Harry Potter and the Parliament of Dreams - 27. To the Edge…

“Salute! One… two… three!”

“Expelliarmus!” Bulstrode yelled immediately.

“Deflecto!” Harry successfully deflected the spell.

“Rictusempra!”

“Expelliarmus!” Harry dodged that spell and retaliated with his own successful one, catching her wand.

“Harry Potter wins the match!” Lupin shouted.

Harry went back to sit down next to Draco. Draco had won his match against Ron, much to Ron’s chagrin.

“Finnegan and Zabini, you’re up,” Snape commanded.

The boys faced each other and saluted. “One…two… three!” Lupin shouted.

“Expelliarmus!” both boys shouted at the same time and ended up holding each other’s wands.

“Draw! Exchange wands and face off again!” Snape roared over the crowd’s cheers.

The boys faced each other again. “Salute! One… two… three!” Lupin yelled.

“Rictusempra!” Blaise roared as he dodged Seamus’s blasting spell.

Seamus got nailed with the laughing spell and was unable to deflect Blaise’s disarming spell.

“Blaise Zabini wins!” Snape told the crowd with a slight smirk.

“That concludes today’s combined class. You are all dismissed. Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter, if you’d be so kind as to stay behind?” Lupin said to the combined Slytherin and Gryffindor Dueling class.

The whole class trickled slowly out of the room leaving Harry and Draco behind.

“Mr. Potter, if you’d be so kind as to step into the dueling circle,” Snape said crisply while taking the opposing position.

“You want me to duel you?” Harry asked in surprise.

“You will disarm me as quickly as possible Mr. Potter,” Snape said firmly.

“Yes sir,” Harry replied confidently.

“Disarm only, Potter,” Snape reiterated.

Harry nodded and took position. They saluted and Lupin counted down. As soon as he reached one, both Professor Snape and Harry cast Expelliarmus.

Harry held up his left hand when Snape’s spell was about to hit and it dissipated. Snape was too shocked to notice though because Harry’s spell slammed home traveling much faster than he had been expecting. He was thrown completely off his feet and through the air, to land with a satisfying loud thump several feet further back.

Draco, who was standing next to Lupin, only looked on in shock. He hadn’t seen a teacher beaten that badly since Snape did the same thing to Professor Lockhart in his second year.

Snape got slowly to his feet and looked over at Harry, “You are the first person to beat me in a duel in over fifteen years. Congratulations.”

Harry looked at him in shock.

“We’ll test Draco next week. I’m afraid I’m a little old to be flying through the air too often,” Snape smirked at the expressions on Harry and Draco’s faces.

“You two can go now,” Lupin told the two boys.

As soon as the boys were out of the room and the door was closed, Lupin turned to Snape, “What in the nine hells was that Severus?”

“Mr. Potter has greatly improved his skills and he’s managed to be able to hide it from others. I would not have guessed his skill by simply watching him in class.”

“No doubt numerous people were doing just that to report back to Voldemort.”

“No doubt.”

“Did you see what he did with your spell Sev?”

“No. I was a little distracted at the time,” Severus responded dryly.

“He caught it in his left hand and dissipated it.”

“He did what?!” Snape demanded.

“He caught your spell in his left hand and appeared to absorb the magical energy.”

“That could prove to be very useful.”

“I’d say. We should report our findings to the Headmaster,” Lupin replied.

“No need,” Dumbledore replied, seemingly stepping out of thin air.

“What do you make of it Albus?” Severus asked unbothered by the old man’s sudden appearance.

“I think we need to do some more research. Please continue on with the plan and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”

“Yes sir,” both men replied together.

All three left the room together.

Draco and Harry left the classroom after staying for the extra dueling and went straight down to the Great Hall to eat dinner with the other Gryffindors.

They arrived in the hall just in time to see Professors Snape, Lupin and Dumbledore sitting down to dinner. They looked at each other and shrugged slightly.

They sat down between Fred and George Weasley. Draco was next to George and Harry was next to Fred.

“Fred. George,” Harry greeted them.

Draco nodded to them both.

“Gentlemen,” both Weasleys said together.

“An interesting show you put on today with dueling, Harry,” George told Harry, leaning slightly across Draco.

“You didn’t see the half of it George,” Draco said under his breath, but loud enough for George to hear it.

“Oh? What’s that Draco?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Draco replied, looking pointedly at the other Gryffindors, whose attention they were drawing.

Everyone else went back to eating and ignoring the four boys. They finished quickly and exchanged furtive glances with each other several times during the meal.

