An: Sorry for the long wait.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 6 - Fish Sweets and Dangerous Missions
Harry woke up bright an early. Today he had a picnic with Cho, but before that, he had an early morning training session with Senior Auror Moody. He wasn't looking forward to that. Moody always thought someone was out to kill him. "Constant Vigilance" he always barked. He even took to attacking some of his students to make sure that they were always aware of what was going on.
Harry would be seeing Malfoy again today, but Malfoy was always a bit wary of training sessions with Moody. After all it was Mad Eye Moody that turned him into a ferret! Yesterday had been a very interesting day. In fact, ever since the party his life seemed to be going in a completely different direction. Yesterday, he became friends with Luna Lovegod and Draco Malfoy. Yes even he found it hard to believe, but Malfoy had been very different. He figured it had to do with Hermione. The platinum blonde wasn't stuck up and arrogant like he normally was. He was modest and funny. In fact, after some time he and Harry really started to get along.
Luna wasn't as weird as he originally thought. She was very caring and considerate. Mrs. Weasley took a liking to her, which, unfortunately for Ron, was something in Luna's favour. It was quite obvious that Luna had a crush on him. This was quite scary considering Luna said that she achieves anything she sets her mind too and she quite clearly has her mind set on Ron!
Hermione was right when she said that Ron would find Draco a challenge at chess. Ron had completely underestimated him in their first game and Draco totally annihilated him. However, Ron never makes the same mistake twice and their second game was a battle to the end, with a stalemate eventually being declared.
Harry also noticed that while Luna kept Ron busy, Draco talked freely with Ginny. Every time Harry tried to interfere Hermione successfully side tracked him. From what he observed of her, she was very clever. If he were ever in a rough spot Hermione would definitely be the person he would turn to. Other than that he didn't know much about her. To him, he met her for the first time the night of the party, but his mother said they spent considerable time together when he was three. He didn't understand how his mother expected him to remember memories from when he was 3 years old. As he thought of Hermione, his hand subconsciously reached for his ear. He felt a twinge of disappointment as he realised that Hermione would not be rubbing his ear anytime soon.
Harry shook his mind from his weird state. He needed to get to training and he needed to have a clear mind today or else he would really mess up in Moody's class. He quickly changed into his training robes and headed down for breakfast. William and his father were the only ones up this early. It was the summer holidays thus Charles and Ana got to sleep in allowing his mother to take the opportunity of sleeping in as well, though he suspected his father might have something to do with that.
"Morning son, who do you have for training this morning?" His father asked
"Moody," Harry responded grudgingly.
William snickered at this. He was still in his first year of training. He wouldn't have to face Moody until his third year and by that time he was hoping Moody would retire. But then again, Harry thought the same thing and still ended up stuck with him. Harry hoped his brothers had the same luck!
"Actually, you can learn a lot from Moody. He was the best Auror of his time. He taught me a lot also." James said to his sons.
Harry gave his father a very sour face.
"As you get older you will understand. I have a meeting this morning. I must get going. Don't be late for training. Tardiness is a bad trait for an Auror!" James said before he left.
As he walked out the door William commented "Ha! If he really believed that he would have left here earlier for his meeting which started five minutes ago!"
After a few minutes of laughter Harry was eventually able to add "I guess that was one of those `do as I say, not as I do' pieces of advice"
"So how was your day yesterday?" William inquired casually.
"It was great. Cho came with us to the Burrow. It was really great to see her getting along with mom and everyone!" Harry said enthusiastically.
William frowned at him. "Are you sure they were getting along?" William knew his mother didn't like Cho very much.
"Of course I'm sure. Cho was talking with mom for quite some time. It looked like a pleasant conversation."
"Oh," William replied as he wondered what pleasant ways his mother found to insult the Ravenclaw girl.
"Why are you asking me?" Harry asked his little brother suspiciously.
"You know how mom is, I was just wondering what happened." William said
"Mom has always gotten along with Cho. What do you really want to know?" Harry asked his little brother.
William blushed a light shade of pink before he mumbled something out. "I wnt o ow wt hme ws lke"
"I didn't quite catch that." Harry said forcing his brother to speak louder.
"I said I wanted to know what Hermione was like?" William said unable to make eye contact with his brother.
"Oh," Harry replied. He wasn't quite sure but for some reason William's question bothered him. In fact, after observing his brother, he came to the conclusion that William might like Hermione and that bothered him even more.
