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Category: Alternate Universe, Asylum Challenge (2013-3), Asylum Challenge (2013-3) Characters:Albus Dumbledore, All, Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Lily Potter, Luna Lovegood, Minerva McGonagall, Other, Ron Weasley Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Romance Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Disturbing Imagery, Violence Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 105 Summary: *** Winner of Best Overall, Best Drama and the People’s Choice Award in the Asylum Challenge *** *Nominated for 2014 April/May and November/December DSTA for Best Romance and Best Drama* *Nominated for 2016 January/February DSTA for Best Drama and Best Completed* Ginny's plans for the weekend were just perfect: a day out in Hogsmeade with her girlfriends. Spend the morning window shopping and wishing, then lunch at the Three Broomsticks, and then to the local theater for a production of the Scottish Play (Macbeth). Unfortunately, the bad luck of the Scottish Play strikes before it even starts. The village is invaded by Death Eaters, Dementors, and a man she had hoped to never see again in her life. And in the middle of the battle, Ginny sees something she'd never thought she'd see. Voldemort and one of her greatest friends dueling; Harry Potter and Voldemort fighting so fiercely, she lost focus on her own battle. Harry Potter, crying out, falling, and hitting the ground. Dead. And then, someone she never expected to help her saves her from Voldemort’s wrath. Hitcount: Story Total: 169234; Chapter Total: 5553 Author's Notes: Dear Readers: Please note that I am going to be doing the NaNoWriMo challenge, and so I won't be able to post updates as often. I'll try and get you at least two new chapters during November, but I can't make any guaranties. Please enjoy Chpt. 7, and don't forget to review! |
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A Deadly Dance Hermione led me through the corridors, after I had hastily dressed, down to the entrance hall. Malfoy was waiting by the doors with Draco, who had the heavy sackcloth sack slung over his shoulder. Malfoy was tapping his feet and checking his watch impatiently as we approached. “Good, we must hurry,” he said, waving us forward. “If we don’t get to Stonehenge on time, we will have to wait a very long time for this window to open again.” “What window?” I asked, shoving my arm through the sleeve of a jacket. “Halloween is the time where we are most close to the following realms, and there is a certain time window we must exploit to achieve our goals.” “Seriously?” I muttered. “Halloween?” Malfoy pursed his lips at me in annoyance. “I do not have the patience for petty mutterings this morn. Say it aloud or don’t say it at all.” “Fine,” I said, glancing at Hermione. “Is anyone else coming besides Hermione and the ferret?” Draco glared at me, but Lucius held up a hand to stop him from replying. “Yes, the Headmaster and his nephew will be here soon, and then we may go.” I nodded, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. I glanced around and my eye was caught on someone standing by the stairs, and I blinked. I rubbed my eyes once more, fixing my eyes at a point just past the stairs. He was gone. “What?” Hermione whispered in my ear. I glanced at her. “Nothing- I just thought I saw something. It’s nothing,” I lied, looking down to my feet. Just then, Professor Dumbledore exited the Great Hall, followed by Alasdair, who held a muffin in one hand. They crossed over to us, Dumbledore smiling serenely and Alasdair expressionless. “Good,” Malfoy said, clapping his hands together. “Let us depart.” He turned on his heel, and pulled open one of the heavy oak doors. He led the way out, Draco leaning to one side to compensate for the heavy sack, Dumbledore still smiling, and me hugging myself to keep the cold chill that had seeped inside with the open doors out. Alasdair nudged my elbow, I looked to him. He held out the muffin. “Did Malfoy gave you a chance to eat?” “No, he didn’t,” I said, taking the muffin from him, forcing a smile to curl my lips. “Thank you.” Alasdair smiled stiffly, and snapped his eyes ahead, to the gates, looming through the fog. I turned my attention to the gates as well, picking off a bit of the muffin and placing it in