Time In The Tunnel

The cast on Devi's leg wore off pretty quickly. With a grimace (from either the pain of her leg or her embarrassment, I don't know) she explained that she'd forgotten the potency reduced with time, especially if she moved her leg a lot. So I had practice with that charm, and experimented with it.

For example, once I over-gestured solidity and didn't use warmth, so the cast turned to ice and made Devi immediately complain of it pinching her and giving her frost-bite. It didn't, really, but it certainly wasn't comfortable. Then there was the time when I added weightlessness, and Devi's leg slowly drifted towards the ceiling. Eventually I worked out the right combinations of motions, which was what I did the first time, with preserve and constancy added into the already complicated group of wand gestures.

"Devi, how long have we been walking?" I asked, wanting to flop down and rest.

She glanced at her magical watch. "Two hours. I know how you feel. It's a good thing we don't have the basket with us. Or," she added as she felt the first pangs of hunger, "maybe it isn't."

"Definitely not. How many times have I performed the charm on you now?"

"Er, about six or seven times. Why?"

"Just 'cause I'm tired of doing it. What do you say to taking a short nap? It must be midnight."

"Actually," she corrected me, "It's only eight. It's the light that makes it seem later." It was dim down here, and lumos was in full use. "I think we can go another mile."

We had long since passed the room where Harry Potter fought Quirrill. There was a small door in the far side of that chamber, well hidden and almost unnoticeable. The passage beyond that door had less light, and was smaller. I suspected it led to somewhere on the grounds, because even though it was really long, there were many U-turns and it curved a lot, never really going anywhere.

I groaned, but kept on marching. If Devi could walk for hours with a broken leg, I could without one. "Let's go. Where do you suppose this leads?"

"We'll probably come up in the middle of the lake," Devi chuckled, "in the giant squid's lair."

I winced. "Don't even talk about something like that. That would suck. Tremendously."

My friend laughed and forged onwards. I guess there was something to be said for her stubbornness, as annoying as it was in most cases.

Half an hour and one mile later, I did flop down. Devi followed suit, emitting a great sigh. "Okay. Bedtime."

I chuckled weakly. "Yup. We must be kindergartners, going to bed at eight thirty. Hey, do you think that they're searching for us by now? I mean, you were supposed to leave, like, three hours ago. They must have noticed."

"I'm sure Dumbledore noticed," she said, yawning. "He always does. If they find us, great. If not, then we'll keep walking. Simple."

"Okay." I was too tired to do anything but agree. "Now go to sleep."

It was eight in the morning when we woke up. Of course, we couldn't tell that from the light. Devi's watch told us, literally. It woke us up with its annoying alarm.

"Oops," Devi said guiltily. "I forgot to turn it off."

"Nice job waking me up," I said irritably. "When I have nothing to look forward to but walking. Here," I tossed a candy bar at Devi, while retrieving one for myself, "eat this."

"Hey," she said, looking more awake at the prospect of chocolate. "Where'd you get this? We left the picnic up there."

"Pockets are a wondrous thing." I grinned at my stunned friend. "Let's eat while we're walking. I have a feeling it's not much further now."

So we tramped on, chewing on the candy. Suddenly I pointed ahead, and shouted, "There! Devi, there's a light up ahead!" Okay, a little clichéd, I know, but it fit the situation.

"Let's go check it out, then." To my surprise, Devi remained calm.

"Come on!"

"I can't run, remember? We'll just have to get there later. It doesn't really matter, if it's a way out."

In an horribly slow pace, we made our way towards the faint light.