Four: Are We Alone?

Ginny was able to un-shrink three out of four of the trunks. Only her trunk refused to be restored to its original size. It was crazy to believe that her wand was the one that refused to operate on her trunk. Hermione was able to find her book and set it to 'lost mode'. The book gave some great tips on how to survive on an island. It also gave very easy step-by-step instructions on how to construct a good magical tent that would be able to keep out most magical and non-magical creatures. Ron's wand was the only one that allowed them to enlarge the tent and create beds from stones.

"Would you look at that? Transfiguration class actually came in handy!" Ron said after a long day of work. He stepped back to admire his work.

"Of course it would come in handy! Many wizards use transfiguration on a daily basis," Hermione said, which resulted in the rolling of Ron's eyes. Hermione was always trying to get them to use their magic whenever possible. At the same time, she wouldn't allow them to use it at other times when it was a 'waste'. That witch never made any sense. She was, after all, a woman, and women had never made any sense. He recalled his fourth-year Yule Ball with Harry. Things still hadn't changed.

There were two tents, each which had two poorly constructed rooms. Ron wasn't very good at enlarging the tent so it looked as if it would collapse. However, the book stated that no matter how the tent looked, the only way to make it collapse was for Ron to say 'Collapse'. Hermione took that also as some way for them to escape in case they got into trouble. The tent looked as if it wouldn't be harmed by almost anything. Magic seemed to be circumventing all around the tent.

After a long day of work, everybody was exhausted. Ginny had used so many spells to enlarge the trunks and food items that she was very drained. Hermione had read the book three times and instructed everybody while they were doing their jobs. She also made sure she noted the most important pages: the ones that would keep them out of trouble, the ones that would keep them safe, and the ones that might help them escape off the island. Ron had obviously spent the whole day laboring over the tents. Harry was given the worst assignment; he had to create the toilet. Digging a hole without magic, and without a shovel wasn't as easy as he thought it would have been. Using the resources he had, which were basically his hands and some big sticks, made him the most tired of all of them.

They all rested on their almost comfortable beds and quickly went to sleep. It had been an exhausting day. Tomorrow, maybe they would be able to enjoy or escape the island. Whatever destiny chose for them they would follow it. Ginny was the first to wake up in the morning. Being thirsty, she went to her bag and took out a bottle of water. She then realized that they were going to have to find a new source of water, as there was only one bottle left.

Ginny sorted through Hermione's trunk and found the resourceful book. She looked through it for a way to purify water. It showed her a good spell, but it didn't work well with Ocean Water. She was going to have to look for a stream. She didn't mind exploring. When she was young, she used to explore around the Burrow all the time. There, she would find interesting creatures that were not just garden gnomes. If she were lucky enough, she might catch sight of a fairy. The only difference between the two places were the facts that all her brothers had previously explored the place and her parents always made sure it was pretty safe. This place was never explored before and who knew what would be found, deep inside the jungle. Ginny took out a piece of paper from her notebook and wrote a note explaining that she was going to look for a stream. She then asked that they all find a way to communicate to the outside world.

Ginny wandered throughout the forest. She was wearing the clothes she borrowed from Hermione, because hers were too small to wear. In fact she probably couldn't even see them with a muggle microscope. Hermione was a little taller than her so the robes she wore were a little long, but she didn't mind.

She meandered through the forest looking for any signs of water. Every few moments or so, she would pause and listen for a stream. After almost half an hour, she swore she heard the sound of water. It was to her right so she headed that way, and she found it! It was a very small stream but it looked like it was just the right size for the spell. Looking back towards the area the campsite was, she noticed that this place wasn't as far as she thought. Since she was just wandering through the forest, she had made many turns and circles. The distance from the stream to the campsite looked as if it were only a ten-minute walk.

The purifying spell didn't seem to work on the first few attempts. After the seventh attempt, the water was purified, and as the book said, it would glow a light pink color. There was a think line of pink on the area that she cast the spell. Any water that passed the line was purified. The problem she soon encountered was the fact she brought no bottles of water. Ginny was very mad at herself, how could she forget bottles of water? She knew at this moment she resembled her brother, Ron. Ron would be the type to forget to bring necessary items. Like he forgot his pajamas. She shook her head at the lack of her responsibility. Being a healer, she had to be very responsible and this just demonstrated the lack of it.

