AN: Just a simple reminder; this part begins on early Thursday morning. Sirius and Andromeda will be meeting again on Friday. Enjoy! (Special Thanks section at the end, for anyone who reviewed part 5)
This part is dedicated to my awesome beta-reader Static! You are, to put it simply, a fantabulous person :)
Two Roads Diverged Part 6: Close, in Only Proximity
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Gemini and Draco were flying through the sky. Having just recently departed from Hogwarts, she knew that a long trip lay ahead of them. They had departed at 1:00 and it was about 1:30 now; she hadn't slept all night and exhaustion was taking its toll.
Draco lagged behind, and the rope in-between them sagged considerably. She shot a look of wonderment at the vast expanse of land before the two. Rolling hills and vast plains of green fields lay beneath them, and she could make out teeny little dots that were probably houses and buildings. Never in her life would she have imagined the world could seem this large.
"Malfoy?" Gemini ventured a start at conversation.
"What?" He seemed too bored to be properly rude.
"Want to stop for a little while to rest? I didn't get much sleep, and this is going to be a long ride..." She knew how weird she must have sounded, but the need for sleep and rest overpowered her care.
"Whatever." He still managed to hold that bored tone, but Gemini thought she heard a hint of interest in his voice.
Gemini steered them towards the ground; a wayward pine would provide the necessary safety. The branches flew by them as the pair descended into the forest. They couldn't spare much time, but at the same time she needed some sort of break.
Draco dismounted his broom first. He seemed to survey the scene. Gemini propped the broomsticks against a decaying tree and cleared a spot on the ground. She removed her cloak, thanking the warm weather as she laid it upon the forest floor. She then slumped down onto it and leaned against a tree.
Her eyes fluttered closed, as she allowed her body to relax; she knew she shouldn't get this comfortable but at the same time could not deprive herself of the opportunity. She had to constantly keep thinking to keep herself awake. She wondered once or twice why she couldn't steal a few hours shut eye, and quickly reminded herself of the pressing situation.
A branch snapped; normally she would have ignored this seemingly unimportant noise, but something about the night made her nervous, and her eyes shot open.
There was Draco, moving as quietly as humanly possible towards the tree with the joined brooms. Gemini couldn't resist. With just as much precision she raised herself, too interested in his movements to even be irked with his disturbance of her peace. Creeping behind him she peered over his shoulder; he was struggling with the knot in the ropes, working quickly to untie it, while going slowly enough to avoid noise.
He was going to attempt to leave her and fly back! She didn't want him to notice her, not yet, at least. She tried to slowly back away, hoping to seek refuge back at the tree where she had begun, where she could keep a watchful eye on him while he worked, and yet still remain undetected.
Her foot slipped on a stray twig, and Gemini teetered in imbalance. She tried in vain to steady herself; anything would do; she needed support. Her entire weight had just switched in about half a second. No amount of efforts could keep her upright. With a horrible screech of dismay she came down faster than London's Bridge, unto of the unsuspecting Malfoy, pinning him to the ground.
Draco was in that moment confused beyond all belief. He had some how gone from untying a rope to lying on the forest floor, with, not to mention, Gemini on top of him.
"What the hell?!"
"What were you doing?!" They both screamed those two things at the same time.
"You first!" prompted an annoyed Gemini.
"What do you think I was doing? Getting the hell out of here!"
"You were going to leave me behind?! In the middle of no where?"
"Well, if I had planned on taking you with me I would have woken you up, now wouldn't I? And what were you doing spying on me?!"
"Making sure you weren't doing exactly what you turned out to be doing!" Gemini was outraged, but at that exact same moment, she was still atop of him, so she rather embarrassedly pulled herself up onto her feet.
"Let's just go." Sleep was no longer important to Gemini; she needed to get to the mansion, and as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't think she could make it on her own.
She tossed Malfoy his broom and asked, "Are you going to try and strand me here again?"
"If I was, you'd be the last person that I'd tell. But I'll probably stick around; I imagine this will be an event worth seeing." She didn't like the way he said the last part, but the fact that he wasn't leaving, not yet at least, eased some of her worries.
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Andromeda sat propped up in bed; the wide book was a great weight on her stomach, and her eyes continually slipped in and out of focus as she struggled to stay awake. This was no normal book, if you could indeed call it a book; the term 'encyclopedia' may have been more correct. It was possibly one thousand years old; its date was no longer legible on the copyright page.
One of a kind, unavailable in any store, Creepy Coincidences when Constellations Connect would be a proud addition to any fanatic's collection. She had read this book many times over the years; it was not particularly interesting, but it was the key, she knew it.
Years ago, back when she had been a small tatter totter of only 8, she had found the volume in the library which housed thousands of books, a virtual cloud nine for any scholar. Now, on her most likely twentieth read (she had lost track over the years), she was searching. She hadn't cracked the spine in over three years, but, now back in the mansion, her mind was intrigued; her imagination was active, and her thirst for knowledge was stronger than her foreboding sense of worry.
The forbidden East Wing was for all accounts and all purposes just that, forbidden. She had searched the archives of the house for years, and tried to coax the answer from Cassiopeia, but had never received one. During her days of youth she had assumed that Cassiopeia was simply being cruel and unfair to withhold such important information, until she had come to the realization one day, that Cassiopeia herself did not know.
Years ago Andromeda would have been convinced to say that she had found the answer to both the way into the East Wing, and the mystical contents that lay within it. But over the years, she had mysteriously lost the essential object that was needed to open the chamber on the other end. Just as the tide washes away footprints, her thoughts had faded until she pondered no more over this question.
