Fourteen
"Suspicious Behaviour"
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. All characters are creations of Joanne K. Rowling, © 2007, to whom I am deeply indebted. I make no money from any of this. I'm just taking her world and tweaking it a bit. ALSO, I used some of the text from the Philosopher's Stone and that most definitely belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Note One: A big thanks to the_scribbler for being my awesomesauce beta/editor!
Note Two: I worked really hard to get this chapter out today. As you all should know, Deathly Hallows part 2 has its midnight premiere tonight - marking the end of Harry Potter. When the seventh book was released, I knew I still had the movies to look forward to, but now it's really over.
This chapter is dedicated to J.K. Rowling. If it hadn't been for her vision of a scrawny little boy walking down the aisle of a train, none of us would've ever known about this wonderful world. Even though the last few books (to some of us) were less than pleasing, she still put in over ten years of dedication to make this world so vibrant and believable - thank you.
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22 February, 1992
Hermione awoke the morning of the long awaited Quidditch match with a nervous excitement fluttering around in her stomach. She knew that there shouldn't be anything to be nervous about for the match, but with Harry's track record Hermione knew it was unwise to just assume everything would be alright. After getting dressed with the rest of the girls, and making sure Fay had the Potter for President banner, Hermione waited with Fay, Shae, and Parvati as Lavender finished getting ready in the bathroom - the blond always took the longest to get ready in the morning. Finally, Lavender emerged from the bathroom, looking fresh and perky, and the girls made their way down to the common room together.
Harry and Ron were waiting for Hermione when they arrived - Harry already dressed in his Quidditch robes. Harry's eyes glinted with excitement as he greeted the girls, a grin permanently etched into his expression. Hermione smiled, happy to see Harry so excited.
The first years made their way down to the Great Hall together, Harry getting `good lucks' and `Go Gryffindors' on the way. Every time someone yelled something out to him, Harry would grin sheepishly and duck his head shyly.
"You are too cute!" Shae squealed, reaching up to playfully pinch Harry's cheek.
"Stop it," he said, going red and swatting her hand away.
"And shy, too!" Lavender joined in and the two girls spent the entire trip down to the Great Hall messing with Harry, pinching his cheeks and ruffling his hair. Hermione rolled her eyes, annoyance creeping up on her as the boys laughed at how flustered Harry was getting. She marched ahead of the group, not understanding nor caring as to why she felt so irritated. Fay caught up to Hermione and nudged her playfully, giving a mysterious smile.
"What?" Hermione asked warily.
"Oh nothing," she replied, her smile growing into a knowing smirk.
The air in the Great Hall was abuzz with excitement as the first years marched over to Gryffindor table. Hermione sat down beside Harry with Ron on his other side as the others began to get their breakfast. Harry shot them both a grateful smile as he rubbed his sore cheeks, "Thanks."
Hermione began to fill up her plate with bacon and eggs, content on just listening to the conversations around her. She knew she could get used to the atmosphere in the castle right before a match; everyone was so energetic and high spirited.
"Look at Snape," Ron hissed suddenly.
Hermione and Harry both turned to look towards the Head table. Professor Snape was sitting in his usual spot in between Professor McGonagall and Professor Quirrell as he shoved the food on his plate around violently, a nasty expression on his face. Every once and a while he would glance to the side and give Professor Quirrell the meanest glare Hermione had ever seen.
"Why is he looking at Quirrell like that?" Harry wondered.
Hermione shook her head, feeling sorry for Professor Quirrell. The poor man was trembling so hard that Hermione could see it from halfway down the Gryffindor table. Professor McGonagall leaned across Professor Snape to speak to Professor Quirrell, only to scare him so badly that he knocked over his goblet. He jumped up, waving his wand to clean up the mess that had been made, and sprinted out of the Great Hall.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked, looking back to Professor Snape.
"Search me," Harry said, going back to his breakfast.
