Disclaimer: So, I figure that if anyone deserves to own Harry Potter, it's . . . not me. And I don't, and all is right with the world. The end.
A/N: Here you guys go! Just so you know, this chapter is somewhat . . . creepier and deeper than the others (or so I think), but I love it just as much, and I hope you will too!
Cambri was very cold.
It didn't make sense, since she was covered by a thick quilt, but she was cold all the same.
She lay in total darkness, staring up at the ceiling. She had no guard, because she had no freedom. Remus had ceased to vouch for her, and she didn't know where George was these days. She had lost her last shred of credibility with the Order when she had spoken with Remus a week ago. They had tied her to her bed frame and left her without any contact with humans for that miserable week. This was to ensure, she supposed, that she would not corrupt any of the other innocents around here, and perhaps even to break down her defenses.
It was working, dang it.
Cambri had always been a little unbalanced, just a little unstable, especially since she had been working for Voldemort. There was just a crack in her foundation, and whether that crack had always been there or if it had appeared from too much stress and torture put on the establishment was up for grabs, but it didn't really matter. Whatever the reason, it was there, and she could feel it now.
This week alone had not suited Cambri. She was not used to solitude, or privacy. She liked the busy, even frantic nature of her old life, and of her life in the Order before she had to lie to Remus to protect herself. Now, left alone to her own devices, and staring up at the unforgiving ceiling, she could feel the crack widening, branching out. She was afraid that if she thought about anything, she would collapse.
She had not had the easiest, or the best, or the least painful life; far from it. But she had never complained, never argued with her fate; she had merely accepted it as fate and done her best with it. She had never pitied herself; pity brought her nothing and took her nowhere. She did not sympathize with herself; there were others with far worse lives than she. Just because she couldn't think of any right now didn't mean a thing.
All in all, she had done the best she could with the life she had been handed. So why did she hate herself and everything about her life right now?
All Cambri could think of was hormones. There was no other explanation for her attitude at the moment. She had done what she had had to do with Remus- there had been no other way, not unless she wanted to take off her mask again . . .
Then again, was her mask really that important? No, she didn't think so. Perhaps, though, she had made it that important. Perhaps she was becoming the mask she had put on so often.
These were dark thoughts though, practically designed to hurt her foundation. She had to think positive, or at least not about that. She looked around the room, hoping for something that would distract her. Of course she couldn't see anything; it was pitch black, as she had noticed earlier.
Why aren't I asleep? she demanded of herself. But even before she asked herself the question, she knew the answer.
I'm scared of what darkness I might encounter when I dream. I'm scared that I'll fall asleep and I won't wake up to reality. I have to stay awake. Any one of my bad dreams could send me . . . down . . . over the edge . . . I think that's what it's called . . .
Despite her determination, her exhaustion (as exhaustion will) took her and practically dragged her over the line between dreams and reality.
"You're wasting your time, you know."
Cambri couldn't see who said this. She couldn't see anything. She was in a dark fog, thick and heavy and weighing her down. "What?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. She sounded weak, childlike. She felt like it too.
"You're wasting your time." The voice was strong, but it was whisper-quality, wispy and evanescent.
"I don't understand," she protested angrily. "What am I wasting my time with?"
"You're wasting my time too, Cambri."
"What?" she shouted into the mist. "What are you talking about?" She was starting to get the vinegar taste of fear in her mouth. "Who are you? How do you know me?"
"I know you, Cambri."
Cambri was getting goose bumps. She knew that voice. Who was it? It continued speaking.
"You know me, as well. We are quite alike, you and I. It won't be long until you see that."
"Where are you?" The terror in her voice shattered the mist, and it fell in sharp, ghastly shards down to earth. She could finally see her attacker. "You," she said, her voice soft again.
"No," said the person in front of her. "You."
Cambri was looking at herself. "This can't be real," she murmured. "This has to be a dream."
"Yes," agreed herself. "But I'm real. I came from that crack deep in your foundation. And you are wasting our time."
Cambri spun around, perhaps to run away from the imposter, but she was facing her in every direction she turned.
"Idiot," the imposter hissed. "This mind belongs to me too. I am you. You can't run away from yourself. Although," she added, "you've been doing a pretty good job of it lately."
"Get away," Cambri whispered, seeing now where the glass shards had fallen. They were in the imposter's eyes and her heart and mind. She was seeing through the other girl, and they were there. She remembered reading a story, so long ago, about glass shards of . . . a mirror, perhaps? She wasn't sure. It might have been the Snow Queen, but it had been so long ago . . .
"Yes," agreed the imposter, "it was the Snow Queen."
"Get out!" Cambri screamed at her. She was terrified, and it showed in her voice, but at this point she didn't care. "Get out! Get out! I want you out, I want you to go! You're not me; I don't have that glass in me, not anymore. I can't be like that anymore!"
The imposter smiled at her, a cruel smile. "Then I will leave, for now. But when doubt surfaces, I'll be back, and so will your glass." She disappeared, and the mist swirled around Cambri again.
She could hear voices, several of them, calling at her from far away. She tried to answer. They were voices she knew, from people she knew, but the mist was too thick. Suddenly, she heard a new voice, deep and commanding, and the mist cleared and she rose up above the dreams . . .
Cambri opened her eyes, and immediately shut them again. The overhead light in her room was on, and it pained her after so much darkness. She slowly inched her eyelids open and looked around. There were several people in the room: Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus, and George. She looked directly at George, whose worried expression was fading quickly into sullen anger. She looked around at the others.
"What's going on?" she asked them quietly.
"You were . . . having a dream?" Remus guessed this hesitantly.
"Yes, people usually do, Lupin." Cambri didn't say this sarcastically. She sounded weary, stretched thin.
"Voldemort was just here," said Dumbledore dangerously. "Has he ever . . . possessed you before?"
Cambri laughed then. She didn't mean to, she knew it was inappropriate, but she couldn't help it. "My master, possess me? He doesn't need to possess me, Dumbledore. Are you sure he wasn't just visiting me, while I dream? We're linked that way, you know." Cambri was feeling slightly hysterical. That awful, horrible dream, and now this hostility and interrogation were more than she could handle.
Dumbledore apparently could tell what she was feeling, because he backed off. "I will not let this drop, Cambri, but I will talk to you in the morning. Good night." Sirius and Remus, who gave her a scathing look laced with pity (she had no idea how the werewolf managed to do this), left with him.
George was watching her guardedly. "You used me," he finally said, and she cringed a little. She wasn't up to this.
Cambri couldn't think of answer; not to his accusation, or to the pained emotion on his face. He finally shook his head in disgust, and headed for the door.
"George, wait," she said softly, finding her voice. He turned on her.
"Wait for what?" he snarled. "Remus told me what you said, okay? I get it now. I tried to protect you, I helped you, I don't know- I may have even loved you. And all this time, I was playing right into your hands. All this time, I was doing exactly what you wanted me to." His voice quieted. "I don't really want to see you, Cambri. You are not the person I wanted you to be. You're not who you should be, but if that's the path you've chosen, then so be it. You're going to have to walk it without me." He stormed out.
After he was gone, there were no words, no thoughts. Her mind was blank and white and void of everything. She lay down, but did not sleep.
Cambri was very cold.
A/N: So what did you think? I rather liked it. A bit dramatic, perhaps, but there you are, Chapter 10!!!!! I'm into double digits now!!!!!