Stuff happens. Sorry for the wait.
All the Queens Men
Chapter 11
Harry woke slowly, a new sibling thrumming thoughtfully in the Hive mind and warmth surrounding him. He groggily opened his eyes, blurry green curtains and quiet breaths puff against the back of his neck. Draco was huddled against his back, a hand gripping at the cloth on his side. "Draco? Are you ok?"
The thin boy jerks in surprise before releasing Harry like he had been burned, "I'm fine Potter." He snaps and shrinks to the other side of the large bed, ignoring Harrys squinting gaze.
"I don't think you are, Draco." Harry says, turning to fully face Draco, putting emphasis on his first name.
"Why do you care?" The blonde snaps again, carefully not looking the other boy in the eye.
Harry crawls to him and forces him into a hug, ignoring his feeble complaints, "You were scared and you still stopped to help me, instead of running for your dorm."
"That's…not the point! Anyone would have stopped to help the Oh-so-famous Scar head." Draco says even as he begins to return the hug shakily.
"No, they wouldn't."
Draco says nothing to this, but he squeezes the brunette back as they take comfort in each other.
Yesterday
Ron was terrified. He was clutched to the chest of a large black…thing and it had a body like a spider. Three of its arms were keeping him trapped to its chest as it scuttled through large pipes he didn't know existed in the school. From what he could see of the he's pretty sure no one else did either. The air was getting warmer; he didn't want to be here. Ron did NOT want to see the end of this tunnel, "No more spiders." He whispers determinedly, steeling himself to open his mouth and try, something, when a horrible wail of pain rips through the air.
The noise seems to make the thing pause, so he joined in the caterwaul. Screeching as loudly and as high as he could, startling the creature enough to loosen its grip on him. Ron fell with a splat and a grunt, soaking himself in the gooey dark stuff that was beginning to line the pipe here. "Aw, yuck! This is like the troll all over again, only n-," Ron began to complain. He was interrupted by the screaming he was hearing cutting off, replacing it with a dead silence.
The red head froze in fear as he looked up, the spider monster right above him, fangs spread and bared. Its oval head swayed as it reared to be nose to nose with the terrified boy, but it didn't do anything. It hissed in aggravation and twisted to slowly place its long body and many limbs onto the floor, its short tail curling under its belly. Ron bit his tongue to stop a whimper as a second mouth slowly extended, drool dripping slickly onto his lap. He could hear it breathe in slowly, that second bloody mouth opening and closing carefully, almost touching his nose.
It cocked its head, rising to stare down the pie, before fluidly sliding away. Ron breathed slowly out and gently pried his teeth from his sore tongue. Carefully he stood, warily watching where the terrifying thing had sped off. He frowned in disgust as the blackish goo started drying on him, making his warm cloak heavier. The red head hugged himself as he looked around the large tunnel, now how was he getting out?
Current time
The Heads of the Houses were gathered in the Great Hall, faces grim and shadowed as the Headmaster entered the hall, motioning for them to give their reports. "I can't find Susan or Hannah." Professor Sprout murmured, breaking the somber silence.
"Severus has gone missing, as well as Miss Parkinson. Mister Weasley the younger is missing and Mister Potter somehow found refuge in the Slytherin Dorm rooms after being missing for 2 days." was the quiet response from Professor McGonagall. She looked to Professor Flitwick, whom shook his head in relief.
"Seven total missing then, not including Mrs. Norris." The Headmaster intoned, his age seeming to catch up with him all at once. "I was hoping dear Severus would have returned with young Harry by now. Instead, Harry has appeared without him."
Flitwick's eyes hardened as he sent a look askance of the old man, "You sent our youngest Faculty member down that hole after a student who may or may not have been down there? One in charge of a House, no less."
The old Headmaster could not contain a wince at the accusation, "It did not seem dangerous, he has dealt with worse and I deemed him able-"
"It does not matter if you deemed him able or not," The short wizard interrupted, "once Caretaker Filch did not turn in his nightly reports you should have done something!" The normally kind and pleasant face twisted into a fearful and upset snarl, "You should have called in the Aurors as soon as that poor Potter boy was rescued with that, that parasite attached to his face!"
Dumbledore looked to the two other professors, gaze searching for support, some sort of give. McGonagall stared back with expressionless eyes, Sprout clutching her elbow as her lip wobbled with tearful eyes. "Th-think of the ch-child-dren." She stutters, finally starting to cry at the implications that something was in the castle started sink in. He shut his eyes and breathed softly out his nose, stepping forward to help the distraught woman to sit on a bench.
"I will owl them at once, we will send the children home if things decline further." He murmurs in resignation. He peers through his glasses with a frown, the enchanted ceiling showing a vibrant splash of ominous red as the sun rose. "I just dearly hope that that is merely an old man's suspicions and not an omen."