Chapter VI

"Harry," Ron whispered. "Remind me again, why Hermione didn't do this instead of me?"

"Because she's covering for us; besides, she comes up with better excuses than us. Now make your voice higher, or you'll never pass as a girl."

"I could say the same thing for you." Ron muttered. "Come on Harry, speak with a falsetto, and we're set."

Harry nodded as he looked at Ron; his short red hair was now longer and his features sharpened slightly, making his freckles slightly more prominent. Of course, the long robe dispensed of the need to fake cleavage; Ron had been particularly glad for that. He hadn't wanted to spend the rest of his Sunday evening with breasts. They made their way down the staircase, the dungeons approaching once more. Ron looked at Harry before he sighed.

"Let's get this over with." Ron mumbled, starting down the steps.

"Let's hope we find some Slytherins at the door." Harry replied. "Otherwise, we'll have to take a chance on the password."

They walked down the stairs into the cool space, the bleak stones surrounding them. They walked along, unsure of what they were looking for until a sharp voice stopped them.

"What are you two wandering around here for?"

They froze and turned around to find themselves facing Snape's glare.

"Well?" Snape demanded.

"We're going back to the common rooms, Sir." Harry piped up, cringing inwardly at the highness of his voice.

Snape raised an eyebrow, slight disbelief in his eyes. "I don't recall seeing you two in Slytherin."

"We keep to our rooms Sir. Busy with schoolwork." Ron managed to keep his falsetto straight.

Snape didn't say anything but strode off down the hallway. Harry and Ron glanced at each other before they followed after him. They remained silent when Snape said the password - asphodel - and the door opened with a slight creak. Ron had been right; the place had improved over time, but he couldn't stop the feeling that his skin was crawling. He nudged Ron in the side before they made their way down the steps to the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Ron, can you tell where the girls' dormitory is?"

"Harry!" Ron said in a shocked voice. "You can't possibly mean to go up there!"

"Do you really think Sora would leave the book lying down around here for everyone to see?" Harry said. "We’ll wait and see if she's anywhere around."

Ron nodded as he looked into the fire for a moment. "You two seem really close. Don't you feel kinda bad, doing this to your cousin?"

"Somewhat." Harry admitted in a soft voice. "But I get the feeling that I'll have to force my way in somewhat before she'll tell me what's going on."

Ron looked at Harry now. "If she finds out about this, do you think she'll be mad?"

"I honestly don't know. This will be the first time I've really gone behind her back."

"Hey, I think I hear Sora's voice." Ron said as he looked down an empty passageway beside the fireplace.

Harry looked up and sure enough, Sora came walking through with Pansy Parkinson by her side. He looked at the fire, not wanting to arouse her suspicion. He and Ron sat stiff as boards as the girls footsteps echoed through the room, mixed with the sound of the fire popping. Then the footsteps stopped abruptly.

Ron glanced at Harry before he turned around to look. Harry turned around also, to find Sora staring at them, her green eyes glowing like a cat's in the firelight. She murmured something to Pansy who started to protest. Sora's voice cracked like a whip as she repeated herself again and Pansy slunk off.

"I haven't seen you two around before." Sora said calmly as she stood in front of the fireplace.

Ron swallowed; the fire blazed behind her, giving her the illusion of height and presence and he didn't like it all that much. "We're first years." he squeaked out.

Something flickered in Sora's eyes before it vanished as soon as it had come. "Tall for first years." Sora looked at them, her eyes analyzing them with cold calculation. "Wearing the boys robes no less. Don't tell me, there're two more Slytherin sluts before me."

"What?!" Ron shot up in outrage, hands balled into fists. "Take that back! I am not a Slytherin slut."

"And with tempers too none the less. My, some boys must love that." Sora allowed the faint traces of a disdainful smirk come to her face as the fire flared up behind her. "Such outbursts only incriminate you further."

"Prove it!" Ron snarled barely containing his rage.

"Your robes are dishevelled, not even yours, and you reek of perspiration; I could smell the stench from the hallway," Sora paused, wrinkling her nose slightly. "Though whether it's fear of some sort or from sex, I've yet to tell."

