I don't own Hellsing or Harry Potter, and I'm not making any money from this.

Several of the third year Gryffindors were crowded around the notice board in the common room. McGonagall had recently put up an announcement about the first visit to Hogsmeade village. It just happened to fall on Halloween and everyone was excited about it. They would get to spend the day exploring the village, then be able to come back to enjoy the feast that would be prepared for them.

But not everyone was particularly happy.

"Where is he, Hermione?" Ron demanded angrily.

Hermione looked away from the noticeboard. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Your damn cat!" he said, stomping over to them in a fury. "I swear, I'm going to turn the bloody beast into a tea cozy!"

"Excuse me?" She exclaimed, her eyes going wide. "You are not! What has Crookshanks ever done to you?"

"He's killed Scabbers, that's what!"

Connie knew for a fact that Hermione's cat had been curled up asleep on her bed when they left their dormitory that morning. She sincerely hoped he was still up there, because the boy looked about ready to hurt something. Harry looked back and forth between them, and she noticed Neville glance over, wondering what was going on. Connie quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back out of the way when Hermione whirled around on her heel to face Ron down. This looked like it was going to get ugly.

"You can't know that for sure." she countered.

Ron pointed an accusing finger at her. "That thing is a vicious monster, Hermione!" he turned toward Harry and Connie as if looking for support. "You've seen the way he's always lurking about! Scabbers is gone, and that bleeding, pig-faced hairball murdered him!"

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Say it again, Ronald!" she warned, her voice raising in anger.

"Oh, you didn't hear me the first time? I said your bleeding, pig-faced hairball has murdered my Scabbers in cold blood!"

The girl's mouth dropped open in shock, then she moved to draw her wand. Constance and Harry took one look at each other then jumped between them, Harry pushing Ron back while Connie kept Hermione from hexing his balls off or something.

"Hermione, breathe." she said, trying to get her to focus on her. "Let it go He's just being stupid."

Harry seemed to be attempting the same thing with Ron, but it wasn't working very well.

"This isn't worth it." he told him. "Calm down."

"I will not calm down!" Ron shouted, then struggled to get out of Harry's grip. "Let me go! That cat is going to get what's coming to it!"

"If you didn't see him do it, you can't prove anything, Ron!" Hermione said through gritted teeth. "Maybe you should take better care of your pets! How many times has your rat gone missing now? Three times?"

"Four." Ron corrected, glaring at her. "And he only runs off to escape from your cat! He chases him around every time he sees him!"

"He's a cat! It's in his nature! If you didn't let the bloody thing run loose all the time, he wouldn't chase him!"

"Scabbers has as much of a right to be loose as that beast does!"

"Except he always makes a right pest of himself, doesn't he?" the girl shot back. "He chews holes in everything, roots around in people's beds at night, and slinks around in underwear drawers! Do you have any idea how nasty it is to find a rat burrowed in your dresser clawing through your knickers!"

"Scabbers does not do that!"

Oh, yes he did. The damn thing had caused more near heart attacks amongst the female members of their house than anyone could count. Feeling a large rodent crawling around under your sheets at night wasn't the most pleasant way to wake up. Connie herself had gotten a nasty shock once when she awoke to him trying to crawl up the inside of her pajamas' pant leg. She might have killed him herself if she hadn't recognized the distinctive tufts of fur on his ears. This arguing had gone on enough, and it needed to stop.

"Guys, is this really worth fighting over?" Harry asked, finally deciding it was safe enough to let go of Ron. "He's probably just run off again. He'll come back like he always does."

Ron looked at him and shook his head like he didn't believe it. "He's dead, Harry. I just know it. I've looked everywhere and the peanut butter I leave out hasn't been touched..." he paused, suddenly looking distraught. "Scabbers always comes back for peanut butter!"

"But where's the body?" Connie asked. "Cats are show offs, Ron. You've seen how Crookshanks always brings the spiders and mice he kills back to Hermione so she can see them. If he killed Scabbers, he would have brought the body to her before he ate it." she glanced over her shoulder at Hermione. "You haven't seen him with Scabbers, have you?"

The girl crossed her arms over her chest, still upset at the accusation. "No, and if I had, I would have told you." she said directly to Ron. "Crookshanks isn't stupid. He might chase him around, but he knows Scabbers belongs to you. I honestly don't believe he would kill him."

It took time, but Ron slowly started to deflate. "Fine." he said. "But he's gone somewhere."

"Maybe he's out at Hagrid's garden?" Harry suggested. "He says there's loads of wild rats down there that like to chew up the vegetables. Maybe... maybe Scabbers ran off to find himself a nice girl rat."

The ginger headed boy blinked at him. "A girl rat? Scabbers?"