Fred and George snuck up behind Harry, nudging him on the back. "Come on, Harry," Fred said. Harry jumped, startled, and accidentally flung some of his scrambled eggs all over the table. "Time to go, Oliver wants us at the pitch in fifteen."
"Thanks, Harry," Ron groaned, looking down at his plate. The eggs had landed in his pile of ketchup and splattered the red goo all over.
"Go," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. She tossed a few napkins over to Ron so he could clean up.
Harry nodded and downed the rest of his pumpkin juice, grinning and thanking everybody as they wished him good luck one more time. Professor Snape finished his breakfast just as Harry and the Weasley twins left the Great Hall. Hermione saw him get up and she nudged Ron as he passed by them. From where Hermione was sitting, she could see him go through the Entrance Hall and out into the yard.
"I think he's heading to the stadium," Hermione said, starting to feel panicky - Professor Snape's pace had been quite fast.
"This early?" Ron frowned. Not even the hard core Quidditch fans had left to get good seats yet.
"Do you think he's planning something?"
"Dunno." Ron grabbed two pieces of toast stood up. "Let's go."
Hermione nodded and hopped up, following Ron out of the Great Hall. "Snape wouldn't be dumb enough to try something again, would he?" Hermione called, having to job to keep up with Ron's pace. "He just got in trouble with Professor Dumbledore!"
"Snape tried to kill Harry last Quidditch match in front of the entire stadium," Ron pointed out, a piece of toast hanging from his mouth. "I don't think Dumbledore will make much of a difference."
"But he's the Headmaster!" Hermione protested. "He defeated Grindelwald and -"
"Hermione!"
Hermione and Ron stopped and turned, surprised to see Sally-Anne chasing after them. Ron gave her an incredulous look as she skidded to a halt in front of them, clutching her side. "Are you going to the stadium?"
"Er, yes?" Hermione said slowly, glancing at Ron. He rolled his eyes and motioned for her to hurry up. "We're really in a hurry, Sally-Anne…"
"Want to sit with me for the match?" she asked brightly, ignoring Hermione's last comment. +"It'll be fun! We can both cheer on Hufflepuff together!"
Ron made a funny noise and Hermione glared at him. "Gryffindor's playing Hufflepuff, Sally-Anne," she reminded softly. "I have friends playing - I'll be cheering for them."
"Come on, Hermione," Ron moaned, shifting anxiously as he glanced back to the stadium.
"I'm sorry. I'll sit with you next match - I promise!" Hermione called, turning on her heel and chasing after Ron, who had already began running towards the stadium.
"Is she for real?" Ron asked once Hermione had caught up to him.
"She just wants to spend time together," Hermione defended.
"Right," Ron grunted. They reached the stadium and bolted up the stairs, Hermione panting and gasping as they finally reached the stands. She collapsed down into an aisle seat, looking around the stadium for the Potions master.
Professor Snape was easy to spot - he was the only other person in the entire stadium. Hermione felt her face heat up as she yanked Ron down into the seat beside her, trying to make it seem that they had just decided to come early to get good seats. Judging from how intense Professor Snape's glare was from across the pitch, Hermione figured that they had failed in doing so.
"He's just sitting there," Ron huffed, sounding annoyed.
"Watching us," Hermione grumbled. "So don't look so suspicious."
"I'm not acting suspicious," Ron snapped, crossing his arms. "Just watch him and make sure that he doesn't try and do anything before the match starts. Think you can reach his side in time if he does?"
"I think so," Hermione whispered, not liking the fact that Professor Snape still hadn't taken his eyes off of them.
The two Gryffindors sat in awkward silence, trying to act nonchalantly as possible with Professor Snape glaring at them from across the pitch. After what felt like an eternity, Hermione could hear the faint voices of the rest of the students making their way down to the stadium. She let out a breath and slumped down into her seat, relieved that they wouldn't be alone with Professor Snape for much longer. People slowly began to enter the stadium and it wasn't long until Hermione spotted her friends.
