The latest chapter! In which a bunch of stuff happens. Enjoy!

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

For the next week, Snape was no nastier to the Gryffindor students than he usually was – it was too much to hope that he'd lay off them altogether – and, true to his (implied) word, Harry had not pranked him once. Ginny was a little disappointed, having come up with a few really good ideas, so she claimed, but agreed that this was what they'd been aiming for.

They returned their focus to their temporal displacement predicament; Ginny had mostly mastered the various investigative and diagnostic charms Harry had shown her, though save for the mysterious sensation diagnostic, none of them had netted them anything at all. The Room of Requirement had provided them with a stack of books from the library full of spells to detect and remove enchantments, and though Harry knew better versions of a handful of them, there were just as many that he'd never seen before.

'Strictly speaking, we only need to know the basics,' explained Harry when Ginny asked why he hadn't been trained in these things. 'Just like Healing. We're meant to fight Dark Magic and stop it, not take care of every problem on the books. A lot of this stuff looks like it would be in the wheelhouse of the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad, or even Curse Breakers like Bill and Fleur.'

'I wish we could ask Bill for help,' Ginny said wistfully. 'If we are cursed, I bet he could figure it out.'

'I bet he could, too,' said Harry. 'And I feel better knowing we've always got him in our back pocket if we get desperate. But we agreed it's better not to involve anyone else unless we absolutely have to, right?' He couldn't help wondering if she was having second thoughts. Merlin knew he'd had them, but deep in his gut he knew this was the right course of action. He'd long since learned to trust his gut.

'No, you're right,' she said. 'I'm just being wistful. Ignore me.'

'I could never,' he said, bringing his hand up to her cheek. She smiled and leaned into his touch for a moment before taking a breath and becoming all business again.

'Why don't we spend tonight categorizing what we think we can use out of these,' she indicated the stack of books, ' – or what we think we'd be capable of, anyway – and split them up. I'll learn half, you learn half, and then we can try them out and see what we find.'

'Sounds good to me,' said Harry, grabbing a book off the top of the stack and summoning a parchment and quill. He'd already done more work so far this year than in his entire actual first year of school, but having something concrete to do put him at peace. If that wasn't enough to prove to himself that he really was an adult, nothing was.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

It turned out there were more spells to sort through than they'd thought – which could only be a good thing, they reasoned – so it took them two full nights to list them all out and split up the work load. Learning the spells also proved to be somewhat challenging, due to the lack of testing opportunities, not to mention finding the time and private space in which to practice. If he pretended to be revising or working on homework, Hermione would of course want to join him, and if he pretended to be honing his flying technique, Ron would want to join in. Those were the only two excuses he had which would explain him wanting to go off on his own for long periods of time on a regular basis; they got curious otherwise and he wasn't creative enough to be thinking up new novel excuses all the time.

Ginny admitted to having similar trouble getting away from her dorm mates, though she considered this a success of a different nature, since it meant they were spending time together as a group, Sharon and Rikissa willing and able to tolerate each other's presence for at least moderate periods of time.

'I really think you were right about them, Harry,' she told him excitedly one evening after an extended period of hair braiding and nail painting (Harry suspected she described it to him this way more to take the mickey than as an accurate representation of events). 'They still fight all the time, but it's definitely more like Ron and Hermione than like, say, Ron and Malfoy.'

'Please don't ever make me think of Ron and Malfoy in the same context as Ron and Hermione ever again,' he said, flipping a page in his spell notes. He almost had the first one down, and was itching to try it, but didn't want to take any chances of getting it wrong. A few more nights of revising wouldn't kill him.

In addition to all this work, Wood had still not let up in his intensive Quidditch practice regime. One would almost think they hadn't dominated the competition last year and won the Cup by a considerable margin.

'We can't afford to get overconfident,' he said to them after their third marathon training session in a single week, when the lot of them were complaining about sore muscles and lack of sleep. 'After last year, everyone -'

'Everyone is going to be gunning for us, yeah,' Fred finished for him. 'We know, Oliver. You've told us. Repeatedly. But they won't need to gun very hard if by the time the match gets here we're too exhausted to play.'