Ron paused, his knuckles white from strain, and his face bright red. "That it?"

"And the way you jumped to defend yourself so hastily implies some sense of guilt." Sora sneered as she turned her back to them. "However, I have to thank you. You make me grateful that I don't have to share a room with people like you. Pansy could never get laid if her life depended on it."

Ron's jaw tightened as Sora disappeared around the corner, her footsteps going up the stairs. As soon as the sound of them disappeared, he turned on Harry.

"Merlin, she's such a bitch!"

"I didn't even know she could act like that." Harry said with a thoughtful look.

"Slytherin slut, like that would ever be me." Ron huffed as he tried to calm down. "I'm a Gryffindor through and through!"

"Sure, say it louder, Ron!” Harry hissed. “Ron, did you notice Sora?"

"How could I bloody well not?! She just accused us of being Slytherin sluts!!"

"No, no. Did you see the way she was standing? What she did?"

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked in a sullen voice.

"Sora was shifting from foot to foot, but she made it look like she was swaying; it was like she was impatient to get out of here. And her nose…"

"What's so interesting about her nose?" Ron sounded completely puzzled now.

"She was flaring it, as if she was trying to smell something."

"Or catching a scent." Ron paused for a moment before he looked in the direction Sora had gone in.

"We've come this far already, and there's no way we'll see that book now. We may as well add in a little bit of eavesdropping."

"Wait; we can't go up the girls' stairs; we might set off the alarm." Harry said remembering Ron's attempt to get to Hermione's room in fifth year.

"Hang on a moment," Ron dug into his pocket and pulled out a flesh coloured piece of string. "Thank Merlin for Fred and George's Extendable Ears."

The hallway was dead quiet, save for the three figures that were creeping down the hallway, hoping to not get noticed my Mrs. Norris. They paused before scurrying down the hallway and making for the next flight of stairs upwards.

"You two do realize it's not even the second week of school and we've snuck out already."

"We do Hermione," Harry said as he peered around a corner. "But we told you what we found out, and we all agreed this was the next best thing."

"But all the way up to the Divination Tower? At this time?" Hermione shook her head. "It means a long run back down should any teachers find out something and come looking. We could lose house points for this."

"There's a Quidditch game at the end of October before the Halloween Ball. If we do lose points, we'll get them back. We are playing Hufflepuff after all." Harry said, trying to repress his snicker along with Ron.

"I wish you two would take this more seriously sometimes."

"Sh!" Harry stopped them suddenly. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Hermione asked, looking around. "I didn't-"

"For Merlin's sake woman, be quiet and you'll hear it!" Ron mumbled.

Hermione subsided into quiet as all three strained their ears. There was definitely a sound from up ahead, a slight scraping sound, followed by a dull ‘thunk’. They looked at each other fearing the worst. It was confirmed a few seconds later.

"Don't worry my sweet, well catch the no good beast this time. Nothing walks through my halls at night except for us."

All three looked at one another before they stole away for the staircase they had come out of a few minutes ago. The sound of Filch's voice and the thunking step came close behind them as they started on the cool stone steps, hurrying for the doorway in front of them.

"Oh no," Hermione said under her breath as the staircase gave a lurch and swung out into the air. "This is the slow moving one! Filch will catch us if we stay on here any longer!"

Harry watched as the alcove where the staircase was heading came closer. "We'll have to jump for it."

"Jump, are you mad?" Ron looked at him. "I'm not jumping from a moving object willingly!"

"Do you want Filch to catch us?" Hermione whispered. "We have to jump it Ron."

"Why me?" Ron groaned as he rested his hands on the railing. "All right then, let's do this and get it over with."

Hermione grasped his hand in hers and braced on foot against the railing. "Ready Ron?"

"No." he whined as he placed his foot on the railing with hers.

"On the count of three. One, two, three!!"

