Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's respectivesettings or characters.

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Previously,

"AVALANCHE!"

SKIP

"What happened! 'Mione! Merlin! We need to get to the caves! C'mon!" Blaise shouted, swooping up Hermione in his arms and sprinting off ahead.

A small crack,

"AGH!" Alison screamed in pain, she was struck by a small flying branch in what seemed to be both of her legs. Draco sped off towards her, shouting at the rest to go on ahead, but Harry and Blaise with Hermione in his arms, stood stock-still, watching,

Harry broke into a sprint towards them.

Helplessly, they watched the scene of their three friends; Draco finally had Alison in his arms when they heard the warning shouts of Harry, they turned around to meet with the avalanche, within a fraction of a second, they were trampled by the snow.

Harry stopped to a halt, taking in the just-happening scene, he turned around and started back up the hill shouting at Blaise and Hermione to get to shelter.

Harry watched them disappear in distance, slowly, he turned around and watched as the avalanche advanced on him, descend over him within milliseconds…

Meanwhile, Blaise stood in the shelter of the caves and watched the scene. Hermione sat in his arms, crying hysterically on his shoulder. The avalanche came to a slow-down and headed past the caves, downhill back deeper into the forest.

All hope was lost, Harry, Draco and Alison lay somewhere buried under the snow, and they were still conscious but barely alive…

Chapter Six

Blaise set Hermione down on the snow covered ground in the barely sun-lit cave, she was crying hysterically, replaying the dreadful scenes in her mind over and over again. Harry? He's dead… Alison and Draco are gone…It was all my fault. If I hadn't gotten Alison to play that prank on the boys when we saw them sneaking up on us- it's all my fault.

"Blaise?" Hermione called looking over at him with helpless eyes, he turned around and walked towards her, sitting down behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah?" He asked through her hair, closing his eyes and letting another tear cascade down his cheek.

"… I- I have to t-tell you s-something… Please don't get mad. Just- I" Hermione stuttered, pausing.

"Sweetie, what is it? I don't think I could get mad right now."

"Ok, r-remember back there earlier when you guys were on the tree listening in, well, I knew you guys were sneaking up on us and I decided to play a prank on you guys. I- I told Al- Alison (tears up at the mention of her friend), so we decided to gossip lies, like, Neville liking D-Draco and Pansy crushing on H-Harry… It- It was m-my fault! It's m-my f-fa-fault we ended up like this! If I ha-hadn't gotten that stu-stupid idea of lying about those things, Harry and Draco wouldn't have had b-burst like t-that! Then t-the av-avalanche and…" Hermione finished, bursting into hiccupping tears, she wailed hysterically.

Blaise sat there, his thoughts ran through his head, it was all a p-prank…Hermione.

"Shhh" He soothed, turning her around to face him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head in his chest.

"It's ok... Shhh- sweetheart, listen." He comforted, and lifted her chin with his finger, bringing her tear-stricken face to his.

"If that avalanche hadn't happened just now, it would've happened anyways, it could've happened when first years were in our place- listen, imagine, first years out here, stranded in our place, they're so much younger than us, they would've been ten times as scared and at least it's us instead of them. I know Draco, Lynna and Harry are g-gone. They- they're g-gone. W-we have to be s-str-strong for them. Herms, we have to be strong for them." Blaise finished and tears rolled down uncontrollably. Hermione brought him closer to her arms and kissed him softly, silently reassuring him that everything will be fine.

"Shh… Blaise, it's okay. But what you're saying… nothing will ever be the same. W-we just lost three friends, your two b-best friends, m-my best friend and one w-who I only got to know. But, like you said, we have to be strong…"

"Hermione, I love you, do you know that? I- I love you. I know, it seems sudden considering that we've only been together for less than a day but I feel like us, we're meant to be. I know it sounds cheesy but I just feel like I've loved you since I've laid my eyes on you, I think I have. My point is that, you don't have to return the words, I don't mean to freak you out or say you do too to comfort me- um- I wanted to say that so, if, well, if something were to happen to you or me, I…" Blaise trailed off into a sentence of mutterings and stutters.

