Chapter 13 - Ferret Boy to the Rescue?

Honestly, Potter, If I'd have know you were going to grab me like that, I'd have left you unconscious. - Draco Malfoy

A/N: *eating happily from her pan of freshly made virtual brownies* Ah, thank [insert deity(s) of your choice here] for virtual brownies. I can't think of a better way of spending my afternoon then munching on virtual brownies, and you know what's the best part? They're all mine! Yep, not a single one of you guys was able to figure out who saved Harry. I had a lot of guesses, some ranging from Sprout to Lily to Fleur to Dean, but the only person who even mentioned the possibility of it being Malfoy was the magnificent Shadow Phantom. However, I am a person of compassion and kindness (or I was just guilty for making it so difficult), so I will award everyone who participated a virtual brownie. Enjoy. ^_~

______________________________

Harry struggled against the arms that were holding him fast and dragging him away. He maybe could have actually managed to break away in time before being pulled completely in were it not for a stunning spell that came flying straight for him. It hit him square between the eyes before he could so much as blink. Thrown off balance, Harry's body grew stiff, and he fell back, seeing blue. Lights sizzled around his vision and his ears rang. Everything went blurry then dark. He kept going back and didn't stop - spiraling down, deeper and deeper until he forgot he was even falling. Everything was numb, and he couldn't catch himself, just continued on into nothingness. His mouth opened in a scream but nothing came out.

"Ahhhh!" Harry jolted forward in his seat, violently knocking his quill off the table and onto the ground. It rolled away before coming to a rest against Hermione's overstuffed book bag. She looked over at him curiously, her own quill posed in the middle of her History of Magic essay.

They were in the School Library. Ron, sitting across from them, didn't look up from the Star Chart he was examining. Every now and then he scribbled a quick note on a paper next to him. He looked unnaturally thoughtful which could only mean he was doing another predictions assignment for Professor Trelawney.

"Harry, are you all right?" Hermione asked sharply, watching Harry, who was gasping for breath, closely.

Harry was clinching his chest. His wide eyes took in the whole library- the bright glow from the floating candles above him, the small group of Slytherin sixth years in a table opposite from theirs huddled close to each other talking loudly, and the scowling face of Madam Pince watching them disapprovingly- until his gaze fell on Hermione.

Hermione?!

Harry gave a frightened shout and pushed back against his chair away from her. The chair toppled over and he tumbled back, reaching for his wand.

The group of Slytherin Sixth years paused their conversation to look over at him. Madam Pince's disapproving frown changed directions. Hermione blinked blankly in confusion as Harry aimed his wand at her.

The disturbance had even brought Ron out of his mad concentration. "Hullo," he said noticing Harry and Hermione for the first time. "Something wrong?"

"Harry just drew his wand on me," Hermione stated confusedly.

"Well now, we can't have that." Ron pulled out his own wand from his pocket and pointed it at Harry. "Avada Kedavra!" he shouted.

"Nooo!" Harry lunged up with a shout, gasping and holding his covers for dear life. Ron - that jerk! How could he? He looked around him at the pitch-black room fearfully. Now where was he? Beads of sweat ran along his forehead as he felt beside him along the nightstand towards the lamp until he found the light switch. He fumbled a bit and turned the light on to see better.

He knew this place. The room looked a lot like Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's bedroom. He couldn't really remember many details since he had only seen it a handful of times and had never actually been inside it. The mattress cover looked about the same, and he remembered that they had had a small TV sitting across from the bed so they could watch late night TV. He released a deep breath he hadn't noticed he was holding until now and stretched his arms.

Something moved beside him.

Harry's arms froze mid-stretch. With dread, his head turned towards the source of the movement right as McGonagall rolled over and looked up lovingly at him.

"Everything all right, honey?" she asked sweetly.

The scream that followed was the loudest Harry had ever uttered.

"Honestly, Potter, If I'd have know you were going to grab me like that, I'd have left you unconscious."

Harry opened his eyes in surprise at the sound of the familiar voice, but the bigger surprise was when he realized that he was holding onto somebody tightly by the legs. He looked up to see the smirking face of Draco Malfoy staring down at him.

A wave of revulsion swept through Harry, and he quickly let go in disgust. "I think I preferred the company of McGonagall," he stated.

