The Descent Beckons

Chapter Four - Between Love & Hate

***

But time is on your side
Its on your side now
Not pushing you down and all around
It's no cause for concern

***

Harry had done his fair share of eavesdropping, and he had always had the security of his invisibility cloak to protect him from being discovered. Draco and Snape did seem far too engrossed in their conversation to notice Harry, though it felt wrong to not have that familiar silky fabric draped across his shoulders, and Harry felt very exposed.

He quickly ducked down behind a suit of armour, peering through the gleaming steel legs of the soldier, who tutted quietly at him with a creak of his helmet. Harry ignored the knight and crouched further down behind the stone dais. His hiding place gave him the advantage of keeping Draco and Snape in full view without being seen. Unless they happened to be walking around to look for people crouched behind suits of armour, of course. Though Harry found this extremely unlikely, as strange as Draco and Snape were, they weren't the kind of people to have impromptu hide-and-seek matches.

He peeped over the stone platform, keeping as much of his body out of view as possible. Draco was leaning against the stone wall, his face half-hidden in shadows. Harry could see that he was regarding Snape warily, although he still exuded his trademark arrogant confidence and seemed to tower over Snape, despite the fact that Snape was at least one foot taller than Draco.

Harry cocked his head and listened intently, desperately attempting to hear anything at all.

*

Remus sidled over to Hermione, his slim face flushing varying shades of crimson. Silently he picked up his books and gestured for Hermione to follow him over to the Restricted Section. As Remus fiddled with the heavy ropes that blocked the entrance, Hermione snuck a glance at Madam Pince, who was gazing at Remus adoringly and seemed quite out of breath. Hermione thought this quite odd of Madam Pince, a detached and poised woman, who barely spoke unless it was to berate students for misbehaving in her library. It made her wonder what Remus possibly could have done to affect the tough and uncaring Library Warden so. Perhaps he had informed her that he could get a wizarding author to attend Hogwarts for a book-talk. Hermione knew news like that would make her overjoyed.

Madam Pince must have caught sight of Hermione's glances, because she suddenly busied herself with sorting through the endless array of parchments on her desk.

Hermione's attention was pulled away as Remus cleared his throat loudly, and she noticed he was holding the rope awkwardly out of Hermione's path, waiting for her to pass. Hermione ducked through the entrance and dropped her satchel on the nearest mahogany table. Remus hooked the rope back in place and immediately made a beeline for the shelves, unsubtly avoiding Hermione's gaze as he did.

"Okay, I've waited enough, what exactly did you do?" asked Hermione after five minutes of impatient foot-tapping.

He turned further away from her, apparently intrigued by the volumes on Wartcap Powder. She could see the rim of his cheek flush deep red and he looked tentatively at her, biting his lip.

"I just...dazzled her with my...erm...intellect."

Hermione gasped and smacked a hand to her mouth. "You flirted with her, didn't you?" she asked, grinning.

Remus coughed, scratched the back of his head, coughed, rubbed his nose, coughed, and looked at his shoes. "I may have complimented her once or twice...admired her management of the library, her organisation skills, her--erm--blouse..."

Hermione gaped. "That is wrong on innumerable levels. How did you do that?"

"Hermione, there is nothing I wouldn't do for literature."

Hermione laughed. "Hear, hear. But you know, I never thought you had such a Casanova, fiery-seducer side to you, Lupin. I'm impressed."

Remus blushed and cleared his throat. "Thank you, Hermione. But this is never, ever to be spoken of again. Merlin, Sirius would have a field day!"

Remus plucked a leather-bound book off the shelf and returned to the table, Hermione in tow. He began flicking through the dusty pages, taking notes, but stopped as he noticed Hermione grinning at him, resting her chin on her palm.

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"What did you say to her?" asked Hermione, her grin growing wider.

Remus closed his book and pretended to hit Hermione over the head with it. "If you're nice to me, perhaps one day I'll use my charms on you."

"Well, you've probably never tried them out on someone as impassive as me before," said Hermione.

"Well, you've probably never been hit with a dose my charisma before," grinned Remus.

