Chapter 15 Hermione's Feast
"Hey Pansy? Have you seen Aphelia? I can't find her anywhere!" Harry asked as he straightened his robes. Pansy dropped the potion she was creating to get extra credit in her Potions class with. "Ha...Harry? You're awake? But, how?" Pansy looked at Harry as if he was some sort of delicate porcelain that would break if touched. "Lea woke me up, but soon after she was taken away. Last time I saw her she was heading towards Dumbledore's office, and that was almost two hours ago!" he replied.
"You didn't hear? Aphelia's been expelled for trying to kill you!" Pansy added, looking at him as if he, too, was suffering from loss of memory.
"No! Dumbledore didn't really expel her! He sent her to Hagrid's and he is trying to find out what is going on, but, for some reason, Aphelia hasn't come to tell me what he had figured out, which is so unlike her!" Harry added. His stomach grumbled.
"Harry, you're hungry. Let's go to dinner, maybe Aphelia'll show up there, and hey! She wouldn't want you to starve yourself because you are worried about her. In fact, you know how she hates it when people think she can't take care of herself!" Pansy added, and the two of them headed towards The Great Hall together.
"But, My Lady, What are we supposed to do with this...thing?" Aphelia began to stir. She had no idea how long she had been knocked out for, but she figured that it had been a while. Her eyes were too sore to open, so she listened intently to everything that was being said in the room. She tried moving, but she couldn't. She could feel the ropes that tied her wrists far apart from each other in a spread-eagle way cut into her skin, and her back and ankles were tied against a pole to keep her from being able to move.
"Just make sure that she stay's here, and that she doesn't wake up! She cannot interfere with this ceremony," said a female voice. She couldn't make it out, all of the voices were alien to her. She suspected that they had drugged her with something. She could hear footsteps coming over towards her, and then something sharp dug into her left arm. She screamed as she felt her blood force itself through the cut that was just formed. Then the gag was taken out of her mouth and, while she was still screaming, the person forced another hot serum into her mouth. A twisted form of Novocaine. thought Aphelia. She used all of her mind power to keep as much of the serum as she could in her mouth.
"Uh, My Lady, she isn't swallowing," said one of the people that was closer to her. Aphelia felt the undesired inclination to swallow all that was in her mouth, but she refused to let herself do it. She heard the pit-pat of impatient footsteps coming closer to her.
"Well, then we'll just have to force her to take it, now, wont we?" the female's voice sent chill's down Aphelia's spine, causing her to want to swallow even more, but she constrained herself still. She felt someone reach up to her face and then the oxygen stopped flowing to her lungs. She realized that the female had pinched her nose shut, stopping the only source of oxygen she was receiving. She squirmed, but it didn't help, she was too weak. She went to open her mouth to spit it out, but they were holding her mouth shut also. Reluctantly, she swallowed. Nothing could compare to the nauseating pain that had overcome her next.
"Nothing works more than cutting off the oxygen supply, boys! Watch and learn!" Aphelia could hear the female voice say, though it was farther away than it had been. "Oh, and she better be here still when I get back, I'm going to have the best surprise for her!" and then the voice faded away.
"Let the feast begin!" Dumbledore announced. There was a loud banging sound after Dumbledore's words, but it wasn't the food. Hermione had burst into The Great Hall with a ton of people entering behind her, and, standing by her side, was none other than James Riddle.
"Welcome, you all, to my feast!" Hermione said. She smiled as she looked into the terrorized faces of all of the students in Hogwarts. Harry and Ron were the only two who didn't seem as if they were scared to death, instead, Ron approached her.
"Hermione, what are you doing here with that...that...that thing?" he asked, pointing to James. James took a few steps forward to hit Ron, but Hermione stopped him.
"This thing is more than a thing to me. Now, go sit down!" she said, and with a flick of her hand Ron was thrown against the Gryffindor Table.
"Where's my brother?" James asked expectantly. Hermione just smiled to him as if all was going as planned.
