The Time-Turner Chronicles

Chapter 9

Communication

"You think this is our weapon?" Kat started. "A-"

"A cloud of stars? And how is that supposed to hold Voldemort off?" Narcissa sneered in true Slytherin manner.

"It's not a cloud of stars," Harry said angrily.

"Well, it sure looks like one to me," Narcissa replied.

"YEAH? Well, you know the Stunning Spell? Well, it looks like a beam of red light, so why don't you just walk through it and see what it does - if it's only a bit of light anyway?" Harry replied heatedly. He was breathing heavily. It had been a while since he had lost his temper with somebody like that. Somebody he did not even know properly.

"Narcissa..." Kat said, trying to reconcile her. "You know it's not a cloud of stars. You felt it."

"This is nonsense," Narcissa spat stubbornly.

"Well, if nonsense gets me out of this damn bubble, I don't care what it is!" Fabi suddenly exploded.

Harry was relieved to see that he was not the only one that was overreacting. His insides were still boiling and he really felt like chucking something against the wall right then, right there, just to get his anger out. In the meantime, Kat had started fighting with Narcissa and, surprisingly enough, Aaron; at the same time Fabi was yelling at William. Harry turned around, looking for someone to yell to but only saw Malfoy or Draco or whatever his name was. This thought confused him so much that he forgot his anger and started wondering about what was wrong with him again.

"People..." Lily said quietly. "People, this is not allowed to happen."

"WHAT?" at least five people yelled at her.

Lily looked up at them (she was sitting on the floor with crossed legs) and slowly raised an eyebrow. "This. We are drifting apart. The houses are drifting apart. We cannot let this happen. We're supposed to be united."

Stunned silence fell. She was right of course, Harry thought bitterly, torn from his thoughts about his sanity and hyperventilation.

"But we still must get out of here," William said, the angry red colour leaving his cheeks again.

"Yes," Harry replied.

"And the only way we seem to have is to get to know what this power stuff is about," Aaron said.

Harry was not in the mood to answer. Why did nobody ever listen to him? Why did everyone only believe him when someone else repeated his own words? He suddenly felt the weight of somebody's hand on his shoulder and turned, finding himself facing Malfoy.

"Exactly. We have to work this power stuff out," Malfoy said.

No, it was not Malfoy. It was Draco. Harry felt a rush of gratitude towards his old enemy, who continued silently.

"We have to all touch at least one more person to see the effects. I think we should try standing in a circle and hold our hands. Just to see what happens," he added as an afterthought when he caught Narcissa's glare.

Slowly, the people who were sitting got up and everybody grouped around in a circle, standing quite in the middle of the bubble, looking extremely tense. Lily stood opposite Harry and gave him a weak smile, seemingly to reassure him, but the way she moved and looked, namely white as a sheet, it only made Harry increasingly nervous. But as Draco gave a sign with his head, Harry pushed the thought away and everybody took up the hands of his or her neighbours. At once, Harry felt the warm sensation trickling down his spine again, settling itself in his stomach. It felt like drinking pure energy... he could drink forevermore... in the middle of their circle, a glittering ball of shimmering dust and sparkling stars formed, casting a golden light, as if a wand casting 'Lumos' was hidden behind the mist, illuminating it from the inside. The ball was growing... it already was far bigger than it had been when they had discovered it... far bigger... and growing steadily, keeping its round shape... Harry still felt the energy flowing into him, filling him up, reaching every single cell of his, as if a tiny bit of that energy was being put into each and every one of them... he felt strong... but he knew, the moment someone would let go, it would all disappear again.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him. If they could not make this energy flow when they were not touching, they had to stay in touch to use the energy. The houses had to be united to be powerful - even if they didn't really know what the power they were getting consisted of. The houses had to be united... United in more than one sense... he had another idea. Harry looked up at the bright ball.

Move, he thought. Come on. Move.

This ball thing had to be some kind of weapon. Perhaps they could control it. They would have to control it without wands and holding hands, because that was the only way to conjure it.

MOVE, Harry yelled inside his mind, staring at the shimmering orb.

And, to his astonishment, a tiny, barely noticeable shiver went through the orb.

