When I walked into an unlocked bathroom stall to find Nico sitting on the loo smoking a cigarette, I merely raised an eyebrow.

"Smoke?" He offered, holding up a battered packet.

"No, ta. Should I ask how you smuggled that inside?"

Smirking, he shook his head, blowing out a plume of smoke between his lips.

"What're you after, kiddo?" He asked. "Because as you can see, I'm having a bit of me time here."

I beckoned up to the grate in the air duct above our heads. "Reckon I could fit?"

He looked me up and down, seeming to consider it. "You're a bony little thing," he shrugged, "why not? Here, I'll give you a leg up."

Without questioning why I wanted to go through the air duct, Nico patted his shoulder, motioning for me to climb up.

"I'll stay here 'til you get back," he said, throwing me a wink as I ripped off the grate and pulled myself up inside the duct, "buy you some time if you need it."

Crawling through an air duct was a lot harder than they made it look in the movies. For one, it kills your knees and elbows. I could feel the bruises already coming up after just five minutes and I briefly worried that I was putting myself at a disadvantage by giving myself unnecessary injuries.

But I needn't have worried, because every bruise was worth it when I peered down into a room and spied the pink guards making all these different shaped metal wires.

"That's buzz wire, I'm telling you!" Nico said, crowing with delight when I relayed this information back in the bathroom stall. "Played it all the time when I was a little kid."

"Fuck, but don't you need a steady hand for that?" I pointed out, thinking of how nerve wracking that game is when you're not playing for life or death.

"Steady as a rock," Nico smirked, holding up a shaking hand. He glanced down at it, frowning. "Damn - must be the nicotine."

Quickly stubbing out his cigarette against the wall and flicking it away, he got to his feet, sighing.

"Well, kiddo, now that we have some idea of what the next game is, I suggest we go back and try and get some shut eye. We're going to need our wits about us if we're going to win this thing."

I followed him out, feeling slightly empowered about my little excursion. The lights were all out when we got back into the dormitory and most of the players had already settled down in their bunks.

Noticing Harry was still awake, I quietly approached him.

"Why are you telling me this?" He responded, looking at me with suspicion. "I thought you only worked alone."

"I do. But I'm not a bitch. I'm letting you know so that you can share the information with your army and save as many people as we can. Okay?"

He just stared at me, unblinkingly. After a long pause he opened his mouth and spoke in a slow and deliberate voice. "All right. As you wish."

Weirdo.

I moved along the rows of bunks, searching for Luna. But before I could locate her, I spied Draco, sitting up on his bunk and just staring into the distance as though deep in thought.

I hesitated. It would be easy for me to say nothing, to let him go into the game blindly. But he was right - I owed him one. He saved my life. And this way, I reasoned, I would no longer be in his debt.

He glanced my way as I approached him. His bunk was two beds up, and clearly sensing I wanted to talk to him, he swung his legs over and hopped down, landing in front of me.

"Changed your mind?" He drawled quietly, a smirk twitching at his lips.

I looked around, making sure no one else was in earshot. Satisfied, I inched closer to him, keeping my voice low as I moved my lips as close to his ear as possible.

"Buzz wire." I murmured quietly.

His eyes widened, almost twinkling in the darkness as they focused on me. "Excuse me? Are we playing the Telephone Game or something?"

"The second game," I hissed, "it looks like it might be buzz wire."

"Never heard of it."

I sighed impatiently, wishing I'd just gone straight to bed.

"A game in which you need to move a loop through a metal wire maze simply by using your hand. If the loop touches the wire before you reach the end, it buzzes... and you lose."

His eyes widened even further. "Fuck. So steady hand essential, then?"

I nodded, swallowing as we stared at one another.

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked, his eyes searching mine curiously.

"Because you saved my life. Now we are even."

We both stood, our breaths becoming shallow as our eyes remained locked. The tip of his tongue darted out and deftly swept across his upper lip.

"Why are you in here?" I asked him for the second time. "Has your father really disinherited you?"

A sneer crept to his lips, anger flashing in his eyes.

"It's none of your business."

"Whatever."

I went to turn away from him, but in true Draco fashion, he reached out and caught my arm, his iron-like grip causing his long, slender fingers to dig into my flesh.

Quickly shrugging him off, I glared up at him, pushing my face right in his so that I could feel his hot breath tickle my skin.

"Touch me again, and I'll twist your nuts."

His eyes lit up and he actually chuckled. "Is that a promise?"

Merlin. This guy was sicker than I first thought.

"Goodnight, Malfoy," I said pointedly, before turning away again.

This time, he wisely didn't grab me. But I could feel the intense burn of his gaze on my back as he watched me walk away.

*****

"Has Harry told you?" I whispered behind me to Luna as we began to file out of the dormitory ready for the second game.

Large eyes blinked up at me. "About the fact that he is lactose intolerant? He says it's fine when it's flavoured with chocolate though, but the guards really were very unhelpful-"

"What? No! About the second game. Did he pass on the information I gave him last night?"

"Oh. Yes. As a matter of fact, at breakfast he did say that he thinks it's likely to be another kids game."

"Nothing else?"

"No, why? Was there more?"

The bastard.

"Yes! Last night I discovered the guards creating these metal wires. It looks like the game is going to be buzz wire."

