Chapter Twenty-two; Where You Stand
Harry, Ron, and Hermione went tearing up the stairs to the third floor so fast that they almost collapsed on the landing. Ron was gasping for breath and Hermione was clutching a stitch in her side but they didn't dare slow down. Harry's scar was still quite painful but at least he was now running under his own steam, leading the others up through the castle.
The corridors were deserted. The paintings on the walls were devoid of their usual subjects and the castle was eerily quiet but for their echoing footsteps as they hurtled down the Charms corridor.
Ron slowed to a jog then stopped, breathing in short, ragged pants, bent almost double.
'Ron-' Hermione slowed down, looking over her shoulder. 'Come on! Keep going!'
'I - I can't…' Ron slumped against the wall.
Hermione and Harry raced back to help him. They'd only just reached him when a shadow flickered in the torchlight up the nearest stairwell.
'Quick!' Hermione hissed, grabbing Ron and pulling him into the nearest classroom.
Harry followed, ducking inside and quickly easing the door shut behind him. There was a soft click. Almost immediately they heard someone step into the passageway, footsteps slowly moving towards them.
Harry slowly knelt to peer through the keyhole. His throat went dry as a tall, black hooded figure strode past. The footsteps receded down the passage … then stopped.
Harry waited a few moments then reached for the door handle. Gripping it firmly, he gently eased the door open a few inches to risk a quick peek down the corridor, and then shut it again.
Ron was slumped over the teacher's desk, trying hard to regulate his breathing. Hermione stood beside him, rubbing her side and watching Harry anxiously.
'Is he gone?' she whispered.
Harry shook his head.
'He's standing at the end of the corridor - right by the staircase.'
Hermione's eyes widened.
'Can't we sneak past him somehow?'
More footsteps could be heard outside. Harry looked through the keyhole to see another two Death Eaters walk past.
'They'll be all over the school soon,' Ron hissed.
'How on earth are we going to get back to Gryffindor Tower?' said Hermione, a little louder than she intended.
Harry quickly raised a warning finger to his lips.
Footsteps were coming back towards them.
Quickly as he could, Harry headed to the back of the classroom, beckoning for Ron and Hermione to follow.
Struggling to recall the hidden passages on the Marauders Map Harry ran his hands over the back wall, praying that they were in the right room.
His left hand brushed over a loose brick. Giving it a push, the brick slid into the wall. Harry slipped his hand inside the little alcove just as someone came to a halt right outside the door.
'Harry, hurry!' Hermione whispered.
Fumbling blindly, Harry managed to grab hold of a small lever. He gave it a sharp tug. The brick wall split down the middle, sliding apart to reveal a narrow spiral staircase. Hermione, Ron and Harry threw themselves through the gap and up onto the stairs. The wall slid shut behind them just as the classroom door was blasted off its hinges.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione froze, listening through the wall, hardly daring to breathe for fear of betraying their hiding place.
For what felt like at least a quarter of an hour (but in reality was no more than five minutes), the Death Eater could be heard searching the classroom; blasting the store-cupboard apart and sending the desks crashing across the room before announcing that the room was clear. The door slammed shut and the three teenagers resumed breathing.
Without a word they started to climb the stairs. For ten minutes they climbed in silence, pausing whenever muffled voices sounded on the other side of the wall.
Harry's heart was sinking fast. The Death Eaters were moving swiftly up through the castle. Harry was hoping against hope that no other student had sneaked out of their dormitory. He wouldn't put it past the Death Eaters to murder the first student they found as an example to the rest.
They'd reached the top of the stairs, finding themselves in a very short passage. Harry pressed his ear to the wall, listening carefully. Hearing nothing, Harry tapped the wall with his wand; once at the base and twice in the centre. The hidden door swung open onto the seventh floor corridor.
Ron leaned out, looking up and down the passage.
'It's clear,' he whispered, stepping out.
Running on tiptoe they raced towards the entrance to Gryffindor Tower when Hermione came to a sudden halt.
'Wait! The Fat Lady!'
Ron did a bit of creative swearing, recalling that the Fat Lady was currently several floors below them and no use to them whatsoever.
Thinking fast, Harry turned and ran back down the corridor to where a number of coats of armour stood. Before either of them could stop him, Harry reached up and plunged his hand into the flames of a nearby torch.
Ron and Hermione yelped in shock but Harry didn't seem to be in any pain. The torch flame crackled, burning a brilliant blue, and Harry aimed his wand at the nearest suit of armour. Clanking loudly, it stepped away from the wall as an archway materialised. Beyond it lay a dark and narrow passage. Harry looked over his shoulder, grinning at the stunned faces of Ron and Hermione.
