The Phoenix Prophecy

Chapter Four: The Cave

Tuesday- July 8^th

Gretchen

I awoke to the sounds of Ron’s rhythmic breathing. My body ached from head to toe. I tried to get up without waking Ron, but he awoke as soon as I lifted my head from his shoulder.

“Good morning,” I said, kissing him as I pulled myself up into a sitting position. As I sat up Harry awoke as well.

“Yuck, my mouth feels like one of Dobby’s old socks,” he said with a good measure of disgust. “Is it morning yet? Have either of you looked outside?”

“No, Harry, we haven’t,” I replied. “I was just about to go and look.”

I got to my feet and started to stretch. As I did so, every muscle in my body screamed nasty little messages at me. Ron and Harry also got slowly to their feet.

“My neck is killing me,” Ron complained. “We definitely need to find some better accommodations or this world will be off my best places to travel list.”

We all walked out to the mouth of the cave. The storm had blown itself out but the sky was still completely overcast. The wind was no longer howling but there was a steady breeze blowing onshore.

“We should get our packs and see if we can locate the others,” Harry said to Ron and me.

“If you gentlemen would please wait here, I need to find a private spot,” I said.

“Oh, of course,” they both said looking slightly embarrassed. As soon as I was ready, I called to them to come and get their backpacks and brooms. After repacking their blankets and bottles of elixir, they shouldered their backpacks and carried their brooms to the mouth of the cave.

“Hey, lets see if the ‘Accio’ charm really works,” I said, suddenly remembering the special charm built into our wristwatches. I pressed and held the button on the side of the watch. After about thirty seconds, we all saw a Pathfinder broom zooming our way. The broom looked undamaged as it stopped at my side.

“Now that’s a really useful wristwatch,” Ron said, sounding thoroughly impressed.

My broom had come from south of our location, so we headed in that direction. We stayed far enough from the cliffs so as not to attract the attention of any large birds. We had only gone a short distance when Ron yelled and pointed to a large cave near the top of the cliffs.

As I looked above the cave opening, I spotted two large Hippogriffs watching us as we flew by. We hovered together and tried to decide how to get into the cave without being attacked again. We couldn’t see any way of reaching the cave without them seeing us.

“I could try and draw them off while you and Ron make a run for the cave,” Harry offered.

“Assuming these brooms can fly faster than a Hippogriff, exactly how are you going to get into the cave, Harry,” Ron asked irritably.

“If we all cast the ‘Stupify’ spell at the same time, would that slow the Hippogriff down enough for all of us to reach the cave?” I asked.

“Harry, the most important thing is to get you into that cave as quickly as possible,” Ron said. “Hermione is probably out of her mind with worry. She doesn’t have a clue as to what’s become of us.”

Since none of us could come up with a better plan, we decided to try mine and see if we could temporarily stun the Hippogriff.

“If the Hippogriff appears to be stunned when we hit it with the spell, then quickly fly over its head and into the cave,” Harry said to us. “We don’t want to fly under it and take a chance on being caught in its talons.”

We agreed that Harry would fly directly over the Hippogriff’s head while Ron and I would fly to his left and right. Slowly, we started to make our way towards the cave, our wands ready. Harry, it was decided, would yell ‘now’ when we were to all cast the spell in unison.

As we approached, the Hippogriffs became more and more agitated. By the time we were within one hundred feet of the cave, the screeching was almost deafening. The noise must have attracted Madelyn and Sirius’s attention because we saw them at the mouth of the cave.

I think they must have guessed our strategy because they took out their wands and waited.

A Hippogriff suddenly took to the air and came rushing straight for us, its talons out stretched, ready to strike. When the beast was about fifty feet away, Harry yelled ‘NOW!”. We all screamed ‘Stupify’ as we pointed our wands at the Hippogriff.

At first, the Hippogriff didn’t seem to be affected. For one horrified moment, I thought we were done for. Then I heard Harry yell ‘RUN FOR IT!” and he took off directly over its head. Ron and I immediately followed by accelerating our brooms as fast as they could go, around each end of the giant beast. The Hippogriff was temporarily confused just enough by three different targets that it tried to attack all of us at the same time. This gave us barely enough time to zip past the beast and into the cave, where Sirius and Madelyn were waiting.

