Potter47
~ Part Two ~
Closer to Where I Started
"Show it a fair pair of heels and run for it."
~ Shakespeare
~ Chapter Ten ~
Locked in the Dungeon
Neville Longbottom was considered, by most, to be a very spineless Gryffindor compared to the rest. He was the 'cowardly lion' so to speak. He never minded it, unless of course it was Snape, or Malfoy, doing the teasing. Then it really got on his nerves.
Neville was not doing anything in particular, that day. He had taken a walk up to the Owlery for no good reason. He had taken his toad, Trevor, with him for no good reason. He just didn't feel like figuring good reasons for things today.
Two good friends of his, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, had disappeared two days prior. It was really a mystery, what happened to them, apart from the fact that they had gone back in time. Neville knew that they had been in nineteen forty-five, and now were in nineteen seventy-eight. Other than that, there really wasn't much to know.
And right now, Neville felt quite lonely. He had seen neither Ron nor Hermione since breakfast, and he had no one else to talk to. Luna had not been seen in even longer. Dean and Seamus were still celebrating the end of the OWLs, which they had finished before the whole excursion to the Ministry of Magic occurred. Even if they were available to talk to, they probably wouldn't understand. Nothing ever happened to them. They're parents were fine. They went home to them each summer. They were two normal, fifth-year, Gryffindor wizards. The only two, actually.
Neville, having nothing better to do, wrote a letter to his Gran, telling her of some of the recent happenings, and sent it off with a school owl.
If Neville was a normal fifth-year he would have parents to write to. He wouldn't need to write to his Gran.
He still was a bit in the dark on the whole issue of his parents' torture. He had heard that the Lestranges had tried to get them to tell where You-Know-Who was. How would they know? What was special about them? Why not some other auror? Why Frank Longbottom, and his wife, Alice?
Neville doubted he would ever find out. If anyone knew, it would be Dumbledore, and Dumbledore had always seemed to avoid Neville. As though there was something about him that he didn't like thinking of.
When Neville had been at the Department of Mysteries, he had seen for the first time in nearly fifteen years, the face of one of his parents' torturers. Bellatrix Lestrange. It had been great to see her attacked with Hermione's hex. It had been an image that would last his whole lifetime.
He wished that he could do something. Something to wipe that smile off her face.
He turned around, heading for the door. Trevor, however, seemed to have other ideas.
The toad leaped out of Neville's hands, and onto the floor. It hopped as fast as it's small legs could go, and Neville hurried to catch up. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something appear.
As he bent down to pick up the toad, he felt heat somewhere near his back. He raised his eyes as Trevor was secured in his hand, to see a flash of red light pass over him.
He swung around, and was once again facing Bellatrix Lestrange and her hideous smile. She had her wand out, pointing at him, and it seemed ready to send another stunner. Neville did the first thing he could think of.
He lifted Trevor in front of chest, and, amazingly, the beam of light hit the toad instead of Neville. He was still conscious, and Bellatrix was no longer smiling. Their eyes met, and Neville dove behind an owl perch as she fired another stunner.
"Stupefy!" she cried, a third, then fourth time. Neville kept moving, and her spells seemed to be hitting the owls, as they clearly were missing him.
"Stupefy!" she cried, annoyed at her repeated misses. But Neville seemed impossible to catch, as he continued to evade her.
After what seemed like hours of dodging spells, Neville reached the Owlery door, and dashed out it as fast as he could. In the corridor, he moved quickly along, narrowly missing a suit of armour that he passed.
"Damn!" he heard Bellatrix curse, as she made her way to the door.
Neville ran as hard as he could, looking anywhere for a teacher. There must be one somewhere, he thought as he ran, this is a school...
As he rounded a corner, he ran into the last person he'd ever thought he would be happy to see.
"Professor Snape!" he cried, running to the Potions Master. "Death Eater," he panted, "Lestrange! Bellatrix Lestrange!"
And he fainted, falling into the professor.
Snape, thinking fast, threw open a closet door, and quickly put Neville inside. He closed it, muttered, "Colloportus!" and turned around just as Lestrange rounded the corner.
"Snape!" she muttered, approaching him fast. "Longbottom, where'd he go?" It was clear that she thought luck on her side when she ran into the Potions Master. What a coincidence to run into a Death Eater.
"He ran right past me," said Snape coolly. "Don't even think he noticed I was here. Which is saying something as he usually is terrified of me."
"Thanks," she muttered, and continued in her chase.
"Idiot," Snape said to himself, as she rounded the bend. He helped Longbottom out of the closet, and took him straight to Dumbledore.
