A/N: I'm so glad this update is done. This chapter needed an overhaul BADLY. I'm quite pleased with this one, actually ^_^ Keep an eye out for edit updates in the near future!
Disclaimer: We solemnly swear we are up to no good…(of course it's not ours!)
)PvsM(
"Damn. That'll leave a mark."
Ginny knelt beside him, hand on his arm. "Harry, you scared me. Are you all right? Do you hurt?"
"Only when I – ow – when I breathe." Harry coughed, a hand against his chest. "I'm okay…" He looked over his shoulder at the glimmering wards, winced, and pushed himself to his feet, water dripping into his eyes from his sodden hair. He gave his head an experimental shake, adjusting his glasses. He gave Ginny, who was still hovering, a shaky grin. "Almost didn't make it."
"Almost didn't make it!" Blaise snorted, her lip curling. "What the hell were you doing, Potter? I thought you were supposed to be the youngest Seeker in a century. I've seen that fat-arse Longbottom eat faster than you were running."
"Shut up about Neville," Harry said impulsively. He looked her over. She was dripping, too, and she resembled a Siamese cat. A wet, grouchy Siamese cat.
"You're an idiot, Potter," she told him, coming over to poke him in the chest. "If you can't keep up, you should never have come with us."
"Are you worried about me, Zabini?" Harry demanded, pulling off his glasses and trying to clean them on his robes.
Blaise's mouth opened and closed, as though no one had ever said anything so disgusting to her. She shoved her soaking hair over her shoulder, and hefted her chin. "Sod off, Potter." She turned away, but as she did, she threw a glance over her shoulder. Her purple eyes lingered on his face for a moment before she stalked to Malfoy, who was just struggling to his feet. She didn't offer him a hand up.
)PvsM(
Ginny watched Harry replace his specs and blink, a frown tugging at his mouth. He looked after Blaise, eyes unfocused.
"When I was a kid, if you liked someone you hit them," Cedric said in an undertone as he materialized beside Ginny. He shook a fall of water from his hair, and in the blur of his face, Ginny saw two different people, impossibly twined together in the child they'd created together.
Aware that she'd struck Draco Malfoy several times recently, Ginny swallowed. "So…what do you do when you grow up?" She looked back at Draco, who was on his feet at last in the rainy shadows of the trees. She couldn't see his eyes, but she could feel his gaze.
Cedric shrugged, adjusting his pack. "That's easy. You just have to hit harder – to get their attention, you know." He winked.
Ginny shivered in her soaked robes. Well, at least she could continue to be violent, small comfort it was. Not that she needed his attention – she wasn't sure she really wanted it.
"Come on, let's get moving. We've a long way to go," Cedric called to everyone over the rain. "No brooms – they're to stay shrunken in the packs. Also, no charms and no magic of any kind, unless you're in a life-threatening situation. That includes emergency hair styling charms, Malfoys." Draco and Hayden protested indignantly, though the latter chuckled."Wands used for light only and for as brief a time as can be managed. And everybody stick together."
"Oy, Uncle Percy! Why d'you get to boss everyone?" Dorian began.
Cedric straightened to his full height and favored the grumbling redhead with a superior smile. "Since I'm the oldest person here, prat. Anyway, most of you owe me. I had to change your nappies."
Dorian backed down, mouth turned down at the corners. His expression reminding Ginny of the one Ron wore when asked to clean the bathroom all seven Weasley siblings shared growing up. "All right, you did your time. You definitely deserve to be leader," he muttered. Ginny remembered Ron mentioning Dorian having five siblings. She did the math – five younger siblings over seventeen years … the numbers were mind-boggling.
"It's just as well, mate," Hayden said, patting Dorian's shoulder. "You couldn't organize a piss-up at a brewery."
"Hey!"
Ginny picked up her rucksack and fell in behind them, grinning a little in spite of herself. Harry stepped up beside her, returning her grin in that reassuring way he had. "Not that I don't have complete and utter blind faith in you and Cedric," Ginny told him, "but where do we start? How are you guys proposing we get to where we're going?"
"Where are we going, anyway?" Dorian asked from ahead.
Harry exchanged a glance with Cedric. "Cedric and I decided our best option is a town called Glastonbury. It's about two hours from Bath by bus. It used to be known as the Isle of Avalon and there's a lot of local Muggle history can help us piece together the real story."
"Bath? Do you have any idea how far we are from there now?" Draco griped. "And you expect us to walk? It'll take a week at least, maybe two. Are you mad?"
