Author's Note:Things get steamy in this chapter, finally! Snape is being less coquettish and Max is acting a bit more her age. What a nice combo that makes~3
Things also start to become more real here as well, the implications of getting caught up in eachother isn't something either of them can afford right now.
~Chapter 13 Start~
Max awoke with her head pounding and her mouth dry. Sitting up she felt her shoulders pop and she let out a small groan; today was going to suck. She swung her legs out of bed and noticed she was the only person in the room. Right, it was Christmas morning, despite everything that had happened she was surprised she had forgotten. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she slipped out of her bed and got changed for breakfast. Walking down the stairs towards the common rooms she found Hermione near one of the fireplaces waiting for her.
"Hey Herms, I'm surprised to see you still here." Max waved as she approached.
Hermione smiled at her comment and closed her book as she went to stand. It was easy to forget everything that had happened when she saw Hermione's smile. Returning it she ducked her head to see what her friend was reading. Huh, a fifth year charms text Max mused to herself beyond amused.
"Harry and Ron just headed down for breakfast, I figured I would wait for you." She smiled, tucking the book into the crook of her arm.
"Thanks," Max laughed as she put her arm around the girl's shoulders, "let's hurry, I'm famished!"
~Break~
Breakfast was rather short lived and soon they all found themselves back inside Gryffindor Tower excitedly talking about their gifts or the upcoming ball. Harry and Ron were currently playing a game of wizarding chess Ron was winning, while Hermione and Max checked out one of the new books Hermione's parents had sent her. Fred and George soon joined them, the aforementioned boy wanting to ensure his tie would match Max's dress and fretting about if it were the right shade of red.
"Calm down Fred, it's just a red dress, nothing fancy. If you must know it's similar to our house colours, but slightly deeper" Max explained as Hermione rolled her eyes once more and George made a gesture behind Fred's back.
"Excuse me for ensuring everything is perfect, unlike some people I actually have to be presentable and start the entire ball off by dancing with a champion." Fred scoffed as he gave a pointed look.
Hermione merely turned the page in her book and cleared her throat. Max didn't miss the small smirk that had appeared at the corner of her mouth.
~Break~
They had a feast of a lunch in the Great Hall consisting of turkey, Christmas pudding, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers before heading outside and having a snowball fight. Hermione had opted to watch, but Max had not, loving snow ever since she was little. By about five o'clock Hermione signaled for Max to come over and she did so, brushing the snow off her pants in hast. Feeling barely a hint of the winter's chill due to a well placed warming charm, Max shook the remaining show from her hair.
"It's about time for us to get ready for the ball." She smiled as Max stomped the snow off her boots and nodded in agreement.
"What, you guys need three hours to get ready?" Ron had obnoxiously asked, halting in his effort of sniping Lee Jordan in the face.
George pelted Ron in the side of the head with a snowball, taking advantage of his lack of attention causing him to drop the snowball he had just packed. The powdery substance began to warm immediately as the snow made contact with Ron's reddened skin.
"Oiy!" Ron shook his fist angrily and was hit several more times by both the twins.
"Not that it's any of your business, again, but I also have to help Max get ready, who is one of the champions, unless you've already forgotten." Hermione didn't hide the roll of her eyes as she moved to turn back around, linking her arm with Max's.
"Who're you going with?" Ron yelled after them, shaking the snow from his hair.
"Hmph, ignore him." Hermione spoke as she just about dragged Max away.
~Break~
"Ron sure is laying it on thick today despite finding out you're going with Krum in a matter of hours." Max laughed as Hermione laid out their dresses and cast an anti-wrinkling charm on them.
"Yes, well, he HAS been known to be rather thick, puts his foot in his mouth often too." Hermione grumbled as she patted down her dress a little too hard at the end of her comment.
"Must be a Weasley trait with how you'll have two Weasley's eating their words this evening." Max joked as she gave Hermione's shoulder a squeeze.
"Must be." She finally laughed as she moved to take out a bunch of beauty products and potions from her trunk.
"Wow, must be your rebel year, handling all your aesthetics magically are we now?" Max asked as she moved to see what she had.
"I wanted to start trying some of this stuff this year. Despite what those knuckleheads think, I'm still a girl," Hermione scoffed as she turned back around holding a few products for her hair. "And for once I have someone to do all this stuff with so."
Hermione held the hair potions and products up with an asking smile.
"Yeah, sure, sit down and let's do your hair." Max shook her head as she pushed Hermione to take a seat.
Max spread the potion onto her hands first, and started to slowly thread it through the girls thick hair. She massaged the scalp and slowly pulled the liquid through to the tips. Once she was done she moved to add some styling mousse and slowly Hermione's hair became softer curls.
"Wow, this stuff certainly does wonders, much faster than chemical relaxing." Hermione spoke, amazed as she played with her hair.
"Yes, but with curls like this we just have to put your hair up, maybe have a few pieces escaping to give you an almost breathy look?" Max suggested as she pulled Hermione's hair up in example.
"I think that sounds magical." Hermione said
~Break~
Once the two girls had gotten dressed and finished their hair, they moved to the bathrooms to do their makeup to avoid the crowds of people starting to appear in the common room. The added bonus was not having to see Ron and deal with his pestering questions. Max left a small note under Fred's dormitory door to meet them in the entrance hall and they were off, disappearing into the crowd of girls heading their way. They decided to use the closest lavatories and Hermione quickly opened her small purse and took out the makeup they were going to use.
"Just one last touch." Max spoke as she stuck her tongue, finishing with a fine powder on Hermione's face.
"Thanks a lot for the help, I was a little afraid I would end up out there looking like a fool." Hermione responded as she went to put her earrings on.
"It's really no problem at all, I've had a lot of practice." Max waved off as she went to put on her lipliner and lipstick.
She had opted for a sultry red and gold smokey eye. Adding a dab of gold shimmer to the inner corners of her eyes to give her a doe effect. For eyeliner she went for a small winged tip, adding a touch of red shimmer in the middle of her lid, lightly blended into a deeper maroon towards the outer corners of her eyes, matching her dress. She opted for a pin-up red-lip and made sure to cast a charm to keep both their faces looking fresh. Putting on a gold necklace with a small ruby pendant carved into a rose, she was ready to go, physically anyways. Mentally was a whole other story with how nervous she was feeling.
Max's dress was a fitted bodice with wrapped chiffon meeting to make a sweetheart neckline with a modest amount of cleavage. It was sleeveless, with two straps hung just on the ends of her shoulders made up of embroidered red flowers with gold trim. It shimmered as she moved, matching her necklace. The length of her gown flowed out from her waist and billowed around her. It was not quite a ballgown, but the amount of chiffon would definitely look amazing when she was spun. For shoes, she had champagne gold shimmering pumps that had a small strap around her ankle that tied together with another matching red rose.
