A/N: For those who left unsigned reviews, your replies are at the end of the chapter. I've just realized that this fic has been up for slightly over a month now! It's amazing how far it's come since then...much further than I'd dared to hope. So thank you, guys, for making this so special for me :)
Big cootie-filled kisses to all the reviewers: euphoenix, SaruDM, QueenMinnie, Love without expectation, RoseWeasley85, amy, XXXmeggie-loves-to-readXXX, Rachel, Missdagane, Tishica, CrimsonBludger83, Wendie R. J, x-rayLady, ohmygolly, lilbuddie715, Sundance1989, emeralda363, Cass, TheInnerMusingsOfMe and Anonymous.
Greetings and acknowledgment to those who alerted(ie. new readers): teddyandlilyforever, Tishica, Manimaniac, AnHonoraryWeasley, Queen Minnie, CrimsonBludger83, vampire-nic1, desibookworm and JennEm236.
There's a ghost in my lungs and it sighs in my sleep
Wraps itself around my tongue as it softly speaks
And Then it walks, Then it walks with my legs
To fall, to fall, to fall at your feet
I'm not calling you a liar- Florence and the Machine
Chapter 15:
"Confringo! Reducto! Impedimenta- DAMMIT! Why is nothing working?"
"Fucked if I know!"
Rose's legs pumped madly beneath her, her sides burning from exertion as she fought to keep running, just ahead of Natalie but still behind the two men who overtook them easily with their loping strides. She curbed the urge to duck out of the way or just stop running. Either one was suicide. The giant boulder- fuck all knew where it came from- was so wide there was only an inch of space between its surface and the walls.
Obviously it was a trap and not a very uncommon one at that but unlike normal boulders which stopped when you ordered them to, this one was completely impervious to magic. She looked up, red hair flopping into her eyes which widened when she realized she could only spot Scorpius' blonde head in front of her. Where was Adam? Twisting around, she realized Natalie was gone as well. Which wasn't much of a pity really…
"Rose!"
Rose's head whipped around at the sound. Just ahead of her, in a crevice in the wall, were Natalie and Adam, beckoning frantically. It was more of an alcove really. Her heart leapt as she realized there was enough space for all of them to fit in and duck around the boulder. She careered to the left, but her diagonal route slowed her down.
"Fuck!" She swore violently and veered to the right again, picking up her pace as the rock nearly crushed her. She looked back desperately but it was no use; the boulder continued to advance and Natalie and Adam were now safely on the other side. Her steps began to lag as the last vestiges of her energy faltered. And then a hand was circling her wrist and yanking her harshly, forcing her to keep moving.
"Scorpius!" Rose cried with relief. She'd almost forgotten about him.
"Keep running!" he yelled at her, without turning back.
"C-can't!" she managed to gasp out, her free hand clutching the stitch in her side.
She heard him swear profusely and rather creatively before he jerked to a halt and grabbed her around the waist. Her world flipped upside down as he tossed her unceremoniously over his shoulder and charged down the tunnel, panting heavily.
"Malfoy!" she yelped, clutching on to his shirt in fright. What was he doing?
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Saving your arse, Weasley!" he yelled back.
She looped one arm around his shoulders trying her hardest not to slip off; it wasn't exactly the smoothest mode of transportation.
She heard him yell out but couldn't make out the words. He skidded to a halt and she landed in an undignified heap at his feet, wand flying out of her hand.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she screeched again, though for very different reasons this time.
"I have an idea!"
"Oh, now you have an idea! Well, great, thanks a-"
"Deprimo!"
The ground in front of the gaining rock exploded inwards. Rose watched with baited breath as it teetered on the edge…and kept rolling.
Scorpius swore and they ran, Rose scooping up her wand at the last possible moment. He went backwards though, using the same spell over and over, each indentation in the ground acting as a speed-breaker until finally the boulder hit one and stayed in it, rocking back and forth for a while before settling in, mercifully stationery.
For a few moments the only sound in the corridor was of their ragged breathing as they drank in the sight of the immobile wall of rock blocking their exit.
Scorpius collapsed against the wall, sliding down. Rose went to join him, knees feeling like jelly.
There was a blank silence, eventually broken by Rose.
"Excellent idea," she said.
XXXXXXXXX
"Mills, will you stop humming that ruddy tune? It's irritating!" snapped Jenna.
Nathaniel agreed wholeheartedly. In fact, if Millie didn't stop humming creepily very soon, he was going to knock her out with a handy Egyptian relic and drag her unconscious and blissfully silent body back upstairs.
Millie's loud laughter echoed around them, bouncing off the walls so it sounded like ten different people laughing. Nathaniel couldn't stop the shiver that ran through his body at the eerie effect.
"Fine, you sour puss. I'll stop singing," she said genially, waving her wand about as if it was a toy.
Nathaniel look around the room they'd finally emerged in. It was huge, the ceiling far above them. The space was inconsistent with the rest of the pyramid actually. It was too large, too deep, too broad. He figured it was the same principle as magical tents and cars. But seeing it applied to a real, vast space was really something. The amount of power required to magically expand the inner dimensions of an entire chamber was huge.
