Chapter 71
As soon as the words left Blaise's mouth the frame of the door began to glow with silver light. The door itself swung open with a low roar as the light began to swirl in the doorway. Ron pulled Hermione behind him blocking her from the light as Harry grabbed Daphne. All four stood with their wands pointed toward the door. Blaise however didn't move, he stood without a shred of fear watching unimpressed as the light coalesced into a large silver serpent. The serpent coiled in the middle of the now open doorway and looked closely at Blaise, hovering just inches from the Slytherin's body. Blaise looked down at it with his signature sarcastic smirk on his features. Both Harry and Ron began to edge along the walls and started to raise their wands when the serpent struck. Darting its head forward swiftly it hit Blaise in the chest and he began to glow with the same silver energy. Ron raised his arm against the bright light as a slight wind passed through the doorway and back down the corridor. A hissing voice whispered as the light faded, "Son of Salazar you may pass."
Blaise brushed imaginary lint off of his shoulder as he looked back at the others. Without speaking a word he stepped through the now empty doorway and into the corridor beyond. Torches lit at his presence and the hall was filled with light. Blaise looked around noticing a thin layer of dust on the floor, he knew that the corridor had been undisturbed for a very long time. Blaise felt himself relax as he looked about the corridor. The large serpent had actually scared him. He had known it would be his death to show any sign of fear, but that had made it harder on him not to show any sign of fear or doubt. It was a lesson engrained into every Slytherin. Thank Merlin he had learned it himself. Shaking himself from his thoughts he called out to the others. "Come on in, the corridor looks like it goes a little further and then turns into an archway."
Daphne moved up beside him. She looked him over carefully, one hand on his shoulder. He saw the relief on her face and nodded once, to reassure her before she stepped away from him again.
"You have guts Zambini," Harry spoke up as he entered the Hallway with Hermione and Ron right behind.
"Or no brains. That thing could have killed you," Hermione continued.
"You told me what I had to do. It tested me to make sure I knew I was allowed through the door," Blaise responded blowing out his lantern and returning it to his pack.
"Still, well done," Ron replied impressed with the Slytherin, "You all wait here and I'll scout ahead," he continued as he swiftly changed into a lion.
"Wait a minute Ron," Hermione scowled only to see Ron pad off down the corridor.
Hermione let loose with a string of curse words that moments before Harry had been certain that she had no idea existed. Hermione held her wand pointed down the corridor and swore with all her might.
Blaise couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Facing that damned door had been worth it to see Granger cursing like a drunken sailor. Very soon Daphne and Harry joined in. Only Hermione didn't seem to find the humor in the situation as she realized what exactly it was she was doing.
Hermione whirled on Blaise and thrust her wand into his chest, "It's not funny." She fumed turning her anger on the Slytherin. Blaise paled as she jabbed her wand into his chest, "He's still injured and now he's running off into Merlin knows where."
"I told you I was fine," Ron said behind Hermione causing her to jump unexpectedly. "It seems safe in that room down there," he told Harry and Blaise. He looked down at Hermione where she stood with her hands on her hips, "You're going to want to see what is in there."
Hermione noted the tone of Ron's voice and walked past him without a second glance, "Ok, lets go see what Ron found." The others watched as Hermione walked down the corridor, obviously still upset. Ron turned away from her, unconcerned and looked back at Blaise with a smirk of his own.
"The door that could have killed you didn't bother you, but angry Granger did?" Daphne scoffed.
Blaise shook his head at Daphne and then shrugged towards Ron, "I'd rather take my chances with the door."
"Probably wise," Harry agreed following Hermione back down the corridor.
Hermione entered a small, circular room lit by torches similarly to the corridor she had just left. Her gaze lit upon shelves upon shelves of old, dusty books lined the walls. Hermione let out a small gasp. Torches lit the room and red banners hung along its walls. The room seemed familiar to her, before she realized it reminded her of the Gryffindor common room. A small table stood in the center of the room surrounded by four high-backed chairs. Under a layer of dust, the Hogwarts Crest was clearly etched in the top of the table as well as the symbols of the four Houses. Each of the House symbols sat in front of one of the chairs. Hermione lingered for just a moment near the table before her eyes went back to what had caused her to gasp in the first place, the bookshelves.
Several rows of books, bound in leather and other forms Hermione did not recognize at a glance, lined the walls of the room. Hermione moved over to the bookshelves as the rest of her friends looked around the room in awe.
A quick scan of the books told her most were spell books, but several were histories written by the founders themselves. The familiar thrill of discovery, that so often brought Hermione to the library, ran through her again as she spotted a book penned by Rowena Ravenclaw. Pulling the book from the shelf she looked around for a place to sit to search for references to the cauldron. Unfortunately, the only place to sit would be at the table. Hermione stood hesitating, when Ron's laughter broke the silence.
"Go on love, no one will care if you sit there," he smiled as if he had read her mind.
Hermione frowned, "This place has been untouched for perhaps a thousand years. Just sitting down could be dangerous."
"I can see your point," Ron replied with a nod then without a warning he pulled out the chair in front of the Gryffindor symbol and sat down. Everyone held their breath for the span of a heartbeat and then exhaled loudly.
"Damn it Ron, why can't you be a little more careful," Hermione exploded.
"Hermione, nothing happened to me, I'm fine." he replied evenly.
"Anything could have happened to you though. Why do you have to be so reckless? Am I going to have to put you on a leash?" she spat back at him.
Eager to head off a great row here in this place Harry stepped between them and turned to Hermione, "So Hermione, did you find something important?"
Hermione turned to answer Harry when the Gryffindor symbol in front of Ron started to blaze as if on fire. Before Ron could stand up a glowing red orb appeared in front of him. It flickered for a moment and then the surface began glowing, hovering at Ron's eye level. Ron seemed transfixed by the orb and made no movement to break away from the chair. Hermione moved to stand next to him, "What's happening Ron." she asked somehow managing to keep the fear out of her voice.
Ron didn't answer her but continued to stare into the orb. Hermione followed his gaze to the orb and saw a scene being played out on the surface of the flaming orb. She motioned the others forward and pointed to the tableau being played out before them.
On the surface of the orb a ten year old Ron was locked in battle with a grindylow. He was trying to hit the grindylow with a rock to keep it from swimming away with an unconscious Ginny. The scene shifted and Ron was standing in front of the Sorting Hat being sorted into Gryffindor. Harry and Hermione's eyes met and Hermione recognized the fear bright in Harry's eyes. Turning back to the orb, Hermione saw Ron mounted on a chess piece as the opposing Queen struck him down. Then Ron stood with his wand out attempting to curse Malfoy for calling Hermione a Mudblood. The scene changed yet again and Ron stood in the Hospital wing slowly moving one hand down a petrified Hermione's cheekbone as Harry spoke to Madame Pomfrey.
Hermione blushed and felt the now familiar warmth spread through her at the gesture she had never felt. The orb flickered and Ron was standing with Harry in front of Aragog. Fear was etched across his face, but he stood by Harry as they spoke with a cavern full of spiders. The interior of the shrieking shack now came into view and Ron stood in front of Harry and Hermione on his broken leg in defiance of Sirius.
