Disclaimer: The World of Harry Potter & all characters belong to JK Rowling with the exception of Celia, Molly, David, Lucy, Janice & any other character you don't recognise.
Authors Note: Hello all my wonderful readers, reviewers and favouriteers. Hope you are doing well. Not much to say except hope you enjoy.
Chapter Twenty Three: Revision, Labour, Hermione cracks & A Hearing
April arrived bright and sunny. It was still quite chilly what with it only being mid spring but Harry didn't mind as long as it wasn't raining.
It seemed a long time since Valentines Day and the wonderful day he'd had with Ginny.
Harry felt regret that he couldn't spend more time with her.
Due to their age difference he didn't see her in class and a lot of his time was taken up with homework assignments, Quidditch practice as their next match of the season was coming up at the end of the month and of course...exams.
As a matter of fact the only time save for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a brief snuggle in the common room, was on the weekends and even then it was limited due to said Quidditch practice.
Harry felt such a weight pressing on him from all his commitments that he felt he would soon go mad unless something changed.
Thankfully Ginny was very understanding of his situation and had told him that she didn't mind them not spending so much time together as they could see each other all summer.
Summer.
Right now Harry would give anything for it to be the summer holidays so that he would have a chance to rest and recharge his batteries.
The fact was that he was feeling burned out.
"Harry concentrate!" Hermione snapped.
Harry sighed.
Hermione had been getting steadily more grouchy as the weeks had gone on.
She was obsessed with revision and passing every exam with a perfect pass grade.
Even the subjects that would have no use in a future career such as Muggle Studies.
She was snappish with her friends and with Ron.
Poor, poor Ron.
He and Hermione had got together on Valentines Day and were generally happy together.
Although Harry was irritated to note that this happiness did not preclude the usual shouting matches that the two had become so fond of over the years.
"I said concentrate Harry!" he felt something hard hit him on the head and he saw stars.
He shook his head a few times and rubbed the top of it "ow Hermione what was that for?" he said feeling annoyed.
"You weren't paying attention. this is important revision" she insisted.
Harry rolled his eyes.
If Hermione had her way all of the New Marauders and probably the whole of Gryffindor House would do nothing but revise.
"Hermione the exams are two months away" he pointed out reasonably.
Hermione slammed her book down on the table and glared at him "don't you want to do well in these exams? don't you want to get good qualifications for your future career?" she demanded of him.
Harry laughed causing her glare to intensify "Hermione I'm going to be Quidditch player so I doubt I need a qualification for..." he glanced at the book he was reading "History of Magic".
"History is very important to know" Hermione said indignantly.
Harry sighed "yes I know Hermione. I enjoy reading about history too but it's not going to help me get accepted by the Wimbourne Wasps is it?".
Hermione glared at him before turning to Ron "what do you think Ron?".
His best friend stared in horror at his girlfriend before flicking his eyes over to Harry.
Harry felt for him.
It was such a horrible choice.
He tried to convey with his eyes that Ron should side with Hermione.
Ron hesitated and continued to look from Hermione to Harry and back again.
Harry could see he was sweating "I think...".
Harry suddenly knew what Ron would say and tried to dissuade him by mouthing "don't say it".
It was too late as Ron declared "Harry's right. History of Magics no use to him".
Harry face palmed and saw Draco and Neville do so as well.
Draco even said "bad move Ron".
Neville added "you idiot".
Ron looked at them in confusion and then..."so that's it is it? you side with your best friend over your girlfriend do you?" Hermione demanded, hands on hips.
Ron gulped and then dug an even deeper hole for himself "well...he is my best friend Mione".
Harry shook his head at his friends stupidity.
Hermione scowled at her boyfriend "I see" she said through gritted teeth.
She grabbed her bag, picked up her book and stormed off in the direction of the stairs.
Harry watched Ron gape in confusion as Hermione stomped down the stairs to her dorm room.
Once she was out of sight he turned to Ron and said "you bloody idiot".
Ron gaped at him now "what? what did I say?" he asked his friends.
Draco and Neville laughed.
Ron glared at them "what's so funny?" he said.
Through his laughter Draco said "didn't anyone ever tell you, you always side with your girlfriend?".
