but could hear his footsteps behind her as she marched up to the counter and paid for the book—forgetting in her wrath that it wasn't even her book.
When she was done with that, she turned around—
And automatically took a step back from Cormac, who had come right up behind her again.
"Come to think of it...I don't think I ever told you, Cormac," she said, thinking fast, "That I had the biggest crush on you in September, what with you being Head Boy and all. But you see, I just knew there was no way I'd ever be able to measure up—"
His chest visibly puffed up. "Well, it's no wonder! I'm actually on the Quidditch team too, did you hear?"
"—Oh! Really? Wow, Cormac, you are...really something! Did you hear that, Romilda? Isn't Cormac just the best? Head Boy and almost-Quidditch-Captain!" Hermione gushed, pulling Romilda Vane to her in an effort to distract Cormac. "How lucky are we to be standing here beside him!"
Romilda, who'd been standing in line right behind them, look disgusted to be next to Hermione, but her interest automatically turned to Cormac and her cheeks flushed when she saw the Head Boy had noticed her.
"Well, I guess it's just too bad that I'm dating Viktor Krum then...you know...international Quidditch star and all…" Hermione said, looking downcast. "But, oh well! Other fish in the sea, as you well know. And then there's Romilda here...I hear you are single, Ro? And Cormac, look how lovely she is today! That beautiful violet pashmina really makes her eyes pop, wouldn't you say? Here, why don't you two mingle…"
And then she got out of that shop just as quickly as her legs could carry her. She didn't dare look back to see that, why yes, Romilda was interested in the Head Boy. And Cormac was far too distracted by Romilda's pretty face to be too hung up on Hermione leaving.
My work here is done.
Ginny caught up with her then, cracking up. Charlie and Tonks followed them out of the bookshop, both chuckling.
"That, my dear, was the best matchmaking I have ever seen!" said Ginny, chortling. "The looks on their faces! You know she's got a die-hard Harry crush, don't you? Oh, broomsticks, you're a hoot, Hermione! And don't you ever let anyone tell you otherwise…"
Ron got the wind knocked out of him by either a dwarf or a very tiny person.
"Ooof!" said a small boy as he was knocked to the ground.
Fake-Crabbe and Faux-Goyle immediately started running to them, but when they saw it was just a little boy, they slowed their steps, bemused.
"You all right? Need a hand?" said Ron, helping the five-year-old up.
"RUSTY PREWETT!" said a harassed-looking woman hurrying towards them. She hoisted up an even smaller girl onto her hip as she ran. "You get back here at once, young man! And apologise to the gentleman!"
The boy muttered an apology to Ron's shoes. All Ron could see was an auburn head and pink ears.
"I am so sorry, he does that often—he's just excited, really. Come along, Rusty," said the woman.
She had wide eyes and a rather thin nose, Ron noticed. She took the boy's hand and tried to pull him away.
"But, Mum! It's Harry Potter!"
"Nevermind that, Rusty, we must get home. It's past nap time. Poor Hazel's going to fall asleep in my arms."
"Mummy, I's 'wake!" said the sleepy little red-headed girl around her thumb. She couldn't have been more than two or three.
"Er...sorry," said Ron. "But did you say Prewett? My mum's a Prewett. Molly Prewett. Well, except now, she's Molly Weasley."
"So you're a Weasley, then? Might have known—you look the part. Sorry, I'm Hyacinth Prewett. Pleasure to meet you. I believe you're related to my husband. He's got a Molly as a sister. Hasn't spoken to her in years. Not since their twin brothers died. I suppose he ought to have told her he got married and had children, but that's Russell for you. Rusty's father, that is. Never so much a bother about anything," said Hyacinth Prewett, all rather fast. "Oh, this is Hazel."
The small girl in her arms looked more like the boy than her mum—dark red curls and curious hazel eyes; but while the boy had glasses, she sported a thumb in her mouth.
"I see it! I see his scar, Mum!" said Rusty Prewett excitedly, pushing his glasses up on his nose in a way that rather reminded Ron of Percy.
