Tap, tap, tap. Malfoy looked up to see a snowy old with a little note clutched in its beak. He let Hedwig in, took the note and shooed her away again. He read:
Meet me by the North Tower stairs at midnight tonight. Don't hurt Amari!
-Harry Potter
"You're really mean! You tricked me!" Amari said, crying. He had been satisfied with the fact that he was getting a firebolt – and he couldn't risk anything. When did anyone question him being in Slytherin? So, he had tied her his bedpost to keep her out of his way.
"Shut up. I just want to get a firebolt. Anyways, you wouldn't let me cut your hair if you had a choice…" Malfoy retorted with a smirk on his face. He had indeed cut her hair to make Polyjuice potion for Crabbe. He didn't want anything to go wrong. Her hair was more than an inch shorter – Crabbe needed a large supply, just in case.
"I don't like you anymore!" she screamed.
"I know. I have the bite marks to prove it." He gestured toward his bandaged hand. He had attempted using scissors, seeing as he'd be able to cut it a lot straighter if he did, but she bit him hard in frustration. She loved her hair – but she regretted doing so. He had then taken out his wand and cut her beautiful, long hair unevenly.
Malfoy was having the longest hours of his life. She screamed and cried and kicked the ground for a straight hour. His head was aching worse than ever. When he got completely fed up of the noise, he went over to her to fasten a piece of material over her mouth. The result? A sore stomach and a bloody nose on his part. Her legs were flailing relentlessly.
"Would you stay still?" Malfoy hissed. He pointed his want at her. "Either stop screaming, stop moving for me to make you stop, or I'll stun you, and you won't enjoy it."
She immediately stopped kicking and stared, wide-eyed, at his wand. She then stopped screaming and cried silently.
"Time to go, Crabbe." Malfoy said after another couple of hours at quarter to midnight. Crabbe drank his potion and turned into Amari. The real Amari couldn't believe her eyes. She was tied to a bedpost, but she was going with Malfoy to get him a firebolt. She confused herself, thinking too hard.
Harry was waiting on the stairs. Ron was hiding behind a statue and Hermione was in a nearby broom cupboard, both relatively far from the meeting point. Harry was holding his broomstick, hoping he wouldn't lose it.
The plan was relatively simple, but it was the best they had. Hermione would disarm Malfoy and Ron would jump out and grab Amari. They had been thinking about a plan all day, not concentrating on anybody else or doing any schoolwork. That was their first plan and it ended up sticking. Hermione, especially, was angry with herself for not being able to think of anything.
Harry was feeling sick. What if it didn't work? What if Amari wasn't brought to safety? What if he lost his firebolt? He didn't know his priorities anymore. He looked over at Ron, who was peeking out of his hiding place. Footsteps sounded down the hall and Ron snapped back into hiding.
Hermione was looking through the keyhole of the broom cupboard. She saw Malfoy, Amari and Goyle. Where's Crabbe? She thought. Usually he was with them. She didn't think too much of it.
"Potter." Malfoy greeted in a less than friendly voice. He was clutching Crabbe's newly transformed arm. A magical glow surrounded the 'little girl's throat. Malfoy had cast a charm so that the new Amari couldn't speak unless he removed it. Nobody else could, except him. After all, Polyjuice potion didn't alter voices.
"Malfoy, give her here," Harry said right away, nodding toward who he thought was Amari.
"I don't trust you to hold up your end of the deal, Scarhead."
"That makes two of us."
"Put your wand on the ground."
"What?" Harry didn't believe this. It didn't interfere with the plan, but he hadn't expected Malfoy to distrust him that much. He didn't even think of asking that of Malfoy. "You first."
"Fine, at the same time." Malfoy took out his wand.
"Expelliarmus!" Hermione jumped out of her broom cupboard and Malfoy's wand flew out of his hand and he got thrown backwards. Ron jumped out and grabbed the little girl's hand.
"Filthy little mudblood!" Malfoy spat, pulling out another wand, smirking.
"What?" Ron stared in disbelief. He clutched Crabbe closer, not knowing he was holding the wrong person.
The real Amari had kicked off her sandals and was trying to stretch and bend unnaturally to escape. Her toes were trying to reach the abandoned scissors near the next bed over. The tips of her toenails were grazing the handle. Every time she was short of her target, she would wiggle and try to slide down. She couldn't see her arms under her bonds, but they were red from rope burn.
"Come on…" she ushered herself. After another good wiggle, her big toe got on top of the handle, curled, and she pulled it towards herself. "Yes!"
She kept sliding the scissors toward her hands. They snagged on the carpeting and flipped over, opening, and she slit her toe. She instantaneously started to cry. With her other foot, she closed the scissors, slipped her toe through the hole and bent her leg as far back as she could, finally getting a grip on them.