Hermione's dress was far more exciting. She was wearing a multi-shade pink dress that fluttered around her form at the slightest movement. It had a fitted waist, and was also sleeveless much like Max's with wide flowing straps that just hung from the ends of her shoulders. The skirt of the dress was layers of light fabric delicately sewn together to weave the illusion of the dress changing colour, from lighter to darker as it met the tips of her feet. Tied around her waist was a small sash braided into an elegant bow.
For makeup Max opted for a soft pink and white eyeshadow, with the slightest plum at the outer edges of her eyes. She lined her eyes with a thin line that went to her corner and moved out the slightest to give her large eyes an almond effect. Taking a brown she lined her bottom lid to give it a softer effect and open up her eyes so the focus was the beautiful chocolate and auburn colours swirling in the girl's dark eyes. She gave her a champagne pink shimmer gloss and after a small mist of perfume, they were off. Linking their arms together they left the bathroom and headed towards the entrance hall to meet their dates.
"Do you think he'll like my dress?" Hermione asked as she twisted her fingers into the delicate fabric.
"Of course he will Herms, you could show up in a wet paper bag and he'd still find you the most beautiful girl to the ball." Max answered, linking arms with her once more.
"Well, thankfully it's not raining, or snowing." She smiled back.
They walked down the final staircase and out the front doors, they approached Durmstrang's ship. Once they arrived a boy Max couldn't remember the name of let them in and shouted for Krum in Russian. Said boy came rushing out, already dressed in his red traditional dress robes and approached them, a small clear box in his hands holding a pink flower.
"You look beautiful." Krum breathed out as he took Hermione's hand and gave it a light kiss.
"Oh, uhh, thank you, you look very handsome yourself," Hermione blushed as she allowed him to put the pink corsage on her wrist. "It's very beautiful, thank you."
"You're very velcome." Krum smiled even brighter if it was possible and Max had to clamp down on a squeal.
"Now we just need to find Fred." Max laughed as the rest of the Durmstrang students readied to leave for the ball themselves.
"Ahh, good, you're ready, and so is your dance partner," Karkaroff spoke up startling Max, "And you have the Gryffindor champion here too, I see."
He didn't sound pleased to have her there and she couldn't blame him.
"She vas escorting my partner for the evening." Krum explained as Hermione waved awkwardly.
"I see, well we should get a move on so we are not late, even if it would make one of the Gryffindor champion late..." Karkaroff muttered the last bit to himself, but Max still heard it causing her to frown.
"Try not to take it personally, he's just upset you scored so high." Krum explained as he motioned for the girls to follow them.
"Well this is certainly going to be an entrance isn't it?" Max sighed as Hermione gave her a laugh.
"Guess so." She linked her arms with Krum and started to walk a little straighter.
Max looked out across the lawn and just about gasped; it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. Lights twinkled about like tiny fairies, as illusions of actual ones flew around, leaving glitter dancing in the air behind them as they went. It was completely and utterly beautiful.
~Break~
Their entrance was the lot of them walking in with Karkaroff leading and Krum, with Hermione, not far behind. Max was walking kind of awkwardly near the two, standing out like a sore thumb. She looked around hastily, in hopes she would find Fred, but her eye's met Harry's instead. She gave a small wave as his eyes just about bulged from his head. It looked like he took her advice about asking Parvati out after all. She noticed Ron was standing next to a displeased Padma and Max couldn't blame her in the least. Not only was the boy dressed in the most horrible looking dress robes she had ever seen, he was also scowling at her and Hermione, completely ignoring his date.
"This is going to go well..." Max sighed to herself.
"What is going to go well?" A voice spoke up from her left spooking her.
"Oh, Fred, you scared me, jesus!" Max laughed as she put a hand to her beating chest.
"Didn't mean to scare you, just figured I'd join your grand entrance." He placed his hand at the small of her back and joined the throng of Durmstrang students.
"Champions over here, please!" Professor McGonagall called out, taking most of the attention off of them.
Max, Fred, Krum, and Hermione all moved towards her as she motioned them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside. She instructed them to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down.
"How official." Max laughed as she straightened Fred's bowtie.
Harry finally reached them and just about did a double take as Hermione went to greet him and Parvati.
"Hi, Harry!" She said. "Hi, Parvati!"
Parvati was staring at her in disbelief before looking towards Max and smiling.
"Wow, you look amazing! How did you manage to keep this a secret, both of you?" She asked in a hurried fashion.
Max just shrugged and noticed Krum's fanclub throwing Hermione some dirty looks, followed by a mystified looking Pansy, and a suddenly quiet Malfoy. Soon after that was an even unhappier looking Ron and Padma; well, at least they matched. Hermione went to say hi to Ron as well when he passed, but he just rushed on by just about leaving Padma alone, stuck behind two hufflepuff's from Krum's fanclub.
"Wow, what a dick." Max spoke up, completely forgetting her date was his brother.
"A huge dick," Fred added as he squeezed her waist and smiled. "You ok Hermione? Want me to jinx him?"
"It's fine." She waved off as Krum looked like he was about to say something, but was interrupted by Professor McGonagall.
"Alright, everyone line up with your partners and follow me into the hall." She spoke as everyone lined up as instructed.
As they walked in, they were met with applause, causing Max to start feeling actually nervous about this. Sure, she had danced plenty of times, but it was never at a ball. She looked around instead to quell her nervousness and found that the Great Hall was breathtakingly beautiful. It was covered in a sparkling silver frost as mistletoe hung from Ivy strewn up in the stairy black ceiling. Small silver lanterns floated about lighting up the dance floor and seated tables laid out in the room. They passed by Ron who was glaring at Hermione even harder now and Max couldn't help but glare back catching his gaze for a mere moment. They reached the top table which held the judges of the tournament and they all stopped for the end of the applause. Dumbledore was staring down at them warmly as Karkaroff instead shot daggers at them. Ludo Bagman was clapping enthusiastically while Madame Maxime clapped politely, but otherwise was his polar opposite. But instead of Mr. Crouch, someone Max did not recognize was sitting in his seat clapping politely. His hair was a familiar shade of red, and his freckles almost reminded her of...
She whipped her head around to face Fred and noticed he was gawking towards Percy.
"Are you guys related?" Max whispered.
"Yeah, he's my older, much more boring, brother Percy." He answered as he gave Percy a fake smile.
They all sat down at the top table, Harry next to Percy, and Parvati beside him and so forth. Harry was chatting with him as Max turned towards Hermione instead.
"What the hell is up with Ron?" Max asked.
"I have no idea, I think he's just jealous we're all up here while he's not." The again was left out, but it hung in the air anyways.
