Seimene
Chapter 1: Punished
A/n's: I have to admit, I adore R/D.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the other characters do not belong to me, if they did, I'd have had them do this in the book long ago.
***
Draco glared at Ron and Ron glared back.
"At least," Draco hissed. "At least, I'm not so lacking in attention that I go sucking up to Potter to lick some of his off."
Hardly thinking, Ron raised his arm and launched his blue eagle at Draco. Terror gripped Draco as he saw the huge eagle descending on him, talons outstretched, beak open, ready to tear his flesh mercilessly.
Just before the terror obliterated his brain, a shadow collided with Ron's eagle. Almost dizzy with relief, Draco realized that his eagle had intercepted Ron's and were now swooping around each other hostilely.
The anger in Draco's brain grew and grew. ~He tried to kill me. Weasley tried to kill me.~ He whipped out his wand and pointed it at Ron. "Serpentosortia!" he hissed. An emerald green snake shot out of the wand, and it rushed straight at Ron, with incredible speed.
Several students screamed. Some scrambled away from it, others were rooted to the spot with horror. Ron stood paralysed, until the snake was almost upon him. Then with a cry he leapt backwards, tripping upon himself, so that as he lay sprawled, eyes fixed on the snake, it rushed ever closer, and he didn't have the presence of mind to even think of drawing his wand.
"Finite Incantatem!" To Draco's disappointment, the snake disappeared just as it was about to sink its fangs into Ron's leg. "Expelliarmus!" Draco's wand shot out of his hands, and he raised his gaze straight into Miss McGonagall's livid eyes.
As Draco's anger drained out of him, he could only think of one word.
~Shit.~
***
Draco and Ron glared daggers at each other.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. They both dragged away their gazes and looked at the headmaster, to hear his verdict and the punishment they would be receiving.
"Well," he said mildly. "This has gone beyond just rivalry. When two of my students start truly trying to kill each other off," here again Draco glared mutinously at Ron, who glared back with just as much venom, "during Care of Magical Creatures, drastic measures have to be taken."
Dumbledore pressed his fingertips together. "Follow me. Your 'punishment' awaits, although I would not call it so, more of an undertaking so that..."
Miss McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. "Ah yes. Quite right, Minerva," Dumbledore continued. "Follow me boys, to your punishment."
***
Ron glared suspiciously at the surface of the mirror. Its surface was a murky grey, but ever since Harry's recital of the incident with the Mirror of Erised and the Philosopher's stone, he had become understandably cautious with mirrors.
"So what do we have to do?" he said.
"Simple," Dumbledore beamed at them. "Walk inside the mirror."
"And?"
"Just that, my dear boy. Both of you will go in. And then you'll have to come out again."
"What's the catch?" Draco asked.
"There is no catch. You will just have to find a way of coming back here."
"I presume that you are not giving us any clues as to how we do that then," Draco sighed. "What if we don't find a way?"
"Nonsense!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "You are both bright, you'll find a way of coming back - somehow."
"Somehow?" Ron squeaked. "I'm going to be locked with him in a mirror and I might be coming back - somehow?!?"
"Enough arguing!" Miss McGonagall snapped. "That's your punishment, so now go in!"
Draco and Ron glared at each other again, each daring each other to step in first.
"Fine," Draco said, facing the mirror suddenly. "Just peachy. I'll just step in, and perhaps I'll see you all again. Weasley, be my guest not to follow me. I could do without your presence."
Head high, and back straight, Draco suddenly walked up to the mirror and stepped into it. The surface shone blue as he touched it, and he passed through it as easily as walking through water. Then Draco was gone, but the surface remained turquoise.
"You now, Ron."
Ron squared his shoulder. Dumbledore wouldn't let them walk into any danger would he? He walked up to the mirror, and with the thought in mind, walked straight into it.
***
As the icy feeling of stepping through the mirror dissipated, Ron found himself in a forest, with the sun shining overhead, and butterflies flying around.
