Happy Holidays everyone! I know that Christmas was technically two nights ago but when you have a sh*tty laptop and a crazy family it's a bit hard to update for the holidays. I hope everyone is safe and happy. Please enjoy and lemme know whatcha think. For all of my new readers/followers welcome to the story and don't hesitate to let me know if something seems off.

Chapter 30: Gryffindor Bravery or Idiocy?

Meissa frowns as she waited around outside the door. It's been about twenty minutes since she arrived at the door and there was still no sign of them showing up.

Was it possible that she missed them?

"Ugh," she muttered in frustration before she decided to check the room with the Cerberus - what were the chances that she completely missed them?

She cracks the door open, her eyes immediately tracking the positions of the three heads. Each one of them was awake and snarling down into a hole in the ground - wait.

Hole in the ground?

The trap door!

"I missed them!" she exclaims in frustration, the three heads immediately turning towards her. "Oh bugger," she winces as she shuts the door, the barks, growls, and snarls of the Cerberus still audible through the door.

Okay, she can do this… right?

She shakes her head and brought forward all of her determination - okay, really its stubbornness - and gripped her wand tightly. First thing first, what was the Cerberus' weakness?

Music - she remembered that one easily. She could probably get away with humming a few bars if the noise doesn't overwhelm her.

With a frown she tried to recall a melody - any really - that could help but none was coming to mine.

"Of all the times for this," she groans in frustrating before she simply started to hum.

…

Was it her imagination or did the Cerberus sound quieter?

"You think if you set the price they'll turn me in," she starts off softly, transitioning to a song from her childhood, "You think that when I'm up upon the pike you'll win…" It wasn't her imagination - the dog was actually quieting. "They'll say that I was fighting for the spirit of the law… What will they say about you… when I'm gone." She took the chance to open the door, almost sighing in relief when she saw that the Cerberus' head was resting on its paws. "You murdered and you stole. You mocked the hope I gave," she continued to sing, edging around the Cerberus. "Though I'd prefer a happy end no man can cheat the grave…" She scarcely paused as she crouched down by the open trapdoor. "I know they'll remember…" she lowered her voice, her eyes intent on the Cerberus. (1)

Confident she took a deep breath and jumped down into the trapdoor.

Only belatedly realizing that she should checked to make sure that there was something to cushion her landing. Cringing she tried to brace herself for impact.

Prepared for pain she was shocked when, instead of landing on stone, she landed on something soft. It was odd, she noted as she used her sense of touch as she tried to accustom her eyes to the gloom of the area. It was a soft landing but the texture didn't feel anything like a pillow or anything she'd expect to be used as a landing pad.

Shaking her head she dismissed it and got to her feet…

Or, at least she tried to get to her feet.

There was something curling around her knees.

"Devil's Snare!" she exclaimed in recognition when she grabbed at the vines tightening around her legs. Thankful that she had kept her wand in hand she pointed down towards the plants, squinting her eyes shut as she shouted, "Lumos Solem!" (2)

The bright light - as bright as the sun really - filled the entire room, nearly blinding her but managing to do exactly what it was intended to do, force the plant back. Grimacing she force the shiver of disgust away and got to her feet, her eyes having located a stone passage just before being blinded.

Rubbing at her eyes she made her way down the passageway, noting that the way seemed to be slopping down - just how far down was the stone?

She grimaces when she felt the wetness of the stone walls and, casting Lumos, was only vaguely relieved to find that it was simply water and not something more…

She had to force herself from continuing that line of thought.

She wasn't sure how long she had been traveling but soon enough she heard something similar to the rustling of clothes and… clinking?

Meissa started to mutter angrily under her breath, hurrying her pace to get to the end of the passage, her eyes blinking when she finally stepped into a brilliantly lit chamber. She barely had the presence of mind to mutter the cancelling spell for the Lumos spell. She looked around, frowning in dismay when she saw that Harry and the others were nowhere in sight - looks like she still had a bit more to go before she found the trio.

