Second update in as many days. Who is proud of me?
JKR owns them. There is a Buffy reference and a Monty Python reference also.
Please review.
Thanks nat.
*****
Keiran stood in the middle of the floor of the main dungeon in Malfoy Manor. A figure Astrid recognized as Voldemort, along with six men stood around the young boy. Keiran wore a black cloak, similar to those of the Death Eaters. The hood was pushed back and he looked up at the men surrounding him with a look of wide-eyed wonder on his face. His white- blonde hair hung back from his face as he watched the six men circle him. A small figure in the corner watched with more of a wide-eyed horror displayed in her silvery eyes. The seven men began a chant as they circled the boy. Astrid felt a sharp pain begin in her chest, and looked down only to notice a silvery-blue substance swirling out in front of her. The substance trailed over to her brother and clouded around him, partially obscuring her view of him. The pain in her chest grew worse. The men were relentless in their chanting. Astrid's mouth flew open in a silent scream and everything slowly went black.
Astrid sat straight up in her bed and looked at her watch. 6:15 a.m. Her forehead was damp from a cold sweat that had broken out due to her dream, and her ankle was throbbing excruciatingly. She looked at the beds of her dorm mates. Hailey, Madeline, and Evelyn still slept, but Karey lay flat on her back, clutching her teddy bear and staring at the ceiling. She hadn't slept much in the two weeks since Tallulah had disappeared. Astrid reached out to her nightstand and grabbed her journal. She opened the book, removed the quill from its holder, and flipped to a blank page. She pulled her curtains completely closed and stretched out on her bed to write.
Kat,
It's me again. So I had another dream about the ceremony that's supposed to take place this summer. I'm almost certain I die in the end. Everything goes black and I wake up, but my research and the downright painfulness of the dream makes me believe that I probably won't see the next school year. To say that scares me is the understatement of the century. I haven't told anyone about it. I'm afraid the boys and Dennis would stop talking to me and try to distance themselves from me to make it less painful for them when it happens. Hermione, Harry and Ron, I tend to think would worry. They've got enough to worry about as it is. Somehow saving the world seems a bit more important than a first year's problems. Okay. A lot more important than my problems. I should owl Dray, but after the attempt on his life, I seem to think that he's got more to worry about than this too. And besides, Lucius told me when I was eight that I wouldn't live to see my twelfth birthday, so it's not as though I haven't been expecting this. The nightmares suck, but I can handle them. Less than five months left with them anyway. I tend to think I'm being selfish about the whole matter anyway. I wasn't scared about it before, but now I'm here, and learning magic, and actually have good friends who know who and what I am and simply don't care. I don't want to leave them. That is selfish of me, isn't it?
Hot tears splashed down on the page, smearing the ink in places.
And now that the time is getting closer, I think I'm more scared because it seems more real. And the dreams... I don't want to die lying in the corner of the dungeon. Okay, so the corner of the dungeon wouldn't be bad if I could have someone there with me to hold my hand through it all. But a request to have Draco there would probably get him killed too, and he already watched Barrett go. I don't want to put him through watching me too. The only thing keeping me from laughing in all of their faces as I sail off the Astronomy Tower is the thought that just maybe by some freak accident I'll live through the ceremony and then all of this worry was for nothing. Well, okay, the thought of living through the ceremony and also the thought of the pain of hitting the ground after jumping. Well, I hear Karey and Madeline up. And this is slightly depressing anyway. I think I shall go get ready for the day. I'll write more soon.
Love Always
Astrid Malfoy
*****
"Banana," Astrid announced as she slid into her usual seat at breakfast wit Jason, Sawyer, Dennis and Nathan.
"Banana?" Ron asked. Astrid nodded. She plucked a piece of toast from the top of a stack near Sawyer and smeared it liberally with jam.
"It's what your nose looks like this morning," the tiny girl explained before sinking her teeth into her toast. Ron ran his fingers down his nose. Madame Pomfrey had set it the muggle way. This involved plenty of screaming like a first year girl on his part and a great amount of pointing and laughing on Astrid's.
"Did I mention rotten?" Astrid asked over her toast. "Definitely throw rotten in there." Ron glared at the girl. The swelling around his nose and eyes had all but disappeared, but the bruises had yet to fade. They had turned the brown and yellow shade that almost healed bruises do.
"Thank you, Miss Malfoy," Ron growled, glaring at the first year.
"You're welcome," Astrid replied brightly. Hermione folded her Daily Prophet and slapped it on the table with a sigh.
"Any word?" Ron asked.
"Not a thing," Hermione said. "It's been over two weeks and they're chasing their tails. Don't even really know where to start looking." She sighed and spooned a bit of eggs into her mouth.
"Bloody Ministry," Ron muttered.
"She could be anywhere though Ron," Astrid said. "And if they killed her, three year old bodies would be relatively easy to hide." Ron looked across the table at the tiny blonde.
"What would you know about that?" Ron questioned. Astrid's face morphed into a tiny scowl, identical to Draco's signature expression.
"Ron, what would I know about it?" she asked. She jumped up from the bench and took off towards the doors of the Hall. Only as the trio and first years watched her hasty exit did they notice her favoring her right foot severely as she walked. Harry reached over and tapped Ron lightly on the back of his head.
"Hermione," Ron said, looking down at his plate.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"Could you fix it so I can't talk. Ever. Again?" Ron requested.
*****
Outside the great hall, tears began to trail down Astrid's face. Her ankle still hurt from her dream. Severely. As though Voldemort was attempting to separate Keiran from her already. This pain went all of the way to the bone and radiated almost to her knee. Then Ron's comment had hit her harder than it should have. She decided to credit that to her throbbing ankle. She began limping down the stairs towards the potions dungeon. She hoped Sawyer or Jason would have the presence of mind to bring her bag along for her. She stared at the floor as she walked, to hide the tears in her eyes from any casual observers. She turned the corner onto another hall and instantly stepped into something very solid. She reeled backwards and looked up, only to stare directly at a Slytherin House crest on a black robe. She gasped and took two steps backwards, preparing to apologize.
"Lost?" a not unkind voice asked. Astrid shook her head no. The Slytherin hooked a finger under her chin and gently moved her head up to face him. Astrid slowly released the breath she'd been holding.
"You've been crying," Draco said. Astrid nodded.
"Tell me?" the older boy requested.
"Combination of something stupid someone said, a nightmare or two, and some fierce ankle pain," Astrid explained.
"Want to talk about it?" he asked. Astrid shrugged.
"What's there to say?" Astrid questioned. The tears started to pour faster. "My dream was about the ceremony." Draco stepped over and put his back against the wall. He slid down until he was seated on the floor. Then he patted a spot right next to him. Astrid sat. She folded her legs Indian style beneath her and rested her elbows on her knees. She placed her forehead on her clenched fists. Draco leaned back against the all with his feet pulled in towards his body and extended his arms straight out across his knees.
"That," he muttered.
"Yes. That." Astrid echoed. "Can you do me a favor?"
"What?" Draco asked warily. He didn't want to agree to anything he couldn't do.
"Make sure they don't get to Emma and the baby," Astrid requested.
"I can try, Astrid, but they almost got me. I'm supposed to be the strongest one. And why are you putting me up to this?" he questioned.
"You know as well as I do that I probably won't make it past June. From what I can tell, they're planning to rid Kei of the parasite that is me. Every dream I've had has showed me dead. Everything I've read about separating twins says it usually kills the twin in my role. At very least, I'll be a squib," Astrid cried.
"Have you read anything about things you can do to protect yourself?" Draco questioned. He wanted to tell her that everything would be fine and she'd be perfectly okay, but from what he'd heard, he would be lying if he did. Astrid shook her head.
"The ceremony is antiquated. When it was performed regularly, it was because people thought twins were one person who had been split in two. Because of this, neither twin would amount to much because they only had half the magic they needed. They chose the stronger twin and performed the ceremony, which took the magic out of the weaker twin and gave it to the stronger twin. This usually killed the supposedly weaker twin," Astrid explained.
"Can I give you some brotherly advice here? I know I haven't done it before much, but I think I've got some now," Draco said.
"Sure," Astrid sniffed.
"Who are your best friends?" Draco asked.
"Dennis and Jason and Sawyer and Emma," Astrid listed.
"Besides them," Draco prompted. "The famous ones." This came through clenched teeth, as though admitting they were famous and his sister's friends hurt him.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione?" Astrid questioned.
"Right in one," Draco replied. "Or three. Set the mudblood loose in the library. Tell her your problem then let her go and see what she comes up with."
"Okay," Astrid agreed. "I will."
"Alright. I need to go grab some breakfast before class," Draco stood. "I'll also owl Emma and tell her to keep her ears open." Astrid stood and faced her brother.
"Owl me if you need anything," he offered. Astrid nodded. Draco reached over and tousled her white-blonde hair.
"Thanks," she whispered. She stepped around him and started down the hall. He watched her limp away.
"And Draco?" Astrid asked, when she got to the other end of the corridor. She stopped and turned to face him.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Don't call her a mudblood," Astrid scolded. She quickly stepped around the corner before Draco could reply. He shook his head and turned back to head towards breakfast. He took a few steps before he felt the increasingly familiar sensation of someone watching him.
"Borgin," he guessed, beating her to the punch. He heard a right throaty laugh from the shadows.
"Malfoy," Contessa said. She stepped into the hallway just in front of the fifth year. "You're getting good at this."
"You could be a little less creepy, you know," Draco spat.
"What's the fun in that?" Contessa asked. She laughed again.
"What do you want?" Draco asked, glaring at the older girl. Her laughter died down to a low chuckle. She tucked a strand of hair back into the messy bun on top of her head. The signature bold bangles slid towards her elbow as she did so. She blinked those weird golden brown eyes twice at Draco.
"I don't think the question is what I want, but what you want," Contessa replied.
"What I want?" Draco said, glaring at the mysterious girl before him. Contessa held her hands out to her sides.
"That is what I said," she replied.
"Wait. Let me make sure I have the full measure of this. You appear when you think I need your assistance, you charge me an outrageous fee, and then you don't even give me the information I need?"
"Wouldn't want to make it easy for you," Contessa purred.
"Now you think I need your help again? And after last time you think I'll take it?" Draco asked. Contessa nodded.
"I hardly think so!" Draco spat. Contessa reached out and dragged a long shimmering dark green fingernail down his jawbone, starting just below his ear and leaving off at his chin. Draco found himself mesmerized by the girl's touch and entranced by her eyes.
"Meet me in the Transfiguration Classroom during lunch today," she whispered. She stepped close enough that they were almost touching, but not quite. Their only point of contact remained her finger on his chin. He could smell the scent of lavender or perhaps jasmine incense wafting off her hair.
