* * *
As the last of the sandy landscape rushed away, Draco hastily squeezed his eyes shut. His stomach wasn't in the best condition, and seeing the state of Charlies injuries hadn't exactly done anything to ease the nausea. He felt like he was going to be sick at any moment, and keeping his eyes shut seemed to help a little.
He could sense, rather than feel, his hands firmly gripped on each stretcher that was speeding along with him and his conscious companions. And just as he thought that he would surely faint if the twin's spell didn't end, he felt his stomach give an enormous heave, and he was thrown face first, eyes still closed, onto a dusty floor.
Draco didn't get up. He lay still on the floor, breathing in the scent of the dust. It wasn't extremely pleasant, but he suddenly felt unbelievably tired, unable to sit up to see where they were. Wait, where were they?
Draco sat up slowly and opened his eyes, but for a second he couldn't figure out if he really had or not. Opening his eyes made no difference in the darkness of the place in which they had landed. Draco put his hands up to his eyes, feeling them as he raised and lowered his eyelids. Satisfied at last that his eyes were indeed open, he hissed into the darkness, the filthy dust choking him.
"Fred, George, where the hell are we?" Draco rasped, sputtering, the dust coating the inside of his throat.
A soft whisper came floating through the darkness from Dracos right side.
"Lumos," Fred said softly, and his wand tip illuminated, casting a small circle of soft, yellow light around them.
Draco gazed around. This was not Hogwarts. He didn't know where it was, but it was definitely not the school. Everything outside the small sphere of light was pure shadow, but from what Draco could see, the place was a small room, with a low ceiling. There were many wooden crates and boxes stacked up around the walls towering as high as the ceiling would allow them. There was also a small, wooden staircase that led up to the floor above. Draco couldn't see it because of the darkness, but he assumed that there was a trapdoor at the top of the stairs as well.
As Draco looked back at Fred, he was surprised to see the ghost of a smile flicker across Freds face, or perhaps it was just the light from his wand.
"Well?" Draco prompted urgently, "I thought we were going to go to Hogwarts! This isn't Hogwarts you prats! I thought even two goof-offs like you would have enough sense to get to Dumbledore right away!" Draco felt the heat rising in his face as he spat out the words like they were poison.
George's wand suddenly lit up as well, illuminating the scowl that had appeared on his face.
"We're in the Honeydukes basement," George said, still frowning at Draco, "You can't Apparate directly inside the Hogwarts castle or grounds." Then George stooped down to check that the bindings were still tight around Ginny and Charlie's stretchers.
"So who's the prat now?" Fred murmured as he passed Draco, a satisfied smirk on his face.
Draco gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to turn around and hit Fred in the face. Instead, he turned around and said with a fierce smile, "So! We can't go to Hogwarts, so you send us to the candy shop instead. What happened? Forget to stock up on Fizzing Whizbees before you found us? Well, I suppose I understand, I mean, getting your candy is always first on the priorities list, even above saving someone's life."
Both Fred and George looked at him, identical expressions of dislike on their faces.
"Actually Malfoy," Fred said airily, "We figured that if we brought you here, you'd be so greedy that you would want to stay forever, and we could just be rid of you!"
"And it's too bad that is not the case," Draco sneered with mock regret.
"Malfoy," George snapped impatiently, "Why don't you just shut your mouth when you don't know what you are talking about!"
"Which is all the time," Fred added in a low mutter.
"We'll get to Hogwarts from here," George continued before Draco could reply, "Get off your lazy behind and help us find the trapdoor! Quickly! Don't forget, Charlie needs to get some help!"
Draco still didn't move. He just sat, watching the twins moving impatiently around the room, wands held high, illuminating the dusty floor. For all Draco could see, there was no trapdoor to be seen.
"I know it's hidden very well, but we've always been able to spot it immediately," George said to himself, a little annoyed.
"We are in Honeydukes, aren't we?" Fred inquired sounding nervous.
