The Phoenix Prophecy

Chapter Seven: The Web

Friday- July 11th

Gretchen

I woke to the sound of an owl hooting softly some place nearby. I realized the Ron had rolled onto his back and was snoring very softly. The moon must have been close to full as the room was illuminated enough that I could make out most of the features on Ron’s face. I lay there just watching him sleep for several minutes. I had come very close to losing him over something as trivial and meaningless as a stupid accident.

I thought to myself about how we take life for granted. Especially at our age, we think that we will live forever. Nothing can harm us. It takes something like what happened today to impress upon you just how fragile and precious life can be. If you take something or someone that you love for granted then that thing or person is diminished in its importance. If on the other hand you almost lose forever someone that you love then you gain a new understanding on just how important that person is to you.

I now had a very different view of Ron’s importance to me. It has been said that if you truly love someone then that person’s happiness is essential to your own. As long as we are together, which I hope is for the rest of our lives, I will be happy only if Ron is happy. I truly want to spend my life making Ron happy. Oh, I don’t mean I will be his slave or anything like that. We will be equals, two halves of the whole, each doing our best to make each other feel like the most important person in the world.

Right now that means being there for each other, sharing good times and bad, holding each other for affection and support, enjoying the warmth and passion of snuggling close and shared kisses and caresses. When we are old enough and ready for the responsibility, we will be able to join together so that our bodies and souls are truly one, each inseparable from the other. Someday from the union of our love may come the never ending miracle of life reborn. Maybe someday Ron and I will be blessed with twins just like Lazarus and Laurie. Even if we never have twins, any children that come our way will bless and enrich our lives. Loving another person more than your self, bearing children and raising them to be good and decent human beings is really what life is all about. When you stop to think about it everything else we do in life is in support of the care and nourishing of our young.

As I was thinking of how important Ron was to me he rolled on his side facing me. He was still fast asleep. I gently leaned forward and kissed him lightly on his forehead and said ‘I love you’ very softly but with every bit of my heart. I snuggled in a little closer to him and he placed his arm over my shoulder without waking. I felt very happy and contented. Some time shortly thereafter I drifted off to sleep.

Ron

When I awoke just as dawn was starting to break I realized that I had my arm over Gretchen as she lay next to me. This was definitely a new experience for me that I was growing to appreciate very much. I was suddenly saddened by the thought that I knew this sleeping arrangement wouldn’t last once we returned to our world. I could just picture old McGonagall’s face when I asked to have Gretchen’s bed placed next to mine so that we could continue sleeping next to each other. I’d bet that even Snape couldn’t make that sour of a look even if it was announced that Harry was to be head boy.

This girl that I was holding was more precious to me that anything else in my life. She was devastated when she thought I was going to die. I was going to have to be much more careful in the future. I didn’t ever want to put her through that kind of agony or heartache again. That meant that this journey was going to be very difficult as I was sure that there were going to be many life threatening situations for us to deal with. I was going to have to stop acting like a boy with no responsibilities and start acting like a man whom loved ones depended on.

As I watched Gretchen quietly sleeping, her long golden hair cascading down her shoulder, I thought of just how much I loved her. She was now the center of my universe. From her radiated an energy that gave me both purpose and fulfillment for my life. When we were together I felt as though I could just burst with joy and happiness. When we were apart I longed and ached for her return.

Gretchen seemed to be filled with boundless love and energy. Thinking of her holding either of the twins and seeing the expression of love and caring in her eyes and on her face, I was sure that this girl was going to be a wonderful mother. Even though it would be quite a few years before we actually had children of our own I felt warmed by thoughts of having a family in our future.

I gently kissed her on the tip of her nose and said ‘I love you’. She started to stretch and slowly her eyes fluttered open. Her face broke into one of her warm smiles as she said ‘Good morning’ to me. She placed her arm over my back and said.

“Let’s just stay like this forever.”

“That sounds A Ok by me,” I replied, burying my face in her hair.

Hermione

Harry stirring next to me must have awoken me. We were both lying face down with our faces towards each other. Harry had his arms wrapped around his pillow and his mouth was partially open. His dark unruly hair was just short enough so that it didn’t cover his eyes. Harry had eyelashes that most girls would kill for. Why is it that guys get great eyelashes and we girls have to fuss endlessly with ours?

I realized I was fingering the locket Harry had given me the night before we entered the Realm. It was only five days ago but it seemed much longer. Even though Harry and I had known each other for almost six years, it was only in the last five days that we had recognized and shared our true feelings for each other. Thinking back I realized that we had always supported each other right from the start of our first year at Hogwarts.

Harry was the most amazing young wizard in all of Hogwarts. I was sure he could hold his own with any of the seventh year students. He was in many ways as quiet and shy as I was. He never sought the limelight, in fact he usually went to a great deal of effort to avoid being noticed whenever possible. Harry had an inner strength that I could feel whenever I was near him. He had that very rare ability to analyze a situation and make the right decision instantly. His only shortcoming was in logical thinking. We made a good couple, each supporting the others weaknesses.

Harry

I awoke to see Hermione watching me. She smiled as soon as I opened my eyes. We both rolled on our sides facing each other. I stroked my fingers through her hair for several minutes.

“And how is the future Mrs. Potter this morning?” I asked her.

“Am I the future Mrs. Potter? Is this a proposal?” she replied.

“No, not a proposal, just a prophecy that will someday come to pass,” I said with all the love in my heart.

“Why, Mr. Potter, that is the best offer I have had today,” Hermione said smiling and leaned over and kissed me warmly.

“That better be the only offer you receive today,” I said trying to sound stern. “Unless I make you another one, that is,” I said smiling.

I could hear Ron and Gretchen quietly talking. Just then I heard Sirius cough a couple of times. He sat up in his bed swinging his legs over the side and swatted Madelyn on her rump and said “Rise and shine, there is no rest for the wicked.”

What Madelyn said to him I won’t repeat. I think she forgot the four of us were in the same room with them. She looked a little embarrassed as she got up from her bed.

Sirius

I told the kids we needed to get up and dressed, as Marcus was going to arrive shortly after dawn, which meant he would be here at any time. We changed from our night clothes into our jump suits, put everything away and I quickly packed down the tent and placed it into my backpack. We then went and sat at the table under the oak tree to wait for Marcus to show up. We had only been sitting there for a few minutes when Marcus apparated in front of us and joined us at the table.

“Good morning to you all,” Marcus said to us as he sat down. “I see that you are ready to begin your journey. Before we begin I would like to take some time and explain the nature of the ‘Impervious’ charm and the significance of the ingredients that you was acquire.”

“The ‘Impervious’ charm is the single most difficult charm to acquire. Only the dragons that live in the Mountain of Fire can cast this spell. Since the charm protects the recipient for life from almost every curse known to wizardry, the dragons will only bestow the charm on those that have proven themselves to be just, true and worthy. Since this is a charm it cannot be used against another person, it is only useful as a defense. However if an evil wizard or witch acquired the charm it would make them almost impossible to defeat. That is why the dragons are so demanding in their requirements that potential recipients must meet before they bestow the charm on them.”

“The ingredients that you need to collect are not significant to the actual potion that you will brew for the fusing. What is important is the tests you will actually go through in collecting the ingredients. During the collection you will be tested physically, mentally and spiritually. This journey is not to be entered into without the utmost commitment. The possibility of loss of life is very real.”

As Marcus said this he looked at each one of us in turn. When he finished surveying us he continued on.

“The size of your group is optimal. Fewer members would not be as able to sustain each other, while additional members would create a group too large to function with a single purpose. Also because you are equally divided between male and female you will have the proper balance of your inherent strengths and weaknesses. I will assist you more as a guide that an actual member of your group. Also in the event that you are all killed I will try to send word of your demise back to your home world.”

“We will travel from here to the mouth of the river that leads to the Spider Queen’s lair by portkey. To travel by broom would take a whole day.”

“Now before we begin I want to hear from each one of you that you are undertaking this journey of your own free will.”

We all said in turn to Marcus that we chose this journey of our own free will. When we had finished Gretchen said to Marcus.

“Gawain, we have discussed this journey and its hazards many times amongst ourselves. We are not afraid to undertake this journey.”

Marcus looked directly at Gretchen, his eyes cold as steel and said to her. “Young lady, before this day is over you will be afraid. You can count on it.”

