Author's Notes: Ok, ok, so you might wanna kill me, but then you'll never find out how this finishes ... so, you'll let me live?
As a treat for you, you all get two chapters at once!
Next Update: Don't really know when the next chapter will be out, but it's half-way finish.
Disclaimer: Was never mine, is not mine, will never be mine – except
for the plot -
"spoken"
'thought'
parseltongue
Mind-link conversation between Saskia and Harry
:: P a r t S i x ::
Harry's feet slammed into the ground. The sensation of portkeying faded and Saskia hissed her displeasure. Around him, Harry heard various sounds of discontent as the other three members of his group regained their senses. Mere moments had passed before a scream pierced the air.
Harry whirled around, taking in two other people in travelling cloaks.
'But there were three other magical signatures that portkeyed in with me!" Harry thought in wonder.
Massster, Harry, sssomething ssseemsss wrong here Saskia hissed to him, from her place around his neck.
Harry's companions looked wildly around as they heard the hissing.
"Oh, great! Trust Dumbeldore to send us into the middle of no-where with a bunch of snakes." One of the cloaked people said. Harry did a double take, he knew that voice anywhere! Draco Malfoy!
"Malfoy!" The other visible person exclaimed.
"MacMillan." Malfoy said. "Great, just all I need is for Potter to show up and be in this merry little group of Dumbledore's making."
MacMillan. Ernie MacMillan. Sixth-year Hufflepuff prefect.
Harry pushed his hood back and stepped forward. "Sorry to disappoint Malfoy." Harry turned to the Hufflepuff, "Alright Ernie?"
"Harry?"
"Potter?" They both exclaimed in amazement.
Harry smirked, and said, "Anyone would think that you hadn't met me before."
For once, Draco Malfoy and Ernie MacMillan were in agreement as they checked out Harry's new look. Their eyes rested on the three foot long snake that rested around his neck, the pierced eyebrow and the hair.
"And now that you've finished checking me out, I believe we should try and find our missing friend." Harry said.
Harry Saskia hissed, There isss a lot of magical energy around here.
Harry closed his eyes and felt for all the magical presences in the clearing that they seemed to be in. After about two minutes in which the Hufflepuff and Slytherin exchanged looks of incredibilty, they heard Harry hissed in parseltongue.
Oh, ssshit! Harry cursed as he managed to finally identify what the readings were telling him.
"D'you want the good news or the bad news?" Harry asked.
"The bad news being that you're clinically insane and the good news being you're the newest inmate in St. Mungo's mental section?" Malfoy drawled.
Harry looked at him and burst into laughter. "Good one, Malfoy. Good one." Harry cleared his throat. "Actually, the bad news is that we are right in the middle of a goddamn illusion." Harry still his shaking shoulders and let Saskia slither down his body to the ground.
Malfoy snorted, muttering something, which sounded like, "Trust me to get stuck with Potter, the Boy-with-the-worst-luck-in-the-world."
"Malfoy, I hate to break it to you," Ernie said, "But Harry has an innate talent for getting out of situations like this."
"Wonderful." Malfoy drawled.
"Great! Now that you've finished discussing my credentials, perhaps we can move on to the tiny, insignificant detail of the missing member of our team," Harry growled.
Malfoy scowled before saying, "Potter, if you think that I'm going to help you save some Gryffindork from a stupid illusion then you really should check into St. Mungo's!"
"Malfoy!" Harry snapped, "If you used that godforsaken brain of yours once in a while then you would know that this is not some simple illusion charm. Simple ones break when you are aware of them. We are all aware of this one, and yet it hasn't broken!" Harry turned away to find his wandering snake, before whirling around to face the two stunned Hogwarts students. "And why do you assume that it's another Gryffindor? It could be another Slytherin for all you know!" Harry spun on his heels, his travelling cloaks twirling around his legs. He stalked over to his snake.
Silence settled in the gloomy clearing.
"So," Ernie muttered, "Er, Harry? Not a simple illusion charm? Any ideas why the Headmaster sent us here?"
"What do I look like?" Harry said, "Dumbledore's personal assistant?"
"No," Malfoy drawled, "Just his golden boy."
Harry turned to scowl at him. He then turned to Ernie, "I've no idea on the why, the how or the who. Or anything really, but I do know that someone is trapped in the illusion, and considering we can't hear he, she, it, whatever, we should try and help ... it."
Ernie gave an affirmative nod, and turned to look at Malfoy.
"Oh, fine, whatever." Came the reply.
Later, Harry, Ernie and Malfoy were cursing Harry for his harebrained idea of breaking the illusion. It turned out that they had been at the edge of a steep cliff then, but now they were hanging off the edge.
