The hallowed halls of Hogwarts played host only to the sounds of whistling wind on this late December night.
Torches cast lively shadows on the walls and portraits slept soundly in their frames. There was no one in sight.
That did not, however, mean that no one was there.
A young man was creeping through the halls under the weak cover of a disillusionment charm. On occasion, it would flicker and betray his location to his silent watcher.
She had been on his tail since he had left the common room and hadn't missed a beat as she followed his convoluted path. As much as he kept casting furtive glances over his shoulder, blue eyes shining with paranoia, he had no hope of seeing through the Weasley twins' stealth bomb she was currently sporting.
'Of course,' she grimaced as Malfoy whipped around a corner after putting on a burst of speed. 'That means I can't match his pace.'
Moving much faster would disrupt the intricate magic of the device.
"He's taken the passageway behind Big Mouthed Bertrand," Blaise Zabini's voice sounded in her ear as she did her best to catch up.
"Dammit," she cursed near silently.
She could already hear the occupant of the portrait starting up as he swung shut. She wouldn't be able to use the same route to follow her quarry with the way that portrait was known to act.
"Why, you ruffian, to wake me at this hour!" the robust form of Big Mouth Bertrand, cheeks all ruddy with an unimpressive beard and mustache, was complaining. "You ought have at least spared a 'how do you do?' before making yourself welcome. The disrespect…"
He had heaved himself up out of his great painted chair (which creaked under the strain for effect) and continued gesticulating wildly.
"He'll wake the whole corridor at this rate," Flora growled.
"Not even Cordeleode Catrain was such a heathen, I say," Bertrand continued before he fell back into his chair. It nearly buckled under his weight, legs thumping back onto the floor before audibly creaking. "And he cheats on our dice games! That's not all he cheated on either. Why, I should tell you about the night of our tourney — Cordeleode arrived twenty-five minutes late with Ausgustana Susierre on his arm. Let me tell you, that bedswerver was not invited!"
"Take the hidden stairs behind the false column between the third and fourth door on your right — you can catch up," Blaise said over the noise the portrait was raising.
"Where was his wife, I say?" the portrait screamed. "Where was his wife?!"
She didn't hesitate to listen to the suggestion of her squad captain, pressing her back to the false wall and laying her palms flat against it. She wiggled her fingers, tickling two particular stones, and the wall shuddered behind her before a gap opened up and swallowed her whole.
In the commotion raised by Big Mouthed Bertrand, none of the other portraits noticed the brief fluctuation of the wall.
On the other side of the wall in the complete darkness of the hidden passageway, Flora deactivated the stealth bomb and lit her wand.
"Blimey, he's loud," she said to Blaise now that she was free to speak.
"No kidding."
She climbed the narrow stairs at a run until she came to the top of them where she reactivated her stealth device. Checking her map, she saw that Draco was behind her now by one corridor. She exited the secret stairs quickly then remained against the wall, watching the map for her quarry.
He was passing her within a few moments and she was following him once more, closer this time.
"Nicely done," Blaise complimented from his place in the Slytherin dorms.
She allowed a brief smile to touch her lips but did not answer her captain, remaining close to the disillusioned form of Draco Malfoy. While she did have a magical map, she preferred to use her own two eyes in exercises like this and tracking a mostly invisible target was simply not the easiest thing to do.
"Then again," Flora noted to herself as the blonde teen stumbled and scuffed his shoe along the ground loudly. If there had been a teacher nearby, they'd have had him right there. "He isn't the most skilled and stealthy of targets anyways."
The two continued their hike through the halls of Hogwarts for a few minutes more, only once having to deviate from their path to avoid Mrs. Norris.
Flora, of course, was undetectable to the cat as long as they didn't touch but Draco apparently stunk to high hell based on the yowling the angrily feline aimed his way.
"He's not always this bad at this," Flora muttered to Blaise.
"You don't have to cover for him," he chuckled as he heard Mrs. Norris' offended meow.
"It's probably the stress getting to him."
"This is probably the last time he'll visit before Christmas break," he said.
"Is he staying?" she asked as she followed Draco up another set of stairs and hurried slightly so they didn't move before she could get onto them.
"No," Blaise said. "If he is, he has yet to write his name down on the sign-up sheet."
"Hm."
Conversation halted there as they neared the corridor the Room of Requirement was supposed to be in.
The stretch of wall was at the end of a three-way intersection of corridors that (unless invisible) provided no great places to hide. Normally, Flora would hang back but she stuck as close as she dared this time.
They needed to know how he was getting into the room.
Withdrawing her wand, she cast an intricate spell over her eyes. As soon as she did, she could feel the headache building as the magic made her eyes a hundred times more sensitive to everything.
It served its purpose though — she could clearly see the solid form of Draco Malfoy as he moved towards a blank stretch of wall between two inset pillars. It looked no more magical than all of the other walls of Hogwarts.
Then, he paced. Once, twice, three times.
Flora wondered for a brief moment what he was doing but in a few moments her question was answered by a veritable explosion of magic in her eyesight. A door seemed to be forming in front of him but she couldn't see anything any longer as her vision had whited out.
The spell that made her eyes magically sensitive enough to see through a disillusionment spell had worked too well. The visual centers of her brain were just not prepared for the input from the amount of magic that comes from Hogwarts creating an entire room in seconds. The strength of her throbbing headache reached a crescendo before she fell to the ground, still ensconced within her privacy bubble, and passed out.