"Glad to see you too, Potter," Malfoy said dryly as Harry got up on his feet.

Could this be another dream? Harry wondered. To be sure, he hurriedly pinched himself hard on the hand to see.

"Ow...! Well, that rules that out," Harry said as the top of his hand turn red, stinging painfully.

He rubbed the sore spot fiercely then glanced up for Draco only to come face to face with a bear glaring straight at him! Its claws were outstretched, long, and threatening and its eyes had murder written in them. Harry's heart leaped into his throat and the color left his face.

"Ya-agah!" he shouted. In one great bound, he leapt back away from the ferocious looking bear and right into Draco, who was knocked violently off his feet and onto the floor. The blond Slytherin crashed against a desk and saw stars for a moment when he head banged against one of the drawer handles. His fall was followed almost immediately by Harry, who landed a little more gracefully near his feet, looking stunned.

Draco gave a sound of annoyance and propped himself up on an elbow. "Geeze, somebody sure is jumpy," he muttered. He shot Harry a withering glare before glancing up at the stuffed bear above them that had caused all the commotion. He sighed in exasperation. "Oh, for the love of -- It's only a decoration, Potter! It won't bite... well, not if you don't get too close to it. It's been dead for a long, long time."

"A decoration?!" Harry said in disbelief, fighting for composer. He stared at the motionless bear with its teeth bared. "How is a giant man-eating bear a decoration?" he demanded.

Draco shrugged.

"A painting is a decoration," Harry rambled, "yes, or perhaps an lacy pillow or a tea train, but this, this is NOT a decoration. More like a prop for a horror house, maybe."

"I think it's rather adorable," Draco said. He picked himself up and got to his feet.

"You would," Harry said contemptuously as he raised also, pushing off from the ground twice before he could manage it successfully.

Harry surveyed the rest of the room with its stone walls and dark colored furniture. It looked like a Mid-Evil hunting lodge to him, only scarier. He noted the large boar head above the blazing fireplace and the sinister looking portraits that met his gaze with sneers circled around them. One of them had a War Axe in her hands with blood along its edges and another one had fangs poking over his bottom lip. It may have been his imagination, but Harry thought that the one with the axe had brought up her hand and made a jerking motion across her neck.

Below the portraits along the left wall in the room, was a large cabinet with a great assortment of ancient Muggle weapons. Spears, lancets, swords, bow and arrows, crossbows, and hunting daggers all with strange markings and pictures along their handles and bases were lined up inside it. It struck Harry as odd that a room, which was so obviously 'Slytherin', had Muggle artifacts in it, even if it was only weapons.

"They're bewitched," Draco said, answering Harry's unspoken question.

"Pardon?" Harry said, switching his gaze from the cabinet to the pale faced boy beside him.

"The weapons," Draco answered, indicating the cabinet Harry had been looking at it with a gesture of his hand. "They have all kinds of spells on them. Centuries ago, Pureblood wizards used to put curses on them for fun. A few of them are made to make the owners go crazy, others burn the wielder's hands off when they used them battle, one or two of them have even caused their Muggle owners to start killing their allies. Those were back in the good old days before the 'Misuse of Muggle Artifacts' department was formed and Muggle torture outlawed."

"Gee, what a shame," Harry said sarcastically.

"Wasn't it?" Draco said wistfully.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"I had some House Elves bring us some lunch since it's about that time," said Draco. "It's over there on the table near the fire if you're hungry."

He pointed to a two-person table Harry hadn't noticed before near the fire with a three-pronged candlestick sitting in the middle - its candles lit and flickering. There was a tray of food laid out on top beside it along with plates, glasses, and eating utensils. The distinct scent of yeast rolls caught Harry's attention, making him realize that he had not eaten all day. Knives of hunger violently announced their arrival by sending great hunger pains up Harry's sides.

He took an instinctive step towards the food then drew back. Was this really such a wise thing to do? This was Draco Malfoy after all, Jerk of a Slytherin, bastard extrordinare. How did he know that it hadn't been poisoned or something? There was also that uncomfortable pang pointing out to Harry that eating lunch with Draco Malfoy was definitely something he had never desired to do. It was like having tea and crumpets with Voldermort and Wormtail. A bretch in the Good Vs Evil plotline. To have lunch with a Malfoy would be like betraying the side of Good he fought for.

