Darkness and Light
Chapter 16
Angel of the White Moon - Good, I was worried when it got to the part when Voldie was possessing Ron that it sounded a bit off.
Mae - Neco will make an appearance in her body later...
LilSha2Cool - Okay, first question, it just seemed right for him to be Snape. Snape is very dark and very unlikely. Second question...hmm, bad wording. I should've explained that 'Eximo' was a spell to banish sprites and ghosts and such from other people. Also, she knew Voldie was gone from his body but she kept using the spell because...that part I can't tell, but I'll explain later. And the last question, yes, Dumbledore has made very few appearances but it'll be explained in this chapter.
* * *
The next few days went by slowly. It seemed Neville had been the one who found the trio unconscious in the boy's dorms. Unfortunately, this led to everyone else knowing about it. The thing was, the three barely remembered it.
Hermione remembered Ron was acting weird so she went up to talk to him. She also remembered Cosmos coming up, and, she must have been imagining, wanting to kill Ron. Ron remembered the two telling him that Snape was being summoned and they wanted to practice something on him. And Harry remembered Snape being summoned, Ron being odd, and feeling like he was going to die. But he also remembered something that the others did not. Neco.
'I'm dreaming.' He thought to himself. 'Neco is just someone from my dreams. I dreamt talking to her.'
But then again...
Harry found himself in the Restricted Section of the library under his Invisibility Cloak nights later looking for it...
He found what he was looking for, a list of everyone who attended Hogwarts.
He looked at all the names, just incase. He didn't know how old she was - Dumbledore was over 150, after all.
Some of the more current names had other things by their names. Professor McGonagall's name was on the list as teacher since a little before his father went to school. Professor Lupin was also in the list of Harry's third year in 1993 (Isn't that right?) But there was no one named 'Neco.'
But he was sure, quite sure, that Neco existed. If he could only talk to her to know that he wasn't going mad.
'You can always call on me if you need help.'
He remembered her words, but did it mean actually say her name out loud or try to channel his thoughts? She had said it was a branch of Occlumency and Legilemency, but he wasn't good at either. But then again, he didn't want to lose his sanity thinking she existed. So, he had to try. But he thought it was odd, the thought of her making him think all these things. Maybe he shouldn't trust her.
But anyway, he concentrated hard on Neco's name.
~Neco? Are you there?~
No answer.
~Neco? Please answer, tell me I'm not loosing my mind like everyone says...~ Harry's Invisibility Cloak fell off him and he felt some of his hair move. He knew it; Neco had heard his plea.
~Hello, Harry Potter.~
* * *
Hermione stared listlessly at the fire the House-elves, much to her displeasure, kept burning. Harry had left a while ago to go to the library. He didn't say why, which made her worry even more. He had been acting odd for about a week, now.
"'Mione? What are you doing up?" Someone said. Hermione turned around to see Ron.
"What about you?" She asked.
"Couldn't sleep." He took a seat next to her on the couch.
"It's been too much." Hermione said. Ron didn't answer so she continued. "I mean you've been possessed and attacked, Harry's acting odd, we're doing all this stuff...it's all too much."
"Yeah..." Ron said but he only half understood.
"Y'know, at the beginning of my first year, I was overconfident because I read everything they threw at me. But then I learned there was much more that reading about something."
"Yeah, but you've helped us out of lots of things!" Ron protested.
"Like?"
"You found out who Nicholas Flamel was and helped Harry to drink the right potion-"
"But you sacrificed yourself for us-"
"-You figured out the monster in the Chamber was a basilisk and how it got around-"
"-I got petrified. And then you helped him get past the spiders and into the Chamber-"
"-You took more classes, tried to help...and did in the end...Buckbeak, and figured out Lupin was a werewolf-"
"-Those classes made me really edgy, I couldn't help Hagrid in the first place, and I was insensitive when we thought Crookshanks ate Scabbers-"
"-BUT in our fourth year YOU helped him with summoning, YOU tried to help him with the second task, if we hadn't been under there at the time, and YOU helped him with spells to get him though the maze! I didn't do a thing but go after Fleur and Krum!" Ron finished. But then he realized what he had said. "Oh...sorry." Victor Krum was a famous Quidditch player who had just gotten out of school the year before. Of course, this meant he was doing more rigorous training every day. But some player from another team had heard what happened during the Tri Wizard tournament - or at least part of it. He put a spell on his bat that could call the bludger to him if he wanted it to. This player got a real foul mood when he started going after the snitch and was in the lead, so he kept hitting him with the bludger over and over...until his heart which had been hit several times had stopped.
"You don't have to apologize, Ron." Hermione said. "I mean, I have Harry." But Ron sensed something in the way she said it.
"Y-Yeah, you do." Ron said.
More silence.
"...Sometimes...I just don't know..."
