Harry Potter books, and all characters therein are belong to J. K. Rowling, © 2001/2002 Warner bros. In short, they aren't mine, so please don't sue.
kkisblpeen@aol.com
Once upon a time
By Kirkis
Chapter Four: Banquet Brawl
"So, Robin Hood," said Sir Guy. "Are you so bold with a dozen swords pointed at your throat? I should thank you for saving us the trouble of looking for you."
"You never said anything about guards!" Ron turned to Harry and repeated. Harry completely forgot that he didn't have his wand. His hand closed around the grip of his dagger as a jolt of panic through him. He had no clue how to fight with a dagger, other than to wave it around threateningly. Ron seemed to have thought along the same lines, because he drew his dagger suddenly, then stared at it in some form of horror. Harry pulled out his dagger for lack of a better weapon.
"What are you waiting for, fools?" Sir Guy shouted at the guards. "Attack!"
The circle seemed to constrict upon Ron and Harry immediately. By instinct alone both Harry and Ron shifted around so that they were back to back. As the guards cautiously advanced, Harry made a few broad slashes at the guards with his dagger, which made them jump back. Somewhere near the door, Harry could hear the trademark sounds of a sword fight. Will and the other Merry Men must've engaged some of the guards in an attempt to secure an escape route.
"Stop fooling around!" Sir Guy shouted again from the table. "Attack, I say!"
The ferocity of the guards seemed to increase at this point and the slashes Harry had been making no longer held them off. Behind him, Harry heard the clattering of blades striking each other. Quickly, Harry tossed his head in a backward glance, careful not to take his eyes off his front for too long. Ron seemed to be grappling with one of the guards.
"Look sharp, Robin!" Will shouted from somewhere near the door. A moment later Harry heard the snap from somewhere near the door. He didn't have time to look up or around; a split second later a few shrieks of guards were silenced by an loud crash. Harry chanced another look behind him. One of the huge iron chandeliers that had been suspended from the ceiling had crashed to the ground, landing on a few guards and knocking them cold.
"C'mon, Harry!" Ron shouted and grabbed Harry by the shoulder of his green shirt. They bolted over the fallen chandelier and through the gap it had created in the ranks of guards. There was still no open path to the door, but as far as Harry was concerned, no longer being surrounded by guards was definitely an improvement.
They had just climbed over the broken chandelier when one brazen guard lunged dangerously close to them. Both Harry and Ron jumped back away from each other as the guard thrust his sword forward, sliding between them. Ron reacted immediately, taking his dagger and slamming the bottom of the grip on the back of the guard's head; he flopped forward to the ground. Harry and Ron only had a second to glance at each other before they realized that in jumping back they'd separated themselves too far. Two or three guards were now filling the gap between them, which was getting wider. Harry now found himself having to exchange blows with a guard in front of him. He concentrated on blocking his opponent's attacks, doubting that his two-foot dagger could do much against the guard's thick chain mail.
"Bar the door! Let none escape!" Sir Guy shouted.
Ron ended up in a duel with another guard. He'd only read about dueling with swords in some of his old Mad Muggle comics. He was more than wary about taking advice from them, mainly because he'd always thought Martin Miggs looked awful silly the way he stood while "fencing." But on the next attack, the guard shoved Ron backward into the dining table, then charged forward with his sword held high over his head. Ron barely got his leg up in time. He shoved with all his might and finally launched the guard backward. Ron righted himself quickly as the guard toppled over and landed on the hard floor, where he sat, shaken for a moment. That gave Ron enough time to think straight.
It's time to take this seriously, he thought. He straightened his green shirt and set himself in the standard Wizard's dueling stance; dagger before him, pointed at the enemy, one arm raised to head level behind him, feet apart, knees bent slightly. It seemed to work, too, because when the guard got to his feet, he hesitated before he charged forward again, holding his sword above his shoulder. He started a downward slash toward Ron's shoulder. But Ron easily shifted his dagger and successfully deflected the blow. To his own surprise, he had little trouble blocking the next attack the guard made, a parallel thrust toward his chest.
