Chapter 10
Term Begins
The next day when Harry and Neville got up and left their dormitory, Ron was still sleeping. When they entered the common room, they were greeted by the sight of an angry Hermione berating the Weasley twins.
"You are not allowed to use students as testing subjects for your products!" she was shouting while the Weasley twins wore identical grins on their faces.
As Harry looked for a way out of the common room without being spotted by Hermione, the Weasley twins responded,
"But Hermione…"
"…we only advertised for part-time jobs…"
"…you haven't really…"
"…caught us doing anything wrong…"
Hermione looked at the two as if they had grown two extra heads, "It doesn't matter whether I caught you or not! I know the both of you and your intentions were very clear in the notice you put up."
She pointed at the notice which read:
GALLONS OF GALLEONS!
You don't have enough pocket money? Would you like to earn a little extra gold? Contact Fred and George Weasley, Gryffindor common room, for simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs. (We regret that all work is undertaken at applicant's own risk.)
To Harry's horror while she was pointing out the notice, Hermione had spotted him,
"Harry! You come here and tell these two!" She ordered.
Neville gave him a commiserating look as Harry walked towards Hermione and the twins.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" He asked in an unnaturally sweet voice, very well aware of what was wrong.
"These two," She said pointing to Fred and George, "are putting up notices all over the castle asking students to become test subjects for money!"
Harry nodded and then made show of reading the notice which he had already gone through. He remarked, "But Hermione, the notice doesn't say anything about test subjects. They are only offering students part-time jobs and there is no rule at Hogwarts against that."
Harry was clueless whether there was actually a rule against advertising or not. He just thought that it was improbable that such a rule would exist.
Hermione responded, "Yes, there is no rule against that. But we both know what these two are up to Harry!"
Harry then looked at the twins and had the sudden urge to laugh on seeing the grins on their faces. However, he managed to compose himself and ask, "What do you have two have to say for yourselves?"
"You wound us Harry…"
"…we thought you would…"
"…have more faith in us…"
"…anyways, you don't have proof…"
"…that we are doing anything wrong …"
"…so if you'd excuse us…"
With that the Weasley twins walked away, leaving an irate Hermione and amused Harry behind.
"Let them be, Hermione. You know how they usually are." Harry said in an effort to cool Hermione down.
Hermione was still fuming, "I will catch them. And when I do catch them…"
Harry interrupted her, "Yes, I am sure you will make them suffer. Come on now, let's go for breakfast!"
Before Hermione could argue, Harry took her hand, motioned for Neville to follow and headed off towards the Great Hall.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Both Tracey and Daphne were the only ones in their Slytherin dorm and they were in the middle of an intense discussion.
"It's not safe, Trace! Why don't you understand?" Daphne asked in an attempt to convince her friend.
Tracey responded, "I am not going to ditch a friend just because it's not safe to be around him, Daph."
"But you saw what happened yesterday. We were stunned from behind for no explicit reason. What if someone had used a more deadly spell?" Daphne questioned with a tone of uncertainty.
Tracey was in no mood to give up, "There are always a lot of 'what ifs' and 'buts' Daphne. Both Lisa and Neville rescued me and Harry was a good friend to me when I was suffering after Nott's attempted attack. I will be forever indebted to them and cannot even contemplate ditching their friendship."
Daphne knew that her friend was obstinate once she had made her mind up, "Fine. Have it your way then. But do remember that the risks…"
Tracey interrupted her, "For me the benefits far outweigh the risks, Daph. There is no point to this discussion anymore. I'm not forcing you to hang out with them, but please don't expect that I won't."
Daphne was a little hurt by Tracey's statement, but chose to look past it. She said, "Our friendship matters a lot to me, Trace. Whether you force me or not, I will always be around. You would do well to remember that!"
Tracey was happy that her friend had finally come around. She proceeded to give her a hug, "I never doubted that, Daph. We'll always be friends."
As Tracey broke the hug, Daphne smirked and asked, "So, when is Potter asking you out then?"
"He is not asking me out!" Tracey replied with mock indignation.
"Oh yes he is!"
"No, he isn't!"