All Blaise her over the comms was a pained "oh" and the sound of her hitting the cold flagstones.
…
"Oh bloody-" Blaise cursed when Flora didn't respond to his calls.
After a few seconds of rapid thought, he took a moment to strengthen and re-seal the wards over his four poster bed. Then, he focused back on his comm unit and said aloud:
"Potter."
There was no answer.
"Potter!" he yelled louder.
"Wuh?" the sleepy voice of their fearless leader came. "Wuh's happening?"
"Something happened; Flora seems to be unconscious in the Room of Requirements corridor."
"What?" Harry asked, instantly alert. "Did Malfoy-"
"No, I don't know what happened but she's alone in the corridor for now."
"Meet me in the Cathedral, it's closer."
"Okay," Blaise agreed.
He debated summoning his clothes from outside of his bed but decided against it.
With a wiggle and a wave of his wand, the shrunken trunk attached to his amulet began to glow to match his wand before he finished off the spell. In seconds, he was fully dressed in the DA armor.
It wasn't long after that that he triggered his portkey and disappeared from the Slytherin dorms.
…
"Graham is on his way to the Cathedral," Harry said from where he waited by one of the false-walls that let out closer to the seventh floor corridor. "Still watching her on the map?"
"Hasn't left my sight," he confirmed as he double checked — the prone form of Flora Carrow had not moved an inch.
"Then let's go get her. Disillusionment spells?" Harry asked, knowing that the Weasleys stealth bomb would require them to move much too slowly.
His invisibility cloak had its own drawbacks as well (namely being too short to cover him let alone anyone else adequately on the move).
Blaise nodded jerkily before applying the aforementioned spell.
"Just follow me," Harry told him. "And keep an eye on the map."
The unlikely duo, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, pushed open the false wall and came out into an empty corridor.
From there, they moved as quickly and as they could through the winding corridors. To Blaise's surprise, Harry cut into multiple secret passageways (two that weren't even on the map, which Blaise made a note to have added later). Because of this, they made good time.
"You okay?" Harry asked quietly as they waited behind a tapestry alcove for Professor Sinistra to pass by.
"Fine," the Slytherin answered as he checked his heavy silver watch, enchanted hands ticking away. The fine piece of jewelry had been a gift from Daphne for his birthday.
Harry raised a brow at the non-answer which had Blaise letting off a half-hearted shrug.
"Worrying about Flora?" Harry guessed in one.
"Yeah," he agreed past the knot in his throat. If anything had happened to her on an assignment he'd given her…
"Feeling the guilt of responsibility?"
"Something like that."
"Flora is going to be okay," Harry assured him. "These things, whatever it was, happen and all we can do is try not to blame ourselves when they do. Let's go."
A few minutes later, Blaise and Harry arrived in the seventh floor corridor. They both double-checked the map then Harry began walking towards where they knew her to be.
Even if she was under the cover of a stealth device, Harry had an easy time finding her.
If you were magic sensitive and knew what you were looking for, one of the Weasley twins' stealth bombs were easier to find than a candle in the nighttime. Or, rather, exactly like a candle in the nighttime considering the pitch black halls of Hogwarts.
"Got her," the Gryffindor said as he knelt down.
Blaise nodded but didn't turn to look, busy watching their backs and holding his wand aloft.
Harry quickly began searching for the circular tablet-like device that Flora had somewhere on her person. He tried to be as proper as possible while reaching blindly towards the young woman's body and after a few awkward moments, he felt the rune-inscribed marble under his fingers.
The stealth ward fell when he hit the deactivation switch. The girl was suddenly visible to their eyes.
To Harry's concern, there was blood running from her nose, some fresh and some drying all down her cheek and neck. It looked very dramatic and he checked for any further damage but found none obvious to him or his standard spells.
"No signs of dark magic, no signs of external trauma. She should be fine to portkey," Harry reported brusquely.
He slid his arms underneath her knees and shoulders then lifted her up into the bridal style position with ease. He trained so much for defense and for Quidditch that he really was quite fit. It also helped that Flora was a thin, slip of a girl.
"Ready?"
"Ready," Blaise agreed.
Harry activated his portkey first and was whisked away from the shadowy hallway. A split second later (after assuring that the injured girl and his leader had both made it away), Blaise activated his own and was swept away to join them.
…
"-get her in a bed," Blaise heard Graham tell Harry as the healer walked alongside the unconscious girl and their leader.
He looked sleep-mussed but alert in his DA robes.
Blaise joined them rapidly and came to stand silently at Harry's side as Graham ran diagnostic after diagnostic.
The dirty-blonde healer had a furrowed brow, all traces of fatigue erased from his face. He was muttering under his breath as he tapped his wand to a piece of parchment and studied the spell readout.
"Ah," he said before taking the wand sitting on Flora's bedside.
"What are you doing?" Blaise asked; it was rather rude to handle someones wand whether they were unconscious or not.
"Priori incantatem," Roger cast by way of answer, aiming his own wand at Flora's.
"The reverse spell?" Blaise asked curiously.
"It's as I thought," Roger said as he studied the results. "It looks like she used an ocular enhancement that got overpowered to a high degree."
Roger pushed up Flora's sleeve, knowing that's where most of the DA wore their wand holster. He replaced it for her before studying his readouts again.
