I'm sooooo sorry for the long update! I've been really busy with a pantomime and then catching up on missed schoolwork. Well here is the 3rd chapter!
Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed so far! I'm so happy that this is so liked! Yay me! And the reviews are VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to Harry Potter. Everything belongs to the magnificent genius J. K. Rowling
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Chapter Three:
Harry took his time on the way to potions. He purposely took the long way, and by long way, Harry walked everywhere else first before making his way to the dungeons.
Harry didn't know what was going on, but that was beside the point. The point was… The point was that something was going on and he didn't like it. He tried to stay clear away from everyone else in the castle by all means necessary.
He had almost crossed paths with Pansy Parkinson and one of her cronies. Harry had to hide behind a tapestry for god-knows how long, listening to a rather R-rated conversation about Pansy and some Ravenclaw (whom Harry couldn't distinguish the gender, because she/he sounded big everywhere) before he could breath air that wasn't poisoned with mothballs.
Harry decided he had better head towards Snape's classroom. Walking through the dungeons, he heard someone call his name.
Harry turned around to see his other best friend come running down the stone corridor, very much out of breath. She stopped in front of him and leaned on his shoulder to catch her breath.
"Hey Hermione!" Harry smiled, then muttered, "Thank god for someone normal this morning…"
"What?" Hermione looked up.
"Uh, never mind. Where have you been?"
"Oh - pant - I was in the library."
Hermione bent over to search for something in her bag, her curly hair hiding her face.
"Where is that schedule. All the times are fucking different this year! I swear if we are late for Snape's class…!"
Harry checked his watch; they weren't late. Harry stared at his friend. "Hermione, you alright?"
Hermione tucked her hair behind her ear and straightened up, her smile would have assured Harry that nothing was wrong except for the fact that she blatantly didn't sound it. "Yea, I'm fine. It's been a very bad morning and I didn't get any sleep…"
Her hand slipped out of her bag holding her timetable. "…Parvati and Lavender were at it all night! No one
could sleep through that!"
"Hermione?" Harry's voice was abnormally high.
She looked up and blinked. Twice. "Yea?"
"Er… uh…" Harry really didn't know how to phrase his question.
She shook her head and checked the schedule. "Bloody Hell!" Her paled, panicked face looked up. "Harry, were are fifteen minutes late for potions."
It took Harry a few seconds to register what she had said before he remembered that his watch didn't work anymore. They both bolted down the stairs and ran to the end of the corridor. Harry reached the door first and opened it as thirteen heads turned to stare at them. A few snickering (Draco Malfoy and company), one looked highly confused (Ron), and the one that Harry and Hermione were paying attention to, looked disgusted, insulted, and utterly not amused. Snape.
"Damn it, why did they have to change the times this term?!"
Harry looked in disbelief at Hermione, who slightly slunk against the door. She looked back, eyebrows raised.
"Mr. Potter. Did you know that there are certain rules at this school? You have just broken about three: being late for class, entering a classroom without knocking or consulting a teacher first -"
"WHAT! He made that rule up!"
Harry looked at Hermione, who was staring blankly at Snape. Looking around, he didn't think anyone else heard Hermione, even though she practically shouted.
Snape hadn't even paused in his speech " - and running in the corridor; unless, of course, there is another reason you and Miss Granger are out of breath."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Draco Malfoy had to bite his tongue to stop from laughing. Snape looked seriously, while holding back a grin, at the both of them.
"Since you both have broken three rules, I think 30 points from Gryffindor should do it."
Harry opened his mouth to say something, anything, when Snape finished: "30 points each."
Harry's jaw dropped. That was more points than he had earned winning over Slytherin in quidditch.
Snape started to walk back to his podium from where he liked to drone, when he paused, inclining his head around towards them. "Do I need to deduct more points for you to find your seats?"
Hermione jumped slightly and hurried to her seat. Harry followed her and sat on the side of Ron that Hermione hadn't already taken.
"Now, as I was saying: Does anyone know the main ingredients in the Draught of Sleep?"
