Hi everyone! I'm back again. I'm sorry I've neglected you guys so much, so here's a nice group chapter. I promise I'll try to update more regularly, as my uni timetable is more flexible than my A level one was. I passed everything, btw, in case you wondered, so I'll be studying Marine Biology at the Uni of Exeter next week :) . So excited!
So yeah, here's another chapter. Hope you like, and I'm so thankful for everyone who has followed/favourited/reviewed whilst I have been AWOL. Please, as always, read and review. I'd love to see what you think!
~PhantomBookworm
As it approached Halloween, Hermione and Fred spent more and more time together in the hidden room, library, or huddled at one of the common room tables pouring over homework and obscure spell-books that Hermione had unearthed from the dark corners of the Restricted Section, with the help of an oddly approving Madam Pince. Although disproving of the twins attitude to learning and their aim to disrupt lessons, the witch had to admit to being impressed at their use of magic to found their pranks, and thus spent even more time researching out-of-date charms and spells that she thought the pair would appreciate or could use. And she had to say that her own schoolwork and magic technique had improved drastically as a result of Fred's OWL knowledge, and that the twins were not getting as many detentions or points docked because of missed deadlines or shoddy homework.
Everyone seemed content, even with the looming threat of the mass-murderer Sirius Black on the loose. Harry and Ron, for once, looked vaguely industrious as they sat in front of the fire doing work.
"I still can't believe you go to that old fraud's lessons, Harry," Hermione said as she scribbled down another calculation.
Harry grinned. "I'm surprised it took you more than one lesson to walk out, to be fair, Hermione. As soon as she said 'there is only so much you can learn from books' I thought that was it. It was when she told you that you were 'far too narrow minded' though, that's what got you to leave."
"Still won that bet though, mate. I thought she'd last until at least after Christmas." Ron crossed out a scrawled sentence, frowning.
"You… bet on me?" Hermione asked, confused and slightly insulted.
"Yeah, six whole sickles. Clearly I need to brush up on my Divination to win bets, not lose them." Ron put down his quill, satisfied. "Done."
George snagged his younger brothers parchment. "I wouldn't want to bet on any of this though, mate. You're drowning twice in the next month, and then being eaten by a dragon."
The rest of the table sniggered as Ron flushed red. "So? I'll change one of my drownings to being mauled by a Hippogriff, as long as it's miserable, I'll get a decent grade from Trelawney." He shrugged non-committedly, his ears still burning.
Fred nodded. "Ah, now we know why you turn up to those lessons. It's an easy pass, isn't it, mate?"
"No!" Ron retorted, blushing furiously.
Harry chortled. "It's all right, Ron. It's not like we could understand Arithmancy or Ancient Runes. They're for smart people, like Ravenclaws and Hermione."
Hermione smiled briefly at the compliment before rolling up her calculation sheet and sealing it with a tap of her wand. She tucked it safely into her bag, before pulling out her Care of Magical Creatures book. After Hagrid had told them how to treat the temperamental textbook, hers had become so friendly that it only snapped when something was poured over it or its pages became creased. Opening the book to the page detailing Hippogriffs, she started to draw a diagram of the creature.
"Wait, we had Magical Creatures homework?" Ron asked, dismayed. From his position on the floor, Harry rolled his eyes at his best friend, ostentatiously flourishing his quill over the diagram that he too, was copying. His book, whilst better behaved than most, was still weighted down with spare textbooks in case it felt snappy.
Ron sighed and sadly stood up to retrieve his book from his trunk. The others watched him go. "Six sickles on him getting bitten," George called from the sofa.
Hermione sighed as Lee sent back a "you're on, mate." Boys. She shook her head as she labelled the talons of the Hippogriff. Talons, eagle-like, up to half a foot long and ideal for maiming or killing its prey or victims, usually those who do not respect it-
A strangled shriek came down the boy's staircase and hurried footsteps sounded from above. Hermione's hand jolted, spilling George's ink bottle over her textbook.
"Argh!"
Hermione's Monster Book of Monsters snapped to life, fixing itself on the nearest living thing that could be responsible for its soaking.
A curse came from Fred as the book clamped down on his arm. These books were really more trouble than they were worth, and as they were especially stubborn to being removed by force of hand or by disarming spells, were tricky to dislodge. Would it work? Fred wondered, quickly grabbing his wand. His twin brother was laughing his arse off with Lee whilst Harry was attempting to subdue his own startled book by piling more textbooks on top of it.
"Abigo!" two voices cried as one.
The textbook was blown from Fred arm and ricocheted across the common room, mournfully snapping at students below.
"Um, thanks, Hermione," Fred breathed, massaging his mangled arm.
