I AM SO SORRY! I started uni at the beginning of the year and it's been absolutely hectic, add in a touch of writers block and you can see why this story went nowhere. I finally got some time during the holidays and this weekend to get some writing done, so here you are. I have the next chapter done too, so i'll post that in the next few days once I finish proofreading it. Anyway, I have to get to class. Later!
A/N: Okay, so my Muse was sick when writing this, and as such she give me some wonderful ideas. As you read, if you come across any strange things further down the track, odds are they are her ideas, wonderful and hilarious though they are.
Chapter 28 – The Crystal Ball
Draco Malfoy was walking through Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley. The shop was its dark, dusty self as usual, and the artifacts were as fascinatingly terrifying as usual. The Hand of Glory that lay raised on its platform twitched its fingers enticing passerby's to touch it, the cold grey skin and bony fingers ready to induce a magical pain at the icy touch. He kept walking.
The mirror high on the wall flashed as he walked past it, but he didn't look into it, knowing that if he did it would trap his consciousness and that he might never escape.
A series of eggs sat on the counter, each one a different colour, but as usual they emitted no magical sign of life. Sighing, Draco continued his lap impatiently. Would the old man hurry up? He had to get back to the Ministry. This place was giving him the creeps, as usual.
As he continued his lap, something caught his eye and he paused, and stared. On the shelf where it had always been was an elaborate marble stand that held a large glass sphere. That sphere…. Moving closer, he squinted in an attempt to see through the grimy film of dust. He was sure… "Mr Borgin!"
There was a shuffling noise and the old man reappeared looking a touch grumpy. Time had not treated him well, and the man was hunched over, his hair (or what was left of it) was grey, and he shuffled with a painful limp. "What is it Mr Malfoy?" he asked with a deep gravely voice that grated on the ears.
"This sphere… Would you be able to remove the layer of dust covering it?"
The man grunted and flicked his wand. A cloud of dust shot up into the air, and half of it landed in Draco's face and hair. He coughed, sneezed and waved what left he could away with a light breeze. Glaring at the old man briefly, he quickly turned his attention back to the sphere.
His eyebrows shot up into his hair almost at the white wisps swirling inside the sphere, curling slowly over one another in a relaxed manner. For the first time in his life, Draco could clearly see what the stand designs were. Surrounding a central column were two people. One person was holding what appeared to be a wand, the other a stone in his hand, and, after checking the sphere and stand was safe to handle, he turned it around. At the back where he expected there to be another person, there wasn't. The space where another person was meant to be was empty, but there was a symbol engraved in the marble stand; a line, inside a circle, inside a triangle.
"First time I've ever seen that active," the old man grunted, his bushy eyebrows furrowing.
"I'll take this as well," Draco decided after a moments pause.
The man nodded. "I'll wrap it up for ya." Flicking his wand, the stand and sphere shot up carefully into the air and hovered before following the old man back to his workbench.
Draco followed and sidestepped some vines that reached for him, knowing that even the lightest brush of those tendrils was highly poisonous and would have him breaking out in welts before his face blew up like a balloon if not administered the antidote within minutes. "You should really have that behind a shield charm," he complained.
"It hasn't killed anyone yet," the man shrugged and shuffled back into the back room to finish putting Draco's order together.
"That's not the point," he grumbled and bent down to observe the sphere again. Fingering the symbol engraved in the stone pillar, he wondered if there was meant to be a third person and whether it was missing. It didn't look like it.
Mr Borgin reappeared with a wrapped parcel and handed it over. He flicked his wand and the sphere and stand were quickly wrapped in the same waxed-brown paper. "Shall I have these delivered to Malfoy Manor?"
"No, I'm heading back there myself. I'll take them with me," Draco answered as he handed over the required payment and picked the parcels up. "They're both safe to travel by apparition?"
"Quite. I'm not sure why that sphere is here actually. As far as dark artifacts go, it doesn't appear to be one. It's pretty though."
Draco nodded, feeling even more perplexed. He had some research to do when he got home. "Thank you. Farewell."
The man grunted and waved a hand goodbye. Heading out to Knockturn Alley, he pulled his cloak around him, hid his face and purchases and made a beeline for Diagon Alley. That place always freaked him out. He avoided the skulking witches and wizards who were clearly looking for trouble, and the moment he was free to apparate, he did.
LINEBREAK
"HIKARI!" Scorpius bellowed as he shook his arms, blue-green moss sprouting from his sleeves and school robes as he sat there, a flower starting to sprout from his hair.
Sora laughed nervously, wand still held out in front of him. "Eh heh… uh… oops?"
