Harry was dipped into a downward spiral and before he could let out a shout for the others he was twisting and spinning across what seemed like an endless cavern of darkness and light, all at once. It felt as if he were being hurled against jagged rock and broken glass, he spun and felt his head shatter against something, every bone in his body was broken, Harry was sure of it, but before he could cry out his pain, it was over. He lay on a hard surface, gasping for breath and writhing with remembered pain. After a moment he opened his eyes. The afternoon sun beat down on him and he could hear birds calling to one another. He tried to sit up and his head felt like it would burst, there was a dull ache in his right hand, but he paid it no mind. It was only at this moment that he realized he had arrived at wherever this place was without his glasses. Looking around he saw blearily that he was in a sort of field, around him were stone ruins and beyond that rugged mountains. The only sound were that of the birds, the wind and Harry's own ragged breathing.
"Aw, no." He mumbled in a hoarse voice. The dull ache in his right hand had turned into a searing pain. He winced and look down at it. He simply stared at it for a moment, uncomprehending. When he landed, or apparated, or whatever it was he did, his right hand had managed to pierce a metal rod. As Harry sat his hand was pinned to the ground by the rod. He swallowed, he knew what he had to do, but the thought of it was sickening. The pain was still not that bad, but Harry knew in an hour or so the shock would be gone and the pain would be unbearable. He set about bracing himself and with one fluid motion he pulled his hand up with all his might. Harry grit his teeth and waited for the pain to ease, he could feel blood escaping his body with every heart beat. He ripped part of his robe off and tied it around his hand as a bandage. He would have used his wand, but he never was that good with medi wizard magic.
"Harry! Ron! Hermione! ... Draco?" Harry was instantly overjoyed to hear a familiar voice and he stood up to wave his arms in the direction of Ginny's voice.
"Over here!" He called and watched as Ginny's head turned and she hurried over, visibly relieved to see another person. Her robes were ripped in places and there was a cut over her left eye, but she didn't look like she had sustained any life threatening wounds. Harry breathed out, relieved too.
"Harry!" She squealed, running up to him and throwing her arms over his shoulders. "Oh Harry, where are we? I can't find Ron or Hermione. What happened? It felt...oh it felt horrible, like knives, oh Harry..." She buried her face in Harry's chest. Harry awkwardly patted her head.
"Er, it's alright." He said. Ginny sniffed and stood back, wiping her eye on the corner of her dirty sleeve. Without thinking, Harry stepped forward and studied her forehead where the cut was. He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"Well, I don't think it'll leave any lightning scars." He smiled and Ginny did too. She looked downward and gasped.
"Oh, but you're hurt!" She cried, gingerly holding his hand, where the bandage was soaking with blood.
"Ho! You down there, are you alright!?" A booming voice echoed in the valley and both Harry and Ginny looked up to face a well built man, maybe in his late twenties, with shaggy black hair and a playful face sitting atop a pure white horse. He was facing them, on one of the rolling hills, waiting for their reply.
Ginny grabbed Harry's arm and said the impossible, but Harry didn't need telling, he knew what he was seeing. Harry stood motionless. Atop the horse...was Sirius Black.
Draco stood up carefully and made a half hearted attempt to brush off the infinite amount of dirt and grime from his once pristine robes, he had just opened his eyes and the light from the sun was almost blinding, but once his eyes adjusted, he was able to take stock of his surroundings, he seemed to be in a series of valley's, separated by rolling hills and beyond jagged mountains. The air was crisp, like the air after a winter shower, the only sound was the wind and a little stream a few feet from him with steadily moving water. He walked towards it, intending to clean his face a bit when he saw her. Hermione. He knew it instantly. She was lying across the stream in a crumpled heap, her eyes were closed. Draco saw at once what had happened, her head had hit a rock when she had hit the ground, a small bit of blood was pooling around her head.
Cold panic embraced Draco and before he knew what he was doing he was clambering across the stream towards Hermione. He knelt down beside her and put his ear to her mouth, listening for breath. After a moment he could distinguish a kind of rattle coming from her throat. He sighed. At least she was alive. Draco carefully rolled her on her back and moved her hands so that they were on her chest, he ripped a bit of clothe from his robes and wet it in the stream, then he placed it upon her head and the wound. Hermione tensed at the pressure on her cut but didn't do anything to stop it. Draco sat back. He wondered if he would have been helping her, this filthy Mudblood before he had seen Hogwarts collapse, before he had realized what his father was. All he knew was that he would not be like his father, he would not be a murderer. This girl...Hermione, stood for everything his father was and Draco was going to help her.
He put his ear over her mouth again and listened for breath. At that instant Draco heard an animalistic cry.
"MURDERER!" He looked up in time to see a streak of red hair come running towards him, knocking him over and sending them both sprawling across the ground and into the little stream. Ron was quickly on top of Draco and with amazing force was beating him unmercifully. "You killed her, you killed her, I'll kill you!" He yelled, displaying a ferocity unknown to a Weasley. Somehow, between blows, in the midst of the splashing water and flying extremities, Draco managed to grab both of Ron's arms and twist his way on top. He held the struggling Rom until he calmed down.