"No," he managed to choke out. "I don't need your help." He sensed Contessa's lips hovering just next to his left ear.
"Meet me in the Transfiguration classroom during lunch," she repeated, voice barely audible. He felt her hot breath on his ear and he was paralyzed. She slipped away from him and slid back into the shadows before he could find his voice for another protest. He tentatively reached up and brushed his hand over his still tingling ear.
*****
"What should I do, short of permanently hexing my mouth shut?" Ron asked. He ran both hands through his hair, causing it to stand straight up.
"Ron, it's Astrid," Hermione said. "Be realistic."
"Call her chica, and punch her brother and everything will be right in her world," Harry supplied. Hermione laughed appreciatively but Ron just scowled. Harry shrugged.
"So all it took was Seamus forcing you to eat rock to make you calm down?" Harry laughed. "Wish we'd though of that sooner!"
"Not funny, Harry, that really hurt!" Ron spat. He ran his fingers down his still sore nose. The injury had most healed but due to the severity of the break, his nose deviated to the left slightly. Parvati sighed and called the new look dreamy. Mandy declared herself the luckiest witch in Hogwarts. Hermione and Hannah rolled their eyes through the whole ordeal.
"I'm sure," Harry said. "I never said it looked like it felt good!" Harry's black eye had faded to the point it looked like he was wearing purplish-blue eye shadow.
"If you're so worried that she'll hate you, take her flying after practice tonight," he suggested.
"Harry, man, you're a genius!" Ron declared.
"No," Harry objected. "That's Hermione. I'm the boy with the halfway decent luck that gets us into messes."
"It's okay," Hermione assured him. "We love you anyway." The trio stepped into the Defense against the Dark Arts class.
"Guys, Professor Dumbledore couldn't be here today. He left us a note that we all have to touch before it will show us instructions for the class," Parvati explained. Parvati, Lavender, Dean, Seamus, and Neville already stood in the center of the room, crowded around a piece of parchment. Ron and Hermione stepped over and each placed a finger on the paper. Harry stood back for a moment.
"Come on, Harry," Neville insisted.
"Did anyone check to make sure that's not a port key?" He asked.
"Stop being paranoid, Potter," Seamus scolded.
"Portkeys can't be timed by people Harry, they're set by times!" Hermione insisted. Harry shrugged and stepped up between his best friends. He noticed Ron's wand in his shirt pocket and Hermione's tucked in the waistband of hers skirt. He wedged himself between Ron and Hermione and took a deep breath.
"Stop being such a pansy, Potter, and touch the paper!" Seamus demanded, jokingly. Harry reached out and rested a finger on the paper.
"Now then," Seamus began. Before he could finish his sentence, the group felt the familiar hooking sensation behind their navels. They all pitched forward and moments later found themselves tumbling into a pile in grass. Harry was the first to pull himself from the pile.
"Can I say I told you so yet?" Harry questioned. Seamus pulled the parchment from Neville's trembling fingers.
"We have your professor," he read. "If you want him back, come get him in the house on the hill."
"So we're on a rescue mission." Dean muttered as he turned to look at the house just behind him. "I heard about this from Kyle Burns. Dumbledore is his own captor and we have to get through a series of obstacles he set up to get to him. At least I think."
"What do we do?" Neville asked, voice shaking slightly. Seamus shrieked as the letter burst into flames and burned in his hand.
"Go get him," Harry, Ron and Hermione chorused.
"Wouldn't it just be smarter to go back and get help?" Parvati queried. Ron and Hermione looked at Harry for guidance.
"Would you like to sit up there waiting while we run back to Hogwarts for help?" Harry snapped.
"Where are we anyway?" Ron asked.
"Exactly!" Harry cried.
"Point proven, point proven," Parvati muttered.
"So what's the plan?" Lavender asked, looking to Harry.
"Can I conference with Ron and Hermione for a moment?" Harry requested. Seamus and Dean nodded Harry pulled his two best friends several meters away form the group.
"Why does he have to conference with Ron and Hermione?" Lavender questioned.
"Cor, Lavender! How many times have the three of them saved the bloody day?" Seamus asked. "Let them have a bloody conference if they want a conference!"
"Plan?" Harry asked when his friends were sufficiently out of earshot of the rest of the group.
"Plan," Ron echoed. "Since when do we make plans?"
"Since this became a fifth year Gryffindor thing rather than a three of us thing," Hermione said.
"Exactly," Harry agreed. "So what should we do?"
"Stick together," Ron and Hermione chorused.
"Right," Harry said. "And don't leave anyone behind."
"Of course not," Ron said. Hermione just nodded.
"I'll lead, Ron, you should bring up the rear and make sure no one gets behind you," Harry instructed. Ron nodded.
"What about me?" Hermione questioned.
"Stay invisible," Harry replied.
"Invisible?" Hermione asked indignantly. "Just because I'm a girl and usually handle the research end of things doesn't mean I'm not just as capable as you two at fighting!"
"I never said you weren't," Harry replied. "I simply meant to stay completely invisible like Bill taught us so you can get out and save us all if something were to go weird," Harry said. Hermione mouth snapped shut and she instantly turned bright red.
"Oh," she squeaked. "I can do that." She quickly faded to invisibility. Ron reached over and patted her invisible head.
"Ready then?" Harry asked. Ron and Hermione nodded, though they couldn't see Hermione. Ron and Harry turned back towards the rest of the group.
"Have a good conference?" Lavender asked cheerfully. Harry and Ron nodded.
"Have a plan?" Dean asked. The boys nodded again.
"I'm leading, Ron's brining up the rear, the rest of you keep your wands out and ready and stay between us. Stick together and no one gets left behind," Harry explained.
"Problem!" Lavender announced. "My wand is back at Hogwarts!"
"Lavender!" Seamus, Dean, and Parvati chorused. The blonde shrugged. She looked down at her shoes and picked up a stick. She broke it off about the length of a wand and held it pointed at Seamus.
"There," she announced. "It looks like I'm armed and if anything gets too close, I'll just beat it with the stick!"
"Where did we find you?" Seamus asked. Lavender just smiled at him.
"Where's Hermione?" Dean questioned.
"Acting as our back up," Harry replied. "Now if you lot are quite ready, lets go. Stay close, stay quiet, and hex anything that moves." He started towards the house. Seamus and Neville stepped up to flank him. Lavender and Parvati filed into line behind Seamus and Neville and Dean fell in step with Ron at the back of the group. Harry led the group up to the gates in front of the house without incident. The gates, however, slammed shut as soon as they got within two meters of them. The gates were about eight feet tall and made of wrought iron. The bars of the gates were spaced about 6 inches apart, too close together for anyone to fit through. The tops of the gates were topped with six-inch spikes that gave them a very lethally foreboding air. Harry tucked his wand into his pocket and walked up to the gates. He placed a hand on each of them and shook fiercely. They didn't budge.
"What do you propose we do?" Seamus asked. After the incident with the fight two weeks earlier, all of the Gryffindor boys were closer than they had ever been. Hermione had spent much time rolling her eyes at the five of them. Just like boys, to have the brawl of the year to bring them closer.
"Climb it," Harry said, shaking the gates again. They still didn't move.
"Climb?" Parvati asked. "You expect me of no athletic ability to climb? That?"
"No Parvati," Dean said. "We expect you to grow wings and fly over it." Lavender laughed at the pair of them.
"Don't laugh, stick girl," Parvati spat.
"Who is going first?" Seamus asked.
"I will," Harry volunteered. "And then you or Dean can come over. Ron, and whoever is left can stay on this side and help Lavender and Parvati over and then they can climb over themselves."
"But," Ron began. Harry shot him a look that said, "You're responsible for Hermione."
"Sounds like a plan," Seamus said.
"You're getting awfully good at those," Ron muttered. Harry wrapped his hands around the bar and placed one foot under them.
"Someone be ready to catch me if I fall," he said. Seamus and Dean both nodded. Parvati cast a quick charm to cushion the ground on the other side.
"It's cushioned over there," she said. Harry nodded. He put his other foot on the bar, and using his weight to balance himself, began an awkward walk up the bar. He went hand over hand and moved his feet slowly to propel himself towards the top.
"Harry man, if you slip, Little Harry is going to cease to exist," Seamus called. Harry tried not to let his classmate's comment get to him. He finally reached the top of the gate and glanced back at his friends.
"Cushioned," Parvati reminded him. With that, he sprang over the top, careful not to catch his stomach on the spikes. He hit the ground in a roll, and thanks to Parvati's charm, didn't hurt himself at all.
"Hey wait, stick girl has an idea here that may actually be better than Harry Potter's," Lavender announced, just as Dean was preparing to scale the gates.
"So lets have it," Dean said.
"All of us," she paused for a moment. "Okay, all of us save me can cast a levitation charm, right?" Her classmates all nodded.
"Well now that Harry has proved once again that he's super human, why don't the rest of us just levitate?" the blonde questioned.
"Crikey, I believe stick girl has a plan," Seamus announced. Dean stepped away from the gate. Only then did Ron realize Hermione had been muttering "wingardium leviosa" repetitively under her breath so only he could hear. She landed a heel on his toes because Lavender got her idea before Ron could pick up on it.
"Who is first?" Harry asked, wand out.
"Send stick girl, it was her idea," Parvati said. Lavender nodded her assent. Harry quickly levitated her over the gate.
"Now how much easier was that than what you did?" she asked. Hermione jerked an elbow into Ron's side.
"Be still," she muttered. Ron froze. Hermione clambered onto his back.
"Now we don't have to give me up," she whispered into his ear. He turned back to the gate where Lavender was using her trusty stick to pretend to levitate Parvati over the gate.
"If I ever need rescuing, please send someone besides this lot," Hermione begged from her spot on Ron's back.
"Don't worry. Harry and I will come for you if you ever need rescuing," he agreed. Harry quickly levitated Seamus over the gate. Seamus turned and got Dean, while Harry took care of Parvati. This left Ron and Hermione for Harry to lift as soon as Parvati had landed. Dean pulled Neville across. Lavender had taken to bouncing on the ground, as it was still soft from Parvati's cushioning charm.
"This is really neat!" she said.
"Lav, love, if I ever need rescuing, don't come along," Seamus joked. Lavender quit bouncing and glared at the boy. He smiled sheepishly.
"Come on guys, to the house," Harry insisted. "Back like you were before we decided to fly." Ron had to literally pry Hermione off his back. If flying a broom scared Hermione, flying a Ron scared her even more. Harry started towards the house, and everyone fell into position behind him. About 200 steps from the gate, they ran into their next obstacle. Harry stopped to listen for any approaching danger. The only thing he heard was the sound of his classmates crashing into each other behind him due to his sudden stop. As soon as he was still for more than five seconds, his feet began sinking into the mud.
