That's right, it's me again. I finally got the fourth part of Harry's and Cho's Christmas finished. I love this story but I really wouldn't have time for this right now… Oh well, school can wait!
For a second, Harry just stared at Ron's empty bed. Then he pulled his robes over his pajamas, and hurried of down the stairs, to the common room. It was empty. Harry hesitated for a second, and climbed then up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. He opened the door carefully. "Hermione?" he whispered.
It wasn't Hermione who answered. "Harry? What are you doing here?" Parvatis voice asked.
"Ron is missing," Harry explained. "It seems, that he hasn't slept in his bed tonight. I need to talk to Hermione." He walked silently over to Hermiones bed, and draw the hangings aside. She was asleep, smiling, and holding a photo of Victor Krum. Harry prodded her carefully. "Hermione, wake up," he whispered.
"What?" she asked. "Harry, what are you doing here?"
"Schh," he hushed her. "Ron's missing. He hasn't slept in his bed tonight."
Hermione was awake at once. "But you should check on him…" she exclaimed.
"Schh, Hermione. Lavender is still asleep. We don't want to wake her up. I know I should have checked on Ron. I was just so tired, and I forgot. Hermione, he has been missing since three o'clock!"
"I saw him, a quarter past three," Parvati said quietly. "I happened to look out through a window, and saw him heading for the Forbidden Forest. Are you sure he hasn't come back?" she asked anxiously.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. "Quick, pull your robes on!" Harry said. "And bring your wand. I'll get the cloak, my wand and my shoes!"
"Harry, Si…" Hermione threw a look at Lavender, "…Snuffles said…"
"I know what he said. I don't care. Do you think Ron would want the whole school search for him, especially now?" He threw a meaning look at her, turned around, and walked out as fast as he could, without making too much noise. "I'll wait downstairs," he said over his shoulder.
"What are you going to do?" asked Parvati.
"We'll go looking for him," Hermione explained.
"But that's dangerous! You can't leave the school at night! It's against all rules, and You-Know-Who is out there!"
"We must find Ron," Hermione said quietly.
"But the teachers…"
"Listen, Parvati, you don't have to come, but we must. Just don't tell anyone, OK" While she was talking, Hermione had already pulled on her robes, and was now searching for her left shoe. "If we aren't back at daybreak, then go straight to Dumbledore."
"I can't stay here, Parvati exclaimed. "I'm coming with you." She climbed out of her bed.
"The cloak will cover us all, but then we come back, it may be a little tight. Harry's got an Invisibility Cloak," Hermione explained, when she saw Parvatis blank expression. "Hurry up then," she ordered.
Two minutes later they were sneaking down the stairs, down to the common room, where Harry was already waiting on them. He looked at Parvati and raised his eyebrows. "She's coming with us," Hermione explained.
Harry looked at her and raised his eyebrows. He sighed. "Fine, then. But Parvati, this could be dangerous."
"If you try to leave me here, I'll go to McGonagall," she said. "Let's go."
Harry pulled the cloak over them; he was the tallest, so he stood in the middle, with Hermione on his left and Parvati on his right side. They climbed out through the portrait hole; the Fat Lady didn't even bother to open her eyes, and walked down the stairs and out.
"What way did he take?" Harry asked Parvati. She showed the way, and they set of towards the Forest.
"Harry!" Hermione suddenly. "I know where he might be!"
"Where? You mean he wouldn't be in the Forest?" Harry's voice sounded extremely relieved.
"The Shrieking Shack! Ron could have gone there!"
"I don't know" Harry said slowly.
"Please," Hermione pleaded. "We'll just look. I have this strange feeling…"
"Well, we can check. But quick, the snowfall is turning into a blizzard. We don't have much time. Believe me, Hermione, we don't want to be in the Forest soon." They turned left, and started to walk towards the Whomping Willow.
"Um… Are you sure about this," Parvati asked tentatively. "I mean… It's haunted. Why would Ron want to go there?" Her voice shook slightly.