Roxas looked amused as Albus hid a laugh behind his hand and Rose just looked perplexed.
Zexion's nose twitched from a row down and he sneezed.
"Oops my ass! Make it stop!" Scorpius shrieked as more flowers started sprouting from his hair, turning the white blond hair into a cacophony of colors.
Flitwick hurried over, pushing his glasses up his nose even as laughter erupted throughout the charms class. "Fascinating. Just fascinating. How did you manage this Mr Hikari?"
"Uh… I'm not sure," Sora replied with a shrug.
"He's just special," Roxas replied in amusement as he moved over to stand beside his 'twin'.
"Damn right you are," Scorpius hissed as the flowers started drooping down over his nose. He sneezed then, petals flying everywhere. "Ugh."
"Absolutely fascinating," Flitwick said again, reaching out to pluck one of the flowers from Scorpius's hair.
"Ow!" Scorpius shrieked. "Professor!" He sneezed again and more petals went flying.
"Oh… yes. Mr Potter, take Mr Malfoy to the Hospital Wing."
"Yes, Professor," Albus chuckled and moved forward to scoop up his best friend's books and arm. "Come on Score. Let's go get you de-flowered."
Scorpius sneezed again but allowed himself to be led away. His robes by this point were a deep green colour, his hair green stems below the colorful flowers popping up. "Up yours Potter."
More chuckling followed them as they left.
"You are in sooo much trouble," Roxas told Sora with a laugh before returning to his seat to continue practicing the charm they were working on.
Sora winced before sighing and looking down at his wand. "Good at Charms my ass," he mumbled and sat down to practice the spell again, this time aiming at a blank patch of wall not near any people. As moss and flowers cracked through the brickwork, he paled and dropped his wand and watched anxiously as it started to darken
The bell rang and he quickly jumped up and grabbed his stuff.
"Sora," Rose began, looking concerned at where the wall was slowly being covered in moss.
"GottagoCYA!" he yelled and raced out of the room. It wasn't until he was halfway down the corridor that he heard the squeaky "Great Scott! My Classroom!" from Professor Flitwick.
Not slowing until he was two floors down, Sora sighed in relief and headed for the Hospital Wing to check on Scorpius. When he entered, he found Albus standing outside a curtain chuckling behind his hand.
Stopping beside him, Sora blinked at the tall bush standing in the corner. Looking around, he looked up at Albus. "Where's Scorpius?"
Albus laughed even harder and pointed at the bush in the corner.
"Albus Severus Potter, this isn't funny so you stop laughing right this second," the bush hissed and ruffled it's leaves.
Sora blinked and his head tilted to the side to hopefully get a better understanding of how this bush could possibly be Scorpius Malfoy. "Why aren't you sitting Scorpius?"
Albus started laughing harder and Scorpius hissed in annoyance. "He started growing wood," Al managed to get out in-between a laugh.
"Oh…" Sora winced. "I'm so sorry Scorpius."
"Not the type of wood that Albus is thinking of," Scorpius replied icily. "My robes have hardened around my legs and body. As it is, I can't move, except for my head."
"Ouch…"
Just then Madame Pomphry hurried back over to them with a book in her hands. "How are you Mr Malfoy? The same as before?"
"I'm stuck," the Malfoy heir replied.
The medi-witch pursed her lips. "Yes, I know. Mr Hikari, you cast this spell, correct?"
Sora paled and nodded, shifting the books in his hands awkwardly. "Yes Ma'am. It was an accident."
"I have no doubts about that, so don't worry, you're not in trouble. I just need to know what you said and how you performed the spell to get an idea of what went wrong."
"Oh, um, okay." Placing his books on the bed, Sora drew his wand and aimed at a curtain. Waving his wand and casting, Sora winced as they all watched the white curtain darken and start to grow mold.
Tapping her wand against the book as she thought, Madame Pomphry nodded. "All right, thank you Mr Hikari." Waving her wand at the curtain, she vanished it completely before turning to Scorpius. "Would the two of you mind stepping outside the curtain please?"
Albus and Sora both nodded and backed up, watching as the curtain was drawn in front of them and the sounds inside were muted.
Waiting, Sora puffed his cheeks out and rocked back and forth on his heels a bit. After a minute or so, Sora pointed at the door. "I should probably get going. I need to grab my books for Herbology."
"Yeah, sure," Albus agreed and waved. "We'll see you later."
Nodding, Sora rushed off and quickly headed for the Gryffindor Tower.
LINEBREAK
Roxas dispatched a herd of Heartless that were hovering near the front doors and continued on his way to Herbology. A few of the younger girls watching smiled at him gratefully as they followed him out the doors.
