Darkness and Light
Chapter 15
Updated as of 6/23/10
A new character cometh...dun dun dun :3
It seemed like an eternity ago that Setsuna had gone to Snape's office when he fell ill. And what with everything that had happened, the green haired woman had almost forgotten the incident completely, not until after the first Occlumency lesson, when the group exited the office. Setsuna was the last one out and turned to bid her colleague a good night. To her and her only, Snape did not give her a harsh or satyrical glare of any sorts. She thought back, what could have caused this show of kindness (for a man with a past like his, that was indeed kind)? And then she recalled what had happened. Thinking back about the conversation that they had, something stuck out in her mind, something she had meant to look into, but had gotten sidetracked.
Snape had mentioned, though upset and sick while doing so, that Queen Serenity might have had another heir. He said that he believed that when she sent the reincarnations of her people down to earth, a little fragment of herself was unknowingly transferred into someone else, and this someone had a child.
She had not inquired at the time who it was, for Snape had passed out from exhaustion at that point. But as he gave her the not-very-terrible look and this thought passed through her head, she stopped, told the others to leave without her, and asked.
"...You think so?" Was her reaction to the child's name.
"I'm quite sure." He said.
"Do you think...the last member of the Five-Point Star...?" She asked, looking to the ground.
"It would be someone in the group other then Tsukino who has the lunar line in them, in one form or another." He said. "I can't be sure yet. But I wouldn't doubt it."
"Legilimens!"
Ginny was so exhausted from the past week's practices that she collided into a bookshelf. No one had really improved much in Occlumency since the first day, not even Hermione (which frustrated her to the core).
"Isn't Cosmos supposed to be this great mind-reader?" Ron whispered to Harry. "Why doesn't she teach us? I have a feeling we'd be colliding into less walls."
"Chang." Snape's cold voice rang out. With a silent sigh, the raven-haired girl stood before Snape. Harry could tell she wasn't even trying anymore. Cho had, however, improved in combat, once she began receiving a potion from Snape that blocked the pain of the Dark Mark on her arm - unless there was a summons, of course. However, Harry noticed that her face was unusually pale, pale like it was a few months ago...
"Legili-" Snape stopped. His wand was still pointed at Cho, but his eyes widened. It happened to all three of them at once, as if they were controlled by a puppet master who just had a fit; Snape clutched his arm and, as if someone was pushing him, collided into the wall, while both Cho and Draco collapsed to the ground, the former letting out the weakest scream.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed in horror. "He's being summoned again!"
Harry was sure Hermione had just said something, was tugging on his arm in fact, but as he watched the three fall to the ground, his own legs felt very weak, a sensation which travelled up his spine, through his shoulders, and finally climaxed at his scar. His vision blackened for a few seconds and he found himself losing balance. A few pairs of arms grasped him from either side, steadying him. Someone was right in front of him, muttering something.
"...must be time." Setsuna finished. Harry blinked a few times and realized he could see again. Setsuna was knelt before him, looking at his eyes and, of course, at his scar.
"Setsuna," Cosmos instructed as she helped Cho up from the ground. "Make sure they get back to their common rooms safely. I'll assist Severus. Draco," She turned to the blonde boy who was being helped by Ginny, "Please tell me you're not thinking of going,"
"I think I would die before I finished going through the floo if I did," He said weakly.
"Listen," The silver haired woman said before the group could get out the door, "Clearly Voldemort is strong tonight, I fear that he will attack another one of you to awaken your powers. I don't doubt that you will defeat this enemy, but..." She looked then to Ron, who looked back in surprise, quite baffled by the entire scene. "I do not yet know how he is getting in, and he may try to corrupt you all again if there is darkness in your hearts."
"Let's go," Setsuna urged them, making sure all of them were out the door before closing it firmly. Draco stumbled down the hall to his own common room, leaving the others to repeat what had happened only days ago, running up stairs and through halls to the Ravenclaw common room.
"I can't..." Cho cried, suddenly stopping and clutching her sides. "It's worse then normal, I can't go on-"
"I know it hurts but you have to get back to where it's safe!" Setsuna doubled back and helped the girl up. "Almost there, come on..."
Chibiusa stopped in her tracks as well, staring blankly ahead.
"Small lady-!" Setsuna exclaimed.
"Something's up there!" The pink haired girl pointed straight ahead. "Dark energy, I can feel it!"
"Chibiusa..." The older woman muttered.
There were slow footsteps ahead, coming from the hallway where the Ravenclaw common room was. Fifth-year Luna Lovegood came stumbling out, her face pale and purpled, just like Ron's had been.
"Not Luna!" Cho exclaimed, leaping forward. A similar waxy-covered being shot from inside of the blonde, taking the shining pure heart from within her.
"Save her!" Setsuna shouted. "This is your battle!"