One of her only discoveries was that her ancestor Bian Zeroun had founded the house over thousands of decades ago. No picture portraits, or descriptions of Bian had ever been discovered, and not for lack of effort. Yet, one thing was known, that Bian had been a powerful witch with strong beliefs in the astrological importance on everything.
Bian had sealed something in the East Wing, and it was apparently very important. Whatever, had been placed in the forbidden East Wing was likely to stay unknown for the rest of Andromeda's life. She didn't feel the desire to try again, there were more important things in her life at this point: her daughter Gemini, and that drop dead gorgeous man...Severus Snape. Nevertheless, she continued to attempt to find some answers; she could never truly give up, her determination, or possibly her pride, would not allow it.
She took a drowsy glance at the bedside clock and was stunned to see that it was 3:30 AM! The time had certainly flown. She wearily reached down to remove the heavy volume from her stomach, and found much to her chagrin, that she did not possess the energy to lift it. Before further efforts could be made, her head slumped back into the pillow and the massive book toppled to the floor as she rolled onto her side, lost in a land of dreams and peace.
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Gemini was soaring along, as she had been for hours, the compass directing her way, with the deeply annoyed and harassed Malfoy trailing behind. She could see in the distance a great looming hulk of a shape, which could only be Sagitta Estate.
Until this moment she had never fully taken in the vast proportions of the mansion. Although its size was certainly acknowledgeable from inside, the fact that she had never been in the East Wing had denied her the opportunity to view the entire building.
A lazy voice behind her stated rather nonchalantly, "You may like to fly into trees on your own time. But so long as my broom is attached to the back of yours, might I suggest staying alive, until we are on the ground at least?"
She gave a start and saw for the first time a mammoth Willow Tree looming only 15 feet ahead. Gemini pulled up on the handle, urging the Firebolt III skyward. From her greater height she could just barely keep a steady glance below, as the clouds construed her vision. Dipping down a few feet at a time it was apparent that she would need to land, and soon.
"Look for somewhere to land," she directed Malfoy.
"I'm sorry, but were you under the impression that I *want* to land? That I want to be here at all?"
"Don't be such a fuss-bucket..."
"Fuss-bucket? Someone has been watching too many episodes of Magical Mendell's Storytime."
"Better Magical Mendell than Evil Ervin...now keep your eyes peeled."
However, before he could begin his search, if he had intended to do so, Gemini quickly continued, "Never mind, there's the perfect spot." She pointed to a flat portion on the top of the mansion, which was shimmering as though a bright light was being shone on it, despite the darkness of the hour.
"The roof? And exactly how will we get down from there?"
"I figure that I'll just toss you down and use you as a mattress to land on." With this she gave him a meaningful glare.
"Careful, the weight of your impact may be too much." He sneered, "I'm not sure that I would live to tell that tale."
"And your point?"
Swooping down to the aforementioned area Gemini was approximately ten feet below Draco as she attempted to land on the roof.
"You know this reminds me of something my father once mentioned, and I don't think it's a good thing..."
"Stop trying to distract me, Malfoy."
Gemini continued to approach the roof of the Mansion. The silvery shine was now apparent to be much more than a simple-shimmer, it was a liquid. She could feel the pit of her stomach melt away as the smooth patterns hypnotized her tired mind.
Draco was trailing behind her so he did not notice the glazed look in her eyes. He could not have known the way her mouth was dangling open, nor the way the color had drained from her face, but he could sense the definite sag in her shoulders. Something about this roof was troubling him; it seemed familiar, and that alone was a bad sign.
The liquid began to bubble, as if an invisible hand had switched the knob on a super charged stove. It was slowly rising to Gemini, who was growing more dazed by the second. It was taking a form...a spider?...a ghost?...a hand...
Draco, who was still too far away to be effected in any way thanked for the first time all night that he was still connected to Gemini by the rope. He grabbed the rope like a snake which needed to be tamed, and pulled with all of his might. Draco Malfoy may not have seemed it, but in that moment, all his strength came bursting through the veins in his body, and this was no small amount.
While simultaneously pulling the cord he tried to remove one hand long enough to direct his broom upwards. It was too much, Gemini was obviously straining against him, lost in her own world, pulling towards the mysterious force of the substance, the name of which did not surface to his brain in those few scared moments.
He lost a foot. He was aware of the fact that in a few seconds he would be low enough to be effected by the draw. He tensed his legs around his broom as he fought his uncertainty in the rush to gain back the lost ground. Draco pulled, but this time with the reserves that all people have deep down, yet can only surface in times of great and desperate need.
Gemini was struggling feet below. Obviously annoyed by his attempts to save her, while being quite oblivious to the detail that she was in any danger to begin with, she seemed ready to dismount her broom. The silver hand reached out, to grab the front end of her broom. Gemini pulled against him, thrusting her weight down, unto the handle, mumbling incoherently.
'Oh, no you don't,' Draco spat in his head. With a determinacy unknown to even himself, he held on, and threw himself backwards, until his head was against the tail of the broom. The rope gave a sharp lurch and Gemini was pulled upward five feet, enough to break her hypnosis.
The silver retreated onto the Mansion roof and Gemini steered them towards the ground. Climbing off her broom she walked over to Malfoy, her head was spinning with confusion. She seemed rather uncertain of the ground beneath her feet, the sky above her head, and the reality of the last minutes.
"What *was* that?"
"Ward Lacitsym...it is a powerful force, the silver captures your attention: it offers you slight glimpses of its contents, but never enough to know what it is, so you get slowly pulled in until... you are in..."
Gemini gulped, "And then?"
"And then? There is no *then*. That's it, once you're in it, you don't get out. At least not in the way you would want."
Gemini stood there in the dark for a few moments, the moonlight reflected by her wide irises. Suddenly she looked at Malfoy and seemed rather embarrassed, "Thanks," she said.
