With all the homework, time was flying fast. Dean didn't even notice when the December came. The snow laid on the ground. Sometimes on weekends he and his classmates would play snow wars. Dean has finally become friends with Ginny. They would do their Potions homework together. After all it was going faster that way. Dean liked spending time with Ginny. She was funny, And it was raring to another trip to Hogsmeade. Last time he went to Hogsmead with Ginny, John and Seamus they had a blast, though they had to spend an hour in DA about a new meeting place for DA. Apparently Slytherin now knew of their old meeting place. So they came up with astronomy tower. Not many would come up there during day time, and they can soundproof the meeting place.
Ron noticed Dean being too familiar with Ginny. Dean felt like somebody was always watching. Or sometimes he would spot a shadow behind a corner.
"You're fallowing me again!" He would tell Ron. "It's not that hard to notice, you know. Give me some piece." After that Ron would leave him along, but the next day his stalker would return. Dean didn't much care, but soon it was getting on his nerves.
"Ron why are you following?" He asked one day. Ron pretended he wasn't there so Dean had to run to catch him. Dean was in time to just catch Ron by his sleeve. "Why are you following me, dude? Not cool."
"What business do you have with Ginny?" Ron asked challenging.
"We're just friends, relax mate."
"If you do anything to her, I swear I gonna come and kill you with my bare hands."
"Just chill, she's my friend. I won't do anything to her." Dean said walking off. After that Ron returned to his normal way of life. But he was still suspicious and watching every chance he got. Ginny noticed unusual behavior from Ron also. But she told Dean it was alright, same thing happened to John.
When it came the day for Hogsmeade, Dean could feel excitement urge inside him. He would meet Ginny again, for a whole day without any work, or responsibilities. They were in their winter robes. Dean would always put a scarf on, but never a hat. He just thought it was useless, and it seemed all the other students thought the same. They walked all together outside Hogwart's Grounds, out into Hogsmeade, laughing and joking. Their favorite subject seemed to be Quiditch, after Quiditch making fun of Snape, and after that, Special Event. Dean liked Quiditch, but he liked football better. His whole family was a big fan of football. Ginny seemed to be so happy. Did she really opened the chamber of secrets? But after all she's been through, she seemed to gain only more strength from her experience.
"Race you to Three Broomsticks," Ginny said. John nodded. "The loser has to buy for Butterbeers."
"Hey, we're not even in Hogsmeade," Dean protested. But as the race started, Seamus didn't want to pay for others, so he also joined. John and Ginny were way ahead of Dean. And every minute closer to the Three Broomsticks, Dean lost his speed, now Seamus ran ahead of him. Dean gave it all he got, but it wasn't enough. Seamus was just few seconds ahead of him. In other words Dean came last.
"Man you guys took long," laughed John.
"WOO HOO!" Seamus relaxed a little bit. "I win! I beat Dean, uh huh ,oh yeah." Seamus fell on the ground.
We all laughed.
"You can get up now," Dean said.
"I can't."
"What's wrong?"
"My feel won't carry me."
"So out of shape," Ginny continued.
"You were like turtles over there running, more like dragging," both Ginny and John laughed; it seemed they enjoyed making fun of Dean and Seamus.
"Haha, at least I'm not the last one." Seamus smirked.
"At least I'm not lying on the ground, helplessly," Dean smirked in return. So they had to drag Dean to his seat. People around them stared at them like they were some kind of weirdoes. Ginny and John didn't even notice it, and continued joking and making noise as usual. They were probably used to that.
"So, did you find the next clue?" Ginny asked.
"Nope," we all shook our heads.
"Got any ideas what it is?"
"Nope," again we shook out heads.
"Even I didn't hear anything from anybody," Seamus said, and he was a gossip king.
"Dumbledore needs to make the clue clearer." John complained.
"What is lighted only by the setting sun in Hogwarts Castle?" Dean said thoughtfully. It was mystery to him. Something, that was in darkness, all the other times.
"Beats me," nobody knew, so they went back to talking about Quiditch. Gryffindor won first match against Slytherin, then another match against Hufflepuff. Well the conversation drifted to World's Quiditch team. Dean didn't know much about them, so he sat in silence. But he was happy, because Ginny was happy, and he was there to bring her happiness. They wandered around Hogsmeade, checking out random shops, and re-supplying themselves with joke stuff, and candy.
"I dare you to go into Shrieking Shack!" Ginny dared Seamus.
