"So, what is the plan?"

Blaise snorted. "See how Weasley's countenance has changed."

Ron glared. "Zabini, just because Hermione is okay with you, doesn't mean I have to be."

"Granger, please explain how, as Draco's advocate while he is away, I will have no issue systematically shoving brooms into every one of Weasley's orifices if he continues looking at me like that."

Hermione shook her head. "We don't have time for this. We need to find Draco."

"You don't know where he is?" Ginny asked.

"No, but neither does the Ministry or McGonagall. They can't track him."

"Room of Requirement," Harry said immediately and Hermione nodded.

"That's what I was thinking, but how do we get up there?"

"We?" Blaise chuckled darkly as he was want to do, that disdainful look on his face. "Granger, I don't know how many times I have to explain this to people before they understand it. I do not like cats. And not only do I not like cats, I detest the idea of trying to navigate floors and floors of Hogwarts while not one but two of those beasts are prowling the corridors looking for a meal."

"None of you are coming. I have to do this on my own-"

"Hermione, there is no way we are letting you go out there on your own!" Harry snapped. "If there really are two, then you shouldn't be going either."

"I have to find Draco! We're the only two who can actually approach Easter."

"Even after you tried to kill him? Do you really think he'll let you?"

She flushed a little, thinking about her encounter with him before she was picked up. "I can't be worried about that. Harry, do you have your cloak?"

"They're watching you," Ginny pointed out, nodding towards the doors. "The Ministry officials, the professors, students. Basically everyone is watching you, Hermione. You're not going anywhere."

Hermione was about to throw her hands up in defeat when Luna smiled wistfully and pulled out her wand.

"Ginny, I will need your help."

"For what?"

"For letting the others escape."

Hermione shook her head. "I'm going alone."

"I can hardly imagine that happening, no matter what Blaise says. He's often wrong about his behavior." Luna squeezed Blaise's hand. "I can't let you go without him, either way."

"Luna-"

"Take the opportunity when you see it or remain here. It really is your choice."

She took her butterbeer cap necklace and placed it around Blaise neck before gesturing for Ginny to follow her. Ginny gave Harry a meaningful look and then got up. They watched both girls disappear across the Hall and then turned to Blaise. He had a strange look on his face, like he was battling indigestion. Noticing that he was being watched, he quickly tucked the necklace out of sight and glared at the offending gazers.

"What?"

Hermione took this time to look at Ron. She had not spoken to him in ages it felt like and it was strange seeing him amongst the group again. He glanced at her, shifting a little.

"You didn't really answer my question about what the plan was."

She wanted to ask him why he was here, but decided that it was not the time. "I don't know. If…if I'm right and there's another creature in the castle, we have to find a way of proving it before they put Draco and I away. Harry, tell me you have your map."

There was such a commotion that started in the Ravenclaw section of the Great Hall that everyone's head turned. The officers at the door did not move, however. The group craned their necks to see what was going on and was shocked beyond words to see Luna Lovegood going at it with a prefect and two friends of Celeste's. Ginny was holding Luna back as one of Celeste's friends made a comment backed up by pointing over at the group and making a crude hand gesture. One could only assume Blaise was the topic of discussion because Luna's face became red as a beet. She yelled something back and then hexes were flying. Hermione grabbed Blaise's shoulder when he made to stand.

"She is a capable witch," she reminded him. "Otherwise you wouldn't have anything to do with her."

Blaise's lip curled but he remained where he was. Besides, Luna's row was doing the trick, as more fights were breaking out amongst the students. The officers were forced to move in as hexes were going everywhere. Hermione turned to the boys.

"If this doesn't go well, then you are all risking getting expelled or worse for me."

Ron and Harry broke into grins. "I thought there was nothing worse than getting expelled, Hermione," Ron said and she smiled despite the situation. They were okay. That was what she needed.

"God, Granger." Blaise pointed to the door. "Now is not the time for making up."

