This isn't mine. It's JKR's and parts are Joss's.
This chapter is for Drew and Nat, for all the help they did in keeping my ideas sane and reading and re-reading and proofing and betaing and just generally being great.
Thanks to all my reviewers.
Review please.
*****
"Who cast the spell that was responsible for starting the Goblin Rebellion of 1476?" Hermione questioned. She looked up from the thin slip of white paper she held and looked expectantly at her friends. Ernie rifled quickly through his notes to find the correct answer. Ron had a dazed look on his face that he'd kept pretty much since Hermione had made them start intense O.W.L.'s revision almost a week earlier. Mandy doodled something that looked suspiciously like "Mandy loves Ron" into small hearts all over a piece of spare parchment. Justin had abandoned all attempts at studying in favor of napping with his forehead planted squarely on the table. Hannah and Harry had a piece of parchment between them and were immersed in an intense game of tic-tac-toe.
"Nigel the carefree!" Ernie finally cried. He looked triumphantly up at Hermione. Hermione shook her head at him.
"Nigel the careless," she corrected.
"Carefree, careless, what difference does it make?" Ernie asked. He ran a hand through his sandy hair and pushed his glasses up on his nose.
"Ernie! The difference could be the only thing that stands between you graduating or staying a fifth year forever!" Hermione screeched. Ron elbowed Ernie lightly in his ribs.
"You can share moaning Myrtle's toilet," he offered. Ernie glared at him and shook his head.
"Thanks, but no thanks."
"Could you imagine spending eternity with Moaning Myrtle?" Mandy questioned. Hannah snatched Harry's glasses from his face and put them on hers. She had already gathered her hair into braided pigtails earlier
"Oh its dreadful!" she cried in a dead on impression of the ghost. "I'm a horrible reject and I've got to spend the rest of my life in a toilet with no one to talk to and no boys to snog!" The group, save Hermione all laughed as though Hannah's impression was the funniest thing they'd seen in weeks.
"Heaven forbid you not have boys to snog!" Mandy screeched.
"Boys? As in more than one?" Harry sounded slightly offended.
"Heaven forbid you not have Harry to snog!" Mandy corrected her statement. Harry nodded.
"Much better," he said.
"Well of course. But Moaning Myrtle wouldn't have Harry to snog, just boys. If I ever catch Harry snogging Moaning Myrtle," Hannah didn't get a chance to finish her threat.
"Drag my arse to the top of the Astronomy Tower and kick me off!" Harry demanded. Hannah nodded.
"What is the property of ghosts that makes snogging Moaning Myrtle a physical impossibility?" Hermione attempted to pull her friends attention back to studying. Mandy tapped her quill against the table rapidly and pressed her hand to her forehead in a highly melodramatic fashion.
"It's that thing!" she squealed. "That makes them invisible only not! Like whitish and pearlyish! And walk-through-able!"
"Mandy baby, you're fast heading towards the deep end. I think it's time for you to go back to your common room," Ron said. He reached over and massaged his girlfriend's shoulders.
"No! I'm not going back to the common room with those pompous Ravenclaw arseholes who do nothing but study! I won't go and you can't make me!" the girl screeched.
"Mandy darling, where will you sleep if you don't go back to your common room?" Ron reasoned.
"With you!" Mandy squealed. "Or in Moaning Myrtle's toilet." Ernie and Harry quit trying to contain their laughter. Justin still slept. Hannah and Hermione glared at the boys while Ron tried to reason with his exam- stressed girlfriend.
"Mandy dear, you can't sleep with me," Ron said.
"Why not?" Mandy asked, lower lip poking out just a bit. She blinked her violet eyes twice at Ron before continuing. "We did that one time!" Before Mandy could spill any more incriminating information, Ron clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Hermione! You've broken my girlfriend! Ron declared. He tried to will his face away from the fire engine red color it had achieved and picked up his girlfriend, careful not to move his hand from her mouth. "You've locked her in the Great Hall and forgotten to let her do anything but study and now she's all crazy!"
"Ron!" Hermione began.
"I'm taking her to Madame Pomfrey!" Ron insisted. "Great Hermione, you've broken Ron too," Ernie screeched.
"If I offer to share a toilet with Moaning Myrtle and babble incoherently do you think she'll allow you to drag me to the hospital wing?" Harry asked, looking earnestly up at Hannah.
"Babe, I'm over here," Hannah said, waving at Harry.
"No you're not," Harry insisted. "You're right there!" He pointed directly at Hannah's face.
Am not!" Hannah cried. "I'm over here."
"You've broken them too!" Ernie screeched. "These Saturday study sessions are just too much for the less academically minded." Justin sat up and scratched his head. The front of his chocolate brown hair stuck straight up and he had an imprint of the table's wood grain on his head.
"If she would just give him back his glasses wouldn't they be okay?" he asked. Not waiting to hear a reply, he let his head crash back into the table and continued his nap.
"Oh yeah," Harry laughed. He reached over, pulled his glasses from her face, and returned them to his.
"So do you guys what to take a ten or 15 minute break?" Hermione questioned.
"Or we could quit for the day," Harry suggested.
"Twenty minutes," Hermione offered.
"Or we could quit for the day," Harry repeated. "And go flying."
"Sounds fun," Hannah said.
"But guys, O.W.L.'s are important. If you don't pass them you won't get good jobs!" Ernie screeched. "Hannah, you'll never get to be a mediwitch without Potions and Charms O.W.L.'s and Harry, what do you want to do?"
"Live," Harry replied simply. "Or if that doesn't work out I could always drive the Knight Bus." Ernie and Hermione both glared at Harry while Hannah giggled lightly.
"Okay, so maybe you won't need O.W.L.'s to drive the Knight Bus," Ernie said.
"Maybe one in Muggle Studies if I wasn't muggle born," Harry reasoned.
"Harry dear, you aren't muggle born," Hermione reminded him. Harry shrugged.
"Sometimes it's easy to forget," Harry admitted.
"You don't have Draco Malfoy reminding you every time he sees you," Hermione muttered.
"Draco Malfoy is a prick!" Ernie announced.
"Tell us something we don't know, McMillan," Hannah laughed.
"Well, of the seven people in here earlier, muggleborns held the majority with four, then we had one half blood and two pure bloods," Ernie said.
"Actually, I'm not necessarily a muggleborn," Hannah said. Hermione, Harry, and Ernie all turned to look at Hannah.
"Mum's a muggle, but we don't know anything more about my dad than his last name," the girl explained.
"Which is?" Hermione prompted.
"Chase," Hannah replied. "It's my middle name." The turning wheels in Hermione's head were nearly visible.
"So if we go to the library and search through back records of students for the past 40 or so years we can see if anyone with the last name Chase has attended the school," she said.
"Or we could just not worry about it until after O.W.L.'s," Hannah said. "I've lived 16 years knowing nothing about the man. A few more months won't kill me."
"Speaking of O.W.L.'s, we should study," Hermione said.
"Hermione, they're still over a week away and you've already driven Mandy insane," Ernie said.
"Enough studying already," Harry said. He began shoving books into his bag. "Time for some obligatory fun. Everyone back to your common rooms. Round up every one who wants to come and meet back here in 30 minutes. It's time for a castle-wide game of hide and seek."
*****
"Now why exactly are we here?" Sawyer questioned. "Is someone missing? Because if we have to search for someone, I'm pairing with someone besides the Mandrake!"
"Shut up Sawyer Lewis!" Chelsea demanded.
"Well, no one is missing," Harry said. "Yet."
"Hide and seek!" Ernie announced.
"Does everyone understand the rules?" Hermione questioned. A small voice from the back of the group sounded.
"You need to set boundaries, choose 'it's' and decide whether or not we're playing in teams," it advised. Harry nodded.
"The boundaries are the castle. No common rooms, offices, or bathrooms. Other than that, anywhere is fair game. We'll play in teams of no more than three for safety reasons. No using magic, no doing anything that will put Filch on our tails, and please, be smart about this," Harry said. The assembled group nodded.
"This first year is voting that couples shouldn't be allowed to hide together. I, for one, don't want to have to see or stop any snogging," Astrid declared. Sawyer and Jason nodded their agreement.
"I propose someone in each group be prepared to ward off attacks from Venomous gnawing rock-flies," a stringy-haired Ravenclaw said from the back of the group. The girl wore a cap fashioned from what appeared to be aluminum foil over her blonde hair. Her earrings looked like fishhooks and she wore a necklace made of beads formed from bubblegum wrappers.
"Looney Lovegood," Mandy hissed to Ron. "The only Ravenclaw who would step away from her studies long enough to come play." Ron chuckled under his breath. Madame Pomfrey had given Mandy a stress relieving potion and Hermione, Harry, Hannah and Ernie had found the pair snogging in a side hallway just outside the hospital wing.
"Don't worry, we've got the flies taken care of!" Sawyer insisted. He pulled an imaginary sword from the belt of his pants and brandished it playfully at Luna.
"I'm serious," Luna said, glaring at the first year. Sawyer grinned broadly at the girl.
"Shall I introduce you to my dear friend Chelsea the Mandrake then?" Sawyer shoved the Hufflepuff towards the Ravenclaw. "Resident expert on all types of rock-flies. She'll be more than happy to be on your team."
"Sawyer!" Astrid shrieked.
"I'll be on their team too," Nathan volunteered. Chelsea glared steadily at Sawyer. Sawyer tossed one arm around Astrid's shoulders and the other around Jason's.
"Team?" he asked. Jason shrugged the smaller boy's arm away.
"Team," he and Astrid agreed. Harry slid an arm around Hermione's shoulders and stretched up to place the other around Ron's.
"Team?" He questioned. Ron copied Jason's motion to keep out of Harry's grasp.
"Team," the fifth years agreed. Hannah looked between Mandy, Ernie, and Justin.
"You three go together, I'll go with Colin and Piper," Justin stepped towards the pair of Gryffindor fourth years. Ernie raised his eyebrows at Justin while Piper giggled into her hand.
"TEAM!" Fred, George, and Lee chorused.
"Special rules for them!" Angelina declared. The three chasers had chosen to be on a team together. Hermione nodded.
"No pranks, no scaring anyone, no testing products on unsuspecting game participants or even people passing through the halls," Hermione said, glaring most specifically at Fred. Fred stepped towards his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her waist. He dipped her backwards over his left arm before pulling her up into a kiss.
"Would I ever?" he asked.
"Do you really want me to answer that question?" Hermione responded. Fred shook his head and released his girlfriend. She smiled sweetly at him and stepped back even with her friends.
"So who is going to be it?" Kyle asked. He, Seamus and Dean had teamed up, while Lavender and Parvati had paired with Marissa Lucas. Ginny, Jae, and Natalie McDonald formed another team. The door to the Great Hall creaked open and one William Sanguinis stepped partway inside.
"Is this where the study break to end all study breaks is happening?" He questioned. The group nodded. He stopped fully into the great hall and pulled someone in behind him. A very nervous looking Cho Chang stepped out from behind her boyfriend. Her left hand clasped Sanguinis's right lightly. She ran her right through her formerly waist-length hair. Now the black locks stopped just below her chin in front and angled to a point level with the bottom of her ears in back. Her eyes were lined with thick black liner. She smoothed her hair again and Ron gasped. The sound caught in his throat and escaped only as a small squeak.
"What's your problem?" Harry hissed.
"Cho," Ron squeaked, soliciting another glare from Mandy. "Cho and Sanguinis. Quidditch. Seventh year. July!"
"Hush Ron!" Hermione commanded. "We'll talk later," Harry added. Ron stopped his seemingly inane babbling and ran both of his hands through his hair, making it all stand up on end.
"Join a team then," Harry prompted. William and Cho nodded and surveyed the gathered players.
"How about you let us be it?" Cho finally suggested.
"Fine," Harry agreed. Behind him, Ron gave another squeak.
"Wait five minutes," Hermione added. "Then seek. First group found is the next game's it." Everyone nodded his or her agreement. Harry looked out across his friends. Astrid, Jason, and Sawyer were already whispering a plan among themselves. Luna steadily sized up Chelsea and Nathan. Cho and Sanguinis had stepped, albeit very nervously, to the back of the group.
"Well then can we go?" Ron questioned. Hermione nodded.
"Certainly," Harry agreed. One by one, the groups turned and ran out of the Great Hall, heading straight for the perfect hiding spot. Soon only Mandy, Ernie, Hannah, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were left standing with William and Cho.
"Any ideas?" Harry questioned.
"Yes, but I don't think talking about them here would be a good idea." Ron cast a furtive glance over Harry's head to where Sanguinis and Cho stood.
"I meant about a hiding spot," Harry hissed.
"We could always go to the library and sit between the shelves somewhere in the back," Hermione said.
"So you can study while we play," Ron replied. "I think not!" Hermione frowned at the tall redhead.
