Author's Note: Hey everyone! I know i said i would be doing weekly updates on Sunday, but seeing that i'm really excited about this story, I couldn't wait until Sunday. So I will be returning to my usually Wednesday and Sunday posts (Or two chapters a week)! So here we are Chapter 6 of Taken.

After all I knew it had to be

Something to do with you

I really don't mind what happens now and then

As long as you'll be my friend at the end

~ Kryptonite – 3 Doors Down

Chapter 6: Cerberus

Hermione sat in the library, getting a head start on her homework. Despite her request on starting a study group, she hadn't told any of the boys she was going. Honestly, she needed a break before they all had to join up for their group project. It had already been two weeks, and they hadn't set a date on when to begin. She huffed in an attempt to blow her hair out of her face, but it failed. All her excitement about the DADA project had went away once she realized who was in her group. Not that she had a problem with any of the boys—it was how they reacted to her. Ron always seemed to have some derogatory comment to say about her, Draco barely paid her any attention, Theodore always seemed in his own world, and Neville was too shy for his own good. Tobias was the only one who seemed to appreciate her being there, but even his company was awkward. There were times where she would catch him staring at her, as if he was trying to analyze her very being. Even the times where she would catch him, he wouldn't remove his stare or he would simply return to his work like he hadn't been doing anything at all.

"Any reason why you're in the library all by yourself?"

Hermione raised her head at the familiar voice. Great. She gave Tobias a half-smile and returned back to her work, which she realized she hadn't even put a dent in because of her previous thoughts. Tobias didn't say anything but invited himself to sit in the seat beside her. He pulled out a transfiguration book and a piece of parchment. Hermione assumed he was beginning on the essay Professor McGonagall gave them today. She smirked to herself, seeing as she finished that essay hours ago.

She returned to her Potion's work, checking and double checking her assignment to make sure it was absolutely perfect. Of course it wouldn't be for Snape, seeing that he always found some petty flaw in her work. But she could barely focus as she felt a pair of eyes burning a hole into her skin. She hesitated to look at the dark-haired boy beside her, knowing that his green eyes would be staring right back at her, but instead decided to address him on the matter instead of showing her discomfort.

"You're doing it again." She said casually, trying to focus on her work.

Her voice knocked Tobias out of his train of thoughts. He was indeed doing it again, but he wouldn't give himself away too easily, so he decided to play dumb. "Doing what?"

"Staring at me." She replied. "You've been doing it ever since I've met you." She then set her quill down, and turned to face him, a fiery glint in her eyes. "And I want to know why."

"You're a muggle-born aren't you?" Tobias asked the question unconsciously, and immediately wanted to take the question back as her saw Hermione's face turn the sickly pale it did on the train a few weeks ago. She stood there dumbfounded, not by what he asked, but how he asked it. Instead of the disgust she expected to hear, his voice sounded more as a person of interest. Hermione didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. This was the reason he had been staring at her for the past two weeks? Why did it matter if she was muggle-born or not?

"Forgive me, if I made you uncomfortable." Tobias said with his usual pureblood politeness. "But it's true, isn't it? You're a muggle-born."

Hermione paused for a moment, debating if she could trust the Slytherin, but finally gave in. Though Tobias was the only friend she had, and that's if she could even call him a friend, lying about her blood status wasn't worth a friend—especially a Slytherin one. "Yes." She replied confidently. She then snatched her arm out of Tobias's hold. "Is that a problem?" She snapped.

"No!" Tobias said quickly, not being used to Hermione being snappy. "I don't care that you're muggle-born, Hermione, despite my heritage. I actually think it's rather impressive." He then gave her a smile—the same smile she remembered from the train, when he bought candy for Ron and Neville. She eased up a bit at the sincerity in his tone.

"Most wizarding children are homeschooled for years to learn basic magic, and yet you learned from reading our school textbooks—in like what? A month?"

