A/N Here is Chapter 3. I am in the process of editing and revamping all of the chapters, so if they're a little hard to read, please bear with me. I am doing the same with HP and the SSV.

Looking In

Rated: PG-13

By: Handsofftheshinyshirtitsmine

Co-Author: Cassie aka cumbacksirius

Chapter 3

Dee shifted positions uncomfortably, her body cold and stiff on the cave floor. Beside her Cassie groaned at the interruption in her sleep and stole the last of Dee's blankets, causing her decision to wake. She struggled to sit up and bent her neck in an attempt to relieve some of the stiffness. Outside, the sun was only recently up, and the air was still cold and nippy, the grass covered in dew. Dee stood, her joints cracking uncomfortably, and rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm herself.

"Oh man…" She moaned, stumbling to the cave mouth, a mix of weariness and a pounding head.

The fresh air that enveloped her that instant she stepped out refreshed and awakened her a bit. She blinked in the sunlight and inhaled deeply. It was the first opportunity she had to look at her surroundings in the light, and she found it strikingly beautiful. The ground was dotted with colorful late season flowers, and well-spaced trees slowly merged into the deeper forest.

A cracking twig, a sudden noise in the quiet surroundings, caught Dee by surprise. She jumped, and looked about nervously, relieved to see only a small brown deer that had steeped into the clearing. It stared as her for a moment, apprehensive, before lowering its head to graze. Dee watched it, and then took a few quiet steps forward, reaching out her hand towards the graceful animal. It continued to chew on the grass, seemingly oblivious to the girls approach.

From inside the cave, Cassie called out Dee's name, concerned about where she had wandered off to. The deer startled, and bound away, leaving Dee standing alone. Cassie came to the cave entrance and leaned against the cool stone, looking at her friend.

"You've been out here awhile. Don't you wand to eat something?" Cassie inquired. Dee looked at her and smiled,

"Yeah, I guess so."

Back inside their hide-away, the two girls sat on the floor, opening one of the bundles that Ron and Harry had brought to them the night before. Inside were some bread and cheese, a few chocolate frogs, and a couple of bottles of water. A not fell out with the food.

"Ooh read it!" Cassie prompted eagerly. Dee picked it up and squinted at the scrawled writing.

"Sorry there's not much. We'll bring more tomorrow." She read, shrugging a little.

"Oh well, at least there's chocolate!" Cassie laughed and opened one of the water bottles.

Inside the castle, Ron and Harry were huddled over their own breakfasts, talking fervently about the two girls.

"They need beds and a fire." Harry concluded, placing his fork on the table.

"I know, but how are we going to give them that without telling a Professor?" Ron inquired.

"Simply" Hermione piped in from next to Ron. "We will turn the rocks into feather beds; and Im sure they can make a fire. After all, muggles do camp" she finished. The two boys stared at her in awe.

"What? I was thinking about that last night," she stated, taking a drink of her pumpkin juice.

"We will go see them during lunch." She suggested. The two boys nodded, their concern a bit stifled.

Cassie kicked a rock away from herself bored. She had been sitting or standing in the cave all morning, it had begun to rain soon after they had breakfasted. Dee had been scribbling in a notebook that she had bought the day before most of the time, and Cassie knew that she should not interrupt her friend's writing. She looked over at the dark-haired girl in the corner, whose face was tipped low over the paper as she re-read what she had written. Then, Cassie resigned herself to complete boredom, and fished through some of Dee's bags to find a book to read while she waited for Dee to finish her work.

"Biography of Gandhi," she chucked it over her shoulder, "Benedict Arnold..." Again to the floor, "Hmm…" With interest, she pulled out t a large, leather-bound book and thumbed through its away, yellowed pages.

Inside, she was caught by the words that lined the top of the pages. They were written entirely in flowing sparkling Latin, but Cassie found that she could read them with ease.

'WITH THE OPENING OF THESE PAGES, THE WORDS SHALL TURN, THE POWER SHALL SHIFT, YOUR LIFE WILL CHANGE.' Cassie furrowed her eyebrows, not understanding how she could read a language that she had never learned, or why it said what it did. Concerned, she closed the book and retuned the book to the bag. She then continued to search until she found a book on John Kerry. Pulling the book from the bag, she rolled her eyes and smiled a little. "Geez Dee.." she muttered, looking at the pictures around which her friend had plastered tiny hearts. Cassie shook her had as Dee finished writing, walking over to Cassie.