She rolled her eyes but did as she was beckoned. After a few more officers had come rushing into the Hall, she took off, the boys right behind her. Knowing the castle was crawling with officers, they ducked into an alcove and Harry pulled out the map.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"Isn't that the truth," Blaise grumbled as they all leaned in. "Bloody hell."

"You have a hard time shutting up, don't you?" Harry muttered before pointing to the seventh floor. "We should try the Room of Requirement first. Maybe he got up there before they finished searching the castle."

Hermione nodded and they started up, using the map to avoid officers. When they reached their destination, there was no door present as suspected but nobody quite knew what to do next. Hermione touched the wall where she knew the room was, trying desperately to think of a way to get the door to appear. If Draco were hiding in there, he would have made it impossible for intruders to get in but not for her. He would have wanted her to get in if she ever found her way there. But this was a very large if.

"Why don't you just bang on the wall?" Blaise snapped after a few minutes of silence. Everyone turned to him and he rolled his eyes. "Idiots. Bang on the wall."

She silently thanked God for Blaise's abrupt but helpful commentary and rapped the wall hard while the others kept watch.

"Draco," she called softly. "Draco, if you're in there-"

The wall swung open, smacking her in the face and knocking her to the ground. There was a short commotion and then they were all in a wide well-lit circular room. Four pairs of male eyes stared down at Hermione as she held her swelling nose, trying not to cry.

"You idiot!" she gasped.

"Don't stand so close to the wall next time," came that wonderful drawling voice and she was hauled to her feet by strong, familiar hands. "What the hell are you all…oh, for crying out loud. Someone with wand fix her before she bleeds all over."

Someone muttered a spell and her nose corrected itself. The bleeding stopped and another spell cleaned up the spilt blood. She blinked away some tears before looking up at Draco's pale but relieved face.

"I thought I got rid of you," he muttered. She smiled.

"You'll never believe-"

"Easter's not the only creature in the castle." His mouth turned into a self-satisfied smirk at the four surprised looks he received. "Yes, love. I came to that conclusion shortly after you left me for the second time. Or was it the third? I can't keep track, you've done it so many times."

"How do you know?"

"I am a Malfoy, Granger. It is my business to be a step ahead of you."

There was a huffing sound, followed by four gasps of shock and one curt snort of disapproval.

"Also, your feline showed up here shortly after I did."

Hermione made to approach the large cat, but Draco stopped her. "I wouldn't. He is in a mood and you are probably not his favorite person, being as you tried to kill him and all."

Ron was the most horrified of the bunch, gaping at the creature crouching down in the only dark corner of the room. "I…I don't believe-"

"Catch up, Weasley," Blaise muttered, moving to a spot as far away from Easter as possible. "So it is true, hm? Damn."

"You saw the burn on his chest," Hermione said and Draco nodded.

"Nothing on his face. I looked for another burn on him, but nothing so I don't think he attacked us down in the dungeons."

They took seats near Blaise, watching Easter as he started licking his scarred legs.

"That other one…Draco, it must be bigger than Easter. I don't know how we didn't notice it before."

"Perhaps because we were busy running from it."

Ron turned to Hermione. "You're saying there's another one of those bastards running around the castle and it's bigger?"

"It must have been in the castle since October," Hermione muttered. "That's when he scratched me. When he ran out of the shadows like he was running from something."

"We're all ignoring the big problem," Blaise interjected with an uncharacteristically large amount of worry on his face. "Someone madder than Granger had to have brought a walking killing machine identical to hers into the castle. If the beast over there didn't hurt anyone, then someone's made damn sure it looked like Easter did and that Granger and Draco are taking the fall for it."

Hermione groaned, getting up and pacing. "This is a right mess!" She turned to Easter. "How do we prove it wasn't him? That it wasn't me?"

"We find the other one."

Blaise laughed at Draco's comment. "Ah, Draco. I missed your sarcasm."

"I wasn't joking."

"Well, I was." Blaise stood, anger evident. "I don't know if you've caught on, but in the last several attempts made on this creature's life, we have managed only burn and upset it more. What do you think the damn thing is going to do to us if we willingly go looking for it?"