Gretchen

Gawain’s look was ice cold, it felt like two steel daggers had just pierced my heart. The longer he looked at me the colder I felt. I finally had to lower my eyes, any bravado that I had felt when I said we weren’t afraid had instantly evaporated. I shuddered as if the temperature was below zero; I was chilled to the bone. I quickly took Ron’s hand in mine trying to shake off the feeling of despair that had suddenly come over me.

“I am not trying to frighten all of you unnecessarily,” Gawain said, with his voice and facial expression softening. “I just want you to fully realize what you are about to undertake.”

Just then I heard footsteps coming from the house. Martha and Walt, each holding a twin, followed by their children, came and stood by the table. This was the moment I was dreading. In two short days I had come to love these people as family. Sirius and Madelyn stood up and thanked them for all there hospitality. While Harry and Hermione were thanking Walt, I walked over to Martha. My heart felt like it was stuck in the middle of my throat. Martha handed Lazarus to me and I cradled him in my arms for one last time. I kissed him on the forehead and handed him back to Martha.

Walt handed Laurie to me and I cuddled her for a few seconds. As I kissed her, tears were running down my cheeks. Ron stood beside me with his arm around my shoulder. He softly whispered ‘Goodbye’ as I handed Laurie back to Walt. I finally was able to speak as I said to Martha.

“I love you and will always remember you for the rest of my life.”

“Gretchen, I too will never forget you and I wish for you, Ron and the rest of your friends, long and happy lives,” Martha said looking at me with tears in her eyes. “When you think of the twins, and you will often do so, remember the joy they brought you and be happy with the knowledge that there are two more souls that have been blessed by your boundless love.”

I flung my arms around Martha and hugged her with all my heart. After several seconds I let go of her and wiped the tears from my eyes. I tried to smile, but it was difficult to do so when I felt so depressed. Ron thanked Martha and Walt and we walked over to where the others were standing.

Gawain was holding a circular ring about three feet in diameter. We all placed a hand on the ring. With my other hand I waved goodbye to the Blyths. Suddenly we were zooming through the air over several different types of terrain. We landed with a bump and I fell to the ground as I stumbled trying to catch my footing. Ron helped me to my feet; my stomach ached as though I hadn’t eaten in a week. Ron hugged me and gave me a quick kiss and said. “You’ll make it, I know you will.”

Ron

I knew Gretchen must be hurting terribly, I could see it in her face. I felt bad enough at saying goodbye to wonderful people that we would never see again. I hugged her trying to let her know that I would do everything I could to help her through this very difficult time.

The weather here was very different from the prairie land where the Blyth’s had their farm. The temperature was tropical and so was the humidity. We were on the bank of a river whose source disappeared into a canyon with steep walls that was overgrown with tropical vegetation. The river was about one hundred feet across and was moving swiftly. The water was a murky brown color which made it impossible to see if it contained any fish or other creatures.

Gawain motioned for us to all gather around him.

“The spider queen lives in an ancient temple about fifty miles upriver from here. The temple has been uninhabited by humans for the last one thousand years. You will have to follow the river to the temple. This rain forest is inhabited by non magical creatures. In this jungle only the fittest survive. There are many deadly plants and animals that you must avoid. The river itself is home to a species of fish that can strip all the flesh from you bones in less than a minute. If you fall in the water you will have less that ten seconds before the fish find and devour you.”

“You will know that you are getting close to the temple when you encounter a thick, white mist. The only entrance to the interior of the temple, where the spider queen lives, is along a path that you must travel on foot. The beginning of the path is marked with large stone shaped like a bird.”

“Once you enter the temple follow the glyphs that look like a phoenix to the inner chambers. There you will find webs spun by the queen. The color of the queen’s webs is deep purple. Webs of other colors are spun by other spiders. You must find and retrieve the queen’s web.”

“It is now approximately eight o’clock in the morning. You must be back here within twelve hours. It is impossible for human beings to survive a single night in this jungle. I will return here in ten hours to await your return.”

“If you wish to terminate this quest and return to Mugland now is your last chance.”

None of us said anything about quitting so Gawain wished us ‘Good Fortune’ and disapperated.

“Harry, is what I am feeling now anything like what you felt like before your first task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament?” I asked him.

“Ron, I’m sorry to say that the fear I was experiencing before the first Tri-Wizard task was closer to the fear we went through over the Yule Ball that what I am feeling right now.”

“Look we are all scared,” Sirius said. ”We would have to be complete fools not to be. But if we stand here and keep talking about how scary this is, we will talk ourselves right out of doing it. Remember Dumbledore wouldn’t have sent us on this journey if he didn’t think there was a good chance that we would succeed.”

I looked at Gretchen trying to guess what she was thinking. After a couple of seconds I said to her.

“Gretchen, I’m ready. What about you?”

“Yes, I’m ready too. Let’s get going.”

The others felt the same as Gretchen and I. We checked our jump suits making sure we were ready. We had our flying helmets on, with the goggles over our eyes. Sirius and Madelyn would take the lead followed by Harry and Hermione. Gretchen and I would bring up the rear. We mounted our brooms and headed upriver.

Harry

The river canyon’s walls rose quickly to tower above us. After we had been traveling less than ten minutes the canyon walls were over two hundred feet high, one hundred feet across at the base and were topped by thick jungle growth. The walls we mostly barren rock, but pockets of small trees and vines grew on both sides on the river. The water was rapidly moving downriver with many whirlpools created as the water cascaded around the many boulders in the riverbed.

As we continued flying upriver the height and width of the canyon started to slowly shrink. By the time we had traveled approximately twenty five miles the canyon walls were barely forty feet high and were completely covered with thick vines and occasional trees. The river course was constantly changing as the canyon snaked its way through the jungle. The canyon walls were now less than fifty feet across and the wind currents were becoming treacherous. We were being constantly thrown from side to side and up and down. It was very difficult to stay upright and keep our brooms under control. More than once, a crosswind nearly sent us crashing into the walls of the canyon.

I was having trouble navigating the canyon in these unpredictably changing wind currents. I knew that Hermione must be scared out of her mind. After the last near miss with the canyon wall; one look at her face told me that she was ready to freak out. Flying through this crap was just too much, for someone with as little flying experience as she had, to manage.

I turned around and motioned for Gretchen to fly on Hermione’s left side and Ron to fly just behind her. I hoped that if we closed in on her she might feel a little safer. That helped a little but not as much as I had hoped it would.

I kept trying to talk to her. At first I tried to reassure her that everything would be alright. After I realized that wasn’t going to work I tried to give her tips on how to control her broom. All in all I wasn’t having any success in trying to ease her fear and nervousness. The roar from the water rushing through the canyon was starting to make it difficult to hear. So I stopped talking and just kept my eyes on her trying to smile reassuringly.

One strong wind shear actual caused Sirius to bang up against the canyon wall. He recovered quickly. I’m sure that Hermione was probably screaming, but nothing could be heard over the roar of the river. I was so preoccupied with making sure that Hermione was going to be ok that I lost control of my broom and a gust of wind blew me upside down. Ron quickly scooted up beside me and held out a hand that I grabbed and righted myself.

We continued being slapped around by the wind for the next five miles. It felt like someone was constantly whacking my broom handle with a sledge hammer. My hands and arms were starting to ache from having to constantly fight for control. Fortunately the wind didn’t get any worse. I knew Hermione was not going to be able to take anything more. My heart was in my throat every time she would lose control of her broom. I started pleading with myself for this to end. Enough is enough I screamed in my head.

Up ahead the canyon turned shapely to the right. As soon as we rounded the bend the winds stopped and we found ourselves in a small lake that was maybe a half mile across and a mile long. The change was so abrupt that it caught all of us by surprise. One minute you couldn’t hear anything but a deafening roar and the next it was quiet enough to hear birds calling out to each other.

We stopped and just hovered about twenty five feet above the surface of the lake. For several moments none of us said anything. We just tried to catch our breath and relax our aching muscles. Finally I turned to Hermione.

“Hun, I don’t think it’s possible to fly a broom through anything more difficult and treacherous that what we have just flow through. I am so proud of you. If we weren’t sitting on brooms I would hug and kiss you to death.”

She smiled very weakly, a little color returning to her face. We had only traveled about thirty miles so far. As I looked to the far end of the lake where Sirius and Madelyn were pointing I saw an enormous waterfall that must have been at least two hundred feet high. The top was completely hidden from view by a thick white mist. When Hermione saw Sirius pointing to the waterfall all of the color that had returned to her face instantly vanished.

She immediately started crying and shaking her head saying, ‘I can’t go up there, I just can’t. Please don’t make me go there.” Ron moved between her and Gretchen so that we could sandwich her between us. I put my hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down. She looked at me with terrified eyes that silently pleaded with me to help her. I knew right then and there that there was no way she would be able to fly to the top of the waterfall on her own.

