A/N *sheepishly* So it's been a while huh? To make up for it, here's an extremely long chapter. Various things happen, I don't know whether you'll be happy about them or not. No haters, please. Things should start speeding up after this one (promise!) and I promise I'll try my absolute best to get our favourite dark lord to make an appearance in the next chapter (he's being a bit uncooperative at the moment!)
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize from the books. Though I wish I did...
*Warnings* Err... none really, bit of violence at the end, nothing major :)
~Parseltongue~
'Mind speak'
9. Forbidden
He couldn't say that it had been easy, for it most definitely had not been easy. The thing was, it hadn't been that hard either. The hardest part had probably been intercepting Malfoy's owl; eagle owls were notoriously difficult to intercept after all. It was one of the reasons they were so expensive. The other was because they just looked amazing, in Harry's opinion anyway. Nevertheless, he had done just that. Twice.
The first time had been when Malfoy senior was writing to his son. Harry had carefully practiced copying the handwriting until he was satisfied that his forgery was exactly the same as the original. He then added two extra lines of text to the bottom, a time and a place, accompanied with the word 'alone' on one line, and a 'do not ask questions' on the second. It sounded about right, an order given by an apprehensive parent. Harry hoped it would make the Slytherin nervous.
The second time was Draco's reply. This was a bit trickier as Draco's acquiescence to the request was contained within a paragraph of writing. Harry had taken it in his stride, perfecting Draco's handwriting this time before stealing into the Slytherin dorm to take a sheet of parchment, quill and ink from Draco's bedside to copy, word for word, the letter minus the reply to Harry's extra lines. He found his mouth curved in an amused smile as he wrote out Draco's letter, wondering if he would ever have written to his father in such a manner in another universe. Harry had sent the owl and replaced the supplies within two hours of taking them.
Now he was waiting. Waiting just inside the entrance of one of his new found secret passages, or it had been once upon a time, Harry had walked about half a mile down it before he couldn't get any further due to a collapse. It may not be a passage, but it was still secret. Harry sharply bought his attention back to the task at hand, focusing his eyes on the speck with the words 'Draco Malfoy' floating above it on the Marauder's map.
Waiting for the moment that said speck separated from his two shadows. Harry cast a quick tempus, almost growling when he saw that Draco was running late. He looked down again, at least he was going in the right direction now. He had originally wanted to be at the meeting place before the blonde, but that wasn't going to happen if Crabbe and Goyle were still with him. So when the party of three had walked past him, he counted very slowly to ten before following their footsteps, disillusioned, just in case.
They would reach their destination five minutes late.
Harry had told him to meet him outside; sneaking out wasn't that hard, most of the time all you had to do was walk out the front door and nobody would stop you. There was a smattering of clouds overhead, covering most of the stars and the moon, making the visibility just on the wrong side of poor. That didn't matter to wizards though, as soon as they could no longer see the castle lights two of the Slytherins had cast 'lumos' to illuminate their path. Crabbe seemed to be having trouble getting his wand to cooperate. They were headed towards the gate because, well, it was the last place everybody thought to look.
They were about thirty metres away when Harry dropped his disillusionment charm, twenty five when he pulled up the hood of his black cloak, designed to hide his face. At twenty, Harry sent two stunners straight at Crabbe and Goyle, making sure to muffle the sounds of their bodies hitting the ground, at fifteen Malfoy noticed that something wasn't quite right and stopped walking. In the time it had taken him to stop and turn around completely, Harry was standing ten metres away from the gate, watching the back of Draco's head as it turned frantically from side to side.
"I said alone," Harry hissed out, annoyance not entirely faked.
Draco spun around instantly, wand drawn and ready, squinting as he saw Harry's cloaked figure, "and you are?"
"Unimpressed," Harry replied easily, picking up on the slight hesitance in Draco's voice.
Something in Draco's face changed, and he almost immediately sneered, "I'll tell father -,"
"And he wouldn't have a clue," Harry cut him off, wondering if it was okay to feel satisfied when Draco's face fell.