"Yes, yes, but we really do need to hurry. There's going to be another storm—there've been rather a lot of them lately—excuse us, please, we must be going. Pleasure to meet you both," she said, and tugged the boy along. The little girl, Hazel Prewett, waved at them shyly with her spare fingers over her mum's shoulder as they ducked into the Magic Neep grocery story.
"Prewett...huh..." mused Ron. "I've told you about Mum's brothers, haven't I? Uncle Gideon and Uncle Fabian? They died in the last war. Fred and George were named after them. Mum told us about her youngest brother, Russell, and how he became a shopkeeper after the war. Wondered what had happened to him. Seems to have come to Hogsmeade, though...huh, wonder if Mum knows..."
Harry kicked at a cobblestone and nodded absently. "Have you noticed, though? There have been a lot of storms lately."
"So?"
"So, think about it," said Harry impatiently.
There were times Ron wished he wasn't so slow on the uptake.
Now was one of them.
"Hundreds of dementors leave Azkaban," Harry explained. "Fogs and clouds and the like tend to gravitate towards them. There's been one storm after another since we arrived here. Hogwarts is the one thing Voldemort wants more than me. He basically owns the dementors. Now what do you think that all adds up to?"
Ron swore.
"Exactly."
The Three Broomsticks ended up being far too full for the girls' liking. It was lunchtime that they happened to go there, and they both regretted it immeasurably. But the thousands of lights strung up, the open airy space, and dozens upon dozens of chairs and booths spread out before them as far as they could see in the magically-enhanced, student-friendly pub were all too enticing. And almost every square inch of that space was filled up by Hogwarts teenagers, all fancying a pint.
"Maybe…maybe we should try Madam Puddifoot's?" Hermione yelled over the cacophony. "Or the Hog's Head?"
"No," Ginny said decidedly, already knowing what she wanted. "I know a spot. Follow me."
After they got their butterbeers and croissants, Ginny led Hermione up the rickety staircase that bordered the high ceilings and looked down over the main dining areas. The railing was a bit too precarious for Hermione's liking as they walked along the balcony walkway to get to a small, cozy balcony nestled against bay windows where they sat on plump velvet cushions and overlooked the Scottish mountains on one side and the main bar far below them.
"Wow, I've never been in this part of the pub before," said Hermione, appraising it. It was far more quiescent up here, with the noises from below turning into just background noise. Charlie and Tonks settled at a table quite a distance away, keeping a weather eye on the people around them.
Ginny smiled, and chattered on about how she and her fellow fifth-year girlfriends would often come up here and play pranks on people, but Hermione was no longer listening.
She had just spotted a very familiar, very blond, head of slick hair down in the thick of the melee.
Thoughts of when she had confronted her Slytherin tormentor about the love potion came to her, but Hermione was torn with indecision. She remembered everything Harry had said about him. Malfoy told her he didn't know who was in charge of trying to abduct her and bring her to Voldemort. But surely that was a lie...
She was saved from these thoughts, however, when Alexandra Rosier, a few other fifth-year Gryffindor girls named Emerald Greene and Hesper Puckle, and, oddly enough, Fay and Sally-Anne from her own year came over and sat with them, gossiping.
Hermione wasn't used to being with a bunch of giggling girls, as tight-knitted as she was with her two boys plus tutoring others, but it was actually a lot of fun chatting and regaling tales with this bunch.
Before she knew it, a half-hour had passed and they were laughing so hard that she felt the need to use the restroom.
"Shall I go get another round, then?" she said, standing. "On me."
Cries of "Oh, yes, please!" "You're such a doll…" followed her and she set off for downstairs, where the crowd had died down quite a bit.
"Wait up! I need to use the loo!" Ginny called, running after her. "Then I'll help you take the drinks back. They are a fun bunch, aren't they!"
