Mnemosyne's Legacy

Chapter 2: The Sprint to Freedom

Chaos. Terror. Fear. The smell of death hung thickly in the air. A piercing scream echoed down the third-floor corridor where Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny hid, their hearts racing. Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place in the Wizarding World next to Gringotts, but in his second rising, the Dark Lord had grown more powerful than ever before, and succeeded where he had failed previously in attacking the school.

Harry peered cautiously around a corner. Ron heard Hermione breathe in sharply beside him, and put his arm around her. Holding her tight, he rested his chin on top of her bushy hair. She was the most precious thing in the world to him, and he'd be damned if anything ever happened to her. He looked over her head to Ginny, who seemed apprehensive, fidgeting nervously with her fingers as though fighting a strong temptation to rush to Harry's side.

'No, don't,' Ron whispered urgently, tugging on the back of her robes. His sister glanced back at him, her wide, brown eyes full of fear, before turning back to face Harry. She didn't move towards him, but watched him like a hawk, ready to swoop and protect him if anything happened.

Harry and Ginny had started going out a short while after Harry had 'recovered' from his crush on Cho Chang. Ron didn't mind - well, in the beginning he'd pulled off the 'big brother' routine, harassing Harry to the extreme, which caused numerous loud and messy fights with Hermione, who disapproved of the playful abuse. But secretly, he was pleased that Harry had fallen for his little sister. He felt that she couldn't have chosen a better man. Can you imagine, he'd mentioned several times to Hermione, as they sat together in front of the common room fireplace, if she was going out with someone like Malfoy?! They'd both laughed hysterically at the idea.

Ron smiled to himself, remembering one of the more entertaining 'tests' Harry had been set in order to measure his worthiness to date a Weasley female...

Fred and George approached Harry, who was sitting in an armchair in front of the fireplace, shooting surreptitious glances at Ginny, who sat in a chair closer to the fire pretending to read.

'Harry!' Fred called out, startling Harry out of his visual exchange with Ginny. 'Harry, ol' boy, it's time for your next task!' Harry groaned and rolled his eyes.

'Not again!' he moaned.

'Oh come on!' Ginny muttered exasperated, giving up her reading pretence. 'Can you guys please give it up? This is Harry you're torturing here!'

'If he wants to date you, sweet sister of ours, he must meet certain... expectations,' George said grinning mischievously. 'This time,' he went on, 'you have to cut a lock of Snape's hair, and bring it back with you. We need to see the proof.'

'WHAT?!' Harry exclaimed. 'You can't be serious!' He stared in horrified disbelief from Fred to George.

'Completely and utterly,' Ron spoke up from the study table where he was playing with a stack of Exploding Snap cards. 'That's what you have to do if you want to date a Weasley woman,' he added matter-of-factly. Hermione looked up at him from the large pile of books in front of her and scowled.

'So, that's different to wanting to date a Weasley male, is it?' she snapped. Ron got up and walked around the table to her.

'Hermione, you know the hell I went through because I wanted to go out with you,' he said sweetly, glancing pointedly at the twins who smiled wickedly. He leant down and pecked her lightly on the forehead; Hermione pushed him away roughly.

'Ooh, poor ickle Ronniekins!' laughed George. 'Now that's what I call cold. Good one, Hermione.' Hermione ignored him, instead concentrating on the book in front of her. She glowered at it, disgusted at Ron's involvement in the charade.

'Shut up,' Ron retorted, his ears burning. He turned to Harry, changing the subject abruptly. 'So, Harry, what'll it be?'

Harry glanced at Ginny, and pulled back his shoulders determinedly.

'Ok,' he decided. 'Well, I'll be off then.' He looked over to Ginny again. 'I'll be back later.' She nodded at him with an amused smile on her face as he walked towards the portrait entrance.

Fred and George ran after him, picking him up under the armpits and dragging him back, kicking and yelling in surprise to an armchair. 'Ferula,' Fred chanted, waving his wand, and ropes began to bind Harry to the chair. Watching him struggle futilely with the ropes, Fred looked down at him, a large grin on his face.

'You didn't actually think we were serious, did you?'

The common room burst into laughter.

Ron smiled at the memory of his practical joker brothers. Good old Fred and George, always up for a laugh. Fred and George. His heart gave an almighty lurch at the thought of them. I hope nothing's happened to them, Ron thought desperately, aware of a large lump growing in his throat. In the chaos of the attack on Hogwarts, they had been separated from them. He refused to believe that they were anything but alive. Ron couldn't imagine life without his twin brothers and frankly, he didn't want to.

Harry turned back to them, startling Ron out of his reverie. 'It's clear,' he reassured them. 'If we hurry we make it to the statue!' He grinned, the first since the school came under siege. Another terrified scream reached their ears, this time closer to where they hid. The smile fell from Harry's face, his green eyes widening in spite of his attempts to mask his panic. Ron's heart jumped in fear, his eyes darting around him as if expecting the enemy to appear at any second. He held Hermione closer to him.

'Hurry!' Harry whispered urgently, his face grim and determined, and they sprinted down the empty hallway.

Never before had they been so terrified running down a Hogwarts corridor. The thought of being found and surrounded at any moment frightened them and urged them to move faster. Their pounding footsteps, echoing the rapid beating of their hearts, reverberated in their ears. It seemed as if the corridor would never end - the absence of familiar paintings, long filched or empty, as their portraits had fled with the appearance of the enemy, making it even worse.

Horrible thoughts ran continually through Ron's mind. He didn't know who else had escaped the Great Hall when the Death Eaters, led by Lord Voldemort himself, had entered the school attacking anyone in their path. He half-expected that each time they neared a door, they would be stopped in their tracks, and breathed an inaudible sigh of relief each time the doors remained shut as they passed.

What was that? A sudden movement in the corner of his eye made his stomach jump nauseously. Without stopping to investigate, Ron spurred his legs on, ignoring their pains of protest. He grabbed Hermione's hand to pull her ahead of him, almost tripping her in the process. She grunted, but didn't complain as she normally would have - all her energy was focussed on running.

'There it is!' Ron heard Harry pant ahead of him. Trying to peer ahead in spite of the erratic movement of his running, Ron could make out the statue of the humped-back witch, marking the secret tunnel that would lead them out of Hogwarts and to the safety of Hogsmeade. Ron twisted around, mid-stride, to face Hermione, only to see her mouth creased in a smile of relief. His heart jolted; if Hermione was happy, he had nothing to worry about. Fuelled by the relief at seeing their goal within their grasp, the last stretch of corridor seemed to pass like lightning. Another ten paces and they would make it...

They'd made it. They stood around the statue grinning broadly at each other, panting too heavily to speak - there was no need for words. Harry, still gasping for breath, brandished his wand and peered nervously around them before he stepped up to the statue. He tapped his wand on the witch's hump and whispered, 'Dissendium'. Almost immediately, the tunnel entrance appeared, and he stepped through first, checking for any signs of danger. A moment later, he popped out again and beckoned to Ginny, who followed him in. Hermione was next, closely followed by Ron, who closed the entrance behind him. He breathed a huge sigh of relief, but froze mid-sigh at the sound of a muffled chuckle beside him.