The Trials of Being Harry Potter
You've Got a Friend in Me
"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest
champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr.
Potter!"
Harry saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Horntail, and, over at
the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagal, Professor Moody, and
Hagrid hurrying to meet him, all of them waving him toward them, their smiles
evident even from this distance. He flew back over the stands, the noise of the
crowd pounding his eardrums, and came in smoothly to land, his heart lighter than
it had been in weeks. . . . He had got through the first task, he had survived.
"That was excellent, Potter!" cried Professor McGonagall as he got off the Firebolt
- which from her was extravagant praise. He noticed that her hand shook as she
pointed at his shoulder. "You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges
give out your score. . . . Over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already. . . ."
"Yeh did it, Harry!" said Hagrid hoarsely. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an'
all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was the wors' - "
"Thanks, Hagrid," said Harry loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and
reveal that he had shown Harry the dragons beforehand.
Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its
socket.
"Nice and easy does the trick, Potter," he growled.
"Right then, Potter, the first aid tent, please. . ." said Professor McGonagall.
Harry walked out of the enclosure, still panting, and saw Madam Pomfrey
standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried.
"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Harry inside. The tent was
divided into cubicles; he could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but
Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey
examined Harry's shoulder, talking furiously all the while. "Last year dementors,
this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? You're very
lucky. . . this is quite shallow. . . it'll need cleaning before I heal it up, though... ."
She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked and stung, but
then poked his shoulder with her wand, and he felt it heal instantly.
"Now, just sit quietly for a minute - sit! And then you can go and get your score."
She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next door and say, "How does it
feel now, Diggory?"
Harry didn't want to sit still: He was too full of adrenaline. He got to his feet,
wanting to see what was going on outside, but before he'd reached the mouth of
the tent, two people had come darting inside - Hermione, followed closely by Ron.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Pg 231-232
"Harry!" Hermione began, "That was brilliant! I don't think I've seen such a flawless summoning charm! It was just," for once, she stopped talking at the right time.
He ignored her, wishing only to hear from his best friend. The redhead was making sure to look anywhere but at Harry. He waited hesitantly, but not for long. Soon enough, Ron was pulling a reluctant Hermione from the tent. She left after promising to speak with him soon.
He wasn't given long to dwell on the actions of his friends. Neville's frail looking hand pulled back a bit of the tent curtain and exposed the boy's hesitant face. He looked scared almost, like he could be forcibly ejected from the tent at any moment. He scanned the floor of the tent, obviously looking for something or someone.
"Hey Neville," Harry offered, catching his attention. "Need some help?"
His eyes jumped to Harry and the expression on his face changed. He looked relieved to see Him. "No, actually. I was just coming to congratulate you," His usual awkwardness was less evident in his speech, but Harry could tell that he was making a conscious effort.
"Thanks Neville," Harry replied lamely. He had never really been close to the teen and wasn't completely sure how to respond. Even so, he was glad that Neville's words at least seemed sincere.
"That was pretty genius, by the way. Never would've expected something like that, and I don't think anyone else did either. Reckon you'll come out of this one in the lead," his praise was welcome and it further pushed Harry to contemplate what brought on the sudden show of support. Neville had never been openly against him like Ron was, but he hadn't said anything positive to him all year either.
"You think so? I honestly was just trying to survive, but after all that, it really would be nice to have something to show for it," Harry admitted. He wasn't so sure if he could handle doing only enough to get by. The sense of satisfaction when he realized his success in his first task was enough to get Harry thinking about how good it would feel to actually earn his place in the tournament.
"I really do, mate," Harry was somewhat surprised at the last part. He could tell something was off. Never in three and a half years of schooling with Neville had he heard him use the term, "Mate."
"So what's up Neville? Anything you wanna tell me?" He knew there were definitely better ways to go about it, but he was never good with those kinds of things.
Neville looked nervous at his question, but didn't show much else. "No. I just figured you could use someone to talk to, is all. Erm, that's alright by you, right?"
Harry could tell there was something more, but didn't pry. "Of course, Neville. You know I'd never turn down a friend," He grinned at him. It really was a nice thing for him to do.
There was about ten seconds of slightly awkward silence before Neville began to explain how the other champions had fared.