"So the Weasel finally deigned to join us on our unofficial tour of the other side of the world. How kind," came a dry voice from his left.
Ron spun and came face to face with his arch nemesis, Draco Malfoy. "Don't start with the smartness Malfoy."
"Excuse me? This is all your fault, so I'm going to do what I please, Weasley."
"*My* fault? If you hadn't been such an arrogant prick..."
"That eagle could have killed me!"
"I like that! What about the snake?"
"I sent that after you'd tried killing me first!"
"And pity it didn't work! We'd have gotten rid of you, and good riddance!"
"I'm not the one who goes around with mudbloods for friends and..."
Ron's fist collided with Malfoy's nose, and he leapt on him, punching and kicking him. Malfoy staggered back, hands clutching his nose. It wasn't that Malfoy wasn't a good fighter. But Ron had taken him by surprise, and his nose was currently sending enough pain impulses to his brain to stop his brain from functioning properly.
"Well well," a laughing voice said from behind Ron. Ron stopped punching Draco and looked at the source of the voice.
There floated, a few feet above the ground, a vision with pale blue glass for skin, and dancing sapphires for eyes.
"Who are you?" Ron asked releasing Draco's robes uncertainly. The vision laughed.
"Why, I'm the mirror of course!" The voice sounded like a waterfall to their ears, and now Ron's eyes perceived that the person was wearing nothing, and yet appeared sexless.
"The mirror? But we're inside it!"
"Exactly! I'm its spirit," the vision chirped. It waved its hand, and Draco stopped clutching his nose in agony, and looked up, blinking.
"I'm so glad you two have come!" the spirit said happily. "I haven't had much company for a long time. The last two to visit me where Severus and Sirius, and that was such a long time ago. I'm glad that I have some new..."
"Severus? As in Severus Snape?" Draco asked bewildered.
"And Sirius Black?"
"The very ones! They too had to undergo these tests, and it worked fine for them, even though," and here the vision pressed its finger to the side of its nose and winked, "it turned out more surprising for both of them then they could ever have imagined."
"Huh? What tests?"
The spirit laughed again. "I wonder if you two will be as much fun as they were! The tests you will undergo to escape from me, silly."
"What will we have to do?" Ron asked apprehensively.
The mirror winked again. "Can't tell you that! It would spoil all the fun! And there's a lot of fun to come yet! Now - I have to leave you my dears."
"Wait!" Draco said. "What do we have to do? You can't leave us like this."
"You'll have to search for how to escape on your own I'm afraid! And *do* remember that this is the only time that I've healed your nose. In here, you cannot break your bones or be gravely injured, but that doesn't mean you won't feel the pain. Something else - think about my name! To ever escape from here, you will have to guess my name!"
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Draco asked exasperatedly. "You could be called anything! We don't even know if you're male or female!"
"Dear, dear," the mirror sighed. "Think! I'm a mirror, not a human."
"And how long do we have to stay here?"
The spirit clicked its tongue in exasperation. "You really do not listen do you? Oh well.Severus and Sirius were worse when they arrived - you will have to finish the quests before you leave."
"And how long will that take us?"
"Until you figure out the answers of course! And that might be as short as a few days..."
"Days?!?"
"...or it could take you a lifetime! Now I really must go!!"
And as soon as the words were out of its mouth, the spirit disappeared. Leaving Ron and Draco alone together, staring in horror at each other.
"A lifetime?!?"
***
"This," Ron announced to the world in general, "is just bloody brilliant." After some bickering over the general direction which to take, Ron and Draco had set off down a path, eyeing each other with both suspicion and much dislike.
"Oh stop your whining Weasel," Draco said irritably. Tempers were frayed and both boys were longing to lunge at each other's throats again. "I suppose you think *my* idea of fun is being stuck with you here," he waved his hand indicating their surroundings, "wherever here may be."
"This is all your fault, so you have no right to complain." Ron glared at the blond.
"*You* were the one who tried killing me off in the first place."
"And *you* started the whole fight as usual. If you were less of a..."
