(New Chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it even though it's long and I hope I didn't pull Fred and George out of character too much in one certain moment in this part of the story. I own nothing but my OCs.)
...
When the staircase finally stopped moving, the Potters found themselves in the largest office they'd ever been in.
The walls were covered by bookshelves filled with many old and dusty texts which neither of the Twins were able to make out much of the titles of. Portraits of figures who Harry and Lucy correctly assumed were of the former Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts looked down on them as if they too were judging the Potters to determine their innocence.
Lucy quickly averted her gaze and took in instead, the many strange and intricate gold and silver instruments placed at various end tables about the room surrounding a large mahogany desk.
Harry turned back towards the bookshelves, letting his wary green eyes brush over each book until his gaze caught sight of a familiar worn brown witch's hat that wiggled suddenly as if it were a cat shifting during a nap.
It was the Sorting Hat and as Harry looked at it, he felt a sudden desire to take the object down from its place and put it over his head again to assure himself that there was no way he was connected in any sense to Slytherin.
"Harry?" Lucy turned when she heard a noise and saw her brother reaching for the Sorting Hat.
"Aren't you curious too?" Harry asked, without looking up from the grubby object. "Curious about what?" Lucy asked, cocking her head to one side.
"Everyone in Hogwarts thinks that we are the Heirs of Slytherin, even though we're both in Gryffindor. It made me think...well, since the Hat almost put me in Slytherin last year.." Harry trailed off, but he didn't need to finish.
Lucy understood him perfectly. "It almost put me in there too." She took a few steps closer to where her Twin stood, staring at the Hat as Harry slowly raised it and put it over his head.
"Bee in your bonnet, Potters?" A familiar leathery voice asked and Harry jumped as it boomed into his ears.
"Er...I..." Harry stammered. "...I was wondering if..."
"Wondering whether I put you and your sister in the right house. Yes." The Sorting Hat interrupted, wriggling his brim before continuing.
"The two of you were particularly difficult to place no doubt, but I stand by what I said before." Harry and Lucy exchanged glances.
"You do?" Lucy asked in a soft almost inaudible voice. The Sorting Hat bent itself forward as if nodding.
"Yes, you both would have done well in Slytherin." The Hat almost seemed to smile.
Feeling his cheeks reddening, Harry seized the hat with both hands and hastily put it back on the shelf where he'd found it.
"You're wrong!" He insisted, glaring at the Hat a little. This time the Sorting Hat gave no answer and Lucy started to hang her head until she got caught sight of a strange large bird with a deep plumage of red and gold feathers perched in a cage near Dumbledore's desk.
Forgetting about why she and her brother were in Dumbledore's office, Lucy took a few steps closer towards the bird in its cage and saw that it appeared to be ill as its feathers were slowly molting out and there was a kind of sorrowful look in the bird's coal black eyes as it hung its head.
Moved by the creature's apparent discomfort, Lucy stared to reach towards the cage where the bird's beak was when suddenly the bird caught fire and dissolved into a pile of ashes at the bottom of the cage.
More than a little startled, Lucy jumped back from the still smoking cage, her eyes as wide as the dinner platters in the Great Hall as she stared at where the great bird had once stood.
"Harry?...Did you see...?" She started and trailed off, her breaths coming in rapid short gasps as she tried to make sense of what had just happened.
"Harry? Lucy?" A third, older and aged voice sounded softly from a small staircase that the Potters just noticed spiraled up from the back of Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore was there approaching from the stairs with an unreadable expression in his old wise eyes. Panicking, Lucy began to speak faster than she had ever spoken before.
"Professor! I didn't mean to! I was just going to look and it...your bird! I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened! He just caught fire Sir!"
"Ah, and about time too." The old Headmaster nodded, smiling gently at Lucy who looked confused in return. "About time?"
"Yes, he's been looking dreadful for days you see, and I've been telling him to just get on with it. Pity you two had to see him on a burning day. They really are remarkable birds." Dumbledore answered, walking over and pointing into the cage where the pile of ashes still smoldered.