Draco and Harry got up together and wished everyone else a good evening. George and Fred got up a few seconds later and followed them. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances but were able to distract themselves with each other within moments.

Draco and Harry only got as far as the stairs when both twins caught up with them.

“Why don’t you come with us?” George asked casually as he looped his arm around Draco. Fred did the same to Harry and then both twins altered their direction.

They looked over their shoulders to make sure that they weren’t being followed before stepping through a solid wall, pulling both Harry and Draco with them.

Harry and Draco went with them without protest, having checked the twins’ minds without conscious thought on their parts. Both twins were normal and meant them no harm at all. They didn’t invade the twins’ privacy any further though. They were getting better about that.

The twins led them through several different corridors and doorways before they ended up in a fairly sizable laboratory. One side of the room had a potions lab set up and the other side of the room was crammed with boxes from floor to ceiling, except the spot where a large, four person couch was located. The twins maneuvered their way to the couch and sat, pulling the two younger boys with them.

“What’s going on?” Fred asked.

“Harry is really good at dueling,” Draco answered for Harry.

“Not that. I meant overall. It is obvious that you two are developing extraordinary powers.”

“What of it?” Harry asked defiantly.

“Nothing,” Fred held up his hands in submission.

In a sudden rush, Harry tried to stand up, only to wobble and fall back into Draco, his eyes rolling up into his head. Draco gripped Harry tightly and then went limp against George.

The twins stared at each other over the two unconscious boys, unsure of what they should do.

Harry found himself drifting in a vast, empty grayness. It felt like forever passed before he saw something other than gray. Without warning, the gray vastness disappeared and images started to rapidly fly by him. Faces of dozens and dozens of people whizzed past him, going in all directions. Some of the faces he recognized and some he didn’t. This went on for some time before it stopped to be replaced by all black.

Out of the blackness came a vision of Fred Weasley. A black robed figure smashed him in the back of the head with a beater’s bat. He saw the black robed figure then stab another boy in the gut. After the figure withdrew the knife, he turned and kicked Fred hard. He leaned down with the knife dripping the other boy’s blood and it looked as if he was about to stab Fred.

Harry yelled “NOOOOOO!” with everything he had. No sound came out that he could hear, but the black robed figure’s head snapped upwards and then he ran down the hall, leaving Fred and the other boy behind.

“No! NO! NOO! Fred! No God NO! AHHH!” Harry surged up from underneath Draco looked about wildly and then collapsed crying into Fred’s lap as George stared on in shock.

Fred wasn’t sure what overcame Harry, but he did everything he could to comfort the younger boy. George started to gently rub Draco’s arm, trying to bring him around. After a few minutes Draco woke up. He immediately grabbed both his temples and started moaning in pain.

“Harry? What happened Harry?” Fred asked the boy in his arms insistently.

Harry looked at him, his eyes blank. “I saw you get attacked. The man was going to stab you, but he ran off instead.”

Fred reached up and rubbed the spot on the back of his head where he had been hit during the attack.

“My head hurts,” Harry moaned.

“We should get them down to Madam Pomfrey,” George whispered to his brother.

Fred nodded and got up, pulling Harry up with him. George got up and pulled Draco onto his feet. The twins then coaxed both boys down to the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey looked at them both and went to get a sleeping draft. Very shortly after that, both twins were gone and Harry and Draco were asleep in the infirmary again.

Merlin, despite his very obvious connections to both the wizarding world and Muggle world, was very rarely spoken about. Muggles thought that the man was a myth. The wizards, who knew better, somewhat feared the man’s power. Merlin was an expert in wandless magic. He was known to support the British Muggle King, Arthur and the boy’s father before him.

What was little appreciated in modern times was Merlin’s strong ties to prophesy and divination magic. Many modern wizards thought of divination as a lesser form of magic because it was quite often unpredictable. Merlin saw what happened in the past, what was going on miles away at the current moment and things that were going to happen in the future. Despite the unpredictability of Divination, Merlin was always right with his predictions.

One reason Merlin was always right was because he was able to cross over into the dreamy existence of thought that lived between moments in time. In this land of dreams, all possibilities existed, but the one that was most likely to occur would loom larger than all the rest. What had happened, what was happening and what will happen. The future events may have been something that was coming in the long run or coming in the next moment. The events themselves seem to bump and grind with each other as time passed in this remarkable place.

At times, these dreams of events yet to come seem to battle one another for supremacy. In time as Merlin grew and learned what this place was, he created his own name for it. He called it, the Parliament of Dreams.

