Diana would never understand how she managed to get through exams when she acted the way she did. Especially with everything that had been going on that year. Along with what Harry had told her the night of his detention.

She started having weird dreams again like the one from the end of the summer last year. They felt eerily similar to what Harry described the vampire-like thing to look like.

As the end of the school drew closer, the days felt like they were getting longer. Diana's mind couldn't stop thinking back to that locked door on the third floor.

It was exceptionally hot during the week of their exams, particularly in the large classrooms where they took written tests.

Most of the practical exams took place in the teachers personal classrooms.

Much like the previous year, Professor Flitwick had each student enter the classroom to see what charms they could perform from the list of spells they learned over the year. Ranging from the dancing feet charm to shrinking charms.

Everyone was nervous about failing potions. It didn't help that Snape was breathing down their necks during the whole test.

Professor McGonagall watched as they tried to turn a porcupine in a pin cushion then turn it back. It took Diana a couple of tries to change it back.

No matter how much she tried to focus on exams, Diana's mind always went back to the third floor. She felt like she was missing something. Like there was one last bit of information she needed then everything would click.

Diana could tell that Harry was having similar thoughts. Just by the look on his face.

Tilly, on the other hand. If it was bothering her as much as it was bothering them, she was doing a much better job at hiding it.

Diana and Tilly's last exam was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Much like Charms, each student was instructed to cast the various curses they learnt throughout the year. Professor Quirrell was acting a bit quieter than usual, but Diana failed to notice due to focusing on casting a full body-bind curse.

Once school let out for the day, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Oh my gosh! I thought that the potions exam was going to be the end of me!" Tilly said as she stretched out her arms.

"Snape was breathing down your necks too?" Harry joked as they headed outside to enjoy the sun.

"I actually thought he was going to kill me! How can one person give off so much bad energy!?"

Harry and Diana both laughed, but Diana stopped when they passed by the lake.

Fred, George and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows. The twins looked over for a second, but Diana made an effort to avoid eye contact. She was still mad at them for how they treated Harry.

"Still giving them the silent treatment?" Tilly asked.

Diana gave a huff of acknowledgement. What Diana was doing was definitely immature, to say the least. She didn't quite know how to handle it in a better way. Anger is a powerful emotion and can cloud your better judgement very easily.

The three of them moved to lay down on the grass. Diana and Tilly watched Hawkeye roll around, enjoying the warm sun when Harry started rubbing his head.

"I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting. It's happened before, but never as often like this."

"Maybe you should go to Madam Pomfrey," Tilly suggested.

"But I'm not ill," Harry said. "I think it's a warning... it means danger's coming..."

"Why does it feel like there's nothing we can do about?" Diana said.

"Because we did everything we could! We tried going to the teachers, and they refused to believe us." Harry replied angrily.

"If only we had more proof against Snape. We don't even know if Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He also most had his leg ripped off on Halloween. Hopefully, he won't try it again for a while." Diana said.

"And Hagrid won't let Dumbledore down. Especially after what a close call the dragon incident was." Tilly said.

Harry nodded his head, but Diana could again tell that Harry wasn't a hundred per cent convinced. Her friend looked back up towards the sky. Where a couple of owls were flying by.

Harry suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Where're you going?" Diana asked while picking up Hawkeye.

"I've just thought of something," Harry shouted back. "We've got to go and see Hagrid now."

Diana and Tilly looked at each for a second, then jumped off the ground to follow Harry.

"What's going on?" Tilly said.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, rushing up a hill, "That what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket?

How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

"Wait, so you think that Snape gave Hagrid the egg?" Diana said, catching up to Harry.

Hagrid was sitting in a wooden chair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Just give us a second," Diana said, trying to catch her breath.

"Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."

Hagrid looked at the children and raised his eyebrows at the shocked looks they were giving him.

"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head. That's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

Harry moved to sit next to the bowl of peas.

"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I took after... so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy..."

"Did… Did he seem interested in Fluffy?"

"Well yeah, how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts?

