Ron and Kelly slowly crept down the stairs, careful not to let Ernie Macmillan hear them. Their footsteps would echo endlessly if they went too fast or were too careless.

Harry, however, flew down the stairs, careful to stay in the shadows. With the Shadow Cloak, he could be seen, but not heard. Ron and Kelly, under the Invisibility Cloak, could be heard, but not seen.

Harry looked around the corner and gave them the all clear. No prefects were in his sight. Kelly lightly knocked on the wall, which echoed a bit, nevertheless, showing she'd seen his hand where the moon lit the wall.

The three tip-toed across the moonlit corridor, Kelly and Ron jumping at Harry's shadow. They should be passing the infirmary in the next corridor, and if they were caught, Madam Pomfrey would have a fit about her patients being woken up, even if they were dead asleep.

Harry looked around the corner again. Another prefect-less corridor--excellent. Harry gave the okay, and they moved on.

A prefect turned the corner. Harry stopped dead--a major mistake.

"Hey!" the prefect called, looking around.

Harry wasn't in the shadows. He started running, praying Kelly and Ron would have enough sense to move away if the prefect pursued him.

The prefect had a different, and worse, idea. "Accio!"

Harry went flying towards the prefect, though still connected to the wall as a shadow. The prefect walked up to him, and Harry bolted again, this time into shadows. The prefect, who, now that Harry had a better chance to look at, Harry recognized as Hannah Abbott, looked around. She sighed and stomped off in the opposite direction, though Harry thought he saw her look around a little for him.

"Harry?" Kelly whispered when Hannah was a safe distance away.

Harry moved his hand near a torch and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Then let's go," Ron murmured, and they started off again.

Any more prefects they encountered they were well prepared for. Harry no longer sprinted the area, in case a prefect suddenly turned the corner, just as Hannah Abbott had done. Instead, he ran from shadow to shadow, careful to let no one see him. A few times, even Ron and Kelly got lost.

Harry gently lifted the cloak as they neared the dungeons. "Ready?"

Kelly or Ron, Harry wasn't sure which, lightly knocked on the wall, indicating a yes. The knock echoed eerily even after they entered the freezing dungeons. Harry desperately wanted to get near the torches, but knew it would give himself away if he did.

Harry was startled to a see a light on in the room next door. What was Snape doing in his office so late? Harry neared a torch and pointed toward the slightly opened door. A thumbs up came from the middle of nowhere.

Harry crept through the door and quickly entered shadows, watching Snape. He was grasping his forearm with a pained expression, Harry's thoughts left to wander very little on why.

"Pay attention, Severus," Snape mocked. "I was paying attention. I know when the next meeting is…. But, of course, he would mumble the important part about where they were hiding…. And he still didn't tell me!"

Harry left, hearing murmuring outside the room. Ron and Kelly had the cloak half off, shooting retorts at each other.

Harry stepped into the light, Ron and Kelly jumping at his sudden appearance. Harry slipped off the cloak, being sucked away from the wall. "What are you two doing?"

"He said--"

"She started--"

"Professor Dumbledore!" Snape's voice rang through the dungeons.

"Go!" Harry whispered, motioning towards Snape's storeroom as he threw the cloak over himself again, being thrown against the wall.

Kelly and Ron drew the Invisibility Cloak over themselves and quietly walked in, leaving Harry for lookout. There was no one in sight.

Harry could barely make out shuffling, though Snape, thank God, seemed oblivious to the fact that there were strangers in his storeroom as a whispered conversation with the Headmaster took place. Harry could have sworn he heard Ron and Kelly whispering to each other for a few moments, but then it stopped. The moving of a glass followed it, followed by more movement of glass. Snape still spoke in incoherent whispers with Professor Dumbledore.

And then something happened that made Harry wish he wasn't connected to this echoing wall.

CRASH! Which idiot was clumsy enough to drop something?

Snape came bursting out of his office, the conversation with Dumbledore forgotten for the moment. Harry moved into the darkness just as a scream of, "Daddy!" came from the storeroom. Snape, just as bewildered as Harry, raced into the storeroom, Harry at Snape's heels.

"Lumos Olem!" Snape shouted into the darkness.

Harry rushed back out, still listening.

"Serenity!" Snape exclaimed, amazed. "What are you doing here?"

Serenity sniffed. "I needed an ingredient for this new potion I'm concocting, but I wasn't sure if you'd let me use some!"

"Oh, I'd let you use anything, Serenity…" Snape consoled.

Though Harry couldn't see it, Harry was sure Serenity was grinning triumphantly as her father hugged her sympathetically.

"Come on, Serenity…" Snape said gently. "Let's get you back to my office… what ingredient did you need?"

"The… the gillyweed…" Serenity whimpered.

"Here…" Snape stopped. "It seems some of my gillyweed is missing, my dear…"

"Oh…" Serenity said, sounding as though she was thinking quick. "I already got some of it. Uriko was helping me, too…"

"Oh, I see," Snape said, sounding as though he only half believed her. "Well, come on. The dungeons is no place for a crying girl…."

Snape led his daughter out of the storeroom and up into the entrance hall, instead of his office. Harry heard Ron and Kelly come up shortly afterward, and Kelly whispered that they had three glasses of gillyweed.

"We'll explain later," she continued, and Harry heard her and Ron start walking back to the common room.

The journey up was much harder than down. Snape seemed to have alerted prefects that wandering students might be about, so prefects were strolling double-time, careful not to let any wandering students get by. Harry was seen numerous times, but none summoned his back, just demanded an army of prefects search that floor, making Kelly and Ron's job much more difficult. They were almost trampled several times, but the three made it back to the common room in one piece.

"You know," Ron said, setting down the glass of gillyweed he carried on the table in front of him, "it's a good thing tomorrow's Saturday."

Harry nodded. "When should be ready to go down?"

Kelly looked thoughtful. "I'll take the gillyweed and hide it. Let's go to bed; I'll wake you two at about nine--"

"Nine!" Ron was ready to protest.

"Nine," Kelly said firmly. "We don't know if Hermione's down there, and if she's not, we'll need all the time we can get to search the forest or wherever."

Ron looked very disgruntled at the idea, but protested no more.

"So I'll see you at nine?" Kelly asked, grabbing the three glasses of gillyweed.

"Nine o'clock sharp," Harry confirmed.

Ron got up and stomped to his dorm, while Kelly laughed softly and started walking up to hers. She shifted all three glass jars to one hand, turned and blew Harry a kiss, then continued up to her dorm.

Harry just smiled as he walked up to his dorm, close to skipping, ignoring the nine in the morning prospect ahead. He was going to find Hermione!