Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my ideas.
The next morning passed uneventfully. The four ate breakfast (pancakes, of course, why would anyone eat anything else for breakfast?) and informed Bill that they'd be gone for the day but hopefully back by tomorrow. And if they weren't… Harry couldn't come up with a suitable answer and just pretended like he hadn't said anything to begin with.
They met Hoggle in Higgle's room, where he stared at them with a grumpy expression until they were finally finished packing and preparing and ready to leave.
"Can we leave now?" he asked for the hundredth time.
"What's the rush, Hoggle? You're not the one who has to see the King," Sarah replied, still bitter at all the new things she'd discovered about him these past two days. He ignored her. She frowned. For somebody who was supposed to be her friend, he sure wasn't acting like it.
The mirror rippled under Hoggle's hand until there was a tunnel where smooth glass used to be.
"Come on, we go through here. And no magic, or we'll be detected," Hoggle told them.
"Go where, though?" Ron asked suspiciously. Hoggle rolled his eyes.
"To the castle, where else are you going to find the King? Now hold my hand and make sure you don't ever let go. If you do, it's not my problem where you end up."
"But it's so dark!" Ron protested. Sarah resisted the urge to slap him. Hermione just sighed.
"That's not a problem for me. Now do you want to go or not? The portal won't stay open forever." Hoggle began walking to the mirror.
"Come on." Harry went up and grasped Hoggle's hand, the other following suit. With their hands linked, they walked single file through the mirror and into the darkness before them.
Like all tunnels, it was dark and damp. However, this one came with a bonus:
"What's that smell?" Ron gagged. It smelled like death, or Aunt Muriel's feet. Hoggle snorted.
"The tunnels are linked to the Bog of Eternal Stench. It's only natural some of it comes through." Hermione peered around them.
"And the light? Where's that coming from?" The tunnel was dimly lit, though she could see it originated from somewhere. Hoggle didn't answer, instead telling them to shut up and focus on walking.
They appeared to be following the light, literally, as it grew a little brighter as time passed. Sarah didn't know how long they'd been walking in silence until Hoggle suddenly stopped. Harry stumbled over his short figure.
"Hey! What was that for?"
"Quiet! Something's here."
They stood against the wall, holding their breaths as the clop of hooves echoed around them. The sound grew closer and the air grew chillier and they could make out the creature's breathing. It was a black horse with an empty saddle. It trotted past them slowly, as though it knew they were there but couldn't quite locate them. Eventually, it walked away down a darker tunnel. They let out a sigh of relief.
"What was that?" Ron demanded. Harry collapsed against the wall, pale and faint.
"Harry!" Hermione rushed to support him. She was about to Accio a chocolate bar from her bag until she remembered the no magic rule. She opted for putting her arm around him and helped him stand.
"What was that?" Harry repeated Ron's question after resting a moment. "It felt like a Dementor."
Hoggle glanced around them before answering. "I can't answer that," he informed them. "We are bound by the Labyrinth to keep its secrets."
Sarah glared at his reply. This didn't make any sense.
"Wait a minute." She stepped in front of Hoggle and leaned over him, trying to intimidate him. He stood his ground and stared straight back at her, matching her glare. This was definitely odd.
"For the past 5 years," she began slowly, "You've been telling me all about the creatures of the Labyrinth. What makes this one so different?" Hoggle scowled and made to push past her, but she blocked him with her leg.
"Tell me now, Hoggle." It was his last warning. Letting out an irritated huff, he obliged.
"I fed you false information. Isn't that obvious enough, you stupid girl?"
Sarah didn't think she'd ever seen Hoggle like this before. He was colder, angrier, and more stuck up than a pin cushion.
"What?"
Hoggle straightened up and lifted his head to stare her straight in the eyes once again. She saw no hesitation as he faced her full on.
"I said I fed you false information. I lied to you about everything. How much simpler can I make it?" Sarah stared at him, mouth open, as she tried to connect this cunning, condescending creature with her friend Hoggle.
"Now that we're going back to the Underground, it's no longer necessary to keep this stupid cover. I've put up with 5 years of whiny, spoiled brat and I'm not putting up with any more if I can help it. The King promised to make me a prince if I kept up the act after you went back home, and I've been waiting for the day I could bring you back. He'll be pleased, I'm sure, at your return." Hoggle finished the last line with vengeful relish. She stared with a blank mask now, carefully choosing her next words.
"So this is what you really are. The King isn't a rat, you are! Higgle was right about you being spoiled. He was spot on about everything, you coward." Hoggle glared unflinchingly back.
"What happens if I just leave right now? I could run off somewhere into the tunnels, maybe get myself killed and then where would you be?" She tried to sound threatening, but it just wasn't her forte; she sounded more hurt than angry.
Hoggle rolled his eyes. "As if you could. I'm under no obligation to lead your friends to the King. The deal we made earlier about keeping my involvement a secret doesn't apply, since he already knows about me. Could you really leave your friends alone in the Underground?"
Sarah didn't think it was possible to be this angry and not explode. She wanted to squish his face into the ground until it was flatter than a piece of paper.
"Fine," she bit out. "Lead the way."
They continued their march in silence. Sarah was too upset not to lash out at everybody and they could practically see the smugness radiating from Hoggle. Harry, Ron and Hermione felt even more awkward than if they'd caught Snape kissing Dumbledore. On second thought, maybe not. That thought was too horrific to comprehend.
