Disclaimer: Not mine, Not mine, Definitly not mine. The entire HP world belongs to JK Rowlings.
Hidden Beneath
Chapter 6- Blackmail
Harry really didn't feel like sleeping, he needed to get some thing on Ron that would make him let Hermione at least try out for the Quidditch Team tomorrow. He remembered something about Ron not doing his own work, which would definitely get him expelled. Harry stood from his bed and pulled on his pants and a black T-shirt. He went over to Neville's bed and shook Neville's shoulder hard.
Neville lifted his head up, and grumpily said "What?"
"I need to know where you can find any term papers or final reports from any class that Weasley might have." Harry whispered.
Neville nodded, "Well most professors keep them in a locked cabinet in their offices." He sat up more. "Why do you want past reports? This year has just begun it's not like you could copy and cheat off anyone."
"I don't want it for that, I do my own work. But Weasley doesn't."
"You can't get him expelled if that's what you're thinking. I already thought of that but it would be worse for Hermione when she got home for holidays. Ron's family doesn't take very good care of her; she's treated worse then a house elf. Imagine how it would be if Ron got caught cheating they would blame Hermione and say that she did it on purpose, that she wanted Ron to fail." Neville sighed. "I always think about her first before trying to go after Ron."
"I can't prove to anyone that Weasley smacks her around, the evidence disappears somewhat. So I'll do the next best thing to him, threaten him by exposing his oh so wonderful grades." Harry said with a grin as well as a hint of sarcasm.
Neville nodded, "Okay, can I get back to sleep now? Not all of us are fortunate to have been given a sleeping potion."
"Sure." Harry grinned.
After Neville settled back against his pillow Harry went to the foot of his bed and grabbed his invisibility cloak from his trunk. He threw it over himself and headed out of the boys dorm and the tower.
Harry walked slowly down the halls, avoiding Filch the caretaker, he turned the corner and he stood before the History of Magic classroom. He opened the door quietly, careful not to make a sound and alert Filch. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him just as quietly. He walked towards Professor Binns' office and opened the door. A large black file cabinet stood in the corner. He went right to it. Harry tried to pull it open but it wouldn't budge. "Alohomora" Harry whispered, he heard the cabinet rattle a bit and he pulled the door open.
He opened the inside drawer and searched the dividers for Ron's name. Harry smirked 'Ah ha' He said to himself. He opened Ron's folder and found all his reports from past years. 'This should do it.' Harry thought to himself. He continued to gather files, searching every report, every term paper and final essays of Ron's. Harry laughed to himself removing the masking charms on the papers. And sure enough there was Hermione's neat and tidy handwriting, nothing it all like the sloppy mess Ron's was in.
Harry took the papers out of the folders and closed the drawer. After making sure everything was the exact same way as when he entered the room, he carefully left the classroom, still careful not to make a sound. He wandered down the hall and back to the tower. Harry snickered to himself as he got into bed thinking now that idiot Ron Weasley is going to explode at just the mere sight of his papers in Harry's hand. Ron would not try and stop Hermione from even trying out for the team. Harry settled into sleep, with a final yawn Harry drifted off to dream land-
After swinging a sword hitting different people at every tern, hours passed as he continued to slaughter Voldemort's loyal Death Eaters as well as their wives, and children. Harry let out of breath holding a sword glanced around, several bodies bloody and broken, several with missing heads. Stomachs torn with internal organs spewing out of the wounds were lying all around him. The smell of death and burning flesh was in the air; Harry's stomach heaved and he bent over, throwing up from the smell and sight at what he had done.
"What's the matter Harry Potter, too much for you to handle." A voice hissed at him.
Harry wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stood up straight. He glared menacingly at Voldemort.
"Face the truth Harry Potter, you are exactly like me. We do what we must to get the desired result; you want to kill me so you slaughter those who are innocent to get to me."
"I am not like you." Harry spat.
Voldemort stepped down, "Yes you are. You will never be rid of this Harry Potter it will always be in your thoughts, in your mind. You'll be so stricken that you will bring your own life to an end." Voldemort laughed. "There will be no one to save you, you weak pathetic fool." He laughed again and lifted his wand "Time to die Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived will become The Boy Who Died." He laughed "Avada Keda- The morning alarm bell wrung bright and early, Harry opened his eyes. "I really hate that dream." He said quietly to no one in particular.
