You guys are great, and I hope you remember that forever. I'm SO CLOSE to 200 reviews all because of you magnificent human beings, and whether good or bad, thank you so very much! This story was so fun to write, and to know that you're all enjoying it really warms my heart XD
Bagilia: I mean c'mon, have you SEEN Caleb's cheekbones? They're OUTSTANDING! And haha, they're Ezria! If they're not cute, then you're screwed. And as for everything you just said, you just have to SEE! And a baby Basilisk? SUCH a Slytherin! Like, that's the Slytherin-est thing you can say of all the Slytherin things to say. And aww, shucks *bashful smile* Well, hopefully my huge nerd essay that I just PM'd you doesn't throw you off! And please, Bruno Mars is the MAN! Anyone not liking him is just blasphemy. And one step ahead of you, girl. I've had my swivel chair for YEARS! I'm a practiced Slytherin, clearly... okay, if I had a nickel for the amount of times we say the word Slytherin to each other...
LAs: It's the Ezria we all love! I'm gonna be hiding under my blanket during all of EzrA's scenes now... that reveal was so incredibly chilling.
Sarah: Don't worry about it! I know I'm a bitch when it comes to wanting all the reviews ever, but the fact that you're so apologetic for missing one chapter is so sweet. And haha, process like lesbian champs. Heather Hogan would be SO PROUD of you! Writing for Ezra in this story is certainly breaking my heart, but the show must go on, right? And yes, there IS gonna be Halloween, and it's gonna blow your freakin' mind. I'm not even kidding, you MIGHT explode. Someone might get murdered, someone might not, you never know at Hogwarts ;) stay tuned! And thanks for the review!
Goldenheart11: I felt so horrible for Spencer in that scene... and I wanted to do a lot of things to Toby that I probably shouldn't say on here (especially since I know you're a Spoby shipper :/) And I KNOW! It's such a good twist, I'll say that, but my HEART! It's just too much, I'm literally going crazy. How Life Alert is not currently outside of my door is a mystery not even Ace Ventura can solve.
erica: Can't wait for you to read it!
Sgdp1261: Well, you're about to find out what Sneak Mr. Caleb (awesome nickname, btw) is up to. And oh thank god. I was so worried that instead of swooning like I intended, people were gonna be bawling their eyes out over the Ezria scene (hell, I was bawling my eyes out and I wrote it!). Thank you so much, and YES EXACTLY! Who's useless now? (The answer is Toby. Toby is the useless one).
Titanium Wolf: Glad you liked this chapter a little better! And, well, I guess they both have green eyes then! I probably should've done a better job reading the epilogue, shouldn't I?
PrettyWitchyVamp: Wow, well, that would be AWESOME if that happened! Although, he really probably is A :( How is Ezria supposed to be endgame NOW?! My heart ;( and aww, I'm glad you liked this chapter! Hopefully it didn't get too emotional for you? Thank you so much.
Alright, chapter time. This shows more of the dysfunctional relationship between the girls, so hopefully you'll be pleased about that. ANYWAY, I hope you thoroughly enjoy it, and don't forget to review/follow/favorite/WHATEVER to let me know whether you like it or not :D
Caleb tiptoed down the corridor, keeping a wary eye out for anyone who might be patrolling the halls. Prefects, professors, anyone. Aria had the Invisibility Cloak tonight, so he was using the Marauder's Map to see if anyone was coming, and so far no one was in sight. But he knew he still had to remain cautious; if he was caught, he'd be expelled, and immediately sent back to his aunt and uncle and have to be greeted less than welcomely to his closet at home filled with ratty old wool sweaters that ended at his elbows.
He was not looking forward to that, but Spencer sounded urgent when she asked for the map, so he reluctantly decided to find her so that he could give it to her tonight.
Where is she? he pondered as he scanned the map, but Hogwarts was a large place; he had to look everywhere. He was so busy looking that he didn't notice a familiar name right next to his on the map, and was easily caught off guard when he felt someone tug harshly on his arm, pulling him out of open sight and into the hidden.
"What the - " he started to say, but someone smacked their hand over his mouth to shut him up. In fact, all he saw was a hand; it was floating in mid air, the rest of their body concealed from sight. As soon as Caleb realized this, the hand let go of Caleb's mouth to pull off the Invisibility Cloak, and Aria came into view.
