The Hospital Wing and the Astronomy Tower, the Sequel

"You must have gotten a lot of gossip in the past week," said Kiera. "Any stories to share?"

"Well, we spent most of our time plotting how to attack all the Muggle-borns," said Colin. "They're such a waste of space!"

"Col, you are a Muggle-born," said Kiera.

"Curse my Muggle parents," Colin muttered.

"Don't worry," said Pansy, putting her fat arm around Colin's shoulder. "With time, Colin, you can rid yourself of the Mudblood label."

"Time,"Â muttered Colin. "Everything takes too much time!"

"What are you saying, Colin?" said Kiera. "You want to suddenly get rid of Muggle-borns? This Slytherin has corrupted you!"

"I can't stand Muggle-borns!" Colin snapped. "They shouldn't be here!"

"You are Muggle-born," said Kiera. "Are you saying you aren't worthy?"

"I'm saying I may be a Muggle-born, but I'm not worthless like all them," said Colin. "And the sooner they're gone, the better."

"But almost half the Gossip Union's Muggle-born," said Kiera. "Lavender, you, Danni... You can't say you want to break up the Gossip Union!"

"Of course not," said Colin. "The Gossip Union is my life. We're the only worthy Muggle-borns in the school. The rest of them need to go!"

"That's the spirit," said Pansy. "And you know, it'll be easier to get rid of all the Muggle-borns since they're all in Gryffindor."

"How are you planning on doing this?" asked Kiera. "Actually, first, what are you planning on doing?"

"We were planning on attacking them in their sleep and then locking them all up in a room," said Colin. "We picked out the perfect room; its an unused class room."

"Why don't we visit it?" asked Kiera. "You can show me where you're going to lock up the Muggle-borns, and I'll help you round them up! And then, we can take silly photos, and send them to Witch Weekly!"

"Sounds like a plan," said Colin. "And by the way, Susan Bones and Dean Thomas have been getting a little friendly lately."

"As have Parvati Patil and Terry Boot," said Kiera. "But I haven't been interested in that really; it's Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley that I'm interested in. And now you say they've broken up, which is perfect!"

"Well let's go to that empty classroom then," said Pansy. "It's only down the corridor from here."

Kiera got to her feet and followed Pansy and Colin out of the secret chamber. The three of them trudged down the corridor, but stopped dead halfway to the classroom they were seeking.

They could see Ginny Weasley, apparently sitting on somebody. Somebody who looked very familiar, especially to the Gryffindors. Draco Malfoy stood beside Ginny, eyebrow raised, looking incidentally surprised.

Kiera frantically round at Colin.

Just then, Ginny looked up to see Kiera, Colin, and Pansy. She had enough time to cry out, before the person she was sitting on struggled out from under her and dashed off down the corridor.

Suddenly, the door to a classroom not far away swung open, and out stepped Sirius Black.

"What's going on out here?" he said. Then, as if for the first time, he saw Pansy and Colin. "You two were claimed missing!"

Pansy and Colin looked uneasily at one another.

"Well, well, this night is full of surprises," said Remus, who had just stepped out of the classroom behind Sirius. "Who'd like to explain this one?"

"Those two came out of nowhere with her," said Draco, gesturing to Colin and Pansy, and then Kiera. "And we caught 'Bob', you won't believe who it is!"

"But that's impossible," said Remus. "We've caught 'Bob' as well."

"It's possible there were two 'Bob's'," said Sirius. "Or there may well have been five."

Ginny stumbled to her feet. "Five 'Bob's'?" she said. "Were they all working together?"

Sirius strode over to Pansy and Colin and took them by the backs of their robes. "You two're coming with me," he said. "We're going down for a little questioning." He pushed them forward down the corridor.

Kiera stood by herself, pale-faced and wide-eyed.

"I was always suspicious of that one," said Draco. "But the real 'Bob', it was a girl! And a Gryffindor for crying out loud! I can't believe a Gryffindor would be clever enough to come up with a plan like that. But then again, it wasn't really a clever plan; she wasn't believable for one minute."

"Kiera, do you want to explain what's going on?" said Remus.

Kiera shook her head, making not a sound.

***

Lucius and Terry had followed Dumbledore to the headmaster's office, which he remembered so well. The headmaster had then left the former death eater just outside the door, and left with the head boy.

Now Lucius stood on the landing just outside the brass knockered door leading into the headmaster's office. He hesitated before turning the handle and entering.

Inside, Narcissa Malfoy sat huddled in a corner, rocking herself like a mental patient at St. Mungo's.

