#4 : Miming and Frustration

[December the 24th - 7 days to New Years]

Hermione, Ron and Harry crept silently down the corridor and then descended the stairs of Gryffindor tower, all the while keeping their backs to the wall and their knees bent. Once they hit the entrance hall, Ron tumbled down to the ground and then crawled across the floor to the dungeon steps. He gave the impression of a solider holding a gun and going into battle.

Harry laughed, but silently; he looked more and more like a mime every minute, something that freaked Ron out to no end, not that he could say anything about it.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and muttered something about 'boys' before lighting her wand so they could see.

Once they were on the dungeon steps, they walked very slowly so that their black boots wouldn't make much racket. Ron was 'lookout' which meant that he went up ahead and motioned the other two forward. Hermione was in the rear as she was the only who could speak and warn the others of trouble. Harry, doing a wonderful mime impression of being in a box, was in the middle.

"Cut it out, H," snapped Hermione once they got closer to the Slytherin common room entrance. "Do we know the password?"

Ron stopped short and thought. Harry put a finger to his chin and tapped it there, looking pensive.

"Well, we'll have to guess," Hermione said, walking to stand in front of Ron. By now Harry had recognized the wall that was the secret entrance and had mimed being excited. "Er----frog spawn."

Nothing. Ron took a piece of parchment and a quill out of his mini messenger bag and scribbled a note to Hermione.

"Kill the Mudbloods," read Hermione. She shook her head in disgust. "How disgusting---" The wall slid to the side showing the trio a dark stone room containing dusty chairs and a slow burning fire in the corner. "Horrible," she muttered before entering.

Ron and Harry both dropped to their stomachs and crawled across the room; Hermione just stayed low to the ground.

There was no one in the Slytherin common room; there were only a handful of Slytherins staying at Hogwarts over the holidays, and most of them were girls. So when Ron, Harry and Hermione crept slowly across the vacant room, they were sure no one would find them in the boys' dormitory.

Stone lined hallways forked to their left and to their right.

"Which one?" Hermione asked her friends.

The mime looked at her with a confused expression on his face and he shrugged.

Ron hit Harry in the stomach for acting foolish. He might as well have had all black on with some white makeup instead of camouflage. Ron was very angry at him for actually enjoying being jinxed.

Ron gave Hermione his best 'puppy dog face' and wrote her a note.

Hermione read aloud, "Can I PLEASE be unjinxed? No, sorry, R. Not right now. One leader's enough. I don‘t like the idea of mutiny." She motioned for the two boys to follow her down the left hallway.

Two steps in told them they‘d gone the wrong way; Hermione could plainly hear girls giggling.

"How un-Slytherinish," Hermione muttered in repugnance, turning around. "Girls in Slytherin should so not be giggling."

Harry, the mime, nodded his head vigorously; Ron looked very frustrated.

Hermione, now in the lead, led the troops down the right hallway looking all around for a door marking.

"None of the doors are marked," said Hermione, straightening her knees and turning to her partners in crime.

Harry shrugged, but Ron rolled his eyes.

Hermione pushed open the first door and went through, Harry and Ron in the rear.

"Hello!" A loud voice boomed from one of the beds.

Hermione gasped and screeched, "What are you doing here?!"