"HOLY COOKIE DOUGH!" Seamus cried, when he realized the mud had risen to fully cover his boots.
"Is the mud a Snape fecking son uv a bitch too?" Dean asked, as he tried to pry a foot from the mud. At this point, Harry was up to his mid shins in mud.
"Any more bright ideas, stick girl?" Parvati asked. "These are new shoes."
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do have an idea," Lavender said. She twisted around to face Dean. "Here Thomas, reach down and grab my knee." Dean did as he was instructed, lacing his fingers behind Lavender's left knee.
"Now pull my foot towards you," Lavender instructed. Dean gave the girls knee a not so gentle tug and her foot flew free of the mud. Her other foot also flew free, as Dean kept pulling even after her left knee was free. Her momentum carried her directly backwards, where she landed flat on her back in the mud. Brown mud splattered up over her blonde hair and coated her school uniform.
"This has to be the most spectacularly icky thing I think I've ever done," Lavender cried from her spot in the mud.
"You're not sinking," Seamus observed. Lavender turned her head to look at the knees of those about her.
"You're right, I'm not!" she cried. "More points for stick girl!" She bent her knees up and began an awkward sort of crawl towards the edge of the mud. She slid along flat on her back, pushing mud out of the way with her head, propelled by her feet. She clamped her hands over her face to keep the mud out of her face. When she reached the edge of the mud, she stood. Her entire back was coated with mud.
"Yep, spectacularly nasty, but I'm out!" she cried.
"Who is next?" Dean asked.
"Me before my knees disappear?" Harry requested. Seamus reached down and flipped Harry to where the boy was lying flat on his back. Following Lavender's example, he covered his face and slid to the edge of the mud. Meanwhile, Seamus had freed Neville and Parvati and Dean had freed Ron. Hermione had hissed to Ron that she had been trailing far enough to avoid the mud. The trio lying in the mud looked like disoriented brown crabs as they pushed themselves towards Lavender and Harry.
"Now how is the last person going to get out of this?" Dean asked, eyeing Seamus warily. Seamus reached over and knocked Dean into the mud.
"Stupid human trick I learned to impress my little sisters," he said. Dean shrugged as much as one can when lying half in thick mud and began moving towards the edge. Seamus carefully put his hands above his head and began bending over backwards to touch his hands in the mud. He had planned on doing a backbend and lowering himself into the mud. As soon as his hands touched the mud, they sunk to his elbows, so only his arms, head and legs were in the mud with no hope for the rest of him, short of dislocating a couple of joints.
"Wait, I've got this one," Harry said, pulling out his wand. "Accio Seamus." The Irishman shot out of the mud and directly at Harry. He fell to a stop at Harry's feet. Standing, he shook his head and splattered mud over everyone standing near him.
"Couldn't we have just done that to begin with?" Lavender whined. "We would have been much cleaner!"
"You're the genius who decided to crawl. What was your original plan anyway?" Dean asked.
"I was going to crawl up you and jump off of your shoulders towards the bank," Lavender laughed.
"Can we continue?" Ron asked. Forgoing cleaning charms, the very muddy group and the still clean, still invisible Hermione fell back into formation and headed towards the house.
"Don't stop this time," Seamus warned as Harry continued towards their destination. The group made it to the porch without incident. They all climbed onto the rickety old porch. Harry reached for the handle of the front door. Before he could get the door open, a horrific crack sounded and the floor of the porch gave way. The group fell almost 10 meters before coming to a crashing halt on the dirt floor of the pit they had slipped into.
"What do you propose we do now?" Parvati asked. "Any ideas?"
"Stick girl?" Seamus asked.
"Is everyone okay?" Harry questioned. He landed a bit away from the group. Everyone else landed in a tangle of limbs in the center of the floor. The group slowly stood, shaking out their limbs to make sure everything was still in proper working order.
"So we do what now?" Parvati asked. Lavender emitted a bit of a squeak and pointed towards the dark corner. A tall figure in a black robe slid towards the group. Harry turned to see what had been advancing on his back. The rattling breathing suggested dementor, but he didn't necessarily feel cold.
"Boggart," he said. "We know how to fight these." He pointed his wand at this thing and muttered "Riddikulus." The dementor stumbled on his robes and fell face first into the red dirt. Parvati stepped forward. The dementor morphed into a copy of Parvati with shining grey hair, staring at a very empty left hand.
"Riddikulus" Parvati said. Instantly, her clone had a large diamond ring on its ring finger.
"NO WAND!" Lavender screeched when Seamus pushed her forward. She dived backwards and hid behind the boy. The Parvati clone morphed into a tiny girl with Seamus's hair color and the same bright blue eyes. She lay flat on her back on the floor, completely still.
"Lu," Seamus muttered.
"Do the charm," Parvati muttered.
"Riddikulus," Seamus choked out. Tallulah's form jumped up off the floor and vaulted into Seamus's arms. Somehow Ron managed to be the boggart's next victim. The child in Seamus's arms quickly turned into one of Aragog's descendents. Seamus screamed and Parvati and Lavender flattened themselves back against the walls. Dean and Harry gasped and Neville went deathly pale. Ron did a combination of all four. He managed to mutter the charm though, and quickly enough everyone in the hole was laughing as the spiders legless body rolled around on the floor, much as it had back in their third year. Neville stepped up and Professor Snape appeared from the spider's body.
"Riddikulus," the boy muttered, almost as easily as Harry had. Quickly enough, Snape was dressed in a lei, a grass skirt, and coconuts, doing a very graceful hula dance. Lavender and Parvati broke into gales of laughter. Seamus and Dean looked at each other.
"What's the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" they chorused, before breaking into laughter themselves.
"Merlin Neville, that was a sight I could have lived my whole life without seeing!" Ron cried between bouts of laughter. The hula dancing Professor Snape turned into a dementor and headed back towards Harry. He quickly made the thing fall again. As the rest of his friends were still laughing from Neville's biggest fear, the boggart burst into a puff of smoke.
"Wonderful guys," Harry said, as their laughter subsided.
"Now what?" Lavender said. "I'm ready for something else."
"This coming from the wandless wonder," Seamus muttered.
"I don't think you'd be nearly as attracted to me if I HAD a wand," Lavender replied. She turned back to Harry. "So what's the plan, captain?" Harry turned bright red at Lavender's statement to Seamus.
"Aww look, I made him blush!" Lavender squealed. Harry spluttered a few times in an attempt to regain his voice.
"What's the plan, captain?" Dean asked, in a dead on imitation of Lavender.
"Get out of this hole?" Harry asked.
"You plan on doing this how?" Seamus questioned.
"The same way we got over the gates," Harry said. He pulled his wand and pointed it at Lavender. Before he could fire off the spell to lift the girl, the porch over their heads repaired itself, closing out all daylight.
"That's a hell of a plan, captain, but I hardly think it'll work," Dean said, looking at the ceiling. Hermione muttered a spell sending a jet of her signature bluebell flames to the floor of the makeshift room. They provided an eerie blue cast to everything.
"Any more bright ideas?" Lavender asked. Harry turned around and knocked on the seemingly solid dirt wall behind them. It rang like a drum skin.
"So this wall isn't as solid as I thought it was," Harry said.
"What are we going to do, run through it?" Seamus asked.
"Certainly," Harry replied. "We should only knock a hole big enough for us to go through, so it should work. And I guarantee you this house is held up by magic anyway." Ron quickly fired a spell at the corner where the porch met the dirt wall.
"What?" he asked. "It's the spell that holds the attic on our house. Dad taught it to me last summer after Fred and George blew the entire room off of the top."
"Smart," Harry said. He backed up to stand next to his friend. Seamus and Dean figured out the plan without being told, and Seamus dragged Neville into the line.
"On the count of three," Ron took charge. "Run at the wall."
"One.. Two.." Harry counted. "Three." The five boys charged at the supposedly hollow dirt wall. The five hit the wall at approximately the same time, and at the same time, they fell backwards into the middle of the floor. Lavender and Parvati moved to stand over the boys.
"Any more brilliant plans, skipper?" Dean asked, rubbing the spot where his shoulder made contact with the wall.
"I've got one," Parvati said.
"What's that, Pav?" Dean asked.
"It's a nifty little thing called the Reductor curse that we learned in Defense last year," Parvati replied. "If we all cast them at once, the wall will go away, and you guys will still be here in one piece."
"Why didn't we listen to stick girl's sidekick in the first place?" Dean asked, still rubbing his shoulder.
"Because she didn't speak up," Harry replied.
"Wanted to see if you lot would actually try to charge through the wall," Parvati explained.
"Well we did," Seamus muttered. He jumped up and brushed himself off. "So reductors on three?" Both of the girls nodded as the rest of the boys staggered to their feet. The six present visible with wands turned to face the wall.
"One, Two, THREE!" Lavender cried.
"REDUCTO!" Six voices roared simultaneously. The red clay of the wall blew backwards into the basement of the house.
"See how much better Parvati's idea works?" Parvati asked. All five boys glared at the girl. Harry stepped into the dim basement.
"Someone grab the fire," he muttered. Ron reached down and picked up the fire.
"Alright, ready," Ron said, holding the fire out in front of his body.
"I think Weasley's the super human one in the group!" Lavender squealed.
"I think stick girl wants a sidekick!" Dean laughed.
"Lets go," Harry said. He turned to his right and started down a hallway. Seamus and Neville thought to light their wands and followed him, training the thin beams of light out in front of the leader.
"Stupefy!" a voice from behind the group called. Parvati collapsed, victim of the spell.
"Stupefy, stupefy!" The second spells ricocheted of the walls before dissipating against the back wall. One nearly hit Seamus. Ron spun on his heel and began firing spells back at their attackers. Dean dropped to his knees behind Ron and leaned from behind his cover. He, too, began return fire on their attackers. More stunners, paired with various other jinxes and hexes began flying at the group.
"I know Kung Fu!" Lavender cried, stick pointed at the attackers. Dean reached up and touched the scabbed over spot on his head from his last encounter with someone who knew kung fu. An attacker aimed a spell directly at Lavender's head. She squealed and dropped to the ground. She scrambled between the wall and Parvati's frozen body, using her friend as cover from the fire. Seamus went down, victim of a particularly vicious tickling charm. Ron got caught by a stray stunner and flipped backwards over Dean. While Dean was busy making sure Ron got to the floor safely, he, too, was taken out by a stunner. Harry crouched down behind Seamus, but before he could fire off any more charms, one of the pair of attackers fired a charm that bound him to his friends and pushed them all through the wall into a room next door. The pair of attackers followed and Hermione followed them. She was still invisible. The seven fifth years stopped in the middle of the floor. Seamus still laughed uproariously from the charm. Lavender looked as though she was trying to figure out who found her in the wonderful hiding space she had found. Harry looked generally annoyed, and everyone else was unconscious.
