Soul's Shelter Shattered

Note: This drabble is not written for any specific, as-yet-known time in the UU, but could possibly be for that vague "attack on Hogwarts" that was hinted at in the Trailer for Promises Remembered.

"Well, that certainly wasn't the best idea they ever had," Hermione remarked. The other Misfits glared across the dark clearing at their know-it-all companion.

"What?" she glared right back. "All I'm saying is that, if this started off as a bad day, it's only gotten worse!"

-----

Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had been sitting in the Gryffindor common room, playing a game of Exploding Snap, when Fred and George burst through the portrait hole. Both twins looked as though they had run all the way from the Quidditch pitch. Ginny was the first to notice their worried expressions.

"All right, Fred? George?"

George shook his head while Fred caught his breath, leaning on the table. At that moment, the cards exploded, and Fred's eyebrows caught the brunt of the blast. It was a mark of how serious the situation was that George didn't even grin.

"We have a Slytherin problem."

"Problem" was an understatement. The four second-years immediately clamored for explanations, but Fred and George merely pointed out the window.

On the grounds, dark creatures and Death Eaters stood in silence, awaiting their master's order to proceed. The Misfits (plus Ginny and minus Lee) scrambled for emergency gear—Harry's cloak, the Marauder's Map, some extra Pumpkin Pasties, and Ginny's glasses, to name a few—and made their way as quickly and silently as possible to the nearest un-guarded exit.

Eventually, the six made their way to a little-known exit at the back of the castle, where they met prefects herding students to havens under enchanted statues in the gardens.

It was nearly twenty minutes after their escape from the common room that Hermione spoke her piece.

"Seriously," she said. "Hogwarts Castle is one of the safest places in all of Great Britain; surely, the Death Eaters can get to us easier on the grounds?"

"Hermione," Ron replied, rolling his eyes. "Dementors can't get under ground, everyone knows that—don't you?"

The others, who had their backs to the entrance, backed up in order to separate themselves from the ensuing shouting match, not noticing Hermione's widening eyes and horror-filled gaze behind them until they felt a chill permeate the air around them.

As one, the twins, Harry, Ginny, and Ron turned. As if it was there merely to prove Ron wrong in Hermione's stead, a dementor loomed just inside the cramped shelter's entrance.

Hermione's last words hung in the air for a few seconds after the Misfits lost their souls.

"Looks like everyone's wrong."

Words (Not including note, title, or word count): 413