Harry watched as they flung themselves and landed in the alcove with a heavy thump. Harry took a deep breath before he took a step against the railing and launched himself into the air. When he landed with a thud, Ron and Hermione grabbed him and they pulled him behind the wall, brushing off the dirt from his robe. The staircase thudded into its new home a few minutes later, a tense silence filling the air between them. Then they heard Filch's voice.

"Next time, my sweet; next time we'll catch it." Filch's voice was accented by the thunking step once more.

"That was too close." Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

Ron nodded his head. "But I'd rather deal with Filch than Aragog again."

"Likewise," Harry said; he could still remember the spiders that had tried to eat him and Ron in second year. "Come on, we still have to get to the Divination Tower."

"You know what Harry; I don't think this hallway has been used often." Hermione said as she peered at the walls. "It looks like an older part of the school."

"It does. The knights are covered in dust." Ron said as he wiped a trail down a gauntlet. The knight shifted restlessly, making Ron move back hastily. "Maybe we should head back down?"

"Did you bring the Marauder's Map with you?" Hermione asked as she faced Harry.

"I did." Harry pulled it out from his pocket and unrolled it as he took out his wand and muttered ‘Lumos’; it was somewhat dark in here.

"Is there anyway to get to the Divination Tower from here?" Hermione asked as she looked around.

"You're not going to believe this 'Mione, but we're no where on the map," Ron said as he peered over Harry's shoulder. "Absolutely no where."

"What? Don't play jokes now Ron. Let me see that map." she said as she pulled out her own wand and lit it up. "We're nowhere. It as if we vanished from Hogwarts."

They walked back to the alcove, looking out into the Hogwarts stairwell, and then at the map. They were there now. But when they walked back into the hallway, they vanished again, the red dot nowhere to be seen on the paper.

"Maybe we should just see where it takes us." Ron suggested in a nervous voice. "Just so long as there're no spiders, I'll be fine. Maybe it'll take us to the Divination Tower."

"All right, come on." Harry said as he stepped into the darkness.

They all started forward but paused as a strange gust of wind passed through the hallway, sending bits of dirt and debris swirling past their feet. They looked at each other before they started down the dark corridor. The air was thick with nervousness as their steps crunched along the ground.

"Do you think they might have missed this on the floor plan?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice.

"I think they missed it all together." Ron replied as he sidestepped around a large cobweb. Are we almost at the end?"

"Let's hope so." Hermione said. "I don't like it down here one bit."

Harry nodded. "That looked like a flight of stairs just up ahead."

"What do we have to lose?" Ron mumbled as he moved in closer to Hermione.

Harry peered around the corner with his wand, seeing the dust lying thick on what was indeed a flight of steps upwards. Their steps echoed up through the narrow passageway, small clouds of stirred dust following them. The steps seemed to stretch onwards forever, sometimes twisting in a spiral, sometimes in a zigzag, but always but upwards. After an endless eternity, they found themselves in front of door.

"Ah, finally!" Ron said in a relived voice as he took out his wand. "Alohomora!"

The door flew open with a bang, revealing the warm night sky. Ron was already through as Harry and Hermione looked at each other before they stepped out, warily. When a loud bang echoed out across the rooftop, they looked back to find themselves looking at air. The door had simply disappeared somewhere.

"This is just weird, even for me." Ron said. "We're on the top of the Divination Tower."

"I'd like to know how we got here." Hermione said.

"I say we go and see if they are inside now." Harry said as he made his way to the edge.

"Do we have to go through a window?" Ron asked as he walked and peered over the edge.

"There's no other way Ron." Harry grasped the drainpipe and started to climb down. The ledge by the window was large enough for him to stand on comfortably. "And there're no spiders here." He said as he jumped down lightly on the stone area.

"All right," Ron started down after Harry. "What time is it now?"

"Midnight," Harry said as he looked at his watch. "We should open the window a bit so we can hear what they're talking about."

"Good idea." Hermione said as she stepped off of the pipe and fixed her robes. You did hear Sora say midnight clearly, right?"

"Yes," Ron said. "It was somewhat hard to not hear it as she kept saying it to herself every five seconds."