They were followed to the loo by Tonks, which made Hermione feel rather silly. Honestly, she was fine...she didn't need to be escorted everywhere like a small child…
They made it to the ladies' room with no hassle, but as soon as she was in the stall, Ginny's incessant chatter made it almost impossible for Hermione to finish. Hermione got out and washed her hands, taking her time and waiting for Ginny.
After a minute though, Hermione thought better of it. "Gin, I'm going to go and order the drinks. You coming?"
"Yes, just a minute," Ginny called back.
Satisfied, Hermione went over to the bar, passing Katie Bell on her way out. She noticed Tonks following her out the corner of her eye, and silently wished the Auror could just stick with Ginny instead. But Ginny hadn't been attacked several times like Hermione had, which meant Hermione was more high-risk.
She sighed as she waited for her drinks, hating the whole situation.
It was probably just as well that she not talk to Malfoy again, she thought, paying for the bottles. Ron and Harry would never approve, for one thing. Ron almost had a hernia when he found out that she had even talked to Malfoy in the first place. She didn't know what Harry thought.
Besides, it wasn't like Malfoy would ever admit to it, if he was lying the first time. She would have to be the one drugging him next time...
She sat at the bar and took a sip of hers, looking around for Malfoy, but she didn't see him there anymore.
For endless minutes, she waited around for Ginny, but she never showed.
Perhaps she went upstairs without Hermione?
"You haven't seen Ginny, have you?" Hermione muttered to Tonks. The Metamorphmagus shook her head, and they went up the stairs to see if Ginny went there.
Puzzled, Hermione looked around at the other girls, but Ginny wasn't there either. Hermione passed the bottles out, but nobody else seemed too concerned about Ginny taking too long in the loo.
"She's used to sharing a toilet room with her brothers at home," Alexandra said with a shrug, her dark curls falling over her shoulders. "Makes sense she covets the amount of time she gets in them."
Sally-Anne snickered, but Hermione wasn't too sure. She cast a glance at Charlie and Tonks, but they were standing near the staircase, scouring the room for Charlie's sister.
"Hoy! Gin! We thought you fell in!" shouted the girl next to Hermione. She was the pink-cheeked pixie-cut blonde named Emerald Greene.
Hesper turned in her spot, grinning at her redheaded friend. "You abandoned Hermione, you cheeky blighter. She'll never forgive you now."
But Ginny, walking toward them holding something tight in her hands, didn't call back as she normally would have.
"I thought you already came up here," Hermione said as Ginny came to stand by her. "I didn't need any help with the bottles though, we're all good."
Ginny didn't sit down. Her eyes looked oddly vacant. "I have a present for you."
Charlie and Tonks were watching this whole interchange, puzzled, hands on their wands...
"Oh, you didn't have to, Ginny, that's very sweet of you!" said Hermione, smiling. "Is that why you were gone so long? Buying something for me?"
"Open it," Ginny said.
The redhead held it out to her. It was a brown paper package tied up with string.
Hermione's fingers clenched around the gift—
But, changing her mind, Ginny yanked back hard just as Hermione grabbed it—
"No—"
The package tore open—
"DON'T—!"
But it was too late.
Shrill screams filled the air.
It was just as Harry and Ron were rounding a corner onto Picklewitch Lane that Harry noticed something, and abruptly stopped. Ron tripped over his feet in a keen effort to catch himself from colliding into Harry, and grunted.
"Merlin, Harry, what is it now?"
Harry stared across the cobblestone street at the clock tower. It rose crookedly into the storm-struck sky, one of the tallest buildings in Hogsmeade. But it wasn't sightseeing that stopped him. It was a memory.
A memory of…
Him looking at the clock-tower when it said four thirty-seven.
Of course it wasn't that time now. It was currently only midday. But that memory...
As if in a daze, Harry stepped out into the street and crossed it. He stopped when he was right outside Splintwitches, a shop he went with Ginny to, last Hogsmeade trip.
Last Hogsmeade trip...when Ron was attacked.