"She must have used it to watch Malfoy enter the room," Harry said immediately, frowning. "A room like that would be blinding under any sort of mage sight."
"Her brain couldn't handle it," the healer agreed. "The nosebleed was probably the worst of it though. Aside from some bruising from the fall she took passing out, there's no other real damage and certainly none permanent."
"So she'll be okay?"
"She will. I'm going to give her a half-dose of Baruffio's and an oculus potion then something to keep her asleep."
"She'll need to stay here overnight?" Harry asked, knowing that Baruffio's Brain Elixir took some time to run its course.
"No, she can rest in her own bed." Graham said with a head shake. "If she weren't a Slytherin, I'd say it'd be easier to let her sleep it off here. As it is, it's up to you two to get her back to the dorms."
"Thanks, Graham," Harry said with a nod towards the seventh year Hufflepuff healer.
He waved off their thanks then went to gather all of the potions that he needed from the cabinets.
Blaise and Harry began discussing the plan for returning the prone Slytherin to her dorm whilst he treated her. When he was done, he handed two potions to the Slytherin sixth year.
"Wiggenweld potion to wake her up tomorrow," he explained as he handed over the dark green vial. "And a headache brew if she wakes up with a banger. Make sure she knows she's not allowed any pepper-up for at least two full days."
"Thank you, and I will," Blaise said sincerely.
"She's ready to go," Graham said before he clapped Harry on the shoulder and began to take his leave. "I'm gonna head back to bed myself. Night, boys."
"Night," the Gryffindor called back before joining Blaise at Flora's bedside.
She had regained some color and her ash brown hair was no longer plastered to her face. The dried blood from her nose bleed was gone too, no stain upon her robes. The Hufflepuff had set her to rights as best as he could.
"You carrying her or am I?" Harry asked.
"We are wizards, you know," Blaise told Harry with a raised brow. "We could levitate her."
"I don't have fine enough control with that particular spell to hide her in secret passages at a split seconds notice if need be."
"That fair," Blaise admitted; some of those spaces were tight and would be difficult to maneuver a unconscious girl who's as stiff as a board (an effect of the spell). "You carry her then."
Harry picked her up with about as much ease as he had before then headed towards the Cathedral exit that would take them closest to the Slytherin dorms. "Let's go."
"Can you activate your own device?" Blaise asked as he nodded towards Harry's lack of free hand.
"Yeah, I've got it," he confirmed as he awkwardly clicked it on and disappeared from sight. Blaise did the same then opened the exit, allowing the three of them to climb out of the portrait hole slowly.
The pace was dragging and Harry's arms began to tire before the reached the ground floor. He considered levitating her for a moment until Blaise signaled and they pulled closer to the walls of the shadowy corridor.
Snape himself rounded the corner from behind them, robes billowing, and strode briskly past them and towards the Entry Hall and the stairs to the greater dungeons. Harry managed to stifle his dislike internally as he scowled at the greasy professor. The man did not, of course, notice it and simply continued on his path with his bat-like cloak.
Once they were clear, they began their trek carefully through the main hall and down into the dungeons. Snape had moved away from them quickly and no other professors really patrolled down there.
"Blaise," Harry said through his comms, speaking in a low voice even though no one should be able to hear through the silencing ward. "Have you woken Hestia yet?"
"Not yet," he answered shortly. "I will now."
The Slytherin said her name then called it a little more loudly to wake the girl who hopefully slept with her ear piece in like most of the DA. There was a feature to silence all general chatter except direct calls when one needed to sleep and it was waterproof so most people didn't remove them all too often.
"Zabini?" the cooly alert voice of Hestia came after a brief, bleary moan. "What's happened?"
"Accident; Flora's mage sight charm got overloaded," he answered. "She's fine, we're almost back to the dorms. Come down to the common room and make sure it's empty."
She didn't protest or say anything. It took a couple of minutes, by which time Blaise and company were almost right outside of the Slytherin dorms.
"Banesberry."
The door to the Slytherin common room appeared when the sixth year prefect spoke the poisonous password. Hestia was waiting and, when she saw no-one on the other side, she immediately cast a few spells.
"It's clear," she hissed.
"Let's go," Blaise said to Harry. He stepped in first and was followed quickly by Harry with Flora.
Blaise dropped his stealth charm once he found the common room mostly empty. He was immediately made victim of Hestia's most keen and cold stare.
It was a sort of dead-eyed, vulture-like stare that he was fairly positive she had picked up from her infamous aunt and uncle. It was terrifying.
"Where is my sister?"
Harry managed to cancel his stealth ward just then, revealing her unconscious twin sister to the worried fifth year Slytherin in front of them.
"Harry? Wh- Flora!" she cried out softly as she ran up to Harry, whom was holding her sister bridal-style once more. "Is she okay?"
"Graham treated her, she'll be fine in the morning," Harry answered. "Her brain couldn't handle the input from the spell so she passed out and had a bit of a nosebleed. She's on Baruffio's Brain Elixir, an oculus potion, and a sleeping draught."
"Right now, she needs to be in the dorms. Are you roommates asleep?"
"I made sure of it," Hestia said with a cold smirk and a twirl of the dark-wooded wand that Harry realized had been in her hand the entire time. "I'll take her up. Get out of here, Potter."
"Don't have to tell me twice," he said as he held out his arms (and the unconscious girl) towards Hestia. She waved her wand and cast the spell over her sister to mobilize her. "Don't forget the potions, Blaise," Harry reminded.
