Howdy, howdy. Yes, yes, I've been a bad fanfic authoress. ::Displays fingers outstretched on table and hands each of you a ruler:: Alright, commence with the knuckle rapping…oh, wait, that'll hurt. Besides, I'm quite certain none of you are nuns, and we aren't in a Catholic School. How about for my punishment I give you the next chapter of the story? ::Crowd murmurs in thought:: Hmm? How does that sound? ::Waves story tantalizingly before the drooling crowd:: That's what I thought. Alright, then, let's get on with the punishment…oh, woe is me snicker ~8]
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Disclaimers: Twenty-two chapters and you still haven't figured it out? Sigh See Chapter, um…Three. Or Five. Thirteen's good, even. Just, please, for the love of all that is Good and Happy in this world, DON'T PICK AN EVEN NUMBERED CHAPTER!!! They're conspiring against me, I tell you, CONSPIRING!!! ::Smiles idiotically as 'No-Craze' medicine works its way through my bloodstream:: Good-night, ev-er-y-body. Enjoy the story! ::Thumps to the floor::
Chapter 22: 'Round and 'Round We Go
Stirring from his slumber, Draco shifted around in the bed he lay in for but a few seconds before realizing that he wasn't lying atop the mattress of his four-poster in the Slytherin dormitories, but that of the Infirmary.
It was the first time he had been truly awake since his arrival. He briefly remembered a few fleeting moments of consciousness that had grabbed him after he'd been awakened by the medi-witch on countless occasions, for the purpose of downing one pungent potion or another. Now he lay on his back, head turning from one side to the other in an effort to find the most comfortable position. Try as he might, it just wasn't going to happen. He sighed, blinking his eyes clear as he studied the tray of bloodied gauzes and the remains of mortared herbs that rested at his bedside.
He vaguely recalled being brought there, and for some disturbing reason his memories included not one, but three Weasels and a Mudblood. Draco shuddered at the thought and closed his eyes for a brief second, before hearing footsteps approach him from behind. He opened his eyes immediately, lolling his head to the other side to face the medi-witch.
"Madame Pomfrey! Do you know how I got he--"
Draco froze in mid-sentence, as he turned not to meet the eyes of the nurse, but the last person he thought would be visiting him.
Harry-fucking-Potter.
Harry stood motionless by Draco's bedside, not a crease of concern or flicker of emotion gracing his features as he stared at the dumbfounded Slytherin. Draco, on the other hand, took no time whatsoever in discerning the Gryffindor's expression as he leapt at him, his face twisted in bitter hatred as he shrieked, "YOU!!"
The Gryffindor before him took a half-step back, rather nonchalant as the raging Malfoy became hopelessly entangled in his sheets and tumbled gracelessly to the floor. This did not faze Draco in the least, however.
"How dare you, you filthy bastard?! How dare you leave me for dead, and then come back to see that the job's been finished?! I'm going to fucking kill you!" Draco screamed with such intensity that he swore his already raw throat was bleeding by the time he was through. Chest heaving raggedly against the icy coldness of the floor, he watched curiously as Harry knelt down to him, offering his hand.
Draco smacked it away awkwardly, his face scrunching in hatred and confusion. "What the hell is your problem, Potter? Say something, you bloody git!" When Harry didn't speak so much as twitch a muscle, Draco screamed with a renewed fury.
"SAY SOMETHING!!"
At this Harry narrowed his eyes, flashing a disturbingly calm smile before he quite suddenly snaked his previously proffered hand around Draco's neck in an agonizing grip. Draco gasped loudly, not so much at the pain but the piercing coldness of a hand even more frigid than his own. He choked on obscenities as Harry crushed harder, his face quite motionless all the while. In the last few seconds before slipping back into unconsciousness, Draco swore that Harry's eyes had taken on an unpleasant shade of red as they flashed briefly, conveying quite clearly a sense of vile hatred as the platinum-blonde wizard had never before seen in the eyes of The Boy Who Lived.
It wasn't long before Draco saw the same red marring the edges of his vision as all faded to black.
* * * * * *
Standing before a mirror, a lone figure cloaked in once-familiar black robes studied its reflection before the long, rectangular glass panel, one thoroughly covered with the light dusting of years past. Eyes searching themselves in the reflective pane, the thoughts of the individual drifted to a conclusion garnered from years of being in his position: the events of what happened from one moment to the next were about as predictable as the mood of one suffering from manic-depression.