"Oh let's not go over that again," Draco snapped. "It's useless anyway. Now we're here might as well see how to get out again. Though I'd much rather I was on my own. At least I'd be spared a headache."
"You're free to go your own way any time you want, Malfoy."
"This is the way I want to go."
"Well fancy that, that's my path as well. So you're going to have to decide whether to change your course or enjoy my company."
They glared at each other again, but neither boy strayed from the wide path. Both boys were without wands, and felt strangely helpless without them - since both were purebloods, both had spent their lives surrounded in a magical environment. Neither quite knew what to do without it.
They had been walking for a long time now. Ron was feeling tired, but Malfoy was still walking, and he wasn't going to give the shorter boy the satisfaction of admitting his tiredness. Doggedly, both boys kept on walking, until the shadows lengthened, and the sun was going down.
Abruptly, Draco stopped walking, and crossed his hands haughtily.
"I," he declared, "am not moving another step tonight."
Ron smirked at him. "Tired Malfoy? My, pretty boy is quite a weakling."
"*You're* just as tired yourself, Weasel. Unless you always walk that slow."
"I could keep going on!"
"*Fine*! Go ahead and do it then. You go on while I stay here. At least I'll be rid of you!"
Ron turned his back on Draco and strode one. Who did he think he was? Stuck up, lousy son of a...
He noticed the deepening shadows, and felt a twinge of apprehension. He cast a look behind him, but a bend in the road and the trees lining the path hid Malfoy from sight.
Well, he wasn't about to wait for him. He'd stop in a bit, but there was still a bit of the day left and he wanted to finish the stupid mission and get...
A howl stopped him in his tracks. Swallowing, he cast looks around him. There were wolves in here? What had Dumbledore been thinking of?!?
After a few moments of standing still, his ears strained for any other howls, Ron moved forward slowly and apprehensively. He must have imagined it. Yes. The rustling of the leaves on the trees by the wind and the silence was probably getting to him. He must have imagined...
Abruptly another howl rent the air. Throwing dignity to the winds, Ron ran back to where he had left Draco. At least in the company of another - even if it *was* Malfoy - had to better. And if the worse came to the worse he could always feed Draco to the wolves while he tried to escape.
As the path turned a sharp bend, Ron collided with a fast moving person moving in the opposite direction, and in a flurry of limbs and robes they ended on the floor.
Untangling himself, Ron looked at the person underneath him - ~Perhaps there's someone else apart from me and that git!~ - and then realized who the silver blond hair belonged to.
"What the hell were you doing?" he yelled at Malfoy. "I thought you weren't going to move another step!"
"Much as I know this must be getting you all excited," Draco replied breathlessly but still scathingly, "I'd appreciate it if you'd get off me and all."
Ron flushed and scrambled to his feet. "Next time, Malfoy, watch where you're going."
Malfoy raised his eyebrows. "I presume that *you* have the right to charge around like a rampant Blast Ended Skrewt with no care for anyone else."
"I wasn't expecting to bump into anyone!"
"Well neither was I! What were you doing, anyway? I thought you had decided to go on without me."
"Well I.I thought Dumbledore wouldn't be very happy if I returned to Hogwarts and you remained here," Ron said, thinking very fast. He wasn't about to admit that he had been scared.
"Oh really? Coming back for me a bit fast weren't you?" Malfoy smirked.
"*You* weren't exactly moving at a snail's pace!" The smile was wiped off Malfoy's face swiftly.
"Never mind that now," he said hastily. He looked around him and shivered. "It's cold and I'm hungry."
"Can't take a bit of hardship Malfoy?"
"Oh I forgot," Draco replied nastily. "You must be used to cold and hunger. Well just in case you've forgotten, I'm NOT."
Ron clenched his fists, but refrained from rising to the bait. He too, was feeling the cold and the pangs of hunger. "I guess that's edible," he pointed doubtfully to a tree bearing apples.
Malfoy made a face. "Yuk.God only knows who's touched them. Isn't there anything else around?"
