Darkness and Light
Chapter 6
Updated as of 1/3/10
It's very clear that I don't know how to write battles :3
Since the day that Harry had found out that Tonks had gone missing, things seemed as if something was slightly off in the universe.
For one, his girlfriend was ignoring him. Not purposely, of course, Hermione would still respond to him and smile when she saw him, but those times were few and far between. When she wasn't in the common room, nose buried in her homework, she said that she was going somewhere with Usagi or one of the other transfer students, and there she would stay until right before curfew, sometimes even a little after. Mealtimes were the only times that Harry could actually see her and talk to her without her telling him not to talk in class or while she was doing her homework. He knew that she wanted to learn about the foreign students, but even this was a little farfetched.
But the party of international students had shrunk; the famous Three Lights were gone the next day, supposedly having just signed a new touring contract.
"Good." Ron said as soon as Minako told them at the Gryffindor table. "I never liked them much."
"I wish I had gotten to talk to them..." Ginny said dreamily. "I hope they put out a new album soon."
Hermione had, thankfully, not expressed any regret in the trio leaving, but that did not snap her out of whatever phase she was going through, either.
And then there was Draco, his arch nemesis. Said nemesis seemed to be going through a phase of his own, as he hadn't bothered Harry at all after the train incident. It was strange, like he suddenly decided that bullying Harry for no reason didn't causes him pleasure anymore. The rumor floating about the castle was that he and Rei, a Gryffindor, started dating. This didn't concern Harry at all, but everyone else seemed to think it concerned them.
"He shouldn't be dating that Gryffindor freak!" Harry had heard Pansy Parkinson mutter quite loudly. "He's much too good for her."
"She's conferring with the enemy!" He had heard someone in his own house.
"I think it's good that the two houses are getting together," Luna Lovegood said conversationally during Gryffindor's Quidditch tryouts, which she and a few of her friends had decided to watch. "Maybe all the pointless fighting will stop."
But Rei had denied each claim very vehemently, her eyes on fire with rage the more the rumor got around. Even today, the tenth, the day Sirius was supposed to contact Harry and the day of the first Quidditch match, she came down the dorm stairs in a huff, the laughter of her friends trailing after her.
"I mean, how many times do I have to say "no" before they get it?" She muttered, not really to anyone in particular. Harry, who was the only one in the room, nodded in fear.
"Rei, we're sorry," Usagi said as she came down the steps, Chibiusa following behind her.
"Yeah, we didn't know it would make you that upset!" The smaller girl said.
"It's okay, I guess." Rei sighed, rubbing her temple.
"But you've got to admit that he has some sort of feelings for you." Usagi pointed out. "And you do, too!"
Harry quickly turned away from the girls' conversation and sat on one of the couches, staring at someone's notes that were left on the table. He didn't really want to hear about how Draco felt about anything, but he was waiting for Hermione to come down the stairs so they could walk to breakfast together as they always had on Quidditch days.
"Well, maybe..." Rei said quietly. "But it's not like we'd exactly last, considering how little time we have left. And I told him this, so it's not like he's begging for my love or anything like that. I just want to be there for him, you know, so maybe he can go back to the way he was."
Harry scrunched his nose from his seat by the fireplace; the only way that he knew Draco used to be was the punching, cursing, insulting Draco. This new monotone, disappearing Draco was much more appealing.
"Oh, Harry," Chibiusa suddenly exclaimed. "I didn't see you there!"
Harry looked back to the three girls and smiled, "Do you know when Hermione's coming down?" He asked them.
"Oh, she went down to breakfast ages ago," Usagi said. Harry didn't say anything and replayed what she had just said in his mind. And his heart sunk.
"Thanks," Harry said simply, picking up his back and getting out of the cheery room as fast as he could. Why didn't she wait for him? Why?
Hermione's nose was in a book, yet again. She had assigned a task for herself and she would be damned if she failed before the warriors had to return to the Cauldron to sleep.
Ever since that night a little over a week ago when she had transformed into Sailor Chibi Mercury, Hermione had not only been training secretly, late into the night with the other senshi, learning how to control her powers, but she had also been looking for answers. Not even Sailor Cosmos, the most powerful of the senshi knew why she had transformed. Was Hermione even supposed to have these powers, or was it a fluke?
"Since I'm "chibi" as well," Chibiusa told her one day in the library, "And I come from the future, I would think that I would have, you know, seen you or something in the future. I didn't know there were any other "chibi" senshi." This statement only set Hermione back further, and her face must have show it, because Chibiusa suddenly looked worried. "But...but, I'm sure there's an answer...oh! Ask Setsuna!"
