Chapter 12 - Metal Soldiers
Orion emitted a snarl that had the young order member shaking and backing away from the animated suits of armour. With swords drawn, they advanced on her.
"Orion. Stop. It's not his fault." A voice croaked from behind them.
Draco's brother continued to snarl at the woman, only stopping the metal soldiers when the tips of the sabres had begun to dig into the black haired girl's flesh.
Hermione pulled herself off the floor and pressed her hands on either side of Orion's face.
"What's your name?" Draco asked.
The girl gulped, "Sophia."
"Sophia, don't move. 'Mione will you please take my brother out of here?"
Hermione nodded and began to lead Orion out of the room, without much resistance; one of the steel guards followed them, leaving the other two to protect the group.
They all breathed a sigh of relief as he disappeared from view.
"What happened?"
"Their cells began glowing, so I walked cautiously to the door to look in. I could not see what was happening because of the red light. The glow stopped and a pulse of energy ripped through the wall and knocked me to the floor. When I woke up they had gone." She explained slowly, backing away from the advancing soldiers.
"Wow, Orion's getting stronger." Andy whistled in appreciation, before slipping between the armour and Sophia.
The guards slowed but did not stop. The Tuck brother and the girl walked backwards, Sophia clutching on to his shoulders. Her back hit the wall and she looked around frantic for an escape route, there was none.
The metal soldiers advanced, their weapons drawn. Andy took a deep breath and reached his hand out towards the first moving statue. Slowly he closed his eyes as if afraid of what could happen; his flesh touched the cold, hard exterior of the metal man. The being shuddered as the two made contact, before freezing with weapons drawn; its joints grinding together as its energy drained out of it. After a while, Andy opened one eye to find both knights had frozen back to their original lifeless forms.
"Whoa. I didn't expect that to work." He said breathlessly, surprised he had not been run through with a rapier.
Dumbledore spoke up from where he was watching, "You are also getting stronger, Andy. Don't forget that."
He nodded his thanks before going to retrieve Orion and Hermione.
"Ah fuck." Andy thought as he saw Orion passed out on the floor.
Alerion chuckled behind him, "Well, that's new."
Hermione was sat on the floor beside Orion, "I don't know what happened, one minute he's growling as if he's fighting himself, the next he goes quiet and slumps to the floor."
"Yeah...that would be my fault," Andy said sheepishly, "I absorbed the energy out of his soldiers, so that they didn't kill us, and because they are part of Orion, the energy I drew out of the armour was actually his. That is why he is unconscious."
Andy lifted his friend's body on to his shoulder and carried him back into the Infirmary.
Draco growled at the sight of his brother but managed to tame the beast inside as Hermione explained what happened. He shook his head at Orion and waited for him to wake up.
Dumbledore stepped forward and cleared his throat, "Whilst you were busy trying not to get killed by Orion, I isolated the source of the magic used by Misters Potter, Crabbe and Goyle as you have probably guessed it's very Dark magic, but what you don't know is where it sent them."
"So where'd they go?" Hermione asked, "I assume they were working together."
"From what I can gather, yes they were working together." Their head teacher sighed.
Draco looked confused for a second, "So they are working for Voldemort?"
Dumbledore looked his age for the first time ever, "Yes I believe so."
"So where are they?" Andy asked warily.
The old man looked at Draco, "Malfoy Manor."
"Fuck." Draco and the twins said simultaneously
"What does that mean?" Sophia asked from the corner.
"That means my death certificate has been written. Lucius and Voldemort now know I'm dead against the mission and all they stand for. Hopefully when the time comes I'll be able to take them both down with me." He stated emotionlessly.
"Cheer up, we will be right by your side, dancing around their burning bodies. We won't let them take you." Andy mused, his yes glazing over as he imagined the death of Malfoy Senior and Tom Riddle.
"Be realistic, only martyrs burn, like Joan of Arc; dark bastards would smoulder at best." Hermione giggled.
Draco laughed, "Who'd have thunk, according to your unbeatable logic I am a martyr."
"How'd you figure that out?" Alerion asked, slightly fearful of the answer.
He shrugged, "Lucius tried to burn me alive a few weeks ago, he succeeded, but he couldn't kill off his heir, especially if that heir was to become the Dark Lord's next right hand man."
"You have to be kidding me; I am going to kill that piece of shit." Orion growled, finally awake.
"We will do it together." Draco said pulling out a tin from inside his cloak pocket.
