Chapter 20:

As Harry stepped across the threshold of the Gryffindor common room he noticed the sun had finally fallen. He glanced at his watch, which Hermione had been kind enough to fix for him. Just after eight. Tomorrow he had quidditch practice and, knowing Hermione, a few hours of study.

He noticed Ron and Hermione were not in the common room. He looked around and saw the seventh years gathered together in the far corner, comparing notes. The first years were, as always, gathered in a different corner, peering at the upper class men nervously. One of them caught Harry's eye and quickly turned away. He wasn't sure whether it was because he was Harry Potter or simply because he was older than them.

He pulled his bag off his shoulder and slumped it on an empty chair not far from the fire. He plopped down and pulled out his potions text. He flipped idly through the pages, not really reading anything.

Suddenly, he was back in the dead-end hallway. There were still no windows or doorways. Harry ran from one end to the other, keeping his hands against the wall, he felt nothing but rough stone against his palms.

Running back the other side, he stopped suddenly underneath the far torch. There, in the flickering light, he noticed something that appeared to be hewn in to the wall. Strange symbols were etched in to the wall. A string of five separate characters. Harry didn't recognize them at all. He ran his fingers over the lines. Most of them seemed built around a straight vertical line, with the other lines jetting off from that.

"Maybe they're runes." Harry said out loud as the moved his finger to the next symbol. Having finished tracing the symbols, he took a second look around the rest of the hallways more carefully. There were no more symbols anywhere else in the room.

He straightened himself up and scratched his head. He looked down the length of the hallway to his left and then to his right. It didn't make any sense. Where was he? How did he get here? Had these symbols been here before? What did they mean? He sighed and leaned against the wall in frustration.

He closed his eyes and pictured the symbols. When he opened his eyes again he was back in the common room, his head leaning against the pillow, drool hanging from the left corner of his mouth.

He straightened up and wiped the drool away on his sleeve. He blinked a few more times. Was it really just a dream? He didn't know much about dreams, but he didn't think it was normal to have such vivid dreams, especially about the same place. He rubbed his fingertips against one another. They felt somewhat overly sensitive, as is he really had been rubbing them against stone just moments ago.

He closed his eyes, again trying to picture the stone markings once again. He took a slip of paper and tried to write down the sequence. Holding it up, he frowned. It didn't look right, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.

Glancing at his watch again, he stood up. It was now after ten. Ron and Hermione still weren't back. He gathered up his books and headed to the dormitory. Neville was sitting on his bed, his Herbology book open.

"Hi, Harry." Neville said brightly. Harry walked over.

"Hi, Neville. What are you reading up on?" he asked. He sat down on the bed next to Neville.

"Just some extra work Professor Sprout and I are working on. She mentioned she always two seventh year students help with the greenhouses as a way to get extra awards. She'd like to have me help, but there's loads of information I need to learn before she'll guarantee me one of the positions."

"That's great, Neville." Harry said truthfully.

"Where's Ron?"

Harry shrugged, "I have no idea. I had detention again tonight."

"I've heard. I'm sorry, Harry." Neville said sympathetically.

"It's not your fault, Neville." Said Harry.

"Well, I suppose not directly. But, by not getting in to N.E.W.T-level potions, I can't distract Snape from anymore. He's got to direct all his nastiness at you." Neville said, a smile at the corners of his mouth.

Harry smiled back. "Nice try, Neville. You don't miss potions at all."

Neville laughed. "Nope. You're right, Harry."

Harry chatted with Neville for a few more minutes, until Dean and Seamus came in, chatting animatedly about the notice detailing the first Hogsmeade visit.

"Halloween again, mates." Said Seamus happily, noticing Neville and Harry. "That's when they're letting us loose on old Hogsmeade."

"What this?" Dean said, picking up Neville's textbook. "Studying on a Friday night? Are you serious, Neville? I have, over the past five years, managed to train myself to forget how to read from dinnertime Friday night until mid-morning Saturday. I couldn't read a lick of parchment, no matter how hard I tried."

