Harry Potter and the Cracked Reservoir
Chapter 30: After Parties
By Musings of Apathy
Chapter 30: After Parties
Thank you to my Betas Donalddeutsch, Cateagle and Sparky40sw.
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Per a marriage contract between the head of the Malfoy family, Lucius Malfoy, and the head of the Parkinson family, Samuel Parkinson, Draco Malfoy was to marry Pansy Parkinson one year after their completion of NEWT testing. Draco Malfoy, the aforementioned groom-to-be and king of the Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, swam slowly to consciousness through a dark fog. The last he could recall, he was having a good time at the Halloween Ball. He had attended with his bride to be, but he wouldn’t let that stop him from having fun. He had found a bit of fluff that he could enjoy and managed to convince her to ‘take a walk’ with him. It really was useful to be seen by most of the girls in the school as the handsome ‘bad boy’, the type that seemed to attract all of the innocent ones. He liked the innocent ones. They were very good for certain things, even if they didn’t know it yet.
However, that was the last thing that he could remember. The next thing he knew he could hardly move a muscle. He opened his eye to find…nothing. He fought his confinement only to have his prison contract around his shoulders, stomach and legs. His only reward; a serious leg cramp.
----
An hour after Ginny departed, Harry had suffered through as much of the Ball as he could, being there without his date. He had danced with whomever was asking, and was the worse off for it. His feet and calves ached from never leaving the dance floor. While Ginny was in attendance, no other girl would approach and try to ask him to dance. With Ginny in the hospital wing seeing to an emotionally damaged young woman, Harry had no shortage of perspective dance partners.
His proverbial dance card had been overflowing from the moment he returned.
Harry walked stiffly to the crest at the foot of the Chamber and, unlike the rest of the people to use the ‘arch’ to return to the entrance hall, he disappeared as soon as both feet touched the colored stone.
"Did you see that?" asked Hermione.
"See what, dear?" answered Ron.
Hermione was staring at the point that Harry had last been.
"Harry was over there and just disappeared," she told him.
"’Mione," Ron said, "that’s how we go back up. Didn’t you see the firsties go back that way?" Ron asked.
"Yes, Ron," she said, getting frustrated. "But he disappeared at least a meter before the arch. He was just on the edge of the school crest."
Ron looked doubtful. "Are you sure, ‘Mione?" he asked. "Come on," he said, distracted, "let’s get some more dessert."
Hermione sighed in frustration.
----
Harry appeared in the hospital wing directly over the edge of the crest. He turned around to see two beautiful women looking directly at him. He gave a sheepish grin.
"Um, hi," he said, shyly.
"Hey, Harry," Ginny said. "Is it over already?"
Harry smiled in earnest, "Nah, I just figured that any more and I would have to spend a week in here."
Mandy smiled but Ginny looked on in curiosity. Harry smiled to himself, It seems that Mandy knows better than Ginny what could have happened.
"Without you there, the other young ladies have much more courage. You‘d think that they were all Gryffindors. I was handed from pubescent teen female to pubescent teen female for the past hour and never left the center of the dance floor," Harry chuckled. "I figured I had fulfilled my duties of a host and took my leave with my head held high and my tail between my legs."
Mandy giggled.
"Ah, what’s wrong?" Ginny teased, "Are the ikle wittle girlies too scary for the mighty Hero Harry James Potter, Battler of Dragons, Champion of Hogwarts, Slayer of Basilisks and Rescuer of Damsels in Distress?"
Harry and Mandy both laughed.
"It’s the damsels with looks other than distress in their eyes that worry me," Harry answered.
The two girls laughed.
"Hey, without you there, they all thought that this was their opportunity. I’m just glad that convention doesn’t require that I kiss each of the girls that I danced with. I had to practically sprint to safety."
Ginny was still laughing, "Oh, poor me, with the most popular boy in school as my very own boyfriend."
