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DOUBLE TROUBLE

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

"Mione?! C'mon, wake up." Someone roughly shook her, and she moaned softly.

"Five more minutes, Mum. . ." Her voice came out a harsh mumbled whisper, as she turned over, only to be aware that she was lying on somebody. Hissing, she rolled off whoever she was on, raising a hand to her throbbing temple. "What in the world?!" Fuzzy confusion clouded her normally bright mind.

"You were out." The voice sounded familiar, and she looked into the dark eyes of Pansy Parkinson. "Now, I'd like an explanation, quickly before someone comes to investigate whatever the hell that was!" The other girl's voice was slightly high-pitched with panic.

Hermione shook her head, immediately sorry she did so. "Owie! I don't know, what happened? All I remember is light, and. . ." She glanced around, spotting her cousins. Skylar lay in Sirius' arms, her head on his shoulder. Raya lay cuddled against Remus, both in varying states of undress. Danielle and Bill lay side by side, soft smiles on both their faces. "Oh Gods, did I just. . .did. . .was there an . . oh dear sweet Goddess!" She rose, realizing that her skirt was indecently hiked up on her thighs. She rounded on Pansy, looking scandalized. "Was there an. . .orgy?!" She whispered the last word in a shaking tone, appearing faintly ill.

"Gods no!" Pansy actually laughed, snorting softly. "Ew! No, you all danced, rather. . .er. . .well, let's just say it this way. . .you had all the male attention." She nodded her head at a still very dazed Draco and Fred.

"Oh. . ." Hermione sank to her knees, burying her burning face in her hands. "This is not good, not good at all." She lifted her eyes. "Where's Ron, Harry, Lav, and Gin?"

"With. . .well. . .you better come see for yourself. I'll get Draco and Fred to wake up the rest of these goons." Pansy took Hermione by the hand, pulling the girl to her feet.
"Hey there." Charlie traced Elizabeth's cheek with a finger, smiling softly at her. "How you feeling?"

"Uh. . ." Elizabeth snuggled closer to Charlie's chest. "I think I'd say I feel just fine. What. . .what happened? Besides the obvious of course." Looking around, she caught sight of a very dead Bellatrix Lestrange. "Oh. . .Gods!" A fleeting look of pain passed across her face. "Did I. . .did I kill. . .?"

Charlie pulled her closer to him, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she began sobbing, her body shaking and heaving and her breath catching.
Ron's eyes fluttered open, shockingly dark against the pale of his skin, his freckles standing in stark relief. Swallowing reflexively, he took a shaking breath, his whole body weak.

"My child." Ron jumped as the hissing voice caressed his ear. Nagini reared her head, leaning over to flicker her tongue against Ron's nose in a very snake-like greeting. "Tis wonderful to see you returned to the living again."

Harry's head rose sharply, his eyes widening slightly.

"I-I can understand you!" Ron's voice came out in an awed whisper.

"Of course you can." Nagini replied, butting her head against his in a sign of affection. Harry shook his head, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Ginny was busy comforting a very distraught Lavender, so he was the only one privy to this strange encounter. "My child, my infant."

"What?!" Ron tried raising himself, only to fall back against the snake's warm coils. "What do you mean?"

Nagini rocked her head from side to side, her eyes narrowing. "I am your Mother, do you not recognize me?"

Ron's eyes widened, his mouth drawing back in a grimace as a thousand different sensations ran through his body. He could feel the sapping cold of the floor, hear the rushing of water from somewhere, and his sense of smell was so heightened he could actually distinguish the different types of soil on the floor. "What has. . .what's happened to me?"

Harry edged forward, his emerald eyes catching Ron's blue ones, only to gasp in surprise. Ron's pupils were narrow slits so very like those of Voldemort's, only not crimson. "Oh. . .oh Gods!" Harry's brow lowered, anger flashing across his face. "What have you done to him!?!"

Nagini turned her head to regard Harry in cool disdain. "Youngling, tis none of your concern!"

The two girls in the corner caught the hissing and spitting, and turned to see a very awake Ron, an irate Harry, and a hissing snake.

"Ron!" Lavender half crawled, half ran to the boy's side, wrapping her arms about him, ignoring the snake altogether. "Oh, Ron, you scared me! Are you alright?"

"I-I. . ." The words came out in snake language, and he swallowed hard.

"What?" Lavender loosened her grip.

"I. . ." Ron shook his head helplessly. "Harry, help me!" His voice sounded panicked as he hissed. "I can't. . .talk!"

"You can talk." Harry replied calmly. "Can he not, Lady Nagini?"

"Of course he can, tis the poison still in his veins. It will take him a bit to remember Human Language tis all." Nagini glared at Lavender. "Tell this. . .Human. . .that I am trying to properly greet my offspring."

Lavender looked from between Harry, Nagini, and Ron with a deepening look of confusion. "Ron. . .you're a parselmouth?"

Ginny sat in the corner, staring hard at her brother. She watched his movements, slow and sinuous, and the way he was looking at Harry in horror. "Uh. . .Lavender, maybe we should go and. . .see if Mione's okay."

Lavender turned dark eyes on Ginny, nodding dumbly.

Ginny rose, walking over to Lavender and grasping her hand, leading her off as if she were a small child.

