A Life in the Past

"All right," said Harry. "Which door should we try?"

Alfred, Tobias, and Jonathon each walked over to a door and knocked on it.

"You don't expect someone to answer, do you?" asked Ron.

Tobias shook his head. "We must know that there is a chamber on the other side, and not a solid wall," he said.

"Or there may be a chamber filled with water," said Ebenezer in a know-it-all voice. "We would not want to open a door and be drowned, would we?"

Ron shook his head.

"They sound quite safe thus far," said Alfred.

"So what now?" said Harry.

"You be the group leader," said Nigel. "You decide."

"I don't know," said Harry. "Why don't we split up, and we'll go in each in little groups?"

"Chose the groups," said Nicholas.

"Er, Ron, Hermione, and I will be one group," said Harry. "Nicholas, Ebenezer, and Tobias can be another. And then Nigel, Jonathon, Martha, and Alfred."

"Those groups be unfair," said Tobias. "Let us all go as one legion."

"Right," said Harry. "We'll take it one door at a time."

"They all be locked," said Jonathon. "It seems far too easy for them all to be opened with the same spell."

"It's worth a shot," said Ron. "But does anyone know any other unlocking spells?"

"Yes, I know a few," said Hermione.

Ron gaped at her.

"I am Head Girl," she said. "It's sort of a duty for me to know."

"All right," said Harry. "This door first." He gestured toward the door nearest him.

Hermione, who still had Alfred's wand, walked up to the door and muttered, "Alohomora."

Nothing happened, which was not surprising.

"Okay," she said. "Moloraho."

The locked twitched and clicked open. Hermione smiled and removed the padlock, opening the door.

Inside, was a chamber, it had a very low ceiling, and looked as though it belonged to a house elf, as the furniture looked old and there were cleaning materials everywhere. The furniture in the room was a little old desk, and a little stool placed before the fireplace. Other than that, the room was empty except for a frayed rug that lay on the stone floor.

"That's not it," said Harry. "Should we try another?"

Hermione nodded, disappointedly, and closed the door, sliding the lock back into place.

"What about that one?" Harry suggested, pointing at the door behind Alfred.

Hermione nodded and walked over to the next door, pointing her wand at the lock once again. "Homloaro," she muttered.

Nothing happened, the lock didn't even twitch.

Hermione took a deep breath and tried again. "Olahormo," she muttered.

Still, the lock did not move.

"Ormaholo," she muttered.

Again, nothing at all happened.

"Why don't you try Alohomora again?" Ron suggested.

"Alohomora," Hermione muttered, and this time, the lock snapped open. Hermione smiled and pulled the lock off the door, revealing another empty chamber. Or at least she thought it was empty.

"That trunk!" Ron cried. "I've seen it before. That was in the cellar, I'm sure it was!"

"Oh yeah," said Harry. "I remember it. Do you suppose it'll get us back to the present?"

Ron shrugged.

"We can't go yet," said Hermione. "We need to find Wilfred."

"Okay," said Harry. "We'll try the last door. Put the lock back on, just in case someone's lurking around here."

Hermione obeyed and replaced the lock. After doing so, she made her way to the last door and pointed the wand at it. She took a deep breath, and then muttered, "Olahorma."

The lock opened and Hermione grinned. She was so excited that she couldn't remove the lock, so Ron had to help her.

Once the lock was off, Ron opened the door, revealing a final chamber, and inside the chamber, was the last person anybody present wanted to see...

***

Annabelle was still acting possessed, and Draco was finding it hard not to ignore her. She was now eating maggots off of the decomposing corpse.

"That is truly disgusting," said Draco.

"I wonder why she's acting so disturbingly," said Ginny. "She seemed normal before. Well, normal with a psychotic edge... But now she's just a complete psycho and a half."

"Yeah," said Draco. "She's getting weirder by the minute."

"Wonder if there's somewhere we can go to get away from her?" said Ginny. "I don't like being around her, she's hard to ignore."

"There is," said Draco. "Either into that chamber, where there's eleven other people, or outside, where there's a thousand other people."

"I suppose I'd rather be in here," said Ginny. "But I don't like having her around."

