Chapter Eighteen

Hermione remained in the hospital wing for several weeks. There was a flurry of rumor about her disappearance when the rest of the school arrived back from their Christmas holidays, because of course everyone thought — as Nessa originally had — that she had been attacked. So many people filed past the hospital wing trying to catch a glimpse of her that Madam Pomfrey took out her curtains again and placed them around Hermione's bed, to spare her the shame of being seen with a furry face.

Harry and Ron went to visit her every evening. Nessa, Tori, and the twins had visited once with Ginny, who had been distraught at the news that Hermione could have been attacked. The four of them had dragged her there despite her panicked protests to show her that Hermione had not been petrified, so that she could relax and enjoy the rest of her holiday. The twins had enjoyed the visit entirely too much and had taken a ball of yarn and dangled it over Hermione's head playfully until Hermione had told them to leave before she could get Madam Pomfrey.

It was not until the beginning of February that Hermione left the hospital wing de-whiskered, tailless, and fur-free. The school grew more and more relieved as the weeks passed and no one was attacked. Ginny seemed to be improving tremendously totally out of the blue and Nessa had begun to relax as color returned to the younger girl's cheeks. They still met on Fridays in the library, but Ginny had not brought her diary with her on any of the occasions, and had instead been working on her own essays and humming contentedly.

She'd been sleeping more soundly again, something she attributed to the heavy blanket Nessa had given her for Christmas, which she said calmed her nerves at night and made it easier to clear her head. She'd even begun eating again and seemed more and more like the fiery, confident younger girl that she had been over the summer. Nessa had seen her giggling with a group of girls in her year on several occasions and her heart warmed at the sight. It was a bittersweet sort of feeling to see her finally branching out — they spent far less time together and she missed the younger girl, but she was grateful for her clear happiness.

Nessa had continued her research on Slytherin after the holidays had ended and spent the majority of her time these days in the library, completing her homework and then diving back into the depths of information on the least likable Hogwarts founder. Fred, George, and Tori accompanied her on several occasions, despite the fact that they looked as though they'd rather be anywhere else and Madam Pince made it quite clear that she felt the same way. Their presence in the library did prevent the whispering of other students, which she was thankful for, and they did help her research for several hours a day before they started tweaking with their trick wands again. They were apparently very close to solving the issues they were having with them.

Tori on the other hand spent the majority of her time in the library completing her own homework and smirking every time Cedric Diggory shot Vanessa a smile and a wave when he entered, an act that she was quickly becoming familiar with. The act seemed to irritate Fred and George to no end and George in particular steered her attention away from Diggory with a glare at the older boy as hastily as he was able, something that caused Vanessa to contemplate why it seemed to bother him so much.

She'd gotten more and more awkward around George in the last month since Christmas and it was making less and less sense to her as the feelings she'd experienced Christmas morning continued to plague her. Her stomach lurched every time he touched her or grinned lopsidedly and she blushed crimson when he complimented her. She was certain that the behavior had not gone totally unnoticed as she'd caught him on several occasions eyeing her thoughtfully and she prayed that he was as dense as every other male on the planet and didn't come to the conclusion she was trying to avoid herself.

Fred, however, seemed well aware of the shift in her view of his brother, as she caught his knowing smirk every time she grew flustered by him. She'd taken to avoiding his gaze just as much as George's and ignored the fact that if Fred could have recognized her odd behavior, that Tori likely did as well. She'd caught the two of them whispering to each other in one of the stacks as she'd left George at the table to find another book on Slytherin's childhood and they'd both abruptly stopped talking at the sight of her. Tori had grinned at her knowingly and skipped off before she'd had the opportunity to ask what they'd been talking about.

As Valentine's Day dawned, bright and sunny, Vanessa was no closer to figuring out her issues with George or the monster that could have been hiding in the Chamber and was growing more and more frustrated as time passed. Tori, who had had a very late Quidditch practice the night before, was in a particularly sour mood as they made their way down to the Great Hall, slightly late and bickering at each other.

