At dinner time, as Draco and Staros entered the hall with their respective cliques, Draco started over to the Gryffindor table and right to Harry. Staros followed out of curiosity while Blaise tagged along. Daphne and Tracey paused before deciding to just seat themselves leaving the boys to their own devices.
'After all, opportunity awaits only those who seek it,' Staros thought, remembering the line his grandfather so frequently drilled into him.
"Having a last meal, Potter?" Draco smugly started up. "When are you on the train back to the muggles?"
"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground with your little friends," replied Harry cooly. Staros smirked at that one.
'Good show, Harry. Now keep playing it cool.'
Draco scowled, "I'd take you anytime on my own. Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only, no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before?"
"Of course he has," said Ron. "I'm his second, who's yours?"
Draco looked over at Crabbe and Goyle before saying, "Crabbe. Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room. That's always unlocked."
Staros saw the opportunity and stepped up at this point. "And I'll witness. Can't have a proper duel without an officiator after all. Ground rules, no lethal spells in and of themselves. So nothing like a cutting curse or the like that could actually cause damage. Duel is to the first to hit the other with a spell. No physical contact has already been stated and agreed. Loser does one assignment for the winner for any class of the winner's choice. How's that sound?"
Draco looked thoroughly disgusted by Staros' interruption.
"This really isn't any of your business you know."
"Oh, but it is, my dear Malfoy. It is. As a witness to the challenge and acceptance, I, as a third party with no real ties to either challenger or challenged, have offered my services as negotiator and official witness to the terms. Neville, old boy, have I left out anything important? Any traditions I should be aware of?"
Neville, who had been trying very hard to ignore the entire conversation while still nursing his bound wrist, looked up worriedly but shook his head.
"Excellent! Then it's all arranged! See you both at midnight!" Staros walked away, Blaise following, shaking his head.
As Draco walked back to the tables, Staros and Blaise were just sitting down with Daphne and Tracey.
"What was that all about, or do we really want to know?" asked Daphne.
Blaise shook his head at her and gestured at Staros who smiled widely at her.
"Nothing much, merely and opportunity that couldn't wait. Draco challenged little Harry to a wizard's duel tonight," Staros said. "Should be fun. You want to come?"
"A duel? Seriously?" Daphne replied looking positively uninterested. "You do know that if you're caught, it will mean quite the loss of points and not a few detentions. Plus, don't you think that Malfoy might go a bit overboard with Potter? What if he does something stupid and kills him?"
"Not to worry, kind lady. Draco really doesn't have the power to pull anything dangerous, plus I made that part of the rules when I agreed to officiate. Neither he or Harry has a big repertoire of spells to use, so it's mostly gonna be tickling charms and stinging hexes like we've been shown this week. Draco might pull off a few other things, but I doubt he can cast anything strong yet."
"Whatever. Just don't expect me to get involved in this idiocy."
That night, Staros sat up with Blaise playing cards until eleven thirty. Having not seen Draco most of the evening, they both speculated that he had probably spent his time with Crabbe and Goyle in their room and had most likely already left for the duel. Gathering up their wands and each wearing a dark cloak to blend into the shadows better, they quietly left their dorm and peeked into the common room. Seeing no one, they made their way quickly across the room and out the portrait arch.
Some twenty-five minutes later, they were in the trophy room when they heard the distinct sound of Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat. The little bell she wore always gave her away and many often wondered why Filch continued to have her wear it since it alerted students to his presence. Then again, maybe it kept students from being able to claim they cursed or killed it by accident, not knowing it was her.
Hiding themselves in an alcove on the opposite side from the direction of the noise, they waited. The sound of footsteps from behind their position nearly scared them silly until they saw it was Harry and Ron, surprisingly with Neville and Hermione.
"Hssst! Over here," Staros called in a whisper, scaring the quartet. They all jumped and then, realizing it was Staros with Blaise, moved into the alcove with them.
"Where's Malfoy?" asked Ron, looking around.