"We shall return with the master momentarily," one of the black robed figures said. He opened a door on the far end of the room and walked out.
"Hermione!" Harry hissed.
"What good is she going to do us?" Lavender asked. "She hasn't been here all along."
"Look, stick girl," Hermione's voice sounded from the wall they had entered the room through. She pulled out her wand and cast a spell, making all of the ropes disappear. Harry jumped to his feet and quickly revived Ron and stopped the tickling charm on Seamus. Hermione revived Parvati, Dean, and Neville.
"Okay guys, they'll be back soon," Harry said.
"Do we have a plan, captain?" Lavender asked with a broad smile at Harry. Harry pointed at the door.
"Hex anything that walks through that," he said.
"With what?" Lavender asked.
"Change of plans for you," Harry said.
"Go stand next to the door and whack anything that walks through with your stick," Seamus laughed.
"Not a bad idea, Seamus," Harry said. "Only I think we should give Dean or Ron or someone the stick rather than Lavender."
"No fair!" Lavender cried. "I found it first."
"May I see the stick pretty please?" Seamus asked. He poked out his bottom lip and widened his eyes in a puppy dog face. Lavender pulled the stick from her pocket and handed it to her boyfriend.
"But only cause you asked nicely," she said. Seamus turned around and tossed the stick to Harry, who threw it to Hermione.
"We need a bat," he announced. Hermione quickly transfigured one from the stick. She handed it back to Harry who handed it to Dean. Dean promptly took the bat and went to stand next to the door.
"Everyone else go stand around the edges of the room. We hex what Dean doesn't hit," Harry instructed. The group dispersed and patiently watched the door. Harry stationed himself in the back corner and watched the rest of the room.
"Good job!" a familiar voice said. The teenagers all turned to look as their DADA professor and headmaster appeared in the center of the room.
"You're here?" Neville asked.
"We freed you?" Lavender questioned.
"Yes, Mr. Longbottom, I am here. No, Miss Brown, you did not fully free me, but I decided that since Mr. Thomas over there was fully ready to decapitate my assistants with the baseball bat, it was time to end the exercise," Dumbledore explained. "You all were only a few moments away from finding me anyway."
"So wait, this was all a class exercise?" Lavender asked.
"Yes, stick girl," Dumbledore replied with a small smile on his face. "You would have had more aid if Mr. Thomas hadn't guessed correctly to begin with. But you found the shortcut as it was. Now if you all would all step over here, we shall go back to Hogwarts so you may change out of your muddy clothes before lunch. For the next class, I want three feet of parchment on the purposes of this exercise besides getting Miss Brown a nickname that she won't soon live down."
*****
"Malfoy," Contessa's voice came from the doorway to the transfiguration classroom.
"Borgin. I'm impressed. You entered through the door and not the shadows," Draco said. He leaned against his desk in the back of the classroom, legs crossed at the ankles, and arms crossed over his chest. Contessa stood framed by the doorway. Her hair was still piled on top of her head. She wore a black robe open over a thick black floor-length skirt that wasn't standard school issue and the white shirt, grey sweater vest and Slytherin tie that were.
"I do allow myself the convention from time to time," Contessa joked. She glided across the room to where he stood. She moved with a mysterious grace, almost as if she wasn't moving at all, but floating through space.
"What do you want?" Draco questioned.
"Draco, I believe we've already been through this," Contessa reminded him.
"Okay, okay," Draco amended. "What do I need?" Contessa smiled at him.
"First of all, you need my silence about the fact that you like your sister a little more than you say you do." Draco opened his mouth to protest. Contessa dragged one of her impossibly long fingernails across his lips, pulling them closed.
"You also need your sister's life," Contessa said. She removed the finger from Draco's lips.
"You think you can help me?" Draco asked. Contessa nodded.
"What can you do that we can't?" Draco questioned.
"Draco, my mother was kicked out of her tribe in Romania when she met my father. Just because she lives in England doesn't mean she stopped practicing the old ways and didn't teach me," Contessa said.
"Whoa, wait," Draco interrupted. "Tribe? Old ways?" Contessa nodded.
"My mother was of a tribe of Romany people, Gypsy, if you will, in central Romania," Contessa explained.
"So you're a gypsy," Draco stuttered. Contessa shrugged easily.
"I am in the I-know-their-magic sense of the word." She looked down at her bangles and skirts. "Okay. I dress sort of like them too."
"Is that how you do the freaky shadows thing?" Draco questioned. Contessa shook her head.
"Those are definitely things I learned from Father's side of the family," she whispered.
"So what can you do for my little sister?" Draco moved to the matter at hand. Contessa stepped back from Draco and began a slow walk around the table. Her feet made no sound on the floor and she tapped her fingers together as she thought.
"Well," she said finally. "I could always place a protection spell on her life force that would allow them to take her magic, but not her life."
"Why couldn't I do that?" Draco asked. Contessa smiled at him.
"Tell me, Draco," she murmured, drawing his name into more than two syllables. "Where exactly is one's life force, what is it, and how much needs to be protected to assure she'll live?" Draco opened his mouth to respond but promptly closed it again. Contessa dragged a fingernail down the bridge of Draco's nose and tapped it once on the end.
"You do need my help," she purred. She stepped close to him, allowing one hand to rest flat against the plane of his chest.
"How much this time?" he questioned.
"I just ask one thing of you," she replied.
"And this is for researching, creating, and casting the spell," Draco clarified. Contessa nodded.
"Just one thing," she insisted. She ran her fingernail over the outside of his left ear.
"What's that?" Draco questioned. Contessa leaned in, letting her lips brush Draco's ear lobe ever so lightly.
"A kiss," she murmured, directly into his ear.
"A kiss," Draco echoed, thoroughly shocked. "Aren't you supposed to ask for my soul or something?" Contessa stepped closer so that mere inches separated their bodies. She laughed lightly before responding.
"We're not in the habit of taking souls, just giving them back," she purred.
"So all you want is a kiss," Draco said, swallowing hard.
"All I'm asking for is a kiss," Contessa corrected. She brushed her lips over his ear lobe again.
"So it's a deal then?" Draco asked. Contessa stepped away form Draco and held out her right hand. He slid his warm hand into her cool one and they shook.
"It's a deal," she agreed.
*****
"Hey chica," Ron said, looking down at the little girl standing next to him on the Quidditch pitch.
"Hey Ron," Astrid replied, staring down at her shoes. "Hermione said for me to meet you out here."
"Are you still mad about this morning?" Ron questioned. Astrid nodded. Ron reached down and tried to pull her face up so she could look at him. She smacked his hand away and shook her head, looking at the ground still.
"I'm sorry," Ron said. "Really, I am. You should know by now that my mouth often talks before my brain has a chance to process what it's saying. And most of the time my mouth is way off in the appropriateness of what comes out." Astrid ventured to look up at Ron out of the corner of her eye.
"Come on, what can I do to make it up to you?" Ron asked.
"Sell you first born as food for the yaks in Siberia," Astrid muttered. Ron looked at the girl as if she had lost her mind.
"What did you just say?" he asked.
"It was just a suggestion." Astrid shrugged.
"Okay. What can I do short of selling my first born?" Ron asked. "How about flying?" Astrid looked up at him with a smile on her face.
"Sounds good to me," she said. Ron picked up his broom and mounted it.
"I'm driving!" Astrid declared. She clambered onto the broom in front of him.
"Merlin help me," Ron said, looking skyward. He quickly kicked off the ground and he and Astrid shot into the air. Astrid squealed as she pulled the broom into a steep climb to the level of the Quidditch goals. She slowly took them in a circuit of the field and the pulled the nose of the broom straight up. They flipped over backwards and did a neat roll before she evened them out.
"Warn me next time, okay?" Ron requested.
"Certainly, banana nose," Astrid squealed. She pulled the broom back to an upside down position.
"Warning," she called.
"Not fair!" Ron insisted. Astrid laughed maniacally. The pair continued flying about the pitch for the next twenty minutes. Then Astrid put them in a steep dive that left Ron ready to jump off the broom before she pulled out of it.
"Land and land now! Your flying is over for the night!" he insisted. Astrid slowly touched down and dismounted the broom. Ron climbed off the broom as well. Before he could pick it up, Astrid turned and flung her arms around his waist.
"Thank you so much!" she said into his chest. He patted the little girl roughly on her back.
"No problem, chica. Just no more freaking out when I say something stupid. Because you know as well as I do that I do more than my fair share of it," he said. Astrid giggled and released her friend.
"I'm sorry I went off," she replied. "I have had an absolutely horrid day. I had a dream about Keiran and You-Know-Who, and then I talked to Draco and things were just rotten."
"What did Draco say?" Ron asked, a threatening tone overtaking his voice.
"Nothing, he was actually helpful. Told me to tell you guys about my problem and see if you could help me," Astrid said.
"Your problem?" Ron questioned.
"Yep," Astrid replied. "You-Know-Who is going to go through a ceremony this summer to make it so Keiran's not my twin anymore. The process of the separation will most likely kill me."
"WHAT?" Ron questioned.
"You heard me," Astrid said. "Kill me. As in this time next year, Astrid Malfoy will cease to exist!"
"And your parents are letting him go through with this?" Ron asked. Astrid nodded. She had begun watching their shoes as they walked, and was amazed at the sheer size of Ron's feet next to her own tiny ones.
"Lucius doesn't care and Mum doesn't have much of a choice. Draco is going to look for some sort of protection spell. And I was supposed to ask if you guys would hit the library for me too, because we know how Hermione is. But she does have O.W.L.S. coming up and everything," Astrid said. She kicked at a clump of dirt.
"O.W.L.S. be damned," Ron declared. "We'll research. I think we can handle failing O.W.L.S. better than we can handle losing a friend."
"Did you ever think you'd say that about a Malfoy?" Astrid questioned.
"I don't see the Malfoy anymore, chica," Ron said. "Only the Astrid." At that statement, tears began pouring down the girls face. Loud sobs wracked her body. Ron dropped his broom and turned to her, arms extended. She jumped into his arms and buried her face in his shoulder, much as she had outside the hospital wing after visiting Draco for the first time in February. He held her with one arm and ran the other hand over her hair.
"I'm scared," she sobbed. Speechless, Ron sank to the ground. He rocked easily back and forth, rubbing the girls back.
