Harry viciously stabbed his breakfast, hoping that the depressed feeling that had settled into the pit of his stomach would finally leave him. Ever since the debacle or as Seamus liked to refer to it (The day Harry Potter got beat by a girl), Harry had been in a terribly foul mood. While Hermione had already said she had forgiven him, she retained a slightly frosty attitude towards Harry Potter. Glum with the realization that Hermione couldn't quite get over the fact that Harry had let her win, he had come to the conclusion that if was not going to enjoy life then neither was his breakfast.
Sneaking a glance to the other side of the table, he spotted Hermione seemingly lecturing her two best friends. She was gesturing animatedly at Ron who was busy crunching down the remains of his breakfast. Neville looked at the pair of them amusedly and said something which caused Hermione to fix him with a glare. Neville shut up afterwards.
Hermione looked up for a moment and met Harry's eyes. She blushed furiously and looked away quickly. Harry was caught aback by the strange turn of events and didn't notice when Ginny sat across from him. She quickly stole one of his fresh biscuits.
"Hey! My biscuit," Harry brought his plate closer to him.
"Funny, didn't see you actually eating," Ginny pointed at his other biscuit which had been mangled beyond all repair by his utensils.
"Funny, I didn't realize you were such a thief."
"Funny, I heard you lost to a girl and then moped about it for the rest of the week."
Harry glared at the youngest Weasley as she casually ate the biscuit, her eyes never leaving his.
"You don't know what you're talking about," he muttered.
"Funny, I heard that you brilliantly took down the smartest witch in the school but froze when you had to disarm her."
"Ginny, we're not playing the funny game anymore."
"Funny, why would you freeze up when you had to disarm the girl you've had a crush on for nearly forever?"
"It's not funny anymore -"
"Funny, I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that you're a big wussy."
"Ginny, would you please….shut up."
Ginny indeed stop talking but kept her smirking face pointed towards Harry. Harry glared at her and started tucking into his breakfast, hoping that she would take the hint. She did not.
"What I really don't understand is how you suddenly became the best student in Defence," Ginny reached forward to take another biscuit from Harry's plate, but Harry smacked her hand away.
"My Dad's been teaching me," Harry answered shortly.
"Reallly now?" Ginny's eyebrows rose at Harry's comment. She was fully aware of the situation surrounding the Potter family, "When was this?"
"He came over more than usual this past summer. I know it was mostly to argue with Mum about whatever, but he took me aside and told me that he was going to help me with some of my Defence skills. Reckon he heard about the boggart."
"Ah…yes," Ginny nodded knowingly as she examined her hair for split ends.
"Mum wasn't too pleased when she finally caught us dueling each other, but I reckon she thought it was good bonding or whatever," Harry surrounded the word bonding with air quotes.
"Yes, well, your Dad really should have been giving you advice on how to ask out a girl. More specifically…that girl," Ginny pointed her lips in the general direction of the Trio.
"Thank you for being discrete," Harry said with a tinge of sarcasm.
"No problem."
Harry snuck another glance at Hermione. She was now talking rapidly to Ron, no doubt arguing about something or the other. Seeing as how Ron was holding a parchment in his hand and seemed to be repeating something that sounded like 'please', Harry surmised that Ron was trying to quickly homework for today's Care of Magical Creatures lesson. Ron jabbed his finger at Neville, trying to coax him into helping with his quest to copy Hermione's homework. Neville simply rolled his eyes and spoke to Hermione. Hermione shook her head vehemently at the pair of them.
"You're drooling," Ginny interrupted.
"Am not," Harry tried to check the side of his mouth as discretely as possible, finding no saliva. Of course, Ginny just stared at him.
"Harry, you can't just wait for Hermione to go around and notice you. In case you haven't noticed, her hands are busy enough with those two," Ginny jabbed her thumb towards the Trio again.
"Yes, well, I'd rather have her hands busy elsewhere,"
"And that's the exact attitude that is killing you! Talk to her a bit more, be a little more forward and stop thinking with one head and start thinking with the other."
