The Seers' Truth: Beyond the Darkness
By Lady Lestrange
Chapter 31
May Fortune Favor the FoolishDisclaimer: The Harry Potter characters and previous situations belong to JK Rowlings. No infrigement is meant or implied. No money is made from this Fanfic. Thanks JK.
--Lady Lestrange
Special thanks to my beta, ennui de mort who always does such a good job being my extra muse as well as proofreading, moral support and just plain fun.
15 reviews: I really hate blackmailing you into reviewing, but hey, I'm a Slytherin. It's in my nature, so when there are 15 reviews for this chapter, the next one will magically appear. Love my readers and reviewers. Answers to the reviews follow the story.
(A/N: I've been reading a number of fanfics in installments like this one myself, and find it is sometimes hard to remember exactly what has happened before-In a fic as complex as this one is, I thought having a reminder may be helpful for you. If you want to skip it, just page down.)
Up to this Point: Alternate 5th year book. Voldemort was uncertain which was the prophecy child, Samara or Ginny so he kidnapped them both. Beatrice made a mad dash after them in her animagus form. She has been since crucioed and rescued and returned to Hogwarts still in her bunny animagus form.
Harry, Ron and Hermione struggle to figure out how the prophecy might aid them. The trio travels to Hermione's house, Samara's house, the Riddle house and eventually the Snow Castle in search of the girls.
Ginny, who has a Dark Mark, is torn between the visions of Tom in her head and what to do to stay safe from Voldemort at the Snow Castle. Snape is an unexpected help to her.
Voldemort meanwhile has some unpleasant Christmas surprises in store for Harry and Neville. Neville's grandmother ends up in the hospital and the Dursley's are dead, leaving Snape as Harry's guardian.
Back at Hogwarts, the trio tries to ascertain how they will save the girls. They enlist Draco and Lauren's help.
Voldemort has some trouble within the ranks and sends Ethan to learn with Narcissa and Gloria. Meanwhile, the trio works out some differences with Draco, and miss a chance to save the girls. Now, Snape gives some timely advice and Harry invites Neville to their little planning gatherings, which ends in an altercation between Neville and Draco.
Voldemort sets his plans in motion by giving Samara the Dark Mark, but she is far from defeated by this. Ginny on the other hand is ready to give in to save her family. The plot continues as Volemort sets family members upon family members in a quest to destroy all who might thwart him.
Meanwhile, Harry considers the meaning of curcio and tries to puzzle out what Voldemort is doing by reading his scar pangs.
Ethan and Edward prove their worth to Voldemort and Beatrice is finally released from the bunny animagus.
Ginny, under polyjuice potion, is impersonating Madam Amelia Bones. She is following direct orders from Voldemort who is speaking to her in parseltongue from the small snake animagus she is carrying. She saves her father and her brother, but doesn't seem to be able to save herself.
However, Harry Potter and his trusty Gryffindor rescue squad is on the way. Unfortunately, they get waylaid. Ginny is unconscious and the girls are currently looking for the boys and wind up in Voldemort's dungeon with a slew of vampires and a three headed dragon. The boys, Harry, Ron and Draco are going to rescue the others from the veelas, but Valeriana and Narcissa get in the way--or not-- Luckily the twins are armed with puppy puffs and a sense of humor. Now, the intrepid trio have some difficulty determining a course of action. It's no wonder! Perhaps, they should put it to a vote there are so many people involved in the decision. Well, as Dumbledore says, "it is the decisions we make, that make us the witches and wizards we are!" And now, on to save Neville, as if he wants saving…. May Fortune Favor the Foolish.
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Chapter 31
May Fortune Favor the Foolish
Harry paused as he looked at the next room. It was someone's private living chamber, or maybe it was the living chamber for several people, like a common room. It was enormous, but comforting. Strewn with various discarded garments and quilt like blankets, it looked well lived in by a number of people, but only two veelas and one wizard were in the room at the time, Neville. The veelas were wholly consumed by their argument with one another. One of them, Harry recognized as Darchelle Desideria, the veela who had been dressed down by Narcissa. She was now passing on that sentiment to her underling, but the veela was not being cooperative. Neither they, nor Neville looked towards the door as Harry and Draco entered.
"I found him," the veela pouted as she ran her hand up and down Neville's bare chest, while Neville lay on one of the quilts in vacant eyed ecstasy, but he was not bleeding.
"Narcissa caught us, Melisande" insisted Darchelle.
"No," said the Veela, eyes twinkling as she kissed Neville. "She caught you. I had nothing to do with it."
"Why are you being so stubborn?" asked Darchelle as she pulled Melisande away from Neville.
Melisande hissed at her. "He has inherited the magic of powerful wizards. I want him to be the father of my child."
Harry choked, and Draco leaned close. "Time to lock that veela away in St. Mungo's," muttered Draco, gesturing to her with a hand that dripped Elemental water.
"You can't be serious," yelled Darchelle, still not noticing Harry and Draco. "Playing with them is one thing, but this--The Dark Lord will kill you and the child if you are pregnant."
"Oh, I'm not pregnant," said the veela. "Not yet."
Draco indicated that Harry should take out Darchelle. He raised his hand and at the same moment as Harry raised his wand. "Stupefy!" called Harry
Draco sent his spell too and both veelas crumpled, but before they could reach Neville, he had scrambled for his own wand and enervated the veela, Melisande, that had been touching him
"Obsurdesco!" said Draco, deafening himself and then switched to the Air Elemental, letting a warm, wet breeze blow between Neville and the veela as he readied the actual spell.
