Percy woke up feeling a light weight on his chest. His eyes instantly opened and he stared at the one-year-old foal. Apparently he became curious, and he decided to take a closer look at the strange guests. But noticing the movement of the young man, the unicorn rode away in fright to his mother.

"You must be joking," the young man moaned as he raised his eyes to the sky. Even in the Forbidden Forest, the sun's rays were rare guests among the dense trees. But still, in a small clearing, one could see in what position the sun was. About noon, apparently, that's why he felt incredibly cheerful and full of energy. As if there hadn't been a regular lack of sleep for several weeks. Ron was still fast asleep, Silver was in the same position, watching Percy closely.

"Why didn't you wake us up?" The young man asked with a slight reproach. The horse just snorted playfully and shook its massive head.

"Just fine. Ron! Ron! Come on up, come on. Enough sleep," the prefect shook his brother with all his might.

"Percy, it's too early," Ron muttered, turning away. He was too pleasant and warm. Unicorn fur is great for sound sleep.

"It's already past noon. We slept through everything."

"What do you mean?" in the same second the younger boy exploded, staring at his brother in shock.

"Look for yourself," Percy pointed to the sky. The sun was at its zenith, "We slept too long. Get up quickly, we need to get back."

Ron nodded. He felt great thanks to Silver's coat. It had special magical effects. The unicorn, too, was finally able to climb.

"Will you take us to the border?" Percy patted the horse's fur gently. The man whinnied happily and nodded. The young man easily climbed onto Silver's back, since he did it more than once and helped Ron do the same. The younger still felt insecure while riding.

Sometimes Harry woke up very early. Old habits still reminded of themselves. Half asleep, he headed for the shower. And when he returned, he decided to finish writing an essay on potions, so he tiptoed down to the common living room so as not to wake anyone up.

Closer to eight, the room was slowly filled with roaring students and in small groups they went down to breakfast. Harry was expecting friends. Finally, a young witch appeared in the doorway with a bag in her hands.

"Good morning Harry," she smiled as she stepped closer. "Where is Ron?"

"He decided to take a walk last night. Apparently, he hasn't got up yet."

"Hurry him up, or we'll be late."

"Okay," the boy with the scar went up to his room and went to the bed. But much to his surprise, his friend was not there.

"He's not there," Potter shook his head, running down the stairs.

"What does it mean? He didn't come back last night?" The girl asked excitedly.

"No, probably not. But maybe he got up before us. Let's go to the Great Hall, and there we'll see what happens next," the friends nodded and rushed to the Great Hall at full speed.

"Are you so hungry today?" George smiled when the children abruptly opened the door of the hall.

"Where ... Where is Percy?" Out of breath, Harry gave the Gryffindor table a cursory glance. Neither Ron nor Percy was there. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Draco was not there either, and neither was Snape. This was a great relief for the boy. Meeting at least one of them seemed like a terrible idea at the moment.

"I don't know, we haven't seen him since yesterday's fiasco," the twins shook their heads. Yesterday's incident quickly spread throughout the school. And people were divided. But most, including Fred and George, sided with Ron for many reasons. The sophomores sat down next to the Weasleys and Oliver.

"This is bad. Percy and Ron are gone," Hermione replied excitedly, still trying to catch her breath.

"What do you mean disappeared?" Wood asked in a whisper. They sat at the very end of the table, away from prying ears.

"Yesterday, around midnight, Ron went for a walk in the woods. But he never came back."

"Percy must be with him, otherwise how else can you explain his loss?"

"Well, if Percy is with him, then it should be all right. Although he is a terrible bore, he is fluent in spells. Ron is safe with him. I am sure about that."

"But if it is not so? What if something happened to them? Besides, after what happened yesterday, they may have problems - Hermione, like Harry, was terribly worried about both."

"And what will you do? The headman's disappearance will certainly be noticed. Right now." Oliver nodded imperceptibly towards the teacher's table. McGonagall walked towards them with the usual catlike grace.

"Where is Mr. Weasley?" The woman asked calmly, carefully observing the students.

"Which one of?" George asked innocently, smiling brightly in all thirty-two teeth.

"Don't be silly, Mr. Weasley. Where are both of your brothers?"

"I don't know professor. Percy didn't show up today. Nobody's seen him since last night," Wood said.

"I didn't see Ron today professor. When I woke up his bed was empty," said Harry confidently. Hermione wanted to add something, but Harry and Ginny pushed her gently.

"Nobody saw them, right? Are you saying they are missing?"

"Perhaps a professor. Or maybe they're just trying to mend a relationship. After yesterday."

"I need to warn all the teachers. If you see them, let them come to me immediately."

"Of course professor," the six nodded quickly. And Minerva hastened to leave them.

"What will we do?" Granger asked irritably. She was too agitated and angry that she was not allowed to tell everything as it is.

"Let's wait until noon. If they don't come back, we'll tell McGonagall."

"But if it's too late then?"

"If then it will be too late, then now there is no longer any point in it. They spent the whole night there."

"Don't say such terrible things;" Wood gave Fred a light slap on the head. Looking into the frightened faces of the junior students, "They will be all right, I promise. Now you better hurry up. Classes will start soon."

It didn't take long for Silver to get the Weasleys to the edge of the forest. He did not go further so that no one could see them together.

"Bye, buddy," the brothers patted the snow-white fur of the unicorn. He snorted softly in response.

"I know we will come to you a little more often. I promise," Silver whinnied happily and disappeared behind the thick trees.