Shaken from its thoughts by the softly repeated clicks of a door first opening and then shutting, the figure bristled as another slid up beside him, the reflections in the mirror now identical.
"Nervous, are we?" the intruding presence asked.
"What do you think?" came the response, punctuated with an irritated sigh and not without the slightest hint of sarcasm.
"I think you bloody well should be."
The robed figure held his tongue and instead slipped the once-revered and now detested mask over his face, turning from the mirror in a whirl before covering the whole of his head with a cloak hood.
"Good luck, handsome."
Any response was lost to the sound of a crackling fire fully roaring to life as the black-swathed figure was engulfed in an vibrant eruption of green flame, now at the mercy of the floo-powdered hearth blaze.
Alone, the remaining individual stood beside the brilliant flames, stoking its embers with the delicately wrought-iron poker before they could die down. What need the fool had for pokers was anybody's guess, when a task as simple as bringing a hearth fire to its fullest could as easily be done with magic. A smile slowly graced his lips at his observation. He supposed that's what interested him the most about mankind, wizard and muggle alike: although creatures of habit, it was fascinating to discover what each did during his or her brief moments of unpredictability, whether it was invest in a useless metal rod or return to something so easily at a moment's notice when in all times before such an action would have only been performed in the face of immediate death.
Placing the poker aside, the lone body sat in a rather austere chair opposite where the once tumultuous blaze had faltered only moments before, curious as to just what would return from the now somber hearth in countless moments to come.
Quite curious indeed…
* * * * * *
Breathing heavily as they dashed around a corner and entered into the approximately fiftieth hallway that looked the same as the last, both Ron and Hermione continued to doggedly follow the trail forged by Harry's double as it frantically wove itself through the labyrinth-like corridors of Hogwarts. On several occasions had the otherworldly being simply blinked out of existence, or at least it had appeared as such on the Map, but each and every time Harry's friends had managed to keep its trail.
Their pursuit had nearly been victorious when, on the Map, they had spotted the Doppleganger within the Infirmary, but had no time to question its motives for being there before it once again turned heel and ran. Now, over an hour later and quite exhausted, the persistent Gryffindors had managed to watch unnoticed from around the nearest corner as Harry's Other finally stopped to rest in one of the narrower halls nearest the Hufflepuff dormitories.
Flattening their bodies against the wall nearest them, Hermione turned to Ron with an expression akin to amusement. It thinks it's lost us, she mouthed, afraid that the slightest noise would send the Other fleeing once more. Ron nodded, then tapped at his head. I've got an idea, he mouthed in return, and moved to stand on the other side of Hermione, nearest the corner. Close behind, Hermione looked over Ron's shoulder as he cautiously risked a glance around the corner before snapping his head back, nearly whacking her in the face as he did so. The young witch withheld a cry of surprise, instead biting onto her lip and taking a quick step back from her friend.
Ron turned around, his eyes wide with excitement. It's got its back turned to us, he relayed to her, before retrieving his wand and taking a deep breath. Turning around and stepping to the side, Ron was now in full view of the Doppleganger, no longer safely behind the wall that he and Hermione had shared. Hermione did the same, taking stance not far behind him, quite surprised that the Doppleganger wasn't alerted to the sound of their madly thudding heart beats.
For Ron, the situation at hand arose within him the same jumble of emotions he felt while confronting a spider, of all things: anger, fear, and oddly enough, exhilaration. The thrill of being able to quash the spider, or in this instance, the malevolent doppleganger before him, conflicted with the fear of their close proximity. Although he was far enough away to escape without being seen, the ginger-haired wizard was still within striking distance should his adversary choose to attack ever-so-suddenly. While he often thought of himself as the spider's prey, however, well aware of its movements yet ignorant of its thoughts, he was now in the position of the hunter, able to watch the actions of Harry's doppleganger without it knowing full well of his. Thus, as would any resolute predator, he determined it was then that he should strike.
Wand leveled with a sweaty and slightly shaky hand, the back of Harry's Other still facing them, Ron let fly a furious, "STUPEFY!"