"Wait," said Neville. "I want Melisande to go back to Hogwarts with me."
"Of course you do," said Harry gently. "She's a veela."
"Merci," mumbled Melisande as she stood groggily holding her head.
Neville put a supporting arm around her. "Melisande Genivee, may I introduce, Harry Potter. Melisande is Fleur's cousin," explained Neville with complete presence of mind. "She never wanted to be here in the first place. We have to take her." He paused, waiting for Harry's reply, but when Harry said nothing, he continued. "Do I look like I'm under a veela's spell?"
"Well no," agreed Harry, noting that Neville wasn't bleeding anywhere that he could see. "But still—veelas are--" he hesitated realizing he was stereotyping veelas just like he had once stereotyped Slytherins. He was uncertain of what to do, but Neville made the decision for him.
"Come on," he said, pulling on his shirt and robe and pulling Melisande forward. "We need to get back to Hogwarts."
Draco removed the deafness spell from himself. "What happened?" he asked, running his slightly damp hands through his now blowing hair. "Why is she going with us?"
"Thanks for taking care of Darchelle for us," Neville continued. "She didn't want to let us go."
"Go? But she can't go," said Draco gesturing to Melisande. "She's a veela. She will just get summoned back. You don't want to put her through that, Longbottom."
"Zee veela magic iz not compatible with zee Dark Mark. 'e, cannot summon us. 'e can only call. Let's go, Neville," said Melisande.
Harry nodded mutely, wondering when he had lost control of the situation. He sighed. It wasn't really his decision, was it?
As they walked through the doorway, Draco brought a soft breeze of Elemental wind. He groaned and whispered conspiratorially to Harry. "I told you we shouldn't have brought Longbottom," but Harry was too busy to notice Draco's grumblings. He had to gather up seven Muggle women and figure out how they were all going to get home with only one portkey and the wards up.
"Hurry up," grumbled Draco. "We have to get to Samara's room before someone sees this parade, and the wind that blew it in," he muttered, pushing back his blowing hair yet again.
(POV)
Ginny awoke to the feeling of something slithering over the back of her neck. As she opened her eyes, the world came into focus. She had been lying face down on a bed that she recognized, but it was not her own. The scent of the pillow and the feel of magic was familiar: Samara's. The sheets were not pulled down and the quilted design of the coverlet had left crumpled markings on her arms where she had been lying. It took her a moment to realize that she also had some of Samara's contingent of basilisks, not Salacia, of course, but some of the others had sought comfort in the thick blankets. They were cuddled around her for warmth, Cush was stretched along the length of her calf dozing happily and Zissi curled at her elbow. Tse and Tisha were wrapped around her neck and shoulders with Visha. There was a hum of soft conversation in the room, and the atmosphere was thick with tension. She blinked and tried to focus, but the conversation in her head took precedence.
"It's about time you woke up," hissed Tom. He was livid. She could feel his anger like a burning need to throttle her. She wasn't sure why he was so angry, but she was sure he was over reacting. She decided to lie still for a moment and get her bearings. No one knew she was awake yet.
"I know you're awake," snapped Tom, as he proceeded to rant and she ignored him.
Every limb ached, not with the pain of the after effects of a hex, but with exertion. It was the feeling one gets after having whacked a few too many bludgers, not the feeling of taking too many bludger hits. Considering the power of the ward she had made, she felt surprisingly rested, and her magic was intact. The idea to use her consciousness as a seal for the ward was a good one, and she was proud of herself for having chosen that particular part of herself to sacrifice to the ward.
Suddenly the ache in her limbs was overshadowed by an abrupt attempt on Tom's part to take her over. She shivered as sparkles of his magic ran through her sharply, and she hissed with pain. "You can't take me over," she thought angrily.
"I know, but damn you, you will pay attention to me," he spat.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I want to know why you took such a monumental risk? And I want your promise to not do something so stupid again. Why would you be so asinine as to let your friends have control of our body? There were a number of different ways you could have handled the situation that would not have put our body at risk."
"My body." Said Ginny automatically.
"No, our body. You gave no thought whatsoever to the fact that they could have left us there to die--"
"They wouldn't'--"
"Not purposely perhaps, Gryffindors don't think that far ahead."
"I'm a Gryffindor," snapped Ginny
"As you keep reminding me by your acts of absolute idiocy," remarked Tom. "Even if you wouldn't take the sensible path and use the legilmency which I suggested, you could have sealed the ward with something besides your own consciousness--"
"What?" interrupted Ginny.
"Blood, for instance."
"Blood! The place was crawling with vampires," Ginny fumed. "I would have been drained before I got the ward up."
"That's only because you are so slow. I wouldn't have had a problem."
"Oh yes, you are so perfect," snapped Ginny sarcastically. "You do everything right."
"You would do well to remember that the next time you get a moronic Gryffindor urge to sacrifice yourself," said Tom, purposefully ignoring her sarcasm.
Ginny hesitated trying to figure out why Tom was so angry. It had worked hadn't it? It was over now, and no harm done. "Tom?" asked Ginny. "Were you really that worried about me?"
"No," snapped Tom. "I was worried about me."
"Ahh, I see," said Ginny smugly. "You were worried about me."