"Yeah, but she's busy with her corpse," said Draco. "I don't think she really cares what we do."

"But we can't do anything anyway, there's a chance that one of the eleven people from in that chamber will come out here and catch us," said Ginny. "We wouldn't want that, would we?"

"No,"Â Draco replied. "Especially if your brother comes out."

"But we'll know if someone's coming," said Ginny. "The door makes a little sound."

Draco smirked. "You keep making excuses," he said. "What for?"

"Well, this may be the only time we have alone," said Ginny. "After this, we'll be back in the present, where everything will be back to normal."

"Not necessarily," said Draco. "It's been a long time since I said everything would be back to normal, I may have changed my mind."

"It would never work," said Ginny. "Our fathers hate each other, my brothers all hate you, and my over-protective mother probably hates your entire family too."

"I don't get you," Draco said. "You've got this chance with Potter, but you'd rather be with me, but now you say it won't work."

Ginny shrugged. "That's life," she said.

Draco rolled his eyes. "That's the stupidest thing you've ever said," he said.

"Mood swings," said Ginny. "It's just something that happens to me when I'm sent back in time."

"Really now?" said Draco.

Ginny nodded. "So you will forgive me if I kiss you out of nowhere, won't you?" she said.

"I don't know," said Draco. "I might."

"Because us being together might work in the past, if not in the present," Ginny continued. "And I ramble on sometimes, it usually means I'm about to do something rash, so prepare yourself."

"I will," said Draco.

Ginny smiled. "But then sometimes I don't do anything," she said.

"Okay," said Draco.

"But then again," said Ginny.

"Just go ahead and do it," said Draco. "If you're going to kiss me then just get it over with!"

Ginny didn't need telling twice. She sat up and placed her mouth over Draco's. This kiss was different to the first two, because this time, Draco reacted, or rather, his tongue reacted...

But it was over too soon, because only moment after, Annabelle had begun her shrieking again.

Ginny couldn't ignore Annabelle, and so she pulled away, hearing the psychotic girl's cries.

"Save me!" Annabelle screamed. "Save me from the eaters of death! They suck away my soul! They slay my darling! Save me from the eaters of death! Bringers of darkness!"

"What is going on with her?" asked Draco, beyond startled.

"They shall escape come dusk," Annabelle continued to shriek. "They shall take with them what is mine by blood! My deal may never be broken! Save me from the eaters of death!"

"What are you on about?" Draco asked.

"Shut up a minute," said Ginny. "Listen to what she's saying."

"It's all a little confusing," said Draco. "She's completely daft."

"No she's not," said Ginny. "It's like she's trying to tell us something."

Annabelle stared Ginny in the eyes. Her face was sinister and serious. "They shall come for me," she said slowly, her voice losing its eerie edge of demonic possession. "They take my brother, they take my father, they take my family, it be I to blame."

"Why?" asked Ginny. "What's going on?"

"The eaters of death," said Annabelle. "They seek gold, gold my family hath. I have made a deal, I be to blame."

"To blame for what?" asked Ginny.

"They slay my family and take their gold," said Annabelle. "I allowed it. Tis my fault."

"How?" asked Ginny. "This doesn't make sense."

"I made an agreement," said Annabelle. "An agreement with an eater of death; I said he could take my family's fortune, and in return, I would have power. But what is power to one who is unhappy?"

Ginny looked at Draco, who had his arms crossed and was eyeing Annabelle as though she was a mental patient at St. Mungo's.

"Eater of death?" asked Ginny. "Death eater... You've made a deal with a Death eater?"

Annabelle stared into Ginny's face. "What is power to one who is unhappy?" she repeated.

"And you made a deal for power?" said Ginny. "You wanted power, and the Death eater promised you power?"

"Never make a deal with a Death eater unless your parents are in the business," said Draco. "Actually, even then, you should never make a deal with a Death eater..."

Annabelle moved her attention to Draco and glared at him for a moment. Then, without any warning at all, she flew at him, knocking him backwards into the wall.

"Evil Malfoy!" she cried. "Tis you who do this to me!"

Draco pushed her away. "Don't go blaming me," he said. "You don't even know me!"

"The Death eater who promised you power, Malfoy?" Ginny questioned, ignoring Annabelle's sudden outburst at Draco.