Lucy and Harry exchanged glances. "Uh Professor?...Exactly...what kind of bird was he?" Harry asked slowly as they peered through the bars of the cage together.
"Fawkes is a phoenix Harry. They burst into flame when it is time for them to die...and then they are...reborn from the ashes." Dumbledore explained, pointing a wiry index finger at the ashes just as something small, pink and wrinkly wiggled out from the piles of soot.
As Lucy peered at it, she realized it was a tiny infant version of the bird she had seen roosting in the cage only moments before.
"Wow!..." She gaped, unable to tear her eyes away from the baby phoenix as it slowly wriggled itself out of the ashes and made some chirping noises at the group.
"Ahhh...Yes fascinating creatures phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads and...their tears have healing powers." Dumbledore turned and met Lucy's gaze then and she started to smile, forgetting for a moment why she and Harry were here when the door to Dumbledore's office suddenly flew open.
"Professor Dumbledore Sir!" Hagrid stamped in, a dead rooster clutched in one of his large hands. "Wait! Listen!...Professor Dumbledore Sir! It wasn't them! It couldn't have been Harry and Lucy!" He protested even while Dumbledore held up a hand to silence him.
"Hagrid..."
"In fact I'd be prepared to swear it in front of the Ministry of Magic-!"
"Hagrid!" Dumbledore raised his voice. "Relax. I do not believe that either Harry or Lucy attacked anyone." He said in a quieter voice.
Hagrid continued rant, sending feathers everywhere as he blustered. "Oh well of course you don't! And...Oh!..Right well...I'll just...wait outside then." The half giant became quickly subdued and turned, making the floor shake as he quickly exited Dumbledore's office.
Harry and Lucy shared another glance. "You don't think it was us, Professor?" Harry asked as if hardly daring to believe what he'd just heard.
The kindly Headmaster shook his head. "No Harry. I do not think it was either of you." He turned to meet Lucy's shining eyes. Lucy started to smile.
"But, I must ask you...is there something that either of you wish to tell me?" Dumbledore continued. Lucy chewed on her lip.
What could we tell him? She wondered and Harry shrugged a shoulder. Not about our plan to catch the Heir of Slytherin for sure. And according to Ron and Hermione we shouldn't say anything about the incident with the snake.
Or about the voice we've been hearing...Lucy hung her head. There isn't much left to tell.
Exchanging glances, the Potter Twins looked up as one back at Dumbledore. "No Sir. There's nothing." Harry responded as Lucy nodded in affirmation.
Studying their expressions for a moment longer, Dumbledore finally nodded and gestured towards the door which Hagrid had left through earlier.
"Very well then. Off you go." He dismissed them. Both Harry and Lucy remembered their manners before they left. "Yes Sir." "Thank you Sir."
Quickly without speaking another word to each other, the Twins hurried out the door of Dumbledore's office and back down the same staircase that had taken them up to the Headmaster's office.
...
"You two all right? Where've you been all this time?" Hermione asked when the Twins finally made it back to the Gryffindor Common Room that evening.
Harry and Lucy briefly exchanged glances. "Uh, it's a long story." Harry shrugged. Hermione and Ron exchanged slightly uneasy glances with each other.
"Listen uh just to warn you guys...Justin Finch-Fletchley was just reported to be petrified and...well-." Hermione began.
Harry sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. Everyone thinks we did it again." He groaned. Lucy sighed and roughly shoved her hair from her face as Hermione shook her head sympathetically at her friends.
"It's just the timing was too perfect. First Lucy runs off from the cafetaria before study period ends and you went after her...minutes later Justin is found petrified." Ron started to explain.
Hermione nodded her head and picked up from where he left off. "Ron and I know you weren't responsible of course, but...we've already seen several students writing to their parents asking to get pulled out of school early for the holidays." She said regretfully.
Lucy bit her lip and shook her head. "I'm going to bed." She muttered, already walking briskly for the staircase that led up to the Girls dorms.