"I don't want to scare the poor girl off, besides, I like it the way it is right now," Harry took a peek at Hermione, who was quickly gathering her belongings, still staring irately at Neville and Ron.
Ginny also turned towards her older friend. Hermione was packing the last of her belongings when Ginny turned towards Harry, a devious grin on her face.
"What are you Harry, chicken?"
Harry's head snapped towards his younger friend, his jaw tight and his eyes fierce. Ginny calmly stared back at him with a hint of a smirk on her pretty face. Without another word, Harry downed his goblet of pumpkin juice, slung his bag over his shoulder and started towards Hermione.
Before he could make his advance, however, he was interrupted by a screech from the rafters. Soaring through the Great Hall was a large horned owl carrying a periwinkle blue letter. All movement in the Hall had ceased as the crowd watched the enormous owl circle above the crowd. The owl seemed to soak up the attention as it circled around the student body, picking out its target.
Harry watched as the owl began to make its descent, heading straight towards the Gryffindor table. It was coming straight towards him. Harry could feel its golden eyes staring straight into his own green eyes. The owl flashed over the Trio and kept its path towards Harry and Ginny. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see that Ginny had turned a pale sickly color.
Fortunately for Harry, the owl continued to pass over him and Harry let out a breath that he did not realize he had been holding since the owl had entered the Great Hall. There was a distinct thud as he heard the letter finally be delivered to its recipient. Turning around, Harry was mightily surprised that the recipient of the letter was Alicia Spinnet.
At first, no one could quite believe the rather unorthodox turn of events. Alicia, herself, was staring at the letter with an expression of the utmost surprise. Her two friends, Katie and Angelina, had their eyes glued on Alicia, not quite believing what had transpired. There was a loud clang as someone dropped their fork. Alicia was snapped out of her reverie and leapt of the bench, sprinting towards the Gryffindor Tower. Angelina and Katie looked at each other for one moment before they too leapt up and chased down their Quidditch teammate. Harry felt a pair of shoulders brush by him as he watched the Weasley twins take chase down the hall.
Harry sat back down; shocked that Alicia of all people would receive the letter. He always thought that there was a certain sexist belief by the Ministry that did not allow them to call up females to fight. Indeed, Alicia was the first girl in Hogwarts that received the letter that asked her to fight against You-Know-Who. Shaken with disbelief, Harry did not feel the soft tap on his shoulder until Ginny coughed loudly.
Green met brown as Harry turned to face Hermione. Her face was also pale as she stared beyond Harry, no doubt focusing her eyes on the blue letter. Without looking at him, she spoke.
"Do you think we could talk for a moment?" Hermione said airily.
"Sure," Harry gulped.
"Come on, walk with me," Hermione blinked furiously for a couple seconds as if to shut out the image of the letter, "You have Magical Creatures next right?"
"Yep."
The pair departed from the Great Hall, Harry not daring to look back at the letter.
---____________---
---____________---
The pair walked in silence for a couple of minutes as they made their way to Hagrid's hut. The combination of being with Hermione and the letter caused Harry to sweat more than usual. His hands were slightly clammy, fearing what Hermione had to say. As they stepped out of the castle, Hermione spoke up.
"Harry…I…well….just wanted to say that I didn't mean to snap at you. I know that you of all people wouldn't go easy on me because well….I'm a girl," Hermione stuttered out.
"Oh! No…don't worry about it…I mean…I didn't go easy on you. I just kind of…froze…" Harry finished lamely, not quite knowing how to defend his dueling pride. Internally, he was smacking himself repeatedly at his stop and go phrasing.
"I just wanted to apologize for giving you the cold shoulder. I thought you were quite adept for not dueling before," Hermione smiled weakly at him. Harry felt a small tingling ring throughout his body at her smile.
"Well, my Dad's been helping me."
"Oh."
Hermione looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Harry was confused by her rather mysterious behavior, not quite understanding why Hermione did not want to meet his eye.
