AN: I don't like doing Author's Notes, but this seems necessary since it seems to come up in the comments a lot: Voldemort killed ALL MAGICAL CHILDREN in Britain born after 1 September 1978. Flitwick said in the last scene of Chapter 4 that all magical children, "whether raised by wizards or muggles" disappeared in the Purge. So no muggle-borns and no wizard-raised kids.

I stared in consternation at my lightly piled breakfast in the Great Hall. While everyone was still reeling in shock about what happened to Alicia on Remembrance Day, no other incidents had occurred. Moreover, the headmaster had announced that a specially brewed mandrake potion would put her to rights as soon as Professor Sprout's mandrakes matured in the spring. It wasn't an ideal solution, but it was one nonetheless.

I played around with my food as I stared up at the enchanted ceiling. A snowstorm was brewing. I remembered the first night I ever saw it. Despite the fear and nervousness at being the only one being Sorted that night, I still couldn't help being awed by its sheer magic. Yet here I was, at the cusp of the Winter Holidays, barely four months into my time at Hogwarts and the charm of that incredibly and intricately woven magic no longer surprised me.

"Harry."

I jumped and turned over. Cedric had just sat down next to me. He usually spent breakfast with his friends from his year and ensured I was included with him during lunch or dinner. He was a late riser and I was an early one, so our breakfast times rarely matched. I was surprised to see him up and about his early, especially since our night-time adventures had made him an even later riser than usual.

"I was thinking we should both stay back during the hols and have a go at exploring the castle without constantly being on the lookout. What do you think?" His words were crisp but his eyes were darting back-and-forth carefully to ensure nobody was overhearing us.

I nodded and smiled faintly. "Sounds fine to me, Ced. But are you sure you don't want to spend time with your family over the break?"

He shrugged and didn't say anything further. He rarely did on the few occasions I mentioned his parents or his family more generally.

I looked back from Cedric and something caught my eye. Fred Weasley was frantically waving his hands and trying to get my attention. I looked over my shoulder to see if he was indicating to someone else, but no, he was looking dead at me. I pointed to myself and he nodded and signed once more for me to come over.

"Since when do you know the Weasley Twins?" Cedric asked from my side.

I turned to him and shrugged. "I only know Fred."

"Funny, I don't think I've ever seen them apart to be honest. Curious."

Curious, indeed.

#

I followed Fred out of the Great Hall and up the Grand Staircase into the maze of moving staircases. But right at the foot of the staircases, Fred turned a sharp right and faced a portrait of an army of medieval soldiers eternally running up a hill on their steeds, spears at the ready. He tapped his wand on the army's general, I think, and muttered something under his breath.

The portrait immediately pressed in and sunk upwards to reveal a corridor within. Fred walked in casually and I followed behind him. A few months ago, this little display would have wowed me to no end, but Hogwarts is a maze full of secret doors and rooms just itching to be discovered.

The corridor within sloped upwards and it was a bit of a trek for a minute until the slope crested at the top. There was a blank wall at this end with a large crack in it and two benches set up on either side. Fred sat down on a bench and indicated I should sit down beside him.

"This is a cool find, Fred," I said looking around and taking in the curious zigzag detailing in the walls of this corridor.

Fred smiled. "Yeah I found it in my Second Year. The army on the hill of that portrait only attacks in the morning and the lead horseman of the army only gives you the password if you ask nicely just as they crest the hill. It was a bit tricky to figure out, but this is a great spot for some thinking before classes." He drummed his fingers on the bench and leaned his head back. "I'm sure this corridor has some significance and I know it will open into something, it's too odd not to, you know? But I haven't been able to figure out what yet."

"Is that why you brought me here? To help you figure his out?" I ran my hands over the zigzags of the wall and felt a soft rustle of wind tickle my palms.

"Oh, no." Fred shook his head. "I mean you're welcome to take a stab at it if you'd like, but I pulled you aside for something else." He squared his shoulders and leaned forward a bit, a look of concentration in his eyes. "I don't know what you and Diggory are up to every night. I know you two are roaming around the castle."

I could feel a cold sweat break out on my forehead. Suddenly, the corridor felt stifling. Would Fred tell on me? Would the teachers find out? Would Cedric be punished for his role in helping me instead of reporting me?

