A/N: Here is re-uploaded chapter 2 :) I would love reviews and comments on what you think so far. Chapter 3 should hopefully be up tonight, and four looks like it will be up this weekend.

The next morning, Ron woke up feeling rested, but immediately jumped. Four faces were staring down at him. "Bloody hell mates! Give a man some space!" He rubbed his eyes and looked at his roommates. "Why are you all looking at me like someone died?" The other boys looked back and forth to each other before Harry finally spoke.

"Ron, we've been trying to wake you up for hours. It's nearly one thirty! You're lucky it's Saturday or you would've had to make up double potions with the Hufflepuffs!" Harry looked genuinely worried.

"So I overslept… big deal!" Ron was rather frustrated that they were making a big deal out of him being a light sleeper. "It's not as if I haven't slept in before."

Harry opened his mouth to say more, but Dean cut him off. "Ron, we thought someone had slipped you something. We tried everything! Neville was ready to go get Madame Pomfrey if you weren't up in a few more minutes."

"What exactly is everything?" Inquired Ron, not sure he really wanted to know.

"Well," said Seamus, "Me mum sometimes shakes me a bit if I won't wake, but we tried for 5 minutes and you kept snoring."

"Yea," added Neville, "and we put Harry's Sneak-a-scope by your ear and lied and threatened each other. It must have whistled for 8 minutes!"

"I was just really tired! Had a long night." Ron was starting to be genuinely worried that there had been more than just milk and cinnamon in the glass Dobby had given him last night. He looked over at Neville who was giving him a knowing smirk, and cried out, "Oi! Neville! You have no idea what you saw last night! Give it a rest!" The other boys looked between Ron and Neville curiously, and Harry broke the silence.

"What exactly did Neville see last night?" Harry waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Dean elbowed Ron in the ribs and laughed.

"Finally get some Ron?" Dean teased.

"Not exactly," laughed Neville, "He was pretty desperate. Took care of it in the john."

"Did not!" Roared Ron, his face creeping towards the famous Weasley red. "I couldn't sleep and Dobby brought me some milk alright?"

The boys collapsed laughing, and to make matters worse, Dobby appeared at the mention of his name. "Master Weasley! Did Dobby's special milk help you sleep last night sir?" The house elf's question caused Ron's face to reach another level of red, and the boys' laughter to get even louder. When they finally quieted down, Ron dismissed Dobby, and tried to explain to his roommates.

"It's not that big of a deal! My mum makes me warm milk all the time! I think Dobby slipped something in it though! That's why you couldn't get me up! Oh, and before I asked Dobby for help last night, I saw something outside! It was bizarre. It had to have been 3 in the morning, and there were these three guys, and they were wearing cloaks, and-"

Seamus cut him off, "Right Ron, quit changing the subject. We've already nearly missed lunch, we can talk about what you may or may not have seen later." He laughed, obviously not believing a word Ron was saying. Harry sent Ron a look that said, "We'll talk later."

Ron got up to get dressed, while the others went down the staircase to go to lunch. "See you later!" One of them called, "I heard we might be having milk with lunch." This comment was followed by more laughing, and an 'oomph' presumably from Harry elbowing whomever said it. Ron smiled, it was nice to have friends that would stick up for you every once in a while.

By the time Ron was dressed and coming down the stairs from the boys' dormitory, the common room was empty. He sighed, knowing he didn't have much time, and picked up the pace. He couldn't help but think about the men in the cloaks, or what Dobby had done to his milk. He decided he would have to have a talk with the house elf later. He would liked to have smacked the annoying elf, but since he still had his eyes on Hermione, he decided to stick to a purely "SPEW approved" way of dealing with him.

He was about to round one of the last corners to the Great Hall, when he heard whispered voices from around the corner. It sounded like McGonagall and someone he didn't recognize or couldn't make out.

"I just don't think it's safe!" Whispered a stern McGonagall.

"Minerva, I assure you, it is under the utmost of protections! Only someone who already knows the box is there could even find it, and even then who would want to find such a boring old thing?" The voice was male, very authoritative sounding, like a ministry official.