The guard took a step back, breathing heavily before he lunged forward again, raising his sword above his head. Ron quickly blocked, but the guard held his sword stiffly, keeping it locked with Ron's dagger. Ron was just barely holding him off. It took both arms, one of his legs and the support of the dining table to finally throw the guard off and send him reeling backward. But the effort caused Ron to drop his dagger and though it wasn't as good at defense as a wand was, it was something. Ron ducked quickly to recover it, when a feminine hand reached out from under the draped tablecloth and pulled it under the dining table. Ron didn't have time to think who had done it, he needed his dagger. He dropped to his knees and jerked up the tablecloth ready to [verbally] curse whomever grabbed his dagger. He opened his mouth to bark out the first few obscenities that came to mind, but the sight that met him when he looked under the table practically squelched his anger.
"Hermione!" he said, staring. She waved frantically for him to get under the table with her
Harry dredged up everything he could remember about sword fighting. It wasn't much, just what he'd seen on television watching over Dudley's fat shoulder, and most of that was useless. He ended up trying his best to block the attacks coming his way, and was being pushed backward in the process. In the middle of an intense exchange of blows, Harry nearly tripped over the bottom stair of one of the twisting staircases that led to the balcony above the Dining Hall. He stumbled up onto the stair, still defending each sword slash the guard threw at him.
He was halfway up the staircase when he realized he could no longer see Ron. Had he been caught? He needed to get back down onto the first floor, but every time he tried to drive the guard back down the stairs, he ended up nearly getting skewered. Five more guards had lined up behind the one he was fighting and a few more on the floor below were heading for the staircase on the other end of the balcony.
One staircase needs to be blocked off. If they corner me up here, they can all surround me, then I'm done for, he thought. He timed it as best he could, turning and bolting up the staircase to the top, where a large suit of iron armor stood. Harry pushed hard against it, tilting it toward the staircase and toppling it down onto the advancing guards. He then bolted across the balcony to reach the other staircase before the guards spilled out onto the balcony.
Maybe it had been because he was fighting more recklessly to try and get back down to the floor level, or maybe his luck had just run out. Whatever it was, five steps from the bottom, one of the guards connected, grazing Harry's shoulder. It wasn't deep enough to be life threatening, but it stung, and it hindered his movement. Harry quickly found himself losing ground. Soon he'd reach the top of the staircase, and the end of the line.
Ron scrambled under the table as Hermione let the tablecloth drape back down to the floor. She was on her hands and knees under the table. Ginny was just behind her to the right, and wearing the most ludicrous outfit Ron had ever seen. It looked like plain white robes, except that there was a stiff looking hood covering her head, and drawn up so snug around her face it reminded him of the Puffskein costume she wore one Hallowe'en when she was five.
Hermione was in a pale pink and very lacy dress. Her hair was pulled up, and though it wasn't as elegant as it had been at the Yule Ball, it still looked good.
"You okay, Ron?" she asked. In the heat of fighting Ron had completely forgotten his earlier anxiety over having to be the hero in a story where Hermione was playing the heroine.
It had only been a month and a half since Ron had ultimately realized he might have some feelings for Hermione other than friendship. But he tried not to think about them. He could never be sure that Hermione felt anything more than simple platonic friendship toward him. Charlie always told him females were like trick questions, saying one thing and meaning something completely different, and that you just had to learn to read them. But Hermione was different.
Hermione wasn't a trick question, by far. Hermione was an enigma. An enigma to beat all others. There was no strategy for figuring out Hermione, and he'd given up long before he ever thought he might like her. The only thing about her that he knew for certain was that she hated losing to him at wizard chess. He couldn't even begin to guess how she really felt about him. Sometimes he'd get the feeling she felt something other than friendship toward him, yet other times, it seemed like she only tolerated him for Harry's sake.
