Hermione's Pov

"What does it matter what we're up to?" Malfoy spat, glaring up at me from behind the desk.

"We're patrolling the castle," I said, crossing my arms, "Did you two not notice the entire castle shaking?"

He scoffed and sat back in his seat, glancing over at Blaise as if what I had said was some kind of joke.

"Yeah," Ginny snorted, "Which apparently neither of you have to do."

Zabini sat up and leered at Ginny, "And what makes you think we're supposed to be doing anything?"

"Well," Ginny whispered, lowering herself closer to the desk, "Considering that your boyfriend is the new Head Boy, we figured that he'd make you one of his prefects."

Zabini quickly shot up and knocked the desk between them aside, "You want to rephrase that!?"

The room quickly fell silent as everyone's breathing stopped. He was now towering over Ginny and glaring down at her as if she were nothing at all.

"Go ahead," he said.

I glanced over at Malfoy, who seemed a little surprised at his friend's movements. He hadn't reacted much to anything yet, but now he was sitting up and leaning forward.

Part of that gave me comfort. If anyone here could handle Zabini's size it was definitely him. They were easily twice the size of either of us and even without their wands, they were still dangerous.

Ginny, who didn't seem to be scared at all, took a few steps closer to him until they were merely an inch away from each other.

"If you're smart enough, you should know exactly what I mean," She said, as she smiled up at him.

He opened his mouth to say something, but instead, let out a long sigh. The two of them looked at each other for a moment and then Zabini stepped away, turning his back to Ginny.

I followed his movement as he crossed the room and found myself looking straight at Malfoy. He was looking at a dark grey cat that was laid out across the desk next to him.

A mew came from beside me as the grey cat that Ginny and I had seen earlier rubbed its side on my leg. It hopped up on the desk to my left and looked over at the darker feline across the room. They made eye contact for a moment, then the dark cat sat up and scrolled over to the desk, and hopped up beside her.

They purred as they gently nuzzled each other and settled down, watching the four of us from their spot on the desk.

I quickly looked away from the cats and turned over to Ginny. She was staring after Zabini, annoyed, but also intrigued.

I walked over to her and grabbed her arm, "Are you okay?" I whispered.

"Yeah," She said, still watching Zabini, "I'm fine."

I reached into her hand and grabbed their wands. We needed to get back to what we were doing.

"I'll deal with them later," I whispered, "but for now, we need to get back downstairs."

I turned the two wands over in my hands. One of them, which I assumed was Zabini's, was rough and textured, and the other was smooth and elegant.

I looked across the room where the boys were standing and started walking towards them.

"Here," I said, setting them down on one of the desks in front of them, "Meet us back in the Great Hall. Even though you two might not feel like patrolling tonight, it's still your job, and unless you want me to bring this up to the Headmaster, I'd start taking this more seriously."

I turned to leave before either of them responded and followed Ginny out of the room.

We stepped through the empty doorway and headed down the hall. The echoes of our footsteps rang throughout the empty corridors.

I turned and looked at Ginny. She was exhausted, and frankly, so was I. If no one had found anything yet, I doubt we'll get any closer tonight.

I aimed my wand towards the center of the hallway, "Expecto Patronum."

A blast of light shot out of the end of my wand, forming into a small little silver otter. It made a happy little squeal as it swam in circles around us until it finally settled down and looked up at me.

I knelt down and ran my hand over its little head, smiling as it hummed with joy.

"Hey little guy, I need to send a message okay?"

The light around the Patronus shimmered and turned into a blue glow.

I cleared my throat, "Everyone, Ginny and I have looked all upstairs and found nothing. Considering that we haven't heard from any of you, I think that we should call it a night and get some rest."

It blinked and turned to race down the stairs.

Good enough.

We neared the beginning of the staircase, and before we stepped off, I turned to my redheaded friend and grabbed her arm, "Hey Gin, are you sure you're okay?"

"What do you mean?"

I stopped and looked into her eyes, "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Zabini was about to tear you apart."

She pursed her lips and looked down at her feet, "Look Mione I don't know what that was, but when he did it, I didn't feel scared. I felt ... excited."

I blinked and took a step back, "What do you mean?"

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes, "I don't know okay? One second he was behind that desk, and then before I knew it, he was standing in front of me." She shifted in her stance, "For a second, it felt like I couldn't move."

"Couldn't move?"

She blushed and turned away, "Let's just get back downstairs okay?

Draco's Pov

"This is ridiculous."

I looked up from the cauldron I was brewing at a very annoyed Blaise, "What?"

"Where do I start?" He said, turning away from the window, "Not only did they just barge in here and disarm us, but they disrespected us completely."

"I don't know mate," I grinned, "From where I was sitting, the only person who was disrespected was you." He rolled his eyes and looked away. "Although I must say, the table flip was a nice touch."

