In Times of Trial

Prologue

Shit, shit, shit, shit! I sound like an effing broken record! Scratch that, no pun intended, I sound like an effing broken helicopter! Bloody snake... Won't stop chasing me!

Bloody snake is too effing fast...

Oh great. A hill. Just what I need, even though I'm already tired, I have to now run up a bloody hill.

I need to do my laundry.

Where did that come from? Arg! Keep going, Maybel! Almost to the top... Almost...

CRAMP! Ow! Tired... and cramped... And I really need to do my laundry... Hill top... So close... Cramp... Almost to the...

Top!

Oof. Wow, that was so just like me. Reach the top, and trip over myself. Great Maybel, very productive. Owie. Now let's see... I'm tired, cramped, scraped, and bloody. And I think my wrist is now sprained. Just a little test... Yes, it is sprained. Bloody thing just HAD to break my fall.

Don't start crying... Stay focused. This hurts so much! Don't cry.

Damn that laundry! I'd better go take care of - What am I saying?! Maybel... The snake?!

Speaking of which... There's that bloody thing again!

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Where do I go now? Oh! Abandoned castle! Perfect... Can just go hide amongst rubble. Never mind the stupid 'Danger!' signs. Bwa. He won't catch me there...

Just gotta make it to the steps...

Check! Steps reached!

Now up the steps... Am WAY to tired for this... Eew! I'm sweating!

And why can't I let go of this laundry thing?!

Erg. Stupid cramp. Not helping.

Damned steps. There are WAY too many! It didn't look like this many from across the field... Almost to the...

Whoops! Hey, at least I didn't fall this time!

Ah! Snake! Gaining! On me!

Door!

Am pulling. Won't open. Shit. Am pulling harder. Crap. Oh look, some swearing variety...

Am shaking door... DAMN IT!!!

OW!

Note to self: When at a door that won't open; don't kick it. Will only cause stubbed toe. Which have acquired... Ow!

At least it got the door open. They should have a 'Push' sign here...

Oof.

Again, with the tripping over self-thing being just like me.

Now my knee is scraped... So lets review... Tired, cramp, cut, sprained wrist, bloody knee, and stubbed toe.

Just dandy... Now to take in my refuge...

Oh cheese Nips!

This isn't abandoned! Where the hell am I?!

Chapter 1

Maybel gazed around the stone corridor where she presided. Having never been in the Wizarding World, she had no idea where she was, or how she got there.

One minute I'm running for dear life... Into an abandoned, broken down castle, next thing I know, I'm here. So where is here, exactly?

Maybel got up and opened the door that she had just passed through, despite her fear that the serpent probably was on the other side.

Slowly, she creaked open the door to peer into the rubble. Only it wasn't there. A huge, lush, field had replaced it. And beyond that, a lake lay cool and calm, with ripples that skimmed and danced across the surface, as a long, inky-black, tentacle coiled out for a good stretch.

Maybel couldn't contain herself. She screamed and slammed the door.

* * *

Draco sat at the long table that had been constructed to deck the center of the Great Hall. He scowled into his porridge. This was most definitely NOT how he wanted to be spending his summer holidays. Honestly, just because ones father is imprisoned into the most notorious prison, and one's mother leaves him for dead in some mansion, it's no reason to be kept at ones school in order to remain safe.

He and that bloody Granger girl. Just because her parents were in absolute hiding to remain safe... All because of Potter. Honestly, did the world really have to revolve around him the way it did? But at least Draco and Granger had an excuse to be there. Bloody Head Girl and Boy. Right, because a boy of his adolescence and 'screw all' attitude really needed responsibilities. No matter. He really just supposed he could use his no curfew privilege to sneak girls up to the Astronomy Tower, and let Granger handle any real problems.

Speaking of Granger, where was she? She was usually blabbing to one professor or another some new idea to enforce rules by now. But that screechy voice couldn't be heard.

Draco allowed his thoughts to wander, and was soon pulled out a reverie as he heard the faintest sound of a scream sound from the Entrance Hall. He gazed around to see who would deal with it, only to see all the professors were preoccupied in a debate of sorts. Something about the Muggle Euro affecting the Wizard Money Exchange. Right, because all that nonsense really was just dreadfully important. Only Snape seemed to not be involved, and he seemed to hear a something in the distance too, though was not acting upon.

Draco needed an excuse to leave anyway, so he made eye contact with his Head of House, and slid out of the Great Hall virtually unnoticed.

Once outside the doors, Draco extracted his wand from his sleeve and put it at the ready for whatever Granger dragged in this time. Only, when he turned the corner, it wasn't Granger lying on floor like he expected, but some other little tart he had never seen before.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" he sneered at the girl. When she turned to face him, he took the time to look her over. She stood about one to two inches shorter than he, ranking at a good 5 foot 6 or so. She had Auburn hair, plain blue eyes, a few freckles here and there, and a stalky little build. Quite homely. How embarrassing. And there she stood, gaping at him, horror struck.

"Did you hear me? I said: Who. The. Bloody. Hell. Are. You?" Draco was becoming impatient.

Suddenly, she screamed, not some dainty little scream like before, but an ear-slitting, hall-shaking, avalanche-somewhere-in-Switzerland scream. Draco's ears began to ring along with the vacant corridors.

"Ow," Draco stated bluntly, as he tenderly rubbed his right ear.

"Where am I? I was running... The rubble... Then, oh dear, what've I done?!" She said, and began to distastefully claw at the door, as though turning it into a scratching post would fix all her problems.

"Oh sod it. You're a Muggle, aren't you?"