"It's not haunted," Hermione replied. "It was just a rumor, which Dumbledore spread. And if he wants to be alone, that is probably the best place on the grounds."
"Why would Dumbledore have spread a rumor like that?" asked Parvati. "I mean, why would anyone prefer others to believe that a house was haunted, if it isn't?"
"Lupin," Harry explained. "When he was at school, he had to spend the nights he turned into a werewolf somewhere outside the school. The Whomping Willow hides the entrance to a gangway to the Shack."
"Look!" Hermione exclaimed. She threw the cloak of, so did Harry and Parvati. A little, furry thing, just a little bit bigger than an apple, flew towards them. "Pig!"
Pigwidgeon hooted tiredly. It was very hard for him to fly in the snowfall, his wings were covered with almost an inch of snow, and when Harry held out his hand, Pigwidgeon collapsed on it, exhausted.
"There's something on the other side of the Willow!" Parvati said. Hermione started to run towards the tree. She rounded it, and fell on knee. "Ron!" she shrieked.
Harry started to run, too. Parvati followed after him.
"How is he?" Harry asked Hermione. She didn't answer; she was busy with brushing away the snowflakes from Ron's face. Harry saw that she was crying. "I'm so sorry, Ron!" she whispered over and over again. "I'm so sorry!"
"Is he alive?" Parvati asked. "I mean, if he has been here since three o'clock…"
"He's breathing," Hermione answered absent-mindedly.
"Hermione!" Harry said. She took no notice of him. "Hermione, his clothes are frozen. We need to get him inside. Let's go!"
"Um… Harry. I don't think that's a very good idea. We won't get back to the castle. The blizzard is over us any minute now!" Parvati pointed at the clouds. "We don't have time!"
"I thought we would have more time… We'll have to go to the shack!"
Parvati shivered. "Do we have to…?"
"There's no other place." Harry rushed forward to the Willow, ignoring Parvatis shrieks. It hit him on the shoulder, but he managed to touch the knob on the trunk. The tree froze.
"You first," he said to Parvati, but she shook her head in panic. "I can't," she said. "I'm sorry but I can't."
"I'll go," Hermione said. She raised her wand and said "Mobilicorpus". Ron's body was pulled into a standing position. Hermione climbed down through the large gap that had been opened in the roots of the tree, and Ron's body followed her. "You next," Harry said to Parvati. "I'll be right behind you. It's nothing to be afraid of." They climbed down, and set of after Hermione, who was moving forwards some twenty yards before them.
Cho lay still awake. She didn't want to sleep anymore. She was afraid for her dreams. Three different faces haunted her dreams. The pale, skull-like face of You-Know-Who. The handsome face of Cedric Diggory. And, of course, the famous face with a scar that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. The face of Harry Potter.
Cho feared them. She feared them all, for different reasons.
The first dream was about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. How he raised his wand, and shrieked "Avada Kedavra", and a jet of green light escaped from his wand, hitting her in the chest. She was flung into total darkness, where there were no emotions, where she was all alone. Then she woke up, all alone in the darkness. She had grown to fear loneliness.
The second dream was sweet. Too sweet. She was kissing Cedric. They shared a kiss, that seemed to last for an eternity.
It seemed to last an eternity, but it never did. When she woke up alone in her bed, she felt lonelier than ever before.
The third dream was sweet, too. She was kissing Harry. He held her tight, and kissed her gently. But when she woke up, smiling, she remembered Cedric. She felt like she was betraying him.
Cho couldn't understand her feelings. She felt something towards Harry. But it couldn't be love, could it? She felt guilty for her feelings. She didn't want to forget Cedric.
Just a couple of hours ago she had thought that she could stop herself from falling in love with Harry. She had told herself, that the only thing that she was attracted to in him, was that he was Harry Potter. Now she wasn't sure anymore. When she closed her eyes, she saw him, the green eyes, the black, untidy hair, the scar that was shaped like a bolt of lightning, and she wasn't sure that she could resist him.