"There is no you, or me, Ginny," said Tom decisively. "There is only us."
The thought made Ginny pause. She wondered when that thought had become--tolerable--comfortable--us. She was no longer as terrified by the thought of sharing her body with him as she once was. It came as a surprise that right now, his anger was covering fear. She could feel it, although he didn't want her to know. Could it be that he was also afraid of sharing the body with her? After all, she held all the control and for a Slytherin, that must be torturous, and yet, he understood trust. He had trusted her, in the Chamber--"
"That was not--It was--a calculated decision, and my choices were severely limited," Tom argued. "It was not the same."
"Tom," she said, "I wouldn't have sacrificed my consciousness if I didn't trust Samara and Hermione. I didn't think it was that great of a risk." She paused feeling his anger soften with her gentleness. "My action was a calculated decision also," she said.
Mentally, he snorted. "That would be a first. You making a calculated decision--"
"Well, it's hard to live with someone in your head without some of their attributes rubbing off," She commented blithely.
"Unfortunately, I know what you mean," he countered. Ginny waited expectantly for the little endearment that he usually added in his thoughts, but it was missing. He wasn't quite ready to give that far yet. He wanted to punish her for the fear she had caused him. He wanted her to beg, or to feel the fear herself. He wanted to even the score. It was so very Slytherin of him, and yet she understood.
"I'm sorry," she conceded, and she felt the soft touch of his magic within her.
"Forgiven, Ginny Love," he granted magnanimously.
(POV)
Ginny? Are you awake?" asked Samara.
"Yes," said Ginny sitting up and stretching. Her brothers gathered around her concerned and Hermione's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "That ward was awesome, Ginny," she said. "But did it exhaust you so much that you passed out?"
"No," said Ginny. "It was the cost of the magic."
"Dark magic," Lauren explained, and Hermione frowned, placing her hand on Ginny's shoulder, and causing the basilisks to hiss. She yanked her hand back. "Ginny, are you alright?"
"Yes," said Ginny. "I'm fine now," she said as she soothed the basilisks. "How long was I out?" she asked.
"Oh not long," said Samara. "Just about ten minutes."
"You weren't waiting for me, were you?" she asked worriedly looking around for the others. "What are we doing here?"
"No," George shook his head. "We're waiting for Harry and Draco."
"They went after Neville," explained Fred.
"Among the veelas?" Ginny asked concerned.
"Better them than us, Ginny Love," said Tom.
(POV)
Amazingly, the boys made it to Samara's room without incident. They settled into the well-warded room to plan.
"See, Malfoy, I told you it would be fine," said Harry as he herded the seven Muggle girls into the room. Neville and Melisande followed a disgruntled Draco.
"Gryffindor luck," muttered Draco, but Samara erased the pout from his lips with her kiss as Harry arranged the Muggles around the portkey. "Now as soon as the wards go down, we are going to get you out of here," he told the girl who spoke English. As she translated, a tittering of anxious conversation burst out among the Muggle girls.
"No, no, no," said Draco. "I want to be out of here as soon as the wards go down. Samara and I go first. If you want to save the Muggles, you do it on your own Potter."
"Draco—" interrupted Samara. She wrapped her arms around him and whispered teasingly, "I have never seen your hair so a mess--You're windblown.
"You have," he began as she kissed him and he released his Elemental Magic through her.
Samara began to straighten the wispy strands of his hair with her fingers. Tacita slithered back under Samara's robes, but the other basilisks were not so shy that they would ignore the chance to bask in Samara and Draco's shared magic. Tse, Tisha, Zissi, and Cush moved from Ginny back to Samara to enjoy the magic.
"I think I did save the Muggles myself," snapped Harry as Draco demanded again, "Samara and I go first." He let go of Samara and snatched hold of the portkey. "You can tag along Weasley and bring back the portkey for the rest of the team," he said dryly. "Potter is going to be busy killing the Dark Lord."
"Ron can't bring the portkey back," said Harry. "I have to go. The activation word is in parseltongue."
"I'm sure Samara can manage," said Draco.
"It's not your decision," said Ron.
"I'm making it my decision," snapped Draco.
"Wait, Ginny, you should go," Harry said. "The activation word is (Sissshauss)"
"As soon as the wards go down," said Draco.
"Yes, as soon as the wards go down," repeated Harry.
(POV))
Ginny looked at Harry. All the emotions seemed to catch in her chest and she couldn't speak. "Oh Tom," she thought. "I want to go home."
"You know, He will just summon you back," said Tom.
Ginny shook her head, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I can't go," she said to Harry and the others. "He will just summon me back. I love you all so much." She pulled her three brothers into a tearful group embrace, and amazingly, Ron remained still while Visha tasted his scent.
"Of course you are going," snapped Hermione. "Did you just think we came for a visit?"
"He lied to you, Ginny," protested Samara. "He promised you could go home and then he reneged on that promise, but he will let you go eventually, Ginny. He wants his emerald. If he knew you were going to Hogwarts to get his emerald, he wouldn't be so angry, but I don't think sending an owl--"
Ginny immediately felt a soft floating feeling as if everything was going to be fine. She didn't even have to make the decision. It was made for her. She had to get that emerald, at the earliest possible moment. It appeared the moment had come. "Yes," she said dreamily. "I'll send him an owl."
Tom sighed as he realized what was happening to Ginny. "I guess he can't argue with his own imperio, can he? Well he probably can, Ginny Love."
