Katie

19. Get There

Ginny, Neville and Luna came out of sight behind a large tree on the edge of the forest as Ron and I came panting up to them. Ginny and Neville looked around suspiciously, ensuring no one had followed us or were creeping behind them.

"Was she there?," Ginny asked Ron as though I wasn't in front of her.

"Yeah, tongue down his throat," he said disgustedly.

"Yuck," Ginny rehearsed distastefully.

"I'm right here," I reminded them all sarcastically.

"Which way is it, Ron?," Neville asked, ignoring my comment.

Ron looked into the forest, biting his lip. "Well, the trail begins a little in the forest, but I know its somewhere around here," he said.

Ron walked cautiously into the forest, leading the group. Ginny was behind him, her wand out and aimed at any tree branch that snapped or bird that flew off into the air. Neville has his hand dug into his pocket while Luna skipped happily while staring enviously at the trees.

The more we walked in, the darker it got. The air was beginning to get eerily chilly, and the trees were constricting tighter the more deeper we got. Ron had found the track easily enough. It was a tiny clearing through the trees that would have been undistinguishable to any travellers that didn't know it was actually a pathway that led to Grawp.

My heart was beating fast. I was at the back of the line, turning every time I heard a bird leap from a tree branch into the air, my wand aimed out just like Ginny was.

As we walked closer, there was a large earthquake and movement through the trees along with a loud, high pitched scream that dragged on for a few seconds.

We all froze, listening to the scream, till it was cut off and the earthquake settled down.

"What was that," Ginny whispered.

"Dunno," Ron said quietly.

We kept walking for a few more minutes, even more on edge than we had been before, when distant voices came into view.

"Where do we go from here?"

"We need to get back to the castle," Hermione's echo carried through the trees.

"By the time we've done that, Sirius'll be dead!," Harry shouted.

"Well we can't do anything without our wands!," Hermione cursed back hopelessly. "And how were you even planning on getting all the way to London?"

We turned a sharp corner and they appeared in a small torn-up clearing behind a large tree. The area looked colonised, however as though it had been ransacked by a group of angry and violent Nifflers.

"Yeah, we were just thinking the same thing," Ron chimed in.

They turned their heads and realised our arrival. They walked up to the entrance to meet us.

"So," Ron continued, holding out Harry's wand for him, "Have any idea's?"

"How did you get away?," Harry asked in amazement. Ron shrugged with a proud smile and looked to me.

"Looks like Malfoy really is making a turn-around," he said.

"Malfoy helped you escape?," Harry said wildly.

"Yeah, turns out him and Katie really do have a thing for each other," Neville chimed. I laughed awkwardly and scratched my neck as they all looked at me.

"Where is Umbridge?," I asked, changing the subject.

"She got carried away by a herd of centaurs," Harry said simply.