The two friends carried out their friendly banter for a little while before they left the dormitory. Both of them were happy to have sorted out their argument.
However, what neither one knew was that a certain Slytherin had overheard their entire conversation.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The first thing that Harry saw on entering the Great Hall was Tracey entering from the Slytherin side. He gave her a short wave which was returned with a shy smile before both of them sat at their respective tables.
Neville had noticed this little interaction and whispered in Harry's ear, "If I were in your place, I'd have asked her out on the train itself."
Harry was still getting accustomed to this more confident side of Neville, but he was happy that the once shy Gryffindor had now opened up. He grimaced, "Don't start again, Neville. Please!"
Neville just grinned in response and said, "You are spared for right now Harry, as I need to go and talk to Lisa. I'll see you later."
Harry saw Neville leave and join Lisa at the Ravenclaw table. He waved to the Ravenclaw and then sat down for breakfast.
After he had loaded his plate, Hermione spoke, "Our time-tables and patrol schedules should be out today. I wonder when we'll have our first class with Sirius. It will be great to have a proper professor for Defense especially considering that this is our OWL year."
On hearing Sirius' name, Harry looked up at the Head Table and saw Sirius deep in conversation with the new Transfiguration professor, Leslie Bones.
Harry then turned towards Hermione and said, "Yes, even I hope that Sirius' class is soon. I'm sure he will do great!"
He then added, "I also needed to ask for your help, Hermione. After I decided to return to Hogwarts, I had a talk with Sirius about my electives. He suggested that I drop Divination and take up Ancient Runes."
Hermione gave him a skeptical look and exclaimed, "But you are two years behind in the subject, Harry! I love it that you are thinking of dropping Divination, but Ancient Runes will not be easy. I doubt you will even be allowed to change so late."
Harry shrugged, "Well, I had a lot of free time on my hands in the summer. So, after the talk with Sirius I went through the Ancient Runes texts of the last two years. I found the subject fascinating and asked Sirius to talk to the Headmistress. As you already know she doesn't really like Trelawney much, so she said she will look into it. She told Sirius…"
He was interrupted by the sound of a large number of owls soaring into the Great Hall. To his surprise, a regal Hogwarts old stopped in front of him with a note.
He took the note and fed the owl some bacon before it flew away. He then proceeded to open the note and a wide smile came onto his face after reading it.
Hermione spotted his smile and asked, "Who is it from?"
"It's from McGonagall. She says that I'll have an Ancient Runes test based on the previous two year's material. If I pass, then I can change my elective!"
Hermione took the note from him and read. After reading she cried out, "But Harry, the test is tomorrow evening! How are you going to prepare so soon? How can you be happy about this? We should go and ask her for more time."
Harry couldn't help but grin at his friend's worried state. He assured her, "Don't worry, Hermione. I have gone through the texts and I'm pretty confident. Also, if you agree then we can head to the library after classes and you can help me with some of the more difficult concepts."
"Of course I will help you, Harry. Thankfully I still have my Runes notes of the last two years, so we can use them." Hermione responded with a smile.
Harry smiled back and said, "Thanks Hermione. I think Tracey might also join us. She said that she wanted to help. "
Harry noticed Hermione's smile falter as she said, "Oh… that's great."
Hermione was about to carry on with her breakfast when Harry took hold of her hand and asked, "You don't have a problem with Tracey being there, do you?"
"No. It's just that…" She broke off, unable to complete the statement.
Harry insisted, "You can tell me anything, Hermione. You know that."
Hermione gathered up her courage and said, "Well, I am kind of used to you coming to me when the matter concerns academics. When you mentioned that Tracey would be joining us, I just felt a little twinge of jealousy. I know it's silly of me…"
Harry interrupted her, "Yes it is silly of you, Hermione. As I had told you on the train yesterday, nobody can take your place in my life. If you want me to, then I can tell Tracey that I don't need her help."
"No. Please don't do that, Harry. I have noticed that she is very good at Runes. It will be great to have her there." She said quickly.
"Are you sure?" He asked skeptically.
She gave him a one armed hug and said, "Very sure."