"Harry? Harry."

I felt Fred's hand on my shoulder and it broke me from my spiral. "What are you planning to do with this knowledge? How did you find out about it?"

Fred shrugged and quirked an eyebrow. "I wasn't going to get you two in trouble, mate. Diggory's a good sort and if he's joining, I'm sure it's for a reason. I only mention this because well…I was wondering if it has something to do with the thing that happened to Alicia?"

I looked away. "Wh-What makes you think that?"

Fred chuckled. "You're a terrible liar, Harry." He clapped my back. "Alicia is a good mate of mine and I hate to see her like this. You know she was the one who encouraged me to be friends with you? She had mentioned it to me that morning and then we bumped into each other in my hidey-hole, it felt like fate."

He looked away wistfully, stretching his legs out and tapping his toes together as he was lost in his memories. "Alicia was…is really good with things like that, she can sometimes, I don't know, make these almost weird predictions." He shook his head. "Anyway, my point is, I want to help."

…And it all clicked into place. I blushed a bit. "Alicia is a special friend of yours then?"

Fred smiled. "No, a good friend. I was hoping to make her a special one this year, if she wanted that too."

I nodded. I understood now where Fred was coming from and what he wanted out of this. Fred was a good mate and he wanted to do right by his friend and help in any way that he could. Cedric and I had been on a wild goose chase across the castle for months trying to track the voice down. But there hadn't been any inkling of the voice since mid-November, that's when I last heard it. It could very much be the case that Cedric and I were unable to cover enough ground together, maybe with Fred's help, we could get to the bottom of this faster. I made my decision.

"Alright then, well, I have to catch you up on a few things then, you see, there's this voice…"

#

Cedric was pacing back and forth in the Common Room, his eyes darted from side-to-side as people began to take notice. His shoulders were rigid and his hands clasped together behind his back in a vice. He paused and took a deep breath and then sat down beside me, but didn't look at me.

"Was it wise to tell Weasley about this?"

I got the sense that the question was meant to be rhetorical. I deflated at seeing Cedric's set jaw and general tension. "He already knew we were up to something. Besides, he doesn't want to tell on us or anything, he wants to help. Few people know the ins and outs of the castle better than the Weasley Twins, even you would agree with that."

Cedric seemed to develop a twitch in his eye. His hands balled into fists. "That's not the point, Harry! This is supposed to be our adventure. We would have solved this together, there was no need to involve that…that glory hound Gryffindor into Hufflepuff business."

I was taken aback by his response. "Um…What are you talking about? This isn't about Houses or rivalries. This is about getting to the bottom of what happened to Alicia and preventing it from happening to anyone else. I understand Fred's reason for wanting to join us and frankly, I think he'd be even more committed to this than us. We need more help on this, Cedric."

Cedric grumbled some more but didn't mention the topic to me again.

#

"What do you mean you can track everyone in the castle?" Cedric scream-whispered to Fred.

Fred took a step back with his hands up in surrender. "The Map isn't perfect, but it helps us keep track of secret passageways and especially, Filch's and Norris's movements. It's why George and I rarely get caught."

I got in-between the two Third Years and looked at Cedric. "This is hugely helpful, Cedric. There's no reason to be so…angry about it."

"He should hand this over to Dumbledore immediately. Can you imagine how much this Map would help the teachers? Maybe if they had this Map from the beginning, they could have prevented what happened to Alicia and-"

Fred pushed past me and slammed into Cedric, pressing him into the wall behind. A portrait of two seemingly noble potentially Frenchwomen backed away as Cedric fell on their gilded portrait frame. They gathered their skirts and jumped into the portrait next door, but continued to keep a close eye on the safety of their portrait, ready to scream if the situation demanded it.

I jumped over and bunched Fred's robes in my hands and began to pull him back. "What are you doing? We're on the same team here!" I scream-whispered too.

Cedric and Fred continued to give each other hard stares. Cedric grabbed Fred's hands on his robes and pulled them off himself. He then pushed Fred back.

I stumbled back too. I got my footing back a split second after and immediately placed myself between the two angry teens, who had yet to break their stare contest. I pushed the two of them apart and Fred finally looked away.

