HARRY POTTER AND THE SEERS' TRUTH
By Lady Lestrange
CHAPTER 39
Opening Doors
10 REVIEWS. Here's the new chapter—I really hate blackmailing you into reviewing, but hey, I'm a Slytherin. It's in my nature, so when there are 10 reviews for this chapter, the next one will magically appear. No. NO. Wait a minute. The next chapter is RETURN TO THE CHAMBER. I think it might be worth 15 reviews. Hmmmmm? LOL Love my readers and reviewers. Answers to reviews follow the story.
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter characters and previous situations belong to JK Rowlings. No infringement is meant or implied. No money is made from this Fanfic. THANKS JK.
--LADY LESTRANGE
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(A/N: I've been reading a number of fanfics in installments like this one myself, and find it is sometimes hard to remember exactly what has happened before-In a fic as complex as this one is, I thought having a reminder may be helpful for you. If you want to skip it, just page down FOUR times. --Lady Lestrange)
UP TO THIS POINT: Parvati has been having dreams and visions about the Dark Lord, Harry and a Prophecy Child. So far, they are not sure who the prophecy child is, and it is important for them to find him/her. The Sorting Hat is not sorting, so the students have "little brothers and sisters" to show around. The dream team thinks that The Sorting Hat failing is a plot to hide the Prophecy child from the teachers and anyone who can help insure that he/she stays on the side of light. No one is sure that the brothers and sisters actually belong to the house they are currently in.
The Hogwarts Express has been attacked. Dark Marks have been in the sky. The floo network is compromised. The Minister of Magic has been turned. Snape is now teaching both Defense and Advanced Defense, but it looks like Advanced Defense is just an excuse to let the Slytherins and Ginny and Edward visit the Dark Lord. Mrs. Figg is teaching potions and we know very little about her so far, except that she was against Dumbledore's suggestion to make Poly Juice Potion.
Beatrice is an animagus, a bunny. Edward's granny looks like she could have given the Dursleys a few pointers on cruelty. Slytherin is a house at war according to Snape, divided between Death Eaters and those who want to stay on the side of light. Harry uses his Invisibility Cloak and finds out when it is ripped, the Invisibility spell ceases. There is an unwelcome addition to Myrtle's bathroom, Olive Hornby. Peeves is his usual annoying self, but the Baron seems to have a little less control over him.
Samara, for some reason, lofts some wicked, powerful curses. She doesn't look like she has total control over them, which isn't really surprising since she's learned magic on her own from a book, that Harry is sure is a dark book. She seems to like Draco, but don't assume this is a romance. It is not. Ginny is still hearing voices in her head. Harry's scar is hurting more, and neither he nor Ginny know what this means. Ginny is closer with Harry this year, but again, not romantically. There is Edward, the new Gryffindor, who seems interested in Ginny, but Ginny really hasn't gotten over Tom.
We find out about Neville's powerful auror parents. We learn that Neville has a memory charm that was put on him as a baby. He's a more powerful wizard than anyone ever thought as evidenced by his yew wand and the way he reacts to Snape's ministrations in trying to remove the memory charm. We might wonder why Snape is trying to do this himself, instead of enlisting the help of Madam Pomfrey. Sirius and Lupin are on "fieldtrips" with the sixth and seventh years.
Of course we can also wonder why Snape is so determined to teach his classes advanced spells like the Patronus, or we can just chalk it up to Snape, being mean. The Fifth year class starts apparition classes and we meet Professor Sinistra. We also visit Hufflepuff, where we see The Wall, and Slytherin house, where we discover, to our amazement, a magic room that Draco shares with Samara, but Samara has a very unslytherin use for the room. Ravenclaw to come next weekend.
The chapter, CHAINED AND CHARMED, takes place at the same time as DANCING IS AN OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE-when Samara was in Slytherin, dancing. It is Saturday afternoon. Harry and the Gryffindors examine Samara's Dark Book, after they come back from lunch. They find an extreme potion, and decide they need to make a trip to the Chamber of Secrets. Ghastly Ghostly Dinner is when Gryffindor's meet with Samara after her little trip to Slytherin. Samara and Beatrice are persuaded by Edward to help him steal his snake back from his brother Ethan. Things get a little out of hand, and Samara learns more about Slytherin than she ever wanted to know.
Now the Gryffindors are mad at her. Samara wants to make up and be friends with them, but is it possible to befriend both Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy? How far will she go to make up, or will she just find some valuable information to store away for future use? (So, don't you want one of those Tee shirts?)
LIONS AND TIGERS: We see a very stressed out Snap both in Harry's memory of what happened with Snap and Neville and in the actual DADA class. We find out Trelawney doesn't want Samara in her class and Samara decides to take Ancient Runes instead. McGonagall assures Samara that Trelawney has done her a favor. McGonagall further talks to Samara about her experiences in Gryffindor, opening the door to give Samara someone to talk to, if she so chooses. We also learned lots more about animagi in McGonagall's class. Snape dismisses the Gryffifndors and keeps the Slytherins after class. We find out it's because Snape wants them to practice their patronus because the Slytherins are so lousy at the spell. Could it be because there are so few happy memories to chose from? In DRAGON BREATH AND BLUDGER BATS, Ginny and Edward set the Slytherins up with fire mints, and Samara gets extremely angry at them both because they hurt her friends. In an effort to contain her anger, she goes to the Quiddich pitch where she meets Fred and George. After lobbing a few quaffles at them in her anger, they decide to ask her to be a Beater for Gryffindor. She refuses, but later when she talks to Draco, he is not very nice to her, (hey, who said Draco was a nice guy?) so she wonders whether or not she should take the Beater job.
In WISH IT REAL; WISH IT NOT we see into one of Ginny's dreams. If you don't remember this dream, go and re-read chapter 28. In Chapter 29, THE SPELLING BEE, Samara is feeling homesick and friendless until Draco invites Samara back to Slytherin. Also, includes a short intro into what's coming up in potions class. In Chapter 30, CHILD OF GRYFFINDOR, Neville and Snape break the Imperio part of the Memory Charm. The trio discusses the Founders' spells, which put their gifts in the Sorting Hat; however they do not have the original parseltongue version of Salazar's spell. Ginny also sees Edward painting and the reader sees a bit of Ginny and Tom's relationship. In SLYTHERIN GAMES—Well, if you don't remember it, you better re-read. Voldemort is finally out and angry—burning and pillaging and we see a little-known inside version of Slytherin through Ginny's eyes. In STICKY SITUATIONS, Samara uses her adhere charm on the Weasley twins, Neville sticks Beatrice's wand to his with bubble gum, and Edward is sticking in Gryffindor. In OW POST the Slytherins get even for the Dragon Breath Mints, among other things—
In the Ravenclaw chapter—I'm still trying to think of a good name for it—Help me please—we meet a number of Ravenclaws and find out a little more about the characters, in Ravenclaw as well as Edward and Samara. So do you think either of them are really Ravenclaws? Hmmmm? In chapter 35 we meet Sirius again who plans to have a talk with Dumbledore about his keeping Harry safe and of course what that nasty Snape is doing to poor Neville. The Quiddich Game and then more of Neville's awesome Auror parents. The war is heating up and touching the lives of the children. This story is rapidly approaching –nasty things. Now that Harry's hand is good enough to play Quiddich, don't you think it's time for him to go to the Chamber? Me too. Next chapter—Return to the Chamber. I think that might be worth 15 reviews, What do you think? hmmmm?
For now, a relaxing time at Hogsmeade awaits—he-he-he-
Opening Doorways
Vaguely, Harry heard the sound of rain on the roof. He wasn't sure if it was real or in the dream. Harry had dreamed this dream before. He was running—running through the corridors of Hogwarts and suddenly he was in the third floor corridor, but Hermione and Ron weren't with him. He was alone. He was out of breath from running. He got by the three-headed dog, but the Devil's snare was crushing him, and he had no idea what to do about it. He was going to die. Suddenly the vines changed to a slithering basilisk. Harry was caught in its coils and it was speaking to him in parseltongue. "I've been patient, Harry Potter. I've waited so long for you. But then, patience is a gift of the snake. The prophecy child means nothing if you join me, Harry Potter. Just say 'yes', Harry Potter."