"Relax, Malfoy – we've got it sorted." Harry rolled his eyes. "Cedric's got emergency Portkeys stashed all over the country – we just have to get to the first one, take it to the next point, and so on. Eventually, we'll be about a four-hour walk from Glastonbury. We've got some Muggle money, so we might even be able to get Muggle transportation, maybe a train to the station at Reading, and then a bus – "
"Muggle transport?" Draco looked ill. "You must be joking. I've read safety statistics – we'll all die. I was almost hit by a helicopter once, I know what I'm talking about."
"Don't be a wimp, Malfoy," Harry retorted. "If you really don't want to go with us, you can wait out here all night until the wards go down in the morning – "
"Oh, sod off, scar-head."
Harry hefted his rucksack, and Draco fell into step with Blaise.
"This manual labor makes me sick," he complained, already rubbing his shoulders. "Stupid weather. Stupid walking. Stupid Potter."
Blaise sniggered. "You're off your game today, Draco."
"Let me tell you who's off," he began, glaring at Harry.
"If you plan to complain all the way to Glastonbury, I may kill you in your sleep," Ginny snapped.
"Oh, try it, Weasley."
"Maybe I will."
"They are worse than Tristan and Hayden," Dorian said audibly to Cedric.
Ginny turned red, Draco cursed the name of Potter again, and so their journey began.
)PvsM(
They didn't stop to rest that night – they couldn't afford to, with four Unspeakables and probably a psychopath on their tails.
The trek south was a test of endurance. In the beginning, Draco sniped at everyone and his bad attitude set Harry off. Meanwhile, Tristan and Hayden couldn't be within a mile of each other without fighting, and it didn't take them long to find a topic. Ginny was sure she would go mad, but after hours of hiking, no one had the energy to bicker any longer.
Then the group moved in relative silence for several hours. At first, the quiet was a relief, but after a while, the going seemed even harder; uphill and colder. Ginny felt like she was going to drown if she didn't get out of the rain soon, but she wasn't going to be the first to complain.
She couldn't hide the fact that she was tiring, though. She'd dropped to the back of the line, feeling as though kilos of water filled her shoes. Her feet seemed to drag her forward while her water-logged rucksack felt like it was pulling her back. At one point, she stumbled and thought she might actually fall, when someone reached out to steady her. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed at a sleeve, clutching a fistful of wet fabric to pull herself up.
"Thanks, Harry," she said. If she had fallen, she doubted if she could have made herself get back up. His hand slid around hers and she found the contact soothing. The chill lifted from her bones and settled on her skin.
"What? Did you say something, Gin?" Harry's voice was distant, coming from near the front of the line.
The hand tensed around hers.
"Nothing," she called back, remembering abruptly that Harry had not been wearing gloves. Fingertips brushed up her arm in a steadying grip, and she swallowed. "Malfoy?"
"Most assuredly," came the cold drawl. They continued on without speaking to each other for a few minutes, but through the torrential rain, she could hear him muttering, "Potter, indeed …my arms are twice the size of his."
"So is your head," Ginny muttered at last, unable to control herself. She was glad she couldn't see his face in the dark. Somehow it was easier to talk to him without him watching her with those cold, glittering eyes, like the fixed stare of a snake. She yanked her arm away from him.
"Aren't you going to thank me for rescuing you from a nasty spill?" he demanded; an angry, resentful sound. The cold left her completely in the wake of the indignant heat that ran every part of her body, and she drew in a harsh breath.
"What is it you want, Malfoy?" she snapped. "I'm not going to swoon with thanks or – or shower you with kisses or anything."
"I don't know," he murmured, forgoing resentment for lazy flirtation. "You were doling them out last week."
"I was proving a point," Ginny said, remembering their descent from the tower and trying hard not to go red. Not that he could have seen her in the dark, but still.
"What kind of point? That you get off on sadistic violence?"
"Of, for Merlin's sake, bugger off!" She got several steps ahead, and then cursed as she tripped again.
He caught her arm, his body in line with hers. "Hold onto me, since you can't walk on your own. The last thing I want is for Potter to think I damaged you on purpose."
Ginny pulled on her arm to no avail – he wasn't letting go. "But you might try to damage me accidentally? Let me go, you pig!"
They had a small battle, until Ginny, arm trembling with fatigue, had to give up.
"Please, Malfoy, just stop." She slumped slightly, her knees weak.
"Stop what, Weasley? I'm not doing anything, apart from helping you walk properly!" he snapped. His grip did loosen.
"Stop acting like you're trying to help! It's unnerving and completely unbelievable." She half-heartedly jerked her arm again. The sensation of the cool, damp leather of his glove made her breath catch and her skin tingle in a rather alarming manner. She decided it was disgust and aversion.
