Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall - Chapter 28 - Fun and Danger
It was to loud catcalls and whistling that the young couple ended their kiss, and they both immediately hid their red faces.
"Ignore them," muttered Hermione as she took Harry's hand. However, he noticed that she was looking at the floor and not facing the crowd.
Silently they walked to the Ravenclaw table under the stares of their peers. They received words of encouragement from most of their friends, although a few of the girls seemed slightly disappointed that they'd gotten together. They sat across from Padma and Luna. The latter commented, "I'm glad the grufpents are finally gone, Harry."
He smiled at his blonde friend. "Me, too, Luna."
Hermione looked at her boyfriend and mouthed, "Grufpents?"
"They were stopping Harry from realizing how he felt about you," said Luna, as though Hermione had asked her for an explanation.
With a small smile, Hermione replied, "I'm glad they're gone, then."
--HM--
"Have you noticed that Professor Lupin always misses classes near the beginning of the month," said Harry as he left D.A.D.A. class with Hermione and Padma.
"Yes," said Hermione. "In fact, it's always right around the…" Hermione paled and so did Harry.
"What?" asked Padma.
"Never mind," said Harry intently. "Professor Lupin just has an illness."
"I hope it's not contagious," said Padma.
"Only through blood contact," said Harry.
"It is controllable," added Hermione, sounding unsure.
"Of course it is," said Harry, looking into Hermione's eyes. "Aunt Minnie wouldn't have hired him if she believed there was any danger."
"Then that's settled," said Harry's girlfriend. "We need to get to Arithmancy while Padma needs to get to Muggle Studies."
"See you later, guys," said Padma as she parted. "I'm sure Professor LaVelle's making him Wolfsbane," she whispered as she increased her speed.
Harry frowned. "I guess we forgot that Padma's a Ravenclaw, too."
"We'll have to apologize for acting like we didn't think she'd catch on," added Hermione.
"I suppose," said Harry, "but I don't think she's upset…more amused."
"I think you're right," she replied and kissed him quickly. "Come on. We don't want Professor Vector to count us late."
--HM--
That Saturday, Harry found himself dressed in his Quidditch uniform, mounted on his Lightning Bolt. He had been right and Padma wasn't upset with them when they apologized. She simply commented with a smirk that they seemed to be in their own little world lately.
That week only Ravenclaw and Slytherin were allowed to practice so they'd be ready for this game.
"Welcome, everyone, to the third Quidditch game of the year - Ravenclaw versus Slytherin!" announced Lee Jordan. The stands erupted in cheers.
Lee announced the teams before Marcus Flint tried to break Roger Davies' hand during the ridiculous pre-game handshake. Madam Hooch released the balls and the game began.
Harry ascended above the pitch and began to look around for the Snitch, while Terrence Higgs, his Slytherin counterpart, did the same. Harry was glad he'd performed a warming charm on himself before the game as he noticed the Slytherin Seeker shivering. Knowing that a pair of glasses would've been fogging up on him, he appreciated his contact lenses as he looked everywhere for the evasive flying ball that was worth 150 points.
He didn't see the Snitch, but he did see his girlfriend flying along with the other Chasers. At the moment, Roger had the Quaffle.
"Davies flies toward the Slytherin hoops, and it looks like the Keeper is ready. He shoots. No, he passed it to Granger, who's approaching the left hoop. She shoots…and scores!" Three-fourths of the stands cheered along with Harry. Suddenly, Harry stopped cheering as he saw what Lee reported. "A Bludger has just hit Granger's shoulder! The dirty cheat! She didn't have the Quaffle! She's losing her balance."
Harry didn't notice that his aunt hadn't chastised Jordan for calling the Slytherin Beater a cheater. He was busy showing everyone why his broom was called a Lightning Bolt as he zoomed to Hermione.
"Harry McGonagall grabs Granger before she falls. Did you see them kiss when she got back last Sunday?"
"Jordan!"
"Sorry, Headmistress."
Harry asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Thanks, Harry. That just caught me by surprise."
"Are you…"
"I'm sure. Go find the Snitch."
