Chapter 5 - Year 1, part 3

"It's MAD! Why on earth does Hagrid think he needs a bloody DRAGON?" Harry whispered furiously as the foursome made their way back to the castle. They would soon be going home for the summer and wanted to spend the night with him drinking tea and eating his inedible rock-cakes. What they hadn't expected to find was Hagrid hatching a dragon egg in the fire of his wooden hut.

"That man has something with large and dangerous animals… I wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly had thestrals in his backyard." Daniel snorted, and the others shared their agreement.

"But why aren't we telling Dumbledore about it? Or McGonagall? It's a DRAGON! In the SCHOOL!" He exclaimed with his arms waving out frantically.

Hermione and Daniel eyed each other, before Hermione sighed; "But it's Hagrid… couldn't we find some way to help-." She stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes going as wide as saucers, pupils blown wide. She quickly turned around and ran back to Hagrid's hut, banging on his front door.

"What in the - Hermione? What's going on?" He frowned deeply as he took in the flustered girl in front of him, and the three boys followed up quickly, looking just as confused as him.

"How did you get a Dragon, Hagrid? The one thing you've always wanted - you just told us - and then suddenly you get one handed over, out of nowhere?" She looked at him, agitated and anxious. She had a feeling that she really wouldn't like where this was going, but she had to know.

"That's none of your business - go back up to the castle, it's almost curfew." He said, and meant to close the door but was stopped by a chorus of children; "We know about the stone!"

"You what?" He asked, looking at them.

"We know about the stone." Hermione repeated, not backing down. "And the three-headed dog."

"You know about Fluffy?" He asked, his eyebrows shooting almost into his hairline as he quickly looked outside the hut, checking to see if anyone was close before he quickly scurried the children inside. Once all of them were inside, he quickly shut the door and turned around, giving them a hard stare that made Hermione shift on her feet. HE then turned around and picked up the kettle which held the remainder of the tea they had been drinking earlier. He continued to pour into their mugs which he hadn't come around to remove from the table.

"I don't know how you know, and I don't want to know. But you need to let it go. Now. It's too dangerous for kids." He said, eyeing each of them.

"But someone's going to steal it!" Hermione said, agitated. "And it's not hidden very well if a bunch of children can find the entrance by just going where someone tells them not to go." She said, crossing her arms in annoyance, almost wanting him to second guess her so that she could prove him wrong.

"No one's getting past fluffy." He said, quickly, looking intently on Hermione.

She lifted her chin in defiance thinking about how she hadn't actually tried to get past the damn dog yet. "How did you get that egg?" Hermione tried again.

"If you really want to know; I won it." Hagrid said with a voice of finality as he turned around to look in the oversized pot where the dragon was apparently softly sleeping. They really had to find a way to get rid of it.

Hadn't Ron bragged continuously about some brother working with dragons? She'd have to ask Harry…

"From whom?" Harry interjected, having caught on to her train of thought.

"Well, I don't know, actually. Had his hood up the entire time. But I knew he was a good one when he bought me a pint of mead." Harry was looking out through the window, probably talking more to himself than to them. "Good fellow that one! And he had a knack for creators too - said he was raising snakes but was having trouble calming them when it was storming, poor fellow. I told him all he has to do is to play them some music - brings them right to sleep every time." He quickly turned around covering his mouth as the room was filled with gasps. "I shouldn't have told you that!"

Hermione's head was pulling her in a hundred different directions as she was thinking of what to do. "We have to find Dumbledore." She then stated, looking at Harry, her fingers at both sides of her head as she was pulling lightly at the hair, there.

"It doesn't matter, the stone's safe." Hagrid added beside them, "You four need to go back up, and don't think anymore about that stone. No one's getting it." He said, opening the door for them, signaling their leave.

Once again, they walked out of the wooden hut, leaving the dragon and the gamekeeper behind. "We have to talk to Dumbledore." Harry said once they had moved far enough away from the hut. The others were quick to agree, and soon they found themselves running as fast as their legs could carry them. They ran past countless armors standing down the hallways, paintings hissing at them to be quiet until finally they rounded the very last corner -

"What on earth are you doing in the hallway at this time?" Professor McGonagall asked disapprovingly, her voice clipped.

"We have to talk to Professor Dumbledore!" Harry said frantically, trying to look around his professor to maybe see their headmaster coming down the hall after her. "It's important!" He tried again.

"What could possibly be so important that it can't wait till morning?" She countered, not looking like someone they could just persuade to move over so that they could pass. In fact, she looked very much like someone set in stone. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow when he didn't immediately answer her inquiry.

He looked to each of the others, looking like he was hoping someone would bud in. "It's about the sorcerer's stone!"

Their professor looked at Hermione, clearly in shock, before schooling her features a bit more - quickly looking up and down the corridor around them. "I don't know what you think you know," she started as she looked at them with narrowed eyes and a dangerously lowered voice; "but this is absolutely none of your concern. The stone is perfectly safe, and you four better get back to your beds before I start deducting points."

"But, Dumbledore -" Harry objected but was cut short by McGonagall whose eyes had managed to narrow even further.

"- has been called to a meeting and is therefore not present at the moment. You may speak to him in the morning once he returns." She crossed her arms and regarded them as they had yet to move. "Beds. Now." She seethed. "Or you will be losing fifty house points."

