AN: Hey guys, apparently FFnet decided not to send you an email. This is my SECOND chapter update of the day; lots of stuff happens in the one before this so PLEASE read that before reading this! Thanks!
Chapter 35: November 28 – December 11, 1994, Hogwarts
The next two weeks passed by in relative quiet. The next task was in ages; my sister was safe in the hospital wing with my parents; Claire was being left alone. Malfoy, though not quite cowering in fear of me every time I passed, still had not attempted any retaliation. My threats had probably sunk somewhere in that thick skull of his.
In fact, something about the castle was starting to feel positively normal. Hermione, Harry, Neville and I had gone back to looking up things for our little revolution, scouring law books in the library, hissing to each other eagerly over the things we found. I continued my animagus lessons, still not settling on any one animal form, now passing through Jonkeria, Diictodon, Inostrancevia, and Lophorhinus – all extinct therapsids, a group of animals that includes mammals and their closest relatives. Neville's selective breeding experiments were working – he now had plants that could protect you from Petrificus totalus, much to his joy. Ron even paid him a galleon for some.
George was constantly trying to calm me after the events of the past week, which I did appreciate on some level.
"We will protect them, okay?" he reassured for the umpteenth time the weekend after everything. I rolled my eyes at him, patting his arm.
"I know, George. Seriously."
"I just don't want you – to do that – the thing," George spluttered.
"You shouldn't want me to," I agreed, giving him a kiss on the cheek. George sighed.
"I'm just… disappointed. We said I love you. We should have spent this past week in bliss," George muttered, "Not anyone's fault we didn't, but still."
"Of course," I agreed, "Just… this is my life, George. Shite like this is constantly happening to me. I'm used to it now, but this is what you signed on for."
"I know," George nodded, pulling me in for a long kiss even though we were in the middle of the corridor, "And I wouldn't have it any other way."
I grinned happily and walked with him to the grounds, where we spent hours playing fetch with the giant squid.
The next Care of Magical Creatures lesson, as we all tried to take care of the skrewts, I was given a rather unpleasant vision.
"Maggie! Harry!" a simpering voice called out cheerfully. I looked up to see Rita Skeeter walk up to us, a wide, creepy smile on her face.
"Bloody hell," Harry groaned.
"What do you want, then?" I asked, not in the mood to play nice.
"I was just hoping to get an interview with Harry after the task! I couldn't find him anywhere the day of," Skeeter smiled a little too wide, "Care to give me a few words? I promise not to distract you from your lesson!"
"I really," Harry grunted as he tried to get a skrewt to go into a crate, "Don't have the time."
"Well what about you, Maggie? There are rumors your family is still in the castle, despite the task being over with! Care to comment on why?" Skeeter continued.
"Not particularly," I muttered as I finally managed to slip a leash onto one of the skrewts.
"Who're you?" Hagrid called out. He looked absolutely confused, and I internally groaned.
"Rita Skeeter, a reporter for the Daily Prophet," Skeeter beamed at him, walking into Hagrid's pumpkin patch and holding out her hand for him to shake.
"Dumbledore said yeh weren' allowed inside the school," Hagrid responded, frowning, "Yer disturbin' my students."
"What are these fascinating creatures?" Skeeter asked, as if she hadn't heard him.
"Didn't yeh hear me?" Hagrid stated again, "Get outta my lesson!"
"I am terribly sorry, I only wanted to get a word with Harry!" Skeeter responded defensively.
"You heard him," I interjected tertly, getting another rope around a stinger, "Go!"
Skeeter's eyes narrowed, "You're as difficult as your hard-headed mother, I see."
"And you're as nasty as she told me you were," I retorted, "Now leave, unless you want to get stung."
Skeeter saw the validity of my claim and snuck out of the pumpkin patch, walking through the grounds to the road that lead to the village. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank yeh for that, Maggie, but yeh didn't have to," Hagrid said, beaming down at me.
"Are you kidding? I would punt her across the planet if I could," I laughed.
Hagrid looked around at my classmates, who were still struggling with the skrewts.
"Maggie, yeh got a real talent with 'em!" he praised. I grimaced slightly before smiling appreciatively.
"Just gotta know the right way to approach them," I explained. It was the truth; my personal opinion of the skrewts notwithstanding.
"That's what I've been sayin'!" Hagrid praised. I looked at my watch as Neville ran away from one of the skrewts, panting against the fence once he'd gotten away.
"Erm, I think it might be time for class to end, though," I suggested. Hagrid sighed and nodded.