The two of them stopped talking immediately upon entering the large double doors into breakfast and they stared around them in disgust. The walls were covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. Tori looked at her in surprise and then scowled at the teacher's table. Lockhart was wearing lurid pink robes that perfectly matched the decorations around them. The teachers on either side of him were sitting stony-faced. A muscle was pulsing in McGonagall's cheek and Snape looked as though he'd been force fed a bottle of Skele-Gro.

Nessa and Tori took a hesitating seat across from the twins, who looked equally disgusted and uncomfortable, and Ginny, who was overcome with a fit of giggles and looked far too excited. An older boy down the table was eyeing Tori in interest, something she caught and sent him a wink, grinning when he flushed and looked away from her hastily. The look of disgust appeared on her face again as she wiped confetti off of her empty plate.

"Did that Bludger at practice last night cause brain damage or is this real?" she said with a snarl. The twins snorted.

"It's real," said George with a scowl.

"But I thought you already had brain damage before practice last night anyway," said Fred, his disgusted face turning into a grin when Tori huffed at him and kicked him under the table.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" shouted Lockhart from the front of the Hall, causing Nessa to jump and eye him wearily. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all — and it doesn't end here!"

"Quick," whispered Tori into Nessa's ear. "Let's go take a dive off the Astronomy Tower before this gets any worse."

Nessa elbowed her with a laugh as Lockhart flicked his eyes toward them. He clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Nessa had to bite her lip hard to keep from laughing at their attire. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps. Ginny dissolved into another fit of giggles and Tori had to cover her mouth with her hand to stop her own laughter at the ridiculousness in front of her.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

The twins chortled as Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison.

"If you ask Snape really nicely he'd probably show us," said Tori with a grin when she pointed this out to her and the twins. Nessa rolled her eyes.

"I'm not asking him anything," said Nessa pompously. "Love Potions are dangerous to brew, you know. You can't manufacture love. It's more obsessive than anything."

"Such a spoilsport, Vanessa," said Tori with an eye roll at her friend's immediate dive into a Potions lecture. "And here I was hoping to slip some to Wood."

Nessa laughed when the twins scowled at her for this remark. Tori grinned at them before grabbing Nessa's arm and dragging her down to the dungeons for Potions without another word. All day long, the dwarfs kept barging into their classes to deliver valentines, to the annoyance of the teachers. Tori had received an ungodly amount herself and Nessa was more than a little annoyed at the constant disruptions, though Tori seemed very flattered about the attention.

By the time classes ended, Vanessa had lost her patience and retreated to the library, telling Tori in no uncertain terms that if she or the twins followed her, she'd hex them all into next week. She needed the silence more than she needed oxygen and the three of them hovering around her would have sent her clear over the edge. Tori had agreed, but told her if she didn't meet them in the courtyard in the next few hours, she'd come to drag her out of the library herself.

Nessa had just entered the library and settled into a table with a book on Dangerous Magical Creatures when someone slammed their book bag onto the table and sat down next to her with a huff. She looked up in surprise and came face to face with her brother, who was clearly flustered and looking for an escape.

"Since when do you come into the library?" she said in confusion, looking around for Hermione and Ron.

"I've got to get away from those goblin things," he said in irritation, pulling out a thin book that had a shabby black cover. Nessa stared at with narrow eyes, wondering why the thing looked so familiar to her.

"They're dwarfs, not goblins, Harry," she said, still looking at the book as he flipped through it from front to back. It appeared entirely blank, but there was a niggling in the back of her mind that she'd seen it before. She couldn't quite place the memory and she shook her head to clear the alarms she felt ringing in it. "What are you doing with that anyway?"

Harry shrugged and ran a hand down his face. "I found it in Myrtle's bathroom," he said as if this explained everything. He chucked it back into his bag without preamble and looked over at her curiously. "Is there something going on with you and George?"

Nessa spluttered, the question catching her so off guard that she completely forgot to press more about the book altogether.

"No, of course not," she said hurriedly. When Harry gave her a disbelieving look, she pressed on firmly, "There's not, Harry. We're just friends. Why would you ask something like that anyway?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug, still eyeing her thoughtfully. "The two of you are very strange together. You know, like Fred and Tori."

Nessa snorted and gave him an odd look. "There's nothing going on with Fred and Tori, either, so I don't really know what that means."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm just saying, the two of you are very…chummy."