my mouth. Banana nut, not my very favorite, but in the top ten of most delicious muffins. Thoughtful of him to get me one. Dumbledore pulled his wand and tapped the heavily padlocked gates with it. The chains receded, clinking moodily, and the gates swung open with creaks and squeaks of protest. We passed through them, and I edged closer to Hermione. The cold chill had grown more intense, more unnatural. “Will we be passing through the village?” Hermione asked. Malfoy shook his head, “No, the Dark Lord still has his forces there, we will be travelling through forest mostly until we get past Hogwarts enchantments so we can Disapparate.” Hermione glanced at me, with a small smile. We wouldn’t be passing through the village, there was the silver lining. Malfoy stepped off the path to Hogsmeade, Dumbledore and Alasdair following without hesitation. I glanced at Hermione again, and she nodded. I put my arm through hers, she smiled again, and we followed behind Draco. We walked for about fifteen minutes before a sudden thought occurred to me. “Does my mother know where I am?” I asked Hermione in low tones. “Err,” she said. “She might. I don’t know if Malfoy told her or not.” I let out a groan. “She’s going to be mad as hell when we get back.” “Remember, it’s Malfoy’s fault if he didn’t tell her,” Hermione said. I chuckled. I pushed this out of my mind as the discussed Malfoy stopped ahead of us. “This is where we Disapparate,” he said, turning back. “I do not think it is wise to have any one of us Side-Along Apparate with more than one, so we should divide it up. I will take my son, Professor; I will leave you and your nephew to choose.” Draco grumbled under his breath, and grabbed his father’s arm. Professor Dumbledore held out his left arm to Hermione with a soft smile. She let go of my arm, and took his. Alasdair gave Dumbledore an annoyed look, and extended his hand. “I do better holding hands when Apparating than linking arms,” he said. “Sorry.” I shook my head, taking his hand. “It doesn’t matter.” Alasdair let out a huff, and nodded to Dumbledore, who smiled, and turned on the spot. With a sharp CRACK, he and Hermione were gone. Lucius twisted where he stood, and he and Draco too were gone. Alasdair gripped my hand tightly, closed his eyes, and spun around. It was as if I was being pulled through a very tight pipe. My body squished together, my insides squashed. The breath was knocked out of me, I struggled to inhale, but the pipe contracted, squeezing me harder and harder, until I thought I would be like taffy stretched the point of breaking once it was over, and then the piping was gone, and I stood on a hillside, surrounded by rocks. I dropped Alasdair’s hand, and stepped back from him. Unlike Hogwarts, the surrounding land was not shrouded in mist, but bright with the approaching dawn, ready to chase away the stars that still light up the sky. On the opposite horizon, the moon cringed away from the growing light, preparing to hide behind the mountains shoulders. Hermione sat on the ground a few feet from me, looking dizzy and a little green. Malfoy and Malfoy stood off to the left, Malfoy Senior flicking through his book and Malfoy Junior sitting with his back against a standing rock, eyes closed and mouth shut tight. My legs felt like jelly, and I stumbled over to where Hermione was sitting and plopped down beside her. “I feel like I’m going to hurl,” Hermione mumbled, eyes closed. “I can’t breathe,” I wheezed. “Beat that.” Hermione let out a shaky laugh, and hastily covered her mouth with a grimace. I leaned up against a stone block behind us, glancing around. “This is Stonehenge?” I asked. “Yes,” Malfoy said, not looking up. “We must hurry: you need to be in place for the test by the time the sun clears the mountains.” I nodded, and pushed myself to my feet. “What do we do then?” “You must lie down in the midst of the stone,” Malfoy ordered. “Draco, show her exactly where.” Draco opened one eye blearily, gave his father a dirty look, and heaved himself off the ground. He crossed the green to where I stood, and passed me without a word. I turned, and followed him, weaving through the rocks and tall upright stones. “Kinda makes you wonder why this stuff is here,” I said. Draco grunted. I looked to the ground, feeling awkward. Malfoy stopped by a lower, flat-topped stone, and