Disclaimer- Nope. Not. Mine.
Chapter 11
Harry blinked rapidly as he stepped into the room beyond the door. The room was so bright. Although, such things do occur when one finds that they are surrounded by white walls. Once his eyes had adjusted to the rapid scenery change, they fell upon the opposing wall which housed climbing pegs, leading to a window situated near the rooms ceiling, positioned several feet above his head.
"Ah." He intoned softly. Taking supreme caution, he crept across the room, approaching the far wall, placing one hand upon the closest peg with extreme trepidation. When skin met metal, nothing happened. Sighing quietly, he mounted the wall and made only the sightliest of advancements. Again, nothing happened.
That is, until he attempted to advance once more.
"Ah, ah, ah." A voice trilled from his right. Startled Harry shifted his gaze from the space above him to his side, losing his balance and falling swiftly to the ground. "Has no one taught you the value of concentration?" The voice mocked, though Harry found no retort willing to cross his lips, he was far too transfixed by the face that seemed to have emerged from the wall. "Silly little boy. So many things to learn." The face continued to taunt him.
"I hardly think..."
"You're right, you do hardly think." The voice sought to silence him, growing menacing. "That's what got you and your friends in this mess after all isn't it? Your inability to think."
"No." Harry spoke softly to the ground.
"They all look to you as some sort of leader, and what do you do? Hm, can you answer me that Potter? What have you done for the lot of them, aside from lead them to the lions den, coaxing them to their death."
"No." He spoke a little above a whisper, louder than before.
"It's all fun to you, isn't it Potter? Watching others suffer at your hand. Watching them look to you so that you can see them fall. You enjoy their pain, their suffering despite your agreived front."
"No." Harry raised his head, affronted, disgusted.
"That's why the hat wanted to place you in Slytherin. That's where you belong after all isn't it?"
"NO!" Harry shouted coming to his feet, meeting the faces gaze.
The room grew still, quiet aside from the echo of Harry's words bouncing continually off the walls. "Is that so." The face spoke the question as a statement, a fact rather than a possibility. "You didn't lead your friends into this future?" The voice asked softly as images consumed the rooms four walls as well as the floor and ceiling. Two depicted a member of the trio, excluding Harry himself. Another depicted Fred, and the last three held images of Ginny, Neville and Luna.
Each occupant was beaten and battered. Not a one of them was standing. Ron was struggling to his feet, only to be blown backward several yards, landing with a sickening thud. He didn't move as a cloaked figure moved towards him. In another image, Hermione was kneeling, trying to resist the spell that was currently being cast upon her. Fred was struggling against a tree branch that had been bewitched to strangle him, while Ginny and Luna in their respective panels were being spun around in the air. Neville writhed on the ground in obvious agony.
Tears formed at the corners of Harry's eyes. "Do you enjoy the future you're leading them into?" The silky voice questioned. The images disappeared as Harry's continence became fierce and he turned to regard the face protruding from the wall.
"That isn't the future."
"What if I said it is? What if I said that is what you are walking into?" The voice sneered. "What if I gave you the option to escape such a fate?" The voice whispered conspiratorially as a door materialized. "Would you walk through that door and never look back? Would you go free, or would you make the sacrifice? How dear is your freedom?"
"What about the others?" Harry's face grew impassive.
"What about the others?" The voice mimicked. "What about the others indeed."
✤
Luna stepped through a door all her own, only to be accosted by a darkness so complete, that not even her hand was visible when she waved it just in front of her eyes. "Well this is lovely." Luna muttered.
Cautiously she took several small steps forward, sticking her arms out in front of her and awkwardly waving them about. So far, so good. She thought as she made it safely through some portion of the room. However, just as she took to expanding her blind exploration of the room a bright light shot on, at first directed directly into her eyes, before fitfully flickering on and off, focusing on different sections of the stark room each time.
Stunned and startled Luna stumbled backward, falling to the ground, fruitlessly shielding her eyes. "You embark on a future known and not." A voice boomed, emerging like smoke. Nowhere and all around her all at once. "Ignorance, your own and others, guide your every move, but in this moment all that remains is you."
