Seven
"The Games Children Play"
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.
Note One: Hey guys! Thanks so much for the lovely reviews, it means a lot to me! This week has been interesting. You know how Neville is this huge klutz? That's me in real life. Case in point: I was writing a scene for a later chapter and needed to reference PS. So I got up and went to the living room to grab the book and tripped over my cat who blended in with the carpet and sprained my ankle. That was the same spot AND same foot that I broke 2 toes because I ran into the bookshelf last year… Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was so much fun to write.
EDITED 06/13/2011: Just some date changes and minor edits.
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8 September, 1991
After using her free weekend to explore the castle (the library was even better than in her wildest dreams), Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room Sunday evening and was immediately pulled into a corner by Lavender and Shae. "What is it?" she asked, yanking her arm out of Lavender's grip. Since her comment to Hermione on Friday she had begun to take a great disliking to blonde girl.
"You have to help us," Shae pleaded, giving Hermione the puppy dog eyes.
"With what?" Hermione asked warily.
"The plant diagrams are due tomorrow," Lavender said, "and we're stuck on the first one!"
Hermione stared at the two girls, not understanding how they were stuck on a diagram when all they had to do was look in a book to find the answers. "Skip it and go onto the next one," she said turning to walk away.
"You aren't going to help us?" Shae asked, her expression falling.
"I offered to work on it together Friday," Hermione reminded, staring at the two girls. "Shae, your exact words were `I want to have fun on my day off.' Well looks like you had too much fun and left it to the last minute."
"I guess you're right," she said quietly, sitting back down at the table. Hermione refused to feel guilty for not helping her out; it was Shae's fault for procrastinating in the first place.
"So you're just going to ignore your fellow housemates when they need help?" Lavender challenged.
"Lavender, you made fun of me for finishing all my homework Friday afternoon," Hermione pointed out, choosing to ignore the way she had said housemates. She looked down at the table and saw that both girls' Herbology textbooks were closed. Rolling her eyes, she couldn't resist saying, "You know if you were to actually read your textbooks you'd know that all of the diagrams were in the first chapter."
"Thanks Hermione!" Shae said, her expression brightening. Hermione mentally scolded herself, realizing she had given the girls the answer even when she said she wasn't going to. "And I am sorry for what I said Friday. It was pretty rude of me."
"Oh," Hermione said, shocked, "no, it's fine." She stared as Shae opened the book, grinning when she found the diagram she had been stuck on. Hermione wasn't expecting Shae to apologize and was surprised at how genuine it sounded. Shifting uncomfortably, Hermione decided she would help Shae the next time she needed help with homework.
"I'm not going to apologize for what I said," Lavender said snidely, sitting down and opening her own book, "because what I said was true."
"Lavender," Shae hissed.
"Its fine, Shae," Hermione said stiffly. "If you need help on any other homework and you didn't leave it until the last possible moment, let me know." She childishly ignored Lavender as she spoke, letting her know that the invitation was for the ginger girl only.
Shae glanced between Hermione and Lavender. "I will, thanks," she said slowly.
"Well, I think I'm going to turn in," Hermione said, turning. "Goodnight."
She briefly heard Shae bid her goodnight as she marched up the stairs. Fay was sitting on her bed reading a book when Hermione stormed into the dorm, going to her trunk and grabbing her pyjamas. "What's wrong?" Fay asked, looking up at her in concern.
"It's nothing," Hermione said and went into the bathroom to go shower. She turned on the water and yanked her uniform off, stepping into the shower and letting the hot water pelt her frustration away. Lavender was just like the girls from back home, making fun of her one moment then expecting her to help the next.
Parvati was in bed by the time Hermione exited the bathroom. She walked softly to her bed and put her dirty clothes in the hamper that happened to be beside it.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Fay whispered, getting up and going over to Hermione's bed.
"I'm fine," she sighed, sitting down.
"Want to talk about it?" she asked, sitting down beside Hermione.
Hermione glanced towards Parvati, not wanting her to overhear - Lavender and Parvati had become close during the first week and she wasn't sure if the young Indian girl was really asleep. Fay sat up on her knees and pulled the curtains to Hermione's bed shut. "Talk," she demanded.
"It's Lavender," Hermione whispered after a moment. She felt bad for talking about the blonde behind her back.
"I figured," Fay said. "You and her don't seem to get along too well."
"She makes fun of me for finishing my work early but then expects me to just help her," Hermione ranted. "She can't have it both ways."
