Harry's breathing slowed significantly. His eyes seemed to glance round, at each person. The cold, wooden cabin could barely fit all of them in. And it wasn't the nicest crowd he was with, either; Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Cormac, Crabbe and Goyle, Blaise and worst of all; Draco Malfoy. The howling of the wind was booming round, echoing in the little shack. The worst part, however, was hearing everyone's troubled and scrutinizing short breaths. Most of which were from fear of their situation. In this shack, there were three seats. Only three. And they were stools. Draco, thinking he was better than everyone else there, sat on one of them, looking down snootily at the rest. Harry took the other, as well as Ron. The others gathered round the three- what seemed like- leaders in a somewhat off-putting semi-circle. There were tiny cobwebs in every corner, one of the things which Harry noted not to Ron about, everyone knew how frightened Weasley was of spiders. The windows were shattered, as if bullets were forced through, letting the severely cold wind through, making even the tougher members of this association shiver. Apart from the door, the rest of the shack was empty.
"He's..." Ron trailed off; the amount of sheer terror in his voice was just antagonizing. "Back." He forced the words out of his mouth, hugging himself for warmth. Harry gulped uncomfortably, as he looked round. The faces of 7 frightened teenagers stared back at him. He opened his mouth to talk.
"Right. As you all know, from what Ron had just said, he is back. And by him we mean..?" He trailed off, expecting someone else to pick up on what he was saying.
"Voldermort." Ginny spoke up, after clearing her throat from the phlegm hiding in everyone's throats.
"This could only mean, that there's at least one horcrux left. Am I right?" Harry asked again, it wasn't really a question, more of a statement. He blinked a few times, before looking round. "And, to defeat him once and for all, we need to work together. No bickering, no fights, no friendship issues, and especially for you, Draco, no name-calling." He instructed. The certainty of authority in his voice was so great, and powerful, not even Draco Malfoy muttered anything under his breath. "So, what can we all do?"
"Count to a hundred in Spanish?" Ron suggested.
"Memorize the pneumatic dystenitry?" Hermione also suggested, raising her eyebrows.
"Beat Snape at a game of Wizard chess..." Draco's turn this time.
"Hunt nogtails in Norfolk?" Came an over-confident Cormac.
Ginny shook her head. She knew this wasn't what Harry meant. "No, no, no!" He said, standing up. "What Harry means, is how can we defeat Voldermort? It's not like we have Dumbledore to help us this time. We only have 8 inexperienced teenage wizards, and a shack. Come on. We need to think."
"I remembered all the spells from most of the books in the restricted section in the library. I would have remembered them all, but I had some business to attend to..." Hermione trailed off, as she looked from Ron, to Ginny then Harry.
"Excellent!" Boomed Harry. "Anyone else?"
"I can... urm..." Crabbe said, his mind instantly going blank. "Goyle and I could... urm... fight. Bein' tough 'n' all..." He suggested after a much prolonged think. Who could blame him? He was Crabbe for crying out loud.
"Uncle Tiberius kitted me out with new wizarding kit. I have spare wands, brooms, everything." Cormac's voice was too full of pride and honour for anyone to mistake him.
"Excellent. Now we're getting somewhere." Said Ginny, exchanging a sympathetic smile toward Harry.
"I'm a death eater. Enough?" Piped up Draco. All eyes turned to him. "What?" He asked, slightly shaken by the odd looks.
"Nothing..." Harry shook his head, as he looked back at them. "This is great guys. You see. We have some expert fighters- Crabbe and Goyle, we have some brilliant girl who's remembered all the spells from the restricted section, and we have new kit. Sorry for jumping to conclusions, but I think that's a heck of a result. But, you see. To have a chance with Voldermort, we'll have to help each other. You know what that means?" Everyone seemed to nod their heads. "Good. Hermione. What was the easiest spell to learn?" He asked, as 8 pairs of eyes turned to her simultaneously. "Hang on. You teach this lot, whilst I go and find us something to warm us up." Said Harry as he stood up. As did Ginny, almost in unison. She blushed a violent red colour, as he looked at her.
"Mind if I come too?" She asked, her usual cheeky smile peeking through the misery they were in. Harry simply nodded as he opened the, what seemed to be, stiffly closed, door with great effort. He dug his hands into his pockets, studying the surrounding. The sun was hidden perspicuously behind the dark shade of grey which they called clouds. The trees were bare, no leaves or anything were left intact. It was the middle of winter; what did they expect? It just felt so good to get out of the cabin, especially with Ginny. He looked round, checking if she was still keeping up with his mad pace. She smiled back at him, his eyes caught a mist of black zoom past, somewhere deep in the forest. He gulped uncomfortably for the second time in that day, as he looked round. He grabbed his wand from up his sleeve, gripping it firmly. He was ready for it. He was the chosen one. Ginny didn't seem alarmed. It seemed that she hadn't a clue what was happening. Harry crouched down, protectively, as his eyes made their viciously quick move. There the movement was again. The same dark silhouette was seen, only closer. His lips became oddly dry, as his mind tried to take in all of this. What was after them? A death eater? Perhaps.