As soon as our feet hit the floor of the cave, we all ran deeper into the cave. The enraged Hippogriff had recovered and landed in the mouth of the cave. It was flapping its wings and pawing the ground with its back feet, trying to get at us. Luckily, the cave narrowed quickly so the beast could not follow us into the inner chamber where the tent was erected.

The moment we were safely out of the Hippogriff’s reach Harry asked Madelyn.

“Where is Hermione? Is she hurt? I want to see her.”

“Calm down, Harry,” Madelyn replied. “She’s in the tent sleeping comfortably. She will be fine. At most, she has a cracked rib and some bruises.”

Madelyn then quickly added, “Physically she’s going to be fine. However, she has been through a very frightening ordeal. I have kept her under a sleeping charm all night. Until we knew what had happened to you three, I didn’t want her awake. I was afraid she would get hysterical and have a complete nervous breakdown. Now that all of you are here and alright I think it’s time to wake her.”

“Harry, you come with me,” Madelyn told him. “I would like the rest of you to wait out here please.”

Hermione

I felt like I was floating in a foggy mist. I couldn’t see or feel anything. Then from far away I could hear a voice calling my name. Steadily the voice grew louder. I felt that I should know that voice but I could not recognize it. The voice grew stronger and louder. It was telling me to ‘wake up’. A face started to form around the voice. The face had dark brown hair and green eyes. Instantly the fog cleared and I cried out, ‘Harry!’

I was lying on a bed looking up into Harry’s face as he sat beside me on the bed holding my hand. I could see the look of concern written on his face. All of a sudden, my throat ached and I couldn’t speak. I swallowed and still I couldn’t speak. Then in a great rush, tears started to fill my eyes. I sat up quickly throwing my arms around Harry’s neck.

As soon as I placed my arms around Harry’s neck, I could feel the emotion building within me that erupted in great shuddering sobs that racked my entire body. As I wept uncontrollable tears of joy that Harry was safe and holding me in his arms, I was overcome with an overpowering desire to start kissing him and never stop. I lifted my face from his shoulder to look into his eyes. I began to kiss him as if I were trying to consume his very soul. My entire body felt as though it would erupt in flames at any second. I had never felt anything this intense in my entire life. I wanted it to last forever.

Harry pulled his face away from mine. He looked extremely anxious, almost frightened, and said. “Hermione, it’s Okay. I won’t leave you. I’m here, now just try and relax.” He pulled my head back down and nestled it on his shoulder.

I was breathing hard. My heart felt like it was racing. I also felt frustrated. As I sat there listening to the beating of Harry’s heart while he stroked my hair, I began to feel more relaxed. Finally, after several minutes, the tension was completely drained from my body.

After a few moments, I felt like I was able to talk and lifted my head from Harry’s shoulder to look at his face. “Harry, I haven’t any words that can adequately express my feelings,” I said, looking into his eyes.

“Hermione, we will never need words to express our feelings for each other.”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “But, I still like to hear you say ‘I love you.’”

“Hun, I will never be tired of saying ‘I love you’, that’s a promise.”

We kissed gently once more before getting up off the bed. Harry had to help steady me, as I felt a little wobbly once I stood up. We left the tent and walked out into the cave where the others were talking.

Ron

When Harry and Hermione emerged from the tent, Gretchen and I walked over to talk with them.

“Hermione threw her arms around Gretchen and hugged her. Gretchen returned the hug but was careful not to squeeze Hermione’s ribs.

“Are you alright?” Gretchen asked Hermione.

“Yes, I’m Okay. My ribs ache a little, but other than that, I feel alright.”

“After we saw you and Sirius crash into the side of the cave, a Hippogriff pulled me off my broom and started to fly off with me.” Gretchen continued.

Hermione’s face went white and I thought she was going to pass out. Harry grabbed her around the waist. I suggested that we should all sit down before we continued telling Hermione what had happened to us last night. Harry sat down with his back against a flat rock and Hermione sat between his legs leaning her back against him. Harry placed his arms about her waist and told her to relax. Gretchen and I sat down beside each other facing them. Gretchen then continued to tell Hermione about what had happened to us.

