I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR DRACULA! REVIEW!

LADY OF THE NIGHT:

CHAPTER SIX:

Draco, frustrated that Harry had won the previous Quidditch match against Slytherin, had taken to mocking him about not going home for the holidays. Ron and his brothers had signed up too, because their parents were visiting their brother Charlie in Romania; and I'd signed up as well, since it was clear that there would be no holiday festivities back at Dracula's castle.

"I still don't see why you're not going home to your Uncle Renny for the holidays, Evangeline." I sighed as we made our way out of Potions. "I told you, Ron. My Uncle Renny is an atheist."

"Huh?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Ronald. What she's trying to say is that her uncle doesn't believe in religion."

"Why didn't she just say that, then?" I groaned. "I just did, Ron."

Harry cut Ron off. "Look, I don't think we should go trying to interfere in Evangeline's personal life." I nodded. "So kindly drop it."

We ran into a large fir tree, and we heard puffing behind it, and figured Hagrid was holding it. Ron poked his head through the branches. "Need any help, Hagrid?" Before Hagrid had a chance to answer, Draco's voice came from behind us. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose-that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to that hole your family must be used to." Ron lunged at Draco, and I managed to grab his collar, but not before Snape spotted him. "WEASLEY!" Hagrid immediately tried to help. "He was provoked, Professor Snape. Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, Hagrid, fighting is still against school rules. Five points from Gryffindor, and be grateful it isn't more, Weasley. Move along, all of you." Malfoy and his two goons pushed past the tree, smirking. Ron clenched his fists, seething. "I'll get him. One of these days, I'll get him." Harry nodded. "I hate them both. Malfoy and Snape."

Hagrid tried to calm us down. "Come on, cheer up. It's nearly Christmas. Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall. Looks a real treat." We followed him into the Great Hall, where Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were setting up the Christmas decorations. "Ah, Hagrid, the last tree-put it in the far corner, would you?"

The Hall looked amazing. Holly and mistletoe was strung all along the walls, and twelve giant Christmas trees stood around the Hall, some decorated with tiny icicles, other glittering with hundreds of candles. "How many days yeh got left til' yer holidays, Hermione?"

"Just one. Oh, that reminds me-Harry, Ron, Evangeline, we have only a half hour before lunch. We should be in the library." Hagrid chuckled as he followed us out of the Great Hall. "The library? Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

Harry smiled up at him. "Oh, we're not working. We're looking up Nicolas Flamel, trying to find out who he is."

"You what?! Listen-I've told yeh-drop it. It's nothin' to yeh what that dog's guardin'."

"We just want to know who he is, that's all," Hermione said sweetly.

I nodded, smirking. "Unless you'd rather tell us, and save us all this trouble?"

"I'm sayin' nothin'." Ron shrugged. "Guess we'll have to find out for ourselves, then." With that, we left an annoyed Hagrid behind as we headed for the library.

We'd been searching the library for any clue as to who Nicolas Flamel was, but had come up with nothing so far. He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time, or Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and he wasn't even in A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry.

Hermione had taken out a list of subjects and titles she'd decided to search while Ron and I walked up and down the aisles, pulling books off the shelves randomly. Harry milled over to the Restricted Section, where they kept books on powerful Dark Magic, only used by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Just then, Madam Pince, the librarian, showed up, a suspicious look on her face. "What are you look for, boy?"

"Nothing." She shook her feather duster in his face. "Go on, then. Out!" Harry left the library, soon followed by me, Hermione and Ron. "Find anything?" I shook my head as we headed off to lunch. "Nope." Hermione turned to us. "You will keeping looking while I'm away, right? And send an owl if you find anything." Ron nodded. "And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is. It'd be safe to ask them, right?" Hermione chuckled. "Very safe, as they're both dentists."

Once the holidays started, we were having too good a time to think about Flamel. The common room was a lot emptier than usual, so we got the armchairs by the fire.

Ron had started teaching Harry wizard's chess. Ron's set was old (no surprise), but that was actually a good thing, seeing as Ron knew them so well he didn't have any trouble getting them to do want he wanted. Harry, on the other hand, played with Seamus's chessmen, and they were always shouting advice at him. I found the entire thing extremely amusing.

On Christmas morning, I waited in the common room for Ron and Harry, and they came bounding down the stairs, holding a stack of wrapped presents. Harry seemed stunned he'd gotten anything at all. They glanced over at me. "What'd you get?" My mouth twisted into a wry grin. "Wellll...Uncle Renny probably didn't send me anything; you know, 'cause he's an atheist."

