Okay, I have to add this little A/N in - one of my friends (The same one as before) has contacted me thinking he knew what Mia's role in the story is - to get Harry and Hermione together. While that is true - what you all need to understand is, everyone is going to play a part in getting Harry and Hermione together and separating them.
I want to know is, if you think Mia has a role - what do you think it is? There are some hints to her roles in the chapters but I just want to see if anyone will pick up on it. Don't worry about it though - everybody's roles will be revealed way later in the story.
Chapter 9: Attack, Twins and Christmas.
Harry made his way through the castle, frustration building up inside of him. He had been receiving looks from everyone all day after the whole snake thing and it was beginning to annoy him to a no end.
Hermione was off in the girls' toilet, making sure that the potion was bubbling nicely. Mia was meeting up with Draco to see if he had any ideas of how to figure out who was the Slytherin heir before any more attacks occurred. So far they weren't having a good time and they still couldn't convince Ron that Draco couldn't be the heir of Slytherin, so the plan of the Polyjuice potion was still on. She had managed to convince them that she had made enough for them to store and use at a later date as well.
Ron was off with his sister - he had noticed that she had been tired lately and was worrying about her. Harry was also concerned about her as well.
Harry was about to go past second floor when he saw Ginny entering the library and stopped slightly. Maybe he should talk to her and see if he could get through to her better - people did have a habit of being able to open up to someone they didn't know well.
Harry made his way over to the library and slipped in. He looked around and saw Ginny sitting at a table near the window and made his way over to her.
"Hey Ginny," Harry greeted. Ginny looked up and flushed slightly but she smiled at him.
"Hey," Ginny replied and Harry sat down across from her.
"So, how are you getting on?" Harry asked and smiled slightly when he saw Ginny's puzzled look. "Ron told me that you were looking tired and all that," he explained and Ginny looked down in embarrassment
"I'm fine, just trying to get use to this," Ginny told him and Harry nodded.
"Yeah, I understand it. Hermione was the same when she arrived," Harry told her and Ginny's smile dimmed slightly.
"What about you?" Ginny asked; redirection the conversation back to him and Harry looked at her before smiling.
"No, I'm used to it because Uncle Sirius made me and Mia get up at 5 in the morning do things," Harry explained and Ginny thought back to a conversation she had a while ago before she took a deep breath.
"So, Sirius has been treating you okay?" she asked and Harry's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Yeah, he's been great to Mia and I," Harry told her and she titled her head. Ginny wondered if she could encourage Harry to find somewhere else to live.
"It just, my mum had been a little concerned, you know, with all the rumours and all that," Ginny explained and Harry's features darken slightly.
"Well, you can tell your mother that everything is fine and she doesn't need to concern herself," Harry told her, firmly and a little coldly. Ginny looked at him and felt her own eyes harden.
"She thinks of you as a son because you are Ron's friend," Ginny shot back and but Harry shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think of her as a mother and I don't see how she could think me of a son considering she has never met me or knows me," Harry informed her frostily.
"Harry, please…" Ginny pleaded. This wasn't going the way she expected but Harry shook his head.
"No, I'm sorry. Your mother doesn't have the right to see me as a son because she doesn't know me, and she doesn't have the right to be concerned over me. I had a mother for that but she was killed by Voldemort and she is the only mother I want," Harry stated firmly before he stood up and left the Library with Ginny staring after his back with a despondent look on her face. Her plan had failed.
Harry made his way out of the library only to bump into someone and send him or her flying. He looked down and saw that he had bumped into a blonde first year - a Ravenclaw by the look of her robes.
"Oh man, I'm so sorry!" Harry exclaimed as he hurried over and helped her up. He got a small giggle in reply as she stood up and brushed out her robes before she pushed back her hair and looked up at Harry with slightly glazed blue eyes.
"No need to apologise, my fault for being occupied with the fairies above the doors," she told him in a dreamy tone. Harry's eyebrows shot up slightly before he looked at the door of the library but couldn't see any fairies. "My, you're Harry Potter."
"Yeah, sorry, I don't know you," Harry told her and she smiled dreamily.