Oliver was not impressed by this attitude, and continued to drill them just as hard, but was now much grumpier about it. It was frustrating for Harry, who knew from experience that there were ways to get results from a team as captain without working them to death, but he knew voicing his opinion on the matter would only make things worse.

With his attention being dragged every which way in this manner, it was a miracle he managed to avoid Snape expelling him.

It was a perfectly ordinary, nondescript Wednesday, unless one counted the heavy rain they'd been regularly treated to lately. It was nearing the end of the day and Harry was on a return trip from the library to meed up with Ron and Hermione for dinner. The corridors along his path were mostly deserted, but while traversing the fourth floor, he did happen to see Snape a short distance ahead of him, crossing his path on a perpendicular corridor.

It happened in an instant. There was a small flash of light, a small cracking sound, and Snape cried out and fell flat on his face, the obvious victim of a very clumsily performed trip jinx. On pure instinct, Harry reached into his robes, where he still kept his invisibility cloak at all times, and flung it over himself a mere second before Snape, who was looking around furiously for his attacker, whipped his gaze in Harry's direction.

Harry remained perfectly still, holding his breath so as not to make even the slightest sound. Once the Potions master was certain that he could see no one, he stood and hastily brushed himself off, and stormed away with a flourish of his great, billowing cloak. Only when the tail end of it had disappeared down the intersecting corridor did Harry allow himself to breathe again.

'You're really lucky he didn't see you,' said Ron at dinner when Harry related the incident. 'I mean, if he already thinks you were behind those other pranks and then caught you there after someone cast a trip jinx on him, he might have expelled you on the spot.'

'I don't think he has the power to do that, but it definitely wouldn't have gone over well,' said Hermione.

'That's for certain,' agreed Harry.

'Who was it, though?' Ron wondered. 'You didn't see anyone else around?'

'No,' said Harry. 'And neither did Snape, by the look of it. It was definitely a trip jinx though, so somebody had to have cast it.'

'Do you think it's the same person who was pranking him before?' Hermione asked.

'No,' said Harry, at the same time Ron said, 'Probably not.' They looked at each other for a moment, and Ron continued.

'Those were all muggle pranks, weren't they?' he said. 'And in front of other people. Like, they wanted Snape to look stupid, but they were also being sneaky about it. This was...I dunno, someone just having a go at him for no reason. Not that I can't understand wanting to do that, but it doesn't feel like the same person behind it.'

'That's very good thinking, Ron,' said Hermione. 'And you know, I suspect you're right. Perhaps whoever this was simply feels that Snape is a prime target now or something.'

'Or else they're figuring that everyone else will just think it's the same person as before,' Ron said.

Harry's pulse quickened, but he made no outward signs that this alarmed him. Ron did, after all, have a knack for stumbling on the right answers to mysteries, and this theory made as much sense as anything. No one knew who the original prankster was, of course (though Snape still believed he did – and was ironically correct), but if whoever this new person was turned out to be using his and Ginny's pranks as camouflage for their own, it meant they were likely to strike at Snape again, and Snape was likely to blame him. Again.

Harry was now on high alert every time he found himself near Snape. Sure enough, in their very next potions lesson, Snape's demonstration cauldron full of Epoxypotion dumped over seemingly of its own accord right as he was standing in front of it. He only just managed to jump out of the way and avoid being glued to the floor.

Thinking quickly, Harry non-verbally knocked over his own cauldron to allay suspicion (and also Malfoy's for good measure), ending up with magical adhesive all over himself. He cried out in mock alarm just as Snape was looking daggers over at him. The ruse seemed to work, as instead of immediately accusing him, the Potions master strode over in a calm fury and vanished the half-finished potion from his robes (after helping Malfoy first, obviously).

