Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. The rest all belongs to JK. Rowling.
A/N: Hey everyone! Did ya miss me? LOL! A lot of action is coming up in the next few chapters until we're done so stay with me. Awwww I just realized that I only have a few more chapters until it's done sniff sniff lol ah well, I'm not finished yet! I'm still going! LOL! I hope that you all like this one! Thanks to all my loyal reviewers! You guys rock! Seriously—you do! Enjoy! x0x0z!
Ron and Harry were still following Hermione and Seamus throughout Hogsmede with Crabbe and Goyle not too far behind and were getting more and more anxious.
"It's like waiting for the ax to fall. I know that they're up to something but when are they going to do what ever it is they're planning?" whispered Ron who was glaring at Crabbe and Goyle again.
"And what is it that they plan to do to her?" Harry added.
"Could this day get any worse?" Ron muttered angrily, "First Hermione goes on this so called date with Seamus, then we're forced to listen to the git go on and on about himself as if he's the greatest wizard since Merlin, then these two morons start following her as well. And to top it all off; I'm bloody starving!"
"Well I think that you may be in luck mate, because Hermione and Seamus are now heading into Honeydukes." said Harry quietly so no one but Ron could hear.
"Brilliant! Finally something's going right! I've been waiting all day for them to go in that ruddy store!"
So they followed them in Honeydukes being very careful where they walked as they did in every store. Thankfully, Honeydukes wasn't very crowded. In fact, they were the only customers in the store besides Hermione, Seamus, Crabbe and Goyle.
"Brilliant! Harry look! Pepper Imps! Chocolate frogs! Cauldron Cakes! Every Flavor Beans!" said Ron enthusiastically who was now in his glory, being surrounded by so many of his favourite sweets at the same time.
Harry rolled his eyes. He knew that when food was calling Ronald Weasley, nothing could tear him away. "Just be careful that no one spots you nicking food under the cloak."
"Oh look Harry! Remember I told you about those massive sherbert balls? They're right over there next to Malfoy's goons. Come on!" Ron said excitedly forgetting completely about being under the cloak.
"Ron! Be careful!" Harry hissed. Ron led him to a completely different part of the store and they couldn't even see Hermione and Seamus anymore. They were near the door to the basement.
Ron grabbed a sherbert ball and started sucking on it.
"Ron, don't those make you levitate off the floor?" Harry asked looking concerned.
"Oh yeah forgot about that." Ron said absentmindedly still sucking on the candy.
He started to lift up off the floor so much so that you could see Harry's legs. "Ron, watch what your doing! They're going to see us!" Harry hissed.
Then all of a sudden; Ron felt a pair of hands snatch him, drag him to a door and push him down a staircase. Ron tried to scream but the candy was still in his mouth. Harry was thrown in the dark room and down the stairs right after him and landed flat on Ron's head at the bottom.
"Ouch!" Ron managed to cry after spitting out the candy. "What the bloody hell happened?!"
"Crabbe and Goyle dragged us into the basement!" said Harry getting off Ron and now standing up and walking back up the stairs to the door. "Alohomora!" He tried to open the door but it was still locked. "It's no good. They must have done something different to the lock."
"I KNEW they were up to something! Now my poor Hermione has to fend for herself! We are never getting out of here! Not in time at least! She's done for! And it's all my fault!!" Ron yelled, extremely distraught. "How could I have been so bloody thick?! I basically handed Hermione over on a silver platter for a stupid piece of candy!! I promised myself that I would always protect her no matter what! Now she's in danger and I'm locked up in this pit! How am I going to protect her now? She's all alone now Harry! There's no one to help her when they attack!"
"Lumos" breathed Harry and then he pointed his wand to look at Ron. "Well look at the bright side; at least Seamus is with her." Harry said consolingly.
"Oh that makes me feel LOADS better, Harry!" spat Ron sarcastically. "Out of all the rotten things that have happened today I must say that getting locked in the bloody basement of Honeydukes with no way of getting out by two dimwits who are now out to get the love of my life definitely tops it all!"
"Wait a minute—the basement of Honeydukes! That's it!" said Harry animatedly.
"What's it?" asked Ron, puzzled.
