"I don't see the point of sneaking out of the hospital wing, Mikey." Gerard frowned as his brother lead him along the treeline of the forbidden forest.

"You need fresh air." His little brother argued, "Brendon snuck Ryan out for the same reason. I'm a bit surprised madame Pomfrey hasn't had a conniption over your absence yet..."

Gerard looked down, saying nothing. He had heard Brendon and Ryan's hushed whispering earlier, but he hadn't seen anything due to the curtains around his bed. Not long after their whispers had does down, Mikey had appeared by Gerard's bedside. He insisted that his brother get up.

"Where are we even going?" Gerard presses as they continued to walk along the forest.

"I'm taking you somewhere neat that a bunch of the Ravenclaw's and I use to practice charms and get in some quiet studying when the common room is too rowdy." Mikey replied. He spun to face his brother, offering a smile. "Just a bit further; we just need to get to the whomping willow."

Gerard stopped dead in his tracks. A concerned confusion crossed over his features as he looked at Mikey. "Did you just say what I think you did?" He asked in a cracked voice. He quickly shut his mouth after speaking, but looked expectantly at Mikey.

His brother nodded. "Yes."

"You're supposed to be the smart one of the family." Gerard whispered, to which Mikey smirked.

"Thanks for thinking so, big brother." He gestured Gerard along, "Just trust me, okay?"

Gerard didn't feel very convinced by his younger brother. This was the same kid that had offered to take him up flying with his cousins over Christmas when there was a lack of brooms and ended up crashing into a tree. Thankful not a tree like the womping willow, but it still hurt.

Mikey rolled his eyes. He stepped back to grab hold of Gerard's wrist in order to drag him along. "You'll be fine! I've done this dozens of times."

"How do I know you didn't use quidditch as a cover for being assaulted by a tree?"

"Clever... But I actually get bludger hit quite a bit." Mikey grinned.

Gerard felt himself smile in amusement.

A few minutes longer of walking and the whomping willow came into view. Its branches swayed slowly, despite the lack of breeze. Gerard watched as a bird flew close to it, only to be swatted away by the tree's sudden alertness. Gerard fliched at the strained tweet of the wounded animal.

"How have you not died?" Gerard whispered as Mikey pulled out his wand.

The younger Way avoided the question. Instead, he pointed his wand at a nearby, broken tree branch on the ground. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The branch lifted into the air, hovering level with where Mikey's wand pointed. There was a focused look in Mikey's eye as he moved the direction his wand was pointing. Slowly, the stick moved closer to whomping willow.

Gerard looked between the stick and his brother. Maybe he had taken one too many bludger hits.

The stick that Mikey had charmed collided with a knarled root on the tree. Much to Gerard's surprise, the tree froze completely. It didn't even sway anymore.

"Alright, c'mon!" Mikey patted his brother's shoulder while lowering his wand, "It doesn't last too long, so let's hurry."

Gerard looked at his brother in amazement. "How did you know to do that?"

Mikey grinned, "Alex Gaskarth was the one to figure it out before he graduated; he passed the knowledge on and here we are."

Mikey hurried towards the tree. Gerard followed, now curious as to where they would go from here. He remembered the passage underneath the candy store in hogsmeade. Frank had mentioned Alex's name there as well.

Frank...

Gerard tried to focus his thoughts away from the short Slytherin. It turned out to be a bit easier than first anticipated, however, when Mikey suddenly dropped out of sight.

"Mikey?" Gerard called out as he grew closer to his brother's spot of disappearance, "Mikes?"

He was started by his brother's head popping out of a hole in the ground that wasn't visible until you were up close. "C'mon, Gee." Mikey pressed, "The tree's gunna start up again any minute." He extended his hand, which Gerard took to help guide him down into the hole.

Gerard found himself in a worn out, dirt tunnel. Tree roots dangled from the ceiling and walls. Mikey had already illuminated his wand tip and was crawling forward.

"How did Alex find this place again?.." Gerard whispered, lowering himself to crawl as well.

"He never did say." Mikey replied through the dark, "He always just said it was thanks to some old pranksters."

