Harry Potter & The Other Realm

Chapter Three

Friends & Foes

Notes: Sorry about this chapter taking so long to get up, but I´ve been working on so many things at once that I forgot about this until I accidentally came across it today. I figured I could do a little chapter, just for fun :) Plus, I´m in the mood for writing Salem. (And to the person who asked, this is based on the live action TV series, NOT the cartoon. I hate, abhor, detest and generally don´t like the cartoon series, because I have a soft spot for Hilda in the live action one)

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Panting, her feet ice-cold, Sabrina pressed back against the door of the closet she had dashed into, Salem crouched at her feet, equally breathless, his chest heaving against her ankle.

It was only a few minutes since they had arrived, but it felt like a lot longer, and they were still trying to get away from the weird man-formerly-known-as-pineapple and it seem like they had finally managed to lose him.

They had been running down the halls of the school until Salem had noticed an open door and dived into it, Sabrina following in spite of what had happened last time she had followed him into a closet.

Footsteps pounded past and Sabrina froze.

As they faded, she sank down the door, landing on her butt on the floor next to Salem, his eyes glowing eerily in the narrow slit of light that crept in under the door of the closet.

"Okay, Salem, explain," she hissed. "Where are we?"

"Don´t blame me for this one," the cat countered, sitting up, his tail curling around his paws. "I´m not the one who said we had to get to school and hurled us into some weird wizarding school."

Propping her elbows on her upraised knees, Sabrina pushed her hands into the bird´s nest that stood on her head, crafted beautifully from her hair. "You mean we´re really in a magic school in Britain?" she moaned.

"Actually, at the moment, I´d say we were in a closet."

"Don´t make me dislike you more than I already do, Salem," she grumbled. "It´s your fault I´m being chased by a freaky guy in a black dress and I´m in a school in Britain and I don´t know how to get home..."

"You don´t know how to get home?" Salem echoed in astonishment.

"I do?"

"You get home the same way you got here," he replied, shaking his head in mock-dismay. "You know, I didn´t think you were anything like your aunts, but now, I can see a real resemblance to Hilda."

"Hey!"

"I only say what I see," Salem ducked a swat.

There was a silence, then Sabrina asked. "So how do I get back? Through the closet in that guy´s room?"

"And we have a winner!" Salem put on a game-show host´s voice. "And, along with a free trip back to the Spellman house, a tacky watch that no one would be seen dead wearing and half a brain-cell to add to the half you already have, you have also won a date with the dashing, debonair darling of society, Salem Saberhagan. Bring your own catnip, of course. And tassels. Tassels are... goo-oo-ood."

"Salem," Sabrina glared at him.

The cat grinned, his teeth Cheshire-cat-like in the darkness of the room. "Like you don´t appreciate the smooth, sultry tones of my voice," he replied.

"I don´t appreciate it, or your fetish for tassels," she retorted, scrambling onto her feet and pressing her ear against the door. "I don´t think he´s out there..."

"Doesn´t sound like it..."

Sabrina looked down at the cat, then grinned. "Salem..." she began.

"Uh oh..."

"What do you mean `uh-oh´?"

The cat looked up at her. "I recognise that tone of voice. That´s the tone of voice that means you want me to do something that could be dangerous for me. Mussolini used that tone of voice on me...I still managed to take Italy from him, but that´s not the point... the point it that..."

Before he could continue, Sabrina grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, pushed the door open a crack and tossed him out.

"Sabrina!" Salem wailed.

"Is he out there?" Sabrina called through the door.

"Um... you... could say that...heading this way... okay. I´m running now. Bye!"

The patter of paws reached her through the door and Sabrina pulled back in the closet, groping around for something to hide under or behind or anything that meant she wouldn´t get seen.

A large box of some kind bumped against her knees and she hastily hauled it open, sticking her hand in, knowing that there was every chance it could be filled with something deadly, but anything was better than facing the dark man.

Fortunately, it was empty and it felt big enough to hide in.

Scrambling in, she pulled the lid shut over her and just in time as well.

Curled in a tight ball, her breathing deafening in her ears, the interior of the box growing unbearably warm and enclosed, she could hear the door of the closet open, then a curse was muttered, before it slammed shut.

Remaining where she was, she tried to steady her breathing. She didn´t want to risk being found or caught and she could hear people hurrying around past the closet, shouting and laughing.

She could have been there minutes or hours, her heart pounding loudly in her ears.

Freezing when she heard the door creak open again, footsteps moving closer to the box she was hiding in her nails bit into her palms, as she clenched her fists and tried not to make a sound.

"We all clear?"

That was a boy´s voice. Huh?

"Doesn´t look like anyone noticed," another boy replied.

Then, the lid of the chest was flung open, bright light flooding in on Sabrina and making her flinch, raising a hand to shield her eyes. Squinting up, she saw the figures of three people, each holding a stick with a glowing tip.

"Um... hi..." she tried to sound cheerful and not at all terrified, sitting up in the box.

"Hello," One of the figures lowered the wand and stepped forward. A girl, bushy brown hair and a sweet look about her. She looked about the same age as Sabrina herself. "I´m Hermione. We´re here to help you."

"Don´t take this the wrong way, but huh?"

Hermione gestured to the others, who lowered their wands, the light lessening, so Sabrina could see them, recognising them as the two boys she had collided with when fleeing the creepy guy.

"You guys!"

"Um.. yeah," the red-haired one grinned bashfully at her. "I´m Ron..."

"And I´m Harry," the other one said.

