A/N: I'm so sorry everyone! I totally thought that I had posted this over a month ago, the day I said I was going to post it. I had uploaded the document and went to the add chapter page and everything. I must have not pressed the button or something. And since I've been so busy with school AND got the shingles last month, I didn't even realize I hadn't posted this! Then I had a couple of reviewers ask me to update soon, and when I finally got around to reading their review (since I've been so distracted with life), I didn't understand until I went and checked, and sure enough, there was only the first part up!

And since I can't respond to anonymous reviewers in any other way:

sara- Thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed the first part. As for the ending up together bit… we'll see.

Neha P- Thanks! I'm glad that you liked it. I hope you enjoy the second part as well.

Dana- I'm sorry for keeping you waiting! And may I just say THANK YOU for being the one to make me realize I hadn't posted the second part! And I'll never stop writing. ;) They couldn't stop me if they tried.

Anyway, I apologize and hope you'll forgive me. Here's the second part to this little adventure. As a special treat to say sorry, I decided to lengthen the story, so you can expect the third and final part soon! I hope you enjoy! And I hope you'll tell me what you think afterwards!

"We need to protect the students!" Hermione replied, swerving around the corner. As she did so, she scanned the area for the shadow creature even as she racked her brain for some idea as to what it was.

"What we need to do," Malfoy said once he caught up to her, "is find a professor and tell them."

"And what will we tell them?" Hermione retorted, shooting him an expectant glance. "That an unidentified creature that looks like a shadow is roaming somewhere around the castle? By the time we find someone to tell, that thing could be anywhere!"

"Already that thing could be anywhere!" Malfoy argued, flinging an arm wildly. The movement directed Hermione's gaze, and a sudden movement past his fingertips captured her attention.

"Wait, did you see that?" she questioned. Instantaneously, he swiveled around, searching in the area Hermione had pointed towards. The two stared anxiously, waiting for something to move among the stones.

And then, a flutter of the tapestry.

"There!" Malfoy shouted, pointing his finger. Swiftly, Hermione directed her wand at the black shadow and a stream of bright yellow shot towards it. Malfoy followed with a burst of dark blue light. Combined, the two lines of light lighting the corridor forced the eyes of both prefects to adjust rapidly, throwing them off for a moment.

Upon impact, the shadow creature released an unearthly howl that struck horror in the very beings of both students.

Then, fear encompassed their every thought as the shadow burst from its hiding place and sped towards them.

"Run!" Hermione screamed desperately. Stumbling with the first couple of steps, the two prefects sprinted faster than they knew possible.

"Where are we going?" Malfoy demanded, shooting a glance over his shoulder as they widely rounded the corner. Sure enough, the creature was hot on their heels. And even running as fast as their legs would let them, it seemed to be gaining on them.

"I don't know! Why don't you offer a suggestion?" Hermione shouted, her unnecessarily loud voice bouncing off the castle walls. Its combination with their heavy footsteps and the consistent whoosh of the pursuing monster made for an eerie audio to their flight for their life.

"You're the smart one!" he retorted hotly. "Use that brain of yours!"

"I can't think!" the girl cried in her defense. "My brain is dead!"

And it certainly felt like it; her mind was spinning and twirling, searching for answers: where to go, what to do, how to fight this creature, what the creature was

"Isn't there anywhere…" Malfoy began. Then Hermione watched in confusion as he swung his head from side to side. His brow furrowed, and he looked at her and demanded, "Where are we, exactly?"

She looked around as well, trying to spot identifying landmarks as they sped by. All the paintings seemed to blur together though, and her mind couldn't place a thing. Quickly changing tactics, she reflected back to where they had been before.

"Sixth floor. But we're on the complete opposite side of the castle from the Grand Staircase," Hermione reported, panting lightly.

"Where could we find protection?" Malfoy questioned harshly. "Think, Granger!"

"I'm trying!" Hermione screeched. Suddenly a thought came to her: The Room of Requirement, of course! "I got it!"

"Where?" Malfoy demanded, casting another look behind them.

"The seventh floor! How can we get to the seventh floor from here?" Hermione wondered out loud, doubting that Malfoy would provide an answer. Before she could even think about it for more than a second, her body jerked to the left. She couldn't figure out why until she glanced down and saw the Slytherin's pale fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist.

