Harry Potter and the Seers' Truth
By Lady Lestrange
No More Games
Chapter 41
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. 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
***
(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 FIVE 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. Not for the faint of heart. Last chapter, we had a relaxing time at Hogsmeade. Samara bounces from friend to friend and Harry has some nasty dreams, and Harry is shocked to find out that Ron and Hermione are a couple. We knew that already though, right?
In THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS the trio did some exploring, but failed to find the basilisk eggs. They found other things though. Obviously, they have to go back, but first Ginny gives them some instructions.
In THE CHAMBER, THE WALL, THE WAND AND THE WINDOW, Ginny gives the trio some instructions about the Chamber, the Gryffindor boys are having trouble sleeping and Harry's talking to the Snake, Kauket. Parvati has yet another vision, about a muggle and the earlier one about the wand is explored. Trelawney tells Ginny she will open a window to the past—Didn't she already do that? Is Trelawney a little late with this prediction, or does it mean something else. Be warned, the upcoming chapters are the reason this is rated PG-13. The title says it all—
No More Games
By Lady Lestrange
Ginny awoke on Friday, hoping once again that the voice in her head was gone, but it wasn't. Something strange had happened when she was playing 'Quit' at Slytherin last weekend, and now, she heard Tom more than ever. She felt different, too, as well as hearing Tom at more regular intervals in her head.
Perhaps she was finally going crazy like the medi-witches said she would. But do crazy people know that they are going crazy?
Ginny opened her parchment and took out the Quick Quotes Quill she had borrowed from Neville. Maybe today she would get some decent notes on her work. Ginny wrote the heading for her Defense notes by assigning the task to the Quick Quotes Quill. Ginny instructed it to write the title of the class, like she always did, Snape's name and the date. Then, Ginny set the Quick Quote's Quill to write every word that Snape uttered. As Neville had instructed, she double-checked to be sure that the Quill was set on Verbatim instead of Enhance. She wanted these notes to be good and reliable.
The class wasn't sitting and taking notes though, the 'test' of their blocks was 'hands on' as Edward called it. Ginny didn't know why she had expected anything different from Snape.
"I thought we would—um—I thought—" muttered Ginny nervously, her wand hand sweating as she faced Snape. She looked around at the rest of the class which was silent and studying.
"Honestly, Ginny Love. Calm down. I can take him even with half of my memory blocked. Just relax and let me handle this."
"You're just my imagination—" thought Ginny.
"Oh are we back to that now, are we?" Tom sighed.
"Please."
Snape's voice was a low growl. "Did you think, Miss Weasley, that whatever monster you happen to be fighting when you need this Defense class is just going to hand you a parchment and say write down your answers? I've never met one that said if you get enough answers right, I'll let you live," sneered Snape.
Tom chuckled, but she managed to keep her thoughts on Snape.
"Well, no, but—I expected that you would match students--" Ginny looked around at Blaise and Pansy, both of whom had survived Snape's test without too much trouble. Alvin Nott had taken Crabbe to the hospital wing and Millicent Bulstrode was out cold on the floor.
"Miss Weasley, I won't throw any spells you shouldn't know how to block," Snape said with a voice that dripped utter boredom. "I'm not so sure my Slytherins would be that careful."
"I might be able to throw a few that you can't block though," Tom whispered.
She studiously ignored the annoying voice in her head.
"Thank you, Sir," said Ginny, softly, spreading her legs a little apart and holding her wand ready to block. "I'm ready," she said.
"That's all well, and good," said Snape, "But I doubt the dark creature you are fighting will bother to ask you if you are ready." Snape said nothing else. He simply paced away from Ginny talking about the wandless magic that they had all been practicing.
"Let me do this, Ginny. Please, let me do this," said Tom.
"Shut up. You're distracting me."
Tom seemed to sigh. "Alright, then," he said. "Watch his eyes. You will know a split second before he attacks"
"Snape's eyes never tell us anything," thought Ginny. "He's made of stone."
"Even stone speaks," said Tom. "Watch his face."
"He turned away," thought Ginny.
"Then you move, you little fool! Did he say you had to stay in one spot?"
"No." Ginny began to move just as Snape turned.
"Tarantellegra!" called Snape, judging where she had been.
That small amount of movement saved her from the spell, and she had time to throw up an Impediment charm..
Snape threw another spell which she simply blocked.
Another.
Another.
Another.
The spells became progressively harder, and therefore her blocks had to be better, but she was getting tired.
"Sectum!" shouted Snape, and Ginny actually felt the slash of a knife through her Impediment charm. It
wasn't strong enough. She backed away, frightened, still trying to hold the Impediment charm, but it was crumbling.
"Incendio!" Her robe sleeve beneath her wand hand caught fire.
In the space of a breath, Snape spoke again: "Glacio flagro!"
Ginny watched in awe as the flames on her robe froze in place and cracked off. She was panting and sweating but Snape had reacted so quickly that the flame didn't burn her. Her robe was ruined though, the entire sleeve burnt off.
"Return to your seat, Miss Weasley. Can anyone tell me what she did wrong?" Snape asked.
"She didn't quench the fire when the block failed," said Tom. "Honestly, Ginny—"
"She used the Impediment charm too quickly," said Pansy. "She should have just blocked the first spell—saved her strength."