“Ron, this is way more the Hermione can handle,” I said to him.

“I know that,” he replied. “What we just came through was worse that anything I could have imagined. I think I’m going to need some dry shorts.”

Ron looked over to see how Gretchen was doing. She had hovered next to him while we were trying to steady Hermione. I could see that she was tired and stressed but she looked like she would be ok. Sirius and Madelyn turned around to face us.

“Sirius, Hermione just can’t make it to the top of that waterfall,” I said. “We need to think of some way to help her to the top.”

“Well a single broom isn’t powerful enough to get the two of you up there,” he replied. “Are you sure she can’t make it on her own?”

“Yes, I’m sure. We have to come up with something or else turn around and head back.”

As soon as I mentioned turning back, Hermione started crying softly saying that we were going to fail and it was all her fault. She was really taking it hard that she was preventing us from continuing on.

“Hun, we all knew that there were going to horrendous challenges that we would each have to face on this journey. That fact that the first crisis is related to physical endurance and flying, which affects you the most doesn’t mean that you are the only reason we might fail.”

Ron added, “Hermione, once we get to the spider queens lair I might get so freaked out that I faint or completely fall to pieces.”

Hermione managed a small smile and said thanks to Ron.

“Well I suppose we could put her to sleep and try levitating her to the top,” Sirius suggested.

“That might disqualify Hermione in the eyes of the dragons,” said Madelyn. “We need to find some way of her getting to the top and overcoming her fear at the same time. Sirius, why don’t we quickly fly to the top and see if the winds are calm enough so that Hermione could get there under her own power.”

No one could think of any other alternative. While Sirius and Madelyn checked out the waterfall, Hermione could rest her muscles and try and relax. We moved about half way down the lake. Sirius and Madelyn quickly started to climb towards the top of the falls. We watched as they became smaller and smaller and finally disappeared into the mist at the top of the falls.

A couple of minutes after they vanished into the mist we saw them reappear and start back down to where we were waiting. When they rejoined us Madelyn said.

“The winds are very calm as long as we stay about twenty five feet away from the falling water. Once you enter the mist the air is almost dead calm and the water in the upper river is surprisingly smooth.”

“Hermione, do you want to try or should we just turn around and head back down the river?” I asked her as compassionately as I could.

“Harry, I don’t want to be the reason for us having to go home without having achieved our goal, but I am scared to death of falling again like I did at the coast.”

“Hermione, what if Ron and I tie our ropes between us and you, to act as a lifeline incase something should happed while he are flying to the top of the falls?” I said. “Ron and I could support you easily enough; you hardly weigh anything at all.”

Hermione choked out a small laugh when I mentioned her weight and said, “Am I to skinny? Do you prefer your girls to be on the plump side?”

“Actually I do like my girls to be pleasingly plump. You know like you and Gretchen,” I said knowing that it would bring an instant outcry from both the girls. I wasn’t disappointed, even Ron jumped on me and said.

“Hey, leave Gretchen out of this; she’s just perfect for me.”

“And exactly what is that supposed to mean, Mr. Weasley?” Gretchen said to Ron accusingly.

Ron hastily answered, “That means I love you just the way you are. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Ron was quickly digging himself into a hole, which was quite a feat considering we were suspended in mid air, some twenty five feet above the water.

“Well now that Ron and I are both in the doghouse, are you ready to try the lifeline?” I asked Hermione hoping to forestall any more discussion on the girl’s weight. A subject I would remind myself to never ever bring up again if humanly possible. It was one of those no-win situations that are best avoided. It’s akin to being asked by a girl if you think her mother’s prettier that she is? If Hermione ever asks me what I think about this or that physical attribute I’m going to develop a sudden case of lockjaw.

Hermione took a deep breath and said ok to the lifeline idea. She would do anything she possible could to not cause us to return home without obtaining our goal. We decided that the best way to secure Hermione was to place two ropes about her chest just under her arms and tie the other ends to the handles of Ron’s and my brooms. Gretchen suggested we should tie the rope around our necks instead of the broom handles. She added something that sounded like ‘Give a man enough rope and he will always hang himself.”

“Hermione, be careful where you position those ropes on your chest,” Gretchen said to Hermione with a snicker. “Or else you might find yourself permanently uplifted.”

Hermione stuck out her tongue at her, but I noticed she was very careful to make sure the ropes wouldn’t pinch her in any tender places. All this bantering back and forth had done what I had hoped it would. Hermione was no longer terrified. She was still nervous, hell we were all that and then some.

We made sure that Ron and I could support Hermione on the ropes and then we all started up towards the top of the falls. I told her to keep her eyes focused on the mist at the top and to not look down. Sirius, Madelyn and Gretchen flew directly behind us so that they could help if need be.

We climbed steadily towards the top of the falls. Ron and I kept quickly glancing at Hermione to make sure she was doing ok. “Remember to breath,” I yelled at her as her face was looking quite ashen. After about two minutes of steady climbing in smooth air we entered the mist. The mist looked much thicker from the lake below that it actually was. We could make out the banks of the upper river which were solidly lined with jungle growth.

We moved up the river for about five hundred yards from the top of the falls and untied the lifelines. The river was about two hundred feet wide and the jungle vegetation grew right down and into the rivers edge.

“We should be to the marker stone in less than thirty minutes,” Sirius told us.

“I sure hope so,” replied Hermione. “I feel like my bladder is going to burst any minute.”

“I’m sure that goes for all of us,” Madelyn replied to her. “I definitely know it goes for me.”

Hermione

I had been terrified by the trip up the river through the canyon and then when I looked up and saw the gigantic waterfall, it was just too much and I lost it. I just wanted to run crying to the safety of my room and get out of this crazy nightmare. Harry was wonderful to me. He never made me feel like I was letting him down or that he was disappointed in me. I’m sure that if I had refused to go on he would have taken me back down the river to wait for Gawain and never said a word about my cowardice.

He was being as supportive as I could ever ask for, except for the wise crack about my weight. I suddenly wondered, maybe it wasn’t a joke; I was putting on a little more weight this year. Harry wouldn’t ever tease me about my weight, would he? I was going to have to corner him alone and find out if he really thinks I’m ‘pleasingly plump’ as he calls it. Oh, quite worrying about your weight, I thought to myself. There are more pressing problems ahead of us.

Now that we were traveling over quiet waters and through calm air my fear was starting to subside. Unfortunately my stomach, which felt as if it had been tied in knots, was now starting to yell at me as if it were full of butterflies that wanted out. I was also starting to get the shakes; I hoped that we would land sooner rather than later.

The sun was almost directly overhead and the mist thinned out as we continued upriver. We could clearly see the riverbanks. Occasionally I would see movement in the trees that was some form of animal that I never saw. After thirty minutes Sirius shouted and pointed to a large stone that vaguely resembled a bird on the right side of the river. We headed towards the stone and landed in a small clearing that surrounded the stone.

The clearing, with the stone in the middle was maybe fifty feet in diameter. We could see the path leading into the jungle at the edge of the clearing. We decided to take our brooms with us as we didn’t know if there were any creatures that might find them interesting enough to make off with. Also if we needed to make a fast getaway we might have a chance of taking to the air and finding the river and then following it back to the falls.

We each took turns using the other side of the stone as a make shift lavatory. Everyone felt much better after that. We ate a quick snack and had a few swallows of water before we started following the path to the spider queen’s lair. After securing our brooms to our backpacks and taking out our wands we followed the path into the jungle.

Once we were actually in the jungle, the first thing I noticed was the smell. It was an overpowering combination of fragrant flowers and decay. Gretchen noticed it almost as soon as I did and said.

“It’s a good thing none of us is pregnant.”

“Gretchen!” Madelyn exclaimed, sounding quite shocked.

“My mom couldn’t stand any strong smells when she was pregnant. She said that being sensitive to strong smells was common for pregnant women. I didn’t mean anything personal by it Madelyn,” Gretchen replied with some testiness in her voice.

Everyone was a little edgy as we moved deeper and deeper into the jungle. The growth was thick along the edges of the path and joined together about fifteen feet above our heads. The path, now more of a tunnel, sloped gradually downhill as it wound its way from the river. We continuously heard the sounds of birds chirping and calling to each other. Occasionally we would hear a sound that started like someone screaming and would quickly change into a broken laugh. Every time I heard that sound I would get a shiver that shook my whole body. I could tell by the looks on everyone’s faces that the screaming sound was getting to them too.