"Malfoy – "
"Shh!" He tilted his head, as though listening. For a long moment there was only the sound of the raindrops splashing on the leaves of the trees high above, and then plopping heavily to the mossy ground. Distantly, the crunch of the others' footsteps could he heard. Ginny strained to listen, her heart giving a little jolt as the thought of what he might be hearing.
"Help you? I'm not trying to help you," Draco said, making her jump. He pulled her gently into a walk, apparently giving up on what he might have been hearing. "If you fall and get hurt, you'll only slow us down and I want to get this mess over with as soon as possible – and it's not just a mess, Weasley. This – it's all a disaster! It goes completely against everything I know! I mean, Nostradamus couldn't have seen this coming! Traveling along on foot, for Merlin's sake, cold and drenched, no light, no magic. Now I know what being a bloody worthless Muggle feels like!" He made another helplessly furious sound in his throat, and Ginny recognized the vain attempt to hide from his fear. "Damn Potter!"
Ginny scowled, though the look was completely lost on him in the darkness. Her sarcasm wasn't, however. "It's nice you're sharing your feelings, Malfoy, I was so unsure about them before." She ignored her own overpowering desire to pull away. He wouldn't let go and she'd probably just trip again.
"That's not even a start on what I think, Weasley." Draco's voice strangled around the words as he spat them out. "I think you and Potter can traipse around in this mess because you dream about a future like this. You're happy, your war is won. You've got a rich wizard licking your boots, and a dutiful little heir prancing around in Gryffindor robes." She could hear his lip curl. "You know better. You're too smart to believe that futures like this don't come at a price to someone else."
She thought about Clarissa. "What do you mean, too smart?" she asked distractedly. Was he complementing her, or insulting her?
But he only paused again, and she could picture his sharp features scowling in the darkness as he shushed her once more, cocking his head as if listening. "Shhh - did you hear that? There it is again."
"There what is again?" Ginny asked impatiently, looking around. She couldn't make out much of anything. He was starting to scare her. Knowing Malfoy, he was probably doing it on purpose. Anything to throw her off so he could walk all over her.
"Nothing," he growled again, just as impatiently as she had. Then he jumped right back into what he'd been saying. "You can forget about this little fantasy world right now because I'm not letting it happen. Once we get back, I'm staying as far away from you as I possibly can. I'll move to the other side of the bloody planet if I have to, to keep this - this revolting reality from existing. I won't have it, Weasley, do you hear me?"
Ginny gritted her teeth, hot color flood her cheeks and forehead. "Presumptuous, much? You think your sorry attitude can change the future…maybe you and Harry will become great friends!" She felt hateful words crawling up her throat. "Maybe you'll die and not have a future at all." She scowled. "And oy, your highness, who says I want to shag you? Poncy git, I'd sooner shag ... the Bloody Baron!"
"Bite your tongue, Weasley!" Draco's hand clenched around her arm. Not painfully, but enough to remind her how close he was standing.
"Make me," she retorted. "If you're allowed to be a spiteful bastard, you can't stop me biting back. I'm not a helpless child anymore."
He didn't speak for a long moment, but his grip on her arm relaxed. Eventually, he muttered, "Aren't you a bit flattered that I might have to move to another continent to keep my hands off you?"
"I might be, if I didn't know you," she grumbled, though she felt her skin go hot again. "Anyone with breasts suits you, from what I can tell."
"Oy, back there!" Cedric's voice came through the darkness. "Still with us, Aunt Gin? Malfoy?"
Eager for any excuse to escape Draco, Ginny hurried toward the voice, pulling free of his grip at last. Maybe the mention of breasts had distracted him enough to loosen his grip. Squinting through the dark, she could just make out the others. She hurried along the line until she found Harry and Cedric.
"Can't take this anymore," she grated out. Harry, either sensing her fatigue or assuming that this meant Draco, linked his arm companionably through hers. Even though it was cramped walking side by side, Ginny leaned into him, feeling her tired legs work a little harden.
"I know – sorry, Gin." Harry sighed, patting her arm. She felt comforted – it was almost like having one of her big brothers along.
"Stop apologizing," she ordered. "You can't be any happier about this than I am."
"Actually, I'm a bit excited," he admitted. Ginny thought if you could have seen his face, he'd have looked like an excitable schoolboy again. "Not about being here or anything, Merlin no! But I grew up reading about places like Avalon and Mount Olympus and Atlantis in Muggle books, and wishing I were there. Then Hagrid shows up, tells me I'm a wizard, and suddenly it's all coming true. And now, finding out that Avalon might actually exist – well, it's a great adventure, isn't it?"