"She seems really.. uh … nice." Harry responded. He felt very uncomfortable talking to his brother about Hermione. He only knew the girl one day yet he felt very connected to her. "I better leave now or Moody will make me duel him again." Harry said as he got up from his seat and left the kitchen. He rode Firebolt hard and fast in an effort to get as far away from William as possible.
-*-
Harry arrived with a few seconds to spare. He was the second to last to arrive and just after him Neville Longbottom stumbling through the doorway. Harry never understood why Neville let his grandmother convince him to become an Auror. His father, Frank, was right under James in the Auror department. However, Neville was nothing like his father.
The clunking of a wooden foot could be heard coming down the corridor and each trainee straightened their posture and adjusted their robes before Mad Eye Moody appeared at the doorway. He moved over to his desk and briefly surveyed his magical instruments; everything appeared to be in order.
"Today, I am assigning you a mission. You have until sundown to complete it and you will each be assigned a partner. The details of your mission are contained in these folders." Moody said indicating to a bunch of folders tucked under his arm.
"I will read out the pairings. Listen closely cause I will not repeat myself." He barked at the trainees in front of him.
"Thomas - Goyle" Harry watched as Dean Thomas looked absolutely disgusted to be paired with Gregory Goyle.
"Finnigan - Longbottom" Neville successfully moved over to Seamus without making a fool of himself. However, Seamus didn't look to pleased to be paired with Neville.
"Crabbe - MacMillan."
"Boot - Smith."
"Zambini - Jordan."
"Potter - Malfoy," Harry groaned, just what he needed to have a perfect day! Granted he got along with him yesterday but today was a new day and there was no Hermione in Auror class. He glanced up at Malfoy and realised that the prat had forgotten all about yesterday and was still seated on his side of the room. He was going to have to be the good one and go over to him. He tuned Mad Eye out and grudgingly sat next to him. Malfoy smirked and Harry wanted to punch him in the middle of class. He only came over because this was their last mission and once they were done he would be rid of him.
"Potter would you please pay attention to what Moody is saying. I do not want to fail this task." Draco said angrily.
Harry really couldn't argue with him, which made him even moodier. Failing this task would be very bad and definitely not helped him become an Auror faster. He should at least listen to any parting advice Moody had.
"the dragons and CONSTANT VIGILANCE" were Moody's parting words.
Harry really kicked himself now. Moody had mentioned something about Dragons but he had no clue what he was referring to, as he wasn't listening. He only hoped Draco understood. Moody came around to the pairs and handed each pair a folder. He indicated that their mission started now and he left the room.
-*-
Hermione woke up early and sat by the window with her morning cup of tea. She was looking at Gryffindor Manor, when Mrs. McGonagall came into her room.
"Will you ever stop staring at that house, young lady? Come dear, it is time to get you ready!" She said sternly
Hermione gave her a blank stare.
"The Krums are coming today."
"The Krums?" Hermione questioned
"Yes your father has a big business deal today. Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin will also be attending. Your father wanted you on your best behaviour. You are supposed to entertain Mrs. Krum and her two daughters while they are here."
Hermione arched an eyebrow at her. She hated it when her father did this to her but she had no choice but to obey. She had been looking forward to meeting Ginny and Luna at the Burrow today for lunch. Mrs. Weasley had taken an extreme liking to both her and Luna and instructed them to visit more often. Now Hermione had the task of owling them to let her know that she would no longer be able to see them that day. Hermione pulled out her quill and parchment and scribbled the note quickly before attaching the note to Fairbank, her father's owl. She promptly sent him on his way and continued getting dressed.
_*_
Ron sprang from his bed early. The twins asked him to come in extra early today. The red head usually slept late, so extra early for him was the normal time at which people got up. Apparently, their secret meeting, (which they hadn't bothered to tell him about) went really well. They needed him to come in early so they could start creating their new product. He knew what they really needed was for him to be the guinea pig and he also knew he couldn't refuse anise they were paying his salary. Besides, he always found some way out of it.
Ron entered the kitchen and happily found a large breakfast waiting for him. He attacked it with much fervour and helped himself to a large helping of scrambled eggs, ham and sausage with four slices of buttered toast on the side. Outsiders were always amazed at how much he could eat. Looking at his tall lean figure, one would wonder where all the food went!
"Ron, I packed your lunch and here are the lunches for Fred and George." Mrs. Weasley said as she placed a bag on the table for Ron. Ron's mouth was so full of food his response was drowned out. He quickly finished his food, grabbed the bag and kissed his mom goodbye on the way out.