Harry smiled at her and then continued with his breakfast.
After a while, Hermione said, "You know, it's really great to see you taking a keen interest in your studies, Harry. I always knew that you were smart, and now without distractions like Ron around you can do so much better."
At the mention of Ron, Harry looked around the table for any sign of the redhead. Harry was the one who used to wake him on time every day, but hadn't done so today. As a result, Ron had not yet made it for breakfast.
Harry couldn't help but grin when he thought about what Ron's reaction would be to missing a chance to eat food.
He then turned to Hermione who was still waiting for a response, "Don't worry, Hermione. I do intend to be more sincere this year."
Hermione gave him a glowing smile and said, "I'm so happy to hear that, Harry!"
Harry smiled back at her and was about to carry on with his breakfast when he spotted Sirius handing out schedules.
Sirius came up to them and smiled. He then handed them both a parchment each and said, "That's your class schedule. You two are also required to meet me in my office today after classes so that I can brief you on your Prefect responsibilities."
Harry couldn't stop himself from grinning at Sirius' official tone. He responded, "Sure thing, Professor Black."
Sirius clearly heard him emphasize 'Professor'. He gave Harry a small wink before moving on to hand out the schedules to the others.
Hermione who had already started going through her schedule said, "Well, the good news is that we don't have Runes for the next two days, Harry. So you won't miss the introductory lecture of the year. The bad news though is that we have Double Potions today."
Harry groaned and thought about drowning his head in the flask of pumpkin juice. Things had been going so well recently, and he had completely forgotten about Snape. He saw the greasy haired professor handing out schedules to the Slytherins, and then cursed under his breath.
As both Harry and Hermione were going through their schedules, they were approached by the Head Girl who handed them the prefect patrol schedules. Once she had gone away, Harry read his schedule:
Monday – 8PM to 10PM – Harry Potter / Hermione Granger
Tuesday – 8PM to 10PM – Harry Potter / Anthony Goldstein
Wednesday – 8PM to 10PM – Harry Potter / Lisa Turpin
Thursday – 8PM to 10PM – Harry Potter / Tracey Davis
Friday– 8PM to 10PM – Harry Potter / Daphne Greengrass
Saturday – 8PM to 10PM – Harry Potter / Susan Bones
Sunday – 8PM to 10PM – Harry Potter / Hannah Abbott
He then looked at Hermione and noticed a similar pattern. He said, "I didn't know that we had to patrol with the prefects of other houses."
Hermione gave him a surprised look and said, "Obviously we have to, Harry. I was so happy when I heard that Malfoy hadn't been made Prefect. Patrolling with him would have been an absolute nightmare!"
Harry agreed with her, "Yeah, that's true. So, there will be four sets of prefects patrolling each night right?"
Hermione responded, "Yes. As the castle is so large, that makes a lot of sense."
Harry nodded and then looked at his schedule again. He found that he was really looking forward to his shift on Thursday.
After finishing breakfast, both Harry and Hermione were on their way to their History of Magic lesson when they were intercepted by Angelina Johnson.
"Hi," she said briskly, "good summer?" And without waiting for an answer, "Listen, I've been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain."
"Congratulations!" said Harry and Hermione, both genuinely happy for the tall black girl.
"Yeah, Thanks. We need a new Keeper now that Oliver's left. Tryouts are on Friday at five o'clock. I expect to see you there, Harry. We'll need to take the decision as a team."
"Okay," said Harry. Angelina smiled at him and left.
Harry then turned to Hermione and said, "Neville's gonna tryout, you know. He told me that he has been practicing over the summer."
"That's great! I didn't know he was good at Quidditch. Remember when he fell off his broom in the first year?" Hermione responded.
"Yeah, well, that was a long time back and he was nervous I think. Anyways, he's really grown in confidence this year. I hope he is good and is able to make the team!" Harry stated in the defense of his friend.
Hermione agreed, "I hope so too."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
After another horribly boring History of Magic lesson, both Harry and Hermione were heading towards Potions and were soon joined by Neville.
"Hey guys," He said. "You ready for another lesson with the greasy haired bat?"