Smiling, she took his hands in hers and dark glimmering hazel (eye color) met bright shimmering chestnut. "Blaise, I think I love you, too." She replied, bringing her lips to his, they sat in each other's arms kissing passionately, forgetting for a moment about the cruel deaths of their friends or the fact that they were in a cave deep in the forest with no ways of getting back to safety anytime soon. They broke apart and looked at each other. She got up and lit a fire with her wand and sat back down against his chest, his arms slid around her and they just sat in silence, watching the fire.

Meanwhile,outside in the cold blistering snow. Under five feet of snow, lay a freezing raven-haired, green-eyed 18 year-old boy. Shivering, he turned around in his spot for a more comforting position.

FLASH-BACK

Harry Potter stood there, watching his two friends, Blaise and Hermione, run towards the shelter of a large towering cave, it's no use to think I'll ever be able to catch up. Well, hope I paid enough attention to the basic Defense against the Dark Arts lessons

Turning around, he pulled out his wand and whispered, Shieldius encanteum, an invisible force surrounded him and blocked off the bone-crushing snow wave. Unfortunately, in the midst of his emotional trauma; witnessing the unwilling burial of two friends, he had not nearly enough strength to keep the shield up, slightly, the spell started wearing off, letting snow pour in. Yet, out of sheer luck, he managed to keep the shield up, covering his surrounding area.

END OF FLASH-BACK

Now, he lay five feet under, protected by the shield. Reenergized, Harry got up, the shield went with him, he raised his wand and said, "Explodius" and suddenly, an invisible force imploded all around him, which caused any snow lying within five feet of him to scatter away as if a bomb had just exploded around it. He got up and looked at his surroundings, everywhere lay snow and a very large circle print outlined his area.

He looked to his left and saw the same cave he had last seen Hermione and Blaise run into, a long distance away. A small light emitted from it,

Good, they got inside and lit a fire, wait, ALISON! MALFOY!

They never made it, remember?

Yeah… I remember

Pissed-off, he trudged towards the cave, wincing when his wounds stung. Finally, he got to the entrance,

"Hermione! Zambini!" He choked out, slowly walking into the cave.

"Did you hear that!" Hermione exclaimed, she got up from her spot and started walking outwards the cave, Blaise followed after her.

"Wait, 'Mione! Don't you think that sounds famil- Blaise stopped both in speech and movement. There in front of him stood a very battered Harry Potter, he had a few deep cuts, one which was bleeding profusely, he was limping on his left leg and his attire was torn.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, running towards him and crushing him in a breath-taking hug. Harry started lightly coughing at the loss of oxygen and Blaise rushed towards him and gently pried Hermione off him.

"Hey, thanks." Harry said, shaking his hand.

"C'mon, let's get you inside, you look like you haven't slept in three days." Blaise replied, took his left side and supported him back, Hermione had gotten her wand and casted a few healing spells. They conjured up extra pillows and blankets and wrapped Harry up.

"So, how'd you- I mean, we saw you disappear under all that snow, how'd you manage to get out? 'Cause we thought you were dead." Blaise asked, sitting down next to him and conjuring up three mugs of hot cocoa.

"Well, um- (Blaise hands him a mug)thanks- I- uh, I casted a shielding spell after I had stopped running. I knew it was useless to keep running so, I stopped. I know, a shielding spell doesn't last much effect against an avalanche, but it did. I was buried under about five feet of snow, and after casting a few energizing spells, I casted an exploding spell. And now, I uh- got here." Harry finished, sipping from the mug.

"Wow, I should've thought of that- I wonder if Alis- I mean, (sighs) never mind." Hermione said, looking down at the ground, a few tears slipped from her tear ducts and landed on the blanket covered-floor.

Blaise gathered her into his arms and whispered soft words to her. Harry sat there looking at the flaming campfire, silently mourning for the lost. Soon after, Hermione fell asleep in a corner of the cave, which they had specifically decorated with dozens of throw pillows and thick and thin blankets, wrapped up and resting against a large pillow. Not long, Blaise fell into a dreamless sleep with Harry trailing after him.

Outside in the worsted weather, under six feet of snow, two 18 year old bodies lay tangled in each other, a feminine and male, lay drifting in and out of consciousness. Unknown to the two, they were covered and slightly warmed by an unknown force which had appeared out of nowhere.

