Um...I know it's short, but I'll upload the next chapter right after I'm done.

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Chapter 15: Down

When we reached the corridor, I knew immediately that Dirken had gotten there ahead of us, for the door was ajar. We slipped inside and I immediately began to sing. But instead of words, I simply sang the harmony I knew. I heard three more voices join mine and turned to see Tom, Jupiter, and Trunks, of all people, singing with me. I smiled as I gave my voice more sweet notes that reminded me of the harmonica I'd received from Hagrid.

Fluffy was snoring before any of us knew what was happening. I gestured wildly for each of our person to go into the trapdoor. I continued singing as each of my quartet disappeared. I was the only one left singing. I walked to the trapdoor and sank into it, finally cutting my voice short.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked as I floated over the floor. I knew the Devil's Snare was there and I didn't want to get caught in its tendrils.

"Yeah." Came Trunks' voice beside me, "But they're not." He pointed at the plant below and I had to choke back a bit of laughter.
"Hold on, I'll try a beam," I said, smirking to keep from flat-out laughing. "Ka....me...ha...me...ha!" I dropped the bit of aqua light toward the plant and smiled at the results as everyone was freed of its grasp. "Come on, now, we can't let Dirken get to the Stone." The others followed and I felt a sense of pride well up in my heart. This was the part I had always liked in the book, as I had read it many times (how else do you think I came up with this? Memory? HA! Memory and this little dragon do NOT mix.).

The next room, I knew, was full of keys that you were supposed to catch. I didn't even bother with the broomsticks in the corner, I just rose into the air and caught the bent winged key in my fingers, placing it into the keyhole in the door with explainable ease.

The next room was the one I was dreading. The giant chess set that Professor McGonagall had placed there was ominous, even to my eyes.

"Great, I hate this part," I said as I took the place of the right-hand knight. The others took different places along the board, trying not to get chosen as pawns. However, Ron and Jupiter ended up with pawns.

"Okay!" I said as we all took deep breaths. "Ron, this is your time to shine, you're the best at wizard chess." He looked startled for a moment before nodding and accepting his role as the "general" now. (I'm not good at chess, in fact, I hardly understand how to play. So, I'm going to skip the actual plays.)

We moved across the board, the white pieces showing no mercy. I gave a shout of surprise as Jupiter was hit down by one of the white pawns.

"Jupiter!" I cried. She seemed knocked out. "Princess Jupiter, are you all right?!"

"Angel, don't worry about it right now," Trunks said carefully. "We need to stop Dirken." I nodded and put on a brave face that I definitely did not feel. I gave another shout of surprise and anger when Trunks and Tom were knocked from the board as well. Trunks remained unfazed, of course, but he was still out. I gave him a little wave of confidence.

"I'll get you, Harry, and Hermione to the next one, don't you worry, Angel," Ron said with a determined look upon his face. It was at this moment that I remembered. You know those times that you suddenly remember something feeble that has nothing to do with a bad situation? This was one of those times.

"Hey, Shin never sent us back about that letter!" I shouted. "He never told us about your mum and-" I was cut off, however, by a very loud hoot as Penny dropped a piece of parchment on my head. How she got past Fluffy, under the trapdoor, and through the locked door were beyond me, but the letter was my focus.

I read it standing there as Ron rolled his eyes and gave another order to one of our few remaining pawns.

"Oh, gosh!" I shouted with a squeal. (Can you just imagine this scene? She's standing in the middle of a giant chessboard, replacing one of the knights, she's out to stop a demon from becoming immortal and raping her and she's reading a letter about her mother who wasn't really her mother at all, but a lady who died having her. I find this incredibly ironic and funny, and I hope you do too. Oi, why can't I have a normal hobby?) "Shin says that its an affirmative, Harry! We're cousins, boyo!"

"Um...Angel, could you pay a little more attention to the task at hand?" Trunks called from the sidelines and I giggled at this nervously.
"Sure, Trunks," I said, "I'm just giddy at the moment. Where to, Ronald?"

"Let me think," Ron said quietly. I suddenly recognized the play. If he sacrificed himself, it would leave us open to checkmate the white king. I stared at the queen, who stood by ominously, as though she knew that he would make the move.

"Go on, Ron, they aren't allowed to hurt you too badly," I told him softly. Harry and Hermione looked at their friend sharply and began to protest, but I held up my hand.

Ron made the call. I watched with a cringe as he was knocked from his horseman and the three of us made our way to the next room solemnly.

I knew that this one was supposed to be Juu's protection and I was surprised to see that it was a dragon, a navy blue one with a purple, bloody lump on its head.

"I think I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," I said grimly as we walked through the next room. Hermione looked back at the dragon.

"I'm with you."

We reached the last room before the Stone and I was not surprised to see the bottles of potion and the bit of parchment in the room. The room we'd left held a purple flame to block our return and there was black fire blocking our goal. I read the paper carefully and groaned as I remembered that it was logic we were after. (I'm not going to type that whole thing, if you want it, ask me for it by email, I don't feel like typing that whole logic problem out. It's one in the morning, I can't believe I'm still writing.)

There were seven bottles. Three of them were poison. Two were wine. One would get us through the black fire, and one would get us back through the purple.

"Okay, save time," I said grimly. I looked at the smallest bottle, which in the book had held only enough for one. This time, however, Snape had been kind enough to have enough in there for two people. We looked up at each other.

"Who's going through?" I asked softly. Hermione looked from me to Harry to her feet and over again.

"You two," she said through tears. "Dirken is your enemy. Go on, Angel, get that brute and make him leave you alone. He's working with the guy who killed your parents, Harry. Both of you, go and get him." She grinned and took the flask that would let her return to the others. "I'll get a hold of Dumbledore and get the others outside to Madam Pomfrey."

"Good luck, Hermione," Harry told her. She paused a moment before racing back and flinging her arms around his neck.

"Be careful, Harry," she told him firmly. She gave me the same treatment and drank a bit of the flask, putting it back on the table and leaving in a flurry of flames.

"Let's get to it, Harry," I told him, taking a very small drink of the potion that would allow me through the black fire. Harry took the last of it and went through first and I followed right after him.

The person I saw when we stepped through was the last person I expected to see. And the thing she was doing with Dirken was the last thing I expected to see of either of them. My surprise evidently wasn't as bad as theirs was, as they fell to the ground faster than we had entered the room.

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Wish I were evil enough to leave it right here, but I won't...