Blaise nodded and began to softly explain the two potions and restrictions to Hestia following her curious look. Harry, tired as he was, gave them a wave and a nod then activated his portkey to the Cathedral.
It was a very short walk to the tower using the very first entrance to the Cathedral they'd ever found. He fell back into bed with an exhausted sigh and fell back into the deep sleep he'd been in before the mini-catastrophe.
…
It was the next day during his first class that Harry read the discussion in the section of the DA journal dedicated to Malfoy Monitoring. Typically, the Castle Security team wrote most of the posts but everyone was taking a particular interest in figuring out exactly what in the hell the blonde was up to.
"He just paced back and forth a few times and the door appeared," Flora had written in the instant-chat section in addition to the full report she'd written up in History of Magic. "Then, of course, I got blinded…"
She'd endured many a ribbing (amongst even more well-wishes) when she awoke that morning. News in the DA spread near instantaneously thanks to the journals and almost everyone checked theirs frequently. Flora would most certainly not be using that charm again anytime soon or without proper forethought and reasoning.
"Could be a pattern on the floor," Colin theorized. "Or a specific tile."
"It's a room that gives you what you require, right?" Kevin Entwhistle clarified. "Maybe you have to focus on what you require."
"I'll check it out tonight," Harry decided. "There won't be time tomorrow before the leaving feast and the train to London."
"I'll go as well," Blaise insisted.
"Alright," he agreed. "Hermione, have you found anything else in the Gryffindor books about the Heart of Hogwarts?"
"Not yet but I'm still searching."
"Keep us in the loop."
"Of course."
After that, Professor McGonagall asked that they clear their desks for a quick practical on a spell for next years syllabus — it may be the last class-day of term, but she would stand for no nonsense!
…
Harry and Blaise met in the Cathedral later that night.
They both wore outfits similar to the ones they had worn on the centaur hunt; black trousers and matching long-sleeved shirts. Harry had also pulled out a black beanie for the occasion which was pulled down above his brow.
Once they had both activated the relevant stealth devices, they began making their way to the seventh floor corridor.
"Hestia on snake watch tonight?" Harry asked curiously as they crept out of the hidden alcove they'd used to avoid Professor McGonagall.
"Yes," Blaise confirmed. "He's not moved an inch from his dorms."
"Then let's see what this mystery room is all about," Harry said with a gleam in his emerald eyes as they climbed the final set of stairs and neared their destination.
Despite his connection to the school, he didn't feel much of anything when they approached the stretch of wall in question. He could feel something whenever he walked by most secret doors or portraits with rooms behind them; here, he felt nothing outside of the normal spectrum of Hogwarts' magic.
"Detection charms?"
"Mhm," Harry said in a low tone with a sharp nod that Blaise didn't see.
The two team mates began scouring the area around them with detection charms of all sorts. Though it had been done before and not yielded any results, they still did a basic preliminary inspection. They looked for any evidence of hidden rooms, pulled at every loose stone, ran their fingers over every crack, and still felt nothing.
"Flora said she saw him pace back and forth, right?" Harry asked.
"I'll try."
Harry stepped back and began to observe Blaise.
It was difficult, not being able to perfectly see his team mate, but he could detect the stealth magic that Blaise was using and extrapolated his position and movements from there. He 'saw' Blaise pace back and forth a few times but nothing happened.
"Nothing," he said in a frustrated tone.
"Let me try," Harry decided thoughtfully. The two traded places and Harry began to pace after a long moment of staring at the wall. "Maybe it's like Kevin said — think about what you want."
"I want to know what Draco Malfoy was doing in here," he thought as he began pacing. He focused on the thought, repeating it in his mind a few times for good measure. He watched the wall out of the corner of his eyes to see if it reacted. It did not.
"Drat," Harry cursed mildly as he began pacing more quickly.
Blaise watched with a furrowed brow as Harry tried to figure out the secret of the mysterious room.
"I just need a room," he groaned in his head. "A secret room in the castle. That's what I need."
Frustrated as he was by the lack of response from the wall, he almost didn't notice he'd succeeded. Blaise's small intake of breath had alerted him to the change. A small, rounded-top door had appeared right in front of Harry quite quickly indeed.
"Doesn't look as big as the doors Flora saw."
"One way to find out…"
Harry pushed open the door with no struggle and revealed inside…
"What?" Harry groaned
"It's- it's-" Blaise stuttered before shaking his head. "A broom cupboard? Why in Salazar's name would you ask for that?"
"Do you see any brooms?" Harry asked with some snark as he glared at the small, empty, windowless room. "It's just a room."
"What did you do?"
"I don't know," he gave a shrug to the Slytherin's question. "I was thinking."
"What, exactly, were you thinking?"
"Well first I thought about wanting to know what Malfoy was doing."
"Then?"
"I got frustrated and thought about how all I needed was a room, a secret one. Since obviously Malfoy is doing something secretive."
Blaise looked at the small room thoughtfully then shut the door. To their surprise, it disappeared.
"I don't think that's the secret room Draco was using," he mused. "But I think the castle did give you what you asked for. Try again."
"Erm…" Harry paced back and forth for a second before a large double door appeared. This one sounded closer to Flora's descriptions than the others.