"We could at least try to get as far away from the Great Hall as possible so even if we have to duck behind a tapestry, we won't be the first ones found," Harry said. Ron and Hermione both nodded and the trio turned and walked from the Great Hall.
"Dungeons or upstairs?" Harry questioned when they stepped into the entrance hall.
"Dungeons," Ron said.
"Upstairs," Hermione replied at the same time. "Less tapestry to hide behind in the dungeons," she reasoned.
"Fewer people are brave enough to go to the dungeons. Perhaps if Sanguinis and Cho are distracted by the people hiding upstairs, we'll have more time to talk about whatever it is that has Ron reduced to a blubbering idiot," Harry said. He took the first steps that led down into the dungeons. Hermione and Ron followed him.
"Or more of a blubbering idiot," a familiar voice said from the bottom of the stairs.
"Malfoy!" Ron spat. He froze on the steps behind Harry, leaving Hermione to crash into him.
"Sorry Weasel, that was un-called for, but Potty set it up too perfectly," Malfoy said. Ron glanced over his shoulder at Hermione who shrugged as well as she could manage. She had one hand on each of Ron's shoulders and leaned against him to keep her balance from her stumble due to his sudden stop.
"Okay, who are you and what have you done with the Malfoy that would never apologize to Ron?" Harry questioned, partially thankful that he was on the stairs between Ron and the Slytherin.
"Look, I didn't mean to interrupt whatever the three of you were heading down here to get yourselves into. Contessa just gave me this to give to Weasley to give to my sister," Draco said. He held out a silvery ball on a thin silver chain.
"So you're claiming her as your sister now are you?" Ron questioned, glaring steadily at Draco.
"Weasel, I didn't find you to debate the ethics of dealing with siblings. Though with six, you should be the expert on them," Draco began.
"May I remind you that you will have five in September?" Hermione questioned from behind Ron.
"Four, Mudblood. Where did you learn to count?" Draco questioned. "Keiran, Astrid, Emma and the baby make four."
"Barrett," Hermione challenged. For just a moment Draco's careful façade dropped but before the look had any chance to register with the trio, he schooled his features back to the calm mask he always wore.
"Does my sister tell all of our family secrets?" Draco questioned, quietly menacing. The Gryffindors weren't exactly sure how to respond.
"Then I suppose you know about the ceremony and Keiran's little issue," Draco said. More silent and uncomfortable stares from the Gryffindors ensued. Draco smacked a hand to his forehead.
"I'm really going to have to have a discussion about secrets with my sister," he muttered.
"We also know who tried to kill you," Ron said, leveling a glare on Draco. Draco pulled his hand away from his head and looked up at the redhead. Surprise showed in his silver eyes, though his face betrayed no emotion. Harry spoke for the rest of them.
"We do?" he asked. Ron nodded twice.
"At least, I think I do," he said. Harry walked up the stairs between himself and his friend he grabbed the redhead by the sleeve and pulled him down the stairs. Hermione stumbled after them.
"We need to talk," he said.
"I thought you both liked girls," Draco said.
"If I thought I could grab your sleeve and drag you and get away with it, you'd be standing right here next to him. I do, however, think you're going to want to hear this conversation," Harry replied.
"We do like girls!" Ron supplied, glaring at his friend for ignoring Malfoy's comment. Harry ignored both boys and pulled his best friend into the nearest empty room. The only item in the room was a large grand piano.
"Speak," Harry commanded, turning Ron to face him. Draco barked softly twice from the door.
"Malfoy, if you insist on being in here, at least keep your mouth shut," Harry demanded. Draco shrugged.
"I didn't insist on being here but since none of you has yet to take this necklace from me, I figured it would be in my best interest to follow you," Draco replied.
"Sanguinis," Ron announced.
"WHAT?" Harry and Hermione questioned.
"You said he and Cho had been together since July, right?" Ron asked Harry. Harry nodded.
"Pardon my asking, but what does Sanguinis have anything to do with anything?" Draco questioned. "Especially Sanguinis's love life!"
"If this Contessa Borgin knows what she's talking about," Ron began.
"She does," Draco cut in. "She's just so damned cryptic that it's hard to figure her out sometimes." The three friends glared at her.
"If she knows what she's talking about, then Sanguinis is the person who has been causing the trouble inside Hogwarts," Ron said. "Her clues were one of nine non-Slytherin seventh year Quidditch players, dating the same person since July, and then some cryptic shit about don't count out your teammates. The seventh year Quidditch players are Sanguinis, Eloise Midgeon, Carter Anderson and Alexa Raymond, the chasers and twins, and Pucey. None of them save Sanguinis has been dating the same person since July. It has to be him!" Harry and Hermione both nodded.
"So he's the bloody bastard that landed me in the hospital wing for the better part of three weeks?" Malfoy asked.
"I think so," Ron said. "But you probably already knew that."
"Actually, I didn't," Draco admitted. "Contessa's clues to me were a bit more cryptic than her clues to you, and I generally don't keep up with seventh year Quidditch player's love lives."
"But it does make sense," Hermione said. "Because I distinctly remember someone saying you had stayed behind to talk to Sanguinis after practice the night before you played potions master."
"That's when the bloody bastard hexed me," Draco spat.
"You remember?" Hermione questioned.
"Well no," Draco admitted, "But it's only reasonable." He stood up and started towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Harry questioned.
"To choke my little brother until he tells me everything he knows," Draco replied, smirking evilly at the three friends.
"Can we at least have the necklace?" Ron questioned.
"Oh, right," Draco tossed the chain at the taller boy. "You're the only one that should touch it, and make sure you stress how important it is that she never take it off, because we don't know when the ceremony could happen."
"This summer, right?" Hermione questioned. Draco shrugged.
"As far as Contessa can figure, they need a few more ingredients before they can complete the ceremony. However, they may already have all of those. I don't exactly know though," Draco said.
"Right. Now go choke your little brother," Ron said. He nodded at Draco and Draco ran out of the room.
"So it looks like stopping the ceremony is going to be the big bad of this year," Hermione muttered.
"The what?" Ron asked.
"Nothing," Hermione replied. "Muggle reference."
"But if the ceremony happens in the summer, how are the three of us going to stop it?" Harry questioned.
"What's saying that we have to stop it?" Hermione questioned.
"Well if we don't, what is going to happen that will allow us to save the day for this year?" Ron questioned.
"What's saying that we have to save the day?" Harry questioned. Hermione and Ron closed their mouths and looked at their third. Ron's slowly fell back open.
"Okay, you're right. That would be a normal year at Hogwarts and we don't have those," Harry relented.
%%%%%
"So we've got five minutes," Cho purred, stepping towards William. She ran her hands up his chest and clasped them behind his neck. He leaned down for a quick kiss.
"How should we spend it?" she asked. William reached behind his head and grabbed her hands. He pulled them away from his head and smiled softly at her.
"Cheating," he said. Before she could say anything else, he started towards the door of the Great Hall. Ernie, Mandy, and Hannah had disappeared only moments before through the door. "We're following my housemates."
%%%%%
"Do you think this is a good spot?" Nate asked, looking from Chelsea to Luna. The trio was perched in a small alcove between a statue and a suit of armor. A small fly crawled down the wall behind Luna. The girl caught its reflection in the suit of armor. Quietly, she reached over her shoulder and clamped her hands over it.
"I've got one!" she hissed. "I must go tell father!" She jumped to her feet and ran down the hall, all thoughts of the game abandoned. Nathan looked over at Chelsea.
"So that takes care of her," he laughed.
"Yeah," Chelsea agreed, "But this spot sucks." Chelsea nodded and looked towards the pedestal on which the statue was seated.
"Hey, that's hollow, do you think you could fit?" she asked. Nathan looked warily at the pedestal.
"Maybe," he finally said. Chelsea nodded.
"Good," she replied. "I'll go watch and make sure no one sees you trying to get in, and then I'll hide in the folds of the tapestry down there."
"Sounds good, Mandrake," Nathan joked. Chelsea glared at him before jumping to her feet and running down the hall. Nathan slowly approached the pedestal and began trying to fit himself into the hollow base.
"Hurry Nate," Chelsea urged. Nathan placed his left leg and arm into the pedestal and ducked his head so he could slide his right arm and leg in too.
"Nate, I think someone's coming!" Chelsea insisted. Nate pulled the pedestal backwards towards the wall but Chelsea simply shrank back from the corner, still watching the proceedings in the adjoining hall.
%%%%%
"So where is this amazing hiding spot of yours, Ernie?" Mandy asked. Hannah skipped along next to her friends.
"I wish I could have hid with Harry," she said.
"You'll see," Ernie answered Mandy's question and completely ignored Hannah.
"So the two of you are over the fight you had about the American beater?" Mandy questioned. Hannah nodded.
"Yep," she replied. "He explained that what I saw in the Great Hall was actually the crazy first year. I just didn't manage to see her in the tangle of bodies on the floor cause she is kind of tiny."
"Hiding spot?" Mandy asked again.
"You'll see," Ernie said again. Before anyone could say anything else. Ernie fell to the floor between the two girls. Mandy tapped the boy with the toe of her right shoe.
"Ernie?" Hannah asked. She knelt down next to her friend and tried to turn him over.
"Is he okay?" Mandy questioned. Hannah shrugged.
"I think he's been stunned," Hannah replied. Mandy turned to face the end of the hall where the attack had come from. Before she could say anything, two figures standing at the end of the hall shot stunning spells in her direction. Both hit her directly in her chest and she toppled on top of Ernie. Hannah looked over at the growing pile of fallen friends. Before administering reviving spells to either of them, she, too, looked down the hall.
"Stupefy," came the only words from a pair of figures before Hannah collapsed on top of Mandy.
"In here," William said, pointing to a broom closet conveniently located just to the left of the pile of fifth years.
"Will, why did we just do that?" Cho questioned.
"Don't ask questions," William spat. Cho nodded nervously and helped her boyfriend begin moving the three fifth years into the closet.
%%%%%
Chelsea watched William and Cho stun three of her fifth year friends and then pry open a broom closet. When William began kicking Hannah into the closet and Cho attempted to drag Mandy to join her best friend, she turned on her heel and ran down the hall as fast as her legs would carry her. From his spot in the pedestal, Nate watched her speed by but chalked it up as part of the game. When William and Cho ran by a moment later, he figured that it was all part of the game also, so he waited several minutes before climbing from his hiding spot and making his way to the Great Hall.
%%%%%
"Do we have any votes of finding a better hiding place than this piano room?" Harry asked, glancing around the room before finally settling on looking from Ron to Hermione several times.
"Seems good to me," Hermione said.
"We probably won't be the first found, so who cares if they find us?" Ron questioned. Harry nodded and sank to the floor against the wall. Hermione had taken a seat on the piano bench and Ron leaned in the opposite corner. For a moment, the trio was silent. Before they could say anything, a tapping sounded at the door. They looked at each other, wide eyed, and slightly scared. Before they could make any moves or noise, the not fully latched door opened a crack, and a large black owl flew in. The bird headed straight for Harry and stopped just short of the boy's face. Harry reached up and took the scrap of parchment from the owl's leg. He unrolled it and quickly scanned the note. His face went pale and his head fell back against the wall. The parchment fluttered out of his hand.
"What is it?" Hermione asked. She tumbled off the piano bench and onto the floor next to her friend in one fluid, though slightly ungraceful movement. Ron took two hurried steps from his corner. Hermione picked up the parchment and turned her back to Ron so he could read over her shoulder.
I have one dear to you. Come and you will both die. Don't and the one will die cursing your name.
Hermione crumpled the paper in her hand and looked up at Harry.
"What are we going to do?" Ron asked.
"I don't think it's a question of we, I think it's a question of me," Harry replied.
"We, me," Hermione said. "It's a difference of direction really." Ron quirked an eyebrow at her. She shook her head at him.
"So what's the plan?" Ron questioned.
"You guys stay here, I go do what needs to be done," Harry responded.
"Harry, since when have you ever done anything by yourself by choice?" Hermione asked.
"Hermione's right," Ron added. "We're going with you and that's final."
"Besides," Hermione paused to look at the note. "Okay, so the note said something about you both dying, but that's not there anymore. But maybe if we all go, we can prevent anyone from dying."
"What does it say now?" Harry asked, eyes wide. Hermione read aloud from the note.
To find that which your heart seeks Look not among the weak The hallowed brotherhood of valor Once took their places here And while in peace they did abide Their enemies cowered in fear Then one brave knight did break the faith And from his seat was tossed. You seek a table, arciform That mankind thinks is lost.
"So it's telling us where they've got whatever it is that they've taken," Hermione said.
"It's a table. That mankind thinks is lost," Ron added. "Meaning it could be ANYWHERE!"
"It would have to be close," Hermione refuted Ron's logic. Harry nodded his support of Hermione.
"Arciform, isn't that a shape?" Ron questioned.
"Circular," Hermione replied. "And the rest of the poem now makes sense."