"Are you crazy?" snapped Draco grabbing Ginny and shaking her. "Sending an owl to the Dark Lord? Those Elementals must have scrambled your brain, Samara, and Weasel I already knew you were barmy. You can't send him an owl and expect him to leave us alone. He can summon me, and you, too. We are all in the same situation. All we can do is wait for Potter to fulfill his part of the prophecy."
"Get your slimy Slytherin hands off of my sister," said Ron, pushing his wand against Draco's neck.
Draco immediately let go of Ginny, but snapped at Ron as he shoved the wand away. "Merlin, Weasel, hasn't it gotten through your thick head yet? Your sister is hardly untouched by Slytherin hands. She's more His than I am!"
One of the Muggle women started to cry, which seemed to spread like wildfire to the others. Ginny felt like she was fighting tears herself realizing what her family would say if they knew about Tom, if they knew about her Dark Mark. They probably already did know about her Dark Mark. Percy would have told them something. She tried to withdraw from Tom, to withdraw from herself. What could she do? There was no way to fix this. There was no right decision. Tom was right. She was so foolish to come to Him in the first place. She had thought there was hope where there was none. She sniffed and looked at the ground.
Samara stepped between them, touching both Ginny and Draco, but she turned to Ginny,. "Draco, leave her alone," she said "Ginny, Look at me!"
Ginny blinked back tears ans she looked at Samara.
Samara shook her head. She apparently saw something in Ginny's aura, but she frowned, and turned back to Draco.
"What emerald?" Hermione asked, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Ginny! You're not going to do his bidding? You can't."
Ginny didn't answer. She couldn't lie to them all. "Tom?" she whispered forlornly, realizing that nothing had really changed since first year. They all thought they could tell her what to do. It didn't matter that she was only a year younger than them, the same age as Samara. They all thought of her as a little child who couldn't make a decision on her own. Maybe they were right. She couldn't. ."Tom?" she said again.
"Why do you care what they think," said Tom. "Oh wait, they're Gryffinors. Not to worry, Ginny. They don't think."
She knew he was trying to coax her into a smile, but she was too angry at Samara for telling about the emerald. That was supposed to be a secret.
Samara voice softened as she put her hand on Draco's shoulder. She continued, still watching Ginny with a frown. "And He won't summon me, or Ginny."
Ginny wanted to smack Samara, or curse her, for telling the whole group that she had to retrieve His emerald from Hogwarts. She didn't want to have to lie to them all, and now, she couldn't think of how she could explain what she had done.
"You are getting way too upset over a little deception. It's nothing. Just tell them you are still on the side of light. They'll believe you."
Ginny groaned and held her head. "We're all dead, aren't we?" she wondered aloud, her eyes met Harry's across the expanse of the room, but he looked away. All of the Gryffindors tried to convinceeach otherthat there was hope.
(POV)
Samara watched Ginny's aura transform itself from a rich blue to gold to a paler yellow and back to blue again, but this time lighter. It was practically flickering with the two colors weaving in and out of each other, one dominating briefly and then the other, but it still looked as if the blue aura that Samara associated with Ginny was for the most part, dominant, so Samara wasn't concerned even though Ginny seemed beyond consolation.
"There's still hope," Samara said. "We have to have hope." Samara wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Ginny or herself. She looked at Draco who was reguarding her with cool gray eyes. Only his rose colored aura revealed his feelings to her. He knows how close I've been to the Elementals," Samara continued. "He knows I am not afraid of death. He knows that I'll splinch before I am forced to obey him and he doesn't want me dead. I saw it in his aura."
Draco frowned at her, his aura still as rose as it was when he first entered the room. He touched her. "Are you so sure? You are gambling with your life, Samara. You know, I never asked those silly Hufflepuff questions--"
"She frowned, unsure of what Draco meant.
"You know," Draco explained. "The Hufflepuff questions, 'Would you kill for me? Would you die for me?'" he reminded her of the words they spoke in the Chamber of Forever.
"I never said, 'would you kill for me'," Samara contradicted.
"I know," Draco smirked, and Samara knew he was referring to what happened in the Ministry after Draco was hit.
"Oh," said Samara.
He let one of the tendrils of hair that had escaped her bun curl around his finger. "Don't gamble your life," he said softly. "Especially not to Him. He's not an auror, and He won't be too weak to kill you."
"I'm not gambling. He would have killed me already if he didn't want me alive. I'm quite sure that's the reason you are still alive too, Draco."
"Yes, old magic," said Draco. "Our binding." There was a crackling at the edges of his aura as he reached for her magically. He was close enough to physically touch her, but it didn't matter. She felt his magic anyway as it played along the edges of her aura.
She smiled at Draco. "After all, you should be dead. Interfering with his spell was a major blunder," She said softly.
Draco's aura paled as he looked at her, remembering his mother's chastisement when he had interfered with her spell: Samara remembered too.She had said, if Draco ever interfered with another of her spells—he would think the day Aislinn died was a holiday and those crucio's a tickling spell.
"It wasn't a blunder," said Draco, reaching out and touching Samara's face, "I told you, then I won't let Him have you. I meant it." Their magic was a moment of silence amidst the noise and confusion of the room. His aura had darkened from rose to almost maroon and his eyes were shining like depthless ice.