The room fell silent and a ringing developed in Luna's ears. It was in this moment that she realized she could no longer see.
Frantically, she began running her hands along her face, willing herself to see the world around her. The voice laughed roughly. "Ah, and here you are." It snarled. "This is where being one of a team gets you." Heavy boots clanked against the floor near her, and the next moment a pair of arms were lifting her from the ground. "Here is your choice." The unknown individual whispered in her ear, their breath hot against her neck
"To your left dwells a door through which you may make your exit. Behind it lies a life apart from the strife you have sought to enter, and your eyesight. To your right however there is a wall upon which reside pegs that may be used to hoist yourself toward a window where you may continue in your voyage, taking with you your inability to see." Luna could hear the sadistic smile that had overtaken the beings face. "What, m'dear, will it be?"
Stalling the decision, Luna took a deep breath. "What of the other's? What happens to them if I choose the door?"
"It's your eyes, or your cohorts. You can't have them both. Which will you sacrifice?" The voice dripped with malicious glee.
✤
Hermione stepped softly through the room that vaguely resembled the living room of her parents house. The air was still and stale, making it uncomfortable to breath. Seated on the couch just before her were her parents, speaking quietly to each another, completely oblivious to her presence. Tears sprang to her eyes unbidden.
Coming to stand behind the couch, she extended her hand seeking to rest it on her mom's shoulder, only to find an impermeable wall built between her parents and herself.
"No, no, no." A silky voice emerged from behind her. "You may look, but must not touch." Swiftly, she turned on her heal, seeking to identify who was behind her, only to be greeted by a very blank wall. "Silly, silly girl. Seeking things that are not meant to be found." Slowly she whirled back around, once more finding her parents, blissfully unaware.
"How can this be?" She murmured softly. "How can they be here?"
"Many things may happen, many things seen or done, or believed." The voice answered vaguely. "And herein, comes your choice. Beyond that door, present at your right, you may perhaps find your parents, and the world that has been ripped away from you. Or." The voice paused. "Or indeed, you may continue your present course, moving toward a fate that remains uncertain by turning instead to your left, and climbing the pegs placed upon the wall that you will find there."
Hermione cast a longing look towards her parents. "There is no guarantee?" Though it came out as a question, it was meant as a statement. Turning her gaze briefly to the door, and then to the pegged wall she spoke again. "What of everyone else?"
"Which is your sacrifice? Who is your sacrifice?"
✤
Neville took several steps through the door that had possessed his name. The walls were a creamy shade of beige, there were no pictures on the walls. He was fleetingly reminded of the hall leading to his parent's room in their hospital ward. That is of course, until he came to their door.
The reminder was no longer quite so fleeting.
Deeply befuddled, he pushed the door open and slipped inside. His prior puzzlement was nothing in comparison to the astonishment he felt upon entering the room. Seated on the couch in the corner were his parents which in itself was not all that strange, except their expressions were far more animated than usual, and when he entered the room they turned to him expectantly.
He was speechless.
"Neville, darling!" His mother exclaimed rising from the couch, and practically sprinting across the room. "Oh dear, there you are. We were beginning to wonder where you had gone off to."
He blinked rapidly, shaking his head slightly. "No, I... I'm right here. Mum? What's... I don't quite understand..."
"Come, come darling." She cheerily replied ushering him further into the room.
"Neville, my boy, there you are at last." His father offered a smile, patting him on the back. "We're almost all set to go."
"Yes, the doctor would just like to have a word with you dear." His mother replied, pointing behind Neville with a swift shake of the head. In a daze he turned, expecting to find a medi-witch or wizard, only to be greeted by a face protruding from the wall instead. Hesitantly, he took a few steps away from his parents, and moved toward the face in the wall.
"Here you must make your choice." A deep voice vibrated through the room. "Should you wish it, you may leave through the door to your immediate left." The voice paused as Neville acknowledged the presence of an alternate door for the first time. "Or." The voice cut off once more, as the face caught and maintained eye contact with Neville. "You may choose to venture further on this path that you have chosen to follow thus far, in which case you may pursue the pegs which line the wall to your right and make your exit through the window above."