The game resumed, with Ravenclaw clobbering Slytherin, who gave out more penalty shots than normal goals, until an hour later, when the score was 150 to 50, Harry spotted the golden Snitch hovering over the Ravenclaw hoops. He immediately shot off like a jet. Higgs, who'd already fallen for one Wronski Feint this game, hesitated while Jordan announced, "It looks like Harry McGonagall has seen the Snitch! He's headed toward the Ravenclaw hoops. Marcus Flint is also headed there. No, he's stopped and…taken a bat from one of the Slytherin Beaters. He's hit a Bludger straight toward Harry, who just caught the Snitch. He's hit!"
Harry cursed as the Bludger hit his left bicep. He heard a distinct crack. He concentrated on keeping his right hand gripping the Snitch as he lowered himself toward the ground.
"Something's wrong," said Lee with concern in his voice. "McGonagall usually holds the Snitch up in celebration, but instead he's landing. Madam Pomfrey, he may have been hurt by that Bludger." Professor McGonagall got up and hurried down while Lee announced, "Ravenclaw wins - 300 to 50." The applause would've been greater if as many people hadn't been watching Harry intently.
The headmistress' nephew was still on his broom with his left hand hanging limply at his side when Madam Pomfrey ran up with her wand out. Harry simply said, "My arm. It's…"
"Broken," she completed. "Oh well." She then tapped her wand to the injury and Harry heard another CRACK sound. After a moment, the pain went away and he could move his arm.
"Thanks," he said with a smile.
"That's what I'm here for," she replied softly. "No heavy lifting for the next couple days, and do try to avoid Bludgers in the future. I should get back to the Hospital Wing." She walked off, not waiting for a reply.
Both Hermione and Aunt Minnie arrived at the same time and asked the same question. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," he replied. "Madam Pomfrey fixed me up already." When he saw they were still staring at him, he added, "My left arm was broken…but it's all better now." He turned to his girlfriend. "How's your arm?"
"I told you, I'm OW!" Harry had reached out and touched her shoulder. He immediately pulled his hand back.
Switching to `Headmistress mode,' Professor McGonagall said, "You'd better see Madam Pomfrey about that shoulder, Miss Granger."
"I'll walk you to the Hospital Wing," said Harry.
Sighing, Hermione nodded her head. "I suppose so."
--HM--
Hermione's shoulder had some bad bruising, which Madam Pomfrey was able to rub something on to help tremendously. There was obviously a party in Ravenclaw Tower to celebrate. Someone had made a poster that showed a Raven swoop down from the sky and catch a snake in its beak. Harry loved that poster.
The next morning at breakfast, Harry and Hermione brought a few extra items with them to breakfast for their prank on Brianna for all the harassment she'd given them. The Weasley twins, whom the young couple recruited, thinking they could use extra help with what they had in mind, brought a few things as well.
Harry poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice and then discretely emptied a small vial into it and stirred while Hermione was watching Brianna. Once the potion had dissolved, Harry got his spare wand out of its holster and waited for his girlfriend to whisper, "Now." Harry performed a switching spell between his glass and his sister's and put away his wand.
While Brianna was drinking her morning pumpkin juice, Fred Weasley, who (with his twin) had sat a lot closer to the younger Gryffindors than usual, managed to switch the salt-shaker that the youngest McGonagall was about to use on her eggs while George provided a distraction by levitating a plate of sausage away from in front of Brianna to him and taking a few.
It only took a few minutes for all the potions inside Brianna to mix, and everybody could see when they had. Brianna had a puzzled expression on her face until she tried to open her mouth but couldn't. She put her hands where her mouth belonged, and her eyes revealed a look of sheer panic. When her hands came down, everyone could see that her mouth was gone, but in its place was what appeared to be a magical tattoo of over-sized bright red lips that were smiling. A few people around her started to notice and chuckled as her face turned red from anger.
Suddenly, she began to float upward as music seemed to fill the Great Hall. Very few people recognized the American song from 1960 as her lips began singing it loudly, but everybody laughed at the words. The song was, `You Talk Too Much,' by Joe Jones, but her lips were singing, "I talk too much, I worry me to death…I talk about people I don't know, I talk about people wherever I go…I just taaaaaaalllllllk, I talk too much," until the song was completed and she floated down to her seat. By now, her face was red with humiliation and rage.