"Shhh, keep your voice down," said Blaise. "We heard Mrs. Norris just a few minutes ago."
"Looks like Draco's a no show," whispered Staros. "We better git too if we don't want to get caught by Filch."
About this time, Flich could be heard coming into the far end of the trophy room.
"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."
With that, everyone looked at each other and the silent agreement to get the hell out was unanimous. Making their way back from whence the Gryffindors had come, they moved as silently as they could, trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Filch and his cat. Rounding a corner, Neville squeaked in fright as he came face to face with his own reflection in a suit of armor. The sound cause Ron to jump back and he collided with another suit that was opposite. With the clashing sounds of armor falling, everyone panicked as Harry said, "Run!"
The six took off down the corridor, up a flight of stairs, around several corners and getting completely lost amidst the darkened halls. Slowing down to try and get their bearings, they realized they were near the Charms classroom, a long way from Filch.
"I think we lost him," said Harry, leaning against the wall and trying to catch his breath.
"I… told… you…" Hermione gasped out, holding her sides.
"Where was Malfoy?" asked Ron, looking at the two Slytherins. "He should've… come with you!"
Blaise shook his head, "We haven't…. seen him… all night… we thought… he left early…"
Staros looked back down the hall, breathing easier now. "He might have gotten caught. Knowing him, the first thing he'd do is rat us out."
"What if he never intended to show?" said Hermione. "He tricked you, Harry. He probably tipped Filch off and hid from you two so you would get in trouble too."
Staros shrugged, "Maybe. By the way, Harry, Ron, Hermione… pajamas?"
Hermione looked mortified to be running around in her PJs. Ron and Harry just shook their heads and Harry said, "We figured it wouldn't take long and it would make getting to bed easier."
Blaise looked at the normally dressed Neville, a question clearly in his eyes. Neville just mumbled about forgetting the dorms password and being locked out.
Harry decided they had rested long enough and said, "Let's go."
No sooner did they all get moving again did a ghastly image shoot out of one of the open, unused classrooms. Peeves. Seeing them, the poltergeist gave a squeal of delight.
"Quiet, Peeves, please," begged Harry. "You'll get us caught by Filch."
Peeves just cackled at them, "Wandering around at night, Ickle Firsties? Tut tut tut. Naughty naughty, you'll get caught."
"Please, Peeves, not if you don't give us away."
"Should tell I should," said Peeves assuming a saintly pose. "It's for your own good, you know." The wicked gleam in his eye belied the fatherly tone of his voice.
"Get out of the way!" snapped Ron, swiping at Peeves. Again, his inability to think ahead making more trouble for all.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" bellowed the poltergeist. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"
"Shit!" yelled Staros.
Everyone bolted down a side corridor, away from the cackling ghost, and hopefully Filch. They ran only a short distance before encountering a dead end. And a large wooden door. Trying to open it, they found it locked.
"This is it!" Ron moaned. "We're done! It's all you Slytherins' fault!"
"Shit, man," said Staros. "We're in as much trouble as you. Maybe more. Filch and Snape hate each other."
Ron just glared at him.
Hearing footsteps, Hermione pushed Harry to the side and pointed her wand at the door. "Alohomra!"
With a snick, the door's lock popped and the door swung slightly open. Pulling it all the way, Harry ushered everyone through and pulled it shut behind him. Throwing the bolt he found on the other side, they all leaned against the door, listening.
Rapidly approaching footsteps and a soft cackle indicated Peeves and Filch together.
"Which way did they go, Peeves? Quick, tell me!"
"Say 'please'."
"Don't you mess with me, Peeves. Which way did they go!"
"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please."
"All right! All right! Please!"
"NOTHING! Ha ha ha! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha ha!"
The gleeful laugh of the ghost was heard getting further away while Filch's cursing was also getting more faint.
"He thinks the door is locked," whispered Harry. "I think we'll be ok… what is it Neville?"
