Harry Potter and the Fifth House
Chapter Two: The Boys have Daddy (and mommy) issues.
Hermione was sitting in the library with a large book in front of her when Neville appeared. She glanced at him. "Yes, Neville?"
He bit his lip. "About last night... um... thank you. It must have been awkward for you to comfort someone you've never even met while he had a breakdown."
"It's fine," she replied with a small smile. "You were upset. I can understand why in a way. Before," she waved a hand around, "before this I wanted to be a dentist like my parents."
"You don't now?" he asked.
Hermione gave him a small smile, "I'm not sure honestly. Now there's a whole new world of careers to explore."
"Oh, your parents are muggles then?" Neville asked. She hummed in response. "So is that why you're in here even though classes don't start until next week? To learn more about the wizarding world?"
Hermione shook her head, "No, Professor McGonagall gave me some reading material about the Houses but none of them said anything about Tigerlily. I'm trying to find something, anything, out."
There was silence for a while as she skimmed through the pages of the book before he stood up, "Maybe some breakfast will help. Let's go get some, okay?"
(-)
When Blaise woke up the next morning it was to the sound of something shattering. Rubbing sleepily at his eyes, he sat up in his bed. Ron was sitting on the edge of his own with his head in his hands and a broken picture frame on the floor in front of him.
Blaise rubbed at his neck, "Where did the others go?"
Ron took a sharp breath. "Breakfast. They went to get breakfast."
"You didn't go with them?" questioned Blaise as he slipped off his bed. Crouching down he started shifting through his trunk for clothes.
"No. I didn't want to..." he shook his head and straightened. "It's none of your business."
Blaise shrugged, "No but even if you're a blood traitor like everyone says, you still need to eat." Pulling his shirt over his head he left for the Great Hall. "Everything changes now, Weasley. We might as well put our big boy pants on and deal with it. I'll bring you something if I don't see you."
(-)
"Hey," Draco greeted as Blaise plopped into the spot next to him at the nearly empty table. Across from the two of them sat Harry, Neville, and Hermione as Neville attempted to answer Harry's questions about the wizarding world and Hermione flipped through a rather large book. "Finally decided to wake up then?"
"Oh shut up," Blaise said, bumping his shoulder into Draco's as he reached for a bagel from the tray in the center of the table. As he was smothering it in cream cheese, Ron plopped into the seat next to Hermione. "Have you written your parents yet?"
Draco stopped. He took a deep breath before taking a swig of his pumpkin juice. "No," he told Blaise. "Have you? Your mother must have sent you a letter by now."
"She has," Blaise replied before biting into his breakfast. "I sent her one back, told her what happened. I played it up like this was a great thing."
"Not to eavesdrop," Hermione cut in, snapping both boys attention to her.
Draco sneered, "Clearly you did anyway."
Hermione flushed before clearing her throat, "As I was saying, from the small bit of information I've managed to gather it seems most people from Tigerlily have turned out to be great wizards."
"I'm going to have to tell my mother that," Blaise laughed. "It might make things just a bit better. I like you, you get shit done. Oh, uh… what was your name again? I didn't catch it last night."
"Hermione Granger," she replied, shaking the hand he stretched out to her.
Neville nudged her gently, "Did you manage to find anything else out Hermione?"
"No," she told him with a shake of her head. She flipped the book closed and focused on the breakfast in front of her.
Blaise hummed across from them, "Granger, eh? I don't think I've ever heard of them before. Your family must not be pureblood?"
Hermione took a bite of her food. "My parents aren't wizards."
Both Blaise and Draco froze. Voices whispered in their heads- dirty, filthy blood, thieves, mudblood. "I think I'm going to be sick," Draco spat before running out of the room. Blaise followed almost immediately.
Harry blinked. "What just happened?"
(-)
Ron glanced around as he and Harry walked around the school. After breakfast they had mutually agreed that going back to their dorm where Blaise and Draco had retreated was probably not the best idea and had set about wandering around the castle.
"This is amazing," Harry said as he looked at the moving portraits and gripped a railing as the staircase moved.
"I guess," Ron answered with a shrug. "It's a magic school though. What did you expect?"
He breathed out, "I don't know. But it definitely wasn't this." After a moment he turned to Ron again, "What happened earlier? Hermione looked upset and none of you would explain to me."
"Oh." Ron bit his lip. "Well um…"
"Boys," a soft voice commanded their attention, they turned to find a woman Harry recognized as one of the teachers standing near them, "what are you doing? Shouldn't you be in your common room?"
"Oh, Professor Burbage," Ron interrupted as Harry went to open his mouth, "there was an accident during breakfast so we decided to leave Zabini and Malfoy alone for a while."
A hand settled over her mouth. "Oh dear. What happened? Maybe I can help you."
Light flooded into Ron's eyes and he drawled, "Well actually…."
(-)
Draco was sprawled out on his bed, face down, with Blaise sprawled horizontally across his back when Neville walked into their room. Without looking, Draco said, "We really don't want you in here right now."
"I just...um…" Neville shifted. "I want to talk to you guys."
"We really don't-"
He cut Blaise off, "You don't have to talk. Just listen if it suits you." He hesitated. "I know your parents look down on our families, but Ron and I are purebloods too, you know? Just because you talk to her or hang out with her doesn't mean you have to marry Hermione. I mean-"
"It's not that easy," Draco hissed. "Even if you take the disappointment and the rage I would face from my family for associating with Hermi - the mudblood there's still the fact that it's been drilled into me that they are filthy and disgusting. That mudblood's are a dirt stain on the white robes of the wizarding world."
Blaise cracked his knuckles absently. "You can't just go against your social programming like that."
"Why not?" questioned Ron as he and Harry appeared in the doorway. "I mean people change the way they act all the time right? Criminals and the like?"
"We're not criminals."
"No, your not," Ron agreed with a nod. "But you might become criminals if you stay like this." He twisted. "I'm going to teach Harry and Hermione how to play Gobstones and maybe some more Wizards chess. She says she plays muggle chess with her father. Do you want to play with us, Neville?"
"O-Oh, sure." Neville scurried across the room and sifted through his trunk, producing a packet of yellow and black marbles. Ron followed his lead. He went to grab a bag sitting on his side table, a red velvet one with gold strings, only to stop and rummage around his own trunk for a purple bag.
As they were leaving, Harry turned back around, "You guys can join us later if you want."
