Eclipse

Eclipse

By Ravenclaw's Heir

Chapter Two: Elaborations

Thursday

Sunlight never filtered into the Slytherin dormitories or common room, as they were buried underground, deeper down than the dungeons. Of course, enchanted windows, much like the ones used at the Ministry of Magic, could always be fitted into the walls; but not once in the thousand year history of Hogwarts, had a Slytherin ever opted for such a thing.

It was here that fifth year Sara Leviathan sat, her creamy skin glowing in the flickering green light of the overhead lamp. She impatiently strummed her manicured fingers on the arm of the couch that she was lounging on, a haughty expression fixed upon her face. It was early morning and no one else was up. Except for one other person - a certain person who hadn't gone to bed in the first place - and he would return to the common room soon, if he knew what was good for him.

And return he did. Sara's dark eyes flickered over to the stone wall at one end of the long, low room as the door concealed in it slid open. Terrence Higgs slipped quietly into the room. She quickly poised herself picturesquely on the couch and turned her head slightly to glance at him fixedly.

Terrence made his way straight over to her, and grovelled at her feet. "Sara, I-"

"You don't have it, do you?" Sara glowered at him in disgust.

"I swear, I'll have it soon. Weasley's a lot tougher to crack than she looks." Terrence ran his fingers through his short brown hair in frustration.

Sara continued to glare at him in contempt. "I need it soon, Terrence. Very soon. We're running out of time and if you can't force Weasley to steal it for us by the new moon, it will be too late."

Terrence ran his fingers through his hair again and took a deep breath. "Look, why don't I just force Granger to give it to me straight up? Rather than forcing Weasley to steal it off her?"

Sara's eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to tell me that you can't crack her?"

"No! No!" Terrence eyes widened at the thought of losing Sara's faith in him to do a job right. "I just think that this whole scheme is a tad complicated."

"Scheme?" Sara spat back at him. "Scheme? This isn't a scheme Terrence - it's a well thought out plan. If you had any brains at all you would realise that Granger (being the know-it-all that she is) would know exactly how important this thing is to my uncle and is about as likely to surrender it as she is to go on a house-elf killing spree." She tossed her long dark curls over her shoulder. "No, Terrence, you must do whatever you have to, and force Weasley to take the crystal from Granger within the week. Otherwise someone else shall have my favour." She paused thoughtfully, a small smile playing on her lips. "Maybe Miles Bletchley could convince Weasley."

There was a panicked glint in Terrence's eye. "No! I swear - she'll have gotten the crystal by next week! I promise I won't fail you."

Sara looked slightly satisfied. "Good." She waved him away with her hand. "Scram then. Go take a shower or something - you smell absolutely awful."

***

Hermione was in a great mood that morning. She sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Ron, absolutely beaming.

Ron looked at her in surprise. "Why are you so happy today?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione's smile could have broken her face in half. "I'm always happy."

Harry snorted. Hermione was moodier than English weather.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "You should be happy too, Harry - it's finished."

Harry dropped his fork with a clatter. "Already?"

"Yes." Hermione expression was one of pure smugness.

"But how?" Harry was incredulous.

Hermione reached around to the back of her neck and unclasped the chain she was wearing. She held it up for Harry and Ron to inspect as she whispered, "With a little help from this."

Harry and Ron stared at it, bewildered. It was a very nice necklace, the chain was wrought of silver, intricately woven with tiny birds made of white gold. The pendant attached was a smooth kite shaped stone that was the most brilliant shade of dark blue and encased in a lining of white gold. Inside the stone was what looked like a bubble, encased inside another bubble.

Ron looked up in amazement. "Hermione, that looks bloody expensive."

"Shhh! Ron!" Hermione's eyes darted around furtively. "Keep it down! It's important that this stays between the three of us. There's just too much at stake."

Ron lowered his voice. "What is it?"

Hermione leaned in and glanced around again. "I'm not sure about the necklace itself, but the gem in the pendant is called the Nihonbashi crystal."

Harry and Ron met her with blank looks.

"Honestly, don't you two read?" Hermione huffed, "it's an infamous and ancient gem! Dates back for thousands of years! It originated in Japan. It's said to have incredible protective and strengthening powers. Which means that it was perfect for using in the Monitora Charm. So the Charm is complete now, and I'm assuming it will be stronger than we could have hoped for."

"But Hermione, where on Earth did you get it?" Harry asked her weakly.

"It belongs to Rachael Taliesin."

Ron gaped at Hermione when she said this, and Harry craned his neck to look over at the Ravenclaw table, where Rachael was sitting. She was chatting away amiably to Luna Lovegood, who was listening and appeared to be inspecting the fruit bowl for something - probably nargles, Harry thought with a grin.

He brought his thoughts back to the necklace, which Hermione was still clinging on to tightly. "Why on Earth would she give an incredibly valuable necklace to you?"

Hermione smirked. "Her mind was on other things at the time. And she didn't give it to me, she lent it to me."

Ron glanced across at the Ravenclaw table. "She doesn't act like she's rich."

