Disclaimer: You mean I have to do this again? Oh, all right: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summery: See previous chapters.

Chapter Eleven

It was common knowledge that the Slytherin Trio of Draco, Greg and Vince were in desperate need of lessons in tact and discretion. Of Marcus Flint, however, Roisin had expected better. Still, most of Slytherin House had learned within a few months of the Trio's first year that Draco's plots tended to backfire spectacularly.

Therefore, whatever the Trio (currently aided by the Slytherin Quidditch Captain) was planning, and how or why it involved black cloaks, they didn't want to know and would do best to stay out of it.

Plausible Deniability was such a pleasant concept, after all, and Roisin had an Arithmancy Essay to finish if she was going to be dragged to the Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor Quidditch Match tomorrow. Personally, Roisin would have preferred a lay-in, but since the match determined who faced Slytherin for the Quidditch Cup, the entire house was threatened with detention if they didn't show up.

Breakfast before the match was interesting in several ways. Luna was being ostracized by her House (again), so Roisin had invited her to eat at the Slytherin table, where she was currently involved in a lively debate with another Second Year, Rolf Scamander. Roisin felt sorry for Hagrid when he had those two in Care of Magical Creatures next year.

They seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially on the topic of evidence of Nargles, but everyone around them had lost track of the discussion at least half an hour ago.

All conversation came to a very abrupt halt as the Gryffindor Quidditch Team walked in and everyone caught sight of Harry's Firebolt. A full ten seconds later, chatter broke out again, and Roisin quietly sighed as she watched Draco head over to the Gryffindor table, probably to see if it was a real Firebolt.

It was, and Roisin quietly mourned the loss of any chance of sensible conversation not involving brooms or Quidditch at any point in the near future. Giving it up as a loss, she tuned back to Luna and Rolf, who were now discussing if bowtruckles guarded trees with Broomstick-wood, or just Wand-wood.

At least she could be thankful for improved weather conditions while sitting through the Quidditch match, as it turned out to be a clear, cool day, rather than the downpour of the Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor match. As far as actual playing was concerned, however, Roisin preferred Hufflepuff.

The Chasers, Keeper and Beater were average, but the Ravenclaw Seeker's mode of operation seemed to be following the other Seeker around and blocking them at random intervals. It was an interesting and unpredictable tactic, but offered very little in the way of entertainment or discernable strategy.

Roisin really needed to start being more careful what she wished for!

She had been mentally begging for something to liven up the game and contemplating whether or not she should just go back to the Common Room, when there was a loud scream from the Ravenclaw Seeker.

Everyone, even the other Quidditch players, stopped what they were doing to see what she was pointing at. Roisin's breath caught in her throat; three tall, hooded Dementors stood in the middle of the pitch. The spectators instantly went into a panic, and Roisin nearly joined them, until she noticed the distinct lack of cold and horrific memories.

The reason for that was swiftly discovered when Harry shot a Patronus Charm at the three Dementors, and an enormous, silvery-white stag shot out of his wand, lowered its antlers, and charged. Roisin didn't have a clear view from her position in the stands, but she was fairly sure that Dementors didn't trip over their own robes and fall into a tangle of black cloth and struggling bodies.

Before Roisin could cast a vision charm to get a closer look, a tremendous cheer announced that someone had caught the snitch, and Roisin allowed herself to be swept up in the crowd as they flowed down to the pitch. Forcing a path away from where the Quidditch teams had landed, Roisin moved to where Professor McGonagall was facing down the 'Dementors'.

Roisin stalked through the Common Room in a towering fury, followed at a relatively safe distance by Goyle, Crabbe and Draco. "Come on, Roisin, it was just a joke!"

Roisin rounded on him, her eyes narrowed, causing all bystanders to scramble away as she practically hissed in fury. "A joke? After you've spent all of the school year thus far taunting my cousin about his reaction to Dementors, you think it's a joke to dress up as them, just to disrupt a Quidditch match? If that isn't one of the most infantile…"

She was cut off by Draco's indignation overcoming his common sense. "Infantile? Roisin, you're blowing this way out of proportion!"

That was the wrong thing to say, and resulted in the outraged girl drawing her wand in an eye blink. Draco hid behind Crabbe, who took one look at Roisin's face and quickly moved out of the line of fire. Giving up on trying to calm herself, Roisin exploded. "Blowing it out of proportion! Blow this out of proportion, you irritating little ponce! Punctum Maxima!"

The hex she threw at him was a specially modified version of the stinging hex, with the victim being chased by numerous dots of light with the basic effect of being attacked by a swarm of bees. Ignoring the three boys' protests as they tried to reverse it, Roisin spun on her heel and swept out of the common room, making her way to Gryffindor tower. She needed to calm down before she hit her housemates with something worse, and she might as well congratulate Harry while she was at it.

Mary had joined her twin, Seamus, and several other first- and second-years, all of whom were well on their way to a sugar high by the time Roisin made it into the Gryffindor Common Room.

Sensibly avoiding that area, she fought her way over to where Harry was standing, giving him a congratulatory hug before being dragged off by Parvati and Lavender, who wanted details on the 'Dementor Stunt' that Roisin's housemates had pulled. Deciding that the rumour mill was as good a way to get back at them as any, Roisin told them everything she knew about it.