Hermione turned to follow her. "I'll go too." She offered, picking up her books in her arms.
Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, a tall boy in long robes stepped in Lucy's path, towering over her. "Where do you think you're going Potter? Off to petrify one of your own now that you got that Justin kid?" He asked her accusingly.
Hermione glared at him. "Get out of the way!" She snapped, coming to Lucy's defense despite the fact that the boy was a good head taller than both of them.
Lucy clenched her jaw. "I didn't do anything to Justin." She spoke through tight throat muscles.
"Oh yeah, like you didn't do anything to Colin Creevey? Or Filch's cat either? Funny how you and that brother of yours always manage to get caught standing over their motionless bodies then." The boy continued, sneering at Lucy with disgust.
"Hey shove off Liam!" "Yeah if Lucy said she's innocent, she's innocent!" "Now let them pass." The Weasley Twins suddenly took up posts on either side of the two girls, their usual good humored countenance missing from their faces and posture.
Liam looked from one twin to the other, briefly glancing at Lucy again then at Harry who had begun to cross the room towards him with a heated scowl on his face.
Sighing, he reluctantly stepped around Fred to rejoin a group of older students sitting on the right side of the common room.
"Fine. I'm leaving this death trap tomorrow anyway." He grumbled under his breath, purposely bumping into Fred's shoulder as he stalked off.
Both Twins scowled after him then turned immediately to check on the two girls standing between them.
"Well good riddance...All right you two?" Fred inquired, smiling his usual smile again.
"Yeah you okay Lu?" George chimed in next.
Instead of answering, Lucy ran up the stairs, brushing the long sleeves of her school robes across her eyes as she hurried to get away from all the gaping prying eyes of her fellow Gryffindors.
Hermione sighed and started after her. "I'll check on her." She promised, nodding gratefully to the Twins and exchanging a regretful look with Harry before climbing the stairs.
Harry sighed and ran a hand through his messy brown hair as the attention of the room quickly shifted to him.
"I think I'm going to turn in early too." He murmured so only Ron would hear. Ron nodded his head. "Okay. By the way, Hermione said the polyjuice potion is almost ready. We're going to meet in the broken girls' bathroom again tomorrow during free period." Ron whispered cautiously.
Harry nodded back at him. "Okay. See you later Ron." He turned to head towards his own dorm, hoping it would be empty when he got there.
...
"Everything's set. We just need a bit of who we're changing into." Hermione declared as the four friends sat together in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom again putting the finishing touches on the polyjuice potion.
It was nearly ready now and bubbling a thick, sickening blackish green color. Lucy felt her stomach turn at the thought of drinking the stuff, but she put the thought quickly out of her mind when she thought of everyone who had been petrified.
The sooner we figure out who's behind this, the sooner we can stop them and cure everyone who's been attacked.
Lucy thought to herself with a tentative smile as her cat mewed protestingly and jumped off her lap.
And the sooner everyone stops accusing us of attacking the school. Harry put in, making Lucy nod to him in agreement.
"Right. Crabbe and Goyle." Ron muttered swallowing disgustedly as the odor of the polyjuice potion wafted to his nose. Harry nodded as Lucy got up to go after her cat.
"Exactly. And we also have to make sure that the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating Malfoy." Hermione added, giving the potion another stir.
"And just how are we going to manage that?" Harry asked as Lucy bent to crawl under one of the sinks.
Hermione smirked at the boys in response. "I've got that all worked out." She reached into her robe pockets and pulled out two small chocolate frosted cupcakes.
"I filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. Once Crabbe and Goyle are asleep you need to hide them in the broomstick cupboard and pull out a few of their hairs to put in the polyjuice potion." She instructed excitedly as Lucy finally came back to join them with Athene wrapped in her arms.
"We'll probably also need to borrow some Slytherin uniforms." Lucy added, sitting back down next to Harry with Athene perched over her shoulder.
"Wait! So you're telling us that we got to take Crabbe and Goyle's smelly old robes and drink a potion that's got their hairs in it?" Ron demanded.