The other six were blasted back with wind as Cho quickly transformed. Her battle with the creature was not nearly as long or nerve-wracking as Ginny's was. Even though the Dark Mark must have been nearly burning her arm to a crisp at that moment, she charged forward and with a burst of fiery heat summoned a new attack, "Incendia usquequaque!" And that was the end of that. Cho returned the pure heart to her close friend, quickly de-transforming before Luna woke up, but not without her costume briefly shining and taking a new form, one with more layers and ribbons.
"She does indeed have the spirit of Mars," Setsuna mumbled, getting up and checking on Luna.
"Rei would be just as hasty," Chibiusa murmured with a smile.
Setsuna had brought Luna to the Hospital Wing, leaving the others to get back to their common rooms safely. Luckily, no one was awake when the five returned.
"Chibiusa, can I ask you something?" Ginny asked. "How did you know that Luna was there before any of us saw her?"
"I don't know," The small girl replied, putting a finger to her lip. "I just...felt this terrible darkness. I've never been able to sense evil like that."
"Maybe you're awakening other powers, too," Hermione suggested. "Could Sailor Moon sense evil?"
"Sometimes," Chibiusa thought. "Tuxedo Kamen...my dad...he's actually much better with those things."
"And it's all gone now, right?" Ginny asked. "The darkness?"
Chibiusa didn't answer. Not a good sign at all, Harry thought.
Chibiusa and Ginny headed for their beds, leaving the sixth-years to themselves. As they threw themselves on various couches and chairs, the shock of Cho unlocking her powers and the Death Eater meeting wore off, and they all realized how tired and sore they were.
"Snape seemed really affected by Voldemort's summons," Harry said. He meant it, too, he had seen the man summoned before, but never had he lost control like that before, especially in front of a group of people he despised.
"And your scar hurt really badly, didn't it?" Hermione asked. "It hasn't hurt like that in a while, has it?"
"No," Harry lied. It had hurt him, ever since the beginning of the term, but for the most part he had kept silent about it so as not to worry his girlfriend. "What if it's...not just a Death Eater meeting?"
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"Think about it, Voldemort knows Draco is one of us now," Harry said. "What else do you think he could know? I mean, how does he know about Draco?"
"Harry, what are you saying?" Hermione coaxed him.
"I mean..." He said. "He summoned Snape right when he was teaching us. He thinks Snape's his spy and all, but what if he knows the truth?"
"Well apparently he knows everything else," Ron said a bit snidely. "What harm would it do to find out Snape's been double crossing him?"
"What do you mean, Ron?" Hermione exclaimed. "He could find out how to get into Hogwarts, he could find out all of our weaknesses, whatever they're planning-"
"And Snape's past life," Harry added. "I don't know how important it is, but it's something Snape has been hiding from Voldemort-"
"Okay, calm down mate..." Ron said.
"It's not so much that Snape could be in trouble, but all of Hogwarts!"
"Wait..." Harry said thinking something through. "Hermione!"
"Yes...?" She didn't like the way he said her name.
"Hermione, you're the smartest one here, you need to break into one of the Death Eaters minds and see what's going on!" Harry said, knowing how foolish his idea was.
"What?" The two exclaimed.
"We're being trained how to protect our minds, not use someone else's!" Hermione said.
"Plus how do you know they don't all know Occlumency? It could be a requirement for being a Death Eater!" Ron added.
"And what if they can tell someone is breaking into their mind?" Hermione cried, panicking.
"Well it's worth a try, isn't it?" Harry said. "Practice on Ron first."
"What?" Ron exclaimed. "It hurts bad when Snape does it, I don't want to know how bad it hurts when someone who's never done it before does it!"
"Just try," Harry pleaded.
"Um, maybe-" Ron started, but Hermione had her wand at the ready.
"Legilimens!"
Nothing happened.
"Er...maybe you should try it, Harry..." Hermione said.
"Or, maybe you should practice on someone else..." Ron said backing up. Harry now had how own wand pointing at Ron.
"Legilimens!"
Instead of breaking into his mind he just shot him into the wall, much like with Snape.
"Maybe we should do it again..." Hermione thought.
"No!" Ron said.
"But Ron..." Hermione said in a soft voice that sounded odd for her. "If you don't help us we'll never be able to find out we all could be in danger, not to mention you were already a target once, you're closely associated with us, and you-"
Ron backed himself into a corner and pointed his wand towards the two.
"I-I'm warning you!" He didn't sound too sure. Harry blinked, quite sure Ron wasn't about to attack them.
"Ron-" He said, coming towards his mate.
"Torto!" A brilliant flash of light came from the end of Ron's wand, and then he ran off into the boy's dorms as Harry started screaming. To Hermione, he seemed to be looking at something in the opposite corner, but she saw nothing there.