Ginny realized that the Quick Quote's Quill wasn't getting everything, because it was just recording Snape and this class always seemed to be so interactive-- She re-set it to record all of the words of all of the people as if it was recording a play.
"And Impedimenta wasn't strong enough to hold Protego," said Lauren . "She should have used a shield charm instead."
"Shield charm?" said Ginny, looking up from the Quick Quotes Quill. "We didn't learn that."
It's Contegere," said Tom
Ginny froze, trying to listen to both Snape and the strange voice in her head. That thought came from somewhere other than her own imagination. She didn't know that spell.
"Dumbledore used it on Grindelwald," said Snape. "Didn't you look at the pictures on the first day of Defense? In fact, now that I think about it, I believe you missed that question on that test too. Don't miss it again, Miss Weasley."
"Yes, sir." She frowned. Maybe her subconscious remembered more about Dumbledore's fight than she thought. Yes, that was it.
No, your subconscious didn't remember anything, Ginny Love. I just told you it's Contegere. Testudo if your shielding something nasty, it doesn't shield an unforgivable, but it's about the strongest shield you can summon. I doubt you would be able to do that one unless you practiced a bit though.
"Tom?" Ginny thought. "Did you just help me?"
It does seem that way, doesn't it Ginny, Love?
"Nott!" said Snape as he came back from escorting Crabbe to the hospital wing. "You're next."
Alvin Nott licked his lips and glanced at Lauren who was still waiting her turn. She gave him a quick wink, and he turned back to Snape. Suddenly, Ginny was inordinantly pleased to be finished with her 'test' and was able to critique the others. Snape moved relatively quickly through the rest of the class. Ginny was dazzled by the speed at which Lauren blocked and Draco was just as fast, but his blocks tended to be stronger.
"Don't show off," warned Snape. "Everyone gets tired. Always use the least amount of energy possible, even if you think you don't need to."
"Yes sir."
Once Snape was finished with the tests, he separated them into several groups. "Now, the real tests begin," said Snape. He spoke quietly to some of the Slytherins coming outside with him. After a while he left Ginny and a few of the Slytherins inside. "I want you to continue to practice wandless magic inside," he said. "And you can continue to practice blocks. Miss Weasley, you need to be faster." He moved a few feet away from Ginny and said something softly to Pansy and Lauren and was headed to Millicent presumably to enervate her, when she suddenly surged to her feet, holding her left arm. "Yes, Master!" she shouted. "I promise you the veela bitches will die!"
"Shit," spat Snape and spinning, he turned his wand on Ginny. "Obliviate," he said.
"Practice well. I'm counting on you," said Snape to Pansy and then he and the others left to practice outside.
A few minutes after he left, Ginny remembered that Snape had stunned Millicent during her test. She was still lying on the floor, wasn't she? But when Ginny turned to look, Millicent was gone.
"Where's Millie?" said Ginny.
"Outside with the others," said Lauren. "Let's just practice one block at a time, OK. That way we can concentrate on speed."
Tom, Ginny thought, Are you really there?
Yes.
Did you see Millie enervated?
"No, there's a blank spot," said Tom. "As if I haven't had enough of these damned memory charms—"
"OK, who's sending and who's blocking," asked Pansy, rolling her wand in her hand.
"I'll send," said Lauren.
"Let Ginny send," said Pansy "I need to warm up to you, Lauren."
"Where's Millie?" Ginny asked again.
"Ginny, Tom interrrupted. "I've had fifty years to get familiar with memory charms. I'm pretty sure you were obliviated. The question is, how much and why?."
"I didn't see her get up," said Ginny. "I didn't see Snape enervate her. What's going on?"
"Oh well," said Pansy. "You just weren't paying attention. Not that anyone pays much attention to Millie—" Pansy laughed, but there was a fakeness about the laughter.
Lauren had pulled her wand. "Are you ready to begin?" she asked.
"But I—"
Leave it, said Tom. You can find out why when you read what the Quick Quotes Quill has written. If you argue with them, they will just obliviate you again, and either could take you down. You are much too slow, Ginny Love. We'll have to practice."
"How kind of you," thought Ginny.
"Kindness has nothing to do with it. I just don't want you getting this body killed—or obliviated by an inept child."
"Ginny?" said Lauren. "Are you ready?"
"Ok," said Ginny. "What spell do you want me to use? First level through fourth?"
"No," said Lauren. "One level at a time. Just first, as fast as you can throw them."
"Ok," said Ginny, her mind barely concentrating on the first level spells she was casting.
"This is useless," said Lauren. "Join her Pansy, and then we'll switch."
Pansy joined Ginny in throwing first level spells at Lauren so she could practice her speed. Pansy threw a third level spell and Lauren had to change her blocking charm.
"Cheater," spat Lauren, but she didn't miss the block.
After a while, Lauren called stop. "Your turn Ginny." Ginny couldn't keep up with Lauren, so Pansy just sat and watched for a while. Ginny didn't feel too badly, because Pansy couldn't keep up with Lauren either. Ginny decided to head over to the table to see what the Quick Quotes Quill had written. She stopped the quill and picked up the parchment, but Snape took just that moment to come back with the other Slytherins.
"Well, Harry Potter's duel with the Dark Lord couldn't have been any better," said Draco as he swaggered into the room.
"You really were magnificent," Millie agreed. "Even the Dark Lord must have been impressed."
