A Trio of Serpents

68: There's a Cliffhanger in Chapter 67

Summary: Ouch

Once, when Dudley had punched him in the stomach, Harry had been left winded and gasping for breath. That was nothing compared to the helplessness he was feeling now.

Somewhere in the distance, he heard a voice. "NOOO!! Ron, Fred!"

Wincing, Harry struggled free of the wreckage and limped toward the source of the voice.

Percy was bleeding from a cut in his face, but he paid it no mind as he wrenched pieces of rubble aside, wand lying forgotten. Harry took his own out and silently moved the last chunk of stone out of the way.

"Ron?" Hermione whispered.

Ron's arms were still wrapped around Fred, who had tucked himself into his younger brother. Brown eyes fluttered open, groggy, then panic filled them. "Ron!" He wriggled free and turned.

"Is he...?" Harry rasped.

"He can't be..." Fred choked out. "Please no..."

Just then, Ron gave a cough and blearily opened his eyes. "Fred... okay...?"

"Yes, I'm here." Fred grasped his hand. "Why — how?"

"No time to explain," said Harry, who could see dark shapes crawling in through the hole in the wall. He and Hermione blew the spider back, but more poured in.

"To the hospital wing," said Percy, making no effort to keep his voice steady. He lifted Ron in his arms. Harry couldn't help but notice how small he looked, curled up like a child.

Keeping their heads low, Percy and Fred hurried off.

"He can't die," Hermione whimpered, clutching Harry's arm. Tears streamed down her face.

"No, he can't," said Harry numbly. He forced himself to turn away. "He knew what he was doing. That can't be a waste."

Hermione didn't move.

"Come on," Harry urged. "We have to find the snake. For Ron."

His words seemed to give her strength. Her face hardened and she straightened her back. "Lead the way, Harry."

They set off back down the stairs.

Dean and Parvati of Gryffindor were fighting a pair of Death Eaters, one of which Harry recognized as Dolohov. They didn't look as though they needed help; besides, a second later, Peeves swooped down and dropped Snargaluff pods on them, encasing their heads with wriggling, green tubers.

Farther down, Jayson, Sid, and Logan were standing back to back. None of them, to Harry's immense relief, had any grievous injuries. As he watched, a large, dark blur appeared out of nowhere and clamped its teeth on a Death Eater's arm. The Death Eater howled in pain and dropped his wand, which was quickly picked up by Sirius.

"That's the last time I bite someone," he muttered, before leaping back into the fray.

The sounds of fighting ceased, and it didn't take long to realize the cause. A hundred dementors were gliding toward them.

Harry raised his wand, but his thoughts turned heavily to Ron's unmoving body, to his mother's pleads for mercy, to Remus' screams of agony.

"Happy thoughts." Sid was next to him, one hand gripping his shoulder. "You can do it, Harry. Come on now. With me."

Harry slowed his breathing, and then, with a tremendous effort, the wolf leaped from his wand, racing toward the dementors alongside the black mamba and otter, and moments later, the battle sounds were back.