Heir of Hogwarts

By

Sannikex

Chapter Four

A/N: Is there someone who would like to beat this story? It's posted at FA and they don't accept my works un-betaed and my beta just quit and left me with two chapters posted and not being able to update. So please if you have some spare time? Just tell me in a review and I'll contact you.

Disclaimer: Forgot it in the last chapter..I do not own anything besides my own characters and the plot.

"I didn't think anyone would find out so fast," the beautiful girl stated calmly. "If you would please follow me." It was not really a question and shooting each other a glance they followed the young professor. When they came out from the secluded section Sarah said loud enough for the closest people to hear, "Duelling in the library! I can't believe the nerve of you! Detention, now!" Ginny and Draco just gaped. Well, not on the outside but inwardly.

The blonde teacher led them out of the library and instead of taking left towards her office she turned right and down a corridor that ended close to the Owlery stairway. She stopped by a painting of the Four Founders that Ginny had admired many times for its perfect details. It was out on the Hogwarts grounds somewhere near the lake and the famous magicians stood together in the bright sunlight. Helga Hufflepuff was smiling kindly, Salazar Slytherin looked sullen, Rowena Ravenclaw had a shy smile playing at her lips and Godric Gryffindor was actually winking.

Sarah Trotter leaned in and whispered something to Salazar who looked up and watched Draco intently before nodding to the others and the painting swung open. Ginny was sure that not even Fred and George had found this passage. Sarah gestured for them to get in and cautiously they climbed in. After all they didn't know who she was. Ginny straightened up and gasped. She had expected to find a dark hallway or passage but she was standing in a huge...entrance hall. The floor was covered with a red carpet and in front of the dumbstruck students was a huge stair leading up to a balcony that went around the whole room. From the ceiling hung the largest chandelier even Draco Malfoy had seen. The walls were panelled with dark wood that gleamed in the soft light from the chandelier.

"The chandelier is positively vulgar but Rowena won't let me take it down..." Sarah's voice interrupted the "visitors" inspection. Ginny wondered briefly how you could call the beautiful piece of work vulgar before Sarah once again led them away. Underneath the staircase was a pair of double doors that opened by themselves and they entered an even more imposing room. In front of them was a huge hearth in what Draco decided must be obsidian, the mantle held up by two magnificent marble griffins. Two leaded windows with deep windowsills on each side of the hearth showed a pretty view of the Hogwarts grounds. A large sofa and two armchairs resided in the middle of the room that Draco now noticed was circular. The walls were a deep shade of violet and there was a lot of pictures everywhere. Before he could examine them more closely Sarah spoke again.

"Have a seat. Do you want some tea?" The familiar phrase about tea made Ginny snap back to reality.

"Yes, please." Draco just nodded and they sat down in the sofa. Ginny carefully as to not break it and Draco tense, he hated to not know where he had people. Sarah put down a tray on the table before them and sat down in one of the armchairs.

"So...are you Jane Potter?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," she nodded and carried on, "You are in the chambers of the Heir and I brought you because you confuse me." Draco shoot Ginny a warning look and said coldly, "Jane Potter died sixteen years ago." Ginny almost winced; she had a feeling that making this girl angry was a bad thing.

"No, she did not. And I should know."

"We have no proof whatsoever that you are the Heir. Why do we interest you?" Draco said in his usual drawl. Sarah just raised an eyebrow not seeming impressed at all by his cold demeanour. She stretched in her chair with catlike grace and said lazily, "You give out double signals. I can feel that you are in contact with Voldemort and with Headmaster Dumbledore." Silently sipping at her tea Ginny watched the two blondes, it was obviously some sort of power game going on and Ginny had a feeling that depending on who won the future would change.

None of the students answered and Sarah said, "Alright, you" she looked at Draco "who seems to know so much about Jane Potter, ask me something only she would know." The Slytherin gave her a piercing glare.

"Who was Jane Potter's first lover?"

"Lucius Malfoy." Ginny's cup hit the thick rug and tea stained it and Draco tried desperately to not look surprised. With a wave of her hand Sarah made the stain disappear, looking expectantly at the boy.

"What did her wand content?"
"Nothing, it is hollow." Sarah reached inside a pocket in her robes and picked out a dark wand. Twirling it lazily she watched Draco as he tried to compose himself. How very alike they are, he and Lucius, and still there is something that differs...

"If you are Jane Potter then who died?" Ginny saw that behind the stone mask he was thinking furiously, trying to make the facts fit into a possible pattern. She herself did not have a clue of what was happening. She didn't know what the Heir was, or who Jane Potter had been or is or whatever. She knew that she should not trust this girl, that only the most powerful witches and wizards had hollow wands.

"A Death Eater. Now answer my question." Neither Draco nor Ginny answered. The blonde girl rose rapidly and hissed, "I have been honest to you and it's fine with me if you don't want to tell me yourselves what you hide. But nothing of what I've said in here leaves this room. Understood?" She turned to Ginny who tried to copy Draco's still face. "And one word to Harry..." Sarah pointed towards the door and watched them go.

Draco and Ginny didn't speak to each other; they had too much on their minds. With a look that clearly said "we'll talk about this later" they separated before reaching more crowded parts of the castle.

Harry woke up with a jolt. His scar was burning and he felt like he was going to throw up. The dreams were back. He didn't remember as much as he used to of this one. There had been Voldemort's high-pitched voice saying something...You let her escape! She made it to Hogwarts you fool! And then a scream. Someone was punished. Harry could feel the Dark Lord's anger pulsating in his own blood and he rapidly swung his legs out of the bed. He didn't want those dreams anymore, they haunted him, made him feel things that was not his own. With fury still lingering on his mind he grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and the map, there was only one person who could help him to get rid of them.

