AN:

If you guys have anything you want to see just let me know :) More with the other characters or anythings :) I'm so excited to get into the next few years I've got more than enough planned.

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Chapter Ten

I couldn't stop myself from staring at Harry as if he were crazy. He was pale, his eyes shining with determination. I wanted to ask him if he were actually stupid but I knew that now wasn't the time for it.

"You cannot honestly think that we won't come with you to save the stone Harry James Potter." My hands were on my hips and I gave him the most stone cold Malfoy look that I could muster. "I spent the whole year listening to your crazy theories about my godfather. You're thicker than my brother if you think I'm not coming with you to confront him about the stone."

His mouth snapped shut at my words and I ignored the unnerved look that he shot Ron who was openly staring at me.

"Merlin you remind me of your brother when you do that." Ron mumbled.

Harry finally agreed to let Ron, Hermione, and I to join him to save the stone much to my relief. We waited till the common room was empty before we decided to make our way out.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked from the corner of the common room and we all turned around to see Neville sitting with his toad struggling in his hands.

My face twisted a bit at his sudden appearance.

"Nothing Neville nothing." Harry said rather hurriedly wrapping the Invisibility cloak around his shoulders though the dark haired boy didn't look too convinced. I frowned at the boy knowing that if we really needed to then we could take him out. It was four to one after all.

"You're going about again." Neville said his grip tightening on his toad.

"No no no." Hermione mumbled. "No we're not. Why don't you go to bed Neville."

The dark haired boy just shook his head.

Harry glanced at the grandfather clock. Time was starting to tick by and we needed to get going. Now.

"You can't go out." Neville hissed his face flushing. "You'll be caught again! Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."

I nudged Harry who just nodded, looking as ready to leave as I was.

"You don't understand. This is important."

Before any of us could stop him Neville rushed over towards the portrait hole looking desperate.

"I won't let you do it! I'll-I'll fight you!"

"Neville we don't want to fight you!" I hissed wanting to settle this peacefully. Something in my stomach was telling me that this wasn't going to end how I wanted it to though.

"Neville!" Ron exploded taking a step towards the boy. "Get away from that hole and don't be an idiot-"

The two of them argued and I shot Harry and Hermione a look, both of them looking as desperate as I was. I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes at them as I mumbled Petrificus Totalus towards the boy.

Almost immediately Neville's body went as stiff as a board. He lurched forwards only to be caught by Ron who was stunned.

"What did you do?" Harry hissed at me as Ron grunted, pulling the stunned boy onto one of the seats.

"It was a full body-bind curse." Hermione said and looked over at Neville. "We're so sorry Neville."

"If you just listened to us this wouldn't have happened." I mumbled feeling a little guilty but I knew that we needed to go. "We've got more important things to do besides arguing here."

The others nodded and we swept Harry's cloak over us as we exited the common room and made our way to the third floor. My hands were sweaty as we stood outside the third-floor corridor. The door that we needed to get into was already open. My confidence was starting to waver.

"Well there you are…" Harry whispered. "Snape's already gotten past Fluffy."

He then turned to us, looking as grave as I felt. "If you want to go back I won't blame you. You can take the cloak, I won't need it now."

"Don't be stupid." Ron hissed.

"We're coming."

Harry looked at me and I gave a nod. He let out a sigh before pushing the door open. We watched as it creaked open. A low grumbling reached my ears. We watched as the dog's noses sniffed towards us and my heart felt like it was thumping so loudly I was surprised it didn't hear it.

"What's that at its feet?" Hermione hissed and I saw a glint of gold.

"Looks like a harp. Snape must have left it there." Ron said.

"It must wake up the moment you stop playing. Well… here goes…"

Harry brought Hagrid's flute to his lips and began to play. While it wasn't really a song the Cerberus' eyes began to droop. Ron, Hermione, and I slipped out of the cloak and crept towards the trap door.

"I think we'll be able to pull the door open." Ron mumbled. "Want to go first Hermione?"

"No! I don't!" Hermione almost shrieked and I just took a step forwards.

Ron pulled the ring on the trap door and I watched as it swung up and open. All we could see was black.

"I'll do it." I mumbled and they both looked over at me a bit surprised.