He realized after an afternoon in his bedroom, alone with his thoughts, that his anger toward Harry was further solidified when Hermione defended him. It twisted his stomach every time he thought about it since. But at the same time, it hardened like someone had turned the food in his stomach to stone. Even if Hermione liked Harry that way, Ron wouldn't let that get in the way of his friendship with either of them, especially not with the Dark Lord revived.
The twisting and stone-like feelings that always accompanied these thoughts came in a fast wave over Ron as he gulped his answer to Hermione's question. "Yeah," he said. "You?"
Hermione nodded and went on at a whisper. "Do you know about the story? About how it goes?" she asked.
"Just what Harry's told me, he doesn't remember it all," replied Ron. Hermione glanced back at Ginny. "C'mon Hermione," Ron added. "We've got to get out of here."
"Do you know how?" asked Hermione. "To get out of the book, I mean."
Ron shrugged and shook his head. "Harry reckons we've got to play the story through," he said.
"I've thought so as well. The other characters seem to be part of the storybook and not real people. They react to everything we do, even if it's not part of the story. So, I'm not sure we should go against the story until we know how to get out of it."
"What?" said Ron, nonplussed. "Look, you've got to come with-"
"I don't think I can, Ron," Hermione interrupted. "When we arrived here, I tried to leave the castle and I ended up getting shut up in Marion's bedroom with two soldiers standing guard at the door. I don't think it's a good idea for me or Ginny to leave unless it's to leave the book," she finished, catching the confused look that was still on Ron's face. "We'll be all right here, Ron. Robin rescues Marion later, after the Archery Tournament, you know about that, don't you?" she asked.
"Yeah, Harry told me about it," said Ron, not feeling much better about leaving Hermione and Ginny alone there. Before he could stop himself, he wondered if she would've gone with Harry if he'd been playing Robin Hood. He quickly dismissed the thought and concentrated of the matter at hand. "You're sure you and Ginny will be okay?"
"We'll be fine," said Ginny reassuringly.
"You and Harry get out of here and regroup in Sherwood Forest," said Hermione.
"They barricaded the door, is there another way out of here?" Ron asked. Hermione suddenly looked worried and shot a backward glance at Ginny.
"I think so," said Ginny shifting uncomfortably in her restrictive costume. "Upstairs on the balcony, take the right doorway, I think…"
"You think?" repeated Ron.
"I've only been around the castle once, and I didn't go in every room! I don't have it memorized!" she snapped. Ron remained quiet, but got a glare from Ginny for the next few seconds before she continued. "As I was saying, take the doorway to the right, it should lead down a corridor with a bunch of rooms along it. There's one, near the end, on the right hand side with a balcony. It's a two story drop, but you'll land in the moat."
"In the moat? Ginny-" Ron started but someone crashing into the table above stopped him
"There's no more time, go on," said Hermione, pushing him toward the place where he'd crawled in. "We'll see each other at the Archery Tournament, and try to see if you can find another way out of the book."
"We'll try, you do the same, and be careful," Ron replied, looking from Hermione to Ginny. "You too, Ginny." Ron turned to duck back out from under the table, when Hermione called to him.
"Good luck," she muttered.
"You too," Ron answered and ducked back out from under the table. Almost immediately, a guard noticed him, and charged forward.
I don't have time for this! he thought as he parried the soldier's swings. He needed to find Harry and get out, but he couldn't take his eyes off an attacking guard, unless…
In one swift movement, Ron hopped back up on the table, hopped to avoid a wide swipe by the guard, then slammed his dagger as hard as he could on the guard's helmet. With a loud "pang" sound, the guard stumbled backward, a large straight dent marring his polished helmet. Ron took this opportunity to glance around for Harry. He didn't have to.
