A few hours passed, Gajeel and Lucy still waiting at the station. Gajeel was asleep, snoring, Lucy skimming a book about transfiguration. They were counting how many times the train passed them now. "Choo choo!"

"Let me get ooooofffff!" Natsu pleaded out the window as it past them. "That's nine hundred and ninety nine…." Lucy sighed, turning a page. "One more round and he'll be done." She muttered. "Leave it to Erza for suitable punishments." Gajeel sighed, sitting up half asleep rubbing his head.

"Lucy, Gajeel." Reza greeted coldly.

"Erza." Lucy and Gajeel greeted back, not breaking from their current positions.

"How's Natsu going?" Erza asked, looking down the tracks. "On his last lap now. Give it ten seconds." Lucy reported. "Three, two, one…" Lucy pointed to the right of the station, and right on cue, the train came rolling by, slowly steaming to a halt. Lucy closed her book and stood up, Gajeel yawning as he stood up as well.

Natsu wobbled off the train, and collapsed forward, his face green and swollen. As he fell forward, Happy made his way past Natsu and towards his comrades. "He was way out of it. I'm surprised he didn't jump out the window or something." Happy confessed, then looked at Natsu.

"Wait, you guys planned this?!" Natsu yelled, pushing himself up. "Three months suspension is light. You needed another punishment for what you did to a student Natsu." Erza growled, folding her arms. "Speaking of which, I increased your suspension."

"WHAT?!" Everyone yelled.

"Three months to find Gray isn't enough. So I asked Dumbledore to increase it." Erza explained. "For how long….?" Lucy asked, a bit scared to know the answer. "Six months." Erza said, straight to the point. "Six months?! Are you sure about that? I mean, if we need help, Natsu wouldn't be able to come help us…" Lucy mumbled, rubbing the back of her head. "True, but each of us can hold our own. And since Natsu is the only one missing classes, he is the only one who can find and bring Gray back. Can you do this Natsu?"

Natsu stayed on the ground, his fist supporting his body. He stared down, his eyes intense. "They took Gray from us. And I'm gonna get him back." He growled, shifting his weight to stand up. "No long how it takes…"

Natsu plonked his bag in the room setup for him in the hideout. He wiped his brow and looked around at his temporary quarters. "So where do we start? Gray could be anywhere, and not to mention there are a ton of secrets in this castle." Happy whined, chewing on his fish, swinging his legs on the bed. "We'll start with the most obvious." Natsu sighed as he put his clothes in the drawer. "The most obvious?" Happy repeated, tilting his head. "The fifth floor. We might be able to zoom on his location from there." Natsu explained closing the drawer. "Oh that's right! We could pinpoint his location from there!" Happy jumped up in excitement.

"You don't think we tried that?"

Natsu turned around humming in confussement. There stood Lucy, her arms folded and her body against the door frame. "If it were that easy, then Gray would be here right now." She explained as she stood up straight and walked towards Natsu. "Whenever we asked the dome, it would just give darkness. But still, you can try it if you want." She said, half smiling, but still. She looked very worried.

"Lucy, are you alright?" Natsu asked. "You look sick. I know! A fishy could help you!" Happy smiled and ran out the room. Lucy and Natsu watched Happy run out of the room, then turned to each other. "He is right. Are you feeling alright?" Natsu asked, feeling her forehead. Lucy sighed and softly pushed his hand away. "Yeah, I'm fine." She muttered as she turned to the door.

"Alright, if you say so…" Natsu sighed, folding his arms and gave a bit of a smile. "...Natsu…." Lucy started. "Please…. Bring Gray back. I'm worried about him. Also, I'm worried about all the muggle-borns here. I'm especially worried about Hermione." Lucy confessed. "And since Gray passed himself as a muggle-born, he already be…" She said, her voice cracking a bit.