Hermione casually shrugged a shoulder. "That's exactly it. Otherwise this whole plan will never work." She gave the contents of her little cauldron another stir then carefully set the spoon aside.
"Great! And just whose hairs are you and Lucy pulling out then?" Ron continued. Hermione and Lucy exchanged glances.
"I've already got mine." Hermione reached into her other pocket and pulled out a long brown hair. "Millicent Bulstrode. Slytherin. I got this off her robes."
"And I'm going to be Pansy Parkinson. Slytherin." Lucy announced with a half nervous grin. "I got a hair off her textbook last hour when she got up to show Professor Snape her paralysis potion."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that. "You sure it's her hair?" He asked nervously.
Lucy shrugged. "Pretty sure. It's the right color and length." She explained hastily.
Harry still didn't look reassured.
"Anyway! You two need to hold on to these." Hermione interrupted holding out the cupcakes to Ron. "And make sure that Crabbe and Goyle find them after supper tonight."
Harry nodded his head as Ron gingerly poked at the cakes with a finger before putting them away in his pockets.
"We will." He promised exchanging another glance with Lucy just as her cat jumped away again, yowling at the offensive odor of the polyjuice potion.
"Athene!" Lucy got up to chase after her again, but this time Athene ran straight out through the door.
"Athene come back here!" Lucy tried to order her back, running out into the hall just in time to see a long white blur dash down the corridor in the direction of the greenhouses.
Sighing Lucy ran after her cat, finally catching up just as Athene reached the door to the room where Professor Sprout kept her mandrake sprouts.
"Thenie..." She bent to stroke her pet across her back. "You can't just run off like that you silly kitty. Not with the Monster lurking around. Come on." She wheedled reaching to pick her up again.
Athene only mewed softly in response and looked seemingly longingly at the array of strange plants and insects flourishing inside the greenhouse.
Lucy sighed and turned to go back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom when she heard heavy purposeful foosteps coming down the opposite end of the corridor.
"Where are ya?...I know you're there. I can hear ya." Filch's horribly familiar voice rasped hollowly through the hall sending a panic through Lucy's heart.
Grasping her pet to her chest, she turned and fled back down the hall, moving so quickly that she forgot to note where she was going until she collided rather painfully into someone.
"Ow!" The person cried out as the impact of the collision sent both of them falling backwards to the ground while Athene yowled protestingly in her mistress's arms.
"Ohhh..." Lucy groaned, rubbing her head with one hand as she sat up carefully with her cat clawing at her robes.
"What the...?" The other person started to mutter to himself when he saw Lucy across from him and quickly got to his knees to offer her a hand up.
"Are you all right? You know you shouldn't wander the corridors alone. Not with all the attacks that have happened." The boy said briskly as Lucy looked up to meet his eyes.
"Uh...I'll keep that in mind. Sorry for bumping into you like that." Lucy mumbled just as she caught sight of a glimmering gold prefect's badge on the other student's robes. It looked just like the one Ron's brother Percy wore except this one had the Hufflepuff crest marked on it.
The boy chuckled lightly. "It's all right. You're Lucy Potter right? One of the famous Twins?" He asked casually, lowering his arm back down at his side.
Lucy shrugged and kept her eyes lowered as she clumsily shoved herself to her feet with Athene still clutched to her body.
"I suppose so." She mumbled, stroking her cat across her back to calm her as the prefect stood up with her. Though I guess we're more infamous now no thanks to these attacks. Lucy thought to herself.
"Well take care. It would be a pity if you or your brother got attacked next after all you've been through." The boy smiled again and Lucy found herself smiling back.
"Thanks." She responded, grateful that this boy wasn't suspicious or accusing like most of the others around the school. It was strangely comforting even though Lucy didn't know the first thing about him.
The Hufflepuff prefect nodded his head in response. "No problem. Well you should get back to class now. See you around." The boy waved then turned to go on his way.
Lucy lingered a bit in the hallway watching him leave then turned to do the same.
...