Ginny turned, and felt the rush of a spell. Analyzing instantly, first level she thought, and blocked, turning to see Pansy with her wand outstretched, but she didn't see Lauren.
Ginny's face was a mask of surprise as she crumpled, hit by Lauren's stunning spell. "What are we going to do with her now?" asked Pansy, but Lauren wasn't listening.
"How could you be so careless?" spat Lauren, now eye to eye with Draco. Their identical white-blond hair flying loose and free. Gray eyes meeting blue ones, both spitting fire. "And you!" she turned on Millicent. "How do you survive with such an empty head?"
"Don't ever tell me what to do," snapped Draco, pulling his wand. "Weasel shouldn't be here in the first place."
"Mr. Malfoy," said Snape. "That is not for you to determine."
Lauren smirked at Draco, who reluctantly put his wand away.
"What if she's the prophecy child?" said Ethan.
"She's not," said Draco. "Looking at Ethan in disgust."
"Did anyone obliviate her?" asked Snape. When all said no, Snape performed the spell. Snape looked around him. "Edward," he said. "Take her to the hospital wing."
"Yes, sir. One brave Gryffindor coming to the rescue."
"Tell Madam Pomfrey that Miss Avery got a little carried away with her stunning spell."
"Miss Avery," Snape continued. "You could have lightened up on that stunning charm. Your target was an inexperienced girl, not an elephant or a powerful wizard. You knew she didn't know how to cast the shield charm so you didn't have to penetrate a strong boundary."
Draco sniggered, and Lauren glared at him.
"And the rest of you," Snape paused, checking the time. "Damn it, you're late for tranfiguration again. Get out of here!"
==
Ginny awoke in the hospital wing, Edward was by her side. She blinked at him and began to sit up, but Madam Pomfrey warned against moving too fast.
"Multiple stunning charms. Damned Slytherins," spat Edward. "Opps, Sorry Madam Pomfrey," he apologized.
"But why?" asked Ginny. "Lauren was so nice--"
"Well, she said, she forgot that you didn't know the shield charm."
"Then it was an accident," said Ginny.
Edward shrugged.
"Lie still," said Madam Pomfrey. "I'd expect you will feel a little dizzy for a while. Now that you're awake, you can drink a potion to alleviate the effects. I'll get it for you. Thank you for bringing her to me, Edward. You should go back to class, now" Madam Pomfrey said as she went to get the potion.
"Thanks Edward," said Ginny.
He grasped both of her hands, his eyes positively murderous. You can't believe what I felt when I saw you lying on the floor and Pansy and Lauren standing over you—"
"I'm OK. Really. I'll see you back in Gryffindor in awhile."
"Right," Edward said, reluctantly leaving her.
Ginny sat up in bed, and the room swam.
"Lie still. Lie still," warned Madam Pomfrey. "Here's your potion. Ten minutes of lying still, and you should be fine. You shouldn't even miss all of your next class. You'll be able to get your notes."
"Notes!" said Ginny, trying to sit up again, but Madam Pomfrey was adamant.
"Lie still, or you're just going to get a headache and be here longer," she said. "Your bag is right here. Edward brought it with you. If you left anything in Professor Snape's class, I'm sure you can get it later."
"OK," said Ginny leaning back on the pillow. "If she had her bag, she should have the Quick Quotes Quill notes. She had put it all away—No—She frowned. She couldn't have put it away. If she was stunned, they were still practicing and the quill should have been still writing. Why couldn't she remember what she did?
She was getting a headache. She leaned back on the pillow and tried to be still and wait, but every part of her was itching to get her hands on her bag and see if the Quick Quotes Quill and the notes were indeed in her bag or if she had left them in Snape's dungeon—
==
Madam Pomfrey was gently shaking her shoulder. "Wake up, dear. It's almost lunch time. I thought you'd want to change your robe before afternoon classes. It's all wrinkled, and it looks like you burned off the sleeve--"
Ginny blinked at Madam Pomfrey, and rubbed her face. It took her a moment to remember why she was in the infirmary. She had been sleeping so soundly.
"Headache," shouted Tom in her head. "Tell her you have a headache."
Ginny gasped in surprise.
"What is it, dear?" asked Madam Pomfrey.
"Headache," repeated Tom. "You do want to look at your Quick Quotes Quill notes now, don't you?"
"Headache," said Ginny.
"I was afraid of that," said Madam Pomfrey. "All that moving around you were doing, and the way you were sleeping so soundly. OK. The best thing for you to do now is go back to your room and sleep off the effects of the stunning charm. You should be fine in a couple of hours. I'll have the house elves pop some lunch up to you."
"Thanks," said Ginny, reaching for her bag and heading for her room. When she got there, Tom began ordering her around.
"Set up a privacy shield before you open the notes," he said.
"No," said Ginny. "I'm waiting for lunch. You still can't make me do anything."
"But you told Madam Pomfrey you had a headache—"
"Because I wanted to," said Ginny. "Not because you told me to." She washed her face, set a warming charm and pulled the notes from her bag, when a house elf laden with a tray, popped in.
"Winky is remembering Miss Ginny likes fruit," said Winky. "And hot chocolate—like my master—"
"Thanks, Winky," said Ginny. Taking a sip of the hot chocolate.
"Winky is honored, Miss Ginny knows Winky's name. Master Edward, says that Miss Ginny is very, very special and must take good care."