“As soon as the Hippogriff grabbed me, luckily by my backpack, Ron and Harry chased after me. Harry kept buzzing around its head while Ron tried to get to me from underneath the beast. I was able to slip out of my backpack and drop to Ron, who caught me. The three of us then landed and hid behind a large rock at the top of the bluff. Harry went and scouted for a cave to give us shelter from the storm. Ron and I were too shaken, we couldn’t have held onto anything but each other. Harry came back to tell us about a cave a short distance away. Somehow, we managed to fly there and that’s where we spent the night.”

“You mean you never came back here all night?” Hermione asked, almost as if she couldn’t quite believe what Gretchen was saying.

“That’s right. We spent the night in a cave just to the north of here. I had lost my backpack so Ron and I wrapped ourselves in one blanket and Harry wrapped himself in the other. We drank some elixir that was in our backpacks, which helped to fight the cold, curled up on the sandy floor of the cave, and slept through the night. After waking at first light, we flew here as quickly as we could.”

“It’s a good thing that I slept through all of this or I would have been a basket case by this morning,” Hermione said, still looking quite pale. “I would have been worried sick with fear that you were all dead or dying.”

“Well, we are all together now,” I said, trying to reassure Hermione. “Madelyn knew that you would have been extremely distressed by our absence. That’s why she kept you under a sleeping spell until we returned.”

“The first thing I remember today was waking up to see Harry sitting beside me on the bed,” Hermione explained. “To me, it was just seconds after he had saved me from falling to my death on the rocks at the base of the cliff. I was still terrified. All I wanted to do is hold onto Harry and never let go.”

Hermione looked a little embarrassed as she finished speaking.

“Well, we all survived, that’s the important thing,” Harry added. “But right now I am extremely hungry. Who else would like to get some breakfast?”

“I think we could all do with some food,” Madelyn said, when she walked over to where we were sitting. “I’ll second that motion,” added Sirius, with a grin.

“Is the Hippogriff still at the mouth of the cave?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s still there,” replied Sirius. “But at least it’s stopped the awful screeching.

When we went into the tent, we pushed the beds to the side and got out the six folding chairs. Madelyn, with Gretchen’s help, served some food and drink from our supplies. We were all so hungry, that it didn’t matter in the least that the food was prepackaged and bland. After everyone had eaten as much as they wanted, I helped Gretchen clean up the food wrappers.

Every one of us was sitting and yawning as Madelyn said. “I suggest that we all try and get some sleep. Last night wasn’t very restful.”

“Madelyn, the only way I am going to get any decent sleep is if I put my bed next to Harry’s so that he can put his arms around me,” Hermione said, looking extremely determined.

Madelyn looked back at Hermione for several long seconds with out answering. I don’t think she quite knew what to say to Hermione’s statement. At last, she looked over at Gretchen and me and said. “And just what is your story?”

Gretchen piped up quickly, “Oh, we just like to cuddle.”

“Sirius, say something,” Madelyn said to him, looking exasperated.

“Have a pleasant rest everyone,” he replied, laying down on one of the beds and covering himself with a blanket as best as he could with only one good arm.

“Those are not exactly the words I was looking for,” she said to him, frowning.

“Madelyn, would it be alright if we pushed four beds into a square,” I asked. “It wouldn’t be any different than the several times we have all slept together in the great hall back at Hogwarts.”

“Oh, I suppose so,” she replied, sounding much less irritated.

We quickly retrieved the other beds and pushed them into a square on the opposite side of the main room. Harry and Hermione lay down on one pair of beds, and Gretchen and I on the other. We were head to head with the girl’s kitty corner from each other. Gretchen and I wrapped ourselves in a blanket and snuggled next to each other. I kissed her and we both were asleep within seconds.

Harry

As we all got into bed, Hermione rolled over next to me and laid her face next to mine. She didn’t say anything; she just looked into my eyes. Slowly her eyes started to close. I watched as her breathing became slow and regular. I tried to memorize her face as she lay peacefully next to me. I wanted to blot out the image of horror on her face that had haunted me since last night. As I lay beside her, I could feel my eyelids becoming heavier and heavier. “I love you,” I whispered as I fell into a restful sleep.