The gathered looked at him questioningly as he raised a rolled fag to his lips and lit it with the tip of his wand.
"What?" He asked slightly confused.
"You smoke?" Snape said needing clarification on the situation.
Draco snickered, "Yeah, just not around Lucius."
Orion shrugged at his answer, propelled himself off the bed he had been put on and snatched the packet for himself.
The twins looked at Dumbledore in question and found him looking impassive at the situation.
"You're ok with them smoking in school?" Alerion asked cautiously.
"There are worse things out there to worry about." The old man said gazing out of the window.
Andy pumped his fist and quickly ran towards the little cardboard box before the head teacher changed his mind. He slipped Orion's lighter out of his fingertips and lit the end of two paper cylinders.
"You guys owe me, I spent ages rolling them." Draco said seriously.
"Yes sire." Andy replied rolling his eyes as he slipped one to his brother and raised his eyebrow at the frowning Nurse.
"What? We are still teenagers; we can ruin our lives however we like. We don't have to act like adults all of the time, we are among friends." Alerion stated.
Pomfrey sighed, "You are smoking them in my domain, as long as the smoke from your cancerous sticks stays around you and doesn't spread then fine."
She then walked towards her office and shot a look at Dumbledore as she closed the door behind her.
He grumbled, "I advise you to leave here and go back to your house before she comes through that door."
"Yeah you are probably right." Andy said as he scrambled off the bed he was sat on and ran for the door, pulling the Auror, giggling, with him.
Everyone stared at his back in disbelief as it disappeared behind the doorframe.
"I see someone is in a rush to get back to their own room." Dumbledore chuckled.
Everyone stilled as Madame Pomfrey's door handle moved.
Mass panic ensued. Hermione whipped her wand out and began 'Scorgifing' the beds and the surrounding areas. Draco filtered the air and got rid of the smoke and the smell that lingered in the walls whilst his brother returned his now inanimate suits of armour to the places of origin. Alerion made the beds return to their normal positions before sprinting after his brother. The rest then followed him, leaving a dishevelled Dumbledore on his own with a pine smelling air freshener around his neck.
As they made it to their common room door, they all collapsed in hysterics. Andy emerged from the depths of En Lucem's common room and opened the door for them..
"Sophia is inside; apparently the spirit of the house wants her here as the doorway was visible to her." Andy shrugged and held the door back as they walked past.
Two new doors had appeared in the public rooms. One said 'Security', the other had 'Kitchen' etched into the surface. Ron cheered at the sight of the new doors and made a beeline for the Kitchens. The others followed just to make sure that he did not eat them out of house and home.
They gasped as they walked through the door. Pots and pans hung from the rafters, of a very converted barn looking room, above a chunky wooden table with eight chairs surrounding it. A stove stood in the far corner next to a large blood red American style Smeg fridge.
A loud crack startled them all and Dobby looked sheepish as he appeared in the middle of the table.
He cleared his throat, "Dumbledore told Dobby to give you this note. Also Dobby is pleased that Dumbledore let me become the cook for Mister Draco and his friends."
Those who knew the elf cheered at the prospect of house elf-cooked food by their dear friend and patted him on the back.
Dobby smiled at the surrounding people, pleased to have a place where he is appreciated.
"Can you make us lunch please?" Ron asked as his stomach rumbled.
The elf grinned and started to work his magic as the rest of them sat at the table. Hermione rolled her eyes at the rest, waved her wand, and began to set the table. China plates and silver cutlery flew from cupboards before settling in place before each person.
Alerion remembered the note Dobby had spoken of and slipped it from a belt around the busy elf's waist.
To En Lucem,
I gather you have found the new doors and I bet the 'Kitchens' was the first you explored due to Ronald's stomach.
I believe that it is better for your health and the well-being of the school that you have your breakfast there on school days, so that there is less confrontation with the rest of the school about the disappearance of Mister Potter.
The door with the word 'Security' is for the Auror in your midst. Sophia will find everything she needs in that room to help protect your house.
Lastly, about your classes, Hagrid has no time to tutor you, being the Ground Keeper as well, so you will have to attend his class.
I will send you a timetable later on in the week.
Professor Dumbledore
Ron scowled at the mention of lessons, "I hope we at least share the lesson with either the Ravenclaws or the Hufflepuffs, hopefully they would be the least violent towards us."
Orion scoffed, "They will still hate us, and we have 'killed' Potter."
Dobby interrupted the depressing talk of education by placing a small mountain of freshly cooked bacon sandwiches on the table in front of them.
