Harry Potter (fan fiction)

CHAPTER 16- Through The Trapdoor

In years to come, Harry and Lilian would never quite remember how they had managed to get through their exams when they half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by, and there would be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.

It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.

They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox – points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.

Harry and Lilian did the best they could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in Harry's forehead and Lilian's neck, which had been bothering them ever since Harry's trip into the forest. Neville and Mattheo thought Harry and Lilian had a bad case of exam nerves because Harry and Lilian couldn't sleep, but the truth was that Harry and Lilian kept being woken by their old nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there was a hooded figure dripping blood in it.

Maybe it was because that hadn't seen what Harry had seen in the forest, or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads, but Ron, Zoe, Draco, Mattheo and Hermione didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry and Lilian. The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he didn't keep visiting them in dreams, and they were so busy with their studying they didn't have much time to fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to.

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizard who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Harry and Lilian couldn't help cheering with the rest.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," Zoe sighed, relieved, as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds.

"I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager," Hermione sighed, sounding a little disappointed.

Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.

"No more studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Harry and Lilian, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."

Harry was rubbing his forehead. Lilian was touching her neck

"I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "Our scar keeps hurting – it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Draco suggested.

"I'm not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning...it means danger's coming...."

Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.

"Harry, Lillian—relax, Zoe's right, the Stone's safe as along as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."