Chapter Seven: Collision Course
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: Thanks to my beta, Nicole, penname Elise Bentwin. Her story is amazing! Go read it if you have time! Thanks to my reviewers, too. If you're reading this, it means I hit thirty reviews, so thank you. If I continue to get ten or so reviews a chapter, maybe I'll give you an extra chapter sometime soon… :raises eyebrows suggestively: Well, here it is!
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Ginny sat awake in her bed, thinking to herself. She let out soft a giggle.
"Nighttime thinking must've become my new pastime… It's not like I can help it. It's just so calm and quiet; it provokes thought."
She clutched her knees to her chest and pulled on her lank hair. "I can't believe Fred and George had the nerve to show up to Hogwarts uninvited! It's totally like them though, and it's not as if I can say I don't want them here. They're the best brothers I could've had. I mean, Ron plays the protective brother role perfectly- loving and overprotective. But they… they're different."
As Ginny sat in her bed she went over the event in her mind. Oh, it had been so exciting when they threw the doors open! But a blush crept over her features as she remembered what had happened once McGonagall had gotten there. "Oh, why must I be so shy around adults? It's like I'm a totally different person… Then again, I suppose I do have the element of surprise over them if I ever need it," she thought with a smirk. "They don't know just how close I am to the twins."
With a content sigh, she flopped down on her bed and wondered, for the seventh time, why she was still up at three thirty in the morning. Tossing and turning, she slowly succumbed to the calm grip of sleep. As darkness started to enclose her, she was suddenly shaken awake by a sudden jolt of light. Sitting up wearily, she looked around the room for the culprit, and saw the other girls moaning and slowly sitting up, too. Squinting her eyes against the light, she looked towards the door and tried to make out the offender.
"Hermione?" she asked groggily, swinging her legs off the bed.
"Everyone, please get dressed and meet in the common room before going to the Great Hall. There has been an emergency. Please do not forget your wands," she said over the groans of Ginny's classmates.
"What kind of emergency?" someone asked as Ginny swiftly dressed.
"You will find out," was all Hermione said. "When you go downstairs, make sure Harry knows you're there. He will not leave until he knows everyone is there. Please keep together. Do not wander the halls."
"It's not Sirius Black again, is it?" asked another student, worriedly.
"No, it's not. Now, please hurry. Time is of the essence." With that, Hermione turned and started down the stairs to wake the fifth years, but Ginny laid a hand on her arm and looked up at the Head Girl with a questioning gaze.
Hermione looked at Ginny's hand, and when their eyes met, Ginny realized the fear and urgency in Hermione's eyes, and decided not to ask.
"I'll wake the others," she offered. "You do what you need to do."
Hermione nodded gratefully, and Ginny watched her as she took the steps two at a time, and swiftly climbed through the portrait hole before shutting it firmly. When she left, she heard Harry's and Ron's voices yelling at the boys in a very military-like fashion, and was thankful she only had to wake the girls. She swiftly awoke the fifth- and fourth-years, telling them the same thing Hermione had told her, and then decided that she ought to make the rounds again and drag any stragglers out of bed. And it appeared Lavender was going to be a straggler.
"Hey, Lav! It's time to wakie-wakie!" Ginny said as she stepped into the seventh-year girls' dorms, taking on a mother-like tone.
"Mmm… five more minutes," the waking girl groaned.
Ginny walked over to the bed and started tugging on the covers, but Lavender poked her hand out from under the sheets in a claw-like form, daring Ginny to go farther. Which, being Ginny, she did. What she didn't think when she was pulling on the covers was exactly how long Lavender's fingernails were. Pity she only realized this after she had the red marks on her hand.
Tapping her foot impatiently on the ground, Ginny thought of ways to get the older girl out of bed that wouldn't cause her bodily harm.
"Lavender?" Ginny asked coyly.
"Hm?" Lavender half-moaned from under her pillow.
"You know, when I was downstairs I could've sworn I saw two people making-out…" When Lavender's body stiffened and her head popped out of the covers, ready for the juicy details, Ginny knew she had the older girl's attention. Now only if she could lure her all the way downstairs…
"Who was it?" Lavender demanded.