"Fi-fifty?" Neville stammered behind them. She could almost hear his teeth clattering.

"Each." She confirmed.

"Co-come on guys. We'll talk to him tomorrow…" Neville reasoned and pulled at Harry and Daniel's robes, trying to drag them along in the opposite direction. Feeling a mixture of anxiousness and defeat, Hermione turned around and gave each of them a small push to the shoulders, also trying to guide them back to the direction that they had just arrived.

"Come on, we'll think of something…" She whispered as low as possible, praying and hoping that their professor didn't bring her heightened hearing along once she left her cat body.

No more words were said after that, as the friends made their way to the common room. They whispered the password to the Fat Lady who only just let them in, not being entirely thrilled with the hour that they were returning.

The portrait had barely shut behind them, when Hermione turned around to face the boys; "We need to get to the stone, now. Harry, I need you to go get your dad's cloak - we're going to need it." She said with a steady voice that she hoped would show more confidence than she felt. Harry rushed past her, but made a strange gurgling sound as his throat was caught in his robe, Neville having a hold of the other end.

"Don't do it Harry, we'll be in so much trouble!" Neville said, showing the courage that their schoolmates kept saying that he didn't have. If only they could see him now.

"Let go, Neville, we're doing this." Harry said and tore his robes out of Neville's hold. "This is Voldemort we're talking about - and he won't stop when he gets the stone."

"But McGonagall said that they have it under control! He can't get to it!" He reasoned, looking to Daniel who until this point had stood in the distance pretending to be the wallpaper.

Daniel looked uneasily on his friends, before he stepped forward. "I'm going, too." He said, seemingly standing taller and looking so much like his father with his long black curls falling just past his shoulders.

"You're not serious!" Neville exclaimed, taking a large step backwards away from the group. He grabbed his wand with an unsteady grip, before he turned it on each of them in turn, not really knowing who he should keep his focus on. "I won't let you do this! I won't let you lose any more points!"

"Neville, please forgive me." Hermione said, steadily lifting her wand towards his chest before quickly muttering; "Petrificus Totalus!"

In front of them, Neville's body went completely rigid; his arms snapped to his side, his legs locked together at the knees and he fell backwards - Daniel just barely catching his friend before he would have hit the floor.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" Harry cried as he rushed to Neville's side, watching his blank, white face while his eyes looked at them in horror.

"It's the full body bind." Hermione started, sinking to her knees by his side. "Oh Neville, I'm so sorry. I hope you'll forgive me someday…" She quickly removed a single tear while she turned to Harry. "Go!"

No sooner had he ran up the stairs to get his cloak before he was back again, and she, Harry and Daniel quickly hid under it before making their way out of the portrait. As they quickly made their way down the corridor, they could hear the Fat Lady's confused exclamations of the portrait opening without anyone exiting. Quickly they made their way to the door concealing the giant dog, having sneaked around both Snape and Filch on their way.

"Ready?" Harry asked with his eyes glued to the lock, his wand pointing at it. Daniel and Hermione quickly acknowledged, and Harry opened the lock - the door slowly swinging open in front of them.

They hadn't talked about what they expected to find inside the room, all of them knowing that it would be the three-headed dog - but not how to handle it and get past it. But in front of them, laid a sleeping dog. They slowly walked inside, quietly shutting the door behind them and Harry removed the cloak from the trio.

"It's asleep…" He commented with a frown, and looked to the side where a harp was playing. "At least now we know how to get a dog to fall asleep if Sirius is having trouble."

They made their way to the trapdoor in front of the dog, seeing nothing but darkness underneath them. "I would be polite and chivalrous," He eyed Hermione next to him, "but there's no way I'll be suggesting 'ladies first' right now." and then he jumped into the hole - Hermione and Harry followed him quickly.

All at the same time, it felt like they were falling for forever - but it somehow still felt like she landed on something soft the instant her feet had left the security of steadfast ground under her feet.

"What in the world?" She asked in horror and wonder - all at the same time - as she felt the soft ground underneath her start to move and wrap around her.

"What is this?!" Harry exclaimed beside her. "Why isn't Neville here when we really need him?" She could hear the panic in Harry's voice and hear him wrestling against the plant.

"Because I PETRIFIED him!" She called back in agitation and I-know-I-fucked-up- tone of voice, "So you'll have to settle for me." she said, as she slowly sank through the plant, falling onto ground that unfortunately wasn't nearly as soft at the plant. "It's a Devil's snare!" She called up to the two struggling boys, "Stop fighting it or it'll kill you quicker!"

"QUICKER?!" Daniel yelled from above and she heard him struggling even further as Harry was dumped down - obviously having listened to her words.

"Ugh, he's supposed to be a good listener…" She sighed before turning her wand upwards, spurting blue flames from the tip of her wand - Daniel quickly dumping to the ground to her other side. "You're supposed to be the knight in shining armor, Daniel - not the other way around." She deadpanned, and she heard him snorting in response followed by a muttering of something with 'lucky'. Though she didn't hear the entire sentence, she had a clear idea of what he was muttering, so chose to leave him be.

"Come on," Harry said quietly beside them, "I'm guessing we're supposed to follow the light…" He said, and his echoing footsteps led them towards a dimmed light to their left.

"Usually that's a pretty bad idea…" She muttered, and followed along with Daniel.

