A/N: HSL is NOT, I repeat, is NOT OVER. I'm sorry my note was misleading to
some. I would NEVER leave the story like that, it's too cruel!
The day of Hermione and Ron's wedding dawned beautifully. Of course, that was the ONLY thing that went right that day. The flowers were missing, the children were running around, the chairs were late, Sephie was wandering around aimlessly, Mrs. Weasley kept bursting into tears, the bakery forgot to make their cake. the list went on and on.
And on.
And on.
AND ON.
Finally, after the day from hell, the big moment arrived. The church organ started up, and Hermione started to walk up the aisle.
Then, time Froze.
Hermione kept walking for a second, skidding to a stop when Remus' arm halted. He was frozen still, a forced smile on his face, though his eyes were slightly glazed with tears. Luna was halfway through a toss of petals, some of which dangled from her statuelike fingers. Ron and Harry were waiting at the front, standing exactly as they had before. Ron's foot was in midair, as if he had started to take a step towards Hermione.
Lexi, Sephie, Ginny, and Mariah had all apparently noticed before she had. They all looked properly surprised, pissed, stunned, and confused. respectively.
"What the hell.?" Mariah finally whispered, as if to talk would break the binding and utter silence of the spell. for of course that's what it was.
"Hell would be a good word for it," a voice came from the rafters almost conversationally.
They all looked upwards and stifled a scream. Leona was hanging from the heavy oak beams of the church ceiling, her lower half still in snake form and wrapped around the large supports. As they watched in horror, she uncurled herself and rapidly finished her detransformation.
"Hell, living with this face and body," Leona sneered, making sure keep the mangled side of her face highly visible.
"What have you done to them?" demanded Hermione, now thoroughly infuriated. This was her WEDDING DAY, after all!
"Who, them?" Leona waved a distorted hand vaguely. "Oh, you are only outside of time. When T- the Dark Lord restarts it, it will be as if the five of you have simply. vanished." She made a small popping noise with her mouth.
"Van-" began Sephie indignantly before a voice overtook them. "Dormiens," hissed the Dark Lord from his place outside Time, and the five fell into immediate darkness.
When the girls were gone, Time snapped back, and a collective gasp arose from the crowd as they realized that the bride and her attendants were gone. Draco almost passed out with the absence of the mental presence that had been a part of his life for 10 years. Ron took that step and then looked around wildly. "They're GONE!"
~*~
Hermione came around gradually, trying to clear her groggy head. It seemed a seductive voice was murmuring, "Rest, dear, you need your rest."
"No," she muttered for some reason.
"Damn straight, no," came a clear, hard voice, snapping Hermione's head up with the force behind the words. Sephie was glaring at her, eyes blazing red.
"You better not go back to sleep, sister dear," Sephie said, voice shaking with anger. "We have work to do... unless you'd rather be Voldemort's new whore rather than Ron's wife."
"WHAT?!" With that, the last traces of the soft voice disappeared. "Tell me you're joking."
"I certainly hope to God I am," Sephie sighed.
"So do I," said Lexi's dry voice from Hermione's left side. As she turned to look at her, she yelped as pain shot through her right shoulder.
"Ow!"
"Oh, yes, that's the other thing: We're chained up," Sephie said, a hint of laughter in her voice after all.
"Thanks a lot. Now, what did I miss?" Hermione said, glancing around at Mariah and Ginny, who were still out.
"Not much. Lexi was awake first. She can't get a hold of Draco, which-"
"Worries me," Lexi cut in, frowning.
"It should," Hermione said worriedly, biting her lip. "A bond like that shouldn't be able to be broken!"
"That's what I thought, too."
Can you still hear me, Lexi? Hermione thought.
"Sure can, Herm. oh, right. I get your point. So it's just Draco."
"Now, how could that be?" Sephie wondered aloud.
"We're not in the same time as they are," Mariah's voice came from the corner she was chained to. "Look at your Amulet."
Lexi shook out her Amulet and gasped aloud. The Amulet was dull, lifeless.
"That means that they're-"
"They are NOT dead," Ginny said solemnly, looking at her own Amulet. "We aren't in the same time. In this Time, the boys do not exist."
"WHAT?"
"They don't," Ginny said calmly. "Not yet. And if those the Amulets are bonded to are not in this Time-"
"The Amulets won't feel them. That makes sense, I think," Hermione frowned. Before she could say another word, the door opened and a man walked in. Only one of them recognized him as Ginny said with hatred in her voice, "Tom Riddle."
