Harry Potter and the Mark of Ingravesco
Ship: Harry Potter/Hermione Granger | Chapter Words: 5695 | Last Update: 6 Jan 06 | Rating:
PG-13
Hermione Granger is the next target of Lord Voldemort what ends will he go to in order to get to Harry Potter, and
is this latest attempt going to have the effect he wanted?
Chapter 5: Ron's Romantic Rendezvous
The first week of term started almost without incident, it would have done better if it weren't for the Friday morning.
Monday morning was a free period for Harry, who no longer had Divination to attend; however, he found this time to be extremely boring without Hermione or Ron to talk to. He strolled the corridors, visited the Gryffindor common room and ended up in the library with Neville whose OWL had also dropped Divination from his schedule.
Double Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid in the afternoon turned out to be a normal lesson; for once Hagrid didn't bring out some strange and deadly creature that he knew nothing about. Instead the class along with the Slytherins were treated to an unusually fun lesson with Fawkes the phoenix.
'Dumbledore lent 'im ter me,' he explained. 'Now then, Fawkes here is a very unusual phoenix. For one, he's domesticated; phoenixes're usually free spirits, would rather attack than become a pet. Look at 'is wings an' the colour o' his features, aren' they beautiful?' As Hagrid finished, Fawkes stretched out his wings as far as they would go, causing several of the students to back away.
'Right, who can tell me some reasons why wizards try ter domesticate phoenixes?' Hagrid asked and looked around at the students. Harry and Hermione both had their hands in the air, as did a Slytherin and Neville.
'Neville?' Hagrid asked and waited for his reply.
'Its singing voice causes the listener to have courage,' Neville said quietly. Malfoy sniggered, the idea of this was obviously too ridiculous for him.
'Tha's right, five points ter Gryffindor. The voice of a phoenix encourages those nearest ter it ter complete whatever task they believe they can't do. Harry?'
'Phoenix tears have healing powers,' Harry said in complete confidence, having once experienced the effects of phoenix tears.
'Brilliant Harry, ten points to Gryffindor. There's not many wizards who've witnessed this, and a lot o' people believe this is jus' a myth, but I know of two people who've been healed by this particular phoenix,' Hagrid added.
'Yeah, I'm one of them,' Harry added with a wink at Hagrid.
'What rubbish!' Malfoy snapped. 'Its just a bird.' Fawkes took flight at these words; he swooped around the class, almost taking Malfoy's head off with his wings, and came to rest on Harry's shoulder between him and Hermione. Automatically, Harry reached up and stroked the side of the bird's head. Tentatively, Hermione reached up and stoked him too, while Ron almost ran to join in.
'Moving on then. Pansy, what other reason do we wan' phoenixes for?' Malfoy's head snapped to look at Pansy so fast Harry could have sworn it must have hurt.
'Their features make powerful wands when mixed with other rare creatures such as unicorns,' she added.
'Five points to Slytherin,' Hagrid said. 'Although, if you want to learn more about tha', you'll have to ask Mr Ollivander, cos I don't know much abou' wands. One more then.' Hermione's left hand was in the air; the other idly stroking Fawkes still perched on Harry's shoulder. 'Hermione?'
'They're extremely strong. One Phoenix can carry up to five hundred times its own weight.'
'How much does he weigh?' Lavender asked and received the answer almost instantly; Fawkes had flown from Harry's shoulder and was hovering over Lavender, who was cowering away from it.
'Lavender, just stand up straight, he doesn't bite,' Harry said and moved towards Lavender who slowly straightened up. Fawkes waited until Harry was directly in front of Lavender before carefully coming to rest on her shoulder.
'He's not that heavy,' Lavender said.
'So, how many of us can it carry?' Pansy asked, getting into the fun of having a phoenix in class; she was standing close to Harry and slowly daring to touch Fawkes.
'I don't know,' Harry said, 'but he managed to pull Ron, Ginny, Lockhart and me out of the Chamber of Secrets in our second year.'
'Wicked,' Pavati exclaimed, sounding momentarily like Ron.
