Elizabeth didn't know how they expected her to distract Filch at midnight on Saturday and not get caught herself, but that became the least of her worries when the next morning Ron's hand had swollen to twice its normal size. He didn't think it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey, as she'd recognise the bite, but by afternoon he had no choice. The cut was now green. Norbert's fangs were obviously poisonous. Harry, Hermione, and Elizabeth rushed up to the hospital wing after classes to find Ron in a terrible state.

"Is your hand that bad?" Elizabeth asked.

"No," said Ron. "Well, it feels like it's going to fall off, but that's not the problem. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come in here and have a good laugh at me. He threatened to tell her what really bit me."

"Don't worry, it will all be over Saturday." Hermione tried to calm him down. It seemed to have the exact opposite effect.

He bolt upright. "On no! I've just remembered ─ Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took. He's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

Before anyone could say anything else, Madam Pomfrey shooed Harry, Hermione, and Elizabeth out, saying that Ron needed rest.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Hermione.

"Go through with it," said Elizabeth. "We don't have time to send Charlie another letter. We're going to have to risk it. With Harry's invisibility cloak, you two should do fine getting Norbert up to the Astronomy tower on Saturday."

"Me?" said Hermione. "With Ron out I figured you would. You enjoy breaking the rules."

"Can't. I have to get that book back from Malfoy before he reads the letter."

"And what about Saturday?"

"Ron volunteered me to get expelled, remember? I have to distract Filch."

"What happens if you get caught?" Harry asked.

"That's the whole point of taking one for the team." She patted Harry's shoulder.

"She can't be serious," Elizabeth heard Harry say to Hermione as she disappeared down the corridor. "She's going to get expelled."

She glanced back to see a worried expression on Hermione's face. It made Elizabeth feel sick to her stomach. If Hermione was genuinely worried and not just nagging about losing House points, it had to be serious.

As she turned the corner, she heard Hermione say, "I ─ I think she has a chance."

Elizabeth sighed. She knew it was a very slim chance.

She was also having no luck trying to get the book back. She didn't want to directly ask Malfoy for it. She didn't want to come off too eager to get the book back in case he hadn't opened it yet and read the letter. Desperation to get it back would only make him suspicious. Trying to steal it back wasn't working either, as he never had it with him. She could only hope he didn't know what was going on and it stayed that way until after Nobert was gone.

She was sitting in the common room on Saturday night while Harry and Hermione snuck down to Hagrid's hut to retrieve Norbert. She felt like she failed them. She had one task to get the book back from Malfoy and she couldn't even do that. With the way he had been taunting her all day as well, she was certain he now knew the plan. She felt sick as she prepared herself for that evening. She had worked her best to come up with a plan to distract Filch, yet avoid him at the same time, but she couldn't come up with one that was foolproof. She was going to get caught no matter what and her grandmother would beat her into next year for getting expelled.

"What's the matter?"

She snapped out of her distressing thoughts to find Neville standing next to her armchair, looking down at her with a worried expression on his face.

"It's nothing," she lied. Suddenly she had an idea. "Hey, Neville, you want to help me, Harry, and Hermione?"

His voice was trembling. "How?"

Around midnight Elizabeth and Neville snuck out of the common room.

"Come on, Neville."

"Liz, I don't think this is such a good idea," said Neville shakily. "What if we get caught?"

"If you follow the plan we won't, I promise. Now here, you take the screaming yo-yo and go down to the third floor." She handed him the yo-yo. "With everyone else in bed, Filch is sure to hear it no problem. And if you run into Peeves remember what I told you."

"Tell him to cause as much trouble to Mr. Filch as possible."

"I'm pretty sure if someone gives Peeves an order to cause chaos he'll do it. Anyway, I'm going down to the ground floor. Once you use that, Filch'll bolt out of his office, so I want you to run back to the common room immediately. I'll head down to the dungeons and set off the wet-start no-heat fireworks Richard got me for Christmas. Then Filch will come running my way. Got all that?" Neville nodded. "All right, you're a brave one, Longbottom. Now get to the third floor."

"Wait, how do I know when to use the screaming yo-yo? When will you be down by Filch's office?"

"I'll walk with you down to the third floor. Once I leave you, give me ten minutes then use it. Think you can do that? You can't be nervous tonight, Neville. You need to be confident."

He still looked uncertain. "I don't think I can."

"Sure you can. You took on Malfoy and his goons no problem, you can do this."

They crept quietly down to the third floor, past sleeping portraits. Elizabeth led Neville back to the trophy room entrance.

"Now, this is just like last time we were here," said Elizabeth. "Go through the armour gallery, don't trip this time, go through the tapestry to the Charms corridor, and just back to the common room from there. I'm going to leave now, okay?"

"Ten minutes," muttered Neville.

"Right. Come on, Neville, buck up. You can do this. I believe in you. I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't."

She gave him a reassuring smile and crept off down to the ground floor. Only a few minutes had gone by when Neville heard footsteps approaching. He hid inside the trophy room.