Harry did not take his eyes off the clock tower. Now that he was in a different location, he could see the angle of the clock tower completely matched up with the memory he had of when it said four thirty-seven.
Harry furrowed his brow, wondering why this would stand out to him. It wasn't like he'd never seen the old building before. He'd seen it hundreds of times, most likely. But the memory stood out to him because he had been looking at the clock tower with four thirty-seven on its face...and then he had blinked...and the numbers read four forty-two...
Ron stared at him, concerned. "It's not...your scar...is it?"
Harry shook his head. "No...not my scar...in fact, that hasn't hurt in months…no...but, Ron...what happened at four thirty-seven last Hogsmeade trip?"
Running a hand through his hair, Ron was perturbed by the question. "That...I mean, I don't know the exact time...but I think that was around when the Death Eater attacked. I remember the Aurors talking about the time after they did a really cool spell to find out what happened. Why?"
"Because...the last time we were here...I saw that clock read four thirty-seven...and then it jumped straight to four forty-two," said Harry. "Five minutes...in the space of one second."
Something wasn't right. Something was missing. Missing...missing...like a…
"Ron," Harry whispered. "You told me that you sent me a Patronus! Last Hogsmeade weekend, when you were attacked. You sent me your Patronus...but I never got it…"
Five minutes...
"I was royally pissed at you for that," Ron admitted, voice low. "I thought you were lying, honestly. Patronuses don't just...disobey...when you send them as messengers. It's not like my crup would have delivered it to someone else, either. They can even tell when someone uses a Polyjuice. I thought for sure you were lying…"
Five minutes...
"I wasn't lying, Ron," Harry vowed. "I never got it. Ginny and I were at Splintwitches, and the line was really long so I stepped outside to wait for Ginny while she bought her things. I remember looking at the clock, and it said four thirty-seven and then I swear I only blinked and then it said four forty-two. I never got your Patronus."
Five minutes...and one very important message.
And that's when Harry realized what happened.
"Ron...I think someone stole my memory."
It all happened so fast.
Give the package to Hermione…
Ginny had been fighting with the Imperius the whole way upstairs, but it had been such a nice, pleasant feeling.
Give it to her…
Above all, she knew that Something Very Bad was going to happen if she obeyed.
Give it to her NOW!
It was a mark of how strong-willed and defiant she was that Ginny was able to overthrow the Imperius just in time. She snapped out of it as soon as Hermione touched the package.
OBEY ME!
"No—" she cried, coming out of that hazy cloud.
Charlie and Tonks both ran forward just as the tearing sound happened, and Ginny didn't even have time to gasp—
"DON'T—" cried Tonks, reaching her hand out before Hermione could touch it—
Something shiny and dazzling shot up into the air. A necklace, Ginny saw. At once, she wondered what was so special about a necklace...and why someone would even want Hermione to have it. But as the horrified Tonks caught it a mere second before it fell in Hermione's hands, they all saw why.
With horror, the girls all screamed as they saw a curse enact on the Auror's body, her unheard scream, rising up in the air, the look of pure terror, the grotesque manner of what that curse was making her do.
Ginny was terrified.
To say she was in shock was an understatement.
She couldn't even remember what happened after that. How Charlie saved Tonks. How he cast a spell over the cursed necklace so nobody could touch it. How he made sure Hermione and Ginny and the other girls were all right. How he summoned the St. Mungo paramedics, who appeared with their kits and stretcher. How they took Tonks away…
Her friends all gave their statements to Kingsley. Charlie talked with the Aurors as they came, more and more of them, and then they allowed him to go be with Tonks, and he disapparated after squeezing Ginny and Hermione both tightly, telling them both how glad he was that they were okay.
Then Kingsley was looking her in the eyes and talking to her, but she couldn't see him. Couldn't respond to him. Couldn't respond to Hermione, when she tried talking to her. Couldn't respond to Harry when he came. But Ron….
Ron…
As soon as she saw her brother, Ginny came out of her shock, and she clung to him, sobbing, and crying "I'm sorry...I'm sorry…it's all my fault..." over and over again.