"Well Cedric didn't do too badly. He tried transfiguring a rock into some kind of dog, but the dragon didn't mind it too much. He managed to get the egg, but only barely. Fleur missed a perfect score out of bad luck. She charmed the dragon to sleep, but it snorted out some fire at her as she walked past," By now, they were walking from the tent out to the place where Harry had moments ago narrowly avoided death by a dragon. Harry was trying to calm his nerves about his score by listening to Neville. It seemed to be working. "Krum hit the dragon with some curse. Got it dead in the eye, he did. Probably woulda' worked too, but the dragon decided to go on a rampage and it crushed a few of the eggs. He lost quite a few points for that, though Karkaroff didn't seem to mind. He gave him full marks," Neville made a face that said, "What can you do?" and shrugged.
At this time, Harry was staring up at the judges in waiting for his scores. Madame Maxime was the first of the five to answer him, shooting an elegant ribbon into the air in the shape of an eight. Harry grinned widely. "Not too bad." Dumbledore and Crouch both gave him nines. What was surprising was when Bagman gave him a ten. He was a bit shocked, but he didn't mind. Neither did the crowd, it seemed. They were cheering louder than ever. The excitement was short lived; Karkaroff ended it abruptly by presenting a feeble looking four to Harry.
Harry's brow furrowed. That's definitely not what he was hoping for. He hadn't realized how much he was hoping for top scores until then. His inner Gryffindor begged for him to argue a better score out, but he held it in and walked out of the enclosure with his arms dangling limply at his sides, a confused and disappointed expression still on his face.
"Don't worry about it," Neville offered kindly. He honestly wasn't expecting much from Harry's reply, but he decided it better to say something.
"Who said I cared?" Harry's attempt to both feign indifference and make conversation was only mildly successful. Neville laughed lightly and turned to follow his dorm mate back to the castle.
Harry conveniently 'forgot' that Madam Pomfrey had instructed him to return to the tent after receiving his scores. Instead, he decided to talk a leisurely stroll back to the castle, going a slightly elongated path that passed by the greenhouses. He was hoping that if his attempts at conversation with Neville failed, the greenhouses would be able to save him.
Thankfully, his backup plan was unneeded. He and Neville talked as if they had been best friends for years. It startled Harry somewhat. He didn't know Neville well, but he knew that being so talkative was very out of character for him. To be honest, most of the conversation was a product of Neville. His behavior had done a complete one-eighty from when Neville first entered to tent.
"Then he told me, 'If only you were as good at making potions as you are at being a bumbling idiot, my life would be infinitely better.' I mean really, he's losing it. I could've come up with something better myself," Neville's rendition of Snape's attempted insult was iffy at best, but this only added to the humor. Harry laughed with his classmate as he imagined a flustered Snape falling over his words in confusion. It was definitely a positive mental image.
"Maybe you've just worn him out of insults. Merlin knows he's used enough on you already," It was an awkward comment, but Harry expected as much. He was never the best at making conversation with people he didn't know well. It was oddly refreshing to see Neville in charge of the conversation, for a change.
"No need to tell me. I think my favorite was, 'You, Longbottom, are a disappointing product of your parent's love affairs.' It sounds weak, but he managed to give me a rather disturbing image of my parents in a bed together, so it was affective enough." Harry cringed at Neville's comment and tried in vain to purge his mind of the picture. Nonetheless, he managed to keep the amused grin on his face. It had been a long while since he had smiled for an extended period of time, and it was nice.
Their conversation about their least favorite professor was cut short by the appearance of none other than Rita Skeeter. Her face was unwanted and Harry's expression did little to hide the fact.
"What do you want, wench?" Once again, Neville surprised Harry with his actions. It was so surprising that Neville said the words that Harry had been longing to for the majority of the year that Harry himself started laughing.
Skeeter's face remained impassively cheery, though Harry and Neville both could tell that she was irritated. "Why, only a few words with the youngest Triwizard champion, of course," Her reply was generic and answered little.
"No thanks," Harry told her. He made a point to walk around her by making a large semicircle, staying as far away from her as possible without walking into the wall of the green house.
"Are you disappointed with your scores, Mister Potter? Or, should I call you Harry?" Her first question struck a nerve that Harry didn't know he possessed. It seemed like today was just full of surprises.
"Neither. You can leave," She maintained a close distance to Harry, standing in between him and Neville. Obviously she had no intention of taking his offer.