"Ron!" shouted a voice from above. Ron turned toward the sound and found Harry on the stairs, leaning back so far his back was almost touching the steps. He held tightly to the railing with one hand and was fending off an aggressive soldier with the other. Harry cried out again, "I'm cut, you've got to get out of here."
"Without you? Are you mad?!" Ron shouted, picking up a boiled hen from one of the polished dinner plates. "All for one, you know!"
"That's the Three Musketeers' motto!" Harry shouted back. Ron took careful aim, and chucked the hen at the guard attacking Harry. It hit him hard on the side of the head. Harry, seizing the opportunity, kicked out at him. The kick landed square on his knee, knocking him off balance and sending him flying backward into the men behind him.
"Be there in a minute," Ron yelled up to Harry, who waved a hand and looked grateful to have a breather. Unfortunately, the guards seemed to pick up on the plan. They all swarmed to the bottom of both staircases. Ron didn't have time to think, but he remembered Will had cut the support to one of the chandeliers and it had fallen on the guards. Maybe he could do the same.
He bolted toward the place he'd seen Will standing when the other chandelier fell. There were three ropes tied to the wall. One, the middle one, had been cut through. Ron grabbed one of the other ropes and smacked his dagger against it. With a loud pop, the chandelier started to fall. He turned toward the guards to see if he actually managed to hit one. To Ron's surprise, he felt himself being lifted off his feet. He held tightly to the rope, yelling all the way up.
With a loud crash, the chandelier smashed on the floor, Ron dangled from the rope high above. He hadn't intended to do that, but it had worked; at least the guards at the bottom of Harry's staircase were pinned down by the fallen chandelier.
"Harry," Ron started, realizing he sounded somewhat helpless. "How do I get back down?"
Harry stood, looking from Ron, to the edge of the balcony and back again. "Swing," he said simply. "Swing on the rope, and then jump toward the balcony," he said running up the rest of the stairs and out onto the balcony.
"Are you out of your mind?!" shouted Ron. Apparently he wasn't, because he quickly made an exasperated sigh and shouted back at Ron.
"Just hurry up and swing already!" Ron reluctantly swung back and forth, coming closer and closer to the balcony. Harry watched unflinchingly, as if he were watching a Snitch.
"Now, jump!" Harry shouted.
Ron didn't jump.
"C'mon, jump," he yelled again, gesticulating toward himself vigorously.
"Are you sure about this?" Ron shouted back.
"Yes. Would you jump already, the guards are coming up the stairs!" said Harry.
Ron jumped. He sailed through the air, hit the railing of the balcony and tumbled over it onto Harry. Harry groaned as Ron pushed himself up. Ron just had enough time to see a large red spot on Harry's shoulder before he heard feet pounding up the stairs.
"The guards!" they both breathed together. They helped each other up, and shot toward the doorway on the right side of the balcony.
Hermione rushed up the stairs toward Marion's bedchamber high within Nottingham castle. Sir Guy had sealed all the exits to the room after he'd managed to get Hermione (and Ginny, though Hermione wasn't sure Sir Guy cared at all about her) out of the Dining Hall. She wasn't sure if Ron and Harry would make a successful escape, but Ginny figured she'd be able to see it from Marion's balcony.
Hermione, who was in less suffocating clothes, had raced ahead of Ginny. She threw the door open, not bothering to close it, and flew to the balcony. She looked out into the clear darkness, down to where she figured the dining hall was. There, about a hundred feet off, a small pack of horses stood with riders in green. Two more people, both clad in green, were being fished out of the moat.
Hermione leaned her elbows on the balcony and gazed down at them. But she wasn't really focusing on them. Her thoughts were focused on the events in the Dining Hall. On seeing Ron sword fight; he was actually rather good at it. But the most thrilling memory was coming out from under the table, just in time to see Ron soaring into the air, hanging onto a chandelier rope. Ginny came back in at some point and spoke to her, but Hermione only half heard. She wandered back in from the balcony and dropped onto the bed. Her mind replayed the events of the evening all night long.
To be continued…