"A week actually." Hermione said promptly. Tobias laughed and they continue their work until Madam Pince kicked them out the library. Tobias had offered to walk her back to the Gryffindor common room and as they walked, Hermione couldn't help but wonder how Tobias figured out she was muggle-born. It was bound to come out soon enough, but she had planned to tell the group herself, and here he came figuring it out on his own.

"So how did you find out? About me being—you know?" She asked shyly.

"Well it wasn't easy at first." Tobias said slowly, as if he was trying to gather his thoughts. "Your knowledge on Hogwarts and basic magic threw me off—it made me think that you had to have a magical relative somewhere. But then you started to stick too much to the book."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"You stick to the book, in everything you say. It sounds word for word. Unlike Ron, who refers to his brother's words or Draco, who refers to his father's. Even Theodore and Neville have their own way of saying things, but you say everything based on the book. Only someone who has been recently introduced to magic would do that."

Hermione was impressed by his observation. She hadn't even noticed she said everything word for word from the books she read. "And you figured all that out, from staring at me?"

Tobias shrugged. "Pretty much. My grandfather always told me it's wise to learn about a person through observation. You learn more."

"Your grandfather teaches you a lot."

Tobias smiled at the mention of his grandfather. "He's taught me everything I know. Since I was a baby." His smile then fell. "He's the only family I have left. My mother's in Azkaban and my father died before I was born."

Hermione felt her heart drop at his words. "That's horrible."

Tobias shrugged again. "Could be worse. I think this is your stop."

Hermione turned her attention back to their path, and realized that they were standing in front of the Gryffindor portrait. The fat lady looked at the two, before blowing a raspberry at Tobias.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." He then turned around and walked down the magical staircase. Hermione watched him for a while, before finally turning around and saying the password to get inside the Gryffindor common room.

/

Draco had been particularly excited about today's classes. Reason number one being that today was Friday and reason number two being he only had one class—Flying Lessons with Madam Hooch. An hour and a half devoted to just flying on a broom, and to Draco's satisfaction, it was a lovely day outside—the ideal setting for broomstick flying. The sun shone through the castle windows as he, Tobias, and Theodore made their way to the flying field. There wasn't a cloud in sight and the temperature was just right—not too hot, but no too cold either. As they walked onto the field, Draco noticed that a few students were already outside, standing beside a broom that had already been laid out by Madam Hooch. Tobias led them to where Hermione, Ron, and Neville were standing, and took their places beside the three Gryffindors.

When all the students were positioned by a broom, Madam Hooch blew her whistle and began the lesson. She didn't look as old as the other professors, but she wasn't as young either. She wore black robes and her hair was white and spikey. The way she walked down the middle of the students was intimidating—she walked fast, talked fast, and never missed a beat in giving her instructions. If anything, this made Draco even more excited.

"Broomstick flying is a very serious matter, no matter how fun it may be." She began. "You will do what I say, when I say it, and how I say it—is that understood? There will be no foolish broomstick flying unless you want to spend the rest of school year in detention. Any questions?"

Draco watched as Neville raised his hand, his arm quivering in fear. Fortunately for Draco, Madam Hooch didn't see Neville's hand and continued on with the lesson.

"The first thing you need to know about flying is how to summon your broom." She then sat her broom on the ground and held her hand over it. "Hold your hand over your broom like so, and say 'up.'" At the word, Madam Hooch's broom snapped up into her grip while the children watched in awe.

Draco and Tobias's broom immediately snapped into their hands, Tobias being remotely surprised because he had never touched a broom in his life. His grandfather told him that LeStrange's were horrible fliers and he was paranoid that Tobias may have adopted the horrible flying traits as well. Hermione was having difficulty getting hers up, no matter how hard or how many times she said "up," her broom wouldn't budge. But seeing as it was Hermione, Draco knew she wasn't the one to give up. Theodore had barely said the word and his broom snapped into his grip as if it couldn't wait to feel the inside of his hand. Ron had achieved the goal on his third attempt, but was disgruntled by the fact that his broom smacked him on the forehead when it snapped up instead of landing in his hand. Neville stood there watching everyone either succeed or fail with their brooms, before building up some courage to finally say "up," and to his surprise his broom snapped into his hand.

