Disc- Nope. I guess JKR hasn't received my request about owning Harry Potter yet. *shrugs*
A/N- This is coming along slowly, I know. I'm juggling two stories I'm writing, homework, and hanging out with friends. Sorry if it takes while, but it doesn't seem that there are many people reviewing this anyway!
§§ This is my version of italics because my computer is screwed up!
~Recap
"Let's go eat," Hermione said, grabbing Malfoy's hand, and with one last look Harry and Ginny, she set out towards the Slytherin table.
"I think this is going over well, don't you?" Harry said to Ginny.
"I do," she said, thinking of the way her name sounded coming from Draco, and liking it very much.
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A few minutes after Hermione had settled herself at the Slytherin table, she decided it wasn't the place for her and went over to the Gryffindor table. Everyone stared at her, searching for an explanation; she just shrugged and sat down.
Breakfast was a silent affair. Harry and Ginny were the only people talking, and Ron kept shooting them both dirty looks. Hermione picked at her food, rearranging it around her plate.
"So how is everyone today?" Seamus asked brightly. "Feeling better Harry?"
"Loads better thanks to Ginny over here," he said, giving her hand a squeeze. Hermione and Ron didn't notice the wink they exchanged.
"You two make me sick," Ron said. "My best friend and my sister? How cliché," he elaborated.
"Oh Ron, you'll get over it," Ginny said.
"Well, Harry you better not do anything more than kiss her!" Ron said.
A red blush crept up Harry's cheek, threatening to turn his whole face red. He looked at Hermione, and she was staring fixedly at her food. "I wouldn't dream of it," he said staring at Hermione who wouldn't look up.
Ginny gave him a kick from under the table. "We're supposed to make it seem genuine," she whispered in a hiss.
"Sorry, couldn't help it," Harry said absentmindedly because a letter had been dropped in front of Hermione. She glanced at it, then looked over Harry's head, straining to look at Malfoy. When she spotted him, she gave him a smile that made Harry's stomach turn. 'She used to smile like that at me,' he thought. 'Oh no, what have I done?' he thought, shaking his head to himself.
"Something wrong dearest?" Ginny said, Ron and Hermione completely missing the sarcastic tone hidden beneath her voice.
"I'm fine," he replied. He didn't feel like starting anything. 'I need to talk to Godric.' Who would've known Harry would find comfort in an eight-year-old boy who lived thousands of years ago? Not Harry, that's for sure. 'Wait,' he thought. 'I'll look for him as a teenager; see what happened between Gabrielle and Slytherin. Yes, that's what I'll do.'
"I'm going to DADA, see you guys there," Harry said, getting up and quickly exiting the hall.
"Well, somebody's in a hurry today, eh Hermione?" Ron said.
"Mmmhmm," she said, immersed in a letter someone had sent her.
"Who's that from?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Oh, someone special," she said and smiled to herself.
'Draco,' Ginny thought. How she wanted him for her own. Everything Hermione did made Ginny think of Draco with her. She wanted Harry and Hermione to make up so she could have a go with Draco. Ginny glanced over her shoulder, and saw Draco smiling at her. Her heart fluttered, and her stomach flipped. 'He's smiling at me,' she thought to herself. 'Smile back, smile back!' her inner voice told her. Ginny gathered herself up, looking confident and flashed a dazzling smile at him.
Draco's smile turned into a frown, as he scoffed at her. 'What?' Ginny thought. 'Did he not just smile at me or was I seeing things?' She stared at him, and his nose flared.
"Turn around," she saw his lips moving.
"What?" she said stupidly.
"Are you not able to see me? Oh wait, you can see because you just thought I was smiling at you, Weasel. Well, you're in for a surprise. Turn around and look across from you," he said loud enough for her to hear.
Reluctantly, she turned around to face Hermione rereading her letter for the umpteenth time. Ginny sighed, "I'm so daft," she said.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"No reason. Just in general," Ginny replied.
"Oh, well we all know that," Hermione said giggling. "You're dating Harry, what could make you any more daft?"
"Maybe loving him," she sneered and Hermione's face fell.
Hermione's eyes narrowed into slits and her lips curled under. Her face reminded Ginny strongly of Draco's when he was mad. "Say that again," she challenged.
"May-be lov-ing him," Ginny sounded out the syllables like Hermione was in 1st grade.
"You're horrible," Hermione said.
"I'm horrible?" Ginny laughed. "I'm not the one running around screwing Malfoy here and there just to make Harry jealous," she said, now very mad. "And for that matter, pretending you're in love with Malfoy when you really love Harry. Malfoy's just a toy to you. You use him then get bored and return to ole' faithful. Isn't that how it is Hermione? Isn't it?" Ginny asserted.
"At least I'm not going behind my friend's back and dating the one she loves," she retorted.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you Hermione," Ginny said, but then immediately regretted it.
"What? Are you implying that you have feelings for Draco?" Hermione questioned.
"I didn't say that and don't try changing the subject now. You know you've been using Draco, admit it. I bet you think Harry's going to crawl back to you now Hermione. I've got other news for you. Harry has feelings for me now, so just leave us alone," Ginny said.
"If that's the way you want it," Hermione said, then walked up and sat next to Malfoy at the Slytherin table.
All through this spat Ron had kept his silence. Now he had other things to say. "Ginny! I can't believe you! Do you realize what you just did? Now Harry and Hermione will never get back together, and it's your fault! Your fault, do you hear me?"
"Ron, I did what I had to do," she answered simply, though her face was still a bright red, contrasting poorly with her hair.
"Well what's this about you and Harry dating? In love too? I hope you don't expect me to buy that, I'm not Hermione," he said.
"I have something to explain, don't I?" she said and when Ron nodded, she launched into the explanation of her and Harry 'dating.'
"So you're doing this to help Harry?" Ron said, for Ginny had conveniently forgotten to tell Ron she liked Malfoy.
"Yes, is that so hard to believe?" she countered.
"Truthfully, yes but I'm in no mood to go chasing after a motive. So I'm going to drop it," he said tiredly.
"Good, because I'm in no mood to explain it," she answered.
"We need something to get those two hooked up," Ron said.
"Haven't we gone over this before?"
"Yeah, I guess. But you changed the plan. Now you're dating Harry, it's going to be a lot harder now," he said.
"Are you kidding? It'll be easy cruising," Ginny said, stretching her arm out moving it with her hand out. Ron looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I saw it on the television at Hermione's," she said.
"Oh," Ron said, nodding but smirking at her at the same time.
"Yeah," she answered. They sat in muteness and looked at their food.
"So Ginny. Enlighten me. Why is this going to be easy cruising?" Ron asked innocently.
"Well, Harry and I will be in the closet together, pretending to do...er...stuff," she said, biting her lip.
"Go on," Ron said.
"Well, you're job will be to make sure Hermione happens to be walking by at that moment. Hopefully, if all goes well, she'll walk in, furious and such," Ginny said.
"Then what? Also, how are you going to get Harry in the closet with you in the first place?" Ron asked dumbly.
"Ron, Ron, Ron," Ginny said, shaking her head. "I'm very disappointed in you. Aren't you the smart one here?"
"No, the smart one is sitting with the evil git two tables over," he retorted.
"Oh well in that case, I'll just tell Harry that we have a plan to make Hermione walk by there and hear us and get jealous. Harry won't suspect anything. The whole purpose of the 'Ginny dating Harry' thing is to make Hermione jealous," Ginny said.