George whipped his wand light towards a tower of nearby crates. They all bore labels like: Jelly Slugs, Acid Pops, Droobles Best Blowing Gum and Chocolate Frogs.
Fred and George nodded to each other, and then continued to search impatiently. When they found nothing still, they looked over at the seated Draco.
Draco saw their eyes widen in surprise, and then they both rushed over to him.
"I don't believe it!" Fred moaned, grabbing Dracos arm.
"Get up, Malfoy!" George cried, also attempting to pry Draco up as well.
"What the?" Draco said as he was pulled to a standing position, "What is wrong with you two?"
"You lug! Ask yourself that question!" Fred spat out.
Draco watched as Fred and George crouched down and ran their fingers over the ground where Draco had been sitting moments before. Then he saw them lift up a trapdoor that was built into the basement floor.
Draco felt his ears go red. Fred and George looked up at him and shook their heads in unison.
"Next time, Malfoy," George said briskly, "When you're told to stop being lazy, heed the person who commands you."
Draco rolled his eyes.
"Like now!" Fred yelled impatiently, getting up and standing over Charlie, "Get over here and help with this thing!"
Draco gave a low growl and reluctantly went over to aid Fred in finalizing the tightness of the straps that held Charlie to the stretcher. Then they firmly secured Ginny's as well.
As Draco peered through the semi-darkness down into the face of the small, red-headed girl, he struggled to keep from giving her a sharp slap on the side of her face.
Pushing his feelings of contempt out of his mind, he watched as Fred and George raised their wands and with a flick of each, had suspended the stretchers in midair.
George jumped down into the trapdoor, and then Fred directed the stretchers after him. Fred made a motion for Draco to follow him. And after quickly grabbing a chocolate frog from a nearby crate and shoving it into his pocket, Draco scampered down as well.
As Draco landed, he reached up and pulled the trapdoor shut above him, casting the place into complete darkness, except for the dim circles of light permeating from Fred and Georges wands.
Draco took a tentative step foreword, and cleanly fell right on top of Fred, who promptly buckled underneath the weight.
"Watch out, there are stairs here," George whispered from the head of the line.
"Oh sure, now he tells me," Draco muttered darkly to himself.
Fred shoved Draco off and resumed his careful watch on the stretchers.
Draco brushed his pants and sweater off and shivered. It was getting colder by the minute as they inched their way down the endless stone steps. Then Draco realized why it was so chilly; he had left his robes back in Egypt. He couldn't quite remember where, it might have been in the pyramid.
Just as he was beginning to curse himself for shedding his warmer garments, the steps leveled out. Draco wasn't ready for that, and nearly fell on top of Fred again, but he regained his balance and kept a steady pace.
"How much further do we have to go?" Draco rasped, teeth chattering.
Fred turned around and looked at Draco. His face lit up with a wicked grin as he said evenly, "What's the matter? Cold, Malfoy? I had heard that snakes were cold-blooded, but I have never known it to be taken so literally."
George sniggered softly, but suddenly stopped short and looked back at them. Fred and Draco watched silently as George slowly reached down, unclasped Charlie's cloak from the body of its lifeless owner and handed it to Draco, a very serious expression on his face.
Draco looked at Georges hand with the worn, dirt-streaked cloak. Then, his eyes never leaving Georges, took it into his own cold, trembling hand.
"Thank you," Draco whispered, as he pulled it on.
George nodded curtly, and after a second, went back to the front of the line.
As they progressed down the low, earthy passageway, Draco clutched the old cloak around him, rubbing the rough material. It was dirty, old and frayed, nothing like the cloaks that his mother and father usually bought for him. Those were sleek, shiny and very expensive. But Draco doubted that even if his father had all the Galleons in the world he would be capable of buying one that warmed him as much as this one.
Draco was surprised to feel one icy tear make its way down his cheek. He didn't brush it away, but held one arm up and allowed it to fall onto the cloak.