"You look very nice by the way," Fred smirked as he twirled a flower around in his hand. "I didn't get a chance to give you this since you just had to make such an entrance, so here."
Fred reached over and brushed Max's hair from her ear and placed a small thornless rose behind it.
"It's beautiful, how did you get it to match?" Max gaped as she reached up to brush her fingers against the soft petals which matched her dress perfectly, but otherwise was not the usual shade of red a rose was.
"Why do you think I've been pestering you?" His eyes twinkled in laughter, "It's also charmed to not wilt or damage for the next twenty-four hours, so we can dance the night away."
"Sounds perfect." Max couldn't stop her smile anymore.
Picking up the menus sitting on their plates Dumbledore started off the ordering as he looked down towards his plate intently and ordered "Pork chops!" And they appeared. Everyone else started to follow suit and Max took a look deciding she wanted the blueberry chicken.
"I didn't realize just how much math was involved in Quidditch, it certainly makes the sport more appealing." Hermione's voice floated towards Max interrupting her train of thought.
She was animatedly speaking to Krum about, well, math of all things. It suddenly clicked, the guy had more to him than appearances showed. He seemed so genuinely invested he missed all the woeful looks he was getting from his fans.
"But of course, how else vould I be able to predict vhere to catch the snitch during my matches." Krum laughed back, engrossed in their conversation.
"Is it hard to train for quidditch where you are? I assume it's fairly cold isn't it? Not to mention from what I've read it's farther up north so you end up having less sunlight during winter. You'd probably have to stay inside a lot."
"Veil, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking," Krum explained to Hermione. "Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these - though in vinter, ve have very little daylight as you said, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains - as you can imagine, knowing math comes in handy."
"Now, now, Viktor!" Karkaroff chastised with a laugh, as if that covered up his cold irritation. "Don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"
"Igor, all this secrecy...one would almost think you didn't want visitors." Dumbledore responded, stepping in to ease the tension.
"Well, Dumbledore," Karkaroff spoke, showing teeth, "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?"
"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor," Dumbledore continued to soothe. "Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turn on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished. But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon - or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."
Harry snorted into his food causing Percy to frown and Fred to chortle with laughter.
"First time eating?" Fred asked Harry as he glared back.
"Zis is nothing," Fleur spoke dismissively at the Great Hall. "At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we 'ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of course...zey are like 'uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is seemply superb. And we 'ave choirs of wood nymphs, 'oo serenade us as we eat. We 'ave none of zis ugly armor in ze 'alls, and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, 'e would be expelled like zat." She slapped her hand onto the table with a thwap.
Her date who was watching her talk didn't seem to catch much of what she said, but followed suit anyways and slapped his hand down imitating her.
"Absolutely right, like that. Yeah."
"Weak." Max said.
"Completely." Fred agreed.
"He hasn't managed to hit his mouth yet, have you noticed?" Max asked.
"Have I noticed? I'm almost insulted Max, of course I noticed," Fred grinned as he successfully took a bite of his own food. "Guess you're doing something wrong."
"Or you're doing something right." She winked.
"Hermy-own." Krum attempted, coming out a bit louder than intended as he tried to copy the girl's pronunciation.
"Her-my-oh-nee." She said slowly and clearly.
"Herm-own-ninny."
"Close enough," Hermione said, casting a wink towards Harry.
Once they had all finished eating, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand hand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the entire floor clear. He then waved his wand and conjured a raised platform along the right wall, with instruments sitting and ready.
"Guess it's go time." Max said as she and Fred started to move towards the dance floor with the rest of the champions.
"Come on!" She heard Parvati hiss towards Harry, who was still sitting. "We're supposed to dance!"
"Harry's not very smooth is he?" Max asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, not really." Fred answered.
He took her hand and placed a soft hand on her waist. She placed her free hand on his shoulder and he pulled her closer, ready to lead.
"Ready?" Fred asked, clearly seeing a look of panic shoot across her eyes.
"Ready." She confirmed as she loosened up a bit more.
Her eyes scanned the room and she saw hundreds of students staring back, Ron was still glowering, and Professor McGonagall was looking intently at them, but something felt off. That's right, everyone was here...but where was Severus? She didn't have much of a moment to think on that thought as Fred whisked her away, literally, as the music began to play. He twirled her around and her heart flipped in her chest as the music picked up. Suddenly all her anxiety was gone and she laughed, the sound freeing and she twirled around with Fred once more as other couples began to join them. It was a wonderfully perfect moment, dancing across the floor with Fred. His hand was warm, but a little sweaty, and his grip was tender. He seemed almost unsure, but didn't let it bother him. Max could see the appeal and understood why people gravitated towards the Weasley twins.
Before she knew it, the first song was over and applause filled the hall. The next song began and this one was more upbeat. They began to dance faster, a bit more modern, and Max couldn't stop howling in laughter as George and Angelina appeared not far from them, dancing with so much excitement they had a wide berth around them.
"I'm clearly the smoother of the twins." Fred announced as he twirled Max around.
"Doubt it, I think the only reason you're dancing this modestly is because I wouldn't join in like Angelina would." Max answered and tapped him on the nose.
"Pfft, no way I'd be caught dead dancing like that." He declared before pulling Max in tighter.
"Whatever you say Fred, whatever you say. Somewhere in some universe you are dancing just as bad as George, if not worse." Max declared with a nod.
They danced to another two songs before stepping away from the dance floor to rest their feet and find a drink. Max saw Hermione seated next to Harry and Ron so she turned to Fred and motioned towards their friends.
"I'll go nab a seat with Hermione if you don't mind getting us some drinks?" Max asked with a bright smile.
"Not a problem at all." Fred said with a faux bow before he walked off.
"Ron, what—" Max heard Hermione begin to speak as she got closer.
"He's from Durmstrang!" Ron interrupted with rage. "He's competing against Harry and Max! Against Hogwarts! You—you're—fraternizing with the enemy that's what you're doing!"
Max hurried faster and got to Hermione's side to see Ron red faced and Harry looking rather shocked.
"Don't be stupid! The enemy! Honestly—who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?" Hermione seethed with a stomp of her foot.
"I s'pose he asked you to come with him while you were both in the library?" Ron continued to prod, ignoring Hermione's previous statement.
"Yes, he did...so what?" Hermione asked with pink dusted cheeks.
"What happened—trying to get him to join spew, were you?" Ron continued to press.
"No, I wasn't! If you really want to know, he—he said he'd been coming up to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage with Max there!" Hermione rushed out, her blush deepening.
"Yeah, well—that's his story." Ron answered nastily.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Hermione huffed.
"Obvious, isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang out with, who your new best friend is, he's just trying to get inside information about Max and Harry, if not attempting to get close enough to jinx Harry—" Ron clarified as he was cut off.
