Chapter 34: Insight.

It had only been a couple of days since the full moon and the since then the Slytherin's points in the House War had gone up drastically. In a space of two days they had gone from thirty points to fifty five which meant that somehow they had pulled off five pranks which wasn't on Gryffindor surprisingly. Our house prefect would have definitely told us if we'd been pranked yet when we asked he said that we've not been pranked recently but it was only a matter of time before we were. Everyone in Gryffindor Tower was all expecting something to happen fairly soon so we all kept our guard up and watched where we were walking just in case we would set something off.

I was very quickly starting to hate that we had to watch every movement but everyone kept saying that 'it was for the best' and 'we can't let the Slytherins get any more points'. They all had a point but I just wanted to get it over with. I would rather just get pranked right about now instead of having to watch every step but here we are with no prank yet we were all tense. Unfortunately for me I was friends with a small portion of our enemies, so James had been non stop badgering me to go and talk with them to try get information, despite Sirius telling him that he didn't think I should go near them. I had told also told him too many times that they were probably expecting me and that they wouldn't just tell me their plans but instead he chose to be annoying and not take no as an answer. It had gotten so bad that he even tried bribing me with money. Although the money could be useful, I refused each time even when the amount got higher and higher. I wasn't going to use my friends for money whether they were close friends or not.

Right now I was gathered in the Gryffindor Common Room around the fire with the House Prefects, my friends and many other Gryffindors I didn't know but were willing to help out with the pranking. Somehow, we'd all manage to arrive on time for the meeting about the House War yet no good ideas had been mentioned about pranking the other houses or defending ourselves against them. It didn't help that the Slytherins had come up with a bunch of really good pranks which we couldn't exactly copy without being targeted. Both James and Sirius had come up with their fair share of prank ideas but most of them would result in being harmed physically so they were immediately shot down by the Prefects.

I hadn't spoken once during the meeting alongside Remus, Naomi and Peter. We just listened in and let the others (when I say others I mostly mean James and Sirius) answer any questions or bring up something that could help. None of us had any ideas - or I didn't anyway - therefore deemed it best to stay silent in these times of chaos. We all also knew that a prank was most definitely headed our way but not having a clue what it could be wasn't useful whatsoever.

"We are going to need to come up with something. What if we do a muggle prank for example? Slytherins are pure bloods so they won't be expecting it and it might just gives us help in the competition" I spoke up for the first time. I wasn't expecting anyone to agree with my statement but they did although I had mainly just said it so we could all head up to bed instead of sitting here arguing. I was starting to get a headache from all the noise and the talking and really just wanted to leave.

"I like that idea, its simple but-" the female prefect I'd forgotten the name of began yet as she continued talking everything went quiet and I could hear a throbbing in my ears. My head also started to hurt more than ever too and all of a sudden, I saw nothing but white.

When I got my vision back, I was no longer in the Gryffindor Common Room. Instead I was in a middle of a long (mostly) dark hallway in front of a large stone wall. Framing a section of said wall were green curves which didn't hide the fact that there was a secret door. When I examined the wall further, I found no doorknob or handle and I didn't have my wand either so I couldn't cast an unlocking charm to get inside.

Footsteps echoed off the walls behind me which made me jump out of my skin at the sudden noise. It was definitely a change from the silence that had endured mere moments before. When I turned around, an older Slytherin boy turned the corner and approached the wall without even acknowledging I was standing there. To be completely honest, I didn't even know if he could see me but that didn't bother me. What bothered me was why I was here. I knew that there had to be a reason I was seeing this, the question is why?

The boy muttered a password which sounded a lot like pure blood which seemed to have activated the wall. The bricks had shifted just like the wall does in Diagon Alley revealing the hidden room behind which was mostly a deep green colour. I walked into the Common room behind the Slytherin boy and looked around with wide eyes. It was much bigger than the Gryffindor Common room however it didn't feel as cozy as our common room did. It also seemed a lot more empty than ours especially as classes had already ended for the day.

"So right outside the Lion's den tomorrow at eleven?" I heard a familiar voice ask. I look round and I spotted the source of the voice. Bellatrix was lounging across a sofa with Lucius, Regulus and Dolahov around her with wide smirks on their faces.

"Yes then we will let the swamp loose" Lucius laughed loudly. The others all joined in but they quickly disappeared as I saw white.

My breath was ragged when I woke up but this time I was no longer in the Gryffindor Common room once more. Instead I was looking up at a wooden ceiling and in a completely different room. I sat up and looked around recognising the all so familiar room immediately as the boys dorm. Someone must of brought me up here while I was watching the Slytherins. Wait the Slytherins and their plan, I had to tell the others fast!