"Yeah." Harry said, running with it. "He doesn't get to see other rats that much, does he? He could have found a nice, pretty girl rat. And maybe he keeps running off to... go on little... 'rat dates' or something."

It was an incredibly strange way to diffuse an argument, but it actually seemed to be working. Ron appeared to find the idea of his rat running off to engage in a rodent romance a much better option than him being dead. Behind her, Hermione cleared her throat.

"I'm really sorry that Scabbers is missing again, but it's not because of Crookshanks." she told him, sounding like she genuinely meant it. "Maybe we should wait for a couple of days and if he doesn't turn up, we'll all go look for him. Tame rats aren't used to hunting for themselves, so he won't have gone very far."

Ron slumped a bit, then nodded. "Alright." he said. Connie half thought he was going to apologize, but instead he gave her a small look of warning. "But I'm telling you, if I see one thing... One tiny little sign he had anything to do with it, your cat is as good as buttered toast."

Well, it wasn't exactly the way she would have chosen the argument to come to an end, but it looked like that was the best they were going to get.

After having a bit of light lunch in the Great Hall, the students who wished to participate in the Hogsmeade visit went out to congregate in the courtyard outside the main entrance. McGonagall stood at the top of the stone steps, accepting permission slips from the third years as she spoke to them about how they were expected to behave.

"These visits to Hogsmeade are a privilege." she told them. "Should your behavior reflect poorly on the school, this privilege can and will be removed. Mr. Filch will escort you and once you've arrived, the villagers will be keeping an eye out for any rule breaking. I expect each and every one of you to conduct yourselves as proper ladies and gentlemen."

Constance caught Fred and George exchange a mischievous look between themselves. Knowing them, they would do everything they could to push the boundaries of how a 'proper gentleman' was expected to behave. She just rolled her eyes and ignored it. As they were checking to make sure they all remembered to bring their money for any purchases, Harry cleared his throat.

"Hey, would you guys wait up for a minute?" he asked them. "I've got to ask McGonagall about something."

They all paused. "Sure." Ron told him, then looked curious. "What's going on?"

Harry pulled his Hogsmeade permission slip out of his jacket pocket and showed it to them. The line designated for a signature was blank. Hermione gasped and put a hand to her mouth.

"Oh, Harry!" she exclaimed. "You wont be able to come with us if that's not signed!"

"I know." the boy said. "I asked my uncle about it, but then the whole thing with aunt Marge happened and... well... he wasn't too keen on signing anything for me after that. I was hoping McGonagall would do it."

Connie shook her head thoughtfully. "But she's a teacher. Harry, I don't think she could sign it, even if she wanted to."

"She's our head of house though. That makes her like a guardian, doesn't it?" Ron pointed out, frowning at Harry's permission slip. "Those muggles are right awful, so they're bound to bend the rules a little. It wouldn't be fair!" he gave Harry a small push back towards the castle. "Go on, mate. McGonagall would do anything for you. We'll wait."

So Constance, Hermione, Ron, and the twins stayed back and watched as Harry walked up the stone steps to talk to Professor McGonagall. They were too far away for any of them to hear what was being said, but it didn't look like the conversation was going well. McGonagall shook her head with an apologetic frown and gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. As she turned to walk away, Harry looked back at them with a downtrodden expression on his face.

"Sorry guys." he said. "I guess... I'll see you when you get back."

This was awful! There was no good reason why he shouldn't be allowed to come to the village with them. The only thing that was holding him back was his stupid uncle's refusal to sign a piece of parchment for him. As they watched him turn to go back into the castle alone, Fred nudged George in the ribs.

"You thinking what I'm thinking, George?"

George cocked his head to the side, studying Harry's back. "Time to pass on the legacy, is it?"

"Absolutely." Fred replied, then shot a look over at the three of them. "You guys go on without us."

George nodded. "We've got to hunt Mihnea down to take care of some business anyway. We'll catch up with you at the village."

Without another word of explanation, the pair of them bounded off toward Harry. When they caught up to him, they hooked their arms into his elbows and dragged him behind one of the exterior corners of the castle. Hermione pursed her lips.

"What on earth are they up to?" she questioned, peering at Constance sideways like she expected her to know all about it. "Pass on the legacy?"

"And what's that about hunting down Bassarab for some business?" Ron asked.

The girl shrugged. "Hell if I know."

They must be working with Mihnea on something. Her cousin hadn't mentioned anything to her about it, but he had been off doing his own thing for a while, so she hadn't had many opportunities to talk to him. She secretly wondered if they were going to show Harry where the secret passageway to Honeydukes was. She'd been warned to keep its location a secret. But with him being barred from going to Hogsmeade for a dumb reason, they'd probably take it upon themselves to help him sneak out. If George did it for the sake of a date, then they would do it for Harry.