The dark grey cat mewed from across the room, causing the smaller grey cat to purr and lick the pelt of her mate.

"Oh, whatever," He said, as he turned to look over at the pair of cats and pointed over at me, "At least when I'm confronted I don't just take it."

I smirked as I looked down. The Weasley girl was definitely more troublesome, but if I remember correctly, Granger isn't exactly a walk in the park either.

After all, I've got a small scar on my nose to prove it.

I looked over my shoulder at my sulking friend, "It's ready."

"About time," He groaned, "What is it?"

I poured 2 small glasses and threw a small mint leaf in each, "Make sure you stir it well."

He took the glass, "Is there a certain direction?"

I shook my head, "No, just make sure it's dissolved. If we want it to last longer, it needs to be completely gone."

"You still haven't said what this is for."

I looked at our glasses. They were ready. "Sure I did."

I raised my glass, "To our crazy lives."

Blaise sighed, "That's one way to look at it."

I took one final whiff of the Granger-infested room and downed the glass. Thankfully, it wasn't too thick and it went down smoothly.

Blaise licked his lips and set down his glass, "So what now?"

I smirked and pointed to my nose.

The entire room went from smelling like our mates to instead smelling like a forest. We closed our eyes and deeply inhaled the different smells around us.

The bark and leaves of a tree, damp soil, dew in grass, fresh air with a hint of pine ...

It was delicious.

"You ready?"

I opened my eyes and looked over at Blaise. "Yeah, just let me grab the rest of the potion."

I grabbed my wand and waved a couple of empty vials over to me from the supply cabinet. I quickly filled each one and cleaned out the cauldron.

"Ladies first," Blaise said, gesturing to the empty doorway.

I pushed him aside as we headed outside.

I took a deep breath and smiled.

It felt so good to smell something other than Granger.

Not that she smelled terrible or anything.

I could only imagine what Blaise had to deal with. God forbid it was that trademark Weasley chicken stench.

We reached the back corner of the floor and shuffled down a small staircase that led down to the fourth and fifth floors. Mostly, it was only used by Filch, but for now, Blaise and I were going to have to borrow it.

The cats seemed to know where they were going and led us down the same steps that we were planning to take.

Blaise and I were both curious as to where they came from, but neither of us minded that they were hanging out with us.

The only thing that mattered was not running into prefects.

I poked my head out of the spiral entrance, and after checking to see if the coast was clear, we all shot out across the corridor until we were close to the Grand Staircase.

There weren't any secret passageways up here, but if we hurried down to the 3rd floor, there was a bronze statue we could use to head all the way down to the dungeons.

We ran down the steps and shot into the 3rd corridor. Torches ignited around us as we raced across the stone, leaving a murky glow.

I scanned the wall until I found the statue we were looking for. Raising my wand, I tapped on the right hand of the statue and watched as a narrow staircase appeared at its feet.

We stepped into the passage and slowly began our descent. Every now and then, Blaise would shoot a short burst of flame down into the darkness below us, illuminating the two cats that led us down the passage.

The sparks from the fire impacting the stone sent crackling ripples throughout the chamber, slightly massaging our skin with warmth.

Besides the fact it felt like we were heading down into a tomb, it felt cozy. Each Blaise fired a new blast, the cats would both purr and continue to trot down the steps.

Once we reached the bottom, I pushed open the secret doorway at the bottom of the stairs and looked around. The common room was a few dozen meters to the left and Snape's old office was facing us.

I wonder if Snape ever used this passage.

"Oi, what's the holdup?"

I looked over my shoulder, "You got a date or something?"

"You're in the way of me and my bed." He said, dusting some cobwebs off his robes. The cats slipped between our legs and made their way towards the opposite end of the hallway.

I led us towards the common room entrance. Blaise placed his hand on the door and murmured the password.

"Jormungand."

The door creaked open and we stepped inside.

Quietly, we headed for the couches in front of the fire. The fire was crackling and giving off a warm glow.

I settled into the leather and watched as Blaise tended the fire.

"Let's not make it a sweatlodge in here mate."

"Yeah, yeah." He said, turning over a charred log, "I'm just gonna add a little bit."

I sighed and put my legs on the table. "Finally, some peac-"

"Welcome home boys!"

I jumped up and Blaise dropped the rod into the fireplace.

"There's someone I want you two to meet."

Now visible, slouching back in his favorite loveseat, was none other than Theo; and in his lap, was that godforsaken seagull.

Blaise and I traded glances

"That thing is this here?" I asked.

"He's a bloody safety hazard at this point," Blaise said, crossing his arms.

"Oh c'mon," Theo rolled his eyes, "That's no way to address our newest family member."

"Family member?" Blaise and I asked in unison.

"I want you guys to meet Percy."