Natsu was about to rabidly attack the stupid rat man, but realized it would only get both of them in more trouble. With hurried and silent paw steps, she soon sprinted to the first student she could find that was familiar with her master. It was sheer luck she rounded the corner and nearly slipped under the legs of one Pansy Parkinson who was lazily walking to the library with a slightly dismayed Draco.

"Isn't that Granger's stupid cat?" Draco sneered lightly, a mischievous smirk painting his lips as he attempted to grab its tail, only to have her hiss and claw his hand.

Ignoring his pained yelp, Pansy inquisitively looked down at the cat that was nudging its head against her leg and running back to where it came from with an urgent mewl.

"I think it wants me to follow her…" With that, she took off after the cat, curiosity and the slightest bit of worry for said cat's owner taking over.

"Pansy don't bother it's just a stupid cat! Ah bullocks…" Seeing as his yell was futile, he chased after his friend, glaring at the mangy cat along the way.

The black haired girl stopped cold at the sight of a frozen Ravenclaw, a bit of blood pooled unevenly on the right side of her body.

"What the- that's Lovegood…" She cautiously walked and kneeled down the blonde with distressed and widened eyes, and upon touching her ice cold and frozen hand, she realized Luna had been petrified. But she didn't have any wounds.

"Where did the blood come from?"

"What do you mean?"

"Lovegood was petrified, not wounded. Whose blood could that be…?"

'It couldn't be… no that's impossible.' As much as she tried, she couldn't dismiss the miniscule yet distressing possibility of the blood belonging to a certain Gryffindor.

"I guess the heir's even hunting down lunatics now." He chuckled briefly at his own joke but Pansy's acrid glare shut him up.

She then turned back to the cat who was frantic in getting the message through to them.

"It's good you found her, we'll get her to Madame Pomfrey, but are you lost or something? I know it's painstaking to spot the shortest student at Hogwarts, but I'm sure you'll find her sooner or later- she's probably looking for you too."

'Damn it, she just doesn't get it!' The cat had the urge to claw a pole tear some curtains in frustration, before getting the idea- Daphne, Hermione's close friend was in the same house as this human! She would help and call Harry and Cho, the former would understand her easily!

With that in mind, she nudged the Slytherin once more and, glad she got the message to follow again, took off behind the speedy cat, leaving Draco to take the fae loving girl to the infirmary.

"Why should I do it? I was at least hoping it would've been Granger-" he whined petulantly and muttered darkly afterwards, unaware Pansy had hear him and abruptly halted in her tracks. Draco barely managed to finish his sentence before getting a face-full of an enraged Pansy Parkinson roughly poking his chest.

"Listen here, Draco. I'm sick of your whining and sneering and eating up whatever your precious father shoves down your throat. At least hate non-purebloods because you have a good reason. Heck, you think you're so much better than muggleborns? Look at the blood there and tell me what wizard or witch it belongs to. Oh, you don't know? Of course you wouldn't. Just get her to the infirmary and don't talk to me until you get your head out of your ass!" She screamed and turned away with a huff, chasing the cat who looked like it was smirking before both disappeared and left behind a shell shocked Draco who might as well have been petrified.

His mouth opening and closing, he stood in his spot, shell shocked before looking back at the girl laying in someone else's puddle of blood. With a growl and frown, he kicked the wall in anger at how Pansy, his own friend told him off. This was all Granger fault, he knew it somehow! He ought to tell his father about this…

But what if she's right? Thoughts of his father right after her scolding began to give life to the seed of doubt Pansy planted in his mind before he shook his head and headed towards the first year.

She was a pureblood, albeit blood traitor, so if that wouldn't matter in the end, then at least she was a blonde, and blonds needed to stick together, he reasoned before getting to help her.

After what felt like hours chasing the frantic Bombay cat, Pansy finally saw it run around a startled Daphne's legs, and she understood then, with trepidation, that Hermione really could be in trouble. As she ran between Daphne and Pansy, the former looked oddly at the latter who stood there breathing heavily, flustered with her flushed cheeks and disheveled short black hair.

"Hello Pansy,"

"Daphne!" That came out a bit too strongly, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"I...think Granger's in trouble. And the cat knows something about it."

"The cat...Natsu... How would you know?" Despite being friends with the often cruel Slytherin, she immediately had her guard up and narrowed her eyes suspiciously, as it wasn't the first time a fellow house mate- believing it a sin to befriend muggleborns or Gryffindors- had tried pranking her using her brunette as leverage.

"It led us to where Luna was lying petrified and a puddle of blood that wasn't hers, I had Draco take her to the infirmary and followed it, so here I am." during her recounting, Daphne's eyes were widening exponentially and her panic was rising with each word until by the time she was done, the blonde had her by the hand, pulling her along in her swift sprint to the Gryffindor dormitories.

