Abyss

Abyss

Harry ran back up the stairs, with Hermione and Malfoy close behind him. When they reached the rooms they stood at different doors, but before Harry opened his, Hermione spoke with a definite quiver in her voice, "Wait. What are we going to say?" She looked at him for the answer.

Harry lowered his head, too much aware of the own shaking of his hand as he held on the doorknob. "We can't tell them the truth," he said firmly. "It'll scare the hell out of them, and we can't afford them to panic in this."

"So we're... going to lie to them?" she asked, glancing at Malfoy.

"We can't," Malfoy spoke, looking at Hermione and then at Harry. His face was dark and grim. "We won't. It would be better if we scare the hell out of them all."

"So you'd rather have them terrified?" Harry challenged, meeting his gaze.

"If they're terrified then they're bound to move quicker. That's how we want them, right?" With that, Malfoy opened his door and shouted. Hermione followed second, and Harry last.

He saw that the children were surprised at his intrusion, with them bolting up on their beds, obviously aroused from sleep. Harry walked towards them and began taking the blankets off their bodies. "Stand up, you lot," he spoke loudly, taking the bedspread from Joey Garson. "We're leaving."

"Leaving?" Eric asked, rubbing his eyes with both fists. "Where are we going?"

"Why?" Marvin queried, though he stood up.

Harry looked at them, and knew that what he would say would definitely have an impact on these children. He'd rather not tell them what was really going on, but what Malfoy said made sense, he must admit. "Remember what Dumbledore said earlier, about us heading for Languid Valley? We're doing it tonight."

"Why?" Joey asked this time, still not moving from his bed. "I thought you said we're safe here?"

"Death Eaters," Harry spoke, and instantly the mood in the room changed as the three boys regarded him with wide, terrified eyes. "They're coming for us tonight, and if we don't leave now we're going to die."

For a moment, the three boys looked as though they were struck dumb by what they had heard. Harry began to wonder if they're slow or stupid, or worse, both. Fortunately, though, Eric and Marvin awoke from their stupor and leapt from their positions to head towards the door. Joey was pulling on his shoes when Harry followed the other boys. As he stood out the door he saw that the other students were also flowing out of the rooms and running towards the stairs.

"Quick!" Hermione said, standing near the stairs and directing the way. Harry turned right, and saw Malfoy open another door and yell, "Death Eaters are coming! Run for your lives!" on top of his lungs. It was highly effective, as four boys quickly poured out of the room to join the pandemonium.

Harry met Malfoy's eyes, and the Slytherin mouthed, "What?"

"Let's go," Hermione told them, and as quick as their feet carried them they headed towards the main door, and out of the house.

Harry lit his wand with an incantation, and instructed the others to do the same. He noticed that Hermione took a step towards Malfoy as he, too, lit his wand. Harry grimaced, and quickly took the lead, guiding the group towards the path on the right. The tall patches of grass around them looked threatening, much like the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, but at least in here they were confident that nothing would spring out of the shadows. Harry shoved leaves from his direction as he began to weave a trail away from the path. He could hear mumbles of protest from behind him, but he paid them no mind. Finally, after walking for a good fifteen minutes they reached a clearing, and stopped to take some breaths.

"I know I speak for all of us when I ask, why are we walking away from the path? I thought the path was there so we could walk on it," Malfoy said.

Harry faced him. In the dimness of the evening he couldn't really see Malfoy's expression, but he knew the boy was mocking him. "That path leads to the other safe houses, and right now that's not where we're going," he answered. He turned to the other students, doing his best to reassure them. "Dumbledore told me the way to Languid Valley, so don't worry. I won't get us off track."

"Three, four, five--" Hermione muttered, as she stood beside Malfoy.

"I thought you said Minas Deep was the one place where the Death Eaters couldn't find us?" Matthew asked, as he sat on the ground with his knees pulled to his chest and his wand lying near him.

"It was," Harry replied, looking at the one who spoke. "But not anymore."

"Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen--"

"How was it discovered? Wasn't it unpala... unplata..."

"Unplotable," Hermione corrected, though she was quite busy doing something else. She was moving from one student to the next, and then turning around and pointing. "Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two--"

"Yeah, that," Raymond said, looking down at his feet. "Unplotable."

"We don't have time to answer all your questions," Malfoy spoke loudly, ending the small question and answer portion to which Harry was thankful for. "The sooner we get to Dumbledore's place the better we all will be. Now let's get--"

"Wait!" Hermione cried suddenly. "Wait," she repeated, counting again.