'I'm afraid,' a voice behind the class said, causing everyone to turn and look at Professor Dumbledore, who had ambled up to the group unnoticed, 'that Fawkes needs to run an errand for me, so I must extract him from your class,' he added smiling. Fawkes took flight once more and drifted back to the castle with Dumbledore following.
The rest of the class was spent drawing phoenixes, as this was the only thing Hagrid had been able to think of in such a short time, but Harry, Ron and Hermione had the best time.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday followed in a similar fashion, even Neville losing his telescope off the Astronomy Tower on Wednesday night and receiving detention for disrupting the class, was less of a struggle than Friday's lessons.
On Friday morning, Harry woke to find Hermione sat in the Open Room; her head was resting on a book as if she'd spent most of the night there. Waking her gently, Harry noticed that she was considerably paler than normal, but all expressing his concerns got him was a scolding for being over-protective.
They met Ron in the Great Hall for breakfast; both he and Ginny, who sat a few places away, noticed her pale features and both received the same scolding as Harry had.
Now extremely worried about Hermione's short temper and lack of colour, Ron and Harry followed her to the dungeons for their first Potions lesson of the final year. Professor Snape arrived shortly after the trio, which was a good thing as Draco Malfoy had taken to edging his way around the Slytherins towards them.
As the class took their seats, Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting at the back as far away from the Slytherins as possible, Professor Snape started the lesson.
'Today we shall start work on a potion which requires top concentration and six weeks to complete. Instructions are on the board.' Snape tapped the board and the instructions wormed their way onto it. 'Get to work and I'll give out the extra ingredients you'll be needing today.'
Harry bent to retrieve his bag from the floor but was distracted by Hermione, who nearly tripped in her haste to leave the room. Harry stood bolt upright and banged his head on the table as he watched her go.
'Potter,' Snape hissed, causing Harry to look around at him. One small motion and Harry followed Hermione from the room almost as quickly.
Stepping out of the room, Harry ran the length of the dark, dank corridor to the underground classrooms and took the stairs at the end of the corridor three at a time. Stumbling out into the brightly lit Entrance Hall, Harry quickly squinted around looking for the vanishing Hermione, before heading to the grand staircase; he had almost reached them when someone unexpectedly called his name.
'Harry?' Professor Dumbledore was standing in the doorway to the Great Hall. Harry stumbled as he spun around and headed towards him, words spilling out of his mouth as he went.
'Professor, did you see Hermione? She...' Harry was cut off as Hermione emerged from the bathroom next to the Great Hall. Harry practically ran to her, taking in her still pale face now stained with tears. He quickly reached out and pulled her into a tight hug and stayed this way until Dumbledore interrupted them, clearing his throat.
'Perhaps, as a precaution, it would be wise for Miss Granger to visit the Hospital Wing,' he said, watching the couple separate.
'Yeah, I think so too,' Harry said, and began to lead Hermione back to the stairs.
'Harry,' Dumbledore interrupted, 'you need to return to class.' He stopped, putting a hand up to silence Harry's coming protest. 'I will see Hermione safely to Madam Pomfrey; you can visit her during your break.' Harry began to protest again, but found he had no words to use in his defence. Giving up, he kissed Hermione quickly on the cheek and watched as Dumbledore led her up the stairs and out of sight.
Harry didn't pay much attention as he turned, crossed the hall and took the stairs back down to the dungeons. He was paying less attention as he pushed open the doors to Snape's classroom and back over to his desk. It wasn't until Ron jabbed him in the side, causing him to look up, that he found Professor Snape in front of him holding out a piece of parchment.
'Start now Potter, and you can return at lunchtime to catch up with the rest of the class,' Snape instructed, before turning away and returning to his desk at the front of the room. Harry sat shocked; the parchment was the full instructions on the potion and Snape hadn't berated him about being out of class for so long, nor had he taken points from either Harry or Hermione.
The rest of the lesson was eventless; Snape had taken to leaving Harry well alone, and even passed up the opportunity to make snide comments about his potion as he inspected the class' progress. When the bell went at the end of the lesson, Harry and Ron made a quick dash for the door; they were very nearly the first out, except Professor Snape called Harry back.
