Blaise Zabini (Boy 20, Slytherin) closed the door that led to the back rooms, and joined Harry Potter (Boy 15, Gryffindor) in the waiting room of the clinic. "She's still sleeping," he said as he sat down. He looked to the other boy, who didn't respond. "Hey. I'm sure he's still alive."
Harry turned to Blaise. "But how can you know?" He put his head in his hands. "I should have waited for him back at the school."
Blaise started to reach a hand out to him, but then thought better of it and drew back. "You can't dwell on what ifs and should haves. You'll find him. Alive."
Harry nodded slowly. "Should we tell Hermione when she wakes up?"
Blaise leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. "You know her better than I do. I wouldn't, but it's your call." He paused. "What would you do if it came down to just you and her?"
Harry looked at him, confused. "What do you mean? You're not planning on ditching us, are you?"
Blaise shook his head. "No. But if I died, and it was just you and her left. What then?"
Harry looked to the ground. "We'll find a way to escape. I know it." He looked back up at Blaise. "It won't come to that. I know it."
Blaise slowly nodded. "I hope you're right."
The pair fell silent. After a few minutes, Blaise stood up and looked at his watch. "I'm going out. You staying here?"
Harry stood up as well. "Does smoking really help you relax?"
Blaise shrugged. "Helps me. I think it's more due to habit, though."
"Mind if I try one?"
Blaise opened the door. "Suit yourself. I doubt Hermione would approve, though."
They walked outside, and Blaise leaned against the building, taking out a cigarette. Lighting it, he offered the pack to Harry. "If you're sure. It'll just make you cough a lot, though. Nasty habit to get into."
Harry hesitated, then took a cigarette. Blaise handed him the lighter and he lit it. Blaise watched him for a few seconds, then chuckled as Harry started to cough.
"Told you so," he said as he took a drag of his own cigarette.
Harry blinked exaggeratedly. "So how'd you get in the habit?"
Blaise shrugged. "My uncle smokes. Guess I just picked it up from him."
There was another lull in the conversation. After coughing a few times, Harry finally declared, "I think it's safe to say that I won't be smoking again. It just makes me cough, and everything keeps moving around." Blaise nodded, and Harry tossed his cigarette onto the ground.
"Nicotine buzz'll do that. It'll fade away in a few minutes. And before you ask, I don't get the buzz anymore. Been smoking too long."
Harry nodded, then turned to the door. "I'm going back inside. I think I might need to sit down for a while."
"'Kay."
Harry went back inside, nearly tripping over a chair as he tried to sit. He glanced to the back door, which was bouncing around an awful lot for a door. He wondered whether or not he should tell Hermione about finding Ron's bloodied robes. Maybe once she woke up and was feeling better, but there was no point in worrying her right now. He had a sneaking suspicion that she had already made herself sick with worry.
22 students remaining
September 2 -- 3:58 p.m.
Mandy Brocklehurst (Girl 3, Ravenclaw) wished more than anything that he had waited for her. He always knew how to put things right and make all the bad feelings go away. But she could understand why he hadn't waited for her. He might not trust her. She was one of the "bad girls". She knew that he took flack from his friends just for associating with her, and wished that she could turn back time and prevent herself from ever meeting up with Hannah.
She had originally joined up with Hannah after the other girl caught her shoplifting at one of the stores in Hogsmeade. Soon, she was being blackmailed and things just snowballed from there, until Mandy's reputation was completely tarnished from all of the jobs Hannah had her do.
But he looked past all of that. He saw the real her deep inside, and didn't care about what she had done. She had vowed to clean up her act for him, because she knew he deserved better. But even though they cared for one another, their relationship could only be described as rocky, at best. Every other week, they would argue about some silly little thing or another, only to get back together the very next day with no mention of what they argued about. They didn't even bother with apologies, because they knew that they were both sorry for the quarrel. Words would only spoil things.
But she wanted to see him. She didn't really mind dying if she could see him for one last time. She didn't think she was going to survive, anyway. She just couldn't bear the thought of killing anyone. She may have done some rather horrible things in the past, but she would never stoop so low as murder. She wasn't like...
She put her head in her hands as she sobbed uncontrollably. Some of her classmates were playing. She had heard the gunfire off and on all day. And it wasn't all from the same gun, either.
After a few minutes had passed and she got herself under control again, she picked up the Colt .45 by her side. It scared her to think that she might have to use it, but she had to see him before she would die. After that, it didn't really matter.
She was still crying when she heard a rustle in the bushes behind her. Tears in her eyes, she spun around, pointing the gun at the figure emerging. She couldn't quite make out who it was. "Stay away from me!" she screeched.
"Mandy?" The figure stepped forward. Mandy's eyes widened as she was able to recognize him.