"Professor Meioh?" Hermione asked. The N.E.W.T level Defense Against the Dark Arts class was only held twice a week, but so far the dark-skinned woman proved to be a very competent teacher who actually taught them how to defend and use advanced spells, rather then just reading about it. But something struck Hermione as odd about her, she seemed to know everything, and not just about magic. She knew that certain students were about to make a grave mistake in their casting, in the halls she seemed to always stopped the first-year bullies before they even got to think about harassing anyone. And yet she was always smiling, a smile that seemed to Hermione very fake. But she was the only of the girls that she had not talked to, so perhaps there was some information to be learned from the oldest of the senshi.
After classes, Hermione was always training or keeping up with her massive amounts of homework, so there was no time to meet with her. After one of their classes, she had asked if she could meet with her before classes n the tenth, and the professor complied.
So there Hermione was, sitting inside of Professor Meioh's office, her nose in a book, for the professor was not there, but the office was unlocked. Her giant key-like staff also rested against the wall, a sign that she had been there, for she carried the thing everywhere. Hermione grew impatient after twenty minutes, she was quite hungry.
Just as she was about to leave, Professor Meioh entered the tiny office and greeted Hermione with the same, fake smile.
"Hello, Hermione," She said in her calm voice. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, some third years were asking me about an assignment." Hermione nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but the other woman continued, "You're here to ask me if I know anything about you and the power that has just awoken in you. And I do."
"You do?" Hermione asked, smiling truly for the first time in days. "Do you know where my power came from, or why none of the other senshi know of me, even Chibiusa?"
"Of course I do." Professor Meioh smiled wider as she sat in the chair behind her cluttered desk. "I am Sailor Pluto, guardian of time. I am always standing over the gates of time, watching every moment in the past, present, and future to make sure that no one interferes."
"But you're here." Hermione pointed out the obvious.
"I am here, but I am also there, though perhaps not this specific me." She tried to explain. "Think of it as though I have several Time Turners working for me at once. Anyway, Hermione, I do know all of those things to some extent. Your power, of course, derives from Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mercury though not the Sailor Mercury of this time. She is not your mother, so her power was given up to you and sent to be stored until a time when it needs to be awoken."
"...and do you know when that happened?" Hermione prompted as Setsuna fell silent and stared at a space above Hermione's head.
"Yes." She said. "But I will not tell you."
"Why not?!" Hermione cried, not caring that Professor Meioh was her teacher. Why even bother telling her that she knew if she wasn't going to tell? And the more that Hermione watched her smiling and talking, it became more and more obvious that her smile was fake. What was she hiding?
"Because you are not a cheater, Hermione." Setsuna said simply. "If I gave you the answers to an exam, would you look?"
"Of course not!" Hermione said, not seeing what this had to do with her predicament. "It wouldn't show how much I know, just how much I can memorize. It's pointless."
"Exactly." Setsuna said, leaning forward. "If I told you where these powers came from it would be utterly useless. You, and the others that will no doubt awaken will need to dig deep to find this answer out for yourselves, and when you do, you will be stronger for it."
Hermione was silent, it didn't help her a bit, but it was a good retort nonetheless.
"But as to the why it has awoken now, that I can tell you, for you would soon come to the conclusion yourself anyways." The professor went on. "Voldemort, yet again, has thrown the course of things off of their normal place in the time stream."
"I don't understand." Hermione said.
"The powers you have were indeed meant to be yours, but not to be awoken just yet, if ever." Setsuna tried to explain. "But because Voldemort has decided to interfere with things, something that may very well be our own fault for coming here, you had to awake now to protect your friends."
Hermione took this in, this was also a logical enough answer. Not a satisfying one or a detailed one, but a straight answer. "Professor, if you're the guardian of time, can't you just go back into time and stop him?"
"Of course I could." Setsuna said, her smile unwavering. "Then I would die for messing with the time stream, followed shortly by about, say, ten thousand people who were injured just from the so-called butterfly effect."
"Oh." Hermione said. It was not as simple as a Time Turner, then. "So, um, what can you do, if you protect the stream of time but can't actually mess with it?"
"Well, I keep it safe from harm, obviously." The green-haired woman said. "This fluke in time is more in Cosmos's area, so I couldn't have foreseen this. The ability to know what I am and to travel through time allows me to be here with my allies to protect them."
"So, theoretically, even though you're in this borrowed body from Cosmos, you could switch places with another "you" from another time so that the You that's here could have all of your memories," Hermione mused.