"These two told me that you seemed to be in some kind of trouble with Professor Snape," Hermione said, her voice sounding like the kind of English accents that Sabrina was used to from old movies and the T.V. "So I thought we ought to come and offer you a hand, if you need one."

"A hand would be great..." Harry immediately offered one and helped her out of the box she was sitting in. Sabrina winced as she straightened her limbs. "I don´t know where I am or anything and that... weird guy doesn´t like me."

"If it helps," Harry said. "He hates me, so you´re not alone."

"Well... uh... that´s reassuring."

Hermione was staring at her with an odd expression. "You... you´re really from the Other Realm?" she finally demanded excitedly. "I mean, you´re a witch in the other realm and you´re here?"

Sabrina looked warily at the three faces around her. "Uh... yeah..."

"This is simply amazing!"

Ron nudged Sabrina in the ribs lightly. "Don´t worry about her," he muttered, his cheeks glowing bright scarlet. "She´s always like this."

"Oh... right..." Looking around at them, she suddenly realised something. "How... how did you guys know where to find me? I mean, I´ve been running around like crazy and you just walk in here and know I´m in the box? Did Salem tell you?"

"Salem?"

"I guess that would be a big no, then," Sabrina muttered.

"We found you with magic," Harry said. "And this Salem... did he come through the cupboard with you? We saw him on the m..." Hermione coughed loudly and Harry stumbled on his words. "Er... I mean, we saw Snape chasing him."

"Yeah," Sabrina answered. "It´s his fault I ended up here. If I even liked him, I´d be worried about him, but he stole my homework and then we ended up here...and I keep sounding like I´m crazy, don´t I?"

"Should we go after... er... Salem for you? Will he need our help?" Ron asked.

Shaking her head, the blonde witch grinned. "He tried to take over the world and almost succeeded. He would have, if the witches council hadn´t caught him, so I think he can take care of himself."

"Almost succeeded?" Hermione´s brows beetled. "How can you almost succeed and still be free?"

"Did I mention that he was turned into a cat because of it?"

"You mean that black cat that you ran after..."

"He was the one who called me when that guy was chasing me," Sabrina replied, grinning at the stunned looks on their faces. "You don´t have people who have been turned into animals in your world?"

"Um... we do, but..."

"Perhaps, we should take this conversation out of the cupboard and to somewhere a bit more comfortable?" Hermione suggested. "After all, teachers might hear us talking and want to know what´s going on."

Sabrina bit her lip. "What if they see me? They´ll know I don´t belong here..."

Harry grinned at her. "Then we´ll just have to make sure that you aren´t seen," he said, holding up a silvery piece of fabric with a flourish. "You can wear this and we´ll walk with you."

"Uh... how is wearing a shiny cloak gonna stop people from noticing me?"

"It´s an invisibility cloak," Harry answered, pulling it on and immediately vanishing, which had the dual purpose of showing how it worked and making Sabrina squeal in surprise when his body disappeared. "See?"

"Actually, mate," Ron snickered. "She doesn´t. That´s kind of the point, innit?"

Peeling the cloak off, the black-haired boy gave his friend a pointed look, then held it out to Sabrina, who gingerly took it and slowly pulled it on. "This really doesn´t go with my outfit..." she mumbled.

"Good thing no one´s gonna see it, then, eh?" Harry offered with a grin.

Sabrina grinned back at him, before pulling the hood of the cloak up. She couldn´t say what it was, but there was something likeable about the dark-haired boy, a kind of natural niceness that most people didn´t have.

Somehow, it felt safer to trust him and his friends, rather than risk facing the wrath of the man in black, who had pulled a wand on her before she had even had time to adjust to her surroundings.

"So," she said, looking around at them, unseen. "Lead the way."

***

Crouching on his belly under the desk, Salem watched the dark-clad man stalk past, then eased out from beneath the structure and crept back towards the door, while the man continued to search for him.

As soon as he was in the corridor, the black cat started to run, rapidly ducking and weaving between the legs of students as they emerged from various classrooms lining the halls.

Dodging into a office, which looked fairly empty, he flopped on his belly by the door, panting and grinning.

"You still have the gift, Saberhagan," he muttered to himself, his chin resting on his paws, as he tried to catch his breath. "They can turn you into a cat, but no one can take the sneakiness away."

His chest heaving, his ears swivelled forwards when he heard someone approaching and opened his eyes to find a dusty-looking feline standing in front of him, bright scarlet eyes staring at him in a way he recognised.

"Uh... oh..."

The queen took a step towards him and Salem was on his paws in a heartbeat.

"Good afternoon, ma´am... great day, isn´t it?"

Still, she advanced, an amorous look in her eyes, as he backed away, colliding with the door and trapping himself between her and it. Strutting up to him, she rubbed against him, making Salem jump, with a squeal of panic.

"Ma´am! I mean, yeah, I´m probably the hunkiest piece of tail you´ve seen in a while, but I..."

The female purred.

"Look!" He gestured beyond her. "Catnip! Mice! Tassels! Anything that you like is over there! Seriously! And did I mention that I´m neutered? Well I am. Isn´t that sad? Boohoo. I´ll just go now, so you can find a nice tom who..." Her cheek rubbed against his and Salem whimpered. "No, seriously, you don´t wanna be interested in me! I´m not that kinda cat!"

He edged sideways to find the edge of the door.

Amber eyes widened in terror.

The door was closed.

"Noooooooo!" Salem wailed pitiably, as the scrawny, dust-coloured feline advanced.