Disclaimer: As mentioned before, all I own is this fanfic and some OCs, everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling. No copyright intended!

Ch. 12

Halloween

Several more weeks have passed, and it was the Saturday before Halloween. Harry wasn't all that ecstatic about going to the Halloween feast. Susan, Neville and Hannah didn't blame him because the holiday will make it exactly ten years since the darkest wizard ever murdered his parents. Quidditch practice temporarily distracted Harry from the anniversary of his parents' death, but he knew it was there no matter what. Harry's fellow teammates knew how hard it was for him. Upon spotting Harry coming back to the common room after practice with a downhearted look, Susan walked over to him and gave him a hug, with Harry returning it.

"I'm sorry to look like this, Susan," Harry apologized. "But how can I be happy to celebrate a holiday that my parents died on? I'm afraid mum and dad will be mad at me for it."

"I don't think your parents will be mad, Harry," assured Susan, giving her betrothed a comforting smile. "I think they'd want you to be happy. Even auntie will think so. The food at the Halloween feast is something many students look forward to."

"I'll try to be happy on Halloween," said Harry. "But it won't be easy for me."

After getting showered, Harry returned to the common room to be with his betrothed, along with Neville and Hannah. They left to meet up with Hermione somewhere, but the Hufflepuff Quartet spotted Fred, George and Lee along the way and they were mad for some reason. The Hufflepuff Quartet tried walking away to give the Gryffindor pranksters some space, only to be called back.

"We're not mad at you four," assured the Gryffindor pranksters to the Hufflepuff Quartet. "We're mad because last night Gryffindor lost a hundred house points."

"What happened to result in that?" asked Harry.

"Ickle Ronnykins and Ickle Ginnykins," said Fred and George, with contempt in their voices. "They and their two friends, Seamus and Lavender were caught visiting the third floor corridor. They claimed that Malfoy challenged them to a midnight duel in the trophy room and ended up on the third floor corridor. Professor Snape was rumoured to have caught them and that he escorted them to Professor McGonagall's office and she deducted twenty-five points each from them."

"The other Gryffindors are mad at them for that," said Lee. "Ronald and Ginevra especially keep complaining that they and their friends can't walk anywhere without receiving glares from many of the other students."

"Their fault," stated Harry. "What were they doing there in the first place, and why did they accept this midnight duel?"

"Ickle Ronnykins and Ickle Ginnykins won't say why," said Fred and George. "But we don't care."

"This could be seen as their bad karma coming back to bite at them," said Susan. "Especially for Ronald and Ginevra."

"Yep, that could very well be," agreed Lee. "Since they quite often pester you and Harry, they're already getting what they gave."

"How did you find out about the point loss?" asked Harry.

"Those hourglasses behind the staff table in the Great Hall," said Fred (or George). "They keep track of how many points each house has. Red rubies for Gryffindor, green emeralds for Slytherin, blue sapphires for Ravenclaw, and yellow diamonds for Hufflepuff."

"We asked Professor McGonagall why once we found out," said George (or Fred). "And then she told us the reason. The other Gryffindors were bound to find out and then we all sent spiteful glares at Ronald, Ginevra, Seamus and Lavender."

"Fred, George and I were outraged because we helped earn points for Gryffindor for helping to catch the one who really your parents, Harry," said Lee. "Now it seemed like our earning them was almost in vain."

"What pranks do you plan to pull on those four?" asked Neville.

"We're still thinking on that," said Fred and George simultaneously. "Those four need to learn one way or the other, even the hard way if it's a must."

So the Hufflepuff Quartet and the Gryffindor pranksters parted ways to resume what they had planned. The Hufflepuff Quartet found Hermione out in the courtyard and they told her what all Fred, George and Lee told them regarding the one hundred point loss Gryffindor suffered. Hermione started laughing at that, remembering when Ron called her 'baby doll' that one day along with the fact that he kept hounding her to the extreme ever since. Maybe that'll teach him, Ginevra and their friends.

