All was quiet in the dark, looming corridors of Hogwarts. So quiet, in fact, that one might never suspect that a sly trio of 4th years were slinking throught said corridors quite skillfully. Their destination? The Shrieking Shack.
"Oi, Moony, you gonna make it, mate?" asked a seemingly disembodied voice.
"Yes, yes, I can make it. Bloody hell, we've never waited this long to get there, Padfoot." answered a second voice.
"Yeah, yeah," replied the first voice rather softly, then added, " Has Wormtail gotten the key yet, Prongs?"
"I think so, he's heading towards the grand staircase, away from Filch's...Oi! There he is!" a third voice joined in.
As stated by Prongs, a rather thickly set rat had indeed scurried down the staircase and scampered off to the doors.
"Bloody hell! This never gets old!" exclaimed Padfoot mischieviously.
"Hey, Prongs, it's late, and we aren't being tailed, so d'you think we could take off the cloak? It's getting a bit warm under here." Immediately following this statement, a hand suddenly appeared in thin air, and started to fan towards where it's body attachment would be, as if to prove Padfoots point.
Prongs hesitated, back on the 5th floor he had been almost positive that he had heard a shoe scuff the floor, quickly followed by a poorly hushed "Shhh!", and just a minute ago he had spotted a sliver of blonde hair. But worrying was what Moony did, so Prongs quickly dismissed these suspicions as paranoia and replied "All right, Padfoot."
Suddenly, three 14 year old boys were reveiled with a flourish at the foot of the Grand Staircase. One was currently stashing a silvery piece of cloth into his pocket, while quickly surveying the vicinity through hazel eyes and glasses for any unwelecome prescenes. As soon as the cloth was safetly tucked away, he ran a hand through his already incredibly untidy black hair, thus making it look increasingly windswept. The second boy was about the same heighth as the first, but had almost shoulder-lenght black hair that looked extremely well cared for. He had deep chocolate make-your-heart-melt eyes and a cocky, devil-may-care attitude, which may be due to his overwhelming handsomeness. He was currently fanning himself and looking exaggeratively overheated. The third young man had greyish-blue eyes, ash blonde hair, and a slightly sickly look about him. He seemed to be struggling with some unseen force.
The boys took off at a silent run to catch up with the rat. The handsome one took the key from the rat, inserted it into the lock, opened the door as silently as possible, waved the others out the door, took the key again, and shut the door. They were now presently on the Hogwarts Grounds. Finally, freedom.
"Well, Prongs, darling, a nice night for a romp in the Forbidden Forest, eh?" asked the overheated, overacting young man.
"Why, yes, I daresay it is, my dear Padfoot. Thank you for pointing that out," replied the glasses-clad, overly polite companion.
And with that final comment, both boys suddenly heard a very, very unwelcome sound.
To Be Continued...