slapped its surface. “Have a nice nap,” he said, and he left. I glanced over my shoulder, and then back to the long, low rock. I sighed, and clambered on top of it. “Very good, Weasley!” Malfoy called from the edge of the ring of stones. “Now lie down with your head to the east, I’ll be there in just a moment to start the test.” “Okay,” I called back, and I lay down on my back, staring up into the brightening sky. As I was told, I lay with the crown of my head facing the sun, inching up past the mountains, and my feet at the moon’s hiding place. As I stared up into the sky, the stars slowly retreated from the gold and pink streaked sky. I lay in silence, anxiously glancing around, and the sun stepped off the mountains and into the sky. Where was Malfoy, wasn’t he supposed to do something to start the test? I propped myself up onto my elbows, and craned my neck to see the rest of the group. They all stood, huddled in the shadows of the largest of the standing stones, talking amongst themselves. “Hey!” I called, frowning. Malfoy glanced up at me and pressed a finger to his lips. I cocked my head, a question formed on my lips, but then, Dumbledore drew his wand, and held it up into the sky. A ball of golden light shot from it and flew up into the sky, lazily tracing its way over the ring of stones, and it stopped above me, pulsing warmly. I looked back to the group. Alasdair had his wand in the air now, and from the tip burst a soft lilac blue ball of light. Like the golden light, it flew through the sky to rest above my body. I turned back, frowning. Malfoy raised his wand into the air as well, and shot a ball of summer grass green light into the air. It joined the gold and blue light, and the three hovered over me, slowly turning in the air, spinning like a baby’s mobile. “Close your eyes,” Malfoy called, “lay still, and keep your eyes closed. The spell will take it from there.” I let out another sigh, and lay back down. I let my eyes flutter shut, suddenly feeling weary. The imprint of the balls of light on my retinas glowed against my lids, mixing, swirling, twisting. The glow of the sun stained the inside of my eyelids red and warm. Malfoy’s voice drifted to my ears, and for some reason, my brain refused to translate the words into anything sensible. I fought to open my eyes, but they stubbornly remained closed. A voice whispered into my ear: “Sweet dreams,” and I blacked out. I awoke to a brilliant sky, streaked with reds, golds, pink and purple. I sat up slowly, looking around. I was alone, surrounded by the tall standing stones. “Hello?” I tentatively called. No answer. I slipped off the stone I had been laying on, and gingerly stepped forward, looking around. If this was the test, then what was I supposed to do? Just as this thought entered my mind, a flutter of movement caught my eye. I turned, reaching for my wand, scanning the area for the source of movement. “Don’t bother with your stick.” I whipped around, shoving my hand into my pocket to draw my wand. But, my wand was gone! I glanced down, frowning. My pocket was empty. I checked my other pockets, panic beginning to creep into my heart. “I told you, do not bother with your pathetic stick,” the voice called out to me again. I looked up, eyes darting around, searching for the speaker. “Show yourself,” I called, trying to keep my voice from betraying my fear. “Ah, commanding, in control. I like it. The last one who came here was a sniveling wreck.” “Yeah?” I answered, leaning to the left, trying to see past a broad stone. “Well, I’m not one for sniveling.” “Very good,” the voice, I decided it belonged to a woman, chuckled. “You are stronger than most I see. Perhaps it is because the others were honest, and you are not.” This catches me off-guard. “I’m dishonest?” I said, frowning. “Oh, yes, very much so,” the voice replies. It drifts away from the broad stone, moving to the right. “Not to others, of course, but to yourself. To yourself, you have a heart of stone and a tongue that minds not the constant deception. Tut, tut: I thought you would know better.” “What do you mean, I lie to myself?” I said, and a little bit of panic left me, to be replaced by dread. If I was dishonest to myself, that might make my ‘tester’ deem me unworthy to pull back Harry. “Do not worry; lying to thyself is not as drastic as lying to others. Oh, silly