A/N: Sorry for the late update, enjoy! Fingers are healed, posting should resume normaly
A cold, brisk wind came in from the North, each leaf, tree, and drop of water touched by it would get frost, soon November was upon Hogwarts, two events were on the horizon, the Fall Feast and the Quidditch match of Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. The Brigade, with the help of Fred and George, were able to advance quickly in all their classes. Even though they had busy schedules due to their Quidditch training, they manage to improve on their pranks and gadgets and would be able to run trials on willing students at the beginning of next year.
"Blimey I'm tired" Fred said as he dropped on one of the pillows in the Room of Requirement, George dropped on the other side of him, wiping sweat from his brow. "Hermione is tough isn't she." The other members of the Brigade mumbled in agreement. Hermione was also holding on to her side and was tired, "Well, it's only until we go to Christmas break. If we quit early we'll get comfortable." Harry nodded and passed around some of the pumpkin juice the twins smuggled in. "Are you ready for the match?" Harry asked the twins, he knew he would have to wait a long time before he would be allowed to play on the team, and it's one of the things he regrets that changed. George grinned, "Now Harry, we're not about to tell you our secret moves." Fred teased along with him, "Yeah, how do we know you won't tell your team." The group laughed and made bets on who would win or lose at the match. Fred and George asked the group if any were willing to help in their testing stage, the girls exchanged worried glances and immediately said no, while the boys tentatively agreed; the group dispersed a few days later.
After a couple of days; everyone woke up to a clear, cool day, a perfect day for a match, everyone was ready and the excitement could be felt through the air when they made it to the Great Hall. Everyone knew the rivalry between both Houses, almost everyone were against Slytherin, but since it was Harry's house, many were having second thoughts to be against them. Thus it caused a divide among the school, for the first time in several years, Slytherin had a cheering squad. Even though the excitement was contagious, Harry felt a nagging feeling, it wasn't until he was eating breakfast and looked at the staff table that he remembered what bothered him, "Hermione," he whispered, Hermione who was talking to Tracey, she turned and Tracey leaned in, "Quirrell was supposed to throw me off the broom today." Hermione glanced up at the table as Tracey got up and went to find Daphne and pass on the message to the other members. "Maybe he won't try anything." She said, "You won't be playing, there's no way for him to try anything without being caught." A few classmates started to head out to the pitch, after a few more bites of food Harry and Hermione made their way down with the others, except for Ron who was banned from the matches by his mom for the rest of the year, and Draco was already at the pit with Pansy claiming to want the best seat, though truthfully everyone now hated him. Once at the pitch and in their seats, they watched as Madam Hooch blew the whistle and the players took off, even if they were in Slytherin, Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Tracey all cheered for Fred and George, they were the beaters and were really good, they had strong arms and keen eyes. They managed to keep the bludgers away from their teammates and send them to the opposing team.
Flyers went up and down and around each other, the best description for it would be a dancing rugby game. One of the bludgers started to fly at Angelina Johnson, she was by the Slytherin cheering section, George managed to dive and bat it away, but one of the Slytherin beaters returned it back, Angelina had thankfully flown away, and George on instinct pulled back before getting hit in the arm causing the bludger to fly into the stands where Harry and Hermione where, the bludger was quickly summoned back by Madam Hooch, but it flew back in Harry's direction this time causing the students in the row below to duck, the Slytherin beaters hit the bludger when it was summoned yet again, but it rounded about and came back to Harry, this time Harry leaned back as the bludger came close to his nose. Everyone started to scramble away, as the bludger was coming back faster than last time, Harry went in the opposite direction of the crowd, to avoid it hitting someone by accident, unfortunately, the opposite direction was to the top of the stands, with nowhere to go, Harry stood at the ledge, he glanced back and the bludger was hurling itself towards him, Harry closed his eyes, using his wand right now for protection would be dangerous, people screamed around him as the bludger finally came close, and went past his face. It only managed to knock his glasses off, as the bludger went around and back into the field as if nothing happened.
Harry was searching for Hermione who only managed to make it halfway through the stands, on her way to Quirrell, and it was thanks to Daphne and Millicent who managed to stop him using the flame spell and leaving him to catch on fire, with Minerva and Severus on hand to put out the spell. Harry sighed a breath of relief as he made his way back down the stands, the match was over as well, Griffyndor's seeker caught the snitch while everyone as running away, everyone cheered half-heartedly, and quickly left the pitch, Madam Hooch was seen crating the rogue bludger alone to be inspected later. Quirrell was taken to the infirmary to have his burns attended, Severus quickly followed to redirect any suspicion to the Brigade, and Minerva walked over to Harry, "Are you alright?" She asked him, Harry nodded and quickly whispered as Hagrid was walking over, "Seventh floor, Barmy, tonight." Harry then gets buried under those who wanted to make sure he's alright.