George was up with the sun very early the next day. He was out flying on the Quidditch Pitch, practicing. He looked up as the bludger came his way again.

George batted the bludger with all his might, causing the small ball to go careening through the air and straight through the central hoop. Almost as soon as it passed through, the ball reversed course and went soaring after him again.

He smacked the bludger again, this time sending it flying towards the central part of the pitch. It curved in flight and went straight towards a new figure on the field. The person was wearing the green Quidditch robes of Slytherin House. A beater’s bat appeared in the man’s hand and the bludger was sent flying towards George.

George responded to the unvoiced challenge by whacking the bludger into the flight path of the person.

They whacked the bludger back and forth for a half an hour and not until the sun was well into the sky did they say a word to each other.

The two men landed and stared at each other for a moment.

“What are you doing out on the pitch this early Weasley?”

“I had a lot to think about Professor. This vigorous activity helps me to think.”

“I didn’t know any of you Weasleys thought.”

“We certainly think more than the Snape family, Professor.”

Professor Snape let the topic drop. “What happened last night with Potter and Draco?”

“Harry collapsed, followed shortly afterwards by Draco. Harry woke up a few minutes later screaming hysterically for my brother. Harry told Fred that he saw his attack. He complained of a nasty headache so we brought them both down to Madam Pomfrey as soon as they were able to move.”

“I see,” Severus replied, filing the information away for later. He switched topics, “I have had a supply of newt’s eyes disappear. Do you know anything about it?”

“I heard that some Ravenclaw second years were making some glowballs.”

Snape’s eyebrow rose upwards on the right side. “Those are a little advanced, even for those brainy brats.”

“That was what I heard. I didn’t have any spares so I told them to seek elsewhere. I think they went to William Hornsby, one of your sixth years I believe.”

Snape’s lips curled into a growl, “He is. He would be just the type to raid my storage cupboards too. That reminds me, I have something for you.” Snape reached into his robe and pulled out a tiny package. He then pulled out his wand and tapped it. The package returned to its normal size. He handed it over to George.

“Is this what I think it is?” George asked, barely containing his excitement.

“It is. Hagrid stopped in Knockturn Alley to pick them up for you when he was in London yesterday.”

“Thank you Professor. These are just what I needed to complete my experiment,” George said with his eyes nearly glowing with excitement.

Snape muttered a “You’re welcome” to his retreating back. He smirked to himself. There were very few people that got as worked up as him over a difficult potion. He found it quite amusing that a Weasley was one to be as interested in Potions as he was. He shook his head to himself as he watched George jogging away.

George Weasley’s potions grade were usually mediocre at best. He didn’t discover why for sometime, but he finally did. George was very advanced in potions. He was the one who did most of the potions work and research for the continuous stream of jokes that the twins made. In class, George seemed to master a potion on the first shot, but then spend the rest of the time making other people’s potions explode. Occasionally he made his own do so. He had Snape fooled for four years.

After he discovered the truth, he went about doing what he could to assist George here and there. It was also about this time that he discovered that the Weasley Twins were pretty much in charge of the school’s black market. He was disappointed that it wasn’t a Slytherin. After all, Slytherins were supposed to be the ambitious ones. In fact, he himself had held the position years before. He also did other work. It was what brought him in contact with Dumbledore originally all those years ago. It was through that contact that led him to be a spy for Dumbledore.

Snape felt compelled to help the twins, despite their Gryffindor status. The twins smuggled a ton of different things into the school. Oddly enough, once they discovered that Snape wouldn’t punish them, they started to share information with him. Snape found the information invaluable in monitoring the various activities of students. It was quite helpful to have the twins report directly to him, instead of having to wait for them to report to the Headmaster. He found that he got much more information this way.

The twins often arranged to have someone caught if the activity they were up to was too dangerous. No one even suspected that the twins were involved in the captures. Snape admired the boys’ deviousness. It was at a level that was worthy of a Slytherin. The odd thing was that the deviousness was channeled towards the infernal Gryffindor honor. That helped too.

He walked back in the castle, stopping in his rooms only long enough to drop off his broom and change out of his Quidditch robe. Life was good. It was time for breakfast and then of course his normal Monday morning double potions with the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins.

“Sevvy. Good morning,” Remus said as Severus stepped out of his room.

“Good morning, Remy.”

“I was just coming down here to see if you were ready for breakfast.”

“Indeed I am,” Severus said lightly.

