Alexandra Potter
Chapter Twelve: Revenge is Not a Dish
Scene 34/5
Two hours later Alex was waiting outside the Great Hall. Everyone else was inside, chatting loudly as they ate dinner - everyone except Draco.
Where is he?Alex thought, pacing near the bottom of the staircase. He should be here by now.If the plan fails because he's late for dinner -
"Draco!" she called, spotting him as he came out of a side door. She rushed over to him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him back through the door. The corridor beyond was empty. "Finally! Where've you been?"
"I was-"
"Never mind that," said Alex, shutting the door. "We don't have much time." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a thin vial. The potion within was almost identical to water - only a slight pink tinge gave away its true nature. "Here," she said, passing him the vial, "you need to put this into Daphne's drink -withoutbeing seen, obviously."
Looking rather dazed, Draco held the vial up to the light.
"What is it?" he said, and Alex noticed he looked paler than normal. His hair was a mess.No time for that now.
"We don't have time to talk about it," she said, "just trust me, okay?"
"I don't know about this..." said Draco, and Alex wanted to slap sense into him. She controlled herself.
"Well, sinceyoulost my cloak, I think you owe me," she said, "this is the only way to clear upyourmess."
Draco looked away. "Listen, I'm really sorry, but -"
"If you're really sorry, then you'll do this for me," said Alex.Why won't he just do it! Every moment we speak, Daphne's finishing dinner!
"Well, all right," said Draco, sighing. "It's not anything really dangerous, is it? What if someone else drinks some?"
"It's a fuckingpleasurepotion, Draco," said Alex, losing her patience. "No one's gonna get hurt. Just do it, okay?"
Alex didn't wait for his answer before leaving. She entered the Hall and went straight to the Hufflepuff table, finding Lily, who was already half way through her squash soup. She sat next to her and tore a hunk of bread from the loaf.
"Where've you been?" said Lily, glancing at her.
"Library," lied Alex, her eyes fixed to the Slytherin table. Daphne was there, right at the end with Pansy and Tracey. She watched as Draco came in and sat a few seats down - right next to the jug of water.
"Figuring out your Charms homework?" said Lily.
"What?" said Alex. She'd completely forgotten about Charms. "Oh, yeah."
"Great! You can help me tonight, then!"
Alex turned to Lily, about to wiggle out of it, but decided against it. She couldn't do anything to Daphne until they were asleep. It'd be a good way to kill the time. "Sure," she said, turning back to watch Daphne.
Dinner seemed to last forever. Alex barely touched her food, so intent was she upon the Slytherin table.
"You coming, Alex?" said Lily, standing to leave with Megan.
Draco was still eating.
"Meet you in the Winter room at half seven?" she said.Surely Draco will be finished by then.
"All right," said Lily, leaving Alex alone.
At last, Draco stood up. Alex practically leapt after him, catching up to him in the Entrance Hall. The place was still busy with the dinner traffic; Alex linked arms with Draco from behind, surprising him.
"Did you do it?" she whispered, leaning in to him. Draco nodded.
"Thank you!" said Alex, kissing him on the cheek with a fierce grin.That was the hard part. Now I just have to fall asleep.
"So I'm forgiven now?" said Draco.
"Almost," said Alex, a bounce in her step as they made their way across a moving staircase. "There's just one more thing I need."
"Tell me."
"The Slytherin password."
Draco raised both eyebrows, but didn't stop walking.
"You're planning to break into our dorm?" he said, clearly disbelieving.
"Not exactly," said Alex, "but I do need the password."
Draco barely hesitated. "Mongolian Moonthistle," he said, barely loud enough to be heard.
"That... that's the answer to our Potions homework!" said Alex.
Draco smirked. "A coincidence, I'm sure," he said, but the twinkle in his eye said it was anything but.
They parted with a kiss by the portrait of Edmund the Eagle-Mad.
"Good luck, whatever you're doing," said Draco.
Alex returned to Hufflepuff and spent the evening with Lily, working on their Charms homework. It didn't take long for Alex to unravel the Charm on the weight, now she knew the strategy, but it took a lot longer to help Lily undo her floating candle. It was funny: Alex thought she understood the spell perfectly, but, when it came to explaining it, she found it very difficult to put into words. She ended up having to double check parts of the theory several times, after talking herself into a corner. By the end of the evening, Alex's Undoing was much more powerful.
"I did it!" said Lily, brandishing her candle.
"Let's try again," said Alex, and she recast the Levitation Charm. The candle floated up to hover in front of Lily's face.
"Finite Incantatum!" said Lily, reeling her wand. The candle fell to the floor with a muted thump.
"Great!" said Alex, picking up the candle. Her Charm wasn't perfect, but it was good enough. A cuckoo clock hooted nine - the first years' bedtime.