After walking for a short time, they arrived in a grand room with a high ceiling, and a wooden door on the other side. In the middle of the room, laid a broom. As one, all of them looked up and saw small things with wings fluttering around, their wings reflecting the light on the walls and floor.

It was really quite beautiful.

"It would be too easy…" She started, "But let's see if the door will budge." She slowly took the lead for the door, which she tried both pulling and pushing. But it didn't move.

"Try Alohomora." Harry suggested, and she quickly did. But it still didn't move.

"I have a feeling there's only one thing we can do to get out." Daniel said, and when she turned around, she found him looking up at the flying things. Looking closer, she could now see that they kind of resembled the shapes of-

"Keys." Harry gasped beside her, "It's flying keys. And we'll have to catch the right one." Each of them was now looking up, trying to figure out which one was the right one, yet none of them was having any luck.

In an attempt to relax her neck from looking upwards for too long, her eyes went to the door. "It's old… and silver…" She thought out loud.

"Well, there's one right there." Daniel said, pointing up to their right, his finger following it as it moved.

"Who flies?" Harry asked beside them, knowing that all three of them were pretty good fliers.

"You." Both Hermione and Daniel answered in unison. "You're the seeker after all. We'll be ready at the door." She said, then looked at the broom apprehensively as Harry neared it, "But be careful. I doubt this will be easy."

And it hadn't been. The moment Harry touched the broom, all the keys seemed to scatter and fly haphazardly in this way and that - there was no obvious pattern. Harry quickly went flying while Daniel and Hermione ran for the door, keeping ready for when he would hopefully be catching the key.

It didn't take him very long, but once again, when he caught the key, the other key's patterns changed once again. When they had previously been trying to get away from him, they were now attacking in full force. They could see Harry waving his arms frantically around, trying to get them away from his face. He would have been close to falling more than once, had he not had a proper hold of the broom with his thighs.

Daniel and Hermione quickly prepared themselves by the door as Harry all of a sudden surged for them - keys in all their different shapes and sizes right at the tail of his broom. Hermione was standing ready to catch the key that Harry threw at her while Daniel was ready to pull the door open and push it back closed afterwards.

She almost dropped the key when he flung it at her.

While she fumbled with the rusty key, the other keys directed their attacks to the new holder. She had of course seen this coming, but it didn't make it more comfortable. She could already feel the sting from where their wings left cuts on every piece of exposed skin.

As the key smoothly glided into its proper position, she felt the wind sweeping around her as Harry used the broom to hit the keys away like they were mosquitos on a hot summer day by the local lake.

No sooner than the key had slid in, were they standing on the other side with their backs against the door - all of them heaving for breaths and with hearts hammering away in their chests.

"Let's move on…" Harry said, his voice sounded surprisingly muted considering that they were yet again in a hallway leading them towards the not-so-great-unknown. She loved adventures, but this was one she could have been without. All the same, her feet dragged her forward as the other two started trudging on.

She suddenly noticed the ground changing underneath their feet.

"Guys…" She called out loud, as she crouched down to the ground and moved her fingers over the floor while she squinted her eyes, trying to see a difference in the pitch-black room. She noticed a slight difference in what looked like black and white patterns.

"Yeah?" Harry called back and she heard the slight hesitation in his footsteps, which then suddenly stopped simultaneously with a loud metallic 'CLANK!', only to be followed by the sound of metal against metal.

Nothing happened for a short while. Hermione stood and looked around at what she obviously couldn't see because of the darkness of the room.

There were no sounds.

No shuffling feet of her friends…

As if out of thin air, the room was suddenly lit up by a bright light coming from above them. Hermione covered her eyes and turned away from the light, her eyes hurting and stinging at the sudden shift from dark to light. Somewhere close, Harry and Daniel were groaning loudly as they had probably also been blinded by the light.

"I'm seeing stars…" Daniel complained loudly. Hermione cautioned a look in their direction, and after a short amount of time, she was able to see the boys, both of them bent over and covering their eyes completely.

She was still seeing the same star as the others, when her eyes focused on their now visible surroundings. "What in Merlin's name…" She gasped, as she straightened up and looked closer. Harry and Daniel slowly did the same, though they looked to be squinting too much to be able to see much of anything.

"Is this-" She asked, more to herself than the boys.

"Chess." Daniel acknowledged. "It's a chessboard." He slowly walked backwards, ultimately positioning himself in the middle of the board. He turned around his own axis, eyeing each of the 32 chess pieces. Ultimately, his glance focused on the white queen in front of them - the bottom of her staff, slowly moving back to its position in front of her, from where it had just blocked their way across the board.

The game is alive!

"Do we…." She trailed off, not wanting to voice her fears of going against a queen twice her size with a sword longer than she was tall.

"We play - and we win." Harry said, his voice leaving no doubts of what they had to do to move forward. He walked to stand beside Daniel where they shared a look.

"Harry; you'll be the bishop, Hermione; you'll take the place of the castle. I'll be the knight in shining armor." He finished, winking at Hermione as he said it, though she could see his hands trembling slightly.

She chose to ignore his comment, as they each took their places. She knew him well enough by now, to know that he would always be the first to throw a joke into the open in times of need and anxiety.

Before long, white started the game by moving a pond two squared forward. The game had started.

