Story Title: Time, Interrupted
Chapter Title: Homework
Author: Madm_05
Rating: Strong PG-13/T
Warnings: Cormac Crossing
Chapter Word Count: 5,492
Date: 13 September 2007
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everyone else from Potterverse belong to JKR.
Chapter Twenty Five: Homework
"Ginny, I swear if you keep acting like yourself, I'm not going to help you sneak sweets from Mum and Dad anymore!" A boy shouted loudly on the other side of the room. His face was turning as red as his hair as he scowled at his sister.
Hermione sighed and went back to multiplying her fractions. The work was easy, but it was, after all, a review for the second day of school. Maybe they'll let me do basic algebra this year, she thought with a glimmer of hope. That would be nice. Fractions, while more entertaining than simple addition, were hardly a challenge.
"Oh yes you will so! If you don't help me, then you won't get any sweets either!" Ginny yelled. "Who would distract Mum and Dad for you?"
Hermione continued to ignore them, but she wasn't really focused on her work, not that she really needed to focus. Sirius and Remus and gone before the Wizengamot earlier that day about the unauthorized spying on Grimmauld Place. She wouldn't find out the verdict until they returned later that evening, if they decided to tell her at all. It was so bothersome being a child. She didn't even get a chance to read the Daily Prophet anymore.
"I'll get Harry and Hermione to help me," Ron replied. "They're good at sneaking stuff."
The sofa shifted from the added weight as Harry sat down. "What are they fighting about now?" Harry asked, looking at Ron and Ginny facing off, the brother - sister duo oblivious to Harry and Hermione sitting on the other side of the room. Spats between Ron and Ginny were so common place that most of the occupants in the house didn't notice, or simply left the room.
"Ginny wants Ron to play with her, but he won't do it because she's a girl and he doesn't want anyone to make fun of him for playing with her." Hermione gave her companion a wry look. "Somehow, he forgot I was a girl, as he doesn't mind spending time with me."
"Nuh uh! Harry is a hero, and heroes don't just go around taking sweets! They give them away! He's a hero! He beat You - Know - Who!" Ginny stomped her foot defiantly.
"I'm glad I'm not your brother, Hermione," Harry said as he watched Ron and Ginny argue.
Hermione looked away from her work for the first time and looked at Harry. "Why?" She asked. "Because we're betrothed?"
Harry squirmed. "I don't like fighting with you," he said. "And Ron and Ginny are always fighting, and Ron is Ginny's brother. If I were your brother, I'd have to fight with you all the time, and I don't want to do that."
"He would so! And well, Hermione would make sure we had a good plan, even if she didn't help us. You're just dumb. You don't know what you're talking about!" Ron snapped back.
"I'm glad you're not my brother too, Harry," she smiled a little as she looked at him. "Besides, the idea of marrying my brother is sickening." Hermione wrinkled her nose at the very thought, and was very relieved that Harry wasn't her brother. Ron, out of everyone, acted like a brother to her. Neville, to a certain degree, was like a little brother-someone she needed to look after.
Harry nodded. "Do you think I should try and get them to stop?"
"I do so know what I'm talking about. You're the one who doesn't know what you're saying. You're dumb!" Ginny huffed.
"Oh yeah? Well you're dumber!"
"Well then you're dumbest!"
"You- well you're-" Ron sputtered. "You're dumber-est!"
"That was a snappy comeback," Hermione murmured as she set her work aside. "You're right, Harry, we should stop this before it gets ugly."
Harry stood and walked beside her, ready to help her. Privately, Hermione adored that quality about Harry- he was always willing to lend her a hand when she need one, and even if she didn't, he was always there to help.
"What's going on?" Harry asked cautiously. Ron and Ginny, both of their faces red with fury, were glaring at each other. Ron's fists were clenched at his sides, and Ginny's hands were on her hips.
"Ron's being dumb!" Ginny replied, still glaring at her brother. "He won't play with me, and he promised he would."
"Did not," Ron protested indignantly. "And I'm not dumb!"
