Disclaimer :: Still don't own anything you recognize from Harry Potter, or from anywhere else for that matter.
With that, let the chapter begin!
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"RUN!" shouted Sirius. No one needed to be told twice. All three sprinted forward; the Death Eater's spell narrowly missing Dan. For what seemed like an hour, they ran blindly, dodging spells. They could not try to protect themselves, for fear of hitting each other. As they ran, the storm broke, making it hard to see where they were going. They could only hope it also made it harder for the Death Eater to see where he was aiming.
"Crucio!" The Death Eater missed again.
"Impedimenta!" Another miss. Damn, thought Dan. He didn't know how long they could keep running before one of them was hit.
"Imperio!" Everyone was still on their feet.
"Stupefy!" There was a loud thud somewhere behind Dan that told him they'd lost a member of their party. Without even thinking, he turned around to see Kate lying, crumpled, on the ground. The Death Eater was advancing on her, stooping down...
"Impedimenta!" came Sirius's voice. In slow motion, as if time had slowed down the Death Eater was blasted backwards. When he hit the ground, time sped up again. It didn't take long for him to recover, and soon he was back on his feet. Dan had his wand out now (luckily he carried it with him even in the summer), holding the Death Eater off while Sirius sprinted forward, scooped Kate up into his arms, and ran. Dan stood for a moment, as if frozen. He did not want to start a duel; it was too risky in the rain. He was already soaking wet and could hardly see. On the other hand, he didn't want to run, leaving himself vulnerable.
"Expelliarmus!" yelled the Death Eater. In that moment, Dan made his decision. He dodged the spell and ran, zigzagging between the trees, making himself harder to aim at. After what seemed like forever, they came into a clearing. The overlook was just ahead. Sirius was gently putting Kate onto a bench when Dan came storming through the trees, closely pursued by the Death Eater.
"Ha, I've got you cornered now, boy!" The Death Eater advanced on Dan, who was now at the overlook railing. "You can't run anymore." Dan took a few discrete steps to the side. For every step the Death Eater took, Dan took two to the side. As he watched, Sirius realized what Dan was doing. The Death Eater thought he had Dan now, and was not paying attention to what was happening. He continued to advance, and Dan continued to step away, until they had made a complete circle. Now it was the Death Eater with his back up against the railing. He raised his wand,
"Stu—" He never finished his spell, because at that moment, Sirius lunged at him, pushing him right over the edge of the railing. He rolled a few feet and out of sight. The two boys peered over the edge of the railing.
"Do you think he's dead?" Sirius asked.
"No, but we're at quite an altitude. No one can endure a fall like that without sustaining some injuries." Dan answered solemnly. Sirius grinned at him.
"You sound just like McGonagall," he said, referring to their aging Transfiguration professor. Dan grinned back, and turned to Kate. She had not yet regained conciousness.
"We've got to get her back to the cabins. She'll probably need medical attention." Dan said. Sirius nodded in agreement. Dan picked her up. As he looked at her, he tried not to think whether or not she would step on his foot again when she heard he had carried her. He tried to concentrate on how good it felt to have her in his arms. She looked so peaceful and beautiful, even though her hair was soaked and she was unconscious. This was the way she was, really. Peaceful and beautiful. He'd never seen her angry at anyone, besides himself. If she had one ounce of meanness in her, she always saved it for him. Even though this was the case, she would always stay beautiful in his mind. Suddenly, he noticed Sirius looking at him. He shook his head and said,
"Come on, I think it's a pretty long way back."
* * *
Twenty minutes later, Dan and Sirius trudged into the main lodge. They took Kate straight to the presiding medi-witch, whose quarters were in the back of the lodge. Dan put her on a bed, and the medi-witch, who said her name was Mademoiselle C'estine (A/N: I'm not good at French names) and whose French accent was quite thick, came over to take a look at her.
"Ah," she said after a moment. "Stunning spell eh?"
Dan and Sirius both nodded.
"Ze 'as some cuts and bruises, but zey will 'eal. Now, she needs rest. She will be alright in a few days. What 'appened?"
"In short, there was a Death Eater at the wedding, and she was attacked," Dan explained.
"Ahhhhhhh," said Mademoiselle C'estine knowingly. "Second one tonight." The boys noticed a figure in the bed next to Kate's. They presumed this to be Lena, and hoped she would recover as well.
When they were satisfied that Kate would be alright, they left the room. It was obvious that someone had seen them come into the lodge, because when they came out of the medi-ward, there was a crowd waiting for them, showering them with questions and demands for explanation.