Daniel and Harry had proved to be better chess-players than she had previously known. They didn't need to voice their thoughts, but only shared looks and nods. It felt like the game had only just started, when it ended.

"This is it." Daniel sighed, tension obvious in his face and shoulders as he sat majestically on the back of the black horse. "Hermione; attack the queen, and then Harry will be free to checkmate the king in the next round."

Across the checkered board, Harry had his eyes fixed on her with his brows furrowed in concentration. With a curt nod from him, she moved forward - shoving the queen of the board where it then smashed to pieces.

All eyes were on the white side as they waited for them to take their turn. They just hadn't expected to white king to let go of his sword, the metal vibrating so violently when it hit the ground that it echoed around the room.

The king had given up, knowing that it could no longer win.

At the yield of their king, the remaining white chessmen parted and bowed, giving the three of them easy passage across the board. Harry, Hermione and Daniel made eye contact with one another before they slowly and silently made their way through their opponents. Hermione carefully sized the king up, before quickly sidestepping him.

As they slowly walked on through the passage until yet another door appeared in front of them.

"So, what's next?" Harry asked, staring the door down like it would give them the answer.

"Devil's Snare, flying keys and an enchanted game of chess… I'd say we have probably passed Professors Sprout, Flitwick and McGonagall. Though, I wonder if Madam Hooch was in on the flying keys…" She wondered out loud as she slowly opened the door and started walking.

"Snape and Quirrell - and Dumbledore if he has joined in as well." Daniel answered to her left, not even a hand-length away from her. She could hear the determination tinted with nervousness in his voice, as thick as the layer of dust that whirled to the side each time they took a step forward.

"Which he probably has." Harry interjected, and Daniel nodded in agreement.

They hadn't walked for long when the passage opened up to a cave-like room, properly lit for once. Harry walked in first, followed by her and then Daniel taking up the rear of the group. Harry had barely taken one full step into the vast room when she got a full look of a large lump of meat laying in the middle of the room - glassy eyes staring their way without seeing anything.

A TROLL!

Without realizing it; she screamed. She screamed and stepped backwards in retreat, whirling around to get out of the room, when instead she ran straight into another body, whose arms locked around her shoulders and held her into place.

The world was spinning yet standing still.

Brightly lit, yet tunnel vision was creeping up on her.

Everything was too loud and too much, yet no one said a thing.

Everything was silent, but for the vague sound of the rapidly beating heart beneath her fist.

Her hands were clutching Daniel's front robes hard as she struggled to get her breathing under control. She felt another hand grabbing a hold of what little bit of shoulder could be reached beyond Daniel's arms.

"It's not moving Hermione. I-I think it's…" Harry trailed off, and because of her own blood rushing in her ears she couldn't hear the tremble in his voice. She turned her head which now rested against a shoulder, and looked at one of her best and oldest friends who looked visibly distressed.

His face was turning towards the troll that he was luckily for her, standing in front of which meant that she couldn't see it. But what she could see was that his neck and side of face was white as a sheet. She thought she saw a light sheen of sweat on his neck, but that might as well have been from their previous trials.

As suddenly as he had turned towards the troll, he turned away from it again. But instead of looking at them, he looked to the ground, took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose and the spot between his eyes. His eyes were shut so hard he was probably seeing stars and fireworks behind his eyelids. "I think it's… dead." He whispered, his low voice breaking the silence of the room.

Hermione slowly extracted herself from Daniel's arms and regarded Harry, not really knowing what to say. On one side she was so very happy that she didn't have to go up against yet another troll, but on the other side she felt sorry for the creacher that had had to die to protect a bloody stone. Even if that one stone could make anyone immortal.

"I just…" Harry began again but stopped himself, visibly taking a couple of large breaths before he continued; "If he can kill a mountain-troll larger than the one that was led into the school at Halloween… What are we doing here? We can't handle something like that. We're KIDS for Merlin's sake!" His voice was rising higher and higher, his voice pitching and his hands clutching at his hair in distress - his glass dangling helplessly between two fingers and his scalp.

She took a couple of careful steps to his side where she picked the glasses from his hand, and put them back on the bridge of his nose - finishing off with a quick spell to clean them completely. "Who are you?" She asked him.

He opened his green eyes and regarded her like she had grown an extra head. "What?"

"Who are you?" She asked again, not losing eye contact for even a second.

"I… I'm… Harry." He answered, but was still looking at her like she needed to stay permanently in a mental asylum.

"Exactly. You are Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. The Boy Who Could Not Be Killed." She looked at him, trying to make sure that he was getting just a bit of her point, before she continued. "We knew that it would be dangerous when we left the common room - but we've gotten so far. No one believed us that someone was out for the stone, yet Dobby and this… troll… proves that someone had already been here. That someone might still be down here. They didn't believe us - so now it's up to us." Slowly she could see the conviction and the color of his skin returning, he squared his shoulders and grabbed a hold of her hand, before looking at Daniel.

"Let's do this." He said bravely before leading the group past the troll and towards the door behind it.

Beyond the door, they walk directly into a room identical to the one they had just left - only in this one stood a table with 7 differently shaped vials and bottles.

"Snape." Harry said with conviction as they walked closer.

They barely made it within a couple of meters into the room, when a fire sprung up blocking the entranceway of which they had just arrived. On the other side of the table, a silver shimmer was now in front of the door that they should be exiting through.