"Hermione? I'm here. I locked Athene in our room and I got the hair I saved from Pansy's potions book." Lucy called as she quickly entered the bathroom where Hermione was carefully pouring out equal portions of the polyjuice potion into four small glasses.
Hermione turned from her work and smiled at her. "Good! Take one of these glasses and add the hair. I've already put Millicent Bulstrode's hair in mine." She instructed moving one of the glasses further away from the others.
Lucy nodded and hurried over to the sink to grab one of the remaining three cups. "Fantastic!" She enthused despite the still repulsive odor of the potion.
Hermione eyed her a bit suspiciously as Lucy pulled the hair from her pocket and dropped into her share of the polyjuice potion. "You're awful cheery for someone's who's about to drink this horrible stuff." She said with a half smirk.
Lucy shrugged a shoulder. "I'm just glad it's finally ready. Now we have a chance to find out who's really behind these attacks." She grinned and gently swirled her drink in her hand.
Hermione started to nod. "Uh-huh..." She started to respond and stopped when the bathroom door opened again, this time admitting in Harry and Ron who were carrying a rumpled pile of robes and Slytherin neckties in their arms.
"We got the hairs!" Ron panted as the door swung shut behind them. "And their robes!" Harry chimed in.
Hermione nodded approvingly. "Good. Add the hairs into your cups and then go change. We haven't much time." She instructed.
The boys nodded and did as they were told rushing into the stalls to change out of their Gryffindor uniforms. When the girls heard the first door creak open, they turned and grinned when they saw the boys slowly step out into the main area of the bathroom wearing robes, shirts and trousers which were far too big for either of them.
"Don't worry. They won't feel so big after you transform." Hermione tried to be comforting despite her amusement tugging at her own borrowed robes which were also a little big on her though not as big as Crabbe and Goyle's clothes looked on Harry and Ron.
"Looks like Lucy lucked out." Ron commented noting that aside from the sleeves of the shirt and robes being a bit long, Lucy's borrowed clothes did not flood out on her as much.
"Well hopefully they'll fit just fine once I transform too. Pansy and Millicent both went home for the holidays so Hermione had to get these out of the laundry." Lucy explained while unconsciously moving her hands to fix her tie.
"Lucky." Ron muttered, wrinkling his nose as he looked over himself. Hermione sighed and picked up her serving of the polyjuice potion.
"Let's get on with it. If it gets too late, the teachers will start patrolling and it will be harder for us to sneak to the Slytherin Common Room." Hermione spoke up, raising her glass up to her lips then recoiling a bit. "Plus we only have one hour before the effects of the potion wear off."
"Are you ready to do this?" Harry asked, looking directly at his sister as he took the cup on the far right of the sink. Lucy took a deep breath and nodded. "If it means we get to clear our names." She responded looking down at her own drink.
"And save the school." Ron added picking up the last glass. Taking a whiff, he grimaced and turned away. "Ugh yuck! Essence of Crabbe." He moaned.
Hermione inclined her head to the side then held up her glass. "Cheers." Harry, Lucy and eventually Ron clinked their cups with hers.
"Cheers." Lucy echoed before tilting her head back and downing nearly the full contents of her glass.
Almost immediately Ron gagged and dropped his glass. "I think I'm going to be sick!" He whimpered and dashed for the first open stall.
Hermione swallowed then turned green. "Me too!" She ran to a second stall and slammed the door shut behind her.
Lucy started to turn towards her when an awful feeling overcame her and she clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Me three!" She ran into another stall and threw herself immediately over the toilet, preparing herself for what would come next.
As the sound of a fourth glass shattering against the stone floor rang throughout the bathroom, Lucy felt a strange, unsettling and slightly prickling sensation start all over her body overcoming her nausea.
Soon her hair began to shorten and grow darker while her arms and legs felt as if they were being stretched out towards the floor.
Hissing at the uncomfortable and even slightly painful feeling, Lucy dropped to her hands and knees by the toilet, digging her fingernails into ground as the seconds ticked by.
