Okay, so yeah, this is….Chapter 37? Am I correct? Yes… I am. Anyway! I actually am pretty impressed with myself, considering that it wasn't like, a MONTH since I updated last… AT least I don't think it was… but anyway! Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter shit, just my own. I hope you like the chapter, and at least TRY to review at the end. It would make me smile! =) haha that sounded sort of creepy, but what evsies, just read already! =) ~Mooch
Rocks Hurt, and So Do Trees
It had been an entire two weeks.
An agonizing slow entire two weeks.
But we had finally gotten past it and it was the eve of our attack. "Our" being, Ophelia's, Ruby's, Leonardo's, Woody's, and mine. We had taken all the necessary precautions to map out a route to get to Draco's home, from the castle, and then to get back. Hopefully, we'd get back safely before morning, and no one would know about our excursion… Except for Hermione, Portia, Harry, and Ron. Who surprisingly had all helped plan the rescue mission.
Now that we were all back together again, I couldn't help but notice how close Ophelia and Harry would sit next to each other. How they would stare into each other's eyes and how they would both blush when their hands touched accidentally. And I had also unfortunately noticed Portia and Leo playing tonsil hockey in various corners of the castle.
However, as I put my wand in my pocket and pulled my hair up into a high ponytail I looked at Ruby and Ophelia across the room getting ready as well. They both had on jeans and a dark shirt, their wands in their pockets, their hair pulled up. And even though I searched thoroughly, I couldn't see any emotion on their face that looked even slightly like regret.
I turned around and pulled on a sweatshirt and smiled to myself a little bit. I loved my friends.
"Ready to go?" I heard Ruby ask from behind me and I turned back around and nodded.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I said quietly to them and then quickly walked out of the dormitory and down the dark staircase. When we came off the last step we saw the two figures of my brothers.
"Took you guys long enough!" Woody hissed to me and glanced at the small clock on top of the fireplace.
"Oh yeah, because being only one and a half---"
"TWO!" Woody cut me off in a whisper yell and I made an extremely rude gesture with my hands before Ophelia slapped my shoulder and gave me a mothering glare.
"Now's not the time for sibling rivalry. We've planned this whole thing down to the very last second. I won't have you guys waste it all because you get into a triplet hissy fit!" She hissed at the both of us and I exchanged a moderately terrified glance with Woody before we both nodded in agreement.
"Alright then. Leo? Did you stash the brooms?" Ophelia asked then. I didn't mind that she was taking over the position of team leader. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. I was used to silly little pranks… Well… Some of them were hardcore, but still only pranks. This was a full scale rescue mission that led us inside the walls of a supposed Death Eater's house. Thank Merlin I wasn't Neville Longbottom, otherwise I think I might have peed myself on the spot.
I finally came back to reality and realized that they were still talking around me. I tried to tune back in to make it seem like I hadn't zoned out, (and almost peed myself).
"Okay, you two go get the brooms, and we'll meet you on the Astronomy tower. If you come across Filch at any time, don't give yourselves up, just turn and run. He's not that old, and to be quite honest, he runs like a three-legged donkey. So as long as you run, and don't look back you should be able to get away. If you're caught by anyone else, I think Flitwick is on patrol tonight with the Ravenclaws, then you don't come to the tower. If you're any later than eleven fifteen then we are taking the alternate route and---"
"Whoa! There's an alternate route? Where the bloody hell was I when we planned that part out?" I cut in suddenly and everyone looked at me like it was obvious and then it donned on me, "Oh shit! It was that time when I fell asleep at the meeting in the library! Dammit! Why didn't you wake me up? You know what, never mind, keep talking."
"Everyone clear on the plan?" Ophelia asked finally.
"Except for that stuff about the alternate route I'm all good," I raised my finger in the air, but didn't push the matter, and without a second glance, Woody and Leonardo darted from the dark room and we quickly followed after them. After we all filed out of the portrait, (who had thankfully remained asleep), my brothers took a right, and I watched them slip into the darkness while Ruby tugged me along straight towards a well known secret passage way… Well… It was well known to us.
Ophelia tugged aside the tapestry to reveal a very steep stone ramp. Or so it seemed… I took one step behind the tapestry, and my foot immediately passed through the stone as if it was just smoke.
The girls followed behind me quickly as we began running through the very dark passage way, that I could feel was slanting upwards more and more with each step. After what seemed like five minutes, finally we came of what looked like a stained glass window.
I silently thanked Merlin again because there were no paintings on the stairs up to the astronomy tower.
We slipped very quietly up the long winding staircase up to the circular astronomy room, and when I went to open the door I did so as quietly as possible, but as soon as it was open I felt Ophelia's hand wrap around my mouth so that I would not let out a gasp.
There, shuffling around the room was Filch.
It figures that old bat was in this room at this time. Seriously? Did he think someone was going to sneak up here?… Oh… Wait…
For a few seconds none of us dared to even breath as we watched him turn the corner and have his side face us. His lantern only created a four foot wide circle of light in front of him, and we didn't dare to make a noise in case he had super sonic hearing.