"Do you ever stop fighting?" A new voice interrupted. "I swear, listening to you two is enough to make my ears bleed."
Hermione looked up and struggled to suppress a shudder. Malfoy was standing in the doorway, Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him. As word of the school's success spread, more people became interested. Either that, or the Purebloods have all decided to send their kids here to spend time with Malfoy to corrupt him, remind him of his heritage and make him believe that he's better than everyone because of it and whatnot.
Crabbe and Goyle snickered at Malfoy's words, strongly reminding Hermione of times long past, or in her situation, times to come.
"What's going on in here?" Pansy Parkinson asked as she entered the room, a glass of water in her hands.
"There's a Weasel fight," Draco sneered.
Ron's ears went red. In a blind rage, he charged at the blonde hair boy, but was held back by Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. "You- you shut up about my name!"
"Leave," Harry said, his voice quiet but commanding. Though he was only seven years old, his time with his family had given him a bit of confidence that grew every day. Hermione was reminded of the Dark Harry- he, too, used that tone, but for far more nefarious deeds. Draco sneered at the sharp edge of Harry's command, but turned and left just the same.
"What was that about?" Pansy asked Ginny.
"Ron's being a butt," Ginny replied. "And Draco saw it. Come on, Pansy. I brought my dolly with me. We can have a tea party." Ginny sniffed and walked away.
"Oh! I brought a dolly too!" Pansy said excitedly as she followed. "And I brought my tea set, so we can have even more fun serving them. Do you think anyone else would like to join us? Maybe…" Her voice trailed away.
"You know," Ron said as he watched them walk into another room. "Girls are scary. They can be mean one minute, and gone playing dollies the next." Hermione frowned at him. "Don't worry, Hermione, I didn't forget you. You're scary too, just without the dollies and with some books."
"Thanks Ron," Hermione said dryly while Harry snickered.
"You're welcome," he replied with a smile.
Hermione smiled in return. Ron was thick, but he was very caring now that he felt he could count Harry and Hermione as his friends. Hermione was just glad that Harry wasn't taking everything Ron said seriously. A few months ago, Harry would have tackled Ron for saying such a thing to her. "Come on," she said. "We might as well do-"
"Don't say homework," Ron interrupted, his tone pleading. "Please don't say homework."
"I don't know, Ron," Harry said with a grin. "I've got a few arithmetic problems I need to do yet. Maybe we should do our homework."
"That's the spirit Harry," Hermione laughed as Ron groaned and buried his head in his hands.
"Hey," a new voice chimed breathlessly. "Hey, do you want to play gobstones?" Neville asked. "The new boy, Cormac McLaggen brought a set to show everyone. He says he's the best at gobstones, and that he can beat anyone. We all want to try and see if he really is that good at it. Do you want to come? He's in the game room."
Both boys turned to Hermione pleadingly. "Oh alright, we'll go. You two can play, I'll watch."
"When she says she'll watch," Harry said in a stage whisper, "she really means she'll read." He grinned. "Or do homework."
"Ha ha," Hermione said blandly, but still grabbed the assignment on fractions she had been working on before Ron and Ginny got into yet another argument. Ron and Ginny argue nearly as much as Ron and I did, she thought absently. "Let's go."
The boys cheered and followed Neville. Ron eagerly kept pace with Neville, but Harry continually looked back to be sure she was following. Walking, she couldn't help but ponder the dramatic changes that had already occurred between this timeline and her own.
Harry, Ron, and Neville had so much more confidence now. It was heartening to see them when they were together. Harry, finally having a loving family, was allowed to be normal, so long as he wasn't in the eye of the public. In the privacy of the school, far away from their parents, the children were allowed to meet Harry and understand what he was like as a person. They didn't have a set of beliefs about him based on the stories their parents told them before bed.
Ron himself had grown up dramatically. Hermione had expected him to behave much as he had when they were at Hogwarts, but he didn't. He was as amusing as ever, and still adored Quidditch, but it was as if having friends gave him as much confidence as having a family had given Harry. From what she could guess, Ron hadn't had very many friends before Hogwarts, and was always being compared to his brothers.