"He's on his way!" she said, and she clapped her hands twice in front of her. At that exact moment Draco Malfoy sat up straight in his bed in the Hospital Wing, ready to do what was commanded of him.
Aphelia regurgitated. She was doing all she could to get that potion out of her body. She had to escape, to save her brother, to save Draco. There was nothing else she thought of more. She opened her eyes. There was no one in sight. Are they really that stupid? Aphelia asked herself as she laughed at the lazy people who were supposed to be guarding her. Aphelia looked at the dagger that was on the floor next to her, covered in her blood. She concentrated on it and tried to lift it with her mind. It wouldn't budge.
"Wait, what?" Aphelia asked herself aloud. She tried to bring the dagger up into the air again, it didn't even shake a little, it stayed laying flat.
"Okay, what's going on?" she asked, then she noticed the guards heading back towards her. She opened her palms and flicked them to push the guards away from her, but they didn't even pause for a second.
"Just like My Lady said, her powers are gone! We have nothing to worry about!" one of the guards said as he laughed at her. Aphelia was outraged. She had never known someone who was definitely on her bad side to be so casual in her presence.
"What do you mean, my powers are gone?" Aphelia asked suddenly, causing the guards to jump and become alert of her. Glad to see they still fear me on some level. She thought.
"My Lady took your powers away and kept them for herself. She felt that they'd be useful," one of the males smirked. Aphelia glared at him, and his smirk slid right off of his face. Aphelia looked down at the dagger and tried to move it again. It wouldn't budge.
"She is no danger. No threat! Let's go back to playing Exploding Snap," said another one of the people guarding her.
"You do that!" Aphelia said innocently, and the second the men were out of her sight, she began to try and force the rope to loosen around her ankles so that she could get her feet free. At first she was too weak. Her body ached all over, and her muscles didn't want to move, but Aphelia had a passion, and once she wants something she wont stop until she gets it. A burning desire filled her head and body, causing her to work even harder at trying to free her ankles. Then it happened. She heard the rope tear, and then her ankles slipped freely out of their restraints. She smiled as she slammed her foot down on the handle of the dagger and sent it into the air. She reached her left hand out as far as it would go and barely caught the dagger by the blade. It cut into her hand, but it was a pretty dull blade, and she pulled it close to her and began to cut very carefully at the ropes on her left wrist. When it cut far enough in, she ripped it off and did the same with the other. It felt so good to her to be free of all her restraints. She walked towards the guys that were playing exploding snap and smiled.
"Oh boys," she said tantalizingly. They all turned around and looked at her as if she signified their death which made Aphelia happy. She loved to gaze into the most fearful eyes of the people that she didn't like. It was what kept her ticking, but that didn't make her evil, did it? Of course not. "Next time you're going to tie someone up, make sure that the rope is tight enough around the ankles, and that there isn't a dagger left sitting right in front of her," Aphelia said, and she began to walk away, turning her back towards them.
"Uh, thank you?" one of the guys called to her. Aphelia laughed. She didn't believe that anyone could be completely stupid until now. She tucked the dagger into her cape and headed out of the room.
"There's Draco!" James said as his brother entered the room. Draco's eyes were bothering him as they tried to adjust to the light, after all, they hadn't been open for about a month.
"Brother," Draco said as he took his place next to James and on the opposite side of Hermione. She, too, also welcomed him At that moment Hermione snapped and the teachers all fainted; including Dumbledore.
"Wow! I never knew that Aphelia's powers would be so cool!" Hermione said as she floated a candle to herself and dropped it on top of McGonagall's head. "I've always wanted to do that! Tie them up," Hermione ordered her followers, and they did what she said. "This is soon how you guys will act around me..." started Hermione, but then another person burst into The Great Hall. Aphelia walked down in between all four of the house tables. She had never looked more beat up; Her hair was ratted, her arms had dirty blood clots everywhere, and her face was completely covered in dirt. "How did you...?" started Hermione, looking baffled.