"Just look around Malfoy," Ron said sarcastically. "I'm sure you'll find a couple of trays of roast chicken and potatoes if you look hard enough."
Malfoy gave him a look and crossed his hands again. "Fine. If we're going to eat the dregs, nothing for it. But I'm going to complain to my father as soon as we get out of here."
Ron looked at him in disgust. "Yeah, hide behind your father's apron strings. You can't do anything for yourself." He strode over to the tree and stretched for one of the fruit, but they were too high up. He jumped, and after a couple of tries, managed to grab an apple.
He bit into it with relish, loving the juicy taste.
"Well?" came the sharp question from behind him.
"Well what?"
"Get me one," the command came. Ron gave Malfoy a look.
"I am not one of your personal slaves to boss around, Malfoy," he shot at him. "Get your own apples."
"I can't. You're taller." To his astonishment, Ron thought he detected a pink tinge in Malfoy's cheeks. Nah, he decided, had to be the funny work of shadows.
"Oh very well. I don't think Dumbledore would be too pleased if I let you starve, even though the rest of the school would probably love me for it," Ron grumbled, as he reached up for another apple. In the end, eh got several more, as one was obviously not enough to assuage either boy's hunger.
"Where are we going to sleep?" Malfoy asked, as their hunger had finally been appeased, as the apple cores strewn round them showed clearly.
Ron sighed. "Honestly, Malfoy. Can't you think of anything yourself? I doubt we're gonna find any comfortable four poster beds any time soon in this place. I guess we'll have to do with sleeping here, on the ground."
"But it's freezing!" Malfoy protested.
"There's nothing I can do about that!" Ron replied. He looked around, then threw himself down next to a rather large boulder. "Night." He heard some muttering from the Slytherin, and then Draco lay down some way off him.
Soon, despite the cold, both fell asleep, and neither heard the sounds of the forest at night.
A little way off, the mirror floated, looking at them. A small smile played around its lips. Why.these two were so alike to Severus and Sirius.who knew, they might turn out the same as well.
Chapter 1: Punished
A/n's: I have to admit, I adore R/D.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the other characters do not belong to me, if they did, I'd have had them do this in the book long ago.
***
Draco glared at Ron and Ron glared back.
"At least," Draco hissed. "At least, I'm not so lacking in attention that I go sucking up to Potter to lick some of his off."
Hardly thinking, Ron raised his arm and launched his blue eagle at Draco. Terror gripped Draco as he saw the huge eagle descending on him, talons outstretched, beak open, ready to tear his flesh mercilessly.
Just before the terror obliterated his brain, a shadow collided with Ron's eagle. Almost dizzy with relief, Draco realized that his eagle had intercepted Ron's and were now swooping around each other hostilely.
The anger in Draco's brain grew and grew. ~He tried to kill me. Weasley tried to kill me.~ He whipped out his wand and pointed it at Ron. "Serpentosortia!" he hissed. An emerald green snake shot out of the wand, and it rushed straight at Ron, with incredible speed.
Several students screamed. Some scrambled away from it, others were rooted to the spot with horror. Ron stood paralysed, until the snake was almost upon him. Then with a cry he leapt backwards, tripping upon himself, so that as he lay sprawled, eyes fixed on the snake, it rushed ever closer, and he didn't have the presence of mind to even think of drawing his wand.
"Finite Incantatem!" To Draco's disappointment, the snake disappeared just as it was about to sink its fangs into Ron's leg. "Expelliarmus!" Draco's wand shot out of his hands, and he raised his gaze straight into Miss McGonagall's livid eyes.
As Draco's anger drained out of him, he could only think of one word.
~Shit.~
***
Draco and Ron glared daggers at each other.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. They both dragged away their gazes and looked at the headmaster, to hear his verdict and the punishment they would be receiving.
"Well," he said mildly. "This has gone beyond just rivalry. When two of my students start truly trying to kill each other off," here again Draco glared mutinously at Ron, who glared back with just as much venom, "during Care of Magical Creatures, drastic measures have to be taken."