"Fred I'm so sorry!" She cried, hands across her mouth, eyes concerned.
"Seriously, it's not your fault, Hermione. It's just what that book does." He shrugged. "Accio book."
The snapping textbook soared gracefully across the room once more, hovering in front of the Weasley. Giving the book a stern glare, he flicked it open to the ink-soaked page, and muttered "tergeo," siphoning off the slowly drying fluid. He quickly thumbed through the book, making sure he had removed all of the blue ink. Shutting the tome, he ran a hand down the spine and grinned as he heard a reverberating purr.
Hermione looked at him, amazed at the sound, before Fred handed back her textbook. "How did- why- how?"
Fred laughed. "Slow down, Mi, and you might be able to form a whole question."
"Thanks, Fred," Hermione grinned at him, blushing. "Is your arm okay?"
He shrugged his shoulders, tugging his robe sleeve back up to his elbow. Dark purple and blue bruises covered his forearm, and where the book's fang-like clasp had broken the skin, there was a dark line of blood. Fred bit his lip. It did kind of hurt.
"Merlin's pants," George breathed, seeing his brother's arm. He and Lee had helped Harry to calm down his unruly school book, and were now mopping up the rest of the spilled ink.
"Here, sit down," Hermione said to Fred, drawing her wand again. His eyebrow raised, he tucked his arm against safely him.
"It'll be fine, Mi, it'll heal in a couple of days-"
"Shh!" Hermione snapped, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "It was my book, you think I'm going to let you walk around with a bleeding arm for a fortnight? You've got to be kidding! Now give me your arm and sit down!"
Fred sat.
Cradling his forearm in her left hand, she inspected the injury. Not too deep… she thought. Good. Her wand almost touching Fred's mottled skin, Hermione rolled the length of vine wood between her thumb and forefinger, thinking hard. How would you conjugate the Latin… ah!
"Curare cubitum!"
She gently touched the tip of her wand to Fred's skin, sweeping it the length of the wound. And in the trail of her wand, clear, healthy pink skin rose, replacing the darkened, damaged layer. It was like watching an eraser cut through a layer of pencil markings, or running a finger through chalk dust. The edges of the puncture wound knitted together, leaving only a tiny, faded scar.
"What even..."
Fred stared between his arm and Hermione, shocked. "Hermione, how…?"
Words failed, and he just stared, open mouthed. Suppressing a chuckle, Hermione flushed. "It was nothing, honestly," she muttered, bright pink. "Sorry for yelling at- oof!"
Fred swept her up in his arms in a huge bear hug. "Thanks Mi!"
"No… problem… can't… breathe…"
"Oh, sorry." He stepped back, still grinning, hair ruffled as though he'd just got back from Quidditch practice. There was a second of lingering eye contact just before Ron came blundering into the common room, cursing at the top of his voice, the Monster Book of Monsters clamped around both of his hands.
A chorus of sighs and groans came from the group around the fire as they moved to detach Ron from the book. George had a huge grin on his face. "Since it's both hands, does that make it twelve sickles to me?"
Lee rolled his eyes, groaning. "No way, mate," he said, struggling with the book.
"Awh, come on, Lee," George wheedled. "At least ten?"
"Only if you help get this damn thing off!"
Ron cursed again. "You guys bet on this?"
"Of course," Lee answered, affronted. He tugged again on the book, which growled and clamped tighter.
"Uh, help please, guys?" Ron cursed louder as he struggled to dislodge his wrists.
Fred lifted his wand and said "abigo." The book fell to the floor, but not without hitting Lee on the chin as it was forcibly removed by the spell. Ron rubbed his wrists gratefully, looking dishevelled and irritated.
"Cheers guys." Being Ron, and stubbornly lucky, his wrists had escaped with a light bruising, and he wasn't fussed at all by the incident. He was, of course, still disinclined to do work, but he settled comfortably down on the sofa once more and pulled a piece of parchment towards him.
The common room returned to its normal noise level as the chaos had now subsided. Lee rummaged in his pocket, and slowly handed over six sickles to George. The redhead smirked before turning back to his potions essay. Hermione sealed her now fully annotated diagram, and pulled out her Defence textbook. Fred absent-mindedly wrapped an arm around her shoulder as Hermione leaned comfortably against the older boy as she started to read.
So what did ya think? Also, what do you think to 'Mi'? I think it's cute for Fred to have a different nickname for Hermione than Ron and Harry, but thoughts appreciated. This chapter also addresses the fact that I screwed up my POA timings, as I had Hermione storming out of Divination way before Halloween, and it actually occurs at Easter. Sorry about that. But I think Hermione would be very, very tempted to drop the subject before Easter. Poetic licence. #excuseforeverything :D