Winter Disaster
Disclaimer – I don't own the characters. They are J.K. Rowling's characters. I can't really say the plot is original either but oh well.
Author's Note– I hope you like this because the beginning was written at midnight. And I know I'm notorious for not finishing stories, mainly fanfics, but I believe this one will be the first I actually finish. Mainly because it won't be that long, but the chapters will be hopefully. Oh and this is officially stated AU as of now 4:15AM EASTERN, because it takes place in the trio's fifth year and doesn't really mention Voldemort except maybe a few times in the beginning, middle, and the end.
Main Characters– (In order from year and then alphabetical) Fred Weasley, Cormac McLaggen, Terry Boot, Michael Corner, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Lisa Turpin, Luna Lovegood, and Ginny Weasley. There is also Professor Snape and some others.
Couples That Will Happen- Boot/Turpin, Corner/G. Weasley, Longbottom/Lovegood
Possible Couples– F. Weasley/Granger or McLaggen/Granger
Disadvantages – Turpin, Corner and Boot are a bit of a mystery and they aren't much in the books, so if you have any ideas on them too, that'd be great as well.
Help – If you think someone is out of character, just tell me nicely and give me some ideas on how to improve them.
Reviews – Are nice but aren't required. Flames will be ignored. And all questions will be answered via e-mail. Or some other means. And if I can't then I'll add a small FAQ type thing at the end of every chapter when there are questions.
More Help – If you would like to see something in the story, tell me and maybe it will be in the story. It might not be if I don't like it…and I'll explain why as well if I have a reason. Since I only have a few things in mind for the story, all ideas will be considered.
Beta – I don't have a beta reader. But I am using Microsoft Word so hopefully all misspellings will be corrected. I of course will read over it before posting it so don't worry hopefully all mistakes will be corrected. But I'm not perfect so I might spell a word right but this place won't catch it. So if you're interested in beta-reading for me just e-mail me.
Now onto Chapter One!
Chapter One: Mishap
"What? But I didn't do it! Headmaster! You know me. I didn't do it! I've, I've, I've been framed!"
"Oh come off it, Granger. Just admit that stole that book from me and serve detention over the winter holidays like a good sport," Draco Malfoy said with a smirk on his face. When he is involved you know something wrong has happened.
"He's lying! I haven't stolen a thing before! Never. I'm a prefect for goodness sake!" Hermione Granger yelled defiantly. Trying in vain to make the Headmaster see her reason. However, it seemed he wouldn't listen, or figured that he better just charge her with the crime since it seemed that she had committed it.
"I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but without further proof that you did not steal the book you shall be punished. No more buts! Now, Miss Granger, you will have to spend the winter holidays here at school. Do not try and get Mr. Weasley, or Mr. Potter to stay with you, because they, as I heard through the grape vine, are planning a vacation to Romania to spend time with one Mr. Charlie Weasley. I don't think they would want to miss out on the funs of dragons either. So much to learn. Did you know that…"
"Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore, I did know that there are twelve uses of dragon's blood, and that you were the only who discovered them," Hermione said a bit snobbish.
"Know it all," Draco muttered under his breath, but it went unnoticed.
"Nevertheless, you will be spending winter holidays here, at school," Headmaster Dumbledore sternly, twinkle still in his eyes though.
"Ginny? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be on your way home with Ron and Harry?" Hermione asked her friend as Ginny walked down the girl's staircase.
"One word. Detention," Ginny Weasley, the only girl born to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, said to her oldest and dear friend.
"What are you in for, Weasley?" Cormac McLaggen said to the younger girl.
"Cursing Malfoy again. What are you here for, McLaggen, don't you ever go home?" Ginny retorted glaring at the older boy where he was sitting by the fire.
"Oh believe me I would love to go home and be away from all of you," he said glaring at the fire, "But it seems, I too, have a detention to serve."
"You must've been tormenting younger students again," Hermione said cocking her head to one side.
"Oh bugger off, Hermione, as I haven't tormented any of the first years since the train ride. If you must know I backed talked Professor Snape," he said the last bit rather fastly and quietly.
"What was that, McLaggen? You said that rather fastly for us to comprehend," Ginny said cocking an auburn eyebrow at him.
"I backed talked a Professor, alright?"
"Which one?" Neville spoke up.
"Snape."
"Oh wonderful! He probably deserved it anyway," Hermione said happily.
"Was the Hermione Jane Granger just agreeing with me? I must say I am impressed," Cormac said.
Ignoring his last comment Hermione asked, "How, pray tell, do you know my middle name?"
"Oh it's on one of the toilet stalls in the third floor boys' bathroom," Cormac said smugly.
"WHAT?" Hermione screamed. Everyone in that room knew that everyone else in the castle had defiantly heard Hermione scream, and also knew they would be questioned by the other students who were staying for holidays.