Elizabeth had made it down by Filch's office, but there was no sign of the caretaker, and after ten minutes she didn't hear the yo-yo. Afraid that Filch had caught Neville already, she rushed back up to the third floor only to find it completely empty. There was no sign of Neville or Filch anywhere. Not even any of the ghosts were roaming about. Without thinking, she bolted towards the Astronomy tower. She was positive that that had to be where Filch was, or where he was headed at least.

By the time she got there she saw Harry and Hermione descending the spiral staircase. They must have left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower. Elizabeth went to approach them until she saw a shadow and Filch suddenly loomed out of the darkness. She quickly retreated into the darkness.

"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble."

Elizabeth watched from the shadows as Filch seised Harry and Hermione, and led them away, presumably to Professor McGonagall's office on the first floor.

When they were out of sight, Elizabeth slipped carefully up the spiral staircase to the top of the astronomy tower, where she found the invisibility cloak. She picked it up and put it on. She didn't know if there was a way to get Harry and Hermione out of this one, but she could at least save Neville if she found him.

She crept back down the staircase and silently through the corridor. She felt like she had wandered half the castle, but she had no luck finding Neville. She decided maybe he got scared and fled back to the common room. Upon walking through the portrait hole, she saw three very familiar, yet downtrodden faces. They were sitting in the dark, sulking.

"What happens when the rest of Gryffindor finds out?" whispered Harry.

"Finds out what?" Elizabeth ripped the cloak off herself.

"Liz! You were out of bed too?"

"Ron's distract Filch plan," said Elizabeth angrily. "Obviously failed. Remember to tell him that in the morning. Thank you, Neville."

"I ─ I'm sorry," said Neville meekly. "I heard Malfoy say he was going to get Harry in trouble with Professor McGonagall. I wanted to help."

Elizabeth sighed. She wanted to yell at Neville, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. He was only trying to help his friends.

"What happened to you all?" she asked.

"Detention and 150 points from Gryffindor," said Harry.

"150 POINTS!" Elizabeth's eyes grew wide. "You mean ─"

"The three of us just lost Gryffindor the house cup."

Elizabeth felt just as bad as the three of them. "Next time, everyone is drinking the Felix Felicis potion!"

There was a moment of silence in the room as everyone just wallowed in their own self-pity. All of Gryffindor House was going to hate them in the morning. She wanted to strangle Malfoy, but that would do no good. The damage was already done.

"I think you should all go to bed," said Elizabeth, breaking the silence. "There's nothing we can do about it tonight."

The next morning word was out. Harry had become the most hated person in school. Even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the house cup. Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and insulted him. The Slytherins cheered and whistled as he walked past them.

"Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"

"Piss off!" yelled Elizabeth.

"They'll all forget this in a few weeks," said Ron. Ron and Elizabeth were the only two that still stood by Harry. "Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them."

"They've never lost a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, have they?" said Harry miserably.

"Well ─ no," Ron admitted.

It remained awkward like that for weeks. Everyone was miserable. No one would speak to Harry, Hermione, and Neville. Hermione wouldn't even answer questions in class. Ron and Elizabeth had also been receiving the cold shoulder from a few people for still being on friendly terms with the three. Elizabeth felt so guilty for getting Neville involved in the whole mess. If she hadn't asked him to help her distract Filch, then he wouldn't have gotten caught by McGonagall, and instead of one hundred and fifty points lost it would only be a hundred. They would still lose the house cup with that many points gone, but at least Neville wouldn't be in trouble because of her.

The next morning Harry, Hermione, and Neville received notes at breakfast telling them that they had detention that night at eleven o'clock.

"It won't be that bad." Elizabeth tried to console them. "It's just one night and it'll all be over."

"That's easy for you to say," said Harry bitterly. "You don't have detention."

"Don't be mad at me, I tried to help you."

"Well, you did a smashing job of that, don't you think?"

Elizabeth hung her head in shame. She now knew what it must have felt like when William yelled at Margaret for getting involved in his life.

In the weeks that followed, things had slowly gone back to normal. Harry had told them he encountered Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest and was insisting that Snape was trying to get the Stone for him, or at least that's what the centaurs told him. Elizabeth didn't even try to argue with him, exams were taking up too much of her time. She wouldn't have been worried if Harry didn't keep complaining that his scar was hurting and he was having nightmares about Voldemort. She kept telling him that he can't pay any mind to his nightmares, they don't really mean anything. She didn't pay any mind to dreams because Aunt Catherine was a bit of a nutter. She had several dream interpretation books and followed them strictly. Elizabeth hated when she and Oscar came to visit because she would always have a dream and then none of them could wear red that day, or eat pancakes for breakfast, or something silly like that. Harry wasn't listening to Elizabeth though. He still seemed rather sore at her. It reminded her of earlier in the year when she was treating Harry the same way for no good reason and she was right sorry about it now that the tables were turned.

Between being concerned about Harry, exams, and the inevitable punishment that was awaiting her at home this summer, she barely got any rest. Elizabeth was unsure how she managed to get through all her exams without passing out from exhaustion. She was sure she had written so many papers by now with special Anti-Cheating quills that she could do it in her sleep, which she had almost done actually, considering she nearly dozed off during a couple.

