Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall - Chapter 29 - Meeting Padfoot
"Good morning, Hermione," said Harry as he met his girlfriend in the Ravenclaw Common Room. He was bouncing from foot to foot in a nervous almost-dance. It was the day of the Hogsmeade visit - two days before Valentine's Day. Although they'd gone to Hogsmeade together before, they never celebrated a Valentine's Day as a couple. Harry McGonagall hoped his plans would turn out alright. As usual, he was wearing his bottomless backpack so that he could carry anything they purchased easily.
"Morning, Harry," she replied before giving him a quick kiss.
"Hi, guys," said Padma from behind them.
"Morning, Padma," the couple replied together.
"I guess we should get down to breakfast," their friend said. "I'm starving."
--HM--
They quickly made their way to the Great Hall and were immediately accosted by Harry's little sister.
Sighing, Harry asked, "I guess you've got another shopping list for me, Brianna?"
With a grin, she nodded and produced a piece of parchment out of her pocket with a flourish. "Yep."
"Are you gonna pull your money bag out of your other pocket?" he asked as he took the list from her.
"Darn," she said in mock disappointment. "I keep hoping you'll forget." She then gave Harry a moneybag and the Ravenclaws proceeded to their table. They didn't notice the triumphant smirk on the first-year Gryffindor as Harry stuffed Brianna's list and money into his backpack.
Harry filled up his plate as his sister watched from the Gryffindor table and took the pitcher of pumpkin juice, with the intention of pouring himself a glass. He did not see Brianna flick her wand in his direction while whispering, "Activate," but immediately noticed that his backpack shot up nearly ten feet in the air, carrying him with it and causing him to drop the full pitcher back onto the table, resulting in a huge splash that drenched Hermione and Padma in the orange liquid. He saw that mainly because his backpack pulled him into a position where he was facing his girlfriend.
Harry didn't have time to observe their reactions because loud music began coming from his backpack. After a few seconds, he recognized it as an old Elvis Presley song that his sister was quite fond of - "Baby Let's Play House." The backpack was swaying around, forcing his hips to sway in a manner reminiscent of the `King of Rock and Roll' as the words and music echoed in the Great Hall.
By now, he'd realized that Brianna's bag of money was causing the movement with something similar to the levitation charm, and that her list was acting as a Howler that she'd obviously recorded using the boom box at C.A.R.E. headquarters, and he was fairly certain that he could stop it. However, there was a small problem. When he opened his mouth to activate his wand holster by saying, "New Sparks," he found that he'd been silenced, so he couldn't call his weapon to his hand. He kept uselessly mouthing the words over and over as his face got redder and redder. That shade of red only increased when he noticed everyone watching him as his body was jerked around by his backpack as the song continued. Hermione appeared like she didn't want to watch but couldn't look away during his performance. He did notice that she'd already scourgified herself so she wasn't dripping with pumpkin juice.
When the song was finally over, he gently floated back to his seat and found out he was not longer silenced when his girlfriend admonished, "Harry, language!" at the colorful metaphors he'd used to describe his sister while the rest of the school was laughing or applauding. He looked around to see Brianna laughing along with everyone else and summoned his wand out of its holster and started to point it at her when Hermione grabbed his hand. "You can't just hex her here!" she hissed. "You'll get in trouble."
"Fine," whispered Harry. "We'll get her later."
"Are you alright, Harry?" came Aunt Minnie's voice from behind him.
"Yeah," he said, turning to the headmistress. "I'm fine."
"Do you know what happened?" she asked.
"Brianna pranked me," he said venomously.
"I must admit I am flattered, yet disturbed, by your faith in my abilities," said Brianna, who had now approached. Harry turned to see her familiar innocent face.
Turning back to his aunt, Harry said, "She gave me her shopping list and a bag of coins and I put them in my bag. They must've been charmed to put on that…performance. You can check them!" He took off his backpack and opened it, rummaging through it for a minute before he declared, "They're not here!"
"Of course not," said Brianna with a smirk. "I've got my list and money right here. That's why I came to your table - not to be accused."