"People can be friends without it being odd, Harry," she said in irritation, despite the fact that she had only recently been wondering if this were true just days before. Somehow admitting this out loud gave her more anxiety than pretending it wasn't happening at all. "Besides, I'd have told you by now if there was something going on. He's your friend too."

Harry eyed her for a moment more, but seemed to accept this answer and didn't push further.

"Alright, then," he said. "I, uh, wanted to say I'm sorry too, by the way. You know, for not telling you about Dobby or the Polyjuice Potion."

She sighed heavily and picked up her quill again. She looked up at him through her eyelashes as she continued writing down anything that had the ability to petrify its victim.

"I want to say I'm surprised, Harry, I really do, but honestly at this point, I'm growing very used to the secrecy from you."

"I really did mean to tell you, you know," he said wearily as she said nothing further. She huffed and put her quill back down, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow at him. "I did! It's just…"

"Just that you didn't really want to tell me, did you?" she said. Harry glared at her.

"No, that isn't it at all!" he said in irritation. "You've just been…you know, different this year."

"I don't know what that means," she said in confusion.

"You haven't been anxiously hovering around me anymore," he said by way of explanation. She tensed at this. "I mean, I can still tell you're on edge, but whatever Fred and George have been doing has been helping a little. You're coming out of the library more and you've been helping Ginny and laughing more, you know? I didn't want to ruin that."

Nessa stared at him in surprise. She hadn't really taken much notice herself, but she supposed it was the truth, though how much of it was attributed to the twins she wasn't entirely sure. Part of her was grateful that her brother paid enough attention to her that he'd noticed any changes to her behavior at all, however minute they were. The other part of her hated that she was such a nutcase that her brother was worried about telling her something just to avoid causing her to retreat back into herself.

"Don't do that," he said suddenly as she bit her lip. Her eyes met his abruptly and he frowned at her. "You don't always have to take care of me, you know. We're family — I'm allowed to take care of you, too."

Nessa cleared her throat as it started to burn and she shook her head to clear it of her thoughts.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean I have to like it," she grumbled, ignoring his grin at her distaste. "And I'm fine. You can tell me whatever you'd like and I'm not going to go back to hiding in here every day again."

He gave her a skeptical look at this. "What have you been doing lately then?"

"Researching Slytherin," she said, eyeing her brother cautiously as she spoke. She wasn't entirely fond of clueing him in on her activities, considering how often he insisted on putting himself in danger. But she suspected she couldn't keep nagging at him to tell her the truth if she couldn't be bothered to show him the same courtesy. "I was hoping knowing more about him would help clear up some of the questions I have about the Chamber."

"And?" he said, sitting forward eagerly.

"And nothing," she said, her frustration setting back in as she tapped her quill on the desk. "He's a tosspot for sure, but there's not much else I can find that would give me any clues as to what could be hiding in there."

Harry sat back, looking disappointed. They contemplated each other for several minutes more, but jumped when the last bell of the day rang above them. Nessa swore and began shoving her materials back into her bag. Harry looked at her in alarm.

"What's happening?" he said.

"I was supposed to meet the twins and Tori in the courtyard half an hour ago." she said, throwing her bag over her shoulder and grabbing him around the wrist, tugging him out after her. She waved good-bye to Cedric on her way out without thinking. Stevens scowled when Cedric grinned and returned the sentiment. "Tori is going to kill me —"

"Too true," her friend's voice sounded from behind her. She groaned and turned around to see the twins and Tori making their way toward them. "Though, I suppose, I can let it go if you were just talking with Harry."

"Harry," said Fred in greeting, his face lighting with an evil grin. Nessa looked between him and her brother, who was eyeing the older Weasley wearily. "Terrific day, isn't it? You can just feel the love in the air, wouldn't you say, George?"

"Indeed, Fred," said George with an equally evil grin, as Harry tensed beside her, his face coloring crimson. Tori laughed as he began backing away from them. "You haven't gotten any special Valentine messages, have you, Harry? Because I heard —"

"Sorry, best be off," said Harry hurriedly, rushing forward to kiss his sister on the cheek and then turning tail and rushing away from them.