Hermione was sure that Molly Weasley had never meant to make her son feel inadequate, but the older woman had. Surely the Weasley Matron had no idea of the grief she would cause her son. But now, in this school, Ron had friends and had time away from his mother's attentions and comparisons. He had time to grow as a person, and grow he did.
Neville was much like Ron. Away from his domineering grandmother and surrounded by boys his own age, who didn't ridicule him and question his magical abilities, Neville was growing up just fine. He would never be any good at Quidditch, or any sport really, and he had a habit of stammering when his grandmother spoke to him. Away from the Quidditch Pitch and his grandmother, however, Neville was a very spirited lad. And, Hermione was amused to find, he loved to play in the dirt.
"Would you care for tea, Mrs. Benwick?" Pansy asked. Hermione glanced into another room and saw Pansy Parkinson, Hannah Abbott, Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley, each of them with a doll and a teacup far too small for them to really be using, having a tea party. That was another miracle in and of itself.
The school had expanded a little. Percy Weasley, Oliver Wood and Penelope Clearwater had left the school to enter Hogwarts, but five others had entered. Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle had been two of the more unpleasant additions. Hannah Abbott was another addition, like Pansy Parkinson. Cormac McLaggen was the fifth.
Surprisingly, Pansy remembered meeting Ginny the year before at the Ministry's attempt to endear themselves to the Boy - Who - Lived, the Wandless - Witch, and the Man - They - Wrongfully - Locked - In - Azkaban. Upon her arrival, and after her parents' departure, she had approached Ginny Weasley and the two had hit it off. They had quickly teamed up with Luna and Hannah, forming what was quickly becoming known as the Gaggle of Giggling Girls. Privately, Hermione thought Luna's giggle was more of a twitter, but she didn't say anything.
Hermione was sure that if someone had told her that Pansy was really a nice person when she was in her fourth year, she would have given them directions to the Hospital Wing. Luna was surprisingly sociable. She still had a flighty sort of personality, but she seemed to be more grounded. Hannah, ever bashful, had spoken more in the last two days than Hermione could ever remember her saying while at Hogwarts. Ginny, too, was maturing as she gathered friends.
"Think you can beat me? Ha! Just because you're Harry Potter doesn't mean anything! I can beat anyone, anytime." Cormac McLaggen announced loudly. Hermione wrinkled her nose and wondered how she could have allowed herself to go to Slughorn's party with him, let alone let him actually kiss her. The thought was nauseating.
Harry looked confused. "I never said that," he replied, still a little puzzled. "I just said I wanted to play a round with you. I never said I was better than you were."
"You're Harry Potter," Cormac sneered. "Of course you think you're better than everyone else."
Harry flushed and gritted his teeth. "I don't think I'm better than you are," he ground out. "But I would still like to play a game of gobstones with you." Hermione could tell that he was having trouble keeping his temper- and his magic- from getting out of control.
Hermione continued to watch carefully, well aware of the damage her friend could do when he truly lost control, and prepared to intervene if necessary. It was common knowledge that a magical child would lose control of their magic and cause all sorts of trouble, but Harry, whose emotions were always unstable courtesy of the Dursleys, had incidents of accidental magic more frequently, and they were more volatile.
Seeing him try to control his temper- and if the wobbling vase on the table was any judge, failing- she wondered what the Harry from her first life would have done, before he had become a Dark Lord. He had been so closed off with his emotions. He refused to talk about Sirius, and only spoke of what happened to Cedric to the headmaster, then later to Rita Skeeter and herself in an attempt to gain public support. Would he have succeeded in controlling his emotions? Perhaps, she thought. But there is a big difference between controlling your emotions, and hiding them. He might have controlled him anger, or he might have hidden it.