"Next," Madam Hooch said once everyone had their brooms in their hands. "you will board your broom, like so." She lifted her left leg and set it on the other side of the broom, now holding it with both hands as it sat between her legs.

Everyone did as Madam Hooch instructed, patiently waiting for the moment where they would actually be flying. Draco, who was becoming bored by Madam Hooch's lesson, had the urge to kick himself off the ground and fly around this whole school. Even if it got him a year's worth of detention, it would be better than sitting here listening to this amateur lesson.

"Now, you will kick off the ground, like so." Madam Hooch gently kicked off the ground, only hovering a few feet over the grass. "And hover a few feet over the ground."

Draco took no time to kick off the ground and hover at the same height as Madam Hooch. Tobias watched Draco, and then did the same, becoming excited about the control he had over the broom—it felt natural. Theodore lazily kicked off the ground, but nonetheless hovered as instructed. Ron seemed to kick the ground too hard and shot up in the air, but soon gained control and returned to the instructed height. Hermione looked as if she would pass out at any moment, and the boys soon realized she was scared of heights, but were oddly impressed as she kept her composure.

"Mister Longbottom, that's too high!" They heard Madam Hooch scream. The five looked to see that Neville was flying way higher than what was instructed, and what was worse is that he couldn't control his broom. They watched as he flew in zig-zags and loop-de-loops across the field before he finally fell of the broom and landed at the end of the field. Madam Hooch then waved her wand and everybody's broom returned to the ground, causing a few students to groan in disappointment. She ran over to Neville, who was still laying on the ground, and helped him get up.

"Oh Merlin, broken wrist." She tutted. She then walked him over to the rest of the class. "I will be escorting Mister Longbottom to the hospital wing. No one is to fly on any of these brooms until I get back, or else you'll be kicked out of here faster than you can say Quidditch." She then walked back into the castle with Neville.

Once she left, the remaining five heard a laugh coming from a group of slytherins. The tan skinned boy they knew as Blaise Zabini was at the center of the group. The five walked closer, Tobias and Draco in front, to see what all the laughter was about. Tobias noticed that Zabini was holding a glass ball in his hand, red smoke dancing in the inside—Neville's remberball.

"Did you see his face?" Zabini said in mid-laughter. "Maybe if he was holding this, he would've remembered to fall on his fat arse." The group of Slytherins around him laughed. Tobias then stepped in the circle, placing himself right in front of Zabini.

"I don't think that belongs to you, Blaise." Tobias said. He held out his hand. "If you know what's good for you, you would give it back."

"Is that a challenge, LeStrange?" Blaise asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, it's a threat." Draco stepped in. "Give the ball back, this is your final warning."

Everyone had stopped talking and laughing to watch the scene taking place. Zabini held the ball, tossing it gently in his hand. He looked at the two boys before a nasty grin appeared on his face.

"I would give it back." He said snobbishly, "But seeing as it doesn't belong to either of you, I think it's only fair that I return it to its proper owner."

"This is not going to end well." Theodore whispered to Hermione.

"So I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find—how about…." He looked around trying to find the perfect spot. "On the roof?"

"Here we go." Theodore said as Draco lunged for Zabini, but was too late. Blaise had jumped on his broomstick and flown high over the field. Tobias was surprised that Blaise could fly well, but that was beside the point. Draco tossed Tobias a broom, and they boarded it, ready to fly into the air. The two boys were ready to kick off before Hermione grabbed their robes, redirecting their attention.

"No!" she shouted. "You heard Madam Hooch, if you fly, you'll get in trouble."

"And let Zabini punk us?" Draco snapped back.

