Ynunlle

Chapter VII

Day Two

The wake-up alarms went off just over an hour before dawn. There was time for everyone to have a slow, leisurely awakening and breakfast, since they did not want to get to the bridge too early. Remus and Edward had a brief chat with Carol and Flitwick. The cooking detail prepared some of the food for dinner (peeling potatoes and the like) and set it all under preserving spells.

An hour and a half after local sun-rise (the teens still could not think of it as 1:25), the group exited the habitat, Remus going out first in wolf-form. Compared to the day before, the walking was easier, and this time they left the walking staffs behind from the start. They had walked a mile in less than forty minutes, which was still slower than they would be going once they hit the road.

Charlie and Remus left the group and scouted the area around the bridge. They scouted carefully, and only came back twenty minutes later, Remus changing and giving the all-clear. "They've been gone for over an hour," Remus told them. "We might as well make time."

"No rush," Edward stated. "Stretch the muscles today; we can pick up the pace tomorrow."

"How far until we turn west?" Harry asked, standing up from cover and helping Hermione and Luna to do the same.

"A shade over four miles from the bridge," Edward answered as the group moved out. "The Old Ones laid down roads, which they enchanted, so they should be in fairly good shape. The road to the cave is the first paved west turn."

"You all remember what you were taught about mountain trolls, I hope!" Remus stated.

"They hate water, and will cross no stream wider than a yard or so unless under dire peril," Ginny answered promptly.

"There's a pre-Druidic incantation, 'Rastarip triam Holath,' that can be put on narrow access points, which will discourage trolls from entering," Luna added quickly.

"Right," Remus told them, proud that the two had remembered their lessons from him quicker than the other three remembered Lockhart's, "that's why most bridges in this area will have some sort of portal at one or both ends."

"Once we all pass through the portal, we say the incantation as a group," Edward said. "Then we walk quietly and moderately -- we don't want to catch up to any other group."

The group nodded their understanding. They saw a number of dugouts and a few skiffs that had been pulled up on both of the grassy banks. The two rivers did nearly meet, they were only thirty yards apart. No doubt, some day they would erode away the banks and meet.

The bridge was a very solid, unmortared stone-and-timber bridge. The portal at the end was simply two tall oak poles with a cross-beam. They turned and said the incantation together.

The road was not overly-wide, perhaps the same as a two-lane auto highway. It was paved with slightly-rounded rocks; not terribly comfortable walking, but still better than walking on smaller cobbles. Cattle and oxen were the only beasts of burden known to the peoples of Ynunlle, and ox-carts and similar vehicles were only used near villages. With only occasion foot-traffic, the charms and enchantments kept the road in good repair.

In four hours, they had strolled nearly the entire four miles without breaking a sweat. Edward and Charlie had agreed to go slowly, to make certain everyone was up to the walk. There was a bridged stream, and the group sat in the covered bridge for lunch after saying the incantation on the entrance.

"I know it's too early to say," Neville started, but he was hushed by most of the others.

"Oh, come on," Hermione said. "His saying we've had an easy trip so far is not going to bring bad luck!"

"Even granted its at best only a fifth of the way. . . ." Neville tried to continue.

"Neville, why say it?" Charlie nearly snapped.

"The turn is about thirty yards down the road," Edward said, overriding the growing grumbling. "Trolls, black and brown bears, coyotes, wolves, pixies, boggarts. . . ."

"I get the idea," Neville said.

"Vampires and their servants, dragons, highway men, angry peasants. . . ." Edward continued.

"Twisted ankles, doxy bites, sunburn. . . ." Remus went on.

"Stop!" Ginny demanded.

"I won't answer for these two," Edward said, "but I was reminding all of us, including myself. We may easily get all the way to the cave and back with no problems beyond some sore muscles, or we may not. If we don't get sloppy, we shouldn't have any major problems. Now, are we ready?"

The group packed up, moved out of the covered bridge and cast the incantation, and then walked to the west turn. The road went nearly straight for almost a mile and a half. The verge was made up of tightly, inter-grown bushes, so that nothing large could really leap out at them.

After about half a mile, Harry quietly asked Edward why Charlie was still so nervous, and scanning the sky, sometimes with his omniculors.

