It was a brightautumn dayon theeleventhof September. Harry was at the Burrow with the Weasley's. The Dursley's had decided they wanted a normal summer, and he was kicked out. Harry had been staying with Mrs. Figg, his batty old neighbour,and only leaving occasionallyto sneak into his room to steal the snacks he had hidden in the loose floorboard under his bed until the Weasley's had found out from Dumbledore, and had come to collect him.
Harry was upstairs in Ron's room unpacking his trunk. He didn't know why he was, considering they were going to Hogwarts the next day, but he had nothing better to do.
Ron's room had changed. It was no longer covered with posters of Ron's favourite Quidditch team, The Chudley Cannons, but was now covered in enlarged pictures of Hermione. Because the whole Weasley family was magical, the pictures were moving. The photo Hermione was smiling and shaking her hair. Ron came upstairs and the photo Hermione beamed and puckered her lips. Ron went over to the picture and kissed it.
"Ron, that is disgusting. It's a picture!" Harry remarked.
"I know, but I can't help it. I miss her so much!" Ron moaned.
Suddenly Mrs. Weasley's voice echoed up the stairs.
"Harry! Ron! Get down here!"
Ron sighed and went to the door, Harry on his heels. They worked their way down the rickety staircase and walked into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was standing in the middle of the kitchen, smiling.
"What do you want?" Ron asked.
"I have a surprise for you Ronald." Mrs. Weasley said, suspiciously. She stepped aside. Behind her stood…Hermione. Ron grinned and ran towards her, throwing his arms around her and hugging her.
"Hermione! Oh, Hermione, I missed you so much! I couldn't wait any longer to see you!" Ron was rocking side to side; Hermione was kissing him on the cheek over and over. She was sobbing. Ron suddenly stepped back and looked at her.
"Hermione, why are you crying? What's wrong?" he asked.
"Oh, Ron!" Hermione sniffled, "I think I know who kidnapped me last year!"
"What? But Hermione, that's great! Well, it's not…well…never mind." Ron stuttered.
"Remember I told you it was a man? Well, now I know which man it was!" Hermione was crying uncontrollably.
"Who was it?" Ron asked, a hint of fear in his voice.
"Yeah, come on Hermione, spit it out!" Harry said.
Ron glared at him.
"That was the wrong thing to say, Harry." Ron said angrily.
"Sorry." Harry said sheepishly.
Hermione was still sniffling in Ron's shoulder.
"Tell me, come on sweetie," Ron said soothingly, "You know you can tell me. Don't be scared. As soon as you tell me, we'll tell Dumbledore, and he'll tell Fudge, and then they'll track him down. It'll all be okay."
Hermione nodded, then said, "It was Snape! Oh Ron! I knew all along that he was up to something. I was dreaming of the night I was kidnapped, and then I saw his face! It was Snape, Ron!"
Ron's face went scarlet.
"WHAT!" he bellowed.
"Oh, dear, Hermione you must be mistaken!" Mrs. Weasley said, "It couldn't have been Severus. He's a teacher! He wouldn't kidnap a student!"
"Oh yes he would!" Ron said, still yelling, "I never trusted him, old Snivellus."
Harry snorted. That's what his father, James Potter, and his friends would call Snape when they were in school. It was such a good name for him. It fit his personality and appearance perfectly.
"But Mrs. Weasley, it was Professor Snape! I know it was! I remember his face! The black greasy hair, the livid expression, even the potato nose comes to my memory!" Hermione was practically screaming by now. Her face was whiter than a ghost. Ron's face was as purple as a plum. Harry was standing there, looking confused.
"But Hermione, It couldn't have been! You must…" Mrs. Weasley was stopped abruptly by the ringing of the doorbell.
"Oh my! I forgot! The Smith's! Oh goodness." Mrs. Weasley was running around frantically.
"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry said, "Are you okay? Who are the Smith's?"
"Yes dear I'm fine. The Smith's are friends of Arthur's and their daughter is starting at Hogwarts this year." She answered. She went to the door and opened it.
"Hallo, Molloy. How are you too-dae?" said an abnormally large man.