"Yeah, but if it had been you there alone," Harry said, "all the boys would have been beating a path straight to you instead."
"Right, sure," she scoffed.
Harry, in an effort to change the subject, said, "So, Mandy, how are you doing?"
"I, um," she said, haltingly, "Okay, I guess."
"It’s not your fault you know," Harry said. "Oh, listen to me." Harry shook his head. "I’m using the same clichéd line that my minders used on me at the beginning of summer."
"What happened?" she asked, shyly.
Harry took a breath and Ginny hugged his waist in comfort.
"My godfather died trying to protect me," Harry said, his voice full of emotion. "He was the last father figure that I knew. I only knew him for about two years and now he’s gone and it was partially my fault."
"Harry," Ginny said, "It wasn’t your fault."
"See," Harry said, with a half grin and his thumb pointing sideways at his girlfriend, "See what I mean? Every time I talk about it, someone has to say it wasn’t my fault."
Mandy giggled at the couple as Ginny scowled in his general direction.
"See Ginny," Harry said, "I can talk about Sirius and own up to the fact that I had some blame in it without getting depressed. It’s okay."
"Harry," Mandy said in a serious tone, "it wasn’t your fault."
After she said this, both she and Harry broke out in gales of laughter as she joined the long list of people to say the cliché line. Ginny scowled for just seconds before she broke down into laughter s well.
"What is going to happen with all of this?" Mandy Brocklehurst asked.
"Well," Harry said, "Malfoy will certainly be punished in school, but you have a choice to bring him up on assault charges with the Ministry or not."
"R-Really?" she asked. "What should I do?"
Ginny and Harry smiled at the girl. "It’s up to you," Ginny said. "It won’t be easy either way but you have to decide for yourself and what’s best for you."
Mandy took a deep breath. This wasn’t an easy decision. In her heart she just wanted to be safe and not have to worry about some slimy Slytherin at school. What made the decision worse, is that she went with him willingly into the caves and this made her think that it was really her fault.
"I always liked him, you know," she said quietly. "You wouldn’t know it, being in Gryffindor, with your open rivalry with Slytherin, but a lot of girls find him attractive with his blond hair and bad boy image. He just made my heart race when he paid me any attention. Then he asked me to go for a walk and I just couldn’t say no. He looked so handsome and …I just wanted the fantasy." She took a deep breath. "He just wouldn’t listen when I told him no. His hands were everywhere and he had me pinned down and I couldn’t fight him off. I was hitting him but it had no effect. I screamed and sobbed…I was terrified. What could I do? I thought that he was going to get his way and I just didn’t want it to be that way…my first time." She let out a sob prompting a caring Ginny to sit beside her and hold her in her arms. "It was my fault; I chose to walk with him, I didn’t fight hard enough. I let him win."
Harry sat, stunned, through the outpouring of emotion. At the end he was outraged at how the ferret made this young woman feel.
"Mandy," Harry said, his soft voice carrying force, "This wasn’t your fault. Nothing you did invited assault. If he didn’t have your permission for something that he did, then he is the one at fault. He has no right to take permission for the smallest of friendly acts to give him free rein against your wishes. It’s a shame that he would take advantage of your attraction to him."
"I just want to feel safe at school," she admitted.
Harry smiled; finally something that he could help in some small way with.
Harry stood. "I think that I can help there. Will you two be all right while I get something? I’ll be back in ten minutes."
Mandy nodded and Ginny smiled, her pride in her boyfriend showing through.
Harry exited the hospital wing through the main doors, forgetting about the crests.
----
Harry hurried to the Gryffindor tower and through the portrait, ignoring the party in progress filling the common room.
He opened his trunk to find a shrunken case on the right side at the bottom. He placed it on the floor and gave his wand a hardy wave, causing the case to expand to its original size. Filling the case were numerous felt boxes, hundreds in fact. He grabbed a navy blue one and opened it to check that the right piece was in it before returning the reshrunk case to his trunk and rushing from the room.
