Not Again//Harry Potter [2]

27

A small groan was heard from the chamber, as they both remembered Ginny.

Harry ran over to her, and she broke into tears. "Harry! Oh, Harry! I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy -- it was me, Harry, but I-I s-swear I d-didn't mean to; R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over and -- how did you kill that-that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary—"

"It's okay, Ginny," Harry said. "He's gone, and he won't bother any of us again."

Autumn hobbled over to her, a mix to blood and ink on her robes and face. "He's long gone." She held the diary up, showing her the hole in it.

"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny cried as Harry helped her to her feet.

Autumn thought that she deserved her prince charming to help her, even under the circumstances.

"I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and-w-what'll Mum and Dad say?"

Autumn grabbed her and Harry's wand and awkwardly followed the two.

"Ron!" Harry yelled, speeding up. "Ginny's okay! I've got her!"

He heard Ron give a strangled cheer, and they turned the next bend to see his eager face staring through the sizable gap he had managed to make in the rockfall.

Autumn felt her leg hurt in even more pain than before. Maybe the phoenix couldn't heal her broken leg.

She groaned in pain as she leaned herself against the wall of the chamber.

"Ginny!" Ron thrust an arm through the gap in the rock to pull her through first. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened? How -- what -- where did that bird come from?"

Fawkes had swooped through the gap after Ginny.

"He's Dumbledore's," said Harry, squeezing through himself. "How come you've got a sword?" said Ron.

"I'll explain when we get out of here," said Harry with a sideways glance at Ginny, who was crying harder than ever.

"But—"

Autumn, at this point, was lying on the ground. She was really regretting not seeing Madam Pomfrey.

"Later," Harry said.

"Hey, where's Autumn?" Ron asked.

Harry turned around, and his eyes widened when he saw Autumn.

"Autumn!" He rushed over to her, and put her arm around his shoulder. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Autumn took a deep breath in. "I'll tell you later," Autumn said dreamily, her vision fading again. "Just get Ginny and Ron back up. I'll be fine down here. I'll just take a nap."

"Don't be stupid," Ron said. "We're not leaving you down here."

Autumn smiled weakly as Harry helped her walk through the small hole in the rocks.

"Where's Lockhart?" Harry asked.

"Back there," said Ron. "He's in a bad way. Come and see."

Gilderoy Lockhart was sitting at the front of the pipe, humming placidly to himself.

"His memory's gone," said Ron. "The Memory Charm backfired. Hit him instead of us. Hasn't got a clue who he is, or where he is, or who we are. I told him to come and wait here. He's a danger to himself."

Autumn laughed at the irony.

"Hello," Lockhart said. "Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?"

"No," said Ron, raising his eyebrows at Harry.

Harry bent down and looked up the long, dark pipe. "Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?" he said to Ron.

Ron shook his head, but Fawkes the phoenix had flown in front of Harry and waved his feathers, temptingly.

"He looks like he wants you to grab hold. . ." said Ron, looking perplexed. "But you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there—"

"Fawkes," said Harry, "isn't an ordinary bird." He turned quickly to the others. "We've got to hold on to each other. Ginny, grab Ron's hand. Autumn, grab Ron's hand. Professor Lockhart—"

"He means you," said Ron sharply to Lockhart.

"You hold Autumn's hand."

Harry tucked the sword and the Sorting Hat into his belt, Ron took hold of the back of Harry's robes, and Harry reached out and took hold of Fawkes's strangely hot tail feathers.

Autumn felt extremely light as they flew up the pipe.

"Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!" Lockhart screamed as they flew up.

It was over as soon as it had happened, and Fawkes dropped them all on the ground.

Autumn had to crawl on her legs to get away from the entrance of the chamber.

Myrtle goggled at them.

"You're alive," she said blankly to Harry.

"There's no need to sound so disappointed," he said.

"Oh, well. . . I'd just been thinking. . . if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," said Myrtle, blushing silver.

"Urgh!" said Ron as they walked out of Myrtle's bathroom. "Harry! I think Myrtle's grown fond of you! You've got competition, Ginny!"

With whatever strength Autumn had left, she smacked Ron in the arm.