"One word of advice, Hermione? The next time you have your 'men' watch me, make sure you don't leave the stupidest one's you've got. You of all people should know that I'm very clever," Aphelia said as she took the dagger out of her cloak and twirled it around in her fingers carelessly. That's when she noticed James, and standing next to him was Draco. Seeing Draco almost caused her to drop the dagger. "James, so nice to see you again! And, Draco, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in a coma?" Aphelia asked him. She felt like crying from the second she saw him up there, not caring about her, but she wouldn't let him see that side of her. She noticed that he still had her ring on a chain around his neck.
"Well, Hermione needed someone who might be even as evil as she is," Draco answered. Aphelia laughed.
"Hermione? EVIL? HA!" she said, but then she stopped as she saw Hermione look hurt, "Aww, I'm sorry, dear, but you're not evil. You're a wannabe. Now me? I was evil, but you could never be," Aphelia added. "You might as well give this up, Hermione, because I will beat you, powers or no powers," and she tucked the dagger back into her cloak.
"I know, and that's why we have a proposition to make. Join us," James said frankly, causing Aphelia to choke on her own tongue.
"Excuse me? Can you run that one by me again, please?" Aphelia asked mockingly. She couldn't believe that the person she hated most in the world had actually asked her to join them.
"You heard the man. We want you to join us," Hermione replied. Aphelia started at her as if she had gone stupid.
"Just think about all the destruction we could cause, Lea," Draco said as he walked up to her and held her hands in his. He leaned in to kiss her, but she gave him the cheek.
"Gee, I hope you enjoy the mixed taste of blood and dirt, Draco, because trying to seduce me wont work. I wont join you guys. Nothing in the WORLD could get me to help you guys!" Aphelia laughed, and she pulled her hands away from Draco's.
"Well, plan A was worth a try," James said, sounding frustrated. Hermione gave him a superior 'I told you so' look.
" Guess I'll get to execute Plan B!" she said happily, and The next thing Aphelia knew Pansy, Ron, and Harry were standing right next to her.
"You know, Aphelia. You could never be good. You're evil, you look evil, you smell evil. I don't think we can be friends anymore," Pansy said to Aphelia. It hurt Aphelia to hear her best friend say this to her, but she refused to let it get to her.
"It's not real, it's a hallucination!" she kept repeating to herself, over and over, inside her head and out loud. Ron stepped up next.
"When I kissed you, Aphelia, I pretended you were Hermione. I made everything about you be Hermione. I like evil girls, Hermione is evil; you don't have what it takes!" he said. That, too, also struck Aphelia, though not in the same way that what Pansy said had. What Ron said just made her angry. So angry that she forgot to keep repeating to herself that everything that was being said to her wasn't true.
"I've known it since the day I saw you, I knew that you were evil. Too evil to be my sister. You're not my family; you never have been and you never will be! I don't want anything to do with you, ever," Harry said to her. That one struck her. Aphelia's eyes began to twitch and red began to form in them. She was outraged that Harry had said that to her. She couldn't believe it. She was his only family, at least the only family that was alive and nice.
"Fine! If that's the way you feel, Harry Potter, I might as well make it come true!" she yelled, and she took her Harry necklace off and through it at the body that had fallen to the floor. "So, what needs to be done first?" Aphelia asked.
"Well, we are going to make everyone worship me! I'm going to be the Dark Lady of the wizarding world, and the powers that I have taken from you will suffice nicely. I'll take them as your loyalty to me!" Hermione said. Aphelia tilted her head to the side and started at Hermione, a look of amazement in her eyes.
"You don't actually believe that I'm going to let you keep my powers, do you?" Aphelia asked her, walking closer to Hermione as she did so. James stood between the two of them.
"Yes, she is. There isn't a thing you can do about it. My father has chosen her over you, considering that she was so willing to become evil, and to let him stay who he is," James said. Aphelia smirked at him.
"And who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do, Mr. Riddle?" Aphelia asked him, though she was keeping eye contact with Hermione.
"I'd like you to meet Mrs. Riddle," James said, signaling towards Hermione. Aphelia bit her tongue hard to keep from laughing out loud.
