Dennis had to pinch his nose in order not to gag as soon as the atrocious smell hit his nostrils. The Sanctuary of Angels, as nice of a name it was, was not as similarly nice on the inside. It was dark, they had to use their wands for light. Along the walls were skeletal heads that talked and moved. Dennis nearly had a heart attack when one of the heads glared in his direction. No matter how many years he'd been in the magical world, it still never failed to surprise him.
At the end of the long hallway, Malfoy suggested they split up into two. Initially, Dennis was with Hermione, Malfoy, Harry and Luna; that is, until Neville diagreed and now Dennis was stuck with Harry and Seamus. The rest went the opposite way-left, while they went right.
"So what exactly are we looking for?" Seamus coughed from all the dust. He tried to meet Dennis' eyes but the younger man refused to acknowledge him. It was silly, to overreact about such a trivial matter; but for Dennis, it was not a trivial matter. Luna was right-he'd latched onto Seamus and now he needed to let go but that was easier said then done.
"A way to get up on the roof," Harry said absentmindedly, feeling the wall as he walked by. "There should be a button on the wall-something."
"I don't think wizards would keep a button in a sanctuary," Dennis teased the older wizard. He didn't seem to notice Seamus' frown.
"One can hope," Harry responded.
The trio continued going down the hall, making another right. The hallway, it seemed, grew more narrow as they went on. The air felt warm; an appropriate temperature for a summer day in a non ventilated area. If this wasn't in the magical word Dennis would've supposed somebody turned a heater on. They continued on. Everything was fine until they heard a cracking sound from behind them.
"What was that?" Seamus said in a hushed whisper. Dennis thought it sounded like someone had apparated inside. Only, when they whirled around to confront whoever was there- instead of a person, they were met with a gust of cold air-impossible for that time of year-and the light from the tips of their wands vanished, leaving the three men huddled together in darkness. "Harry, what'll we do now?! I can't see a thing," Seamus moved around to emphasize his point, which resulted in his elbow jabbing Dennis in the gut.
"Ow," the younger man groaned, feeling as though something had ruptured; if it did, he wouldn't have been surprised. "Shay!"
"Sorry," the Irishman apologized hastily, although relieved that they were on speaking terms again.
"Quiet you two," Harry instructed. "We'll be fine, our wands are just acting up. Lumos." His wand, however, remained as it was. "Lumos," he said with more force but to no avail; his wand wouldn't budge.
"Lumos Maxima," Dennis tried but his wand wouldn't budge either.
"Why isn't our magic working?" Seamus fretted, waving his wand around like crazy. If he'd been in their year, he would've noticed it was in the same way during their first charms lesson in which he'd caught a feather on fire.
Dennis gripped his arm; making the Irishman whine from the pain. "Stop that! You're going to blow something up!" Dennis hissed. Or set it on fire.
"What? I don't blow-" Seamus' angry rant faltered when he heard another crack. It sounded louder; closer. "Who could that be?" when neither men could give a reasonable answer, he added, "It's got to be somebody. I hope," he swallowed thickly.
"We've got to do something," Dennis wasn't sure if whispering was even helpful at this point, but, if it prevent him from seeing some crazy creature or bloodthirsty wizard, he'd do it. "But what?"
"Run!" Harry said urgently and without hesitation. The men sped off down the hall in the dark, being semi carenot to trip and fall. The head's on the walls laughed mockingly at them. Soon, the cracking sound became footsteps. Large, brisk, heavy footsteps. They kept on running; despite their lungs begging for air. Harry tried again and again to shoot off spells but nothing worked; not even wandless magic worked.
C'mon, Dennis thought desperately. Malfoy must've said something like this would happen. Maybe? I don't even know.
The gust of cold air came back, enveloping them. It was just like being back in the Forbidden Forest. Dennis hated the cold, ever since he'd found out about Dementors. He hated the weakness associated with those horrible creatures. He and Colin encountered some more while on the run; it forced his brother to use more of his magic. They'd almost been found that day.
