KittyWillow - I figured the unicorn and wolf attack scene would be wicked. I had a lot of fun writing that part. I liked showing that other side of Snape to my readers. Now that was fun! The whole Krad thing is definitely too coincidental. I'll keep that last note in mind.
Chapter 10
Roxy ran back to the Hufflepuff dorms and came out with a small crystal ball that fit well in the palm of her hand. It was a special gift her friend, Henry, had given her before she was transferred. It was a special magical item that could locate whoever you wanted it to find, provided you said the right incantation and said the person's name.
"Encontre."
The ball glowed a light green color and floated just above her hand. Silver letters started appearing in the ball. Speak the name of the person you seek, it said.
"Professor Martin Mercer."
The words disappeared and were replaced with what Roxy had said as it turned a dark shade of blue. Then an image of a silver arrow floated up out of the ball, pointing up the stairs. Roxy took the ball in both of her hands and let the arrow guide her. The locator ball led her down a few hallways, up some stairs, and to another room she had never seen before.
Roxy tapped the ball twice on the top, effectively turning it off, and placed it in her pocket. She put her ear against the door to see if she could hear anything. Not hearing a sound from within, Roxy tried opening the door to find it unlocked. She walked inside and what she saw made her jaw drop through the floor. The room was full of dark items, dark books, and just about every other dark item you could think of.
"Well, this wasn't quite what I was expecting," murmured Roxy.
She began exploring, soon finding out that all of the items belonged to Professor Mercer. But there was something she didn't understand.
"Why does Professor Mercer have so many dark stuff? And how did he get it into Hogwarts?" whispered Roxy.
It was a good question but a question that had no answer. All the sudden, she heard footsteps in the hall and them coming towards the very room she was in! Her eyes snapped over to the door. The doorknob was slowly turning as Roxy's heart beat loudly, loud enough for everyone in Hogwarts to hear.
She quickly looked around the room in a panicked state. There was no where to hide! The door creaked open to reveal not a professor or a student but Lucius Malfoy.
"What is that doing in here?" snarled Lucius.
Standing on the desk in the room was a light brown bat that looked up at him curiously. Professor Mercer appeared beside him and smiled, not a smirk, but a smile.
"It's just a magical bat, Lucius. You know I let them into my classroom sometimes. This one must have accidentally flown in here," said Professor Mercer.
Professor Mercer walked over to the desk and held his arm over the bat. The bat climbed onto his arm and hung upside down. Roxy was thanking every founder of Hogwarts that she had been able to transform into her Animagus form so quickly and in the middle of her being in such a state of panic. She nearly cried for joy when she found that Professor Mercer liked bats.
"So what were you saying, Lucius?" asked Professor Mercer as he leaned against the desk.
"I was saying that Lord Voldemort wants you to keep a better eye on the brat. He wasn't happy to hear that you missed capturing her a few nights ago."
So he was the one that attacked after the Quidditch match! I ought to bite his bloody hands off, angrily thought Roxy.
But she controlled her anger and continued listening to the two talk. It was all she could
do to keep from biting her Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
"I know he's mad but I'm working on it. She's become more cautious and travels with at least one friend now."
"Has she told anyone?"
"No. I guess she doesn't want to freak daddy dearest out."
Roxy started shouting but it all came out in bat squeaks. Both men stared at her strangely.
"It's probably hungry," stated Professor Mercer.
He grabbed some fruit and held it up to the bat's mouth. She took it from him for the sake of her safety. If she squeaked at everything they said, they might suspect something.
"Anyway, Lord Voldemort wants you to deliver her before the Christmas holidays. He wants to give Minister Fudge a Christmas present he'll never forget."
Roxy saw red but did the only thing she could think of doing. Since she was a magical bat meaning that her type of species flew at morning as well as night, she flew out the open window. The two men stared after her as she flew out of the window.
"Strange bat that one," muttered Professor Mercer.
Roxy landed in a tall tree full of snow near Hagrid's hut and transformed. She jumped down and kicked madly at the tree before calmly walking away from the big pile of snow that now lay at the base of the tree. Luckily, Roxy was wearing a jacket and jeans so she wasn't cold outside in the winter weather.
"I can't believe that man! I should have never given that-,"some 'creative' words are now said,"-a second chace."
Roxy rubbed at her eyes as she walked back towards the castle. For some reason, transforming into and from her Animagus form made her eyes sting a little bit.