"Oh Hermione has an admirer!" Ginny romanticized about the fact.
"But only a fair few people know my middle name. And the only two boys I know, well before it was written on one of the stalls, are Harry and Ron. Oh dear…" Hermione said putting her hand to her head.
"Ron," Ginny said shaking her head.
"Ron as in my brother Ron?" Fred Weasley, Ginny's older brother, asked stunned coming down from the boys dorms.
"Yes that Ron. How many Ron's do you know that go to this school?" Hermione said smartly.
"Oh by God. I can't believe that he even likes you. I never noticed. How long has he liked you? Probably forever. It wouldn't surprise me," Fred said thinking.
"Shut up, Fred! You know nothing as far as I'm concerned. You have no right to bring Ron down like that. He's your brother after all! Next time think before you insult someone. Or better yet, look at yourself before you insult someone. Because you aren't even half the man Ron is. He is a great person and that makes up for a lot more than any of your standards!" Hermione yelled at him, getting to her feet. She was turning red, but it wasn't out of embarrassment, but out of anger. Hermione reached for her wand, and that's when Fred knew he was done for. He was never going to live to see another day.
"Oh come on, Hermione. You know I was only kidding. Kidding, I swear! Come on. Just don't blow my brains out. I won't say another thing about your boyfriend for the rest of the holidays!"
"He isn't my boyfriend! He's more like a brother to me than anything. That's how it will always be. No matter his feelings. I can't return them to him like he wants me to. I'm…I'm going down to breakfast!" Hermione said gathering her belongings and heading out through the portrait hole.
"Wait Hermione!" Ginny said as she and Neville rushed after her through the portrait hole.
Fred and Cormac looked at each other for a few moments before Cormac said, "Well I'm glad that go her off of my case. Thanks, Fred," Cormac said slapping him on the back as if to say good job before walking out of the portrait whole. Fred followed after a few more moments of shock.
"Hermione, will you wait? What do you mean he isn't your boyfriend? The last I heard you guys were going steady? What happened? Hermione!" Ginny yelled as she ran across the great hall to wear Hermione was now sitting down at single long table, meant to house everyone who was staying for the winter holidays. By the looks of it only about eight or nine students were actually staying.
"We broke up ok, Ginny? That's what happened. He wanted to go out with some younger girl and I told him to go for it. We weren't really going steady anyway. That doofus never asked and neither did I. So just bug off," Hermione said in a very un-Hermione way.
"Hermione, I won't just bug off. You're my best friend in the whole wide world. I won't go bugging off just because you tell me to. Now who's this younger girl?" Ginny asked sitting down on Hermione's right while Neville sat down on her left.
"Some Ravenclaw ditz named Orla Quirke. She's a year younger than you as far as I know and that's about it. I don't see what he sees in her though. As far as I see she's a big ditz and klutz and doesn't care for her grades at all. Of course Ron wants me to help her. I can't believe he even asked me to after he broke up with me. It's about as ridicules as anything. And so far I've actually been doing what he says. That isn't like me you know that, but I just can't seem to help her. No matter how much I help that ditz she seems to not get any better. And it's no wonder since Ron keeps her busy, if you know what I mean," Hermione took a breath and was about to go on when someone else broke into the conversation.
"Then why don't you just tell him that you don't want to help this girl out anymore. Just blow him off as he blew you off. You can always pull a prank on him, but it doesn't seem like this calls for the matter. I'm sure you can come up with something."
"Oh shut up, Fred. You don't need to suggest anything to Hermione. She doesn't need your help in anything. She's way smarter than you and can think for herself," Neville spoke up watching Fred sit cross from Hermione.
"Maybe your right, but if my brother is going to treat her like dirt then why can't she treat him like dirt?"
"Fred, why don't you leave Neville alone? You should be more concerned in where you sat," a mystified, and dreamy voice.
"What are you talking about, Luna?"
"You just sat in some kind of goop. It's no wonder you can't feel it through your pants. It has this effect to where who ever sits in it can't feel it unless touched. It probably has a slimy texture to it," Luna said sitting down next to Neville, of which she had been dating for around a month now.
Fred stood up rather abruptly and turned his head so he could see what was on his butt. Sure enough some kind of violet shade slime was there. He looked up and glared at Luna before stomping off to go change pants.
"Luna, how did you know he had sat in something?" Ginny asked her other best girl friend.
"I had already sat in it and had to go up to clean it off before coming back down here. When I came back down I noticed that he was sitting in it when I came over," Luna said as she started to pile on pancakes and then peaches onto the pancakes and other various fruits and some vegetables.
