Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than the story line . All rights belong to J.K. Rowling

Chapter Fourteen: Faces of Fire

Finally, after a long day's trek, they came over a rise to look down upon a sprawling loch. Overlooking the loch, in the fading sunlight, was the ruins of a castle. Looking around to make sure they were truly alone, they each transfigured back into their human forms.

"There it is," said Ron, a smile on his face. "Let's get over there, and make camp for the night. We can explore in the morning, when the sun's up. We need to rest now, it's been a long trip." He was answered by nods all around.

They made their way carefully up to the ruins, and finding it quite deserted, they started to set up camp. Ginny and Luna took out their wands, and soon they had camping gear set up, with three tents pitched. Hermione had taken out a small jar that contained bluebell flames. As the last of the sunlight died on the horizon, they sat and ate a hastily conjured dinner by the bluebell flames.

"You know," Ron said between bites, "we should set up watches for the night. I think each couple should stand watch for a third of the night, and that way we all can get some rest. Neville, why don't you and Luna take first watch? Harry and Ginny can take the middle watch, and Hermione and I will stand the last one, okay?"

Neville glanced at Luna, and seeing agreement on her face, nodded back at Ron.

"Sure," said Harry.

"Great," said Ron. "I figure we have about nine hours till dawn. Let's get some rest. Neville, Luna, wake Harry and Ginny in about three hours." He looked over at Harry. "I'll see you in about six hours, Mate." He grabbed Hermione's hand and headed for their tent.

Harry jerked awake. He looked down and saw Ginny's still form curled up next to him, her head resting on his chest. If he had to say what he enjoyed the most about married life, it had to be watching her sleep. It was so calm, so satisfying. His heart almost burst each time he did it. There was no experience in the world better than to wake up and have her there in his arms. It was in moments like this that he thought he knew how his parents must have felt.

He took a moment to reflect. Everyone in the Order told him that he and Ginny were the spitting image of his parents. He felt such pride whenever anyone said this. Though he never really knew his parents, and there had been a time when he had questioned his father's character, he now cherished each slight memory he had. He had questioned many in the Order about his parents shortly before he and Ginny married. It was upon these shared memories that he had tried to build the foundation for his marriage.

All too soon there was a little tap at the flap of his tent, and Neville was sticking his head in apologetically. "It's time, Harry."

"It's alright, Neville. We'll be out in just a minute." Shifting his position so he could rouse his young bride, he illuminated his wand so he could find his robes.

The watch passed without incident, and at the end of three hours, Harry tapped lightly on Ron and Hermione's tent flap. "Ron, 'Mione, it's time."

"Er, yeah," came the sleepy reply. "Give us a minute, Harry."

"Sure thing," Harry said with a smile, remembering saying the same thing to Neville three hours prior.

Sure enough, in just a couple of minutes Ron and Hermione staggered out of the tent. Judging from the silly grin on his face, and the slight rings under his eyes, Ron and Hermione hadn't gotten much sleep during the night.

Suppressing grins, Harry and Ginny bid them good night and went back to bed. They could still get in three hours rest before dawn.

Ron and Hermione went and sat down in a couple of the chairs. After a little while Hermione listened carefully to make sure that everyone else was indeed asleep. She pulled out her wand, and while Ron's attention was elsewhere quickly cast a spell at each tent.

She crept over to his chair, and slowly ran her hands over his shoulders and down his chest. "Ron," she said, "We can have some fun. I've imperturbed their tent flaps. They'll never hear."

"Hermione! We're supposed to be on watch."

"Ron," she said, her voice taking on a sultry tone. He blinked his eyes a couple of times and shook his head trying to clear it. "I want you, now. Don't you want to make me happy?"

"Of course, 'Mione, anything to make you happy," he said, a dreamy expression on his face. Hermione flicked her wand and a four poster bed appeared in front of them. She got up and sat down on it, opening the front of her robe. She motioned for him, and he came to her, oblivious to anything else.

*0*0*

Harry woke to the smell of breakfast cooking as Ron stuck his head in to the tent. Harry looked up at his friend's bloodshot eyes, and mentally made a note to talk to him about getting a proper night's rest.

They ate a quick breakfast and packed their gear. Ron gathered them around, and pointed down a short path leading away from the ruins. "Down there."

Harry and Ginny gave him matching quizzical looks.

"I just know, is all."

They all followed him down the path, until, near the bottom of the hill they turned and strode through the trees until they came to the mouth of a cave. It was hidden in a small grove, away from prying eyes.

"In there," said Ron.

