The Labyrinth

Warnings: Angst,AU/AR,Crossover,H/C,Language,M/M (slash in later chapters), OOC-ness only to the extent that it fits the movie and plot

Author's note--The titles are the same as the DVD, even if the characters aren't! Here's the second chapter for tonight, so enjoy! This is where the song "Dance Magic" occurs in the movie...but again, I didn't really want to project the mental image of Voldie dancing around with Draco, so think of it if you really want to.

I'd much rather think of Harry and Draco in the tight grey pants and sexy boots...or Jareth...or the three of them together dancing around dressed like that...*mental slap* Sorry, back on track. Enjoy the chapter!

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The Labyrinth

Choosing a Door, Helping Hands

Draco sat in his childhood home, bound, gagged, and scared out of his mind. He remembered fighting with Harry, and then suddenly the bathroom had gone dark as Harry walked out, having the last word. Draco had been about to go after him and fight some more, but he had been grabbed by persons unknown from behind and taken out of the bathroom so fast, by the time he actually screamed, he was already long gone. He had no idea why he was here, and he began shaking like mad when Voldemort showed up, caressing his hair and cheek. Draco dared not shy away from the Dark Lord, but he couldn’t help his trembling. Voldemort explained what happened and how he had been kidnapped.

Draco’s eyes widened when he realized he was here because of what Harry said. He was working himself up to be supremely angry at the stupid Gryffindor when the thought hit him that Harry was the only person in the world who knew where he was. If Harry refused to rescue him—and who in their right mind would try to rescue him?—then Draco was well and rightly fucked. He felt a rush of fear and regret; if only he had been nicer to Harry, maybe he wouldn’t be here right now! He suddenly wished that he hadn’t been so snarky to everyone in existence. A tear welled up and threatened to slip down his cheek as he decided that it was hopeless. No one liked him.

But then Voldemort began to laugh about how Harry was actually going to attempt to solve the labyrinth in order to rescue Draco; the blonde promptly re-evaluated his feelings towards Harry. He couldn’t believe his ears that the git was trying! He held his breath, hating this feeling of helplessness, and he began to worry that maybe Harry would give up or fail. Maybe he would come to his senses and realize that Draco wasn’t worth the trouble to save…and Draco made a silent vow then and there that if Harry got him out of there, Draco would be nicer to him and everyone else…including—Draco gulped—the Weasel and the Mudblood.

“In nine hours and twenty-three minutes, you’ll be mine!” Voldemort cackled, pulling Draco onto his lap, caressing the blonde’s pale hair again, pointing to the 13-hour clock that was counting down Harry’s time limit. The blonde squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the scaly hand that was on him.

Harry, please, please hurry!

* * * * *

Harry, meanwhile, found himself in more of what he pictured a maze to look like. It was all big blocks, like stone, and there were more turns and corners and paths to take than he knew what to do with. He wandered around for a bit, choosing ‘left’, ‘right’, or ‘straight’ at random until he realized that the Manor would be to his left as he was walking one way, but then if he turned left, instead of being in front of him, the castle would then be behind him, or on his right, or anywhere except where Harry expected it to be. He tried to keep an eye on it, but it only made him run into a dead end. He threw up his hands in defeat.

“What a horrible place this is!” He cried to no one in particular. “It’s not fair!”

“That’s right; it’s not fair!” An unknown voice agreed with him. He spun around to find two tall doors guarded by two large…maps. He could very clearly see the words “Maurader’s Map” printed on the top of both maps. He hurried over to look, noticing that they were each layouts of the labyrinth, with dots moving back and forth, but they were completely different. Suddenly two heads poked out from the bottom of the maps and snickered at him. He jumped back in shock, staring, as the first voice spoke again.

“But that’s only half of it,” the man said, covering his mouth and snickering. He was a balding man with graying hair, while the other head had green eyes and black hair, like his own. Harry looked at them through narrowed eyes, as if he should know them, but then shook his head. The labyrinth was getting to him faster than he expected.

“This was a dead end a minute ago,” he said dumbly. Peter Pettigrew, the first voice and one of the upside down heads, looked over at James Potter and laughed.

“No,” James corrected, chortling. “That’s the dead end behind you.” Harry spun around and then turned back.

“It keeps changing!” He protested. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Try one of these doors,” Peter suggested helpfully.

“One of them leads to the castle, and the other one leads to—” James paused as Peter went, “Ba ba ba BUM!” Then he continued. “Certain death.” Then they both let out a spooky “Ooohhhh.” Harry stood in silence for a second.

“Which one is which?”

“We can’t tell you,” Peter said, exchanging alarmed glances with James.

“Why not?” Harry sounded indignant.

“Well, um—uh, we don’t know,” James finally admitted.

“But they do,” Peter said, nodding his head upward. Suddenly two more heads peeked out the top, and Harry reared back, surprised again. These two heads looked slightly guilty. One of them had graying brown hair and appeared more tired. The other had an aristocratic face with grey eyes (Harry’s heart twisted as he thought of Draco) and black hair.

“Oh,” was all Harry could think to say. “Well, then I’ll ask them.” Both pairs of eyes widened.

“Uh, no, you can’t ask us,” Remus Lupin said quickly. “You can only ask one of us,” he corrected himself.