"This way!" he urged, pulling her down an off branching corridor. Startled by the swift change in direction, Hermione readjusted their connection so she could hold onto him as well. The fact that she was now basically holding hands with him flickered through her mind, but it was almost immediately brushed aside. "The boy's lavatory on this floor has a secret passage that leads to the seventh floor!"

"How close is it to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy? The one with the dancing trolls?" Hermione asked, hoping against hope that he would know where that ridiculous but identifying tapestry was located.

"What?" he questioned sharply, no doubt getting frustrated with all the confusion and chaos. Still, the shadow creature trailed behind them, and her legs were starting to ache.

"Never mind," Hermione said, disappointment weighing down her tone. "That's just where we have to go."

"You want to hide behind a tapestry?" Malfoy replied incredulously, swinging his head to the side to shoot her a look. He was questioning her intelligence, she could tell. Then his focus shifted to right behind them, his eyes widened, and he pushed himself a little harder.

"Don't be daft," Hermione snapped, feeling a bit insulted. "Across from that tapestry, there's a secret room where we can hide, a room that no one can find unless they already know where to look."

"Not even this monster spirit?" Malfoy asked cautiously.

"Not if we tell the room not to let it in," she assured him even as she bit her lip in thought.

"Are you sure?"

She hesitated.

"Granger, are you sure?" he demanded.

"I think so! Maybe! It should!" she told him, hoping she was right.

"Would you bet Potter's life on it?"

"I… no," she admitted. "But do you have any other ideas?"

"No," he grumbled as they swung around another corner.

"How much farther?" Hermione asked, afraid that they wouldn't make it. The shadow was going to catch them before they made it. It was so close. They were slowing down, she knew it!

"It's on the other bloody corner of the castle, Granger!" Malfoy answered harshly.

"We're not going to make it," she decided, feeling the horror grow within her. "I can't make it that far, Malfoy!"

The blond Slytherin swore explicitly, and for once, Hermione refrained from scolding his choice of words.

"Are there any staircases to the seventh floor nearby?" Malfoy questioned, his voice betraying a hint of weariness. Hermione sure hoped it was due to the stress of finding somewhere to hide and not from running, though she herself was feeling the physical strain.

"Not to the seventh floor. Just the old wooden one to the fifth floor around the next corner. Oh, and the passage down to the third floor through the door next to the painting of the Isolda the Irate," Hermione listed off, already having thought of them earlier.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Malfoy murmured under his breath. Then he started running a bit faster again, forcing Hermione to push herself as well to keep their linked hands together. They sprinted to the end of the corridor and practically swung around the corner as they went straight for the old wooden staircase. Before they took two steps, Malfoy glanced backwards to check if the shadow followed. Sure enough, it did.

"Here, jump!" he shouted. Immediately Hermione's eyes widened and she started to protest, but the blond had already flipped over railing and was dragging her down with him by the hand. Her words quickly transformed into a piercing scream.

Suddenly they stopped falling through the air and were on the stone floor.

"Get up, get up!" Malfoy commanded, yanking on Hermione's hand anxiously. Although her right ankle hurt rather badly and both legs felt very unsteady, she somehow managed to stand and start running again.

"Here, Granger!" Malfoy whispered loudly, pulling open the third door on the left and swiftly shutting it again. Both of them fell back against the wood, breathing hard but saying nothing as they listened for any noises on the other side.

After a long period of silence, Malfoy sank down to the floor with a sigh. Partly because their hands were still joined and partly because she was absolutely exhausted, Hermione followed suit. As her body relaxed against the wood, she easily removed her hand to hold her head, thumbs rubbing her temples.

"So much for going after it," Malfoy said in a quiet, fatigued voice.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione commanded in whispered tones, tossing up her head to glare at him pointedly. "What if it's still out there?"

In response, Malfoy raised his wand and cast a silencing spell around the room.

"That'll work," she admitted, half nodding as she tilted her head to the side. Then she sighed heavily. "But how do we know when it's safe to leave?"

Malfoy's eyebrows crunched together in concentration as he swung his head from the door, to the rest of the room, back to the door, and back to the dark empty room.

"We'll just have to find another way out."

Hermione stared at him and scoffed. Ignoring her, the blond Slytherin stood up, brushed off his robes, and lit the end of his wand.

"You really think that another doorway is going to magically appear, Malfoy?"

"In case you've forgotten," he replied without glancing back or ceasing his search of the left wall, "we're in a magical castle, Granger. What happen to those brains of yours?"