"All right. So you and Harry are in the closet doing whatever, and Hermione walks by, gets overcome by the green-eyed monster, and walks in. Then what?" Ron asked.
"I'll have Harry's invisibility cloak on already, so I'll lock us all in, and disarm them. It'll be a piece of cake," she said.
"Easier said than done," Ron said sarcastically.
"I can do it. We can do it. We have to do it," Ginny embellished 'have.'
"When will we do it?"
"Soon. How about, tomorrow after lunch? We have a free period, it's Friday," Ron said.
"Sounds great. So I'll talk to Harry, and you'll tell Hermione that you heard Harry and I talking about going to the closet," Ginny said to him.
"Will do," Ron said, nodding his head.
"All right, I've got to get to class, I'll talk to you at nine in the common room, OK?" Ginny instructed.
"Right. See ya'," Ron said and with one last look at Hermione, stood up and left the hall.
Meanwhile, Harry was wandering the halls, looking for a teenage Godric. "Where can he be?" he wondered aloud.
"Something troubling you Mr. Potter?" a voice answered.
Harry turned around, and came face-to-face with none other than the Gryffindor ghost himself, Nearly Headless Nick. "Oh," he answered dejectedly. "Hi."
"What? Not happy to see me?" he cornered.
"No, I was just hoping you were someone else," Harry answered. "Sorry. I'm just having a hard week."
"None doing," Nick said. "Anything I can do to help?"
Harry's face perked up. "Actually, there is," he said. "Do you know who's in all the portraits in Hogwarts?"
"Of course! I've been here for years," Nick said. "Who do you want to see?"
"Er...a teenage Godric Gryffindor," he answered.
"Hmm...I think there's a portrait of him as a 17 year old in an unused classroom somewhere. That is, as long as my mind is serving me correct."
"Where?" Harry asked excitedly.
"Down a corridor that's hardly ever used. I think it's on the second floor," Nick said.
"Where on the second floor? What corridor? What kind of classroom?" Harry asked. His head was swarming.
"Down some corridor. It's through a door that's usually locked though and..." Nick said, but Harry had already dashed down the corridor, and turned the corner. "Anxious little boy ain't he?" Nick chuckled to himself.
"Got-to-find-class," Harry panted. He was missing DADA but he didn't care. Lupin wouldn't mind, and he really wanted to talk to Godric. He kept turning corners, and finding classrooms, but none of them had a picture of Godric in it. "Where can it be?" he asked, only to find his answer in front of him. He tried opening the door, but it was locked. He plunged his hands into his robes, and grabbed his wand. "Alohomora," he said and the door unlocked. "Yes!" he said, and entered the room.
"Woah," he said when he walked into the classroom. It was decorated with gold and scarlet, the Gryffindor colors. Old banners hung over the walls, and the Gryffindor lion roared loudly on them. Harry clamped his hands over his ears to block out the sound. "Quietes," he said, (A/N- I know, how original) and the lions silenced. "That's better. Now to find Godric."
"What? Did somebody ask for me?" a muffled voice sounded. Harry looked around, but there were no pictures in sight.
"Godric? Is that you?" Harry asked. He couldn't believe he was talking to air.
"Who's there?" Gryffindor said sharply.
"It's Harry Potter. I wanted to talk to you," Harry answered.
"Well," Godric said hesitantly.
"I won't do anything. I'm in the Gryffindor house here at Hogwarts. I talked to an eight year old you the other day," Harry said, and he was sure that if he could've seen Gryffindor's face, curiosity would've been splashed all over it.
"I'm behind the banner with the tear at the top near the corner," Godric said, and Harry looked around, and saw the banner. He walked over to it, and yanked it. It feel to the ground in heap.
"Hello," Harry said the person in the picture who was Godric Gryffindor.
"My room," Godric said quietly. "My old room," he said.
"What do you mean? You founded Hogwarts. How could you have a room here when you're only 17 years old?" Harry asked.
"17? 17?" he said outraged. "I'm 22! 17,"he muttered. "That's five years off. 17?"
"What's the big deal? It's just 5 years."
"Yes, but some of the most important stuff in my life happened during those obviously forgotten five years," he answered annoyed.
"Such as?" Harry inquired.
"Friends, family, and of course, this school," Godric said.
"Really?" Harry answered in admiration.
"Of course. Rowena and I expressed our feelings for each other. Gabrielle," he veered off.
"What happened?" Harry asked subtly.
"Gabrielle killed herself," he said with sadness in his voice.
"Oh no, Godric...I'm so sorry," Harry answered. He had no idea that's what happened.
"Yes, driven to it by a crazed love. A love never returned. A love so pure, so innocent. The man she loved didn't love her back, and never would. She was a Gryffindor you see, he was a Slytherin. Why it mattered, I don't know. Slytherin had never acted like that before. He said they would never work out. He said it was written in the stars," Godric said, shaking his head.
"I'm so sorry," Harry said. "I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything. It's fine. Anyway, that's when Slytherin and I started to argue. We had many blazing rows, and still do. He is but a ignorant, pompous man who doesn't care for others. Not even the one he loves," Godric paused. "Of should I say loved?" and seeing the look on Harry's puzzled face, he stopped. "What?"
"Slytherin loved your sister?" Harry asked, now very bewildered.
"Oh yes. He loved her like he never loved his family. He loved her so much, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He loved her so much, it drove him mad. That's what I think at least," Harry still had a baffled look on his face.
"Let me start from the beginning. You obviously know some stuff, seeing as you knew I had a sister. Tell me what you know," Godric said.
"You're sister was obsessed with him, but he didn't return the feeling. That's all. She was eleven. Salazar was twelve, and you were eight. You were really a cute eight year old," Harry said, making Godric scrunch his face.
"I was never cute; I was handsome, manly, and the object of many girls' affections," he answered proudly.
"I'm sure you were. Now tell me everything," Harry said.
"All right, so where we last left our heroes, Gabrielle was mean to me, and so was Salazar. They made fun of me, and it made me so upset. Salazar was considered a 'bad-boy,' and my mother didn't like that. She tried to persuade Gabrielle to fall for other guys, but her love for Salazar never wavered. Not even when mother brought the most handsome, wealthiest teenage boys from across the land. She barely acknowledged their presence. So word spread, and mom couldn't get another guy to enter the premises.
"That's heavy," said Harry.
"You haven't even heard the gist of it yet. Gabrielle still couldn't get Salazar to return her feelings for him, so she persuaded mom to get one more guy to come to the house. Gabrielle's plan was to make Slytherin jealous of Trinity Riddle," he said his name as if it was a swear.
Harry gasped. "Did you say Riddle?"
"Yes I did. Why? Does that name mean anything to you?" Gryffindor asked.
"You have no idea," Harry muttered. "Just go on," he urged.
"All right. So now Trinity and Gabrielle are a 'couple,' and Trinity doesn't do anything without my sister. Needless to say, Gabby's plan worked. Salazar became jealous beyond all reasoning. He did everything in his power to win Gabrielle back. Of course, Gabrielle was over the moon about it, but Trinity wasn't, for he had fallen in love with Gabby," Godric said.
"So now we have ourselves one hell of a love triangle," Harry said.