"Yeh best be goin', everyone, I'll see you next week!" The class hurried out of Hagrid's yard, everyone breathing sighs of relief. Pansy Parkinson, constantly annoyed that she was the only Slytherin left in the class, looked at me with pure loathing as we left.
"You got something to say?" I asked calmly, folding my arms across my chest.
"I don't know what you said to Draco," she simpered, glaring at me, "But he's told people to stop going after your sister, so you should tell him that you won't do… whatever you threatened him with."
"Nah," I responded simply, walking away.
"Hey!" she shouted angrily. I turned around and glared at her.
"The moment I let him off the hook is the moment you lot start torturing her again," I snarled, "So no, I will not let him off. Don't ask me again." I then hurried up to the castle with Neville and Hermione; Harry going off to Divination while we went to Arthmancy. Nothing much new happened in Arithmancy; we were applying basic calculus to predict situations in the distant future (for example, when humans would go extinct was my chosen event; by my calculations it would happen in about one million years, though we would have descendents. Hermione calculated when no pure blooded wizards would be left; that would only happen in a hundred thousand years. Neville managed to calculate when the next asteroid would hit the earth; that was in a frightening short hundred years, which we all hoped he had gotten wrong, even though Hermione checked his calculations.)
"Maybe it'll be a small asteroid," Neville reassured calmly.
"Maybe we'll be dead? I mean wizards and witches live longer than muggles but the odds of our little foursome living long are small," I encouraged.
"Why must you talk about our early deaths in such a cavalier manner," Hermione groaned.
"Well, I figure embracing our corpse-strewn future is the best possible way to deal with it," I grinned.
"I'm actually with Maggie on this one," Neville laughed.
"You two are depressing," Hermione shook her head.
"It's better than dwelling on our corpse-strewn past!" I giggled.
"Gotta always be looking forward," Neville chortled.
"You two are horrible people," Hermione harrumphed.
"You know you love us," I beamed, high-fiving Neville over her head.
"Good lord, stop taking advantage of it!" Hermione rolled her eyes. Neville and I hugged her from either side, making her groan in both amusement and bemusement.
"Honestly, you two," she snorted as we let go and all left the classroom together at the end of the lesson.
"We love you, Hermione," we laughed in unison. She rolled her eyes again as we headed off to dinner. But then, she frowned and looked at us right before we were about to enter the Great Hall.
"Mind waiting a minute? I want to investigate something," Hermione asked.
Neville's stomach audibly growled.
"Oh alright," she sighed before we could say another word, "I'll see you later." She then ran off, leaving Neville and I very confused. He looked at me and shrugged, and we sat together at the Gryffindor table. Harry was already there, laughing with Ron about that day's Divination lesson.
"Trelawny was a prat again?" I asked curiously, sitting next to him and grabbing a heaping of soup.
"When is she not," Harry grinned, "I'm going to die, don't you know."
"You know, at this point, when you die it'll just be weird," I rolled my eyes.
"Harry's ability to escape death is world renowed," Neville nodded.
"Books have been written in his honor," I grinned.
"Sonnets composed about his powers," Neville grinned back at me as Harry groaned next to us.
"The next great muggle films? About Harry's ability to evade death," I laughed.
"The spectre of death is so frustrated at this point he threatens to never collect Harry," Neville fake-sighed heavily.
"'I'm too old for this shit,' the spectre was heard saying one blustery November afternoon," I giggled.
"But the spectre accepted that everyone must die, regardless of how many times they spat in his face in the past," Neville was laughing so hard as he said this he was clutching his stomach.
"'Mark my words, though, the kid owes me big time', Death finished in his formal statement to the press after the events of the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament," I grinned.
"Alright, alright, yeesh!" Harry groaned. Ron next to him had fallen under the table from laughing so hard.
"We're on a roll today, Neville," I grinned, high-fiving him again. He grinned back.
"Honestly you two, it's not like you haven't evaded as many deadly situations as me," Harry grumbled.
"Neither of us faced Voldy-pants in the final part of the third floor corridor," I countered.
"And neither of us are in the Tournament," Neville agreed.
"And yah know, I'm pretty sure neither of us had Voldemort come after us as infants," I finished beaming at Harry.
Neville paused for the slightest of moment before saying, "Yeah," though his voice was a little subdued. I looked at him in questioning, but Harry had not caught this moment.
"Well, yeah, but we all fought a bloody basilisk," he interjected.
Neville, looking visibly relieved said, "True, but you got bitten!"
"You hit your head on a pillar and got a concussion!"
"Fawkes fixed that in a second!"
"Well, Fawkes got rid of the poison!" Harry was grinning happily.
"I scratched my leg?" I offered, deciding to let Neville's comment go.