"Does that mean yes? You're disappointed about Headmaster Karkaroff's opinion on your performance? You believe you have been slighted by being appointed biased judges? Would you say you're angry about your results today? Who do you think is to blame, besides Karkaroff, of course?"
Harry turned to her with an expression that clearly told her to either bugger off or die. "You should leave. No, let's change that to just 'Leave.'" He was getting very annoyed now. Who does she think she is? She was stuffing words into his mouth and likely planning to claim they were his own.
Neville looked like he was about to intervene before Harry really lost his temper. He had gone from laughing to looking nearly murderous in only a few sentences from the witch, and it looked like it would only take a few more before he pulled his wand. Neville knew that wouldn't end well. Thankfully, the witch seemed satisfied with the reaction she had elicited from Harry.
"No need to get short, Harry. I was just about to make my leave." She winked at the both of them and then turned and walked towards the stadium. Harry glared holes into her retreating person for a few more seconds before turning around.
Neville was unsure how to calm the teen, but he figured it had to be done. "Don't worry about that woman. Her stories are so obscene that the few people who believe them aren't worth your time," Neville's words calmed Harry somewhat. They soon returned to their walk back to the castle. Harry didn't say much after the encounter, only offering a slight smile or a nod of his head in response to Neville's conversation.
It wasn't that he didn't enjoy talking to the lanky Gryffindor. He was simply too occupied thinking about why Skeeter's comments on his scores irked him so much. He was under the impression that he only cared about surviving the tournament. After his unexpectedly negative reaction to his score from Karkaroff, he wasn't so sure what he was hoping for anymore.
"Neville, how the hell do you do that?" Harry's frustration at the plant in front of him was almost permeable. The highly evasive plant deemed "a tricky one" by Professor Sprout lay in a small pot in front of Harry. He had spent the last 5 minutes of his time in green house three trying to clip the leaves off of the plant. Neville had by now helped 3 other students calm the plants in order for them to be handled easier. Harry, naturally, had been too stubborn to ask for help. His pride was bested by impatience and he was now ready to beg for Neville's assistance.
If Harry had the choice, he would've asked Hermione for help long ago. Unfortunately, she, being the kind person she is, had recently taken to spending more time with Ron. The boy had been reluctant to speak with anyone else, and her conscience got the best of her. She was forced to accompany her red headed friend almost everywhere. Harry could tell that she would tire of this before long, and Ron would be left alone. Harry himself couldn't wait.
Neville grinned widely at seeing his friend's expression. Harry angrily shoved the potted plant towards him and tossed his tool onto the table. Professor Sprout looked on amusedly as Neville began to lightly stroke the base of the plant, right where the dark green stem met the soil. Harry scowled at the "obvious" solution. Stupid Herbology, always getting the best of him.
"You really have a way with plants, don't you Harry?" Neville was intentionally winding him up now. Harry's ineptitude was an ever present frustration in the green houses. He had confided in Neville that he had always been jealous of his natural prowess in the subject. That was two weeks ago. It had been nearly a month since Harry was first exposed to what Neville claimed to be his real self. Even though Hermione was doing her best to spend time with him, it wasn't always enough. Harry was glad to have a guy friend again. It had been a while.
"Oh just finish with that damn plant and bugger off, why don't you?" Harry playfully retorted. It was common now for the two friends to be found with lighthearted hostility between them.
Neville smiled once again and pushed the plant back into Harry's direction. Now that the plant was still, Harry had no problem removing the circle shaped leaves. They would be used as potion ingredients for some cheering potion to be made by the second years. It was common for Herbology to produce ingredients for Snape to use in his classes.
Harry and Neville idly conversed about the second task that they had yet to discern information about. The egg was being very frustrating. The only thing that happened when they opened it was that people would complain about the wretched noise. On several occasions, the duo had tried opening the egg and doing odd things to it. At one point, Neville convinced Harry to try to sing the egg to sleep. This went on for a good twenty minutes before not only students complained, but also professor Flitwick. Harry and Neville were shouting at each other in order to be heard for the rest of the day. They were planning to day to try to dip the egg in a calming draught that they had brewed previously and then open it. Harry was a bit skeptical about what results this particular attempt would yield, but Neville was adamant that they tried it. It didn't help much when Hermione actually agreed that it was a good idea.
Sprout soon dismissed the class and Neville and Harry began their trek back up to the tower to retrieve the Draught. Then, they were going to take the draught to an abandoned classroom in the charms hall that they had been using for their experiments. The plan had been to go straight to the room, but Neville forgot to bring the potion to Herbology.
