Chapter Number: 31
Chapter Name: Plans, Parvati & Preconceptions
Neville was glad, that when the door opened it was Professor Dumbledore. If it had been anyone else he was not sure if he would have had been able to keep the promise he made to Hagrid. The wise wizard's eyes held pride as he looked over at Neville. The headmaster made his way to Harry's bed, but made a stop to see Neville first, while Hagrid locked the door behind them. Whatever Neville was expecting what happened next was not it.
" How are you doing, Neville?" said Professor Dumbledore as he gently ruffled Neville's hair.
" Fine... sir" he replied, pleased with himself for getting some affection from a member of staff other than Professor Sprout and this was the headmaster no less.
" Thank you, Neville for looking after Harry."
" I...it wwa..was my pleasure sir" stuttered Neville. This was the first time in his life he was stuttering, not because he was afraid, but was overcome with feelings that he had no names for.
" You're well enough to go back..." Professor Dumbledore either paused or was interrupted in mid sentence, when the door to the room burst open and a loud noise echoed throughout the corridors.
On the other side of the door stood and angry looking Madam Pomfrey, her face flustered. She was rather angry to have heard that there was a patient in the hospital wing and no one thought to get her, to top that off she had to hear it from a terrified looking Ravenclaw. " Where is he?" she demanded. Her voice embodied something that frightened, even Hagrid, who was at least five feet taller than her. Professor Dumbledore didn't flinch.
The Professor then turned to Neville."... go out into the hallway and join rest of the classes." Neville nodded and ran out past the angry woman at the door.
When Neville had left the room, in the castle where Harry was laying unconscious, Professor Dumbledore was getting ready to do something quite drastic to revive him. He had not done this type of advanced ancient magic for a long time, and the only other time he had done it was when he faced off Grindelwald.
" Hagrid? Could you do something for me?"
" Yes professor, what is it that ya want me to do?"
" I want you and Madam Pomfrey to go out of the room..." Madam Pomfrey looked like she was going to start an argument, but something inside her made her stop. "...Clear both sides of the corridor and make sure you post the head boy and girl on each side of the corridor. No matter what you hear or see, don't try to come into the room."
Hagrid did not need to be told, twice. He knew Professor Dumbledore knew, what he was doing, but the comment bout no coming into the room was one that disturbed him.
" Albus, what're you going to do?" asked madam Pomfrey.
" Something that'll hurt Harry a lot...." he said very slowly.
Very soon after Neville went outside the hospital room, three pairs of hands quickly plucked him out of the small crowd. The hands belonged to three people very close to Harry. They were Hermione, Ron and Ginny. " How's he doing?" asked Ron.
" Is he doing okay?", added Hermione.
" Is he awake yet?" asked Ginny.
" Hold on a sec... will you?..." said Neville.
" Well?" asked Hermione folding her hands in front of her and standing on one foot while tapping the ground with the other.
" He's still unconscious" said Neville, much to the three of his interrogators' dismay.
" Well lets go..." said Hermione, as she reluctantly started to move to where her next class was due to be held, "...well come on..." she said to Ron.
As much as Hermione quickly giving up was a surprise to Ron, he thought he saw her point in giving up. It was unlikely that Harry would wake up soon, and if he did it would be at least a day before Madam Pomfrey would let anyone into the hospital wing. But Hermione had not really given up. In fact she was cooking up a plan to go see Harry that very night.
Alone.
Hermione wanted to talk to Harry alone, even if he was going to be unconscious. She did not want Ron present there because Ron had a tendency to get jealous. Hermione was sure she would cry, and she was sure that Ron would see it as affection for Harry. This year more than anything else, Hermione knew, it was important for both Ron and her to be by Harry's side. Anything that might disrupt that friendship could have dire consequences for Harry, and as a friend she did not think she would be able to bear that pain in her.
" I didn't think you'd give up so soon," said Ron as they headed for their next class, Neville next to him, "... I mean it's so unlike you..."
She leaned closer and lied to Ron with a straight face, " I don't want to talk about that git!"
