Here we go, the start of the fallout. Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her work on this
chapter.
Chapter 38: A Surprise candidate
******************************Hogwarts***************************
January 24, 1998
12:05 pm
A fall of color erupted in the midst of an almost full crowd in McGonagall's office, causing several of the wizards and witches gathered in a quickly called, slightly desperate meeting, to jump and turn. A few even pointed wands at Harry, Hermione, Ron and Luna as the four appeared, before dropping them. Harry's eyes flared, annoyed at the older Order members that were gathered in the room. He snapped his glare around the room, "How do you know we're not Death Eaters?" he snarled and several of the older Order members started to raise their wands. "It's too bloody late now, we could have taken out almost all of you," he looked over to the corner of the room, "except Mad-Eye, you can put away your wand." Alastor just gave them a nod as Harry took a step to his left, just before another vortex of color erupted behind him and Tonks and Lupin tumbled out of nothingness. Harry gave them a bare glance, having already identified them to his satisfaction before he looked to the head of the room, to find McGonagall sitting ill at ease behind her desk.
"I heard that your mission was successful, Harry," she mentioned softly, catching his eyes with hers. Several of the Order members around the room muttered softly, questioning what mission, as Harry ignored them.
Harry frowned slightly and dropped his gaze to the floor, "Yes, Professor...I suppose that you could call it that." He looked over at Mad-Eye again, "How bad is it, Alastor?"
Remus and Tonks hung on his answer, while Hermione fixed herself a mug of tea from the service that Dobby had brought by. She fixed a second, dropped in a sugar and handed it to Harry. Moody watched them for a moment, visibly gathering his thoughts, before he spoke, in a tired, gruff voice, "The MLE has managed to keep a lid on the events so far lad, but I would expect that the news should break across the Wizarding Wireless any time soon. A bloke I know with the American Wizarding establishment already heard that their Department of Magic was issuing an advisory for their citizens to get out of the country. It could be bad...all depends on how long it takes to get a new Minister in place. Some of the things will go on, the MLE will still be doing it's job along with the rest of the government, but if we don't have a new Minister soon..." he shrugged, "Voldemort might as well pack his trunk to move into the Ministry."
"Do we have any idea on who is in the running to replace Scrimgeour?" Hermione asked over the top of her mug.
Alastor looked over to McGonagall, oddly, a small frown on his scarred face. "There haven't been too many candidates willing to step forward and take the risk. Except one." Both of his eyes, real and magical, along with Minerva's grey ones looked to Ron. Hermione and Harry's eyes widened as one. Luna smiled as Ron's confusion cleared from his eyes.
"You're barking," Ron snapped, before looking across the room to where Arthur sat wearily on a corner couch. Molly sat next to him, contenting herself with silently glaring at Hermione. She probably would have taken the opportunity to once again lay into the younger woman, but was being held silent by Arthur's hand on her arm. "Dad, you aren't really, I mean...but..."
"Someone has to, son," Arthur replied ambivalently, as Molly looked up at him happily, perhaps too much so. "However, my candidacy is far from a sure thing, there are still many families and Wizengamot members that are on the fence, as they say, they need inspiration, if I could be sure of the support of several of the older, Pureblood families, no offence Hermione, it is just the way things are for now..."
"None taken," Hermione said easily and glanced over to Harry, Harry?
Yeah, he agreed. "You have the support of the Houses of Gryffindor, Potter and Black," Harry replied, shrugging, "for what that is worth, anyhow. I would also speak to Sampson and Marchbanks, together they should bring in a large block of votes."
Hermione nodded, and leaned back against the wall next to Harry, "You should probably play up the guise of a compromise candidate, seem to be not much of a threat." Molly looked at her oddly; not seeming to believe that the girl she currently held in disregard should so be so willing to support her family.
"You mean, seem harmless?" Arthur mused, and Hermione nodded. "If everyone thinks that I will be harmless and controllable..."
"Good, bloody brilliant," Mad-Eye said, giving Hermione a small respectful nod.
"Let us know if we can be of any help," Harry said, and looking to Ron, Ron shrugged before he nodded and gave Harry a look of slight helplessness. Harry frowned an apology and turned to McGonagall, "Ma'am, we need to use your Floo."
"For what, Harry?" McGonagall inquired, but gave a wave of assent towards the Floo in the corner.