"Very well," Cormac drawled. Hermione shivered at the tone- it was so like the one Malfoy used. "Let's play." He grinned cockily, sure he would win. The young witch barely managed to keep herself from humiliating him and taking him down a peg or two. He was arrogant as a child, and he was arrogant as a teenager. His attitude was enough to make her want to scream.
As it was, she had to settle for watching the two boys compete, determined not to interfere with the game no matter how much she wanted to wipe that smirk off of the Cormac's face. Though Cormac was a year older than Harry, he was incredibly rude and outspoken. Hermione didn't think anyone would mind if he lost to Harry, especially since Harry was well liked by almost everyone.
"-I never would have dreamed it would have gone so swimmingly. Did you see the look on Dumbledore's face when all of those trainees testified? I've never seen him so angry in my life." Sirius voice was coming from the entry hall.
"So what happens now?" She heard Tonks ask.
"Well, the trainees will be fine," Remus said. "We weren't pressing charges against them anyways, so it doesn't matter. Now, the auror in charge of the mission or whatever you want to call it, Dante, he'll probably be stripped of his rank, blacklisted, and will likely spend some time in Azkaban for his crimes. The Ministry itself is more complicated. There will have to be a thorough investigation to determine who all was involved in the spying, and then it will have to be determined who was forced to take part-who was following orders to keep their job- and who was doing it out of spite. From there, the Wizengamot will determine the severity of each person's actions, and decide a fitting punishment for them."
"Who will be doing the investigating? Surely not the Ministry," Tonks asked, curious.
"Certainly not," Remus answered. "No, it will be an independent branch that was set up the same time as the Ministry, for just this very purpose. Of course, it's never really been used to the extent that it's about to be used."
Sirius chuckled. "We've caused quite a bit of trouble for the Ministry. Now if only I could push those social reforms through the Wizengamot, we'd be set."
"Good luck," Remus snorted. "You'll have better luck winning freedom for house - elves than you will trying to get more rights for werewolves." He sounded tired, and more than a little bitter. "But that's just the way it is."
"Don't worry Remus," Tonks said reassuringly. "If anyone can do it, Sirius can. Personally, I can't believe how active you've become, what with being a headmaster and being a member of the Wizengamot."
"I can't do very much yet. I'm one of the lower chairs," Sirius said. "And the only reason I have chair on the Wizengamot is because of my lineage. It's disgustingly pure, and my father used to line the pockets of several members."
"Give it a few years, Padfoot. Seniority- you'll move up in rank as the years go by, and then you will hold more sway with the others. That's just how it is. Until then, remaining active and keeping yourself in the eye of the public will win you favour hopefully, but I don't think you'll get far with the werewolf legislation you're trying to push through…"
Hermione frowned as their voices faded away. So the Ministry was in chaos. That was nothing new. It had been in a similar state when Crouch Senior first became Minister. She wondered what role he had played in the spying catastrophe. Did he know? Did he order it? Or was it done without his knowledge? It was possible, she supposed. His regime was still fairly new, especially because of the chaos that had followed her stay at Malfoy Manor. It would have been easy to take advantage of.
She shuddered. Had McNair ordered the mission? He was a loyal Death Eater, one she couldn't expose, not yet. It made sense that he would play some role… but which one? If he had instigated the matter- and if he were caught- that would take care of him. But if he wasn't the reason the Ministry was spying on them, or if he wasn't caught, then she and Harry were in a very precarious position indeed. There was no telling how much he knew, or who he would tell.
A sudden thought struck- had he already told someone? Hermione swallowed, fear roiling in the pit of her stomach. What would she do if Death Eaters came? What could she do? Relax, she thought to herself when she saw a vase tremor out of the corner of her eye. You're getting yourself worked up over nothing. It would be foolish to think that the Death Eaters would attack here. This school is protected too well. The wards may not be up to Hogwarts standard, but they're nothing to laugh at. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Beginner's luck," she heard Cormac snap. "That's all that was, beginner's luck. I challenge you to another round."
"Alright," Harry said with a nod. The boys around Harry and Cormac cheered. "I'll play you another round."