She paused to turn back when she heard a twig snap. Ginny looked down at her feet and saw no twigs. Behind her there was a sound of movement. She quickly took out her wand and in a frightened manner said, "Who's there?"

The movement had suddenly stopped. She asked again, and when no one replied she stepped backwards. The sound started once again, and stopped abruptly. Ginny's heart was pounding and she was terrified. Her Gryffindor mind wanted to encounter the human or creature, but her heart asked her to run. She stepped back again and the movement came and stopped again suddenly.

"This is not funny, I am scared. Maybe you don't speak my language? Please, I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me."

There was no reply. She stayed there in fear for a few minutes. Then she stepped forward. The moment she stepped forward she was completely sure that she heard some whispering. At that second Ginny turned around and ran for her life in the direction she knew where the campsite was. She knew that by running this fast she would be getting many cuts and scrapes from branches, and hoped she wouldn't bump into anything poisonous. Ginny knew that being on an unknown island would lead to some severe medical damages, but at the moment, most of her mind was consumed with the idea of fleeing. It was strange what kind of thoughts one had when in fear.

When she arrived at the beach, she saw that her direction was a little off and the tents were far to the right. She ran to the first tent and hugged the first person she found.

"Ginny, are you ok?" Harry asked, who was almost dying by the embrace that Ginny was giving him. He pushed her away as gently as possible. Hhe didn't want her to think that he wasn't supporting her…he just couldn't breathe.

Ginny didn't seem to notice what Harry was doing as she was too preoccupied with the idea of what was in the jungle. She was breathing very quickly and after a few moments panted, "Went…look for water…found it…purifying spell…sound…whispering…scared…ran!"

Ron soon appeared in the doorway and looked at his little sister with a worried look, "What happened, Harry?"

"I'm not sure, but she did leave a note saying she went to look for water. Did you find something?" Harry asked slowly. He knew there were probably creatures or something out on the island. After all, where would all the magic come from? He hoped, whatever this thing was, wasn't anything that was against them. With their luck, it most likely was some ferocious beast that Hagrid would love to keep as a pet. He did not want to deal with dragons again. Judging by the heat on this island, there didn't seem to be any dragons. Harry quickly shook out of his thoughts. He was losing his focus. There was something really wrong with the island. Whenever someone was scared, he usually paid his utmost attention. First the rambling, then the attention, was he going to go mad? He felt as if in a few days Ron and Hermione would be after him with a net.

Ginny's breathing was not as fast as it was before and she said, "I went to look for water….and I found a stream…I purified it…but had no bottles of water…I went to go back to the camp site…and well, I heard movement…too scared to move…but I ran for it…when it started whispering."

"Was it a human's voice?"

"Yes I think so, but it just scared me!" she said in the most serious tone someone like her could say. She wasn't going to allow her brother to laugh at her for being scared at something stupid, for this…this was serious. There was something out there and she didn't know whether or not it was after her.

Hermione came into the boys' tent to see if everybody was awake. She asked about Ginny and Harry told her story.

"That means we aren't alone on this island!" Hermione said stating the obvious.

"Do you think someone from the Portkey Port is here?"

"No, I don't think so. I asked many times 'Who's there' and no one replied. It doesn't seem this person or whatever it is knows English," Ginny said.

"So we aren't alone. What should we do about it?" Hermione asked.

"I guess we could find them. Me and Ron could go look for the person," Harry said.

"Ron and I," Hermione corrected.

"You want to come too? I don't think we should leave Ginny alone right now," Harry said. Hermione just rolled her eyes. He turned around to get back inside the tent to grab his wand. When he came back, he threw Ron's wand at his friend. Ron caught it and with a determined expression, they both looked at Hermione.

"You two just go. And while you're at it, get some water. Ginny can explain where it is and how the purifying spell works," she said.

"We only have one bottle! How are we going to get any water?"

"Oh in case anyone wanted to see how much Firewhiskey they could take, I kind of brought an endless jug. It's empty so we can use that," Ron said with a lazy shrug.

"I can't believe you Ron, I just can't believe you," Hermione said sighing. She then turned around and brought Ginny inside the tent. Together, they could have a long awaited chat. Their plan was to leave Ron and Harry to do their activities at the resort and together they would have a chat. It had been a very long time since the two of them just chatted alone. They each had to have time to catch up on each other lives and events. This looked as if it was the perfect time to do what they had originally planned. However, it looked as if just catching up on each other lives wasn't the only thing on their agenda.