Chapter 5- Reading and Ruins
The next few months were filled with school work, homework, training and practicing everything they had learnt in training.
Hermione had insisted Harry was working too hard, but he was adamant that he was actually enjoying himself learning all the extra stuff much to Ron's disgust. Of course, Harry wouldn't tell them about Draco training with him OR the friendship they had formed since training had begun.
Harry and Draco would often leave training together and go for walks while the rest of the school slept and during the rest of the week they would meet up after dinner twice a week to practice what they had learnt in the previous session. This meant they were getting along at an alarming rate. Lupin and Snape were amazed at their quick progress and had begun to move onto much more advanced stuff.
Both of them could apparate short distances, cast many spells together that were so strong that Lupin and Snape had to duck or dive out of the way. The room after each session was devastated, but no one minded. They could do many spells without the use of their wands, summon many objects all at once and make them hover in the air just as they reached their destination. They could deflect hexes and curses at lightening speed and they could send some ricocheting back at the caster.
Harry, to his great horror, had been taught the unforgivables. He practiced on tiny bugs, the ones which really annoyed him, which made him feel slightly better. He only agreed when he was told that he couldn't really kill Voldemort without them and that Draco had already mastered them with the help of his father.
Snape had told them it would be useful for them to learn Legilimency and occulmency, and so that is what they were now working on. Harry was still having a hard time with occulmency as he was the year before, but he was giving it his best effort and Snape didn't seem nearly as hostile as the last time he tried it.
Not towards him anyway...
He and Lupin were always arguing and Harry and Draco had given up trying to split them apart.
Their arguments were few and far between and became less so when Harry and Draco had begun leaving while they bickered like school children. But they didn't stop, and when one reared its ugly head it lasted for hours.
Harry and Draco usually ended up by the lake skimming stones or in the library looking up more things they could try by themselves when their sessions were rudely interrupted like that, but neither minded much.
Draco hated to admit it, but Harry was fast becoming one of the best friends he had ever had. Crabbe and Goyle were loyal but they weren't really people you would class as friends. Pansy was just down right annoying, and Blaise, Blaise was probably the only person Draco counted as a real friend. And now Harry.
They spent a lot of time together, working, or just talking about anything and everything. They still argued sometimes but what friends don't? They would always have their rivalry to look back on and the petty things they got angry over didn't seem so important anymore.
Harry was also feeling that Draco wasn't half bad when you really got to know him. Sure he could still be an obnoxious brat at times but that was part of who he was and it just took a bit of getting used to.
Hermione and Ron didn't seem to notice his regular absence on certain days anymore. It had turned into part of their routine that Harry wouldn't be there twice a week after dinner, Monday nights until late and sometime during the weekend. Therefore they never bothered him about it, and put it down to all the training.
Hermione only ever really made a fuss about how much he was eating and sleeping, which was nothing out of the ordinary.
Quidditch was going well, Gryffindor were winning as per usual and Harry's school work wasn't slipping, it was in fact doing the exact opposite. Everything was peachy.
At Hogwarts anyway...
Far Far away from the Happiness at Hogwarts...
Lucius scanned the pages of the large dusty book by candle light, his head drooped, his eyes half closed from exhaustion.
There hadn't been anything, in any book, about how to break the spells protecting Hogwarts.
Nothing.
But of course, why would there be? Who would do such a thing?
Voldemort would.
His gaze traveled back to Hogwarts: A History, the page laying open on the detailed chapter about the wards. He read it again, possibly for the one Hundredth time that day.
"There are so many" he thought sadly "Too many"
You had to give Dumbledore credit. When one Ward was broken, another was put in its place automatically. When that didn't happen and a Ward was broken, it took several wards to be broken simultaneously to have any kind of effect of the castle.
Lucius' eyes skimmed the page, and came to a halt on Muggle repelling Charms.
"Muggles" he thought, "Muggles..."
He imagined what would happen if Muggles ever knew about the wizarding world. There would be mass chaos for starters, the ministry would be called out all over the country, Dumbledore would...
"Holy Merlin THAT'S IT!"
Frantically he began flipping pages in the Dark Arts book he had in front of him.