"Are you saying you won't come?"

"Of course not, that's the problem!" Blaise yelled. "I have to bloody come and watch your back, Draco, because you've got no wand! God knows Granger will be no good to anyone if you up and die, and I don't trust Weasley or Potter as far as I can throw them. Of course I have to come. I am simply letting you know that if I die before I get a proper run with Lovegood, I will personally haunt all of you until Judgment Day, understood?"

Draco smiled wanly. "I thought as much. Sit down, you're scaring Potter and Weasley."

Hermione had wandered over to Easter, who regarded her in the same way he had in the corridor. But he did not pull away when she reached out to him, watching her hand carefully as it rested upon his muzzle.

"I'm sorry," she whispered when his eyes rose to meet hers. "I am so sorry, Easter. If I had left you in that shop, none of this would have happened to you."

Chest thrumming, he stuck his pink nose in her face, huffing softly. The air it breathed was warm and forgiving. She smiled, wrapping her arms around the neck.

"Granger."

She turned to see the boys staring at her. Draco stood.

"Time to go. We need to find this thing fast."

"How do we plan on doing that?" Ron asked. "And before you say something smart, Zabini, that's a warranted question. By now, that stunt in the Great Hall's died down and they'll know we're gone. Five of us won't last long trying to find something that's so far proven it doesn't want to be found."

Blaise looked a little upset at Ron having made sense. Hermione almost smiled, but Ron's words prohibited the action.

"We split up."

"Are you mad?" Harry shook his head. "We're not splitting up."

"As much as I detest saying it, Potter's right," Draco said. "I don't much favor letting anyone here go to their dooms."

"We don't have much of a choice. Five of us together are going to get caught! They will find us easily. Separated, we can stand a chance."

"And do what, look where the Ministry is already looking?" Blaise pointed out, much to Hermione's irritation.

"We go to the dungeons."

Draco paled. "No."

"Draco-"

"Nobody goes down there."

"We have to go where we know it will be!" She could see his fear and knew it was not just for himself. Not only were they risking the lives of their best friends, but he was risking her if they went down again. "I am not going to sit here and let somebody else get hurt, Draco. Nothing you say is going to convince me otherwise and you know that."

"And when it does attack? Nothing we do has stopped it."

"Nothing magical." She gestured to Easter. "Look at him. He's cut up from the walls, from being attacked. We take non-magical weapons with us."

"What, like muggle weapons?" Ron groaned. "We're all dead."

"I completely agree," Blaise added.

"Look, nobody here has to-"

"Save it, Hermione," Harry interrupted. "We are going with you. End of discussion."

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. I need non-magical weapons that can hurt something like Easter…I need non-magical weapons that can hurt something like Easter…

"Bloody hell."

She opened her eyes. There on a table were some long daggers, already sharpened and ready for use. Everyone took one, examining his or her weapon carefully. Light and keen, they were easy to grip and drew blood at slightest touch, which Harry discovered. Hermione turned to the boys.

"We should split up into three and two."

"You're coming with me," Draco said immediately, but to his surprise she shook her head.

"No, I…I'm going to go with Harry and Ron." At his confused look, she drew him to the side. "I…I don't want to go through what happened last time."

"Granger-"

"I can't," she snapped, looking up at him sharply. "I can't and I won't."

"But you'll go see Potter and Weasley off to their deaths?"

She slapped him so stunningly hard that the room got quiet. "I'm sorry," she gasped, stepping away from him immediately afterwards. "I'm sorry, I just…I don't want to hear…Draco, please don't make me go with you. I don't want us to get in the way of what we're supposed to do."

He rubbed his cheek ruefully before nodding. "I understand."

"Draco-"

"Come on, Blaise," he muttered. He conjured a lead and put it on Easter. Blaise shook his head, eyes wide.

"No!"

"You don't have a choice, remember."