*

Harry was very uncomfortable. His knees were beginning to hurt, his eyes were filling with dust from the tutting knight, and he kept having to hold his breath as he often felt in situations like this he breathed a little too loudly.

"Someone of your spirit and confidence would be a welcome addition to our group," said Snape, leering wickedly at Draco.

"Someone of my spirit and confidence would be welcome anywhere," replied Draco, tilting his head back and haughtily raising an eyebrow.

Snape laughed, a low rumbling sound which ended no sooner than it began. "This is very true. You could have your pick of any crowd. However no group offers you such power, such glory, such grandeur. No other group can truly change your perception of society and finally give you a purpose and reason to live."

"Sounds like this 'group' has a bit of a co-dependence issue going on," said Draco, jadedly strumming his fingers on his crossed arms.

Snape laughed again, and Harry suspected it was out of nervousness by its clipped quality, and how he kept timidly wringing his hands.

"At least come to our little gathering tonight. It'll be casual, but all the members will be there," said Snape, appearing increasingly anxious.

Draco looked thoughtful but remained silent, observing Snape coolly.

"There'll be alcohol. And-and poker!"

Draco mulled over this for a moment before nodding. "Alright. I'll come. But just to listen. And because I haven't played a good round of poker with anyone for too long."

Snape seemed ecstatic and gave a genuine grin, an expression that seemed very out of place on Snape's ordinarily sullen face. "You won't regret this. Tonight's going to change your life, you'll see!"

Snape backed off down the corridor, looking utterly elated. He waved and rushed away, apparently in quite a hurry. Draco watched after him, his mouth twitching and stuffed his hands into his pockets, walking in the opposite direction. However, he was stopped short by a furious Harry Potter leaping out from behind a suit of armour.

*

"Favourite colour?"

"Green. You?"

"Indigo. Your turn."

"Okay. Erm...favourite...food?"

"Pumpkin Pasties."

"Mmm...I love garlic mashed potato."

Ginny was being led down an unseeable (well, unseeable to her, Sirius definitely seemed to know where he was going), snow-covered path by Sirius. She had given up asking where they were going, so they had been asking 'Getting to Know You' questions.

They padded along, feet breaking into the snow in unison.

"Hmmm...favourite song?" asked Sirius. He was shivering from the cold and immediately produced two pairs of gloves, giving the green pair to Ginny with a grin.

Ginny frantically tried to recall her beloved songs from her dad's old record collection, not wanting to mention music twenty years too early. "Oh, that's a tie between 'Your Love's as Toxic as Aconite', by Dulcet Crooner or 'Can You See Our Future in Your Crystal Ball?' by The Oracles. You?"

"Definitely 'Empty Cauldrons' by The Alihotsy Brothers. You know The Oracles are playing a gig down in Hogsmede tonight, don't you?"

Ginny shook her head. "Too bad we can't go see them huh?"

Sirius merely nodded and stopped Ginny as they rounded a corner to find a tall stone wall smothered with emerald ivy. Every so often a pink or blue flower poked its way out of the green blanket to seek the sun.

Ginny turned to Sirius and gave him a bemused look. "This is what you wanted to show me? A wall? I mean, it's very pretty and all that, but I expected something a bit, erm, different."

Sirius rolled his eyes and shook his head. He grabbed Ginny's hand, intertwining his own indigo-gloved fingers with Ginny's turquoise, and dragged her over to the wall. His free hand disappeared as he slipped it through the leaves, pulling back the foliage to reveal an ancient-looking wooden door with a rusty handle. Taking his wand out from his back pocket, he pointed it at the lock, whispering a spell that made the door open with a soft creak.

He stepped back and bowed low to the ground, gesturing for Ginny to enter.

"Ladies first," he grinned, looking up at her.

*

Harry was surprised at how unfazed Draco was, considering someone had just bounded out from behind a suit of armour suddenly.

"You know, Potter, I don't blame you having an infatuation with me, but really, this stalking business has to stop," drawled Draco, giving an almighty smirk.

Harry was far too infuriated to think of a reply to Draco's mocking remarks and satisfied himself with poking an angry finger roughly into Draco's shoulder instead.

"What are you playing at?" he snapped.