It reminded Samara so vividly of their time in the Chamber of Forever, when she in her anger at Dumbledore had woven the gray ice crystals of broken dreams together and she had bound herself to Draco. Draco had said, "I only loved one person once in this world and she was taken away from me. And I won't let anyone take you away from me. I won't let him have you. I won't." She saw his feelings in his aura then, and she saw it now. She wanted desperately to wrap her magic around him and block out the rest of the world. "I won't be His pawn," said Samara, closing her hands over the rampant magic and forcing herself to be still in front of the Gryffindors.
"You were never a pawn," said Draco. "a queen, perhaps. But never a pawn."
(POV)
Ginny was aware that something had passed between Samara and Draco but she didn't know what. The prickle of their magic across her skin felt vaguely erotic, and Visha shivered along her neck. "(Go. Enjoy their magic, if you wish,)" she told Visha, but Visha remained with her.
Tom snorted. "Tell Draco, to quit dawdling with Samara this isn't the safest little love nest."
Ginny blushed, but said nothing. She could feel the magic crackling between them, but the Gryffindors seemed oblivious to it, except for Fred and George who were glowering like a couple of trolls.
"It's their experience with wandless magic," said Tom. "It helps them to see or feel the wandless magic of others. The Gryffs don't know what to look for." Suddenly Tom's thoughts changed directions. "You know, maybe you could send him an owl. Maybe he would trust you, but you have to realize that you will have to come back, unless Harry really does kill him."
Ginny looked back at Harry who was sitting silently on one of the desk chairs. He hadn't moved or spoken since he entered the room. His eyes were closed as if he was meditating, and his right hand was under the hem of his left sleeve, stoking Shesha, Ginny realized. Shesha, like Visha, was ignoring the display of magic that emanated from Draco and Samara.
"This doesn't seem like an opportune time, for Harry to kill him. Tom," thought Ginny. "I mean, Harry is in Voldemort's castle and surrounded by Death Eaters. There has to be a better place for this prophetic duel, don't you think?"
"I agree," said Tom, "But I would like to have the emerald. It might be helpful. I can show you how to use it, but I really would feel safer right now if we were somewhere we could defend if the Death Eaters came looking for you. This room only has one door and no escape route. It isn't defendable."
"Ginny! Ginny!" Samara was shaking her, and breaking her conversation with Tom. "So what do you think?" Samara asked.
"Think!" scoffed Tom. "Just tell them nothing. That's what you usually think."
"Er--About what?" asked Ginny addressing the Gryffindors and ignoring Tom.
"Ginny!" admonished Hermione. "We're trying to make a decision here!"
Samara, Draco, Lauren and Hermione all started to talk at once and Melisande interrupted with a stream of rapid French before she remembered that she needed to speak English. Of the wizards and witches, there was no clear leader, and everyone had a different opinion. Ginny, who was quite adept at listening to multiple conversations at the same time, found herself frowning at the group of them.
Harry still hadn't moved. He was sitting silently, letting the conversations roll over him as he contemplated his wand. Every now and then he looked up hopelessly at the large group of people he was trying to rescue. Ginny wondered if he was having second thoughts.
"Well, if he is, I'm sure they aren't as insightful as your second thoughts," said Tom. "I know, I know," he continued. "Shut up, Tom."
"We should go to the forth floor," suggested Lauren. "We could wait for the wards to drop in relative safety."
"No," said Draco.
"Why not?" asked Neville.
"He has said that zee fourth floor iz dangerous," added Melisande.
"Dementers," said Draco, but Lauren continued undaunted. "It will be OK. Hermione, Neville and Harry should have the Invisibility Cloak," Lauren said. "It won't cover more than three and the Weasley's can be Ginny's recruits.. After all, anyone would expect to see us here, Draco, but not Harry Potter, nor Hermione. Neville Longbottom would be pretty hard to explain too. Like I said before--"
"An invisibility cloak won't protect against dementors," said Neville.
"And how would we protect the Muggles?" protested Hermione.
"No," said Fred. "We need to stay hidden. Draco's mum already knows about us."
"I don't think she'll believe we belong here," said George.
"Never play the same trick twice," intoned Neville. Melisande nodded vigorously.
"So the fourth floor then," said Ron.
"We can't all move." snapped Draco jumping up and pacing the room. "It's like the fucking world cup. We'll be seen."
"It pains me to say it," said Hermione, "But I agree with Draco."
"Smart girl," muttered Draco.
"Who's side are you on?" snapped Ron.
"Harry's side, Ron, but we can't protect all these Muggles if there are dementers," said Hermione.
Ginny found herself looking from one to the other, but she found fault with all of their ideas. Mainly, there was no way to be sure that they didn't already miss the opening of the wards. She certainly knew she couldn't have felt the wards go down when she was unconscious, but she wouldn't have felt them when she was warding against the dragon, either, and she didn't think the boys would feel the wards change when they were in the arms of a veela. What she experienced from Tom told her unequivocally that he would not have felt the wards when faced with the veelas. If that was the case, the wards might not be down again for days and they couldn't hide anywhere that long. She felt they should try to get to the floo in His private chamber, but she certainly didn't want to try to tackle that task either. She wasn't altogether sure that she would be able to go with impunity anyway. Nonetheless, she was now determined to get his emerald.
"It's imperio, Ginny," Tom reminded her.
Ginny closed her eyes and imagined the stone in her hand. She tried not to think of Salazar summoning her, or crucioing her. She opened her eyes, and looked at her friends.