Harry motioned for quiet as he heard the sound of a door creaking open and shut, followed by silence. He peered around the corner carefully, seeing Sora holding up her wand with the tip illuminated. In her other arm, she carried the heavy book she had with her at the Quidditch pitch. She weaved her way through the student desks to the large one at the front and hopped up on it with ease, setting the book beside her. Her shoes clunked to the ground as she took them off, along with her socks.

"Much better," Sora said as she slid back down to the stone floor. "Wretched shoes."

Harry looked back at Ron and Hermione, seeing puzzled looks on their faces; there was supposed to be someone else, but Sora had never said who. Harry drew back as he heard the door opening again. He didn't want to have to worry about two people seeing him by accident.

"You certainly took your time." Sora's voice was cool and relaxed.

"You would too if Blaise was your roommate. He has hearing like a bat."

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at one another in surprise, Harry and Ron more so; Draco Malfoy? It certainly hadn’t sounded like Sora was talking about Draco from the way she was talking to Pansy earlier on. They looked at one another and moved in a little bit closer, intent on hearing every word that was exchanged.

"You look a bit tense." Sora's feet padded across the stone. "Why not relax?"

"I can't; I got another letter from mother today."

That seemed to deaden the silence. "As did I. But I would rather not dwell on it at the moment."

"You say that all the time." Draco didn't sound too pleased. "How can you sit by while she does this to you? She's changing you Sora, and you know it's not right. She should be locked away in Azkaban for what she's doing and what she's done."

"It's not my fault I found out she was a Death Eater. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in this mess. Besides, she's still my mother."

Another look was exchanged between the three of them. This was proving to be something of an illuminating talk.

"I can't believe your defending that bitch of a woman. Leave your curiosity out of it then." Draco said. "My mother wasn't pleased when I found out too. But now she thinks she can recruit me to that babbling fool's cause. Father would not be pleased to know that she's pressuring me like this."

"But Lucius would also leave you to find your own way out of it." Sora murmured.

"Father isn't one for extending a helping hand." Draco replied

Nothing was said for a few moments before Sora spoke. "Let's kill the lights and get started. We should waste time talking like this now, when we have training to do."

"Fine, but we're finishing this discussion."

They all strained their ears to hear any whispers, but all they heard was the sound of cloth rustling and some heavy breathing. Harry closed his eyes, hoping to not assume the worst, but it was immediately dispelled as he heard a slight popping noise. A few more came before the silence returned once more.

Harry looked at Ron with puzzlement before he glanced at Hermione; she had a thoroughly puzzled expression on her face as well too. He hazarded a glance into the room, to see nothing. He lit his wand up again and looked in a bit more. The room was completely empty, the door was wide open.

"Come on." Harry pushed the window open a bit more and jumped in.

"Is that the book?" Hermione asked as she made her way over to the large book on the teacher's table.

"That's it." Harry nodded his head as he came over to see.

He and Ron stood around the book as Hermione inspected it. It was bound in red leather, worn with age. The metal overlay grasped the edges of the book, the ends like claws. Right in the middle of the cover was a strange print, showing a rearing chimera, flames bursting from its mouth.

"It's by Maleor Churlad." Hermione breathed as she looked at the spine.

"Wait, wasn't he some famous Animagus in the Middle Ages?" Ron asked.

"Yes, this book is supposed to be nothing more than a tale, but it actually exists." Hermione had a gleam in her eyes. "We could learn to be Animagus with this book in no time. That is if you guys wanted to."

"Why would we want to be Animagus?" Ron mused aloud. "Only because we can turn into animals and pretty much run around Hogwarts without any worries! Of course we'd want to woman! Merlin, you must be mad." Ron exclaimed.

"Very funny Ron. But learning to become an Animagus is no laughing matter. It is a long and tiring process. What do you say Harry? Harry? Harry!"

Harry, who had been looking around the room, turned his attention back to Hermione. "Yes, I agree."

"Do you even know what you agreed to, Harry?" Hermione sighed. "Honestly, between you and Ron..." she trailed off. "What were you looking at anyways?"