"Correct. Gabrielle left Trinity after a while, and starting dating Salazar. Salazar fell deeply in love with my sister, but was hiding a secret. The Slytherin family was to be evil. Slytherin's father had hired a Seer, and she foretold the future of Gabby and Salazar. It wasn't a nice one either. They were to be separated, never see each other again. Their families were from two different sides. It was to be good and evil, and they would never mix. Salazar and Gabby refused to be separated, so they even consulted a centaur. The centaur told them that the splitting of their families was written in the stars, and that they could never have ties like that again," he paused. "So they were separated. Gabby tried with all her might to be with Slytherin, but he kept holding back. He was protecting her, you see. Once the future became the present, Gabby could've been killed for loving an evil foe. Gabby couldn't take it anymore so she killed herself. Left a letter too. I miss her so much," he concluded with tears in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry Godric. I do have a question though. What happened to Trinity?" Harry asked. Godric hadn't mentioned him since Gabby leaving him.
"Oh he left and went back to his home. I heard he currently has a mistress. He's still grieving over Gabrielle. At least that's what I heard. I'm pretty sure it's true though. He really loved her," Godric said sadly.
"What is he like?" Harry asked. He wanted know all about Voldemort's ancestor.
"Trinity? He was OK. I liked him better than Slytherin though. Slytherin is really in future-telling. I don't believe in all of that. It's a bunch of guesswork if you ask me. Anyway, Slytherin prepares to fulfill everything he's foreseen to. Only Gabrielle knew what it is though. She once told me it was very dark, and evil. That's the only thing I'm worried about. That's why I'm so afraid of starting this school with him, Rowena and Helga," Godric said with an anxious look on his face.
"You started this school when you were only 22?" Harry said in disbelievement.
"No. We started working on it when I was 20, Helga was 19, Rowena was 22, and Salazar was 24. It's still not done ask of my age of 22. We hope to finish by the time Salazar is 30," Godric said.
"I'm sure you will. You seem very smart," Harry complimented.
"Thank you," Godric said with a big smile on his face.
"It's a very nice school," Harry said.
"It did come out nice, didn't it?" Godric said looking around the picture, and out around the room. "This was my room when we were building the school. Slytherin's was somewhere in the dungeons. He always liked it down there. Rowena's was up in a tower. She was always fascinated by the stars and sky. The times we spent under the stars together..." Godric dawdled off, a sparkle in his eyes.
"That sounds romantic," Harry said.
"It was. I hope that in the future we can have that kind of love. When this picture of me was taken, Rowena and I were taking break, and the construction of this school was on hold. At least it was for me because of Gabby. Same with Slytherin. Do you know what happens to me in the future?" Godric asked.
"No, sorry," Harry lied. He could never tell Godric about how him and Slytherin developed a rift, and that ruined a lot of things. He could never tell him about how Slytherin built the Chamber of Secrets to rid the school of muggle-borns.
"Oh if you find out, could you tell me?" Godric said.
"Isn't that ruining everything a bit? Plus, you can't change it at all. It's already gone by," Harry informed him.
"I don't care," Gryffindor answered.
"I do though. That's the thing," Harry said.
"Right," Godric said, rolling his eyes.
"I think I should go," Harry said. "I have class."
"Do come back and see me, will you?" Godric said.
"I will," Harry said.
"Bye," Gryffindor said glumly. He must get lonely all alone. He could always visit someone though.
'I'm really late for class,' Harry thought. 'Well, in that case, why even go?' he thought happily. Suddenly, a thought struck Harry. 'Their rooms,' and bolted up the stairs, towards all the towers.
When he got to the stairs leading to the different towers, he numbered them 1, 2, 3, etc., ending with number 9 as the Trophy Room.
"I'm off," he said to himself, and went up the stairs of number one.
Five minutes later, he came back down, frustrated and sweating. "I tried everything to unlock some secret door," he muttered angrily to himself. "I guess I should just pray that Rowena's room wasn't in there."
At the door to the 6th room, which happened to be the Astronomy Tower, Harry sighed. 'I'll never figure this out. It'll probably be a secret door. Plus, we're in a tower. How can there be another room? I'd fall right off the tower if I tried going through a door,' he thought, but nevertheless opened the door.
It was empty, which was a good thing. Harry started knocking on the walls, trying to find a hollow spot. When his knuckles had started trickling blood, he almost gave up. 'No! I need to find her room, and keep going,' he pressed himself on. Two knocks later, he came to a hollow place. "Yes!" he exclaimed aloud.
He took out his wand, and started prodding the paint off. When it was all chipped, and flakes were littering the gray, concrete floor, he stared at a wooden wall. He looked wildly around, trying to find something to split the wood. 'Nothing,' he thought. He picked up a piece of cardboard that was laying on the ground, and transfigured it into a hammer. "Perfect," he said. He went over to the wall, and raised the hammer, placing in a position to strike. He held his arm there, then brought it back down.
"I could get in serious trouble if anyone ever caught me doing this," he muttered. "It's really important though, and I could just make the wall like new after. No one would know, right?" he asked his conscience. "I'll just put a locking spell on the door, hopefully somebody will get the wrong idea."
After making sure the locking spell was mistake-free, he took a deep breath and walked over to the wall. "Here goes nothing," he said, and brought the hammer down onto the wall with such force that the wood split in half at once. "That was easy," he said, and started prying the wood away, only to reveal a small compartment with a box in it.
He reached in, and took out the box. It was cherry oak with gold trimmings. It looked very old and expensive. It had the initials "RR" written in cursive on the top. Harry ran his fingers along the edge, touching it very lightly as if it would break at the slightest pressing on it. He took a deep breath, and opened the cover.
Dust that had been held captive for hundreds of years came escaping out. Harry coughed in surprise at the amount of dust that had gathered in the box. Harry waved his hand around, trying to get the dust to spread. When all view was clear, he peered inside. What he found was a diary, a bunch of photographs, memorabilia, and a key. Under everything else though, there was a note. Harry took it in his hands, and cautiously opened it.
§§
To whom it may concern,
You have come into possession of my most sacred things. Everything in this box, given to me by my true love, is what I would like people to remember about me. The key is to my room, which is hidden beyond the walls of the sixth tower. The photos are of everyone I've cared dearly about in my life. Memories of everything to happen in my time are preserved in this diary. Please treat my possessions kindly, and don't ever let them fall into the wrong hands.
You who have found my box have been placed with the responsibility of resting a incident. You now bear the responsibility of finding out what happened to my true love's family. Should you choose not to withhold this responsibility, all will be lost. This parcel of evidence and memories can only be found once, and once you shun it, it will perish. This is your task alone. Not one person living right now may help you. If you try to get help from a human, the box and everything in it will be destroyed.
I was not given enough time to help my true love, so now that is why I ask you to. You will be rewarded of course if you help and put together this puzzle. You have as much time as you need, though the sooner the better. Thank you, kind sir.
Yours Truly,
Rowena Ravenclaw
CO-Founder of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Honorable Mention for Witchcraft, Order of Merlin, First Class
Founder of the Advanced Universal Realization of the Occult Rivals
§§
"Wow," was all Harry could say. He reread the letter, still stunned. "What do I have to do?" he asked. He picked up the key, and repeated parts of the letter to himself. "...beyond the walls of the sixth tower..." he trailed. "Wait! That's here! Number six!" Harry said, and jumped up, eager to start searching for her room. He grabbed the key, and held it out flat on his palm, hoping it would somehow lead him to the door of her room. He felt, as if someone was pushing him towards the east wall so he walked over there. He heard a strange noise, and it sounded as if it was coming from two places: the wall, and the key. "Yes!" he exclaimed, for he knew he had found it.