Headmistress McGonagall had just made her way to Brianna as she landed and asked, "Are you alright?" When the girl glared at her aunt as she pointed at her nonexistent mouth, Aunt Minnie said, "I'm sorry," and pointed her wand at Brianna's mouth, undoing the hex as the Great Hall room filled with laughter.
The girl managed to mutter, "Thanks," before she picked up a slice of toast, got up and walked out.
--HM--
It was three hours later, when a C.A.R.E. meeting ended, that Brianna stayed behind with Harry and Hermione. She'd been glaring at them throughout the entire meeting.
"Is there something I can do for you, sis?" Harry asked with an innocent expression.
She glared at her brother. "I know it was you," she declared.
"What was me?" he asked nonchalantly.
"What happened at breakfast, you moron!" she yelled. Hermione was watching the confrontation quietly.
With a straight face, Harry replied to his sister, "I must say that I am most gratified, yet disturbed, by your lofty opinion of my abilities. You believe I am capable of performing that excellent transfiguration work on your lips, which by the way was a vast improvement, as well as make those wonderful animated lips, while filling the hall with music and making you sing for everyone's entertainment." He shook his head. "My, my, you do have a lot of faith in me."
"You had help," Brianna hissed through clenched teeth as she shot a glare at his girlfriend.
With a smug grin, Harry replied, "If we did do that, and I did say if, it would've been because you've been harassing us regarding our relationship. If we did that to you, that means you should stop provoking us, because you're severely outclassed if we managed that most excellent prank on you."
Hermione added, "Of course, if it's someone else who's got it in for you, then you're wasting your time threatening us, wouldn't you say?"
"This isn't over," Brianna declared before marching out of headquarters and slamming the door.
--HM--
The rest of the month went quickly, and at the next full moon, Professor Lupin, once again, was ill, confirming the trio's theory. All three agreed not to bring it up to anyone, and Harry continued meeting with him to learn more about his birth parents whenever he got the chance. Neville mentioned that Ron Weasley had been loudly complaining that his rat was missing. Brianna, in the meantime, had acted completely friendly to her brother and his girlfriend, which let them know she was planning her revenge carefully.
--HM--
The day before the next Quidditch match, Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor, was a Friday, and Brianna had the entire afternoon off. She thought this was the perfect opportunity for a quick flight in the Dark Forest with her contraband broom. She snuck it out of the castle and got into the woods, like many times before, with no problems. Her friend Lily knew about the Silver Bullet and sometimes went flying with Brianna, but this time Harry's little sister was alone.
She was zooming in and out among the trees as fast as she could handle while she pretended each tree was a Bludger. She'd filled her pockets with rocks, and would occasionally throw one at trees to work on her aim. She actually was a very good shot, hitting her target more often than not. She was about to throw another when she suddenly got a lot colder.
As Harry collapsed, tears started falling from Brianna's horrified face. She dropped the wand and ran toward her brother. "Harry! I SORRY!" she shouted as she took him in her arms in time to see her parents, who did not look happy at all. She started trembling, afraid she'd hurt Harry badly or even killed him.
Brianna blinked back that memory, and suddenly she was watching Ginny fall from her broom as Dementors attacked a Quidditch game. She blinked again and finally caught sight of a black-robed monster the Ministry claimed to control. It was floating toward her.
Without a second thought, the girl screamed and turned around in her broom, avoiding the trees as she left the woods and continued toward the castle entrance flying as quickly as the Silver Bullet could go.
"STOP!" shouted a man in a voice that allowed no argument. Brianna complied, realizing that she was far enough away from the forest and the Dementor probably was not behind her anymore. She wanted to kick herself when she realized that she was very obviously riding a broom.
"Um, hi, Mr. Cleanaway," she nervously replied to the tall man with long, blonde hair in a ponytail and a moustache as she dismounted.
"Hello, Miss McGonagall," he responded. She was quite disappointed that he knew who she was. She had been hoping to convince him she was a second-year. "That's a nice broom you've got there." Brianna hung her head down. "I don't recognize the model. Is that one of those American ones like your brother's Lightning Bolt?"
Seeing no other option available, Brianna told the truth. "Yes, sir. It's a Silver Bullet."
"Why don't we take a walk to your aunt's office, Miss McGonagall?"
--HM--
"Brianna, I am SHOCKED!" yelled the obviously upset Headmistress. She was pacing back and forth as she continued, "I expected…"
"I'm sorry, Aunt Minnie!" she interrupted, blinking back tears that were threatening. She'd never seen her aunt that furious before.