"Does he?" said Ginny smiling.
"Master Edward tells Winky, and Winky is a good house elf. Winky remembers her place not like some other house elves. Her place is to serve her master. Master Edward explains."
"Oh, I think Edward just wanted you to be his own personal house elf here at Hogwarts," said Ginny laughing.
"Oh no," said Winky. "Winky is not Master Edward's house elf. Winky belongs to the master's master now. Winky understands why she must serve at Hogwarts."
"I'm glad you're happy at Hogwarts now," said Ginny with a yawn.
"Winky is talking too much. Miss Ginny needs to rest." With a pop, Winky was gone.
Ginny opened her bag and pulled out her notes. She opened it to the page where the Quick Quotes Quill had written. She saw the words, she had dictated: Professor Snape, AVADA, Friday, October 6, 1995. She gasped. AVADA! It should say ADADA! Then she realized that the ink had just skipped a little at the top of the first D. It was just an accident.
"Tom?" she whispered, but he didn't answer, and she began to doubt her sanity again. One moment he was there, and the next he was gone. Had she really talked to him earlier today, or was it all her imagination? Perhaps it was the effect of the stunning spell that Lauren and Pansy did on her?
Her eyes began scanning the page of notes in front of her.
Snape's words were first: "Did you think, Miss Weasley, that whatever monster you happen to be fighting when you need this Defense class is just going to hand you a parchment and say write down your answers? I've never met one that said if you get enough answers right, I'll let you live."
She skipped over her test and read further down the page, where she had adjusted the Quill to write the words of all of the speakers instead of just Snape's words. She read through the others' tests until it was time for the class to split, some going outside to practice and others staying inside—
Amazingly, the Quick Quotes Quill picked up the whispered voice of Snape as easily as it wrote the rest of his words. Ginny could now see what Snape was saying softly to the Slytherins.
"Now, the real tests begin," said Snape. "Remember Contegere—won't block most upper level spells. I hope you practiced Testudo -- And for those of you can't do a patronus yet—find someone to work on your happy memories with you. Patron—father—protector. Think of who or what makes you feel safe and protected and you will-- "
"I've got it now, Professor!"
Someone interrupted Professor Snape, but the Quill didn't write who spoke. Apparently, she hadn't set that up right. Who had the guts to interrupt Snape? Ginny wondered briefly. And then continued reading, "Show me outside," Snape had said.
Snape continued. Now Ginny remembered, he was speaking to her and Lauren and Pansy. "I want you to continue to practice wandless magic inside," he said. "And you can continue to practice blocks. Miss Weasley, you need to be faster."
Again, he was talking softly to Pansy and Lauren.
"Pansy. Lauren. I trust you can baby-sit. If you have any trouble, somnus or stupefy, don't obliviate her. You're both too heavy handed to control it. We want to be sure she has a few brains left.
"Yes, Master! I promise you the veela bitches will die!"
"Shit Obliviate."
Ginny looked at the two words, side by side on the page. Words that Snape had said. It was Snape who had Obliviated her. –Because she had heard someone talking about--Beauxbatons? Someone who was a Death Eater? Because they were talking to Voldemort? She shivered. Voldemort wasn't there.
Ginny looked back at Snape's previous words, telling Pansy and Lauren to use somnus or stupefy. On her?
Who were they baby-sitting? Her?
Ginny looked at the next words on the page. After Snape's saying "Practice well. I'm counting on you,"
it was all Lauren and Pansy and herself. The others had left.
"Where's Millie?"
"Outside with the others,"
"Let's just practice one block at a time, OK. That way we can concentrate on speed."
"OK, who's sending and who's blocking,"
"I'll send,"
"Let Ginny send. I need to warm up to you, Lauren."
"Where's Millie?"
"I didn't see her get up I didn't see Snape enervate her. What's going on?"
And Ginny suddenly remembered Tom telling her that she was obliviated. Did she believe him? Did he even exist? Tom?
He was gone again—as if he had ever really been there--
She scanned through the rest of the page, but although she and Lauren had practiced. There was no sign that either she nor Pansy had stunned her. She remembered taking the spell off of the Quick Quotes Quill after that, and the rest of the class returning –No. She didn't remember them returning. That must have been when she was stunned—so it could have been anybody—but Edward had said it was Pansy and Lauren.
"Why?" Ginny struggled to understand. "Why would they have done that? They had been so nice to her—helping her—But someone had stunned her. She knew what the after effects of the spell felt like. She had definitely been stunned—"
"Tom?" she whispered again, but he still didn't answer.
She leaned her head back against the pillows, and pulled her blanket crookedly around her rather than doing a warming spell. Her notes were strewn about her on the bed and on the lunch tray. She was still tired and the stunning charm made her feel achy. She closed her eyes, just for a minute, but when she opened them again, Hermione and Samara were in the room, having a lively discussion about the best way to do a summoning charm in conjunction with a sorting charm.
For once, they seemed to be in agreement. Ginny sat up. "Did I miss all of my classes today?" Ginny asked sleepily.
"You did," said Hermione. "I have your notes."
"Notes!" Said Ginny, looking around for the Quick Quotes Quill notes. They were gone. The tray was gone and the room tidy.
"Did either of you tidy the room," Ginny asked frantically. "My Advanced Defense notes were right here."