Hermione rolled her eyes and slipped away. Remus and Sirius were back. The trial was successful. There was a chance that McNair could be locked in Azkaban, hopefully soon. The boys were being boys. All in all, is seemed like things were going well. Nodding to herself, she sat in her chair and picked up her fractions work again. Wrinkling her nose a little at the simple arithmetic, she set to work, finally able to focus on the assignment. She had only managed to get halfway through her work when her mind began to wander.
Harry was getting better at wandless magic. As she had expected, he wasn't as good as she was, but he had enough raw magical power that he could do some fairly complex magic. His favourite use for his magic was flying, but then, Harry adored flying, with or without a broom.
Other than flying, he was becoming frustrated with his progress. He was able to summon larger items faster than he was before, and he now had complete control over the green flames he conjured, but that seemed to be the limit. While Hermione was amazed that he had managed so much, Harry was upset that he couldn't turn a bullfrog into a rock as she had done the other day. He had apparently forgotten that she had done it on accident when it had startled her.
Hermione herself was becoming frustrated with her own progress. Usually she worked on trying to change an object's colour without giving herself a splitting headache, or simple transfiguration, such as turning a match into a needle. That latter spell was one she had easily mastered in her first year, but now, even when she had had years of experience, she still had difficulty. The best she had managed was turning the match into a piece of grey cardboard shaped like a needle.
For her friend's benefit, she began to focus on what else he could learn rather than her own stumbling block. Hermione tapped her chin thoughtfully. Maybe he can learn to change something's size, she thought. Transfiguration is a very difficult discipline, even with a wand, so that may be why he can't get any further. Maybe he needs to take smaller steps. Changing something's size would be a good start, I think.
Hermione was startled from her thoughts by the sound of yelling coming from the room where she knew the boys were playing gobstones. Frowning, she stood and quickly made her way to the other room. The kids were all gathered around in a scene reminiscent of kids watching a fight.
"I did not!" Harry yelled over the din.
Oh dear, what's going on now, she wondered and began to push through the others to get to Harry.
"You tell him Harry!"
"That's right Harry!"
"Yeah Harry!"
Hermione sighed in frustration and tried to worm her way around Zacharias Smith and Marietta Edgecomb. She was jostled as the others moved and cheered.
"Of course you cheated! There's no way you could have won three games in a row against me!" Cormac yelled.
"I would never cheat, and even if I would, I couldn't have! You were watching me the whole time, and so was everyone else!" Harry replied, just as loudly. Hermione finally managed to break through the crowd. Harry and Cormac were facing each other. Both were flushed with anger, though Cormac could have been embarrassed as well.
"What's going on in here?" A new voice sounded. Everyone immediately quieted as the headmaster walked in. He saw the angry stances of the two boys and stepped between them. There was a slight glimmer of panic in his eyes when he saw Harry was one of the two involved. "Hermione," Sirius said. "What is going on?"
"I don't know, Headmaster Black," she said honestly, careful to address Sirius by his title while school was in session. "I was doing my arithmetic homework when I heard shouting. I came to see what was going on, but I couldn't see anything. I could hear Harry and Cormac arguing. Cormac accused Harry of cheating at gobstones, and Harry denied it, saying that he wouldn't have cheated, and couldn't have because of everyone who was watching. Then you came in, sir." Hermione reported dutifully.
"Is that true, Neville?" Sirius asked the young boy.
"Y-yes sir, it's true. That's what happened," Neville replied.
"They're lying!" Cormac interrupted. "She," he pointed to Hermione. "Is his betrothed, so of course she's going to lie for him. They," he gestured to everyone around him. "Are all his friends, so of course they're going to lie for him too! They're all lying!"
"That's not true!" Harry snapped. "Hermione doesn't lie, and neither do I, so don't you talk about us like that! And Neville, Neville's always honest, and so is Ron!" Hermione smiled a little at Harry's defence of his friend's honour, but remained silent- she didn't have the heart to point out that earlier Ron had been arguing with Ginny and talking about stealing sweets, and she certainly wasn't going to think of all the lies she had told in her two lives.