And through it all, she couldn't help thinking the most horrifying thoughts.
Tonks is dead.
I killed her.
He hugged her and soothed her as only an awkward brother could. And it was then that she finally was ready to talk to Kingsley about what had happened.
They sat in a booth in the main dining area of the Three Broomsticks. It had been cleared out and emptied of all patrons, and Rosmerta was shakily cleaning mugs behind the bar. The clinking of glass on glass could be heard numerous times as she tried to finish her work while listening in on the Aurors' conversations.
Ginny couldn't stop watching her.
To Ginny's left sat Ron, who gripped her arm encouragingly and a wee bit tightly. Harry and Hermione sat at the next table over, offering support, but her friends had already left for the castle, having given their statements already.
"I-I-I was...in the loo...washing my hands...when the door opened," Ginny began, voice small and stuttering. "I didn't look up to see who came in. I thought they'd walk right by me and go to the stall. B-but then I heard a...v-voice...say...I-Imperio...and then nothing else mattered. I was...in heaven…and th-that's when she gave me the package and-and-and told me what to d-do..."
Kingsley leaned forward in his seat.
"Who, Ginevra?"
Ginny sniffled. "R-Rosmerta."
Glass shattered behind them.
There were questions...lots of questions...and she had to repeat herself. Lots of times.
Just as Ginny suspected, Rosmerta was under the Imperius as well. She didn't look right when she talked to Ginny. But when Kingsley asked the bar matron if she remembered who put her under the Imperius, Rosmerta couldn't. It had been in her orders given to her, that she not remember who was cursing her.
But she kept calling him a 'he'. And they all knew it was a Death Eater.
After what felt like hours, Kingsley stood up, sympathy covering his kind features, and he told them they were all free to leave.
Ginny never felt more relieved in her life.
Yet...she couldn't help but feel that this nightmare was only beginning.
Harry was in shock.
The fact that Ginny was...that Ginny…
That someone had used an Unforgivable on Ginny was…
Unforgivable.
And Tonks saving Hermione and Ginny both was…was….
Unbelievable.
Worry for Tonks...for the news of whether she was still alive or….or….
He couldn't finish that thought.
Please let Tonks be okay, he prayed instead. Please let her be okay...please let her live….
The rest of the day dampened considerably for them all. They were told to go straight to the castle. Do not pass 'Go'. Do not collect two hundred dollars. Ron's two Auror guards followed them to make sure they obeyed.
Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were all escorted down the street, passing by the uaware shoppers who had no idea that two Unforgivables had just been cast inside such a formerly happy place. Neville and Luna soon joined them from where they were waiting at the entrance to the Three Broomsticks for the questioning to be done.
Ron was holding tighter to Ginny than usual, as she kept clinging to him in a very un-Ginny-like way and wouldn't let go. Hermione kept shivering, having just escaped death (or worse), and Harry wished he could do something for her.
For either of them.
Shivering, Harry couldn't get that scene out of his head.
He and Ron had gone with Neville and Luna to the Three Broomsticks for lunch, but as soon as they had got there, everything was chaos. St. Mungo's was already there, he saw in dismay that an unconscious Tonks was being floated away, Hermione was in tears, and Ginny was in shock.
They just...couldn't believe it. That there had been another attack…
Ron and Hermione weren't safe anywhere.
"Harry...you're scaring the girls, mate," said Ron in an undertone.
Harry looked up from where he'd been staring at his sneakers as they walked. The leaning cottages with their A-frames, the towering buildings held up clearly by magic, the bustling people around them… he hadn't seen any of it.
All he could think about was what had just happened to Tonks, Hermione, and Ginny.
"The girls are already scared, Ron," Harry said in an undertone.
"Fine then. You're scaring me. Want to liven up a bit?"
Their argument was broken though when Trevor the Toad wrenched out of Neville's grip.
"Quick! Catch him!" Neville cried, but the toad hopped down an alley-way and out of sight.