"No!" Harry screamed and rammed the sword through the roof of the snake's mouth, killing it. Basilisk blood and venom was running down his arm, burning him. He knew he was already dying. There was no phoenix to save him now. He ran again, feeling like Voldemort was coming again. "I have conquered death, Harry Potter," a voice called. "You don't have to die. Join me. You know cannot win against me." Harry ran somehow climbing up the slippery ramp to the girl's bathroom. He knew that he couldn't stop. The thing that Voldemort had become was only a moment behind him. He had to get to Dumbledore's office, but the staircases changed and suddenly he was running right to Voldemort. It was speaking from its blanket. Wormtail was holding it. "You cannot escape. You must travel to the end of the Maze and there I will have you!" Harry reached for the Tri-Wizard cup and it turned into a snake as he laid his hands upon it. "Hisssuss!" It breathed, just before it sunk its fangs into Harry's arm. Harry pulled away and began running again. If he could just get to Dumbledore, he knew he would be safe.
In the dream, he had finally reached Dumbledore's office, shouting the password and bursting through the door, but Professor Dumbledore wasn't there. Harry was holding Samara's book, with a finger inserted between the pages to mark the place he wanted to show Dumbledore. It was important that Dumbledore see this now! Where was he? Where was he? Why was he never available when Harry needed him? Harry paced nervously back and forth in Dumbledore's office for a moment and then he spotted the Sorting Hat. "Was it too simple to just ask the Hat why it wasn't working? Would it answer?" Silently he put the book beside the pensieve, which was sitting out on Dumbledore's desk. He picked up the old Sorting Hat, and put it on his head. Fawkes flew to the desk and looked curiously at him.
"Ah, yes," said the Sorting Hat. "I stand by what I said—you would have done well in Slytherin—"
"Can you tell me," asked Harry, "What happened to you?"
"Only if you choose Slytherin," said the Hat.
"Please—Lives are at stake—" said Harry softly. "OK—Slytherin.". Fawkes began to cry; large golden tears fell on his hand.
And the Hat began to talk rapidly in parseltongue—
The sudden searing pain jolted through Harry. Both of his hands were clutched over his scar, which was burning with intensity that he had never felt before. Not only was his scar burning but so was his right hand—the hand that was covering the scar—the hand that had been holding the book—the hand bitten by Samara's book—the hand brush burned when Snape took his wand—
"Slytherin!" shouted the Hat, and Harry awoke shaking.
His hand and face was wet with his own tears. Harry scrambled for the bedside table and his glasses, but his shaking hands knocked them to the floor. Searing pain still ran from the crook of his right arm to the tips of his fingers.
When he reached down to pick up his glasses, he heard Edward's snake muttering. Parseltongue, he thought. He had to remember what the Hat had said to him in parseltongue. He shuddered. Never would he choose Slytherin. Never—Never--But if lives were at stake—whose? Ron's? Hermione's? Ginny's? He would. He knew he would. He couldn't stand by and see his friends suffer. As the moments slipped away, so did the memory of the dream, and try as he might, Harry couldn't remember a single word of the parseltongue that the Sorting Hat spoke to him.
Harry lay in bed, sweating for another few minutes, but he knew he couldn't go back to sleep. Finally, he got up, showered, threw on a pair of muggle pants and a sweater and headed down to the Common room with a few books. Maybe he could get a little studying done before it was time to go to Hogsmeade. He had his defense and charms both finished by the time the rest of Gryffindor Tower started to stir. Samara came downstairs first, hesitating at the bottom step when she saw Harry sitting at one of the small tables in the Common Room.
"Reading auras again?" Harry asked.
"Well, it's kind of hard not to," she said running a hand through her hair which was tumbling down her back instead of neatly coiled around her wand. "Your aura is as much a part of you as your hair color to me."
"Where's your wand?" Asked Harry.
She pulled it out of her robe pocket. "I was just going up to see Aggie. I wasn't really ready to meet anyone." She ran another hand through her hair, self consciously trying to smooth it."
"I didn't want to see you go off without your wand—not these days," said Harry.
She stared at him for a moment, and then cleared her throat. "Has Hedwig returned yet?" she asked.
Harry shook his head.
"I'd be really worried if it was Aggie. You must feel awful." Samara shivered.
Harry did a warming spell on a chair next to his and gestured to it. "Sit down," he said. "It's freezing in here without the warming spells."
"I know," said Samara with a little laugh. "I'm actually getting good at them—Do you think Hedwig is warm and dry?"
"I'm worried about her," said Harry, "but Hagrid is good with animals. She couldn't be in better hands if she's hurt."
"Hagrid." Said Samara. "He's the one with the hippogriff, right?"
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"Oh, he's on the Wall at Hufflepuff."
"Wall?" Said Harry.
Samara proceeded to tell Harry all about the Wall in Hufflepuff and how Hufflepuffs of note, specifically, Hagrid was now on it. Harry listened intently.
"Well," he said at last. "That explains some things about my room."
Samara looked at him confusedly, reaching out and capturing his right hand in hers. Although she had been shivering, she felt very warm to Harry. He hadn't realized that his right arm had been aching until the warmth spread through him and the aching eased. "What about your room?" Samara asked.
"Edward." Said Harry at last, "And the wall he's painting." Harry considered disentangling his hand from hers, but he didn't move. "Are you going to Hogsmeade, or are you considered a first year?"
"No," said Samara, releasing his hand and sitting back in the chair. "I have permission to go to Hogsmeade. I'm meeting Beatrice and Ginny and Edward as soon as I'm finished with Aggie." Samara pushed her hair back again. "Well, I'd better go," she said, "They'll be waiting for me."
Harry nodded. "And I'd better wake Ron, or we might miss Hogsmeade altogether." They headed in separate directions, each to their own concerns.
==
When Harry and Ron finally got to the Common Room, they discovered Hermione sitting in a chair by the cold fireplace waiting for them.
"It's about time," she said, as she snapped her book closed. "I was ready to go to breakfast without you. Were you planning on just filling up on sweets and butterbeer today."
"That sounds like a good idea," said Ron, grinning.
Hermione rolled her eyes, and straightened her hat over her curls. "You're hopeless," she said, as they went down to the Great Hall.
Most of the students had already headed off join their friends on their way to Hogsmeade. Only a few were still left at the tables catching the last bit of breakfast.
A small non-descript owl delivered Hermione's paper.
"Hey," said Ron. "That's not the Daily Prophet."
"Well," said Hermione, straightening her hat. "I just thought that since Dumbledore has more faith in Witch Weekly, I should change my subscription—"
"But Rita Skeeter writes for Witch Weekly, now," said Harry.
"True," agreed Hermione, glancing through the headlines. "But I think the Ministry owns the Daily Prophet. They won't print anything that Fudge doesn't approve—Oh my gosh—"
"What is it?" asked Ron, reading over her shoulder.
"Dakon Garr has been arrested," said Hermione.
"The goblin that runs Gringotts?" said Harry.
"That's the one. This could start a whole new Goblin Rebellion," said Hermione.
"Oh please," moaned Ron. "Binns went on enough about the last one."
"So what does it say that the goblin did," asked Harry.
Hermione hushed them as she read.
"Hermione!" insisted Ron.
"Honestly," she said. "If you want to know, you should buy your own subscription."
"No money," said Ron simply.
Hermione began to read half way through the article:
"And in proceedings today, Dakon Garr was arraigned on charges of embezzlement and fraud. He was unable or unwilling to tell Ministry officials the whereabouts of 2.5 million galleons, which were—" Hermione's voice dwindled as she began to scan more quickly, reading to herself.
"Hermione!" said Ron and Harry together.
"He got off," she said, summarizing the article. "The Ministry found him guilty, but the Goblin Tribunal said that Goblins are not punishable through the wizarding legal system, so he was transported to the Goblin Tribunal for examination."
"And the money?" asked Harry.
