A/N: Disclaimer in Chap 1.
To those who've told me to format, I've re-posted the chapters. I hope they're easier to read now. Also, I appologise if the characters are all OoC, but this is how I think they *should* be!
Thoughts are inside of these ``.
And if anyone can help me with chapter names, I'd really appreciate it. The one's I've used are absolute shockers, and don't fit with the chapter itself - if anyone has any suggestions... ~winks suggestively~
Chapter 4 - ...What Next?
The thick bar of flame flew past Harry's head, narrowly missing him. He ducked, and threw the small flask at the dragon. It bounced off the thick, scaly hide, but did not hit the ground. Instead, it floated in the air, surrounded by an orange mist. Suddenly, it shot like a rocket around the dragon, the mist tailing it, until the beast was completely covered in the strange mist. The dragon roared, sending flames skywards. Amidst the confusion, something happened. The dragon froze, not moving a muscle, and a darker orange mist-like substance was drawn out through its mouth. The flask opened, and the substance circled until it was entirely inside the flask. Then the stopper replaced itself, and the flask dropped out of the sky, into Harry's waiting hand.
He looked at the dragon, which was teetering on wobbly legs. The giant's shadow splayed across Harry's face, and suddenly he realized he had to get out, or be squashed! He grabbed his broom, mounted it, and flew as fast as he could manage. Even his fastest was only just fast enough, as the dragon fell to the ground scraping the end of the broom as it fell.
Momentarily, he lost control of the broom and headed towards a giant tree. Its girth was larger than five sumo wrestlers standing together in a circle, and that wasn't exaggerating.
Pulling the broom upwards at an almost 90 degree angle, he narrowly missed hitting the tree, and swerved to avoid impaling himself on the branches.
When he was out of danger, he placed the flask in his belt, and took out the small piece of parchment. There were five colours left on the parchment, five spots, some moving, some standing still.
There were five potions left to be recovered. The black, obviously the night potion, was the closest, and he headed for it.
The other colours were in the similar vicinity. The red spot was moving steadily towards him, and he guessed it was another creature. The red potion was the blood potion.
The brown was standing still, most likely a tree. The brown potion was the earth potion.
The green potion was moving very slowly, and most likely would be found in a serpent of some kind. Green, obviously, was the serpent potion.
And the last potion, the blue potion, was the farthest from him. It was moving, and stopping. He couldn't think of what that potion would be found in, but it was the most important potion. The blue potion was the pure potion.
Once the flask was in the belt, it vanished, and was replaced with another, empty, flask. He shrank the broom and headed onwards on foot as he was nearing Muggle territory. He reached the road and was soon collected by a Muggle couple heading towards the city.
They parted ways near the entrance to Diagon Alley, and Harry consulted the parchment once again. There was a large crowd ahead of him, and, surprise surprise, it was where the next potion was located.
He walked quickly, wondering what the crowd was looking at. When he reached the edge of the crowd, he stood on tiptoe to see over their heads. What he saw shocked him - the sign, which had once graced the front of Draco's shop, was in tatters, but in much better shape then the rest of the store.
Costumes and wares from the shop were strewn across the pavement, across the rubble of the store. The walls, which Harry remembered as being brightly coloured, were in pieces, the roof was collapsed inwards. He paled, remembering the owl from Hermione about the whereabouts of Draco's shop. She wouldn't have chosen *today* to visit, would she?
He turned and walked towards the Leaky Cauldron, hoping that the crowds would soon disappear and allow him to collect the black potion.
He didn't have to wait long - a car accident on the intersection drew the majority of the crowd away from the front of the store, leaving only one or two police officers and other spectators. He walked around to the side of the rubble, into the alley located next to the store, and threw the flask towards a leaking tap, which the parchment pointed to.
The flask circled, trailing a black mist, before the leaking water was lifted up and into the flask, turning black as it did so.
The flask flew back to his hand, and he placed it into the belt around his waist. One down, four to go....
*****
Ginny and Ivy stood at the edge of the platform waiting for Mrs. Weasley to show up. Ivy had been allowed to go with Ginny, as her mother had requested her to return home. Mrs. Weasley had agreed to drop Ivy off since her mother's place was on the way.
Ivy's sisters, the quads, had already returned home, *forgetting* about their younger sister in the process.
The train pulled up to the platform, and both girls were expecting to see Mrs. Weasley walk out amongst the other passengers. It was not to be. Instead, Charlie, Ginny's older brother, walked out. Ginny ran over to him and gave him a hug. They hadn't seen each other for ages.
"Ginny! We have to go and find Percy. Bill, and Ron, and Mum are already at the hospital, but we can't track down Percy." He looked over at Ivy, who hadn't moved. He looked back at Ginny. "Whose that?"