Ginny thought for a moment. It needed to be someone she wanted to know about, so it had to be someone new; without a girlfriend boyfriend. And someone who wouldn't hate her for all eternity…
"I couldn't tell… I think it was Harry," she said with a bored tone.
"Harry Potter?" she exclaimed. This was definitely juicy. Harry had never done anything with anyone- that she knew of, of course. Before Ginny could even blink, the seventh-year was dressed and out the door, hurrying downstairs. Ginny only hoped that Harry would forgive her.
The rest of the floors were fairly empty, with just of couple of dawdlers who couldn't find their wands, or their other shoe. Pleased with her work, she wormed her way into the middle of the common room where Harry and Ron were checking students off.
"All of the girls are out of bed, Harry," she told him.
"Thanks, Gin," he replied, on his tiptoes as he searched the sea of anxious faces. "Lavender said to say 'Hello', and that you 'suck', as she so delicately put it."
"Oh, sorry, Harry! She just wouldn't get out of bed," Ginny quickly apologized as she scanned the crowd for herself, only to find Lavender sitting in a chair scowling.
"Apology accepted. Everyone's here, let's go," he said without looking up.
"Everybody, listen up!" he shouted as he stood up on a table so everyone could hear him. "We are all here and accounted for, and need to get down to the great hall immediately! We do not want to lose anyone, so please get into groups of two or three, and make sure your group stays close to the main one! We aren't sure what's going on, but we don't want to risk anything! Now let's go!" With that, he climbed off the table and hurried towards the portrait in order to get ahead of everyone; Ginny and Ron scrambling after him.
"So you don't have any clue what Hermione's up to?" Ginny asked Harry as they made their way down the halls.
"No idea, she wouldn't say anything," he replied, glancing back.
They walked in silence for a moment before Ginny's hands clutched her arms, where goosebumps were rapidly rising.
"Harry," she said, catching his attention.
"Yes, Ginny?" he asked, concerned at her tone of voice.
"Something feels wrong," she said, looking around. "Something's out of place. This doesn't feel right."
He looked at her, and nodded. "I know. I feel it, too."
"Woah, guys," Ron said, holding his arms out to stop them.
"What, Ro-" Harry began to ask before he manage to face forward again. "Oh."
"Bloody Slytherins," Ron whispered with venom.
"Hm?" Ginny looked to where Ron was pointing. "Oh…" she said, mimicking Harry without trying. But that was really all she felt she could trust herself to say once her eyes had connected with those of a seven-foot long, blood-red skrewt with a thick piece of rope in it's mouth in the middle of the hallway.
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"Draco- tell me again why I'm sopping wet?" Pansy asked in an annoyed tone as she ruffled her hair in attempt to dry it.
"Because no one would get up," Draco smirked. "If you'd been in the common room on time…"
"Hmph." Pansy glared at him. "You should've at least given us a warning."
"I have a temper; so sue me," he said flatly.
Crossing her arms across her chest, Pansy continued to glare at the King of Slytherin as they walked through the dungeons, toward the great hall.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Blaise suddenly yelled out. He spread his arms out, trying to stop the group behind him as he looked towards the ground. Pansy and Draco followed his gaze and found a piece of thread strung three inches off the ground.
"It's a trap of some kind… Get everyone across without touching it, and we should be fine," Blaise said, taking charge. He pointed his wand at Draco's throat, catching him off guard. But before Draco could pull out his own wand, he muttered "soronus", and put his wand back in his robes.
"Tell them back up five steps, and to get in groups of… four. And to stay where they are until we tell them otherwise," he explained to a confused Draco.
Draco nodded, and told them just that. Only, in more Draco-like terms.
"Alright people, listen up! Step back five steps so you don't kill us all, then get in groups of four. Doesn't matter who's with you, just do it." He pointed his wand, yet again, at his throat. "Finite."
The students behind the string got into groups quickly under the trio's scrutinizing glare, a couple of fourth years tripping over their feet, but thankfully not the string.