Hermione shrugged. "Gone. The article said it was shunted through muggle banks, but no one knows who has it."
"Wish I could get away with that," said Ron. "2.5 million galleons and no one knows where it is. If I lose a knut, Mum goes bonkers."
"Anything else interesting?" asked Harry.
"Not really," said Hermione. "Some muggle attacks that are suspicious, but there have been some of those almost every day. The Ministry keeps checking to see if there is a logical explanation for the muggles bombing one another or if there is any magical interference."
"The Ministry—" interrupted Harry. "So can we trust the Ministry to find out if there really is any magical interference?"
"Well," said Hermione taking a final bite of toast. "I guess not, but I don't know if anyone else is even looking. Maybe some of the reporters, looking for a scoop—"
"So what does Rita write about?" asked Ron.
"She had the article about Gringotts," said Hermione.
Harry, Ron and Hermione hurriedly ate a few more bites of breakfast before deciding to make their way to Hogsmeade. They were almost at the door when a low "hoot" caused Harry to turn.
"Hedwig!" He put out his arm to allow the sailing bird to light on it. A letter was attached to her leg and she obediently put out her leg to allow him to remove it, but Harry was so glad to have her back, he went back to the table to get some scraps of meat for her. He smoothed her feathers and Ron and Hermione promised to wait for him while he took her to the owlry. Harry checked over every inch of her. She seemed to be in fine condition, pecking him playfully as he fed her the scraps of bacon.
Finally, the trio got to Hogsmeade. The rain had finally let up and Harry was glad that for once it was just Ron and Hermione with him. He had something important he wanted to tell them, and he didn't want Edward or Samara or even Ginny for that matter, eavesdropping.
"I need to stop in Dervish and Banges for some wand polish," said Hermione, "And after that, pick up a book—"
"We could meet in The Three Broomsticks," suggested Harry.
"No, let's just stay together," said Ron. "Unless you had something you needed to get, Harry?"
Harry shrugged. "No. Not really." The boys trailed after Hermione who was busily comparing which wand polish was supposed to enhance spells and which just cleaned.
Ron was looking at the prices. "Do you buy wand polish?" he asked Harry, as he looked at his own fingerprinted and scuffed wand.
Harry shook his head. "But I heard Quality Quiddich Supplies put a branch store here in Hogsmeade. Do you want to try to find it?" asked Harry.
"Like I could afford a broom," said Ron woefully. He shrugged. "Well, maybe later," he said, leaning over Hermione's shoulder. "Did you get what you wanted, Hermione?"
"I think so," she said. "But I wanted to ask if they had any sort of tonic for Crookshanks too. Do you think he's been acting strange lately?"
"Definitely," Harry agreed, but the shopkeeper of Dervish and Banges, carried only a general supplement called "Feel Good Cat Treats". Hermione decided to buy some anyway.
"Couldn't hurt," agreed Ron. "You know, Harry, I was thinking, tonight might be the perfect time to go to the Chamber of Secrets."
"Tomorrow," said Hermione.
"We need to see if the basilisk eggs are there and destroy them as soon as possible," said Harry. "And something else," whispered Harry shouldering between Ron and Hermione. "I learned something about Salazar Slytherin from Neville-- "
"Hi!" said Samara jovially as she swung herself around Harry. He looked around to see Beatrice, Ginny and Edward, all laden with packages. "We're on our way to Three Broomsticks. Want to join us?"
"Sure," replied Hermione, effectively stopping any further discussion about the Chamber or Salazar. As they were walking they passed a narrow side street where Samara paused.
"Sally?" She called. "Sally Anne?"
Harry glanced down the side street to see none other than Vincent Crabbe emerge from a small shop, called Madam Puddifoots. His meaty arm was wrapped around a petite blonde Hufflepuff and surprisingly, her arms were wrapped around him too. Giggling, they were both nibbling their way to the center of a chocolate frog.
Immediately, the couple turned and without acknowledging Samara, hastily re-entered the little shop.
"I've never seen him without Malfoy," said Ron amazed.
"I don't think they wanted Draco to know they came here together," said Samara, glancing up at the darkening sky. "I'm sure they would appreciate your not saying anything to Draco."
"Oh, well, Draco Malfoy and I aren't exactly on speaking terms," said Ron.
"We should hurry," said Hermione. "It looks like its really going to storm."
Harry chuckled as he picked up his pace. "Anything that gets Malfoy on edge is fine with me."
Feeling relaxed and at ease, Harry hurried with his friends into the Three Broomsticks, just as the rain started to fall. Nothing prepared him for the voice he heard.
"Herm-own-ninny! I have been vaiting for –" Viktor broke off, horrified. "Vat have you done to your hair!" He unceremoniously yanked off her hat, which had taken her quite a while to arrange over her curls. "vere has all your beautiful hair gone?" he moaned, running his hands through her thick curls.
"I cut it," Hermione lied, grabbing her hat and jamming it back on her head. "And I told you not to come Viktor."
"But Herm-own-ninny," said Viktor, wrapping his arm around Hermione. "Vhen you said you need help vith the Basilisk--"
"Sh-h-h," hissed Hermione, pushing away from him.
"Get your hands off of her," said Ron, pulling his wand.
By now, they had an audience. Harry also took out his wand and saw with satisfaction that Ginny, Samara and Edward followed suit, apparently unsure what sort of situation might arise. Beatrice had turned into a bunny and ran under a neighboring table where Harry was dismayed to notice sat Malfoy and some of his cronies.
"No, no, no," bustled Madame Rosemerta. "Put your wands away this instant, or you must leave."
"Leaving is exactly what we want him to do," said Ron in a low voice.
"Herm-own-ninny?" said Viktor. "Do you vant me to leave?"
Hermione looked helplessly from Viktor to Ron to Harry and then at the curious patrons of the Three Broomsticks. "Yes," she said softly. "I think it is for the best, right now."
Viktor slouched away from Hermione, turned to look at her. "I vill owl you," he said, and then disapparated with a pop.
"Well, well, well," said Malfoy. "The Mudblood the center of a bar room brawl. Who would have thought she was hot enough to fight for—Of course," he continued lazily. "It's always the quiet ones that—"
"Draco!" began Samara, but Ron was in no mood for words. As shower of red sparks flew from Ron's wand, but Draco ducked and the table in front of him shattered with whatever spell Ron had used on Draco. Glass and butterbeer flew everywhere.
"You're getting quicker, Weasel," Draco drawled.
"Enough!" roared Madame Rosemerta.
Hermione turned on her heel and crying, sprinted out of the doorway, into the pouring rain. Ron followed right behind her leaving Harry standing with Edward and Ginny and Samara and all of the packages that they had accumulated. Harry started to pick up the parcels, as Madame Rosemerta turned red-faced with anger from Draco to Harry.
'We're sorry," said Harry, pocketing his wand nervously.
Samara had stuck her wand back in her hair and headed over to Draco.
"Left holding the bag again, Potter?" said Draco as he sauntered up to the bar, ignoring Samara, while his companions were practically rolling on the floor laughing. "For the damage," Malfoy said as he laid a galleon in front of Madame Rosemerta, and smirking, took her hand in his. "I hope this little-- show wasn't a bother." He now absently reached out to put an arm around Samara, but she shifted away.
"Draco, why do you have to antagonize them?" she asked. "It wasn't necessary."
"Of course it was, Samara. The Weasel would have been disappointed if I didn't. It gives them a chance to show off their Gryffindor bravery."
"--Not a problem at all, young Mr. Malfoy," Madame Rosemerta was saying, and with a flourish of her wand she did "Repairo!" on the table and called a house elf to clean up the butterbeer and glass.
Draco leaned close to Samara and said something softly. She laughed, but returned to the Gryffindor table, leaving Draco with Goyle and a few other Slytherin boys that Harry didn't know.
"I should go," said Harry, glancing at the door.
"Don't be a fool Harry. I'm sure Ron can console Hermione all by himself, " said Edward. "Sit down. Have a butter beer."
"But Ron and Hermione are my best friends," said Harry as he sat between Samara and Edward. "I mean Ron and Hermione? They fight all the time--" He looked from one to the other and Samara pushed the warm butterbeer into his hands.
