Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and can't get money for this, but I can make him into a Mafia Prince.

Warning: Some chapters (the ones including pranks) might not be appropriate to read at work. Laughter may ensue leading your co-workers to see you as even more insane than they previously thought.

Chapter 21: Halloween Fright

Friday started out normally for the duo as Harry and Blaise followed their usual morning routine only to find it slightly disrupted when they went to go for their jog about the lake. On the far side of the lake they could see someone already jogging and even though they were too far away for Harry and Blaise to identify it made them a bit uneasy, no one else was ever out at this time in the morning. Also, the person would have had to pass right by the grove where they had been following The Path and doing their training on the way to the lake. They had been using their knives in training today and while being out on the grounds so early might not be against Hogwarts rules they didn't know what would happen if they were found to have blades in their possession. Exchanging glances and making sure their daggers were tucked out of sight Harry and Blaise decided to continue with their jog. They didn't want to seem suspicious and if they continued on as they normally did there was a chance they could catch up and find out who their morning companion was.

They kept their pace even and at a comfortable speed for both of them even though they were tempted to run fast enough so that they would catch up with the person that could possibly be a threat to their morning activities. Yet as they continued with their steady jog it became obvious that this person obviously wasn't in as good of shape as they were for partway through their second and final lap, it was a damn big lake after all, they got close enough to identify the person.

"Professor Snape," Blaise almost choked on the words and Harry was almost as shocked.

If they had not seen what they had the night before they would not believe that their dress-in-billowy-robes-to-frighten-the-students potions master would be dressed in simple dark pants and a dark grey shirt for an early morning jog.

Ending their jog with a set of quick stretches Harry and Blaise made their way back to the Slytherin dorms, returning the nod their head of house sent to them when their paths crossed. They were a bit wary of this transaction, after all professor Snape hadn't tried to speak to them about their presence on the grounds that morning or mention what he had seen the night before. In fact he hadn't said a word to them at all, he hadn't tossed out any of the veiled comments he seemed to keep on hand specifically for them.

Parting ways in the common room Blaise couldn't help but say, "it almost makes me feel bad about what we're going to do later. Almost."

After breakfast they traced the now familiar route to the dungeons and entered the potions classroom. Except for the first day the classroom had been open and they were expected to be inside before professor Snape came in at the start of class though no one ever went in until a minute or two before class time. None of the students ever seemed to want to be the first to enter the classroom; it must have had something to do with the nastily fascinating objects floating in jars around the room. This was perfect for Harry and Blaise though. They had managed to come across a bottle of prankster's glue that blended into whatever surface it was put on and claimed to be undetectable. It also helped their cause that the Gryffindors always sat in the same seats on the same side of the classroom and the Slytherins did the same thing on their chosen side. Quickly smearing glue across six seats the newest prankster duo of Hogwarts watched in satisfaction as it blended seamlessly in with the surface of the stools so that you couldn't tell that there was anything wrong with them. Next they sprinkled a few of the explosive pellets across each seat with the glue. They had bribed an older Slytherin that didn't take sides with any of the factions within their house to charm them so that when the pellets heated up the mini explosion would be triggered. Smirking the two slipped out of the classroom only to head back in a few minutes later with the rest of their classmates, the professor right behind them.

It wasn't until they were halfway done with the simple fever reducing potion that Harry started wondering if the prank was ever going to work, it also appeared as if nothing was going to go right or be normal that day. First professor Snape had actually given them encouraging remarks on their potion as he did to the other Slytherins and now the prank looked as if part of it would fail. It wouldn't be a complete and total let down since six students would still be glued to their stools but it would be anticlimactic for himself and Blaise when certain results weren't produced. Ten minutes later and Harry no longer had to worry. Crabbe and Goyle began yelling and tried to jump off their stools as tiny sizzle-spark sounds began to be heard. With a small pop and a cry from the two thuggish goons they finally managed to separate themselves from their stools but at the price of their robes. Meanwhile the other four victims had just succumbed to the prank.

Pansy, Dean, Seamus, and Ron made up an interesting chorus as they tried to hop around the dungeon, stool legs knocking into cauldrons and spilling partly completed potions everywhere to cause a major disaster. Blaise managed to grab their potions out of harms way just as Pansy leapt past their table shrieking. But the best part of course came when the popping sounds came again and the stools clattered to the floor. This was better than Harry and Blaise had ever anticipated. Ron Weasley hadn't been wearing any pants under his robes, revealing his teddy bear covered boxers to the class. For a moment all was silent and then the snickering began. Ron looked horrified and with a red face that was brighter than his hair he fled the room.