"Oh that barely counts," Harry shook his head.
"She was sort of struggling not to drown when she did, though," Neville defended.
"Thank you, Neville," I beamed at him. He grinned back at me.
"Oh please, that's nothing compared to getting bitten by the basilisk!" Harry laughed.
"Wait, I think we've switched sides here," Neville commented.
"Yeah, aren't we supposed to be arguing that you're more danger prone?" I roared with laughter as Harry's brow furrowed in anger, him muttering, "Wait!" in surprise at the turn in the discussion.
"Did it again, Neville!" I grinned, high-fiving him for a third time. He was beaming wider than ever as he shouted, "A flawless team!"
"What is going on?" I heard a voice ask in amusement. I looked up to see George grinning at me, Fred sitting down next to him and grabbing food.
"Neville and I are ragging on everyone apparently," I laughed.
"It's amazing, the ability we have to annoy people," Neville was giggling happily.
"They're in peak form," Ron gasped, breathless as he managed to stop laughing and crawl out from under the table.
"I'll get you guys back for this," Harry grumbled in annoyance.
"I'm so proud," George laughed, leaning across the table to give me a small kiss. Ron, Fred, and Harry made audible noises of disgust. Harry, who was closest to me, I managed to whack upside the head for this.
"So where's Hermione?" Fred asked curiously, his mouth stuffed with food.
"Oh you're not still on about that, are you?" George groaned.
"Wha'?" Fred responded defensively.
"She said she had to check something out and then she ran off," Neville explained calmly.
Fred grumbled in annoyance and continued to eat food.
"Why does he care where Hermione is?" Ron asked in confusion.
"Ron, you bloody well have the emotional range of a teaspoon," I rolled my eyes.
"Oi!"
"What did my brother do now?" Ginny asked, sitting down with us.
"Acted like a prat," George chuckled.
"What else is new?" Ginny grinned.
"I'm sitting right here!" Ron protested.
"Yes, and we're all proud of you for that," Harry laughed, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Oh, this weekend Luna wants to hang out with us. Is that okay, guys?" Ginny asked.
"Who is Luna?" Neville asked.
"My friend, she's in my year, in Ravenclaw," Ginny explained, "I've been hanging out with you lot so much I've sort of been neglecting her. And I mean, most of the time I can excuse it cause we're in the common room, but we're planning on playing Quidditch on the grounds and I said she could watch."
"Of course!" Harry reassured.
"Any friend of Ginny is a friend of ours," I beamed.
"Thank you so much," Ginny grinned at me, turning back to eat her food happily.
As we left the Great Hall, chatting amicably with one another, we ran into Hermione running towards us.
"There you are!" Neville beamed.
"Where the bloody hell have you been?" I laughed.
"You missed us making fun of Ron, your favorite sport," Harry chortled.
"I heard that!"
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Come on, guys, I have something to show you, we have to go right now!" She then grabbed the three of us and dragged us through the corridor, down the set of stairs that lead to the kitchens.
"Hermione, why are you bringing us here?" I asked in surprise as she tickled the green pear.
"I thought we said we weren't going to do any hands on stuff until we had collected enough info?" Neville furthered.
"No, trust me, I was just curious, I wanted to get their first hand accounts of what they thought about it all, you know, that is data, I swear I was just hear to listen, and – oh just wait!" Hermione shook her head madly as she dragged us through door.
I looked around in curiosity when suddenly Harry was tackled to the floor. I looked down to see that Harry had been tackled by none other than –
"Dobby!" Harry gasped in shock.
"Harry Potter!" Dobby greeted back happily, "Dobby has been hoping and hoping to see Harry Potter, sir! And Harry Potter has come to see him, instead!"
Dobby got off Harry and looked at him, beaming. He had actual tears in his eyes. He looked the same as he had two years ago, but now he was wearing clothes instad of a pillowcase. In fact, he was wearing a tea cozy as a hat, a tie with horseshoes over his bare chest, children's football shorts, and two mismatched socks.
"Dobby, how are you here?" I gasped.
"Maggie Johnson!" Dobby squeaked, "Oh, it is wonderful for Dobby to see Maggie too, miss!"
I laughed and pulled Dobby in for a hug, making him squeak.
"No one has ever hugged Dobby before!" Dobby gasped.
"Well, of course I hugged you," I smiled kindly at him.
"Maggie Johnson is much kinder than the other elves says to Dobby!" Dobby squeaked.
"But seriously, Dobby, why are you here?" Harry asked curiously.
"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby explained, "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!"
"Wait a second," I interjected, "Why does Winky need a job?"
