Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The series belong to J.K. Rowling respectively.

Chapter 10

Right after classes the four young Gryffindors sat in the corner of their common room discussing how hey were going to pull off their plan. However, as they were in the middle of trying to figure out how to sneak out of the tower, Eve sighed before getting up from her seat and walked to the nearby window. She stared out into the landscape of the lake by the Forbidden Forest, thoughts churning in her head. Harry, seeing this, got up and walked over, grabbing her hand. Eve turned to look at her brother. He could practically feel the solemn waves rolling off of her person.

"Are you okay, Eve?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, Harry. Hermione and Hagrid had a point, you know...Snape is a professor. Why would he protect it if he wanted to steal it?" Eve responded.

"That's exactly why. As one of the professors protecting the stone, he'll know how to get past the other professors." Harry reasoned.

Frowning, Eve shot back, "Okay. Fine. Let's say it is so. But what about the Headmaster? He is he most powerful wizard alive. Surely he would be aware if Snape wanted to steal the stone."

"Eve, trust me. Snape is after the stone."

Sighing, she just shook her head before looking out the window once more. Something caught her eye and headed for the painting out of the common room.

"Eve, where are you going?" Harry called after.

Without even turning around, she calls over her shoulder, "I'll be back in time. I just need some air..."

The portrait swung shut.

"What's up with her?" Ron asked.

Harry just shook his head and rejoined the planning.

-With Eve-

Face blank, Eve walked calmly down to the great entrance. Without giving a care to those she passed by, she headed straight for the lake. Whatever conflicting emotions she had, whatever doubts she felt, they all melted away when she saw him. Smiling softly, her hand unconsciously reached up to the area around her neck, fingering the ring laying beneath her uniform. He was her sanctuary. Her one place to retreat to when she was too overwhelmed with things. And she hoped she was the same to him. Once she reached him, she plopped right down next to him, startling him from her sudden appearance.

"Bloody hell, Eve!"

"Tsk. Language, Draco!"

The blonde headed Slytherin just smirked at her before nudging her lightly.

She chuckled and shook her head in response.

"So what's a Gryffindor like yourself doing out here at this time?" Draco smirked.

Sighing, Eve just stared into the lake. "Too much thinking. I needed a change of scenery..."

At this, Draco instantly sobered up before taking her hand in his and giving it a slight squeeze.

"What's wrong, Eve?"

She leaned against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Can we just stay like this, for a little bit?"

Taking her right hand in his right, his left reached around her and hugged her to himself.

"Take all the time you need, ma lionne."

And like that, the two sat there for what seemed like hours. Just comforting silence between the two for no words were needed. The only words passed was a quiet thank you from Eve after some few hours before she got up and headed back inside the castle. Draco looked after her, a dreaded feeling welling up in his chest.

-Later That Night-

"Ouch!"

"Shh! Quiet! You'll wake the whole tower!"

"Well I can't see in this darkness!"

"Stop bickering you two!"

"She/He started it!"

"Hush!"

This would have been quite comical if it were not for the fact that four young first years were out of bed after hours. Said four were stumbling around in the dark as quiet as they could in search of the portrait entrance out of their common room. They would have made it unseen and unheard if it weren't for their unexpected witness.

"You're going out again, aren't you?"

The four of them froze on the spot as they spotted Neville Longbottom sitting in one of the plush chairs, Trevor in his hands.

"Neville! Go, you shouldn't be here!" Ron hissed.

Neville rolled his eyes. "Neither should you!"

"Now, Neville, listen. We were -" Harry started.

"No, I won't let you!"

"Neville, just listen to us! Let us explain!" Eve tried to calm the boy down.

"You'll get Gryffindor into trouble again! I...I'll fight you!" Neville pulled out his wand.

"Neville, I'm reaaaally sorry about this..." Hermione winced as she, too, pulled out her wand. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Neville instantly froze up from head to toe before tipping over and falling with a thud on the floor. His eyes were frozen wide open in shock as he stared at his fellow house mates. Hermione slowly puts her wand back in her pocket before walking around their fallen friend, muttering an apology.

The others followed after her when they got back from their shock. Once they caught up to her, they just stared at her. She fidgeted under their gazes before huffing and crossing her arms.

"What?!" She hissed.

"...You're a little scary sometimes, you know that? Brilliant...but scary..." Ron gulped.

