A slight delay

Hermione did her best to stay quiet, the poppy clutched in her hand. She couldn't afford to lose it, or she'd have to go all the way back out again. The great clock chimed 1 A.M. She should still easily be able to make it back. She heard some noise coming from the stairs that led down into the dungeons, but she wouldn't need to head that way.

She turned towards the stairs that went up. She was at the third-floor corridor when she heard the sing-song voice of Peeves making its way towards her. The paintings around her began to stir. She panicked and began to run toward the right-hand side and practically lept into the first door she saw.

"Filch-y, Zilch-y, hullabaloo! You've got no magic and smell like a poo!"

She heard Peeves whizz past the door with heavy, thunderous footsteps following fast behind. Filch was cursing at the top of his lungs, trying desperately to catch him. The sounds of things falling over, the smell of dungbombs, and by the horns, even a couple of decoy detonators had gone off.

Hermione knew it was no good. She'd have to wait for things to calm down before she continued up to the seventh floor. She got a better view of her surroundings. She recognized the room she was in... This was where Fluffy had been. It seemed so long ago now. It had been 7 years since then, and she looked around the room. There wasn't anything to suggest that a giant, three-headed dog had been in here except for a few shed hairs that were still in the corner of the room.

And there was the trap door... She didn't risk going down that way in hopes of finding one of the ancient brooms, as she didn't know if Professor Sprout had maintained the Devil's Snare. Not to mention she didn't have any wand to make a fire this time if it got out of hand. "Besides," She thought to herself. "She didn't know what Devil's Snare would do to a naked person..."

Another chill went through her. As a light breeze flowed through an open window, she could feel how wet her fluffy bush had become. There was no denying it, she had somehow become turned on from all of this tonight. She began to move her hand toward her pussy, but then thought better. If she did that right now, she could be caught. She had to make it to her four-poster bed as soon as possible.

After what felt like ages, things in the hall quieted down considerably. It seemed the paintings had gone back to sleep as Peeves' rampage had moved to another part of the castle. She left the room and began to make her way back to the seventh floor.