Hermione noted with growing concern that the orb had grown larger and seemed to be growing brighter. The scene shifted again and she saw Ron in his dress robes shouting at her as her carefully arranged hair came falling down. That could only have been their now famous row right after the Yule ball. She felt her chest constrict at the look on his face as she stormed up the stairs to the girls dorm.
The orb flared even brighter and Ron was standing on the Quidditch pitch. A group of Slytherins walked by with their 'Weasley is Our King' badges flashing and her heart felt like it would break when Ron, shoulders sagged, reached for his broom. Just as suddenly, Ron stood back up, straightened his robes and squared his shoulders as he mounted his broom.
The orb seemed to shudder as it grew even larger and Hermione felt her throat constrict as the battle at the Department of Mysteries came into focus. Both she and Harry watched aghast as they followed Ron, Ginny and Luna after they had become separated. Hermione's eyes grew bright as they struggled their way through the planet room and she bit her lip when Ron got hit with the curse and blood started to leak out of his mouth. Then she watched in horror as he struggled against the tentacles of the brain.
Hermione's eyes filled with tears, but a comforting hand on her shoulder reminded her that these were only memories. Hermione flicked a glance to see Daphne watching her, her face filled with sympathy.
Hermione turned back to the orb, wondering how much more she could take when the scene shifted yet again and Ron was standing over her in the Hospital wing. His arms and chest were heavily bandaged and he winced as he moved. After standing there a moment he leaned down and seemed to whisper something to her. Then in a blink of an eye Ron was standing beside a pool looking at a looming black cloud. The leering face of a Death Eater filled the orb as a desperate and injured Ron shouted the killing curse. The scenes began changing so fast that Hermione could only see bits of the images as they flew by.
The light from the orb became so bright that Hermione had to shield her eyes from it when it suddenly swelled and burst over the room in a wash of blinding light. As it did a booming voice proclaimed, "You shall be a worthy messenger. Deliver this treasure of my House unto my heir."
When Hermione opened her eyes, she saw a large red shield with the Golden Gryffindor lion inset on it. Ron opened his eye, staring blankly forward, and reached out for the Shield. They watched him closely, waiting, as he stood and turned to face them.
Hermione reached out and touched Ron's arm questioningly, but Ron ignored her as he faced Harry. "I was charged with delivering this to Gryffindor's heir," he handed the shield to Harry who took it gingerly. Ron continued seeming to still be under the the sphere's influence, "I have delivered my charge. Wear it well Heir of Gryffindor."
Harry stared at the shield and then back at Ron, "Ron, what am I supposed to do with this?"
The sound of Harry's voice seemed to shake Ron out of his daze and he looked back at the shield. "How the hell should I know? Where did you get that anyway?"
Harry looked at Ron incredulously, "You just gave it to me; right after it appeared on the table in front of you."
Ron's brows furrowed in concentration, "So it just appeared for no reason?"
Daphne looked closely at the table and chair, "Well, first you sat in the chair with the Gryffindor symbol and then the orb of fire appeared."
"Orb of fire? What are you on about Daphne?" Ron continued inspecting the chair as well.
"What was the last thing you remember?" Hermione asked gently.
"I pulled out the chair, you had a book in your hand, and you mentioned something about a leash," Ron replied.
"That's how it started," Blaise confirmed, "Speaking of Granger, a leash? Seriously, be a little more creative. You're beginning to disappoint."
"Anyway," Daphne intervened, "An orb appeared and it sort of played out your life's story. Then it exploded and when we could see again the shield was sitting on the table," Daphne finished gesturing to the shield remaining in Harry's grasp.
Ron frowned and turned to Hermione as if for confirmation. When he saw her nod his frown deepened, "So does anyone know what this means?"
Hermione shook her head and saw where she had dropped the book. Hermione lifted the volume and a smile lit her face as she looked back to Ron.
"So if you don't know what this means, then I take it your smile means you know something else?" Ron asked a bit annoyed.
Hermione shook her head. "Daphne, why don't you and Blaise see if there is anything about this table in those books for a minute?" Hermione suggested.
"Have it your way," Blaise replied sensing something was amiss.
Hermione pulled Ron and Harry across the room and her smile got even bigger as she whispered, "When the orb blew up I dropped this. It fell open here, and look what this passage reads."
Hermione flipped the book open and held it for Ron and Harry to read. In an ancient, delicate hand the following passage had been penned by Rowena Ravenclaw.
Though they have long been ignored by my peers, the house elves have long been one of the foundations of our society. Thus, it is fitting that the house elves will indeed be the foundation of our new school. It will be the home to the largest number of their kind in one building up till now. Here they will serve as both caretakers and as a powerful defense against those who would harm our dream.
As they all finished reading the passage Ron shook his head, "Is this about S.P.E.W. Hermione?" he asked much to Harry's amusement.
"No Ron, it isn't," Hermione glanced back at the Slytherins who were speaking in low tones. Hermione looked at the two boys and gestured for them to lean closer as she stood on her tip toes to whisper, "I know where the Cauldron is."
"Where is it?" Ron asked listening as Blaise and Daphne continued to sort through the books on the shelves.
"You'll have to come with me," she replied smiling up at Ron impishly.
"Ok," Ron replied glad to see her smiling once more, "I can live with that."
Harry rolled his eyes at the pair, "Ginny is going to kill me. I promised her we would spend some time together tonight."
Hermione frowned and Harry shook his head, "I'll have to make it up to her later. This is too important."
Hermione shrugged, "I'll try talking to her too. Let's go though. Perhaps there may still be time."
Hermione walked over to the two Slytherins, "Can you and Blaise seal this room until we can come back? I need to take Harry and Ron with me."
"Sure," Daphne replied studying the three closely. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Well, we have a better idea at least," Hermione agreed placing Rowena's book back on the shelves.
"I don't think you should take the shield out of here until you have a secure place for it," Blaise added nodding to Harry. "Or the book," he continued nodding to Hermione.
Harry gripped the shield tighter, "I was entrusted with this."
"And we want to make sure you can keep it," Blaise replied. "Look, there are four doors into this room. It makes sense that there is at least one person from each House that can enter here. We just need to find the right corridors and the right person. For now, would you rather trust the entire school, or just me, that your shield will be safe here. Only the five of us know about the shield and this place, and only one of us can get in. What else were you going to do with it? Stick it under your bed?"
"He's right Harry," Hermione agreed setting to book on one of the shelves. "Better to leave it secure here than in the dorms."
Harry and Blaise stood toe to toe for a minute before Harry gingerly set the shield down above the Gryffindor symbol. "This isn't a game Zambini," he warned the taller Slytherin.
"I don't play games Potter," Blaise replied equally as coldly. "You have my word that it will remain here untouched and that I will bring you back to retrieve it after we have secured a place for it."
Harry nodded once, "Let's go," he muttered walking towards the door with Ron following behind him.
Hermione looked to Daphne, "One more thing, can you check on Susan and Ginny? We are supposed to meet them in the Room of Requirement and will probably be late."
Blaise answered quickly, "We'll meet them after we finish securing here."
Hermione nodded and grabbed Ron with one hand and Harry with the other as she headed out of the Dungeons. Hermione was walking as fast as she could, Ron and Harry following along behind her as she wound her way out of the dungeons.
"Hermione, do you know how to get out of here?" he asked turned around as she reached to top of the first flight of stairs.