After the Quietest Hour of Ron's Life, they came to a stop at one of the many openings in the tunnel. Luckily, they hadn't encountered anymore creepy lurkers in the tunnels. This opening was the brightest and if she squinted, Hermione could make out a giant hedge and some stone benches.
Hoggle hopped through the portal and the others followed, carefully avoiding the edges of the portal that seemed to fade into the walls at different places. Having been in the dark for so long, they squinted against the light the red-orange skies cast. Unlike the tunnels, there was no sun in the sky, which led Hermione to wonder once again where the light was coming from.
Hoggle began walking immediately towards the hedge wall.
"Hey! Wait!" Harry called.
"We're going to walk through here," Hoggle explained impatiently. He was so close to his crown, he could almost taste it. Figuratively speaking, of course.
"Hold on, so you're really leading us to the castle?" Ron asked.
"Why wouldn't I? You're my leverage, and you've got nothing to bargain with. If you run off, you'll never make your way back Aboveground. Now get a move on."
Ron grumbled under his breath. He'd known this was a bad idea from the start. First of all, Sarah Williams was American! They had nothing to do with the war! Not to mention, she was a muggle of all things. Could any person be more useless and clueless? Now they were in some weirder-than-Dumbledore place with a stuck up goblin and no leverage to get away.
Hoggle prodded him in the back to get them moving. They walked like prisoners of war to the front of the hedge, where the four stopped and stared at Hoggle, confused.
"You're expecting us to walk through this?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Just walk."
Harry hesitantly took a step into the hedge, where the illusion disappeared and a doorway-sized patch of the Labyrinth opened up for them to see the castle directly in front of them. There were armed guards stationed all over the perimeter and the gates were currently closed; however it wasn't long before a goblin in armor spotted 4 humans gawking at their castle and decided they should do something about it.
The guard ran till it reached them and pointed its spear suspiciously. "Who are you? What business do you have here?"
Hermione looked around for Hoggle, but he seemed to have disappeared. Realizing this, Sarah stepped forward.
"I'm Sarah Williams, Champion of the Labyrinth. I'm here to see the King."
The goblin nearly fell over in surprise. "Lady Sarah? It's really you?" She nodded. "But who are they?" He motioned with his spear at the trio, who backed away cautiously.
"They're my friends. We're here on official Champion business, and we're kind of on a schedule, so if you would just escort us to the King, that'd be lovely," she answered smoothly. The goblin nodded enthusiastically.
"Of course, my lady. Follow me, please." He turned and walked back in the direction of the castle. Sarah exchanged a look with Harry before they shrugged and followed.
This certainly wasn't as scary as she thought it'd be. Hoggle had hinted she'd be bogged or punished in some way, but the guard had been so… courteous. Come to think of it, his speech was certainly more refined than she remembered.
Too soon, they reached the entrance to the castle and the gates opened to let them in. The short walkway leading to the doors had been repaired, she noted absently, and faeries fluttered from flower to flower, following their progress with their eyes. Hermione blinked as the tree she'd been eyeing most definitely waved at her.
They stopped at the closed doors. Their goblin guide spoke to the guards at the door and they tapped their staffs against the ground, announcing, "The Champion returns! Open the doors!"
Sarah blushed at the eyes she could feel drilling holes into the back of her head. Maybe she shouldn't have pulled that card. There had to be other ways of seeing the King that didn't involve throwing your status around.
It was a few more minutes of walking through beautiful, portrait-lined hallways and plush, marbled rooms before they reached the throne room. Harry and his friends had stayed quiet throughout the entire trip, which Sarah though was quite an achievement, given Ron's track record. She hoped they weren't judging her based on their current experience.
She snuck a look behind her and realized they weren't judging anything; they were too busy gawking at the chandeliers hanging above them and the various goblins and non-goblin fae walking around, who stared at them equally curiously.
Some of the fae were rather attractive and human-shaped, which made her wonder where they'd been when she ran through the castle last time. Maybe Jareth didn't want competition, so he hid them away on her run. Though, with the tightness of his pants, how could anyone look anywhere else? Not that she had, of course, looked… much.
She was brought out of her thoughts by their guide stopping at a set of very expensive-looking oak doors.
Turning to them, he said, "This is the throne room. The King is currently holding court with some ambassadors, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind the interruption. Shall we?"
At Sarah's nod, he opened the doors.
"Announcing Sarah Williams, Champion of the Labyrinth, and friends, to see the King of the Labyrinth and Underground."
AN: Yes! I've finally hit over 2000 words! Anyways, besides that… I've got some bad news, guys. I want to try to finish this before my school starts (my college is weird; we start in late September) which means I've only got so many days left before my time goes back to homework and classes and all those other god-awful things that come with schooling.
For this story, that means I'm going to have to get rid of a lot of the cool stuff I was planning on putting into this story, but never fear! I had planned for some angsty Sarah and Evil!Jareth, but I think I'll save that for an entirely separate story which I will write... eventually. The plot bunny's too strong to ignore with that one, so I will definitely get around to it.
And as always, feel free to leave a review or PM me with questions, comments, etc. I would love to know if somebody out there is a Whovian, so I don't feel as lonely over here. (Made it to series 4, yay!) And for my fellow Americans, Happy Labor Day!