He looked upon her with disdain and said in a cold tone, "Don't forget, my broom was attached to the other end of yours." With that, he stalked off in the direction of the gates to the Sagitta house.
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Gemini just stood there for a few minutes; she was utterly unsure of what to do now. She had not told Malfoy, but she hadn't the faintest inkling of what needed to be done to enter the Mansion's gates. At the moment that was among her smallest concerns. She had thanked that double faced bag of bleached scum, he had insulted her again, and she hadn't even been able to muster a response.
What had she expected? A cordial reply would most likely have troubled her even more. She just felt as helpless as she could have imagined in her worst nightmares. How could she face him now? He had the upper hand! She owed him now, she owed her life to someone, and what a person to owe it to!
Gemini quickened her pace. Malfoy was halfway across the yard, and she would need to catch up. Maybe, she would get lucky and the gates would be deadly to the first person to touch them? Even so, she would have to save him!
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The gates stood tall before the two trespassers. Draco shot Gemini a short look and uttered, "How do we get in?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," was all that Gemini could respond.
"What? You dragged me all the way here to break in, and you don't even know the way into your own house?"
"If I did would I have tried to get in through the roof?!"
"Who knows, could have been a suicide attempt," although he said this casually she was stung with pain.
"Lord knows that three hours on a broomstick attached to you could do that to a girl," She turned towards the gate and attempted to open it with a simple "Alohomora." The gate stood firm, and closed. "Didn't work," Gemini ventured.
"Well, color me surprised," Draco threw his hands up to the sides of his face in mock disbelief.
"Then lets see you try!" Gemini was suffering from extreme sleep deprivation and in no mood to have any crap.
He looked at her through the moonlight, with a glance that was both annoyed and amused, and it angered her while confusing her insides. Pulling his wand forth from the depths of his black robes he directed it at the steel gates.
"Meltaculo!" He shouted, and a single, enormous ray of light burst from the wand and hit the gates. Then in an action that both surprised and horrified the pair he saw the light refract on the gate and shoot straight back upon them. As if from some sort of instinct they both flung themselves onto the grass as the ray, now visibly stronger rushed overhead and smashed into a nearby tree, melting it to the ground.
Raising herself from the ground Gemini rearranged her robes, and chanced a glance at Draco, expecting to find a sheepish embarrassed look upon his face. Instead, she saw him, staring at the gate, thoroughly annoyed, and almost willing it to melt with his eyes. "Nice redecorating Malfoy."
"Thanks. I call it Nuclear Meltdown a la Malfoy."
"I'm afraid it's ahead of its time..." Gemini turned her attention back to the gate. "Open!" She screamed in exasperation.
"Yeah, that'll work..." Draco sneered. Much to his chagrin the gate slid along bearing the path ahead.
"Well, who would have thought, imagine the luck!" Gemini couldn't belive her eyes.
"You don't find *anything* odd about a gate that won't melt, won't answer to magic, but will open upon being asked?"
"Thou is not to reason why, thou is but to do or die..." Gemini quoted.
"Wonderful quote, where did you get it? 'Big Book of Spirit Lifting Quotes'?" Draco seemed oddly amused.
"Nope, the library was all out, I had to settle for 'Slightly Smaller Book of Why Does the World Keep Turning Quotes.'" Gemini was striding down the path already when she turned around and hollered, "Malfoy, aren't you coming?"
"I wouldn't miss it, it's not everyday I get to see an extremely stupid girl walk right into the arms of parole."
"Which is why you are walking too?"
"I figure I can use your body as a shield. It will be nice to know that it's good for something."
"I also have 10 fingers, good for a wide array of rude, yet interesting gestures."
"Might I advise you on where to stick them?"
"Just keep walking Malfoy."
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Inside the mansion, Draco and Gemini were walking with bated breath. The marble staircase was ahead, and to their left was what drew a vague semblance to a cloakroom. On their right was a sitting room, and in every direction were long, wide corridors. The mansion seemed to be lit sparingly, and their shadows were easily drowned into the corners of what could be compared to a maze of routes, rooms, and passages, both secret and not.
"Where are we headed?" Draco asked, it was obvious that he was trying to memorize every detail of the mansion, and finding it rather difficult.
"Um, I'm not really sure..." Gemini blushed.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"Well, I know we need to find my room, but I'm not really sure about how to find it, this house always confuses me."
"You must have some idea!" Draco seemed disbelieving.
"Maybe if we just start walking, something will trigger my memory."
"Or we could end up getting lost forever..." Draco added in a rather unhelpful tone.
"Anything is better than standing here waiting to be caught by my mum or grandmum..."
"Which direction should we take? Oh wait, let me guess, you don't know!"
Gemini was angry; who did he think he was? So what if she couldn't find her way around, was that a crime?! She would not let him think he was right.
"Wrong," she said, "it's this way!" She pointed to the hall on the left, and began to walk towards it, not bothering to be troubled by the fact that this was a stab in the dark.
Draco let out somewhat of a sigh, but did not question her as he followed her down the hallway; after all, what was the point?
They walked side by side, not by choice but by need. Neither wishing to go first in a house that they were utterly unsure of. The halls were growing steadily dimmer as they strayed away from the main hall and deeper into the mansion. With each turn Gemini could sense that this wasn't the normal way, yet at the same time she willed herself to believe that it was, and that in a few seconds she would see her own room.
Draco, walked with his head down, he didn't look up for a few reasons, but mostly because of the loss of sleep which rattled him at the bones. He hadn't told Gemini but he had never fallen asleep back in the hospital, he had just lain there, watching her, knowing that she was up to something.