'Potter,' he yelled, giving Harry a sense of foreboding. Harry stopped, waiting for the ball to drop. 'If Miss Granger wishes to make a start on this potion, she may do so with yours and Mr Weasley's help at lunchtime. You, however, must return regardless,' Snape said, then lowered his head to continue marking the papers on his desk.
'Thanks Professor,' Harry said, slightly shocked, then left the room quickly and followed Ron up to the Entrance Hall.
'What was that all about? He's completely flipped,' Ron said, slightly taken aback by Snape's attitude.
'I don't know, I think Dumbledore might have stopped Snape from punishing Hermione in some situations,' Harry offered, not really convinced of this idea.
'What happened to Hermione anyway?' Ron asked, as they made their way up the stairs and around the corner.
'I don't know,' Harry said again, getting the impression that he was once again out of the loop on something important. 'She looked like she'd been sick when I found her. Dumbledore took her to the Hospital Wing.'
'He took her to the Hospital Wing?' Ron asked, staring at Harry and attempting to pick out his expression. 'He took her to the Hospital Wing? He didn't send you with her?'
'No,' Harry said, turning another corner. 'He forced me back to lessons, but I did try to protest, I just couldn't find the words. Besides, he's the headmaster; what was I going to do, refuse to go back to the lesson and get expelled?' Harry stopped outside the Hospital Wing and turned to Ron. 'I didn't get much choice; it's probably nothing, I bet this happens in most pregnancies.'
'You don't sound very convinced mate,' Ron said, pushing the door open and stepping inside.
'She's back in your room, Potter,' Madam Pomfrey shouted from the other end of the wing.
'What happened?' Harry called, stopping just beside Ron.
'Morning Sickness, Potter, it's completely normal. Now out, before I find a reason to keep you in.' Harry and Ron turned and left quickly, heading back to Harry's room.
'I'll catch you up mate, need to do these laces again,' Ron said, stopping before reaching their room and bending down to tie his undone laces. As he stood up again and rounded the corner, he ran headlong into someone. 'Sorry,' he said, quickly bending to pick up the spilt books that his victim had dropped. Straightening up to give back the books, Ron found himself face to face with a very pretty Ravenclaw seventh-year. 'I err, didn't mean to bump into you, I was just...' Ron cut off as the Ravenclaw girl smiled back at him.
'I'm Ren; short for Serendipity.' She gave another smile before starting again. 'I'm Serendipity Mitchell.'
'Ron Weasley,' Harry said, stepping up behind them and guessing that Ron would't answer her, as his jaw seemed to be locked in an open position. 'And I'm Harry,' he added, as Ren turned back to Ron. 'Erm, Ron, I think Ren would like her books back.'
'Right. Yes. Here,' Ron said, handing back the books he still had in his hand. Ren took them with a chuckle and said thanks to Harry before smiling again at Ron and vanishing around the corner, knowing all too well that Ron was watching her.
'Ron and Ren,' Harry said, causing Ron to look back at him. 'That's cute,' he added, smiling slightly at Ron just as the bell rang to start the next lesson. Lunchtime came quickly, and Ron and Harry ran from the Transfiguration classroom to get Hermione and make their way down to the dungeons. By the time lunch was over, both Harry and Hermione had made considerable progress on their potions, and if they had more time, they could have taken over the rest of the class.
Hurrying to Defence Against the Dark Arts, they entered the room only a few minutes late and extremely hungry. They were all relieved to find they shared this lesson with Ravenclaw and not Slytherin.
'Hey Ron, look who's here,' Harry said, pointing across the room to Ren.
'Who's that?' Hermione asked, curiously eyeing the girl who Harry pointed to.
'No one,' Ron shot back, looking down at his book and pretending to read.
'Ron, your book's upside down.' Hermione giggled then turned to Harry. 'So, who is she?'
'Ren; Ron, erm, sort of bumped into her on his way to our room, couldn't even get his name out.' Harry laughed.
'Shut up will ya,' Ron said, as Madam Frankovich entered.