"What?" he finally asked as Hagrid's hut snapped into view over the horizon.
"Oh, nothing! I just didn't know your Dad was helping you with Defence. That's very nice of him!" Hermione smiled widely now and picked up her pace.
"Yeah…it is?" Harry was even more befuddled by Hermione's quick change of moods. Jostling with the bag on his shoulder, Harry sped up to catch up with Hermione. Ginny's taunt rang in his ears as he fell into pace with Hermione and Harry took a deep breath.
"Hey Hermione, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me on the next Hogsmeade trip to get some….books."
Well that's sort of asking her out.
Hermione stopped suddenly causing Harry to almost knock her over again. It was becoming quite a habit for the pair of them. Hermione turned to him with a bright smile on her face.
"Of course!"
Harry was dumbfounded at her rather quick reply before he realized that he had finally asked Hermione out. Harry gave her an equally bright smile as his nervousness finally evaporated. The pair resumed their walking as they approached Hagrid's hut. Harry strode up to the door and knocked several times, the stupid grin still plastered on his face.
There was a bark and a crash behind the door. Harry turned to Hermione, his face still smiling but now holding more amusement. After a series of crashes punctuated by a "Get out of the way Fang!" the door finally opened.
Out stepped Hagrid, his size massively dwarfing Harry and Hermione. With a loud yell and a grin, Hagrid abruptly hugged Harry, burying the smaller boy in Hagrid's rather smelly coat. Harry, in his part, simply patted Hagrid's back, rather his side since Harry couldn't reach Hagrid's back, awkwardly.
"Harry! Early to class! Excited about today's lesson?" Hagrid beamed down at him.
"I couldn't be more excited," Harry exchanged a glance with Hermione which caused the girl to give a small snort of laughter.
"Excellent! Hermione, early too! I really shouldn't be surprised though," Hagrid lumbered around to give Hermione a hug, but the girl stepped back quickly and gave a nervous laugh.
"Oh sorry Hagrid! I spilled some juice down my robes, it's kind of sticky," Hermione laughed weakly.
"That's what she said."
Harry groaned as he eyed a slightly grinning Seamus. Hermione looked surprise for a moment before her pretty face became stormy.
"Five points from Gryffindor."
Seamus and Dean's mouths dropped open in surprise. A chorus of "Hermione!" came from the crowd of Gryffindors that had reached the hut, Neville and Ron amongst them.
"I don't want to hear it! I already gave him several warnings and its gone past ridiculous!" Hermione walked over to Harry and stood beside him, glaring at her fellow peers. Harry's dorm mates turned to him expectantly. Harry shrugged as if to say "Sorry guys." Hermione turned to Harry and gave him a very satisfied smile. Harry smiled back weakly, one eye catching his dorm mates' furious glares.
"Come on you lot! We just have to wait for the rest of the class to get here, but in the meanwhile, everyone should put on these gloves," Hagrid brought out a box that smelled distinctly of cow dung.
"Now, we need to partner up for this one. Harry, Hermione, since you two were here first, the both of you can pair up and help me with the first one," Hagrid waved his arm to motion the pair over to the boxes. Pleased by the turn of events, Harry had no problem donning the dung smelling gloves.
"Please don't let this be what I think it is," Hermione muttered as she strode to the rattling boxes. Harry gave her a small smile as Hagrid addressed them. The small box rattled as the three of them got closer and Harry and Hermione exchanged looks of apprehension.
"You have to make sure that once I open the box, you grab the fella okay?! Ready?"
Harry shrugged as if to say "Ready as I'll ever be." Hagrid nodded and cracked open the lid. Immediately, there was a squeal and a small, brown creature leaped from the box. Seeker reflects kicking in, Harry reached out and grab the creature around the midsection, noting the slimy texture of the creature.
"Hermione, grab the wings!" Hagrid yelled over the squeals of the slimy creature.
Hermione yelped and reached out to awkwardly try to trap its wings against its body. After a few moments of wrestling with the wings, Hermione finally had its wings pinned against its side. Harry muttered, "Good job."