Glaring at her, Harry said, "Well, I'm NOT going to pick up whatever you want today, so you can burn that list, you…"
"Harry!" interrupted Minerva. "I'm getting tired of this. When Brianna was pranked, she accused you. Now you're accusing her." She looked at both of them with her lips the thinnest they'd ever been. "If it really is the two of you, then I'd say you're even, and it's time for this little war of yours to stop." She took a breath. "Without evidence, nothing short of Veritaserum will prove your innocence or guilt, and I'm not willing to use that over a prank, even if both disrupted a school meal, so there will be no school punishments for this silly game of yours." Harry and Brianna both looked relieved until the headmistress said, "However, I am going to express my suspicions to your parents, so they can deal with this." The kids paled.
Glancing at Hermione, Harry asked with a timid voice, "Could you wait until tomorrow, please? I'd, er, rather not have mum call me during the Hogsmeade visit, and I think I've already suffered enough today."
Minerva got a picture in her mind of Cindy yelling at Harry through the mirror he carried with him while he was taking a swig of butterbeer and causing it to spill all over the table, making a complete mess. She smiled slightly and said, "Very well. I shall wait until tomorrow morning to contact your parents, but that's the longest I'll wait. I am tired of your bickering and it is going to stop." She faced Harry. "And you will buy whatever Brianna gives you money to buy." With that done, she turned around and walked to the Head Table. Brianna silently handed Harry her real list and coins and walked back to the Gryffindor table.
"Well," said Padma, trying to change the atmosphere. "That was an interesting song. American?"
"What?" asked Harry, "Oh, yeah. An oldie that both my dad and sister like."
Hermione piped in, "That one line was horrible. `I'd rather see you dead than to be with another man.' What kind of selfish person could say that about someone he supposedly loves? Wouldn't he want her happy above all, even if that costs him his own happiness?"
Harry chuckled at that. "I agree with you, there. That line makes him sound like a stalker."
Padma added, "I am surprised you were listening to the words at all with the show Harry was putting on." Harry's ears turned pink, not for the first time today, so she pressed on, looking at him. "Harry, I never knew you could move like that. Hermione, you're a lucky girl."
When Harry's face went completely crimson, Padma and Hermione both burst out laughing. "Shut up!" he said, although it was obvious that he was fighting his own laughter. "Fine, go ahead and laugh!"
"We are," managed Hermione through her tears of myrth. "Padma's right, you did look sexy." Harry wasn't sure if she was joking or not.
"Um-hm," said the Ravenclaw Patil sexily. "Hermione, you'll have to fight all the other Hogwarts girls off with you wand today. They'll all want a piece of him."
"Ha-ha," said Harry. "Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to try and eat some breakfast."
"You do that, Harry," said Hermione sweetly. "You worked off a lot of energy."
Harry acted like he didn't hear her as he violently speared a sausage. In fact, he didn't say a word until he was done eating some fifteen minutes later.
"Hermione," he said, turning toward her.
"Are you done sulking?" she asked.
Figuring that it was pointless to deny that accusation, he replied, "Yes." She grinned at his admission. "Was there any place special you wanted to visit today?"
"Yes. I need to pick up more quills and ink at Scrivenshaft's," she replied. "I suppose we should look at Brianna's list, as well."
Harry turned to Padma while handing his girlfriend the list. "You're going with Parv and Lav again?"
She grinned at her friend's concern. "Yeah. It's actually fun looking at robes and such with them."
"Good," said Harry before returning his attention to his girlfriend, who was in the midst of writing out a schedule of shops they'd visit. He grinned before commenting, "Leave lunch open."
Hermione looked up from her role of parchment. "Are we going to have another picnic?"
He grinned at her. "Maybe, maybe not."
"Fair enough, I suppose," she replied. "Was there any place you need to visit before I complete this list?"
--HM--
It was less than half an hour later that Harry and Hermione separated from Padma to take a private carriage to Hogsmeade village.
"This is nice," Harry commented as he gazed into his girlfriend's eyes.
"What is?" she asked.
Blushing slightly, he answered, "Being alone in a carriage with you," as he gently took her hand.
"Oh," she replied, also blushing. "Yes, it is."
"I hope your list has us taking care of the essential stops first."
"Yes. I figured that way we wouldn't have to worry about running errands all day."
"Exactly."
