Life, Love, and an Acute Caffeine Dependency
By: QDT
Disclaimer: I am the Queen of Duct Tape, not the Queen of Harry Potter.
Chapter Six
Hermione didn't bother to answer as she took Fred's hand and let him help her onto the ledge. Their ledge was quite close to the bottom of a large, underground waterfall that ended in a swift, fast, and very likely deep river.
"Fred," she breathed. "It's gorgeous."
"Well…yes," said Fred awkwardly. "But it's nothing special."
Hermione looked at him. Actually, it was rather more that she stared at him, and it was kind of unnerving.
"What?" asked Fred. "Do I have something on my nose?" He crossed his eyes in an attempt to examine his nose.
"Actually," said Hermione, "I wasn't going to say anything, but…" They grinned. "Seriously, though," she said. "It is something special. How many people do you suppose have bothered to come down here in the past year? How many people do you think have ever been here, have ever seen this?"
"I really wouldn't have the faintest idea," Fred informed her. "Not many, though, I reckon. You have to know the way."
"That's it, though," said Hermione. "It takes time and effort to get down here, and if they knew it was here, I think most people wouldn't think it's worth it."
"Is it, then?"
"Is it worth it?" asked Hermione. Fred nodded. "I think so, yes." She nodded back at him. "Thanks for bringing me to see this."
"You're welcome," said Fred, "but there's more."
"More what?" asked Hermione blankly.
"More to see," replied Fred. "Come on." And he jumped down onto another ledge, offering his hand again.
Hermione followed him onto several more ledges before they were faced with a fairly sizeable jump onto one last ledge that led into a tunnel. "Fred," she said with a hint of trepidation. "Where are we going?" Because if they were, perchance, to miss the ledge on the other side, they would land in the river that lay at the bottom of the waterfall, but only after a fall of no little height.
"We're going to jump across here and follow that tunnel," Fred said as though falling had never crossed his mind. "I'll go first," he said, looking her straight in the eyes, "and if you don't make it all the way, I'll catch you. But you have to trust me."
Not breaking eye contact, Hermione nodded.
"Good." Fred grinned lopsidedly, ending the serious mood. He stepped back a bit before launching himself across the distance.
For a terrible second Hermione thought he wasn't going to make it. But then he was standing on the other side, smiling back at her. She let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding.
"Your turn, Hermione," Fred called to her.
"Right," she muttered, glancing at the river. She stepped back from the edge, then jumped before she could think too much about it and lose her nerve.
For another terrible second, Hermione was sure she was going to plunge to her death, but then Fred's arms were around her, reassuringly strong, as he hauled her onto the ledge with him.
"You okay?" asked Fred as she took a deep breath. Hermione made a squeaking noise. "Right," said Fred. "We'll just stand here for a bit, shall we?" Hermione nodded into his shirt.
"Okay," said Hermione, taking a step back and standing up straight. "We can go now."
"Good to know." Fred grabbed her hand and started down the tunnel, which was quite large enough to walk in for a long time.
As they walked along, Hermione began to notice a muted roaring noise that steadily got louder. "Fred?" she said.
"What?"
"Now where are we going?"
"You're awfully impatient," Fred told her.
"That's fine. Just where are we going?"
"You'll see."
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Quite a lot, actually," said Fred, turning around to face her. "Almost there."
"It's really loud," Hermione commented.
"Yes."
"Is there a reason for this?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"Turn around," said Fred by way of an answer.
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Hermione turned around and had opened her mouth to ask another question when Fred put his hands on her hips and hoisted her up. "Grab the ledge and climb up," he told her. She complied, glad that she hadn't had to try and climb up on her own, but wondered how Fred was going to get up after her.
After scrambling to get her feet up, she actually looked in front of her. "Fred!" she exclaimed.
"What?" he asked, using the walls to climb up after her.
"Are we…are we behind the waterfall?"
"No," said Fred cheekily. "There just happens to be several tons of water falling down here. I suspect it should stop in a moment." Hermione pretended to punch him and he rubbed his shoulder and made a face at her before grinning again. Then, his stomach rumbled.
"Hungry?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah," he said ruefully. "Let's go get some lunch." He led the way out, in a different direction from where they came in.
"Uh…didn't we get here from that hole in the ground?"
"Yes."
"Then where are we going now?"
"It's easier to get out this way," said Fred. He led her toward a tunnel that sloped gently downwards. Shortly afterwards they were in a large cavern and Fred sat down on a relatively rock. "Let's stop here for a minute," he said, having noticed that Hermione was having trouble keeping up. It was obvious that she wasn't used to trudging through caves with only a bagel in her stomach.
"Excellent," said Hermione, sitting down on another rock. Once they had each caught their breath, Fred stood up again.
"Let's go," he said, offering his hand to Hermione. Again. She took it and tried to lever herself up, but her foot was caught on something.
"Hang on," she said, bending down to fix it. She tugged on her foot, and set a very large rock loose from the wall. There was a rumbling noise, and Fred tried to pull her out of the way, but soon a massive pile of rocks was on her ankle. She sucked in a breath and made a squeaking noise quite similar to the one she had emitted after jumping over the river.
And now you get to stew about how the hell they're going to get themselves out of this one while I go on vacation for week.
Special thanks to GryffindorwithFredandGeorge for making me update this thing. If you're curious, she's threatened to sic Voldemort on me if I don't update. Also, I will have you know that he's on my doorstep right now, and if he so much as ruins my doorbell, you, Sam, are paying for it, because I've updated now, and it is NOT my fault.
Thank you all for reading, and please take the time to drop me a review!
Until next time,
Ab