Several days had passed since Catherine had been allowed to see Kayla in the infirmary. Halloween was now upon Hogwarts and Catherine had been excited for her and Kayla's annual Halloween party after their feast in the Great Hall. However, that now seemed very unlikely to happen. Both Dane and Catherine had spent every evening after classes in the library searching for ways to help their friend. But how were they to know how to help her if they didn't know what was wrong with her? Dane had spent many an evening bringing this problem up to Catherine, who, in her frustration, would just shoo him away with her hand. She knew that there was a good chance that they couldn't help Kayla in whatever state she was currently in. Or that rather, whatever had stricken her could not be found simply in books.

"What if we-" Dane started, his voice eager and full of hope. "-NO." Catherine replied, sharply. She knew he was going to ask again about speaking with Professor Trelawney about Kayla's condition. Many of the professors however, looked down on Professor Trelawney. Catherine wasn't sure if she believed in Professor Trelawney, but she also did not want to risk outing Kayla's condition.

"But she's a Seer as well. Don't you see, if we talk to her, perhaps she will be able to help her and I understand what is going on. I've never experienced what you said Madam Pomfrey described. I've never convulsed and fallen to the floor. I've never lost control the way she has."

"You almost ran off the Astronomy tower because you thought you saw your sister." Catherine deadpanned. Dane flushed slightly.

"Sh...She told you about that, then?"

Catherine turned back to her book and flipped the page. It was true. The answers were probably not in any book they could get their hands on. Either in the library they could access or the restricted section. The entire situation scared Catherine to the bone. But she couldn't let it show and certainly not to Dane Blackwood.

"Hi-ya, Catherine!" Whispered Neville Longbottom as he walked by their table. And definitely not to Neville Longbottom. He looked at Dane momentarily with suspicion and decided to keep on walking. Dane shook his head. "That was strange."

"You keep causing me more and more problems the longer I spend time with you," Catherine remarked as she dipped her quill into her inkwell and began writing some notes on a piece of parchment. She scribbled out the initials S.S. on her piece of parchment. If Catherine was certain about anything, it was that Professor Snape was somehow involved in this whole mess. Perhaps it was he that had triggered Kayla's episode. While Catherine did trust her head of House, there was always something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She about him sitting next to Kayla's bedside, fast asleep. Why had he been sitting there? Had he been protecting her? Perhaps Kayla had told him her secret and knowing how deadly it was, figured that it was best to guard her and consult Professor Dumbledore. But then again, perhaps not. Professor Snape was a favorite amongst many of the darker witches and wizards that attended Hogwarts. There had been whispers of his loyalty to Dumbledore and whether he had allegiance to a more darker side. There was a chance that he was watching over her and had more malevolent intentions.

"Any chance Madam Pomfrey will let us visit her tonight?" Dane asked, breaking Catherine from her thoughts. Catherine shook her head, pulling herself back to the present.

"Probably not. Madam Pomfrey's pretty strict. I think perhaps if we-"

There was a loud thud as a knapsack fell onto the table in front of them. Both Catherine and Dane jumped. Kayla pulled out a chair and sat down without saying a word.

Catherine and Dane both stared with their mouths open. A million questions all coming to their minds at once. Kayla not only looked better than she had the night before, she looked very well. Where her face had appeared grey a few days before, it now had resumed a healthy shade. Her curly hair loose and extra curlier than normal.

Kayla sighed, folded her hands and stared at Catherine. "We have a lot to talk about."

Catherine threw her quill down, splattering ink all over her notes. "You're bloody right we do!"

Dane sat in silence, his mouth agape. He reached over for Kayla's hand but she moved it away from him. "No." She said flatly.

Dane pulled his hand back as if he'd been struck. He wanted to know what she was feeling, if she was okay, and maybe even get a glimpse at what she had gone through. But Kayla was right, this probably wasn't the time nor the place.

"You better start bloody explaining what the ruddy hell happened the other night!" Nearby, a student shushed her.

"Shut it, Finnegan!" She shouted.

Seamus Finnegan turned to a student beside him, "Did you hear what she said? Those Slytherins are all piss and vinegar if you ask me."