"Very unfortunate, Maggie, miss, very unfortunate. Winky was fired, miss. Winky disobeyed Winky's master, and Mr. Crouch was very upset with Winky!" Dobby explained.
"That's horrible!" I snarled.
"Tis normal, miss!" Dobby insisted, "Come, Harry and Harry's friends! Come!" Dobby then basically dragged us through the kitchens, past all the elves looking at us, bowing and curtsying. We finally stopped in front of the fire, where Winky was sitting in front of it on a stool. She was wearing a skirt and blouse and a blue hat, but she wasn't taking care of her clothes at all.
"Hello again, Winky," Harry greeted. Winky looked at him for a moment before bursting into tears.
"Oh no," Hermione sighed, "Please don't cry, Winky."
But she cried harder at that, and Dobby beamed up at us.
"Would Harry Potter and Harry Potter's friends like cups of tea?" he squeaked over Winky's sobs.
"Er, sure, yeah," Harry answered nervously. Immediately, six house elves came up to us, handing us cups and filling them with tea. The elves all bowed happily as we stared at them in shock.
"Merlin, I had no idea what house elves were like," Neville muttered quietly.
"How long have you been here, Dobby?" Harry asked him.
"Only a week, Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby explained happily, "Dobby came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir. You see, sir, it is very difficult for a house-elf who has been dismissed to get a new position, sir, very difficult indeed…"
Winky began sobbing even louder. I had no idea what to do to help her.
"Dobby has traveled the country for two whole years, sir, trying to find work!" Dobby continued, "But Dobby hasn't found work, sir, because Dobby wants paying now!"
All of the house-elves looked as if Dobby had said some sort of racial slur. Hermione, however, praised him, going, "Good for you, Dobby!"
"Thank you, miss!" Dobby agreed, grinning broadly, "But most wizards doesn't want a house-elf who wants paying, miss. 'That's not the point of a house-elf," they says, and they slammed the door in Dobby's face! Dobby likes work, but he wants to wear clothes and he wants to be paid, Harry Potter and Harry Potter's friends… Dobby likes being free!"
Now the elves treated Dobby like a pariah, backing away from him. Winky was still crying heavily, though she was staying put.
"And then, Harry Potter, Dobby goes to visit Winky, and finds out Winky has been freed too, sir!" Dobby continued. Winky was now screaming with misery, lying facedown on the floor, slamming her fists into the stone and bawling her eyes out. I leaned down and patted her shoulder, but she didn't seem to have noticed, and I looked up at Hermione with complete disbelief etched into my face.
"And then Dobby had the idea, Harry Potter, sir! 'Why doesn't Dobby and Winky find work together?' Dobby says. 'Where is there enough work for two house-elves?' says Winky. And Dobby thinks, and it comes to him, sir! Hogwarts! So Dobby and Winky came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir, and Professor Dumbledore took us on!"
Dobby beamed at us, tears welling in his eyes in happiness.
"And Professor Dumbledore says he will pay Dobby, sir, if Dobby wants paying! And so Dobby is a free elf, sir, and Dobby gets a Galleon a week and one day off a month!"
"What?" I gasped.
"That's not much at all!" Hermione shouted in amazement.
"Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a week, and weekends off," Dobby's face was etched with horror, "But Dobby beat him down, misses… Dobby likes freedom, misses, and he isn't wanting too much, misses, he likes work better."
Hermione frowned heavily, and opened her mouth to speak, but I shook my head. She glared at me a minute before sighing and nodding.
"Are you happy to be free of the Malfoys, then?" Harry asked.
"Oh yes, sir, yes!" Dobby nodded eagerly, "Dobby is very happy! Dobby's old masters were…" Dobby choked on his words.
"You don't work for them anymore, Dobby," I reassured.
"Yeah, you can say whatever you want about them, no matter how bad," Neville agreed.
Dobby looked at the four of us, opening his mouth. He then managed to choke out, "Dobby… Dobby can, yes, sir… Dobby could… Dobby could tell Harry Potter and his friends that his old masters were… were… very bad, Dark wizards!" Dobby was shaking all over, and made a move to grab a nearby table to bang it on his head, but Harry grabbed him and pulled him away.
"Thank you, Harry Potter, thank you," Dobby gasped.
"You just need to practice," I grinned.
"Practice!" Winky suddenly stopped sobbing, sitting up in horror, "You is ought to be ashamed of yourself, Dobby, talking that way about your masters!"
"They isn't my masters anymore, Winky!" Dobby answered angrily, "Dobby doesn't care what they think anymore!"