'Right then,' Madam Frankovich called over the chattering students. 'On with the lesson.' She smiled and several students smiled back, including Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Madam Frankovich gave the impression to everyone that she would't be one to fool around with, but how wrong they were. Defence against the Dark Arts was surprisingly fun; they had a good laugh at drawings wizards had done of mythical and dark creatures, and Madam Frankovich even had a good laugh while drawing one or two herself.
'doesn't look all that scary when I draw it, does it?' She laughed along with the class. 'I have an idea, shall we play a game? I'll draw, rather badly, a feared creature, and you tell me which one you think it is. If you get it right, it's your turn to draw.'
The seventh year Gryffindors left that classroom with a smile on their faces, chatting avidly about the pictures each had drawn. Even with all the fun, the class had received homework; but no one seemed to mind, they were given so much fun in class they doubted homework for her would ever become a chore.
The following few months were just the same as the first week, the only thing that changed in this time was the amount of homework they received and the pressure that Professor McGonagall laid on them all at the beginning of every lesson.
'This is your final year, your NEWTs are the most important and last educational exams you will be able to take. After here, you're into training for you chosen jobs,' she would say at the start of every class, and by the end of October Harry could recite it along with her and the class.
The weekend at the end of October was a Hogsmeade trip, and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had arranged to take a trip together. Ginny was going with them instead of her usual bunch of friends as she had spent all her money over the holidays and was hoping against hope that Ron would be a loving brother and buy her some sweets from Honeydukes Sweet shop.
Harry woke early on the morning of the Hogsmeade day and looked around his and Hermione's room, taking in the neatly folded clothing spread across the room on chairs and the dressing table, which was also covered in pieces of parchment and ink pots. The map for their home was standing upright on the top of the dresser mirror, it was blank and Harry assumed Hogwarts was too big to fit.
Slipping onto his side, Harry slid his hand across Hermione's side. She lay flat on her back, her face looking away from Harry. Harry glanced down the length of her body and froze, his body stiffening as he stared. The covers had been kicked off by the pair in the middle of the hot night, and Hermione's top had ridden up in the night. It now rested just above her stomach, which was where Harry's eyes were currently fixed. He had almost forgotten that she was pregnant, almost forgotten the reason they were able to share a room, but now he couldn't forget again. Harry reached out his left hand and ran it gently across Hermione's slightly raised stomach. He could now see that the growth of his child was beginning to show.
His eyes still locked on the bump of Hermione's stomach and his hand resting atop it, the weight taken off, as he was afraid he might squash it, Harry didn't notice that Hermione had woken up and was watching the expression of shock on his face.
'Harry,' Hermione whispered, moving her right hand down to join his.
'It's real!' Harry said, the reality of the whole situation sinking in at last. 'I didn't really believe it before, but it's real!' He breathed, still not taking his eyes off the raised stomach that was the current home for his child. Hermione reached up and kissed him, before letting her head hit the pillow again and pulling Harry closer.
The couple sat this way for quite some time; it was only when there was a knock on the door that Harry broke his trance and let Hermione get up to answer it.
'Are you coming then? You're not even dressed Hermione!' Ron said, stepping into the room followed by Ginny, who patted Hermione's stomach on her way past as she had taken to doing since the start of the year.
'We won't be long. Harry just realised he's going to be a dad eventually,' Hermione said, giving them an 'about time too' look that made Ginny giggle.
Harry and Hermione appeared moments later from their room, fully dressed and ready to set out. Harry said nothing; in fact, he said nothing all the way down to the Entrance Hall, out past Filch and into the ground, through the winged boar gates and down the path to Hogsmeade. Ron had spoken to him several times on the way and had gotten no response from him. It was only when Ron turned the corner and walked right into someone, falling flat on his back, that Harry made any noise to show he was paying attention to the situation.
'Sorry, I didn't mean t...' Ron stammered, as he pulled himself into a sitting position. He had given Harry a look that told the three behind him that this wasn't funny, even though all three of them had burst out laughing. Ron stopped mid-sentence when he realised just who it was he had knocked down.
'It's ok, Ron. Are you alright?' Ren asked, hastily picking up the scattered sweets that had flown from her Honeydukes bag on impact.
Ron didn't move or answer; he stayed sitting on the ground in stunned silence, watching her pick up sweets, while the others stood back attempting not to laugh at the expression on Ron's face.