"Lavender's just like that," Fay defended weakly. "I'm not saying that what she's doing is right but -"
The door opened and Lavender and Shae's voices could be heard through the curtain. Fay cut herself off quickly, slapping her hand over her mouth. Hermione bit her lip, trying to listen to see if Lavender had heard them. Lavender went into the bathroom and Fay let out a relieved sigh.
"Fay? Hermione?" Shae was at the corner of Hermione's bed and poked her head through the curtains. "What are you two doing?"
"Oh, nothing," Fay said quickly, pulling back Hermione's curtains and going to her own bed.
Shae looked like she didn't believe her but didn't say anything. "Thanks again, Hermione," she said. "You really helped me out."
"I just told you to open your book," Hermione shrugged.
"Yeah well, you know that Lavender and I wouldn't have thought of that," Shae replied, blush dusting her cheeks. Fay let out an amused snort and shook her head.
"You're welcome, Shae," Hermione said, giving her a smile. She got into bed and snuggled into her pillow.
"I so don't want to go to History of Magic tomorrow," Shae moaned, flopping lazily onto her bed. "Can I just not go?"
"Shae-" Hermione began.
"Kidding, kidding."
Hermione woke up the next morning to the door snapping shut. She blinked groggily and looked around, slightly surprised that Lavender and Parvati's beds were empty. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, pushing back her covers. Fay was just sitting up herself, looking very dishevelled. "Good morning," Hermione called, opening her trunk and grabbing her toiletries and a fresh uniform.
"Morning," Fay yawned.
Hermione left to go to the bathroom where she dressed and got ready for the day. Once she was done, she tossed her pyjamas onto her bed and sat down as Fay slipped into the bathroom, wanting to wait for the brunette. Her concern last night had touched Hermione and she was reminded that even though some of the first years were cruel to her, Hermione had Fay, Neville, Sally-Anne, and sometimes Shae to fall back on.
Fay looked surprised to see Hermione waiting for her when she exited the bathroom. She smiled, "Thanks, Hermione."
Hermione smiled back and the two girls left the dormitory together. When they hit the common room they noticed the Gryffindor boys huddling around the bulletin board and went over to see what was going on.
`NOTICE FOR ALL FIRST YEARS,
Starting this Thursday (12 September) there will be flying lessons with Slytherin at 3:30. Lessons will continue bi-weekly (if weather permits) for the rest of term.
Flying instructor,
Madam Hooch'
Fay screeched excitedly once they read the notice and started jumping up and down, yanking on Hermione's arm. "Flying lessons, Hermione!" she squealed. "Finally!"
"Excited, Fay?" Seamus asked, grinning.
Fay rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. She looked towards Hermione, who hadn't said anything about the new lesson, and frowned. "Hermione?"
"Flying lessons?" she squeaked, feeling her stomach jump nervously. She had never been a fan of heights (she nearly had a panic attack on the plane to France when her parents had taken her and Viola) and the idea of being on something as flimsy and unsafe as a broom did not sit well with Hermione.
"Scared, Hermione?" Ron taunted.
"No," she bit out.
"Flying isn't something you can be good at by reading a book, you know," he commented as the group headed out of the common room. "You either got it or you don't."
Hermione never wanted to hurt Ron Weasley more than she did at that moment.
"I can give you tips if you want," Fay offered, glaring at Ron's back.
Hermione shook her head, too prideful to take her help. She'd just have to go to the library and read up on all the flying books that there were. She'd be totally fine.
Lessons seemed to blur together for Hermione that day; she couldn't even concentrate enough to write down everything Professor Binns had lectured them. Ron noticed this and continued to taunt Hermione, loving the fact that she was out of her element, and kept offering her tips and advice.
Neville was just as nervous as Hermione was, allowing Fay to give him tips throughout the entire day. Hermione could see why Neville was so nervous - he was the most accident prone person she had ever met and felt anxious just at the thought of Neville and broom together in the same sentence.
As soon as the last lesson of the day was let out, Hermione gathered up her things and rushed to the library. "Where's the flying section?" she asked the librarian Madam Pince.
Madam Pince looked startled but pointed to a section in the back. Hermione rushed over and pulled out different books and brought them to a small table. For hours she poured over the books, growing horrified when one of the books had a chapter dedicated to the worst flying accidents and injuries recorded throughout history - with moving pictures. She put that one back on the shelf and was grabbing Quidditch through the Ages when her stomach grumbled loudly.