Nessa eyed after him in surprise, her brow crinkling in confusion. She turned back to face her friends and jumped clear out of her skin when she came face to face with Tori. Her friend's face was so close to her own, she could feel her breath on her face and she resisted the urge to take a step backward. Tori was grinning widely and staring into her eyes with intensity and Nessa raised an eyebrow at her haughtily.

"Can I help you?" she said, her lips twitching.

"You know, I've never quite noticed that you have eyes as green as a fresh pickled toad," said Tori cheerfully, causing the twins to fall into a fit of laughter. Nessa looked at her friend in distaste.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" she said, which sent the twins into a fresh set of guffaws, further confusing her. "Because if it is, it's horrible."

"How rude," said Tori, her tone carefully superior, despite the grin on her face. "Ginny will be very upset to hear that."

"Ginny? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Harry didn't tell you?" said Fred with a large grin, throwing his arm around her shoulder, dragging her forward with him through the corridor and sighing in a lovestruck sort of way. "Poor Ginevra. She'll be very upset to know he's keeping her love such a secret."

"Did you hit your head?" said Nessa incredulously, causing his grin to widen.

"Ginny sent Harry a Valentine," said Tori, racing ahead of them and spinning to walk backward, so that she could register the response her friend would have to this revelation. She grinned widely when Nessa started grinning back at her. "How did it go again, Fred?"

Nessa jumped when the two of them busted into song, quickly followed by George.

His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,

His hair is as dark as a blackboard

I wish he was mine, he's really divine,

the hero who conquered the Dark Lord.

Nessa covered her mouth to refrain from laughing as the three of them went into another chorus of the same, clearly enjoying the absurdity of the poem. Nessa thought it was rather cute, aside from the fact that if she had been sung a Valentine by an angry dwarf in front of the entire school, she'd have likely perished in embarrassment. As the three of them continued to sing the poem on an endless loop, she rolled her eyes at them and shook her head.

Poor Ginny, she thought. She was never going to live this one down.

-o0o-

"I'm hungry," Tori whined later that night as they were sitting lounging in Fred and George's dormitory, while they tested out their trick wands. They had finally been successful and were currently smacking at each other with rubber chickens ferociously. They both stopped what they were doing to eye her incredulously.

"You were the one who insisted we skip dinner, Victoria," said Nessa drily from where she was reclining on George's foreposter, flipping through the Dangerous Creature text in frustration. She'd long since given up on note-taking as the frustration of finding nothing substantial was beginning to drive her batty.

"Yes, well, I heard Lockhart was going to lead us in Celestina Warbeck songs for the holiday and I've no interest in gouging out my eardrums," she said seriously. "I already have to listen to that garbage with Molly."

"Who is Celestina Warbeck?" said Nessa in confusion. The three of them shook their heads at her as if they didn't want to talk about it. She snorted. "Well, what do you want us to do about it then, Tori?"

"I want one of you to feed me," she said as if this were obvious. Fred rolled his eyes.

"You're ridiculous, Victoria," he said, standing up and dodging the pillow she threw at him for his use of her full name. He grabbed a worn piece of parchment out of his trunk and gave her a warning look. "I'm not taking you to the kitchens if you're going to keep throwing things at me, you know."

Tori stilled and then smiled at him sweetly. Nessa snorted at the ridiculousness of the gesture and ignored the rude hand gesture her friend shot at her in response. George huffed and stood, offering a hand to Vanessa and pulling her to a stand. Fred muttered something and tapped the parchment in his hand. Nessa snatched it from his hand in interest.

The parchment had come alive in his hands and she watched in amazement as the school and its grounds were painted in black ink on the parchment. There were dots everywhere in the castle, labeled with names, and moving throughout the rooms and corridors. As it was well past curfew, the majority of the dots were all within their dormitories or common rooms. She watched in disbelief as she saw Harry's dot, the only one in the Gryffindor common room, begin pacing back and forth.

"The Marauder's Map," said George fondly, clearly enjoying her surprise. "Nicked it from Filch's office in our first year."

"It's extraordinary magic," she breathed, watching as Percy turned into the dungeons on his rounds. "I've never seen something so detailed. Has it ever been wrong?"