Later that evening, the Brigade were waiting for Minerva in the Den, after hearing the name of the group, Fred and George that it was most appropriate to rename the Room of Requirement, Harry had been keeping an eye on her and when she got closer he stepped out to bring her in. "Oh my goodness!" Minerva exclaimed as she looked around the room, "What is this place?" Hermione launched into an explanation about the room and Minerva nodded in understanding, even in her days she remembered the rumors of this room. They took their seats, Hermione explained everyone's involvement, and how they were prepared to help in any way with or without the Circle's approval, Minerva said nothing and then Harry explained his request, "Professor, we wanted you here because we're going to attempt to retrieve the Stone in January." Minerva looked surprised, "So soon?" Harry and Hermione nodded, "I don't know if Dumbledore would give me my cloak, and to leave the Stone open is a huge risk." Minerva nodded, she thought over the obstacles Dumbledore requested, and if anyone stumbled on them, with a good head, anyone could get past them. "Very well, what will you need me to do?" Harry nodded and laid open the map for them to view. "We need Dumbledore out of the way, he has to believe I can do this alone." Minerva nodded, "I'll see what I can arrange." Harry laid out the plans for the others, Zabini will handle Fluffy, Neville was going to take care of the plant from Pomona, Fred and George would get the key, Daphne would handle the chessboard, Millicent and Susan would handle the troll, Hermione and Tracey the potions, and Harry the Stone. Minerva agreed she would keep Dumbledore occupied and away with the help of the Circle. Minerva leaned back in her chair, "That leaves Quirrell…" Her eyes drifted casually over the map and she noticed something odd in the Slytherin room, "Harry...do you…" Harry quickly wiped out the map, "It's not time," He stated simply, "Until the Minister is ready." Minerva nodded, she made a mental note to follow up with Amelia about Sirius. "There's the matter about Hagrid as well." Hermione piped up, "Quirrell somehow gets an egg into the country." Minerva nodded, "That we can take care of easily, Charlie Weasley is on our side." Fred and George's interested piqued up, "Really now." They said unison. "We know he works in the Ministry now," Said George, "But this is something new." Said Fred; they both thought about sending him a letter for more information about the Circle. Minerva was wondering what time it was when a clock appeared in one of the corners, "It's time you all went back to your common rooms, I don't want either of you caught." They agreed and picked up their items and headed out with her, being escorted by Minerva was great, no one stopped to ask them questions, everyone assumed it was part of the study group.
Once in their common room, Harry, Hermione, Tracey, Neville, and Susan gathered around the fireplace, Susan was the first to point out the obvious omission in the meeting. "We didn't talk about handling Quirrell, what are we going to do about that?" Harry looked into the fire pondering about the issue, Hermione looked at the floor and spoke up, "We can't save him, he's been drinking unicorn's blood out of his own will. Voldemort isn't strong enough to control him." The group shivered at the name and the image that conjured in their mind. Harry glanced down at his hands and balled his fists. "Hermione…" She looked over at him, he took a deep breath, "What if we keep Quirrell alive?" She gaped at him and quickly scanned the room and waved everyone to lean closer, "Harry we can't! It's too dangerous, he could come back sooner." She hissed, Harry nodded and looked at everyone as they nodded vigorously agreeing with Hermione, "Look, the position is cursed, everyone after Quirrell did or does not deserve what happens to them, especially Lupin." Hermione reluctantly agreed, before she could argue Harry continued, "And you said it, Quirrell chose to drink the blood, he's already damned, Voldemort will sacrifice him at any time, and we can keep a close eye on him, and because he…" "What are you doing?"
The group jumped apart from the question, Ron was standing nearby feeding Scabbers, he looked at each of them curiously and asked again, "What's going on?" Everyone glared at him and Zabini spoke up, "Nothing that matters to you. Why don't you go somewhere, where you are wanted Ronald." Everyone voiced their agreement, Ron glared at them and stalked out of the common room to the bedroom. The group then dispersed, the conversation was too dangerous to talk about any further. Once everyone climbed to bed, the night was quiet, if Harry wasn't so exhausted, he would have noticed how worrying this was, Ron was still awake and fuming. "How dare they think they are better than me!" He thought to himself, "I'm a pure wizard, not like Hermione, they should accept me!" He punched his pillow trying to get comfortable, "And Harry isn't that great! Strutting like he owns the place, looking like he knows more, he'll see, one day I'll be bigger than him, everyone will know my name instead of his." After a short while he fell asleep and Scabbers climbed out of bed, went over to Harry's bed and then slipped out the door and he walked around the castle until he found Quirrell's classroom, he sniffed the air and found Quirrell in his bedroom, standing before a mirror, muttering to himself in his turban and simple pajamas, he had incense burning everywhere with cloves of garlic strewn about. Scabbers watched as he knelt before the mirror, but before anything else happened, Scabbers heard a voice whisper hoarsely, "Someone's here ...I sense them!" Quirrell quickly looked around the room, Scabbers had quickly dodged behind the nightstand, and as soon as Quirrell turned to the closet he ran out of there. He knew the voice, it sent shivers down his rat spine, he was scared, and prayed for salvation, he then decided to wait until further developments in his favor, before doing anything rash.
Meanwhile, Dumbledore was in his office contemplating the cloak that was laying on his desk, he knew it wasn't his, but he didn't believe the owner was ready to receive it, plus there was much more he could experiment on, it had been in his possession for eleven years, and before that he knew it belonged to someone for seven years and yet the cloak was in perfect condition. "No." He thought, the boy was not ready to receive it, he then put it away as he glanced at the mirror in a few feet away, he would have to find another way for Harry to see it, find another way for Harry to yearn for what was lost. "Perhaps having him stay for the holidays…" He thought to himself, "No, Minerva wouldn't stand for it, he's done nothing wrong." He leaned back in his chair, "Ah yes," He smiled to himself, "A trip down memory lane, I'll ask him to come see me and we can talk about his family for a while." With a plan in mind he went to bed.