“Good.”

The two men went to the Great Hall together.

Harry woke up early the next morning not knowing where he was. He sat up suddenly and recognized the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey strolled in at just the right time. “Good morning Harry. I was just coming in to wake you up. How are you feeling?”

“Okay I guess. Why am I here?” Harry asked in confusion.

“Nothing too serious. You had a strong reaction headache. I gave you a sleeping draft and thought it would be best for you both to stay here for the night.”

Harry nodded and looked over as Draco got up.

“What are we doing in here?” Draco asked in a confused voice.

“We had headaches and Madam Pomfrey gave us a sleeping draft.”

“Oh.”

“It would probably help for you two to get right on with your schedule. It is breakfast time. You have an hour before your Monday classes start. So get going.”

Harry and Draco exchanged glances before walking out of the infirmary.

Madam Pomfrey followed them for a little bit, but turned off at the stairway that led to the Headmaster’s office. She spoke the password and rode up the stairs. She knocked and entered the large office when she heard the Headmaster’s voice.

“Good morning Albus. I was hoping I’d catch you before you went down to breakfast.”

“I’m still here Poppy. How are the two boys?”

“They didn’t remember how they got down to the infirmary or why.”

“That is not uncommon for the person that has the vision. It is a little odd that Mr. Malfoy didn’t remember though.”

“Perhaps it is because of their strong connection?”

“Perhaps. Shall we go to breakfast?” Albus asked, closing the conversation.

The day passed quickly and George found it hard to contain himself all day long. In fact, he was so distracted that he did perfectly in potions class. He forgot to keep up with his charade. Snape looked into his cauldron and told him he could go. He ended up in the Great Hall doodling notes on several different pieces of parchment. Fred had to collect him and drag him off to their next class.

It wasn’t until after dinner that he had the chance to collect the package he had locked into his trunk earlier that morning. He had separated from Fred so that he could get it. He had the package in his left hand as he approached the slightly ajar door to their secret laboratory.

He heard voices inside and he paused at the door to listen.

“Ouch! Fred, it hurts. Pull it out!”

“It’s not that big, stop whining.”

George’s eyes went wide open.

“Pull it out Fred!”

“It’s only in a little bit, it can’t hurt that bad.”

“Pull it out!”

“Almost there!”

“It hurts Fred, pull it out!”

“Got it! I can’t believe you were making all that fuss over such a tiny sliver.”

George was roaring with laughter as he tumbled into the room, package still in hand. “I was wondering what you two were getting up to. I should have known it wasn’t anything interesting,” George said between laughs.

Fred glared at him and wrapped his arm around Zavien, “He was in pain and I was taking care of him.”

“I’m sure. I hope he yells like that for other activities.”

Zavien blushed a dark crimson and so did Fred.

“Anyway,” George said into the uncomfortable silence, “Professor Snape came through for us. It’s here!” George held up the small bundle and Fred hopped up so fast he almost threw his startled boyfriend on to the floor.

“Professor Snape came through? I can’t believe it. How did he get it?”

“He had Hagrid pick it up in Knockturn Alley when he was in London yesterday on Hogwarts business.”

“Excellent. Remind me later to stop by and thank Hagrid.”

“I will, brother of mine.”

“What are you two all excited about? And did you say that Professor Snape helped you out? I thought he hated Gryffindors?” Zavien asked a series of questions that neither twin felt overly inclined to answer.

“Fred, he’s your boyfriend. Why don’t you go somewhere and talk with him?”

“George, why are you talking about me like I’m not here?”

“What? Oh sorry Zavien. I’m just a little distracted. I’ve been waiting some time to get my hands on this stuff. Fred will tell you what he can. I need to get to work.”

George waited until Fred pulled Zavien from the room and he heard the door click shut before he opened the package. After carefully inspecting the contents, he started to brew a potion.

Once he had the other ingredients simmering, he started to carefully dice the special ingredient. As soon as he was done dicing he checked to make sure that the cauldron was simmering. He stirred it a few times and then dumped the last ingredient. The concoction had to sit for a month before the next ingredients could be added.

Fred pulled Zavien onto his bed and closed the curtain. He doubted that George would be making it back tonight anyway.

“What was that all about?” Zavien demanded as he rolled on top of Fred.

“What do you feel for me?” Fred asked in small voice.

Zavien stared at him holding eye contact for several minutes before responding in a quiet voice, “I love you Fred Weasley.”

“Hand me your wand,” Fred asked, pulling out his own.