"Is this where you two have been the entire time?" Lavender asked, leading the Gryffindor first years up the stairs.
"We wanted to get good seats," Hermione shrugged as Lavender, Parvati, Seamus, and Dean filed into the row in front of her.
"Hermione, these seats suck," Shae said bluntly, brushing past her to go sit on the other side of Ron. Fay and Neville followed after her.
"You suck," Ron retorted.
"Real mature, Ron," Fay snorted, rolling her eyes. Shae grinned and stuck her tongue out at him as she sat down.
Hermione laughed and shook her head, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as her friends sat around her. She glanced across the pitch to see that Professor Snape had stopped glaring at her and Ron. His gaze was now fixated on Professor Quirrell, who was sitting a few rows in front of him.
"You think Quirrell would learn to stay away from Snape," Ron muttered dryly, watching as Professor Quirrell's fidgeting made the people around him move out of his way. Hermione nodded, biting her lip worriedly.
"Look!" Parvati exclaimed suddenly, pointing across the pitch. "Dumbledore's here!"
"What?"
Hermione craned her neck to look where Parvati was pointing. Sure enough, Professor Dumbledore was climbing the stairs up to where Professor Snape was sitting. Hermione gave a relieved chuckle as the Headmaster took a seat beside the Potions master. She and Ron grinned at each other. Not even Professor Snape would be stupid enough to try anything while sitting right beside Professor Dumbledore.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Lee Jordan's voice echoed magically throughout the stadium a few moments later, "welcome to the first Quidditch match of the new year!"
The stadium erupted into a deafening roar, Hermione cheering and clapping as loud as she could. Fay and Shae unrolled the banner and began to wave it around wildly. As Lee introduced the teams, Hermione allowed herself to relax for the first time in a long while. She sat back into the seat and cheered when Gryffindor flew into the stadium. Madam Hooch made her way onto the pitch and blew her whistle and the teams were off in a blur of scarlet and yellow.
"Ouch!" Ron yelped a few minutes into the match. Hermione looked back and groaned, seeing Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle settling in behind them.
"Sorry about that, didn't see you there Weasley," Malfoy sneered.
"Sure you didn't," Ron growled, rubbing the back of his head and glaring at the blond.
"Ignore him," Hermione told Ron. He nodded and turned back around to watch the match, a scowl on his face.
"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" Malfoy piped up loudly moments later. Hermione groaned again, knowing that either Ron or Neville was going to be the target of Malfoy's bullying.
"No one cares what you think, Malfoy" Shae snapped, turning her head to glare at him.
"It's the people they feel sorry for," Malfoy continued on, ignoring Shae. "See, there's Potter who's got no parents, then there's the Weasley's, who have no money - you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."
Hermione turned around, ready to defend her friends when Neville beat her to it.
"I'm worth t-twelve of you, Malfoy," Neville stammered, standing up and turning to face him. Everyone paused to stare at Neville in shock, no one expecting him to stand up for himself as Malfoy roared with laughter.
"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something," Malfoy managed to choke out. Crabbe and Goyle were holding onto each other they were laughing so hard.
Ron went bright red and stood up quickly, whirling around to face Malfoy. "I'm warning you, Malfoy - one more word…"
"Ron!" Hermione tugged on his sleeve, making sure she had a good grip on him so he wouldn't try and attack Malfoy. "Stop it, you're giving him what he wants!"
"Look!" Fay screeched suddenly, making everyone jump. "Look at Harry!"
Fear shot through Hermione and she screamed, terrified that Harry's broom might be cursed again. She looked up in time to see Harry go into a spectacular dive. She gasped, letting go of Ron; bringing both hands up to her mouth as she watched him streak towards the ground.
"Oh look Weasley, you're in luck - Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground," Malfoy cackled.
