A Looping of the Scales ~ COMPLETED

Chapter 36 ~ Reviewing (Part 2)

Harry was the first to recover from being petrified. Draco laid beside him as he sat up, the pureblood’s gray eyes shifting back and forth desperately.

”Easy target, Draco,” he said, pointing his wand at him. Normally, Harry would think this very unfair and his “noble” Gryffindor nature would kick in—

But this was Draco.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar shout and rolled out of the way as Ginny sent a slew of flapping bat bogies at him. But Harry was familiar with bat bogeys and avoiding them, thanks to Ginny’s temper.

Poor Draco was covered by them, and Harry fired his own hex back at Ginny. She dropped her wand, her fingers useless and dangling as if they were gummy worms. Still, a jewel dropped down into her tube.

”Harry! You prat! You used the Jelly-Fingers hex on me! I’m your girlfriend!” she hissed as she bent down and tried to pick up her wand. Her fingers just swung around a bit. Harry stood up, grinning.

”There’s no friends or girlfriends in here, Ginny,” he said as two jewels dropped into his tube. “Besides, you aimed those bogeys at me.”

Draco was beginning to move now, the petrification spell wearing off and his face slowly starting to contort with disgust at his bogey coverage. At least they didn’t get his face.

Harry pointed his wand at Draco.

”Impedimenta,” he said, slowing the wizard down to a crawl as Ginny continued to drag her useless fingers over her wand ineffectually. Another jewel dropped into his tube.

“There,” Harry said. “I’ve slowed Draco down. Maybe your fingers will recover before he does. Bye, Ginny!”

He ran off into the forest.

”Oh blast,” Ginny hissed as Draco slowly tore away the first mucousy bogey from his robes. It was doubly disgusting because he did it so slowly and got to really feel how gross they were, strings of gooiness stretching from the horrible, nasty things. Ugh!

Snape ran through the forest, aware of Ron behind him. He paused, murmured something, then slashed his wand across the ground. He smiled then ran a little further and hid behind a tree to watch the fun.

Sure enough, Ron ran from between the trees in all his tighty-whitey glory, intent on hexing Snape to Kingdom Come, and crossed the line.

”Arrrrgh!” he cried as he was flung back into the forest and sprouted a long white beard.

Snape chuckled and took off, circling around Ron and heading back the other way. Hermione had been right. It was fun to hex people without being particularly angry at them.

”Bloody age line,” Ron hissed, sitting on the forest floor and pulling at his beard for a few seconds before he got up. Now, he looked like an old man in his underwear.

Blaise began to recover and he was furious. He knew Ron had hexed him because he’d heard him gloating. He began moving through the trees, his eyes hard, when he saw Hermione standing in a lighted clearing. She was just standing there, her back to him, her wand in her hand.

“Oh, this is too easy,” Blaise breathed with a smile, pointing his wand at her.

Harry saw her too, standing there, her back to him. But he was on the other side of the clearing.

”I’ve got you now,” he breathed, pointing his wand at her.

Both he and Blaise fired hexes at the witch, their eyes rounding as the streams passed right through her. It was an illusion! Bait!

Blaise tried to run, but Hermione appeared behind him. He desperately threw an Expelliarmus at her, but she blocked it, and cast her own spell at him, which he blocked. They began dueling in earnest, Harry running across the clearing to where the flashing lights were rebounding.

”Hey!” Harry exclaimed, distracting Blaise for a moment.

”Duro!” Hermione cried, turning the Slytherin into stone. Four jewels dropped into her tube.

Harry blinked at the statue, then looked at Hermione.

”You turned him to stone?” he asked incredulously.

”Blaise’s a nasty piece of work. You should have heard the spells he was casting at me,” she replied, then tried to hex Harry, but he was expecting it and jumped behind a tree.

”Damn, Hermione, I didn’t know you were so sneaky,” he hissed. “Tarantallegra!”

”Oh no you don’t!” Hermione cried, jumping behind a tree of her own. She’d had enough uncontrollable dancing for one night.

“Incarcerous!”