"One second, can you ask Hermione to move out of the way so I can see her?" Aphelia asked. She could hear Draco giggle behind her.
"No you idiot! Mrs. Riddle is Hermione. We got married in the summer!" James said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Well, James, I'd suggest that if you want your wife to live you'll tell her that she'd better give me back my powers. I don't care about her being the 'Dark Lady of the wizarding world', I just want my powers back," Aphelia answered, making it sound perfectly clear. Still, she pulled the dagger out, hoping that it would help to convince him faster.
"You know, honey, she has a point. We can find some other unsuspecting person to steal their powers, but Aphelia's on our side now, and she knows how to use those powers better than you," James said. Hermione frowned, and she glared at Aphelia.
"Yeah, Hermione! Give Aphelia back her powers, unless you want to live the wrath of Queen Aphelia!" Draco teased, she felt his arms slide around her waist.
"There will be none of that 'Queen Aphelia' business! We will call her Aphelia! Nothing better, but worse if you'd like," Aphelia glared at Hermione's remark, but she stayed standing in Draco's arms, not wanting to move. "But I guess I'll give Aphelia back her powers," Hermione finally said. Aphelia gave a mock pout.
"Aww! And I was hoping that I'd get to draw blood!" Aphelia teased, looking at Draco and then to Hermione.
"Good news, you will," Hermione said as she held out her hand. Aphelia looked at her hopefully, and she pulled out the dagger in a questioning sort of way. Hermione nodded and Aphelia cut Hermione's hand, and then she cut her own.
"So, we just put our hands together and it'll make the reversal?" Aphelia asked her as she got ready to put her hand against Hermione's. Hermione clasped her hand tight around Aphelia's.
"Not quite. The spell will choose which one of us it thinks is stronger at the moment, and then it will give the powers to that person. This'll probably hurt you a lot more than it's going to hurt me," Hermione smirked. Aphelia wanted to scream. The nauseating pain had come back ten times worse than before. She knew there was a different reason that Hermione was giving her that potion; it wasn't to keep her from escaping. She felt Draco's hands leave her body, and at that moment she felt completely alone, surrounded by darkness, until she heard something say in her head 'Don't give up. Don't let her win.' it repeated over and over and over. The pain began to subside. She could open her eyes again, and she could see the horror on Hermione's face when Aphelia conquered.
"Come on, Hermione! You didn't think that your potion would actually better your odds at beating me, did you?" Aphelia laughed. She reached back and found Draco's hand.
"It was worth a shot," she heard Hermione mutter under her breath, though she wasn't really paying attention because she was too busy floating the dagger in the air in front of her.
"Okay! Now that that is over with," Aphelia started as she took the dagger out of the air and tucked it back into her robes, " What are our plans next?" she asked suddenly, showing no real interest in the subject.
"We stay here and force anyone and everyone to become our followers, and anyone who wont dies!" Hermione answered her as if her plan was the most brilliant plan ever made. Aphelia yawned.
"Boring! Been done! Such a cliche!" Aphelia replied, "And besides, if you stay here you are likely to get caught. That wouldn't be very smart, now, would it?" Aphelia added. Hermione frowned in concentration.
"Oh, really, Qu... Aphelia, what do you have in mind?" Draco asked her as his hands skidded playfully across her stomach.
"I say we hide out somewhere for a while, put a spell on the castle to make them forget everything that has happened tonight –well except for the people of whom we want to stay with us as followers– and make actual plans to take over Hogwarts!" Aphelia said happily. Draco seemed to love the idea, and you could tell in James eyes that he thought it was a great plan also.
"Well, that sounds like an okay idea. It isn't the best, but it'll do," Hermione said, sounding jealous. " Recominde!" she said, and the whole school was out, except for a chosen few.
"Good one! They'll be out for about an hour and when they wake up they wont even notice what happened!" Aphelia announced.
"That part is settled, but where should we hide out at?" James asked her as if she were boss, and Hermione only had that title.
"Anyone here got a very tiny pet? I think it's time to pay a visit to the Whomping Willow," she smirked, and they all exited The Great Hall.