Tobias ignored her, snatching his robes from her grip and kicking off into the air. Draco then appeared by his side. They whipped their brooms around to face Zabini, who was now accompanied by Goyle. Tobias gave no time for Zabini to say another word as he lunged towards him, missing the remberball by an inch as Zabini shifted his broom to the left. Tobias whipped his broom back around, but Zabini was no longer holding the remberball. He watched as Draco chased Golye across the field, the glass ball in his grip. Tobias zoomed towards Golye, hoping to catch him off guard so he could snatch the ball back. Zabini was behind him, but Tobias was already too far ahead. He sped towards Golye, who noticed him at the last minute and dropped the remberball, laughing as it fell towards the ground. Tobias aimed the broom downward and flew towards the ball. He felt the wind blowing in his face and the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He had to admit, this feeling was wonderful. He pushed forward, causing the broom to pick up speed. He caught the ball just before it reached the ground and snatched his broom back up before he crashed. He heard cheers and Ron's and Theodore's whoops below him, but it wasn't over yet. Zabini was speeding toward him.

"Draco, catch!" He screamed out and threw the ball to his best friend, who caught it. Zabini snarled but returned to the ground with Golye, but Draco and Tobias paid them no mind as they relished in the fact that they caught the remberball.

"TOBIAS LESTRANGE!"

"DRACO MALFOY!"

The smiles on the boys' faces immediately fell as they saw Madam Hooch and Professor Snape walking onto the field below them.

"Idiots." Hermione said, causing Theodore to snicker as the two boys slowly returned back to the ground.

Flying lessons ended early because of Tobias's and Draco's little stunt, at least that's what Madam Hooch called it. Nobody blamed them, seeing that it was Zabini who started the whole thing in the first place. But that didn't matter as the two boys sat in their Head of House's office, awaiting their inevitable punishment.

"But professor it wasn't our fault—"

"Zabini took Neville's remberball and we—"

"SILENCE!" Snape screamed. He couldn't hear himself think over the two boys' rants. Of course the son of James Potter would take no time to find himself in a predicament like this, and Malfoy with his morals and values would be right along with him. The two boys grew silent before him, not even daring to say another word.

"I don't care whose fault it was. You two are lucky to not be expelled right now." He snapped. "Madam Hooch made herself very clear when she said to not fly on the brooms, yet you two deliberately disobeyed her!"

Tobias and Draco hung their heads down in shame. There was no doubt Snape would deduct points from their house for their behavior. And the consequences—with Snape being their head of house—they were not looking forward to that.

"Because of your actions, instead of being expelled, you will attend detention every Thursday with the groundskeeper Hagrid from the moment your classes are finished until dinner. And do not think I am not aware of your schedules!"

The two boys nodded, understanding their punishment. Snape stared at them both with a hard look in his eyes, but soon softened his expression before the two Slytherins.

"However," The two boys' heads snapped up at the word, "because of your flying skills, Madam Hooch has opted to put you on the Slytherin Quidditch team—LeStrange as seeker, and Malfoy as a chaser. You are to meet with the Slytherin captain next Friday, if and only if, you are on your best behavior. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" The two boys said eagerly. This was amazing. First years weren't even allowed to try out for the house Quidditch teams, but here was Tobias and Draco, being given a spot. Tobias felt the excitement rise inside of him. Given the circumstances, this actually turned out to be a very productive Friday. Snape then dismissed them both and they literally ran out of his office. Snape rolled his eyes as he watched the two boys nearly fall in an attempt to fit through the door together.

/

Next Thursday came and Tobias and Draco had been on their best behavior, though they literally an owl feather away from hexing Zabini into next year. But they held it in, looking forward to their meeting with the Quidditch captain tomorrow. Ron had been baffled when they told the other four what had happened in Snape's office.

"So let me get this straight," Ron said in disbelief. "Snape gives you detention, and a spot on the Quidditch team?"

"That's what we said, Weasley." Draco snapped back.

Ron ignored him. "But first years aren't even allowed to try out!"

"Maybe you should try picking a fight with Zabini." Theodore pointed out. "That seemed to work out for them."