Hermione blushed a bright red.

"Yeah, 'Mione. That was an advanced spell!" Eve praised.

"Come on. Let's put on the cloak." Harry tossed the invisibility cloak around the four of them.

Unfortunately, the cloak was not big enough to cover all of them and allow them to walk with a comfortable space between them. Thus, the four were stuck to one another like leeches as they tried to synchronize their steps without disturbing the cloak and resulting in it sliding off of them. They walked through the corridors and looked at the sleeping portraits before they finally found themselves in the forbidden corridor.

One by one, the torches along the wall lit up as they walked by, despite the invisibility cloak.

"Ow! You stepped on my foot!" Hermione hissed.

"Sorry..." Ron muttered.

"Honestly, you two. Can we last five minutes without the two of you bickering like an old married couple?" Eve rolled her eyes.

Scowling, Hermione brought out her wand when they reached the door.

"Alohamora." She whispered and there was a distinct click as the door unlocked.

The four walked in, preparing themselves for the onslaught of a three-headed dog. What they were really met with was surprising. Soft music floated around the room. And there, in the middle...

"Wait a minute...he's..." Ron started and Fluffy huffed, sending a soft breeze towards them that blew off the cloak. "Sleeping..."

"The harp. It's been enchanted to play automatically." Eve observed as she stepped around the golden instrument.

"Snape's already been here." Harry stated.

"Ugh. It's got horrible breath!" Ron scrunched up his face as he walked towards the creature.

"Look!" Hermione pointed to the paw covering the trap door.

"We have to move its paw if we want to get down there..." Eve said.

"What?!" Ron gasped.

"Come on!" Harry sighed in frustration before grabbing onto the paw.

The other three grabbed it as well and looked to Harry.

"On three. One. Two. Three. Push!"

Harry and Hermione pushed while Ron and Eve pulled. After great effort (the paw was quite heavy!) the four of them managed to budge the paw over enough to pull the trap door open. They got on their knees and stared into the dark abyss below. Eve gripped Harry's sleeve as apprehension took over her. Harry gave her a reassuring smile before staring at Hermione and Ron.

"Okay. I'll go first. Don't follow me until I tell you it's ok. If something happens, get. Yourselves. Out." Harry instructed.

"Harry, you can't expect us to let you go on your own!" Hermione argued.

"Well we can't all jump in at once. One, it's too risky. We need at least one person here to get help if there's a problem. And two, the trap door is too small for all of us to fit." Harry reasoned.

"Hey, guys? Is it me or...does it seem a bit...quiet...?" Eve asked, the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach growing.

"The harp...it stopped playing...!" Hermione gasped.

All of a sudden, a thick gooey substance dripped onto Ron's shoulder. All four slowly turned their heads and stared at the strange thing. Ron then slowly lifted up his hand and touched it before bringing said hand in front of him.

"Ewww! Yuck! Ugh...!" Ron gagged.

Then, they could hear a deep, but loud rumbling sounding from above them. The four slowly lifted their heads and made eye contact with three pairs of yellow eyes and a three mouth-fulls of sharp teeth. The three-headed dog barked before diving for them, mouth snapping.

"AHHHHHHHH!" The four screamed before diving out of the way.

"Jump! Go!" Harry shouted.

And one by one, they each jumped into the trap door with Harry being last. Fluffly snapped its jaw, missing Harry by a breath. The four landed softly on something that felt like ropes.

"Oof!" Harry yelped as he landed last.

"Woah. Lucky this plant-thing was here, really." Ron said, relief flooding him.

The other three nodded in agreement.

"Eek!" Eve yelped as the vines started wrapping around her.

"Eve!" Harry shouted, but before he could get to her, the vines wrapped around him too.

"Harry!" Ron shouted. "Arrgh!"

The vines slowly tightened more and more as they struggled.

"Stop moving! The three of you! This is Devil's Snare! If you don't, it'll only kill you faster!" Hermione admonished them.

"Kill us faster?! Oh, now I can relax!" Ron snapped sarcastically.

Hermione only rolled her eyes as she stilled herself. The vines beneath her gave out and she sank.

"Hermione!" Ron and Harry screamed.

"Oh, calm down, you two!" Eve shouted. "Listen to her!"