"Hey Pansy? Have you seen Aphelia? I can't find her anywhere!" Harry asked as he straightened his robes. Pansy dropped the potion she was creating to get extra credit in her Potions class with. "Ha...Harry? You're awake? But, how?" Pansy looked at Harry as if he was some sort of delicate porcelain that would break if touched. "Lea woke me up, but soon after she was taken away. Last time I saw her she was heading towards Dumbledore's office, and that was almost two hours ago!" he replied.
"You didn't hear? Aphelia's been expelled for trying to kill you!" Pansy added, looking at him as if he, too, was suffering from loss of memory.
"No! Dumbledore didn't really expel her! He sent her to Hagrid's and he is trying to find out what is going on, but, for some reason, Aphelia hasn't come to tell me what he had figured out, which is so unlike her!" Harry added. His stomach grumbled.
"Harry, you're hungry. Let's go to dinner, maybe Aphelia'll show up there, and hey! She wouldn't want you to starve yourself because you are worried about her. In fact, you know how she hates it when people think she can't take care of herself!" Pansy added, and the two of them headed towards The Great Hall together.
"But, My Lady, What are we supposed to do with this...thing?" Aphelia began to stir. She had no idea how long she had been knocked out for, but she figured that it had been a while. Her eyes were too sore to open, so she listened intently to everything that was being said in the room. She tried moving, but she couldn't. She could feel the ropes that tied her wrists far apart from each other in a spread-eagle way cut into her skin, and her back and ankles were tied against a pole to keep her from being able to move.
"Just make sure that she stay's here, and that she doesn't wake up! She cannot interfere with this ceremony," said a female voice. She couldn't make it out, all of the voices were alien to her. She suspected that they had drugged her with something. She could hear footsteps coming over towards her, and then something sharp dug into her left arm. She screamed as she felt her blood force itself through the cut that was just formed. Then the gag was taken out of her mouth and, while she was still screaming, the person forced another hot serum into her mouth. A twisted form of Novocaine. thought Aphelia. She used all of her mind power to keep as much of the serum as she could in her mouth.
"Uh, My Lady, she isn't swallowing," said one of the people that was closer to her. Aphelia felt the undesired inclination to swallow all that was in her mouth, but she refused to let herself do it. She heard the pit-pat of impatient footsteps coming closer to her.
"Well, then we'll just have to force her to take it, now, wont we?" the female's voice sent chill's down Aphelia's spine, causing her to want to swallow even more, but she constrained herself still. She felt someone reach up to her face and then the oxygen stopped flowing to her lungs. She realized that the female had pinched her nose shut, stopping the only source of oxygen she was receiving. She squirmed, but it didn't help, she was too weak. She went to open her mouth to spit it out, but they were holding her mouth shut also. Reluctantly, she swallowed. Nothing could compare to the nauseating pain that had overcome her next.
"Nothing works more than cutting off the oxygen supply, boys! Watch and learn!" Aphelia could hear the female voice say, though it was farther away than it had been. "Oh, and she better be here still when I get back, I'm going to have the best surprise for her!" and then the voice faded away.
"Let the feast begin!" Dumbledore announced. There was a loud banging sound after Dumbledore's words, but it wasn't the food. Hermione had burst into The Great Hall with a ton of people entering behind her, and, standing by her side, was none other than James Riddle.
"Welcome, you all, to my feast!" Hermione said. She smiled as she looked into the terrorized faces of all of the students in Hogwarts. Harry and Ron were the only two who didn't seem as if they were scared to death, instead, Ron approached her.
"Hermione, what are you doing here with that...that...that thing?" he asked, pointing to James. James took a few steps forward to hit Ron, but Hermione stopped him.
"This thing is more than a thing to me. Now, go sit down!" she said, and with a flick of her hand Ron was thrown against the Gryffindor Table.
"Where's my brother?" James asked expectantly. Hermione just smiled to him as if all was going as planned.
"He's on his way!" she said, and she clapped her hands twice in front of her. At that exact moment Draco Malfoy sat up straight in his bed in the Hospital Wing, ready to do what was commanded of him.
