The Hollow Beneath Hogwarts

84. Breathe Again

The first thing Sloane did after returning to Hogwarts was race upstairs to her dormitory. The second thing was spend ten minutes staring at everything she'd bought.

Draco had sat on her bed the entire time watching her. "You realise you're smiling at flowers."

"They're wedding flowers."

"They're flowers."

"They're important flowers."

Draco had wisely chosen not to argue.

After everything had been carefully tucked away inside her trunk, protected from curious roommates and accidental discovery, the pair set off again.

Their mission now?

Check on the cleaning crew. Simple. Or so they thought.

The seventh floor corridor was unusually quiet. Their footsteps echoed softly against the stone floor as they walked side by side.

Sloane was already mentally planning where candles would go. Draco was trying to work out how many times Theo would panic before the ceremony.

The answer was probably a lot.

Neither of them noticed the red-haired blur hurtling towards them until it nearly crashed into Draco.

"WHOA!" Draco jumped backwards.

Ginny skidded to a stop. Breathing heavily. Her cheeks were bright red. Her hair was a complete mess. There was soot on her face. Soot in her hair. Soot on her jumper.

She looked like she'd been wrestling a dragon.

"I am so glad I found you."

Sloane immediately frowned. "Ginny?"

Ginny bent over slightly. Trying to catch her breath. "We have..." She took another breath. "...a slight issue."

The way she said it made Sloane nervous. Very nervous.

Draco immediately looked suspicious. "A slight issue?"

Ginny nodded. "Very slight."

That was never good. Because in Sloane's experience, the bigger someone insisted an issue was small...

The worse it usually was. The three hurried the remaining distance.

The Room of Requirement door stood open.

Harry appeared first. Covered in soot. 

Then Hermione. Also covered in soot.

Then Luna. Then Blaise.

Who somehow looked worse than everyone else combined.

Sloane stepped inside. Looked around. And froze. "SLIGHT?" Her voice echoed around the ruined chamber.

Everyone winced.

The room was a disaster. An absolute disaster. Ash covered every surface. The walls were stained black.

Broken furniture sat in piles throughout the room. Entire sections of the floor looked burnt. The air still carried the faint smell of smoke. The magical ceiling flickered weakly overhead.

It looked less like a wedding venue and more like the aftermath of an explosion.

Harry sighed. A long defeated sigh. "We've been cleaning for hours."

Sloane stared. "Hours?"

Harry nodded. "We clean." He pointed. "The ash disappears." He pointed again. "Then it comes back."