Ron looked especially nervous as we continued down the path. Harry and Madelyn were in the lead. Gretchen, Ron and I were in the middle with Sirius guarding our rear. He was worried that something might try and attack us from behind. As we moved along the path there was a constant sound of small animals darting away from the edges of the path. The first time a monkey swung across the path right in front of us we all nearly jumped right out of our skins.

After we had been walking for about fifteen minutes Harry and Madelyn stopped suddenly and motioned for us to be silent. Sirius came forward to see what they were looking at. I moved to Harry’s side so that I could see what he and Madelyn were worried about. Approximately fifty feet farther along the path ended at a stone archway that was mostly overgrown with vines and looked as if it had been there for thousands of years.

As we continued to stare at the archway I thought I noticed that one of the larger vines seemed to be moving. My first thought was that this vine must be some form of Devil’s Snag. But then I remembered that Gawain said this forest was not inhabited by magical creatures. I noticed that Harry seemed to be concentrating intently, almost as if he were under some kind of spell. He suddenly turned and motioned for all of us to follow him back up the path, out of view of the stone archway.

Once we had moved back out of view he said, “I’m pretty sure I can hear a snake talking up ahead. I think the snake might be guarding the entrance to the spider queen’s lair.”

For several seconds none of us said anything. We just stood there looking at Harry. Finally Sirius asked Harry if he was certain that he heard snakes talking.

“Yes Sirius, I’m fairly certain there are one or more snakes at the mouth of the stone archway.”

“Could you make out what they were saying to each other?” Sirius asked Harry.

“Well mostly it sounded as if the snake was either talking to him self out of boredom or was telling a companion how dull it was just hanging around this entrance day after day.”

“Does anybody have any suggestions on how we might get past these snakes?” Sirius asked all of us.

Ron looked like he really wished he was some place else, Gretchen didn’t look much better. I felt sorry for Ron. I knew spiders terrified him, I suppose snakes weren’t much better. Harry, Sirius and Madelyn were all deep in thought trying to think of some way of getting past the snakes at the entrance to the lair.

“Do you think we could stun them with a curse?” Madelyn asked.

“I don’t think we have any other choice,” replied Sirius. “The problem will be getting close enough to hit them with the curse before they attack or run for re-enforcements.”

“I have an idea that just might work,” Harry added.

We all looked at Harry and waited for him to explain his idea.

“What if we walk right up to the archway with me in the lead? You all follow behind me but act as if you are under a spell. I will talk with the snakes and tell them that I am taking you to the spider queen where you will be served as the main course for a feast she has planned. I will tell them that a goblin hired me to deliver five humans for this feast. If the snakes don’t buy the story then we hit them with a curse. Since we will be right on top of them we should be able to knock all of them out quickly.”

We all just looked at Harry like he must be crazy.

“Harry, do you mean to just walk up and say, ‘Hey dudes, where do I deliver these meals to go?’” I asked him, my voice just dripping with sarcasm.

“You know, that just might work,” Sirius said to Madelyn.

“Well, I can’t think of any other way of getting close enough to make sure the curse gets them all,” Madelyn replied.

I just looked at the three of them. I couldn’t believe they were even considering trying this. Harry took one look at my face and he knew that I though he was crazy.

“Hermione, I have talked with snakes several times before. Even you were there when I subdued the snake Malfoy set loose at dueling practice during our second year. I’m sure we can pull this off so that none of is hurt and the snakes are not permanently harmed either.”

Harry tried to make me feel better about this scheme by putting his arms around my waist and smiling at me. At first I didn’t feel the least bit better, but after a few seconds I hugged him and said, “I sure hope this works Potter.”

Harry

“No worries Hun, I’m positive this will work,” I said to Hermione. I sure hope this works I thought to myself.

I told everyone to walk kind of stiff like and hold their arms down but be ready to cast your curse if the snakes don’t go for the storyline I am feeding them.

We all got ready and started down the path towards the stone archway. As soon as we rounded the corner I could hear one snake talking. When we got half way there the snake stopped talking and stared directly at us not moving a muscle. I just kept walking towards the archway. When we were about ten feet from the snake I stopped and talked directly to the snake in parseltongue.

“Hello there, is this the way to the spider queen’s lair?” I asked the snake. At first he didn’t reply or move. Then I noticed his eyes looking over everyone behind me. “You there, didn’t you hear what I just said?” I repeated to the snake. “Speak up, I haven’t got all day.”

“Who are you and where did you learn to talk to snakes?” the snake finally replied.

“The name’s Potter and I have been able to speak to snakes all my life,” I replied trying to sound important, yet just a little annoyed with him. “And who might you be?”

“My name is Apep. I am the guardian of the entrance to Mosag’s lair. What is your business with the queen?”

“I have been commissioned by Rokor, a goblin, to provide the spider queen with five humans she intends to serve at a feast she is planning.”

Apep looked at the others behind me again. It took every ounce of courage Ron could muster, but he managed to stand perfectly still under the snake’s gaze. After he looked each of them over carefully he said to me.

“Some of these humans don’t look like they will make much of a meal. Is this the best you could find?”

“I had enough trouble finding and subduing these five,” I replied. “It’s not easy to find five humans gullible enough to believe that I was going to take them to a lost temple filled with precious stones and other treasures. The goblin was not specific as to the size of the humans I was to fetch for the queen.”

Apep kept looking at the others longingly. Finally he said to me, “Do you think you might leave one of these humans for me? I haven’t eaten in the last couple of days.”

“The goblin was very specific in that I should fetch five humans for the queen,” I added quickly. I didn’t want to have to bargain one of the others for passage into the lair. “Apep, if the queen doesn’t use all five I will see if I can bring one back with me. Is there any particular one you would like me to try and bring back?” I asked him, trying to sound helpful.

“Don’t bother with the one with the head of long brown hair; it doesn’t look to have any meat on its bones. Probably doesn’t have any taste either. If you can manage it, try and bring back the one with the red hair. That one looks like it might make a decent meal.”

“I do my best,” I said to Apep. I pointed to the entrance of the lair and motioned for the others to move. Still pretending that they were under my spell they started walking single file into the lair’s entrance.

I quickly followed the others through the archway. After we had gone about fifty feet and the light from the entrance was growing dim Sirius and I both used our wands to illuminate the interior of the passage way. Everyone tried to talk to me at the same time.

“Shush, keep your voices down. Snakes have excellent hearing. We don’t want Apep to come and see why all of you are suddenly talking,” I said as quietly as I could.

I quickly recounted my conversation with Apep. When I mentioned that Apep thought Hermione was too skinny to be worth even bothering to eat, I wasn’t sure if she was delighted or insulted. Ron on the other hand was definitely not pleased with the bargain I had promised to try and make so that he could be Apep’s dinner.

“Harry, you really wouldn’t feed me to the snake, right old buddy?” Ron said rather anxiously.

“No I wouldn’t do that Ron. I’m sure that the spider queen would want you for herself.”

“Oh, thanks a bunch, now I feel ever so much better,” Ron replied glaring at me.

“Relax Ron; none of us is going to dinner for any spider or snake. Harry was just trying to take your mind off the snake,” Gretchen told him while moving as close to Ron as she possible could.

Gretchen

I know Harry was just trying to get Ron to relax and lighten up. Unfortunately he wasn’t having much success. This passage way was spooky. I moved next to Ron so that I felt more protected by his very closeness. I could feel a draft flowing out of the passage way. The air smelled musty and foul. I hoped that we wouldn’t have to spend very much time looking for the queen’s web.

Sirius and Harry checked their watches and agreed that we had at most three hours in which to locate the web and return to the river. Madelyn showed us how to use are wands to etch markings into the walls of the passageway. We marked the walls with increasing numbers and small arrows indicating the direction to the archway. We decided that even though it would be less effective for searching that we would all stick together as much as possible.

I took Ron’s hand in mine. His hands were cold and clammy. I knew he was terribly worried about what would happen if some spiders came after us. Not only was he terrified of the spiders themselves but he was also scared that he would let me down and I would think he was cowardly. I just wasn’t going to let that happen. Ron was brave and decent. I loved him and that was enough for me.

I placed my arms around his neck and said quietly so that only he could hear.

“Ron, kiss me and hold me, I need to know that you are here for me.”

Ron wrapped his arms around my waist and quickly pulled me to him. He kissed me hungrily but quickly pulled his lips from mine and just hugged me tightly. He said something softly in my ear that I didn’t quite catch. It had something to do with getting out alive and not wanting to wait any longer. I wasn’t sure why, but I suddenly felt that I wanted to be very much alone with Ron just then.