The creature's body resembled a snake except for the fact that it tiny little stubs near the tail, most likely its legs. A pair of wings was joined at the midsection, but Harry noted that the structure of the bones in the limbs did not allow the creature to fly. Harry mused that the wings were used to glide from a high location rather than lift the body off the ground.
"This is a mini - cockatrice!" Hagrid exclaimed.
Seamus looked at Harry and gave him a smirk.
"It's a cousin of the basilisk which means -"
Hagrid was unable to finish his sentence as the majority of the Gryffindors shrieked and turned away from the cockatrice. Although it was three years ago, the effects of the basilisk were fresh in their minds and they all refused to meet the cockatrice's eyes.
"Oh don't worry kids! All of their eyes are covered with films so there'll be no petrifaction going on here!" Hagrid gave a nervous chuckle. The students were still turned away from the creature though.
"Look," Hagrid situated himself in front of the cockatrice which was still trying to escape from its captors. He bent down to stare straight into its eyes. Harry watched Neville give a peek to see if Hagrid had been petrified. Hagrid beamed at him and the rest of the students carefully turned around once they found the creature was safe.
"Now, who's up next!"
Twenty minutes later, twenty muddy students were trying to wrestle their cockatrice into their boxes. Harry and Hermione had gotten their creature of the day into the box and were helping Ron and Neville with their cockatrice.
"Hold it still Ron!"
"Dammit Neville, these wings are disgusting."
"Grow up Ron, just grasp it gently and - "
"No one asked you, Hermione, just because you lucked out and got cockatrice tamer Harry."
"To be fair, mines wasn't nearly as mean as this one."
"Ron, just put your arms around it and pin the wings!"
"Ron, it's slipping. It's slipping."
"Hold on, Neville, I almost got it. Just one -"
Ron was unable to finish his sentence as the cockatrice burst from its captors and raced off towards the Forbidden Forest.
"I got it!" cried both Harry and Neville. The pair gave chase to the snake/dragon combination. Harry had gotten a head start on Neville and hoped to catch it before it got lost in the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid would be quite upset if they lost one of his pets and Harry was not about to let that happen.
Just a couple more steps!
The cockatrice was about to slither around a tree but stopped suddenly and faced Harry. Harry was confused by the sudden change in demeanor but did not stop running. It was only when he heard the distinct hissing sound from behind him that Harry paused and turned around.
It was apparent that his physical run-ins with Hermione did not teach Harry a lesson as Neville crashed into the stationary boy. As Harry held his out hand to brace his fall, he gasped as the ground suddenly gave way from beneath him.
Tumbling through the air, Harry was only mildly aware of the ground rushing up to meet him before he blacked out from the force of the impact.
---__________---
---__________---
Harry was dimly aware of someone tapping his shoulder. There was a dull pain in the back of his head and his body felt like he had just gone through Bludger-evasion practice.
"Harry…..you gotta wake up."
"Mmmm….schnarklefas," Harry mumbled, not ready to open his eyes.
"No, Harry. Wake UP!" the unknown assailant gave him a rough shove in the shoulder.
"I'm awake, I'm awake!" Harry sat straight up and immediately regretted it. The rush of blood to the head caused an imbalance of fluids in his head. Harry promptly lied back down.
"Well at least you're alive," said a grinning Neville Longbottom.
"Neville?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Why the hell are you waking me up?"
"Well…we're kind of in a predicament," Neville said slowly.
Harry opened his eyes and looked up at the calm, blue sky. As he gained his depth of field though, Harry realized that he was lying down in a hole that was approximately fifteen feet deep and completely covered with dirt.
"AHHHHHH!"
"No, calm down, calm down!"
"I'm calm, Neville. I'm CALM!"
Harry had bolted up and immediately started shaking all the dirt out of his clothes. Neville wore a slightly worried expression as he stared at the shorter boy. As Harry shook the last vestiges of dirt from his shirt, he finally took in all of his surroundings.