"For your information, he hasn't asked me one single thing about Max or Harry, not one. He even gets along with Max just fine!" Hermione defended.
"Then he's hoping you'll help him find out what his egg means! I suppose you've been putting your heads together during those cozy little library sessions—" Ron tacked on without missing a beat.
"Oh shut up Ron! She's been helping ME figure out my egg, not him! But if we do figure it out you'll bet your ass I'll tell Krum, he's been nothing but a gentleman unlike you!" Max snapped, finally stepping in.
Hermione looked at her, mouth agape. Ron was starting to turn an unsightly shade of red as Harry looked around hurriedly for an escape.
"If you honestly think she would betray us like that then you are the biggest idiot I know." Max finished with a sour glare.
"Whatever, why don't you both just go find Vicky it's clear neither of you care about Harry." Ron grumbled, looking away.
"Ron, I don't have a problem with Hermione coming with Krum..." Harry said, attempting to calm Ron down.
"Don't call him Vicky!" Hermione shouted back hotly as she turned on her heel and stalked off.
"Whoa, what did I miss?" Fred asked as he came up behind Max and handed her a drink.
"Your brother put his foot in his mouth again." Max said darkly as she took her glass and left with one final parting glare at Ron.
"What was it about?" Fred asked, trailing after her.
"Your brother decided to go on the attack and harass Hermione about her date, apparently he doesn't approve." Max scoffed with a frown.
"He's an idiot, but it's clear he likes her." Fred said with a sigh.
"Doesn't excuse the treatment." Max hissed.
"No, of course not. Come on, let's dance and ignore my idiot brother." Fred said with a brilliant smile.
~Break~
Fred danced with Max for a couple more songs before excusing himself to speak with Mr. Bagman along with George. Max was now seated with Angelina watching the rest of the students and staff mingle and dance.
"You know, I had kind of wanted Fred to ask me at first." Angelina admitted as she took a sip of her juice.
"Oh? I had no idea..." Max blinked, turning to look at the girl.
"But you know what? I'm having a lot of fun with George, I really rather like him. Please don't tell him because goodness knows it will only go to his head, but I'm glad I went with him." She smiled brightly.
"Me too." Max smiled back.
"Are you glad Fred asked you?" She pressed further.
"I am..." Max trailed off with a smile.
And she was glad. Fred was a good friend and she got along with him amazingly well, so well in fact if things were different she could have seen herself falling for the prankster. But her circumstances were different and she was an interloper in love with her best friend. Her best friend who was technically now her teacher. That train of thought made her feel horrible so she decided to look around and find Hermione. Not that Angelina wasn't good company, but because she was worried about her friend, genuinely worried. But she did not catch Hermione, no, instead she saw Harry and Ron sneaking out into the entrance hall without their dates.
"Hey, I'm going to see how Harry is doing, mind letting Fred know?" Max asked as she barely waited for Angelina's response before rushing after the two boys.
"Hey..." Max said, catching Harry off guard.
"Hey, where's Fred?" Harry asked as he continued leading them into the entrance hall.
"And can you go back to him?" Ron asked belligerently as he crossed his arms.
"Oh come off it..." Max grumbled before turning to Harry. "He's off with George, trying to get some traction on their joke wands or something."
"Yeah, Mr. Bagman mentioned something about that..." Harry trailed off as he motioned for Max to follow.
"Why are you here?" Ron continued to act childishly.
"I'm bored and I wanted to hang out with my friends." Max responded with an eye roll.
"Then why don't you go find Hermione and Vicky?" Ron continued on his tangent.
"Because I couldn't find her, are you done now?" Max asked with a hiss.
They were outside now, surrounded by primly pruned bushes and decorative carved stone benches housing several couples. Ron looked as if he was ready to say something else as they followed Harry down the winding stone path as his hand went up stopping Ron.
"Shh..." Harry said quickly.
Max was just about to ask what he meant when she caught sight of Severus standing amongst the rose bushes set out around the winding stone path. Only, he wasn't alone, standing across from him was Igor Karkaroff.
"...don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor." She heard his silky voice say.
"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroff all but shouted, voice filled with anxiety. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it—"
"Then flee," Severus said simply, turning to look at Karkaroff like he was nothing. "Flee—I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts."
Harry and I exchanged looks as Ron stared gobsmacked as Severus began walking down the path towards them, leaving Karkaroff stewing on his words. Snape had removed his wand from his sleeves and was pointing them towards a bush where several sequels escaped. Two dark figures emerged from the bushes revealing two red-faced students.
"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!" Severus snarled causing the girl to rush off. "And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!"
Severus' snarl followed the boy who rushed after the Ravenclaw girl at breakneck speed. Severus' gaze followed after them for a moment, ensuring they were no longer up to no good, before turning to look at the three of them.
"And what are you three doing?" He asked, eyes narrowing on Harry's form.
Karkaroff was standing behind Severus now, eyes looking elsewhere but still panicked.
"We're walking," Ron answered, "not against the law, is it?"
"Keep walking, then!" Severus snarled, brushing past them.
They watched as Severus disappeared down the winding path towards Hogwarts, his cloak billowing in his wake. Karkaroff took off down a different path looking worse for wear, and ignoring the three of them pointedly.
"What's got Karkaroff all worried?" Ron asked, their previous argument on hold.
"And since when have he and Snape been on first-name terms?" Harry added.
"Were they...talking about their...you know?" Max asked, worrying her bottom lip.
"Their what?" Harry asked.
"Well, Professor Moody mentioned Karkaroff being a Death Eater, don't they have marks?" Max explained.
"They're probably both Death Eaters if they know each other that well." Ron added as they reached the large stone reindeer surrounding the large fountain.
"Karkaroff was let off wasn't he? Doubtful either of them are Death Eaters anymore, considering Karkaroff is scared and confiding in Snape." Max said, already bored of this constant argument with Ron.
"Well, the Malfoy's denounced them yet we all know they agreed with You-Know-Who. I'd imagine any of them would say whatever-" Ron started to counter, before Harry shoved his hand over Ron's mouth cutting him off.
"Momen' I saw yeh, I knew," They heard Hagrid's voice say as they approached the stone reindeer and found him standing next to Madame Maxime sitting on a bench overlooking the fountain. Jets of colourful water were shooting up and illuminating them.
Harry looked flustered, just having realized what they had walked into, and began looking around for an escape. Ron, however, didn't seem to catch on and was inching closer when Harry tugged on his arm gaining his attention. Max looked towards where Harry was pointing to find Fleur partially hidden by some rose bushes with her date, Davies. It was clear they were busy with one another and they could slip off unnoticed. But Ron seemed to disagree and shook his head before inching into the shadows of the looming reindeer.