We continued down the passageway, the guys had their wands lit so we could see where we were going; we gals used our wands to mark the walls about every one hundred feet or so. If we didn’t mark the walls we might get hopelessly lost and never find our way out. I was very happy that Sirius had been firm in setting a three hour time limit for our search. That would leave us two additional hours to get back out of the rain forest before dark.

Ron and I were still holding hands as we penetrated deeper into the queen’s lair. I noticed that Harry and Hermione were also holding each others hand. After ten minutes we came to a fork in the passageway. There wasn’t anything to indicate one path was more likely to lead to the lair than the other, so we followed the fork to the right. For the next two hours we searched up and down dozens of passageways and never found a single web of any kind. Several times during our search I thought I could hear the sound of something scuttling away in the darkness.

We had finally worked our way back to the first fork we had come to and started down the left hand passageway. We had relaxed considerably during the last two hours, mostly because we hadn’t come across a single creature of any kind.

“Ron, do you think maybe we are in the wrong place?” I asked.

“No Gretchen, the lair has to be somewhere in one of these passageways. Remember the snake knew of the spider queen and didn’t find it odd that Harry was taking us to her through the archway.”

Within ten minutes we came to another fork in the passageway. By my reckoning we had about thirty minutes of time remaining before we needed to start back to the river. Sirius and Madelyn decided we should split into two groups and each search a different fork. Sirius, Harry and Hermione would take the right fork while Madelyn, Ron and I took the left. We were to meet back at this spot in thirty minutes.

Madelyn lit her wand to help light the way. I was the only one marking the walls. Since we weren’t going too far that shouldn’t slow us down very much. Approximately ten minutes after splitting up Ron and Madelyn stopped abruptly. I looked to see why they had stopped and there in the middle of the passageway was a black spider about six inches high. It stared at us for several seconds and then disappeared into the darkness of the passageway.

Madelyn started forward down the passageway. Ron didn’t move for several seconds and then he followed after Madelyn. Within a minute they stopped again. Directly ahead, were at least a dozen big, hairy, black and orange spiders sitting in the middle of the passageway. Madelyn started towards them but they did not run away. The spiders acted as if they were guarding something further along the passageway. Madelyn hit them with the ‘Furnunculus’ curse which seemed to render them unconscious. We very carefully stepped over their bodies and continued down the passageway.

As we continued down the passageway it abruptly terminated in a large cavernous room that was at least one hundred feet across. Directly in the center of the cavern was a huge deep purple web that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. The web was almost cylindrical in shape with diameter of approximately ten feet. At various intervals around the edge of the cavern were entrances to passageways just like the one we were standing in.

The cavern was partially lit from light coming through holes in the ceiling. We looked everywhere we could see in the cavern, but there were no spiders in sight. Everything was perfectly still. It was about forty feet from where we stood to the queen’s web. Madelyn was looking intently around the cavern.

“Wait right here, while I run to the web and get what we need,” she said to Ron and me. “I should be able to get there and back in fifteen seconds. Then we can quickly return up the passageway and rendezvous with the others.”

Ron and I watched as Madelyn quickly and silently made her way across the cavern to the web. Once there she quickly detached a piece of the web and put it in a canister she had brought with her. Just as she turned around to start back the largest spider you could possibly imagine dropped from the ceiling directly in front of her.

Ron and I were both too terrified to even scream. We watched in horror as the queen started advancing on Madelyn, her long black pincers clicking menacingly. Madelyn started to hit the queen with spells so that she could get away, but the spells only succeeded in slowing the queen not stopping her advance. I knew we had to help Madelyn if she was going to survive. Once the queen caught Madelyn in her pincers, Madelyn would be cut to pieces.

Madelyn also realized this, her face showed the terrified look of someone who is about to die and knows it. I grabbed Ron’s arm and screamed at him.

“Ron, we have to do something right now or Madelyn is going to be killed right in front of us. We can’t just stand here and watch her die.”

Ron was frozen with fear. He couldn’t move or speak. I knew it was up to me to save Madelyn. This was something that was just beyond Ron’s capability to deal with. We all had things that we feared so much that we were paralyzed by them. Ron’s greatest fear was spiders. I wasn’t mad or disappointed in Ron. You can only ask just so much from a person.

I dashed out of the passageway opening and ran towards the queen. I hoped that if Madelyn and I both hit the queen with curses the combined effect would be strong enough to stun her so that we could both escape back down the passageway. As soon as I started hitting the queen with curses from behind, she turned and started advancing on me. I immediately started backpedaling as quickly as I could. In my haste to get out of reach I stumbled and fell on my back. I lay there, looking up as the queen closed in for the kill.

I knew there was no way I could get back to my feet in time to avoid being caught by the queen’s lethal pincers. I instinctively yelled out to Ron and said that I was sorry we were going to end this way and that I loved him more than anyone else in the world. Our curses had already slowed the queen considerably or I would have already been dead. Normally spiders can move extremely fast. As the queen reared her head to make her final attack, I closed my eyes and screamed Ron’s name.

At any second I expected to be lifted into the air and ripped in two by the queen’s powerful pincers. Just as I felt that my heart was about to explode in my chest I heard Ron scream ‘Noo…’ as he leapt from the entrance to the passageway and shoved his wand into the spider queen’s head and yelled ‘JellyLegs’.

The queen immediately began to wobble uncontrollably and fell to the floor with a loud thud just a few inches from my feet. In a heartbeat Ron was at my side pulling me into his arms as though I was weightless. When I managed to focus my eyes on his face and looked into his eyes I almost fainted. His eyes were radiating a cold icy fury and hatred the likes of which I have never seen and never hope to again. Ron was at that moment pure uncontrolled rage. The intensity of the hatred he was radiating was so strong that all I could do was try and get away from him. I went berserk, swinging my fists at him, hitting him in the chest and face, screaming and crying the whole time. But he just kept holding me, I couldn’t escape his grasp.

Madelyn rushed up to us and saw that Ron was completely out of control. She instantly slapped him across the face so hard that his neck should have snapped. In an instant Ron went from a monster from hell to the man I loved and cherished. He immediately started crying and kissing me all at the same time. Madelyn gabbed us both by the arms and started to drag us to our feet.

“We have to get out of here right now,” Madelyn screamed at us.

Just as we got to our feet we heard the sound of our doom. From each of the entrances to the cavern, thousands of big hairy black and orange spiders were poring into the cavern. Their pincers were all clicking and the noise was deafening. The spiders were slowly advancing on us from all sides. Ron wrapped his arms around me and held me to his chest.

There was no way we could get past the thousands of spiders that were just feet away from devouring us alive. I looked up into Ron’s face.

“Ron, I love you so much. I’m sorry we never had the chance to have sex, I’m sure it would have been wonderfully satisfying. Now I’m sorry I fought down the desire to make love to you.”

I closed my eyes and held my breath waiting for death to come and take us. At least we would die in each others arms.

Just as I heard Ron say that he loved me to, I heard what sounded like a snake talking, only much louder that normal. As I opened my eyes I saw all of the spiders racing for the entrances at the far side of the cavern. Within seconds the cavern was completely empty of every single spider.

The sound of the snake was coming from the entrance we had used to enter the cavern. Just as I was thinking, swell instead of being eaten by spiders we are going to be eaten by a giant snake instead, Ron shouted at Madelyn to run and started pulling me directly towards the entrance where the snake was located. I tried to fight him and ask him if he was nuts, but Ron was to strong and just kept pulling me until we were in the entrance to the passageway. Ron must have gotten tired of trying to pull me because he just picked me up and through me over his shoulder and started moving as fast as he could through the passageway.

Madelyn was right behind us. The thing that had me puzzled was that the sound of the snake always seemed to be ahead of us and we never seemed to catch up with it.

“Ron, please let me down,” I begged. “My guts are killing me.”

Ron quickly set me on my feet and before I could ask what the hell was going on; he grabbed my hand and started pulling me along the passageway as he said.

“Harry is talking parseltongue to fool the spiders. “Spiders are deathly afraid of snakes, that’s why they ran. But we have to get out of here before the spiders realize they have been tricked.”

Sure enough just as we emerged from a fork into the passageway that lead to the entrance through the stone archway, there was Harry shouting parseltongue, as he, Hermione and Sirius were quickly retreating towards the mouth of the passageway.

When we caught up with them, Sirius yelled for all of us to take our backpacks off and get on our brooms, and fly like bats from hell out of the place.