The Gryffindor girl shot daggers at the blond boy's back as he walked to the opposite side of the room, the end of his wand shedding a soft illumination across the stone floor.

"There's something back here," he murmured softly, his quiet tones echoing off the walls. Curious, Hermione hurriedly followed him to the back of the room. Together, the light from both of their wands allowed a clear view of the intricately designed tapestry covering the majority of the wall. Without a word, the blond Slytherin shot a smirk over at his patrol partner for the night and reached for the edge.

"Malfoy, this is stupid. Magical castle or not, it's not like there's going to happen to be a secret—"

Suddenly the boy moved, slipping behind the fabric and out of sight, striking Hermione completely silent, mouth open wide.

"Escape passageway behind this tapestry?"

Hearing his voice from the other side sparked Hermione into action, and she hurried over to the side, pulling back the fabric to see Malfoy leaning against the opposite side of the stone wall of the concealed passageway. After blinking a few times, she shook her head back and forth, a smile unexplainably taking over her mouth.

"That is…"

"Amazing?" he offered, smirking that smug little smirk of his. "Awesome? Ingenious?"

"Ridiculous!" she exclaimed as she entered the passageway and let the fabric fall back in place behind her. "Did you know this was here? You've been in that room before, haven't you?"

"Actually, Granger, I have not," he answered, confidence radiating from him as he strolled down the path. "I just have brains."

"You should use them more often then," Hermione remarked casually, sending him a glance. Then she turned her attention back to the darkness in front of them. As far as the light from their wands would show, there was nothing in sight but the extending two stone walls on either side of them. "Any idea where this leads?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Granger," Malfoy murmured, walking on ahead. Swinging his head around to look at her, he changed his mind. "Well, not really. My guess would obviously be better."

"Oh, whatever, Malfoy," Hermione shot out, feeling that familiar annoyance with the blond start to build again. Somehow, though, she managed to contain it, leaving only the constant tapping of their feet against the stone floor to be heard as they continued down the passageway.

"So… Granger," Malfoy said slowly, obviously uncomfortable with the silence. She shot him a questioning look when he didn't continue, and spotted the sly smirk once again gracing his face. Just from that expression on his face alone, Hermione knew he was going to say something she wouldn't like.

"What?" she deadpanned, not really looking forward to the response.

"You called me a man back there."

"Yeah, so?" Hermione retorted, even as she felt the slightest blush rise up to taint her cheeks. "You're male, aren't you? Unless you have something you're not sharing with the class…"

"Oh, I'm male, all right. Need proof?" he offered with a glare and lift of his eyebrows.

"No thanks, Malfoy," she scoffed, returning the glare. "What I need is an end to this bloody tunnel."

Again he twisted to look at her, raising both eyebrows as his lips curled with amusement.

"You kiss Potter with that mouth, Granger?" he sniggered.

"I'm tired, Malfoy, and no, I don't kiss Harry," she shot back, eyes narrowing towards the git.

"That's right, Weasley's the one you pant after – Merlin knows why," he exclaimed, a cruel sheen in his eyes. "'Cept he's off giving it to Brown now, isn't he?"

"Shut up, Malfoy," she ground out, teeth clenched as tight as her fists.

"That is why I'm stuck her—"

Before he could blink, Hermione swung around and pushed him roughly, forcing him against the stone wall, one hand wrapped around his upper arm, her wand poised right by the curve of his neck.

"I told you to shut up," she growled coldly. She didn't miss the flash of fear in his eyes, nor the way they hardened. Rather than extend the confrontation however (partially because she knew she couldn't physically restrain him for long but mostly because they still had to find a way out), she released him a second later to storm on ahead.

Remarkably, he grumbled a bit, but refrained from speaking for the next fifteen or so minutes.

"Is it just me, or are the walls closing in?" Hermione mumbled softly, shifting her gaze to and from either side. The boy next to her did likewise, also looking up at the ceiling, which was definitely closer to his head than it had been earlier.

"The passageway must be shrinking," Malfoy said. Immediately, Hermione swung her head to pierce his eyes with a steely gaze.

"You think?" she replied sarcastically. Rolling his eyes, he glared at the floor, not doubt cursing the fact that he agreed to come along in the first place. Just as well; Hermione was already regretting asking the annoying git. She should have known.

"Move over, Granger," Malfoy grumbled after their shoulders bumped for the fourth time in half the number of minutes.

"I can't, idiot," she snapped. "I'm already scraping my arm on the wall."