It was then that I took Ophelia's hand off of my face and we silently began taking steps backwards out of the doorway. I slowly reached for the handle to the door in order to close it, but then suddenly from below us, and earsplitting crash seemed to erupt out of no where.
You've heard about how in such absolute silence you can hear a pin drop. Now imagine that silence, but instead of a pin drop, we had a bloody boulder smash through the wall right next to us!
We all whipped around, horrified, and looked down the flight of stairs and latched our eyes onto a panic stricken Woody who was watching a slightly tattered broom stick fall down the stairs, and then fall off the edge and down towards the ground, a hundred feet below us.
"Who's there!" Filch yelled into the darkness as he peered at the door. I didn't even breath, because I thought he could see me. But then I heard the shuffling of his feet getting closer and closer, and I finally took the leap… Down five stairs that is…
I heard Ophelia and Ruby follow close behind me with their footsteps and down two… swirls, (I guess they would be called swirls and not flights because it's a spiral staircase) I could see Woody and Leonardo double timing their asses down the stairs to get to the fallen broom.
When we were a good deal down the stairs I heard Filch from above, shouting.
"Students out of bed! STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" he yelled loudly.
"Merlin! It's like the paint prank all over again!" I muttered angrily under my breath, but kept going until I hit the bottom of the stairs, and saw Woody waving to me frantically from behind a statue of a rather fat friar… Oh wait. That would be the fat friar of Hufflepuff. My bad.
I slid down beside him and let out a gasp as I fell through a hole in the floor behind him and landed a few feet down on something hard.
"Ouch! Bloody hell! I fell into a hole?" I asked myself as I reached behind me to rub my now sore back.
"Brooke? Come on!" came Leo's voice from my left and I groaned and started to my left.
"This is the freaking alternate route isn't it?" I whispered as I held out my hands in the pitch black. Finally it collided rather harshly with something solid.
"Ow! Watch where you're waving those things! That was my nose!" Leo hissed at me.
"Oh. I'm so sorry. Suck it up!" I hissed back and then heard three thuds behind me, followed by simultaneous angry mutterings.
"See! The fall hurts doesn't it?" I asked through the dark and then heard a groan and the shuffling of feet coming closer to me.
"At least you didn't land on a rock!" Ruby spat angrily through the dark. I had to really try to restrain my chuckles that threatened to break through, "Don't you dare laugh at me Brooklyn. You won't even see me when I'm about to hit you," she continued and I immediately swallowed my laughter.
"Lumos!" Leonardo whispered and suddenly we were all diving for cover.
"Bloody hell! Warn a girl before you pull that!" I whispered yelled at my brother.
"I see glowing spots! Oh! They're so pretty! Look! A rainbow!" Woody's voice sounded so casual about that, and I opened my eyes again slowly to see everyone standing near Leo. I joined them and we exchanged some looks before Ophelia took the lead again and started walking away into the darkness.
We followed her, and I noticed that Woody and Leo now had all five of their brooms back in their hands. I sighed with relief as we continued to walk through the dark tunnel. A few times I felt dirt fall onto my head as someone seemed to be walking above us in the castle. We remained perfectly silent as well, walking in the darkness.
After a while I started to get a bit claustrophobic with all the darkness pressing down on me from every angle. Then, finally when it seemed as if we would be walking forever, Ophelia reached out her arms and gave the thing in front of her a solid push. With a slight creaking noise that sounded like wood being moved, Ophelia pushed something out of the way and I felt a cool breeze on my cheek. I followed Leo out of the tunnel and looked around. We had come out of what looked like a wooden door in the boathouse on the lake.
"How the hell did that work?" I asked rhetorically.
Leonard handed me a broom from beside him, and Woody handed one to Ophelia, and one to Ruby. As he did I walked towards the edge of the boathouse with Leonardo. I looked out across the calm water, out at the open sky.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked Leonardo softly and I felt his eyes on me, but I didn't look back at him.
"Because you're my sister, and I love you," he replied and I snorted.
"That's a generic reason. I'll assume that you're plotting against me if you say that," I replied and Leo let out a breath.
"Okay then… How about because, I don't like to see you go through all of this pain. When you look at Draco, it looks like love. It's something weird in your face, in your eyes… And I don't like how that you're a different person without him. I want you to be happy, Brooke," he said finally and I looked at him with a curious look. Seriously wondering if he was totally up for this, "But I swear if he hurts you again, I will personally clone him, then strangle him and set his body on fire, and then kill of his clones. Okay?" he asked me, completely casual. I raised an eyebrow at him and nodded.
"Got it."
"Okay! Ready for this guys?" Ophelia asked us from behind and I nodded as did my triplet beside me.
"Let's do this," Woody replied and I snorted.
