Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the sole property of JK Rowling but OCs are mine

Chapter 10: The Rudest Boy

Harry was in the library struggling through his History of Magic homework when a polite cough interrupted him. He looked up to see Hermione Granger standing beside his desk. "Yes?"

"I wanted to thank you."

Harry was confused. "What for?"

"For telling Cedric to come and rescue me," Hermione said in explanation, before asking a question. "Why didn't you tell me you'd done that when you visited me in the hospital wing?"

"Because I didn't want you to know," Harry said without thinking.

"Why not?"

"Because I just didn't," Harry said, not wanting to say that deep down it was probably because, like Ron, he didn't want Hermione as a friend.

Hermione was distracted from responding to his answer when she glanced down and saw what Harry was working on. "It was Glodbog who lost the Battle of Tildon."

"I know that!" Harry snapped, not liking that Hermione was pointing out his mistake.

"I was just trying to help!" Hermione snapped back. "If you'll excuse me."

Harry was relieved when she walked off to sit with Justin Finch-Fletchley.

It was strange how things turned out, for, as the Book had stated, sharing things, such as knocking out a troll, tended to make friends of people. And it had, at least for Hermione Granger and Justin Finch-Fletchley. It transpired that she had been visited by not only Professor Sprout, but she had also been invited to tea in the Hufflepuff Common Room, to which she had gone. It was for this reason that Hermione was now friends with Justin.

Harry was simply glad that she wasn't friends with him; he had no idea that that had been Hermione's intention when she had walked over to thank him.

Returning his attention to his obviously incorrect work, Harry looked through his text book until he found the Battle of Tildon and he began to work once again on his essay.

The weeks went by uneventfully until finally Harry woke up bright and early on the morning of the first quidditch match of the season: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. From the rumors floating around the school, Harry knew that it was likely Gryffindor were going to be slaughtered, and that was being nice about it.

Ron noticed Harry was awake and he immediately began to talk about quidditch. "I wish it me playing today."

"I wish you were playing as well," Harry said, by now being more than a little conscious of the fact that Ron was quidditch crazy.

In fact Ron had regaled Harry on more than one occasion with stories of how he and his brothers had played glorious games in their garden. Harry was also aware that Ron was more than a little jealous that Fred and George were both beaters for Gryffindor.

When he had first heard about, and then read about, the game of quidditch and how it worked, Harry had been more than a little shocked at the violence that could erupt, and even that people had died playing the game, although not in Hogwarts. Ron, however, didn't seem to worry about the violence of the game, and Harry's response had been the perfect answer to Ron's question and he was beaming as he got out of bed, daydreaming about the day when he would be a big quidditch star.

Harry lay in bed a little longer, wondering what Ron what have said if Harry had shown him the original chapter in the Book about Harry making the team; a chapter that had now changed beyond recognition to reflect Harry's revised actions. Although in all truth, that morning Harry doubted that, even if he had made the Gryffindor team, he would have been able to pick up a broomstick, let alone catch a snitch, and he stretched his fingers out; they were still aching terribly from the cleaning he had had to do in Snape's detention the night before.

Harry grimaced as he thought about how many detentions he had had with Snape; between them McGonagall and Snape had assigned Harry more detentions with Snape than he cared to think about. Ron had even joked about him having more detentions than the twins ever had, and they were well on their way to beating the school record, which apparently was held by a group known as the Marauders, although Harry had no idea who they were and he wasn't really that interested either.

"Aren't you getting up?" Ron asked, as he walked back past Harry as he returned from the bathroom. "I want to get good seats for the match."

A little reluctantly, Harry slid out of bed.

Less than ten minutes into the match he found himself wishing he'd stayed there.

"And Slytherin scores again." Lee Jordan, the commentator for the quidditch match was far from buoyant as he declared for the opposition. So far Gryffindor were trailing fifty to ten and it was not looking good for them.

After that things just went downhill even more and Gryffindor ended up losing, four hundred and ninety to thirty.

Harry followed a very dismal Ron away from the quidditch stadium.

"We were rubbish."

Harry had to agree. "Yeah."

Neville, who still didn't see the point of quidditch and still didn't like flying, didn't feel as though he had much to add to the conversation but he nevertheless agreed. "Yeah."

As he headed back to Gryffindor, Harry had no idea that if he had followed the Book and ended up on the Gryffindor team, he would have not only won the match for them, but he'd have also discovered more about the three-headed dog he, Ron and Neville had ran into. And not only that, but he would have learnt a very important name. However, he was about to make a very different discovery.

When Christmas Day arrived, Harry never suspected for one moment as he expressed his surprise at the mound of presents at the foot of his bed that he was quoting the Book word for word. And even if he had known, he'd have never figured out that because of his actions so far, as originally written, there was one present missing from his pile, a very important present, a flute from Hagrid. But as he'd never seen the original chapter or the chapter as it stood now as he was sticking to his promise to himself not to read the Book, Harry was completely oblivious to either fact.

Instead he was gasping over the fact his aunt and uncle had actually sent him something. He opened up the present and read the short note, before saying sarcastically, "That's friendly."

The fifty pence piece his relatives had sent him ended up in Ron's pocket, Harry telling him he could keep it when Ron expressed curiosity.

Harry was more than a little excited to receive the bulky green sweater Ron's mum had knitted for him as well as a box of homemade fudge. Harry immediately tried a piece and declared it was delicious.