"Drink up," she said. "At some time during the conversation, Malfoy left and the rabbit hopped back over to their table. Harry picked it up, and sat stroking it absently, thinking of all of his losses. All of them he had attributed to Voldemort until now. How was he going to share things with his two best friends now that Hermione and Ron were a couple? How could it not be awkward?
Harry was jogged back into the conversation, by Ginny's voice. "Well Harry's been to Knockturn Alley alone," she said.
"You have?" asked Edward, letting Ginny's hair curl around his fingers as he talked. "My Granny never let me and my brother go alone. We always had to have someone else with us—You know—in case we got into trouble." Edward leaned on the table. "So how was it?" he asked.
With effort, Harry smiled at Edward, thinking McGonagall wanted him to be friends with Edward. Never in a million years could Edward hold a candle to Ron, but at least he could be civil. But if he hurt Ginny--"Nothing much happened," said Harry. "I met a hag selling fingers and then Hagrid found me and we went back to Diagon Alley."
"Busted!" teased Edward, leaning away from Ginny who hardly seemed to notice whether Edward was there or not.
Harry grinned, took a drink of his butterbeer, and started to relax. Conversation drifted through classes to Quiddich to what they bought in Hogsmeade. Edward and Samara carried most of the conversation. Ginny sat quietly sipping her butterbeer.
"Have you been to Honeydukes yet," asked Samara. "I want to get some chocolate."
"No," said Harry. Not yet.
"Well, let's go then. It's almost time to get back to Hogwarts," suggested Edward downing the last of his butterbeer and standing. He pulled Ginny to her feet and she looked at him with that trusting innocent expression that Harry had thought was reserved for him.
As Harry looked at the packages he had to carry and the rabbit that he was still holding in his arms, he came to the sudden realization that 'the rabbit' was Beatrice. Gently, he sat her on the chair and tried to remember just where he had touched her when he was petting her. Although he was pretty sure his hands stayed on her back and her ears, he couldn't quite look her in the eye when she transformed back into a girl.
"Honeydukes, here we come," said Edward, and Harry dug in his pocket for money to help pay for the drinks.
A couple came in the door and stopped, looking for an empty table.
"Lauren! Alvin! Over here," called Samara, waving. "We're leaving." Samara left her chair open for a regal blonde girl who was dressed in a casual gray robe and a tall Slytherin boy with her. The boy wrapped his arms loosely around Samara and said "Rematch!"
"Quit!" Samara said pushing him away.
"Gee. That was easy," said Alvin.
"Was not. We can't play that here," hissed Samara.
"You beat him, Samara?" asked Ginny.
"Yeah, he's easy."
Edward chuckled "Haven't played me yet," he said as they headed for the door. "I didn't know you knew the game, Samara."
Harry looked from one to the other puzzled. He caught Beatrice's eye but she looked as confused as he felt.
"Come over to Slytherin later, Samara," called Lauren, her face brightening with a smile. "I'll tell you all his weak spots."
"Tomorrow," promised Samara. "I'm playing chess with Aldwin later tonight."
"What weak spots?" muttered Edward.
"Ha!" said Ginny, giving Edward a little push.
"Why don't you come too Ginny?" called Lauren. "It will be good practice."
"We'll be there," said Edward, draping an arm lazily around Ginny's shoulders.
"Tomorrow afternoon," Ginny clarified. "We have Quiddich practice in the morning."
"Oh, well, you'd better practice," Alvin called as they started toward the door. "You're going to need all the practice you can get, before you play Slytherin."
"Does anyone want to tell us what you were talking about?" asked Beatrice.
"Quit," said Samara. "It's just a game I learned in Slytherin."
"So they were both Slytherins," said Harry. "Even the girl—"
"Yeah," said Samara. "Alvin Nott and Lauren Avery."
"Laurel—" said Harry stopping in his tracks.
"No," said Samara. "It's Lauren. Laurel was her mother, but she's dead. Died when Lauren was a baby."
Harry looked back at the willowy blonde, his mouth suddenly dry. This was the girl whose mother died trying to kill him.
As the students headed to Honeydukes, Harry made his excuses and said he needed to get back to the dorm to do some schoolwork.
"It's a Hogsmeade weekend," said Samara throwing an arm around his shoulder. "It will wait until tomorrow. You have definitely been around Hermione too long."
When they entered Honeydukes, they discovered a group of students leaving the store. "Hey!" said Samara, tapping one of the boys on the shoulder. "Hi Terry. How's your book?"
"It's still stunned!" He exclaimed. "I could just kiss you."
"Later," said Samara with a wink. "Too crowded here."
Laughing, the Ravenclaws left the store.
"You are such a tease," said Ginny.
"It takes one, to know one," replied Samara.
Harry expected Ginny to have some quick reply back to Samara, but she said nothing. She simply smiled as if at a secret joke and leaned her head back on Edward's shoulder.
"Should I get Chocolate Frogs or Beans?" asked Samara thoughtfully.
"Oh, what? Were you talking to me?" asked Ginny. "Sorry."
Harry bought some gum and frogs and beans and several other sweets that he didn't recognize. He had quite a bag full when he came into the common room.
==
"So, what did Hagrid write in his letter?" asked Ron looking up from a game of chess with Lou. Hermione was no where in sight.
"He's on his way back," said Harry, putting a warming spell on a chair and sinking tiredly into the soft cushions. "He should be here before Christmas."
"Oh well, there goes our free period," said Ron moving his queen forward the length of the board. "Checkmate."
"Good game," Said Lou. I'll get you next time." With a yawn, he gathered up his chess pieces and headed up to the boys' dorm.
When Lou was gone, Harry asked about Hermione. "I have all the stuff she bought," said Harry.
"Just take it up to our room," said Ron. "I told her I'd take care of it. She wanted to—" Ron hesitated.
"Hey Ron," said Harry "This is Hermione we're talking about. We've been friends a long while. I mean if you—well—"
"She wanted to try to grow her hair," said Ron.
"She what?"
"She's been working with McGonagall and Beatrice. Apparently it's similar to the animagus spell—changing some part of your body by concentration. I don't exactly understand what she's talking about. You know how Hermione is, but she's excited."
"Is she trying to be an animagus?" asked Harry.
"No. I don't think so. It's just that she wants her hair back, and Beatrice mentioned that when she turns into a rabbit she has to grow her ears, so Hermione wanted to know how and one thing led to another and now Hermione is trying to grow her hair."
"Do you think it's working?" asked Harry.
"Has Hermione ever done a spell wrong?"
"Not that I know of," said Harry.
An unaccustomed silence descended over the two friends. At last, Harry broke it.
"Ron, about you and Hermione. I don't know how I didn't see—I mean it might be a little awkward at times. But-- I don't want to get in the way."
"No way, mate. Hermione and I talked about this. We're friends. All three of us. We've done things together for too long to stop being friends just because—" Ron broke off his ears turning red. "Well, just because." He finished.
"You've talked about this? How long have you two been a couple?" asked Harry.
"Well, there wasn't an exact date," said Ron. "There have been little things. I'd brush against her by accident and she'd blush and then she'd be lugging those hundred books around and I'd help her and she'd snap at me and then one day, she was telling me how I'd made a dozen errors on my defense paper and I leaned over her shoulder to see what she was talking about and—and-- I just kissed her. It shut her up."
Harry laughed, and shook his head. "I can't believe you, Ron. 'It shut her up' What kind of romance is that?"
"Well, then she kissed me back," said Ron softly. "And that Viktor. He just makes my blood boil. He thinks he can come back any time he wants to. Well the only reason why Hermione went to the Yule ball with him in the first place is because I was too slow to ask her. He can go right back to Bulgaria and stay there."
"He did help us with the basilisk," said Harry.
"Yes, well Hermione and I had a long talk about that too. She said she didn't say anything in her letter that would have made him think he could come here. In fact she specifically said don't come. There is someone else in my life. That's the way she wrote it: 'Someone else in my life,' said Ron. "But the dumb bloke came anyway. Must have taken too many bludgers to the head!"