Harry heard Hermione recite promptly: "Powdered root of the redwood herb, slivered salamander's tail, and… oh no, wait… that is the Sleeping POTION! The Draught of Sleep is…"
Harry put his head in his hands. What was wrong with Hermione? Snape was going to kill her for speaking out of turn. But when he looked up, Snape was looking at Draco Malfoy, whom also had his hand raised.
"Mr. Malfoy?"
Malfoy glanced at Hermione before answering. "Smashed head of tarantula, the juice from the esphedel plant, and the powdered root of the redwood herb."
Snape's slight smile disappeared.
"HA! That's wrong you slimy…ferrety…bastard! That is in the sleeping potion, not the draught! Its powdered root of dogwood! Damn, Snape never picks me, the segregated…"
Harry turned and whispered to Ron, "What the hell is wrong with Hermione?"
Ron looked at Hermione then slightly inclined his head to talk to Harry. "What do you mean, she always raises her hand to answer teachers."
Harry looked blankly at Ron. "So, that is all she is doing? She's not calling Snape a segregated bastard who is either very gay or doesn't have a regular human anatomy?"
Ron choked back a laugh.
"Mr. Potter? Do you know which root is in the Draught of Sleep?"
"DOGWOOD!" Hermione hissed.
"Dogwood?" Harry smiled in a yes-I-came-up-with-that-answer-all-by myself-I-promise way, but not so convincingly.
Snape's stare lingered from Harry to Hermione and back to Harry before he moved on the write the other ingredients on the board. Harry could almost visualize the ideas titled "Ways to Get Harry in Detention Before Lunch" shooting through his mind.
As everyone got out his or her cauldrons and ingredients, Ron turned to Harry. "Harry, we haven't looked over our potions notes in… I dunno, ages. How did you guess the right root?"
Harry couldn't believe he was hearing this. "Hermione said it."
"Hermione didn't say anything! She was doing what she always does in this class: raise her hand to a teacher who is never going to call on her!"
Harry shook his head as he went to smash his tarantula heads. "Ron, I don't know what is going on. I really don't, but when I figure it out, I'll tell you."
Ron glanced at Harry over his esphedel plant. Hermione groaned.
Ron glared at her and whispered, "What did I do this time?"
"Nothing… did you, er, read the instructions in your book?"
"No, Snape just said to mix all the ingredients together."
"Yes… but they have to be mixed in a certain order. It's all in your book."
"Well excuse me for not instinctively opening my book first!" Ron hissed.
Hermione closed her eyes as she rolled them. "You are so bloody useless at potions! Snape even wrote the ingredients in the order on the board! Leave it to you to start at the bottom of a numbered list!"
Harry decided to stay out of this one, looking down and shaking his head at the table. But he was surprised to see Ron let Hermione have the last word. Hermione was normally the mature one and let Ron throw the last childish insult, while both Harry and Hermione knew that Hermione was normally correct in matters. All three of them went back to their potions.
"Smashed tarantula head…check. Powdered root of dogwood…check. And juiced esphedel plant…check. Now the book says to add all of the smaller ingredients first, then add the others on at a time. The potion should change colors each time a new major ingredient is added."
Harry couldn't believe that Snape wasn't deducting points for Hermione talking to herself. Harry glanced at Hermione as she scraped ingredients off her cutting board into the cauldron. Ron still seemed to be holding a grudge and a `lets ignore Hermione's potion-ly correct instructions' protest as he dumped all of his ingredients into his cauldron, which bubbled to a neon pink color.
Harry decided to follow Hermione's instructions. He copied her motions and whispers as they both dropped in each of the main ingredients, each time emitting a small whiff of smoke and turning a different color. Both potions turned bright red to a purplely-blue. The end result was jet black.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed Snape was watching his every move.
"Class, your potions should be finished by now. Please bring a vial up to the front of the classroom to be tested."
The class grouped at the front, all the different color vials, the majority of them black, lined up on the front demonstration table. Snape looked the vials over, snickering at Ron's still bubbling pink one.
He picked Ron's vial up. "Mr. Weasley, what is this?"
"Er… the Draught of Sleep…sir?"