Aphelia regurgitated. She was doing all she could to get that potion out of her body. She had to escape, to save her brother, to save Draco. There was nothing else she thought of more. She opened her eyes. There was no one in sight. Are they really that stupid? Aphelia asked herself as she laughed at the lazy people who were supposed to be guarding her. Aphelia looked at the dagger that was on the floor next to her, covered in her blood. She concentrated on it and tried to lift it with her mind. It wouldn't budge.
"Wait, what?" Aphelia asked herself aloud. She tried to bring the dagger up into the air again, it didn't even shake a little, it stayed laying flat.
"Okay, what's going on?" she asked, then she noticed the guards heading back towards her. She opened her palms and flicked them to push the guards away from her, but they didn't even pause for a second.
"Just like My Lady said, her powers are gone! We have nothing to worry about!" one of the guards said as he laughed at her. Aphelia was outraged. She had never known someone who was definitely on her bad side to be so casual in her presence.
"What do you mean, my powers are gone?" Aphelia asked suddenly, causing the guards to jump and become alert of her. Glad to see they still fear me on some level. She thought.
"My Lady took your powers away and kept them for herself. She felt that they'd be useful," one of the males smirked. Aphelia glared at him, and his smirk slid right off of his face. Aphelia looked down at the dagger and tried to move it again. It wouldn't budge.
"She is no danger. No threat! Let's go back to playing Exploding Snap," said another one of the people guarding her.
"You do that!" Aphelia said innocently, and the second the men were out of her sight, she began to try and force the rope to loosen around her ankles so that she could get her feet free. At first she was too weak. Her body ached all over, and her muscles didn't want to move, but Aphelia had a passion, and once she wants something she wont stop until she gets it. A burning desire filled her head and body, causing her to work even harder at trying to free her ankles. Then it happened. She heard the rope tear, and then her ankles slipped freely out of their restraints. She smiled as she slammed her foot down on the handle of the dagger and sent it into the air. She reached her left hand out as far as it would go and barely caught the dagger by the blade. It cut into her hand, but it was a pretty dull blade, and she pulled it close to her and began to cut very carefully at the ropes on her left wrist. When it cut far enough in, she ripped it off and did the same with the other. It felt so good to her to be free of all her restraints. She walked towards the guys that were playing exploding snap and smiled.
"Oh boys," she said tantalizingly. They all turned around and looked at her as if she signified their death which made Aphelia happy. She loved to gaze into the most fearful eyes of the people that she didn't like. It was what kept her ticking, but that didn't make her evil, did it? Of course not. "Next time you're going to tie someone up, make sure that the rope is tight enough around the ankles, and that there isn't a dagger left sitting right in front of her," Aphelia said, and she began to walk away, turning her back towards them.
"Uh, thank you?" one of the guys called to her. Aphelia laughed. She didn't believe that anyone could be completely stupid until now. She tucked the dagger into her cape and headed out of the room.
"There's Draco!" James said as his brother entered the room. Draco's eyes were bothering him as they tried to adjust to the light, after all, they hadn't been open for about a month.
"Brother," Draco said as he took his place next to James and on the opposite side of Hermione. She, too, also welcomed him At that moment Hermione snapped and the teachers all fainted; including Dumbledore.
"Wow! I never knew that Aphelia's powers would be so cool!" Hermione said as she floated a candle to herself and dropped it on top of McGonagall's head. "I've always wanted to do that! Tie them up," Hermione ordered her followers, and they did what she said. "This is soon how you guys will act around me..." started Hermione, but then another person burst into The Great Hall. Aphelia walked down in between all four of the house tables. She had never looked more beat up; Her hair was ratted, her arms had dirty blood clots everywhere, and her face was completely covered in dirt. "How did you...?" started Hermione, looking baffled.