"I-" Draco's voice stopped as his pupils dilated in shock and confusion when Harry removed his hood, "Potter?" he asked instead.
Harry didn't even dignify that with an answer, instead looking Draco in the eye, "If you want to hear what I have to say then you'll have to swear an unbreakable vow."
Draco's mouth fell open in a small 'o' of surprise in the half second before he could stop himself. Not quite believing what Harry had just said. He was the boy who was almost a giant toddler, or so it had seemed. Harry smirked inwardly, he knew that Draco was more observant than most and he had been starting to think that the small nods the blonde had sometimes sent his way were a means of testing him. Almost without realising it, Draco was beginning to figure him out, which is another reason Harry had chosen him.
"I was wondering why you had asked me to wait here for you," Sirius' voice floated from the darkness at the edge of the forest. Harry watched as Draco's eyes flitted to the side, trying to find the source, and then widen as Sirius stepped forward just enough for the wand light to illuminate his face.
"Bla-Black?" Draco uncharacteristically stuttered with the word, eyes turning back around to question Harry, who merely stretched his lips over his teeth in a way that made Draco blanch.
"Saying 'no' would be a very bad idea."
"You're scaring him away," Sirius said flatly. Harry cast his eyes over Draco's form thinking that perhaps he might have been a little overdramatic, but his worry subsided when Draco seemed to regain himself, but Harry didn't miss the tight grip he had on his wand.
"We won't harm you, you have my word," Harry deadpanned, eyes focused on Draco's.
The boy seemed as if he was about to speak again, but his eyes flickered back to Sirius thoughtfully and he offered his wand arm to Harry instead, placing his wand up his sleeve.
Harry smirked and closed the gap between them immediately, grabbing Draco's forearm and waiting for Sirius to approach them. He looked over to watch the resigned footsteps and counter the hard stare that Sirius was giving him, shaking his head slightly in response. Sirius wasn't going to change his mind.
Draco was in.
Moments later and Sirius was standing next to them both, stolen wand wordlessly weaving the enchantment around the boys' arms.
"Do you, Draco Malfoy, vow to keep any and all secrets that I, Harry James Potter, or Sirius Orion Black, disclose to you forthwith?"
Draco's eyes were strong, "I do."
"Do you vow not to convey said secrets to anyone but myself or Mr. Black in any way, shape or form; be it by use of tongue, quill or mind?"
"I do."
Harry quirked his lip in anticipation, "and, if in any circumstance, you think yourself unable to comply with these vows," he watched as Draco's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "do you vow to let either myself or Mr. Black obliviate you of every memory concerning either of us starting from six o'clock this evening?"
There was a short pause, "I do," Harry was mildly impressed with the complete assurance that Draco exuded. Credit where credit's due, Draco hadn't even flinched.
The tendrils of magic slowly sank into their entwined arms, the ethereal light had disappeared completely when Sirius withdrew his wand from the top of Harry's knuckles, vow complete. Harry made to pull his arm away, but Draco stopped him by gripping it painfully tight, "You better start explaining."
Harry sighed, he knew that Draco taking the vow was mostly an act of self-preservation, but a small part of him wanted it to be because he had intrigued him enough for the blonde to actually be interested in knowing about him.
"Not here," he said, twisting his arm to reclaim it from Draco's grasp, "In there," he motioned towards the forest with his head at Draco's questioning gaze.
Draco eyed the trees dubiously before glancing at his two unconscious housemates, "They'll wake up just before dawn," Harry assured him as he walked over to the two bodies, thankful that he had been insightful enough to formulate a plan for this very eventuality. He produced a small bottle of firewhiskey from his robes and knelt down beside Crabbe's body, gently opening the boy's mouth and pouring a little less than half the alcohol in whilst coaxing his throat to swallow it. He then placed a few drops on the boy's school robes, face and hands before obliviating memories of tonight and then repeated the process for Goyle. Harry made sure there was a little bit left in the bottle before closing Goyle's hand around it. He smirked to himself, half a bottle would be more than enough to knock out the pair; tomorrow, they would wake up with a pounding headache, smelling of firewhiskey, wouldn't even question the missing memories from tonight and then probably slink back to the Slytherin dormitories without causing too much fuss.