When the awful feeling finally stopped, Lucy slowly opened her eyes and carefully got to her feet. Looking at her hands, she slowly turned towards the door of the stall and pushed it open.
"Lucy? Is that you?" Harry asked making Lucy look up. "Holy Cricket!" She gasped, upon seeing her brother.
Aside from Harry's distinctive round black glasses, the person in front of her looked exactly like Goyle.
"Holy Cricket is right." Harry gaped at her and Lucy peered around him to get a look at herself in the mirrors.
The face that looked back at her was no longer her own. Her hair was now barely chin length and coal black in color as were her eyes. Lucy gently brushed her new bangs aside to put a finger against her scar, but of course that too had vanished from sight.
"Harry?" Ron stumbled out from another stall completely transformed into the plump Crabbe. Lucy turned from the mirror.
"Ron!" Harry gaped at his friend. "This is freaky." Lucy muttered, her eyes widening as the three friends took a moment to take each other in.
"I'll say." Ron agreed. "Bloody Hell." Harry furrowed his brows. "Wait, we still sound like ourselves. Ron, you need to sound like more Crabbe."
Ron suddenly straightened his posture. "Oh right uh...bloody hell. How's that?" He asked, pitching his voice down lower. Harry grinned. "Perfect."
"Just remember to slouch a little. Crabbe and Goyle never stand up straight." Lucy added.
Turning Ron and Harry grinned widely at her. "What?" Lucy inquired.
"I've never heard Pansy Parkinson sound so sweet before." Ron snickered and Lucy blushed. "Oh...right." She cleared her throat and thought a moment before speaking again.
"You think you're so good Potter don't you? Draco wait up!" She said in a whiny voice, making Harry and Ron laugh more.
"Now that was excellent." Harry approved. Lucy giggled then peered around the boys back towards the stalls.
"Hermione, are you coming? We need to move." She called, careful not to be too loud since someone could be near.
"Uh...I don't think I'm going Lucy. You three go on without me." Hermione answered, sounding afraid which worried the three friends.
"Hermione are you okay?" Harry asked starting to walk towards the stalls.
"Just go! You're wasting time!" Hermione raised her voice, making Harry stop. Lucy sighed. "Hermione..." "She's right. We only have one hour." Ron cut in.
Reluctantly Harry and Lucy turned away from the stalls. "All right. We'll be back as soon as we can then Hermione." He told his friend reassuringly.
"Be careful." Hermione responded still sounding afraid and even a little uncomfortable.
"Right. Let's go Harry. Lucy?" Ron turned to head out the door. Lucy lingered by the sinks. "You two go first. I'm going to wait here for a few more minutes." She announced, sinking down to sit on the floor while being careful to avoid all the broken glass.
"What? Why?" Harry asked. Lucy sighed. "Because Pansy Parksinson doesn't usually walk with Crabbe and Goyle. It would seem strange if someone walked by and saw the three of us just casually strolling down the corridor." She explained.
"I guess that's true." Harry conceded. "Okay. We're going then. Be careful all right, Lu?" He pleaded slightly.
Lucy nodded, giving the boys a half smile. "I will." She settled back against the bathroom wall watching until Ron and Harry left the bathroom.
As soon as she heard their footsteps fade away down the hall, she relaxed and let out a slow deep breath.
Two hundred and Forty...Two hundred and Thirty Nine...Two hundred and Thirty Eight... She began to count back to herself, planning to leave as soon as she reached zero.
A minute before it was time, Lucy stood back on her feet and was just brushing the dirt from her robes when she heard sniffles come from the stalls.
"Hermione?" She called out quietly, stepping towards the toilets. "Are you really okay?" She asked, concern dripping from her voice as she tried to find which stall the sniffling was coming from.
"I'm fine!" Hermione croaked, making Lucy freeze briefly. "Now go. You can't let our work all be for naught." She ordered.
Sighing, Lucy turned her head towards the door of the bathroom. "I know, but...you're scaring me Hermione. Why won't you come out?" She asked.