He wandered away from Jenna and Millie, examining the piles of junk lying around. Well, not junk but not exactly anything of use to them. There were old board games-of all things, more statues, a couple of idols and even the odd mummified cat or two: Objects to prevent the old Egyptians from getting bored in the afterlife.
He snorted and picked up an old necklace from a pile. It looked innocuous enough but as he touched it, the claws holding the green gemstone in, parted and bit him on the hand. He dropped it hastily and held his throbbing hand up to the wandlight. He grimaced at the blood and cleaned it up with a neat flick. It didn't hurt too much and nothing odd was happening to his hand so he supposed it was alright. He added 'Bitten by a necklace' to the list of odd things that had happened to him over the years and moved on.
Nate sifted through the pile of jewelry, more careful this time, looking for more cursed objects. He stopped suddenly, noticing something odd. He cocked his head to the side, standing up slowly. It was…too quiet. He spun around quickly, looking for the girls. His head whirled a bit as he did so.
"Jenna?" he called out. "Millie?"
There was a short pause; and then a laugh reverberated around the cavernous space, sending familiar chills down his spine.
"Millie?" he tried. "I can hear you, Mills. Where are you guys, this isn't funny-"
A piercing shriek cut him off, his words withering and dying in his throat.
"Jenna?" his voice wavered. "Mills?"
The silence was punctuated with a drawn out howl of agony.
Fear rushing through his veins, and dizziness sweeping his brain, Nate jolted into action, running towards the sound.
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Oh God, they're dead!"
"They're not dead, you prat."
"How would you know?" Adam said accusingly, his voice uncomfortably high.
Natalie sighed in exasperation. "Shut up you wanker. I know they're not dead because….well, I just know. Anyway, I'm sure Scorpius thought of something."
Adam snorted sardonically. "Yes, I'm sure wonder-boy came up with a handy solution and saved the damsel-in-distress in the nick of time."
Natalie picked a bit of dirt out of her perfect fingernails and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Now follow me. We have to see if we can help at least."
"Yeah," Adam muttered under his breath. "Help get their bodies out of the wreckage."
But he went along nonetheless, the two curse breakers following the destructive path of the giant boulder.
XXXXXXXX
"We're doomed," Scorpius said comfortably. "So you may as well lay here and enjoy your last moments with the hottest bloke on the planet."
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response."
"You just did," he pointed out.
"It wasn't a response, it was a rejoinder."
"Define rejoinder."
"Shut up."
"Incorrect. Try again."
"Shut up."
"…."
Rose's head dropped into her hands as she gave up transforming their entrance into an exit as a lost job. The boulder was firmly wedged into its hole and was still sticking to the sides of the tunnel. There was no way they were getting past that. And it had already proved indestructible.
"We'll just have to keep walking," she said finally.
Scorpius opened one lazy eye. "And if we do are we miraculously going to find a way out of this literal hellhole?"
Rose considered this. "Probably not," she conceded.
"Then no," he said.
Rose sighed in frustration. She picked up a handful of pebbles from the wrecked ground and looked at them thoughtfully. Then she began pelting Scorpius with them, each pebble accompanied with the rhythmic chant of 'Get Up' or 'Wanker', the latter for variety's sake.
XXXXXXX
Adam splayed his hand against the surface of the boulder. So they'd found a way to stop it after all. Which meant they probably weren't dead!
His mind did a conga at the cheerful thought. If they all got out of here alive, they were so having a victory feast at having gotten into the pyramid and then at having got out which seemed considerably more difficult and important.
The Bitch at his side was drumming her wand thoughtfully against her palm.
Ignoring him completely, she cleared her throat delicately, eyelashes fluttering.
"SCORPIUS! ROSE!" she roared deafeningly.
Adam clutched his ears in agony as the very foundation of the pyramid seemed to rattle with the force of her bellowing.
"Merlin's balls, woman! Are you insane?"
She cast him a disparaging look that seemed to pierce his innards with a plastic fork.
"At least I'm doing something. Unlike you. You don't even think they're alive."
"I do so think they're alive," Adam countered. "And since I love Rosie so much already, I'm going to make sure they stay that way. Alive, I mean."
Natalie raised a cool eyebrow. "And I'd very much like to get Scorpius back as well. But how do you propose we do that?"
Adam snorted. "You never had him, to get him back."
The Bitch's lips tightened perceptibly. "We'll see. Now, ideas."
Adam sighed, thinking hard. "Alright…." he said slowly. "Here's what we can do..."
XXXXXXXXX
Nate clutched at the wall in shock, staring at the sight before him, the cursed necklace still dangling loosely from his fist.
"….Mills….?"
The creature in front of him turned its head and he saw with a sickening jolt that it was Millie. And that the prone figure next to her was Jenna. And that Jenna's arm had been sliced open.
And that there was a copious amount of blood around Millie's mouth. In Millie's mouth.
Rivulets of it dribbled down her chin as she smiled at him, each tooth defined by an outline of red.
"Nate."
The dizziness in his head almost overcame him as he turned around and emptied the contents of his stomach.