Ron snapped and, before Hermione had time to grab hold of him, launched himself over his seat and on top of Malfoy. Malfoy gave a surprised cry as he was wrestled to the ground. Crabbe and Goyle stopped their laughter and began to growl, flexing their arms threateningly as they closed in on Ron.
"Stop it, you two!" Hermione moaned, looking back and forth between Ron and Malfoy fighting and Harry in a nose dive; he was getting extremely close to the ground and didn't show any signs of stopping. She knew she wouldn't be able to physically stop the fight and didn't know what to do; the nearest teacher was halfway across the stadium so she settled for watching both of her friends fearfully.
Neville took a deep breath and clamoured over his seat, leaping at Crabbe just as he was about to grab Ron from behind. He managed to grab hold around his neck and the two of them toppled into Goyle. It was a flurry of punches and kicks as Crabbe and Goyle ganged up on poor Neville. Some of the older students began to crowd around them and some fifth year Gryffindor boys began to work on pulling everyone away from each other.
"We won!" Fay screamed, not at all paying attention to the drama behind her. Hermione turned away from Ron and Malfoy to see Harry on the ground, holding up the Snitch triumphantly as the stadium's cheering escalated. "I can't believe it! Harry caught the Snitch in less than ten minutes!"
Ron was pulled, kicking and screaming, off Malfoy; his nose bleeding profusely, while Malfoy struggled against the older boy who was holding him back, his left eye almost swollen shut and already bruising from where Ron had repeatedly punched him. Dean and Seamus hurried over to Ron, pulling him away from everyone and down to the pitch to try and see Harry and away from Malfoy. Hermione and Shae hurried over to Neville's side. He was slumped down over the seat, clearly unconscious, as Crabbe and Goyle were dragged off.
"Excuse me! What's going on here? Coming through - I'm a Prefect! Move along!"
Percy appeared second s later, his eyes widening as he saw Neville's body. He immediately ordered someone to pick Neville up and was off, sprinting down the steps.
"I can't believe Neville stood up for himself," Shae said.
"He remembered what Harry had said to him," Hermione stated, smiling.
"He did?" Fay asked, finally paying attention to what was going on around her. Hermione rolled her eyes and led the other two girls down the stairs, trying to get through the crowd that had gone onto the pitch. She could see Harry being hoisted up on Fred and George's shoulders, hands reaching up from the crowd to pat him.
"You didn't notice?" Shae asked incredulously. "He took on Crabbe and Goyle by himself!"
"No, I didn't."
"You are way too into Quidditch," she said, shaking her head.
Hermione left Shae and Fay to try and get closer to Harry. The crowd around them was so tightly packed that she had to pull back in fear of being trampled. Ron, Dean, and Seamus were on the outskirts of the crowd, grinning proudly at Harry. Ron's face was covered in blood but he didn't seem to mind as he gazed off dreamily.
"Party in the Gryffindor common room!" George crowed. Everyone cheered and slowly began to leave the stadium. Fred and George put Harry back on the ground and dragged him off to the change rooms.
"Come on," Hermione said, pushing Ron towards the exit. "Harry will be a while. Let's go to the Hospital Wing to get your nose fixed. We can see Neville there too."
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Madam Pomfrey clucked her tongue with annoyance when she took in Ron's bloody appearance, grabbing his chin so she could look at him properly. "Fighting during a Quidditch match," she grumbled, pulling out her wand and tapping it on his nose. Ron flinched as the blood disappeared and she let go of his face.
Hermione sat in a chair beside Neville's bed. He had still been unconscious when they arrived at the Hospital Wing; apparently Crabbe got in a good swing and knocked him out cold. "He'll be okay, right?" she asked as the witch began to root through a cupboard.
"Oh he'll be fine, just a slight bump on the head," she replied, taking out a vial filled with a green potion. She uncorked it and handed it to Ron. "He'll be up in a few hours, now drink!"
Ron took the flask and drank it, grimacing at the taste. "It doesn't taste good, does it?" Madam Pomfrey asked, raising an eyebrow. "I bet you'll think twice before getting into another fight, now won't you?"