The Doppleganger whirled about at the sudden cry, and in a split instant had raised its wand defensively, deflecting the hexing beam of light from itself. Hermione gasped as the green light suddenly reversed its trajectory, and was heading back in their direction. She had only time to yell, "Ron, down!" before throwing herself atop the back of her friend, shoving them both to the floor. Turning her head slightly upwards, she saw the curse bounce against a few walls before imploding in a flash of similarly colored light.
As Ron grunted beneath her, Hermione quickly pushed herself off of the floor, then knelt as she helped pull Ron into a standing position. "Sorry about that," she apologized, "but it could have hit either one of us, and I surely wasn't expecting that to happen. I mean, I wasn't aware that a spell could be deflected by simply blocking it with the wand itself." Stretching his back out, Ron nodded in agreement. "You're right about that. No complaining on my part about saving my neck, though, only that the git's hauled himself off again," he sighed, turning to the now empty hallway, "and these are the Hufflepuff's corridors. It could be anywhere."
Hermione agreed with her friend. "My sentiments exactly. These are unknown corridors to us, and running about without a clue as to where we're going, Marauder's Map or no, isn't going to get us anything but lost." Busy straightening out her robes, Hermione hardly noticed as Ron fell silent, looking up only as he placed a tentative hand on her shoulder. His head down, Hermione followed his line of sight until it came to rest on something slowly rolling towards them on the floor. Upon closer inspection the strange object appeared to be nothing more than a silver orb small enough to fit into one's closed hand.
When Ron failed to make a move towards it, Hermione instead stooped to pick up the small, metallic ball as it rolled to a stop at her feet. Palming the smooth orb, she turned to her friend.
"Harry's doppleganger must have dropped it accidentally before running off," she guessed, amazed at the coldness of the sphere.
"But, what is that thing?" Ron asked quizzically, apprehensive to do more than look at it curiously from afar, no matter how harmless it looked in appearance.
Shaking her head, Hermione rolled the ball around with her fingers, searching for some way to open or access it. "I haven't a clue, Ron. What I do know is that we've got to get this to Dumbledore, right away."
It came as much a surprise to Hermione when she suddenly found herself looking up at a rather startled and quite confused Albus Dumbledore as he sat behind his desk, the curious metallic ball still held securely within her grasp.
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Oooh…interesting, neh?
A word or two on that 'spider' bit: Was it a character study or some such insightful thingie on the deep-seated fears of our favorite red-headed Weasley who is of Harry's age (so as to distinguish him from the other favorite red-headed Weasleys who are not of Harry's age)?
Sure, if you want it to be.
Was it inspired by the very recent battles that yours truly has been unwilling party to against the evil spiders (hence referred to as "*%$@# Spawns of Satan") which dwell within the garage opposite my door who feel the need to seek out the light of my room at all hours of the night, then slide, nay, creep, crawl, and skitter under my door when I am caught unawares whenever it rains outside or the air chills even the slightest bit, only to be squashed beyond recognition and torn asunder into itty bitty little spider parts upon my noticing them, as they run quite frantically away from my $34.87 investment of "Endust" or "Dust Off" or whatever brand of compressed, freezing air in a can I picked up at Wal-Mart the other day and my steel-toed Stanley work boots, which are immediately strapped to my feet upon seeing said *%$@# Spawn(s) of Satan come a-crawlin' under my door frame?
Yes. (Okay, I actually wrote this before seeing the movie, which I thought was bloody well done. My favorite part ::SPOILER ALERT!:: was when Harry and Ron started whacking Aragog's 'children.' Yeah. That was cool.)
Just thought I'd let y'all know, in case there was ever a question concerning the matter. And yes, although I do adhere to some written tenet that I should respect all living creatures and not stomp their brains out with steel-toed boots thus ending their life forever, you must understand one thing, dear reader: those mothers are HUGE.
Now, onto the List!
Rolllllll Calllllll: Lady Foxfire! Raven! Allocin! Loopy! Vampyra de Lioncourt! Tarawen! Iris! Zahrah Thomson-Radcliffe! Guess! Beccy! Amerkat! Mouse! Lili! Lady of Arundel! ArchArtist/Writer! Breea! Lassy D! Kim! Urania! Quoth the Raven! Melanie! Katma! Mel! Stonehenge! Agent 99! SiriusBPadfoot! Oceansun! Joey! Psychochick! AANNNDDD Lisa! Yay!!