Chapter 11: Book of Spells
I looked out toward the windows, the view of the grounds blurred by the thickly falling snow.
"Durmstrang students were there with their professors," I began quietly, not meeting Stefan's eyes. "And they set off a dark detector. There was a rush to get out, and I was the last one to leave. I saw..." my head began to pound with a massive, throbbing ache, the aftereffects of a memory spell that had lost only some of its hold. "I saw the students take down a group of full grown security wizards. And then your headmaster saw me, and Obliviated my memory," I said quietly. Stefan's eyes widened, his face whiter than the snow falling on Hogwarts.
"Roxanne, that's not true," he said, his voice ringing oddly loud.
"Yes it is!" I snapped. "I was there! Were you?"
"No!" He said quickly. "I wasn't. Roxanne, I promise you, Nikola is not evil," he pleaded. "I know it's an...erm...well-established fact that at Durmstrang, the Dark Arts aren't as shunned as in other schools..." I looked down, embarrassed. "But I give you my word, Nikola is not evil. None of us are. The Headmaster's just a little bit...intense, that's all."
"Intense?" I laughed, and Stefan broke out in a relieved grin. For a moment, I forgot all about Lucy and he was just Stefan again.
"Yeah," he said, taking my hands.
"I don't think you're supposed to do that, you've got a girlfriend," I chided him, lungs suddenly feeling constricted. Stefan kept his hands in mine for another moment, then let them drop.
"Oh. Right," he murmured.
If you two lovebirds are quite done, I've got something very important to show you.
Fred! I said excitedly in my mind, elated that my uncle was speaking. I hadn't heard from him in a while. And we aren't lovebirds, he's got a girlfriend.
You sound disappointed.
Believe me, I'm not. He could date Minerva McGonagall for all I care.
Suuuure, little lovebird. Er, niece.
"Stefan, Fred's talking!" I said excitedly, and closed my eyes to better concentrate.
You have the Marauder's Map? You better be taking care of my baby...
Of course! I exclaimed mentally. It hasn't come out of my robe pocket.
As long as she can breathe in there.
So, you're going to lead us on another wild chase?
Well, of course! This isn't supposed to be easy for you, you know, Fred said brightly. A smile broke out over my face, and Stefan inhaled sharply.
"What is it?" I opened my eyes and looked at him nervously.
"Hm? Oh. Nothing," Stefan said quickly. His face was slightly red.
"Alright then..." That was odd.
What to do, Fred?
"The Shrieking Shack? The Shrieking Shack? Why would a Death Eater put something in there?" Stefan protested as we patrolled up and down the hallway, looking for the secret passage Fred had informed us of.
"Because it's not a Death Eater, it's Fred," I said pointedly. "And Fred put it there to keep it safe, so no one would find it. Now let's just find this stone..." I ran my hand over the wall, the rough surface making my hand tingle.
"If it really were Fred, why didn't he make this easier? How could he put a book in the house anyway, if he isn't corporeal?" Stefan argued as we continued on. "Or the map in the Chamber of Secrets? You've got to admit, it's pretty damn suspicious."
"I don't know," I said, slightly irritated. I had the sudden urge to ask him sarcastically what his girlfriend thought, but I refrained. "But just because it doesn't make sense doesn't mean it's more likely to be a Death Eater. Now what was it Fred said? Oh yes, that this would lead us out to the grounds of Hogwarts and we'd connect to another passage under the Whomping Willow that would lead us directly there. To the Shrieking Shack, I mean."
"I'll jump between you and any ghouls that come your way." Stefan smiled broadly, our hands brushing.
I scoffed lightly, but smiling so he would know I was kidding. "If you're anything like Toby, I'll be the one jumping in front of you," I muttered under my breath.
"What?"
"Never mind. Here it is!" My eyes grew wide as I found the specific spot on the wall that Fred had told me about. I tapped my wand three times quickly and then twice in a slower pattern after looking both ways. I wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen, but it was probably something the other students shouldn't see.
"Merlin's pants!" I yelped, jumping back in surprise as the wall folded in on itself. Like some sort of living origami, the stone bricks moved inward until a dark set of stairs was waiting in front of us like a black, gaping mouth.