Crossing the room she took notice of the high arching ceiling and the small jewel-bright… things fluttering and tumbling about above her. "Curious," she muttered before she focused on the heavy wooden door in front of her.

Testing the door she could only roll her eyes when she found it to be locked. "Of course…" She frowns thoughtfully at the handle before deciding it was worth a try to use the Alohomora spell. She wasn't surprised to find that it wouldn't unlock. "Fluffy," she scoffed at the inappropriate name, "is Hagrid's. Devil's Snare was Professor Sprout's." She looks up towards the ceiling, watching for a moment before she realized they were keys. "This seems like Professor Flickwick's work," she mumbles to herself.

She took another look at the handle, noticing that the metal seemed rather old and most of the keys above her head seemed new. Probably conjured up by Professor McGonagall. So chances are the old one among the bunch was the key to the lock.

She took a look around and found a few brooms tossed aside - three to be exact. "Ugh, I don't have time to be flying," she muttered as she fingers her wand, staring up at the keys as she searched for the right one.

"There!" she muttered, locating a slim brass key with a very battered look to it. "Accio brass key!" she tried and to her shock it worked. The key impacting her in the chest before she recover from her shock.

She had to hurry to catch it before it flew off again and unlocked the door, slipping past it with ease.

This chamber was already completely lit up. And she could see that she was standing on the edge of a huge chessboard - with three very familiar Gryffindors in the place of black chess pieces.

"'Mione!" she shouts out to the bushy haired girl, about to make her way to her.

"Don't move!" Harry and Ron yelled.

She froze in midstep - just about to step onto the chess board. Her eyes quickly taking in the whole scene and realized just what she had been about to do. She took in the sights and noticed immediately that Hermione was the castle and that Harry was the bishop. She wasn't at all amused to realize that Ron was the knight. Does he see himself the knight in shining armor?

Already she could see that Harry was in danger of being taken out and Ron was just in the right position to rescue him. And off to the side she could see a pile of broken black chess pieces - she wasn't impressed to find that the white pile was smaller than the black's.

It was clear to her that the game wasn't going in Ron's favor.

"How long have you been at this?" she inquired as Ron moved to rescue Harry - taking out the white piece that been bearing down upon him.

"Ten minutes? Give or take a few," Hermione answered distractedly, making sure she didn't move from her square.

"Okay, that's it," Meissa declared, "Ron, I'm taking over!"

"What?! You can't do that!"

"Your moves has put Potter in danger! And don't forget I've beaten you in five separate rounds!"

"She does have a point," Harry remarked from his place. "Maybe we should let her play."

"You're going to trust a slimy snake?!"

"Ron!" Hermione snapped before Meissa could say anything. "Stop insulting Meissa! She's proven herself multiple times!"

"She's a Slytherin! She knows how to manipulate people! She even confessed this!" Ron protested while Meissa was observing the board, thinking quickly to come up with a viable plan. She saw that the board was, in her opinion, a mess.

One of the white knights was deep within the black's side of the board, a rook was in the position to take out a few pieces and the king was tucked away in the corner of the board. The queen was out of action too and there was only one pawn even remotely close to reaching the other side of the board to be crowned as a rook, bishop, knight, or queen. Except there was the white queen in the way.

She could see that she had both bishops - why did the group see it was necessary to take the places of the black pieces? - both rooks, and both knights.

"I'm kind of curious about something," she spoke up, interrupting the heated argument between Ron and Hermione. "Why did you guys take the places of the pieces?"

"It was obvious!" Ron exclaims, "There was three empty spaces and the other pieces were already broken!"

"Then why not use the mending charm?" she asked, sounding a bit exasperated by the trio. She would've thought that Hermione considered using the spell.

"Uh," Harry looked at the rabble that surrounded them.

Frustrated with the group she turned to the broken rabble and, with her wand in hand, intoned forcefully, "REPARO!"

The wave of magic washed over the chess pieces and the trio watched in awe as the broken pieces came together to form the chess pieces that had been already removed from the game - including the bishop, rook, and knight they had taken over for.