Glancing at her watch, Hermione was surprised to see that it was dinner time. She grabbed a few more books and checked them out, stuffing them into her bag and running to the Great Hall.
"Where have you been?" Shae asked, laughing as Hermione plopped down and immediately began filling her plate.
"Library," she answered.
"Oh no," Fay groaned, putting her head into her hands. "Hermione, please tell me you weren't looking for books on flying."
"Really Hermione?" Lavender laughed.
"I told you that you can ask me for tips," Fay whispered, shooting a glare at Lavender. "I've flown loads of times and Ron is right, this is something you can't learn from books."
"We'll see about that," Hermione replied, shoving potatoes into her mouth. Fay rolled her eyes but let the subject drop.
For the rest of the week, Hermione read nothing but books on flying and Quidditch (which was a dangerous looking sport played on brooms), determined to know as much as possible when it came to their flying lesson. Neville had gotten as much information as he could out of Fay and had gone to Hermione, asking her to repeat the facts and tips she had read. She could tell that others were getting slightly annoyed at her but didn't pay them any attention. If they had seen the grotesque pictures from flying accidents and seen the people writhing in pain, they would want to know as much as possible too.
"Hermione," Shae growled Thursday morning when they were getting ready for breakfast. Hermione was mumbling facts she'd read in Quidditch through the Ages to herself as she pulled on her stockings. "I mean this in the nicest way possible - shut up."
Hermione glared at Shae and walked out of the dorm, still running the facts over in her head.
"Hermione!" Neville was waiting for her in the common room. He stood up and walked towards her, looking pale. "I've forgotten what you told me about turning the broom."
Hermione talked non-stop on the way down to the Great Hall, reciting the proper way to grip a broom and tips on how to control the height you wanted to go. Shae looked like she wanted to strangle Hermione, Fay looked exasperated, Harry looked annoyed, and Ron didn't bother to hide his grin from her during breakfast as she continued to recite facts. She was eventually cut off when owl post came and a small box was dropped in front of Neville.
They all watched as Neville opened the package and pulled out a glass ball filled with white smoke. "It's a Remembrall!" he exclaimed, all thoughts of their flying lesson forgotten. He gestured for everyone to move closer as he explained how it worked. "Gran knows I forget things and this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red - oh…" Neville's face fell as the Remembrall suddenly turned scarlet.
"What did you forget?" Dean asked, interested.
Neville couldn't think what he had forgotten and was trying to remember when the Remembrall was snatched out of his hand by Draco Malfoy, the blonde Slytherin that had pushed Hermione into the wall during their train ride to Hogwarts. Malfoy seemed to have something against Harry and Ron and taunted them constantly. The feeling was mutual however - Harry and Ron hated Malfoy with a passion. They immediately jumped to their feet.
"Give that back," Harry demanded, his eyes flashing.
Professor McGonagall had the uncanny ability to sniff out trouble before it began and was there in an instant. "What's going on?" she demanded.
"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor." Neville said quickly.
Malfoy scowled and slammed the glass ball back onto the table. "Was just looking," he said, turning back to his table. Two big goons followed him.
"Thanks, Professor," Neville said, picking up his Remembrall and putting it into the pocket of his robes.
Professor McGonagall nodded and went back to the head table. Harry and Ron sat back down, both glaring furiously at the Slytherin table. "The git," Ron grumbled, shoving eggs violently into his mouth.
Since the flying lesson was the one thing Hermione was least looking forward to, the day - naturally - sped by. At three-thirty the Gryffindors hurried outside to a patch of grass near the castle where the Slytherin first years were already waiting. Twenty brooms were laid out in two rows on the grass.
Madam Hooch arrived shortly after and instructed them to stand on the left side of a broom. Her sharp yellow eyes examined the students in front of her as they waited for further instruction. "Stick your right hand over your broom and say `Up!'"
"Up!" everyone chorused.
To Hermione's dismay, her broom just rolled over. She glanced up and saw that Harry, Fay, and Malfoy were the first ones to get their brooms into their hands.
"Up!" Ron shouted, frustrated that his broom was just hovering above the ground. "UP!"
The broom shot up with so much force that Ron wasn't able to catch it. It pitched upwards and smacked him straight in the face. Stunned, Ron tumbled to the ground as the people around him - except for Hermione - laughed. He struggled to get up and snatched the broom into his hand, a large red mark on his forehead.