Hermione stopped, huffed for a moment, and replied, "Of course I do. I marked the corners with chalk on our way down."
Ron and Harry kept quiet as they let Hermione lead them along as fast as she could. It seemed that they reached the dungeons much more quickly than it had taken to reach the door. "Let's make sure we aren't seen," Harry whispered taking the lead as they entered the dungeons.
"Remember what Daphne and Blaise said. We don't want to get caught on the wrong side," Ron agreed keeping his wand at the ready.
They passed several groups of Slytherins walking along the corridors as if on patrol. Even the first and second years held the wands at the ready as they passed through to their own Common Room.
As soon as they left the dungeons, Hermione took the lead once more taking them directly to the kitchens.
"Hermione, why are we in the kitchens?" Harry asked as he watched Ron looking through the pantry.
Hermione smiled at Harry as they both ignored Ron stuffing his face, "The house elves have the Cauldron, Harry."
Harry nodded and noticed a very old house elf had walked up to Hermione without being noticed until she spoke. "Yes clever one, we guard the secret of the Cauldron. Will you be the ones who attempt the tasks?"
"What tasks are those?" Harry asked as Ron joined them with a plate of food in one hand.
"Those who would take the Cauldron must prove themselves worthy. There are three tests, one for each of the champions. I must warn you youngling, the tasks can be dangerous and one of them may turn deadly in the end if the champion is not worthy. Are you prepared to face your trials?"
Hermione placed a hand on Harry's arm and shook her head, "We will wait until the morning to start. A good night's sleep will help us be strong in the morning."
The house elf bowed, "You are wise as well as brave. We will await you in the morning then."
"That should stop anyone if they make it this far into the corridors," Daphne sighed as she and Blaise stepped back into the dungeons, "Home sweet home."
"Let's get to the Room of Requirement," Blaise spoke up from behind her after he had re-sealed the secret entrance.
"Why? Worried?" Daphne asked with a smile as she followed the briskly walking Slytherin.
Blaise ignored her as Lenore rounded the corner with Gavin Bermstine, "Blaise, Daphne, where were you two at dinner? You missed the entertainment," Gavin spoke up, his arm draped possessively around Lenore.
Daphne and Blaise looked at each other, "Entertainment?" Daphne asked the seventh year.
Daphne watched Lenore carefully as the dark haired, seventh year smiled up at Blaise. Daphne had never trusted Lenore, and during the year that she and Blaise had been dating, Lenore had done everything in her power to end their friendship. Blaise, to his credit, never fell for that particular trap. Unfortunately, he had been so easily manipulated elsewhere. Daphne had watched as Lenore made him miserable, doing everything she could to use his money and status to her advantage. Daphne knew Blaise's parents had applauded the match, seeing in Lenore everything they had hoped for their son. Daphne had never heard the details from Blaise as to how they had reacted when he ended things with her, but she knew that it had been difficult for the sixteen year old.
Blaise had ended it with her over the past summer and by the first week of classes Lenore had latched onto Gavin. Gavin and Lenore were a striking couple. Daphne had suspected Lenore of trying to make Blaise jealous, but Blaise had laughed the whole thing off saying that the two superficial manipulaters were good for each other. A year later, Daphne had to agree that he had been right. The pair enjoyed playing games against each other, and amazingly enough had weathered most of the school year together. Blaise and Gavin had been friends before he had started dating Lenore, and none of that had changed as Blaise was glad to be rid of her.
"Oh yes, the Weasley girl and one of those plain faced Hufflepuffs got into with Malfoy over dinner," Lenore added smiling up at Blaise. "It turns out you two were right."
"What happened," Blaise demanded rather harshly.
Lenore seemed surprised, and pleased to know something of interest to Blaise, "Well, we happened to walk in after Malfoy who had stopped with Crabbe, Goyle, and the rest of his little gang to harass the Weasley girl and the Hufflepuff."
"Bones," Gavin supplied, "That's it, the Hufflepuff, her name is Bones."
"What exactly did he say?" Blaise prompted again, his voice rough.
Gavin chuckled, "He made some joke about Bones and her broken leg. He told her it was a warning about what happens to Hufflepuffs that think too much of themselves."
"And?" Daphne asked watching Blaise's expression harden.
"That Bones girl didn't take too kindly to that and called Malfoy a coward for how he was treating some of the other students," Lenore replied with a chuckle.
Daphne played along, "The girl has some guts," she chuckled as well. "Malfoy must have gone crazy."
Gavin, and Lenore laughed with her, but Blaise stood completely silent. He fought to keep his calm as he imagined Susan leaning on a crutch and calling Malfoy a coward. His blood chilled at the thought.
"You should have seen it! Malfoy's face turned four shades of red. He called both her and Weasley traitors to their pure blood heritage. He told Weasley she was nothing more than Potter's whore and said that the luckiest day in Bones' life was the day Diggory died and he stopped poisoning her mind that all wizards were equal," Gavin continued shaking his head in disbelief.
Lenore picked up the story looking at Blaise intently, "You should have seen it, the entire Great Hall went silent. Every person in the school had heard every single word he said."
Lenore paused a moment, catching Gavin's eye and trying to signal to him that something else was going on. "Come to think of it, wasn't Bones the one you were studying with in the library a couple days ago?"
Gavin's eyebrow raised in surprise and Daphne frowned deeper, boys were such idiots where girls were concerned.
"Perhaps," Blaise replied coldly further annoyed at himself. A portion of him wanted to confirm that he had been the one with her and to warn Gavin and Malfoy to stay away from her, but the other half wanted to deny all knowledge of the incident. When had Blaise's life become so complicated?
"Didn't I see you dancing with her on Valentine's Day?" Gavin added with a smirk. "The girl may be plain, but she's got the best legs in school."
Lenore elbowed Gavin in the ribs, "After you of course," he amended.
Blaise's sarcastic smirk returned looking over at Lenore and back to Gavin, he bragged just a bit hoping to distract them, "That was me. I always had a thing for blonds with long legs."
Lenore and Daphne both frowned at him, but he knew exactly where Gavin's thoughts had turned. Any further speculation in regards to Susan would be entirely based on the physical, and he hadn't lied. Susan did have spectacular legs.
"Anyway," Daphne rolled her eyes, "What else happened?" she asked shooting a warning glance to Blaise.
"This is the really interesting part. That Weasley girl tried to take Malfoy's head off. One of Potter's little friends had to restrain her. Bones though, the girl laughed. She laughed like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. She stopped and got right up in Malfoy's face. I've never seen anything like it. The girl could have been a Slytherin with the face she pulled on him. She told him and I quote, "You're not only a coward Malfoy, you are an absolute fool and a pathetic bully. We have had enough. You're right, all wizards aren't equal. I can tell you that every single wizard in this room is better than you and that includes Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory. At least they have the guts to stand up for what they believe in.'" Gavin continued.
"The timing couldn't have been better. Malfoy pulled his wand, but the professors were coming to intervene. He just looked over at Bones and then Weasley and warned them that what happened to Diggory would be child's play when compared to what he would do," Lenore replied.
Blaise ground his teeth in fury. If Malfoy dared to touch her in any way, he would pay and pay dearly for it. No one interferes with a Zambini and what was his, and walks away unscathed. Blaise's fury grew; Susan Bones was his.