Neville had been tugging at Harry's sleeve for the last minute or so. Harry turned, "Uh, guys…"
Everyone else looked at Harry then in the direction he and Neville were facing. All of them went very still and very pale. They were not alone and this was not a room.
Somehow, they had ended up in the forbidden third floor corridor, the one promising a grisly death. That death was currently staring down at them in surprise, slowly turning to anger, from all six eyes.
A giant three-headed dog was standing behind them. Looking down at them. Drooling as its lips on all three heads began to curl into a growl showing its very, very large teeth. The growls were getting louder, indicating that surprise was no longer its primary focus. A midnight snack had just walked in after all.
Staros carefully pulled the bolt back and lifted the latch, trying not to make any sudden moves. Since the door opened outward from their current position, he figured they could all just fall through it and avoid being eaten. Grabbing Ron by his collar, Staros yanked hard on the boy's shirt while Blaise did the same to Neville. Since those two were standing on the far side of Hermione and Harry, naturally when they pulled them back, the other two fell with them.
The six students falling back through the door was just sudden enough to set the dog off. The growling bark the heads did as they all three tried to snap through the door at once was muffled, probably by a localized silencing charm that was being overwhelmed. Since the heads were fighting to all fit through the door that was too small for any one of them, Harry, Ron, and Staros managed to push the door shut while Hermione flicked her wand and reversed the unlocking spell.
"Well, now we know why the corridor is off limits," Blaise said casually.
"Yeah, but why in the name of all unholies would you have something like THAT in a school?" asked Staros.
"It's guarding something," answered Hermione.
"Seriously?"
"Didn't any of you see what it was standing on?"
"I was a bit distracted trying to watch the three heads," Harry said somewhat sarcastically. Neville and Ron both shook their heads indicating they saw nothing either.
"It was a trap door! There's something in there and the dog is a guard over it."
"Blimey!" was Ron's typical response.
"What's in a school that needs a guard like that?" Neville squeaked, a miracle itself considering how pale a shaken the poor boy looked.
"A good question, but not like we're finding out tonight," said Staros.
"I hope you're all happy," said Hermione, glaring at everyone, "we could all have been killed! Or worse, expelled! Now, if you don't mind, I wish to go to bed."
Saying nothing more, they all looked at each other, shrugged or nodded and then took off in separate directions, the Slytherins one way, the Gryffindors another. Neither group saw any sign of Filch or his cat as they made it back to their respective common rooms.
The next morning, Staros confronted Draco in the bathroom.
"So, what happened to you last night?" Staros asked, standing against the door so Draco had nowhere to go.
"What? Oh… I…" was the mumbled reply.
"Let me guess. Filch caught you as you honorably made your way towards the trophy room. Not having a good excuse to give him, you simply told him where he could find bigger fish to catch if he only let you go. Then you ran back here and back to bed."
Draco paled slightly, swallowed and then said, "Yeah. That's about what happened."
Staros smiled at him.
"No worries. We'll call it a draw. No one got caught, no harm, no foul."
"Y… y… yeah…" stuttered Draco, trying to smile himself.
Staros walked out of the bathroom, leaving the other boy to his morning routine. He nodded once to Blaise on his way out. Silently falling into step next to him and no one else around, Carcerous looked up at Staros questioningly.
"Gramps taught me a lot about how to handle weak braggarts like Draco. How's the work coming on the manor?"
"It be slow, young master. Da grounds be a right mess wit' bowtruckles an' pixies an' gnomes everywhere. We be havin' a deeficult time getting' dem to move."
"Think you can have the house partially livable by Christmas?"
"Aye, de house and immediate surrounds be ready by den. Young master's fadder be sendin' us Litzie to help about den. Things go fast in da house den."
"Keep me apprised of anything you need. Oh, and could you talk to the Hogwarts elves and get them to put me out a cappuccino in the morning? I miss my coffee."
"Aye, young master." The elf faded from view as Staros walked into the common room, none the wiser about his retainer.