A/N July 10, 2005: Okay, can someone please tell me what the chances are that the sixth HP book comes out on the same day I have to help out at a fund-raiser? What, one in a thousand? Million? Geez. Oh, and has everyone checked out the thing on FF-net ("Stats") where you can see how many times your story is viewed and who has you on their favs lists? That's pretty cool.
Thanks to: lucidity, Jubalee, and those who keep quiet but still read.
Disclaimer: I've got some strange ones here, but other than them, Harry Potter & Co. belong to J.K. Rowling. FIVE MORE DAYS (for those of us who have time to read)!
Rating: PG-13 (some violence & language) There wasn't much of a need for the T rating before, but now that's gonna change. Watch out, Neville!
Dedicated to: Jocelyn & her mum for 4 thousand reviews for "Battle of Wills"!
Turning Your Time Around
-- Last chapter --
"Good to meet you, Neville. Now, let's go - and be quiet." Draco opened the door and slipped out, not making a single sound as he did so.
Neville just stood there for a moment, too bewildered to move. He sighed and shook his head lightly.
'I hope someone fed Trevor while I've been gone. He's prolly the only sane one around here anymore.'
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Chapter 23: "Different and Deadly"
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As Draco and Neville crept down the corridor, the paintings on the walls whispered to eachother. Neville received quite a few sympathetic glances and even some of the worrying girls cried for them. He could not understand why, though. Did he look that bad?
Draco silently ushered him over to an odd looking giant cat statue. Neville could have sworn the eyes of the cat were watching him as he drew nearer. Draco looked around, making sure no one else was lurking, and flicked the cat's nose. Neville jumped back as he heard someone squeak, "Ouch!"
The statue was steadily moving to the left to let them through to a dark passageway. Without warning, Draco shoved him into the darkness and followed close behind. Things weren't too frightening until the cat moved back into place and every bit of light was stolen from their surroundings. With his hands in front of him to protect from running into anything, Neville walked slowly forward.
The result of his slow pace was another shove from Malfoy and he stumbled into the wall to his right. If he'd been able to see, Draco would have known that Neville was giving him a very dirty look at the moment. But, they both were still walking in the darkness.
Moments passed without comment, and as they trotted onward, the passage became narrower. When Neville could no longer fit between the walls, he and Draco turned sideways and continued. From some distance away, Neville could make out male voices talking quickly, but was unable to understand the words clearly.
Malfoy, as if he knew what Neville was thinking, said to him, "The end's not far, don't worry."
"Who's that talking?" Neville whispered to the side of him where he knew Draco must be.
"It's probably just some of the professors. This is their passage after all," Draco replied, not caring to whisper.
And he thinks this is a good thing? Alright, I've missed something - since when is it okay to get caught after hours by a professor? Maybe Malfoy needs some air, this tight spot is making him delusional.
Neville didn't voice his thoughts for the moment, but he did promise himself that if the Slytherin pushed him one more time he'd-
Draco grabbed Neville by the arm to stop him. "Shh. Don't move."
Neville did as told and stood stalk still as if his life depended on it. Complete silence was around them once more - not even the professors' chatting could be heard any longer. He waited in anticipation as sweat dripped down his forehead and his heart thumped a mile a minute in his chest. What was going on?
Don't move, don't move, don't breath, don't breath! We're gonna get caught, we're gonna-
"BOO!" Something pushed him sideways onto the floor of the cramped space.
"AHHHHHHH!"
Neville scrambled away and cowered by the wall just as a chilling sound echoed through the hall. Draco was practically rolling on the floor with laughter at scaring the new kid Neville. He clutched his ribs as he tried, and failed terribly, to catch his breath and laugh at the same time.
Little did this alternate Draco know, the new kid had been the subject of a Malfoy's teasing and torment for five years (going on six) at school. This time was just enough to push the normally shy boy over the edge. He hadn't needed to see where the Slytherin had been, he could hear him laughing his head off and dove in. Neville jumped to his feet and griped the collar of Draco's robes and pushed him into the wall. Draco abruptly stopped his fit and tried to get out of the new kid's hold. But, Neville would not let him go that easily.