"I'm Luna Lovegood," she told him. "And do take care when you go round the corner, I'm sure we'll meet again." With that, she hummed under her breath as she made her way into the library, leaving a confused boy behind. He shook his head and continued on with his walk.
He rounded the corner only to bump into another person and sent them flying also. He looked down with a groan and saw it was Hermione.
"Oh man, I'm so sorry!" Harry apologised again in a span of minutes while Hermione smiled as she shook her head. Harry helped her up before gathering her books and handing them to her.
"It's okay," Hermione assured him. "I thought you were going out to the pitch to get some flying in?" she asked, curious to why he was still in the castle.
"I was till I saw Ginny and I wanted to talk to her," Harry told her, not noticing that Hermione's knuckles had turned white from gripping her books tightly.
"Oh?" she asked, causally and Harry nodded.
"Yeah, Ron had said that Ginny was looking tired so I wanted to check on her. Of course, we got into a slight argument over her mother thinking of me as a son," he told her and Hermione looked at him, startled.
"But she doesn't know you," Hermione told him and he agreed.
"And that's what I told Ginny but she kept going on about it so I kinda lost my temper. I told her that my mother was dead and she was the only mother I ever wanted," he admitted. Hermione sighed as she looked at Harry before she settled her books on the ground before hugging him.
"I'm sure if you told Ron, he will sort it out," Hermione told him before she pulled away and looked into his eyes. Harry laughed as he kissed her forehead.
"Probably. Now I'm gonna go and see if I can get some flying in. Do you want any help with your books before I go?" he asked and Hermione shook her head.
"Nope, I'll be fine. I'll see you later," she kissed him on the cheek before she picked up her books once more and headed into the library. Harry stared after her before he headed out of the castle and over to the Quidditch pitch. He made his way into the Gryffindor's male locker room. He headed over to his locker and opened it, pulling out his broom before he shoved his bag into the locker and slammed it shut.
All the lockers had been magically enchanted so that it would recognise a person's magical signature - the Quidditch committee had thought it up after someone had placed a hex on a broom, which almost caused a death of a Quidditch player. It turned out that they managed to break into the locker so the Quidditch Committee set it up so that no one would be able to get into any lockers other than their own.
Harry left the locker room and made his way out onto the pitch. He mounted his broom before he kicked the ground hard, causing the broom to soar up into the air with him on it as the air rushed past his face.
He did some movement on his broom but mostly just hovered, letting the air rush over his face, relaxing him from the months he had since he had started school.
Hermione smiled from where she was watching from the window before she turned back to her homework and got a start on it.
Harry came back down to earth with a small thud after a while and he got off his broom. He made his way over to the locker room and placed his broom back in his locker before grabbing his bag and he made his way back to the castle.
Harry rounded the corner only for his eyes to widen and he jerked back slightly when he saw a dead rooster in front of him.
"Oh, hello Harry," greeted a voice and Harry looked up and sighed with relief when he saw it was Hagrid.
"Hey Hagrid, what's with the rooster?" he asked and Hagrid sighed.
"They are being killed off even more so I'm heading up to see Professor Dumbledore to see if he would let me build some sort of fence to keep whatever it's killing them out," Hagrid explained and Harry nodded.
"I hope it goes well," Harry told him. "I'd love to stay and chat but Hermione wants me to meet her in the library. She's got something she needs to show me," Harry explained and Hagrid smiled.
"Have fun," he told Harry, who laughed as he hurried off. Hagrid made his way toward Dumbledore's office.
Harry was walking along the corridor when he saw a trail of spiders moving away from a corridor, up the wall and out of the window. Curiously, he moved closer to the corridor only to stop short when he saw the sight.
Headless Nick was floating in mid-air. He wasn't transparent any more; he was more Smokey - which made Harry even more curious. He moved closer only to see Justin lying on the ground. Harry knelt down and touched Justin's hand and found it was cold and stiff.