Snape smiled, "We shall see." Snape took off the glass lid and poured the potions over a toad. At first, it appeared to have no effect. Snape smartly put the toad on the table, because after a few seconds, it dissolved into more bubbling pink liquid.
Snape raised his eyebrows at Ron, who looked up at the ceiling. The toad reformed from the pink potion, only to burst into more pink potion.
Snape picked Harry's vial up and selected a new toad. Popping the lid, he trickled a few drops over the toad. It instantly flopped over on it's back in, what Harry hoped to be, a deep sleep.
Snape looked at Harry. "Five points from Gryffindor. Miss Granger, you still haven't learned not to boss instructions around to people!"
Hermione looked up, highly offended. "Wha-?"
"Make that 10. Class dismissed."
Everyone cleared his or her tables off. Snape cleared away the vials at the front of the room.
"Apparently Plan A of `Get Harry in Detention' didn't work so he went with Plan B: `Deduct as many points as possible from Harry'", Harry thought bitterly.
Hermione starred daggers at him. "You slimy… stupid… Bastard!!"
Harry couldn't take it anymore. As soon as Snape left the room, Harry confronted Hermione. "Hermione? What is going on?"
She put away her ingredients before replying with a shrug and a "What do you mean?"
"You just called Snape a slimy bastard not so very behind his back, though I don't think he noticed, but that is beside the point, and you are trying to tell me that there is nothing wrong? I know that its true, but it's not like you at all to just yell at a teacher."
Hermione's eyes widened in panic. "I - I said that out loud?! Oh my… he was in the room!" Hermione put her book into her bag, her eyebrows clenched in thought. "Wait. No, I didn't say that out loud, Harry!"
Harry dropped his bag and raised his arm and pointed an accusing finger at Hermione. "Oh you had to have! I heard you!"
Hermione put down her bag. "How could you have heard me?"
Harry was about to rip his hair out. "Hermione, stop playing games with me! I heard you, okay! You've been talking the entire class!"
"I have not! Snape takes off major points to anyone who does that!"
Beside Harry, Ron stared at his open potions book.
"Harry?" Ron's voice sqeaked.
"What Ron?"
Ron looked at his book, then at Harry, then at Hermione. He looked back at his book and shut it. Grabbing Harry's arm, he ran out of the potions room, dragging Harry with him. Ron didn't stop running until they were both in front of the fat lady on the 7th floor.
***
Harry was out of breath. "Ron, what is wrong with you!"
"Harry, I don't know how to say this…"
"Ron, what is it? You can tell me anything."
Ron folded his arms. "Harry, how was your morning?"
The said Harry was taken aback. "Er, weird actually."
Ron looked uncomfortable. One arm rose to support his chin. "Weird…hmmm…how so?"
"What does it have to do with anything?"
Ron showed Harry the potions book he had been looking at. His arm went from his chin to his forehead, hiding his face.
"Seamus and I checked this book out of the library a couple of days ago… for the party."
Harry's eye's narrowed. "And?"
Ron looked panic stricken. Turning to the fat lady he yelled the password in hopes of waking her up.
"Ron, are you stalling?"
Ron turned around, "No, I just don't want you to yell at me out here…with no… witnesses - FLOBBERWORM!"
"Alright, Alright." "Merlin's beard, hold your horses!"
As soon as the portrait allowed enough room, Harry followed Ron into the common room.
"Ron, what is it?"
Ron turned around, eye-balling three 2nd year girls at a nearby table.
"Well, two-of-the-pages-where-glued-together-and-the-top-of-the-second-one-was-ripped-off-so-the-title-for-the-alcohol-potion-was-with-the-ingredients-for-something-else!"
Ron stopped to catch his breath and Harry's head spun. "Wait… So you don't know what potion you gave me?"
"Uh, well, here at the bottom it says that the `Persona non Grata" potion…"
Harry raised an eyebrow.
Ron kept his voice low, trying not to attract attention. "I don't know, Harry, it looks like Latin for something. Well it says that it's designed for men to hear women's thoughts by concentrating on a women in order to better understand and comprehend the opposite sex."