"Ron, you can't always tell a person is rich just by how they act." Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "She doesn't have to strut around like Malfoy to prove her family financial status, you know. Then again, he doesn't really strut these days, have you noticed?"

Ron puffed up his chest in outrage. "What do you mean, 'not strut'?!"

"Well, it's more of a swagger - you know, rather rock star like." Hermione's eyes glazed over, her voice worryingly dreamy. "He's really getting into this lead singer business, eh?"

Ron did not like Hermione's tone of voice or the way she looked at Malfoy as she said this. He decided to try and change her subject of focus. "So... uh... how's S.P.E.W. going?"

"Hmm?" Hermione wasn't really paying attention - her concentration was elsewhere.

At this point Ginny joined the trio at the table. She noticed Ron's flustered expression. "What's up?"

Ron scowled at her, then glared at Hermione, who was too wrapped up in her daydreams to notice. He glanced at Ginny again and then stabbed viciously at his bacon. "Nothing."

***

Blaise couldn't help but keep shifting his gaze over at the Gryffindor table. Hermione Granger was looking in his direction, and Blaise felt strangely self-conscious. He turned to Malfoy, who was sitting next to him. "Don't you get sick of it?"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Sick of what?"

Blaise discretely indicated to the girl seated on Malfoy's right, a breathy voiced girl who practically had her elbow in Malfoy's cereal - she was leaning in so close.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "I try to ignore it."

Blaise smirked and leaned around Malfoy to address Pansy. "Pansy, what's the matter with you?"

Pansy stop staring dreamily at Malfoy to look up at Blaise. "Sorry, what?"

Blaise was about to continue when he caught Hermione Granger glancing in his direction again. For some mysterious reason, this rendered him temporarily speechless.

Malfoy noticed the lack of speech and looked at Blaise in partial concern, partial suspicion. "What's wrong with you?"

Blaise forced a cough and looked at the bowl in front of him. "Cereal's a bit dry."

***

Roger loitered outside the Charms classroom, feeling slightly guilty. Rachael would be having a free period instead of Care of Magical Creatures because Professor Hagrid had been attacked that morning by his Blast-Ended Skrewts, and was in the hospital wing with minor burns. Roger knew that he should be on his way to Arithmancy, but he couldn't help himself. He wasn't doing too well in his classes this year anyway, mainly because he spent his time thinking about her instead of the lessons. His head of house, Professor Snape, had spoken to him about it - Roger's grades had been that bad.

"I'm concerned that Miss Taliesin may be proving to be a bit too much of a distraction for you, Mister Taylor." Snape had said to him a couple of days ago. "Your marks this year have been abysmal. Even your potions marks - every year since you came to Hogwarts you have come top of the class in potions, this year your work has not been up to scratch."

Roger had ran his hands through his hair. Snape had never really reprimanded Roger before - he'd always been Snape's top potions student. "Sir, this isn't Rachael's fault."

Snape had raised an eyebrow. "I never said it was. However she is quite a bit younger than you, I'll have you remember. She just turned fifteen. That makes her a minor, Mister Taylor. You will be eighteen next July. You should be careful. And I do hope you realise that she won't turn sixteen until after you have graduated from Hogwarts. If you graduate." Snape smirked. "At the rate you're going, you mightn't pass your N.E.W.Ts."

He hadn't said anything else. Roger had left his office, and not given Snape's words any more thought. What did he know anyway? Who cared about N.E.W.Ts? Rachael was more important to Roger than his schoolwork was. She was more important than anything else really. Except maybe drumming, he added as an afterthought.

Roger was pulled from his thoughts as the fifth-year Charms class filed out of the room. He spotted his girlfriend by her pink hair and pulled her to the side.

Rachael gaped at him in surprise. "Roj? Aren't you supposed to be in Arithmancy?"

"Yeah, I am." He kissed her. "But I heard you had an unexpected free, and so I figured that maybe you'd uh... be interested in a... um... music rehearsal?"

Rachael laughed. "Oh absolutely! My current guitar playing stinks."

As they began to walk down the hall, his arm around her waist, she asked, "We are only rehearsing, right? You don't have anything else in mind, do you?"

"Not at all!" Roger smirked as he crossed his fingers behind his back.

***

Hermione sat down next to Ginny in the Great Hall at lunch, a queasy expression on her face. Ginny looked at her in concern. "What's up?"

Hermione looked close to vomiting. "You know that necklace I borrowed of Rachael to help with the Monitora charm I'm placing on Harry?"

Ginny insides went cold. "Oh my God," she whispered, "has someone stolen it? I swear-"

"No, no!" Hermione cut her off. "It wasn't stolen. Although it is very valuable. Anyway, I went looking for Rachael to give it back to her and I found her in the Room of Requirement."

Ginny, whose insides were slowly warming up again, nodded. "Yeah, she's always in there - the band use it as a music room."

Hermione did not have a happy expression on her face. "She was in there with Roger, and they weren't using it as a music room."

Now Ginny felt sick. "Oh."

"I did give it back though."