"I am too," he finally agreed.
JKR owns them. There is a Buffy reference and a Monty Python reference also.
Please review.
Thanks nat.
*****
Keiran stood in the middle of the floor of the main dungeon in Malfoy Manor. A figure Astrid recognized as Voldemort, along with six men stood around the young boy. Keiran wore a black cloak, similar to those of the Death Eaters. The hood was pushed back and he looked up at the men surrounding him with a look of wide-eyed wonder on his face. His white- blonde hair hung back from his face as he watched the six men circle him. A small figure in the corner watched with more of a wide-eyed horror displayed in her silvery eyes. The seven men began a chant as they circled the boy. Astrid felt a sharp pain begin in her chest, and looked down only to notice a silvery-blue substance swirling out in front of her. The substance trailed over to her brother and clouded around him, partially obscuring her view of him. The pain in her chest grew worse. The men were relentless in their chanting. Astrid's mouth flew open in a silent scream and everything slowly went black.
Astrid sat straight up in her bed and looked at her watch. 6:15 a.m. Her forehead was damp from a cold sweat that had broken out due to her dream, and her ankle was throbbing excruciatingly. She looked at the beds of her dorm mates. Hailey, Madeline, and Evelyn still slept, but Karey lay flat on her back, clutching her teddy bear and staring at the ceiling. She hadn't slept much in the two weeks since Tallulah had disappeared. Astrid reached out to her nightstand and grabbed her journal. She opened the book, removed the quill from its holder, and flipped to a blank page. She pulled her curtains completely closed and stretched out on her bed to write.
Kat,
It's me again. So I had another dream about the ceremony that's supposed to take place this summer. I'm almost certain I die in the end. Everything goes black and I wake up, but my research and the downright painfulness of the dream makes me believe that I probably won't see the next school year. To say that scares me is the understatement of the century. I haven't told anyone about it. I'm afraid the boys and Dennis would stop talking to me and try to distance themselves from me to make it less painful for them when it happens. Hermione, Harry and Ron, I tend to think would worry. They've got enough to worry about as it is. Somehow saving the world seems a bit more important than a first year's problems. Okay. A lot more important than my problems. I should owl Dray, but after the attempt on his life, I seem to think that he's got more to worry about than this too. And besides, Lucius told me when I was eight that I wouldn't live to see my twelfth birthday, so it's not as though I haven't been expecting this. The nightmares suck, but I can handle them. Less than five months left with them anyway. I tend to think I'm being selfish about the whole matter anyway. I wasn't scared about it before, but now I'm here, and learning magic, and actually have good friends who know who and what I am and simply don't care. I don't want to leave them. That is selfish of me, isn't it?
Hot tears splashed down on the page, smearing the ink in places.
And now that the time is getting closer, I think I'm more scared because it seems more real. And the dreams... I don't want to die lying in the corner of the dungeon. Okay, so the corner of the dungeon wouldn't be bad if I could have someone there with me to hold my hand through it all. But a request to have Draco there would probably get him killed too, and he already watched Barrett go. I don't want to put him through watching me too. The only thing keeping me from laughing in all of their faces as I sail off the Astronomy Tower is the thought that just maybe by some freak accident I'll live through the ceremony and then all of this worry was for nothing. Well, okay, the thought of living through the ceremony and also the thought of the pain of hitting the ground after jumping. Well, I hear Karey and Madeline up. And this is slightly depressing anyway. I think I shall go get ready for the day. I'll write more soon.
Love Always
Astrid Malfoy
*****
"Banana," Astrid announced as she slid into her usual seat at breakfast wit Jason, Sawyer, Dennis and Nathan.
"Banana?" Ron asked. Astrid nodded. She plucked a piece of toast from the top of a stack near Sawyer and smeared it liberally with jam.
"It's what your nose looks like this morning," the tiny girl explained before sinking her teeth into her toast. Ron ran his fingers down his nose. Madame Pomfrey had set it the muggle way. This involved plenty of screaming like a first year girl on his part and a great amount of pointing and laughing on Astrid's.
"Did I mention rotten?" Astrid asked over her toast. "Definitely throw rotten in there." Ron glared at the girl. The swelling around his nose and eyes had all but disappeared, but the bruises had yet to fade. They had turned the brown and yellow shade that almost healed bruises do.
"Thank you, Miss Malfoy," Ron growled, glaring at the first year.
"You're welcome," Astrid replied brightly. Hermione folded her Daily Prophet and slapped it on the table with a sigh.
"Any word?" Ron asked.
"Not a thing," Hermione said. "It's been over two weeks and they're chasing their tails. Don't even really know where to start looking." She sighed and spooned a bit of eggs into her mouth.
"Bloody Ministry," Ron muttered.
"She could be anywhere though Ron," Astrid said. "And if they killed her, three year old bodies would be relatively easy to hide." Ron looked across the table at the tiny blonde.
"What would you know about that?" Ron questioned. Astrid's face morphed into a tiny scowl, identical to Draco's signature expression.
"Ron, what would I know about it?" she asked. She jumped up from the bench and took off towards the doors of the Hall. Only as the trio and first years watched her hasty exit did they notice her favoring her right foot severely as she walked. Harry reached over and tapped Ron lightly on the back of his head.
"Hermione," Ron said, looking down at his plate.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"Could you fix it so I can't talk. Ever. Again?" Ron requested.
*****
Outside the great hall, tears began to trail down Astrid's face. Her ankle still hurt from her dream. Severely. As though Voldemort was attempting to separate Keiran from her already. This pain went all of the way to the bone and radiated almost to her knee. Then Ron's comment had hit her harder than it should have. She decided to credit that to her throbbing ankle. She began limping down the stairs towards the potions dungeon. She hoped Sawyer or Jason would have the presence of mind to bring her bag along for her. She stared at the floor as she walked, to hide the tears in her eyes from any casual observers. She turned the corner onto another hall and instantly stepped into something very solid. She reeled backwards and looked up, only to stare directly at a Slytherin House crest on a black robe. She gasped and took two steps backwards, preparing to apologize.
"Lost?" a not unkind voice asked. Astrid shook her head no. The Slytherin hooked a finger under her chin and gently moved her head up to face him. Astrid slowly released the breath she'd been holding.
"You've been crying," Draco said. Astrid nodded.
"Tell me?" the older boy requested.
"Combination of something stupid someone said, a nightmare or two, and some fierce ankle pain," Astrid explained.
"Want to talk about it?" he asked. Astrid shrugged.
"What's there to say?" Astrid questioned. The tears started to pour faster. "My dream was about the ceremony." Draco stepped over and put his back against the wall. He slid down until he was seated on the floor. Then he patted a spot right next to him. Astrid sat. She folded her legs Indian style beneath her and rested her elbows on her knees. She placed her forehead on her clenched fists. Draco leaned back against the all with his feet pulled in towards his body and extended his arms straight out across his knees.
"That," he muttered.
"Yes. That." Astrid echoed. "Can you do me a favor?"
"What?" Draco asked warily. He didn't want to agree to anything he couldn't do.
"Make sure they don't get to Emma and the baby," Astrid requested.
"I can try, Astrid, but they almost got me. I'm supposed to be the strongest one. And why are you putting me up to this?" he questioned.
"You know as well as I do that I probably won't make it past June. From what I can tell, they're planning to rid Kei of the parasite that is me. Every dream I've had has showed me dead. Everything I've read about separating twins says it usually kills the twin in my role. At very least, I'll be a squib," Astrid cried.
"Have you read anything about things you can do to protect yourself?" Draco questioned. He wanted to tell her that everything would be fine and she'd be perfectly okay, but from what he'd heard, he would be lying if he did. Astrid shook her head.
"The ceremony is antiquated. When it was performed regularly, it was because people thought twins were one person who had been split in two. Because of this, neither twin would amount to much because they only had half the magic they needed. They chose the stronger twin and performed the ceremony, which took the magic out of the weaker twin and gave it to the stronger twin. This usually killed the supposedly weaker twin," Astrid explained.
"Can I give you some brotherly advice here? I know I haven't done it before much, but I think I've got some now," Draco said.
"Sure," Astrid sniffed.
"Who are your best friends?" Draco asked.
"Dennis and Jason and Sawyer and Emma," Astrid listed.
"Besides them," Draco prompted. "The famous ones." This came through clenched teeth, as though admitting they were famous and his sister's friends hurt him.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione?" Astrid questioned.
"Right in one," Draco replied. "Or three. Set the mudblood loose in the library. Tell her your problem then let her go and see what she comes up with."
"Okay," Astrid agreed. "I will."
"Alright. I need to go grab some breakfast before class," Draco stood. "I'll also owl Emma and tell her to keep her ears open." Astrid stood and faced her brother.
"Owl me if you need anything," he offered. Astrid nodded. Draco reached over and tousled her white-blonde hair.
"Thanks," she whispered. She stepped around him and started down the hall. He watched her limp away.
"And Draco?" Astrid asked, when she got to the other end of the corridor. She stopped and turned to face him.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Don't call her a mudblood," Astrid scolded. She quickly stepped around the corner before Draco could reply. He shook his head and turned back to head towards breakfast. He took a few steps before he felt the increasingly familiar sensation of someone watching him.
"Borgin," he guessed, beating her to the punch. He heard a right throaty laugh from the shadows.
"Malfoy," Contessa said. She stepped into the hallway just in front of the fifth year. "You're getting good at this."
"You could be a little less creepy, you know," Draco spat.
"What's the fun in that?" Contessa asked. She laughed again.
"What do you want?" Draco asked, glaring at the older girl. Her laughter died down to a low chuckle. She tucked a strand of hair back into the messy bun on top of her head. The signature bold bangles slid towards her elbow as she did so. She blinked those weird golden brown eyes twice at Draco.
"I don't think the question is what I want, but what you want," Contessa replied.
"What I want?" Draco said, glaring at the mysterious girl before him. Contessa held her hands out to her sides.
"That is what I said," she replied.
"Wait. Let me make sure I have the full measure of this. You appear when you think I need your assistance, you charge me an outrageous fee, and then you don't even give me the information I need?"
"Wouldn't want to make it easy for you," Contessa purred.
"Now you think I need your help again? And after last time you think I'll take it?" Draco asked. Contessa nodded.
"I hardly think so!" Draco spat. Contessa reached out and dragged a long shimmering dark green fingernail down his jawbone, starting just below his ear and leaving off at his chin. Draco found himself mesmerized by the girl's touch and entranced by her eyes.
"Meet me in the Transfiguration Classroom during lunch today," she whispered. She stepped close enough that they were almost touching, but not quite. Their only point of contact remained her finger on his chin. He could smell the scent of lavender or perhaps jasmine incense wafting off her hair.
