It Happened One Hallow's Eve

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 5 ~ Inside the Circle

A pearly white knight with an arrow sticking out of his forehead, drifted back and forth in the main chamber of the subdungeons. Another ghost, this one with several arrows sticking out of his back, flitted around nervously, starting at the occasional sound of stones falling from the foundation. The foundation of the castle crumbled but was magically supported so there was no real chance of it collapsing.

“I don’t see why we couldn’t watch in larger groups,” the skittish ghost complained. “That wizard hexed Nick. They aren’t helpless. We need more support.”

The knight who had been patrolling stopped and scowled at his companion.

“Horace, you were a coward when you died and you’re still a coward. I don’t see why the Baron coupled me with you,” the ghost complained.

This knight was the ghost of Harold the second. He was the last Saxon king of England and was defeated at the Battle of Hastings by William the Conqueror. Harold was killed when an arrow pierced his eye. His fearful companion was Sir Horace Banglyballs, a knight that had abandoned his companions. He turned and ran in the heat of battle, discarding his armor in the forest in an attempt to pass himself off as a peasant and was subsequently tracked down killed by his pursuers as he fled. It was a shameful end.

“How can you be so blasted afraid? You’re already dead,” Harold said, his face contorting.

“I just don’t like the idea of being hexed,” the ghost replied, looking about nervously as he drifted a foot off the floor.

Harold was about to say something scathing to his cowardly companion when Hermione and Severus appeared directly in front of them. Harold howled and shot forward, but Severus was too fast for him and the former monarch was hit with the Congealing spell and dropped to the floor.

Hermione spun and looked about.

“Where’s the other ghost?” she asked, frowning.

Horace was gone. He had fled through the stone wall the moment they appeared and now drifted just beneath its surface, watching them.

Severus walked over to the stunned Harold and gripped him by the visor, dragging him forward quite easily.

“I don’t know, but let’s head for the circle,” he said, turning and heading for the third archway. Hermione followed him, still on guard for the other ghost as Severus lit the tip of his wand and walked into the darkness of the corridor, dragging Sir Harold behind him.

Horace noted which corridor they entered then took off to inform the Bloody Baron.

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Horace arrived in the Great Hall, which was the center of operations for the ghosts. The Bloody Baron was there and the Grey Lady. The Slytherin ghost looked up as Horace swiftly glided towards him.

“What are you doing away from your post?” the Baron asked the cowardly specter.

“The witch and wizard appeared and hexed Harold,” the ghost replied, “They both tried to get me too, but I dodged the blasts. They went down the third corridor and took Harold with them. I thought I’d better come tell you.”

The Bloody Baron scowled at him.

“You were supposed to make them flee,” he said hollowly, his displeasure evident.

“They weren’t willing to flee. They wanted to fight,” the ghost said in his own defense.

“Yes…and that’s not for you, is it Horace?” the Baron hissed, his sightless eyes drifting over the arrows in the ghost’s back.

Horace didn’t say anything. The evidence of his cowardice would be with him for all eternity.

“We can flush them ourselves, Baron,” the Grey Lady said, her eyes glittering redly, “Or maybe get their souls if we come at them through the walls. We can move ahead of them and hide, then swoop out, surprising them.”

The Baron looked thoughtful.

“Very well,” he said, “But I believe we will be more effective if we attack en masse. They can’t hex all of us. We need to change tactics.”

He looked at Horace.

“Go and tell all the ghosts to congregate in the walls at the end of the third corridor in the subdungeons. They must not be seen and are not to attack the witch and wizard until I give them the order. Do you have that, knight?” the Baron asked Horace.

The ghost nodded.

“Depart then, with haste,” the Baron commanded. Horace quickly left the Great Hall.

The Baron looked at the Grey Lady.

“Let us go and study the situation,” he said to her.

The ghost nodded and together they sunk through the floor, heading for the subdungeons.

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Severus and Hermione hurried through the corridor, the wizard dragging Harold behind him, his black eyes shifting from wall to wall as Hermione covered their back. They had to step around large pieces of fallen stone and passed a number of heavy wooden doors with small openings cut into them for windows. Hermione peeked into one. They were also cells that simply contained cots and buckets.

She shook her head and caught up to Severus.

“I still can’t believe Hogwarts has an area like this,” she said, her brow furrowed.

