Disclaimer: Not mine, no money, 'nuff said.

Chapter 13: Blood on the Streets its up to my Ankles

A wave hit the Great Hall like the aftershock ripples of an earthquake. It wasn't physical; instead it was simply a feeling that made you shiver. Not one person participating in the feast had been exempt from this momentary feeling of power. It had been as if the fates had moved a chess piece of existence in a way that broke the rules. Suddenly a single scream destroyed the almost tangible silence. Susan Bones had looked down at her place before her to find her goblet surrounded in droplets falling like wax, but with the consistency and smell of blood. Not quite sure how to react, Susan had simply screamed. Several of her fellow Hufflepuffs looked for the cause of the commotion and found it in their own goblets, some which appeared to be drowning in the crimson liquid.

The screaming chorus multiplied in voices.

The wave rapidly rolled across the Great Hall as each table came to acknowledge what exactly had happened. Quickly the screaming chorus line developed into a shrieking quoir that would have made a tribe of banshees go into hiding. Most of the noise originated from females, but a couple of baritones joined in the wordless verse. Even the characteristically complacent Slytherins looked worried. No one was distinctly to blame for this, no one within the Great Hall anyway. Hermione curiously watched Professor Dumbeldore and the new girl leave the hall in a great rush, oblivious or ignoring the noise surrounding them. Ginny swayed gently bumping into Hermione. The young woman with hair the colour of a summer sunset now had skin the colour of freshly bleached towels and appeared just about ready to join Harry in the fainting ranks. George looked at her, serious concern dancing across his generally jovial features. Fred was watching Ron; whose ears were pink and mouth was white.

'Hey, you OK?'

'I don't feel so well.' Ron's white skin starting turning a strange shade of yellow. Without a great deal of warning he threw up on his plate. That just got the quaffle rolling. Vomiting is much like smiling or yawning in that it gains a quick following. Several people stopped screaming and threw up instead, while others just threw up. All left a messy tide of what had been dinner on their plates, tables and a few on their housemates.

McGonagall had been trying to console people quickly, while also attempting to establish who was the possible culprit. Ron Weasley throwing up on his plate abruptly put a stop to that. Snape looked up at her coldly from his own house table as if to say 'What now great leader?'

'Everyone please.' Came the commanding voice which wasn't quite as successful as the headmasters. 'Silence" the louder Scottish snap that shut everyone up vibrated around the Great Hall over the shrieks and guttural noises. 'Could the head of each house please take the students to their dorms and ensure that they stay there. Assist anyone who is sick and reassure the First Years. Please try to keep everyone calm, now go.'

Everyone looked up and made a rush for the doors. The Great Hall had become the ship to abandon.

Hermione did not run, scream or throw up. She was not happy with her current surroundings, but she reasonably supposed that she had inherited her parent's iron stomach and in the scheme of things, this was not the worse that had ever happened since she had entered the world of magic. Watching her school mates retreat as if Godzilla was on their backs she transfigured her fork into a potion phial. Slowly she poured the bloody solution into the phial and transfigured her spoon into a cork. Closing up the little glass canister filled with swaying liquefied garnets she placed it deep within her robes then ran to catch up with her housemates.

The Gryffindors were promptly lead to their dorm. 'The password is cave troll. Do not forget it and do not write it down.' The head of the house glared at Neville. The students stepped into the comfy common room. Some took turns basking in front of the fire while others went straight to their dorms, either to clean themselves up, attempt to sleep or gossip. The entire group of First Years shot up to their dorms as if the Bloody Baron was playing round up with a whip.

Ron and Neville dropped into the warm velvet lounges in front of the fire. Hermione ran in just as the portrait was starting to close. She stood and panted in front of the boys long enough to wheeze 'I'll be right back.' Before racing up to her dorm.

'What do you suppose that was all about?' Ron asked. Neville shrugged and patted Crookshanks absently, who looked terribly put out that the humans had invaded his domain.

Hermione promptly rejoined her friends in the common room sans bloody potion phial, her hair a fluffy flyaway mess that fell away from her face. Ron who had now recovered from his little chucking bout watched Hermione momentarily before shrugging to himself.

'I wonder what all that stuff in the Great Hall was all about.' Neville asked Hermione, apparently expecting a thorough answer.

'I think that it's related to the events of the summer. You-know-who made himself known by killing a magical photographer who managed to get the perfect evidence. Didn't you notice that enrolments are down?'

Ron and Neville shook their heads.

'Errrrr honestly.'

'Um, Hermione?' Ron timidly asked.

'What?'

'How do you know all this stuff? You spend your summers in the muggle world. I didn't think that muggles got access to that stuff.'

'We don't.' agreed Hermione. 'Remember how many magical subscriptions I signed up for before the break? One has to keep up somehow.'

Neville looked up; ignoring the contented claw Crookshanks was contracting into his thigh.

'Does Harry know?'

'No.' Ron beat Hermione. 'He doesn't and Mum wouldn't let me tell him. She thought it would be better coming from Dumbeldore.'

'Speaking of which, I wonder what he wanted with that new girl Pandora, that was all a bit strange.'

'There is something strange about her.' Neville said, receiving wide-eyed responses from Ron and Hermione. Neville wasn't usually the most perceptive thing in the world.

'I like her.' Said Ron.

'That's obvious.' Came Hermione's sarcastic reply.

'What is that supposed to mean?'

'What do you mean what's that supposed to mean? It means what it means. It is obvious that you like Pandora.'