The redheaded boy was the first to grab a folded slice of bread and was halfway through before he picked up another. The gathered looked on in disbelief as Ron reached out his hand to manhandle a third sandwich. Hermione slid the plate away from him so that it was out of arm's length.
"'Mione, what you doing?" He said around a mixture of half chewed white bread and crispy bacon.
She scrunched her nose up at his manners, leant over, and placed a hand under Ronald's chin to close his mouth.
"One, swallow food before speaking; two, eat slower so that you won't get hiccups; and three, leave some for everyone else."
Ron rolled his eyes and charmed the plate closer to himself and winked at Hermione good-naturedly. Everyone chuckled at his antics and grabbed a sandwich for their-selves.
The large pile of food was soon gone. Ron was about to open his mouth to complain about the lack of nourishment when Dobby placed a small stack of pancakes in front of them. This time Draco pulled the platter towards him and began loading up his own plate. Lemons, sugar, golden syrup, melted chocolate and jam soon began shooting around the table as they added them to their batter-y goodness.
Once all the pancaked had been devoured, Alerion spoke up.
"Our enemies are gathering, you know this, and with Potter, Crabbe and Goyle on the loose this could be the end of your trust for everyone. But I know you are stronger than that. So you really need to figure out what you are, so that we can train for the final battle together and so that you know your limits."
The half-brothers nodded in agreement.
"Where would we start looking?" Hermione asked.
"I'd start in the Restricted Section of the Library, we can write you a note, but we aren't sure what you'd find there."
"Alright we shall start there." Orion said standing up.
Draco and Hermione followed suit and walked towards the kitchen door.
Draco stopped and asked, "Ron, are you coming?"
The boy grinned and stood quickly to follow them.
"Sophia do you want to come with us?" Hermione questioned.
Andy replied, "Sorry she has to stay with us, we need to talk to her."
Orion growled before suppressing it, "Sorry." He said sheepishly.
The Tuck brother's shared a look before pushing them out of the door.
"What the hell was that about?" Ron asked as they stood on the opposite side of the kitchen door.
"I...don't know." Orion replied confused.
The rest shrugged and began their way towards the library.
When they reached the Great Hall, they found a hoard led by Ginny Weasley waiting for them.
"For the love of god, can we not catch a break?" Draco sighed.
"You fucking bastards, what have you done with my boyfriend?" She screeched.
"Is that it, you brought a small army with you to ask where Potter is?" Hermione released a cold chuckle.
The Weasley girl let out a scream of frustration and sent a curse towards Hermione. Draco growled and gracefully twirled his girl out of the way of the beam of light. It hit the wall behind them making the stonework fracture and chip.
The four of them raised their wands in defence. The group that were barring their way raised their wands too.
"Tut tut tut, I don't think so," Draco smiled, "Expelliarmus!"
Twenty or so wands flew from their grasping hands and clattered to the floor behind En Lucem. Draco slipped his wand back into his pocket and nodded to the others to do the same.
"Whatever happens, no magic guys, I have a theory and we need it tested." Draco murmured to the other three.
The other side seemed to have made a decision as they rushed towards the four of them. The brothers ran towards them, aware that numbers were not on their side, and dropped to their knees and slid across the floor under the enemies flailing arms. Using a combination of kidney punches and taking out their ankles, Draco and Orion managed to stop half of the opposing army in their tracks, before the rest had even reached the other two. They jumped up just as those left standing realised what they were doing; dodging poorly formed fists and badly aimed kicks.
One lucky person managed to hit Draco in the nose, the crack of the bone giving way under the force reverberated around the corridor. He grinned and returned the favour by grabbing the lucky Gryffindor by the out-stretched arm and kicking out his feet as he swung round. The boy's feet left the floor and managed to knock his surrounding colleagues off their feet. Draco let go and let the guy fly the short distance to the wall, knocking all those in his way over like bowling pins.
No one had managed to hit Orion, but the constant warring with himself was wearing him down. His instincts were screaming at him to throw up his shield, but he held it in. He could feel the punches coming towards him when he closed his eyes and with them open, they seemed to slow down. A six foot four monster of a boy appeared in front of him and picked him up by the collar. Oxygen was having a hard time getting into Orion's lungs yet he smiled.
"So you're not gunna fight me? You're so fucking weak." The boy exclaimed.