"Where is it? I knew I saw it somewhere...page 300 and...AHA!"
He threw the book down and reached over for a candle. Pulling it closer he leant over and began to read.
It took nearly 2 hours, and a great deal of thinking, but eventually Lucius thought he had the answer.
It was perfect. They break the Ward preventing Muggles from seeing Hogwarts, Muggles find out, chaos ensues, Dumbledore leaves Hogwarts at its most vulnerable to help the Ministry and voila! They were free to enter Hogwarts without much trouble and do whatever they pleased.
They would win this war yet.
One small snag. A lot of power was needed to break that particular charm, and Lucius doubted his master had that kind of power alone.
He put his mind to rest when he thought back over Severus' reply to his owl, that Draco was doing VERY well at his training and would soon be ready for whatever was required.
Of course, the owl didn't mention that Draco was doing well at the things he needed to defeat Voldemort rather than help him.
All that Lucius was thinking about was about how easily his son would agree to helping the Dark Lord. He knew Draco was stubborn and so made the firm decision that if he didn't agree he'd just stick the imperious on him and force him to do it.
Silly, silly Lucius...
Meanwhile...
"I'm still not sure this is such a great idea Wil"
"Look, if you don't have anything useful to say then shut up! I didn't bring you to whine at me"
Willow and Alex had been rowing for nearly an hour, in the pitch black of the night, looking into the black of the water, and all around them being engulfed in darkness.
"What are we going to do when we get there?" Alex needed to talk, the silence was scaring him more than anything else.
"Look around I guess" Willow replied, grimacing as she pulled back on the oar, pulling the boat closer to the other bank of the lake.
"You know" Alex began "It could be some hideout for wanted criminals, or a storage of stolen goods, or old hobos live in there"
"Yes, I'm sure its all of those rolled into one Alex" Willow sighed and continued to row "Would you mind helping me row, we're going to end up going round in circles if you paddle any slower"
"Sorry" he mumbled and pulled harder on the oar. "What do YOU think is up there then?"
"Probably some rotting wood and a few rats" Willow said just as they hit the bank at the other side "But we're about to find out, aren't we?"Alex swallowed hard and followed his sister who had clambered out of the boat and had begun to tie it up.
"So why are we here if that's all there is going to be?"
"You never know do you?" she winked at her brother and turned to face the ruin. It stood a short way up the hill, not far away at all but it would be a long way to run if there was something unexpected in there.
Alex checked the knot his sister had tied the boat up with and frowned, not a proper knot at all but he didn't have time to change it as Willow was now tugging at her brothers hand, telling him to follow close behind and not to get lost.
They reached the large wooden doors, skidding to a halt just as a gust of wind blew in from over the lake causing the heavy doors to blow inwards for them to enter. The KEEP OUT sign banging heavily against it.
"That was convenient" Alex whispered hiding slightly behind his sister, reading the sign "You know, it says its dangerous, I think maybe we should go back now..."
"Don't be a wuss" she whispered back and she inched round the door frame slowly, keeping in the shadows and motioning for him to follow her.
"I...er...I think I remember something I have to do...we have to go home Wil! WIL!" He was pulled quickly inside.
He was amazed at the size of the ruin. He stood in a large darkened hallway by the looks of things, a large winding staircase, rotted and aged had once decorated the area and all the large windows were now gaping holes in the walls.
Glass littered the floor and their shoes crunched over it as they walked slowly, taking in their surroundings.
They explored the entire floor and found nothing, saw nothing and heard nothing.
"I think maybe you were right about the rotting wood and rats, Wil" Alex sighed kicking a plank of wood across the floorboards.
Willow was standing in front of the huge staircase, looking up into the upper floor.
"We haven't looked upstairs yet, people wouldn't hide stuff on the bottom floor would they?"
To Alex this made sense but did they really want to climb and old rotting staircase, in an old rotting house that hadn't had any weight put on it for centuries?
Looked like they were about to.
She stood on the first step slowly, making sure it didn't break under her weight, when she was sure it was safe she moved to the next step, and the next. She did this until she was half way up and she turned to call Alex up to meet her.