The rain started falling down in earnest as six teenagers ran off after Trevor. They took off down several streets, splitting up to look for him, and quite accidentally losing their bodyguards in the crowds and maze of a town as a result. Shielded under umbrella charms, they kept calling Trevor's name (which was useless, but...well...with magic you never knew...), they tried summoning spells, they tried locating spells, but all were to no avail.
"What the...how the hell is that toad so fast?" Ron grumbled.
"Nott...enhanced Trevor a few weeks ago," Ginny spoke up, still quiet amidst her red-rimmed eyes, but coming back a little more to her regular self. "As a joke. Meant to injure and ridicule. Not very funny right now, if you ask me…"
Then Neville thought he saw Trevor's hind legs disappear round a corner, and they all followed him to peer down another dark and twisting street in the heart of Hogsmeade.
"'Blood Traitor's Alley'?" said Ron, reading the street sign through the rainy haze. "That sounds promising..."
"We need to wait for Ron's bodyguards to catch up!" panted Hermione, bent over her knees trying to catch her breath. She definitely wasn't the most fit of the bunch. "We lost them in the crowd somewhere along Hogsworth Way. We mustn't keep going off by ourselves…Neville, slow down!"
But Neville gave a shout as he spotted Trevor.
Yet again, they reluctantly followed Neville as he raced after his toad. But when Harry saw who they were going towards, he slowed.
At first, Draco Malfoy appeared to be alone. But then they saw he was in a very heated conversation with a small skinny girl—it was Meghan Freeman.
"What is he doing?" trailed Harry.
"I don't know, but it's probably none of our business—please, let's just go—" said Hermione, pulling Harry after Neville.
Just then, Meghan Freeman gave a shriek—Malfoy whipped out his wand—
At once, Harry and Ron ran forward, Neville and the girls behind them, wands out.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Leave her alone, Malfoy!"
"Don't you even think of trying anything!"
"For the love of..." said Malfoy, swearing as he turned around and saw them. "I'm not even doing anything, you morons and Mudbloods!"
"Hey!" shrieked Freeman as Neville grabbed a hold of her to pull her away from Malfoy. They both slid in the puddles. "Get off me! I said let GO!" She wrenched her arm out of Neville's grasp and caught him in an Indian-burn that made him cringe.
"Ow! I wasn't trying to—we weren't—"
"Say you're sorry!" she growled at Neville. "Say it!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, all right?" he said, then stumbled back when she abruptly let go.
"That's better," she said haughtily.
Neville rubbed his arm as Ron helped him steady.
"Oh, stop cringing like a baby, Longbottom," sneered Malfoy. "And give me my wand back, Potter!"
Harry was not happy to give his school enemy a wand at all anytime soon. But when he didn't move to give it back, Hermione sighed irritably, took it from him, and handed it back to Malfoy. He stared at her as the rain fell down around them for several seconds before he took it from her.
Then he was back to his charming old self.
"Great, now there's half-blood and Mudblood slime on it," Draco Malfoy said, wiping it off.
Ginny held Ron back before he could make a move.
"You weren't saying as much the other day when I saved your stupid arse," Hermione sneered at him.
Ron whistled at her language.
Malfoy's anger shorted out and his ears grew pink.
"At least he has the decency to look down," Ron said viciously. "Like a bit of a bow. Malfoy isn't worth the ground Hermione stands on."
Malfoy's biting retort was drowned out by the resounding crack of thunder. The rain pounded harder around them.
"Wait, you're Freeman, aren't you? Fifth-year?" Harry said suddenly to the dark girl. "You were with us in the Shrieking Shack the other day."
The girl nodded, her braids bobbing up and down, the little dark beads in her hair clinking.
"We thought Malfoy was going to hurt you," said Harry to Freeman.
"Of course he wasn't!" she scoffed.
"Then why did you scream?"
"Because a bloody toad hopped on her foot!" Malfoy said scathingly. "I don't just go around cursing people, Potter! Especially not when they're in my own house!"