I turned to Harry. "You first." He opened his present from Hagrid, and it turned out to be a wooden flute. The second one was from his aunt and uncle: a fifty-pence piece, which he gave to Ron. Ron groaned as Harry opened his third present: a hand-knitted emerald sweater and a box of fudge. Ron sighed. "Every year she makes us a sweater, and mine's always maroon." Harry smiled as he bit into the fudge. "That's nice of her." The next parcel was from Hermione: a box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione.

That left his last present. Harry turned to it, and Ron and I gasped as he opened it. "Is that what I think it is?"

"I've heard of those! If that's what I think it is...they're really rare, and really valuable." Harry examined it. "What is it?" Ron continued staring at it. "It's an invisibility cloak. I'm sure of it. Go on, try it on." Harry put it on, and his head floated in mid-air.

They turned to me after ogling the Invisibility Cloak. "Well. Your turn." I took the present that Hermione had given me: a box of Chocolate Frogs. Then Ron handed me a present from his mother: a light blue sweater with a white E. I almost thought I was finished when a tawny owl flew in the window, dropped a package in my lap, then flew back out. Harry frowned, glancing over. "What's that?"

I shrugged. "I don't know." I slowly opened it, and gasped when I saw what was inside, and stared down at a silvery pair of diamond earrings. Harry and Ron looked over, and they stared as well. "Wow. That must have cost a lot." Ron nodded in agreement with Harry. "Mum would kill for a pair like that. Who would spend that much on you?" I shrugged as I picked them up and inserted them into my ears.

We suddenly looked up as Fred and George bounded into sight, and I noticed Harry stuffing his cloak out of sight. "Merry Christmas!"

"Hey, look! Evangeline and Harry got Weasley sweaters, too!" The twins were both wearing blue sweaters, one with a yellow F on it, the other with a yellow G. "They have better sweaters than ours, though. She probably makes more of an effort if you're not family." Fred looked over at Ron. "Why aren't you wearing yours?" Ron groaned as he pulled his sweater over his head. "I hate maroon."

"You haven't got a letter on yours, Ron. I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid-we know we're called Gred and Forge." I laughed, pulling mine on.

"What's all the noise?" Percy, their older brother, walked into the common room, holding a yellow sweater with a red P, which Fred seized. "P for Prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours. Even Harry and Evangeline got one."

"I-don't-want-" Percy sputtered as Fred and George forced the sweater over his head. "And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either. Christmas is a time for family." With that, the twins marched Percy out of Gryffindor Tower, his arms pinned to his sides by the sweater.

Well, one thing was for certain. I definitely had more fun that day than I would have had at C.V's castle. First off, we had a huge Christmas dinner with exploding party favors.

After that, we spent the afternoon having a snowball fight on the grounds. Once we'd finished, we headed back to the common room, where Harry used his new chess set against Ron in a game of wizard's chess, and lost spectacularly, which was probably due to Percy trying to help him.

That evening, we sat lazily on the chairs, watching Percy chase the twins around the common room because they'd stolen his prefect badge.

Soon enough, I headed upstairs, and fell into bed.

I glared at Ron and Harry the next morning. "Why didn't you bring me along?"

"We couldn't get into the girl's dormitories, you know that!" I sighed, letting it go. Ron looked over at Harry. "Want to play chess, Harry?"

"No." Ron and I glanced at each other. "Look, why don't we go and visit Hagrid?"

"No. You go." I sighed. "Harry, I know what you're thinking. Don't go back to that mirror tonight."

"Why not?" I ran my fingers through my hair. "I've just got a bad feeling about it. Anyway, you've had too many close shaves already. Filch, Mrs. Norris and Snape are wandering around. So what if they can't see you? What if they bump into you, or you knock something over?"

"You sound like Hermione."

"I'm serious, Harry, don't go."

Hermione had come back the day before term started up again, was horrified that Harry had been out of bed three nights in a row, but also disappointed that we hadn't found out who Nicolas Flamel was.

However, a far bigger problem came a few weeks later when Harry told the three of us that Snape was refereeing the next Quidditch match. Hermione frowned, thinking for a minute. "Don't play."

Ron nodded. "Pretend to break your leg."

"Really break your leg."

"EVANGELINE!"