'Who is responsible for this?' Snape asked the class at large in a deadly calm and eerily quiet voice. Naturally, everyone was too petrified to say anything. After a short period of silence, Snape said, 'If I find out who did this, they will wish they had never heard of Hogwarts School.' He then swirled around with a swish of his cloak and strode back up to the front of the classroom.

'You all right, Harry?' Ron asked.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' he said. 'It just got on my robes, thank Merlin.' Epoxypotion was significantly harder to remove from bare skin; he and Malfoy probably would have had to go to the hospital wing.

'There's no way that was a coincidence,' Ron said.

'Definitely not,' Harry agreed. 'The question is, who did it? I don't think it's anyone in our house, but why would a Slytherin be going after Snape?'

'Or Malfoy,' Ron added.

'Right, or him. It's very suspicious.'

'Maybe someone's trying to make it look like a Gryffindor is behind it?' Hermione suggested.

'Then why go after Harry, though?' asked Ron.

'Maybe they didn't have as much control over whatever they were doing as they thought they did?' Hermione replied.

'Ten points from Gryffindor,' Snape snapped at them from the front of the room. 'A minor disruption is not an invitation to talk amongst yourselves. Potter, join up with Weasley to complete the assignment; you won't have time to start over. Malfoy, find someone to work with as well. The rest of you, pay attention to what you're doing.'

The rest of the lesson passed, and when it was over, Harry sent Ron and Hermione on ahead and for perhaps the first time ever, approached Snape's desk of his own volition.

'Thank you for your help, sir,' he said. He was hoping to defuse any potential anger Snape might be feeling toward him, as well as perhaps suss out Snape's feelings on the incident in general. No such luck. Snape said nothing – not even a grunt – but merely furrowed his brow and glared at him in a very unsettling manner.

'Well, that was all I wanted to say,' he said, giving it up as a bad job. 'Good bye, sir.' He turned and began walking out of the classroom.

'Didn't you tell me, Potter,' said Snape's cool voice from behind him, 'that "whoever was doing this" must have a reason?'

'You think this is the same person as before, sir?' Harry asked carefully, turning slowly to face the Potions master, still sitting sternly in his chair.

'You are implying it is not?' Snape asked, quirking an eyebrow but remaining otherwise motionless.

'It doesn't seem the same to me, sir,' Harry said. 'Before, well, someone was obviously targeting you. And it was mostly childish tricks, wasn't it? This just seemed...mean, somehow. Like an attack or something. And there was me and Malfoy too for whatever reason. It doesn't feel the same.'

His words hung in the air for several tense moments of deafening silence. He was afraid he might have pushed his luck bending the truth, given Snape's legilimency.

'Quite,' Snape finally said. 'You are very fortunate, Potter, that for once I actually believe you. But rest assured that I still intend to get to the bottom of this, and if I find that it was any of your idiot friends, they will pay the same price as you would have. Now get out of my classroom.'

Harry did not need to be told twice. He hurried out after Ron and Hermione, his mind whirring. Something Hermione said had got him thinking. That was twice now that Snape had been attacked right in front of him, and he had barely managed to avoid being blamed for it. Suppose someone wasn't trying to frame just anyone in Gryffindor, but him specifically. Someone who, perhaps, knew of Snape's previous threats to get him expelled if his pranking continued.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

'I think Dobby's up to his old tricks,' Harry told Ginny that night in the Room of Requirement.

'How do you mean?'

'I mean I think he's trying to make it look like I'm still going after Snape so that Snape will expel me.' He told her about the trip jinx and the incident with the Epoxypotion.

'That does sound like it might be him,' she agreed. 'Kind of sloppy, though, isn't it?'

'Dobby's never exactly been one for subtlety,' Harry said.

'Shite, that's true, isn't it?' she said. 'What do you want to do about it?'

'I think the only thing we really can do is move up our timetable,' said Harry, who'd been mulling it over all afternoon. 'If everything's over and done with, he won't have any reason to try and get me out of school anymore.'

