Warning

This story is not suitable for readers under the age of seventeen. It contains sexual content, including some non-consensual, and may offend some readers. If this subject is offensive to you, please do not read this story.

Chapter 17 - Adventures

Hermione stayed with Severus that night, leaving first thing in the morning to return to Gryffindor, have breakfast with Ron and Harry, then be back in the dungeon for Potions less than two hours later.

Not wanting to invite discovery, they had slept apart the next night, but Hermione had once again woken in her lover's bed on the morning of Halloween. Heading back to the Gryffindor tower, though, Peeves was causing her problems. He had caught sight of her hurrying stealthily through the corridors, and had raced quickly to catch up and buzz around her excitedly, wanting to know what Miss-Smarty-Pants was doing out of her house at that time. She had tried simply ignoring him, but he had raced ahead of her as she reached the bottom of a long staircase. He grinned nastily down at her as she placed her foot on the first step, then, with a loud cackle, grabbed the sword from the suit of armor at the top of the steps, and swung. The helmet was knocked from the body with a crash, and came bouncing down the steps with a clatter and clang that she was sure would wake the castle.

Hermione turned back down the stairs and ran. The poltergeist was behind her, but she had a head start, and with a few sharp twists and turns, she was finally sure she had lost him. Glancing nervously at a large clock as she passed, she ran quickly towards the tower in an attempt to make up the time she had lost avoiding Peeves.

She reached the portrait hole, breathless, and was let though with a disapproving 'tut tut' from the Fat Lady. The guardian to the Gryffindor tower had informed her, two days ago, that it was not her place to keep tabs on the sixth-years, and that, while she did not feel it would be appropriate to inform Professor McGonagall of Hermione's early morning returns to the tower, but she did not have to approve. Much to Hermione's relief, she had been true to her word in keeping it from the head of the house, but had made her disapproval very clear.

Hermione crossed the common room just in time. As she reached the stairs to the girls' dormitories, she heard voices behind her. A group of early- rising third-year boys appeared from the other stairs. Slipping quietly up the steps, she silently cursed both Peeves, for delaying her, and herself, for being careless enough to be almost seen. She had showered with Severus, but now took a few minutes to tidy her hair after her long run from Peeves, hug her rather disgruntled cat, and collect her books for the morning. The two boys were already waiting for her when she returned to the common room, and they set off for the Great Hall together.

At breakfast, Ron and Harry had some interesting news for her. It seemed that, after more than five years of hearing Hermione referring to it, quoting from it, and generally waving it under their noses, they had finally decided to read 'Hogwarts, a History', and had found it fascinating. Hermione found herself feeling very guilty about how little time she had been spending with Ron and Harry lately. She listened, with interest, as they told her some of the things they had been finding out about the castle, while she had been spending time in the dungeon.

"We found some references to tunnels that we couldn't find on the Marauders' Map, so we started doing some more digging," said Ron. "There are all kinds of books in the library that aren't really about Hogwarts, but refer to it. Look at this."

He handed her an old and fading book, with a scrap of paper marking the page. She read the title - "Legends of the Waters, by T. M. Hydra" - then opened it and read with interest the passage he had marked.

- - - however, not all of the stories of the merpeople have such strong supporting evidence such as this. For instance, one story, found in the ancient and thought-to-be-lost Kinsbury scrolls, refers to a series of caverns and tunnels below the water level of a particularly large lake, where merfolk and 'airfolk' could meet and communicate in the caverns' breathable air. It is said that this co-operation between land and water was instrumental in the recovery of the Spear of Ath, when it was stolen from Mer-chieftainess Murancra in 1622 - - -

"It doesn't mention where this was, though," said Hermione, cautiously. "What makes you think it's anything to do with the Hogwarts lake?"

Hermione was impressed with the amount of research that her friends had been doing into this. They had a long trail of books, scrolls and cross- references, all leading them to believe that somewhere from the Hogwarts castle, there were tunnels leading to underwater caverns in the lake. And they were determined to find them.

"We think they have to start from somewhere in the dungeons," said Harry. "You remember Nick's Deathday party? That part of the dungeon isn't used much, except for the ghosts, and it's a lot deeper than the rest - we think it has to be somewhere down there."

The two boys had been exploring the depths of the dungeons several times in the past week. Hermione couldn't help feeling a little hurt that this was the first she had heard of it, but then, she'd been spending so much time with Severus that she had hardly given them much of a chance to tell her. She'd been away so much that she had only once been to watch the Gryffindor Quiddich team practice, under Harry's captainship. Her friends meant so much to her, and she had been practically ignoring them - not to mention lying to them. Severus was right - they really had to decide what to do about either telling them or avoiding so much sneaking around so she didn't have to deceive them so often.

As they talked, she found herself growing as excited about the prospect of finding the caverns as they were. However long she spent at Hogwarts, she knew that she could never know even half of its secrets, but it would be fascinating to try to unravel more of them in their final years there. Ron's motives were, naturally, a little different. Living in the shadows of his older brothers, he was excited about the prospect of finding tunnels that had never been found by Fred and George, and couldn't wait to get one up on them for a change!

The Halloween Feast would probably be going on quite late that night, so they planned to continue their explorations the following night. Hermione was disappointed.

"I've already told Professor Snape that I'll be working on my project tomorrow night," she told them, "but if you're going the night after, count me in!" This would be perfect. It was all her own fault, she told herself, that she felt a little isolated from them, but sneaking around the castle under cover of Harry's cloak would be just like it always had been.

With the Halloween Feast that night, and adventures with her friends planned, not to mention tomorrow night with Severus, she had some fun nights to look forward to. She couldn't wait.