Your breath caught in your throat as you heard Mrs. Norris' familiar hiss, along with the raspy voice of none other than Argus Filch. "They're in here somewhere...probably hiding."

Heart pounding, you nodded as Harry mouthed 'this way!' to the others. The five of you began to make your way down the hallway filled with suits of armor, your reflections in each silver suit.

Suddenly, a terrified squeak erupted from Neville. He began running, then promptly tripped and brought Ron down with him into one of the metal suits.

"RUN!" Harry shouted over all the clanging. You had no doubt that Filch had heard the ruckus and was coming to investigate.

Without a second thought, you ran after Harry, following him through the gallery, your heartbeat pounding in your ears. You followed him through a hidden passageway, ending up near what you recognized at your Charms classroom.

Breathless bickering quickly ensued, Hermione snidely commenting,"I told you!"

Though you hated to admit it, the bushy haired Gryffindor had been right; it was a trap. Malfoy really had set you, Harry and Ron up. He never intended on dueling you three. He had just wanted to get you in trouble!

That cowardly ferret!

"Let's go." Harry said curtly in a clipped tone, clearly not in the mood to deal with Hermione's gloating.

Easier said than done. For Peeves, the castle's Poltergeist, had caught sight of the five of you and was squealing with a terrible look on his face.

"Shut up, Peeves." You hissed, your gaze flitting about your surroundings to make sure Filch hadn't heard.

"Yeah, you'll get us thrown out!" Ron added.

Peeved just grinned maliciously, cackling in delight. "Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

You rolled your eyes, a snide comment in mind.

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please." Neville spoke, pleading, before you could tick off the ghost.

"Should tell Filch, I should," Was Peeves' response in a sweet voice, imitating a good student, "It's for your own good, you know."

"Get out of the way," snapped Ron, tired of Peeves' games. He took a swipe at Peeves, trying to move him himself.

Peeves' beady eyes glittered wickedly as he glared at Ron. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

"FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!" you yelled in exasperation as you and the others promptly ran for your lives, the last thing you heard being Peeves' signature no-good cackle.

Suddenly, you slammed into a door. Eyes wide, you grabbed the doorknob and twisted it frantically - but it was locked.

"No no no no!" you muttered under your breath in a panic, shaking your head at the other four.

"This is it!" Ron moaned, banging on the door while Neville attempted to push it open, "We're done for! This is the end!"

"Goodbye, cruel world!" you wailed dramatically as you heard footsteps, most probably Filch's, nearing.

"Oh, move over!" Hermione snarled, pushing you, Ron and Neville away from the door and grabbing Harry's wand. "Alohamora!"

To your amazement, the lock clicked at the door swung open. Quickly, you all went through then slammed the door shut.

You put your back against the wooden door and slid down, closing your eyes and placing a hand on your beating heart. "That was close."

"Shhh!" Hermione said irritably, her ear pressed against the door, "They might hear you!"

You shut up after that, though quite reluctantly. You didn't exactly appreciate being bossed around.

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" Peeves' voice suddenly rang through the castle, followed by Filch's angry shouts and curses.

"He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be okay - get OFF, Neville!"

You jumped at Harry's sudden change of tone, your eyes jolting open and your eyebrows knitting together in confusion. You saw Neville tugging on Harry's bathrobe out of the corner of your eye. But that's not what concerned you.

"Uhm...Harry?"

"WHAT?" Came Harry's annoyed bellow.

You watched as his green eyes widened in terror as he caught sight of what had made your blood run cold a few seconds prior to his.

It was a dog. A monstrous dog that had three heads. Three sets of eyes that could instantly strike fear into anyone's hearts. Three snarling mouths, saliva dripping down from three chins. Three sets of yellow fangs that were currently bared and could definitely rip you to pieces.

"SHIZSTICKS!" you screamed and stood up faster than ever before, your hand frantically searching for the doorknob behind you. You twisted it once you made contact with it and you all fell backwards. Then, you ran, ran like the wind, your fear pumping adrenaline into your veins.

"Where on earth have you been?" the Fat Lady demanded, seemingly alarmed and confused at their appearances.