Gemini had been much too quiet that evening. She hadn't said a word. All the time that he spent reading his books and magazines she simply sat there, not moving, not reading, making no attempts to go to sleep, just thinking. He assumed now that she had been thinking about this.
He wondered if he wanted to be back at Hogwarts as badly as he pretended to be. Madame Pomfrey had insisted upon keeping them their for three days, it was only Wednesday, which would mean they wouldn't be out until Friday, and then the whole weekend would be ahead of him. He wasn't going to be missing much. He didn't get too many breaks, and like he had said numerous times before, this would certainly serve as an interesting thing to see.
So they trudged on, an unlikely pair in everyway, yet drawn together by need and the simple fact that it was easier to work together, than apart, for the moment at least.
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"We must be nearly there!" Gemini tried to sound convincing.
"We've passed this place three times already!" Draco was not easily fooled.
"How can you be so sure? All the halls look the same."
"Because," and here he paused for effect, "we *have* been here before. The halls are not so similar that it's impossible to tell the difference, and what's more, you know it!"
"Listen, this is my house, and I fancy to think that I know it better than you!"
"Then why the hell did I need to save you up on the roof?"
"Because you're a self centered jerk who was only trying to save himself!"
"Nice way to pay back someone you owe your life to!" His eyes flashed dangerously.
"I wouldn't pay you back with the spit in my mouth!"
"You're just too stubborn to admit anyone else could ever be right." A certain truth rang in his voice.
"No, I'm just too stubborn to believe that *you* could ever be right! And if you think that you could do a better job, then go ahead and be my guest!"
"You know what, I think I will. And when I find your room, and whatever the hell that's in it, I'll laugh knowing that you're still wandering around in circles; too thick to admit that you don't know your own house any better than you know me." He said this very calmly, as he glared at her, turning on one heel to stride down the corridor, in the opposite direction.
"Well good riddance to him, I don't need him anyway, he was just slowing me down..." However, in the back of her head she had to repeatedly tell herself this, and even still she wasn't sure if she believed it.
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Draco wandered down the halls of the mansion. He stopped for a brief moment to kick out at a gargoyle in his path and rebounded in pain. Perhaps the mansion should have contained maps, for that may have prevented what was to follow. Yet, of course it did not, and as Draco wandered in the opposite direction, he had no way of knowing that he was entering the Forbidden East Wing, or the fact that it was forbidden to begin with. Yet knowing the kind of person he was, it was hard to tell if any of that would have stopped him...
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Gemini, among other things, was impressively stubborn. She continued to follow her path each time trying to hide from herself the knowledge that she *had* been there before. That she *had* seen these things before, and that perhaps Draco *had* been right.
The mansion possessed charms to make rooms untraceable, so as to keep the occupants safe. No one had ever considered how much danger might come of her if she starved to death before locating her room...Of course in normal circumstances she could have just asked Andromeda or Cassiopeia. Now she couldn't because she wasn't supposed to be there, so perhaps the charms did serve their purpose.
Slumping down onto the floor she gripped her head in her hands. What could she do? Draco was probably sitting in her room at this moment, laughing and only wishing that he could see her now as she wandered around aimlessly. Perhaps she could find him in the halls. Then what? She couldn't admit her wrong...well she could, but she didn't want to.
What would become of her? Expelled from Hogwarts? Shunned from her family? Or killed of starvation? She didn't know which would be worse. Draco had gotten the better of her; somehow he always did. She was always going to be a pawn in a world ruled by Draco Malfoys, simply because she allowed herself to be.
No! She would find her room first! And she would be waiting for him when he arrived! With a bounding leap she ran as fast as possible in the other direction. Nothing else mattered, she had to beat him, she didn't know why, but somehow it felt imperative.
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Draco was now dragging himself down the halls. It was nearly 5:00 in the morning, and he was slowly winding down. He forced himself on, knowing that he could not give up just yet. He would relax once he found her room. Whichever room it was. He didn't even know what it looked like, yet somehow he intended to find it.
Why was he here? The brooms were just outside the mansion, he could fly away without her ever knowing. She had kidnapped him, abducted him, and forced him to come. Or had she? He could have fought her off; he could have gotten out of those bindings in the hospital wing. Lucius had taught him such things in the past. So why didn't he leave? He didn't know.
The gargoyles were saying something, but what they were saying he couldn't discern. If he had listened harder, or perhaps not been operating on no energy at all he might have heard them whisper, "Not that way, that way leads to the East Wing." But of course he did not, and so as he walked forward, with one foot infront of the other their voices were like a lullaby which he struggled to ignore...
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AN: So, I suppose you all saw that coming? ;-) Next time: Will Draco enter the East Wing, and will he be ok? Will Gemini ever find her room? Will Andromeda figure out what's in the East Wing? And will I ever keep my promise of making more Sirius and Andromeda, yes I will, but more importantly his entire lie may soon be falling down! Now go and review and I'll love you forever!
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And just as important, go check out the never ending brilliance of my aforementioned awesome beta-reader, Static be sure to read her stories, especially Voices for all you Draco fans!
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And before I forget, check out this thanks section for everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate all my reviewers; you inspire me to keep writing :)
Thanks to:
Bobbi, Draco Skywalker, Siria Snape (when is part 10 of Potions and Desires coming out!), Static (you deserve more thanks than I could offer in any thanks section), Emma (you'll just have to wait and see if they fall for each other, maybe, maybe not...), Crymson Tyrdrop, Tabby (don't worry I will keep my promise about Hermione), Glitterpixie, Dittany (She has asked Andromeda before, Andromeda just won't tell her), Memory, Jayna , Blueberry Syrup (thanks for reviewing each individual part!) Ra3212, Ann (Thanks so much!), Angel Grl, and Navi (even though you didn't say anything ;-)
And I'll see you all when I post part 7 :)
This part is dedicated to my awesome beta-reader Static! You are, to put it simply, a fantabulous person :)
Two Roads Diverged Part 6: Close, in Only Proximity
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Gemini and Draco were flying through the sky. Having just recently departed from Hogwarts, she knew that a long trip lay ahead of them. They had departed at 1:00 and it was about 1:30 now; she hadn't slept all night and exhaustion was taking its toll.
