Chapter Seven

Wandering

Everyone stood around in a circle, staring at each other. What do we do now? thought Danny. He looked around them. All he saw was a big lawn splayed out around him, with a small fenced in area about thirty feet from where they all stood, and a very large and sinister looking forest. Where the bloody hell are we?

Spike looked around at the others. "Alright," he said, "What's everyone's names? At least we could all know that much. I didn't have any clues, so I've picked Spike until we get our names back." Everyone nodded and started introducing themselves.

"Seamus," said Seamus. He slipped a hand into Hermione's.

"Her-mee-one," said Hermione.

"Parvati Patil." She smiled at Harry.

"Harry Potter." He grinned back at Parvati.

"Ron W-something." Ron shrugged a bit.

"Rose." Ron glared at Rose and edged away.

"And I'm Danny." Danny smiled. "Right, good idea, Spike. So what do we do now?"

Parvati spoke up. "Well," she said, still holding her book to her chest. "It seems that we're probably all in class together, and look." She flipped the book over to show the group the front where her name was. "We're probably all sixth-years."

Danny smiled again. "Good job, Parvati."

She blushed and felt a little squirm of her stomach when Danny smiled. He's pretty cute too, she thought. She smiled back.

Seamus went to retrieve his bag and brought it back to the circle. "Maybe," he said, "We might be able to find out something else from my books. It seems I have a couple."

Hermione grinned proudly at Seamus as he knelt down to pull out some books. He seems like a smart guy. No wonder I'm with him…

Seamus pulled out a heavy, uncovered book. He had just enough time to look at the title before it snapped at him, jump out of his hands and scuttle off. The Monster Book of Monsters. "Bloody hell!" he cried. The girls gasped and moved out of the book's way as it snapped its covers at them. Seamus stared at it in amazement.

Danny sighed heavily and hurried off after the book. He crept up behind it and with a great leap, he flattened the book to the ground. "Does anyone have a belt on?" he cried as the book tried to snap at him.

Everyone looked at their waists. Spike grinned as he lifted up the hem of his shirt and saw the black belt around his middle. He started undoing it as he hurried to Danny's side. He whipped it out of the belt loops as though it was a sword in a sheath at his hip. He knelt down in the grass next to Danny. "Here, Danny Boy." He grinned at Danny. "Pick up the book tight and we'll do it together."

Danny nodded. He snaked his arms carefully in between the book and the ground and grasped the book tightly. He rolled onto his back and sat up. Spike moved closer to Danny and fit the belt tightly around the book. Both boys' eyes had been trained on the biting book, but now that it was contained, they looked up at each other. Danny's lips curled into the same lopsided smile.

Spike smiled back and his heart skipped a beat. They stared at each other for a long moment and Spike found himself wanting to lean in and kiss those lopsided lips. He did not, however. I don't want to kiss him in front of everyone… Maybe sometime when we're alone… He broke the gaze and straightened. He leaned over and brushed the dirt off his knees. "Damn," he said with a smirk. "My pants got all dirty." He pulled a face.

Danny's smile got wider. He reached out and patted Spike on the shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll get you cleaned up as soon as we know who we are."

Spike nodded. "Right then." He held out a hand for Danny to help the raven-haired boy up. The same exciting surge of feelings flowed through each of them at the touch. And each wondered to themselves why they had such a powerful reaction to the other boy. They walked back to the group again, Danny carrying the belted book.

"So what have we found?" asked Danny as they approached.

Seamus glanced up at the pair. "Well, I have a couple more books, and you're not going to believe it."

Spike and Danny glanced at each other before looking down at the boy still kneeling on the ground. "What?" they asked in unison.

Seamus was holding a couple books in his hands. "Get this… Besides that monster book, there's The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six, and A History of Magic. I think we know how to do magic."

Spike snorted. "What, you mean pulling a rabbit out of a hat? What a joke!"

Danny looked at the books in Seamus' hand. "Spike, I don't think he's kidding."

Spike crossed his arms stubbornly. "It can't be. Magic is something old guys with no talent try to do at little kids' birthday parties."

Danny waved the Monster Book of Monsters under Spike's nose. "Then how, my dear Spike, do you explain this?"

Spike grumbled, looking down at the book. It was wiggling in Danny's fingers, trying to free itself from the belt. "Fine," said Spike. "So we're what, wizards and witches?" He looked around at the others in the circle. They were all nodding slowly. "Okay. So what's that get us?"

~ " * " ~

Harry and Parvati led the way along the path. They glanced around nervously. "Whose idea was it to come into the forest?" grumbled Harry as he stumbled over what he swore was the eight hundred and fifty-third root in the last five minutes.

Parvati let out an unladylike snort. Hiding a smile she stated, "That would be you, Love."

"Oh. Bugger." Harry stumbled again and glowered down at the ground. "Sodding roots."

Parvati snickered quietly. "Yes, dear."