"That's an optimistic way of looking at it," Cedric said from in front of them.
"Reckon it is," Harry agreed, the guilt in his voice again. "But I don't see the point in being bad-tempered about it. It's my fault I'm here. I might as well enjoy where I can."
"Ever the Gryffindor." Blaise's sharp voice was blunted by weariness. "Well, optimistic boy wonder, I'm all for making the best of things – " Tristan snorted – "but I may drown if we don't get out of the rain soon. And little Weasley there looks like she'll collapse."
Apparently deciding to pass over Blaise's superb night vision, Harry shrugged.
"Fine," he said amiably. "Show me a good spot and we'll take a break." As there were no patches of ground that hadn't been soaked by tireless rainfall, Blaise called Harry a rude name and the group trudged on.
"That's it," Hayden said an hour later. Ginny couldn't feel her feet and her legs felt like they weighed a stone each. "I can't go any further. Let's get out the map and see if there's a cave or something we can kip in until tomorrow."
Why didn't I think of the map? Ginny wondered in irritation. Harry slapped his forehead, apparently thinking the same thing.
"Don't give yourself concussion, Potter," Blaise said sardonically. "There's so little brain in there as it is, it'd be a shame to damage it."
"I don't object," Draco put in unhelpfully. "Keep on pounding, scarhead."
"Crawl into a hole and die, won't you, Malfoy?" Harry snapped, pulling the Marauders' Map from his cloak pocket. "Gin, can you get to your wand and give me a bit of light?"
Ginny swung her pack off her back, nearly overbalancing. With difficulty, she dug her wand out and aimed it over the map.
"Lumos!" A narrow beam of light fell across the map, which showed trees in almost every direction. They tapered off in the upper corner of the map. As best any of them could tell, no one and nothing were anywhere within a couple of square miles of them.
"Northeast," Cedric muttered. "The tree line ends there."
"Looks like rock," Dorian agreed, peering over Tristan's shoulder.
"Awfully convenient," Draco mumbled, his breath in Ginny's ear. He was leaning over her shoulder, gazing down at the illuminated parchment. His hair tickled her cheek.
"Convenient or not, I think we need a break," Hayden put in.
"Who asked you?" Draco retorted.
"He's right. We're soaked and exhausted." Cedric gave Draco a look. "And stroppy. Let's go."
The trek to the cave took longer than Ginny thought it would. Stumbling along, her wet cloak tangling around her legs, she gave a violent sneeze.
"Bless you," Hayden said automatically, dropping back to walk next to her. "How're you doing?"
"I've been better," she admitted. "You?"
"Not feeling great," he returned, with a chuckle. She noticed his voice was hoarse.
"Trust me, this is about as good as he gets, Aunt Gin," Tristan put in from where she walked with Dorian.
"Stupid Potter," Hayden snarled under his breath, sounding just like his father. Then, in a louder voice, "Been watching me again, Tristan?"
"You wish!" she snarled. "I wouldn't watch you if I were blind."
"That's true," Dorian murmured in amusement. "Ow! Oy, Tris."
"Any chance you two would give it a rest before I go mad?" Blaise asked coldly. Draco, walking beside her, grunted in acquiescence.
"No – but thanks for asking," Tristan said sweetly.
Reaching the cliff face was something of a relief. It was bad enough that Tristan and Hayden couldn't control themselves. With Blaise aggravating her daughter and Draco making it a point to needle his son, Ginny doubted if any of them would last the night. And although the banter had once proved a needed distraction, it was getting old again.
Harry withdrew the Marauder's Map, shielding it from the rain as best he could with his cloak. "Lumos!" Ginny's wand was out once more.
"That looks promising." Cedric pointed to a large gap in the cliff face some thirty meters from where they stood. The map showed no other living thing in the small space. Harry put the map away and they all moved cautiously toward the cave mouth.
"Let's have a look inside," Harry said, drawing his own wand. "Malfoys, Ced, Ian. Come on."
"What? You're not leaving us out here," Blaise cut in.
"It might not be safe," Harry pointed out.
"Girl's got a point." Everyone turned to stare at Tristan in surprise. "If you manly lot get eaten or something, we'll never know."
Ginny couldn't resist adding, "Suppose whatever gets you comes after us?"