"Harry! Harry, stop - Finite Incantatum - what was it?" Hermione had reversed the spell and Harry was suddenly looking around him like something was there.
"It...It was...Lockhart! He...!" Harry couldn't even finish his sentence.
Hermione blinked. What an odd and pointless spell Ron had used.
"Honestly...Well if Ron plays dirty, so do I." She declared with a playful smirk.
"Hermione..." Harry said warily, "What does that mean?"
"You'll see..." She set off towards the boy's dorms, Harry slowly trailing behind. She was acting quite strange.
"W-What do you want?" He could hear Ron's voice before he even got up there.
"Ron, stop this, come down," Hermione said. She sounded sincere, but Harry could still hear the smile in her voice. "We won't try and break in your mind anymore, promise."
"I...I'll use the hex again! Then you'll see...you'll see you...you've failed all your exams...o-or you'll...you're cat...ran away...yeah...yea, that's...what I'll do..." Ron said, voice shaking. Harry finally reached the two, and noticed that Ron's face was suddenly quite pale, and his eyes...oh no...
"Irrito." Hermione said, flicking her wand. But nothing happened. Even then Hermione looked smug.
"Hermione," Harry said gently, trying to pull her back.
"It...Didn't work..." Ron said with a false laugh.
"Not now." Hermione said pleasantly.
"And what do you mean...not now?" Ron asked.
"I mean, not now." She said. "Irrito." Hermione repeated. That time, something did happen. Much to Harry and Hermione's shock, Ron seemed to throw himself to the ground and odd gurgling noises came from his throat. "Nothing was supposed to happen!" She exclaimed. "It was a fake spell!"
"Hermione-!" Harry exclaimed as Ron got up slowly. "I think Chaos, Ron-!"
"Get away from me, filthy mudblood."
Harry collapsed to the floor for the second time that night, clutching his scar. He looked up at Ron, who was not at all himself. Harry realized that Ron was not being controlled by Chaos...no, that high voice, it was Voldemort himself!"
"It has been too long...too long you have interfered..." The voice of the Dark Lord came from Ron, staring intently at Hermione, who was frozen in the corner. Ron slowly raised his wand. "Ava-"
Cosmos entered the room, wand bared and eyes equally dark. Hermione couldn't tell if she was seeing correctly, but for just a moment, the possessed Ron had a haughty smile on his face.
"Cosmos..." The voice hissed. "Well, that didn't take long at all. You're exactly what I wanted...the mudblood should act as your house-elf from now on...I was just about to get her out of my way..."
"I don't believe," Cosmos said calmly, "That this boy's wand would've made a proper killing curse. But you've harmed us all for far too long; yes..." She raised her wand...no, she wasn't...
"No!" Hermione exclaimed, leaping before her. "You can't, you'd kill Ron, too!"
"Sometimes sacrifices must be made." Cosmos said shortly. Harry hoped to Merlin it was the darkness in her eyes saying those thing.
"But-"
"Get off it!"
"-You'll kill-"
"Stupefy!" Cosmos stunned Hermione. Harry, though still in pain, backed up a few inches yet tried to act unconscious. At the moment, he wasn't really sure who to fear and what to do, but was very thankful he was nt at the opposite end of Ron's wand.
"You have made it much easier now..." Ron slinked forward a few inches, something that normally would have been a hilarious act, but not in this case.
"Nothing but the final fall of the Dark Lord shall happen tonight." She said, voice unwavering.
"I feel like I've heard that before," Voldemort taunted. Harry couldn't help but wonder why it was Voldemort was acting...almost cruelly friendly towards Cosmos. He was taunting her, yes, but...
"You are standing in a sixteen year old boy, with both myself, Harry, and Albus as close to you as can be," Cosmos said. "Why so foolish?"
"Let's just say," He sneered, "I had a feeling that it was the right thing to do."
Cosmos kept her wand pointed at Ron, eyes narrowing. "You're a bit late, though." She said. "You know very well that the energy inside this boy is gone and has been unlocked by the new Jupiter. You wanted her to unlock that power."
"Oh, but that was only one of the things I wanted." He said. "I felt a sudden sense of, hm, bravado tonight and wondered if I could take out the warrior of Mercury while I was ahead..." He looked down at the body of Hermione. "That and...I wanted to see how far I could get inside this well-guarded school. It seems as long as Chaos has been there, Chaos can go there again. You know all about where the darkness has been, don't you?"
Harry wasn't sure why, but that last line seemed to make Cosmos's blood boil.
"Well, you've tested your boundaries. Now leave before I make you." Cosmos said.
"I came also to thank you, girl." Ron's face was contorted into a horrifying smirk as he said this. "Without your...help...I don't think I could have made it this far in the school. This boy is connected to you now, and You and I...well..."