Madelyn

The kids had all finally settled down and were sleeping soundly. I made sure they were all covered. ‘So young, yet so deeply in love,’ I thought to myself. There was something very special about a person’s first love. Its magic would never be duplicated again. I wished them all the happiness in the world.

Realistically I knew there was going to be damn little happiness to go around if Voldemort and his Death Eaters could not be stopped. We desperately needed to acquire the ‘Impervious’ charm. Unfortunately, we weren’t off to a very good start. The kids had accepted our immediate setback much better than Sirius or I had any right to expect. I wished that I could tell them that the worst was over, that things couldn’t get much worse than this. I knew that would be lying to them, for I feared that before this journey was over, things could get much, much worse. Well, don’t look for trouble, it can find you on its own; I told myself.

I pulled the remaining bed over beside Sirius and crawled in beside him. He lifted his blanket and I rolled next to him.

“Are you done worrying about the kids ‘Mother’,” he asked me, smiling.

“Go back to sleep,” I told him. I kissed him and closed my eyes feeling a sense of belonging that I hadn’t felt in many years.

Hermione

When I awoke and opened my eyes, I was looking at Harry sleeping beside me. He was breathing softly; his arm was lying over my waist. I watched him just lying there for several minutes. I thought of how gentle and considerate he was. He also knew instinctively what to do in a crisis without having to analyze the situation, as I would have to. To think that this gentle person had faced the most evil and vile creature in our world alone on more than one occasion was beyond comprehension. Down deep inside, Harry has a tremendous core of inner strength. In many ways, I think he is like a young Dumbledore.

Most girls just have fantasies about their boyfriends rescuing them from some evil being or a horrible death. I had actually lived through being rescued from death. I would much prefer to have only the fantasy, reality was much too frightening. If things got any worse on this journey, I would fall apart for sure. However, I couldn’t let that happen. Harry needed me to be strong beside him. I would just have to find the strength to face whatever came our way.

I was absentmindedly fingering the locket Harry had given me. As I looked at it, I felt warm and contented. Harry loved me and somehow we would get through this ordeal. In my minds eye, I could see Harry and I sitting at a kitchen table, feeding a baby that had the most unruly hair one could imagine. This made me smile inwardly. ‘If you can imagine the future, then you will have a future’, I told myself.

Gretchen

I opened my eyes with a start. Ron was lying on his back, and I had my head on his shoulder. I could feel the warmth from his body as I lay next to him. Ron was my gallant knight, ready to charge into battle to save his fair lady. He was playful and had a sense of humor that matched my own. We went very well together, like two peas in a pod.

I often use to imagine what the person would look like that I would fall in love with. In many ways, Ron was a combination of those images. He was handsome, but boyish. He had a smile that could melt my heart. His voice could raise goose bumps on my skin, and when he kissed me…well, that was like ‘to die for.’ ‘All in all, not too shabby’ I thought to myself.

As I was lying there congratulating myself on doing such a wonderful job of catching such a marvelous man, I sensed that Hermione was awake. I tilted my neck so that I could see over to where Hermione’s head was resting on a pillow beside Harry. She was smiling back at me, while touching her finger to her lips. I simply smiled back at her. We were both enjoying snuggling close to the ones we loved. Soon our guys would wake and we would be able to talk.

Harry

I awoke and knew instantly that Hermione was awake and looking at me. “Good afternoon,” I said, and we kissed each other tenderly.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked.

“Yes, I feel ten times better than I did when I got up this morning,” I replied.

“Well, of course, that’s because I am at your side.” Hermione said, with a broad grin on her face.

“That settles it, you will always have to sleep by my side for the rest of our lives,” I told her.

“If only that could be true,” she said, with a trace of sadness in her voice. “Somehow I don’t think we are going to have these same accommodations once we return to Hogwarts.”

Just then, I heard Ron say to Gretchen. “Good morning, or rather good afternoon princess.” This was followed by sounds that could only mean that they were enjoying a kiss.

