Mortal Peril - 11

Ron grabbed Malfoy by the arm. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what I need to know."

"Take your filthy hands off me," Malfoy said, sneering.

"We can't find either Harry or Pansy, Draco," Ginny said, taking a deep breath. Ron knew from years of experience that she was desperately trying to control her temper. He also knew Malfoy was in big trouble if Ginny lost the battle. His mum got the same expression on her face before she exploded.

"Hagrid saw them speaking with each other by the forest, but now both are missing," Ginny replied in a stiff, measured tone.

"Missing?" Draco repeated blankly. "Pansy locked us in that room. She said she had something she had to do and wouldn't say anything more."

"What does Pansy have to do with Harry going off to face Voldemort alone?" Ron asked Ginny, perplexed.

"What? Facing him? If Pansy gets hurt because of Potter's stupidity, I'm going to– Ouch!" Malfoy yelped, grasping his lower leg and hopping around on one foot.

Dobby, who had remained silent during the entire exchange stood in front of Malfoy scowling, his arms folded across his chest.

"He kicked me!" Draco said incredulously.

"And Dobby will kick the bad Malfoy boy again if he keeps speaking about Harry Potter that way," Dobby said.

"Great. Another one," Malfoy mumbled, rubbing his leg and rolling his eyes.

"What if Pansy caught Harry trying to leave?" Ginny said, addressing Ron and ignoring Malfoy completely.

"Why would she lock them in the classroom, though?" Ron asked, jerking his thumb toward Malfoy and Dudley. "What was it she had to do? Something doesn't follow."

"Potter better not have taken her with him just to keep her quiet," Malfoy said. His words were cold, although his concern was obvious. "I'm going to ask Iris if Pansy said anything to her."

No one moved to stop him as he hurried away. Dudley stood looking between Ron and Ginny for a moment before following Malfoy back to the common room.

"What do you think, Ron?" Ginny asked in a small voice.

Ron thought she looked very young and vulnerable, and he suddenly wanted very much to tell her everything was okay, but he couldn't form the words. This was bad.

"Let's go find Hermione and tell her Harry's not here," Ron said, gulping. He knew there was nothing Hermione could do to find Harry, but if anyone had a good idea what to do next, Hermione would.

"He's gone to the Ministry," Ginny whispered, her eyes filling.

"We don't know that," Ron said firmly, trying to control his own frantic heart rate. "We need to talk to Hermione."

*~*~*

Harry's labored breathing filled the nearly silent chamber. The only other sound he could hear was the steady drip of water somewhere in the distance. He remained stuck inside the packing crate, unable to break the Immobilization Spell that Voldemort had cast upon him. He'd hoped it would have weakened and given him the opportunity to escape, but it remained as strong as when it was first cast.

"It's finished, my Lord," Snape's silky voice echoed against the stone walls.

Reeling, Harry's heart raced, and he felt sweat break out on his forehead. Visions of Muggle horror films about people being buried alive flitted through his mind until he felt his panic would overwhelm him. How was he going to get out of here?

His eyes frantically scanned the room, quickly moving past Pansy's body, which remained sprawled on the floor. The only way out that he could see was through the opening behind Voldemort, but his wand remained stuck in Snape's pocket.