The Slytherins all walked back to the dungeons together in two rows, except the final eight who were bunched into a tight group whispering quietly to avoid being overheard by anyone.
"So who had Gryffindor?" Blaise asked smirking in the direction of Harry who was smiling like a loon, apparently being so close to his soulmate had caused his magic to react stronger than before.
"I bet 3rd year Gryffindor" Hermione said smugly.
"I have 5th year Gryffindor " Pansy chimed in.
"So the rest of us are all out of the running" Draco moaned as the girls grinned unrepentantly.
"Who are the 3rd and 5th year Gryffindor boys?" Daphne asked curiously.
"3rd year has Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Lee Jordan, and two muggleborns I can't remember their names" Harry rattled off automatically.
"How do you know that?" Draco asked staring at his cousin in amusement.
"Well everyone knows the Weasley Twins" Harry said rolling his eyes, Hermione just nodded her head in agreement, ever since the twins had arrived at Hogwarts, Severus had come home in the summer complaining about them A LOT. Plus the fame they had acquired for themselves the previous year for their quidditch skills was well known no matter the house.
"So fifth years?" Theo questioned.
"I don't know any besides Prefect Percy Weasley and the Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood" Harry shrugged, their conversation coming to a stop as the entered their dorms, sitting down they allowed to be counted by Severus before continuing their conversation.
"So who do you think it will be?" Draco asked excitedly.
"You do you realize that both bets could still be wrong don't you?" Harry asked from his seat.
"What? How?" Draco asked incredulously.
"Well they could be from any year group, from second year to seventh year, Mione and Pans have only bet on 3rd and 5th years" Harry said in exasperation.
"I can't believe we didn't think of that" Blaise said dejectedly breaking the awkward silence, causing Harry to roar with laughter at the dumbstruck faces of his friends.
"Changing the topic before you guys embarrass yourselves more" Hermione said rolling her eyes at her brother who was still laughing to himself.
"What did you guys think about the troll incident?"
"I reckon it was let in as a prank, I mean they aren't smart creatures, there is no way it found its own way into a protected castle" Pansy said dismissively.
"Or a distraction to try get past the three headed dog?" Hermione asked.
"But your if your Father isn't going for it then who would've wanted the distraction?" Draco asked curiously.
"Maybe Dumbledore has set someone up to 'play' my Father incase he doesn't take the bait, I mean Father did say in his last letter to Harry that he was planning on using this to test Henry Potter? So it doesn't really need to be my Father as long as Potter thinks it is" Hermione mused patiently.
"Just be thankful you are in our house and not Gryffindor with that imbecile or you could've been wrapped up into the mess he is going to make" Draco said smirking.
"Why on earth would I be in Gryffindor?" Hermione asked looking highly offended.
"Well if you and Harry hadn't been raised by your Father you could've been" Draco said shrugging.
"No fucking way" Harry snarled as he finally joined the conversation.
"and friends with the Weasel" Draco taunted his cousin grinning.
"I would never, not even in alternative realities be friends with that red-headed menace." Harry denied wholeheartedly.
"I don't know" Hermione laughed.
"If you had been raised ignorant of this world because of those worthless trash muggles you might've been in Gryffindor and been Weasels best friend" she laughed.
"I hate you so much" Harry grumbled leaning back in his seat only to sit up when he saw Severus Snape making his way over to them.
"Uncle Sev?" Harry asked quietly as he reached them, the limp clear as was the bleeding wound.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, concern obvious in his voice, his green eyes open in fear.
"I am fine Hartford" Severus whispered smiling at his nephew in all but blood and running his hand over his messy hair, while using his other hand to move his robes covering the wound before any other students saw it.
"Don't call me that" Harry grumbled shrugging the man's hand off his head.
"How'd you get hurt?" Hermione asked softly.
"You don't need to worry about that Mione" he whispered softly.
"Was it the 3 headed dog?" Harry asked bluntly causing Hermione to hit her forehead with her open palm, Blaise and Draco both cringed at his directness. But Harry had a theory, if the dog bit his Uncle then his Uncle suspected who was after the stone and was trying to stop them.
"How on earth do you lot know about that? That corridor is forbidden for a reason!" Severus exclaimed staring at them in shock.
"Overheard golden boy and the weasel talking about it, apparently they came across it while hiding from Filch" Hermione said rolling her eyes at how plebian the two Gryffindors had to be, in order to be overheard to begin with.
Severus groaned, he would never understand Gryffindors, he was glad his godson, his Lord's children, and their friends were all placed in his house, and honestly they all were perfect Slytherins. Smart, cunning, and ambitious. Looking down at them he could tell they were waiting for an answer or explanation from him, but he had remembered the promise he had made to his Lord, their safety came first, above everything, even their own desires to be involved.
"So what is it? Who is after it?" Harry asked bouncing in his seat.