Severus didn’t answer her. He was focused on getting to the circle. More than likely the ghost that got away had reported they were in the subdungeons. They came to the end of the corridor and torches flared up. They were in a large circular room that seemed to have been cut out of the stone rather than built. On the floor was etched a large circle with a five pointed pentacle in the center. Severus released the ghost and stepped inside, immediately feeling magic wash over him as he did so.

Hermione entered the circle, magic washing over her as well.

“It seems to still work,” Hermione said, studying the circle. She noticed a number of smaller but more intricately designed circles positioned around the one they were standing in.

“Demon circles,” she breathed.

Severus looked at the smaller protective circles.

“Yes,” he replied. “Those were the circles that held the demons. This one was for added protection for the summoner.”

Hermione shuddered at the thought of utilizing demons as a magical aid.

“They were crazy back then. Dealing with demons always has a terrible price,” Hermione said, remembering the stories she had read about cunning demons collecting their supposed Masters early in horrible ways.

“Yes…and demons are very shrewd creatures. The wizards back then didn’t realize they were just as intelligent as they were, if not more so. Once this was found out, however, they began to find other ways to get things done,” Severus said. “Only Salazar continued the practice using the souls of prisoners as payment to the creatures. When he left Hogwarts, this area was abandoned.”

Hermione scowled.

“So he kept his own soul intact,” she said darkly. “How Slytherin.”

“He was the original,” Severus replied, his lip quirking.

"We never learned anything about this in Magical History,” Hermione said scowling that something so important was overlooked or worse, hidden.

“That’s because Slytherin House is demonized enough,” the wizard replied, his dark eyes resting on Hermione.

“We are the pariahs of Hogwarts, though the best equipped to succeed in life. Every Slytherin is immediately perceived to be influenced by evil, when actually we are not. We simply utilize all of our qualities, both light and dark to make our way through the world. We follow our instincts, preferring to stay at the top of the magical food chain,” the wizard purred. “Gryffindors are, in our estimation, fools and dreamers, often failing in life because of their goody-two shoes attitude. They don’t know how to take advantage of a situation to further their own goals, being too wrapped up in doing the “honorable” thing, even to their own detriment. Slytherins weigh every act, consider the cause and effect of every decision made and decide whether the end suits the means. Self-preservation and self-advancement is our purpose. Always. We utilize our darker side. It is there for a reason after all.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the wizard.

“So, you think I am a fool and a dreamer, Professor?” the witch asked the Potions Master.

Severus leveled his eyes on her, thinking carefully. He wanted to court the witch. Saying he thought she was a fool wouldn’t sit well with her. Besides, he didn’t think she was. He would never have been attracted to her if this were the case.

“You have been guilty of foolishness, Miss Granger, due to your association with Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley…but even in those situations you attempted to be the voice of reason before you succumbed to your Gryffindor quality of blind loyalty. You think, Miss Granger and you look at the world logically and realistically so are neither a fool nor a dreamer. I think you would have done better in Ravenclaw, who are closer to Slytherins than people usually realize. But you were saddled with Gryffindor and Gryffindor you will remain,” he said silkily.

Yet, if the witch became involved with him, she would certainly be Slytherinized by association.

Both witch and wizard were unaware that ghosts were congregating around them, hiding in the walls, preparing to swoop down on them and overcome them through sheer numbers. However, the Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady arrived after the two had discussed the protective nature of the circle they occupied, so were unaware they had protection.

“They are distracted,” the Grey Lady said, an unholy look of lust on her face as she eyed Severus and Hermione.

“Particularly the Potions Master…I believe he is smitten with the young witch,” the Baron replied. “Perhaps they can get together in the afterlife.”

The Baron looked around at the bobbing, anxious ghosts barely able to restrain themselves as they looked at the clueless mortals before them. The hunger they felt was almost overwhelming and every single one of them, with the exception of Horace whose cowardice was phenomenal, wanted to taste the sweetness of a stolen human soul. Taking one was as close to orgasm as a ghost could get. Evil certainly knew how to motivate.

The Baron looked back at Severus and Hermione. The witch’s eyes were narrowed as her hands went on her hips and she began to take the Potions Master to task for something he said, the wizard smirking at her in amusement.

“NOW!” the Baron howled.

A hair-raising cry rose up from the ghosts as they all burst out of the walls, screaming, moaning, hands crooked to claws, diving at a startled Severus and Hermione, who immediately began casting hexes, congealing about four ghosts before they reached the circle.