"This looks welcoming," Stefan said sarcastically, taking out his wand. "Still sure your voice isn't a Death Eater?"
I didn't answer, just took a step forward onto the shaking, rickety stairs and lit my wand. As soon as Stefan was in beside me, the stone wall closed back up behind us like it was never there.
I lifted my wand to check the Marauder's Map; the dots labeled 'Stefan Leonov' and 'Roxanne Weasley' weren't there. This passage wasn't on the map.
I looked back up just in time to run into the largest mass of cobwebs I'd ever seen in my life.
"Get it off!" I shrieked, my arms flailing as I stumbled back, tipping over and losing my balance-
"AHHHHH!" I screamed, tumbling over the edge. I shot my hands up in a purely reflexive move and latched on to the side of the staircase, the whole thing shaking precariously. I realized I was still shrieking, then bit my lip so I could concentrate all my energy on holding on. I tried to look over my shoulder, and I could see a tiny spec of light on the floor very, very far down that was my wand. Then it winked out. I turned my head back around and whimpered, swinging my legs a little. Could I fling myself up and get my foot up there?
"Roxanne, hold on!" Stefan shouted, and I heard the distinct sound of his wand falling to the stairs, and then I was forced to watch as it slipped off the staircase, an orb of light that winked out open hitting the ground so far below.
We were plunged into immediate darkness, and both Stefan and I let out curses I probably shouldn't repeat.
"You dropped your wand!" I shrieked, my voice echoing shrilly in the strange place we were in.
"You dropped yourself!" He countered petulantly, and I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see me. "Now please keep talking so I can find where you are and pull you u-"
"ARGHHH!" I suddenly screamed, my muscles beginning to burn as I thrashed back and forth. "The spiders!" I whimpered, closing my eyes and mouth tight. I didn't have arachnophobia (not yet anyway) but let's see you try and endure several large arachnids scampering across your face and into your hair without being able to bat them away.
"Hurry!" I pleaded, relief flooding through my body when I felt Stefan's hands brush against mine.
"Got you!" He announced triumphantly and grabbed my wrists, beginning to hoist me up slowly, and I kicked my legs, putting them on the edge of the stairs so I could give him a little help. As soon as he had me over the edge I stumbled forward into his arms and we sank to the stairs, in complete darkness, just lying there, panting.
I tensed up when I realized we were kind of hugging each other. I was glad for the darkness because I was sure my face was bright red.
"Oh, um." Stefan coughed, and his arms vanished. I felt him get to his feet next to me, and I did the same.
I quickly removed all the spiders from my hair by shaking my head viciously, batting at them like they were poisonous scorpions. When the last of the web was disentangled from my hair, I felt Stefan's hand slip into mine.
"What are you doing?" I squeaked, eyes wide.
"We don't want to fall again. There's no railing, and now no light," he explained rationally, and I entwined my fingers with his.
"Okay," I said weakly, and together we began to move down the stairs.
We finally hit the bottom, and I let out a sigh of relief. "We've got to find the wands now," I groaned, not looking forward to the task or shuffling around in the pitch black looking for two tiny objects that could be anywhere from where we were standing now to back further than we knew.
"Can you, by any chance, do wandless magic?" Stefan proposed, his hand still in mine.
"Accio wand," I said weakly, with no response. He tried the same, and then sighed, defeated.
"Should we split up?" I asked tentatively.
"We better stick together." He squeezed my hand, and I could just hear the smirk in his voice. "Don't you want to hold my hand, Weasley?"
I scoffed, bumping his shoulder." You've got a girlfriend, Leonov." He didn't respond, so I began to pull him forward.
"Why'd you ask her to be your girlfriend?" I asked softly after a while. "Do you like her?"
"That's usually why people ask other people such questions, isn't it?" Stefan teased, but there was also a note of...something else in his voice. Bitterness?
"But you hadn't even gone on any dates with her," I protested, my insides feeling funny.
"You just didn't notice." Stefan's voice was hard.