"Okay, new rule: no turning on each other in the middle of a corridor when we are supposed to be searching for the voice." I turned to Cedric. "What you said was completely uncalled for Cedric. That was just…mean."

Cedric looked chagrined and ready to protest.

I turned to Fred. "But Cedric does have a point, Fred. The Map is incredibly useful and would be useful to the staff." Without even turning around, I knew Cedric was smiling.

Fred huffed. "Except for one thing Harry, whom do you think they will keep an eye on first and foremost if they have the Map?"

I froze. I turned to Cedric who looked equally stumped.

"Yeah, Mr. Goody Goody here hadn't thought that one through had he?"

I shook my head. "We can talk about the Map later. Let's get on with why we're here, alright?"

Both Cedric and Fred nodded at that.

"Right okay. Fred, you have the Map and can navigate the castle on your own pretty well. Cedric and I will follow our usual routes for when I have heard the voice in the past.

Why don't we meet back here in 45 minutes and compare notes?"

"I can't hear the voice Harry does," Cedric piped in, "but whenever Harry has heard the voice before, I can usually hear a faint sound in the background. It's like steam coming out of a kettle but in a different room. Faint, but audible if you pay attention to it."

Fred nodded.

#

I walked alongside Cedric as we skulked the corridors of Hogwarts. "What was that about Cedric?"

"What are you talking about Harry?" He looked at me askance.

"That. That whole performance with Fred. I have never seen you behave like that. You have been against him joining us from the start and I don't understand why."

Cedric looked away and even in the faint torchlight, I could tell he was thinking deeply. I had seen Cedric in such pensive moods before and I usually just let him be until he had had the time to gather his thoughts.

"My father always said, 'Never involve a Weasley'. They are proud and reliable, but foolhardy and will get themselves killed out of sheer stubbornness on most occasions. I didn't want to compromise our mission in case Fred blabbed or George blabbed for that matter, since they usually tell each other everything; or worse, we got into a tough situation and Fred made things worse somehow by being the hero."

I stared at Cedric. "That's it?"

"That's it."

Fred told me I was a bad liar, but I definitely think Cedric was worse.

I opened my mouth ready to say something else when-

"Kill, maim, eat, TEAR, hungry…"

I stopped. Cedric stopped a step ahead. He must have read the look on my face and his demeanour transformed from uncertain to determined.

"Which way?"

We both strained our ears trying to catch the sound.

"Kill, rip…tear"

"That way," I said pointing back to the way we came. "Hurry."

Cedric had longer legs than me and he sprinted ahead. I raced to keep up with him while keeping an ear out at all times.

We followed the voice through a maze of corridors, trying our level best to be as quiet as possible. But regardless, once again, the voice was beginning to fade into the background.

"Cedric…" I said while trying to catch my breath. "It's going away again."

"Where Harry?" He wasn't the least bit winded.

"I don't know…" I pressed my ear to the wall and tried so hard to hear something…anything. "Downwards, away…I don't know."

Cedric put his hand on my shoulder. "We'll get it next time. Let's go find Fred."

I nodded. We walked down the corridor surreptitiously as we tried to make our way back to our meeting point. As we passed the portrait of a wizard pushing back a cascading wave, Cedric pressed a sconce attached to a nearby wall and opened a side passageway which we squeezed into. We cut across the entire floor and made it to the other side through a camouflaged door in the wall.

I followed Cedric out and closed the door behind me, only to bump into Cedric's frozen back. I stepped back and lost my footing. I fell to the floor and looked up at Cedric, annoyed.

He didn't even turn around to help me.

Then he screamed.

I got up and looked at what he was looking at. That was when I screamed.

Fred was pressed against a wall unmoving, he was curled up into a ball with his head popped up in abject horror. In front of him, the Bloody Baron stood equally frozen. Fred was petrified and so was the Baron. That alone was terrifying, but not horrific, not scream-inducing.

What horrified both me and Cedric was that in front of the Baron lay the unmoving body of Argus Filch, lying on his back and facing upwards. Except unlike Fred, who was clearly petrified down to the last hair, Argus Filch's body was moving perceptibly in the cold winter draft wafting through Hogwarts.

Unlike Fred, it seemed that Mr. Filch was most assuredly dead.