Disclaimer: I bow to the greatness that is JK Rowling, and in no way claim her ideas or characters. I do, however, plan to borrow the characters for just a bit.

Of Unexpected Situations

He quickly paced the seventh floor corridor, muttering to himself about a room that sometimes didn't exist. Had anyone seen him, they would have thought him insane. Suddenly, a door appeared. Harry moved quickly and darted into the Room of Requirement. He looked about the room.

Hermione had done a great job in creating this room for the training. A few bookshelves filled with thick volumes were lined up on the left side of the room, a desk was situated at the back with Hermione seated behind it, and there were a couple of comfortable looking chairs scattered around the room. The ground was covered in soft carpet, reminding Harry that, in all likelihood, he would be spending the majority of his time writhing on the floor. He sighed, and looked up to see Hermione watching him intently.

"Harry, are you sure you are up for this today?" Hermione asked.

"Hi, Hermione! I thought you were bringing Ginny?" Harry responded with forced cheerfulness, trying to shift the focus from himself. If he thought about it, he might not go through with it.

"I'm here!" Ginny called, poking her head out from behind one of the bookshelves and waving excitedly, as if Harry were miles away instead of mere feet. "I'm brushing up on a few healing spells just in case…" she trailed off, noticing the anxious look on Harry's face. Ginny quickly switched topics, "And Ron would have come, except he was too busy sucking face with Lavender." Ginny grinned.

Hermione giggled and Harry rolled his eyes.

Harry looked at his friends, noting they both looked nervous, but happy at the same time; Ginny holding a book of healing, and Hermione seated with Ancient Magic open in front of her. Realization swept over him. They're helping. They're happy they're helping. They want to help. Harry wasn't quite sure what to do with this information. He had felt like he was alone against the world since Sirius died. Now he realized he had always had his friends.

"So…" Harry started, unsure of what to say. "I guess we should get started. No time like the present, right?" Harry took four steps, his long legs carrying him across the room quickly to Hermione and Ginny.

"So, we need to get you into the right mindset. Think along the same lines as when you're throwing the Imperius Curse. What do you think about?" Hermione began.

Harry pondered a moment, and responded truthfully, "I try to force myself through. I don't really think about much. I basically try to gain control of myself. Does that make sense?"

Ginny nodded. "I also think that you need to remember to use Occlumency. Instead of forcing the person out of your head, force the spell away from your body." Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Okay. I can try. Let's set some ground rules before we start. How about time? How long before you lift the curse, that is, if I haven't already thrown it off?" Harry asked.

"One minute to begin with, I think," Hermione responded. "Then we can decide from there," Hermione decided, picking up a stopwatch that had magically appeared next to her, and handing it to Ginny.

"Who's going to curse me?" Harry asked, tentatively, refusing to meet his friends' eyes.

The color drained form Ginny and Hermione's faces, and they exchanged nervous glances. They hadn't thought about that. At the silence, Harry raised his eyes.

Nervously, Hermione said, "I will." Harry nodded. This was going to be tough.

Harry braced himself. He closed his eyes, keeping in mind his training in Occlumency, keeping in mind his self-awareness. He heard her voice, tentative and small. "Crucio?" It wasn't a command, it was a question, and it didn't feel like he remembered it. It didn't hurt; it tingled. And just like that, the feeling was gone.

Harry opened one eye, hesitantly, half expecting Hermione to try again. He saw her face, colorless, and her lip quivering. Harry sighed, "Hermione? You don't have to do this if you don't want."

Her resolve had wavered, she looked openly afraid, "I want to help, but I don't want to hurt you."

"You have to hurt me, Hermione. That's what the curse does." Harry tried reassuring her.

"But, I don't want to hurt you!" she cried. Harry looked at Ginny, who seemed just as upset as Hermione, a tear slowly sliding down her cheek.

Oh, bloody hell! This is ridiculous. They can't bring themselves to do it. How could I ask them do this? They shouldn't have to do this. I can't ask them to do this, can I? Harry's thoughts circled for a moment, and then he raised his eyebrows at Hermione, a mischievous grin trying to escape through his aggravated demeanor.

"You don't want to hurt me? What kind of excuse is that? I can't believe you're chickening out on me!" Harry yelled.

Hermione blinked in surprise. "I'm… I'm not chickening out on you!" she answered, exchanging an uncertain glance with Ginny.

"Yeah. Yeah, you are! I thought you were capable of this! But, I guess not. I guess you are just abandoning me!"

"Abandoning you!" Hermione retorted angrily. "I'm not abandoning you! I've been here the whole time, and you were the one to choose whether or not to confide in us!"

"Oh, please, Hermione! You've had secrets all year, what with Draco's nightmares! You didn't share either!" Harry shot back.

