Disclaimer: not mine
Chapter 3
Albus watched the Hufflepuff table, seeing young Harry interact with his year mates. The boy being sorted into that House had been a shock…a disappointing one. They needed a hero, a saviour and martyr, not a meek little Hufflepuff. Yes, he had expected the Dursley's to ensure he was humble but he had still wanted him to have spirit and courage.
It made the test of the stone even more important, he had to show the boy Voldemort still existed and that it was up to him to end the threat. It would not be as easy with Pomona as his head of House, she did not automatically defer to him as Minerva did and she was very protective of her 'Badgers'. Harry needed to trust him implicitly, not his Head of House.
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Harry glanced down at his notes, staring at the image he'd drawn without thought. It was an image he'd seen a lot of in his dreams, a platform made of stained glass with two sleeping teens depicted on it, half in light and the other half in Darkness. He didn't know their names, it was like they were on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't remember them. He knew they were very important to him but there was so much just out of reach, like a half remembered dream. He'd seen them fighting each other, had seen flashes of them in so many different places, he just wanted it all to make sense.
He didn't doubt they were real, not when they had magic that he could copy, but there was nothing familiar in what he saw which made him wonder where and when they were from. It was something he was hoping Hogwarts library could help him with. Why did he dream of them? They felt...they felt like family, but other than the dark boy having black hair too, they looked nothing like Harry did. It was just all so confusing.
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Aqua walked through a dark forest path lined with flowers on both sides. She gasped as something in front of her caught her eye. "Could it be?" she asked in disbelief, unable to believe her eyes. It couldn't really be The Castle of Dreams standing in the distance, could it? Aqua began heading toward it, unable to ignore its presence. "Why is Cinderella's world...here in the darkness?"
A group of Shadows appeared in front of her and she summoned her Master's Defender
Keyblade. She had become used to having to fight almost non-stop.
"There's no "time" in the realm of darkness," she murmured even as she saw two more Shadows attempting to blindside her from the right and dispatched them. "I walk...on and on without end. In the realm of light, do days or years pass with each step? I know something has started to go wrong. I must hurry."
Aqua continued advancing toward the castle, breaking into a run as the stone path in front of her began to quake and crumble. Aqua stopped at the edge of the path before it collapsed, and sighed while looking at the small stone pillars that remained.
"I guess I know which way I'm going," she sighed.
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Hermione approached the group and smiled when they shifted to clear a spot for her. Three weeks into the term and she had no friends in her own House, if anything she felt completely isolated there. But the Hufflepuff first years accepted her in their study group and Susan had invited her to sit at their table for lunch. She glanced at the older students but none of them said anything, some smiling or nodding in her direction. She'd never seen anyone eat at another Houses table before and it was scary to do so, to feel the Gryffindors staring at her, but as the other girls began talking to her, Harry Potter himself shoving food on her plate to make sure she remembered to eat.
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Draco paused as he spotted Potter walking down the corridor, limping slightly. He hesitated, not sure what to do. Potter wasn't anything like what he'd expected, he'd never even guessed the boy at Madam Malkin's was the famous Harry Potter because he didn't look like how everyone said he did.
They only had one class together and Potter seemed to shy away from the fame and attention of the other students which he didn't understand. He'd looked for him on the train to try and be his friend but hadn't found him, he'd been side tracked by the Weasley twins.
There was no one else in the hall, so what should he do? Potter looked up and spotted him, watching him warily but there was no scorn or anything towards a Slytherin. He hesitated but then squared his shoulders. "Need a hand Potter?" he offered.
"I'm fine," he answered, "missed a step on the stairs. You're Draco Malfoy, right?"
"Right."
"I think you had the fastest Sorting out of all of us, congratulations on getting the House you wanted."
"Thanks…did you?"
"Yeah, that's what took so long," Potter shrugged.
"Want some help to the Hospital Wing?" he offered and found it was a genuine offer.
"For a sprain?" Potter seemed shocked by the very idea.
"Of course, the nurse can heal that in minutes. You don't want to be limping around do you?"
"Magic healing, right. Okay, thanks."