"Alright, first group, come here," Blaise said, pointing at the nearest set of students. "You see the string there?" He pointed at the string. "Step over it. Not on it. Got it?"
The students either nodded or rolled their eyes before stepping gracefully over the line. The rest of the groups did just as well, and soon Draco, Blaise, and Pansy were the only ones left.
"Whew," Blaise sighed. "Took a while, but we made it."
"Alright, then, what are we waiting for?" Pansy demanded, starting for the students on the other side.
"Wait, Pansy, NO!" Blaise yelled, trying to grab her. "We have to step over it, too!"
But Blaise was too late; Pansy had already forgotten and triggered the string. A low rumbling started, and all the students stopped talking and froze in place, staring down the dark hallway in disbelief.
"Get behind the corner!" Draco yelled at the students, and started waving his arms frantically to get their attention as he yelled. Finally they got the message, and started running towards the corner, but they had a head start. Tossing a look over his shoulder, he saw the boulder rolling down the hallway, gaining speed as little pieces of rock flew off of the monstrosity. Looking forward again, he saw that the others were safe, but the corner was still too far away.
"Against the wall!" he yelled, and flattened himself in example. Realizing that they weren't going to make it, Pansy and Blaise also flattened themselves against the wall. Pansy reached out and clutched both the boys' wrists in a death grip as she squeezed her eyes and braced herself. Draco almost winced when Pansy grabbed his wrist, and flattened himself as much as possible, hoping to fit through the space between the rock and the wall. Blaise, on the other hand, was not quite as cool and collected as Draco.
He watched as the boulder came at them, gaining speed, seconds away, and started hyperventilating. The corridor started going hazy, he felt dizzy and disoriented. He put both of his hands to his forehead, alerting Pansy as he steadied himself.
"BLAISE!" Pansy screamed, causing Draco to look over. Panic filled the two students as Blaise's world turned black and he fell to the floor just as the boulder hit them. But instead of screams of agony and crunching of bones, there was… silence. The boulder had disappeared as soon as it had touched Blaise, and there was nothing left, not even the rocks it had left in a trail behind itself.
Students started filing back out from around the corner, and were confused when they saw no boulder, or dead seventh-years.
"It was an illusion," Draco explained to them. "A damn good one, too."
"C'mon, Blaise, wake up." Pansy was on her hand and knees, with one hand on the other boy's forehead, and one on his pulse.
Draco flicked his wand, and the equivillent of a bucket of water was poured down on Blaise's head, splashing Pansy too, who shrieked on impact.
"Draco!" she yelled, accusingly.
"I need him awake. We need to move," he told her as Blaise sat up. "Was an illusion, Blaise."
"Oh…" Blaise answered meekly, embarrassed. "Who did it, you think?"
"Who else? I have to go get the Hufflepuffs." Draco told them before turning around the opposite corner.
"Bloody Gryffindors," Blaise muttered, standing up. "Think they can play games with our heads…"
"Well, we'll just have to get them back, then won't we?" Pansy said, dragging him back to the front of the group as they headed towards the Great Hall, and the Gryffindors.
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Harry wiped his brow and stared at the skrewt on the floor. "Nice job with the conjunctivitis curse, Ginny."
"Thanks," Ginny said with a small smile as she brushed herself off. "I saw Krum use it in the First Task in third year to blind the dragon. I say it worked better here than it did for him."
Harry smiled, "Yes, it did. Now we need to get a move on, Hermione's probably already gathered the Ravenclaws."
"You're right, we should hurry."
"They're all here," Ron said as he joined them. "Neville's got a nasty cut from the overgrown lobster, but that's the extent of it. Those bloody Slytherins, what did they think they were doing, setting a skrewt on us?"
"Who knows, Ron," Ginny asked rhetorically as she headed for the front line of Gryffindors. "But now we need to get to Hermione. She's the only one who knows what's going on."
Ron nodded and followed her, Harry trailing closely behind.
"Be on the lookout guys, we don't want to run into another of those unsuspecting," he cautioned.