me, I said ‘thy’ again.” “Who are you?” I asked, now beginning to feel the effects of annoyance. “And why is my wand gone?” “I can’t answer your first question, but as for the second, I took it!” the voice called out in a sing-song tone. “It is useless in this realm, but I’ll give it back when you leave.” “Realm?” I repeated. “Where am I then?” “Why, the Realm of Dreams, of course!” “Dreams?” I said, raising an eyebrow. “You’re joking, right?” “I’m afraid I’m not,” the voice let out a little giggle. “Welcome to the world of broken promises, crushed dreams, and everyone’s worst nightmares. To pass your test, you must face the third. Seven horrible nightmares, each one more terrible than the last, the very last one to be your own!” “What?” I said, frowning. “Whose nightmares to I have to go through?” “You were accompanied by five others, yes?” “Yes,” I said, now feeling a little alarmed. “What are their names?” “Er, Albus Dumbledore, Hermione Granger, Alasdair Dumbledore, Lucius Malfoy, and Draco Malfoy,” I said. “Why?” “You will go through their worst nightmares!” “I what?” I gasped. “You’ll go through their worst nightmares, then through a mystery person’s, then your own. Are you ready?” “Wait, now?” I said, my eyes widening in fear. “Well, yes, and, naturally, I will not tell you whose nightmare it is, and at the end, I want you to tell me who dreamed each nightmare. Now, you shall begin.” “But-” “No buts!” cried the voice cheerfully, “prepare yourself, and sweet dreams.” The sun-streaked sky above me darkened to a deep inky black. The tall stones stretched into the sky, their stone hue changing to bark and leaves. The ground hardened, the leaves and branches above me linked together, growing at a super-fast rate, blocking out all light. I spun around on the spot, scanning my new surroundings, as more fear ebbed into my heart. An owl hooted somewhere close by, crickets chirped, and in the distance, I heard a howl. My heartbeat was loud in my ears as I stepped backward, away from the howls. I glanced up, and through the leaves, I saw a silver glimmer. A larger gap appeared, and my heart stopped. The moon shone bright white in the sky, yet it was menacing and set my spine crawling. It was full. A shudder passed through me as another howl sounded, this time closer. I turned around, and ran. I heard crashes and thuds behind me. Barks and snarls reached my ears, and I pumped my arms as I ran. I leaped over a fallen tree, adrenaline coursing through my veins, pushing oxygen and blood to my muscles. Pounding paws sounded behind me, and I chanced a glance over my shoulder. A dark shape was chasing me, a shape that had just a hint of human in its wolf body. Fear filled my mind, and I urged my legs to carry me faster over the uneven ground. Ahead of me, the dirt of the path cracked with tree roots, bulging up, threatening to send me sprawling. A root burst from the ground, snaking across the path. More roots burst up through the ground, and the dirt was falling away from the middle of the path, turning to a wide, gaping mouth, the roots becoming gnashing teeth, ready to swallow me whole. I skidded to a halt, grabbing a low hanging branch to steady myself. The wood beneath my fingers turned squishy, and scaly. It became a snake. I gasped, and flung it away from me, backing up. Behind me, the werewolf stopped, swishing its tail, with its yellow fangs bared. “To pass your test, you must face seven terrible nightmares,” the voice had said. I gulped. The wolf stepped forward, its huge paws squishing through the mud. I edged backward, my mind moving frantically. How was I supposed to face a werewolf wanting to eat me? The wolf barked, ending in a snarl. The snake above me hissed and let out its long fangs, glistening with poison. Its tail rattled, and it slid off the branch, and thudded to the ground. I hastily tried to push myself up, but I found my hands and legs bound to the ground by creepers and roots. I struggled against them, letting a scream of terror rip itself from my throat. The wolf let out a barking laugh, its eyes gleamed with blood lust, and it sprang forward. I ripped an arm away from the vines and creepers, raising it up to protect my face. The wolf’s weight knocked me back, pinning me to the ground. Its jaw dripped with salvia, splattering onto my clothes. I shut my eyes, and