Draco's talent (or most annoying quality, depending who you were talking to) to look indifferent to his surroundings was in no way helping Harry's temper subside. Draco decided to pick non-existent pieces of fluff off his sleeve instead of reply, and Harry had the overwhelming urge to punch the smirk right off Draco's face.

Harry gritted his teeth. "What the sodding hell are you playing at, Malfoy?"

Draco looked up as though he was just noticing Harry standing there for the first time, and calmly replied "I have no clue what you're talking about, Potter."

Harry's head was pounding rather violently and he could feel the hot, furious wave of violence welling up inside him.

"DON'T PLAY STUPID WITH ME, MALFOY!" roared Harry, clenching his fists. "SNAPE WANTS YOU TO JOIN SOME SORT OF EVIL CULT OR SOMETHING! AND YOU'RE GOING TO! YOU'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO THEIR PATHETIC LITTLE MEETING TONIGHT! I THOUGHT YOU'D BE A BIT DIFFERENT, BUT NO MATTER WHAT TIME WE'RE IN YOU'RE ALWAYS GOING TO BE A FOUL BASTARD, ALWAYS LOOKING OUT FOR YOURSELF NO MATTER WHAT THE COST!"

Draco blinked at Harry's outburst and replied coolly, "Merlin, Potter, we've known each other for over five years and you're just working this out now?"

Harry was breathing heavily, his fingernails digging into the palm of his clenched fists. "So you don't even care that you're joining a cult that's going to be consumed with Dark Arts and power? That instead of actually taking a break from your evil-obsession to figure out how we can get home you're going to join the aspiring Death-Eaters club?"

Draco's eyes flashed viciously, every trace of his cool indifference fading away, and when he spoke his voice was colder than ice.

"You have no right to accuse me so cruelly, Potter. What did you expect would happen when we all got thrown into this nightmare? That I would all of a sudden become weak and helpful? That things would actually change? Why should I place my trust and friendship in a group of people who don't trust me?"

Two enraged spots of colour had appeared on Draco's translucent cheeks and his expression was contorted with anger.

Harry knew Draco was talking of Ron, Hermione, Ginny and himself when he spoke of not being trusted. But how could they ever entirely trust him when past memories of torment and hatred had etched feelings of doubt so deeply in their minds?

Draco crossed him arms and lowered his gaze to the floor.

"It seems as thought we're going to be stuck here a long time, Potter. And if, during that time, I choose to join this 'cult', as you call it, you're not going to stop me. It's what I will need and want to do. And if they ask me to murder or torture Muggles, you're not going to stop me. It's what I will need and want to do. And if they ask me to murder or torture Granger, or Weasley, or you're parents, you're not going to stop me. It's what I will need and want to do."

Harry felt as though he had been smacked in the face. Any feelings of guilt of sympathy disappeared quicker than they had arrived, and this time the rage was too overpowering to refuse.

Harry took a swing at Draco, who ducked with cat-like reflexes and grabbed Harry around the middle, throwing him into the closest stone wall. A sculpture standing on a dais fell to the ground, the shattered pieces scattering yet having no affect on halting the brawl. The hallway portraits fearfully ran to their neighbouring paintings amidst the scuffle.

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" chanted an elderly witch, craning her neck to see over the gilt border of her frame.

Draco pummelled Harry, hitting him squarely in the jaw, cutting his lip. Another swing broke Harry's glasses, the fragments of glass leaving hairline incisions on his pale cheeks. Harry heaved Draco off him with all the might of his arms and delivered a right-hook to Draco's cheek. He pounded Draco brutally, bitterly wishing the injuries would be permanent, until one of the portraits squealed.

"A teacher's coming!"

Quick as lighting, Draco was rushing off down the corridor, disappearing into the shadows. Harry was left feeling quite dazed and light-headed, the portraits fussing just a haze in the background as a younger-looking Professor McGonagall came into view, giving Harry her trademark frown.

*

"Oh, Sirius," breathed Ginny, looking around in awe. "It's beautiful..."

