loyalotter | 16th Gryffindor Note [Written] / [Action for housemates plus Draco later]

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16th Gryffindor Note [Written] / [Action for housemates plus Draco later]

[Written]
[Early morning: Hermione's sitting at the dining room table with her journal and her notebook. There are a couple of ink blots where she's tried to write, but her hand is shaking too much. Eventually, she manages to get out what she needed.]

For those who have been here for a while. I know this is probably a silly question, but I admit I'm curious. After someone returns from the Malnosso, about how long do the effects take to wear off and how bad can those effects be? Call it a study, if you will.

[Action for housemates plus Draco later]
[It's been days since Harry got back from his mallynapping and he's steadily gotten worse. She's watched him flip out about Voldemort one too many times not to know that something is desperately wrong now. His scar's been hurting like it did all fifth year, and nothing anyone has said has done anything to help him. And now, when she just went in to check on him, she's noticed that he's asleep in his bed. But he looks sick. Something is so not right.

And what do you do when all else fails? Call on the DA. So, she's going to knock on each of your doors as soon as she can tell you're all awake. She looks about as worried as Hermione gets.]

"We need to talk. All of us. Something's wrong with Harry."

[And then it's down to the next person. She'll be waiting for you all at the dining room table, which is right under Harry's room so she can tell if something changes with him. Terri the otter will be waiting in the living room for you guys to lead you all to her when you get there, but the Patronus is flickering, like Hermione's having a tough time keeping her there. The witch has her notebook and journal open and she's scanning the pages of each, desperately searching for an answer. Feel free to threadjack into one action thread.]

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[Neville kind of jumps in his seat when the yelling starts, and passes a hard stare between them, the one that normally is used to express "Lavender and Parvati, are you seriously passing notes at a time like this? Someone should be getting dittany if you've got time to play." He's seen Ron and Hermione row far worse than this, but now is very much not the time.] So in other words, we wait for him to make the first move. We let him expose himself first.

[She's stressed, she's strained, and her separate groups of friends are twisted and angry with each other. It's enough to drive one insane, but she just sighs and nods.] Please.

[And that's when Terri comes back through the wall to jump up on the table. Oh good otter Patronus. She looks quite comfortable sitting up there next to Hermione, peering up at the other two boys. Hermione knows what this means, though. Malfoy's on his way.]

[Give it a few moments and soon there's a Draco striding into the dining room where the other three are. He's definitely on-edge, but not enough to outright attack any of them. He's just going to stand near the entry-way and stare at Hermione, blatantly ignoring Weasley and Longbottom just for now. He knows what they're thinking, anyway.]

Granger.

[It's weird enough having a silver otter just hopping onto the table like it's completely natural, but it's another thing to see Malfoy strolling into the dining room as though he'd been invited (even though Ron knows he was, but he's not going to admit that). His hands clench against the table again, which is the only thing keeping him from going straight for his wand before his own ten-second rule, and rather than say anything scathing, he shifts his glare away from Malfoy to Hermione. At least he can look at her without giving rise to violent urges.]

[Neville may have been ignored, but he doesn't return the favor. He stands at Malfoy's entrance, having a better time than Ron of swallowing back his distaste.] Hermione says you know how to help Harry. Do you?

[Hermione's holding onto herself as well as she can, just glad that Terri's sticking around for now. The Patronus might help the tension that's suddenly swallowing the room. She doesn't stand when Neville does, but she does glance up at Malfoy's entrance, glad no one's throwing spells up yet.]

All right, now that we're all here we can get down to this. Something is clearly wrong with Harry. I thought, if he doesn't wake up in a few days, we're going to need to find our own way to help him. Maybe he remembers something, maybe Voldemort really is here, though I don't see how he could be. It's obvious the Malnosso did something to his mind, but I thought if we could really find a way to snap Harry out of this, the presence of- [She glances at Draco at this and then back to Ron and Neville.] -his school rival would help bring him back, give something solid for him to fight against.