"We need to see Harry, come on Pansy, Natsu!" The cat didn't need to be told twice and practically zoomed ahead of them.

"Wait! How are two Slytherins going to get into a dorm full of Gryffindorks?" She tried to tug the blonde to stop, but was only successful for a second, enough for Daphne to scoff amusedly at her.

"You can start by not calling them Gryffindorks, and don't worry, they know Natsu and I and since she trusts you they'll let you in. You didn't prank or bully any of them though, right?" She added the last one as an afterthought to which the black haired girl smirked slyly, worrying and amusing Daphne simultaneously.

"Nothing they can trace back to me."

"Spoken like a true Slytherin." Both girls exchanged smug smirks before grim expressions befitting the current situation wiped away the short-lived amusement.

"Furari Tempus"

"Weird password..." Pansy muttered and ignored the strange looks she was getting, glad none were too hostile. It looks like Pansy really was proficient at working incognito.

"Where's Harry?" She urgently asked a random passerby that happened to be Neville, who after failing to say anything swiftly pointed up to the boys' dormitory.

"Sh-should I get him for you?" He asked, knowing girls couldn't go up to the boy's dorm without sliding back down, with the same applied vice versa.

"Actually, he'll probably come down himself." She said as she watched Natsu zoom up the stairs with inhumane speed, and seconds later watch Harry almost trip down nearly barrel into Daphne.

"H-hermione's been kidnapped!" He yelled out to Daphne and Pansy's face, but obviously the whole common room heard him loud and clear. Not a second passed before the room descended in pandemonium with shocked exclamations, the loudest being Daphne's and Ron's.

"What!?"

"Fuck! So the blood was hers!"

"Blood? What Blood?" Many of the Gryffindors now gathered by the three teens, tension running high.

Harry quickly scribbled a message onto a paper he folded into a paper airplane and charmed it to fly to Cho and have her get the headmaster and depute here immediately.

He then went off in an explanation briefing whoever bothered listening on the situation, making sure omit any mention of Voldemort being alive, replacing his name with heir of Slytherin.

Many of course were very skeptical of the event being true, but seeing the infuriated ice princess on the brink of tears, and Pansy frowning severely kept them from turning their backs on the distressing situation.

Having Cho Chang burst in with Headmaster Dumbledore, Depute McGonagall and Professor Flitwick was the final nail in the coffin to prove Gryffindor's little lioness was indeed in peril and that the heir had made their move, active as of now.

Many shuddered and even shook their heads lightly, coming to this haunting realization. To make things worse, Dumbledore sighed heavily, stating: "Argus Filch has just reported writings on the wall in the east hall. The heir has taken more than one to the chambers."

"More than one!?"

"Ginny…" Ron paled and nearly fainted had Percy not been beside him to steady his brother, not that he was faring much better.

"No wonder I couldn't find her, not even on the Quidditch pitch, and I've been looking everywhere for her! Please tell me you're joking!" The sheer devastation in the youngest male Weasely's wailing voice made the three adults flinch and frown gravely.

"I'm afraid I don't joke of such matters, but there remains mystery as to who the other-"

"It's H-hermione… a-after Luna was petrified." Daphne looked down as she told this to the headmaster, voice shaking.

The other Slyhterin relayed her blonde friend with rare sympathy, placing a hand on her shoulder while Harry hugged her numb frame, the boy not far from crying either.

"We have to go get them and stop this monster!" Cho yelled out furiously, fists shaking as many students chorused in agreement with the Ravenclaw, even the emotional Slytherin.

"What you can do, is allow us to deal with the situation and remain safe by evacuating the castle."

"Like hell we will! We're her friends!" Harry uncharacteristically swore and Daphne fiercely voiced her agreement, staring straight into Dumbledore's pale twinkle-less eyes.

'Where were you when we protected the stone? I won't let you do the same thing this year. Hermione may trust you, but I don't.' The daring blonde spoke to him through the rushed mental collection that made the old wizard's eyes widen and narrow suspiciously at the Slytherin, refusing to admit the fault he may have played part of both this year and the last.

Dumbledore frowned at the grumbling noises that raised in volume slowly but surely, spurred on by the present musicians' rage. It most definitely hindered the headmaster and Minerva, when their reprimanding voices were drowned out by curious students gathering in front of said common room, thanks to the fast spread gossip of two notorious Gryffindor girls who stood and watched the increasing masses smugly, relaying smiles to the pleasantly surprised trio.

Daphne even looked perplexed, to which Parvati quirked an eyebrow and Lavender mouthed.

'She's our friend too.'

With a soft smile, Cho thanked them with a nod, and they nodded back, wishing them good luck.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore immediately silenced the masses with a sonorous he cast with the beaded wand at his throat, making everyone stare up at the wizened headmaster.