Daphne nodded towards Gavin ignoring Blaise, "Go on."
Gavin looked over to Blaise confused before continuing, "Bones just stood their leaning on her crutch and she didn't even look at him. She looked right at Caleb Trenalen, the first year pointy faced one that Mafloy's been giving such a bad time. Then she got right up in Malfoy's face, 'You wouldn't have the nerve to do it yourself.' She looked back at Caleb like she was speaking right to him, "We don't judge all Slytherins by the actions of a few fools. Anyone that thinks there is a better way would have my full support."
Gavin took a deep breath, "Then the amazing thing happened, Weasley shook off the guy holding her and said 'And mine,' then half the Gryffindor table, and a good number of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws rose to their feet like they were agreeing with her. You two were right about their support. The split in the House is complete. You should have seen their faces. No one knew what to say. Then everyone started talking at once. Bones and Weasley walked out like nothing had happened and a number of people that were unsure came over to our side after tonight. If you can believe it, Caleb sat their all through dinner talking about Bones and trying to rally support."
Blaise shook his head, upset, but realizing that things were proceeding much more quickly than he would have anticipated, "We need to talk. This is escalating things."
"He's right," Daphne agreed, "Lenore would you gather all of the fourth years and above that see things our way? We'll meet them in two hours in the Common Room."
"Very well," Lenore agreed rather annoyed at Daphne's request
"If you will all excuse me," Blaise interrupted turning away from the group. He kept his strides quick, but not hurried as he fought to keep himself from sprinting to the Room of Requirements.
Daphne caught up with him a few moments later, jogging to keep up with his long strides. "Don't do this Blaise. She won't like it."
"What are you talking about?" he asked intent on making sure that Susan was truly untouched from her ordeal. Then he would determine how best to kill Malfoy.
"You were going to stay away from her. You made it clear to her that you weren't interested and now, look at you! She won't be receptive to your angry male attitude," Daphne warned.
"I'm not angry. I'm going to knock some sense into the girl and then I am going to knock some sense into my wonderful roommate," Blaise replied jerking open the door to the Room of Requirement.
"Petrificus Totalis," Daphne sighed freezing Blaise where he stood before the door.
"You are going to listen to me Blaise Zambini and then I will let you go do whatever fool thing has entered that dead zone you call a brain," she sneered. Daphne muttered the counter-curse as Blaise came back to life.
"Speak," he growled at her, but at least he hadn't opened the door.
Daphne met him glare for glare. "I'm your friend Blaise and you would do well to remember that right now."
Blaise nodded, attempting to rein his emotions back into control.
"Look, you hurt her not four hours ago when you made it perfectly clear to her and everyone else that you weren't interested. Now, I know why you think you had to do that, but you need to make some decisions before you go storming in there."
Blaise said nothing and Daphne plunged ahead, "Shouting at her like some over-protective Gryffindor isn't going to do anything but confuse her and hurt what little chance remains with her. That isn't going to get you anywhere close to what you want."
"Who says Susan Bones is what I want? I hardly know the girl," Blaise sneered back uncomfortable with the entire line of Daphne's thinking.
"You do. Right now. Look at you. If I hadn't stopped you, you were about to pull a Ron Weasley! I am preventing you from making a complete and utter fool of yourself again over this girl. You're upset and angry, but don't take it out on her. If you want to be with her, let her know. If you don't, then don't. Gad, Lenore and Gavin almost picked up on it! I know Lenore burned you, but Susan isn't that girl. Turn your brain on and start using it," Daphne thundered at Blaise, watching the typically emotionless Slytherin contemplate his response.
Blaise paced for a full minute before turning back to Daphne, obviously back in control of himself, "Very well, I like her," Blaise muttered quietly, loathe to say it out loud, but he couldn't deny his own anger just moments before.
"Now, start acting like it, rather than acting like some muscle-bound Gryffindor," Daphne replied. Blaise sneered at her in distaste before entering the Room of Requirement with Daphne at his heels, Lenore and Gavin were going to miss the most entertaining portion of the evening.
Ginny, Luna, Susan, and Neville sat on a few couches gathered around a low table laughing as Blaise entered the room.
The group rose to their feet and watched the Slytherin, his face even more emotionless than normal. Daphne followed Blaise smiling weakly as the cold Slytherin walked over to stand in front of Susan.
"I told you to be careful. I warned you not to upset him. Did you listen to anything I said?" he growled frowning down at Susan as she stood slightly off balance on her wounded leg.
"I heard every word," Susan replied glaring back at him, "We made your distraction and now the other Slytherins know that they have support against Malfoy. As I see it, we helped you tonight, exactly like you asked us to do. What precisely are you so upset about?" Susan asked her eyes narrowed.
Blaise looked down at the girl and alternately wanted to crush her to him, knock some sense in to her, and tell everyone how amazing she was for standing up to Malfoy. He chose the sense portion and added a touch of his patented sarcasm, "He's not going to forget this insult, Susan. Malfoy will make good on his threats. You challenged him in front of the entire school," Blaise pressed running his hand angrily through his dark hair. He wanted to pull her to him and reassure himself that she was fine, but he couldn't touch her. His anger and frustration were mounting as Susan got ready to reply.
"Ginny, what were you thinking?" Harry bellowed walking into the room with Ron and Hermione close on his heels. "Lavender told me what the two of you did during Dinner. Have you both lost your senses?"
"Have you lost your minds between you?" Ron added. "Neville, I thought you were going to make sure they were OK?"
"Don't even try to pin this on me Weasley. I'd like to see any of you try to stop those two," Neville said leaning on his crutches.
"I thought it was quite funny to watch Malfoy realize how many people disagree with his idea of how the school should be run," Luna added.
"I hardly think you are the one to yell at me about being in dangerous situations!" Ginny snapped back at Harry before rounding on Ron, "Either of you! Or did you forget the little stunt you pulled out in the Forbidden Forest today?"
"You can add the second and third stunts tonight!" Hermione added from beside Ron. "Or did you think I was going to forget about it in my relief to see you still alive?"
Ron looked back at Hermione, guilt crashing over him, "Hermione," he started smiling at her, trying to avert the argument he knew was coming.
"Don't Hermione me! You just yelled at Susan and Ginny for something so much less than what you yourself are guilty of," Hermione rounded on him.
"Besides, at least we had a good reason for what we did! We were standing in front of a bunch of professors with the entire school in the room. What did you think was going to happen?" Ginny asked looking back to Harry, her hands on her hips.
"It's not about dinner," Blaise answered her looking back to Susan, "It's about two weeks from now when you're walking alone back from the library and Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle surprise you in the hallway when no one is around."
"Once again, Zambini, I can take care of myself," Susan gritted out. Four hours ago he hadn't cared about her at all. Then she does what he asks and he gets protective? Susan was reaching the end of her patience with him.
Daphne looked around the silent room. Luna, Neville, and herself were the only ones not breathing heavily and angry for one reason or another. Not a good sign for their little group. "Well, this is terribly interesting," Daphne interrupted looking around the room.
The three fighting couples didn't even blink. Daphne frowned, but continued when no one spoke, "Very well. None of you are thinking very clearly. I think all you boys need to take a walk.
