Author's note: Ok, I'm sorry this hasn't been updated in forever. And I'm sorry for those I told I'd have it updated earlier. I got pretty sick and then loaded with a lot of school work that I had to focus on or I would get grounded again. Anyway, here's the next chapter of the story. Enjoy.
Friday had come, and Harry woke up to Ron hitting him in the face with a pillow. He sat up quickly in bed, pulling his wand out in alarm.
"I'll blast you with a Skunk Spray jinx, you hedgehog-faced buffoon," Harry said groggily, his eyes still half closed and pointing his wand around randomly.
"Skunk Spray jinx, eh?" Ron grinned. "Never heard of that one. You'll have to teach me. Anyway, today's Friday, mate!"
Harry looked up at Ron, whose face was blurry due to lack of glasses. He reached over at the bedside table and put them on, then returned his gaze to his best friend, who was looking at him as excitedly as if Christmas had come early.
"Friday…" Harry mumbled, trying to think of what was going on.
"Yes, Harry, Friday!" Ron said with both happiness and impatience. "The day that we get back at those asshole Slytherins!"
"Ohh…yeah," Harry said wisely, nodding and then falling back on his pillow.
"Harry, get up!" Ron smacked him with the pillow again. Harry groaned and looked at his watch.
"Blimey, Ron, it's not even seven…we don't typically get up till eight."
"I know, but I'm so excited. I just can't hide it." Ron started to dance as he sang. "I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!"
"Never do that again," Harry said with fright as Ron spun around, slid onto one knee, and held his arms wide out.
Later on, after having gotten a little more sleep, Harry went down to the Common Room with Ron and met the girls. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville went to Potions and Charms before meeting Ginny and Luna on their way outside instead of going to lunch. Many fellow students followed them in large crowds that were talking excitedly. Harry looked up at one of the passing fliers that they had posted all over the castle walls and grinned as he walked out the doors with the others.
The large crowd of students made their way over to the lake, where there were some already waiting. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna spotted the six Slytherins and approached them, for the first time ever, eagerly.
Nott and Parkinson took a few steps forward and stopped, standing a few feet away from Harry's group and the large crowd behind them. The crowd standing behind the Slytherins was noticeably smaller, due to the fact that it was three houses united against one. Taylor came up to Harry from behind and tapped him on the shoulder to let him know she was there. Harry nodded, smirked with satisfaction, and walked directly up to Nott.
"Do you have the crackers?" he asked with a wicked smile. Nott paled and just stared at Harry fearfully for a moment before finally reaching under his robes and pulling out the box of cheese crackers. He held it out to Harry reluctantly, his grasp upon it firm, making it difficult for Harry to take it. He managed to pry it from his grip, however, and then walked up to the lake's edge, shaking the box so that its contents could be heard rattling inside it.
"Oh, Mr. Squidness!" Harry called with a smile. "We're ready for you."
Everyone around the lake waited in hushed anticipation. After a minute, a large tentacle broke the water's surface and everyone gasped. The rest of the tentacles followed, and the large, purple head of the giant squid. Its yellow eyes rested upon Harry and its purple lips curled into a smile, revealing gray teeth.
"You have the cheese crackers, Mr. Potter?" the squid asked.
"Right here, Mr. Squidness," Harry answered, holding up the box. One of the squid's tentacles snaked through the air and curved around the box, taking it from Harry. It lifted the box high above its mouth and then dropped the whole thing into the large, gaping hole.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Nott yelled, falling to his knees.
The giant squid chewed so everyone could hear all the cheese crackers in his mouth being crunched. He swallowed after a moment, then looked at Harry expectantly. The latter looked over his shoulder and waved for Nott and Parkinson, who both walked over with sullen expressions, as if they were approaching their execution. Harry backed away, hearing Parkinson give an audible gulp. The squid lifted two of its tentacles and grabbed both Nott and Parkinson, lifting both students up in the air. Parkinson shrieked; Nott just stared straight ahead of him, looking lifeless and apathetic due to the loss of his cheese crackers. The crowd of students below began to cackle; some pulled out Omnioculars. Harry and his group watched, grinning, before hearing a familiar voice behind him.
"Excuse me…excuse me!" Professor McGonagall said sternly as she made her way through the crowd. Hermione and Neville both looked nervous at the sight of McGonagall but Harry's grin broadened as she found her way to his side.
"Ah, professor, what brings you out here?" Harry asked breezily as McGonagall looked up in the air, open-mouthed.
"What-what-what is going on here?" she asked incredulously, pointing at the squid, which was bringing the silent Nott and the shrill cries of Parkinson closer together.
"We aren't totally sure, professor. It appears that Nott and Parkinson have found love and wish to show it to everyone else."
Everyone watched as the giant squid closed the distance between Nott and Parkinson completely. Once all was still with the squid's tentacles, everyone in the crowd below held their breath.
"We have to do this, Parkinson," Nott groaned.
"I know, I know, you're right," Parkinson said nervously.
"For the cheese crackers."
"Wha-NOTT, SCREW YOUR CHEESE CRACKERS!" Parkinson glanced down and then lowered her voice to a whisper so only Nott could hear. "We've got to do this for the return of the Dark Lord."
"Oh. Yeah, that too," Nott said. "Well…"
Nott and Parkinson leaned towards each other, Parkinson's eyes shut tightly as she emitted a whimper.
They kissed, holding it for a full ten seconds as students in the crowd whistled and jeered. When they broke apart, the squid brought them safely back down to the ground, blushing hysterically, Parkinson on the verge of tears. The giant squid winked at Harry so that McGonagall did not see, and disappeared back under the water…
Much to Ron and Ginny's delight, Parkinson and Nott received a thorough dressing down in front of almost the whole school from Professor McGonagall. She commented on the vulgarity of their behavior and the childishness of it, and how ashamed they ought to be. She assured them that any more misdemeanors on their part and there would be serious consequences, after deducting five points from Slytherin. As she walked briskly away, she wondered aloud why so many students were choosing now to screw around.
The next day, Saturday, was the next quidditch match of the season, and the day that the Slytherins took participation in their first dare. The match was Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna sat in the empty Gryffindor locker room, waiting for the six Slyherins.
"Do you think it'll go as planned?" Neville asked, looking at Harry.
Harry watched the doorway, and the six Slytherins entered the locker room. His lip curled.
"There's no doubt in my mind, Neville," he said, standing up. The Slytherins halted and looked at Harry and the others warily. Nodding at a nearby locker, Harry said, "Parkinson, Nott, get your brooms. You don't want to be late for the match."
Nott and Parkinson exchanged looks of horror.