They ran into Hannah Abbott on their way out of Herbology, and Neville immediately slipped into his shy and reclusive mood that Harry had been accustomed to the first three years of his schooling. The girl had an odd and profound effect on him, and Harry had a feeling he knew why.
Harry saw his friends change in mood and decided to torment him a bit. "Hey Hannah, fancy seeing you here," Harry sounded a lot smoother than he expected. He just spoke what came to his mind and smiled, merely hoping to catch her attention enough for a conversation.
Hannah blushed slightly at the smile Harry gave her and began her reply, "Oh really? I can't imagine that, considering we pass by each other every Wednesday at this time," Her reply forced Harry to think about his next words.
"You got me there," Harry replied. He couldn't think of anything else to say and didn't want to sound stupid by spending 5 seconds to think about his answer. Neville was suddenly very concerned about his shoelaces. Apparently, they needed to be untied and retied.
Thankfully, Hannah didn't seem to notice. She was too busy herself trying to sound as natural as possible. If she was to be honest, she would admit that though she spent little time around Harry, the boy-who-lived was overwhelming. Her words came to her less fluently than she was accustomed to, and she wasn't sure why. She didn't think he was attractive enough to dazzle her into a stupor. She just felt like her mind just woke up from a nap whenever she was around him. Little did she know, almost half of the school's population thought the very same thing.
Harry soon realized that Neville had, by now, retied his right shoe three times. He was forced to cut his conversation with Hannah short in fear of her noticing his friend's odd behavior. "Well, we've both got places to be, so I'll let you go. Have fun in Herbology, Hannah. Merlin knows I didn't." His warning was unnecessary, Hannah really enjoyed Herbology.
"I think I'll manage. Thanks, anyway," Her reply was short, and with that, she returned to her walk to the green houses. Harry and Neville also began their trek into the castle on their way to Gryffindor tower.
Neville was still red as a beat, and he showed no signs of paling any time soon. "What was that, Neville? Cat got your tongue?" Harry had recently taken to relentlessly antagonizing Neville. All in good humor, of course.
"Oh bugger off. You know how I get when it comes to girls," His attempt to brush it off and wasn't working. Harry knew for a fact that the source of Neville's behavior was Hannah. This rubbish about girls was just a cover up.
"Come off it Neville, you never get like that when you talk to Hermione," Harry smirked. Neville took his time finding a decent comeback, though it was time wasted.
"Well, oh just bugger off," He was grinning slightly.
"But really, mate. What happened back there?" By now, they had reached the portrait of the fat lady. Harry was opening his mouth to say the password, but Neville beat him to it.
"Courage is might," The fat lady smiled and nodded to them as her portrait swung open. Neville continued, "To be honest, it's just Hannah. I get so worried about making a fool of myself that I end up doing it anyway. It's embarrassing," Harry wasn't quite sure what to say to console his friend, but he knew that he had to say something.
"Well, mate, just be yourself. Hannah's a nice girl. Even if you do end up embarrassing yourself, do you really think she'll mind too much? I don't. I think she would likely just forget about it," He smiled at his own words. Surprisingly, his advice was sound. He would likely take it himself if he was Neville.
Thankfully, Neville seemed to be thinking along the same lines. His expression changed from one of disappointment to one of thoughtfulness. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. "Well when you say it like that, Harry, you're actually making some sense," His face once again changed, this time to a smile.
"Just shut it, Harry!" Neville's shouting voice was barely audible over the sound of Harry's screeching egg. After the calming draught had failed, they had gotten desperate. This was their 4th attempt since then, and it was only two days after. Hermione had claimed that she was busy, but Harry got the feeling that she was getting frustrated herself. Nonetheless, she was constantly supplying them with new ideas to try.
Harry cancelled his bubble head charm that he had used to surround the egg. It had taken him a whole hour and a half to get down. Fortunately, it wasn't time entirely wasted; Harry had been planning on learning it after being caught by another one of the twins' dungbomb pranks.
With two short strides and a swift gesture with his arm, Harry closed and sealed the egg. To his dismay, he realized that it was only with practiced ease that he accomplished that so easily. The first time, it had taken him a good five seconds to overcome the pain in his ears and figure out how to close the egg. Now, a dozen odd tries later, it was like second nature.