"Tom, what are we going to do?" she wondered.
"A little late to be asking for my advice now," said Tom.
"Hermione's right," Fred was agreeing with her. "The muggles are a problem."
"Of course she's right," said Draco snidely. "She knows everything."
Lauren?" said Neville. "What about the dementers?"
She shrugged. "There shouldn't be any—well maybe a stray one or two, but Alvin's at Hogwarts. He told me that the Dark Lord forbade the Death Eaters from going to that floor so at least the dementers should be the only threat, and you can all do patroni, right? I mean you're Gryffindors, you should abound in happy memories."
Chatter broke out all over the room again. Ginny wanted to cover her ears and scream at them all.
Hermione gave Lauren an exasperated look, but said nothing.
"Can someone just make a decision?" shouted Ron.
"Harry, you decide," said Hermione, turning to the previously silent Harry who had not spoken or moved from the desk chair since he came into the room. Ginny tensed, expecting an uproar from the Slytherins and Samara.
"Good idea," said George.
"Harry?" said Fred expectantly.
"Oh, great! Ask the boy-who-bloody-lived," spat Draco "What gives him license to make decisions for all of us?"
"What do you think, Draco?" asked Lauren. "That we should just sit here and wait to be caught. Snape said ten minutes. We've already been here over an hour--"
"I warded this room—" began Draco. "The apparition wards should be opening momentarily. The rest of the adults should be coming back from the Ministry. What if we are in the corridor when they do? We could miss our chance. They won't just waltz into this room. It's safe as we can get here. Samara, tell them. We put up apparition wards around it long ago, and there's a proximity alarm, but—"
"But we don't even know if the adults are back yet or not," interrupted Ginny softly. "They could be back already and then the wards might not be coming down."
"What?" said Ron alarmed.
"And if they look for us, my room and Samara's room are the first places they are going to check," said Ginny listlessly.
The room broke into nervous chatter again. Waiting for the wards to go down was nerve wracking, but even thinking that the wards weren't coming down, was intolerable. Ginny wanted to scream at them. There was no where that was safe. There was no guarantee the wards were going to go down. It had been long past Snape's allotted ten minutes. They could be stuck here. She covered her face in her hands. It hurt all over again, as it had when she first arrived with Samara. She hadn't been this scared since Beatrice was crucioed. Beatrice was a witch again, she remembered Harry telling them. Maybe all wasn't lost. She wanted to ask Harry how that had happened. How had Beatrice managed to get out of her bunny form, but it didn't seem like the right time to bring that up. Everyone was talking at once. It was chaos.
"They are leaderless, Tom observed. "You see, Harry may be a hero, but he isn't a leader. They have no leader. Ginny, we should help them."
"No," said Ginny. "There are too many leaders," she corrected.
"Are you sure Alvin has the Pandora's Box?" Draco asked Lauren uneasily.
"Of course," said Lauren. "Have you ever seen him leave it out of his sight?"
"Well, no," said Draco sarcastically. "OK, OK, I guess it would be safer than here," said Draco finally giving in to Lauren's pressure. "I mean, here the Death Eaters might find us. On the forth floor there is just a chance of getting our souls sucked out."
Samara smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. "Personally," she said, "I'm more worried about Dumbledore's reaction to me."
"Don't worry," said Draco. "My parents can handle Dumbledore, and since you are bonded to me, they will protect you like a Malfoy."
"Even though she's a Mudblood," Ron said snidely.
Draco didn't even blink. He cursed Ron with boils.
"Oh Draco," said Samara as she undid the curse. "Stop being so childish."
"Childish, huh?" said Draco. "We'll see who's childish?" He ran his hand along her back and Samara and Draco seemed to flicker. "We could just apparate out of here—wait for the wards to drop somewhere else--somewhere more private."
Samara shook her head no, but didn't move away from Draco's touch. She laid her head on his shoulder.
Ginny blinked as Lauren glanced at her with a knowing smirk. "Am I seeing auras?" she asked Tom.
"No, you are just seeing their magic. It's considerably magnified because of their bonding and their emotions are heightened because Salazar has been keeping them apart."
"Why don't the Gryffindors see it?"
"Because Gryffindors are blind as well as dumb," said Tom.
Ginny huffed and was silent.
"OK, Draco, Samara, lead the way," said Harry as he pulled the cloak over himself and the others.
"Let's move," said Lauren. "Ginny is right. If anything goes wrong, the first place the Death Eaters are going to look is here.'
Draco shrugged. "I guess you have a point, Lauren. My mother can get through my wards if she really wants to, but the outside Apparition wards should have dropped by now. I'm beginning to agree with Ginny. We might have missed it, and if we did, we're all dead." He pulled air from the corridor and raised his hands.
Samara laid her hand on his shoulder. "Draco," she said softly. "Please don't apparate. Let's walk. We have to consider the muggle girls too."
Draco rolled his eyes, but didn't complain as he released the magic through Samara.
"Anyway," said Lauren, "We don't want to leave an apparition trail for your Mum, Draco."
"Fine. Girls, gather in," he told the Muggle girls. The one that spoke English translated, and they others obeyed him instantly.
"I thought you didn't want the Muggles around you," said Ron.
Draco grinned. "They make good shields if someone decides to curse us," he quipped.