'Hmm,' said Ginny, considering. 'I suppose it's doable. It's not such a drastic change in plans, is it? But what do you think brought this about? The whole reason for our original schedule was to avoid his bludger at the quidditch match. Why's he acting early?'

'I reckon it's opportunity as much as anything,' said Harry. 'He must have found out Snape had threatened to have me expelled over the pranks and thought it was as good a plan as any. Plus we have been expecting him to try something after we got past his trick at King's Cross so easily.'

'That's true,' said Ginny. 'When should we try for, then?'

'As soon as possible, I'd say. Before he has time to do anything else.'

'That makes things tricky,' said Ginny. 'We won't be able to take advantage of knowing where everyone is.' This had been part of their original reasoning for staging the operation on Hallowe'en, which was still over a week away.

'You're right,' said Harry. 'We might consider waiting until after the weekend, then. At least most people will be keeping to a routine during the week, so we're less likely to run into anyone. As long as I keep clear of Snape until Monday night, it'll minimize Dobby's opportunities to frame me.'

'That will give us time to make all the arrangements, too,' said Ginny. 'Well, me. You should keep to the tower as much as possible.

Harry didn't like this, but a sharp look from his fiancee was enough for him to know not to argue. Besides, it did make sense. Gryffindor Tower was the one place they could effectively guarantee he wouldn't cross paths with Snape.

Finding excuses not to leave the common room over the weekend turned out to be relatively easy, since the weather outside was still rainy and miserable. He wasn't able to get out of Saturday's quidditch practice, but he was able to go straight there and back without bumping into anyone. It would have been a lot easier had he possessed the Marauders' Map, but it was unlikely Snape would want to be out and about in this weather either, so the risk was small.

He felt bad for Ginny, who after all had to venture out alone to make the necessary preparations, but when she told him it had only taken her about forty minutes, he was annoyed to realize that he'd been outside for longer than she had after all.

The rest of the weekend was spent playing games and doing homework with his housemates. He and Neville got pulled by Ginny into a gobstones tournament with most of the first years (Colin was beside himself with excitement), and upon observing Sharon and Rikissa up close, he came to the conclusion that Ginny had absolutely nothing to worry about. They were constantly butting heads, but it seemed to Harry to be as playful as it was antagonistic. This encouraged him. If one part of the plan was going smoothly, he took it as a good omen for the parts they were about to carry out – which held much higher stakes.

Monday was trickier. He didn't have Potions, so he didn't have to worry about a repeat of Friday, but every minute he spent in the corridors or the Great Hall was another opportunity for Dobby to try something. He knew that the elf couldn't possibly be hanging around all the time – he still had his duties at Malfoy Manor to attend to after all, but all the same, Harry was walking on eggshells with his teeth clenched all day long. The toll it was taking must have begun to show, because by their first class after lunch, even Ron noticed something was off.
'You all right, mate?' he asked as they waited for Hermione to return from the loo. Harry was nervously watching the student body scurry past them, his eyes scanning every which way for a telltale sign of Snape's billowing black robes.

'Just a little stressed,' Harry said, attempting to play it off. 'Wood's been pushing us pretty hard lately,' he added, reaching for a believable excuse. 'I'll be glad when the match finally gets here and we can let the pressure off a little.'

'Fred and George have been saying that too,' said Ron. 'Mind, they're always complaining about him, but if even you're saying it I reckon it has to be really bad.'

'It'll be over soon,' said Harry, thinking of entirely something different. He was happy Ron was accepting his explanation, in any case. He was just about to turn to greet Hermione, who was returning, when his head snapped at what turned out to be a seventh year girl wearing her cloak (was it really that cold?).

'Are you all right, Harry?' Hermione asked, approaching them.

'Just nerves,' he said. 'Let's hurry and get to class, shall we? The sooner it's over, the sooner I can get back to Gryffindor Tower and lie down.'

Hermione shared a concerned look with Ron, but neither of them said anything further and the three of them continued on their way.