"Dragons and wyverns," Edward answered. "Nothing can leap out at us, but that also means we can't run for cover, either. That's why I told you that you could have left your brooms; it's unlikely you'll need it. After this straight away, we'll be winding through and over low hills, dales, glens, whatever you want to call these little valleys. The danger there will be the ground animals."

"Wyverns?" Harry asked.

"Miniature dragons, about six to eight feet long from snout to the start of the tail. They hunt in small packs, and have been extinct back home for over a thousand years. As far as we know, the only two types of dragons here are the Welsh green and the Welsh red -- which is also extinct at home."

Harry nodded. As the group approach the end of the straight-away, the road curved west north-west around a high hill. The hedge on the left verge had a very old, wide break and a trail leading up the hill. Remus had gone forward while Charlie kept an eye on the trail.

"Troll trail?" Hermione asked.

Charlie just nodded. The whole group knew that this meant it was most likely a family group, and the male troll would not act against a group this size unless the group tried to approach the females and children. Any danger would come from a pod of young male trolls, who often ran amuck to exert dominance and to attract females.

The hedge on the right ended as the road came close to a small stream. The one on the left slowly started showing small gaps, and petered away within fifty more yards.

"I think we should take a short break," Charlie said. There was still a section of hedge to protect them from the left, and the stream was starting to turn away from the road on the right. That left a shady glade to rest in.

"Are these blueberries?" Luna asked, looking at some of the bushes.

Neville took a look. "A variety, anyway." He glanced at Edward. "Can we risk it?"

Edward shook his head. "It's almost certainly safe, but we still shouldn't risk it. Take a close look at it; if you get lost without your cube, this would be a decent bet for a little food."

"No dragons?" Harry asked Charlie.

"No, although I thought a saw a wyvern flying south just after we came off the bridge for lunch. It was going away from us, thank goodness."

Tonks looked at her watch. "Nine twenty. So, we should walk for another hour or so?"

Remus stood and stretched. "I guess. I think I'll walk as myself for a while," he said, flexing his hands. He of course did not spend a lot of time as a werewolf, and the pads on the wolf's forefeet were a little sore.

An hour later, they found themselves at the entrance to the next small valley. "Shall we walk down to that little brook and camp there?" Tonks asked.

Charlie shook his head first. "No. If we were really camping instead of living in the habitat we would, but since we have our own water we should stay away from it."

"Water attracts just about everything," Edward reminded them as they moved off the road to a small clearing.

"Of course, if we were really camping," Hermione added thoughtfully, "a campfire on the top of a hill would be like a beacon."

"Exactly," Charlie agreed. "A different set of rules apply."

"How far do you think we've gone," Ginny asked as Tonks made her cube change into the faux-tent entrance.

"About four miles the first day, and just ten miles today," Charlie said cheerfully.

"Thirty-one miles to go," Tonks stated, "more-or-less.

"How deep is the cave?" Luna asked. "We really didn't get a whole lot of information."

"If it were straight in, maybe fifty yards," Remus told her. "With the twists and changes of level, maybe two hundred yards."

"So," Harry asked Remus, "what did that keen nose detect in the area?" Remus had gone back into wolf form to sniff around and had just changed back in time to answer Luna's question.

"A few old troll trails, both types of bear -- although I'm not certain which is which, I think it was a male black bear, a female black bear with two cubs, and a grizzly. The most recent troll must have been dragging a slaughtered moose." Remus looked around an sighed. "Despite the beauty of the scenery, it is only an hour and a half until sunset. Let's get in. We can't afford to look at the stars here."

"Twelve hours of sunlight really aren't a lot, are they?" Luna asked as she entered the tent an hour later.

Remus went to take a long bath, while Harry went to take a quick shower. Tonks drifted out of the sitting room after a few minutes, muttering something about washing Remus' back when Edward teased her.

Charlie and Ginny were having a heated, although quiet, discussion. It was evident what the major topic was, and so everyone in the room decided it was the best part of valor to retire and wait for the water pressure to build and allow them to shower as well. Harry and Neville fled first, but everyone else was gone in less than a minute.

Seeing everyone gone, Ginny rounded on Charlie, "And I suppose you were totally innocent at sixteen?"