"What did you know, 'Agrid?" Madame Maxime asked with a purr at the end.
Max felt her cheeks starting to become heated and wished desperately to be anywhere except where she was. Why was Ron so stubborn?
"I jus' knew...knew you were like me...Was it yer mother or yer father?" Hagrid asked.
"I—I don't know what you mean, 'Agrid..." Madame Maxime trailed off.
"It was my mother," Hagrid said quietly. "She was one o' the las' ones in Britain. 'Course, I can' remember her too well...she left, see. When I was abou' three. She wasn' really the maternal sort. Well...it's not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her...might be dead fer all I know..."
Max swallowed thickly as the blood rushed through her ears, trailing a crack on the reindeer's saddle in hopes she could disappear into the night. But alas, reality had other plans as Hagrid continued. Harry was peering around the legs of the reindeer now looking focused on what Hagrid was saying.
"Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen'. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an' put him on top of the dresser if he annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh..." Hagrid continued as his voice broke. "Dad raised me...but he died, o'course, jus' after I started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very kind ter me, he was..."
Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief and blew his nose.
"So...anyway...enough abou' me. What about you? Which side you got it on?" He asked.
"It is chilly." Madame Maxime answered, standing to her feet. "I think I will go in now."
Her voice was so cold it made Max shiver.
"Eh?" Hagrid asked, confused. "No, don' go! I've—I've never met another one before!"
"Anuzzer what, precisely?" Madame Maxime asked, her voice stony.
"Another half-giant, o' course!" Hagrid blurted out.
"'Ow dare you!" She exploded, shrieking in response. "I 'ave nevair been more insulted in my life! 'Alf-giant? Moi? I 'ave—I 'ave big bones!"
With that Madame Maxime stormed off towards the castle and Max heard the telltale thud that Fleur and Davies had been spooked from their rose bush. Max watched as Hagrid gazed at Madame Maxime's retreating form before he too, left in the opposite direction.
"C'mon, let's go..." Harry said quietly, unsuccessfully pulling Ron from their hiding spots. "What's up?"
Harry had finally let go as Max let out a sigh. Ron turned towards her with an innocent expression filled with confusion and sorrow. Max being older knew of the stigma and the difference in clashing cultures found within the two sides of Hagrid's ancestry. She believed there was no shame in it, but even in her own time it wasn't taken too kindly. And this? This was even further back, poor Hagrid.
"Did you know? About Hagrid being half-giant?" Ron asked, connecting the dots in their earlier conversation.
"I didn't know...I guessed, but didn't know." Max shrugged.
"Does it matter?" Harry asked with such nativity Max had to let out another sigh.
"I'll explain inside." Ron said with a tenderness rarely seen in him. "C'mon..."
Ron led them back down the winding paths, back inside the entrance hall, and back into the Great Hall finding all three of their dates sitting at a table conversing. Fred was leaning on one arm as he said something causing the twins to laugh.
"Ahh, there's my date, since you two stole mine, I decided to keep yours company." Fred smiled charmingly causing Parvati and Parma to giggle once more.
"Well, that's my cue." Max smiled, taking Fred's hand and leaving the two to their talk.
"What was that about?" Fred asked as they joined the dance floor once more.
"Wanted to make sure Harry was okay, found them wandering off without their dates and I was concerned, but I think it was for nothing." Max admitted as Fred spun her.
"Not all for nothing, you are a good friend." Fred smiled as he led her around the dance floor causing her skirt to twirl.
"Thank you for saying so." Max smiled, although it was fake.
In the end she was lying to all of them, some friend she was. Plus, Severus virtually hated her guts at this point and she was lying to everyone else. It was nearing midnight when they finally stopped dancing again, taking a break and sitting with George and Angelina. Max still hadn't seen heads or tails of Hermione since her and Ron's blowout, nor had Severus made another appearance either. Fred and George were engrossed in conversation about ton-tongue toffee when Max, feeling restless, let out a small sigh.
"I'm going to go freshen up and see if I can find Hermione." Max said as Fred gave her a nod and a wave.
Having no intention of freshening up, Max decided to walk the halls and get some much needed silence. Today was fairing to be way too much and she was feeling overwhelmed and alone. So here she was passing through the entrance hall and heading down one of the empty hallways. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around finding a rather sour-faced Severus Snape glowering at her.
"What are you doing?" He asked none-to-kindly.
"Going for a walk around the halls because it's too cold outside." Max grumbled as she crossed her arms in defiance.
"Down the halls towards my room?" Severus asked with a raised brow.
"It wasn't consciously done, so calm your ego." Max muttered with a scowl.
Max expected Severus to snap at her, tell her to head off towards her rooms, but instead he chuckled.
"That, I believe." He almost smiled as he petulantly kept his distance.
Max wasn't sure what to say, nothing felt right but in that moment, dressed to the nines, she felt confident and asked the question burning on her lips.
"What...what was it you and Karkaroff were talking about? Are you okay?" Max asked, uncrossing her arms as she stepped towards him.
He regarded her for a moment. His coal eyes taking in her face, almost memorizing how soft she looked in her makeup. His eyes never strayed past her neck despite her innermost wishes, instead settling back on her own murky orbs.
"Miss Suthers, do you realize how inappropriate of a question that is?" Severus asked, but he didn't take a step back.
"Very, but it's just you and me so...you okay?" She asked again.
"I'm fine, you don't need to be worried." Severus waved off as he looked away, breaking whatever contact they had.
"Could we, you know, just talk? So much has happened and I'm done feeling shitty and alone." Max broached as Severus gave her a sad look.
"Right here in the halls? You're not drunk again are you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I'm not..." Max sighed as she looked up at the ceiling with a pout.
But hurried footsteps interrupted her causing Severus to grab her arm and hauled her into one of the alcoves covered by a tapestry. She could hear hurried whispers and the off giggle behind Severus' rushed breaths.
"What the?" Max hissed as her elbow hit a pillar painfully.
"Shh!" Severus hissed, flattening her against the wall as they listened.
Severus had her pressed against the wall, the bulk of him obscuring anyone's view of her should they pull back the tapestry. His back was facing her, but still touching her all the same. His wand wasn't out and his stance was almost lurking. If anyone were to catch him they would have assumed he was scouring for disobedient students to dock points from. Whoever had come rushing by had left just as quickly, seeming to be a false alarm as the footsteps faded from range and Severus turned back around, arms placed on either side of her head. He was frowning now, his heart beating in his chest as he stared down at her with a tired expression.
"Got time to talk now?" Max asked, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
Severus didn't answer but instead began to lean into her, his eyes gazing into her own. A few times his mouth opened to utter a response, but quickly closed so he could collect his thoughts.
