Dandelions

SOMETHING LURKING IN THE DARK

"You lose one bet," Rory grumbled, peeking around a corner down a long, dark corridor.

Rolls and muffins were tucked into his robes, wrapped in mounds of napkins barely held together by Rory's own hands. He was sure there would be a trail of bread crumbs behind him for the prefects to follow, but that wasn't about to stop him.

Hogwarts' castle was extremely barren and silent after curfew, Rory was coming to realize, and he uncomfortably surveyed his surroundings as his footsteps echoed in his ears. The warmth of the leftover rolls bled into his hands, leaving the air inside his robe warm, yet the wind brushing his cheeks leaving his face cold.

A shudder ran down his spine as he crossed the central hall, the ceiling seeming much further away than usual as the moonlight spilled through windows onto the tile flooring.

Against his better judgement, Rory paused in the wide openness of the central hall, a cold sweat clinging to the back of his neck as he struggled to figure out what was hiding in the shadows that was keeping him so on edge. He brushed it off, seeing nothing and pushing quickly around the mermaid fountain that was eerily still in the dimness of the hall.

Stood completely still were two girls, crouched behind the edge of the fountain and seemingly peering around it.

Rory flinched, the squeak of his shoes against the tile frightening him even more.

"What the bloody hell are you two doing out here-" He sputtered, feeling his face flush. "If the prefect finds all three of us..."

It was only then that he noticed the Ravenclaw tie skirting around the neck of one of the girls, the subconscious realization that both of them were statuesque in their stillness not quite dawning on him yet.

"What are you looking..." Rory's eyes widened as his eyes landed on the mirror that the brunette girl had outstretched in front of her, allowing the girls to see around the fountain and toward the large, looming grand staircase across from the library.

They were entirely still, eyes unblinking as they were focused on the mirror's empty reflection.

Rory's fingers bore into the bread, his breathing picking up as he slowly understood what was crouched in front of him. The quiet recognition of the poofy, frizzy hair and the pale skin of Hermione Granger made him all too familiar with what was happening. He glanced over as he swallowed harshly, noting the glint of light that reflected off of the Ravenclaw girl's Prefect badge.

He didn't know when his feet moved, and as he struggled to remember his journey between the central hall and the Fat Lady's portrait, he realized he couldn't.

It was only when McGonagall's door opened inward, and his transfiguration professor was stood before him in her nighty that his face screwed up with worry.

"Are those rolls?" McGonagall asked, confusion evident in her voice. "Mister Thomas, I don't-"

"Hermione is- Hermione's been petrified," he choked out, mouth suddenly feeling dry. "There's another girl too, but I don't- I never knew her, so I don't- She's just there with her. They're together. Or, well- I found them in the same place, and-"

"Mister Thomas," McGonagall's hand fell heavily on his shoulder, and he almost shot five feet straight upward in the air as his eyes snapped up to hers. "I need you to...put the rolls down."

"Right, um, right," he put the mound of napkin-wrapped rolls on the table, feeling his stomach churn as he watched them fall all over. "Right, yeah."

"Are you okay?" McGonagall once again placed her hand on his shoulder, eyes visibly scanning him as she looked for signs of harm, "Did you see what happened?"