Ron yawned, stood and stretched. He scratched his rear end while walking towards the bulletin wall. There was a large note stating that Quidditch tryout were being moved to twelve thirty at lunch down at the Quidditch pitch. Ron smiled he was going to knock that Harry Potter right off his broom when he zoomed for the snitch. He will be so humiliated. Ron's grin turned into a sinister smirk, in fact he might do just that.
"Hey Ron," Dean spoke up. "Is Hermione going to try out for our team?"
Ron turned around facing Dean, "Why would she?" He shrugged. "She's not very good on a broomstick." He lied.
"Well she seems rather interested in the game." Harry spoke up while he gathered his clothing and headed towards the bathroom. "I think she should try out, it might be something fun for her to do."
"It doesn't matter what you think about my girlfriend Potter." Ron said, his voice rising in pitch.
Neville glanced at Ron while slipping on his shoe. "I often hear Ginny saying to her friends that Hermione would make a great Chaser, she has the speed and agility."
Ron sneered, "No. I don't want her ogled by every male member of any team."
"Why would she be ogled Ron?" Seamus replied, "The only way that would happen is if she was riding around on that broomstick naked during game time."
"Don't even think about that Seamus, how dare you picture my girlfriend naked and on a broomstick for that matter." Ron glared.
Dean sighed, "Well thanks for the visual Ron, thanks to you I'll be walking funny all morning."
Ron growled. "Don't even think about it."
"Too late." Dean placed on his robe.
"I still think Hermione would like to try out-" Neville started to say but he was interrupted by Ron.
"Look she doesn't like the game; often she says it's boring and stupid. Hermione would rather spend her time studying in that damn stupid library. Now stop talking about Hermione and Quidditch she's not playing and that's all there is to it." All these dang boys were getting on Ron's nerves; he did not want Hermione playing.
Seamus shrugged his shoulders wondering why Ron was getting all angry when mentioning Hermione wanting to play Quidditch. The boys went back to preparing for the morning.
Harry waited until Ron was the only one left in the room. He was simply staring at the tall red head, he could tell it was getting on his nerves. Ron turned and glared at him.
"What?" He growled bitterly.
"Nothing." Harry replied calmly. "Just wondering why you don't want your girlfriend trying out. I mean it's not like she can out do you or make you look stupid. 'you do that on your own' Harry thought to himself. "After all, they are completely different positions."
Ron smiled almost sweetly, that it was really disturbing. "Like I said before she doesn't like the game, she doesn't want to play."
"Oh I don't buy that for an instant." Harry also said with a similar smile that Ron had. "You should encourage her to try out."
"No." Ron was blunt.
"You will allow her to try out or you'll be sorry." Harry smirked.
"You don't scare me Potter." Ron yawned, he was bored.
"Oh are you sure about that?" Harry lifted up his mattress and pulled out a folder, the others would be kept in there in case he needed them another day.
"What do you have there?" Ron appeared concerned.
"Just a few reports." Harry lifted his eyes to his and smirked. "Of yours," He could see Ron was nervous. "I know you don't do your own work."
"How did you…what are you talking about Potter." Ron glanced at the floor and tried to walk away from him.
"Let her try out Weasley or I go to the headmaster with your so called reports and work." Harry ordered. "Also you will stop hurting her. If you don't I will go to the headmaster."
Ron stepped right up to him, "You can't prove that." Ron smirked
"You're right I can't prove that, but I can still get you expelled." Harry held up the folder.
"Is that a threat?" Ron's eyes were set in an evil glare,
"Of course it is." Harry wasn't that much shorter then him, so he didn't intimidate him like he did the other students. He figured not much could intimidate him, he battled the dark lord Voldemort, and nothing is more intimidating then that. "I'm warning you Weasley, if I don't see her trying out then I'm sure you'll be on the next train home."
Ron's eyes narrowed even more in bitter hatred. "Has she been talking to you?"