"What?" Harry rolled his eyes. "I can't. There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all." At that moment, Neville fell into the common room. Apparently, someone had performed the Leg-Locker Curse on him, and he'd had to bunny-hop all the way up to Gryffindor Tower. Hermione immediately got up and performed the counter-curse, freeing Neville.

"What happened?"

"Malfoy. I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on." Hermione frowned. "Go to Professor McGonagall! Report him!" Neville shook his head. "I don't want trouble." Ron crossed his arms. "You've got to stand up to him, Neville! He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier!"

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that." Harry pulled out a Chocolate Frog and handed it to Neville. "You're worth twelve of Malfoy. The Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor, right? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

"Thanks, Harry. I think I'll go to bed. You want the card? You collect them, don't you?" As Neville walked off, Harry looked down at the card. "Dumbledore again. He was the first I ever-" He suddenly gasped. "I've found him! I've found Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere! Listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel!'" I lept to my feet. "Wait here." I ran upstairs to my dorm, grabbed a letter off my bed, and ran back to the common room.

"Uncle Renny sent me this a couple days ago. I didn't open it 'til now. Here, listen: 'Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!'" Harry and Ron blinked at me. "What's that?" Hermione made a derisive noise. "Honestly, don't you two read? Here, look." She pulled out a heavy book. "I got this for some light reading."

"This is light?" She ignored Ron, and began reading. "'The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will turn any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).'"

Hermione looked up once she'd finished. "See? That dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!" Harry nodded. "A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying! No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it!"

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

Harry frowned at me. "How'd your Uncle Renny know?" I froze. "Umm...he's a historian." Harry nodded, and I let out a sigh of relief.

The next morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts, while we were studying ways to treat werewolf bites, we discussed what we'd do with a Sorcerer's Stone if we had one. When Ron said he'd buy his own Quidditch team, we glanced over at Harry. "I'm going to play. If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm too scared to face Snape. I'll show them...it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win." Hermione nodded. "Just so long as we're not wiping you off the field."

On the day of the match, Ron, Hermione and I found a spot in the stands next to Neville, who didn't understand why we'd brought our wands to the match. He didn't know that we'd been practicing the Leg-Locker Curse (having gotten the idea from Malfoy using it on Neville), and planned to use it on Snape if he tried anything. Hermione turned to Ron and me. "Now, don't forget. It's Locomotor Mortis." Ron scowled. "I know. Don't nag."

I grinned, nudging Hermione. "Look! Dumbledore's here!" Ron chuckled. "I've never seen Snape look so mean. Look, they're off." He suddenly shouted in pain because Malfoy had poked him in the back of the head. "Sorry, Weasley. Didn't see you there."

He grinned at his thugs. "Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? How about you, Weasley?" Ron ignored him, seeing as Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George had hit a Bludger at him. Malfoy continued as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason. "You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor Quidditch team? It's people they feel sorry for. There's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money-you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

Neville went red but faced Malfoy. "I-I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy." Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle burst into laughter. Ron kept his eyes on the game, and nodded distractedly. "You tell him, Neville."

"Longbottom, if brains were gold, you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something." A muscle began jumping in Ron's jaw. "I'm warning you, Malfoy-one more word-" Hermione's eyes widened. "Ron, Evangeline, look! Harry-!" We whirled around. "What? Where?" Harry had gone into a dive. Hermione jumped up, her fist crammed into her mouth as Harry sped towards the ground.

"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some gold!" Ron lept towards Malfoy, punching him repeatedly. Neville hesitated, then joined the fight. Hermione and I kept our eyes on the match while Ron and Neville continued fighting.

Up in the air, Harry had suddenly pulled out of the dive, the Snitch in his hand. Hermione hugged me, cheering. "Ron! Ron! Ron, where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We won! Gryffindor's in the lead!" I laughed, hugging her back.

Later that afternoon, we were about to join the celebration in the common room when Harry suddenly reappeared, having gone missing for a little while. "Where have you been?!"

"We won! You won! We won!" Ron grinned, slapping Harry on the back. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold, but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be okay-talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchen."

Harry shook his head. "Never mind that. Let's find an empty room, wait 'til you hear this..." He led us into an empty room and shut the door behind us, and told us about the conversation he'd overheard between Quirrell and Snape. "So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if Quirrell knew how to get past Fluffy-and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus-pocus'-I reckon there's other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through-"

Hermione's eyes widened. "So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?"

Ron shook his head. "It'll be gone by next Tuesday."