When Ron finally moved, he clumsily scrambled to his feet and held out his hand in an offer to help Ren up. When they were both on their feet, Ron gave a feeble smile, glanced quickly at his friends and sister before asking:
'Do you... erm... do you want to hang with us in Hogsmeade?' Ren smiled back, she wanted to just say 'yes' but there were others with him who didn't ask her to join them.
'I would but I don't think your friends would want me hanging around,' she said, looking over at Harry who had one arm around Hermione's waist and the other over Ginny's shoulder.
'We don't mind,' Hermione said, looking at the others who nodded in agreement.
'Are you sure?' Ren asked. 'I've never got a good look around here; I don't have anyone to walk with so I usually just come to Honeydukes and then go back to school.'
'We're sure,' Harry said smiling. Ron stood, still holding Ren's hand from helping her up, goggling at her. 'Erm, this is Hermione,' he added, giving her a squeeze, 'and this is Ron's sister, Ginny,' he added, as Ginny gave a little wave.
'I'm Ren.' Ren smiled at them before adding, 'it's short for Serendipity, but I hate being called that.' She giggled and followed the group into Hogsmeade's main street.
They had a great time in Hogsmeade. They went to Honeydukes and filled up bags with sweets; Hermione only brought a few, and when Harry complained, she argued that she was already going to get fat and didn't want to help it any. They visited Zonko's, and showed Ren the Post Office and the Shrieking Shack. Ginny had the best time, as Ron was so interested in Ren he brought her lots of things from all the shops they visited. She knew it was only to make him look like the world's best brother, but she didn't care.
When they had visited everywhere again, and showed Ren every possible thing about Hogsmeade, the group made their way to the Three Broomsticks for cold drinks of Butterbeer. After a few hours of rest, they decided they should make a start back to school and climbed out of their chairs and left the pub.
They crossed the street and started down an alleyway they had taken many times to get back to school quicker, Harry, Ron and Ren in the lead with Hermione and Ginny taking up the rear at a distance.
'Aww, what's wrong Mudblood? Lover boy not wanting to walk with you anymore?' Malfoy had stepped out from around a corner between Harry and Hermione, his sneering face gave Hermione the impression he had something planned.
'Go away Malfoy,' Ginny spat at him, stepping between him and Hermione. Malfoy's grin spread wider.
'Traded Potter in for a girlfriend have you Mudblood?' Behind him, Ron made a sharp move towards him, but was stopped by Harry and Ren who didn't want to start trouble. 'Have you any idea what it's gonna be like Mudblood? Giving birth is very painful and most women can't stand it. Mind you, you're not a woman, so it probably wont make much difference to you.' Crabbe and Goyle, who were standing either side of Malfoy, guffawed stupidly. Malfoy raised his wand at Ginny. 'Move the weasel,' Malfoy hissed, and Crabbe and Goyle suddenly moved and grabbed Ginny, pulling her roughly out of the way.
Harry moved quickly, letting Ron go, and closed the distance between himself and Malfoy; only, he was too late.
'Dolore Afficere,' Malfoy shouted, and Harry stopped, stunned, as Hermione crumbled to the floor in pain. Malfoy turned to leave, but was greeted with Ron's right fist in his face, while Ren and Ginny struggled against Crabbe and Goyle.
'Harry,' Hermione whispered from the floor of the alleyway, as Malfoy and his cronies made their escape. Harry dropped to Hermione's side and pulled her close, hoping against hope that Malfoy hadn't done anything seriously bad to her.
'GET HELP!' Harry yelled; wrapping his arms even tighter around her waist, he could feel her tears on his shoulder. 'It's ok Hermione, it's going to be ok,' he breathed, more to himself than to her. Ron and Ren ran all the way back to school. They entered the grounds, passing a group of fourth-years who were strolling comfortably back in, narrowly missing Hagrid as he stepped onto the path, and burst through the doors to the Entrance Hall and headed to the stairs.
'WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK YOU ARE DOING?' The words had only just reached their ears when ropes bound the pair together, and they were spun around to find themselves face to face with none other than Severus Snape. 'You do NOT enter the school in that fashion, 20 points from each of your Houses.' He glared at them.