At the same time, Harry and Hermione could not concentrate much on their studies. No matter how hard they tried. McGonagall put all the teachers on their ears for the disappearance of two of her students. It didn't help that in the shortest possible time an incredible rumor spread throughout the school that Percy and Ron were attacked by the heir of Slytherin. By lunchtime, Potter persuaded his friend to skip the history of magic. Beans won't notice, even if no one comes to class. He will continue to mutter under his breath about some boring things.

"Harry, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Any better ideas?" The boy asked with slight irritation.

"For example, tell one of the adults?"

"And what do we say? Sorry, we lied. Yesterday Percy and Ron left for the Forbidden Forest. Oh, and they spent the whole night there. But don't worry, they go there very often, we all go there often, you know."

"Not necessarily so much sarcasm..."

"Shh… there's someone there." Harry and Hermione prepared their chopsticks. You never know what could have jumped out of the forest. But to the great happiness of the sophomores, two bright red heads appeared from the bushes.

"Thank God," the girl sighed with relief and rushed to the brothers with Potter. The trinity is finally reunited in a strong, friendly embrace. Percy hesitated awkwardly at a distance. Finally, he plucked up the courage to say:

"Forgive me, I shouldn't have…" but he never finished when two sophomores bumped into him. The young man could not even stand on his feet.

"You're a real moron, Percy. But please don't ever do that again."

"We were worried about you two. Thought something bad had happened." Hermione squeezed her arms a little tighter around the sixth year's waist. Percy was just silent for a while, in shock as Harry and Hermione hung around his neck.

"Thanks," Percy replied simply, hugging the sophomores. But that was enough for the trinity. After all, sometimes just one word can say a lot.

"Where have you been for so long?" Granger asked after a few silent minutes.

"We stayed with Silver. We were already falling off our feet and there was little that could argue," Explained Ron, "What happened while we were gone?"

"McGonagall put everyone on their ears. Everyone thinks you were attacked by the heir of Slytherin. Only the twins, Ginny and Oliver, know the truth about the forest."

"Just fine and what will he do now?"

"I have an idea, but we need to get back to the castle as soon as possible so that we won't be noticed."

"And how to do it?"

"Just trust me. Let's split up, Harry and Hermione, returns to the castle. Pretend you don't know anything about us. We will return on a different path," everyone nodded and parted. Potter and Granger returned to class without much attention. As Harry had expected, Beans was oblivious to his surroundings. And more than half of the students were either sleeping or doing whatever, except listening to the professor's boring story. And the Weasley brothers walked around the castle on the other side.

"What are you going to do, Percy?"

"I'm not sure myself, but it should work. Just nod your head and agree with me on everything, okay?"

"Okay." Ron wasn't sure what Percy was going to do, but he sincerely hoped it would work.

Finally, they came to a small rock ledge. The elder stepped closer and carefully pressed one of the plates. With a quiet click, a small passage in the wall opened.

"Incredible! How did you know about this?"

"Bill showed me this. I think one of the elders told him about this place" the passage turned out to be rather narrow, but for the brothers it was not a big problem. A stone corridor led them into the kitchen. The elves worked painstakingly on the dinner, the Weasleys did not bother them and quietly slipped past.

"Where now?"

"We need Professor McGonagall," the sixth year muttered. Carefully making our way through empty corridors.

"Are you heading somewhere, Mr. Weasley?" A woman's voice behind quietly asked, from which two students jumped in surprise and turned sharply. Professor McGonagall was standing in front of them.

"No, professor. We were looking for you," the older boy immediately began to make excuses. Finally, a plan had formed enough in his head. Percy put his hand on his brother's back, signaling that he was the only one to speak. Ron didn't mind. The last thing he wanted to make excuses to the measured McGonagall.

"Where have you been?" Minerva's calm voice took on a steel note; it was a bad sign anyway.

"Forgive us, professor. I wanted to get extra points in several subjects, but I did not have enough time for this, so for the past few weeks I have been studying in an abandoned office on the third floor. Yesterday, after what happened in the evening, I could not sleep and decided to finish my project. So I made my way back to the abandoned office, but on the way I met Ron. He wanted to talk to me. We talked for a long time about everything that happened and at some point did not even notice how we fell asleep and slept until lunchtime," having finished his story, Percy lowered his head, pretending to feel terribly guilty. The younger brother followed suit.

"Is it true, Mr. Weasley?" The woman turned to Ron.

"Yes, professor. I felt terrible after everything that had happened and I needed to talk to Percy."

"Good. Percy, as Headman, you don't have to do that again. I understand that you are striving for a career in the ministry. But you need to get more rest and take care of your health. Also, you will have several detentions due to a fight and because of your sudden loss. Now you can, back to classes."

"All right, Professor," the Weasleys said sadly at the same time, and hurried away. Fortunately, the older boy's clumsy plan worked. They got by with minimal losses.

"It was a good idea. Didn't know that you could lie to someone."

"Sometimes I have to. Now go back to class. See you later," the brothers went their separate ways. The heaviness of the soul, which both boys experienced, instantly disappears. Snape was the only problem. For several days, the three were demonstratively avoiding him. They came to breakfast later than the Potions Master, and they spent lunch and dinner in the company of the elves in the kitchen. Caramel, a cute elf with whom sophomores managed to make friends, always had something tasty in store for them. They left potions before everyone else, and all the sharp attacks from the man were simply ignored as usual. With Draco, there was a similar situation. The guys just stayed away from him. But this could not last forever.