"A what?"

"Never mind," Draco said, rolling his eyes, then proceeded to rubbing his temples. What in blazes was he supposed to do? Where was that Granger girl? She'd know...

But before he could attempt to go find her, a cold voice drawled out from behind him. "Mr. Malfoy, what, pray tell, is the meaning of this?" Snape asked.

"It appears a Muggle has somehow gotten into our humble school, sir, don't ask me how she got past the wards." Draco called back over his shoulder in the best lazy voice he could produce. It wasn't very good. He would need to work on it.

"Well, I should imagine that as Head Boy, you would of thought to maybe obliviate the girl and send her on her way. And possibly keep the screaming to a minimum?"

"Yes sir." Draco drawled. That was a little better, but not quite.

Draco listened intently as he heard his Professor turn on his heel and stalk back down the hall, into the other direction.

He was given permission to obliviate. How fun this could be. He raised his wand to the ready.

"What on earth is that?" Asked the girl.

"It's something that I am now going to use against you, little girl, and that's all you need know."

"Use against me? Right. What are you gonna do? Poke me with it?"

"Oh Gods, I'm going to enjoy this. Obliviate."

* * *

Maybel watched the overly-pale-pretty-boy with curious eyes, as a small jet of light crept from the tip of his little stick and jetted out and tickled her tummy. Immediately, the small stream of glitter bounced to the floor.

Dumbfounded at this strange predicament, Maybel felt the words "What the hell is this, a glitter fest?" escape her mouth before she could stop them.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about nothing happening but glitter. Is this some mini Gay-Pride parade or something?"

"A what? Wait... You can remember, you mean that didn't work???"

"Um... No? Look, can you just tell me where I am? I just need to, um, get away from--"

"No! Obliviate."

Again, a small jet of glitter light shot from the boy's wand, hit her stomach and fell to the floor.

"Oh my! I'm scared of the glitter! What is this, some sort of sick joke?"

"Obliviate!"

This guy wasn't making any sense, but Maybel needed to get out of here...

* * *

"Obliviate!" He tried for the third unsuccessful time in a row.

"My turn! Go go gadget glitter!"

"Oh, shut it Muggle! Obliviate!" What the hell was she talking about? Why wasn't it working?

"I choose you, Glitter-chu!"

"SHUT IT!"

Maybe if I try swishing it this way...? Draco couldn't understand what was going on.

"This is getting ridiculous! Will you please just tell me where I am? Look, I'm being chased by--"

But her words were cut of by the sound of a soft scraping at the door. Gentle, yet vile sounding; as though it were silk, being drawn across the rope of a noose. It was the thick rumble of something very large crawling past the door. No, not crawling, slithering by. A faint but ever-distinct hiss could be heard.

"Shit," yelled the girl, looking panicked, "I gotta get out of here! Please! Help me?" she begged.

The door started to creak just the slightest bit.

Now, Draco wasn't stupid. He could recognize danger. And here, danger was wearing a "Hi! My name is: Voldemort!" tag.

"Follow me."

* * *

She didn't need to be told twice. Maybel took off at full-blown sprint right at his heel.

"What in bloody blazes is going on?!" cried Draco, over his shoulder.

"It's this... Snake... Thing. It's been chasing me for, I don't know how long! It's determined to kill me!"

"Why?" He seemed to start getting panicky.

Maybel hesitated. The truth? No, she couldn't tell him the truth. "I don't know..." she reasoned.

Oops. That seemed to get him going faster.

They continued without further conversation. Up steps, around corners. Stone walls, ceilings, and floors, gliding past all around her. Was that picture moving?

It was all so big. She had never seen anything like this before in her life. How could this have been the rubble she had sought refuge to only minutes ago? Where was she? What was going on?

"Over here!" he said at last. He stopped in front of a large stone gargoyle.

She had to stop and clutch her aching side. Maybel struggled to hold on to what breath she had left in a poor attempt to have said breath multiply. Suddenly, her injuries seemed announce "HEY! DON'T FORGET US!!!" and she began to coddle her sprained wrist.

"Raspberry Marmalade." He said to the stone. He actually said it to the stone.

That's it, Maybel reasoned, this is just some twisted joke. Now he's talking to a statue. I know what I did to deserve this... Is it too late to repent?

But suddenly all thoughts of negativity concerning the statue were erased, as it leapt to the side, revealing a stairwell that was steadily beginning to swirl and rise above the doorway.

Blinking, Maybel couldn't help but to stand and look on in awe. She had to be loosing her mind.

The boy seemed to recognize her sudden inability to move (and slack jaw), and pulled her on to the stairwell by means of her wrist. Due to the sudden shock of pain, and unwillingness to vocalize it, Maybel caught herself stumbling inside the rotating chamber rather ungracefully. To catch her balance, she used her good hand to grab hold of pretty-boy's arm for support. And there it remained for the rest of the escalator ride, whilst she secretly bit back her tears. She would NOT be weak...

* * *

Draco opened the door to Dumbledore's office, and led the little Muggle bimbo inside.

"Sit there." He commanded harshly as he shook the obviously over-sexed little bint off his arm. She sat in the armchair that he had commanded her to, and he took the one opposite.

Dumbledore hadn't come back from breakfast yet, and it was just as well, as he had some questions for this girl that he knew wouldn't be answered once Dumbledore had stepped in.

She was gazing around the room. He looked into her eyes, despite the fact that they were not focused on him, but rather the phoenix, Fawkes, in the corner.

He was about to voice his first question for her, but she beat him to it.

"Where am I?" she asked.