Soon, the carriage stopped and they dismounted. They were both glad the Dementors had been persuaded to stay a distance from the carriages so they wouldn't affect the students. Harry, trying to be a perfect gentlemen, went to help her off when he felt something hit the back of his ankle, making him lose his balance. He fell backwards, taking Hermione with him and landing in a very compromising position.
"I heard Mudbloods behaved like animals, but I'd have thought you would at least wait until you were alone," sneered a familiar voice.
"Old sparks now," Harry muttered, catching his original wand in his left hand. He then faced his school nemesis, who was, as usual, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. "Malfoy!" he shouted while gently untangling himself from Hermione, "I know you hexed my ankle!"
Ignoring that statement, Draco continued, "Then again, watching the way you were…dancing…at breakfast, I should've known you and your filthy Mudblood whore were…"
POW! Although Harry's wand was in his left hand, he rushed up and punched Draco's mouth with his right, knocking him five feet backwards onto the ground. Suddenly, Harry felt something very strong hit his shoulder from behind and fell under the force of a badly aimed punch from Crabbe (he was aiming for Harry's head).
"Stupefy!" shouted Hermione while Harry rolled himself around, preparing to fight. His attacker fell, so he aimed his wand at Goyle, putting him in the full body-bind. He heard Draco getting up, so he shouted, "Don't even think of it, you filthy inbred!" as he turned and aimed his wand. It was at this point he noticed that Draco's mouth was bleeding and he was missing a tooth. He walked up to the Death Eater spawn, still pointing his wand, and asked, "When will you learn to just LEAVE ME ALONE?" Draco flinched as Harry shouted out the last three words. "Or are you too stupid from your parents' inbreeding that you can't realize that you always end up hurt when you try to bug me? Or do you like showing me your pure blood?"
At that point, they heard laughter coming from around them and realized their fight had gotten attention.
"You're in trouble now, McGonagall!" he sneered, trying to sound brave, but he was obviously in a lot of pain. "When my father…"
"Accio, Malfoy's bloody tooth," Harry said, causing it to fly in the air. He caught it and tossed it at Draco. "Better catch it; otherwise you'll have to take skel-o-grow." The bumbling, bleeding bully barely caught the small tooth before it hit the ground again. He then ran off.
"Harry, you shouldn't have done that! Now, you'll be in trouble."
Harry grinned at his girlfriend. "It was worth it."
"No, it wasn't," she argued. "I don't care what he called me."
"Sorry," he said.
"No, you're not," she argued before smirking at him, "but I can think of ways for you to make it up to me."
--HM--
They first got everything on Hermione's list, to get that over with, and stuffed all the purchases into Harry's back pack, and did a bit of wandering around until it was time for lunch. He took his date's hand and led her down a side road to the place he planned to order their lunch, based off of recommendations from some older Ravenclaw girls.
"What's the place called?" Hermione asked.
"Madam Puddifoot's," he replied.
"I've never heard of it."
"It's a tea shop…but it serves sandwiches, too." He paused as a slight blush reached his cheeks. "It's supposed to be romantic." He looked around while adding, "It should be right about…there," he replied, pointing out the sign. "Ouch," he said, immediately pulling his hand down.
"It's your shoulder where you got hit, isn't it?" asked Hermione. Without waiting for an answer, she asked, "Does it hurt very much?"
He shook his head carefully, in hopes it wouldn't fall off and give him away. His shoulder had been filling with more and more pain ever since his fight. He knew he'd have to get it looked at, but not until after their date. "Not much. It just caught me by surprise is all."
"If you say so," she replied dubiously. "You should have Madam Pomfrey look at it when we get back."
"Alright," he replied, since he'd planned on that anyway. "Shall we?" he asked, changing the subject. He held out his other hand, which she took.
"Let's."
Together, they entered the tea shop to find it was a cramped, steamy little place where everything seemed to have been decorated with frills or bows. Harry sighed, wondering if he'd made the right choice, hoping that Hermione at least liked the decorations.
"Hmm," she said, unenthusiastically. "It's…cute, isn't it," she commented.