"Neville," Hermione admonished him. "You can't talk about a Professor like that!"
Harry was grinning at Hermione's expected response. He said, "It's a shame he's still a Professor though. I was hoping that McGonagall would sack him."
"She was thinking about it. However, she didn't have any solid grounds on which could remove him. Moreover, she couldn't find in a replacement in time." Hermione stated.
Harry and Neville both stared at her in surprise. Harry asked, "And how do you know that?"
Hermione's face went a little red as she responded, "She told me when I was staying at her place."
Harry smirked on hearing her response, "And yet you insist that McGonagall didn't tell you about administrative matters?"
"Ok, enough! Yes, she told me about some things and I wasn't supposed to tell you." Hermione snapped.
Neville joined in the act, "Hermione Granger not following a teacher's direct order! I can honestly swear that I never thought I'll see this day."
Harry started laughing at Hermione's indignant face. He put an arm around her shoulders and said, "We're just joking, Hermione. Don't get angry please."
Hermione's expression immediately softened. "Don't worry, I'm not angry now," She said. "However, if we don't rush then we won't make it to class on time. Then I'll surely be angry!"
With that, she broke into a run with the other two closely behind.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
They reached the Potion's classroom just on time and completely out of breath. They took their seats, and Harry was pleased to see that Tracey was seated on the desk adjacent to theirs. It wasn't long before Snape made his usual dramatic entrance.
Snape went to the front of the classroom and proceeded to make a threatening speech which informed them that he would only accept students those students in his sixth year class who managed an 'Outstanding' on their OWLs.
Once he was done, he ordered them to start working on the 'Draught of Peace' potion. Harry found the potion to be a rather complex one and noticed that even Hermione wasn't looking too confident about it.
By the end of half an hour, Harry found himself sweating profusely as he added and mixed the ingredients. As he was about to move to the next step of the potion, he heard Tracey whisper, "Harry!"
He looked up and gave her a questioning look. She moved to the edge of her desk and spoke in a low tone, "You forgot the syrup of hellebore."
Harry immediately checked the chalkboard and found that Tracey was right. He gave her and grateful smile and mouthed, "Thanks!"
She returned his smile and went back to work on her potion.
By the end of the class he had managed to prepare a near perfect potion which even Snape couldn't criticize. He thanked his lucky stars that Tracey had interrupted when she did; otherwise the consequences could have been rather severe.
He packed up his bag and rushed out of class with the intention of talking to Tracey before she left for her next lesson. He found her outside the classroom talking to Daphne. When she saw him, she excused herself and walked towards where he was standing.
He said, "Tracey, you were a lifesaver in there!"
"Don't mention it, Harry." Tracey responded with a smile.
"No seriously, the look on Snape's face when he couldn't find a single problem was absolutely priceless!" Harry exclaimed.
"Am just glad I could help Harry."
"So, I got an owl from the Headmistress in the morning. My Runes test is tomorrow evening." Harry said.
Tracey was happy on hearing this, "Oh nice! I am so happy that McGonagall agreed. So are you prepared? How can I help?"
"Well, I was planning on going to the library after classes in order to get a better hold on the more difficult concepts." Harry said, very pleased on seeing her enthusiasm.
"Great. I'll meet you there." She said, just as he had expected.
They noticed Hermione, Neville and Daphne walking towards them and the five of them headed off for lunch.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The afternoon session went normally, and soon both Harry and Hermione found themselves knocking on the door of Sirius' office.
"Come in." Sirius' voice came from behind the door.
As Harry walked in, he recollected how the office used to look under its previous occupants. In the days when Gilderoy Lockhart had lived here it had been plastered in beaming portraits of himself. When Lupin had occupied it, it was likely you would meet some fascinating Dark creature. In the impostor Moody's days it had been packed with various instruments for the detection of wrong doing.
For the first time, the office looked normal. This surprised Harry as 'normal' was not something you associated with Sirius Black.
Sirius greeted them, "Hey Harry and Hermione, come in. Have a seat."
Harry said, "The office looks good, Professor Black."
"Thanks Harry. And inside this office, I'm Sirius. Professor Black makes me feel so old!" Sirius responded with a grin.