* * *
~Nah, I never went to Hogwarts.~ Neco said. ~I learned magic other ways.~
~How long did it take?~ Harry asked.
~About as long as it takes anyone. But you always learn more firsthand. Or at least in my case. And Harry,~ She said, ~You aren't going mad no matter what anyone says. You're just having reactions of Lord Voldemort's actions.~
~You don't mind saying his name?~ Harry said.
~Nope. Once you or your family's been wounded by his actions you really don't mind it.~
~Who's been hurt...or, er, killed, if you don't mind me asking.~
~Me.~
~Er...Neco?~ Harry asked remembering something from their past conversation. ~You...are you... alive?~
~I keep telling myself that but sometimes the memories hurt so bad I feel dead on the inside.~
~I feel like that sometimes.~
~Somehow I think that I have the bigger pain sometimes. Or equal. But, no, I believe that later you will have a much bigger pain than I.~
Harry and Neco talked for a while about lots of things until he felt his head slipping down onto the table and heard Neco say one last thing.
~Ashiteru~
* * *
"Yeah, we were really odd back then..." Ron said. They were looking at some pictures of themselves.
"That's at the Leaving Feast in our first year, right?" Hermione asked pointing to the next one.
"Yeah...we have all those scars from the keys and the chessboard." He said pointing out the dark gashes. The Ron in the photo frowned and made an effort to cover them up. "Why are these pictures really bad?" He said motioning to the next pages.
"Colin took them. Ugh...he took a picture of you coughing up slugs..." Ron in the photo tried, like the previous, tried to cover himself up, but ended up coughing up another slug. "Um...I don't remember if I ever thanked you for that."
"You don't have to." Ron said quietly. "I didn't do anything."
"But you tried to defend me...and I want to. So thank you for that."
"Er...your welcome..." He looked up into her face, shadows dancing on her face from the fire. She smiled faintly. "He was out of his mind...calling you a - a..." None of them knew what really happened next. They were both slowly leaning forward and then their lips gently touched and they realized how hot the fire really was.
* * *
Harry opened his eyes, not comprehending where he was. The only thing he remembered was finding out that Neco was for real and not something of his imagination. He also remembered the silent conversation they had the previous night. And then he remembered something she said right before he fell asleep. But what did 'Ashiteru' mean?
He looked at his watch. The library was open to everyone, now. He put the cloak back over his head and snuck out of the door to the restricted section, taking the cloak off when he was in a shadowed corner.
"Harry?" He spun around, hoping whoever called his name didn't see the cloak. It was Chibiusa.
"Er, hi ." He realized that she was smiling very brightly. "What?"
"I just like to look at new things when I wake up! Don't you?" She smiled again.
"Well... it depends on what it is." He said. "You wouldn't happen to know where Hermione is, would you?" The smile faded a bit.
"I suppose she'd be at breakfast." Chibiusa replied. He made towards the door. "Harry, wait, I need you to help me with something!"
"What," He asked.
"...Something." She said slowly.
"What?" He repeated.
".........................I need you to get a book from a shelf." Harry knew that getting a book was not what she wanted. But he let her show him to the shelf and he got down a book on fire reading.
"Waiiiit!" She said in a loud whisper as he went for the door again.
"I need to ask Hermione about something." He said. And with that he left, leaving Chibiusa.
* * *
Harry sat down across from Hermione at the table. She looked at him carefully for a minute, then returned to buttering an already over-buttered piece of toast.
"Can I ask you something?" He said.
"I...I suppose." She said.
"Do you know what 'Ashiteru' means?" Hermione looked relieved for some reason.
"I'm not exactly sure, but it means something like 'love' or 'I love you.' I heard Usagi say it a while ago." She explained. Harry was surprised. Was that really what Neco had said? Had he misheard...er, misread? "Why did you want to know?" She asked.
"Just...wondering."
"I know why!" Ginny popped up. But she motioned him to come closer and whispered, "Maybe whoever said it wants to ask you to the dance!"
"What dance?" Harry asked.
"There's a dance - a masquerade ball - that's going to be held before the winter holidays. It's early so everyone can go. It was on the notice board this morning."
"Oh," He said looking like he just remembered. "Er, I have Defense now..."
"You do?" Ginny asked, sounding surprised. "It's just that Cosmos hasn't been at the staff table for a week and my class yesterday was cancelled. And when I went into the Hospital Wing to visit Luna Lovegood, you know she was just placed on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, Cosmos wasn't there either. It's like she vanished."
"Good." Someone said. It was Ron. "She's creepy. Ever since she showed up bad things have happened."
"Ron," Ginny said. Harry didn't know if he was joking or not.
"It's true, you know. I just don't want you to get hurt." Hermione came over.