Frowning, he looked at the spiders before looking at the ghost and boy once more and came to the conclusion that the attacker had attacked again
"Caught in the act!" a voice exclaimed and Harry spun around to see Peeves, the poltergeist, floating behind him. "You'll be kicked out for good this time, Potter!" Peeve cackled before he floated away through the walls. Harry sighed and rolls his eyes before he turned back to look at the petrified Justin.
"I have to admit, he does seem better being petrified," Harry muttered under his breath. There was a hurrying footsteps and he turned around once more to see Professor McGonagall hurrying toward him. She saw he victims and sighed. "It wasn't me, Professor," Harry told her and she nodded as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I know Harry. I believe you but it is out of my hands," she warned him and Harry tensed his jaw, not surprised in the least.
"Justin!" a male voice exclaimed and they spun around to see an enraged Ernie bearing down on Harry. He bunched up his fist and was about to plant one on Harry, who sidestepped Ernie, catching the enraged boy's fist in his hand. He deftly twisted the arm back till Harry had it pinned up against his back.
"Next time, don't try it," Harry growled before he pushed Ernie away from him.
"Mr Macmillan!" McGonagall snapped; rage clear over her face and Ernie looked up at her. "We will be speaking about your appalling behaviour later, right now, take this fan," she transfigured a fan. "And use this to help Mr Nick up to the Hospital wing. While you do - keep an eye on Mr Finch-Fletchley while he's on the stretcher," she ordered him. She conjured up a stretcher and it placed it under Justin and lifted him up before floating off with Ernie hurrying after it with Nick.
McGonagall straightened out her robes before she looked at Harry. "Come with me," she told him and they made their way down the corridors till they came to a stop outside a stone bird. Understanding dawned on Harry straight away.
He was going to see Dumbledore.
"Sherbet Lemon!" McGonagall announced, clearly, and there was a rumbling sound as the bird started to rotate. Harry hurried over to it and stepped on the top stairs and allowed it to rotate him all the way to Dumbledore's office.
McGonagall sighed. "Good luck Harry," she whispered before she made her way over to the Hospital wing. She was going to have a talk to one of the students about how violence doesn't solve anything while she was deputy headmistress of this school.
Harry arrived in front of a door, he knocked on it before he pushed it open and made his way into the office. He looked around - it had changed slightly since the last time he had came here and saw a red and gold phoenix. He smiled as he moved over to it.
"Hey…" Harry greeted. The phoenix shrilled before it burst into flames, causing Harry to take a step back. He understood what had just happened. It was burning day.
"It's about time," a male voice spoke and Harry turned his head to see Dumbledore coming down the stairs. "I had been telling him to get a move on but I have my suspicions that he knew that you were coming to visit him lately," Dumbledore explained.
"What's his name?" Harry asked.
"Fawkes," Dumbledore replied. "Remarkable creatures they are - their tears have healing powers and they can carry immensely heavy loads."
"Yeah, they're one of my favourite animals," Harry told him and Dumbledore studied him sagely. "I wanted to say that I didn't attack anybody," Harry told him with a steely glare and Dumbledore nodded.
"Yes, I know, but I must ask - do you have any ideas of who could be behind it?" Dumbledore asked and Harry snorted.
"You mean like Mia?" Harry asked. "Forget it, she hates purebloods more than muggleborns," Harry told him. "Something about being cowards."
Dumbledore frowned slightly as he stroked his beard when all of a sudden the doors were slammed open, revealing a harassed Hagrid.
"It wasn't Harry!" Hagrid exclaimed, still holding the dead roosters. "I was with him seconds before the attack was discovered! I'll swear it to the ministry if I have to!" Dumbledore raised his hands and put them into a calming motion.
"Calm down Hagrid, I do not believe it was Harry," Dumbledore told him and Hagrid stared at him.
"You don't?" he asked before he shook his head. "Of course you don't." There was an awkward moment before Hagrid jerked his head toward the door. "I'll wait outside," Hagrid told them and he stumbled out, roosters in hand.
"All right now," Dumbledore told him and Hagrid made his way back out of the office. The headmaster turned back to Harry. "Is there anything you wish to tell me?" he asked.