"Dammit, Weasley, calm down, she's fine, I did not hurt her, see for yourself." Ron stopped struggling and cast a wary eye over Draco. Draco laughed. "I don't give a pixies ass if you believe me or not, I wouldn't mind seeing that Mudblood die, but she was staining the landscape with her blood and I do so love a perfect setting." Said Draco sarcastically. He jerked Ron's hands away and stood up, dripping water and blood. Without saying anything Ron made his was over to Hermione and studied her, after a moment he stood up to face Draco. He was still breathing hard, but he had stopped shaking.
"If you think I'm going to apologize to you..." Ron said, glaring at him. Draco laughed a mirthless bark.
"Weasley, I don't need an apology from you, your state of affairs leaves you sorry enough."
Ron swelled up but before the inevitable argument could progress, they were interrupted by a loud shout. They both turned their heads upwards to face no less than fifteen men atop horses. They all had on armor, all with silver and emerald plums from their helmets. They each held either a spear or a sword, and the front man held a long flag pole with a flag bearing the crest of Slytherin.
A moment, then: "Isn't it a bit late for Halloween, gents?" Draco said, but even his cool façade was slipping. The riders dismounted and strode into the valley, surrounding them. What seemed to be the leader, who was holding a sword made of what seemed like crystal, stepped forward and removed his helmet. He looked about 28 and very tall, he had brilliant red hair and freckles spotted his nose. If he hadn't had such a fierce expression, one could say he looked almost like a Weasley. He walked slowly up to them, studying them, searching them with his eyes.
"What are you doing here?" He demanded in a cool drawling voice, tinted with cruelty. "These lands are protected from Muggles, so you must be Wizards. Who are you? Be you friend or enemy?" He said this as if the last distinction didn't matter much. Ron narrowed his eyes in distrust and knelt protectively over Hermione. The red haired leader saw this and his eyes widened.
Draco stepped up to him. "We are...The Students of Hogwarts." He said defiantly. The red haired leader narrowed his eyes.
"I have not heard of such a school, but you look harmless enough. We shall take you back to the castle and we shall find out more about you...Students of Hogwarts." He turned to his men. "Glidden, take the female, but be careful, she may have broken her neck, it looks that way." Ron paled and looked at Hermione, gingerly touching her face.
"Her neck is not broken," scoffed Draco. "Anyone with any sort of training would see that, she simply hit her head. She has a concussion, that's all."
The red haired leader grasped Draco and lifted him up without so much as a second thought. "Listen to me, boy, if you ever undermine my authority again, you will see my hospitality vanish. I am doing this because I am curious about you, but curious or not, I would not mind having one of my men slay you all for trespassing. Do you understand?" Draco gasped for breath and the red haired leader took that as a yes.
When Draco got to his feet he had such a look of rage and hatred, Ron had to lay a hand on his back to keep him from doing anything stupid. The man known as Glidden lifted Hermione and carried her over to his horse, laying her on the saddle and Glidden himself leading his horse. But before Ron or Draco could follow, they were roughly grabbed and their hands bound behind their backs. They yelled in anger and struggled against it but to no avail. The red haired leader simply laughed.
"You would not think I would let you free to wander and possibly spy, would you? we have riches and powers beyond anyone's imagination, and of course, we could not let just any unclean wizard around. Ha." The red haired leader spit onto the ground. "For the amount of Muggle-Wizard breeding, the pure bloods would be outnumbered in ten years. It's disgusting."
He motioned for his riders to mount and Ron and Draco were tied to the back of two of the horses, having to run along behind them. Ron didn't care though, about himself, or this madman who dressed in armor and liked to play make believe, all he cared about was Hermione and whether she would be alright. And beside him, amazed as he was and trying to deny it, Draco felt the same. In an effort to banish these feelings from his mind, he yelled up to the front.
"Who are you, you crazy son-of-a-bludger!" The red haired man did nothing but laugh as he spurred his horse onward.
"I am the great Lord of the Serpent! I am Lord Salazar Slytherin!"
Hello, I'm Allie and I wrote, er, am WRITING this story. If anyone noticed, this last chapter, chapter four, came about, oh, six or seven months after chapter three. For this I am sorry, but I honestly thought it was horrible! I thought I was doing the world a favor pretending this little fic never happened. But every once in a while I would get reviews, mostly good, and while I don't know what possessed you to like this (I question whether any mind altering drugs entered the equation) I suppose I'll add again. I'll be honest with you, I hate my writing. I find it rushed and unlikable, but I suppose I need to practice to get better, eh? So you all will be my guinea pigs! MUAAAHAHAHAHA!! Er. Yes, right. Well anyway, I ask you to please send me your comments, suggestions, or just comment on the weather (Why yes, it has been unseasonably sunny, hasn't it?) critique my writing, and I can make it better. To be honest I don't like writing the beginning of stories, I like to get to the juicy parts, so the next chapter will be better. Ah, I'm rambling. Well anyway, send your comments! And thank you, you all are so great, you all deserve cookies!!
Allie Quinn