"One of us has to do it and it sure as hell isn't Harry." The raven haired boy shot me a glare but I just took in a deep breath. "We don't know what's down there. If it's something bad then I'll tell you guys and you'll be able to get help. If it isn't then I'll give you an all clear alright? There is no way I'm letting Harry Potter die from a fall."

Ron and Harry shot each other looks before nodding. I took in a deep breath and hung my legs down in the hole. I couldn't see anything at all.

"Be safe." Hermione said giving my hand as squeeze and I nodded.

I took in a deep breath, wand clutched to my side and jumped. The air was freezing as I fell down and down. Then suddenly I landed on something soft. I scrambled to my feet and tried to look around. Whatever I was sitting on was… a plant.

I tugged my feet trying to get untangled from it. Mumbling lumios I watched with interest as the plant slowed down, no longer trying to wrap it's tendrils on me where the light was touching. A plant that freezes in light… prefers cold damp places. I looked closer at the plant and almost recognized it as Devil's Snare. Of course Sprout would use this.

Ignoring the panic that I was feeling I looked up at the portrait hole that looked a million miles away. As long as the plant was in light it wasn't going to move. Meaning that it was going to act as a cushion for the others' fall.

"Cassie! Cass are you okay?" I heard Harry call from above. He must have passed one of the other's the flute.

"Come on down." I called up.

I watched as Harry fell down, falling into the plant with ease. He moved over towards me looking at the plant that we were on.

"Use lumios." I mumbled and he nodded, fumbling with his wand. Harry lit the end of the wand and the plant almost froze instantly now that it was lighter.

"It's okay! It's a soft landing you can jump!" Harry called up and Ron landed where Harry just was sprawled out.

"What is this stuff?" Ron asked scrambling up.

"Devil's Snare. It freezes with light so we should be fine." I mumbled pulling him closer to us. I didn't want to risk him getting close to the darker edges. This plant could be seriously dangerous.

"Come on Hermione!" Ron called and the music above us stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog and we all watched as Hermione landed with a loud thump.

"We must be miles under the school…" She mumbled getting to her feet.

She took a moment to look around.

"Devil's Snare." She mumbled lighting her own wand and I nodded.

The four of us made our way across a stone passageway that was the only way forwards. We were all silent as we made our way through the passageway- all we could hear was our footsteps echoing until…

"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered and we all paused. A soft rustling and clinking noise seemed to be coming up ahead.

"Do you think it's a ghost?"

"I don't know…. Sounds like wings to me…"

"There's a light ahead—I can see something moving."

"Keep your wands out guys…. We don't know what it is." I mumbled and the other's nodded pulling their own wands out.

We reached the end of a passageway and saw a huge lit chamber. The ceiling arched high above us and it was full of what looked like bright birds fluttering around the room. Across the room was a large heavy looking door.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the chamber?" Ron asked clenching onto his wand tightly.

"Probably. They don't look very vicious but I suppose if they swooped down all at once…well there's no other choice. I'll run."

I was about to stop him but he covered his face with his arms. We watched as he sprinted across the room. Nothing happened though. While the others followed and tried to tug on the heavy door which wasn't opening. I made my way halfway across the hall, looking up at the birds that were soaring high above us.

"They're not birds!" Harry exclaimed. "They're keys! Winged keys- look carefully… that must mean…" He looked around the chamber and almost jumped with excitement. "Yes! Look Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"

"But there are hundreds of them!" Ron gasped and then looked at the lock on the door. "We're looking for a big, old fashioned one. Probably silver like the handle."

The four of us quickly made a plan- deciding it was better if my feet were on the ground, ready to catch the key. Ron, Hermione, and Harry were flying towards the keys which were going so fast that it was almost impossible to catch. While Hermione wasn't the greatest flyer, I was even worse.

Lucky for us Harry was an amazing Seeker. After about a minute he found the key and the three of them were able to catch it. Harry pinning the key to the wall with a sickening crunch.

The three of them landed on the ground and Harry passed me the key. With shaky hands I jammed it into the door and the lock clicked open. The key then took flight.

"Ready?" Harry asked one hand on the handle and we all nodded. He pushed the door open revealing a chamber.

I gasped a bit as the room was flooded with light. In front of us was a huge chessboard. Our side was covered in black pieces that loomed over us the other with white. None had faces.