"You're not sixteen for a while yet, Gin," Charlie argued.

"Who was nearly expelled for sneaking into the prefect's bathroom with TWO girls during their FOURTH year? I'm entering my Sixth, might I remind you."

"And I'm not saying anything bad about Neville," Charlie went on, "just that you are both too young. . . ."

"To date?"

Charlie looked at her fiercely. "No, not too young to date, too young to shag. Deny you're sleeping with him? Deny you're shagging him?"

"And sucking him and bending over so he can take me up the. . . ."

"GINNY!"

"I'd never done that before last night," Ginny mused. "I wouldn't risk my real body, but it was fun. I rather think Luna lost her virginity last night, from the way she was walking and the way Hermione and Harry were watching her today. . . ."

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT LUNA!" Charlie shouted. "I don't really care what Hermione does, for that matter. It's YOU I'm responsible for. . . ."

"Nonsense," Ginny snapped. "You are no more responsible to me than I am for you."

"Maybe, when you're well into your twenties, I will accept that," Charlie told her, "but that's at least seven years away."

"I love Neville," Ginny said simply. "If this doesn't change, I rather think I shall marry Neville in three or four years." She gave Charlie an evil look. "You know, marriage; what Mum bugs you about, since she doesn't know you prefer being buggered, like I was last night."

Charlie sat down, surprised.

"Yes, I know you're gay," Ginny said.

"I'm not," Charlie said softly, from the shock.

"Alright, bi, with a decided preference by well-hung men."

Charlie shook his head. "That was just a phase." He gazed up at Ginny. "There are six of us, four guys and two girls."

"A double-inverse of Harry's group, huh?"

Charlie took a moment to think about that, and nodded.

"Now," Ginny asked, "which would shock Mum the most? My precocious relationship with the boy I hope to marry in a realm where nothing affects my real body, or your group orgies?"

"It's not like that, Gin!" Charlie protested.

"It will seem that way," Ginny insisted. "Now, I can accept what you're doing, as odd as it seems to be, because I love you. Try and do the same for me, despite my age."

"But it's not the same," Charlie said, now getting really angry. His voice was now getting threatening as he added, "You don't know what you're doing!"

"Aren't they similar?" a new voice added from across the room.

"No offense, Harry, but this is none of your damn business," Charlie snapped.

"No offense, but arguing in a public area that I have to cross at least calls it to my attention," Harry said. "And yes, to some degree it is my concern, even if you don't agree."

He turned to face Ginny from part away across the room, ignoring Charlie, who was getting ever more angry. "I really hope you and Neville aren't having regular sex in the real world," Harry told her. "I'm not with Luna or Hermione, and won't until Luna is done with her N.E.W.T.s. I wish you and Neville would do the same, whether you have done it before or not. Neville needs those N.E.W.T.s for his agricultural work, and I'd feel a lot better if you both finished up your Defense work. I love Luna and Hermione, just like you love Neville, but Charlie's right, we're all so young we might be wrong."

"See, even Harry knows it's wrong!" Charlie said firmly. "You're all too young!"

Harry walked over towards them, and such was the power and anger radiating from Harry that Charlie had to take two steps back. Ginny and Charlie's eyes both went wide. It was as if Harry had unveiled his true self, and the power was dazzling. "You might say that your commitments to Ginny are more important, because you're her real brother, and I'm at best her foster-brother. That if there is any kind of wizard's debt, she owes it to me," Harry said quietly, but the power of his magic was such that it was raising the hair on the back of Charlie's head. "But I don't think that way, Charlie."

Harry took another step, and Charlie found himself pressed against the wall and breathing very fast. "Ron, Sirius, Ginny, Hermione, Luna, and little Harold. As far as I'm concerned, I am, or was, pledged to them in ways I can't explain. So, I'll just say that I have, and will, kill to protect them. That I will die to protect them. Yes, Sirius and Ron are dead, but so are their killers. I love Ginny like a sister, and I will protect her. If Neville hurts her, I will deal with it. If YOU hurt her, I will deal with it."

Harry turned to Ginny. "And I don't mean you're my 'little' sister."

