Charms and Curses

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Within an hour, Fleur was back where the two had begun. The jangling sense of danger was now stronger than ever, and with it, also growing stronger with every moment, was the knowledge that if she was not able to save him, if anything...anything happened to him, she would suffer worse pain than from ten thousand Cruciatus curses. Edging forward down the twisting path on her broomstick, she steered with one hand, wand drawn and ready in the other. It seemed that she had broom skills after all, when there was dire need for them.

Reaching a door after another hour, she aimed her wand at it and fired, in rapid succession, every single opening charm she could recall. After four tries, the door swung open, and in front of her eyes was a roomful of snakes. Hissing, coiling, fanged and venomous asps. What to do? What to do? Raising her wand high as she hovered at the entrance of the door, she fired transfiguration spells at as many snakes as she could, and chaos filled the room as the snakes she hit suddenly turned into mongooses and started attacking the remaining asps. Continuing her transfiguration spells as she flew across the room, she finally reached the other end, paying absolutely no attention to the furied animal fights going on below and behind her.

Opening the next door, she immediately heard the clanging and clinking of knives as they flew across the room. "Ultima Armori Defendium!" she shouted, saying the strongest shielding charm she knew as she waved her wand around to encompass her and her broomstick. Continuing forward, hair coming down and out of her braid, she flew on towards the next door. Reaching it, she shouted an opening spell, not even noticing when her shield faded and a flying knife blade grazed her cheek, leaving a bloody line.

The feeling of deadly danger was now so strong that she reeled backwards. "'Oo is zere?" she asked aloud as she walked forward in the darkness. There was a whoosh, and light filled the room at the same time that chains wrapped themselves around her wrists and ankles. An unearthly, powerful voice called out "Expelliarmus!" and Fleur's wand fell to the ground, out of her reach. Fleur gasped as she took in the sight in front of her.

Next to her, similarly chained, was Bill. In front of her was a funeral bier, where lay Marc Antony in armor and Cleopatra in linen robes, looking fresh as if they were merely asleep, with a pair of handmaidens on the ground next to them. And beyond that...a throne of gold inlaid with jewels, in which sat, in all her spectral, terrible glory, the ghost of Cleopatra, with crown and crook.

"Ah, so here is the Princess. I was wondering when you would arrive." The ghost-queen said, still looking at Fleur unblinkingly.

"Please, I beg of you, your 'ighness, please let 'im go." Fleur, the proud, aristocratic French beauty, found herself begging and pleading and thinking nothing of it...as long as he would be safe.

But the queen did not release Bill from his chains. "Not so quickly, Princess. You have not passed the test."

"Test? What test? Whatevair it is, please just tell me, and I will try my best as long as you let 'im go!"

"What test, you ask? It is simple, yet none have passed. It is not hard, but because of it, the dead lie all around me. If you succeed, all that you came here for shall be yours, but if you fail, doom come to you both." Cleopatra's ghost smiled. "He that lies beside you was the first to come, but you who pursued him must finish the test."

"All right! Zat is pairfectly fine, would you just please tell me ze test zen?" Fleur continued hurriedly, unaware or unconcerned that she was snapping irritably at one of the most powerful sorceresses of all time. But Cleopatra's ghost did not seem to mind, and simply spoke.

"Tell me the story of Charms and Curses, Princess."

"What? Ze story of Charms and Curzes? What story is zat? Zere are millions of charms and curzes in ze world, 'ow do you mean for me to tell a story of zem?" Fleur asked, entirely confused and bewildered.

"That, of course, is entirely up to you, Princess. What does 'Charms and Curses' mean to you? Speak, for you have but three hours until sunset."

Fleur thought hard. Charms and Curses? Well, she knew what Charms meant to her. Her favorite class while in school, veela powers. In short, her strength. But curses? Curses...curse...curse-breaking...BILL!

Cleopatra's ghost smiled again as Fleur gasped. "Yes, tell me about Charms and Curses, Princess."

Fleur nodded, and though her voice was full of worry and fear, it was firm when she began.

