Author's Note: So, four people review the last chapter and I thank them. So, because almost enough people reviewed, and because it's St. Patrick's Day and my Irish blood is joyful, I bring to you Chapter 20. Also, to answer the question in one of the reviews, there are plans for a third story. So, that being said, Read, Review, & Enjoy!!
Jason was inches from Ron when he heard the door to the room burst open. "Jason!" a voice shouted. Jason spun around to see Professors Moody and Lupin standing in the doorway.
"Immobulus!" Moody and Lupin shouted. Before Jason could react, he was frozen in place. Mad-Eye walked into the room, followed by Lupin.
"Professors," Harry said, getting to his feet, "What are you doing here?"
"Nevile spoke to us," Lupin said, "He said Cho had left in the middle of class because of something involving Jason."
"I think Jason's dark side has taken control," Alice said.
Mad-Eye walked up to the frozen Jason and eyed him. Everyone watched as Mad-Eye's magical eye darted back and forth, each time accompanied by grunts from Mad-Eye. Mad-Eye turned to everyone else, looking unconcerned.
"It hasn't taken control," Mad-Eye, "Jason's unconcious, allowing the dark side to take over temporarily."
"So what do we do?" Cho asked.
"We have to shut down Jason's mind and reawaken his consciousness," Lupin said.
Alice looked uneasy. "Is there any other way?" she asked.
"I'm afraid not," Mad-Eye, "We have to do this immediately, before the immobulus spell wears off and Jason goes on another rampage."
Lupin walked up to Jason and aimed his wand at Jason's forehead. "Subsisto Mens," he said.
A bright flash erupted from Lupin's wand and in an instant, Jason dropped to the ground. As his body hit the ground, his orb came rolling out of a pocket in his robe.
"That's odd," Lupin said, "Normally when you shut down someone's mind, they remain frozen in place, not crumble like they're paralyzed."
Alice put her head down a bit, trying to avoid anyone's gaze. She feared the worst for Jason. Mad-Eye and Lupin stood over Jason's body. Their gaze was then drawn to the orb as it began to glow red.
"What do you think this means?" Mad-Eye asked. Professor Lupin shook his head, both men unaware of what was going on inside Jason's head.
Jason's mind was shut down, but a small piece had been reawakened by the orb. Jason opened his eyes to find himself on a battlefield. Bodies were everywhere. His friends, his loved ones, they were all dead. A sinister laugh caught his attention from across the field. Jason lifted his head, expecting to see Voldemort. What Jason saw shocked him. Jason was staring across the field at himself. This evil Jason was holding a katana and strolling across the field towards him. Jason reached down to find that he, too, had a katana and unsheathed it.
"So it's come to this," the evil Jason hissed, "Good and evil. Light and Dark. One final battle."
"I will make you pay for what you've done," Jason said, "Wait, what he's done? Dear Merlin, what atrocities has he...have I committed?"
The evil Jason's stroll turned into a sprint as he raced across the field, sword raised to strike. Suddenly, a black mist surrounded him. It faded to reveal a black armor. Jason raised his sword to defend himself when he was engulfed in white light. The light faded and Jason saw himself cased in a white armor.
"One of us must die today!" the evil Jason shouted as he leapt into the air.
Jason raised his sword to defend himself as the evil Jason landed, crossing swords with Jason. The two engaged in a power struggle, locking eyes with each other.
"This won't end till you die," the evil Jason hissed.
"Sileo Mens," a distant voice said, causing the world to burn white.
Lupin raised his wand again, looking down at Jason's body. "I think we've waited long enough," he said, "Sileo Mens." Lupin's wand flashed again as Jason's eyes snapped open. "Jason, is that you?" Lupin asked. Jason didn't answer, his eyes focused on the orb as its message echoed in his mind.
"At the time of the Red Dawn, he who possesses the spirit of the Lion shall find death his worst enemy. But in times so hectic, your enemies must be embraced as friends and both death and fate must be welcomed. For only a double sacrifice will put an end to the evil within."
Jason let the message sink in a bit before turning to everyone else. "Where am I?" he wheezed.
"The Room of Requirement," Mad-Eye said, "There was an incident."
"Come, Jason," Lupin said, "Stand up and we'll figure this situation out."
Jason remained frozen on the ground. His eyes darted about the room as everyone stared at Jason, puzzled. Alice started to panic. Her brother's secret was about to be exposed.
"Something wrong, Jason?" Mad-Eye asked.
Jason hesistated, but finally curled his hand into a fist and slowly sat up. "Everything's fine," he said. Alice breathed a sigh of relief. The family secret was safe.
"Come," Lupin said, "Let's get you all to the hospital wing.
