Author's notes: alright. So Joseph Schuler is completely right. I hate it when that happens. Crenellated windows? What was I thinking? Crenellated: to make something with square indentations like the openings (crenels) of a battlement. Goofy description for a window, I guess. I was thinking more scallopy. Well. You get the brownie points, Joseph. Thanks for the nice way of telling me I was a little odd.
Disclaimer….I own nothing that belongs to the Great and Mighty JKR.
Chapter 27
Power and Vengeance
Malfoy was furiously throwing clothes into his trunk as quickly as possible, knocking down a rather gaudy lamp in the process. His wand swished wordlessly and the brass handled luggage snapped closed with a click. Grimly he examined the room he had lived in for most of the last few years and found little that felt familiar any longer. Childish things like his exploding snap game or even the tattered remains of his first school broom made him feel nothing. His life was over here.
With a flick, he magicked his trunk small enough to fit in his pocket and turned to exit the room for the last time. No one knew he was leaving; therefore there was no one to say good-bye to. Escaping was more to the fact of the matter. When the Dark Lord found he had failed in his task and his bungling tipped the Dumbledore crowd to Voldemort's plans he was sure to be dead by nightfall. But there was no way he was going to stand around and be a stationary target. Somehow he had contrived to be hated by both sides.
A rattling thud drew his attention to the common room and he cautiously peered out his doorway to see what the commotion was about. Draco's face drained white when he caught sight of Harry Potter knocking Blaise Zambini out of the way with little more than a look. Harry Potter looked angry. Very angry.
Draco could barely see around the corner and watched as Harry stalked toward Pansy Parkinson. She had just slammed a painful reductor curse at the boy's head missing by an inch. The Gryffindor walked faster and the power swirling around him forced the glaring girl to back up to the wall with Harry coming inches away from her face.
"I don't know anything about Granger! You can't just come into our House and hex everyone! If you want to hex Draco go ahead, but leave me out of it!" She defiantly threw her nose in the air but Harry could see her shoulders shaking violently in fear. His eyes narrowed as he remembered all the hateful words to come from the now very frightened girl. He reached very slowly and deliberately and removed her wand from her hand.
"I'd leave now, if I were you." Harry hissed softly through his teeth.
She turned and fled.
Several groans sounded from the floor letting Draco know there had been at least a few who had tried to defend the Slytherin sanctuary. He could just make out the feet of Crabbe next to the couch.
Whispering a disillusionment charm Draco faded into invisibility. Sticking close to the walls he snaked around the corner and soundlessly made for the door. Getting through them wasn't going to be much of a problem since Potter had basically melted them to the ground. Malfoy winced when he stepped on Goyle's hand making the unconscious boy groan and caused Harry to turn his direction. Harry's eyes narrowed and his whole body began to glow in anger. Draco could feel the disillusionment charm break as the feeling of water over his skin made him shiver.
"Well. It seems that the system of code entry words has fallen a bit. It isn't everyday one sees a Gryffindor in the Slytherin Common Room. And messing up the place as well, it appears." Draco hid his fear behind half-lidded eyes and his customary sneer.
Ron burst into the room and gasped when he saw the destruction obviously perpetrated by his friend. When he saw Draco Malfoy he purposely pulled his wand out and tilted his head as if taking his time choosing which curse to use.
"Ah. And you've brought your red-headed girlfriend as well. How cosy. Apparently you should feel welcome, Weasel. Potty certainly has." Draco's hands shook slightly so he pushed them lazily into his pockets as he leaned casually against the wall.
"Where. Is. She." Harry hissed through his teeth.
Draco's eyes skirted from Ron back to Harry and said nothing. Ron stepped forward and Malfoy found himself neatly cornered by the two boys. The look of hatred in Harry's eyes made the Slytherin pause. He didn't think Potter would kill him, but the blighted Gryffindor had been in so many fights with other Death Eaters, it may not give him much of a bother any more.
"I didn't kill her." Malfoy whispered softly.
"There was blood." Ron stated emotionlessly.
"The stupid girl had cut herself already or else the wrist device had become activated. Either way I did nothing. She was alive the last time I saw her." Draco spat out in a snarl.