Draco lagged behind, and the rope in-between them sagged considerably. She shot a look of wonderment at the vast expanse of land before the two. Rolling hills and vast plains of green fields lay beneath them, and she could make out teeny little dots that were probably houses and buildings. Never in her life would she have imagined the world could seem this large.
"Malfoy?" Gemini ventured a start at conversation.
"What?" He seemed too bored to be properly rude.
"Want to stop for a little while to rest? I didn't get much sleep, and this is going to be a long ride..." She knew how weird she must have sounded, but the need for sleep and rest overpowered her care.
"Whatever." He still managed to hold that bored tone, but Gemini thought she heard a hint of interest in his voice.
Gemini steered them towards the ground; a wayward pine would provide the necessary safety. The branches flew by them as the pair descended into the forest. They couldn't spare much time, but at the same time she needed some sort of break.
Draco dismounted his broom first. He seemed to survey the scene. Gemini propped the broomsticks against a decaying tree and cleared a spot on the ground. She removed her cloak, thanking the warm weather as she laid it upon the forest floor. She then slumped down onto it and leaned against a tree.
Her eyes fluttered closed, as she allowed her body to relax; she knew she shouldn't get this comfortable but at the same time could not deprive herself of the opportunity. She had to constantly keep thinking to keep herself awake. She wondered once or twice why she couldn't steal a few hours shut eye, and quickly reminded herself of the pressing situation.
A branch snapped; normally she would have ignored this seemingly unimportant noise, but something about the night made her nervous, and her eyes shot open.
There was Draco, moving as quietly as humanly possible towards the tree with the joined brooms. Gemini couldn't resist. With just as much precision she raised herself, too interested in his movements to even be irked with his disturbance of her peace. Creeping behind him she peered over his shoulder; he was struggling with the knot in the ropes, working quickly to untie it, while going slowly enough to avoid noise.
He was going to attempt to leave her and fly back! She didn't want him to notice her, not yet, at least. She tried to slowly back away, hoping to seek refuge back at the tree where she had begun, where she could keep a watchful eye on him while he worked, and yet still remain undetected.
Her foot slipped on a stray twig, and Gemini teetered in imbalance. She tried in vain to steady herself; anything would do; she needed support. Her entire weight had just switched in about half a second. No amount of efforts could keep her upright. With a horrible screech of dismay she came down faster than London's Bridge, unto of the unsuspecting Malfoy, pinning him to the ground.
Draco was in that moment confused beyond all belief. He had some how gone from untying a rope to lying on the forest floor, with, not to mention, Gemini on top of him.
"What the hell?!"
"What were you doing?!" They both screamed those two things at the same time.
"You first!" prompted an annoyed Gemini.
"What do you think I was doing? Getting the hell out of here!"
"You were going to leave me behind?! In the middle of no where?"
"Well, if I had planned on taking you with me I would have woken you up, now wouldn't I? And what were you doing spying on me?!"
"Making sure you weren't doing exactly what you turned out to be doing!" Gemini was outraged, but at that exact same moment, she was still atop of him, so she rather embarrassedly pulled herself up onto her feet.
"Let's just go." Sleep was no longer important to Gemini; she needed to get to the mansion, and as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't think she could make it on her own.
She tossed Malfoy his broom and asked, "Are you going to try and strand me here again?"
"If I was, you'd be the last person that I'd tell. But I'll probably stick around; I imagine this will be an event worth seeing." She didn't like the way he said the last part, but the fact that he wasn't leaving, not yet at least, eased some of her worries.
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Andromeda sat propped up in bed; the wide book was a great weight on her stomach, and her eyes continually slipped in and out of focus as she struggled to stay awake. This was no normal book, if you could indeed call it a book; the term 'encyclopedia' may have been more correct. It was possibly one thousand years old; its date was no longer legible on the copyright page.
One of a kind, unavailable in any store, Creepy Coincidences when Constellations Connect would be a proud addition to any fanatic's collection. She had read this book many times over the years; it was not particularly interesting, but it was the key, she knew it.
Years ago, back when she had been a small tatter totter of only 8, she had found the volume in the library which housed thousands of books, a virtual cloud nine for any scholar. Now, on her most likely twentieth read (she had lost track over the years), she was searching. She hadn't cracked the spine in over three years, but, now back in the mansion, her mind was intrigued; her imagination was active, and her thirst for knowledge was stronger than her foreboding sense of worry.
The forbidden East Wing was for all accounts and all purposes just that, forbidden. She had searched the archives of the house for years, and tried to coax the answer from Cassiopeia, but had never received one. During her days of youth she had assumed that Cassiopeia was simply being cruel and unfair to withhold such important information, until she had come to the realization one day, that Cassiopeia herself did not know.
Years ago Andromeda would have been convinced to say that she had found the answer to both the way into the East Wing, and the mystical contents that lay within it. But over the years, she had mysteriously lost the essential object that was needed to open the chamber on the other end. Just as the tide washes away footprints, her thoughts had faded until she pondered no more over this question.
One of her only discoveries was that her ancestor Bian Zeroun had founded the house over thousands of decades ago. No picture portraits, or descriptions of Bian had ever been discovered, and not for lack of effort. Yet, one thing was known, that Bian had been a powerful witch with strong beliefs in the astrological importance on everything.