"Definitely Snape." Hermione agreed, muttering, as she noted that the fire lacked the heat that would normally be emitting from it - also, it was purple which was obviously out of the ordinary as well.

Daniel carefully walked to the table while Harry and Hermione observed the magical flames.

"There's a note!" He called back which had them scrambling to look over each of his shoulders to read the parchment. They each read silently before Hermione summed it up. "So let me get this straight… one will let us move forward, one lets us go back, two are wine and three will kill?" She scrunched up her nose at yet another aspect of dying. Beside her Harry and Daniel nodded in agreement. "Hand it over, please." She said while reaching out for the parchment.

"But how do we know which are which? I'm not really in the mood for dying." Daniel said with his hands raised in surrender.

"Just a second…" She said and started muttering the clues out loud. "...Wine's left side…different are those at each end…neither is your friend…neither dwarf nor giant…second left and second on the right… different at first sight." She walked slowly back and forth as she read it over and over again. "This isn't magic, it's basic logic." She finished and walked past the boys and to the table where she eyed all of the potions with deep concentration.

"The smallest bottle will let us through the shimmer, the round one will let us go back." She pointed to each of them.

"You sure?"

"Aren't I always?" She said as she looked over her shoulder at the boys and smiled in a way that would typically make them roll their eyes at her always being right.

"Right - but the bottle is tiny, there's only going to be enough for one person there." Harry said slowly, like he was trying to answer a question in class where he wasn't absolutely sure of the answer.

Tension was suddenly rising all around them. They wouldn't be able to move forward together - only one of them could. And that person would be facing Voldemort. Alone.

"I'll do it." He said, his sole focus on Hermione. "You said it yourself. I'm The Boy Who Lived. It could only ever be me." He shrugged and turned around to stare at the small bottle.

Hermione stood frozen and stared at the back of his head, as Daniel went to his side and put a hand on his shoulder - not saying a word. Emotions flared so suddenly that she barely noticed her eyes burning before tears were falling down her cheeks.

"Oh, Harry." She sniffed and flung herself at him. He barely just caught her, but she didn't care. She felt another pair of arms enclose the two of them as they stood in silence enjoying what could possibly be the last time together. "Promise me you'll come back. Promise me you'll get a star on your buttcheek or whatever, but come back to us. Come back to me." she sniffed into his neck.

"Take the potion, and go back. Grab the broom and fly as fast as you can. I don't know how long I can hold him, but I… just… hurry." He said, his voice breaking.

Without warning, he let go of them. On his way to the door, he grabbed the smallest bottle and moved to stand in front of the shimmer. "I'm Harry Potter." He said, his voice strong with conviction, bravery and something akin to stupid luck. He then continued to uncork the bottle, downed it and walked through - never once looking back at them.

"Right. Let's go, princess." Daniel said way too cheerfully, grabbing her hand and the round bottle all in one fluid motion. She all but ran with her arm outstretched, trying to keep up with him even though he wasn't that much bigger than her.

They made quick work of taking the flask and each gulping down their part, before stepping through the fire. Once again, she wondered about the fact that it wasn't very hot - merely a pleasant tingle of warmth against her skin.

The moment they stepped over the burning ground, they began running. Gasping plans were made as they first made their way past the dead troll, and then through the room with the magical chessboard that had somehow been put up once again, to be ready for its next game.

The heads of the white queen and king followed them all the way, as they made their way around the board.

Making their way through the dark passage from earlier that night was somehow easier than going the other way. Maybe because they already knew what would happen at the end?

Until this point, Hermione had used their running as a way of removing herself from the situation. But as they neared the door that would lead them to the room of the keys, a sudden thought struck her, making her stop so suddenly that Daniel didn't immediately realize she hadn't followed.

"What if we can't get through the door?" She asked, her voice shaking with tension of yet another unknown.

"What?" Daniel stopped dead in his tracks and squinted at her in the darkness - walking slowly closer until she could see his eyes more clearly.

"I said; what if we can't get through the door?"

"Why shouldn't we be able to go through the door? We already walked through it tonight." He said, his head nodding to the side in question as he looked at her.

"Because, when we arrived, Harry had to get the key. Which meant that it had locked and dislodged itself from the keyhole after whoever used it before us. Which means that it will do the same to us. Locking us inside."

"We are locked inside. But only because I locked the door." He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"What? Why would you…" She couldn't find any sense in what he was saying.

"I didn't want to risk anyone following us down… But I figured that if someone were to do that, it would most likely be McGonagall or Dumbledore, and I thought that… That they would be powerful enough to get through the door without the key. They did set up this puzzle-maze after all."

"You - you -..." She was completely lost for words. "You locked us in, to make sure no one else could get to the stone?"

"Well… yeah." He said and though she couldn't see clearly what he was doing, she heard the sound of clothing being ruffled around and then the unmistakable sound of keys flapping slowly. "I also thought that, if we had the key, then Voldemort would probably have some issues getting out again."

"You're absolutely brilliant." She gasped dumbstruck, before coming a bit more to her senses. "Though I do think that someone as powerful as Voldemort used to be, would probably find a way through a stupid old door."

Daniel chuckled slowly in front of her. "Probably - Are you done questioning my brilliance or should we move on?" He moved a bit to the side, opening up the passage for her to go to the door.