"Almost there," George muttered quietly from the front of the line, "We're almost there."
Sure enough, they came to the end of the passageway, only to find themselves at the foot of a stone slide. It rose up into the darkness, farther then they could see.
"All right, now we have to climb," Fred told Draco, "George, you stay back here with me so we can make sure the stretchers get up all right. Malfoy, you go first." Fred gave Draco a little nudge, pushing him foreword.
Draco took a deep breath, and began to climb, the stone smooth and cold under his knees and hands. He could hear the stretchers drifting slowly behind him, and the twins rustling along as well.
More than one time Draco almost fell and tumbled back down the chute, but the thought of getting Charlie to the hospital wing kept him going strong.
Draco was concentrating so fiercely that he barely noticed when his head hit something very hard. The he gave a low moan.
"Fred, George, we've hit something. Well, at least my head did," Draco told them, rubbing the top of his throbbing skull.
"Good! Push up, Malfoy!" George called, sounding exited.
"What?"
"Push up!" Fred and George said together.
Draco shrugged and pushed with all his might above him, and the area where he had hit his head suddenly gave way.
Draco found himself poking his head out of a statue. He stopped there, adjusting his eyes to the light of the flaming torches that were all along the walls.
Torches…statue…Draco suddenly gave a cry.
"Hogwarts!" he breathed in relief.
"Never thought I'd see anyone that happy to be in school," Fred chuckled from below, his voice sounding muffled.
"Well, aren't you anxious to reunite with it while you're out of the statue?" George asked, laughing, "Come on, let's get a move on!"
Draco grinned and jumped out of the statue, then straightened up and turned around.
It was the statue of the hump-backed witch! In the third floor corridor! How many times had he walked down this hallway and past this statue? He never thought there might be a secret passageway concealed within it!
As Draco gazed in awe at the witch, the two stretchers floated tentatively out of the hump. They were shortly followed by the bright red hair of the twins as they poked their heads out.
"All right, I'm betting it's just around dinnertime," George said briskly, extricating himself from the statue.
"We have to hurry and get to the hospital wing while everyone is in the Great Hall," Fred said as his twin gave him a hand out of the statue as well.
When both twins were standing upright on the floor, they quickly unstrapped Ginny from her stretcher.
"What are you doing?" Draco hissed in alarm.
"We have to go fast," George said sounding rushed, "To make a stretcher go fast is hard work. And it's even harder if it's carrying someone as heavy as Charlie. You are going to have to carry Ginny."
Draco raised his eyebrows and looked at the small figure of Ginny lying on the stretcher, her flaming locks covering her face.
"No objections," Fred said firmly, lifting Ginny up and setting her in Dracos outstretched arms, "It's going to take two of us for the right spell to move Charlie. Now come on!"
Draco began to run down the hallway towards the hospital wing. Fred and George were in front, speeding Charlie along as fast as their magic would allow.
Draco was surprised at how light Ginny was. She felt so delicate and breakable, but he knew that she definitely wasn't those things. Then Draco scowled a little. He couldn't help but still resent her after her behavior in Egypt.
Draco shook his head fervently, none of that mattered right now. All that mattered was getting to the hospital wing.
He skidded around a corner, almost losing his balance. He looked quickly down at Ginny as he ran along after the twins. Suddenly and quietly, her eyes flew open, set ablaze by the light from the torches that encrusted the walls.
"Draco…I…" Ginny began quietly, her voice faltering as Draco continued to run with her in his arms.
"Be quiet, we're taking you to the hospital wing, Charlie too."
"Bill," Ginny murmured, eyes widening in alarm.
"Be quiet, Ginny" Draco said as softly as he could manage while still running, "Everything is going to be all right."
As soon as he said it, he regretted it. He knew that he had no right to speak such a lie. But he somehow didn't feel like crushing any remaining hope that Ginny had left.
He felt something brush against his hand, and he looked down, startled. Ginny had grabbed a hold of his hand, and was holding it tightly in her own, her eyes closed once more.