"No, I just know how to spy on people. I've been doing that all my life its only second nature to me." Harry shrugged nonchalantly. He laughed a bit when a large growl escaped Ron and he watched him turn without saying anything and left the room. Harry gave it a few minutes and he opened the door to leave the dorm. He heard Ron talking to Hermione down in the common room.
"Hermione, you will try out for the team." Ron said in a controlled anger.
Hermione's jaw dropped. "Really?"
"Yes, really." Ron noticed she looked like she was going to cry and without warning she flung her arms around him. Ron stood there shocked not returning her embrace. "What's the matter with you? Let go of me girl."
Hermione let go and backed away from him, "I'm sorry I don't know what came over me. You just never allowed me to play before." She looked up at him, light tears in her eyes.
"Yeah well…Just don't make a fool out of me or embarrass me when you fall off your broom because you can't fly for shit."
Hermione nodded.
Ron glared at her, "Oh great now your face is all red and blotchy from crying, over something so stupid too." Ron sighed with disappointment. "Wait a few minutes before you come down to breakfast, I will not have a red faced wench walking in with me."
Harry glared at Ron from the landing, 'what a jerk' he thought to himself while shaking his head.
"Yes Ron, whatever you want." She wiped her eyes and watched as her boyfriend left the common room. Hermione sighed and sat down on the couch. Cinnamon wandered over and dropped her fuzzy ball in Hermione's lap. Hermione smiled down at her dog. "You want to play?" And her dog's adoring bark filled her ears. "Okay then." She tossed the ball near the other side of the common room and Cinnamon went after it.
"That your dog?" A voice said from the stairs.
Hermione knew who it was without having to turn around. She nodded answering his question.
"That's a nice dog you have." Harry said as he stood behind her, looking down at top of her head.
"My parents gave her to me, when I was ten." Hermione said quietly, her voice trailed off as she stared at her dog.
Harry saw her hand lifting to her face again, probably wiping away more of her tears. "Are you trying out for the team today?"
Hermione smiled and she nodded, "Ron said I could."
"Well that's good to hear." Harry smiled as well and he watched her stand while positioning her bag on her shoulder. She turned to face him.
"What did you do to him, to get him to at least me try out?" She glanced at the floor.
"Ah, I magician never reveals his tricks or sources." Harry said with a finger extending upward.
Hermione gave a soft laugh, but she covered her mouth immediately.
"Why are you doing that?" Harry asked, "You can laugh, it's not a bad thing."
She shook her head, "yes it is. You might think I was laughing at you."
"I wouldn't have thought that at all." Harry was confused.
"Well whenever I used to laugh Ron would…well he would say I was laughing at him." Hermione replied while biting her lower lip.
"Well you don't have to worry about that with me, you can laugh anytime you want. And even at me I don't care." Harry gave a half grin.
"You are so different then Ron said you were, I thou-" She stopped in mid sentence.
"What?" Harry walked around the couch to her, "What were you going to say?"
"It doesn't matter; I shouldn't open my mouth and trouble you." She shook her head.
"I really want to know." Harry tried to catch her eye.
Hermione lifted her eyes to his she couldn't help but tell him the truth, "I thought that you were just another stuck up twit because you were already so well known. Before you came here I was reading a book" Her cheeks were tingeing pink, "Well it was a book about you, Ron caught me reading it and told me that you were some kind of jerk and that I should stay away from you."
Harry noticed she was a little embarrassed about admitting to reading a book about him. It brought a tiny smile to his face. "And what do you think?"
She cleared her throat; this time avoided looking him in the eye for a completely different reason. "That you are not a jerk. You are nice." She added quietly.
"I was thinking." Harry started. "I really like talking to you."
"You do?" Hermione was shocked; no one liked talking to her. "You really do?"
Harry nodded with a silly grin on his face. "Yes I do, do you like talking to me?" He saw Hermione's face color even more.
Hermione's head nodded, "Yes." She squeaked.
He brought his hand up to his mouth and covered his tiny laughter, after he recovered a bit he pulled his hand away. A pleasant smile gracing his face. "Then why not talk to me whenever you want?"
"I…I just can't. I don't want Ron to be angry with me." She glanced at the floor again.
"He can't be angry if he doesn't know about it." Harry said with a grin.