After half a minute more of inarticulate grouching, the exasperated blond let out a most peculiar sound that made Hermione debate the possible offspring of a growl and a sigh and shoved past her. "This is ridiculous. I'll go first, you can follow."

"I don't think so!" Pride swelled within her, refusing to let him say that to her in such a demeaning tone. So she pushed him aside and squeezed past. The corridor had shrunken considerably by this time, so it wasn't an easy task. Before she had taken three steps though, Hermione regretted her decision; although she had a clear view of the black tunnel in front of them, she could no longer see Malfoy or what he was doing.

"Never mind," she said, turning around abruptly to face him. He scowled at her for stopping so suddenly. "I need to keep my eyes on you."

A familiar sheen slid over his gaze, and he opened his mouth, but before his completely unwelcome and no doubt crude comment could escape, she shoved him to the right-hand side and attempted to push herself against the left wall as much as possible while moving past him. Unfortunately, the corridor, however, had gotten so small that there's wasn't quite enough room, so she got stuck.

"Merlin, Granger!" Malfoy wheezed, and Hermione wasn't sure if she had accidentally knocked the breath out of him by pressing against his chest or if she had hit some… other part of his body. Slightly nervous and feeling very much awkward, Hermione glanced upward to meet his eyes, which were staring straight at her, twisting darkly with an emotion she didn't altogether recognize.

"Sorry," she whispered, her voice coming out much more… breathy than she'd wanted. Forcing herself to swallow and diverge her eyes, she put her hands against his chest and tried to squeeze past him again while pushing him away. When she started pushing, however, he immediately shouted at her.

"Are you tryingto crush me?"

"I'm just trying to move, Malfoy," she replied scathingly, still avoiding his gaze. Looking down at both of their bodies, squished much too close to each other, she tried to figure out a way to get out of the mess she'd gotten them in. "Here, why don't you try to stand on your toes and suck in your breath, raising as much of your body as possible as high as you can. I'll try to sink lower."

"Bad idea!" he groaned a split second later when she started moving. Hermione froze, uncomfortable with the tone he'd used. Clearing her throat, she tried to be as still as possible as he recomposed himself.

"Okay," he said, voice slightly hoarse," let's try something else. I'll throw all my body weight backwards, you'll push yourself forward."

Unable to speak to him yet (and still avoiding his eye), Hermione nodded her agreement. On his count of three, they both forced their bodies in opposite directions and managed to burst free, breathing heavily as each of them fell to the floor. Overwhelmingly relieved, Hermione chanced a glance over at the Slytherin boy, who seemed to be perfectly fine. Though his cheeks and nose looked a bit more colorful than they usually were. Not that it took much color to make his pale skin actually look healthy, but she had a feeling that redness wasn't a sign of proper health.

Getting back on her feet, Hermione brushed off her robes and took in a large breath, sorting her thoughts and focusing back on the task at hand: getting to the end of the this incredibly long tunnel. Picking up her wand, which she had dropped on the floor when she'd fallen, she started walking again. Behind her, Malfoy didn't say anything, but she could hear his footsteps following her, so she didn't feel thee need to say anything either.

A few minutes of relative silence later, Hermione started running, her eyes straining to see if that larger darkness ahead really was what she thought it was.

"Oh, thank Merlin!" she exclaimed when the tunnel opened up into a room. Beside her, Malfoy murmured something unintelligible, but she didn't bother asking what he'd said. "Let's get out of here."

Pushing forward, the Gryffindor girl reached the opposite wall of the room and was disappointed to not find a door. Nevertheless, she was determined, and turned to the left. But that side was a solid wall as well. Hurrying across to the other side, she was horrified to discover no door over there either.

"What?" she shrieked. "Malfoy, there's no door out!"

"Granger," he replied in a voice that put her even more on edge, "the tunnel disappeared."

"What?" she repeated, her tone flat and dead this time. She couldn't believe this. How could they be stuck in a room with no windows and no doors? But sure enough, when she walked over to when Malfoy was standing – right in front of where they had just come into the room – the wall was solid, with no sign that a tunnel had ever existed.

"I hate Halloween," she declared, glaring at the solid wall.

"What are we supposed to do now?" the Slytherin boy whined.

"How am I supposed to know, Malfoy?" she snapped.

"You're the one that's so proud of your brains," he shot back. Suddenly, something wet and slimy landed on Hermione's head, dripping a gooey liquid onto her shoulder. She shrieked, reaching her hand up to frantically hit it, trying to get it off of her.