"You could have fooled me," Ron sneered.
"You're not 'people'," said Malfoy, snapping.
"And what business is it of yours anyway?" said Freeman, still angry. "What we do together has nothing to do with you."
"Sorry, but...well, he's a Slytherin," explained Neville.
"I'M a Slytherin!" she retorted. "Does that mean you're going to jinx me too?"
"I said I was sorry," said Neville, muttering.
"What were you talking to him about anyway? It didn't look like a very friendly conversation from our end," said Ron, addressing her and ignoring Malfoy completely. Harry suddenly noticed Ron's prefect badge was pinned to his blue sweater.
"I said it's none of your business, Weasel!" said Malfoy. "I'm a prefect too, don't you forget."
Ron scowled. "McGonagall told us to look for any funny business at Hogsmeade. You certainly look funny enough to me."
"Ron!" said Hermione.
Luna, however, wasn't paying any attention to their squabbling. Instead, she was staring at Malfoy with her piercing blue eyes.
He noticed her staring at him and narrowed his eyes. "What do you want, Loony Lovegood?"
She shrugged. "You have a faint aura around you. Before, it's always been black, but now it's really rather gray. I think it suits you. You don't look as mad as you always do. Is it because your father's in prison? Or because you don't like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named so much now?"
Malfoy's lips tightened with fury.
"Don't you dare speak of my father. Or the Dark Lord!" he said.
Alarmed, Luna pulled back, and whispered to Ginny, "The black is back."
As if to prove her point, the thunder cracked loudly, and the daylight grew even more dim and dark as night was coming on earlier than normal. The eight of them, however, took no notice.
"There's no reason to be rude," said Ginny sternly to Malfoy. "She can't help it if she sees things others can't."
"Of course she can't," Malfoy sneered, "She's loony!"
"Stop calling her that!" said Hermione.
"She isn't loony," said Ron. "If you would stop being an insufferable git—"
"He's not a git!" said Meghan Freeman, defending him. "You just don't like him because he's a Slytherin—"
"No, we don't like him because he's a Death Eater—" snarled Harry.
She at once shrieked in indignation, and Neville jumped in before she could attack anyone again. The seven of them were all shouting at each other within moments.
Nobody noticed how the air seemed to crackle around them as the students squabbled amongst themselves. Nor did they see how quickly Luna had backed away farther into the alley, or how her breathing had quickened, or how her hair seemed to stand on end with electrifying static.
"Stop it!" she shrieked.
There was a sudden flash of lightning that split the alley in two, and the metal sign that read "Blood Traitor's Alley" lit up in blindingly sheer whiteness.
It was ten feet from where they were standing—the lightning struck it with a force that no magic could rival, and for one phenomenal second, the sign and the lightning bolt had become one.
At once, the girls were slammed into the boys and they all were thrown backwards.
As soon as it had come, the lightning was gone, leaving the sign nothing but a blackened, gnarled stick in the ground, a large ring of burnt grass and cobblestones around it.
To Harry, nothing was weirder than waking up with Ginny on top of him and Draco Malfoy at his side. A pink Hermione, meanwhile, was picking herself up off Ron for the second time that term, and Neville and Meghan Freeman were helping each other up, blushing. Thick raindrops fell down on them, quickly changing to hail. And all too late, Harry forgot they were supposed to send out a Patronus.
But nothing, however, was so odd as what happened to Luna.
She had been further away from the lightning than the rest of them, and had thus not been thrown backwards. She was standing alone in the middle of the alley, looking down at the seven of them sprawled on the ground. Her eyes became strangely unfixed and wide, her head tilted to the side, as if she was listening to something. Then she opened her mouth and said, in a voice unlike her own—
"Black to red, and red to brown
Shall truly bring the darkness down,
But brown to white, and white to black
Shall find the light and bring it back."
