Appleby Arrows
Seeker
Prompt: Apocalypse
AN: Thank you to everyone who took the time to beta this. All remaining mistakes are still mine.
Word count: 1533
"We won't survive this," Harry murmured as he sat against the far wall of the Potions classroom. Ginny moved closer to him, lost in her own thoughts, not really noticing what she was doing.
"Well, that's just the sort of attitude we would expect from our great hero, isn't it?" Draco drawled from his own spot further down the wall.
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Ron hissed. He stood near the door, peering out every so often to see if anyone was coming.
"This is utterly ridiculous," Hermione said, never stopping in her pacing back and forth in front of them. "We did not stop Voldemort last year only to come back to Hogwarts and deal with an actual apocalypse! Who has luck this bad?"
"Harry!" the entire group said in unison.
Harry bent his head low and smothered a laugh with his hand. Despite the situation, it was still funny.
"Honestly, Harry," Hermione continued, "This is hardly the time for laughter. There is a meteor heading straight for Earth, and apparently, no one can stop it."
This only served to make everyone laugh even harder.
"Bloody hell, Harry." Ron gave in and let out a short bark of laughter, earning him a scathing look from Hermione.
"I'm sorry," Harry said, trying to get himself together. "I'll stop. I promise."
They sat in silence for another moment before Ginny spoke up, "I wonder how much longer?"
Hermione checked her wristwatch and sighed, "About two hours. They said it would hit Britain around three fifteen."
Most everyone else had left the castle behind when they'd gotten the news that morning. The meteor hadn't even been heading in the direction of Earth originally, from what Hermione had told them. By sheer happenstance, another meteor collided with it and knocked it off course, sending it straight for them.
There had been a scramble to get access to the Floo Network, both at Hogwarts and all over, but eventually, the Ministry had decided that they would be used strictly for underage witches and wizards so that they could be with their families. This left anyone of age who hadn't already fled stranded wherever they were.
Draco stood up and moved across the room to the door and looked outside.
"What is it?" Ron asked him.
"Let's go do something," Draco said, turning back to the group.
"Like what?" Harry asked though he was already standing up as well.
"I don't know, but anything is better than just sitting here waiting for it to happen. We're going to die, but do we have to do it here in Potions class?"
Ron shrugged, and Harry looked between Hermione and Ginny in silent questioning.
"Sure," Ginny agreed. "Anything to keep our minds off of it."
They all started out of the classroom, following Draco's lead. Hermione, not wanting to be left behind, followed them despite her misgivings.
The group took a left and started down towards the Slytherin Common Room, where Draco gave the password, allowing them entrance. The flames in the fireplaces were roaring even though it was an extremely warm day. It was as if the castle didn't know that anything out of the ordinary was happening.
They sat down on various couches and chairs while Draco tapped the table with his wand. Immediately it was filled with sweets and sandwiches and bottles of Butterbeer and Firewhiskey. When Hermione looked at him disapprovingly, he said, "What? I doubt anyone is going to mind, Granger."
Ron reached for a sandwich and Draco poured some whiskey in a glass and passed it to him. Soon, everyone had food and drinks, though most were only holding them, their appetites far too gone to be able to eat anything.
"You don't change the decorations much around here, do you?" Ron asked, just for something to say as he glanced around the Common Room.
"How would you know?" Malfoy raised a brow at the redhead's comment.
"Because it still looks exactly the same as it did when Harry and I snuck in during our second year."
Malfoy's jaw dropped but Harry's laugh cut him off before he could say anything. "Oh, yeah, when we used Polyjuice Potion to turn into Crabbe and Goyle!"
Suddenly, Malfoy's eyes narrowed as the memory came back to him. "I knew that was you! When they finally showed back up, they kept saying they had been stuffed into a closet but didn't remember how they'd gotten there!"
Ron laughed then. "Those two idiots didn't know what hit them! And then Hermione—" Hermione blushed and Ron cut himself off, clearing his throat.
They sat quietly for a moment before Hermione spoke up, "Let's play a game."
"What kind of game?" Ginny looked over at her curiously.
Hermione glanced at Harry and grinned. "A Muggle game." Draco groaned but Hermione shushed him and went on. "It's called, 'Never Have I Ever.' We each hold up ten fingers and we go around, one person at a time says something they have never done. Then, anyone in the group that has done it puts a finger down. The person with the most fingers up at the end of the game is the winner."
Ginny was already grinning, her hands up in front of her eagerly. "This should be fun."
Harry removed his arm from where he'd had it around her and rolled his eyes, "That might end up being debatable."
Draco and Ron both sat up straighter as well, though they seemed less enthused than the others.
"I'll start," Hermione said cheerfully. "The first one will be easy. Never have I ever cheated on my schoolwork."
"Well of course you wouldn't," Ron said grudgingly as he, Harry, and Ginny all put fingers down.
Hermione grinned smugly as she turned to Draco, "Your turn."
Draco smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Never have I ever pretended to be someone else to sneak into their Common Room."
Harry and Ron put their fingers down with a grin, but Hermione hesitated.
"Hermione," Ron chided when she didn't immediately admit to it.
"Technically, I didn't sneak into the Common Room. I never even left Moaning Myrtle's bathroom!"
"Doesn't matter," Harry added with a laugh, "If you hadn't turned into—"
"Oh, alright!" Hermione put her finger down as she glared at her best friend.
It was Harry's turn next, and he cast about the room for something to say. Finally, he grinned at Ron. "Never have I ever had someone use a love potion on me before."
Ron's face flushed nearly the same color red as his hair. "Oi, mate, that's low."
"Poor Romilda Vane," Ginny burst out laughing, causing Ron to narrow his eyes at her.
"Never have I ever sent Harry a singing get-well card." Ron retaliated.
Ginny's eyes widened for only a moment before she shot back, "Never have I ever gone skinny dipping!"
Hermione gasped and if possible, Ron turned an even more vibrant shade of red.
"You told her?" Ron and Hermione both accused each other at the same time.
"No, I told Harry!" they again said in unison before they both turned to see Harry slouching as far down as possible into his seat.
This seemed to be more than Draco could handle, and he promptly laughed, bringing the attention of the group back to him. "Alright, love birds," he said after finally getting control of himself. "Fingers down." He took a swig of his Firewhiskey and said, "Whose turn is it?"
The game went on for several more rounds, getting more and more ridiculous as they each began to drink from their glasses. Eventually, it fizzled out with Draco, oddly enough, being the winner, ending up with seven fingers left up.
Hermione took her watch off and tossed it into a nearby corner, not caring to know how close they were to their very real and impending doom. She looked around at them and smiled softly as she leaned into Ron's side.
Harry glanced down at Ginny, who was staring listlessly at the flames. "We could probably disapparate to the Burrow if you want," he whispered to her. "You could be with your parents and brothers."
Ginny shook her head. "I think it's better this way. I don't need to be with anyone but you."
He pulled her closer to him and planted a soft kiss on the top of her head, hoping that she knew that he felt the same way.
Harry looked around at them all, committing each of their faces to memory, though he knew that it wouldn't matter in the end. He watched as Hermione tucked a strand of her bushy hair behind her ear. Then he caught Ron's eyes as he nodded at him, saying nothing and everything all at once. Draco was leaning forward, his arms resting on his knees as he absently fingered the silver ring on his hand, no doubt thinking of his parents.
It made perfect sense, Harry thought, that it would all end here, at Hogwarts. Because Hogwarts was where it had all begun. It was his home, and if some giant rock in space was going to destroy them all, he couldn't think of a better place for him to be.