"What?" Harry asked.
"We have to find the round table. As in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table," Hermione said, looking warily at her friend.
"Can I repeat my bit about it could be anywhere?" Ron questioned.
"You have," Hermione replied. Harry slowly got to his feet.
"Think large circular table. Have we come in contact with any of those lately?" He questioned. He began walking towards the door, flanked by his friends. "And there is also the question of exactly who they've taken. Because you two are obviously still here, and we just saw Ginny and Hannah."
"Astrid," Ron said.
"Okay Astrid. Yes, very reasonable!" Harry cried. He began a slow jog for the stairs. Ron kept up with him easily, but Hermione struggled.
"Should we take the cloak?" Ron asked when the trio reached the top of the stairs.
"Do you have a pocket big enough to put it in?" Harry asked. "Because I think I'll be able to do my charmed invisibility if I absolutely have to."
"So can I," Hermione said. Ron frowned at them.
"It's not fair," he insisted. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at his friends.
"Try it again," Harry prompted. Ron closed his eyes and began muttering the spell for charmed invisibility under his breath. Slowly his feet and the top of his head faded from view, followed by his face, his legs up to his knees, and his arms up to his elbows.
"You're doing it!" Hermione screeched just before Ron disappeared completely.
"So someone Harry loves needs to get kidnapped more often so I can master difficult charms things," Ron's voice sounded from just behind Hermione, signaling his movement.
"Accio Invisibility Cloak" Harry whispered. Hermione looked at him and Ron snorted indignantly.
"I don't want him coming visible just because he hasn't mastered the spell yet," Harry said. Ron snorted again, and Hermione shrugged at Harry.
"I saw that," Ron muttered, still behind Hermione. Harry reached out and caught the cloak as it zipped past Ron and Hermione.
"Any ideas as to where the table is?" Hermione asked. Ron slowly faded back to visibility.
"Large round table," Harry muttered.
"Yes, Harry, that is what you're looking for," Hermione said.
"Hogsmeade would be reasonable."
%%%%%
"Chelsea turned anther corner and considered pausing for breath. She didn't know if William and Cho had heard her or were following her. She figured she needed to find Dumbledore or Harry. Or both.
"Where is Harry hiding?" she asked herself as she jogged. She pushed her reddish brown hair back from her face. She rounded another corner and found herself right at the stairs leading down into the Entrance Hall. She glanced over into the hall and noticed three figures conversing near the door to the Great Hall.
"HARRY!" she shouted. The fifth year spun on his heel and looked up at the breathless, red-faced Hufflepuff.
"What Chelsea?" Harry snapped, slightly angrier than he meant to sound.
"It's Hannah," Chelsea gasped. "They've knocked her out," She paused for several large gulps of air. Before she could continue her sentence, Sanguinis spun around the corner.
"Stupefy," he muttered. The spell struck the girl's left temple. She pitched forward and tumbled down the stairs.
"Chelsea!" Hermione cried.
"Will, what's going on?" Cho asked. William spun back into the hall and flattened himself against the wall.
"Nothing baby," William replied. Cho widened her heavily lined eyes at her boyfriend. He leaned in for a quick kiss.
"We've cursed four too many people for this to be nothing," Cho objected. William reached for his left sleeve and began rolling it up. He turned his forearm so that it was in Cho's full view. Slowly, the black markings of a snake-tongued skull appeared. Cho's right fist flew to her mouth and she bit pensively on her middle knuckle as her boyfriend slowly revealed his dark mark.
%%%%%
"Merlin," Harry cried, stomping his feet for effect. Hermione ran over to the girl crumpled at the bottom of the stairs. Chelsea's left leg stuck out from her body at the oddest of angles.
"Do they have Astrid or Hannah?" Harry questioned. Ron took two nervous steps towards the bottom of the steps.
"Don't, Ron," Hermione warned. "We don't know what's up there." Ron took another step.
"What happened?" A familiar voice asked from the Great Hall door.
"Astrid!" Ron exclaimed.
"Chelsea!" Jason and Sawyer shrieked. The boys headed to Hermione, sliding to a halt on the stone right next to their fallen friend. Astrid hurried over to Ron.
"What's going on?" She looked up at the fifth year through earnest silver eyes. Ron held his hands down to the girl. She quickly clambered into his arms
"Our plan was to sneak into the Great Hall directly after Cho and Sanguinis left. They so did not wait five minutes before they sought," Astrid whispered. Ron looked over the girl's shoulder to where Harry stood in the corner. Harry stared at the parchment as though he would miraculously see something that wasn't there. Hermione, Jason, and Sawyer crouched around Chelsea. Hermione seemed to be whispering instructions to the boys.
"Something weird is going on here," Ron finally declared.
"Something weird is going on here," Astrid echoed. "Should be the school motto."
"Something weird involving Sanguinis and some cryptic notes. I need you to go find Dumbledore and tell him that something weird is happening involving Harry, Hannah and the Knights of the Round Table," Ron instructed. Astrid nodded once.
"The Knights of the Round Table?" Astrid asked.
"You wouldn't happen to know where the Round Table is would you?" Ron asked, half smiling at the little girl still perched in his arms.
"Madame Rosmerta has it," Astrid replied promptly. "Lucius tried to buy it from her this past summer for some sort of ceremony thing. I don't know what the ceremony is about though, I stopped listening at that point."
"The Three Broomsticks!" Harry cried.
"Looks like Potter has come to the same conclusion," Astrid laughed. Ron shifted the girl's weight to his right arm and used his left hand to pull the necklace from his pocket.
"Put this on," he instructed.
"What is it?" Astrid asked and she struggled to clasp the chain under her white blonde hair.
"It's something that may save you. Draco gave it to me to give to you and told me to stress the importance of never taking it off," Ron said. Astrid nodded.
"Importance stressed," she said. Chelsea's body slowly levitated off the floor. Her leg was in a splint that Hermione had conjured. Jason took control of his still unconscious friend and he and Sawyer began floating her up the stairs towards the hospital wing.
"Okay chica, go find Dumbledore," Ron said. Astrid nodded solemnly at her friend.
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
"Looks like we're headed for the Three Broomsticks," Ron replied. Astrid nodded again before wrapping her arms tightly around Ron's neck.
"Be safe," she urged. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Like get yourself killed." Ron nodded into her hair.
"I will," he whispered. "And I won't." Astrid nodded and pulled away. She wiggled for a moment, signaling that she wanted to stand on her own. Ron returned her to her feet. She looked up at him and brushed her bangs away from her forehead.
"See you later," she finally said. Before Ron could say anything, she turned on her heel and ran up the stairs for Dumbledore's office.
"Ready now?" Harry asked. He stood with one hand on the front door, tapping his foot impatiently. Hermione stood next to him, forehead creased with worry and eyes darting from Harry to Ron back to Harry. Ron nodded.
"Do we have a plan?" he questioned. "Astrid said you were right about the location of the round table. She also said Lucius tried to buy it for a ceremony of some sort over the summer, but Madame Rosmerta wouldn't sell, so who knows what we're getting ready to walk ourselves into." Harry pushed the door open and headed out into the crisp May air. Hermione followed him with Ron a few steps behind her.
"We're going to go rescue Hannah," Harry finally replied.
"So we're purposefully leaving school grounds by the front door and we're going to charge into a probable Death Eater rally like the bloody cavalry," Ron said. "Does anyone besides me think that this is a recipe to get dead?"
"What do you propose?" Harry questioned.
"For starters, we should fly so we can get there faster," Ron said. "And with your Firebolt, you'll at least stand a good chance of getting away if a fast escape is needed."
"You have to remember that the table is in the basement. One way in, one way out. That significantly complicates getting in and out secretly," Hermione said. Harry picked up his pace towards the front gate and lazily summoned his and Ron's brooms from the shed as he walked.
"How many do you think will be there," Ron questioned. Hermione stopped and pulled out her wand. She pointed it first at Ron, then at Harry and muttered two quick spells.
"Hermione, it feels like you've coated my skin in paste," Ron announced. Hermione quickly performed the spell on herself.
"My skin feels all tight and stretched," Harry said.
"You're both now basically fire proof," Hermione explained. "For at least enough time to get out of a burning building."
"What are you planning Hermione darling?" Ron questioned.
"If all else fails, I'll torch the building," Hermione replied. "Fire tends to panic people. We'll grab Hannah and run cause I bet they haven't thought of fireproofing."
"Great, we have a back up plan," Ron muttered. "Remind me again how we saved the day those other four times?" Harry reached out and caught both brooms. He tossed one to Ron and mounted his. Ron looked at the broom in his hands.
"Harry, this isn't my broom," he said. Harry nodded.
"I know. You're to shrink it and keep it in your pocket. If it comes to torching the building, enlarge it, blast through the ceiling, and the two of you get out as quick as you can," Harry said. "I'll get Hannah and follow you." Hermione muttered another spell. A moment later, she held another broom in her hands.
"Fred's," she explained. "Hannah can fly her own way out so we don't have to double so many people." She shrunk the broom and placed it into her pocket. Ron climbed onto the Firebolt and moved to the front to make room for Hermione behind him. Hermione climbed onto the broom and wrapped her arms tightly around Ron's waist.
"Ready?" Harry asked. The pair nodded.
"When we get there, I'll go in, the pair of you stay at the top of the stairs and wait for me. If they're not expecting you to come, they just may kill you, and I'm completely serious about that." Ron and Hermione nodded again. Harry kicked off and turned Ron's broom towards Hogsmeade. Ron and Hermione followed him on the Firebolt.
%%%%%
Nathan struggled to keep his breathing inaudible. The portrait on the other side of the corridor kept shooting him dirty looks. He could still hear Cho and William at the end of the hall. After the most recent stunning spell, he had heard someone tumble down the stairs and Hermione shout Chelsea. Though he had never played hide and seek as a child, being pureblooded and everything, he knew that stunning spells weren't part of the rules. Unsure of what to do, he flattened himself against a wall just around the corner from Cho and William. The pair of older students didn't move for several minutes. Finally, Nathan heard the front door of the school open and almost immediately close. Cho and William's end of the hall was suddenly quiet.
"They've disappeared," the portrait finally said. Nathan exhaled deeply.
"Disappeared?" he asked. The lady in the portrait nodded. She was a rather severe looking old woman with salt and pepper hair pulled back in a tight bun reminiscent of McGonagall's. Her deep red robes were of a style favored in the early 1900's. Nathan stepped towards the portrait.
"Portkey, I suspect," she said. "Even after last year, my grandson didn't ward the castle against people getting out by using them." Nathan looked at the small gold plaque at the bottom of the gilt frame.
"Minerva Dumbledore," Nathan read.
"Yes boy," the woman said. She peered down at Nathan through square black glasses. "Now go find Albus, er, Professor Dumbledore, and tell him about the students running about his school as if they own the place and especially about those two disappearing. Tell him Grandmother Minnie sent you."
%%%%%
"How long should we wait?" Hermione questioned. She caught a piece of fingernail between her teeth and tore it off. The trio had landed in Hogsmeade just outside The Three Broomsticks. Ron set about shrinking the brooms. He stowed the Firebolt in his pocket and handed his miniature Nimbus to Harry.
"Indefinitely," Harry said. "Hex the hell out of them when they bring my dead arse up the stairs, but don't come down those steps for anything. Your lives could depend on it." Hermione and Ron both nodded.
"Ready?" Harry questioned. His two best friends nodded again. Hermione hurried over to Harry. She tossed her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. He slid his arms around her shoulders and easily rocked her back and forth for a moment. Before either could release the other, Ron stepped over and tossed his long arms around both of them.
"At the risk of sounding incredibly cheesy, I love you guys," Hermione muttered from the center of the hug.
"I love you too," Harry said. He untangled himself from the mix of limbs and grasped Hermione's chin. He pulled her eyes up to level with his. Then he leaned in and dropped a very brotherly kiss on her left cheek
"I love you three," Ron said. He spun Hermione to face him and grasped her shoulders. He planted a kiss squarely on her forehead before turning his signature shade of bright red.
"Now my other cheek feels left out." Hermione frowned. Harry and Ron looked at each other over her head, so they didn't pay attention to her statement. Neither boy could bring himself to verbalize the thoughts running through his head. Hermione stepped from in between the pair. Finally, Ron held his right hand out to Harry. Harry accepted the offered handshake. Rather than release Ron's hand, he pulled the older, taller boy to him. Their left hands automatically went to their friend's back. After a few rough claps on the back, the pair released each other. Their hug said what their masculinity would not let them say aloud.
"Ready then?" Harry asked. Ron and Hermione nodded.
"Let's go save my girlfriend," Harry said. He turned to the door of the Inn and walked directly into the main room. Ron and Hermione followed him on either side. Harry looked to either side of the room. Madame Rosmerta lay half on the bar. Her hips and legs dangled towards the floor. One of her ruby slippers lay several meters away from her. Her lilac robes were immaculate but her wide blue eyes were open towards the ceiling in a death stare. Several patrons lay slumped into their drinks at tables o the opposite side of the room. Two wizards had fallen off their stools at the bar and one lay sprawled in the center of the room.