waited for the bite. Its rancid breath warmed my skin, I felt the teeth grip my arm, and it was gone. I peeked through my lashes. The wolf was gone. So were the creepers and the snake. Trembling, I pushed myself up off the ground, my eyes darting around. I now stood in the middle of a paved road, lined with suburban Muggle houses. The sky was a dark blue, and all up and down the street, children dressed in various costumes ran screaming and laughing, bags dangling from their arms. Adults walked up and down the street as well, some in costume, many in plain Muggle clothes. The majority of the houses were decorated with bed-sheet style ghosts and little plastic graves. Halloween. I let my mouth curve in a smile. I thought this was supposed to be a nightmare. What was scary about a bunch of little kids in costumes? One of the little ones ran towards me, laughing. She collided with me, and her laughter ceased immediately. Her smile fell into a look of fear. Her mouth opened wide in a scream, and she turned on her heel and ran from me. I frowned, confused. I glanced down at myself, and found nothing odd. The children around me stopped running around, and many clung to their parents. “You’re not welcome here,” called one man. “We’ve done nothing wrong,” a middle aged woman called out, her eyes stretched wide with fear. “Leave us alone!” “What?” I said. “What’s the matter?” “Begone, witch!” yelled an elderly man in a black suit. There was a strip of white in his collar. He advanced towards me, holding a withered hand out to me, his face full of anger and fear. “There shall be no witchcraft committed this night! Begone from this place!” “I don’t understand, how do you know I’m a witch?” I said. I glanced back down at my body, was I wearing a sign or something? No, but I was wearing robes, and I held a wand in my hand. Not my wand, but a wand nonetheless. “Go!” hollered the man. “We won’t allow you to stay!” “Kill it!” someone shouted. “It destroyed my crops!” “It brought bad luck on our town!” someone else screamed. “Hide the children,” a woman shouted. I stared around, open mouthed. What was the matter with these people? Most of the women in the crowd gathered up the children, and they fled down the street to their houses, leaving me alone with the angry mob. “Burn her!” another man shouted, stepping forward. “Send her back to hell!” “Burn me?” I gasped. “But I didn’t do anything to you! I’m a good witch!” “There is no such thing as a good witch,” the old man said, his voice shaking with anger. “You have poisoned the minds of our children and destroyed our town!” “Make her pay!” “Send her back to hell!” “No!” I called. “I, uh, if you kill me, your whole town will be cursed!” “She’s lying,” someone yelled, but they didn’t sound so sure. “No, I’m not,” I said. “If you kill me, I’ll- I’ll come back as a ghost and- err, snatch up your sons and daughters and turn them away from you!” “Then we shall cast your mangled soul in the deepest pits of hell,” cried the old man. “You shall not come back to haunt us!” “I’ve got firewood!” a man yelled. “I’ve got rope and a wood post!” yelled another. “You don’t understand,” I said. “You can’t kill me; I’m just trying to save someone I love!” “You have no heart,” the old man said. “You sold your soul and blackened your heart when you took up the devil’s art!” “No, no, it’s not like that!” I said, backing away. “I’m a good person, I am; I’m just trying to bring back Harry!” “Necromancer!” the old man gasped. “The most evil of all the devil’s arts!” “No, no, he’s not all the way dead,” I said. “I’ve got a part of his soul in me, and I’m going to pull him back to me. I’m just like you: don’t’ kill me!” The old man waved a hand to the rest of the townsfolk. A big burly man lumbered forward with a coil of rope. “Do we burn her to death or hang her?” he asked. “Burn her,” the old man said. “Her soul is unredeemable, black with her wizardry. We must send it to hell where it belongs.” The burly man stepped towards me, uncoiling his rope. I decided at that point that I had wasted enough time talking. I turned, and ran. I could hear the townsfolk chasing me. I lifted my skirts and turned down another street, with the mob of angry townsfolk on my heels. I raised my wand and sent an Impedimenta hex over my shoulder, and the townsfolk in front stopped as if hitting a block