"One word of advice, Hermione? The next time you have your 'men' watch me, make sure you don't leave the stupidest one's you've got. You of all people should know that I'm very clever," Aphelia said as she took the dagger out of her cloak and twirled it around in her fingers carelessly. That's when she noticed James, and standing next to him was Draco. Seeing Draco almost caused her to drop the dagger. "James, so nice to see you again! And, Draco, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in a coma?" Aphelia asked him. She felt like crying from the second she saw him up there, not caring about her, but she wouldn't let him see that side of her. She noticed that he still had her ring on a chain around his neck.
"Well, Hermione needed someone who might be even as evil as she is," Draco answered. Aphelia laughed.
"Hermione? EVIL? HA!" she said, but then she stopped as she saw Hermione look hurt, "Aww, I'm sorry, dear, but you're not evil. You're a wannabe. Now me? I was evil, but you could never be," Aphelia added. "You might as well give this up, Hermione, because I will beat you, powers or no powers," and she tucked the dagger back into her cloak.
"I know, and that's why we have a proposition to make. Join us," James said frankly, causing Aphelia to choke on her own tongue.
"Excuse me? Can you run that one by me again, please?" Aphelia asked mockingly. She couldn't believe that the person she hated most in the world had actually asked her to join them.
"You heard the man. We want you to join us," Hermione replied. Aphelia started at her as if she had gone stupid.
"Just think about all the destruction we could cause, Lea," Draco said as he walked up to her and held her hands in his. He leaned in to kiss her, but she gave him the cheek.
"Gee, I hope you enjoy the mixed taste of blood and dirt, Draco, because trying to seduce me wont work. I wont join you guys. Nothing in the WORLD could get me to help you guys!" Aphelia laughed, and she pulled her hands away from Draco's.
"Well, plan A was worth a try," James said, sounding frustrated. Hermione gave him a superior 'I told you so' look.
" Guess I'll get to execute Plan B!" she said happily, and The next thing Aphelia knew Pansy, Ron, and Harry were standing right next to her.
"You know, Aphelia. You could never be good. You're evil, you look evil, you smell evil. I don't think we can be friends anymore," Pansy said to Aphelia. It hurt Aphelia to hear her best friend say this to her, but she refused to let it get to her.
"It's not real, it's a hallucination!" she kept repeating to herself, over and over, inside her head and out loud. Ron stepped up next.
"When I kissed you, Aphelia, I pretended you were Hermione. I made everything about you be Hermione. I like evil girls, Hermione is evil; you don't have what it takes!" he said. That, too, also struck Aphelia, though not in the same way that what Pansy said had. What Ron said just made her angry. So angry that she forgot to keep repeating to herself that everything that was being said to her wasn't true.
"I've known it since the day I saw you, I knew that you were evil. Too evil to be my sister. You're not my family; you never have been and you never will be! I don't want anything to do with you, ever," Harry said to her. That one struck her. Aphelia's eyes began to twitch and red began to form in them. She was outraged that Harry had said that to her. She couldn't believe it. She was his only family, at least the only family that was alive and nice.
"Fine! If that's the way you feel, Harry Potter, I might as well make it come true!" she yelled, and she took her Harry necklace off and through it at the body that had fallen to the floor. "So, what needs to be done first?" Aphelia asked.
"Well, we are going to make everyone worship me! I'm going to be the Dark Lady of the wizarding world, and the powers that I have taken from you will suffice nicely. I'll take them as your loyalty to me!" Hermione said. Aphelia tilted her head to the side and started at Hermione, a look of amazement in her eyes.
"You don't actually believe that I'm going to let you keep my powers, do you?" Aphelia asked her, walking closer to Hermione as she did so. James stood between the two of them.
"Yes, she is. There isn't a thing you can do about it. My father has chosen her over you, considering that she was so willing to become evil, and to let him stay who he is," James said. Aphelia smirked at him.
"And who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do, Mr. Riddle?" Aphelia asked him, though she was keeping eye contact with Hermione.
"I'd like you to meet Mrs. Riddle," James said, signaling towards Hermione. Aphelia bit her tongue hard to keep from laughing out loud.