"Never," said Fred with a grin, taking it back from her and leading the way down to the common room. Nessa raced after him, looking over his shoulder in interest. She heard George chuckle behind her and ignored it. "We owe the Marauders our life. They've saved us from at least a hundred detentions."

Nessa opened her mouth to remark that she had no doubt that this was true, but they'd just stepped into the common room and she caught sight of Harry, who was pulling on his hair and looking incredibly distressed. His forehead had a thin sheen of sweat and he was staring at the thin, black book he'd had in the library earlier as though it had betrayed him. He whirled around when he heard them step into the common room.

"Harry, what's wrong?" said Nessa immediately, concern coloring her features immediately.

"No, nothing, I just —" he stuttered before sighing heavily and running a hand through his unruly hair. "It's just been a long night."

She stared at him a moment and considered pressing, but the look on his face told her he was still working through something and was unlikely to give her any answers until he'd worked it out in his head first. It was George who spoke from behind her when neither of them said anything.

"We're going to the kitchens, if you'd like to come with us," he offered with a raised eyebrow at Nessa, who exhaled in relief at the suggestion.

Harry hesitated and looked like he was going to refuse, but seemed to catch his sister's pleading look and sighed with a nod.

"Alright," he said, shoving his books into his bag. "Just let me take these upstairs."

"Grab your cloak," said Nessa as he disappeared. "Just in case. The last thing we need is for you to be caught out after curfew."

When he returned, cloak under his arm, he was still pale, but he didn't appear any more willing to talk than he had been before he'd disappeared upstairs. The twins led the way out of the portrait hole and through the corridors, down into the entrance hall, and to the right, down the steps and past the Hufflepuff common room. They stopped at a painting of a bowl of fruit and Fred reached up to tickle the pear, which started giggling and a doorknob appeared. George helped her through the portrait into the kitchens, where they were immediately bombarded with hundreds of house-elves, all excited to be of service, high voices squeaking at Tori, Fred, and George who they were clearly very familiar with.

Nessa smiled at one of the smaller ones fondly as she handed her a bowl of stew and crusty bread and tittered excitedly when Nessa thanked her softly. Fred gave her a look full of 'I-told-you-so' and Nessa rolled her eyes at him, refusing to acknowledge his opinion with her own. Regardless of how happy the elves at Hogwarts were, it changed her opinion of their treatment very little and saying so would only upset the elves who were bustling around them. George smirked at her, but appeared smart enough not to voice his own opinion, which clearly matched his twin's. As the elves brought them all bowl after bowl of stew and then a round of apple pie, Nessa was severely wondering if she would ever have to eat again and wished she'd worn leggings instead of her uniform pants.

It was at least an hour later when they finally left the kitchens, all incredibly full and Harry looking much more relaxed. Nessa wrapped an arm around him as they all stumbled back toward the common room, the twins and Tori singing another rendition of Ginny's valentine and Harry pretending as if he couldn't hear them entirely. Nessa grinned and gave him a squeeze.

"I think it's a very cute song, you know," she said slyly, ignoring Harry's snort. "Though, I must say, I really don't enjoy thinking about pickled toads when I look into the mirror."

Harry opened his mouth to retort, a corner of his mouth twitching despite his eye roll, when his face suddenly fell in shock and he came to a sudden halt. Nessa tripped on his cloak and had to reach out for the wall to steady herself.

"What's your problem, Harry?" she said with a glare. The twins and Tori were trailing behind them, Fred still looking down at the map in his hands and all of them still singing louder than was likely necessary considering they were out after curfew.

"Do you hear that?" said Harry, looking around the corridor in alarm. Nessa gave him an irritated look.

"Hear what?" she snapped.

"Fred, George, Tori, shut up, will you?" Harry snapped at them. The three of them stopped singing and left the corridor in silence, though Nessa highly suspected that it was more from the surprise of Harry's attitude than an actual desire to stop singing.

"Harry –" scolded Nessa, but he waved her off. She shot a look at Tori, who was eying him as if he'd lost his marbles.

"You can't hear that?" he inquired of her again. Nessa stood stock still for a moment, but there was nothing other than the awkward silence he'd created when he'd snapped at the twins and Tori.