"No way, I hear there are ghosts in there."
"Scary cat!" Ginny teased him, like a little kid. We all ended up going to the Shrieking Shack. It looked like a regular abandoned house. Many boards were over every opening to the house. Someone made sure that nobody would come in, or whatever was inside wouldn't get out. The mystic aura was whirling over the house.
"Are you sure, there aren't any Zombies in there?" Seamus asked.
"Not sure, but we'll find out." Ginny smirked. Dean was about to laughed at Seamus, but held back his laughter. Seamus was such a chicken when it came to this sort of stuff. They all climbed over the fence, with use of magic lifted few boards from a window and entered in, carefully returning boards to its original spot. The inside of the shack smelled weird, like a rotten wood. It was small. They had to drag Seamus again, because he legs stopped working again. We checked everything, the first floor and the second, nothing strange. Seamus was a bit overreacting; he told gossips about Shrieking Shack. One girl got turned into a Zombie here. Poltergeists inhabited this place, and liked to scare the people around. But nobody believed in them. Only when they were about to leave, did Dean noticed something.
"Hey guys look, there is a trapdoor." He whispered, pointing out to the floor, where a little change of color occurred. John and Ginny ran to it examining the trapdoor. Now those guys were freaking Dean out. What if there was something in the basement. "I don't think you should open it."
"Relax, there is nothing in there." John said carelessly. They slowly opened it, peaking inside.
"Hey Guys, I think there is a tunnel inside." Ginny called out to Dean and Seamus. She jumped inside. Seamus gasped. Then John jumped in, then Dean. Seamus looked down. It was so dark in there. Many hands reached out for him through the trap door. Seamus tried to get away, but they were too strong, they got hold on him. Where is my wand? Seamus thought, but too late. The hands dragged him down, and he fell into Dean's and John's hands.
"It's alright, it's just a tunnel," Ginny tried to comfort Seamus.
"I wonder where this tunnel leads." Dean said thoughtfully.
"Let's find out!" They walked; it seemed forever under the ground, in this tunnel. The ground was all around them. This place seemed to be holding as it is only by magic. Sometimes they could see roots glued to the walls.
"Maybe we should go back?" Seamus asked. Everybody ignored his question. They could see the light. All of them accept Seamus ran toward it, to get a peak outside. Seamus was hoping they didn't come out into a grave yard or something. After all where would all the zombies come from? If anything happened, he was prepared to fight and save his friends.
"We're at Hogwarts!" John exclaimed. "This is in one of the secret passages out of Hogwarts."
"We're under whopping willow." Dean said.
"Awesome! Let me see," Seamus finally woke up. He walked to the whole leading out of the tunnel. He looked through it for a few minutes, and then climbed out. He quickly ran dodging the Whopping Willow's branches as they hit the ground. To him it seemed like a game. Ginny sighed. Now I know why he got into Gryffindor, she said to herself. Following the example John climbed out too. He ran trying to dodge the moving branched, but he tripped, falling on grassy ground. Ginny couldn't watch John get demolished. She ran out casting a spell on branch that was speeding toward John. Dean ran out helping John up, while Ginny and Seamus continuously casting spells on the branches, freezing then for a few seconds, so John and Dean could get out of the fire safely. Ginny was the last one.
"Is everyone alright?" She asked concerned.
"Yeah," the guys said at once.
"Seamus what were you thinking? Why would you set a wrong example?" She looked angry.
"We got out of there all right, that's what matters," Dean said. Ginny nodded.
"50 points from Gryffindor." Professor Snape was running toward them. "Decided to prove yourself heroes by taking on the Whopping Willow." He said coldly. "You all got detention." All four's jaws dropped.
"But why?" Seamus asked.
"You could have destroyed the Whopping Willow, it's such a valuable tree to Hogwarts. Your detention will be held this Thursday. Don't forget." He turned around and started walking away.
As Snape was out hearing range, the four began to talk.
"It's so unfair. We didn't hurt it or anything." John said.
"Does he ever wash his hair? They look even dirtier then last week." Seamus added.
"His nose is so shiny. It's probably really slippery too." Ginny continued. The rest of the way to Hogwarts they talked about Snape. That's how they showed their dissatisfaction. But Ginny was really disappointed. It would be her first detention. What would her mother say? She definitely wasn't looking toward it. They went into the Great Hall to start on their early dinner.
hope you enjoy this one, it's more of an action chapter. Please review!