XXXXXX
They'd made it as far as the burial chamber at least.
But now there really was nowhere to go. It was a dead end. The end of the road. The last mile. The-
"Are you having a conniption?"
"No," she snapped.
"Okay well, if you're having one could you please have it in a room in which we are not surrounded by dead mummified bodies?"
"Shut up and grow up."
"Aren't we ambitious today?"
Rose growled in response and stomped over towards the walls, looking for an out.
"You know," Scorpius called lazily from his corner. "Walls are not women. It doesn't matter how much you poke and prod them, they're not going to open up for you."
Rose whirled around, fury rising.
"You little shit. Is it not your job to ensure I don't die?"
"That's the general gist of it, yes," he said genially.
"Then why," she seethed, "Are you not helping me find a way out?"
"Because," he shot back, "there isn't one. And also in this case we both die so your nutter of a dad can't murder me with his bare hands."
"You are so selfish!" Rose snapped at him, finding him a handy outlet for her frustration. Why was he so….frustrating!
"Now where the hell did that come from?" he said incredulously.
"You only care if it's your own arse on the line, don't you? There's no need to worry if the danger doesn't affect you, as long as your boss doesn't get mad at you, it's all fine and dandy who dies around you!"
"Are you even listening to yourself? You're mad, woman. Completely bonkers. I just said I was going to die, do you think-"
"But no," Rose steamrolled over his attempt at speaking, "Why should one care about anything or anyone If he's as brilliant and beautiful as Scorpius Malfoy? Why should he have to worry about the little people? Huh?"
There was a pause as they gazed at each other, Rose panting heavily, Scorpius as cool and inscrutable as ever.
"You think I'm beautiful?"
"ARGHH!"
XXXXXX
They sat side by side, idly gazing at the walls. After Rose had launched herself at him, they'd had a mock-wrestling match. It had ended rather awkwardly when Rose had found herself straddling his hips with their face mere inches apart.
There was a heated moment as their gazes locked and held, and their lips drifted closer. And then just as they'd brushed, both of them had jolted to their senses and sprung apart. Or well, Rose had jumped off Scorpius and he'd backed up against the wall, scurrying away as if he'd escaped death itself.
They'd gazed warily at each other for what seemed like hours. Then like two cagey predators they'd backed off and retreated to different corners of the gloomy room.
And then they'd just lapsed into a semi-comfortable silence.
Rose heard a faint sound and shook her head to clear it. Maybe that was the sound of her brain oozing out of her ears….
She heard it again. Nope. Not her brain then.
It grew a bit louder and as her mind registered and categorized it, she turned to the alert blond next to her, who was sitting up and listening every bit as intently as she was.
Rose swallowed with great difficulty.
"Scorpius," she said. "Can you hear someone screaming?
A/N: Time to replyyy!
Amy- Don't worry, I'm not planning on killing anyone! (In Egypt, anyway.) I'll leave that for later...
Rachel- I hope there's enough sexual tension to satisfy you! And if there isn't...well, there will be. Soon. Muaahaa. ;) We're all hating on Natalie-heh. I'm glad you all like Adam!
Wendie R. J- Hahaha wow your sister sounds like an interesting person. (Except for if you're one of the girl's whose bf's she stole.) All i know is, Bianka is having way more fun than me right now...Yeah, Pal the Bad Ass is my real-life best friend and she'd pretty entertaining in the middle of class. (Well, okay, I'm the entertaining one- Pal is secretly a nerd-shh!). I know there's no deep emotions as such to the story but that's a good thing in some cases, I think. Sometimes you just want to read something which is entertaining but doesn't require too much thinking. It's also better for a site like this one where there are gaps between each chapter. So, thanks for your nice long review :)
ohmygolly- Yeah, about 23 chapters counting the epilogue. I'm not going to be writing a sequel because I have four months worth of exams coming up, starting December with the big ones in March. As per my country's educational system, these are the equivalent of NEWT's. How I perform in these exams is going to decide the rest of my life, practically. So, no, I'm not going to be able to continue it as much as I may want to! I'm sure I'll write again one day...but for now, I need to study! :(
Cass- See, I complied again and gave you an update on Friday! Aren't i awesome? ;) Haha, I would have been shocked if i'd miraculously received 45 reviews for one chapter. And I've always wanted a gay best friend...I guess that's whats up with me and my Adam-lovin'.
Anonymous- Uhh, your review came off as slightly rude, so i'd just like to reiterate that I have not finished writing this story. I have still got a fair bit left to write and am taking my own time about it so it doesn't come off as a rushed job. Also, I've updated regularly- at least once in three days and mostly on alternate days. I think by fanfic standards, that's pretty good. And don't worry, the chapters do become longer after 16. I didn't mean for it to look as if 'I'm dragging this out'- I edit the chapters based on the reviews for the previous chapter so yeah, I think I do need some time in between as i'm quite busy in real life. Anyway, thanks for reviewing and I appreciate you expressing your honest opinion. Keep reading :)
Chapter 16 will be up...soon! Maybe tomorrow, if I have time but otherwise on Sunday. See y'all next chapter! :)