"Er…yeah," said Harry untruthfully. He glanced around again. "It looks like it's decorated for Valentine's Day," he commented when he noticed a number of golden cherubs that were hovering over each of the small, circular tables, occasionally throwing pink confetti over the occupants, whom Harry noticed seemed to all be attached at the mouth. `This might not be that bad of a place,' he thought as he imagined doing that with Hermione.
They sat down quietly at a table until Hermione asked, "Isn't that Cho?" indicating an Asian girl who was snogging an older boy he didn't recognize.
"I think so; but I don't think it would be a good idea to tap her on the shoulder and say hi."
Hermione giggled at that comment.
"What can I get you, m'dears?" asked a very stout woman with a shiny black bun, squeezing between their table and Cho's with great difficulty. Harry decided that this must be Madam Puddifoot. There was a notepad and quill floating next to her.
"Well, I'd like a coffee and a turkey sandwich," said Harry, noticing the quill moving along the pad.
"And you, miss?"
"Er, I'll take the same."
"Very good. Be back in a jiff."
It didn't take long for their orders to arrive, and Harry started to consume his rather thin sandwich. No sooner had he taken his first bite when he felt a bunch of confetti fall all over his hair, no doubt thrown by one of the cherubs that were tormenting the customers. He immediately reached up with his good arm and wiped the stuff out of his dirty-blond hair. "Um, what do you think of the place?" he asked Hermione.
"It's fine."
"My sandwich is kind of dry," he commented before picking up his cup.
"Harry, you might not want to…" she began, but it was too late. Harry started coughing as a bunch of confetti made contact with his throat. Obviously, his cup had gathered a rather large supply of the cursed stuff.
"Oh, dear!" said a voice behind him that he recognized as the proprietor. "How many times have I told them not to toss the confetti in the drinks?" She patted him on the back to help him cough, hitting very close to his injured shoulder.
"Ow," he said, and immediately felt humiliated as everyone there could see he'd been hurt by something as simple as a pat on the back.
"Are you alright?" both Hermione and Puddifoot asked at the same time.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I was hit in the shoulder earlier today, that's why I was hurt. I just choked on some confetti one of your cherubs tossed." He said the last part with a slight bit of venom.
"I'm sorry about that, sir. Your order is on the house."
After glancing at Hermione to see if she agreed with him, he replied. "I think we'd like to leave. I really don't fancy choking on confetti again." He started to get up.
"At least take your sandwiches and fresh coffees with you," she replied.
"Do you have disposable cups here?" Hermione asked while rolling up the sandwiches in napkins.
With a grin, she replied, "All of them are, dears. You see, I conjure the dishes here. They last over an hour and it saves me time washing the dishes."
"That's very clever," replied Hermione with a genuine smile. "You also don't have to worry about them breaking, or storage. Also, they're completely sanitary."
"Yes they are," Madam Puddifoot replied. "I'll be right back with fresh drinks. Feel free to take your plates."
Hermione did so before they walked toward the door. The proprietor had their new drinks almost immediately after they got there. "I do hope you'll give us another chance," she said. "I only have the cherubs here around Valentine's Day."
"We'll keep that in mind," said Harry as they walked out the door. Once it was closed, Harry said, "I'm sorry for ruining lunch in there. I just know I'd end up attacking one of those floating devils."
"That's fine." She started to giggle as they approached a nearby bench. "Has anything really gone right, today?"
"You're my date," he replied while sitting down. "That's the most important thing to me."
"That is such a cheesy line," she said with a smirk. "Don't tell me you picked it out of one of those books on how to charm witches. I honestly don't know how any girls fall for those stupid tricks. It's an insult to the girl's intelligence to even use a book like that."
"Um, no, not exactly." He swallowed. She looked at him expectantly, so he continued. "Mike Corner said girls like to hear things like that. I think he read that out of a book."
He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "I know I'm not good at saying things like that, but I really have been a lot happier since we've been dating, and that's the truth." He sighed. "I wanted this to be a perfect Valentine's Day for you since we'll be in classes on the real one, but I've messed up everything. I'm sorry."
She could see the sincerity in his eyes as they pleaded with her for forgiveness, and realized that he was terribly afraid he'd offended and angered her. She didn't want to let him suffer with that fear…today, so she slowly approached him seductively, setting her lunch on the bench as she slid closer. "I'm not at all upset with you," she said before gently putting hers hands on his shoulders and kissing him thoroughly.