Sniffling, Alison sat up, surprised that it was even possible she nervously glanced around the area. Draco lay besides her, drifting back to the awake and aware. She turned to him and helped him, though he was hesitant.

"Hey." Alison said and pulled him to his feet.

"H-hey. We can stand? What- but how- I thought-but. (sighs and clears throat) ok, the last thing I remember is that we were right under the avalanche, how did- but we're supposed to be buried from five-six feet of snow! Not protected by this invisible thing (pokes at the clear wall surrounding them)!" He exclaimed, looking back at her. He walked towards her and pulled her into his arms, his arms tightened at the thought of losing her. They pulled away and looked at each other momentarily.

" I know things are confusing, but right now we should figure out how to get back to the surface, considering we're six feet under and this wall could pop away at any second." She answered, looking around to find an alternate exit.

"Yeah, you're right, we should."

They spent another half hour examining each and every corner. But they had given up and sat back down in the middle. Alison broke the silence.

"Do you think that the others made it? I mean, the last I remember of Hermione and Blaise was that they were very close to the cave, but what about Harry? He was closer to us and much farther from the cave and c-came running to w-warn us. Oh, I feel so guilty!" She broke off and tears started flowing. Draco wrapped his arms around her and whispered comforting nonsense. They fell asleep in each other's arms.

Harry was still fast-asleep along with Blaise. Hermione's eyes fluttered open at a small noise. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, brushing off the noise, she walked over to the sleeping boys, smiling, she draped each of them with a blanket and they only moved closer towards each other, she had to stifle a giggle at the sight of the two close to snuggling. She decided to walk around, explore the cavern area but not go too far. With that last thought, she walked off.

Soon after, Harry woke up, rubbing his eyes, he took in his surroundings, the cavern ceiling had been draped with dozens and dozens of blankets, covering every inch, the floors were covered with similar but softer and puffier blankets, pillows and small throw cushions had taken over the side of the wall he was sleeping on, the large fire flickered in the center of the slightly squarish-oval (a/n I know it sounds stupidly weird) area which lay before him.

Next to him, Blaise slept soundlessly, grumbling a few times before turning around to find a more comfortable spot. Chuckling at the fact that they were only a foot apart, Harry sat up and gloom took over immediately.

I'm laughing? What kind of person am I? Two friends had just died, right before my eyes and I'm laughing? I can't believe myself.

Yep, I'm very disappointed in you

What are you talking about? You're apart of me!

So? What's your point? I'm still VERY disappointed.

Oh, shut the bloody hell up.

OOH, someone's a bit cranky.

You have no idea.

Actually I think I do, considering for the teensy mere fact that I am a part of you.

Sighing with frustration, Harry rid his thoughts and got up, Wait, where'd Hermione go! SHIT! He moved over to where Blaise slept and woke him, shaking him by the shoulders.

"Huh? W-what? Earthquake? Whasgoinon?" Blaise mumbled, looking around dumbly through half-opened eyes.

"Zambini, snap out of it! (smacks him clear across the face) Listen, Hermione's gone!" At those words, Blaise opened his eyes and took Harry by the shoulders and shook hard.

"Mione! What do you mean she's gone? She couldn't have just disappeared! I mean, she's ok, right? She couldn't have apparated because she can't, right? RIGHT!" Blaise exclaimed, hysterical with panic and concern.

Harry pried his hands off his shoulders and smacked him hard across the face (a/n I know, he smacked him TWICE!) and shouted, "Get a grip! You need to calm down! Worrying won't get anything done! Now, breathe and let's go look for her."

"Ok, you're right." Blaise shook his head a few times and took a few deep breaths before getting up and dusting himself off. Harry got up and took lead in walking outwards through the cave in search of their friend. After a few minutes, they heard a small crack.

"What was that? I know I heard something." Blaise whispered.

"I heard it too. Maybe it's just some twig snap- (a clatter of distant footsteps emit) Do you hear that?" Harry asked, looking around alarmed and stared back at Blaise.

"Yeah. I did. I think that might be- Hermione!" Blaise shouted and ran towards the figure that was identified by the glowing moonlight.

