(A/N: I really couldn't apologize more for the week long no update week
we've all just been through. It has absolutely KILLED me. But let me tell
you why: my computer went dead. Absolutely 100% dead. As in fried, gone, ca-
boom! I'm in the process of buying another one and my friend GRACIOUSLLY
let me borrow her laptop for this chapter. So you all have her to thank!
Again, I apologize. But updates should be no problem now, not with her
laptop. Anyway enough about me and moving onto the story. It's starting to
heat up now, my climax looming in the horizon! Yay!)
Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to everyone who has read or reviewed (kept up with this story) on a regular basis when I update, because I'm sooo thankful to you all for being so patient with my troubles updating. I could not have asked for a better audience. You all know who you are. THANK YOU!!!!!
Smiles28: I'm sorry about the update but hope you enjoy! Thanks for reviewing!
dracoisahottie13: It is good to be back but it was just the worst timing in the world for my computer to crash wasn't it?! oh well...I'm glad the last chapter made you shiver. It's always nice to get a reaction out of people. As for your concerns regarding the title...try not to let it bother you. Like put it in the back of your mind and forget about it. Trust me, I'll have a time where it's necessary to pull it back out again!
SamboTheGreat: I actually did not know that about the whole search thing! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Regarding my writing a third in the series, I'm very sorry to tell you but as of right now I highly doubt my being able to write a sequel to San Vous for many reasons. The worst being that I am completely out of ideas for the plot since this one sucked them all out of me so unless I get this spark or something...this is probably it. :( But I will continuing writing other things, I've already got another one started. And for the record I certainly do NOT want your death on my conscience so that is why I'm going to stop replying here so I can post this chapter.
SOBs 4 Sirius 223: Glad your enjoying it. I'm srry about the wait but thanks for reviewing!!
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: EXODUSES
"We don't have time for a plan!" Hermione said, looking quite close to tears herself. "We need to get out of here! We need to go somewhere safe!"
"The shrieking shack" Ron said, without really thinking
"Oh but that place is haunted! I really don't want to go there!" Lavender pleaded, placing her pale hand on Ron's arm.
"It's not haunted" He said comfortingly "But only seven people know that" He added quietly to himself
"Seven?" Lavender asked, puzzled.
"Long Story," He said, smiling softly at the memory.
"Yes! That's brilliant Ron!" Hermione exclaimed
"Well let's go!" Ginny said, panic evident in her voice
"No! We can't! What about Dumbledore?"
"Hermione, the professors will notify him alright?! We need to get to the shrieking shack!" Neville said sounding pretty annoyed, obviously not liking the idea of them staying here a moment longer.
"Neville, the professors would be a first target of the Death Eaters, besides, how would they get back? Walk?!"
"Well what do you suggest Hermione, we don't exactly have all the time in the world!" Ginny said, clearly irritated herself.
"Look, Harry used a secret passageway to get from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade in third year when he didn't have a permission slip. It goes from Honeydukes' cellar and leads to the one eyed, humped, witch. No one knows about it, so it should be perfectly safe. One of us needs to go."
There were a few moments of silence between the friends, all-looking at each other.
"I'll go" Neville announced
"No, I'll go" Hermione said
"No, I'm not letting you out of my sight." Draco said firmly, grabbing her hand.
"I'll go" Ron said, "Hermione and I know the place best. It'd be easier for me"
"Ron, don't make me go to the shrieking shack without you!" Lavender said, obviously scared.
"I told you it wasn't haunted"
"That doesn't mean I suddenly want to go there!" She snapped "Look, I'm scared out of my bloody mind here." She said tone suddenly soft. "And I-I don't want to face it without you there" At this she slipped her small hand into his.
Ron stared at their hands, now intertwined, as if it was something completely foreign and unknown to him. "Can't we go together?" she begged
Ron had no idea what came over him. Maybe it was that she looked so cute sitting there with his hand in her own, wisps of hair framing her face, face begging him to say yes. Or maybe it was that he already knew his own answer and hated it. Either way, it surprised everyone when he suddenly took his hands out of hers, moving them to her face, which he held gently. He leaned his head inwards as did Lavender. It moved rather quickly into a gentle loving kiss. "No." He whispered in her ear.
"No what?" she asked, eyes still closed, breathing rather fast.
"You're going to go tell Dumbledore. It's safer. And the last thing I can risk is you getting hurt or worse."
"But what about me? Your not going to even consider my feeling? What if I'm scared of for you?"