Ginny watched as Harry closed his eyes momentarily against Draco's callousness. When he opened them again, he seemed resolute. "So we need a safe place—" he began, looking at Draco, trying to give the Slytherin a chance to voice his opinion about where they should go.
"Forth floor," insisted Lauren.
Draco blew out his breath and nodded. "Forth floor. Be ready with your patroni." He opened the door and peered out into the corridor.
"I just think that it is entirely possible that we missed the wards dropping," Ginny said to Harry. Have you had any indication through your scar?"
Harry shook his head, no. "I didn't, but I was distracted by the veelas," he said shamefacedly. "Right now Voldemort seems entirely too pleased with himself for me to be very hopeful though about anything." Harry double checked the corridor and then turned to the others. "Let's go." They stepped out of the relative safety of the room to travel to the forth floor where, hopefully they would be safer. He reached out and grasped Ginny's hand. She felt Shesha stir, tickling her fingers with her tongue before she retreated up Harry's sleeve again. "If the wards are back up, I've led everyone to their death," whispered Harry. "I need to just finish it," he whispered. "If I kill him, it's over and if he kills me--well it's over then too, at least for me."
Ginny squeezed his hand. "Harry?" she said softly. She wanted to say something to help him, but there didn't seem to be anything to say.
"So many have died because of me--" he said.
"Don't worry about it, Ginny. He is a Gryffindor. They love wallowing in self-pity." said Tom.
Ginny ignored Tom and spoke to Harry. "You did your best, Harry." She paused and looked at him, uncertain what she was looking for. "The wards only would have been down a short while." She said at last. "and we were busy with the dragon in the dungeon. You had the veelas to contend with."
"But it's my fault--"
"No man or wizardcould sense anything else through the veela song," Tom conceded. "It wasn't his fault, and even if it was, it's over now. Tell him to shut up. Merlin, it's not bad enough I have to contend with one Gryffindor!"
"It's not your fault, Harry. It's Voldemort's fault, and we have to look forward," said Ginny. "If He's back, we are waiting for nothing. I think, we should try to reach the floo."
"There's a floo?" said Harry.
"In His private chamber," said Ginny.
"In His room?" snapped Lauren. She stopped dead still and looked at her. "I'm not going there!"
"It might be the only way," Ginny snapped.
"Shut up, Ginny," said Ron.
Ginny was fuming.
"Ha! How do you like it?" asked Tom.
They were down the corridor and half way up the stairs when they heard the pops of apparitions in the corridor below. After a quick look at each other, they sprinted quietly to the floor above, and Draco put a finger to his lips to signify silence. They were adjacent to Voldemort's meeting antechamber and had to be quiet.
In the silence, an alarm suddenly echoed through the Snow Castle, and the entire group burst into a whispered chatter. "What is that?" wondered Ginny frightened.
"I think my mother just realized the boys she was talking to earlier were the Weasley twins," whispered Draco.
"Run!" snapped Lauren. "Get to the stairs."
"What about the muggle girls?" asked Harry as he ran beside Draco.
"Just leave them along the corridor," said Draco. "They're furniture."
"Pardon me," said Hermione.
Draco shrugged. "No one cares where they go. They are just Muggles. They can't really do anything, can they?"
Themovement of Death Eaterson the floor belowpushed them faster, but Samara suddenly halted in front of them. Her basilisks were hissing a warning.
"(We are trapped,)" hissed Visha. "(We need a hole to slither down.)"
"What are they saying?" Hermione demanded. "What are the serpents saying!"
"That we are trapped," Ginny repeated. "They say, we need to slither down a hole somewhere. I wish I knew of a secret passage—"
"I don't think there are that many, Tom added. "We can take them down with the help of your friends. We have enough basilisks--"
"No." thought Ginny.
Everyone started talking at once, trying to make a fast decision and keep everyone safe. The huddled together at the far end of the corridor hoping that the Death Eaters were just going to their own chambers and where not coming on this floor, but that seemed too much to hope for. To Ginny if felt as if time stood still. She heard the Death Eaters in the adjacent stairwell and prayed that they continued on their way, but she pulled her wand anyway, although Tom preferred that she use wandless magic.
"We need to leave the muggles and apparate," suggested Draco. "We can't risk the stairwell, and this is too slow."
"The Gryffs don't know the Snow Castle well enough to do multiple apparitions and you know how easy it is to follow when they use their wands," snapped Samara.
The basilisks were hissing, their words covering one another, so it was hard to understand. Tom was trying to tell her a spell. All the words seemed to blur together to Ginny.
The only one who can apparate two people is you Draco," said Samara, "and you already are risking your spine. You could end up as a puddle at the other end. No."
"Don't tell me what to do woman," said Draco, but he didn't apparate.
"I shouldn't have to. You should be smart enough yourself to realize this won't work Who are you going to leave behind? Me? Ginny? Harry?"
"Harry," said Draco wrapping an arm around Samara. That should keep the Death Eaters busy for a while.
"No!" snapped Samara. "He will be tortured to death. The basilisks can protect us."
Ginny looked at Samara, realizing that Samara had the exact same idea as Tom.
"They're the Dark Lord's basilisks. They won't attack him," said Draco
"No, but they will attack his Death Eaters at my command," said Samara. "If they come on this floor, we attack."
"Samara, you would kill them?" Asked Harry appalled.
Draco smirked and Ginny exchanged glances with Samara in the shadowy silence. Harry didn't know; she had already killed.