"Why yes." Professor Meioh smiled wider, this time, Hermione though, it looked like a real smile. "I dare say I could. But now," The older woman looked at the clock on the wall opposite of Hermione. "I believe that there is a Quidditch match today and Gryffindor is playing. I wouldn't want you to miss it."
"Oh, no!" Hermione shot up from the seat and almost smacked herself in her forehead out of frustration. "I forgot about the game! Harry's probably waiting for me, if he hasn't already gotten mad and left...I bet he has..." She quickly gathered up her school robe and her book bag and rushed out of the small office.
"Aaaand it's Gryffindor in the lead, 60 to 40! Keys passes to...wait, no, Keys was just intercepted by Gryfindor's new chaser, Joseph Lee! And with that...will he...yes! Gryffindor scores again, that brings us to 70-40!"
It was Colin Creevey's first year as the official Hogwarts Quidditch announcer, but his over excited sort of nervousness that had made him less then desirable during his first few years were now working for him, giving him the energy to get the crowd excited in what was not the most exciting of matches that had started the same time as a terrible storm. His loud voice echoed over the thunder, as did the cheers from all around the stands.
Harry was slowly flying around the field, his vision more obstructed in this cold rain then usual. Hermione had once performed a spell that had made his glasses rain-repellant, but he didn't remember it. Where was she? He might very well miss the snitch just because he was looking for Hermione in the stands.
Harry then looked to the Ravenclaw stands, where he could See Ami and Michiru's bright, strange hair standing out amongst the sea of dull tones. They cheered whenever Ravenclaw made a good play, but also whenever Gryffindor scored as well. That was nice. It was the sort of thing that Cho would...Cho!
A blur passed by Harry, heading straight for the ground, a very Cho-like blur. Had she seen the snitch already? It was hard to catch up even with his faster broom, it was like the wind was trying to push him and only him back. The rain almost felt as if it was stinging. But he pushed on, getting closer and closer to her back. Harry looked in front of her but saw no golden, winged ball. Was she doing the Wonskie Feint? No, Cho would not do something like that, especially when it was Harry who she was trying to defeat.
Her body looked limp, as if she was barely hanging onto the broom. There was something wrong, it was almost as if she was trying to pull her broom up but just couldn't master the strength.
"Cho?!" Harry cried. He could barely hear his own voice over the rain and the wind. Within seconds, Harry had to pull up, but Cho did not. She hit the ground, and this Harry could hear. Madame Hooch's whistle could be heard blowing from twenty feet away. She was by Cho's side almost instantly after, as was Harry and the rest of the Ravenclaw team.
"She's unconscious, and she's definitely broken more then a few bones," Madame Hooch said. "You, and you, help me take her into your changing tent, no doubt Madame Pomfrey is already on her way down."
Two of the boys on the team picked up Cho as gingerly as possible, Madame Hooch levitating the girl once she was in something of an upright position. Harry watched as she slowly floated in front of Madame Hooch, towards the tent where the teams changed and got ready...and was that a trick of the rain or did Harry just see blonde hair and gray eyes looking out at him from Ravenclaw's tent for a split second? What would Malfoy want in there?
"Um, well, it looks like the team is taking a quick time out while they see how badly Chang fell," Colin announced. "Everyone just try and stay dry and we'll, um, let you know as soon as the match is going to start again!"
Next to Harry, his teammates started to appear and land. Harry led the way into their own tent, which was so very warm and dry. Harry sat down on one of the benches and ran a hand through his drenched hair.
"Here." A voice from behind him said. Harry felt a fuzzy towel being placed on his head, and when he turned, he saw Hermione standing there with another one at the ready. She looked devastated.
"Thanks." Harry said, slowly patting his hair dry. He wasn't quite sure what to say to her.
"I'm so sorry, Harry!" Hermione said, taking the initiative as she always did. "I had an appointment with Professor Meioh and I just lost track of time!"
"Right." Harry said. "You couldn't have had this meeting at any other time?"
"I'm busy!" Hermione snapped back. "With all of the classes that I'm taking-"
"I know you're taking a lot of classes!" Harry said, not really wanting this particular argument to happen right then, in the middle of a game with all of his teammates listening in. "But I've just been feeling a bit ignored because it seems like you're always with those Mousetsu girls, every single day!"
Hermione didn't speak, as if the fact that she was always with them was a secret. "I...can't explain why I've been hanging out with them so much." She said after a moment. Before Harry could make a proper retort, she quickly added, "But I didn't mean to just ignore you like that, Harry, I'm so sorry! It's just that, well, I don't really get along with a lot of the girls here at Hogwarts, and those girls are smart and, and, cultured and, well, I guess I was just so caught up and excited that I had some girl friends to talk to, and, well, I'm so sorry, Harry!" She finished, throwing herself at him, almost knocking the wind out of him. Harry hesitated, but eventually he wrapped his arms around her as well, happy to have her back.