And then Eve too sank into the vines and disappeared.

"No!" The two boys screamed.

"Just relax!"

The two boys looked around confusedly as Hermione's voice rang out to them.

"Just do what she says!" Eve's voice rang out as well.

"Where are you guys?!" Harry shouted back.

"Trust us!" Hermione yelled.

Resigning himself, Harry closed his eyes as he concentrated on relaxing his muscles and clearing his mind. Then he sank as well and fell on hard stone. Eve and Hermione helped him up and all three stared up at the Devil's Snare above them.

"AHHHH! HARRY!" Ron continued to scream.

"Are you okay?" Eve asked as she dusted the dirt off of Harry.

"Yeah I'm fine." Harry muttered.

"He's not relaxing, is he?" Hermione grounded out as she quietly muttered about stubborn boys.

"AHHHHHHH-MMMF!" Ron's voice was muffled all of a sudden.

"Apparently not..." Harry said.

"Ugh, we've got to do something!" Hermione muttered.

"I remember reading something in Herbology...Devil's Snare, Devil's Scare...it's deadly fun...but will sulk in the sun! That's it! Devil's Snare hates sunlight!" Eve smiled brightly.

She pulled out her wand and pointed it upwards where she heard Ron's voice coming from. "Lumos Solem!"

A bright light erupted from her wand and shot towards the dangerous plant. The Devil's Snare let out an ear-piercing screech and the vines wriggled about. Before they knew it, Ron dropped right through and landed on the cobbled stones of the floor.

"Ron!" They all shouted before helping him up.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked.

"Yeah..." Ron said. "Whew. Lucky we didn't panic..."

He looked at the other three and they gave him a smug look. He shrank in embarrassment.

"Lucky Eve and Hermione pays attention in Herbology..." Harry muttered.

The girls just shook their head. 'What would they do without us...?'

Then Hermione perked up and stilled.

"Hermione?" Eve noticed her friend tensing up.

"Shh!" She turned her head slightly to the right. "Do you hear that...?"

Then the other three stilled and listened carefully.

"What is that?" Ron whispered, fear slowly creeping into his face.

"I don't know but it's coming from this way." Harry led them down the corridor to their right.

They came upon a large room with a high ceiling. On the other side was an old looking door. In the middle of the room was a single broom. And fluttering around the room were...

"Are those...keys?" Eve asked, eyes wide.

Ron went straight for the door with Hermione trailing after him. Harry went to observe the broom. His hand hovered over the broom as he realized what he had to do. A shout of 'Alohamora' resounded through the room and what seemed to be a rattling of the door.

"I bet one of those keys fit that door." Hermione said.

"Ugh! What are we going to do? There must be a thousand keys up there!" Eve grounded out as she stared hopelessly at the flying things.

"We're looking for a big old fashioned one. Probably rusty like the handle." Ron said as he inspected the keyhole.

"There! I see it!" He pointed out to the largest key amongst the others flapping weakly. "The one with the broken wing!"

He then looks at the broom in hesitation.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Eve asked.

He shakes his head. "It's too simple..." he muttered.

"Oh, go on, Harry! If Snape can catch it on that old broomstick, you can! You're the youngest seeker in a century!" Ron gripped his shoulder in support.

Harry nodded and reaches out to grab the broom. The moment he touches it, the soft fluttering turned into an angry buzz and all the keys flew straight at him. Seeing this, Harry quickly swung his leg over the broom and kicked off with the winged keys 'pecking' at him.

"Well...This complicates things a bit!" Ron said as he watched Harry fly off.

"Come on! We have to be ready for Harry when he catches the key!" Eve dragged the other two to the door.

Harry caught the key and flew straight for them.

"Catch the key!" He shouted before tossing it at them.

Hermione jumped up and caught the key before fitting it in the keyhole. She then turned it and unlocked the door before Ron pushed it open. They ran through and Eve looked back.

"Come on, Harry!" She shouted.

And at that moment, Harry flew through the door and they shut it the moment those flying keys came and they thudded against the door.

"Whew! Close call, wouldn't you say?" Ron smiled.

The other three chuckled.

"Let's get moving. We still have to catch up to Snape." Harry said.

And they walked into the new room, torches only offering a dim lighting. There looked to be rubble strewn all around the room.

