And everyone thought this fic was dead…HA I never leave a fic unfinished, it not my thing, so im sure this will arise many questions among my reader ( and my beta im sure) so I hope it makes you ponder ( that would be the point) so enjoy, And don't forget to review my lovely readers, and thanks for reviewing last time, it made me happy, and yes I always give kudos to my beta she rocks my soxs, Thanks SUPER BETA CHAN ( theme music goes on now)……
Chapter 13: Everyone is having hissy fits!
Harry watched Draco give a spectacular performance of announcing his death to the aurors and then began the return trip home. He was just leaving the scene where he had immobilized all his old classmates without hurting them when he encountered Voldemort; an extremely angry Voldemort at that.
The first thing the older man said was, "What do you think you were doing just now? I did not give you permission to leave the house!"
Harry just stared the man down; anger radiating from both of them. He would have liked to tell Voldie where to get off but knew the older man had one power over him: the AVEDA KEDAVARA. So, instead of telling him what he really thought, Harry clenched his teeth and walked off in a direction diagonal to the house.
No way in hell was he going to stand there and let the ranting Voldemort agitate him into telling the green man to shove his wand in places that were generally not discussed in public. That would be tantamount to admitting he wanted to commit suicide, and as of a few minutes ago he was quite opposed to that idea.
His little impromptu trip around the island let him to a clearing with a bunch of rocks lying around. It seemed to be the perfect hiding spot to disappear into. The rocks were taller than he was (like some things never change)…although the large rocks were not uncommon on the island. With a sigh, he sat down in a space between two rocks that was large enough to hide him from prying eyes.
He looked around and noticed what looked like two crystal nodules partially hidden in a bit of unusually green grass. Without considering why two crystals would be in the grass, he reached his hand out and started to scoop them up. He jerked his hand back as his fingers grazed the top of what turned out to be a snake's head; a live snake with crystal eyes.
Harry began apologizing profusely to the snake, but was slightly disconcerted when it just gazed at him calmly and hissed. He was getting ready to jump up and dash away when the snake slithered over to him and settled at his feet.
"Sssssiiitt, young one, my name is Reddic." The snake commanded.
Harry promptly relaxed back down and began watching the snake. It was moving back and forth, at first he thought it was attempting to hypnotize him, but it was only taking his measure.
Finally the snake hissed, "What is in your mind, young one?"
Harry jerked back, rather startled. He had not expected the snake to be a psychiatrist.
"Nothing." Harry replied after thinking about the question for a bit. He wasn't sure how to answer the snake anyway and the last thing he wanted to do was get into a philosophical discussion with a snake…discussing philosophy with Snape was bad enough.
"I have been here for many seasonsssss. Yessss, I knowssss when there issss ssssssssomething wrong with sssssssomeone or thingsss." The snake said, wisdom shining in his eyes.
Harry flinched as he likened the glitter in the snake's eyes to that of Dumbledore. When the snake cocked its head and blinked at him he stuttered, "Nothing's wrong. I just had an awful thought, ok?" Harry couldn't help but be wary of the snake.
"What issss the thought?" Reddic hissed, "Silly boy."
SSS
It seemed as if the whole world shut down when they heard the news of Harry Potter's death. The Dursleys were throwing a party, sharing brandy and other sugary substances with their neighbors as they celebrated what they called 'Good Riddance Day'. The neighbors, not having the slightest clue what the Dursleys were celebrating, enjoyed the buffet and excellent brandy being provided free of charge.
Others were acting just as oddly; like Seamus, who was curled up in a ball and mourning the idea that his little pet would never be, and Ron, who was jumping around on his badly twisted foot while trying to wave his broken arm. And these were some of the people who called Harry Potter a freak?
Hermione seemed to be the only one in Gryffindor tower not cheering. She was feeling more than just a little unsettled since Dean had just got up and left the dormitory. He had not been seen since and she was ready to go join him in the Slytherin dorms.
Hermione tried to wipe some of the tears from her eyes as she walked the halls. She hadn't noticed before that there were several pictures of Harry hanging at Hogwarts. It confused her that they were there because she was normally observant of her surroundings and yet she had never seen any of them before…had they been there before? She honestly did not know.
She stopped and began studying the pictures. "How could I have missed these?" She mumbled to herself as she smiled tearily at Harry's first year picture.
He had been too skinny, but the robes covered it well. Her mind recalled seeing him topless that year- Harry had been little more than a skeleton with its skin still attached. Harry had been the smallest one in their year, indeed, he had been the smallest in the school up until his fourth year…
Harry's second year picture showed the Golden Trio looking very happy. Harry had his arms around both Hermione and Ron and they were all smiling broadly as they swayed back and forth singing an old muggle song. Ron, in the picture, would occasionally look over at Hermione then go back to singing.