By the time he finished dinner that evening, he thought he was in the clear. He should have known better. Anxious to get back to the safety of the tower as quickly as possible, he wolfed down some food and then used the excuse of nerves upsetting his stomach and bade farewell to Ron and Hermione, who were both still eating, and left the Great Hall while most people were still filing their way in.

He didn't know if Dobby would have done it whether he was there or not – probably yes, simply counting on Snape's propensity to blame him for everything – but as he passed through the doorway into the entrance hall, he came upon Snape, who himself had his attention trained on a piece of parchment in his hand and so did not notice the suit of armor right next to him begin to sway precariously.

Harry cursed and dashed. He had just enough time to shove Snape, and hear him yell, 'Potter! What is the meaning -' before pain slashed through his left arm immediately followed by a crashing sound, his legs giving out beneath him, a bump to his head, and then black.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

When he opened his eyes again, it was to the familiar sight of the hospital wing.

'You've got to be kidding me,' he murmured to himself in frustration. The place was currently deserted except for himself and one other student three beds down who was snoring loudly, a sick gurgling sound accompanying each breath. Her face was swollen and bright purple. He wondered what had happened there.

He checked his robes to make sure hjs invisibility cloak was still there – it was – and then looked at his watch, hissing as he did so. His left arm felt stiff and more than a little sore. It had only been a half hour since he'd left dinner, so Madam Pomfrey couldn't be far off. He'd have to wait for her to come back so he could find out what had happened, though he could hazard a fair guess. He half expected Dobby to pop in and speak to him right that moment, like he'd done back when Harry had been regrowing his arm bones after the rogue bludger incident, but knew it was too early for that. Dobby wouldn't risk being spotted by anyone else.

As if to solidify the point, footsteps echoed throughout the wing. He turned and saw the harried matron making her way over to him.

'Awake, are you?' she said. 'That's a good sign. How are you feeling?'

'All right,' he said. 'My arm's a bit stiff and my head hurts a little, but not too bad.'

'I should think your arm is stiff,' she said, tutting. 'That armor broke it in three places, and gave you a horribly deep gash to boot. You lost a surprising amount of blood in a very short time. it's very fortunate indeed that Professor Snape was right there to help you.'

'What happened?' he asked. It was coming back to him, but a few of the details were still fuzzy. Had he really saved Snape from a falling suit of armor?

'From what I understand, you and the professor collided near a suit of armor in the entrance hall, which then fell directly on top of you. I would advise you at the very least to watch where you are going in the future,' she said.

'I was,' said Harry, now remembering more clearly. 'Snape was reading something and didn't see the armor. It was wobbling and about to fall on him.'

'I see,' said Madam Pomfrey after staring at him for a few seconds. He couldn't tell whether or not she believed him. 'Well, I shall inform the headmaster that you are awake; I've been instructed that you were to be allowed visitors at that time, but they won't be able to stay long. It's nearly curfew. I'll send them in on my way out. You are to stay in bed, do you understand?'

'Yes, ma'am.'

She left, and a minute later Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were hurrying across the floor to see him. They all looked concerned, but Ginny looked exceptionally pale. A pang of guilt shot through him, even though even he couldn't blame himself for this one.

'Harry!' Hermione called before they even reached him. 'Oh Harry, are you all right?'

'I'm fine,' he said. At Ginny's immediate scowl, he hastily added, 'Just a little sore, and probably a mite bruised. Nothing serious.'

'You were bleeding a lot,' said Ron, sounding very uncomfortable.

'Madame Pomfrey told me I had a deep cut on my arm, but it's all patched up now. There's not even a mark; I don't even know where it was. She'll have given me a blood replenishing potion for sure.'

'That would explain why she told us to make sure you drink water,' Hermione said. 'Those are supposed to leave you very dehydrated.'

'I do feel a bit thirsty, now you mention it,' said Harry, and he reached over to grab the glass of water the matron had left for him. Ron snatched it quickly and handed it to him. 'Thanks,' he said, and took a swig. Before he knew it, he'd downed the whole glass. 'I guess I was more than a bit thirsty.'

