Zarohk Korobase: Yes, same here. I did mean that, but it came out wrong. Jews and Muslims are friends all the time, I have a couple Muslim friends. Anyway, thank you for reminding me, I fixed it.

Masterofbugs123: Thank you!

Chapter 2:

Day 1

16:07 PM

The boys ceased to quibble. Lily got up from making snow angels. And Rose just stood there; petrified with fright.

"EVERYBODY TAKE COVER!" James screamed.

Then, everything went black. Or rather, white.

James woke up extremely cold. There was white around him on all sides. Was he dead? No, he couldn't be. He felt pain; dead people didn't feel pain, did they? James then realized in horror that he was in fact buried in the snow. Merlin, he thought. I've been buried alive!

He had to dig his way out, and quickly. But James couldn't figure out which direction was up and which one was down. What if he dug where he thought was up, but just ended up going even deeper?

What about the others? Were they okay? James felt a lump in his throat. He couldn't imagine returning to his parents without Albus, Rose, Lily, or even Scorpius. He would never be able to live with himself if that happened.

James sneezed. A large glob of snot came out and fell back on his face. It's strange to think that it was probably that very bogie that ended up saving his life. Since the snot fell back on his face, James knew that he must've been on his back. (Survival tip: If you are ever caught in an avalanche and are buried under snow, spit to see which way is up.)

James was able to dig his way out with some difficulty, but being fairly strong, (both physically and willed,) he was able to accomplish the feat, and dig his way out of what would have soon been his snowy grave.

He gasped for air, not realizing how little oxygen he had been receiving before.

His victory, however, was short lived. He soon remembered the others. How long had he been out? What if the others were already dead?

"James? James! JAMES!" he heard someone call.

It was Lily! "Lil'?" James answered, "Lily where are you?"

"We fell off the side and now we're in this ditch-thingy. Except it's not really a ditch because it goes off in one direction."

Wait, she said 'we'. "Lily, are the others with you?"

"Yes," said a different voice.

"Scorpius?"

James, although not able to see the boy, could tell that he was rolling his eyes at him. "Can you get out?"

"Honestly, James, use your brain: if we could get out, don't you think we would have already done so?" Now it was Rose's voice.

Rose is being sarcastic. She's okay, James decided. So there was Lily, Rose, and Scorpius. So that left . . . "Albus? Albus are you alright?"

"Y . . . yeah . . ." his brother's voice sounded weak and tired. "But I-I think I might've b-broken my ankle . . . "

This was not good. Scorpius, Albus, Rose, and Lily were stuck, and Albus may have even broken his ankle!

Although the situation was unavoidable, James couldn't help but feel that it was his fault.

"I'll go get help!" he called, "stay where you are!"

If only they had listened.

"I'm cold!" Lily whined in an artificially high-pitched voice in an attempt to sound even cuter than she normally did.

While the trick worked on most adults, Rose was immune to it. She answered Lily in a high-pitched voice, imitating her cousin, "too bad!"

"But I'm really, really cold!" she complained in her normal voice.

"Well, that's really, really too bad!"

Actually," Albus put in, "I'm cold, too."

"So am I," said Rose, "but that doesn't mean - -"

"There's an ice cave right over there," Scorpius pointed out.

"Well . . ." Rose hesitated, "James said to stay here . . ."

"Since when do you listen to the rules?" asked Albus.

"Point taken," Rose said, "but still . . ." she looked at them. This isn't going to get me anywhere, she decided. "Fine," Rose sighed, as she reluctantly followed her friends into the cave, "but something tells me that I'm going to regret this."

Running up a mountain of snow is never an easy task, especially when you are carrying a pair of skis as you do so.

While James was strong and fit, being a chaser of the Gryffindor quidditch team, he was still panting more than Padfoot after a bird chase by the time he reached the top of the mountain.

Ginny glanced up from the road map that she was reading. There were no appropriate fireplaces to flu home, and apperating was out of the question, so the Potter's and the Weasley's decided to simply drive.

"Hey, James," she said, "You're back soon. Where are the others?"

James's eyes stung. "Th-there was an avalanche. Nobody was seriously hurt, but - -" he turned, not daring to meet his mother's eyes, "they g-got trapped in this ditch-like thingy."

Ginny's eyes widened in horror. "Get your father."

"Also, Rose was with us, too."

"Then get your Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron. Hurry!"

"I'm on it!"

"Lily, stop eating the snow!" Rose commanded.

But I'm thirsty!" she whined, scooping up another handful.

Rose knocked it out of her hand. "Stop it!"

"Oh, so Albus an do it, but not me?"

"What?" Rose turned to look at Albus. Sure enough, he was gobbling snow faster than she would have thought to be humanly possible. "Albus, stop! You don't know where that snow has been. What if wild animals pooped and peed in it?"