The key was now whistling loudly, and so was a certain spot on the wall. Harry squashed his ear up against wall, and listened closely. When the faint whistle developed into a loud shrill sound, Harry knew he was dead on. "Accio!" he said pointing his wand at the hammer, and the second it was in his hand, he rammed it into the wall. Shards of wood fell to the ground, causing Harry to leap to try to avoid splinters.
When Harry had safely secured his feet, he struck the wall with the tool again. More wood fell every time he bashed the wall. Out of breath, and knuckles white, Harry dropped the hammer to the ground. In front of him was a 3-foot corridor, and then a door at the end. RR was engraved upon the plaque that hung on the door. "I did it," Harry said in disbelievement.
He took two steps into the passage, and already was face-to-face with the door. He grasped the handle and tried turning it but it wouldn't budge. Harry reached into his robes for the key, and took it out. It glittered and sparkled regardless of the fact he was in a dark passageway. Harry put the key in the lock, and turned it tentatively.
The door slowly creaked open to reveal blue and black draperies hanging over the walls. There were no windows that Harry could see, but they might've been covered up by the hangings. It looked as though no one had been in there for hundreds of years. There was a distinct murky odor and dust covered everything. Chairs had white sheets over them, and so did couches. There was even a bed in Rowena's room, which Godric didn't have. Harry was in such a state of awe and shock, he didn't even hear the badgers chattering. Harry repeated the same spell he had used before, and the badgers immediately silenced.
A thought like a thunder bolt struck Harry, and he then remembered why he was there. "To find Rowena," he said to himself, and walked over to the draperies, and started yanking them down. Harry was disturbed when the last one had been wrenched to the floor, and there was still no Rowena. "I thought there was supposed to be a picture in every room!" he said angrily. Right one cue, a frame started appearing through the wall. It eventually bloomed into a picture of a young adult, about 24. She had long, black, straight hair that came down to her shoulders. Her green eyes shone through her dark, full eyelashes. She reminded him of Cho a little. She was standing in a field of flowers, surrounded by pinks, yellows, and blues. She smiled brightly when she saw Harry.
"Hello. I don't believe I know you, do I?" she asked.
"No, you shouldn't. My name is Harry Potter. I'm a student at the school right now," Harry answered.
"What year is it?" she asked.
"2004," he said.
Her jaw dropped, and she gasped. "That long?"
"Yes, that long," Harry said.
"How did you find my room? I thought I hid it pretty well," Rowena said.
"I've been talking to a 22-year-old Godric Gryffindor," Harry told her, and yet again, her jaw dropped.
"My Godric?" she said.
"I guess. He said you two were dating," Harry said.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"So what's the future like?" Rowena asked after a short silence.
"You know, Godric asked me the same thing," Harry said and Rowena smiled. "I'll give you the same answer I gave him. I can't tell you because it'll mess things up for you and your future."
"No it won't," Rowena argued.
"It will. Why don't you just go find out stuff from Godric? I'm sure he'll tell you anything," Harry said.
"I can do that?"
"You are behind the times. You can jump from picture to picture and visit with others," Harry said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Really?" she said.
"Really," Harry confirmed.
"Then I'm going to go see Godric! Goodbye Harry Potter!" Rowena said, and waved.
"Wait! I came here and got all these splinters just to see you!" he said holding up his hands so she could see the blood.
"That's not very pleasant Harry. Anyway, you did get to see me. Here I am!" she said, spreading her arms wide.
"No! I wanted to talk to you about Gabrielle Gryffindor," Harry said, making the smile fade from Rowena's face.
"What about Gabrielle?" she said curiously.
"Just everything you know about her, Slytherin, Trinity, and Godric," Harry said, and Rowena looked skeptical.
"I don't know if I should tell you. How do I know I can trust you?" she questioned.
"Hmm," Harry said thoughtfully. "How about this- you go see Godric, and ask him about me. I'll come back tomorrow night," Harry said.
"Er...OK I guess that'll work," Rowena said. "Well, I'm off to see Godric, I will see you tomorrow night Harry!" she said happily and vanished from the picture frame.
"Thank God for magic," Harry said as he closed Rowena's door behind him, and encountered the mess he had previously made. He quickly cleared everything and put the wall back together. He stood back when he had finished and concluded that no one would be all the wiser about Rowena's room for everything looked perfectly normal.
He turned around and recreated the box holder, grabbed the box and left the Astronomy Tower. It was now at least lunch time; he had missed his whole DADA class. "Great," he muttered and sprinted towards the Gryffindor Tower. He barely spat out the password, and rushed in.
He just happened to rush in on Seamus and Parvati who were having a little fun of their own. Harry cleared his throat loudly, and they broke apart at once. "Harry!" Parvati exclaimed. Red was creeping up her cheeks, and she was stuttering.
Seamus came right up to Harry and slapped him on the back. "Harry ole' pal. How's it going?" he said.
"Fine. You guys might want a more private place next time you plan on doing that," he told them in a very McGonagall-like voice.
"Oh def-definitely," they both said.
"You never know when a first year is going to walk in," Harry lectured.
"Of course-"
"You're so right-"
"Won't happen again-" they both kept apologizing as if intimidated by Harry.
"You guys, I'm not mad," he told them.
"Good," they both said before darting out the door.
"I guess that went well," he said and went up to his dormitory. He carefully placed Rowena's box in a very safe place, and covered it with his invisibility cloak. "Now no one can find it!" he said to himself.
"Find what?" came Neville's voice.
"Oh nothing. Just something very important to me. Something that means a lot to me...and to someone else," he added.
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A/N- Wow long chapter! Hehe thanks to those who reviewed, I really appreciated it! I know this chapter may have come off boring, but aren't all informational chapters like that? I have some bad news now. This story is almost over. Yes, it's very short, but that's because it's like an extra-long exposition. All right? Don't worry, To End All Pain will be up in no time after this story is finished!
Much thanks...
Cyropi- I like random. I definitely like random. It's fun. Heck, don't mind me. I'm just like, trying to think of things to say. Oh never mind. I'm so tired, it's only 4:30. Thank God it's Friday. This little thank you will be short so I can go read your story then review :-). OK, gonna go get caffeine so I can be peppy while I write. *staggers to the cupboard, then falls to the ground. Nope, sadly, she's not dead. Just asleep* OK, maybe I can add a little pep into this. I'm glad you liked the chapter! (That was pep, right?) Bad-boy Draco is my favorites character. Though, I can't help but love a romantic Draco either. What about a horny Draco? lol um...how about no! Speaking of that, as you know, I can't write anything like that. It's some disease I think...*smile* Thanks for reviewing (though it's expected now...just kidding!)
Beau Coeur- Hey cuz! Thank for reviewing and complimenting me! Sorry I can't really write much like I did on Cyropi. Talk to you later! BTW- I'll be in Cape Cod from Sun. night to Mon. night just so you know! Woo hoo! Going to the mall. I'll give you three guesses as to what I'm buying...*eek!*
Yes so that's it. Two reviewers. Woo hoo *dejected cheer* Please review people! I'll review yours if you review mine! Swear I will!