So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep-"

Hagrid suddenly looked horrified. Harry's head snapped towards Diana and Tilly, and he gave them a concerned look.

"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey! Where're yeh goin'?"

The three of them didn't bother answering the older man as they ran back up to the castle.

"We've got to go to Dumbledore," Harry said. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak. It must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him. Where's Dumbledore's office?"

Diana started looking around. Quickly realising that she had never actually been to Dumbledore's office.

"Do you still- Diana started to ask, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.

"What are you three doing inside?"

It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.

"We need to see Professor Dumbledore," Tilly said, rather boldly.

"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, sounding a bit confused. "Why?"

"It's about Professor Snape," Diana stated.

A sour look appeared on Professor McGonagall's face.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's gone!" Diana shouted.

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Miss Beatrix, he has many demands on his time-"

"But this is important!" Harry pleaded.

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"

"Look," Harry said, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor, it's about the Sorcerer's tone."

McGonagall's face went red.

"This again. I don't know how you found out about the Stone in the first place, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."

"But Professor, I think, I know that Sn- that someone's going to try. We've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

She eyed Harry with a mixture of shock and suspicion.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally.

"But Professor-" Diana started.

"Beatrix, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

They did no such thing.

"It's tonight," Harry said, once McGonagall was gone.

"What?" Tilly asked.

"Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."

"What are we-" Diana asked, but was distracted by Tilly gasping.

Diana and Harry turned to see Snape standing over them.

"Good afternoon," he said smoothly.

They stood there silently. Not knowing how to react.

"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.

"We were-" Harry began.

"You want to be more careful," said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can it?"

Harry went silent and hung his head in embarrassment.

"And we wouldn't want to risk Slytherin losing more points," Snape said. His eyes went to Tilly. Who refused to look the man in the eyes.

Diana gave Snape but didn't say anything. Knowing that saying anything would make this situation worse.

They turned to go outside, but Snape called them back.

"Be warned, you three, any more nighttime wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you."

Snape walked off and started heading towards the staffroom.

Once he was out of sight, Harry turned to Diana and Tilly.

"Right, here's what we've got to do," he whispered urgently. "One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape. Wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Tilly, could you do that?"

Tilly's eyes went wide.

"No NO No! I can't do that! I can barely look the man in the eyes without crying!"

"I'll go. I'll pretend I need to talk to Professor Flitwick about something."

The other two agreed and went to go check the third-floor corridor.

This plan didn't go very well. Half thought her fake conversation with Flitwick, Snape left the room. There was no way for Diana to follow him without giving herself away.

Diana headed to the secret hideout where she found Harry and Tilly waiting. They explained how when they left, they were quickly found by McGonagall.

"I'm going out of here tonight, and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

"But what if McGonagall finds you!" Tilly worried.

"So what if they do!? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from!" Harry shouted.

Tilly and Diana watched as Harry continued with his speech.

"If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there, it's only dying a bit later than I would have because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight, and nothing you two say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"

When Harry stopped Diana and Tilly at him for a few more seconds. They had never seen Harry get so emotional like this. Diana moved over to Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You're right."

Harry gave her a confident smile.

"I'll use the invisibility cloak," he said. "It's just lucky I got it back."

"Will it cover all three of us? Tilly asked in a quiet voice.

"All… all three of us?" Harry responded. A bit confused.

"You're right about Voldemort and stone. I shouldn't have been more concerned with how Snape and McGonagall are going to react. If they won't believe us, we'll just have to do something ourselves."

Harry and Diana both smiled at her.

The three of them decided to meet up after dinner that night.

It was the first time in ages where Harry wasn't bothered by Gryffindors ignoring him.

It was the first time in ages Tilly didn't let anyone annoy her while she was reading.

It was the first time in ages Diana didn't spend the end of the week exploring the empty halls with the twins in the middle of the night.

All three of them were thinking about what was going to happen that night.

Once it seemed like everyone had headed off to bed, the children each made their way back to the hideout.

Diana and Harry were the first ones to get there. While they waited for Tilly, Diana asked if Harry brought the cloak with him.