(Scene Break)

Halloween morning finally arrived and everybody started filing into the Great Hall for breakfast. The Hufflepuff Quartet groaned in exasperation when they saw that their first lesson of the day would be Defence Against The Dark Arts (they would be sharing the classroom with the Slytherins). Professor Quirrell's stuttering was making the class somewhat of a joke, especially with the smell of garlic in the classroom. After their defence lesson ended, the quartet left to make their way to Transfiguration (where they'd be sharing with the Gryffindors). Along the way, the Hufflepuff Quartet heard Ron complaining to Ginny, Seamus and Lavender.

"It's leviosa, not leviosar," Ron remarked with sarcasm, then continued on in a normal tone. "She's a real nightmare, honestly. I can't believe Professor Flitwick had me paired with Granger for our lesson. How long will it take for her to realize that nobody wants to be her friend?"

Ron was oblivious that Hermione was right behind him when he said that. The Hufflepuff Quartet widened their eyes in shock, especially when Hermione jogged off (but not before they heard her crying). They thought of running after Hermione to assure her that they were her friends, but she jogged way too fast for the quartet to keep up. Harry retaliated by aiming his wand at Ron (who was still complaining) and cast the voiceless charm, making Ron look like he was only mouthing his words.

"Ron, what happened?" asked Ginny, who was utterly shocked that her brother 'lost' his voice.

Ron tried to say 'I don't know what, my voice was here just now, but it isn't now.' But he could only mouth it, also shocking Lavender and Seamus. Harry, Susan, Neville and Hannah were giggling quietly as they continued on to Professor McGonagall's classroom. Even when Ron, Ginny, Seamus and Lavender entered the classroom, Ron still could only mouth his words.

"Today, we'll be learning how to turn mice into snuffboxes," said Professor McGonagall once the lesson started. "Who would like to help demonstrate the spell for the class? Mr. Weasley, how about you?"

Ron tried to respond, but his voice was still muted. Professor McGonagall was starting to lose her patience with him.

"Mr. Weasley, you'll need to speak up." said the transfiguration teacher, in a stern voice.

Ron tried to, but with his voice still muted, he had no way of talking to his head of house.

"Oh boy!" said Professor McGonagall in an exasperated voice, also rolling her eyes.

Then she pointed her wand at the youngest male Weasley and nonverbally cast finite incantatem, allowing Ron to regain his voice. The deputy headmistress wasn't pleased at all, since she was still disappointed in him for being on the third floor corridor.

"Whatever spell you tried to do, Mr. Weasley, you should've been under supervision of a teacher," scolded Professor McGonagall. "Five points from Gryffindor for your lack of judgement."

Ron huffed in agitation when more points from Gryffindor were deducted. The other Gryffindors in class glared at Ron, Ginny, Seamus and Lavender for their behaviour. The rest of the lesson passed by uneventfully. Once the bell dinged to signal the end of the lesson, the Hufflepuff Quartet headed to the greenhouses for double herbology with the Ravenclaws. Hermione never turned up for the lesson, which surprised Professor Sprout.

'Where is Miss Granger?' thought the herbology teacher. 'She's never tardy or truant.'

The Hufflepuff Quartet had a hunch that Hermione must've isolated herself somewhere, so nobody would come across her crying. They considered giving their head of house the heads up, but they had no idea where exactly Hermione was (since she could be anywhere in the castle). Once the herbology lesson ended, Professor Sprout asked the Hufflepuff Quartet to stay behind and speak with her.

"You're not in trouble," Professor Sprout assured the quartet. "I just wanted ask you four if you know where Miss Granger might've been, since she often sits with you at meal times."

"We're not exactly sure where she is, professor," said Harry. "But before we made it to Professor McGonagall's classroom, we heard Ron complaining about how some sort of spell was pronounced and then he claimed that Hermione was a nightmare."

"Then Ron rudely remarked with how long it would take before Hermione realizes that she had no friends," stated Susan. "We even tried to catch up to Hermione to assure her that we were still friends with her, but she jogged way too fast and we couldn't catch up to her."

"I see," said Professor Sprout. "What is Mr. Weasley's problem?"

"His jealousy issues more than likely, professor," said Neville. "The fact that he quite often tries to coax Harry into abandoning us for him, Ginevra and their friends strongly seems to imply it."