Hauling the boy up just off the stone floor, he threw Draco sideways. Where the other should have landed on his Slytherin bum, he thudded into a fake wall which gave way and all three (the wall, Draco, and Neville) fell into an untidy heap before twelve of Hogwarts' current professors.
Neville looked up into the faces of the people who were staring quietly at the sight before them. Draco struggled to get up and Neville let go of him with a huff. They both got to their feet and waited for someone to speak. It wasn't long before a familiar voice said, "Well, as I was saying, the wizard-eating werewolf ran at me and-"
"Oh shut up Gilderoy!" Minerva McGonagall barked at the Defense professor. The old witch stepped forward slowly and looked over the two boys. She looked as professional as ever in her dark blue teaching robes, but that was definitely not what it sounded like. With a sigh she asked Draco, "Whatter yah doing here kiddie? Been wonder-hiccup-ing around have -hiccup- you?"
Draco dropped his eyes in shame and said nothing. Neville just stared dumbly at her, his jaw down toward the ground and his eyebrows up.
"Oh I -hiccup- see, you're -hiccup- not talking, are yeaaa-hiccup-ahh? Off to the Head-hiccup-Head-hiccup-Head-hiccup- oh forget it." She ended it with a wave of her hand and walked back to her previous conversation with the Charms teacher.
Draco smiled the tinniest bit as he headed for the back corner of the room. Neville followed but could not help but be shocked at who he saw in the brightly lit room. Lockheart was telling a bored looking Sprout about his latest brush with death and how he'd overcome yet another great beast.
What the hell?
In the corner stood a tall bookshelf of nothing but Potion manuals. Draco looked over at Neville as if asking 'Are you ready?'. Neville gave one short nod and watched as the Slytherin pulled a purple book off the highest shelf. With a low rumble, the bookcase dissolved into nothing right before their eyes, texts and all.
Instead of a wall as Neville had expected, there was a painting that went from floor to ceiling. The man in the picture was standing straight and tall with his head held up high. A tip-curled mustache was directly above a black-tooth grin on the man who stared at them. With a wink at Draco the man in the portrait said, "Why hello there Flip Squat, nice to see you again! Who is your new and incredibly odd friend? You are friends, correct?"
"Yes, sir. This is Neville Raymond," Malfoy responded helpfully. "Neville, this is Waldo Grecko."
The man smiled and added, "Mystery-Solving Extraordinare, and Protector of the Children. How do you do?"
"Uh... fine, thanks," Neville said warily.
Waldo Grecko regarded him for a moment as he rubbed his chin in thought.
"No you're not," he said simply. Neville looked taken aback but did not reply. He didn't have to since Waldo continued on. "You seem lost. Are you?"
"Yes." Neville eyed Grecko strangely as the man asked more questions. He wasn't sure yet if this man could be trusted, and given the people he was meeting lately, he was not about to just tell all his secrets.
"Where did you come from?"
"Far away," Neville said cryptically.
"Humm, well then, why are you here?" Grecko asked as Draco wondered off back to the teachers. On the Protector's orders, everyone new needed to be questioned by Waldo himself.
Neville paid no mind to the Slytherin's leaving and replied, "I'm here because someone sent me here."
"Oh really?" Grecko said casually. "Who?"
"A professor."
"One of our professors?" the other asked, looking over Neville's head to the staff.
Neville sighed. "Yes."
Grecko raised an eyebrow and said, "Care to tell me which one?"
Neville thought of Snape, but decided against mentioning his name. "I'd rather not say. I don't think he wants it spread around."
"Fair enough." Grecko's expression changed from an interested one to a serious one as he looked directly into the Gryffindor's eyes. "Do you intend to harm the children in this castle?"
Resisting the urge to let his jaw fall in surprise, Neville replied, "Never!"
Here I was being suspicious of him, when he's the one who's suspicious of me!