Ron looked nonplussed and looked to Harry for explanation.
Harry burst out laughing with the others before telling him "she wanted you to agree with her".
"But...I didn't" Ron said simply.
Harry rolled his eyes "I know you didn't Ron but you can side with me anytime. you should have pretended".
"But...but..." Ron spluttered.
Harry rolled his eyes again.
He loved Ron like a brother but there really was no hope for him as far as love went.
Ron just...didn't get that sort of thing as quickly as the rest which was quite surprising given he was a master strategist.
The first week of April went by in a flash for Harry, so absorbed was he by Quidditch, exam revision, classes and spending time hanging out with both his girlfriend and friends.
That Friday started out the same as any other. He had got up as usual, gone his for his jog being joined by Draco, Neville, Ginny and Luna.
They did three laps of the entire castle to help their stamina levels and cardio before returning to the castle.
After he'd had a nice hot shower and a change of clothes Harry had felt refreshed and ready for the day that would follow.
He breakfasted as normal in the Great Hall with Ginny and his other friends next or just across from him.
As Harry was chatting with them about the Quidditch match taking place in a few weeks time there was the usual fluttering of wings and a large numbers of owls began to descend from the ceiling to dish out their parcels and letters to the students.
Harry continued to eat his breakfast.
He had only sent his most recent letter off with Hedwig the night before so he had no expectation of receiving any post for a few days at least if not a full week given how tiring the trip was between Scotland and the West Country of England.
He was therefore very surprised when he saw his Parents owl Merlin descending towards him, a letter clutched in his talons.
The owl landed gracefully in between two cereal bowls and lifted it's leg.
Harry untied the string holding the letter in place and after giving Merlin a stroke gave him some toast he'd been eating and allowed the tired owl to have a sip of pumpkin juice.
The owl hooted in gratitude at this and then took off showing that he was not expecting nor instructed to wait for a reply.
Harry knew he'd be off to the owlery for a nice long sleep before his weary flight back to Devon.
Feeling curious as to the contents of the letter Harry began to open it at the same time he took another bite of toast.
He slipped the letter from the envelope and began to read.
The first few lines seemed normal. Asking how he was, letting him know that everyone was in general good health. His Dad was suffering from a mouth ulcer, his Godfather Sirius had successfully caught two witches practising dark magic in an attempt to kill an in law they hated.
David was learning fast with letters and numbers and had made friends with the young children of another family of wizards who had moved in nearby.
Harry was glad for that. It was time David finally had children his own age to play with.
Thankfully the family also had a daughter the same age as Molly which meant she had a friend to play games with and chat to and by all accounts they were plotting pranks regularly which made Harry chuckle as he thought of what the two girls could contribute next year at Hogwarts.
Peter was doing well with the shop in Diagon Alley and making good profits.
It was the line below that that cause Harry to accidentally choke on his toast.
His Aunt Celia had gone into labour that very morning.
Harry felt his brother at his right hand side pat his back strongly. Thankfully he coughed up the toast but his throat felt very sore.
Ginny pushed a goblet of water over to him from which he drank deeply.
He then looked at Draco and was about to ask if he'd got a letter.
Draco having clearly read his thoughts held up his own letter from his Mum saying much the same as Harry's had.
The others at the table were looking between the two of them in confusion so Harry told them croakily "our Aunt Celia has gone into Labour".
"It started last night" Draco finished for him showing everybody his letter.
There were many happy pronouncements at this and Harry decided to contact his family on his two way mirror when he had a spare moment to find out what was happening.
As it happened he had a free period before his first lesson of the day which was double Transfiguration.
Making his mind up he returned to Gryffindor Tower with Draco and Neville while Ginny and Luna headed off to a dull History of Magic lesson chattering happily about what the baby would be.
Ron meanwhile, was dragged off to the library by an insistent Hermione to do yet more revision.
As he was dragged off by the hand he gave a desperate look to Harry and the other who merely shrugged, grinned or offered sympathetic looks.
Harry decided that the best place to head to was his dorm room as only He, Draco and Neville would be there meaning he could contact his family in peace.
As soon as they reached the room Neville shut the door and the three boys plopped down on Harry's bed.