~

"Oh... oh dear... what... what are they doing...?" Hermione mumbled, with widely opened eyes that reflected the little light from the candles illuminating the Entrance Hall that had magically lit themselves again.

This time Ron reacted quickly; he did not want to be called a five year-old tantrum-throwing child again. But nothing had prepared him for what he was seeing, especially not James's explanation of what had happened earlier on as he hadn't been able to see. There, inside that bubble, eight people (including Harry, Malfoy and Lily) were standing in a circle holding their hands, apparently concentrating on something. It was not possible to say what exactly - some had their eyes shut tightly, others were just staring into space. And floating in the middle of the circle over their heads was this enormous... this enormous thing. Ron squinted. It looked like an oversized golden balloon, but oddly in motion... as if it was composed of millions of tiny little parts that were flying around...

"Leprechauns!" he exclaimed happily.

He looked around him expectantly but to his astonishment, nobody was congratulating him on finding the solution. He wondered vaguely why Hermione was raising her eyebrow and tutting.

"Very funny," James finally said dryly.

Ron felt as if someone had just punched him into the stomach. What was it with this feeling? He kept having it every time he said something. Fuming, Ron crossed his arms over his chest indignantly while his ears turned even redder than they had already been.

He knew he should have stayed in bed.

~

Harry blinked. He had done it. He smiled for the first time in a long while, but a second later the whole situation was back upon him and his smile faded. Well, at least this might get them out.

So.

Now that he was quite sure they would be able to move this... this... thing, it was important to tell the others about it. Harry was about to speak when he realized that it would probably disturb the others in their thoughts as they were concentrating on the energy - it would definitely have ticked him off if anybody had just started to speak into the calm, relaxing silence. How could he do it? Let go of their hands? No, surely they would be even more annoyed about this, because it meant that they would be losing the flow of energy as well as the glittering object that was floating over them. How am I supposed to talk to you all at the same time without disturbing anybody? he thought miserably.

~

Draco felt the energy flowing into him again and closed his eyes. The cold seemed to fade. Had he been cold? It was warm in the school. Why did it feel as if something cold was leaving him? Something cold, cold and very negative. He was filling up with positive energy. It felt nice and comforting. A funny feeling. He did not get it often. Draco wondered. It seemed as if a lot of this negative energy was trying to get out of him - and he let it go easily. He did not want it any longer. It was like something clouding his vision. Everything was much clearer now. It was not about pureblood and muggleborn. It was not about rich and poor. It was about life.

Next to him, Harry barely noticed the energy flowing through his body anymore. He was starting to get annoyed. Look at them! he thought angrily, It's not doing any good to stand in a circle and feel the energy because it's not going to stay! And we need to know how to make it stay or control it while it is here to get out - to get anywhere!

More of the cold seemed to vanish, Draco noticed. Like eating chocolate after encountering Dementors. Had he always had this cold inside that people only felt when they approached the Azkaban guards? Was this what real life felt like? This warmth? Or was it only the energy? I don't care what it is. But I want it to stay. Draco shivered as he thought of the way he always behaved. Pictures popped up in his mind... a lot of them involved him trying to humiliate Harry, Ron and Hermione... sometimes they showed him even worse things than that... Hermione slapping him into the face... the ferret-incident with Mad-Eye Moody... Umbridge's toad-like sick smile... all pictures that showed him what a despicable character he was. No! I don't want to be like that anymore! I've had enough!

I've had enough... Harry blinked. Had that been his thought? He could not remember thinking that... of course he had had enough of standing in a circle holding hands, but... well... weird. Uhm... hello? Harry thought weakly, trying to ignore the fact that he was thinking such a ridiculous question.

Uhm... hello? Hello? What was that now? Draco's thoughts were torn from thinking about his past self. Why had he thought 'hello' to himself? Err... what? Oh brother, I'm talking to myself, even if nobody can hear it. If this is life, I'll think about everything again...

... think about everything again... Harry started wondering if this energy was some kind of drug making him hear voices in his head. He looked around. You really could get the impression that they were a clan of drug addicts, all in a deep state of intoxication. Well, if it were drugs, then talking to a voice inside your own head hardly would do any more damage. Err... think about what again?

Err... think about what again? This time, Draco was more than just startled. What the fuck is going on?