The Bloody Baron was the first to hit the circle. White light crackled around him and the ghost backed up, howling furiously. The rest of the ghosts slammed into the barrier, light crackling around them as well, unable to pass. They howled in rage and continued to assail the circle, moving to different positions, trying to find a weakness.

Inside the circle, Hermione and Severus were stunning the ghosts with dispatch, the pearly bodies solidifying and dropping to the ground, one after the other.

“It’s working!” Hermione shouted at the wizard above the howls.

The witch flinched as a mounted ghost charged the barrier, his pale horse snorting flame. The creatures hit the protective magic, their faces pressed against it as if against a pane of glass, their features flattened and contorted horribly. Hermione blasted the horse, which toppled, leaving the ghost still in mid-air before she hexed him too. He dropped next to the fallen steed.

More than half the ghosts were down, the rest flying about like a swarm of enormous, pearly white hornets, becoming harder to hit as their numbers dwindled. Like hornets, they were completely enraged, slamming against the barrier over and over again, mindlessly trying to reach the couple.

Severus noticed the flashes of light becoming weaker.

“We have to get them all, Miss Granger!” he yelled at her. “The protection is failing!”

Desperately they continued firing at the ghosts. Both the Baron and the Grey Lady were down. If the Baron had been functional, he would most likely have ordered a retreat.

Both wizard and witch were drenched in perspiration as they spun, blasting high and low. Finally there were only about five ghosts left, still charging the weakening barrier. Hermione got two of them after five blasts, and Severus took out the final three.

Panting heavily, Severus and Hermione surveyed the pile of fallen ghosts.

Suddenly Hermione launched herself at Severus, flying into his arms. The wizard caught her reflexively, her soft body colliding with his.

“We did it, Professor!” she said joyfully, looking up at him with a broad smile. “We took out over one hundred ghosts by ourselves. That has to be some kind of record.”

“Indeed,” the wizard agreed, looking around at the fallen ghosts, then back down at the witch filling his arms. Gods, she was soft and curvaceous against his body. He felt a small pulse and carefully released the witch, whose breasts were rising and falling with elation.

“But the night is far from over. We have to be vigilant and keep them stunned until daylight. There will be no sleep for us,” the wizard said.

As if on cue, Harold groaned, rousing.

“What was that?” Hermione asked, looking around. She saw Harold rise up from beneath the bodies of the other congealed ghosts and blasted the ghost knight. He dropped again with a blood-curdling howl, his arrow sticking straight up.

“Good shooting,” Severus said to the witch, who turned to him, still panting with excitement. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkling. It was clear Hermione was a witch who enjoyed battle…and victory.

“Quite the savage little Gryffindor, aren’t you?” the wizard observed, smirking. He approved of her aggressiveness…quietly wondering what the witch would be like in an intimate situation. He thought of the adage that if one wanted to know the kind of lover a person is, one had to watch them work and play.

If Hermione applied herself to sex as she did to her work, she would be quite a lover indeed. The witch focused to the exclusion of all else. Severus swallowed and again pushed his carnal thoughts out of his mind. They had defeated the ghosts and would keep them subdued until morning. There was no reason to deflower the witch.

Severus was for the most part, relieved about this…but there was a part of him that wished he could have taken Hermione, at least have a small taste of what it would be like to be sheathed inside the brilliant young witch.

Now that would have to wait. There was only a few months left before graduation…then the several weeks of courtship that would follow, which would hopefully lead to a physical relationship.

Suddenly he heard another groan, and a ghost rose up behind them. Severus quickly took it out. Another groan followed, then another. He and Hermione started blasting again as the ghosts recovered quickly. Too quickly.

“I thought the spell lasted an hour,” Hermione said as ghost after ghost began to rise, some hitting the barrier again.

“The circle must weaken the spell’s power when it passes through the barrier,” the wizard said, firing around him.

“That’s not good,” Hermione said. “Not good at all. We can’t keep this up all night, Professor.”

The witch was right. As soon as they managed to get them all down again, they were going to have to disapparate to another part of the castle. The good thing was however, they could apparate back directly to the circle again when the ghosts followed them and get a brief respite. Possibly it would regain some of its power when they left it.

It seemed they weren’t as safe as they thought. And neither was Hermione’s virginity.

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A/N: A nice little action-packed chapter. Please review.