"Hi Miss Roxy!" hollered a first year Ravenclaw.
"Hey," called back Roxy.
She was entering the entrance hall when she literally bumped into Lucius Malfoy. Roxy didn't know the man well but knew that the only emotions he ever showed were shown through his eyes. Right now he seemed slightly peeved and happy at the same time.
"Hello, Mr. Malfoy. Visiting Draco? Or perhaps a professor?" innocently asked Roxy.
He looked at her closely as she smiled at him with a look that had pure innocence in it.
"Just visiting a friend, Roxanne. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with your father soon."
Roxy politely stepped aside and allowed him to pass. She glared at his back as she watched him leave.
"Good day, Roxanne."
"Good day, Mr. Malfoy."
Roxy yawned loudly as she passed down the dark hallway and met up with Ernie in the entrance hall.
"Caught a couple making out on the second floor, had some dungbombs launched at me courtesy of Peeves, and I swear something tripped me down the stairs. I got news for you, next time Justin needs a substitute for Prefect duty he can go get Megan! I'm having a hell of a time
out here," angrily growled Roxy.
"Lighten up, Roxy. It's only ten-ten and the next shift isn't coming to relieve us until eleven-thirty. So you need to calm down before you bust a window," advised Ernie.
"I have an idea. Accio pullover."
Roxy's dark blue pullover came soaring down the hallway and landed in her outstretched hand. She put her pullover on and smiled wickedly at him.
"I'm going outside to patrol. One more minute in here and I will bust something that in the morning I will regret busting. That okay with you, captain?" snarled Roxy.
"Go right ahead," squeaked a nervous Ernie.
Roxy smiled wolfishly at him before leaving out the front doors of the entrance hall. She went out into the cold wintery wind. It was still lightly snowing out but it didn't bother Roxy one bit. She loved the winter weather the most and couldn't wait to go snowboarding as soon as she got home next month.
Roxy stuffed her hands into her pockets and walked quietly along the path towards the Quidditch pitch. She had heard that prefects sometimes found a Quidditch player or two practicing. Why at this ungodly hour, Roxy wasn't sure. Without warning, Roxy whipped around with her wand extended out. She had the sneaking feeling that someone was following her but she wasn't quite sure. The Hufflepuff girl turned around and kept walking.
She was half-relieved, half-aggravated when she found no one on the Quidditch pitch. She took the long way along side of the lake back to Hogwarts. The clouds in the sky parted to reveal the full moon that lit up the whole grounds area. It was then that she spotted a figure standing near the lake only a few feet ahead of her. The person wore a heavy cloak to keep the cold out and was skipping rocks across the water.
A step closer revealed the mystery person as Draco Malfoy. Roxy walked over to him and stopped. She said nothing. All she did was watch him skip rocks.
"Covering for Finch-Fletchley again, Ro?" sneered Draco.
"Sort of. He caught Wizard's Pox and couldn't find any other prefects to take his spot. So I guess you're the prefect walking around outside on the grounds, huh?" softly spoke Roxy.
"Nope. Supposed to be Pansy but she started complaining about her new manicure getting messed up in the cold wind," replied Draco.
"So you took her spot for the night. You're in the same boat as me, Drake."
"It's truly sad when it's come to that. You better go inside, Ro."
"Afraid I'll catch a cold, Drake? Ah, how nice of you to care!"
Draco stopped skipping rocks and gazed at her for the first time. His gray eyes read an emotion that Roxy couldn't decipher.
"I didn't say I was talking about the weather, Ro. There are things worse than the Wizard's Cold and you know it," whispered Draco in a dark, eerie tone of voice.
Roxy looked at him before walking back towards the castle. As she got closer to the castle, half of her wanted to report Malfoy but the other half didn't want to tell anyone she had seen him. All the sudden, she felt something like a needle prick hit her in the back. Roxy started slowly walking and coughing loud and hard.
She collapsed to her knees and leaned against the tunnel wall. For some strange reason, Roxy couldn't stop the coughing. It was getting worse as Roxy's stomach turned and her eyes stung badly.
Why can't I stop coughing? I couldn't possibly be coming down the Wizard's Cold. It's
never been this bad before, thought Roxy.
Everything started spinning and her head began throbbing with unbelievable pain. Suddenly she felt a pain so bad as though her magic was being painfully ripped from her body. Not being able to take the pain any longer, Roxy slumped against the wall and fell unconscious in the cold snow.