"Only that I'm late for meeting up with Hermione," Harry told him and Dumbledore smiled.
"Ah yes, Miss Granger is quite a person, isn't she?" Dumbledore asked and Harry looked at him, sharply.
"Yeah, she's one of my best friend," Harry replied, caution slipping into his voice. He wasn't sure he liked where the conversation was heading.
"I had noticed that two of you are quite close," Dumbledore observed. Harry just stayed silent. "But I also noticed that you seemed to be interested in Miss Weasley - I must say, you do take after your father in that way. After all, your mother was a red haired."
"I thought my dad went after my mum because he was interested in who she was, not what she looked like," Harry told him with steel in his voice.
"Yes, he did. I was wondering if you could hang out with Miss Weasley some more. I do worry about her as she is new and does seem to be tired all the time. I was hoping maybe you could help her out?" Dumbledore suggested and Harry shook his head.
"Sorry, I'm kinda busy - maybe you could ask Hermione. She is great when it comes to helping people study - if it wasn't for her, I would be way behind in class," Harry suggested. Dumbledore nodded, but disappointment glimmered in his eyes.
"I know, but I was hoping that maybe you could form a small friendship with Miss Weasley. After all, you are her brother's friend," Dumbledore told him and Harry shrugged.
"If she wants to be friends with me, she can ask. I didn't think it was in the headmaster's job to try and force people into friendships," Harry told him before leaving the office and Dumbledore alone.
Hagrid stepped in.
"Can I talk to you?" Hagrid asked and Dumbledore motioned Hagrid in, still frustrated over his lack of influence over the boy. He needed to find someway to control Harry and soon!
Harry made his way down the stairs and down the corridor, rage lining his muscles when he bumped into two people.
"What is it with me today?" Harry demanded before he looked up at Fred and George.
"Hello Harry," George greeted.
"Lovely day, isn't it?" Fred asked and Harry arched an eyebrow.
"What do you want?" he asked, dryly, causing both boys to hold a hand over their hearts, wounded.
"Harry, so quick to accuse us," George gasped out.
"Why would you ever presume that we want something?" Fred asked and Harry smirked.
"Probably because every time I see you, you want something or you are going to do something," Harry reminded, causing the twins to drop their acts.
"We heard an interesting tale about you," Fred told him.
"About you being the Slytherin heir," George finished and Harry sighed.
"Right and let me guess who told you that, Ernie?" he asked and Fred nodded. "Of course he would. He can't handle the fact that I just might be innocent so he decides that he'll try and make my life a misery."
"Of course, we called him on it but we're afraid that a lot of people agree with him," George told him and Harry sighed.
"Don't worry about it. People want to believe the worst thing about a person because it makes themselves feel better," Harry told them.
"Well we don't!" Fred told him.
"And we have a plan on how to enforce that," George told Harry, who just arched an eyebrow, interested to hear what they had to say.
Fred and George marched their way down the corridors to the library with Harry walking behind them with an amused look on his face.
"Out of the way people!" Fred shouted as he pushed students to the side.
"Seriously deranged wizard is coming through!" George called out, causing Harry to stifle a smile. He was glad to see that Fred and George thought it was insanely funny that people thought Harry was the Heir of Slytherin and did their best to enforce it.
"Will you two stop this?" a male voice demanded and they turned to see another red haired Weasley coming through. He came to stop in front of the twins and Harry. Percy's face was slowly turning red.
"Oh get out of the way Percy," Fred told him.
"Yeah, Harry is just nipping off to the Chambers of have a spot of tea with his fanged friends," George piped up and Harry couldn't help it. He started laughing.
"Ooooh," Fred shivered out as he clutched George, both of them were wearing terrified looks.
"He lost it Freddy, he's going on his attacking spree next!" George whispered and Fred nodded.
"Harry, mate, which muggle borns are you going to attack next?" Fred whispered as if he was scared if he spoke any louder, Harry would turn on him.
Harry clutched the wall to hold him up as he laughed even harder, tears was running from his eyes while everyone else just watched the scene with fear in their eyes.
