Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize, if I did I wouldn't be writing FanFic I'd be working on that damned 7th book!

A/N To Pai: Harry has NO IDEA who Maria is, he doesn't even know her name. Second of all, he seems determined to think that Voldie's heir is a guy. He'll figure it out eventually, but in the meantime on with the chapter!

Chapter 8: Revealing

Harry and Ron left the dorm room, snuck down through the common room and went out the Fat Lady's portrait. Ron was grumbling something about useless night stalking, but Harry was concentrating on finding the clue he hadn't seen in the diary.

"Harry, what do you expect to find?" Ron was still sluggish from waking up, and Harry was frustrated because he really didn't know the answer.

"Just... something Ron. There's always something." Ron grumbled some more.

"The best place to start would be the Slytherin dorm room."

Ron knew that Harry was desperate to find something, so he didn't respond.

They were nearing the Slytherin dorm.

"Harry, can we please take the cloak off? We haven't seen anybody!" Ron whispered. Harry had stopped a moment.

"Is it just my imagination, or did something just rattle?"

"Oh, c'mon Harry, it was probably just Peeves."

"I'm serious Ron. I heard something around the corner there."

"Look Harry, if we go around and there's nobody there, then can we take the cloak off?"

"I guess that's fair." Still, Harry was unsure. They went around the corner, and yet nothing was there. Ron removed the cloak, and Harry looked to either end of the hall. No one there.

"Ron, I'm sure I heard something over here. Are you sure this is a good idea?" He checked again, but the hall remained empty.

"Only as good an idea as coming out here in the first place. C'mon Harry, there isn't anyone here. Besides, it'll be easier to walk now that we have that stinkin' cloak off." Harry had to admit Ron was right. The cloak wasn't made to cover two people, so they had to walk slowly to make sure neither one slipped out from under it.

"I suppose you're right" Harry mumbled. At this they both walked into the next hallway, and Harry could've swore that he heard footsteps behind them. He turned around just as the sound vanished.

Harry kept hearing noises, as if someone was following them. But every time Harry looked, Ron would turn to Harry and say "Harry, I think you're starting to get a little paranoid. As they approached the next corner, Harry thought he heard the footsteps getting closer, only this time they were ahead of him. He just shrugged it off, knowing that it was probably nothing. Just then, a girl stepped around the corner and jumped when she saw them.

"Huh. Fancy seeing you here Potter." She pause a moment, as if considering. "Weasely." She merely acknowledged the other boy. Harry's head was suddenly filled with questions. Who was she? What was she doing here at this time of night? Could she have been making those noises Harry heard? He realized, as the last question buzzed by, that if she had been making those noises she could have seen the cloak.

Harry nearly growled, knowing what that would mean. But he suppressed and simply said "What are you doing here? Seen anything unusual?" He knew the question might raise her suspicions, but he had to try it. She merely smirked.

"Me? I'm taking a walk, and if you mean anything interesting I doubt there's anything I can do for you. Speaking of which, what are you doing here?" Harry glanced at Ron. Should he even bother lying, or should he just not answer? Some part of him wanted to say it, but he didn't know this girl. Then again, maybe she could help him...

"We're looking for the owner of a diary." Harry was careful, making sure he didn't let on any more than he had to. She could help him find Voldermort's Heir, but it would be a big problem if she knew to much. Ron was glaring at him furiously, obviously not understanding what Harry was trying to do. The girl's eyes flashed for a moment, but it was gone before harry could figure out why. Had she been surprised by what he said? maybe she knew someone who lost a diary.

"I don't think you'll find him at this time of night, unless you're aware of some nocturnal tendencies?" Harry took a moment to figure out what she said. The statement sounded like something Hermione would say, with words that could easily be simplified into more direct terms. Either way, it didn't seem like he could back out of the conversation now.

"No, we just... don't know who it is. We were hoping we could find out." She seemed somehow pleased by his answer. Harry suddenly became nervous, unsure of what he was doing.

"Why not just ask around when everyone's awake? Asking 'is this your diary' works pretty well." Was she going to keep asking him questions? Would it be safe for Harry to continue answering them?

"Well... we don't want the person to know we have it."

"Harry!" Ron couldn't believe what was going on, Harry was giving a lot away, and for what? A conversation. Both boys already realized the girl was a Slytherin, but Ron hadn't noticed the significance of that. The girl just smiled.

"An anonymous post then. 'Found: Lost Diary. Leave a note for its return.'" Harry tried to stick with information that could be about any diary.

"How will we know it's really the person it belongs too?" This was true enough, how would they know they had really found Voldermort's heir if someone just told them the diary belonged to him?

"If you really care that much, then don't be so nervous about them knowing who you are." Harry realized he was cornered. If he didn't give her some reason, she could tell everyone and his chances of finding the owner of the diary would be lost. But if he said to much, she could still tell and the diary's owner would be wary of any attempt to find him. Harry was walking on a tightrope now.

"I... kind of read the diary. A little." Here it was. If she asked anything more, he would have to lie.

"Oh really? Anything good? I haven't had any good gossip in a while." Harry tensed, unsure if she would buy it or not.

"There's not anything interesting in it." She didn't seem convinced.

"What? Of course there is! A crush, an interesting event, some self description?" Harry had to set the final word, stop the flow of questions.

"No. There isn't." His tone was aggressive, to tell her the conversation was over.

She took the hint. "Huh. Oh well. Bye." She walked off, and Harry started walking the other way with Ron right behind him. As soon as she was out of hearing range, Ron turned to him with a look that could kill.

"Harry, what were you thinking? You told her almost everything!"

:I didn't see you helping me get rid of her."

"You took it that way, you had to deal with it. I wouldn't have told her about the diary in the fist place!"

"The truth is easiest to believe, Ron. What excuse would you have made?"

"Same as her, we were out for a walk."

"This far from Gryffindor tower? Even then, did you believe her?"

"No! She was up to something sneaky, I'll bet."

"And would you want her being suspicious of us? Besides, I thought she might be able to help us."

"Help us? But she's a Slytherin!" Ron yelled.

"Ron, shut up you idiot! Do you want to get caught?"

"Sorry" he mumbled. They went back to Gryffindor, not wanting to run into anyone else.

As soon as they were back, they went to sleep. It had been a long night for Harry, and Ron had wanted to just go to sleep from the beginning of their little venture. We could be in big trouble now, Harry thought. What if I just let Voldermort's heir known that we're looking for him. Things have become pretty dangerous, and school just started. Harry fell asleep, unsure now about telling the girl about the diary.

He was more right than he knew. Maria had found her diary, and she would do whatever she could to retrieve it.

What will Maria do to take her diary from Harry? Will Harry discover her before she can? And how will Hermione fit into this beneath-the-surface turmoil?

A/N People! Review, I love getting ideas (no flames please, if you don't like it tell me how to improve.) Also, review help motivate me into writing more chapters, so if you like it and want more chapters reviewing is a good idea! Also, for those of you who write (which is probably most of you), if you see something of yours in the next chapters take it as a compliment that I liked it enough to try it.

One more thing, I'm thinking about starting a new fanfic. Avatar with Zuko-OC pairing, but if I do I might update this less. I dunno, how hard is it to write 2 fics at once? A little advice, please!