Disclaimer: You know, I wish that I had JK's book, I wish that I had JK's book. Where can I find a book like that…
Thank you to my faithful reviewers.
Previously in Shade: But no matter, Celia was off their minds. The girl clicked her tongue in satisfaction, swished her sleek, inky hair, and inspected her fingernails again. She had gotten what she wanted. After all, she always did. The scheming teen cackled rather maliciously to herself and smiled, me: 1, them: 0.
Chapter 10 (Double Digits, baby!)
No One Ever Said It Was Wrong To Be Trigger-HappyShe drew him into an empty classroom. He floated along. The moment was pumping in their veins and tickling their breath. They moved with each other, dancing a dance that could only be seen in the movies. Each pair of eyes drank in the other's, drowning in their reverie.
Harry, dazed by Celia's silver gaze, felt himself hush, "I…love…you…" The words felt hollow and empty, yet they still lay there in the air between them, hanging restlessly. They were just there. Celia grinned in satisfaction and drew in for more.
After that, things felt different. The air buzzed with an unspoken something. In another stolen moment, Harry had heard himself whisper that he'd follow Celia anywhere. All these words stuck, leaving Harry confused. Why did these truths feel so false, yet true? It was if layers of cloth were muffling his brain.
#&#
"Master…" a feminine voice purred, "The time has come…"
"Excellent. You know what to do from here. Do this right and… everything we've ever dreamed of will be achieved…" an icy tone trailed off into darkness.
#&#
Hermione still wasn't speaking to Ron. He began to "accidentally" bump into her in the hallways, to try and talk to her. She simply blew him off. She began hanging out with Neville, using him as protection against Ron, and partnering up with him in class. That left a fuming Ron to partner with Dean, Seamus, Ernie, or whoever was there. After a few endless days of this, Ron gave up. The slouching redhead was no longer vying for forgiveness. Rather, he was just as furious at Hermione as she was with him. What right did she have to blow him off like that? They weren't dating. Ron scoffed at the concept. Hermione wasn't a girlfriend, she could never be. She was the girl who stood by your side when you needed help, who stood up for what was right, who always had something to say. She was the friend who is a solid rock in your life that keeps you on your toes, yet, strangely, sane. Hermione was the kind of girl who is never without a helpful hint, keeps you in line, and always surprises you. That was Hermione. The girl he thought about when he drifted off to sleep and woke up in the morning. It was then that Ron realized this couldn't go on.
He cornered her after potions. She grabbed Neville's arm the second she saw Ron and began talking animatedly to a puzzled Neville. Similar sequences occurred throughout that day; each of Ron's attempts to talk to Hermione failed. Then he got an idea…
He wondered if this was the right thing to do. What would Harry say? He shook the threatening doubts out of his mind. He had to do this. Harry would thank him later. With a dramatic swoosh, Ron donned Harry's invisibility cloak and tiptoed down the stairs.
#&#
Harry and Celia were in a very compromising position in an empty classroom on the seventh floor. The classroom was adjacent to a particularly disturbing tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy attempting to teach trolls to dance ballet.
Hermione was in the library, reading an intriguing book on kelpies. She wasn't sure why she was avoiding Ron anymore. She wasn't mad anymore. But if Celia had pulled him in, she didn't know what would happen now. She was avoiding the hurt she would feel when she met this bewitched Ron. She didn't know what she was doing anymore. She just kept on running blindly and boxing the shadows. Hermione slammed the book closed, frowned, and made her way up to the Gryffindor common room.
Ron was creeping around the seventh floor, wishing he had stolen–er, borrowed–the Marauder's Map as well as the cloak. How was he supposed to find Hermione now?
Hermione stopped in front of a seemingly bare wall. The Room of Requirement… she recalled. Hermione giggled uncharacteristically and supposed she could use a little self-pampering. Focusing hard on her desire, she stepped through the door when it appeared.
"Come with me," Celia coaxed, dragging Harry out of the empty classroom. Harry followed lightly, his head feeling fuzzy and warm. Celia willed the door to the Come and Go Room to appear with perfected skill and turned the handle.
Hermione felt he surroundings melt away. This wasn't supposed to happen. The poof beneath her melted into a pile of miscellaneous objects and her cup of tea became a rusty sequined goblet. A majestic mirror stood out from the entire hodgepodge. She recognized it as the Mirror of Erised from the books she had read and the tales she had been told. But before she could see what her hearts desire was, two bumbling figures stumbled into the Room. Hermione hid behind a pile of gold dishware.
Ron was nearing the Room; nostalgia washed over him at the thought of it. The door was visible and a foot was peeking out from it. He wondered why. Hermione! This was all that ran through his mind before he dashed to catch up. Stumbling through just in time, he came upon a curious sight.
#&#
To the outsider, the scene in the Room was particularly strange. A jumbled room of chaos with four teenagers and a mirror. All eyes were focused on the mirror. It was a tall one, with gold framing and an odd inscription at the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. One of the teens was a rumpled looking girl with bushy brown hair and sharp nut-brown eyes wide with shock. She was hunched behind a tottering pile of dishware, occasionally glancing cautiously at it. There was a pair in the center of the room, right in front of the mirror. Their hands were tangled together. One was a wistful looking boy with scraggly black hair. The other was a composed raven-haired girl with a confident expression. The fourth person in the room was invisible. If this boy had been visible, the outsider would have laughed at his genuinely confounded expression.
It happened in a moment. These things generally do. The problem with moments is they don't give you any time to think. They begin and end just like that. In this small moment, Celia stared into the mirror, smiled, Harry opened his mouth to speak, and the two were gone in a slight glint of the mirror and the moving of air. Hermione dashed forward, Ron threw off his cloak and they grasped each other's hands, forgetting feuds, kisses, and silences. In another look at the mirror and a glint, they too were gone.
In that last moment in the Room, the hearts of the two friends were willed with such love and care that the air whispered and smiled. The adrenaline pumping in their veins buzzed in their ears. Their mutual deep desire to save Harry in those last few seconds was so strong, the universe couldn't say no.
In the Next Installment of Shade:
When your heart's desire is fulfilled,
What is one to do?
When are lover's hearts instilled
With real vows untrue?
More obstacles lie ahead,
More dangers unexpected,
Then talked over tea and bread.
Can desires be reflected?
A/N: My English teacher would kill me for the number of you's in this. Expect the next chapter up a little later. I have two big projects due next week, so writing might take a bit longer. I am expecting to finish this story in a few chapters. I will update ASAP. As always, REVIEW!