'Sir, it's Hermione. Malfoy attacked her!' Ren said hurriedly, having more breath left in her throat than Ron.
'I will not hear lies about a member of my House. Another 5 points from Ravenclaw, Miss Mitchell.'
'I'm not lying, She's in pain. We need to get to the Hospital Wing, she needs...'
'Silence!' Snape shouted. 'One more word from either of you and you'll find yourselves in detention so fast it will make you oversized heads spin.'
'Severus!' Snape looked up quickly as the Headmaster made his way over to the tied students. 'What is the meaning of this?'
'They were disturbing the castle, Headmaster, and telling lies about another student,' Snape informed him.
'Untie them, Severus.' Snape did as he was told and Ren climbed quickly to her feet. Ron followed, clutching a particularly painful stitch in his right side.
'Professor...' Ren breathed, now finding it hard to get the right words out, '...Malfoy, he attacked Hermione. She's in a lot of pain down an alley in Hogsmeade. Harry and Ginny are with her, but we came back to get Madam Pomfrey.' Ren took a deep breath and waited.
'Miss Mitchell, to the Hospital Wing. Get Madam Pomfrey and Healer Moon. Mr Weasley, show me to Miss Granger. Severus, I want you to find Mr Malfoy; I will meet you in my office,' Albus said all this quickly while following Ron out the still open doors and into the grounds.
Ron rounded the corner of the alley and ran to Harry and Hermione with Albus close on his heels. Hermione was sobbing with the pain as Albus kneeled at her side.
'It's been getting worse!' Harry said, a note of panic in his voice.
'Where's Ginny?' Ron asked, looking around for his sister.
'She went to get something to cool Hermione down,' Harry said, watching as Dumbledore examined the girl in his arms for signs of damage.
'Out of the way. Move it!' Madam Pomfrey said, shoving Ron to the side as she and Healer Moon pushed passed him. Albus stood quickly, and as Madam Pomfrey took Hermione, he pulled Harry up and away from them. They stood back as the two medical witches examined her. Midway through, Ginny returned with a damp cloth, a bowl of iced water and a crowd of people and teachers, who had heard what had happened while Ginny had bartered with Madam Rosmerta for the cloth and water.
'There's nothing wrong, not with her anyway. Her own panic is causing the baby distress, but whatever happened it was only meant to make her think she was in pain. I need to get her to St Mungo's,' Healer Moon said, looking up at Albus as she said the last part, and received a nod. The Healer turned to Ginny, who was nearest, and took hold of an item that was poking out from her pocket. She tapped it three times with her wand, while keeping it in contact with Hermione and Poppy Pomfrey, and the group vanished.
'Harry, Ron, Ginny, Serendipity. Follow me please,' Dumbledore said, and turned to return to the castle. Along corridors filled with staring students and up stairs with watching portraits, Harry's mind wandered into London and right in through the carefully hidden front doors of St Mungo's Hospital, where he followed an old Healer right to Hermione's bed where he should have been standing, holding her hand and telling her it was still ok. But instead, Harry found himself standing in Dumbledore's office with his friends, and it was only when Ron jabbed him in the side that he realised where he was. Looking around quickly, Harry spotted Draco Malfoy standing unperturbed in the corner.
'YOU!' Harry hissed at him. 'I'll kill you for what you did!' Harry made a move forward but three sets of hands grabbed his robes to hold him back. 'You could have just left her alone, but you arrogant, stuck-up, daddy's boy had to go and stick your ugly face in, didn't you!' Harry's voice was rising again and the three holding him back were struggling to keep him away as he pulled even closer to an alone and very frightened looking Malfoy.
'Harry,' Dumbledore's voice called calmly from behind his desk, 'you will gain nothing from hurting Mr Malfoy.' Harry glared at Dumbledore and harshly shrugged off his friends who were still holding him back. 'Now then, if someone would please explain what happened?' As soon as he had said it, all four of them started talking at once. Dumbledore held up his hand for silence. 'Mr Weasley,' he said, beckoning Ron to tell the story.