[She sighs wearily.] We just need a way to talk to him, wake him up.

[It's okay Weasley, Draco's trying not to hex you as well. However, he shifts his gaze to Longbottom for a brief moment.] I had a bit of an idea, but Granger might know better than I do. She has a point though, we're going to need to find our own way to help him. Or whatever. [Because he can't let on he's worried or anything, but he does catch that glance.] And again, she's correct; if anyone's going to wake him up in his Dark Lord frenzy, it's the residential Death Eater. [Go ahead, say it.]

[Ron really doesn't know what's worse; the fact that Neville's standing up to Malfoy when he's just sitting there with his blood pounding in his ears, the fact that Hermione called Malfoy for help, or the fact that - for some bizarre reason - Malfoy actually seemed willing to help. At least he acknowledges being a Death Eater without any shame or anything, since otherwise, Ron would have seriously wondered if he'd been having a weird dream and Snape was going to come out next and recommend a group hug.]

So tell us, Death Eater: what exactly do you expect the lot of us to do?

[If Malfoy had been looking to appease any of their concerns, addressing his fealty wasn't exactly the best way to go about it. Neville narrows his eyes at the invocation of Death Eaters by name. Ron's already phrased his immediate question though, and so Neville falls quiet, a hand hovering near his wand without actually drawing it, just in case.]

[Hermione glances at Draco as he speaks and nods in response, glad they're at least thinking along the same lines.]

What idea did you have?

[She phrases it better than Ron, and she's got her own thoughts, but she wants to hear from them all first. ~~Neville be careful. She's not above a Full-Body Bind.~~]

[He frowns a little, because he has a feeling that they're not going to like what he has to say. But it's the best he could come up with on such short notice, and hey, it might be crazy enough to work.]

All of this has to just be inside his head, correct? The Malnosso have gone and messed with his mind...so what we need to do is get inside his head. My thoughts were by way of a bit of Legilimency, but I haven't a clue if the rest of you actually know how to do that. [That, and he's fairly certain he's had more practice since learning Occlumency, but like hell he's going to announce that. If anyone should wander around inside Harry's mind, it should be him. but again, like hell he's going to say that. Death Eater, right.]

And if anything, at least then we can see just what his thought process on the whole thing is and figure out how to reverse it.

[Ron's eyes turn towards Hermione automatically at the mention of Legilimency. He sure as hell can't do that, and he doesn't think Neville was ever trained in the subject either, but Hermione knows everything. So if someone's going to be poking around Harry's head, it should be the resident-know-it-all that doesn't have a Dark Mark tattooed on her arm or that keeps using the word 'we' as though they were some sort of team or something.]

Does that sound like something you can handle?

Legilimency is dark magic. [There's a bit of strain in his voice; suddenly, hexing Malfoy's filthy Death Eater mouth off sounds like a splendid idea. It takes some restraint ~~and the knowledge that Hermione would totally throw him in a full-body bind if he got on her bad side~~ tokeep from indulging the fantasy.] There has to be another way.

[Everything Draco says is met with a nod from Hermione.] That was what I was thinking. There's no other way. [She glances from one boy to the other.] Dumbledore used Legilimency. I'm sure of it. It's not bad magic when it's used in a good way. We're trying to help Harry and if we can all manage to help him fight off whatever is going on in his head... The sooner, the better, and then we can go back to normal around here. [Or as normal as things ever get.]

I knew you'd see it my way. [He's also glancing at both other boys, almost daring them to argue with him and Hermione.] Now the question is...who's doing it? [He's also got a feeling that Hermione will see it his way, but may as well appease the peanut gallery.]

[Ron's about to point out that Dark magic is always Dark magic, but Malfoy just had to make a comment about things going his way. The glare he shoots him would almost be physically painful, if Malfoy actually allowed such a thing to grate him, and it's really a testament to how much he values Hermione as a person that Ron doesn't just hex him on the spot. Instead, he makes no effort to hide the fact that he's biting back a particularly violent remark as he forces his gaze back towards Hermione.]