They went in and Luna lit her wand. The cave snaked back out of sight, sloping ever so slightly down. Following it, they slowly crept, wands at the ready. Eventually they came to the entrance to a chamber. Standing guard in front of it was a rather creepy looking gargoyle. As they approached the gargoyle animated and, looking at them said:

"Answer the riddles correctly and you may pass. Answer wrong and you must pay."

"What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs at night?" The gargoyle assumed a waiting position.

Ron looked around at his companions. They were all looking perplexed when Hermione snapped her fingers. She looked up at him and smiled, nodding her head. Ron motioned her forward.

"The answer is a man," she said. "In the morning of life he is a baby and crawls on all fours. In the afternoon of life his is fit and walks upright, and in the night of his life he has to walk with the help of a cane."

"Correct young miss. You and your companions may pass." With that the gargoyle stepped aside. They hurried through the door before the gargoyle could change its mind.

Another long passage followed, but this time there was a gigantic white wolf waiting for them. It watched them approach with its red eyes trained on them.

When they got near it, it spoke. "Only one color but not one size, stuck at the bottom but easily flies, present in sun, but not in rain, doing no harm, and feeling no pain."

"What is it guys," said Harry, his mind working furiously. "What could be out in the sun but not the rain and changes size?"

"Oh," said Neville, "I think I know this one."

"Well, go ahead, then," said Ron, but he readied his wand just the same.

"Neville stepped up. "It's a shadow." The wolf slowly lowered its head in a bow, and padded to the side.

On they went, congratulating Neville on his success. He flushed at the praise. Soon they came to another stopping point, this time there was a huge spider on a web directly over the door.

It lowered itself on a thick strand and hissed, its mandibles clicking furiously. "What force and strength cannot get through, I with a gentle touch can do, and many in the street would stand were I not a friend at hand."

Harry was thinking of another time, when he had to get through a similar situation. "It's a key," he said.

The spider scuttled back up its thread, motioning them through with a hairy leg.

Further on they went, wondering how many more they would encounter when they came to the next one. Here was an animated suit of armor, its huge sword brandished before it, pointed straight at them. A hollow, ringing voice came from it. "Round like an apple, deep like a cup, yet all the king's horses can't pull it up."

"That one's simple," Luna said, her voice calm as could be. "A well is deep and round and can't be pulled up." The suit of armor presented arms in a salute, and stepped smartly aside.

Once again they were through. Deeper and deeper under the earth they traveled. This time there were confronted by a mountain troll. It rumbled its riddle at them in an incredibly deep voice that reminded them of a rock slide.

"Old Mother Twitcher had one eye, and a long tail that she let fly, and every time she went through a gap, she left a little bit of her tail in the trap."

The group huddled together, trying desperately to think of what this could be. They certainly didn't want to take on this surly looking troll if they could help it. "I know," whispered Ginny. "All that time I spent with Mum." Harry looked at her for a moment, and then a wide grin split his face.

"Yeah, you're right, go ahead Gin."

She stepped up in front of the troll. "Old Mother Twitcher's a needle and thread."

The Troll nodded at her, motioning them in with its club. Another one down. Deeper they went. They didn't have to go far to find the next obstacle. Sitting on a large chince chair was a tiger in a brilliant green house coat. It was smoking a long ornate pipe and had a cup of tea in its paw. It looked at them and purred. "Long legs, bandy thighs, a little head and no eyes."

Ron, who had spent a lot of time in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room answered immediately. "It's a pair of tongs."

"Correct, advisor to the prince. You may pass." They carefully made their way around him as he took a long drink off his tea. He could be heard in the background, "Ah, how I love a good cup of Darjeeling."

They continued on, and, sure enough there was another. Stopping them this time was a small, fluffy, bunny.

"A rabbit?" Ron said incredulously.

"Think for a moment, Ron," said Hermione. "How did this thing survive to be here? There must be more to it than meets the eye. Remember what Fred and George told us about size not being a measure of power."

They turned and looked at the bunny. "In marble walls white as milk, lined with skin as soft as silk, within a fountain crystal clear, a golden apple does appear. No doors are there to this stronghold, yet thieves break in and steal the gold."

"An egg," said Harry quickly. Ron threw him a panicked look. The bunny merely hopped aside. Everyone mopped the sweat from their brows and started breathing again.

"On to the next one," Ron whispered. They decided that moving on would be very good indeed.

Next they met a sphinx. It gazed at them imperiously. "Black we are, and much admired, men seek for us if they're tired. We tire the horse, but comfort man, tell me this riddle if you can."

Hermione stepped forward. "Coal," she said.

"Correct," the sphinx intoned. Move along."

"How many more do you think we're going to encounter?" Ron asked Harry as they proceeded on.

"There can't be much more," Harry answered. At that moment he walked right into the back of Neville, who had come to an abrupt halt, a little squeak coming out of him.