"Send my love to the twins!" She called out after him.
A few minutes later, she was joined by her daughter in the kitchen.
"Good Morning Ginerva!" Mrs. Weasley greeted her daughter cheerfully.
Ginny rolled her eyes at her mother. She preferred her nickname to her full name. Whenever her mother used her full name she was about to broach a subject that she knew she would dislike.
"Morning Mum." She replied flatly as she sat at the table and helped herself to some breakfast.
"I heard the Woods were looking for a wife for Oliver." Mrs. Weasley started from the kitchen sink where she was attending to Ron's dishes. "It's about time too. He is getting along in age."
"No thanks mum!" Ginny replied without looking up from her plate.
"But Ginny, the Woods are a very good family. Oliver is famous for his skill with a broom. He is the only person from Hogwarts on the national Quidditch team. That is indeed an honour." Mrs. Weasley said as she walked over to take the seat opposite her daughter.
"Yes, I know mum. But as much as I like Quidditch, I don't want to be Oliver Wood's wife!" Ginny exclaimed exasperatedly. She now tried to mimic Ron and shovel food into her mouth so that she could get out of the kitchen as soon as possible.
"But Ginny, you should be married by now!" Her mother scolded.
"Hermione isn't looking for a husband and she is a few months older than me!" Ginny countered.
"From what I heard from Lilly, Hermione's father is not willing to marry her off. Arthur and I, are very willing to find you a husband!" She told her daughter.
Ginny huffed. They had been having this argument since she turned 17. At every social event her mother constantly pointed out a suitable husband. In fact, if her mother had her way she would have married Harry on her 18th birthday. She was beginning to think that following Luna's method of warring off people would work. Walking around with a necklace of bottle caps was beginning to look very appealing. Ginny quickly shovelled the last bit of sausage into her mouth and left the kitchen without further word to her mother.
As she entered the den an owl flew in through the window. Ginny had never seen this owl before, but she took the letters addressed to her and her mom and gave the bird a few treats for its efforts.
Dear Ginny,
I am very sorry but I can't make Lunch today. My father has invited Mr. Krum and his family to stay with us for a few days while they discuss business. My father has requested that I keep Mrs. Krum and her daughters company while they reside with us. Hopefully after their business is concluded, I will be able to have lunch with you.
Your new friend,
Hermione Granger.
Ginny sulked. She had been looking forward to that visit. Hermione and Luna were the only other females like her. All three of them didn't care for protocol or marriage. Though Ginny suspected if Ron asked Luna she would say yes in a heartbeat. She then decided to write to Luna to see if she was still interested in coming for lunch.
-*-
Draco and Harry were flying on their brooms towards the mountains that boarded the south side of Hogwarts. The ride so far had been peaceful, which Harry was thankful for. The few times that he had partnered with Draco, the assignment had been full of angry retorts, insults and showing off. Such behaviour always caused them to lose points and they usually finished last in the class. Harry glanced briefly at Draco, he seemed to be lost in thought as well and was probably thinking along the same lines as Harry.
On opening the file, Harry discovered that their mission was to apprehend a suspect that supposedly tried to rob Gringotts, the Wizarding bank run by goblins. There was a small branch located in the heart of Hogwarts. The only clue left behind was a seed. Harry assumed each team was given the same assignment but from his vantage point he and Draco were the only two headed towards this area.
The seed they had been given was the seed of the Scorching flower plant. They were very rare and the nearest plants to Hogwarts were in these mountains. The catch to this mission was that there was a clan of giants that lived there. Moody never gave them anything remotely easy!
Harry and Draco slowly descended to get a better view of the landscape. It would not be hard to spot the scorching flower for the plant was named so because its flower would burst into bright blue flames when it was finished blooming. This bright blue flame was extremely hot and in some instances it could ignite the air around it causing a rush of fire outward from the flower. As a result everything around the flower is scorched, including the plant itself. Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts, explained that the actual scorching of the plant is what triggered fertilization and the continuation of life for this species. Harry wondered why this was one of the only facts he remembered from that class.
Draco eventually spotted a scorched area near a plateau on one of the mountains. They dropped a little lower to observe the area. They needed to figure out exactly what they were dealing with. There were a few plants blooming and a couple of flowers that looked like they were ready to let it loose. While circling around the area Draco noticed a small entrance in the hillside.
"Potter look over there," Draco said as he pointed in the direction of the opening.