What the fuck is going on? The question hit Harry's mind as clearly as the others had. What was going on? He didn't know. There he was, talking to an invisible person - no, thinking to an invisible person and actually even getting a kind of reply back. We're drugs addicts? I dunno, who are you? Wait a minute... Harry's eyes widened with shock. This was a trick. It was Voldemort. Legilimency, Occlumency, it was bound to be something like that. Voldemort was taking over his thoughts! And he could not let go of the others to get him out of his head. Go away! Go! Leave me! You will not take over me!

We're drugs addicts? I dunno, who are you? Wait a minute... Go away! Go! Leave me! You will not take over me! Draco blinked. Now it was definitely getting out of hand. Perhaps this was the answer to the question why he had been so cold before; he did not want to fall into this absolute freak-status. Err... screw loose? My name's... oh, forget it.

Err... screw loose? My name's... oh, forget it. Harry concluded that firstly, he was not talking to himself and secondly, that it was not Voldemort either. But he still did not rule out the possibility of the energy damaging his sanity... Please tell me. I'm really confused here.

Oh, and you think I'm not? Who are you any way? Why can I hear your voice in my head, if I want it or not?

I'm not in your head... but are you perhaps in mine?

Duh, no, I'm not. So if I'm not in your head...

... And you're not in mine...

Either we're both insane or...

...Or... err... I don't think there is another possibility. You know, you sound sort of familiar. Do I know you? You remind me of somebody I used to hate...

And don't any more?

What? Come again?

You said somebody you used to hate. I take from that you don't hate the person anymore. That's all.

Oh.

Hmm...

So?

So what?

Don't you think it's time to...

Draco. My name is Draco Malfoy.

Silence. Harry's eyes darted to the person standing next to him with tightly shut eyes. On drugs. This was it, he had to be on drugs. There was no other explanation.

What's a matter? Who are you? Do I know you? Do you know me? What is going on here? Have we met before?

Err... I know you all right...

Yeah? Who are you? Where are you?

You really want to know? It's perhaps best if only one of us carries this around with him. So only I feel like a mental nutcase...

I want to know.

Really, it's better if you don't...

Tell me! You're starting to sound familiar as well. Like a certain bighead I know - although he seems to have changed. Well, you certainly sound like the old version of him.

Err... right...

Are you going to tell me now or not?

Are you really sure?

Yes.

Fine.

So?

Truth is, I'm standing right next to you, holding your hand. My name is Harry. Harry Potter. And yes, I do believe we've met before.

Draco's eyes flew open at once. He turned his head at the same time as Harry did, looking straight into his eyes. Draco had the impression that Harry looked scared. Not at all the 'old version'.

"What is this?" Harry mouthed.

Draco shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"Any..." Harry swallowed hard. "Any ideas? Assumptions?"

Draco nodded timidly. "One."

Harry did not know if he was supposed to be relieved about it or not. "And... what is it?" he whispered.

Draco closed his eyes for a few seconds and looked up to the top of the bubble. Slowly, he took a deep breath and returned his gaze to Harry. "I've read about it a few times."

"Yes...?"

Draco swallowed. "Telepathy."

Telepathy. At first, Harry was going to snort at this ridiculous idea, but actually - it sort of made sense. The houses were united. They had energy. Power. They were as one. They could think as one. They could be as one; one eternal good, one eternal light, shining in the darkness. Shining to destroy the bad, the evil; shining to destroy the dark obscurity, shining to destroy the person that incorporated all this.

Shining to destroy Lord Voldemort.

"It makes sense," Harry whispered back. "It all makes sense."

"Yes," Draco replied. "It does."

As if someone had turned the tap off from which it was flowing, the flow of energy was suddenly gone. Strange. Just disappeared. Gone.

Harry's breast tightened painfully as somebody opposite him started swaying, put her hand to her head. Tried to calm down.

And fell to the floor.

~

"LILY!" James yelled. He jumped up as he saw her body fall to the floor, like in slow motion. Luckily enough, Sirius caught James just before he hit the translucent wall.

"Get off! Look, she's ill! She needs to get back to the hospital wing, she's ill - she's going to die - she's going to die, Sirius! It's all my fault, do you understand? It's all my fault! I should've not allowed her to get - let go of me! Let me get to her!"