On his way back through the common room, he quickly waved an acknowledgement to a couple of the younger years’ DA members without breaking stride. He couldn’t spare any time for real pleasantries. However, he did detour to the kitchen for some universal medicine for when your only ailments are disappointment, anger and heartache. Dobby and friends were as efficient as ever. The bowl of fruit painting had hardly swung shut before swinging wide again.
----
Bloody hell this floor is getting cold. When will someone come? How did I get here? Who the bloody hell tied me up like this? I’ll ruin them.
----
"Ginny, what should I do?" Mandy asked.
"That’s up to you," Ginny replied. "If you don’t feel strongly one way or the other, just wait to discuss it with Professor Dumbledore. He’ll come along after the dance."
"The H-Headmaster?" Mandy asked with a quivering voice. "Coming here? How can you be so casual about it?"
"Well," Ginny answered contemplatively, "I’ve seen him loads of times and talked to him a lot. I guess that you start to realize that he’s just another wizard with a somewhat insane demeanor."
"I don’t know if I could ever come off with such an easy attitude," Mandy said earnestly.
"Comes with being around Harry. You get used to talking to the Headmaster and start to see him as human. You get used to having the school look to you for advice and government officials either wanting to be on his good side to raise themselves up or to beat him down to stand on his shoulders. Comes with the territory," Ginny finished with a smile.
"You’re not talking about Fudge again, are you?" Harry’s voice came from the main doors. "I thought that we agreed to not talk about him, as that talk makes me want to just call Rita and get him ousted."
"See," said Mandy, bolder now with her familiarity with the young couple, "that’s what I’m talking about. It seems common place that you could cause a change in our government and it doesn’t bother you?"
"Sure it does, but who knows if it would even work or if I’d just prove my critics right," Harry said, "but even with the strangeness, you still get used to just about anything, eventually. Still doesn‘t mean that I have to like it."
"Okay…" she drawled, unconvinced.
"Enough of that," Harry said. "I brought two things to make this feel better. This," Harry said, producing the deep blue velvet necklace box, "is to protect you in school and out." He snapped the box open and presented it to her. "Wear it, and if you are in trouble, clutch it. If you are on one of the school crests, it’ll move you to the hospital wing. If you are already here, it’ll move you to the Headmaster’s office. If you are not near a school crest say ‘help’ and others will be alerted. If you are away from Hogwarts and can’t wait for help, yank the pendant off and the chain is a portkey that will send you, and whomever is touching it, to the entrance hall. Keep a hold of the pendant; it can still move you from the main crest to the hospital wing."
"Wow!" Mandy said. She slowly took the beautiful box into her hand and removed the necklace. The chain was fine and long enough to hang down onto her chest but not within her ball gown’s concealment. The pendant had a gold outline and carved mosaic of brightly colored stone to create the perfect image of the Ravenclaw mascot.
"It’s simply beautiful," she said, awestruck. "Thank you."
Ginny smiled at him, silently thanking him for making her fast friend feel better.
Harry returned her smile, as Mandy was still quite busy staring at the necklace.
"And second, the universal medicine for a woman’s battered heart, or so I hear." Harry brought his hands straight out in front, his right hand laden with a carton of ice-cream and his left holding two spoons. "Double chocolate fudge flavor with little marshmallows and peanut butter swirls."
Ginny took the offered treat with a hungry, appreciative look.
"Why only two spoons?" Mandy asked. "What about you?"
"As I understand it," Harry said, "This particular medicine only works if no members of the opposite sex are present to hamper the ‘girl talk’. I still think that that’s a euphemism for male bashing, but…hey."
Harry gave a peck to Ginny’s cheek before turning on his heal and striding out. He promptly disappeared when he touched the center of the hospital crest.
"Hey, wait, he just disappeared," Mandy said with an epiphany. "Does that mean that the crests are more than just decoration and Harry knows how to control them?"