of ballistics gel. Others swerved around them, and I sent a blasting jinx at the road in front of them, blowing a hole in the pavement. I turned my attention forward, and gasped. A huge car was thundering down the street towards me, light blaring from its front. I turned to my left and jumped out of the way, into someone’s yard. “Freeze!” a man’s voice yelled. I scrambled to my feet, panting. The car had stopped and its lights shone in my face. I squinted, looking around. I was surrounded. A man stood to my left with a long skinny metal thing in his hands, its end pointed at my chest. “It’s loaded,” the man warned. “Take one step and I’ll fire.” “Fire what?” I said. “My gun,” he said, frowning. “Err, okay,” I said. “If you fire that at me, will it hurt?” “Of course it will,” he said. “What planet are you from?” “England?” I said, smiling hesitantly in attempt to defuse the townsfolks’ anger. “Look, if you’ll just let me go, I’ll leave and never come back, okay?” “No!” the old man hobbled forward. “You must be punished for your crimes! Smith, tie her up!” The burly man with the rope lumbered forward. The man with the gun edged forward, his eyes darting between me and the man with the rope. The burly man snatched my wand out of my hand, and, before I could do anything to stop him, snapped it in two. I clapped a hand over my mouth, feeling desperation enter my heart. Now I was weaponless. The man cast the fragments of my wand down and they hit the ground with two dull plunks. He grabbed my arm, twisted me around, and bound my hands behind me, the rope tight, chafing my skin. “Good,” the old man said. “Take her to the village green, Smith.” The man grabbed my upper arm, and tugged me away from the yard and the man with the gun, down the street. There was a long stretch of grass ahead of us, and the man tugged me to the middle of the grassy area, the mob following. There were already men there, gathered around a pile of wood and a post in the very middle. The man jerked me forward, towards the wood post, while the men around us laughed. A single tear leaked from my eye. Was this how I would die? In a dream that didn’t belong to me, trying to prove myself worthy and trying to bring back Harry? The man heaved me onto the pile, and undid the ropes on my wrists, only to push me against the post and retie them. I did not struggle. I gave up. I was going to die, and there was nothing I could do. The man wrapped ropes around my knees and shoulders, binding me to the post. He backed away, off the pile of wood, and the old man stepped forward, holding a lit torch. The mob of villagers yelled in triumph, and the old man pushed the torch into the wood pile. I watched the flame lick the bark of the wood, creeping towards my feet. Someone else shoved another torch in, and another Muggle dropped a lit match onto the wood inches from my feet. The hem of my robe caught fire, the flame leaping up my robes. The heat was unbearable, my legs felt like liquid, and had I not been tied to the post, I would have collapsed into the flames. A single tongue of fire lapped and my hands. I let out a scream of pain as the flame climbed higher up my body, engulfing me completely. My hair caught fire, and the flames licked my face. I screamed again, my throat felt dry and raw, my lips cracked in the heat. Now I understood why Muggles burned witches back in the medieval days. As I screamed in pain, the Muggle men around me laughed, and whooped in triumph. The flames consumed my robes hungrily, leaving my skin bare and unprotected. Flames caressed my skin in a deadly dance, leaving me burned and blistered. I screamed, begging for mercy, and my captors only laughed. I cried up to the sky, praying for rain, but the sky remained cloudless. “And so you pay for your black magic!” the old man said. “You pay for the evil deeds you have done, and you reap the pain you have sowed!” “Monsters!” I screamed. “Bastards! I didn’t do anything to you!” “You are a creature of evil,” the old man snapped, “you are the monster, not us.” My hair burned bright against my eyes, I squeezed them shut, letting out another yell of pain. The fire stained my eyelids a deep red, the color of blood, while my own blood poured from the wounds brought by these monsters of men who had set me aflame. |
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