"Oh you is a bad elf, Dobby!" Winky moaned, "My poor Mr. Crouch, what is he doing without Winky? He is needing me, he is needing my help! I is looking after the Crouches all my life, and my mother is doing it before me, and my grandmother is doing it before her… or what is they saying if they knew Winky was freed? Oh the shame, the shame!" Winky buried her face in her skirt and bawled.
"Well, Crouch retired, didn't he?" I shrugged, "He can look after himself in his house. Old bigot can look after himself."
"You should not talk about my master like that!" Winky protested.
"I can talk about any man who refuses to promote my mother because she's muggle-born and a woman, like that!" I snapped back.
"You do not know my master, miss!" Winky continued, "My master is a good wizard, my master has burdens you cannot know!"
"Yeah, and he can deal with it by himself," I glared at her.
"Master is needing his Winky!" Winky insisted, "Master cannot manage all by himself!"
"Oh I bet he can," I snapped again, feeling my hands ball into fists, "He kept my mother in a position she was overqualified for for years, and then he retires right during the Quidditch World Cup and Triwizard Tournament, when the workload was highest! He pawned off his problems on her! Serves him right to lose his house elf!"
"You take that back, miss!" Winky snapped.
"No," I retorted back, "Dobby, sorry, but we're going to go now. It was good to see you, though."
"Thank you, Maggie," Dobby beamed, "Dobby is going to buy a sweater next!" He pointed at his bare chest.
"You know, I think I have a friend who can give you an extra one," Harry grinned, "Do you like maroon?"
Dobby beamed happily.
"We'll shrink it to fit you, but you'll love it," Harry laughed. We left the kitchens then.
"Thank you, Dobby," Harry smiled at him, "See you!"
"Harry Potter… can Dobby come and see you sometimes, sir?" Dobby asked shyly.
"Of course," Harry smiled again. Dobby beamed at him.
We left the kitchens, climbing off to the Common Room in a daze.
"I do not even know where to start with that," Hermione sighed.
"Again, big picture, Hermione. Let's focus on the big picture," Neville reassured, clapping her on the shoulder.
"You really hate Crouch, huh?" Harry asked in amazement.
"Can you blame me? With how he treated Mum?" I rolled my eyes.
"Of course I don't blame you, I'm just amused," Harry shrugged.
The next day, Hermione and I had Ancient Runes class, and we sat down together, pulling out our Mayan Rune Dictionaries. We were due to translate a large portion of text that day as a sort of final assignment in Mayan; the term was nearly up, and next term we'd be working with Hebrew; meaning Hermione had a giant leg up on the rest of us.
"I'm telling you, we spend the Christmas Holidays learning," I insisted, "Well, we spend them having you teach me."
"You'll be fine, it's the same as any other alphabet," Hermione smirked.
"Nuh-uh, you're going to give me a leg up on this one," I stuck my tongue out at her.
"And why will I do that?" Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Cause I am the coolest person you know," I looked at her with puppy dog eyes. She groaned and nodded.
"Victory is mine!" I raised my arms over my head and grinned. When I looked back in front of my desk again, Sam Lee was standing in front of me.
"Oh, hey," I answered, only somewhat cooly.
"Hey. I just wanted to say, I'm sorry about what happened to your sister," Sam said.
I looked at him in surprise, "Oh, thank you."
"Yeah. I saw what happened. It was horrific," Sam grimaced, "I sort of… told one of those Slytherin wankers that I would claw his eyes out if I saw him do it again."
I grinned, "Really?"
"I can't stand bullies," Sam shrugged, "I think my tattoo scared him enough. He ran away."
"Nice," I laughed.
"He didn't get suspended, but I make clawing motions whenever I pass him in the corridor. Anyway, yeah. See yah," he went and sat down at his desk, pulling out his dictionaries. He never sat with anyone else.
"That was amazingly friendly for him," Hermione commented.
"I'm genuinely touched," I nodded.
"Sam Lee: the mysterious enigma," Hermione giggled. I rolled my eyes at her as we started our lesson. The translations weren't too bad, but Mayan wasn't my favorite of the alphabets and rune meanings we had learned. When we left the lesson, Sam didn't smile at us, but he did give us a nod as he went into the corridor.
"I'm not exactly certain that stranger things have happened," Hermione frowned.
"He probably just feels sorry for me 'cause of Elena," I shrugged, "She's still in the Hospital Wing."
"Want to go visit her? We have time before charms," Hermione offered. I nodded and we went up to the Wing. Inside, Elena was sitting up in her bed, reading one of her books; my parents were talking to the therapist in a corner, whispering quietly together.
"Hey Mum, Dad, Elena," I greeted, waving awkwardly from the doorway. Elena smiled slightly at me and my mother rushed forward to hug me.