"Of all the stupid, irresponsible…With those Ministry monsters floating all over the grounds, I'd think you'd realize…"
"I know. That's how I got caught. I was flying away from one."
Minerva's face paled. "One attacked you?"
"It was coming toward me. I was already reliving bad memories when I turned around and flew as fast as I could."
Minerva walked to her desk and opened a drawer. She pulled something small out of it and handed it to her niece. "Eat this."
Brianna looked down to see a chocolate bar. As she unwrapped it, her aunt continued.
"You could've been Kissed and it would've been days before anyone even found you! Not to mention Sirius Black being somewhere out there, as well!" She then looked at her niece, who managed to put up her Occlumency shield while taking a bite of her candy bar. "How did you manage to get the broom into Hogwarts?"
Deciding not to turn Harry in for smuggling it in for her, she replied, "I snuck it in."
"I searched your trunk."
"Not well enough," said Brianna defiantly.
Minerva took a deep breath. "I will be confiscating your broom for the remainder of the school year. You will serve four detentions with Professor Sinistra and I am removing fifty points from Gryffindor."
"Fifty points?" Brianna replied. "The rest of Gryffindor will kill me."
Minerva sighed. "I hope you realize the seriousness of what almost happened, Brianna. You could've been killed."
A solitary tear ran down the eleven-year-old girl's cheek. "I'm sorry, Aunt Minnie." The stern professor walked up to her niece and embraced her.
--HM--
"Welcome everybody to the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw Quidditch match!" exclaimed Lee Jordan, eliciting cheers from the crowd. Harry looked over at his opponent, Ginny Weasley, and waved. They had a five Knut bet on who would catch the Snitch. The redhead waved back and then flew into position.
Harry smiled at his favorite Chaser and took her hand. "Be careful out there, Hermione."
"You, too," she replied before letting go of his hand. They both flew into position.
The balls were released, and Harry saw his girlfriend grab the Quaffle. He was happy this wasn't a hate-match like the ones against Slytherin, so there shouldn't be any deliberate injuries. That didn't mean Fred and George Weasley wouldn't hit Bludgers at him and Hermione, but they would only do it when it was appropriate and not after the goal was scored or the Snitch caught.
"Angelina Johnson looking lovely as she steals the Quaffle from Granger."
"Mr. Jordan!"
"Sorry, Professor. Granger turns around chasing Johnson. Angelina is hit by a Bludger - hope she's alright - and Granger rudely steals it from her while she's recovering. Sorry, professor."
Harry continued his search for the Snitch after glancing at his girlfriend heading toward the goals.
"Granger approaches the hoops and…Has Ginny Weasley seen the Snitch?"
Harry turned toward his opponent and saw her pushing her Nimbus to the limits and immediately shot after her toward the ground. When they were about ten feet away from crashing, Harry realized it was a feint, but decided to go along with it anyway. It was fun.
"Weasley pulls up! It must have been a feint. McGonagall pulls up, too…I think he was closer to the ground than her!"
The two Seekers zoomed straight up, one after the other as Lee announced, "Granger gets the Quaffle past Oliver. Maybe he should wake up now."
"Jordan!"
"Sorry, Professor. The score is now 10 to 0 in favor of Ravenclaw."
The game went on for about an hour and a half, and it seemed that Oliver Wood took Lee Jordan's advice and woke up. He began blocking almost every shot, including several from Hermione, while the Gryffindor Chasers started playing with a fury. Harry winced as they scored goal after goal, hoping desperately that the Golden Snitch would appear so he could end this slaughter. The score was 200 to 50 when he spotted it on the other side of the pitch, closer to Ginny than himself. He knew what he had to do.
"McGonagall is shooting straight toward the Gryffindor goals. Has he seen the Snitch or is it another feint? It looks like Ginny Weasley is following him…Angelina Johnson steals the Quaffle from Corner and heads toward the Ravenclaw hoops. McGonagall turns his broom and is flying the other way…past Ginny, toward the Ravenclaw hoops where Johnson tosses the Quaffle…She scores, making it 210 to 50…McGonagall grabs the Snitch, ending the game. Too late, sucker!"