"What on earth is going on here?" a female voice demanded, causing everyone to jump. Hermione came into view and arched an eyebrow when she saw Harry clutching the wall, laughing and the twins holding on to each other before she rubbed her forehead. "Do I want to know?" she asked.
"Just asking what muggle born Harry is going to attack next," Fred told her. Hermione's lip thinned as she tried to stop herself from smiling.
"And I suppose you are the reasons why Harry is late meeting me in the library?" Hermione asked, sternly only for a voice to spoke up.
"He was late because he was too busy attacking Justin!" enrage male voice cut through. Harry's laughers stop, abruptly as he looked toward the voice and Hermione looked at the voice too with an arched eyebrow.
"And pray tell, how did he manage to attack Justin? Breathe on him?" Hermione asked, sarcastically. The twins looked at each other before looking back at her then looked at Harry.
"Mate, we think she's been hanging around Mia too much," Fred told Harry.
"Yeah, either that or Mia has morphed herself into Hermione," George agreed, causing Harry to laugh once more and Hermione to roll her eyes.
"Honestly," she muttered under her breath as she planted her hands on her hips before she pinned a glare on Ernie.
"He chased a snake toward Justin and everyone who annoys him ends up being attacked," Ernie informed her and Hermione nodded.
"Why aren't you petrified then?" Hermione asked, causing Justin to mouth at her, soundless. "You annoy Harry like mad yet you're walking around."
"You gotta admit…" Fred started.
"She is right…" George jumped in.
"But then again…"
"She's always right!" they both finished off together and Harry smirked in their direction before he looked at Hermione, who was standing her ground.
"He blames me because I was the one there when Peeves caught me," Harry explained to her. "Nick was also attacked." Hermione's eyes widen.
"A Ghost has been petrified?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded before she frowned. "Now that's interesting considering not many things can hurt a ghost." Harry agreed before she moved over to him and linked her arm though his. "We're heading to the library," she informed him before she dragged him off with everyone standing there, shocked at what had been revealed when Fred pouted and turned to George.
"He never did answer our question," Fred told George and he nodded before his eyes lit up.
"Maybe Hermione already told us the answer!" George stated and they both turned to face Ernie with evil grins.
"Better watch out…" Fred warned him.
"Looks like you're next, mate," George told him and they both left, crackling with laugher, leaving everyone alone with their thoughts and Ernie muttering.
"But I'm pureblood," Ernie whimpered over and over again and everyone made on their way, leaving Ernie behind, alone.
Harry and Hermione made their way into the library, giggling like mad as they did.
"SHH!" Madam Pince hissed out and they both stifled their giggles as they nodded and hurried their way into the back of the library. When they were out of earshot of Madam Pince they broke into laughter again.
"Did you see Ernie's face?" Harry gasped out and Hermione nodded as tears came to her eyes.
"What about the twins?" Hermione asked and Harry snorted, causing Hermione to go into fresh fits of giggles.
Soon, they both managed to calm themselves down before they looked at each other with serious gazes.
"Though, a ghost being petrified like that is not normal Harry. There's not a lot of things can do that to a ghost," Hermione told him and Harry nodded.
"I thought that buts the ones that can are not exactly easy to find. You can't just sneak them into a school," Harry told her and she nodded in agreement.
"Looks like extra research," Hermione told him and he looked at her.
"Do you want my help?" he asked. "I don't like the thought of you being alone in the library when this person is attacking muggleborns," he told her and she smiled.
"You can help me out if you want," Hermione told him and he smiled back at her, relieved that she wasn't going to be alone. They started to browse the books for any information that could help them to figure out what was going on around the school.
Soon, Christmas took over everyone's brain. Hermione was practically bouncing off the walls at the thoughts of presents. This was due to Harry bribing her with whatever books she wanted for Christmas in return for her lying to Lockhart to sign the note to have access to the restricted section. She couldn't wait to lay her hands on the books.
Mia walked out of the bathroom and into the girls' room only to smile when she saw Hermione.
