Chapter 20

Steph made her way down to the common room. Everyone was out for dinner in the great hall, so the school was pretty much deserted. She made her way down to the elf kitchen, where she could go eat in peace. She looked outside as she passed one of the castle's big windows. The rain had finally stopped, giving place to a thin layer of fog over the Hogwart ground. She promised herself to go out and see Shreya after dinner.

Steph tried to remember the way to the Elf Kitchen. "In the corridor close to the dungeon, there's a painting of a fruit bowl. I just have to tickle the... the pear. Right." She thought.

"Hi there. Mischief on your mind?" Cracked a voice behind her.

"Well hello Peeves. Nah, I'm not getting in any trouble today. What about you?" Steph asked. Peeves was obviously taken aback by the unnatural friendliness.

"Any idea?" He asked.

"Well, you could throw ink bottles at me. But, you realize that were by the dungeon, and you know who's in there"

"The Bloody Barron..." Peeves' voice shook.

"But here's a pack of gum, you go and put some on a teacher's chair ok?" Steph offered.

"I believe we're going to become good friends little one." He said, is voice cracking with happiness as he took the gums.

"Have fun now!"

"Oh I will!" And he left, his laugh echoing against to school's stone walls.

After having eaten, Steph made her way outside as she promised herself. The air was cool, but comfortable. She made her way to Hagrid's garden shed to get Shreya a treat. Waving the dead ferret, she whistled loudly, then waited for Shreya to come. Minutes went by, and still, no sing of a hippogriff. Steph whistled again, with no success.

"Shreya?" Steph called. No answer. She began to worry, never had Shreya refused to come. Something was wrong.

Steph made her way to the forest. She knew better than to venture in there alone, but worry got the best of her.

"Shreya?" Steph called again. As she walked forward, the woods were getting darker. "Lumos!" She exclaimed, and her wand lit up. Steph scanned the forest, which wasn't so clear because the invading fog. A cracking branch made Steph stop walking. She listened closely and everything was quiet. She took a few more steps;

"CRACK!"

There it was again. Steph began to shake. How dumb she had been to enter the woods alone without Shreya.

"Hello?" She called. Her voice shook, and she couldn't help but beginning to cry.

"Steph!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ron!"

His figure appeared in front of her. Without thinking she jumped in his arms.

"Oh Ron, I'm so scared, I thought I was going to get eaten and Shreya's not answering and What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed, letting go of Ron.

"I saw you head out, and I wanted to talk to you. I got outside and you weren't there anymore. Then I heard you call Shreya, so I ran in to get you I was scared that you'd get lost or eaten for that matter" He answered. Steph stayed silent, so did Ron. Then finally, in what seamed like an eternity.

"Thanks..." Steph simply said.

"Look, Steph" Ron started.

"What."

"I just have to tell you, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have 'ditched' you like that. I love you. When you kept hanging out with Fred and-"

"You thought I loved them more that you?" Her eyes widened. "Oh Ron I'm very sorry. I didn't realize..."

Both looked at each other for a minute and then Steph jumped in Ron's arms.

"Lets not fight again, its scary." She said in a half laugh half sob. Ron kissed her.

"Promise" He simply said. The bush ruffled and Shreya appeared, walking backwards, dragging something apparently very heavy.

"Oh god, what did you catch now" Steph said, leaning her head to the side to see.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Ron screamed in horror and hid behind Steph, who burst laughing.

"I didn't know you had a thing for bugs!" She exclaimed.

Shreya was now standing in front of them and at her feet, one of Aragog's son... or daughter.

"Well, you've found her. Lets go." Ron said, without even waiting for a reply.

On the way home, Ron and Steph chatted happily. They were both so happy to be reunited. The walk to the castle was probably one of Steph's happiest moments ever.

"So, you talked with Van right?" She asked Ron.

"No. Well, yea. Maybe... Why do you ask?" He asked in return.

"Because you said the word 'ditch' earlier. You never say that word."

"Well... She's the one who made me realize that it was my fault, not your."

"I shouldn't of left you. It was equally my fault as much as yours."

"But I shou- you know what, lets just forget about it." He finished, putting his arm around her waist. "We're together now, and that's what matters."

The rest of March went by uneventfully. Ron and Steph were happy, Harry and Van were no closer in finding any information about the Arch of Mysterious Ways and Hermione was just to caught up in her homework.