"Oh shit," Ron muttered. Harry shot him a look that immediately silenced the redhead. Hermione swallowed hard and focused her attention at a spot on the far wall. Harry stepped easily over the wizard in the floor. Hermione and Ron skirted to either side of the body. Harry stopped at the top of the stairs. Ron and Hermione took positions on either side of the door. Harry extended his foot to begin down the steps when Hermione held up a hand to stop him. He quickly pulled his foot back even with the other. Hermione rushed over to the fallen patrons and fished three wands out of three successive pockets. She headed back to her friends and handed each of the boys a wand before pocketing her own and holding the extra out in front of her.
"Genius," Harry mouthed. He slid his wand up his sleeve and held the spare out in front of him. Then he turned back to the stairs and slowly began down them. When he was about halfway down, a voice sounded from the room.
"What have we here? Has Potter finally ridden to the rescue?" the silky voice asked. Harry clambered down the rest of the stairs. He found himself face to face with a room full of about 10 Death Eaters. The two largest stood on either side of the table, arms crossed over their chests like a pair of professional bodyguards. A person lay on the table, arms stretched out to either side in the directions of the largest death eaters. Harry couldn't see the person's head. Only one stood between them. He had a long blonde ponytail that trailed from the hood of his robe. The other seven gathered around the table, attention focused on Harry.
"Where's Hannah?" Harry asked. He kept his wand trained towards the floor so as not to offend or accidentally curse anyone. His eyes had hardened to a deep green color as he glared at the head death eater.
"We don't have your precious Hannah," the man replied in a voice that was unmistakably Lucius Malfoy's. The figure on the table raised his head to look at Harry.
"Sirius!" Harry gasped. Harry's godfather let his head fall back to the table.
"Yes, we have your precious godfather. He is going to die just as your insufferable prick of a father and whore of a mother did," Lucius purred. Harry's gaze intensified and he moved his wand up so that it pointed directly at the center of Lucius's chest.
"Oh, don't worry," Lucius assured Harry. "You're going with him."
"No," Harry whispered.
"Actually yes. We need your blood and his for a ritual that will make My Lord a pureblooded wizard," Lucius said.
"Blood isn't something you can change, Malfoy," Harry hissed. A dull throbbing began in his forehead. Lucius twirled his wand through his slim fingers with practiced ease.
"Oh but it is," Lucius countered. "The blood of one half-blood child, one three-fourths pure teenager, and one pureblooded wizard drained at a site of magical significance will be enough to erase any and all impurities from my masters blood.
"Where's the kid?" Harry questioned.
"Goyle," Lucius snapped his fingers twice. Goyle crouched behind the table and appeared a moment later with a small body in his arms. The girl looked about three. Her blonde hair was shorn off unevenly across her head. Her blue eyes were dull and nearly lifeless.
"We have her," Lucius said. Harry felt a heavy weight smash into his lower body. He fell to the floor under the weight.
"Look what we found at the top of the stairs," A familiar voice announced. Harry finally registered the weight on top of him as his own best friend. He rolled from under Ron's lifeless body, just in time to see William Sanguinis appear at the bottom of the steps. He stepped to his left and Cho appeared just behind him. Hermione stood in front of Cho with her hands bound in front of her. Cho had her left arm wrapped around Hermione's neck. In her right hand, she held her wand pointed steadily at Hermione's right temple. Blood trickled from a cut at the corner of Hermione's mouth. Sanguinis roughly kicked Ron towards the wall. The fifth year slid several meters in that direction but didn't make contact with the stone structure.
"Very well, put them at the base of the table," Lucius instructed. William gave Ron another swift kick in his ribs. Harry almost thought he saw Ron wince with pain. He shook the thought out of his mind as Cho pushed Hermione head first into Ron. Ron was obviously unconscious.
"Looks as though your cavalry is useless, Potter," Lucius muttered. Harry ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up more than usual. Before he could say anything, Lucius turned to Sanguinis.
"What right do you think you have to bring her here?" he asked. Had his eyes been visible, he would have been glaring. William opened his mouth and closed it again. He repeated the action twice more before finally shrugging at the older death eater.
"YOU KILLED CEDRIC!" Cho screeched. She pulled her wand and aimed it at Lucius.
"Someone take care of her," Lucius muttered, waving his left hand at several Death Eaters who had backed against the wall. One of the men in the center pulled a wand from his robe.
"Avada Kedavra," the man muttered. A green flash of light erupted from the Death Eater's wand and stuck Cho directly in her chest. She crumpled to the ground.
"YOU BASTARD!" William shrieked he dived towards the Death Eater. Three others stepped in to try to stop the teenager from injuring the other Death Eater. Harry caught Hermione's eye under the table. The girl tried valiantly not to look at Cho's lifeless body. The preschooler Goyle still held released a shriek from across the room. Harry looked away from Hermione and over to where the largest Death Eater stood with the little girl. Blood poured from a large cut in the girls throat. Lucius held a metal bowl under the girls throat to catch the blood. Harry's face went to a sickly pale before turning a lovely shade of green as he watched the proceedings. He looked back down to Hermione. She widened her brown eyes and then tried to raise one eyebrow at Harry. Four Death Eaters still tried to subdue William.
"Attack now?" Hermione mouthed. Harry gave a little shrug.
"Avada Kedavra," A Death Eater muttered. The increasingly familiar flash of green light appeared and William sank to the floor next to Cho. Hermione shook her head in a motion that was barely visible. The girl in Goyle's arms shrieked again. Hermione's eyes widened and she slowly shook her still bound hands. Harry noticed a wand inching its way out of her sleeve. Harry forced himself to look away from his friend so as not to draw attention to her actions. Suddenly, the robes of two of the Death Eaters that had been struggling with William combusted. Blue flames roared up from the hems of the robes. Both men shrieked. One of the other Death Eaters attempted to douse the flames, but before he could, he, too, was on fire. Harry took aim on Goyle.
"Incendio," he muttered. The spell hit the man in the center of his chest. Flames rushed towards his face, causing him to drop the baby onto Sirius. A fourth Death Eater began burning thanks to Hermione. Someone finally realized where the spells were coming from. Hermione set a fifth Death Eater's robes on fire. When she was looking the other direction, a rather large Death Eater sprang on her from behind. The man crushed her to the floor, pushing Ron farther under the table. Before the man could do anything else to Hermione, Ron sat up, wand in hand, and stunned the man. The pair pushed the large weight off Hermione, and the girl sat up.
"FREEZE!" Lucius yelled. Everyone stopped and looked at the Death Eater. Everyone, except Ron and Hermione that is. Lucius couldn't see what was happening under the table, so he didn't notice Ron working to sever the bonds that held Sirius's hands to the table, while Hermione freed Sirius's feet. Lucius held a large silver knife above his head.
"No one move and I won't have to shove this through his head," he nodded towards Sirius. Harry managed to remain perfectly motionless. Sirius lay flat on his back on the table, looking up at the man standing over him with the knife. His breathing accelerated to a rate appropriate for a man about to be stabbed to death. Harry did the first thing he thought of.
"Accio Knife," he said. He obviously hadn't thought of the implications of having a knife hurtling straight at his head, so he was forced to duck. The knife buried hilt deep in the wooden doorframe at the bottom of the stairs. Sirius took the opportunity to fully incapacitate Lucius. His right hand shot straight above his head and he sunk his fingers tightly into Lucius's crotch. Lucius howled loudly enough to shatter windows. Sirius's grip was relentless.
"ACCIO WAND!"A Death Eater howled.
"INCENDIO!" Hermione screeched at the same time. Her wand flew out of her hand but she didn't seem to notice. She rose to her feet, hands extended just above her head on both sides. She began a slow circle in the center of the room. Slowly, the walls of the room, just next to the roof, began to burn. Ron used his elbows to propel himself towards Lucius's dancing feet under the table. He scooped the limp girl up in his arms and held her close to his body. Her blue eyes rolled open and she seemed to focus on him for just a moment before her eyes closed completely.
"Come on baby," he whispered. "Hang on." He fished the miniature broom out of his pocket. He pointed his wand at it and muttered a quick spell to enlarge it. He stepped out from under the table, mounted the broom, and held the limp body close to his chest. He held his wand out with the other hand and kicked off, charging straight towards the ceiling.
"REDUCTO!" He shouted, only moments before he and the small girl would have crashed into the ceiling. A hole blew through the floor. Ron had to duck low over the girl's body and the broom to fit through, but he continued his path towards the second ceiling. A curse from one of the Death Eaters below whizzed past his left ear. He blew another hole in the ceiling as another spell whistled just over his head. He urged the Firebolt to speed up and tore through the second hole into the clear blue sky above. He immediately turned the broom towards Hogwarts and urged it to go faster.
"AFTER HIM!" Lucius squealed from the basement. Sirius still hadn't let go of Lucius, causing the Death Eater's voice to have the pitch of a first year girl's. The majority of the Death Eaters were either smoldering or working to extinguish the fire rapidly spreading across the ceiling. Lucius disappeared with a pop and a squelching noise, directly from Sirius's grasp. Sirius jumped up on the table and turned to the death eaters, wand drawn.
"Catch!" Hermione insisted. She fished Fred's broom from her pocket and tossed it to Sirius. Sirius caught the broom in one hand and turned to Goyle, who still stood smoking near the bowl of blood. He quickly bound the much larger man with ropes from his wand, the encased him in a block of ice. One by one, panicked Death Eaters began to disapparate from the room, ignoring their smoking robes. Harry grabbed Ron's broom from his pocket. At almost the same time, he and Sirius made the brooms return to their normal size.
"I've got Hermione," Sirius called to Harry. Hermione stepped up on the table and over to Sirius. Harry jumped onto the broom and sped out of the hole Ron had already created. Sirius climbed onto the broom he held and moved towards the front to allow Hermione on behind him, one of the few remaining, non-burning Death Eaters muttered a spell under his breath. A flash of reddish-purple light ripped from his wand and smashed into Hermione's back. The Death Eater quickly disapparated. Blood sprang forth from Hermione's nose almost immediately as she slumped against Sirius's back and then fell sideways off the broom. Sirius, too, climbed off the broom. Thick smoke from the wooden ceiling beams began to fill the room. Sirius picked up Hermione and laid her across the front of the broom on her stomach. He jumped on behind her and kicked off from the table. As soon as the broom began to rise, Hermione's head fell towards her feet, as she was draped over the broom. Sirius used his wand to blast the exit slightly larger so he and Hermione could fit through. The pair fit easily through and followed Harry and Ron towards Hogwarts.
%%%%%
"Is she going to be okay?" Ron asked. Professor McGonagall stepped into the space created by the hangings around his bed in the Hospital wing. McGonagall smiled benevolently down at the boy.
"Madame Pomfrey has been able to mend her right up and she'll be perfectly okay," the old professor said. "She's lost a lot of blood, and had some irreversible damage done to her fingers, but she'll live. And I'm sure Mr. Finnegan will be more than ecstatic that you saved his baby sister."
"That was Tallulah Finnegan?" Ron asked. Professor McGonagall nodded.
"Have Harry and Hermione and Sirius come in yet?" Ron questioned.
"Shove over, she's unconscious!" Sirius's voice rang through the previously quiet hospital wing. Ron heard the unmistakable sound of a body being dropped onto a bed. McGonagall turned and rushed from the curtains, leaving them open just wide enough that Ron could see the proceedings from his bed. Sirius had placed Hermione lightly on the bed nearest to the door, across from the bed Tallulah was occupying.
"They hit her with some sort of curse just as we were leaving," Sirius explained. "She's been bleeding and hasn't woken up since, and standard reviving spells won't work."
"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" Madame Pomfrey asked. Harry nodded slowly.
"For once you saved the day and are conscious directly afterwards, I'm impressed," the matron half-joked. As she did, she moved directly past Harry and to Hermione's bed. She carefully rolled the girl over and began a preliminary examination of her.
"Look who I found hiding in a broom closet!" Astrid cried gleefully. "As per Chelsea's instructions. They were right there!" Hannah, Mandy, and Ernie staggered in dizzily after her.
"Hannah!" Harry gasped.
"Harry!" Hannah said, looking up at her boyfriend. She took an unsteady step towards him and fell into her outstretched arms.
"Where's my baby?" Mandy asked, looking around the hospital wing.
"I'm back here!" Ron called from inside his curtains. "Really Madame Pomfrey, now that you've gotten Tallulah patched up, could you move these curtains?" Madame Pomfrey didn't move away from Hermione, but Sirius stepped over to move the curtains from obstructing Ron's view. Mandy was right behind Sirius, and stepped over to the head of Ron's bed.