Harry did not answer, instead, he knelt down, "Dobby," he said quietly, and with a soft POP the elf appeared next to him. "Go back and send her through, Dobby," he whispered in the elf's ear, "do you have it?" Dobby handed him an unmarked wand box and vanished with only a nod. Harry walked over the hearth slowly, and waited.
A short time later, a time measured in only a minute or two, but held in a silence that stretched it to hours, the low, red and gold flames in McGonagall's hearth, there just to chase away the chill of a January day in Northern Scotland, rose to a towering height, filling the grate completely. With another flash, they turned the deepest of emerald. An instant later a small, petite form spun from the flames, crashing to the ground at Harry's feet. Harry didn't look over to see Molly's eyes widening as Harry extended his hand to pull the small redhead from the floor. Harry handed her the box, "Don't make me regret this," he muttered.
"GINNY!" Molly screamed and leapt from the couch she was sitting on next to Arthur. The couch scooted back, the wooden legs sounding loudly against the stone floors of the castle, as she rushed across the room, knocking Harry aside as she enveloped the tiny Weasley in her arms. Ginny squeaked loudly, as Molly's arms tightened and her mother's tears began to dampen the top of her head.
Finally, after a minute of this tearful reunion, Ginny managed to squirm enough to back out of her Mother's arms, and took a step back. "Hi, Mum," she said softly, not quite looking her mother in the eye. She staggered slightly as Arthur reached her and threw his arms around her; she could feel the slight trembling in his arms as he fought to keep tears in check. "Sorry, Dad," she whispered looking up into his eyes. The elder Weasley just shook his head, and began running his hands over his daughter's sleek hair as he pulled her in close.
Molly, however... "What do you mean sorry, it was not your..." she trailed off heatedly as she spun on her heel and glared at Hermione. Both of her hands found her hips as her eyes narrowed and her mouth became a thin line, "It was that...girl, that scarlet woman, who drove you away, she..." She trailed off, as the young woman in question, did something that no one had ever done before to Molly Weasley when she was in a towering rage, she ignored her.
Hermione Potter nee Granger turned from the older woman who was steadily turning redder, and looked to McGonagall. Behind her, Remus and Tonks looked somewhat embarrassed to be here, in the midst of what was for all truth, a family fight. Mad-Eye, took a sip of his drink, clumping over to the window to watch out of it, looking down towards Hagrid's hut where he and Olympe were putting something into large bags, possibly a new bribe for the Gurg. Arthur looked worriedly between the two as Hermione took a step over to Harry, who had moved to stand next to the Headmistress' huge, oak desk.
Hermione did not listen as Molly shouted something else behind her, causing a few of the others to wince, what Molly thought of her, while unsettling, was not even in the top tier of things she chose to worry about. Once, had Molly Weasley called Hermione such names, she was ignoring her, she wasn't deaf, she would have broken down in tears, in public or in private. She had, after all, the last time Molly had believed lies about her, when Rita Skeeter had seen the truth that she was blind to. But now, the little girl that had been heartbroken when that Howler had arrived in the Great Hall three years ago was gone, mostly. Hermione had faced those fears, and had all new ones to replace them. The girl that had taken Molly's words to heart back then, even if she had never showed how much they hurt, had faced Tom Riddle, directly twice, had watched her parents almost die, and was already loosing count of how many times she had been in mortal peril, and had buried friends and those she considered family.
"Ma'am, I believe that we can return Ginny to Gryffindor Tower," Hermione said softly and firmly. "There may be difficulties, but I feel confident that she will be alright."
"Mr. Potter?" McGonagall inquired, looking away from her Head Girl to her Head Boy, more for formalities sake than anything, she knew full well that the chances of his opinion being different, or at least of them not showing a unified front were miniscule.
"Aye, ma'am," Harry shrugged, "Hermione and I will have a...talk, with the others."
"Very well, Miss Weasley..."
"Wait a minute," Molly snapped, "there would be no need for this if that girl..." her voice softened, "of course, Harry, dear, you shouldn't feel guilty; I remember what it was like to be young." Tonks snorted softly, with Molly either not hearing or ignoring her, "She's a girl, who's near..."