Harry couldn't keep himself from laughing. Now this was typically Sirius. He said, "Ok fine, Sirius."
Hermione spoke next, "Sirius, before you begin briefing us on our Prefect duties, I think there is something that Harry needs to tell you."
She gave Harry a pointed look and Harry then proceeded to tell Sirius about his weird encounter with Dumbledore.
On hearing all of it, Sirius was perplexed. He said, "I'll contact Tonks and have her look into it. Maybe the aurors will be able to find something."
Both Harry and Hermione agreed that this was probably the best course of action.
After a while, Sirius said, "So Hermione, I assume you are already aware of all your responsibilities as a Prefect and will be able to brief Harry about the same?"
Hermione smiled sheepishly, "Yes, I'll do that." She said.
Sirius grinned, "Great. So off you two go then. I think Harry has an exam to prepare for." He winked at him.
"Thanks Sirius. We'll drop in sometime later." Harry said in a grateful tone.
Both of them then got up and left the office for the library.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry had just started going through Hermione's notes in the library, when Tracey arrived with Daphne in tow.
After the initial greetings both of them sat down and Daphne asked, "So, why the sudden interest in Runes, Potter?"
Harry replied, "Well, I was getting tired of having my death predicted every week in Divination. I thought that I'd rather study something that might help me in the future."
Daphne nodded and said, "Good decision, Potter. It looks as if the male Weasley's absence is really paying off on you."
Harry smiled and said, "Indeed it is."
Tracey, who had been listening to the conversation, remembered something, "Speaking of Weasley, I saw him in afternoon having a shouting match with Finnegan. Something about missing breakfast…"
Harry started laughing heartily and even Hermione was smiling from ear to ear. It took a warning from Madam Pince to get Harry to stop laughing.
After they had settled down, Harry said, "So, I'm having a little difficulty understanding Logograms."
Hermione was the one to explain them to him and for the next two hours the three girls took turns in explaining the roots of all the concepts to Harry.
After the girls help, Harry felt much more confident about his test.
He thanked the two Slytherins for their help, before they parted ways for their respective patrolling sessions.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Both Harry and Hermione were patrolling through the corridors, when Harry asked her, "So Hermione, what do you think about Tracey?"
She responded, "Well, I don't really know her that well, but from what I have seen, she seems like a really nice girl. Why do you ask?" She gave him an inquisitive look.
"Well… I was thinking of asking her out." Harry responded with a smile.
Hermione spluttered, "You… what… you?"
Harry grinned at his best friend's obvious discomfort. He stated, "A bit surprised, aren't you?"
By now, Hermione had managed to retain her composure, "Well, obviously I am surprised Harry. I had no idea that you two were so close!"
"We did talk a lot over the summer. She's pretty, funny and I really like spending time with her." He responded.
"If you're sure Harry, then I support your decision. And like I said earlier, Tracey is a really nice girl." Hermione acquiesced.
Harry smiled at her acceptance and they both continued with the patrol.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Later that night, a couple found themselves reveling in post coital bliss. As they lay on the bed, the woman said, "This is really funny, you know. The wizarding public is still not aware that the supposed Leader of the Light is dead."
The man smiled and responded, "Well, I did transfigure his body into a bone. It will be a while before they find out."
"I still can't believe you did that!" The woman exclaimed.
"It was funny!" The man declared.
After a while, the woman asked, "So, what's in store for the Death Eaters? You said you were thinking about a way to deal with them without being found out…"
The man responded, "Yes, I do have a plan. But it will have to wait till Christmas."
"Why do you want to wait till Christmas, love?" The woman questioned.
The man replied in a harsh tone, "The Death Eater kids are still at Hogwarts and won't be home until Christmas. I plan to take out their entire families. Nobody will be spared."
(A/N: Another chapter done!
Who listened to Daphne and Tracey's conversation? Will Neville make the Gryffindor Quidditch team? When will Harry ask out Tracey? And most importantly, who are the mystery couple?
Answers to all these questions and more in the coming chapters!
Please do review. I look forward to hearing from you!)