Harry lunged at the blond boy and knocked him hard onto the ground grinding his knee into the panting and wild-eyed boy's chest. Draco tried to roll out from under him, but Harry's wand caught him flat under his chin forcing him to still. Draco looked around furiously but there wasn't a Slytherin in sight. Typical. Scattered like rats.
"We all have roles to play, Potter. Some were set into motion before either of us were born. How different would our lives have been if you had only shaken my hand the first day?" Draco smiled mirthlessly.
Harry didn't say a word. He just stared into Draco's eyes until the boy nervously looked away.
"Look at me!" Harry bit out. Draco's eyes caught his and he blinked when he witnessed the power glowing within the boy's green orbs.
"Legimens!" Harry shouted as he pointed his wand mercilessly at the Slytherin's temple. Jumbled images knocked Harry's head back but he fought the pain and forced himself to stare into the other boy's eyes. Scenes flashed by of Malfoy in various rooms and conversations until it slowed as the moment in front of the library came into focus. Harry watched unblinkingly at the memory of Draco shoving Hermione to her knees and knocking her against the wall. He stared amazed when he saw Hermione slip through the wall to disappear into nothingness. His hand shaking, he slowly pulled the wand away from the still form of Malfoy who had apparently passed out from the power of the spell.
Ron grabbed Harry's shoulder pulling him upright to face him. "What happened? What did you see? Where is she?"
"She just disappeared." Harry looked wide-eyed at Ron in confusion. "It looked like she just walked through the wall. I don't know if Voldemort has her or not."
Ron cast ropes around the passed out form of Draco and levitated him up so they could take him to a more secure location. Ron knew just the vacant cell to use.
"Draco doesn't know much of anything. He was part of it, though." Harry reached over and ripped the shoulder from the sleeping boy's robe tearing the shirt beneath as well to reveal the shadowy tattoo of Voldemort. Ron sucked in breath when he saw the proof of Draco's betrayal.
"He said he didn't have a choice." Harry stared bemused at the tightly tied form in front of him.
Ron glanced at Harry and watched him deflate from the powerful angry wizard just moments before into a tired teenager who appeared confused and insecure. Slowly Harry turned away from Draco and peered up through his glasses to tiredly blink at his best friend.
Ron smiled wanly then frowned as he stared at Draco. "He had a choice. He just wasn't willing to pay the price for it. You are one who knows, Harry. Your parents paid. Dearly. To choose what's right can cost a man. Draco just doesn't understand that Good is really worth it."
Harry's eyes teared up and they both breathed deeply to keep themselves from bawling like little girls. "Let's get him put away. We have some Hermione searching to do." Ron took hold of Malfoy's floating head and shoved it through what remained of the door.
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Hermione woke to find a platter of breakfast foods piled high on the side table next to her rumpled and rather dusty bed. She stretched and winced at the pain in her knees as the scabs cracked with the movement. A pitcher of water in a large bowl that reminded her of her Gran was wafting up steam and she scrambled out of the bed and gratefully dipped the cloth sitting beside it into the deliciously warm water. It took a while, but she finally felt normal again after attacking the dirt on her face, her wrist and her scabby knees. Her wrist was aching horribly still, and she still couldn't remember scratching it so deliberately. The thought of losing so much time made her shiver. She felt better being at least somewhat clean, and she sighed missing the luxury of the Prefect's bath. Nothing much could be done with her hair, so she braided it and tied it off with a bit of tapestry string she pulled from a very old and dilapidated wall-hanging.
She stared at herself in the tiny mirror above the washstand and mentally reprimanded herself for even considering leaving their dorm in such a skimpy nightgown. The thin material had split under one arm and the revealing tear crossed her chest leaving little to the imagination. She grimaced at her reflection and sighed.
"It was absolutely brilliant to leave your wand back in the dorm. What a first-year thing to do! I can't even scourgify and reparo this silly thing." She muttered lightly to herself. Suddenly the wind around her body picked up and her nightdress fluttered with the power of a spell that left her garment clean and patched to perfection. Even the tiny kittens on the front of her gown started to lick and clean themselves. Her mouth dropped open in surprise and she stumbled back and landed on her backside luckily on the old bed.