Bian had sealed something in the East Wing, and it was apparently very important. Whatever, had been placed in the forbidden East Wing was likely to stay unknown for the rest of Andromeda's life. She didn't feel the desire to try again, there were more important things in her life at this point: her daughter Gemini, and that drop dead gorgeous man...Severus Snape. Nevertheless, she continued to attempt to find some answers; she could never truly give up, her determination, or possibly her pride, would not allow it.
She took a drowsy glance at the bedside clock and was stunned to see that it was 3:30 AM! The time had certainly flown. She wearily reached down to remove the heavy volume from her stomach, and found much to her chagrin, that she did not possess the energy to lift it. Before further efforts could be made, her head slumped back into the pillow and the massive book toppled to the floor as she rolled onto her side, lost in a land of dreams and peace.
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Gemini was soaring along, as she had been for hours, the compass directing her way, with the deeply annoyed and harassed Malfoy trailing behind. She could see in the distance a great looming hulk of a shape, which could only be Sagitta Estate.
Until this moment she had never fully taken in the vast proportions of the mansion. Although its size was certainly acknowledgeable from inside, the fact that she had never been in the East Wing had denied her the opportunity to view the entire building.
A lazy voice behind her stated rather nonchalantly, "You may like to fly into trees on your own time. But so long as my broom is attached to the back of yours, might I suggest staying alive, until we are on the ground at least?"
She gave a start and saw for the first time a mammoth Willow Tree looming only 15 feet ahead. Gemini pulled up on the handle, urging the Firebolt III skyward. From her greater height she could just barely keep a steady glance below, as the clouds construed her vision. Dipping down a few feet at a time it was apparent that she would need to land, and soon.
"Look for somewhere to land," she directed Malfoy.
"I'm sorry, but were you under the impression that I *want* to land? That I want to be here at all?"
"Don't be such a fuss-bucket..."
"Fuss-bucket? Someone has been watching too many episodes of Magical Mendell's Storytime."
"Better Magical Mendell than Evil Ervin...now keep your eyes peeled."
However, before he could begin his search, if he had intended to do so, Gemini quickly continued, "Never mind, there's the perfect spot." She pointed to a flat portion on the top of the mansion, which was shimmering as though a bright light was being shone on it, despite the darkness of the hour.
"The roof? And exactly how will we get down from there?"
"I figure that I'll just toss you down and use you as a mattress to land on." With this she gave him a meaningful glare.
"Careful, the weight of your impact may be too much." He sneered, "I'm not sure that I would live to tell that tale."
"And your point?"
Swooping down to the aforementioned area Gemini was approximately ten feet below Draco as she attempted to land on the roof.
"You know this reminds me of something my father once mentioned, and I don't think it's a good thing..."
"Stop trying to distract me, Malfoy."
Gemini continued to approach the roof of the Mansion. The silvery shine was now apparent to be much more than a simple-shimmer, it was a liquid. She could feel the pit of her stomach melt away as the smooth patterns hypnotized her tired mind.
Draco was trailing behind her so he did not notice the glazed look in her eyes. He could not have known the way her mouth was dangling open, nor the way the color had drained from her face, but he could sense the definite sag in her shoulders. Something about this roof was troubling him; it seemed familiar, and that alone was a bad sign.
The liquid began to bubble, as if an invisible hand had switched the knob on a super charged stove. It was slowly rising to Gemini, who was growing more dazed by the second. It was taking a form...a spider?...a ghost?...a hand...
Draco, who was still too far away to be effected in any way thanked for the first time all night that he was still connected to Gemini by the rope. He grabbed the rope like a snake which needed to be tamed, and pulled with all of his might. Draco Malfoy may not have seemed it, but in that moment, all his strength came bursting through the veins in his body, and this was no small amount.
While simultaneously pulling the cord he tried to remove one hand long enough to direct his broom upwards. It was too much, Gemini was obviously straining against him, lost in her own world, pulling towards the mysterious force of the substance, the name of which did not surface to his brain in those few scared moments.
He lost a foot. He was aware of the fact that in a few seconds he would be low enough to be effected by the draw. He tensed his legs around his broom as he fought his uncertainty in the rush to gain back the lost ground. Draco pulled, but this time with the reserves that all people have deep down, yet can only surface in times of great and desperate need.
Gemini was struggling feet below. Obviously annoyed by his attempts to save her, while being quite oblivious to the detail that she was in any danger to begin with, she seemed ready to dismount her broom. The silver hand reached out, to grab the front end of her broom. Gemini pulled against him, thrusting her weight down, unto the handle, mumbling incoherently.
'Oh, no you don't,' Draco spat in his head. With a determinacy unknown to even himself, he held on, and threw himself backwards, until his head was against the tail of the broom. The rope gave a sharp lurch and Gemini was pulled upward five feet, enough to break her hypnosis.
The silver retreated onto the Mansion roof and Gemini steered them towards the ground. Climbing off her broom she walked over to Malfoy, her head was spinning with confusion. She seemed rather uncertain of the ground beneath her feet, the sky above her head, and the reality of the last minutes.
"What *was* that?"
"Ward Lacitsym...it is a powerful force, the silver captures your attention: it offers you slight glimpses of its contents, but never enough to know what it is, so you get slowly pulled in until... you are in..."
Gemini gulped, "And then?"
"And then? There is no *then*. That's it, once you're in it, you don't get out. At least not in the way you would want."
Gemini stood there in the dark for a few moments, the moonlight reflected by her wide irises. Suddenly she looked at Malfoy and seemed rather embarrassed, "Thanks," she said.