Harry nodded and pulled it out. Being careful not to let the flute Hagrid had given him for Christmas fall out too.

"Make sure it covers all three of us. If Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own-"

"What are you doing?" a voice coming from the door asked. Causing Harry and Diana to let out surprised yelps.

Neville made his way down the stairs. Holding his toad, Trevor, who looked like he was trying to escape to go on his own midnight adventure.

"Go back to bed, Nev," Diana said, as she stepped in front of Harry to keep the cloak out of site.

"Tell me what you're doing." Neville squeaked.

"It's not your problem, Neville."

Diana looked at a clock on a nearby desk. Where the heck was Tilly. They were losing time that they couldn't afford to waste.

"But "you'll be caught again." Neville's eyes turned to Harry. "Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."

"You don't understand," Harry said, "This is important."

Despite Harry's words, there didn't seem to be anything that could get Neville back to Gryffindor Tower.

"I won't let you do it," he said, placing Trevor on the ground and taking a fighting stance. "I'll.. I'll fight you!"

"Don't be stupid," Diana said.

"Don't you call me stupid!" Neville shouted. I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"

That felt like a gut punch to Diana. She had a sudden guilty feeling crawling all over her skin.

"I'm sorry Nev, but this really is important. It's not like one of Malfoy pranks, I swear.

She took a step forward, but Neville wasn't backing down.

"Go on then, try and hit me!" Neville said, raising his fists. "I'm ready!"

"I'm not going to hit you!" Diana said incredulously.

"Why can't you just go back to bed? Why do you have to cause so much trouble?"

"We're trying to keep everyone else out of trouble!"

"What are you talking about?"

Harry started shaking his head at Diana to get her to stop.

Diana hestained. They were losing time, and she didn't know how to explain everything to Neville in under a minute without him freaking out. Diana took a deep breath.

"What's your plan here, Neville."

"I don't-"

"Remember what happened to Mafloy last time you got detention. He tried to tell everyone and got in just as much trouble.

Neville's eyes went wide.

"I'm really sorry, Neville." She said with genuine remorse.

"We have to go, Diana," Harry said. He moments to Tilly who was now standing by the portrait hole with her wand raised. Silently asking if they wanted her to do something.

"We're not taking him with us," Harry shouted, as Diana took Neville's hand.

"Considering what just happened, I don't trust Neville to be left on his own."

"I promise not to tell anyone!" Neville panicked.

"He'll crack like an egg if anyone finds him," Diana stated. Neville frantically shook his head.

Harry shook his head. Not wanting to waste any more time he walked over to Tilly and motioned for Diana and Neville to follow.

"You'll understand later, Nev." Diana said as she followed the other two out of the room. "I promise to make it up to you."

Once they were out into the hall, Harry pulled on the invisibility cloak over their heads.

As they walked the halls, Diana could feel her nervousness getting to her. It felt like every stature or tapestry they passed could have had Filch or Peeves waiting to pop out from behind of it.

When they got the first set of stairs, Mrs Norris sitting at the bottom.

Diana searched through her pocket and found a small pebble. She tossed it, which caught the cats attention.

While Mrs Norris was distracted, they made their way down the stairs. Being careful not to trip or let the cloak fall off them.

Once they got to the third-floor Peeves was there, messing with the carpet so that people would trip the next day.

"Who's there?" he said as they got closer. "Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"

The children went still and kept their mouths tightly shut. Diana had to slap a hand over Neville's mouth to stop him from letting out another scared squeak. Peeves narrowed his crazy eyes right at them.

"Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."

Harry spoke up. Speaking in an over-exaggerated hoarse voice.

"Peeves, the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."

Peeves jumped back in shock.

"So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr Baron, Sir," Peeves stuttered. "My mistake, my mistake. I didn't see you, of course, I didn't, you're invisible. Forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."

"I have business here, Peeves," croaked Harry. "Stay away from this place tonight."

"I will, sir, I most certainly will," Peeves said, trying to get away as quickly as possible. "Hope your business goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you."