"His robes are frozen. We need to get them of him!" Harry said. It was easier said than done. Ron's limbs were inflexible because of the cold, and his robes had partly frozen to his sweater, but at last Harry got his robes of. Ron's jeans and sweater were wet and frozen, too, but not as badly as the robes.
"Hermione, light a fire. We must dry his robes," Harry said. Hermione, who was kneeling besides Ron, ignored him. She held his hand, and stroke his cheeks with her other hand.
"Hermione!"
"I can do it," Parvati said. She walked over to the fireplace, which was covered with dust, and placed some old, whitened firewood in it. "Indencio!" she said, and some high green flames rose from the fireplace. When the wood caught fire, the fire turned bright orange, and started to warm the room.
"Hermione," Parvati said gently. Hermione showed no signs of hearing. She lifted Ron's head in her lap, and stroke his hair. "I'm sorry, Ron," she whispered over and over again.
The weather grew steadily worse. When it was almost morning, Harry peeked out through the gaps between the boards nailed in front of the window.
"It's not calming down, " he said. "We're still stuck in here." He sat down. "How is Ron?" he asked Hermione. She had dark circles under her eyes, but she refused to let go of Ron's hand.
"I don't know," she said. "He hasn't woken up. This is all my fault!"
"Hermione, you couldn't have stopped him, and you didn't know. Do you wish that you had answered him in some other way?"
"No, but…"
"Hermione, you have done everything you could. You can't do anything else. No, try to sleep, and you too, Parvati." Harry turned towards Parvati. "What is it?" Parvatis eyes were bulging out, and she started to scream.
"Sirius Black!" She screamed. "Oh my God, Sirius Black! He's going to kill us all! We're going to die like rats in here!" She quickly drew her wand and pointed at someone behind Harry's back.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry heard a familiar voice shout, at the same time as he wheeled around. Parvati screamed higher. Harry felt a wave of enormous relief shake him, when he saw Sirius familiar face.
"Shut up, Parvati!" Harry yelled. "It's OK!" She ignored him.
Parvatis scream made Hermione finally act. She stood up. "Parvati, listen!" she yelled, but Parvati paid no attention to her words. She just screamed hysterically. "I'm sorry, Parvati," Hermione said. She took two steps forward and slapped Parvati hard in the face. The screaming stopped abruptly. Parvati looked shocked, but at least she was quiet.
"Um… Hi Sirius," Hermione said in an attempt to raise the spirit in the cabin. It didn't work. Sirius looked at her. Then he turned his eyes on Harry. "Would you mind telling me exactly what you are doing here?"
"We didn't get to the castle in time, before the blizzard, so we had to seek shelter from here…" Hermione began to explain, but Sirius interrupted her. "I didn't ask you. I asked my godson. And I do happen to know that though the snowfall started in the afternoon, the weather became worse only after three o'clock this morning. Would you mind telling me why you left the castle, when I told you not to. And you have put some of your friends in danger, too, I see. Do you enjoy dueling with Voldemort that much, that you have to try to find him? Your last letter didn't sound like that," Sirius added sarcastically.
"We didn't have any choice," Harry said dully. "Ron was missing. We had to go looking for him. And we found him, injured, and then we didn't have time to get to the castle before the blizzard…"
"Why did you go looking for him alone? Why didn't you tell Dumbledore? And what is she doing here?" Sirius pointed at Parvati. "If you three want to get killed, fine with me, but you shouldn't endanger other peoples lives! You have chosen your company badly, miss…" Sirius directed his last words to Parvati.
"I think someone should tell me what is going on here," Parvati said. Her voice was steady now, and she looked at Sirius. "I don't know what this is, but if you are, whom I think you are, we're in a bit of trouble, or I've heard a fairly reduced version."
"I am Sirius Black." Sirius introduced himself. "And I'm trying to find out why my godson, Harry, wasn't in his dormitory this morning, and why isn't eating his breakfast in the Great Hall right now."
"This may be a rude question," said Parvati with a voice that shook slightly, "but why do you care? I was under the impression that you are a convicted murderer."