Ginny looked back to where her brother was looking. "That's Ivy, a good friend of mine. We have to drop her off at her mothers on the way." Charlie smiled. "Sure, we can do that!"
When they were all on the train, Charlie spoke up again. "Do you even know what happened to Fred and George?" Ginny shook her head, "No. Dumbledore only said that there was an accident."
Charlie looked out the window. "There wasn't an accident. Someone blew the shop up." Ginny paled, as did Ivy, who'd met the twins at Ginny's 17th birthday several weeks before. She'd taken a liking to the comical brothers, and was now visibly shaken that anyone would purposely do something to them.
"What do you mean? Who would do something like that?" Charlie shrugged. "We don't know. All we do know is that it was premeditated. I haven't even seen them, yet. Mum sent me straight here to get you, and then for us to find Percy."
Ginny set her mouth into a straight line. "Look, brother, you go straight to the hospital and tell mum that I'm going to get Percy - I know where he is at the moment. I'll drop Ivy off at her mothers, and then get Percy, and come to the hospital. Deal?" Charlie opened his mouth to protest, but noticed the look in her eyes and changed to a grin. "Deal. Just don't take too long, or mum'll have my head!"
*****
Harry looked at the parchment again. There were only two coloured dots left to be collected, and one should have been directly in front of him. He lowered the parchment and looked at the ground. There was nothing there. He took a step backwards and almost tripped over. He looked at the parchment again and realized he was holding it upside down. He turned, slowly, and found himself face to face with a grass snake.
He removed the flask from his belt and threw it at the snake. The green mist circled it, and finally drew the essence out, sealing it in the flask. The snake lifted it's head one last time, before collapsing and dying. Harry replaced the flask into his belt, and it vanished.
Now he had only one potion to collect - the blue, pure potion. He still couldn't figure out what the potion was to be found in. It sometimes kept still, sometimes it moved very fast, and sometimes it moved at a child's walking pace. It was all very confusing, but he just couldn't think what the potion could be found in.
`Enough of wondering` he thought to himself. `just find the goddamn potion and finish this once and for all`. He mounted his broom and headed towards the blue dot, which was currently moving steadily away from him.
*****
"I'm not scared of you, and I never was, Malfoy!" Hermione yelled over her shoulder as she walked away. "What on earth gave you that idea?" Draco stopped trying to catch up to her before he dropped the bombshell.
"Well, you are running away from me at the moment. That's reason enough for me to say you're scared of me...." His words had the desired effect, as she stopped stalking away from him and turned.
"I'm not running away from *you*, I'm just...." She trailed off, unable to find an answer. Draco smiled. "See? You *are* scared of me!"
Hermione turned, intending to get away from Draco as fast as possible. However, a large presence blocked her path. She looked up to see Lucious Malfoy glaring at her. "I should have known you would survive the collapse of the building. But, I dared to hope... now, Draco. You will join me, and the death-eaters, or your friend here will die."
Hermione turned slowly, the blood draining from her face. Draco was glaring at her... no, at his father. Surely... surely he wouldn't let his father kill her! She knew he could be self-centered, but she really didn't think that he would let her die!
Draco felt emotions well up inside him. Why was he feeling like this? And for a... for a *mudblood*!. How could he? He knew that he couldn't join the death-eaters, but he couldn't let Hermione... *Granger* die....
*****
The train lurched to a stop, and Charlie left the carriage. Ivy's stop was next, and somehow, that made her feel so depressed. No one, aside from Dumbledore, knew about her family. Her mother, a pureblood for as far back as could be found, wasn't an embarrassment - but her father was. He didn't love her mother. He didn't love anything except himself....
She'd tried so hard, all of her life, to hide from her legacy. She knew, somehow, that she wouldn't follow in her father's footsteps... but she also knew that her friends in Griffindor would abandon her if they knew who her father was.
Her last name, which should have given some kind of insight to her life, was her downfall. It was her father's name... backwards. Tromedlov... Voldemort. And no one knew....
Once the train was moving again, she sat back into her seat. She didn't want to go home. She didn't want to leave the safety of Hogwarts, at least there she could pretend that she was just another ordinary witch, another nobody. At home... there was no way.
Suddenly, the train halted - throwing both Ivy and Ginny off the seat. Wondering what had happened, Ginny stood and peered out of the window. The window pane shattered, showering glass over Ginny and Ivy. Two identical faces appeared, evil smirks pasted, eye's seeming to glow. Ivy screamed, Ginny paled. The two of the quads, Danielle and Kirsty, simply laughed....
A/N: sorry to leave you all there, but I'm currently in the middle of a brain freeze! I wrote all that in about 20 minutes and then I had nothing left to type, but I'll get the next chapter up asap, I promise!!
Again, if you have any Chapter names that would suit, please let me know!