"According to the map, there's nothing in there, smarty knickers. On the other hand," Draco put in, and Ginny was sure she wouldn't like what he was about to say, "we could use the three of you as bait. Make the rest of the trip so much quieter – "
"Piss off," Blaise interrupted. "We should use one of you. We'd all be a lot better off with less bollocks and more brains."
Ginny knew she wasn't the only one who was surprised at that, but wasn't about to let a good comeback slip away.
"Perhaps if we put Malfoy on a line and dangled him over the cave," she said, smirking. "Nothing gets him after a minute or so and we can go have a look."
Tristen sniggered. Blaise gave Ginny a wicked smile.
The boys, looking thoroughly irritated, turned and went on ahead through the cave mouth.
"Didn't know you had it in you, Weasley," Blaise commented.
"What?"
"Taking the piss out of Draco," she clarified. "I thought you'd spend the rest of this sodding escapade letting him chew you up."
Ginny shrugged. "I reckon eternal patience is overrated, that's all."
"Yeah, Malfoys make saints want to kill," Tristan muttered.
A thorough investigation showed that not only was the cave indeed devoid life, but it didn't go deeper than about ten meters into the cliff.
"I say wicked yeah to this pad." Dorian sighed, sliding down the wall and settling himself on the dusty floor.
"I wouldn't say no to a fire," Cedric said. "Someone help me get some wood."
"I'll go," Tristy and Hayden both volunteered. They started and glowered at each other. Harry snorted.
"I'll help," he offered. "Tris, come along, won't you?"
"Right." Tristan followed the two men out and Ginny sank down onto the floor. Peeling off her sopping outer cloak, she cleared herself a small space on the floor. Hoping no one would hear, she cast a drying charm and pillowed the cloak beneath her.
"Poor little Weasel," a most unwelcome voice came from beside her. "All tired out, are you?"
"Go 'way, Malfoy," she ordered, stretching her aching legs out and cracking her back.
"Oy, leave her alone!" Hayden's cold voice drifted across the cave. "She's exhausted."
"The day I do what you tell me, lad, is the day Potter gives Ron Weasley a snog," Draco shot back. Ginny bit off a hysterical giggle.
"Right – who's on first watch?" came Dorian's voice. He sounded wide-awake and eager as ever. "Den? Reckon you've got the energy?"
"Sure." Ginny heard Hayden and Dorian move to the cave entrance.
"Can we trust you to mention if something's coming in here that shouldn't?" Draco demanded. Ginny clenched her teeth – he was still seated beside her, his knee against her back.
"I'll make sure all the lives worth preserving are preserved," Hayden shot back. "Leave Mum alone and I'll consider sparing yours."
"Lay off, Draco," Ginny added over her shoulder, readjusting her position so that a sharp rock was no longer digging into her hip. "You're hacking everyone right off. Someone's bound to hit you."
"Don't push me, Weasel," he hissed. "Or I swear you won't get a wink of sleep tonight."
"Leave her alone, Malfoy." Harry was back. "Or Ginny's right, you'll get hit."
"Oh, what luck, Ginny-love," Draco murmured. She heard the scrabble of his boots as he got to his feet. "Your disfigured boy hero is back to save the day."
"And always will be," Harry promised, bending down to pat her shoulder. "Sleep tight, Gin."
)PvsM(
Blaise's eyes slapped open. Her senses tingled and she felt wide awake, though she knew she'd asleep for a few hours. She automatically scanned the inside of the cave, noticing people and sounds. The rain had stopped and all was quiet, though unrest wasn't what had brought her awake.
From the back her her neck to the curve of each ankle, she could feel Harry Potter against her. "Bloody hell!" she whispered, not daring to move. Obviously, he had been moving around in his sleep, because his strong arm was draped across her hip and his breath was coming out in quiet puffs against her exposed neck. She had a wild moment of confusion, wondering if someone hadn't given her alcohol. She couldn't think of another reason why she would have agreed to him sleeping so close to her.
Her immediate impulse was to destroy him, the creepy bastard. She knew where her wand was and she could turn him into a flea (a harmless little flea) before he was even fully awake. She could just call Draco over to pound him for her. Then Draco undoubtedly get beat up himself by Potter's spawn and Draco's own son, which would be a definite bonus.
Ah, the cunning inner-workings of the Slytherin mind!
Blaise sighed, a wicked smile at her lips. Without warning, Potter sighed too, his arm sliding lower and pulling her more tightly against him. Blaise scowled, her back warm and comfortable, her front still dripping with rain and freezing. She wanted very much to go for her wand and pry mister busy-hands off her. Unfortunately, her body wasn't doing a damned thing.