"T-Terry?" It was him! It was really him! She lowered the gun and rushed over to him. He embraced her. "I was so scared that I'd never see you again!" They kissed.
Breaking the kiss, Terry Boot (Boy 1, Ravenclaw) turned to her. "Hey, you're crying," he said as he gently brushed away some tears that had fallen down Mandy's cheek.
She smiled. "I'm just so happy to see you."
He nodded, then looked down to the gun still in Mandy's hand. Her eyes followed his. "Luck of the draw, huh? I got stuck with this." He held up a dagger.
"Oh," Mandy blushed. "I forgot I was still holding this... You hold on to it. I don't think I could use it, anyway."
He took the gun and smiled. "Always the protector, huh?" He aimed the gun at Mandy's forehead.
Mandy's eyes widened. "Terry, what are you--"
"Always the one protecting the goddamn whore." His hand trembled.
Mandy sank to her knees. "No... It was only that one time, before we were together. Hannah made us..."
Terry hardly looked sympathetic. His eyes had a crazed look in them, and he was trembling. "Run," he hissed.
Mandy just started at him, eyes wide. "I don't..."
"Just get out of here before I kill you, you filthy whore!" he shouted, tears forming in his eyes.
Mandy stood up, shaking. "You... You aren't supposed to do this..." She reached for him, pleading.
He shoved her to the ground and pinned her down. "Do you want to die? Is that it? There can only be one survivor!" He was crying now. "What do you have to live for? I-I have a future... Dreams..."
Mandy's face softened, and she relaxed her body. "I understand." She smiled. "You always were able to make all the bad go away." She closed her eyes. "Kill me."
She waited for the gun to go off, but it didn't. She felt a few drops of liquid fall on her cheeks, and she slowly opened her eyes. He was crying. Her Terry was crying.
"Mandy..."
There was an odd sound, like a knife being thrust into a watermelon. Mandy's eyes widened as Terry's motionless body fell across her. "No..." She tried to crawl out from under him, but he was too heavy. A hand reached down to help her up.
Hannah Abbott (Girl 1, Hufflepuff) smiled down at Mandy as she helped the other girl up. "Long time no see."
As Mandy got to her feet, she looked down to see the sickle embedded in Terry's skull. "No..."
Hannah ignored her as she went for the gun in Terry's hand. Prying his fingers loose, she smiled as she finally held a gun in her hands.
Mandy was trembling violently, tears steaming down her face. In just one instant, she had lost the one person more important to her than anything else. Lost...
"No no no..."
Hannah continued to ignore her as she tried to pry the sickle loose from Terry's head. Mandy looked at her and shoved her aside.
"Leave him alone!" she screamed hysterically. "How could you! He understood me! He wouldn't kill me!"
Hannah sighed as she aimed the gun at Mandy. "And that's why I had to kill him." She fired, letting Mandy's lifeless body fall on top of Terry's.
Calmly, she extracted the sickle loose.
20 students remaining
September 2 -- 4:15 p.m.
Montgomery leaned back in his chair and smiled. His three assistants were in the room with him this time, so there would be no repeat of the day's earlier events.
"Things are getting to be quite interesting, don't you think?" he asked to no one in particular.
"Sir?" One of his assistants turned to him.
"Hmm?" Montgomery turned to him. "Oh, just musing about how we have a number of contenders this year. Who do you think will win?"
"If I had to choose?" The assistant, Clayton, paused to think. "Well, that Longbottom kid seems like a real contender."
Montgomery smiled. "Yes, he does. How about you Sanchez? Who's your favorite?"
Sanchez looked up. "Nott seems to be a good choice. Once he gets his hands on a firing weapon, I would imagine that he could give Longbottom a run for his money."
The supervisor nodded. "Another good choice. You going to bet on one of the ladies, Delacroix?"
Delacroix looked at the monitor. "Well, I think the Abbott girl might end up surprising all of us. What about you, sir?"
Montgomery smiled. "My money's on Blaise Zabini. He has just the right kind of mind to win. Shrewd enough to know how to survive most encounters. Cunning enough to know how to gain the trust of others. I almost pity the young lovebirds for inviting him into their nest. Almost." He shrugged. "Granted, I do have my own reasons for wanting him to win."
He smiled as he leaned closer to the monitor. "Yes, he certainly is the apple of his father's eye."
20 students remaining
September 2 -- 4:36 p.m.
Hermione Granger (Girl 8, Gryffindor) had awakened less than five minutes ago. She was still quite tired, and didn't feel the least bit well at all, but the nightmare she had frightened her.
In it, the faces of all her dead classmates flashed before her, telling her that she should join them. She shook her head and ran away. Somehow the hallway she had been in became a forest, and she tripped over a fallen branch. Getting up, she saw that the branch wasn't a branch after all, but rather the corpse of her friend Ron. He looked to her with an accusing look in his eyes and asked her where she was when he died. She shook her head and backed up, muttering an apology.