"I doubt that my spell will harm the boy alone," Cosmos growled. "I am allowing you to flee. Go back to whatever it is you want and leave us."
"Whatever it is I want? You must understand, I have to wait for what I am waiting for, and it is quite the boring wait. I have...tasted...what I want and I can't wait for more. If I only had that source, that minute bit that was keeping me from what I want, the people of all times and origins would no longer fall to the feet of the Cauldron as they meet their final end, no longer fall to the feet of weak wizards who give them their end, but fall to me, and me alone for my own use and glory. You understand what I mean, keeping the Cauldron as you do. The feeling f having the souls of every being at your command. I see it quite clearly," Voldemort commanded Ron to hunch forward, to lick his lips, "I see how excited you're getting at the thought of such conquests and power. Just like last time-"
"You dare..." Cosmos said, fury rising in her voice. "You dare to-!"
"Dare to what?" He asked softly.
"EXIMO!" Cosmos shreiked. A silver beam struck Ron, causing him to fall backwards. Voldemort was now no longer inside him, she knew this, but she kept making slashing motions with her wand, shouting the same spell over and over until her voice cracked, "Eximo! Eximo! EXIMO!" Harry, still staring in shock, felt one of the beams hit himself. His vision turned white and there was a warmth in the pit of his stomach. Before he passed out, he saw Cosmos stumble backwards and disappear.
Harry was looking up. He didn't know where he was, or what he was looking up at. In fact he didn't even notice when Professor Dumbledore bent over him. Of course, it was a very blurry Professor Dumbledore; he didn't know where his glasses had gone. He thought he heard someone saying something, but he could have been wrong. He felt as if he was floating on air. But again, he wasn't sure. The only thing he was sure of was the dull pain in his scar. He tried to think back, what happened...But it was useless. There was nothing to remember. And nothing to forget.
"Harry! Harry, get up already!" Someone was shouting in his ear but he really didn't have the will to respond. His body was weak, so weak he wondered if he was at St. Mungo's, on a string between life and death.
"You aren't, Mr. Potter," Someone else said...though it wasn't really speech, it was if he could hear the voice inside his head. Had this second person heard his thoughts? "I can," Said the same voice. All right, so someone was listening to his thoughts. "Yes, I am. This is another branch of magic quite similar to Occlumency and Legillimency. I am merely breaking into your mind, but also speaking from my thoughts, and I am not looking at your memories but your previous thoughts. You can do the same while I am in your mind."
Harry wasn't sure if he was having some crazy dream or what, but there was no harm in trying. He concentrated and thought, "Can you, um, hear me?"
"Yes, I can." The person channeled. "Very good."
"Who are you?" Harry asked, well, thought.
"I am I."
Harry wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, but luckily, his mystery channeler seemed to understand.
"I really don't care to go into casualties of names, or at least real names." Was the response.
"You said my real name." Harry noted.
"So does Snape and Dumbledore."
"But can't you at least give me any name?" Harry replied. "Where you're, um, communicating from? If...you're even a human?"
"I will give you a name, if it will make you happy. It's Neco. Latin. It means "to kill" but that has nothing to do with me. I am close, in a way. I am a human. Well, close enough to a human, anyway." The being responded.
"Would you happen to know where I am?" Asked Harry.
"You are in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. I believe one of your friends was trying to contact you and get you to awaken, but the fact that we are now communicating blocked anyone out, and if my assumptions are correct, you appear to still be unconscious." Neco told him. Harry didn't even bother to ask how Neco knew this, thinking it would only bring about more confusion.
"I don't mean to be rude or anything..." Harry said, not sure where to take this mental conversation. "But are you a guy or a girl?"
"A girl," was the reply. Even though there was no real voice to go along with these words, Harry could tell that Neco had replied in an acid-like tone.
"Sorry..." Harry thought. "Um, so..why are you channeling me in the first place?"
"I've been watching you," Neco explained. "I have been alone for all of my existence. My entire being feels like it's just loneliness. I saw you, and I felt a connection to you. I thought, maybe somehow I could contact you...and maybe..."
"Maybe what?" Harry was desperate to find out.
"Maybe...I could start over...I could create anew. I would love to meet you in person someday. You are very powerful, Harry Potter. But you are even more powerful than you think. You don't take this power to your head and you are compassionate. You see people for who they really are, not as they just appear." Neco's thoughts were sending a warm feeling through Harry. "Now, I must leave. You must wake up."
"You don't have to," Harry thought quickly. "I don't mind. I want to know more about you."
"I know. But the more we channel back and forth, the longer you sleep and the longer your friends remain worried." Neco told him. "But you can call on me any time you want. Promise. Farewell."
Harry felt like a wind was rising from his body. He opened his eyes. Hermione was leaning over him, scratched and bruised face full of worry. He smiled.
"Hi."