A/N- This is coming along slowly, I know. I'm juggling two stories I'm writing, homework, and hanging out with friends. Sorry if it takes while, but it doesn't seem that there are many people reviewing this anyway!
§§ This is my version of italics because my computer is screwed up!
~Recap
"Let's go eat," Hermione said, grabbing Malfoy's hand, and with one last look Harry and Ginny, she set out towards the Slytherin table.
"I think this is going over well, don't you?" Harry said to Ginny.
"I do," she said, thinking of the way her name sounded coming from Draco, and liking it very much.
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A few minutes after Hermione had settled herself at the Slytherin table, she decided it wasn't the place for her and went over to the Gryffindor table. Everyone stared at her, searching for an explanation; she just shrugged and sat down.
Breakfast was a silent affair. Harry and Ginny were the only people talking, and Ron kept shooting them both dirty looks. Hermione picked at her food, rearranging it around her plate.
"So how is everyone today?" Seamus asked brightly. "Feeling better Harry?"
"Loads better thanks to Ginny over here," he said, giving her hand a squeeze. Hermione and Ron didn't notice the wink they exchanged.
"You two make me sick," Ron said. "My best friend and my sister? How cliché," he elaborated.
"Oh Ron, you'll get over it," Ginny said.
"Well, Harry you better not do anything more than kiss her!" Ron said.
A red blush crept up Harry's cheek, threatening to turn his whole face red. He looked at Hermione, and she was staring fixedly at her food. "I wouldn't dream of it," he said staring at Hermione who wouldn't look up.
Ginny gave him a kick from under the table. "We're supposed to make it seem genuine," she whispered in a hiss.
"Sorry, couldn't help it," Harry said absentmindedly because a letter had been dropped in front of Hermione. She glanced at it, then looked over Harry's head, straining to look at Malfoy. When she spotted him, she gave him a smile that made Harry's stomach turn. 'She used to smile like that at me,' he thought. 'Oh no, what have I done?' he thought, shaking his head to himself.
"Something wrong dearest?" Ginny said, Ron and Hermione completely missing the sarcastic tone hidden beneath her voice.
"I'm fine," he replied. He didn't feel like starting anything. 'I need to talk to Godric.' Who would've known Harry would find comfort in an eight-year-old boy who lived thousands of years ago? Not Harry, that's for sure. 'Wait,' he thought. 'I'll look for him as a teenager; see what happened between Gabrielle and Slytherin. Yes, that's what I'll do.'
"I'm going to DADA, see you guys there," Harry said, getting up and quickly exiting the hall.
"Well, somebody's in a hurry today, eh Hermione?" Ron said.
"Mmmhmm," she said, immersed in a letter someone had sent her.
"Who's that from?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Oh, someone special," she said and smiled to herself.
'Draco,' Ginny thought. How she wanted him for her own. Everything Hermione did made Ginny think of Draco with her. She wanted Harry and Hermione to make up so she could have a go with Draco. Ginny glanced over her shoulder, and saw Draco smiling at her. Her heart fluttered, and her stomach flipped. 'He's smiling at me,' she thought to herself. 'Smile back, smile back!' her inner voice told her. Ginny gathered herself up, looking confident and flashed a dazzling smile at him.
Draco's smile turned into a frown, as he scoffed at her. 'What?' Ginny thought. 'Did he not just smile at me or was I seeing things?' She stared at him, and his nose flared.
"Turn around," she saw his lips moving.
"What?" she said stupidly.
"Are you not able to see me? Oh wait, you can see because you just thought I was smiling at you, Weasel. Well, you're in for a surprise. Turn around and look across from you," he said loud enough for her to hear.
Reluctantly, she turned around to face Hermione rereading her letter for the umpteenth time. Ginny sighed, "I'm so daft," she said.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"No reason. Just in general," Ginny replied.
"Oh, well we all know that," Hermione said giggling. "You're dating Harry, what could make you any more daft?"
"Maybe loving him," she sneered and Hermione's face fell.
Hermione's eyes narrowed into slits and her lips curled under. Her face reminded Ginny strongly of Draco's when he was mad. "Say that again," she challenged.
"May-be lov-ing him," Ginny sounded out the syllables like Hermione was in 1st grade.
"You're horrible," Hermione said.
"I'm horrible?" Ginny laughed. "I'm not the one running around screwing Malfoy here and there just to make Harry jealous," she said, now very mad. "And for that matter, pretending you're in love with Malfoy when you really love Harry. Malfoy's just a toy to you. You use him then get bored and return to ole' faithful. Isn't that how it is Hermione? Isn't it?" Ginny asserted.
"At least I'm not going behind my friend's back and dating the one she loves," she retorted.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you Hermione," Ginny said, but then immediately regretted it.
"What? Are you implying that you have feelings for Draco?" Hermione questioned.
"I didn't say that and don't try changing the subject now. You know you've been using Draco, admit it. I bet you think Harry's going to crawl back to you now Hermione. I've got other news for you. Harry has feelings for me now, so just leave us alone," Ginny said.
"If that's the way you want it," Hermione said, then walked up and sat next to Malfoy at the Slytherin table.
All through this spat Ron had kept his silence. Now he had other things to say. "Ginny! I can't believe you! Do you realize what you just did? Now Harry and Hermione will never get back together, and it's your fault! Your fault, do you hear me?"
"Ron, I did what I had to do," she answered simply, though her face was still a bright red, contrasting poorly with her hair.
"Well what's this about you and Harry dating? In love too? I hope you don't expect me to buy that, I'm not Hermione," he said.
"I have something to explain, don't I?" she said and when Ron nodded, she launched into the explanation of her and Harry 'dating.'
"So you're doing this to help Harry?" Ron said, for Ginny had conveniently forgotten to tell Ron she liked Malfoy.
"Yes, is that so hard to believe?" she countered.
"Truthfully, yes but I'm in no mood to go chasing after a motive. So I'm going to drop it," he said tiredly.
"Good, because I'm in no mood to explain it," she answered.
"We need something to get those two hooked up," Ron said.
"Haven't we gone over this before?"
"Yeah, I guess. But you changed the plan. Now you're dating Harry, it's going to be a lot harder now," he said.
"Are you kidding? It'll be easy cruising," Ginny said, stretching her arm out moving it with her hand out. Ron looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I saw it on the television at Hermione's," she said.
"Oh," Ron said, nodding but smirking at her at the same time.
"Yeah," she answered. They sat in muteness and looked at their food.
"So Ginny. Enlighten me. Why is this going to be easy cruising?" Ron asked innocently.
"Well, Harry and I will be in the closet together, pretending to do...er...stuff," she said, biting her lip.
"Go on," Ron said.
"Well, you're job will be to make sure Hermione happens to be walking by at that moment. Hopefully, if all goes well, she'll walk in, furious and such," Ginny said.
"Then what? Also, how are you going to get Harry in the closet with you in the first place?" Ron asked dumbly.
"Ron, Ron, Ron," Ginny said, shaking her head. "I'm very disappointed in you. Aren't you the smart one here?"
"No, the smart one is sitting with the evil git two tables over," he retorted.
"Oh well in that case, I'll just tell Harry that we have a plan to make Hermione walk by there and hear us and get jealous. Harry won't suspect anything. The whole purpose of the 'Ginny dating Harry' thing is to make Hermione jealous," Ginny said.