Slytherin Queen
To those who've told me to format, I've re-posted the chapters. I hope they're easier to read now. Also, I appologise if the characters are all OoC, but this is how I think they *should* be!
Thoughts are inside of these ``.
And if anyone can help me with chapter names, I'd really appreciate it. The one's I've used are absolute shockers, and don't fit with the chapter itself - if anyone has any suggestions... ~winks suggestively~
Chapter 4 - ...What Next?
The thick bar of flame flew past Harry's head, narrowly missing him. He ducked, and threw the small flask at the dragon. It bounced off the thick, scaly hide, but did not hit the ground. Instead, it floated in the air, surrounded by an orange mist. Suddenly, it shot like a rocket around the dragon, the mist tailing it, until the beast was completely covered in the strange mist. The dragon roared, sending flames skywards. Amidst the confusion, something happened. The dragon froze, not moving a muscle, and a darker orange mist-like substance was drawn out through its mouth. The flask opened, and the substance circled until it was entirely inside the flask. Then the stopper replaced itself, and the flask dropped out of the sky, into Harry's waiting hand.
He looked at the dragon, which was teetering on wobbly legs. The giant's shadow splayed across Harry's face, and suddenly he realized he had to get out, or be squashed! He grabbed his broom, mounted it, and flew as fast as he could manage. Even his fastest was only just fast enough, as the dragon fell to the ground scraping the end of the broom as it fell.
Momentarily, he lost control of the broom and headed towards a giant tree. Its girth was larger than five sumo wrestlers standing together in a circle, and that wasn't exaggerating.
Pulling the broom upwards at an almost 90 degree angle, he narrowly missed hitting the tree, and swerved to avoid impaling himself on the branches.
When he was out of danger, he placed the flask in his belt, and took out the small piece of parchment. There were five colours left on the parchment, five spots, some moving, some standing still.
There were five potions left to be recovered. The black, obviously the night potion, was the closest, and he headed for it.
The other colours were in the similar vicinity. The red spot was moving steadily towards him, and he guessed it was another creature. The red potion was the blood potion.
The brown was standing still, most likely a tree. The brown potion was the earth potion.
The green potion was moving very slowly, and most likely would be found in a serpent of some kind. Green, obviously, was the serpent potion.
And the last potion, the blue potion, was the farthest from him. It was moving, and stopping. He couldn't think of what that potion would be found in, but it was the most important potion. The blue potion was the pure potion.
Once the flask was in the belt, it vanished, and was replaced with another, empty, flask. He shrank the broom and headed onwards on foot as he was nearing Muggle territory. He reached the road and was soon collected by a Muggle couple heading towards the city.
They parted ways near the entrance to Diagon Alley, and Harry consulted the parchment once again. There was a large crowd ahead of him, and, surprise surprise, it was where the next potion was located.
He walked quickly, wondering what the crowd was looking at. When he reached the edge of the crowd, he stood on tiptoe to see over their heads. What he saw shocked him - the sign, which had once graced the front of Draco's shop, was in tatters, but in much better shape then the rest of the store.
Costumes and wares from the shop were strewn across the pavement, across the rubble of the store. The walls, which Harry remembered as being brightly coloured, were in pieces, the roof was collapsed inwards. He paled, remembering the owl from Hermione about the whereabouts of Draco's shop. She wouldn't have chosen *today* to visit, would she?
He turned and walked towards the Leaky Cauldron, hoping that the crowds would soon disappear and allow him to collect the black potion.
He didn't have to wait long - a car accident on the intersection drew the majority of the crowd away from the front of the store, leaving only one or two police officers and other spectators. He walked around to the side of the rubble, into the alley located next to the store, and threw the flask towards a leaking tap, which the parchment pointed to.
The flask circled, trailing a black mist, before the leaking water was lifted up and into the flask, turning black as it did so.
The flask flew back to his hand, and he placed it into the belt around his waist. One down, four to go....
*****
Ginny and Ivy stood at the edge of the platform waiting for Mrs. Weasley to show up. Ivy had been allowed to go with Ginny, as her mother had requested her to return home. Mrs. Weasley had agreed to drop Ivy off since her mother's place was on the way.
Ivy's sisters, the quads, had already returned home, *forgetting* about their younger sister in the process.
The train pulled up to the platform, and both girls were expecting to see Mrs. Weasley walk out amongst the other passengers. It was not to be. Instead, Charlie, Ginny's older brother, walked out. Ginny ran over to him and gave him a hug. They hadn't seen each other for ages.
"Ginny! We have to go and find Percy. Bill, and Ron, and Mum are already at the hospital, but we can't track down Percy." He looked over at Ivy, who hadn't moved. He looked back at Ginny. "Whose that?"
