Disclaimer: I love, like, adore, enjoy, am a fan of, obsessed with, incredibly amazed with, am delighted with and craving for more Harry Potter, but none of it belongs to me. It's all from the mind of J.K. Rowling. And, the line from the song I used somewhere in this chapter was taken from Nickelodeon™'s Hey Arnold™, specifically from his grampa. ^_^
A/N: Where do you think the hole led Ron? Well, this is what chapter three is for. ^_^ And here's where they unknowingly discover an unseen event in Book one (at least in this fanfic, it is ^_^). Don't forget to review!
It's All in the Diapers
+_+_+_Chapter Three_+_+_+
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A thousand stampeding horses forced into a single toyshop-- that was how little Ron's heart felt at the moment.
He had never been so scared in his entire year on earth. His ears were beginning to get filled with abominably loud heartbeats, and his chest felt like it wanted to shoot up towards his throat and out of his unbolted mouth. The beats were so loud that he didn't even notice his own shrill screams echoing off the walls that belonged to the dark, twisted tunnel he was sliding down in.
Where was he anyway? And where was the giant slide taking him?
It was only until Ron landed with a thud on a cold, marble clearing did he feel the unstoppable tears flow down freely onto his young, freckled face. He cried, more from the shock of falling into nowhere and being alone, than being aware of the fact that he was now quite unguarded in almost complete darkness.
Lip trembling, Ron scanned the place around with big, blue, frightened eyes. He felt a tiny surge of courage sink back down upon seeing that it was barren and dusty, dimly lit, and that the room had its corners covered by a creepy, white substance. It was most probably an abandoned storage or toy room, but for Ron, it felt more like an empty chamber.
"Maaama!!!"
However, no matter how much he sniffed and sobbed, the only thing that seemed to have heard his lost cries was a lone, dirty stuffed animal lying inanimately in the middle, which looked to have been chewed and torn in many places. It was not remotely interesting, but in spite of the scratch on its right eye and the protruding lint in one of its ears, Ron still felt an urge to clutch onto it for a bit of comfort. He was already crawling towards it when several squeals and a clatter of diapers sounded right behind him.
"Ron?"
Ron turned around abruptly. "You guys!" he chirped, his mouth stretched into a grin. "You found me!"
"No duh, freckles," Draco sneered. "There was only one hole."
Hermione looked a little ruffled. Her hair had gotten shabbier than an intimidated Persian after that rather disorienting slide of a pipe. "That was scary! I simplry cannot believe that you nasty—boys—talked me into this! Our mummies could be waiting for us upstairs for all we know! Where are we, anyway?"
"I don't know," Harry responded. "All I knows is, my mummy and daddy isn't here. Did you find my mummy anywhere, Ron?"
Ron shook his head at him sadly. Even if Harry's mummy was there, he wouldn't know, and he would probably just be too preoccupied with his own safety to notice, anyway. "Draco, are you sure we're in the right place?"
Silence.
"Drac—agh..."
Ron was cut off by a nasty, prickly feeling on his back. It was rather like those mornings when his mummy would come to place a few sprinkles of sweet-smelling baby powder onto his back, except this time, the sweet smell was not there, and the baby powder felt a bit more... tingly.
"Why.. why're you looking at me like that?" Ron asked, trembling as he instinctively reached out for that particular spot on his back. Harry and Hermione were looking at him as though he had turned into a Halloween mask.
His tiny little hands fell upon a little lump, which felt extremely delicate and prone to getting squished if he pressed too hard. His fingers felt over the object, over that oddly solid part at the center, and felt that it was disturbingly hairy. And it had those nasty, thin, thread-like extensions surrounding the whole thing. And worst of all, it was moving.
"Aaaaghhh!!!" The poor, frightened baby tossed it away in sheer panic, feeling more frightened than ever. He was sure that all the carrot-colored hairs on his body were standing up now, as he didn't even seem to hear Hermione's panicking voice ("Take it off! Take it off!") or that wave of shameless laughter coming from somewhere behind him.
Draco was rolling on the floor, shaking with absolute laughter. "You should've seen the look on your face! Ha! It was only a spider! Scaredy-cat! Scaredy-cat! Scaredy--" There was a squeak as Draco accidentally stepped his foot onto the stuffed animal behind him. "—Hey--"
It all happened so suddenly. The babies watched in awe as Draco gradually vanished into thin air.