"Either way," Hermione butted in. "It was foolish for the both of you to even go after Zabini, you could've gotten expelled."

"But we didn't." Tobias said with a smirk. "We haven't even spoken to Zabini since last week."

"Though he's been asking for it." Draco said through gritted teeth. "He even challenged us to a duel later tonight, and we can't even bloody show up or will lose our spots on the team."

Ron and Theodore looked at each other, and both realized they were thinking the same thing. "What if we go for you?" Theodore suggested.

Draco scoffed. "So Zabini can think we're a bunch of blokes that can't fight our own battles?"

"Well seeing as you can't go anyway," Ron added in, a teasing smile appearing over his lips. "Zabini will think that regardless."

Tobias and Draco looked at each other, and then back at Ron and Theodore. Their offer was tempting, Tobias thought, but what if they got in trouble? But then again they had suggested it, and he needed someone to put Zabini in his place.

"Okay, fine." He said. "But Hermione has to go with you."

Theodore shrugged, while Ron yelled out a big NO. "She can't come! She'll ruin everything!"

"I will not!" Hermione yelled back.

"Granger's magic is up to par with me and Tobias's. Even if she isn't dueling, she'll be able to help you both." Draco reasoned. Hermione turn towards him, surprised that he agreed that she should go along with them, but Ron still protested.

"I rather take Neville." He pouted.

Tobias raised his eyebrow at him. "Really?" They then all turned to look at Neville, who somehow succeeded in spilling pumpkin juice all over his robes.

"Hey Longbottom!" Draco called out.

He looked up, and his eyes grew five times bigger when he noticed everyone was staring at him. "Y—yeah?"

"How would you like to go duel Blaise Zabini with Ron and Theodore tonight?"

"B-battle?" He gulped. "Uh I—I—I don't know guys." They could all tell that he wasn't up for it, the way he played with his robes and he kept shaking his head. Tobias, Draco, Hermione, and Theodore all turned back to look back at Ron, who huffed in defeat.

"Fine." He groaned.

"Then it's settled." Tobias said as he rose from the great hall table. "See you three after detention."

Draco nodded to the other four and followed Tobias out of the castle. Once stepping outside, they began their journey to Hagrid's hut. The sky was an orangey-red as the day changed to evening and the October wind blew the boys hair back as they walked down the hill to Hagrid's. As the hut came into view, Tobias noticed that it was bigger, way bigger than what a normal hut should to look like. But he then remembered that Hagrid was a very tall and large man, seeing that his door was at least the same size as two regular doors stacked on top of each other.

They walked up the steps, and before Tobias could even put his fist to the door, it swung open and there stood the large man known as Hagrid. Tobias noticed he was very hairy—he had a brown furry beard and brown bushy hair that was even bushier than Hermione's, if that was possible. He wore brown pants, working boots, and a what-used-to-be white long-sleeve shirt with a brown vest over it.

"Well hello, ther'." Hagrid said, looking down at the two Slytherins. "You must be Tobias and Draco." His voice wasn't hard and gruff like Tobias thought it would be. Instead it was friendly, but still a little gruff. He stepped aside, and Tobias and Draco took that as an invitation for them to walk inside.

Hagrid's hut was….cluttered, if that was the appropriate word for it. There was stuff everywhere—pots and pans, blankets, animal furs. Tobias wondered how Hagrid lived in all this mess. They finally made their way to the table, a spot that had the least clutter. The two boys sat down and gave each other a look. Tobias recognized Draco's as being completely disgusted with Hagrid's way of living and Draco recognized Tobias's as his "it could be worse" face. Hagrid shut the door and made his way to sit in the chair in front of them. He then pulled out three metal cups and a jug of water and set it on the table.

"Would you two lik' sumthing to drink?" He asked while pouring himself a glass a water.

"No thank you." Draco tried to say as polite as he could, but Tobias could hear the discomfort in his voice.