"I was just thinking how this room has a lot of shadows; a lot of big shadows – big enough to hide a large animal in the dark."

"Or a person," Hermione picked up the book, looking around warily. "Maybe we should leave now."

"As in right now," Ron said in a tremulous voice. "That'd be a good idea, because there's something in the beams."

Harry looked around the room, until he saw it; or rather them. The glowing cat eyes up in the rafters, the green shimmering and narrowed. A low growl echoed throughout the room, before it was joined by another. Harry looked around until he saw a pair of bright purple eyes a few feet away from the cat ones, reptilian in their appearance.

They started walking away from the desk slowly, taking the steps one at a time towards the door. Never did their eyes leave the ones that glowed at them from the rafters with a preternatural brilliance and intensity. Suddenly, the cat eyes vanished and a large black shape appeared on the ground before the teacher's desk. It was a large creature, its tails swishing from side to side with a deliberate slowness. It made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck rise; he felt like it was letting them leave jut so it could stalk them. A rush of air from down the row made them look to find a small white dragon on its hindquarters, wings folded back. It had to be at least five meters high, smoke curling past its teeth in grey wisps.

Harry watched as Ron drew his wand, grasping his tightly and whispering 'Nox'. The light died out, leaving the entire room cloaked in darkness. Only the green and purple eyes glowed, disembodied in the blackness. Harry watched as the green started moving forward before it bounded up towards them, flinging desks as it went back.

"Stupefy!" Ron fired the spell at the animal, his hand trembling somewhat.

A few seconds later, the creature dropped to the ground a few feet away from them; its form limp and unmoving. The purple eyes narrowed now before the dragon started to come towards them. Harry pointed his wand and uttered the first spell that came to mind.

"Wingardium leviosa!"

The dragon's expression went from anger to confusion as it rose into the air, fighting to get back down. The three of them rushed out of the room, shutting the door behind them. They kept running through the hallways, hoping that something didn't happen and they couldn't follow. When they finally entered the Gryffindor common room, they collapsed into the chairs.

"That was the creature that took the sandwich from me." Ron said with a gasp.

"There was a dragon! A dragon!" Hermione said hysterically. "There's not supposed to be a dragon on school grounds!"

"There is now." Harry said. "Where did Sora and Draco disappear to?"

"He probably dragged her off to some part of the school to get into trouble." Ron muttered. "So where do we stand so far?"

"We know that Sora has connections to Voldemort through her mother," Harry began. "And that Leiko is doing something to her against her will."

"And that she has this book. She must be using it to try and become an Animagus." Hermione added.

"You took the book!?" Ron looked at her aghast. "Great, now she'll know that someone's onto her."

"Then we'll have to make sure it's not us she suspects, won't we." Hermione said as she rested her hand against the cover. "Maleor Churlad's book…"

Ron rolled his eyes as he looked at Harry. "Harry, it's only a matter of time before they find out there's two creatures running around the school at night."

"All right you two, I've had enough of all this for one night." Hermione said as she rose with a slight yawn.

Harry watched as Hermione walked towards the girls' dorm rooms before he looked at Ron. "What if Sora's the creature with all those tails?"

"Come again?" Ron gave him a pair of raised eyebrows. "I don't think anyone could learn how to transform within a week of being here."

"But we don't know how long she had the book for. She could have practicing for awhile now. Think about it Ron. Some weird noises, we go in and Sora and Draco are nowhere to be seen and a few seconds later there's a...something and a dragon in the room."

"You're implying that Draco can change too Harry." Ron lapsed into silence for a moment. "We need conclusive evidence. Everything we have now is just ideas."

"You're starting to sound like Hermione." Harry said with a chuckle. "Did you spend all summer with her?"

"Kinda," Ron mumbled before he cleared his throat. "We'll need to keep a closer eye on Sora and Draco for the next week at least. They might do something that will clear everything up."

When Darkness Comes - Chapter Five || When Darkness Comes - Chapter Seven