After a few blissful seconds, they were interrupted by loud barking. They separated to see a large black dog. "Go away," Harry said, sounding a bit aggravated. "We're busy."
The dog seemed to smirk at Harry for a moment, before moving his head to indicate the still wrapped sandwiches on the bench. "Oh, I see. You won't leave us alone until we give you our lunches." The dog nodded.
Hermione said, "He does seem intelligent, doesn't he?" The dog barked while nodding his head. Harry chuckled while his girlfriend said, "We might as well feed him. It's not as though he could actually follow us back to Hogwarts."
"Fine," Harry said as he grabbed his partially eaten sandwich and unwrapped it. "It wasn't very good, anyway."
"Give him mine, too."
After the dog finished happily eating the first sandwich out of Harry's hand, it paused and stared at his green eyes. After a few seconds, it seemed to look more closely at Harry's face, until it started sniffing him. "What's wrong, boy?" he asked while Hermione handed him the other sandwich. Suddenly, the dog looked as close as possible to smiling as a dog could and began wagging its tail like windshield wiper. Then it started licking Harry's hand and then his face.
"Down, boy," he said while chuckling. "Or I won't be able to give you the other sandwich." The dog calmed down and took the other sandwich, gave Harry one last lick, and ran off, its tail still wagging. "That was weird," said Harry before asking, "You wanna head over to the Three Broomsticks?"
"Yeah," she agreed, so they got up, taking their untouched coffees with them.
"You know, I think I saw that dog last September when we arrived at the station," he commented as he took her hand.
--HM--
The rest of the date went smoothly and the young couple did find some alone time, although they did briefly separate to pick up gifts for the other. They had decided to exchange gifts on Valentine's Day itself, though, so they only talked and did a bit of kissing. When they arrived back at the castle, however, the Headmistress was waiting for them with a stern look in her face.
"Well?" she asked, glaring daggers at Harry. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Harry swallowed. "About what?"
"You know perfectly well what! That Malfoy brat is telling anyone that will listen how you knocked out his tooth for no reason."
"But he called…"
"I know perfectly well what he called Miss Granger," she interrupted while nodding toward Hermione. "Do you think I'm so foolish to take his word for it when there were over two dozen witnesses to the fight?"
"No, but I…"
"I have punished him for using that foul word, and a few memories I've watched can prove your accusation of him hexing you to begin with, so he'll be punished for that as well." Harry sighed with relief before she said, "However, you punched him, beginning the fight simply because he insulted Miss Granger. It wasn't retaliation for that minor tripping hex, and he was not threatening either of you at the time - just spouting bigoted ignorance. If you hadn't hit him I could've punished him much worse. You are therefore in detention for the next week and have lost Ravenclaw twenty points. And this incident will be included when I talk to your parents tomorrow." She took a deep breath. "Harry, you've got to learn to control your temper. I don't enjoy punishing you anymore than you like being punished, but I have to do my job. Do you care so much about what Malfoy says that you'll ignore the school rules to the point where you would risk your Hogsmeade privileges?"
Hermione finally spoke up as her eyes bugged out. "What?"
"Harry, the only reason you haven't been suspended from Hogsmeade is because Draco hexed you."
"Is he…" began Harry.
"No, but he would've lost his Hogsmeade privileges if you hadn't hit him. By stopping this from being one-sided, you've forced me to be somewhat lenient with Mr. Malfoy's punishment so that you're being punished about equally to avoid the appearance of favoritism."
Harry put his head down, feeling genuinely sorry that Malfoy couldn't be punished worse. "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry."
"Now, I suggest the two of you get on to dinner."
--HM--
"I am TIRED of hearing about you fighting in school!" shouted Cindy McGonagall across the Atlantic ocean via magical mirrors as Harry flinched back from his mother's rant. "And don't prank your sister again!" It was the next morning and, as promised, Aunt Minnie had informed his parents of his activities. He was glad he'd seen Madam Pomfrey and gotten his shoulder taken care of at least, otherwise, he'd still be sore.