"Evil Malfoy!" Annabelle screamed.

"You made a deal with a Malfoy?" Draco asked. "Make a deal with a Malfoy, make a deal with the Devil himself, it's not just a motto, it's a truth. You've just signed away your soul, congratulations."

Annabelle breathed heavily and stared at Draco, then suddenly, she began pounding at his chest. "Die, Malfoy!" she shouted. "DIE!"

"Ginny, help me!" said Draco.

Ginny hurriedly pulled Annabelle away from Draco. "Calm down," she said. "It's all right, Annabelle."

"Tis not!" Annabelle shouted. "He plans your death!" She pointed a shaking finger at Draco.

Ginny looked at Draco, who shook his head as if in some sort of denial.

"No, he doesn't," said Ginny, uncertainly. "Draco isn't Elias."

"Who be Draco?" Annabelle asked.

"He is," said Ginny, pointing at Draco. "That's Draco, not Elias."

"Do you love him?" Annabelle asked.

"I don't know," said Ginny, unable to look at Draco.

"I loved Elias," said Annabelle. "He caused me pain and agony. He slayeth my blood."

"This is crazy," said Draco in disbelief. "Ginny, I won't kill you. Annabelle's... disturbed, don't listen to her."

"I'm not taking her word for it," said Ginny. "But I'm still willing to listen to her."

"I won't hurt you," said Draco. "Well, not like that, anyway." He stepped forward, and just as he was about to put a hand on Ginny's shoulder, Annabelle put herself between him and Ginny.

"Do not touch her!" she hissed, threateningly. "I shall not let you harm her."

"You've caused her more harm than I ever have," said Draco.

"That's not true," said Ginny. "I've known you for almost six years, and for five of those years, I've been... well, I don't know what to call it... But all that time, you'd mock me, and make me feel terrible. I had very little self-esteem because of you, but still, I secretly liked you. I didn't think you would change, but I admired your power. I suppose that's the thing with us Weasley girls, we'd give up anything for a little power."

"And tis the Malfoys who possess that power," said Annabelle.

"I had no idea," said Draco, uneasily. "If I had known, well, you could have tagged along beside me, and together, we could really piss of Potter. You should've said something, it would have made the past five years so much more interesting."

"But my desire for power was never as great as Annabelle's," said Ginny. "I could never sacrifice my friends or family just for some time in the spotlight."

"Too bad," said Draco. "We could've really been something."

"Been something?" asked Ginny. "What do you mean?"

"His desire is to conquer all," said Annabelle.

"No it's not," said Draco. "Just Hogwarts. We could've been a conversation piece. Think of the attention; it wouldn't be perfect Potter and his Weasley with his Mudblood, it would've been Draco Malfoy, with his Weasley. That's so much more interesting. And we'd have so much publicity, all the Slytherins would envy us, as would the Gryffindors. If only you'd come to me before."

"Wow, you've really got it all planned out," said Ginny.

"I may have given it some thought before," said Draco. "You know, just little thoughts here and there. Think what the reaction would be if a Weasley, Mudblood lover, and a Malfoy, Mudblood hater were together. That'd be something to talk about. Who cares about the escaped convict from Azkaban when something like this is going on?"

"I've never actually thought about it that way before," said Ginny. "I should have taken the opportunity a long time ago. I wouldn't have been chasing after Harry all these years, and what's more, I wouldn't have gone with Neville to the Yule Ball in third year."

"Yeah, he would've taken Pansy," said Draco. "And I would've taken you. That would've made life easier to start with, but instead, we've had to live through the past five years."

"We really are stupid," said Ginny, a smile spreading across her face.

"Have you forgotten me?" said Annabelle, very loudly. "I have been betrayed by a Malfoy, and here you be, making plans."

"Don't worry," said Ginny. "Things are different in the future. Even if Draco's father did try to kill me a couple of years ago, I'm over it now."

"Wait, he tried to kill you?" asked Draco.

"The diary," said Ginny, rolling her eyes.

"But without that, we wouldn't be having this conversation," said Draco. "And you wouldn't be power-hungry."

"Maybe," said Ginny, shrugging.