"I hardly think it's boring… Imagine the implications if it were-" McGonagall was shushed by the other voice.

Ron knew better than to stick around after overhearing a conversation like that, and quickly retraced his steps backwards. Thanks to his older brothers, Fred and George, he knew about 7 other ways to get to the Great Hall, not all of them in the approved, Hogwarts a History, map.

By the time he got to the Gryffindor table, Harry was almost done with what looked like a corned beef sandwich on Rye. Hermione was telling him about what it was called in the muggle world. "In muggle restaurants, it's called a Reuben, and traditionally, there is Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing!" She looked proud of herself, and Harry merely smiled at her, mouth full of corned beef and bread, not wanting to ruin her pride by pointing out he had lived in the muggle world nearly his entire life.

They both looked up as Ron approached. Harry nodded in acknowledgement and Hermione looked at him disapprovingly, no doubt because he was arriving so late. "Harry," whispered Ron, "We have to talk. You know that thing I was telling you about earlier? The thing I saw last night? Well it's got McGonagall's knickers in a knot, and between us and Hermione, I think we could figure out what it is." Harry only nodded, a sign that they would talk later, when the rest of the table couldn't eavesdrop. He leaned over to Hermione and whispered something to her, and she brightened up noticeably, more than likely at the chance of library research.

An hour later, Ron, Hermione, and Harry were set up at the last desk before the restricted section, and were discussing what Ron had seen the previous night.

"There were three people," started Ron, "They seemed like guys from the way they were walking… But I could be wrong!" He added, after a sharp look from Hermione. "Anyway, the middle one was carrying a box, about the size of a quidditch ball box, and he didn't seem to like it very much. I think it made him uncomfortable. I heard McGonagall discussing the thing with one of the men before breakfast. I think I may have heard his voice before when I went to the ministry with dad. "

Hermione thought about this for a minute, "What did McGonagall have to say about it?"

Ron pondered his words for a moment, not wanting to tell Hermione that McGonagall thought it was dangerous, he knew she wouldn't like that. "She was just concerned about its safety I think." He was fairly proud of himself. He hadn't actually lied, she was worried about the safety of the box… just for different reasons than he had inferred.

"Well Ronald," Said Hermione matter-of-factly, "I think that based on what you have given us… this box could be one of hundreds of thousands of different things… Honestly… It's a box!"

Ron hesitated, "There was one more thing… The man said something about only someone who knew where it was being able to find it. I think I know where it might be."

Harry and Hermione looked from each other to Ron, before saying, "The Room of Requirement," at the same time.

"Exactly," said Ron. "Could we just go see?"

Harry looked like he was all for the idea, but Hermione wasn't convinced. "Why would the ministry need to hide something at Hogwarts? You remember what happened last time we went after something like this? We were all nearly killed! Harry had to fight the Dark Lord, and I lost house points for the first time in my life!"

Ron laughed, "It's not like that's the only time you've ever lost Gryffindor points Hermione."

"No, but maybe all those other times were because of that time!" She tried to keep a straight face, and succeeded for a few minutes, but soon she cracked, "Fine, I'm curious too!" She blushed.

"What's this?" teased Harry, "Hermione wants to break the rules again?" He and Ron laughed together this time, warranting a sharp 'shhh' from Madame Pince, the librarian.

"I did not say we were going to break any rules, we are merely going in search of an unknown in a room that may or may not be off limits… The room of requirement is never actually the same room, so we can't be banned from going in. It defies logic!"

Harry tried to suppress a smile, but ended up beaming at Hermione. "You're sure you don't want to work for the ministry someday? Your logic is impressive." Hermione couldn't tell to what degree he was being sarcastic, and merely giggle and shook her head in reply.

The trio decided to meet up at the room of requirement in an hour, to give them time to grab the invisibility cloak, and come up with an excuse for their absence from the unofficial study period that afternoon.

A/N: Let me know what you think!