My footsteps are careful, hesitant, my breath caught in my throat. I know if I make even the slightest sound, I'll be caught, and the punishments will be severe. But I'd do anything to see his face, to touch him, at least once.
I'm afraid about the moving staircases, usually interesting because of their unpredictability. Now, however, the prospect of facing them is terrifying me.
One step, two steps, three...
The halls are dark and narrow, the torchlight flickering off the walls. My mind similarly flickers to my dormitory. Will anyone in Gryffindor decide to wake up, and see me gone?
I try not to panic, but my knees are shaking, and my steps slow down.
No, no, no! Steady breaths, steady legs, steady hands. Move one of your hands to the railing. Move one of your legs to the first step...
A deafening cackle jerks me out of my arduous concentration.
I'd recognize that cackle anywhere.
I whip around, my bushy hair flying in my face.
"No, no, Peeves, please!" I hiss to him, desperately trying not to freak out.
I'm caught, I'm screwed, I'm dead, or even worse, expelled.
He laughs again. "Hermione, Hermione, tiny, whiny!"
If only he weren't a ghost. I could kick his wispy arse into next semester.
"Peeves, stop!" I cry in terror, pretty loudly.
"What are you doing here in the Slytherin wing? Are you partaking in a fling?" He giggles at his stupid little rhyme.
That's when the importance of his couplet hits me.
How did he find out about why I'm here? Of course, he could have just been guessing or trying to be clever, but how could something like that be so accurate?
"SNAPE!" he screams. "A LITTLE PANSYCAKE IS HERE FOR YOU!"
I honestly think I'm going to start crying.
If Snape is about to deal with me, there's no way I'm going to find my way out of this predicament.