"Shut up, Harry," he grumbled. Harry tried to stop laughing and couldn't look Ron in the face.
Hermione glared down at her broom. By now she was one of the few to not have a broom in hand. "Up!" she said forcefully. To her pleasant surprise, the broom rose steadily up into her hand.
Once everyone had gotten their broom up off the ground, Madam Hooch went around and showed them how to properly mount their brooms.
"Grip it like this," she said when she got to Malfoy, repositioning his fingers slightly. "This way will give you more control."
Malfoy flushed, "But my father taught me this way." He moved his fingers back to the way they were before.
"And that way," Madam Hooch said, once again repositioning his fingers, "is wrong."
Hermione caught Harry and Ron grinning wickedly at each other as Malfoy went beet red.
"Well done," Madam Hooch said when she got to Hermione. "Good grip technique." Hermione flushed proudly and shot a smug smile at Ron, who looked like he had swallowed something foul. Her grin got even wider when Madam Hooch repositioned Ron's fingers slightly. She had studied the proper way to grip a broom in one of the books she took out from the library and felt extremely proud that she learned something about flying from a book. `Take that, Ron.'
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," Madam Hooch said, standing in front the class. Hermione snapped her attention back to the instructor. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle - three - two -"
Neville jumped the gun and practically sprang off the ground. Hermione's heart leapt into her throat as she watched Neville spiral five, ten, fifteen, twenty feet up into the air.
"Come back, boy!" Madam Hooch was shouting.
Everyone watched with horrified expressions as Neville leaned forward a little too much, lost his grip, and slipped off the broom. There were screams and shouts as he fell and -
CRACK!
A sickening crack was heard once he hit the ground. Madam Hooch bolted to where Neville lay, moaning and whimpering in pain, and the Gryffindors followed closely behind. Shae looked like she was about to faint and clutched at Lavender, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"You're okay," Madam Hooch said soothingly, helping Neville sit up. She clucked her tongue, examining his left arm. "A broken wrist… let's get you to the Hospital Wing." She turned to the rest of the class as Neville put his full weight onto her, piercing all of them with her hawk like stare. "None of you are to move while I take this boy to the Hospital Wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts faster than you can say `Quidditch.'"
The Gryffindors shifted uneasily as they watched Madam Hooch lead Neville into the castle. All of the pride Hermione had felt when Madam Hooch complimented her was gone as she replayed what happened to Neville over and over again in her head.
"Did you see the great lump's face?" Malfoy burst into laughter. The other Slytherins joined in laughing.
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Parvati snapped, looking shaken.
"Ooooh is he your boyfriend?" Pug-faced Pansy Parkinson taunted as the other Slytherin girls shrieked with laughter.
"Look!" Malfoy darted forward and snatched a glass ball up from the grass. Hermione recognized it instantly as Neville's Remembrall as he held it up for the rest of the group to see. "It's this stupid thing his gran sent him."
"Give that here, Malfoy," Harry said. He didn't say it loudly but spoke with enough authority to make everyone stop talking and look at him.
"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find… how about in that tree over there?" Malfoy smiled nastily, picking up his broom.
"Give it here!" Harry yelled, taking a step towards him.
Malfoy leapt onto his broom and took off into the air, flying higher than the tallest tree. All week long Ron had been reassuring Harry that Malfoy was all talk when he bragged about flying - and it was clear that Ron was wrong. Malfoy tossed the Remembrall up in the air and caught it. "Come and get it, Potter!" he taunted.
Harry grabbed his broom and mounted it.
"Harry, no!" Hermione leapt forward, placing her hand on the broom handle. "You heard what Madam Hooch said, you'll get us all into trouble! You'll be expelled!" Harry ignored her, pushing up off the ground and flying up to where Malfoy was waiting. She felt a flutter in her stomach as he shot up. It was clear that Harry was a natural at flying.
"Go Harry!" Fay shouted.
Hermione's head whipped around to face the brunette. "Are you mad?" she seethed. "Don't encourage him, Fay! He's breaking -"
"Knock him off his broom, Harry!" Ron whopped, cutting her off.
"Ron!" she exclaimed.
"Oh go tell it to a teacher, Hermione," Ron sneered.