"Sirius, put those curtains back and everyone else get out of here now," Madame Pomfrey commanded.
This chapter is for Drew and Nat, for all the help they did in keeping my ideas sane and reading and re-reading and proofing and betaing and just generally being great.
Thanks to all my reviewers.
Review please.
*****
"Who cast the spell that was responsible for starting the Goblin Rebellion of 1476?" Hermione questioned. She looked up from the thin slip of white paper she held and looked expectantly at her friends. Ernie rifled quickly through his notes to find the correct answer. Ron had a dazed look on his face that he'd kept pretty much since Hermione had made them start intense O.W.L.'s revision almost a week earlier. Mandy doodled something that looked suspiciously like "Mandy loves Ron" into small hearts all over a piece of spare parchment. Justin had abandoned all attempts at studying in favor of napping with his forehead planted squarely on the table. Hannah and Harry had a piece of parchment between them and were immersed in an intense game of tic-tac-toe.
"Nigel the carefree!" Ernie finally cried. He looked triumphantly up at Hermione. Hermione shook her head at him.
"Nigel the careless," she corrected.
"Carefree, careless, what difference does it make?" Ernie asked. He ran a hand through his sandy hair and pushed his glasses up on his nose.
"Ernie! The difference could be the only thing that stands between you graduating or staying a fifth year forever!" Hermione screeched. Ron elbowed Ernie lightly in his ribs.
"You can share moaning Myrtle's toilet," he offered. Ernie glared at him and shook his head.
"Thanks, but no thanks."
"Could you imagine spending eternity with Moaning Myrtle?" Mandy questioned. Hannah snatched Harry's glasses from his face and put them on hers. She had already gathered her hair into braided pigtails earlier
"Oh its dreadful!" she cried in a dead on impression of the ghost. "I'm a horrible reject and I've got to spend the rest of my life in a toilet with no one to talk to and no boys to snog!" The group, save Hermione all laughed as though Hannah's impression was the funniest thing they'd seen in weeks.
"Heaven forbid you not have boys to snog!" Mandy screeched.
"Boys? As in more than one?" Harry sounded slightly offended.
"Heaven forbid you not have Harry to snog!" Mandy corrected her statement. Harry nodded.
"Much better," he said.
"Well of course. But Moaning Myrtle wouldn't have Harry to snog, just boys. If I ever catch Harry snogging Moaning Myrtle," Hannah didn't get a chance to finish her threat.
"Drag my arse to the top of the Astronomy Tower and kick me off!" Harry demanded. Hannah nodded.
"What is the property of ghosts that makes snogging Moaning Myrtle a physical impossibility?" Hermione attempted to pull her friends attention back to studying. Mandy tapped her quill against the table rapidly and pressed her hand to her forehead in a highly melodramatic fashion.
"It's that thing!" she squealed. "That makes them invisible only not! Like whitish and pearlyish! And walk-through-able!"
"Mandy baby, you're fast heading towards the deep end. I think it's time for you to go back to your common room," Ron said. He reached over and massaged his girlfriend's shoulders.
"No! I'm not going back to the common room with those pompous Ravenclaw arseholes who do nothing but study! I won't go and you can't make me!" the girl screeched.
"Mandy darling, where will you sleep if you don't go back to your common room?" Ron reasoned.
"With you!" Mandy squealed. "Or in Moaning Myrtle's toilet." Ernie and Harry quit trying to contain their laughter. Justin still slept. Hannah and Hermione glared at the boys while Ron tried to reason with his exam- stressed girlfriend.
"Mandy dear, you can't sleep with me," Ron said.
"Why not?" Mandy asked, lower lip poking out just a bit. She blinked her violet eyes twice at Ron before continuing. "We did that one time!" Before Mandy could spill any more incriminating information, Ron clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Hermione! You've broken my girlfriend! Ron declared. He tried to will his face away from the fire engine red color it had achieved and picked up his girlfriend, careful not to move his hand from her mouth. "You've locked her in the Great Hall and forgotten to let her do anything but study and now she's all crazy!"
"Ron!" Hermione began.
"I'm taking her to Madame Pomfrey!" Ron insisted. "Great Hermione, you've broken Ron too," Ernie screeched.
"If I offer to share a toilet with Moaning Myrtle and babble incoherently do you think she'll allow you to drag me to the hospital wing?" Harry asked, looking earnestly up at Hannah.
"Babe, I'm over here," Hannah said, waving at Harry.
"No you're not," Harry insisted. "You're right there!" He pointed directly at Hannah's face.
Am not!" Hannah cried. "I'm over here."
"You've broken them too!" Ernie screeched. "These Saturday study sessions are just too much for the less academically minded." Justin sat up and scratched his head. The front of his chocolate brown hair stuck straight up and he had an imprint of the table's wood grain on his head.
"If she would just give him back his glasses wouldn't they be okay?" he asked. Not waiting to hear a reply, he let his head crash back into the table and continued his nap.
"Oh yeah," Harry laughed. He reached over, pulled his glasses from her face, and returned them to his.
"So do you guys what to take a ten or 15 minute break?" Hermione questioned.
"Or we could quit for the day," Harry suggested.
"Twenty minutes," Hermione offered.
"Or we could quit for the day," Harry repeated. "And go flying."
"Sounds fun," Hannah said.
"But guys, O.W.L.'s are important. If you don't pass them you won't get good jobs!" Ernie screeched. "Hannah, you'll never get to be a mediwitch without Potions and Charms O.W.L.'s and Harry, what do you want to do?"
"Live," Harry replied simply. "Or if that doesn't work out I could always drive the Knight Bus." Ernie and Hermione both glared at Harry while Hannah giggled lightly.
"Okay, so maybe you won't need O.W.L.'s to drive the Knight Bus," Ernie said.
"Maybe one in Muggle Studies if I wasn't muggle born," Harry reasoned.
"Harry dear, you aren't muggle born," Hermione reminded him. Harry shrugged.
"Sometimes it's easy to forget," Harry admitted.
"You don't have Draco Malfoy reminding you every time he sees you," Hermione muttered.
"Draco Malfoy is a prick!" Ernie announced.
"Tell us something we don't know, McMillan," Hannah laughed.
"Well, of the seven people in here earlier, muggleborns held the majority with four, then we had one half blood and two pure bloods," Ernie said.
"Actually, I'm not necessarily a muggleborn," Hannah said. Hermione, Harry, and Ernie all turned to look at Hannah.
"Mum's a muggle, but we don't know anything more about my dad than his last name," the girl explained.
"Which is?" Hermione prompted.
"Chase," Hannah replied. "It's my middle name." The turning wheels in Hermione's head were nearly visible.
"So if we go to the library and search through back records of students for the past 40 or so years we can see if anyone with the last name Chase has attended the school," she said.
"Or we could just not worry about it until after O.W.L.'s," Hannah said. "I've lived 16 years knowing nothing about the man. A few more months won't kill me."
"Speaking of O.W.L.'s, we should study," Hermione said.
"Hermione, they're still over a week away and you've already driven Mandy insane," Ernie said.
"Enough studying already," Harry said. He began shoving books into his bag. "Time for some obligatory fun. Everyone back to your common rooms. Round up every one who wants to come and meet back here in 30 minutes. It's time for a castle-wide game of hide and seek."
*****
"Now why exactly are we here?" Sawyer questioned. "Is someone missing? Because if we have to search for someone, I'm pairing with someone besides the Mandrake!"
"Shut up Sawyer Lewis!" Chelsea demanded.
"Well, no one is missing," Harry said. "Yet."
"Hide and seek!" Ernie announced.
"Does everyone understand the rules?" Hermione questioned. A small voice from the back of the group sounded.
"You need to set boundaries, choose 'it's' and decide whether or not we're playing in teams," it advised. Harry nodded.
"The boundaries are the castle. No common rooms, offices, or bathrooms. Other than that, anywhere is fair game. We'll play in teams of no more than three for safety reasons. No using magic, no doing anything that will put Filch on our tails, and please, be smart about this," Harry said. The assembled group nodded.
"This first year is voting that couples shouldn't be allowed to hide together. I, for one, don't want to have to see or stop any snogging," Astrid declared. Sawyer and Jason nodded their agreement.
"I propose someone in each group be prepared to ward off attacks from Venomous gnawing rock-flies," a stringy-haired Ravenclaw said from the back of the group. The girl wore a cap fashioned from what appeared to be aluminum foil over her blonde hair. Her earrings looked like fishhooks and she wore a necklace made of beads formed from bubblegum wrappers.
"Looney Lovegood," Mandy hissed to Ron. "The only Ravenclaw who would step away from her studies long enough to come play." Ron chuckled under his breath. Madame Pomfrey had given Mandy a stress relieving potion and Hermione, Harry, Hannah and Ernie had found the pair snogging in a side hallway just outside the hospital wing.
"Don't worry, we've got the flies taken care of!" Sawyer insisted. He pulled an imaginary sword from the belt of his pants and brandished it playfully at Luna.
"I'm serious," Luna said, glaring at the first year. Sawyer grinned broadly at the girl.
"Shall I introduce you to my dear friend Chelsea the Mandrake then?" Sawyer shoved the Hufflepuff towards the Ravenclaw. "Resident expert on all types of rock-flies. She'll be more than happy to be on your team."
"Sawyer!" Astrid shrieked.
"I'll be on their team too," Nathan volunteered. Chelsea glared steadily at Sawyer. Sawyer tossed one arm around Astrid's shoulders and the other around Jason's.
"Team?" he asked. Jason shrugged the smaller boy's arm away.
"Team," he and Astrid agreed. Harry slid an arm around Hermione's shoulders and stretched up to place the other around Ron's.
"Team?" He questioned. Ron copied Jason's motion to keep out of Harry's grasp.
"Team," the fifth years agreed. Hannah looked between Mandy, Ernie, and Justin.
"You three go together, I'll go with Colin and Piper," Justin stepped towards the pair of Gryffindor fourth years. Ernie raised his eyebrows at Justin while Piper giggled into her hand.
"TEAM!" Fred, George, and Lee chorused.
"Special rules for them!" Angelina declared. The three chasers had chosen to be on a team together. Hermione nodded.
"No pranks, no scaring anyone, no testing products on unsuspecting game participants or even people passing through the halls," Hermione said, glaring most specifically at Fred. Fred stepped towards his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her waist. He dipped her backwards over his left arm before pulling her up into a kiss.
"Would I ever?" he asked.
"Do you really want me to answer that question?" Hermione responded. Fred shook his head and released his girlfriend. She smiled sweetly at him and stepped back even with her friends.
"So who is going to be it?" Kyle asked. He, Seamus and Dean had teamed up, while Lavender and Parvati had paired with Marissa Lucas. Ginny, Jae, and Natalie McDonald formed another team. The door to the Great Hall creaked open and one William Sanguinis stepped partway inside.
"Is this where the study break to end all study breaks is happening?" He questioned. The group nodded. He stopped fully into the great hall and pulled someone in behind him. A very nervous looking Cho Chang stepped out from behind her boyfriend. Her left hand clasped Sanguinis's right lightly. She ran her right through her formerly waist-length hair. Now the black locks stopped just below her chin in front and angled to a point level with the bottom of her ears in back. Her eyes were lined with thick black liner. She smoothed her hair again and Ron gasped. The sound caught in his throat and escaped only as a small squeak.
"What's your problem?" Harry hissed.
"Cho," Ron squeaked, soliciting another glare from Mandy. "Cho and Sanguinis. Quidditch. Seventh year. July!"
"Hush Ron!" Hermione commanded. "We'll talk later," Harry added. Ron stopped his seemingly inane babbling and ran both of his hands through his hair, making it all stand up on end.
"Join a team then," Harry prompted. William and Cho nodded and surveyed the gathered players.
"How about you let us be it?" Cho finally suggested.
"Fine," Harry agreed. Behind him, Ron gave another squeak.
"Wait five minutes," Hermione added. "Then seek. First group found is the next game's it." Everyone nodded his or her agreement. Harry looked out across his friends. Astrid, Jason, and Sawyer were already whispering a plan among themselves. Luna steadily sized up Chelsea and Nathan. Cho and Sanguinis had stepped, albeit very nervously, to the back of the group.
"Well then can we go?" Ron questioned. Hermione nodded.
"Certainly," Harry agreed. One by one, the groups turned and ran out of the Great Hall, heading straight for the perfect hiding spot. Soon only Mandy, Ernie, Hannah, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were left standing with William and Cho.
"Any ideas?" Harry questioned.
"Yes, but I don't think talking about them here would be a good idea." Ron cast a furtive glance over Harry's head to where Sanguinis and Cho stood.
"I meant about a hiding spot," Harry hissed.
"We could always go to the library and sit between the shelves somewhere in the back," Hermione said.
"So you can study while we play," Ron replied. "I think not!" Hermione frowned at the tall redhead.