The room fell silent as Neville surveyed his options. His gaze soon fell upon his parents. Two of the most important people in his life, who had given everything to be a part of the cause that he now found himself a part of. The figure followed his gaze.
"Do you go through those doors with the possibility of those dearest to you waiting on the other side? Or do you go forward with those who have struggled just as you have? Which path do you choose, and which do you sacrifice?" The voice whispered devoid of emotion.
Once more Neville's eyes traveled the path between his two options, before focusing once more upon his parents on the other side of the room. Which path indeed.
✤
Fred moved confidently through his door. Upon entering he was only mildly surprised to find himself standing in the middle of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. What stopped him in his tracks however was what he saw in front of counter directly before him.
Granted, he had a twin brother, but it's one thing to look at a near mirror image of yourself. It's not everyday that you actually find yourself standing across the room from... yourself. Even running across himself however, was not generally a thing to stop him in his tracks.
Running across himself proposing to Hermione however, that was another matter all together.
Across the room, the faux Fred was down on one knee before a wide-eyed Hermione. A smile lit his whole face, and fleetingly he wondered if he always looked like such a love-sick fool when he and Hermione were together. Better to look the fool, than filled with all this worry. He thought, continuing to survey the scene from a distance.
His heart swelled as he watched her nod her head vigorously, and began talking a mile a minute. The stream of unheard words ceasing only when Fred rose and covered her mouth with is own, embracing her tightly.
He had to look away, fighting the tears that welled in his eyes. Would he ever have that? A voice rose from behind him. "You could. You could walk right into that future." Resisting the shock that threatened to register on his face, Fred turned. A cloaked figure stood in the corner, covered from head to foot. The room's caretaker. "There are options for you here."
"What could those options possibly be?" Fred inquired, resisting the urge to turn back around.
He could hear the smirk lacing the figures voice when next it spoke. "You've followed one path to this point, forsaking everything to reach an end that you know nothing of. It can't have been easy."
It's toying with me. "Of course not. Most things aren't." Fred answered flippantly. The figure took a step forward and Fred stood his ground. It nodded what he could only presume was its head.
"You are faced with two options at this fork in the road. The first of those options is to walk through that door, present at you left and leave all that you've been moving towards behind, pursuing instead the reality played out behind you." The figure paused, Fred didn't dare move, refusing to give in and look behind him. "Or... you could take the route to your right, and choose to climb the pegs embedded into the wall before climbing through the window above and meeting your fate." The figure walked forward until the two of them were standing toe to toe. "A sacrifice must be made, what will be yours?"
The figure evaporated into thin air, leaving Fred to make his choice.
✤
Ron stepped into the room, only to find that it was less of a room and more of a walled in maze. Cautiously he moved through the first rung of it, finding that navigation wasn't going to be an issue, he took several more steps into its depths. This is the opening on either side of him closed.
Mirrors formed on the four close walls. "Hello Ronald." The four images spoke in precise unity, their voices emitting from mouths' distinctly his own, though not a one possessed his tone of voice. "Mighty kind of you to join us."
Ron crinkled his brow. "What is this?"
"What do you want it to be?" The image to his right questioned.
"What could it be?" The image to his left added.
"What will it be?" The image directly behind him whispered severely.
"That is all up to you." The image before him said, catching his eyes in a fierce glare. "You must make your choices." He continued. The box fell silent as a small frown made its way onto Ron's face. A sinister smirk crept across the face of the image directly in front of him just before it began to chant. "Scared, Ickle Fickle Ronnykins?" On all sides the walls inched forward, continuing their path as each of the images began to join in the chant one by one.
Ron looked around him frantically, looking for an escape route that didn't exist. "No, no, no, no." He muttered to himself, extending his arms forward, pushing at the glass. The panels continued on unfazed. "No!" He shouted. "No!"
The image facing him began to laugh heartily, taking great pleasure from his frenetic attempts to save himself. "No." Ron spoke harshly, making eye contact with the front image before thrusting his fist squarely in the images face. The glass panel shattering, and in rapid succession the other three followed suit. Crying out, Ron cupped his bleeding hand in the other uninjured one, he fell on his knees, tucked his head down, trying to avoid the onslaught of flying glass shards.