They hurried along once Peeves was out of sight. When they made it outside the third-floor corridor, the door was already open. Swing back and forth lightly.

"Well, there you are," Harry said quietly, "Snape's already got past Fluffy."

They stood there quietly. Not knowing what to do next.

"If you two want to go back, I won't blame you," he said. "You can take the cloak, I won't need it now."

"Yeahhhh no," Diana said.

"Sorry to break it to you, but you're stuck with us," Tilly nervously joked.

Harry seemed shocked for a second but shook it off and turned to Neville.

"You can stay here with the cloak if you like, Neville," Harry said. Clearly still muffed at having to bring Neville along in the first place.

Neville nodded his head.

Harry pushed the door open. They were met with the sounds of the overgrown dog as they peeped inside. Fluffy started madly sniffing around trying to see what the new smell was.

"Look at that at its feet?" Tilly whispered. "Looks like a harp."

"Snape must have left it there," Diana replied.

"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry."Well, here goes..."

Harry pulled Hagrid's flute out of his pocket and pressed it to his lips. It let out a rattling sound, which causes Fluffy's eyes to start drooping. The creature circled around the room for a few seconds, then tucked themself in.

"So beautiful," Diana said sarcastically.

"Don't stop playing," Tilly said, as she ducked out from under the cloak. With Diana following behind.

As they got closer, Diana could smell the thick dog breath coming off Fluffy.

"I think we'll be able to pull the door open," Diana said, looking over the dog's back.

"Want to go first, Tilly?"

"Not really, but okay."

Diana gave her a thumbs up and moved to pull open the floor door.

Tilly sat down, with her legs hanging off the edge, and tried looking into the room below.

"What can you see?" Diana asked

"I can't really see anything. Just black. I think we'll have to drop down."

Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Diana to get her attention and pointed at himself.

"You wanna go first?"

Harry nodded his head. He moved to hand the flute over to Tilly as she got up from the hole. Fluffy stirred for a second but went right back to sleep when Tilly started playing.

Harry looked down and gulped. He looked up at Diana and reached out his hands. She grabbed them and started lowering Harry down.

"Let me know when you're ready to let go," Diana said.

Harry let out a sound of acknowledgement.

"Okay… on three?" Harry asked.

"One… Two… Three." Diana and Harry let go of each other's hands at the same time. Harry let out a small sound of surprise and fell into darkness.

Diana and Tilly waited anxiously.

"There's some kind of plant down here! I think it's safe to jump!" Harry shouted to them.

Diana looked to Tilly, who nodded her head. The older girl lowered herself down and let go when she was holding on by her fingertips. She landed a couple of meters away from Harry.

"What is this stuff, I can't see anything?" Diana said, looking around the pitch-black room.

"Dunno, some sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Tilly!"

The distant music stopped, and Diana swore she heard some distant shouting along with loud barks.

Tilly and Neville both came falling down. Letting out screams as they fell. They both landed with big thuds.

"Neville!" Tilly shouted.

"I'm sorry I got-"

"Scared?" Harry and Diana said unison.

"We must be miles under the school," Tilly said.

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really."

Tilly held up her wand.

"Lumos!"

Everyone yelled as the plants started wiggling around them. Each trying to move toward a damp wall on the other side of the room.

The plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around Tilly and Neville's ankles. As for Harry and Diana, their legs had already been bound tightly.

Neville and Tilly managed to get loose while Harry and Diana were still stuck. The more they seemed to struggle, the tighter the plant's grip got. Diana tried to yell something to Tilly when one of the tendrils went around her neck.

"Stop moving!" Neville shouted. "I remember what this is! It's called Devil's Snare!"

'That's great, Neville. How do we kill it!" Harry shouted.

Neville turned to Tilly, who was shaking her head.

"I.. I don't remember! I must have been sick or something when we learnt that!"

"Ummm Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp-"

"So light a fire!" Harry choked.

Tilly raised her wand and muttered something. Blue flames came flying out.

The plant started flailing about. Trying to get away from the warm of the fire. Loosening its grip on Harry and Diana. Harry grabbed Diana's arm and started helping her get free.