Her practical exams weren't as bad. They were rather easy. Professor Flitwick made each student make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk, Professor McGonagall made them transform a rat into a snuffbox, and Professor Snape made them make a Forgetfulness potion. Elizabeth regretted not paying attention months ago when he taught them how, but she managed to get through it. She even managed to get through her last exam: History of Magic. An hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who invented self-stirring cauldrons, and goblin rebellions. She did briefly fall asleep during that one until Hermione elbowed her hard in her side to wake her up. She was sure if there was talking allowed, she would have also been nagging that she told Elizabeth to get plenty of sleep and she just never listens. She may have been friends with Hermione Granger now, but that didn't make Hermione any less obnoxious.

When the exam ended, Elizabeth couldn't help but cheer. She had a week to rest, no more studying, before the exam results came in. She decided to head back to her dormitory for some well deserved sleep. After telling Ron where she'd be, she slowly made her way to the Gryffindor common room. The trek was at least quiet, as most people had gone outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. Her legs felt like lead as she climbed the staircase to the seventh floor. She was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. She could vaguely make out a shadowy figure down the corridor from behind her drooping eyelids. The figure was dressed in Ravenclaw robes with neatly combed chestnut coloured hair like her grandmother's.

"You again?" She was slightly annoyed. "Go away, Richard." He didn't respond. She moved slowly closer and could see he was a bit taller than Richard. "Richard?" She rubbed her eyes and the figure was gone. She was standing alone in the hallway. "Richard." She put her hands on her hips and looked around to see if he was playing a cruel joke on her. "Richard, I'm going to tell Gran if you don't knock it off and come out this minute." She waited for a response, but no one appeared. "Richard!"

The hall was dead silent. No students, no ghosts, no Richard.

"Richard?" she whispered.

She was sure she had just seen him, but maybe her eyes were playing tricks. He looked like Richard, except different. He was taller, he was thinner, and he wore his hair different, but she swore he looked like Richard.

Elizabeth had made it back to the common room by herself all right, startled, but all right. She collapsed into an armchair immediately, unable to climb the stairs to the girls dormitory. She was beginning to doze off when the portrait hole swung open and Harry and Ron strolled through. They found Elizabeth curled up in one of the armchairs.

"I thought you were going to bed," said Ron.

"Does it look like I made it that far?" Elizabeth opened her eyes. "What are you two doing inside? And where's Hermione?"

Hermione came running through the portrait hole a second later looking flushed. "I'm sorry, Harry!" she wailed. "Snape came out and asked me what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him. I've only just got away. I don't know where Snape went."

"What are you three up to now?" Elizabeth asked.

"Snape is going to steal the Stone," said Harry.

"How many times must I tell you?" She rested her head on the arm of the chair. "Hagrid said he's protecting it." She yawned.

"I don't care what you say, Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone. If I'm going out of here tonight, I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

"What are you talking about, Harry?"

"Voldemort is coming back!"

Elizabeth sat up. She looked at Ron and Hermione. "He's lost it, hasn't he?"

Harry grabbed Elizabeth by the arms. "LISTEN TO ME!" he shouted. "I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and I'm going to stop Snape!"

Elizabeth glared at him. "Let go of me before you bruise my arms." Harry let go of her immediately. She stood up from her chair and proceeded to the stairs.

"Aren't you going to help me?" he asked.

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Why tonight? How are you so sure that Snape is going down there tonight?"

"Because Dumbledore's gone. Hagrid said that the stranger that gave him the dragon egg asked a lot of questions about Fluffy. He told him how to get past the dog. We think that the hooded person he played cards with was Snape."

Elizabeth debated the possibility of this for what seemed to be hours in her mind and in Harry's, but it was actually only for a few minutes. She drew the conclusion, that with Dumbledore gone, it seemed like the perfect time for Snape to go in for the prize, if Harry was right. Even if he wasn't, she decided she had to help stop whoever turned out to be trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone. She wanted to succeed where she failed last time and help Harry, even if that meant getting expelled.

"All right, I'm in," she said. "We'll use the invisibility cloak and sneak down to the forbidden corridor tonight."

"But will the invisibility cloak cover all four of us?" said Hermione.

"All ─ all four of us?" Harry sounded surprised.

"Well, of course," said Ron. "We're not going to let you two go without us."

"But if we get caught, you two will get expelled too."

Elizabeth stopped for a moment. "Why is it okay for me to get expelled, but not them?"

"Well ─ I thought ─ you're always ─"

She waved it off. "Yeah, I know, I'm trouble." She sighed and whispered under her breath, "Gran is going to kill me for this."

A/N: Quotes and plot from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling, Chapter Fourteen, Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback, pages 238 to 239 and page 241. Chapter Fifteen, The Forbidden Forest, pages 244 to 245, page 247, and pages 259 to 260. Chapter Sixteen, Through the Trapdoor, pages 262 to 263, and 270 to 271.