"I would like some water, thank you." Tobias said, and Hagrid nodded and poured him a cup of water. After he finished pouring it, he slid the cup across the table and began to drink out of his own. He put the cup down and spoke to the two again.

"My name is Rubeus Hagrid. But you can call me Hagrid, or Mister Hagrid."

"I think I'll stick to Hagrid." Tobias said politely. "If that's alright with you."

Hagrid could barely hold in his excitement—or his tears. He hadn't seen Harry since he was a baby, eleven years ago. And even then it was from a picture that Lily and James had sent him on his 1st birthday. He was happy to see that he grew into a polite young man, but it disturbed him that he acted the same way Voldemort did during his time at Hogwarts. The staff never thought that the polite and honest Tom Riddle would've turned out to be Lord Voldemort. And to be honest, it was unreal that the boy sitting in front of him was Harry Potter, but it was.

"Hagrid is just fine." He said with a smile. "So how did you two end up in detention?"

"Zabini." Draco muttered.

"Who?"

"Nobody." Tobias said quickly. "We were just trying to help out a friend, and things took a wrong turn."

Hagrid stared hard at the boy, but finally shrugged. "Well if was to help out a friend, the trouble's worth it."

Tobias only nodded, and Hagrid felt something lift in his heart. Voldemort was never the one to get in trouble for his friends. This was James living through Tobias—the trouble maker, the one defending his friends. Maybe Dumbledore was right, Hagrid thought.

Tobias couldn't help be feel comfortable around Hagrid—it was just something about him. He wasn't like the rest of the professors—who would've lectured him and Draco to no end about what happened last week. But Hagrid seemed to accept it—encourage it. And for that, Tobias was grateful.

/

The corridors of Hogwarts were quiet, like they should be at midnight. But the silence did not last long as the sound of frantic footsteps grew louder and louder.

"They stood us up! I can't believe they stood us up!" Ron yelled angrily.

"I don't think we should be worried about that now seeing as were being chased by a cat!" Theodore yelled back.

Hermione, Ron, and Theodore had arrived on the third floor where they were supposed to meet Zabini. Nobody was there at first, and the three assumed they had gotten there early, or that Zabini was late. After a few minutes, they then felt like they were in the wrong place and began to walk down the corridors, looking for the tan-skinned Slytherin. After thirty minutes of searching and no Zabini, the three soon realized they had been stood up. But when they finally deciding to walk back to their respective common rooms, they ran into someone, though it was not who they expected it to be- or wanted it to be.

They had ran into Peeves, the poltergeist.

No matter how hard they pleaded or begged, Peeves wouldn't stop shouting, his goal to wake up every teacher in the castle. If that didn't make things worse, Filch's cat showed up and they could hear Filch's voice down the hall. So they did the sensible thing—they ran. They didn't know where they were running to, but anywhere far away from Peeves, Filch's cat, and Filch was fine with them.

"This way!" Hermione yelled out. She had spotted a door on the right hand side of the corridor and ran towards it, Ron and Theodore right behind her. They opened the door and ran inside, running past pillars and old statues before they reached another door. Ron tugged on the handle, but it was no use.

"It's locked!" He whispered.

"And we've been found." Theodore said. All three turned to see the shadow of Filch's cat walking inside the room. They had to do something before Filch caught up. If Filch caught them, they would be in a boatload of trouble, and that was something that could not happen.

"Move!" Hermione whispered. She took out her wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohomora!" The once locked door then unlocked itself, a soft click being heard in confirmation, and the three ran inside. Theodore watched through the crack of the door as Filch and his cat walked inside, Filch scowling to himself one he realized they weren't there. The caretaker and his cat then left the room. Theodore sighed with relief and closed the door.

"Filch is gone." He said, but didn't get an answer back from his two Gryffindor companions. He turned around and soon realized why they had gone silent. He felt his heart stop as he took in the sight of what stood before them. "Oh, Cerberus."

