I made an effort to make this one a little longer than usual to make up for all of the lost time. I'm kinda making this up as I go, so gimme a break if it stinks!
Vicky's colour-changing parchment is back by popular demand ^_^
and as always, please REVIEW! All of the peeps that I send it to say that it's really good, but I NEED REVIEWS!! I have like - 200 hits, and like 5 reviews…not fair, right? Anything is welcome, and if you don't like this story, don't leave and ignore me, REVIEW AND FLAME IF YOU NEED TO!! TELL me why it sux! I want to make this fic as good as it can get! (but that means planning ahead, ick!)
Anyways, if you're still reading, ON WITH THE STORY!!!
Just a reminder what has happened so far…Brandy's father is gone, Snape is in Malfoy Manor to face his past, and oh what else? Harry's strange encounter with Halley and the beginning of chapter four will be mentioned in later chapters, so don't forget it!
Chapter Six
*SWISH* went Harry's invisibility cloak as he crept swiftly down the corridor. He needed a break; Harry hardly ever got breaks from life, and a nice quiet stroll down the corridor seemed like just the thing to get rid of his throbbing headache. He headed towards the Hospital wing to get some potion, but then turned down a different passage in the opposite direction, not really thinking about where he was headed. Where was he going anyways? Dunno don' care.
He walked through the hall of Armor, (and he had a strange feeling like they were watching him) and ended up by Hogwarts lake. He watched the tranquil, gliding ripples float on the surface from the center to the shoreline. (He suspected the mer-people were doing some Squid-Hunting) Harry watched the faint candlelight glow and flicker in Hagrid's cabin. You could make out a large shadow walking around, and eventually tucking itself into bed as the dim light fluttered out.
It was then that Harry noticed a figure sitting on the shore a ways down. He lit his wand. Someone was sitting down, reading or writing something. He could see the small glow of a "Lumos" spell.
"Nox" Harry said, threw the cloak over his shoulders, then silently went over to meet the person-whoever it was holding in one hand his unlit wand, and the other, his invisibility cloak.
The Moonlight lit up her features as harry crept closer. Her red-brown hair sat in waves on her shoulders, and silvery-jade eyes looked up from the letter she was reading. (Which was temporarily Metallic Purple, and fading into a shimmery magenta colour)
"Who's there?" She asked suspiciously. It was Halley. Harry could tell by the unmistakable drawl, which he suspected was a common Malfoy trait. "I know you're there, come out."
Harry bit his lip as he decided if he should take off the cloak or not. Just do it, he thought to himself. You know she's doing that project-you owe it to her.
No I don't! She's Malfoy's Sister! His SISTER! I don't owe her anything! Heck, I didn't even know he had a sister! Harry thought back.
All the more reason to talk to her. He argued with himself.
Halley closed her eyes trying to read the aura from the invisible someone. She always had been good at Divination, (probably from the many private tutors she had waiting at home) but it was too hard. Halley didn't know the people here too well, so she couldn't read their personality auras too well either. She could tell, however, that it was a boy in an invisibility cloak. Probably her brother playing another prank on her. Halley reached out, and tried grabbing at the air where she suspected Draco was.
Harry barely missed her arms by inches when he backed up to dodge the flailing arms. All it took was a hop, skip, and a jump - backwards that is. Tripping, then stumbling backwards, He tripped over a tree root. "OW!" he said, right after he fell over backwards on his bum. The cloak slid off of his shoulders.
"Potter!" she said surprised. Then, "Potter!" trying to sound more disgusted. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at your ballet lesson learning how NOT to be clumsy as an ox? At least it'd give you grace for the next time that you're busy reading other people's mail."
Harry got up, and after hitting his head on another low branch and rubbing where he suspected a good sized bump might form, said, "That does it! I was actually going to help you with that damned report!" he said, even though it wasn't exactly true. "But you can just forget it now!" Harry's headache wasn't exactly as gone as he hoped it would be, either.