"Aria!" Caleb hissed. "What was that for?"
"What are you doing out at 1 in the morning?" Aria hissed back. "Someone could see you!"
"I know, I'm sorry!" he said hastily, yanking himself out of Aria's tight, nervous hold. "I had to give something to Spencer."
"Spencer?" Aria took a step back, confused. "What did you need to give to Spencer? And why this late at night?"
"She needed the Marauder's Map."
"What?" Aria exclaimed loudly, forgetting for a moment the dangerous conditions that were surrounding them. "Spencer asked you for the Marauder's Map?"
"She said she needed it for Hogsmeade visits, although I'm starting to realize that that might not be the case," he said snarkily, glaring at Aria. "Aria, what the hell is going on? Why are you guys all suddenly sneaking around?"
"Aria? Caleb?"
The two jumped at the sound of the voice, but then relaxed once they saw who it was. "Spencer!"
"What are you two doing up?" she scolded, suddenly taking her prefect duties seriously. "Do you know what time it is?"
"Alright, Polly Perfect, give us both detention, I dare you," Caleb snapped.
"... Actually, I really don't do well in detention," Aria whispered to him.
"Doesn't matter!" Caleb finally said, whipping his hands out to the side to indicate that the conversation was finished. He then knelt to the ground to pick up the map, which he had dropped when Aria bodychecked him a minute ago. "Here's your map."
With enlarged eyes, Spencer snatched the map out of his hand and held it up right in front of her face. "You brought it to me?"
"You're the one who wanted it so bad," Caleb said with a shrug. "I was doing you a favor."
Surprised, Spencer brought the map back down. "How'd you even know - "
"That your shift was this late at night?" Caleb finished for her while he snatched the map back before crossing his arms against his chest. "Easy. I snuck Mona's monster of a schedule out of her bag so that I could see when you were on patrol."
"You snuck it away from Mona?" Spencer repeated with surprise.
"Yeah," Caleb confirmed with another shrug. "What is she gonna do? Bite me?"
"Okay, did you all, like, plan that joke out or something?" Spencer asked irritatedly as Aria snickered. "I'm telling you guys! She is five feet of insidious snark with a side ponytail and I just wanna grab it and then I want to yank it... really really hard."
"Just don't yank it too hard," Caleb said smugly. "You might knock her over!"
Spencer rolled her eyes as Caleb and Aria laughed at his stupid joke. "Ha ha," she said sarcastically. "But no, I'm serious, Caleb, just give me the map."
By the end of the sentence Spencer was so worked up and breathing so heavily that Caleb and Aria took a full two steps back, their laughter dissipating completely. Spencer tried to reach for the map again, but Aria stopped her.
"Nuh-uh," she said sternly as she stood in between Caleb and Spencer. "There's no way I'm letting you sneak into the Infirmary this late at night. There's no sun in the room to kill all the parasites!"
"They're sick people, Aria, not undercooked meat," Spencer said with an eyeroll as she tried to reach over Aria to get the map from Caleb, but Aria held her hands up, dodging Spencer's every attempt. They didn't realize what a commotion they were making until there was a knock on the marble pillar on the edge of the entrance, and all three whipped around to see a tall, tan figure at the entrance, still in their Quidditch robes.
"Hey guys," Emily said timidly, only to get stares from the other three.
"Okay, I can understand these two sneaking around, but you, Emily?" Spencer said incredulously. "That's low."
"I wasn't sneaking around!" Emily said honestly. "I had a late Quidditch practice, and some... things happened at it, so I'm just taking time to clear my head."
"By walking around the corridor for an hour?" Spencer said in the same disbelieving tone. "Your mind works in strange ways, Fields."
"Whatever, I'm glad you're here, Em," Aria said. "Now you can help me stop Spencer from doing something stupid."
"What is Spencer gonna do?" Emily said worriedly.
"Spencer is going to do something that you two don't need to worry about," Spencer said simply.
"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Caleb pleaded exasperatedly.
"NO!" all three girls said sternly at the same time, before turning back to each other.
"Look, forget about the Infirmary," Aria said finally. "I found out from Ezra what the Chamber of Secrets really is. They just haven't taught it at Hogwarts because they were afraid it would make the school seem unsafe."