Ginny was relieved. Now there was no way Terrence Higgs could make her steal the necklace - it was back in Ravenclaw tower where it belonged. She giggled nervously, and Hermione eyed her in puzzlement. "What's so funny?"

Ginny looked around in panic, trying to find something funny to pin it on. Her luck held out when she spied a certain pair sneaking in late through the door. "Rachael's forgotten to do up her blouse buttons again."

***

Jemma walked into the empty dormitory and rummaged around for her Divination textbook. She was meant to be tutoring Colin Creevey in the Library at eight o'clock that night. Eurgh. It was highly unfair, and it was only because Jemma was the only person who could actually see something in the crystal ball. Rachael had reckoned Professor Trelawney was punishing Jemma for possessing more Sight than her. And privately, Jemma agreed. Professor Trelawney really didn't have a clue as to what she was talking about.

Sighing, Jemma picked up her Divination book. As she turned to leave, something caught her interest out of the corner of her eye. Sock Man was lying on Cleo's bed. Jemma picked him up, and the corners of her mouth twitched into a smile as she got an idea.

***

It was past nine o'clock, and Ginny hurried down the corridor back towards the Gryffindor tower. She knew the penalty for a fifth-year caught about the castle after nine, so she picked up her pace. She rounded the corner and collided with something very solid. It was Terrence Higgs.

Shit.

He smirked at her, and quick as lightning, fished her wand out of her pocket and threw it down the corridor far out of her reach, before she even had a chance to shift all the books she was carrying and reach fish for it herself.

Shit.

Ginny weighed up her options fast. She was alone, wandless, and carrying a tonne of books. She knew better than to try and take Higgs on, she was small for her age and not renowned for her brute strength. On the other hand, she could drop her books and run for it - she was known for speed. She decided on the latter.

She threw her books at Higgs - for added effect - and bolted down the hallway. She got about five metres away when she fell flat on her face. Higgs had used a tripping jinx on her.

Shit.

Higgs grabbed her around the waist and picked her up. Her head began to buzz from the impact of hitting the stone floor. But this wasn't over. Higgs was holding her from behind and she struggled to break free.

"Take it easy, Weasley," he murmured, "it's not like I'm going to hurt you or anything." He sniggered. Ginny gritted her teeth and elbowed Higgs in the neck.

He swore and dropped her. Ginny made a dash for freedom but Higgs grabbed her by her hair and slammed her into the wall. Ginny's skull rattled on impact. Higgs then pressed one hand against her lower back to hold her in place, and used the other to crush her head into the wall. Ginny could feel her cheek start to bleed as the sharp edges of the stone wall cut into her skin. She groaned in pain.

Higgs leaned over and whispered in her ear. "So the courageous Gryffindor can feel pain after all. Maybe you've changed your mind then."

"Have not." Ginny managed a dry laugh. "Doesn't matter anyway Higgs - Hermione doesn't have the necklace anymore."

"What?!" Higgs snarled and threw Ginny across the floor. She lay there on her stomach, still. He advanced on her. "Why not?"

Ginny didn't answer, so Higgs kicked her hard in the gut. Three times. Ginny groaned again, missing the desperation that was clear in Higgs' voice. "Why not?"

Ginny kept her eyes down. "It didn't belong to Hermione, it belonged to someone else."

"Who else?"

"I don't know." Ginny was not about to do her Ravenclaw friends in.

Higgs bent down over Ginny, grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her up onto her knees. A trickle of blood was dripping from the corner of her mouth down to her chin. He leaned in from behind her and tightened his grip on her neck. "Yes you do. Who else?"

Ginny closed her eyes. "I don't know."

Higgs pulled her up by the neck and shoved her back against the wall. He gripped her throat and Ginny struggled to breathe. Higgs punched her in the face. Again. And again. And again.

Everything went black. Ginny couldn't see. She was still conscious - she knew that because she could feel the pain. When everything came back into focus, she saw someone standing behind Higgs. The look on his face was terrifying.

Harry.

***

Harry didn't think. He just reacted. He let out a growl and wrenched Higgs away from Ginny, who sank to the floor - half unconscious. Harry began belting Higgs around the head in a ferocious rage. He was larger than Higgs, and a hell of a lot more angrier. Higgs didn't have time to react. Harry moved away from his head and concentrated on destroying Higgs' ribcage.

"Harry!"

Harry barely heard Hermione's shriek as she and Ron rushed down the corridor to him. They stopped dead short and Hermione let out a gasp.

"Oh my God, Ginny!"

She ran to the slumped figure on the floor as Ron's face contorted into murderous rage and he threw himself at Higgs. The two Gryffindor boys attacked Higgs' with such viciousness that Hermione abandoned Ginny and attempted to break the boys apart.

Her attempt failed. Ron pushed her roughly out of the way. "Hermione, stay out of this."

"Stupefy!"

All three boys were stunned at once. Hermione looked up to see Professor McGonagall lowering her wand, her face white.

She turned to Hermione. "Miss Granger, help me get these four to the Hospital wing at once."

***