Into the Labyrinth - Dramione/Blinny

Ch. 6

Much to Hermione's surprise, the bird's head perked up at this and said loudly, "Woo woo wooooo!"

Ginny raised an eyebrow at the bird and the old man glanced over to her, letting out a few grunts before asking, "And, who is this, hm?"

Hermione looked back at Ginny and said, "My friend."

"Oh, yes," The man said, almost as if he knew this already and was remembering. "And what can I do for you?"

"Please, can you tell- that is..." Hermione hesitated, wondering if it was even worth asking this man anything as no one so far had been very helpful. "We have to get to the castle at the center of the labyrinth; do you know the way?"

"Huh," The man said.

The bird on his head echoed, "Eh?"

"Huh."

"Eh?"

"Ohh, yes," The man drawled out. "You...want to get to the castle, eh?"

"How's that for brain power, eh?" The bird said snarkily.

The old man glared upwards and said loudly, "Be quiet!"

"Ahhh, nuts..." The bird looked away unhappily, blinking its orange eyes.

Hermione glanced back at Ginny with a what the hell expression before looking back towards the man who was looking at her intently.

"So, young woman," He started, giving Hermione hope that he would say something serious. "The way forward is sometimes the way back."

Ginny stared at the man as Hermione blinked a few times, looking off to the side as she tried to hide her disappointment.

"Ahhh, will you listen to this crap?" The bird quipped.

"Will you-" "Ah!" "-please-" "Okay!" "-be-" "Sorry!" "-quiet!"

"Okay!"

"Okay?"

"Alright!"

"Alright!" The man sighed and closed his eyes, groaning to himself. After a few moments he opened his eyes again and looked upwards. "What?"

"Sorry," The bird said indignantly, as if he truly thought he had done nothing wrong.

Hermione was staring at the two of them, unsure of what to even say. The man looked back up at the bird again and asked, "Finished?"

The bird didn't answer immediately, instead looking off to the side as he contemplated his answer. He closed his eyes and said haughtily, "Yes."

Rolling his eyes, the old man leaned forward then to look at Hermione. "Quite often, young lady, it seems like we're not getting anywhere when in fact..."

"We are!" The bird interrupted brightly.

The man glared upwards and sighed heavily. "We are."

"Well we're certainly not getting anywhere at the moment," Ginny muttered from behind Hermione, crossing her arms against her chest as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"Ha! Join the club!" The bird replied, looking towards Ginny.

There was another sigh from the old man as he settled into his chair, putting his head in his hand and closing his eyes. He was soon snoring softly and the bird looked down, clicking his tongue against his beak.

"I, uh, think that's your lot," He announced, looking back towards Hermione. "Please! Leave a contribution in the wooden box!"

A hand slowly extended towards Hermione holding a small dark box with a slot in the top, and she stared between the box and the bird.

"You can't be serious," She said.

The bird didn't answer as the hand instead shook the wooden box towards her expectantly. Ginny stepped forward then upon realizing what was happening and she nudged Hermione's arm. "You don't need to."

Hermione's mouth formed a thin line as she looked down at her hands; the only thing she could 'contribute' was a ring that her mother had given her, and she was not ready to part with it.

"It's only customary to pay for a service provided," The bird quipped. "We provided you with advice. A good person would leave a contribution."

Ginny glared up at the bird and was about to say something rather unkind when Hermione sighed heavily and slowly pulled her ring off.

"I guess I can spare this..." Hermione said sadly as she dropped her ring into the box, cringing when she heard the clink of the metal hitting the wood.

"Gracias, senorita!" The bird said happily as the girls turned away.

Ginny pulled Hermione towards the nearest path and said quickly, "You didn't have to give them that; they didn't tell us anything!"

Hermione gave a sad shrug and looked away. "It's done now, can't really go get it back."

"But your mother gave you that ring!" Ginny said insistently.

"I know..." Hermione looked down at the ground as they made their way down the hedged pathway.

Ginny, however, was not ready to let go of it. "I mean, it was an old man; how hard would it be to wrestle the box away from him?"

Hermione let out a quiet laugh before looking at her friend. "Remember, things aren't always what they seem in this place."

"Yeah, but still..." Ginny sighed heavily and decided it was best to drop the subject as the two of them continued in silence.

"What did he take from her?"

Draco stood up quickly, glaring at the crystal ball as he stepped down to stand next to Blaise. Blaise gave him a curious look but said, "I believe it was a ring; Ginny mentioned that it was given to her by her mother-"

Anger flared in the blond king's eyes and his hands balled into fists. "Go back to the old man. The girls will be fine for a bit; they're in the hedge maze now so we don't need to keep an eye on them at the moment."

The image in the crystal blurred from the girls back into the old man with the bird. The old man was still fast asleep in the chair, however the bird was watching something further away.

"Well well then," It said suddenly. "They were a couple of suckers."

Now Blaise was angry along with Draco, and he looked over towards his fellow king. "Shall we?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Draco answered, glaring at the crystal ball.