Harry and Ginny sat in their room, having decided that there was far too much of a risk in roaming the corridors. They did not look forward to another encounter with a ghost from the past.
So, they just sat there. Waiting. Contemplating. Pondering. But most of all, in Harry's case at least, trying not to stare.
Remember, don't wait too long.
Don't wait too long!
Harry's father's voice repeatedly screamed in his head. He wished it would stop. It was even more annoying than the repeated flashbacks, and that was saying something.
"Harry," said Ginny, grinning, "remember when we were in the Chamber? You said, 'Tell me later, Gin.' Well, now I will."
Harry's mind raced back...what had she been saying? Something about...what was it?
"I know quite a few people who are pretty thick," she said, enunciating. "Ron, for example.... Last year, after the Yule Ball, Hermione screamed at him, 'Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does and not as a last resort!'" Ginny imitated Hermione, with eerie accuracy. "Well, here he is, a year and a half later, and has he asked her anywhere? To Hogsmeade? No, he hasn't. He just doesn't get it. Unless, of course, he doesn't fancy her... " She laughed. "Nah, not a chance...."
"Er..." It wasn't exactly a comfortable topic for Harry, the Boy Who Loved.
"And Michael, he was worse than anyone," she said.
Harry straightened a bit in his seat at the mention of the dead man. Well, the soon-to-be dead man.
"What?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even.
"Michael Corner," she said. "It took him three months to notice that Cho was interested in him. In fact, he probably still wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't dumped him..."
"You what?" asked Harry, unable to believe he might not have to perform an unforgivable.
"I dumped him," she said. "He didn't like Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw at Quidditch and got really sulky. I told him to go comfort Cho instead."
She looked at him oddly, a small smile on her lips. "What's it to you?" she asked suspiciously.
"Er...nothing," Harry said quickly.
"I know from experience that when you say 'er...nothing,' it is some-"
She stopped speaking short of the end of her sentence as green smoke once again appeared around them, slowly filling the room. It seemed as though, had the world not been magical, the smoke would slowly suffocate those who breathed it in; killing them from the inside out.
But it didn't. It didn't kill them. It did not harm them in any way, shape, or form. It did only the one thing they wished most for it to do.
It brought them home.
"Luna!" Ron said as the Death Eater threw him into the small dungeon room. Then he added, "Hermione!" after a moment. "You're alright!"
"Yeah," said Luna. "We're a little ground up, but we're fine."
Ron looked around the room they were being held in. It was small, even smaller than his bedroom at the Burrow. The walls were made of stone, and the door was thick wood. A small barred window was set in it, through which one could see a bit of the outside corridor. The floor was hard and icy cold, and tremendously unpleasant.
"Do they have Neville?" asked Hermione. "We heard them saying that only Longbottom was left."
"Who's they?" asked Ron, peering out of the window. "Which Death Eaters took you two?" He turned back to his two companions.
"Bellatrix Lestrange got me," said Luna. "At breakfast. Apparently I woke up a bit early. No one else was there yet."
"No one got me," muttered Hermione. She did not seem to want to admit how she was taken.
"Then how were you taken?" asked Ron.
"She was portkeyed here," came a drawling voice from outside the door. "It was my idea, actually. To give her a book portkey. I knew she wouldn't be able to resist..."
"Malfoy!" said Ron, blocking the rest of the room from the view of the window. He was sure, even though the Death Eater wore a mask, as always, that it was Lucius Malfoy.
"Yes," said Malfoy, his cold eyes visible through the slits of his mask. "My, how you've grown. I didn't notice back in the Ministry. You must be as tall as dear old Dad, by now. I do hope he is feeling better. Nasty snake bite, I hear."
"Why did you kidnap us?" asked Luna, coming up to the door. "We're of no importance. Harry's the one You-Know-Who wants. Why bother with us?"
"Because when your precious Potter gets back from nineteen seventy-eight-"
Hermione gasped.
"Yes, Granger. The Dark Lord knows that Potter's in nineteen seventy-eight. He is most definitely not stupid. Unlike some..."
He could not tell, as he was wearing the mask, but Ron was sure that Malfoy was smiling.
"As I was saying, when Potter gets back here, he will find his friends missing. Gone. And he will do anything to get them back. He'll walk right into the Dark Lord's trap."
"Do you notice the flaw in your plan, Malfoy?" asked Hermione, standing up and joining the others at the window. Clearly, she had thoroughly analysed the Dark Lord's plan in the four seconds since she learned of it. "It really is obvious."