"What happened?"
"Where'd the Death Eater go?"
"Did anyone die?"
They ignored all the questions being thrown at them. They were both extremely wet and tired, and did not particularly want to be bothered. They trudged back out into the rain, which had not yet let up, and returned to their cabin. They found that Rush, Lian, Rae, and Ellie were all there when they got back. They had been talking, but became quiet when they saw Dan and Sirius standing in the doorway. Rush stood up.
"There you are," he said in relief. "We sent Thien out to see if you were at the lodge. What happened? Where's Kate?"
"In the medi-ward," said Dan as he flopped down into a chair. "She was stunned, but the medi-witch says she'll be ok."
"Did you get rid of that Death Eater?" asked Ellie.
"Temporarily."
"It's a good thing neither of you were hurt," said Rae. "Lena's going to be ok, just out of commission for a day or two. What happened after we all went inside? We felt so bad that we didn't stay and help."
Dan and Sirius had no choice but to relate their story to their friends. They all listened and watched attentively throughout. The story had just ended when Thien came in. He informed the group that there had been no further developments on the attacks, but for everyone to keep a lookout for anything suspicious. Soon after, the girls left for their cabin, and the boys started getting ready to go to sleep. Everyone but Dan, that is. He was still thinking about what had happened that night.
"She could have died. Or worse," he said, almost to himself. Sirius overheard.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it, she's going to be ok," he said.
"Yeah, because you were quick enough to stop that Death Eater. I hate to think what he would have done to her if you hadn't been there," said Dan ruefully.
"There's no way you can tell. What's done is done, and she's alright. That's all that really matters."
Dan wasn't really in the mood to argue with Sirius at the moment. He didn't reply, just crossed the room to get his pajamas out of his suitcase.
* * *
Where am I? thought Kate as she sat upright. This is weird, I don't remember ever seeing this place before, she sat up straighter, until a pain in her back stopped her short. Ow! I definitely don't remember that! She settled back down a bit and looked around her. It looked like she was in a smaller version of the hospital wing at Hogwarts. There were beds along the wall, and an office for the medi-witch or wizard. She wondered what had happened, why she was there. She looked around for someone she could ask, and she saw that the next bed over was also occupied. The curtains around it were drawn, but Kate wondered who occupied it.
She heard voices from outside the door and in came a young women, dressed in a medi-witch's clothes.
"Yes, you may see 'er now, but only for a short time," she was saying, in a thick French accent. She was talking to someone behind her, and as they rounded the corner, Kate saw who it was. And he was not someone Kate wanted to see in her present state. It was Dan. He came over to her and pulled up a chair.
"Hey, how are you?" he asked.
"Fine."
"Listen, everybody else will be along in a bit," he said, sensing that she didn't want to be alone with him. "I just wanted to see if you were awake yet."
Somehow Kate didn't think this was the only reason he had come alone, but she didn't give him a chance for further explanation.
"What happened to me?" she asked. "I mean, I remember Lena being attacked and the Death Eater chasing us through the forest, but what happened then? Did I black out or something?"
"You were hit by a stunning spell. Sirius stopped the Death Eater from... doing whatever it was he was going to do to you and saved you."
"That's it? Sirius just got rid of him?"
"No, he chased us to the overlook, and when he tried to corner us, we pushed him over the edge. We're not sure what happened to him, but he hasn't been back, that's for sure."
"What happened to Lena?"
"She's alright. In fact, she's right over there, in the bed next to you."
"Oooohhh, that's who that is. Good, I'm glad she's ok."
At that moment, the rest of the group came noisily into the medi-ward.
"Kate!" Rae squealed and hugged her.
"Hey everyone," Kate said as she hugged back. Everyone pulled up chairs or made themselves comfortable on the bed next to her.
"So, did you hear all about what happened last night?" asked Ellie.
"Dan and I were just talking about that."
"Ooooooh! You know he carried you..."
*****
The plot's pickin' up! Keep a lookout for more updates. The next chapter will be the beginning of the gang's final year at Hogwarts!
When I started writing this fanfic, (which was a long time before I actually posted it) I promised myself that I wouldn't ask my readers for a certain number of reviews before posting the next chapter. Well, I haven't had ANY reviewers since CHAPTER 1!!!! So please, please, pretty please review! For me? I WILL take your suggestions, and I WILL write you a reply at the beginning of the next update (you can see chapter 2 for examples). Come on, you know you love me, and if you review my fic I'll review yours!
Pink Bunny Slippers,
+*KM*+