Orion winked as he swung his legs up and put them on the giant's shoulders, squeezing the boy's throat between his thighs until he let go of his collar and tried to move his legs. Orion let his torso fall towards the floor quickly, stretching his arms out underneath him, before moving his legs at the hip. The boy whimpered as he was forced to bend over whilst being pulled off the floor, Orion quickly moved his legs from his throat to under the boy's arms and whipped over, his hands on the floor as he back flipped. Orion relaxed his legs and effectively threw the Gryffindor. He slammed into wall and didn't move from where he landed on the floor.
Hermione was doing a good job of defending herself from the attackers; she and Ron were working together back to back. Ginny came towards them grinning.
"I can't hurt my sister." Ron murmured.
"Don't worry she is all mine." Hermione replied growling.
The redheaded girl stepped towards her and pulled a sword like implement from inside her cloak. She began swinging the blade in an infinity pattern before pointing it out straight and resting on her back foot like a fencer. Ginevra charged at her old friend and swung the sword towards Hermione's head. She ducked and rolled out of the way. Fear evident in her eyes as her best friend's sister attacked her. A body appeared behind her, grabbed her arms, and pulled her up from the floor.
"Let me lead." Draco said, pulling her body flush with his.
Ginny began her attack again. Her sword swung in an arc downwards towards them both and Draco stepped them both out of the way. He lifted her on to his feet as the blade skimmed her trouser leg. Enraged the girl began swinging the short sword to the side and quickly changing direction. Draco began calculating where the tip of the sword would be and started to counteract it. By this time, all the fighting had stopped to watch the trio fight. Draco kicked out one leg, holding Hermione around the waist, and propelled her into the air above his head. The sword collided with the side of his boot and shuddered against the metal toecap and buckles. He placed Hermione on the floor in front of her again as Ginny prepared for her next attempt.
"You ok?" Draco asked the girl he was holding.
She opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the female Weasley doing a series of jabs towards her stomach. Hermione kicked out on her own accord, hitting the flat side of the blade with her boot, and sent the sword veering off course.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She finally answered, her breathing heavy and cheeks flushed.
Ginny stilled the blade and began hacking at Hermione's knees. Draco spun her over the blade and Ginny moved the tip of the blade upwards a little, so that it cut into Hermione's flesh. He growled loudly as his eyes darkened. Hermione grinned at her old friend and kicked out hard, knocking the sword out of Ginny's hands. Draco caught the blade mid-air at the hilt and he frowned as he examined it and passed it to Hermione.
Hermione stepped forwards, still smiling, and Ginny stepped back slightly scared of what was to happen to her now. She ran towards the girl who attacked her, jumped a meter away from her and kicked Ginny straight in the chest, knocking her to the floor. She placed a heavy boot clad foot on her stomach.
A glint of silver and jade pulled her attention. Using the tip of the blade Hermione slid the chain from under the girl's shirt. A 'M' shaped pendant with a serpent wrapped around it was linked to the chain.
"'Mione, move over. Don't touch it." Draco exclaimed, pulling her away from the necklace.
He took the sword from her and pressed it against Ginny's throat. Draco reached down and tore the chain away from her neck, the catch breaking with the force used. He stiffened as the snake on the pendant moved and wrapped around his wrist. Orion placed a hand on his brother shoulder and he relaxed as the viper began to crack and fall to the floor.
"Hey Harry gave me that." Ginny cried.
Draco growled, "Did he really? Because only one of these exist in the whole world and it belongs to Lucius Malfoy. Mind telling me how he got it from my father and survived if he is on the 'good' side?"
Tears appeared in her eyes as she struggled to form an answer.
"Do you know what it does?" He continued, "It gives Voldemort a direct link into your brain. He tells you what to do, when to do it and you don't remember after taking it off, which is why you never want to take it off because Voldemort can't control you without you wearing it. If someone else takes it off of you, the snake, representing Nagini, attacks them mentally and kills them."
Ginny began to sob as the truth sank in.
"You have been led by an individual who was not themselves through no fault of their own. For that reason and that alone, I suggest that all those injured should go to the Infirmary before I change my mind. And don't be stupid, if someone is unconscious help them there and take them with you." Draco ordered.
Ginny stayed where she was on the floor crying.
"Ginny I suggest you go too, the kick Hermione gave you is going to bruise badly." He said softly.
She picked herself off the floor and made her way to the Infirmary, arms wrapped around her chest.
"Thank you for doing that." Hermione said as she kissed Draco on the cheek.
Ron clapped him on the back and smiled, "Are you aware of how awesome you looked when you were fighting my sister? It was as if you were dancing; you work amazingly as a team. And thank you Draco for not killing Ginny and saving Hermione from her."