"No, it is too dangerous, I know you were trained, I know you can protect yourselves. But this game Dumbledore is setting up is too dangerous, and your Father doesn't want you in any more danger considering you are already in danger being his children" he said firmly.
"Dumbledore is trying to lure your Father into the school and test the golden boy, I can't tell you how or with what on your Father's orders. But I will say this be cautious of the Potter's and Quirrell, I don't trust them and neither does your Father, never let your guard down." he said smiling softly.
"Also tonight wonder boy and his sidekick are in the hospital wing for trying to take on the troll themselves because they believe they are above everyone else, obviously Potter passed on the idiot gene to his offspring, and Mcgonagall seemed to think they deserved to gain not lose points." and with that said Severus stepped out of the room, his robe billowing behind him.
"Of course they would get special treatment if it was us, we could be facing expulsion" Hermione grumbled.
"Why does he seem so worried about Quirrell and Potter though?" Blaise asked.
"Because they are Dumbledore's little minions" Harry laughed breaking the tense silence that had taken a hold upon the group with Blaise's question. His friends eyes all turned to stare at him as he went pensive which was never a good sign.
"Harry?" Daphne ventured.
"Yes?" he asked with an innocent smile, no-one of them bought for a single second.
"You want to find out what they are hiding don't you?" Pansy groaned.
"You don't?" Harry asked sounding genuinely confused.
"NO" Daphne and Pansy shouted together drawing strange looks from the few upper class men that were still up.
"Why the hell not?" Harry squawked in false outrage.
"Your own Father told you to stay out of it isn't that enough reason to not?" Blaise asked.
"Not really" Harry said brightly.
"Have you met Hartford?" Hermione asked incredulously at the same time resulting in her brother sending her an offended glare.
"Here is what we do know" Harry started briskly, raising his eyebrows to challenge his friends when they all groaned.
"Dumbledore is trying to draw my Father out in order to test Henry Bloody Potter. He is using something powerful, it is hidden in the school after being taken out of Gringotts, and it has a minimum of a giant 3 headed dog guarding it" Harry stated looking pleased with himself.
"Well that tells us nothing" Draco grumbled.
"We will figure something out" Hermione said with a glint in her eyes, apparently her brothers excitement for a mystery was infectious.
"Sooo, Roinuj Sretae Thaed are back in action?" Harry asked standing up.
"For all that is light, neutral and dark of magic" Hermione sighed in pure exasperation.
"We are not calling ourselves that"
"Our Father and his minions have a name, we need one!" Harry defended.
"But why on Merlin's grave do you think 'Death Eaters Junior' backwards is a good idea? Even you, who invented the ridiculous name struggle to pronounce it" she argued back.
"If you named us it would something stupid like the library patrol" Harry snipped.
"It would not" she denied vehemently.
"Okay, how about to keep this tame, and us alive, we all just come up with one name each and we all veto or maybe, then slowly narrow it down to the overall group favorites?" Theo said calmly, which surprisingly was met with no arguments as they all sat back to think.
"Nazguls" Harry said grinning.
"Veto, I am taking away your muggle books and movies" Hermione said shaking her head fondly at her obsessed brother.
"Knights of the green table?" Harry asked brightly.
"How the hell do you come up with these?" Draco asked in horror.
"Hellhounds?" Daphne asked.
"Not bad, better than his by a long shot" Theo laughed.
"I don't see you thinking of anything" Harry scowled.
"Reapers?" Blaise asked.
"We need to stop listening to Harry when he opens his mouth" Hermione snorted.
"I don't think we are getting anywhere" Pansy laughed.
"The Riddler's?" Harry asked grinning which turned into a pout when everyone shouted no again more fiercely than any other suggestion.
"The Assassination Cambions, I mean think about it" Luna smiled dreamily.
"Our Lord, is our world's version what the muggles call The Devil, his Death Eaters, our parents are his Demons, Cambions are half Demon and half Human. Every single one of us are born to one Death Eater Parent and one Non-Death Eater Parent which makes us Cambions." everyone sat there staring at the normally spacey and to be truthful sort of looney girl.
"That's brilliant" Hermione whispered.
"I love it" Draco said grinning, as everyone nodded in agreement.
"How did you come up with that?" Harry asked.
Luna smiled at her first true friend her eyes back to the vacant stare that they had grown accustomed to.
"You sent the Nargles to me just now to make sure the name was chosen" it was a testament to how used to Luna they were when no-one even questioned it.
"We can even shorten it to TAC so people don't know what we are talking about" Hermione said thoughtfully.
After all the excitement of the night they all calmed down by lighting their candles for Samhain and allowing the magic to wash over them, cleansing them, refilling them. The calm and soothing magic danced around them softly like a summers breeze, together they sent their magic into the candles allowing the warmth of the flame to travel up the strings of magic and into their bodies. They barely remembered moving to their beds that night as the magic of the deceased guided them into a blissful and refreshing sleep keeping them safe for the night.