"No," he managed to choke out. "I don't need your help." He sensed Contessa's lips hovering just next to his left ear.
"Meet me in the Transfiguration classroom during lunch," she repeated, voice barely audible. He felt her hot breath on his ear and he was paralyzed. She slipped away from him and slid back into the shadows before he could find his voice for another protest. He tentatively reached up and brushed his hand over his still tingling ear.
*****
"What should I do, short of permanently hexing my mouth shut?" Ron asked. He ran both hands through his hair, causing it to stand straight up.
"Ron, it's Astrid," Hermione said. "Be realistic."
"Call her chica, and punch her brother and everything will be right in her world," Harry supplied. Hermione laughed appreciatively but Ron just scowled. Harry shrugged.
"So all it took was Seamus forcing you to eat rock to make you calm down?" Harry laughed. "Wish we'd though of that sooner!"
"Not funny, Harry, that really hurt!" Ron spat. He ran his fingers down his still sore nose. The injury had most healed but due to the severity of the break, his nose deviated to the left slightly. Parvati sighed and called the new look dreamy. Mandy declared herself the luckiest witch in Hogwarts. Hermione and Hannah rolled their eyes through the whole ordeal.
"I'm sure," Harry said. "I never said it looked like it felt good!" Harry's black eye had faded to the point it looked like he was wearing purplish-blue eye shadow.
"If you're so worried that she'll hate you, take her flying after practice tonight," he suggested.
"Harry, man, you're a genius!" Ron declared.
"No," Harry objected. "That's Hermione. I'm the boy with the halfway decent luck that gets us into messes."
"It's okay," Hermione assured him. "We love you anyway." The trio stepped into the Defense against the Dark Arts class.
"Guys, Professor Dumbledore couldn't be here today. He left us a note that we all have to touch before it will show us instructions for the class," Parvati explained. Parvati, Lavender, Dean, Seamus, and Neville already stood in the center of the room, crowded around a piece of parchment. Ron and Hermione stepped over and each placed a finger on the paper. Harry stood back for a moment.
"Come on, Harry," Neville insisted.
"Did anyone check to make sure that's not a port key?" He asked.
"Stop being paranoid, Potter," Seamus scolded.
"Portkeys can't be timed by people Harry, they're set by times!" Hermione insisted. Harry shrugged and stepped up between his best friends. He noticed Ron's wand in his shirt pocket and Hermione's tucked in the waistband of hers skirt. He wedged himself between Ron and Hermione and took a deep breath.
"Stop being such a pansy, Potter, and touch the paper!" Seamus demanded, jokingly. Harry reached out and rested a finger on the paper.
"Now then," Seamus began. Before he could finish his sentence, the group felt the familiar hooking sensation behind their navels. They all pitched forward and moments later found themselves tumbling into a pile in grass. Harry was the first to pull himself from the pile.
"Can I say I told you so yet?" Harry questioned. Seamus pulled the parchment from Neville's trembling fingers.
"We have your professor," he read. "If you want him back, come get him in the house on the hill."
"So we're on a rescue mission." Dean muttered as he turned to look at the house just behind him. "I heard about this from Kyle Burns. Dumbledore is his own captor and we have to get through a series of obstacles he set up to get to him. At least I think."
"What do we do?" Neville asked, voice shaking slightly. Seamus shrieked as the letter burst into flames and burned in his hand.
"Go get him," Harry, Ron and Hermione chorused.
"Wouldn't it just be smarter to go back and get help?" Parvati queried. Ron and Hermione looked at Harry for guidance.
"Would you like to sit up there waiting while we run back to Hogwarts for help?" Harry snapped.
"Where are we anyway?" Ron asked.
"Exactly!" Harry cried.
"Point proven, point proven," Parvati muttered.
"So what's the plan?" Lavender asked, looking to Harry.
"Can I conference with Ron and Hermione for a moment?" Harry requested. Seamus and Dean nodded Harry pulled his two best friends several meters away form the group.
"Why does he have to conference with Ron and Hermione?" Lavender questioned.
"Cor, Lavender! How many times have the three of them saved the bloody day?" Seamus asked. "Let them have a bloody conference if they want a conference!"
"Plan?" Harry asked when his friends were sufficiently out of earshot of the rest of the group.
"Plan," Ron echoed. "Since when do we make plans?"
"Since this became a fifth year Gryffindor thing rather than a three of us thing," Hermione said.
"Exactly," Harry agreed. "So what should we do?"
"Stick together," Ron and Hermione chorused.
"Right," Harry said. "And don't leave anyone behind."
"Of course not," Ron said. Hermione just nodded.
"I'll lead, Ron, you should bring up the rear and make sure no one gets behind you," Harry instructed. Ron nodded.
"What about me?" Hermione questioned.
"Stay invisible," Harry replied.
"Invisible?" Hermione asked indignantly. "Just because I'm a girl and usually handle the research end of things doesn't mean I'm not just as capable as you two at fighting!"
"I never said you weren't," Harry replied. "I simply meant to stay completely invisible like Bill taught us so you can get out and save us all if something were to go weird," Harry said. Hermione mouth snapped shut and she instantly turned bright red.
"Oh," she squeaked. "I can do that." She quickly faded to invisibility. Ron reached over and patted her invisible head.
"Ready then?" Harry asked. Ron and Hermione nodded, though they couldn't see Hermione. Ron and Harry turned back towards the rest of the group.
"Have a good conference?" Lavender asked cheerfully. Harry and Ron nodded.
"Have a plan?" Dean asked. The boys nodded again.
"I'm leading, Ron's brining up the rear, the rest of you keep your wands out and ready and stay between us. Stick together and no one gets left behind," Harry explained.
"Problem!" Lavender announced. "My wand is back at Hogwarts!"
"Lavender!" Seamus, Dean, and Parvati chorused. The blonde shrugged. She looked down at her shoes and picked up a stick. She broke it off about the length of a wand and held it pointed at Seamus.
"There," she announced. "It looks like I'm armed and if anything gets too close, I'll just beat it with the stick!"
"Where did we find you?" Seamus asked. Lavender just smiled at him.
"Where's Hermione?" Dean questioned.
"Acting as our back up," Harry replied. "Now if you lot are quite ready, lets go. Stay close, stay quiet, and hex anything that moves." He started towards the house. Seamus and Neville stepped up to flank him. Lavender and Parvati filed into line behind Seamus and Neville and Dean fell in step with Ron at the back of the group. Harry led the group up to the gates in front of the house without incident. The gates, however, slammed shut as soon as they got within two meters of them. The gates were about eight feet tall and made of wrought iron. The bars of the gates were spaced about 6 inches apart, too close together for anyone to fit through. The tops of the gates were topped with six-inch spikes that gave them a very lethally foreboding air. Harry tucked his wand into his pocket and walked up to the gates. He placed a hand on each of them and shook fiercely. They didn't budge.
"What do you propose we do?" Seamus asked. After the incident with the fight two weeks earlier, all of the Gryffindor boys were closer than they had ever been. Hermione had spent much time rolling her eyes at the five of them. Just like boys, to have the brawl of the year to bring them closer.
"Climb it," Harry said, shaking the gates again. They still didn't move.
"Climb?" Parvati asked. "You expect me of no athletic ability to climb? That?"
"No Parvati," Dean said. "We expect you to grow wings and fly over it." Lavender laughed at the pair of them.
"Don't laugh, stick girl," Parvati spat.
"Who is going first?" Seamus asked.
"I will," Harry volunteered. "And then you or Dean can come over. Ron, and whoever is left can stay on this side and help Lavender and Parvati over and then they can climb over themselves."
"But," Ron began. Harry shot him a look that said, "You're responsible for Hermione."
"Sounds like a plan," Seamus said.
"You're getting awfully good at those," Ron muttered. Harry wrapped his hands around the bar and placed one foot under them.
"Someone be ready to catch me if I fall," he said. Seamus and Dean both nodded. Parvati cast a quick charm to cushion the ground on the other side.
"It's cushioned over there," she said. Harry nodded. He put his other foot on the bar, and using his weight to balance himself, began an awkward walk up the bar. He went hand over hand and moved his feet slowly to propel himself towards the top.
"Harry man, if you slip, Little Harry is going to cease to exist," Seamus called. Harry tried not to let his classmate's comment get to him. He finally reached the top of the gate and glanced back at his friends.
"Cushioned," Parvati reminded him. With that, he sprang over the top, careful not to catch his stomach on the spikes. He hit the ground in a roll, and thanks to Parvati's charm, didn't hurt himself at all.
"Hey wait, stick girl has an idea here that may actually be better than Harry Potter's," Lavender announced, just as Dean was preparing to scale the gates.
"So lets have it," Dean said.
"All of us," she paused for a moment. "Okay, all of us save me can cast a levitation charm, right?" Her classmates all nodded.
"Well now that Harry has proved once again that he's super human, why don't the rest of us just levitate?" the blonde questioned.
"Crikey, I believe stick girl has a plan," Seamus announced. Dean stepped away from the gate. Only then did Ron realize Hermione had been muttering "wingardium leviosa" repetitively under her breath so only he could hear. She landed a heel on his toes because Lavender got her idea before Ron could pick up on it.
"Who is first?" Harry asked, wand out.
"Send stick girl, it was her idea," Parvati said. Lavender nodded her assent. Harry quickly levitated her over the gate.
"Now how much easier was that than what you did?" she asked. Hermione jerked an elbow into Ron's side.
"Be still," she muttered. Ron froze. Hermione clambered onto his back.
"Now we don't have to give me up," she whispered into his ear. He turned back to the gate where Lavender was using her trusty stick to pretend to levitate Parvati over the gate.
"If I ever need rescuing, please send someone besides this lot," Hermione begged from her spot on Ron's back.
"Don't worry. Harry and I will come for you if you ever need rescuing," he agreed. Harry quickly levitated Seamus over the gate. Seamus turned and got Dean, while Harry took care of Parvati. This left Ron and Hermione for Harry to lift as soon as Parvati had landed. Dean pulled Neville across. Lavender had taken to bouncing on the ground, as it was still soft from Parvati's cushioning charm.
"This is really neat!" she said.
"Lav, love, if I ever need rescuing, don't come along," Seamus joked. Lavender quit bouncing and glared at the boy. He smiled sheepishly.
"Come on guys, to the house," Harry insisted. "Back like you were before we decided to fly." Ron had to literally pry Hermione off his back. If flying a broom scared Hermione, flying a Ron scared her even more. Harry started towards the house, and everyone fell into position behind him. About 200 steps from the gate, they ran into their next obstacle. Harry stopped to listen for any approaching danger. The only thing he heard was the sound of his classmates crashing into each other behind him due to his sudden stop. As soon as he was still for more than five seconds, his feet began sinking into the mud.