Harry turned around and, through a supreme show of will power, maintained his stoic face as he took in the strange proportions of surprise, calculation and fear on Draco and Sirius' faces alike. He brushed past them both, trusting that Sirius would make sure that Draco followed.
He stopped after about two minutes, at a clearing made by a fallen tree that was wider than Harry was tall.
Draco shifted his eyes warily from where he stood at the edge of the clearing. Harry just stared at him, watching his every move. Sirius had maintained a reasonable distance between himself and the blonde, Harry could barely see him.
Harry motioned Draco forward, leaning comfortably against a branch when Draco had reached him. Sirius walked to a point a little to Harry's right.
"Firstly," Harry said sharply, pleased that Draco didn't flinch, "the Harry Potter you know is a lie." Draco slowly raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'oh really?'
Harry ignored the expression on Draco's face, "Secondly, don't ever mistake me for him," Harry allowed a small smile to play around his lips, "thirdly, that is all you need to know about me."
Harry could almost hear Draco's mind working, trying to piece together this information with his own knowledge and memories, "Why am I here?" he asked finally, his voice carefully compromised of curiosity, annoyance and haughtiness.
"You're from a dark family, which makes you marginally more interesting than everybody else at this school, and you've built up quite a reputation over the years, Slytherin prince," Draco narrowed his eyes, ignoring the backhanded insult.
"You went to the trouble of sabotaging my mail, knocking out my friends, making me take an unbreakable vow and lead me into the forbidden forest just to throw me a few compliments?" he replied, irritation not completely covered by the cool Slytherin exterior.
Harry saw Sirius shift his weight uncomfortably at Harry's side.
"I would hardly call them compliments, Little Malfoy," Sirius bit, surprising Harry a bit. He cursed the man in his head, people always were that little bit unpredictable, but forced a small smile to his face and cocked his head as if he was expecting Sirius' input.
Draco turned his attention to Sirius, "No one asked you, you blood-traitor mutt," eyes blazing with anger.
"Which makes you what? Your mother is related to this 'blood-traitor mutt'," Sirius hissed back, equally vehement.
"Enough!" Harry hissed lowly when he saw Draco's wand appear in his hand, glaring at the boy to make him lower it before turning to Sirius to fix him with a hard stare. Stop it. When he was happy that Sirius would keep his mouth shut, he turned back to Draco, whose stance was still aggressive but looked a lot less angry.
"It seems you have him tamed," Draco spoke first, tilting his head towards Sirius.
Harry felt Sirius stiffen beside him and spoke before the older man had the chance, "Teach me."
"Yo – What?" Draco stuttered.
"I know quite a bit of the theory, but I have very little actual experience. Sirius here is a bit out of practise, I'm sure you can understand why, and I need someone more easily accessible."
Draco hesitated for a moment, confusion lurking deep in his eyes, "Teach you what?"
Harry breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Draco had chosen to answer a serious question rather than comment on Sirius' incarceration.
"All those perfect techniques that parents of your breeding teach their children at a young age so that, when it comes to it, they obliterate their opponents in a duel."
Harry watched as Draco sifted through his words, he knew he had understood them when a hard glint came into those frosty eyes.
"Why would I do that?"
"Mutual benefit."
" I'm not the charitable type."
Harry smiled because, really, he should have known that he would never have gotten away with that, "Dumbledore," he said first, letting the word sink in, "You dislike him, I share that opinion. The only difference is that he knows that you and your father are working, indirectly at least, against him."
Draco worked quickly with the information, "And you expect me to believe that not only have you sprinkled pixie dust in his eyes," gesturing in Harry's general direction, "but you would be willing to endanger yourself to help a schoolmate?"
Harry smiled sinisterly in answer.
"That's a very tall order."
"Just say no, I'd love to be the one to obliviate you," Sirius sneered. Harry suppressed the desire to hex Sirius as an angry spark yet again found a place in Draco's eyes.