"Hell, Harry. What are you two doing in here?" Susan's eyebrow was raised and her face was humorous.
"Well, Susan, we were trying to figure out this bloody egg. How about you?" The last part was complete with the charming smile Harry had grown familiar to. His reply was received with a smirk by the two Hufflepuff girls.
"Well if you must know, we were on our way from Charms," Hannah seemed distracted somehow and looked almost surprised by Susan's answer. Harry absently wondered about the cute confused look on her face. He quickly shook the rising thoughts of attraction. Harry knew exactly how Neville would react to that; He would completely deny all his feelings for the girl himself and then act as if he didn't care. Harry didn't want to do that to him.
"Charms? Sounds a bit sketchy if you ask me. How do we know you aren't spying on us for Cedric?" The question was playful and Susan replied easily.
"You don't. I guess that's for us to know. And Cedric, of course,"
Harry laughed and walked toward the door, the golden egg cradled against his ribs. "Well we were actually on our way out," Harry replied, quickly forming a plan in his head. Neville had yet to say a word; the same could almost be noted about Hannah. He was going to force them into a conversation, whether they liked it or not. "Would you two girls like an escort back to your dormitories?" Harry held out his arm for Susan, but she acted as if she saw nothing.
"I think we'll be fine, thanks," She was smiling widely and making no effort to hide it. How often could a girl turn down an offer of escort from the boy-who-lived?
Harry's plan was going to happen, and it was going to work. "Excellent! So where is the Hufflepuff common room, exactly? Don't think I've ever been."
Hannah rolled her eyes and began following the two. Susan was enjoying this entirely too much.
"You'll see," Hannah laughed out loud, causing Harry to wonder about the location of said common room.
Harry was doing his best to force Neville and Hannah into conversation, but the boy was just too stubborn. So far, all that was said between the two were a few awkward words from Neville. If this ended badly, Neville would sulk for days.
Harry's thoughts were interrupted as they rounded a corner. Walking towards them was the smirking form of Draco Malfoy, flanked on his left by Goyle. The expression on his face was as if he had been expecting to see them, and he was so excited that they had finally arrived. Harry immediately had to hold back a gag when he looked towards Goyle. The boys face was covered with red and irritated pimples that had been festering for days. Harry silently wondered why he didn't just use some skin clearing salve. There were many perks of being magical, clear skin only being one of the more simple ones.
"Oh look Goyle, it's Potty and even more blood traitors. Really, I thought you couldn't go any lower, then you go and consort with Longbottom. I guess you proved me wrong, for once," Malfoy taunted. It was useless, after years of enduring Malfoy's petty insults, these words fazed none of them.
"Shove it Malfoy, why don't you just go-" Harry began what he believed to be a witty comeback, but Susan interrupted him.
"Malfoy, piss off." The insult alone was weak, but Susan had said it with such disgust. "How are Goyle's sloppy seconds, Malfoy? I heard you and Pansy were caught in a broom closet last week by Professor Sinistra,"
Harry laughed as he recalled hearing from Lavender the same thing. His laughter, like many things, was cut short.
Snape, appearing nearly out of nowhere, began to speak. "That will be 15 points from Hufflepuff and detention with Filch tomorrow night for spreading lies, Miss Bones. Leave now before I am forced to remove more points from your houses dwindling collection," He somehow managed to look pleases and sneer at them at the same time.
Once Harry saw that Susan wasn't going to protest, Harry began himself. "But it's not a lie! I heard the same thing!" He was barely refraining from shouting at the man.
"Are you questioning me, Potter?"
Neville sighed and began thinking of ways to make up the points Harry was about to lose. There were many things that set Harry off. Snape and doing wrong to Harry's friends were both very high on that list. Neville looked at Hannah as if to apologize on Harry's behalf for what was happening. She gave him an uncertain look in return.
"No! I'm telling you that you're wrong! You know it's the truth, and you can't take points for speaking the truth!" Harry's face was red at this point and he was nearly yelling.
"30 points from Gryffindor for disrespecting your superiors, Potter. And you can accompany Ms Bones to detention tomorrow night. Now leave, or you will be losing more than just house points, whelp,"
Hannah gasped audibly at Snape's blatant disrespect to Harry. The Hufflepuffs never regularly attended Potions with the Gryffindors, and she was surprised to see Snapes attitude towards Harry. She quickly grabbed Susan's arm and pulled her past the Slytherin group.