Harry's eyes closed slowly, perhaps to hide the sudden rush of anger at Molly's implication, perhaps from pure weariness. Hermione's gaze flicked to him, still ignoring the Weasley matriarch, as she ran a mental hand over his scalp. The pair of them jumped slightly as a new voice, one that had hardly said a word hissed from behind them, as she turned on her mother, "That will be enough, Mother." Molly's jaw dropped slightly as the latest of her children, a trend that had started with Ron and then Bill and the twins, to tell her off, seemed to grow, her brown eyes glittering dangerously, and finally, finally, Molly Weasley realized that none of them were children any longer. To be protected from themselves as well as from the darkness outside.
"I can fight my own battles, Mum," Ginny went on, oblivious to Molly's shock. "Whatever disagreements I have with Hermione or Harry, they are mine, not yours." Molly shook her head disbelievingly, before giving Hermione another, undisguised glare. She turned on her heel and paced back over to the couch and sat, fuming. Arthur looked after her and sighed, he gave Ginny a small smile and followed his wife and sat down next to her. He started whispering urgently to her, as Ginny slowly walked over to McGonagall's desk. Ginny tremulously extended the box with her wand in it and placed it on the Headmistress' blotter, and slowly pulled her hand away from it, she looked down at her hands, as they nervously twisted together for a moment, as Minerva regarded her with a faintly disapproving expression. "I...I'm ready for whatever punishment, that you feel I deserve, ma'am."
Minerva looked at her, silently, her eyes hard over the tops of her square-framed glasses. She nodded to herself after a moment, and looked up at the various faculty and Order members that had been here or nearby to discuss their reaction to Scrimgeour's death. This had turned into an entirely different meeting. "Professor Lupin, Mr. Weasley," a faint grin, almost, flitted across her face as she saw both Arthur and Ron move, "Ronald, if you would please, Arthur, this is now an internal Hogwarts matter." The named pair moved to her desk, Ron from where he had been standing next to Luna, and Remus from where he and Tonks had been trying to make themselves scarce in the far corner of the room. "Arthur, Molly, Alastor, I feel that we will discuss the other matter later," McGonagall said in a voice of clear dismissal. Mad-Eye tipped his bowler to her, and stepped the hearth, and vanished after mumbling some unknown destination. After a bit of quiet, urgent argument, Molly and Arthur followed, with Molly looking forlornly at Ginny before she vanished into the flames.
Ginny let out a breath she did not know she had been holding before she looked slowly at McGonagall. The Headmistress' face held a small glare of...disapproval. Ginny gulped slightly, and Minerva took a breath, and the other four, five if one counted Tonks who was still on the other side of the room and remaining absolutely quiet as if she were a small rat in a room of Kneazles. "Miss Weasley," McGonagall said flatly, "by all rights, what you have done to Mr. Potter and Miss Granger, should at the very least find you with your wand snapped and expelled if not in Azkaban." She took a breath, as Ginny found the laces of her trainers rather interesting, "I do not think for a moment, that you realized the...side-effects of your actions, the consequences that occurred due to them. If I did, Miss Weasley, do not think that any relations or friendships that you have or may once have had would save you. Are we perfectly clear?" Ginny nodded slightly, not looking up.
"Very well," McGonagall replied, and snorted, "Look at me, girl, you are a Gryffindor, or at least you were." Ginny's eyes snapped up, a flicker of fire dancing in the back of chocolate orbs and the elder witch nodded. "As it is," McGonagall reached forward and pushed the girl's wand back to her. Ginny looked at her for a moment, before she reached forward with trembling hands and took the wand from the box and pocketed it for the first time since Friday, vanishing the utterly naked feeling she had harbored since Harry had taken it in Spinner's End. "As it is, I am under a mountain of a quandary of what to do with you, Miss Weasley." McGonagall looked around at the others she had invited to the meeting, behind her Dumbledore stood in his portrait, waiting, with an oddly intense focus for a portrait.
"Yes, ma'am," Ginny replied almost silently, but her eyes did not drop from McGonagall's.
Minerva looked around Ron to see Tonks still acting as if she weren't there. "You might as well join us, Nymphadora, but before you do, check the door." Tonks looked up sheepishly, flicked her wand at the door and walls, and with a soft, white flash, they were secure as she crossed the room quickly, miraculously not tripping on anything, to stand next to Remus. McGonagall didn't say anything as the pinky and ring fingers of the young Auror's right hand intertwined with those of her DADA professor. "Let us be perfectly clear, Miss Weasley, had Mr. Potter, not Floo'ed me, late last evening after speaking to your Head of House, I would have expelled you on the spot...at the very least. However," she continued, her brogue getting deeper by the syllable, and Ginny, gulped, "I was convinced that you wished to atone. There is not a person in this room, who has not made mistakes, some of them grievous, but they owned up to them."