Hermione sighed. "I...I'll tell you when you come back. I promise. Now go! Hurry!" She said shakily. Lucy bit her lip, torn between going out to fulfill her part of their plan to discover the Heir of Slytherin and staying to comfort her best friend.
Then she thought of Justin Finch-Fletchley, Sir Nicholas and even Filch's cat and her resolve returned.
"Okay. I'm going." She responded, looking in the mirror one last time to make sure even her expression looked like Pansy's before striding out through the door.
...
So far so good. Lucy thought to herself as she rounded the corner to the Slytherin Common Room shivering at the chilly drafts that blew through the dungeon levels of the castle.
How the students in Slytherin House managed to sleep down here when it was so cold, Lucy couldn't guess. She bit her lip as she tried to subtly follow two Slytherins who were heading back to the common room.
As she slipped inside, she was greeted first by a warm burst of air most likely coming from the lit fireplace in the room and then by the look of surrpise on Malfoy's face when he saw her enter.
"Pansy? What are you doing here? I thought you had gone home for the holiday." He inquired demandingly, his tone devoid of much politeness or kindness.
Lucy tried her best not sound uncomfortable or nervous. "I came back early." She snipped in a tone Pansy often used when they had Transfigurations class together.
"It was so boring without you Draco." She said, hating herself for being so icky sweet to Malfoy.
Fortunately, Malfoy seemed satisfied with her excuse. "Whatever. Come sit down. I was just telling Crabbe and Goyle what my Father said since all these attacks started happening." He waved her over.
Ignoring the nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach, Lucy pranced as happily as she could manage across the common room and planted herself on the couch next to Malfoy, making sure to lean in since Pansy always tried to sit close to him whenever she saw her.
"Anyway as I was saying, with all the attacks going on I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't done some sort of investigative report. I suspect Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. You know my Father always said Dumbledore was the worst thing that ever happened to this place." Draco said smugly, making Lucy feel a little indignant.
"You're wrong!" Harry burst out, forgetting for a moment in his rage that he was supposed to be playing Goyle.
Malfoy stared at him with an odd glower on his face. "What?" He nearly exploded, jumping to his feet. "You think there's someone here who's worse than Dumbledore?" He demanded as Ron looked uncomfortably at his feet.
Lucy felt a sense of dread gnawing at her chest, but she did her best to look as bewildered as Malfoy was.
"Well? Do you?" Malfoy continued to press.
"I doubt it." Lucy put in.
Harry thought quickly on his feet. "Uh...What about Harry and Lucy Potter?" He tried, looking as sheepish as Goyle might caught in a similar situation with Malfoy.
To his relief, Malfoy grinned at his suggestion. "Good one Goyle. You're absolutely right." He crowed gleefully, returning to sit on the couch.
"Saint Potters!" Lucy wrinkled her nose exactly the way Pansy did to her. "And people actually think that they're the Heirs of Slytherin?" Malfoy scoffed.
"It's offensively stupid." Lucy added looking at Malfoy as if wanting to gain his approval.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances. "But then..you must have some idea who's behind it all." Harry spoke up.
"Ugh! You know I don't Goyle! I told you yesterday! How many times do I got to tell you?" Malfoy snapped getting up again and walking towards the table on the right side of the room.
Lucy turned her head and watched Malfoy perched himself on the edge of the table and picked up a small green paper parcel.
Shaking it around, he looked back at where Harry and Ron still sat. "Crabbe is this yours?" He asked with a grin.
Ron looked down and shook his head. Chuckling, Malfoy slipped the parcel into the pocket of his robes before continuing.
"Anyway, my Father did say this. He said it's been fifty years since the Chamber was last opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it, only that they were expelled and that the last time the Chamber was opened a Mudblood died. So it's only a matter of time...before one of them is killed this time. As for me..." He turned towards Lucy and grinned a wicked smile.
"I hope it's Granger."