Harry rummaged through his bedside table and found the two way mirror which he found to be quite smudged.
After quickly cleaning it he held it up and called out "James Potter" there was no reply.
He tried again "James Potter" still nothing.
Finally "Dad!" he shouted.
There was a shuffling of feet, a rustling sound and his Dad's face appeared in the mirror. He was grinning "hello Harry, Draco, Neville, I had a feeling you'd all be calling after this morning's letter. I'm surprised that Ron and Hermione aren't here with you though" he said.
"Revision" Harry said smiling.
"Ah" his Dad replied "she always has been very keen about her books. I assume it wasn't Ron's choice".
The three boys laughed "no definitely not Uncle James" Draco responded.
"So what's happening with Aunt Celia Dad?" Harry asked feeling worried.
His Dad smiled which reassured him "she's fine Harry. She's a bit tired and she's swearing a lot" he grinned "but other than that the labour is going well. I'll let you know when something more happens ok?".
Harry nodded. He, Draco and Neville all said goodbye and Harry placed the mirror carefully inside the top drawer of his bedside cabinet, this time wrapped in a towel to hopefully avoid it getting smeary again.
Harry struggled to concentrate as the day wore on.
In double Transfiguration he was in such a daze wondering what his sibling or siblings would be like that he missed the instructions on changing a blackbird into a toast rack.
Needless to say Professor McGonagall was not impressed when she came to the table he shared with Draco and Ron, to find that Harry's toast rack had lot of black feathers, a beak and was clearly indignant at the position it found itself in.
Draco had been no better and in fact his Transfiguration attempt had been even worse with the bird having merely turned silver.
It was only through the intervention of Hermione, explaining just why they seemed so lacking in attention, that the stern Professor did not give them detention or dock points.
As a matter of fact she even smiled when told that Celia was pregnant and told Harry and Draco to pass on her best wishes which they agreed to do.
He was no better at lunch, picking at his food.
At one point he raised his fork with nothing on it and came very closing to biting metal, something that was only avoided by Ginny who pulled the fork away tutting and making sure he actually ate something.
During his free period he paced the common room, various horrifying scenarios playing through his head as was want to happen in such a situation.
He imagined everything from stillbirths to alien invasion to a mini Voldemort being born.
He continued to lack attention during Ancient Runes until Hermione...when had she appeared?, slapped him on the back of the head and made him listen to what Professor Babbling was telling them.
She even had to surreptitiously help him complete the tasks in order for him to not get in trouble.
He was surprised at her helping him only to understand when she explained that she didn't blame him for not really paying attention.
It was only after dinner that Harry got news of what had been happening with the labour.
As he was sat in the common room playing wizards chess, his mind not really on it and his eyes constantly flicking to the two way mirror on his lap a sudden noise made him jump.
He just about caught the mirror and then realised that the sound had come from it.
As he stared at the mirror, abandoning the chess game much to Ron's irritation, a voice came through and a face appeared...it was his Godfather Sirius who was grinning widely "Harry it's happened, your Aunts given birth!" he said happily.
Harry grinned back in amazement. it all seemed so quick "boy or girl Dad?" Draco cut in.
At these words Sirius' grin became, if possible, even bigger "both" he said.
Harry and Draco gaped at him in amazement "both?" they asked together.
Sirius nodded still grinning "she had the boy first and then the girl half an hour later" he told them.
"Are they..." Harry began to ask only for his Uncle to answer "they're both fine. They're healthy and happy and being cleaned up by the Medi Witch now".
Harry and Draco both grinned broadly and high fived "yes!" they shouted.
Draco then asked excitably "when do we get to meet them Dad?".
"Well" Sirius began "James is speaking to Professor Dumbledore now about letting you visit tomorrow afternoon what with it being a Saturday and everything. If he says yes, I'll swing by at say...two o clock and pick you and Remus up, I'll say goodnight boys".
"Night" they both replied happily.
"What do think they called them?" Harry said to Draco as they sipped hot chocolate by the fire.
Draco took his time pondering the question before answering "I like Mark as a name for the boy".
"Lily or Alexandra are nice girl names" Harry said.