After receiving a look from both Neville and Hannah, Harry decided it would be best to leave. He glared at Draco hatefully all the way down the hall. The blonde just smirked to himself and pointed his chin upwards.
Halfway down the next hallway, Susan finally broke the silence. "That arse!" Her eyes were narrowed and she looked near ready to hex someone.
"Susan, you've got to get used to it," Neville started, "I'm surprised that you aren't already by now," He didn't realize that Snape was much more tolerable when there were no Gryffindors around.
Hannah spoke up, "Used to it? I've never seen anyone be so biased! You're right Susan, he's an arse!" Neville silently stashed away the incident of Hannah's swearing.
Harry himself was excluding himself from the conversation on their journey to Hufflepuff common room. The topic lingered on Snape and his jerk-hood, though Harry didn't notice. He was too busy thinking of how much he was willing to pay Fred and George to exact his vengeance on Malfoy. At the moment, he was thinking somewhere around a hundred galleons was his limit, but as he thought more of Malfoy, that cap became less and less important.
Neville flourished in the conversation now that the topic had changed to something he was more comfortable with; mutual disdain for their slimy git of a Potions professor. He was in the middle of recounting a story about Snape when they came across a painting. Hannah and Susan stopped walking, signaling that they had reached their destination. Neville quickly rapped up his story.
"Well Boys, thank you very much for your kind escort," Susan, after about 10 or so minutes of walking was now more thankful for their company. Hannah smiled at them to repeat Susan's thoughts.
Neville, feeling confident after their previous conversation and the role he played in it, decided to speak out. "Of course, don't hesitate to ask us for that again," He mentally slapped himself for the awkwardness of his words. He had only planned up to the of course bit. From now on, he would think a little more.
Hannah blushed as she realized the reason for Neville's sometimes awkward behavior. Susan had told her about Neville's crush on her and she was unsure of what to think.
"Sure thing," Harry interrupted, trying to save his friend from any more embarrassment. Susan was a nice girl, but she liked to tease. Neville didn't take well to being teased, and Harry knew it. "Don't run into anymore Slytherins without us, okay?" He smiled briefly to the two girls before turning to leave.
"Oh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Harry?" Susan asked.
"Um, what? When?" Harry had forgotten about the detention assigned to them by Snape. "Oh, right. Yeah, I'll see you then,"
Harry and Neville were left by themselves for the remainder of their walk to Gryffindor tower. Since Hufflepuff's common room was near the kitchens, they had quite a few staircases to climb. Harry and Neville chose to use this time to discuss many things, ranging from the Egg to a certain Hufflepuff 4th year.
"That is why, students, before beginning a complex transfiguration, it is better to understand the physical makeup of both the start and end products," McGonagall finished her lecture. It had been over an hour since the lesson began, and Harry was struggling to stay awake. "Tomorrow, we will begin practical use of semi-complex transfigurations such as those discussed in today's lesson. Your assignment is to read chapter six sections one and two of your textbooks. Class dismissed,"
Harry couldn't help but overhear Hermione's rather one sided conversation with Ron. She was chattering animatedly about the lesson. Ron looked as if he was tuning her out. Most people wouldn't be able to tell, but Harry noticed her smile falter for a split second when Ron didn't reply. Of course, it was only natural that the git would start pushing away his last remaining friend.
Harry was already to the second flight of stairs before he remembered about his detention with Filch. Groaning, he asked Neville the time.
"Its four forty, why?" Neville stopped and looked back on Harry's retreating form.
"I completely forgot about my detention. I'll see you after, I guess." Harry's mood had gone from quiet to annoyed at the memory of Snape's unfairness.
"Well, see ya. I'll try to get some notes down on tonight's transfiguration work for you. I doubt you'll be able to finish it with detention and all." Neville called, not moving from his place on the stairs.
Harry smiled and thanked his friend before heading towards Filch's office. Without Hermione there to help Harry out with school work, Neville was doing his best to make up for it. The boy had been a tremendous help in nearly every subject, doing the mindless work for Harry when he was too busy with the tournament.
Although he didn't like Neville doing so much work for him without any reward, he had yet to say anything. It wasn't like he was asking, the boy offered. It would be rude to deny him, wouldn't it?
"Hey Harry, you off to detention too?" Susan Bones asked. She was way too excited for someone on her way to detention, with Filch, no less.
