I'm backkkkkkk! And with a new story idea! Thanks to all those who reviewed my other stories and gave me positive feedback! I really appreciate it! I'll try my hardest to make the chapters of this story long and juicy, and I'll really try to elaborate. If I'm not doing a good job of it, or I'm starting to rush it, TELL ME! Thanks so much for reading! Hope you like it! -English Foxlette.
Chapter 1
The top of the tower where Astronomy was usually held bustled with life. The professor wasn't there, so the students felt it was their duty to do whatever they felt. Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle were dropping Bertie Botts beans on a group of first years learning to fly below. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil sunbathed leisurely on the stony ground. Seamus Finnegan was talking excitedly with Dean Thomas about the upcoming match between the quidditch teams of Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Hermione Granger was content to sit and study for her History of Magic essay while Harry Potter and Ron Weasley entertained themselves with a game of wizards' chess. All the students seemed busy on that sunny day, hardly noticing the dark clouds encroaching from the East.
The trapdoor burst open and Professor Sinisitra appeared with various scrolls under her arms. Her grin radiated good news and most everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their heads toward the witch with flowing dark brown hair and black robes. She set up one of her charts on an easel and turned to face the class.
"Attention class!" she yelled over the voices of the students. She looked about making sure she had everyone's attention.
"Miss Brown. Miss Patil. Please sit up and pay attention!" She said, a slight tinge of annoyance in her voice. The two mentioned girls sat up with a groan and sat on the cushions they had been resting on.
"Now then...Today is a very special day class! Does anyone know why?" Professor Sinistra asked with a smile. Everyone looked at each other before turning to stare at Hermione, who just blushed.
"What? I don't even know!" she admitted, shrugging her shoulders. Her classmates around her murmured.
"So for the first time, the know it all actually doesn't know it all," an icy voice from across the tower remarked.
"I don't see you raising your hand Malfoy!" Hermione quipped. Malfoy smirked and turned back to his buddies.
"Well since no one seems to know," Professor Sinistra said, purposely interrupting the exchange, "Tonight is a very rare occurrence indeed. Tonight, for the first time in four hundred and twelve years, there will be a magical storm!"
At the mention of a magical storm, Hermione's hand shot into the air.
"Now I remember! A magical storm by definition is a storm that carries so much magnetism in the protons and electrons that it cancels out all other forces, like magic, right Professor?"
"Correct Miss Granger! Five points for Gryffindor!" Professor Sinistra exclaimed happily, clapping her hands together. Hermione glanced over at Malfoy's blonde head and smirked. He just glared icily back.
"If it cancels out all magic, then aren't we susceptible to attack?" Ron questioned fearfully.
"This is a very good question Mr. Weasley. Does any one know why we are safe?" Professor Sinistra asked. She strongly believed in quizzing the class on these things by merely holding question and answer discussions such as these. Hermione raised her hand, shaking it excitedly from side to side.
"Anyone else besides Miss Granger?" the professor asked, looking around. She was about the give up when she saw a movement to her right.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy!"
"While the storm covers an area, no magic can be performed in that area. However, no magic from outside the area can affect anything in the area while the storm continues. Thus it creates a barrier, keeping everything in, which isn't always a good thing..." Draco drawled, still keeping his cool appearance leaning against the side of the tower.
"Very good! Five points for Slytherin!" Now it was Draco's turn to smirk. Hermione just rolled her eyes and went back to paying attention to Professor Sinistra's lecture about the ups and downs of the storm.
"Professor Dumbledore will inform you of where to go during the storm, seeing as how most areas will be off limits for a few hours. The stair cases will be firmly planted in place and all students will be 'locked' in their dormitories for the few hours that the storm goes on. You needn't worry. Food will be placed in the common rooms and the facilities will remain in tact. Just think of it as a few hours to spend studying and having fun with members of your house!" she explained.
At that moment the sun had settled completely above them and no shadow appeared on the sundial next to the professor. This was the cue that class was over. The students collected their things and filed down the staircase and proceeded to go to lunch.
"Once again, Hermione, you never cease to surprise me!" Harry said throwing an arm around Hermione's shoulders.
"Yeah! How did you know all that stuff about the magical storm?" Ron chimed in, his hands stretched behind his head.
"There was a segment on it in 'Hogwarts, a History.' This will be the second magical storm Hogwarts has seen. You should read that book sometime, Ron, it's good. I think Harry is borrowing it right now, aren't you Harry?" Hermione said.
"Yup, I'm up to the part about Armando Dippet," Harry said, happy that he finally knew something about what Hermione was talking about.
"Armando who?"
"He was headmaster in the 1940's. It actually is an interesting read, Ron," Harry said sheepishly.
"Am I the only one not nose deep in a book?" Ron asked defeatedly.
"Maybe you should start reading Weasel King. Who knows, you might just end up the bright one among your family. Tell me, do you all still live in one bedroom?" Malfoy asked sneering. He had been walking behind them listening to the whole conversation, of course, with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him.
"Shut up Malfoy!" Harry demanded, keeping his hold on Hermione's shoulders.
"Aww. How cute, Potty has a girlfriend. You deserve each other, a mudblood and a muggle-born. I'd hate to see your kids though," Draco joked maliciously. As if on cue Crabbe and Goyle burst out laughing. Draco smirked and snapped as they pushed through three friends below him.
Ron, who was now blushing up to his eyes, didn't say anything but glared after Draco. Harry had since loosened his grip on Hermione and dropped his arm off completely.
"Oh boys, don't look so angry. Sure Draco is a jerk, but that doesn't mean you have to stoop to his level. Now, let's just go have a nice lunch," Hermione suggested.
"You're just lucky that Malfoy doesn't make fun of you," Ron said bitterly.