Ginny just smiled. No secret would come from her lips.
"Ginny," Mandy said, eyeing the young woman’s smile, the Gryffindor as good as admitting it. "Don’t ever lose him or at least half of my house will snatch him up in a hot second if news of his intelligence becomes known."
Ginny continued to smile. "That’s why you won’t be a party to them finding out."
"Of course not," Mandy said with a smile and a wink.
----
Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick and Snape walked into the hospital wing shortly after midnight. They had just seen to the bulk of the students still attending the ball and now knew them to be back in the safety of their common rooms. To their knowledge, the only students left out were prefects patrolling for stragglers and the two young ladies in the hospital wing.
"Thank you for staying up to speak with us," Professor Dumbledore said.
"That’s okay, Professor," she said, happily. "I think, after the medicine Harry brought," she motioned to the ice-cream carton, "I’m operating on a sugar high."
"You seem none the worse for wear," Professor Flitwick said in his calm high voice.
"All due to Ginny, here, and Harry cheering me up and getting me things to improve my mood and sense of safety," she said.
Professor Dumbledore smiled, "That’s wonderful. What did Harry give you that could improve your sense of safety after a dreadful night such as this?"
"Certain things," she said, glancing down at her necklace, "that have ensured that help is never more than minutes away and a quick escape is always available," she smiled. "Oh, and a tub of ice-cream."
Professor Dumbledore noticed the necklace that she was hinting toward and felt the magic embedded in the object. He immediately knew, from his discussions with his favorite pupil, what this object would or could do.
"Professor," Minerva McGonagall started in her sternest voice, "How many times have I insisted that you not teach students to speak in riddles such as you do?" she asked in a scolding manner, sensing that the trauma the girl had suffered was but an unpleasant memory, needing humor for treatment.
"My apologies, Professor!" he bowed with the illegal eye twinkle in place.
The Headmaster transitioned his face from the jovial professor to the serious administrator in order to complete his duties of the evening.
"Miss Brocklehurst, I must ask you to recount the events of the evening from your own recollection, if you please," he requested with regret. "Would you prefer Miss Weasley to leave the room?"
"No," she said politely, "Please let her stay. She’s a friend."
"Very well. Please proceed if you can."
----
Ow, Ow, cramp, oww!
----
The Professors left the Hospital wing after a short retelling of the events. Mandy Brocklehurst had recounted the events with a detached air; the words seemed to be a part of an unpleasant part of life, no longer relevant to her. After the telling, they offered, vigorously, to contact Magical Law Enforcement for her to give a deposition and level charges on her attacker, but she convinced them that she wanted the punishment to be in house, as it were. She came to this conclusion after seeing the vehemence with which Professor Snape recounted the minimum punishment that would be given to the wayward Slytherin. This seemed to satisfy her sense of justice, to see the results first hand instead of in writing.
The Professors walked away as satisfied as they could, in a case such as this.
"Oh, my," Professor Dumbledore said, "Is it that late already? Has it really been more than two hours since the incident?"
"Yes it has, Professor," said the scowling Professor Snape. "Worried about you beauty sleep at your age?"
"No, Severus," Dumbledore said, "I’m just concerned for the condition of my office with Mr. Malfoy locked in there for the last two hours."
"I don’t think," said Professor McGonagall with a distinctly vengeful smile, "that he is in any position to do any harm to your office, Albus."
"Oh dear," Dumbledore said, seriously, "please tell me that you remembered to untie Mr. Malfoy and return his mobility when you left him in my office."
"You instructed me to place him in your office and that is what I did," she said. "You didn’t mention anything about releasing him. The wait will do him good," she proclaimed, self-assured.
Throughout this, Professor Snape said nothing to the contrary or in protest.
----
Where is everyone? My back hurts and this damned cramp won’t go away. Whatever I did, I won’t do it again if they’d just release me.