"Yes ma'am," Ron rasped, gingerly touching his nose. He didn't wince and smiled brightly at Hermione.
"Alright, the two of you can go back to Gryffindor tower," Madam Pomfrey said, shooing them out of the Hospital Wing. "Mr. Longbottom needs his rest. He'll be back tomorrow morning."
The door snapped shut in front of them and Hermione sighed, turning to Ron. "Neville was right, you know," Ron stated, knocking gently on his newly healed nose. "Madam Pomfrey is wonderful. My nose doesn't hurt, not even a little bit!"
"You're going to re-injure it if you keep hitting yourself," Hermione scoffed, rolling her eyes. They made their way up to Gryffindor tower, giving the password to the Fat Lady. As soon as the portrait opened, they were hit with how loud the common room was. Food and drinks were laid out on the tables everywhere and people were crammed around each other, talking about how amazing the Quidditch match had been.
"Where did all this food come from?" Hermione asked, looking around. The only other time she had seen food in the common room was during Halloween, but that had been because of the troll and food had been sent up.
"Fred and George probably nicked it from the kitchens," Ron said, grabbing a pastry from a table and biting into it.
Hermione frowned, not liking the response, and declined the offer for a pastry of her own. She glanced around, trying to find Harry's mop of black hair. "I don't see him," she said after scanning the entire common room.
"That's weird," Ron frowned. "Oy! Fred! George! Where's Harry?"
Fred and George glanced up from their conversation with Lee and shrugged. "He was still in the change rooms when we left," George explained.
"He's probably still outside," Hermione said. "Let's go find him."
The two made it down to the Entrance Hall when they saw Harry stride into the castle. "There you are!" Ron said, hurrying down the steps to meet him. "You were brilliant today! I don't think anyone's caught the Snitch so fast before! And I gave Malfoy a black eye! And Neville took on Crabbe and Goyle by himself - he's still out cold in the Hospital Wing but he took both of them on! Stood up for himself, he did!"
"What's wrong?" Hermione interrupted Ron, seeing the anxious look in Harry's eyes.
"We were right about Snape and the Philosopher's Stone," Harry said quietly, glancing around to make sure they were alone.
"What?" Ron asked.
"We can't talk here," Harry said, hurrying up the stairs. Hermione and Ron followed after him and into an empty classroom. They closed the door and checked to make sure no ghosts were hiding before Harry turned to them. "Snape cornered Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest after the match."
"What?" Hermione gasped. "How do you know?"
"I saw Snape heading into the forest while I was putting away my Nimbus," Harry explained impatiently. "So I hopped onto it and followed him. Quirrell was already waiting for Snape there. He said something about not getting why Snape wanted to meet in the forest and Snape told him he wanted to keep their conversation private.
"Snape asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy - and said something about Quirrell's `hocus-pocus'… I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell which Snape needs to break through."
"That's why Professor Quirrell looked so terrified of Snape today," Hermione said, her eyes widening. "Snape must be trying to force him into helping him get the stone! This is really big - we have to go to Professor Dumbledore."
"I doubt he'll believe us, Hermione." Harry shook his head stubbornly. "He'll just think that this will be our way of trying to get back at Snape. Besides, students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone. How are we to explain how we know about it? Or how we know about Flamel, or Fluffy? It'll all be traced back to Hagrid and he'll get sacked."
Hermione gave a frustrated growl and crossed her arms, knowing that Harry was right. They were placed in between a rock and a hard place and no matter what they chose to do there'd be some repercussion.
"So as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape the stone will be safe?" Ron asked grimly. He shook his head. "It'll be gone by the end of the week."
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27 March, 1992
Professor Quirrell had more of a backbone than Hermione had originally thought. After a month of worrying and fretting over when Professor Snape would finally get the stone, Hermione had to say that she was pleasantly surprised that the stone was still safe and sound. Every time she, Harry, or Ron would pass the third floor corridor that housed Fluffy they would press an ear to the door to make sure the growling dog was still inside (alone of course, they wouldn't do such a thing if in the company of another first year).