"I'm fine, thank you Harold. And this must be the charming daughter I've heard Harolda talk so much about when she comes to tea." Mrs. Weasley was smiling at the girl who reminded Harry of Dudley. She looked almost exactly like him, only she was a girl.
"Introdooce yourself, dahhling," said Harolda.
"Hallo, my nayme is Lumpalinaliona. But my friends call me Lumpy."
Harry and Ron snorted. Hermione glared at them. Ron immediately looked at the ground, but Harry just shrugged. Hermione stepped up to Lumpy and extended her hand.
"Hello….um…Lumpy, did you say it was?" Hermione asked, trying to hide a smile.
"Ya, my nayme is Lumpy." Lumpy answered.
"Well, Lumpy, my name is Hermione Granger."
"Hallo, Her…Her…um…Hermy…Hermy-oney."
Hermione smiled. "Close enough." She said.
Ron stepped forward.
"Hi, Lumpy. I'm Ron Weasley, Hermione's boyfriend," he said.
"What's a boyfriend?" Lumpy asked.
"Uh…well, it's um…well, let's say it's a very close friend, and well, every once in a while, there's kissing," Ron said, uncomfortably.
"Oooh! Kissing! Will you kiss her for me? Please, please, please?" Lumpy was jumping up and down now. Ron looked at Hermione. Hermione shrugged.
"Might as well, she seems pretty excited. And, you know, I'm always up for a kiss from you."
Ron blushed so red; he looked like a cherry with ginger hair. He grinned sheepishly, then gathered Hermione up in his arms and kissed her long and hard.
"Ew! Gross! That's deesgusting! Stop!" Lumpy was running in circles and waving her arms. Ron didn't stop, though. Harry came and pried them apart. He then stepped up to Lumpy.
"Hey Lumpy. I'm Harry; Harry Potter," he said.
Lumpy's eyes widened. Her mouth dropped open.
"Thee Harry Potterrr? Oooh…I've always dreeemed of meeting yoo. Will yoo marry me?" Lumpy was leaning forward and extending her arms, trying to grasp Harry's hands. Harry was walking backward, trying to avoid the stubby fingers. Ron suddenly ran forward and pushed Lumpy back.
"You leave him alone, you…um…overly-sized…um…person."
"Ronald Weasley! How dare you call her that! That was incredibly rude! Oh, the poor dear, she's crying." Mrs. Weasley hurried over to Lumpy.
"My baybee! Lumpy, are yoo okay?" Harolda ran over to Lumpy and wrapped her arms around her.
"I'm just going to go upstairs," Harry said.
"Yes, me too," Hermione agreed.
"Um, Hermione, I don't think you should go to my room," Ron said, shifting from foot to foot.
"Why ever not? It can't be as bad as mine. I'm going whether you like it or not." Hermione turned and started marching up the stairs.
"Uh, Hermione! Come back! Don't go up there!" Ron started to run after Hermione. He caught up to her and grabbed her arm.
"Hermione," he said, gasping for breath, "You can't go up there. You won't like it. I know you won't. I did something to it. You just can't go into my room."
"Goodness Ronald. I'm going into your room anyway. I don't care what you've done to it. It can't possibly be as bad as mine. Now let go of me." Hermione shook off Ron's hand and continued her march up the stairs. She got to Ron's door and put her hand on the doorknob.
"I'm going in!" She yelled. She turned the doorknob, opened the door, took one step in, and stopped. The photo Hermione was looking straight at her. Hermione's mouth dropped open. Ron sprinted into the room. He stopped dead in his tracks and sighed.
"I told you it was bad," he whispered.
"Oh, goodness," Hermione gasped, "it is as bad as mine."
"What?" Harry said, laughing, "You mean to say, that you have enlarged pictures on Ron on your wall? What is the world coming to?"
Hermione turned and glared at Harry. Harry looked out the window.
"So, guys," Ron said, "You wanna go gnome catching?"
"Totally!" Harry yelled.
They started downstairs and went past the adults.
"Mum," Ron said, "Me, Harry, and Hermione are going into the garden to exterminate the gnomes."