Draco moved in to take Potter's arm over his shoulder, helping him limp along to the Hospital Wing and then stayed while Madam Pomphrey healed him. Twenty minutes later they left, Potter no longer limping.
"So, we have a bit of a study group going in the library, you can come if you want. We do have a Gryffindor member though so you'd have to be polite to her."
The offer shocked him, was it genuine? He would really let Draco join their group? He glanced at the other boy and he didn't seem to be trying to mess with him. He could guess which Gryffindor it was, she'd sat at their table at lunch the other day. Could he be polite to a Mudblood?
"I'll think about he," he finally said as they parted.
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"Riku!"
He turned to see Sora running down the path towards him. "What?"
"Have you seen her?" he asked, bouncing on the spot in front of him.
"The new girl?" he asked to be sure, and Sora nodded. "No, she's at the Mayor's."
"They say she came in the meteor shower!"
"That's impossible Sora," he grinned and shook his head, Sora really would believe anything he was told.
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Merlin began setting up his new home, their old one was gone now. That didn't bother him too much, he was used to moving around the Worlds. The people of Radiant Garden had been scattered to the Worlds, hopefully most had survived, but he doubted it.
There was something niggling at the edge of his senses but he wasn't quite….oh! Something was happening back on Earth, but what? And when? Earth was not quite connected to the other Worlds, it was isolated, and that made travel there and back tricky as time did not flow between it and the other Worlds normally. You could end up in the past, present, or future unless you were very careful with the spell used. It was why he had become an expert at time travel.
The question was, was it something he needed to look into?
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A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.
Harry glanced around, frowning in concern, where was Hermione? She hadn't been in herbology and now the Halloween Feast was beginning and he couldn't see her anywhere. He leant towards Susan and Hannah, figuring they might know since they were girls too. "Have you seen Hermione since breakfast?"
"No, apparently there was some kind of argument in Charms between her and Weasley and she ran off after class. We looked but couldn't find her between classes," Susan answered, looking around. "The Feast is compulsory, she'll get in trouble if she misses it."
Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato, trying to figure out how to find her, when Professor Quirrell sprinted into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll…in the dungeons…thought you ought to know." He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.
There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence. "Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
Harry frowned, something about Quirrell's fainting had seemed weird but then… "Wait!" he looked around for their House Prefects. "Our dorms are in the dungeons, so are the Slytherins and the troll."
Cedric Diggory looked at him from further down the table and nodded, moving for the seventh year prefects to point that out.
"How could a troll get in?" Susan demanded and Harry knew her Aunt was high up the magical law enforcement, wondering if they'd have magical police investigating soon.
"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," answered Ernie. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."
"We're moving to the library," the prefects announced and they stood, following the rest of the school out of the Great Hall, seeing the Slytherin's heading the same way and Harry had to wonder why they hadn't just all remained in the Great Hall, surely that would be easier to defend then two towers and the library?
Malfoy moved up beside him and nodded. "Nice work on getting as sent away from the troll," he offered and Harry nodded before freezing, the others moving passed them. "What?"
"I've just thought, Hermione."
"What about Granger?" Draco at least refrained from rolling his eyes. He hadn't joined their study group but he had also stopped insulting Hermione, even when Harry and the others weren't in hearing range so that was a good step.
"She doesn't know about the troll," Harry told him, tugging at his robe sleeve to pull him out of the press of scared students.
"What's that got to do with me?" he demanded, and Harry glared at him, arms crossed. "Oh, all right," he snapped. "But we better not get caught."
It was way too easy to slip away from everyone and into the suddenly deserted halls.
"Do you even know where she is?" Draco asked as they ran.
"Well she ran off crying from Charms so logically, the nearest girls loo."
"That'd be the first floor then, there aren't any on the second floor in that section." They moved to the stairs but then ducked behind a statue when they heard someone coming. They waited until it was quiet again before moving off. "Can you smell something?" he asked as they moved up to the first floor.
Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet that no one seemed to clean. And then they heard it, a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Draco pointed at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.
It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long. The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.
"The keys in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."
"Good idea."
They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.
"Yes!"
Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop, a high, petrified scream, and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up.