Harry laughed aloud. "So what did you do with his autograph?" Harry asked.
"Incendio!" said Ron, pantomiming throwing the piece of crumpled paper in the air and firing off the spell.
"Sounds like you're taking lessons from Edward."
"He's not half-bad, you know," said Ron. "Once you get to know him, he's almost nice."
"You don't still think he's the prophecy child, do you?" asked Harry.
"I don't know what to think," said Ron. "All of the things we learned about Salazar doesn't bring us any closer to fixing the Hat. Maybe Dumbledore is right. We just have to keep our eyes open for this prophecy child." Ron stretched, and together they headed up to the boys' dorm. "So when do you want to make this little trip to the Chamber?"
"I thought tomorrow afternoon," said Harry. "We have Quiddich practice in the morning. But Samara and Edward and even Ginny are going to play that game over in Slytherin tomorrow afternoon."
Ron nodded.
==
The next day, Ginny returned from Quiddich practice, showered and changed clothes and she was still waiting for Samara.
"Samara!" said Ginny, exasperated. "You've done that glamour charm six times. You look fine. Let's go." Her own hair was stuck in a pony tail and she wore the make up potion that the twins had given her, which covered her freckles rather well, but did nothing to enhance her appearance.
At last, the girls met Edward in the Gryffindor Common room and headed over to Slytherin.
"You know," said Ginny. "We should have went over right after lunch. We're going to have to wait for someone to let us in now"
"Draco knows we're coming," said Samara.
"And I'm sure he's sitting by the door waiting for you," Edward teased.
Samara stuck her tongue out at him.
"Might get stuck that way," said Edward.
Quickly, Samara sucked her tongue back into her mouth. She thought of her mom telling her when she made faces at her brothers, that her face was going to get stuck that way, and she's laugh, but here in the wizarding world it was a threat that an adhere charm could make real.
Once in the dungeon passageways, Samara hesitated.
"It's this way," said Edward.
"Are you sure?" asked Samara looking down the long corridor that went off diagonally from the main one. "Is there a short cut?" she asked.
"Undoubtedly," said Edward, stopping. "But I don't know it. Do you?"
"No," said Samara, with a frown. "We'll go your way. I'm not sure."
Three corridors further along, Ginny confessed that she was lost.
Samara laughed. "I tell Draco that every time he brings me here. Of course, he always uses a different passageway to confuse me."
"Probably not," said Edward. "The passages change, like the staircases. You did realize that was Salazar Slytherin's invention, didn't you?"
"What? The moving staircases?" said Ginny.
"I hate those things," said Samara. "They never go the way I want them to— Someone should have cursed him silly when he thought of that."
Edward laughed, leaning his hand against the blank wall.
"Are you sure this is it?" asked Ginny.
"This is it," said Samara looking around her and simply sensing, more than seeing the corridor. "But it won't open without a Slytherin's touch and we don't even know the password. I guess we could knock." She put her knuckles to the wall in a sharp knock and called out. "Hey! Slytherins? Anyone in the Common room? We came to play Quit."
Just then, Samara noticed the tiny snakes that she had seen when she and Draco had last entered the Slytherin Common room. They were certainly easy to miss, carved into the stone like that.
"I don't see a doorway," said Ginny, "But—" she broke off, her eyes on the snakes. She licked her lips as if she was about to say something, and her aura completely changed from its normal blue to yellow and then back to blue.
"Whoa!" Said Samara. "What did you just do, Ginny?"
"Nothing," said Ginny. "I was—just—thinking of opening—doorways—"
"Hey! Come in," said Lauren as she opened the passageway to the Slytberin Common Room. "Alvin wanted you to say the password, but I told him it wouldn't matter with the new wards—even if you knew it—"
"So, what is the password?" asked Edward.
"Gryffindor Sucks," said Lauren. "Alvin thought it would be funny to hear you guys say it. Sometimes he's so immature." Lauren rolled her eyes dramatically and Samara laughed.
"That's not very nice," said Ginny.
"You're in Slytherin now," said Lauren. "Leave 'nice' at the doorway. You know Pansy, and Alvin and Vince and Greg. I don't think you've met Gloria, have you?"
"I did," said Samara. "She went to Ravenclaw with us."
"That was a laugh, wasn't it?" said Gloria. "They call all those educational things in their common room Games. As if they are supposed to be fun." Gloria edged her way between Ginny and Edward, and looked up at him. "Now, Slytherins know how to have fun," she said, her aura darkening as she wrapped her arm around his.
Samara glanced back at Ginny, expecting her to be feeling a little threatened by Gloria's claiming Edward's arm, but Ginny had seated herself in front of the roaring fire, and her aura had again turned a bright yellow-orange.
"Are you allowed to have the fire lit?" asked Samara. "Oh, yeah," said Lauren. "But Snape says we have to extinguish it before lights out. He does wander in here to check every now and then."
"No he doesn't," said Pansy. "He hasn't been in the Common room since school started."
"But he could," Lauren protested.
"OK, I'll play the winner," said Draco as he sauntered in from the boy's dorm, followed by Alvin Nott.
"We haven't started yet," said Lauren.
"Where's Ethan?" asked Edward.
"Knocked out on the floor. You can go enervate him if you really want to."
"Draco, what did you do?" asked Samara.
"Nothing he didn't deserve. Seriously, he's not knocked out. He's just looking for the counter curse."
"For what?" asked Ginny and Edward together.
"Papulae," said Draco, and Samara burst into laughter.
"There isn't one," said Samara. "You just have to wait for them to go away."
"I know," said Draco. "Brilliant isn't it?"
Ginny was digging through her bag, and came up with a small bottle of potion. "Here," she said handing it to Edward. "Go give this to your brother. It won't get rid of the pimples, but it will cover them up. Look it's hidden my freckles. Fred says, it will cover up any spots."
"I wondered what was missing, Weasel," said Draco.
"It's Ginny," said Ginny softly.
Draco shrugged and looked away. "Won't matter. I expect the Gryffindors to be out cold in three minutes flat."
"Is that a bet?" asked Edward from the doorway.
"Oh, if your mother could hear you—Gryff," Draco said.
"Not one word about my mother," said Edward pulling his wand.
"Uh-uh-uh--remember what happened to your brother," said Draco, his wand also out. "I'm faster than you are, Edward. You're out of practice."
"We came here to play Quit," Samara reminded them, pulling Draco away from Edward, and Ginny needs some instructions. "Why don't you show her Edward? Here, Alvin," Samara threw him the bottle of potion. "Go give this to Ethan. Just tell him it's the next best thing to the counter curse."
Alvin nodded and left the room.
Still eyeing Draco, Edward moved behind Ginny and arranged his arms over hers. "Now, I pull from the Earth Elemental—we're just using Earth, right?"
Lauren nodded. "Yeah, at least with Ginny. From what I saw in class she's not ready for anything else."
"Lauren showed me how in class," said Ginny. "But I pretty much 'quit' before I even started."
"Anyway," Edward continued. "I pull from the Earth, through you. Now, it's going to feel strange, because it's my magic, not yours. You are in charge of releasing the magic. If you can't keep up with me, the magic builds up in your body, and—um—"
"Hurts like hell," said Blaise, "So you say 'Quit' or you act really stubborn and wait to pass out and we have to take you to Madam Pomfrey and it ruins the whole game."
"We're not taking anyone to Madam Pomfrey," said Lauren. "If you pass out, we take you up to your dorm and put you to bed."
"Without any supper?" asked Gloria.
"They won't want to eat," said Pansy.
"You can't do that," said Blaise. "If they don't get the foreign magic out of their system, they'll be so sick they won't be able to move tomorrow."
"So don't forget to put an ever-clean trash can by their bed," said Ethan from the doorway. "I think Lauren is right. Anyone too stubborn to say 'quit' deserves to be sick." His dark eyes were on Draco as he spoke. "Why should we have to take them to Madam Pomfrey?"
"OK," said Lauren with a shrug, "Except for the Gryffs, they might not realize—"
"What?" said Gloria. "Even a Gryff knows when they're in pain."