I hate you, Potter, she thought savagely. Desperately, she sent a plea into the heavens that no one would wake up and notice this incredible piece of awkward before Blaise could extricate herself. She threw another glance around what she could see in the dark cave. Two figures were outlined against faint moonlight from the entrance, neither speaking. Apparently, Tristan and Draco had been paired together for guard duty. Tristan had her nose buried in the Marauder's Map (dumb name, in Blaise's opinion). Draco was hunched against the wall.
Blaise was halfway through another sigh, thought better of it, and nearly choked. She was up next. She and Dorian Weasley. She needed to be free of Potter now! She shifted a bit, Potter's arm consequently sliding down her hip and onto her thigh. She shivered.
If this is what he's like asleep, Blaise thought involuntarily, I can't imagine what he can do when he's aware of what he's about.
She made a note to confess all her sins to Professor Snape once they got out of the mess they were in (the humiliation alone would cure her of all thoughts of associating with Gryffindors). Then she went to work peeling Potter off her. Since he apparently thought she was his big fluffy Slytherin hot water bottle, he didn't let go easily. If he kept on, someone would notice. She stilled, deciding a sudden rush for freedom was her only hope.
"Mmm," he murmured, pressing his lips into the back of her neck. Blaise bit back a groan and lunged away, nearly flattering a snoring Dorian Weasley in the process.
"Blaise, what the hell are you doing?" Draco said in tones of the extremely bored.
"Winning the world cup, obviously," she snapped in a whisper, dusting herself off and praying to several gods that he hadn't seen her rolled up with Potter. "Go wake Dorian Weasley up – it's our shift now."
"Wait a minute." Tristan stared down at the map, squinting in the darkness.
"Let me see," Blaise ordered, tugging the map toward her.
"What?" Draco, suddenly alert, peered over her shoulder.
"Oh, no," Blaise murmured, staring down at the suddenly lively map.
"What is it?" Potter the sleepy bedtime groper was getting to his feet.
"We've got trouble," Draco told him, forgoing an insult for once. "Wake the others."
"What's trouble look like, exactly?" Harry asked, nudging Dorian, Ginny, and Cedric awake with his toe.
"It's big and it's got friends," Blaise said, any irritation she might have felt with him forgotten for the moment.
"Big and smelly," Tristan added, her nose almost touching the map as she tried to see through near-blackness. She winced "Can you lot smell that?"
"Trolls!" Draco's nose wrinkled too. "They're just inside the edge of the map now."
"But this can't be their cave." Potter hurried to join them. "They'd stink up the place for weeks."
"They're woodland trolls – map says so," Draco said, pointing to the little labels that had just appeared beside the giant figures moving across the map. He shook his head. "Those things usually live deep inside dark forests. This cliff is part of a plateau that looks like it leads onto some big, grassy moors."
"That doesn't make sense." Dorian Weasley joined them, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "They might have followed us but we'd have heard them or smelled them ages ago. They're not clever at all."
About a half-kilometer along the cliff-side to their left were four massive dots. Not that one needed a map to figure out the things were coming. Their stench had probably reached Red's Park by now and their muffled footfalls reached Blaise's sharp ears without difficulty. Without the torrential downpour, the sound and smell carried even more clearly.
"Reckon we can get out before they spot us?" Ginny asked, tying back her hair as she joined them around the map.
"Maybe they'll miss us," Tristan piped hopefully. "Aren't they really stupid?"
"I still want to know what the hell they're doing out of their forest," Draco pressed, his lip twisting.
"You think someone knows we're here, Malfoy?" Harry demanded, pushing his specs up his nose.
"It could be Red Robes, couldn't it?" Draco retorted. "He wants at least two of us dead. And even one woodland troll could do it. They corner their prey before sitting on them and eating them. If Red Robes has a talent for Legilimency, a troll's mind is easy work."
"Let's go, then," Tristan said. While the others were talking, she had apparently been collecting the rucksacks. She began handing them round. "Can we outrun them? Head back into the woods?"
"And what if whoever sent these blokes has friends?" Blaise demanded, hand clenching around strap of her rucksack. She dug in it and felt her Caduceus press into her palm. The feeling of the intertwined snakes was reassuring.
"That's not the only problem," Potter pointed out. "There's also the issue of them moving a lot faster in their own territory."
"What do you suggest?" Cedric asked.
"Well, we can't stay here." Tristan stared at her brother, as though willing him to fix everything.
"Wait!" Blaise said suddenly. "What if we don't go into the woods?"
"Much as I hate agreeing with Potter, she's right," Hayden muttered. Tristan growled and Hayden ignored her. "We're cornered. We've got to get out and the woods is the only way."
