When Sarah and Sirius entered the labyrinth, they were deposited into a place even Sarah didn't recognize. They were in a round cobblestone courtyard. In the center of the courtyard was a large marble fountain. In the center of the fountain rose three maidens in Hellenic Greek dress, their faces turned up to the sun, their cups held high. Streams of water flew up from the cups, and it also spilled over the rims.
Around the walls of the courtyard were four arched doors, one each at north, south, east, and west, and each was different. The door to the north was made of solid oak. The one to the south looked beaten down and weathered, half off its hinges. The one to the east was made of gold, and the one to the west made of a stone that appeared to be granite. Sirius looked at Sarah. "So, which way do we go?"
Sarah shrugged slightly. "I'm not sure. I didn't see this part of the labyrinth when I was here nine years ago. I do remember one thing, and that's that your eyes can lie to you, and not to trust them. Logically, the gold door would lead to the castle, and the broken down one to the junk yard and such. But not here. I think it may be safest to go the middle route and take the north door."
Sirius nodded. It was the first truly sensible thing he'd heard all evening. When his father had appeared, and he'd found out that his father was the Goblin King, he'd begun to wonder if logic and good sense had become extinct. He and Sarah drew their wands, just in case, and they pushed through the oak door.
On the other side was a beautiful flower garden. Several paths wound there way through it, a peach tree in the center of it all. Suddenly, a large group of fairies flew up from the flowers, heading straight for the couple. Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Since when do Cornish Pixies live in the Underground? I thought they were native to Cornwall." Sarah shook her head. "They're not Cornish Pixies. They're biting fairies. This must be where they live when they're not attacking everybody who tries to enter the labyrinth."
"They sure look like Cornish Pixies to me." "Cornish Pixies are slightly larger. They're also faster and attack from above. Expellus Faerium!" Sarah yelled, her wand pointed at the fairies. Several of them flew back, but more were coming. She and Sirius ran, blasting fairies away as they did so. Finally, the damn things gave up the chase, and Sarah rolled her eyes to find they were back in the outer walls of the labyrinth.
Sirius looked at her, amused. "Shall we find that worm that gives bad directions?" he asked. Sarah shook her head again. "It'll be easier and faster just to run our hands along the walls and find an opening ourselves. Who knows where that worm will lead us to, this time? I finally found out that if I had gone the way he'd told me NOT to go, I'd have ended up at the castle within a couple of hours. But the way the maze keeps changing, I doubt we'd have such luck."
Sirius was the first to find an opening, and Sarah was not happy to find that it led down and into the tunnels. It didn't help that this was also a part of the tunnels she hadn't seen. The tunnels twisted and turned so much that Sarah and Sirius finally agreed to always go straight ahead until they had to turn, in which case they would go left, unless they couldn't, in which case they'd go right. It was the best thing they could seem to come up with.
Lighting their wands with a pair of muttered "Lumos"s, the pair made their way through the tunnels, Sirius looking around in wander. He regretted it, though, and realized he should have kept his eyes ahead of him, when Sarah stopped abruptly. He ran into her, nearly toppling her over, and quickly wrapped his arms around her. "Sorry about that," he said. "What happened? Why'd you stop?"
"This, right here," she said, pointing her wand to a pit in front of them. It stretched from one wall of the tunnel to the other. It looked shallow, but it was impossible to tell, because it was filled with… "Snakes…why'd it have to be snakes?" she said, groaning softly. "You don't like them, either?" Sirius asked, tightening his arms around Sarah's waist.
"Not really. I never have," she said. "Not to mention most of the Slytherin students really make me nervous. Especially that Malfoy boy." Sirius shrugged. "I don't blame you. It's a well known fact that his father was part of Voldemort's inner circle." He looked at the snakes, frowning. "Where's Harry when you need him? His skills would really come in handy right now." Sarah cast Sirius a questioning look. "Harry has special skills with snakes? What kind of skills?"
Sirius raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "You mean he didn't tell you? I suppose I'm not surprised. He's got a rare gift, and one that's not usually greeted with great joy, even amongst the oldest of pure-blood families. Except mine, of course. My family was all Slytherin except an uncle and a couple of my cousins. Harry is a parsel tongue."
Sarah blinked. "We'd…heard rumors…over in America…that Harry was off his rocker, that he was spinning stories about the Dark Lord's return. But the American Ministry seemed to believe Albus. And parsel tongue was definitely part of the rumors. But I didn't think it was true. I thought it was just the Daily Prophet spinning tales, wanting to make him look bad. They do have a rather bad tendency to only print good things when the Ministry approves it."
"Well, we do need to get across somehow," Sirius said, looking around for something to transfigure into a bridge. Finding nothing else that would work, he promptly removed his shirt. ((A/N: *drools over shirtless Sirius**lots of fan girls scream, then promptly faint*)) Sarah watched, amused, as he turned it into a wooden bridge, then used the engorgement charm to make it large enough to span the pit.
