The bell rang. All around Harry, Gryffindor and Slytherin Defense Against the Dark Arts students were picking themselves up off the floor, apologizing to their friends, and quietly healing small bruises. Harry gritted his teeth. He looked across the dimly lit dungeon and caught Draco Malfoy's eye. Malfoy raised one eyebrow, the unspoken question clear.

Today?

Harry nodded tersely. Quickly, Harry checked his pockets again. Marauder's Map, wand, Peruvian Instant Darkness powder - everything was in place. He nudged Hermione and Ron and gave them a meaningful glance. Both understood instantly. Hermione gave his hand a quick squeeze, Ron gripped his shoulder, then the pair hurriedly packed up their things and rushed out, tugging others along with them. It had been agreed that the less witnesses, the better - anyone even rumored to be connected with what was coming would no doubt suffer severe consequences.

After one last glance at the Carrows, Harry knocked over his carefully packed bookbag. Textbooks, quills, and ink bottles spilled everywhere. Thankfully, no one offered to help. Harry didn't blame them - no one wanted to remain in the same room as that poisonous pair of siblings for long. Gathering up as much as he could, Harry glanced up to see the room was now empty except for the Carrows, himself, and Malfoy, who looked to be one his way out. Harry coughed twice.

Without warning, Malfoy spun around, whipped out his wand, pointed it at Amycus, and screamed "Imperio!" In the same moment, Harry stood straight up and shot the same curse at Alecto. Suddenly, he could see her mind - feel it. It was as though some part of his consciousness had split off to do battle. And a battle it was - trying to gain control of Alecto's mind felt like trying to wrestle an eel. Clearly, she had been well trained. At last, he managed to pin her down.

You obey me now, he told her, and felt her grudging agreement. The part of his mind that was still his own looked across at Malfoy, who had clearly also gained control.

"Took you long enough, Potter," he said with his trademark sneer. Harry saw, to his chagrin, that Amycus did indeed seem to be much more subdued than Alecto. Amycus appeared completely at ease and relaxed, while Alecto still had a rather unpleasant scowl on her face, something Malfoy had clearly noticed as well. "Have some trouble?"

"Nothing major," said Harry calmly. He was a bit disturbed by the ease with which Malfoy had controlled Amycus, who was agreed by all to be the smarter and thus more unpleasant of the duo. Again, Harry was reminded of Malfoy's background - had he perhaps grown up with Unforgivable Curses as commonplace?

"And now we wait," Malfoy said, snapping Harry back to the moment. They wanted to get the Carrows down to Cho's cell as quickly as possible so as to minimize the chance of discovery, but to bring them through the corridors between classes would just be foolish.

Be still, he thought to Alecto, who had begun to stir. The mental connection was an unsettling one, but Harry had faced far worse in the past. Compared to having Voldemort in your skull, thought Harry with a grim kind of humor, Alecto's nothing. Amycus still looked as though he hadn't a care in the world, much to Harry's displeasure.

Malfoy walked over to the door, pulling an Extendable Ear out of his pocket. He inserted one end into his ear and the other wriggled through the crack beneath the door. After listening for a few moments, he tugged the flesh-colored cord out of his ear and balled it up.

"Nothing," Malfoy said, stuffing the Ear into his pocket again. "The coast is clear." Harry nodded, then turned to Alecto.

Follow me, he ordered. And stay quiet. Act natural. And with that, the unlikely quartet slipped out into the deserted hall and snuck off towards the dungeons.

Harry spun around a corner and pressed his back against the wall, panting. He shoved Alecto after him, ordering her to keep running. This was the third close call the group had had since leaving the classroom. Harry had originally elected to lead, knowing the secret passages the best from all his nighttime wanderings, but Alecto had other plans. As could have been guessed from her physique, she was not the fittest of women, and had slowed considerably and the group moved along, forcing Harry to bring up the rear just to keep her from falling behind. His control was also slipping, Harry knew, but they didn't have the time Harry would need to collect himself and reinforce the curse, so they ran on.

Harry looked around, still breathing hard. He saw Malfoy farther down the hall, urging him silently to Keep going! Up ahead, Alecto had again come to a halt. With a sigh, Harry prodded her in the back with his wand. 'Get moving, would you?" he said wearily.

It was the last straw. This final indignity was sufficient stimulus for Alecto to through Harry off completely. With only a split second's warning, Harry found himself facing a very angry Alecto with wand pointed straight at him. Harry cursed under his breath. How could they have forgotten to disarm them?

"Listen, brat," snarled Alecto, her menace somehow heightened by her flushed cheeks and heavy breathing. "I've been putting up with you since the day I came to this bloody school, but no more." Harry reached for his wand, but Alecto jabbed hers at him, sending off green sparks that singed his robes. "Avada-"

"Imperio!" Malfoy cried from down the hall. There was a flash of light, and Alecto's face suddenly lost its scowl. She toddled over to join Amycus, who had been watching from farther down the corridor as though this was all a mildly interesting TV program.

Harry turned to Malfoy. "Thanks," he said grudgingly. Malfoy merely nodded.

"That's the thing about Unforgivable Curses, Potter," he said with a bitter, twisted smile. "You really have to mean it."

Unnerved, Harry simply adjusted his glasses and said nothing. After a long pause, Malfoy said, with his regular mocking sneer back in place, "Hadn't we best be going?"

Harry nodded, reminded again of the seriousness of their mission. Pulling out the Marauder's Map, he checked the corridors around them. "Right," he said. "Cho's not on here - they must have made that room Unplottable - but it looks like the coast is clear until then. This way." With map still out and wand at the ready, Harry led Draco and the Carrows still deeper into the dungeons.

A/N: Hello, dear friends! My apologies for the delay in bringing you this next chapter. Life has gotten a bit mad recently, and a lot has happened, but I have returned. Once again, I haven't the foggiest idea when the next update will be - it could be tomorrow, it could be another three months or however long it's been. Again, I'm terribly sorry.

I'd also like to extend a sincere thank you to anyone who has stuck it out this far. I love you all dearly, and, of course, I love to hear from you. Leave me a review, PM me, just say hi, whatever. I'm always interested in what you've got to say.

Again, I'm begging you, my faithful few, for a new title. Because the one I've got is bad. I know it, you know it, and I'd love to fix it. But that's always been the hardest part of writing for me, so I'm appealing to your creative genius. Please please please!

Anyway. Thanks for reading!

-Forever the Optimist