"I don't like this. I don't like this at all..." Hermione whispered, grabbing a hold of Ron's sleeve.

"Where are we...?" Eve asked.

"Those look like...broken statues...A graveyard?" Harry muttered.

Ron walks ahead of them, Hermione still latched onto his sleeve.

"This is no graveyard." Ron sighs. "It's a chessboard."

The room lit up bright all of a sudden, showing the telltale checkered floor of a chessboard. On their side, two rows of black chess pieces were lined up. On the opposite side were two rows of white chess pieces. And past the white pieces was a door.

"There's the door!" Harry said and they all ran forward.

Before they get that far, the row of pawns drew their swords and blocked their path. The four froze and stared.

"What now?" Eve asked.

"It's obvious, isn't it? We've got to play our way across the room. Look!" Ron pointed out the four missing chess pieces. "All right. Harry, you take the Bishop's square. Hermione, you'll be the Queen's side castle. Eve, you're the King's side pawn. As for me, I'll be a knight."

They all nodded and took their rightful place.

"What happens now?" Hermione asked.

"Well, white moves first, and then...we play." Ron said.

Suddenly, a pawn on the opposite side moved forward two places. Ron studies the board carefully, already making out a strategy play in his head.

"Ron, you don't suppose this is going to be like...real wizard's chest, do you?" Eve asked.

Ron looked at her before looking at his own pieces.

"You there!" he pointed to the middle pawn. "D-5!"

Said pawn moves forward and stops at the square diagonal of the white pawn. The white pawn then draws its sword before swiping at the black pawn, shattering it into stone pieces. The four of them covered their faces to block the dust and rubble from hitting them. They stared, slack-jawed, at the ruined pawn as the white pawn put away its swords. Ron gulped before looking at Eve.

"Yes, I think this is going to be exactly like wizard's chess..."

The game then ensues as Ron struggles hard to put the white king in checkmate, while keeping the other three out of harm's way.

"Castle to E-4!"

SMASH!

"Pawn to C-3!"

BOOM!

Then the white queen turns and smashes a piece with her giant sword. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Eve winced as the queen turns again. Harry's eyes widened after he studied the board once more.

"Wait a minute...!" Harry whispered.

Ron looks to his friend, "You understand right, Harry. Once I make my move, the Queen will take me...Then you'll be free to check the King."

"No, Ron...No!" Harry yelled.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"He's going to sacrifice himself!" Harry shouted back.

"No, Ron, you can't! There must be another way!" Hermione screamed.

Ron turns to face Hermione. "Do you want to stop Snape or not?"

"Ron, surely there's another way. You're the best at this game! Can't you think of an alternative move?" Eve asked.

Ron shook his head and pinned Harry in his gaze. "Harry, it's you that has to go on. I know it. Not me, not Hermione, not Eve, you."

Harry gulped, dread settled in his stomach as he nodded in sad resolution.

"Knight...to H-3." Ron said, his voice strong and confident, as his piece moved.

He stopped next to the white queen and three spaces away from the white king.

"Check."

The white queen turns towards Ron and advances. His breathing quickens as he watches his fate drag towards him in impending doom. He clutches the steel reigns of his piece as the white queen stops before him. Then she moves and her giant sword pierces his horse in a giant explosion and he is thrown off.

"ARRRGHHH!" Ron lands with a thud on the floor, unconscious.

"RON!" Hermione moves to step towards him.

"NO! Don't move!" Harry shouts at her and she freezes. "Don't forget, we're still playing."

Hermione moves back and Eve looks at Ron worriedly. Harry walks diagonally towards the white king before stopping.

"Checkmate."

Then, the white king's sword falls to the floor in a loud clang. Instantly, the three of them ran to Ron's unmoving form. Eve puts her ear to his mouth and lets out a sigh of relief.

"He's fine, just unconscious." Eve said, smiling.

The other two let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding.

"Eve, take care of Ron. Then go to the owlery. Send a message to Dumbledore. Ron's right...I have to go on." Harry instructed.

"I'm going with you, Harry. There might be another test ahead. And if there isn't, I'll come back to help Eve with Ron." Hermione said as she got up.

Harry nods before giving Eve and Ron one last look. With that, the two of them walked off into the next room as Eve gave Ron another look-over to assess his injuries.

Hope you guys enjoyed this new chapter. As always, please review!

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