Harry's next two presents were both going to cause surprise but for entirely different reasons.

Ron picked up the square box that sat next in the pile. "Harry, why has Granger sent you a present?"

"Are you sure?"

Ron read the attached card out loud.

'To Harry Potter, Merry Christmas, from Hermione Granger.'

Harry took the box off Ron and he asked himself more or less the same question Ron just had. "Why would she be sending me a gift?"

"Perhaps she fancies you."

Harry threw a piece of fudge at Ron's head. Ron promptly ate it before urging Harry to open the box.

"Go on then, don't just look at it."

Harry discovered the gift was a box of sugar free sweets and there was another note inside, which he read out loud as well.

'This is from my parents to say thank you for helping me at Halloween, Hermione Granger.'

Ron let out a sigh of relief. "At least you know now that she doesn't fancy you, mate."

"I never thought she did." Harry put down the sweets and nodded towards the last item in the pile. "What's that?"

"Dunno."

Harry tugged open the parcel and in a fluttering display of silvery grey, something lightweight and almost ethereal in nature dropped to the floor.

Ron did a double-take. "If that's what I think it is – they're really rare, and really valuable.'

"What is it?" Harry asked he picked up the strange pile of material off the floor.

"It's an invisibility cloak. I'm sure it is – try it on."

When Harry tried on the cloak, Ron cried out, "It is. Look down."

Harry was about to say something about his invisible body when a note fluttered down to the ground and once again Ron took up the honors of reading.

'Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A Very Merry Christmas to you.'

"It doesn't say who it's from?"

"Perhaps it's from your relatives," Ron suggested.

Harry snorted. "I was lucky to get the fifty pence piece."

Any more discussion was halted with the invasion of the twins and Harry hid the cloak, winking at Ron, who didn't want to share it with his brothers either.

Harry had a wonderful day but as he lay in bed that night, he began to wonder who had sent the cloak and whether the Book would have told him. "I'm not looking at it. I'm not looking at it."

He looked at it, reading twice over the chapter that had appeared. He frowned when he saw he was supposed to be heading to the Restricted Section to look for something about someone called 'Flamel'. Harry decided not to go until he read the next part of the Book, the part that led to him being able to see his family in a mirror. His heart lurched and he had to force himself to continue reading and not to leap out of bed. He was glad he did when he discovered that the Mirror was known as the Mirror of Erised and that Dumbledore was going to take his only connection with his family away from him.

Harry decided there and then he was going to follow the Book this time, but that he'd only make two visits to the Mirror, if he could find it that is. He found it, simply by doing what the Book had said: breaking a lamp; avoiding Filch and Snape and finding the room by chance. And then, once inside, just as the Book had said, there, in the Mirror, was his mother.

Harry sank to the floor, touching a hand to the Mirror, his heart pounding. Then he saw his dad and Harry wiped away the tears he didn't even know he'd been shedding. It was almost morning before he went back to his room. But unlike as Harry in the Book had, Harry didn't tell Ron; it just felt too personal and, most of all, Harry didn't want to share.

He did, however, keep his visits to two over those first three nights but on the fifth night, it became too much to stand and he hurried off to the room that the Mirror was kept in, only to discover it wasn't there anymore. Harry searched the castle for most of the night, before, dejected, he gave up and headed for bed. Dumbledore had obviously discovered his visits but unlike the Book, he hadn't revealed himself to Harry and Harry found himself wondering why. It would be a question that would bother him for some time to come, even more so than the nightmares he'd begun having about losing his parents.

He was therefore tired and grumpy by the time school began again and although he knew he had to say thank you to Hermione, he did so with little grace.

"Granger!"

Hermione turned around as she heard someone call her by her surname. "You can call me Hermione, you know."

"I suppose," Harry said tiredly.

"Did you want something?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "You didn't have to get your parents to send me sweets. It's not like I did anything."

"I didn't ask them, they sent them and asked me to pass them on," Hermione said. "And if you hadn't gone to Cedric, I'd probably have died, so you did do something."

"Well, tell them they shouldn't have bothered."

"Or perhaps I should just tell them thank you," Hermione said in a curt voice. "It's tradition."

"I was going to say that next."

"I'm quite sure you were." Hermione's tone said that she didn't believe Harry.

"Whatever, just thank them," Harry said and he turned and walked away.

"Well!"

Cedric came up behind Hermione. "Are you okay?"

"It's Potter. Apart from Weasley, he's probably the rudest boy I know."

"He didn't seem that way when I first met him at the train station. He seemed almost pathetically grateful for my help in all truth."

"Well, he's not pathetically grateful now," Hermione declared. "In fact he's rather the opposite. My parents were only trying to be nice and he more or less said he didn't want their gift."

Cedric put his arm around the young girl who by now had tears in her eyes. "Then perhaps you should ignore him in future. You have friends in Hufflepuff."

Hermione smiled gratefully up at Cedric. "Did you have a nice Christmas?"

"I did and I've sent your parents a thank you note for the sweets and the book."

"You liked them?"

"I did," Cedric confirmed as he led Hermione to sit down by Justin, "although I had to fight off Dad from stealing them all."

Mollified, Hermione greeted Justin and quickly settled down with her friends, expunging any thoughts of Harry from her mind.