Disclaimer: I was very pessimistic last time I wrote a disclaimer, but this time I'm feeling quite cheerful. At times it seemed like I could be writing the bloody 6th book (especially at about page 7), but I know I could never do such a good job, and this isn't anywhere near as awesome as something J.K. would write. I don't own anybody or anything except Autumn, Niles, and Autumn's bracelet. Anyway, please please please don't sue me. Thanks.
A/N: Ok so I've given up on chapter titles. One and two were ok, but from then on… har.
Autumn's character may seem a little too perfect at this point… but think of it from Draco or Niles' view. When you like someone, and don't know much about them, they seem perfect to you. But in upcoming chapters we shall find out all humans have flaws…
Notes:
Ariana – Haha, sorry about the false chapter you found there. Teaches ya not to snoop, now doesn't it? XD
Chrissy – You rock for letting me be Autumn at 3 Broomsticks. You seriously do.
Maggie – You really think I have talent? Lier! J/K 3 ya.
Emma & Abi - Happy ending my foot. It's called angst. And actually, so far, this story has very little of it. :P Eh, I'm an optimist at heart.
Nymph - Thanks twice! I'm glad Autumn is somewhat interesting …
* * * * *
Sun poured in the large windows of the hospital wing, illuminating everything it touched, including the shiny blonde hair of a girl lying deathly still in one of the hospital beds. Her Slytherin cloak was draped over the back of a nearby chair, and sitting in the seat of the chair was a bludger.
In the shadows a few beds over lay Draco Malfoy, staring silently at the vaulted ceiling. He shut his eyes and turned over as he heard someone entering the wing.
"Poor girl to have to share air with him." Ginny Weasley mused quietly, poking a moving figurine of a dragon, a gift from one of the many well wishers that had come to see Autumn le Fay. For hours students had silently streamed in and out of the hospital wing, leaving everything from cards to boxes of chocolate frogs for the unconscious girl, a heroine after her exploits at the Quidditch game. Madame Hooch was the girl's biggest fan, and had already promised she would receive a place on the Slytherin team (possibly replacing Draco, though he didn't know at the time) as soon as she was better.
"Autumn le Fay, I knew I recognized the name. Three American minor league Quidditch titles, you know. That girl is a prodigy. A natural at catching the snitch, she is." Hooch had exclaimed.
"Ouch!" The dragon snapped lightly at Ginny's finger, and she swatted at it as it blew small amounts of flame.
"Shhh."
Ginny jumped slightly, turning to see Harry, who was holding a rather large bag of Golden Snitch Candies. He smiled an awkward grin and set them down next to the dragon.
"From Fred and George," he whispered. "Said she was a girl after their own hearts, stepping up to a challenge like that. They gave Ron and I money to buy her something at …" He paused and turned around to look at Draco, a disgusted look spreading across his face. "Why is he here?"
Ginny frowned. "I'm sure he found something to complain about after being chased by that bludger. Probably ruined his complexion or something." She changed subject abruptly, wondering if it had just been her, or had the Slytherin seeker twitched?
"I heard Niles Wynters is having a rough time." She said in a loud whisper, making a mischievous gesture towards Draco. Harry caught on.
"Yeah, seems Autumn was the first girl he had actually ever had – serious feelings for." His voiced faltered a little on the last words, suddenly feeling queer in the redhead's presence.
"You wouldn't think he would find any support in Slytherin, though, would you?" Ginny asked quickly. "But it seems everyone came to his rescue the minute she hit the ground. Unlike other Slytherins, who don't seem to have any supporters anymore."
Harry snorted. "Seems so. But I suppose when all's said and done, not every Slytherin is that bad. I mean, you have to make exceptions once in a while, especially for someone like her." Harry threw a meaningful glance at Autumn.
"I overheard Pansy telling Astrella today that if Autumn doesn't wake up soon, Niles might have a nervous breakdown." Ginny raised one eyebrow sympathetically. "She said he's been here every day whenever he doesn't have classes, even forgoing Quidditch practice."
"That bad, huh?" was Harry's whispered reply. "What did, uh, Astrella say?" He asked curiously.
"Oh, something about someone like Niles not deserving her – but I don't think she put it quite that way." She replied slyly. "I think whatever she said had to do with Draco, and it made Pansy furious, because she stomped off down the hall looking murderous."
This time Harry poked the dragon. It reared up on its hind legs, then flew and landed on the bed with Autumn, where it curled up next to her arm. He glanced at the empty table next to Draco.