Catherine drew her wand and flourished it, but Kayla was quicker and blocked the spell from reaching Seamus. Catherine stared at Seamus with pure venom, while he sat frozen in fear.

"Please Catherine. This is not the time. I need to talk to you both." Catherine sighed and sat back down. A few moments of silence drifted between them as the situation calmed and Seamus Finnegan walked away, muttering, "Bloody lost her mind."

"Are... Are you okay? I mean I heard that you had quite the episode." Dane's tone was softer.

Kayla leaned in, "After the Halloween feast tonight, I'll tell you what I know. But for now, there are many things that I need to keep to myself."

Catherine looked down at her paper where she had scribbled Snape's initials. She slowly covered her notation up with her arm.

"I don't understand," Catherine said, her tone calmer, her voice much more subdued than moments before. "Just a few days ago you were unconscious. You looked dead or as if you'd gone somewhere far away where you couldn't return-"

"-Could be some sort of astral projection," Dane interjected.

Catherine put up a hand to signal Dane to stop talking. Dane sighed out of frustration and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm just saying that now you seem fine. Completely fine. It's spooky."

Dane reached his hand out and placed it on Kayla's arm, careful to not touch her skin.

"It's not 'spooky' per se. Nothing that happened to you is completely unheard of when it comes to Seers but it also is strange at the same time. Not you, uh, not specifically you. But the situation. I mean…"

Catherine rolled her eyes. "She's knows what I mean, Dane. She knows I don't mean she's spooky."

Dane leaned back in his chair, somewhat bruised from the comment.

Kayla turned and grabbed the sleeve of Dane's sweater.

"I know what you mean. I completely understand." Her eyes shifted to Catherine. "I know what both of you mean."

Dane's cheeks turned a slight tinge of pink. But when he looked up into Kayla's eyes he saw something else. Where she had seemed so doe-eyed before, where a sense of unknowing had lingered, there was now knowledge. A deep sense of knowledge lingered in her presence. He wasn't sure if it made him feel at ease or nervous.

"I was also thinking," Kayla said, folding her hands back on the table. She breathed deeply, knowing the response she would get in return.

"That we postpone our annual Halloween party and celebrate it on Saturday."

Catherine's mouth fell open, "Postpone it?! Are you kidding me? We've celebrated our own Halloween together since first year! We've been doing this for how long? We can't postpone it! You can't postpone Halloween!"

"I understand that. But I think we should do our own thing in Hogsmeade on Saturday. Today's Thursday and I have homework to do. I caught up as much as I could while in the hospital wing, but I have a test for Professor Snape tomorrow and-"

"I'm sure he's more than willing to let you make it up," Catherine quipped, sarcasm in her tone.

Kayla reached across the table and touched the top of Catherine's hand, which caused Catherine to sigh.

"Catherine, I know you're concerned. I know you have suspicions…"

Dane watched the exchange between the two friends and felt a pang of jealousy in his gut. Kayla's hand on top of Catherine's made him envious. The simple skin to skin contact burned a small fire in him. Catherine was lucky.

"…and I promise to tell you both everything tonight. Meet me in the Room of Requirement tonight. We'll go together after the feast."

At about half past six, Dane, Catherine, and Kayla met at the Great Hall. The sight always filled both Kayla and Catherine with happiness. There was something about Halloween that filled them with an odd sense of comfort. The hall was decorated with candy-filled pumpkins, apples, black cauldrons of large lollipops, delicious carrot cake. Bats flittered here and there, up into the enchanted ceiling that had been bewitched to look like a thunderstorm to aid in the creepy Halloween-like atmosphere. Orange streamers hung from one side of the hall to the other. There were goblets of coloured sweets, some filled to the brim with pumpkin juice. The Great Hall felt warm and charged with energy. Catherine, who found a spot where the three of them could sit, charged ahead to claim the seat.

Kayla walked faster to join her but Dane caught her by the sleeve of her sweater.

"Remember, it's Halloween. The veil between worlds thins on Halloween. You may feel your senses are heightened. You may feel and see things more vividly."

Kayla arched an eyebrow.

"I've been reading Confronting the Faceless and it said that-"

"-You bought it?!"