"What happened?"
"Uh…well…it's sort of my fault," said a sheepish Neville.
A rush of memories came back to Harry as he remembered the events that had led him to occupy a 10 x 10 dirt hole with Neville Longbottom.
"Was that you? Speaking Parseltongue?"
Neville grimaced slightly before nodding.
"Ahhh…I see. I had forgotten all about that."
Neville shrugged and tried to play it off, "I don't like being reminded of that either. I was just trying to stop the cockatrice before it got away."
"Fair point," Harry sighed, "Where are we anyways?"
"Don't know really. I reckon we're in some sort of trap seeing as how no one can hear us from above."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked as he sat back down against the dirt wall.
"Well, I heard Hermione and Ron come around the hole shortly after we fell in and I called out to them, but they didn't seem to hear me. Hermione was practically on top of us, but she didn't see us either."
Harry coughed violently.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, just some dirt in my throat."
"Here," Nevile handed Harry a water bottle. Harry thanked him before taking a quick swig and handing it back to Neville.
"Handy you always keep that with you," Harry nodded towards the bottle.
"My Gran always said to keep hydrated. Kind of just stuck with me," Neville smiled sheepishly at the mention of his grandmother.
Harry nodded, unable to say anything else. Neville's grandmother had died shortly before Neville attended Hogwarts. Since Neville had inadvertently defeated You-Know-Who, the Death Eaters that still remained at large had no doubt been on the hunt for Neville. Despite all of the protection that Harry had heard Neville received, it did not stop the Death Eaters from locating Neville's grandmother and killing her. They were sadly merciful as they had not subjected Neville's grandmother to the torture curse, unlike Frank and Alice Longbottom. Frank and Alice Longbottom were killed shortly after they were tortured. It was another aspect of Neville's life that Harry did not envy.
"It's probably charmed," Harry pointed upwards.
"How so?" Neville's eyebrows came together at his question.
"Hagrid once told me that centaurs set up traps in the Forbidden Forest for game and food. This hole's probably enchanted so that whatever falls in is trapped and no one can hear or see it. So either someone gets clever and finds us or we wait it out for the centaurs," Harry reasoned.
"So how long do we have to wait?" Neville said after a moment.
"Hagrid didn't specify," Harry finished darkly. Neville nodded once before getting comfortable. He looked at Harry and smiled.
"Best get comfortable then."
Harry agreed with the taller boy and shifted around until he was nicely settled in his pile of dirt. The two boys exchanged slight small talk to pass the time as the sun drifted from view, no longer beating down on them. Once or twice they heard someone pass by and they had called out for help each time, but it was to no avail. It was only about an hour later that they heard someone clearly.
"There you go boy, have some food…"
"Who is it this time you think?" Harry asked.
"Looks like you and your friends are taking Wednesdays seriously now…."
"It sounds like…" Neville had the name on the tip of his tongue but couldn't quite figure it out just yet.
"I wonder if you've seen your friends? Those Crumple-Horned Snorkacks…"
"Luna," they both said.
"Oh yes, they told me too. Bad things on the horizon…"
"LUNA!" the pair of them yelled, hopefully catching her attention.
"Oh no, post-Nargles. Although, I suppose that some things should happen during the Nargles mating season as well…"
"Oh it's no use. No one can hear us," Harry said despondently.
"You never know. It is Luna," Neville said with a slight smile on his face.
"Good point," Harry smirked back.
"LUNA!"
"Father says that we must do this…"
"Here Harry, get on my shoulders and maybe you can poke your head out there."
"Father also says that when the time comes, it will all go away…"
"Almost got it Neville….just a little bit more."
"Though I'm starting to have my doubts…"
"OW!"
Harry had finally reached the top of the ditch, standing on Neville's shoulders. As he did so, however, there was a loud snap as he tried to reach for the ledge. The sharp burning sensation in his hand caused him to jump in surprise which in turn caused Neville to lose his balance and send both boys tumbling down to the floor of the hole once again.