"No gifts for the ferret, eh? Not that he deserves any, but I suppose I feel slightly sorry for him."
He reached into the bag of Golden Snitch Candies and took out one, which he set on the table.
Ginny chuckled under her breath. "If he was awake," here Harry just rolled his eyes innocently at the ceiling, "he'd have your head for something like that. Malfoys don't like pity you know."
"Yeah, well, he doesn't have my head yet, does he?" Harry muttered, leaning down so far he was almost in Draco's face. "Let's go."
As the two Gryffindors exited the room, neither noticed the chocolate snitch that came flying at the back of their heads.
* * * * *
The girl sped down the hall with a furious confidence. She was staring intently at something on her wrist, but looked up when she heard footsteps ahead of her. A pale, exhausted looking boy was plodding slowly towards the dining hall. She trotted to catch up.
"Hey again. Um, feeling any better since the other night?"
The boy ignored her.
"Hey… you there?" This time she poked him gently, and he stopped and turned towards her slowly.
Oh gosh no, not her. She had come to be nice to him, to make him feel better. He hadn't felt like talking to her that first night, and he didn't feel like talking to her now. But then - he turned away from her face, contemplating. There were the eyes again. The ones that had tortured him for days now. They had been frightening, yet now in the early morning light, they were so - comforting.
"I'm fine." He muttered, turning back around and picking up his pace. The girl followed.
"Oh, that's good. Well, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself the other night. I'm Autumn le Fay." She paused, waiting for him to state his name. No reply. Undeterred, she said brightly, "I would have headed down earlier for breakfast, but these robes go horribly with my hair, and I couldn't figure out what to do about it. Not that I usually care, but… you must know how it is, having almost the same color hair I do. Actually I've got honey blonde hair but-" she cut off abruptly as though just realizing she was probably being annoying.
If he had been like any other boy, he would have said she was acting like a ditz. But she was partially right – green and black just made blondes look washed out. Not like he would admit it or anything. They had arrived in the dining hall, and the girl sat down next to the boy at the Slytherin table.
"Anyway, er, I couldn't fix that, but I decided to wear these bracelets my mum gave me. See, they go really well."
Oh please, the boy wanted to groan. He simply glanced at them and nodded his head. She gave a half smile and then set about ignoring him.
WHY ME?! He screamed inwardly.
He answered himself by throwing his head into his arms, choosing to ignore the choking noise coming from the Gryffindor table.
Draco sat up in his hospital bed, the remnants of his dream floating silently away in the darkness. If only it had been just a dream. But he wasn't that fortunate; It was a memory.
He groaned slightly, mainly out of habit though, considering he had sustained no serious injuries from the Quidditch game the previous day. Madame Pompfrey had ordered 24 hours of observation for him, and it had been exactly that. As students had streamed in and out to see the unconscious Autumn, they hadn't failed to take a peek at the grumpy seeker. Finally he had fallen asleep, his dreams riddled with nightmares and memories.
Throughout the dark hours of the night, when not sleeping restlessly, Draco had come to the realization that a plan for revenge had been forming subconsciously in his mind over the previous month. It was as though it had become so engrained in him that thinking about it was somewhat of an everyday occurrence, such as brushing his hair or eating.
The actuality of it was that over a weekend break, Draco had discovered a difficult and dangerous looking mass sickness spell. It had been buried in an ebony black book in his father's library. He had passed it off as another of the numerous non-performable spells Voldemort had left in the naïve Lucius Malfoy's dedicated keeping. (His father didn't know, but for years Draco had discovered that many of the supposedly "priceless" and "deadly" spells were no better than pranks a first year could purchase at Hogsmeade.) Yet after reading over the wrinkled page and "happening" to notice that all the kitchen house-elves had come down with serious cases of almost every imaginable sickness, he realized it was just what he needed. Deep in his poisoned mind, Draco knew nothing would please his father more than a work for the Dark Lord; to cast one of Voldemort's own spells successfully.
Of course Draco had never personally liked the dark leader. He had at one time thought him horribly stupid for trying to create such a following as never before known in the wizarding world. But that wasn't the point. The point was: it had worked. Voldemort worked. Even if Draco despised his father with a passion, he knew that for his own sake he had to please him.
But all that mattered now was, he had failed.