"Lavender...I've been facing Death Eaters and Voldemort with Hermione since we were eleven. I made it through the war didn't I? I'll be fine, I know I may act daft sometimes but in battle...I'm not too bad" He said, smiling his lopsided grin.
Tears had now accumulated so, that a few stray ones fell from Lavender's eyelashes onto the face. Wiping them away, ashamed, she finally nodded, "Alright I'll go. But I swear Ron Weasley, if you so much as get hurt...I'll kill you"
"I believe you. I promise to stay out of harms way okay?" He smiled, but suddenly his tone became serious "Now get going. And be careful"
She nodded, and pecked him on the cheek real quick, before she ducked out of the table and ran towards the door, dodging people and spells, left and right. Ron had to admit she was good. "Let's go," He said.
To Ginny, nothing had been worse than the war...that night. No, nothing had been worse than the night Harry had died. But this came pretty damn close.
Surprisingly, it was actually pretty easy to dodge the Death Eaters, considering they seemed to be having way too much fun destroying Hogsmeade and it's inhibitors. Fires were blazing, people were screaming, some were crying...the perfect picture of hell.
Currently, they were ducked behind a pile of firewood, waiting for a Death Eater to pass, who had apparently decided to destroy Zonko's.
"Now!" Draco whispered fiercely, and the friends hurried out from their hiding spot.
Ginny's body ached for rest, but when you're running for your life, that's just not an option. She wondered how Draco and Hermione could be so collected at a time like this. How could they think rationally enough to figure out directions? Greatly admiring them, she increased her speed.
But only a few moments later, the five-some slowed down so that they had completely stopped. "What?" Ginny asked, confused at why they had stopped running while they were standing in the middle of the trouble.
"Shh!" Draco hushed her. He held his index finger out and slowly turned his head around.
"Draco, what's wrong?" Hermione asked concerned, but saying it very quickly. She knew it wasn't a good idea to be standing in the middle of the street like this.
"Don't you hear it?" He asked, squinting his eyes while he concentrated
"Hear what?" Neville asked. The group was quiet for a few moments in which all where straining their own ears to hear whatever the sound was.
"Wait! Something's wrong..." Ron said suspiciously
"What?!" Ginny asked impatiently
"Look! Look at everybody around us! No one's running anymore..."
"The death eaters" Hermione said quietly. "Where are they?"
"They're coming" Draco said fearfully "You can hear it better now. Listen..."
Ginny perked up her ears for a second time, leaning her body in the direction Draco was looking at. She didn't hear anything at first, until....stomping, lots of it, and voices...voices raised in chant.
Fear enveloped Ginny, like it was some cold drink, slowly creeping down her body, freezing everything inside of her. And the noise was no longer coming from that one direction. Suddenly it came from everyone. And there! Now she could see their dark figures circling the group and coming every so closer. There was no escape. Ginny looked around wildly at her friends. What should they do?
"We're running for it!" Hermione whispered into her ear. Ginny spun around to face her female friend...was she crazy?! "Get ready..." Ginny took a deep breath "Now!"
There was only one time in Ginny's life that she had ever run this fast. When Harry was dying and she had run to find Hermione. But that was different. Then, she was running for Harry's life, now she was running for her own.
Ron and Hermione were beside her, while Neville lead the way (in a pretty impressive sprint) and Draco followed up behind, shouting directions at the group. But it was all in vain, for in the mass of the crowd that soon caught on, the group was torn apart. Draco floating a good way's off from the others.
Hermione whipped her head around to see Draco being pushed off to the side. "DRACO!!" She screamed reaching out for his hand. As they did they heard laughter followed by screams. The Death Eaters had made themselves known and were quickly advancing towards them, moving the pace of the crowd up three or four notches. As this happened, Draco was pulled even farther away. "NO!!" she screamed desperately trying to grab his hand.
"Hermione!" Neville shouted, "Hermione, he'll be fine. He'll meet us there. Come on!" He grabbed her hand, pulling her along to where Ginny and Ron were waiting.
"You okay?" Ron asked softly lifting her chin to see her blotchy eyes. She shook her head in response. "He's not stupid, I'm sure he'll have enough sense to come to meet us at the shrieking shack."
"We don't have time for this! Run!" Neville snapped
"Oh Merlin! Oh my God!" Ginny screamed, turning around.
"Down!!!" Ron hissed, yanking Hermione to the ground. After a few moments, "Ginny, stop crying" He snapped.
Two Death Eaters were advancing behind Draco.