Butterflies bubbled in Alex's stomach as she made her way to the dorms.What if it doesn't work? What if I just sleep all the way through the night? What if Snape changes the password tonight? What if Daphne wakes up before I can frighten her?As Alex climbed into bed, clutching her wand, she suddenly began to doubt the plan. There were so many possible ways for it to fail.
The lights went off.
If it fails, it fails. But I might as well try.
Alex closed her eyes, a faint smile on her lips. Daphne was in for an interesting night.
It was always the same: the Great Hall, abandoned, set for breakfast. The summer sun streamed through the stained windows, and a glass of juice was half way to Alex's mouth. She paused, and became aware.
She suppressed the surge of excitement that ran through her. She was more experienced with somniamancy now, but too much could still wake her. She had to stay in control.
"Recludo," she said, tapping herself on the forehead with her wand, opening herself up to the shared dream world of Hogwarts' inhabitants. She'd long since moved past the need to see herself to cast the spell.Let's go.
She left the Great Hall and headed for the Slytherin dorms, passing across the central courtyard before going down into the old dungeons. Everywhere was still and silent, not a soul in sight. As far as Alex knew, no one else at Hogwarts practiced somniamancy. And even if they did, running into each other was unlikely.
Though dry, the dungeons were dark and cold. None of the torches were lit, and Alex struggled to find her way. But eventually she found it, just as Draco had described: halfway between two cellar doors, the shadow of a snake engraved on the wall from ceiling to floor.
"Mongolian Moonthistle," she said. Her voice was muffled, like speaking into a pillow, but it did the job: with a grinding of stone, the wall split along the snake, forming a smooth archway. Alex entered without hesitation.
The arch opened up into a single large room, bigger even than Hufflepuff's Big Room. Green light filtered in from a huge window, dominating one wall. The lake lay on the other side, and Alex stared at it in surprise.I didn't think I'd walked so far down.The window was the only source of light - all the torches were extinguished - but it was enough for Alex to make out the rest of the room.
It was quite luxurious, all smooth dark stone and black leather couches, but it didn't feel very homely. Alex prefered Hufflepuff.At least we have natural light, she thought. The window to the lake was cool, but she'd get tired of not seeing the sun. She was about to check out the other rooms when she stopped herself.Enough tourism. She was here for a reason.
She headed for the stairs on the far side of the room, and went up. It didn't take long for her to find Daphne's dorm. She entered with a deep breath, hardly believing what she was doing.Last chance to back out.
She closed the door behind her.
The layout was like Hufflepuff: five four-poster beds, these ones decked out in green and silver. Daphne's was the third Alex checked. She lay on her side, her white blonde hair loose. The covers were pulled all the way up to her chin and a faint smile was on her face.Good. Looks like the potion's working.A familiar mote of glowing white light floated over Daphne's forehead.
"Alohamora," said Alex. The glowing light grew into a disc, just as it had with Roland. "Here we go," she whispered, and, with her eyes closed, Alex pushed her face into the light.
She opened her eyes in a garden. Long and thin, with tall hedges on both sides, it sat behind a line of terraced houses, built in the Victorian style. The grass became a patio as it approached the house; a family of four sat there at a garden table, enjoying what looked like afternoon tea in the summer sun. Alex walked towards them, instantly recognising Daphne.
None of them seemed to realise she was there. Not Daphne, nor the taller girl next to her - her sister, Alex guessed, judging by their similar hair. Their parents were similarly oblivious.
"Milk, Daphne?" asked Mrs Greengrass. She was, like her daughters, tall and thin, but there was a frailty to her that Daphne lacked. The bones of her face were too prominent, and her skin was unnaturally pale. Her eyes, however, were bright and clear.
"Thank you, mother," said Daphne, like the prim and proper Pureblood she was, sitting with her back straight and her head high. Mrs Greengrass poured the milk herself - no House Elf, nor even a wand - and passed Daphne the china cup.
It was undecorated, Alex noticed. A plain, unassuming white. The table too, now that she looked, was simply made. A far cry from the contents of Manor, it could've come from a Muggle store.
"Tell me, Daphne," said Mr Greengrass, a thin man with even thinner brown hair, "how is Lord Talbot?"
"Filthy rich!" said the sister cheerfully, and Mrs Greengrass gasped.
"Astoria! It's not polite to say such things - not even in private," she said, expression disapproving. Suddenly, she smiled. "But you're not wrong. The Talbots are rather handsomely well off, aren't they?"
"That's the girl," said Mr Greengrass, smiling at Daphne with something like pride. "You'll go far, mark my words."
Alex looked on incredulously.This is Daphne's perfect dream? It's as dull as the Dursleys!