"All right. So you and Harry are in the closet doing whatever, and Hermione walks by, gets overcome by the green-eyed monster, and walks in. Then what?" Ron asked.
"I'll have Harry's invisibility cloak on already, so I'll lock us all in, and disarm them. It'll be a piece of cake," she said.
"Easier said than done," Ron said sarcastically.
"I can do it. We can do it. We have to do it," Ginny embellished 'have.'
"When will we do it?"
"Soon. How about, tomorrow after lunch? We have a free period, it's Friday," Ron said.
"Sounds great. So I'll talk to Harry, and you'll tell Hermione that you heard Harry and I talking about going to the closet," Ginny said to him.
"Will do," Ron said, nodding his head.
"All right, I've got to get to class, I'll talk to you at nine in the common room, OK?" Ginny instructed.
"Right. See ya'," Ron said and with one last look at Hermione, stood up and left the hall.
Meanwhile, Harry was wandering the halls, looking for a teenage Godric. "Where can he be?" he wondered aloud.
"Something troubling you Mr. Potter?" a voice answered.
Harry turned around, and came face-to-face with none other than the Gryffindor ghost himself, Nearly Headless Nick. "Oh," he answered dejectedly. "Hi."
"What? Not happy to see me?" he cornered.
"No, I was just hoping you were someone else," Harry answered. "Sorry. I'm just having a hard week."
"None doing," Nick said. "Anything I can do to help?"
Harry's face perked up. "Actually, there is," he said. "Do you know who's in all the portraits in Hogwarts?"
"Of course! I've been here for years," Nick said. "Who do you want to see?"
"Er...a teenage Godric Gryffindor," he answered.
"Hmm...I think there's a portrait of him as a 17 year old in an unused classroom somewhere. That is, as long as my mind is serving me correct."
"Where?" Harry asked excitedly.
"Down a corridor that's hardly ever used. I think it's on the second floor," Nick said.
"Where on the second floor? What corridor? What kind of classroom?" Harry asked. His head was swarming.
"Down some corridor. It's through a door that's usually locked though and..." Nick said, but Harry had already dashed down the corridor, and turned the corner. "Anxious little boy ain't he?" Nick chuckled to himself.
"Got-to-find-class," Harry panted. He was missing DADA but he didn't care. Lupin wouldn't mind, and he really wanted to talk to Godric. He kept turning corners, and finding classrooms, but none of them had a picture of Godric in it. "Where can it be?" he asked, only to find his answer in front of him. He tried opening the door, but it was locked. He plunged his hands into his robes, and grabbed his wand. "Alohomora," he said and the door unlocked. "Yes!" he said, and entered the room.
"Woah," he said when he walked into the classroom. It was decorated with gold and scarlet, the Gryffindor colors. Old banners hung over the walls, and the Gryffindor lion roared loudly on them. Harry clamped his hands over his ears to block out the sound. "Quietes," he said, (A/N- I know, how original) and the lions silenced. "That's better. Now to find Godric."
"What? Did somebody ask for me?" a muffled voice sounded. Harry looked around, but there were no pictures in sight.
"Godric? Is that you?" Harry asked. He couldn't believe he was talking to air.
"Who's there?" Gryffindor said sharply.
"It's Harry Potter. I wanted to talk to you," Harry answered.
"Well," Godric said hesitantly.
"I won't do anything. I'm in the Gryffindor house here at Hogwarts. I talked to an eight year old you the other day," Harry said, and he was sure that if he could've seen Gryffindor's face, curiosity would've been splashed all over it.
"I'm behind the banner with the tear at the top near the corner," Godric said, and Harry looked around, and saw the banner. He walked over to it, and yanked it. It feel to the ground in heap.
"Hello," Harry said the person in the picture who was Godric Gryffindor.
"My room," Godric said quietly. "My old room," he said.
"What do you mean? You founded Hogwarts. How could you have a room here when you're only 17 years old?" Harry asked.
"17? 17?" he said outraged. "I'm 22! 17,"he muttered. "That's five years off. 17?"
"What's the big deal? It's just 5 years."
"Yes, but some of the most important stuff in my life happened during those obviously forgotten five years," he answered annoyed.
"Such as?" Harry inquired.
"Friends, family, and of course, this school," Godric said.
"Really?" Harry answered in admiration.
"Of course. Rowena and I expressed our feelings for each other. Gabrielle," he veered off.
"What happened?" Harry asked subtly.
"Gabrielle killed herself," he said with sadness in his voice.
"Oh no, Godric...I'm so sorry," Harry answered. He had no idea that's what happened.
"Yes, driven to it by a crazed love. A love never returned. A love so pure, so innocent. The man she loved didn't love her back, and never would. She was a Gryffindor you see, he was a Slytherin. Why it mattered, I don't know. Slytherin had never acted like that before. He said they would never work out. He said it was written in the stars," Godric said, shaking his head.
"I'm so sorry," Harry said. "I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything. It's fine. Anyway, that's when Slytherin and I started to argue. We had many blazing rows, and still do. He is but a ignorant, pompous man who doesn't care for others. Not even the one he loves," Godric paused. "Of should I say loved?" and seeing the look on Harry's puzzled face, he stopped. "What?"
"Slytherin loved your sister?" Harry asked, now very bewildered.
"Oh yes. He loved her like he never loved his family. He loved her so much, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He loved her so much, it drove him mad. That's what I think at least," Harry still had a baffled look on his face.
"Let me start from the beginning. You obviously know some stuff, seeing as you knew I had a sister. Tell me what you know," Godric said.
"You're sister was obsessed with him, but he didn't return the feeling. That's all. She was eleven. Salazar was twelve, and you were eight. You were really a cute eight year old," Harry said, making Godric scrunch his face.
"I was never cute; I was handsome, manly, and the object of many girls' affections," he answered proudly.
"I'm sure you were. Now tell me everything," Harry said.
"All right, so where we last left our heroes, Gabrielle was mean to me, and so was Salazar. They made fun of me, and it made me so upset. Salazar was considered a 'bad-boy,' and my mother didn't like that. She tried to persuade Gabrielle to fall for other guys, but her love for Salazar never wavered. Not even when mother brought the most handsome, wealthiest teenage boys from across the land. She barely acknowledged their presence. So word spread, and mom couldn't get another guy to enter the premises.
"That's heavy," said Harry.
"You haven't even heard the gist of it yet. Gabrielle still couldn't get Salazar to return her feelings for him, so she persuaded mom to get one more guy to come to the house. Gabrielle's plan was to make Slytherin jealous of Trinity Riddle," he said his name as if it was a swear.
Harry gasped. "Did you say Riddle?"
"Yes I did. Why? Does that name mean anything to you?" Gryffindor asked.
"You have no idea," Harry muttered. "Just go on," he urged.
"All right. So now Trinity and Gabrielle are a 'couple,' and Trinity doesn't do anything without my sister. Needless to say, Gabby's plan worked. Salazar became jealous beyond all reasoning. He did everything in his power to win Gabrielle back. Of course, Gabrielle was over the moon about it, but Trinity wasn't, for he had fallen in love with Gabby," Godric said.
"So now we have ourselves one hell of a love triangle," Harry said.