And Hermione watched, with horrified eyes, as the man she loved lost the battle, and was dragged away.
(A/N: yeah so I know I'm a bit evil for the cliffie but with it being such a long time and all...well it was necessary. Lol...I hope you liked. REVIEW!! Hugs, Haystack)
Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to everyone who has read or reviewed (kept up with this story) on a regular basis when I update, because I'm sooo thankful to you all for being so patient with my troubles updating. I could not have asked for a better audience. You all know who you are. THANK YOU!!!!!
Smiles28: I'm sorry about the update but hope you enjoy! Thanks for reviewing!
dracoisahottie13: It is good to be back but it was just the worst timing in the world for my computer to crash wasn't it?! oh well...I'm glad the last chapter made you shiver. It's always nice to get a reaction out of people. As for your concerns regarding the title...try not to let it bother you. Like put it in the back of your mind and forget about it. Trust me, I'll have a time where it's necessary to pull it back out again!
SamboTheGreat: I actually did not know that about the whole search thing! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Regarding my writing a third in the series, I'm very sorry to tell you but as of right now I highly doubt my being able to write a sequel to San Vous for many reasons. The worst being that I am completely out of ideas for the plot since this one sucked them all out of me so unless I get this spark or something...this is probably it. :( But I will continuing writing other things, I've already got another one started. And for the record I certainly do NOT want your death on my conscience so that is why I'm going to stop replying here so I can post this chapter.
SOBs 4 Sirius 223: Glad your enjoying it. I'm srry about the wait but thanks for reviewing!!
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: EXODUSES
"We don't have time for a plan!" Hermione said, looking quite close to tears herself. "We need to get out of here! We need to go somewhere safe!"
"The shrieking shack" Ron said, without really thinking
"Oh but that place is haunted! I really don't want to go there!" Lavender pleaded, placing her pale hand on Ron's arm.
"It's not haunted" He said comfortingly "But only seven people know that" He added quietly to himself
"Seven?" Lavender asked, puzzled.
"Long Story," He said, smiling softly at the memory.
"Yes! That's brilliant Ron!" Hermione exclaimed
"Well let's go!" Ginny said, panic evident in her voice
"No! We can't! What about Dumbledore?"
"Hermione, the professors will notify him alright?! We need to get to the shrieking shack!" Neville said sounding pretty annoyed, obviously not liking the idea of them staying here a moment longer.
"Neville, the professors would be a first target of the Death Eaters, besides, how would they get back? Walk?!"
"Well what do you suggest Hermione, we don't exactly have all the time in the world!" Ginny said, clearly irritated herself.
"Look, Harry used a secret passageway to get from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade in third year when he didn't have a permission slip. It goes from Honeydukes' cellar and leads to the one eyed, humped, witch. No one knows about it, so it should be perfectly safe. One of us needs to go."
There were a few moments of silence between the friends, all-looking at each other.
"I'll go" Neville announced
"No, I'll go" Hermione said
"No, I'm not letting you out of my sight." Draco said firmly, grabbing her hand.
"I'll go" Ron said, "Hermione and I know the place best. It'd be easier for me"
"Ron, don't make me go to the shrieking shack without you!" Lavender said, obviously scared.
"I told you it wasn't haunted"
"That doesn't mean I suddenly want to go there!" She snapped "Look, I'm scared out of my bloody mind here." She said tone suddenly soft. "And I-I don't want to face it without you there" At this she slipped her small hand into his.
Ron stared at their hands, now intertwined, as if it was something completely foreign and unknown to him. "Can't we go together?" she begged
Ron had no idea what came over him. Maybe it was that she looked so cute sitting there with his hand in her own, wisps of hair framing her face, face begging him to say yes. Or maybe it was that he already knew his own answer and hated it. Either way, it surprised everyone when he suddenly took his hands out of hers, moving them to her face, which he held gently. He leaned his head inwards as did Lavender. It moved rather quickly into a gentle loving kiss. "No." He whispered in her ear.
"No what?" she asked, eyes still closed, breathing rather fast.
"You're going to go tell Dumbledore. It's safer. And the last thing I can risk is you getting hurt or worse."
"But what about me? Your not going to even consider my feeling? What if I'm scared of for you?"
"Lavender...I've been facing Death Eaters and Voldemort with Hermione since we were eleven. I made it through the war didn't I? I'll be fine, I know I may act daft sometimes but in battle...I'm not too bad" He said, smiling his lopsided grin.