He had led her into a small garden, one unlike any Ginny had seen before. Tall, shady oaks rose to unseeable heights, shiny green leaves twisting tightly around the trunks. A dark cobble-stone path was the only means of navigating through the jade undergrowth, and Sirius led Ginny down it to the centre of the garden.

"Much better than just a wall, eh?" said Sirius, gently plucking a rose from the foliage and handing it to Ginny with a smile.

Ginny couldn't help but blush. She twisted the rose between her fingers, looking at it fondly. Somewhere deep in the back of her mind a nagging thought was screaming for attention. It was so hard to believe that this boy, so sweet and dangerous and young, was Harry's godfather, was old, was gone. They seemed like two completely different people, and Ginny preferred not to think of the Sirius she had known, and simply enjoy the Sirius she had just met.

They arrived at the densest part of the garden, where the sky was almost completely hidden by the thick branches of the trees. The path stretched into a round opening where an ivory fountain stood, crystal-clear water cascading gentle over the tiers. There was a marble bench at the far end, and Sirius sat down, gesturing for Ginny to do the same. Ginny did and for a few moments they sat in silence, each observing the tranquil beauty of the garden. Ginny was particularly transfixed the drifting white orbs that floated lazily in the air and when one emitted a high-pitched giggle, Ginny realised that they were fairies, filling the air with fragments of shimmering light.

The air was glittering, the breeze was filled with the strong scent of roses, and it was just Sirius and Ginny, alone on a bench in a garden so mysterious and secluded it felt as though it was created just for them, for their eyes only.

Ginny was finding it rather hard to make conversation so she settled with asking the most obvious question that sprung to mind. "So, what is this place?"

Sirius shrugged. "I found it back in third year. I've been coming here a lot ever since. I've never seen anyone else in here, which I like. There're not many places that are just yours in Hogwarts."

Ginny nodded. She understood. Between growing up in a house that sometimes held up to eleven people and living at a boarding school the rest of the time, there weren't many places that were just hers either.

"It's funny isn't it," said Ginny, looking around in interest, "it doesn't seem to snow in here."

"It never does," said Sirius, following Ginny's gaze around the garden. "The trees never lose their leaves, it never rains, and the flowers never die. It's as through it's been frozen at a perfect moment in time." He paused, thoughtful.

"It still gets cold though," said Ginny, shivering slightly. Beneath the sun it hadn't seemed so cool.

Sirius promptly took off his jacket and dropped it over Ginny's shoulders. "I know this is very clichéd," he grinned, "but it doesn't make it any less effective."

Ginny blushed and pulled the leather jacket closer. "Thanks."

Sirius slid closer to Ginny and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her arms with his hands. "Still cold?" he asked.

Ginny shook her head and looked up at him. His face was inches away from hers, his dark hair falling into his grey eyes. He pushed it back with an impatient hand and grinned at Ginny.

That smile's very dangerous at close proximity, thought Ginny as she felt her heart quicken and her stomach tie into knots.

She swallowed and bit her lip nervously. Slowly, involuntarily, her eyes closed. And Sirius Black kissed Ginny Weasley.

*

Draco winced as he touched his cut lip. Harry was stronger than Draco had suspected. You couldn't really tell his strength from his lean Seeker's body, but Draco mused that people probably thought the same of him.

He leant down and picked up a handful of snow, holding it gently against his throbbing lip. Desperately wishing for a mirror, he scanned his surroundings for any kind of reflective surface. At the moment he could only estimate how much damage Scarboy had done to him, and the estimation wasn't pretty.

He was about to return to the castle to search for anything that would show his reflection when he caught sight of a door, half-open behind a wall of leaves. Intrigued, Draco marched straight over and gently entered the garden.

He walked down the path, staring around at the garden in interest. It wasn't particularly out of the ordinary, but it seemed much nicer than the gardens at Malfoy Manor, filled with plants that usually had a tendency to bite you.

A noise alerted Draco that there were others in the garden, and he ducked behind the nearest oak tree before he was seen. He wasn't quite sure why he was hiding among the roses, being pricked by thorns at all sides, but it seemed like the proper thing to do.

Quietly, he poked his head around the trunk and realised that it wouldn't have mattered if he had danced an Irish jig while wearing a banana suit, these two wouldn't notice him.