McGonagall looked back over her shoulder, before steepling her hands in front of her and catching Ginny's eyes once more, "Even with all of that, it took the advice of someone I trust above all others to convince me that you should continue your studies here. Do you understand?" Ginny gave her a silent nod. "Very well, as any difficulties that you may have had with the Head Students in a personal matter have already been settled on the Field of Honor to their satisfaction, I am willing to address only your transgressions against the school." She paused, and leaned forward slightly, "First, all Hogsmeade privileges are revoked, you are not to be outside of the castle, whatsoever without escort of either the Head Students or a Professor outside of school activities. You are absolutely not to be out of bounds or out past curfew."
Ginny nodded, slowly, McGonagall looked up to Lupin, "Due to your, leaving, in the middle of the term, you will be responsible for any studies that you have missed, and your work will be held the utmost standard. You will report to your Head of House or his designate for the remainder of term, nightly, to meet over your coursework and perform any task that they might have for you. Any further punishment is up to your Head of House, it will be up to him and Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain if you are allowed to return to the team."
"She will have to try out and beat the current Seeker," Ron said softly, McGonagall's lips tightened further. McGonagall looked to Lupin, he gave a tiny headshake.
Minerva looked to Ginny, "Very well, Miss Weasley. Mr. Weasley, Miss Lovegood, if you be so kind as to escort Miss Weasley back to Gryffindor Tower." Luna, who had been like Tonks, pretending to be a hole in space, looked up from her spot closely examining one of the remaining silver instruments in a cabinet and crossed the room. Without another word, the pair of them fell in around Ginny and led her to the door. As it closed, McGonagall sat back in her chair, looking at each of them in turn. "No."
"I don't know what else to do with him, ma'am," Harry objected. "I'm not going to execute him out of hand, I'm damn sure not going to put him at my other secure site, and I don't want him in my home."
"Do you think that I do, Mr. Pot...Harry," McGonagall sighed. "I fought for days, with Albus not to let him return after fifth year, that turned out well, did it not, Albus?" she hissed, glancing back at the portrait; who remained wisely silent. She waved towards the closed door; "I let you and Remus and Hermione persuade me to let her back in school, despite what her actions caused. At least in her case, she didn't know the consequences of her actions...he went into it, knowing."
"Minerva," Dumbledore said wearily from the portrait, "he thought better of it..."
"I don't care, Albus," she stood and looked at each of them in turn, "let me be clear, witches and wizards...I already have enough Death Eaters in my school, I am not about to bring Lucius Malfoy's spawn back into these halls if I can avoid it. He sundered any right he had to the protection of this school the moment he followed through, in any way, with He-Who...Voldemort's schemes. Is that clear?" she waved towards the door, the audience clearly over.
Harry, Hermione, Remus and Tonks filed out silently. As the door closed, they could hear McGonagall's burr rising as she turned on Dumbledore's portrait. The heated words were cut off as the thick, oak door closed and Remus turned to Harry, "I'll take care of it, Harry, I have another couple of places that are still not used." Harry nodded and taking Hermione's hand absently, started to walk slowly towards Gryffindor tower, clearly lost in thoughts or memories.
**********************The Great Hall***************************
January 26, 1998.
7:10 am
The vast hall was abuzz with soft murmurings as the events of the weekend spread like a forest fire amongst the tables. News of the assassination of the Minister of Magic competed with wild rumors that the most hated Professor in the history of Hogwarts, even more so than Delores, who sat at the head table looking utterly lost, had been killed. In some accounts, by a raid by Ministry Aurors, and in some, some wilder ones, by some fringe, shadow group seeking vengeance for Dumbledore.
Into this soft tumult, Harry slipped quietly down the length of the long Gryffindor table, and dropped without a word next to Hermione in her seat near the head table. She reached down and patted his knee under the table as he rested his elbows on the table and propped his face in his hands for a moment. Luna looked across the table at him, from where she was mostly propped in Ron's lap, her grey eyes staring unblinkingly, unnervingly for anyone that wasn't practically her sibling, across the table at him. "Harry, you should really look into getting a Whispering Night Bloomer, they really help..." Luna looked off into the distance, still not blinking, before looking back at Harry, "they eat Galleons, though, you have to keep them from your trunk."