"What are you talking about, Mudblood?" Malfoy drawled.
Ron had no idea either. He did not see a flaw. But then again, he wasn't Hermione...
"You're underestimating quite a bit. You're assuming. Never assume."
"Spit it out, Mudblood."
"You're underestimating Neville," said Hermione. "It seems as though he wasn't quite so easy to catch as us." She smiled as the masked Death Eater seemed to falter a bit, trying to come up with a reply.
"You're underestimating Dumbledore," she continued. "Do you think he won't find out about this? Death Eaters running about in the school. As if no one would notice..."
Hermione was now standing right up against the door, as she'd been slowly moving closer since she began talking.
"But most of all, you're underestimating Harry," she said. "He's escaped from Voldemort how many times? What makes you think he wouldn't find a way again? Even if he did try to save us, there's no telling how it would turn out. He might win."
"You always were a stupid girl," said Malfoy. "Do you honestly think that your precious Potter has a chance? The only reason Potter's still alive today is pure luck. He's bound to run out of it. Then the Dark Lord will defeat him once and for all. And, as the prophecy says, no one will be able to vanquish the Dark Lord. He will win."
"Prophecy?" demanded Hermione. "What prophecy?"
Malfoy laughed. "And they said you were the smart one..."
"What prophecy?" she demanded again, her hand sliding into her robes. Malfoy could only see her face.
"The prophecy," said Malfoy. "The reason this whole odyssey began. The reason Potter has no parents...."
"What?"
"The reason he has a scar.... The reason you all are here...."
"Crucio!"
Hermione never thought she'd hear that word from her mouth, but it was the only thing on her mind. The pure hatred that she felt at that moment. Malfoy screamed in pain. Pain. That was all her mind wanted - to cause him pain.
She raised the wand that she'd aimed through the window, and the screaming stopped. They could hear footsteps pounding above them. Death Eaters running to the source of the scream.
"Next time," she muttered. "make sure that people don't have their wands, when you kidnap them by portkey."
She quickly stunned him, and summoned his wand. She shoved it into Ron's hand. He hid it in his robes.
Wormtail was the first to arrive, having run down as a rat. He took one look at the situation, and pulled his wand. It was short, only seven or eight inches, but fit fine in his hand.
"Granger," he said, coming slowly closer to the door, his wand raised. "Master wishes to speak with you first."
She silenced Ron with a look, and hissed, "Don't let them know about the wand!" in his ear. She put her hands up, and tossed her wand out the window.
"Good," said Wormtail, picking up the wand, and opening the door. "Good...come with me."
He locked the door again, behind Hermione, and he took her down the end of the corridor. They went up the stairs, Hermione's hands behind her head.
"Idiot," muttered Ron, once they were out of earshot. "He is an idiot!"
"Be thankful for that," said Luna, taking one last glance out the window.
Ron walked back to the opposite side of the room, and sat down against the hard wall. It was anything but comfortable, and yet Ron did not find it unpleasant at all. For Luna had followed him.
She sat next to him, her right arm against his left, and they stared wordlessly at the door. Waiting.
Waiting to die. Waiting to live. Waiting for the absolution that they both knew was coming. Yes, knew. There was no doubt. It was fate. Destiny. There was no other way.
It was called Harry.
Many of the titles, for chapters one (1) to ten (10) of "Living inside Yesterday" were taken from very specific sources. It is up to you, as the reader, to determine where they came from. They may be from books, movies, television shows, or songs. Do not attempt to find sources for chapters one (1), seven (7), and 8 (eight). Those came off the top of my head, and I doubt that you have seen the inside of my mind.
Also, the two part titles, The Shadow of the Past, and Closer to Where I Started, are also from unambiguous (?) sources. Please send all responses, either by review, or by email. Email to Potter847@yahoo.com, and review to...well, review to this fic. If you get some right, your name will be listed at the end of the next part. Not chapter, part. That means five (5) chapters from now. That's how long you have. Anyone who can match at least four (4) correctly will win a Living inside Yesterday wallpaper...ABSOLUTELY FREE!
BONUS: I bet you're asking, "Am I ever gonna find out, where the title, 'Living inside Yesterday,' came from?! I need to know!" You're not? Ah, well, how 'bout you try to find out, even though you don't care? Anyone who does so, in an email only, will get that wallpaper, once again, ABSOLUTELY FREE! Sound like a plan?
For anyone who cares, the next chapter's quote is:
~ Walt Kelly ~ To Be Continued... ~ ~ Same Bat Time... ~ ~ Same Bat Channel! ~
