Chapter 12 Enlightenment
A/N: Here it is chapter 12. There will be a change in where the story goes since Ron and Hermione are all ready set up (I couldn't remember the word I wanted to use). "It's not personal, it's business." – Tom Hanks as Joe Fox in You've Got Mail.
Suddenly the Hospital wing doors opened and Madame Pomfrey came charging in with floating stretchers behind her. In one fluid movement she readied a bed and a potion for the patient.
"Out of the way Granger! She needs special attention, and about another dozen or so students," cried Madame Pomfrey. As if on cue a dozen other stretchers, with students elaborately dressed for the ball in them, come rushing into the room. Hermione immediately Ron and herself out of the room.
"We have to go to the Great Hall. Something must have happened there," said Hermione tugging at Ron's arm. In the mean while Ron grabbed his forehead in pain as they ran their way to the Great Hall.
Jiminy Cricket only a few minutes after we're a couple, and she's running my life already.
They reached the Great Hall short of breath, and Ron in a heap of pain caused by his forehead. Hermione pushed the doors opened and gasped at what she saw inside the Great Hall. Dozens of students were sprawled on the floor in various positions. Ron himself was all ready in the mix of things, looking for Harry.
"Mr. Weasley, if you would please not disturb the students. Madame Pomfrey will be back to retrieve them after she has tended to the others," boomed the voice of Professor McGonagall who seemed pretty calm about things. Last year she was hysterical of the happenings at the third task of the Tri-wizard tournament.
"I'm sorry Professor, but I'm just looking for Harry," said Ron picking himself up from the floor and dusting his robes off.
"Well you're not going to find him there," Snape said coming up from behind, scaring the crap out of Ron. "He never came down for the ball, I assume that he stayed in the common room. Planning to break the rules once again." Snape whispered the last part so that only Ron could hear him, who only gave a shrug. As far as Ron knew Harry could have been concocting a plan to break the rules. He –
"Professors, what happened here," Hermione said looking around the once Great Hall, which now looked not too great. Numerous professors were tending to injured students, some bleeding, some with innumerable contusions, and some just shaking uncontrollably. The magic ceiling was shattered, the glass shards now showed what was beneath the floor of the Great Hall, dirt.
"One second everything was fine, the nest thing I knew the students were on the floor screaming, Dumbledore was nowhere to be found, and there standing in the middle of the carnage was none other than Voldemort." McGonagall sighed before she continued. "I just sent a letter to the Ministry you two should go into your dorms.," McGonagall said as she sat down in a chair she called over from the corner.
"Hermione, I think we should go to the common room. I don't think that we can do anything to help here," Ron said whispering in Hermione's ear which made her gasp. It had only been a sort while since their relationship's inception and he had lost most of his inhibitions. The old Ron would have nudged Hermione and said what he said in a low tone, now here he was I'm – in – love – Weasley whispering into She's – his – girlfriend – of – five – minutes – Granger's ear.
"Er… sure," Hermione said breathlessly. She grasped his hand and headed out the Great Hall. McGonagall looked on with a smile on her face and a tear in the corner of his eye. Snape looked on with a scowl on his face and a menacing glint in his eye.
As Hermione and Ron walked past the Hospital wing they saw the other students in their moaning in pain, an effect from their ordeal in the Great Hall. On a bed Ron could see Christina's raven colored hair, her face showed all he needed to see. She was in pain, and was probably trying to sleep it off. Hermione could pick out Dean and Seamus, and chuckled slightly to herself, though they were in a considerable amount of pain they still had enough strength to argue with each other about what she guessed was Quidditch. Across from them were Neville and Parvati who also had enough energy to talk, though they seemed to be speaking in much lower tones than the other two. To Parvati and Neville's left was a row of Hufflepuffs. There talking with a boy who seemed he was ready to pass out from pain, was Parvati's best friend Lavender. And in the corner of the room were the Slytherins, some of them in chairs, others on beds, but most of them, like the others, were on the floor. Hermione and Ron could see Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle who were all on a bed, squirming and moaning for their mothers. Even though Ron hated them, he felt a slight twinge of pity for Malfoy and his 'body guards.'
"Who could have done this," Hermione said as they climbed the stairs.
"I can think of only one person," Ron said, his eyes meeting Hermione's. "You – Know – Voldemort." Ron's face contorted as he looked side to side franticly. He sighed relief when he realized they were still alone.
"Since when have you called him that," said Hermione incredulously crossing her arms and raising her right eyebrow, with a slight smile on her face, which Ron thought was implausibly cute.
"Well since the night that Cedric died. This is the first time that I've said the whole name, I usually just say Voldemorrr – or Vo – ho – ho – *hack*," said Ron, which brought a laugh to come from Hermione.
In a few seconds time they were in front of a very confused Fat Lady.
"What happened, Vi told me that You – Know – Who was here and wiped out the whole staff and students."