"Was that," Draco was pale as the Bloody Baron, unable to finish the question.
"It's the girls' bathroom!" Harry gasped. "Hermione!"
It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Harry pulled the door open and they ran inside.
Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.
"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Draco, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.
The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.
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What in Merlin's name was he doing?! It was Granger…he saw her cowering from the troll, terrified… "Oy, pea-brain!" he found himself yelling, throwing a metal pipe at the troll.
The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward him instead, giving Potter time to run around it.
"Come on, run, run!" Potter yelled at Granger, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.
The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Draco, who was nearest and had no way to escape. He looked around wildly, finding Granger staring at him in horror, as if she cared if he died or not.
He could only watch in disbelief as Potter did something that was both very brave and very stupid – he ran up behind the troll, leaping up to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The obviously troll couldn't feel him hanging there, but even a troll would notice if you stuck a long bit of wood up its nose, and Potter's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped, it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.
Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Potter clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club. He looked at Granger, seeing her sinking to the floor in terror, and he'd like to join her. He grabbed some bricks and threw them at the troll but they didn't do anything to distract it. He drew his wand, mind going blank as he struggled to remember any spell that he knew that might help. The troll swung its club around wildly and an idea hit him, it was crazy but he didn't know any spells that could affect a troll. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club flew out of the troll's hand, rose high into the air, and Draco ended the spell, watching as the club dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.
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Harry got to his feet, he was shaking and out of breath but he didn't think he was hurt. Draco was standing there with his wand still ready, staring at what he had done.
It was Hermione who spoke first. "Is it…dead?"
"I don't think so, I think it's just been knocked out," he told her as he bent down to pull his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue. "Urgh, troll boogers." He wiped it on the troll's trousers.
A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall burst into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. Snape looked Draco over before bending over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at the three of them, and Harry had never seen her look so angry in class.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" she demanded with cold fury in her voice. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"
Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look and then looked over at Draco who was putting his wand away. "Draco?"
"Granger wasn't at the Feast sir, we came looking for her," he looked very uncomfortable admitting that.
"She didn't know about the troll," Harry added quickly. "It was meant to be in the dungeons but it was up here. We locked it in, we just didn't realise it was the girls bathroom we locked till Hermione screamed."
"If…if they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Malfoy knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived," Hermione explained shakily, still staring at the troll.
"Well, in that case..." said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, "Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor your missing the Feast," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."
Hermione glanced at them before nodding and leaving.
Professor McGonagall then turned to Harry and Draco. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win five points. Is that acceptable Professor Snape?"
"It seems fair Professor," he nodded but then focused on Draco. "We shall speak later about your actions."
"Yes sir," Draco agreed, subdued.
"Professor Dumbledore will also be informed of this. You may go." Professor McGonagall finished and the quickly left the ruined bathroom.
They soon reached the point where they would split to get to their Houses. "Hey Potter?"
"Yeah?"
"You're either crazy or brave for jumping on that trolls back, but thanks."
Harry grinned at him. "It's Harry. You were the one that knocked it out though, that was brilliant." He waved and headed for his common room.
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Draco lay in bed, shocked by the discussion he'd had with his Godfather. He'd had to explain helping Po...Harry to the Hospital Wing and every interaction since. He hadn't been told to stay away, no, Snape had encouraged him to become Harry's friend. Draco wasn't sure why but since he wanted to anyway, he'd do it.
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Harry nodded as Draco joined them, the others looking at him in surprise but no one said anything, Hermione even smiling at him slightly. Draco nodded back to her slightly and then they all got back to work.
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Aqua slowly got up, worn out from the fight and saw more phantoms of Terra and Ventus standing past a stone archway along the path. She ran up to greet them, both of them looking away from her and appearing motionless. "Terra, Ven," she called, knowing they wouldn't respond.
To her complete shock, Terra turned around and began to speak, "Aqua, you're…"
"Terra. You spoke?" She felt hope grow in her heart.
"Can you see me?" Terra asked, sounding shocked and hopeful.
"Of course! I see Ven too," she smiled at him.
"Ven? He's here?" he looked around.
"Terra, what's wrong? Don't you see him?"