Roughly an hour into the party, Roisin had joined a slightly inebriated Katie Bell in 'People Watching'. Giggling as they watched a girl that Katie pointed out as 'Patricia Stimpson' trying to flirt with the Weasley Twins and constantly getting them mixed up, Roisin spotted Hermione at a side table, surrounded by books and oblivious to the chaos around her.

Thinking that Hermione probably didn't want to be disturbed, but really shouldn't be sitting out a party, Roisin spent several minutes trying to coax the bookworm away from her schoolwork, before finally throwing up her hands as Harry approached. Maybe he would have better luck.

It was a good thing that Professor Snape never actually checked that his Slytherins were all in their beds, as the Gryffindor Victory party went on well into the night. In fact, it didn't even slow down until one in the morning, when Roisin was forced to dive behind a large armchair to avoid being spotted by Professor McGonagall, who showed up and ordered them all to bed.

Not wanting to risk being caught out of bed, Roisin accepted Parvati's offer of using one of the spare beds in the Third-Year Girls Dorm, dragging Mary up with her. Casting an alarm spell to wake her up in time to sneak back to Slytherin before anyone was up and about, Roisin fell asleep almost instantly.

Roisin seldom had dreams, and tonight was no different, so the next thing she was aware of was falling off the bed with a crash as a loud and piercing scream echoed through the tower.

Hearing several other exclamations as the other girls in the room woke up; Roisin threw on someone's spare robe, grabbed her wand, and made a dash for the common room to see what the fuss was about.

She wasn't the only one, as she reached the Common Room, still littered with rubbish from the victory party, just as the Third-Year boys tumbled down their stairs, all looking panicked. Rubbing sleep out of her eyes, Roisin tried to focus on Harry. "What in Merlin's sweet name…?"

Before they could answer, other Gryffindor students began poking their sleep-tussled heads out of various dorm rooms, demanding to know the same thing. "Who shouted?"

"What are you doing?"

The Third-Year boys ignored them, concentrating on Ron Weasley. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?"

"I'm telling you, I saw him!"

Mary staggered down the stairs, followed by Parvati, Lavender and Hermione, and leaned against Roisin. Wrapping an arm around her younger cousin, Roisin stifled a yawn. "Wake the whole tower, why don't you. Saw who?"

Other students were coming down, now, in various states of wakefulness. "What's all the noise?"

"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed."

The Weasley Twins bounced down the stairs, un-naturally awake for the time of night. "Excellent, are we carrying on?"

They were followed by their older brother, who was hurriedly pinning his Head Boy badge onto his pajamas as he spoke. "Everyone back upstairs!"

Thankfully, this prompted an actual answer, albeit in a very faint tone. "Perce – Sirius Black! In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up."

Everyone froze and a heavy silence dropped. Percy looked startled and a little pale. "Nonsense! You had too much to eat, Ron – had a nightmare - ,"

"I'm telling you – "

"Now, really, enough is enough!"

Professor McGonagall was back, and Roisin hastily ducked behind Parvati, pulling Mary with her. The professor slammed the portrait behind her as she entered the Common Room and stared furiously around. "I'm delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you."

The Head Boy looked more upset about being called into question than he did about the possible attack on his sibling. "I certainly did not authorize this, Professor! My brother Ron here had a nightmare, and –"

He was interrupted by the brother in question. "IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE! PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

Professor McGonagall looked startled and stared at him. "Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he have gotten through the portrait?"

Ron was clearly nearing Hysteria as he pointed a shaking finger toward the portrait of Sir Cadogan. "Ask him! Ask him if he saw someone!"

Still glaring suspiciously, Professor McGonagall opened the portrait again and went outside. Seamus had joined his twin, and Roisin wrapped her arms tighter around them both as everyone held their breath and waited.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just allow a man entrance to Gryffindor Tower?"

The mildly psychotic knight sounded almost triumphant. "Certainly, dear lady!"

There was a stunned silence, both in and outside the Common Room. Professor McGonagall looked no less shocked. "You – you did? But – but the password!"

Sir Cadogan still sounded cheerful, as though he hadn't just let a murderous lunatic into a tower full of mostly defenseless children. "He had them! He had the whole week's, my lady. Read them off a little piece of paper!"

Professor McGonagall's face was as white as a marble statue, and nearly as cold with fury as she re-entered the room. "Which person – which abysmally foolish person – wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

For a moment, Roisin wasn't sure if anyone would answer. Self-Preservation suggested remaining silent, but Gryffindors were not known for self-preservation, and not knowing who was responsible – and making sure that they didn't do it again – could turn out to be even worse for communal safety. There was a long silence, finally broken by a high-pitched squeak as Neville Longbottom slowly raised a trembling hand into the air.

Unseen – not that anyone would be paying attention anyway – at the back of the room, Roisin closed her eyes. Even without the attempted mass-murder, this was not going to be at all pretty.

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A/N: Yes, yes, yes, I know that it's been far too long since I last updated this. Unfortunately, my computer crashed, taking all of my word documents with it. That meant that I had to re-write almost everything, including my resume, cover letter, Original Writing, Miscellaneous Crap, and at least 186 fan fiction documents, not to mention several half-written ones.
So re-writing and backing up my files, along with several other stories and writers-block, is responsible for the four-month delay.

Incidentally, I have my first serious Harry Potter crossover going on, so if anyone would like to tell me how it's going, that would be much appreciated.

As always, Reviews are inspiring, Constructive Criticism is welcome and Flames are laughed at. Take five seconds (or more, if you like) to tell me what you think.

Thanks, Nat.