Ron turned to her, "Daphne, I don't think that is a good idea," he replied.
Daphne shook her head looking to Neville, "We'll be safe here and you can meet us back here in one hour when everyone has had time to clear their head."
"My head is clear," Blaise scoffed.
Neville gathered his crutches and moved over to Blaise, "Let's go get some air Zambini. She won't listen to you right now, no matter what you say."
"Neville," Susan argued turning her glare from Blaise over to Neville.
"Susan, we all need a break," Neville replied. "Besides, you know he's partially correct."
"Neville, you are imagining things," Susan exclaimed annoyed at the smug expression on Blaise's face.
"I'm not getting in the middle of this. Let's go Zambini," Neville started again motioning for Blaise to precede him. Blaise looked at the wounded Gryffindor and shrugged leaving the room.
"Ron, Harry, you too," Neville continued motioning for the others to follow Blaise.
Harry turned and walked out annoyed, pushing Ron in front of him, "One hour," Ron grumbled as he left.
Neville waited until the other three were out in the hall, "Luna, I'll see you in an hour, love."
"I know," Luna replied sitting down with a smile, "Take care of your self."
Once the five girls were left alone in the room, Daphne gestured towards the couches, "Perhaps we should all sit down."
Susan, Hermione and Ginny took one couch each frowning while Daphne and Luna shared the other. Daphne looked at the three angry girls across from her and sighed. Luna sat next to her, a wide smile across her face. Girl talk was not necessarily Daphne's favorite past time, but she knew when it was necessary. Unfortunately, now was one of those times.
"Who wants to go first?" Daphne asked the three frowning faces.
The blond, brunette, and the red head all pinned her with frowns and Daphne knew it wouldn't be easy.
Hermione sighed and shook her head, "I'll start. Susan, Ginny, the boys were right. Malfoy is not some one to trifle with. You had best be careful after your little discussion this evening."
"I can't believe him!" Susan exploded. "I swear, he's got two completely different personalities. He all but tells me he was spending time with me because of the issue with Malfoy and then he shows up acting all protective. What is wrong with him?"
Hermione smiled at Susan, patting her shoulder and looked over at Daphne, "You talked to him, didn't you?"
"I talked to him," Daphne confirmed. "Susan, look, there's something you should know about Blaise. He dated this girl for about a year and it turned out that she was only with him for his money. He's not exactly the trusting type, but Lenore really burned him. Now he's overly cautious about being put back in a situation like that. Beyond all that, he thinks he's protecting you. Part of that is my fault because I warned him that being seen with you would make you more of a target. Of course, when we talked, I wasn't expecting you to call Malfoy out in the Great Hall."
"Protecting me? That's mad," Susan growled. "I don't need his protection. I can take care of myself."
"Susan, why does Neville think it is personal with you and Malfoy?" Luna asked with her singsong voice.
"There's nothing personal between me and Malfoy," Susan replied.
"No, Neville said something like that earlier as well," Ginny added. "Susan, do you need to tell us something?"
Susan looked around the room and sighed. She preferred to keep things to herself when she could, but Susan sensed that the girls wouldn't let her leave without giving them an answer. "It's not about Malfoy. It's about my Aunt and Cedric."
"Your Aunt?" Hermione asked surprised. "Susan, what is going on?"
Susan sighed again and looked back at Hermione and the other girls in the circle. She trusted most of them, but she still found it difficult. "My parents and the Diggory's were and are good friends, as little kids Cedric and I played together all the time. How do you think I learned so much about Quidditch? At six, I thought I wanted to marry him," Susan laughed to herself.
"My parents and my Aunt were all Hufflepuffs. When Cedric got his letter to Hogwarts and was selected for Hufflepuff we were all thrilled. When I started, the Sorting Hat placed me in Hufflepuff without a second glance and I couldn't have asked for more. Cedric and I were close, but more like brother and sister and he helped me out through my first couple years at school. He even helped me practice enough to join the Quidditch team. He had a sense of honor and fairness about him that you can't help but respect. It's the same with my Aunt."
"After Cedric died, I thought my world had fallen apart. That summer I lived with my Aunt in London and she dragged me out of my own depression kicking and screaming. We started talking about people and respect. I realized that to honor Cedric's memory was to live as he would have lived. If he were here, I know what he would say, 'Susan, we can't allow this to continue. It is our responsibility to help.'"
"I spent last year hearing that voice in my head over and over again. Every time I saw something wrong, I wanted to stop it. I was overwhelmed, and honestly scared. I wrote to my Aunt about it and she reminded me that it isn't about all of the large things, it's about the small. She began encouraging me to work harder and try to be the person I felt I needed to be."
"So, I started training with the boys. I wouldn't be weak any longer, for Cedric and my Aunt. I'm going to help where I can, and right now, that means teaching Malfoy a lesson," Susan finished her face red.
Again the girls were silent, "Enough of this," Susan smiled. "Let's talk about anything else."
"Fine, let's finish discussing Blaise," Daphne smiled at the girl.
Susan's smiled turned to a frown, "There's nothing to discuss," she snapped. "The guy has two personalities, and right now I don't like either one."
"He just doesn't want to make you any more of a target than you all ready are. I think that's why he was so upset by your fight with Malfoy. He's worried. To him and honestly to myself, Malfoy is a House problem and outside involvement should not be necessary."
Susan frowned, "It's not a House problem Daphne. It's a school problem. Why can't either of you see that?"
"Perhaps because we are too close to the source? I have to admit that it still feels strange to me to be considering the entire school in what still feels like such a personal problem," Daphne replied.
"It's not even a school problem," Hermione spoke up, "Voldemort and his ilk are a plague to the entire wizarding community."
The room fell quiet as the girls remembered the latest Death Eater attacks, "Well, Blaise isn't the only one with the over-protective gene. I'm starting to think it is just part of being male," Ginny supplied trying to lighten the mood.
A chorus of laughter answered her, "At least Blaise is smart enough not to get himself hurt on a daily basis," Hermione added, immediately regretting her words.
"Ron has definitely been in a good number of dangerous situations," Daphne added remembering the orb from the Founder's room.
"Yes, he's amazing, but how many close calls can one person survive?" Hermione frowned. "He's so brave, I just wish sometimes that bravery came with a little more reserve. There are times when you have to fight and times when you don't have to go out of your way to get into danger. It's almost as if that line is blurring for him and it worries me," Hermione admitted.
"I don't know how you do it," Susan spoke up. "I don't know how I could sleep with that kind of worry all of the time."
"Ron's always been a bit unstable," Ginny added, "Mum thought he would calm down over time."
"How much time?" Hermione asked. "Sometimes I worry he won't learn caution until something really bad happens. In the mean time, all I can do is try to protect him as much as I can. It's just that I don't know what I would do without him."
"He loves you Hermione. Have you tried telling him just that? Maybe he will listen?" Luna suggested watching Hermione's eyes fill with tears.
"I don't know. I don't want him to change because of me. I want him to make his own decisions," Hermione replied.
"He still needs to know Hermione," Ginny spoke up. "You need to tell him again."
"I'll try. That's all I know to do for now," Hermione replied.
Again the room fell silent, and again Luna spoke up breaking the ice, "When are we going to try the Circle?"
"Circle?" Susan replied.