As soon as Sirius stood, however, Sarah's amusement turned to…well…whatever it was, it wasn't what she had been prepared to deal with. Lust came close, but wasn't quite the word she was looking for. She already knew she was in love with Sirius, after all. She just hadn't expected him to take his shirt off. Idly, she wondered if her Aunt Lily had ever noticed.
"Ladies first," Sirius said, motioning her across. A wry grin appeared on his face as he noticed her stare. "What's the matter. I haven't grown a second head, have I?" Sarah shook her head, realizing just how hard she'd been staring. "No, nothing's wrong," she said, simply. Next thing I know, I'm going to see him without his pants on, she thought, heading across. Sirius chuckled slightly, walked across after her, then returned the bridge back to its original state and pulled his shirt back on.
Several hours later, Sarah and Sirius finally saw a light up ahead, and looked up as they approached it. "Looks like we've found one of the pots. They're scattered about the labyrinth, and they're the only real exits for the tunnels except for where we came in. To be honest, I didn't even know there were any ways in except the pots and the oubliettes."
Climbing up into the light, Sarah hopped down from the top of the pot, helping Sirius down. They were in yet another new part of the maze, only here, the borders were made with creeks. Some looked shallow, some looked deep, but narrow. Some were wide, but with stepping stones. And, Sarah and Sirius were boxed in by four of them.
"Strange, I didn't hear water rushing by overhead while we were in the tunnels," Sirius said. "Did you?" Sarah shook her head no. "Things aren't always what they seem in this place," she said. Looking around, it seemed useless. They'd have to cross one of the creeks. Taking a chance, she stepped onto one of the stepping stones. She remained silent the entire way across, refusing to jinx it with a 'piece of cake' or 'so far so good.'
Seeing Sarah was having no trouble, Sirius followed, taking the stones two at a time. When they finished, they were able to continue through the water maze unhindered, reverting to the same system they had in the tunnels. Sirius looked up. "I'd say we're about halfway to the castle. How much longer do we have?" "About seven hours," Sarah replied, looking at her watch. She thought of something, then, and held her wand out in her hand. "Point me."
"Alright, the castle is that way," she said, pointing straight ahead, "and north is left…so we have to go east as much as possible." "Lead the way," Sirius said, motioning her in front of him once again. "Actually," Sarah said, "I thought it might be a good idea if we stopped to eat, first. I'm starving." Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You know, now that you mention it, so am I. Good thing I always care food with me out of habit. Being on the run from the Ministry for so long made me careful to be prepared in the event I couldn't find food."
Caution all ye who dare to enter here. Be conveyed safely by the right smoky stair. That was what the sign said as they came across a plain that seemed to be made of fire rather than grass. "Too bad Mary Poppins isn't here to tell us the way," Sarah remarked. Sirius blinked. "Mary Poppins?" Sarah laughed slightly at the confused look on his face. "She was a fictional character who did some weird stuff, kind of like a witch, but not really. She was a nanny, and took her charges up on a set of stairs made of smoke."
Bending down, Sirius scooped up a handful of rocks and began throwing them onto random smoke stair, watching for the ones that didn't fall through. "Second from the right," he said. "You're catching on," Sarah said. "I have to," Sirius replied. "After all, this is MY kingdom." Sarah laughed. The man was arrogant, but she loved him.
Sooty and coughing from the smoke, Sarah and Sirius crossed the plain of fire as quickly as possible, only to find themselves in an area that seemed to be one giant cactus maze, the floor made of sand. "I wouldn't want to run into these walls," Sirius muttered as they wound their way through. "I know," Sarah agreed. "I'll be glad when we reach the Goblin City."
At the gates of the Goblin City, Hermione was looking at her watch. "We need to go in in two minutes, Sarah and Sirius or no," she said. "Fear not, fair maiden. I have great faith in the Lady Sarah!" Didymus declared. "She has fought that scoundrel Jareth before, and won, and she will be here on time!" "One minute," was all Hermione said in reply. Harry, however, looked nervous. What if something had happened? Sarah was all the family he had, since he didn't really consider the Dursleys as such. And Sirius was the closest to a father he'd ever had.
Ginny looked up, looking into the distance. And there they were. "They're here! They made it!" she said, standing. "What took you guys so long?" Ron asked as Sarah and Sirius reached them.
((*The author's sister, Emerald the Lady Destiny, pops in*
Emmy: Gee, I dunno. Maybe because the author made them go through more…?
Dana: Not funny, Emerald
Emmy: Really? I thought it was. *disappears*
Dana: Sisters….))
"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, we've made it," Sarah said, grinning slightly. "Come on. Let's go rescue Snivilus," Sirius added.
A/N:Well, here we go. Finally to chapter 15. Next chapter, Jareth ATTEMPTS to teach potions!!