As they were falling, Harry had grabbed on to a tree branch and wrapped his legs around the nearest body, which turned out to be Malfoy who in turn looped one of his legs around Ernie's arm.
"Potter! I swear I'm going to kill you! I thought you had a an innate talent for not killing yourself!" Malfoy screamed.
"Yeah, but it only kicks in when I'm walking towards the light at the end of the tunnel!" Harry called back.
Harry smirked at the strangled sound that came from his blond rival.
From his position at the bottom of the human chain, Ernie smiled at the familiarity of their bickering.
"Er, Harry?" He called, "I don't suppose that this situation we find ourselves right now, could, at all, be considered nearing that light!"
Harry thought for a second. "Well, actually, I think we're nearing the start of the tunnel, rather than the end of the tunnel, Ernie."
"Oh, great Magic!" The Hufflepuff cursed.
Harry laughed while Malfoy dropped his head in exasperation.
"So," Harry said, "How long are we planning on hanging here for?"
Ernie groaned in frustration. Malfoy yelled back, "Well considering the only options are either down into the ground that we can't even see because we're too high up or up into the illusion of that clearing that isn't really a clearing in a forest, do we really have a choice?"
Silence was his answer.
"So, was that an up, down or stay hanging?" Harry asked politely, causing Ernie to choke out a laugh.
"Potter! I'm going to kill you!" Malfoy screamed.
"Oh, Ok." Harry said, pausing. "Just so I know, is that going to be while we fall, climb or hang?"
"Potter!"
Harry was having fun baiting Malfoy. It was a while since he had enjoyed a conversation, excepting the Quidditch match.
Minutes passed as they were in thought.
"Hey Harry, what happened to your snake?" Ernie asked. "Where'd it go?"
"I think she got caught in one of the illusions," Harry replied.
"And you're not worried?"
"Nah, I know she's fine. She's a good snake, she can take care of herself."
Harry looked up into the ground of the illusion above them. He could see the tree roots of the clearing that they have portkeyed into. And then he looked down, and he could see the vast valley below. Or at least he tried. The bottom of the valley was lost in the mist that shrouded the ground below, so the only way to tell the height of the cliff would be to fall down.
Harry's thoughts drifted to his beloved friend, the serpent Saskia. She had disappeared somewhere, moments before they had fallen themselves. He knew she could take care of herself, but he wanted to find her, if only for the warmth of her scales on his skin.
And then there was the problem of their missing companion. They had no idea who it was, or where he or she had gone. Harry was beginning to recognise the magical signature of someone with the Dark Mark etched on their souls. The stench of Voldemort's tyranny was strong in his own magic, and present in those of his followers. The illusion reeked both strongly and weakly of Voldemort, but Harry couldn't detect if the Dark Lord was near or not, the illusion prevented it so.
"You know," Harry began, "I'm beginning to wonder if the clearing was a gateway to different places."
"What makes you say that?" Ernie asked, pulled from his own thoughts.
"Cos Saskia disappeared and we haven't her."
"And who, exactly, is Saskia?" Malfoy drawled.
"My serpent friend," Harry replied.
"Well, she fell before we did, so you probably could find her at the bottom of this bloody cliff," Malfoy said. The pale wizard gave a startled gasp as he felt a firm hit to his leg. "You know MacMillan I could let go off you, and you'd go join his snake."
"And I could let go of this branch and we'd all freefalling down, does that sound fun, Malfoy?" Harry said from his place at the top.
"Potter!" Malfoy cried, slightly shaken, "You wouldn't dare, we'd all die!"
"Well I've been thinking," Harry started.
"Oh Magic! Call the Daily Prophet Potter's been thinking!" Malfoy drawled, in his usual control self.
"Oh shut up." Harry said, "This could just be another illusion. If we let go, we might find ourselves in another illusion, or maybe the real world."
"Strike the Daily Prophet we need to call St. Mungo's," Ernie said, earning a slightly choking sound from Malfoy.
"Potter, you're insane. You want to trust some messed up illogical thought that you came up with and free fall, maybe to your deaths!"
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Harry replied.
"Well, it's not like we have anything better to do," Malfoy said.
"What?!?" Both the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff cried.
"You said it Potter, this could just be an illusion, so why not find out?" Malfoy said.
"Yeah, but wasn't expecting you to agree."
Ernie shook his head, and then sighed, "Oh why not? Like the snake said, it's not like we have anything to do." And with that he let go of Malfoy's legs.
Harry felt the load lighten from his arms, and looked down to see the wizard fall into the mist.
"ERNIE!"
"Come on Malfoy, let's see the lion in you!" Harry called, letting go of the branch.