"(Kill Bite Die Hissuss,)" called the serpents, understanding the excitement in the air.
"What are the snakes saying?" asked Hermione.
"Nothing," said the three parselmouths together.
The basilisks on Samara were hissing frantically. "(Kill! Die! Hissuss!)"
"(If you did not want me to kill,)" said Shesha, "(How shall I save you, Master?)" The basilisk had slithered down to Harry's fingertips, ready to launch itself at an enemy. It's eyes were glowing under the lids.
"(You shall not kill on my account,)" said Harry firmly. "(You shall never kill on my account.)"
Visha was hissing. "(Mistress, if we do not attack, we must find a hole. We must either fight, hide or die.)"
"(Your tsez can find a hole, Master,)" said Shesha.
"(Where?) Ginny hissed back. "(Is there a secret passage?)"
"It's a spell," Tom added. "I've been trying to tell you, but you were ignoring me. There's a spell to open a solid wall." Tom began to explain.
"We need a hole to hide in,"Ginny said aloud. "I'm going to try to make it."
"Oh, Like this?" said Ron, opening a niche in the wall.
"Took him long enough," muttered Tom. "Stupidity must run in the family."
"Shut up, Tom, said Ginny as she made her own version of the niche in the wall spell.
15 Reviews gets a new chapter. Please review.
Notes to Reviewers
Mistrunner: Veelas and vampires. Glad you liked.
Croneus: Oh what an idea! Nagini eating a puppy puffed Voldemort! Excellent.
Alaxander: Glad you liked.
Field Of Gold: Yes. I love your long reviews, and I know what you mean about checking to see if there is an update. I do that too for a couple of my favorite stories. So glad you are enjoying.
Chernobyl: So I got you into the Tom/Ginny pairing! Great. I love Tom/Ginny. It's my favorite pairing. I can hardly write a story without it. Well, maybe if it was my own characters--and I sometimes do Ginny/Draco. I currently have a funny Ginny/Draco I am playing around with, but the drama of the diary is just too cool to leave alone. It always amazes me that JK has done nothing with that. Maybe in future books--I hope.
Trillium: Love your reviews and I'm happy to have you back with us. I love when you tell me your favorite lines.
Elemental Sorceress: Well, there's a cookie if I ever heard of one. Think what everyone would be with puppy puffs, and what about Valeriana's comment, would the mudbloods be mutts? Should I be scared? You are working on seeing auras? Oh dear, I didn't mean to start a cult or anything. LOL
Riddled-Slytherin: Oh thanks for the review! One of my favorite authors. You have to go read her stuff. Dark and awesome. Glad I made you laugh. Considering the stuff you write, you need a laugh, but hey, with a name like Riddled-Slytherin how could you go wrong. So while you are waiting for my next chapter, go check out Lady Darkness, a Ginny/Tom fic.
Fire-Sprite16: Well, Voldemort isn't even at the Snow Castle yet, well, maybe He is, but he isn't too concerned about the children right now. He has bigger birds to fry, but he will notice soon.
Anonymous: Yes, Ron's stupidity is amazing isn't it? I think Hermione just wants to give her brain a complete breakdown. That's why she's with him. They do say, opposites attract. And about my crooked foal. She is wearing a cast that the vet put on her now. I should take a picture of her. She looks so silly. The vet thinks she will get a little straighter anyway. She and her mother are going stir crazy in the barn. The filly will never race, but she is a sweetheart and we will either use her for a trail horse or if she gets straight enough maybe a jumper. We can hope. For those of you who are wondering what I am talking about, go see my baby horses at yahoo group, TheSeersTruth.
Potter-gurl17: I love when people tell me their favorite lines. Thank you. Sorry for the cliffie. More to come.
Lauz: Yes, well Voldemort is busy and it's a big castle. Glad Valeriana gave you a laugh. That's what she was supposed to do.
DraginLover: Hilarity was what I was aiming for, so I'm glad it worked. Hope you chuckled a little on this chapter too, but the laughs are over soon, so enjoy while you can. Are you anxious to get them out of the Snow Castle. I thought they were having a great deal of fun traipsing all over the place. I know I was.
Little Red Rabbit: Time frame--Right now, it's been less than an hour. You will see shortly that Vincent who is taking Draco's place back at Hogwarts only had a couple of doses of polyjuice, so then you will have a better idea of the time. Thank you for mentioning that to me. I added some time reminders in this chapter.
Kemenran: Getting positively wordy. I love it. As far as the calvary…I don't think it's coming. You will see why soon. In OotP, I hated that the children were the whole story and then they had to be bailed out by the aurors, when the adults themselves were so stupid for the majority of the book. They didn't seem that trustworthy to me. I won't have them stealing the children's guts and glory. After all, it is Harry's story according to JK and according to me, it's the children who are important, so what calvary should be coming? Dumbledore? Sniggers.
Jager: Happy? More Ginny/Tom is on its way just for you. In fact, lots more Ginny/Tom coming up. Actually, my best Ginny/Tom is coming up. Well, maybe not my very best, but defiantly close to it. I have a particular liking for the Ginny/Tom in my story, THE SECRET SEDUCTION, but I'm weird. Shivers.
Come r&r my other fics while you wait for the update on this one. Don't forget to review and visit the yahoo group site, TheSeersTruth. It's great fun.
Kisses and curses,
Lady Lestrange