Somehow Severus restored order to the classroom and managed to get the class out of the room without them coming in contact with the potions quickly spreading theirs way across the cracks in the dungeon floor. With a few quick waves of his wand he scoured the potion out of the cauldrons that were still upright before they reacted. The mess on the floor was harder to deal with but he didn't dare trust the house-elves to deal with what could possibly be volatile mixtures. Sitting behind his desk with a heavy sigh he gave into a small chuckled. The prank would have been funny if the students at the butt of the joke hadn't panicked and knocked over some of the cauldrons. The best part of it all was that now he would have enough snide remarks to make to Weasley for a few weeks to come.

Which reminded him—"twenty points from Gryffindor, Weasley."

"Oh," Blaise half-laughed, half-groaned once she and Harry were alone, "that was hilarious seeing them go around like that. I hadn't expected their robes to rip like that though, that was a bonus, but I never want to see Weasley's underwear ever again."

"Just wait until lunch," Harry smirked, "the whole school will know by then."

Ron was in a foul mood for the next few days and on Halloween it seemed that Snape was being even more vindictive in his taunting of Weasley though how Ron recognized half the insults directed towards him was beyond Harry. Perhaps it was the tone their professor used or perhaps Weasley had come to accept that anything directed from Snape towards himself would be negative and demeaning. So it was with puzzled looks that Harry and Blaise contemplated what could have cheered Weasley up so that he was practically strutting around. It wasn't till near the start of the Halloween feast that they heard Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil gossiping.

"She was crying up a storm—won't come out at all."

"Poor dear, her face is probably all splotchy but Ron was right, she can be a bit of a know-it-all and no one really talks to her."

Blaise shook her head.

"Pansy was saying something about Hermione Granger running through the halls all upset earlier. Figures Weasley would get his balls off of making someone else feel belittled and upset."

Harry's fist clenched for a moment, he hated guys who bullied girls for kicks, every single one of them seemed to remind him of Chris Chauvez. Harry shook his head and forced himself to relax; he didn't need to go socking Weasley one and getting a letter sent home to his dad. Harry had come to realize that it wasn't really the fighting that his father frowned down upon, but the fighting with those that didn't have the same training as he had and therefore didn't really stand a chance against him was what Manuel disapproved of.

"It's none of our business though, she'll have to work this out herself and her housemates and head of house should be watching out for her," Harry told Blaise, "Gryffindors really need to adopt some of Slytherins attitudes in that regard."

Harry and Blaise continued on to the Great Hall for the feast. The hall was decked out with live bats fluttering wildly among floating jack-o-lanterns and skeletons that were dancing overhead. Eventually they joined in with those around them as they discussed classes and hobbies. Mainly most of the talk focused around Quidditch though and the first game of the season that was the highly anticipated Slytherin vs. Gryffindor match. The Slytherin team was fiercely determined to keep the Quidditch cup sitting in their common room for another year, no matter what. Then two things happened at once to disrupt the meal. Well one thing for Harry and Blaise and the other for the whole school.

Ciara came sailing quickly through the hall though it wasn't time for mail and dropped a letter into Harry's waiting hands as Professor Quirrell came stumbling into the hall in a terrified panic shouting, "Troll—in the dungeons—thought you ought to know."

Then the one teacher in the school that was supposed to be teaching them to defend themselves against creatures like trolls fainted.

Some of the weaker Hufflepuffs screamed and began to quake, the Ravenclaws were scared but huddled together discussing useful spells they could use to defend themselves, a few Slytherins panicked but most stayed outwardly calm, and the Gryffindors who did not wish to be outdone began to yell loudly thus adding to the confusion.

"Silence," Dumbledore called out over the uproar as he shot off sparks and bangs from his wand, "Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately. Professors come with me."

It also seemed that the Headmaster forgot one of the most important things, the Slytherin dormitories were in the dungeons and to head there could possibly be taking them straight into the troll's path. But their head of house hadn't forgotten and stopped some of the students who hadn't yet realized that fact.

"Head along the back corridor," Snape instructed the Prefects, "stick together and make your way through to the alternate entrance to the common room. You shouldn't run into the troll that way. The painting is of Lady Alyssa hanging from the gallows, password is 'mistrial.'"

With a curt nod Snape swept off to join the rest of the teachers combing the dungeons, deliberately ignoring the contemptuous kicks some of his Slytherins were giving their unconscious and incompetent defense teacher.

Harry and Blaise followed along near the end of the line till they came to an intersecting corridor where Harry jerked Blaise aside and pulled the letter out that he had hastily stuck in his pocket once the panic began.