"HOLY COOKIE DOUGH!" Seamus cried, when he realized the mud had risen to fully cover his boots.
"Is the mud a Snape fecking son uv a bitch too?" Dean asked, as he tried to pry a foot from the mud. At this point, Harry was up to his mid shins in mud.
"Any more bright ideas, stick girl?" Parvati asked. "These are new shoes."
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do have an idea," Lavender said. She twisted around to face Dean. "Here Thomas, reach down and grab my knee." Dean did as he was instructed, lacing his fingers behind Lavender's left knee.
"Now pull my foot towards you," Lavender instructed. Dean gave the girls knee a not so gentle tug and her foot flew free of the mud. Her other foot also flew free, as Dean kept pulling even after her left knee was free. Her momentum carried her directly backwards, where she landed flat on her back in the mud. Brown mud splattered up over her blonde hair and coated her school uniform.
"This has to be the most spectacularly icky thing I think I've ever done," Lavender cried from her spot in the mud.
"You're not sinking," Seamus observed. Lavender turned her head to look at the knees of those about her.
"You're right, I'm not!" she cried. "More points for stick girl!" She bent her knees up and began an awkward sort of crawl towards the edge of the mud. She slid along flat on her back, pushing mud out of the way with her head, propelled by her feet. She clamped her hands over her face to keep the mud out of her face. When she reached the edge of the mud, she stood. Her entire back was coated with mud.
"Yep, spectacularly nasty, but I'm out!" she cried.
"Who is next?" Dean asked.
"Me before my knees disappear?" Harry requested. Seamus reached down and flipped Harry to where the boy was lying flat on his back. Following Lavender's example, he covered his face and slid to the edge of the mud. Meanwhile, Seamus had freed Neville and Parvati and Dean had freed Ron. Hermione had hissed to Ron that she had been trailing far enough to avoid the mud. The trio lying in the mud looked like disoriented brown crabs as they pushed themselves towards Lavender and Harry.
"Now how is the last person going to get out of this?" Dean asked, eyeing Seamus warily. Seamus reached over and knocked Dean into the mud.
"Stupid human trick I learned to impress my little sisters," he said. Dean shrugged as much as one can when lying half in thick mud and began moving towards the edge. Seamus carefully put his hands above his head and began bending over backwards to touch his hands in the mud. He had planned on doing a backbend and lowering himself into the mud. As soon as his hands touched the mud, they sunk to his elbows, so only his arms, head and legs were in the mud with no hope for the rest of him, short of dislocating a couple of joints.
"Wait, I've got this one," Harry said, pulling out his wand. "Accio Seamus." The Irishman shot out of the mud and directly at Harry. He fell to a stop at Harry's feet. Standing, he shook his head and splattered mud over everyone standing near him.
"Couldn't we have just done that to begin with?" Lavender whined. "We would have been much cleaner!"
"You're the genius who decided to crawl. What was your original plan anyway?" Dean asked.
"I was going to crawl up you and jump off of your shoulders towards the bank," Lavender laughed.
"Can we continue?" Ron asked. Forgoing cleaning charms, the very muddy group and the still clean, still invisible Hermione fell back into formation and headed towards the house.
"Don't stop this time," Seamus warned as Harry continued towards their destination. The group made it to the porch without incident. They all climbed onto the rickety old porch. Harry reached for the handle of the front door. Before he could get the door open, a horrific crack sounded and the floor of the porch gave way. The group fell almost 10 meters before coming to a crashing halt on the dirt floor of the pit they had slipped into.
"What do you propose we do now?" Parvati asked. "Any ideas?"
"Stick girl?" Seamus asked.
"Is everyone okay?" Harry questioned. He landed a bit away from the group. Everyone else landed in a tangle of limbs in the center of the floor. The group slowly stood, shaking out their limbs to make sure everything was still in proper working order.
"So we do what now?" Parvati asked. Lavender emitted a bit of a squeak and pointed towards the dark corner. A tall figure in a black robe slid towards the group. Harry turned to see what had been advancing on his back. The rattling breathing suggested dementor, but he didn't necessarily feel cold.
"Boggart," he said. "We know how to fight these." He pointed his wand at this thing and muttered "Riddikulus." The dementor stumbled on his robes and fell face first into the red dirt. Parvati stepped forward. The dementor morphed into a copy of Parvati with shining grey hair, staring at a very empty left hand.
"Riddikulus" Parvati said. Instantly, her clone had a large diamond ring on its ring finger.
"NO WAND!" Lavender screeched when Seamus pushed her forward. She dived backwards and hid behind the boy. The Parvati clone morphed into a tiny girl with Seamus's hair color and the same bright blue eyes. She lay flat on her back on the floor, completely still.
"Lu," Seamus muttered.
"Do the charm," Parvati muttered.
"Riddikulus," Seamus choked out. Tallulah's form jumped up off the floor and vaulted into Seamus's arms. Somehow Ron managed to be the boggart's next victim. The child in Seamus's arms quickly turned into one of Aragog's descendents. Seamus screamed and Parvati and Lavender flattened themselves back against the walls. Dean and Harry gasped and Neville went deathly pale. Ron did a combination of all four. He managed to mutter the charm though, and quickly enough everyone in the hole was laughing as the spiders legless body rolled around on the floor, much as it had back in their third year. Neville stepped up and Professor Snape appeared from the spider's body.
"Riddikulus," the boy muttered, almost as easily as Harry had. Quickly enough, Snape was dressed in a lei, a grass skirt, and coconuts, doing a very graceful hula dance. Lavender and Parvati broke into gales of laughter. Seamus and Dean looked at each other.
"What's the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" they chorused, before breaking into laughter themselves.
"Merlin Neville, that was a sight I could have lived my whole life without seeing!" Ron cried between bouts of laughter. The hula dancing Professor Snape turned into a dementor and headed back towards Harry. He quickly made the thing fall again. As the rest of his friends were still laughing from Neville's biggest fear, the boggart burst into a puff of smoke.
"Wonderful guys," Harry said, as their laughter subsided.
"Now what?" Lavender said. "I'm ready for something else."
"This coming from the wandless wonder," Seamus muttered.
"I don't think you'd be nearly as attracted to me if I HAD a wand," Lavender replied. She turned back to Harry. "So what's the plan, captain?" Harry turned bright red at Lavender's statement to Seamus.
"Aww look, I made him blush!" Lavender squealed. Harry spluttered a few times in an attempt to regain his voice.
"What's the plan, captain?" Dean asked, in a dead on imitation of Lavender.
"Get out of this hole?" Harry asked.
"You plan on doing this how?" Seamus questioned.
"The same way we got over the gates," Harry said. He pulled his wand and pointed it at Lavender. Before he could fire off the spell to lift the girl, the porch over their heads repaired itself, closing out all daylight.
"That's a hell of a plan, captain, but I hardly think it'll work," Dean said, looking at the ceiling. Hermione muttered a spell sending a jet of her signature bluebell flames to the floor of the makeshift room. They provided an eerie blue cast to everything.
"Any more bright ideas?" Lavender asked. Harry turned around and knocked on the seemingly solid dirt wall behind them. It rang like a drum skin.
"So this wall isn't as solid as I thought it was," Harry said.
"What are we going to do, run through it?" Seamus asked.
"Certainly," Harry replied. "We should only knock a hole big enough for us to go through, so it should work. And I guarantee you this house is held up by magic anyway." Ron quickly fired a spell at the corner where the porch met the dirt wall.
"What?" he asked. "It's the spell that holds the attic on our house. Dad taught it to me last summer after Fred and George blew the entire room off of the top."
"Smart," Harry said. He backed up to stand next to his friend. Seamus and Dean figured out the plan without being told, and Seamus dragged Neville into the line.
"On the count of three," Ron took charge. "Run at the wall."
"One.. Two.." Harry counted. "Three." The five boys charged at the supposedly hollow dirt wall. The five hit the wall at approximately the same time, and at the same time, they fell backwards into the middle of the floor. Lavender and Parvati moved to stand over the boys.
"Any more brilliant plans, skipper?" Dean asked, rubbing the spot where his shoulder made contact with the wall.
"I've got one," Parvati said.
"What's that, Pav?" Dean asked.
"It's a nifty little thing called the Reductor curse that we learned in Defense last year," Parvati replied. "If we all cast them at once, the wall will go away, and you guys will still be here in one piece."
"Why didn't we listen to stick girl's sidekick in the first place?" Dean asked, still rubbing his shoulder.
"Because she didn't speak up," Harry replied.
"Wanted to see if you lot would actually try to charge through the wall," Parvati explained.
"Well we did," Seamus muttered. He jumped up and brushed himself off. "So reductors on three?" Both of the girls nodded as the rest of the boys staggered to their feet. The six present visible with wands turned to face the wall.
"One, Two, THREE!" Lavender cried.
"REDUCTO!" Six voices roared simultaneously. The red clay of the wall blew backwards into the basement of the house.
"See how much better Parvati's idea works?" Parvati asked. All five boys glared at the girl. Harry stepped into the dim basement.
"Someone grab the fire," he muttered. Ron reached down and picked up the fire.
"Alright, ready," Ron said, holding the fire out in front of his body.
"I think Weasley's the super human one in the group!" Lavender squealed.
"I think stick girl wants a sidekick!" Dean laughed.
"Lets go," Harry said. He turned to his right and started down a hallway. Seamus and Neville thought to light their wands and followed him, training the thin beams of light out in front of the leader.
"Stupefy!" a voice from behind the group called. Parvati collapsed, victim of the spell.
"Stupefy, stupefy!" The second spells ricocheted of the walls before dissipating against the back wall. One nearly hit Seamus. Ron spun on his heel and began firing spells back at their attackers. Dean dropped to his knees behind Ron and leaned from behind his cover. He, too, began return fire on their attackers. More stunners, paired with various other jinxes and hexes began flying at the group.
"I know Kung Fu!" Lavender cried, stick pointed at the attackers. Dean reached up and touched the scabbed over spot on his head from his last encounter with someone who knew kung fu. An attacker aimed a spell directly at Lavender's head. She squealed and dropped to the ground. She scrambled between the wall and Parvati's frozen body, using her friend as cover from the fire. Seamus went down, victim of a particularly vicious tickling charm. Ron got caught by a stray stunner and flipped backwards over Dean. While Dean was busy making sure Ron got to the floor safely, he, too, was taken out by a stunner. Harry crouched down behind Seamus, but before he could fire off any more charms, one of the pair of attackers fired a charm that bound him to his friends and pushed them all through the wall into a room next door. The pair of attackers followed and Hermione followed them. She was still invisible. The seven fifth years stopped in the middle of the floor. Seamus still laughed uproariously from the charm. Lavender looked as though she was trying to figure out who found her in the wonderful hiding space she had found. Harry looked generally annoyed, and everyone else was unconscious.
