If that wasn't enough to keep Ron awake, seeing his best friend's shadow through the curtain thrashing about in the next bed certainly was. He'd gotten up to check on him and found that sure enough his friend was having a very violent and loud fit. Ron knew that the only thing that stopped the entire tower from waking was the silencing charm Harry had obviously put around his bed.

Just a few minutes after Ron came down, Hermione entered the common room as well. It was clear from the bags under her eyes that she had the same luck sleeping as Ron did.

"This is early even for you," Ron commented.

"Look who's talking," Hermione said as she made her way over and took a seat in the chair closest to Ron.

"I couldn't sleep. He has nightmares, bad ones. I think they're even worse than last year's visions. Whatever that bastard did to him messed him up, 'Mione," Ron said.

"I know. Look, we've just got about an hour before breakfast starts. We can eat quickly and then ask to speak with Dumbledore," Hermione said. She'd wanted to talk to Dumbledore right away after realizing that Slughorn had done something to her friend, but the headmaster had been out of the Castle for most of the day. They hadn't had a chance to talk with him.

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea. It just doesn't feel right to go behind Harry's back like that," Ron said. He knew Harry would be angry at them for this. He would feel that they betrayed him be informing Dumbledore that something was going on.

"Ron, we have to! Slughorn did something terrible to Harry to gain the reactions that we've seen. What if he tries to do it again? Or he goes after another student. We can't let that happen. If we do, we're no better. Slughorn needs to be stopped and Harry needs help," Hermione said.

"We don't even know what happened," Ron pointed out.

"I have an idea, but I don't want to be right," Hermione said. She could think of one truly dreadful thing that Slughorn could've done to Harry. As a muggleborn, she'd learned all about it happening in primary school. But she really wanted to be wrong.

Ron was about to ask what she meant, but before he could, he heard footsteps. He noticed Neville come down. "Hey, Neville."

"Hi. Couldn't sleep either?" Neville asked.

Hermione and Ron both shook their heads. "We were just discussing going to see Dumbledore. "I figure we can go after breakfast," Hermione said.

"I still don't know. It doesn't feel right," Ron said. He did get what Hermione said, but something just felt wrong about going to Dumbledore.

"Ron might be right. It might not be a good idea," Neville said.

"Neville, you must see that we have to do something to stop Slughorn," Hermione said in disbelief. She was a little surprised by Neville's reluctance. Ron she got. He wasn't one to go to the teachers, but he thought Neville wold understand the need for it.

Neville walked over and took a seat near his two housemates and friends. "Something just doesn't add up with all this. I meant to talk to you guys about this yesterday, but I was worried Harry would overhear.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, what's to add?" Ron questioned.

"After we talked yesterday, I went down to the greenhouses. It calms me down plant. Professor Sprout was down their and we talked. I asked her about Slughorn and his time here the first time. Apparently he was here a long time, since before Dumbledore became headmaster," Never told them.

"What's that matter?" Ron asked.

Hermione had an unsettling look on her face. "Well, it means that this has probably happened before."

"I'm pretty sure that's true. I casually asked Professor Sprout why Slughorn left. She didn't know why, but she said it happened quickly. That he was just gone one day. No one even knew he was leaving," Neville explained.

"That's sounds like he got sacked," Ron said surprised. It wasn't that a teacher getting fired was strange, but it was strange that Slughorn would be let back if he was fired. Why would Dumbledore hire someone back that he fired?

Neville nodded. "That's what I was thinking. That's why I don't think we should go to Dumbledore. I think it's likely that Slughorn was sacked because he did something to a student, like whatever he did to Harry, which means Dumbledore knows about it."

"You think Dumbledore knows Slughorn's done something? No. He wouldn't let something like that happen. He wouldn't allow a teacher to hurt one of us," Hermione said. Slughorn was one thing, but she refused to believe that Dumbledore would harm a student, even by just allowing it to happen.

"Umbridge," was all Ron said.

"That was different. Dumbledore couldn't do anything about that. The Ministry was in charge of her," Hermione argued.

"It's Dumbledore, Hermione. He could do almost anything. He could've stopped her," Ron said. He didn't want to believe this either, as he looked up to Dumbledore in the past, but it was hard to ignore Neville's logic. Dumbledore most likely sacked Slughorn, which meant he knew what he was capable of. They couldn't trust him.

"I've been thinking a lot about this all night. It was all I could do since I couldn't sleep. I've been thinking about everything we know. We know Slughorn is dangerous. He did something bad to Harry and probably others over the years that he's taught. We also know Professor Snape hates his guts," Neville stated. He was trying to get it all sorted out so they could figure out a way to help Harry. He wasn't coming up with anything though. They didn't even have proof that Slughorn had done anything. They needed proof, especially if they had to take on Dumbledore as well, which he was not enthusiastic about.

"Snape's the one that told us about teachers that might hurt us," Hermione suddenly said. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of that before. Well, she had, but only to back up the possibility that a teacher could have done something to Harry. She didn't consider the possibility that maybe Snape was trying to warn them against Slughorn.

"Yeah, so?" Ron asked. He didn't really see why that mattered.

"It's a bit coincidental that he did that right about Slughorn came back," Hermione said.

"He must have known," Neville realized.

Ron scowled. "Greasy git! He and Dumbledore let this happen!"

Hermione shook her head. "No, he didn't. He was trying to stop it. He was warning us to be wary. He wanted us to be careful around Slughorn. And, Ron, remember when Harry told us that Professor Snape caught him with Slughorn and forced him back to the common room? I think he was trying to protect Harry."

"Why not just bloody say it then?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. He couldn't for some reason, I guess. He tried though, that we know, which means, he's the one that can help us. We have to go to Snape," Hermione said.

None of them noticed Harry at the top of the stairs by the dormitories, trembling more at every word that was said. They knew. His friends knew and they were going to tell Snape. Soon everyone would know what happened to him. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't live with that. It was time for him to do what he'd been thinking about since not long after Slughorn raped him.