"You'll have four hours to decide whether or not to believe me," Harry said quickly, realising that this meeting would soon become a mere bickering session between the other two males, he ignored Sirius and fixed his eyes on Draco's with an intensity that couldn't be ignored, "I'll be in dungeon room 47 at half eleven and, if you make the right choice, so will you. Leave your friends where they are for tonight."
Harry waited for Draco's nod of understanding before walking deeper into the forest, motioning for Sirius to follow.
When the clearing was out of sight Harry whirled around suddenly on the spot, causing Sirius to stumble a bit and take a small step back in surprise.
"What the hell was that?" Harry demanded irately. Sirius' mouth formed a thin line as he looked determinedly away from Harry.
"Here's how I see it," Harry started lowly, "either you've got a history with the Malfoys, or you just felt like acting like an idiot in front of someone that I'm trying to court over. I don't even need to tell you how weak I must have looked to him."
Sirius had the grace, or the sense, to look slightly regretful, but his mouth remained tightly shut in a firm line.
Harry's eyes flashed dangerously, "I don't care about the reason, just make sure you never do it again. Find somewhere to live away from here. I don't want to see your face."
Sirius was about to answer, but Harry wordlessly cast a silencio at him before turning to walk deeper into the forest.
Harry sighed when he instinctively knew that Sirius had left, keeping up his unrelenting pace, seeking solace within the trees. How reliable was Sirius, really? He did feel as if they had something in common, abandoned by the people who should have had their backs, near forgotten by the rest of the world, hiding their true selves so they weren't labelled as dark and hauled off to the nearest prison.
But they weren't the same. Sirius had grown up in the wizarding world and, as much as he wanted it to be otherwise, Harry knew that it made all the difference. Sirius' place in the wizarding world had been given to him by his family, Harry had had to carve his out on his own.
x ~ x ~ x
It was twenty nine minutes past eleven. Harry was waiting just outside the door to dungeon room 47, he could just about make out the sound of Draco pacing the room. He smirked inwardly to himself, perhaps a little too relieved to know that he had unsettled a Malfoy, even if Draco didn't hold a candle to his father. He stepped into the room.
"Good."
Draco's eyes snapped to him, diverting behind him slightly to check whether or not he was alone. Draco's expression turned grim as he confirmed that he was.
Harry turned after a moment to shut and lock the door. When he turned back, Draco's wand was pointing straight at his face.
"From what you foolishly told me in the forest, I could take you down right here, right now, with no consequence to myself," Draco bit out harshly.
Harry cursed, perhaps he had shut out too many people in his short life, or perhaps he was just a bit too hasty in his recruitment attempt with Draco.
"You think to knock out my friends, silence me with an unbreakable vow, have your godfather threaten me and then still have the gall to ask for my help?"
Harry cocked his head to the side, mainly so Draco's wand wasn't pointing directly between his eyes, but also to make eye contact with the blonde. Truth be told, he hadn't thought that Draco would see the events in the past hour as he apparently had done. Time to remedy the situation.
"Draco –"
"Don't assume such familiarly," Draco interrupted.
"Malfoy," Harry started again with a pointed look, "first and foremost, I want to tell you that I've always held a somewhat grudging respect for both you and your family." Harry paused for affect.
Draco remained quiet, knowing better than to speak too soon. Harry saw the look in the other boy's eyes, that the flattery was appreciated but ineffective, and nodded inwardly.
"This view happens not to be shared by my godfather, and for that I offer you my sincerest apologies."
Draco gritted his teeth.
"I'd also like to point this out," Harry said, moving the subject along so that Draco didn't have a chance to reject his apology, "we have always seemed to share a certain – understanding of one another, after, or course, our first meeting," he finished, referring to the time he had outright rejected Draco's friendship.
That statement was met with silence. Draco's wand was still mere inches away from his face, and Harry couldn't say he was entirely comfortable with that, but he feigned otherwise as he held Draco's gaze.
Eventually, Draco lowered his white knuckled arm.
"I don't understand you," Draco grudgingly admitted, "you wear the face of an idiot, but there are certain times when I think I see something else beneath it, but it's always so fleeting – I doubt whether I truly saw anything at all."