The Slytherin swung his feet over the side of the bed and stood up slowly. The darkness in the hospital wing was dense, except where the moon poured in through the windows. As the sun had done during the day, the moon did that night. It gave everything it touched an unearthly glow, including Autumn le Fay's peaceful face. Draco walked silently towards her until he was a few inches from the chair where the bludger sat.
The roped bludger. Almost never in his entire life had Draco been so frightened or embarrassed, except for the times when his father had gotten extremely angry, or that time he had been sent deep into the dark woods with Potter. His head still swirled from the endless laps around the field. But why had there been another roped bludger? It took strong magic to create that kind of chaos; last time it had happened a house elf had been responsible. Draco doubted any more of his family's house elves would be allowed to do such a thing, after the foolish Dobby had been allowed a small amount of liberty and ended up working against his master. Draco picked up the bludger and turned it around in his hands. Of course now all enchantments had been removed from it, but it still created a strange tension in him. That bludger had stopped him from casting a very dark spell. The funny thing was, he couldn't be sure if what he was feeling was annoyance or relief.
He set the bludger back down, and then noticed something glittering nearby. He picked up the black cloak draped over the back of the chair and with it a small bracelet. It was silver, with tiny glittering stones inlaid in it. There must have been at least 50 of them, each a different and more beautiful color than the last. Yet there were spots where it seemed a stone was missing, and only a cavity lay.
They must have fallen out at some point or other, Draco thought, wondering if any of the enchanting jewels might be lying on the Quidditch field.
Suddenly, he was filled with a slight tingling sensation, and would have thought he had his hands on a portkey, if not for the fact he didn't seem to be going anywhere. The tingling became more and more extreme until he was shaking somewhat violently. The bracelet slipped from his hands and fell to the ground, clanging as it hit the floor. Immediately following, Draco heard footsteps coming towards the wing. Without thinking, he threw the cloak over the back of the chair and shoved the bracelet in his pocket. He got back into his bed quickly and pretended to be asleep.
"Miss le Fay? Are you awake?" came Madame Pompfrey's hopeful voice. Draco opened one eye slightly, only to see the nurse sigh, tucking the blankets around Autumn before walking away disappointedly.
Listening to make sure the nurse's footsteps could be heard no more, Draco sat up and dug the bracelet out of his pocket. No sooner had he touched it than the tingling began again, and he dropped it onto the blankets in his lap. It remained there for some time, under the boy's close scrutiny.
Well, I've ruled out the idea that it's a portkey. And anyway, she couldn't wear a portkey.
Becoming more and more suspicious as to this mysterious artifact's purpose, Draco reached into his Slytherin cloak, draped over a chair next to the bed, and pulled out a handkerchief. With it, he picked up the bracelet and crawled back out of bed.
If it's not a portkey, then why isn't she wearing it? I wonder if she's wearing any other bracelets…
Next thing he knew, Draco was standing next to the girl's bed. He reached down and gently pulled her hand out from under the covers. Five green and black bangles chimed softly on her delicate wrist. He stared at them for a moment intently, wondering if at some point there had been six…
Then suddenly, the girl's fingers began to move. Draco turned hastily to go, but found his hand was enclosed tightly in hers. He turned back towards her and strained gently to get loose. Her hand wouldn't let go. He yanked slightly harder, but the grip got even tighter.
She's almost as bad as mother when she's angry, he thought, getting increasingly more frightened.
Mustering up a great amount of strength, he jerked harshly, and finally his hand was free. Autumn's arm dropped to her side as Draco hit the floor with a thud.
One minute she saves my life, and the next she's trying to kill me. Knew there was something screwy about her.
He scrambled back into the hospital bed, heart racing, this time telling himself to go to sleep for real and hope not to wake up for a long time.
* * * * *
Draco awoke the next morning to the rumbling of thunder outside the hospital wing windows. He pulled himself into an upright position, stretching his sore legs, and hand. Wait- his hand was sore? He looked down and slowly opened his left palm. In it was clenched the multicolored bracelet wrapped in his handkerchief. A round impression had been left in his hand, which was now sore and raw.
Autumn was as she had been the night before, lying still and peacefully. The dragon figurine, which had been placed in a small cage the evening before, was stretching and yawning smoke. Draco glanced back down at the bracelet. He wouldn't return it now, after all, he had never seen her wearing it, so why should he assume it belonged to her? His father would surely want to examine it anyway. It might even be of some use to Lucius. Draco shoved it and the handkerchief in his pocket as Madame Pompfrey waltzed towards him.