"Is it?" Blaise retorted. "We're in a cave, right? In a cliff, attached to a plateau."
"So?"
"So, smart-arse, let's go up!"
"What? Climb the cliff?"
"Sure." The thought set Blaise's palms sweating but what choice did they have? "If we go into the forest, we're more likely to be separated. Plus we're fighting the trolls in their own territory, giving them the advantage."
"And if Red Robes is behind this, he's waiting for us, too. Zabini's right." Ginny took a last look at the map, then folded and pocketed it. "Plus, this plateau leads onto some moors. Much quicker and easier going than slogging in the woods."
"And what if the trolls notice us climbing?" Dorian asked, tapping his foot against the cave floor and chewing his lip.
"Then we'll do it real quiet-like," Draco said, holding himself tight against whatever emotion he was fighting. "Troll eyesight and hearing stink as much as they do. It's their sense of smell that's powerful. Ironic, really. If I smelled like that, I wouldn't be able to get a whiff of anything else."
"All right," Potter said, biting his lip. "All right, that's it then. Try to stay together."
They shouldered their bags and followed Potter from the cave. Blaise almost gasped. Two of the shapes were already just visible through the darkness. They were standing stock-still and grunting stupidly, but that would change the moment the wind drew the scent of human into their nostrils.
"We're down-wind. Probably why it's taken them so long to get here," Draco muttered from behind her. Blaise glanced at him through the dark. He was waving his hand, evidently wanting them to fan out a bit. Blaise stared up the cliff face. A good fifteen meters of steep climbing, at least, though jagged enough to be climbable. She took a deep, shuddering breath. She felt a gentle hand on her arm. Potter gave her a faint smile through the dark.
"Bet I can beat you, Zabini," he whispered.
"Dream on." She gave him a half-smile of reluctant gratitude that his myopic eyes probably couldn't see. She turned away and reached out for a firm handhold on the cliff. It wasn't too hard to find one, not with her excellent night vision. She moved quietly, just in case the trolls got close enough to hear them. It would be slow going. Blaise reached for another handhold. Securing herself against the rock, she hooked her feet into a couple of promising notches and pulled herself up against the cliff face.
Several minutes later and she was about three meters up. Potter was just visible in through the darkness, no more than a meter above her. Carefully, she glanced down. She was a good three meters up, but the first troll had reached the cave entrance. Cedric Potter was closest. He glued himself to the rock, motionless.
Tearing her eyes from him, Blaise continued to climb. A moment later, she nearly lost her grip as Tristan gave a surprised squeal. Blaise twisted, squinting through the dark toward the sound.
Tristan hung from an overhang with one hand, swinging precariously back and forth. Judging by the small avalanche around her, the girl had tried to pull herself up on a deteriorating outcropping of dirt. Only years of Quidditch muscle kept her against the cliff.
"Tristy!" Potter was already moving sideways, trying to get to her. Blaise reached out to grab his foot.
"Don't, Potter!" she muttered at him, trying to keep one eye on the trolls and one on Tristan. "If the trolls haven't heard anything, she might still make it. Let Draco and Weasley help her."
Dorian and Draco, climbing on either side of Tristan, were crawling toward her, trying to grip her other hand. Without warning, the hand still gripping the rock slipped. Blaise had to clamp her own hand over her mouth to stifle a shriek as the girl began to fall –
A meter below, Hayden Malfoy caught her under the arms. There was a sound like a shot, and Blaise heard his groan of pain. Somehow, he kept his grip on both Tristan and the cliff.
"He probably dislocated his shoulder doing that," Potter mumbled, still tense against Blaise's grip on his leg. "Come on, Malfoy. Pull her up!"
"Potter, we've got to move!" Blaise had just glanced down again. The first troll was less than five meters away and gaining fast. Fortunately, Cedric was high enough above them to be out of reach, but he, too, looked like he might go for Tristan at any moment.
"What about – " Potter threw a glance at his daughter
"We're dead if we stay here and the trolls smell us!" Blaise hissed. "There's nothing we can do for Tristan. If we reach the top before them we can work on a distraction of some kind, all right?"
"Fine," he muttered after a moment. "Let's go. Cedric's probably already up."
Blaise glanced sideways. Indeed, Cedric's shadow was gone. Blaise began to climb again, forgoing stealth for speed. After another three meters, she glanced carefully sideways. Tristan was safely back on the cliff-face. She, Draco, and Dorian were helping a whimpering Hayden climb with one arm tucked against his chest. Blaise sent up a wish that he wouldn't fall or pass out. Even trolls were bound to notice that.