"I always thought we had time...that's why I never kissed you, back then." Severus admitted.
"I...and now?" Max asked, remembering her burning question from before.
"Everything else. Now I don't have the time but any ties to me could put you in danger. Now, every horrible thing I have ever done is laid out for you to see." Severus admitted as he stopped just before kissing her.
"You're not who you were..." Max whispered naively.
"Oh, but Max, I have to be. And the times I don't have to be will never erase the times I did. I'm a cruel man, Max. I bullied children, I treated my last best friend as if she were trash. I'm a bigot with the mark to prove it. I can't be who you thought I was, because that man is gone." Severus explains darkly.
"But you aren't that man anymore. The Severus I know is the Severus I grew up with, the man you are now. You don't have to be him anymore..." Max whispered pathetically.
The admission of his old friend was new, and she wasn't sure if he was aware he had let it slip. Thoughts of what Moody had said to her caused her heart to clench painfully. But, his warmth was still seeping into her bones. Unable to ignore his presence she looked up into his eyes, asking him everything she was afraid to voice.
"The thing is Max, I can't be. For so long I thought I was free of all of this, but the truth is, I always carried my past with me. All the sins, all the atrocities, cannot be erased because they will always remain in those I've hurt, including you. If I even show the slightest hesitation, we could both wind up dead." Severus said as he leaned towards her neck, his arms slowly moving from the walls.
"What if I don't care? What if none of that mattered? What about what I want, what about what you want?" Max huffed as Severus' nose brushed her beck.
"Oh? And what is it you want, Max?" He almost purred.
"You..." Max whispered weakly as she closed her eyes.
Severus pulled away and she thought she had lost him. Peeking an eye open she found him gazing at her with a strange expression of longing.
"What about you?" She whispered as she looked up into his eyes.
Moving forward he brushed his lips with hers, lighter than their first, before pressing them into a slightly deeper proper kiss. Max moved into action almost instantly, moving her one arm up and around his neck to cradle his head. She moved slowly with him, allowing him to set the pace afraid she would snap him from whatever sentiment caused this. But, he didn't seem to shy away, and instead moved to hold her closer. His larger hands settled on her waist and head, angling her for a deeper kiss. Max swooned, almost becoming lightheaded as the searing heat of his lips moved against her own. She nipped at his bottom lip pulling a small groan as his tongue poked out to coax hers.
Completely caught up in the moment, Max allowed Severus to press her into the wall causing her dress to start hiking up around her thighs. She angled her hips so he could brush his against hers easier and steady her against the wall. He was surprisingly strong for his lanky frame, something that had always surprised her about him. His nose nudged her chin after he pulled away from her swollen lips. His gaze was burning now, full of male pride as she wound her fingers through his hair and pulled. His lips met hers once again, harder this time as Max raised one of her legs to coax his hips closer. He let out a deep grunt as he sucked in a breath before deepening the kiss once more. Their tongues danced as his fingers trailed towards her backside. She let out a gasp as his strong hands cupped her and hiked her hips up against his. Wrapping her legs around his waist she reveled in the strong sureness of the movement.
Max expected nervousness and Severus being flighty. What she did not expect was her pent up frustrations being met equally, if not more. He pulled her closer as her dress found its way at her waist. HIs lips left hers to trail a path down her neck and towards her clavicle. His teeth nipped at her heated flesh and she arched into him. Her head hit the cool stone behind them as the fingers on one of his hands began to trace designs into her thighs. Somewhere in the more cognitive parts of her mind she recognized them as wand patterns corresponding to spells. He was a nerd even in moments like these. The thought soothed her that there was still a part of him she knew, a part private just for her.
His lips were now trailing small kisses back up her neck before meeting hers again. His hand was now moving higher as she felt her hands twisting in his robes. She let out a soft gasping moan he swallowed as he slowly devoured her. His hand was edging her panty line now and she felt her impatient surface as her hips bucked, brushing his knuckles. A small sigh escaped as she withered against the wall, her legs still holding him tightly between her thighs. A small chuckle escaped Severus as Max found herself looking for the brush of his knuckles again. His fingers in an act of mercy slipped past the lace and brushed her outer lips almost reverently.
Max wanted to keen but found herself still lip locked as his grin pressed against her pouty lips. He had decided he wanted her and he was going to take his time. The thought excited and frustrated her in one fell swoop. Her prayers were answered as his fingers pressed deeper, stroking the inside of her lips now. She felt her strength leave her as a desperate moan fell from her lips. Severus began to kiss the corners of her mouth before slowly moving to the underside of her chin. The flesh there shivered as he began to suck on it, his fingers slowly moving towards her clit, but never quite reaching it.
"Severus..." she breathed out her whine.
"Yes?" His gravelly voice answered.
Max wasn't expecting him to respond and had to catch herself from crying out as Severus halted the movement of his fingers to focus on her flushed face.
"This is not fair." She managed to get out as she panted against the wall.
"My apologies then." Severus smirked as his fingers hit the jackpot and began to circle her clit before moving towards it with slow jerking movements.
"Severus..." She moaned this time, her eyes shutting tightly as she squirmed against the frigid stone wall.
"Yes?" He answered, this time with a humorous lilt.
Max never had the chance to answer as his fingers picked up pace, lightly pinching her clit, before surging her closer to her orgasm. She clutched his clothing letting out small pants and moans. She was fairly sure she was near drooling, but couldn't bring herself to care as Severus hooked his arm around her other leg and moved to finger her. She felt like fire in that moment and her moans became impossible to stifle. Severus was in the crook of her neck now breathing incredibly hard. Max let out a high noted moan and Severus halted his movements.
"You are way too loud." He spoke, a laugh in his tone.
"Shut up..." Max breathed out as she tried to get her bearings.
Severus pulled her into a deep kiss, letting her legs fall from his grasp. Max let out a small whine, her hand twisting into his robes deeper.
"I swear to god if you leave me wanting again..." Max warned.
"Hush, I have no intentions of doing so. I just don't want to be caught in a compromising position because you don't know how to be quiet." Severus chuckled before stepping away.
"Then what is your plan?" Max asked as she started to fix her dress and pat down her hair.
As she did she realized the rose she had received from Fred was missing. Looking around quickly she found herself halted by Severus' hand.
"Here." Severus offered, picking up her fallen rose and threading it back behind her ear.
"Oh, I had almost forgotten about that." Max laughed.
"I'm sure poor Weasley would be happy to hear that." Severus noted sarcastically as he turned back towards the tapestry to check the hall.
"Oh, you know about that." Max said as she cleared her throat.
"Little hard not too, but don't worry I'm not jealous." Severus answered with an eye roll apparent in his tone.
"This time." Max said before she could stop herself.