~*~
The people were panicked at home, running around like nuts. The only calm ones in this tumultuous sea were Ron, Draco, Harry, George, and Jeremy. They sat in the Manor's living room, calmly trying to figure out how to get the girls back.
"What do we do?" George finally asked hoarsely.
"The first zing YOU have to do is admit zat you still love Sephie," JC said from the doorway, leaning nonchalantly on the doorframe.
"WH-"
"George!" barked the other four in exasperation.
"All right, all right! I do! Does that make you happy!?"
"It makes things easier by far, George," said Draco absently.
"Huh?"
"Draco, what are you thinking?" Jeremy asked, face etched with worry.
"We're bonded to the girls. love binds things, especially in magic. We can use a spell to find them."
"No," said Harry with his head in his hands.
"What do you mean, no?" Draco demanded.
"Dumbledore once said to me that I should trust in Mariah, that she would do what she needed to do and that if I went after her, it would basically cause both our deaths. I think we should wait. If the girls need us, they will somehow let us know," Harry finished calmly, looking up to examine their faces.
Ron spoke first. "Are you off your rocker?"
"Ron, listen to me. Hermione's a smart woman. She, of all people, would NOT appreciate our help. The five of them will make it. Trust me. All we can do is wait."
The others nodded reluctantly, and settled down to wait.
~*~
The others looked at Ginny in surprise, wondering what the hell she was talking about, but the young man smiled.
"Hello, Virginia. I am quite glad to see you remember me. We have both changed since our last meeting." His smile was chillingly feral.
The door opened once more, and a perfect Leona walked in, grinning at her once again flawless body. "Good evening, ladies."
Leona went over to Tom, and Mariah could finally see what had drawn the two together so long ago. They were both attractive, and there was a ruthlessness about them that was clear on their faces. She hung on his shoulder and they stared at the five.
"What do you want with us?" Mariah asked, at the risk of sounding melodramatic.
"You are all quite dangerous to us," Leona said silkily. "You, with your power to open that Book. You," she pointed to the twins, "with power enough together to rule the world yourselves if you wanted. You," she pointed to Ginny, "with your purity, to help them. And you," she pointed her long fingernail at Lexi with a brilliant smile. "You are here to fulfill your promise."
"Pro-" Before she could reach the second syllable, she stopped, eyes frantically wide.
"That's impossible," Hermione said, not realizing how stupid she sounded. "You- oh, ALEXIA."
"Don't you 'Oh, Alexia' me!" Lexi cried. "You're right, it SHOULD be impossible!"
"And so it should. Nevertheless, you ARE pregnant, and you WILL give us the child."
Lexi clenched her jaw in defiance. "No."
"You promised. It's always been said that Gryffindors keep their promises," Voldemort pointed out with a smile.
"Damn it to hell, NO."
"That's fine. We will wait." Voldemort conjured a chair and sat in it, drawing Leona with him.
"We can wait 8 months, if necessary. We will keep you alive. If you'd like to watch each of your friends die of starvation." Voldemort let the threat hang in the air.
Lexi closed her eyes tightly. "Damn you, anyhow, I should have killed you when I had the chance."
"Don't be stupid. Any attempt would have seen your death 10 years ago."
"Never know until you try," Sephie sighed, a look of mock resignation on her face.
"Silence. I tire of this banter, children. Amuse yourselv- better yet, amuse me," Voldemort said, leaning back.
Lexi's eyes took on a maniacal gleam, and she started to sing, "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts."
"De del e dee," chimed in Hermione, unable to help herself.
"And there they are astanding in a row," Lexi continued.
"Bum bum bum," Sephie giggled, recognizing the circumstances.
"Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head."
"We NEVER would have had to do this for Dumbledore," muttered Mariah bitterly.
"WHAT did you say?" Voldemort demanded, leaping to his feet and tossing Leona unceremoniously to the floor.
"I- I said." Mariah stuttered, surprised.
"She said, 'I always knew Sephie was a whore!'" Ginny supplied helpfully.
"Ye- WHAT!?" yelped Sephie. Voldemort laughed.
"That was something my spies did not come across. Are you really?" he directed at Sephie.
"NO!" Sephie cried.
"Pity," Voldemort said with an oddly appraising look. Sephie glared at him.
"I see my presence is needed elsewhere," Voldemort said suddenly. He hoisted a fuming Leona off the floor. "Pardon me while I placate my lover." With that, he swept out of the room.