"It's not like we're getting married," said Daphne, but it was obvious she was happy. "But Lord Talbotdidtell me I was a fine companion for Henry."
"Well!" said Mr Greengrass, leaning back in his seat, "there you have it!"
"When can I have a boyfriend?" said Astoria with a whine.
"Not 'til you're at Hogwarts, dear," said Mrs Greengrass, before turning back to Daphne.
"Now, did you say you've been invited to the Malfoy ball next year?"
That's enough, Alex thought.Time to liven this up. The Greengrasses were still completely oblivious to her presence. She raised her wand.
"Domino, demuto, incubo," she chanted, swinging her wand back and forth like a pendulum. The sun slipped behind a cloud, and Daphne shivered.
"No idea how we're going to afford a dress if you are," said Mr Greengrass, "you might have to politely decline."
"Father!" said Daphne, her eyes going wide. "Decline the Malfoys? That's..."
"I don't see any other way, Daphne. Better to decline than to go and be embarrassed."
"Now, dear, I'm sure we could find enough for just one-"
This isn't enough. "Domino, demuto, incubo," repeated Alex.
"We could not," said Mr Greengrass, slapping the table hard. "We already owe the Malfoys four thousand galleons, the Swanns another two thousand, and the goblins five hundred. I'll not bankrupt myself for adress!"
"Father, we're already bankrupt," said Daphne, no longer smiling. "Maybe if you hadn't spent all the money -"
"And let your mother die, is that it?" said Mr Greengrass, standing up.
"That's not what I meant!" said Daphne, also standing.
"Why are we fighting?" said Astoria, looking like she was about to cry, and Mrs Greengrass stood up too.
"If you don't want to be part of this House, Daphne, maybe you should run away again."
Everyone went silent, and turned to Mrs Greengrass in shock. Alex's eyes widened.Daphne ran away from home?Alex turned to her. She was on the verge of tears. After a moment of hesitation, she ran towards the house.
"Daphne!" called her mother, moving to go after her. "I didn't-"
"Let her be," said Mr Greengrass, and they sat back down. Alex left them there, following Daphne into the house.
She entered through the kitchen - a tiny thing, it looked almost Muggle.Is this a Muggle house?It had a cold box, not a fridge, but the stove was clearly connected to gas. Alex went from the kitchen into the sitting room. Like the kitchen it was rather small.Where now?The sound of feet running up carpeted stairs gave Daphne away. Alex followed, and reached the top of the stairs just as a door slammed shut.Gotcha.
She entered the bedroom.
Like the rest of the house it was small and simply decorated. The walls were white, the bed single. Daphne lay on it, face down, crying into a teddy bear. Alex shut the door loudly, and Daphne jumped up.
"What'reyoudoing here?" she said, quickly wiping her eyes dry.
"I told you, Daphne," said Alex, raising her wand. "I told you not to mess with me."
Daphne screwed up her eyes and rubbed her forehead.
"I don't-" she began, before shaking her head. "I don't understand. Why are you here?"
"I can get you anywhere," said Alex. Not true, but Daphne couldn't know. "Even your dreams."
Daphne's eyes snapped open, and Alex knew she'd realised she was dreaming.
"Bingo!" she said, moving to sit on Daphne's desk chair. It creaked as she leaned back. "I knew you'd get there eventually."
"If this is a dream," said Daphne, "then I'm just dreaming you too."
"Nope!" said Alex, grinning. It was an addictive thing: the feeling of control, of having Daphne completely within her power. "Here, let me show you.Diffindo!"
The invisible scissor Charm slashed Daphne across her cheek, opening an inch long cut.
"Ow!" said Daphne, her hand slapping up to her cheek, pushing against the cut, which was bleeding quite impressively. "That... hurt!"
"You don't know the half of it," said Alex, keeping her wand trained on Daphne. Not that she knew any good jinxes.Something I'll have to look up later. The scissor charm was designed for paper, not people, and was meant to be applied with direct contact. It was amazing that Alex could get as much out of it as she had. Still, it would be enough. "You see, dear Daphne, anything I do to you here happens in real life too. When you wake up, you'll have that cut on your cheek."
Daphne's eyes shifted to look at Alex's wandpoint. Suddenly she looked nervous.
"You're lying," she said, her voice wavering, but she took a step back nonetheless. Her legs bumped up against the bed. "There's no such magic."
"Perhaps if you spent more time on study and less on makingmy life miserableyou'd know there was," said Alex, and she raised the wand again. Daphne tried to dodge, but she just fell onto the bed. "Diffindo!" This one caught Daphne in the arm, right by the elbow, and Daphne gasped in pain.