"Come on then." Ron said with a sigh. He gestured toward the large group of students that had gotten ahead of them. "Filch will raise hell if we fall too far behind."

The hike to Hogsmeade was lengthy, but pleasant. There was plenty of gorgeous scenery to keep the eyes interested, and the sight of the village itself was a welcome one. Connie had already been to most of the shops and didn't have a preference for where they went first. She resolved herself to following Ron and Hermione as they looked around at everything.

"We have to go to the Three Broomsticks and have a butterbeer." Ron declared like he wasn't going to be argued with. "It's the best drink in the world and we're old enough to order them now."

Butterbeer was supposed to be a very popular drink in the magical world. Apparently it had a small bit of alcohol in it, so people who were underage couldn't order one in a pub unless they had it with food. Hermione seemed to be thinking along similar lines. She suggested that they walk around and explore for a while to give themselves time to work off the small lunch they'd had before leaving. Ron responded with a pout and said that he was ready to eat something already. It wasn't a terribly surprising thing to hear from him, because Ron Weasley was always hungry. Maybe that was some sort of guy thing. She'd noticed boys tended to eat a lot more than should be possible. But he did eventually give up the fight and agreed to move on. They decided to check out one of the more interesting sights the village had to offer.

The Shrieking Shack was a small, run down building on the outskirts of the village that was reported to be the most haunted place in Britain. People who lived in Hogsmeade claimed that they sometimes heard loud, anguished screams and eerie moans emanating from the building at night. However, during the daylight hours, the shack appeared... well... rather boring looking, if Connie were honest with herself. No different from any other old, abandoned house. The three of them leaned over the rickety fence that bore signs warning visitors of the haunting that surrounded the property.

"It is a bit creepy looking..." Hermione commented. She looked around at them. "Do you think we could get closer?"

Constance's interest was pricked and she agreed that she would like to get closer to check it out. Ron, however, looked stricken.

"Get closer!" he exclaimed. "B...b..but it's haunted!"

Connie rolled her eyes. "Hogwarts is haunted." she pointed out.

"Well... yeah, but they're nice ghosts." he said, shooting a worried glance at the shack. "This place has right nasty ones!"

Hermione sniffed and put her hands on her hips. "Has anyone ever actually seen the ghosts of the Shrieking Shack?"

"No one has to see them, Hermione!" he fired back. "You can hear them howling at night! Making sounds like they're tearing each other apart..."

The girls looked at each other. Ron was just being silly. Ghosts were the spirits of the dead and they couldn't manipulate physical objects. The Hogwarts ghosts could walk right through people without doing more than giving them an icy chill. Even if the spirits themselves were terrifying in appearance, there was nothing they could actually do to harm them. Hermione quirked a brow, and Connie cleared her throat.

"Okay, Ron." she said. "We understand. Hermione and I can go to the shack, and you can just stay here by yourself."

The boy blinked at her. "Do what?" he asked. "But..."

"Really, Ron, it's fine." Hermione told him, sensing what she was doing. "There's two of us, so we'll be okay. Just remember to keep an eye out for anything strange because I've heard ghosts sometimes wander around outside the places they haunt."

Without another word, the two girls hooked their arms together and walked through the gate into the small yard of the shack. All of five seconds passed before they heard the sound of Ron running toward them.

"Hey, wait for me!" he called out.

When he skidded to a halt next to Hermione, Constance arched a brow at him. "You decided to come?"

"Well, it wouldn't be right to let you go in there alone, would it?" he asked. He puffed out his chest in a faux display of bravery that made him look ridiculous. "You girls need a man with you. You know, in case you get scared."

Hermione looked so amused that it looked like she wanted to start laughing. Connie herself had to put a hand over her face to keep Ron from hearing her snort. For all his going on about them needing a 'man' with them, Ron didn't seem too keen on taking the lead. He was perfectly comfortable with letting them open the door and step inside the shack first. After the two of them were inside, the boy put one foot over the threshold, leaned in to take a quick look around the dusty entrance way, then grabbed their arms to pull them back.

"Okay, we went inside the shack." he said quickly. "Let's go now."

"Oh, for God's sake, Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed in irritation. She jerked her arm out of his grip. "That doesn't count! We haven't had time to look around!"

To be perfectly honest, there wasn't that much to see. The inside of the shack was barren. Devoid of all traces of furniture, with every surface covered in thick layers of dust from years of sitting unused. The boards that made up the wooden floor were so warped that they pulled apart from each other, leaving wide gaps between them. Some actually jutted up from the floor enough to pose the risk of making someone trip over their feet if they weren't careful. The first floor seemed to be comprised of a single room. However, the walls were built at odd angles, giving the impression of more rooms even though the spaces between the openings were much too wide for doors. At the far left end of the space there was an ancient looking wooden staircase. It was incredibly rickety and unstable looking, and Connie imagined it wouldn't be safe for any of them to walk on it. The smallest bit of weight would probably make the steps crumble out from beneath their feet. But aside from the eeriness of it being abandoned, there were no signs of a haunting that she could sense. No hot or cold spots, no odd specters, and no disembodied voices or sounds. Nothing at all.

