Harry Potter and the Shadow War

Chapter 9 - Battling the Darkness

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny spent the remainder of the afternoon learning how to use some of the basic functions of the station computer. Since they would be moving to their own quarters soon, they needed to know how the doors and communications functions worked, at the very least. Harry and Hermione picked up on it the fastest because they had both received some computer exposure in primary school. The Grangers also had a personal computer at home, of course, though Hermione hadn't been there to use it much in recent years. Hermione was particularly intrigued by the sheer volume of data she could access simply by requesting it. The others had to persuade her that she would have plenty of time later for the informational aspects of the computer system. Fortunately, the computer obeyed some verbal commands, which made it more likely that Ron and Ginny would be able to use it as well.

Zack Allan, the security person who had initially found Ron and Harry when they arrived on the station, stopped by to give them all items that he called identicards. He explained that these cards would open the door to their new quarters and also contained some information about them.

"Oh, sort of like hotel key-cards," Hermione said. The other three just looked at her blankly. Harry could only remember staying in a hotel once in his life, when the Dursleys were trying to escape the flock of owls trying to deliver Harry's first Hogwarts letter, and the doors there had used ordinary keys. Hermione just sighed and dropped the subject.

"I've gotta go now," Zack said. "Apparently, someone's owl got loose and crashed into one of the booths at the Zocalo. People and their pets."

The four witches and wizards looked at each other, startled. No, they all seemed to decide simultaneously. It couldn't be.

Later that evening, Ron and Harry were preparing to spend their last night in a Minbari bedchamber. Ron seemed a bit distracted, and Harry asked how things had gone with Hermione.

"Quite well, really," Ron began, and then he seemed to think of something. "Hang on. You knew, didn't you? Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"I knew you fancied her, yes, but I only suspected Hermione's feelings for you. Ginny's the one that knew."

"Well, why didn't she say anything then?"

"Really, Ron," replied Harry, looking at his friend in surprise. "She was keeping Hermione's confidence. Would you have really wanted me to go to Hermione and say, 'You know, Ron's really mad about you. You should do something about it.'"

"I suppose not."

"Well, then. Ginny didn't want to do that to Hermione, either."

There was a pause. Then, Harry just couldn't resist asking a question. It seemed only fair; Ron had wanted to know about Harry and Cho last year.

"So...did you kiss her?" To Harry's surprise, Ron slapped his hand to his forehead with a resounding smack.

"Bloody hell!" he swore. "That's what I missed!"

"I'll take that as a 'no' then, shall I?" Harry said, trying not to smile. He knew that he wouldn't find it funny if he had been in Ron's place.

"The moment was there, and I bleeding missed it! I am such an idiot," Ron said.

"No, you're not," Harry reassured him. "She probably didn't even notice."

"Oh no, she noticed. I saw the look in her eyes...bloody hell! How is a bloke to know these things?"

"Don't ask me, mate. Cho kissed me, not the other way round. I haven't a clue." Harry paused, then continued, "I rather wish she hadn't."

"What?" responded Ron, distracted from his self-recriminations. "Why? Was it that bad?"

"No, just...I'm not sure how to put it. It just put some obligations on me that I wasn't sure I wanted. She didn't really seem ready, either."

"Oh. Well, what do I do now?"

"Why should you do anything?"

"I've got to find that moment again." Then Ron was struck with a horrible idea. "Oh, no! What if she thinks I didn't want to kiss her? That would be bloody awful!"

"Calm down, Ron. Just don't do or say anything about it. She'll just assume that you were being your usual thick self and missed it, which is true."

"Thanks a lot," said Ron sarcastically. "You're not much help, you know."

Harry just shrugged and settled himself onto the bed, trying not to think about that cute spray of freckles across Ginny's nose or how pretty she looked when her eyes were twinkling with mischief. She's just my best friend's sister, he told himself. That's all.

Right.

***

The following morning, the four kids took advantage of the shower one more time. They had been told that their new quarters would have a sonic shower instead of real water, and none of them was yet comfortable with how those worked. They then packed up their few belongings and headed down the hall, following Lennier. Their new quarters were only about four doors down from Delenn's, but it was still a fair distance because the doors were widely spaced. Lennier assisted them in using one of their cards to open the door. Once this had been accomplished, he bowed to them.

"If you need anything, please feel free to contact either Delenn or myself," he said. Then he was gone.

"Well then," said Hermione in a businesslike manner. "Shall we?"

Harry was the last one to enter, and the door closed behind him. He hadn't stepped far into the room before his scar began to hurt with a strange, erratic throbbing, almost as though two entities lay beneath his skin, fighting to get out. He rubbed at it, and then drew his wand.

"Something's wrong," he told the others. "There's something in here."