"Hey, are you guys okay? You two seem a little distraught." Hermione said, observing their expressions.

"Are we okay? You're the one who up and left us without so much as a note! We were worried sick-

"Technically, we were only worried sick, as Blaise so well put it, for about five minutes." Harry interrupted.

"Yeah, well, it seemed like an eternity to me! God, you had me so worried. What were you doing out here!" Blaise exclaimed, rushing towards her and embracing her tightly.

"Um- I was just exploring the caves, (pulls from the embrace) sorry that I got you guys so worried. I just needed someplace quiet to t-think… a-about um- Al-Alison and Dr-Draco." Hermione finished and burst into tears, Blaise pulled her into his arms and slowly rocked her back and forth, signaling to Harry to go on ahead.

Harry stood there before walking outside. He could still hear Hermione's cries and walked further out. The weather had gotten better than before but it was still blistering freezing, he tugged his tattered coat around him tighter and gazed blankly at the endless mass of snow.

Somewhere out there six-seven feet under, are Alison and Malfoy. God, I'm such a bloody idiot.

Yeah, for once, I agree with you.

What do you know! I don't even know who or what the bloody hell you are!

If you could be anymore naïve, I swear. I'm your other side. The side of thoughts which argues with you. I only pop up when you get extremely irrational thoughts. Merlin knows I should've appeared ages ago.

Just shut up. I'm not in the mood to argue. Just leave me alone.

Gladly, but I have one more thing to say, (clears throat) things don't always seem as bad from the outside, look further and you'll find what comforts you at the moment. There, I said it. I sound like freaking Dumbledore. Well, bye. (pop)

Harry sighed and closed his eyes. What does he- it mean by that? Look deeper? Lord, I don't think I could care less. With that last thought he turned around and trudged back deeper into the cave.

Hermione sat there on the covered ground, her back against Blaise's chest, her tears just wouldn't stop rolling down her cheeks.

God, I can't stop this. I wish I-

You wish you what? You could turn back time? In case you haven't noticed, you can't! You're stuck out here-

In some cave further into the Forbidden forest, maybe past it! Sure, I can conjure food up and necessities… hey, maybe I could live out here. I could keep summoning whatever I need and I wouldn't have to go back and-

Avoid the truth that two of your friends are dead, that they were crushed by a pulverizing avalanche and live out here forever never having to face reality ever again? Sorry, but reality ain't sugar-coated. So, get a grip! Right now, Harry and Blaise need you. They might not show it but they do.

You're right, I just wish that I could turn back time. Reality sucks.

Hermione wiped away her tears and got up, Blaise had fallen asleep against her head and had fallen to the floor. He was curled in an awkward fetal position and she pulled him towards the "sleeping corner". After getting him settled in, she turned to the campfire and moved closer to it. Harry had walked in and settled down across from her, grabbing a thin scarlet throw blanket and pillow and wrapping himself in, he lay on his stomach, his head resting on the pillow and his face staring at the flames.

She stayed in her spot, curled up around the fire (a/n she isn't that close to it! Or else, she'd get burnt!), laying on her right side, a black blanket wrapped tightly around her and a pillow cushioning her pounding head. Slowly, the two figures facing the warming center drifted off into sleep, leaving behind their worries and troubles.

Outside, in the below freezing temperature, under now six feet of snow, sat Alison and Draco. Surprisingly, the bubble around them hadn't caved and they sat in the middle, her back against his chest, his arms wrapped her waist, her hands on his, her head rested on his right shoulder while his right cheek lent against hers. Her legs were still in pain, from the blow of the strangely large branch but managed the pain when Draco decided to cast a temporary pain-numbing spell on them. So far, they had lit a fire, they covered the circular area with blankets and fluffy pillows and it was surprising how neither of them were hungry.

"What are we going to do?" Alison asked, turning her head so it faced his.

"Well, we can't penetrate this bubble but we can do magic. I wonder…"

"What?"

"Well, I was thinking that we could do some sort of imploding spell, you know, break the bubble. We're about six feet under right now, so, the only problem is…"

"That the spell might not be strong enough to blow up six feet of snow." Alison finished for him.

"Yeah. That's the problem. So, I've been thinking, we could combine our spells and maybe it could empower the effect. I just don't know if it can work."