Anther second year picture drew her attention. Harry and the Quidditch team were celebrating winning the house cup. Harry was sitting on Oliver's shoulders and someone had stuffed a snitch in his mouth. Looking closely, Hermione saw a hint of sadness in Harry's eyes. The picture had been taken after he and Ron had rescued Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets. That day had changed Harry, he was more mature. Hermione recalled Harry gave that snitch to Ginny after the picture had been taken.
The third year picture had Harry and her posing beside Gryffindor. It had been just as she and Ron were getting ready to go to Hogsmeade and Harry had been told he could not go since he did not have a permission slip. He still went because Gred and Forge had helped him sneak out… Ron had taken this particular picture.
The fourth year picture was a little lonely. That year, Hermione had been experimenting with the opposite sex and had eventually settled with Ron. Harry was at the side of the picture, obviously trying to leave since he was the third wheel…
That had also been the year of the Tri-Wizard tournament. Harry's entire attitude had changed by the time they took his official school photo as the Tournament winner. The days following the return of Voldemort had been pure hell for Harry. He had barely eaten or slept. In the picture Harry had black rings under his eyes and his smile had dimmed to a shadow of its former self.
The fifth year picture was worse than the Tri-Wizard one. Harry's mouth was barely twisted into the suggestion of a smile. It was actually a picture of all the Quidditch teams of Hogwarts. The seekers were in front and Harry refused to smile because the photographer had placed him next to Draco. Harry almost looked lost in the sea of smiling faces. He was the shortest one there, even being towered over by Draco, who was still considered slightly small at the time.
Hermione couldn't suppress her smile when she noticed that Draco would shift his eyes down to Harry and a soft smile would flit across his face before he restored his smirk. Harry had been totally oblivious, not even looking at the camera, as he shifted from foot to foot, face sullen and temper short..
The end of year picture had been taken after the fiasco at the Ministry of Magic. Sirius was gone and Harry was overwhelmed with grief. It was probably the worst picture of Harry that Hermione had ever seen. His green eyes were dull, face blotchy and bruised from too much grief.
The last picture was the scariest of all though. Hermione had taken this picture herself. It was the day before the spell that Hermione had been tricked into casting on him. He was sitting on a grassy field, looking at nothing in particular. Sometimes his eyes would shift back and forth as he identified different sounds in the grass. Or, maybe, he was hearing things that no one else could? Hermione wasn't too sure that the 'or' wasn't more correct since she noticed that Harry was constantly checking behind his back, fear and confusion clear in his face.
Hermione took in a sharp breath before brushing away the angry tears. She was beginning to feel overwhelmed with the feeling of stupidity. She had missed all these changes in her friend but there had been a Slytherin who had noticed and immortalized those changes.
SSS
Somewhere deep in the dungeons this same Slytherin had just finished a letter. He swiped the hair away from his face before attaching the letter to his favorite owl's leg, then sighed inwardly. He did not like keeping secrets- particularly the secret that Harry was alive. There really were several people who cared for him and they needed to know that he was alive and well.
Just this morning, the Great Hall had been treated to the sight of an angry werewolf. Draco still shivered when he recalled the look in Professor Lupin's eyes. Dumbledore had come off badly at the encounter.
"Albus Dumbledore!" The angry werewolf had practically howled. Lupin's eyes had glowed with a passion which Dumbledore had rightly interpreted as his death sentence. The grey haired man had stomped up to the head table, not seeming to care if he caused a scene. "You son of a bitch!" had been snarled through clenched teeth.
"Now, now, Remus. Not in front of the children. Do have a seat and join us for breakfast." Dumbledore was doing his best to placate the wolf before he went feral.
"Like Hell I'm having a seat! You promised! You promised to protect him and now you not only let him die, you let that murdering trash kill him." Lupin swung his arm around and pointed to where Ron and Seamus were sitting at the table staring at him avidly.
He took a deep breath then continued on wrathfully, "I wish you a spot in the seventh level of hell where you can roast for eternity. Or, failing that, maybe I should torch you myself. I want so badly to kill you right here in front of everyone." By then Lupin had managed to get right up in Dumbledore's face.
It actually looked funny due to the circumstances: Dumbledore's beard was almost in Lupin's mouth! Only problem with that was, the headmaster was in danger of losing it just before he had his throat ripped out- by the 'man' part of the wolf!
Dumbledore inched back gently and prayed that Lupin wouldn't come over the table at him. "I think it would be wise for you to leave. Neither me nor any of my students in this school need to witness your abuse." Dumbledore tried to be firm but his voice wasn't quite steady. He definitely wasn't his usual sparkling self at the moment. Scared shitless would actually be a good descriptive term…
"Oh, I will leave," Lupin snarled, "when I'm damn good and ready, thank you very much." His golden eyes glittered dangerously as he looked the old wizard up and down contemptuously before spitting on Dumbledore's breakfast. With that insult, he whirled around, shabby robes flaring like Snape's, and left with an air of confidence.