"No, wait-" she said. "Before you go, can I ask you a question?"
"Fine." He said, crossing his arms, and making a "make this quick" sort of face.
"What do you like to do for fun?"
Harry was surprised at this question. He thought it was going to be some smart-allek remark about his "clumsiness" (it's all the tree's fault, really!) "Um…I like Wizard chess, I guess. And I think Exploding Snap is pretty fun… just about anything to avoid homework, unless it's Divination so me and Ron can make up…" then he stopped, when he remembered the hate in Draco's eyes whenever he brought up the Weasleys. Malfoys and Weasleys…that's right. don't mix. Remember that, Harry. He said to himself. "And quidditch of course. I really like that game. I find myself practicing all the time." Mostly so that I can beat your brother to a slimy pulp at the next quidditch match.
Halley laughed. "I hate my brother." She said.
"Did I say that outloud?" Harry thought to himself aloud.
"Um…yeah. You just said, 'did I say that outloud,' Last time I checked. Didn't you?" Halley said, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Oh well, never mind. I must've. I can be really spacey sometimes."
"I can see that," Halley said, eyeing the bump on his head. Then asked suddenly, "Who do you hate? Besides my brother." She added.
"How did you know I hated Malf-I mean Draco?" Harry said, realizing their last names were the same.
"Everybody does. Especially me. Nobody hates him more than I do."
"I dunno; Ron could give you a run for your money if you ask me…." Harry said, remembering the Bouncing Ferret incident. (I want to fix that in my memory forever…Malfoy the bouncing ferret!)
"Who else?"
"Dudley. The fat muggle that I live with. I hate all of them. Dudley, Uncle Vernon, Piers, the whole lot."
"Me too. They're all fools." Halley said, thinking of her father, Lucius. "Plus, half of them smell like they haven't showered all week."
"Dudley doesn't. You'd be lucky if he showers once a month. Probably because he can't get his fat blubbery butt into the tub." Harry said, laughing. Then, "Wait a sec, How do you know the Dursleys?"
"Who?"
"The muggles I live with. How do you know them? You said, 'They're all foul' "
"All muggles are the same." She drawled matter-of-factly. "Big, stupid, blundering…"
"I don't think so! Most of them aren't bad at all." Harry protested, even though he couldn't think of any at the time.
Halley knew that Potter would say something like that eventually. He was always sticking up people like that Weasley kid and Brainy-Granger…even that pretty-boy Hufflepuff Diggory… Cases like that Harry Potter…they never make any sense to her. Pure-blods are, after all, much better than any mud-blood or stupid half-breed wizards. All of her friends said so. Yeah right. Whatever you say, Potter.
***
How are you? I'll bet you're having lots of fun with your History project. I hope you're having fun! All that Quidditch…it must be like a dream-come-true to spend a whole month with Adrian Lynch. So he gave you a private lesson? That's so cool! You must be getting very good with all that professional quidditch stuff!
I sure wish Harry Potter would do something to help me with my project. My moron brother spoils everything for me! That Potter hates him so much, he hardly speaks to me! I don't know how I'm going to get this done on time! The Girls I sleep with in my dorm are just as bad. That mud-blood Granger's with me and so are two other prissy, preppy, boy-crazy girls. It's disgusting the way they goggle over all those Hufflepuff pimps - I think I'm going to barf!
Oh well, I sure hope you're having a much better time then I am. Other then the horribly cold people here, it's a lot of fun at Hogwarts. I really like the way they put together the castle - it's a lot better than Draco makes it out to be. There's so many secret passages, I get lost about 3 times a day! I'm getting better, though. The paintings are magnificent, and the common rooms are very nice. Maybe I can talk father into letting me come here with my brother. Hopefully, I'll be in Slytherin (Dumbledore told me it would be best if I were in the same house as Potter for now. Stupid Gryffindors…)
Best Friends Forever,
Halley M.