“What about the snake at the entrance? “Ron asked him.

“Who gives a rat’s ass about the snake? Let him dine on all the spiders he can swallow,” Sirius screamed back.

We quickly did as Sirius ordered. Just as I was mounting my broom I started to hear a stampede of thousands of tiny feet on the stone floor of the passageway. We all took off for the archway and the jungle beyond with Madelyn in the lead and Sirius in the rear. I was just ahead of Ron, who was right in front of Sirius. As I cleared the archway I looked back to see Ron and then Sirius clear the archway. I noticed Apep’s head was looking every which way in total bewilderment.

We flew down the jungle path towards the river at breakneck speed. I don’t think it took us more that several minutes to reach the clearing. As soon as we reached the clearing Sirius jumped off is broom and started rolling on his back. Ron rushed up to him and brushed several spiders from his back. Luckily none of them had been able to penetrate his flying suit with their pincers. While Ron was trying to kill all of the spiders by stomping on them, Sirius said to forget them, we were leaving anyway. I told Sirius to let Ron kill them, maybe it would release him from his fear of spiders. After today I knew I was going to have nightmares about spiders for a long time.

“Would anyone care for a picnic lunch?” Sirius asked all of us.

“Let’s just get the hell out of here,” I said.

“Does anyone need to pee?” asked Sirius.

“I’ll go in my suit, thank you. Now can we just scram, please?” I begged, totally freaked that at any second the jungle was going to erupt with thousands of really pissed off spiders. Much to my relief Sirius said to get our backpacks off the brooms and onto our backs and then we would be outta here.

Ron

“Let’s blow this popsicle stand,” I shouted to the others as I mounted my broom and waited for Gretchen to do the same.

I checked my watch, it read 5:30. We had three and a half hours to make it back to the mouth of the river. With the wind at our backs we should be able to make that easily I figured.

Once we were all ready we took to the air and headed down river. We should reach the top of the falls in about thirty minutes. Hopefully Hermione would be able to descend without freaking out.

While we were flying in calm waters and could talk I asked Gretchen if she meant what she had said when she thought we were about to die. She looked slightly embarrassed, but said she meant every word of it.

“Well now all we have to decide is when and where,” I said to her.

“Yes Ron, that is correct,” she replied looking at me with the smile that melts my heart every time she uses it.

“Gretchen?”

“Yes Ron”

“I love you more that anything else in the whole world.”

“I feel exactly the same way about you.”

“Gretchen?”

“Yes?”

“If the when isn’t for a few more years, I won’t die. I’ll be ready when you are.”

“Ron, if you make me cry and crash into the river because I can’t see where I’m flying, then I’ll never speak to you again.”

“Yes dear. Let’s just concentrate on flying. When we go over the falls let’s free fall to the lake. It will be a rush.”

“I think I had enough rushes for one day, thank you very much.

“Ron?”

“Yes Gretchen?”

“Tonight when we go to bed I’ll try not to chew your lips off.”

“That would be nice of you.”

“Shut-up Ron. Just for that I won’t kiss you at all.”

“What ever you say dear.”

“Ron I am going to kill you myself, do you know that?

“As long as you kill me by loving me to death that will be fine.”

“In your dreams, buddy boy, in your dreams!

Hermione

Somehow we had managed to escape the spider queen’s lair alive and in one piece. With the two pounds of web, I might add. I was feeling great until I remembered that we still had to go over the falls and then travel down river to meet Gawain.

Harry looked over at me and smiled. For me his smiles were to die for. “Hun, do you think you can go over the falls without a lifeline?” he asked me.

“Yes, I think I can, as long as you promise to catch me if I fall off my broom.”

“That’s a promise I know I can keep,” he said looking relieved.

We reached the top of the falls in just over fifteen minutes as we were traveling faster going downriver. As we shot out over the top of the falls and the water dropped two hundred feet my stomach did a flip flop. I managed to keep control of my broom all the way down to the lake at the bottom of the falls.

Gretchen asked Sirius if we had time for a couple of pictures with the falls in the background. Sirius agreed that we really should have some pictures of each one of our quests. Gretchen and Madelyn took several pictures of us in various combinations. After we finished taking pictures we got ready to travel through the canyon to the mouth of the river.

Going downriver turned out to be easier that going up. We still had to be careful because of the crosswinds. With the wind at our backs we made the trip in just a little over an hour.

We reached the mouth of the river where Gawain was already waiting just shortly after seven o’clock. We were all glad to get off our brooms and stretch our tired and aching muscles.

Sirius recounted our travels to Gawain who seemed genuinely pleased that we accomplished our journey and returned safely.

Gawain informed us that we could travel by portkey to the edge of the Sea and spend the night there or we could return to the Blyth’s for the night and travel to the Sea in the morning.

Before anyone could say a word, Gretchen told Gawain we would be spending the night with the Blyth’s, thank you very much.

Gawain just smiled and said he figured as much. He held out the portkey we used this morning and we each took hold of it. Instantly we were traveling through the air and after a short flight we landed in the Blyth’s front yard. The Blyth’s were standing there waiting for us.

“How did you know we were coming back here tonight?” Gretchen asked them, completely astonished.

“Gawain was here earlier in the day and asked if it would be alright for you to return here each night,” Martha answered her.

Gretchen walked over to Martha, who was holding one of the twins, and gave her a huge hug. I was a little envious of the relationship that Gretchen had with Martha. It really was one of those special Mother/Daughter relations.

As soon as Gretchen stopped hugging her, Martha handed the twin she was carrying to her. Gretchen’s face immediately lit up like a little girl at Christmas. Gretchen quickly walked over to Ron so that he could say hi to the baby she was carrying.

While Gretchen was busy showing of the twin to Ron, Martha took the other twin from Walt and came over to me.

“Hermione, you look like you have had a very trying and exhausting day,” she said to me, smiling so warmly that I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“I’ll bet you could do with a nice big hug,” she added and placed her free arm around me and pulled me to her and just held me there for several seconds. All of a sudden I was overcome with emotion and I placed my arms around her and hugged her back as warmly as if she were my own mother. When we stopped hugging and I stood back, I had a tear in my eye. Martha noticed this because she brushed my hair to the sides of face lovingly, with her hand and smiled very warmly at me.

“Here, take Laurie and go let that handsome young man of yours, say hi,” Martha said to me.

Now instead of one tear, I had several. I thanked her by quickly kissing her on the cheek and walked over to where Harry was standing beside Ron and Gretchen.

When I reached Harry and said. ”Say hi to Laurie. Martha said the twins missed us.” Harry placed his arm around my shoulder and looked at me so tenderly that I thought I was going to start crying right there. I was so happy that I felt like I was going to burst. I managed to hug Harry without squashing Laurie. I was getting more adept at handling a small child. As I was giving Harry a hug, Gretchen was smiling knowingly at me. I just smiled back at her with a look of thanks.

“Ron, this place is so beautiful, let’s sleep out under the stars tonight, Ok?” Gretchen asked. Before Ron could answer her, Madelyn and Martha both said “In a pig’s eye will you two be sleeping out under the stars tonight.”

Gretchen just looked at the two of them with that very determined look she gets on her face when she is prevented from doing something she really wants to do.

I looked over at Ron; he had a very goofy look on his face. When he saw me looking at him, Ron’s face turned slightly red. All of a sudden it dawned on me why Gretchen wanted to sleep out under the stars with Ron, then I got red in the face.

“Harry.” I said, “Let’s take a walk. OK?”

“Sure Hun. I’d love to.”

As we started walking away all of the grownups sat down at the table under the oak tree and started to talk among themselves. Martha’s kids were talking with Ron and Gretchen. I assumed they were telling the kids about our travels since we left here this morning.

As we walked I took Harry’s hand in my free hand. Laurie was so light that carrying her in one hand wasn’t hard.

“Harry, you know that today was the hardest most terrifying day of my life. Without your support I wouldn’t have made it. I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate what you did for me and that I love you so much that sometimes I feel as if my heart is about to jump right out of my chest.”

“And it’s such a lovely chest too,” Harry replied looking down at my ‘chest’ with a smirk on his face.

“Harry!” I exclaimed and hit him in the shoulder playfully.

“Your not suppose to be staring at my… err… ah... chest,” I said feeling slightly embarrassed but also strangely flattered.

“Ok, I won’t look at it any more,” he said looking off into the sky at absolutely nothing at all.

“Well, you don’t have to go that far! Harry? Do I appeal to you, well you know, physically?” I asked him feeling slightly nervous.