"True. I find it a bit unnerving. That was the first time in two months he's said anything bad of me. I find it discerning..." Hermione trailed off.
"Who cares? It's Malfoy. Let's just go grab a bite to eat," Harry said impatiently. His stomach was starting to hurt. He hadn't had much for breakfast. Once he saw the sight of porridge for breakfast the memories of the Dursley's filled him. That was all he had eaten for his entire 6th year of life. Harry shuddered before starting to walk down the halls.
xoxo Page Break! oxox
Harry, Hermione, and Ron managed to pushed their way through the people and sat down next to Seamus, Lavendar, Parvati, and Dean.
"Isn't this exciting? A magical storm tonight! Ooh, it'd be the perfect time for two lovers to meet and you know...catch up," Lavender squealed while she winked at the boys sitting across from her. Seamus snorted and almost choked on his pumpkin juice.
Parvati just nudged her and continued buttering her roll. Dumbledore could be heard clearing his throat at the front of the hall. Every head in the hall turned to face the headmaster.
"Tonight, we have a rare occurrence. A magical storm is on it's way from the East. You can ask your professors or heads of house for the specifics, but a magical storm knocks out all magic in the area. So for a few hours, approximately from nine this evening until two tomorrow morning, we shall be without magic. Fear not, for all magic that is attempting to be force its way into the school shall be cancelled out as well. So as soon as you have finished dinner, you will be asked to travel and reside in your dormitories. Any wanderers will be asked to enter the nearest class room and stay there for the remainder of the storm. These storms are notorious for being dreadfully violent; high winds, lots of rain, and such. So be careful this evening. You may now continue with your meal," Dumbledore calmly explained before seating himself at the table next to Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick.
"Sounds like these storms are dangerous!" Ron said in between bites of turkey.
"They are. The last time this happened at Hogwarts, it rained 4 inches of rain in one hour, nearly uprooted the Whomping Willow, and left 4 feet of snow when it was over," explained Hermione, "Have you gotten to that part yet, Harry?"
Harry didn't answer. He was too busy staring at the Slytherin table. Malfoy was currently doing an impression of someone, most likely a girl, since he waived around his wand and put a hand to his cheek before he and his comrades busted out laughing.
"Harry?" Hermione leaned towards him.
"Hey mate, you alright there?" Ron asked. Harry blinked and shook his head.
"Oh just watching Malfoy being a jerk," Harry said, merely shrugging. Ron and Hermione turned around. Ron tried to see what Malfoy was doing, but he had started eating, thus giving no interest to Ron. Hermione however, lingered in her gaze. At that moment Draco looked up and caught her eye. They stared at each other for a minute before Hermione looked down at her lap.
"Just Malfoy being jerky Malfoy," Ron said taking a bite out of a chicken wing. Harry nodded thoughtfully as he stuffed a spoon full of mashed potatoes in his mouth.
Hermione shook her head the clear it and reached for a bowl of chocolate pudding. Unfortunately, her hand collided with someone elses.
"Oh sorry, you take it," Hermione said automatically, looking up and seeing Dean Thomas.
"Nah, you take it bookworm, you need the energy for studying," Dean said with a smile, nudging the bowl closer to Hermione who smiled and took it.
"Anything else we need to know about the storm?" Ron questioned sarcastically.
"Let me see," Hermione said before hoisting out a brown leather-bound book from Harry's pile of books. She pushed the food to the side and flipped through the pages.
"I was kidding Hermione! Sheesh!" Ron said, smacking himself on the head.
"That's what you get Ron," Harry teased. Ron just rolled his eyes at Harry who smiled back. Hermione knew the boys weren't interested in more information about the storms, but she sure was. She flipped through the pages, feeding herself chocolate pudding without looking up as she went along.
After a minute she felt someone's stare. She looked up, Harry and Ron were caught in a battle of who would have the last chicken wing. Nearly everyone else had left. With the spoon handle hanging from her mouth, Hermione glanced over to the Slytherin table. Brown met silver as she once again met Draco's piercing gaze. Hermione immediately dropped her eyes back down to her book and removed the spoon from her mouth.
'Why is he staring at me?! Is there something on my face?' Hermione thought. Slowly picking up the spoon again she looked into it's reflective surface. There was nothing out of the ordinary, so why was he staring? Hermione was afraid of seeing his eyes again so she spoke.
"Well, I'm full. What say we go outside. It's a lovely day. You boys can run around and I'll check out a couple books about the storm!" Hermione suggested brightly.
"Or how about we all go out and run around. I don't know how you stay in shape Hermione. All you do is study!" Harry said exasperatedly.
"A woman never reveals her secrets!" Hermione said coolly before succumbing to a giggle-fest.
"Either way, let's get out of here. The snotty Slytherins haven't mentioned me yet, and I don't want to wait around until they do!" Ron commented.
"You got a point. Ready Hermione?" Harry asked whilst pushing his chair in. "Yeah I'm ready. Just let me pick up these books," Hermione said.
While she was standing back up with her books in her arms she shot a quick glance at the Slytherin table. Draco wasn't there. Hermione inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. 'What is up with me today? And what is with Draco? Why does he keep staring? It's unnerving and rude!' Hermione thought angrily.
She glanced around again and saw Harry and Ron beckoning to her from the door. Hermione picked up her speed and managed to catch up to them just as they reached the pendulum. She smiled at her friends warmly and walked out onto the gravel path. The sun felt warm against her skin, but she still felt a little unnerved by Draco's stare. There was something about the stare, but Hermione couldn't quite put her finger on it...
Hope you like it! Now please review! Tell me if I should change anything. Thankkkkk youuuuu glomps (Oh and for those who don't know what a glomp is; it's kinda an anime thing, but basically it's just a really cute hug, like, no deep emotions, just a cheery friendly smitten-y hug )