Draco shook his head. Part of the reason he had written to Harry had been so that he would know about Lupin and let him know that there might be people who needed to know about Harry's continued existence. It was with a heavy heart that he watched the owl fly away.
SSS
In Gringott's bank, a goblin's eyes widened considerably as he took in the article in the Daily Prophet. It was impossible- Harry Potter could not possibly be dead. His hands shook as he went to a file cabinet and removed the decree that was written only a week ago. He watched as the official Gringott's seal faded off the parchment. It was official- Harry Potter no longer existed. Whoever the heir to the Potter fortune was, he was certainly in for a pleasant surprise.
Harry Potter might have cleared out the Potter vaults when he visited but he hadn't asked about the possibility of any other vaults which he was in line to inherit once he reached his majority. The goblins did not want the boy to withdraw all his money from Gringotts so they had omitted mentioning that he was the heir to the combined vaults of Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin as their last remaining heir. That set of vaults housed not only money, but also books, art objects, jewelry, and personal effects dear to the two founders.
Yes, indeed, whoever inherited the Potter boy's fortune was going to be very rich. Not only did he inherit the Gryffindor/Slytherin vaults, he was going to pick up quite a nice chunk of money from the Weasley boys joke shops. The person in question could conceivably be wealthier than the Queen herself.
SSS
After Harry and Reddic talked the first time, Harry found himself returning to the rock clearing almost every waking moment. He was fascinated with the knowledge the snake found suitable to share with him. Today was the fourth day they had spent together and with Reddic's permission, he would take him back to the manor tonight and would begin learning the theory behind the magic Reddic spoke of.
Harry opened the door to Riddle Springs Home and stepped over the threshold. He felt the wards of the manor flow around him and his new familiar before letting him proceed. As he walked through the deserted hallway he thought the house sounded eerily quiet.
He automatically looked out over the grounds as he passed a large vaulted window and sighed contentedly as the last of the sunset dipped below the skyline. Then the silence of the house had him twitching as it grated against his nerves…there was something really off here.
He decided to worry about the staff being gone later. Right now he had a snake that he wanted to sneak upstairs and perform evil spells on. So, snake in hand, he shook his head at the inane stupidity of that thought and after suppressing a giggle he began moving further into the house.
The snake was becoming used to Harry's idiosyncrasies and didn't even bother to hiss a question. The large white snake simply relaxed and let Harry drag him around. It never occurred to the snake the wizard holding him would treat him badly. The boy did not feel evil, and Reddic had been around long enough to know exactly what evil felt like.
Harry walked through the manor searching for everyone before finally giving up and heading for his door. It was not the door to his bedroom, but the door to the attic. He had searched the whole house before settling on the attic as a workshop. He had cleaned the room and set up everything just as Reddic told him to.
Harry had placed six mirrors on a decreasing angle, so that each mirror would reflect the light off itself to the next mirror. He set the snake down on the table in front of the mirrors before reaching into one of his inner pockets and pulling out several vials of potions and lining them up on a stool he had left in the room to use as a small table.
Reddic hissed softly and Harry looked back over to him. "You need to be further away from the mirrors don't you?" he asked.
Reddic nodded his head determinedly.
"How did I get into this mess?" Harry said out loud to the snake in wonder. The snake didn't answer him so he continued on with setting up their experiment. He didn't have to admit to the snake that he was scared.
"Focus!" was hissed at him and Harry found himself turning around to look into the mirror that was mounted on the wall. He breathed deeply, trying to do as Reddic commanded. He was in too deep to stop now even if he wanted to. He had to learn this magic. It did not help that he was scared that he would hurt his new mentor.
Harry paused in mid-thought. His stomach surged and then calmed. He needed only be concerned with how to explain to this snake the thoughts that might be possible in his mind; the details that he has planned for years; and, the acquisition of knowledge that might help him become stronger. It worked with cructicus curse, so why not this? He chuckled to himself inwardly, he was foolish to think such things- but the possibilities!
He reckoned he might as well start so he began, "I have an idea."
The words were restating the obvious and Reddic would have rolled his eyes if he could have. As a conversational starter it was a no brainer.
Harry jumped when the snake hissed at him. He returned Reddic's glare for a few seconds before starting again. "Are you familiar with the concept that if I injected myself with some of your poison and then gave myself time to recover from it before repeating the process indefinitely, that eventually I should become immune to your poison?"
The snake nodded its head.
"Well, if that is true, I was wondering if I could do the same thing with a particular spell." He gnawed at his lower lip in frustration. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Harry added in frustration. "But, I need to do a trial or something before I try it on myself."
The snake thought about it for a few minutes then plopped himself, or more properly for the snake-minded, he slithered over to Harry and wound himself up his arm. "Bring me the experiment."