In the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey was attending to everyone's injuries. Jason purposely sat in the bed furthest from everyone else. He had been briefed about what happened in the Room of Requirement. Combined with seeing Ron's broken arm, Draco's broken sternum, his own broken nose and wrist, and the bumps and bruises of his friends, Jason didn't want to be near anyone. He blamed himself and felt terrible for what he did.
"How's the arm, Ron?" Hermione asked. Ron shot Hermione an angry look, but didn't answer the question.
Mad-Eye and Lupin stood in the doorway to the hospital wing, watching everyone, especially Jason. "What do you see, Alastor?" Lupin asked.
"It's gone dormant," Mad-Eye replied, "At least for the moment. Shutting him down provided a temporary solution."
"So what do we do?" Lupin asked.
"Only one thing we can do." Mad-Eye said.
"Ron," Alice said, "You were about to say something before we went into the Room of Requirement."
"Oh," Ron said, glancing over at Harry and Hermione, "Yeah, I was on my way over when I saw something that I couldn't believe." Harry and Hermione froze, awaiting the proverbial sword of Damocles to fall.
"Well, what did you see?" Alice asked.
Ron took a deep breath, shooting Harry and Hermione quick glances. "I saw," he began, "Seamus and Padma. They've been getting rather close lately. I think they might fancy each other." Hermione and Harry were dumbfounded.
Alice cocked an eyebrow, puzzled. "That's it?" she asked, "You saw Seamus and Padma getting close?"
Ron nodded. "I wanted to bring it up to you," he said, "Maybe we can find away to get them together. Like Jason was gonna do for Neville."
Hermione looked over at Jason and saw the torment he was in. She swore that she would stand by him, yet in the Room of Requirement, she was terrified of what he had become.
"Jason?" Hermione asked.
Jason didn't look up. He stared blankly out the window. He allowed himself to lose control and put all his friends in jeopardy. He had to learn to get control of himself or else he could put someone else in harm's way. Professor McGonagall walked into the hospital wing, followed by Tonks and Sirius.
"We must speak with you," McGonagal said.
"About what?" Mad-Eye asked.
"With the war on the horizon," Tonks began, "We had best begin to raise our allies and gather an army to fight Voldemort."
"What are you suggesting?" Lupin asked.
"Send a pair to each school," McGonagall replied, "Speak to the head of the school and try to secure an alliance."
"Dragonfire and Beauxbatons, yes," Sirius said, "But we still haven't heard from Burning Lotus and Durmstrang is home to the Death Eaters now."
"We recieved word from Burning Lotus that we are permitted to journey there," McGonagall said, "And as for Durmstrang, it is my belief that there still may be good people trapped in there and it is necessary to not only liberate those people, but gather intelligence on the Death Eaters."
"Who should we send to each school?" Lupin asked.
"Perhaps we should ask them," Mad-Eye said.
They all turned to the eight of them and explained the situation. Jason turned his head to face McGonagall, breaking his trance-like state, his now relaying a newfound sense of resolve.
"I'm going back to Dragonfire," he said, "And I think it's best if I go alone."
Hermione knew he was tearing himself up for what happened and refused to let him continue this way. "I'm going too," she said.
Jason looked over at her. "I'd rather that you didn't," he said, "I have to do this on my own."
"Jason, I made a promise a long time ago to stand by you, regardless," Hermione said, "I'm not gonna abandon you now." Jason sighed and nodded.
"I'll go to Burning Lotus," Cho said, "It'll be nice to see my great uncle again."
"I'll go to Beauxbatons," Ron said, "Will you come with me, Alice?"
"Of course I will," Alice said.
"Ginny and I will check out Durmstrang," Draco said, taking Ginny's hand.
"I think I should accompany Jason and Hermione to Dragonfire," Harry said.
"Harry, I think you ought to accompany Cho," Ron said, his eyes narrowed.
"You're right," Harry said.
"Then it's settled," McGonagall said, "You'll all leave in the morning."
"What about our classes?" Hermione asked, "And the dueling club?"
"You will all be excused from class," McGonagall said, "I will resume teaching Transfigurations to allow Professor Tonks to take over Herbology."
"Professor Tonks and I will take over your lessons in the dueling club," Sirius said.
Jason stood up and walked out of the hospital wing. "Now that he's gone," Harry began, "Can somebody please tell me what the hell is going on with him?"
"Jason's darker side tried to take control while Jason himself was unconcious," Mad-Eye said, "By shutting his mind down and reawakening it, we've managed to supress the dark side."
"You mean you manage to reverse the curse?" Alice asked.
Mad-Eye shook his head. "What Remus and I did was only a temporary solution," he said.
"As of right now," Lupin began, "The only solution is to extract the dark side of Jason's soul from his body. But, that in itself could be harmful to Jason."