He looked upon her with disdain and said in a cold tone, "Don't forget, my broom was attached to the other end of yours." With that, he stalked off in the direction of the gates to the Sagitta house.
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Gemini just stood there for a few minutes; she was utterly unsure of what to do now. She had not told Malfoy, but she hadn't the faintest inkling of what needed to be done to enter the Mansion's gates. At the moment that was among her smallest concerns. She had thanked that double faced bag of bleached scum, he had insulted her again, and she hadn't even been able to muster a response.
What had she expected? A cordial reply would most likely have troubled her even more. She just felt as helpless as she could have imagined in her worst nightmares. How could she face him now? He had the upper hand! She owed him now, she owed her life to someone, and what a person to owe it to!
Gemini quickened her pace. Malfoy was halfway across the yard, and she would need to catch up. Maybe, she would get lucky and the gates would be deadly to the first person to touch them? Even so, she would have to save him!
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The gates stood tall before the two trespassers. Draco shot Gemini a short look and uttered, "How do we get in?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," was all that Gemini could respond.
"What? You dragged me all the way here to break in, and you don't even know the way into your own house?"
"If I did would I have tried to get in through the roof?!"
"Who knows, could have been a suicide attempt," although he said this casually she was stung with pain.
"Lord knows that three hours on a broomstick attached to you could do that to a girl," She turned towards the gate and attempted to open it with a simple "Alohomora." The gate stood firm, and closed. "Didn't work," Gemini ventured.
"Well, color me surprised," Draco threw his hands up to the sides of his face in mock disbelief.
"Then lets see you try!" Gemini was suffering from extreme sleep deprivation and in no mood to have any crap.
He looked at her through the moonlight, with a glance that was both annoyed and amused, and it angered her while confusing her insides. Pulling his wand forth from the depths of his black robes he directed it at the steel gates.
"Meltaculo!" He shouted, and a single, enormous ray of light burst from the wand and hit the gates. Then in an action that both surprised and horrified the pair he saw the light refract on the gate and shoot straight back upon them. As if from some sort of instinct they both flung themselves onto the grass as the ray, now visibly stronger rushed overhead and smashed into a nearby tree, melting it to the ground.
Raising herself from the ground Gemini rearranged her robes, and chanced a glance at Draco, expecting to find a sheepish embarrassed look upon his face. Instead, she saw him, staring at the gate, thoroughly annoyed, and almost willing it to melt with his eyes. "Nice redecorating Malfoy."
"Thanks. I call it Nuclear Meltdown a la Malfoy."
"I'm afraid it's ahead of its time..." Gemini turned her attention back to the gate. "Open!" She screamed in exasperation.
"Yeah, that'll work..." Draco sneered. Much to his chagrin the gate slid along bearing the path ahead.
"Well, who would have thought, imagine the luck!" Gemini couldn't belive her eyes.
"You don't find *anything* odd about a gate that won't melt, won't answer to magic, but will open upon being asked?"
"Thou is not to reason why, thou is but to do or die..." Gemini quoted.
"Wonderful quote, where did you get it? 'Big Book of Spirit Lifting Quotes'?" Draco seemed oddly amused.
"Nope, the library was all out, I had to settle for 'Slightly Smaller Book of Why Does the World Keep Turning Quotes.'" Gemini was striding down the path already when she turned around and hollered, "Malfoy, aren't you coming?"
"I wouldn't miss it, it's not everyday I get to see an extremely stupid girl walk right into the arms of parole."
"Which is why you are walking too?"
"I figure I can use your body as a shield. It will be nice to know that it's good for something."
"I also have 10 fingers, good for a wide array of rude, yet interesting gestures."
"Might I advise you on where to stick them?"
"Just keep walking Malfoy."
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Inside the mansion, Draco and Gemini were walking with bated breath. The marble staircase was ahead, and to their left was what drew a vague semblance to a cloakroom. On their right was a sitting room, and in every direction were long, wide corridors. The mansion seemed to be lit sparingly, and their shadows were easily drowned into the corners of what could be compared to a maze of routes, rooms, and passages, both secret and not.
"Where are we headed?" Draco asked, it was obvious that he was trying to memorize every detail of the mansion, and finding it rather difficult.
"Um, I'm not really sure..." Gemini blushed.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"Well, I know we need to find my room, but I'm not really sure about how to find it, this house always confuses me."
"You must have some idea!" Draco seemed disbelieving.
"Maybe if we just start walking, something will trigger my memory."
"Or we could end up getting lost forever..." Draco added in a rather unhelpful tone.
"Anything is better than standing here waiting to be caught by my mum or grandmum..."
"Which direction should we take? Oh wait, let me guess, you don't know!"
Gemini was angry; who did he think he was? So what if she couldn't find her way around, was that a crime?! She would not let him think he was right.
"Wrong," she said, "it's this way!" She pointed to the hall on the left, and began to walk towards it, not bothering to be troubled by the fact that this was a stab in the dark.
Draco let out somewhat of a sigh, but did not question her as he followed her down the hallway; after all, what was the point?
They walked side by side, not by choice but by need. Neither wishing to go first in a house that they were utterly unsure of. The halls were growing steadily dimmer as they strayed away from the main hall and deeper into the mansion. With each turn Gemini could sense that this wasn't the normal way, yet at the same time she willed herself to believe that it was, and that in a few seconds she would see her own room.
Draco, walked with his head down, he didn't look up for a few reasons, but mostly because of the loss of sleep which rattled him at the bones. He hadn't told Gemini but he had never fallen asleep back in the hospital, he had just lain there, watching her, knowing that she was up to something.
Gemini had been much too quiet that evening. She hadn't said a word. All the time that he spent reading his books and magazines she simply sat there, not moving, not reading, making no attempts to go to sleep, just thinking. He assumed now that she had been thinking about this.