He didn't even glance back at her when he, Blaise, and Easter left the room. Hermione covered her face, trying to stop stray tears from falling. Her stomach was knotted horribly and everything in her told her to run out after them. To embrace Draco one last time before they went their separate ways. To kiss him.

But she stayed those desires, removing her hands and taking a deep breath. She needed to be clear of Draco if she was going to do this correctly.

"Alright, let's go."

The Marauder's Map proved useful in getting them down to the dungeons and for keeping track of Draco and Blaise, who had gotten into the dungeons after them. Unfortunately, Easter did not show up on the map, so they were essentially going blind.

More lights had been put in the winding corridors of the dungeons, making the trek less ominous, but it also meant they had more company to avoid. The Trio was constantly ducking into alcoves to let officers pass by. During this time, Hermione inquired as to why Ron had joined them.

"I missed you," he said after a while of not responding. "What I said…well, I didn't have the right to say it. You were right. I was a hateful git."

"I shouldn't have said-"

"You had every right, Hermione. I lost my temper after finding out about Malfoy, but…I still know what kind of person you are. You don't deserve all the things they are saying about you. I know you would never endanger students. Not on purpose, anyway."

She smiled, taking his hand. "Thank you, Ron. I'm glad you're here. I missed you, too."

"Lights are out up ahead," Harry muttered, bringing Hermione and Ron out of their reunion. They had their wands and daggers out as Hermione took the lead. "Malfoy and Zabini are a ways behind us."

"We don't have time to wait," she whispered. "I'm sorry," she added, stopping.

"Hermione-"

"I love you both."

The boys glanced at each other before nodding. "We love you, Hermione."

Without replying she plunged into the darkness. "Lumos."

They continued on for quite some time without incident, checking dead end corridors and calling out, uncertain of how much noise they should make. Hermione, however, knew that if it was down there, odds were it was already stalking them. The thought made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

The loud snap of air popping was their only warning before all three were bowled over. Hermione heard Harry scream and pointed her wand around to find out where he was. Ron grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet just before a tail whipped out and knocked their heads straight into the wall. Hermione sunk to the ground, losing consciousness amongst the screaming of her dear friends.

"Wake up, you stupid mudblood! Crucio!"

She gasped as pain surged through her. It was only for a couple moments, but it ripped her up and she could not move save to try and breathe afterwards. She was hauled to her feet and flung against a wall.

"Look up, Granger."

She raised her gaze to meet Nott's. "I knew-"

"Oh, shut up!" He grabbed her face so that his hand covered her mouth. "Shut up, Granger. I didn't tell you to speak."

There were five other Slytherins in the room, all of them watching Nott and Hermione carefully. Nott's eyes were blazing as he looked over her, a smile of triumph on his face.

"I knew you would come. I counted on it. It's too perfect!" He moved his hand away from her mouth but dug his wand into her side. "Be very careful, Granger. Spit and I will kill you."

She managed a loathing glare to mask the panic she felt. "I knew it was you."

"Of course it was me! I told you I would ruin you." He laughed, a sound that turned her stomach. "It was so perfect, how it turned out. None of them thought I would do it, but it turned out so much better than what I planned. I couldn't have destroyed you better if I wanted to." At her confused look, he laughed again. "It's alright. Go ahead and ask. It's only natural for you to want to know why you're going to go to get the Dementor's Kiss."

"You set that other creature into the castle."

He rolled his eyes. "God, Granger, you dumb bitch. Of course I did. It was all planned, but you...you did such a spectacular job of changing it. You see, that creature? It's a cross between a Mngwa and a bakeneko. Some mad bastard down in Tanzania managed to cross them before getting ripped to shreds himself. When I found out, I just had to have them. Three were sent up, but they told me two of them died in transport. Guess two survived. It was all very vexing when the damn thing escaped en route to Hogwarts, but I guess you already had yours by then, huh?" He grinned. "I knew it was you. At first I thought it was a coincidence on the train, then with the bag. Malfoy didn't know what he had and I knew something was up when all of those potions supplies went missing. But you want to know what your mistake was?" He leaned in so that she could feel his breath on her skin, making her squirm. "You and Malfoy should have chosen a better place to snog then the back of the castle. Never know who's watching."