"All right dear." Said Mrs. Weasley.
"Oooh! Ganome extermination! Can I cumm?" Lumpy bellowed, clapping her hands.
"Uh, sure." Ron said.
They started out the door and into the garden. The gnomes were running around and grunting, their fat legs carrying them the whole way.
"Harry, look," Ron whispered in his ear, "They're almost as fat as Lumpy."
Harry doubled over with laughter.
He started walking backward so he could lean against the willow tree. Lumpy heard him laughing, came over, and started laughing along with him. As Harry was walking backward, he tripped over a rock and fell on his back. Lumpy stopped laughing and looked down. She smiled a mischievous smile and did the one thing Harry was dreading.
"Lumpy, no!" Harry screamed. Lumpy jumped in the air and threw herself on Harry. She started kissing him all over his face. Harry was screaming as loud as he could, but Lumpy's body muffled him. Ron and Hermione were still throwing gnomes over the fence.
"Hey Hermione, where's Harry?" Ron asked.
"I don't…" Hermione looked around and saw Lumpy lying on the ground. Just barely, she could see Harry's sneakers twitching under her.
"Oh, no," she breathed. "Ron, I think Harry might need some help." She pointed to the willow tree.
"What?" Ron said. His eyes followed Hermione's finger. His eyes widened.
"Lumpy! You get off of him right now!" he screamed, running over to them. He grabbed Lumpy's arms and started to pull. He was making a sound that sounded like a mix between a grunt and a scream. He finally succeeded and pulled Lumpy off of Harry. Harry was lying on the ground rubbing his stomach and coughing. Ron threw Lumpy to the ground.
"How dare you! You could have killed him!" Ron was shaking his finger at Lumpy. Lumpy silently got up and walked into the house. Hermione ran over.
"Harry! Are you okay?" She said, kneeling next to him.
"I can't feel my body," Harry said, in between coughs. "I think I'm going to have internal bruising for life."
"I am going to get that girl," Ron said, his face growing redder by the second, "even if it is the last thing I do."
"I think she crushed my lungs," Harry said, rubbing his stomach. "I can't breathe right anymore."
"I'm going to get Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said, standing up and walking towards the house. Ron stared after her.
"God, she's beautiful," he whispered.
"Ron," Harry moaned, "this is not the time to be thinking of Hermione. I can't feel my body. That's not normal."
"What?" Ron said, looking around wildly, "Wha…oh, sorry Harry. Yeah, right, about your lungs…" Ron was cut off by Mrs. Weasley's shrieks as she came running across the lawn accompanied by Hermione.
"Harry! Oh Harry, dear! Are you all right? What did Lumpy do to you?" Mrs. Weasley was talking a mile a minute.
"Mum…Mum…MUM!" Ron was poking his mother with his finger.
"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, "But I don't know why Lumpy had to do what she did."
"What did she do dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, taking out her wand and inspecting Harry.
"Well," Harry began, "Ron had said something funny, so I started to laugh. I went to lean against this willow tree, when Lumpy came over and started guffawing with me. I tripped over a rock as I was walking backward, and, because of gravity, I fell on my back. Lumpy stopped suddenly, gave me a mischievous smile, and jumped on top of me. She was kissing me everywhere. It was disturbing, at least it was coming from her." Harry finished.
"What do you mean, it was disturbing from her? Who would it not be disturbing from?" Hermione asked, a sparkle of laughter in her eyes.
"Um, well, a certain girl at school," Harry said, uncomfortably.
"Who?" Hermione asked.
"Lavender Brown," Harry mumbled.
"Really?" Hermione said, smiling. "She likes you too, you know. She likes you a lot."
"She does?" Harry said, sitting up even further. "How do you know?"
"Well, she talks about you all the time, and, well, I'm pretty sure she has dreams about you because she says your name a lot in the middle of the night while she is sleeping," Hermione finished.
"Wow," Harry breathed. "That's amazing."
"Yes, well, that's all good, but we do need to catch the train to Hogwarts tomorrow," Mrs. Weasley said, standing up.