She started to laugh. "Brilliant, lovely castle! Hoggy Hoggy Hogwarts indeed!" She hopped up and twirled on her toes hugging her arms close when she realized what this truly meant. She didn't need her wand. Or at least not here. Not at Hogwarts it seemed. Apparently her connection to the ancient site was amazingly bolstered by the spell that created the Room of Requirement. Or was it just this room? No, the walls disappeared to help me escape. "I wish I could research this. I wonder if this has ever happened before? Such an increase of power or is it just an increase of focus?" She mumbled to herself with fingers itching to open a book.
"I can get out of here!" She grinned to herself in the mirror and made a silly face. She approached the door and raised her hand. Then lowered it. Then raised it again. Shaking her head ruefully she rolled her eyes in self-derision. I'm a bit unused to working without the wand. This is going to take a while to get used to.
"Alohamora!" She said forcefully staring at the door handle. Nothing happened. Apparently she hadn't focused hard enough. Scrinching up her eyebrows she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.
"Alohamora!" This time a little more emphatically. Still the lock held.
She grabbed the antiquated door knob and shoved against it as hard as she could. Nothing. "I want OUT!" She screamed at the door as loudly as she could. Suddenly, the door shimmered and chains slithered up and around the door like ivy on a trellis. Several padlocks appeared and a heavy stone block appeared jamming the entrance completely.
"So I'll just stay, shall I?" Hermione sarcastically sneered in the door's direction. She felt suddenly exhausted and she forced herself to sit down quickly on the bed. The spells she had cast without her wand had sapped all her strength away.
Bollocks! I am going to die of old age here in this sodding tower! She gripped her hands on the edge of the bed in anger and frustration managing to slightly tear the aging fabric. She stood up wobblily and walked to the window. The day had come bright and chilly, and the window pane glistened with morning frost. Examining the glass she could see it had been charmed to withstand breakage beyond anything she could manage. She could throw a chair at it and it would merely bounce back. Her options limiting by the minute, Hermione gritted her teeth and found herself almost growling in frustration.
With a sigh, she glanced over at the now cooling plate of croissants and softened butter and shrugged her shoulders in defeat. She scrambled back onto the coverlet and dug her feet into the warmth while taking a handful of sweet buttery bread. The House Elves are brilliant at breakfast, she thought.
House Elves! She nearly spat her breakfast down her nightshirt trying to scream out Dobby's name.
"Dobby!" She shouted excitedly.
With an explosive pop, a startled little Elf appeared just to the side of the aging bed. His eyes widened and he squeaked loudly when he saw the girl.
"Master Harry's Hermmi-nee!" Hermione jumped up and bounced off the bed to whirl the surprised Elf around in a circle.
"Miss Hermmi-nee, Miss Herrrmmmi-Neee!" He squealed now more afraid from her picking him up and twirling them both.
"Dobby, you are my favorite Elf! Help me get out of here!" He had wobbled a little when she had set him back down and his eyes were even wider than usual when he realized he would be saving "Master Harry's girl".
His smile grew wide and he reached out with his hand to take hers. She smiled back and curtsied to Dobby's blushing embarrassment.
"Dobby will rescue Master's Hermmi-Nee!" He squeezed his eyes shut and holding her hand, he vanished, then reappeared again moments later.
"You not go with Dobby?" The small Elf looked confused and held out his hand again for the startled girl to take. He squinched up his eyes and disappeared with a pop. Hermione was left again until he reappeared again.
This time he found Hermione sitting back on the bed with her chin in her hand and a storm cloud look on her face. Dobby tiptoed back to the angry girl and blinked up at her. " Dobby tried…"
"Oh, Dobby. It's not your fault. It's this silly old castle. It thinks I am still in danger so it won't let me out. I tried to magick the door open, and it grew chain vines. The window won't break and I'm running out of ideas." She huffed in frustration.
Dobby's mouth fell open and he stared widely at the flustered girl. He stepped back quickly and stammered in fear. "The castle wo…wo..won't let you go? Hogwarts very powerful place. Elves talk to Hogwarts. Hogwarts loves us, and now loves Hermmi-Nee! Special bond, Hogwarts gives! Special Magics! Better not make castle mad! Hermmi-Nee safe here. Castle keeps Master Harry's Hermmi-Nee safe and sound."
Dobby backed up a space then disappeared with a sudden pop leaving a sputtering girl behind.
"Dobby!" She waited but there was no answer.
"Dobby! You better get up here!" She was fuming by this time.
"Dobby! I will tell Harry you left me here to rot!"