The others pulled out their wands as well, though no one could see anything. Ginny went over to the controls by the door, trying to open it. Harry wondered vaguely why Hermione hadn't thought of that. Then Harry sensed a presence in the doorway of one of the bedrooms and thought he caught a flicker.

"There," he pointed. Then, a burst of light erupted from the bedroom. It hit Ron, and he stumbled backwards into Ginny. Harry was momentarily blinded, but when the light dissipated, he discovered that the odd throbbing in his forehead was gone. His scar still hurt, but it was a steady ache now. The Shadow creature was now visible, its angular head perched on a small body supported by insectlike legs. The others seemed to see it as well. Ginny groped for the control panel again and hit the communication button.

"Ambassador Delenn," she said in command, but didn't wait for a response before adding, "Delenn, there's a Shadow. Come--" she broke off and cried out as the panel gave off sparks. She shot a burst of energy out of her wand, and the Shadow seemed to shrink into itself briefly. Harry raised his wand and said the first thing that came into his head.

"Expelliarmus!" The spell had no apparent affect, except to draw the creature's attention. The triangular head turned towards him. Immediately, his scar gave him a searing pain that forced him to his knees. Then something was running into his eyes. Blood, he realized. He shifted his wand to his left hand and covered the newly opened scar with his right. Hermione uttered a curse at the creature. The head turned towards her and she was thrown back against the wall. Her head hit a light fixture, and she crumpled to the floor.

Ron had recovered his bearings just in time to see this. He uttered an inhuman cry of rage and anguish and leapt at the Shadow.

"Ron, no!" shouted Ginny in horror, and she tried to reach for him, but he was far too strong. Harry knew from experience that Ron in a rage was a force to be reckoned with.

Watching Ron struggle with the Shadow was surreal. It tore at him with its spindly legs, but most of his punches seemed to go right through. Occasionally, Ron remembered to use his wand, but usually to little or no effect. Harry was trying to aim with his one available eye, but he was too concerned about hitting his friend by accident.

"Forget spells. Just use pure energy," Ginny called out while firing rapid bursts. She either didn't share Harry's fear of hitting Ron or was more certain of her aim. Harry saw the triangular head turn momentarily from Ron and turn towards Ginny. Desperately, he pulled her to the floor just as the Shadow sent out a burst of energy.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked him irritably. Then she noticed the wires exposed through a hole in the wall that had just appeared where her head had been. At this, she seemed shaken.

"By all means, blow it to pieces," responded Harry. "But for God's sake, stay down!"

There was beeping at the door, but the door seemed to be jammed. There were noises outside. Harry suddenly realized that he and Ginny were crouched down in front of the door, which could be a problem if their would-be rescuers managed to find a way through. He motioned to Ginny, and she followed him off to the side. This also allowed them to find furniture to use for cover. They continued firing their energy bursts as well as they could. Ron was clearly weakening, his berserk rage no doubt fading. He was now fighting for his survival.

At last, the door opened a crack, and Harry glanced over to see hands trying to push it out of the way. Maybe it was his imagination, but the Shadow seemed to be...fading, somehow. As a security team appeared at the doorway, the Shadow threw Ron from itself and attempted to retreat. It was too late, however. The weapons of the security team and the focused energy of Harry & Ginny's wands converged upon it, and the Shadow blew apart, leaving no visible sign.

"What the hell?" said Garibaldi, moving into the room ahead of the others. Harry removed his glasses, wiped his eyes free of sweat and blood, and then replaced the glasses on his nose. He then took in the situation. He saw that Captain Sheridan and Delenn had also entered the room. Ron was breathing heavily and appeared to be bleeding from several places. Ignoring everyone else, he crawled painfully over to Hermione, who appeared to be unconscious. Harry noticed for the first time the streak of blood where Hermione had hit her head and more pooling where she lay. God, there was so much blood!

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Ron was whispering, tears streaming down his face. Harry was surprised; he couldn't ever remember seeing Ron cry before. "Please be alive. Please don't leave me."

While Garibaldi directed his team to search the rest of the quarters, Delenn came over to Harry.

"It's all right," he said, referring to his bleeding forehead. "It should stop soon."

"Sheridan to Medlab. I need a team to my signal asap." Sheridan went over to check on Ron and Hermione. He checked Hermione for a pulse, then laid his hand on Ron's shoulder. A shock seemed to pass through both of them, almost as though a powerful static charge had been released through their contact. When it had passed, Ron fell unconscious. Ginny gasped and ran over to him. Sheridan seemed to be disoriented for a moment. He shook his head to clear it, then turned to Harry.

"What the hell happened here?" he asked.

Harry told everything as best he could, closing his eyes and leaning back against a chair. When the medical staff arrived, he tried to tell them he was fine, but he was taken to Medlab along with the others.