"Trying to add her to your harem, Potter?" Charlie managed to snarl.

Harry snapped back to face Charlie, and Charlie realized right then he would be better off facing an angry mother dragon without a wand than an angry Harry Potter while having one. "Charlie, you're one of the few people alive who could say something like that to me. Now, I am NOT looking to create a harem; neither Luna nor Hermione, nor Ginny for that matter, would tolerate it even if I had ever thought of it. I love both Luna and Hermione, and they love me and each other, and so far I have been fortunate not to have to choose, if that's any of your business."

Harry took a deep breath, and the power radiating from him seemed to diminish a bit. "I'm not trying to interfere with your relationship with Ginny, Charlie. Argue with her all you want, even scold if you want to, but please, no fighting."

Harry suddenly winked at Ginny so that Charlie could not see it. "Unless, of course, you'd care to join us after dinner, Gin? Then Neville could demonstrate to Charlie if he knows the proper way to. . . ."

"Go to hell, Harry!" Charlie snapped, and stormed out of the room.

"That must have been a very quick shower, Potter," Ginny said, trying to growl.

"The girls offered to give me a bath later, so I did a quick wash-up," Harry said. Harry hesitated, then took Ginny's chin in his hand. "I do worry about you and Neville, Gin."

Ginny smiled. "Don't, Harry. We decided not to shag out in the real world anymore, at least for a while, but why waste the chance now?"

"Okay. I certainly understand that." Harry dropped his hand and sighed. "I guess I'd best get dinner going."

"I'll help chop the potatoes," Ginny offered.

"Onions."

"Whatever."

Dinner was very quiet that evening. Obviously everyone had heard the end of the 'discussion' between Harry and Charlie. Both Charlie and Neville slipped out early (going in opposite directions). Hermione and Luna stayed to help Ginny clean up, and Edward steered Harry to a far corner of the sitting room.

"Going to chastise me, Ted?" Harry asked.

"No, not really," Edward answered. "Should I?"

"No, I don't think so." Harry suddenly lowered his eyes. "Why did I do that?"

"There are somewhere between five and six million of us in our world, Harry. Probably less than a hundred of us have anything like the power you displayed today, maybe less than thirty. You have to remember that in your interactions. Never use it deliberately for anything that isn't worthy." Edward shrugged. "That's all I can tell you."

Harry gave a deep sigh. "I know; 'with power comes responsibility,' right?"

"For people like us? Yes."

Harry straightened a little. "That's how Potters should act, right?"

"Right," Edward said. Then he gave a small twisted smile. "Granted, it took your father until well into his Sixth year to even start to really learn it. You're ahead of that curve. But like I said before, you really do have that arrogant streak that was one of his dominant traits, and one of mine at times for that matter."

Harry flushed in embarrassment and nodded. He went to see how the girls were doing. Within fifteen minutes, the quartet had finished the preliminary preparation for the next day's food. Ginny went to look in Neville, while Hermione and Luna dragged Harry to the bath.

"Interesting evening," Remus said to Edward a few moments after the teens had left for their corridor.

"Very," Edward agreed.

Remus picked up a billiard cue. Edward nodded, and went to get one was well.

"Eight ball?" Remus asked.

"Sure; haven't played since New Orleans. . . ."

"You have always been a hustler," Remus complained. "What you mean is, you haven't played eight ball since New Orleans; you've been shooting billiards with Carole."

"How'd you know?" Edward asked.

"That poker party," Remus growled.

The Muggle Studies professor had suggested a Saturday poker party the previous May, and had somehow enticed all of the younger staff to play. All had pledged to use no magic. Edward had cleaned them all out, even though Edward had sworn he would not use his slight-of-hand abilities as well.

When asked the last time he had played poker, Edward had replied, "I haven't played stud poker since New Orleans, although we played a little draw on the expedition." He hadn't mentioned playing in, and winning, 'Texas No-Hold-'em' tournaments, and playing in a world championship in between.

"Potters are always honest, but sneaky," Remus now complained as Edward ran the table. "I'd hoped Harry would avoid the second part of that statement."

"Some people are arrogant without reason," Edward said as he re-racked the balls. He broke, and then started running the table again. "Some of us have reason."

Remus glared at him.