Sirius pinned James to the floor. "It's not your fault, idiot. And you're not going to save her like that, Prongs."

"Sirius!" James exclaimed. "This is not a time for your bullshit! I need to go-"

"Prongs, will you please listen to yourself. You are talking absolute nonsense. Fair enough that Lily should be in the hospital wing, but it's certainly not your fault - as far as I understood, she left from her own free will. And she's not going to die. So get a hold on yourself."

Hermione, sitting nearby, was staring into the bubble as transfixed as ever, not taking any of the things in that were happening around her, unable to move, unable to think straight.

Think. Think, think, think. Get them out. Must get them out. Think. They must get out of there. Quick. Quick. Think, think, think.

"How?" she whispered, clutching her face with her fingers, nails digging into her skin. "How am I supposed to help... HOW?" she suddenly yelled in frustration. "How are they going to get out? I shouldn't have given in to him, shouldn't have allowed him to... to... to take.... It's all my fault! He'll be dying before he's even bo-"

"Hermione!" said Ron, trying to calm her down. "There's nothing you can do, it's not your fault... It's not your fau-"

"Yes! Yes, it is! We would never be here if it hadn't been for me, it would have never come this far, never, never, never, it would never have come this far..." Hermione sobbed.

Since Sirius was still trying to calm James down, Ron took the opportunity and awkwardly patted her on the back. He stroked Hermione's hair softly and whispered to her ear. "Hermione... it's not your fau-"

"Stop it," Hermione said crossly. She pushed away his hand and dried her tears on the sleeve of her robes. Just then, Sirius let go of James who had eventually calmed down enough to think straight again.

"I'm going to look for Dumbledore. Or at least Madam Pomfrey. I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise," James said as he got up and left quickly through the doors that led to the teachers' lounge.

Sirius shook his head exasperatedly, watching him leave and heaved a sigh. "He thinks it's his fault. But I have the impression that Lily had to come here. It's got nothing to do with him. If James had tried to stop her, she would have hexed him. I know Lily enough to be sure of that."

Hermione nodded sadly. "It's definitively not James's fault, Sirius. You see... it's mine." Another tear streaked down her face. This was all her fault. It was. Sirius sat down next to her and slipped his arm around her waist. It was her fault. Nothing could change that fact. Nobody could change that fact. He stroked her hair softly and whispered to her ear. "Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not your fault."

Hermione smiled vaguely through her tears. Sirius traced the line of her cheekbone carefully.

"Thanks," Hermione said thickly and laid her head on Sirius's shoulder, more tears streaming down her face. Her fingers searched for his hand, found it and wrapped themselves around it.

Hermione did not notice Ron running his hand through his hair, pulling up his knees to his chest and hiding his face there. She never noticed him. She did not notice him sniffing quietly to himself. Why should she after all? She felt secure just where she was. Next to Sirius.

And she would never notice Ron in that way he wished to be noticed.

She would never notice him the way she noticed Sirius right then.

Never.

Never again.

~

"LILY!"

Forgotten was everything about being united, forgotten was everything about the possibilities of telepathy. Harry tore away from where he was standing and ran over to her. He saw her body fall slowly, like a leaf. Like watching in slow motion. She swayed on the spot, unstable, then her back started to curve, vertebra after vertebra, her head tilting backwards; her knees gave in, she sank down to the floor almost peacefully, very silently; nobody would have noticed if the energy had not stopped flowing, nobody would have noticed if the contact had not been lost. Harry skidded to a halt next to her and fell to the floor just seconds later; he had not been able to catch her. Lily's hair was scattered around her, all tangled up, glowing nearly violently in the dim light. The others closed in around Harry and Lily, just as anxious as he was; but he did not notice. He was fighting back hot tears of guilt as he pushed her dark red hair aside to reveal her ghostly white face. She was breathing. Thank god for that. She was alive.

But this was all his fault.

All his fault.

He had come to save her. And the way it looked right now, things were not going too well in his rescue mission.

~

James ran down the corridors. Who would he search for? Madam Pomfrey? The hospital wing was too far away to get to her quickly. He settled his mind on going to the teachers' lounge. It was nearer. And there was bound to be at least one teacher there.... However, the person he needed most right now was Dumbledore. But James did not know how to enter his office - the password changed at regular intervals after all. He turned around the last corner and stopped in front of the door to the teachers' lounge.