Softly the tinkling of glass hitting the floor faded, and Ron raised his head just enough to watch as the remaining panels of the maze fell one after the other fading from existence. Once the way was cleared, a figure in a billow cloak marched forward and stood before him. "You've chosen to continue forward, but where will you go?" A deep voice enveloped the room. "There are two option before you, two roads which may be taken. On the one hand you may use the door to your left, make your exit and forgo the pain and suffering which awaits." The figure nodded toward Ron's hand. "Through the door you may save your hand. On the other hand, you may choose to turn to your right and master the climbing wall which leads a window through which you may make an exit and surrender to the fate you have pursued."
Ron looked between his two options, a question lingering in his eyes. "Which do you sacrifice? Your hand, or your friends? Your comfort or your piece of mind?" The figure fell momentarily silent. "The choice is yours alone." The cloaked figure turned and sauntered away, leaving Ron to formulate and enact his decision.
✤
Ginny stepped through the threshold of the door with her name above it. The room was stark white aside from table that greatly resembled the table in the kitchen at the Burrow. Seated at the seat furthest from her was a sole individual whose face was buried upon the tabletop. Curiously Ginny approached the rooms center, coming to stand on the opposing side of the table.
At the moment she placed her palms against the tabletop, the person at the head of the table sat up. Molly Weasley faced her daughter, but seemed to look beyond her instead of at her.
"All of them." She murmured softly. "My babies, all of them have gone. Where have they gone?" Her voice wavered and fresh tears retraced the tracks that had been forged by those previously cried. She brought her fingers up and caressed her mouth, before forming them into a tight fist and pressing it against her lips.
Ginny blinked her eyes rapidly, holding her tears at bay. "Mum." She whispered, Molly didn't move, didn't acknowledge her. "Mum. I'm here. I'm okay." Molly still didn't acknowledge her. A single tear traced down Ginny's cheek and she whispered, "I'm coming soon, I'm on my way."
A hand fell upon Ginny's shoulder. "She cannot hear you while you are here." A soft voice informed her. The hand evaporated, and the disembodied voice continued. "For that to occur you must take the first option, which his to make your exit through the door to your left. That option will remove you from the path you have followed thus far, but will allow for you to resume the life you have abandoned." The voice paused. "However, if you so choose, you may take the second option which is to turn to your right complete the course marked by the pegs attached to the wall until you come to the window where you may make your exit and give in to your fate."
"Ultimately," The voice continued. "The choice is yours to make, and yours alone." The voice fell silent for a long interval of time before adding, "Which will you sacrifice?"
✤
Ron tumbled through the window, which was thankfully at ground level with the floor of the room he was entering. Wincing, he wrapped his hand in the bottom of his shirt and held it close to his body. "Bloody fantastic." He muttered darkly to himself.
"Hello? Hello!" At the sound of another's voice, Ron swung himself around to find Luna stumbling around with her arms stretched out before her.
"Luna? Have you gone mad? What are you doing?" Ron questioned.
"Gee Ron, what does it look like I'm doing?" Luna answered exasperated. "I can't see."
"You can't see? What do you mean you can't see, it's not that dark in here!"
"Ron, I can't see. I'm blind, I've gone blind."
"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed, jumping to his feet and rushing to Luna's side.
"Thanks." Luna sighed. At that moment Harry emerged from one of the other windows.
"Harry, there you are." Ron greeted him. Harry's eyes were red, it appeared as though he had been crying recently, though Ron wouldn't dare mention it. Who knows what Harry had found in his own room.
"Ron, your bleeding!" Harry exclaimed, making his way over to the pair. Ron looked down at his hand.
"What's going on? Are you hurt? Where are you hurt?" Luna inquired urgently, her voice laced with worry. She was 'looking' everywhere but at Ron and Harry. Harry shot a questioning gaze in her direction.
"Luna lost her eye sight." Ron supplied. "And I'm fine, both of you, really it's nothing. My hands just sliced up a bit, that's all."