"Narcissa, get up off the floor," Lucius demanded. "We can't have you acting like some silly incompetent child."

Narcissa ceased her rocking and looked up. Her face appeared worried and unsettled, so much unlike her usual appearance. "Lucius," she said, her voice a hoarse whisper. "You're here!"

"It appears so," said Lucius. "Why are you acting like a fool? Pick yourself up of the ground!"

Narcissa obeyed quickly, unnecessarily dusting off the front of her robes as she did so. "Voldemort," she said, "he told me if I ever wanted to see my family again, I should come here. I didn't think he meant it so literally!"

"Voldemort?" said Lucius. "When did you talk to Voldemort?"

"He apparated to Azkaban," said Narcissa. "He freed me from my cell, and then he gave me orders to come here. He didn't finish his orders, because he must have seen someone coming. All I know is that he wanted me to come to Hogwarts, and here I am."

"In Dumbledore's office," Lucius mused. "How ironic; you're on orders from Voldemort, yet you're seeking help from Dumbledore."

"I'm not on orders," said Narcissa. "I don't know what he wanted me to do. But I was scared, Lucius. I was so scared. He told me he had Draco right where he wanted him, and I was scared for my child. And then he told me you were walking straight into the same trap."

"If by a trap he means safely away from him," said Lucius, "then yes, I've walked into the trap, so to speak. Voldemort can't get into Hogwarts, and neither can any of his supporters, if any yet remain."

"But I don't understand," said Narcissa. "Everything he told me-"

"He was, ah, pulling your leg, as the saying goes," said Lucius. "But look at us, worrying about that old bastard when we're both free from Azkaban. We ought to be celebrating!"

"We can't," said Narcissa. "What about Draco? Have you seen him? Is he safe? What if Voldemort meant Draco isn't at Hogwarts anymore, what if that's what he meant by trap!"

"Draco is at Hogwarts," said Lucius. "In fact, I only parted with him... well, not long ago."

"But we don't know where he is!" said Narcissa. "He could be anywhere! What if he leaves the school, what then? Voldemort's probably waiting just outside the grounds for him. I'll wager my life he is!"

"No, no, don't wager your life!" said Lucius.

"But it's for the safety of my child!" cried Narcissa. "What if we lose Draco?"

"Then we'll have a nice little funeral and get on with it," said Lucius. "What more could you possibly want?"

"I don't want to lose my son!" said Narcissa. "Who'll carry on the Malfoy name?"

"Oh, I suppose you're right for once," said Lucius. "I never thought about it that way..."

"Exactly," said Narcissa. "You didn't think it was for Draco's sake, did you? If you'd had a brother, I don't think we'd have ever needed Draco."

"Well, is that why you came?" Lucius asked. "That was a waste of time... It'd be easy to replace Draco. Quite easy indeed. But never mind that, Voldemort just left?"

"Yes," said Narcissa. "And I thought maybe you were in danger, because you'd disappeared as well. And then I came here, and Dumbledore told me you were here. And he told me a Death Eater was also here; one who was supposedly still locked up in Azkaban."

"Why does Dumbledore seem to know everything?" said Lucius. "Is that not even slightly odd?"

"Voldemort always knew everything," said Narcissa. "That's what makes him the greatest wizard of our time."

"That doesn't sound like something you'd have said only weeks ago," said Lucius.

"It isn't," said Narcissa. "Just like you, I only realised recently the importance of Dumbledore."

"But he still isn't the greatest wizard of our time," said Lucius. "I believe the greatest wizard of our time would be Lord Lucius Malfoy."Â

Narcissa looked momentarily doubtful, but quickly retreated. "Moving on," she said. "Dumbledore says he's been spying on the goings on at the school; he feels there have been suspicious occurances, and I couldn't agreed more; I mean, Voldemort tells me to come to Hogwarts, and you're here. I find that suspicious enough."

"Oy, my dealings with Voldemort are through," said Lucius. "But believe me, there is something rather strange going on; there's two Lucius imposters roaming this place."

"Lucius imposters?" said Narcissa. "Now why would there be Lucius imposters roaming the place? Unless of course, Voldemort's behind this?"

"Could be," said Lucius. "But Dumbledore said no Death Eater loyal enough to Voldemort could get into the castle."

"But what if it was the work of a, er, untrustworthy Death Eater?" Narcissa suggested. "Such as Pettigrew, I mean, he's not really on a side, is he? He's more of just... well, Voldemort's unfaithful servant."