Ernie walked out of the dungeons and sighed. It was awfully quiet in the halls without Roxy complaining about everything. The Hufflepuff boy knew how Roxy could get if she wasn't in bed at such a late hour. Especially during the winter season. She had left over half an hour ago but he just assumed she was enjoying her time outside and, hopefully, blowing off some steam.
That girl has a temper that could be the end of us all, thought Ernie.
He walked up the stairs and disappeared around the corner. One of the entrance doors quietly opened and closed. A dark figure snuck in, being careful so as not to be heard by anyone. The person knew Ernie was around her somewhere but there was no telling where he was.
The dark figure quickly made its way down a hallway to the right of the entrance staircase. A moment later, Ernie reappeared and frowned. He could have sworn he had heard the entrance door open and shut.
"Must have been the wind," mumbled Ernie.
With every minute passing, Ernie became more worried about Roxy. She had been outside for pretty long and the wind was starting to pick up. Soon eleven-thirty rolled around and the next shift arrived. Hermione, Ron, and Terry Boot were the ones who came to relieve him. Hermione was the first one to notice something was wrong.
"Are you okay, Ernie? You look a bit nervous," stated Hermione.
"It's Roxy. She went outside about ten-ten and hasn't come back," explained Ernie.
"Ten-ten?! That was over an hour ago! It must be twenty degrees out there by now," said Hermione.
"I know. That's why I'm going to look for her," replied Ernie.
"I'll go with you," offered Ron.
"Me and Terry will go get Professor McGonagall," reported Hermione.
The four parted into two different directions. Ernie and Ron rushed outside into the stinging, cold wind.
"You check over there. I'm going to check the tunnel. Holler if you find her," said Ron.
"Okay."
Both lit their wands with Lumos so they could see through the wind and snow. Ron headed down the dark tunnel, the light from his wand lighting it up. He was halfway through the tunnel when his shoe hit something. Looking down, he saw nothing but snow. Then his eyes spotted a wand on the ground.
Ron knelt down and picked the wand up, examining it closely. Suddenly, he recognized the wand as Roxy's. He pocketed the wand and set his wand down with the light still glowing. He dug through the snow and finally found Roxy. Her skin was a deathly pale color and her lips were blue.
"Bloody hell," hissed Ron.
He kicked the rest of the snow off of her and put his ear to her chest. Ron heard a faint heartbeat. The Gryffindor thanked Merlin that she was still alive.
"ERNIE! HURRY! I FOUND HER!" hollered Ron as he gathered her in his arms.
Ernie came running fast down the tunnel. He gasped when he saw the state that Roxy was in. Ron slowly stood up with Roxy in his arms. Ernie took off the extra cloak he was wearing and used it as a blanket for Roxy.
"She's freezing, Ernie. We have to get her back to the castle," whispered Ron.
Ernie grabbed Ron's wand and led the way back to the castle. They met up with Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, Snape, Sprout, and the other two prefects. Professor Sprout gasped when she saw Roxy.
"She was in the tunnel. Buried under the snow," explained Ron.
"Bring her to the infirmary, Ron. Minerva, Severus, go with him," said Professor Dumbledore.
The two followed Ron as he walked up the stairs to the infirmary. Professor Dumbledore turned to Ernie who was looking at Roxy with a worried look.
"It's okay, Ernie. Roxy will be fine. Madame Pomfrey will have her up our feet in no time," reassured Hermione.
"But it's my fault. I shouldn't have let her gone outside alone. If I had gone with her, this would not have happened," said Ernie.
"You can't believe that. Whatever happened to her might have happened to you too. There's no telling what could have been," remarked Terry.
"They are both right, Mr. Macmillan. You are not to blame for what has occurred here and I'm sure Roxy would not want you to blame yourself either," softly spoke Professor Sprout.
"You're right, professor. I only wish I could have helped," replied Ernie.
"You did. For you see, you helped by caring about your friend and going out into this weather to search for her. You and Mr. Weasley probably just saved her life. Another minute or two out there and she have might not survived," informed the Headmaster.
Ernie knew that what the Headmaster said was true, that Roxy could have died, but it was too painful for him to think about so all he did was nod his head.
End of Chapter 10
I just realized that from the last chapter I didn't explain what Kazandrin is. It is a magical disease that makes your magic disappear from an hour to perhaps forever. If you contract the disease and your magic hasn't come back after 48 hours, then you have to use the Gonaga flower to restore your magic. Just thought I'd clear that up.