" Okay," Ron said putting up his hand. " It's just that you were as concerned about him as me." said Ron with a look of confusion on his face.
' He looks cute when he's confused,' thought Hermione as she replied, " Well... I changed my mind...anyway... you want to go to the Library to do some research for History of Magic Class"
Ron didn't have to think about the question. Even though it would have been a great opportunity to get close to Hermione, he didn't really want to do that kind of studying in the library with her.
He grabbed Neville and said, " No...Sorry! I can't! I promised Neville here I was going to help him practice for Quidditch trials."
" I said that?!" Neville scratched his head in confusion.
" Yes, you did. Remember..." went on Ron.
Hermione could see that Ron was lying, but this turn of event was going to fit in with her plan perfectly. Just to make it easy, " Oh... I need to go back to the common room. I'll be a while in there... where'll you two be when you're doing your practice. If I finish a bit early... may be I'll watch you guys."
Ron's smug grin that he had just pulled one past Hermione wiped away. ' Damn! Now I really have to help Neville... but then again I really needed to train...,' he thought.
"...er we'll be in the Quidditch field..."
" Don't you need your brooms?" she asked hoping they would say no.
" No... we'll be using the school ones... er... if we don't get going we'll have to stop before we start"
Ron grabbed Neville's arm and then broke into a run.
Hermione herself broke into a run, but not in the direction that she was supposed to. She headed back to the common room. All the boys and girls other than Ron, Neville and Hermione had decided to stay there. So there was no chance of her getting caught doing what she wanted to. She didn't stop long enough for the fat lady to complain about how the Gryffindor girls now a days were so rude.
She ran straight into the Harry's dorm room and went to where she knew Harry had hid invisibility cloak and the Marauders map. She knew that she had very little time so she quickly folded the brown piece of parchment in a pocket in her cloak and wrapped herself in the invisibility cloak. It was a good thing she did, since at that very moment Dean and Seamus came into the room.
They stood on the threshold of the door talking. " You know the end of term ball..." said Seamus.
" There's one?" asked Dean incredulous.
" Of course there is... my brother told me about it last year... who would you take? Out of anyone..." he asked.
" The head-girl..." said Dean dreamily, before he went totally serious, "...but more realistically... I like Parvati"
" Parvati! Really?" Seamus raised one of eyebrows.
" Yes!" it looked as though someone had insulted Dean, " She's smart and pretty" Dean's brown skin made it hard to see it but he was blushing.
" Hey! Don't get your undies in a bunch" he said, putting up his hands to stop any physical assault that might follow, " Sorry! I didn't think you liked her...er...in that way..."
"...okay... If you think Parvati is not nice then who do you wanna take?"
" if I could take anyone, it'd be Cho Chang that seeker for Ravenclaw....er.... we both know she's not in our league... I have my mind set on a Hufflepuff girl... I'm asking her after charms"
" You're asking someone this early? Why?"
" Remember last year..."?
" I waited a long time to ask her, by the time I got my nerve up, she was already going with someone else. I almost didn't get a date for the ball..."
' Merlin! Are all the Gryffindor boys like this?,' thought Hermione, remembering that Harry did the same thing the year before. She felt a bit bad listening in on their conversation, but she had to stay where she was, if she wanted a quick escape.
"... so who is it?" asked Dean Thomas.
Seamus had light skin and when he blushed, his head looked more like a tomato. " er.. Hannah... Hannah Abbott."
" Umm... she's ok... who do you think Neville is going with. Ginny again?"
" I don't think, she's going to make that mistake again..." snorted out Seamus amongst his laughter. Hermione felt bad for Neville knowing that he probably would not get a date.
" I think a girl likes him already...." said Dean in a mysterious voice. Hermione's ear pricked up, even though she was trying not to listen to them a second ago.
" Who? ..." Seamus became very curious when he heard that bit of information. It was hard for him to believe that a girl would actually like Neville. Well except for Hermione, who had been helping him, get along in his classes, but there was nothing there. Everyone could tell by the way Hermione and Ron always fought that they were meant for each other. Even though this was the case, Seamus ventured forth a guess, though he knew it was wrong, "... Hermione?"