"Where are we?" he asked.
"A world the darkness has consumed. It's the Enchanted Dominion."
"Consumed? The worlds fell?" he sounded very confused.
"What's gotten into you? How do I know that you're Terra?" Was he real or just another illusion? "And not the weakness that's in my heart playing more tricks? Ven! Please say something." She ran to his side to see his head hanging down, eyes mostly closed, blank, just like she remembered.
"Aqua, listen," Terra called and she looked up at him. "I promise this is me. But I'm not myself."
Aqua couldn't help the small gasp that escaped. "What do you mean?"
"You're using the name "Terra." That means you're seeing me the way that you remember me. But your heart is just painting the picture that it so wants to see," he looked away as if ashamed and that worried her. "The real me is lost in shadow.
"Then you're here, trapped in the realm of darkness." She moved closer to him.
"No," he turned and walked away. "My heart has ties to the dark. That must be why we can talk." He turned back to face her and she knew he would keep the distance between them if she tried to get closer. "But I can't see anything, Aqua. If you say Ven is there, then he's like me, an illusion created by your heart."
"I understand," she whispered. "Then, you and Ven are safe in the outside world?"
"I think."
"That's good. But, how did you find me?"
"I looked here," he touched his chest, "and heard you in the darkness."
"Right, but why does your heart have...ties to the darkness now? What did you mean "lost in shadow"?"
Terra walked away again but then turned to face her. "Forget about me. Aqua, Xehanort is trying to locate Ven."
"He'll never find him, I hid Ven well," she assured him. "I think the reason he's not talking to me here, is because he's still there sleeping." She looked at Ven, his partially open eyes staring vacantly at the ground. She stiffened as she hear Terra groaning, spinning to see him clutching his face his pain…his hair turning white.
"No, I can't control…" Darkness surrounded Terra but subsided soon after. He started talking but his voice was completely different. "This "place." Is it the Chamber of Waking?"
"Yes…" she answered automatically but then stopped herself, staring at him, even as she put her arm in front of Ven protectively. "Who are you? Really." She demanded, she'd let herself be fooled into thinking Terra was there…
"You don't know? My name,"
She stared in shock as an image of Terra as his original self appeared behind the white-haired man and grabbed him. The man attempted to break free but Terra had his arm locked tight around his neck. "Aqua! Get back!" he yelled.
"Terra!" it was him!"
He shook his head sadly even as he struggled to hold the other back. "I messed up. Xehanort is part of me. Now he's using me so you'll tell him where you hid Ven!"
"Silence!" Xehanort demanded.
Aqua stood fully in front of Ventus as air and darkness begin to rise around everyone as Xehanort tried to escape Terra's grasp.
"I won't give in! Aqua! You have to," he was cut off as Xehanort broke free, grabbing Terra's face, lifting him by the neck.
"Still you struggle!" he snarled as Terra grabbed at his arm.
"Terra!" She cried out, wanting to help him but also not wanting to leave Ventus unguarded.
She didn't see the portal that appeared behind them until an arm gabbed Ventus. She turned, but was grabbed before she could do anything.
"Aqua!" Terra yelled in fear.
"Now you can be one with the darkness!" Xehanort told them.
Aqua struggled within the grip of the Darkside and looked at the still comatose Ventus. "Ven..." If his body slept in the Castle, and his heart was lost somewhere, could he actually be harmed here?
Terra, still within Xehanort's grasp, opened his eyes and unleashed his rage. "That is enough!" He began to glow, releasing a large amount of energy that formed a dome
around everything in sight. Chains of light appeared and swirled around the dome.
Aqua begian to lose consciousness as she saw Terra break free and his chains bind Xehanort. "Terra..."
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Sora looked up from his homework, frowning as he rubbed his chest. Something felt…strange. Like he was missing someone…
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Harry laughed and threw a snowball at Justin before he was tackled into the snow by Hermione and Hannah. They scrambled off him and he rolled over to get to his knees, pausing to rub his chest as a feeling of…melancholy…longing…hit him. He shook it off and grabbed some snow, lunging at Draco to shove it down his shirt.
TBC…