Thirty minutes after the Fred scene, Professor Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement, "Since so few of our students are staying with us this winter we have decided to do something new, and never done before. You, the eight students, who are staying with us this year, will be sharing quarters until term starts back up. The rest of the staff and I think that this will be a good idea in case Voldemort decides to attack the school. No this doesn't mean that you all are, or might be, in trouble. Just be on the look out for anything strange, and if it is important you can tell either me or one of the other staff. Now onto what your new quarters will look like! It will be in a password protected portrait on one of the staircases that frequently moves. So try to be in before curfew or risk being outside for awhile. When you enter you will…what Minerva I'm telling them what it's going to look like," Dumbledore said a little annoyed. Not the I'm-mad-at-you-annoyed just the I-was-really-looking-forward-to-explaining-this-to-the-students annoyed.
"Maybe you should just show it to them after breakfast, Albus," Professor McGonagall said in a hush tone.
"If I must," Dumbledore said unenthusiastically.
Three of the students, three of the four girls, giggled at the little interaction between the two Professors.
Approximately forty-seven minutes later the eight students, and the staff who stayed behind, were finished eating. That's when Professor Dumbledore stood again and motioned for everyone to follow his lead.
As they were leaving, Hermione noticed, with happiness, that no Slytherins were planning on staying behind. This not only made her extremely happy that she wouldn't have to be sharing a room with a Slytherin, but that her winter holidays would be a little quieter. With the exception that she would have to be sharing a smaller amount of quarters with Cormac McLaggen and Fred Weasley, she was sure she wasn't going to be able to survive. What with all the pranks Fred was sure to be planning on committing over break.
The new quarters were on the ninth floor set of stairs that shrunk, grew, and changed periodically. Hermione noticed that Lisa Turpin, who was in the back of the group with two other boys in Ravenclaw Michael Corner and Terry Boot), almost got left behind on the other set of stairs because of the rapid change. Hermione also noticed that these set of stairs were the only ones leading to the next floor, or should she say portrait hole?
"The password to this portrait hole will be passed down through the line," Dumbledore told the eighteen people who were gathered in front of him.
"The password is 'Fawkes'," Ginny turned around and told Hermione after a few moments.
"The password is 'Fawkes'," Hermione turned around and told Michael who in turn told the other two.
"Right, now let's go in and see the rooms. The first room you see will be the common room, rather big too. Then right in front you will see three white doors. The one on the right is for the girls and the one on the left is for the guys. The one in the middle is a room full of vanities so that everyone can have piece of mind in the morning. On the right are two doors. The one on the right is for the female students and the one on the left is for the female faculty. On the left are also two doors. Just like the doors on the right it is for the male students and faculty. Now if everyone would follow me," Professor Dumbledore walked inside and everyone followed behind him.
When Hermione walked into the room she was in awe. It was a magnificent mixture of reds and blues. There were two fireplaces, one had a nice blue couch that could fit up to three people, and four if you sat close, in front of it and the other had four red-orange high back chairs in front of it. There were wooden tables with chairs around it scattered about the common room.
The female students, after giving the room one more once over, went to check out their room. But when they walked through the door they were faced with a small room with one couch and table all colored in blue colors. After Ginny turned on the lights they noticed four doors leading to other rooms. The doors seemed to be color coded with their favorite colors.
The girls walked over to their respective doors and took one look at each other and opened the doors and inside.
As Hermione walked inside she noticed her room was in all assorted browns and reds. It had one queen sized bed with enough pillows to make a small house with. There was one mahogany desk in the corner with parchment, quills, and ink on top of it. Not only that but it had two dressers, a full length mirror, and her own personal vanity.
Ginny ran in gasping and out of breath. Hermione raised an eyebrow at her and was about to question what had happened when Ginny spoke for herself.
"My room is awesome!" Ginny said smiling and finally catching her breath.
Hermione smiled and nodded, "What does it look like?"
"Why don't you come in and see! You might want to shade your eyes though, but it is really great!"
Hermione followed Ginny with a little caution into her room. But as Ginny had warned Hermione covered her eyes for a bit before she got use to the brightness. All the colors were bright; bright orange, bright yellow, and bright pink. It was the same though as far as furniture it was just the colors that were drastically different.
"It's…lovely," Hermione said smiling. Ginny giggled but understood.
"Come on lets go into the Common Room and have a look around," Ginny said. Hermione nodded and they went back into the common room. The other girls followed behind them and they noticed the four boys had come out at the same time as well. With a flash of light everything blurred and smoke emitted from somewhere unknown.
Author Notes: I hope you liked it! I had to go over and review some of it...and now after 20 minutes of revising I hope you like it. I added one new person because it seemed like it would be better off that way. Review ifyou like, but it isn't necessary. The next chapter will be out in a week or two. I'm making an effort to make it longer than this one...