Hermione smirked slightly as Ron glanced over to Harry, who noticed that his best mate's eyes were shadowed, and slightly sunken. Ron slowly took a bite of his bacon before glancing over at the door, then back towards Harry. "I'm alright, Luna, you look as if you could use it more than me, Ron."
At Harry's comment, Luna frowned slightly, so slightly that only those such as Harry, Hermione or Ron-people that were around her constantly-would notice. No one else would catch it behind her normal veneer of detachment, she looked to Ron as he sighed slightly, "Rough night," he whispered, not quite meeting the eyes of either of his best friends.
Ron was saved further explanation as a sudden, rippling, silence erupted at the doors to the Great Hall. A small figure in ruby-trimmed robes walked through the open doors and moved slowly down the Gryffindor table. She did not turn her head at the whispers that followed her. Ginny reached the middle of the table, where Honor and Gretchen were talking lowly together. She sat down across from the two girls, who softly excused themselves and left the hall, not looking back. Ginny sighed and reached for a pitcher of juice.
Ginny ate her meal rapidly, what little she did eat of it. She looked up once, as the Post Owls arrived, and an ancient, grey owl, tumbled to a halt in front of her, head down in a plate of eggs. Ginny reached forward, plucked a letter from Errol's leg and set him upright. The old owl hooted, pitifully, and immediately preceded to fall asleep on his talons.
Ginny did not notice Harry, Hermione, Ron or Luna's covert glances at her, as she ate the rest of her meal, stood and walked out of the room. Neither Ginny, nor any of the Gryffindors really noticed as several seventh-year Slytherins that were seated near the door waited a couple of minutes before slipping from the room.
Ginny kicked at a loose stone, rolling around the hall as she started towards the Transfiguration wing, I might as well get started on homework...everything else is fucked anyway. She turned a corner, not looking up, and fell backwards, knocked from her feet as she ran into an unexpected wall.
Harsh laughter sounded in the secluded hall as Ginny looked up to find Crabbe smiling stupidly down at her. "What's wrong, Weasley...lost your protectors?" Pansy laughed harshly as she hung on Zabini's side, he motioned with his free hand, and Goyle crossed to Crabbe and the pair of them picked her from the floor, and pinned her against the wall, holding her arms up above her head. She glared at Blaise furiously as he came over, shaking off Pansy. Ginny's eyes hardened slightly, as Blaise slowly ran his hands around her body, inside of her robes.
She growled in her throat as he cupped a breast, before reaching around her back to pull her wand from a sheath at the small of her back. "What's wrong, little traitor...you should be honored."
"Scrog off," Ginny snarled, trying futilely to shake off the arms of her keepers. She glanced to either side trying to squirm enough to get free.
Blaise laughed, darkly, "I would have thought you were used to the attentions of more than one...wizard and witch...seems like something that you would have learned at an early age..." Ginny convulsed, almost throwing off Crabbe from her left arm, before the large boy managed to push her back against the wall. Pansy laughed as she came up from behind Blaise, and ran her finger down the line of Ginny's jaw, Ginny snapped at her, almost managing to bite her hand.
"What should we do with her, Blaise?" Pansy asked lightly, laughing.
Ginny looked between them as Zabini, looked around to either side, "There's an empty classroom, let's have some fun..."
"LET ME GO," Ginny screamed, struggling further.
A blonde head peaked around the corner on her way to Transfiguration, "EXPELLIAMUS," Luna snapped, a wave of force knocked Crabbe from Ginny. Ginny didn't even pause as she pulled on Goyle's arm which was still holding her, and threw her entire weight behind a punch to the Slytherin's groin. He let go, and Ginny sprinted away towards Luna, as the blonde fired a pair of Stunners towards Blaise and Pansy, neither connected, but Luna hadn't really been aiming either. Luna flicked her wand towards Blaise; Ginny's wand lifted from his pocket and rocketed to the blonde as the pair dove back around the corner.
"MOVE IT," Luna growled, pulling on Ginny as the two sixth-years ran down the hall.