"Merlin! Are you two, alright?" Neville asked.

"Thanks to you, we are." Diana coughed.

"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology," Harry said. Wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Harry gave Neville a smile, and he returned wholeheartedly. They all stood there for a minute. Trying to catch their breaths.

"This way," said Harry, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way out of the room.

As they walked down the hall, the only things they could hear was the sound of their own breathing and the tickling sound of falling from the ceiling.

The passageway was starting to slope downward, and Diana reminded again how deep beneath the school they were. Diana then heard a clicking sound in the distance.

"Does anyone else hear that?"

"Everyone stopped to listen.

"Could it be a ghost?" Neville asked.

"Sounds like birds to me," Harry said.

"Sounds like car keys to me," Tilly said.

"There's light ahead. I can see something moving." Diana stated.

The four entered a broader room to find it filled with many shiny birds flying around the chamber. They spotted a wooden door on the other side of where they were standing.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" Diana asked.

"Probably," said Harry."They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once... well, there's no other choice... I'll run."

Harry covered his face and made I blind run towards the door. The others cringed in anticipation, but Harry made it to the door untouched. Hr pulled on the handle, but it was locked tight. Everyone followed him over to examine the door. Tilly tried the Alohomora charm to no avail.

"What's the point of magic if it doesn't work half the time," Tilly said in frustration.

"These birds... they can't be here just for decoration," Diana said. "Wait a minute."

"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys."

"What? No way." Neville said.

"Look carefully. So that must mean..." Harry looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys.

" ... yes, look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"

"What? That's insane." Diana said in disbelief.

"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one. Probably silver, like the handle." Tilly said as she looked at the lock.

"Well… okay I guess," Diana said. Still not quite believing the situation.

Harry, Tilly, and Diana each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. While Neville stayed on the ground to try and catch one from below.

No matter how hard they tried, the keys were just too quick for them. Every time they got close to one, it would just zip away again. Diana and Tilly started getting too tired to continue after a while.

Lucky for them, their friend was the youngest Seeker in a century. Part of his job was to spot tiny things.

"That one!" he called to the others. "That big one, there, no, there. With bright blue wings, the feathers are all crumpled on one side."

Diana went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing and nearly crashed into the ceiling. Pulling back right before hitting it.

"We've got to close in on it!" Harry called, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. "Diana, you come at it from above, Tilly, stay below and stop it from going down, and I'll try and catch it… Right, NOW!"

Diana dived, Tilly speed upward, the key dodged them both, and Harry chased after it; it sped toward the wall, Harry leaned forward and pinned against the wall with a crushing sound.

Diana, Tilly, and Neville all let out cheers. They jumped down to the floor and rushed over to the door. Harry struggled to get the jumpy key into the keyhole. Once he got the door unlocked, Harry let the key fly off.

"Ready?" Harry asked everyone, his hand on the door handle.

They nodded. Harry pulled the door open. The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. As they stepped forward, the whole room started lighting up to show a strange site. They all stood at the edge of a giant chessboard.

Diana started making her way over to the next door. Only to be stopped by pawn statues pointing swords at her.

"Really?" Diana said. She was clearly running out of patience.

"Now, what do we do?" Harry whispered.

"What is this?"

"I think we have to play chess to get to the door."

Harry, Tilly and Neville all protested, but Diana held up her hands to quiet them.

"I don't really understand why the teachers felt this was the way to go, but there's no point in arguing. We need to focus on catching up with Snape, so let's get through this."

"How?" Tilly asked.

Diana made her way over to the black knight. She asked if they really did need to play and it nodded its head. Diana turned and instructed everyone on which of the squares she needed them to stand on and placing herself in the knight's position.

She watched as the white pieces made their first move by having a pawn move forward to squares. As the game continued, Diana tried to remember back to what her dad and uncle had taught about regular chess as a kid. With the expectation that the pieces were somewhat alive, there wasn't really a difference between chess and bromus. Hector once explained there were minor rules that only come into effect in a really bad situation.

