Lil bro

21

Harry's POV

After the Gryffindor team had won against Slytherin, the tension was quite high. Especially as they allowed Soleil in the team, being a first year and all. 

"How could they have allowed her in the team?" Malfoy said loud enough for us to hear as he passed by. "I mean, she doesn't even look like a girl, is she trying to be a boy?"

They all laughed at his comment, making my blood boil. 

Soleil tugged at my sleeve and shook her head. "Ignore them, it's not worth it."

"But they just insulted you!" I protested.

"Choose your battles wisely, my mum says. Malfoy is just a bully who is trying to intimidate others by making them insecure. If we react, he will have won. If we don't, it'll make him mad."

I nodded but grumbled in Greek under my breath, muttering a few insults that I had learned from Clarisse.

Malfoy then turned around, stomping angrily towards us. His face and neck were tinted pink and his hair was escaping the thousands of products that stuck it to his skull. 

"Hey! Pick your battles wisely, huh? Well, I can take you anytime! Tonight, if you want. A wizard's duel. At midnight in the trophy room."

I looked at Soleil, who wore a bored expression. I looked back at Malfoy. "Sure, who's your second?"

"Crabble, yours?"

"I am." Soleil spoke up, stepping forwards.

"Better not be late, Pottah."

Blaise's POV

"You've done what?!" Hermione shouted once Harry and Soleil told us about their duel against Malfoy.

"You agreed to a midnight duel against Malfoy?" Neville added as he paled.

"You do know that you can't not go, right? You've given him your word, that's like signing a contract, a magical one." I tell them, remembering what my mother had taught me.

"Shit, this is my fault." Soleil muttered.

"No it isn't!" Harry protested. "It was my own choice!"

"Yeah, but Malfoy asked you to the duel because of what I said."

"And you said that because of what I was going to do, because of what Malfoy said."

Soleil opened her mouth to argue back, but quickly closed it when she realised that Harry was right. 

"I'll go too." I said. "I can be the judge, I know enough to be one."

Harry nodded at me in gratitude. 

"I- I can take a healing plant, just in case..." Neville trailed off nervously.

"Amazing thinking, Nev!" Soleil praised him. 

We all looked at Hermione, waiting for her answer. Her eyes kept flickering between us all as she bit her lip nervously. 

"Oh, I don't know. What if we get caught? We would be breaking so many rules!"

"If we get caught." Harry repeated, exaggerating the 'if'. 

Harry's POV

I look around the dark trophy room. We had all arrived and were now waiting for Malfoy and Crabble. 

"What if... What if Malfoy isn't coming?" Neville whispered.

Blaise frowned. "He should know better. I mean, he knows the consequences of not attending a duel that you've agreed to."

"But he may rely on his dearest daddy to fix the problem for him." Soleil added with an eye roll. 

I snorted, thinking about the gods and how they wouldn't be fixing our problems for us any time soon.

Then a noise in the next room made us all jump. Blaise, Soleil and I had only just raised our wands towards the direction of the noise when we heard someone speak, and it wasn't Malfoy.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."

It was Filch, talking to Ms Norris. If Hermione hadn't shown such a panicked expression, she would've been saying 'I told you so'. 

I grabbed Soleil's hand and Neville's sleeve and ran away, checking behind me to see if Blaise had dragged Hermione. As the other four followed me through the dark corridors, Filch's voice was never too far behind us, Ms Norris' paws hitting the floor reminding us to speed up.

"We can't be here!" Hermione exclaimed in a whisper. "It's the third floor!"

Neville squeaked in alarm, but we kept running. 

"Doesn't matter!" I whisper-shouted back, stopping right in front of a door.

"A dead end." Soleil breathed out.

"There has to be another way!" Blaise protested. "I refuse to be caught!"

Ms Norris' footsteps (or is it paw-steps?) drew nearer, quickly followed by Filch's voice talking at her. 

"Alohomora!" Hermione said, pointing at the lock on the door.

We all stumbled in, closing the door as fast as possible. We could hear Filch and Ms Norris pass by, not bothering to check inside whatever room we were in.

Soleil's POV

As we turned around to see what room we were in, we came face to face with a giant three-headed dog. I would've called it cute and fluffy if it hadn't been snarling and growling at us.

The only one of us that didn't look terrified was Harry. He took a step forward and started to pet the three-headed dog.

"Hey there, buddy. How did you get here?" Harry asked the dog as he scratched the middle head behind its ears. 

The three-headed dog just barked, but not in a menacing way. It was more like an excited puppy. 

Harry frowned. "Who would put you in here? You don't belong here, you're all cramped with no place to run and jump. And how often do they feed you?"

Nico's POV   [weren't expecting that, were you?]

I had just returned to my cabin from the campfire the Will had made me attend. I left my sword next to my bed and changed into my pyjamas. 

Just as I was going to get in bed, I got an Iris Message. 

"Nico!" Harry whisper-shouted.

"Harry? What's wrong?" I asked, noticing how agitated he was and how his voice was slightly wobbly. 

"Remember how I told you about the third floor? I found out what they keep in there. It's horrible! There's a small cerberus locked in there. He's cramped in there, with no space to move around properly. I don't even know how often they feed him!" Harry exploded, waving his arms in the air as he panicked. 

I frowned. Who would dare keep a creature of the Underworld locked up on the third floor? 

"Harry, calm down. Do you need me to go?" He shook his head as his breathing slowly went back to normal. "Before we think of ways to get him out of there, let's think about why he's there in the first place."

Harry's face scrunched up in concentration. "I'm not sure, but Hermione said that he was standing over a trap door."

I nodded. He was guarding something, like the original Cerberus guards the Underworld.

"Do you have any idea of who the owner is?"

"I think it's time that I pay Hagrid a visit."