"Well, it starts as a kind of tingling, like your arms falling asleep," said Lauren. "That's when you know you aren't releasing fast enough."
"Can we just play?" said Pansy exasperated. "They'll catch on. Alvin! I challenge you."
Alvin moved up to the center of the little circle and Pansy put her arms over his. In a matter of seconds, both were sweating. Samara could see their auras flickering—warring with each other's magic. Pansy was losing, but not by much. A second later, Pansy pulled her hands away. "You win," she said. "I can't keep up."
"But you did a lot better than last time," Lauren encouraged her.
"I challenge Ginny," said Alvin.
"Do I pull from the Elemental?" asked Ginny.
"No, you release," said Alvin, adjusting his hands over hers.
"And don't touch," said Lauren.
"Why don't you touch?" asked Ginny.
"Because if you do," drawled Draco, his eyes a smoky gray and his aura suddenly darkening to a deep rose color, "The magic becomes shared. And it--doesn't--hurt—"
Samara's breath quickened and it was difficult to drag her eyes away from Draco when his aura looked like that.
"Yeah, doesn't hurt until Lauren get a hold of you afterwards," laughed Gloria, now hanging onto Ethan's arm.
Ginny's aura flushed, but the make up she had on kept the group from knowing how embarrassed she was. She glanced at Alvin, and with a little grin at Lauren, she said, "OK, let's go."
As soon as Alvin started, Ginny sucked her aura close to her body and shuddered with the effect of the strange magic. Her hands clenched into fists, and she closed her eyes.
"Release!" Samara shouted at her, and it seemed as if Ginny finally remembered what she was supposed to do. She opened her hands and pushed the magic from her, but she was no where near fast enough. Within seconds, she gave a little cry and crumpled.
"You're supposed to say 'quit'," said Pansy.
"Ow. Ow. Ow." Ginny sucked breath in through her teeth, and held her head. Samara reached for her, but Draco held her back.
"Don't touch her," he said. "She'll get it."
"Tom?" Ginny whimpered and then her aura cleared, going pure golden yellow and suddenly she thrust the foreign magic from her, in one powerful push.
"OK," she said, and shuddering again, her aura returned to blue.
"Who's Tom?" whispered Blaise.
"Boyfriend?" surmised Lauren in the same soft tone.
"That was awful," said Ginny. "Samara, it feels like a swarm of bees all over your body, only inside—Yuck—" She shivered again. "It's worse than a ghost flying through you."
Edward helped her to her feet.
"Well, that's why you have to release faster," drawled Draco. "Who's your challenge, Alvin?"
"Lauren," he said and the group groaned, but Lauren moved forward to join Alvin in the center of the circle. A moment after they had begun, Alvin wrapped his arms around Lauren and she turned towards him, opening her mouth for his kiss. Their auras blended instead of warring, and it was obvious neither of them was going to say 'quit'.
Pansy threw a pillow at them. "Get a room," she teased.
"And not ours," said Blaise, laughing.
Lauren looked up at the circle. "I win," she said. "I challenge Samara."
"You aren't going to beat me this time," said Samara, taking a deep breath and consciously attempting to protect herself from foreign magic. As she looked at her own arms, she saw that her aura was pulled in and thickened on the outside.
"Of course I'm going to beat you, Samara," said Lauren. "Don't get your hopes up."
""Ready," said Samara as she took her place in the center of the circle.
A frown creased Lauren's face as soon as she attempted to pull the Elemental through Samara. "What did you do?" Lauren muttered. "I feel like I'm pulling through quick sand."
Effortlessly, Samara released.
Lauren was obviously becoming exhausted. "OK," she said at last. "You win, Samara. Who's your challenge?"
"Well, Alvin wanted a rematch," Samara reminded them.
"Oh, not really," said Alvin, who was in a conversation with Vincent and ignoring the game completely.
"Now, Alvin," said Samara. "Last time you said it was just beginner's luck, so I have to have a rematch."
Alvin came to the center of the circle, took a deep breath, and extended his arms. Samara began pulling from the Earth in a gentle steady fashion to allow Alvin time to compose himself. After a few seconds, she increased the pace a little, again allowing him time to adjust. After a moment she increased the pace again, and then a little more, and a little more. Alvin shuddered. She knew he was almost at his capacity, so she just held there, but after only a moment, Alvin shouted, "Quit!"
"Honestly, Alvin, the first little sign of pain--" said Lauren. "It's not like she'd really hurt you."
"I'll take you on," said Draco, coming to the center of the circle, and extending his arms. Samara put her hands above his and then dropped them down on the backs of his hands and nuzzled his neck, remembering the feel of his magic.
"Samara," said Draco, "Stop it."
"That's it. I win," said Samara.
"No, you don't," said Draco coldly.
"Honestly, Draco. It's just a game," said Samara, readjusting her hands over his. "Ready?"
"Any time."
She began slowly as she did with Alvin, upping her pace a little at a time.
"Are you trying to bore me to death?" Draco asked.
"No, just rationing you," whispered Samara, and she felt him falter, moving his hands as if he wanted to touch her, but he caught himself in time.
She pulled abruptly from the Elemental and let the magic slam into him. It was a race now. Each time, she tried to pull a little more—a little faster—and each time Draco managed to release with her. Faster—faster—faster—But Draco was still with her. She felt him releasing in perfect rhythm to her pulling. She tried varying the pace to confuse him, but still he stayed with her. She closed her eyes concentrating—She needed to pull more at once. She pulled the magic to herself in a huge amount making her own skin tingle with the effort and she thrust it upon him. Once—Twice—She felt him shudder, but she was also tiring. She felt dizzy with effort. She pulled again, as much as she could handle, the room swimming with her effort as she let her eyes fall open. She pushed the load of magic into him and his aura went a ghastly white and then blood red as he shuddered with the effort of expelling it from himself. It was only then that she realized he was not going to say 'quit'. She was hurting him, but he would not admit it. He would pass out before he said it. She started to pull again, and again the room swam with her effort. Her arms tingled painfully, and her fingers felt numb. Did she really want to beat him that badly? She let the magic drip from her unheeded. "You win," she muttered, wrapping her arms around him and letting the rest of her magic pour into him like a healing balm for both of them. The two of them sank, exhausted to the floor.
"That has to be some sort of record," exclaimed Blaise. "You two were at it for almost an hour."
"I thought you had him for a while," said Lauren.
"Probably too tired for another challenge," taunted Ethan. "I think she wore him out."
"You wish," muttered Draco, but Samara could feel his quivering muscles and see his washed out aura. He was indeed, exhausted. It was unfair of Ethan to want to challenge now, but as Lauren said, this was Slytherin, not Gryffindor."
"Give me a minute," said Samara tiredly. "I don't think I can get off of his lap. My legs are shaking." She lay her head on Draco's shoulder and pulled from the Earth, one last time, as much as she could handle-- This time, her effort was not to best Draco, but to give him some of her magic to counteract his exhaustion. She let the magic run over her and into Draco. He opened his eyes in surprise as he felt the remaining strength of her magic. "You—" he began sharply, but she smothered his words with a kiss, and he clung to her as her magic poured into him. Samara heard the randy comments of the group, but she didn't care. No doubt Draco was angry with her because he now realized that she had 'quit' when she still could pull magic, but it was more important that he beat Ethan. She pulled a little more magic, shaking with the effort, and as she pulled away from his kiss, she murmured against his lips, "Beat him senseless."
Draco nodded. "I intend to."
Lauren and Ginny helped Samara to the sofa where she sank down beside Blaise. Samara realized that in the time it took her and Draco to finish their match, another game had started. Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were in a tight match that had been going on for nearly five minutes, Blaise told her.
"Actually, there is usually dominant wizard or witch in the first minute of the match. Five minutes is a long time."
"Who do you think will win?" asked Samara.
"Vincent," said Blaise confidently. "Greg is a big baby when it comes to pain."
Just then, Greg called 'quit.'
"Are you rested enough yet?" Ethan asked Draco.