Zavien did so and Fred put it in his right hand with his own. “Put your hand over mine so that it is on both wands.”

Zavien did so.

“Repeat after me. Amor.”

“Amor.”

“Credo. Fides.”

Zavien repeated the words. As soon as he completed a bubble of blue-green light surrounded them both and then closed in on them. As soon as it touched their skin, it left them tingly. Fred smiled.

“What did that spell do?” Zavien asked quietly.

“Amor means love. Credo is to trust. Fides is honor. The spell is cast between partners and close friends. It is a protection spell of sorts. It also has other miscellaneous effects. For example: I think your stupid.”

“Hey! Hold it. I felt you lie to me.”

“Yes. Know that from now on that if I lie to you that it is to protect someone. I wanted to cast that spell first before I went further, because what I’m about to say is only known to a handful of people. Can I have your word of honor that you shall never repeat anything I’m about to tell you to anyone without my explicit permission?”

“I swear,” Zavien said solemnly.

“This is a long story. I suggest we get comfortable before I begin.”

As soon as he said it, Fred squirmed his way loose of Zavien, got up out of bed and stripped down to his boxers. Zavien lay on the bed stunned for a moment before he too got up and stripped.

Fred admired his boyfriend’s defined abs as he was undressing.

Zavien blushed when he noticed Fred’s admiring stare.

Fred climbed back into the bed and held up the covers. Zavien crawled hesitantly into bed next to him. Fred dropped the covers.

“I think I’ll just jump into the explanation. You know how ever year they choose a seventh year student to be head boy and one to be head girl?”

“Of course.”

“And you know that the Headmaster has recruited students to spy on each other. What you don’t know is that every few years they choose between one and three boys or girls for another position. This one doesn’t have a name. It’s not even talked about. A lot of wizards you’d have heard of have had the positions. Remus Lupin, James Potter and Severus Snape of all people who have had it.”

“What is it?”

“More like what are they? Sometimes it is the same person doing several jobs, but most of the time it is several people. The Headmasters throughout the years, but most especially Professor Dumbledore, have lived off the information. The students involved, in this case, George and I, are in charge of gathering information and running the black market. The Headmaster and one or two Professors know about who is in charge, but that’s all. Professors Snape and McGonagall are the only two that I know for sure are aware of what’s going on. We help them and they help us. It works out to be a win-win situation for everyone involved.”

“That sounds so Slytherin,” Zavien replied, with his nose scrunched up. “How do the other spies fit in?”

“The other spies work independently of us to help verify information and catch things we might miss. As for your Slytherin comment, haven’t you latched onto the reality of the sorting yet? Just because you ended up in one house doesn’t mean you didn’t have qualities of another. Ambition and cunning are both the most desired traits in Slytherin. It’s just that George and I have more courage, which is the Gryffindor trait. Look at Harry Potter. He almost got sorted into Slytherin, and he is a Gryffindor.”

“Of course he’s in Gryffindor.”

“No you goof. He is a descendent of Godric Gryffindor. That is why he has that very fancy flat. They say only a Gryffindor can open the door, and he bloody well opened it.”

“Oh. I just thought it was because he was Harry Potter.”

“Harry has the same run of the castle that we have, though I don’t think he consciously knows it. He has that run because he is Harry Potter. It really tweaks Professor Snape. It used to anyway. He’s been a lot more tolerable lately.”

“I know he is the Boy Who Lived and all, but other then that, why is he special?”

“First and foremost, though no one knows it, he is the Gryffindor heir. As you know, his mother was Muggleborn. That’s the story anyway. Hermione Granger has been doing a genology study of Harry Potter and family. The Headmaster said he’d tell me the results when it was done. From what I’ve seen and heard, there is a LOT more to Harry Potter then most people have seen. You no doubt recall the projective empathy that we were subjected to? They have been refining that ability.”

“How does Draco fit in?”

“Draco is bound to Harry at a level deeper than magic. Harry seems to be giving his powers to Draco through that bond. If I had a guess, I’d say that Draco is naturally very powerful anyway.”

“Why are you so close to Harry?”

“I suppose it started back in his first year. He chose Ron over Draco Malfoy as a friend. I can’t tell you how much it meant to Ron to have someone choose him as a friend. All of us older brothers make it tough on him to do anything unique. He can say that he made friends with Harry Potter first. After we’ve seen how his muggle relatives treat him, he became part of our clan. Dumbledore approached us about keeping an extra eye on him, which we gladly did. That now extends to Draco, though I’d imagine Mum and Dad still have a bit of a crunch on that. At least until they see Harry and Draco together for more then the few minutes of that meeting. That will remove any doubt in their mind.”

