An Ominous Warning

Ron Weasley

They came back and it was obvious something between them had changed. I wasn't sure what it was, but they were both smiling, despite the fact that they were alone together and didn't sleep for two days. It was slightly unnerving to see Hermione acting civil toward Malfoy, but it wasn't something that started overnight.

Ever since we all began to head toward The Blaze, I noticed the subtle changes between them. Malfoy only called Hermione Mudblood when she really pissed him off. Later on, he stopped calling her that altogether. She stopped insulting him every five seconds, and he did likewise. It wasn't something that happened with the blink of an eye, but any moron could notice it.

The only morons who didn't notice it were the two of them. Hermione insisted that there wasn't anything going on between them. At first, I considered it a lie… but as time past, I realized she didn't know that there was something there. Malfoy seemed just as clueless as Hermione.

They brought the boxes into the main cabin and went through it. There was a new set of dishes, more silverware, some clothes, blankets, seeds, and containers. I'm sure there were more things, too, but I was too lazy to look through the whole box.

"'Moine, can I talk to you?" I asked her slowly.

"Sure," she smiled, walking with me into my cabin. "What's up?" she asked once we were behind closed doors.

"How's Malfoy?" I blurted stupidly, knowing it wasn't the thing I intended on saying.

"He's fine… I think," she said slowly. "Why are you asking?"

"Look," I sighed. "Hermione, I know you two really care about each other."

"What?" she asked with disbelief. "I mean… I don't hate him anymore… but care for? No! I don't!"

"Hermione," I said patiently. "I can see it when I look at him! I can see the way he looks at you, too."

She stared at me. "Ron," she said slowly. "I really have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know what—"

"You really don't see it?" I asked with disbelief. "Hermione, it's really obvious to everyone but you!"

She didn't say anything. She just got up off the bed, left me alone in the cabin, and wandered back into hers.

----

"There's something out there," Marianna said suddenly.

"What?" I asked, not sure what to say. I knew Marianna was a total basket case—haunted by weird visions, unable to completely control her magic abilities… the works. She hardly ever spoke… but she listened and seemed to be capable of emotion and response—she just chose to keep to herself.

"Out there," she said, nodding ominously into the woods. "There's something and it's coming."

Shivers went down my spine. I wasn't sure what to say, do, or think.

"Oh, please," Malfoy scoffed. "Marianna's visions are prone to not coming true. Remember last year when she thought the Chamber of Secrets was going to open again, even though we all told her it was impossible?"

At this, Marianna looked completely outraged. "You!" she hissed dangerously. "You shouldn't insult what you don't understand! Besides, Draco Malfoy, it's coming for you."

"Okay, Marianna, can you stop creeping us all out for ten seconds, thanks," Granger muttered.

"It's coming for him!" she ranted wildly.

"Calm down!" Blaise said, appearing out of no where. "Nothing's coming, Mary, it's okay."

We all sat around the campfire, unsure of what to think.

I saw Malfoy glance nervously out into the woods several times.

"What is it, Mary?" he asked carefully after a long silence.

She smiled a crooked smile and then said, "It's someone familiar. Someone who isn't what you thought."

We all wondered what that meant… or if we should believe it at all. Not too long later, we all went to sleep, unaware of what was really out there. Unaware of the attack that would turn The Blaze into ruin the very next day…

----

I turned over, aware that it was bright out, but unwilling to wake up. I could smell the burning fires already, so I knew it was almost time for breakfast.

And then I heard the screams. I didn't know what was going on. I turned to see Malfoy in the corner of the room, digging through his crate. "Damn it!" he kept cursing, over and over again.

Then he ran out of the room, and I watched him go into Hermione and Ginny's cabin. I followed quickly. "What's going on?" I demanded.

"Where the hell is your wand?" Malfoy asked, shoving Hermione awake. "Where is it?"

"It's right here," she groaned, hardly awake enough to think straight.

"What's going on?" I repeated.

"Where?" Malfoy asked again, ransacking Hermione's crate.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked again. A million thoughts were running through my mind. Why was the smell of smoke so strong? Why was there screaming outside? I was too afraid to go look.

"There's no wand here, Hermione!" Malfoy said with aggravation. I hardly noticed he used her name. I only noticed that Ginny was gone.

"Where's my sister?" I asked, panicked.

No one answered me, so I ran out of the cabin blindly, noticing for the first time the turmoil everything was in. "Ginny!" yelled, trying to look past the thick smoke. All the buildings I saw were on fire.

Our main cabin was spewing fire from the roof. I wondered whether this was a kitchen accident gone terribly wrong.

"Ron!" Ginny ran into my arms. "Ron!"

She was sobbing hysterically. "What happened?" I asked, still unsure what was going on.

"Ron," she choked. "Marianna's visions came true."

It wasn't a kitchen fire, I realized. My thoughts were confirmed when I saw something that wasn't possible—Lucius Malfoy standing in the center of the campfire site, smiling evilly, looking around for Draco.

"What the hell?" I asked.

"I don't know…" Ginny said through her tears. "We have to warn Draco!"

And so we ran in the direction of their cabin, disbelieving what we saw, not wanting to believe that The Blaze was on fire, and completely afraid.

Author's Note: I'm sorry it took me a week and I'm sorry it wasn't very long. But it was eventful, important, and basically sets the stage for the finale. I've got about 2-4 chapters left… though it might be even more. We'll see what happens. I'm sorry I spelled Voldemort's name wrong the entire story… and the wand thing doesn't figure out. Draco used his wand to kill his father. NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: But why's he still alive? And, obviously, he's mad. Draco and Hermione finally admit their love, and Claire finally gets out of the picture. Review, please!