"Oh…" Hermione muttered quietly. When she looked towards the bushy haired girl she saw that the other girl was shaking her head, covering her face with a hand.

"Did we have to take the places of the chess pieces?" she inquired to the pieces - and watched as the nearest one shook its' head no. "If one of us had won the game would we have won passage for all?" This time she received a nod.

"Oh for the love of!" Hermione shook her head in exasperation. "Meissa, take charge of this game now! I can't believe I let Ron tell me what to do! What was I thinking!"

"I take it you didn't ask these questions?"

"No!" Harry was glaring at Ron who looked a little pale as now two of the Gryffindors were glaring at him. "In hindsight we should've!"

"But -!"

The glares from the other two silenced him from before he could protest and Meissa looked thoughtfully at him. She had some suspicions about the whole situation but didn't have enough information to feel confident in voicing them.

She took a good look at the board again. The position of the pieces were awkward and trying to turn this about wouldn't be easy in her opinion. But she wasn't exactly going to let Weasley risk Hermione's life - and Harry.

When did she unknowingly modify the terms of the deal?

How did she go from protecting Harry from the extremes of Draco's ire to rushing head first into danger?

She mentally took the thoughts and shoved them into the pools so she could focus on the game. It was white's turn - has it already made it's move? She thought quickly as she compared the positions to the ones she had mentally noted when she first arrived.

It was her turn.

"Bishop to E4!" she ordered briskly, her eyes darting over the board.

She shudders as the grating noise of stone against stone filled the air as the bishop moved into place, now it was in place to take out one of the Rook's.

Rook to D7 - was the white preparing for her moves?

"Bishop to B1!"

She watched as the bishop took the rook closest to Harry. With the queen taking the pawn at D4. Moving her rook to C1 placed the White king in check, forcing the queen to step in to defend him, allowing for her to remove the queen from play. Ah, now she understood why the white rook was moved to D7 as it moved to take out the rook at D1.

"Bishop to C5," she looked at Harry, watching him as he looked around before he walked over to the location, putting the king into check. There was several ways this could've gone, in her opinion, but was interested by the fact they moved their rook to D4 instead of moving their king.

"Bis-," she started to say before she saw Ron moving to H3. "Ron!" she snarled at the defiant boy, now having to adjust her plans due to his actions. "DON'T MOVE UNLESS I TELL YOU!"

"I placed him in check though!" he protested.

"SHUDDUP AND JUST LISTEN!" she shouted as the King moved to H1.

"Bishop to D4!" she yelled, struggling to keep her magic from lashing out, she could feel the tension in her skin, the spark of magic dancing along her knuckles.

That took out the rook like she wanted to.

Knight to G6 to place her king in check, simple to solve with one of the pawns moving to take it out. She wasn't sure why that knight was moved since there was two other pieces available that could've moved.

King to G2.

"Ron," she glares at the ginger haired boy, "F4."

He glared back at her but moved as ordered, placing the king into check once more. This time the king moved back to H1 and she seized the chance to move the other bishop to E4, placing the king in checkmate.

"Whoa," Hermione breathed in awe, looking back and forth between Meissa and the defeated King whom had just took off his crown and thrown it down to the ground. The chessmen bows and parted, leaving the path to the door clear.

"I could've done that," Ron grumbled as they headed to the door.

"Ron, in the two minutes I was in the room I saw Harry's life placed in direct path of danger," Meissa glared at the Gryffindor boy. "Not once did I put Harry, Hermione, or even you in danger," she stated flatly, "In fact, the only time you were in danger when I took over was when you foolishly rushed ahead to place the king in check before I was ready to checkmate him!"

Ron glared stubbornly back at her and she knew that he would insist that he had a foolproof plan.

So she ignored him, her wand held up before her, the tip alit with the light spell as she led the way.

"What do you reckon's next?" Harry asks as they walked along the corridor.

"We've had Professor Sprout's," Hermione reasons, "Professor Flitwick must've put charms on the keys. I think Professor McGonagall must've transfigured the chessmen."