Harry squinted at the spot where he had gone. "Where'd he go?"
"I don't know," Ron replied, looking angry and white from that little prank Draco had pulled on him. "Wherever he is, he deserves it anyway! Maybe someone just punished his bald little head and made him disappear!"
Hermione shook her head. She was staring intently at the stuffed animal Draco had stepped on. "No, he didn't disappear just like that. I think—I think maybe that stuffed animal has something to do with it," she said, pointing fixedly at the battered toy.
"Good! Now we can just find a way out of here and go back to the nursery without anyone telling us what to do!"
"No, I have to find my mummy first!"
"Harry's right, Ron, and besides," Hermione told him sternly, "we can't just leave him out there."
Ron looked disgusted. "Oh, so you just have to be a saint and save him, don't you? And I thought you didn't want to come here in the first place!"
"Not to save him," Hermione replied irritably. "I mean that since we're here and all, we might as well find Harry's mummy already. And the only way we could do that is if we have Draco's want."
"Oh, okay."
Hermione went over cautiously to the stuffed animal. It looked no different from any of her own, with the exception of it being broken.
"Now, when I say go, we'll all step on the bear, okay?" She lifted a hand up to start counting. "One, two--" she stopped. "Erm.. what comes after two?"
Harry and Ron simply shrugged.
"Oh... well then, go!"
Three baby feet were soon stamped onto the toy's fuzzy exterior. In a sudden flash, the three of them saw the dusty room fade out before them as they caught themselves traveling through an uncanny speed. The wind seemed to have wrapped a swirl of colors around them, and they felt like they were being sucked into a vast bottle of air until everything came out into a halt, and they found themselves struggling to get up from the carpeted floor of their new surroundings.
Harry stood up to see that they were just behind a green, velvety couch. He looked around saw a reflection of firelight from somewhere beside him, and realized that it had been Draco's head.
"Draco!" he whispered, feeling in a very vulnerable place at the moment.
Draco still had a sneer plastered on his face, but he was looking quite worried, for once. "Oh, you. Where—where are we?"
"All this going around's starting to make me dizzy!" Ron's voice started behind them. "Now where--"
"Sssh!!" came another voice. Hermione was peering into the other end of the couch, and as the other babies fell silent, a flock of new, grown-up voices took place. The other three crowded to up to peer along with Hermione into what was going on.
Around four to five figures where situated in front of a fireplace, with one of them sitting lazily in a towering swivel chair. The chair had its back turned to all of them, so none of the babies could see the figure's face. All of the grown-ups seemed to have been wearing dark robes.
A man's voice coming from the chair broke the silence. "The Dark Lord has gone," it drawled, "but that only stretches out to what meets the eye."
Another voice growled a response from behind him. "What exactly do you mean?"
"The rest of the wizarding world has been celebrating his defeat, Parkinson. Deatheaters everywhere have turned their backs and fleed pathetically. The marks on our arms have been disappearing. All this— because of a helpless child." The question had been left unanswered.
A grim silence took over the party.
"But—why?"
Although the figure in the swivel chair could not be seen, one could make out an observation of him sneering. "That, Nott, has indeed taken its place in the center of our queries. Even the Dark Lord cannot give a certain explanation to this one. All that had been left on the child was a shameful little scar. Nothing more."
"However, simply pondering on this will get us nowhere. The Dark Lord is in shambles, barely capable of passing for a mere figure. But he is not dead. His strength has simply run out, and his body is now completely void of any energy." A smirk seemed to have fallen on his lips. "But there are ways— ways that many of us have ignored for far too long."
One of the robed figures surrounding him looked slightly startled. "You—you mean—we can restore him back to life?"
"Almost there," the man's voice replied. "The Dark Lord has sent many people to the coffin—and that includes James and Lily."
Meanwhile, from behind the velvety couch, Harry gasped suddenly. "Oh no," he whispered.
Hermione looked at him. "What's wrong?"
"Now I know where my mummy and daddy are! That's their names! James and Lily!"
The babies all turned to Harry now. "But—but the man said the Duck sent them somewhere--"
"I don't know who that--that duck, Lloyd, is, but at least now we know where he sent them! They're in the coffee!" Harry exclaimed eagerly.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Coffee? What on birth is a coffee?"