'What happened?' asked Ginny, speaking for the first time. 'No one would tell us much. Luna said you saved Snape from a falling suit of armor?'

'Luna saw?'

'She was in the Entrance Hall when it happened,' Ginny explained. 'Is she right? Is that what happened?'

'More or less,' Harry said, rubbing the back of his head absentmindedly. 'Part of it is still a little fuzzy – pretty sure I hit my head – but that's basically what I remember. I saw it about to fall on him and he was reading something and didn't notice. I pushed him out of the way.'

'Why?' asked Ron. 'I mean, I'm not saying it's a bad thing to help people,' he added quickly at a look from Hermione, 'but why Snape?'

'Well, I reckon it was mostly instinct,' said Harry. 'And even if it wasn't, I don't think I'd be able to see someone about to get hurt and think, "Oh, it's just Snape," and then let it happen. It'd feel bad, you know?'

Ginny smiled and Hermione nodded in a rather sanctimonious way. Ron titled his head and shrugged. 'I guess I can understand that,' he said. 'But why not just cry out and warn him or something?'

'In the time it would have taken to get his attention, not to mention have him actually believe me, the thing would have landed on him,' Harry said, articulating the split-second decision he'd made in the moment. He knew it was true. Even if he had managed to call out to Snape in time, the Potions Master was as likely to scoff and ignore him as anything else.

'That makes sense,' said Ron. 'And it's just as well, I suppose. He may well have assumed you were responsible for it and tried to expel you. Didn't he already threaten something like that?'

'He did, yeah,' said Harry. He sneaked a meaningful glance at Ginny; he knew she understood that Dobby was involved.

'He can't be blaming you for this!' Hermione gasped.

'Wouldn't put it past him if he thought he could get away with it,' Harry grumbled. 'But I haven't heard anything like that. I expect if he was, he would have been waiting in here for me to wake up in order to tell me off. It does sound like he told Madam Pomfrey that I'm the one who wasn't watching where I was going, though.'

'Typical,' Ginny muttered under her breath.

'At least he won't be trying to get you kicked out,' Ron said.

'Not for this, anyway,' said Harry.

'All right, time for you all to be off,' came Madam Pomfrey's voice, lowered so that she wouldn't wake the purple gurgling girl. Harry made to get up and go with the other three, but she stopped him. 'Not you, Mr Potter. I'll want you to stay here to make sure you don't suffer any ill effects.'

He had expected this, but still wasn't happy about it. 'Come on, Madam Promfrey,' he said, doing his best not to sound like he was whinging. 'A broken bone and some lost blood? You can take care of that in your sleep. I reckon I was perfectly fine thirty seconds after they brought me in here.'

'Flattery won't get you anywhere, young man,' she said sternly. 'You also suffered a blow to the head; I need to be absolutely certain there's nothing I missed before you wander out of here. I'll be checking you over again in the morning and in all likelihood you'll be able to join your friends for breakfast. But not before. Am I understood?'

'Yes, ma'am,' he said rather dejectedly. Even were he back in his adult body, the school matron always had an uncanny ability to make him feel like a child.

As she stepped around him to shoo the others out, he quickly caught Ginny's eye and jerked his eyes downward, to where he had surreptitiously pushed his invisibility cloak over so it was dangling off the side of his bed, just poking out from under the sheets. She gave a tiny nod, and once Ron and Hermione had said their goodbyes and turned to leave, she quickly snatched it and hurried to catch up with them.

Madam Pomfrey now waved her wand over his head, gave a satisfied nod, then made him drink another full glass of water before telling him to get some sleep and she would check on him again in the morning.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Harry awoke to the sound of movement. He had wondered whether or not Dobby would show up, so was not particularly surprised to see the elf refilling his water glass for him.

'Hello, Dobby,' he said calmly. The little elf jumped, but recovered quickly and offered one of his standard deep bows.

'Harry Potter, sir!' Dobby squeaked. 'Dobby is hoping you is all right!'