"Lucius, we have a visitor."
The cold, hissing voice struck through him like daggers of ice. It had been years since he had last confronted the dark lord. More than a decade.
"Severus Snape. What a surprise to see you." Voldemort hissed menacingly eyes a fiery red.
"Indeed," Lucius said tensely. Snape wondered if Malfoy's eyebrow twitched like that by the dark lord all the time, or if it was just because he was here.
Snape kneeled down on one knee before the dark lord and looked towards the floor and said, "I have returned to serve you, master. I wish to aid you in your quest for immortality." Severus said, and looked up into Voldemort's crimson eyes, trying to get as much of a malice-full look as he could.
Lucius narrowed his eyes and looked at Snape. "You liar - what are you really doing here?"
"Like I said, I'm here to serve my old master."
"Severus - you weren't at the ceremony this summer. What were you doing?" Voldemort said, darkly. If the two Deatheaters were eight years old, it would've been perfect if Lucius said 'yeah, what were you doing!?'
Snape took a deep breath - he had rehearsed this on the train, done it a thousand times, - he could do it again. "I was at the Third Task, master. Besides the fact that nobody can apparate off the Hogwarts grounds, it would be too risky to leave them in order to return to your side. People would get suspicious."
Liar. Voldemort didn't have to say the words out loud to make Severus feel the blame freeze his bones.
"Crucio!"
Snape had had this curse put on him before. But it was more terrible than ever. His entire body felt like it was being pierced with a hundred knives. His skin felt as if it were being scorched with a hot iron and frozen in the arctic ocean at the same time. His muscles were being stretched past the limit, and cramped into nothing. It fealt like he was going to burst. Severus's shrieks were still echoing in the empty corridor scaring bats out of an unseen opening.
Just when he thought that he would go mental, the Dark Lord lifted the curse from him. Snape was lying on his side on the floor, hunched over gripping his stomach gasping for air. His legs were twitching in seizures from the pain, and the scream's echo could still be heard just around the bend.
"What do you think we should do with this vermin, Lucius?" Voldemort murmured viciously to the man at his side.
Snape started to get up, and was still panting from the curse, using his shaking arm to lean him against the wall. He looked over at the destructive man who had once been his best friend. He looked into his eyes, trying sending a message that said, "friend, help me - I need your help"
Lucius looked at Snape, and saw the look he gave him. He tried to be as hateful as he could when he said, "I will hold him here in my dungeons. I have a plan, but must have more time to develop it."
Voldemort could see the tiny bit of companionship shining through. An unseen grin floated through his evil mind. Yes, He had a plan too.
"Very well. Show me the place you are to keep him."
Lucius bowed to his master and said, "Yes, master," then led him to a dungeon off of the passage that led to the fireplace entrance. He opened the door, and shoved Snape into the room. There was only one barred window - and it was on the door. Lucius peered in, hate in his eyes, then flashed a look that truly said, "I'm sorry."
Voldemort placed his icy hand on Malfoy's shoulder. Lucius resisted a small shudder - he still fealt the ice run through his blood, even though he was used to his freezing touch. "We will resume our 'little chat' at dusk. Meet me here." And with that, he disapperated.
Severus looked around the cell that was to be his "home" for a while. It reminded him of the remote Slytherin dungeons: muck splattered on the walls, dirty floor, and a single wooden bench held on the wall by chains on the side. Barely any light came through the single window, just like his office. He took off his cloak, laid it on the wooden planks, and did his best to fall asleep.
***
A/n: well, I think that's as far as I'm going to go - I'm really anxious to hear what you think is going on in the story - what's between Lucius and Severus? And how in the world is Halley going to get her project on Harry finished when he won't even talk to her?
Read and Respond! Wild Guesses are welcome! I love reading constructive reviews! (Keyword: constructive!!!) Thanx everybody!
*be as brave as you can be*
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