Harry turned his head and sure enough he saw what Draco was pointing out to him. They both flew over cautiously.
"Looks like we have to walk from here," Harry drawled knowing how much the Slytherin hated getting his feet dirty.
The opening was very small and they wouldn't be able to fly through it. They would have to crouch down and force their bodies through the opening.
Draco sneered at the thought of passing through the narrow entrance to the cave. At least they knew a giant couldn't slip through that crack.
They both carefully landed and placed their brooms through the crack first. They didn't want them to get burnt by the plants in case one went off. The last thing they needed was to get stuck up there. Harry squeezed through the opening first followed by Draco. The cave was dark and damp and both trainees lit the tips of their wands. Harry took the initiative and walked further into the cave leaving his broom concealed at the entrance. Draco trailed behind him by a few steps. As they moved further into the cave the ceiling moved higher. They eventually reached a large circular cavern where the ceiling was 50 feet high and there were many connecting tunnels. As they looked around the cavern they noticed that there was evidence that someone had been camped out in this cave. Harry and Draco both started moving their wands back and forth over the area trying to detect if any magical signatures were left behind and they found three distinct signatures.
There was a soft rumble through the cave that caused them to stop what they were doing. The rumbling slowly started to get louder and closer. Harry locked eyes with Draco and both seemed to be thinking the same thought, GIANTS, but before they could sprint towards their exit a giant came swinging madly at them from one of the tunnels. They both dived out of the way and went in separate directions. Two more giants appeared causing Draco and Harry to be separated further. Neither of them could make it back to their original exit and with no choice they both picked a separate tunnel of escape and hoped for the best.
_*_
Luna Lovegood enjoyed studying odd and unusual things. Often as a child, the simplest things fascinated her. Where most children might just accept a butterfly for a butterfly, the creatures mesmerized her. The way they flew, the movements of their wings, why they chose to go to different flowers, any little fact fascinated her. Luna's father was the caretaker of Ravenclaw Manor. He took good care of the grounds and the house. In his spare time he produced a magazine called the Quibbler. To most people the Quibbler contained many strange articles but Luna knew that her father came across all those creatures while at work. She herself had run into a Nargle. In fact, she was currently seated at a table in the kitchen reading the latest edition of the Quibbler.
Luna had no friends at home and at school, because of the rumours about her, she was only befriended by Ginny. If people weren't willing to try and get to know the real her they weren't worth the effort. That was her motto. As a result only Ginny and Hermione were her friends. She had never had the pleasure of talking with both of them at the same time and the last few days had been really delightful. She was looking forward to lunch. She was very disappointed when the owl arrived informing her that Hermione couldn't make it as she had wanted to broach the topic of Ron with both of them.
Both girls knew about Luna's insane crush on Ron. Luna couldn't understand it. Her feelings were so intense for him and she didn't know why. She guessed it all started when they needed a commentator for a Quidditch match and Luna volunteered. She was in her fourth year at Hogwarts and most people didn't like her commentary but Ron expressed the desire for her to commentate at all the matches. The smile he gave her melted her knees. She distinctly remembered that if Ginny wasn't there she would have fallen over. After that, she paid special attention to Ronald Weasley. She didn't stalk him but she observed him at every opportunity. A fire started inside her then and to this day she hasn't been able to extinguish it. Luna likened her attraction to Ron as the same as Hermione's liking for the Gryffindor Manor.
A new owl fluttered in through the open window. It was Errol with a note from Ginny. Luna opened the note and gave a coy smile. She wrote a response to Ginny and sent it back with the poor owl. Luna made her way back upstairs to get ready for the day ahead of her.
-*-
Hermione stood with her father at the front of her house awaiting the arrival of the Krum's. A carriage appeared in the distance pulled by two large brown horses. As the carriage got nearer she realised that the curtains had been drawn so that one could not see into the carriage. When the carriage pulled up in front of the main entrance, the driver got down, announced Mr. Krum's arrival and opened the door to reveal a tall stout man with thinning grey hair. He immediately greeted Mr. Granger and her father promptly introduced her to Mr. Krum. Mr Krum, in turn, introduced them to his eldest son Viktor and two daughters Augustina and Sylvia. Mrs. Krum was unable to make the journey as his two younger sons were ill.
