Mortal Peril - 3

"Pansy?" Ron asked. "What was he doing with Pansy?"

"Dunno. Like I said, he never came ter call," Hagrid replied, staring at all of them with confusion.

"Where could he be?" Ginny asked, alarmed. Her heart had started that painful pounding again, and her palms began to sweat. She just knew something was wrong. She held tightly to the aquamarine stone on her necklace. It felt warm and comforting.

"What does Pansy have to do with Harry going after Voldemort?" Ron asked.

"What?" Hagrid asked, alarmed. "He wouldn't."

"I don't think the two are necessarily connected, Ron," Hermione said, biting her lip. "Let's go back up to the castle and get the Map. That will tell us where both Harry and Pansy are."

"Was Malfoy with them?" Ron asked, his face reddening. "If he's done something to Harry–"

"Ron! Let's not jump to conclusions. Come on," Hermione said, tugging on his arm.

"I'm goin' with yeh. If summat's happened ter Harry, I want ter help," Hagrid said, following them out the door.

As they raced back to the castle, they found Aberforth Dumbledore pacing in the entrance hall.

"There you are," he said crossly. "I've been looking for you."

He was staring at Hermione as if she'd been purposely hiding from him.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Dumbledore?" she asked politely.

"Here," Aberforth said, handing Hermione the Romanian book that Harry had been trying to transcribe.

"Where did you get that?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

"Harry gave it to him when you were ill. I'd forgotten you had it," Hermione said, staring at Aberforth.

"I showed it to Albus's portrait. He can read Romanian, you know," Aberforth said. "There's one section that really interested him. He wants to see you."

"Of course!" Hermione said, gasping. "Why didn't I think of it? Dumbledore can speak loads of languages – even Mermish."

"Hermione – the Map," Ron said, impatiently. He was already on the bottom stair.

"You and Ginny go get the Map. I'll go see what Professor Dumbledore's portrait has to say," Hermione said breathlessly. "I'll meet you outside Professor McGonagall's office."

"What about me?" Hagrid asked. "What can I do?"

"Can you check the forest where you saw Harry and Pansy, Hagrid? See if there's any sign of a struggle," Hermione said.

Hearing Hermione say it out loud – knowing there was a chance that Harry was in real trouble – caused Ginny to race up the stairs past Ron. She'd get the Map and find his name somewhere. There had to be a reasonable explanation for why he never went to see Hagrid, and what he was doing with Pansy in the forest. There had to be.

*~*~*

When the Portkey released him, Harry crumpled with a thump onto a cold stone floor. Sparing no time to orient himself, he scrambled to his feet, dropping Pansy's wand and brandishing his own. Hoping to reverse the Portkey, he quickly reached for Pansy's wand once again, but nothing happened. He had a moment to notice that he was in a small, stone cavern with a dank, moldy odor, causing him to suspect that he was underground.

Then all hell broke loose.

Half a dozen Death Eaters surrounded him, all firing spells instantaneously. Harry quickly created a shield to block the first barrage, and three of the Death Eaters fell to his Stunners before more of them entered the room. His shield began to weaken under the heavy fire, and several of the curses broke through. He felt a Slicing Hex slash deeply into his upper arm, causing his fingers to tingle. Before he had a chance to raise another shield, his legs were slammed with a Bludgeoning Curse, dropping him the ground.