'I'm fine, Dobby,' Harry assured him.

'Oh, sir, Dobby is wishing you listened to his warning about not returning to school this year!'

'I know, Dobby,' said Harry. 'And I know it was you who blocked the entrance to the train platform, and who's been harassing Snape all week, hoping he'll expel me. You need to stop before someone gets...well, more hurt than this.' He waved his left arm around to indicate what he meant.

Dobby's eyes grew wide in surprise at Harry calling him out so casually, but he rallied quickly.

'Dobby is sorry, sir. Dobby never meant for you to get hurt, sir. But better a small injury now than what could come if you stay here, sir!'

'I really don't want to argue about it right now, Dobby,' said Harry, forcing himself not to be annoyed. 'And you'd better go; I hear someone coming.' Dobby's head whipped around to the entrance of the hospital wing, and an instant later he was gone. The small pop reverberated around the large chamber for several seconds before silence was restored. At least that poor girl had stopped gurgling.

'You've got good ears,' a familiar voice whispered from his bedside shortly thereafter. 'I thought I was being exceptionally quiet.' Ginny removed his invisibility cloak to reveal herself, and grinned. Harry grinned back.

'You were,' he said, delighted to see her. 'I didn't actually hear anything; I was just trying to get him to leave.'

'You sneaky tosser,' she teased. 'So then, I assume since you had me take this cloak that you're still planning on doing it tonight?'

'We have to,' Harry said. 'If we wait any longer, who knows what he'll try next. This is a little later than we'd intended, sure, but it may work out better that way. Much less chance we'll be spotted, anyway.'

'But much more explaining to do if we are,' she said. 'You're sure Pomfrey won't be coming in to check on you in the middle of the night?'

'She said morning,' Harry said. 'Even she has to sleep sometimes, right? She didn't seem overly concerned about me or whatever's wrong with that girl over there, so I doubt she'll be doing any unnecessary fussing. And Dobby's the only other one we would have had to worry about, and he's already come and gone.'

'Point taken,' she said. 'Drink that water before we leave, though. I don't want you getting lightheaded or something from dehydration while we're down there.'

'Yes, miss,' Harry said, but drank it dutifully. She did make a good point.

They got under the invisibility cloak together and slipped silently out of the hospital wing.

'Where did you put them?' he asked as she began leading him toward the great marble staircase.

'In a broom cupboard just off the entrance hall,' she said. 'I didn't think it would be a good idea trying to sneak back out for them.'

'What if Filch came upon them?'

'They're sealed in a crate that's charmed to look like part of the wall and hidden behind a bunch of clutter. I think they'll be safe from Filch for a few hours.'

Harry was impressed. 'Way to be thorough,' he said. She smiled. 'What did you do about Hagrid?'

'What we discussed. I transfigured a couple of rocks. They're out there now, likely sleeping I suppose. They won't stand up to intense scrutiny or anything, but Hagrid's not likely to notice the difference for the short time we'll need them.'

'Excellent,' said Harry. Ginny had always been better at transfiguration than him, and he'd been nervous about this part of the plan despite her assurances that she could do it no problem. Hearing it had gone off without a hitch reduced his anxiety over the plan significantly.

They arrived at the broom cupboard on the ground floor, and Ginny showed him where she'd disguised the crate containing their secret weapons. If she hadn't pointed it out to him, he never would have noticed.

'See?' she said. 'You worried for nothing.'

'I never said I didn't think you could do it,' he said defensively. 'When have you ever known me not to worry about anything?'

'That's fair,' she said. 'Let's just grab the poor things and get out of here. It's already starting to smell. Don't worry; they're already silenced.'

Harry reached into the crate and pulled out one of the two roosters Ginny had "borrowed" from Hagrid over the weekend. She took the other and vanished the crate, and the two of them made sure the invisibility cloak was secure and left the broom closet.