"Oof!" Seamus ran face first into a fall. The Irishman swayed for a moment dizzily before dropping to the ground. The sour feelings were still there but Dennis helped him up anyway.
"You alright?" he muttered, watching as Seamus wiped away some blood from his nose. Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and while they were not able to fully see, their silhouette's were in view.
"Peachy," Seamus retorted sarcastically; his voice was a bit muffled due to his hand being over his mouth. "Just bloody peachy."
"It's broken isn't it?" Harry asked knowingly.
Seamus nodded, wincing at the pain that soared through his face.
If my wand worked I'd fixed that for you," Harry said with sympathy. But their friend waved it away dismissively.
"M'fine," he insisted. Dennis turned to Harry with anxiety written all over his face.
"What are we going to do now?"
The footsteps were gaining on them. Whatever it was, or perhaps however, wasn't very far off. Dennis could make out a long, shadowy figure that was lurching toward them. The figure didn't speak nor did it make any sounds.
Dennis's heart pounded. His eyes darted over the secluded area in which they were in, searching for some way out. The ceiling caught his eye; There was tiny cracks that would surely give way if it was punched. "I've got an idea," he said breathlessly. "Hoist me up."
"Why?" Seamus asked dumbly.
"Just do it!" Dennis said urgently. Quickly, Seamus dropped to the floor and Dennis hopped on his back, making the Irishman groan at the extra weight-and the popping in his back. Harry observed whilst also making sure the shadowy figure didn't come near them.
"Hope I'm not hurting you." Dennis swung his arm back and punched the ceiling. It shattered; he covered his eyes as to not get pieces of whatever that material was lodged in his eyes. Harry did the same. Another punch and light became visible. "Push me up!" With all his might, Seamus, as if he was doing a pushup, raised himself up as high as he could go. Dennis jumped and threw his leg over; effectively pulling himself out to the outside.
"Goon-pant-Habby," Seamus panted between deep breaths. "I've got you." The figure was getting closer and even with the light, you still couldn't make out its face. Harry jumped on his back, proceeding to do what Dennis had done. The brunette held out his hand and Harry took it.
"Seamus come on!" they chanted worriedly. Seamus hopped to his feet, jumping up but became discouraged when he realized he wasn't tall enough. Now what? The hair on his body stood up on end as the figure let out a blood curdling laugh. It was impossible to tell if it was male or female, it didn't sound human at all.
"Seamus!" Seamus looked up to see Dennis hanging halfway out of the hole with his hand extended. "Grab my hand!" He obeyed and, with all the strength Dennis possessed, he was pulled out. Being the ever so curious Irishman he was, Seamus leaned over the hole, peeking down to see if the figure was still there. Dennis rolled his eyes and went to grab his friend back. What he didn't expect was for Harry to pull them both by the backs of their shirts. They stumbled in alarm by sudden screaming that could be heard from down in the hole. There were blasts from spells and briefly, the building shook as if it were going to collapse. Dennis' adrenaline rose tremendously when he heard someone get blasted right to the wall and groaned.
"Waz that Nevblle?" Seamus guessed with a crease on his forehead.
"Or Draco?" Harry speculated.
"I'm so confused," Dennis mumbled.
"About what?" Luna's giggle reached their ears. Their heads shot up; Malfoy, Hermione, Luna of course, Neville and Ron stood with bemused expressions. "Why does Seamus sound so funny?"
'He broke his nose," Harry explained so the Irishman wouldn't talk in that nasally voice again. Changing the subject, he questioned, "Did you hear the screaming too?"
"Or see the shadowy figure?" Dennis chimed in.
"Of course we saw it," Neville said, sending Ron a sideways smirk. "Ron, here, nearly went into early heart failure."
"It startled me," the redhead defended himself weakly. "How was I supposed to know it wouldn't hurt me? Black shadowy figures don't just pop up for no reason. "
Wait. What?
"It was going to hurt us?" Dennis narrowed his eyes. Seamus opened his mouth to put his two cents worth in but Harry shut him down before he could. "What do you mean? You mean to tell me we thought we could've died...and for nothing?"