"JORDAN!"
"Sorry, Professor. An excellent catch by the Headmistress' nephew. Ravenclaw caught the Snitch, but Gryffindor won - 210 to 200!"
--HM--
The next day, when Harry, Hermione and Padma arrived in the Great Hall, they immediately noticed something was wrong. Neville was sitting at one corner of the Gryffindor table by himself looking miserable with his head in his hands. Almost his whole table was glaring at him. "I'm gonna see what's wrong with Neville," announced Harry. The girls followed.
"Hi, Neville. You seem a little down. What's wrong?" asked Harry.
The distraught boy looked up at the trio. "Er, well I…"
At that moment, the Headmistress stood up from the Head Table. "Attention, everybody. I have an announcement." She took a breath. "Last night, Sirius Black somehow broke into the castle." There were gasps all around the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables, but no one at Neville's table seemed shocked. Harry could tell his aunt was furious as she continued. "He also managed to get into Gryffindor Tower because someone…" She, along with all of Gryffindor, glared at Longbottom, "…had written a list of passwords for that dormitory and managed to lose it. Black nearly killed a student as he slept. Fortunately, Mr. Ronald Weasley awoke in time and sounded the alarm" She took a calming breath as Harry noticed the youngest Weasley male grinning brightly at the mention of his name. "Because of this, we will be taking extra security precautions, including hiring security trolls. Please cooperate with us in this matter." She sat down.
"I didn't mean to do it, but Sir Cadogan, the portrait that replaced the Fat Lady after she was attacked, kept changing the passwords and I couldn't remember them. So, I had him tell me the whole week's worth and wrote them down."
"But how did Sirius Black get them?" asked Hermione, who appeared in deep thought.
Neville swallowed and nervously replied, "I don't know. I tripped a few days ago while I was walking to C.A.R.E. headquarters and it fell out of my pocket and blew toward the forest. I never dreamed it would blow straight to Sirius Black."
He then told the story of how Black had slashed Ron Weasley's bed curtains with a knife, waking him up. Ron then screamed and Sirius ran for it.
"Why would he run?" asked Padma. "It seems to me that if Sirius Black had no problems killing people before he wouldn't start having problems with it now?"
Harry thought about how Sirius hadn't killed Petunia Dursleys either when he'd shown up at the Boy-Who-Lived's blood relatives' house. Brianna had asked the same question when they'd heard the news from Dumbledore. That reminded him that his sister had been in the same tower as that murderer. "I'm gonna see how my sister is doing," he commented and walked off.
Harry walked over to Brianna, who seemed visibly shaken and said, "Don't worry, sis. I'm sure he was just after Harry Potter, and now he's finally realized that bloke never came to Hogwarts," as he put an arm around her.
"I know. He also couldn't walk up the girls' staircase, anyway. I just…just don't like the idea of that madman in Gryffindor Tower."
He looked in her eyes. "Neither do I, Brianna. Neither do I."
She smiled at him for a moment before saying, "Thanks."
"Anytime, sis."
"But this doesn't mean I won't get revenge for that prank."
--HM--
The next day, Neville received a terrible howler from his grandmother, talking about how he'd disgraced the whole family with that one single act.
"Times like these make me glad I'm muggle-born," commented Hermione.
"I know what you mean," said Harry. "I'd hate to have one of those screaming in my face. That can hurt your ears."
"Not only that," Padma added, "but that's humiliating."
"In the muggle world, it's not considered proper for families to yell at one another like that in public," said Hermione. "Family problems and discipline aren't considered anybody else's business."
"You're right," said Harry. "When I'd get in trouble outside of home, like at school, my mom would tell me that I'm gonna get it when we get home. She'd never yell at me like that in front of my friends."
"My point, exactly," Hermione said with a grin.
"I never thought of that," said Padma, "but I believe you are right. Howlers are terrible." Padma's expression changed to glee as she looked over at her two best friends. "So, do you have anything special planned for the next Hogsmeade weekend? It's two days before Valentine's Day."
--HM--
Please review. Thank you to those who have.
P.S. If you're looking for other Harry/Hermione stories, check out my C2 in my fanfiction.net profile.
Here's a link to the song "You Talk to Much" by Joe Jones. http:// www. youtube. com/ watch? v= E_FvVkcwqIs
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