"He is innocent," said Hermione. "We know it, the real murderer and double-crosser was Peter Pettigrew. Dumbledore knows it, too."
"Peter Pettigrew is dead. He was murdered by Sirius Black, wasn't he?" said Parvati.
"It's a long story, and we do not have time for it right now," said Sirius. "You fools are in immediate danger! You're lucky Dumbledore noticed you were missing. I Apparated as soon as we got you located. I was afraid I would come too late. What were you thinking of, sneaking of like that?"
"We wanted to find Ron…" Harry started.
"I see. Why had Ron left the castle? Why didn't you go to Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore?"
"It was so late…" Harry began again.
"Oh. I see. You didn't want to disturb them?"
"Well, we thought Ron might not want the whole school to know…"
"Oh, really. Yeah, I think that he would have wanted you all killed, wouldn't he?" Sirius asked sarcastically. "Of course."
"Ron left because of…" Hermione started and bit her lip, with a quick glance on Parvati.
"Because of what?" Sirius asked. "It really doesn't matter, though. You haven't really been able to help him. How long has he been unconscious?"
"We don't know," Hermione said. "Probably since half past three."
"We need to get you out of here. You're in mortal danger. What did you think of?" Sirius said. "Dumbledore is trying to get this fireplace connected to the Floo Network. You can't Apparate, so you can't get out of here. Dumbledore is inside Hogwarts, so he can't Apparate here. Dumbledore can't travel with Floo powder, because the fires inside Hogwarts only can be used to talk with people in the other end, not traveling. He's trying to fix that too, but he can't send any owls in this weather, and there's yet no one in the Floo Network office. I was the only one who could get here - the only one we can trust. Dumbledore is trying to get help, Remus, Moody and some others, but right now, we're on our own. Let's just hope I can keep you alive until the help comes."
"Excuse me," Parvati said, "but why do you think we're in danger. It's just a blizzard."
"So you decided not to tell her anything?" Sirius asked sarcastically. 2Just wait and see when she gets it, before or after Voldemort arrives," Parvati jumped slightly at the name "or maybe when he draws his wand and shouts 'Avada Kedavra', or maybe after that. Did you bet on it, too?"
"Why would You-Know-Who come here?" asked Parvati.
"Why? Because of Harry, of course. Yesterday he appeared in Hogwarts, inside the castle, and today you fools go out in the middle of the night, without telling anyone, and go outside the grounds. I'm surprised at you, Harry. And you, Hermione. What were you thinking at? And to take her with you!" Sirius nodded towards Parvati.
"Voldemort doesn't know where we are!" exclaimed Harry.
Sirius looked at him. "You don't think he can find you? I could. Dumbledore can. Do you actually believe that the most powerful dark wizard that has ever lived can't locate you?" Sirius shook his head in disgust. He walked over to Ron, and pointed his wand at him. "Wakios!" he muttered, and Ron opened his eyes and raised his head slowly. "Where am I?" he asked. "What's happened?"
"Let's go!" Sirius said. "We're going to the tunnel. It's inside Hogwarts grounds, so Voldemort can't Apparate there. He can still Apparate here, though, but we will see him coming."
"It's too late," a soft, cold, high-pitched voice said from behind their backs. Parvati screamed. Harry, Sirius and Hermione wheeled around, Harry and Hermione searching for their wands. And there, ready to meet them, stood a long, thin man, dressed in robes of black velvet. His scarlet, livid eyes gleamed viciously, the slits he had for nostrils vibrated slightly of excitement, and the thin lips curled into a cruel smile.
Lord Voldemort was ready to meet his worst enemy.
I'll send part five as soon as I get it finished. But please review this!!!!! I've gotten eight reviews for the first part, six for the second and the third. Please do review (it doesn't take that long…)!!!!! Flames are welcome, too! But this is my story, so I won't change peoples feelings about each other just because of your flames, I just want to read your opinions. If you don't like this part, write your own version of "Harry's and Cho's Christmas, part 4".