It took him a moment before he realised who the two actually were, and he nearly laughed aloud when he realised who the couple was. Ginny Weasley was kissing Sirius Black.

*

"You there! Stop!"

Harry groaned and slowly stood up, clutching his stomach. It was surprising that the pain seemed to be everywhere, considering that Draco hadn't gotten that many hits in. It appeared Draco's fighting technique focused on quality rather than quantity, a trait that often crossed over into other parts of his personality too.

"I say, stop!"

Harry started to feel very irritated. It wasn't as though he was going anywhere anytime soon, especially since he felt as though he had just been battered to near death by a mallet. Draco was definitely stronger than he looked.

Professor McGonagall finally reached Harry, stooping down to take a look at his mauled and throbbing face. She took him gently by the chin and tilted his face around, squinting to see his injuries clearly in the dimly lit corridor. The way she was tutting and shaking her head was making Harry feel quite uneasy, and he had a strong desire to find a mirror. McGonagall dropped her hand and pursed her lips, looking at Harry quite disapprovingly.

"You must be one of the new boys," she said, standing up and helping Harry to his feet.

Harry nodded.

"Well, I hope you'll behave better for the rest of your stay here, Mister...?"

"Po-Granger."

"Pogranger?"

Harry shook his head. "Just Granger. No 'po'. I made a--erm--mistake."

"Ah, I see." McGonagall motioned for Harry to follow her as she set off down the deserted corridor.

"Well, Mister Granger, I run a very tight ship in Gryffindor, and as you are a guest, I expect you to follow our rules diligently. There are to be no more fights. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Good. Now, who exactly has transformed your face into this mangled specimen I see before me?"

"Thanks, Professor. I hope that wasn't an attempt to make me feel better," said Harry, rubbing his cheek. He wasn't surprised to find blood smeared on his fingers.

"Now, Mister Granger, I have no desire to compliment students who create disruptions. I'll have a mountain of paperwork to fill on this little scuffle between you and you fellow firebrand. You know perfectly well that the Ministry is needs detailed accounts on every injury, no matter how mundane."

"They do?" asked Harry.

McGonagall gave him a confused look, suggesting that it should come as no surprise for the Ministry to be notified of an ordinary teenage-brawl. "Of course they do, Granger. These are dark times, what with You-Know-Who gaining increasing power as the days wear on. More and more lives are lost each week, and the Ministry is in frenzy, they don't know what to do." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes wearily.

They came to a stop outside a set of unfamiliar double doors.

"Madam Pince, the school nurse, will attend to your injuries. We'll discuss this in more detail later, Mister Granger." She nodded curtly before disappearing down the corridor in a flurry of olive robes.

Harry was left staring at the doors to the infirmary. This was definitely not where the Hospital Wing was at his Hogwarts. He shrugged before turning the handle. It was just another subtle difference reminding Harry that he was far from home.

***

References:

"But time is on your side/Its on your side now/Not pushing you down and all around/
It's no cause for concern" - Coldplay, Amsterdam.

"The Alihotsy Brothers" - Alihotsy is a plant invented by JKR, and according to FB, eating the leaves of Alihotsy causes hysteria.

"'Your Love's as Toxic as Aconite', by Dulcet Crooner" - 'dulcet' means 'sweet-sounding' and a 'crooner' is a singer. Aconite is a very poisonous plant which you should remember from Harry's first potion lesson (aconite is also known as monkshood and wolfsbane).

Authors Notes: So, there was a brawl this chapter, but unfortunately it was not drunken. Ahh well, that is what the next chapter is for. I also said a 'couple' of snogs, there was one, and believe me, there are plenty more to come.

I realise this chapter is the shortest one so far, but I'll make up for it with a very, very long chapter next time. I'm actually quite excited about the next instalment; I think it's going to be my favourite chapter. Quite a lot happens...heh.

If you're thinking that this Ginny/Sirius thing is happening too fast, it's really not, as you will find out.

Next Chapter: Many games of poker, a few snogs, drunken brawls (definitely this time), flirting and a whole lot of sneaking around. And Ron is actually in it too, I know he hasn't been around in a while.