Hallows Game || HP X Squid Game (Draco Malfoy)

5 - The Clause

"My fiancée is pregnant! You have to let us go you just have to!"

It was difficult to watch as Cedric Diggory begged the guards to save Cho who was weeping hysterically in his arms. Judging by the size of her stomach, Cho looked about six months gone. Whatever possessed her to enter such a competition in the first place?

I felt Luna inch closer to me, pressing her shoulder into mine. On my other side, my sisters stood, the three of us exchanging furtive, fearful glances.

"As it states in the consent form of which you all voluntarily signed," the triangle guard announced in a flat, electronic voice, "refusal to participate in the games will result in your instant elimination."

I shivered, now understanding just what it meant to be 'eliminated'. I still had the blood of the deceased spattered all over my tracksuit, after all.

"My unborn child didn't sign it, though!" Cedric pleaded, his voice choking, "and if you kill my fiancée then you take an innocent life! Please, I beg of you to at least let her go!"

"Refusal to participate in the games will result in your instant elimination," the guard repeated without a shred of empathy.

Hermione Granger ran forward now, falling to her knees in front of the guards. "Please! Just let us go. I'll hand myself back over to You-Know-Who if you just free me from this hell!"

"Hell?" Dennis Creevey scoffed behind her, his arms folded lazily across his chest. "You think this is hell? At least in here we stand a chance of winning something, unlike out there where my entire family is dead and I have nothing to look forward to but working out how to pay off my debts as well as where to get my next pussy fix from."

"I have a wife and child at home," Bill Weasley sobbed. "Please. If I don't make it back to them, then the bank will surely take our house-"

"There seems to be a misunderstanding." The triangle guard interrupted. "Let me remind you that we're here to give you a chance-"

"A chance?" Ron Weasley spluttered, driving his hands through his hair. "We play some kids games and you shoot us! You want me to choose that?"

"This is just a game."

"Killing everyone out there was a game to you, huh?" Roger Davies yelled.

"They were simply eliminated for breaking the rules of the game. If you just follow the rules, you can leave this place safely with the prize money we promised."

"Just keep your damned money!" Penelope Clearwater screamed, her face streaked with blood and tears. "I don't care! Let me just go home, that's all I want!"

Murmurs of agreement rose amongst the remaining players. My eyes met Draco's who, like me, remained stony and silent. Swallowing, I looked away.

"Consent form clause one:" the triangle guard announced, silencing the room, "a player is not allowed to stop playing."

"Come on! You think you'll get away with this, huh?" Fred Weasley snarled. "The Aurors will come - they'll bust in here any minute now."

"Consent form clause two:" the guard continued, ignoring him, "a player who refuses to play will be eliminated."

"Consent form clause three," Harry drawled loudly, casually wiping the blood off his glasses with the sleeve of his tracksuit, "if the majority agrees to stop playing the games are allowed to end. Or am I wrong?"

A long pause.

"You are correct."

"So, let's vote on ending this." Harry said, replacing his glasses on his nose. "The majority wishes to leave this place, then everyone gets to go home, right?"