Blaise blinked at it for a second before pushing one side of the door open. It swung in more easily than he would have thought and revealed a pretty spot-on replica of the Yule Ball in the Great Hall during their fourth year complete with snow, ice sculptures.
"Dare I ask?"
"I wanted to check the size capabilities," Harry answered as he looked around in surprise. "I didn't expect this much detail…"
The edged out of the large ballroom and shut the door. Again, it disappeared.
"You think it would have disappeared with one of us still inside?" Blaise asked. "I mean, it does when Draco goes in but I assume the room is still present if he is inside…"
They shared a look for a moment before Harry shrugged. "Dunno, let's find out."
The pacing process was repeated and when Harry opened the door, he found a miniature replica of the Gryffindor common room. He stepped in and then closed the door between himself and Blaise.
"Door's still there," Blaise said after a few long moments before opening it to make his point.
"Then how does Malfoy do it?"
"Maybe you need to ask for a private room? If it can create a whole ballroom apparently from your memory, maybe it can restrict access."
They tried again while adding a specifier that only Harry should be allowed in. This time, when he entered the room the door disappeared behind him. As much as Blaise paced in front of the wall, he could not get in.
"Try asking for a different room," Harry said through their comms suddenly from his place on the very comfy armchair in front of a roaring fire inside the room. "See if two people can use it separately at the same time."
"Got it," Blaise agreed. His answer came a few moments later. "No luck."
"Interesting," Harry said over the comm as he got up and exited the room.
The door disappeared behind him.
"We need to test the capabilities of this room but we need more than two people to do it. I want at least three people to find out if it can block and allow certain people and what happens if they try to access it at the same time…" he mused aloud.
"We still didn't figure out what Malfoy was doing though," Blaise pointed out.
"I think that the room is kinda like an interrogation. Useless you ask the right questions, you aren't going to get anywhere. It won't create a room for us when we ask for the one he was using so we're going to need to be more specific."
Blaise thought on that for a moment before agreeing.
"I think you may be right — I'll brainstorm with the team and see what we can do. Although…we may not know what he was doing, but we know for sure that he never exited out the same way he came in. I'd like to test that capability."
Harry watched as Blaise paced back and forth until an odd door appeared in front of him.
It was perfectly circular and had a horizontal handle that they had to pull up on to open like a hatch. It stayed in place once they'd raised it and revealed a dark, scary looking tunnel to somewhere below.
"What did you ask for?"
"A way back to the Slytherin dorms…"
"You don't think that goes directly there, do you?" Harry asked with wide eyes as he looked at the hatch with some surprise.
"It's delivered on everything else, hasn't it?"
"Well," Harry reached out blindly and poked Blaise, not taking his eyes off of the scary hole lest it spit out something unseemly. "Go on."
"What?" the Slytherin said as his head jerked round to stared at Harry.
"Try it."
"No way in hell!"
"You asked for it," Harry pointed out, finally taking his eyes off of the opening.
"I am not jumping down an unknown, unlit tunnel!"
"Live a little, Zabini."
"I am not a Gryffindor, Potter," he drawled with no real bite (they tended to switch between first names and surnames depending on their mood or the situation). "I do not go rushing headlong, literally, into the unknown whilst hoping for the best."
"I'm not saying to literally go headlong into the unknown," he said. "You should definitely go feet first."
Blaise gave him a flat and unamused look. "That isn't much better."
"I trust the castle," Harry said, shaking his head. "Go on. Once you're gone, I'll go straight back to my dorms from here. It'll be cake."
"I do not see how this will be at all related to confections."
Harry rolled his eyes though his year mate didn't have the pleasure of seeing it. "It's a muggle saying that means it'll be really easy."
"You have no way of knowing that," Blaise pointed out. "We didn't even think about asking for a secret passage until a minute ago! Who knows if it works?"
"Never did Draco any harm."
"Draco doesn't exit the room each time. He enters the room and hours later reappears elsewhere."
"Hm," Harry mused. "Judging by the way the room seems to function, he'd have to ask for a secret exit when he…'thinks up' the room. So you're right, this is different. But, I will argue that it's the same room and that its secret passage creating functions probably work the same way."
"Ugh," the normally composed pureblood heir rolled his eyes. "Why am I stuck with you?"
"Because you let a pretty girl con you into joining the club," Harry deadpanned. "You picked her, got stuck with me."
Blaise's jaw clenched slightly and then he just shook his head.
"For Daphne," Harry heard him mutter.
"That's right," he agreed cheerily. "For Daphne."
"Oh shut up," he said while rolling his eyes. "Bloody Gryffindor," Blaise muttered before begrudgingly acquiescing.
Despite the fact that he wasn't jumping with joy over it, he realized that it was important to find out the functions of this room and that it wouldn't be the best idea to have Harry test it just in case it did lead directly to the Slytherin dorm rooms. Unfortunately (for him), he (unlike Harry) didn't think about closing the door and having Harry ask for a passage to the Gryffindor commons then testing it that way.
So, away Blaise Zabini went down a very long, very steep, very dark slide all the way into the deepest depths of the castle.
…
"So…" Harry prodded over the comms when the yelps and cursing stopped a full minute and thirteen seconds later (he'd timed it with a light giggle as Blaise shoved off down the tunnel).
The Slytherin had appeared smack dab in the middle of the Slytherin dorms on the map so Harry knew he had completed his journey.
"You and I are not friends."
