Ginny giggled as she peeked out around the edge of the Babbity Rabbity tapestry.
Hermione elbowed her sharply in the ribs. She barely had time to duck her red head back behind the curtain before Peeves cartwheeled down the dungeon corridor, whistling Stars and Stripes Forever. Hermione scratched her head- where did he even learn that song? - as the poltergeist skittered out of sight.
"That was close;" breathed Ginny, "we can't have him compromising our mission."
Their "mission" was of a rather mischievous nature. After a long, restless summer, the girls were itching to visit a darker, grungier part of the castle.
Ginny had grown restless in their common room as there wasn't yet an overbearing homework load, and Harry and Ron had been engaged in a rather drawn-out wizard's chess tournament.
"Heerrrrmmmmione" Ginny had wailed.
"Why are we sitting up here reading over Snape's reading assignment for the 57th time when we could be causing mayhem with the third member of the other golden trio?"
"When can I get ahead in my studies if not now, before Professor Flitwick assigns partners for the 6th year projects?"
"You mean, when can we catch up on whatever happened over the summer with Theo if not now, before the homework heavens release over our heads?" Ginny replied. Then she frog marched Hermione out the portrait hole and down the corridor before she could come up with a better argument.
The soft pattering of their feet was the only sound to be heard as they approached the familiar stretch of bare stone wall that hid the entrance to the dorms. Now they just needed to make a big enough diversion to draw their Slytherin friends' attention. With a roguish gleam in her eye, Hermione aimed a projection spell into the hidden room. Even standing outside, the girls could hear the familiar song booming throughout the cavernous space-
He rides across the nation;
A thoroughbred of sin
He got the application that you just sent in-"
Hermione and Ginny nearly collapsed into giggles at the commotion inside the typically stiff and formal rival house's living space. Most of the Slytherins had never encountered such a spell before; it was of Hermione's own invention. It always came in handy whenever she wanted to accentuate her point with a beloved movie quote. She figured a chorus from Theo's personal favorite show would be the perfect calling card.
Her prediction was proven correct within a few seconds, as Theo tossed open the door to the strains of the end of the song-
You're saddled up
There's no recourse
It's high-ho Silver
Signed: Bad Horse."
A shrill female voice shrieked, "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS MUGGLE NONSENSE?" through the opening in the wall as Theo closed it behind him. The red-headed witch shot a sly grin at the tall, burly wizard and suddenly grabbed both his hands behind his back and announced, "Seeing as our common room is painfully boring, we are officially kidnapping you. We expect full cooperation unless you fancy your ears whistling like a teapot."
"No objections here," Theo grinned, "who better to be imprisoned by than my two best witches?"
With a wave of her wand, Hermione summoned a blindfold over the eyes of their willing captive. She cast a quick 'Muffliato,' and turned to Ginny. "Where are we going?"
Ginny brought a finger to her chin and stared into a corner of the dungeon. "To the library, of course. The first and last place he will expect to be taken." Quickly cancelling the spell, the two girls began leading Theo through the halls with barely contained giggles.
Madame Pince glared at them warily as they stumbled in and quickly shuffled down the rows of books and into the section on mermaid genetics. They had just pulled out an iridescent tome covered in mermaid skin when Theo groaned, "Can I take off this blasted blindfold yet?"
"The patient wizard catches the gnomes." Ginny snickered as she stepped into his personal space. With a saucy wink towards Hermione, she glazed her palms over Theo's shoulders on her way to remove the offending fabric. When it came clear, his eyes flashed in recognition of his surroundings. "So predictable, Minnie. The only witch in the whole school whose idea of a good time is an evening at the library."
"Oh, hush up you," retorted Hermione, with a smile at the familiar nickname. "It was actually Ginny's idea. I was going to allow you to do the honors, but seeing as you're being so contrary-"
Theo suddenly wrapped his arms around Ginny and spun her out of his way to maneuver himself closer to the coveted mermaid tome. Not willing to give it up without a fight, Hermione shifted the book behind her and stepped backward until her she hit the wall.
"Oh, no you don't!" chortled Ginny in a whispered shout as she tackled Theo from behind. Though Ginny was merely a whisper compared to Theo's bulking brawn, he fell to the floor and dragged Ginny over him, grinning like the cat that caught the canary.
Hermione rifled through the pages until she found a hand-drawn sketch depicting a silver fork and a gentleman's pipe.
