Disclaimer: rights belong to their respected owners. A/N: Apologies for the delay. Enjoy! x
Who Said it Was Fiction
Part III
Hermione crossed through the open iron gates, feeling determined as her boots echoed across the marbled courtyard. She held her chin high, wand close, just in case. The castle was in decay, alright. Tiles had crumbled from the towers, and fallen through to the courtyard. Now weeds practically overtook them, and she scraped her legs on its sharp edges as she found her way to the entrance. It was eerie and the arches were many, all cast in shadow, and she felt like she was being watched.
"Nothing to be worried about," Hermione muttered to herself. "I've fought trolls, survived a basilisk, and Dementors, and the Yule Ball, whatever is waiting for me in the shadows, it's nothing I can't handle." She started again, passing a stone pillar and whispered, "Lumos!"
Her wand light shined against the dark walls of the castle and she was surprised to see a woman standing in the shadows. The woman smiled, her long brownish-blond hair fell past her shoulders, and she wore a daisy crown. Hermione lowered her wand, not seeing her as a threat, and begged her to come out. The woman entered the courtyard, her long dress dragged against the ground, caked in dirt and cobwebs.
"What is your name, child?" the woman queried.
"Hermione Granger, I'm a wizard. Hatter sent me, I'm looking for the White Queen."
"I am she. You can call me Andromeda, ah, Bayard, what is it?"
Hermione stepped aside, just as a bloodhound skidded to a halt beside her. It eyed her suspiciously, then took a few gasps of breath and collapsed by the Queen's bended knee. Andromeda patted his head and eased his pain, hearing his story, and with a grim expression looked up and said:
"The Hatter and Dormouse have been arrested by my dear sister, the Red Queen. Come, we do not have much time, and I will need you to rescue my champion. It is rumoured she is being held prisoner, much the same as I. Your wand..." she began, eyeing it curiously. "Do you think you could help me with a potion, before you go?" Andromeda said to Hermione.
-:-
Andromeda stood on the opposite side of an old wooden table scattered with various coloured bottles. She proceeded to talk Hermione through them, adding pinches of this and that, which resulted in Hermione covering her nose as Andromeda added three mouldy fingers to the cauldron as a last ingredient.
"It's quite alright, they grow back," Andromeda added as an afterthought.
Bayard was sitting on guard just outside the door, and every now and then they could hear him lapping up fresh water from the fountain which bubbled away outside. Andromeda stirred the ingredients clockwise three times, then let it simmer for a few minutes on low.
Hermione watched it bubble away and then the steam changed from a dark grey to blue.
"I'm making a location spell, but as I have been cursed, I wonder, if perhaps you can do the incantation? Then we can see exactly where Bella has hidden something of mine she stole."
Hermione vaguely remembered this part of the story, but it had gone differently, then.
"The champion's sword?" she breathed, suddenly.
"You are clever," Andromeda smiled, skipping through pages in an old book and pointing to the spell.
Hermione smiled, feeling as though McGonagall had given her a compliment. She repeated the incantation after Andromeda and then tapped her wand four times, whilst thinking of the sword.
"Well?" Andromeda asked when nothing happened.
"I don't know," Hermione shrugged, a little disappointed by the outcome.
Andromeda walked around the table and led Hermione back to the door, then, as they turned their backs, the cauldron exploded and the dark room was flooded with light and voices. Bayard entered, howling but the White Queen calmed him, and listened, smiling calmly, like their gibberish actually made sense to her. Hermione watched the silhouettes shimmer across the walls, then stop at what looked like a dog house.
The hairs on Bayard's stood up, and his tail went beneath his legs.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, reaching out to comfort him.
"The Bandysnatch's quarters. Its bite poisons and kills within hours, it's too dangerous."
"I may know of a way," Hermione said aloud, thinking back to her first year, where she, Harry and Ron met a three-headed dog guarding the Philosopher's stone. "I will need a soldier's nose to help me find Alice, and then we can rescue the Dormouse and Hatter."
Andromeda put her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "We are lucky to have your courage and cleverness in wonderland today. I wish you both the best of luck, and will wait for your return."
Andromeda walked them to the gate, and whistled to the stables which Hermione had not noticed were there until now. A chestnut coloured horse trotted up to them, and Andromeda handed her the reigns. "For your journey, my favourite mare, Boudicca. Look after our guest, Bayard."
-:-
Hatter was frantically tying, pressing, twirling and cutting bits of ribbon, string, feathers and sequins to every coloured hat, shape, size available to him. The Dormouse sat on the window-sill peering out at the rain clouds and digging her sword into the wood in her frustration at being locked away.
Getting into the castle had been easy thanks to the White Rabbit, whom Hermione remembered was a page in the books, and had entered the same way Alice had, through the hole in the wall near the croquet garden, making sure she didn't step on the hedgehog on the way. Thankfully it must have escaped from the Queen already. Bayard crept through the gap, and Hermione told him to find his bitch and puppies, whom he had told her, were imprisoned by the Queen.