"After you, Black." She said, and followed behind him as he walked to the door, put the key in the lock, turned it, and pulled the door open after he slowly counted, "1… 2… 3."

He flung the door open and quickly threw the key up into the air, before running as fast as he could behind her as she had grabbed the broom and had made her way towards the Devil's snare. She happily became aware of the fact that the keys were happily buzzing in the air and not attacking them.

"I'll fly, you spell." He said as he stepped onto the broom, scooting forward to make room for her behind him.

Cold, hard dread filled her instantly. Flying. She would be flying. She had known that they would be flying out of there, but it didn't really hit her properly until she was standing right in front of it. She felt her hands shaking. Her breath was coming in harsh gasps, farther and farther between each of them.

"Get on!" Her inner tumult and fright of what she deep down knew would never happen while flying with Daniel, was ripping her apart as she positioned herself on the broom. She just got on, conjured the flying blue flames from earlier, leaned into Daniels back, and closed her eyes as the world whirled past her for a couple of seconds.

She knew the plan. She knew they would be meeting an angry dog once they arrived through the trapdoor.

But they didn't.

Not really.

The dog was asleep, all by itself, with no music playing.

two of the heads were resting on top of the front paws, while the middle one was leaning heavily on the one to their left. Light snoring was heard, but apart from that there were no other sounds in the room.

Daniel landed them as close to the door as possible, and while eyeing the sleeping beast, they carefully slipped off the broom. They backed closer to the door and Hermione fumbled her hands around her back for the handle, which she thankfully found quickly.

Anxiously, slowly and with very shaky hands, she pulled down the handle of the door. A single drop of sweat made its way from her hairline, down her chin and then further down her neck until it soaked into the collar of her robes.

She slowly pulled the door open, holding back every once in a while, when she felt any sort of resistance.

Don't squeak. Don't squeak. Don't squeak.

Finally, the door was far enough open for the two of them to pass through. She carefully tip-toed through the small opening, first closely followed by Daniel. The second he was out she slammed the door shut - not bothering in any way to stay silent now that they were out of reach of the three headed dog. On the other side of the door, they heard the dog coming back from its slumber, barking violently and aggressively while it was probably trying to figure out why it had been woken up.

They didn't stay to find out how long it would take it to calm down. Instead, they ran.

They ran down the hall of the third floor, taking the stairs in two or even threes at a time - luckily the stairs were on their side this time - before sprinting down the halls once again. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw the shadow of Madam Norris, but didn't bother to look closer or any signs of the caretaker - anyone who knew the cat, also knew that its master was never far behind.

They jumped down the next flight of stairs, took a dive around the corner and sprinted the last couple of meters towards their Head of house's private quarters.

Daniel rammed his hand against the door multiple times, while she leaned forward with her hands on her knees, trying desperately to get some air into her burning lungs.

"What is the meaning of -" Professor McGonagall tore the door open and came face to face with Daniel, him with his flushed and sweaty cheeks, gasping for air and leaning slightly with a hand on the wall on the wall - her in a nightgown that looked like it could have also easily been worn to a gala with the queen of England. "Mr. Black, Ms. Granger, what in Merlin's name are you doing out of bed at this hour?" She asked sternly, looking confused yet expectantly to both of them.

"It's - It's Harry. He's - he's -" she gasped between lungful's of air.

"He's - we went through the trapdoor, but someone had already been there. The dog was sleeping, the wings were crooked, the potion was drunk… Harry went to -" Daniel rushed through the explanation but was unable to finish it, stumbling at the prospect of saying a name that was utter taboo in the Wizarding World.

"Voldemort is there. There's no other explanation." Hermione looked at McGonagall with a hard look, outright ignoring the gasp the spluttering from their professor at the name.

"There's no way -" She whispered through her hand that was covering her mouth in blatant shock.

"With all due respect, Professor - we just went through all of the trials and tests. Someone had definitely come before us." Hermione said matter of factly, crossing her arms and looking at her professor so intently the older woman might have burst to flames if it had actually been possible.

"My apologies." She said, while turning slightly away. "Expecto Patronum!" She bellowed, and from her wand sprung three silvery cats. "I need you two to get Pamona and Severus," She directed to two of the cats that then left the room instantly, leaving the third cat behind which she then directed her next message to. "I have a message to Dumbledore; Return immediately, there's been an incident. It cannot wait." She nodded her head at the cat that then left just as the others.

She turned around momentarily, scribbling something quickly before returning to them with a small piece of parchment in hand. "I need you two to go to the Hospital wing. Give this to Madam Pomfrey, and show it to any teacher that might find you out of bed while on your way." Hermione opened her mouth to say something. She hadn't exactly figured out what, but it didn't matter as their professor stopped her with a steady hand on her shoulder. "I know you're concerned for Mr. Potter and I completely understand why. I will do what I can - meanwhile you will go to Madam Pomfrey." She looked at them promptly.

"Come on, Hermione." Daniel said while reaching out for her hand. She sent one last hopeful look to her professor, wanting for all of her thoughts to be transpired, before she took his hand and stepped away.

They didn't say much from then on and through the rest of the night. They silently made their way to the hospital wing - meeting both Professor Snape and Madam Hooch on their way. As promised, showing the parchment told the professor what they needed and they let the two children on their way - Snape with a sneer and Madam Hooch with a look of deep thought and a shake of her head.