"Correct. Gabrielle left Trinity after a while, and starting dating Salazar. Salazar fell deeply in love with my sister, but was hiding a secret. The Slytherin family was to be evil. Slytherin's father had hired a Seer, and she foretold the future of Gabby and Salazar. It wasn't a nice one either. They were to be separated, never see each other again. Their families were from two different sides. It was to be good and evil, and they would never mix. Salazar and Gabby refused to be separated, so they even consulted a centaur. The centaur told them that the splitting of their families was written in the stars, and that they could never have ties like that again," he paused. "So they were separated. Gabby tried with all her might to be with Slytherin, but he kept holding back. He was protecting her, you see. Once the future became the present, Gabby could've been killed for loving an evil foe. Gabby couldn't take it anymore so she killed herself. Left a letter too. I miss her so much," he concluded with tears in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry Godric. I do have a question though. What happened to Trinity?" Harry asked. Godric hadn't mentioned him since Gabby leaving him.
"Oh he left and went back to his home. I heard he currently has a mistress. He's still grieving over Gabrielle. At least that's what I heard. I'm pretty sure it's true though. He really loved her," Godric said sadly.
"What is he like?" Harry asked. He wanted know all about Voldemort's ancestor.
"Trinity? He was OK. I liked him better than Slytherin though. Slytherin is really in future-telling. I don't believe in all of that. It's a bunch of guesswork if you ask me. Anyway, Slytherin prepares to fulfill everything he's foreseen to. Only Gabrielle knew what it is though. She once told me it was very dark, and evil. That's the only thing I'm worried about. That's why I'm so afraid of starting this school with him, Rowena and Helga," Godric said with an anxious look on his face.
"You started this school when you were only 22?" Harry said in disbelievement.
"No. We started working on it when I was 20, Helga was 19, Rowena was 22, and Salazar was 24. It's still not done ask of my age of 22. We hope to finish by the time Salazar is 30," Godric said.
"I'm sure you will. You seem very smart," Harry complimented.
"Thank you," Godric said with a big smile on his face.
"It's a very nice school," Harry said.
"It did come out nice, didn't it?" Godric said looking around the picture, and out around the room. "This was my room when we were building the school. Slytherin's was somewhere in the dungeons. He always liked it down there. Rowena's was up in a tower. She was always fascinated by the stars and sky. The times we spent under the stars together..." Godric dawdled off, a sparkle in his eyes.
"That sounds romantic," Harry said.
"It was. I hope that in the future we can have that kind of love. When this picture of me was taken, Rowena and I were taking break, and the construction of this school was on hold. At least it was for me because of Gabby. Same with Slytherin. Do you know what happens to me in the future?" Godric asked.
"No, sorry," Harry lied. He could never tell Godric about how him and Slytherin developed a rift, and that ruined a lot of things. He could never tell him about how Slytherin built the Chamber of Secrets to rid the school of muggle-borns.
"Oh if you find out, could you tell me?" Godric said.
"Isn't that ruining everything a bit? Plus, you can't change it at all. It's already gone by," Harry informed him.
"I don't care," Gryffindor answered.
"I do though. That's the thing," Harry said.
"Right," Godric said, rolling his eyes.
"I think I should go," Harry said. "I have class."
"Do come back and see me, will you?" Godric said.
"I will," Harry said.
"Bye," Gryffindor said glumly. He must get lonely all alone. He could always visit someone though.
'I'm really late for class,' Harry thought. 'Well, in that case, why even go?' he thought happily. Suddenly, a thought struck Harry. 'Their rooms,' and bolted up the stairs, towards all the towers.
When he got to the stairs leading to the different towers, he numbered them 1, 2, 3, etc., ending with number 9 as the Trophy Room.
"I'm off," he said to himself, and went up the stairs of number one.
Five minutes later, he came back down, frustrated and sweating. "I tried everything to unlock some secret door," he muttered angrily to himself. "I guess I should just pray that Rowena's room wasn't in there."
At the door to the 6th room, which happened to be the Astronomy Tower, Harry sighed. 'I'll never figure this out. It'll probably be a secret door. Plus, we're in a tower. How can there be another room? I'd fall right off the tower if I tried going through a door,' he thought, but nevertheless opened the door.
It was empty, which was a good thing. Harry started knocking on the walls, trying to find a hollow spot. When his knuckles had started trickling blood, he almost gave up. 'No! I need to find her room, and keep going,' he pressed himself on. Two knocks later, he came to a hollow place. "Yes!" he exclaimed aloud.
He took out his wand, and started prodding the paint off. When it was all chipped, and flakes were littering the gray, concrete floor, he stared at a wooden wall. He looked wildly around, trying to find something to split the wood. 'Nothing,' he thought. He picked up a piece of cardboard that was laying on the ground, and transfigured it into a hammer. "Perfect," he said. He went over to the wall, and raised the hammer, placing in a position to strike. He held his arm there, then brought it back down.
"I could get in serious trouble if anyone ever caught me doing this," he muttered. "It's really important though, and I could just make the wall like new after. No one would know, right?" he asked his conscience. "I'll just put a locking spell on the door, hopefully somebody will get the wrong idea."
After making sure the locking spell was mistake-free, he took a deep breath and walked over to the wall. "Here goes nothing," he said, and brought the hammer down onto the wall with such force that the wood split in half at once. "That was easy," he said, and started prying the wood away, only to reveal a small compartment with a box in it.
He reached in, and took out the box. It was cherry oak with gold trimmings. It looked very old and expensive. It had the initials "RR" written in cursive on the top. Harry ran his fingers along the edge, touching it very lightly as if it would break at the slightest pressing on it. He took a deep breath, and opened the cover.
Dust that had been held captive for hundreds of years came escaping out. Harry coughed in surprise at the amount of dust that had gathered in the box. Harry waved his hand around, trying to get the dust to spread. When all view was clear, he peered inside. What he found was a diary, a bunch of photographs, memorabilia, and a key. Under everything else though, there was a note. Harry took it in his hands, and cautiously opened it.
§§
To whom it may concern,
You have come into possession of my most sacred things. Everything in this box, given to me by my true love, is what I would like people to remember about me. The key is to my room, which is hidden beyond the walls of the sixth tower. The photos are of everyone I've cared dearly about in my life. Memories of everything to happen in my time are preserved in this diary. Please treat my possessions kindly, and don't ever let them fall into the wrong hands.
You who have found my box have been placed with the responsibility of resting a incident. You now bear the responsibility of finding out what happened to my true love's family. Should you choose not to withhold this responsibility, all will be lost. This parcel of evidence and memories can only be found once, and once you shun it, it will perish. This is your task alone. Not one person living right now may help you. If you try to get help from a human, the box and everything in it will be destroyed.
I was not given enough time to help my true love, so now that is why I ask you to. You will be rewarded of course if you help and put together this puzzle. You have as much time as you need, though the sooner the better. Thank you, kind sir.
Yours Truly,
Rowena Ravenclaw
CO-Founder of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Honorable Mention for Witchcraft, Order of Merlin, First Class
Founder of the Advanced Universal Realization of the Occult Rivals
§§
"Wow," was all Harry could say. He reread the letter, still stunned. "What do I have to do?" he asked. He picked up the key, and repeated parts of the letter to himself. "...beyond the walls of the sixth tower..." he trailed. "Wait! That's here! Number six!" Harry said, and jumped up, eager to start searching for her room. He grabbed the key, and held it out flat on his palm, hoping it would somehow lead him to the door of her room. He felt, as if someone was pushing him towards the east wall so he walked over there. He heard a strange noise, and it sounded as if it was coming from two places: the wall, and the key. "Yes!" he exclaimed, for he knew he had found it.