“It’s in the rules,” Sirius Black added, giggling. “One of us ALWAYS tells the truth, and one of us ALWAYS lies!” He emphasized the ‘always’, drawing it out. Then he looked Harry in the eye and winked. “He always lies!”

“I do not!” It was Remus’ turn to protest indignantly. “I tell the truth!”

“Oh, what a lie!” Sirius kept giggling, and this time, James and Peter both joined in. Harry blinked in confusion.

“He’s the liar,” Remus said a little quieter, as if he were trying to tell Harry in confidence to gain his trust. Harry had an idea, and he stepped in front of Remus, pointing his finger in the tired man’s face.

“Answer yes or no,” he commanded. “Would he,” Harry indicated Sirius, who was listening intently. “Tell me that this door leads to the Manor?” Remus blinked at him, then disappeared back behind the map, presumably conferring with James. He popped back up.

“Yes,” he said, but his voice sounded like it was more of a question than an answer. Harry nodded thoughtfully, his brain working overtime.

“Then the other door leads to the castle, and this door leads to certain death!” He crowed triumphantly.

“He could be telling the truth!” Remus said resentfully.

“But then you wouldn’t be,” Harry explained. “So if you said that he said yes, then I know the answer is no.”

“But I could be telling the truth!” Remus just wouldn’t let up.

“But then he would be lying,” he replied. “So if you told me that he said yes, then I know the answer would still be no.” Remus looked over at Sirius, blinking.

“Is that right?”

“I don’t know!” Sirius covered his mouth and began giggling again. “I’ve never understood it!” He and Peter stood aside, though, as Harry stepped up and pushed the door open.

“No, it’s right,” he said, pausing in the doorway. “I could never do it before. I think I’m getting smarter. It’s a piece of cake! Augh!” Before he had taken one step into the corridor revealed by the door, the ground gave way, and Harry sank as if he had stepped in quicksand.

* * * * *

Harry fell into a long vertical shaft, only to be caught by hundreds of glistening, grayish, slimy-looking hands that seemed to come out of the very walls themselves! His breath caught in his throat as the scabbed hands chilled his very flesh. All of his exuberance and triumph was gone, and it was replaced by fear and despair. He looked upward.

“Help! Help!” He shouted. “Stop it!”

“What do you mean, ‘help’?”

“We are helping.”

“We’re helping hands.” Each of the voices was a low, rattling hiss, and yet distinct, and the sounds scared Harry, even as the assertions of assistance came. He looked around wildly, trying to see where the voices were coming from.

“You’re hurting,” he said slowly.

“Would you like us to let go?” A scary hiss this time, and Harry felt himself being released as he began to fall again.

“NO!” He screamed, more out of reflex than anything. His despair was growing, and it was becoming harder to think. He started to feel lost.

“Well, then, come on.”

“Which way?”

“Which way?” he repeated stupidly.

“Up or down?”

“Oh.” Harry couldn’t think.

“Come on, come on, we haven’t got all day,” the rattled breathing was becoming impatient.

“Well, it’s a big decision,” another protested.

“Which way do you want to go?” Another tried to be helpful, but Harry was having trouble breathing, and he still couldn’t think straight. He just wanted to be ‘not there’.

“Yes, which way?”

“Well, since I’m pointed that way,” he began slowly, feeling gloom and despair come over him. “I guess I’ll go down.” There was a collective gasp from the Dementors and then cackling, mocking laughter.

“He chose down?”

“He chose down!”

“Was that wrong?” Harry had just enough presence of mind left to be alarmed at the surprise in the raspy voices.

“Too late now!” They all let go, passing him downward, until he fell with a thump into darkness.

He sat for a second, trying to catch his breath as his head cleared. He felt his strength coming back to him, but he was ready to burst into tears. Why had he chosen down? He couldn’t see a thing! He was too disturbed by his encounter with the Dementors to even think of pulling his wand and casting a light spell, and he pulled his knees up to his chest, putting his chin morosely on his arms.
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Author's note--Okay, obviously Harry is NOT going to be carrying lipstick, so there was no marking of the tiles. *sigh* I had to take SOME liberties, after all.

Did you like the "Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter" thing? I seriously contemplated using the two sets of twins (Fred and George; Padma and Parvati) but I have them otherwise engaged. In this scene, Peter Pettigrew is still a Maurader and not a slimy jerk like he is in the stories.

And the "helping hands" just HAD to be the Dementors! I know that, in the movie, they were basically helpful, even though they were creepy, but I couldn't resist using them in this capacity.

Plus, it helped with Harry's choice of "down" instead of "up". If you've seen the movie, you know the "What the FUCK" moment when Sarah chose down, because you're like, "Um, why the FUCK would you do that, even in shock" *sigh*

See, he was elated over the logical victory of the Mauraders' little game, and the Dementors suck the happiness out of you until you can't think straight and go nuts. So the longer he hesitated, the less he was able to be logical, so he chose "down" because of that. I hope that makes sense.

Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying it!

Here is the link for the "Dance Magic" song, if you're interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U9SvjvBhOU

The first part of this scene is from the third segment of the movie on youtube. Here's the link (again) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efG2sGYrae0

The second part of this scene is from the fourth segment of the movie on youtube. Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbOue1SLc7k