We all rolled onto out stomachs with our faces propped up on our pillows so that we could talk quietly without waking Sirius or Madelyn. After fifteen minutes, I heard Sirius cough and sit up in his bed. Madelyn awoke almost immediately. We all got up from our beds, stretching from a good seven hours of solid sleep.

“Is everyone feeling Okay?” Madelyn asked, looking closely at Sirius.

Everyone said that he or she felt much better. Ron added that he was hungry enough to eat a whole Hippogriff by himself.

“Be my guest,” Sirius said, pointing to the mouth of the cave.

“On second thought, I’ll settle for a bowl of cereal,” Ron replied, back pedaling quickly.

Ron and I moved the beds to the sides of the room and got out the folding chairs while the gals looked through our food supplies for something for dinner. They heated some stew, vegetables and a cherry pie for dessert. As we ate dinner, we discussed ways of getting out of the cave and past the Hippogriffs without being attacked.

“If we just all flew out together as fast as our brooms could go, do you think that would confuse them enough so that we could get past them?” asked Ron.

“I’m not sure,” replied Sirius. “They might manage to catch or knock one or more of us from our brooms. I would like a plan with better odds.”

None of us had any brilliant ideas on how to get out of this cave without risking that someone might be hurt. Madelyn said that after we finished eating she would transfigure herself into a falcon, fly out, and survey the situation.

“Madelyn, how good is your eyesight when you are a falcon?” Gretchen asked.

“I can spot a mouse from a thousand feet in the air,” she replied.

“In that case could you look around and see if the Hippogriff dropped my backpack on the cliff top?”

“Sure, I’ll look and see what I can find,” Madelyn replied. “Did you say that you were somewhere north of here when you got away from the Hippogriff last night?”

“Yes, we were something like five hundred yards north of this cave,” I added.

We finished eating and cleaned up the wrappers and plates we had used for dinner. All of us left the tent and walked quietly towards the mouth of the cave. When we reached the opening where the cave widened into the mouth, Madelyn changed into a falcon and flew quickly out into the open air. I though I heard a faint screech from the Hippogriff, but nothing after that.

Madelyn was gone for what seemed like an hour but was in fact only fifteen to twenty minutes. Her return to the cave provoked no outcries from the nesting Hippogriffs above our cave. She had Gretchen’s backpack clutched in her talons and quickly transformed back into human form. We walked back into the cavern where the tent was pitched to listen to what she had to say.

“Well, we are in luck. The Hippogriffs have gone. They must have moved their young to another nest while we were sleeping. When they couldn’t drive us from the cave, the Hippogriffs must have decided to move to a safer nest. We should spend the night here as it will be dark in a few hours and I want Sirius’s arm to have another twelve hours in the cast before I remove it. By that time Sirius’s arm and Hermione’s rib should be completely healed.”

“I don’t think we should go anywhere near the mouth of the cave,” Sirius added. “We don’t know if the Hippogriffs are likely to come back. We should all be in bed by eight o’clock so that we can get an early start tomorrow morning.”

Ron

It was already starting to get dark in the cave, but none of us felt like going back into the tent just yet. We went over and sat by the side of the cave that let us see out through the mouth of the cave while still being protected. This gave us as much natural light as possible.

For the next three hours, we sat and talked about our schools, friends, and families. We were thoroughly enjoying each other’s company and were well on our way to becoming an inseparable foursome. Finally when it was too dark to see each other we returned to the tent. Since it was almost eight o’clock, Harry and I pulled out the beds while the girls used the bathroom and changed into their nightgowns. When they were finished, Harry and I took our turns.

We lay on the beds talking quietly until Madelyn announced that she was turning off the light and that we should all go to sleep, or else. I was lying on my back with Gretchen’s head on my shoulder. I rolled onto my side so that our faces were almost touching.

“We have had quite the start for our journey,” I said. “I sure hope things improve from here.”

“Ron, shut up and kiss me,” Gretchen said softly. I thought I heard Herminie snicker.

“I love you,” I said pulling her to me and kissing her very tenderly.

“I love you too,” she replied. We drifted off to sleep wrapped in each other’s arms.