"I guess we'll have to wait and see tomorrow" they said as one.
Needless to say, when both Harry and Draco got up the next morning they were still excited.
After all, it isn't everyday that one meets a new sibling.
The two of them debated endlessly that morning as they jogged around the grounds, as they played chess and I Spy and as they ate their lunch.
Harry believed that their new siblings would more favour their Dad while Draco had bet him that they would take after Aunt Celia.
After eating their lunch they bade goodbye to their friends promising to say congratulations on their behalf and left the Great Hall with Remus.
All three of them were smiling at the thought of meeting the two newest members of the Marauder Clan.
The entrance to the Professors Office was thankfully on the Third Floor today so it didn't take them long to reach it.
They had already been told the password and so said the phrase "Sherbet Lemon".
"That's the second time in two years he's used that" Draco remarked as they stepped onto the staircase.
As it wound it's way up Harry replied "well I expect he's run out of sweet names by now".
"I'd definitely say he should change his password more" Remus added in amusement.
The three of them laughed and Harry added "wouldn't be surprising given how long he's been Headmaster".
In almost no time at all the stairs stopped moving and they found themselves in the corridor that led to Dumbledore's Office.
As they approached the doors Harry checked his watch and found that they were five minutes early.
Given how disorganised Sirius usually was it wouldn't be all that shocking if he was late picking them up.
They reached the office and the doors opened by themselves to admit them.
"Ah hello boys, Remus" Professor Dumbledore said from the seat behind his desk.
"Hello Professor" they both said.
"Hello Albus" Remus said. Harry could tell that Remus had been a bit unsure about using the Professors first name despite the fact that the old wizard had asked him on multiple occasions to do so.
"Take a seat, make yourselves comfortable" the old wizard said "I am sure that Sirius will be late as usual" they all chuckled over that.
"Sherbet Lemon?" he asked them.
Harry accepted as he loved the sweet but Draco said "no thanks" as he'd never been a great fan of them.
"Ooh lovely" Remus said as he took one, popped it in his mouth and began to suck.
"I expect you are all excited to meet your new family members" Dumbledore said warmly as they sat waiting.
Harry and Draco both nodded grinning while Remus replied "I can't believe how much our family has grown" he turned melancholy for a moment "I never thought I'd have such a family".
Harry patted him on the shoulder "you're as much a part of the family as everyone else Moony" he assure his Uncle.
Draco nodded and said "where would we be without you to help us plan our pranks at home".
Remus smiled and replied "thanks boys".
After what seemed like an age, Harry glanced at his watch again and found much to his irritation that Sirius was indeed late. Ten minutes late to be exact.
No sooner had he checked the watch than the fireplace flared up with green flames and out stepped Sirius who used his wand to clean off the soot and said "right then, who's ready to meet the newest Marauders?".
"Padfoot you were supposed to be here ten minutes ago" Harry said chidingly, tapping his watch to emphasise the point.
"Yeah Dad we hurried through lunch to get up here" Draco grumbled.
To their annoyance Sirius just laughed "sorry Prongslet and Pup" he said using their nicknames "just found it hard to tear myself away from my new nephew and niece".
"Well I too would like to see them soon. Hurry up you mangy dog" Remus said jokingly.
Sirius looked mock offended "I'll have you know my dear Moony that I am not mangy. I had a shower today!".
Everyone laughed at this and Sirius walked over to his Godson and Son.
As he reached them he drew them into a hug.
A question popped into Harry's head and he asked "have they chosen names for them yet?".
Sirius shook his head "well what about who the Godparents will be?" Draco asked.
Again Sirius shook his head "they said they wanted to wait until you three got there so all the family would be together".
Harry and Draco both grinned at these words.
Harry felt very touched by the sentiment could tell from the bond with Draco that his brother felt exactly the same way.
After a quick goodbye to Professor Dumbledore the four wizards stepped one at a time into the flames, called out St Mungo's Hospital, Lobby" and vanished in a roar of green flames as they went to meet their new family members.
Harry stepped out of the flames and joined Sirius, Draco and Remus who were waiting to be greeted by the Welcome Witch, a middle aged woman in black robes who despite her job title was always less than welcoming to both visitors and patients.