At that lovely thought, Albus and Lily then proceeded to spit out the snow they were eating, and began clawing at their tongues.

"Where's Rose?" wondered Hermione. "I hope she didn't fall through the thin ice again."

"I'm sure she's fine," Ron said, "besides, she wouldn't make that mistake twice."

"People fall onto ice."

"Yeah, but she was skating on the thin ice."

"That' not what she told me," Hermione aid, realizing what had happened. "Ooh, that girl is so grounded when she gets back!"

That would soon become the least of their problems.

"Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron!" James Sirius Potter came running up to them. He looked pale and worried. "Rose is in trouble," he said.

"What? How?"

"There was an avalanche. She wasn't hurt or anything, but - -"

He had lost Hermione at 'avalanche'. "What?" she demanded. "We have to get down there now!"

"Why?"

Hermione paled. "Avalanches almost always come in groups!"

The others fell silent with a chilling realization.

Ron broke the silence after a full thirty seconds. "This is bad," he decided.

"Albus, my fingers really hurt," Lily complained.

"Let me see," said her brother, taking off Lily's gloves. What he saw both terrified and fascinated him. Lily's fingers were white and waxy; the tips were beginning to turn a sickening shade of dark purple. Albus had a hunch, but didn't want to jump to conclusions. Rose, however, had no problem breaking the news to them.

Rose let out a small gasp. "Frostbite," she breathed in horror.

"W-what is it?" asked Scorpius, who had just woken up from a nap.

"It's nothing to worry about," she lied, "we just need to get her to a doctor as soon as possible."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "But we're trapped," he protested.

"So?" Rose demanded. "We'll climb our way out."

"But I can't walk," Albus said.

"You're right," Rose said thoughtfully. She hesitated for a long time. Finally, she sighed, seeing no way out of this. "Albus," she told him, "I think you'll have to stay here. We'll come back for you, I-I promise." Rose blinked the tears out of her eyes, "I'm really sorry," she whispered.

"It's fine," Albus said, although it clearly wasn't. She was abandoning him! He understood why, but that didn't mean he liked it. It wasn't fair. Albus turned away so that no one would see him cry.

Rose and Lily got up to go, Scorpius joined them, but turned around at last minute before exiting the cave. Malfoy couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. Albus was his best friend, and he was just leaving him with a broken ankle in an ice cave. Still, he wanted to get out of the cave as soon as possible. Was it so wrong to put his life before those of others? It was only natural to want to save his own butt. Besides, he needed to protect the girls. Scorpius laughed to himself. Protect the girls? Now he was just looking for excuses. Rose would sooner die in a fight than have help.

He cleared his throat, "Hey . . . um . . . so do you want me to stay, or . . . ?"

Albus could tell he didn't mean it. The question was almost rhetorical. Still, it was a kind gesture, and it must have been hard for him. He took a deep breath. "Go ahead," he said, "I'll be fine."

Scorpius shrugged and followed the girls.

Rose scowled as Scorpius approached her. "Took you long enough!" she huffed.

"Sorry," he apologized, "I was just making sure Albus was alright."

Rose's expression softened a bit. "Yeah, well, we have to get up as soon as possible. As night approaches, the temperature continues to plummet and the risk of Hypothermia increases."

Lily and Scorpius both stared at her blankly, not having understood a word of what she just said.

Rose's eyes got bigger. "On second thought," she said, "get back to the cave right now!"

"Why?"

"But you just said - -"

"And now I changed my plan. Now, GO! MOVE IT!"

Scorpius and Lily were smart enough not to argue with an angry Rose Weasley. Besides, her gut feelings were almost always right. So they obeyed her and ran back to the ice cave. It was a good thing, too, because just then a huge pile of snow/ice slid down the mountain.

"We'll just stay here until the avalanche stops," Rose told them.

Albus looked up. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be - -"

"No time!" Rose said. "There's another avalanche, go as far back in the cave as you can."

"But what if the cave collapses?"

"You have a better idea?"

"No."

"They all closed their eyes, not daring to look. Rose was the first to open hers. She glanced at her friends. Fortunately, they were all unscathed. "You can open your eyes now," she told them.

They all did, glad that it was over.

"I should've known!" Rose groaned. "Of COURSE avalanches come in groups! They weaken the snow. I'm so STUPID!" she looked at Lily, who was shivering ferociously. "We need to get help n - - oh no." Rose froze as she stared at the ice cave entrance; it was completely blocked out.

Albus saw it, too. "It must have caved in!"

Lily started sobbing. "We're going to die!"

Scorpius shivered, "My father's going to kill me," he whispered.

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