Chapter 4

"HELP ME!" Marietta screamed as the undead Colin Creevey and Katie Bell converged on her.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant as Harry looked between her and Dean Thomas. He saw beads of sweat slowly rolling down his forehead, and he knew what to do.

"Go!" Harry shouted, and they sprinted down the hallway.

"YOU FUCKER! I SAVED YOU! ARGH!" Marietta screamed in agony as she was overwhelmed. Harry looked back one second to see all four zombiefied Gryffindors tearing through her flesh with their teeth. They srinted down the corridor, fear and adrenaline pushing them forward. Harry almost missed it as he ran past an open door.

"HARRY! DEAN! Get in here!" Ron shouted from the doorway.

They both skidded to a halt and spun around to see Ron waving them inside, "There's no time to waste!" He hissed.

They rushed inside, finding themselves in a spare classroom. Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Lavender and Ginny were all lined up against the far wall, looking as if they were feeling the aftershock of a bombshell.

"Holy shit, you guys are alive! What the hell just happened?!" Harry shouted unintentionally.

"Shhh!, we don't know if they can hear us" Ron hissed.

Harry nodded and leaned over to catch his breathe.

"Did you see anyone else? I saw Fred running off, he didn't hear me, where's George?" Ron asked.

Dean shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Ron... he got bit, he didn't make it" Harry said.

Ron looked dumbstruck, as if he had nothing to say.

"He... didn't make it?" Ginny asked.

"No... I'm sorry" Harry repeated. He suddenly couldn't take his eyes off her. She looked so vulnerable. Everything about her lit up a feeling inside him, a powerful need to protect and comfort, to be there for -

"Harry! I was so scared!" Cho Chang wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"Cho! You're alive, you made it!" Harry managed to get out, her hug was quite restricting.

"I was so scared, when we got in here, and I didn't see you... and we just didn't..." She began, but Harry interrupted, "It's alright Cho, I'm here now"

Damnit, how can I think about Ginny like this? Not when Cho is here, she needs me too.

"Oh God, I'm just so happy you made it... but ..." She released him from her embrace, "Where's Marietta? She was right behind me, where did she go?" She looked around at the others, but they had no idea.

"Did she make it? Harry, where's Marietta?!" She demanded.

Harry shook his head, "She came back for me, but they overwhelmed her. Shes the reason I got out" An intense guilt bloomed in his stomach, as if a hand had gripped his insides and twisted them around.

"But if she saved you... how could she get overwhelmed? How did you get out?" An accusatory glare formed on her face.

"There was too many of them, she was overwhelmed, I'm telling you Cho, there was nothing I could do!" Harry retorted.

"He's right, there was four of them on her, she was too close to the door" Dean backed Harry up.

"But there were two of you! You're Gryffindors! It's your whole... thing, bravery! What the hell?!" Cho Chang quickly looked between the two of them, her eyes welling up with tears, "She saved you! She was my best friend!, how could you abandon her!?" She demanded.

"It was out of hand! They were everywhere!" Harry shot back.

"Back off! You were in the common room! They were everywhere, no one knew what was going on! You ran for it too!" Ginny shouted, "So lay off him! This whole night is fucked, and you're not helping!"

Cho looked from Harry to Ginny, and then the others. They avoided her gaze.

"Oh... I see." She said in a defeated voice.

"Cho..." Harry reached out to her, but she backed away, "I don't want to hear it."

He started t ogo for her, but Ron grabbed his arm, "Harry, listen!" He hissed.

Outside the door, they could hear fast footsteps. When they listened closely, they could hear low breathing and gurgling noises.

"They're coming!" Ron whispered.

"The door!" Ginny hissed, pointing at the slightly ajar door.

"Shit!" Harry and Ron rushed over to close it. Something jammed it. They looked down to see a foot just stepping through, now stuck holding the door open.

"oh fuck" A zombiefied George Weasley's head peeked through the space between the door and the jamb, looking them straight in the eye. A mixture of blood and drool dripped out his open mouth.

"GEORGE!" Ginny screamed.

He let out a gurgly war cry and tried to push the door open.

"NO!" They pushed back, holding him at bay.

"I can hear more coming!" said Ron, and a moment later two more bodies hit the outside of the door. They nearly fell backwards but managed to resist just in time.

"We can't hold this forever!" Harry shouted. Dean jumped in and pushed back against the door.

"What are we going to do!" Ch Chang screamed from the back corner.

"The desk! Push the desk in front of the door!" Hermione ordered, pointing at the hardwood unused teachers desk. Neville and Seamus nodded, rushed over, and pushed it towards the , Ron and Dean jumped out of the way as they pushed it against the door.

"Flip it on it's side!" Harry said.

More of the undead collided with the door on the outside.

"It won't hold!" shouted Ron.

"Get more desks!, shelves, anything!" Harry ordered.

They began piling shelves and desks against the door, but the undead kept piling against the other side.

"Harry, there's not enough stuff in here to hold off all of Gryffindor! We have to get out of here!" Hermioe screamed over the noise of shelves and desks being pushed across the room.

"We're are we going to go!?" Harry demanded.

"There's a back door over here! It's clear!" Cho Chang called out from the back corner of the class.

The others stopped barricading the door for a moment, looking at Harry.

"Alright, add those last couple shelves to the barricade, then lets get the fuck out!" He ordered.

Within thirty seconds they had cleared out the room, rushing down a narrow corridor.