"Don't say things you don't mean," Harry chastised in good humor before turning his tone more serious (with equal parts curiousness). "Where did it let you out?"
"In the corridor leading to the boys dormitories," he answered in a low, terse voice. "Right in front of the bathroom I use to drop the stealth devices and change clothes in before bed."
"So pretty much exactly where you wanted?"
"Pretty much."
"Was there a painting there or anything?"
"It's typically just a sort of decorative arch carving like all the other walls in this corridor."
"Interesting — it creates them at will," Harry mused. "Well. Suppose this is goodnight then."
"Couldn't have come a moment sooner," Blaise said as he grumbled something about reckless Gryffindors and trips worse than a Gringotts cart.
Right before he signed off, the Slytherin spoke up.
"I took the plunge, Potter, you're taking the paperwork. You hear me?"
"Aye aye, boss," he said, borrowing a phrase Nymphadora Tonks liked to use during meetings whenever Amelia Bones or Harry spoke.
Blaise grumbled something that sounded vaguely Snape like before muttering a barely-civil goodnight.
"Ta," Harry laughed before cutting off the private comm link he'd initiated with Blaise.
Inwardly, he made a personal note to make sure Blaise got to experience a muggle rollercoaster somehow (he didn't quite remember if Blaise had been in on the Disney trip). After all, he seemed to enjoy the eight-plus story slide to the Dungeons. Harry chuckled to himself again.
Harry closed the hatch to Blaise's secret passageway and waited for it to disappear before he started to pace again. A plain door appeared and when he opened it, he found stairs going up.
"Aw, come on," Harry groaned as he looked around at the castle at large (he knew the old girl was sentient and she would hear him regardless of any stealth ward). "Stairs? He got a slide."
He may have imagined it but Harry was pretty sure the flight of stairs got a bit longer at his question. He swallowed any further complaints and began his trek towards his dorms. He supposed that was his punishment for enjoying ribbing Blaise so much. That wasn't to say it was malicious, of course — it was all good natured.
Harry's stairs ended at another door that ended up being on the other side of another portrait just offside of the Fat Lady. He decided not to think about the fact that it would have been quicker for him to just portkey to the Cathedral then walk to the common room. He just had to accept that the castle also liked to play pranks on him. He should have known that by now simply by the amount of random trick stairs and disappearing doors all around Hogwarts.
It wasn't until he was about to go up to his dorm that he stopped and groaned. He still had to do the paperwork he'd promised Blaise he'd handle.
"Oh," he groaned. "I am so sleeping on the train tomorrow."
…
"Who's a what's it?" Harry asked loudly as he startled awake.
Susan, who had gently nudged his booted foot, blinked owlishly as her hazel eyes connected with the bleary, emerald ones that were quickly clearing.
"Nice, Harry," Hermione chuckled.
"Huh?" he mumbled tiredly.
The two girls were standing in front of Harry and waiting for him to gain some semblance of cognizance.
"Wakey wakey," Susan said.
He sat up and looked around, taking in the view of London looming in the distance. He must have been sleeping for awhile. No one else had disturbed him as he'd chosen to sleep in the compartment set aside for their luggage in the train car the DA had once again taken over.
"We'll be at the station in fifteen or so," the Hufflepuff told him. "Boys are getting dressed on the far right."
"Right," he nodded before stepping out and letting in the group that needed robes or muggle clothes from their trunks.
Despite the fact that almost all of them were going to Firewall, there were appearances to keep up. It would be very odd if all of the DA members just portkeyed away with no families waiting for them on the platform.
"Tonks checked in while you were sleeping; she and Brock have left for the meeting. It starts in an hour and a half; she'll check in once more before then," Hermione told him.
"Okay," he nodded shortly, trying not to frown.
Amelia had taken point on this mission and he knew that she hadn't cut any corners. Still, it was worrisome having two of their people overseas in a place as bad as Albania.
"They'll be okay," Hermione assured him as she correctly interpreted her facial expression. "Tonks is-"
"A trained auror, I know," he cut her off with an eye roll. "I still worry."
"At least they're not alone," she pointed out.
"Yeah," he agreed. "I'm glad some of Masson's men traveled with them as backup but part of me would still rather they hadn't gone at all."
"I know," she said with a look of commiseration. "At least Fenrir Greyback and his pack aren't there."
"That's true. Though it's not exactly a good thing that they lost track of them."
"It's difficult for law enforcement to follow them across borders accurately," Hermione said. "Even in the muggle world. They'll be sighted again. We should just be glad they were seen leaving Albania."
"You're right," he said with a half smile that said he'd keep worrying but appreciated her effort. "You always are."
"Not always," she laughed before giving her head a small shake. "I'm going to get changed."
Harry nodded and they split ways and entered separate compartments. He began getting dressed slowly.
"Ready for this break, mate?" Ron asked as he stepped into the boys compartment. He was pulling on one of his nicer every-day robes that he'd bought for himself in the summer.
"Are you?" Harry asked instead, preferring not to think about the amount of politics he'd be involved in this break. He was making his debut onto the political stage, as it were. "What are you going to say to your mum?"
"'Merry Christmas, mum! I'm on time to open presents, aren't I?'"
"Wait you aren't going to spend the whole break there?"
"Are you bonkers? With no dessert?" Ron scoffed as Dean and Neville chuckled at his face. "I half expect her to tie me up if she gets eyes on me."