"Ron, we're in the basement of Honeydukes!" Harry said with a huge grin.
"You've just figured that out?" said Ron sarcastically looking at Harry as if he was mad.
"No! Don't you remember? There's a passage way here that leads back to Hogwarts!"
"Harry you're brilliant! I forgot about that!" said Ron. "But wait a minute; didn't you say that it took an hour to get back."
"Yes, but not if we hurry. The second we get back we'll look in the common room for her. If she's not there then we'll find Malfoy and see what this is all about." Harry said hurriedly.
"Harry, how can we possibly get there in time?" Ron asked despairingly.
"I don't know but it's the only plan we've got." said Harry.
"Alright let's move! Lumos" said Ron taking out and lighting his own wand.
"Hold on Hermione! I'm coming." Ron muttered under his breath. And with that the two started running down the passage way in hopes that they wouldn't be too late.
Hermione's POV
Seamus was now leading Hermione down a deserted alley where she had never been before.
"Seamus, I'm not sure about this. What is it that you want to show me here?" asked Hermione anxiously.
"Nothing, I just wanted to do this---" Seamus had grabbed Hermione and planted a huge kiss on her lips before she knew what hit her.
When she got back to her senses after a second she pulled herself away and said, "Seamus you're really nice and everything but I don't think that we should be together in that way. You're just my friend."
"Oh come on doll, how can you resist this?" said Seamus smugly, referring to himself. "I'm a lot of fun; just give me a try." He tried to force himself on her again but this time she was ready for it.
SMACK!
Hermione had slapped him across the face with all the strength she could muster. Seamus looked positively shocked. "Don't you dare ever touch me again, you pig!" she yelled while getting out her wand and pointing it at him. "I know more jinxes than you ever will in your life time so I suggest you back off!"
Seamus retaliated and spat nastily, "I should have known better than to try to get a know-it-all Mudblood like you! Just remember, you could have had the best damn bloke out there."
"I'll keep that in mind, now get out of my sight before I REALLY give you something to curse about!" said Hermione fiercely, still pointing her wand at him. Clearly afraid that she just might jinx him, Seamus left with no other remarks.
When he was out of sight, Hermione gained some composure and walked out of the dark alley back into the Hogsmede she was familiar with. How Hermione wished that she had listened to Ron and that he and Harry were there to help her when that happened! But she had to admit that she was very proud of herself as well. She had managed to get Seamus away from her and didn't really need anyone to stick up for her at all, although it would have been nice if it was Ron who saved her from the git.
Before leaving, Hermione took one more look around Hogsmede to try and spot Harry and Ron. They were still nowhere to be seen! Thinking the worst; Hermione was really worried now! She knew that they never missed Hogsmede weekends if they could help it.
Hermione started panicking. She decided to quickly get back up to the castle to see if she could find them there. She didn't know what she would do if she would ever loose them!
It was a good thing that it only took about 10 minutes to get back to the castle! Hermione was now at the portrait of the Fat Lady. She said the password, hurried in and looked frantically around the room for them. They weren't there either. In fact there was barely anyone in the common room. Everyone was probably still at Hogsmede.
Hermione ran up to her dormitory to try to find Lavender and ask if she had seen them. When she got there, Hermione found that the room was empty. She let out a cry in frustration and plopped herself on the bed feeling extremely distraught.
Hermione felt a piece of parchment under her hand. She picked it up and read it. It said;
If you ever want to see your precious friends again come to the heart of the forbidden forest immediately. Go alone if you value their lives.
"Malfoy" she breathed. "It must be him! He wants revenge on me so he's taken Ron and Harry! I'll never forgive myself if he hurts them! I knew that Draco was up to something to get back at us! I should have warned them about the threat! This is all my fault!!"
At this point all the logical and rational thinking that Hermione lived by flew out the window. For once in her life, not a sensible thought ran through her head except for the fact that she needed to go to the forest, and fast! So without thinking another thought, she dropped the note, got up and ran as fast as she could out of the common room, down the staircases and out onto the Hogwarts grounds.
As she reached the dark and terrifying forest she took a deep breath, got up all the courage she had in her and ran in. She called out, "I'm coming boys! Hold on! Please God; please don't let me be too late!"