"Now, care to explain?" Harry turned icy eyes on the snake.
"Well. . ."

"Who is it?!"

Rodolphus shifted Melody's slight weight on his hip, tucking the blanket tighter about her. "I swear to the Gods if you don't get out here right now, I'm going to strangle you." He hissed, holding Melody tighter.

The portrait in front of him mumbled an obscenity, but averted its eyes.

"I wasn't talking to you." Rodolphus replied genially, a smile gracing his wan face. "I was talking to the overgrown bat."

The portrait opened with a slam, revealing a rather irate Snape, who then turned into a rather shocked and more than a little pissed Snape. "What the HELL do you think you're doing?! You cannot go running about this school in the middle of the frigging day, much less night! Damn it, Rod! Are you out of your. . ."

"Mind? Yes, I am. Look, will you just let me in?" When Snape just stood, Rodolphus pushed him aside bodily, entering the dark rooms. "I think I've blown my cover."

"What do you mean?" Snape waved his hand, muttering. "Lumos."

"I mean exactly what I said. Bella's dead Severus." Rodolphus swallowed a lump in his throat. "And, I sort of. . .maybe. . .kind of. . ."

"What?"

"Well, let's just say Pettigrew isn't feeling quite himself."

"You didn't! Damn it, Lestrange, you knew better!"

"Yes, well, I had to get her out of there."

"Her?" He glanced at Rodolphus as if he were insane, then he noticed Melody glancing at him with wide eyes. "Oh."

"Uncle Sev." Melody giggled, wriggling about.

"What do you want, Rod?"

"I want you to take her and keep her safe, I have to get out of Britain, or I'll be dead for sure, and no more use to the Order."

"Do you want to inform Albus."

"There's no need." Both men turned about, jaws dropping. "Rodolphus, we must make haste, there is no time to waste, my boy." Albus grabbed Rodolphus by the arm. "Come along then. . ."
Elizabeth's weeping gentled into sniffling hiccoughs. "I'm-I'm sorry. . .it's just. . ."

"I know, love, I know." Charlie stood, carefully keeping his body in between Elizabeth's view and Bellatrix's body. "C'mon now, we need to find the others and get out of here. I wouldn't be surprised if the Deatheater's have not swarmed the caverns by now."

Elizabeth nodded, rising to her feet. Her magic flared about her body, emerald intensity.

"I am the Mother of all Serpents. I have been on this plane of existence for more years than the stars have numbers." Nagini hissed softly. "I have bided my time until Prophecy would make itself known." She dropped her head, nuzzling a puzzled Ron. "My Child has been reborn into the form of Man. Twas meant to be, twas prophesied."

Harry shook his head. "There's an awful lot of prophecies surrounding us. One about me, then Hermione, now you. . ."

Nagini raised her head, "Tis not all as it seems, Youngling. Prophecies, though guidelines, are merely that. We make our own Fate in this World, but I knew that if I did not follow this Prophecy, then the World as I have known it would cease to be. I am getting too far along in age to have things change so suddenly for me. My Child. . ." Nagini looked at Ron. "My darling child, you are the Life of my lineage, and your children will be blessed to carry my blood, and with it, the ability to control all races of Serpent. Tis a power only you possess as of now, and I know you will use it well."

"But. . .I don't even LIKE snakes." Ron hissed softly, piteously.

Nagini chuckled, "Well, my love, twould be as good a time as any to learn, would it not?"

Harry still remained puzzled. "I don't understand. How can there be so many prophecies? How can we not have known about them? Why us?"

Nagini shook her head. "Who can guess the will of the Gods? Youngling, tis better not to question your lot in life, but to take it in hand and lead it how you want."

"But. . ."

"Harry?! Ron?!" Hermione stumbled into the little alcove, her hair matted and tangled, her face dirty. "Are you. . .are you alright?" She dropped to her knees next to Ron, poking and prodding him.

"I'm fine." His voice came out thick, hissing slightly, but still in the Tongue of Man. Progress. "Just a little tired. I'll tell you all about it as soon as we get back to Hogwarts."

Hermione nodded, wrapping her arms about him, enveloping him in a tight hug of relief. "Don't scare me like that!" She glanced up at Harry, giving him a half-smile before it turned into a guilty frown. "I'm glad what happened did, whatever it was."

"Why?" Harry glanced at her.

"I'll tell you about it when we get. . .home."

"Home." Harry smiled. "Yeah, home."
Voldemort sat in front of a chessboard, ignoring the strange rumblings from the earth. He studied the board for a moment.

"My Lord! My Lord!" Peter skidded into the room, blood leaking from his broken nose. "Rodolphus Lestrange is a traitor!"

Lucius stepped from the shadows, giving Peter a glare. "Tell us something we don't know, Rat."

"Tis time to call forth our brethren, our allies. We leave for Hogwarts." Voldemort turned blazing crimson eyes on his followers. "We end this once and for all."

"What?!" Both Lucius and Peter turned to face their master, glancing at him in askance.

"But they're in the caverns." Lucius hissed.

"No, no. . .we attack them at Hogwarts. Prophecy has deigned it so."

"Yes, M'Lord." Both replied, hastening to the Owlery.

Voldemort only smirked, pushing a pawn forward. "Check."