'Time out!' Neville yelled, standing between the two palms out. 'We have a higher purpose. When I was a child I though as a child and I spoke as a child, but now that I am no longer a child, I have given up childish things.'

Hermione and Ron glared at Neville incredulously.

'What? My grandmother is religious. Surely you don't think that Jesus was a muggle do you?'

Hermione reached for words just out of her grasp.

'Who are you and what have you done with Neville?' Ron asked, eyeing Neville suspiciously.

Neville smiled slightly. 'I think that I grew up a bit during the summer. That doesn't mean that I won't break the record for melting the most cauldrons in Hogwarts History though.'

Ron and Hermione smiled.

They stayed in the chairs and chatted for a while about inconsequential matters, how their holidays were and first thoughts on anticipated classes for the year. Neville had successfully dispelled the tension between Hermione and Ron for the moment. Gradually they curled up in the lounges and fell asleep.

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Pandora didn't have a clue where she was going. All she knew was that Harry would freak if he woke up and found her there. So she had to leave and leave she did, despite the pain she was in. Harry's head had knocked her around a lot more than anticipated. Never before had she been in a mind that messed up that young. The poor kid. Pandora knew Harry's history of course. There wasn't a magically inclined child who didn't. But Pandora had no idea that Harry remembered his parents' murders, she even felt the heart wrenching despair that ripped at Harry as he watched Cedric Diggory die through Voldemort's relentless hands. Those thoughts, that head, were so scrambled. Pandora shuddered and shook in recollection of the horrifying oil montage she found Harry in. She hoped it wasn't prophetic.

Pandora was suffering déjà vu. She had no idea where she was. She was just walking a down a hallway, quiet shoes clicking on polished floors.

'Meow.' Mrs. Norris called loudly to her beloved keeper, her eyes glowing a spiteful red.

Beat it you stoopid cat.

'What is it Mrs. Norris?' Filch came creeping out of a door Pandora couldn't see.

Think yourself invisible, Pandora kept telling herself. That experimental potion of the holidays should be effective for a little while longer. Just remember to shut your eyes, cause it didn't work on them for some strange reason. Sure enough Mrs. Norris circled confused then stopped and mewed loudly. Filch walked straight past her, she felt the cold castle hair move and smelt his mouldy damp scent as he walked past.

'Come on my pet.' Filch called to his cat, which was sanding in front of Pandora and making a noise akin to a whine. Reluctantly and throwing what looked distinctly like a dirty look the evil cat followed her master back along the hallway Pandora had emerged from.

Pandora stood still longer than was necessary, just to be sure. Slowly she opened her eyes which blinked back at her in the reflection off the dark, frosted castle window. Pandora willed herself visible once more and then asked the nearest picture directions to the Gryffindor rooms.

The painting was rather obliging, but it did eye her suspiciously when she gave her reason for needing assistance. She certainly did not look like a little lost first year, but the kindly old painting reasoned with himself that he was rather sure that he had never seen her before. His oiled conscience told him to do the right thing and point her in the right direction and simply mention it to Dumbeldore the next time he seen the Headmaster around. He told Pandora the right way to go.

By the time Pandora reached the snoring fat pink lady she was pissed off, she may know a lot without being told, but nothing and no one had informed her of the trick stair which she got caught on, bashing her shins on the stair above it. Between getting out of it and to the fat pink lady she realised she didn't have any idea what the password was and that information would be hidden from all types of prying eyes.

Pandora walked up to the pink lady and poked her on the shoulder. The puffy cheeks retracted and one eye opened indignantly. 'What?' she asked, her voice virtually drowned in sleep.

'I don't s'pose you'd know how I would go about finding out the password would you?' Pandora put on her best charm.

'Sorry dear.' The lady said while yawning. The cheeks clucked as sleep took over the painting once more.

'Great.' Pandora said to the floor. She slumped to the ground and curled herself up in a ball of attempted warmth.

Pandora cramped quickly. Her body wasn't accustomed to the UK climate and cold in Oz had nothing on cool in Scotland. Suddenly a very large black dog appeared from nowhere. Pandora stood quickly and tried to work out the best way to scale a wall backwards. A grim wasn't exactly what she had wanted to see, especially in regards to what she had seen already that night. The dog walked up to her slowly, then rolled over, paws skyward in a universal sign of submission. Pandora reached down and scratched its tummy.

Eventually after getting and receiving trust, Pandora fell asleep curled in a mass of black furry warmth, a little curious as to why the dog seemed to smell like a human.

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As always, thanks everyone for the reviews, they are always deeply appreciated

Zahri Seb Melitor: * Firstly thankyou for adding my little tale to your favourite stories list (Sticks out chest like a proud Peahen)

*Secondly I did not mention 'deadly fierce bloodwrath wombats' because I know too many people who have actually had bad experiences with wombats.

*I'm actually from Sydney, my bio is just a parody of what Steve Irwin is making the world think we (and our country) is like.

*'Luminous' is a typo, the result of me typing this up late at night and then not proof reading it properly. My bad.

*Gred and Forge were encouraged to buy Ron New dress robes and that will actually come into it later.

*Pandora Romulus: no you did not necessarily let anything escape and a classical education is definitely something to be proud of. Thanks heaps for your reviews.

Kram Nebuer: I don't know, is Pandora good or bad, or simply human and thus both? Another huge Thankyou for adding my story to your favourite stories list.

Naomi SilverWolf: Thanks for letting me know that you are still into this, hope you liked this chapter.

Jagged Epiphany: Thanks as always, you will gradually find out more and more about Pandora, but the box won't be completely opened for a while!!