...Fine. Malfoy leads. And I swear, if I find you've touched any bit of her mind, you'll pay for it dearly. [There's a visible tremble in Neville's wand hand because what is this insanity and why are you so okay with it Hermione??.] You work your dark arts, then what?

Edited 2010-07-03 02:40 (UTC)

I think you should, Malfoy. [She almost almost slips and calls him Draco, but nope she catches herself.] I can't do it nearly as well as you. [Which is definitely saying something that she's willing to forgo her pride here in favor of Malfoy and helping Harry.]

[She's got something else on her mind, but she doesn't want to have that argument again in front of Neville and Ron for obvious reasons, so she holds it in for now. And she is going to owe Ron and Neville so much for trusting her and not going off on Malfoy.]

Hopefully that will allow us to see the best way to help Harry. And then we do what we have to, reassure him that Voldemort's not here, and hopefully that'll be the end of it.

I know you can't. [It's just a fact. He's going to slowly pull out his wand, weighing it in his hand for a moment before facing the three of them.]

This should work. Maybe somehow while in his head something can jar him awake enough. Anything in specific I should be doing in there?

[All of this trust in Malfoy rather than believing in Hermione's abilities is really, really grating on Ron's nerves. And watching Malfoy take out his wand isn't doing anything for him either, no matter how slowly he takes withdraws it. Without even bothering to be discreet, Ron's hand immediately goes towards his own wand, and he pushes the chair away from the table, ready to dive away or throw a hex or whatever seems appropriate at the time Malfoy inevitably stabs them all in the back.]

[Neville totally feels you there, Ron. But as frustrating as this is, it's at least a direction. Even if it's a direction fairly doomed to fail.] You should be making him normal again, and then you're getting out. That's it.

[When Ron gets up, Hermione shoots out of her chair, though she's facing him and looking at him imploringly. Please, Ron. You promised. She nods at what Neville says, though.]

Right. Just try to find out what's going on in his mind, whether he's seen Voldemort or if it's just his scar acting up again. [She doesn't want to mention the Occlumency stuff, but she does glance at Ron at this point, hoping he'll understand. She knows it's too much to even think of asking Ron and Neville to stay here with or without her while Draco goes upstairs, so she looks like she wants to follow him when he goes.]

Edited 2010-07-04 18:30 (UTC)

[ooc: reply to her with Draco's reactions and then we can go from there because Sol's whole thing about what's happening in his head is kind of extensive but epic so TL;DR DO NOT REPLY TO ME YET DX /waits for Sol]

[Draco immediately points his wand at Ron then, ready to defend himself but he lowers it a bit as soon as Hermione speaks. He's fine with her following him though, and he nods at the other two in almost a smug fashion.]

Right then. Excuse us. [He suddenly turns and starts heading up the stairs, waiting for Hermione to catch up. As soon as the two are alone in Harry's room with the Chosen One, Draco closes the door and hovers over him.]

I already know your thoughts on this, but you just have to let me do this. If something bad starts to happen, don't interrupt. Give me a few moments to see what I can find. [His voice is a bit tight as he says all of this though, if only because he's not quite sure what he's going to find once he pokes inside Harry's head. However, he does hope that this will be easier with a nearly unconscious victim.] Legilimens. [The spell is quite clear and his wand does the work he needs as he braces himself, anxiously waiting to see what was going on inside Harry's mind.]

[Harry has definitely seen better days. He's still sleeping fitfully and looking paler than normal. If he hears Hermione and Draco come in, there's no sign that he knows that they're there.

Inside of his mind, it's easy to see why. Rather than sink into a memory, Draco appears in a graveyard. There is a distinct blurriness to most of his surroundings in the distance, and there are black shapes that could easily be cloaked Death Eaters. The dream is incomplete at the moment, but the most important parts are there. To his left is a statue that looks like an angel, but in front of him stands the Dark Lord himself. Voldemort is surprised to see him there. He is definitely not pleased.]

