Into the Labyrinth - Dramione/Blinny

Ch. 8

"Wait a second," Ginny said suddenly, pausing and looking around the tree.

Hermione, who had already walked away, paused as well and looked back at her friend. "What?"

Ginny was actually looking in a corner past the tree, slowly walking forward. "Where did they come from?"

Confused, Hermione went back to stand next to Ginny and saw two large doors that were definitely not there before. The large dark wooden doors were much taller than either of them, and each one had an ornate brass door knocker with a face. The two faces were very different however; the door knocker on the left had the door handle coming out of its ears and was quite pudgy, while the door handle on the right carried the knocking ring in its mouth and had a very large nose.

The two girls looked between the knockers and Ginny nudged Hermione. "What do you think, 'Mione? Which should we choose out of these two ugly characters?"

As Ginny went to inspect the door knocker on the right, Hermione watched her silently before she heard a crabby voice shout, "It's very rude to stare!"

The girls both jumped and Hermione looked towards the door knocker on the left with wide eyes, realizing that it was the one that spoke. "Oh; I'm sorry, we were just wondering which door to choose-"

"What?" The knocker replied.

The knocker on the right began to talk, causing Ginny to jump. Its words weren't discernible however as the ring in its mouth prevented it from properly speaking.

It continued to speak though until the door knocker on the left interrupted with, "Don't talk with your mouth full."

"I'm not talking with my mouth full!" The right knocker exclaimed more clearly though it was still somewhat muffled.

"Wait a second, we can't understand you," Ginny said as she reached up for the ring in the knocker's mouth.

As she began to pull, the knocker on the left asked indignantly, "What were you saying?"

The ring suddenly came free with a dull clang and the face sighed happily, stretching its mouth and groaning. "It is so good to get that thing out!"

"What were you saying?" Hermione asked curiously as Ginny held onto the ring.

"I said, 'it's no good talking to him, he's deaf as a post'!" The knocker repeated.

"Mumble mumble mumble!" The left knocker huffed, now reminding Hermione of a rather unpleasant toad-like woman who taught briefly at their secondary school and was well known for her love of cats and the color pink. "You're a wonderful conversational companion."

"You can't talk, all you do is moan!" The right knocker fired back.

"No good," The left knocker said with a prideful sniff. "Can't hear you."

The right knocker sighed heavily, and Ginny gave Hermione an amused grin. Hermione looked between the two doors again and asked, "Where do these doors lead?"

"What?" The deaf knocker asked.

"Search me, we're just the knockers!" The right one replied before laughing.

Looking back towards the door on the left, Hermione went towards it; after seeing no doorknobs she began to push on the door unsuccessfully. "How do we get through?"

"Huh?"

"Knock, and the door will open," The right knocker stated suddenly in a slow, solemn voice.

"Oh." Hermione looked back at Ginny who now had the ring at her side, and the red head shrugged.

Looking back up at the pudgy knocker, Hermione reached up and grabbed the large ring, bringing it down to knock three times. The door opened and sunlight immediately poured through the opening, sparking Hermione's curiosity. Ginny stepped closer to take a look as Hermione gently pushed the door open more but stayed a distance, an odd feeling taking root in the pit of her stomach.