Hermione took a step back. She had no idea that someone would think that she had romantic interest in Neville. She had to restrain herself, from talking back to the two boys to make it known that she was not in anyway or shape was attracted to him.
" Hermione.... you're joking right?" said Dean.
" ... so you think she has a thing for Ron as well..."
Dean nodded. " So does half the school. The way they fight... it's so obvious"
Hermione took so many steps back that, any more she would not have heard rest of the conversation. ' They Know! But how?!'
" ...so who is it?"
" You know that okay looking Slytherin girl that used to hang around Malfoy..." said Dean, before he got interrupted.
" No kidding..." Seamus' his hand went up to cover his mouth, " Pansy..."
" I know... it's kind of hard to believe that Malfoy's ex-girlfriend has a thing for Neville..."
Seamus started to stammer " bu.... but..."
" I know she's probably the best looking Slytherin girl in her year.... That's not saying much... but that's pretty good for Neville."
" Yeah..." Seamus looked uncertainly at his broom on the other side of the room. " You think we should bother to enter the tryout... I mean Ron's going to be in it and his whole family except for Percy was in the Quidditch team... he's bound to be good and I hear Harry is the co-captain. He'll have connections in the high places - he's bound to get into the team."
" You think Harry would do that..."
" He might... but then again we thought he put his name in the goblet as well didn't we. Who would have had guessed it was a trap for him..."
" Yeah... when Harry's concerned, you can't be sure of anything..." Seamus moved out of the doorframe and started to move to where his broom was. Dean already had his.
When they both stopped blocking her exit path, Hermione made a quick run for the door. Once safely away from dorm room for the boys, she headed straight for her own room. There she took out all of her stuff from the bottom drawer of her closet door and put the invisibility cloak in there. She then covered it up with all her clothes that were originally there.
Glad that her plan was a success, she sauntered merrily down to the Quidditch field to watch Ron and Neville practice... ' Well watch Ron anyway,' thought Hermione had a small blush appear on her face. It still amazed her that according to Seamus and Dean, half the school suspected that they had a thing for each other. ' The other half must think I have a crush on Harry...' remembering all the people the year before had asked her if she was his girlfriend.
' Oh well... I can't really complain... Both of them are quite good looking, and both are my best friend... there's bound to be some confusion. Good thing, I have my crush chosen already. Ron...' , the rest of her thoughts were too complicated to be explained in here, "... Oh! I just love that red hair..." suddenly she said it out loud. It was a good thing that no one was there. Otherwise it would have had been a disaster.
In the Quidditch field, Parvati Patil was looking at all the boys on their brooms, naked from waist up. She was so deeply engrossed in her observations, that she did not notice Hermione, sit down next to her. Ron, Neville, Dean, Seamus and a few of the Ravenclaws were all practicing together. From what Hermione saw, Ron had about as much chance in getting into the keeper position, as anyone else. They were all mediocre in terms of talent. Though her knowledge of Quidditch only extended as far as watching the matches that Harry played in and even them a lot of the times her nose was in the books.
" How long have you been watching them?" Hermione asked, wanting to make a polite conversation.
" ...Umm...almost from the beginning...." the suddenly she shouted to the boys, " Seeker missile at 3 o'clock....." Parvati cringed then. " Ouch... that must have hurt." She turned back to Hermione and said, " seeker missile is not used that often cause it stops the seeker from what he is supposed to do.... oh look it's Ron's turn now..."
After that every time one of the boys would miss, Parvati next to her would pipe up and tell Hermione what they did wrong. This was a new side to Parvati that Hermione never known before, but then again they were never really friends to begin with.
"... see how Ron missed the last one, that's because he kept his eyes on only the front two chasers. The third one was moving much slower so he did not pay any attention to that one... classic beginner's mistake."