"She may have already taken a set and enlarged them," Meissa adds her two cents.

"Right, so that leaves Professor Quirrell's, Professor Snape's and… Headmaster Dumbledore," Hermione concludes, hesitating slightly on the Headmaster's name.

Meissa would've commented on this but had gotten distracted by another door. She whispers 'nox', extinguishing the light and plunging them into the gloom of the corridor before she opened the door. Trusting - hoping really - that the others would keep quiet until they've had a chance to assess what was the next trial.

Within seconds of opening the door Meissa was holding the front of her shirt to her noise as a disgusting smell overwhelmed her senses. Revulsion grips her as she entered the room, her wand out and ready as she took stock of her surroundings. Lying flat on the ground was a troll, larger than the one from Halloween with a pool of something red spreading on the ground.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered as Meissa stepped around the pool - her eyes hardening as she realized that it was blood. She looked to the others and saw that only Hermione realized what it was, her face pale. "Come on," Harry continued as he headed to the door, "I can't breathe.

Meissa thought quickly as she considered the ramifications of this. Whoever did this - it has to be Quirrell - meant serious business. Drinking Unicorn blood, killing a troll, seeking the Philosopher's Stone - all of this meant that this wasn't a child's game. And this solidified the thought that the Headmaster was up to something if he was willing to hide a priceless artifact in a school with children on the grounds.

She stared at the troll for a moment longer before she turned around and followed the trio through the door. Feeling a mix of surprised and relief at the sight of seven differently shaped bottles standing on a table in a line.

"Professor Snape's," Hermione muttered as they approached the table.

Just as they stepped into the room a fire sprang up behind them in the door way and Meissa, the last to follow, felt the heat at her back and the purple glow it cast into the room. Opposite of them black flames blocked the way onward.

"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of parchment lying next to the bottle as Meissa rounded the table to survey the black flames.

"Danger lies before you," Hermione read out loud, "while safety lies behind. Two of us will help you." Meissa turns and went to the Gryffindor girl to read for herself. "Whichever you would find. One among us seven will let you move ahead. Another will transport the drinker back instead. Two among our number holds only nettle wine. Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line. Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore."

Meissa read ahead of Hermione, noting the four clues. She opens a few of the bottles, cautiously smelling them. Two of them had the same sweet smell from her childhood - nettle wine. Her Aunt Walburga was rather fond of the drink.

The second clue said that the two at the ends were different from one another and she had already identified the second bottle on the far left to be nettle wine, which meant that the first bottle was poison. And the seventh bottle should be a potion - perhaps the one that would send the drinker back? And to the left of sixth bottle, which had nettle wine, would be poison as well. So that leaves only the third and the fourth as a possible path forward.

"Brilliant," Hermione muttered, distracting Meissa from her thoughts, "This isn't magic - it's logic, a puzzle." Meissa arched an eyebrow at the smile on her face. "A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever," the bushy haired girl remarked and Meissa couldn't find it in her to dispute this.

The other girl had a good point about it in her opinion.

"So will we!" Ron all but exploded, "How the bloody hell are we supposed to figure this out?!"

Meissa and Hermione rolled their eyes at this. "You're being dramatic," Meissa drawls. "Do recall for a moment that Hermione is one of the most brilliant witch here in school or is that too hard for you to understand?"

"Enough," Harry cuts in before the two of them could start fighting. It didn't escape his attention that Meissa had a very tight grip on her wand, her knuckles were white as her eyes drilled holes in Ron. "Hermione, can you figure out the riddle?"

"It's either the third bottle or the fourth. I hadn't figured out which yet," Meissa informed the Gryffindor girl through gritted teeth.

Hermione quickly read through the riddle a few more times - Meissa could practically see her mind working in overdrive as she worked through the problem. "She's right," Hermione agreed. She pointed at the third bottle, "This one will allow us to move forward." She pointed to the one at the very end, "This one will take us back."