Suddenly, Hermione was bound to the tree she was standing behind by ropes.

”Hey!” she cried as Ron walked up. He looked like an old man in his underwear. Even though she was securely tied up, Hermione burst out laughing.

”What happened to you?” she asked him, grinning.

”Snape. Age line,” he muttered as Harry stepped out, laughing too.

”Did your robes age and disintegrate?” Harry asked him.

”No. Also Snape,” Ron hissed. “Wait until I get my wand on him—“

Ron stopped as he saw Blaise.

”Wow, who turned him to stone?”

”Hermione,” Harry said. “Draco and Ginny are down for the moment, too. I got them.”

”So that just leaves Snape creeping around. Help me get him, Harry.”

Suddenly there was the sound of sticks crunching, and Ron paled as his decomposed brother Fred stepped out of the forest, walking towards him.

”Nooo!” Ron yelled, firing a blast at him. Hermione saw only a floating piece of parchment floating toward her, but by Ron’s reaction, she knew it was a Boggart. Harry saw the jerky Voldemort approaching him again. Hermione took advantage of their distraction to work her wand around.

”Finite Incantatum,” she breathed, removing her bindings.

”It’s a Boggart, Ron,” Harry told his terrified friend. “Use the Riddikulus spell. I can’t. I’ve already used it once.”

His wand trembling, Ron concentrated as his dead brother reached out his hands as if to grab him.

”Riddikulus!” he cried.

Fred’s image flattened and folded itself into a paper airplane and flew away into the forest.

”That was horrible! It was Fred—dead and rotting,” Ron breathed, a bit green around the gills.

”I saw Voldemort,” Harry responded. The two wizards stood side by side, looking at the empty space and breathing hard.

“Densaugeo!” Hermione cried, hitting both of them with one hex. Two jewels dropped into her tube.

Harry and Ron spun just in time to see her sprint off into the woods as their front teeth began to grow at an amazing rate. They hurried to stop the spell.

”Shift! Finite Incantatum!”

”Finite Incantatum!”

The teeth stopped just above their chins giving them a kind of Bugs Bunny groove.

”Jusft great,” Harry said, feeling his elongated choppers. They could stop the spell, but they’d have to go to Poppy to fix the length of them. Ron’s beard finally disappeared, but a bit of white hair was caught under his teeth. He pulled it away.

”I’mf going to killsh her!” he swore, taking off after Hermione. Harry ran after him.

Snape was helplessly bent over by a tree, holding his stomach. He’d watched the whole thing and was doing his best not to let them hear him laughing. Oh, that was funny! He straightened and walked over to Blaise, examining him.

”Hermione has skills,” he said softly. “Run a tube through your arse and you’d make a nice fountain.”

Snape was unaware that Blaise could see and hear him and was more than furious. Just wait until this spell wore off.

Snape turned and walked in the direction Harry and Ron took. So, they were going to team up on him, eh? Well, that was just fine by him.

Hermione watched as Harry and Ron ran by her, covering her mouth with her hand so they wouldn’t hear her laugh. She was about to ambush them when she heard someone else, and stayed behind the tree.

Snape slowed his walking.

He smelled something—or someone rather. He smiled and slightly changed direction.

Hermione waited for whoever it was to show him or herself. She hoped it was Ginny. She hadn’t faced her yet.

“Incarcerous!” a soft voice hissed as ropes wrapped around her and the tree she was behind.

”Oh, not again,” she groaned, then Snape’s face appeared very close to hers. An emerald dropped into his tube.

”Another rather interesting situation,” he said to her, and she flushed.

”Are we ever going to face off?” Hermione said, trying to shake off the excited feeling running through her.

”Oh, I’m sure we will, but I think you’re ahead in the competition. Turning Blaise to stone was a stroke of genius. And a bit of nasty magic to boot.”

“He was using dark curses,” she said. “So, I treated him accordingly.”

”A bit of tit for tat, eh?”

”Something like that,” Hermione responded. She was slowly twisting her wand about. Just because she was tied up didn’t mean she couldn’t cast a spell.