"Why are you asking me?" said Lucius. "Do I look like the one who charmed the entry-ways of Hogwarts? I think anyone with good intentions could probably get into this accursed place, and anyone with no intentions as well. Maybe weak people like Pettigrew could also get in, but I really don't know."

***

In all the muddled confusion, Blaise and Ron had been left to guard the wardrobe in the empty classroom together. Of course, this pairing had only occurred by chance, and would have been despised by most, had they known. In other words, Ron being left alone with Blaise had been an accident, for the most part.

"So, it's just the two of us," said Blaise, an evil smile playing about her lips. "Us, Bob, and this here rat." She held up Peter Pettigrew, the rat. "See, Harry told me once that Pettigrew was once your pet rat; went by the name of, er, Bruisers, or, what was it?"

"Scabbers," said Ron. "Harry told you about that?"

"Harry and I do talk, you know," said Blaise.

Ron looked doubtful.

"We do!" said Blaise. "Sometimes. And every now and then, I learn a little morsel about you and Granger."

"Like what?" asked Ron.

"No need to ask," said Blaise. "Because I won't tell. Besides, there's a much more important task at hand; the torture of this little... rodent." She dangled Pettigrew in the air by his tail.

"What d'you have in mind?" asked Ron. "Should we set Mrs. Norris on him?"

"I like how you think," said Blaise. "But there are much more interesting things we could do involving, ah, say fire, and toilets, and, er... chicken."

"Chicken?" said Ron. "What kind of a torture device is chicken?"

"The kind my uncle uses," said Blaise.

"So you've got an Auror uncle, a death eater father, and an uncle who uses chicken to torture people?" said Ron. "And you think Weasleys are weird."

"It's the same uncle," said Blaise. "And he isn't an Auror, exactly."

"Then what exactly is he?" asked Ron.

"He's er, well, the kind of Auror who turns Muggles into chickens," said Blaise. "He was disturbed as a young child."

"As were you," said Ron. "Is your whole family this messed up?"

"No, not all of them," said Blaise. "My grandfather was very respectable. And he wanted naught to do with chicken, or Muggles. Or duck, for that matter. Come to think of it, he was nothing like any of his sons... I wonder where they got it from."

"Their mother?" Ron suggested. "Maybe she was weird..."

"She raised cats," said Blaise. "No one knew why, but she did."

"It's official," said Ron. "The Zabini's are definitely the strangest pure-blood family under the sun."

"That's not true!" said Blaise. "The Parkinson's are an odd bunch. You know, they have a cow called Polly, yet they call their daughter Pansy. Is that not queer?"

"Very queer, Blaise, very queer," said Ron.

"You remind me of Harry," said Blaise. "Only uglier, and, well, stupider."

"Oh thanks," said Ron. "And you remind me Malfoy, only more masculine."

Blaise thought these words over for a while, before deciding to ignore the remark. "Your girlfriend's in that closet, you know," she said. "I'll bet if we opened it, Granger would step out... She's 'Bob', I'm telling you."

"She is not," said Ron. "I know for a fact; I just left her in the Gryffindor common room."

"Well I'm bored," said Blaise. "And it wouldn't hurt to find out, so let's just open the closet, and then we'll know for certain."

"No," said Ron. "We can't open it; what if it's... what if it's You Know Who!"

"Suppose you're right," said Blaise. "But the only way you can get me to not open this closet is by proving it's not Granger in there."

"Fine," said Ron. "We'll just go to the Gryffindor common room, and you'll see for yourself."

"Am I that trustworthy?" said Blaise. "You're actually going to take me to the Gryffindor common room? Even Harry doesn't trust me that much."

"No, I won't take you in there," said Ron. "You wait here, I'll bring Hermione."

"But what if you don't come back?" said Blaise. "Then who's going to help me persecute the rat?"

"I'll be back," said Ron. "I promise."

"No one's ever made a promise to me before," said Blaise.

Ron didn't know what to say to this, so he left the room with one final glance at Blaise. Maybe she wasn't all that bad; but she was still bad enough.

***

Draco and Ginny had found themselves a nice little dungeon in which nobody would bother them.

"You know, I can't believe who turned out to be 'Bob'," said Ginny. "But then I suppose we should've expected something strange like this."

"I'm just thinking about what she said," said Draco. "It was as though she was planning to-to, well..."

"She's been planning to marry you," said Ginny. "And you barely even know each other!"

Draco cringed. "Exactly..."