She quickly murmured, "Banded Bulbous Snarfblat", and glanced over her shoulder to the section of wall behind her which was now sparkling like the reflection of light on the evening sea.
"Off we go then." Theo hoisted Ginny over his shoulder and hauled her off through the shimmering wall.
"Oh, how I've missed this place," said Hermione as she looked around the cozy room hidden behind the entrance. It was a secret nearly as well kept as the Room of Requirement.
Theo stepped up to a large portrait of a slender red-headed witch in an old-fashioned skirt. "Thank you, Felecia Day. Without you, our evenings would be a thousand times duller."
Hermione smiled and waved at the muggle painting. It was during their second year at Hogwarts that she and Theo had first discovered Felecia's secret room. They had been studying up for a DADA essay about mermaid reproduction when she'd come across the sketch of the fork and pipe. Feeling nostalgic and unable to help herself, she had murmured the lines from the classic childhood film and been quite surprised to see the entrance appear.
Felecia had been a clever muggle-born witch. Journals detailing her work on the room (which still contained her phonograph machine) were stashed away on the bookshelves. Muggle-borns who had discovered its secrets over the years had occasionally left notes about updates they'd made in the remaining pages.
As far as she could tell, the shimmering wall was technically a portal which led to a cavern deep under the lake, far enough away from the constant buzz of magical energy that muggle electronic devices were able to function within- so long as nobody brandied their wand about too much.
The room had long been forgotten and dusty with disuse, but Hermione and Theo had made it into their own personal study spot, away from the annoyed stares of fellow students that inevitably came when they became too noisy debating the finer points of magical theory. They had also smuggled in various muggle devices over the years. They often enjoyed watching muggle films on the tv after long hours of studying or on chilly winter weekends.
This evening, the trio settled into the large sectional sofa and collection of oversized bean bags as Hermione popped in a pirated DVD copy of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog", which unsurprisingly had become a quick favorite of Theo's.
"Perfect way to break in the new year. Watching a pompous Gryffindor unashamedly exaggerate his own merits," chuckled Theo.
"Captain Hammer is the embodiment of a Gryffindor hero complex if I've ever seen one," Hermione agreed.
As the film progressed, she noticed Ginny stretching out to claim Theo's lap as her personal footrest. She sighed to herself, imagining that if they weren't on the brink of an all-out wizarding war, it might be nice to have somebody to curl up next to.
Not that Theo and Ginny were an item- Ginny merely enjoyed a mostly platonic and entirely flirtatious friendship with him based on years of evenings shared on the couches of their secret hideout.
As it was, she was certain that having a relationship right now would only end in heartache and distraction when she, Harry, and Ron inevitably threw themselves head-first into the war effort. No, boys were the last thing she needed to be distracted by right now.
When the credits rolled, Hermione stretched languidly and uncurled herself from the deep well of her oversized magenta beanbag.
"Shall I walk you ladies back up to your tower?" Theo asked sleepily.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Well, seeing as we were the ones who kidnapped you, I think we owe you a bumpy and unpleasant ride in the dark back to your dungeon so you don't discover the location of our evil lair."
"Aaawww, no more blindfolds please-" Theo started, but Ginny was too quick. She twisted in his lap and murmured something that sounded suspiciously like, "I love the air" right into his ear, effectively distracting him while she waved her wand behind her back to cast a temporary blindness charm.
The music from the credits rolling immediately fizzled out into an obnoxious buzzing sound in reaction to Ginny's use of magic. Hermione slapped her hands over her ears against the din and moved to turn it off.
Some time later, they found themselves approaching the Slytherin dorms with a facetiously grumbly Theo being led along by a mischievously grinning Weasley. As they rounded the corner before the entrance, they stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of the haunted and downtrodden face of Draco Malfoy.
Author's Note:
Long time reader, first time writing, blah blah blah blah...
I've had a lot of fun with pop culture in this story, and I'm pretending that Dr. Horrible's presence in this piece isn't an anachronism. ;) I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I am enjoying writing it.
I've revised this piece several times, so if you notice changes, especially in this first chapter, that would be why.
I'd love to hear what you think?
Thank you so much to my beta readers, BuddingWriter101, Piyo-Kiyo, and Dashiti-the-Dramione-Shipper for all your wonderful support and feedback.
I do not own Harry Potter, or Dr. Horrible's Sing-along blog, or The Little Mermaid, or any other works referenced in this story.