"Well thanks for being considerate but I think she - Sirius?" Harry turned around, and sure enough, Sirius as the big black dog came up to them. Some of the people noticed him and the girls pointed and remarked on how cute he was.
"What are you doing here?" Harry whispered. In response, Sirius turned around and walked out the door again. Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron followed his path, up the grand staircase, down the corridor, up two more flights of stairs and into the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom to find none other that Professor Lupin!
"Professor Lupin!" Hermione exclaimed. Though he had been looking a foot away from where they were standing, when Hermione spoke his head snapped to them as if he hadn't notice them all come in. "What are you doing here?"
"Something happened to your regular teacher so I'm substituting until she gets back." He explained. Sirius got on his hind legs and closed the door, though he fell over in this process and turned back into human. Most everyone stifled a laugh except for Lupin. He did not even smile.
"So what's up?" Sirius said getting off the ground as if nothing had happened.
"I was possessed by You-Know-Who, that's what!" Ron let out. Harry had a feeling he had wanted to tell everyone this.
"Professor, what's the matter with your eyes?" Ginny asked. Harry looked at his eyes and saw something was indeed wrong. They were no longer the golden color they were before but were now steely and grey. They also weren't focusing on anything and had a dreamy glaze around them.
"Nothing really, I'm just temporarily blind." He said casually. He then said after a second, "its not like his hasn't happened before, just worse than the last time."
"Don't take it so lightly, Moony, they'll think you're kidding." Sirius said. "Besides, we need to find out who did this to you."
"How can someone make someone else blind without stabbing you in the eyes?" Ron asked.
"Silver, Ron, even I know that." Ginny said.
"Well who did it the last time?" Hermione asked.
"Er, actually I did, but that was an accident..." Sirius said.
"Why would someone want to make you blind?" Harry asked.
"We haven't figured it out. Maybe it was an accident like last time; maybe someone was playing a joke." Lupin said.
"If they were they must have something against werewolves." Hermione said. Harry had a feeling S.P.E.W. would be coming up soon. "Hold on," she said. "You said something happened to Cosmos? Our regular teacher?"
"Well they didn't really say when they asked me to come back-"
"They?" Hermione asked. "Who's 'they?'"
"I was blind at the time and Sirius wasn't there, but it was a man and a woman. I don't think I've ever met them before." Lupin explained. "I think the woman was afraid of me or something, she-"
"Afraid?" Hermione's eyes widened. Ginny seemed to be thinking what she was - whatever that was.
"We have to be going." Ginny said. The two girls left the other two following behind and quickly catching up as they had set off at a run.
"What is it?" Ron asked.
"Cosmos stunned me right after You-Know-Who stared speaking through you." Hermione explained. "But I woke up and heard him saying something. I didn't get it, but it sounded bad, whatever it was.
"Ginny wasn't there! How does she know?" Ron protested.
"Because now that - ah!" Both Hermione and Ginny suddenly transformed into their Senshi fuku.
"Mione?!" Chibiusa called she too had appeared, but her fuku was different from the previous time. Her gloves were longer and her broach had transformed into a more elaborate heart-shaped pattern.
"What's going on?" Ginny said. Suddenly Cho and Draco appeared from no where. Their outfits had also changed. Cho was wearing a sleeveless, strapless red shirt and a very short white mini-skirt and white knee socks with pink strapy high-heels. Draco was wearing about the same thing except the top had one of those sailor things and he wore a silver mask.
"What the bloody hell is this about? I was just about to-" Draco protested. Just then the light from the windows and candles disappeared. It grew cold and Harry was sure of what would happen next - and he was right. An innumerable amount of Dementors came at them from all directions...but...they couldn't be dementors...they were making an odd high-pitched laughing noise. But there was no time to think, one of the dementors had grabbed Ginny by the wrists and was pulling her towards it's mouth.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted. But nothing happened. One had grabbed Hermione, he had to think of something...someone!
"Expecto Patronum!" A silver stag burst from the tip of his wand and charged down the dementors which turned out to be leithfolds. Ginny clamped herself to Harry, fear in her eyes.
"Why...why were there leithfolds here?" Cho asked, detransforming herself which, to Harry, looked odd.
"Why do you think?" Hermione said. "You-Know-Who."
"where's Cosmos?" Chibiusa asked.
"We still don't know but I have to ask her something, it's urgent." Hermione said. "But I know that something's never going to be the same again."
"Er, I don't mean to interrupt but don't you think we should get to class?" Ginny asked slowly unraveling herself from Harry.
"Class? I forgot?!"
"Well some of us have more important things to do." Draco said. They departed from the spot where the leithfolds had attacked.
But Harry knew she was right. Something wouldn't be the same, he could feel it. But the question was...what?
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Okay, sorry this took so long but...school started! Eeep!
O, well next chapter is the ball. Review = update!