Chapter 5: Nancy McDowell

Original A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait. I stopped to reread the series before the sixth book came out. Which, by the way, I am putting into my story. I am saying that this story will take place right after the sixth book happened. But all the Harry/Ginny and Ron/Lavender/Hermione stuff didn't happen. Enjoy!

The woman walked through the house, trying to locate each teen. For some reason, they all had fallen asleep at different places throughout the small house. The brown-haired girl she had come to know as Hermione had fallen asleep at the computer desk. The young man with red hair, Ron, had fallen asleep on the couch. The other two had gone to sleep in the bedroom, though the one she highly suspected was Harry Potter was on the ground. Nancy, the woman's name, had been cast into by her son. She had never heard of the spell before, and she worried about who he had learned it from. She suspected that the four children had no idea who had cast the spell on them. Nancy regretted not trying harder to talk to them for the past couple days, but her son had been relentless at keeping her occupied. Not to mention that she hadn't realized the four were real people, and not merely parts of the game, as various others she had come across had been. The four young adults had shown had shown up at her doorstep, and she was told to be their guardian.

Now she was quite happy that she could. The four seemed wary and out of their depth. Nancy planned on talking to them as soon as they woke.

Ginny woke up refreshed, feeling better than she had the night before. Blinking her eyes, she wearily sat up and stretched. She swung her feet over the side of the bed, and stood up. She let out a cry of surprise and jumped back on the bed when she stepped on someone and heard a muffled 'Ouch!' come from the ground.

"Harry!" She quickly reached down to help Harry off the ground. He grabbed her hand and stood up. He blinked a couple of times, realizing his glasses were still on. Sunlight streamed in through the half-opened windows. Harry glanced at his alarm clock; seven-thirty. He was confused for a second as to why he wasn't up earlier for school, but then realized it must be a weekend.

"Morning Gin." Ginny frowned at him, looking between him and the ground.

"Did you sleep there all night?" Harry nodded, watching her look back to her own bed. "Wait, what happened? How did I end up in bed?"

"Your energy bar reached empty, and you sort of fainted. I carried you back, but guess I didn't quite make it myself." He winced as he found a sore spot on the side of his head. Ginny reached for his head, concern on her features. Gently, her fingers brushed through his hair, finding the knot on his head.

"Ouch, that seems like it would hurt, sorry Harry." Her hand lingered for a second, before pulling away. A knock on the door startled them, and it opened to reveal the older woman they had seen before. She smiled at them, and for the first time, spoke.

"Hello, I've never introduced myself. My name is Nancy McDowell." She seemed nervous, almost. Harry glanced at Ginny, who shrugged.

"Er…Hello." Harry found it quite odd that this woman who he had assumed was a part of the game, was suddenly talking to them. "Sorry, but are you…real?"

"As real as you are, I suspect. I'm very sorry I haven't been able to talk with you before. But-" She was interrupted by a strangled yell coming from the kitchen. All three of them felt something push them to run into the kitchen.

What met them was a strange sight. Ron stood looking franticly at a small fire that was on the stove. It didn't look at all like a real fire. But it seemed to be spreading. Harry stood there staring at the odd sight, a bit paralyzed.

"There's a fire." he said, stupidly.

Suddenly, Hermione ran into the room She glanced at the stove, then the wall above the stove, and darted to the telephone. She dialed and spoke to someone. A message appeared in the sky. "I'll be right there." A few seconds later, a fireman ran into the room carrying a fire extinguisher. They all watched as he put out the fire. As soon as the fire diminished, the man turned around. He looked a bit robotic, even though he looked real enough through the suit. Another message appeared. "I've gotta go, Be more careful next time." The man left. Everyone turned to Ron, who was still looking aghast.

"I was hungry, so I made a toaster pastry. I've made them before! All of a sudden, that fire just appeared." Ginny let out a snort, and Harry grinned. Ron punched his arm. "Oh shut it." But he was smiling now. Before long, everyone had burst out laughing. Hermione was even giggling a bit.

"Ron, you need skill points to cook, otherwise fires are more likely to happen," she said once everyone had calmed down. Nancy had moved into the kitchen to cook breakfast. They all sat down at the table. Harry noticed that there was no sight of the cursor. They chatted animatedly for a couple of minutes until Nancy put plates of pancakes in front of each of them.

Harry looked up at her. "I'm sorry, I'm still not sure who you are."

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. My name's Nancy McDowell."

"But…how did you get here?"

"My son cast the simulation spell on me. I'd never heard of it before, but he said he had gotten it from one of his school friends. Didn't expect this to happen when he tried it out, that's for sure. I told him not to try it out, but did he listen? No." She shook her head disapprovingly. "I'm guessing you don't know how you got here?"

Hermione nodded miserably. "But your son cast it on you, so…would he be your controller?" Nancy nodded.

"But I don't think he's the one controlling you." Hermione thought for a moment.

"How do you get out of here?"

"Not so sure about that one. I have seen a few other real people in the game, but haven't gotten much of a chance to ask around yet." She busied herself with tidying up the empty plates. "If you find out anything in particular on that one, be a dear and let me know. I'm ready to get out and ground my son for a few years now." She smiled at them one last time before she left the room.

After they finished, Ginny made a suggestion. "The cursor doesn't seem to be here, so maybe we have some free time. Anyone up for a swim?" They all nodded eagerly. Heading outside together, they found their way to the pool out back. When they reached the edge, they all felt themselves turn in a circle. Next thing they knew, they had swimsuits on. Ginny ran to dive off the diving board, while Harry and Ron jumped right in.

Hermione walked slowly to the edge of the pool where the other three were racing, and sat on the edge, her feet dangling in the cool water. She was preoccupied, thinking over what they had learned from Nancy. The way she saw it, there must be a way the controller could let them back out of the game. Perhaps another incantation? It couldn't possibly be a well-known spell, or she'd be certain it would be examined and regulated much more closely. Taking away the freewill of others was definitely not looked highly upon by the Ministry. But who had cast the spell on them? A Weasley? She sincerely hoped it wasn't anyone associated with their enemies. But that seemed difficult to imagine. The image of Voldemort playing a Muggle game almost had her laugh, if it weren't for the niggling fear inside her about what could be accomplished by forcing them into the game. Her thoughts were interrupted but a loud splash as Ginny jumped into the water again.

"C'mon, Hermione," Ron had swum up next to her, noticing she wasn't in the water yet. He pulled her in, and she let out a shriek as she fell in the water.

"Ron!" She yelled when she came up for air. Then she joined in with the others, packing away her troubling Hermione smiled and jumped in, her thoughts still troubling her.

Two hours later, the four finally trudged out of the pool, wet and exhausted. They turned in a circle and found themselves back in their usual clothes. The cursor suddenly appeared in front of them. Harry practically jumped back at the sight of it. They all had been having so much fun that he had forgotten about it. Luckily, it saw that they were tired, and didn't force them to talk. It decided to have them read on the couch. Ginny sat on the end, then Harry, then Hermione and Ron. Ginny was just straight reading; Harry studying mechanical; Hermione cleaning, and Ron cooking.

After ten minutes, Ginny yawned and closed her book. She wearily laid her head on Harry's shoulder, who had also closed his book.

"Tired, Gin?" Ginny nodded. Harry brushed a lock of her hair that had fallen across her face behind her ear. She had her eyes closed. Carefully, Harry draped his arm around Ginny's shoulders, and she adjusted until she was leaning into him. Harry found it difficult to look away for a while, but he saw the cursor hovering, and just wondered what would be coming for them next.