"Something's up," he said worriedly, "Trevor wouldn't send Ciara to us at this time of night and normally she would wait till breakfast tomorrow to give us the letter with the rest of the mail owls."

Blaise nodded apprehensively, "I know. I recognized dad's handwriting. What's—"

She broke off and started again, "did you hear that?"

Together they wheeled around and put their backs to the wall, using what little cover the shadows afforded them to hide. A horrible stench was filling their nose, even worse than the dung bombs they had used on the teachers.

"Troll!"

Pulling their wands they tried casting Stupefy hexes on the slowly lumbering creature but they only bounced off the troll's thick hide and seemed to only mildly irritate the thing. Neither Harry or Blaise thought to run though it had been part of their training to fall back when things got out of hand, but they hadn't tried all their options yet. Holstering their wands both mafia raised brats fell back into a more comfortable form of offense and drew their guns. Harry's first shot echoed loudly through the darkened halls, and though it pierced the trolls flesh where their spells didn't he cursed himself for not flipping on the specialized silencer that the lab had added to their guns. Remedying the fact he and Blaise fired off a few quick rounds, aiming at the creatures head and causing it to roar in pain when a bullet or two pierced through its eyes.

Shouts from down the hall alerted Harry and Blaise that the teachers were nearby and coming for the troll or to investigate the sound of the first shot. Quickly squeezing off a few more bullets to stall the troll for a few moments so that it wasn't right behind them Harry and Blaise took off and ran down the halls after their housemates. They only managed to catch up with them right at the portrait of Lady Alyssa and slip through before the Prefects shut the entrance. The whole encounter with the troll had only taken a few moments though for Harry and Blaise time had seemed to slow and stretch before speeding up rapidly. Making sure their guns were tucked away the duo sat down in a corner to wait for their head of house to show up.

-Hermione's POV-

She had sat huddled behind a statue the whole time. She had just come out of the bathroom and was wiping her red and puffy eyes when Harry Potter and Blaise Zabini had shown up in the hallway. Not wanting to be seen she had ducked behind a statue and whatever they were doing had them so engrossed they didn't notice her. Then the troll had shown up. She had watched as they futilely sent spells at it but by then she had been too terrified to move. Then they had started shooting at the troll! Not with spells but with guns and bullets. The noise drew the teacher's attention and they were suddenly dealing with the already toppling troll, hexing it with powerful spells till it lay still on the floor though the fact that its chest no longer rose and fell attested to the fact that it was dead.

The teachers had examined it then, taking in the holes riddling the trolls face and the ruptured gooey mess that were once eyes. They were wondering what had done such a thing. Hermione wanted to jump out and scream at them that it had been Potter and Zabini and they had guns but she was too scared. She didn't want to rat them out and have them discover that she was the one that told on them. Or even worse, she could possibly get expelled for being there. No, she would stay quiet and forget that this had ever happened. At last the teachers pulled away and a few levitated the troll away to dispose of it somehow.

"I'm going to check on my students," Professor Snape had announced before sweeping away, his billowing robes swishing lightly against her hiding spot and making her cringe back.

The other heads of houses concurred and Hermione nearly cried. Professor McGonagall would surely make it to GryffindorTower before her and she would get in trouble for not being there. But luck was on her side.

"One moment Minerva," the Headmaster had said, "I need to speak to you in my office before you check on the Gryffindors."

She had been left alone then and had wasted no time slipping up to GryffindorTower, no one noticing her late entrance as she scurried up to her bed. She only wanted to forget what she had seen and go back to being the naïve bookworm everyone thought her to be.

-End POV-

Snape finally showed up in the common room and after checking to make sure that none of the Slytherins had strayed informed them that the troll had been subdued by the teachers and taken away to be dealt with. He didn't say anything about unusual wounds on the troll which brought Harry and Blaise some relief, but they were still going to tread carefully. Shooting a troll with muggle weapons was probably a sure way to get expelled and they were glad that there had been no witnesses present. At last everyone began to retire and Harry and Blaise moved to huddle near the fire so that they could read the letter Trevor had sent. It turned out to be more like a frantic note.

H & B—Code Black, sever contact, we'll initiate in two weeks. Ordering Pizza.—T & M

It was unmistakably Trevor's handwriting and the small sigil beneath the words confirmed that the note was genuine and not forced. Either something had happened that forced them to go into hiding or they were involved in some deadly scheme that they were seeing to personally. At least they knew where to find them if it became necessary. Blaise looked up and filled her voice with anger to hide the worry shining from her eyes, a look Harry knew he reciprocated.

"What the hell are they doing in New York?"