"Look, Hermione--"

"No, wait, I only counted twenty-nine. There are only twenty-nine of them here, and there are thirty of them in total, right? Right?" she demanded.

Harry nodded.

"Someone's missing," she deduced, dread in her voice and in her face.

"Who's missing?" Harry asked, looking at the students. Though the light cast by his wand was bright, there were still shadows that cloaked most of his view in darkness. He couldn't see their faces, only their silhouettes.

"I--I don't know," Hermione answered. "Stand up, all of you!" she yelled, addressing the students. "You're familiar with your housemates, right? Can someone tell us who's missing among your group or your friends?"

The children pulled themselves to their feet, each looking at the others and trying to find out who among them was gone. Several moments passed, and no one answered.

"Maybe somebody slipped somewhere, or got lost," Harry suggested, trying to remember who among the crowd he was not seeing there. It was a very difficult task. "Were there thirty of them before we left the house?"

She shook her head. "No... I mean, I--I don't know. I only did a head count just now. Oh, how could I have been so stupid! I should've thought of--"

"We have to move," Malfoy reminded them, looking around him, on the alert. Something in his expression worried Harry.

"But we're missing a student!" Hermione protested, pulling at the sleeve of Malfoy's robe.

"Would you rather sacrifice everyone here for the sake of one student? Besides, it's just Joey," Malfoy said, taking her hands off his clothes. "We don't need him, anyway."

"Garson? He's the one missing?"

Malfoy turned towards Harry. "Yes. Good riddance, I'll say."

"Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed, hitting him on the shoulder. She looked at Harry. "We can't leave him behind! If the Death Eaters see him--"

"--he'll die," Harry finished, his voice quiet but clear.

The other students were silent in accepting this undeniable truth.

Worry instantly clouded Hermione's face. "Harry..."

"I'll go look for him," Harry volunteered, already moving back. "I'll start at the safe house--"

"No!" she protested, moving to him. "You can't leave this group. You're the only one who knows how to go to Languid Valley, remember?"

"There you go, problem solved," Malfoy said. "You can't go back to the safe house and leave us hanging in here. I guess that means we're moving, then?"

Hermione shook her head again. "No," she said slowly. "I'm going to go back for him."

"What?" Malfoy asked.

Harry raised his brows in surprise. "You can't do that--"

"Of course I can," she insisted, wringing her hands. "Just because I lost my wand doesn't mean I lost my sense of direction. Lead the others to the valley, then meet me here as soon as possible. I'll be as quick as I can."

Malfoy looked every inch as reluctant to let her go as Harry felt. "Granger," he said through clenched teeth. "I know Gryffindors are brave and heroic and all that nonsense but this is just stupid. You can't risk your life for a low-blood scum like--"

"I'm going back for him, Malfoy," she spoke firmly, her tone unheeding any contest. "And you can't stop me."

Without another word she marched towards the tall foliage. In seconds she was engulfed in total darkness.

"Stupid girl," Malfoy said, shaking his head. He looked at Harry. "You have to move now, get them to safety," he ordered. "I'll take care of her." And he, too, disappeared, only the small light on the tip of his wand telling the others of his movements.

Harry looked on until the light disappeared completely. Now the two were on their own. "Come on," he said gruffly to the others. "We have to go."

He only wished Hermione and Malfoy could get out of Minas Deep before the Death Eaters arrived.

*

"Joey!" Hermione shouted, once she was back inside the house again. Her feet felt like leads attached to her limbs, and there was already a stitch at her side after running all the way, but she didn't care. She would never allow any more deaths to occur to them as long as she could help it. She would never allow someone she knew to fall into the hands of Death Eaters once again. "Joey! Jo--"

Footsteps echoed from behind her. Fear reverberated from within her, making her tremble, and she turned sharply - only to find that it was Malfoy who did all the noise. "Why are you here?" she demanded, slightly out of breath. Her tone belied the relief she felt at seeing him.

"Two things," he said, also stepping inside the house. "One: you're stupid enough to come back. Two: I'm not stupid enough to leave you behind."

She exhaled, walked towards him, grabbed his shoulders and kissed him squarely on the mouth. She was shocked at her own audacity, but she didn't care. "Thank God. Thank you."

He grinned. "Consider this my apology for leaving your side earlier, which I vow never to do again."

"Good to hear that, though I won't accept that apology just yet. I still would like to see you suffer a bit more." Hermione flashed him a smile.