Hermione and Samara both shook their heads. "No," said Hermione. "We just got back from class a few minutes ago—I didn't see any parchments."
"Maybe they fell on the floor," suggested Samara, crawling around and helping Ginny look under the bed.
"Well, you can get them from Edward, can't you?" suggested Hermione.
"Damn it! Ginny! I told you to put up a privacy ward. Why didn't you listen to me?" He was extremely angry, and Ginny was frightened.
"I didn't mean to fall asleep," Ginny whimpered.
"It's OK, Ginny," said Samara. "None of the teachers were upset that you missed class. Edward told them what happened."
But Ginny didn't even hear Samara. The voice in her head was too loud and too demanding and too angry.
"Stupid, trusting Gryffindor! You didn't mean to fall asleep! Of course you would fall asleep. You were stunned, weren't you? How dumb can you be?"
She felt a wave of dizziness that she wasn't sure was from the stunning charm, or from something Tom was doing. Panic coursed through her and she felt hot tears well up in her eyes.
"If it was up to me, you wouldn't sleep for days! Do you remember?" he said viscously.
She did remember, when he had taken her over in first year, she was much weaker when she didn't sleep, so he made sure she had nightmares. Some of them were in long deserted corridors of Hogwarts, some were about the Chamber and some were about the muggle orphanage where he grew up. All of them were horrible.
Another wave of dizziness assaulted her, and Ginny was quite sure it was something Tom was doing.
"Stop it," Ginny muttered, covering her face with her hands.
"Apparently you still have control over this body, so you'd better listen," he spat. "Someone stole those notes. They came right into your room while you were sleeping and stole them, because they didn't like what they said—While you were sleeping!" Tom shouted at her. "They could have done anything to us while you were sleeping! You had NO PROTECTION! Next time I tell you to set a privacy ward, you damned well better do it. So what was in the notes? Did it say—"
Abruptly, Tom's voice stopped.
"Ginny," said Samara, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Are you alright? Your aura looks awful. Like you've been playing a particularly trying game of quit," she joked lightly.
Ginny burst into tears.
==
About twenty minutes later, when Ginny had cried herself out, without telling Samara or Hermione anything about why she was crying, Samara backed off of her healing magic, pulled her wand and pronounced "Somnus!"
"What are you doing?" asked Hermione.
"Several hours in a sleeping ward alleviates the effects of some dark magic, remember?" said Samara.
"I remember," said Hermione. "But I think you should have asked Ginny if she wanted you to do that."
Samara shrugged sheepishly. "I didn't think of that," she said "but I'm going to find out what the hell happened in her Advanced Defense today," Samara turned, heading towards the door. "I'll see you at supper, Hermione. Ginny should be awake by then, too. Hopefully, she'll feel better." Samara frowned at the somewhat pale, but almost normal blue of Ginny's aura, and then hurried out of the dorm and down to the Slytherin Dungeons.
After several wrong turns, she found her way to the blank wall that was the doorway to Slytherin Common Room. She ran her hands along the wall, calling for someone to let her in, but no one answered. As she continued to run her hands over the entire wall, in case she had mistaken the exact place, she muttered the password from last week in the hopes that it would still work. She wasn't sure it would with the additional wards that were on Slytherin's door, after all Draco had said it would only open for a Slytherin, but it was worth a try, suddenly the piece of the wall disappeared and she was looking into Slytherin Common Room. Maybe it did work, thought Samara and then she saw the black cat leap onto the sofa.
"Thanks, Millicent," she said, but Millicent, in her cat form, didn't answer. She darted from the room holding what looked suspiciously like a mouse in her mouth. "Yuk," said Samara with a shiver.
"Millicent Bullstrode!" roared an angry Professor Snape, from the corridor. "Drop it! Who is this?"
"Alvin," whispered Millicent. "I didn't hurt him. Look he doesn't have a scratch. His head is a little—um--wet—that's all."
Change him back this instant!"
"Crucio!" shouted Alvin, and Millicent's screams filled the Slytherin Common Room. Samara inched towards the door, just as Snape called a halt to the spell. "Try to treat each other with a little respect," he snapped, and then he strode into the Common room, robes billowing. He stopped as he saw Samara standing just inside the door. "Were you with Millicent?" he asked sharply.
"No," Samara answered quickly.
"Good," he said striding past her, and out of the Common Room door as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.
A moment later, Alvin Nott started across the Common Room on his way to the boy's dorm, he paused, as he saw Samara, and realized that she probably heard the whole exchange in the corridor. He ran his hand through his sticky, thoroughly wet hair. "I have to take a shower," he said wiping his hand on his already sticky robe. "Cat spit." He took a deep breath. "Normally, I wouldn't—don't—"
"Can't say I blame you," whispered Samara.
Alvin nodded shortly, and then stopped again on the top step. "I think Draco's in his room. I'll tell him you're here."
"Thanks," said Samara, sinking into the ornate green sofa in front of the fire.
When Draco came over to the sofa, Samara lifted her arms up to him. "Just hold me," she said. "And tell me this place isn't as nuts as I think it is."
Draco wrapped his arms around her and laughed. "Alvin told me you witnessed his weekly spat with Millicent."
"She's done that before?" said Samara.
"Yeah, usually it's Lauren that gets her back though. Millicent never actually bites him, but I can sympathize. It's not pleasant."