Ginny looked back to where her brother was looking. "That's Ivy, a good friend of mine. We have to drop her off at her mothers on the way." Charlie smiled. "Sure, we can do that!"
When they were all on the train, Charlie spoke up again. "Do you even know what happened to Fred and George?" Ginny shook her head, "No. Dumbledore only said that there was an accident."
Charlie looked out the window. "There wasn't an accident. Someone blew the shop up." Ginny paled, as did Ivy, who'd met the twins at Ginny's 17th birthday several weeks before. She'd taken a liking to the comical brothers, and was now visibly shaken that anyone would purposely do something to them.
"What do you mean? Who would do something like that?" Charlie shrugged. "We don't know. All we do know is that it was premeditated. I haven't even seen them, yet. Mum sent me straight here to get you, and then for us to find Percy."
Ginny set her mouth into a straight line. "Look, brother, you go straight to the hospital and tell mum that I'm going to get Percy - I know where he is at the moment. I'll drop Ivy off at her mothers, and then get Percy, and come to the hospital. Deal?" Charlie opened his mouth to protest, but noticed the look in her eyes and changed to a grin. "Deal. Just don't take too long, or mum'll have my head!"
*****
Harry looked at the parchment again. There were only two coloured dots left to be collected, and one should have been directly in front of him. He lowered the parchment and looked at the ground. There was nothing there. He took a step backwards and almost tripped over. He looked at the parchment again and realized he was holding it upside down. He turned, slowly, and found himself face to face with a grass snake.
He removed the flask from his belt and threw it at the snake. The green mist circled it, and finally drew the essence out, sealing it in the flask. The snake lifted it's head one last time, before collapsing and dying. Harry replaced the flask into his belt, and it vanished.
Now he had only one potion to collect - the blue, pure potion. He still couldn't figure out what the potion was to be found in. It sometimes kept still, sometimes it moved very fast, and sometimes it moved at a child's walking pace. It was all very confusing, but he just couldn't think what the potion could be found in.
`Enough of wondering` he thought to himself. `just find the goddamn potion and finish this once and for all`. He mounted his broom and headed towards the blue dot, which was currently moving steadily away from him.
*****
"I'm not scared of you, and I never was, Malfoy!" Hermione yelled over her shoulder as she walked away. "What on earth gave you that idea?" Draco stopped trying to catch up to her before he dropped the bombshell.
"Well, you are running away from me at the moment. That's reason enough for me to say you're scared of me...." His words had the desired effect, as she stopped stalking away from him and turned.
"I'm not running away from *you*, I'm just...." She trailed off, unable to find an answer. Draco smiled. "See? You *are* scared of me!"
Hermione turned, intending to get away from Draco as fast as possible. However, a large presence blocked her path. She looked up to see Lucious Malfoy glaring at her. "I should have known you would survive the collapse of the building. But, I dared to hope... now, Draco. You will join me, and the death-eaters, or your friend here will die."
Hermione turned slowly, the blood draining from her face. Draco was glaring at her... no, at his father. Surely... surely he wouldn't let his father kill her! She knew he could be self-centered, but she really didn't think that he would let her die!
Draco felt emotions well up inside him. Why was he feeling like this? And for a... for a *mudblood*!. How could he? He knew that he couldn't join the death-eaters, but he couldn't let Hermione... *Granger* die....
*****
The train lurched to a stop, and Charlie left the carriage. Ivy's stop was next, and somehow, that made her feel so depressed. No one, aside from Dumbledore, knew about her family. Her mother, a pureblood for as far back as could be found, wasn't an embarrassment - but her father was. He didn't love her mother. He didn't love anything except himself....
She'd tried so hard, all of her life, to hide from her legacy. She knew, somehow, that she wouldn't follow in her father's footsteps... but she also knew that her friends in Griffindor would abandon her if they knew who her father was.
Her last name, which should have given some kind of insight to her life, was her downfall. It was her father's name... backwards. Tromedlov... Voldemort. And no one knew....
Once the train was moving again, she sat back into her seat. She didn't want to go home. She didn't want to leave the safety of Hogwarts, at least there she could pretend that she was just another ordinary witch, another nobody. At home... there was no way.
Suddenly, the train halted - throwing both Ivy and Ginny off the seat. Wondering what had happened, Ginny stood and peered out of the window. The window pane shattered, showering glass over Ginny and Ivy. Two identical faces appeared, evil smirks pasted, eye's seeming to glow. Ivy screamed, Ginny paled. The two of the quads, Danielle and Kirsty, simply laughed....
A/N: sorry to leave you all there, but I'm currently in the middle of a brain freeze! I wrote all that in about 20 minutes and then I had nothing left to type, but I'll get the next chapter up asap, I promise!!
Again, if you have any Chapter names that would suit, please let me know!
Slytherin Queen