"Why the hell are we running?" Ginny snapped as the pair took off down the hall, and behind them, sounds of at least six footsteps pounded after them.
Luna glanced at her, looking as if Ginny were the one with a questionable grasp on reality. She reached out, and pulled Ginny into a secret passage, diving behind an old, dirty tapestry just as a half dozen footsteps thundered past. "Because Harry and McGonagall would probably get mad if I killed them," she replied simply, and poked her head out from the hidden passage behind the tip of her wand. "Besides..." she grinned slightly, "this is more fun....HEY, DEATH EATERS..." Several sets of footsteps squealed to a stop, and ran back towards them. Ginny looked over to Luna worriedly as the Ravenclaw idly played with a necklace of butterbeer caps.
Luna looked up just as Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Zabini and a pair of Slytherin sixth-years that they had picked up somewhere sprinted into view. She waved, and flicked her wand at their feet.
Instantly, six huge splashes rang out in the hall, as the floor vanished, replaced by a seemingly bottomless swamp. Luna flicked her wand and six wands flew from unresisting hands to pile up next to her feet, as the Slytherins were entirely too busy treading water to provide any resistance. Luna grabbed Ginny and slowly backed away until they were out of sight. Luna tossed the six wands inside an empty suit of armor, and started up towards Transfiguration the long way, "We should go tell, Tonks, I suppose," Luna shrugged, "I would think that they would like to keep the Redcaps out of the school."
"We can't," Ginny replied hurriedly, grabbing Luna's arm, "please, Luna, I don't want them to..."
Luna looked at her with an oddly lucid, diamond-hard expression. "They are snakes, Ginny, they sensed weakness. We can't allow them to think that they can get away with anything, not matter how small." Luna smiled, her expression going slightly dreamy, "And Ronald is so lovely when he's fighting...we have the best sex afterward."
Ginny's face turned slightly green as she considered that statement. She gave her head a great shake; sending fiery locks flying, "Um..." she swallowed, "even so..."
Luna was ignoring her, she reached into her pocket, and opened a small pocket mirror, "Harry," she muttered and a moment later, his tiny face appeared in the mirror, from the dark walls in the background it looked as if he were somewhere in the dungeons, "we have a problem. It seems that Zabini thought that he could pick off Ginny."
Hermione's face appeared at Harry's shoulder. She looked over to the side, "Ron's not here right now, Luna," she muttered lowly, "he's still up at breakfast."
Luna looked over at Ginny who was biting her lip still waving at Luna to drop it. Luna ignored her, "Right now, Blaise and his top cronies are in a swamp in the shortcut hallway to Transfiguration, what do you want to do about it?"
Harry glanced at Hermione; she frowned, and met his eyes for a moment, before nodding. "Go on to class, Luna, tell the others to be careful just in case this wasn't an isolated incident." He smiled, thinly, "We'll remind Mr. Zabini this evening how dangerous his actions could truly be."
**********************Slytherin Dorm, Hogwarts****************************
January 26, 1998.
1:25 am.
Five Slytherin fifth years sat in the common room, yawning as they sat around a table, playing a hand of Wizarding poker. They had been positioned her by Zabini earlier this evening, with orders to stand watch. So far the only disturbance had been Millicent's cat, scratching at the door to get in about ten minutes ago. They looked over, at a softly pulsing orb set on a table that Zabini had said would keep anyone from Portkeying in.
He was right as it turned out, not that it mattered really. Ghosts moved among them, and not those that had been here for hundreds of years, just six or seven. For so long, the Slytherins, especially under Draco's leadership, had capitalized on their traditional status as Purebloods, with many, many older families scattered amongst their ranks, with all the wealth and privilege that that entailed, that they had forgotten that they were not the only ones who could play that game. A call to the Twins, and a quick trip by Remus to the Potter vaults and the secret supply caches under Godric's Hollow, had acquired another three invisibility cloaks. Which were more than enough.
Neville stood behind the five Slytherins and slowly poked the very tip of his wand out from under the cover of his cloak. Silently, the five players' shoelaces tied themselves to their chairs. He moved on, slipping back towards the staircases down deeper into the bowels of the earth. He stopped and stood over to the side, where he could watch over the scene.
Several levels below him, down the left staircase, a door opened slowly, and three gusts of air slipped though a darkened crack. Hermione moved across the room, as Luna and Parvati followed her, both under cloaks, to stand over a still slightly pug-faced girls' bed, as Pansy snorted and rolled over in her sleep. Luna was here for Ginny, as Ron was, and Parvati was just...mean, when she wished to be.