Harry knew better than to speak when Draco had finally, finally, let his guard down. He didn't need to anyway; he had won as soon as Draco had admitted his uncertainties.
"But then I remember how you were, before –" Draco looked up sharply, trying, and failing, to stop the colour rising on his cheeks.
Harry tilted his head in pseudo curiosity, knowing that mocking the Malfoy heir would mean he would leave without a second thought.
"This is me."
Draco narrowed his eyes.
" – mostly," Harry amended before shooting Draco a crooked smile, "a Slytherin can surely understand this."
Suddenly, a flash of orange erupted from Draco's wand, only missing Harry's face due to his speedy reflexive action of turning to the side. Harry did his best to recover himself, drawing his wand and turning to stare in disbelief at Draco. This development was completely at odds to the tone of the current conversation. He was even less sure of how to proceed when he saw that Draco was standing in a relaxed manner with a small smile on his face.
"First rule of duelling, never let your guard down, especially right after you think you've won."
Harry grinned in response.
x ~ x ~ x
The Ravenclaw common room was blessedly silent by the time Harry had managed to drag himself back to it. He was sore all over, he knew he had made the right choice with Draco, the boy knew his stuff and had so much more experience that it was almost painful. Well, it was painful, but he didn't regret his choice at all.
Harry winced as he started climbing the steps up to the boy's dorm, he knew it to be just past two in the morning and he wanted nothing more than to climb into bed and rest his bruised and battered body. But he hated feeling clammy and dirty, so he forced himself to take a shower before sleeping.
He woke to find Rasp curled around his head, flicking his tongue far too close to Harry's eye for comfort.
~What is it? ~ he asked the serpent despondently, wanting nothing more than to sleep for an extra few hours.
~You seem different,~ Rasp stated, ~happier.~
Harry felt his eyebrows knit together as his sleep addled brain attempted to make sense of that statement. His response died on his lips as he saw sunlight streaming in through a gap in his bed curtains.
Late.
Why had no one woken him? He may be the shame of Ravenclaw house, but he would have thought that his housemates would at least have made sure he woke up on time, even if it was only to maintain appearances.
He hastily called his meagre persona to the forefront of his mind and whisked out of bed. To his alarm, Rasp casually followed him out into the open space.
~It is one of the lazy days,~ Rasp said, confused by Harry's actions, ~You should know this.~
Harry scanned the dormitory, a silencio on the tip of his tongue, ready to curse anybody within sight.
~It is a Saturday,~ he said slowly to himself, ~and there is no one here, or just outside the door.~
Rasp slowly closed and opened his inner eyelids in an equivalent manner of an eye roll.
~Where is Chiana?~
~She is... grown too big to fit in the pipes here.~
Harry nearly laughed at the image of Chiana stuck in the pipeworks, but quickly thought to banish the image from his mind when he realised that it was something the white snake might be privy to. He settled for a serene nod instead.
~She has sought refuge in the forbidden forest,~ said Rasp as he slithered up to wrap his body more gently around Harry's upper torso and falling asleep.
Harry groaned and reached out towards his other familiar with his mind, the snake's own mind was open to him as always, and it didn't take much to sneak in and see through her eyes. Chiana was indeed in the forest, chasing after a small, strange deer shaped animal. He must have been thinking a little bit too hard as suddenly Chiana's attention was focused inwards and at Harry.
'Master?'
'Continue with your hunt, though I would speak with you after the sun has risen highest in the sky,'
'Come here little ratty rat, I'll bite you, then I'll follow you, then I'll eat you all up!' Chiana chanted menacingly, her attention already back on the hunt. Harry didn't know whether to be amused or offended, he decided on the former, knowing Chiana's instability.
That left Harry with a couple of hours to finish his homework, he gathered his books together and headed for the library. It wasn't long before he was settled in the alcove closest to the restricted section, hair ruffled, glasses slightly skewed and worrying the end on his quill for the unlikely occasion when somebody walks by.
Maybe Draco's training session with him had really taken it out of him, of course, it might also be that Harry had seriously been underestimating the young Malfoy heir. Harry wasn't sure which one was worse.