Hermione also began to crack down on starting up the revision tables for exams. Fay and Shae had been happy to start revising with Hermione back in February, but they never actually got around to doing any of the work. Hermione's Homework Help (Shae still called it that every time Hermione helped with schoolwork) had been temporarily disbanded; Hermione being too frustrated and anxious about the stone to go after the rest of her friends to study. That didn't mean she was going easy on Harry and Ron, though. They were going through everything that she was going through and knew that if it wasn't for her, they probably wouldn't even pick up a page of notes until a week or two before exams begin.
Ron still liked to complain whenever Hermione brought out the revision charts, but the teachers were on Hermione's side. They were piling on the homework like never before; every lesson had something due and by the end of it there was usually a thing or two due for the next one. Hermione's nights were usually spent in the library now, splitting her time between revising and keeping up to date with her homework and the synopsis she still wrote for Harry.
"I'll never remember any of this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill in defeat. Hermione, Harry, and Ron were spending their afternoon in the library, trying to get as much homework done as possible. "It's no use" Ron's voice hitched and cracked at the end of his sentence, making him flush and grab his throat. Hermione and Harry snorted, not bothering to hide their laughter. Ron's voice had begun to start cracking a lot recently and it was extremely amusing for the other two to see him get so flustered.
"Shut it, you two," Ron grumbled, picking up his quill again.
Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to the revision chart she was making up for Ron. They worked in silence until she heard Harry say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"
Hermione looked up to see Hagrid shuffle into view, shifting nervously and holding something behind his back. Hermione frowned at his suspicious behaviour, "What do you have there, Hagrid?"
"Jus' a book," he avoided. "What're you lot up ter? Yer still not lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"
"We found him ages ago," Ron said smugly, leaning back in his chair. "And we know all about what Fluffy," his voice cracked again, making Harry snort, "is guarding. It's the Philosopher's-"
"Shhh!" Hagrid hissed, glancing around nervously. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"
"There are actually some things we want to ask you," Harry said quickly, "about what's guarding the stone apart from Fluffy -"
"SHH!" Hagrid hissed again. "If yeh wanna talk come an' see me later. I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', but don' go ramblin' about stuff yeh shouldn' know where yeh could be heard. They'll think I've told yeh-"
"We'll visit this afternoon," Harry promised, cutting off Hagrid's rant. Hagrid shuffled off and Harry turned to Hermione and Ron, raising his eyebrows.
"I wonder what Hagrid was hiding behind his back," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"Do you think it has anything to do with the stone?" Harry asked.
"I'll go check," Ron said quickly, having had enough of homework for that day. He got up and hurried over to the section Hagrid had been in. A minute later he came back with a pile of books in his arms.
"Dragons!" he whispered, dropping the books unceremoniously onto the table (Hermione hissed at him). "Hagrid was looking up stuff on dragons! Look at this - Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno. "
"Hagrid told me he always wanted a dragon," Harry said quietly, grabbing a book and pulling it closer to him. "He told me that the first time I met him."
"But it's against our laws," Ron said, shaking his head. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709 - don't look at me like that Hermione, everyone knows that. You can't train them, they're too dangerous. My brother Charlie has some horror stories about the ones in Romania."
"Then what on earth is Hagrid up to?" Hermione asked, impressed that Ron had actually been able to remember an important date in history.
"Let's go visit him to find out," Harry said, shoving all of his homework into his bag.
Hermione returned the books to their proper place as Harry and Ron quickly cleaned up their table. She grabbed her bag as soon as she returned and the three hurried out of the library, walking as fast as they could to get to Hagrid's cabin.
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End Note: The ball has been set in motion, ladies and gentlemen. It won't be long now until this year is over!
Read and review!
Kelci
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