"We could at least try to get as far away from the Great Hall as possible so even if we have to duck behind a tapestry, we won't be the first ones found," Harry said. Ron and Hermione both nodded and the trio turned and walked from the Great Hall.
"Dungeons or upstairs?" Harry questioned when they stepped into the entrance hall.
"Dungeons," Ron said.
"Upstairs," Hermione replied at the same time. "Less tapestry to hide behind in the dungeons," she reasoned.
"Fewer people are brave enough to go to the dungeons. Perhaps if Sanguinis and Cho are distracted by the people hiding upstairs, we'll have more time to talk about whatever it is that has Ron reduced to a blubbering idiot," Harry said. He took the first steps that led down into the dungeons. Hermione and Ron followed him.
"Or more of a blubbering idiot," a familiar voice said from the bottom of the stairs.
"Malfoy!" Ron spat. He froze on the steps behind Harry, leaving Hermione to crash into him.
"Sorry Weasel, that was un-called for, but Potty set it up too perfectly," Malfoy said. Ron glanced over his shoulder at Hermione who shrugged as well as she could manage. She had one hand on each of Ron's shoulders and leaned against him to keep her balance from her stumble due to his sudden stop.
"Okay, who are you and what have you done with the Malfoy that would never apologize to Ron?" Harry questioned, partially thankful that he was on the stairs between Ron and the Slytherin.
"Look, I didn't mean to interrupt whatever the three of you were heading down here to get yourselves into. Contessa just gave me this to give to Weasley to give to my sister," Draco said. He held out a silvery ball on a thin silver chain.
"So you're claiming her as your sister now are you?" Ron questioned, glaring steadily at Draco.
"Weasel, I didn't find you to debate the ethics of dealing with siblings. Though with six, you should be the expert on them," Draco began.
"May I remind you that you will have five in September?" Hermione questioned from behind Ron.
"Four, Mudblood. Where did you learn to count?" Draco questioned. "Keiran, Astrid, Emma and the baby make four."
"Barrett," Hermione challenged. For just a moment Draco's careful façade dropped but before the look had any chance to register with the trio, he schooled his features back to the calm mask he always wore.
"Does my sister tell all of our family secrets?" Draco questioned, quietly menacing. The Gryffindors weren't exactly sure how to respond.
"Then I suppose you know about the ceremony and Keiran's little issue," Draco said. More silent and uncomfortable stares from the Gryffindors ensued. Draco smacked a hand to his forehead.
"I'm really going to have to have a discussion about secrets with my sister," he muttered.
"We also know who tried to kill you," Ron said, leveling a glare on Draco. Draco pulled his hand away from his head and looked up at the redhead. Surprise showed in his silver eyes, though his face betrayed no emotion. Harry spoke for the rest of them.
"We do?" he asked. Ron nodded twice.
"At least, I think I do," he said. Harry walked up the stairs between himself and his friend he grabbed the redhead by the sleeve and pulled him down the stairs. Hermione stumbled after them.
"We need to talk," he said.
"I thought you both liked girls," Draco said.
"If I thought I could grab your sleeve and drag you and get away with it, you'd be standing right here next to him. I do, however, think you're going to want to hear this conversation," Harry replied.
"We do like girls!" Ron supplied, glaring at his friend for ignoring Malfoy's comment. Harry ignored both boys and pulled his best friend into the nearest empty room. The only item in the room was a large grand piano.
"Speak," Harry commanded, turning Ron to face him. Draco barked softly twice from the door.
"Malfoy, if you insist on being in here, at least keep your mouth shut," Harry demanded. Draco shrugged.
"I didn't insist on being here but since none of you has yet to take this necklace from me, I figured it would be in my best interest to follow you," Draco replied.
"Sanguinis," Ron announced.
"WHAT?" Harry and Hermione questioned.
"You said he and Cho had been together since July, right?" Ron asked Harry. Harry nodded.
"Pardon my asking, but what does Sanguinis have anything to do with anything?" Draco questioned. "Especially Sanguinis's love life!"
"If this Contessa Borgin knows what she's talking about," Ron began.
"She does," Draco cut in. "She's just so damned cryptic that it's hard to figure her out sometimes." The three friends glared at her.
"If she knows what she's talking about, then Sanguinis is the person who has been causing the trouble inside Hogwarts," Ron said. "Her clues were one of nine non-Slytherin seventh year Quidditch players, dating the same person since July, and then some cryptic shit about don't count out your teammates. The seventh year Quidditch players are Sanguinis, Eloise Midgeon, Carter Anderson and Alexa Raymond, the chasers and twins, and Pucey. None of them save Sanguinis has been dating the same person since July. It has to be him!" Harry and Hermione both nodded.
"So he's the bloody bastard that landed me in the hospital wing for the better part of three weeks?" Malfoy asked.
"I think so," Ron said. "But you probably already knew that."
"Actually, I didn't," Draco admitted. "Contessa's clues to me were a bit more cryptic than her clues to you, and I generally don't keep up with seventh year Quidditch player's love lives."
"But it does make sense," Hermione said. "Because I distinctly remember someone saying you had stayed behind to talk to Sanguinis after practice the night before you played potions master."
"That's when the bloody bastard hexed me," Draco spat.
"You remember?" Hermione questioned.
"Well no," Draco admitted, "But it's only reasonable." He stood up and started towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Harry questioned.
"To choke my little brother until he tells me everything he knows," Draco replied, smirking evilly at the three friends.
"Can we at least have the necklace?" Ron questioned.
"Oh, right," Draco tossed the chain at the taller boy. "You're the only one that should touch it, and make sure you stress how important it is that she never take it off, because we don't know when the ceremony could happen."
"This summer, right?" Hermione questioned. Draco shrugged.
"As far as Contessa can figure, they need a few more ingredients before they can complete the ceremony. However, they may already have all of those. I don't exactly know though," Draco said.
"Right. Now go choke your little brother," Ron said. He nodded at Draco and Draco ran out of the room.
"So it looks like stopping the ceremony is going to be the big bad of this year," Hermione muttered.
"The what?" Ron asked.
"Nothing," Hermione replied. "Muggle reference."
"But if the ceremony happens in the summer, how are the three of us going to stop it?" Harry questioned.
"What's saying that we have to stop it?" Hermione questioned.
"Well if we don't, what is going to happen that will allow us to save the day for this year?" Ron questioned.
"What's saying that we have to save the day?" Harry questioned. Hermione and Ron closed their mouths and looked at their third. Ron's slowly fell back open.
"Okay, you're right. That would be a normal year at Hogwarts and we don't have those," Harry relented.
%%%%%
"So we've got five minutes," Cho purred, stepping towards William. She ran her hands up his chest and clasped them behind his neck. He leaned down for a quick kiss.
"How should we spend it?" she asked. William reached behind his head and grabbed her hands. He pulled them away from his head and smiled softly at her.
"Cheating," he said. Before she could say anything else, he started towards the door of the Great Hall. Ernie, Mandy, and Hannah had disappeared only moments before through the door. "We're following my housemates."
%%%%%
"Do you think this is a good spot?" Nate asked, looking from Chelsea to Luna. The trio was perched in a small alcove between a statue and a suit of armor. A small fly crawled down the wall behind Luna. The girl caught its reflection in the suit of armor. Quietly, she reached over her shoulder and clamped her hands over it.
"I've got one!" she hissed. "I must go tell father!" She jumped to her feet and ran down the hall, all thoughts of the game abandoned. Nathan looked over at Chelsea.
"So that takes care of her," he laughed.
"Yeah," Chelsea agreed, "But this spot sucks." Chelsea nodded and looked towards the pedestal on which the statue was seated.
"Hey, that's hollow, do you think you could fit?" she asked. Nathan looked warily at the pedestal.
"Maybe," he finally said. Chelsea nodded.
"Good," she replied. "I'll go watch and make sure no one sees you trying to get in, and then I'll hide in the folds of the tapestry down there."
"Sounds good, Mandrake," Nathan joked. Chelsea glared at him before jumping to her feet and running down the hall. Nathan slowly approached the pedestal and began trying to fit himself into the hollow base.
"Hurry Nate," Chelsea urged. Nathan placed his left leg and arm into the pedestal and ducked his head so he could slide his right arm and leg in too.
"Nate, I think someone's coming!" Chelsea insisted. Nate pulled the pedestal backwards towards the wall but Chelsea simply shrank back from the corner, still watching the proceedings in the adjoining hall.
%%%%%
"So where is this amazing hiding spot of yours, Ernie?" Mandy asked. Hannah skipped along next to her friends.
"I wish I could have hid with Harry," she said.
"You'll see," Ernie answered Mandy's question and completely ignored Hannah.
"So the two of you are over the fight you had about the American beater?" Mandy questioned. Hannah nodded.
"Yep," she replied. "He explained that what I saw in the Great Hall was actually the crazy first year. I just didn't manage to see her in the tangle of bodies on the floor cause she is kind of tiny."
"Hiding spot?" Mandy asked again.
"You'll see," Ernie said again. Before anyone could say anything else. Ernie fell to the floor between the two girls. Mandy tapped the boy with the toe of her right shoe.
"Ernie?" Hannah asked. She knelt down next to her friend and tried to turn him over.
"Is he okay?" Mandy questioned. Hannah shrugged.
"I think he's been stunned," Hannah replied. Mandy turned to face the end of the hall where the attack had come from. Before she could say anything, two figures standing at the end of the hall shot stunning spells in her direction. Both hit her directly in her chest and she toppled on top of Ernie. Hannah looked over at the growing pile of fallen friends. Before administering reviving spells to either of them, she, too, looked down the hall.
"Stupefy," came the only words from a pair of figures before Hannah collapsed on top of Mandy.
"In here," William said, pointing to a broom closet conveniently located just to the left of the pile of fifth years.
"Will, why did we just do that?" Cho questioned.
"Don't ask questions," William spat. Cho nodded nervously and helped her boyfriend begin moving the three fifth years into the closet.
%%%%%
Chelsea watched William and Cho stun three of her fifth year friends and then pry open a broom closet. When William began kicking Hannah into the closet and Cho attempted to drag Mandy to join her best friend, she turned on her heel and ran down the hall as fast as her legs would carry her. From his spot in the pedestal, Nate watched her speed by but chalked it up as part of the game. When William and Cho ran by a moment later, he figured that it was all part of the game also, so he waited several minutes before climbing from his hiding spot and making his way to the Great Hall.
%%%%%
"Do we have any votes of finding a better hiding place than this piano room?" Harry asked, glancing around the room before finally settling on looking from Ron to Hermione several times.
"Seems good to me," Hermione said.
"We probably won't be the first found, so who cares if they find us?" Ron questioned. Harry nodded and sank to the floor against the wall. Hermione had taken a seat on the piano bench and Ron leaned in the opposite corner. For a moment, the trio was silent. Before they could say anything, a tapping sounded at the door. They looked at each other, wide eyed, and slightly scared. Before they could make any moves or noise, the not fully latched door opened a crack, and a large black owl flew in. The bird headed straight for Harry and stopped just short of the boy's face. Harry reached up and took the scrap of parchment from the owl's leg. He unrolled it and quickly scanned the note. His face went pale and his head fell back against the wall. The parchment fluttered out of his hand.
"What is it?" Hermione asked. She tumbled off the piano bench and onto the floor next to her friend in one fluid, though slightly ungraceful movement. Ron took two hurried steps from his corner. Hermione picked up the parchment and turned her back to Ron so he could read over her shoulder.
I have one dear to you. Come and you will both die. Don't and the one will die cursing your name.
Hermione crumpled the paper in her hand and looked up at Harry.
"What are we going to do?" Ron asked.
"I don't think it's a question of we, I think it's a question of me," Harry replied.
"We, me," Hermione said. "It's a difference of direction really." Ron quirked an eyebrow at her. She shook her head at him.
"So what's the plan?" Ron questioned.
"You guys stay here, I go do what needs to be done," Harry responded.
"Harry, since when have you ever done anything by yourself by choice?" Hermione asked.
"Hermione's right," Ron added. "We're going with you and that's final."
"Besides," Hermione paused to look at the note. "Okay, so the note said something about you both dying, but that's not there anymore. But maybe if we all go, we can prevent anyone from dying."
"What does it say now?" Harry asked, eyes wide. Hermione read aloud from the note.
To find that which your heart seeks Look not among the weak The hallowed brotherhood of valor Once took their places here And while in peace they did abide Their enemies cowered in fear Then one brave knight did break the faith And from his seat was tossed. You seek a table, arciform That mankind thinks is lost.
"So it's telling us where they've got whatever it is that they've taken," Hermione said.
"It's a table. That mankind thinks is lost," Ron added. "Meaning it could be ANYWHERE!"
"It would have to be close," Hermione refuted Ron's logic. Harry nodded his support of Hermione.
"Arciform, isn't that a shape?" Ron questioned.
"Circular," Hermione replied. "And the rest of the poem now makes sense."
"What?" Harry asked.