Tears had now accumulated so, that a few stray ones fell from Lavender's eyelashes onto the face. Wiping them away, ashamed, she finally nodded, "Alright I'll go. But I swear Ron Weasley, if you so much as get hurt...I'll kill you"
"I believe you. I promise to stay out of harms way okay?" He smiled, but suddenly his tone became serious "Now get going. And be careful"
She nodded, and pecked him on the cheek real quick, before she ducked out of the table and ran towards the door, dodging people and spells, left and right. Ron had to admit she was good. "Let's go," He said.
To Ginny, nothing had been worse than the war...that night. No, nothing had been worse than the night Harry had died. But this came pretty damn close.
Surprisingly, it was actually pretty easy to dodge the Death Eaters, considering they seemed to be having way too much fun destroying Hogsmeade and it's inhibitors. Fires were blazing, people were screaming, some were crying...the perfect picture of hell.
Currently, they were ducked behind a pile of firewood, waiting for a Death Eater to pass, who had apparently decided to destroy Zonko's.
"Now!" Draco whispered fiercely, and the friends hurried out from their hiding spot.
Ginny's body ached for rest, but when you're running for your life, that's just not an option. She wondered how Draco and Hermione could be so collected at a time like this. How could they think rationally enough to figure out directions? Greatly admiring them, she increased her speed.
But only a few moments later, the five-some slowed down so that they had completely stopped. "What?" Ginny asked, confused at why they had stopped running while they were standing in the middle of the trouble.
"Shh!" Draco hushed her. He held his index finger out and slowly turned his head around.
"Draco, what's wrong?" Hermione asked concerned, but saying it very quickly. She knew it wasn't a good idea to be standing in the middle of the street like this.
"Don't you hear it?" He asked, squinting his eyes while he concentrated
"Hear what?" Neville asked. The group was quiet for a few moments in which all where straining their own ears to hear whatever the sound was.
"Wait! Something's wrong..." Ron said suspiciously
"What?!" Ginny asked impatiently
"Look! Look at everybody around us! No one's running anymore..."
"The death eaters" Hermione said quietly. "Where are they?"
"They're coming" Draco said fearfully "You can hear it better now. Listen..."
Ginny perked up her ears for a second time, leaning her body in the direction Draco was looking at. She didn't hear anything at first, until....stomping, lots of it, and voices...voices raised in chant.
Fear enveloped Ginny, like it was some cold drink, slowly creeping down her body, freezing everything inside of her. And the noise was no longer coming from that one direction. Suddenly it came from everyone. And there! Now she could see their dark figures circling the group and coming every so closer. There was no escape. Ginny looked around wildly at her friends. What should they do?
"We're running for it!" Hermione whispered into her ear. Ginny spun around to face her female friend...was she crazy?! "Get ready..." Ginny took a deep breath "Now!"
There was only one time in Ginny's life that she had ever run this fast. When Harry was dying and she had run to find Hermione. But that was different. Then, she was running for Harry's life, now she was running for her own.
Ron and Hermione were beside her, while Neville lead the way (in a pretty impressive sprint) and Draco followed up behind, shouting directions at the group. But it was all in vain, for in the mass of the crowd that soon caught on, the group was torn apart. Draco floating a good way's off from the others.
Hermione whipped her head around to see Draco being pushed off to the side. "DRACO!!" She screamed reaching out for his hand. As they did they heard laughter followed by screams. The Death Eaters had made themselves known and were quickly advancing towards them, moving the pace of the crowd up three or four notches. As this happened, Draco was pulled even farther away. "NO!!" she screamed desperately trying to grab his hand.
"Hermione!" Neville shouted, "Hermione, he'll be fine. He'll meet us there. Come on!" He grabbed her hand, pulling her along to where Ginny and Ron were waiting.
"You okay?" Ron asked softly lifting her chin to see her blotchy eyes. She shook her head in response. "He's not stupid, I'm sure he'll have enough sense to come to meet us at the shrieking shack."
"We don't have time for this! Run!" Neville snapped
"Oh Merlin! Oh my God!" Ginny screamed, turning around.
"Down!!!" Ron hissed, yanking Hermione to the ground. After a few moments, "Ginny, stop crying" He snapped.
Two Death Eaters were advancing behind Draco.
And Hermione watched, with horrified eyes, as the man she loved lost the battle, and was dragged away.
(A/N: yeah so I know I'm a bit evil for the cliffie but with it being such a long time and all...well it was necessary. Lol...I hope you liked. REVIEW!! Hugs, Haystack)