"Which gets annoying for us, professor." said Hannah.

"I'll speak with Professor McGonagall over this matter," assured Professor Sprout. "Right now, you four should head to the Great Hall for lunch."

So the Hufflepuff Quartet left the greenhouses and made a beeline for the Great Hall. They hoped Hermione was okay and they wanted to look for her themselves, but given the fact that Hermione never said where she went, the Hufflepuff Quartet knew that looking for their friend was a near futile attempt. Hermione didn't even turn up for lunch, even when lunch was over. The next class the Hufflepuff Quartet had was History of Magic (they were sharing with the Ravenclaws again). The entire class once again fell asleep because the Professor kept lecturing about the goblin wars, in a monotone voice (like the first day of lessons). The last class of the day the quartet had was Charms (who they were sharing with the Slytherins). Professor Flitwick divided the class into pairs (where a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin were going to work together). Harry was paired with Tracey, Neville was paired with Daphne, Susan was paired with a dark-skin Slytherin boy who Harry remembered vaguely as Blaise Zabini (the last one to be sorted), while Hannah was paired with a boy who Harry vaguely remembered as Theodore Nott.

"Now, today's lesson will be on the levitation charm," said Professor Flitwick. "It's known for making objects fly. Now do you have your feathers?" (Everybody showed the feathers to the charms teacher). "Good, now don't forget the nice, brisk movement we've been working on. Go swish and flick."

Professor Flitwick demonstrated it for the class, and they repeated the movement.

"And the pronunciation is, Wingardium Leviosa, now off you go." said the charms teacher.

The class started practicing the levitation charm. It took Harry and Tracey five tries to get it, same with Susan and Blaise, while it took Neville and Daphne seven tries. Hannah and Theodore managed to get it after ten tries. Once class ended, the Hufflepuff Quartet headed for the common room to drop off their stuff. Harry saw Hedwig outside the window of the first year boys dormitory, with a package shaped like a broom tied to her talons. Neville also noticed, then Harry opened the window and Hedwig flew in, then Harry relieved his owl of the burden. The package also came with a note, which Harry opened and read, and the note said:

Harry,

This is your broom, a Nimbus 2000. Your head of house wrote to me and informed me of your skills on a broom after Madam Hooch told her about it. It would be best to open it in your common room. Don't tell the entire school about it, Madam Hooch, Professor Sprout and I can't risk Professor Dumbledore finding out about it, yet. Later tonight, you might want to give Bernie your broom, so he can look after it for you between games. I'd still practice with a school broom for the time being.

Love

Auntie Amelia

Harry and Neville were surprised to hear that the broom happened to be a Nimbus 2000, the newest and to date, fastest broom. Harry brought it down to common room to show the package containing the broom to Susan and Hannah. After opening the parcel, Harry, Susan, Neville and Hannah stared at the broom with fascination on their faces. The entrance opened up and Dora walked through and into the common room.

"Wow, Harry," Dora remarked. "You got a Nimbus 2000? That's amazing!"

"Yeah, Auntie Amelia sent it to me," said Harry. "She also advised me not to talk about it publicly."

"Yes, that's a good idea," agreed Dora. "Don't wanna let the wrong people know."

At that moment, Bernie entered the common room. He saw the Nimbus 2000 in Harry's hand and admired it.

"I was advised to have you hold onto my broom while I'm not playing in any games," said Harry, handing his broom to the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain. "Auntie Amelia also advised me to practice with a school broom in the meantime, so Dumbledore won't find out ahead of time.

"Yes, I'll put it away until it's needed, Harry," said Bernie. "When it's your turn to play seeker, I'll hand the broom back."

So he went up to the sixth year boys dormitory to put Harry's Nimbus 2000 in a safe place. Then the Hufflepuff Quartet left to look for Hermione, but they still couldn't. Hermione must've chosen one of the most remote parts of the castle, since she still wasn't found.

