Author notes:
I have vacation! Yay!
With plently of spare time I got a whole chapter finished already so I thought I´d give it to you to celebrate free time! No school! Yay!
13. In the dawn of an eclipse…
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It wasn't until Harry was back in his room, clutching his chess-set, that he remembered Ron.
He was about to call for Black when the door opened and a unrecognisable Ron stepped in.
He was covered in dust, his hair, face and clothes were now a dull grey-brown colour and with every movement he spread a cloud of dust that made Harry's nose and throat itch uncomfortable.
"You're here!" Ron accused loudly, stepping fully inside, leaving brown footsteps behind him.
Harry didn't get a chance to say anything as Ron rattled on, "you were taking so long I went to look for you, Ginny had told me where that room was but I couldn't find the bloody door. And than I suddenly fell through the floor and there was no way to get back up!" Ron raised his arms in a-can-you-believe-that-motion and let them fall to his sides with a plof, creating a thick dust-cloud that for a moment completely hid Ron from sight.
Ron's voice was starting to sound slightly hysterical, "and I crawled and crawled and crawled and there were lots of spiders and other creepy insects and and," he paused to took a deep breath, "I'm gonna take a shower now, a long one."
Harry shook his head, Black sure was a maliciously bastard; why couldn't he have created a dust and spider-free tunnel?
"Hey," Harry called to Ron's back, "you still wanna play chess?"
"Definitely, I need the ego-boost."
After taking a long shower and soundly beating Harry 4 times and well on his well to a fifth time, Ron was starting to forget the whole traumatic experience and was grinning like a moron.
"Say," he suddenly asked Harry while his knight killed off one of Harry's pawn in a particular brutal way, "what was taking you so long anyway, to get your chess-set."
"I was talking to a snake," Harry said absentminded, brow furrowed in concentration as he studied the board.
"A snake?" Ron repeated incredulously, "an actual snake? Oh great, now I'm gonna have nightmares about snakes strangling me in my sleep, I just know it."
"You're scared of snakes?"
"No!" Ron said indignantly, "but I can't say I like them either, I'm surprised you talked to one, I mean after the basilisk and the snake that attacked dad… Are you sure it is safe? Maybe it's a spy from You-Kn-"
"Call him Voldemort," Harry interrupted him, finally making his move.
Ron grinned for a moment, "that wasn't a very smart move," ordering his bishop forwards, he said triumphantly, "check!"
Harry groaned silently, staring at the pieces in despair, he could see no way out.
>Move your pawn.>
Harry startled so badly at the sudden hiss he jerked his knee upwards, nearly knocking over the entire board and rocking the white queen off her feet, causing her to roll off the board, all the way loudly cursing and screaming.
Clutching his heart Harry glared at Black, >DON'T DO THAT!> He shouted, or at least hissed as hard as possible, which wasn't very hard all things considered. >Jeez! You nearly ssscared me to death!>
>Bah,> the snake snapped, moving upwards over Harry's arm, >it isss not my fault humans are that weak>
"Merlin, Harry! When you said snake I thought it would be a small one, that thing is huge!"
Harry blinked surprised and than quickly hid a small smile, actually, Black was at the moment much smaller than before, apparently he could also change his size.
Black had now climbed up to Harry's head and was now coiling itself around the boy's neck, his tongue tickling Harry's ear.
"Are you sure that is safe?" Ron asked worriedly, "what if it suddenly decides to hurt you?"
"It's fine, Ron," Harry said, wondering if he should explain to his best mate that Black didn't need to be anywhere near him to hurt him, but decided against it. no need to freak out Ron any further.
"Why did you bring it here?"
"His name is Black, and he was a bit lonely."
Black tightened his hold on Harry, giving him a dismayed look.
"Yeah, well, I'd rather not have him stay in the bathroom," Ron said, shuddering a bit, "and that is not because I'm scared, I just don't like it."
>Tell that simpleton that if I wanted him dead I could think of far more creative ways to kill him than ssstrangling,> Black snapped.
"What did it say?"
"Uhm, that you don't have to worry as he won't hurt you," Harry quickly said, ignoring the dark look Black shot him.
Ron didn't look convinced but he picked up his queen and put her back on her spot, "it's your turn."
Naturally Harry lost again, but with the help from Black he did manage to make it rather difficult for Ron, and their next game he just sat there and translated Black's orders to the check-pieces.
"You are cheating, Harry!" Ron laughed after he lost for the very first time since he'd started at Hogwarts, "but I don't mind, really, finally a worthy opponent! Who would think snakes could play chess anyway?"
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Tendrils of light curled and twisted as snakes along his pale hands, the wind whispered of happenings far, far away as it caressed his skin in a mockery of love-making, he was getting closer… The strange dance of light, air and water sped up, the movements getting wilder, nearly out of control as he neared the climax. So close… Almost…
There was a sudden hiss and than the tendrils snapped and the magic shrivelled, died down like a marionette where the cords were suddenly cut. The wind fled, and with it the light as the room was plunged into darkness.