"But…"
"I've told Brianna the same thing." She sighed. "Since your aunt already punished you for fighting with that Malfoy brat I won't punish you for that, but I've asked Minnie to confiscate both yours and Brianna's Game Boy and CD collections for a month…"
"But!"
"That's my final word, Harry. Unless you'd like me to have her confiscate your Lightning Bolt as well."
"No, that's…fine."
"Good. I hope you'll actually learn your lessons this time."
"Yes, mother."
"Now, tell me about your date with Hermione yesterday," she asked with a smirk. "And your plans for tomorrow."
"Mum!"
--HM--
The next morning was Valentine's Day, and Harry woke up nervous. This time, he arranged for `friendship' cards to be owled to just Padma and Luna (as opposed to all his female friends like last year) because he was closest to them. The rest of his efforts were spent on trying to make his girlfriend enjoy the day. He arranged for Hermione and him to have a private dinner at C.A.R.E. headquarters before his detention for the night with Professor Flitwick, who was handling his punishment for fighting Malfoy. Harry and Hermione would exchange gifts during that dinner, but that wouldn't stop him from giving her a few extra things throughout the day.
When he got to the common room, he found Hermione and Padma waiting for him. "Happy Valentine's Day," he said, "especially to you, Hermione."
"Happy Valentine's Day," repeated Hermione as she slightly blushed.
"Morning, Harry," said Padma.
"Well, I guess we should head down to breakfast," he said.
The girls agreed, so they headed down to the Great Hall. When the mail arrived, two school owls carried Harry's cards to Padma and Luna, while, like last year, Hedwig brought Hermione's. However, unlike last year, the snowy owl was carrying a gift as well - a box of sugar-free chocolates. While she was opening her card, Rowena (Hermione's owl) arrived with Harry's card, along with a small package.
"I thought we'd agreed to only give one gift to each other, and it would be at dinner," said Hermione as she opened her present.
"So did I," he replied with a smirk as he opened his package to find chocolate mints like Hermione had gotten him the year before.
"I couldn't resist," Hermione admitted with a shrug.
"Me, too."
"Besides, I knew you'd violate the agreement."
He chuckled for a moment, deciding that he didn't need to argue with his girlfriend. "Happy Valentine's Day, again."
"Thanks," she said before kissing him on the cheek.
--HM--
The rest of the day went smoothly, with Padma and Luna both thanking him for their cards. No gifts were exchanged at lunchtime, so they walked hand-in-hand toward C.A.R.E. headquarters when it was time for dinner.
After unlocking it, Harry opened the door and held it for Hermione. "After you."
She walked in to find that a candle had been added to the center of one of the tables, and that two plates of food (steak, mashed potatoes and green beans), along with drinks were already in place. The other table had a vase full of red roses and a wrapped gift. While Hermione placed her gift on that table, Harry hurried ahead of her to hold a chair out, acting the perfect gentlemen, if only for that evening. Hermione grinned as she thought about how many girls were offended by a boy doing what he's been taught is polite, like holding out a chair for his date.
After he was seated, Harry picked up his butterbeer that had been kept cold through a cooling charm and held it toward his girlfriend. "Happy Valentine's Day."
Still smiling, she picked up her glass and touched his with hers. "Happy Valentine's Day."
"I wish I had some music to play in the background," said Harry apologetically, "but, as you know, all my CDs are currently confiscated."
"That's alright, Harry," she reassured her boyfriend. "I'm sure dinner will be just fine without music."
They ate their meal, and when their plates were empty, they were replaced with dessert - strawberry shortcake cut in the shape of a heart. After that was finished, they finally exchanged gifts. Harry had given her a bottle of perfume, in addition to the roses, while Hermione had given him a bottle of cologne.
They kissed for a little while before heading back to the castle so Harry could serve his detention.
--HM--
The school year passed quickly from there, with birthday parties for both Ron Weasley and Brianna happening in March (Harry got the Gryffindor boy he barely knew a chocolate frog while buying a Game Boy game for his sister), the same month Hufflepuff was barely beaten in their Quidditch match against Slytherin. Just a few years previous, before Headmistress McGonagall told off Madam Hooch for favoring Slytherin, the snakes would've destroyed the badgers by cheating. However, Terrence Higgs, the Slytherin Seeker, managed to catch the Snitch before Cedric Diggory, winning the game. The Puff's certainly weren't having a good year.