"So is Ethan the stronger of the twins, or Edward?" asked Ginny innocently.
"I am," said Edward.
"No you're not," said Ethan. "You're the one that ended up in Gryffindor, aren't you?"
Edward yanked out his wand. "Pimples will be the least of your worries—"
"Stop! Stop!" called Samara. "There's an easy way to see who is the stronger wizard. Why don't the two of you play quit, and then Draco can take on the winner. Not only that, it will be a fairer match with Draco. I mean, how much can it count when I practically beat him for you—" Samara said sweetly.
"Samara," said Draco warningly.
"I think you can beat Ethan," Ginny told Edward.
"Of course I can beat him," said Edward.
"Only one way to find out," said Blaise. "Who's pulling and who's releasing?"
"I'm pulling," the twins said together.
"Pick a rune," said Blaise, taking a small leather bag from her pocket, and sorting out some of the runes. Both Edward and Ethan reached into the bag and pulled out a stone.
"Ha!" said Edward, "Kenaz, the rune of fire."
"Lagu," said Ethan with a smirk. "Water drowns fire. I'm pulling."
"Damn," said Edward moving into the circle. The match began with an immediate clash of power, Edward nearly sinking to his knees with Ethan's first onslaught. After five minutes, both of their auras were nearly transparent, drained of power. Flashes of red signified pain and when Edward swayed, woozy, even Blaise commented, calling "Quit, Edward. No one's taking you to Madam Pomfrey!"
Edward didn't answer, but Samara could now hear him grinding his teeth together, determined to beat his brother. Ethan opened his mouth, panting with exertion, and a whispered word came out of his mouth, "Crucio!"
An angry outcry came from the Slytherins watching. "No spells!"
Edward collapsed, shivering, but the spell had little power because Ethan was already exhausted.
Ginny had pulled her wand and was glaring at Ethan.
"Save it, Weasel," said Draco softly. "He's mine. I would have thought that we should give you some time to recover, Ethan, but after than trick, why should we play fair?"
It seemed that most of the Slytherins agreed with Draco. Apparently, Ethan wasn't very well liked, thought Samara. She wondered why. Within a few moments, the other game, which was between Blaise and Vincent was over, Blaise winning in less than a minute. The group gathered around Edward who was rubbing his arms as if to try to bring the feeling back into them. Ginny looked worriedly at him. "I think we should go back to Gryffindor," she said. "It's almost supper time."
"No," said Edward shortly. "Not yet."
"Don't worry," said Draco. "This won't take long."
"I've beaten you before," taunted Ethan.
"But Carman isn't here to help you now," drawled Draco.
Samara pulled Ginny aside, explaining to her that she could help Edward with her magic. She brightened, and sat beside him, wrapping her arms around him. Samara could tell that Ginny got it right, by the look of surprise on Edward's face and the immediate improvement in his aura. Her attention turned back to Draco who looked positively gleeful. In a way, she was glad that Edward had lost. It would have been hard for her to watch Draco beat Edward. She liked Edward. Ethan, on the other hand, had gained her complete loathing for the nasty spell that he had lodged at Pansy. Now, his win by cheating didn't sit well with her either. She wanted to see him beaten.
The match began with bitter fury. There was no gradual building of magic. No testing of wills and no mercy. It was obvious that Draco wanted to take him down, hard and fast. Within a minute, Ethan was sweating. Within two, it was obvious that Draco was winning, and Ethan was hurting, but he was too stubborn to say quit. "If we tell Snape why you are sick," muttered Draco. "He won't let you stay in bed all day tomorrow."
"Just quit, Ethan, It's over," said Edward, who obviously harbored no hard feelings about how his brother had beaten him.
"And no one will be setting up your wards tonight," Draco sneered. "Who knows what might happen in the middle of the night."
The fact that Draco was speaking, told Samara that he could win anytime he wanted to. He was prolonging the game, either to make Ethan suffer or to allow Ethan time to say 'quit.' But Ethan said nothing. Then with no fanfare whatsoever, Ethan crumpled under Draco's last onslaught of magic and dropped into unconsciousness.
"I'll put him to bed," said Edward, wearily levitating his unconscious twin. "And I'll set up his wards." He looked directly at Draco, who shrugged nonchalantly.
"I'll help you," said Ginny, pulling her wand and following Edward, into the boys' dorm, her aura flickering strangely between blue and golden. "You know can't set a good ward when you are tired," said Ginny.
"We'll meet you at dinner," called Samara after them. The other Slytherins were already disbursing to their rooms or to the Great Hall for dinner.
Draco wrapped his arms around Samara. He lifted her off of the ground, swung her around and deposited her on the sofa. His magic was a riot of movement and color depicting his excitement over his beating Ethan. "So why did you let me win?" he asked. "I could have beaten you."
"Maybe," said Samara, "But you were hurting. I was hurting. I thought, what sense does this make? Just Quit. I couldn't stand to hurt you," she whispered, "So—"
He kissed her. "So are you hungry?" he asked, the play of his magic distracting her terribly.
"Starved."
He kissed her again, holding her closer and she felt his magic enfold her. "And you want to go to dinner now?"
"Well, not right now," she murmured, opening her mouth for yet another kiss, and luxuriating for a moment in the feel of his magic before releasing her own magic to him. Immediately his arms tightened around her, and he deepened the kiss, leaning her back against the sofa cushions. She felt her hair come loose as he entangled his hands in it and her wand clattered to the floor.
++
Kemenran: Love your originality.
Ennui2: I can't take credit for Neville saying that he is worth 12 Malfoys. JK had him say that. I always wondered why, so in my fic, I gave him a reason. Hope you liked it. As far as Tom knowing that his "loyal followers" created his horrible life—no of course, he doesn't know—Why do you think the Death Eaters were so afraid—But I'll bet he's going to find out. Think he'll be a little pissed? Lots more Ginny/Tom to come.
Elfmoon87: Glad you like my Neville. Love Elfmoon's fics. Go read them.
Reiven: Hey, I think that great-great-great-great-great ancestor's third cousin twice removed on her father's side of her husbands second brother's son's wife of the great Salazar Slytherin's grand uncle, was my grandmother. Ohmygosh, we're related! Well, didn't JK say that all purebloods are related somewhere? Aren't you anxious to find out where the Weasley's are in that family tree? Hmmmmm?
By the way, I went to your site and read your bio. Liked your quote of the week: ~"Elizabeth is safe just like I promised, Elizabeth is all set to marry Norrington just like she promised, and you are going to die just like you promised, so we are all men of our word, except for Elizabeth who is in fact a woman."~Jack Sparrow -- Ahem -- Captain Jack Sparrow. But REMEMBER: "Where's me eye—Where's me eye—" was MINE. And it's much funnier rolling out of the Quiddich stands. SEE: DRACO MALFOY AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE by Lady Lestrange. Back me up, Reiven, I wrote it first, didn't I?—er eye?
DanielG715: The Longbottoms are perhaps worse than dead. They aren't coming back. Perhaps it was a little bit of overconfidence that got them where they are, but remember, we're seeing this from a Gryffindor point of view—Harry and Neville. Of course they are seeing them as shining examples of the epitome of Gryffindor bravery. Lol. Sorry chapter 1-3 are monotonous. I needed to introduce the new characters because none of JK's could fit the bill I needed. If I, instead of JK had written this from the beginning, we wouldn't need that 'Here's Samara. Here's her story. Here's Beatrice. Here's her story.' I tried to make it as painless as possible. If you have any specific suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Email me at ladylestrange@hotmail.com
Glad you aren't indifferent to Samara. Seems like some readers love her and some hate her. Interesting.
I think Snape is deadpan because he doesn't want anyone to know his feelings, not because he doesn't have any. Also, JK never lets us see him talking to Dumbledore or the other teachers. We only see him with the students, ie; Harry. Don't we all act differently with our peers than we do with well—people you want to see "an image"?
Glad you like Ginny.