"Heh," Malfoy rubbed the back of his head guiltily. "I might have forgotten to tell you about that part. You see, whenever someone dares to enter the tomb it does a reply, if you will." The three men blinked with blank expressions on their faces. The blonde man elaborated, "The reply usually consists of battle scenes that have occured here."
That explains the blasting, Dennis thought.
"And the screaming?" Harry raised his eyebrows. "What's that about? Does that go along with the battle replays too?"
"Have you ever heard of a silent battle?" Malfoy said dryly.
"Touche."
"Huh?" the purebloods stared at him confusedly.
'Never mind," Harry said quickly.
"Bu there's something I don't understand," Neville said, drawing the attention back on to him. "Not everyone heard the screaming. I didn't. Did anyone?"
"Me either," Hermione admitted. "I've been trying to figure out why."
"Me too," Ron added.
"I dib," Seamus said.
"So how did some of us hear it and some of us didn't?" Neville posed the question.
"I don't know but I definitely heard it," Harry crossed his arms. Seamus nodded in agreement.
"I did too," Dennis concurred. "But how?"
"That's easy," Luna said cryptically. "Only those whose souls are deeply unsatisfied hear the call of agony."
"That makes sense," Hermione said, shocking everyone. She usually never agreed with what Luna said. "Harry and Dennis are both upset by Colin's death. Luna's upset about her mother's death; but what about you, Seamus?"
The Irishman squirmed under everyone's watchful gaze. "Welb I hab nightmeres bout the babble and being unber the crubeatius curse."
"He has nightmares about the battle and being under the cruciatus curse," Dennis translated.
"I hear ya," Neville muttered.
The silence was nerve wracking. "So," Dennis broke the ice. "Where do we, er, do this ritual at?" It was a redundant question. He very well knew the answer, but he needed something to say.
"Right here," Malfoy motioned to the area around them. The roof was a large flat piece of rock. Off to the side were a couple stone statues. Save for the hole, it remained in tact.
"Great," Dennis feigned enthusiasm. "Do we have everything?"
"I've got the book," Draco pulled the tiny bundle from his pocket.
"I've got the wand," Harry held it up.
"So, how exactly are we doing this?" Ron inquired, standing awkwardly in the way.
"We'll have Draco read from the book while I cast the resurrection spell. Seamus was supposed to cast the shield spell but since he's a bit," Harry glanced at the Irishman, "indisposed right now, we'll have Neville do it. And Hermione will cast the rennervate spell. Sound good?" he asked them.
"Let's do this thing!" Ron exclaimed, throwing his fist into the air.
"We need to be careful," Draco reminded them sternly. "Our magic can and will get out of control. Cast the spells with a clear mind."
Dennis had no doubt if Seamus could speak properly he'd be the same sarcastic pain he was at Hogwarts.
The group settled in the middle of the roof. Malfoy conjured up some salt that he poured around as a square. Those needed for the ritual-Harry, Malfoy, Hermione and Neville-stood closets around the , Dennis, Ron and Luna stood close within distance.
"This is mad," Ron said as Neville casted the shield charm. A giant bubble came over the whole roof and structure.
Almost immediately following this, the wind picked up and a dark cloud came over. If they hadn't known it was daytime, they would've guessed it was nightfall already.
"Is this suppose to happen?" They heard Neville yell to Malfoy. The blonde gave a half shrug.
"I've never done this so I wouldn't know."
"Ready?" Harry shouted over the roar of the sudden thunder.
"Rennervate!"
"Protego Totalum!"
"Ressurrecto-confundo!"
Nothing happened. Dennis' already fragile heart broke. His eyes welled ever slightly with tears. No. No. This couldn't be happening...after everything they went through to get here...
"It's okay!" Harry shouted. "We'll try again!"
Hermione shared a look of concern with Malfoy before resuming her position. Everyone was busy watching or waiting to resume that no one noticed the young woman behind them. A devilish grin appeared on her face.
"Well, if it isn't itty bitty Longbottom and Potter."
Another chapter completed! We're getting close to where i left off before I started rewriting! Just a reminder that any misspelled words are associated with Seamus' broken nose.