Hermione's mouth dropped open at the insult. She was about to answer back when all the girls shrieked. Spinning around, Hermione's stomach dropped when she looked up to see Harry suddenly charge at Malfoy. Malfoy managed to dodge just in time and Harry spun around to face him. Everyone (except Hermione) broke out into applause as both houses cheered on their housemates. They were too high up to hear what they were saying but words were exchanged and Malfoy chucked the Remembrall up into the air before zooming back down to the ground.
Harry leaned the broom forward and went into a nose dive, making Hermione and the other girls scream. Hermione covered her eyes but peeked through the cracks of her fingers to see Harry catch the Remembrall three feet from the ground and pull up out of the dive. He toppled off the broom and onto the grass gently, raising the fist that clutched the Remembrall into the air.
People began to cheer and run for Harry but stopped dead when a furious scream came from the doors of the castle.
"HARRY POTTER!"
For the second time that day, Professor McGonagall was able to sniff out trouble when it was brewing and was striding towards them angrily. Her eyes flashed dangerously and nostrils flared as Harry got up, all colour draining from his face as he watched her move towards him.
"Never in all my time -" Hermione's eyes widened. The usually calm and collected professor was speechless, grasping for words, "- how dare you - might have broken your neck-"
"It wasn't his fault, Professor." Shae insisted.
"Be quiet, Miss Bevern."
"Malfoy started it!" Ron argued.
"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Mr. Potter, follow me."
The Gryffindors watched as Harry followed after Professor McGonagall, his shoulders hunched over. Hermione looked towards the Slytherins and saw Malfoy's triumphant face. She realized that Malfoy must have seen Professor McGonagall before she saw him up in the air and bristled. Malfoy should be getting in trouble as well; he was the one who provoked Harry.
"This will no doubt be on the headlines of the Prophet tomorrow," Malfoy cackled gleefully. "Famous Harry Potter expelled after only two weeks of school."
"This is your bloody fault, Malfoy," Ron snarled, advancing towards him. Malfoy's two goons stepped in front of Malfoy and puffed out their chests. Seamus and Dean grabbed the back of Ron's robes so he wouldn't take them both on, "Get out of here."
"Do you think Harry will really be expelled?" Shae fretted, biting her nails as the Slytherins made their way back into the castle.
"I hope not," Hermione said. "But he did go up when Madam Hooch told us not to touch the brooms…"
"Oh come off it, Hermione!" Ron cried, rounding on her. "He had to do that to get Neville's Remembrall back!"
"I'm not saying that Harry started it! We all know that Malfoy provoked him!" Hermione shot back. "But Harry should've been the better person and not gone after Malfoy like that."
Ron glared murderously at Hermione before spinning around and stomping back to the castle. He bent down to pick up the Remembrall from the grass (Harry must have dropped it) and shoved it in his pocket. The rest of the Gryffindor boys gave Hermione annoyed glances as they followed. She could hear them arguing over what spells were best to use against Malfoy as they entered the castle.
Figuring the lesson was now over, Hermione followed the girls up to Gryffindor Tower. "You shouldn't have said that, Hermione," Fay muttered as the rest of the girls refused to talk to her. Hermione rolled her eyes at their childish behaviours; as bad as she felt for Harry, he did break the rules and had to face the consequences.
<><><>
Hermione's eyes widened when she entered the Great Hall for dinner and saw Harry sitting at the Gryffindor table. He looked too happy to be having his last meal at Hogwarts and was telling something to Ron, waving his arms excitedly as he told his tale. Hermione could tell from expression that he didn't get into serious trouble and she felt relieved, going to sit down across from Fay who was sitting a little ways away from the two boys.
"Not sitting with them?" she asked, nodding towards Harry and Ron.
"They're talking about something important," Fay said, looking towards them. "As soon as I got close to them they stopped talking so I left them alone." Hermione shook her head, bemused. She was learning that Fay was a lot more mature than regular eleven year olds.
"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting on the train back to the muggles?"
Hermione and Fay both groaned as Malfoy approach Harry, his goons Crabbe and Goyle right behind him. Hermione was beginning to greatly dislike the blonde Slytherin. "He just doesn't leave them alone, does he?" Fay groaned, glaring at him.
"It's been like that since the first day," Hermione said, rolling her eyes as she told Fay about the incident on the Hogwarts Express.
"He's nothing but trouble," Fay mumbled. Hermione nodded in agreement, watching as Harry and Malfoy began to taunt each other. Hermione was determined to step in this time if Malfoy did something - Harry had proved to her earlier that he wasn't able to resist being provoked by him and was liable to do something extremely stupid.