A few minutes later... " Oh see that one that Neville just missed... this one was a bit different from the one before, this strategy only works if the other one happened before. The three of the chasers start moving fast and one of the beaters join in, when they separate the chaser pretends to go after the one of the Quaffle. The beater hides his stick and the keeper thinks that the beater is going to receive the ball... and then bam. One of the chasers put it through the hole.... Who do you think is going to be next?" asked Parvati to Hermione, whose mouth was wide open.
" What?... do I have something in my teeth?" asked Parvati starting to use on of her fingers to see if anything was sticking out in there.
" er... no. You know a lot about this keeping thing. I just didn't think you'd be interested in Quidditch, what with ...er..." Hermione stopped fearing that she might upset Parvati by the rest of the sentence.
" ...you mean not just focused on my hair and Harry and his fortunes for the week?"
Hermione blushed because Parvati had said what she was thinking about.
" ...Urmm...well, yeah. You and Lavender are always talking all night long about your favorite makeup stuff and which boy scores what on that chart of yours."
" Well... growing up in a Quidditch mad family with eight brothers you pick up a lot of things. The only person who is not interested in Quidditch in my family is Padma."
" You seem to know a lot about being a keeper. Are you going to try out?"
" Me?" Parvati reacted to the question, the same way she would have had reacted to a date with the dark lord himself. Utter amazement.
" Why not?... I've seen you on a broom, you're not afraid. You seem to know a lot more about what to look out for as a keeper than any of the boys up there."
" I can't..." Parvati explained. " I'm a girl."
" What does that have to do with anything?" it looked to Hermione, as though Parvati thought the selectors would be biased against another female in the team. "... There's three girls in the team already and one of them is the Captain."
" None of them have a boyfriend do they?" said Parvati.
" Boys love girls who play Quidditch" said Hermione. It was true, sometimes she wished she was interested in the game so she could talk to Harry or Ron when they started to talk about the game.
" ...No. No. No." Parvati was quite adamant, " Boys love girls who know lots about Quidditch. They don't like the ones that can play better than themselves."
" You really believe that?"
" I have to, I can play better than three of my older brothers, and I still get picked after Padma who doesn't like the game at all."
" Oh... I'm sorry... but I'm sure the boys here are different" said Hermione, trying to encourage Parvati to take part. She didn't want the house to loose the Quidditch cup because they had the second best keeper. She didn't know if Parvati was any good, but decided is she knows this much she was bound to be good.
There had been two blows already in the morning for the Gryffindors. One was the announcement that Professor Snape took great pleasure in delivering. - Lee Jordan had been removed as the commentator for the Quidditch games because of his 'bias' against the Slytherins. Since the commentator could only be removed at the beginning of the season, he took his case to the board of Governors and got them with the influence of Lucius Malfoy to get rid of him. Malfoy who showed up to show evidence of the "injustices" of the Gryffindors.
The second had come only minutes ago, when Harry fell unconscious in front of the whole class. This is something the house did not need. "...don't you want Gryffindors to win the Quidditch cup"
" I do..." Parvati's head hung low, " but I don't want to become unpopular with the boys..."
" So you think becoming a ditzy girl, would impress them?" retorted Hermione.
" Lavender gets lots of attention and so does Hanna Abbott from Hufflepuff... anyway... shouldn't you be in the library?" teased Parvati.
Hermione got slightly miffed at Parvati for her crack, before realizing that Parvati must have had felt the same way when people assume, just because she was friends with Lavender she is a ditzy girl.
"Okay... I get the point. I shouldn't think that way about you if I don't want others to think the same way about me. Right?"
" Yep. Let's start over, without all the wrong idea about the other person."
" In that case... I'm Hermione Granger. What is your name?" she said, holding out her hand. Parvati took her hand shook it. " I'm Parvati Patil. Nice to meet you too."
Ginny protested more than anyone else when Hagrid and rest of the Gryffindors and quite a number of other students were pushed back out of the room. She was muttering to herself, when she collided with the sandy haired boy again. " Ohh, Sorr..." started Terry, but stopped when he saw who had bumped into.