"What?"
"Being turned into an animal. You feel utterly helpless."
"You've been—"
"Don't ask," said Draco.
"OK, on to pleasanter topics," joked Samara, turning her face up to his for a kiss. She let her magic play over him for just a moment, and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. "So why didn't you beat me at Quit?" Draco asked.
"I told you," said Samara languidly. "You were hurting. I was hurting. What was the point of that? Anyway, aren't you glad I quit?"
Draco shrugged, running his fingers through her long hair under her wand, and kissing her again. He pulled the wand from her hair and buried his face in the tresses, once again letting his magic flow over her. He kissed her again, and again, and again, each kiss becoming more heated.
"Draco," whispered Samara backing away and holding out her hand, "I want my wand back."
"Why? I took good care of it when you left it here last time." Said Draco still holding the wand. "I won't let you forget it this time." He began running the tip of her wand over the palm of her hand, allowing his magic to run through it. The combined magic seemed to slither over her skin erotically. "Life, and Fate, and Love," said Draco, naming the lines in her palm as he caressed them with her wand and his magic.
Samara watched his aura change from its natural swirling red to orange-red. She waited to see if it would go to the rose side of the spectrum, but it didn't. Samara sucked in her breath shivering, and closed her fist around the wand tip. She was quite aware that her own aura had a rosy glow, but his did not. "Stop," she said.
"Why?"
"It's not working," she said, fighting her own turbulent emotions and ignoring the flush, warm on her face. "And I want my wand back."
"Oh, I think it's working fine," said Draco, kissing her again and allowing his magic to flow through the wand in greater intensity, laser sharp and focused.
She let go of the wand tip, abruptly as she felt an uncomfortable heat, not unlike what she felt from foreign magic when playing 'quit'.
Immediately, Draco, dropped the wand too and covered her with an abundance of his magic. The glow of warmth and well-being flowed through her again. Draco lifted his lips from hers and dug behind the pillows to find her wand. With a flourish, he turned it in his hand and offered it to her, as if he didn't know he had hurt her.
"Thanks," she said, as she once again put her wand in her hair. Samara expected an apology for his forcing her to let go of the wand, but neither of them spoke of it. Instead, Draco kissed her again, on the lips and then turned the palm of her hand upwards in his own hand, and kissed the red burn marks, his magic soft and comforting. At last, she relaxed enough to reciprocate, and the atmosphere quickly became more intense.
"Draco," Samara said, pulling away, "We're in the common room."
"We could go down to my room, but we'd have to throw Ethan out. Then I'd have to set up new wards, he's broken down the last few I put up." Draco sighed. "I have to find some new ones—something different."
"You could always ask Ginny Weasley. I hear, she's the best in Gryffindor at wards.
Draco snorted. "Oh, I doubt Ginny Weasley can even do a ward." He said. "She obviously didn't know the shield spell today."
"So what happened to her at Advanced Defense today?" asked Samara.
"Nothing much," said Draco. "She didn't shield and Lauren hit her with a particularly strong stunning spell. She should have known how to do a shield charm. You can do it."
"Well, I was doing some extra reading at the library before our dueling class. That's why I know the shield charm. Ginny said the class didn't learn it yet."
Draco shrugged. "All the Slytherins knew it."
"But something is strange about that class," insisted Samara. "Her aura changes—"
"Nothing is strange about it," Draco interrupted, pulling his wand from his pocket and toying with it. "Nothing at all," he repeated, putting his arms around her.
"But—" began Samara, she frowned trying to collect her thoughts. What had she been about to say?
And Draco kissed her softly. "It's not important," he said, his words against her lips. She felt wonderfully light and leaned in to kiss him again, letting her magic flow together with his.
"So tell me," Draco said after a while. "Who taught you to pull from the Elementals, really?"
"It was a book," said Samara. "Really. Who taught you?"
"My Mum," said Draco, but I don't want to talk about her. "I'd rather talk about you. You never told me when you first did magic."
"I did tell you; I don't remember. I've always seen auras. I guess that's a kind of magic. I don't remember breaking any mirrors or anything." She laughed. "Of course, I could have broken out half the windows and mirrors in the house and no one would have noticed, not with my 3 delinquent brothers running around—"
Draco's aura suddenly flickered wildly, and then darkened. "Then they're—Well they would be—if your parents—What house were your parents in?" His aura was a dark swirling mass of mostly red—dark red.
"Oh they didn't go to Hogwarts." Samara answered quickly, frowning at the condition of his aura.
She reached out her hand, and let her aura blend with his. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on calming thoughts.
"I do understand," Draco countered. "About your brothers."
"I doubt it. Being an only child—"
He pocketed his wand. "Oh, I'm not an--" His lips closed over the slip.
Samara stopped in her tracks and looked at him with fear—she wasn't sure if it was fear of him or for him.
His aura had just done something auras didn't do. It BLINKED. It just suddenly went pitch black and then flickered back on again—brighter—like he was consciously feeding it energy.
Samara was reminded of an electric light bulb experiencing a power failure and then a surge. There was absolutely no mistaking that something had happened. Just like she wouldn't mistake a light bulb going out and then coming back on again with enough power to shatter the bulb. It was not something someone could miss.
"Draco?"
He looked at her blandly. His face betrayed nothing, but his aura was a swirling mess. She had never seen him like this.