He wondered if he wanted to be back at Hogwarts as badly as he pretended to be. Madame Pomfrey had insisted upon keeping them their for three days, it was only Wednesday, which would mean they wouldn't be out until Friday, and then the whole weekend would be ahead of him. He wasn't going to be missing much. He didn't get too many breaks, and like he had said numerous times before, this would certainly serve as an interesting thing to see.
So they trudged on, an unlikely pair in everyway, yet drawn together by need and the simple fact that it was easier to work together, than apart, for the moment at least.
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"We must be nearly there!" Gemini tried to sound convincing.
"We've passed this place three times already!" Draco was not easily fooled.
"How can you be so sure? All the halls look the same."
"Because," and here he paused for effect, "we *have* been here before. The halls are not so similar that it's impossible to tell the difference, and what's more, you know it!"
"Listen, this is my house, and I fancy to think that I know it better than you!"
"Then why the hell did I need to save you up on the roof?"
"Because you're a self centered jerk who was only trying to save himself!"
"Nice way to pay back someone you owe your life to!" His eyes flashed dangerously.
"I wouldn't pay you back with the spit in my mouth!"
"You're just too stubborn to admit anyone else could ever be right." A certain truth rang in his voice.
"No, I'm just too stubborn to believe that *you* could ever be right! And if you think that you could do a better job, then go ahead and be my guest!"
"You know what, I think I will. And when I find your room, and whatever the hell that's in it, I'll laugh knowing that you're still wandering around in circles; too thick to admit that you don't know your own house any better than you know me." He said this very calmly, as he glared at her, turning on one heel to stride down the corridor, in the opposite direction.
"Well good riddance to him, I don't need him anyway, he was just slowing me down..." However, in the back of her head she had to repeatedly tell herself this, and even still she wasn't sure if she believed it.
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Draco wandered down the halls of the mansion. He stopped for a brief moment to kick out at a gargoyle in his path and rebounded in pain. Perhaps the mansion should have contained maps, for that may have prevented what was to follow. Yet, of course it did not, and as Draco wandered in the opposite direction, he had no way of knowing that he was entering the Forbidden East Wing, or the fact that it was forbidden to begin with. Yet knowing the kind of person he was, it was hard to tell if any of that would have stopped him...
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Gemini, among other things, was impressively stubborn. She continued to follow her path each time trying to hide from herself the knowledge that she *had* been there before. That she *had* seen these things before, and that perhaps Draco *had* been right.
The mansion possessed charms to make rooms untraceable, so as to keep the occupants safe. No one had ever considered how much danger might come of her if she starved to death before locating her room...Of course in normal circumstances she could have just asked Andromeda or Cassiopeia. Now she couldn't because she wasn't supposed to be there, so perhaps the charms did serve their purpose.
Slumping down onto the floor she gripped her head in her hands. What could she do? Draco was probably sitting in her room at this moment, laughing and only wishing that he could see her now as she wandered around aimlessly. Perhaps she could find him in the halls. Then what? She couldn't admit her wrong...well she could, but she didn't want to.
What would become of her? Expelled from Hogwarts? Shunned from her family? Or killed of starvation? She didn't know which would be worse. Draco had gotten the better of her; somehow he always did. She was always going to be a pawn in a world ruled by Draco Malfoys, simply because she allowed herself to be.
No! She would find her room first! And she would be waiting for him when he arrived! With a bounding leap she ran as fast as possible in the other direction. Nothing else mattered, she had to beat him, she didn't know why, but somehow it felt imperative.
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Draco was now dragging himself down the halls. It was nearly 5:00 in the morning, and he was slowly winding down. He forced himself on, knowing that he could not give up just yet. He would relax once he found her room. Whichever room it was. He didn't even know what it looked like, yet somehow he intended to find it.
Why was he here? The brooms were just outside the mansion, he could fly away without her ever knowing. She had kidnapped him, abducted him, and forced him to come. Or had she? He could have fought her off; he could have gotten out of those bindings in the hospital wing. Lucius had taught him such things in the past. So why didn't he leave? He didn't know.
The gargoyles were saying something, but what they were saying he couldn't discern. If he had listened harder, or perhaps not been operating on no energy at all he might have heard them whisper, "Not that way, that way leads to the East Wing." But of course he did not, and so as he walked forward, with one foot infront of the other their voices were like a lullaby which he struggled to ignore...
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AN: So, I suppose you all saw that coming? ;-) Next time: Will Draco enter the East Wing, and will he be ok? Will Gemini ever find her room? Will Andromeda figure out what's in the East Wing? And will I ever keep my promise of making more Sirius and Andromeda, yes I will, but more importantly his entire lie may soon be falling down! Now go and review and I'll love you forever!
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And just as important, go check out the never ending brilliance of my aforementioned awesome beta-reader, Static be sure to read her stories, especially Voices for all you Draco fans!
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And before I forget, check out this thanks section for everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate all my reviewers; you inspire me to keep writing :)
Thanks to:
Bobbi, Draco Skywalker, Siria Snape (when is part 10 of Potions and Desires coming out!), Static (you deserve more thanks than I could offer in any thanks section), Emma (you'll just have to wait and see if they fall for each other, maybe, maybe not...), Crymson Tyrdrop, Tabby (don't worry I will keep my promise about Hermione), Glitterpixie, Dittany (She has asked Andromeda before, Andromeda just won't tell her), Memory, Jayna , Blueberry Syrup (thanks for reviewing each individual part!) Ra3212, Ann (Thanks so much!), Angel Grl, and Navi (even though you didn't say anything ;-)
And I'll see you all when I post part 7 :)