"I'd take you on any time on my own," Malfoy was saying. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only - no contact."
Hermione's eyes widened and Fay groaned, putting her head into her hands. Hermione watched them accept and plan to meet up at the trophy room at midnight, her heart beginning to race.
"What if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" Harry asked Ron after Malfoy stalked away.
"Throw it away and punch him on the nose."
"Leave it, Hermione," Fay warned but Hermione already stood up and walked over to the two.
"Excuse me."
"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" Ron asked, throwing down his fork.
"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying," Hermione began.
"I bet you could," Ron muttered.
"But you mustn't go wandering around the school late at night," she continued, ignoring Ron. "You already escaped being expelled today, Harry. Don't push your luck. Think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught - which you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."
"And it's really none of your business," Harry shot back.
"Goodbye," Ron waved sarcastically. The two got up from the table and left the Great Hall, leaving Hermione standing there. Harry had never been rude to Hermione before and she was slightly hurt by his tone.
"I warned you," Fay sighed when Hermione went to go sit back down.
"Well I couldn't just sit here while they planned this!" Hermione protested.
"Yes, you could've," Fay returned. "Hermione, I like you - you're my friend - but you really need to learn when to keep your mouth shut."
Hermione stopped listening to Fay and looked around the Great Hall, it not registering to her that Fay had just said she considered Hermione a friend. She knew she should tell a Prefect or a professor about the wizard duel but wasn't sure who to tell. Professor McGonagall looked extremely high strung as she ate dinner from the head table and she knew Professor Snape wouldn't believe her if she told him Malfoy had been the one to challenge Harry to the duel.
Hermione caught sight of Percy getting up from the table and walking out of the Great Hall. Fay saw Hermione gazing at Percy and narrowed her eyes at her. "Hermione," she warned in a low voice, "don't you dare."
Hermione didn't listen and she got up, ignoring Fay's cry of `Hermione!' and chased after Percy, calling out to him.
Percy and another Prefect stopped to stare at Hermione. "Can I help you?" Percy asked, straightening up and puffing out his chest.
"Yes, um," Hermione trailed off, faltering. She knew it was the right thing to do but wasn't sure if she could really tell on Harry and Ron. If she told Percy what was about to happen, they would no doubt get into serious trouble and blame her. Fay would also be very cross with Hermione as well. She licked her lips, figuring she should at least try to stop the stupid boys one more time before getting a superior involved. "I… can't remember the new password into Gryffindor," she quickly made up.
"It's `pig snout,'" Percy said, smiling. "The password changes frequently so get used to memorizing different ones."
"Thanks, Percy," Hermione smiled weakly as he and the other female made their way up the staircase. She turned around and went back into the Great Hall, sitting back down. Shae and Dean had joined Fay while she was gone. "I didn't do it." she said to Fay when she glared at Hermione.
"Didn't do what?" Dean asked.
"Nothing," Hermione dismissed with a wave of her hand. She shot a warning glare at Fay to keep quiet and went back to her dinner. Fay did keep quiet during dinner, and didn't speak up until they were going back to Gryffindor Tower.
"You're going to try and stop them," Fay accused.
"Of course I am," she replied. "I'll get through to them."
"Hermione, just let them go," she begged. "Let them make the mistake and have them learn from it. If you get in the way you'll only get in trouble along with them. And you and Ron already disagree over so many things, if you butt in things will only get worse."
"Fine," Hermione relented, "if it means that much to you."
"Thank you," Fay smiled, giving the password to the Fat Lady. They walked into the common room and saw Harry and Ron huddled in a corner with their heads together, no doubt planning for the duel. Hermione glanced at Fay, who was watching her, and sighed. She wasn't really going to stay put and watch as Harry and Ron got points taken away from Gryffindor. Hermione would just have to intercept them when they tried to leave the common room that night.
The other Gryffindors were overjoyed that Harry hadn't received detention or any sort of punishment. He was being secretive about what happened as they crowded around him, asking where Professor McGonagall had taken him. Ron had an infuriating knowing smile as he sat back and watched everyone question Harry, which left Hermione positive that there was something else that had happened.