"But tell me this," said Ginny, snaking her arms around Draco's neck. "When the two of you are married, will you still have the time for a girlfriend on the side?" And she kissed him, saving him from replying.

All of a sudden, the dungeon door swung open.

Draco and Ginny broke away swiftly, both looking at the one standing in the doorway.

"Dobby?" said Draco.

"Master Draco," said the frightened little house elf. "A bad man is in the dungeon! You should not be in the place that is the place in where the bad man is! Ginny Weezy! There is a bad man in the dungeon! Very bad!" The little house elf's eyes widened.

"Bad man?" said Ginny. "What bad man?"

"Very bad!" said Dobby. "You is not safe!"

"You haven't changed a bit," said Draco. "Still barking mad; even for a house elf."

"There is a very bad man," said Dobby. "You should not be in here where the bad man is!"

"What bad man?" Ginny asked.

Dobby raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. With a sudden blast of green light, a table was thrown up into the air, revealing a crouching man.

"Lockhart?!" Ginny and Draco exclaimed.

Gilderoy Lockhart looked up at them. "Hello," he said. "Don't mind me, I'm just spying on you for the Gossip Union. They told me if I can get a good story, I can join their club. I've never been part of a club before, so I'm really excited."

"I thought they locked him up in the mental ward at St. Mungo's," said Draco. "Why's he here?"

"I'm sorry, who are you talking about?" said Lockhart.

"You," said Draco. "You're a mental nut."

"That isn't a very nice thing to say," said Lockhart. "I do hope you'll apologise."

"I don't think I will," said Draco. "I meant what I said."

Lockhart made a pouting face which made Ginny laugh out loud.

"Is something funny?" Lockhart asked.

"Your face," said Ginny. "But that's beyond the point; what are you doing here?"

"I told you already," said Lockhart. "I'm spying on you."

"I'll bet he was working for 'Bob'," said Draco.

"I don't know who 'Bob' is," said Lockhart. "No, I'm working for somebody, but their name remains confidential information."

"Ooh, such big words," said Draco. "Must've been hard to get your tongue around that sentence."

"I could say it again," said Lockhart. "Do you want to hear me say it again?"

"Not entirely," said Draco.

"Bad man talking to pupils!" Dobby cried. "Dobby must save pupils!"

"This is the bad man?" said Ginny, pointing at Lockhart. "I don't think he could even hurt an ant if he tried with all his might!"

"Actually, he can hurt himself without wanting to," said Draco, "so he could have a nasty accident and set the room on fire."

***

Blaise sat down at a table in the empty classroom. She hung Pettigrew in the air and muttered, "Imobilus," and the rat hung in mid-air held by a magical force.

"So," said Blaise. "Is Voldemort in the closet?"

Pettigrew remained still and silent.

"You don't mind if I set your tail on fire, do you?" Blaise asked.

Pettigrew's eyes shifted around frantically in their sockets, but he moved no other muscle.

"Excellent," said Blaise. She raised her wand to the rat's tail and muttered, "Incendio!"

A flame of fire licked at Pettigrew's tail, but the rat did not flinch, mainly because he was held immobile in the air.

"So if Voldemort really is in the closet," said Blaise, "I probably shouldn't open it, should I? And if it isn't him, I still shouldn't open it, not while I'm alone like this, with nothing but a rat to save me. But I don't mind. Not really, I probably won't be missed much. And if Voldemort is in the closet, he wouldn't hurt me, would he? I mean, he would've forgiven me by now? Does he give second chances?"

Pettigrew's eyes shook side to side with panic.

"I'm not planning on joining the dark side," said Blaise. "But still, I'd like to make peace with the lord. I don't want to be murdered, but no one does, do they? You're awfully quiet, you know." Blaise sighed. "You're easy to talk to," she continued. "Draco always has some arrogant remark to make about everything I say, but you listen really well. I suppose that's all you're good for, isn't it? You knew Harry's father, didn't you? What was he like? I think Harry always wonders, and it's a bit depressing, really. He never talks about his parents, but I know he misses them, even if he doesn't remember them. I don't deserve Harry, you know. Not really. But I don't know why he's stayed with me so long; his friend's can't stand me. I'm no good for his reputation."

The rat's eyes squeezed shut with agony as the flame of the fire reached the hairs on his back.

"You don't have to rub it in," said Blaise. "Oh look at me, pouring out my heart like a wretched fool who has a heart."

"Maybe you should pour out your heart more often," said a voice from the door.

Blaise gasped.