"You mean the steady hand game? Daddy and I used to play that all the time. He was always the champion, until his Parkinson kicked in. After that, I won every time."

"Okay, good, so you've had practice." I said, relief flooding me. I glanced around at the other players as we made our way along the pastel corridors. What was I worrying about? Most people surely knew how to play this.

However, I had not anticipated just how they were going to introduce this game.

"Players, before the second game begins, choose from one of the four shapes on the wall and stand in front if it. There will be no conferring."

We were stood in what looked like a giant playground, with lines of varying shapes painted on the wall.

Oh Merlin. I could only guess that these were the potential shapes of the wire mazes.

Draco was already zoning in on the straight line, as was Harry. What amazed me was that his 'army' seemed to split up, with Ron going for the zigzags, and Hermione opting for the complicated city skyline. Neville chose the wavy one, reminding me of a sound wave.

Harry clearly hadn't told his friends anything.

I managed to stop Padma and Parvati from going for the zigzags, furtively whispering 'follow me' under my breath, praying the guards wouldn't notice.

Leading them to the straight, horizontal line, I was horrified to see Luna heading for the city skyline. What the fuck did she think she was doing?!

Nico stepped up beside me, throwing me a discreet wink. But I couldn't return it, such was my panic.

Sure enough, the shapes we chose were the maze frame.

I looked around the 'playground', trying to decide where I should station myself. Dumbledore, who had gone for the wavy line, whistled cheerily to himself as he took position on the roundabout.

In the end, I sat on an empty space on the ground, making sure to face away from my loved ones, not being able to bear to witness how they get on.

"To pass the game, you will need to move the metal loop from the left end of the electric maze to the right end. If the loop touches the wire, you will be eliminated. You have five minutes to complete. Players who do not finish within that time, will be eliminated. The game begins, now."

The large clock on the wall began its countdown. Taking a deep breath, I picked up the handle of the metal loop, cursing myself for trembling.

This should be easy. I had a straight line. I just needed to keep my cool.

I was about halfway along the wire when it happened. I wasn't sure what, because I was too afraid to tear my stinging eyes away from my task.

"Player 222, eliminated."

A loud buzzing sound assaulted my ears, accompanied with a terrible scream. Seconds after, the exact same thing happened. I could only guess by the acrid smell of burning flesh in the air that they were being electrocuted.

With beads of sweat forming on my forehead, I continued moving my loop along the wire, trying to steady my trembling hand. But the sounds of people getting electrocuted was making it supremely difficult to stay calm.

"Player 101, pass."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Draco's body visibly relax. He'd made it. I sensed him turning to watch me.

Fuck off! I wanted to scream. His penetrating gaze was putting me off.

At last, with my heart feeling as though it was literally in my throat, I made it. I released a breath which I hadn't realised I'd been holding, my body sagging in relief.

"Player 199, pass."

But my relief was quickly replaced with horror as I looked around the playground, my eyes landing on the electrocuted bodies of those unfortunates who didn't make it.

Dennis Creevey was the closest body to me, his lifeless eyes staring up blankly at the sky, mouth hanging open in a silent scream.

I felt a wave of nausea at the sight, tearing my eyes away to see who else had been eliminated. Most of whom had chosen the city skyline wire.

Marcus Flint: dead.

Charlie Weasley: dead.

Penelope Clearwater: dead.

Justin Finch-Fletchley: dead.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," the girl nearest me started to wail as her hand holding the loop shook dangerously. She was three quarters of the way along the zigzag wire maze.

I recognised her as a Slytherin who had been in the year below me.

"Psst," I hissed, trying to get her attention, "You're doing great, you've got this."

Frightened eyes met mine as she slowly lifted her head, her dark hair falling down around her pretty face.

"My- my sister-" she choked, tears beginning to spill down her cheeks as her hand shook even more. "She just got- she just got k-killed."

She beckoned over to where Daphne Greengrass lay dead, the city skyline wire abandoned next to her.

"Come on, Astoria," I encouraged her, "she'll want you to get out of this alive. Do it for her."

Tearfully, she nodded, focusing her attention back on the wire.

I silently willed her along, desperate for her to get to the end, trying to ignore the buzzers and screams echoing through the playground.

However, when a guard walked particularly close to her, Astoria jumped, her loop connecting with the wire. Her eyes met mine in horror just as the buzzer went off, the sound cruel and taunting.

"Player 006, eliminated."

Jerking and writhing, she screamed a deafening scream, her hand still gripping the loop as it loudly sizzled and burned into her flesh. Her eyes began rolling up into the back of her head and her scream was muffled by the froth that was coming out of her mouth.

When she finally slumped to the ground, I found myself clutching my middle, trying to stave off the sickness which had swooped violently through my stomach.

When the time ran out, the remaining players still not having completed were all simultaneously electrocuted. My nostrils filled with the foul stench of burnt flesh, mingled with faint wafts of piss and shit. It really wasn't helping my nausea.

Not even the knowledge that Luna, Nico and my sisters had gotten through safely could calm me.

"Congratulations, players, on completing the second game. You may all return to the dormitory where you will be provided with delicious nibbles and celebratory champagne. Give yourselves a well deserved pat on the back."

This place was seriously fucked up.

******