A/N: Helloooo? Am I alone? Am I all by myself? Where are you, reviewers? Especially KawaiiFryingPanChick! I miss you! Thanks much to those of you who ARE reviewing! Oh, and I just realized what a beta was. I was reading these other fanfics, and I thought a beta was a program or something, but it turns out that its someone who reads your stuff before you publish! Imagine thatâmaybe that's why my stuff has errors in itâgoes off and ponders
Shaking, Hermione stepped out into the dark hallway to join Ron and Harry. She felt Harry's hand slip into hers.
"Not here?" Ron asked, in an unnaturally high voice. "What d'you mean, not here?"
"When I heard the scream," Hermione said, breathlessly, "I looked over and Ginny wasn't there."
"Well she's, erâ probably downstairs or something," Harry said, nervously.
"Right," Ron agreed, although not believing it.
Quietly, the trio descended the stairs, a step at a time. The silence was unbearable and it was one of the many times that Hermione wished that she was of age. She held Harry's hand tighter. Just the little light from her wand could have helped. If she was attacked, what would she do? Everything seemed so much scarier in the dark. She looked around fervently, sure she had seen a shadow move.
After reaching the ground floor, they crept quietly through the sitting room to find Ginny, shaking violently, standing alone in the dark kitchen. The refrigerator was gaping open and a burst carton sat in a puddle of milk that was rapidly spreading where Ginny had dropped it.
"Ginny," Hermione said quietly. "Was it you that screamed?" Ginny nodded, not seeming to be able to move. Hermione was horribly reminded of the basilisk.
"There were eyes. Gleaming green onesâunderneath the table," Ginny said, pointing with an unsteady finger.
"Lumos Maxima," Harry muttered. His wandtip flared brighter, bright enough to light the whole room.
Hermione's eyes followed Ginny's finger, but there was nothing there but a bit of milk. "It was probably just your imagination," Ron said, obviously relieved that there was no real danger.
"Yes," Ginny said, vaguely. "My imagination." She allowed Ron to lead her back to her bed. In the meantime, Harry and Hermione were left to clean up the mess.
"Evanesco," Harry said, pointing his wand to one of the many puddles that the milk had managed to make. Hermione, however, was more interested in the trail of milk that was underneath the table. It seemed to be leading out of the kitchen and into the dark sitting room.
"Harry," Hermione said, staring at the trail.
"Just a second," Harry said, vanishing another puddle. Hermione followed the trail into the darkness. The trail was difficult to see, but it reflected a bit of the light from Harry's wand in the kitchen. She followed it until it went underneath the sofa. She got down on her stomach, trying to see if the milk had gone anywhere else. And that was when she saw it. An ominous pair of electric-green slit-like eyes, glowing in the dark. They hovered, suspended in the darkness, gliding from side to side. She got to her feet and backed away slowly.
"Harry," Hermione called again, her voice barely above a whisper. She couldn't seem to raise her voice, for fear of angering whatever lay below. The eyes came closer and closer, until they rose up to her eye-level. Suddenly whatever spell bound her to silence was broken and she screamed shrilly. A crack sounded and unexpectedly, Harry appeared in front of her, shielding her from whatever the bodiless eyes were.
A chorus of Lumos Maxima from the members of the Order on the stairs revealed what both Hermione and Ginny had seen: a gigantic snake. It couldn't be a basilisk, because both she and Ginny had looked it in the eye without being petrified. So what was it, and how did it get in? In the meantime, Harry seemed to be having an angry conversation in Parseltongue with the snake.
"Harry, back away," Lupin said, firmly. He, Tonks, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had their wands aimed at the snake, but did not cast any spells. There was too great a chance that they would miss and hit Harry or Hermione. Lupin attempted to move from the stairwell and down to the floor, but the snake hissed loudly and snapped at Harry.
"Stay back!" Harry shouted. "She says she'll bite me if you come any closer." Lupin froze where he was. "Open the door and let her out."
"But Harry-" Mrs. Weasley protested.
"DO IT!" bellowed Harry, who at the moment didn't dare to reach for his own wand.
"Alohomora," Mrs. Weasley said, waving her wand at the door. The snake dropped back down to the floor and slithered out. But before Mrs. Weasley could close the door, a jet of green light shot in from outside. She immediately shut the door, as all but Harry ran to window to see where the spell had come from. Goyle and Avery, two escaped Death Eaters were lurking outside. Hermione gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
"What are they doing here?" Hermione said, shocked. "How did they find us?"
"Voldemort sent them," Harry said grimly, sitting on the sofa and looking quite pale. "That was Nagini, his snake. He knows these are our headquarters. That was a trap."
"But how," Lupin asked, eyes narrowing. "How did he find out? The Fidelius Charm-"
"The Fidelius Charm prevents them from ever finding it," Hermione said. "Right now, all those two can see is Number Nine and Number Thirteen. Any one of us could tell Voldemort where it was, but he would never be able to see it. But as soon as we walk out that door"
"They'll be waiting," Harry finished.
"So what now, Molly?" Tonks asked.
"Firstly, we must inform Dumbledore. He needs to know that we have a traitor in our midst," said Mrs. Weasley, her mouth set. And it wasn't until Mrs. Weasley had said what she said that Hermione realized the full implications of what had just occurred. Someone in the Order was a traitor. It could be LupinâTonksâMr. and Mrs. Weasleyâanyone. How would they know? Who could they trust?
"You children go off to bed," Mrs. Weasley said. "It's three o'clock in the morning."
"But Mrs. Weasley, we-" Hermione began.
"Not another word about it, Hermione. Bed," Mrs. Weasley said, firmly. Harry looked as though he was about to protest, but thought the better of it as he saw the glint in Mrs. Weasley's eye.
The two trudged back up the stairs, passing Ron's room, as Ginny seemed to have taken Harry's bed. "Who could it be though?" Hermione whispered, half to herself and half to Harry.
"I don't know," Harry said. "But Dumbledore was right. This is exactly how Voldemort created his reign of terror last time. Distrust and malice. He could be bluffing"
"But how else would he know?" Hermione said. "There's no other way. Face it Harry. One of the Order has been feeding Voldemort information, and possibly the other way round. Someone we know has deceived us. It could be anyone."
There was a long silence. Harry climbed into Ginny's bed and Hermione into hers. "It could be you," Harry said, quietly.
"Yes," Hermione murmured. "Yes it could."
Reviews:
Chrys-Moony-Marauder: It was really that good? Thanks much!
Truly Anna: And that was what happened to Ginnyâkeep reading!!
Merlindamage: Thanks much, especially for the Hermione part.
Swt Chry 2oo5: Thank you very much!
Avalon64: Thou art very enthusiastic!!
Geena-Waters: Thank you muchâand especially for reviewing all this time.
PinkSmurf04: Glad you liked Necromancer, I'm trying to make this one a bit better.