"It's a cup of milk my daddy likes to drink. It looks a little like chocolate milk, I think." Hermione answered knowingly. "It has a lot of smoke coming out of it every
time before my daddy takes a sip."
"Wait," Harry intruded. "Maybe that man has coffee, too!" He looked back at the group of robed grown-ups.
The man spoke again. "The numerous deaths he has caused are mere examples of his extraordinary power. And, he used just that to create a remarkable potion, an elixir, that can restore some of what he used to have. Before his death, he entrusted this elixir with me, and it is today that I have decided to use it up for the purpose of his own resurrection. Now, to complete this potion, we must only gather a few dollops of blood from some of his greatest foes—one of which is the same infant who brought about his downfall."
"Oh, so is this why you have arranged a portkey beneath a muggle nursery?"
"Exactly, Crabbe," the man quipped. "It pleases me to see that you still have a bit of brains in your thick skull."
"But why did it have to be a muggle's?"
The man seemed to have sneered once again. "The lad has been reported to have been living with his muggle relatives. One of those who remained faithful has reported that the boy would be dropped off by either of them in there sometime today. And then we can take what is needed. Soon after, we shall have the blood of another, although it may not be as easy. After this, our task shall be completed."
Ron dropped himself to the carpeted floor and sighed. "I don't like how they talk at all."
"But we have to find that coffee! My mummy and daddy might get lost there or something—we have to try and save them!" Harry cried in a very enthusiastic whisper. "Draco, we really need to use that want."
But Draco didn't reply. He didn't even take a look at him. Instead, he continued to watch the man behind the swiveling chair, as he stood up and vanished into thin air along with the others.
"What's the matter, Draco?" Hermione asked.
"I knew that man's voice sounded famriliar," Draco said, looking at Hermione and the rest with an odd expression on his face. "That was my father!"
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A/N: Alright, I'm ending there. Thanks to absolutely everyone who bothered to review! ^-^ And please don't forget to review on this chappie.
sissy-6: Okay, okay, I'm updating! ^_~ Thanks!
Angelina Snape: Thanks, Angelina Snape! :) I'm glad you liked it. The babies are rather prone to falling into adventures, aren't they? I hope you enjoyed this one!
heather: Hehe, nice suggestion. The Chamber would be too scary for them, though. Oh well, I hope you liked this one nonetheless! Thanks! ^_^
HeRmIoNeGrAnGeRGuRl: Thanks! I hope the evil little rubber chickens aren't too impatient! ^_^ Hehe... and I'm glad you enjoyed the bald Draco!
Hal: I'm sorry if they sounded a bit too mature in terms of their speech. I guess I got carried away with placing in a bit of the Rugrats in them. Anyway, let's just treat them as linguistically advanced babies. ^_^ Hehe, thanks, Hal!
irama eralc: Thanks! Glad you found it original, though disturbing. Lol, thanks! ^_^
brit-the-ppg: Thanks an incredible lot! I'm really glad you placed this there! And that you like it muchly! ^_^ Thank you! ^_^
Lela Potter: I'm glad you found it fun to read! I hope this chapter went the same way, too! Thanks! :)
snickerdoodle: Thanks for giggling! ^_~ I'll try updating quickly. Thanks again! ^_^
chocolate malfoy: Oh, interesting nick you have here. :) Oh no, no another whack from a ducky... :P which, reminds me, watch out for the Duck Lloyd in this chapter! Glad you enjoyed the deaf-eaters and Draco, too. Thanks! ^_^
Miranda@lotr.com: Thanks for complimenting the story! ^_^ I also wanted to fit them in at the start, but I decided that Harry and the rest would do fine on their own. But thanks for suggesting and reviewing nonetheless! ^_^
Angel Lorelai: Thanks! Don't worry, Ron's okie dokie, except he discovered his soon-to-be biggest fear in this chapter (courtesy of Draco) :) On the marauders, I'd like to do that, too! I hope I can find time to write one during the summer. ^_^ Thanks!
Cecilia Orechio: I'm glad you found it cute! I also reviewed the last chapter of your story already-- it was really nice! *ad* Don't forget to read Cecilia Orechio's fic, the link to her bio is in my reviews page. *end of ad* I'll try e-mailing as soon as I can. ^_^ Thanks, Cecilia Orechio! ^_^