"Just how much sugar did you take this morning?" Mia teased and Hermione laughed. As she much as she missed being at home with her parents, she loved spending Christmas with Harry, Mia and Ron - although she wish she could spend at least one Christmas with Draco because he was like a brother to her.
"Just wanting my pay-off," Hermione informed Mia and she laughed before she linked her arm through Hermione's arm and they both made their way down into the common room, still clad in their PJs.
They stepped into the common room only to stop short when they saw the Christmas tree and Hermione smiled brightly when she caught sight of it. She had pleaded and begged Professor McGonagall to allow them to decorate the tree this year and she had relented, unable to deny her favourite student anything. Amazingly, the Gryffindors had a blast decorating the tree the muggle way.
Harry and Ron slowly made their way down the stairs and smiled when they saw the girls.
"Merry Christmas!" Ron greeted. Hermione hugged him first before she pulled away.
"Merry Christmas!" Hermione greeted as she hugged Mia before she pulled away and hugged Harry.
"Merry Christmas to you too," Mia told her before all four of them sat around the Christmas tree and pulled out presents to give to others. "Okay, this is to Ron, from Harry," Mia called out as she handed the present over to Ron. Everyone started handing out all the presents to each other till everyone got their presents from each other.
Hermione tore into her presents that Harry had given her and smiled brightly when she saw her books.
"Happy?" Harry teased and Hermione stuck her tongue out at him before she opened her present from Mia only laugh when she saw it was a picture of all three of them over the summer with Rex, the dog. Draco was also in the picture but he was charmed to be missing from anyone who might see the picture other than the three of them. She opened her present from Ron and smiled when she saw that Ron had gotten her a book on Quidditch.
"That's so you have a better idea of how to keep Harry safe during the games," Ron told her and Hermione laughed.
Ron opened his presents and saw that Harry had gotten him a Quidditch Cannons Jersey to put up on the wall. Hermione had gotten him a book on the history of Cannons while Mia had gotten him a huge mixture box of sweets that would last him till the next summer.
Mia opened her presents and found that Harry had given her a small amulet with a blood red ruby on the handle. Hermione had gotten her a small amulet necklace with the symbol air on it. Ron had gotten her a book on weapons and their history that he had found.
Harry opened his presents and found that Hermione had given him a book on all fire creatures that there were in the world. Mia had gotten him some new Quidditch gloves and a wristband with the symbol of fire on it. Ron had gotten him a book called 'Flying with Quidditch'; it was the history of Quidditch.
"Wow, thanks!" Everyone stated at the same time only to burst out laughing before Hermione shook her head.
"Oh, by the way, the Polyjuice potion should be done at least tomorrow," Hermione, told them and Ron whooped.
"Now we can figure out who is the Slytherin heir and get a move on stopping them," Ron cheered. They all smiled back, hoping that Ron was right yet at the same time, they couldn't help but be doubtful.
Soon the day was nearly over. Hermione found herself sitting in front of the fire on the big couch, reading one of the books that Harry had gotten her when she felt a soft thump to her side. She looked up and smiled when she saw Harry sitting there.
"Hey, enjoying the book?" Harry asked and Hermione nodded.
"Yeah, thanks for getting me them," Hermione told him and Harry nodded before he pulled out a small wrapped gift from behind his back.
"Merry Christmas," Harry whispered as he handed Hermione the gift. Hermione smiled up at him before she took it and opened it only for her eyes to widen slightly when she saw the silver bracelet. It was a plain sliver bracelet with different decorations on them. Hermione couldn't help but smile when she saw a little charm of a book. A small potion vial. A small fang. "This is something to grow on. This way you can add on more charms if you want," Harry explained and Hermione nodded in understanding.
"This has been a good Christmas, hasn't it?" Hermione asked and Harry smiled.
"Yeah, once everybody forgot that I'm the 'heir' of Slytherin," Harry told her. Hermione laughed as she rested her head on his shoulder and they both just stared into the fire - just enjoying their Christmas together.
TBC
Okay, just another quick question - I'm having problems with Harry's animagus - I need all the animals that are related to fire that you can think of. If you can think of any, could you please just post them in the reviews? Thank you!