"What?" Harry exclaimed. Then he saw what had caused Neville to stop. There, in front of them, at the end of a large chamber which they had just entered, was a huge dragon.

"I think this might be the last one," Neville whispered, sweat beading up on his brow.

Harry's mind started to race, time slowing down as it often did for him in life and death situations. True, he was much more powerful than any other seventeen year old wizard he knew, and he had successfully gotten past a dragon three years ago during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but that was an entirely different set of circumstances. He had his broom and a wide open space to work in. Here, it was enclosed, and he had no broom. Plus, his friends and his wife were with him. Even if he managed to fight his way past the dragon, it was quite probable that someone would get killed.

The dragon peered at them, and then it spoke. "I am your last obstacle, answer my riddle correctly and you shall pass through to the faces of fire, refuse to answer and I let you leave, answer incorrectly and I attack. Here is my riddle. As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives, each wife had seven sacks, each sack had seven cats, each cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sack and wives, how many were going to St. Ives?"

They huddled together, a silent group, each trying desperately to come up with the answer. Hermione looked at Harry and Ron and said "It's a matter of simple arithmetic. One man with seven wives makes eight, seven wives with seven sacks gives forty nine sacks, and each hold seven cats. That's, let's see, three hundred forty three cats, plus the eight people giving us three hundred fifty one so far. Then each of the three hundred forty three cats had seven kittens. That's two thousand four hundred and one kittens, added to the three hundred fifty one gives us a grand total of two thousand seven hundred fifty two. That must be the answer."

"Wait a minute Hermione," said Harry, stopping her with a hand on her shoulder, "that just doesn't seem right." He glanced over his shoulder and saw a couple of puffs of steam wafting from the dragon's nostrils. It had a predatory look in its eyes, and it seemed a little edgy.

"Harry, its simple math. I've figured it out. Let me answer."

"No," he hissed. "If we get it wrong, we're going to get ourselves killed. It seems too simple."

"Well, I'm not going to wait around for it to eat us, Harry," Hermione said. She made to go around him, when it struck him right between the eyes what the answer was. He had been right, it was too easy, but the answer was even easier. They had been given the answer in the first line.

"One!" he yelled, before Hermione could blurt out her answer. As he was doing it he dove to the side to try and get a clear shot, his wand already clearing his robes.

With an angry shake of its head, the dragon slowly backed away. "You may pass."

The gateway behind the dragon slid open, and the group cautiously made its way in. This was a naturally formed cavern, very wide and deep. Near the back of it, there was the flickering of flames. Slowly, carefully they approached. As they came closer, three flaming faces rose up to greet them.

The three faces floated there in front of them. The first was of an aged man, his hair and beard flicking softly, creating a ghostly appearance. The second face was one of a young woman, unlined and strangely beautiful. The third was of a middle aged man, having no facial hair, and a somewhat oriental appearance.

The first head spoke, its voice hissing and sputtering like a fire that was about to go out. "So, the second of the princes has made his way to us. Three questions can we answer, and only three. Request of us, oh prince, what might we tell you? We are bound to tell the exact truth, nothing more."

Ginny looked at Harry, and said "Harry, he said you were the second prince. It sounds like Draco was here. How much of a head start do you think he has on us?"

"I don't know Gin, I was wondering the same thing."

"The first prince was here less than three hours ago," the middle head stated. "Ask your second question."

"Damn," Harry muttered. "Guess I'm going to have to be more careful."

"How did he get passed us?" wondered Luna. Harry, Ginny and Neville nodded their agreement with the question. Ron and Hermione simply looked embarrassed. Ron's ears turned pink. He shrugged his shoulders. Figuring they weren't going to get any answers,they huddled together, and whispered a few hurried suggestions.

Harry stood up and said "what path must we take from here?"

"You must let the signs take you to Avalon, and then you must proceed from there to a point below the great circle of rock to the Well of Souls." This was the first face speaking again. "One more question will we answer."

"Very well, what dangers will we face on the journey?"

"You face treachery from without, and betrayal from within as powerful magics come to bear. Make your choices wisely, and proceed with haste, as the fate of all resides with you," the third face said. "Farewell, young prince. May your journey see you to your goal and beyond."

"Er, right, thanks," muttered Harry as they beat a hasty retreat out of the chamber.

Author's Note: The race continues... I have two questions for you this chapter.

1) Did you know any of the answers to the riddles?

2) What do you think was meant by "treachery from without, and betrayal from within?"

The story recommendation for the day is "The Maltese Phoenix" by cosettex. I love the Maltese Falcon, as I'm a huge Bogart fan. Fun little fic. HP/GW.