Suddenly Ron was on his feet and Lucy stood too, forgetting in her sudden anger that she wasn't herself at the moment. Silently she cursed herself as Harry stood and tried to get Ron to calm down.
Unfortunately Malfoy was now getting suspicious. "What's the matter with you three? You're acting very...odd." He looked from who he thought were Crabbe and Goyle to where Lucy stood hastily trying to smooth her expression and think up a good excuse on the spot.
"It's his...stomachache." Harry said hastily.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "And I'm...I'm getting tired of hearing about the Heir of Slytherin. I going to get a drink of water before bed." She declared as arrogantly as she could manage, stalking towards the door of the Slytherin Common Room before Draco could have a chance to stop her.
Lucy had just reached the top of the stairs leading out from the dungeons when she felt a tingling sensation at the top of her scalp just before something tickled the nape of her neck.
Reaching a hand back, she tried to brush away the tickle only to get a handful of her own natural long reddish brown hair knocked into her face.
Oh no! Lucy paled upon realizing what was happening.
Without hesitating she made a run for it the rest of the way back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, not realizing that Harry and Ron were at her heels until the three of them burst back into the bathroom nearly colliding into one another's backs as the door swung shut behind them.
"That was close!" Ron breathed as the rest of his features returned to normal. Harry nodded and hastily grabbed his glasses back out of his robes.
"Hermione!" He called while shoving his glasses back on his face. "Come out! We got loads to tell you!"
"Go away!" Hermione retorted, making no move to leave her stall.
Lucy sighed, pushing her way past Harry and Ron. "Hermione stop this. It's okay. The effects of the potion wore off." She started to search for her friend when Moaning Myrtle suddenly floated right through a stall door cackling madly.
"Ohhh! Not for her it hasn't...Wait till you see! It's awful!" She chortled, laughing as she hovered just behind Harry and Ron's shoulders.
Lucy, Harry and Ron exchanged half confused, half worried glances at that. "Hermione?...Are you okay?" Harry asked, slowly reaching out a hand to open the door that Myrtle had just floated through.
Hermione sniffed as the door slowly swung open. Lucy gaped upon seeing a pair of large furry ginger ears poking out from the top of Hermione's head.
Ron looked mortified.
"Do you remember me telling you...that the Polyjuice Potion was only for human transformations?" Hermione asked slowly, raising her head and turning to face her friends.
"It was cat's hair I pulled off of Millicent Bulstrode's robes." She said pitifully through eyes that were much larger, beadier and yellower than her normal brown eyes.
"Look at my face."
Myrtle began to cackle again and Lucy couldn't help scowling at her in annoyance.
"Look at your tail." Ron started to grin then stopped when he realized the situation wasn't really funny at all.
"How are you going to change back?"
Hermione hung her head.
"If I knew that I wouldn't have been hiding in the bathroom all this time." She looked at Lucy helplessly. "What am I going to do? I can't go to classes all covered in fur." She complained while Myrtle continued to laugh.
"It isn't funny Myrtle!" Lucy snapped before turning back towards her friend. "Maybe Madam Pomfrey knows a counter spell. If she could regrow Harry's bones, I'm sure she could find a way to turn you back to normal again." She tried.
Hermione shook her head. "I can't go outside looking like this." She covered her face. Harry sighed. "You'll have to. Otherwise you'll be a cat...person forever. Besides anyone who does see you will just think you were working on your spells too much and had an accident." He put in hoping to coax Hermione into leaving the bathroom with them.
Hermione sighed. "All right fine. But try to hide me as much as you can until we get to the hospital wing okay?" She pleaded looking from Harry to Lucy then to Ron.
The three friends nodded. "We will." Ron agreed as he and Harry moved to stand on either side of her while Lucy stood in front.
"Ready?" She asked turning to check on Hermione who was ducking her head. Meekly, she nodded in affirmation. "Ready." Lucy smiled encouragingly at her then began to lead the way from the bathroom.
Moaning Myrtle floated away towards the ceiling giving out one last cackle as the four second years slowly made their way past the stalls and out the door to the still dark corridors outside.
...