Fay kept a watchful eye on Hermione for the rest of the night, speaking up whenever Hermione would glance at Harry and Ron for longer than a fraction of a second. Hermione wasn't sure why Fay was so persistent for her to stay out of their business, and it was starting to get annoying. Not being able to take Fay's scrutiny, Hermione announced that she was going to head up to bed. To her surprise, the rest of the girls agreed and went up with her - all of them tired from the drama that happened at the flying lesson. By ten-thirty, all of the girls (including Fay) were out cold.
At eleven, Hermione pulled on her pink bathrobe (making sure her wand was in the pocket) and slipped on her shoes as quietly as she could. She tip-toed out of the dorm and down the stairs, making sure the common room was empty and dark before taking a seat in an armchair.
She waited for a half hour before hearing Harry and Ron make their way quietly down the stairs. She waited until they almost reached the portrait hole before reaching over and flicking on a lamp. It was almost comical the way Harry and Ron jumped and spun around and, if it hadn't been such a grave situation, Hermione would have laughed.
"You!" Ron hissed furiously. "Go back to bed!"
"I almost told your brother!" she spat. "Percy would have put a stop to this."
"Come on," Harry said, tugging on Ron's arm and glaring at Hermione. He pushed the portrait open and climbed out of it.
Hermione couldn't believe they had the gall to just ignore her and clambered out of the common room after them. "Don't you care at all about Gryffindor? Slytherin is already in the lead for the House Cup and with this stupid stunt you're pulling you'll be putting us in last place!"
"Go away," Ron bit out.
"Fine, I'll just go and wake up your brother and-" Hermione turned around, fully prepared on going and waking up Percy. However, the portrait had shut behind her and the Fat Lady was nowhere to be seen. "Now what am I going to do?"
"That's your problem, not ours." Ron said.
"I'm coming with you," she quickly decided.
"You are not!"
"It's either I go with you or I go to Professor McGonagall," Hermione said, crossing her arms. She would have a better chance going with them, especially if they were to get caught by Filch. If they were caught, Hermione could just tell the caretaker that she was trying to stop the boys and not get into any trouble at all. "Take your pick."
"You have some nerve-"
"Shut up." Harry hissed suddenly. Hermione and Ron stopped instantly as Harry peered off into a corner where a snuffling sound was coming from. Stepping closer, they saw that it was Neville on the floor, curled up in a little ball and fast asleep. Harry stepped towards him and he jerked awake.
"You found me!" he exclaimed, getting up. "I was released from the Hospital Wing earlier but I couldn't remember the password!"
"It's pig snout," Hermione said. "But the Fat Lady's not in her portrait."
"How's your arm?" Harry asked.
"It was healed instantly," Neville said in a slightly awed voice, holding up his arm. "Madam Pomfrey is an amazing witch. She healed my wrist in-"
"That's all very interesting, but we're going to be late," Ron interrupted Neville. "Come on Harry!"
"Don't leave me!" Neville cried, clinging to Harry's arm. "The Bloody Baron's been past twice already."
Ron glared furiously at Hermione and Neville. "If either of you get us caught…" he trailed off, his threat lingering in the air.
"Come on," Harry grumbled, marching off down the corridor. The four Gryffindors made their way to the trophy room, keeping to the shadows and jumping at every little noise. Hermione couldn't believe that Filch and Mrs. Norris hadn't caught them yet - they were walking down one of the main corridors that was sure to be patrolled. A slight chill went down Hermione's spine and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end; she had a bad feeling about this.
They reached the trophy room with no trouble and stood off to the side in the shadows. Harry and Ron had their wands in their hands and had them pointed at the door while Hermione and Neville hid behind them. The minutes ticked by and there was no sign of Malfoy.
"He's late," Ron whispered, shifting anxiously. "Maybe he's chickened out."
A noise in the next room made them all jump. Harry gripped his wand and raised it towards the door as they heard Filch speak, telling Mrs. Norris to sniff out the room.
Neville started whimpering and Hermione and Ron hushed him quickly. All thoughts of running to Filch flew from Hermione's mind; that was an extremely stupid idea - Filch wouldn't care if she had been trying to stop them, all he cared about was that there were first years out of bed. Harry waved madly at the others to follow him as he scurried silently towards the door away from Filch. They had just made it around the corner when they heard Filch enter the room they were just in.
Harry looked terrified as he led them through the long gallery of suits of armour. As they heard Filch's voice get closer Neville let his nerves get the best of him. He gave a frightened squeak and broke into a run. Hermione reached out to try and stop him but he had tripped over his own feet, grabbed onto Ron and the two of them crashed loudly into a suit of armour.
