Hermione climbed through the vent, lowering herself slowly, relying only on fingerholds and toes holds. The tapping sounds got louder the lower she went until she felt something crawl over her hand. The lights in her helmet had barely illuminated the eight hairy legs, when she screamed and brushed it off. There were thousands bellow her, and she could hear them making their way up the walls and towards her. She began to climb as fast as she could to the top until she was able to push the vent open and climb into a completely different area.

The vent was slammed closed and she looked around, realizing almost immediatly that she was in the forbidden wing, in a room she had not been in yet. She walked around, watching for spiders and trying to see if she could find a way out.

There was only one small beam of light shinning in, and it shined on something that caught her attention. An old noose, hanging forgotten about from one of the roof beams. Hermione pulled off her helmet and stared at it for a while.

"Abel Frye," she muttered. The air around seemed to go ice cold, and she shuddered, knowing now that she was in a tomb.

She walked into another area and found over a dozen tanks filled with spiders, each of them getting bigger as she went on until she was looking at a spider the size of her fist. Some of the tanks had fifty dollar bills in them and others had soda straws in them, smaller spiders crawling around them.

"You again?" came a voice, and Hermione turned to look, her jaw almost dropping to the floor.

A group of students stood in a line in front of Harry, who was holding Max's leash as he sniffed them. Ron was next in line and completely oblivious of the spiders, as well as the others. Max sniffed him, but took a little longer than he had with the others. Harry's hands began to tighten up.

"What's going on?" asked Ron. "I don't have drugs, I swear!" Max began barking, and two healers grabbed Ron by the arms and pulled him away. "I didn't do anything!" he cried. They took him into a ten and then stripped his shirt off. Ron looked at his stomach and gave a cry. A large spider was working its way up his stomach and onto his chest. The healers brushed it off, killed it, and cast a spell on him to make the feremones go away. Ron was no the only one who had this done. Within five minutes, over ten people got sent to the healers with either spiders, just feremones, or sometimes bites.

Lupin walked around, when Tonks ran up to him, out of breath and looking frightened.

"Tonks? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"It's Hermione," she panted. "She's been targeted by the witches and she could be covered in feremones! We need to find her. She's at more risk than anyone else."

"Alright," said Lupin. "Go back to Algeron and help him."

"But Remus..."

"We need to get the antidote now or a lot of people will die."

"I'm so worried for her."

"I am too," assured Lupin. "Now go." He turned and hurried inside, walking down the line until he knew Hermione was not there. He ran down the halls until he came to the open air vent with Hermione's purse sitting outside of it. Moving quickly, he stuck his head inside and began to shout out her name, hoping she would hear him.

"Someone set us up," muttered Malfoy as he and Harry sat outside. Harry nodded and crossed his legs. "They sold us this whole ghost story." He looked up at Harry. "Harry, I've got a lot of apologizing to do, so I'd better start with you."

"It's alright," he muttered. "As long as you know the truth now."

"But you don't understand. I cursed Hermione." Harry jumped and looked at him.

"What?!"

"I carved a hangman in her locker and everything." Harry stood to his feet and paced around.

"Alright," he growled. "Who started this whole thing? The Abel Frye stories?" Malfoy shook his head, and Seamus shrugged.

"Don't look at me," he muttered. "I wouldn't hurt a fly."

Something triggered in Harry's memory, and he remembered his conversation with Abel's sister.

"He wouldn't hurt a fly. I hope they rot in hell for what they did to my brother and to my... my family."

Family.

Without hesitating, he ran back into the school and into Dumbledore's office, after trying a dozen times to find the password. He leafed through the student files and began reading home addresses.

"Who else lives on that road?" he muttered. Suddenly it was right in front of him, and he stopped to reread it again. "What?" he gasped.

Goyle stood, holding a spider tank in his hands while Hermione struggled to speak. "Goyle?" she muttered.

"I don't expect you to understand..." he muttered.

"You're right," she said. "I don't." He placed the tank down.