“You knew about the meeting?” Zavien asked in surprise.

“Please. There is very little that passes in this castle that we don’t hear about. Dumbledore said we’d be invited to join when we graduate in June. Until then, we are going to be very busy training our replacements and maintaining our work, of course.”

“Replacements?”

“Yes silly. You didn’t think I’d explain all this without a purpose did you?”

“I thought it was just so I would know what you were doing.”

“It is so you know what we are doing, but it is also because I’d like you to join in and be a member of the elite.”

“You think I could handle it?” Zavien asked surprised.

“Of course,” Fred replied with absolute firmness.

“Thanks.”

Fred smiled. “Is that enough for tonight?”

Zavien nodded slowly.

Fred pulled Zavien back onto the bed so that he was completely in Fred’s arms. Zavien tensed up. Fred whispered into his ear, “Are you okay with this? I’m feeling somewhat tired and cold and I would really like to hold you while we sleep.”

“Yes,” Zavien replied, his voice heavy with emotion.

Fred pulled him in really close and slowly stroked his firm abs. He gently kissed Zavien along his neck and cheeks.

Zavien sighed deeply.

George had no sooner finished cleaning up the laboratory when he heard a knock on the door. He drew his wand and sent a spell at the door causing it to pop open. Blaise was standing on the other side, looking a little lost.

“Blaise. What’s wrong?” George asked with concern in his voice.

“I was feeling really lonely and I wanted to see you.”

George crossed the distance between the two and pulled Blaise into a hug. Blaise’s body stiffened and he grimaced.

“What’s wrong?” George asked sharply.

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit,” George growled.

“I… I… I…”

“Lift your shirt,” George whispered quietly.

Blaise looked frightened but eventually lifted his shirt. His chest and stomach was a hodgepodge of scratches and bruises.

“Who?” George asked in the same quiet, though the single word was charged with electricity.

“Warrington. One of our chasers.”

“Why?”

“He said that I shouldn’t be fraternizing with the enemy.”

George pulled out his wand and cast several healing spells on Blaise. The dark haired boy stood there shivering. “Okay. Let’s go someplace safe to talk.”

Blaise was hesitant.

“Come along Blaise, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know,” Blaise replied quietly as he moved so that he was pressed tightly against George. He started to sniffle as tears started to roll down his face.

“It’s okay Blaise,” George said comfortingly as he gently hugged his boyfriend. Blaise broke down completely in his arms.

As soon as Blaise was reasonably calm, George directed him slowly out of the room. The trip to the secret room near the Astronomy tower and Gryffindor Flat passed by quickly. George pulled a vial out of the cabinet in the corner of the room.

“Drink this. It will help you sleep,” George encouraged him quietly.

“Okay. Where are you going?”

“I’m going to go take care of something,” George said quietly, though the way he said ‘something’ left little doubt to Blaise what he was referring to.

“Okay,” Blaise replied, taking the vial and drinking it quickly. He was asleep by the time his head hit the pillow.

George smiled lightly, pulled the blanket up over the top of him and gave him a kiss on his forehead.

George walked out of the room and quickly entered a secret passageway. This passage was one he did not use very often. It led to a small room that had a big purpose. On the wall of this room was a full scale drawing of all of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. The enchantment for it was only completed near the end of last year. It acted very much like the Marauder’s Map, if one knew how.

“This is George Weasley. I am Alpha Omega. Show me the school.”

The map on the wall went from a scale drawing of the school to being instantly filled with a dot for every person in the area. George looked it over for a moment before tapping his wand on it lightly and saying, “Show me Christopher Warrington.”

The map zoomed to show an isolated corridor on the eighth floor. The corridor was small and was off from the central stair atrium. It led to several storerooms. Warrington was currently in one of the storerooms with a dot labeled, “Wayne Hopkins.” Since the map was zoomed in so far, he could see that Wayne Hopkins was a fifth year Hufflepuff.

“Isolate floor eight North corridor for thirty minutes,” George ordered the map.

He watched as the stairwell moved away from the eighth floor landing. It effectively left both young men trapped there.

Less than ten minutes later found George Weasley on the eighth floor, stepping out of one of the secret passageways. He waved his wand and muttered a word under his breath that caused all the secret doors to lock on the level.

He stalked quietly down the hallway towards the storage room that held Christopher Warrington and Wayne Hopkins.