He gasped, eyes flying open in surprise and pain at the sudden cut off, he hadn't thought She'd come…
He desperately tried to see anything, he hadn't seen Her for so long…
But this wasn't the usual darkness, this wasn't just the absence of light, this was the real darkness, darker than dark, blacker than black. The suffocating dark blanket that covered you as child, when you were alone and frightened, the kind that held monsters, both true and imaginary.
He shuddered, he'd always hated the darkness, and She knew this, She used his weakness, used it against him! Had She really come to hate him this much?
He blindly groped for a candle but his hands were shaking too much, merging always tired him out and She had interrupted him at a vital point.
Clenching his fists he snarled, why couldn't She understand?
Orange eyes glowed in the darkness as She came closer and for a moment he felt tempted to give in, thankfully it passed quickly.
"Leave!" He rasped, finally finding his voice.
She let out another hiss, more of a growl this time.
And than suddenly the room was no longer dark, light had returned.
She was gone once again.
He quickly pushed away the small feeling of regret, it was better this way. He had to prepare for the eclipse, it was nearing and he had already lost too much time.
"What in Nimue's name are you doing, you fool!"
He glared at the old woman who had appeared in the doorway, "you stay out of this!" He snapped, standing up with difficulty. On reflex he reached for his medallion, remembering too late it was no longer there. Gryff! How could he be so stupid! He tried to hide the movement, but she'd always been far too skilled at reading him.
"Hah!" She exclaimed accusingly, "you miss her! Admit it!"
"Shut up, old hag! I'm not admitting anything to you! You are a traitor!"
"Me? Hah! You are the traitor here! And we all know it! Why do you think Lynn left you in the first place?"
He faltered for a moment, "I… She… She didn't…"
Her gaze softened, "Drust…"
"No! Leave it. You talked to the wizards, dark wizards! You betrayed everything we stand for, you betrayed us."
"If you truly believe that you never fully understood what we stand for in the first place," she stated softly, stepping closer. She had that look in her eyes, that look she normally saved for Aneiris… But he wouldn't give in, he wouldn't.
He abruptly turned his back on her.
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Harry awoke with a start, looking wildly around. Everything was silent, peaceful even, why had he woken up that abruptly? Calming his racing heartbeat he tried to shake of the feeling that something was wrong. Something was off.
It was silent, too silent. Where was Ron's snoring?
Harry sat up slowly, staring into the dark room trying to discern Ron's figure. Black loudly complained at being woken up so rudely. The snake was still attached to Harry's arm, he was starting to suspect Black was not so much desperate for a conversation as that he was starving for bodily contact.
He could hear Ron's breathing now, but it sounded uneven, panting, like Ron was walking the marathon instead of lying in his bed. Probably just a dream, Harry told himself, he didn't even know why he was making a big deal of this, nothing was wrong.
"Rhm, no… gn, I…" Ron started to mutter unintelligible, his breath hitching.
Maybe… Harry hesitantly came out of bed, going faster when Ron started to sound really distressed.
"No, no! Fail… tme … No!"
"Ron! Ron, you're having a nightmare!" Harry hissed, carefully shaken Ron, "Ron, wake up!"
"NO! HARRY! NO! NOOOO!" Ron sat up so suddenly he nearly knocked heads with Harry.
For a moment he looked around in panic, than he sagged on the bed.
"Stupid dream," he muttered, covering his face with an arm.
"Erm," Harry said hesitantly, "you, eh, wanna talk about it?" He felt a bit stupid for asking, especially because he wouldn't have wanted to 'talk about it' if the roles were reversed.
Ron stayed silent for a long time and Harry was starting to think he'd fallen asleep again when hestarted talking.
"It's a pretty stupid dream, you know, the kind that everybody has, I'm being chased by some kind of monster in this big maze. It's mostly the end that freaks me out. When the monster catches me everything turns dark and than I hear a voice saying:
Darkness is nearing, mortal
The dark king is gathering his forces
Time is running out
In the dawn of an eclipse
The gates of hell will open
And all life will be thrown into eternal night
Now all hope is upon you, mortal
Do not fail us
As even the gods cannot save you this time"
Ron finished in a hollow voice that gave Harry the creeps, for a moment it reminded him eerily of Trelawnley when she gave him one of her few true prophecies at the end of his third year.
"I know it's probably nothing, just a stupid dream. But it always goes exactly the same, so…"
"You've had this dream before?"
"Yeah, for a couple of days now, every night it's pretty much the same. It started after that day dad returned."
"After the first time meditating?"
"Yeah, say, you don't think that has anything to do with it, do you?" Ron suddenly asked, sitting up straighter.
"I don't know," Harry sighed, "maybe you should tell Hermione…"
"No way, it was just a dream," Ron quickly backtracked, "I was overreacting, I mean I was nearly starting to think it was some sort of actual prophecy!"
Ron quickly fell back to sleep after that, apparently reassured.
Harry wasn't though, he lay silently in bed, pondering the meaning of the words. Darkness isnearing…Well, that part was true alright, the whole all live will be thrown into eternal night sounded a bit exaggerated, but then again, who knew what Voldemort had up to his sleeve?
Just before he fell asleep he suddenly remembered the name Ron had shouted while sleeping, why would he call for Harry in his nightmare…?