The girls looked at each other and said together, "EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
~*~
"Screw this," Ron said, jumping to his feet. "I'm going."
"Going where, Ron?" asked Harry's calm voice from the shadows.
"I don't KNOW! I can't just sit here, Harry!" Ron yelled. Then his face crumpled. "Jesus, I'm sorry. It's just."
"You and Hermione should be on your way to Paris," Draco said softly.
"Exactly," Ron sighed. He sat back down. He had had four such outbursts in the past hour, and they were closer and closer together.
Finally, Harry sighed himself and rose. "All right. Draco, what were you talking about before?
~*~
The girls watched the door slam resoundingly and let their brave facades drop. They all slumped in their bindings.
"Can we transform out of this?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Nope. I tried. The ropes are magical; they stretch and shrink with us," Lexi said sadly.
"You know of any spells, Hermione?" Mariah asked.
"Not really, no," Hermione admitted, letting her head dangle as she thought as hard as she could. Then she brightened. "Sephie! Can you get your hand any closer to mine?"
Sephie experimentally tried it. They were about an inch short. "Almost, why?"
"I think if we can link hands, we can WILL these ropes away."
"Say WHAT?" Sephie shrieked under her breath. "WILL them away?"
"Humor me, will you please?" Hermione demanded, stretching her arm as far as she could.
Sephie threw her weight against the chains and stretched, but still came up a half inch short. "Damn it!" she swore, relaxing gratefully.
"Sephie, we have to TRY, damn it! If you don't think it will work, it won't. now TRY!" Hermione barked, throwing her arm out as far as possible, and a little farther than before.
"You stupid bitch, I AM trying!" Sephie raged, the reaction Hermione had been hoping for. Sephie put all her fury behind it and PULLED. The twins' hands brushed, linked. and the blinding light that came startled them all.
~*~
"So you think we should-" Ron's incredulous voice cut off in mid sentence, and when the boys looked up again they were staring at the girls, all but two chained. The Lupin twins were frantically getting the chains off of the other two when Ron managed to get out, "Hermione?" in a croaky voice.
Hermione turned from what she was doing with a gasp and ran to her fiancé. "Oh, Ron. oh my God." Just as she was about to reach him, a voice sneered with indescribable malice,
"Oh, how CUTE."
A/N: Sorry so short, and sorry it took so long. school's a bitch.
~Maggie
The day of Hermione and Ron's wedding dawned beautifully. Of course, that was the ONLY thing that went right that day. The flowers were missing, the children were running around, the chairs were late, Sephie was wandering around aimlessly, Mrs. Weasley kept bursting into tears, the bakery forgot to make their cake. the list went on and on.
And on.
And on.
AND ON.
Finally, after the day from hell, the big moment arrived. The church organ started up, and Hermione started to walk up the aisle.
Then, time Froze.
Hermione kept walking for a second, skidding to a stop when Remus' arm halted. He was frozen still, a forced smile on his face, though his eyes were slightly glazed with tears. Luna was halfway through a toss of petals, some of which dangled from her statuelike fingers. Ron and Harry were waiting at the front, standing exactly as they had before. Ron's foot was in midair, as if he had started to take a step towards Hermione.
Lexi, Sephie, Ginny, and Mariah had all apparently noticed before she had. They all looked properly surprised, pissed, stunned, and confused. respectively.
"What the hell.?" Mariah finally whispered, as if to talk would break the binding and utter silence of the spell. for of course that's what it was.
"Hell would be a good word for it," a voice came from the rafters almost conversationally.
They all looked upwards and stifled a scream. Leona was hanging from the heavy oak beams of the church ceiling, her lower half still in snake form and wrapped around the large supports. As they watched in horror, she uncurled herself and rapidly finished her detransformation.
"Hell, living with this face and body," Leona sneered, making sure keep the mangled side of her face highly visible.
"What have you done to them?" demanded Hermione, now thoroughly infuriated. This was her WEDDING DAY, after all!
"Who, them?" Leona waved a distorted hand vaguely. "Oh, you are only outside of time. When T- the Dark Lord restarts it, it will be as if the five of you have simply. vanished." She made a small popping noise with her mouth.
"Van-" began Sephie indignantly before a voice overtook them. "Dormiens," hissed the Dark Lord from his place outside Time, and the five fell into immediate darkness.
When the girls were gone, Time snapped back, and a collective gasp arose from the crowd as they realized that the bride and her attendants were gone. Draco almost passed out with the absence of the mental presence that had been a part of his life for 10 years. Ron took that step and then looked around wildly. "They're GONE!"