"I do notice," I said softly. I just don't always like to see who you're taking to Hogsmeade this week, I added silently in my head. Then I really began to feel like running, or screaming, or both.
I bent down suddenly, my hand falling out of Stefan's as I reached for my wand.
"Lumos," I whispered, standing up. My heart thumped wildly as I realized how close I was standing to Stefan; he was just inches away, his dark eyes reflecting the light of the wand. His dark hair was sticking up everywhere, like he'd repeatedly run his hands through it. His skin looked ghostly pale in the wandlight, which made his eyes look even darker. I blushed, looking down at my feet.
Stefan's hand was suddenly on my cheek, soft as a whisper, and he was looking at me with such intense pain evident in his eyes that my heart stopped with a sudden thud, my whole body frozen with shock. I couldn't look away, and without realizing it we had both begun to lean forward.
Bloody hell, was Stefan going to kiss me?
I turned my face away at the last second, squeezing my eyes shut and biting my lip hard.
"Lucy," I whispered, and Stefan backed away, his hand vanishing from my face. My skin felt cold where he had left it. "You're dating Lucy."
Stefan let out a harsh, barking laugh. "Wow." The strange look that had taken hold of his features was replaced by a carefully constructed mask. "Let's just...that was a mistake. Let's just pretend it didn't happen."
"Sure," I snapped, hurt, and looked away so he couldn't see the tears forming in my eyes. "Accio wand." Stefan's wand shot into his hand, and he gave me a cocky smile. Like what had just happened was completely in my imagination. Maybe it was.
"So," I cleared my throat, refusing to look at him. "Onward." Bloody hell, did I really just say onward?
I plowed ahead of Stefan, searching for a way out.
Soon we came across a small tunnel that looked like it was carved straight out of rock; we followed it until it narrowed more and more and then completely stopped.
"Well," I spoke finally, breaking the silence. "What now, Fred?" I murmured.
Silently, the wall to our left shimmered and vanished. We stepped out into yet another tunnel, this one wider and brighter. I took a few steps backward, and glanced out of the opening.
"Bloody hell! We're actually here! Under the Whomping Willow!" I exclaimed excitedly, forgetting about all the awkwardness for a moment. After all, I didn't fancy Stefan. He was just attractive, that's all.
I could see snow-covered Hogwarts looming above us a bit further back, and it was strange to think we'd gotten all the way from inside there to down here without stepping one foot outside.
"This way," Stefan called, waving me forward. I turned back around, following him until we came straight into the Shrieking Shack itself.
Door hinges moaned and creaked ominously, and even though it was sunny outside, it was dark and dank in here, like we were in a completely separate world.
Ratty, torn curtains swayed in the completely still room, and I wrapped my arms around myself as a violent shiver swept through my body.
I was getting a very bad feeling from this shack; every single wall was scratched and covered with what looked to be long dried blood. The ceiling was dropping with water and the floor creaked just about everywhere. Everything was shadowed in grays and blacks.
I took a step forward, and a small splashing sound made me look down.
I let out a strangled gasp as I realized it was blood-fresh blood-which I'd been standing in.
"Roxanne, tell me," Stefan's voice came from a distant room. "Where exactly did your voice say this thing was he needed to show us?"
"His name is Fred." I could barely keep the trembling out of my voice. Stefan must have sensed something was wrong, because he ran towards me as I stepped out of the puddle, blood seeping into my shoes.
I quickly preformed a cleaning spell, but I still couldn't get the feeling out my mind that someone's-or something's-blood had soaked through my socks.
"Let's search for this...whatever it is. Can the-er-Fred-talk to you from here?" I was still thinking about the whole almost-kissing incident, but I forced myself to shut it away in the back of my mind-for the best. I was good at that. I resolved not to think about it anymore.
Fred? I called. Can you hear me?
Clear as mud. Wait, no. I mean, clear as a bell! Fred corrected himself.
What exactly is it you're trying to have us find?
It's a book. And it's wonderful. Bloody hell, I can't believe I just said that! Anyway, it's really going to help you. And it's in the bathroom. Obviously, you know that taking me from where I am now and bringing me back into your world, there's risk involved. You know that you could accidentally bring back a Death Eater.
