"Sshh, or someone will hear us," whispered Albus. It was the middle of the night and he was tip-toeing along the seventh floor corridor with James, Eugine, and Fred - his cousin - trying to find the Room of Requirement. James still had the Marauders map, which he had taken from his dad's desk a few years earlier. They knew the room didn't appear on the map, but they were certain they had overheard Harry and Ginny mention it on the seventh floor. Albus believed it was still there, but James hadn't been so sure; he was sure his dad had destroyed it in the Second War, at the Battle of Hogwarts. It had taken quite a bit of convincing, and quite a few chocolate frogs, but James agreed to come along. The four boys were creeping along in the dark, trying not to make a sound when Fred stepped in something slimy.
"Eurgh, what the he....." Eugine flung his hand over Fred's mouth.
"Lumos," he whispered, pointing his wand at the floor. "It's ok, I think Moaning Myrtle has been up he... ARGH." He jumped back, screaming.
"Peeves," Fred hissed.
"Naughty boys, shouldn't be up so late," taunted Peeves, his orange eyes glowing so bright in the darkness of the corridor, making his pale white skin look even paler. "Wouldn't like it if you were caught, now, would you?" He cackled and floated away, somersaulting in the air as he went.
"Come on," whispered Albus, "It's probably safer if we get back to bed now, you never know if Peeves is going to try something."
"I know a shortcut," whispered James. The boys were back at the Fat Lady's portrait in no time.
"Venemous Tentacula," panted Fred. "Oh don't look like that," he grinned, as she gave him a look she had once reserved for his father and uncle during their reign at Hogwarts. They all fell into the sofa in front of the fire, which was now out.
"That was close, tomorrow night then?" Albus joked, then ducked as cushions were thrown at him from three different places. "Okay, okay, I get it," he laughed, "we'll leave it for now, but I know it is there somewhere. Come on, let's go up to bed." The boys went off to their separate dorm rooms and quickly settled in to a deep sleep.
*****
Dora couldn't sleep. It had gotten to the point now where she needed to tell someone, and she decided that in the morning, she would. But who? Lorcan was her boyfriend, but Rose was her best friend - they had grown up together since birth. But as it turned out, she didn't need to wait till morning.
"S'matter?" mumbled Rose, stirring at the light from Dora's wand. She rubbed her face as she woke up. "What're you doing up so late, Dor?"
"Can't sleep, Rosie. Listen, I need to talk to you - no don't worry, it's nothing bad. It's... well, it's kind of hard to explain."
"Sweetie, I'm right here," said Rose, moving over to her best friend's bed. "Has Lorcan said anything to upset you?"
"No, no, nothing like that. Ok," Dora took a deep sigh, "you know I'm top of the class in Transfiguration, and you know most of my family are Metamorphmagi? Well, it turns out that, although I'm not a Metamorphmagus myself, I am a carrier, which makes it easy to tap into if you know how. Dad has been helping me study, and, well, I'm training to become an Animagus." She looked at Rose tentatively, waiting for an answer.
"Oh wow, Dora, that's amazing. That's like, top level magic, NEWT level stuff. Does Professor Erskine know?"
"Yeah, she actually got me started in first year. She saw how skilled I was, and she saw that was my wand was pretty rare and specifically designed for Tranfisguration. We sat down half way through the year, and we decided I would be allowed to start studying it. I've almost got it, Rosie, I'm getting really good now." Dora was so relieved to get all that off her chest, she looked much happier now. Rose was still in awe. "But no-one else knows, so you can't say anything. Promise?"
"Pinky promise," Rose grinned.
*****
A few weeks later, Eugine and Rose were behind the greenhouses, snogging. They had almost had a close call when Neville turned up in Greenhouse Three to get his next lesson plan sorted, but they ducked down behind the wall just in time, trying not to giggle. They were still in that "young love, puppy love" stage, so all they pretty much did when they were alone was snog. When they were sure Neville had gone, they stood back up, Eugine pushing Rose up against the wall and pressing his lips onto hers. She responded by running her fingers through his hair, kissing her lips gently and softly down his neck, until she reached his soft spot.
"Mmmm, I love you, Rose Weasl... ARGH what the hell was that?"
A dog had jumped out at them, pushing them both to the ground, and was licking Eugine's face. Rose looked at the dog for a moment, then burst into so much laughter, that she had tears rolling down her face and could barely sit up.
"Dora," was all she could manage to say before she collapsed into fit of laughter again. Eugine looked at his girlfriend and the dog in absolute confusion, then jumped back screaming again, as his sister appeared where the dog had been seconds before.
"Pandora! What the hell was that?" he asked his twin sister, not really getting anywhere as she had burst into fits of giggles too. She turned to Rose.
"I did it!" she managed, when the two girls had finally calmed down enough to talk coherently.
"When?" asked Rose.
"Yesterday, Dad and I finally got there. I transformed in his office. I swear he nearly had a heart attack there and then! Poor guy. Mum said he was the same when she told him she was in labour with us. Apparently, he panicked and ran face first into a wall. Anyway, we looked up what I had turned into and my animagus is a Scottish Deerhound. I just have to work with Professor Erskine on getting myself registered officially with the Ministry's Animagus Register." Eugine looked completely baffled, but managed to find his voice.
"So you are an Animagus, sis? That's so cool! Just don't EVER do that to me again," he said. Dora just cracked up laughing again. "Have you told Lorcan yet?"
"No, not yet," she replied. "You two were the first ones I wanted to show." She grinned at her brother and best friend. "Right, I'll leave you two love birds to it, I'm gonna go find my own boyfriend and see if I scare him and his brother too. I'm feeling in a wicked mood today." Dora walked off, grinning to herself. Eugine shook his head, smiling.
"Sisters," he smiled. "But enough of that. Where were we?" He wrapped his arms round his girlfriend again and she pulled him close in to her.
"Well, Mr Longbottom, I think we were right here," and she pressed her lips softly against his, teasing him with her tongue.
