꧁☬⋆ᴴᴬᴿᴿᵞ ᴾᴼᵛ⋆☬꧂

"Nearly there!" Y/N panted as we reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.

Then a sudden movement ahead of us made us almost drop the crate. Forgetting that we were already invisible, we shrank into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared.

"Oh, Salazar, who could it be?" I heard Y/N mumbles.

"Sshh." Hermione shushes her.

We saw Professor Snape, also Percy along with Knight.

"Professor, I saw this kid out of his bed," Percy said. "I saw some red stains on his lips and face a while ago, and some bruise, I think this kid is getting bullied."

"HOW DARE THEM HURT KAYDEN."Y/N whispering-yelled nipping her thumbnail.

"Was that true Knight?" Professor Snape looked down at him. Knight stayed silent and closed his eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes, and I'll take care of this kid now prefect. After all, I am head of Knight's house; you may go now." Percy nodded and left.

After Percy left, it was silence. But then Snape spoke, "it happened again, huh?" But Knight stayed silent and nodded his head slowly.

Again? What are they talking about?

"What?" Y/N whispered.

"Let's get you to the hospital wing now, and let Madam Pomfrey take care of you," Snape added.

Then the steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the most natural thing in the world after that.

Not until we'd stepped out into the cold night air, we throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe correctly again. Y/N started panicking.

"I wonder what happened to Kayden, what if Kayden is getting bullied?" She panicked.

"Knight is strong; I don't think he would let people bully him. After all, Knight is scary every time he gets angry." Hermione added.

"Really?" I said, and Hermione nodded.

"You should have seen how scary he was when you and Y/N got in trouble at the flying class before."

"I'm so worried about Kayden." Y/N bit her lip.

Sighing about Knight, we waited, Norbert, thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed us the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them.

We all helped buckle Norbert safely into it, and then we shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.

At last, Norbert was going. . . going. . . gone.

"Bye-bye Norbert." Y/N pouted and sighed.

"Come, we have to go," I said.

We slipped back down the spiral staircase, our hearts as light as our hands, now that Norbert was off us. No more dragon, what could spoil our happiness?

As we stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness.

"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble. "

Oh no we left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower.

"Oh, shoot." Y/N whispered something more.

"How dare you put Y/N in trouble with you," Filch growled at us, things couldn't have been worse.

I put Y/N in trouble, and now I don't know what to do.

Filch took us down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where we sat and waited without saying a word to each other.

Hermione was trembling while Y/N was staring right in front of her, not showing any emotions.

Excuses, alibis, and wild cover-up stories chased each other around my brain, each more feeble than the last.

I couldn't see how we were going to get out of trouble this time. We were cornered, how could we have been so stupid as to forget the cloak?

There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept our being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes.

Add Norbert and the invisibility cloak, and we might as well be packing their bags already.

꧁☬⋆ᴺᴼ ᴼᴺᴱ'ˢ ᴾᴼᵛ⋆☬꧂

Had Harry thought that things couldn't have been worse? He was wrong. When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville and Ron.

"Good evening." Professor McGonagall spoke, then Draco Malfoy appears smugly beside her.

Once the professor's entered the classroom, the four stood up, and the six accused are standing in front of McGonagall desk while Draco is feet away from them, smirking.

"Nothing, I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, fifty will be taken."

"Fifty?!" Harry gasped, they would lose the lead, the lead he'd won in the last Quidditch match.

"Professor, please-"

"Each."

" And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all six of you will receive, detention." The professor glanced at them, Draco nods while smiling.

Professor McGonagall was disappointed, especially to the girl who is just staring at the floor.

But then, she suddenly smirked and looked towards the blonde Slytherin.

"I'm surprised you're still smirking, Malfoy." You spoke.

"Ha, you five will be receiving detention," Draco crossed his arm while smirking towards you.

"Oh poor Malfoy seems like you didn't hear the professor clearly, she said all six of us would be receiving detention." You looked at him with a smirk on your face.

His smirk vanished, "excuse me, Professor. Perhaps Y/N heard you wrong; maybe she thought you said "the six of us.""

"No, Miss Y/N heard me correctly, Mr Malfoy. You see, as honourable as your intention were, you too we're out of bed after hours. You will serve detention with your classmates." Professor McGonagall explained.

Harry, Y/N, Ron, Hermione and even Neville grins while Draco sags.

➱➱➱➱

From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the house cup. Everywhere Harry went, people, pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him.

Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"

But the Slytherins were, however, dissatisfied how they also lost a hundred points because of you and Draco. But they know how to get those points back if they do great especially to Professor Snape's class.

Hermione and Neville were suffering, too. They didn't have as bad a time as Harry, because they weren't as well-known, but nobody would speak to them, either. Hermione had stopped drawing attention to herself in class, keeping her head down and working in silence.

Ron's brother hasn't talked to him because he was part of the loss of points for the Gryffindor.

Harry was almost glad that the exams weren't far away. All the studying he had to do kept his mind off his misery. He, Ron, Hermione and Y/N kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, learn charms and spells by heart, memorise the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions. . .

Then, about a week before the exams were due to start, Harry and Y/N's new resolution not to interfere in anything that didn't concern them was put to an unexpected test.

Walking back from the library on their own one afternoon, they heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As they drew closer, he heard Quirrell's voice.

"No, no, not again, please--"

It sounded as though someone was threatening him. You and Harry shifted near.

"All right, all right --" they heard Quirrell sob.

Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry.

He strode out of sight; Harry and Y/N didn't think Quirrell had even noticed them. He waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end. You and Harry were halfway toward it before you both remembered what you two promised themselves about not meddling.

All the same, you'd have gambled twelve Sorcerer's Stones that Snape had just left the room, and from what Harry and you had only heard, Snape would be walking with a new spring in his step -- Quirrell seemed to have given in at last.

The two students went back to the library, where Hermione was testing Ron on Astronomy. You both told them what you two heard.

"Snape's done it, then!" said Ron. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell--"

"It's not him." You whispered under your breath.

"There's still Fluffy, though," said Hermione.

"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," said Ron, looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them.

"I bet there's a book somewhere in here telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry and Y/N?"

The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron's eyes, but Hermione answered before Harry could.

"Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves, we'll be thrown out for sure. "

"But we've got no proof!" said Harry. "Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor -- who do you think they'll believe him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining."

You stayed quiet, not wanting to fight with telling them that it's not your uncle. Hermione looked convinced, but Ron didn't.

"If we just do a bit of poking around--"

"No," said Y/N coldly, "we've done enough poking around." Without looking up to them and continued reading your books.

The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Y/N, Hermione, Ron, Neville and Draco at the breakfast table. They were all the same:

Harry had forgotten they still had detentions to do in the furore over the points they'd lost. He half expected Hermione to complain that this was a whole night of studying lost, but she didn't say a word. Like Harry, she felt they deserved what they'd got.

While you and Draco haven't spoken to each other after that night.

"I can't believe that you have to go to detention, right on your birthday." Easton shook his head, disappointed.

"We're supposed to be celebrating it in our dorm with the others but-" Kayden spoke but you cut her off by placing your index finger at her lips.

"I'm sorry. I know we all want to celebrate my birthday together, but it seems like karma finally hit me for being nosy."

"We can always do it after that." Kayden smiles, you nodded at her along with the others.

You looked at her worried, curious on what her uncle and Kayden were talking about and how she got those red stains and bruises.

"Ken's right, we can always celebrate your birthday the next day." Ben grinned.

At eleven o'clock that night, you said good-bye to your friends in the Slytherin common room and went down to the entrance hall with the four Gryffindors.

Filch was already there -- and so was Malfoy. Harry had also forgotten that Malfoy had gotten a detention, too.

"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.

"I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he said, leering at them.

"Oh yes...hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me...It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out...hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed... Also, it's a bit sad for you Y/N to celebrate your own birthday in detention."

The boy's eyes widen as they twist their head towards at the quiet Slytherin girl.

Y/N wondered what will be their punishment was going to be. It must be something really horrible, or Filch wouldn't sound so delighted.

The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness.

"You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight. He's got a little job to do inside the dark forest."

Ahead, Y/N could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout, "Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, and I want ter get started. "

Harry's heart rose; if they were, going to be working with Hagrid, it wouldn't be so bad. His relief must have shown in his face because Filch said,

"I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy -- i,t's into the forest you're going, and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece. "

At this, Neville let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.

"The forest? I thought that was a joke! We can't go there. Students aren't allowed. And there are-"

But then they heard a howl sounds.

"Werewolves!!"

Neville clutched the sleeve of Y/N's robe and made a choking noise.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with glee.

"Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

"Oh please, let's get this over." You finally spoke.

"Right, let's go," Hagrid said.