"What happened?!? Are you alright?" Neville asked as he rubbed his head.
"Yeah…I think it's charmed. Smart, I suppose, so nothing in here gets out," Harry rubbed his hand with equal vigor.
"Did you hear that?"
Harry and Neville froze and looked at each other before returning to their cries of, "LUNA!"
"Must have been a stray Humdinger. Let's go see if we can find it…"
Luna's footfalls drifted away from the hole. Harry and Neville sat back down despondently.
"Clever creatures them Centaurs," Neville mumbled, gazing towards the ledge where Harry had hurt his hand.
"Hermione would be proud," Harry said with a rueful smile.
"Yes she would," Neville said with a ghost of a smile on his face as well. Harry took the time to ponder his dorm mate. While they weren't particularly the best of friends that Ron and Neville were, Harry believed that they were still good friends. Neville had come to Harry's birthday party when he turned to ten so they had some connections. At Hogwarts, however, Neville was so caught up in his adventures that there was never really a time where Harry and Neville were together exclusively.
Now we're both stuck in a hole for who knows how long.
"I've been meaning to tell you Harry. Great job during the duels," Neville gave him a thumbs up from across the dirt hole.
"Thanks. My Dad's been teaching me so I was a lot better than last time you saw me," Harry joked.
"Is he now?" Neville said curiously, looking away.
"Yes…he is," Harry eyed suspiciously. It was the second time that day that he had received a curious comment after he had told them of his Dad's lessons.
"That's good then," Neville nodded, still not meeting Harry's eyes.
"I suppose it is," Harry said, looking directly at the taller boy. He did not press the issue, however. If Neville kept it to himself, then he had a good reason. Hermione, on the other hand, would be thoroughly interrogated.
Maybe after our date though.
At this point, Harry sat up. He realized that there were some things that needed to be said to Neville and Ron before he took Hermione out on her date. While he was not completely aware if either of the pair had feelings for her, there would be less complications if Harry confronted both of them. Although Harry was fearful of Neville's reaction, he was determined to speak about the issue. Just as he was about to speak, however, Neville finally turned to look at him which caused Harry to choke on his own saliva.
"Harry? Harry? You alright??? Here, take the rest of my water," Neville handed Harry the water bottle, which he accepted graciously.
"I was just going to say…" Harry unfortunately fell in another coughing fit. Neville looked at him concernedly as Harry collected himself.
"I was just going to say…you did a great job yourself," Harry mumbled the last part.
"Oh, why thanks," Nevile said with a puzzled smile. Harry just shrugged back in response and drank the water to cover up his red face.
So much for that.
As Harry was finishing his water, he heard more footsteps. Neville had heard them too and sprang up, hopeful to attract some of the attention their way.
"I implore you Dumbledore…we need more students," said a slightly recognizable voice.
"Minister, your Ministry has already taken enough students as it is. At this rate, there will be no one to teach at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said in an unusually clipping voice.
"But we need them. You said it yourself; we MUST stop You-Know-Who!" Minister Fudge pleaded.
"But not at the expense of students' lives Minister. We must try to keep them here and protected," Dumbledore said calmly.
Harry and Neville were so entranced by the conversation that they forgot to call for help. After a moment, Neville broke out of his trance-like state and cupped his hands in front of his mouth.
"Professor Dumbledore!"
Albus Dumbledore did not appear to hear the Boy-Who-Lived and kept walking with Minister Fudge. As they approached the hole though, they appeared to stop as the sound of their footsteps suddenly vanished.
"What are you playing at Dumbledore? You know we need these students. Why keep them here? They can learn out in the field as well," Fudge said with more than a hint of suspicion.
"Not everything can be learned through fighting, Minister," Dumbledore said, his unnerving calm restored.
There was a pause in their conversation. Harry cupped his hands in front of his mouth and shouted for Dumbledore as well but received the same non-response that Neville received.
"I know what you're playing at Dumbledore," Fudge accused.
"I have no clue what you're talking about Minister," Harry could practically see Dumbledore's twinkling eyes.