He appeared with a sudden pop and wringing his hands. He looked around quickly and waved his hands in an abrupt gesture. The bed suddenly freshened and the fabrics looked immediately brand new. The walls shimmered and all stains and scuffs disappeared. A desk materialized with a small shelf of books stacked with pieces of parchment and a quill. With a last look around Dobby glanced at the angry face of Hermione then looked away quickly.
"Hogwarts knows best! Dobby tells Master Harry his Hermmi-Nee safe. Hogwarts knows best." He nodded his head as if agreeing with himself then with a final wave, he disappeared. Just as he popped away, a yelp sounded and Crookshanks appeared on the bed in a rolling mass of fitzing fur and growls.
"Crooks!" She gathered the greatly perturbed cat in a hug and brushed down his startled fur. Hermione snuggled her face into his scrunched up one and got a lick on her nose for the effort.
Hermione scanned the new additions to her room noting the new bedding and examined the new desk with several books and a very large quill that was so large it looked like it came from Buckbeak.
"Well, Crooks, it looks like our options are limited here. We can either write a scathing letter to someone, or take a nap." Crookshanks nodded wisely and jumped down from her arms, sauntered purposely to the bed, circling twice and settled down comfortably. Hermione snorted and ruffled the cat's fur. She turned wearily away and sat at the desk breaking out the stiff-leather bound books finding of course, Hogwarts, A History. She shrugged, and leaned back in the chair and opened it randomly. Tapping her quill against the table she began to read as she absently started to scratch at her wrist.
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Several of the D.A. were waiting outside the Slytherin common room expectantly. Harry acknowledged them all with a grim nod as he watched Ron shove the levitating Malfoy up the stairs. Luna, Seamus, Dean and Ginny were all standing nervously with their eyes flicking every so often to the ruin of the Slytherin Room and apparent destruction of their door.
"Malfoy didn't know anything. We still don't know where she is." Harry spoke low running his hand tiredly through his hair. He leaned stiffly against the stone wall and looked to his friends for guidance. Luna was staring at the room before them and playing with her bottlecap necklace.
" Maybe you need to talk to Neville. He might remember something." Dean mumbled trying not to look Harry in the eye. He knew Harry was powerful, but the display of anger had frightened him.
The look of fear in Dean's eyes cut Harry to the quick. Groans of pain were sounding from the ransacked room and Harry winced when his friends wouldn't look him in the eye. Maybe he had gone a little far, but that was what was expected of him, wasn't it? Didn't the whole wizarding world somehow expect the great Harry Potter to save them all? How did they expect him to accomplish that without things getting a little messy sometimes? Do they expect him to just tiptoe up to Voldemort and whisper Boo? Harry closed his eyes and released a deep breath.
When he opened them, Luna was inches away from his face. "Just checking for Wingles. Sometimes they attach themselves to the eyes of warriors after a battle and cause them blindness." She continued to stare until Harry rolled his eyes and shoved away from the wall. He hunched his shoulders and turned down the hall when he saw Seamus take a step back in fear.
"Neville, then." Harry mumbled and fled down the hall.
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Neville Longbottom was still sleeping having taken the dreamless sleep potion from Madame Pomfrey. Harry pulled a chair away from the corner and sat right next to the bed. Neville would jerk soundlessly opening his mouth to sound a refusal; his head rolling back and forth to deny something he feared in his dreams. Harry watched the boy and hurt with him. How many dreams had Harry endured just like this? A cloth and a small pitcher of water was on a table near the bed, so he wet the cloth and gently wiped the boy's forehead. It seemed to soothe him somewhat, and he settled back against the pillows and seemed to rest. Slowly, his eyes opened and Harry watched the tired and bruised boy carefully.
"Harry." Neville smiled as if the act exhausted him.
"Nev."
"Thank you for helping me, for trusting me. I could see you and everyone else and I could hear what was going on, but I couldn't stop my body from attacking you and Ron. The voice forced me away. I was screaming inside, but no one noticed." Neville's eyes were hollow with remembrance. His body shivered and he pulled up on the covers to gain some warmth.
"Nev, the device on your wrist…" Harry left the question open.
"It was controlling me. They must have spelled me at the Hogsmede attack. I can't even remember being hit, to tell you the truth. I just remember Hermione falling from a hex and I rushed over there only to be knocked out moments later. We both laughed about it later…" Neville looked up at Harry.