"You will return to your dorms and await any further instructions, while we devise a plan and deal with the situation."

"We're helping-"

"That is enough Miss Greengrass! What could you possibly do, facing that beast! We will not allow any more students to perish!" Dumbledore looked down at the defiant Slytherin, both his and the blonde's eyes gleaming as they faced off in a stare down.

"Any more?! You can't just leave them down there!"

"We will not, Miss Greengrass, I assure you, but you must allow more competent adult witches and wizards to handle the situation." McGonagall attempted to placate the righteously furious masses, while Flitwick seemed hard pressed to cast cheering charms.

'I don't recall you handling much last year until Hermione did something about it.' Cho groused; even she who holds the utmost respect for authority, with the influence of the quartet, was beginning to doubt McGonagall and Dumbledore's words, but she knew they were fighting a losing battle then. So with a heavy heart, she placed a placating hand on the agitated Daphne and Harry's shoulders, looking into their eyes meaningfully, to which harry grudgingly nodded with a frown while Daphne turned her face away and held her tongue, fists still clenched.

"Now that that's resolved, please keep your calm and pack your belongings, you'll be sent to your homes according to emergency protocol by tomorrow. The prefects will be there to help you and dinner will be served in the common rooms so that no one walks the halls."

The first thing she heard when coming to was the constant dripping of water droplets, as if a water faucet were loose. It came from many sources, and often she heard small splashes, trickles and running streams.

Then she began hearing muffle voices. A crack on the asphalt. Whimpers and pained cries. Theses voices eventually became clear enough to understand the full sentences being shouted.

"I can't believe it… you had one job, you insufferable rat!" A familiar childish squeak echoed with uncharacteristic hatred and venom worthy of horror movies, as a male voice painfully whimpered and sniveled, begging for the first voice to stop, right before it screamed in agony.

"And you couldn't even do it right! Crucio!" Another scream followed after the furious hitch; she swore she even heard it retch..

"You were supposed to eliminate suspects and evidence- but now the whole bloody joke of a school knows!" Another blast of the spell so hateful that she could feel the black aura shooting to the tortured individual and had her shiver in fear before gaining more consciousness.

"Ngh…" The noises were enough to have her heavy eyelids slowly flutter open, still blurred until they focused on the small form of Ginerva Weasely, arrogantly and aggressively pointing her wand at the cowering form of a short, balding man covered in his own sweat and blood, pathetically begging for mercy.

Fear, shock, confusion… so many emotions gripped her and tightened her chest as she was unable to vocalize her reaction to the surreal scene unraveling before her. Her eyes slowly widened and breath got caught in her throat as she saw the supposedly innocent, sweet 11 year old's face morph into a cross between a smirk and a sneer, livid frown creasing her smooth forehead. Feeling, no, seeing the sheer malevolence that poured from the girl in dark smoldering waves, almost completely shadowing her original blue and orange hue, made her cringe and drive herself into the wall her back was propped against.

Except when she did, the sound of clinking alerted both her and the sadistic thing possessing the red head.

She quickly looked down at her limbs to see them chained to the wall her back was propped against and mentally cursed at being trapped before immediately drawing back her frantic eyes onto the unexpected aggressor.

The only relatively positive thing that came from having the latter's smirk widen into a smile of absolutely sinful proportions and eyes gleam with desire to maim was the brunette finally pinpointing what she felt then.

"Hermione Granger. A pleasure of you to finally join us."

Overwhelming terror.

'Damn it, what about Hermione/Ginny!?' Eating anything while those two were down there starving made the small group's stomachs churn unpleasantly, appetites waning.

The only relief is that the professors are already working on tracking down the chamber, but the fact that it's been a day with no news is unsettling.

Harry looked around and saw Ron sitting in the corner, brooding alone. He was about to call him over when Daphne tugged at his shirt.

"Look there." She muttered, pointing at Percy who slowly walked to Ron's side sheepishly, placing a hesitant hand on his brother's shoulder to get the lanky red head's attention and start a hushed conversation.

With a shrug, Ron budged a little to make room for his brother to sit down, his frown softening the longer the curly haired rule abiding red head spoke. Daphne looked at both with soft eyes before sharing a knowing smile with Harry as he sat back down.

"Those two are faring better, thank Merlin. But what about the twins?" Cho sat by them, done visiting Luna in the infirmary.

"They've been strangely quiet, and troubled, which is pretty unusual with them joking around almost all the time."

"Even jokers can feel sadness, you know." Harry interjected as they nodded uncomfortably, keeping an eye out for the two fourth years in hopes of cheering them up.

Fruitless minutes of looking around did them no good, so they set out to roam the halls as discretely as they could with Harry's cape, already antsy enough from pacing around in the common room like caged animals for far too long. Despite getting out of the common room safely, they halted in the middle of the halls, confused as to how they'd track the unruly pair down.