I got up quickly and rushed out of the dorm and down the stairs although I still felt a bit wobbly on my feet and I had a massive headache trying to hold me back. I pushed on however and almost collapsed when I reached the bottom of the stairs. Remus quickly came over and caught me before I fell and guided me into the closest chair. "Tomorrow, eleven.. Slytherin prank us-... with swamp" I panted trying to stand up again but only for Remus to push me back down.

"How do you know this?" asked both of the prefects at the same time.

I didn't know what to say. What was I supposed to say? Oh by the way I have visions where I can see things happening in the moment. Nope that wouldn't work.

"She was hanging around with the Slytherins earlier this week, she must've just remembered" Remus cut in, saving me by a long shot. I nod, going along with the story and sending Remus a quick smile to say thanks. He obviously knew what happened up there of course he did, I just wondered what he told everyone else.

"So what do we do?" asked one of the older boys I didn't know.

"We'll just have to avoid the prank" James shrugged with a smile.

"But if we just hide in here we will have to get caught by the prank to exit" Naomi pointed out.

We sat in silence while we all thought hard wondering what we could do. Naomi did have a point, we couldn't just hide in here but we had to do something... or get someone else to. "McGonagall, I'll send a note to McGonagall" I muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. "If i can get her to come up here for when the Slytherins are setting up the prank, they'll lose points and we won't get pranked."

"Well that works, now we just have to play the waiting game."

"So are we going to talk about your vision yesterday or just pretend it never happened?" Remus asked, whilst we walked briskly down the corridors of the castle. It was the day after my little vision and the day after we came up with a plan to stop the Slytherins and their prank. Both Remus and I were planting the letter in McGonagall's office before we would both set off onto our lookout duties. This part of the plan was crucial and we couldn't afford any distractions but Remus had other plans so it seems.

"I saw them, in their common room planning the prank. That's it" I answer hesitantly, rounding the corner with Remus hot on my tail.

"Did the mystery person call to you?" he asked to which I shook my head to. We stop outside of McGonagall's door and quietly entered to plant the anonymous note. Thankfully it was empty in their so I managed to do it quickly and exit without trouble but I didn't know how long I had left and I didn't know if I was too late.

"I'll meet you outside Gryffindor Tower tonight, I'll explain everything then. We need to go keep watch" I called back and began to run up to Gryffindor Tower. I highly doubted that the Slytherins would go down the corridors and would most likely just go straight up the stairs so I didn't have to worry about being quiet yet. Across the castle, us Gryffindors were evenly spread out to keep watch on the group of Slytherins. The only way we had of communicating was using owls but we wouldn't have time to write out a note and send it so we were all pretty much going in blind with no information whatsoever.

I reach the seventh floor fairly quickly but I saw no sign of the Slytherins which worried me greatly. For all I knew, they could've already set up the prank fully and are already on their way back to their Common Room. I picked up the pace and when I looked around a corner, not only was the fat lady's portrait there, but so was a certain group of Slytherins. I recognized each of them immediately: Lucius, Bellatrix, Dolahov, Regulus and Narcissa. From the looks of it, they were only now starting the spell when a tall figure walked past without even seeing me and when they spotted them they looked angry.

"Trying to pull another prank are we?" McGonagall asked the five. They looked at each other worried but also knowing that there was no way out of this one. "Ten points from Slytherins's House War hourglass and detention for each of you. Now get back to your dorms immediately." Whilst McGonagall strode away, the Slytherins looked defeated but perked up a little when they saw me giggling around the corner.

"Oh you little" Lucius said but playfully. I burst out into full laughter in front of them but after a couple of seconds in turned into soft purring. What on earth? I felt my body began to shrink and my bones shifted around until I was much smaller than I was before. When I try to ask what they'd done, a quiet meow was all that came out of my mouth and I was very small. I looked behind me and a great grey tail obscured my vision. The Slytherins meanwhile were now the ones laughing and although their prank backfired I guess they still managed to get the last laugh in.

Footsteps rounded the corner and to my relief, Sirius was the one to come around. He was most likely looking for me but I couldn't call out to him or anything because of the Slytherins. When Sirius sees the group of five, he hesitated before walking up to them. "Where is Meadow?" He asked coldly.

"Are you blind or something, she's right there" Lucius answered cockily, nodding to me. I glare at him as best as I could as a cat but it only made him laugh harder. Sirius' steely grey eyes find mine and a look of realisation dawned upon his face. He walks over and scoops me up, holding me close against his chest.

"Come on lets take you to Remus, he'll know what to do" he said quietly, walking briskly down the hall.