Dane ran a hand through his hair, self conscious, "Yeah, I mean I thought it could be useful."

"Are you guys coming or what?" Catherine called from one of the tables.

As they delved into the Halloween feast, Kayla looked up at the end of the Great Hall every so often. Professor Dumbledore was busy enjoying the feast himself and chatting with Professor McGonagall. On the end of the table where the professors sat, Snape was slowly eating, his eyes downcast. He seemed to be avoiding conversation with everyone.

I won't tell anyone, Kayla thought to herself. As if she had said the words aloud, Snape looked up and directly at her. His face was unreadable.

I promise.

"This doesn't look like the Room of Requirement." Dane said as the wall behind them sealed itself.

Kayla and Catherine walked on as Dane stared around him. The room looked like the Room of Requirement, but it was filled with so many things. It was filled with books, statues, goblets, trinkets, and chairs.

"This is the Room of Hidden Things," Catherine said. "You can still think of it as the Room of Requirement though. It's where things go when they get lost."

"Or if you need to hide something," Kayla added, exchanging glances with Catherine.

Dane caught up to the girls, still staring around him as they weaved in and out of mountains of stuff.

When they had found a quiet corner, hidden tightly away, they sat on the floor. Catherine grabbed a thermos of Butterbeer from her knapsack. She waved her wand and produced three small cups.

"I thought we were going to wait until this weekend."

Catherine smiled, "I thought we needed to kick off Halloween on the actual day and besides, it won't hurt anything to indulge just a little."

Catherine waved her wand and the thermos levitated to each of their cups, filling it to the brim with the frothy drink.

They sipped quietly for a moment before both Catherine and Dane looked at Kayla, waiting for her to speak.

"I want to start off by saying that there are things that I can say and things that I cannot say."

"Does it have to do with Professor Snape?" Catherine asked suddenly.

Kayla sighed, "I can't say certain things because I've made promises and some of what I saw is confidential."

"Start with the night you were taken to Professor Snape's office from Ravenclaw Tower. Did you have a nightmare? We heard you were screaming."

Kayla looked down at her cup for a moment, "I can't remember exactly what I dreamt about. I just remember how it felt. It felt as if I were being sucked down some sort of deep, dark and suffocating hole that I couldn't get out of. I felt like I couldn't breathe. And then I felt this terrible pain. I didn't know I was screaming until I found myself on the floor."

"And you were led to Professor Snape's office."

Kayla nodded and sipped her Butterbeer.

"Did something happen there? Did he do something-"

Kayla shook her head. "No. I mean he didn't do anything exactly. He said he suspected that I'm a Seer and wanted me to prove it."

"And did you?" Dane asked, an edge of concern in his voice.

"I was hesitant at first. He wanted me to touch a book a see what I felt from it. But I insisted on touching some sort of diary that he had on his des."

Catherine chuckled. "Snape has a diary? That's… strange. I don't see Snape writing in a diary."

Kayla rolled her eyes, "Maybe it wasn't a diary. I don't know if it was a book where he just wrote his thoughts down or something. He wouldn't let me touch it. He was angry when I even looked at it."

"What made you trust him?"

Kayla looked over to Dane whose face was somewhat pale.

"Why did you trust him? He could endanger you. You don't know what-"

"-I trust him," Kayla said. "I can't tell you why. I can't tell you what I saw when I touched the diary. There were so many things…"

She looked down at the floor and closed her eyes.

Visions swam before her eyes. She saw young Snape. She felt his loneliness and his isolation. She felt his frustration and anger from being bullied. She felt his heartbreak. And she saw the red-haired girl named Lily running up a hill, looking back at him, a sweet smile on her face. She saw her vanish into a thick darkness and felt Snape's loss.

"It sent me into his mind, into his thoughts. But I can't share those with you. Those are his and his alone. And I can't tell either of you."

"What can you tell us?" Dane asked, his voice filled with frustration.

Kayla looked up at Dane, her heart catching in her throat as she opened her mouth. She needed to tell him. But something was pulling her back.

"I saw… your sister."

Dane's mouth fell open and his eyes widened. He dropped his cup and stood.