Severus Snape quietly entered the potions dungeon and looked around. She was as usual waiting for him. He collected the items he needed and sat down opposite her in front of his desk. In silence they waited for the potion to wear off. Slowly the real shape of Jane Potter escaped its disguise. He almost cringed, he had seen her like this since the first night of the term but it still made him physically sick to see the wounds that wouldn't heal, that he couldn't heal, on her body, a body that meant more to him than his own. She was just like him older now than fifteen years ago but her hair was not shiny anymore, her face carried traces of fifteen years in torture. He had gone through the same only his torture had been his punishment for himself. It pained him endlessly that indirectly he had caused the bruises, cuts and scars on her once beautiful features.

"Stop it," her soft voice made him snap out of the reverie. "It's in the past, Severus. Let it go you've made up for it."

"No, Jane. There is nothing I can do to make up for what I did. I can only try." He got to work and his friend gritted her teeth when he preserved the open wounds.

"Young Malfoy and the youngest Weasley found out who I am today." Without looking up from his work the potions master asked, "Why did they find out at the same time?"
"Because they were together." She answered simply.

"Why? Those two hate each other."

"I hoped you could answer that. I though things might have changed since I was here."

"No, what would have made those families change their minds?" The dark haired man questioned without asking for an answer. The woman just shrugged and relaxed as the pain from the healing charm wore off.

Harry took off the cloak before he stepped into the potions dungeon. He didn't think Snape would be there but his personal chambers had to be somewhere around. He looked up and froze. In front of him Snape sat opposite a woman who must have been incredibly beautiful once, now there was scars and bruises covering her face, arms and neck. Snape let go of the woman's hand as if she had burned him and she looked up. Harry met her grey eyes and felt his brain grow dull. He was staring at Sarah Trotter. A much older and different Sarah but still her.

"Sarah?"

"Yes and no. Severus, my potion, please. Harry go and get Ron and Hermione and bring them to the library. Then wait there until I come." She turned her attention to a vial in Snape's hand. It contented a sparkling turquoise potion that swirled and bubbled. She swallowed the whole content and in a minute the young and pretty Sarah Trotter stood before them.

"If you want an explanation, do as I say," she said gently and sent Snape a look. Something in her voice that reminded him of the past made Harry turn and walk out. He was extremely curious now and his brain worked on high speed to make some sense out of it all. It didn't work.

Ginny woke up with a jolt. Instinctively she knew that someone was in the room and her hand went for her wand on the nightstand. A shadow leaned over her and whispered.

"Come on!" Fumbling with her wand Ginny muttered, "Lumos!" The light illuminated Sarah Trotter's face and made her look scarily pale.

"Where to?" Ginny asked. It was best to seem composed she thought, as a loony teacher woke you up in the middle of the night.

"To my rooms and get Mr. Malfoy too. The Slytherin password is serpent. You will get your explanation but you have to hurry. For some reason Ginny believed the young teacher. There was something urging in her voice and the way she talked.

She stumbled up and looked around. Sarah was gone. Was she dreaming? Now wide-awake Ginny shrugged on a robe and decided to find out if it was a dream. But first she had to get Malfoy.

Ginny slipped into the Slytherin common room and after checking that no one was in there she curiously looked around. The ceiling was low and torches on the walls dimly lit up the rectangular room. Dark green armchairs stood by small circular tables and there was just one sofa. How Slytherin to not want to share a seat, Ginny thought and crept towards the corridor she thought led to the boys' dormitories. Something in the corner of her eye made her stop dead in her tracks. Someone was occupying the sofa. She turned carefully and almost laughed in relief. Draco Malfoy was sprawled across it peacefully sleeping. With a wicked smile playing at her lips she wondered if she would jump up and scream "Boo!" But she changed her mind; he had the rapid reflexes of a seeker and would probably hex her into oblivion before she knew it. So Ginny silently approached him and bent down over him. How calm he looked she reflected, like an angel. His soft hair fell across his forehead and his nice mouth was relaxed and not drawn to a smirk as usual. What in Merlin's name was she thinking? A bit more violently than she needed she shook him.

"Weasley?" He slurred, "What do you want?"
"I've talked to Professor Trotter and she wanted us to come," Ginny said and let go of his muscular shoulders.

"And why didn't you just call?" He asked and rose, straightening his clothes.

"Er…" The truth was that she had totally forgot about their call galleon.

"Merlin!" Very red in the face Ginny followed him out of the room.

The golden Trio made their way towards the library Harry beneath the cloak and his two friends with their Prefect badges pinned on the robes they had put on to hide their nightclothes beside him. He had been lucky; Hermione had been in the common room reading since she couldn't sleep and Ron had, even if he whined a bit, left his bed.

They silently stopped in front of the familiar library doors. A noise as the sound when you ripped textile echoed through the hall.

"What was that?" Ron looked around and Harry drew his wand.

"Do you…feel something?" Hermione said uneasy and glanced around.

"My toe's a bit numb," Ron said and Hermione smacked his arm.

"I'm serious!"

"Shh, listen!" Harry whispered and his friends shut up. Children's voices and running steps were coming closer.

"Guys," Ron started and Hermione and Harry hushed him. "Guys, we're not at Hogwarts anymore"

Draco and Ginny stopped in front of the painting they had climbed through earlier that day. Both had their wands prepared, they had heard a weird sound some minutes ago.

"Malfoy," Ginny said slowly, "Malfoy this is not that painting!"

"People move in paintings, Weasley. The founders just have walked around a bit."
"This is not that painting," Ginny said stubbornly and Draco looked at it.

"Sweet mother of Morgana, you're right!" This picture was very alike but not the same. This was not a painting that hung in Hogwarts. Draco looked around and a cold feeling sank in his stomach.

"Weasley, this is not even Hogwarts."

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