Ron rolled his eyes while Hermione explained what happened at the Ball. Then they stood there while the Fat Lady interrogated them, trying to decipher whether they were truly Ron and Hermione when finally –
"You let us in or I'll get the paint thinner that Filch has in his office," threatened Ron, who gestured in the direction of Filch's office. Though his office was in the other direction the Fat Lady let them in the common room.
"Ron, that was totally inappropriate. She would have let us in if you had just waited, and answered all her questions."
"Hermione, if we stood their answering her questions we'd be eighty by the time she finished. I mean I swear, does she think that You – Know – Who would really try to –
"I've got you now you Mudblood!"
A dark figure stood in the corner of the room. His face was concealed by the shadows, but Ron could distinctly see that he was reaching for his wand. Quickly Ron ran at him, while Hermione pulled out her wand and hid behind a chair, pointing the wand at the figure who had his wand directed towards Hermione. Ron pulled back his fist and then slammed it into the dark figure's temple just as he was about to hex Hermione. Ron pulled back stunned at his stupid-braveness. The figure spun and looked over at Ron, then toppled over unconscious.
"Damn he's got a hard head," Ron said shaking his hand in the air. "I nearly broke something."
Hermione knelt down and unmasked the dark, hard headed figure that tried to attack them. She screamed as she pulled back a few feet. Ron leaned over and was shocked to find it was Peter Petigrew, his former rat and now slave to Voldemort. For the hell of it Ron kicked Petigrew's groin with all his might for the hell of it.
"Damned rat bastard," Ron said contemptuously.
"Ron! Harry, we've got to warn him," Hermione said franticly. She grabbed Ron's hand and they flew up the stair to Ron's and Harry's room.
Upon arriving to the room they found Harry sprawled on the floor, a pool of blood around his body, and his scar was wide open. His bed was askew, the bed covers were covered in blood, and the curtains were on the floor, in shreds.
Ron ran to Harry's side, kneeling next to him. Hermione meanwhile locked the door, locked the windows before moving beside Harry.
"Harry, are you okay? Snap out of it," cried Ron who slapped the side of Harry's face in an attempt to rouse Harry. After a few more slaps, all of which caused Harry's face to redden, Harry began to writhe. Startling the hell out of Ron and Hermione, Harry shot up from his fetal-like position to a sitting position.
"Yeah, sorry."
"Harry, we have to get out of here. Voldemort is on school grounds, and he is after you," screeched Hermione, tugging on Harry's arm.
"What are you talking about Hermione," asked Harry who was trying, without luck, to stop the bleeding of his forehead. Ron knelt next to Harry wringing his hands, having an urge to look away, and another one that told him to clot the cut for Harry. He chose to not look away, but not touch Harry's forehead.
"She said that I am on school grounds."
Harry's eye's widened. Ron immediately ran in front of Hermione, whose mouth was open in astonishment. There, in the middle of the door jamb staring at the trio was none other than Voldemort. Still in the same shape in which Harry left him. Hermione and Ron slowly started to take a few steps back, and Harry absentmindedly following them.
Voldemort laughed manically, his mouth open wide, his head thrown inhumanly back. Suddenly his head snapped back to its natural position with a scowl on his face and a gleam in his eye. His right arm raised fluidly from its position until it was pointed at the trio.
"I'm afraid that you won't be going anywhere," Voldemort said. His arm glowed a sickly green color. Harry thought there would be some sort of smell, but it surprised him that it smelled like caramel. What a way to die, to be killed by a death spell that smells like caramel.
"I am afraid that we cannot permit you to take the life of these, or any people."
The four people in the room turned to their right and saw Snape and a large black dog. Snape wore his black robes which matched the black expression on his face. Sirius of course had his showed his teeth snarling and barking.
What is Sirius doing here. If we survive Voldemort he'd just be fed back to the Dementors?
What's Snape doing here.?
Ron and Harry exchanged looks. They had been thinking the same thing. Hermione took both boys by their collars and dragged them behind a bed into relative safety.
Snape grabbed hold of his wand and pointed it at Voldemort. Blood poured from his wrist, drenching his once clean sleeves. Voldemort looked straight at him and smiled.
"Well, I am doubly blessed to have you four here. It will save me some trouble of having to look for you all," said Voldemort icily. "Now if you all just stay still and not fight back in the least, I promise to kill you quickly."
Sirius snarled and set his legs beneath him. Springing into the air Sirius transformed into his human form and aimed at Voldemort in the air with his wand, in a Matrix-ish position, and fired his spell. Snape, beneath Sirius, cast the same spell – Avada Kedavara.
Two green flashes of light hit Voldemort square in the chest, but did as little as to push him back a centimeter. In all the commotion neither Voldemort nor Sirius or Snape noticed that Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the room, in a frantic search for Dumbledore.
A/N: This seems way different than the other chapters I've posted up. It seems to be a fan service of some sort. Well it just seems as though this story will never end. But remember – Only you can prevent forest fires. – I mean review, review, review. Or in the words of my Japanese teacher "Renshu, renshu, renshu."