Meissa took up the third bottle, eyeing the blue liquid and the amount left. "I was right," she muttered, thinking quickly. "We're not the first one through here," she muttered as she uncapped the bottle.

"Snape's already there?" Ron exclaimed loudly.

"Ron!" Harry and Hermione reprimanded quickly.

Meissa simply rolled her eyes at the red head before she looked at the bottle. She knew her godfather. She knows how he thinks.

So, taking a chance she upended the bottle to the dismay of the others as the potion flowed freely to the ground.

"Why would you do that?!" Harry cried.

"Watch," was all she said as she capped the potion and set it back on the table.

She could feel the angry glares at her back before they saw the bottle fill up once more to the same amount as before.

"What-," she heard Harry, prompting her to look over her shoulder to find him gaping at her.

"How did you -."

"Do you have any idea how much of this stuff would be wasted if you'd just took one tiny bottle?" Meissa rolled her eyes. "Professor Snape isn't really a wasteful kind of person."

"How much would he have made?" Harry asked softly.

"No idea," Meissa answered before she looked at Hermione and Ron, her eyes switching to Harry as she thought about what needs to be done. "What do you want to do Harry?"

She watched him for a long moment, her fingers plucking up the bottle when she saw Ron make his way to the table. She wasn't sure if she was naturally that distrustful or if it was something about Weasley that sets her on edge. But whatever it was she didn't want Weasley anywhere near them when they're ready to head forward.

"… Hermione, you and Ron go back out," Harry finally decided on a course of action.

"What?! Harry-!" Ron protested almost immediately.

"No buts! We need Professor Dumbledore to get back as soon as possible!" Harry argued. "I want both of you to go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him." He gestures between Meissa and him, "We might be able to hold whoever's in there for a while but they have the advantage of both years and experience."

"Why does it has to be the two of you? Why can't you just come back with us?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Out of the four of us Meissa is the most skilled," Harry answered, surprising the Slytherin with the compliment. "She knows the in-and-outs of the spells and if… if Voldemort's in there then I might have the best chance against him."

Meissa wasn't quite so sure about that plan but made no effort to argue that. If Harry wished to continue onwards then that was fine with her. She'll just have to make sure that he knows to duck and cover when spells start to fly.

Hermione, though, she wanted her nowhere near Quirrell. He wouldn't hesitate to go for a weakness - or rather, she wouldn't if she was him. Ron, she didn't care one iota about him but she didn't want him anywhere near her. It was best both of them went back the way they came.

"Harry, come on," she looked towards him before blinking when her mind registered that Hermione had him in a tight hug.

"Be careful Harry!" she gave her one last plea before she turned to Meissa and - before the Slytherin could try and escape - hugged her.

The raven haired girl tensing instantly at the tight embrace before she managed to pat the Gryffindor girl on the back. "I'll bring him back," she promises softly.

"Stay safe, Meissa, please," Hermione muttered before she backed away. She picks up the round bottle at the end, looking at the two of them once more, and drank a mouthful of the potion before shuddering. She quickly hands the bottle to Ron who looked warily at it but under the combined stare of the other three he took a drink as well.

Knowing her godfather the Black heiress could only imagine that it felt like her insides were drenched in ice cold water.

"Take care," Hermione looked at her two closest friends before she grabbed Ron by the elbow and pulled him through the purple fire.

"Ready?" the Black heiress turns to Harry, holding the bottle up.

"No."

She smiles warily at him.

"I'd be worried about you if you were," she comments light hearted before downing the potion in a single gulp.

She winces at the feeling of ice stabbing her veins, setting the bottle briefly on the table to trigger the refill enchantment, watching Harry pick up the bottle to do the same.

She took the lead once again, stepping through the black flames with full confidence in her godfather's potions, and a spell's incantation on the tip of her tongue.

~MJB~

Translation/Notes

1) Hero by Heather Dale (I do not own this song! But its a seriously good song so go check it out)

2) Lumos Solem: Light of the Sun - a spell meant to bring forth sunlight or an extremely bright narrow light