"How have you been doing, sweetie?" my mum asked, "I'm so sorry, we've literally been with Elena nonstop, we haven't come to visit –"
"I wouldn't expect anything else, Mum, it's fine," I laughed, "How are things going?"
"I'm making progress," Elena shrugged.
"It's going to be a long process. This term has done a number on her," Dad frowned, reaching over to pat her on the leg.
"Eventually we're going to have to leave, but not until the therapist declares she isn't a danger to herself anymore," my mum continued, "Till then, she stays here, and we stay here, and she does her schoolwork in here."
Elena was scowling in her corner.
"Don't… don't they only do that if you attempt suicide, Mrs. Johnson?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Well, Elena didn't tell Maggie the whole story," my dad sighed. He looked older than I had ever seen him.
"In my defense, Harry told me they knew I had cut myself, and then Maggie flipped out and left go bully Malfoy," Elena muttered.
"How do you know about that?" I asked.
"Claire has ears, you know," Elena laughed somewhat.
"Well, apparently Elena tried to kill herself a week before the first task," Mum stated, before bursting into tears. Dad stood up and rubbed her back soothingly.
"Claire found me and managed to save me. I didn't do a good job," Elena muttered.
"We're all glad of this!" Mum wailed.
"Anyway, it was a wake up call. I came to you guys for help in defending myself. Then the Task, Party, and Incident happened. These cuts were a week old when you found them," Elena explained. I nodded, rushing forward to hug her tightly.
"Thanks Maggie," Elena whispered softly.
"But she is making progress," Dad insisted firmly.
"I am," Elena agreed.
I nodded, wiping tears from my eyes.
"And no one has come here trying to –" I began to ask, but Elena cut me off.
"Trust me, no one is going to talk to me from Slytherin anymore. You apparently scared the pants off of not only Malfoy, but Theresa Malone."
"Theresa Malone?" I asked in confusion.
"She's the sixth year prefect. Malfoy might scare everyone into doing what he asks, cause he's Malfoy, but Malone is actually… a leader. She doesn't get too caught up in the pureblood stuff, but she does enough to command everyone's respect; she is one of the best duelers in the school, apart from probably Harry and some other kids; she gets top marks in everything, but she doesn't always follow the rules; and she's rich, which is important in Slytherin, obviously. She's the girl you basically tackled and ordered to get Malfoy from the Common Room," Elena explained.
I felt my eyebrows go up into my hairline.
"Yeah, she was leaving to go on Duty and you attacked her. She was really pissed, according to Claire, who found out from one of the first years who doesn't, you know, automatically hate us or anything. She basically told everyone to grow up and stop attacking us before 'Johnson comes in and kills us all.' It worked more than Malfoy coming in with pee all down his front begging everyone to stop," Elena giggled.
I grinned happily. Mum sighed heavily.
"Please stop taunting that boy, Maggie," she begged.
"I have, actually," I laughed, "Can't blame me that he's a bleeding coward."
"I couldn't be prouder," Dad half-joked, his face smirking. Mum hit him upside the head and Elena and I burst into giggles.
"See? Progress," Elena insisted once we had calmed down.
"Well, I still don't want you leaving the Hospital Room until the doctor says its okay," Mum insisted. Elena nodded.
Hermione looked at her watch, "Maggie, we'd better get going."
"Right," I agreed, "Bye Elena, Mum, Dad!"
"Good luck!" Dad called after us.
"Pay attention in Charms!" Mum insisted.
"Yes, Mum!" I waved, not turning around as we sprinted down the stairs.
The next day, Transfiguration went smoothly. We all were transfiguring guinea fowl into guinea pigs; Neville's still had some feathers, but everyone else's looked fine. Hermione and I had actually finished early, and had spent the rest of the lesson writing notes about the animagus process, and where we were at in it. Hermione was still taking potions, but was doing fine with them; I had now transformed into an Edaphosaurus and a Dimetrodon, which confused me as I was going increasingly back in time, so to speak. Hermione reckoned it was because I was going to be a reptile, and in my transformations my brain was subconsciously going down the synapsid branch of the amniote tree, to back up around to the reptiles. It made some sense.
Of course, you thinking in terms of phylogenetic trees, Hermione wrote, smirking at me in a teasing way.
It's the only logical way to think! I wrote back, grinning. Hermione was scribbling back a note when McGonagall's voice rang out through the classroom.
"Granger, Johnson, I dare say that's a conversation you can carry out later?"
We both looked up rapidly. Hermione flushed wildly, still not used to getting told off by a teacher; I just beamed at her.