"You can take on Death Eaters but you can't block a body bind from your mum?" Oliver Rivers asked as he pulled on a collared short sleeve short and a fine, self-winding muggle watch.
"My mum's mad, mate."
"So what are you going to do?" Harry asked as he scratched his head. "And what about Ginny? I saw her get on the train."
"Oh she's on the train all right. If we stayed at Hogwarts, mum would have come and got us. Getting off the train is the problem. We were hoping to ask you about that," Ron said while flushing a bit. "Can Gin and I borrow your cloak to sneak off the train and portkey off the platform?"
Most of the boys left in the compartment guffawed at that but Harry just laughed and pulled the cloak out of an expanded pocket.
"I'll get it back from you at home," the brunette chuckled.
"You got it, thanks mate," Ron said gratefully, not for a second questioning what 'home' meant. Firewall was a second home to all of them and just plain old home to a fair few of them.
"It's not going to cover both of you, I don't think," he warned.
"Please," Ron snorted. "As if we wouldn't have a failsafe. This is our mother we're talking about. We'll be disillusioned as well."
"Don't bump into anyone getting off the train," Harry warned with a shrug.
"We're gonna wait till it empties out then sneak off," Ron explained. "Parvati's waiting behind with a gaggle of the other girls, they'll let us walk out between them."
"Wow, you two have really planned this out," his friend laughed.
"We can't afford to leave anything to chance."
"Careful, she might coming looking," their roommate teased.
"Don't joke, Dean," Ron paled while the others chuckled. After a moment, he turned to Harry in curiosity. "How are you gonna sneak past mum?"
"I'm going to counter her with Neville's gran."
"No," Dean laughed, knowing just how intimidating both women were (though he'd been around Augusta more). "Really?"
"Yeah, Augusta said there's bound to be at least one photographer on the platform and it'll establish our connection in the public eye before the bill rolls out."
"Good luck on that one," Dean said before he waved to both of them. "Happy hols."
"Thanks," Harry and Ron returned. "Happy hols."
Ron and Harry stepped out into the hall where they found Ginny anxiously waiting. Neville was by her side giving her an amused look.
"You alright there?" Harry asked with some humor. "You look a little pale." Guessing from the way her eyes kept flickering to the crowds on the platform, he had a good guess as to the cause of her upset.
"I'm afraid Mum spotted me," she said, biting the edge of her thumbnail. "She's been peering through the windows up and down the train."
"How is she tall enough?" Harry asked, bewildered. "You'd only be able to see each other if you had your face pressed to the window."
There was a beat of silence and Ginny slowly dropped her hand away from her face, pulling at a loose thread on her jumper.
"You had your face pressed against the window, didn't you?" Ron asked flatly.
Ginny's guilty look said it all. While Harry and Neville tried to restrain their chuckles unsuccessfully, the red-haired girl's cheeks began to develop quite the blush.
"I'm not sure she actually saw me?" she said, the nervous tilt making it come out as a question.
"You better hope not. Get under the cloak," her brother said as he held up Harry's borrowed invisibility cloak.
"Are we both gonna fit?" she asked dubiously as she looked at Ron's midsection.
"Shut up and crouch, munchkin," the older ginger growled.
Harry and Neville gave up hiding their laughter after that and drowned out the sound of Ginny's retort. The last thing they saw was Ron's glare before he dropped the edge of the cloak over them and began casting disillusionment and silencing charms.
"Ready?" Neville asked as he took in Harry's upscale, formal dark blue robes.
"As I'll ever be," he agreed as he began following their invisible friends off of the train.
They were joined by Hermione who said a quick goodbye before heading briskly towards the exit to the muggle world. Her parents and a lot of other DA parents were waiting there. Now, they just had to find Neville's gran before Ron's mum could find them.
Thankfully, he and Neville found Augusta near where they disembarked. Harry, of course, drew a fair amount of muttering and interested stares from the crowd. Thankfully, the stern Longbottom matron kept them at bay. Hopefully she would have a similar effect on the Weasley matron, if needed.
He wasn't afraid of her (per say) but there was no way to get her off of his case without causing a spectacle. Hopefully, this way, there'd be no fuss. It was an added blessing that Mrs. Weasley was still scouring the train and platform for the other two members of her brood.
"Neville," Augusta greeted him warmly with a barely noticeable smile.
"Gran," the young man said with a much wider smile.
"Dowager Longbottom," Harry greeted formally as he took her hand and bowed over it. He was keenly aware of dozens of eyes watching his every move. "It is a pleasure to see you again."
"Quite, Lord Potter," she returned with a nod that brought even more attention to her frightful stuffed-vulture hat.
"Thank you for meeting us here, my lady."
"Of course," she returned as she laid a hand on Neville's shoulder; it was probably the closest they would get to hugging in public. "The Longbottoms are looking forward to hosting you for this Yuletide season, Lord Potter."
"I am quite grateful for the opportunity to join you in your home," he returned formally in a tone that would have made his eleven year old self's toes curl. He'd grown up a lot when it came to politics. "I can only hope Longbottom Manor matches the splendor of its Lady."
Harry hoped he imagined the swooning-esque sounds coming from the group of people that they had quickly drawn the attention of. Augusta was correct in assuming that there was more than one reporter in the crowd.
"You flatter me," she said in a slightly warmer tone than previously. "You have already secured an invitation to our Winter Ball, my lord, there's no need for any more flattery."