The queue very quickly moved along and soon Harry, Draco, Remus and Sirius, standing three to a line found themselves in front of the woman who said very waspishly "yes?".
Harry glared at the woman's rudeness as did Draco but they both kept quiet as a calm Sirius said "we're here to visit Mrs Celia Pettigrew".
"Level Six Maternity Ward" the woman said brusquely "the lifts are out of order you'll have to use the stairs" as she said this last, she smirked.
Harry could tell Sirius wanted to throttle the smug woman and was about to say something when Remus said calmly "thank you for the information" and steered Harry away.
Sirius reluctantly steered Draco away and the four of them headed for the stairwell.
The four of them walked and walked up the various stairways until they reached the Sixth Floor.
Harry, Draco and Remus waited in amusement as Sirius, following on behind, paused near the double doors to get his breath back.
"Getting a bit old eh Padfoot?" Harry said amusedly causing Draco and Remus to laugh.
Sirius didn't even have the energy to retort as he pushed open the ward doors and pushed Harry and Draco through while Remus followed on just behind.
They strolled over to the nurses station and the nurses giggled as they saw Sirius.
Harry rolled his eyes.
His Godfather seemed to be attractive to most women he met.
Harry supposed it must be his Godfathers grey eyes as most women seemed to stare at them.
"Sirius get on with it" Remus said half amused half annoyed.
"What...oh yes" Sirius seemed to gather himself.
"We're here to see Celia Nora" he told what seemed to be the senior nurse.
She smiled "follow me" she led them down the corridor all the way to the end of it, opened the door and said warmly "Celia, there's some visitors for you".
A voice from inside the room said "thanks Nora I'll see them now".
Sirius pushed Harry and Draco in first and they clapped eyes on Lucy and Janice who were on the left hand side and Peter, Molly and David who were on the right hand side.
Standing near the door were the House Elves Dobby, Tipper and Molter who all began to bow before the visitors, until Sirius assured them there was no need.
"You're part of the family Tipper, Dobby, Molter and I'm sure I speak for all of us when I see you have no need to bow".
Every member of the Marauder Clan voiced their support for his words.
The House Elves reddened and Tipper being eldest moved to speak "we could not accept such a thing" he told them all.
"You can and you will. That's an order" James told them.
The three House Elves looked to the family members and then conferred with each other before Tipper declared "if that is the will of the Clan we will accept these wishes".
Everyone smiled at this and then Lucy said "my darling boy" to Harry and moved swiftly over to hug him kissing him on the forehead as Janice did the same muttering "my Son. my beautiful Son".
Janice and Lucy then switched hugging their Nephews.
They received further hugs from James who chuckled and said "the family just keeps growing". Words which they both chuckled at.
Finally, their Uncle Peter came forward to grab both boys in a fierce hug. When he broke the hug he ruffled their hair and said "oh I missed you young rascals this year. What with Moony being at Hogwarts too and Prongs and Padfoot busy at the Ministry I've had no one to plot pranks with".
Someone coughed and Harry could see an offended look on his Sister Molly's face "so I'm no one now am I Uncle Wormtail!".
Their Uncle looked embarrassed before clarifying "I meant to say almost no one".
Harry's Sister was clearly not appeased but she decided to say nothing further due to where they were.
Instead, she walked on over to Harry and Draco and hugged them firmly "I missed you guys so much" she said.
When they broke off she said "I can't wait to come to Hogwarts and see you beat Ravenclaw Harry" Harry laughed at this and replied "glad to see you have so much faith in me".
His Sisters face turned serious "always. I will always have faith in you and Draco, never doubt that".
Harry smiled and Draco replied "we won't. We promise" they hugged again before going over to greet David who smiled and said he was happy to see them.
Eventually a voice cut in with much amusement "have my two oldest Nephews forgotten about me?".
Harry and Draco exchanged a look, looked at their Aunts face and then laughed as they saw the corners of her mouth upturned in a smile.
They ran to the bed and kissed her cheek. They then stood there reluctant to hug her "you can hug me you know" she said chuckling.
They did so and then a voice they recognised as their Uncle Peters said "time to meet your new siblings".