'That's it for the easy part,' said Harry, who could already feel his heart rate quickening. Nothing they had attempted thus far had been anywhere near this dangerous. Even dealing with the troll had been but a trivial matter, and his encounter with Quirrell and Voldemort had happened so suddenly that he hadn't had much time to think about it beforehand. Besides, Dumbledore and the rest of the staff had been there; there hadn't really been any serious danger of something going horribly wrong (that he'd known of in advance, of course).

This time, however, they were facing a danger that trained specialists always brought backup to deal with – something he had legitimately survived only through luck the first time and that his adult experience did not prepare him any better to deal with – and they were doing it entirely alone. No one would even know where they had gone or why if anything went wrong. He squeezed Ginny's free hand with his as they walked. She squeezed back and he knew she was having the same thoughts as him. There would be no turning back now, though. Not unless they wanted to rethink their entire grand plan and let someone else like Dumbledore in on their secret. They had discussed it at length and still felt that this way was for the best.

'This is it,' Harry said when they arrived at Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. 'No turning back now. Do your thing.'

'I feel so bad,' Ginny whispered. 'I mean, I know we have to, but it feels wrong bullying her, even if it's pretend. She won't know that.'

'I know, love,' said Harry, squeezing her hand again. 'I don't like it either. But it's the only way to make sure she's not in there.'

Ginny took a deep breath and nodded. Then she pushed open the door a crack and spoke loudly, in an affected voice nothing like her own.

'Oh, don't go in there!' she whinged in obnoxious, nasal tones, with something of a Welsh lilt. 'Myrtle's in there! She's so disgusting, and she never shuts up! Let's go somewhere else; I don't want to have to look at her!'

They heard a great bellowing cry from inside the bathroom, followed by a loud splash. Seconds later, a wave of water washed over the floor, through the door and out into the corridor.

'I feel like a bitch,' said Ginny morosely.

'We'll make it up to her somehow,' Harry said. 'I'm not sure how, but we'll think of something. Let's hurry.'

'We don't have to worry,' said Ginny. 'She'll be down there for hours.'

'Yes, but if Filch or someone else is roaming the corridors nearby, they'll have heard your performance too.'

'Good point,' said Ginny. 'Let's go.'

They slipped into the bathroom and quietly shut the door behind them. They didn't hear the telltale sound of the caretaker's footsteps, but that didn't mean he hadn't heard them, or that Mrs. Norris hadn't run off to get him.

'What I wouldn't give to have that bloody map,' muttered Harry as they crept toward the sink that concealed the secret entrance to Salazar Slytherin's hidden chamber.

'We'll get it next year,' said Ginny. 'Hopefully. Though there won't be much we'll need it for by then, I expect.'

'We can only hope. Here it is.' He'd found the right tap. The little carving of the snake was there, just as he remembered it. His heart pounding and his skin covered in gooseflesh, he visualized it moving and spoke the word for "open" in parseltongue. He could sense Ginny shiver next to him even as the sink began to open up.

'I don't think I've ever heard you speak it before,' she said. 'It's unsettling.'

'Sorry,' he said lamely. 'Are you ready for this?'

'No,' she said bluntly. 'But it needs to be done and I'm not letting you go down there by yourself, so let's just get it over with.' She reached into her pocket and pulled out two long narrow strips of cloth. She handed him one and proceeded to tie the other one around her eyes.

Harry took his blindfold, and first made sure to stash his invisibility cloak back in his robes before tying it over his own eyes.

'This is mad,' he said. 'This is one of the maddest things I've ever done.'

'You've already done it,' Ginny reminded him. 'And with a lot less preparation than we're going in with now.'

'I know,' he said. 'That I'm willingly doing it again is what's mad.' He took out his wand, cast a supersensory charm on himself, waited to be sure Ginny did the same, and then stepped forward into the abyss.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

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How's everybody doing? Great to hear. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It feels a bit hodge-podgey, but it's necessary to get us where we're going. I had originally intended to have it continue all the way through the upcoming part, but felt like that last bit there was just too perfect a place to end on and I couldn't not do it.

Reviews are welcome and encouraged. See y'all next time!