"You may have fooled the Wizengamot, but you have not fooled me! You're out to make your own mercenary army aren't you? That's why you won't let any Aurors near Hogwarts!" Fudged was wailing now.
"Minister, I ensure you, I have no intentions of making an army out of my students," Dumbledore replied.
"That's bloody rubbish and you know it."
Harry's eyebrows shot up at the sound of the Minister's cursing.
"On the contrary, Minister, I just want to keep my students safe from any…harm."
"Hmph, we'll see about this Dumbledore."
"I have no doubts about it."
The sound of fading footsteps indicated that they too were leaving the forest without finding the two boys stuck in the hole. Harry and Neville sank back down into their seating positions, each of them enveloped with their own thoughts.
"That was a doozy. You don't think Fudge would actually send Aurors or Dementors up here do you?" Harry recalled his Third Year when Dementors were sent to Hogwarts for Ministry-deemed protection.
"Not Dementors I reckon, but who knows about those Aurors," Neville rubbed his chin looking deep in thought.
"Glad Dumbledore's here to set the record straight," Harry said.
"Me too."
A silence fell over them as the rays of light grew dimmer and dimmer. It was nearly dinner time and Harry could not quite figure out why there was not some sort of search party. After asking Neville, he found out that there was quite a crowd around their area when Harry was knocked out, but they had since left. The light grew dimmer and dimmer until there was only a soft, red glow in their ditch. Harry and Nevile talked about what their plans would be when the Centaurs found them, but they were interrupted by a loud hoot.
They both looked up to see Harry's white owl, Hedwig, perched on top of their hole, pecking at the seemingly invisible ground.
"Genius!" Harry exclaimed as he stood, his knees creaking from all the standing and sitting.
"You sure this will work?"
"Owls have an uncanny sense of finding their target, Ron. I'm sure this will work…at least I think so."
Harry was never gladder to hear Hermione's bossy tone. It was ethereal music to his rather dirt-covered ears. Neville looked just as happy to hear his friends as well.
Hermione and Ron emerged into view, standing right where the opening of their hole was. They seemed to be walking on thin air, but Harry mused that they were probably standing over a pile of dirt.
"She seems to have stopped here," Ron said as he poked at the ground.
"Stand back, Ron," Hermione brandished her wand as Hedwig hopped out of the way and Ron stepped back.
"Reducto!"
Harry met Neville's eyes a split second before Hermione cast her spell.
"Protego!" said Harry as he deflected the mountain of dirt that fell on them. It could not quite catch the avalanche of grass, however, and the resulting weeds covered both Harry and Neville.
"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!" Harry could dimly hear Hermione profusely apologizing.
After a couple of moments and a few swear words, Harry and Neville were finally wretched out of their prison. As they were busy dusting the dirt off their robes, Hermione and Ron explained to them that the whole school had been looking for them all day. When the Minister found out that the Boy-Who-Lived had disappeared, he had called an army of Aurors to invade the castle and find Neville. Hermione finally had the bright idea of using Harry's owl to find him.
As Harry ruffled the grass out of his hair, Hermione tackle hugged Neville.
"Thank Merlin you're alright! We thought…you know…him…" Hermione said.
"Oh don't worry about it Hermione. Just Harry torturing me instead," Neville joked and gave Harry a smile.
"Oi!" Harry laughed. He turned around to pat the dirt out of his jeans and was surprised when Hermione gave him an equally ferocious hug.
"I'm glad you're okay too Harry."
"Th-th-thanks," Harry stammered. He was glad it had become dark. The darkness served to cover the blush that had risen to his face when Hermione hugged him.
"I'm okay too, Hermione," Ron joked with a huge grin
"You prat," Hermione disengaged from Harry and smacked Ron in the shoulder. Harry, on his part, was still on cloud nine from Hermione's hug.
"Oh, Harry! Your parents are here. I've been talking to them for the better part of the hour," Hermione said with a coy smile on her face.
"Just pleasant."