"What is that?" Malfoy screamed, pointed at the pinkish mass as it dropped to the ground with a plop. Hermione scurried away from it, hurrying over to Malfoy and instinctively gripping his upper arm and shoulder as she peered back at the thing that had been on her head. Malfoy immediately pushed her away, shooting the goo covering her hair a look of pure revulsion. Distracted enough to not care that he'd shoved her, Hermione crept a tad closer to the unknown substance.

"I think it's… a brain," she said, eyes narrowing as she studied it. Stretching forth her wand, she saw the distinctive pattern of swirls and folds.

"What?" Malfoy's voice had changed completely, the utter surprise striking out all fear.

"A brain!" she repeated, astonished.

"How?" Malfoy asked, walking closer to examine the brain himself.

"I have no idea," Hermione replied, turning her gaze up to the ceiling, trying to reason out where the thing had come from. But the ceiling was solid stone, so it couldn't have been up there. Then a thought struck her. "Wait."

She spun around to face Malfoy, who gave her a questioning look.

"It couldn't possibly be a coincidence that you said that I was the one who was proud of my brains and then that brain fell on my head."

Not having put that together, Malfoy's expression twisted with even more confusion. "But… how?"

Furrowing her brow in thought, Hermione didn't answer him for a minute as she concentrated. Then, all of a sudden, the brain disappear.

"Whoa!" Malfoy exclaimed. "What did you do?"

"I imagined it gone," she told him, a proud grin slapped across her face. "It worked!"

"No way," Malfoy replied. "It can't be that simple."

"Try it," Hermione urged, eager to test the room again. "Imagine something insane, something that would never really happen."

At first the teenaged boy glanced at her warily, but then a mischievous glint entered his eye. As he scanned her over, she felt a ripple of magic flow down her body. Suddenly she snapped stiff, overly aware even without looking at herself that her clothes had changed. She shivered, hit by the chilly air, and protectively wrapped both arms around her, one hugging her breasts while the other struggled to cover her revealed abdomen.

"Malfoy!" she screeched, hating the way the thick goop on her lips felt as she spoke. It wasn't as bad as the skin-tight mini skirt and high heels, or the too-short shirt cut entirely too low, but she hated the unnatural feel of makeup. Desperate to hide herself, she turned around, then peeked over her shoulder to see Malfoy just start to pull himself together. His eyebrows had ascended so high she doubted they would ever return to their usual location, and his lower jaw sure had a far climb from the floor. His creepy little gray eyes still crawled all over her, and she shifted uncomfortably. "What did you do?"

Instantly, his expression changed, his lips curling into a smirk.

"I, uh, imagined a nice little… costume for you," he replied, his tone sickeningly sweet. "You did tell me to pick something that would never really happen."

"I didn't mean this!" Hermione hissed, turning back around to face him and spreading out her arms wide to gesture to her body. Immediately his gaze dropped to not her face, and she folder her arms back. The anger within her nearly exploded when she saw the amusement and completely lack of shame shining in his eyes. Narrowing her own, a devious idea sprung into her head, and before she could unthink it, the room brought her imagination into reality.

Just as had happened to her, a wave of magic pulsed around Malfoy's body. His blond hair grew longer and whiter (though she hadn't thought that possible), his robes tightened and morphed into an extremely long, sleeveless, forest green shirt that clung to his chest and accompanying brown pants. Leather boots covered his calves and feet as a brown belt twisted its way around his hips. Hermione noticed with a rush of delight that even his ears had changed.

"What the hell?" he demanded, looking down at himself. He pulled at the flaps of his shirt, which widened considerably at the top and revealed a good portion of his chest, but the material refused to give.

"Oh, Merlin!" she managed to breathe out before bursting into laughter.

"What kind of twisted freak are you?" Malfoy squeaked, abandoning the hopeless task of fixing his shirt to run his hands through his much too long hair. When his fingers reached the side of his head however, he suddenly froze, the little color in his face disappearing faster than a snitch. Both hands shot to his ears, feeling one and then the other. Then his eyes snapped to look at Hermione, the steely gray gaze piercing into hers. Too amused to care that he was angry (served him right for putting her in that… outfit!), she barely managed to contain her giggles as he asked in a deceptively calm voice, "Granger, why are my ears pointy?"

Clearing her throat, Hermione fought for control, making sure she wouldn't start laughing again.

"Malfoy, because you're an elf."