Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
$Parseltongue$
Chapter 25: Let's hide
Hermione did not move. She had gone completely pale and was staring at the cat.
Harry knew her well enough to know that she was probably thinking about all the trouble they were going to get in for this. The detentions, the permanent record, the loss of points.
There was no time to argue with the girl so he took her hand and started to drag her away while Daphne and Traceyn followed behind.
When they turned the next corner to the right, there was no more trace of Neville, Ron, and Seamus.
"Those chubby boys can run surprisingly fast," Daphne commented.
"Where are they?, Miss Norris?" The unpleasant voice of the janitor could be heard getting closer and his steps started to get faster.
Hermione grip on his hand got a lot stronger.
"We are going to be expelled!" she whispered.
Harry scanned the corridor ahead, there were a few doors. But none of those were classrooms, not that they could hide there either unless they forced their way in.
He pulled Hermione a bit faster. The girl was too worried to pay attention to their surroundings and just let herself be dragged along by Harry.
Daphne gave him a few looks. Probably wondering what he was looking for.
Harry then found the room he had been looking for and stopped at the entrance.
"What are you doing?!, keep running." Said Tracey.
"All the classrooms are closed at night. And I don't think this is even a classroom." Daphne looked at the door. It was much smaller than the classroom doors she had seen so far, but she was still very unfamiliar with the castle.
Harry placed his hand on the handle and it immediately unlocked with a soft 'click'.
After inscribing his name on the arkstone with the other Headmasters of the school, as far as Hogwarts was concerned, Harry had the full authority of the Castle Master and could enter any room he wanted at any time of the day. There was no door in the castle he could not open.
He unlocked the door and hushed the others inside before closing it back again.
"Keep quiet," he whispered and the girls nodded.
They all waited in silence as Filch walked past the door and they got tensed when they heard him stop.
"What is it?, Miss Norris? Where are they?"
They waited a bit more but could not hear any more steps, which could only mean he was standing still, looking for them.
"No, Miss Norris, they cannot be here. These rooms are sealed, no students could open them. Let's go! They must have run very fast. We have to catch them!"
The hurried steps of Filch started to sound far away and they could breathe in relief.
"We are safe…wow, that was close. " Said Tracey.
"Yes…my dad would kill me if I got detention on the first week," Daphne added.
Hermione seemed to be recovering from her panic attack from earlier but still said nothing.
They glanced around the room.
"This is clearly not a classroom." Commented Tracey.
The room was a lot smaller than a classroom, was tastefully decorated, and filled with accommodations like several leather couches, coffee tables, and elegant chairs.
"I didn't know Hogwarts had rooms like these. This looks like a waiting room for guests. We have something like this in my family manor." Said Daphne.
"Hogwarts used to host parties and reunions between noble houses in the past, they must have used rooms like this one back then."
They all turned.to look at Hermione.
She shied away from the attention but continued.
"It's in ... .Hogwarts, a History, volume 1."
"Say, Potter, how did you open the door? it was clearly locked." Daphne asked.
"My father and his friends spent many years uncovering the secrets of this castle and he then shared some of that knowledge with me." It was the only explanation he could come up with that didn't mention time travel or dimensional jumping.
He walked to the nearby fireplace and pushed on one of the bricks.
The back part of the fireplace opened, revealing a dark corridor behind
"That will lead you to the dungeons, I trust you know how to use the lumos charm."
The three girls looked at him with shocked expressions.
"If you have questions, leave them for another occasion. We need to be back at our common rooms before Filch can warn our House Heads."
Daphne and Tracey looked at each other and noted.
"Very well, Potter. We can talk on a different day. "
She pulled her wand and softly said 'lumos'. The tip of the wand became bright like a lightbulb.
She did not hesitate to enter the hole in the fireplace and disappeared with her friend following behind.
Once they were gone, the entrance closed by itself.
"Let's go back. It should be safe now." Harry gave Hermione a look.
"Do I need to hold your hand again?" He asked.
Hermione became a bit embarrassed.
"I'm fine now!" she huffed.
They left the room and walked at a brisk pace without talking and just a few minutes later they reached the painting of the fat lady that covered the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
"Oh no…she is sleeping." Hermione pointed at the fat lady. She was lying comfortably on a big couch and snoring.
Harry could have just opened the painting without the 'guardian' permission, but that would have been too harder to explain compared to opening a normal door.
He instead tapped on the painting with his wand.
"She is going to be mad!" Hermione whispered with worry.
"Wake up already and let us in," Harry demanded.
The lady opened her eyes and looked at them with a very displeased expression.
"Is well past curfew, where were the two of you?"
"We lost track of time while snogging in a broom closet. The password is 'lions pride'. Now open up."
The fat lady looked outraged and Hermione became red as a tomato.
"I never!...hufff. Children these days. I can't believe this!"
The big woman started to complain but opened up the entrance anyway.
Harry went inside followed by an embarrassed Hermione.
"Harry!, why did you say that!" Hermione slapped his shoulder.
"Did you want me to tell the truth? Besides, who cares if she judges us? , is just a painting. " Harry shrugged.
"I…fine!. I'll never ask you for help again!" She shouted before storming up the stairs.
"If only that was true….I'm so tired…" Harry let out a yawn and went to his bed.