She suddenly felt herself being pulled into a hug. "Don't worry Lucy. I'll bring him back. I promise." Natsu smiled. Lucy's shocked face turned into a warm smile, her heart filled with warmth from those words. "Thank you Natsu…" She whispered. And as if possessed by some sort entity, she lifted her arms and wrapped them around Natsu.

"You loooooove him!" Lucy jolted out of her hug, and turned to Happy who acted smug flying above her, as she clenched her fist. "Shut up you stupid cat!" She snapped. "Here you go." Happy flew down and placed a fresh fish in her hands. "Uh." Lucy stuttered, feeling the fresh fish touch her hands. She looked up at Happy and gave a smile. "Thank you Happy." Happy gave a smile and flew beside Natsu.

"Anyway, I better get to class. Good luck." Lucy smiled and left the room. "See you later Lucy!" Natsu waved. "Bye!" Happy smiled, waving as well."

"That idiot… he sure knows how to warm the heart." Lucy smiled, looking at the fish as she walked through the courtyard. "I wonder when it was…" She looked at the sky smiling. "That I felt this happy last?"

Harry sat at the window sill, staring at the courtyard dimly illuminated by the soft moon. It was about a month since Natsu's sudden suspension. He missed Natsu's antics, and not to mention his sudden increase from three months to six months. He looked at the picture he had in his hands, of his room mates taking a picture the first night Natsu moved in. He sighed and looked in the sky, still feeling sad of his sudden departure.

Harry softly banged his head against the edge of the window sill, causing his head to naturally fall down. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide and slowly backed away from the window sill. He zoomed away from his spot and ran to Ron's bed, shaking his side. "Ron! Ron!" Harry whispered urgently, turning his head to and fro from Ron and the window.

"What is it? It's like, one thirty in the morning…" Ron gluggly yawned, rubbing his eyes. "The figure!" Harry hissed. "Figure?" Ron asked, a bit more awake. "Look!" Harry pointed to the window, Ron leaping up and ran to the window, Harry following tightly behind him. Ron placed his hand on the glass, squinting his eyes in the Courtyard.

He could see a faint outline of a person, moving like a ghost in the halls of the old school. Ron's eyes opened, and looked at Harry in shock. Without another word, Harry grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and both of them rushed out the door.

"Which way did he go?" Ron whispered to Harry, as they slowly moved through the halls under the cloak. "I'm sure he was here…." Harry whispered back, both of them keeping an eye out for the mysterious person.

Suddenly the person dressed in white stepped out, centimeters away from where the boys were standing. Ron squealed, Harry instantly covering his mouth. The figure sharply turned to the direction Harry and Ron were hiding. Harry's eyes widened, his heart beating twice as fast.

The figure slowly stepped forward. Harry and Ron stepped back slowly, watching the figure slowly creep forward. But what Harry did not understand, was the excessive sniffing the figure was doing. Ron gasped sharply, as he suddenly stumbled back, dragging Harry to the ground with him.

Both boys landed with a thud and a short yell. Harry and Ron gave muffled grunts as they tried to subtly stand up. But as Harry sat up with Ron, they saw the figure just standing there, tilting their head. Harry looked down, and made a horrible realisation.

Their legs were exposed.

Ron looked at Harry with horror. Harry looked back, then looked at the figure. The figure sharply flung the cloak off the boys, Harry and Ron ducking their heads and protecting their faces from the person. Shaking from both horror and the cold of the night, the boys slowly looked up, face to face with the figure.

His face was dark, not saying a word to the boys. "U-Uh… It's not what you think…" Harry stuttered, his feet pushing him back. "Y-Yeah, we weren't following you…" Ron gulped, following Harry. The figure, still silent, stood still as he watched the boys trying to slowly back away from the white figure.

The figure suddenly turned his head sharply to the left, then back to the boys. He lifted his fist, the boys scared of the person's next action. They reached for their wands, about to strike. However, instead of attacking, the figure cloaked the boys and put his finger to his mouth, a soft shush seeping from his softly illuminated teeth, before cloaking their faces.