"Harry, whatever you're doing, just stop, alright?" she said nervously as he stared at her, almost desperately, as if he needed her to be able to hear whatever he was. "You're starting to freak me out."

"You can't hear that voice?" he said in obvious frustration, straining his ears as it crept closer.

"Voice? What voice?" said Nessa, shooting a panicked look over at her friends, who were eyeing Harry with obvious concern. "Harry, if this is a joke, let's just leave those to Fred and George, alright?"

"That voice," said Harry in exasperation, slowly inching forward, ignoring her jibe completely and pushing himself up against the wall. "I've been hearing it since September —"

"What the fuck, Harry?" said Nessa, suddenly angry and shoving her brother away from the wall with a glare. "What do you mean, since September? You didn't think that was worth mentioning to me?"

Harry ignored her still and raced toward the end of the corridor. Nessa ran after him and heard Tori swear violently as they raced after them. They ran into her back as Harry came to a sudden stop in front of her.

"It wants to kill someone," he said, his voice raising in alarm. "Always. It always wants to kill someone."

"I think I'm going to pass out," Nessa said weakly, grabbing onto George's arm to steady herself. "Is this real?"

George shook his head in confusion as Harry continued walking down the corridor, his ear pressed up against the wall and his face screwed up in concentration. Harry froze suddenly and backed up hastily, reaching into his pocket for his wand.

"I think it's coming toward us," he said suddenly, pointing his wand in the direction of the empty corridor in front of them. Nessa, the twins, and Tori did not waste any time in pulling their own wands out and pointing it in the same direction as the five of them backed slowly in the opposite direction.

Despite the fact that her heart was pounding and one of her hands was still gripping George's bicep so tightly she worried she might be drawing blood, her wand arm was steady and she stared at the end of the corridor with wide eyes, her body primed for any noise or sign of movement.

"Not to sound overly critical, here, Harry," said Tori from her opposite side, her voice thick with irritation and anxiety as the silence continued. "But I'm thinking we might be more useful if you tell us what the hell we're supposed to be looking for."

"I don't know what it is," said Harry, as they continued to back up and his neck craned to the ceiling. Tori swore under her breath continuously, muttering something about how she did not want to die at Hogwarts, and Harry whirled around suddenly. Nessa caught the scream in her throat before it escaped completely and it turned into a squeal as she whirled around with the others to look at what he was looking at. "How is it doing that?" he said in confusion.

"Doing what?" said George, looking around the corridor and barely moving his head at all, as if concerned that any sudden movement would catch the attention of whatever Harry was hearing.

"It's going around us," said Harry in frustration. Nessa would like to have pointed out that there was nothing going around them, but her voice seemed to have been lost in the panic she was feeling.

"Who's idea was it to bring him with us?" Tori exploded suddenly, glaring at Harry.

"C'mon, we have to follow it," he said before taking off at a run.

"WHAT?" said Nessa in alarm, watching her brother turn the corner in alarm. "HARRY!"

"Goddammit, Vanessa!" Tori exclaimed when she ran after her brother and she could hear Tori and the twins sprinting behind her. Harry was much faster than she'd thought and she had to push herself completely just to keep him within sight in front of her, his Invisibility Cloak streaking out behind him.

They chased Harry down several flights of stairs and Nessa was convinced he was going to lead them back down to the kitchens when he came to a stop just outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, the words of the Chamber of Secrets gleaming ominously in the lantern light. Harry was spinning in a circle in the middle of the corridor, clearly frustrated.

"I lost it," he said in frustration. Nessa clutched a stitch in her side and glared at him in irritation.

"Forget the voice for a second, will you?" she panted snarkily. "And explain to me…..how thick you have to be…to go chasing after something…that says it wants to kill you."

"It doesn't say it wants to kill me," said Harry, waving her off and looking around the corridor curiously, sidling up to the words painted on the wall and running his fingers over them lightly. "I don't think it cares much who it kills —"

"Yes, that's much better," said Tori, sarcastically from where she stood with her hands on her knees next to an equally winded Fred. Harry ignored her.