"Enough!" Sirius shouted. "Harry, Cormac, I would like for the two of you to come with me. Harry, you're going to talk to Deputy Headmaster Lupin about what happened, and Cormac, you'll tell me what happened. We'll decided what to do from there," he said firmly. "As for the rest of you, you can go back to whatever you were doing before."
Harry glanced at Hermione, but nodded to Sirius and walked to Remus, who had been standing in the doorway, watching everything play out. As Sirius and Remus led the two boys to separate rooms to talk to them, the crowd began to disperse, everyone talking about the fight.
Frowning, Hermione trudged back to her chair that she had claimed earlier to do her homework. Collapsing in the chair, she picked up her fractions work, but could only stare at the numbers written on the page. The figures seemed to blur together.
Simple as the work was, she simply couldn't concentrate. This assignment is just not meant to be finished. Sighing in frustration, Hermione turned her thoughts to the argument between Harry and Cormac. She could easily recall the animosity between the two boys during her sixth year. Cormac was forever trying to tell everyone what to do, believing that he would be a better captain than Harry. Harry, of course, didn't take to well to someone trying to replace him. She wondered if there would ever be peace between the two of them. Given what had happened just a short time before, she didn't think so.
Forcing her thoughts back to her arithmetic, she set to work. Occasionally her thoughts would wander, but she would force herself to concentrate on her work. When she was finally finished with her work, she allowed herself to relax. It was always a relief to finish an assignment, even if it wasn't due until the end of the week. The only thing it meant was that she would have more free time.
"Hermione," Ron whined as he shuffled into the room. "I need your help. I forgot how to this! Can you help me? The problems are really hard."
Just like old times, Hermione thought with a small smile. "Of course, Ron. Come here, I'll help you." It didn't take the pair long to finish the assignment. Once she had shown Ron how to do one problem, it seemed to come back to him, and he was able to finish the remaining problems with ease.
"Thanks Hermione," Ron said with a grin. Hermione felt her heart warm. It was nice to be friends with Ron again, and it was nice to be thanked for her efforts. "Do you want to play a game?" He asked.
"Let's see if we can find Harry first," she suggested. "Then we can play together." Ron nodded and the two stood up before searching for their friends. As they walked, Hermione couldn't help but marvel at the changes in her friend once more. After so many years of Ron asking for her help and never really thanking her, it was amazing to her that he would do so now, at the age of seven. I guess friends can have a grand impact on what kind of a person a child grows up to be.
Of course, Hermione would not take full credit for Ron's maturity. There were very strict rules about behaviour at the school, and manners were heavily enforced. I suppose having to say please and thank you to house - elves makes it easier to thank everyone, she thought.
They found Harry just as he was walking out of Remus' office. "How did it go?" Ron asked. "Did you get into trouble?"
"No," Harry replied with relief. "I didn't. But neither did Cormac. Uncle Remus told me that he was just upset because he lost, but that he didn't really hurt anyone. I told him about everything Cormac said, and he said he'd talk to Papa Sirius about it and they'd work out what to do with him."
Ron shook his head. "If he always gets away with that sort of thing, no wonder his head is a big as Percy's. Hey, Harry, do you want me to talk to Fred and George? They love pulling pranks on people. I'm sure they'd get him good! Maybe they'd put makeup on him, and make him look like a girl!"
"No, Ron," Hermione interrupted firmly. "No pranks. The last thing we need to do right now is make Cormac even more angry with us. He's older than we are, so he can cause more trouble."
"I suppose," Ron said. "Still nice to think about though," he said wistfully. "Alright, come on then. Let's do something fun. If we can't prank Cormac, can we prank the girls? Not you of course, Hermione," Ron added quickly. "You don't act like a girl, so you're different."
Harry covered a grin with his hand while Hermione rolled her eyes. So much for him being more mature, she thought. "I said no pranks, Ron. Let's go play exploding snap," Hermione offered.