So here Harry stood, looking at a mirror, while a snake that didn't have the slightest clue that his life might be in danger glared at him to get a move on. He pivoted around and glared right back at the snake. "You might die, you know." He said it in a low voice, hoping the snake would change his mind.
Once more he was greeted with silence. The snake did not move except to hiss that he was waiting. With no small amount of trepidation, Harry sighed and pointed his wand at the mirror at the end of the room. He calculated the angle and moved out of the way to make sure he was not hit. The words dripped out of his mouth like acid. "AVEDA KEDAVARA."
SSS
Harry proceeded to walk down the hall, a slice of bread in his mouth. He was at home at the manor enough that he was comfortable ignoring the Death Eater he affectionately referred to as the green motherly figure, who in turn referred to him as the pretentious baby. He didn't bother to stay in the dining room for breakfast.
There was too much to do so he checked his mail on the way back up to his attic. He smiled at the sight of the letter from Draco tucked into the folds of the Daily Prophet.
Harry smiled fondly at the letter before letting a frown crease his brow. Draco had written letters for the last three days. Then his smile faded completely when he read the increasingly strong demand for Harry to tell some of the others that he was alive and well.
Draco basically said that if Harry did not tell his friends soon that he was alive and well, that Draco would go to Voldemort and tell him what Harry was doing. Up to that point Harry had been fobbing Draco off, telling him not to bring up such matters with people. Harry knew quite well that once they found out that he wasn't dead he would be severely pounded by Hermione.
After she was finished with him, he stood a good chance of being hugged to death by Lupin. That man often forgot to be a calm, cool werewolf when it came to his pack and he considered Harry as his pup. Lupin had been the only man to willingly listen to him and try to understand what Harry had been going through.
Harry sighed as he thought about Draco's demand. He did feel a bit ashamed that he hadn't told anyone he was still alive. Never-the-less the deception had been necessary.
Harry returned to his attic workroom that he left only for food and bathroom breaks. The experiment had just begun and it would be inappropriate to let the data be fooled around with when he was not observing it.
Harry opened the door to find Reddic eating a small rodent that he had found scurrying around the attic floor.
"I'm glad to see you are eating." Harry said to the grumpy reptile.
The only response was a glare.
"You could talk to me." He whispered, but the snake only gave the impression of rolling his eyes so Harry went over to the desk and began sorting his data and cleaning up the spilled ink. After he cleared the desk and put everything in nice neat stacks, he opened the Daily Prophet and began reading.
For the most part the Prophet was the same as usual. There were the standard stories about corruption of the government, the ineptitude of Fudge and subsequent calling for his resignation, and finally on page five they had used a few sad letters about Harry as filler for the paper. He grinned to see that one particular letter carried over to page eight so he flipped there and was mildly surprised to see the picture of him and the rest of the Quidditch teams from last year.
The picture brought a smile to Harry's face as he remembered bits of how horrible that day had been. After a bit of consideration, he set the paper aside, meaning to cut the article out later- mainly because it was a picture of Draco.
He stalled a bit more and picked up Draco's letter again. Once more, Draco had asked him to write to the people whom he knew cared about him. Draco was adamant that these people needed to know that Harry was still alive.
After the standard chastisement, Draco wrote of the happenings at school. He spoke of Hermione's grief; Finnegan's cockiness (although Draco pointed out that Seamus did have dark circles underneath his eyes which confirmed the spell Harry placed on him was working). .
Harry was just about to go back to work when the vision of him lying sick and dying on his bed reoccurred. Only this time Draco was standing there and said, "You stubborn bastard, you brought this on yourself." Before turning and walking out of the room.
He woke up to Reddic hissing frantically in his face. "You did not say you were a seer! What was the vision?" The snake was practically hysterical with his hissing and writhing about. After he got the snake calmed down. he explained his visions to him.
Reddic did not stop fussing until Harry pulled out a piece of parchment and began composing a response to Draco's letter. He said he agreed with the argument that others needed to be told but felt the time was not quite right yet. However, if Draco wanted to, he could start making broad hints to certain people concerning events about to happen.
He also spoke of lover's things… like how he wished Draco could be there with him to walk in the leaves that had fallen to the cold of November. He said it was beautiful regardless but it could have been so much more…
He finished the letter and signed his new name before wandlessly shrinking a peacock feather (from one of Voldie's pet birds) and wrapping it up in the letter to Draco. He remembered Draco saying that he had a collection of peacock feathers at home that he was going to do something with one of these days…
He whistled for Hedwig, who came almost immediately. She sat there happily and let him fuss over her for several minutes after he tied the letter to her leg. He gave her the directions and an owl treat and just before she left, Harry spelled her to look like a common barn owl.
Once Hedwig was gone, Harry turned back to Reddic and asked, "How are you feeling, my friend?"
The snake hummed softly, "Just fine. Nothing different." He finally admitted.