"RUN!" Harry screamed, sprinting down the hall. Hermione was right behind him and she could hear Ron and Neville scrambling behind her. They heard Filch's shouts as Harry led them through a secret passage way. Hermione couldn't bring herself to look back as they sprinted down a staircase and through another secret passage.
She couldn't tell how long they were running for or where they ended up, Hermione was only aware that they had put as much space between Filch and themselves as possible. Harry eventually stopped running and leaned against a wall, panting, "I think we lost him." Hermione skidded to a halt beside him and bent over, clutching the stich in her side as she gasped for breath.
"How did Filch know we were there?" Ron whispered furiously.
"Malfoy tricked you, you realize that." Hermione pointed out, glaring at Harry and Ron. "He never intended on duelling with you and tipped off Filch that someone would be there at midnight."
Harry pursed his lips and ignored her. "Let's get back to Gryffindor Tower before anything else happens."
Hermione couldn't agree more with Harry and started towards the staircase. They hadn't gone more than ten paces when a streak of silver shot out from an empty classroom and over their heads.
Peeves the poltergeist was staring down at them, looking as though Christmas had come early this year.
"What's this?" he squealed delightfully. "Ickle firsties out of bed? Not good, not good. Should tell Filch, I should."
"Peeves, please be quiet!" Hermione hissed, her heart thundering. Peeves made a rude gesture towards them and Ron took a swipe at him, which as a huge mistake.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed. Hermione growled at Ron as they ducked under him and ran to the end of the corridor. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"
Ron reached the door at the end of the corridor first and slammed into it. He pulled the handle, moaning when he felt resistance. "It's locked! We're done for!"
"Move over." Hermione snarled, pulling her wand out from her bathrobe pocket. She jabbed Ron roughly in the side, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!"
The door unlocked itself and Hermione yanked it open so all four of them could enter the room. Neville and Ron shut the door quickly as they heard Filch come skidding down the corridor. Hermione let out a breath and clutched her chest as Peeves and Filch started to argue. She turned around to look at the room and froze.
A very large, very mean looking three-headed dog took up the space of the entire room. Their entrance had woken the animal from its slumber and it was now blinking at them, slowly getting up and towering over them. Neville noticed the animal too and was now pulling helplessly on Harry's arm.
"Get off, Neville!" he snapped, turning around. "What?"
The three-headed dog was now fully awake and started to growl at them. A large trail of saliva was dripping down the middle dog's mouth. Hermione's eyes followed the huge glob as it dropped to the floor and she frowned, seeing a wooden trapdoor underneath one large paw. She didn't have time to say anything about it as she was suddenly yanked out of the room by Harry. Ron slammed the door just as the dog lunged for them and it locked in place.
All four of them flew up the stairs, not caring how much noise they made nor if they ran into Filch. Hermione was already running through different explanations she could use for when they were caught by Filch as they booked it up to the seventh floor. However, for some miraculous reason, they didn't run into anyone else on the trip up.
The Fat Lady was back in her portrait and looked aghast at seeing four first years out of bed past midnight. "Where on earth have you all been?"
"Pig snout, pig snout!" Harry panted, ignoring her question. The portrait swung open and they ran into the common room, Hermione not allowing herself to calm down until the portrait closed shut behind them. They collapsed into armchairs, trembling and gasping for breath.
"What do they think they're doing," Ron gasped, "keeping a thing like that locked up in a school."
"Didn't you see what it was standing on?" Hermione snapped, finally getting her breath back.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking at its feet," Ron snapped right back. "I was looking at its heads. In case you didn't notice - there were three!"
"It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something important," she said, getting up. Neville got up and weakly announced that he was going to bed, moving shakily up the staircase. Hermione put her hands on her hips and glared at the two boys. "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. You went from one dangerous situation and right into another without any regard for Neville or me. We all could've been killed - or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind I'm going to bed."
She didn't stay long enough to listen to Ron's retort and she rushed up the stairs. As quietly as she could, she hurried to the bathroom and splashed water onto her face, trying to calm herself down. `Those boys are trouble,' Hermione thought to herself as she stared into the mirror. Her bushy brown hair was extremely wild, sticking up all over the place from the work out she had received. `That is the last time I try and talk them out of anything.'
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End Notes: Guess what chapter is next. >:D
Hope you enjoyed!
Kelci
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