"I lost it at this spot before. The first time I heard it. That's got to be significant," he said, thoughtfully. He turned around and froze, staring behind Nessa with a wrinkled brow. She froze completely, trying not to think of why he would be looking at her like that. "The spiders were doing that then, too."

Nessa did scream this time, launching herself away from the wall and over to where George was standing across from her, looking at the words himself. He whirled around in alarm and caught her in his arms before she could plow into him. Tori and Fred erupted in laughter as she pushed George in front of her and looked around his shoulder at the window Harry was observing. A line of spiders were scuttling up the wall where she had previously been standing, making their way out of the window.

Harry rolled his eyes at her, but he was grinning. "Will you relax? They didn't even notice you were standing there."

"I don't care," said Vanessa firmly, eyeing them in distaste and moving so that her back was completely against the furthest wall, pulling George back with her by his shirt. "They're…why are they doing that?"

"Not sure," said Harry, squatting down to look at them, putting his face so close that Nessa attempted to push herself further back into the wall, but there was nowhere else to go. "They were doing this last time when Hermione and I were looking at them." He looked at her curiously again. "Ron's afraid of spiders."

"Good for him," said Nessa, causing Tori and Fred to laugh again at her obvious distress. She could feel more than hear George's chuckle, but his thumb was rubbing over the back of the hand she had bunched on the side of his shirt in soothing circles. She looked around him again as Fred and Tori inched closer to look at them and groaned. She was going to be stuck here forever — God, she hated the way they moved. So many legs. She shuddered and closed her eyes again before she could work herself up into a panic.

"They look like they're running from something," said Fred. "What would a spider be running from?"

"It's odd, isn't it?" said Harry. "I've never seen spiders behave this way before."

George leaned forward a little, but Nessa gripped his shirt tighter and pulled him back, which sent Fred and Tori into another round of laughter.

"They're a lot more afraid of you than you are of them, you know," said Tori, laughter still evident in her voice.

"That doesn't help," snapped Nessa.

"Yes, well," said Tori slyly. "I was talking to the spiders."

George laughed with them this time and pulled a struggling Vanessa forward so he could get a closer look. Nessa attempted to get loose from his hold, but he held her tightly behind him. She tried to breathe through her nose as they came close enough for her to see each of their legs.

"What are you even scared of them for?" said Tori with a grin. "You're a hundred times their size."

"I don't like the way they move," said Nessa, unable to tear her eyes away from them now that they were so close. A chill ran up her spine as they continued racing for the exit. "And they have way too many legs. Four legs — that's enough."

Fred snorted. "Did you know they hear through their legs?" he said conversationally, dodging the swipe that George took at his head in warning. "Through vibrations, I think."

"I hate you, Fred," said Nessa, her voice small. "Can we please find something else to look at? Literally anything else."

Harry rolled his eyes, but stood and brushed the dust off his legs, looking around the area before settling on the bathroom door across from them.

"C'mon, maybe Myrtle heard something," he said, pushing his way into the girls' loo.

Nessa could think of nothing less that she wanted to do than speak with Moaning Myrtle, but seeing as her alternative was to stand out here and stare at the spiders, she pulled George along with her so quickly, they nearly tripped over each other on the way into the bathroom. He caught them both with a hand on the wall and she blushed immediately when she noticed how close he was standing to her, his body flush with hers, her body trapped between him and the wall. He grinned down at her with a cocky raise of his eyebrow and she squirmed away from him, ignoring his soft laughter and the looks Fred and Tori were shooting her.

"Myrtle," Harry was whispering, harshly, completely oblivious to the awkwardness behind him. "Myrtle!"

Nessa quietly hoped that Myrtle wasn't in her bathroom at all. She hadn't spoken to her all year and really had not had much interest in doing so at all now that she had stopped hiding out in this bathroom when she had stopped avoiding the twins. The sight of the bathroom was really doing nothing to improve her mood. It was dark and gloomy, just as it had been before, and slightly dirtier than the rest of the Hogwarts bathrooms, something she had always attributed to the house-elves attempting to avoid the bathroom as much as the students did.

Suddenly, Myrtle came flying out of one of the toilet stalls with a wail. Nessa flinched and looked anywhere but at her.

"Oh, hello, Harry," said Myrtle, her voice, usually tinged with sadness, filled with a girlishness Nessa had never heard before.