The key was now whistling loudly, and so was a certain spot on the wall. Harry squashed his ear up against wall, and listened closely. When the faint whistle developed into a loud shrill sound, Harry knew he was dead on. "Accio!" he said pointing his wand at the hammer, and the second it was in his hand, he rammed it into the wall. Shards of wood fell to the ground, causing Harry to leap to try to avoid splinters.
When Harry had safely secured his feet, he struck the wall with the tool again. More wood fell every time he bashed the wall. Out of breath, and knuckles white, Harry dropped the hammer to the ground. In front of him was a 3-foot corridor, and then a door at the end. RR was engraved upon the plaque that hung on the door. "I did it," Harry said in disbelievement.
He took two steps into the passage, and already was face-to-face with the door. He grasped the handle and tried turning it but it wouldn't budge. Harry reached into his robes for the key, and took it out. It glittered and sparkled regardless of the fact he was in a dark passageway. Harry put the key in the lock, and turned it tentatively.
The door slowly creaked open to reveal blue and black draperies hanging over the walls. There were no windows that Harry could see, but they might've been covered up by the hangings. It looked as though no one had been in there for hundreds of years. There was a distinct murky odor and dust covered everything. Chairs had white sheets over them, and so did couches. There was even a bed in Rowena's room, which Godric didn't have. Harry was in such a state of awe and shock, he didn't even hear the badgers chattering. Harry repeated the same spell he had used before, and the badgers immediately silenced.
A thought like a thunder bolt struck Harry, and he then remembered why he was there. "To find Rowena," he said to himself, and walked over to the draperies, and started yanking them down. Harry was disturbed when the last one had been wrenched to the floor, and there was still no Rowena. "I thought there was supposed to be a picture in every room!" he said angrily. Right one cue, a frame started appearing through the wall. It eventually bloomed into a picture of a young adult, about 24. She had long, black, straight hair that came down to her shoulders. Her green eyes shone through her dark, full eyelashes. She reminded him of Cho a little. She was standing in a field of flowers, surrounded by pinks, yellows, and blues. She smiled brightly when she saw Harry.
"Hello. I don't believe I know you, do I?" she asked.
"No, you shouldn't. My name is Harry Potter. I'm a student at the school right now," Harry answered.
"What year is it?" she asked.
"2004," he said.
Her jaw dropped, and she gasped. "That long?"
"Yes, that long," Harry said.
"How did you find my room? I thought I hid it pretty well," Rowena said.
"I've been talking to a 22-year-old Godric Gryffindor," Harry told her, and yet again, her jaw dropped.
"My Godric?" she said.
"I guess. He said you two were dating," Harry said.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"So what's the future like?" Rowena asked after a short silence.
"You know, Godric asked me the same thing," Harry said and Rowena smiled. "I'll give you the same answer I gave him. I can't tell you because it'll mess things up for you and your future."
"No it won't," Rowena argued.
"It will. Why don't you just go find out stuff from Godric? I'm sure he'll tell you anything," Harry said.
"I can do that?"
"You are behind the times. You can jump from picture to picture and visit with others," Harry said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Really?" she said.
"Really," Harry confirmed.
"Then I'm going to go see Godric! Goodbye Harry Potter!" Rowena said, and waved.
"Wait! I came here and got all these splinters just to see you!" he said holding up his hands so she could see the blood.
"That's not very pleasant Harry. Anyway, you did get to see me. Here I am!" she said, spreading her arms wide.
"No! I wanted to talk to you about Gabrielle Gryffindor," Harry said, making the smile fade from Rowena's face.
"What about Gabrielle?" she said curiously.
"Just everything you know about her, Slytherin, Trinity, and Godric," Harry said, and Rowena looked skeptical.
"I don't know if I should tell you. How do I know I can trust you?" she questioned.
"Hmm," Harry said thoughtfully. "How about this- you go see Godric, and ask him about me. I'll come back tomorrow night," Harry said.
"Er...OK I guess that'll work," Rowena said. "Well, I'm off to see Godric, I will see you tomorrow night Harry!" she said happily and vanished from the picture frame.
"Thank God for magic," Harry said as he closed Rowena's door behind him, and encountered the mess he had previously made. He quickly cleared everything and put the wall back together. He stood back when he had finished and concluded that no one would be all the wiser about Rowena's room for everything looked perfectly normal.
He turned around and recreated the box holder, grabbed the box and left the Astronomy Tower. It was now at least lunch time; he had missed his whole DADA class. "Great," he muttered and sprinted towards the Gryffindor Tower. He barely spat out the password, and rushed in.
He just happened to rush in on Seamus and Parvati who were having a little fun of their own. Harry cleared his throat loudly, and they broke apart at once. "Harry!" Parvati exclaimed. Red was creeping up her cheeks, and she was stuttering.
Seamus came right up to Harry and slapped him on the back. "Harry ole' pal. How's it going?" he said.
"Fine. You guys might want a more private place next time you plan on doing that," he told them in a very McGonagall-like voice.
"Oh def-definitely," they both said.
"You never know when a first year is going to walk in," Harry lectured.
"Of course-"
"You're so right-"
"Won't happen again-" they both kept apologizing as if intimidated by Harry.
"You guys, I'm not mad," he told them.
"Good," they both said before darting out the door.
"I guess that went well," he said and went up to his dormitory. He carefully placed Rowena's box in a very safe place, and covered it with his invisibility cloak. "Now no one can find it!" he said to himself.
"Find what?" came Neville's voice.
"Oh nothing. Just something very important to me. Something that means a lot to me...and to someone else," he added.
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A/N- Wow long chapter! Hehe thanks to those who reviewed, I really appreciated it! I know this chapter may have come off boring, but aren't all informational chapters like that? I have some bad news now. This story is almost over. Yes, it's very short, but that's because it's like an extra-long exposition. All right? Don't worry, To End All Pain will be up in no time after this story is finished!
Much thanks...
Cyropi- I like random. I definitely like random. It's fun. Heck, don't mind me. I'm just like, trying to think of things to say. Oh never mind. I'm so tired, it's only 4:30. Thank God it's Friday. This little thank you will be short so I can go read your story then review :-). OK, gonna go get caffeine so I can be peppy while I write. *staggers to the cupboard, then falls to the ground. Nope, sadly, she's not dead. Just asleep* OK, maybe I can add a little pep into this. I'm glad you liked the chapter! (That was pep, right?) Bad-boy Draco is my favorites character. Though, I can't help but love a romantic Draco either. What about a horny Draco? lol um...how about no! Speaking of that, as you know, I can't write anything like that. It's some disease I think...*smile* Thanks for reviewing (though it's expected now...just kidding!)
Beau Coeur- Hey cuz! Thank for reviewing and complimenting me! Sorry I can't really write much like I did on Cyropi. Talk to you later! BTW- I'll be in Cape Cod from Sun. night to Mon. night just so you know! Woo hoo! Going to the mall. I'll give you three guesses as to what I'm buying...*eek!*
Yes so that's it. Two reviewers. Woo hoo *dejected cheer* Please review people! I'll review yours if you review mine! Swear I will!