"Draco, what happened?"
"I just put my wand away. Maybe I should keep it out. Are you thinking of hexing me?" He took it out and rolled it lightly in his hand.
"No—I mean, what happened to" –She wished she could tell for sure—She decided to take a stab in the dark. "What happened to your—sibling?"
His aura flickered wildly, but his face did not change. "I'm an only child," he said. "You know that. After all, once my parents had me, they didn't have to keep trying for perfection. They're Slytherins. They got it right the first time." He sneered.
"Trust me," Samara whispered. "Tell me."
"There's nothing to tell." Draco's words were accompanied by a push—a magical push—saying: you believe me. I was something so light, so exceedingly gentle that she almost missed what it was—Almost just let the floating sensation take her away. Almost, but not quite. . It was an imperious curse—demanding she believe him.
And she did believe him for just a moment and then anger boiled through her. How dare he—
She whirled around pulling the magic automatically from the Air Elemental around them. "If you are going to do Imperio, then do it," she growled. "Imperio," she snapped, holding her hands just inches from his throat. "Put your wand away, Draco," she spat.
He complied. His lips were pursed. His eyes blank.
How dare he use Imperio on her! However slight. How many times had he passed that off as simple charisma?
"Tell me your favorite teacher is McGonagall," she said sarcasm dripping from her voice.
Something flickered in his eyes, but his aura didn't change.
"My favorite teacher is Professor McGonagall," he said seriously.
"And how many times have you used imperio on me?"
"Five."
"Five?" She was absolutely livid. "Five times! When?"
"When we first met. I needed to get you off of my broom and you didn't seem in a hurry to leave me." His eyes glinted with the memory and Samara wondered how he managed to look sexy in the midst of imperio.
"Go on," said Samara, cooly.
"When I wanted you to leave the hospital wing." Said Draco.
"After I'd cursed you?"
"Yes."
"When I came to apologize?"
"Yes. I didn't want you to see me there."
"That's two," said Samara. "Continue."
"When we sent the owls to the Gryffs. I couldn't skip you, so I needed you to sit at Slytherin."
"To protect me?"
"Yes."
"When else," Samara demanded.
"When you asked about Advanced Defense."
"Just now," confirmed Samara.
"Yes."
What about Advanced Defense? thought Samara. Well, that would wait. "And there was one more time." She said.
"Now, when you asked about my—my—"
Suddenly, Draco was fighting the spell. He didn't want to tell her this.
"Tell me—" urged Samara.
His aura flickered madly again, going from a velvety black to a swirling murky red. His face was ghost white, fighting the spell, she realized, not just a little bit, but with everything he had. "My sister, he began—" Sweat had broken out on his brow and his upper lip.
"Stop." She said, frightened at what she was doing to him. Closing her hands over the curse, she muttered, "Finite incantem." She held the excess magic in her hands for a moment, feeling the awesome amount of power she had been using to force him to give up this secret.
Draco shuddered, and with a sob, threw herself into his arms. "I'm sorry." She murmured. "I'm so sorry." She kissed his cheeks and nuzzled his neck, letting the remaining magic in her system flow over him like a light breeze "I'm sorry. Please say you'll forgive me."
She tasted her own salty tears on his skin as she kissed him, again and again. He had not moved, had not put his arms around her.
"Why should I forgive you?" he said coldly. "They do call it an Unforgivable curse."
"Draco?"
He reached up and took her hands from around his neck. "Just go," he said tiredly.
"Draco. Please."
Draco sucked air in between his teeth like a hiss and spoke from between the gritted teeth. "Just get your sorry little ass out of here before I decide to turn you into a toad." He snapped.
Samara fled.
Samara had traveled for ten minutes in the Slytherin passageways before she realized that she had made a wrong turn. She was lost. She sat down on the floor and began to cry. Indeed, she was lost. This was the second unforgivable curse that she had done, and both wandlessly. Sure, she could blame the first one on Ethan, but this one, was no one's fault but her own. Remnants of the magic remained in her system, making her feel light headed. Carefully, she released.
Always release the Elemental magic entirely. She remembered the quote from her book, and she released again, thinking how forlorn she felt, releasing this magic on the cold stone floor, when she could have been in Draco's arms, sharing it with him. Even as she said it, she remembered the feel of his magic, kissing her, and then that same magic, fighting her imperio, and losing. She had bent him to her will. Not once, but twice. The thought gave her a heady feeling of exultation. She had felt him falter in the game of quit. She could have made him quit, or driven him to unconsciousness—if she really wanted to—She was certain of it—Well, almost certain--She loved the feel of the magic—the power---Abruptly, without even thinking, she pulled from the Air Elemental, and she felt the dizzying euphoria of it. It was flying. It was exactly like flying. She released slowly, imagining herself flying in that air. It helped to alleviate the emptiness caused by Draco's rejection of her apology.
But perhaps, she thought, she hadn't really been that much in control of Draco. He had imperioed her not once but five times. He did it! Why was he so mad at her? He had to be able to fight off her imperio. He was a strong wizard. Perhaps he just didn't want to hurt her. Yes, That was it. And she hadn't really hurt him with the imperio. She had stopped the spell—so why was he so mad at her? She had stopped before he told her—what?