“Hun, you appeal to me just fine. As far as I’m concerned you have more sex appeal than all of the other girls at school put together.”

“Oh Harry.” I said as I placed my hand behind his neck and pulled his face to mine and kissed him as passionately as I could while holding a baby in my arms.

Kissing Harry while holding a baby in my arms and realizing just how lucky we were to still be alive after the events of today, I suddenly understood what Gretchen was feeling and why she wanted to be alone with Ron. When our lips parted and I looked into those beautiful green eyes I saw nothing but love and I was aware of a new feeling that I had never experienced before. I think it’s what’s called ‘Lust’, which both shocked and excited me at the same time.

Gretchen

I hadn’t felt this frustrated since I was three years old and couldn’t tie my shoes. If we had to face five more days that were as terrifying and dangerous as today was, we weren’t going to survive, the odds were against us. I was positive either Ron or I or both of us would be dead by the end of the five days. I didn’t want to die a virgin. Each day we waited made it just that much more likely that I would die never having shared the most intimate of human personal experiences.

But what if Ron and I weren’t going to die, then what should we do? I loved him so much and I was sure that he felt the same about me. I knew for certain that Ron wasn’t just feeding me a line so that I would have sex with him. No sane male would go through everything Ron been through in the last five days just for sex. I was sure there had to be easier ways of getting a girl to sleep with you, if that was all you were interested in. No, Ron loved me. He said he would wait for as long as it takes for me to ready for an intimate relationship.

We had shared so many grownup experiences already. We had nearly been killed twice in the last week. We slept side by side at night. We shared happiness and sorrow. When I looked at Ron standing beside me, I saw everything that I wanted. He was tender, warm, funny, caring and he would do anything to protect me from harm. What more could I ask for?

While Ron was telling the kids all about our harrowing day, I looked over at the table where the grownups were sitting. Martha looked at me just as I looked at her. She smiled so warmly that I knew she truly looked on me as one of her own. I knew I just had to talk to somebody. I wasn’t sure if it should be Martha or Hermione.

When Ron finished telling the kids about today we went over to the table and sat down. Harry and Hermione were returning from their walk and sat down next to us.

Sirius turned to the four of us and said.

“Gawain, Madelyn and I have been discussing our options and we think it might be wise to consider resting a day between each of our quests to acquire the necessary ingredients. By using the portkey we save travel time and therefore could use that time to relax our tattered nerves. Martha and Walt have been gracious enough to allow us stay here between quests.”

“What do you think of that idea?” he asked us,

“It sounds great to me,” I answered, feeling thrilled at the idea. I really wasn’t ready to charge off tomorrow on another quest.

“I would like a day to rest my aching muscles. Flying that far on a broom when I’m not used to it has completely worn me out,” Hermione added.

Both Ron and Harry readily agreed that a day of not having to fight for our lives would be great.

“Well that settles it,” Sirius said to Gawain. “We will see you back here just after dawn day after tomorrow.

Gawain bid everyone a good evening and disapparated with a small pop.

Lazarus had fallen asleep in my arms. I noticed that Laurie was also sleeping in Hermione’s arms. I told Martha that both of the twins were asleep and asked if we could put them to bed for her. She said that would be fine. Hermione and I took the twins to the house and tucked them into bed.

As we were just about to leave the house, on an impulse, I asked Hermione.

“Do you feel especially romantic and giving towards Harry tonight?”

She looked at me for several seconds. I wasn’t sure if she was confused or shocked that I would ask her such a question. Finally she replied.

“Yes, for some reason I really do feel different about my relationship with Harry, but I can’t explain it with words, it’s a feeling that I don’t know how to handle and that scares me a little. Why do you ask? Do you feel that way towards Ron?”

“Hermione, to say that I feel especially romantic and giving towards Ron, would be the under statement of the year. Right now all I want to do is rip his clothes off and love him to death. But I know that we shouldn’t and the conflict is making me neurotic.”

I could tell by the look on Hermione’s face that she as a little shocked by my being so open and honest with her about my feelings.

“Gretchen, I too have had a similar feeling. I have tried—successfully I think—to push it out of my mind. I really don’t understand why all of a sudden both of us should be thinking this way.”

“Maybe we should talk to Martha,” I said. “What do you think?”

“Gretchen, I just don’t know. Let me think about this, OK?”

“Well let’s go and see what are guys are doing. It is a beautiful night. We shouldn’t waste it standing here talking with each other.”

Ron

While the girls were putting the twins to bed I asked Walt what we could do to help out around the farm tomorrow. He said he was sure he could come up with something but that we should sleep in and get some extra rest after our exhausting day in the rain forest. I asked if it would be alright if the four of us sat out and watched the stars for a while. No one had any objections. Madelyn said to not stay out too late. I’m sure they felt we wouldn’t get carried away with passion if the four of us were together.

When the girls returned we all went with Sirius while he erected the tent. After arranging our beds and changing into more comfortable clothes Harry and I grabbed a couple of blankets and the four of us walked out into an open field a couple of hundred feet from the farm house. We spread the blankets on the ground, a few feet apart and lay down with the girls in the middle. Gretchen snuggled into my arms as soon as we were on the ground.

“Finally I feel relaxed,” Gretchen said and kissed me.

I noticed that Harry and Hermione were as closely intertwined as Gretchen and I were.

“I’m glad we are going to have tomorrow for a little R & R,” Gretchen said to me. “Another day like today and they will have to take me away in a basket.”

“You sure got that right Gretchen,” Hermione added, taking a break from kissing Harry. “I don’t think I could have stood it if another thing had gone wrong today.”

“Gals, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but while you two were putting the twins to bed a couple of Vampire bats swooped down and bit Harry and I, now we are both Vampires,” I said grinning at Gretchen.

“Yeah, right. Do you really expect me to believe that?” Gretchen asked.

I started pretending I was a bat flying around over her head. Gretchen was playing at shooing me away.

“I love to bite your neck,” I said with my best fake vampire accent and bent down and started kissing Gretchen’s neck.

“Oh, Ron that feels so… good,” she said holding my head with her hands.

“Gretchen, innocent girls are supposed to struggle and at least try to fight off a vampire who is trying to steal their virtue.”

“Silly girls, they should just relax and enjoy the ride.”

I stopped kissing her neck and looked at her. She looked back at me with a dreamy look in eyes which instantly changed into a devilish smile and she started tickling me around the ribs. This all happened so fast that she was able to knock me on my back. She quickly straddled my stomach and said.

“Now I am the vampire and I will give you proper training in how to attack your intended victim.”

Gretchen leaned down and started kissing my neck very lightly. It felt almost like a feather brushing my neck. She continued kissing my neck, but more vigorously. I could get to like this I thought to myself. Just as I was thinking this, Gretchen stopped kissing my neck and sat up straight with her hands on her thighs and just stared into my eyes.

She took her hands and started rubbing my chest in slow circular motions, while continuing to stare at me longingly.

“Ron, I hope you’re taking notes.”

“Gretchen, you are about as subtle as a bull elephant on a rampage.”

When she started to laugh at my joke I quickly flipped her off me. She landed by my side and we wrapped our arms around each other and kissed each other like this was to be our last kiss. After what seemed like forever we broke from the kiss and just held each other. I felt like my skin was on fire. I had never felt such strong desire. I did not want to ever let go of Gretchen.

During the time Gretchen and I were pretending to be vampires I could hear Harry and Hermione giggling and laughing from their own horseplay. They were now as quiet as we were. I assumed they must have reached the same point as Gretchen and I.

While Gretchen and I were holding each other she whispered very quietly in my ear.

“Ron, I want to make love with you so much I can’t stand it, but I also know that we shouldn’t because we are too young. The conflict between what I want to do and what I know I shouldn’t do is driving me crazy. I am telling you this because I think you feel exactly the same way as I do. I don’t want you to be wondering if there is some other reason that I am not ready to go all the way with you.”

Gretchen lifted her head from my shoulder and looking into my eyes said.

“Ron, I truly love you with all my body, heart and soul.”

Then she placed her head onto my shoulder and started to cry softly. I just kept caressing the back of her head telling her that I loved her. After a few minutes she stopped crying and said she needed to sit up because she was having trouble breathing. Shortly after we sat up, Harry and Hermione did likewise. Hermione looked as if she too had tears in her eyes.

We all just sat there and looked at each other not quite knowing what to say. The silence was just starting to get a little awkward when we saw Walt and Martha walking in our direction. They had a blanket with them. When they reached us Walt said, “It sure is a beautiful night for looking at the stars. Martha and I thought we might join you, that is, if you don’t mind?”