He stood up and turned around, as if waiting for someone. Ron and Harry looked at each other in confusion. "What was that about?" Ron asked. "Ah, there you are…" A slimy voice called from the hallway. "Where is your partner?" The man asked in his gritted monotone. "Professor Snape?" Harry whispered. "I'm here!" A female voice called out.

Harry and Ron could hear running behind them. They turned around, and saw another white figure running up to them. Ron and Harry swiftly walked out of the way, so they wouldn't bump into them. The figure stopped next to her partner and leaned over panting. "You're late…" Snape gritted. "I know, I'm sorry…" The girl panted and bowed in apology.

"Well?" Snape gritted. "O-Oh! Yes!" The girl realised, and handed Snape a pile of papers. "This is all the rooms we checked. No sign of the Chamber yet…. But we think we know which room it is." The girl explained. Ron and Harry's mouths dropped and looked at each other in surprise and amazement.

"But we need to investigate more." She finished. "I see…." Snape gritted, and tucked the paper in his black coat. "And what is your report with Gray Fullbuster?" Snape asked the other figure. "Gray Fullbuster?" Ron and Harry thought, wondering why they were investigating Gray. "I tried everything. Every morning I check the dome, but it's almost like it's blocked or something." The man explained. "And every night, I can't seem to find him." He sighed, looking down. "Gray's missing?" Harry whispered to Ron. "It has been almost half a year. With Mister Fullbuster roaming aimlessly around this castle, and in his condition, we expect him to be found and restrained as soon as possible." Snape said in an almost uncaring tone.

"Wait, I thought Gray was suspended?" Ron whispered. "So did I…" Harry muttered. "Then why is Gray still at Hogwarts?" Ron asked as quiet as possible. "And what does he mean by "In his condition?"" Harry repeated.

"I will try to find him as soon as possible. I promise." The boy said, giving a slight bow. "You are here to protect this school. If one of yours ends up destroying that promise, I can guarantee that we will send you and your friends back to wherever you came from." Snape gritted. "Not gonna happen. We came here for a job. And we're not gonna leave until we finish it." The boy gritted, stepping forward. "He's right. We won't back down from any job." The girl told Snape.

"Then prove it. For now, I bid you goodnight." Snape said, and slid back into the shadows. The girl and the boy stood there for a moment, then the girl sighed. "I swear sometimes I don't know which side he's on…" She groaned. "Let's go." She sighed. "I'll catch up in a sec." The boy called after her. "Huh? Why?"

"I'm gonna do one more round." He told her. '"Alright…." She nodded and continued without her partner. As soon as she left, Harry and Ron exposed themselves and walked straight up to the mysterious man.

"Gray is still in the school?!"

"You know something about the. Chamber don't you?!"

"Who are you?!"

The figure simply turned his head to them and said nothing for a while. He slowly slid his wand out, and pointed it in their faces. ""I'm sorry guys…. You can't know this, but in my heart it feels like you do…Stupefy."

Harry bolted awake, panting at the weird dream like sequence he just had. "What the…." He looked around the room. Everything seemed to be normal. "What was that…"

"Morning Harry." Ron smiled as he came into the room. "Ron! Do you remember anything from last night?" Harry asked suddenly. "Last night? What are you talking about? I slept the whole way through?" Ron told him, quite confused. "Nothing? About the White figures?" Harry asked, hoping it would jolt something.

"Nnnnoooo…" Ron slurred, confused. "Oh… well then… must've been a dream…." Harry mumbled. "Perhaps. Anyway, I'm going down to breakfast. See you in a minute." Ron waved and headed out the door. Harry waved back and hopped out of bed, making a b line for the window.

He looked at the Courtyard, getting an eerie feeling that last night was no dream. But if Ron didn't remember it, then maybe it was… But those strange figures of white…. who were they? But for now, Harry felt not to trust them just yet.

These White Shadows