"Come on, Hannah! Let's go and explore the castle!" Tiffany said, grabbing my arm and yanking me off of the bed. She pulled me out of the door, down the staircase, and back into the common room, where Jake and the boy were standing together.
"We've been waiting for ages! Come on! Let's go and look around the castle!" Jake said with a mischievous grin, and strode back out of the riddling door, and down the large marble steps, Tiffany, the boy, and I following close behind.
"What time is curfew?" I asked, looking at my watch. "I don't remember William saying anything about it."
"9 I think," Tiffany answered. "Plenty of time to look around. Just try not to get lost."
We had no idea where we were going, but walked back down the corridors that we had previously been in, and managed to find our way back to the moving staircases. There were so many floors, god-knows what secrets lie about the castle.
"Well it's too late to wander about outside," Jake said, looking around at the above and below floors. Perhaps we should start from the bottom and make our way to the top. That way we can visit every floor without forgetting which ones we have been to already."
We agreed that this was a good idea, and rode on the stairs, one at a time, down to the bottom floor, feeling rather sick and looking a bit pale as we jumped off of the last one.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that.." I said, clutching my stomach.
We found yet another corridor, leading to many various classrooms, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and many others, all found on the first floor. Each room was decorated accordingly to its subject; Transfiguration had cages with all kinds of animals in them, Potions was dark and mysterious and cauldrons and books were piled around the room in the corners. I came across one room that a small but noticeable noise was coming from. I looked through the small window in the door, but I couldn't see anything.
"Guys," I said, beckoning them over. "Can you hear that?"
Jake, Tiffany and the boy stopped for a moment and looked about curiously and in confusion.
"A low growling noise? Is that what you can hear?" Jake said, walking over to me. I nodded, and looked at Tiffany and the boy.
"I can hear it too." Said Tiffany, peering into the room.
"So can I," Said the boy. "Perhaps we should check it out."
Almost immediately after he had spoken, Jake had opened the door and was already inside, sneaking around.
"Jake!" I hissed, getting his attention. "We don't know what's in here! Plus, we could easily get expelled for sneaking around someone's room! Come back!"
But Jake just smiled and carried on walking slowly towards a dark brown door at the far end of the room. Tiffany followed him, then the boy. He turned to look at me, standing in the doorway with a worried expression on my face, and gave me a reassuring look before beckoning with his head for me to follow. I sighed and shook my head, before following the trio to the door.
"This really isn't a good idea," I said to Jake as I walked up behind him. "You do know we could get into serious trouble for this?"
Jake shook his head and laughed at my uneasiness. "Don't worry! There's nothing to worry about! We won't get caught! We're just having a look at what is making this noise and then we'll be out before any teachers come. Has anyone got a hairclip? Or something I can use to open this door?"
Tiffany pulled a clip from her ponytail and handed it to Jake, who took it and started to push it into the lock to unlock it. It took around two minutes before we finally heard a click and the door swung open. Jake handed the clip back to Tiffany, and walked into the room, closely followed by Tiffany, then me, and then the boy at the back.
There was no light in the room, it was completely black. We felt all around the walls for a light switch but with no luck. The noise had gotten louder now, and the hairs on the back of my neck started to stand on end.
"Guys, try and find a light switch!" Jake called to us. We felt along the walls, trying to find a switch to get us out of darkness. We ended up bumping into each other before I found the light switch.
"Ah!" I exclaimed, and flicked the switch, turning on the lights in the room. "That's better! Now what's making this n-"
I was interrupted by the growling. It was now behind us and a lot louder. Goosebumps ran up my arm. We all stood, frozen and unable to move. Our breaths were heavy, loud and getting increasingly fast.
"Guys," Jake whimpered. "What is that..?"
"There's something behind us... isn't there?" Tiffany mumbled, on the brink of tears.
All at the same time, we slowly turned around and looked up to find a pair of large and sharp fangs bared in front of my face. Saliva and slobber dripped down onto the floor heavily, and two yellow eyes peered down upon us, the pupils were slits and the sides of the eyes were bloodshot. I couldn't move. I didn't know what to do. All I knew was that the boy grabbed my hand for reassurance and comfort for both of us.
"What. Do. We. Do?" I said through gritted teeth between breaths.
