John looked at Professor Dumont and smiled. He had been sat quietly waiting for someone to speak to him. He was thinking about Ruby and he didn't know what to say to her, but like Jack he knew that he would have to speak to her and say he was sorry. He hoped that she would forgive him but he would have to wait and see. He wondered if the Professor would tell them when he had more news about Jose.

Jack fell to the floor as the vision of Jose came into his head again, he closed his eyes and he saw the outline of Jose, He felt better on the floor, he felt stable, he felt happy, putting his head down, he started to drift off to sleep.

"As long as you promise not to do anything foolish, you should be able to meet on the grounds as you wish," Antonio said. "I hope you've learned your lesson and won't do anything that might be dangerous." He looked at both boys warningly. "After we leave here I will escort both of you back to the Hufflepuff common room, but we aren't ready to leave here yet. You see, you can only leave this room during certain hours, and the time is not yet ready yet. The door will only open at certain times, and I'm afraid that's something beyond my control. You see, it's some sort of malfunction with the key mechanism, can't really explain it but that's the way it is. Once we leave here, I will get in touch with both of you if I hear anything more from Jose or find out anything about the piece of the letter which Liam owned." Antonio noticed that Jack had fallen asleep. That was good, they could stay here a bit longer. The boys were tired, they needed their sleep. He produced a pillow and placed it under Jack's head, then lightly covered him with a blanket.

Jack heard what Dumont said and nodded, what he was going to do wouldn't be foolish, it would be noble and brave "Professor, can you escort me and Sak to the grouds and then let us talk alone please?" Jack asked him before letting his head fall on the pillow.

"I would be glad to do that," Antonio said, certain that Sakura wouldn't let him run off on some crazy mission on his own. He knew that the two of them did care for another, which was good. At least Jack had somebody to look out for him, and that was a start.

John saw Jack falling asleep and smiled it seemed like he had started to come around at last and realised that it wasn't the Professor fault. He was glad that he had found that out as now he was going to try and help them sort everything out. He wanted to leave but unfortunatly he realised that they might have to wait a while. He also wanted to sleep but he had to stay awake to make sure nothing happened to Jack.

He was trying so hard not to sleep but his eyes just kept closing and as soon as he opened his eyes they were shut again after the tenth time of trying, John stopped trying and fell asleep, he knew when he woke up he would wondered what had happened and why he went to sleep when he should have been looking after Jack.

Antonio watched as John also fell asleep. He repeated the same procedure, tucking a pillow under his head and wrapping a blanket around him, as well. Once the boys awoke, they should be ready to leave this place and carry on with their lives. Their mission here was done!

Jack smiled "Thanks"

Jack's eyes were closed but he was mulling over his thoughts, opening his eyes momentarily, he saw John asleep, Jack smiled, at least John was happy enough, Jack hadn't slept for while, he needed sleep, falling asleep next to the grimy bath he sighed almost contentedly.

Antonio sat and watched both boys as they slept. He now knew almost certainly that Bethany was lost to him forever, but maybe she had been from the beginning, anyway. Sometimes things worked out in strange ways, and if he could save Jose, Jack and John, then maybe it would be enough.

Jack opened his eyes to look at Dumont "Not everything has to be a mission you know" Jack said, hoping that Dumont would understand what he'd said Jack closed his eyes again.

Antonio smiled, thinking about what Jack had said. The lines of a song came to him, "Life is a journey, not a destination." That had been a muggle song and the words had never made much sense to him before, but maybe now they did.

Jack smiled at Dumont, maybe they could be friends after all, Jack was wondering if Dumont would go to sleep.

Antonio wondered if he should catch a few winks, but thought it was probably better if he stayed awake. Anything could happen, after all, and he was still feeling a bit keyed up from all that had happened today. They had accomplished a lot, and he thought the detention had been well worth it.

Jack chewed on his lip silently, he wanted to talk to Jose, he felt so upset that Jose wasn't with him, his eyes began to sting as he thought about Jose, a few sniffles could be heard from Jack

Antonio wondered if Jack were sleeping. He seemed to be, but he seemed to be dreaming about something that was upsetting him. He wasn't surprised, the boys had had quite a life. And they were both still just kids! Antonio really hoped he could help them somehow.