Dumbledore pressed his fingertips together. "Follow me. Your 'punishment' awaits, although I would not call it so, more of an undertaking so that..."
Miss McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. "Ah yes. Quite right, Minerva," Dumbledore continued. "Follow me boys, to your punishment."
***
Ron glared suspiciously at the surface of the mirror. Its surface was a murky grey, but ever since Harry's recital of the incident with the Mirror of Erised and the Philosopher's stone, he had become understandably cautious with mirrors.
"So what do we have to do?" he said.
"Simple," Dumbledore beamed at them. "Walk inside the mirror."
"And?"
"Just that, my dear boy. Both of you will go in. And then you'll have to come out again."
"What's the catch?" Draco asked.
"There is no catch. You will just have to find a way of coming back here."
"I presume that you are not giving us any clues as to how we do that then," Draco sighed. "What if we don't find a way?"
"Nonsense!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "You are both bright, you'll find a way of coming back - somehow."
"Somehow?" Ron squeaked. "I'm going to be locked with him in a mirror and I might be coming back - somehow?!?"
"Enough arguing!" Miss McGonagall snapped. "That's your punishment, so now go in!"
Draco and Ron glared at each other again, each daring each other to step in first.
"Fine," Draco said, facing the mirror suddenly. "Just peachy. I'll just step in, and perhaps I'll see you all again. Weasley, be my guest not to follow me. I could do without your presence."
Head high, and back straight, Draco suddenly walked up to the mirror and stepped into it. The surface shone blue as he touched it, and he passed through it as easily as walking through water. Then Draco was gone, but the surface remained turquoise.
"You now, Ron."
Ron squared his shoulder. Dumbledore wouldn't let them walk into any danger would he? He walked up to the mirror, and with the thought in mind, walked straight into it.
***
As the icy feeling of stepping through the mirror dissipated, Ron found himself in a forest, with the sun shining overhead, and butterflies flying around.
"So the Weasel finally deigned to join us on our unofficial tour of the other side of the world. How kind," came a dry voice from his left.
Ron spun and came face to face with his arch nemesis, Draco Malfoy. "Don't start with the smartness Malfoy."
"Excuse me? This is all your fault, so I'm going to do what I please, Weasley."
"*My* fault? If you hadn't been such an arrogant prick..."
"That eagle could have killed me!"
"I like that! What about the snake?"
"I sent that after you'd tried killing me first!"
"And pity it didn't work! We'd have gotten rid of you, and good riddance!"
"I'm not the one who goes around with mudbloods for friends and..."
Ron's fist collided with Malfoy's nose, and he leapt on him, punching and kicking him. Malfoy staggered back, hands clutching his nose. It wasn't that Malfoy wasn't a good fighter. But Ron had taken him by surprise, and his nose was currently sending enough pain impulses to his brain to stop his brain from functioning properly.
"Well well," a laughing voice said from behind Ron. Ron stopped punching Draco and looked at the source of the voice.
There floated, a few feet above the ground, a vision with pale blue glass for skin, and dancing sapphires for eyes.
"Who are you?" Ron asked releasing Draco's robes uncertainly. The vision laughed.
"Why, I'm the mirror of course!" The voice sounded like a waterfall to their ears, and now Ron's eyes perceived that the person was wearing nothing, and yet appeared sexless.
"The mirror? But we're inside it!"
"Exactly! I'm its spirit," the vision chirped. It waved its hand, and Draco stopped clutching his nose in agony, and looked up, blinking.
"I'm so glad you two have come!" the spirit said happily. "I haven't had much company for a long time. The last two to visit me where Severus and Sirius, and that was such a long time ago. I'm glad that I have some new..."
"Severus? As in Severus Snape?" Draco asked bewildered.
"And Sirius Black?"
"The very ones! They too had to undergo these tests, and it worked fine for them, even though," and here the vision pressed its finger to the side of its nose and winked, "it turned out more surprising for both of them then they could ever have imagined."