”Well, I think another kiss is in order,” Snape said, leaning in and pressing his lips to hers. Merlin, his mouth was so soft. But Hermione steeled herself.

”Incarcerous,” she whispered against his lips.

Snape was immediately bound up by ropes and wide-eyed, fell to the ground as Hermione quickly removed her own bindings, then snatched his wand out of his hand.

”That was dirty Quidditch, Hermione, hexing a wizard while he was ‘engaged,’” he told her, frowning.

”Next time, you’d better make sure we’re both engaged,” she said, smiling at him. “You should be more concerned with throwing hexes than stealing kisses.”

“I prefer the kisses.”

Hermione tossed his wand down a little distance from him. With a bit of wriggling and rolling, he should be able to get it, hopefully before anyone else found him.

”Next time we meet, Severus, be prepared to have at it,” she said warningly.

”I’m always prepared to have at it with you, Hermione. You’re the one not ready.”

Hermione colored and stiffly walked away into the forest. Snape immediately started working his way toward his wand.

**************************************

Unfortunately for Ginny, Draco’s spell wore off first, and he was pissed about the bat bogeys.

”Ugh!” he hissed as he Scourgified himself. “I wish I knew that blasted spell. I’d coat you in bogeys,” he said to Ginny, who was desperately trying to pick up her wand. Some firmness was beginning to return to her fingers, but not fast enough.

”Now, let’s see,” Draco said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “I haven’t made many points for myself, so this has to be a good spell. Hmmm.”

Ginny fumbled and pushed at the wand with her fingers. Draco saw the movement and discerned she was getting her coordination back. He pointed his wand at hers.

”Accio wand,” he said lazily, and her wand zoomed over to him. He caught it neatly. Ginny straightened and looked at him narrow-eyed.

”Give me back my wand, Draco. I’m defenseless without it.”

”Just how I like you,” the wizard purred at her with a smile. Suddenly, it left his face.

” Furnunculus!” he roared, casting the spell and covering Ginny in boils. They weren’t painful, but ugly as hell.

Three jewels dropped into Draco’s tube. He tossed her wand back at her.

”You might want to use an Episkey to clear those up, Weasley,” he said as he walked into the forest.

”Ooh,” Ginny hissed as she managed to grip her wand with her boil-covered finger-tips. “I’m going to kill him AND Harry.”

*********************************************

Harry and Ron were walking through the forest when suddenly they were flung backwards and both sprouted beards.

”Damn it. Snape’s age line is still working,” Ron said as Harry pulled at his long white beard. Two jewels fell into Snape’s tube.

Harry stood up and marked a big white X on a nearby tree.

”That’ll let us know when we’re near it,” he said to Ron. “Come on, let’s find him.”

They continued on. Behind them, the X faded from the tree. The ROR wasn’t giving anyone any advantages.

A few minutes later, Hermione showed up, still following Harry and Ron. She stepped across the age line, was flung back on her arse and sprouted a beard.

”Bloody hell,” she seethed, pulling at her beard in agitation. “Who put that there?”

Another jewel fell into Snape’s tube. He was effortlessly gaining points.

But, this gave Hermione an idea. Throwing her long beard over her shoulder, she changed directions, going back the other way.

Snape smelled her approaching, but stepped aside and let her pass unmolested. He wanted to deal with Potter and Weasley first, then—he and Hermione could have their moment.

When he was sure she was gone, Snape started walking again. He too crossed the age line, was flung back on his arse and sprouted a long white beard. Furious, he got up, stepping on it. He lifted his beard in one hand, stalked over to the general area of the line, pointed his wand at it and said, “Finite Incantatum,” ending the spell.

”Stupid age line. Sectumsempra!”

He cut off most of the beard and continued on, robes billowing.

***************************************
A/N: You know, I just realized something. I’m going to have to go back and count ALL these jewels to find out who’s winning. Right now, I think it could be Snape because of the age line, but Hermione’s close. I’m pretty sure Blaise is losing. Serves him right for fighting dirty. I hope others are keeping score too. I might need some help here. Lol. Thanks for reading. ***