Well, yeah, I said tentatively. But I really don't know much else. I mean, how in the world would I get you out of there in the first place?
The book will give all the answers. Fred's voice was growing tinnier and further away. Roxanne, I'm so sorry I couldn't be of more help...
I let out a sigh. He was gone, again.
"A book," I announced.
"A book?" Stefan raised an eyebrow. "What sort of book?"
"Er...a helpful one, he said. He also said...it's in the bathroom."
"A bathroom. Lovely. So when your voice has to go, he's got a bit of reading to keep him occupied while he-"
"Oh, stuff it," I laughed, punching his shoulder. He grinned broadly, hitting me back.
"Ouch!" I yelped, pretending to be hurt.
"Oh, come off it, Weasley," Stefan rolled his eyes, ruffling my hair. "I barely touched you."
"Oh, come of it, Leonov," I mocked in a high-pitched voice. "I'm going to find the bathroom before you do."
"A challenge!" Stefan bellowed, and took off down the hallway in front of me. "Ha! Found it!" He announced before I could even stick my head in one door. "Yeah, it's definitely...urgh."
"What, is Leonov scared by a wittle bit of-" I stopped suddenly, nearly bumping into Stefan. "That is disgusting."
The whole floor was coated with a layer of-there was no other way to put it-slime. It looked like some sort of combination of petrified urine, and muck, and blood. And it reeked. A rat scampered across the floor, and I could tell even vermin were anxious to exit this room.
"Oh, that's foul," I choked, holding my mouth and nose. The mirror was shattered, and all sorts of centipedes and bugs were crawling all over it.
"Let's get this over with," Stefan heaved.
"Accio book," I gasped, my eyes watering with the sour smell. A tile from the shower-I'm not even going to go into detail about how gross the shower was-flew off and hit the opposite wall, and from a dusty slot an old book sailed out and into my hand.
"Let's get out of here," I managed to gasp out, and with the book in my hand Stefan and I flew down the passageways and back into Hogwarts.
"So let me get this straight." I put the book down, rubbing my tired eyes. We had found the book early afternoon, and by now the sun had long set. "On March 21st, something happens in the atmosphere to make this place that the souls are captured in...something happens to make it accessible to us. Right?" I began, and Stefan nodded. All of this was so complex and detailed that we had to talk through it several times to get it straight.
"But," Stefan began. "You can't just pop in and out of this...dimension, we'll call it. It's sort of like letting your mind drift into it, and that takes very extensive training-"
"That we've somehow got to master in a month," I moaned, putting my head in my hands. We weren't technically supposed to be in the library this late; we had one lantern that cast a flickering orange light over the book we'd found in the Shack earlier. We'd duplicated it so both Stefan and I had a copy.
"It's okay, we've got each other! It says right here the training process will be much easier if you've got a partner." Stefan was trying to encourage me, but I just buried my face into my arms. Less than a second later, my whole body tensed as Stefan's hand rubbed circles on my back, easing the stress but also creating a different sort of tension. I opened my mouth, then closed it. I wasn't going to remind him for the second time this day that he had a girlfriend. Besides, he just had his hand on my back. Friends do that, right?
"It's going to be alright, Roxanne," Stefan said softly, and I lifted my head to meet his eyes. He had scooted closer to me, hand warm between my shoulders.
"What if I fail?" I whispered. "Not only if we don't make it in time, I'm not worried about that. But...it said in the book that the souls will be indistinguishable from one another. How will we know which one is Fred? What if we take the wrong one back?"
"You won't," Stefan promised, holding his arms open for a hug. "We'll do this, Roxanne, okay? I promise, we'll get him back." I rested my head on his chest and his arms went around my back, but only for a moment. There was Lucy Brookes to think of, after all.
"Let's look at this first exercise," I started, pointing to the page. "It looks like some sort of...meditation." I was now regarding the pictured explanation with suspicion. "How is...how is twisting myself into that uncomfortable position going to help my mind's energy flow better?"