Harry shook his head at the temperamental reptile as he wrote down the results. "What had you so cross with me earlier then?" He muttered as he checked the snake's body with magic, finding nothing unusual. He seemed really pleased as he announced, "Well, your part of the experiment is done. Now it is my turn. Would you like to stay and watch over me, or do you feel like going back out to the circle of rocks?"
"How about we go outside for a few hours and then I will come back up here and help you with your work?" Reddic inquired.
Harry thought the idea sounded reasonable so he nodded his head yes. But the lure of the mirrors called before he could pick up Reddic and he found himself glued in front of them. He had technically only done all six of the mirrors for the snake. For himself, he would need to bring the mirror down to one, then eventually none.
"You are not ready." The snake said in a furious hiss. He knew what Harry's plan was.
Refusing to acknowledge the snake, Harry placed himself in front of the mirrors so that he could cast the spell in the last mirror, where it would jump from mirror to mirror, before finally hitting him. With all six mirrors in place he would be receiving a blast of approximately sixteen percent of the original spell. Once he was able to handle sixteen percent he would move up to twenty percent and so forth until he was immune to the curse completely.
He sighed. His theory had worked on the snake although it had barely survived the first blast at sixteen percent. It had managed better after repeated exposure but Harry refused to test him at the twenty percent. Reddic had been knocked out for five hours the first time and Harry had been frantic as he checked the snake to make sure it was still alive and unharmed. It had taken some twenty exposures to get him down to a reaction time of only a few seconds.
He composed himself and then raised his wand. His mirror reflections stared impassively back at him, wands raised and waiting. Then before Reddic could sink his teeth into Harry in a bid to stop him, Harry had screamed "AVADA KEDAVARA."
Harry found it strange that he could remember something so trivial as Bellatrix LeStrange telling him that to use one of the unforgiveables properly, he needed to wish harm on the other person. He needed to indulge the thought that he was an evil wizard. Actually, by Wizarding standards, he was considered a bad wizard.
He watched in slow motion as the spell shimmered like green flame from mirror to mirror, dimming slightly each time it reflected, until it finally hit him and engulfed him in the glow. The spell, weak as it was, threw him backwards. Harry lost his balance, and as his head connected with the door, he passed out.
SSS
Harry woke up some two hours later. He laid there for several minutes trying to get his sluggish body to move, before finally managing to stand up and make his way to a chair before collapsing into it.
The snake looked at him balefully.
"I'm surprised that I am alive." Harry finally rasped out.
Reddic nodded his understanding. That first time the spell hit had been truly vile.
Harry struggled to breathe for a few minutes after forcing himself to speak. His throat rattled harshly, then it calmed before becoming constricted. By the time that passed he was only feeling slightly sick to his stomach, but he would be ok.
After a long unscheduled nap, Harry recorded the results of the experiment. The results had been the same as Reddic's; they had suffered the same symptoms, but Harry felt he would be fine in awhile and was eager to have another go soon.
Reddic convinced him to go outside for a few hours then try again. That first curse was really hard on the system.
Harry pandered to the snake then headed back indoors. Back upstairs he planted himself firmly in front of the mirrors and cast the spell again. He watched again as the spell hit him. He felt the pain as if the life would just be ripped out of him, and then he felt himself snap out of the effects. Feeling proud that he was very much alive and even standing on his feet, Harry was exuberant. He waited another hour and proceeded to do the experiment again.
Each time he did it, it became easier and easier for him to withstand the backlash. By the time he left his lab for food and a break, he had removed three of the mirrors. Harry decided to give himself an hour of recoupment time before trying the mirror at thirty-three percent.
He even put all the mirrors up periodically to check how his progress was going. He found that by the time he could tolerate the mirror he was working on, pain caused by previous mirrors subsided to nothing.
Two days later, he was on the last mirror. He stared at it, excited and scared at the same time. Technically he would be receiving a fifty percent blast of his own curse; if he miscalculated, this would be the one to kill him.
Then he thought, "Maybe I am only delaying the spell and it won't kill me. Surely, I could have died by now!" Still the nagging thought that he could die had him shifting from leg to leg while he worked on his internal debate. "No! I have to do this. This is the only way that Voldemort will have nothing over me. I don't want to be controlled because of my fear. I am not weak. I have to do this."
He couldn't help but see himself in the mirror. He looked pale and haunted. It was like watching a specter, someone else entirely, raise their wand and curse him. The only difference he could see was the specter's eyes seemed to be black instead of green…totally black- as in pupil and iris were one solid color.
SSS
Downstairs, Voldemort looked up from his perusal of the Daily Prophet. He had not been graced by Harry Potter's presence for some time. He got up from the breakfast table and wandered out into the hallway. He intended to check on the brat.