"Well, we'll have to see and find out."

"I guess you're right. It's worth a try. So, do you want to do this now? Or…"

"Now, we can't waste anymore time sitting here, who knows when this bubble collapses. But first, I think I should try and heal those wounds, Drake. They could get infected even if you don't feel it stinging anymore." She said, pointing to the bruises and cuts they had.

"Lynna, I feel fine. There's nothing to- AGH!" He shouted, bending over on his knees and clutching his ribs. Within seconds, Alison followed his motions, clutching tightly at her abdomen area. It felt like small pangs of pain searing through their skin at first but the pain only grew and grew, massing over their torso area, pounding headache attacks popped in.

Suddenly, Draco's attack stopped, but he knew all too well that it would come back in moments. Quickly, he grabbed his wand and whispered a temporary pain reliever spell, numbing the pain but the spell would only last for 20 minutes. Alison was on all fours, grasping at the blankets, choking out gasps of pain and the headache didn't help. Draco pulled out his wand and repeated the spell. Moments later, Alison recovered.

"Thanks (gasp), what was that? It felt like my entire torso was being crushed by a tractor and little sharp needles were piercing my head! That is not some side effect of the avalanche." She said, slightly out of breath and clutched her ribs as if the pain attack would come jolt back, her eyes scanned the bubble mass area.

"I don't know. We should get out of here. It could be some sort of warning this um- er, shield is giving but now I highly doubt that… Come here." He responded, pulling her into his strong protective arms, tracing figures in the small of her back.

"We should (sniffles) get going." She said, straightening herself. Draco followed, grabbing his wand and waving it around a bit.

"Ok, so… what was the incantation again?" She asked faintly, looking at him.

"I think that it was- umm… Oh right! It's Implodius. You know, to implode this bubble and blow up all that snow."

"Right. Ok, Implodius… Implo-dee us. Im- ploe- dee- us. Got it. So, just swish and point. Ok, you ready?" She asked nervously, her eyes scanned her wand one last time.

"Y-yep… (sighs) Ok. On the count of three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three!" With that said,

"IMPLODIUS!" They shouted together, for a second, they had thought it wouldn't work but suddenly, the perimeter shook, the bubble burst and snow started pouring in and a small barely visible bubble appeared in front of them, it burst and a bright shining of light filled the area around them. Everywhere, it was bright, so bright that they had to close their eyes and Draco shielded Alison's body, pulling her underneath their standing position and wrapping his arms around her. Then the light disappeared, as if it were never there.

Draco was the first one to move; he opened his eyes hesitantly and stood up straight, pulling Alison up. They were still where they were; they weren't lifted up to the surface but what was peculiar was that they were standing in a giant hole; the rest of the surrounding snow was piled up to as a surrounding neatly lined wall. It was as if someone had cut out any snow within in ten feet from them, leaving a thin line tracing around them like a circle.

"Whoa. This- but I thought… how?" Alison asked, moving her arms up and them as if the scenery wasn't real.

"But it is… and where did that light come from? I mean, I know this bubble appeared but how? (Sighs) never mind. We should focus on getting up. C'mon." Draco said, grabbing her hand and pulling them towards the twenty foot wall of snow.

"We have to climb it. The way it was lined makes it sturdy. So, we should just climb it as if it was made of rock. Only without the dents for us to stick our feet in."

"That sounds easy enough. Seriously, yeah, it's sturdy but we have nothing to hang onto! See." He punched the wall and a hole appeared where it hit. "Ok, so, not what I expected. Well, I guess we have to make the dents."

"Ok, well, we should start by… Got it! Ok, we use our wands! Here, give me yours. Alright, (sticks wands together and digs it deep into the wall) there! We keep making enough holes and soon we'll have our own set of dents, from then on, we keep trading off the wands to make holes for our hands and kicking into the- er- wall for our feet. Got it?" She finished, looking back at a flabbergasted Draco.

"… Um… I guess. How did you do that? I mean… well, never mind."

Several grunts, "OW"s, sighs of frustration, shouts of pain and three "Ugh"s later,

"Lynna! How the fuck are we supposed to do this! (grunt, kick and silenced yell) My toes hurt like hell, I feel like we're getting nowhere and this wall is chafing my chin!" Draco whined, trying his best to keep to the wall while complaining.