The other seven reacted in different ways to her pronouncement. Harry and Ron looked at each other bewildered, in the time that Ginny raised a brow and Hermione's eyes widened in realization. Meghan gasped, Neville blinked in confusion, while Draco Malfoy simply picked himself off the ground, wanting to put as much space between him and the other Gryffindors as he could.
"What in the holy name of Slytherin was that?" he said, looking at Luna.
"I think she made a prophecy," said Hermione, still aghast.
"No, I think she made lightning!" said Ron, alarmed.
"She sounded like the Sorting Hat," said Harry, helping Ginny up.
"She sounded like a nutcase," muttered Malfoy.
"But what does it mean?" said Ginny. " 'Black to red, and red to brown'..."
"I don't know," said Neville, doggedly. "But I'm going to go find some cover. This hail is starting to hurt."
That didn't sound like too bad of an idea, and they all split ways.
Eight faces cringed under the weight of the hailstones, and eight umbrella charms went back up, completely covering the two redheads, the two brunets, the two that were raven-haired, and the two with hair that was almost white.
Malfoy shoved past them and headed down the street towards the Shrieking Shack. Ron, Neville, and Ginny picked up their things and started for Honeydukes once more, deep in conversation. Luna followed them, seemingly herself again, and Hermione ran to catch up with her, no doubt with questions about what Luna had said. Meghan Freeman was about to take off as well, when Harry pulled her back.
"Back there," he said quietly. "I need to know what you and Malfoy were arguing about."
It struck him then that he was conversing with a Slytherin who wasn't about to hex him. Well, there's a first for everything.
"No, you don't," Freeman retorted.
He cast about for something that would persuade her, but drew a blank. "Er...please?"
She glared at him. "Fine," Freeman said, and sighed. "He told me to stay in the castle on Halloween. Even though there's a ball plus the new joke shop opening. Don't know what he was thinking...of course I'm not going to miss the party...I don't care if none of the other Slytherins want to go..."
"Wait, why wouldn't he want you to go?"
"If you're so interested, Potter, why don't you go put on your pretty lipstick and frilly dress and just ask him yourself," she said, voice saccharine. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to go out with you.'
Harry let her go, and stared after her thoughtfully. Malfoy wanted her to stay at the castle? Why in Dangerous Dai's good name would he want her to do that?
"Harry!" Hermione called.
She, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna were all hanging back for him. Malfoy and Meghan Freeman weren't too far away. Harry jogged to catch up with them.
When he caught up, Hermione clutched Harry's arm. "Harry—I forgot—I need to speak with you and Ron both about something that I've found out. It's about the Sorting Hat's Riddle at start-of-term. It's too late today, but will you meet me tomorrow in the library after the D.A. meeting gets out?"
Harry nodded absently. He couldn't help but notice that all the others heard her say that, but he shrugged it off.
And as they left, he couldn't help glancing behind them at the darkened street of Blood Traitor's Alley.
Author's Note:
I really am sorry this chapter took a while in coming. I got such lovely reviews! But I hurt my good arm at work the other day and have been icing it and taking painkillers and trying not to move it, so editing and posting was out of the question.
On a happier note I decided to add in another element to the plot that I hadn't thought of exploring till now! But it won't happen for another few chapters, so I guess you'll just need to wait. But it has to deal with Ron and Hermione...and a pear.
Next up is "The Triquetra Effect", which I hope answers some of your questions.
Let me know what you think? Like it? Hate it? Want more Romione? More Hinny? More Ravender? More Krumione? More...Cormilda? Severones? Remones? ...yeah, I have NO idea what those ships are called, I'm just making names up. Anyway, you ask, and I'll deliver. As I said, these chapters are already written, but I can always write more scenes and stick them here and there whenever I wish without it interrupting the story by much. Unless...you're a weirdo and want weird things.
Or I could give you more of a certain character? Want more of a certain subplot or scenery or anything at all in particular you want me to write about? Let me know and I'll deliver!
Within reason, mind you. I'm not about to make Harry turn into a fish animagus and get eaten by the giant squid...