~*~
Hermione came around gradually, trying to clear her groggy head. It seemed a seductive voice was murmuring, "Rest, dear, you need your rest."
"No," she muttered for some reason.
"Damn straight, no," came a clear, hard voice, snapping Hermione's head up with the force behind the words. Sephie was glaring at her, eyes blazing red.
"You better not go back to sleep, sister dear," Sephie said, voice shaking with anger. "We have work to do... unless you'd rather be Voldemort's new whore rather than Ron's wife."
"WHAT?!" With that, the last traces of the soft voice disappeared. "Tell me you're joking."
"I certainly hope to God I am," Sephie sighed.
"So do I," said Lexi's dry voice from Hermione's left side. As she turned to look at her, she yelped as pain shot through her right shoulder.
"Ow!"
"Oh, yes, that's the other thing: We're chained up," Sephie said, a hint of laughter in her voice after all.
"Thanks a lot. Now, what did I miss?" Hermione said, glancing around at Mariah and Ginny, who were still out.
"Not much. Lexi was awake first. She can't get a hold of Draco, which-"
"Worries me," Lexi cut in, frowning.
"It should," Hermione said worriedly, biting her lip. "A bond like that shouldn't be able to be broken!"
"That's what I thought, too."
Can you still hear me, Lexi? Hermione thought.
"Sure can, Herm. oh, right. I get your point. So it's just Draco."
"Now, how could that be?" Sephie wondered aloud.
"We're not in the same time as they are," Mariah's voice came from the corner she was chained to. "Look at your Amulet."
Lexi shook out her Amulet and gasped aloud. The Amulet was dull, lifeless.
"That means that they're-"
"They are NOT dead," Ginny said solemnly, looking at her own Amulet. "We aren't in the same time. In this Time, the boys do not exist."
"WHAT?"
"They don't," Ginny said calmly. "Not yet. And if those the Amulets are bonded to are not in this Time-"
"The Amulets won't feel them. That makes sense, I think," Hermione frowned. Before she could say another word, the door opened and a man walked in. Only one of them recognized him as Ginny said with hatred in her voice, "Tom Riddle."
~*~
The people were panicked at home, running around like nuts. The only calm ones in this tumultuous sea were Ron, Draco, Harry, George, and Jeremy. They sat in the Manor's living room, calmly trying to figure out how to get the girls back.
"What do we do?" George finally asked hoarsely.
"The first zing YOU have to do is admit zat you still love Sephie," JC said from the doorway, leaning nonchalantly on the doorframe.
"WH-"
"George!" barked the other four in exasperation.
"All right, all right! I do! Does that make you happy!?"
"It makes things easier by far, George," said Draco absently.
"Huh?"
"Draco, what are you thinking?" Jeremy asked, face etched with worry.
"We're bonded to the girls. love binds things, especially in magic. We can use a spell to find them."
"No," said Harry with his head in his hands.
"What do you mean, no?" Draco demanded.
"Dumbledore once said to me that I should trust in Mariah, that she would do what she needed to do and that if I went after her, it would basically cause both our deaths. I think we should wait. If the girls need us, they will somehow let us know," Harry finished calmly, looking up to examine their faces.
Ron spoke first. "Are you off your rocker?"
"Ron, listen to me. Hermione's a smart woman. She, of all people, would NOT appreciate our help. The five of them will make it. Trust me. All we can do is wait."
The others nodded reluctantly, and settled down to wait.
~*~
The others looked at Ginny in surprise, wondering what the hell she was talking about, but the young man smiled.
"Hello, Virginia. I am quite glad to see you remember me. We have both changed since our last meeting." His smile was chillingly feral.
The door opened once more, and a perfect Leona walked in, grinning at her once again flawless body. "Good evening, ladies."
Leona went over to Tom, and Mariah could finally see what had drawn the two together so long ago. They were both attractive, and there was a ruthlessness about them that was clear on their faces. She hung on his shoulder and they stared at the five.
"What do you want with us?" Mariah asked, at the risk of sounding melodramatic.
"You are all quite dangerous to us," Leona said silkily. "You, with your power to open that Book. You," she pointed to the twins, "with power enough together to rule the world yourselves if you wanted. You," she pointed to Ginny, "with your purity, to help them. And you," she pointed her long fingernail at Lexi with a brilliant smile. "You are here to fulfill your promise."
"Pro-" Before she could reach the second syllable, she stopped, eyes frantically wide.