~ " * " ~

Rose, Seamus, Hermione and Ron were all clustered together a couple feet behind Harry and Parvati. Seamus and Hermione were holding hands as they walked. And Ron found himself frowning at the pair, jealousy surging through him. Why do I feel so jealous of Seamus? Do- do I have a thing for Her-mee-one? He shrugged and trudged on, hoping they would find something of use to them soon.

~ " * " ~

Spike was pouting. He had no desire to be tramping through the woods, looking for something that might tell them who they all were. He had his arms still tied across his chest and his lower lip was protruding the tiniest bit.

Danny thought it was adorable, even if Spike was being a grump. He had the strongest urge to stop walking, grab Spike, slam him into a tree and nibble on that delectable lip that was just begging to be kissed. As he thought about how delightful kissing Spike would be, a thought skittered through his mind. I do believe this seals it. I'm gay. The realization did not bother him in the slightest. If being gay meant he could go ravage Spike, he was happy to be gay. A small smile spread on his lips.

Spike looked over at Danny. There was the shadow of a smile tugging at the corners of the boy's mouth. He raised an eyebrow, a gesture he found extremely familiar. "What's that look for?" asked Spike quietly.

Danny started a bit and turned to gaze into stormy gray eyes. "Nothing. Just thinking."

"What about?" asked Spike curiously.

Danny smiled mysteriously. "Things." He checked for the others and noticed that he and Spike were lagging behind quite a lot. "Come on. We should catch up to the others." He made to increase his pace but noticed that Spike was no longer next to him. He turned to look behind him. Spike was standing still a few feet away, his lower lip protruding even more. "You know," said Danny as he walked back, "frogs are going to sit on that lip if you leave it out like that."

The lip retreated to its usual position as a smirk creped across Spike's features. "What did you say?"

"I said a frog is going to sit on your lip if you leave it out like you had it." Danny stopped in front of Spike and set his hands on his hips. "Why?"

Spike's smirk increased in intensity. "Right then. What's that supposed to mean?"

Danny's features screwed up in concentration. "Erm, I-I dunno. I haven't a clue where I heard that."

Spike chuckled softly. "It's sort of-" He stopped. He was going to say 'cute,' but he did not think Danny would find that adjective at all flattering. "It's amusing," he said finally.

Danny smirked now. "It is, isn't it?" He threw a glance over his shoulder at the backs of the others, getting further and further away. He looked back at Spike. "We'd better get back to the others."

Spike nodded. "Right," he said. The two teens started off after their classmates, taking big strides to catch up.

~ " * " ~

Harry stepped passed a few more trees and found himself at the edge of a clearing. He looked around. "Well, at least there's not going to be any roots here," he said with a smile.

Parvati grinned. She looked around. "I wonder where we are."

Hermione and Seamus came up behind them. "So where are we?" asked Seamus.

"I was just wondering the same thing, Seamus," said Parvati.

Seamus let go of Hermione's hand and stepped into the clearing. He was looking up at the dark sky as Ron and Rose came up behind Hermione. "Why did we stop?" asked Ron.

"Because we can," said Rose simply. She stepped into the clearing and next to Seamus.

Seamus stared up at the sky. "It's late," he said. "Maybe we should just rest here?"

Everyone nodded.

Danny and Spike arrived then. Spike stepped into the clearing and looked around at the open space. "Well, I suppose we're stopping for the night," he said to Danny.

Danny stayed at the tree line. He had a bad feeling about this. He was starting to get a headache. He shook his head, trying to clear it a bit. Spike glanced back at Danny, who had still not crossed into the clearing.

"Danny? You alright?" Spike stepped back into the trees with Danny.

Danny shook his head again, trying to get rid of the sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew this place from somewhere. He could not place it, but he knew something bad was about to happen. His head felt like it was on fire, the pain concentrated in his forehead. He tried to look up at Spike, but he could barely see. He stumbled backward a few feet and then sank to his knees.

"Danny!" Spike rushed to Danny's side. "Danny, what's wrong?"

"My-my head. I-I-it feels like it's about to rip apart." Danny had his fingers pressed to the scar on his forehead.

Spike put his arms around Danny. Why, he did not know, but he felt like this would do something to help. He called to the others over his shoulder. "Guys? Something's wrong with Danny."

Hermione and Ron rushed over. "What's the matter?" asked Hermione worriedly.

"He says his head hurts," said Spike, the anxiety evident in his voice. "What do we do?"

Just then, they heard screams coming from the edge of the clearing. Standing on the other side were three dangerous-looking men. The one on the left was tall with long, silky, blonde hair tied back neatly. He was standing proudly, a sneer on his lips. The one on the right was short and balding, a stark contrast to the blonde. He was hunched over slightly and was wringing his hands nervously. And in the center was a tall man with sweeping black robes. His eyes were red, and looked to be glowing, his nostrils looked like they were mere slits. He smiled evilly at the four teens standing at the other edge of the clearing. He crossed his arms slowly and smirked at the terrified looks on the teens' faces.

Voldemort had returned to Hogwarts.

~*~TBC~*~