"I have a set of cards in my room," Harry offered. "I'll go get them, okay?"
"I'll come with you," Ron said, bouncing a little. It was no secret among the trio that Ron loved spending time in Harry's jungle - themed room.
"And I'll go and clear a space for us at the table in the game room," Hermione added. The three nodded to each other and separated, Harry and Ron to Harry's room, and Hermione to the game room.
Hermione's destination, the game room, was the latest addition to the school. Previously it had been a storage room, but Sirius and Remus had recently filled it with a wide variety of games and toys for the children to use. There were a few chessboards, but players usually had to bring their own chessmen, or see Tonks to borrow a set. An area was set up for gobstones, where Harry had beaten Cormac earlier. On the far side of the room there were tables set up for card games. On the shelves there were other games, muggle board games and wizarding games alike. Bouncing balls and trucks and toy brooms were in a large, bottomless chests next to the shelves. The room was full of things to keep children busy, and was usually very noisy.
After Cormac's loss to Harry at gobstones, however, the room had emptied considerably, an that was why Hermione was able to hear the lowered voices speaking to each other.
"He thinks he's so important, just because of who he his," Hermione heard Cormac saying. "And the headmaster is his godfather, so of course he sided with him."
"I know," another voice said. "Hermione Granger killed my father, and I was sent to live with people below my status." Hermione felt her heart skip a beat. That was Draco Malfoy. She couldn't suppress the shudder than came over her. "Now I have to go to school with that filth."
"We need to make them see that we're not going to be pushed around just because they're famous," Cormac said. "We should do something to make them see."
"I've tried," Draco replied darkly. "But everyone pampers them." Hermione clenched her jaw in anger. "We should think about it some, then we can, I don't know, pull a prank on them, one they'll never forget."
"Good idea. A prank, one that'll make them understand they can't push us around," Cormac agreed.
"We should go, before someone sees us or hears us," Draco said.
Hermione stepped back into a small nook as the two boys slipped out of the room and walked away. Frowning, Hermione walked into the game room they had just vacated and absently cleared off one of the tables in the empty room.
This isn't good, she thought as she put away a box of blocks. A prank? What kind? What could those two be up to? Hermione felt her panic rise. She had underestimated Draco Malfoy too many times before, especially in her sixth year. I'll have to talk with Harry and Ron, she decided.
At that moment, the two boys walked in, Harry with a pack of cards. They were laughing over something. Later, she thought. I'll tell them later, after dinner. For now, she just wanted to play a game of exploding snap with her friends.
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A/N: *Groans* Man, it's been forever! I'm sorry I was gone so long, but things have been a mess lately. First I had a million papers to write, then I had to work extra because we lost people at work, so I had make up work. Mind, I didn't get promoted or even get a raise, I just got more work. My boss still hasn't hired more help, so there hasn't' been any relief at work. *Grumbles* Classes started again , then wedding showers and baby showers and a wedding, then I had to reread all of the Harry Potter books for when the last book came out…
As for Deathly Hallows, I'm of two minds. Parts were fantastic, but other parts were horrible. Harry's speech at the end, when he finally beat Riddle? Good God! I've read fan fics that did a better job. Terribly cliché. Other parts were ridiculously predictable. I knew Snape's true allegiance, I knew the mystery Horcrux was the tiara in the room of requirement (I even wrote an essay on it some time ago), I predicted most of the major deaths, the list goes on.
The back story was great though. And hey, it turns out that all of those manipulative Dumbledore stories weren't too far off. Huh. Overall, it wasn't a total bust. Some things were fun.
Back on topic, I don't know when I'll be able to update next. Things are still hectic. Summer courses just let out not too long ago (hence the update), but fall quarter will be starting up again in a week, there's a baby shower to plan, work, and whatever else life decides to throw my way. The best I can do is guarantee an update by Christmas. Sorry.
I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last few chapters, and thank you all again for waiting so long. Thank you for reading.
Cheers,
Madm_05