"Potter."
Harry stifled the urge to rub his eyes, instead shifting his grip on his quill before looking up with a startled expression, "M-Malfoy?"
Draco very slightly raised an eyebrow, "we are alone here," he stated.
Harry ducked his head in a show of cowardice, willing his face to pale while discreetly taking a new sheet of parchment and writing a message, "I- I haven't done anything."
He slid the parchment across with one of his spare quills. 'The walls have ears'
Draco read the message, understanding forming quickly in his eyes. He picked out some of his own books and set to work, writing his response.
"Did I ever say you had?"
'We never discussed our next session time.'
Harry considered Draco through his lashes.
'Seventh floor, near the portrait of Barnaby the Barmy, 7:30.'
As soon as Draco had nodded in confirmation, Harry cast a discreet incendio at the parchment and then used that as an excuse to hurriedly pack up his bag and leave, "I've got err... somewhere to be, I'm going to – go. Now. Bye."
Harry left the library and slowly made his way out of the castle.
The noonday sun was exceedingly bright, but spring came late this far north so Harry still wrapped himself in a warming charm as he made his meandering way to the edge of the forbidden forest.
~Master!~ came an exultant hiss from just inside the woods. Harry saw a glimmer of scales in his peripheral vision, immediately reassuring him of Chiana's location.
Harry checked over his shoulder, he was out of sight of the castle, before ducking into the trees. Chiana was immediately at his side, wrapping her considerable weight around Harry's body and resting her head in the crook of Harry's neck. The position was made uncomfortable due to the rabbit sized bulge about three feet down Chiana's neck.
~How big will you grow?~ he hissed quietly to her, having learnt early on it was better to be to the point with Chiana.
Said serpent flicked her tongue out lazily before replying, ~the bigger the better!~
Harry rolled his eyes, ~but how big?~
Chiana moved her head so that her right eye was directly in front of Harry's, who could feel confusion and slight frustration through their bond.
~You can't fit in the pipes up to the tower anymore.~
~The pipes shrank! You can make them bigger again.~ Harry couldn't help but smile fondly at the silver-white snake, opening up their bond fully to send a huge wave of humour and affection through to her.
Chiana blinked at him warily. Harry couldn't help but snort in return, 'we could just find you some bigger pipes. How would you feel about making the Chamber of Secrets your new home?'
Chiana drooped her head and her body became a dead weight around Harry, images of a magnificent, but very dead, basilisk bled through their bond to him.
'She is two years dead, and would it not be better to make her home a glorious and happier place once again? Would she not prefer her prison to become a refuge, would it not put her soul at peace?'
'I – She was alone for so long.'
'We will honour her memory, we will make sure she is never alone again.' Harry offered Chiana a small smile.
'Thank you.' Harry was shocked by the understanding and clarity that he now saw in Chiana's eyes. He put his forehead to the snake's snout.
'You truly are a mystery, my Chiana.'
Harry stopped walking, noticing a change in the atmosphere. He fingered his wand through his robes and carefully recounted his steps. There was a flicker of black in the distance, and Harry's mind understood where he was before he even identified the creatures that were somehow everywhere.
"He brings a snake," one of the creatures spoke.
"My apologies," Harry spoke quickly, "I had no intention of bringing myself or a serpent into acromantulan territories." He warily eyed the countless snapping pincers and the sinister eyes of the giant spiders.
"And yet," another voice boomed across the forest floor, "here you are."
The other spiders seemed to back away in deference to the colossal spider now making its way towards Harry. Now he could understand why Ron feared the things so much.
"It has been two years since humans have trodden our forest. It will not end well for you."
"Please, sir! I am truly apologetic for crossing your territory. If you could show us incredible strength in letting us turn back then I promise to never set foot in your forest again. You have been intruded on before? I can set up wards and barriers to prevent the same from ever happening again, if only you let us go free."
There were a few tense moments of silence before the great spider spoke up again, "I am Aragog, I have ruled this colony and these woods for nigh on fifty years. You thought that I would be cowed by a little speck of a human, you will die for it. My children have long wondered the taste of human flesh, perhaps you can help answer their questions."