"Unfortunately so. What's go you so excited?" Harry questioned, speaking his mind.
"Why would I be excited about detention?" She looked extremely defensive all of a sudden. Her eyes narrowed and she gave Harry a look.
"That's what I was thinking," Harry admitted. Susan laughed lightly and fell in step with Harry. They were quiet for almost 3 more hallways before Susan broke the silence.
"So did you get any of that in transfiguration today? I honestly got a headache about 5 minutes in and just gave up," She was practically begging for some sort of conversation.
Harry thought back to his lesson just minutes ago, realizing that he did in fact understand it quite clearly. He also had a hunch that Susan did as well. "No, I don't think anyone did," He smiled as he lied. The silence was killing him and he was going to try his best to keep it at bay. Besides, maybe Susan would feel more comfortable if they were on common ground.
"I didn't know Hufflepuffs had Transfiguration the same day as us," Harry spoke before the quiet settled. He recalled his Transfiguration lesson to be with the Slytherins.
"Our entire year has shared the same day for Transfiguration for 4 years, Harry," Susan laughed at the look on his face. Harry welcomed the sound.
"Really?" Harry thought of all he knew about Hufflepuff and realized that there really was nothing to think about. He knew almost nothing about the most loyal house of Hogwarts. "I guess I don't pay too much attention to the other Houses," Harry admitted, still surprised about his lack of knowledge.
"Well that's us, nondescript Hufflepuff," Susan sighed.
"I'm sure that's not always the case," Harry tried his best to smile at her, but he knew she was right. "Hey, at least you've got the Hogwarts Champion from your house, right?"
"Oh, because everyone thinks of Cedric when they think of the Hogwarts Champion," Her response stung.
"I didn't realize I was such a detriment to your House," Harry replied, generally hurt. Susan seemed to blow off his response, rolling her eyes away from him.
"Don't worry about it Harry. We're used to it."
"What does that mean?" Harry replied. She slowed her pace. Harry wasn't given much choice, so he followed.
"Well, it's just that Hufflepuff has never really seen glory. I doubt you would understand much, but Hufflepuffs never get any recognition, not even an honorable mention. Did you know that Hufflepuff has won the most House Cups of all the houses?"
Harry tried and failed to hide his surprise at the fact. It didn't go unnoticed by Susan. "You see, most of us Hufflepuffs can't help but feel like it doesn't matter what we do, it'll never be noticed." Harry felt almost as if she had told the same words to someone before. It was awfully personal, but apparently it was a fact of life.
"Well, I don't know much about hufflepuff's," Harry started, "Or whether they will ever get recognition. I honestly can only recall the names of a few." Susan gave him a questioning look. Where was he going? "But from what I can tell from the one I'm talking to now, Hufflepuff seems like a pretty alright house," Harry smiled at her. She rolled her eyes and tried to mask her own grin.
"Alright? Is that all you've got to say, alright?" She joked. Harry shrugged at her.
"I guess you could say that Hufflepuffs are nice," Harry said with a mock-thoughtful look on his face. Susan acted annoyed but she was obviously enjoying herself. She had quickly lost the look of disappointment that she wore when she spoke of her house.
"Well, I guess I'll take anything I can get,"
"Smart girl," Harry said, laughing at Susan's expression.
Unfortunately, their joy was short lived. They arrived at Filch's office seconds later. Harry groaned inwardly when he saw Filch waiting for them, smiling and holding two filthy brooms.
For future reference, all of my author's notes will be at the end of chapters. I'll try my best to keep them short.
Thanks for reading the first chapter of my story! I've already gotten the next chapter written and plan on posting it sometime before the weekend. Please review and give me your thoughts on the chapter. If you have any constructive criticism, or any criticism really, please feel free to tell me about it, preferably in the form of a review. If there are any notable spelling or grammar errors that I and my word processing program have missed, also feel free to tell me. I'm planning on going in for revisions after every 3 or so mentions of an error I receive.
Notes on the Chapter:
This chapter and the next are going to be used as an introduction into the AU in which Neville became Harry's best friend. This will be the biggest change in the story line, though expect many more smaller changes to come.
In the next chapter: teenage drama, more new friends, and the Yule Ball.
EDIT1: After receiving many convincing reviews, I've decided to work Hermione back into the story. There just was no reason for her abandonment of Harry. I thank all of the reviewers that helped me realize this.