This whole game is a bad situation.

Diana kept instructing the pieces to move, and occasionally reassured the others when they started looking nervous. The piles of white and black rocks grew bigger and bigger.

"Let me think," Diana said. She wiped some sweat off her forehead.

She looked up to see the white queen staring down at her.

"I think I got it." Diana turned to Harry. "I'll sacrifice myself, and then you can checkmate the king."

Everyone started making protests again.

"But you'll get hurt!" Harry shouted.

"Remember what you said about what will happen if Snape gets the stone."

Harry went quiet.

"We need to focus on stopping him. It's okay if one of us can't go on."

They all stared at her. Eyes wide with fear.

"I promise I'll be okay."

Diana's heart started beating faster as she took a step forward. Once both her feet were plated on the square, the white queen raised its arm. At the last second Diana impulsively moved in defence. The queen hit her right in the arm, causing her to slide across the floor.

Diana could faintly hear screams but was too focused on her own pain to work out who it was. The queen dragged her to the other side of the room and waited as Harry took the next turn.

Diana watched as Harry moved three spaces to the left and called checkmate. All the pieces in the room went still, and Harry, Tilly and Neville started heading towards the door.

For some reason, they stopped. Diana had a hard time making out what they were saying, but eventually, Harry and Tilly moved to open the door, and Neville came rushing over to Diana.

"What are you doing, Neville?"

"Helping you! Can you walk?"

"I think my arm's broken, but I should be okay to walk."

Neville helped Diana to her feet. He couldn't seem to stop shaking. They backtracked through all the chambers grabbing two brooms for the key room. The two had a bit of trouble when trying to fly back up to the trapdoor.

It was quite a sight, really with Diana trying to fly with one hand and trying to help Neville at the same time. Tilly had given Neville the flute and the cloak before leaving, so lucky that didn't have to worry too much about getting past fluffy.

Once they were out of the third corridor, they headed to the hospital wing.

"How long do you think we were down there? The sun's coming up." Diana said as they passed some windows.

Neville shrugged his shoulders.

"You were really brave tonight," Diana said.

"I fell down a hole."

"You saved Harry, and I's lives."

"I… that.. Tilly would have worked something out."

"I'm still happy that I dragged you along."

"Well! Don't get used to it. I'm never letting you drag me into anything again!"

Diana smiled at him. She felt an odd sense of pride towards Neville.

Once they got to the hospital wing, Neville helped Diana pick out a bed and left to go find Madam Pomfrey.

A few minutes later, someone Diana didn't expect to see came rushing into the room.

"What the hell are you two doing here!?" Diana yelled as the twins sat down at the end of the bed.

"Little first year told us you were here," Fred said as he sat on the left side of the bed.

Neville must have ran into them and panicked when they asked what he was doing.

"Cracked like an egg," Diana muttered to herself.

"So, what happened?" George and Fred asked.

"Why do you care?"

"Don't be like that, Di." George said.

"Like what!"

"When are you gonna stop acting like this?" Fred asked.

"When are you gonna stop being horrible to Harry?"

"He lost us the house cup."

"Why does that matter? It's not like you actually get anything for winning."

"It's about-"

"If you try to tell me it's about pride, I'm going to punch you with my good arm."

"It's not just that," Fred argued. "He can't just do whatever he likes because he's famous."

"That's not why he was sneaking around," Diana said.

"Why was he sneaking around then?" George asked.

"That's…." Diana stopped, realising what she just did. "Dammit, I hate you two."

The two of them smiled cheekily at her.

Now I'm the one who cracked like an egg.

"So, what's really been going on?"

"I can't say."

"We promise to apologise to Harry if you tell us," Fred said.

"You should apologise even if I don't tell you," Diana said firmly.

"Well, we were going to do that anyway," George said.

"Sure, you were."

Fred and George kept trying to ask her questions but were kicked out after Madam Pomfrey arrived to find Diana's broken arm. As Pomfrey worked on her arm, Diana kept hoping that Tilly and Harry were okay.