"That wasn't my secret to share and you damn well know it, Mr. Potter!" Hermione screamed.

"That's right, Hermione!" Harry yelled, "Now curse me, damn it!"

"CRUCIO!"

Ron sat in the back of the library, not wondering where his friends had gone. He knew where they were, and what they were doing. He didn't want to watch. He couldn't bear to see Harry tortured, even if it was by friends. By friends; for practice. He cringed now, just thinking of Harry having to go through it.

Shaking his head, he turned back to the book in front of him. He'd been staring at this chapter for longer than he'd like to remember. Ron felt as if he was making progress on the veil, but he still didn't have enough to go on.

Draco sauntered into the library like he owned the place. He glanced around, and noticing the place almost empty, let the smirk of disdain fall from his face. He was tired of playing the part. He'd had to endure endless hours of Gryffindor bashing with Crabbe and Goyle, and he'd had to endure the constant annoying flattery that came with being in the same room with Pansy.

He slowly made his way to the back of the library; to the table he had always seen Harry and Company sitting at. He wasn't surprised to see someone seated at their table; he was, however, surprised that Ron was alone. Where are Harry and Hermione?

Seeing as Ron seemed to be the only one still talking to him, Draco made his way to the table. He dropped into a chair next to Ron, who snapped his head up to see who was joining him.

"Draco?"

"Hey, where's everyone else?" Draco asked causally, hoping for a clue as to what Harry had been up to. He still couldn't believe that Harry had interrupted his fun the other day. Actually, Draco couldn't believe that no one had told Ron about the dreams. But at least he had someone normal to talk with.

"Off training," Ron replied, looking questioningly at Draco. "Why aren't you with them? They said they were doing some pretty complicated things, and I naturally assumed…" Ron's puzzled expression relaxed into a knowing look. "You've had a falling out." Ron sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, expecting some confession from Draco.

Draco merely rolled his eyes. "Yeah. During the holiday. Didn't you know?"

Ron shrugged. "Wasn't my place, was it? Besides," he gestured to the book in front of him, "I've had more important things going on."

"More important things?" Draco asked glancing at the book. "Ah, you're still on about the Veil, aren't you? I thought Hermione was working on that with you."

"She is. But, she was more interested until she took up with this training idea."

"What exactly are they training for?" Draco asked, forcing the jealousy down into the pit of his stomach.

Ron narrowed his eyes at Draco. "I don't think you want to know. Or, I don't think I want to tell you. Again, not my place, is it?"

Draco sighed. Harry was training without him, and he didn't know what they were working on. Maybe Ron didn't even know. "Well, what have you got so far in the Unspeakables book?"

"You still want to help?"

"Of course, Ron."

"Why do you want to help Harry if you've had a falling out?" Ron asked.

"I don't know… I can't explain it," Draco said, not wanting to answer the question that had been bouncing around his head the past few days. He knew the answer. But he was still angry with Harry and he wasn't ready to forgive him yet. Draco traced etchings in the table that he'd not seen before, avoiding Ron's eye. His fingers moved on their own accord for a moment before realizing he was tracing the letters "HG". So, Hermione isn't as goody-two-shoes as she seems. Defacing private property? That's something I would do.

Ron watched him intently. "Interesting answer," Ron's eyed Draco. He seemed to make a decision, and nodded. "Well, here's what I've got so far." Ron shoved the book and a long piece of parchment toward Draco and sighed. "It's not much."

Draco read the feet of parchment. Chapter 25. Two-five. Seven. Then there were a series of scribbles, half words, and letters. At last Draco could see a pattern emerge. He's using combinations of two, five, and seven to find a sentence written in the chapter! I can do this!

"Okay," Draco said, surprising Ron with a grin, "I think we can figure this out. Between the two of us, we're plenty capable, right?" Ron raised his eyebrows at Draco's sudden optimism.

"Yeah," Ron answered slowly, "I think so too. Let's give it a go."

Several hours later, after many, many failed attempts, they'd come up with a pattern, a pattern that worked. Seventh sentence. Fifth word. Second letter. And here, they'd found a sentence. They glanced at each other; grinning like fools. Both knew exactly where to look next. They quickly stood up from the table, hastily cramming books into their book bags.

They practically ran from the library in search of another book, Ron's fist clutching a piece of parchment with the sentence that had sent them scrambling to the Slytherin common room.

TO FIND SECRETS OF THE DARKNESS AND DEFY DEATH, USE THE VEIL.

AN: HELLO FRIENDS! I'm so so so sorry that it has taken so long (way too long) for me to post the next chapters. I apologize profusely and beg your forgiveness. I hope you enjoy this chapter and Please Reveiw!