My Harry plot is complex. I like it that way. I can choose to make mine PG-13. (JK is stuck writing for 9 year olds and adults in the same book. Poor lady, that has to be torture.) I believe everything that happens in a plot should have a cause/effect. For example, Tom hates muggles because he lived with them and saw them as vermin. Harry on the other hand, lived with them, and we, the reader, know they were vermin, but he didn't become a power-mad Dark Lord. Why? Some part of everyone is how they are brought up and the choices made, but some part is also the choices offered to them by parents, and others in authority. Cause/Effect is exactly what makes the plot move forward. Furthermore, everything and everyone should have a reason for being. Example: Dobby in CoS is simply a way to throw obstacles in Harry Potter's way. He has no real reason to be yet, although I'm sure JK will give Dobby a real job before book 7. He's already grown as a character as we compare him with Winky and through him, we can understand a little of the house elf, Kreature. It's not "plot twists" but what naturally must happen when given a certain set of circumstances because of who the characters ARE. For example, Given who Tom/Voldemort is, how do you think he will react to his loyal followers making his life miserable? Think a few sparks are coming? Given who Harry Potter is, how must he react to someone in trouble? Think the brave Gryffindor will come to the rescue? Given who Ginny is how will she—no. I can't tell you that. Given who Draco Malfoy is, how will he react to—well, maybe I shouldn't tell you that either—Sigh. Stick with me. I promise a fun ride, but the faint of heart should exit now.
Ele: Tom as innocent. LOL! LMAO! ROTFL! Let's remember the diary did not contain a 'soul' , it contained a 'memory'. There is no evil wizard, Virginia, only who we became—Lord Voldemort.
Blue-blond sorcerress: With Sorceress spelled wrong
What are you talking about Ravenclaw? Obviously you're not a Ravenclaw. You can't spell Sorceress! And even when you were told it's spelled wrong, you didn't care to change it. What Ravenclaw would purposefully leave her penname spelled wrong? Furthermore, your entire review was so filled with misspellings I could barely read it. There is a dictionary at the very top bar in fanfic. See it? Right there. Move your mouse and click on it. You can start with 'fraternal' which means brotherly or 'despicable' 'indispicable" is not a word. If you are a Ravenclaw, I'm sure you can figure it out.
Do you think it's cool to continually cut up someone's work, when you cannot do half the job many of the reviewers have done? Do you think it makes you look smart to attack the other reviewers? Sorry. Your misspellings and grammatical errors make you look like a fool; however, I would prefer you stop reading my story altogether. You have no right to criticize me or my readers or my reviewers. Have you written a story at all? No. I could retaliate for your many nasty reviews, but maybe I'll be nice and just block your reviews instead. Please STOP reading and reviewing my story. I will not tolerate any more hate mail addressed to my reviewers. -Lady Lestrange
Raven173: Just for you, I wrote the protection spell—and the Latin took me forever, and I'm still not sure I got it all right—so you'd better appreciate it. Very perceptive of you to notice those little things in the Malfoy's mannerisms. I loved thinking of Draco at home alone with a bunch of little creatures who can only OBEY him. Lol.
Trillium: Thanks for your help with the Ravenclaw title. I love Ravenclaw.
Of course there had to be Ravenclaws in the cult that brought back Salazar Slytherin! Do you think Slytherins could DO THIS without a little Ravenclaw brains? Could Crabbe and Goyle resurrect Salazar Slytherin? So, assuming that Crabbe and Goyle can't, what would happen when Ravenclaw brains fall into the wrong hands? Imagine Paravati Patil's seeing gift in Slytherin, with Draco Malfoy working on the prophecy instead of Harry Potter. Can you see what a disaster that would be? (Well, maybe not a disaster in a Slytherin's eyes—but--)Think about it. Parvati can't even concentrate on anything but the seeings, because that is her gift. She would be a victim in Slytherin. Let's look at Olgleby. You met Aldwin. He's a philosophical genius, but he doesn't believe that there is good or evil. Do you see how he could be talked into doing this? After all, he would think, it's just an experiment. It's just hypothetical, not really wrong.
You know how Marshall Avery was turned. He was seduced by a beautiful woman (doesn't that happen all the time in stories—OK little stereotypical maybe, but it was fun) and then he wanted to save his child, Lauren. Now he's in too deep to turn back. Sorry it's not all black and white like Cho thinks it is. Snape's grandmother was an Avery. Here's someone who was obviously bright, just like Snape himself, but the rules of Ravenclaw didn't allow her to exercise her magic to it's full potential. She felt stifled in Ravenclaw in spite of or perhaps because of her brains. Slytherin allowed her to 'grow' in any direction she wanted to without being censored. Would a Ravenclaw believe in censorship? Do you now see why some Ravenclaws would turn? Effler you haven't met yet. Here's how I see it. I really tried not to stereotype Ravenclaw. I wanted them to be smart, but each in their own way. I wanted to put this little bit below at the end of the Ravenclaw chapter, but it didn't fit, so I'll put it here, just because it was fun, and you asked about Ravenclaw, so any excuse will do--
Samara says, "I like Ravenclaw, but I wouldn't want to go white-water rafting with them."
"What?" says Ginny confused.
They all get in the raft, but no body would paddle.
Morag (S-R)says, This going to be fun! Let's see how close we can get before we go over the waterfall! I calculate we can—
"That's alright in theory, Morag," Terry(Analytical-R) interrupts, "but not here, on the river. Let's go do it on a piece of parchment. I'm sure the current differs depending upon which side of the river we choose and the angle of our approach."
"Terry," Aldwin (Philosophical-R) said, gripping his shoulder in comradery. "Over the waterfall is but another great journey. It really doesn't matter if we go over it or not, because in the end we shall all die, and Death itself is but a journey. In fact that reminds me of the rune, Lagu, water, it's vital part of life, but a constant danger, too, filled with floods, and whirlpools and waterfalls. Our journey through life is filled with risks, Terry. They can't be avoided by conscripting them to some parchment! Just like our waterfall, Lagu contains the elements of transience, changability, and a lack of control— Essentially feminine in nature, the rune encompasses the sensual, the unconscious, the intuitive, psychic abilities—"
Cho: (G-R) Why would you get into the raft if you weren't planning to go over the waterfall? We all should have known there was a waterfall--
Ananda: (H-R) Cho relax, enjoy the water and sunlight. Take joy in the quest for knowledge, learning about the river and the rapids together. I'm sure if we all work together; we can get the raft onto shore before we get to the waterfall. It will all work out for the best.
Cho: NO, Ananda. We made our choice when we got into the raft. We're going over that waterfall.
Ginny: "Samara, what are you doing during this conversation?"
Samara: "Levitating the damn raft!"
Some of the readers have asked for a summary of what aura colors mean.
I put some of this on the "Full Summary", but fanfic disallowed it because it had the http's and www's and dots. So, I put some of the information there for you. If you want to visit the websites, you have to put the www's in the appropriate place and add the DOT COM or DOT HTML SLASHas indicated.
auracolorsDOTCOM This is my favorite quick reference website, because I remember it, not because it's the best, and it doesn't have the turquoise color listed.
Other good websites:
Solrravendotcom SLASH auracolorhealingdothtml and of course, Thiaooubadotcom
The largest and most complex is, psychicpatdotcom SLASH glossary SLASH a SLASH aura_defDOTHTML with no spaces of course between the slashes.
Hesed: Glad you like Neville. He was always one of my favorite characters. I wanted him to have a part in my story that didn't make him look like the Gryffindor version of Goyle.
Ilwinterhofal: argh! I wanted to see that huge review that fanfic ate. Thanks for what you wrote though. I've started doing (control-c) on all my long reviews before I push send, because I've done that same thing before. Then you can save it on notepad and send the long review when fanfic gets itself back together. Just a thought.
Reiven: There were so many mistakes in bbs review I couldn't figure out what she was talking about at first. I just wonder how she's going to find every "indispicable error" when she obviously can't find her own. Ah, well, *IMPERIO! Bbs, you shall from this moment forward, keep a civil finger on your keyboard. * There, that should do it. Lol.
Ok, It's your turn now. REVIEW. The next chapter is "RETURN TO THE CHAMBER" How soon do you want it? --Lady Lestrange
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