"Here." Luna said, untangling her hand from the crook of Ron's arm so that she could fiddle with the sash she had tied up in her hair. "Have Harry wrap your hand tightly in this." Luna instructed, holding out the sash. Harry picked it up and began bandaging Ron's hand just as Ginny pushed her way through her own window.
"There you slackers are." Ginny kidded, the relief obvious in her voice as she strode across the room. "What's going on?"
"My hand got cut up a bit, it's nothing serious." Ron supplied, catching Ginny's gaze falling on the hand.
"And I've gone blind." Luna informed her, still facing a wall on the opposing side of the room. "Though I suppose matters could be far worse. All of my appendages are still in tact."
Ginny nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. Her hands had taken to shaking since making it out of the room. Seeing her mothers image so upset had shaken her more than she had initially thought. "You alright Gin?" Harry asked, looking up from wrapping Ron's hand for the first time.
"Yeah, I'm great." Ginny offered, trying to get a smile to cross her face. "Here let me finish that." She offered, moving forward to take up wrapping her older brother's hand. "What'd you do, get in a fist fight with a brick wall?"
"Something like that."
Neville was next to emerge from his own window, ambling over to the growing group in the center of the large chamber. He seemed shaken, and yet the happiest anyone could ever recall seeing him. "You all made it." He spoke the most obvious of observations.
"Thankfully. Though really, I can't own that I know quite where I am. At this point everything appears the same." Luna replied. Neville sent a questioning look in Ginny's direction.
"Luna's gone blind." She supplied, tying off the sash around Ron's hand. "And Ron here got into a fight with a wall of some sort, obviously he lost." She said with a smirk. "You, Harry and I seem to be the only one's thus far to emerge relatively unscathed." Neville nodded.
"Relatively being the operative word." Harry quipped. After a time the five of them sat in a circle in the rooms relative center. Two windows remained, as each window was swallowed up and made a part of the wall.
"What are we going to do about Luna?" Ron asked after several moments of silence. "It won't be safe for her without being able to see." Ron clarified.
"Well Ron, you could be the ever gallant male and offer to be her knight in shining armor. Between her inability to see and your dud hand you'd be all set to make the bad guys rue the day the ever thought to attack the pair of you." Ginny offered, smirking as Ron turned tomato red around the ears.
"I think Ron was trying to get you to step up to the task Gin." Harry supplied, trying to hide the slight amusement from his face.
"Is that so?" Ginny replied heatedly, fixing her older brother with quite the glare.
"That can't be it." Neville tried to slice at the rising tension.
"Well honestly Ginny, what do you expect? It won't be safe..."
"Really Ron? A war won't be safe. I had absolutely no idea. Do tell!"
"You know, honestly, I am in the room. I lost my sight, not my hearing." Luna interjected, stopping all conversation for the moment. At this point the two remaining windows moved against their hinges. Fred exited his first, and upon immediately noticing Hermione emerging from the next one over, rushed over to give her a hand into the room.
"Really, I think I'm capable of climbing through a window on my own." Hermione chided with a slight smirk.
"Of course you're capable." Fred supplied with a foolish smile. "But were I to let you do it on your own I wouldn't be able to do this." He answered, lacing his fingers through hers and pulling her toward himself before threading his other hand through her hair and bringing his lips softly down upon her own.
Several throats were cleared across the room. The pair broke apart. "Sorry." They said in unison their foreheads pressed together, each gazing into the others eyes. Clearly, neither was very sorry.
✤
Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but I have posted another chapter. I'm getting pretty good at this posting thing, and it's about time if I do say so myself. So many things just seem to be falling into place right now!
I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, and that it wasn't too redundant too often. Let me know if it was! Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me, and even those of you who've been reading but neglecting to send in reviews. I'd love to hear from you guys!
A special shout out to ravendove2007 who took the time to drop me a few lines. Thanks for your constant encouragement, sorry you're a bit confused. Hopefully it's due my tendency toward infrequent updates, and not due to overlooked details on my part.
Peace Out and all that Jazz!