The hairs on Harry's neck all stood up on end as he understood the threats of the patriarch.
He had his wand drawn before Aragog had even finished his last sentence. He could not let himself die here. He had only had one training session with Draco, but he could definitely see the effects as he fought to stay alive against these monsters. He cast a featherweight charm on Chiana in order to manoeuvre faster.
"Accio firebolt!" he shouted at the sky before creating a giant ring of fire around him, not caring if he caught a tree or two. The acromantula momentarily paused in their assault, a brave few attempted to jump the flames, but Harry commanded the fire to swell whenever they tried. The smell of burning hair filled Harry's nostrils. The shrill sound of the spider's frustration could just be heard over the roaring flames.
~Bah, I hate spiders! Disgusting filth!~ Chiana spat malevolently.
Harry sent a wave of agreement through their bond, eyes frantically searching the skies for his firebolt from time to time. It was one of these times when a single acromantula worked up the courage to make the leap and click it's pincers in joy when it passed them. Harry had perhaps half a second before the brute was directly in front of him. He felt a little bit of chagrin when he realised that there wasn't enough time to fight back. He hoped that it would be quick at least.
Suddenly, he felt Chiana's body leave his own as the female snake struck out with deadly speed and accuracy.
~MINE!~ she shrieked, ~All mine! You disgusting filthy excuse for a living thing!~ She struck again and again, injecting her deadly poison every time she connected. ~YOU~ strike ~SHALL~ strike ~NOT~ strike ~HAVE~ strike ~HIM!~
Other acromantula saw the wizard falter in the ring of fire and took the opportunity to jump across the flames as well. Harry saw this all happening and quickly doubled the size of the flames around him, intensifying the fires for good measure. He also cancelled the heating charm he had placed on himself earlier. He then turned his attention to more serious matters. The first spider Chiana had struck was now a writhing mess on the floor, emitting high pitch screams as it's insides were slowly melted by Chiana's poison.
Chiana herself was moving at lightning speeds that Harry couldn't quite believe possible, despite the evidence in front of his eyes. He saw one of the spiders aim to trap and cut her body in half.
"Bombarda!" he shouted, effectively blasting the spider away from Chiana's body. He sent a stunner at another one and then a cutting curse when the brilliant red bolt of energy had no visible effect. The cutting curse bit deeply, spraying Harry with black gluey globules of blood that irritated his skin. Realisation dawned on him, right now he had only one worry, Chiana. She had been biting into the damn things and their acidic blood since the battle started.
~Chiana!~ he hissed frantically, "Confringo! Deprimo! Defringo! Tarantallegra!" ~Chiana! Stop biting them! Come to me!~
Harry saw a flash of white and started to make his way towards it, cutting down the spiders that got in his way. He cast a desperate glance at the sky and sighed in relief as he saw the outline of his broom through the haze of the fire.
"Deprimo!" he shouted one final time, his broom was only fifteen feet from him, he looked desperately towards Chiana, realising that he wasn't going to reach her in time he stuck out his arm and pointed his want at her, "Accio Chiana!"
Harry's firebolt found his free arm at exactly the same moment that Chiana's body slammed into him, no longer under the featherweight charm. Harry felt a sudden burning pain in his wand arm, but ignored it in favour of mounting his broom and kicking off the ground. The powerful firebolt ate up the distance between the ground and the tree tops within seconds. Harry felt dizzy with relief and numb with exhaustion and stress. He knew full well that the adrenaline coursing through his body was the only reason he hadn't passed out.
He had just enough sense to cast a disillusionment charm over himself as he turned a quick course to the Chamber of Secret's alternative entrance, making sure that Chiana was securely wrapped around him.
A/N Interesting huh? (feel free to say no... -_-) As always, your opinions do matter, I'm happiest when you're happy, so just tell me how! I suppose you could consider this a mini-cliffhanger. I'll try not to keep you waiting for long, but as you've probably figured out by now, I'm a bit of a lazy writer *cough cough*.
So, smile, leave reviews, and eat cake!
apisci