"What Circle?" Daphne concurred.
"I thought you were going to talk to them?" Luna asked Ginny and Hermione who reddened.
"I was going to, I just never had a good opportunity," Ginny muttered.
"Then why don't you fill us in?" Daphne replied with a quirk of her eyebrow.
Ginny sighed, "We found a Circle of power that used to be used by witches' covens."
"It predates the school," Hermione added, "It is ancient magic that I had an opportunity to research over the Holiday," Hermione added. "Ron bought me a book for Christmas discussing witches covens, the Circle and its ability to amplify a witch's power."
"Amplify?" Susan asked. "What do you mean?"
"The Circle combines all of the powers of the witches in the Coven and increases them. A full coven is twelve witches. We thought we would start with eight for an experiment," Hermione added. "There are side effects to its use."
"Continue," Daphne prompted curious in spite of herself.
"The Circle allows the witches to know each other's more private thoughts and emotions. There is a lot of trust involved in the Coven and it isn't something to enter into lightly," Hermione replied looking directly back at Daphne.
"Look, Hermione, about Ron. . . I am more than aware of how he feels about you," Daphne spoke up. Daphne remembered Ron's warning to find out what the girl's were up to and she sensed she would have to share something as well with this group.
Hermione nodded, but said nothing. She knew Ron loved her without a doubt, but she still didn't necessarily trust the Slytherin.
"And Blaise?" Susan asked surprising Hermione.
"Hardly. Blaise is too, well Blaise, to be anything more than a friend," Daphne replied laughing in spite of herself.
"Then who?" Ginny asked her curiosity getting the better of her. "Which House at least."
Daphne laughed as all four girls looked at her, "I'm not about to say anything. Let's just say the only one with potential has a girlfriend, so I'm waiting for something better," Daphne replied as close to honesty as she would allow herself. In her mind Daphne could hear his Irish brogue whispering her name, but it was a foolish thought for another time.
"Who else is in this Coven?" Susan asked changing the subject back to the Circle, "You said there were eight."
"Well, if you two accept, the five of us, Lavendar Brown, Parvati and Padma Patil," Ginny replied.
"And what are we going to do with this Circle?" Daphne asked looking back to Hermione. Not particularly impressed with the additions, but thinking of each as an individual, Daphne realized that each girl had different strengths to bring to the group.
"I thought we could start with Divination," Ginny spoke up. "Until we know how much power we are talking about I'd hate to over extend ourselves and alert everyone to the Circle."
Hermione nodded, but a look of disgust crossed her face, "It's a wise choice, but it's still Divination."
"There's another thing. We want to keep this as quiet as possible. We haven't told anyone, including Harry, Ron and Neville," Ginny added. "Even if you don't decide to join, I would appreciate it if you would continue to keep this a secret."
Susan nodded, "I actually like tarot reading," nudging Hermione on the shoulder, "Blaise explains a number of confusing readings I have had of late. I 'm in," Susan replied.
"So will I," Daphne added remembering Ron's request to find out what was going on with the girls, "When do we try this?"
"I'm not sure," Hermione replied. "It will be a week or two at least. There's a little more research I want to do before we make our attempt."
Daphne nodded, "Very well."
"We need chocolate cake," Ginny spoke up. "We can't really be having girl time without chocolate of some sort."
"At least no bad make-overs this time," Hermione quipped thankful that Lavender and Parvati weren't present to attack her once more.
The cake appeared on the table before them and Luna began cutting slices for each girl and then cutting four more as the boys had returned.
"You're late," Luna spoke as Neville hobbled into the room with Harry, Ron and Blaise following behind.
"I know, but at least I was careful," Neville replied sitting beside her and accepting the chocolate cake.
"So where have you four been?" Susan asked between bites of cake as she looked at Harry, Ron, and Blaise standing at the end of their couch. None of them moved towards the food.
"We went for a walk," Harry answered giving Ron and Blaise an odd look.
"A walk?" Ginny asked innocently, she knew Harry was hiding something from her.
"Yes, a walk around the Quidditch pitch," Ron said flopping down on an empty couch that appeared behind them.
The girls looked at each other with their disbelief evident. Harry sat down next to him and Blaise remained standing. The silence grew as the tension in the room became palpable. The weight of the required apologies pressed down on the boys, and the girls waited, not willing to forgive them without it. Daphne watched with some amusement as the three couples cast nervous glances at each other and then back away none of them were willing to take the first step. Harry and Ron also watched Blaise with some interest and Daphne suspected something had happened on their little walk.
In the end, it was Blaise who broke the silence first, muttering something about "Bloody tossers," he walked around the girl's couch to stand in front of Susan, his usual frown upon his face, "Susan, let's go for a walk. We need to talk."
"Are you sure you want to be seen with me? I'd rather you not change your mind half way through," She replied matching his frown with one of her own.
Blaise colored slightly and looked at the floor, flicking a quick glance over to where Harry and Ron sat, their wands resting in their hands. Blaise's frown deepened momentarily before he looked at her face again. She was angry, but he knew that she would give him another chance. It wasn't in her not too. It was part of the reason he wanted to speak with her. Blaise made a decision and replied honestly, "It is always an honor to be seen with you."
Susan flushed at his words, but she seemed confused and uncomfortable with the praise. Hermione took her plate from her as Susan rose to her feet, still favoring her sore leg. "Well, where shall we go then? I won't be very quick, but we can go."
"I know a place where we won't get disturbed. It's not far," Blaise told her with a genuine smile, glad that she had agreed. The smiled seemed out of place on the Slytherin, but Susan found she liked it better.
Susan nodded and smiled back at him as he gestured towards the door. Susan walked away with Blaise behind her; neither said a word to the others as they left the room.
Everyone watched, silent, as they left and then Ginny whirled around to face Harry, "Ok, spill it Potter, what did you guys do to Blaise?"
Harry looked at Ginny giving her his best puppy dog eyes routine, 'Why do you think we did anything?"
Ginny snorted as the other girls just laughed. "Because you are Harry Potter and you can't stay out of other people's business. Not to mention my brother went with you and he's as bad as you are."
"Hey what did I do?" Ron asked indignantly.
"That's what I'd like to know," Hermione said with a frown.
"They aren't going to buy it you two. They know you did something," Neville laughed.
"You were with us you know Neville," Harry shot back.
"Yes I was, but I wasn't the one who implied I would bite his head off if he hurt Susan," sniggered Neville as he wrapped his arm around Luna.
Hermione whipped her head around to stare at Ron as Harry broke up in laughter.
"I have to admit that it did seem to scare the shite out of him Ron. Well, as much as Blaise scares anyway," Harry gasped between breathes.
Ron had the good graces to look embarrassed as Hermione sputtered, "You threatened him? Just exactly what did you say?"
Neville saw an opportunity and answered Hermione before Ron could get the words out. "Oh, it wasn't what he said Hermione, it was what he did."
Hermione folded her arms over her chest and asked coldly, "Well Neville, exactly what did Ron do?"
Harry waved both of his arms and got their attention, "Please, please let me tell her Neville." Ron glared at him and Neville just nodded amusedly.