Draco grinned a little with renewed spirit as he increased his speed, running flat out. The hospital wing was in sight; Charlie was going to make it! And Ginny…Ginny would always be able to make it. He could tell by her small hand that was firmly enclosed in his own.
Her hand was slightly rough and callused, as though she had been through a lot in a hard life, too hard a life for such a small girl.
Draco suddenly felt angry. He had grown up as rich as it was possible to be. He never had to do any work. He had never known anything but a huge manor with lots of servants. There was no way he would have been able to survive the life that the Weasly family must have gone through, with limited money and a small house.
"Ginny," Draco whispered as they reached the door of the hospital wing.
But Ginny did not speak, although her hand was still firmly clasped in his, she had slipped back into unconsciousness once again.
Draco skidded to a stop as Fred and George threw open the door to the hospital wing. It revealed a line of beds, all with crisp white sheets and pillows.
It was almost entirely quiet, except for the soft murmur of people talking further down the row of beds.
"See, Mr. Creevey?" a woman's voice said sounding satisfied, "Your ears are perfectly normal again, I told you I would be able to fix them back on."
"Thank you Madame Pomfrey," a boy's voice answered, sounding relieved.
"You may go back to dinner now," the nurse said briskly, "And you tell that Mr. Weasly to keep his wand in his pocket if he knows what is good for him."
Colin Creevey emerged from behind the hanging at the end of the room, patting his ears.
He walked towards the door, the Gryffindor emblem on his robes standing out against all the black. Draco saw his eyes widen as he stopped dead, staring at the company that had appeared in the doorway of the hospital wing.
Fred, Geroge and Draco all winced as Colin let out a high-pitched shriek that Draco thought must have sent every owl in the trees outside Hogwarts soaring into the night sky.
Madame Pomfrey gave a shout and threw back the white curtain that she was concealed behind.
"Mr. Creevey!" She shrieked striding over to him, her hand at her heart, "What on earth do you think you're-" She stopped in mid sentence as her face went as white as Colin's.
Both Colin and Madame Pomfrey mouthed wordlessly, as they stared at the three boys standing in the threshold to the hospital wing.
"There is no time to explain, Madame Pomfrey," George cried, suddenly extremely panicked, "You need to help Charlie and Ginny right away, please!"
Madame Pomfrey still looked very flustered, but her nursing instincts seemed to kick in as she examined Charlie's wounds with a slight tint of green in her cheeks.
"You can help him, can't you?" Fred said, peering at Madame Pomfreys face, "Will he be all right?"
"These wounds are terrible," Madame Pomfrey said professionally, "I need to get to work right away. All of you take a bed, you need to rest."
"We're fine, help Charlie," Fred said determinedly.
Still inspecting Charlie's wounds, Madame Pomfrey took on an official air. "All of you, in a bed now!"
Fred, George and Draco all looked at each other, and then backed slowly away from the preoccupied nurse. Fred and George sat down on a bed, looking restless. Draco gently set Ginny down on the bed nearest to Nurse Pomfrey, and then settled himself at the foot of it, taking Ginny's hand into his own.
With a side glance at Fred and George who were both biting their bottom lips looking expectant, Draco silently brushed a few strands of Ginny's hair away from her eyes, and then once again encased her hand with his own.
A stammering voice quickly cut into his thoughts. "You, you, everyone thinks you're, what are you doing-" Colin was still standing open mouthed and staring at the scene that was going on around him.
"Well, we're not dead, Creevey," Draco said icily.
"Mr. Creevey!" Madame Pomfrey's stern voice said, cutting acidly through the awkward moment, "Get out of here now! These patients need to rest!"
Colin suddenly seemed to become mobile again. With one last startled look, he dashed out of the hospital wing, his robes billowing behind him.
"And don't you dare tell any of the students about this!" Madame Pomfrey shouted as the door slammed shut.
But it was too late, Colin was gone.