"Nevermind that - pig snout, pig snout," Harry panted.

The Fat Lady raised an eyebrow aprehensively, but the portrait swung open, allowing you to crawl through, only to collapse in the Common Room. The others waited until they reached the chairs to let their legs give way as you all sat in solemn silence, the past events sinking in. You continued to lay sprawled out across the floor, trying to regulate your breathing and heart rate.

"What do you think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" You distantly heard Ron's voice pipe up as you placed an arm over your closed eyes. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

You chuckled at Ron's attempt to lighten the mood.

"You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" Hermione's frustrated voice cut through the air. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

You instantly sat up and turned towards her, intruiged. The dog, if you could even call it that, had been standing on something? Desperately, you racked your brain for the memory of the room, but the only thing you could remember was the foaming mouth of the humongous creature and the way it looked at you.

"The floor?" Harry deadpanned, not impressed. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."

"Same here," you chuckled, "It would've been scary enough with one head, considering the size of that thing, but three just amplified my fear."

"Yeah," Harry flashed a quick smile at you. "It was pretty scary."

"Are you done?" Hermione snapped. "Thank you. And no, Harry, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."

She then proceeded to stand, fixing you all with a frightening glare.

"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

To say you were slightly offended and confused was an understatement. It wasn't your fault Malfoy decided to trick you, Ron and Harry! It was also her choice to chastise and follow you three, so she couldn't blame you for what she had seen.

You replayed her words in your mind. Did she just say that it was worse to be expelled rather than killed?

Shaking your head in confusion, you stood up, ready to go to bed yourself. Deciding to wait for a few seconds to let Hermione cool off, you fiddled with your fingers, not sure what to say.

"Well...goodnight." You said with a small wave to the three boys resting in the armchairs by the fireplace, then turned and headed to the Girls' Dormitory.

"Miss (L/N), would you so kindly wake up and pay attention to my lesson?"

Waking up with a start, your head snapped up to stare into the eyes of Professor McGonagall. And she did not look happy.

"Sorry," you squeaked in embarrassment, "It won't happen again, Professor."

Professor McGonagall merely raised an eyebrow. "I should hope not. I may have to give you a detention next time."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall."

"Thank you."

Hermione, who was sitting beside you, was shaking her head at you, seeming for some reason disappointed. You scoffed, rolling your eyes, and tried to turn your attention to the front of the room where Professor McGonagall was writing on the board.

"Psst!"

Glancing to your left, you saw Harry and Ron grinning at you.

"Don't worry about it," Ron whisper-shouted, "No one's really paying attention anyway. You were just unfortunate enough to be asleep."

You chuckled. "Or maybe the only one caught."

Ron did a once-over around the room. "Nah, you were the only one, Sleeping Beauty. As if you haven't been getting enough sleep lately."

"Well excuse me for preferring sleep over homework."

You heard a disapproving grunt come from Hermione at your comment. "Oh stop it, will you? Some of us don't enjoy studying twenty-four/seven."

A sniff, then a nose up in the air. You rolled your eyes once again. Sure, you were friends now, but her bossy habits tend to get on your nerves.

"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter and Ms. (L/N), would you please refrain from having idle conversation while I am teaching a lesson?"

"Sorry, Professor." The three of you chorused, guilty looks etched onto your faces.

Hoping to not fall too behind, you grabbed your quill and started writing notes on the lesson half-heartedly. You jumped when a crumpled up piece of parchment landed directly in front of you. You turned to Harry and Ron, when Harry was grinning and pretending to whistle, looking off the side.

Grinning, you unfurled it.

Excited for the first match of Quidditch of the season?

You promptly decided on writing back to Harry instead of taking notes.

You betcha. I'll be there to cheer you on.

You tossed it back to the boys, landing in front of Ron instead of Harry. You resolved to work on your aim. The parchment quickly made its way back over to you.

We're versing the Slytherins. If we win, we'll move up to second place in the house championship.

Well, then you'd better not screw this up, Potter.

No faith in me? :(

Never said that.

:D

I'll be rooting for you. You'll do great anyway.

Thanks for believing in me.

What are friends for?