ᴀ ᴅ ʀ ɪ ᴇ ɴ ɴ ᴇ [1]

11. anywhere and everywhere

chapter eleven

ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE

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AT HALF-PAST ELEVEN, I SLIDE OUT OF BED, tie my hair back into a loose braid and slip out of the dormitory, pulling a black sweatshirt over my pyjamas. As I shut the door quietly, I realise I've forgotten my wand, and grab it from my bedside table, slipping back out. I fail to notice that Hermione's bed is empty.

I pad down the stairs as quietly as I can in my worn Vans, goosebumps rising on my bare legs.

"Harry? Ron? Is that you?" I hiss at the two silhouettes standing in the light of the dying fire.

"Yeah," comes Ron's familiar voice, and I make my way over to the pair.

We make our way over to the portrait hole and have nearly reached it when a voice comes from a winged armchair near the fire.

"I can't believe you're doing this, Ada," Hermione sighs.

A lamp flickers on, revealing her in a horrible pink bathrobe.

"You!" snarls Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"

"I overheard your conversation with Draco Malfoy. I nearly told your brother, Percy, you know."

I shake my head. How can anyone be so interfering?

"Come on," I say to Ron and Harry.

I head over to the portrait hole and push the painting open. The three of us climb through the hole, and Hermione follows, hissing at us like an angry goose.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

"Boo hoo. We'll still have Ada's, at least."

"Now go away."

"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so -"

But what we are, we never find out. As Hermione turns to the portrait of the Fat Lady, she cuts off mid sentence. The Fat Lady is gone, thus leaving Hermione locked out of Gryffindor Tower.

"Now what am I going to do?" she asks shrilly, running her hands through her frizzy hair.

"That's your problem," I say.

"We've got to go, we're going to be late."

We turn and silently hurry down the corridor, and have barely reached the corner when Hermione catches up with us.

"I'm coming too," she

"You are not."

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all four of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."

"You've got some nerve-" I say loudly, but am cut off by an onslaught of hushes, which are then cut off by another hush.

"Shut up, you three," Harry hisses. "I heard something!"

We all shut our mouths immediately, and a sort of snuffling fills the silent air.

"Mrs Norris. . ." Ron whispers, and we all stop breathing, peering into the darkness ahead, watching for lamp-like eyes.