SORRY! I'll try not to disappear but school is really bad now. I sleep an average of 3 hours a day. D: But I'll get back to regular updating during winter holidays!

The chimera was beating its wings to remain airborne.

"He's there!" Harry said, spotting Black as they rose up beside the window. He leaned outwards precariously and knocked loudly on the glass as the chimera's wings fell.

Black looked up and his eyes widened when he saw them. He rushed towards the window and tried to open it but it was locked.

"Stand back!" Granger shouted. She took out her stick and one hand still clinging on to Harry for dear life, shouted a spell.

The window sprang open.

"What- how?" Black began, staring at the chimera.

"Get on- there's not much time," said Harry. "The dementors are coming."

The word spurred Black into action. He wasted no time, putting his hands against the window frame and launching his legs out first. He climbed onto the chimera's back and behind Edward. His skeletal frame allowed him to slide out easily and quickly.

"You better hold on real tight," Edward advised as Black made himself comfortable behind him. "Harry doesn't have a license for this."

"Okay, Buckbeak, up!" said Harry, shaking the rope. "Up to the tower- come on."

The chimera raised its wings up slowly and for a second, they started to plummet. Edward felt his face go green. The chimera swept its wings down powerfully and they were going up. The horrible flight ended when they somehow made it onto the battlements of the West Tower after narrowly avoided being impaled by the steeple.

Edward slid off the chimera and groaned. Granger looked worse off than him. She was clutching her stomach, trying to stop herself from displaying tonight's dinner.

"What happened to the other boy? Ron?" croaked Black from his perch on the chimera.

"He's going to be okay. He's still out of it, but Madam Pomfrey says she'll be able to make him better. Quick- go-"

"Edward, what about you?" Black said. "The dementors are after you as well."

Edward grinned. "I'll be fine. There's someone's ass I need to kick first before leaving."

Edward raised a fist and Black bumped it with his. "You were awesome as a dog by the way!"

"And you're awesome as whatever you are," Black said with a half frown. He stared at Harry. "How can I ever thank-"

"GO!" Harry and Granger shouted together.

Black turned the chimera around.

"We'll see each other again," he said. "You are truly your father's son, Harry..."

He squeezed the chimera's sides with his heels. Edward, Harry and Granger jumped back as the enormous wings rose once more. The hippogriff took off into the air.

They did not have time to savour their victory. Granger stared at her watch and gasped. "Harry! We've got exactly ten minutes to get back down to the hospital wing without anybody seeing us- before Dumbledore locks the door-"

"Okay," said Harry, wrenching his gaze from the sky, "let's go..."

They ran down the spiral staircase behind them, Harry in front and Edward bringing up from behind. As they reached the bottom, Harry hissed warningly and all three of them drew to a halt.

"... only hope Dumbledore's not going to make difficulties," Snape was saying. "The Kiss will be performed immediately?"

"As soon as Macnair returns with the dementors. This whole Black affair has been highly embarrassing. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to informing the Daily Prophet that we've got him at last... I daresay they'll want to interview you, Snape... and once young Harry's back in his right mind, I expect he'll want to tell the Prophet exactly how you saved him..."

Harry clenched his fist and Granger put a calming hand on his shoulder. Edward caught a glimpse of Snape as he and the minister passed their hiding place. They waited a few moments to make sure that both of them were really gone before they broke out from their hiding place and sprinted in the opposite direction of where Snape and the minister had come from .

"Peeves!" Harry muttered, grabbing Granger's wrist suddenly. "In here!"

A heartbeat later, Edward heard maniacal cackling coming from the corridor. Harry and Granger dived into a deserted classroom on their left but Edward did not have time to follow. Edward cursed and threw himself into the classroom just before the one the Gryffindors used as refuge.

He was just in time. The spirit was bouncing off the walls of the corridor, laughing his head off and singing off key.

When his voice faded away, Edward peered around the door to make sure everything was clear before he crept out of the room.

The Gryffindors were not in the classroom, which meant that they had either turned invisible or had already vacated the room. Which meant that the clock was counting down fast. Edward tore down the corridor, breathing harshly but not letting it slow him down.

Another turn at the corridor and Edward saw the hospital wing ahead. Granger and Harry were merely a few strides ahead of him and Edward sighed in relief. They made it in time too.

"I am going to lock you in," Dumbledore was saying. "It is five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do It. Good luck."

On cue, Harry and Granger ran forward. Edward was about to follow them but he remembered he was not supposed to be in the room at all. There was somewhere else he was supposed to be.

Edward turned around and took the quickest routes back down to the Slytherin dungeons. He kept to the shadows as he traipsed down the stairs, two steps at a time.

The castle was in desolate silence; no one could possibly be awake at this hour anyway. Except Goyle. Edward was one of the few people who knew that Goyle sometimes snuck into the kitchens for his midnight and three-quarter night snacks. No teacher ever caught him red-handed. Despite his size, Goyle made an impressive ninja.

For a while, the only sounds Edward heard was the soft shuffle of his footsteps as they flew down the stairs and across carpeted corridors and his quiet ragged breathing. So when a roar thundered somewhere above him, Edward cursed as he missed a step and nearly broke the bannister when he struggled to regain his balance.

"HE DIDN'T DISAPPARATE!" Snape roared. "YOU CAN'T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS – HAS- SOMETHING- TO- DO- WITH- POTTER! OR THAT ELRIC BOY!"

Edward allowed himself to grin for a moment before he launched himself off the last few steps and sprinted the last few metres to the Slytherin Common Room. He hastily uttered the password as a cacophony of angry voices broke up from upstairs and ducked into the room.

The torches in the room had long gone out. Edward blinked several times, trying to adjust his eyes to the new darkness but when that was not happening any time soon, Edward fumbled his way across the room. He growled in frustration when his flesh leg bumped into an oddly shaped object in the room. Pain shot up from his knee to his spine. Edward hissed and clapped his hand around the sore spot, massaging the area frantically.

When the pain had subsided, Edward reached out and felt the object with his hands. It was bitingly cold and sharp at awkward edges. Metal. Edward knew the feel of metal better than anyone. But what was a suit of armour doing in the middle of the room? Then he remembered that Armstrong had sent him a metal replica of himself a week ago. The Slytherins had been so fascinated by the incredible craftsmanship and made it the new centerpiece of the room. Edward had caught Amy tracing the abdominal muscles on the statute when she thought no one was looking. Edward had been wise enough not to say anything about it.

At least he knew he was halfway across the room by now. Edward sidestepped around the metal replica and continued blindly towards the dormitories when he heard a low voice murmur,

"Lumos."