The Fools Who Dream

Chapter 12

"Where's Cynthia?" asked Verity, coming to join Alice at the table.

Alice sighed. "Not sure. She went to put away her bag in the common room."

"Hope she comes back in time for the feast." said Verity. "It's the best one of the entire year, she wouldn't want to miss it."

"I might go see if I can find her." said Alice. "It doesn't take that long to get down to the common room."

"How long's she been gone for?"

"About half an hour."

Verity grimaced. "Did you see the look on Potter and Black's faces when they came in?"

"No?"

"Positively gleeful." said Verity. "They've done something."

"You don't think they did something to her?" asked Alice worriedly. "I mean, I know they're not very nice to her, but she never said anything about them really hurting her."

"I think Cynthia might be a better actress than we thought." said Verity, grabbing Alice's hand and pulling her to her feet. "Come on!"

The two first years ran down the gap between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables to the large oak doors that led to the Entrance Hall, where – luckily – the weren't stopped by anybody. Although, someone else who had need of something in the common room, got up and followed them as well.

The door to the stairway closed with a snap behind them and they sprinted down to the bottom as fast as they could and opened the other door.

Just as it had been when Cynthia had come down, the dungeon corridor was silent, but all the torches had been relit and everything looked exactly as it should.

Except... there appeared to be something different about the broom cupboard that was only a few metres away from the entrance to the common room. The door, which was made of rather thin wood, seemed to be splintering, which Alice was sure it hadn't been before. And underneath it, coming out of the crack between the bottom of the door and the floor, there appeared to be a red substance that didn't go too far – in fact, it was only just visible.

"Look." Alice whispered, nudging Verity and pointing at the floor.

"Open it then." said Verity.

Alice put a hand out and tried the handle. It was locked, and neither of them knew the unlocking spell.

"Cynthia's the only one who ever pays attention in class." said Alice, sighing. "I suppose we could break it down."

"But what if it hurts her?" asked Verity worriedly. "We don't even know if she's in there, Alice."

Alice bit her lip and turned to the door, and she raised her hand.

"Cynthia!" she shouted, banging on the door heavily, but it was to no use. There was no response from anyone inside and the door didn't even crack. It must have been some force to cause the splinters that were already in the door, given that Alice was hitting it as hard as she could.

"It's no use." said Verity dejectedly. "Maybe she isn't in there."

"We could go check the common room." Alice suggested desperately. "Maybe she was so tired that she just fell asleep."

"What's going on?" asked a voice from behind them, and they jumped and spun around to see a tall, black-haired boy with icy blue eyes looking down at them. They both recognised him as a third year.

"Oh – uh – we think our friend's in there." said Alice.

"What, the Potter girl?" asked the boy, putting his hands in his pockets.

"How do you know?" asked Verity in surprise.

"The sister of James Potter, quite hard not to know." he said. "And I hardly ever see the three of you apart, and if I do, she's usually at least with Blondie." He nodded his head at Alice, who furrowed her brows at the nickname.

"Point is, she's in there and there's blood on the door!" she said irritably.

"And what are you telling me for?"

"Well – you're a third year, can't you unlock it?"

"Ah, there's something I can do." said the boy. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohomora." he said calmly, and they heard a click as the lock opened.

Alice immediately pulled the door open, and that was where they saw Cynthia, unconscious on the floor.

It hadn't been long since she'd been trapped in there, only twenty minutes or so, but the blood on the ground and her robes and hair seemed to tell a different story. There was so much of it that Alice and Verity thought she'd been there for hours, even though they knew she couldn't have been.

"Holy crap." whispered Alice, kneeling down next to her friend. Her hands shook as she pulled Cynthia's hair out of her face and saw the blood coming from her nose and the broken glasses still sat on her nose. "We need to take her to the hospital wing!"

"Madam Pomfrey's at the feast." said the boy, who was still standing in the doorway. His look of carefree boredom had quickly changed into one of worry. Well, perhaps worry was too strong. Slight concern, seemed to be more appropriate.

"Who?" asked Verity.

The boy rolled his eyes. "The school nurse. There won't be anyone around to help."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" Alice cried.

"Well, you're now covered in blood." said the boy. "So if you walk into the Great Hall, I'm sure you'll attract some attention."

"Right." said Alice, nodding, although she wasn't entirely sure. "I – well – who are you?"

"Regulus." he said off-handedly; he managed to make it seem like his name didn't matter while at the same time ensuring they knew that it did indeed matter very much. "Regulus Black."

"As in Sirius Black?" asked Verity, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "You do realise that your brother -"

"There is nothing I need to hear about my brother from the likes of you." he snapped irritably. "Do you want my help with Potter or not?"

A/N

Another chapter! Aren't you all lucky! And not only that, but I have enough chapters to last me for several more weeks plus more ideas to come, so I think I'm probably back on track.

Pleease please comment and vote, you have no idea how much fun I get out of reading all your comments and seeing votes, it really makes me so happy. And follow of course for more amazing shit like this!