Once they arrived and had handed over the parchment to Madam Pomfrey, they each had their cuts healed before they were given a Calming drought and a sleeping potion. She didn't remember anything more from that night, other than Daniel telling her that everything would be fine - Harry would be…

She woke up the next day to someone talking in hushed voices. She looked to the side and saw Daniel sitting upright in his bed, a plate of food in front of him on a tray and a steaming mug in his hand.

She shuffled a bit to get out of the covers which brought his attention to her instead of whatever else he had been focusing on. He silently put a finger to his mouth, then pointed a finger at her, to somewhere beside her, and then to his bed where he folded his legs to make room for her.

She looked to the side where he had pointed and noticed an identical tray with breakfast and a mug, still steaming. It must have either been fresh or under a stasis.

Quickly while making as little noise as possible, she tip-toed from her bed, picked up the tray and placed it on Daniels bed before lifting herself up to sit on it as well. They ate in silence for a while when suddenly the voices started picking up.

"He's only a boy!" Professor McGonagall shout-whispered. She had obviously tried very hard at not being too loud. Hermione wasn't sure if she would have been woken from it, had she actually been sleeping.

The older woman's outburst was followed by a low, deeper mumble of words that she couldn't make out.

With furrowed brows, she looked up into the eyes of Daniel to see him just as focused and confused as she felt herself. She lifted two intriguing eyebrows which he answered with a slight shake of his head.

So, he couldn't hear anything either.

"... will not have it. Enough is enough. This ends…" Minerva whispered low enough for Hermione to only hear some of it.

Merlin, she couldn't think of a time she had ever listened so intently to an adult that wasn't teaching her a subject.

"Minerva…" the broken voice of Albus Dumbledore whispered.

"No." McGonagall answered, her stern voice leaving no questions to be asked as her voice came out loud and clear, and with such urgency that it involuntarily made Hermione sit straighter. "You will not manipulate me into doing this. I am not your pupp-." She was interrupted by the sudden opening of a door and the clicking of heels.

"Albus, Minerva, you do realize that this is a hospital where sick people are resting, I'm sure?" Madam Pomfrey chastised. Hermione could almost see the crossed arms and raised eyebrows from the Hospital Matron.

"My apologies, Poppy. I'll be leaving you to it - please let me know once the children wake up." She finished, now talking much lower than previously.

"Oh, they've been awake for a while. Well, Mr. Potter's still asleep and will hopefully be for at least another six or seven hours, but Mr. Black and Ms. Granger are both awake."

The clicking of heels was once again heard as they moved ever closer to the area where Hermione and Daniel were seated on his bed. Their Head of House slowly came around the curtain that had sheltered them from the rest of the hospital wing. She was followed by Madam Pomfrey, while they heard steady footsteps moving in the other direction.

Perhaps their Headmaster didn't feel the need to check up on them with Professor McGonagall there as well.

"How's Harry?" Hermione asked before their professor managed so much as open her mouth. "What happened?"

McGonagall considered her and Daniel for a moment. She had the fleeting thought that maybe their teacher was thinking of whether or not they could handle the information coming their way, but she pushed it away quickly. Sure, they were children, but they were caught in the middle of everything going on, so why should she?

"Mr. Potter is still sleeping, and has not yet been awake since Professor Dumbledore and I found him." She must have seen the questions bursting to life in Hermione and Daniel, as she quickly lifted her hands so as to stop the flow before it started pouring out. "He is perfectly well - he is merely sleeping. Like you two, he had cuts and bruises that will heal with time. Right now, it is his mind and magic that is healing."

The older woman looked up and out of the large windows behind the two children.

"It has come to our attention that Professor Quirrell has been missing since last night." She looked uncomfortably to the side, carefully avoiding their eyes for a moment before she looked up again. She said Their Defends against the Dark Arts Professors name, like it was lathered with acid and razorblades. Like she couldn't find anything or anyone worse than her fellow Professor. "We found the reminder of his clothes in the room where we found Harry. The room where the Philosopher's Stone was hidden… what happened there, only Mr. Potter can tell us."

Daniel and Hermione carefully made eye contact as McGonagall backed up a bit and sat carefully down on the edge of the bed Hermione had previously slept in.

"But first, please tell me your sides of what happened tonight." She said quickly, "I don't want to make you relive it all once again - but considering what had happened, your statements are unfortunately much needed." She eyed them expectantly for a moment, before the two of them started telling their professor about the happenings of the night, with inquiries about how they had found out about the stone.

Throughout their retelling, their head of house remained completely still. Focusing on the person who was talking, but made no noises or movements other than the turning of her head.

But the moment they were done, she raised, walking quickly in between them and cupped each of their cheeks looking from one to the other with such motherly care that it made Hermione miss her mum. "I am so deeply sorry that you had to go through all of that. Those tests were made to slow down or stop the most powerful dark wizard the world had seen since Grindelwald; yet you pushed through. I am so incredibly proud of not only you two, but also Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter. You did so well." She gave each of them a single caress to the cheek before letting go and stepping out of their personal spaces. "What I am about to tell you, could be deeply upsetting and I am truly sorry that you are so involved in all of this, so much that you will have to know what we expect to be told by Mr. Potter."