"What are you reading?" She inquired.

"One of your books." Cassie replied with a shrug.

"I told you that you should have bought some." Dee said, picking up the Biography of Gandhi off the floor. "All hail Gandhi." She laughed as she turned to the first page.

Cassie raised her eyebrows at her, and then motioned to her own book.

"What about him?" She questioned. Dee grinned.

"He is just my love." She responded, her eyes flicking across the pages of the Gandhi biography. "Gandhi is my role model, it would be wonderful to be just like him…" se began to mumble senselessly, and Cassie allowed her attention to drift from her to the mouth of the cave, where s he noted some movement outside.

"Dee!" she hissed, shaking her friend's shoulder. "Someone is coming!" Frightened she allowed the book to slip from her hands, falling with a thump to the cave floor, and moved closer to Dee, shaking. Dee looked towards the entrance, and she rose slowly,

"I don't think its Ron and Harry," she guessed, pulling Cassie to her feet. "C'mon!" Kicking the mess of books and notebooks out of the way, Dee hurried deeper into the cave, Cassie at her heels. Neither dared to look over their shoulders as they continued into the growing darkness.

"Where in the world does this lead to?" Dee wondered aloud as they made their way through the corridors. Behind them, they could hear someone moving about in the main portion of the "cave", the noise following them through the stone.

"Its getting really dark" Cassie whined, reaching her hand towards the cold cave wall. Dee eyes strained for her friend's face, and she plundered forward.

"Cass!" She wailed, stumbling over a large rock and falling to the ground harshly. The sloped ground carried her a few feet, until she hit another rock.

"Oh! Dee!" Cassie hastily, but carefully, found her way to where her friend was lying, propped partially up by the stone. "Oh dear…" She murmured her voice filled with worry. She reached forward, touching Dee's forehead gingerly. She could hear her breathing but could not tell if she was conscious. She kept her hand on the other girl's head, and clapped her other around Dee's thin wrist. She took in a deep breath, and closed her eyes, attempting to clear her mind, which was swimming and whirling.

Keeping her eyes closed, she bit her lip and fought to blank her mind. She was overwhelmed by a rush of cool, pure light, and found her hand moving up to a point of Dee's arm that she knew instinctively was shattered. Once her hand rested overlap of the point, she began to whisper in fluid Latin, swaying a bit as she did so. The hand on Dee's head danced across the bloodstained, pale skin in rhythm with the words that Cassie was speaking.

Dee's eyes began to flutter wearily, though she was unable to see in the gloom, and a moan escaped her lips. Her head was reeling, but with each passing moment the pain subsided a bit more. Her arm was tingling, yet she could hardly feel her fingers, and her did not immediately notice that Cassie was kneeling over her.

"Shh…"Cassie hushed, briefly breaking her Latin to calm her friend, who was stirring uncomfortably. Dee mumbled incoherently and strained to sit up, but some strange strength allowed Cassie to hold her down.

Long minutes passed, with each one seeing Dee's vibrant strength and health return slowly. Cassie began to end her speaking and allowed Dee to sit up finally when she was sure that she would be alright.

"What… what happened?" Dee croaked before clearing her throat. Cassie stared at her blankly for a moment, and then shook her head.

"I… I don't know…" She replied. "It just kind of happened…" She continued to look at Dee, confused.

After a few more moment, the girls rose and brushed themselves off.

"We can probably head back." Dee suggested.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Cassie worried, and Dee nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay." She reassured her. They began to walk cautiously in the direction of the cave entrance. "Shh!" Dee hushed as they rounded the corner. Cassie peered over her shoulder, and watched as a tall, dark-haired figure left the cave.

"That was not Hermione, Ron or Harry." Cassie stated.

A/N That's not where I wanted to end it, but Cass wouldn't let me have as much of a cliffy as I really wanted! Oh well! Chapter 4 coming soon!