"One second, can you ask Hermione to move out of the way so I can see her?" Aphelia asked. She could hear Draco giggle behind her.
"No you idiot! Mrs. Riddle is Hermione. We got married in the summer!" James said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Well, James, I'd suggest that if you want your wife to live you'll tell her that she'd better give me back my powers. I don't care about her being the 'Dark Lady of the wizarding world', I just want my powers back," Aphelia answered, making it sound perfectly clear. Still, she pulled the dagger out, hoping that it would help to convince him faster.
"You know, honey, she has a point. We can find some other unsuspecting person to steal their powers, but Aphelia's on our side now, and she knows how to use those powers better than you," James said. Hermione frowned, and she glared at Aphelia.
"Yeah, Hermione! Give Aphelia back her powers, unless you want to live the wrath of Queen Aphelia!" Draco teased, she felt his arms slide around her waist.
"There will be none of that 'Queen Aphelia' business! We will call her Aphelia! Nothing better, but worse if you'd like," Aphelia glared at Hermione's remark, but she stayed standing in Draco's arms, not wanting to move. "But I guess I'll give Aphelia back her powers," Hermione finally said. Aphelia gave a mock pout.
"Aww! And I was hoping that I'd get to draw blood!" Aphelia teased, looking at Draco and then to Hermione.
"Good news, you will," Hermione said as she held out her hand. Aphelia looked at her hopefully, and she pulled out the dagger in a questioning sort of way. Hermione nodded and Aphelia cut Hermione's hand, and then she cut her own.
"So, we just put our hands together and it'll make the reversal?" Aphelia asked her as she got ready to put her hand against Hermione's. Hermione clasped her hand tight around Aphelia's.
"Not quite. The spell will choose which one of us it thinks is stronger at the moment, and then it will give the powers to that person. This'll probably hurt you a lot more than it's going to hurt me," Hermione smirked. Aphelia wanted to scream. The nauseating pain had come back ten times worse than before. She knew there was a different reason that Hermione was giving her that potion; it wasn't to keep her from escaping. She felt Draco's hands leave her body, and at that moment she felt completely alone, surrounded by darkness, until she heard something say in her head 'Don't give up. Don't let her win.' it repeated over and over and over. The pain began to subside. She could open her eyes again, and she could see the horror on Hermione's face when Aphelia conquered.
"Come on, Hermione! You didn't think that your potion would actually better your odds at beating me, did you?" Aphelia laughed. She reached back and found Draco's hand.
"It was worth a shot," she heard Hermione mutter under her breath, though she wasn't really paying attention because she was too busy floating the dagger in the air in front of her.
"Okay! Now that that is over with," Aphelia started as she took the dagger out of the air and tucked it back into her robes, " What are our plans next?" she asked suddenly, showing no real interest in the subject.
"We stay here and force anyone and everyone to become our followers, and anyone who wont dies!" Hermione answered her as if her plan was the most brilliant plan ever made. Aphelia yawned.
"Boring! Been done! Such a cliche!" Aphelia replied, "And besides, if you stay here you are likely to get caught. That wouldn't be very smart, now, would it?" Aphelia added. Hermione frowned in concentration.
"Oh, really, Qu... Aphelia, what do you have in mind?" Draco asked her as his hands skidded playfully across her stomach.
"I say we hide out somewhere for a while, put a spell on the castle to make them forget everything that has happened tonight –well except for the people of whom we want to stay with us as followers– and make actual plans to take over Hogwarts!" Aphelia said happily. Draco seemed to love the idea, and you could tell in James eyes that he thought it was a great plan also.
"Well, that sounds like an okay idea. It isn't the best, but it'll do," Hermione said, sounding jealous. " Recominde!" she said, and the whole school was out, except for a chosen few.
"Good one! They'll be out for about an hour and when they wake up they wont even notice what happened!" Aphelia announced.
"That part is settled, but where should we hide out at?" James asked her as if she were boss, and Hermione only had that title.
"Anyone here got a very tiny pet? I think it's time to pay a visit to the Whomping Willow," she smirked, and they all exited The Great Hall.