"Huh? What tests?"
The spirit laughed again. "I wonder if you two will be as much fun as they were! The tests you will undergo to escape from me, silly."
"What will we have to do?" Ron asked apprehensively.
The mirror winked again. "Can't tell you that! It would spoil all the fun! And there's a lot of fun to come yet! Now - I have to leave you my dears."
"Wait!" Draco said. "What do we have to do? You can't leave us like this."
"You'll have to search for how to escape on your own I'm afraid! And *do* remember that this is the only time that I've healed your nose. In here, you cannot break your bones or be gravely injured, but that doesn't mean you won't feel the pain. Something else - think about my name! To ever escape from here, you will have to guess my name!"
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Draco asked exasperatedly. "You could be called anything! We don't even know if you're male or female!"
"Dear, dear," the mirror sighed. "Think! I'm a mirror, not a human."
"And how long do we have to stay here?"
The spirit clicked its tongue in exasperation. "You really do not listen do you? Oh well.Severus and Sirius were worse when they arrived - you will have to finish the quests before you leave."
"And how long will that take us?"
"Until you figure out the answers of course! And that might be as short as a few days..."
"Days?!?"
"...or it could take you a lifetime! Now I really must go!!"
And as soon as the words were out of its mouth, the spirit disappeared. Leaving Ron and Draco alone together, staring in horror at each other.
"A lifetime?!?"
***
"This," Ron announced to the world in general, "is just bloody brilliant." After some bickering over the general direction which to take, Ron and Draco had set off down a path, eyeing each other with both suspicion and much dislike.
"Oh stop your whining Weasel," Draco said irritably. Tempers were frayed and both boys were longing to lunge at each other's throats again. "I suppose you think *my* idea of fun is being stuck with you here," he waved his hand indicating their surroundings, "wherever here may be."
"This is all your fault, so you have no right to complain." Ron glared at the blond.
"*You* were the one who tried killing me off in the first place."
"And *you* started the whole fight as usual. If you were less of a..."
"Oh let's not go over that again," Draco snapped. "It's useless anyway. Now we're here might as well see how to get out again. Though I'd much rather I was on my own. At least I'd be spared a headache."
"You're free to go your own way any time you want, Malfoy."
"This is the way I want to go."
"Well fancy that, that's my path as well. So you're going to have to decide whether to change your course or enjoy my company."
They glared at each other again, but neither boy strayed from the wide path. Both boys were without wands, and felt strangely helpless without them - since both were purebloods, both had spent their lives surrounded in a magical environment. Neither quite knew what to do without it.
They had been walking for a long time now. Ron was feeling tired, but Malfoy was still walking, and he wasn't going to give the shorter boy the satisfaction of admitting his tiredness. Doggedly, both boys kept on walking, until the shadows lengthened, and the sun was going down.
Abruptly, Draco stopped walking, and crossed his hands haughtily.
"I," he declared, "am not moving another step tonight."
Ron smirked at him. "Tired Malfoy? My, pretty boy is quite a weakling."
"*You're* just as tired yourself, Weasel. Unless you always walk that slow."
"I could keep going on!"
"*Fine*! Go ahead and do it then. You go on while I stay here. At least I'll be rid of you!"
Ron turned his back on Draco and strode one. Who did he think he was? Stuck up, lousy son of a...
He noticed the deepening shadows, and felt a twinge of apprehension. He cast a look behind him, but a bend in the road and the trees lining the path hid Malfoy from sight.
Well, he wasn't about to wait for him. He'd stop in a bit, but there was still a bit of the day left and he wanted to finish the stupid mission and get...
A howl stopped him in his tracks. Swallowing, he cast looks around him. There were wolves in here? What had Dumbledore been thinking of?!?
After a few moments of standing still, his ears strained for any other howls, Ron moved forward slowly and apprehensively. He must have imagined it. Yes. The rustling of the leaves on the trees by the wind and the silence was probably getting to him. He must have imagined...