Everyone shook their heads at him. The four of them continued chatting until well after midnight. It wasn't until Seamus asked that Harry noticed Ron still hadn't returned. Dean said something about the Astronomy tower, causing everyone to groan.

Slowly, they all climbed in to bed and one by one fell asleep.

The next morning woke up to see Ron sitting on the edge of his bed, a huge smile on his face. Harry swatted at him, using his other hand to pull on his glasses.

"What time did you get in last night?" Harry asked, sitting up.

"No idea, mate. Long after you lot went to bed." Ron said, gleefully.

Harry shook his head. "Do I even dare ask where you were, or what you were doing?"

Ron started giggling. "Nah. A gentleman never tells his secrets anyway. You ready for breakfast? I'm famished." He moved off the bed and began rummaging through his trunk for clothes.

Harry got out of bed and pulled on a shirt and pants. Hopping while slipping on a second shoe, he followed Ron out the door. "Wait, Ron. Why the hurry?"

He tripped on the edge of the last step. Hermione reached out and steadied his hand. Harry turned red and mumbled a thank you.

"Honestly, Ron." Hermione said, turning on the red-head, "What did you tell him?"

Ron shrugged and tried to look innocent. "I said a gentleman doesn't share secrets."

Hermione rolled her eyes. She turned to face Harry. "We both fell asleep in the back of the library. Madame Pince didn't notice us because the first years had managed to tip over three bookshelves in the front of the library and she was busy setting it right. By the time we woke up, all the lights were out and everything was locked up."

Harry howled with laughter at the crushed look on Ron's face. They walked down to breakfast laughing. Harry didn't mention the mysterious hallway to either of them, instead filling them in on his visit to Grawp.

Hermione clucked disapprovingly, but didn't say anything. Ron just shook his head. He still hadn't had the pleasure of meeting Grawp. "I'm not looking forward to it either, mate."

Breakfast was filled with more chat. Harry felt a tug in his chest toward the end. After his talk with Dumbledore, he'd made a decision and he intended to following through with it. He would miss all their chats. But, what had to be done, had to be done.

Leaving Hermione at the steps, Ron and Harry decided to head down to the pitch an hour early and get some extra flying in. Zooming up and down the length of the pitch, Harry and Ron had three races, Harry soundly beating Ron in all three.

Slowly, the other members of the Gryffindor quidditch team trickled on to the pitch. No one, except for Harry and Ron seemed to have much interest. After only a hour, Angelina called practice. Apparently, the seventh years had had some sort of celebration. It seemed they had gotten to bed much later than even Ron and Hermione. None of them looked awake.

Ginny flew over next to Harry and Ron. "What do you think they were up to?" she asked.

Harry and Ron shook their heads. "I remember Fred and George mentioning something about an all-house gathering last year. I wonder if that has something to do with it." Ginny said.

Neither Harry nor Ron had anything to add. The three of them dismounted and followed the rest of the team up to the castle. Harry felt the odd tightening in his chest again as he watched Ron and Ginny head up to the castle. He took in a deep breath and knew he had made the correct decision. Now to implement it.

Hermione had spent the morning organizing their studies, so that when they all returned upstairs, the table in front of the fire was covered in their books and papers. Harry took one look at it and shook his head firmly.

"Sorry, Hermione, but I promised Professor McGonagall I'd stop by this afternoon. She wanted to see my about some things." he tried to sound knowing, as if McGonagall had asked to see him about Order business, but Hermione looked skeptical.

"Really." Harry added lamely. Hermione pursed her lips, but nodded her head brightly.

"Well, look in on us when you have a chance, Harry. I'm sure we'll still be here." she said. Ron's eyes grew wide, pleading to Harry. Harry gave a wistful smile and moved out of the common room.

Out in the hall, he wondered where to go. He and Ron had been playing with the idea of meeting Grawp, but now he didn't know when Ron would get to meet him. Harry had no idea where to go. He let his feet do the walking. Up and down staircases, around and around as they shifted from one wall to the other he walked, until finally he stopped at the top of a parapet.