Mrs. McGonagall escorted the guests to their rooms and made sure everything was to their liking. Hermione was required to stay close to Krum's two daughters and as a result she was currently in Sylvia's room. Their English was remarkably good since their father forced them to practice so he could marry them off to nice English boys. They were explaining to her what life in Bulgaria was like and why English boys were better than Bulgarian. Hermione wasn't really paying attention. The girls kept laughing and giggling and it annoyed her. They were too girly for her. It hadn't appeared either that they had ever read a book. She stared out the window and wished she could be preparing to have lunch with Luna and Ginny instead of sitting there listening to these girls rattle on about what they wanted in a man.
-*-
Ron was exhausted but his favourite time of the day was nearing, or was it his second favourite or third. He never really knew. He loved Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and couldn't decide which was his favourite. Lunch would be an excuse to get away from his brother's crazy experiments! Today they were experimenting with Gillyweed! Why would someone want to give someone gills was beyond Ron. As usual he managed to convince them to test their product on one of the other store clerks, which was probably a mistake this time. Instead of ingesting the "Fish Sweet", that was the name the twins were calling it, Ron had to be the person conjuring a tank full of water for the test subject to enter. Of course it didn't work well the first few times and Ron had to conjure and banish the tank full of water. A couple times he wasn't paying attention and he banished the tank and left the water! Needless to say the twins were very upset that their testing room was flooded out and they left Ron to clean it up while they tweaked their sweet.
Ron had never used so many drying spells in his lifetime. There was a part of the room that gave him trouble and Ron had no clue why. It was still wet and sticky with a greenish colour and he had no idea what the twins were doing on that side of the room and decided to use a Glamour charm to cover it up. Later when he was gone the twins could sort it out.
He made his way upstairs and headed to the lunchroom. His mom had packed a tasty lunch that he was looking forward too. As he was about to enter the room, the horn in the front went off signalling the arrival of a customer and he choose to ignore it and set himself up in the kitchen. A few minutes later a store clerk popped her head in through the door and told him he had a visitor. Ron, refusing to leave his lunch, wolfed it down quickly and then went to greet the visitor. As he rounded the front of the store he immediately recognized his visitor and was surprised to see him but wondered if he had already paid a visit to the Potters.
-*-
Draco had been walking around in that cave for hours, or at least it felt like it. He couldn't see the sun to judge what time of day it was. His tummy grumbled and it was a sure sign he had missed lunch. The blonde had no clue where he was. Two of the giants had followed Harry and he briefly wondered if Harry got away safely. It was ridiculous to try and out run a giant, yet that was the first thing they both thought of. As soon as Draco had moved a fair way into the tunnel, he had turned around and used a reducto on the ceiling to escape from the giant that had followed him. He had silently prayed that he didn't bring the whole tunnel down around him. Fortunately, the ceiling partially collapsed and blocked the Giant. Draco decided to make haste and move further into the tunnel before the Giant cleared the debris.
There were so many inter-connecting tunnels that led nowhere. Five times he ran into a dead end and three times he had seen the shadow of a few giants up ahead and decided to take another route. He then came upon some rubble scattered about in the tunnel and soon realised that this was the original tunnel he had used the reducto in. The giant had broken through and scattered the rocks everywhere. Somehow he must have taken a tunnel that circled back to his original spot.
Draco readied himself and slowly walked through the rubble. He kept his ears open for any heavy footsteps and he soon reached the big cavern where they had gone their separate routes.
There was no sign of Harry or the giants. Draco quickly made his way back to the crack they both crawled through and discovered that both brooms were still there indicating that Harry was still somewhere inside the cave. Draco pondered whether to try and find Harry or wait there for him. He was safe there since this area of the cavern was too small for the giants but a voice that sounded strangely like Hermione's echoed in his head wondering if Harry was hurt. Just like Hermione the voice pointed out that Harry did have two giants after him. He knew if he went back without him Mooddy would fail him since disserting your partners is frowned upon plus the head Auror himself, James Potter, would more than likely be very upset with him. Draco weighed his options and decided to go after Harry. He briefly wondered when he took to thinking of him as Harry instead of Pothead and made a mental note to keep Hermione away from him as her positive opinion of Harry was interfering with his life.
Draco reluctantly headed back to the cavern but this time with their brooms as he was hoping the brooms might help them outrun the giants. He exited the tunnel into the large cavern and used a spell Hermione taught him that burnt words into rock and was very difficult to remove without the proper counter-charm. He left a message for Harry in the tunnel wall.
`Potter went looking for you in the second tunnel to the right. D'
Draco then took a deep breath and entered the second tunnel on the right.
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