Daniel and Hermione said nothing to this, but Hermione had the fleeting realization through her professor's words, that this wasn't something that had happened before.

"We believe that Professor Quirrell was possessed by You-Know-Who, which means that whatever happened down there, unfortunately took the life of your professor, and sent whatever remains of the Dark Lord, into the unknown once again." Hermione gasped and covered her mouth as the sound surprised her.

When they went down through the trap-door the night before, they had known that it was a matter of life and death and that Voldemort would be involved somehow… but they had never had the faintest idea that their DADA-professor would be in the middle of it.

"As I said earlier, we need Mr. Potter to confirm or deny our suspicions. But that is what we know at the moment. But also, what I can tell you. Apart from that, I have sent word to your parents. Sirius and Emmeline will be here tonight, bringing all three of you home."

"Three?" Hermione inquired in confusion, wondering if Neville would be leaving with Daniel and Harry.

"Three. Your parents have been in contact with the Blacks, and they agreed that it would be better for you to come home with them as well, seeing as the school year is all but over anyway. Of course, Mr. Longbottom will be brought home by his grandmother." She explained with a soft smile. "You will all have the opportunity to share in the end-of-year-feast tonight, before leaving, should you want to." And with that, the woman left them to their own devices.

Professor McGonagall had barely made it beyond the curtain, before Madam Pomfrey was back to check on them. Thankfully being quick about it, they were soon discharged.

"I think I'll go to the library…" She said slowly once they made it out of the double doors that lead into the Hospital Wing. "Want to come? We can see if they have any new Astrology books you can take home for the summer?"

"Naah, it's alright. I was thinking of flying a bit, actually. Getting the smell of damp basement out of my clothes."

"Can I come?" She asked, probably sounding very much like a… well she didn't exactly know what she would sound like, but she had the extinct feeling that she had pleaded like that to William before, when he was running off to play with his friends and his annoying little sister wanted to join.

"You… want to come… fly?" She could see the surprise and doubt all over his face, in case the tone of his voice wasn't enough.

"Yes. I mean no. I won't be flying, but I'll look on from the ground." She shrugged. When had it come to the point where she just didn't care about flying? She used to love it, and now she just... didn't. Her stomach rolled slightly at the deep sorrow.

"I'll just head to the library… See you later." She finished before stepping around him and quickly made her way to her sanctuary.

"Do you live in the library or something like that, Granger?" A voice drawled not far from where she was sitting with her nose deep in a book about alchemy.

It was then that she realized that the library was completely deserted, and through the window she could see the sun hurrying towards the horizon, though it would still be multiple hours away.

She looked up at Draco and a blond-haired girl with such boredom and indifference, that she saw the slightest twitch of his mouth as they moved past her. "Books can be quite entertaining - you would know if you tried picking one up."

Simultaneously, he started a coughing fit while his friend snorted before muttering; "Like you need any of the books here, considering your library at home." Right as they passed her - maybe he had timed his coughing perfectly? - a small note dropped to her desk, which she quickly snagged back and hid by the cover of her book as the blond girl softly clapped Draco on his back.

Hermione snorted, herself, in response. Because she had in fact seen the Malfoy library as a part of the full tour, she had been given the first time she visited the manor. She heard one set of footsteps stop momentarily shortly followed by another set.

"Let's just leave - she doesn't know any better." Draco answered low, though she heard him loud and clear, and she smiled to herself, hiding deep behind her book. Because she knew damn well, and he knew that too.

"Sirius! Em!" Hermione called as she rounded the corner and saw them standing by the doors leading to the great hall. They were talking with Daniel and William - and Harry, she quickly realized. "Harry!" She called as he turned around at her previous calling, and she crashed into him. "I'm so glad you're alright!" She said against his shoulder while she hugged him tight. As quickly as her arm had surrounded him, she felt his arm hug her back.

She relished in the thought that he would always hug her back.

"I'm okay. Starving, but okay."

"Then let's go eat," Sirius said as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder which made her turn around and hug him as well. She hadn't realized how much she had missed her pseudo-uncle.

It was many hours later that she was laying in her own bed, under her homemade blanket that she finally felt like she could breathe.

The last night of her first year at Hogwarts had been a whirlwind - as the entire school year had been. The food had been plenty, the company as good as ever, and the mood had been joyous.

They had also won the house cup.

How, she wouldn't know. Well, she did know, because both she, Harry, Daniel and Neville had been rewarded an obscene amount of housepoint at the very last minute. But they had broken so many rules that year, so many points had been taken, not even counting their trip down the trapdoor. They should have been expelled. Yet for whatever reason, they weren't.

There had been shouts and applause from all around her - everywhere except the Slytherin table that is, though she did see Draco winking back at her before he was back to frowning.

Frowning really didn't suit him. She liked it better when he smiled.

For that very reason, she tiptoed out of her bed and slowly withdrew a small note from her backpack before hurrying back under the covers.

Want to come hang out during the summer? Mum says we can use the pool if we want to and dad says he'll teach us how to do a proper canonball - whatever that is.

Hermione snorted loudly and quickly covered her mouth, listening for footsteps in the hallway. When no sounds came, she read the letter once again. And again.

Mr. Malfoy wasn't the only one who could teach Draco how to 'do a proper canonball', and with that though, she put down the note and went to sleep.