At 10.00 that evening Will slowly walked through the corridors of Hogwarts towards Filch's office, ready to do his detention with Autumn. Arriving a few minutes early, he knocked on Filch's door but there was no answer, so he waited quietly outside. Before long he saw Autumn rounding the corner into the corridor.
"Hey Autumn," he said as she approached, "Filch isn't here yet – I guess we have a few minutes until our detention starts."
"Hey Will, so you mean we're early... again..." she laughed a little.
"Yeah, I know – it's getting to be a habit," Will observed. "Better than being late."
"Yeah, I guess..." Autumn said, slightly awkwardly.
At that point they heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps approaching, and sure enough, Filch rounded the corner, his cat Mrs Norris right behind him.
"Alright you two, let's be getting started," Filch said, unlocking the door to his office. "Lots of work to do," he added, opening the door and smiling malevolently at them. He grabbed another set of keys and a bottle of magical mess remover and then closed the door again.
"Follow me, the two of you are going to be cleaning trophies in the trophy room." He led them around a few corners to another door which he proceeded to unlock before ushering them inside.
"Trophies are there," he said, indicating a series of mahogany cabinets against on of the walls, "cleaning stuff is there," he gestured towards the corner of the room. "Oh, you'll also be needing this..." he thrust the bottle of magical mess remover into Will's hands. Will and Autumn exchanged glances but said nothing.
"Just be grateful I'm not making you use elbow grease," he said unpleasantly, and Mrs Norris mewed impatiently. "I'll be back to check on you in an hour. You're both staying here until they're all clean, so scrub hard now." He grinned evilly again. "Come along my sweet..."
Autumn and Will watched Filch and Mrs Norris leave the trophy room, before turning their attention to the many trophies that lined the walls.
"This is stupid," Will said, grabbing a rag and getting to work on the nearest trophy. "Look how many there are – we'll be here for hours."
"There's two hundred and ninety four" Autumn said absentmindedly, beginning to polish two trophies at once.
Will stared at he incredulously. "You counted?"
"What? Oh, well yeah, but not just now – this isn't my first time in detention you know" she said, grinning.
They scrubbed silently for a while, before Autumn finally broke the silence.
"Will, what were you going to tell me back in Transfiguration?" she asked, looking up at him.
Will stared at her nervously. "I just wanted to say that, well, I like you Autumn, I really like you a lot. And I'm not sorry about what happened in the classroom, it was just a bit unexpected that's all."
Autumn smiled. "Well I'm not sorry either, because I like you too Will."
Will returned her smile and continued scrubbing again, not knowing what else to say. They both worked hard at cleaning, and after another two hours they had finished with the trophies and Filch mercifully let them go. Though it very late they hung around for a while, neither of them eager to return to their dormitories just yet.
"Come on, I have an idea!" Autumn said suddenly, and she set off down the corridor in the direction of the grounds, Will trailing along behind her, struggling to keep up.
"Where are we going?" he asked as they reached the entrance hall, but suddenly he heard voices approaching. He grabbed Autumn and pulled her behind a statue, only just in time. The voices of Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall approached them.
"I understand that Severus has expressed an interest in the matter?" Dumbledore said coolly.
"Of course," Professor McGonagall's replied, "the boy was in his house after all. Personally I think he's already decided on Matthew's guilt, he may need... handling." She suggested.
"Indeed, I shall see to it myself."
"Does the brother suspect anything?"
"No, and in the interests of continued harmony it would be best if he never found out. Suspicion is a dangerous thing when there is no proof, it makes people even more desperate." Dumbledore paused for a moment, glancing thoughtfully at almost the exact point where Autumn and Will were hiding.
"What is it Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Probably nothing..." Dumbledore said wistfully, and they continued up the staircase towards Dumbledore's office.
"Damn, that was another close call..." Will said eventually, when he was sure that the two teachers were long gone. "Autumn, are you ok?"
Autumn's face had gone very pale. "Yeah... I'm fine..." she said. After a moment she seemed to regain her composure. "Come on, before we get caught" she said, racing towards the front entrance to the castle and out into the grounds.
"Where are we going now?" Will asked her, following her through the grounds.
She started to run and again Will struggled to keep up, following her all the way to the edge of the forbidden forest. "Are you going to tell me what we're doing out here?" he asked, trying to catch his breath.
"Scared Will?" she asked, grinning, then she turned and stepped into the forest.