He blinked curiously at Harry's owl sitting calmly in front of the door that led to the attic. A letter was firmly attached to her leg and she looked just slightly irritated that she had not been relieved of the missive. A large hole pecked in the door gave testament to the fact that she had been there awhile.
Voldemort realized that Harry had not eaten with the rest of the house for at least two days. His curiosity over what the child was up sharpened considerably. After asking the owl to excuse him, he tried the door handle and found it warded. It came to mind that he had specifically stated that Harry was not to lock doors at any time while he was in residence.
Eventually he tried every spell he could think of and still couldn't unlock the door. He finally looked at it in disgust and was getting ready to blast the whole thing off the wall when he jumped back in horror at the sound of screaming.
"AAAAHHHHHHH" carried quite nicely down the stairs and through the door. It was enough to make one's heart clench in fear. Pain was dripping from it. Voldemort regained his composure and began pounding on the door and demanding that it be opened at the top of his voice.
He was reminded to himself when doors began opening up and down the hallway. He might not have got the attention of the miscreant in the attic but all the other Death Eaters in residence opened their doors to find out what all the racket was about. Most of them stayed in their doorways, dumbstruck at the sight of Voldemort blasting spells so difficult at the door that they wondered if Merlin could have managed them.
The door would not budge, and the screaming did not stop. Lucius, who had just arrived by floo, ran over to Voldemort. He would recognize that scream anywhere. Between him jerking at the door knob, Voldemort screaming obscure spells in a fit of rage, and the owl screeching in terror at her master's obvious pain- the bloody hallway was soon a complete disaster.
The door refused to budge, even under the reductor curse. However, the screaming did die down. Voldemort stopped acting like a PMSing Molly Weasley, Lucius finally remembered that he was a Malfoy and was supposed to comport himself with dignity, and all the other Death Eaters decided that they probably should go back in their rooms and put up silencing charms before letting loose their mirth over the situation.
In the ensuing silence, Voldemort watched the door swing eerily open. He looked at Lucius and nodded before climbing up the stairs to see a snake, a desk full of papers, mirrors all around the room, and one Harry Potter lying on the floor in the fetal position, still moaning slightly as he clutched his wand limply in a shaking hand.
Voldemort rounded on the snake. "WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE?" he hissed at the snake
Reddic cheerfully hissed, "How would I know? I'm only a snake."
Voldemort glared at him before following Lucius' example and kneeling beside the young boy. He had just dropped down and started to put his finger along Harry's throat to check for a pulse when he reconsidered. He had cast enough AKs to know what the green residue swirling around Harry's stomach meant. He was sure he was mistaken though when a moment later Harry gasped and tried to sit up.
"What?" His voice was raspy and he put a hand to his head to try easing the dizziness. "How could I survive?" He questioned in a whisper. The pain wracking his body was unbearable. Once more he felt like his soul had been ripped from his body. He even swore he could hear someone yelling, "NO!" Even then he couldn't be sure because he hurt so badly.
Disregarding Voldemort and Malfoy, Harry looked around and saw that the last mirror he used had been cracked. He realized he had been standing too close to it and that was why it cracked under pressure. He finally tried to stand up but he was too dizzy to do so.
He then felt someone lift him up and begin carrying him. Harry tried to protest but his body was useless at the moment. Moments later he felt something soft under his body and knew it was his bed. He smiled softly at his tried to murmur a thank you to his rescuer before drifting off to sleep. Hedwig and Reddic followed the men as they quit the attic and carried Harry to his room. The two were soon cuddled down next to their master and resting beside him until he was ready to wake up.
Voldemort just looked down at Harry. "What was that about?" He murmured. He had to admit that the kid was interesting. Lucius, also staring at Harry in wonder, didn't have an answer.
Lucius shook his head at the dichotomy that seemed to be Harry Potter. One minute he was flowing over to ask about if he could borrow a book for research and next thing he knew Potter, no wait- Harry, was screaming like a mad man behind a locked door.
He sighed, "Strange child. And, yet, I can understand what Draco sees in you."
They left him sleeping once they had checked him over with several medi-spells; satisfied that the only thing wrong was a touch of malnutrition, dehydration, and exhaustion. There would be no answers today. The only thing they could do was check on him periodically and let him sleep.
SSS
Draco didn't want to admit that he was worried when he received no reply from the last letter he had sent Harry. He tried to stay calm; he even carried the peacock feather with him everywhere, trying to draw comfort from it. He didn't even mind that he was receiving suspicious glances from Hermione. He had not told anyone yet who the letters that he was receiving regularly were from.
Pansy hadn't dared question him about why he was not sad that Harry was gone. Slytherin pride demanded that she take her cue from him and he hadn't said a word about what happened out there on that island where everything had gone so horribly wrong. Hermione, standing beside her sometimes, seemed to want to scream and rant at him but couldn't work up the proper rage when all she ever got was him shrugging his shoulders and walking away from her.