'Emergency Marauder gateway,' he said. 'Come on.'
They entered the passage, the archway closing behind them leaving them in darkness. They drew out their wands and lit them. The passage appeared to run parallel with the corridor that led back to the Tower. When they reached roughly where the Fat Lady's portrait hung, the passage twisted, taking them in a wide arc. Through the wall Harry could hear a low rumble of voices. They'd reached the common room.
Hermione gave a sigh of relief but Ron just looked grim.
'Okay, we're here. Now what do we do?'
Harry didn't say anything as he pushed open a sliding panel, stepping out from under the boy's staircase.
The rest of Gryffindor House was still lounging around the room, chatting away happily; blissfully unaware of the danger they were in.
Fred and George detached themselves from the crowd, hurrying over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
'There you are!' said Fred, looking thoroughly relieved. 'Where did you guys disappear off to?'
Harry opened his mouth to speak but at that very moment another voice rang out; a voice that made Harry's blood run cold.
'Attention students of Hogwarts,' said the cold, deadly voice. 'I want all of you to listen to me very carefully.' The entire common room fell silent. 'Hogwarts Castle is now completely under my control. Your professors are - shall we say - indisposed?'
The Gryffindors looked fearfully at each other, frightened whispers and mutterings filled the room.
'I would advise against any notion of impetuous acts of heroism,' the Dark Lord went on, 'It will not put you in good favour with any of my loyal Death Eaters. They do not take kindly to impertinence and nor do I.
No one needs to be hurt of course,' Voldemort continued softly. 'I have no intention of harming any of you, none at all.'
Most of the students looked far from convinced while others just listened more closely, fearfully.
'I have a proposition, one that I will offer only once,' he hissed. 'So make your decision wisely. Your options stand thus; you can accept the inevitable and join the ranks of the Dark Order … or you can refuse and die.'
He paused to allow this statement to sink in.
'Those of you that take the first option, and I strongly advise that you do, will be granted more power than you've dreamed possible … your potential and ability given the recognition it deserves … the guidance to develop it … all you have to do is to step outside your dormitory and renounce your association with Albus Dumbledore and willingly embrace the Dark.
'I trust it won't take long for you all to decide,' a cruel laugh echoed through the school. 'But you may take all the time you need … I'm in no hurry.'
A grim silence fell. No one said a word. They sat frozen with fear and indecision. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George stood together in numb disbelief. Harry's mind had gone blank. Now what were they going to do?
A tall sixth year boy with spiky brown hair slowly rose from his seat, and grabbed his cloak and wand.
'Craig?' the girl next to him said, her eyes wide and fearful. 'W-where are you going?'
'Where do you think I'm going?' the boy said, glaring at the girl as though she'd offended him. 'I'm going out there.'
'You can't,' said Harry firmly.
Craig turned round to glare at Harry, his cold eyes looking Harry over, sweeping up to his forehead and the lightning scar.
'You can't go and hand yourself over to him.' said Harry.
Craig snorted. 'You're crazy if you think I'm gonna hang around in here and wait for them to come and kill me. I don't want to die, Potter. If I have to go out there willingly to be able to live then, that's what I'm gonna do.' He turned to address the rest of the Gryffindors. 'Anyone else interested in staying alive?'
'You honestly believe that just because you'll live it's the right thing to do? You would willingly become a Death Eater to save your own skin?' Harry's voice shook with disgust.
'The alternative is to die, Potter,' said Craig coldly.
'So you're giving in without a fight?'
Craig just stared stonily at him. Harry shook his head.
'Forget it. It's your choice,' he said bitterly and turned to the rest of the Gryffindors. 'Look, I know we don't have a chance of fighting them and coming out alive … I'm not asking you to fight … I'm asking you to stay here, while I try and get a message to the Ministry. They don't have a clue what's happened and we need help fast. There's no need to risk more people than necessary so I'm going alone -'
Ron stepped forward, looking outraged.
'Harry, if you go back out there, they'll kill you!'
Harry tried to avoid Ron's eyes. 'Yeah, I know. But I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs and wait for them to find me. At least if I try to get some help…' he trailed off, conscious of everyone in the common room watching him.
'I'm coming with you,' said Ron firmly.
'What? No, it'll be safer if you stay here.'
'For how long?' said Hermione. 'The Death Eaters will find the entrances and force them open if we wait too long. Why sit here when we could be doing something to help?'
'But if you get hurt -'
'It's our choice, Harry,' said Ron. 'We're coming with you.'
Harry stared at them both for a moment, trying unsuccessfully to hide a grateful smile that was threatening to take over his face.
'Me too,' said another voice. 'I want to help.'