Peter called out into the hallway "please bring our Son and Daughter".
In moments the nurse they had spoken to arrived with a Medi Witch, they handed the boy to Peter and the girl to Celia.
Harry's first impression of the boy who was snuggly wrapped in a towel, was that he had very brown hair, what his Mum often called mousy brown and was the same shade as his Uncles.
He could not see anything else.
As for the girl he could just see a shock of coal black hair the same shade as his Aunt Celia.
Peter moved over to them to show them the boy, pulling the towel from his face. Harry saw that the boy had a chubby face as most babies seemed to have and eyes of the same blue.
Harry smiled happily at him and laughed when the baby grabbed his finger and held on "he's adorable Uncle Wormtail" Harry said.
Peter smiled "isn't he just" he kissed the boys forehead.
"What's he called?" Harry asked.
His Uncle grinned and looked to his wife who nodded happily "we have decided to call him Harold Mark Pettigrew" Harry was stunned at this news and gaped at his Uncle who teased "might want to close your mouth Harry before I rethink naming you his Godfather".
Harry gaped even more feeling stunned for the second time that afternoon "I...but...you...I..." he stammered, at a loss for words.
After a time Harry regained his composure and moved to hug his Uncle who had handed the baby to Remus.
As Harry hugged him a tear rolled down his cheek "I...thank you" Harry said "I won't let you down" he looked to Celia "either of you".
Celia smiled warmly "we know. That's why we made you Godfather. You may be reckless sometimes Harry but you love this family as much as we do".
Harry nodded at this before moving over to meet his Sister while Draco switched places and went to meet their Brother.
Harry stared into his Sisters eyes which were a deep brown and as he did so felt a sharp resolve.
Just as he had vowed previously to protect his Sister Molly and Brother David, he would do so now with his new siblings.
"What's her name?" he asked as he stroked the babies cheek softly. The baby giggled.
Celia called everyone's attention "we decided on the name Lily Luna Pettigrew" she smiled "we think it works".
Harry grinned at this "good name" he caught his Dad's eye as he stood next to his Mother and knew that his Dad was thinking as he was about his birth Mother and how proud and happy Lily Potter would be and most likely was.
Harry turned to Draco and nodded. The two of them knelt and swore their vow "I take this oath, as a part of the Marauder Clan, I shall from this day until my last, help and protect Harold Mark Potter and Lily Luna Pettigrew my siblings, so I speak, so I intend".
A white light swirled about the room leaving no one in any doubt of the significance of the oath.
It was magically binding and Harry was determined that he would never break it.
The next week of April passed uneventfully until it reached the 20th of April.
Harry, his Brother Draco, Neville, Ron and Hermione were all given special leave by Professor Dumbledore to miss school for the day and so headed up to London for Buckbeaks hearing.
It had not gone well.
Despite Hagrids efforts to convince them that Buckbeak was not a bad creature and had merely reacted to being insulted and despite the sworn testimonies under oath of Harry, Draco, Neville, Ron and Hermione who had sworn that Buckbeak had not meant to hurt Harry, that it had been accidental and that the animal had only reacted to Nott because of Nott's comment, all of this seemed to count for nothing.
Even with the evidence showing that Buckbeak had not hurt any human prior to the incident the panel were not swayed and no wonder given that one of their number was the fat, snobbish, Deatheater (though the last fact was not known to many) Patroclus Nott.
It took very little time for the panel to return from their deliberations and render the verdict.
It was only one word. Just one simple word but it cause Hagrid to howl in grief and misery, Draco and Hermione to turn pale, Ron and Neville to curse the panel in anger and Harry to want to strike the judges down.
The verdict?...GUILTY.
"Noooooo!" Hagrid howled despondently shaking his head.
"This is an outrage!" Neville shouted.
"You bloody snobs!" Ron yelled "that creature has ten times the nobility of you!".
The New Marauders led their distraught large friend from the courtroom and returned with him to Hogwarts, all of them feeling very upset, their emotions in turmoil.
All of their hard work. All of their evidence. All of the sworn testimonies. None of it had meant anything.
None of it had made any difference whatsoever.
