A/N: Wow. I'm totally amazed that people are actually reading this. Reviews are greatly appreciated. You have no idea how much they motivate me. :) I finally finished writing the fourth chapter after not touching my story for over a year because one single person left a review. Thank you so much. By the way, would anyone like to beta read for me?
Chapter 4: Escape and Explanation
Ron and Hermione had stopped laughing, and Hermione had her hands over her ears. Harry fought to regain control as, for the second time that day, he was thrown unmercifully into the Chamber of Secrets. Harry saw Ginny lying on the cold stone floor, and he once again felt the same terror in that horrible moment when he believed her gone forever. Harry stumbled blindly, his hands groping along the wall. He touched something. Something soft. Ginny. Ginny's hand. She was here, she was safe, she was alive. Harry let out a shaky breath of relief as the Chamber of Secrets faded from his mind's eye, and he managed to opened his eyes. Ginny was curled up in a ball, hugging her knees and rocking back and forth. She was whispering fervently and she looked like she was about to pass out.
Harry pulled out his wand and tried desperately to conjure up a happy thought, but the Chamber of Secrets was clouding his mind again, he had to come up with something now... He wished he had some chocolate. A small bit was all he needed, really. Chocolate... like the chocolate Ginny had given him that day in the library. It had been warm and sweet. Sweet… like Ginny.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry roared. Prongs, silvery and bright, burst forth from his wand. He circled Ginny twice and then galloped around the corner, Harry running behind him. A dozen Dementors huddled in a circle and Harry could see limp forms within it. Prongs lowered his head and charged through the line so that the circle was broken. Regardless, the Dementors seemed unperturbed and re-formed their circle. Harry felt the familiar chilling cold descending in his mind again, but just then a silver dragon shot past him and Harry's mind cleared.
"G-Ginny?" he asked weakly. Ginny nodded without looking at him.
"Hermione and Ron are coming, too."
They skidded up behind Ginny, panting.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Hermione screamed.
"It's no use, Hermione..." Ron's voice cracked.
The Dementors had broken their circle and Harry could see, with a punch to his stomach, that all of the figures lying on the ground were dead. No, worse than dead. They turned towards the quartet, seeking the warmth and life energy they could sense. Slowly, but not slow enough, they glided forward.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Ginny cried.
"We have to get out of here!" Harry yelled, snapping to his senses.
"Where!" Hermione shrieked.
"Snuffles's cave!" Ron shouted, turning. "It's right up this way! The rocks will slow them down!"
"Hold on!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Ginny! Now's not the time!" Harry bellowed. Ginny ignored him and darted into the Honeydukes across the street. She came back out with an armful of chocolate.
"Let's go!" Ron cried, taking some chocolate from Ginny and then running. The others did the same. They reached the turnstile at the end of the road and then started climbing the rock face. They found out it was rather difficult to climb with handfuls of chocolate. Ron began stuffing his chocolate into his pants.
"Dump them in here! Quick!" Ron ordered.
"Gross!" Ginny shrieked. "I'm not eating chocolate from your pants!"
"Here, Ginny," Hermione said calmly, holding out her money bag. Ginny shot her a grateful look and emptied her arms. Ron snorted.
"Need some space, mate?" he asked Harry.
"No thanks, I'm good," Harry said. "Hurry!"
They reached the crevice about halfway up the mountain and squeezed their way into the cave. Harry immediately caught a whiff of the lingering scent of wet dog, which brought back memories of Sirius that he would rather not think about, not now.
"What do we do now?" Hermione asked.
"Wait until they're gone, I guess," Harry answered nervously.
"Here, have some chocolate," Ginny offered. Harry gratefully accepted the piece from her and stuffed it into his mouth. Ron was peering into his pants and poking around.
"Oy, I think some fell out while I was running up the mountain," Ron murmured. Despite the situation, Hermione giggled.
Ron fished out a bit of chocolate and unwrapped it. He looked around for a place to sit before putting the chocolate in his mouth.
"You know, this rock may look hard, but it's actually pretty soft," Ron mused, shifting around.
"Ron!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly. "Don't you think you ought to go somewhere a bit more private!"
"What?" Ron asked, bewildered. A brown substance was slowly spreading out from under Ron.
"That's not... that's chocolate!" Harry groaned.
"Oh," Ginny said.
Ron leaped up from his rock and ran around the corner, his ears as red as his hair. When he came back, all trace of chocolate was gone.
"How'd you get rid of it?" Harry asked.
"A Scouring Charm," Ron shrugged. "Mum made us learn it before we left for Hogwarts first year."
"Ron! You know we're not allowed to do magic outside of school!" Hermione admonished.
"Hey, I already tried the Patronus. What's another spell? I could say it was to keep the dementors from mistaking me for Malfoy," Ron protested.
"The Patronus," Ginny murmured. "We only knew how to do that because of you, Harry. And the DA."
"Yeah, it was helpful," Hermione added. "Are you going to continue the DA?"
"Well… we only needed it because Umbridge wasn't teaching us anything useful," Harry pointed out. "Now that she's gone, we don't really need to sneak around anymore."
"What if the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is just as horrible?" Ginny asked.
"Then we'll pick up right where we left off," Harry grinned at her.
Ginny was satisfied with this answer, and the four lapsed into a momentary silence. Then Ginny spoke up again.
"What's going on?" she asked softly.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"I mean… everything." Ginny opened her arms wide as if to encompass the world. "Why we went to the Ministry of Magic. Why it was so important for you to get that prophecy. What the prophecy actually said. Your… your connection to You-Know-Who."
Harry had been bothered by the implications of the prophecy ever since he'd heard the whole thing in Dumbledore's office. He had also been unsure as to whether or not he should share it with his friends. Ron and Hermione were his best friends, yes, and the three of them had gone through everything together… but what if they became afraid of him? What if they didn't want to be friends with him anymore?
Harry leaned over to look at the ground and was startled as he felt something heavy swing from his neck. His hand absently reached up and closed around a small stone. Of course. How could he have forgotten, even momentarily? Harry looked back up.
And met Ginny's questioning gaze.
Ginny. She had changed so much from when he first met her. Gone was the shy, blushing, little girl he'd first seen at The Burrow. Ginny had been with him when he went to the Ministry of Magic. She'd fought beside him then, and again today. She, too, had been possessed by Voldemort before. Did he trust her? Harry was startled by how quickly he found the answer within himself. Yes.
"Harry?" Ginny finally broke the silence.
Harry took a deep breath and recounted the prophecy as best he could. He told them that Professor Trelawney had been the one who had given it to Dumbledore, that the one in the Ministry of Magic had smashed, that Dumbledore had been the one who had finally told him the whole prophecy.
"So," he finished, "I'm the one who has to defeat Voldemort in the end. Me."
Silence met his words. Harry refused to look at any of them, afraid of what reaction he might find. His doubts were shattered a moment later when Ginny got up and simply put her arms around him. She released him a moment later, and Hermione was next. Ron gave him an awkward pat on the back.
"You're not alone, mate," he muttered.
A/N: Short chapter, I know. Something very interesting happens in the next one, though. :) Please review. I love to know what you guys think.