Her head snapped around to look at her, her eyebrows disappearing into her hairline in surprise. Her face split into a sly grin when she realized the ghost was flushing silver and twirling her hair around a finger. Nessa met Tori's eye, whose face was also split in a wide grin, and the two of them burst into giggles before they could stop themselves. This was a mistake. Myrtle, who had been so enraptured by Harry's presence, looked over at them at the sound of their laughter and her eyes caught and held Nessa's, who tensed and grimaced.

"Oh, hello, Vanessa," she said, sounding much less pleased to see her and glaring at her ferociously behind her horn-rimmed glasses.

"Er — Hello, Myrtle," said Nessa, careful to keep her tone as neutral as possible.

"I haven't seen you all year," said Myrtle, accusingly. "Why did you bring them?" she said, her eyes locked on Fred and George behind her, who greeted her cheerily. "They blew up my toilet once when I was in the U-bend, did you know?"

Nessa turned to look at the twins in exasperation. "Of course, they did," she said, deadpan, before turning back to Myrtle. "I'm sorry, Myrtle. I didn't know you didn't like them."

Myrtle sniffled. "You used to not like them," she said as if this were a fond memory for her. "You used to hide in here with me and cry about how they scared you."

Harry, the twins, and Tori turned to stare at her in surprise as Nessa shook her head vehemently in shock, raising her hands as if to ward off the statement and flushing in embarrassment despite how incorrect the words were.

"I did not cry!" she said indignantly. "And I never said I was scared of them, either!"

Myrtle hiccoughed. "Well, I imagined you did. In my dreams." said Myrtle, clearly working herself up to a sob. "It made me feel happier to think of you in tears."

Nessa stared at her in shock, her mouth opening and closing, at a complete loss for what to say. She shot an incredulous look at Tori, who was trying so hard to withhold her laughter that she was staring up at the ceiling with her lips pressed firmly together. Fred and George shared a look of their own, clearly surprised by this admission.

"That's — er — that's very…Look, Myrtle, Harry wanted to ask you if you heard anything outside earlier," she said finally, trying to change the subject as fast as possible and edge herself closer to the door surreptitiously. Harry shot her a glare over his shoulder when he caught the movement. She huffed.

"I haven't heard anything," said Myrtle, miserably, her lip quivering. "No one tells me anything. I'm just miserable, moping Myrtle."

"Er — right, well, sorry for disturbing you, Myrtle. Thanks," said Harry, turning around and trying to make an escape for the door.

"You're welcome to visit me anytime, Harry," said Myrtle with a watery giggle. "Just don't bring her anymore. I don't like her now that she's friends with them."

And with a final glare at Nessa, who rolled her eyes, she dived back into one of the stalls, a soft wailing heard immediately after. The twins, who clearly had not spent much time alone with Myrtle, were shaking their heads in bemusement.

"Can we get the hell out of here now?" said Nessa suddenly. "That was a huge waste of time. I'd have almost rather stayed out there with the spiders." she paused and shot her brother a teasing grin. "Unless you and Myrtle would like some privacy?"

"Shut up, Vanessa," Harry grumbled as the other three snickered.

Fred pulled out the map again and had just said that the coast was clear, when Tori's arm shot out to stop Nessa and Harry from leaving,

"Wait!" she said, suddenly, her face the picture of seriousness. Nessa raised her eyebrows at her. "Who's going to break this to Ginny?"

Nessa burst into laughter, her hand gripping onto her friend's to keep her upright as they both leaned forward laughing hysterically. Harry rolled his eyes again as the twins joined in.

"I wish I had a brother," he said in irritation as the two of them continued laughing.

-o0o-

We are so very close to the end of this one and that feels so completely unreal to me. I started this story so long ago and have attempted to write this plotline so many times that finishing any part of the series feels like a huge milestone for me. The first few chapters of the next story are done as well, so we're making our way through this one.

It's been a rough week for me this week — I've had some health issues lately and it looks like it's autoimmune, so I've been a little distracted. I did pre-read this, but if there are any mistakes or grammatical errors, I apologize.

Anyhow, please review! I appreciate you all! See you next week!