"Hermione's wrist…!" Neville started to jump up from the bed until Harry forced him back down.
"What are you doing? You don't understand! She's in trouble! The Voice will have her too! I saw her wrist. It was just like mine, but it didn't bother her as much. Maybe she can fight it, maybe she…" Harry had to push the boy back into the bed even as Neville tried to escape.
"I know! I know! We are trying to find her! We have to know what you can remember! She's gone missing and nobody knows where she is! Neville, I need you to stop and try to remember anything about it that can help us find her! Neville, STOP!" Harry's voice finally broke through to Neville and he stopped pushing against him panting heavily.
"Right. Right, sorry. She's missing? What happened?" Neville looked about wildly grasping at the sheets and running his hands through his hair anxiously.
"Apparently the device on your arm was on hers as well. Seamus saw her going to the library, and we found out she had been led there to meet with Draco Malfoy to some end. We don't know where he was taking her, but we found blood and his memory of her disappearing in front of him. That's all we know. She's gone, Nev. She's gone." Harry slumped in the chair in despair.
"Does Voldemort have her?" Neville whispered fearfully.
Harry didn't answer and the silence in the room became unbearable until Harry broke it and began to pace the floor.
"Do you remember anything?" Harry flung the words at Neville as if daring him to reply.
"Flashes. I saw an old house. I remember a vision of this horrible snake man with eyes that looked like blood. I remember hitting you." Neville spoke haltingly as the memories flitted behind his eyelids.
"Voldemort." Harry grimly stopped pacing and stared out the window at the dawning light.
"I've never seen him. I didn't know what he looked like." Neville whispered.
Harry sat back down heavily on the chair next to the bed. His hands were shaking and his eyes were burning from lack of sleep and trying to hold tears at bay.
"You know, Neville? You and I have a lot in common. We both have birthdays in July." Harry spoke quietly as Neville looked at his friend in confusion. What was he talking about birthdays for?
"It could have been you, Nev. It was a flip of a coin. One stupid choice separated our fates." Neville was staring at Harry as he spoke softly almost as if he was talking to himself.
"There was a prophecy, Nev. The prophecy said a boy born in the end of the seventh month to those who thwarted
Voldemort three times. It said the boy would be the one with the power to vanquish him and that the dark lord would
mark him as an equal. Well, Voldemort heard part of it, and that part nearly killed us both. The prophecy said the boy
would have a power the dark lord wouldn't know about. He chose me for some reason. It could have been you. You
could have been the boy-who-lived and I could have just been some kid with funny hair and bad eyes."
Harry sat up straighter and looked over at a stunned Neville. "The prophecy says I have to kill him. `Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives'. So at some point there has to be an all-out kill or be killed fight. He didn't hear that part. He's taken Hermione because he wants to hear that final part of the prophecy. He doesn't realize that it's all meaningless now. Now that he's taken her he's made the prophecy true. I cannot allow that Evil to stand…" Harry's eyes burned brighter and brighter as the power welled up within him. The bed started to shake and the glass on the tableside shattered into a thousand pieces throwing drops of water everywhere.
"Harry. HARRY! Stop!" Neville grabbed Harry's arm and shook him out of his reverie.
Harry blinked back at his friend and nodded grimly. The shaking stopped as he breathed deeply grasping his hands together to calm himself.
"I remember the house. We can apparate there. He won't kill her right away. He wants the prophecy from her. Maybe we can save her." Neville's face was grim but resolute.
Ron appeared at the door and leaned tiredly against it. Harry looked up hopefully but Ron merely shook his head.
"No luck. Sorry, mate." Ron sighed and wearily threw himself onto a nearby bed.
Harry was telling Ron their idea when another thought came to Harry that stymied the plan.
"We can't apparate, Neville. We don't know how yet. We can't take the test for several months. We'll have to fly there, and we really don't know where it is." Harry shook his head ruefully.
"What? Oh, yeah. You've been gone for three months. Guess what extra class you missed? Yeah. Well, we can side-along, I guess. Funny. You've got all this power and I have to help you apparate." Neville smiled slightly at the idea.
Harry glared and rolled his eyes at the smirking boy. Neville shakily finished putting on his clothes and the three boys looked carefully down the hallway then stealthily slipped out of the hospital to the apparition point.
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