" I'm soorr.." the same happened to Ginny too.
" You!" said Terry, before deciding that Ginny was trouble and made a run in the opposite direction, leaving Ginny quite confused. She had no idea what she had done to cause that reaction in the boy, so she went back thinking of ways to sneak back into the Hospital wing that night. ' I just wish I had an invisibility cloak,' thought Ginny, as she made her way back to her charms class, of which there was only a few minutes left.
" Ms. Weasley," cried Professor Flitwick, " What is it that you had to do that took that long?"
" Oh.... I'm sorry professor. I heard Harry Potter was in the hospital wing (*gasps* from the classmates), so I ran th..." Ginny did not get to finish as Professor Flitwick interrupted her.
" Potter...did you say?" Ginny nodded, " What happened to him?"
" He fell unconscious..."
Professor Flitwick looked unsettled.
" Do you know why?" he asked her slowly and softly, as though he was asking something very personal.
" Hermione, told me she thinks Harry used a very strong shielding charm for a long time.... We don't know for sure because Madam Pomfrey and Hagrid close off the hospital wing"
As time went on in the Charms class, sitting next to a person she would probably never enjoy sitting, Hermione kept feeling bad about how she had treated Harry for the last two days. She should have had been proud of Harry, but instead she was angry with him. Parvati was a very good listener when it came to other people's problems. She had, in a few minutes, put reasons behind Hermione's actions. Though Parvati had very little information to go on and it happened shortly after they had shook hands to get rid of any old ideas they had about the other person.
" You don't find it odd that Harry Potter would suddenly start to study?" asked Hermione.
" No. Not after what happened last year. I know, I would have been dead if it was me who was taken to the dark lord. If I survived then I would do everything in my power to get strong... and it seems without being allowed to do magic over the holidays, he did the only thing he could. Learn from books. We both would have had done the same in the same position."
Hermione could only nod at those sentences. Those sentences were already in her mind, she just needed to hear them from someone else. Though she didn't need incentives to read books - but she knew some people needed them.
" I think you reacted that way, because you were always the brainy one in the group. I still remember what Professor Trelawney said about what you three did in your first year. You were the one who did the logical stuff with the potions..."
Inwardly Hermione knew that Professor Trelawney got her information by asking the other professors, but did not say anything since Parvati had great respect for her. " ... so when Harry finally beat you in something you got really angry. Not because he beat you, but because now you think he has no need for you. In a way you think you're unworthy of his friendship now that he got more than you. But..." Parvati beamed at Hermione, " ...you know that even if he doesn't need your talents he needs your friendship."
Hermione looked unsure.
" Besides, how smart could he have gotten, if he didn't even know why you were upset with him." After she finished ,Hermione looked at Parvati with respect that she gave only to two other female teachers. They were Professor McGonagall and Professor Vector. Very soon after that, the two girls headed for the charms…
A small explosion next to her brought Hermione out of her daze. Parvati had managed to get her shimmering charm to short-circuit. Hermione was not sure, but something in the smile she gave to Hermione, made her think it was a deliberate act to cause some trouble in the class. Hermione just gave her a secretive smile back.
Lavender next to Parvati was very angry with Parvati, for letting bossy Hermione enter their clique. After all, she was the one that had insulted her beloved Professor Trelawney, before leaving the Divination class forever. Parvati was quick to point out that three fifth year girls going to Hogsmede without boys, was not as bad as just one or two of them going together. So they could have a girls day in sometimes - just having fun without the boys acting all silly.
Though Hermione did not really think that she would be left alone, as Harry would always made her tag along to where ever he went for fun, she played along for Parvati's sakes, who seemed determined to get her new friend get along with her long time one.
Over the next few days Hermione became very good friends with both Parvati and Lavender, as Lavender learned not to take what Hermione say about Professor Trelawney seriously and Hermione learned to keep her thought regarding Professor Trelawney as quiet as possible.
<<~~~>>
END OF CHAPTER
READ AND REVIEW