/

For the first time since Quirrell assigned the project, the six finally decided to meet up in the library to begin. But even as there sat there for the hour they had, the Philosopher's Stone was nowhere near the topic of discussion. Instead, the group discussed the discovery Hermione, Ron, and Theodore made that of the midnight duel.

"What do they think they're doing?!" Ron said irritably. "Keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?!"

"Ron, be quiet. Someone might hear you." Hermione snapped.

Ron scoffed at her. "Like someone will believe that we saw a three headed dog. It's Halloween, Hermione! Everybody says creepy stuff like this on Halloween."

"Actually, the three-headed dog is a new one." Theodore cut in. "It's usually ghosts and witches—goblins and ghouls, that type of thing."

"Three-headed dog?" Neville said worriedly. "In the school?"

"Honestly, Longbottom. Where have you been for the last ten minutes?" Draco said as he lazily flipped through a book.

"That's not the point." Tobias finally spoke. "Hermione, you said it was standing on top of something, what was it?"

"It was like a trapdoor or something." She replied. "Like it was guarding something."

"What's so bloody valuable in the school that they need something like that to guard it?!" Ron yelled again.

"That's what we're going to find out." Tobias said. The whole group looked at him as if he was mad, but Ron was the only one who expressed his opinion on the matter.

"Excuse me?!" Ron spluttered, sticking a finger in his ear like he was pretending to clean it out. "I don't think I heard you correctly. You want to find out what the beast is guarding?"

"Oooo adventure." Theodore said in a sing-song manner.

While Ron and Tobias continued their debate about the trap-door, Hermione decided to do some work on the project. Though it was only October, it seemed as the group would be "busy" due to other things. She noticed Draco had also opted to work on the project, writing down notes from one of the books she found on magic stones. She was still disappointed that she couldn't find at least one book on the Philosopher's Stone, but she wouldn't give up. In the background, she could still hear Ron complaining about Tobias's plan, his tone becoming more irritated by the second.

Charms was even worse. Ron was still irritable from their session in the library and the fact he couldn't get his feather to levitate only made it worse. Hermione tried to ignore him the best she could, but then he reverted to beating the feather with his wand and she was beginning to feel urge to transfigure him into one.

"Ron! Ron!" She shouted before she finally caught his attention. "You're saying it wrong. It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, not Levi-o-sar."

Ron threw down his wand. "You do it then, if you're so clever."

"Fine." Hermione turned her nose up to him and held her wand ever so gracefully before casting the spell. "Wingardium Leviosa." Her feather then rose above the desk a few feet before slowly falling back down. She heard Professor Flitwick squeal at her accomplishment.

"Look everyone, Miss Granger has done it."

Theodore, Tobias, and Draco watched as Hermione floated her feather. They also saw Ron's face turn that deep shade of red they knew meant he would be in a bad mood for the rest of the day. And he didn't save any time to express his anger at lunch after class.

"Who does she think she is?!" He said to the four boys. His voice then rose higher, as if to match the voice of a girl. "It's levi-o-sa, not levi-o-sar."

"She was only trying to help you." Tobias reasoned, trying to not anger Ron any further.

"She thinks she knows everything!"

"Uh, Ronald." Theodore tried to catch Ron's attention, but he wouldn't listen.

"It's no wonder she has no friends!"

"Ron." Neville said nervously as he realized why Theodore was trying to get his attention. Tobias and Draco then turned around and Tobias felt his stomach twist and he wasn't even the one who was in trouble.

"She's a nightmare!"

"WEASLEY!" Draco finally yelled, successfully knocking Ron out of his rant. Ron then looked to see where everyone was looking, and suddenly wanted to take back every word he had just said.

Hermione was standing before them, tears in her eyes. She had heard everything Ron said. Tobias wanted to say something, but she quickly turned and ran out of the great hall.

"You're quite the charmer, Ronald." Theodore said sarcastically. "Quite the charmer indeed."

"Shut up, Theodore." Ron grumbled.

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