Halfway there a bright spot of red distracted him from his conversation with the girls that they'd managed to strike up and he turned off the path, despite their protests, and left them to follow the red spot.
As he'd expected he came across Axel lounging in the V of a tree while he played with wisps of fire while reading what looked like a book on his lap.
Shaking his head in disapproval, Roxas stopped at the base of the tree and looked up. "Hey Axel."
The red head appeared and he looked down at the blond in surprise. "Oh, hey Rox. What brings you all the way out here?"
"You did actually. Don't you have a class to go to?"
"Nope. Self study."
"Doesn't that mean library study?" Roxas asked curiously.
"It means that as long as we're studying we can be anywhere. I was feeling smothered, and it's a beautiful day out today." The red head stretched before relaxing. "Don't you agree?"
Squinting up at the blue sky and grey patchy clouds through red, green and orange leaves, he shrugged. "Its okay."
"Well aren't you full of happiness today sunshine," Axel commented sarcastically. "You wanna come up? Or have you got a class to get to?"
"Herbology. Speaking of, I'd better get going. I just came to make sure something hadn't chased you up a tree."
"Your lack of confidence in me wounds me deeply Roxy," Axel remarked with a smirk as he placed a hand over his chest. "Not much in these woods would drive me up a tree."
"Ha! I'll take that bet," Roxas mumbled under his breath as he turned to leave with a wave. "Bye Axel!"
"Later Roxy."
A cold wind blew through the trees and Roxas shivered and drew his cloak around him further. Leaves were turning orange and brown and a few were beginning to break off and fly away in the wind. Fall was definitely on its way.
LINEBREAK
"Sora," Riku began as he approached his best friend. "We need to talk."
Sora was hunkered down and peering around a corner nervously as students walked past him giving him strange looks. When he was addressed directly though he startled and shot straight up to spin around and look at who was behind him. "Waa! Riku! Oh, its just you. You scared me."
"It's 'just me'?" The older teen asked with an inflection of hurt in his voice. "What have you done that could possibly incite that response?"
Sora turned around again to peer around the corner anxiously. "I turned Scorpius into a tree by accident. I think he's out for blood."
"Seriously? How did you manage that?"
"Charms accident."
Shaking his head, Riku let it pass. "Okay. Have you got a minute?"
"Can it wait? I'm looking for Scorpius so that I can run in the opposite direction."
Trying to logic Sora's train of thought out, the older teen eventually gave up. Sora's mind was just too strange and confusing. "I still need to talk to you. If Scorpius tries to attack you I'll defend you. How does that sound?"
"You would? Really?" Looking up at his friend with big hopeful blue eyes and his usual goofy grin, Sora stood up. "Okay then Ri, lead the way."
Shaking his head, Riku directed them to an empty classroom and shut the door. "Sora, sit down."
"Okay. Ri, what's going on?" Sitting down as requested, Sora watched Riku as he shifted uncomfortably. "Did you do something bad?"
"What? No!" Completely taken off guard at Sora's question, he gave his friend a curious look. "What makes you say that?"
"You just look guilty. Usually you only look guilty when you've done something wrong. Have you?"
"No Sora. I haven't."
"Oh… good. Then what's going on?"
Taking a deep breath, Riku braced himself for the following conversation. "Sora, do you remember when I told you I loved you? About a week ago?"
"Nooo," Sora answered slowly, trying to think back.
"It was just after you'd gotten out of the Hospital wing."
Taking a moment to think about, Sora suddenly lit up. "Oh yeah! I remember that. What about it?"
"Well, I don't think you understood what I meant."
"Yes I did. You were telling me you loved me. What's so hard to understand about that?"
Dropping his head back, Riku prayed for strength before pushing on. "Sora, I'm going to say it again, but this time I'm going to make myself very clear." Moving to stand in front of his best friend, Riku looked him straight in the eyes. "Sora, I love you."
Sora blinked before smiling and shaking his head. "I know Riku. How is that any different to last ti-mph!" Blue eyes going incredibly wide as he was grabbed and pulled into a kiss, Sora sat in shock as he processed the fact that Riku was kissing him.
As Riku pulled back, he was still in shock and stared into the very dark, very heated, eyes of his best friend.
"You get it finally," Riku said roughly, his voice filled with satisfaction as he pulled back. "Figure out what you want Sora. You have two days. Give me your answer by then." Turning, Riku left the classroom, and Sora stared at a wall in shock, still trying to process the fact that Riku had just kissed him. Riku. His straight as an arrow best friend Riku, had just kissed him. Well that was a blow out of nowhere.
TBC
P.S. Please don't kill me.
