The perfect Hufflepuff. Hmm. I'm going with - no surprise - Cedric Diggory! I don't care if he is one of the only well-known Hufflepuffs, he was pretty darn good at Hufflepuffing! Seriously, he was friendly, even to Harry, his competition in the Tri-Wizard Tournament! And he was loyal to Harry and Hogwarts and Cho and oh gosh I'm going to cry... Let's move on...

"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

~Dumbledore

~~~~

It took about fifteen minutes for me to calm down enough to realize I needed help. Whatever had happened to them, I would be of no use if I was sitting here hyperventilating. I needed someone to help simply so I'd calm down. But also because it seemed like they'd been kidnapped or something. Maybe the they Wren was talking about had succeeded. But who would help me?

The first person that came to mind was Scorpius. He'd do almost anything for Rose, and he'd probably believe me, unlike most people. So, I stumbled down to the dungeons. Once outside the Slytherin common room, I glanced at the Map, hoping some older Slytherins with later curfews were wandering around.

Benjamin Fleming was headed my way. I whipped the Cloak off and hoped he wouldn't ask what it was, or take me straight to a professor. He was Headboy, after all. I'd just have to take my chances.

Benjamin rounded the corner. He looked a bit surprised to see me, but didn't stop walking. When he reached the closed entrance to his common room, he turned to me.

"What are you doing out here? Lewis, right?"

I nodded. "Can you please get Scorpius?" To my relief, my voice sounded much calmer than I'd thought it would.

"Why?" Benjamin gave me a strange look. "It's past curfew for second years. What are you doing out here, anyway?"

"It's important," I said quietly. "Please..." If he didn't tell Scorpius I needed to see him, I didn't know what I'd do.

Benjamin frowned at me, then shrugged. "I'll tell him you're out here, if I see him."

"Thank you!"

Benjamin shook his head and muttered the Slytherin password. A passage opened, and he slipped through, leaving me alone. I sat down against the wall across from the hidden passage, and waited.

Minutes passed. I wasn't sure how many exactly, but it seemed like forever. I was acutely aware that every minute I spent waiting was one more minute where unspeakable things could be happening to my friends. Maybe they were unconscious. Or maybe they were being tortured. Who knew? I still had no clue where they were. Maybe there was a ransom note already...

Finally, the passage opened again, and Scorpius stuck his head out. When he saw me, he quickly crossed the hall and sat down next to me.

"What's wrong? Did they get mad?" His brow furrowed. "I can't believe they would-"

"I couldn't find them," I said shortly. "They aren't at Hogwarts."

He blinked. After a minute, he shook his head, obviously forcing himself not to believe me. "I'm sure you just haven't looked everywhere yet. Don't jump to conclusions like that."

"I know they aren't," I said. I unfolded the Map on the floor. "Look."

Scorpius stared at it in awe. "Wow... What is this?"

"It's a map of the school. It shows everyone who's in the school, and where they are. And James, Albus, and Rose aren't on here."

Scorpius had to see that for himself. He searched every inch of the Map, but came to the same sobering conclusion that I did. His face was paler than normal as he whispered, "They're gone."

"We have to find them!"

"How? Where could they be?" I could tell he was on the verge of panicking himself.

I probably wasn't supposed to tell Scorpius anything about the Cloak and Wren's letter. However, this was a desperate time. I needed help, and the only ones who would have known what was going on were James and Albus. Obviously, they wouldn't be much help to me.

I quickly explained everything, from the attempted robberies to the letter to our suspicions about Pouri. Scorpius listened to it all wide-eyed.

"So, you think Pouri is mixed up in whatever Wren Predatel was doing?" Scorpius asked, calmed down a little. "And they've kidnapped Rose and Albus and James." I nodded. "We should search for a ransom note, then. If they only want this Cloak you have, then surely they'd let everyone know they'd kidnapped them." His voice quivered a little at the end. Poor Scorpius. He and Rose were the closest friends ever.

"Good idea," I said. "Where do we look, though?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Let's try Gryffindor Tower first."

I threw the Cloak over both of us, and we quietly passed through the castle. We passed Peeves once, but of course he didn't see us. He was taunting two Ravenclaw prefects patrolling the halls. Mrs. Norris padded right past us, which was a relief. Sometimes I could swear she saw me through the Cloak.

When we reached the portrait, I pulled the Cloak off and folded it over my arm. "All right. You check the boys' dorms. I'll check the girls'. Okay?"

Scorpius nodded. We parted ways at the staircases. No one paid Scorpius any attention; he was here so often that people rarely noticed him anymore. Of course, normally he was with Rose. People probably thought he was looking for Albus and Rose, though. Which, in a way, he was.

I took the steps two at a time, not wanting to waste any more time. Once in my dorm room, I searched everywhere. I had a feeling the note would be in plain sight, but since it wasn't, I resorted to looking everywhere else. Behind beds, in sheets, under trunks. After about twenty minutes, though, I realized I wasn't going to find anything. Maybe Scorpius had had better luck. I quickly put everything back how it had been.

Scorpius was waiting for me when I got back. "Found it," he whispered as we walked back to the portrait hole. The noisy common room wasn't a good place to read the note, and both of us knew it. Too many nosy people interested in what was going on.

We stepped outside, careful to be out of earshot of the Fat Lady, and Scorpius unfolded the note and handed it to me.

Harry, we have your children. If you don't give us what we want, you'll never see them again. Bring you Invisibility Cloak to the edge of the forest by the end of the day tomorrow, and they'll be returned to you.
~P

I looked up at Scorpius. His mouth was pressed closed in a grim line. I was sure my expression was just as solemn.