"I'm going to find Alice, and the sword, meet you back here in an hour or two. If we run into trouble, I shall cast my Patronus: it's an otter, it will find you, and maybe some of my other friends-" Hermione thought of the Cheshire cat and the Tweedle brothers, feeling as though months had gone by since she had last spoken to them. Hermione and Bayard separated, Bayard to the cellars, and Hermione up the castle steps, through the servant corridors and up the staircase, which she had to remind herself did not move, like Hogwarts'.
A husky voice reached her ears, it was coming from behind a tapestry, and another voice was there, a girl's voice and then sounds of a struggle. As though a light bulb had struck her face, Hermione hurried forward about to yell, 'stupefy' when there was a S-M-A-C-K and Hermione watched Rodolphus Lestrange, a bearded knight, with cold grey eyes stumble to his knees in shock.
"You will regret that, you little-" Husky's hair was askew and he had just seen Hermione.
"Jelly-Legs!" Hermione yelled, sending another curse at Husky, she grabbed Alice's hand before she could ask questions and they left Husky screaming for the guards, while his legs collapsed and wiggled beneath his continuous efforts to stand. Hermione hoped Bayard had managed to get away, because she knew their element of surprise was slowly dwindling.
"Hatter," Alice said, pulling herself free and turning the key in the locked door, and barging in.
Hermione hesitated, knowing it was also important to get the sword, but like Harry, she had to make sure everyone else was ok. She took the key from the lock, entered, and closed the door. Alice was trying to calm down the Hatter who was having a fit and throwing hats out the window. The Dormouse was commenting on Bayard and his family, having escaped into the courtyard, but the deck of cards, Hermione remembered had given her nightmares, that posed as the Red Queen's knights, were now circling him, and his howls were his call for help.
The Dormouse avenged him, diving to her freedom, and pinging from the banners and onto the heads of unsuspecting guards. Hermione sent a few reducto curses at them, blasting one into many, and watching them fall like dominos. Then Husky, Rodolphus Lestrange, his legs back to normal and with murder in his eyes, swung his sword in a show-offy way, Hermione thought, and pointed it at Bayard. There was only one thing for it, plan A which involved a musical harp, was replaced with plan B, which involved: "Accio Champion's sword!"
Hermione pointed her wand at the Bandysnatch's kennel and the sword smashed through the glass window and spun through the air and into Hermione's outstretched hand. She smirked at the look of horror on Rodolphus' face, and her smile faltered when he cut his sword violently in front of him, beating down his own guards in his haste to kill Bayard and his family. Hermione could not stay any longer, she looked to Alice and the Hatter in desperation. She was about to jump when:
"Take one more step, Knight, and I will rip your eyeballs from their sockets!" The Dormouse was standing between Bayard and the Knight, as big as his boot, but as brave as Neville Longbottom. Hermione smiled, and Alice, as though she were a long lost friend, rested her chin on Hermione's shoulder, to see. Hatter could be heard muttering to himself, and tidying up his latest tantrum.
"I'm not afraid of you, little mouse. Bandysnatch! I've brought you dinner!" Rodolphus sneered.
Hermione gasped, and Alice took the sword from her hand, holding her gaze. "Help Hatter," and with that, just like the Dormouse, Alice jumped from the window, and made her way, like a gymnast, down to the courtyard, to face Rodolphus, the Knight.
"I don't much like you anymore," he said.
Alice rolled her eyes, checking over her shoulder to see Dormouse swishing her sword, the size of a needle, threateningly. "I feel it better if I were to cut off your head!" Rodolphus took another step forward, all niceties had drained from his bearded face.
"How would the Queen feel of your taking that right away from her? I don't think she'd be very happy? In fact, I'd say you were usurping her power," Alice began, feeling more confident now she was reunited with her sword.
"Careful Alice," Bayard warned as the Bandysnatch burst through its house.
The Dormouse raised her fist, shouting a war-cry before attacking the half dog-half polar bear with spots. "Quick pups, Bitch, follow me now while guards are down."
Many of the guards were still seeing stars, and Hermione did not have time to watch and see the fight. There was a little 'oh' and then, Hermione pulled shut the window, to keep out the noise, as the Red Queen stood in the door way, staring at her and her frizzy hair.
"What is HER name? Who are YOU? What are you doing near MY HATS! THEY'RE MINE, not yours."
"She is my model," Hatter started, throwing the nearest hat onto Hermione's head. It fell past her eyes, and smelled strongly of mothballs. Next, Hatter threw on another, and another, and anoth-
"ENOUGH! I will be the model, and you, you, I admire your hair-style, we will talk more in the hall."
Hermione was relieved to not hear any words like I, will, cut, off, your, head and exchanged a grateful look with Hatter, hiding her wand further up her sleeve, so as to not give away her identity.
For a moment the Queen is content, trying on hats, though she prefers none of them, and Hermione sees the Hatter's pile growing smaller and smaller, nervously she fingers the key to the door, still in her other hand, and contemplates how easy it will be to stupefy the queen and lock her inside the room.
She is about to do the spell when a large boulder smashes through the glass window and narrowly misses the Queen, but breaks her mirror. She watches it splinter and fall, then turns, walks quickly to peer out, looks down, and turns - suddenly as red as a tomato. Hermione knows what's coming and she doesn't want to hear it. Grabbing Hatter, she pulls him with her and slams the door, locking it with shaking hands.
A/N: Please review! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! More on the way. x