"Ow ow ow!" Stefan gasped and swore, toppling off the chair he was trying to balance against. "Bloody hell Roxanne, how are you doing that?" He growled, wincing and holding his ankle.
I peeked out from under my knee, opening my eyes. "Shush Leonov, I'm trying to communicate with my inner self," I whispered, and began to crack up. Stefan let out a very loud snort and suddenly he was laughing as well; I tumbled out of my pretzel position and on the floor next to Stefan, hair splaying out behind my head. We looked at each other and burst out into hysterics once more.
"Why-are-we-laughing?" I gasped several minutes later, wiping tears from my eyes.
"It is two o' clock in the morning," Stefan let out a high-pitched laugh, which set me off in another round of laughter.
"You sound drunk," I snorted, clapping him on the shoulder and rising to a sitting position, turning and looking back down at him on the floor.
"Let's wait till tomorrow, okay Roxanne?" His dark eyes searched mine, a small smile on his lips. My heart gave a huge lurch, and a surge of emotions washed through me. Longing, disappointment, hope.
Yeah, I was a goner.
"Roxanne?"
I tumbled out of my chair with a startled shriek. "What?" I hissed at Scorpius Malfoy, quickly clambering back onto the chair I'd fallen out of.
"You alright, Roxanne?" Scorpius looked at me oddly, and I nodded quickly. I certainly didn't want Al's best friend knowing that I had just been watching Stefan and Lucy laugh and talk with their heads leaned in toward each other like they were telling secrets. My heart was heavy with hurt, and I felt completely betrayed by Stefan.
"Er, yeah. Just fine. What's up?" I was expecting him to ask me about homework or something; we had a free hour, and Scorpius had just left Rose scribbling on her parchment, probably writing out twice the required length.
"Can I...can I talk to you out there?" Scorpius jerked his head toward the hallway, looking very awkward indeed.
"Sure." I nodded, taking pity on him. I stood up, scooting my chair back, and followed him out. We had to pass Lucy and Stefan on the way out, but he didn't notice. In fact, he leaned forward and kissed Lucy on the cheek, pulling her closer to him.
I drew in a sharp intake of breath, and suddenly my eyes were stinging. How could I fancy Stefan this much, this quickly? I realized that maybe, just maybe, it was because I'd cared for him longer than I cared to admit.
"This is good." Scorpius stopped, pulling me into a corner.
"Hm?" That was all I could manage to ask. I blinked furiously, trying my hardest to get the image of Stefan and Lucy out of my mind. I unclenched my fists, and tried to take a deep breath.
"You sure you're alright?" Scorpius was looking pretty concerned now, his blond brow furrowed.
"I'm fine," I smiled at him shakily. For Merlin's sake Roxanne! I screamed at myself in my head. See? I didn't need Fred speaking into my mind to have a mental conversation. He's just a damn boy; don't lose your head over this!
"Well, this is about..." Scorpius took a deep breath. "Rose. I think...I don't know, I just...I have this feeling about her, I think...I think that I love her!" He broke out into a silly grin, and now it was my turn to be confused.
"Er, Scorp? I'm no relationship expert, but...shouldn't you be telling Rose this?"
"I know, I know," he said quickly, twisting his hands nervously. "But I can't! She's just so...and I'm so...whenever I try...what if she doesn't love me back?" His eyes were wide and pleading, like his whole happiness depended on my answer.
"Oh, I'm sure she does," I nodded.
"Has she told you anything?" Scorpius asked hopefully.
"We haven't been talking much lately, we've both been pretty busy...but between us, I can just tell by now she looks at you," I smiled at him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"D'you really-"
"Roxanne?" Stefan's voice was right behind me. I whirled around, and his eyes were wide.
"What's wrong?" I exclaimed, whirling around and taking my hand off Scorp's shoulder.
"You just..." he looked rather pale and his eyes flitted to Scorpius accusingly. "Never mind. Can we talk?"
"What about Lucy?" I blurted, and Stefan opened and closed his mouth.
"What?" He sounded disoriented, and neither of us noticed when Scorpius slipped away.