"We have to find the round table. As in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table," Hermione said, looking warily at her friend.
"Can I repeat my bit about it could be anywhere?" Ron questioned.
"You have," Hermione replied. Harry slowly got to his feet.
"Think large circular table. Have we come in contact with any of those lately?" He questioned. He began walking towards the door, flanked by his friends. "And there is also the question of exactly who they've taken. Because you two are obviously still here, and we just saw Ginny and Hannah."
"Astrid," Ron said.
"Okay Astrid. Yes, very reasonable!" Harry cried. He began a slow jog for the stairs. Ron kept up with him easily, but Hermione struggled.
"Should we take the cloak?" Ron asked when the trio reached the top of the stairs.
"Do you have a pocket big enough to put it in?" Harry asked. "Because I think I'll be able to do my charmed invisibility if I absolutely have to."
"So can I," Hermione said. Ron frowned at them.
"It's not fair," he insisted. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at his friends.
"Try it again," Harry prompted. Ron closed his eyes and began muttering the spell for charmed invisibility under his breath. Slowly his feet and the top of his head faded from view, followed by his face, his legs up to his knees, and his arms up to his elbows.
"You're doing it!" Hermione screeched just before Ron disappeared completely.
"So someone Harry loves needs to get kidnapped more often so I can master difficult charms things," Ron's voice sounded from just behind Hermione, signaling his movement.
"Accio Invisibility Cloak" Harry whispered. Hermione looked at him and Ron snorted indignantly.
"I don't want him coming visible just because he hasn't mastered the spell yet," Harry said. Ron snorted again, and Hermione shrugged at Harry.
"I saw that," Ron muttered, still behind Hermione. Harry reached out and caught the cloak as it zipped past Ron and Hermione.
"Any ideas as to where the table is?" Hermione asked. Ron slowly faded back to visibility.
"Large round table," Harry muttered.
"Yes, Harry, that is what you're looking for," Hermione said.
"Hogsmeade would be reasonable."
%%%%%
"Chelsea turned anther corner and considered pausing for breath. She didn't know if William and Cho had heard her or were following her. She figured she needed to find Dumbledore or Harry. Or both.
"Where is Harry hiding?" she asked herself as she jogged. She pushed her reddish brown hair back from her face. She rounded another corner and found herself right at the stairs leading down into the Entrance Hall. She glanced over into the hall and noticed three figures conversing near the door to the Great Hall.
"HARRY!" she shouted. The fifth year spun on his heel and looked up at the breathless, red-faced Hufflepuff.
"What Chelsea?" Harry snapped, slightly angrier than he meant to sound.
"It's Hannah," Chelsea gasped. "They've knocked her out," She paused for several large gulps of air. Before she could continue her sentence, Sanguinis spun around the corner.
"Stupefy," he muttered. The spell struck the girl's left temple. She pitched forward and tumbled down the stairs.
"Chelsea!" Hermione cried.
"Will, what's going on?" Cho asked. William spun back into the hall and flattened himself against the wall.
"Nothing baby," William replied. Cho widened her heavily lined eyes at her boyfriend. He leaned in for a quick kiss.
"We've cursed four too many people for this to be nothing," Cho objected. William reached for his left sleeve and began rolling it up. He turned his forearm so that it was in Cho's full view. Slowly, the black markings of a snake-tongued skull appeared. Cho's right fist flew to her mouth and she bit pensively on her middle knuckle as her boyfriend slowly revealed his dark mark.
%%%%%
"Merlin," Harry cried, stomping his feet for effect. Hermione ran over to the girl crumpled at the bottom of the stairs. Chelsea's left leg stuck out from her body at the oddest of angles.
"Do they have Astrid or Hannah?" Harry questioned. Ron took two nervous steps towards the bottom of the steps.
"Don't, Ron," Hermione warned. "We don't know what's up there." Ron took another step.
"What happened?" A familiar voice asked from the Great Hall door.
"Astrid!" Ron exclaimed.
"Chelsea!" Jason and Sawyer shrieked. The boys headed to Hermione, sliding to a halt on the stone right next to their fallen friend. Astrid hurried over to Ron.
"What's going on?" She looked up at the fifth year through earnest silver eyes. Ron held his hands down to the girl. She quickly clambered into his arms
"Our plan was to sneak into the Great Hall directly after Cho and Sanguinis left. They so did not wait five minutes before they sought," Astrid whispered. Ron looked over the girl's shoulder to where Harry stood in the corner. Harry stared at the parchment as though he would miraculously see something that wasn't there. Hermione, Jason, and Sawyer crouched around Chelsea. Hermione seemed to be whispering instructions to the boys.
"Something weird is going on here," Ron finally declared.
"Something weird is going on here," Astrid echoed. "Should be the school motto."
"Something weird involving Sanguinis and some cryptic notes. I need you to go find Dumbledore and tell him that something weird is happening involving Harry, Hannah and the Knights of the Round Table," Ron instructed. Astrid nodded once.
"The Knights of the Round Table?" Astrid asked.
"You wouldn't happen to know where the Round Table is would you?" Ron asked, half smiling at the little girl still perched in his arms.
"Madame Rosmerta has it," Astrid replied promptly. "Lucius tried to buy it from her this past summer for some sort of ceremony thing. I don't know what the ceremony is about though, I stopped listening at that point."
"The Three Broomsticks!" Harry cried.
"Looks like Potter has come to the same conclusion," Astrid laughed. Ron shifted the girl's weight to his right arm and used his left hand to pull the necklace from his pocket.
"Put this on," he instructed.
"What is it?" Astrid asked and she struggled to clasp the chain under her white blonde hair.
"It's something that may save you. Draco gave it to me to give to you and told me to stress the importance of never taking it off," Ron said. Astrid nodded.
"Importance stressed," she said. Chelsea's body slowly levitated off the floor. Her leg was in a splint that Hermione had conjured. Jason took control of his still unconscious friend and he and Sawyer began floating her up the stairs towards the hospital wing.
"Okay chica, go find Dumbledore," Ron said. Astrid nodded solemnly at her friend.
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
"Looks like we're headed for the Three Broomsticks," Ron replied. Astrid nodded again before wrapping her arms tightly around Ron's neck.
"Be safe," she urged. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Like get yourself killed." Ron nodded into her hair.
"I will," he whispered. "And I won't." Astrid nodded and pulled away. She wiggled for a moment, signaling that she wanted to stand on her own. Ron returned her to her feet. She looked up at him and brushed her bangs away from her forehead.
"See you later," she finally said. Before Ron could say anything, she turned on her heel and ran up the stairs for Dumbledore's office.
"Ready now?" Harry asked. He stood with one hand on the front door, tapping his foot impatiently. Hermione stood next to him, forehead creased with worry and eyes darting from Harry to Ron back to Harry. Ron nodded.
"Do we have a plan?" he questioned. "Astrid said you were right about the location of the round table. She also said Lucius tried to buy it for a ceremony of some sort over the summer, but Madame Rosmerta wouldn't sell, so who knows what we're getting ready to walk ourselves into." Harry pushed the door open and headed out into the crisp May air. Hermione followed him with Ron a few steps behind her.
"We're going to go rescue Hannah," Harry finally replied.
"So we're purposefully leaving school grounds by the front door and we're going to charge into a probable Death Eater rally like the bloody cavalry," Ron said. "Does anyone besides me think that this is a recipe to get dead?"
"What do you propose?" Harry questioned.
"For starters, we should fly so we can get there faster," Ron said. "And with your Firebolt, you'll at least stand a good chance of getting away if a fast escape is needed."
"You have to remember that the table is in the basement. One way in, one way out. That significantly complicates getting in and out secretly," Hermione said. Harry picked up his pace towards the front gate and lazily summoned his and Ron's brooms from the shed as he walked.
"How many do you think will be there," Ron questioned. Hermione stopped and pulled out her wand. She pointed it first at Ron, then at Harry and muttered two quick spells.
"Hermione, it feels like you've coated my skin in paste," Ron announced. Hermione quickly performed the spell on herself.
"My skin feels all tight and stretched," Harry said.
"You're both now basically fire proof," Hermione explained. "For at least enough time to get out of a burning building."
"What are you planning Hermione darling?" Ron questioned.
"If all else fails, I'll torch the building," Hermione replied. "Fire tends to panic people. We'll grab Hannah and run cause I bet they haven't thought of fireproofing."
"Great, we have a back up plan," Ron muttered. "Remind me again how we saved the day those other four times?" Harry reached out and caught both brooms. He tossed one to Ron and mounted his. Ron looked at the broom in his hands.
"Harry, this isn't my broom," he said. Harry nodded.
"I know. You're to shrink it and keep it in your pocket. If it comes to torching the building, enlarge it, blast through the ceiling, and the two of you get out as quick as you can," Harry said. "I'll get Hannah and follow you." Hermione muttered another spell. A moment later, she held another broom in her hands.
"Fred's," she explained. "Hannah can fly her own way out so we don't have to double so many people." She shrunk the broom and placed it into her pocket. Ron climbed onto the Firebolt and moved to the front to make room for Hermione behind him. Hermione climbed onto the broom and wrapped her arms tightly around Ron's waist.
"Ready?" Harry asked. The pair nodded.
"When we get there, I'll go in, the pair of you stay at the top of the stairs and wait for me. If they're not expecting you to come, they just may kill you, and I'm completely serious about that." Ron and Hermione nodded again. Harry kicked off and turned Ron's broom towards Hogsmeade. Ron and Hermione followed him on the Firebolt.
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Nathan struggled to keep his breathing inaudible. The portrait on the other side of the corridor kept shooting him dirty looks. He could still hear Cho and William at the end of the hall. After the most recent stunning spell, he had heard someone tumble down the stairs and Hermione shout Chelsea. Though he had never played hide and seek as a child, being pureblooded and everything, he knew that stunning spells weren't part of the rules. Unsure of what to do, he flattened himself against a wall just around the corner from Cho and William. The pair of older students didn't move for several minutes. Finally, Nathan heard the front door of the school open and almost immediately close. Cho and William's end of the hall was suddenly quiet.
"They've disappeared," the portrait finally said. Nathan exhaled deeply.
"Disappeared?" he asked. The lady in the portrait nodded. She was a rather severe looking old woman with salt and pepper hair pulled back in a tight bun reminiscent of McGonagall's. Her deep red robes were of a style favored in the early 1900's. Nathan stepped towards the portrait.
"Portkey, I suspect," she said. "Even after last year, my grandson didn't ward the castle against people getting out by using them." Nathan looked at the small gold plaque at the bottom of the gilt frame.
"Minerva Dumbledore," Nathan read.
"Yes boy," the woman said. She peered down at Nathan through square black glasses. "Now go find Albus, er, Professor Dumbledore, and tell him about the students running about his school as if they own the place and especially about those two disappearing. Tell him Grandmother Minnie sent you."
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"How long should we wait?" Hermione questioned. She caught a piece of fingernail between her teeth and tore it off. The trio had landed in Hogsmeade just outside The Three Broomsticks. Ron set about shrinking the brooms. He stowed the Firebolt in his pocket and handed his miniature Nimbus to Harry.
"Indefinitely," Harry said. "Hex the hell out of them when they bring my dead arse up the stairs, but don't come down those steps for anything. Your lives could depend on it." Hermione and Ron both nodded.
"Ready?" Harry questioned. His two best friends nodded again. Hermione hurried over to Harry. She tossed her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. He slid his arms around her shoulders and easily rocked her back and forth for a moment. Before either could release the other, Ron stepped over and tossed his long arms around both of them.
"At the risk of sounding incredibly cheesy, I love you guys," Hermione muttered from the center of the hug.
"I love you too," Harry said. He untangled himself from the mix of limbs and grasped Hermione's chin. He pulled her eyes up to level with his. Then he leaned in and dropped a very brotherly kiss on her left cheek
"I love you three," Ron said. He spun Hermione to face him and grasped her shoulders. He planted a kiss squarely on her forehead before turning his signature shade of bright red.
"Now my other cheek feels left out." Hermione frowned. Harry and Ron looked at each other over her head, so they didn't pay attention to her statement. Neither boy could bring himself to verbalize the thoughts running through his head. Hermione stepped from in between the pair. Finally, Ron held his right hand out to Harry. Harry accepted the offered handshake. Rather than release Ron's hand, he pulled the older, taller boy to him. Their left hands automatically went to their friend's back. After a few rough claps on the back, the pair released each other. Their hug said what their masculinity would not let them say aloud.
"Ready then?" Harry asked. Ron and Hermione nodded.
"Let's go save my girlfriend," Harry said. He turned to the door of the Inn and walked directly into the main room. Ron and Hermione followed him on either side. Harry looked to either side of the room. Madame Rosmerta lay half on the bar. Her hips and legs dangled towards the floor. One of her ruby slippers lay several meters away from her. Her lilac robes were immaculate but her wide blue eyes were open towards the ceiling in a death stare. Several patrons lay slumped into their drinks at tables o the opposite side of the room. Two wizards had fallen off their stools at the bar and one lay sprawled in the center of the room.