"Sorry, Professor, just discussing our outside of class work," I grinned cheekily. I knew she knew what I was talking about, but to pursue the subject would be to reveal it to the rest of the class. McGonagall harrumphed in annoyance.
"We can discuss that after class, then. Now that you are all paying attention, I have an important announcement to make."
Neville and Harry were sniggering behind us. I turned around and stuck my tongue out at them.
"The Yule Ball is approaching, a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above, though you may invite a younger student if you wish," McGonagall explained.
I raised my eyebrows into my hairline. Hermione looked apprehensive. Parvati, Siobhan, and Lavender had started giggling in their corner of the classroom.
"Dress robes will be worn, and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at two in the morning in the Great Hall. Now then," McGonagall paused, glaring around at everyone, "The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to… er… let our hair down. But that does NOT mean that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."
The bell rang, and everyone began to pack up.
"Potter, a word. Johnson, Granger, stick around for a minute, if you please," McGonagall urged. Neville frowned.
"Johnson and Granger will be longer, Longbottom, you can wait for Potter in the classroom," McGonagall rolled her eyes. Neville perked up considerably.
Harry walked up to her desk as Neville, Hermione and I stood in our corner of the classroom, watching curiously.
"Potter, the champions and their partners…"
"Partners?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter. Your dance partners," McGonagall affirmed.
Hermione burst into giggles and I swatted her upside the head.
"Dance partners?" Harry asked, "I don't… I don't dance. I mean, parties in the Common Room don't count –"
"Yes, yes you do dance. Or, you will at the Yule Ball. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball," McGonagall insisted.
"I'm – not dancing," Harry said, almost in a begging tone of voice.
"It is traditional," McGonagall reaffirmed, "You are a Hogwarts Champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter."
"But… B-But –"
"You heard me, Potter. Since you three are here as witnesses, you'll make sure he has someone to dance with, yes? Now go, Potter, Longbottom, I have to talk to Granger and Johnson," McGonagall dismissed. Harry walked out of the room, looking terrified. Neville was snorting with laughter at his face, laughing all the way down the hall as they left.
"Now, you two, I don't need to remind you how dangerous it is to discuss your studies in any context," McGonagall scolded.
"We know," we both answered in unison.
"Alright. Will you both be staying over the holidays?" she asked.
"The only time either of us haven't was first year, and that was Hermione," I laughed.
"And now there's this Ball that we should probably be at," Hermione agreed.
"If only to laugh at Harry. Oh, this will be a lark," I was practically singing. McGonagall gave me a look and I calmed myself.
"Good, then I expect us to keep our weekly appointments. We are making good progress on both fronts, and I do not want to lose the time over the Holidays. You may go," McGonagall dismissed. We left eagerly, grinning at each other.
"Okay, so, I'm not saying that Harry should ask you to the Ball, but I am saying that if he doesn't, we need to get pictures of him dancing," I grinned. She rolled her eyes.
"I doubt he'll ask me. I don't think he's ready yet," Hermione sighed mournfully.
"Go with someone else then. Have a good time with a friend," I suggested.
"Like who?" Hermione looked at me. I shrugged.
"I dunno, only you know who your friends are," I laughed.
"You know who my friends are!"
I grinned, not wanting to give away Fred, "Do I? Strange."
"Maggie Johnson, you tell me right now!"
She then proceeded to chase me down the hall; me giggling all the way back to the Gryffindor Common room.
"You tell me right now!" she screeched again, tackling me to the ground. I burst into more laughter, pushing her off me in complete amusement.
"Nope!" I grinned, doing a little dance and running away. George was in the common room and he blocked me from Hermione, looking at the proceedings in bemusement.
"What the bloody hell –" George gasped.
"Maggie isn't telling me which friend I should go to the ball with!" Hermione shrieked.
"Of course not," I grinned, dancing behind George. Hermione shrieked again in anger and I ran around George as she ran around George, us running in circles around him.
"This is mental!" George shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Oh for the love of Merlin, it's me!" Fred shouted from a corner. We stopped in our tracks, me so shocked that I slid on the floor and fell flat on my ass. George burst into hysterical laughter.
"You?" Hermione asked in shock.
"Yeah," Fred was flushed bright red, "I… erm…"
The entire common room was watching in shock. Harry's mouth was hanging open and Neville looked like he was trying hard to fight back roaring laughter.
"Erm… I rather fancy you, Hermione Granger, and you know, I think it would be brilliant if we went to the ball together," Fred declared. It seemed impossible, but Harry's jaw dropped open even more.
Hermione flushed completely red; the Common Room was still completely silent.
Finally, she stammered out, "S-sure, Fred, I'd love to go with you."