April began with a bang when the Weasley twins celebrated their birthday by pulling a school-wide prank that made everybody's face look like their house's mascot. The Slytherin's really looked creepy with snake heads. Obviously, Ravenclaws like Harry and Hermione had raven faces complete with beaks; Hufflepuffs had badger faces; while Gryffindors had lion faces. Harry thought Brianna liked looking like a lioness. It reminded Harry of their Animagus practice. He was now able to grow black hair on his whole right arm, while his hand could become a claw. He still didn't know what kind of animal he would be. Hermione could do that and had begun with her left claw as well, although her fur was brown.
In the middle of April, Gryffindor played Hufflepuff and truly trounced them. However, Cedric did manage to grab the Snitch before Ginny to end the suffering, but Gryffindor still won, ensuring its place in the final match against Ravenclaw, which was to be played the next month. The Hufflepuffs didn't get one win that whole year. Spring Break came and went, consisting of mostly extra studying as the end-of year exams approached.
--HM--
"Welcome, everyone, to the final Quidditch match of the year - Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw!" announced Lee Jordan, to tremendous applause as the teams flew out to play for the cup. Harry smiled at Ginny as their captains shook hands. Once again, they bet a few Knuts on the game. He wondered when the redhead would realize that she'll never beat him.
After the teams were announced and the balls released, Harry flew up to his usual position to search for the Snitch while listening to Lee's commentary.
"Davies steals the Quaffle from Johnson and passes it to Bradley as Bell approached him. Fred or George Weasley - can't tell which - hits a Bludger toward Bradley as he throws the Quaffle at the hoop. He's hit in the shoulder, messing up his aim. Granger catches it - didn't know she was there - and puts it in the hoop, surprising Wood. Lucky shot!"
"Jordan!"
"Sorry, professor." Harry laughed. "Spinnet now has the Quaffle and is headed toward the Gryffindor goals. Passes it to the lovely Angelina Johnson just before Granger gets close enough to steal it. Wish Angelina would date me."
"Jordan!"
"Sorry, Headmistress. Johnson passes it to Bell, who passes it to Spinnet, who passes it to Johnson, who shoots it…and scores! She's not only beautiful, but a terrific Chaser!"
Harry continued his search of the pitch as the game went on, with the Gryffindor Chasers doing a bit better than their Ravenclaw counterparts. He was surprised when he noticed the black dog he'd fed a few months before sitting on the ground near the stands, apparently watching the game, which didn't make much sense to him, but he had more important things to worry about, like Jordan's next announcement, which distracted him from noticing the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher noticing the black dog.
"Ginny Weasley starts flying toward the ground. Has she seen the Snitch?"
Harry glanced in her direction and saw his opponent was in motion, so he shot after her. He was approaching her position when he noticed something odd. He saw the Snitch above himself while Ginny was below him and quickly approaching the ground. He grinned as he realized she hadn't seen the Snitch and was trying to pull off a Wronski Feint. He changed direction and grabbed the Golden Snitch before she knew what had happened.
"What?" announced Jordan. "Harry McGonagall looks like he's…he's holding the Snitch. Weasley must've picked the wrong moment to pull off a feint." He sighed. "The game is over. Ravenclaw wins the game - 250 to 210 - and the Quidditch House Cup."
Harry was almost sorry when he saw the disappointed look on Ginny's face - almost. However, he enjoyed winning far too much to truly regret doing so. While he was celebrating Ravenclaw's victory, Harry didn't notice the black dog walking off nor Professor Lupin following the dog.
--HM--
After the party in Ravenclaw Tower, Quidditch season ended as the very last stretch to the final exams approached. Naturally, Harry and Hermione's study group was doing better than most people, but they were nervous because they had more exams this year than the previous two.
Harry was pleasantly surprised by Professor Lupin's style of exam - an obstacle course. He was still meeting with the man weekly to learn more about his parents and felt he was getting to really know him. He'd noticed that Remus had been acting a bit odd for the past few weeks. He couldn't concentrate on that while making his way through the test, though, so he shoved those thoughts aside as he waded across a deep paddling pool containing a grindylow and crossed a series of potholes full of Red Caps. He had to squish his way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a hinkypunk and then climb into an old trunk and battle with a Boggart.