"Since we had missed dinner, Ron, Neville and I decided to talk to him in the kitchen after the walk around the Quidditch pitch. After we had eaten a bit, we tried talking to him about Susan. Well, he wasn't going to have any of it and he almost walked out. Things got really tense and then Ron went to the pantry and pulled out a raw slab of ribs."
Harry's smile got even bigger as he saw the blank looks on the girl's faces and the stormy expression on Ron's face. "You should have seen the look on Blaise's face when Ron changed to his lion form and ate a whole raw slab of ribs, bones and all."
Hermione scrunched up her face, "I don't see what that has to do with Blaise though."
"Neither did he, but you will when I've finished." Harry smirked with a Dumbledore like twinkle in his eyes. "Once he was finished, Ron changed forms again and looked Blaise in the eyes and said, 'Anybody who hurts Susan will get treated just like those ribs."
Hermione's eyes grew round as saucers as Ginny howled with laughter. Hermione however did not seem to see the humor in the threat. "Ronald Weasley, you cannot go around threatening people whenever you want to."
Ron stood up and looked down at her face, flushing as he spoke. "I didn't threaten him Hermione. I just let him know how things were. Not too mention I wasn't the only one you know. Neville threatened to use his crutch in a very inappropriate manner if Blaise kept it up and well, Harry promised to try out his latest curses on him," Ron continued not about to be the only one to get in trouble.
"Neville," Luna growled pulling away from him.
"Harry," Ginny warned.
Daphne watched the whole thing absolutely amused, "Don't be too mad. I know Blaise and I bet it took all three of them, including the lion to bring him back into line. Blaise isn't easily intimidated and even then I'm surprised he listened."
"See, Daphne understands," Ron smiled down at the blond Slytherin. Hermione frowned even further, but he turned back to her, "I would also like to point out that things are looking a lot better for them right now. At least they are trying to be friends."
"I can't argue with that," Hermione huffed, "But how did a threat do that?"
"It wasn't just the threat. I gave him some advice about dating difficult women," Ron smirked.
"This has to be good," Ginny scoffed as Hermione's eyes hardened.
"Oh, and what precisely did you say?" she asked crossing her arms across her chest.
"Well, I said that as much as you want to protect Susan, she is too proud and too willful to let that happen. I also told him that any woman worth having was going to be difficult and that the best thing he could do is to be honest with her. Then I mentioned all the times we fought before we got things straightened out. I was trying to save them from the fights and let them get to the good part," he grinned looking over at Hermione.
"Did you think to ask Susan if she wanted to get to the good part?" Hermione questioned still not persuaded.
"Well no, but I think we all know she does. I can tell that you think she does too Hermione," Ron replied defensively.
"What I think doesn't matter. What matters is that you shouldn't interfere in people's lives unless you know for certain what they want," Hermione replied rising to her feet.
"Harry Potter, I expect you, of all people, would understand how people interfering can make you mad," Ginny added as she moved to stand beside Hermione.
"We were just looking out for a friend Ginny," Harry retorted.
The disbelief on Ginny's face was easy to read and she gathered herself to reply when Luna stepped in between the two groups, "You know when the Three Ridged Cloud Bat gets scared it makes a high pitched sound in the face of its mate. It's a good thing that people don't do that, don't you think?"
Everyone turned to look at Luna in silence.
Luna smiled at all of them, "Well, as much fun as this has been, Neville and I have an appointment we have to get to."
"We do?" Neville asked rising unsteadily to his feet, his crutches awkward trapped between the couch and the table.
Luna smiled even brighter but her eyes narrowed slightly, "Yes Neville, we do. I'm sure it will come to you on the way there." Luna took the perplexed looking Neville by the hand and led him from the Room of Requirements.
As soon as they left, Ron turned to the remaining students, "Luna sure has been good for Neville, but boy does she boss him around."
Harry and Ginny stared at Ron in astonishment. Finally Ginny managed to asked, "Don't you think there is another couple at Hogwarts that has that same dynamic going?"
Ron frowned, "Not like that I don't."
"Well, if you keeping acting like an idiot, I'm going to start bossing you around," Hermione snarled in a voice that had more than a bit of Professor McGonagall in it.
"So now I'm an idiot, am I?" Ron shot back as his face colored a deep red.
"That's not what I said Ronald, so stop being difficult."
"That's what you meant though isn't it? I know you're smarter than me Hermione, everyone knows it. You don't have to rub it in though." Ron said in a tone a bit more sharp than he had intended.
Harry stepped in between the two of them and up both of his hands up, "This is not how we need to spend the night before we go after the Cauldron. Not to mention you two hate it when you fight and feel miserable after you do, so why not skip the whole thing and just be nice to each other?"
"Harry, I do hate fighting with Ron but this is a talk we need to have," Hermione sighed.
"Then let's have the talk right after we get the Cauldron. We'll go somewhere quiet and make sure everything is fine," Ron said softly to Hermione as he reached out his hand to her.
"Now that everything is calm, I think I'll go down to the dungeons and see if everything is still quiet. Blaise should be back there by now. I'm afraid we also have a rather pressing appointment," Daphne said standing up.
The four Gryffindors bid Daphne good night and they left for their common room as well. The two couples walked hand in hand, mostly in silence as their thoughts turned to differing matters. None of them realized what Daphne had overheard.
Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived in the kitchens right after breakfast and both Harry and Hermione were startled to see Val standing in the middle of a crowd of nervous acting house elves.
"So where do we start?" Val asked with a smirk.
Hermione looked sharply at Ron, "I take it you informed her of what is going to happen?"
Ron looked around the room before answering, "Yes I did. Now if you will excuse me, I have something to take care of."
Ron ducked out of the Kitchen and into a darkened alcove before quickly casting the armoring spell. Once he felt the armor and sword fall into place he returned to where the other three were waiting for him, the change in him more than just in his armor.
"Good to see you again Val," he said with a nod of his head.
"Always a pleasure Fury," she smiled in answer.
"If you two are finished, we have business to get on with," Harry paused for a moment but continued, "Also I have to say that you look ridiculous in that costume, mate. Doesn't he Hermione?"
Harry waited to hear Hermione agree with him only to turn and see her shaking her head and giving Ron such an openly appraising look that Harry felt embarrassed to have witnessed it. Ron turned and looked to Hermione as well when he realized just what he was seeing. She was impressed and Ron couldn't help but feel proud that he had been able to amaze her.
Ron and Hermione appraised each other for an intimate moment, until Hermione shook her head again as if to clear it. "We should attempt to get this done with a few distractions as possible." Ron couldn't help but agree with her nodding in understanding. The last thing he needed was to lose focus because she was admiring him from afar.
"It's not Potter and I that are distracted," Val smirked. This time it was Harry that was distracted. Something about the smirk and her tone of voice was familiar to him.
Hermione's cheeks colored a bit but she responded quickly, "That's good to know Val. Try to keep it that way."
Val opened her mouth to retort but at that moment the elderly house elf walked up to them, "I see the champions are ready, but there are now four of you?"
Ron nodded, "That's not a problem, is it?"
"No, of course not," the house elf assured them. "The challenges will adapt to meet the number of challengers."
The house elf led them past several large pantries and through a series of corridors which ended at a large wooden door adorned with a large Hogwarts crest. When they reached this door the house elf bowed to them and bid them good luck. They watched the house elf shuffle away from the door in silence, the seriousness of their situation crashing down on them.