"I should return to class," Cho said, "Neville's probably swamped by now."
"Hang on," Alice said, "I'll walk with you." Alice stood up and walked with Cho out of the Hospital Wing.
"Draco and I are going to go for a walk," Ginny said, "After all that's happened today, we both need some air." Draco took Ginny's hand and the two of them walked out.
Harry and Hermione, a bit ashamed, turned to Ron. "Thanks for not ratting us out," Harry said.
"Save your apologies," Ron said, "I didn't do it for you. If Jason knew, he'd go off the deep end for sure. Alice had to bury one brother, it's not fair for her to bury another. Not mention how devastated Cho would be. But then again, I doubt you two had even thought of that."
Neither Harry nor Hermione could respond. In truth, they hadn't really thought of the consequences. If they had given it any thought, they wouldn't have done what they've done. Harry had his reasons. He mistrusted Cho and felt betrayed that she would still choose Cedric over him. He also had a deep love for Hermione that had taken over six years to fully dawn on him and with that love came a carnal lust for the girl who'd first ventured with him and Ron to search for the Philosopher's Stone. He was, at times, overwelmed by this lust and though it was wrong, he had to have her.
Hermione's reasons were different. She loved Jason, but she was afraid of what he was becoming and in that respect, she felt she was betraying her fiancee because of the promise she made. She also, somewhere deep down, felt a physical attraction to Harry. It was an attraction she'd once had for Viktor Krum. More to the point, her attraction for Harry drove her to throw away her inhibitions around him. But she knew she couldn't have both. Perhaps this week away from Harry would help her to see things more clearly. She got off the bed and walked out of the Hospital Wing.
Jason sat in the Gryffindor common room, tuning his guitar. Music always soothed him when his mind was running a million miles a minute. Parvati Patil, book in hand, walked in from the girl's dorm to find Jason.
"Oh, Jason you startled me," Parvati said, "I wasn't expecting anyone in here."
"I can leave if you'd like," Jason said.
"No, that's okay," Parvati said, "I only came down here to read. The fireplace relaxes me."
Parvati sat down in a chair next to the fireplace and opened her book as Jason went back to tuning his guitar. Parvati looked from her book and smiled. "Are you going to play a song?" she asked.
Jason nodded. "Unless it's going to bother you," he said.
Parvati shook her head as she closed her book and turned her attention to Jason. Jason strummed a few lines before starting to strum notes. He cleared his voice and began to sing:
What day is it? And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
I can't keep up and I can't back down
I've been losing so much time
'Cause it's you and me and all of the people
With nothing to do, nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all other people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you
Jason continued to play as his eyes zoned out. Parvati rested her head against the headrest of the chair, listening to Jason play.
When all of the things that I want to say
Just aren't coming out right
I'm tripping on words, you've got my head spinning
I don't know where to go from here
'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it's you and me and all other people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you
Jason closed his eyes as he played, not seeing the slow smile forming on Parvati's face.
There's something about you now
I can't quite figure out
Everything she does is beautiful
Everything she does is right
'Cause it's you and me and all of the people
With nothing to do, nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all other people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of
You and me and all other people
With nothing to do, nothing to prove
And it's you and me and all other people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you
What day is it?
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
Jason trailed off the last note as he finished strumming. He looked over at Parvati, who was smiling. "That was a beautiful song," she said.
"Thanks," Jason said, blushing a bit, "Music relaxes me. Helps take my mind off of things."
"Your voice is very soothing," Parvati said, "Hermione is a lucky girl."
Jason smiled and looked out the window, then turned back to Parvati just as the door to the common room opened. Seamus and Padma walked in, laughing.
"There you are," Padma said, "We're going to the quidditch pitch with Dean and Neville to study in peace. You wanna go?"
"Sure," Parvati said as she stood up, "Care to join us, Jason?"
"No, thanks," Jason replied, "I think I'll stick around here and maybe get some rest."
Parvati followed Seamus and Padma out of the room, but not before taking one more look in Jason's direction. Jason stood up and headed to the stairs to his dorm. He stopped for a moment, reflecting on Parvati.
"She seemed rather taken with my singing," he thought, "She had the same look Hermione had on her face when I first sang to her."
Jason stopped in his tracks, realizing what he might have just done. "Best not to tell Hermione about this," he thought as he acsended the stairs to his dorm. After what he had done today, sleep was most welcome.
A/N: So that's Chapter 20. Now the next few chapters are going to bounce around from character couple to character couple, so I'm sure not everyone will be pleased every chapter. Still, it's the best way to expedite to story. As soon as I've finished writing a chapter, I'll post a chapter. So, probably in about a week or two. The song was "You And Me" by Lifehouse.