"Lucy Brookes, your girlfriend," I hissed through clenched teeth. "Wouldn't you rather be spending time with her?"
Stefan's eyes widened and he stepped forward toward me, so I had to look up to meet his gaze. "Roxanne, what are you talking about?"
"Well, you certainly seem to be spending a lot of time with her. I mean, she is your girlfriend and all, but we've got this huge task to do and we've got to figure out what exactly what we're going to do, and keep practicing all that mental stuff about opening our minds..." I was perfectly aware that I was babbling, but for some reason I was terrified of what would happen if there was a silence between us.
"So what's Lucy in particular got to do with anything?" He folded his arms. "I spend time with other people, too."
"Lucy the most!" I corrected. "And how long have you been dating her, two days now?" I barked a short laugh.
"You're jealous, that's what!" Stefan shouted, taking another step in so we were practically nose to nose. "You can't handle the fact that I've got a girlfriend who isn't you, even though I just walked in on you and Scorpius practically getting it on-"
"Bloody hell, I had my hand on his shoulder!" I screeched, punching Stefan in the arm. "You're so arrogant that you think every girl must be in love with you! Well I've got news for you, Leonov, this one isn't!" I snarled, eyes flashing as I stalked off.
How I ended up in the Quidditch field, I wasn't exactly sure. I mean, yeah, I'd walked. But why I'd gone there, I had no clue.
I picked out Laine's broom and sat on it, just sitting there and flying at a snail's pace, never going higher than taking my toes from dragging in the snow-covered ground.
I stared straight ahead of me, eyes unfocused. What exactly had just happened? Stefan and I just had a huge row, and now I was strangely numb. I wasn't even sure what the fight had been about. I pulled the book out of my pocket that Fred had shown us. It had no title, and the thing was one hard page turn away from the dark emerald green binding separating from the rest of the pages.
I flipped past the meditation session, figuring I was already in tough with my inner self or whatever. So far, it all sounded like bloody rubbish to me.
Section 2: Travelling into the Place of the Souls
I did as it told me, and took my wand out. I breathed in deeply several times, and murmured the spells around my body that it indicated, in the correct order and position. It had said that anything happening on the first try was extremely unlikely, but almost immediately the air in front of my face shimmered like a living thing. The lines of Hogwarts and the field were blurred slightly, like my eyes were watering.
"Who's there?" I started, and whirled around. I blinked, trying to get a clear picture of where I was. I let out a moan of frustration when my vision only worsened.
Whispers swished closer to my ears than farther away, tantalizing me with what they were saying. I couldn't make out a word. I frantically continued with the spell, shutting my eyes tight. Who cared if Stefan wasn't here, who cared if a second person was "strongly recommended?" I could do it myself.
When I opened my eyes again, the Quidditch pitch was much darker, and the outline of the spectator stands were blurry. I couldn't hear any of the wind that I had when I'd first come down, and now the whispers were much clearer. The air around my rippled and moved like it was more solid than anything; it shimmered like oil. I realized with a panic that I couldn't move a muscle.
"-haven't seen a living soul in ages, what does she think she's doing?"
"I haven't got the faintest idea, she's either got to be completely mental or very powerful...shush! She's looking!" The voices sounded warped, as though they were underwater.
I tried to turn my head, but only succeeded in moving a millimeter to the right.
"Help me!" I tried to scream through my closed lips. I tried with all my might to reach for my wand, but I was frozen in this thick air, like I was petrified.
I was breathing fast, my heart beating out a panicky beat. What if I died here, frozen to my broom, half in and half out of this dimesion?
"Help!" I tried to scream again, and this time I felt cold hands close in a vice-like grip around my arms.
"AHHH!" I began to scream as a horrid yanking and pulling sensation overtook my body. My head began to pound and the thick air warped and twisted around me, like it wasn't ever going to let me go. I struggled against the thing grabbing onto me, but it was no use. I was stuck.
My heart continued to thump until the sound of it filled my ears; I could hear nothing else.
A splitting pain hammered itself into my head, and a ripping sensation tore through my body. I let out a wailing shriek, and passed out from pain.