The four looked at each other for a moment and then Fury reached out and opened the door. A blast of cold musty air escaped through the now open door and then everything went quiet. Fury looked back at the others and then shrugged and walked through the door into the torch lit corridor. Hermione moved to follow behind him, but Val cut her off and moved instead. Hermione opened her mouth to say something about it when Harry grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear, "When he's Fury she's his partner, remember?"
Hermione pulled a face, but stayed silent and followed closely behind Val, not willing to let Ron out of her sight. The four of them walked for about fifteen minutes through what seemed to be similar to any other hallway at Hogwarts, when they came to an open archway which led into a large circular chamber. The archway was delicately inscribed with silver runes which seemed to glow in the poorly lit corridor.
Fury, Val and Harry all turned to Hermione with a questioning look. Hermione looked more than a little pleased with her self as she scanned the runes, and through a second time to be sure. "The runes are simple enough. 'Only the strong hand can pave the path to victory' is what they say. Though what they mean is anyone's guess. "
"Well there's only one way to find out right?" Harry questioned.
Ron nodded at him and then walked through the archway into the room beyond. Torches lit along the walls at their presence, illuminating the eight statues of medieval warriors in full armor that dominated the circle. A doorway stood in the far end, presumably where they should continue.
The walls were adorned with murals depicting battles scenes from various periods in the past. They all seemed entranced as the figures in the murals struggled in eternal combat with each other. Watching the battles behind them, it was Harry that noticed that the statues started to move towards them as they fought to pull their eyes away from the murals.
"Don't look at the murals," Harry growled focusing instead on the eight foot statue that approached. Him.
Val pulled out her wand and turned to the others, "I don't think they are moving towards us for nothing."
Harry, Fury and Hermione nodded in grim agreement. Hermione was the first one to act as she shouted "Reducto" and her spell hit the closest statue to them. The spell barely broke the statues stride as it drew its sword in response. The other statues followed suit.
Harry's eyes grew larger in shock and then he screamed out, "Diffindo" casting the cutting spell at a different statue. This spell also failed to have any effect.
The lead statue raised its sword and aimed a wicked cut at Hermione's head. Hermione ducked out of the way and started moving to her right as the statue pulled its sword into a downward slash aimed at opening Hermione's belly. Harry called out a warning to her as she gasped, half expecting to feel the biting pain of a sword piercing her stomach.
The only thing she did feel however was a gust of wind as a sword flashed in front of her to parry the statue's sword. A moment later a second sword struck the statue on its brow and the head shattered. Hermione felt a set of hands pull her backwards as Fury and Val stepped in front of her. "I don't think magic will work on them Hermione." Harry shouted as she struggled to keep from being pulled out of the room.
'I know that Harry," she shouted right back. "We can't just leave them."
"We have to," Harry growled watching as Fury and Val fought together against the seven remaining statues. Hermione fought against his grip, but he didn't let her go, "This is something they have trained to do, look at them!"
Hermione turned and watched the fight as one of the statue's swords slipped past Fury's guard and slammed into his thigh. Fury grunted a bit, but his thigh armor held and managed to block the sword cut. Harry could tell it was taking a lot out of both Fury and Val just to keep from getting hit by one of the swords. Val gasped as one of the statues got under her guard and left a shallow cut along her upper arm.
Fury swung his sword at the statue that had just cut Val. The statue parried Fury's sword, but that left its side open and Val took advantage of it to thrust deep into its side and it crumbled to the ground. The remaining six statues were pressing Fury and Val hard and it was all they could do to keep from getting pushed out of the doorway. If they let the statues through the doorway they would be able to spread out. Then they would be able to get to Harry and Hermione who didn't have a way to fight them. Both Fury and Ron also knew that if they got behind them they could easily be killed by a blade in the back.
"We can't let them through the door," Fury growled to Val as he blocked another thrust, wishing for one of the broad shields from the practice rooms at the Order.
Val nodded in response doubling her attack and falling back, "Lets get beyond the arch ourselves, it will limit their range," she answered stepping backward hoping that the fool Granger and Potter were smart enough to stay out of their way.
Fury also fell back, slowly, his anger and fury driving him on. If they failed, Harry and Hermione would be left defenseless. Too much was at stake to let something happen to either one of them. Val seemed to sense the same thought. It was enough to keep them both fighting as sweat started to run down their faces and the muscles of their sword arms began to burn. Fury's face tightened in concentration as his mind raced feverishly in search of a way to turn the situation to their advantage. Just as Fury was about to despair an idea flashed through his mind and with out a second thought, he acted on it.
Fury stuck his left leg out just a bit further than it needed to be and pulled his sword into the guard position. The statue in front of him slashed at Fury's exposed thigh. Fury was ready for the stroke and swept his sword downwards, severing the arm holding the statue's sword as it hit his leg, blood gushing out from the new wound.
The statue swung its other arm at Fury, but he parried it easily and drove the point of his blade into the statue's chest. As the statue crumbled Ron ripped his sword clear and aimed a back hand at the statue fighting Val. The statue saw the sword aimed toward its unprotected side, and it turned to meet it. Val's sword flashed as she neatly severed the statue's left leg. Quickly reversing her stroke, she brought the blade across its neck and watched as the head went tumbling along the floor.
Two more statues stepped up to replace their fallen comrades. The first slashed its sword at Fury's face and he only just managed to parry the blow. He could feel the wind on his face from where the stroke had passed. The second statue aimed a back hand at Val and she moved her sword up to parry. At the last moment, the statue changed the angle and lunged in front of Val reaching across her and burying the tip of his blade in a gap in Fury's armor just above his hip bone. Blood started to stream from the wound as soon as the statue pulled the sword. Val shrieked and smashed through the head of the statue in front of her. Only three remained.
Val took a chance and glanced at Fury, alarmed at how pale his face seemed beneath the mask they both wore. Fury reached up and caught the arm of the statue facing him and pushed it to the side. Then he lashed out with his sword and opened the belly of the statue he was engaged with. Val gave a shout of triumph as the last of the two statues moved to engage them. It was short lived as she saw the large amount of blood now staining Fury's armor. Behind them Harry was restraining Hermione as she struggled to get to Fury.
"Harry, I might be able to heal him if you let me go," she snarled as she fought to break his grip on her.
"Don't be stupid Hermione," Harry snarled, his grip firm around her. "You'd get cut in half if you even got near them. If the statues didn't kill you, then those two would by accident."
"I have to do something Harry," she said imploringly continuing to struggle against him. Tears flowing freely down her face.
Harry just grabbed her tighter and shook his head.
In the meantime, Val parried a blow from one of the statues and with a quick flip of the wrist flicked her sword across the statues throat. The statue grabbed at its throat and then its head slowly fell backwards and toppled off its shoulders. Val turned to the remaining statue to see its sword crash along the chain shirt that protected Fury's torso. Fury grimaced in pain and brought his sword down to trap the blade against his body. Fury turned his eyes up to look at Val as she buried her sword in the statues armpit.
Fury and Val stood there for a moment while the sound of their breathing echoed in the corridor. The silence rang in their ears. Then, as Hermione finally pulled out of Harry's arms and moved towards Fury, Fury let his sword fall to the floor with a clang and followed it soon after.