The Battle Of The Basilisk

-12-

Austria and Colin rushed towards the the girl who'd cried "HYDRA!!!!"

They'd come to the Forest to find the Ravenclaws. They found her on the Forest floor, her eyes brimming with tears as she knelt over a small blonde girl, who- Austria realized with a pang- Was Hydra Malfoy, the only nice Slytherin she knew.

Colin bent down to feel Hydra's pulse, his eyes widened as they rested on the blood around her. Austria put an arm around the girl. To her surprise, she pushed away.

"Who-Who are you?" Stuttered the girl. Blood flowed down her olive arms. Hydra's blood. "Who killed Hydra?"

"I'm Austria Wildheart." Austria tried to stay calm. "He's Colin MacDonald. We heard you scream, so we came to see what was going on. We don't know who killed Hydra, but we'll find them. I can promise you that. What's your name?"

"Pranaty. I'm a Slytherin."

"Calm down, Pranaty. Everything will be fine." Austria spoke gently.

Colin stared at the two of them. Austria's words seemed to have a calming, peaceful effect on Pranaty. Naturally, he thought, When in trauma, always come to Austria.

Colin tried to look away, but he couldn't. He'd always thought Austria looked okay, but Pranaty was a real stunner. Those eyes, that hair, that figure, the glowing skin- Now that was Colin's type. It was a pity that she was in such a state. Colin would definitely have taken the opportunity to go for her- Probably by first complimenting her hair. All girls tended to give way to general compliments. Colin had experienced that firsthand.

Well, all girls except Aussie.

"Pranaty?" Colin turned to see Charles Designs running towards them. "Are you okay? What hap- Oh Merlin." His gaze did not move from Hydra's body. He didn't look horrified or shocked, just plain sad.

"Charlie? You know what happened here?" Colin asked carefully. "Anything?"

"I don't have a clue, Colin." He muttered. "All I know is.... This was planned. Intentional murder."

Austria looked up. "What?"

Charles opened his mouth to speak, but much to Colin's surprise, it was Pranaty who replied. "He's right." There was not a trace of emotion in her voice. "Someone knew that Hydra had something to do with the Moerder. They couldn't risk letting her live. It all makes sense."

"Moerder?" Colin was puzzled. "Which language is that?"

Pranaty got up, her face filled with fury- Probably an urge to slap whoever killed Hydra and torture them till they lost their sanity. She explained everything, and Colin and Austria just stared. Colin liked Pranaty's eyes- They were shaped just like raindrops.

"COLIN!"

Colin jumped. Austria was glaring at him.

"You're going to help me carry Hydra back to the castle."

"What?"

Austria elbowed him. "On second thought, you're going to carry her." Austria seemed to be sending him a silent message: Stop staring at Pranaty, you womanizer.

What the hell made Aussie think he was a womanizer? Sure, he was yet to find 'The girl'. He'd gotten together with plenty of them, but nothing worked out.

He had a pretty good feeling about Pranaty, though.

Charles cleared his throat. "I can carry her. You three get out of here and find Raghavi. She's with Cereza, I think. Scout for Jane Everlasting as well. She's a third-year Ravenclaw. She can help. GO!"