"Where is she? Where did you see her? Is she okay? Is she hurt?"

Kayla closed her eyes, "I don't know where she is…"

Dane leapt toward Kayla and shook her shoulders. "What did you see? What did it look like?"
Catherine pulled him off of her but Dane shoved her off.

"Where's Sophia?! Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

Kayla looked up at Dane, her eyes filled with tears. "I don't know where she is. It was dark. All I know is she is alive. She's been captured by some man, I couldn't see his face… And Bellatrix Lestrange."

Catherine and Dane stared at Kayla in shock, "Lestrange?" Catherine said the name as if it tasted sour in her mouth.

Kayla nodded.

"How could you not tell me sooner?" Dane exclaimed. "If she's hurt or scared or-"

"She has powers," Kayla explained. "She has some sort of power. I'm not sure what. It was hard to see. All I could do was feel it. It was a warm feeling." Kayla reached and touched her own shoulder blades.

"Something came from her back."

Dane was confused. He began pacing back and forth for several moments before he stopped.

"Show me." He said suddenly, reaching out his hand.

"Wait," Catherine said, her voice filled with concern. But Kayla stood, her eyes transfixed on Dane. Dane felt a sense of uneasiness fill him. Kayla's eyes were filled with a powerful sense of knowing that made him fearful.

Kayla reached out and grasped his hand tightly.

Dane felt as if he had been sucked into a vortex. He was being whipped around in different directions.

Catherine watched in awe as Kayla stood, completely composed, her hand wrapped tightly around Dane's. Dane trembled until his entire body was shaking and sweat began pouring down his temples.

When she let go of his hand Dane stumbled backward. Tears filled his eyes.

"I need…" He was trembling. "I'm sorry, but I need to be alone for a little while." Dane stood, brushed himself off and walked away."

"Is his sister going to be okay?" Catherine asked.

Kayla shook her head. "I don't know. I know she's alive right now."

Catherine grasped Kayla by the shoulders, "How can you be so blasé about this? All of this is happening and you're acting like everything is fine and dandy. I don't get it! If you're mad or afraid, tell me!"

"Don't you see," Kayla said, her face still completely composed. "I understand it now. Sometimes I see the past, sometimes the present and future. I can see better now. I think I'm understanding my abilities better than before."

Catherine looked away.

"What?"

Catherine shook her head, "I don't know if this has to do with anything. But the night you were in the hospital wing when I came to visit, Snape was asleep by your bed. I thought it was suspicious. But then Draco came in and he gave Snape this look. I thought that maybe he was in on something."

Kayla thought about this for a moment. The Vow…

She had seen Draco in the vision. She knew that there had been some sort of Unbreakable Vow between Draco's mother and Snape, but the details had not been there. Perhaps Snape was protecting Draco from something terrible.

"I think there's something going on between them. Maybe we could find out."

Could Kayla tell Catherine about the Unbreakable Vow? Or should she keep that to herself?

Suddenly, there was a crumbling noise and the sound of the wall closing up from far away.

"Is that Dane coming back?" Catherine asked, collecting her things. The girls peeked around the corner. There were footsteps coming closer to them.

"Hurry! Stand over here!" Catherine whispered.

The footsteps got louder before they seemed to walk in a different direction. Kayla and Catherine walked slowly toward the direction of the footsteps. They peered from behind another corner. Draco Malfoy was standing before what appeared to be a large piece of furniture with some sort of rug over it.

They watched silently as he pulled it off, revealing a large cabinet.

He ran a hand down the length of it and put his head against it. He seemed to be whispering to it.

"Heh," Catherine whispered, "Is he going to snog it or what?"

Draco stood back from he cabinet and tilted his head down. He began mumbling something quietly.

Catherine moved away from Kayla, closer to Draco. Kayla watched Catherine, her heart hammering in her chest. Catherine listened for a moment before she walked quietly back to where Kayla was hiding.

"Let's go," she whispered.

The two girls slipped out of the Room of Hidden Things as quickly as they could.

Draco Malfoy stood before the large cabinet, his eyes closed.

"Harmonia Nectere Passus…" he whispered. "Harmonia Nectere Passus."