Curiousity Killed the Cat

I ran down the hallway, following Ron as we attempted to find either Harry or Hermione. I could sense time was running out; students were running faster and more urgently, teachers were barking out orders, families trying to stay together. It was a mess, one big, complete mess and we were smack dab in the middle of it.

Ron and I turned the corner, nearly crashing into a pair of seventh years from Hufflepuff who were helping Professor McGonagall. We were about half way down that hallway, when I crashed into someone and, just like Ron, they went down hard considering this baby boulder.

“Hermione!?” Ron said, noticing the bushy hair girl before I did. I glanced down and, sure enough, it was the bushy, know-it-all girl that I had grown attached to.

“Ron! Oh there you are!” she said, flinging herself into his arms. He awkwardly hugged back, blushing a bit when he saw the thumbs up I was giving to him, followed by a rather large grin.

“Have you seen Harry? Elyse and I were looking for him,” Ron asked but he didn’t get past my name before Hermione pulled out of Ron’s embrace and turned to me, her eyes wide and surprised.

“Elyse! Oh thank God you’re okay!” she said, running into me, only to be hit in the gut my the baby. Surprised, she looked down and beamed at my very pregnant stomach. “Oh my God! It’s true! We were listening to that Potter-Watch!”

“All of you were?” I asked, feeling my heart stop cold.

“Yes, it was the one and only time we had a chance to listen. Oh thank goodness you’re alive! I told Harry not to leave you, I told him that I’d kill him and then bring him back from the dead so you could hurt him!” Hermione ranted, not realizing my sudden discomfort.

“Well, we can all chat about what an idiot Harry is later,” Ron said loudly over Hermione’s outbursts. “There’s kind of a war going on.”

“Right,” Hermione said, blushing a bit when she realized she was ranting. “Of course. Come on!”

Remind me, when this is done, to stab both of them for making a pregnant woman, such as myself, run.

We found the rest of the Weasley’s in another hallway, all of whom were more than glad to see Ron and Hermione alive.

“Where’s Harry?” Mrs. Weasley asked, after hugging Ron so tightly, I thought he might pass out from lack of blood circulation.

“Right here,” called a voice from behind me, causing both my heart and breathing to stop dead in it’s tracks.

“Oh thank God!” Mrs. Weasley said, running behind the motionless me. The rest of the Weasley’s followed her suit, perhaps a bit more contained, while I stood there, unable to speak let alone move. When I finally got the feeling back into my legs, I felt myself slowly turn around, as if my life had been put into slow motion.

His hair needed to be cut seeing as his bangs were covering his green eyes. He was covered in sweat and dirt and blood. He looked like he hadn’t slept in years and was breathing in big, anxious breaths. His glasses were lopsided and he was only wearing one sock.

But he was alive.

He was alive and breathing and not dead.

I watched him as he looked at me, as if it was the first time he had ever seen the light of day. His eyes traveled over me, glancing briefly at my pregnant stomach, before landing on my face, my tired face.

“Your hair got blonder,” he said, the sound of his voice the most comforting thing I have ever heard in these last six months.

“You got taller,” I said, my voice shaky. I wasn’t aware of everyone’s eyes on us, exchanging confused looks at our way of greeting each other. Before I could stop myself, I flung myself at Harry, completely ignoring my large stomach that was making it hard for him to hug me tightly.

“I’m going to hurt you when all of this is over,” I whispered, burying my face into his shoulder.

He kissed the top of my head. “I guess I deserve that.”

“They’re coming,” Hermione said, her voice a horrified whispered. Harry and I pulled apart, only to get our wands. We could hear the booming coming from the gates; everything seemed to come to a complete stop. Silence filled the corridors.

Everything happened so fast yet I could see it all happening as if it was going so slowly. Explosions came from the gates, footsteps came. People began to run in the other directions, the slower people thinking of their chances of survival. I lost Harry and Ron in the crowd; they must have run off. I found Luna and Hermione, thankfully, as I wondered the crowds.

“Come on!” Hermione said, holding firmly onto my hand as I grabbed onto Luna’s. We ran though the crowd, dodging the people who were trying to escape before the Death Eaters could come. They were too late.

We were all too late.