"What a cheesy line!" I laughed and he just flipped me off before he kicked off into the air. I watched Leo and Ophelia follow after him, but Ruby stayed grounded with me. A serious and contemplating look on her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked her slowly.
"Nothing… Don't worry about it," she replied quickly and my eyebrows quickly came together.
"Too late. I'm worrying about it!" I said back to her calmly and she looked up at me, and I gave her a small smile before I kicked off into the air and followed after the three specks that were making their way across the lake.
Ruby quickly caught up to me as we gained on the others.
"Nice of you to drop in," I smiled at her and she rolled her eyes.
"You are such a dork," she smiled back at me.
"True. I won't fight it," I laughed with her as we finally caught up to the rest of the group and continued across the lake. Not turning back to see the shrinking castle in the distance, and how it had completely remained dark as if no one had noticed our absence.
X---x-X-x---X
"How much longer is this? My butt is numb, my hands are numb, my nose is numb! Dammit even my hair is numb!" I groaned angrily as we continued to fly east. It had been at least an hour and we had just been flying in the sky. Through a few obnoxiously wet and cold clouds. I thought I had been used to endurance flying since some of our Quidditch matches had been for at least a few house, but this was completely different. At least in Quidditch I could flip off my broom to catch things, get pushed off by another player. Instead of now when I was just sitting… on a piece of wood… For an hour straight. My life seemed to suck right about now.
"Oh shut up! You aren't the only one!" Ophelia yelled back at me.
"Yeah! Besides, we're doing this for your benefit aren't we? So you just keep quiet back there!" Woody tossed his remark over his shoulder from in front of me. I rolled my eyes and settled back on my broom with my shoulders down, trying to gain more speed with the rest of the group. Hoping that we weren't too far from our destination.
Although there was a part of me that was a bit hesitant about willingly sneaking into a Death Eater's home. Call me crazy, but that wasn't exactly my kind of hobby.
"Don't worry. The plan will work like a charm," Ruby said from beside me and I looked at her with a slight, hopeful smile.
"Going down!" Leonardo called back to us, and I looked back ahead as we started into a slight dive towards the ground. Lights were beginning to grow larger, the closer we got to the ground and I felt my stomach tingling… Whether it was from the drop of from the nerves, I wasn't too sure.
Either way, we finally pulled out of the dive and then slowly let ourselves down in the air. I looked down and saw that we were slowly going down into a large forest of trees, however over the trees in the distance I was able to see an extremely large white mansion that sat on top of a small hill overlooking a rather large lake.
"Of course," I whispered to myself and shook my head. I knew the Malfoys were rich, but that was just ridiculous!
"Be careful, there are a lot of trees ahead!" Ruby called back to me, and I realized that I had fallen quite behind from the others who were winding their way through the dark trees in front of me. I didn't bother to answer her as she turned around and followed after the others.
I followed after them as fast as I could, but they seemed to be pulling away from me faster than I could catch up. I opened my mouth to say something to them, but a tree suddenly seemed to appear out of no where from in front of me, and I quickly veered to the right of it to dodge it, only to fly straight into another large one.
I heard the familiar snap of wood under me, and my breath left me as I fell to the ground that was only four feet below me. I rolled over on my side and clasped at my stomach with my arms.
"Bloody hell! That hurt! I'd rather land on a rock next time!" I muttered angrily to the sky as I finally got my breath back and got into a half sitting position. Resting on my forearms behind me.
I looked around and saw nothing but dark trees and the night sky above me. I cursed angrily under my breath. Leave it to me to be the one that gets lost on the freaking rescue mission.
"I understand if this is karma for breaking all those school rules. But can't I just have detention?" I asked the sky again, but it didn't answer me and I sighed angrily. I then tried to listen for the sound of a broom coming back to get me. There was none.
And then I heard something else… Talking?
In the middle of the dark woods someone was talking?
I shook my head slowly, trying to get rid of the voices. I was just going crazy. That was it… Just going crazy. Nothing to serious.
But when is stopped shaking my head, the voices were still there… And now there was music? What the bloody hell is this madness? Did I hit my head on the tree? That was a pretty good hit… Broke the broom. Oh damn, was that a school broom. Oh never mind!
I stood up slowly, leaving my snapped broom on the ground and listened intently to the voices and music that seemed to come through the branches to me. They weren't stopping, and I didn't feel dizzy.
"If you can't beat them, join them," I muttered to myself as I started walking as quietly as I could through the dark trees towards the noises.
Hahahaha! Cliff hanger! I'm sorry, I couldn't resist it. For some reason I felt like going on a writing jag… it was weird. I had some rice for dinner, and BAM inspiration hit… Weird, I know. But whatever, it works! Haha. Okay, I'm going to be super nice when I ask you to review! So Please will you review? I hope you liked the chapter, because personally, I thought it was pretty beast. =P not to toot my own horn or anything! =) Okay, That's all for tonight. I don't have enough energy to write anymore =P Peace out! ~Mooch