"Maybe if we can get into the restricted section of the library, we'll have more luck?" Harry said.

"Your the 'breaking-the-law-genius' here. You find a way then." Van said.

"Does Invisibility Cloak sound good?" He proposed. Van smiled.

"Right behind ya." Van looked at her agenda. "Oh! Tomorrow we're Friday, April 1rst. The Twin's birthday!"

"Remind me to remind Ron. We have to do something, a major prank." Harry said.

"Yes, I'm sure Ron would love to get back at his brothers!"

"For what?" Harry asked.

"Never mind" Van blushed. "Just go get you Cloak."

"OK then." Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

Van and Harry made there way down to the library and into the restricted section. The walls were covered with dusty books with scary and mysterious tittles.

"What about 'The book of lost magical objects'?" Van said, picking up a brown, yellow-paged book.

"Sound fine. I'll look thorough '101 enchanted things'" Harry added, fiddling thorough a green dragon-skinned book.

Things were quiet for a while. Harry or Van would change book at random times. Sometime, a ghost would walk by and wave. Finally;

"Van! Listen:

'The Arch of mysterious Ways grabbed the curiosity of many Witches and Wizards. Only Harlford Quickatfindingstuff, a german, well known archeologist, found the answer that puzzled thousands.

By tying a rope around a rat and making it pass thorough the veil, and then pulling on the rat and getting it back, he discovered something incredible. The rat had come back, only to have dragged with it, one of the many Askaban prisoners to have been condemned to the Arch of Mysterious Ways.

Ill Killyou, the now famous Askaban prisoner, describes what he saw.

"Everything is dark and blurry. You sometime see other people, but you can't talk to them. You just can't talk at all. Your never hungry, you never need to go to the bathroom. You're condemned of living in solitude forever. I've been in that place for 50 years apparently, and I'm 33. So time stops also.'

You know what this means! Sirius it still alive! I was right, its him that I saw, and he found a way to get out! I knew it! Van?"

Van was frozen to place. Harry was not supposed to know. Now he knew. She needed to find a way to prove that article wrong.

"Give me that!" Van said. She grabbed the book and looked at it. As Harry bent down to put a couple of book back in they're proper spot, Van took her wand and murmured Typotalkus.

"Oh Harry, look;

'Of couse, Quickatfindingstuff was proved crazy and wrong when reasearcher Mickel Itoldyouso did the same experiment with no results, just a dead rat. He then took a blood sample from Ill Killyou, only to prove that the man was only a very look-alike of the real Mr. Killyou. Harlford was later arrested, and diagnosed with a severe case of Attention Craving Problem. Commonly called ACP.'

Then it goes on about the disease, why he had it and the means to cure it. I'm sorry Harry..." Van finished. She felt guilty for lying to Harry, but she had to, for his own, and Sirius' sake.

"Your lying!" Harry exclaimed in anger. He took back the book and read. "You right, it is there..."

"Lets go back Harry, there's nothing more to find here"

Harry fallowed her, but took one last suspicious look at the book.

"What the? AAAAAAAAAAAAARRG!" A scream woke up the whole common room the next Friday morning. Van ran down her dormitory stairs, still in her night robes and morning hair. Steph fallowed, laughing to the point of no return. Half the guys ran out of they're common room, curious to where the scream came from.

"What happened?" A half asleep Ron asked.

"I-She-Tiger-" Steph was in no state of answering anything. At this exact moment, a huge Bengal tiger ran down the stair and as it was just about to pounce on a once again screaming Van, it exploded;

'Happy April Fools!

From Steph'

Wrote hundreds of little purple sparkles. Steph was holding herself on Ron not to fall, tears trickling down her face.

"I'm going to KILL YOU!" Exploded Van. Steph screamed and ran to the safety of the girl's dormitory, holding her stomach from laughing to much. After tripping a few times up the stairs, she safely locked herself up in a bathroom stall in the dormitory.

"I have to call Fred and George and tell them how much I love them" Said a wide eyed Ron before bursting in uncontrolled laughter as Van came back down the stairs, her wand at the ready in case Steph would come back down. Van sat in a chair facing the stairs, waiting for Steph.

"Wha-"

"JELLY LEGS!" Van screamed on impulse. Hermione came crashing down the stair on a pair of useless jelly legs. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I thought you were Steph!"

The rest of the common room was plunged once again in a wave of laughter. Steph took the opportunity to slither down and hide behind Ron.

"I love magic" She said.