There was a wooden door, with an old rusty knob. Harry tried turning it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Alohamora." he incanted. The knob clicked open. Harry walked through the door and found himself on the top of the west tower. The view was magnificent, but his thoughts were soon turned from that as his ears picked up on low voices coming from just around the bend of the spire.

Harry set his bag down to give him better balance and shut the door quietly. He turned to the right, thinking that whoever was already out here had probably gone to the left. He inched along the foot-wide outcropping of rock the encircled the tip of the tower until he was a third of the way along the tower from the door.

He could hear the voices more clearly now. It was Draco speaking, Harry would recognize that drawl anywhere, but he couldn't make out the lower voice. He strained his ears further.

"--all that we can do now is wait, then?" Draco asked.

Harry didn't catch the response. "But you'll be safe about it, won't you? It wouldn't do to get caught." Draco replied.

Again, Harry couldn't hear the answer. He couldn't even tell if the other person was a witch or wizard. It could have been either, talking low to conceal their voice. Whatever the case, Harry wouldn't find out unless he moved, and quickly. They were leaving.

Fortunately, Harry had thought right, for he heard the voices moving off to the left. My bag! Harry remembered. He quickly pulled out his wand.

"Accio bag!" he whispered fiercely. An instant later his bag zoomed in to his hand. He didn't think they had noticed.

"What was that?" Draco said suddenly.

"Nothing." came the reply. Harry turned the voice over in his head, but he did not recognize it. He waited, every muscle tense, waiting for them to exit the tower so he could make a clean getaway. Nothing. Seconds ticked by, his muscled beginning to cramp the state of tenseness.

Finally, thankfully, Harry heard them moved away down the door. He let out a huge sigh and crept back along the ledge to the door. Who had Draco been talking to? And what had they been talking about?

He reached his hand out to grab the knob. There was nothing there. Looking at the door more closely, his eyes widened in dismay, there wasn't a handle. But how had he shut the door earlier?

He'd just pushed it shut he remembered with a groan. He pulled the arm straps of his bag and took a long look around. There, just off to the left of the door, was a second ledge leading off around the rest of the roof, away from the parapet.

He carefully lowered himself down the three feet to the ledge, making certain his feet touched solid stone before shifting his weight. He walked a few steps out on the new ledge, trying to figure out the next step.

Harry looked left first, then right. Only the open sky to his right, from below the tower he had just climbed down from. The way to his left looked more promising. He began slowly following the ledge around the edge of the castle, hoping to eventually stumble across a way to get back inside.

He pulled himself over and under ledges are beams for the next half hour before finally discovering a door tucked back in the recesses of a tower. Taking a last look at the roof of Hogwarts, Harry figured he was as far away from the Astronomy tower, the most well known landmark Harry could find, as was possible.

That didn't help him figure out where he was now, though. He tried the knob, which was surprisingly unlocked. Then again, Harry couldn't imagine there was any great reason for keeping people off the roof. There seemed to only be two or three ways up there to begin with.

He entered Hogwarts again, a sigh of relief escaping him the moment he felt four very solid, very stone walls surround him again. He gathered his bag from the floor where he had dropped it and exited the small room. The staircase didn't look at all familiar as he descended.

Harry glanced at his watch as he turned yet another corner in hopes of finding some familiar landmark to guide back to Gryffindor common room. It was still light out when he had left the roof, but now the sunlight shining through the window was fading quickly.

Harry turned left again and ran smack into a wall.

"That makes no sense." he said irritably, rubbing his nose where he had hit it on the stone. His eyes were smarting from the pain as well. He glanced back at his watch. Seven thirty. He had half an hour to find out where he was, and, more importantly, get down to Snape's office for detention.

"Fine." Harry said. "Fine. If I can't find my way the git will just have to come and find me." Swishing his wand, Harry began leaving a trail of bright yellow flashes behind him. He'd had the sneaking suspicion since running into that wall that he was going in circles.

Finally, panting heavily, dirt stained, and stomach growling from hunger, Harry raised his hand to Snape's door.

"Come in." the voice commanded. Harry obeyed.