Abruptly another howl rent the air. Throwing dignity to the winds, Ron ran back to where he had left Draco. At least in the company of another - even if it *was* Malfoy - had to better. And if the worse came to the worse he could always feed Draco to the wolves while he tried to escape.
As the path turned a sharp bend, Ron collided with a fast moving person moving in the opposite direction, and in a flurry of limbs and robes they ended on the floor.
Untangling himself, Ron looked at the person underneath him - ~Perhaps there's someone else apart from me and that git!~ - and then realized who the silver blond hair belonged to.
"What the hell were you doing?" he yelled at Malfoy. "I thought you weren't going to move another step!"
"Much as I know this must be getting you all excited," Draco replied breathlessly but still scathingly, "I'd appreciate it if you'd get off me and all."
Ron flushed and scrambled to his feet. "Next time, Malfoy, watch where you're going."
Malfoy raised his eyebrows. "I presume that *you* have the right to charge around like a rampant Blast Ended Skrewt with no care for anyone else."
"I wasn't expecting to bump into anyone!"
"Well neither was I! What were you doing, anyway? I thought you had decided to go on without me."
"Well I.I thought Dumbledore wouldn't be very happy if I returned to Hogwarts and you remained here," Ron said, thinking very fast. He wasn't about to admit that he had been scared.
"Oh really? Coming back for me a bit fast weren't you?" Malfoy smirked.
"*You* weren't exactly moving at a snail's pace!" The smile was wiped off Malfoy's face swiftly.
"Never mind that now," he said hastily. He looked around him and shivered. "It's cold and I'm hungry."
"Can't take a bit of hardship Malfoy?"
"Oh I forgot," Draco replied nastily. "You must be used to cold and hunger. Well just in case you've forgotten, I'm NOT."
Ron clenched his fists, but refrained from rising to the bait. He too, was feeling the cold and the pangs of hunger. "I guess that's edible," he pointed doubtfully to a tree bearing apples.
Malfoy made a face. "Yuk.God only knows who's touched them. Isn't there anything else around?"
"Just look around Malfoy," Ron said sarcastically. "I'm sure you'll find a couple of trays of roast chicken and potatoes if you look hard enough."
Malfoy gave him a look and crossed his hands again. "Fine. If we're going to eat the dregs, nothing for it. But I'm going to complain to my father as soon as we get out of here."
Ron looked at him in disgust. "Yeah, hide behind your father's apron strings. You can't do anything for yourself." He strode over to the tree and stretched for one of the fruit, but they were too high up. He jumped, and after a couple of tries, managed to grab an apple.
He bit into it with relish, loving the juicy taste.
"Well?" came the sharp question from behind him.
"Well what?"
"Get me one," the command came. Ron gave Malfoy a look.
"I am not one of your personal slaves to boss around, Malfoy," he shot at him. "Get your own apples."
"I can't. You're taller." To his astonishment, Ron thought he detected a pink tinge in Malfoy's cheeks. Nah, he decided, had to be the funny work of shadows.
"Oh very well. I don't think Dumbledore would be too pleased if I let you starve, even though the rest of the school would probably love me for it," Ron grumbled, as he reached up for another apple. In the end, eh got several more, as one was obviously not enough to assuage either boy's hunger.
"Where are we going to sleep?" Malfoy asked, as their hunger had finally been appeased, as the apple cores strewn round them showed clearly.
Ron sighed. "Honestly, Malfoy. Can't you think of anything yourself? I doubt we're gonna find any comfortable four poster beds any time soon in this place. I guess we'll have to do with sleeping here, on the ground."
"But it's freezing!" Malfoy protested.
"There's nothing I can do about that!" Ron replied. He looked around, then threw himself down next to a rather large boulder. "Night." He heard some muttering from the Slytherin, and then Draco lay down some way off him.
Soon, despite the cold, both fell asleep, and neither heard the sounds of the forest at night.
A little way off, the mirror floated, looking at them. A small smile played around its lips. Why.these two were so alike to Severus and Sirius.who knew, they might turn out the same as well.