"That's impossible," Hermione said, not realizing how stupid she sounded. "You- oh, ALEXIA."
"Don't you 'Oh, Alexia' me!" Lexi cried. "You're right, it SHOULD be impossible!"
"And so it should. Nevertheless, you ARE pregnant, and you WILL give us the child."
Lexi clenched her jaw in defiance. "No."
"You promised. It's always been said that Gryffindors keep their promises," Voldemort pointed out with a smile.
"Damn it to hell, NO."
"That's fine. We will wait." Voldemort conjured a chair and sat in it, drawing Leona with him.
"We can wait 8 months, if necessary. We will keep you alive. If you'd like to watch each of your friends die of starvation." Voldemort let the threat hang in the air.
Lexi closed her eyes tightly. "Damn you, anyhow, I should have killed you when I had the chance."
"Don't be stupid. Any attempt would have seen your death 10 years ago."
"Never know until you try," Sephie sighed, a look of mock resignation on her face.
"Silence. I tire of this banter, children. Amuse yourselv- better yet, amuse me," Voldemort said, leaning back.
Lexi's eyes took on a maniacal gleam, and she started to sing, "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts."
"De del e dee," chimed in Hermione, unable to help herself.
"And there they are astanding in a row," Lexi continued.
"Bum bum bum," Sephie giggled, recognizing the circumstances.
"Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head."
"We NEVER would have had to do this for Dumbledore," muttered Mariah bitterly.
"WHAT did you say?" Voldemort demanded, leaping to his feet and tossing Leona unceremoniously to the floor.
"I- I said." Mariah stuttered, surprised.
"She said, 'I always knew Sephie was a whore!'" Ginny supplied helpfully.
"Ye- WHAT!?" yelped Sephie. Voldemort laughed.
"That was something my spies did not come across. Are you really?" he directed at Sephie.
"NO!" Sephie cried.
"Pity," Voldemort said with an oddly appraising look. Sephie glared at him.
"I see my presence is needed elsewhere," Voldemort said suddenly. He hoisted a fuming Leona off the floor. "Pardon me while I placate my lover." With that, he swept out of the room.
The girls looked at each other and said together, "EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
~*~
"Screw this," Ron said, jumping to his feet. "I'm going."
"Going where, Ron?" asked Harry's calm voice from the shadows.
"I don't KNOW! I can't just sit here, Harry!" Ron yelled. Then his face crumpled. "Jesus, I'm sorry. It's just."
"You and Hermione should be on your way to Paris," Draco said softly.
"Exactly," Ron sighed. He sat back down. He had had four such outbursts in the past hour, and they were closer and closer together.
Finally, Harry sighed himself and rose. "All right. Draco, what were you talking about before?
~*~
The girls watched the door slam resoundingly and let their brave facades drop. They all slumped in their bindings.
"Can we transform out of this?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Nope. I tried. The ropes are magical; they stretch and shrink with us," Lexi said sadly.
"You know of any spells, Hermione?" Mariah asked.
"Not really, no," Hermione admitted, letting her head dangle as she thought as hard as she could. Then she brightened. "Sephie! Can you get your hand any closer to mine?"
Sephie experimentally tried it. They were about an inch short. "Almost, why?"
"I think if we can link hands, we can WILL these ropes away."
"Say WHAT?" Sephie shrieked under her breath. "WILL them away?"
"Humor me, will you please?" Hermione demanded, stretching her arm as far as she could.
Sephie threw her weight against the chains and stretched, but still came up a half inch short. "Damn it!" she swore, relaxing gratefully.
"Sephie, we have to TRY, damn it! If you don't think it will work, it won't. now TRY!" Hermione barked, throwing her arm out as far as possible, and a little farther than before.
"You stupid bitch, I AM trying!" Sephie raged, the reaction Hermione had been hoping for. Sephie put all her fury behind it and PULLED. The twins' hands brushed, linked. and the blinding light that came startled them all.
~*~
"So you think we should-" Ron's incredulous voice cut off in mid sentence, and when the boys looked up again they were staring at the girls, all but two chained. The Lupin twins were frantically getting the chains off of the other two when Ron managed to get out, "Hermione?" in a croaky voice.
Hermione turned from what she was doing with a gasp and ran to her fiancé. "Oh, Ron. oh my God." Just as she was about to reach him, a voice sneered with indescribable malice,
"Oh, how CUTE."
A/N: Sorry so short, and sorry it took so long. school's a bitch.
~Maggie