Well, well, well. It seems my one and only Death Eater nearby has come to visit. [He approaches Draco with a hint of disgust. He's been in Harry's brain long enough to see which side Draco is truly on. His tone is mocking.] So kind of you to stop by, Draco, but I'm afraid I'm not ready for you yet. Potter is so very stubborn, wouldn't you agree? Now run along, and I will see you once he has been dealt with.

[Voldemort comes close to Draco, but then something knocks him back. To Draco's left, Harry has been bound to the statue with magical silver ropes that look like snakes. He looks exhausted but determined, and he breaks through some of the silver snakes to lean over and grab Draco by the arm. For now, Voldemort is knocked back by Harry's strong emotions. Voldy never could deal with any form of love. Harry's voice is desperate when he speaks.]

You have to get out of here! Show the others the Mark and get them away from me. I... I'm going to hold him back as long as I can. Tell everyone I'm sorry and try to keep them safe!

[At that, darker emotions start to sink in, and Voldemort regains his ground. As long as Harry fears he can't protect his friends and despairs over it, this part of Voldemort's soul can hold power over him. Voldemort hits him with a Cruciatus - which Harry will stir from visibly in the outside world - and more silver snakes appear to restrain him. He looms over Draco once again.]

Leave us, boy! Do nothing, and I may yet find it in myself to forgive you. Be silent, Draco, and learn to come when you are called like a good dog. [He raises his hand, and now Draco is being forced out of the dream and Harry's mind. So... how about that threat from Voldemort, guys?]

[As soon as Draco finds himself in the graveyard, he knows that this really, really isn't just some kind of hallucination like he had previously thought. He doesn't get long to absorb anything though before he practically yelps at the sudden appearance of the Dark Lord.

...Voldemort. Inside Potter's head! He instinctively backs up as soon as the Dark Lord starts approaching, though he's not able to say anything. He jumps again though when Harry grabs onto his arm, turning his head to face him. He listens to what the boy says, and he's flinching at the sudden brief pain shooting up his arm.]

Harry! [Granted, he doesn't get to say much more beyond that before the Dark Lord's back up in his business, looming over him and sending him off.

Back out in the real world, he does yelp and he falls backwards on his arse, scrambling a bit away from the bed and just staring with wide eyes, right hand covering his left arm as he stares at the unconscious boy on the bed.]

Shit.

♥!

♥!

♥! /brb threadjacking >>;

welcome to the party, bb~

Draco's threadjack broke my notifs. DAMN YOU MALFOY. :|

I DIDN'T GET ANY OF THESE DX /stabs lj but then celebrates the threadjacking

...I'm sorry I just killed the entire thread's notifs XD

DAMMIT MALFOY, WHERE MY TAGS AT? /runs off to bed

HE PROBABLY FED THEM TO NAGINI FOR BROWNIE POINTS. :|

NAGINI WOULD THINK HE'S THE SNACK SINCE HE CAN'T SPEAK PARSELTONGUE

...I can't tell if I should be sadfacing or laughing right now :x

You could do both... but then we'll just think you're crazy.

We'll still think she's crazy for other reasons, though.

But crazy is awesome fun 8(

I like being awesome fun D: /tags superquick before fleeing to work

I'm glad there are people in this world secure in their insanity.

It's better than being one of those OTHER types of insane people.

s-sob I keep missing half these conversations

LJ hates sterra. Also can we do one more round before draco gets in his head? need to ask sol somet

I'm good with whatever the peanut gallery decides.

Can we be an almond gallery? They're more delicious than peanuts.

no DX I'll be cashews /does not like almonds - but sure Ty whatever XD

om nom cashews. SO HEY after this tag, Sol's gonna hop in real quick to reply as Harry and I'll--

/SUDDENLY ALL UP IN THIS THREAD. SUP GUYS?

HI SOL. BYE SOL /kicks Sol out <3? And now I guess Stella will reply to me?