"I cannot help myself, Madam," he said simply as he stepped up beside Neville.
"I do hope all of your schooling went well?" she queried benignly as they strolled towards the line for the floo. Harry saw a couple camera flashes as they did so.
"Yes, Gran," Neville answered when she looked at him. "Professor Sprout has been discussing a few Herbology apprenticeships with me."
"And you have an interest in this?" she asked imperiously.
Harry watched their byplay with interest.
Neville said that his Gran had been treating him more like his own man in the last couple of years and especially the last couple of months. This would be the true test — would she be happy for her grandson or would she push him towards being an auror like his father?
"I do."
"Good," she nodded as she pulled out a mid-sized leather pouch from her small, peach colored silken clutch purse. "Perhaps we should consider expanding the greenhouses at the Manor."
Harry hid a smile at that while Neville outright grinned.
Augusta offered them all a handful of floo powder from her pouch then gave Harry a meaningful nod. The public was meant to think that Harry would be spending his break with the Longbottoms so they would not be saying any farewells to preserve the illusion. They'd split ways with little fanfare.
"See you soon," Neville said with a short wave — as far as any listeners thought, the farewell was perfectly normal for two people about to take separate floo trips.
"Yeah, mate," Harry said with a wink that Augusta couldn't see. Undoubtedly, both of the Longbottoms would end up on Firewall Island at some point.
Augusta disappeared into the flames with her grandson just behind her.
Harry gave the busy platform one last look then threw his handful of floo powder into the waiting fire. In a whirl and rush of green, Harry Potter left the platform.
"Ginny!" he heard a searching call just before the roaring noise overtook everything else. "Ron?"
Well, at least he'd managed to avoid getting caught by that. So far, Christmas break was off to a good start.
…
"You know I always forget about these," Harry said to Sirius a little later as they conversed over enchanted mirrors.
The antique mirrors had been a birthday gift from his godfather; apparently his own father had used the very same ones back in their school days.
"Useful, aren't they?" Remus asked from out of frame.
"Very," he answered. "I still wish you could use your earpieces though."
"We could have easily hidden them," Sirius grumbled. "They're meant to be undetectable."
"And if we were caught using them, we'd look dishonest. I told you, they weren't comfortable with the idea when I told them about it; a lot of them are more familiar with the muggle world than you'd think."
"Yeah, yeah," Sirius grumbled.
Damn Remus and his honest, prefect/professor soul.
"How is everything?" he asked while his eyes searched Sirius' face for any sign of bad news. "Are you two okay?"
"We're great, pup," Sirius answered with a bright smile.
"Things are going really well here," Remus said as Sirius turned the mirror to face him. "We spoke with the elders yesterday."
"And?"
"They's in deliberations now," the older werewolf told him. "They were pleased with the Wolfsbane, it seemed."
"But?"
"But they are torn on whether or not they can support an active alliance."
"Neutrality is just as good in my book."
"They don't think they can stay neutral without adequate protection," Sirius responded. "Which they can't get on Ministry lands; there's regulations against the wards they're allowed to place."
"So…?"
"So, take the land parcel you're offering," Remus interjected. "Sounds ideal. But they aren't sure that they want to up and move after all of the work they've put into their current abode."
"What's it like there as far as shelter goes?"
"A couple of rough natural caverns and a lot of cabins that they've built themselves," Sirius answered. "The Ministry hasn't made it too easy for them to thrive."
"They've done everything they can to make it difficult," Moony grumbled in agreement.
"Nothing that can't be rebuilt then?"
"If they have the materials."
"I'm okay with making provisions for building materials and anything else they'd need to get set up on one of the empty land parcels. Hell, if they want I'll hire builders. Goblin, wizard, muggle — whatever they want."
"They might be interested in knowing that," Remus said thoughtfully. "That could make the difference."
"Put the offer out there," Harry said. "We'll touch base with the goblins and see if they wouldn't mind helping us secure some building materials again."
"I'll pass that on," Remus nodded.
"Hey, did you hear anything from my dearest cousin?" Sirius asked. "We don't have time to check the journals."
"She checked in a couple hours ago while I was on the train," he answered. "They stayed in their rooms at the inn all last night and today but they should have left for the meeting about a half hour ago. The DA's monitoring the situation and keeping contact with Masson's ground-team in Albania."
"They're shadowing?"
"As closely as they can without risking detection," Harry answered his godfather.
"Alright," he nodded. "I'll check in later then."
"You guys be safe."
"Will do," Sirius nod.
"Bye, cub," Remus said.
"Later," he said before disconnecting the mirror call.
He pulled open his desk drawer and set the mirror gently inside, closing it.
It was a relief for him to know that Sirius and Remus were doing alright; they'd been greeted more warmly than they had anticipated. Now his worry was mostly for Tonks and Brock as well as the others on the ground.
They would just have to wait for further updates and hope that everything goes well.
...
A/N: We're finally moving on to the new content! We're caught up to the point of my previous hiatus so from here on out, those of you who are already familiar with the story will start seeing some new things. Once again, thank you all for sticking with me for this long. And thank you for all of the follows, favorites, and reviews. As ever, I treasure your support.
From here on out, I will likely be following a more regular posting schedule of once or twice a week. I just wanted to get all of the rewritten material that you all have already read out of the way and give y'all something new.