It was after some troubled sighs that Harry remembered a spell Hermione performed when they met at the train two years ago and tried his best to be as quiet as possible.

"Point me to George Weasely." And with relieved sighs they were off again, only stopping along the way to 'admire' the bloody writings left by the culprit they wholeheartedly believed to be Voldemort, and continued their now somber and hurried trek to spot the two standing outside the door to Minerva McGonagall's office, a plastic ear being held on the wood near the handle.

"What the- Fred, George!" Cho whispered urgently, running to the two who greeted the three with nods and smiles that didn't quite reach their mischievous green-auburn eyes.

"Fancy seeing you here."

"We ought to be telling you that. Mind lending us an ear?" Daphne replied with a straight face and was promptly rewarded with a slap to the back of the head by an unamused Cho, leaving the three boys to snicker, before sobering once more.

"You're not going to like what you're hearing… but here, huddle up."

"And stay under that cloak." With three nods from the children, they did as the twins told them.

"Well what do you suggest we do Minerva? As Deputee Headmistress it's your call." The squeaky voice that belonged to Flitwick was urgent but held its recurrent professionalism.

"I wish it were- that damned Lucius didn't feel it was enough to strip away Dumbledore's position and try to take him to enquiry at the Wizengamot but even convinced the bloody counsel to suspend our positions as teachers and heads."

"Th-that's preposterous! How would we rescue Hermione and Ginny from this heir?"

"Voldemort, Flitwick. Hermione herself and her friends figured it out a while before this incident." Her voice softened when Flitwick gasped and followed up with the obvious question.

"Why didn't you stop them?"

"Albus and I, we simply shrugged them off, too busy following our own leads, but we shouldn't have underestimated them. In any case, I'm not going to sit around here and wait for two of my cubs to perish under that bloody bastard! As soon as Albus comes back with the location of the chamber, we'll head there and rescue them. We'll prepare at least two back up teams- have every professor ready for the worst, if he truly does come back at full power. You, Professor Snape, the Headmaster and I will be the first to go. Anything else?"

"That sounds good. I'll have the rest of the professors guard the students and prepare themselves until then, although, when will the time come? Surely we can't afford to wait for long."

Silence reigned in the room for enough time that the students outside suspected they apparated away, until they heard the barely audible words of the feline animagus.

"I'm not sure… even if we were to search for the location, our combined efforts would take us a week at the very least."

"Th-they'd be dead by then…"

"Not if we have anything to say!" Fred and George grunted and burst in the room much to the other three's confusion and panic.

"What the- Fred, George!?"

"We know where the room is- but we'll tell you if you let us come with you both."

"B-but we'd be too many then!"

"What about strength in numbers?"

"It will only be a hindrance as Voldemort needs only one spell to eliminate you- even if it hits you by accident, and we can't protect that many. I'm sorry, but I refuse to place any more students in danger. By withholding information, you'd be putting the two girls in even more risk!"

"…We only just found out, and came to you"

"We were going to give it, whether you'd let us through or not."

"We're not so stubborn to the point of endangering our house mates,"

"Although we are Weaselys, Fred. She must have thought it at least!"

"Indeed, George." Their impish smirks were back, much to the occupants' amusement and exasperation.

"So, the last we saw our bushy haired friend was-"

"In the girl's bathroom on the second floor, before somewhat disappearing."

"It's possible then that the-"

"Chamber is hidden!" McGonagall and the three cloaked 2nd years completed the sentence for George, the latter relieved they were unheard by the no nonsense professor. Neither did the hatted transfiguration teacher hear three sets of feet hurriedly scurrying away from the room and sprint rabidly to the bathroom, right after Harry whispered a hurried thanks to the deceptively clever Weasely twins who not only gave them a lead, but potent back up as well.

"I'm shocked brother dear wasn't the only one to complete my sentence this time around."

"Could it be others can read our minds too now?" Fred faux gasped with a hand on his chest.

"I wouldn't be surprised- you always were the weaker occlumens- Oy!" He received a playful hit to the hit before both turned to simultaneously look at the two baffled and now newly determined professors, throwing them a genuine but small smile.

"Best of Luck. I'm sure you'll get them back safely."

"We wouldn't expect any less from our dear Hogwarts professors." They were rewarded with Minerva's rare smile and Flitwick's bubbly laughter before both turned serious, drawing their wands, and order the two to scurry away and guard their dorms, making sure the other students were safe and accounted for.

"Will do, professor." And with that, they shut the door once more.

"Excellent, now let's get Snape and Septima and head there, Flitwick."

"On it." They both summoned their patronuses, Minerva's being a tabby cat, her animagus, and Flitwick's being a wild boar. Praying fervently they, and their headmaster, the only man Voldemort feared, would make it in time.