"Why are you doing this?" said Daphne, her eyes swimming, her voice thick.
Anger like nothing she'd ever known grew in Alex. "Why?" she hissed, "you even have to ask? You've been on my casesince day one. You spread rumours about me for no reason! Youpoisonedme in front of the school! You pretended to be my friend, then you stole my father's cloak andblackmailedme!" She took a deep, shuddering breath, and realised that she too was crying. "You'll never hurt me again." She raised the wand again.
"Stop it!" Daphne said, her eyes swimming, "please! Just stop!"
"Give me my cloak back," said Alex, not lowering her wand, "first thing tomorrow. Promise me you'll never come near me again."
"I promise!" said Daphne.
"If you break your promise, you know I can get you," Alex said, and a memory stirred in her mind.
I'm going to get you, Dudley said.Tomorrow at school.
Alex covered her mouth in shock.No, she thought.I'm not like him. But when she looked down at Daphne, lying back on her bed in fear, Alex's wand wavered.
The moment of hesitation was all Daphne needed. She leapt off the bed and smashed into Alex at the waist, tackling her to the ground. Alex cried out, trying to bring her wand to bear, but it flew out of her hand as she landed on the hard wooden floor with a thud.
Winded, Alex looked around for her wand, but Daphne was already scrambling after it.
"No!" said Alex, and she grabbed onto the first part of Daphne she could reach - her hair. Daphne screamed as Alex tugged hard, and turned back to Alex to slap her across the face. Bright hot stringing heat spread across Alex's cheek but she didn't let go; she pulled again on Daphne's hair, dragging her back down to the floor, and tried to stand herself, dodging Daphne's flailing arms.
With a dive she reclaimed her wand.
"Domino, demuto, incubo!" she shouted, just in time - Daphne had got back up. Alex suddenly wondered why she hadn't woken up yet - a fight like that, combined with her aware state, should've been enough to wake Daphne up.
"Give me the wand," Daphne said, standing over Alex, her foot poised to kick.I definitely need to learn more hexes.
"Fuck off," said Alex, and Daphne raised her foot.
CRASH!
With the sound of splintering wood, the head of an axe smashed through Daphne's door. Daphne spun to face it, just as it came down again -CRASH!
"DAPHNE!" shouted Mr Greengrass from the other side, and the axe came down a third time, completely destroying the door. The nightmare stepped through into the bedroom, surveying the two of them with red eyes.
"Alex..." said Daphne, right as Mr Greengrass raised the axe.
"Finite!" shouted Alex, pointing the wand at Mr Greengrass.
Nothing happened. He swung the axe; Daphne dived. The axe missed her neck by less than an inch.
"ALEX!" she shouted. Mr Greengrass stepped to stand over her, and raised the axe. Alex jumped up, with her arm in third.
"FINITE INCANTATUM!" she shouted, putting everything into the spell, lacing it with dark magic. Mr Greengrass froze in place, and Alex breathed a sigh of relief.
And then he turned to face her, his red eyes meeting hers, and her scar exploded in pain. Alex screamed, falling to her knees, her hands clutching her head. It was like a nail had been rammed through her scar, right into her brain. Warm blood trickled down her face, and she looked up to face the nightmare.
Mr Greengrass melted away. In his place a tall man stood, bald, pale and skeletal, with slits for a nose and red eyes.
Alex froze. Daphne screamed. Voldemort raised his wand.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Green light flashed.
Alex jumped out of bed before she was even fully awake, her head pounding. Blood was drying on her face, but it barely registered.Daphne! She's still stuck there!
For the smallest fraction of a moment, Alex hesitated. She would be in trouble for this, she knew.Fuck that!
Alex raced out of her dorm, wand in hand, and ran down the stairs.Prefect? No - not enough time!She ran all the way to Slytherin, her heart hammering in her chest, the night's cold air burning in her lungs.
"Mongolian Moonthistle!" she shouted as she approached the entrance, and the archway opened just as in her dream. She ran through the common room without a glance, right up the girls stairs, and into Daphne's dorm.
"Lumos!" she shouted, running over to Daphne's bed. She tore the curtains open, and froze. There was blood everywhere, soaked through the sheets. Daphne was deadly pale. "HELP!" she screamed, "somebody help!"
The other girls in the dorm stirred.
"What's going on?" said Pansy, crawling out of her bed. She froze when she saw Alex and Daphne. "Oh my god!"
"Help me!" Alex begged through her tears, but Pansy just continued to stare.
The door burst open and Professor Snape strode into the room, dressed in blue pyjamas. He looked around the room once, taking everything in, and turned immediately to Daphne's bed.
"Please, sir, help her!" said Alex, and Snape raised his wand.
Red light flashed, and everything went black.