I grinned madly and looked up at George, who was beaming back at me. Fred was still blushing, and Hermione was still blushing, but he awkwardly hugged her and said, "Brilliant," before ducking out of the Common Room in embarrassment. Hermione turned to me in shock.
"How… erm… long has that been a thing?" she asked in shock.
"Well, he told us soon before the First Task, but we reckon it's been a thing since at least September, since Fred never shares details about his personal life," George explained.
Hermione nodded, looking embarrassed, before grinning at me.
"So you're happy about this?" I laughed.
She nodded, running over to me and whispering.
"You know, we've been chatting so much, and hanging out so much, I was starting to… like him a little," Hermione admitted in my ear. I beamed widely and bounced up and down happily with her for a good minute before she ran up the stairs to write a letter to her parents, asking for dress robes.
"So, we're going together then, yeah?" George asked me, grinning widely.
"God no," I joked. He looke fake-offended as I laughed and kissed him happily.
Harry, however, was not having as much luck. Every time we walked through the corridors, girls around us would start giggling inssesently. Hermione was beaming happily, and I knew that no matter how much she was probably still hung up on Harry, having a guy she liked even a little like her back was boosting her confidence through the roof.
"Neville, I don't know what to do, mate. Do you have any ideas?" Harry groaned the evening after the announcement as we sat down to dinner.
Neville looked at Harry and opened his mouth, before closing it and grimacing awkwardly.
"Oh no," Harry groaned louder.
"What?" I laughed.
"Not you too," Harry begged at the top of his lungs.
"You have a date?" Hermione asked eagerly. Neville nodded, flushing madly.
"Who?" all three of asked in unison. Some weird feeling was creeping up in through my stomach into my throat. I didn't like it; it made me feel practically ill.
"Erm…" Neville paused, looking at us all, "Erm… Ginny."
"Really?" Hermione gasped.
"Good for you, Neville!" Harry grinned.
All three looked at me expectantly. I didn't know what I was feeling; it was something I had never experienced before, and I did not like it.
"That's wonderful," I managed to choke out, and in a pretty convincingly cheery voice, to boot. Neville grinned weakly at all of us.
"Yeah, we hang out a lot, and I dunno, we get along well. It'll probably just end up being for the dance, but you never know," Neville shrugged.
The feeling was making me want to cry. Now I especially hated it.
"That's great," Hermione beamed.
"It is, but now I'm in trouble, because all the women in my life are accounted for," Harry groaned, putting his hands over his eyes.
"You know what you could do," Neville began.
"What?" Harry grumbled.
"You could ask Cho Chang," Neville grinned cheekily. Harry's mouth dropped open and his face turned as red as a tomato.
"Wh-what?"
"We all know, Harry," I managed to say, still pretending to be cheerful, though I was digging my fingernails into my palms.
"Y-you, do?" Harry stammered, looking like he wanted to melt into the floor.
"Yup," Hermione smiled, though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes still.
"Um… do you think she'd go with me?" Harry asked nervously.
"Definitely," I nodded.
"You're Harry Potter," Neville rolled his eyes.
"Any girl would be lucky to go with you," Hermione said, now her face looking honest.
Harry blushed furiously and looked over at the Ravenclaw table, where Cho was talking to some of her friends. He visibly swallowed, stood up, and started walking over there.
"This should be good," Neville chortled.
"I shouldn't have drunken all that water at lunch, I'm going to pee my pants with laughter," I managed to force out.
"Thanks for sharing," Hermione snorted.
"Anytime," I responded, but I was troubled. Why am I feeling this way?
Harry was walking up to the Ravenclaw table. He was running his hand through his hair nervously, making it much more messy, and he was shuffling his feet. I could hear a shitton of giggles coming from the table. But then –
"She's nodding!" Neville cheered.
"She nodded!" I laughed, grinning with some happiness.
Hermione smiled, but I gently patted her on the shoulder.
Harry was grinning and he ran back over, taking his seat and smiling.
"We're going together!" he beamed.
"That's great, Harry," Neville laughed.
"See? Now you don't have to worry about it anymore," Hermione smiled.
"What would I do without you guys," Harry laughed.
"Probably go with someone you barely know?" I offered.
"Well, in my defense, I barely know Cho," Harry blushed, "I just think she's pretty."
"Well there's that," Neville laughed.
"Still, it's good to get it out of the way," Hermione nodded fiercely.
"And now I have to actually… go," Harry groaned, burying his face in his arms at the table.
"Worse things have happened to people," I laughed, though I felt like there were ten thousand frogs in my throat. I did not like any of these frogs one bit.