She tried to push him away, but he just moved closer, eyes undressing her unashamedly while his breath got heavier. "That little experiment with the King girl worked perfectly! Of course, your stupid Mngwa got in the way in the dungeons, but that's alright. I'll still get my way with Malfoy in the end. I'll get my way with you, too," he whispered into her ear.

"You're insane."

"I am brilliant!" he roared, stepping away from her with arms akimbo. "All of those stupid Death Eaters, they pushed us aside and wouldn't let us fight the war! Tried to take Hogwarts and failed! FAILED! Me, I was going to perform the greatest trick ever!" He came back to her so fast, she gasped and shrunk away. "Kill everyone. Last night of school, while everyone was fast asleep in their beds, I would have let loose my beast. Everyone. Dead in their beds. Halls filled with blood and only those loyal to me remaining. And not a damn thing anyone could do! I would have murdered everyone in Hogwarts and gotten away with it! But you...you stupid witch, you had no idea what you did! And it was perfect. Now everyone believes it was you. Or, rather, they believe it was Malfoy, which is perfect. See, it was easy to get Celeste away from her friends. She's a bit of a slut, not like you. Got her away and got the Mngwa to do her in. With her dead and everyone already thinking Malfoy was trying to off everyone, they'll think you made him do it. Got your boyfriend to kill your rival."

"I'll tell them-"

"Tell them what? That you have a Mngwa but it didn't do any of the terrible things they're accusing you of? That I had something to do with it? Who do you think they're going to believe, Granger? A jilted mudblood with a suspect boyfriend or the Head Boy?"

He laughed at her fear-stricken face. "That's what I want to see, mudblood. That fear on your face. I want to see that! But, alas, my plan isn't done. You see, it's not enough to just kill off the rival. Has to be more...more poignant."

He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her kicking and screaming out into the corridor.

"Hermione!"

She was dropped in front of Ron, who helped her up to her feet. Nott's face was alight with malicious glee as the two Gryffindors held onto each other.

"You had quite the blowout with Weasley, didn't you?" he whispered and Hermione's eyes widened. "He and Malfoy aren't on good terms with each other. And everyone saw how quickly Weasley came to your rescue when Malfoy wasn't around. Malfoy isn't one to sit back and let someone like Weasley try and steal his girl back. I wonder if the Ministry knows who has control of that creature of yours."

A terrible growl shook the walls and Hermione's heart. "Nott, please don't-"

"Oh, I will," he whispered, the glee gone and replaced by vicious loathing. "I told you I would see you dead."

When a pair of angry gold eyes appeared beside Nott, Ron took off, Hermione tow. Nott's laughter echoed in the dark corridors as they ran. They had just gotten to a lit staircase when Ron was knocked down, the creature right over him. Hermione screamed as it bit down into Ron's back and started dragging him back. She grabbed his arms, trying to pull him back, but the creature's tail whipped over and knocked her away. She tried again, grabbing a candlestick and ramming the burning end into the face. It released Ron, pawing furiously at its eye.

"Come on, Ron," she gasped, trying to get him up. He shoved her away.

"Run!"

"No, Ron-"

"RUN, HERMIONE!" he screamed just before the creature dug it's claws into his lower back and yanked him into the dark. His scream turned into a gurgled terrified shriek that turned to that horrible smacking crunch of fangs tearing through bloody flesh and bone. Hermione started running towards the sound, but someone grabbed her and started dragging her up the stairs.

"Let me go!"

"We have to go, Hermione!" Harry gasped as another pair of hands reached out to help him pull her up the stairs. She thrashed, unable to hear anything above the sounds of the Mngwa feasting.

"LET ME GO! RON! RON!"

And this is the part where I tell you that, unfortunately, I won't be able to update as often as I want. Updates will probably come every few days, maybe longer, depending on my schedule. That's why I left you with a long chapter this time, as well as that little bit at the end.