"They must be in the Forbidden Forest," I whispered.

"Yeah. The P stands for Pouri, wouldn't you say?"

I nodded. "Come on. We can sneak past him into the forest and find them."

Scorpius hesitated for one second, then nodded. "We don't have any time to waste."

We took off for the main doors. Scorpius, who was holding the Map, told me that Filch was on the seventh floor, and Mrs. Norris was in the dungeons. I simply didn't see how we could get caught.

We rounded a corner, and I ran into someone. Of course, I started freaking out, and probably would have started firing curses without seeing who it was if Scorpius hadn't grabbed my wand arm and forced it down. "Astra, calm down."

I looked up to see Colette, who looked just as frightened as I was. I took a few deep breathes to slow my heart down. I really needed to calm down if I wanted any chance of finding my friends.

"What are you doing out here?" Scorpius asked Colette.

She stared at him for a minute, then crossed her arms. "I could ask you the same question."

"He asked first," I said.

Colette rolled her eyes. "I was in the library."

"Sneaking into the restricted section, probably," I said disdainfully.

"I don't see why I'd do that. I have permission to go there," she said. She looked flustered for half a second, though, then said, "And just what are you two doing out here?"

I glanced at Scorpius. I wasn't about to tell her, and it didn't look like he was either.

"I'll tell Professor Potter!" Colette threatened.

That was the last thing we needed. It would take hours to get aurors here, and by then Pouri would have obviously heard about it. And when they searched the forest, they'd find no sign of them. Rose, James, and Albus would be long gone. No way. "He'll know you were out, too!"

"I'll tell him I got worried, because you were gone."

I sighed. "We can't tell you."

"Well, I see no reason why I shouldn't tell Professor Potter you're out here."

Scorpius glared at her. "If we tell you, you can't tell anyone."

"Really, she'd have to just come with us," I mused. "That's the only way we could make sure she kept her mouth shut." After a minute, I admitted, "If they're in trouble, she could probably help."

Scorpius considered that, then nodded. "All right then. She'll come with us."

Colette had been watching that with a very confused look. "Mind telling me where I'm going, exactly?"

"On a rescue mission." I sighed, glancing at Scorpius. "Someone has kidnapped James, Albus, and Rose."

Scorpius held the ransom note out so she could see it. "We have to rescue them."

"We think Pouri's behind it."

"They want this," Scorpius said, holding the Cloak up.

"It's an Invisibility Cloak," I added. "So, either we use Pertificus Totalus on you and leave you here, or you can help. I guess you'd know a lot of curses and things."

Colette had been staring at me in shock for the past few minutes. Now that I was finally giving her a choice, she shook her head and said, "Fine, I'll go." Surprisingly easy. I thought she would at least disarm one of us.

"Leave the note," she whispered as she followed us.

"What?"

"Just drop the note. Someone will find it, and if anything happens to us, at least someone will know what happened."

I looked at Scorpius. That was actually a pretty good idea. He nodded after a minute. "All right," I whispered, letting the note drift to the ground. Someone would find it, though I hoped that James, Albus, and Rose would already be back and safe when they did.

We walked outside. We couldn't all fit under the Cloak, so we simply had to chance that they wouldn't see us. Anyway, it would be better if they saw us than simply heard us and realized we were invisible. I'd rather they didn't know we were carrying the Cloak.

It was dark, though. The moon was hidden behind clouds, and we could barely see to cross the stretch of grass to the forest. We paused on the edge, letting our eyes adjust and probably gathering our nerves. There was a reason this forest was forbidden. It was dangerous. I'd never been in, and had honestly hoped I'd never have to go in. Looked like that dream was no more. Finally, we set off into the Forbidden Forest.

I led the way, with the tip of my wand very dimly lit and pointed at the ground. Colette was behind me, and Scorpius behind her, probably making sure she didn't turn around and run off. I was a little surprised at how quickly she'd agreed to help. Maybe she was a thrill-seeker, like James and I were.

Every sound, from the wind blowing through the branches to my own footsteps, heralded some ominous monster of my imagination. I was half glad Colette was right behind me. Maybe a person interested in the Dark Arts was needed to enter the forest. At least she'd be able to curse any wild beasts we met. Or any wild headmasters.

As we walked, I heard something rustling in the bushes ahead of us. We froze. I could hear my heartbeat thumping wildly in my chest as my breathing sped up. Everything narrowed in on that bush.

I almost laughed with relief when a squirrel emerged, and scampered across the path. Then, we continued on, acting braver than we felt.

"Is that moonlight?" Colette whispered, almost too quiet for me to hear.

"Up ahead?" It seemed like it. We must have been coming up on a clearing.

We slowed down a little as we reached the edge of the clearing. It was empty, and the far side appeared to drop off into a cliff. I couldn't see the tops of the trees below, which meant it was fairly high.

"Which way?" Scorpius asked. I had no clue. Left or right? We obviously couldn't go straight.

Suddenly, Scorpius tensed. Colette and I both looked at him questioningly.

"Colette, you didn't happen to bring a friend, did you...?"

Colette frowned. "Don't be ridiculous. I don't have-"

She froze, and suddenly I heard it, too. Slow, deliberate footsteps. Coming from two directions, no less.

We drew our wands, but before whoever was coming had stepped into the clearing, they shouted, "Expelliarmus," three times.

~~~~

Question of the day: Out of all the Slytherin students we know from the books, who would you hold up as the model of perfect Slytherin behavior? (Gosh, am I ever beating this dad horse for all its worth? But seriously, Slytherin does not equal evil so I better not see any "Lord Voldemort!" down in the comments)

Vote and comment and don't think about Cedric...

*cries*

~Ellie