The Internet and Hogwarts Don't Mix, Hermione!

By: Mari Riddle-Potter

(a.k.a. Malfoys_Girlfriend)

Chapter 11:

          Hermione brushed her mind away from jumping into the fireplace. Was she crazy? She had already hurt her friends enough by running away and now they have to rescue her in the Dark Lords castle. She had done enough harm for the moment. Hermione tried to think happy thoughts, like she did the time Harry had to face Lord Voldemort in his first year at Hogwarts. Somehow, happy thoughts were clouded by ones of Harry being tortured to death. How was this all going to end? She had started all of this, and the thought of that upset her more than anything else.

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"Can you see the end of this ladder?" asked Harry, looking down at Draco,

 who was still making his way down. They had been climbing down for at least 20 minutes and the end seemed nowhere in sight.

"For the last time, no! I'll tell you when I see it!" yelled Draco, exasperated.

"Stop yelling! They'll hear us!" yelled Ron.

"They'll hear you too if you yell like you were just a moment ago!" hissed Harry.

"Shut up!" said Draco, looking down again.

"Are we there yet?" asked Harry again.

"No. Potter, why are you being so impatient?"

"You would be too if you had Ron's butt waving in your face!" said Harry crossly.

"I have it worse! I have YOUR butt waving in my face!" yelled Draco.

"I don't have a butt in my face," said Ron, in a cheery voice. Harry and Draco groaned loudly and made their way further down until…

"We're here! We made it to the bottom!" said Draco, with sheer relief in his voice.

"Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Now get off so I can get off!" said Harry.

          All three of them stepped to the floor and looked around. They found themselves in a hallway where the walls were made out of stone and torches hung every few feet. Other than that, they were alone.

"No Death Eaters, no Voldemort," said Harry suspiciously.

"We're just lucky or they were expecting us to ram the front door down," said Draco.

"I don't like it. Something is very off beam here," said Ron.

"Let's just get out of this hallway and look around. If our luck lasts we can find a hint as to where Hermione is and get out of here," said Harry, and they made their way down the hall. Well, maybe it was up, but they wouldn't have a clue, now would they?

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"Minerva, explain yourself," said Professor Dumbledore, who was sitting calmly behind his desk. Professor McGonagall had come around a few minutes after she fainted and she and Severus Snape were now sitting in chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"Albus, I was heading to the Gryffindor tower to tell off Harry and Ron for missing my important lecture when I was stopped by the Weasley twins. They told me they were gone!" said Minerva, tears springing up in her eyes.

"I should have known," said Professor Dumbledore with a chuckle.

"You should have known what?" asked Snape.

"I should have known they would go after Hermione."

"After Hermione? But they don't even know where she is!" said Minerva.

"Harry probably got a ransom from somebody or, I hope, a letter from Hermione which they backtracked," said Dumbledore.

"But if he didn't get a letter and he got a ransom from somebody, could that be from You-Know-Who?" asked Minerva, going slightly paler than she already was.

"I'm afraid to say this, but it could be possible," said Dumbledore, sadness visible in his elderly eyes.

"Ohh," said Minerva, and she started to cry. Snape put an arm around her comfortingly. They all knew it was actually a plot from Voldemort but none of them dared to speak it.

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          Harry, Ron, and Draco made it to a hallway where there were several doors. They had been walking around for hours and it was a relief to actually find a room. They each gave each other a look and turned to face the closest door.

"Well, should we open it?" asked Ron, who was the one gripping the doorknob.

"I guess," said Harry.

"Idiots," whispered Draco and shoved Ron away. He took out his wand and violently kicked the door open. He jumped into the room and waved his wand around madly.

"I got a wand and I'm not afraid to use it!" Draco yelled. He slowly put his wand back in his robes when he realized the room was empty. He turned to face Ron and Harry, who were blue in the face from trying hard not to laugh.

"Very…tacky," said Harry and Ron burst out laughing.

"Ha ha," said Draco sarcastically. "At least did something instead of standing around and looking stupid."

"We were trying to think up a plan in case there were Death Eaters in there. But I've got to give you credit, that was a good plan. Almost like 'Charge!'" said Harry. Ron was rolling on the floor in a mad fit of laughter.

"It was a good plan," said Draco, sheepishly.

"I wish I had a camera! That was a Kodak moment!" said Ron when his laughter started to diminish.

"Whatever," said Draco.

          They realized they stood in a bedroom that was very interesting. It had Slytherin and looked homey and welcoming. There was a nice bed with overstuffed pillows, a comfy armchair by a warm fireplace, and a huge chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling.

"Interesting," said Ron, looking around.

"I'm tired. I'm going to rest here for awhile," said Harry, throwing himself on the bed.

"Potter, are you crazy?! For all you know, this could be You-Know-Who's bedchamber!" said Draco, outraged.

"Well, he has a nice room. I'll give him credit for that much," said Harry, putting his arm over his eyes.

"Look, we have to find Hermione. While we're here sitting in a comfy room in the Dark Lords castle she could be cold and hungry in the dungeon," said Ron, and this made Harry bolt into a sitting position.

"You're right. I don't know what I was thinking," said Harry, and he jumped off the bed, the three of them exiting the room and closing the door firmly behind them.

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          She ran down the halls swiftly and found herself coming to a dead end. She let out an ear piercing scream in horror of what was chasing after her. She turned her back to the wall and watched the figure approach slowly, teasingly slow.

"What do you want?" she cried out, tears running down her cheeks.

"You can never abandon me. That's impossible…" said the figure. She noticed the figure wasn't human, but more of a black blob. This scared her further.

"Who are you?" she breathed, fear rising alarmingly in her body.

"I'm something you will hate. I'm something you will try in vain to avoid. But most of all I'm what you are most scared of, Hermione Granger," said the blob, giving a mirthless laugh.

"What?" said Hermione, confused. She had been very good at solving riddles but this one was one she did not want to solve.

"I'm your future. You will suffer…"

"No!"

"You will cry…"

"No!"

"You will lose everything…"

"No I won't!"

"You'll never be the same again…"

"No!" Hermione screamed one last time and her eyes snapped open. It took her awhile to realize she was in bed and that it had all been a nightmare. She sat up slowly and realized she was drenched in sweat. Not only that but she was completely naked….

Cliffhanger!

(A/N: Another cliffhanger! This one is the best yet!!!!! I'm the queen of cliffies *does a victory dance*. This fic took me a long time because I had the dreaded disease called writers block *watches everyone's face turn to one of horror*. Yes people I got writers block but it's not contagious, don't worry! ;) Anyways, review, as always and please give me suggestions! Especially Golden Silence who rocks at writing fanfictions! Read her stories, they are totally great and you will not be disappointed!)