"He knows about everything." Hermione said quietly.
"Not if he's given sleeping potion." Harry said crossing his arms over his chest. "So every night around eleven thirty or so when everyone heads off to sleep, we can talk about anything you want."
Hermione thought a moment, and let out a long sigh. "You are sure going through a lot of trouble for this." She glanced at the floor. "I'm not worth such trouble."
"I think you need someone else to talk to other then Weasley, so why not me?" Harry said with a smile.
Her eyes narrowed in thought, "I don't know."
"Trust me Hermione," he saw her hesitation. "You have to trust someone." Harry held his hand out to her.
Hermione took a breath, she liked the way Harry said her name. Whenever Ron said it, it was either because she was in trouble or to give her an order. She looked at Harry's extended hand. 'Should I trust him?' She thought to herself while still looking at his hand. 'He has never done anything for you not to trust him, he even talked with Ron. You get to try out for the team.' She nodded that settled it, Hermione hesitantly lifted her hand and her fingertips lightly touching his.
Harry noticed that she might be a bit afraid to trust anyone; her fingers were barely touching his. He let her take her time as her soft hand finally slid into his. He closed his fingers around hers and gave a gentle squeeze.
A strange feeling swam from her hand and filled her to her toes. Harry's hand felt really warm, nothing at all like the cold feelings she gets when Ron is holding her hand, "Okay." Hermione's voice was shaky, "I'll trust you." She felt Harry start to pull her towards the portrait hole and she tried let go of his hand but he wouldn't release her. As she walked with him out of the tower she still tried to pull her hand from his. "Let go." She whispered.
"In a minute." Harry said he suddenly stopped three feet before The Great Hall doors, he saw a violent fear in her eyes and he let go. "Just remember you can trust me." He saw her nod.
"Wait awhile before coming in The Great Hall okay?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Certainly." Harry said and watched her open the door and step into The Great Hall, the door closed behind her.
Hermione walked towards the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Ron and Ginny. She immediately filled her plate.
Ron put his hand on hers as Harry came in and sat down across from Ron and Hermione. He saw Hermione filling her plate with a few things.
"Not too much Hermione, the last thing I want is a fat girlfriend." He said while looking at her.
"I'm not fat Ron." She didn't lift her eyes from her plate, there was only a piece of melon, toast and one thin slice of ham.
"I don't even want to talk about this here." Ron spat quietly. He lifted his eyes to Harry and watched as his enemy lifted a brow and glare at him. "On second thought Hermione, you are looking a little thin, here." He took the plate of scrambled eggs and dumped some onto her plate. He reached for a bowl of fried potatoes and scooped her out a few and piled them next to her eggs. He grabbed a bunch of grapes and a banana. "There you go eat up."
Hermione watched Ron this was a bit disturbing. Actually, it was very disturbing. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing Hermione, just eat up." He said as he continued to pile food on her plate.
"Ron I can't possibly eat all this." She said quietly.
"Just eat what you can." Ron said pleasantly.
Hermione looked down at her full plate. 'What is wrong with Ron? He never lets me eat my fill' She said to herself. Hermione lifted her eyes to Harry who was in front of her. He was simply eating his breakfast; he looked really involved in it. She held back her laugh. Boys were always interested in food.
The Gryffindors went off to their first class for the morning, Harry was constantly watching Ron who was always looking over his shoulder, and whenever he saw Harry looking at him Ron would immediately start being nice to Hermione. Harry leaned back in his chair during History of Magic.
"Here Hermione let me ink your quill for you." Ron took her quill from her still hand and dipped it into the inkwell. "There you go."
Hermione's eyebrows were knitted together; this morning had been so weird. She turned around and caught Harry's eye, and he winked. Her face flushed and she turned around straight ahead. She saw Lavender looking at her almost suspiciously. But the blonde's stare was replaced by one of loathing. She really had no idea what Lavender's problem was, she never did anything to her. Hermione sighed and glanced up at the wall, only fifty minutes till tryouts, she was so looking forward to it.
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Well that's it for Chapter 6 stay tuned for chapter 7, in that one we go through the tryouts and then we will jump to September. Please Review thanks Ryoko.