"No problem, I know what it's like to be under the influence of that thing. Hermione didn't need saving which is why she stayed as part of the fight and it was all instinct." Draco shrugged, not used to being thanked as he held Hermione close to his body.
"I can second that it was instincts," Orion said, "By the way, your nose is broken."
Hermione rolled her eyes at Draco not remembering his broken bone and pulled her wand out, "Episkey."
Draco felt the bone and cartilage return to normal and kissed Hermione on the temple in thanks.
"Tergeo." He said, removing the dried blood that had run down to his chin.
They once again started to walk towards the Library, Orion and Ron were talking about their best moves and arguing over whose was better.
"The sword that Ginny had was also Lucius'. It confirms that Potter is working for the dark side." Draco sighed.
Hermione slipped her hand in his and squeezed it gently, "Don't worry, we will get them, but first we have to find out what you are."
"Yay fun." He replied sarcastically.
She giggled and began dragging him behind her. The other two stopped their arguing and ran after them.
They peered through the doorway, Madame Pince was sat at her desk, watching over those who were studying. They quickly and quietly made their way to the Librarian.
"We need to go in the Restricted Section." Hermione said softly.
"Do you have a note?" She replied, not looking up from the book she was reading.
They all routed through their pockets in search of the permission slip their heads of year had written. They looked sheepish as they came up empty.
A paper plane hit Ron square between the eyes.
"What the f..." He trailed off as he picked up the paper off the floor, "Here's the note."
Ron passed the plane to the teacher and shuffled uncomfortably as she unfolded it.
Madame Pince peered over her glasses and said, "Fine go on then." As she waved them towards the bookshelves.
The four sat themselves down amongst the tomes.
"Where should we start?" Ron said as he put his feet up on the desk.
Hermione pushed his legs off the table as she replied, "We should start with what has changed with you and see what happens from there."
The brothers began listing the many symptoms they had noticed, Hermione noted them down on a piece of parchment.
"Easily angered." Ron said quickly as he moved out of arms reach.
Orion growled but quickly stopped, as he realised that he was right.
Draco snorted as his brother glared at the redheaded boy.
"When we were fighting, we found that everything slowed down so that we could deal with it." He added.
"What like in the 'Matrix'?" Ron asked.
"What?" Draco answered confused.
"It's a muggle movie where the main character Neo finds that in what he thought was the real world anything is possible, like dodging bullets and fighting quickly. But the film shows the fight scenes slightly blurred too look as though they are going fast and slow at the same time. It's one of my favourite films. I made Ron watch it once," Hermione shrugged and waved away questions, "You'll just have to watch it yourself."
"Ok, yeah I suppose it was a little like that but each move against us was clear and we could feel if someone was about to attack us from behind. And I feel strongly, not sure about Orion though."
"Most definitely feel stronger."
Hermione added it to the list and began pulling books off the shelves. She shared the books between them and began flicking through the pages, skimming the written words. The rest followed suit. Ron opened his book with a sigh but soon ploughed through the tome and reached for another.
Six hours later they had gone through all the books in the Dark Mythical Creatures section and they still had found no humanoid creatures even closely resembling Draco and Orion or their symptoms, so they made their way back to the Common Room, tired and aching after the reading marathon.
They shuffled past the Tuck brothers and collapsed on the floor of their private Common Room. Dobby appeared with seven mugs of hot chocolate, complete with whipped cream, marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles, and hovered them in mid-air.
Everyone grabbed a mug and sipped at the liquid. They let out a collective sigh as they relaxed.
"Did you find anything?" Andy asked.
The four glared at him, tensing up.
"Does it look like we found anything?" Orion growled.
Sophia shuffled over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Surprisingly Orion stopped his noise and relaxed into her side.
Andy and Alerion shared a look.
"What was that?" Draco asked forcefully.
The brothers shuffle uncomfortably, unable to answer the question.
"Fine. I'm going to bed." He snarled, standing up and taking his drink with him.
Hermione shrugged at the pair and followed Draco into his room. Orion glared at them before he too went to his room, leaving the Tuck brothers, Ron and Sophia in their Common Room.
A.N. - I am sooooo sorry for the long ass wait but I only planned so far and I have literally run out of ideas; I know what is gunna happen at the end but if anyone has any ideas for the in-between please please please put them in your review
Also does anyone like my story 'cover'? I drew it myself; I can do something different if you want.