"Seriously?!" Emily whispered excitedly, and Spencer's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Yeah, I can tell you guys about it tomorrow, not in the middle of the night when our diplomas could be at stake if we're caught," Aria stated bluntly.
"You can tell the story while we're walking," Spencer said firmly as she pushed past Aria to get to Caleb. "Hand it over."
"Spencer, what did I just say?" Aria said, frustratedly, from behind Spencer, as Caleb tentatively gave her the map.
Spencer held it firmly in her hand before turning back to Aria. "We're not sneaking into the Infirmary, Aria," she said excitedly. "We're sneaking into the library. All three of us."
"What?"
"Hey, what about me?" Caleb said from behind, only for Spencer to narrow her eyes at him.
"You are going back to your tower, and you are going to pretend you never even saw this," she said firmly.
"Why would I pretend that everything I just saw unfold between you three wasn't real?" Caleb said frustratedly.
"Because Hanna will kill us if we let you in on it," Emily stated bluntly, only to earn a sigh from Caleb.
"Fine," he said stubbornly as he started to walk away, but before he did he turned around toward Aria. "You know you're spilling everything to me once you get back to the dorm."
"Am not," Aria retorted.
"We'll see," Caleb said with a shrug, before he raised his hood and started to make his way toward the dorms. Aria turned toward the other two in fear.
"Oh god, if he has some truth serum under his sleeve, I am so screwed," she whined.
"We'll worry about Caleb later," Spencer said. "Everyone under the Invisibility Cloak."
"So wait, the Basilisk was killed?" Spencer confirmed as she trudged forward, holding the Invisibility Cloak over herself, Aria, and Emily, as the group made their way toward the Library.
"Yeah, and it was the reason behind the petrification of all these students back in the '90s," Aria explained. "So no one knows what could be behind it now."
"Another Basilisk, maybe?" Emily suggested.
"I doubt there's such a thing as another Basilisk," Spencer said dryly, "but that's what we're here to find out. If Fitz is right, and they just haven't taught about the Chamber of Secrets here, then I bet we could at least find some books on it in the restricted section."
"What makes you so sure?" Emily asked.
"Yeah," Aria agreed. "I mean, are you really so sure of everything you're so sure about?"
"Yes," Spencer said fiercely as she looked up, face to face with the double doors to the library. Taking a risk, she moved her hand from under the cloak so that she could try the door, but it was locked.
"Dammit," she muttered. "Dead end."
"But that's what this is for," Aria suggested cleverly, pinching the edge of the map in Spencer's hand. "Are there any secret passageways?"
Spencer held up the map as Emily held up the cloak. "Umm there might be. This way!"
She led the girls further down the corridor for several yards, until finally they came to some sort of destination. In front of the three was a brick wall made of solid stone bricks, but one higher up was noticeably looser than the others; you could tell by the spacing between it and the other bricks. Spencer took off the cloak as she stood on her toes and touched the brick with the tip of her wand, only to find it fell right through the wall. Amazed, she tried another brick; the same result. Getting more and more enthusiastic, Spencer kept poking at bricks until about 13 fell through, and when she tried poking again the others wouldn't budge.
Spencer sighed. "Well, looks like that's as far as it's gonna go."
"That's the secret passageway?" Emily asked, taking the cloak off of her and Aria as well.
"Yep," Spencer said with a head nod, still staring up at the wall. "That's it."
"There's no way," Emily said as she shook her head. "You'd have to be minuscule to fit through that hole."
"Maybe that's the point," Spencer said thoughtfully as she continued to crane her neck upward to stare at it. "It's made so that hardly anyone can use it."
"But we need to get in!"
"And we will!" Spencer reassured. "It wouldn't be a secret passageway if no one could use it. There has to be someone small enough to fit in that space."
It took Emily and Spencer a few seconds, until both of them slowly and surely looked down at Aria. Aria, noticing this, just rolled her eyes. "Ugh, fine. Step aside."
Side Note: Of COURSE the girls are just gonna shove Aria into that tiny space and send her on a mission involuntarily. She's got romance, detective work, and a B&E all packed into one night... The poor girl has gotta be exhausted. Anyway, anyone catch references? Leave your guesses in the reviews!