"Mr. Malfoy, so glad to see you're up bright and early. Though I'm afraid we must forgo the bright part today." She glanced out the rain-spattered window, and then back at Draco. "Well, let's see how you're doing."
She took his chin roughly in her hands and turned his head from left to right and back again. He yanked it away with a scowl. Then she conjured up a glass of pumpkin juice and handed it to him.
"You're alright. Breakfast isn't for another three hours, I'm afraid, so that'll have to do until then. Well, you're free to go. No use staying here until morning."
Draco had a feeling she just didn't want him in the wing awake and alert, and he would have said said something smart if he had felt like it. He gathered up his cloak and meandered out of the wing, slowly making his way towards the Slytherin common room. His left hand remained in his pocket, slowly rotating the bracelet through the handkerchief. As he approached a corner, Draco heard soft voices. He edged towards the corner and leaned his ear towards the muffled conversation.
"-find the right one. She has so many, it might be difficult to know-" came an adolescent voice, cracking slightly as though with fear.
"You'll find it." Returned a hiss. Draco leaned towards the corner a little more. There was a pause, and then suddenly the hissing voice became louder, or was it a different person speaking? Draco couldn't be sure, as it was now unlike any voice he had ever heard. It could be a girl's, but then again, it could be a boy's…
"Morgan le Fay's descendant is important. To me yes, but especially to you. That is why it is important that by whatever means necessary you find the correct –" the voice cut off abruptly and Draco heard a shuffling of feet. He emerged around the corner to see Niles Wynters standing alone in the hall, Professor Snape approaching rapidly from the opposite end.
"Mr. Wynters, fancy seeing you here at such an hour. Mr. Malfoy, I assume Madame Pompfrey dismissed you?" Niles turned and gaped as Draco slid silently towards him. Draco nodded at the potions professor, but Snape didn't notice. He was busy lecturing the aghast Slytherin keeper.
"-aware of the hour? The prefects aren't even up yet. This is not a time for you to be wandering the halls on your own. Now proceed back to your common room, both of you." And he marched down the hall, his cape billowing menacingly behind.
Niles and Draco turned, each with a disgusted smirk on their faces. The smirk soured to a scowl as they took opposite sides of the hall and continued towards the Slytherin dorms. Neither had ever been very good friends, mainly out of competition. Both were handsome enough in their own ways; Niles had a reddish-brown mop of hair, olive green eyes, and a slightly rounder than usual nose. Both were proud; after all, what Slytherin isn't? Lastly, both had parents closely connected with the dark lord; but their fathers had never been on the best of terms. Draco decided to slice the silence first, mainly out of curiosity.
"You were having a conversation. Who were you talking to before Snape arrived?"
Niles stared straight ahead.
"Come on Wynters, are you going to answer me or not?"
"Pansy. I was talking to Pansy."
Draco threw Niles a mock astonished look.
"Pansy?! If you're telling the truth, which I highly doubt, considering you'd have to tell her Muggles were taking over the world to get her up in the morning, then she apparently had more brains than you. She hid, leaving you to gawk in the hallway when Snape appeared." He snickered.
"She was leaving anyway." The keeper shot a suspicious glance at Draco, and then continued his traipse down the hall.
"What was all that mysterious talk about finding the correct – as a matter of fact, what were you trying to find?" Draco sneered.
"None of your business."
Draco crossed the hall and started walking backwards next to Niles, intent on finding out what he was up to.
"Oh come on, you're not hiding something, are you?" Draco made a wild guess from what he had heard of the conversation. "You were talking about Autumn le Fay."
Niles stopped dead in his tracks and Draco snatched the opportunity. "You can tell me what it's all about. I'm a fellow Slytherin; we're practically brothers!" He lied through his teeth.
The green-eyed keeper stared blankly at the floor, fumbling with the hem of his sleeve, looking as though he were going to be sick.
"What do you know about Autumn?" he quipped.
Draco, slightly taken aback, replied, "Not a lot, only she can block a bludger bloody well."
"That's not what I meant." Niles looked exasperated. "I mean, about her family background. The le Fay name."
The Slytherin seeker thought a moment, digging in the depths of his mind for any memory of the le Fay name. Something sparked a memory, but he said nothing on the subject.
"Nothing. Just another pure-blooded family with a rather good sized vault at Gringott's." He snapped.