A tree stopped her from backing up any further, and then something that could only be described as a monster appeared in front of her, growling ferociously. Scared, she had raised the gun that she hadn't been holding before and fired at the monster. It fell to the ground, and that's when she realized it was Harry. She sank to her knees and cried, and then woke up.
Getting out of bed carefully, she tiptoed to the doorway, opening it. She wondered briefly where Harry and Blaise where, but figured that they were probably in the waiting room. She stepped quietly through the hallway, seeing the corpses of Draco Malfoy and Gregory Goyle for the first time. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying hard to suppress the urge to vomit. Closing her eyes, she stepped around them and opened the door to the waiting room slightly. She peered in and sure enough, Harry and Blaise were sitting in a couple of chairs, looking toward the front door.
"I still say that it might be a bad idea to tell her," Blaise said. "Even after she's better, how do you know that it just won't worry her more?"
Harry turned to Blaise. Hermione had to strain her eyes to focus, but she could see that he was holding some cloth in his hands. "But she has a right to know. He's her friend, too, you know. Ron might be hurt out there."
Hermione's eyes widened and she stepped forward. "What about Ron?"
Harry and Blaise turned to her. She walked over to them. "Harry, what about Ron?" She looked at the cloth in Harry's hands, finally recognizing them as robes. She grabbed them out of Harry's hands, and saw the red prefect badge. "Oh, God..."
The boys stood up. "Hermione," Harry started. He paused, as he didn't know what to say next.
Blaise stepped forward. "You should go back to bed." He felt her forehead. "You're still burning with fever."
Hermione took a step back, then regretted it as she felt dizzy. "Where did you find this?"
Harry looked down. "They were on the bathroom floor." He looked back up. "But he's still alive, right? We'll find him, but you need to get some rest so you can be strong."
Hermione shook her head. "We have to go now! He could be hurt!"
Blaise shook his head and started leading her toward the back. In her weakened state, she couldn't resist very much. "No. You're sick and need rest. We'll find him later, after you've recovered. Don't make me give you a sedative."
Hermione looked like she was going to say something more, but then decided not to. She was far too tired to argue, and they were right. She knew that in her state, they wouldn't get very far. She let them lead her back to the room where she had been resting in.
20 students remaining
September 2 -- 4:54 p.m.
Wayne Hopkins (Boy 10, Hufflepuff) watched on as Neville Longbottom (Boy 11, Gryffindor) glanced at his watch and got up. Neville had been sitting by that tree ever since he had killed Justin. Wayne had wondered if the other boy had fallen asleep, but apparently not. He was really craving a cigarette right now, but resisted the urge to light one up, lest he alert the other boy to his presence.
He saw how mercilessly Neville had killed Justin, and knew that he would share the same fate were Neville's attention to turn to him. The scariest part was, he sensed no hostility on Neville's part toward his victim. Just a job he had to do. The other boy was becoming a monster, losing a little bit more of himself with every life he took.
Wayne quietly followed Neville as he walked westward, looking around him as he went. He wondered briefly where he was being led, but didn't bother checking his map. He figured that Neville knew exactly where he was going, and would avoid forbidden zones. He wasn't suicidal. So long as Wayne stuck close, he should have no problems with the danger zones, either.
Neville approached a building in a clearing, and after checking his map and looking around him, went inside.
Wayne covered his mouth as he realized it was a restroom. Trying to stifle giggles that were threatening to escape, he took out his map and consulted it. The restroom wasn't marked on the map, which made it hard to determine exactly where they were. He supposed that they must be just short of D-5, which would be forbidden in only a few minutes.
He glanced at his watch. 4:57. Looking back at the restroom, he waiting for the sprinkling sound to finish and for Neville to emerge. It wasn't as though he didn't trust the other boy's sense of direction, he just didn't like being so close to a forbidden zone. Although it was true that Neville was closer to the zone than he was.
He took out a cigarette and wafted it under his nose, taking in the aroma as he waited. It sure seemed to take a long time. He must have held it in for quite some time. 4:59.
He frowned in the general direction of the restroom, trying to telepathically compel the other boy to finish up. Still the sprinkling continued.
He frowned even deeper, and decided to sneak closer to see what the holdup was. The door was slightly ajar. Closer now...
A gust of wind blew the door open. Wayne's eyes widened as he saw the water bottle propped up on a towel rack, a small stream of water trickling out. There was a window in the back, wide open. He quickly backed away, and looked around in a panic.
To the northeast he could see Neville running away, safely out of the confines of D-5.
5 seconds to five.
"But if you're... Then I'm..."
3 seconds to five.
Neville turned around, and looked at Wayne coldly.
1 second to five.
Wayne's eyes widened. "Oh, fu--"
Five o'clock.
19 students remaining