"Oh, right. I forgot all about that," Harry said, slowly getting to his feet.
The four of them walked into the house. Mrs. Weasley went to the stove.
"Dinner in ten minutes!" she yelled.
"Okay!" they all yelled in unison. They started to walk up the stairs to Ron's bedroom. When they got there, they all started to pack their trunks. Harry was re-packing his. Ten minutes later they heard Mrs. Weasley calling their names. They started down into the kitchen. They walked into the kitchen and plopped themselves in chairs at the table. Mrs. Weasley set the dinner. It was Harry's favourite, Bangers and Mash. Harry helped himself. He had not one, not two, but three servings. After dinner they had dessert. They had raspberry truffles. Not one of Harry's favourites, but he ate them anyway. After they were finished, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to Ron's bedroom to finish packing.
"My stomach still hurts," Harry said, throwing a pair of underwear into his trunk. He was almost finished re-packing.
"Poor Harry," Hermione said, closing her trunk and yawning. "I'm so tired. Where am I going to sleep?"
"You're sharing with Ginny," Ron said. "And Harry is staying in here. He is sleeping on the cot." He pointed to a bed in the corner.
"Well, I'm going to sleep," Hermione said, starting for the door. "Goodnight everyone."
"G'night," Harry and Ron said, also yawning. Hermione left to go to Ginny's room. Harry and Ron changed into their pajamas and crawled into bed. Harry was so tired; he fell asleep immediately.
Mrs. Weasley got them up the next morning at six o'clock. Harry got out of bed and pulled on jeans and a tee-shirt. He grabbed his trunk and started down the stairs. He met the whole Weasley family, except for Percy, Charlie, and Bill who no longer lived in the Burrow, down in the kitchen. Harry sat down next to Ron at the table and began to eat some toast. Ten minutes later, they were all piled in the Weasley's blue Ford Anglia. They drove in silence. Most of them fell asleep again. Hermione had dozed off, her head on Ron's shoulder, and her hand in his. Ron's head was leaning on the top of Hermione's head and he was snoring. Harry stared out the window, waiting to see the sign that marked Kings Cross Station. He finally saw it, and smiled. He was almost home.
Mr. Weasley parked the car and they all filed out. Harry grabbed his trunk and went into the station. He stood between platforms nine and ten waiting for the rest. When they came, he ran towards the wall, and went through to the other side. In front of him was the gleaming scarlet Hogwarts express. He said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and followed Ron and Hermione onto the train. They found an empty compartment and sat down.
"You want to play exploding snap?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, sure," said Harry and Hermione. They played the whole way there, occasionally stopping to talk, or to say something that had just popped into their heads. The train finally started to slow. Harry stood up and pressed his face to window. Outside he could see, looming in the darkness, Hogwarts castle.
"We're there," he whispered.
"Duh," Hermione said to Ron, giggling.
The train came to a stop and Harry grabbed his trunk. He worked his way to the door and stepped off the train. In front of him was Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures professor.
"Hiya Hagrid!" he said, looking up into Hagrid's furry face.
" 'Ello 'Arry!" he said cheerfully. "Can't talk long, I've got to call the first years."
"Right, see ya!" Harry called, waving as he went towards the carriages that would take him to the doors of Hogwarts. He climbed in and sat down.
"Hello Harry," someone whispered. Harry turned his head. He was sitting next to…Lavender. His mouth dropped open.
"Hi." he stammered. Lavender smiled.
"Can I tell you something?" she asked, looking nervous.
"Yeah, sure," Harry said, his stomach going into a knot. Lavender looked around before she spoke.
"I really like you, Harry," she said, her fingers twisting in her lap. "I've liked you for a long time." Harry smiled at her.
"I like you, too," he said. "I've liked you for quite a while now." Now it was Lavender's turn to drop her mouth open. She suddenly turned and stared in front of her, not speaking. Harry reached over and grabbed her hand. Lavender jumped. She suddenly looked at Harry. Harry leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. She smiled at him, blushing furiously. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. The rest of the way to the castle, they were silent. Harry was still holding her hand. They got to the doors and climbed out. They grabbed their trunks and walked hand in hand to the castle doors. He saw Hermione and Ron in front of him, also holding hands. He suddenly thought of something and turned to Lavender.