He sighed. Maybe it was time to start dropping hints like Harry had said he could. These people were going to need to know sooner or later and he was having a wretched time of keeping the news to himself.
Oh well, dinner was almost over. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the familiar barn owl, which he knew, was Hedwig in disguise, to swoop down and give him a letter. But, once again he was disappointed to see that she did not come.
Draco gave a sigh. He had to believe that everything was still fine. He had hoped that Hedwig would come at breakfast… First period past, then second. He walked out of DADA class and began the trek to where Arithimancy was next. He was distracted when he heard voices coming from behind a tapestry that hid the entrance to a deserted broom closet.
Pansy and Blaise, who were walking with him, heard the voices also. It did not take Pansy long to whisper, "That is Hermione and I think the weasel is there also." The color bled from all three faces.
Draco moved closer to the tapestry to hear.
"I don't want to be with you anymore, Ron." Hermione's voice was firm as it drifted through the doorway
"But why?" Ron's voice was pleading.
"YOU DIDN'T CARE THAT HARRY DIED. YOU REJOICED!" Hermione was screaming. "YOU ARE SICK, RON!" She stopped to catch her breath which was coming in ragged pants. She was trying to calm herself before she lost control.
"So what? He deserved it. Who cares about the little fag anyway?" Ron had the audacity to snarl.
"I care, Ron." She said in a small voice. "I remember."
The three eavesdroppers could hear Ron slamming something up against the wall.
Draco could bet his last bottle of shampoo that it was Hermione up against the wall and he grabbed Pansy to make sure she did not barge in on the fighting couple before they finished the argument. That was going to be the only way that Hermione's mind would be at peace.
"Why are you acting like you care? You're the one who did it!" Ron added maliciously.
"Why?" Her voice sounded like it was pleading.
"Because I don't like him. Little perfect Potter, always running around with his sidekick, Weasley. I don't want that, I want to be known for myself, not Potter's shadow. So I brought it up to Dumbledore." Ron was in full rant by then, "Dumbledore is the one who told me that Potter was going to be in the train in the first place. He made it sound like it was my duty to befriend him. Well, Dumbledore agreed with me and we constructed this little plan: I got Seamus involved in it too. He's always lusted after Potter, but Potter wouldn't give him the time of day."
Draco heard Hermione hiss and Ron laugh before continuing with his explanation. "So we worked together. Eventually we got to the point where we had to suck you into it because you were the only student strong enough," and here he laughed delightedly, "And dumb enough to perform the spell right. It worked like a charm- I got rid of Mr. Perfect Potter and Seamus got a perfect little slave."
Draco heard Hermione start to struggle.
"And then someone decided to get in our way and help Potter come back. I'm starting to believe that that someone was you." Ron spat.
Draco, having heard enough of Ron's plan, stepped through the tapestry. "Why is it always the bad guys who have to tell the good guys the entire plan in boring detail before they try killing them?" The Malfoy drawl was unmistakable.
Ron jerked as he saw the tip of Draco's wand an inch from his temple.
"Let her go!" Draco issued the calm warning through clenched teeth.
Ron let the Hermione fall to the floor and lay there as she coughed and tried to get air into her lungs. The huge bruise that was forming already in the shape of a handprint around her throat made Draco pause and wait until she could breathe before speaking.
"Hermione, go with Blaise. Pansy, go up to Gryffindor and have Dean get her stuff. She will be sleeping over in your room from now on."
Hermione looked gratefully at him while Pansy and Blaise nodded their heads. "And you…" Draco jabbed his wand at the weasel and mumbled a spell that lifted him up and stuck him against the wall, "You might want to think about what you have done." He lowered his wand and motioned to Hermione to exit before taking his own careful leave of the room. He smiled a true happy smile while conjuring a few tarantulas that had Ron screaming in terror just before he put up the silencing charm.
Draco whistled as he walked down the hallway to class. He was going to be late but knew Vector would forgive him once he explained that he had been rescuing a damsel in distress. Really, that old coot was a closet romantic.
Hermione and Blaise were waiting for him. "You were brilliant!" Hermione squealed as she gave him a hug. Then she smile slipped. "you would have been good for him." She whispered as tears dripped from her lashes and made little trails down her cheeks.
He nodded solemnly as they made their way to class. Once Vector heard Draco's explanation he excused everyone and let them leave. The three made their way down to the Slytherin Common room where Pansy was already waiting for them.
Draco was about to question how she managed to collect all Hermione's stuff so fast but thought better of it. The beautiful smiles that the two of them were sharing made him depressed and happy at the same time.
SSS
Harry woke up from what felt like days worth of sleeping. He yawned before stumbling out of bed and headed for his in-suite to take a bath. After soaking in the hot water and coming out looking like a lobster, he decided to check his appearance out in the mirror. The green tinge was starting to fade from his stomach.