"Oh shit," Ron muttered. Harry shot him a look that immediately silenced the redhead. Hermione swallowed hard and focused her attention at a spot on the far wall. Harry stepped easily over the wizard in the floor. Hermione and Ron skirted to either side of the body. Harry stopped at the top of the stairs. Ron and Hermione took positions on either side of the door. Harry extended his foot to begin down the steps when Hermione held up a hand to stop him. He quickly pulled his foot back even with the other. Hermione rushed over to the fallen patrons and fished three wands out of three successive pockets. She headed back to her friends and handed each of the boys a wand before pocketing her own and holding the extra out in front of her.
"Genius," Harry mouthed. He slid his wand up his sleeve and held the spare out in front of him. Then he turned back to the stairs and slowly began down them. When he was about halfway down, a voice sounded from the room.
"What have we here? Has Potter finally ridden to the rescue?" the silky voice asked. Harry clambered down the rest of the stairs. He found himself face to face with a room full of about 10 Death Eaters. The two largest stood on either side of the table, arms crossed over their chests like a pair of professional bodyguards. A person lay on the table, arms stretched out to either side in the directions of the largest death eaters. Harry couldn't see the person's head. Only one stood between them. He had a long blonde ponytail that trailed from the hood of his robe. The other seven gathered around the table, attention focused on Harry.
"Where's Hannah?" Harry asked. He kept his wand trained towards the floor so as not to offend or accidentally curse anyone. His eyes had hardened to a deep green color as he glared at the head death eater.
"We don't have your precious Hannah," the man replied in a voice that was unmistakably Lucius Malfoy's. The figure on the table raised his head to look at Harry.
"Sirius!" Harry gasped. Harry's godfather let his head fall back to the table.
"Yes, we have your precious godfather. He is going to die just as your insufferable prick of a father and whore of a mother did," Lucius purred. Harry's gaze intensified and he moved his wand up so that it pointed directly at the center of Lucius's chest.
"Oh, don't worry," Lucius assured Harry. "You're going with him."
"No," Harry whispered.
"Actually yes. We need your blood and his for a ritual that will make My Lord a pureblooded wizard," Lucius said.
"Blood isn't something you can change, Malfoy," Harry hissed. A dull throbbing began in his forehead. Lucius twirled his wand through his slim fingers with practiced ease.
"Oh but it is," Lucius countered. "The blood of one half-blood child, one three-fourths pure teenager, and one pureblooded wizard drained at a site of magical significance will be enough to erase any and all impurities from my masters blood.
"Where's the kid?" Harry questioned.
"Goyle," Lucius snapped his fingers twice. Goyle crouched behind the table and appeared a moment later with a small body in his arms. The girl looked about three. Her blonde hair was shorn off unevenly across her head. Her blue eyes were dull and nearly lifeless.
"We have her," Lucius said. Harry felt a heavy weight smash into his lower body. He fell to the floor under the weight.
"Look what we found at the top of the stairs," A familiar voice announced. Harry finally registered the weight on top of him as his own best friend. He rolled from under Ron's lifeless body, just in time to see William Sanguinis appear at the bottom of the steps. He stepped to his left and Cho appeared just behind him. Hermione stood in front of Cho with her hands bound in front of her. Cho had her left arm wrapped around Hermione's neck. In her right hand, she held her wand pointed steadily at Hermione's right temple. Blood trickled from a cut at the corner of Hermione's mouth. Sanguinis roughly kicked Ron towards the wall. The fifth year slid several meters in that direction but didn't make contact with the stone structure.
"Very well, put them at the base of the table," Lucius instructed. William gave Ron another swift kick in his ribs. Harry almost thought he saw Ron wince with pain. He shook the thought out of his mind as Cho pushed Hermione head first into Ron. Ron was obviously unconscious.
"Looks as though your cavalry is useless, Potter," Lucius muttered. Harry ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up more than usual. Before he could say anything, Lucius turned to Sanguinis.
"What right do you think you have to bring her here?" he asked. Had his eyes been visible, he would have been glaring. William opened his mouth and closed it again. He repeated the action twice more before finally shrugging at the older death eater.
"YOU KILLED CEDRIC!" Cho screeched. She pulled her wand and aimed it at Lucius.
"Someone take care of her," Lucius muttered, waving his left hand at several Death Eaters who had backed against the wall. One of the men in the center pulled a wand from his robe.
"Avada Kedavra," the man muttered. A green flash of light erupted from the Death Eater's wand and stuck Cho directly in her chest. She crumpled to the ground.
"YOU BASTARD!" William shrieked he dived towards the Death Eater. Three others stepped in to try to stop the teenager from injuring the other Death Eater. Harry caught Hermione's eye under the table. The girl tried valiantly not to look at Cho's lifeless body. The preschooler Goyle still held released a shriek from across the room. Harry looked away from Hermione and over to where the largest Death Eater stood with the little girl. Blood poured from a large cut in the girls throat. Lucius held a metal bowl under the girls throat to catch the blood. Harry's face went to a sickly pale before turning a lovely shade of green as he watched the proceedings. He looked back down to Hermione. She widened her brown eyes and then tried to raise one eyebrow at Harry. Four Death Eaters still tried to subdue William.
"Attack now?" Hermione mouthed. Harry gave a little shrug.
"Avada Kedavra," A Death Eater muttered. The increasingly familiar flash of green light appeared and William sank to the floor next to Cho. Hermione shook her head in a motion that was barely visible. The girl in Goyle's arms shrieked again. Hermione's eyes widened and she slowly shook her still bound hands. Harry noticed a wand inching its way out of her sleeve. Harry forced himself to look away from his friend so as not to draw attention to her actions. Suddenly, the robes of two of the Death Eaters that had been struggling with William combusted. Blue flames roared up from the hems of the robes. Both men shrieked. One of the other Death Eaters attempted to douse the flames, but before he could, he, too, was on fire. Harry took aim on Goyle.
"Incendio," he muttered. The spell hit the man in the center of his chest. Flames rushed towards his face, causing him to drop the baby onto Sirius. A fourth Death Eater began burning thanks to Hermione. Someone finally realized where the spells were coming from. Hermione set a fifth Death Eater's robes on fire. When she was looking the other direction, a rather large Death Eater sprang on her from behind. The man crushed her to the floor, pushing Ron farther under the table. Before the man could do anything else to Hermione, Ron sat up, wand in hand, and stunned the man. The pair pushed the large weight off Hermione, and the girl sat up.
"FREEZE!" Lucius yelled. Everyone stopped and looked at the Death Eater. Everyone, except Ron and Hermione that is. Lucius couldn't see what was happening under the table, so he didn't notice Ron working to sever the bonds that held Sirius's hands to the table, while Hermione freed Sirius's feet. Lucius held a large silver knife above his head.
"No one move and I won't have to shove this through his head," he nodded towards Sirius. Harry managed to remain perfectly motionless. Sirius lay flat on his back on the table, looking up at the man standing over him with the knife. His breathing accelerated to a rate appropriate for a man about to be stabbed to death. Harry did the first thing he thought of.
"Accio Knife," he said. He obviously hadn't thought of the implications of having a knife hurtling straight at his head, so he was forced to duck. The knife buried hilt deep in the wooden doorframe at the bottom of the stairs. Sirius took the opportunity to fully incapacitate Lucius. His right hand shot straight above his head and he sunk his fingers tightly into Lucius's crotch. Lucius howled loudly enough to shatter windows. Sirius's grip was relentless.
"ACCIO WAND!"A Death Eater howled.
"INCENDIO!" Hermione screeched at the same time. Her wand flew out of her hand but she didn't seem to notice. She rose to her feet, hands extended just above her head on both sides. She began a slow circle in the center of the room. Slowly, the walls of the room, just next to the roof, began to burn. Ron used his elbows to propel himself towards Lucius's dancing feet under the table. He scooped the limp girl up in his arms and held her close to his body. Her blue eyes rolled open and she seemed to focus on him for just a moment before her eyes closed completely.
"Come on baby," he whispered. "Hang on." He fished the miniature broom out of his pocket. He pointed his wand at it and muttered a quick spell to enlarge it. He stepped out from under the table, mounted the broom, and held the limp body close to his chest. He held his wand out with the other hand and kicked off, charging straight towards the ceiling.
"REDUCTO!" He shouted, only moments before he and the small girl would have crashed into the ceiling. A hole blew through the floor. Ron had to duck low over the girl's body and the broom to fit through, but he continued his path towards the second ceiling. A curse from one of the Death Eaters below whizzed past his left ear. He blew another hole in the ceiling as another spell whistled just over his head. He urged the Firebolt to speed up and tore through the second hole into the clear blue sky above. He immediately turned the broom towards Hogwarts and urged it to go faster.
"AFTER HIM!" Lucius squealed from the basement. Sirius still hadn't let go of Lucius, causing the Death Eater's voice to have the pitch of a first year girl's. The majority of the Death Eaters were either smoldering or working to extinguish the fire rapidly spreading across the ceiling. Lucius disappeared with a pop and a squelching noise, directly from Sirius's grasp. Sirius jumped up on the table and turned to the death eaters, wand drawn.
"Catch!" Hermione insisted. She fished Fred's broom from her pocket and tossed it to Sirius. Sirius caught the broom in one hand and turned to Goyle, who still stood smoking near the bowl of blood. He quickly bound the much larger man with ropes from his wand, the encased him in a block of ice. One by one, panicked Death Eaters began to disapparate from the room, ignoring their smoking robes. Harry grabbed Ron's broom from his pocket. At almost the same time, he and Sirius made the brooms return to their normal size.
"I've got Hermione," Sirius called to Harry. Hermione stepped up on the table and over to Sirius. Harry jumped onto the broom and sped out of the hole Ron had already created. Sirius climbed onto the broom he held and moved towards the front to allow Hermione on behind him, one of the few remaining, non-burning Death Eaters muttered a spell under his breath. A flash of reddish-purple light ripped from his wand and smashed into Hermione's back. The Death Eater quickly disapparated. Blood sprang forth from Hermione's nose almost immediately as she slumped against Sirius's back and then fell sideways off the broom. Sirius, too, climbed off the broom. Thick smoke from the wooden ceiling beams began to fill the room. Sirius picked up Hermione and laid her across the front of the broom on her stomach. He jumped on behind her and kicked off from the table. As soon as the broom began to rise, Hermione's head fell towards her feet, as she was draped over the broom. Sirius used his wand to blast the exit slightly larger so he and Hermione could fit through. The pair fit easily through and followed Harry and Ron towards Hogwarts.
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"Is she going to be okay?" Ron asked. Professor McGonagall stepped into the space created by the hangings around his bed in the Hospital wing. McGonagall smiled benevolently down at the boy.
"Madame Pomfrey has been able to mend her right up and she'll be perfectly okay," the old professor said. "She's lost a lot of blood, and had some irreversible damage done to her fingers, but she'll live. And I'm sure Mr. Finnegan will be more than ecstatic that you saved his baby sister."
"That was Tallulah Finnegan?" Ron asked. Professor McGonagall nodded.
"Have Harry and Hermione and Sirius come in yet?" Ron questioned.
"Shove over, she's unconscious!" Sirius's voice rang through the previously quiet hospital wing. Ron heard the unmistakable sound of a body being dropped onto a bed. McGonagall turned and rushed from the curtains, leaving them open just wide enough that Ron could see the proceedings from his bed. Sirius had placed Hermione lightly on the bed nearest to the door, across from the bed Tallulah was occupying.
"They hit her with some sort of curse just as we were leaving," Sirius explained. "She's been bleeding and hasn't woken up since, and standard reviving spells won't work."
"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" Madame Pomfrey asked. Harry nodded slowly.
"For once you saved the day and are conscious directly afterwards, I'm impressed," the matron half-joked. As she did, she moved directly past Harry and to Hermione's bed. She carefully rolled the girl over and began a preliminary examination of her.
"Look who I found hiding in a broom closet!" Astrid cried gleefully. "As per Chelsea's instructions. They were right there!" Hannah, Mandy, and Ernie staggered in dizzily after her.
"Hannah!" Harry gasped.
"Harry!" Hannah said, looking up at her boyfriend. She took an unsteady step towards him and fell into her outstretched arms.
"Where's my baby?" Mandy asked, looking around the hospital wing.
"I'm back here!" Ron called from inside his curtains. "Really Madame Pomfrey, now that you've gotten Tallulah patched up, could you move these curtains?" Madame Pomfrey didn't move away from Hermione, but Sirius stepped over to move the curtains from obstructing Ron's view. Mandy was right behind Sirius, and stepped over to the head of Ron's bed.
"Sirius, put those curtains back and everyone else get out of here now," Madame Pomfrey commanded.