She stood perplexed, letting the magic float languidly from her fingertips, back to the Air Elemental. Once it was gone, she felt sad and empty again. She raised her hands and spread her fingers, thinking this would be so much better outside in the cold breeze. It would be so much better with someone to share it with. She pulled long and hard from the Air Elemental, letting it fill her, forcing it to fill her, her arms shaking with the exertion and her fingers tingling. She didn't want to release. She didn't want to feel the emptiness again. She pulled a little more, tears coming to her eyes, and her breath in short gasps. There was no room in her being for the ordinary air in her lungs. She blew it out, still holding the magic in the rest of her body, and slowly she sucked air into her lungs from the Air Elemental, filling herself entirely with magic. When she could cling to the magic no longer, she blew it out abruptly releasing from lungs and skin simultaneously, filling the deserted dungeon corridor with a wild wind.
Then she started to walk. She had no idea if she was going the right way or not. She felt the little breeze in her hair. She hadn't released completely. She didn't care. She couldn't feel that emptiness. Not now. Not tonight. Next time, she would release completely.
Samara found herself in a familiar corridor. She was only steps from the Hufflepuff Common Room. She began to run, reaching the solid suit of armor that guarded the door in time to steady it from the wind she brought with her. She paused. "Friday," she whispered and the door opened to her. Inside of the Hufflepuff Common Room, a majority of the students were eating pumpkin pie and drinking hot apple cider. Samara looked around for a familiar face.
Susan Bones, came up to her. "Samara? What are you doing here? We're only supposed to have visitors from the other houses on the weekends."
"I wanted to see Sally Anne," blurted Samara, tears streaming. "Draco and I had—a fight."
Susan just looked at her. "Your hair is blowing," she said softly.
Hannah Abbot came up behind her. Sally Anne is in the Infirmary," said Hannah.
"Is she hurt?" Samara asked, concerned.
"No. It's her father."
"Father? But he's a muggle," said Samara, sniffling and wiping her eyes.
"This morning he drove his truck off of a bridge. Because of the owl Sally Anne got, the aurors were watching him. Dumbledore asked that he be brought here."
"Off a bridge?" Samara repeated stunned. "Is he—alright?"
"He's still unconscious. If he went to a muggle hospital, he would be dead, but Madam Pomfrey hopes she can help him," said Hannah.
"And if he awakens, Dumbledore wants to try to determine whose imperio forced him to drive the truck off of the bridge," added Susan.
"Imperio?" whispered Samara.
"It's a curse," Hannah Abbot explained. "An unforgivable curse—"
"Yeah. I know," said Samara, abruptly releasing the rest of the Elemental magic and letting the emptiness take root inside of her.
==
Next Chapter: More Ginny /Tom and some Ginny/Harry. Ohmygosh! Did I create a love triangle? No. Sorry. Not really Romance. The next Quiddich game and a brand new Weasley twin treat and lots of dark stuff starting.
Coming soon: An ADADA Field Trip, Draco's Sister, and more trips to the Chamber.
THANKS TO MY FAITHFUL REVIEWERS:
Ilwinterhofal Draco in the Chamber? Not exactly—but there are all those Slytherin passageways.
Kate Lynn Gosh, it's good to see you're back. Glad you think I've kept the minor characters in canon. I try, but I had a lot of this done before OOTP, which really made me have to re-think some things, so some of them might have slipped a little if you read OOTP, and of course Sirius is—well, the old Sirius.
If you like dark stuff—I know you do—Get ready, cause here it comes! I was so mired down in the middle of the next 5 chapters I had to write 'Twas the Order of the Phoenix (Parody poem) just to cheer myself up.
Trillium
Hey thinks for the name of the poem. Yes, I did read it in school and it does fit somehow. I think Ravenclaws who believe nothing should ever be sensored can get themselves in too deep sometimes.
Raven173 Padma evil? Nah. She's just a little haughty. And generation wise, it might not be Padma's father, It could be her Uncle or her grandfather or her Great Uncle. Sure we will find out eventually—maybe in the sequel.
Eizoku Grrrr Brothers. Polyjuice was fun, but as you can see, the time for fun and games is over.
ennui2 Yes, well he had reason to pout, I suppose. Yes they are making some assumptions. They are trying to figure out Parvati's dream, but that doesn't mean they are right. Remember, Ginny decided that they weren't going about it right and left to sit with Hermione.
With the Volde induced headache, I wanted the reader to realize that Harry has had this headache pretty much through the whole book but hasn't complained about it—remember I hadn't read OOTP, so this isn't really canon, but it will have to do Glad you liked the Polyjuice switch. I wanted to set up a few things for later, but it was pretty rough making it clear who was who. I hope it worked.
Kemenran
Thank you
Silverfox1
OK here's the Quick Quotes Quill in ADADA. Wait till you see the next ADADA class though. More Beabunny coming.
Eizoku
Thanks for your comments about the Chamber. More Chamber coming. Lots more chamber.
Melbell
More Chamber is coming. Lots more. Also, Samara is going to be in-depth into aura as in—what is Ginny doing with hers?
SORRY FOR THE SHORT COMMENTS TO YOU REVIEWERS, BUT I HOPE I ANSWERED ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS. IT'S LATE AND I WANTED TO GET THIS UP TO YOU TONIGHT BECAUSE I WON'T BE ABLE TO TOMORROW.
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. 10 REVIEWS TO THE NEXT CHAPTER.
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