The Gryffindors made their way down the staircases and onto the main level without incident. They were a corridor away from the great hall when Ron stopped them.
"Woah, guys. I see another monster. There are quite a few of them, actually," Ron said menacingly.
"Where?" Harry looked around, his wand already out.
"Right there," Ron pointed at the Slytherins coming from the opposite way.
The Gryffindors kept walking until they met up with the Slytherins, and soon the two houses were staring at each other, each loathing the other with a passion, not fully understanding the situation. Neither house spoke, nobody moved. They were still staring each other down with hostility when the Ravenclaws turned the corner and nearly ran into the battlefield between the two enemies.
The confused Ravenclaws looked back and forth between the two houses, not wanting to break the ongoing silence. Silent as it was, the lack of sound was filled with emotion, carrying luggage that outweighed all of them, and was heavy on their shoulders.
Within moments the Hufflepuffs had come down the staircase nearby, and stood next to the Ravenclaws.
"What is going on here?" Susan Bones demanded. The Ravenclaws winced. Apparently Susan hadn't quite realized how heavy the silence was before she interrupted it.
The silence wore on for a moment as all parties turned towards Susan, then it erupted. Both sides were shout and accusing each other, and no one could tell what the person next to them was saying. Ron and Blaise both stepped up, furious and red in the face.
"THOSE GITS NEARLY KILLED ME!" Blaise roared at the top of his lungs, so everyone could hear him.
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?" Ron roared back, temper flaring. "YOU'RE THE ONES WHO SENT THAT SKREWT ON US!"
"Woah, woah, hold on," Lisa Turpin, a Ravenclaw, stepped forward and stood between the two boys, holding them apart. "Now let's settle this quietly. Let Ron tell his story first, since he seems to be bursting with it."
Ron's face flushed even more, if possible, with embarrassment, but he preceded to tell them exactly what was on his mind. "We were on our way down, when we ran into this HUGE, seven-foot SKREWT! It took us forever to tame it- Neville's got a gash to show for it! That goddamned skrewt nearly killed us! If it weren't for Ginny and Harry, some of us wouldn't be here!"
"YOU guys set up that trap to send that boulder down on us!" Blaise interrupted. "Thank heavens that it wasn't real, or I'd be dead right now!"
"WHAT?" Ron yelled, defensively, and all of Gryffindor backed him up. Soon both sides were yelling again, both accusations and defense. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs didn't know whose side was right, but when Lisa stepped back to stand by Ron, the Ravenclaws started supporting the Gryffindors as well as they could. A couple of older Slytherins realized what was happening and stared some fourth-year Hufflepuffs down, gaining support that way, until the older Hufflepuffs thought the Slytherins' story was more believable… come on, a seven-foot skrewt?
Just as Ron was about to take the first hit, the doors to the Great Hall swung open, and Hermione stood there, face flushed, tight-lipped, and angry.
"What on earth is going on here?" she exclaimed as the door shut behind her.
This time, no one spoke.
"Could you not make it inside the Great Hall, three steps away, before you started accusing each other of things the other didn't do?" she yelled, outraged. "Where is Draco Malfoy?"
The group of students looked around, and soon the two groups parted and left Draco standing there, wand out.
"Why didn't you stop this?"
"I got here the same time you did," he said, pointing a finger at the lavatories behind him. A few giggles popped up, but were stifled immediately.
Hermione just glared at him before turning around and opening the doors again and stomping into the Great Hall. "Get in, all of you."
A/N: Urugh. This is the chapter fate didn't want me to upload. It took a few tries, but I got it. No worries! Once again, thanks to those who reviewed: Maliaphire, Elise Bentwin, Rose Mitzkah, Queen Tigress, Kandygurl4, Hoppyeople, The World is a Stage, trackstarbabie1200, Obnoxiously Peachy Twit 2008, and especially Michéle (who sent an email) and Bec (who made me laugh. Again. XD). You guys are getting this earlier than I planned, so thanks so much. You guys are my fuel. Keep telling me what you like and what you don't, so I know how to change and modify my writing. You guys rock my world.