But then again, it wasn't like he was joining the Death Eaters or something and what harm was there in eating a little bit? Maybe he would even be able to get to Madam Pomfrey quick enough to receive an antidote for whatever poison was in it. Harry gazed longingly at the food but stood his ground, unsure.

"Is there a problem?" Draco asked, studying him with interest.

"How do I know that you haven't done anything to it?"

"Because I haven't."

"You expect only that to convince me?"

"On my honor as a Malfoy then. We DO have our pride, you know, and while we may stab a few people in the back on occasion, we'd never stoop so low as to contaminate someone's food. Besides, I have no real wish to face expulsion and a one-way trip to Azkaban. The way I figure it, You-Know-Who will be coming to get you soon enough, so why waste the effort and time to kill you when he can do it for me?"

"Right..." said Harry dubiously.

"Here," Draco said impatiently. He went over to the tray of food and began to disk out some meatloaf from one of the dishes into a plate. He proceeded to do the same for the green beans and mashed potatoes then sat down in the chair nearest the fire and took a large portion of the meatloaf and ate it. He waited until after he had swallowed it to speak: "There, you see? No skin turning green or hair falling out - It's fine. Now are you going to dig in or am I going to have the pleasure of eating it all?"

Harry was still suspicious, but the hunger eating away at his sides overrode his fears. He went over and stiffly took a seat across from Draco then reached for a plate.

__________________________________________________________________

Ginny felt as if she was about to go nuts. Dumbledore, Myrtle, and she had been walking down the tunnel for the past thirty minutes and there wasn't a single sign of it ending anytime soon. What was worse was Dumbledore kept singing softly to himself over and over the school song in a key that was painfully flat, and while he sang it quietly, the tunnel picked up the noise and magnified it ten times louder.

Ginny swore that the next 'Hoggy Warty Hogwarts' he uttered was going to be his last if he didn't stop it soon, and what was worse, Myrtle was off crying again. Her dispondent sobs contrasted oddly with the jolly singing of the Headmaster.

Oh, why is all this happening to me? Ginny thought as she kicked fiercely at a stone in her path, sending it ricocheting off the wall and back towards her. It hit her hard in the shin causing her to curse loudly and hope on one foot.

This seemed to cheer Myrtle up a bit. At least her sobbing stopped for a moment. When Ginny glanced back at her, she gave her a nasty look. Ginny stuck her tongue out at the ghost in retaliation before promptly stubbing her toe against a large rock that just happened to be in the middle of her path when she wasn't paying attention. She yelped in pain.

Myrtle cackled loudly at her, sending cold anger swimming in Ginny as she hopped around a bit, holding the throbbing toe in pain.

Anger.... rising...

Ginny clinched her teeth hard to keep from saying anything she might regret, which was good because at that exact moment the tunnel finally reached a bend. Faintly in front of them was the dim presence of a light, so slight that Ginny could barely make it out.

"Ah, it looks like we have finally made it to the end," Dumbledore said brightly.

"Yeah, but an end to where?" Ginny said grumpily.

"We'll find out in a few moments, I guess."

And so they did. When finally they arrived at the source of the light, they found, to their surprise, a half-open picture taller then Dumbledore and wider then one of the double doors in the Entrance Hall.

Ginny felt a bit of light-headedness when she allowed herself to look down at the drop in front of them and see just how high they were standing. The unpleasant fear of heights she had gripped her hard in the chest and she queasily took a step back away from the dangerous edge.

Dumbledore, however, stepped even closer to the horribly far drop and peered down at the empty beds and the Ravenclaw fifth year girls then at the chair sitting in the very center of them room. A person was sitting in it - a boy. He had startling red hair and was asleep with his arms wrapped behind him on the back of the chair. Dumbledore could just barely make out the ropes tied around his hands.

It didn't take him very long to figure out just who the boy was. There was only a handful of people in his school who had red hair and only four students who had hair as red as this. Since the Weasley twins always came in pairs and were never alone and the only girl of the family was currently standing right behind him, then the only person left would have to be a certain Ronald Weasley.

_______________________________________________________

Review if you have the time (Translation: review or my mini-balrog will EAT you while you sleep!)