"Lavender, do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asked, his voice shaking. Lavender's eyes widened and she nodded. Harry grinned. Lavender threw her arms around his neck and whispered the one thing Harry had been longing for her to say.
"I love you, Harry." she said. Harry laughed, dropped his trunk, and picked Lavender up. He twirled her around in a circle, and kissed her. They were both laughing. He finally put her down, grabbed his trunk, and her hand, and ran towards the castle doors.
They walked into the Great Hall and put their trunks in the corner where they would be taken up to their Common Room. They walked to the Gryffindor table, and sat down. The sorting passed, and unfortunately, Lumpy had made it into Gryffindor. Right after Dumbledore's Start of term speech, they ate dinner. After Harry had stuffed his stomach as full as it could get, he stood up.
"I'm going to bed," he told Lavender.
"Okay," she said kissing him on the cheek.
"Goodnight," Harry said, kissing her back. As he was walking to the marble staircase, he grabbed Ron's arm and told him to go to bed. Ron got up and they walked up the marble staircase together. Harry suddenly heard two voices calling his name. He turned and saw Lumpy and Cho.
"Harree!" Lumpy yelled, running towards him, her arms outstretched.
"Oh, no," Harry whispered, backing up. Ron stepped in front of him and pushed Lumpy back.
"Leave him alone," he said. Lumpy skipped off, a smug look on her face. Cho walked up.
"Hello, Harry," she breathed.
"Hi, Cho." Harry said.
"I just wanted to apologize for laughing at you last year," Harry shrugged. "And I wanted to know if you wanted to go out sometime." She stopped and looked at the ground. Harry shook his head.
"Sorry, Cho, but I'm already seeing someone." Cho looked as if she was about to cry.
"Oh, okay," she said, sniffling.
"Sorry," Harry said. He turned and walked away, Ron at his heels. Ron suddenly grabbed his arm.
"You're seeing someone? Please tell me that was just an excuse," he said, staring at Harry. Harry shook his head and smiled. Ron suddenly clicked.
"Harry! You're going out with Lavender?" Harry nodded, turned and went to the Gryffindor portrait.
"Truncated," he said. That was the password. The portrait swung open. They walked in together. They walked up the staircase to the Boy's dormitory. Harry took his pajamas out of his trunk and changed. He climbed into bed, said goodnight to Ron, turned out the light, and went to the sleep.
Harry woke to shrieks. He opened his eyes and saw Hermione running up the stairs, a piece of paper in her hand.
"Ron! Harry! Wake up!" Ron's snores stopped abruptly. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"What?" he said, yawning.
"I found this note in the pocket of my robes! Here, read it," she said thrusting the paper into Ron's hands. Harry climbed out of bed to look over Ron's shoulder. He was reading a short note.
Hermione,
If you don't break up with your boyfriend, bad things will happen. Very bad things.
"Who wrote it?" Harry asked, looking up at Hermione.
"I don't know," she said. "But I recognize the handwriting. I've seen it before, I just can't remember where." Ron shrugged.
"Probably some student who is jealous of you," he lay back down on the bed. Hermione grunted, grabbed the note, and left.
The first couple weeks of school went by quickly. Hermione kept getting notes. She would find them in her books, robes, socks, and many other places you normally don't find a note. That wasn't too scary. The scary thing was, all the teachers were getting notes, too. All of them were the same handwriting. Their notes would say things like, "Get out now." Or, "All of your students are going to suffer." And, "If you don't get out, you all die." Dumbledore was starting to get worried. Meanwhile, Harry was being stalked by Lumpy. Wherever he was, she was. She was really starting to scare him. She would try to hug and kiss him. The worst, whenever she saw him and Lavender together, she would run to Lavender, and push her onto the floor. Harry would then yell at Lumpy, and help Lavender up.
This all kept happening. Then, eight months in the school year, something happened that changed everything.