Harry took a deep breath and slowly turned his head to look at Ron. "Come again?"
"Harry, I think you can hear what girls are thinking!"
*****
Harry's head spun as he tried to put two and two together. He sat down on the nearest armchair. Ron appeared to be saying something, but Harry couldn't hear him.
"Harry?"
Harry looked up. "Ron? Are you telling me that I can hear what girls are thinking?" Harry hissed, looking around making sure that no one - no one - could hear them.
Ron looked back at the book he was holding. When he looked up, there was no mistaking the guilt on his face. Harry refused to believe this.
"Ron, where the hell did you get that book?"
"Well… the book that we… borrowed…"
"Ron!"
"Fine! The book that we needed was in the restricted section so we stole it!"
Harry was too exhausted to be played with. "So…?"
"So… I had to… borrow… your… invisibility…cloak."
"Ron, what ever! Just… this is crazy!" Harry sat back, hands over his face. He looked up at Ron. "When you say `borrow' this time you mean - "
Ron nodded, "Yea."
Harry shook his head and stood up, "Still, this is CRAZY!"
One of the 2nd year girls muttered, "Touchy! Some people are trying to work over here!"
"Oh shut up!" Harry said instinctively. The little girl's friend huffed.
Ron recoiled. "Hey Harry, I know your mad, but I didn't say anything!"
Harry sat back down. "Not you, her," he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.
Ron suddenly looked very interested and leaned in. "What did you hear?"
"Ron! I'm not hearing things! She was not thinking what I heard!"
Most everyone in the common room was now listening to Ron and Harry's conversation. Harry looked around and grabbed Ron's shirt, pulling him up the stone stairs to their dormitory.
Dumping Ron on his bed, Harry paced in front of him.
"Harry, think about it. This is so cool!"
Harry paused in his pacing, "What? Ron there is no `cool' about it! I'm going mad!"
"No, Harry, listen. You can hear what women are thinking. You can finally hear what men have wanted to hear for… I don't know - centuries!"
Harry pulled his best `you're the crazy one, not me' face. "That's right Ron, you don't know!"
Ron leaned forward. Harry snorted, Ron looked like he was about to give a Quidditch play.
"We can really use this to our advantage! So, what have you heard already?"
"Ron, I already told you: I can't hear women's thoughts!" Harry yelled just as Hermione strolled through the door. Harry heard the door open, and spun around.
A sly, suspicious grin eased onto Hermione's face. "What's this about women?"
Harry noticed Ron about to say something, so, reacting quickly, Harry elbowed him the head, completely missing his stomach as Ron was still sitting on the bed. Ron fell over backwards.
"Nothing, Hermione. Nothing at all." Harry grinned, trying to assure her that nothing was wrong.
Hermione almost laughed as a confused Ron sat up, rubbing his nose. She glanced at the timetable in her hand. "Oh damn these new times!" "Guys Lunch is over and we are about to be late for McGonagall's test!"
***
Ron and Harry ran after Hermione down the stairs. Staying a few feet behind her, Harry whispered to Ron.
"Ron, what part of that did you hear?"
Ron looked up, obviously trying to recall what he had heard not 30 seconds ago. "Uh… lunch is over… and uh… we are late for a test." Ron nodded.
"Oh." said Harry, nodding with him.
Suddenly Harry gasped and Ron had to grab his shirt to keep him from stopping in his tracks. "Ron! McGonagall's test! I forgot all about it! Ron, have you revised?"
"Uh, yea. Yesterday we revised… no. I revised. You were asleep."
Harry pulled at his hair, "What am I going to do?"
A light bulb went on in Ron's head. "Hermione!"
"No, Ron! I am not telling a GIRL that I can hear what she is thinking!" Harry hissed.
"No, that's just it: you can hear what she is thinking! Use her to get the answers!"
Harry, and consequentially Ron, stopped in front of the Transfiguration classroom. Before Harry had time to consider his options, Ron saw Professor McGonagall coming around the corner, scolding a fourth year, and, thinking fast, not one of Ron's best qualities, he pushed Harry through the large door into the classroom.
9
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