Jack laid there staring at the grimy bath, why were they all in the bathroom? he wondered "Professor, " Jack turned over suddenly "Why did you keep John here when I begged you to let him go?" Jack asked

"As I explained, I can't open this room up except at a certain point in time," Antonio said. "I'm just waiting to be able to open the room up again, this is one of the more complicated situations because there's been a bit of difficulty. I really couldn't do anything about the situation earlier, I'm afraid, but it will all be over soon. I think it was probably better that we did get stuck here, all of us, because we've learned a lot of very interesting things that we wouldn't have known before if this hadn't happened. Sometimes things happen that way."

Jack nodded "Okay then" Jack nodded as he moved to look at John "He's the sweetest boy I know" Jack told Dumont "I love the way he does what he can for me" Jack smiled "He's like my angel, just like you, What I want to know is why do you want to help us?" Jack asked

Antonio smiled. "I'm really glad that you two have each other. And as for why I want to help you, it's not something that I can really explain. The thing is, I see something in you boys, a quality that not many people have. To be honest, I try to help all my students, but I suppose you might say I've gone the extra mile with the two of you."

Antonio looked up for a moment. "Well, it looks like we can all go now. Come on, I'll accompany the two of you. We'll stop by my office for a moment and then the two of you are free to go."

Still biting her tongue Cam walked into the torture chamber. True to it's name she could see shackles hanging from the walls. Her large blue eyes scanned the suit of armor on the corner--Archaic-- She thought. They weren't allowed to torture students literally...right? Would the ministry really allow that? It had been an honest mistake that had landed her there! No one had told them about the no Quidditch rule! She'd just been trying to get on the team!

Cam kept her arms folded, and tried not to look as defiant as she felt. She kept her jaw locked tightly, her tongue between her teeth. Don't speak unless spoken to. Don't do anything unless he tells you do. Just shut up and get this over with. Even if you are in a bad mood...there is no reason to lose Slytherin any more points. She reminded herself, then turned towards the door, towards Professor Vindictus.

"Before this detention commences, you need to drop the attitude with me, young lady," Vindictus said as he walked into the room behind her. A rectangular box was sitting on a rickety table in the room and it was moving slightly. Next to the table was an empty barrel and there was no sign of a stool on which to sit. "Keep the attitude and this will become your new common room. Do I make myself clear?"

WHAT ATTITUDE?! I haven't even SAID anything! You'll only be happy if I'm in tears! RIGHT?! She thought irritably. It was only years of her mother's training that allowed her to keep her face void of emotion. A proper lady knows how to keep her emotions from showing on her face. Who knew those stupid pointers would ever come in handy?!

"Yes sir." She responded. Rather than mutter under her breath she spoke in a clear, compliant voice. She wasn't going to cause problems...and with any luck she'd never have to talk to this pompous man again.

"Good. Now please walk over to the table and I'll explain the first punishment to you," Vindictus said and made his way over to the table himself. He opened the rectangular box and revealed a dozen Beater's bats. "What are these, Cam?"

Obediently, Cam moved over to the table. Once there she glanced at the empty barrel curiously, then down at the rectangle box as he opened it. Inside were a dozen beaters bats. What? Is he going to make you never want to get near that position again or something? She was glad for an excuse to use her voice. Something to keep herself from saying something dumb.

" Those are beaters bats, sir." She responded, and clasped one wrist behind her back. She felt oddly as if she were in boot camp at that moment. Hey! Can't go wrong with that attitude. Right? Just grit your teeth and bear it. Even a drill Sergent can't do anything about that. All he can do is keep on yelling. At least if you keep quiet you know you didn't do anything to deserve it. She coached herself.

"Good. These are not your run-of-the-mill Beater's bats," Vindictus said and put on a pair of thick gloves before pulling one of the bats out of the box. There was a reddish coil wrapped around and protruding through parts of the bat. The coil appeared to be glistening slightly and it moved. "Worm infestation, but not just any kind of worm. These worms have teeth and love to feast on the core of the bats. You have to remove each worm carefully. Tug too hard, then they'll secrete a thick, greenish pus that has the gooey consistency of snot and smells like rotting garbage. Then they'll secure themselves even tighter to the bat. If they squeeze too tight, they'll bust the bat and then you'll have to deal with worm guts. Very nasty when that happens." He put the bat back into the box. "You'll do this with your bare hands. There's about two worms in each bat. After you remove a worm, drop it in this barrel. When you finish deworming a bat, place it on the floor beneath the table. Time to get started."