Dumbledore stood up during breakfast to make an announcement. The whole room went quiet.
"I have an announcement," he said. "These notes have led to the worst. Three students have been kidnapped." Hundreds of gasps could be heard around the room.
"These three would be, Pansy Parkinson," Draco Malfoy could be heard screaming on the other side of the hall. "Lavender Brown,"Harry gasped. He put his face in his hands and cried silently. Hermione put her arm around him. "And last," Dumbledore went on. "Lumpalinaliona Smith."Harry's head shot up. Lumpy? Kidnapped?
"I have decided two things." Dumbledore said. "One, I am going find these students, and two, Hogwarts must be closed until things are safe." Once again, gasps could be heard all over the room. Even the teachers looked surprised. "Everyone is to pack your trunks now and bring them here so you can go home and come back only when things are safe." Dumbledore left the Great Hall, his light blue cloak trailing behind him. Harry got up, went to the portrait, said the password, went in, packed his trunk, and left to go down to the great hall. He met up with Ron and Hermione who had finished before him. They all filed onto the train, went into an empty compartment, and didn't talk the whole way home.
They were just pulling into the Burrow. Harry decided not to go back to the Dursley's considering he didn't want to see the looks on their faces when he turned up on their doorstep a couple months earlier than they had expected, so he was with the Weasley's again. Harry, Ron, and Hermione got out of the car and went to the door. They walked in and ran into the one person that they were not expecting to see.
"Hello, Herm-own-ninny," said Viktor Krum.
"Viktor, lovely too see you," Hermione said uncomfortably.
"You didn't do vat the notes told you to do," he said.
"Well, no, but…wait, how did you know about the notes?" Hermione asked.
"I wrote them," Viktor said. Hermione gasped.
"That's why I recognized the handwriting! I knew it from your letters!" Hermione was starting to look scared.
"I thought the kidnapping last year vould make you break up vith that oaf," he said, pointing at Ron. Hermione wrinkled her eyebrows, then it dawned on her.
"You! It was you who kidnapped me! You were jealous, weren't you? You wanted me back! I can't believe you! That's why I thought of Snape! You look like him, but I would never suspect you, but I was wrong, wasn't I?" Hermione was yelling now. Viktor was backing up, trying to get away from her. Harry suddenly stepped in front of Hermione.
"Did you kidnap those three students last night?" Harry asked. Krum smiled.
"Yes, yes I did," He said.
"You kidnapped my girlfriend! She was innocent!" Harry was fuming. He couldn't believe his Lavender was missing.
"Where are the three students?" Hermione asked.
"The same place you vere," Krum said, still smiling. "But they already know that. I left a note in Dumbledore's desk drawer."
Hermione stared at Krum, and slapped him.
"You get out of here right now! I never want to see you again!" Krum shrugged and walked out of Hermione's life at the same time as he was walking out the door. An owl suddenly flew into the window. Ron went over and took the letter off of its leg.
"It's from Dumbledore!" He said, ripping open the envelope and reading the letter. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's found them. He's found Lavender. And he says not to come back to school because he wants us all to get over the shock. It also says that Lavender said as soon as she was found, she wanted to spend the summer with you, Harry. She should be here soon." They all sat around the table, waiting. A half hour later, there was a knock at the door. Harry jumped up to get it. He flung the door open, and threw his arms around Lavender's neck. He and Lavender were both crying and laughing at the same time. Harry brought her into the kitchen and introduced her to the Weasley family. He then took her up to a spare room, took her trunk, threw it on the bed, and helped her unpack. When they were finished, they went downstairs and had dinner. After dinner he Lavender, Ron, and Hermione took a blanket outside, set it on the ground, and lay on their backs to look at the stars. Harry took Lavender's hand. Ron took Hermione's hand. They lay there, what seemed like the whole night. At about eleven o'clock, they got up and went inside.
"Well, we should probably go to bed." Harry said, yawning. Everyone nodded and filed upstairs into their rooms. Harry was so tired; he climbed into bed without getting into his pajamas. Before he fell asleep, he thought, "This is going to be a great summer."