"I like to watch in the halls at night to see what the others are doing. It feels so good to see the bad guys scared for a change." Hermione winced.

"I know what it's like to be scared... by you." He shook his head.

"No. You didn't deserve it. You and Potter were getting too close to the truth. That's why I lured you into the witching chamber last night, remember?" He pulled up his sleeve and revealed the bite mark.

"Goyle, what do you think you're doing?"

"No," he said putting up a hand. "Don't try to tell me it's wrong. It's justified." He picked up the tank again and stared at the large spider inside. "They gutted me, Hermione." He looked at her. "They tore me open everyday and they laughed about it! Do you know what it's like to be gutted in front of dozens of laughing people?"

"I see it, Goyle," she said nodding. "I know what you're talking about."

"You just want to beat them up, and beat them up, and beat them up." He set the tank down again and sneered. "But I scared them. They're not laughing anymore." Hermione shook her head.

"You're right, they're not."

"Does Malfoy and his group know you're doing this?" He shook his head.

"No. They think this really is a ghost. The spiders provide the poison, and they provide the hysteria that makes the victim think he's seen a ghost. It was so carefully planned."

"Goyle, you've got so much intellegence," she said, shaking her head. "Don't throw it all away now."

"I don't need you to understand," said Goyle. "I don't expect you to understand... I don't want you to understand. The more we talk the more you know." He reached in his pocket and drew out a knife. "But it didn't work," he growled.

"What didn't?"

"You were supposed to be bitten. The dollar I gave you? Remember? You put it in your sweater. But then you turned around and gave it to Pansy. Hermione, God must be really looking out for you. So this'll be my third try. Let's hope it's a charm." Hermione took a step back and he lept at her, holding the knife in front of him. She screamed and ran, pushing a table over so it would get in his way. Goyle grabbed her from behind, but she stomped on his foot, making him fall.

She ran to the air vent, put her helmet on, and crawled down quickly. Her feet stepped on a loose handle and she fell with a scream, barely grabbing onto the side of one of the walls in time. To her surprise, Lupin's face was right there, and he jumped back when he saw her.

"Hermione!" he called, and reached in after her. She let go with one hand and reached to him and grabbed on. But when she let go with the other hand she lost her grip altogether and fell the rest of the way, screaming until she crashed through the bottom and landed on her back in the middle of the witching chamber. Lupin called to her from above, but she was unconcious. Within seconds, Harry came running up to him and looked at him frantically.

"I know who's doing this," he panted.

"Hermione just fell through here," said Lupin. "We've got to find a way in." Harry nodded and started running with him down the hallway.

Hermione's head was throbbing when she woke up. Her vision was slightly blurry, and the stomach wrenching pain in her leg told her it was broken so she didn't dare try to move it. There was a tapping noise on her helmet and she looked up, only to see eight large hairy legs sprawled on the cover. She screamed loudly and realized she could feel them crawling all over her suit.

"Somebody help me!" she shrieked. "Help me, please! NO!" Tears were falling down her face and she picked up a hand only to see about five of the large monsters were on her.

There were footsteps, and soon Goyle came into veiw, the spider tank in his hands again. All the spiders on the ground seemed to be crawling away from him as though he were wearing some sort of repellant.

"There weren't supposed to be this many," he muttered. "A blessing and a curse."

"Goyle," gasped Hermione. "Help me. I think my leg is broken." He shook his head and placed the spider tank on top of the altar and then turned back to Hermione.

"They're not bothering you," muttered Hermione.

"I'm covered in the male feremone. It drives the other males away and the females don't care."

"You wouldn't happen to have any more of that on you, would you?"

"For you? No." Hermione sniffed and shook her head. Goyle kneeled down beside her, the knife in his hands again. "I never killed anyone," he growled and lowered the knife towards her side, penetrating the suit.

"No!" screamed Hermione, certain he was going to gut her. But instead he made a giant tear in the suit. And she felt the legs of the spiders as they began to crawl inside.

"Don't move, Hermione," said Goyle as he dropped the knife. "For the rest of your life."