"Now what do we do?" Harry whispered and Ron stepped a bit closer to the pieces.

"It's obvious isn't it? We've got to play our way across the room."

I wanted to groan at the task at hand. This was definitely not something I was good at.

"How?" Hermione asked rather nervously.

"I think… we're going to have to be chessmen." Ron said walking up to a black night. He put his hand on to touch the knight's horse. Almost instantly the horse sprang to life, pawing at the ground.

"Do we… er have to join you to get across?" Ron asked and the knight nodded.

He paced back and for a moment trying to think about who we were going to replace. I glanced at Harry and Hermione.

"Harry and Cassie, you both will replace the bishops and Hermione, you'll be the castle. I'll be the night."

We all rushed to the empty spots. Ron directed us to where we needed to go. Pieces were getting smashed left and right and I was getting lost in the game. Hermione and Harry looked as scared as I did about the whole thing.

"We're nearly there." Ron muttered after what seemed like an eternity. "Let me think, let me think… yes… it's the only way… I've got to be taken."

My blood ran cold as Harry and Hermione disagreed with him. The other chess pieces were ruthless. It honestly could kill him.

"That's chess!" Ron snapped. "You've got to take sacrifices. I take one step forward and she'll take me! That leaves you free to checkmate the king Harry!"

Despite all of our protests Ron wasn't changing his mind.

"Ready?" Ron called his face pale. "Here I go- now don't hang around once you've won."

I watched as he stepped forward and the queen pounced. She struck him hard across the head across and he fell hard on the ground. Hermione let out a scream but stayed on her square. My hands were shaken as I stared at his ashen face.

I barely noticed as Harry moved three spaces to the left and won us a game.

"You two go ahead." I mumbled to the two and they looked over at me, concern written all over their faces as I rushed towards Ron. "I'll get Ron out of here- contact Dumbledore or something."

Harry looked like he was going to protest but I cut him off.

"I need to get him moved now and you need to get to the stone now. Hermione is probably more help to you than I am at this point."

He nodded and I gave them encouraging smiles. They tried to look confident as they rushed through the passageway. I looked down at Ron trying to think of what to do. Trying not to panic at how much blood was coming out of his head I pulled off my cloak and tore at the sleeve. Making a makeshift bandage I wrapped it around his head and put pressure on the wound.

With a loud grunt I pulled the red head to his feet and started to make our way out of the chess room. My mind was spinning.

"Come on Cassie… think." I mumbled to myself as I entered the room with the bird keys. I looked at the brooms that the other three had tossed on the ground and wanted to let out a groan. There was no way this was going to turn out well.

And it didn't. Flying a broom with while holding onto an unconscious boy and trying to make sure that I didn't get caught by a deadly plant or a three headed giant dog was a lot more difficult than it should have been. Ron (still unconscious) and I managed to make it outside of the third floor corridor alive though very shaken.

Flying was definitely not my thing.

"Miss Malfoy?" I looked up to see Professor Dumbledore rushing down towards the room that Ron and I just excited. "The stone?"

I nodded at a loss for words and he looked over Ron and me.

"Go to the Hospital Wing." He said before sweeping him into the room. I stared after him for a moment before limping down to the Hospital Wing.

"Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey!" I yelled as I struggled to push the door open.

The nurse almost let out a scream as she saw Ron and I stumbling in. She almost immediately rushed over towards me, helping pull Ron towards one of the hospital beds.

"What happened?" She asked starting to unwrap the makeshift bandage and I collapsed in the chair next to his bed, beyond exhausted. The adrenaline that was running through my veins was starting to fade.

"Something…" I mumbled not one hundred percent sure on what to say. "He was hit in the head… we were… out."

She shot me a look not believing really what I said but just went along with it. Rushing to put salves and different things on Ron's head. I watched amazed as the wound started to close up.

"You get in that other bread. I don't know what happened but I can tell you need a goodnight's sleep." Madam Pomfrey said and before I could protest she thrust a dreamless sleep potion in my hands.

Dumbledore was going to save Harry. I thought before tipping the potion back. Almost instantly my eyes felt heavy. Pomfrey grabbed the potion out of my hand and I fell back against the pillows instantly.