Of Wizards and Keyblades: chapter 14
pairings: HP/GW, RW/HG, Sora/Kairi
Sora sat in McGonagall's office with Donald and Goofy, mortified by what his friends had done. These were his last breathing moments. Snape .Was .Going. To. MURDER. Him. And he knew that the man would take no pleasure in simply doing it quick and clean, like a beheading, but some barbaric form of torture that wore away at his soul over a long period of time. That was probably the man's style. Goofy and Donald seemed totally oblivious to their imminent peril. 'Geez.' sometimes, Sora really worried about those two.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione shared his grief, but they were not scared for their health, more like the health of their House's Point Hourglass. The Keyblade Master could still hear Hermione's shrill muttering in his ear, "Attacking a teacher, that will be at least 50 house points! Slytherin will have a 60 point lead!"
McGonagall entered the office at last, and rounded her large oak desk to sit directly across from her three alien students. She did NOT look happy.
"You.....I ha-...I can't-, oh blast it all! EXPLAIN YOURSELVES!" She stuttered and then roared, stray hairs coming loose from her tight black bun. The spiky-haired boy flinched, but Donald rose, like always, to the confrontation. Goofy, being the peacekeeper, clamped his hand on the duck's bill to keep him at bay. Then looked apologetically at McGonagall.
"It weren't Sora's fault, ma'am. He was just doin' his work, and Donald and me messed it up somehow. Mister Snape there went and blew up in my buddy here's face for no reason, and we merely stood up to the bully." The tall dog finished, patting his human friend's shoulder.
Their Head of House looked horrified. She stared unblinkingly at them, as though they were picking each others' noses. "Stood....up? To Snape? How thick are you two?! You ATTACKED a member of Hogwarts staff! This could mean suspen-" she was cut off, however, from the timely arrival of Dumbledore. He smiled at them all, and conjured up an extra cushy armchair next to his employee's desk. Then he turned fixedly to McGonagall.
"I just visited Professor Snape in the hospital ward. He has agreed not to press charges, if you two agree...."and he then stared at Goofy and Donald, "never to come into his dungeons again, or come within ten feet of his person. You wouldn't find that too strenuous, would you?" Sora saw the twinkling, and relaxed. No charges. Whew.
When the brunette saw a Slytherinesque glimmer outshine the usual twinkle in the old man's eyes, he knew that Snape would have cursed him and his friends to the center of Hell if the Headmaster would not have stepped in.
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Harry whirled around when he heard the portrait slide back, and grimaced apprehensively when Sora, face turned to the floor, Donald, and Goofy(who hit his head when trying to climb in) entered their common room. The Keyblade Master straightened his gloomy posture suddenly and a huge triumphant grin spread over his face. Hermione audibly released her held breath and Ron tossed himself onto the couch. Harry grinned back. Sora told then what happened.
"No punishment! How do you like that?" Ron sulked, his eyes showed his admiration.
"I find it very lucky. Harry seems to have rubbed off on you, Sora. He has a knack for getting in AND out of crazy situations." Hermione smiled, spreading her homework out on the table and sorting it. Sora smirked and headed up to his bed, where he collapsed on it with a sigh. Before he closed his eyes, however, he saw a bright glimmer out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he was stunned into shock to see none other than Riku sitting rigidly on Harry's four-poster, surrounded by a shining aura.
"R-R-Riku?" He whispered, sitting up to reach out to the figment. But as he went to pull on the older boy's cheeks, his fingers slipped through as they would to a ghost. His throat burned with disappointment and sadness. "Are you.....real?"
The alabaster-haired warrior's usually bright aqua eyes were dull and dark, but as Sora pulled back, he suddenly shot forward, slamming his matter-less body into the startled Keyblade Masters. The world went dark.
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Black. Pitch black. Nothing around him but utter darkness. Sora swam in it, breathed it in, tasted it. It felt cool and diluting, dissolving this thoughts into sweet nothingness. He wallowed in the dark for what seemed like Eternity, before something tugged on his consciousness. It was a disconcerting, nagging itch that caused him to shrug off the lethargic peace like a warm and comfortable cloak.
He became aware that the blackness surrounding him was suddenly ominous and frightening. He couldn't see the shapes, but knew by instinct that they were there. Then, there an odd sensation swept over him, like his brain and eyes were detaching from his body, and he observed himself while thinking off to the side.
But it was not HIS body he was looking right at, but Riku's. So this was the Darkness beyond the Door to the Light....where Riku and King Mickey were. The fear of the blackness grew, and he could faintly see a whole sea of unblinking yellow eyes.....the Heartless's birthplace. They moved ceaselessly, like a restless wave, and Sora thought, 'they are rallying....something is about to happen to them.'
Suddenly, reality had smacked him in the face, full force. He was in the dorm, lying face down on the bed, winded and sweaty. Riku was no where in sight.
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author's note: *cackles like an old witch* Yeeeees, another cliffhanger! Sorry it's so short, I'll try to make up for it in the next chapter. Please review!