He twisted about in front of the mirror for a few more seconds as he considered his theory. His calculations had been correct. He could survive a fifty percent of the AK now; only the other fifty percent to work on. He began giggling madly for a few seconds as he considered the idea that it would be the other fifty percent that killed him.
For now he was going to have to work with the one mirror. He was going to need to get the pain levels down and he would probably have to do it soon since his laboratory had been discovered…even if they could not translate his notes which he had written in one of the old languages.
He noticed the animals on his bed as he was dressing. Both of them were fast asleep. He rolled his eyes at the sight of the owl sleeping in what looked like a nest shaped from a coiled up snake.
Seconds later he tiptoed out of the room and made his way back upstairs to the attic. After making a thorough check of his stuff to make sure it was all there, he faced the mirror again and said the spell. His recovery rate was much better than the first time, as it had been on all the previous trials, and he managed to get four more tests in; the last time having little consequence at all except a bit of an itch after the spell him.
Later he would have to figure out why the spell itched instead of hurt when one became immune to it. But, as of right now, he was happy with his progress. In the middle of his euphoria he noticed the letter from Draco that he had overlooked completely before now. His happiness soon turned to a deep blush as he considered what sort of an idiot would miss a letter from their object de amour?
He opened the letter with shaking hands. He always felt like this before opening a letter though, he was scared that Draco was going to dump him for someone better… he noticed that it was updated. It seems that Draco put a spell on the letter that came in handy when you forgot to write something in the letter you had already sent off.
He relaxed slightly as he read. Draco's quick wit and quirks always made him smile. But, near the end of the letter he was surprised to read that Hermione had moved into the Slytherin dorms.
He muttered, "I bet it was because Ron went too far." Anger boiled at the thought that Ron would hurt their best friend- a friend that Ron purported to love as a soul mate. "Well now, I am going to have to do something about this, aren't I?" He arched an eyebrow as he enquired of the letter.
The perfect revenge would not take more than a few minutes. He opened his door and after checking to see that there were no crazy death eaters lurking in the hall to cause problems, He walked towards the library.
He was always filled with a deep sense of pleasure when he entered the musty old library. It was easy enough to find the curse section. He was soon flipping through the pages of a particularly nasty book with an angelic smile on his face. What to do? What to do? So much fun and so little time- 'ok! Let's focus here.' He thought. Minutes later he was casting a curse on an innocent looking little piece of ivory colored parchment.
"Yes!" He hissed in parseltongue as he pumped his fist in the air. Just so things wouldn't get too horribly out of hand, he took another piece of vellum and wrote a quick note to Draco. He explained the curse to him, how it was triggered, and then settled down to give him a discreet account of his research from the last few days.
He smirked as he felt the pride over the accomplishment of his plans bubble in his stomach. He sat there organizing his next plans of action before placing a concealing charm over Ron's letter and placing it in his pocket for delivery later.
Then he set Draco's letter in front of him, added a few more thoughts and ideas, then smiled down at it as he placed a small black heart at the bottom of the page next to his name. His mouth quirked at the femalish (well duh! What do you expect from a female…Hell yeah, he is girly.) thing he had just done. He left it there never-the-less.
Satisfied smirk firmly in place, he returned to his room. And the first thing he noticed was the glare he got from his two loving and loyal pets. "What?" he asked, smirk still firmly attached. "I was just down the hall in the library writing a letter to Draco."
Reddic huffed. "I know an evillll ssssmirk when this one ssssseess onesss."
Harry laughed. "I'm not smirking evilly!" I'm a good little wizard just like my momma wanted me to be." He whistled as he walked over to his desk and quickly slid the two letters into separate envelopes. One had green wax on it, the other red.
He walked over to the bed and sat down. "Are you ready for a new flight, Girl?" He said as he showed her the first letter. "This one is for Ronikins! I want you to give it to him tomorrow morning at breakfast and try to make sure he opens it, Please?" He tied that to her leg. "This one is for Draco." He showed her the thick envelope full of expensive parchment that was covered in finely penned swirling letters." I need you to give this one to him tonight, please, and make sure he opens it.:
The happy owl nodded her understanding and grabbed Draco's letter in her beak. Harry smiled at her enthusiasm as he opened the window for her and waved good bye to the rapidly disappearing pet.
He walked over to his bed, ready to fall asleep while walking, not understanding why he would be so tired when his eyes locked on the big fat white snake watching him expectantly. He was just about to ask if Reddic needed to go out when there was a knock on his door.
He walked over to it and felt his heart drop when he saw Lucius Malfoy standing in the door way. There was a look of dread on Malfoy's face as he informed Harry, "Voldemort requests your presence immediately." He said stonily.
Harry nodded curtly and waited for Lucius to let him out of the room. Riddick followed him before he could close the door.
--- whoohoo, I'm updating wow! Please R&R love ya guys...and i hope you enjoyed it!