"It's okay." He said finally. "But I like spending time with my girlfriend."
"I like spending time with you as well." She said quietly. "Now. What did I miss this morning?"
"I woke up at five thirty because of Ron's snoring." He shrugged. Harry looked from left and right to ake sure none of the other players were close to him. "And I thought I saw Malfoy in Ravenclaw's tent."
"What would Malfoy be doing there?" She asked, eyebrows narrowed in frustration.
"I don't know, it looked like he was waiting for them to come back with Cho," Harry said. He hadn't actually wondered why he might have been in there until then.
"You don't think he had something to do with why she fell, do you?" Hermione asked. "What reason does he have to sabotage the Ravenclaw team when he could curse you instead?"
"Yeah..." Harry thought. Honestly, he didn't think Draco had anything to do with Cho. Ever since some time last year, something had been off with Cho. She had looked as if she was always exhausted and always crying, but not over her old flame Cedric.
"Harry," Ginny, who was one of the team's newest members, ran up to him. "I think we're starting again."
"What's wrong with Cho?" Harry asked, removing the towel from around his neck.
"They're not saying." Ginny said. "But they found a backup. No doubt you'll see the snitch ten minutes before he does!"
"Great." Harry smiled. Really, he was worried about Cho, but he could find out about that later. Right now, he had a game to win for his house. Afterwards, he was sure he would spend the evening with Hermione and Ron before the night when Sirius would contact them, and maybe he would find something out about Tonks. He stood up and made to grab his broom, but Hermione kissed him first, hard and long. She then tapped his glasses and muttered the spell that only she seemed to know that cleared up his glasses.
"Good luck." She smiled.
Harry found himself grinning. He grabbed his broom and started to lead the team out of the tent, but just before he could exit into the cold rain, a wall of fire snaked itself before him, trapping them inside.
Chibiusa pouted, her arms growing weary from holding the umbrella that sheltered both herself and Hotaru from the freezing rain. This was Quidditch? She had seen games before in the 30th century, but usually they were much more interesting.
"When are they going to start again?" The pink-haired girl whined.
"That girl seemed to be controlled by something very dark." Hotaru said quietly. "Something that controls Professor Snape as well."
"I hope she's okay!" Chibiusa said, nodding to herself.
"Hm." Hotaru simply said, her eyes darting back and forth. "Someone is here who should not be here. Someone who wishes to cause harm and terror."
"Death Eaters?" Chibiusa asked quietly. "Or is it another youma?"
"Both, perhaps, I'm not sure." Hotaru muttered. "I'm sure the others can sense it as well."
"Oh." Chibiusa said, looking fro whatever Hotaru was sensing. "Um. Why can't I?"
"You're less experienced, probably." Hotaru said. "You'll learn in time. But as your team seems to be awakening now, so perhaps you should try and perfect your techniques."
"My team?" Chibiusa asked.
"The "chibi" senshi. Your generation. Much like we are to Sailor Moon."
"So you can't be a part of my team?" Chibiusa pouted.
"I will always fight for and with you," Hotaru nodded.
"Good!" Chibiusa smiled, grasping Hotaru's hands with her free hand, making the black haired girl blush slightly. "You're mine!"
Suddenly, there were screams. A tall line a fire began snaking its way around both the exterior of the field and the outside of the stands as well. The fire in the field began making its way into the middle of the pitch, forming into a shape...something that looked like a snake coming from the mouth of a skull...
"Voldemort's mark!" Hotaru exclaimed. "There's a spy here!"
There was commotion everywhere, everyone in the teacher's box had leapt up at once, immediately finding whoever had done this and chasing after him or her, spells going everywhere. Students were panicked and fleeing, running this way and that, trampling some of the smaller students. Chibiusa got up, but a tall seventh year got knocked down the stands, pushing her with him. She fell all the way to the bottom and nearly toppled over the edge, but Hotaru caught up with her and grabbed onto her.
"Are you okay?" Hotaru asked, looking over her best friend.
"I'm fine," Chibiusa smiled weakly. She looked down into the field of fire where she had almost met her end, and saw a shape emerge from the fire, as if someone had run right through the flames.
"Chibiusa, look!" Hotaru gasped. "It's the next one!"
There was a burst of fire from the figure which seemed to attack and extinguish the cursed flames, making them die down. Slowly, the figure fell backwards, the fire disappearing from around her, Sailor Chibi Mars; Cho Chang.