He did exactly like she did and eventually he was half way as well. Willow was now on the landing at the top and was jumping up and down in triumph
"Its perfectly safe Alex, look, it can hold my weight eas-"
That's when the floorboards beneath her cracked and broke. She fell through the hole that was now covering nearly the entire landing and luckily managed to grab onto the floorboards that were still in tact.
Alex, forgetting the state of the wood on the stairs charged up to help his sister back up through the hole. He made it up and leaned down over into the gaping hole to help her pull herself back.
"Oh God, help me Alex, my arm is slipping" Willow cried out as he grabbed her shoulder and began to pull her back.
"What? What is it?"
"Its my arm, I cut it on some broken floorboards when I fell, just...be careful OK?"
Alex nodded and got her by the arm a little lower down.
Together they managed to pull her back to safety and they quickly made their way back down stairs, not being careful like before in their hurry to escape the rotting staircase.
Alex's leg crashed through a stair near to the bottom and he yanked it out, not caring he had slashed his leg and ankle badly.
Both teens crumpled on the floor outside when they eventually made it from the old ruin.
The wind was still blowing and it cooled them down. Willow rolled back her sleeve and hissed as a deep red gash was revealed, glistening with blood.
Alex ripped a sleeve off his shirt and tied it tightly around the wound to stop the bleeding.
"That should do until we get back" he said quietly, relieved at being away from the house and nearer to the boat. They couldn't see the boat from their position on top of the hill but he still felt safer for knowing it was there.
"What about your leg?" Willow asked, pulling his trouser leg up to see what damage there was. His entire ankle was ripped open and was flowing freely with blood. Alex ripped off his other sleeve and did the same to his ankle as he had done with Willows arm.
"We had better get back" he smiled gently, helping Willow up and attempting to pull her back to the bank of the lake.
"We didn't find anything" Willow sighed sadly, wishing there was more to the old ruin than they had discovered.
"No, but we had a bit of an adventure" Alex tried to cheer her up but she only looked at the ground beneath her feet and followed Alex silently back to where they had tied up the boat.
"Uh...Wil are we sure this is where we tied the boat up?" Alex's voice was raised slightly in panic.
There was no boat, no where, anywhere around the bank of the lake that he could see.
"I'm sure of it, look, the post is still there!" Willow pointed to the post that stood in the ground next to their feet
"I KNEW your knot was crap Willow! If you hadn't been in such a bloody hurry-"
"I'm sorry OK, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. Blame it on me. I don't care. All I care about is getting home. I'm cold, I'm tired, my arm hurts..."
And with that she burst into tears.
Alex sighed and put his arms round her to comfort her as she sobbed desperately into his shoulder.
"Its OK" Alex whispered into her hair "Really, we'll be fine. What we're going to do is sleep here tonight, by that tree for shelter, and in the morning we'll be able to see more and maybe do something about it. But we're both tired and in shock and there isn't much we can do."
Willow nodded in agreement and dropped herself down next to the tree on the bank.
Alex, being a boy scout in his childhood, had constructed a small pile of well placed logs from the house to start a fire with. The idea was that someone would see it and come and investigate. The only problem was the logs were damp and were refusing to light.
Willow had told him not to worry, to leave the logs out to dry in the wind and to get some sleep.
He had obliged happily, and the siblings drifted off into an uneasy sleep for the remainder of the night.
In the same position, under the tree on the bank of the lake on the Hogwarts grounds, Harry Potters scar began to burn...
AN: I wont have time to post this chapter 2moz coz I'm working from half 7 in the MORNING! GUH! And then I'm at a Hen party a bit later so I grace ye all with chapter 5 this evening.
Usual stuff: if something is wrong tell me, I'll change it. For instance...the wards...I didn't really have a clue so made some stuff up. And I'm sorry if the bit at the house was lame. It gets better from now on...I SWEAR. More plot now...promise!
AND REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW...why was it I got more reviews when I offered food? OK...I will give anyone who reviews food...
Ok so...next chapter: Voldemort gets active! Alex and Willow aren't where they're supposed to be, Harry and Draco...hmmm...nah that's TOO much information...MORE talking to Dumbledore, and we make some new friends...
Until NEXT SATURDAY! DUN DUN DUN....