He now noticed Niles scrutinizing him carefully, as though to take apart every thought he had and lay it on the table for observation. It was eerily disconcerting. And then his manner changed. Niles was once again the shrewd, debonair 6th year, laughing in Draco's face.
"As a matter of fact, I was going to get Autumn something. I just didn't know what she might like, considering she has so many gifts already. Pansy was giving me some advice." The handsome Slytherin smoothed his hair and headed down the hall.
Draco raised his eyebrows. "Oh, yes – a gift for Autumn…" He felt something inside, almost a pang of pain, but shrugged it off as nothing.
He then screwed up his eyebrows, suddenly realizing excactly what Niles had said.
"Advice … at four in the morning?" he muttered under his breath, now more than slightly confused.
* * * * *
"Mr. Malfoy, do you intend to join the rest of the class anytime soon?" Professor Snape's voice was almost as bad as nails on a blackboard.
Draco shot his head up from where it had been, staring at his desk. Crabbe threw him a questioning look. The annoyed Slytherin mouthed back to shut up, and it took Crabbe a few minutes of tension before he realized he hadn't said anything in the first place.
Snape had turned back to a large cauldron and was reading off a list of ingredients in his deep nasal voice.
"- condensed jellyfish sting, three ounces unlucky rabbits' feet, and one bottle of muggle rat poison. I supply the rat poison." He sneered, causing Pansy to lower her hand quickly.
Draco felt something plop next to his chair. He looked down to see a crumpled ball. If Pansy had gotten one spell out of her entire time at Hogwarts, it was Wingardium Leviosa, mainly good for passing notes silently in class. Draco dropped his hand down and snatched up the ball. He unfolded it in his lap and strained to read the scribble in the darkness of the dungeon.
Took you long enough. Niles said you had serious injuries that caused to you faint. Said you were wandering the halls out of your mind this morning. Whatever it is, snap out of it, I want to go to Hogsmeade this weekend.
~ Pansy
Draco scowled. So Niles was spreading rumors now, was he? Awfully serious injuries and fainting. Wynters had made him out to sound like a girl. Draco preferred to call it passing out.
He was just about to smash the ball maliciously into the floor with his foot when Madame Hooch came bursting through the door, much to Snape's obvious annoyance.
"Class," she shrieked happily between sniffles, "I have some of the most wonderful news. Miss Autumn le Fay, whom you all saw risk her life, saving our brave Mr. Malfoy, (somewhere in here a snort was heard coming from the general direction of Ronald Weasley) and also both of the Quidditch teams in their entirety –"
The Quidditch instructor broke off, tears pooling in her eyes. Parvati Patil walked over to her with some embarrassment and handed her a handkerchief.
"Thank you," she sniffled ,"Miss Patil." Draco had a look of apprehensive disgust on his face, but something was silently tugging at him inside.
"As I was saying, wonderful news. Miss le Fay has woken up, and is in perfect health minus a few cuts and scrapes." The class broke into applause sprinkled with cheers. Niles Wynters looked on the verge of fainting.
Draco smirked. He hoped the idiot got what he wanted. A gossiping, overly cheerful flake for a girlfriend. Yes, that's exactly what Autumn should be for Niles. He deserved no more, the snake.
Finally in some amount of exasperation, Snape dismissed the class. Pansy glided over to Draco with a look of rapture.
"Merlin, am I glad to be rid of that blubbering idiot," she glared at Niles, "So, on Saturday it's off to Hogsmeade? I was thinking, just the two of us, drop in at the Hog's Head…"
Pansy continued describing her idea of a perfect weekend, all the while twirling a strand of blue-black hair. Draco was thinking of his own idea of a perfect weekend though.
"I won't be able to do that, Pans. Have a few plans of my own," he scowled.
The Slytherin put on an air of mock surprise.
"You've got… plans of your own…" she giggled, "Can't wait to hear them."
Draco glared at her. "Honestly, do you think everything everyone ever does is for your sole benefit and pleasure? I'm busy," he drawled.
He shoved her away and headed for the door, left hand in pocket; right, restraining from pulling out large amounts of hair.
* * * * *
A/N: I want to incorperate more characters from the HP series, but of course I can't have them all. Please tell me what characters from the four books you'd like to see in the story some time in the future! Or just tell me to put an already exsisting character in more often :] (No new OotP characters or OC ideas please. I'm done with OCs for this story. Too many make it unrealistic.)
Guess how you do it!!? REVIEW!!!!! 3