Severus stopped and turned around before looking into her eyes almost appraisingly.
"This time." He agreed with a small smile before parting the tapestry and stepping out.
Max followed him finding the dimly lit hall empty. Severus began to walk towards his rooms with a small nod. Max went to follow after only to catch sight of Karkaroff stomping down the halls.
"You can't just ignore me like you're ignoring this, Severus." Karkaroff boomed causing Severus to stiffen and Max to rush back behind the tapestry.
"I told you to run if you wanted, Karkaroff, this conversation is done as far as I am concerned." Severus spoke with venom.
"Well if you ignore me that easily maybe I shouldn't ignore seeing you take that Gryffindor girl into your quarters the other night." Karkaroff said, his tone becoming calmer than it was before.
"And just what are you implying, Karkaroff." Severus said, his tone warning.
"I'm not implying anything, Severus. I had come down to speak to you about the mark when it was first started becoming clearer and saw the tail end of you catching several drunk students, Gryffindor champion included. Now I know you, Severus. I know nothing happened beyond playing interference for your precious Dumbledore so you don't lose your third champion, but I am not sure I can guarantee everyone else knows you as well as I do." Karkaroff explained.
"What do you want?" Severus said, quieter this time.
"Just to talk, quite a bargain, wouldn't you say?" Karkaroff said with his usual haughty tone. "Shall we retire to the kitchens? I rather could use a drink and I heard all the teachers here know how to access them." Karkaroff said as the echo of his footsteps were heard.
"Follow me." Severus relented, leaving Max hidden behind a tapestry.
Max waited, almost holding her breath as her heart beat so heavily in her chest her metaphorical hardon was long gone. Peering between the parting of the tapestries, Max found the coast clear and quickly rushed out.
~Break~
Upon heading towards the Gryffindor Tower, she found Hermione sitting on some steps in tears. Max rushed over at once, taking a seat next to the girl and curling her arms around her. She tucked Hermione's head underneath her chin and just sat there as the girl began to sob harder. Max began to tuck her hair behind her ears as she let out a small sniffle.
"Here." Max said, offering her handkerchief.
"Thanks." Hermione said weakly before blowing her nose.
They sat together in silence as Max waited for Hermione to calm down and want to talk. It didn't take long though, before Hermione turned to face Max.
"Ron was just being unbelievably cruel." She said as tears began to fill her eyes.
"I know, and I also know everyone is going to say that means he likes you, but the truth is, you don't treat someone you like this way. He's an idiot and will most likely be making this up to you for the next few years." Max said as she held Hermione's hand.
"I know, I also know Ron didn't mean to be so mean, he's just...such an..." Hermione said, struggling for the right word.
"An idiot?" Max supplied.
"Yeah, idiot sounds about right." Hermione said.
They sat together like that for a little while longer, before Max helped Hermione to her feet and they headed towards their room to get ready for bed. Max wasn't sure if Hermione was feeling any better, but the tears were gone and she was smiling. For tonight, that was enough.
~Break~
Everyone got up late on Boxing Day, not to anyone's surprise. Max was one of them, feeling a rather foul mood that had spread over her since the night of the ball. Fred hadn't seemed bothered by her disappearance and merely asked if she was okay before inviting her to sit with him and his brother in the common rooms. Hermione was seated across from them reading a book, hair back to its natural state, as Crookshanks lazed on her lap. Since their heart to heart, Hermione was in better spirits and was acting quite friendly towards Ron who reciprocated. Whatever the result of their argument was, it was on hold for now. Soon enough Harry had joined them and the common room was filled with busy students and loud conversations. Harry had recounted the conversation they had overheard about Hagrid being half-giant and as expected Hermione didn't see the issue like Ron and Max did.
"Well, I thought he must be," Hermione explained. "I knew he couldn't be pure giant because they're about twenty feet tall. But honestly, all this hysteria about giants. They can't all be horrible...It's the same sort of prejudice that people have towards werewolves. It's just bigotry, isn't it?"
Ron looked as if he wanted to interject with a scathing reply, but opted not too. Instead took to shaking his head condescendingly when Hermione was not looking at him.
"It might be more complicated but treating Hagrid poorly because of it would certainly be bigotry." Max added, agreeing with Hermione and Harry.
"Which is why I don't understand the problem." Harry sighed.
They all lulled into silence before parting off to work on neglected homework. As Max finished up one of her potion essays Harry slipped her a note before disappearing into his dormitory.
'Cedric gave me some advice to open the egg in the baths. Figured you could use the advice too. Password to the prefect baths is Pine Fresh. - H.P.' It read.
Bless Harry, he was right, she did need the advice. Clutching the note in her hands she tucked it into her pocket and continued working on her homework.
~Break~
Seated in Herbology class Max mulled over her egg and wondered if she should poke Hermione and transfigure some bathing suits and figure out what Harry's cryptic clue was. Tapping her fingers against the dirt covered table she finished replanting several mandrakes that the first years had done incorrectly before leaning to whisper in Hermione's ear.
"Tonight, think you can meet me in the upstairs bathroom and help me figure out the egg? Harry said to open it in the baths." She whispered, feeling Hermione's hair tickle her nose.
"Sure, as long as I finish my homework for Professor Vector." Hermione whispered back with a smile.
Feeling slightly more confident about her upcoming task, Max went about repotting the last few mandrakes before checking on the class's bubotubers. Before long, class was done and they were trudging through the snow towards Care of Magical Creatures. Before long they reached Hagrid's cabin to find an elderly witch attempting to corral the students.
"Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago." She barked at them.
"Who're you?" Ron asked rudely. "Where's Hagrid?"
"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank, and I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher." She answered, ignoring Ron's rudeness.
"Where's Hagrid?" Harry asked, echoing Ron's unanswered question.
"He is indisposed." Professor Grubbly-Plank responded curtly as she turned to greet the Slytherins who had finally made it.
"This way, please." Professor Grubbly-Plank requested as she strode around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were shivering.
"What's wrong with Hagrid?" Harry asked, hurrying to follow their temporary Professor.
"Never you mind." She waved off.
"I do mind, though," Harry continued, anger seeping through. "What's up with him?"
But their temporary Professor acted as if she didn't hear him and led them past the paddock where the shivering horses were huddled together and towards a tree on the edge of the forest, where a large unicorn was tethered. Many of the students began to awww and ooo the beautiful creature as Max stared at it, mouth agape.
"Wow..." She breathed as Hermione nodded.
"Oh, it's so beautiful!" Lavender Brown whispered. "How did she get it? They're supposed to be really hard to catch!"
The unicorn had bright shimmering white fur and was pawing the ground with it's golden hoof. The horn atop it's head glimmered against the snow shining brightly as it threw its head back.