"Excellent, Harry," Lupin muttered as he climbed out of the trunk, grinning. "Full marks."
Happy with his success, Harry waited around for Hermione and Padma, both of whom approached soon enough. Hermione looked shaken up by the course, but refused to talk about what had happened, beyond mentioning that the Boggart slowed her down. Padma arrived soon after that, so they left the room and headed toward their next exams - Padma to Muggle Studies, which was actually taking place inside C.A.R.E. headquarters so they could utilize electronic muggle devices, while Harry and Hermione were headed to Arithmancy.
The young couple was nearly to Professor Vector's classroom when they saw an all-too-familiar person dressed in shawls and wearing glasses that were almost an inch thick, who smelled of cooking sherry.
"Hello, Mr. McGonagall," she said in her usual `prophetic' voice.
"Hi, Professor Trelawney," Harry replied evenly. "What brings you here?"
"I was gazing into the crystal ball - a skill you should learn to use your gift whether you take formal lessons or not - when I saw myself wandering in this corridor, and felt I should obey my fate."
Hermione looked puzzled. "Your fate wanted you to…"
"It will happen tonight!" declared Trelawney in a voice completely unlike her own. By looking into her eyes, it was easy to see she was in a genuine trance, unlike her fake ones where she declared the doom that would befall Harry if he didn't take her class.
"The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight…the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was. Tonight…before midnight…the servant…will set out…to rejoin…his master…"
Professor Trelawney's head fell forward onto her chest. She made a grunting sort of noise. "What was I saying, dear?" she asked.
"Er, that you saw yourself in this corridor, Professor," said Harry, feeling genuinely convinced he'd seen a real prophecy, and terrified of the contents.
"Oh, yes. I believe I shall linger in this area in case something interesting happens."
"Bye," said Harry before walking off quickly, hand-in-hand with his girlfriend.
"Do you think that was genuine?" Hermione whispered once they were out of earshot.
"Yes," he hissed back, "I wonder if it has something to do with Sirius Black,"
She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe you're right, but right now we can't think about that. We've got an exam."
--HM--
Harry had a difficult time forcing himself to concentrate on his Arithmancy test, but he managed and felt he had aced it. He was genuinely glad that he had studied as hard as he did because it was a difficult test. When he and Hermione were done, they decided to visit C.A.R.E. headquarters to make sure that the Muggle Studies class hadn't left the place a mess. They got there to find Padma lying on the ground in front of the entrance, with the door to headquarters closing with a loud SLAM.
"Padma, what happened?" Hermione asked as they approached their friend.
She appeared to be winded as she tried to catch her breath. "Big black dog…didn't know they ate rats…"
"What?" asked Harry, now thoroughly confused.
Padma had by now recovered enough to get up and say, "I found Ron Weasley's missing rat in headquarters right after the exam, when the rest of the class was leaving."
"Are you sure?" asked Hermione.
"Yes. I've seen it a few times when Parvati let me in Gryffindor Tower. Anyway, I was going to return it when this big black dog ran out of the forest toward me. I was terrified."
Harry and Hermione shared a quick look. "I think I know what dog you mean, but he seemed friendly to us."
"It jumped toward me, knocking me down, getting the rat out of my hand and running into the cabin."
"How did the dog close the door properly?" asked Hermione.
"I don't…"
"Hi, guys," came Brianna's voice from behind them. "I just finished my…what's wrong?"
They quickly explained what had happened and they all drew their wands. Something didn't seem right. Harry walked up to the door and found it locked. "How'd a dog lock the door?" he muttered as he took out his key and opened the door, to find one of the strangest sights he'd ever seen. Dressed in rags and smelling awful, notorious murderer Sirius Black was standing inside C.A.R.E. headquarters with a terrified rat in one hand, a small mirror in the other, and a crazed look in his eyes.
--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.
Elvis Presley - Baby let's play house (live '56) is located at:
http:// www. youtube. com/watch? v= QI97stLQLdw (minus the spaces).
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