'We left the Three Broomsticks to come back here, well not up here, but back to the school, and we took the alley like we always do; us three in front,' he pointed to himself, Harry and Ren 'and Ginny and Hermione following...'
'Halfway down the alley, Malfoy stepped out...' Ginny said, stepping in as Ron took a breath. 'He was taunting Hermione and Harry, and at one point me, so I stepped in between Hermione and Malfoy, but he told Crabbe and Goyle to move me, and he pointed his wand at Hermione and said something and she just curled up in pain,' Ginny finished, watching Dumbledore's expression which for the moment was unreadable.
'What words did he use?' Dumbledore asked, looking around the group whose faces all drew a blank expression as they tried to remember what he had said.
'Dolore Afficere,' Ren said suddenly.
'Oh, my Heroes,' Snape sneered. 'An Imaginary Pain Jinx is hardly going to do any damage.'
'Severus,' Albus said, giving Snape an uncharacteristically stern look, 'it has already caused a problem with the baby and Miss Granger has been taken to St Mungo's,' Dumbledore added, watching the sneer on Snape's face vanish. 'This is your only warning Mr Malfoy.' Dumbledore turned to Malfoy still standing in the corner. 'Do anything like this again to Miss Granger and it will result in your expulsion from this school. For now, you will receive detention every day for the next fifteen days, and 50 points will be taken from Slytherin for an unprovoked attack on another student. Now back to your common rooms, all of you.'
Malfoy was the first to move; he wrenched the door open and started down the spiral staircase. Harry, who had been wishing Malfoy expelled, sat frozen for a moment before following. He rushed past his friend on the stairs and burst out from the opening.
'Malfoy!' Harry bellowed, as Malfoy made his way from the office. 'Malfoy!' he called again, and Malfoy stopped and turned to face him.
'What do you want Potter?' he spat at Harry, who quickly closed the gap between them, pulled back his arm and punched Malfoy in the face. He was pulling his arm back for a second punch when Ron and Ginny seized it. Instinctively, Harry reached for his wand with his spare hand, but it was gone. Ren had taken it, expecting him to want it when he couldn't hit Malfoy. Spotting the opportunity, Malfoy turned and ran down the corridor and out of sight.
'What did you do that for?' Harry yelled, rounding on Ron.
'Snape hasn't come down yet, do you want to end up in detention with him?' Ron replied, pointing down the corridor Malfoy had just vanished down.
'Yeah,' Harry retorted, 'then I could finish him off'
'You won't get Hermione out of St. Mungo's by killing Malfoy,' Ginny said, grabbing Harry's arm and leading him back to his room.
'No, but it'll make me feel better.' Harry inserted the key, turned it, and kicked the door open before stomping in and dropping into a chair in front of the fireplace. Ginny pushed the door shut; she was carefully considering her reply.
'Well, that won't help either of you,' she said carefully. 'You fight Malfoy, both end up in detention together, you kill him and get expelled. That leaves Hermione here alone and you out in the world with You-Know-Who! That sounds far worse than a final year of Malfoy.'
Harry opened his mouth to reply but couldn't find an argument; Ginny was right and he knew it, nothing good would come of killing Malfoy. He opened his mouth again, but all he wanted to say was that he'd get Malfoy if he ever came near them again, yet he knew that would only lead to the inevitable: detention or expulsion. Giving up, Harry pulled himself out of the chair and vanished into the Open Room, slamming the door behind him.
Hermione returned to school later that evening. Madam Pomfrey followed her into her common room and asked where Harry was before following Hermione into her bedroom.
Harry appeared in the room moments after Ron had cautiously gone to tell him that she was back. They were both told that Hermione had to rest. Harry was to collect homework from the teachers to keep her occupied while he was in classes, and also get meals for her so that she would't have to climb back up the many stairs after eating. Healer Moon would visit every few days until she was happy that Hermione had rested enough, at which point Hermione would be allowed to return to classes.
After showing Madam Pomfrey out of the room, he explained everything to Ron, Ginny and Ren, who had stayed to make sure Harry was ok. After a few moments of chatting, they bade each other goodnight and departed for their own beds.
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