Gerard nodded. The two crawled for a minute longer before Mikey was suddenly able to stand upright. His legs quickly disappeared as he climbed up. His head popped back down through the hole as Gerard crept closer. His blond hair stood upright as he grinned at his brother. "Coming?"

"Shut up, Mikey." Gerard laughed. It felt good to laugh. His brother outstretched his hand to help Gerard up. Gerard gratefully took the help, using it to help himself into a large room.

The wood of the walls around them was bowing and gray. The floor had missing panels and ripped up pieces. There was a window off to the side, but it had been covered up by a navy blue tapestry.

"This place seems a bit cold." Gerard noted as his visible breath rose into the air.

"We usually keep a stash of warming whispies upstairs." Mikey replied as he dusted dirt off of his school attire.

Gerard watched another breath slide past his lips. It hadn't nearly been this cold outside...

A loud creaking from upstairs made the brothers look up. "It's just the shack." Mikey reasoned, "We've fixed the upstairs up quite nice, but it can't stop the creeking."

"Shack." Gerard repeated before turning to his brother, "Do you mean the shrieking shack?"

Mikey nodded.

"Isn't it haunted?"

"Oh please, Gerard," Mikey scoffed, "the castle has plenty more ghosts than this place."

Gerard nodded, finding that to be a decent answer. Ghosts were a fairly common sight in the castle... The ghost that supposed to haunt this place was said to be malevolent, however. According to rumor, at least. He trusted Mikey's judgment, however, since the Ravenclaw had been here before.

"C'mon, let's get upstairs." Mikey gestured Gerard forward, "There's some enchanted, floating beanbags that are like clouds to sleep on."

"How much are you here?" Gerard asked, able to easily picture his brother floating across the room on a beanbag.

"A bit." Mikey replied, keeping his grin hidden from his brother. He didn't want to fully reveal the extent of his time spent in the old building. It was a Ravenclaw secret that the Hufflepuff was lucky to even be entering.

The brothers moved carefully around the room until they reached the staircase. The staircase was much nicer than the room they had just maneuvered through. They were smooth and bright, creating a warm welcome to the rooms above.

Mikey's pace quickened as he went up the steps, but Gerard slowed. His breath was still very visible, possibly more so than when he first entered the shrieking shack. Something felt wrong. It felt like...

"AH!"

The sound of his brother crying out made Gerard's head snap up. "Mikey?" He called out with worry. He shook off the chilled feeling that continued to creep in on him.

"Who's there?" A voice that most certainly not his brother called out. It was more feminine than Mikey's.

"Who's asking?" Gerard replied with a question, slowly making his way up the steps.

"Hurry up, Gee! It's just Ashley."

That voice was Mikey's. Gerard let out a sigh of relief. He allowed his pace to quicken to the top of the steps. "What the heck was that yell then?" Gerard asked, spinning to look around the hall he was in. It was lined with Ravenclaw banners and multiple framed, moving artworks. Each of the artworks was signed in a different way. One was a ballerina, waving a ribbon with a delicate, embroidered signature. Another was a kid with a bandana covering their nose and mouth. They wore an airman's jacket and rugged jeans. The signature on that moving piece was part of a cloud of gray smoke that whisped behind the kid.

"Mikey, this is incredible!" Gerard exclaimed, stepping up to a light blue heart with an eye blinking from it's middle. It looked at Gerard with curiosity, prompting Gerard to wave timidly.

"Isn't it?" The feminine voice asked with a laugh, "A perfect base."

"Base?" Gerard asked, noticing a door that was cracked open just a few feet away. He began to walk towards it, "Base for what?"

"Oh, dear," a giggle reverberated through the air, "A base for everything I've worked for..."

Gerard stopped in his tracks as the door in front of him was pulled open. Deeper into the room, Mikey was staring into the hall with a blank expression on his face. Leaning against the door was a woman with dark hair and a darker look in her eyes. Her wand was pointed directly at Gerard as a evil grin tugged at her lips.

"But you won't tell, right?" She asked with a faux sweetness to her voice before a clear haze shot out of her wand, straight at Gerard.