Closed. Not a good sign. James knocked. If he could not find Dumbledore or get to Madam Pomfrey, he would turn to Professor McGonagall. She was young, okay, but she was competent. And Head of Gryffindor. She would know what to do, or at least where to find Dumbledore. She could surely help.

"Potter!" a voice rang down the corridor.

James groaned. He knocked at the door again, more urgently. Nobody answered. He tugged at the handle, but found the door locked.

Shit. Not now. Please, not him. Please.

"Potter! On your own for once? Well, that fits well. I still have a bone to pick with you for that joke you pulled on me two weeks ago. Don't you remember?" an oily voice sneered.

James spun around quickly. He did not have any time to deal with this git now. But as he made to draw his wand out, it was too late. Severus Snape already had his own pointed right at him.

~

"Harry... Harry. Harry. HARRY! Would you please listen to me for a minute?" Draco asked, trying to catch Harry's attention.

No answer. Draco shrugged - he had not expected any. Harry was kneeling down next to Lily's limp body, stroking her hair and holding her hand, ignoring the presence of anybody else.

Draco felt like kicking him.

He felt like sitting down next to him and comforting him.

At the same time, two totally opposite feelings. Now that he had got to know Harry's other side, if only a tiny glimpse, the scared side, the insecure side, the side searching for help, the side that showed Harry was not only the Boy-Who-Lived, not only a Gryffindor, but somebody who seemed so normal, so human, now that he had seen that side as well, he noticed that he was throwing overboard seven years of enmity, seven years of hate and a lifetime's worth of brainwashing of the honour of being a Malfoy, of being pure, of being a Slytherin. Of being full of prejudice.

Draco squatted down on the floor next to the others and cleared his throat to get their attention. It was important to know what was happening to Lily, but it was just as important or even more to know how to use their powers. The Dark Lord was not resting....

"Okay, could you others listen to me at least? We had just found something quite important."

At the seriousness in his voice they finally turned to him. Draco waited for a second, studying them. Aaron seemed to be quite scared, but, after all, he was only perhaps eleven or twelve years old. Kat, sitting next to him, was pale, though calm and composed; Fabi's cheeks were flushed, she looked anxious. William had his brow furrowed deeply, obviously thinking hard and Narcissa... Draco tried to work out her expression, but could not. Her face was free of emotion, but he had the impression that she as well was doing some fast thinking.

Where do her loyalties lie? Draco thought, but had no time to dwell on this - he had to explain what he and Harry had experienced shortly before.

"I don't know if any of you managed as well, but... the connection we seem to have goes deeper than we thought. Much deeper. Actually, as deep as conversing without actually speaking," Draco spoke quickly.

"And by that you mean...?" William asked tensely.

"By that, I mean Telepathy."

There was a short, surprised silence. Then -

"Really? What made you find out?" Kat whispered and leant forward.

"How do we do it?" Fabi wanted to know.

Draco smiled. It was good to know that they were not questioning everything he (and Harry as a matter of fact) said anymore. Well, except Narcissa. He could sense, more than actually see, the way she was raising her left eyebrow and looking at him wearily, as if he was somebody seeking attention and praise all the time. He made a mental note that Narcissa had to be looked after well - if she turned against them... he did not dare continue the thought.

"How do we do it?" Draco repeated.

Like this.

This time the silence was not only a surprised one; it was more stunned than anything else, because Draco had not spoken the last two words but thought them. And they had all heard them clearly. Luckily enough, Draco had read about Telepathy a few times - he had wanted to learn it to manipulate others. Now he understood what had been meant by 'inner bonds' to the person he wanted to communicate with.

I take from your silence that you've heard me. And hear me now. Harry and I discovered this a few minutes ago. It makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, that we are able to communicate with each other like this. We are united as one after all. Anyway... what is important for you to learn: When trying to send these mental messages, you have to think the words in your head and think of the person you want to send them to at the same time. Does that make sense to all? Otherwise it won't work. Actually, it's quite difficult to speak to all of you at the same time, but as I can see you, it's easier.

Now that's what I call an unexpected turn, Fabi's voice echoed in their ears after a short pause.