She began ferociously snipping at the ropes, filling steadily with adrenaline as footsteps could be heard outside the door. With one gigantic slicing, she broke free. Her tear-stained face broke into a smile as she got up and rubbed her arms. Knock, knock, knock.
"Are you hungry in there?" Pansy Parkinson was on the other side of the door. Amari didn't know why, but she didn't come in right away.
"N-no" she stuttered through sobs. Her toe hurt. A lot. Her arms were red raw and something was poking into her side. She looked down and pulled out the cause of the disturbance. Ron's wand!
"Are you sure? You were in there for a while…" Pansy sounded extremely motherly to the smart five-year-old. "Do you mind if I come in?"
Amari's heart started pounding with newfound adrenaline. She held out the stolen wand with shaking hands, Stupefy coming into her mind.
"I want to leave…" she whined.
"Well, I can't let you go, but I can keep you company and get you food. I'm coming in." the door opened and Pansy stepped in, shocked. "Where did you get a wand? How did you get free?"
"It's Ron's wand. Draco left scissors on the ground. My toe hurts!" she added.
"I can fix your toe, but I can't let you leave. I'm so sorry!" Pansy's eyes were filling with tears.
"What's the spell? I want to learn it, please." She liked Pansy. Pansy wasn't mean to her – she wouldn't be to a little girl.
"It's Immendo. It can go wrong, though. I don't know if you should…" she was remembering when Gilderoy Lockhart had tried it and sent Harry Potter to the Hospital Wing.
"Immendo!" her toe mended itself right away. Pansy's jaw dropped as the little girl, once again, succeeded in her spell casting with one try. "How do I leave?"
"Everybody's sleeping… just go down the stairs and the common room door is behind the couch. You can't miss it." Pansy whispered, winking and returning to her bed.
Hermione jumped out of her own hiding place and went to help her friends. Ron couldn't find his wand and was shielding the fake Amari in the corner. Harry was keeping his broom behind his back, wand pointing at Malfoy, who was pointing back. Goyle was approaching Ron's corner, fists clenched.
"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Hermione got Goyle. She turned on Malfoy. Without sparing a thought, Malfoy turned and hit her with the Cruciatus curse.
She screamed, wriggling in pain. Harry jumped into action automatically. "STUPEFY!" Harry both wanted as much power as possible to go into his spell and he also needed to yell to hear himself. Malfoy flew a few meters down the hall with the force Harry put into his spell.
"Hermione!" Ron rushed forward with the Amari impersonator in his arms.
"I-I'm o-okay…" Hermione was shaking so badly, her wand lay on the ground, unable to be held by its owner.
"Breathe, Hermione. It's okay. It's over." Ron comforted her, putting his burden down and hugging her.
"Mobilicorpus" Harry levitated Malfoy and Goyle into the air and started to head toward the hospital wing. "I'll just bring these to the hospital wing. Come meet me there so we can tell Madam Pomfrey."
"Alright, we'll be there soon."
The real Amari ran full speed through the halls, not a clue where she was going. Ron's wand lit and in hand, Harry's Invisibility Cloak draped over her arm to stay out of the way. She was in the Entrance Hall without knowing how she had gotten there. Her legs had just carried her there.
"Students are to be in bed at this time," a male drawling voice called from around the corner. Someone heard her bare feet slapping the ground as she ran. Panicking, she threw the Cloak over herself, unfortunately dropping her lit wand in her haste.
Professor Severus Snape came around the bend, only to see a spot of light disappearing into nothingness. "Who's there? I know you are there."
Amari didn't like him. He scared her and was in Slytherin. She had seen him talking animatedly to Malfoy during her stay at some point. She tiptoed into the Great Hall. The doors were already open and the whole hall was vacant. She settled herself in the Headmaster's chair – the most comfortable and the biggest there – and fell asleep using Harry's inherited Cloak as a blanket and sucking her thumb.
"What are you doing up? It is nearly one o'clock in the morning!" Madam Pomfrey scolded, but she still set the unconscious boys up in the beds.
"We're sorry, Madam Pomfrey, but Malfoy kidnapped Amari! We had to get her back!" Harry explained.
"We?"
"Yes, Ron and Hermione should be coming soon. Hermione is recovering from the Cruciatus curse."
"Amari, dear, what happened?" the witch asked the supposed Amari, who had come with Harry.
There was no answer, thanks to the spell Malfoy had cast.
"I could explain and Amari can nod or shake her head to say if it's true…" Harry suggested. "But I don't know everything. Ron knows more than I do, but Amari knows everything, of course."
"Maybe we shall wait for Mr. Weasley, hmm?"
"I'm here," Ron entered with a slightly calmer Hermione behind him.
"Take this potion, Miss Granger. Mr. Weasley, could you kindly explain what happened?" the flaming woman gave Hermione a calming draught and eyed Ron with interest.
Ron sat down and explained everything to Madam Pomfrey.