With a faint "That's all I needed to know." from Grecko, the portrait evaporated in the same fashion as the bookcase had only minutes before.
Neville just blinked and stared.
What just happened?
"Coming?"
Neville realized that Draco was nearly five feet into the passage and ran to catch up. They were in darkness not too long after. For most of the time they both were quiet, thinking and walking.
"I wish there was light in here," Draco muttered as he stopped suddenly. Neville did the same and was about to get out his wand to use 'Lumos' when the Slytherin continued. "I'm sorry about before... you know, the whole scaring you thing. I wouldn't have done it if I'd known how you'd react."
Draco waited for a response, but all he got was silence. "Neville?"
Truth be told, Neville was too stunned to answer that, so he just started walking again. Draco followed without a word. After tripping on his feet for the third time, Neville pulled his wand out of his pocket and whispered, "Lumos."
Draco jumped back and hit the wall on his left. Neville could see him holding his arms in front of his face for protection.
"What?" Neville asked, sounding confused.
"You-" he gasped, "Wand! You've got a wand!"
Lowering said object, Neville watched as Draco peeked over his arm. "What's wrong with you Malfoy? You're acting like you've never seen magic before."
"Children aren't allowed wands!" Draco said frantically, ducking behind himself again.
"Children? We're sixteen! And what are you talking about 'no wands', that's the stupidest-" Neville was yelling at the Slytherin almost as loud as he possibly could. He only quieted after hearing the footsteps of people running toward them. Judging by the fact that Draco came out from behind his defenses, he'd heard the clapping of shoes to stone also. Neither had time to react as curses flew down the tunnel straight at them.
Within two seconds of the spell hitting him, Neville knew what it was. His most favorite - Petrificus Totalus. His limbs snapped to attention and he soon lost his balance, falling forwards into the arms of the castor. He heard people around him talking excitedly as he was dragged back the way Draco and Neville had come before.
They were out of the tunnel and back in the now professorless staff room in minutes. He was dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes, all the while trying to break free of the binding spell. One voice alone stopped him from struggling.
"Why Draco, what are you doing out so late? I would have figured, after what happened last time, that you'd have learned better than to go wondering past seven."
It can't be! Oh, you have got to be kidding me-
The savior of the Wizarding world paced before him with a gleeful smile upon his face. "I'm sure the Headmaster would love to know about this. Wouldn't you agree, Draco?" Harry Potter asked, though not actually wanting an answer.
Without warning, Potter gave a rough kick into Neville's stomach, making the Gryffindor shut his eyes tightly in pain. But, it didn't end there he realized as another foot connected with his right arm, successfully rolling him over onto his other side. Neville had to fight his hardest to keep a groan in.
Potter rolled him back over with his hands, leaning down to look at Neville better. "You shouldn't have come here," he growled. A hard slap in the face and a punch later, Neville was released from Petrificus Totalus, but he barely moved anyway.
There was a laugh from Potter as he watched him lay on the cold stone floor. He wasn't sure where Malfoy was, and at the moment he didn't care either. All he cared about was the fact that he could barely breathe clearly.
"Come on," his attacker ordered the others in the room. "The Headmaster is waiting for us." With that, Potter grabbed the Gryffindor's arm and they disappeared in the blink of an eye.
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A/N#2: Whoa, McGonagall was drunk!
Ahh, I will only give you one guess as to who the Headmaster is. Hey, I never said it was Dumbledore, yeh know. But, the old Dumbledore, Snape,and Luna are all still in the castle.
This chapter was shorter, yep I know that - but, I did want one more out before this becomes total AU. If ya only liked the beginning of this chapter, tell me. If ya only liked the middle, tell me. If you only enjoyed the end, tell me. If you didn't even care for one bit of it, tell me something - give me a way to make it better! I'll be waiting...
Oh, and I've made a new site for my writing. I don't mind if you look at it or not, I'm just lettin' ya know that it's there. Check my profile page if ya wanna see it. Best wishes, all!
Tilly