"Zere was once a princess 'oo lived in a kingdom far away. She was beautiful, rich, and 'ad many suitors. But ze princess 'ad an 'eart of ice, and she scorned all of them.

Zen, one day, ze princess, searching for glory and adventure in a foreign land, met an adventurer to join 'er in 'er travels. Ze adventurer was nosing like ze princess' old suitors. 'E was a free spirit, and did not care zat ze princess was beautiful and rich, choosing instead to be 'er friend just because of 'oo she was. Zey traveled togezer, and ze princess learned to live free as ze wind, not just 'ow to sit all day in 'er castle and look pretty. Ze adventurer, like all ze other men, sought zat ze princess was beautiful, but 'e did not sink of ze princess as a porcelain doll. 'E was determined to uncover all 'er soughts and feelings, and despite ze fact zat zey came from different worlds, despite zeir disagreements and quarrels, ze princess fell in love wis 'im because 'e was ze first person to sink of 'er as a person 'oo 'ad more zan just beauty." Cleopatra's ghost nodded and waved one hand, and next to Fleur, Bill stirred and opened his eyes, regaining consciousness. Noticing Fleur next to him, he gasped.

"Fleur! You're chained down! Quick, I have to get you out of here..." But he was securely chained down as well, and he could not reach his wand. So frantic was he in his vain efforts to save Fleur that he did not even notice anything else in his surroundings until the sound of a throat clearing drew his attention forward. He looked past the bier, his eyes falling upon the splendid golden throne and the beautiful, terrible ghost sitting in it. Comprehension started to dawn upon his face, and he immediately addressed the ghost-queen.

"Please, let her go! I'll do anything!"

"Tarry, young adventurer. You were the first to arrive, and therefore the first to fall. Nothing you can do will move me, but let the princess finish her test. If she succeeds at the task at hand, you will both be free." The ghost turned back to Fleur, and beckoned for her to continue, "After the Princess falls in love with the adventurer, what happened then?"

"Ze princess...she was scared." Fleur's voice was soft, "She 'ad seen many ozers like 'erself fall in love, only to end in 'eartbreak, so she pretended zat she does not really love 'im. She was selfish, and broke 'IS 'eart so zat SHE will not 'ave any chance of getting 'urt by 'im in ze future."

"How very sad. And so, they part, but will they ever come back together?" The ghost said, still gazing unblinkingly at Fleur.

"Zat...I don't know. But ze story is not finished. Ze princess, afraid of 'eartbreak, is 'eartbroken anyway. And zen, she learns ze most important lesson of all." The ghost seemed to perk up at this.

"And what would that lesson be, princess?"

Fleur closed her eyes briefly before continuing in a quiet but very certain voice. "Zat in love, 'er 'eart will be broken no matter what. Love is full of pain, but it is wors any amount of pain. Wisout ze one she loves, 'er 'eart is as good as dead anyway, and so, ze princess finds ze courage to let love melt ze ice in 'er 'eart."

The ghost of Cleopatra smiled, and stood from her throne. Stepping forward, she walked towards Bill and Fleur. Stopping in front of Bill, she looked down into his stunned face and asked, "And does the adventurer love the princess enough to forgive her for running away from him?"

Bill had been trying to make sense of the situation, and figuring out exactly what Fleur was talking about in her story of princesses and adventurers and whatnot. Then, at the very moment that the ghost-queen addressed him, he realized what she was talking about. The princess and adventurer, that was the two of them! And that would mean that...Fleur's story...his heart soared, and then, dimly, he was aware that he had been asked a question. In a voice as soft but as firm as Fleur's had been, he answered, "Of course he does, as long as the princess never runs away from him again."

Clang! Their chains fell to the ground and the ghost-queen clapped her hands. Fleur and Bill suddenly found themselves holding a crown and a crook in their hands. Looking in surprise at the figures on the funeral bier, they saw that Cleopatra was now bare-headed, and her hands empty. The ghost smiled, and waved her hands in front of them slowly. The world spun, and all went dark.

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