Neville Longbottom had stood up, obviously acting a lot braver than he felt. He gave Craig a fierce look. 'What kind of Gryffindor would I be if I took the cowards' way out?'
Craig's nostrils flared. He looked likely to hex Neville but he merely stood there, glaring, as Neville crossed the silent room to stand beside Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
Ginny Weasley got up. Her friends stared at her as if she were crazy, moving aside as she detached herself from the group, walked boldly across the room to stand with the others, looking nervous but determined. Ron smiled broadly at his little sister, half proud, half scared for her safety, but it was her choice, not his - certainly not an easy one to make.
One by one, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell and two other seventh years, Luke and Phoebe, came over to join them.
Fred and George both stood to attention and saluted Harry. 'Ready whenever you are!' they said, grinning broadly.
The remaining Gryffindors, however, stayed where they were. Most seemed to think that Harry and the others had lost their marbles; others appeared undecided. Craig gave the group a haughty sniff, folding his arms.
'You're seriously going out there? You'll all be dead in an instant if you're seen with Potter, you do realise that don't you? I hope you can live with that on your conscience Potter; not that you're likely to live much longer than they are. He's here because of you, you know.'
He continued to watch Harry closely, waiting for an irate response. But it was not forthcoming. When Harry spoke, it was with a calm and composed manner, though not without the underlying tone of disgust.
'If you want to take a chance with the Death Eaters then go ahead, it's your decision, not mine. But I'm not the only reason that Voldemort is here.' Craig flinched at the name. 'He's here for all of us. All of you. By surrendering you're just giving him what he wants. You should know that he shows the same amount of mercy to his followers as his enemies, so you're hardly any better off. Whether you like it or not, you'll be forced to commit murder … even if it's your friends and family.' Harry held Craig's gaze. 'Could you live with that?' he asked softly.
A tense silence fell.
Craig broke his eye contact with Harry, glaring furiously around at the other Gryffindors as though hoping for some support. He got none.
With a grim smile Harry silently turned from the room, heading back to the hidden passage, closely followed by Ron and Hermione, the rest of the group right behind them.
As soon as they had disappeared, Craig resumed his seditious attitude.
'They won't last five minutes out there,' he sneered. 'You just wait.'
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To be continued
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Please review
All comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated
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Authors Notes
Elbereth94 – ^_^ Yeah, I know what you mean!
Lil Lupin – Chapter 14 of the SF is coming along slowly. *sigh* I want to get to chapter 17! That one will be fun to write. ^_^ Still a way off though. *gets back to work on chapter 14* I will get this done for the weekend; I've set myself a deadline! *scribbles furiously*
Melissa Lupin – *evil cackle* 'Oh no!' just about sums it up!
Von – You're a hard one to please, aren't you? You really think he was that out of character? Okay, I'll admit he didn't do very much but I didn't think it was that bad. The scar pain does get a little more bearable, after all, didn't he manage to duel with the Dark Lord near the end of Goblet of Fire? It's not a total hindrance.
Christy – Are they going to get rid of him? Hhm, *plucks petals off a daisy* They get rid of him … they don't get rid of him … they get rid of him … they don't get rid of him … ^_^
As you can see, I have organised a minor resistance group. I know there aren't very many of them so before you ask, let me explain. First, my original idea for the fic did have a much larger group of Gryffindors, plus some students from other Houses, but when I actually came to write this part I just found it so difficult to keep track of everyone. I had far too many and they were extremely uncooperative. ^_^ Hence my use of a smaller number, it works out better this way. So, convenience was one reason, the other reason being I though it highly unlikely that everyone would want to join Harry. They're kids, they're scared and, like you said in your review, would prefer to wait for a rescue party. Still, there are some brave characters here; Go Gryffindor! *Voltora waves her flag*
Angl – Thank you!
Werepup – Glad you think so! Thanks!
Dragon-gurl – LOL. 'Yikeydoodle'? Never heard that before. Made me laugh! ^_^
Evol norgara – *cowers at evol's 'bad guy' cackle* Okay, you are starting to scare me. ^_^ I've ordered a copy already, too. Don't know if I'd go and stay over at bookshop waiting for it. Might be fun though! *Pulls on her 'Death Eater' cloak again* Think this might scare the little kids? *Practises her evil cackle* You're making Voldie a strawberry cake? I always thought he was more of a fruitcake kind of person. ^_^
Evil spapple pie – Going downhill on wheels, to be quite frank! ^_^ Will Evil Freak Lady be killed off? Ooh, the temptation! I did ponder several different endings to the fic, some of which included EFL being killed off, some didn't, and in the end I decided on … What? You think I'm going to give away the ending?? Dream on! ^_^
Bmw - Thank you! Glad you like it!