"Well, one, dear Drake, my toes and fingers hurt just as much as yours do, two, as you can see (kicks snow into his eyes (she's higher than he is, she scaled the wall first) making him turn his eyes to the ground, down below) we are about seven feet off the ground so we're getting somewhere and three, my lips are so chapped that I feel that shouting like this is a waste of breath, energy and (coughs furiously)- oh… wow. Drake? I feel a l-little diz-dizzy… Hey, whoa…" She finished and started swaying but remained her slightly firm grip on the grapple-dents.

"Lynna! (pause, silence) Lynna! Stay awake! Love, you need to stay awa-

All of a sudden she fell, slowly making her way downwards. Draco reached his left arm just in time to catch her.

"Lynna! FUCK! Shit! Lynna! You (grunt and begins climbing with her slung over his back) need to wake up! (grunts) It's no use. Guess it's just me now." He finished his wandering words and began slowly and painfully making his way up the twenty foot snow-built wall.

"Ugh." Draco expressed, pulling Alison's body over him and pushing her onto the surface. He'd finally made it, after several failed attempts at waking Alison up and many breathtaking mistakes, he made it to the top of the twenty foot climb. He fell down next to her, breathing hard.

"Lyns? Lynna, are you awake?" Sadly, she only stirred slightly. Muttering "Someone must really like us up there.", Draco got to his feet and scanned the area.

Is that the cave? Blaise! Potter and Granger! They must've made it…

How in damned hell are you sure Potter made it? What makes you think that any of them made it?

Well, genius, if you take a closer look, you'll see a small bright light coming from inside it! Now, shut up, god-for-sakened consciences.

Draco quickly picked up Alison bridal style and made his way towards the cave. Suddenly, a negative thought struck him,

How long does that pain-reliever spell last again? Oh, that's right… 20 minutes. Well, time's almost up. Better hurry.

Sprinting, he made his way to the cave. Within minutes, he was halfway into the path leading to his friends.

Unfortunately, his time was up. The effects of the pain relieving spell were starting to wear off. Hoping to get notice,

Draco choked out, "BLAISE! POTTER! GRAN-

Before he could finish his sentence, the pain attack from earlier struck him, he fell to the ground writhing in pain, gasping in air only to push it back out. Alison lay next to him, going through the same thing, the spell had worn off on her as well and she suddenly sprang to consciousness only to be met by sharp unendurable pangs of pain. It felt worse than before, it felt like a thousand Crutacious Curses diving in and out of their bodies.

The last thing that hit Alison was an excruciatingly sharp shot of pain before she blacked out. She fell to the ground after giving one last scream of pain.

Draco quickly, despite his own weight of pain, turned to Alison, she was on the ground.

Might as well give in, Drake darling. It's so sad to see your ickle lovey dovey girlfriend gone. Well, good night and sleep tight.

There is no way in hell am I blacking out. That's giving in and Malfoys don't quit!

Really? That's not how you act in front on Lynna… C'mon. You know you want to.

SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCKING GODDAMNED HELL UP!

I'm not quitting, I'm not. I am not a quitter! NO, Lynna needs you, she needs you. You're not giving in. You have to- but it hurts so much. God, it… won't… stop- the pain…

"ZAMBINNNNIIII!" Draco screamed as a last attempt to call attention, ignoring the vein-popping pain zigzagging in and out his body, from head to toe. He had used all his energy to block it all out and now, he was as weakened as a struck solider in the middle of a raging battlefield. His old wounds burst open, juicing out blood profusely.

I'm not giving in… I'm not… I am not… I'm… n-not.

With that last thought, he fell to the ground. The corners of his mind soon covered in darkness…

Author's Note: Ok, so, that was another cliffhanger. I know it might've seemed a bit extravagant but that's me! chuckles nervously

Anyways, if you want to add other types of comments or any ideas you wanna share, just let me know (e.g. EMAIL ME!) and I'll respond to your review, as you can probably discover, my email address is closed off to the public, for the time being. School starts on August 31st, so I'm gonna be a little busy soon.

Reviewers: Thanks for reviewing:

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