The result, Harry realised now, had been a foregone conclusion from the moment the hearing had been convened and the reason for why, made Harry burn in barely suppressed rage.
The other judges with Nott had been either threatened into supporting him or had taken bribes for no honest witch or wizard could have heard the evidence and voted in such a way.
The thing that made Harry burn up the most inside was that he could do nothing about it.
An appeal would be useless, as would his waylaying Nott and releasing his anger on him.
He knew that all such a reckless decision would achieve would be to earn a detention and probable points loss for his House.
Harry knew that there was only one thing he could do.
It was reckless but to Harry's mind it was necessary.
He would not let a innocent creature nor a good friend suffer for something so disgraceful.
He would set Buckbeak free and get him to safety.
To do so however he would need the help of not just his friends but also a certain DADA Professor.
'I will save Buckbeak' he promised himself.
The next day, a Tuesday, the morning seemed to drag on far too much for Harry's liking.
Despite it being one of his favourite subjects, he drifted through Ancient Runes barely paying attention to Professor Babbling as she talked about some rune or other and got the class to list it's various meanings.
In Herbology things went so bad that he was bitten by a vicious plant and had to be taken to the Hospital Wing by Draco while losing ten points for Gryffindor for his carelessness.
That lunchtime Harry was barely able to eat a thing as he mulled over the plan he had formed in his head.
He found the others to be much the same and suggested to Draco, Ron, Neville and Hermione that they take a walk down to Hagrid's cabin to comfort him and see Buckbeak.
They had exited the inner courtyard and were heading down the steps on the path to Hagrid's cabin when a very unwelcome voice said sneeringly "off to visit the filthy Half-Breed and his stupid pet are we?".
Harry's legs froze and he turned to glare at Nott "don't push me Nott. I'm not going to take this crap from you today".
Nott's sneer deepened and he simpered "ooh the poor little Mudbloods and Blood Traitors are upset for the dirty little beast" he mimicked rubbing his eyes "ooh dear".
It happened quick as a flash.
One moment Nott was being his usual rude, arrogant self, the next he was flat up against a tall stone, his eyes wide in terror.
Of all the people to have snapped under Nott's taunts and generally vile behaviour, the last person he would have expected was..."Hermione!".
Hermione did hear his warning as she shouted as loud as he had ever heard, her wand pointed at Nott's chest "you vile loathsome cockroach!. You dare to strut around this school like you own it!. Like you're some great wizard!".
Harry reached out to stop her feeling worried, she shrugged off his hand not taking her eyes off Nott "what great deeds have you ever done?" she said sneeringly "what use are you, you pathetic little weasel!".
Hermione snorted at Nott's terror "typical of a bully and a coward. You confront them and they crumble" she shook her head and let go of Nott as she pulled her wand away and holstered it.
She made to walk off as everyone else present breathed a sigh of relief.
Nott however would not let it go. Did not have any sense.
He shouted "that's it you Mudblood!. Run away!. My Father will hear of this".
Harry had no time to react.
Hermione turned to Nott, bunched her right hand up into a fist and as hard as she could swung it at Nott's head.
It connected with a sickening crack as his nose broke and the smug pureblood slid down to the floor at the base of the stone clutching his nose.
Crabbe and Goyle made to get revenge for their fallen leader but Harry, Neville, Draco and Ron pulled their wands on them and backed down the path pushing Hermione ahead of them.
She had one last insult for Nott as she shouted "tell your Father about that you slimy snake!".
As they neared Hagrid's cabin Ron exclaimed "wow Hermione that was incredible!".
Harry, Draco and Neville all expressed their agreement and to their surprise their bushy haired friend grinned.
Massaging her hand she remarked "that felt good".
As she walked away Ron murmured to Harry "you know mate I'm beginning to think we've been a bad influence on her".
Harry smirked as he agreed.
Hermione had certainly come a long way from that day in the field.
Authors Note: Hello everyone. Another chapter done and dusted. The next chapter will wrap up Third Year for the New Marauders and will see Remus transform & unwittingly battle Sirius, a confrontation between Harry and Mundungus Fletcher and the rescue of Buckbeak.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please, please remember to review so I know if people are enjoying this story.