Utterly without a sound, the three girls proceeded to cast a sticking charm on her bed, gluing her to the sheets. Parvati slipped to her trunk, and wardrobe, and with a few more swishes, and a bit of Transfiguration and Charms that would have given McGonagall a stroke, as soon as she stopped laughing, carefully cast a slightly modified Disillusionment Charm on every single item of Pansy's clothes. Hermione looked up at her, rolled her eyes invisibly, and carefully and silently went through the girl's trunk. She closed the lid; having made sure not an item was out of place after her quick search for intelligence. That was enough, for now. "Let's go," Hermione whispered, and moved to the door. She opened it quietly, and held it long enough for the other two to sneak through.
Down the right side passage, Harry and Ron were working on an adequate, reminder, for Blaise of just what the consequences of his actions, could be. The door to the seventh-year boys' room opened on spelled silent hinges and the pair slipped in. They looked around at the beds of Crabbe and Goyle, set as if sentinels in the way. Beyond that pair, another bed was occupied, one with, if the sounds coming from behind the closed hangings, courtesy of a faulty Silencing Charm, a member of the left side passages. Harry rolled his eyes, casting a proper Silencing Charm, hiding his and Ron's movements from the pair, who probably wouldn't have noticed anyway. He carefully extended his hand out from under the Cloak and waved towards the back where a fourth bed rested in the far end of the vaguely octagonal room.
Harry flicked his wand, slowly opening the curtains. Blaise was snoring softly, his mouth hanging open, and Harry shook his head, trying not to laugh. His urge to laugh to vanished utterly as he flashed back to the reason they were here. His fingers flicked and the Slytherin leader froze, becoming stiff and frozen. With another pair of gestures, the seventh year floated up from the bed and faded to a mere shadow.
****************************Great Hall*********************************
January 26, 1998
7:00 am.
The hall was slowly filling in dribs and drabs, students staggering in yawning, blearily eyed. A dozen Gryffindors and Ravenclaws sat together in a small cluster, near the Head Table, spread amongst their two house tables, eating slowly and deliberately. Up at the Head Table, Lupin and McGonagall looked down at them, curiously. There had been an ominous silence from certain quarters since yesterday morning, and the rumors, that none of the professors had been able to pinpoint, that spoke of an attack on a Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.
Minerva looked down at Harry talking across the table to Ron, as Hermione sat closely on his right, working on an Arithmatic equation or two, with one hand, as she seemed to nibbling on breakfast and periodically interjecting some comment into the conversation. Minerva watched as Harry moved aside a DADA text and sighed softly. She had long since realized that the only real reason that either of her Head Students were still here was the logistic and security advantages that the castle provided, and even those were threadbare. The time was coming rapidly, when Tom Riddle would feel strong enough, or desperate enough if the secret of Harry's true objectives came out, to assault the castle directly.
The assault on the other schools had already proven that Riddle could, if he really desired to, muster enough forces to seriously assault the castle. The disastrous events of the second had already proven that. All he had to do was to focus on Hogwarts and perhaps another target, not the fifty or so that were assaulted on that heinous day.
McGonagall watched as Harry looked down at his watch, and gave a short nod. He glanced to Hermione, who returned his brief grin, before they both returned to their studies.
********************************Astronomy Tower*************************
An odd sight sat, balanced precariously on the very tip of the Astronomy Tower. A green and silver trimmed, four-poster swayed slightly in the cold January breezes. A pure white owl hooted as she took flight, launching from the top of the bed, and soared out over the vast chasms and cliffs of the lake approaches to the castle.
With a soft POP, the Warming and Silencing Charms surrounding the conjured, exact replica of a Slytherin House student bed vanished, letting in the morning cries of the wildlife in and around the castle, and the cold and sound of the wind.
The bed tipped slightly as the curtains were ripped back. An incredibly pale face, considering the owner's complexion, looked out at the scene, and down at the ground, far, far below. He shakily looked over at a small scrap of parchment pinned to the pillow next to him:
This is not a game that you wish to play, Zabini.
The note was unsigned, not that it needed it. "Potter..."
A/N: Next chapter, playing politics. And Tom...Tom doesn't like it.