Blaise glanced up. She was surprisingly close to the top. No more than two meters, in fact. Cedric Potter's face appeared just above her, even as his father clambered over the edge.
"Come on," Cedric hissed. "They're almost below you – hold it!"
Blaise froze. Trying very hard not to shift at all, she looked down again. The first troll was directly below her. She was out of reach, but she kept still, not wanting to call attention to the others. She looked sideways to check on them and her stomach tightened. The first troll was still directly below her, but his three comrades were moving passed him. And they were moving too purposefully for Blaise's taste. Almost as though they knew that Hayden, Tristan, Draco, and Dorian were still barely six meters up the cliff.
Still within clubbing distance.
Blaise swore. So, a meter above her, did Cedric. He and Potter were too far away to do anything. But surely she could do something.
Tristan was her daughter. Blaise levered her pack off her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Potter demanded. Blaise ignored him, tossing her pack up to him. Fortunately, he caught it. Blaise turned away to gauge the distance to the nearest troll. Then she gave a yell of cosmic proportions and leapt off the cliff. Excellent eyesight helped her land neatly on the shoulders of the troll who had been standing directly below her. She ducked as the thing tried to swipe her from its meaty shoulders with a lumpy fist. She ducked again as its club was swung clumsily at her. Grabbing onto its ears to keep her balance, Blaise was relieved to notice that all the troll's insane bellowing had stopped his friends in their tracks. Dimly, over the sounds her charge was making, she could hear her companions' voices. She squinted – she saw Tristan's feet vanish over the top of the cliff. Hayden was right behind her. Blaise felt a weight lift from her stomach.
She focused on the other trolls and could just make out the other three coming to see what was upsetting their friend. A sudden sway of the troll's body caused Blaise to grab its head. She saw its club a minute before it swung. She had just enough time to remove her hands before the troll brought the thing down on its own head. Blaise could have laughed out loud at the stupidity of it all if she hadn't been busy trying to stop herself falling three meters. The troll staggered, and then collapsed. Blaise managed an awkward forward roll onto the grass, which cushioned her fall somewhat. She pushed herself to her feet, realizing an instant too late that she was upwind. The remaining three trolls, now fully aware of her, were bearing down, clubs held high.
"Oh, bugger it all – " The words were barely out of her mouth, when she felt something slam into her, yanking her off her feet.
"You're no Gryffindor, Zabini," Potter murmured in her ear, settling her in front of him on the broom he was still flying at full-speed away from the bellowing trolls. "What was that stunt all about?"
Blaise opened her mouth, but all that came out was a surprised gurgle that might have been a laugh. Then she began to shake.
"Easy," he said, his arm securely around her waist. "I've got you. You're safe."
"Safe," she repeated, leaning against him to stop the trembling and feeling unaccountably weary. Every ounce of strength and courage she had had gone into throwing herself off that cliff – she hadn't a drop left. Let Harry Potter deal with whatever came next.
"That's right. Here we are." He leveled the broom off over the plateau.
"Blaise!" Draco's face appeared out of the darkness. "Speak to me, Zabini, are you alive?"
"Ask later," she suggested. Potter landed and Blaise's knees went out from under her. Hands caught her.
"That was brilliant, Aunt Blaise!" Dorian Weasley appeared behind Draco, grinning at her. "Wicked cool!"
"Why did you do that?"
Tristan's face appeared beside her cousin's. Hands supported her, voices spoke to her. She blinked, trying to make sense of them.
When she woke, she was propped against a tree and Harry Potter's shoulder. She didn't recognize anything around her, which probably meant that they'd carried her away from the cliff.
"We're in an orchard beyond the plateau," Potter said when he felt her stir. "Watching you play the hero wore us all out."
"Someone had to do it," she retorted, too tired still to lean away from him. "Why'd you come after me, Potter?"
She felt him shrug. "Someone had to come after you," he said. "Why me? Well ..." He paused. "You saved my daughter, Blaise."
She blushed, biting her lip. "I saved my daughter."
"I know." He didn't say anything else, but his arm around her tightened, just a little.
"I don't know if I could do anything like that again, Potter," she told him, pressing her face into his shoulder.
"Trust me, attacking a troll is a once-in-a-lifetime job," he said, chuckling. His breath warmed her neck. "I'll tell you about my moment of stupid heroism sometime."
"I ... I'd like that," Blaise said, surprised that it was true.
"Sleep well," Potter said.
Blaise closed her eyes and did.
)PvsM(
TBC