(4:30 PM)

It was finally dinnertime and all of the students started making a beeline for the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. While today was the day his parents died ten years ago, Harry decided to make the best of the situation. Susan did have a good point, his parents definitely would've wanted Harry to happy. Since this was a feast, all students had to sit at their house tables. The Hufflepuff Quartet had been quick to realize that Hermione still hadn't turned up. Ten minutes into the feast, Professor Quirrell barged through the double doors, seemingly in a panic.

"TROLL... IN THE DUNGEON!" shouted the Defence teacher, running toward the staff table. "TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!"

Professor Dumbledore stood up when he saw the 'panic' on Professor Quirrell's face. The students all turned their attention to the defence teacher.

"Thought you should know." said Professor Quirrell.

He seemingly fainted, falling forward in the process. Alot of the students started screaming, getting up and dashing toward the doors.

"SIIIIIILEEEEEEENCE!" yelled Professor Dumbledore. Everybody stopped and faced the headmaster, who continued. "If everybody would please avoid panicking. Now, prefects will lead their house back to the common rooms. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

"Wait, professor," said Harry, before anybody could leave. "What if there's more than one troll on the loose? We'd all be safer here in the Great Hall than heading back to our common rooms."

"Uh yes, Mr. Potter, you have a good point," said the headmaster. "All students will stay here until further notice. Prefects will keep an eye on the students while the teachers will continue to follow me to the dungeons."

Before professors Sprout and Flitwick left, the Hufflepuff Quartet approached them.

"Professors," said the quartet simultaneously, with worry in their voices. "Hermione doesn't know about the troll or trolls. She must be found as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, we'll look for her while we search for any trolls," assured Professor Sprout. "Fifty points apiece to Hufflepuff for looking out for a friend. One hundred more points to Mr. Potter for looking out for the student body."

The Hufflepuff Quartet were shocked to learn that they helped earn Hufflepuff house a total of three hundred points. Ron, Ginny, Seamus and Lavender were among the students to watch the hourglass containing Hufflepuff's house points go up. This made them wonder more why Harry refused to be sorted into Gryffindor in favour of Hufflepuff. They didn't genuinely feel grateful to Harry for him looking out for the other student body, they only felt grateful in false hopes that he would forgive them (oblivious that Harry would naturally be able to tell when someone could be trying to suck up to him). Fifteen minutes later, the teachers and staff came back to the Great Hall.

"Well, the troll has been dealt with," said Professor Dumbledore. "Now we can get back to the Halloween feast in peace."

The Hufflepuff Quartet spotted professors Sprout, McGonagall and Flitwick walking in with Hermione. They were relieved that Hermione didn't appear to have sustained any injuries. Hermione walked up to the quartet and gave each of them a hug, to show them that she was grateful.

"Thank you very much!" said Hermione.

"You're welcome, Hermione!" said Harry, Susan, Neville and Hannah in unison.

"We tried to catch up to you to let you know that we are still your friends," said Harry. "You jogged too fast for us to prevent up from being able to catch up to you."

"Ronald's rude remark hit me harder than I thought," said Hermione. "All I got for a so-called detention was just to see Professor Flitwick, since he's my head of house. I just have to go to his classroom and go over my missed lessons and finish homework."

"But do ignore Ron, Ginny and their two friends," Susan advised. "He especially is just a jealous and insensitive jerk."

"He's also ungrateful," said Neville. "Ron's rude remark seemed to imply that you tried showing him how to do the levitation charm correctly."

"Yeah, I did try," said Hermione. "His ungratefulness ticked me off, especially when he didn't bother to tell me thank you."

"But don't let it get to you, Hermione," Hannah advised. "We don't care what that Ron said, we're your friends."

"Again, thank you." said Hermione gratefully.

Then she headed over to the Ravenclaw table while the Hufflepuff Quartet returned to their table to enjoy the rest of the Halloween feast. Hermione was happy that she had some genuine friends. She also knew that Susan had a point, if she allowed Ron's rude comments get to her, it would result in him keeping.

To be continued!

Author's note: Since Harry and Draco are shown to be cordial in this story, the midnight duel had to have been 'called up' for a totally different reason. I'm going to leave it up to you to decide the reason Draco and Ron had the 'midnight duel' called up.