"We shall return with the master momentarily," one of the black robed figures said. He opened a door on the far end of the room and walked out.
"Hermione!" Harry hissed.
"What good is she going to do us?" Lavender asked. "She hasn't been here all along."
"Look, stick girl," Hermione's voice sounded from the wall they had entered the room through. She pulled out her wand and cast a spell, making all of the ropes disappear. Harry jumped to his feet and quickly revived Ron and stopped the tickling charm on Seamus. Hermione revived Parvati, Dean, and Neville.
"Okay guys, they'll be back soon," Harry said.
"Do we have a plan, captain?" Lavender asked with a broad smile at Harry. Harry pointed at the door.
"Hex anything that walks through that," he said.
"With what?" Lavender asked.
"Change of plans for you," Harry said.
"Go stand next to the door and whack anything that walks through with your stick," Seamus laughed.
"Not a bad idea, Seamus," Harry said. "Only I think we should give Dean or Ron or someone the stick rather than Lavender."
"No fair!" Lavender cried. "I found it first."
"May I see the stick pretty please?" Seamus asked. He poked out his bottom lip and widened his eyes in a puppy dog face. Lavender pulled the stick from her pocket and handed it to her boyfriend.
"But only cause you asked nicely," she said. Seamus turned around and tossed the stick to Harry, who threw it to Hermione.
"We need a bat," he announced. Hermione quickly transfigured one from the stick. She handed it back to Harry who handed it to Dean. Dean promptly took the bat and went to stand next to the door.
"Everyone else go stand around the edges of the room. We hex what Dean doesn't hit," Harry instructed. The group dispersed and patiently watched the door. Harry stationed himself in the back corner and watched the rest of the room.
"Good job!" a familiar voice said. The teenagers all turned to look as their DADA professor and headmaster appeared in the center of the room.
"You're here?" Neville asked.
"We freed you?" Lavender questioned.
"Yes, Mr. Longbottom, I am here. No, Miss Brown, you did not fully free me, but I decided that since Mr. Thomas over there was fully ready to decapitate my assistants with the baseball bat, it was time to end the exercise," Dumbledore explained. "You all were only a few moments away from finding me anyway."
"So wait, this was all a class exercise?" Lavender asked.
"Yes, stick girl," Dumbledore replied with a small smile on his face. "You would have had more aid if Mr. Thomas hadn't guessed correctly to begin with. But you found the shortcut as it was. Now if you all would all step over here, we shall go back to Hogwarts so you may change out of your muddy clothes before lunch. For the next class, I want three feet of parchment on the purposes of this exercise besides getting Miss Brown a nickname that she won't soon live down."
*****
"Malfoy," Contessa's voice came from the doorway to the transfiguration classroom.
"Borgin. I'm impressed. You entered through the door and not the shadows," Draco said. He leaned against his desk in the back of the classroom, legs crossed at the ankles, and arms crossed over his chest. Contessa stood framed by the doorway. Her hair was still piled on top of her head. She wore a black robe open over a thick black floor-length skirt that wasn't standard school issue and the white shirt, grey sweater vest and Slytherin tie that were.
"I do allow myself the convention from time to time," Contessa joked. She glided across the room to where he stood. She moved with a mysterious grace, almost as if she wasn't moving at all, but floating through space.
"What do you want?" Draco questioned.
"Draco, I believe we've already been through this," Contessa reminded him.
"Okay, okay," Draco amended. "What do I need?" Contessa smiled at him.
"First of all, you need my silence about the fact that you like your sister a little more than you say you do." Draco opened his mouth to protest. Contessa dragged one of her impossibly long fingernails across his lips, pulling them closed.
"You also need your sister's life," Contessa said. She removed the finger from Draco's lips.
"You think you can help me?" Draco asked. Contessa nodded.
"What can you do that we can't?" Draco questioned.
"Draco, my mother was kicked out of her tribe in Romania when she met my father. Just because she lives in England doesn't mean she stopped practicing the old ways and didn't teach me," Contessa said.
"Whoa, wait," Draco interrupted. "Tribe? Old ways?" Contessa nodded.
"My mother was of a tribe of Romany people, Gypsy, if you will, in central Romania," Contessa explained.
"So you're a gypsy," Draco stuttered. Contessa shrugged easily.
"I am in the I-know-their-magic sense of the word." She looked down at her bangles and skirts. "Okay. I dress sort of like them too."
"Is that how you do the freaky shadows thing?" Draco questioned. Contessa shook her head.
"Those are definitely things I learned from Father's side of the family," she whispered.
"So what can you do for my little sister?" Draco moved to the matter at hand. Contessa stepped back from Draco and began a slow walk around the table. Her feet made no sound on the floor and she tapped her fingers together as she thought.
"Well," she said finally. "I could always place a protection spell on her life force that would allow them to take her magic, but not her life."
"Why couldn't I do that?" Draco asked. Contessa smiled at him.
"Tell me, Draco," she murmured, drawing his name into more than two syllables. "Where exactly is one's life force, what is it, and how much needs to be protected to assure she'll live?" Draco opened his mouth to respond but promptly closed it again. Contessa dragged a fingernail down the bridge of Draco's nose and tapped it once on the end.
"You do need my help," she purred. She stepped close to him, allowing one hand to rest flat against the plane of his chest.
"How much this time?" he questioned.
"I just ask one thing of you," she replied.
"And this is for researching, creating, and casting the spell," Draco clarified. Contessa nodded.
"Just one thing," she insisted. She ran her fingernail over the outside of his left ear.
"What's that?" Draco questioned. Contessa leaned in, letting her lips brush Draco's ear lobe ever so lightly.
"A kiss," she murmured, directly into his ear.
"A kiss," Draco echoed, thoroughly shocked. "Aren't you supposed to ask for my soul or something?" Contessa stepped closer so that mere inches separated their bodies. She laughed lightly before responding.
"We're not in the habit of taking souls, just giving them back," she purred.
"So all you want is a kiss," Draco said, swallowing hard.
"All I'm asking for is a kiss," Contessa corrected. She brushed her lips over his ear lobe again.
"So it's a deal then?" Draco asked. Contessa stepped away form Draco and held out her right hand. He slid his warm hand into her cool one and they shook.
"It's a deal," she agreed.
*****
"Hey chica," Ron said, looking down at the little girl standing next to him on the Quidditch pitch.
"Hey Ron," Astrid replied, staring down at her shoes. "Hermione said for me to meet you out here."
"Are you still mad about this morning?" Ron questioned. Astrid nodded. Ron reached down and tried to pull her face up so she could look at him. She smacked his hand away and shook her head, looking at the ground still.
"I'm sorry," Ron said. "Really, I am. You should know by now that my mouth often talks before my brain has a chance to process what it's saying. And most of the time my mouth is way off in the appropriateness of what comes out." Astrid ventured to look up at Ron out of the corner of her eye.
"Come on, what can I do to make it up to you?" Ron asked.
"Sell you first born as food for the yaks in Siberia," Astrid muttered. Ron looked at the girl as if she had lost her mind.
"What did you just say?" he asked.
"It was just a suggestion." Astrid shrugged.
"Okay. What can I do short of selling my first born?" Ron asked. "How about flying?" Astrid looked up at him with a smile on her face.
"Sounds good to me," she said. Ron picked up his broom and mounted it.
"I'm driving!" Astrid declared. She clambered onto the broom in front of him.
"Merlin help me," Ron said, looking skyward. He quickly kicked off the ground and he and Astrid shot into the air. Astrid squealed as she pulled the broom into a steep climb to the level of the Quidditch goals. She slowly took them in a circuit of the field and the pulled the nose of the broom straight up. They flipped over backwards and did a neat roll before she evened them out.
"Warn me next time, okay?" Ron requested.
"Certainly, banana nose," Astrid squealed. She pulled the broom back to an upside down position.
"Warning," she called.
"Not fair!" Ron insisted. Astrid laughed maniacally. The pair continued flying about the pitch for the next twenty minutes. Then Astrid put them in a steep dive that left Ron ready to jump off the broom before she pulled out of it.
"Land and land now! Your flying is over for the night!" he insisted. Astrid slowly touched down and dismounted the broom. Ron climbed off the broom as well. Before he could pick it up, Astrid turned and flung her arms around his waist.
"Thank you so much!" she said into his chest. He patted the little girl roughly on her back.
"No problem, chica. Just no more freaking out when I say something stupid. Because you know as well as I do that I do more than my fair share of it," he said. Astrid giggled and released her friend.
"I'm sorry I went off," she replied. "I have had an absolutely horrid day. I had a dream about Keiran and You-Know-Who, and then I talked to Draco and things were just rotten."
"What did Draco say?" Ron asked, a threatening tone overtaking his voice.
"Nothing, he was actually helpful. Told me to tell you guys about my problem and see if you could help me," Astrid said.
"Your problem?" Ron questioned.
"Yep," Astrid replied. "You-Know-Who is going to go through a ceremony this summer to make it so Keiran's not my twin anymore. The process of the separation will most likely kill me."
"WHAT?" Ron questioned.
"You heard me," Astrid said. "Kill me. As in this time next year, Astrid Malfoy will cease to exist!"
"And your parents are letting him go through with this?" Ron asked. Astrid nodded. She had begun watching their shoes as they walked, and was amazed at the sheer size of Ron's feet next to her own tiny ones.
"Lucius doesn't care and Mum doesn't have much of a choice. Draco is going to look for some sort of protection spell. And I was supposed to ask if you guys would hit the library for me too, because we know how Hermione is. But she does have O.W.L.S. coming up and everything," Astrid said. She kicked at a clump of dirt.
"O.W.L.S. be damned," Ron declared. "We'll research. I think we can handle failing O.W.L.S. better than we can handle losing a friend."
"Did you ever think you'd say that about a Malfoy?" Astrid questioned.
"I don't see the Malfoy anymore, chica," Ron said. "Only the Astrid." At that statement, tears began pouring down the girls face. Loud sobs wracked her body. Ron dropped his broom and turned to her, arms extended. She jumped into his arms and buried her face in his shoulder, much as she had outside the hospital wing after visiting Draco for the first time in February. He held her with one arm and ran the other hand over her hair.
"I'm scared," she sobbed. Speechless, Ron sank to the ground. He rocked easily back and forth, rubbing the girls back.
"I am too," he finally agreed.