"Boys, keep back!" Their Professor barked as she threw out her arm. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it..."
The Professor took Max and the rest of the girls towards the unicorn, leaving the boys standing behind watching near the paddock fence. Once they were a hair's breadth away, Professor Grubbly-Plank formed them into a single line.
"Alright, now approach the unicorn slowly, offer your hand and if they accept, you may pet the top of their snout." Professor Grubbly-Plank explained.
Lavender Brown went first, jittering with excitement.
"What do you think happened to Hagrid?" Hermione whispered from behind her.
"No idea, but I have a feeling it's nothing good..." Max whispered back.
Pansy was next, the line moving rather quickly.
"That's what I'm afraid of..."Hermione sighed.
Soon enough, it was Max's turn. She offered her hand, palm down, towards the beast, who in turn nuzzled against it allowing her to pet its snout. The fur was softer than she imagined, and shimmered as she pet. Before long, Professor Grubbly-Plank had ushered her away, bringing up Hermione next.
"She is so much better than that half-giant oaf, Hagrid." She heard Pansy preen towards her friends.
"What?" Max asked, causing the girl to sneer at her.
"Don't know, do you? Too bad." Pansy waved off with a scoff, turning back to her friends.
"What was that about?" Hermione asked.
"She knew that Hagrid was half-giant..." Max breathed, turning to lock eyes with her friend.
"Are you paying attention over there?" Professor Grubbly-Plank interrupted causing everyone to turn towards her.
Max noticed she was referring to the boys and began to worry her lip. Harry and Ron were huddled together holding a piece of paper in their hands. Professor Grubbly-Plank went on to explain the magical properties of a unicorn as well as how to care for them. Max was too busy worrying about Hagrid to listen, turning to look at the unicorn once more to appear interested.
"I hope she stays, that woman!" Parvati gushed once the lesson had ended. "That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would be like...proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters..."
She continued on like that their entire walk back to Hogwarts for lunch.
"What about Hagrid?" Harry finally exploded.
"What about him?" Parvati asked in a hard voice. "He can still be gameskeeper, can't he?"
"What is she talking about?" Max asked, nudging Harry's arm.
"I'll tell you in the Great Hall..." he sighed, giving Parvati one last dejected look before gazing at the floor.
"That was a really good lesson, I didn't know half the things Professor Grubbly-Plank told us until—" Hermione gushed as they entered the Great Hall causing Harry to shake with rage.
"Look at this!" Harry snarled, brandishing an article from the Daily Prophet.
Max read the article quickly before she began to shake with rage.
"How did she?" She began to say.
"How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid told her?" Hermione asked after she had finished reading.
"No," Harry said, leading them towards their table. "He never even told us, did he? I reckon she was so mad he wouldn't give her loads of horrible stuff about me, she went ferreting around to get him back."
"Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the ball..." Hermione suggested.
"We'd have seen her in the garden!" Ron hissed, "Anyway, she's not supposed to come into school anymore, Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her..."
"Even more of a reason to be worried how she found out." Max said, looking towards the table in thought.
"Maybe she's got an invisibility cloak," Harry suggested as he started to fill his plate. "Sort of thing she'd do, isn't it, hide in bushes listening to people."
"Like you guys did, you mean." Hermione said.
Max uncomfortably began to fill her own plate with Yorkshire pudding, trying to ignore the growing tensions.
"We weren't trying to hear him!" Ron said indignantly. "We didn't have any choice! The stupid prat, talking about his giantess mother where anyone could have heard him!"
"We've got to go see him, this evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back...you do want him back?" Harry hissed, pointedly staring at Hermione.
"I—well, I'm not going to pretend it didn't make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once—but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!" Hermione all but shouted back.
Max gave a shrug, deciding her and Hermione could inspect her egg another night, she was on board.
"I like Hagrid, he's one of my favourite teachers, you know I'm in." Max smiled.
And for once she was telling the complete truth.
~Break~
That evening right after dinner, they met up as planned and headed out into the cold night air to visit Hagrid. They knocked on his door, but the only answer was Fang's booming barks.
"Hagrid, it's us!" Harry shouted as he banged on Hagrid's door.
But Hagrid never answered. They banged on his door for over ten minutes to no avail. Ron even attempted to look through the windows but found nothing.
"What's he avoiding us for?" Hermione asked once they had finally given up and headed back to the castle. "He surely doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?"
Unfortunately he did care, and they didn't see him all week. He never made appearances to the staff table, nor did they ever see his comings and goings from his cabin to the castle.
~Break~
Just before curfew Max and Hermionehad snuck into the girls bathroom to submerge the egg in water. Hermione had transfigured a notebook into a large bucket, while Max began to fill it up using the sink. The girl's bathrooms only had showers, no baths, so it was the best they could do. Max wasn't sure if this was going to work, hoping that she wouldn't also need to submerge herself in water as well. Golden egg in hand, Max approached the bucket with a wry look.
"What do you think is going to happen?" Max asked, feeling apprehensive.
"I don't know, but it can't be worse than the screaming." Hermione said as she took the egg from Max's hands.
Submerging it the water began to bubble and glow. The egg was shaking where Hermione was holding it under. Apprehensive as ever, Max leaned in hearing a quiet murmur beneath the water's surface.
"This isn't working." Max sighed as she pulled her face from the bucket.
"Maybe you have to be under water with the egg? Could be why Cedric gave Harry access to the prefect's baths." Hermione said with a frown.
"Well that isn't going to work now, guess I'll have to settle for dunking my head in." Max said with a frown.
Taking her wand she tapped it against the bucket murmuring engorgio. The bucket began to swell until it was twice its original size. Placing her wand into her back pocket, Max knelt beside the basin again and clutched the edge.
"Want me to warm the water?" Hermione asked.
Of course the girl knew more than what was taught in the curriculum. Shaking her head Max declined the offer.
"It's not worth the time it would take now. I'll just dunk my head in and get it over with." Max sighed as she drew closer to the water.
After taking a deep breath she submerged her face beneath the cold water. Opening her eyes she could see the water bubbling and glowing like it had before, only this time she could hear someone singing.
"Come seek us where our voice sound,
We cannot sing above the ground.
And while you're searching longer this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour—the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
Withdrawing her head from the basic Max sucked in a deep breath. With wide eyes she collected the egg and looked at Hermione.
"Whatever I have to do next, it's going to have an hour time limit. I have to retrieve something, but it doesn't tell me what." Max explained.
"Any idea where you have to search?" Hermione asked.
"It didn't say, it just offered another riddle. It says to venture where they sing, so I assume underneath the water since that's the only place we can hear the egg sing." Max said with a grim look.
"We'll figure it out." Hermione said as she placed a comforting hand on Max's shoulder.
~Chapter 13 End~