“Sure, that would be fine,” I said after a short silence in which the others didn’t say anything. Walt spread their blank on the ground next to us and sat down.

“The stars sure are pretty tonight, aren’t they Martha?” Walt said looking up at the clear star filled sky.

“Yes dear, they are just as beautiful as the first time we lay out under them together.”

Martha and Walt talked back and forth for several minutes trying to make us feel comfortable. I think they were concerned for us because of the ordeal we had gone through today.

“Martha, were any of your children conceived under the stars?” Gretchen blurted out.

“Gretchen!” I exclaimed. “That’s not something you should be asking.” I was shocked that she would ever ask such a question.

To my surprise Martha and Walt just smiled at all of us. They didn’t seem to be offended or upset. Martha spoke to us in the kindest most reassuring voice I had ever heard and said.

“Kids, I imagine that right about know the four of you are totally confused and distressed over the emotions you are feeling for each other. The emotions I am referring to are of course the strong sexual desires that have arisen today. Am I right?”

We all shook our heads yes and said ‘Right.”

Martha took Walt’s hand in hers and they briefly looked at each other with love and admiration. I was already holding Gretchen’s hand and Harry was holding Hermione’s. Martha continued to speak to us.

“You four are on the cusp of childhood moving to adulthood. Your bodies are physically mature and the emotions you are experiencing are no different than that of any other adult, such as Walt and me. What distinguishes you from adults are basically two things, experience and the ability to sustain yourselves. I know that the most pressing question on your minds is, when the time will be right for us to act on our deepest desires.”

“Would you be willing to settle for, ‘as soon as you are married,’ as the answer to your question?” Martha asked us.

After a short pause Gretchen said, “Speaking for myself, I wouldn’t find any help in that answer.”

Gretchen’s willingness to discuss the question Martha had just asked up seem to break the inhibition we were all feeling. Hermione followed by Harry and I, added that we didn’t care much for that answer either.

“Good, I wouldn’t settle for that answer either,” Martha replied. “It’s a cop-out adults use to get out of discussing a subject they feel very uncomfortable discussing with anybody, let alone their kids. Besides if that’s the rule for when sex is ok, then how do you justify older unmarried men and women that have sex?”

“The real and only answer, at least by our way of thinking, is you are ready for sex when you are ready to handle the consequences that can arise from having sex. And by consequences I don’t mean just conceiving a child.”

“Are you all with me so far?” she asked us. “Is there anything you would like to add or ask?”

“Why today of all days, am I feeling such an intense desire to want to make love with Gretchen? I asked at first feeling slightly embarrassed but then I realized if I was too embarrassed to ask questions I was really too young and immature for sex.

“Ron, the reason all of you are in an acute state of sexual frustration today is that your bodies have been flooded with adrenalin from the ordeals you have lived through,” replied Walt. “Adrenalin is the single most powerful hormone in the human body. It also triggers many other hormones into action. One of those other hormones is testosterone which controls your sex drive. So today more than any other day in your life you have very high levels of testosterone in your bloodstream.”

“That may be the guys excuse,” Hermione said. “But what about us girls, why do we feel the same way?”

“Hermione, we women have testosterone in our bodies too,” Martha answered her. “We have very small amounts of the hormone, but it is there and regulates the sex drive in us just as it does in men.”

“Now that you know the reason for your intensified desires let’s get back to the basic question of when and dealing with the consequences,” Martha continued.

“Of course the most obvious consequence is pregnancy. But even that is not as simple as it may seem. Both of you girls, excuse me... young women, are more than capable of caring for a baby. I would feel perfectly comfortable leaving the twins in you care for any length of time. The real issue with a baby is that you are too young to commit your lives to the care and feeding of a child. You have so many things that you should do before you commit to having children that are fully dependant on you. The same applies to you Ron and Harry. Take this quest for instance. If you had children would you be able to go and leave them knowing that they could end up as orphans?”

Martha’s last remark really hit home with all of us, especially Harry. I was pretty sure Hermione sensed Harry’s distress as he pictured his children being raised by people that mistreated them. All of a sudden Hermione started crying softly.

“Hermione, what’s wrong?” Harry asked her, sounding very worried.

“Oh Harry, we can never have any children as long as Voldemort and his Death Eaters are out to kill you,” she cried. “I couldn’t bear the thought of our son or daughter having to live under the stairs as you had to for so long.”

“Hun, don’t cry. I’m sure we will be able to destroy Voldemort and his followers long before we are ready to have children.”

“Harry, you have just mentioned the key word ‘Ready’,” Walt said to him and the rest of us.

“Children do not always come when you are ready or want them. No form of birth control is fool-proof. So children can arrive any time.”

“The second consequence of having sex is disease. The odds of getting anything when you only have one partner are practically zero. Assuming that one partner applies to both of you. As you increase the number of partners you are intimate with the chance of contracting some disease goes up exponentially. Even though we have only known you for a short time Walt and I feel you are probably going to spend the rest of your lives together, so disease isn’t an issue.”

“I just hope the rest of our lives are longer than this trip to the Realm,” I said. Everyone laughed and hoped that would be the case.

“The third consequence which is the hardest to accept is the damage it can do to your view of the opposite sex,” Martha continued.

“Martha, are you telling me that if Ron and I have sex before we are old enough that I could end up hating men?” Gretchen asked disbelievingly.

“Well hate may be to strong a word, but it could leave you disillusioned and unable to ever trust another man with your heart,” Martha answered her.

“You are all just starting to learn how to interact and deal with each other as adults. Right now you are easily hurt by the words and actions of those around you. You haven’t had time to develop the wisdom to understand why those that you love might say and do things that hurt you. Also you could say and do things that hurt the ones you love without realizing it because of your inexperience with life.”

“What you all need now more than anything else is time with each other. You should do as much as you can together without taking the final step in your relationship. If it turns out that you have misjudged yourself or your partner, it will be much easier to end the relationship and move on to a new and more fulfilling one without anger, guilt or remorse.”

“Does everything I have said make sense to you?” Martha asked all of us.

We all agreed that we thought we understood what she and Walt were trying to teach us. I know I felt much more comfortable now that I had a better understanding of my desires and the consequences of acting on those desires. I knew that I would rather say goodbye to Gretchen and walk away than to ever have her hate me because she thought I had taken advantage of her.

“Now that you understand a little more about what you are dealing with, I would like to offer a couple of suggestions that might ease some of your frustrations,” Martha said.

“First, learn to recognize the point at which kissing and hugging becomes demanding rather than enjoyable. You should always have time for quick kisses and tender touches. They add immeasurably to a relationship, just like saying ‘I love you.’”

“Second, spend as much time together with your friends as possible. You are going to have years and years for time by yourselves.”

“Third, go dancing as often as you can. Dancing is just about the most fun you can have with your partner with your clothes on.”

“Above all just learn to recognize your limits and those of your partners. If you always have your partners best interests at heart everything will work out for the best.”

“Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but it’s been a long day and I need to go to bed. Walt, if you don’t walk me home now you will have to carry me later,” Martha said to Walt with a sly grin.

Gretchen

We all decided that it was time to call it a day. While the guys picked up the blankets Martha quietly told me that Annie was conceived under the stars and that if I or Hermione wished to discuss anything, woman to woman, she would be available.

 I held Ron’s hand and leaned my head against his shoulder as we headed back to the farm house. We said good night and thank you to Walt and Martha as we reached the front porch steps. When we reached the tent Sirius and Madelyn were already asleep. The guys waited while Hermione and I used the bathroom and changed into our night clothes. While the guys were changing Hermione and I got into bed.

Shortly Ron and Harry emerged from the bathroom and climbed into bed. We were all extremely tired. Ron and I lay facing each other.

“Ron, I can’t even begin to thank you for rescuing me from the spider queen. I am so proud of you. I know that to overcome your fear and risk death by the means you fear the most, took tremendous courage. I want you to know that not only do I love you, but that I respect you beyond all others. Because of my love and respect there is something very close to my heart I wish to share with you.”

I took Ron’s hand and placed it inside my nightgown on my breast.

“Someday we will be ready to share this along with the rest of ourselves.”

I leaded forward and kiss him gently but also warmly. I rolled onto my back, snuggling close to Ron’s side while still holding his hand on my breast. “He whispered ‘I love you’ in my ear. I fell asleep relaxed and contented knowing that the man beside me would protect and cherish me for the rest of my days.