"It's so quiet here..." Hermione commented.

She took a small step forward and the board under her foot let out a loud creak. Ron jumped almost a foot into the air.

"What was that?" he whimpered.

God, why did he have to be so jumpy? This place wasn't that scary.

"It's just the floor, Ron." Connie told him. She put her weight down on her right foot to make it creak again. "See? The boards are just warped." she paused and looked around, frowning. "I don't think this place is haunted at all. It's just creepy lookin..."

"Bloody hell, what is that!" Ron exclaimed, cowering at the sight of something behind her.

Constance and Hermione both whirled around to see what he was pointing at. It moved too fast to make out clearly, but Connie saw a large, black shape dart down the staircase at the end of the room, then disappear behind a wall. Given how nothing should have been inside of the shack with them, it gave both of the girls quite a shock. They both gasped and jumped back.

"What the... did you see that?" Connie whispered.

Hermione's head bobbed, her eyes wide. "I definitely saw that."

Behind them, Ron was still whimpering in fear, looking around at the room like he thought something was going to jump out and attack them. "Oh, we need to leave. Please tell me we can leave? I don't want to die by ghost..."

"It wasn't a ghost." Connie said, the shock of what she had seen wearing off. "Whatever that thing was, it was solid."

"It was running too." Hermione pointed out, keeping a watchful eye on the wall the black shape had disappeared behind. "Ghosts float. It... it was probably an animal."

"A bloody huge animal!" Ron exclaimed. He pulled at their arms again. "It might have been the Grim! Please can we go now? Please, please, please..."

Connie pulled her arm out of his grip and stepped forward. Given the size of what she had seen, it could have been a large dog. If she thought about it, it had been low to the floor and had moved like one... But they all had stood there, staring at that wall for a while now and nothing had come out from behind it. There wasn't even any sound to indicate something was hiding behind it. That meant that either the animal was doing a damn good job of keeping quiet, or there was another room or hallway back there. Maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but Connie wanted to see what was over there. Animals only attacked people when they felt threatened, and if that dark shape had been running past them, it probably didn't have rabies. It would have growled or done something to alert them to it's presence. Most likely, the creature was just scared. When she slid forward another inch, Ron let out a sound that was half whimper, half squeak.

"What are you doing...?"

She glanced back to see the boy had a look of complete terror on his face. Hermione appeared to understand what she was doing, but she was still cautious.

"We don't need to get too close." she whispered. "If it's a wild animal..."

"I don't want to get close to it." Connie told her. "I just want to see what it is."

To make them feel better, she drew out her wand. The girl honestly didn't think she would need it, but if whatever it was decided to attack, she'd be able to defend herself. Taking small, miniscule steps, Connie slowly inched herself toward the wall. When she was close enough, she took a step sideways to peer around it. There was nothing beyond that she could see. Confused, she lowered her wand and walked into the room. There was nothing. No animal and no places where one could possibly hide. It was just an empty space.

"There's nothing in here." she called back.

"Do what?" Hermione asked. She and Ron made their way over to get a look for themselves. "But we all saw it!"

Indeed they had. And three people seeing the exact same thing pretty much ruled out that one of them had been hallucinating. Connie paused when she noticed something on the floor. Paw prints. There was such a thick layer of dust on the ground that the prints of whatever had walked in here were left behind for them to see. They looked very much like dog tracks, and they trailed from the opening in the wall where they were standing all the way over to the corner where they just... disappeared. As if it had just walked right through the wall. Constance felt a chill run down her spine. The black shape they had seen was solid. She was sure of it. But a solid object couldn't pass through another solid object unless something incredibly strange was going on. Maybe the Shrieking Shack was haunted after all. But it would have to be a type of haunting no one had ever heard of...

Hermione's eyes widened when she saw where the paw prints led, while Ron just kept looking around wildly.

"Something's not right here." the girl said. "Ron's right. We should probably leave."

Connie still wasn't sure if what they had encountered was dangerous or not, but she didn't argue. Something weird was going on in that shack and she didn't really want to stick around to find out if it could hurt them or not.

A.N: Can you tell I watched Scooby Doo today? Ron always reminds me of Shaggy in a weird way. Maybe someone should buy him some Scooby Snacks to make him braver. Or get him a giant Great Dane that can talk.

Reviews are like rainbows and glitter! O_o Don't ask.