"I suggest we make a run for it. All at once. The door is still open, and there's no way this.. thing.. could make it through the small frame. So we all run on three. Agreed?"
"Agreed." Tiffany said, her voice shaking.
"Ok." The boy said, confidently.
"Yeah.." I managed to squeal out, my voice shaking and hoarse. A gentle squeeze came from the boys hand in reassurance.
"Okay." Jake said. "One... two.. three!"
We all made a sprint for the door, the creature crying out in shock as we ran from it. Jake made it out, then Tiffany, and the boy and I both shot through the door before slamming it closed on the monster. It yelped and screamed and clawed behind it as we sank to the floor in fright and shock.
"S-see? I t-told you there was n-nothing to worry about.." Jake tried to joke, and gave a little laugh to lighten the mood.
I got up and walked towards him. "Nothing to worry about?! YOU JUST NEARLY GOT US ALL KILLED! I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO IN THERE, AND WHAT HAPPENS? WE BARELY ESCAPE A MONSTER THAT NEARLY KILLS US ALL! WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING?! YOU ARE INCREDIBLY LUCKY THAT WE ARE ALL STILL ALIVE! I NEVER SHOULD HAVE LET YOU GO IN HERE!" I was on the brink of tears. "You nearly got me killed because of your stupidity!"
He got up and put his hands on my shoulders. "Look, Hannah, I'm sorry-"
"-You're sorry? For what? For leading us all in here? For nearly killing us all? For making us follow you in the first place? We should have never agreed to look around the castle with you, and we should have just stayed in the common room like everybody else!" I pushed off his hands and tears started to fall down my face.
Tiffany started to walk out of the room, and turned to us. "I'm going back to the common room. I'll see you later, Hannah. And you." She nodded to the boy who was still holding my hand. "Jake, I'll see you around. I don't want to be a part of your suicidal trips around the school anymore. Hannah's right, we shouldn't have ever agreed to follow you down here." And with that, she left.
"Look guys, I'm sorry. It was stupid of me to have put you guys in danger, and I won't do it again. I've learnt my lesson. I'm sorry." Jake said, looking like he was about to cry himself.
There was a moment of silence between the three of us, before the boy just shook his head at Jake. "Jake, I think you should just go back to the common room. I'll speak to you tomorrow." The boy said, gesturing for him to go.
"B-but-" Jake protested.
"-Just go!" The boy raised his voice, and stared at Jake as he walked out of the room in shame and embarrassment.
It was just me and the boy left in the room, with the faint growling of that monster.
"You okay?" He said, looking me up and down. "You didn't get hurt did you?"
I shook my head and smiled. "No, I didn't, thankfully. A few more seconds in there and we would have been dinner for whatever that thing was."
"Well I'm glad everyone's ok. It was a very close call." He said. "I think Jake feels really bad for what happened tonight. I'll talk to him."
I shook my head. "I'm sure he does, but we all nearly died."
"But we're still alive, thanks to him. You've got to give him some credit. He led us out of there, all alive and unharmed." He said, putting his hand on my shoulder.
I looked at him, and shrugged my shoulders. "I guess.. but it still happened. It's hard to forget."
"I know it is, but we're all still here." He said, smiling.
A tear escaped my eye, and he noticed it at once. He rubbed it off of my cheek with his thumb. "Hey, hey.. it's okay. Everything's fine." He said, before pulling me into him, giving me a tight hug. He stroked my hair and my back, comforting me. This was the first time in years that I had felt this kind of comfort from anyone. My mum and dad had just dejected me from their lives, and this was the first kind of affection I had experienced in a while. I smiled and hugged him back, trying not to cry.
He pulled out of the hug and looked at me. I sniffed and smiled a teary smile at him. "I never caught your name when you were sorted into Ravenclaw." I said, looking at him.
"Stanley Cornwell." He replied, smiling. "Yours is..-"
"-Hannah, Hannah Barnes." I finished, smiling.
"Well, Hannah, it's nice to finally be acquainted." He said, looking into my eyes.
I nodded and giggled, embarrassed.
He looked at our hands, which were still entwined, and looked back at me, giving my hand a small squeeze. I returned it, smiling back at him, feeling on top of the world.