"She hasn't been to Ancient Runes," Harrison murmured to Draco and Blaise. At the moment they were talking about Delphi and her new group of friends.
"What did you even say to her to make her mad at all of us?" Blaise asked.
"I didn't say anything bad," Harrison insisted, "I told her to tolerate Emery and she went off on me. Talking about Blood Statues and stuff."
"Hey," a cold voice interrupted. The boys looked up and saw Delphi glaring down at Harrison. She looked pissed, but not the normal Delphi-pissed — maybe it was because her eyes were puffy red as if she was crying not so long ago, or how her glare didn't hold it's usual intimidation.
"When were you going to tell me that we're not playing tomorrow?" she asked.
"Whenever you stopped ignoring me."
"Why did Marcus forfeit anyway?"
"Because he was scared you weren't coming. If you didn't show up, we would've automatically lost against Gryffindor."
"You actually thought I wouldn't show up?"
"Not much of me to go on that you would."
"Are you talking to us again?" Draco asked.
Delphi mouth became a thin line. She stood there as if she was contemplating an answer, but she ended up walking away, probably to join Theo again.
"Forget her," Draco scoffed, glaring at Delphi as she left. "She's acting like she's the only one sad about Aunt Bella. You two are upset, aren't you?" Blaise and Harrison nodded, but they were hesitant, unsure of where Draco was going.
"Exactly. It's no wonder why she's run off with Nott; they relate to each other so well. One parent dead, another in Azkaban-"
"Draco," Blaise hissed, hitting the blonde on the arm very hard.
"Sorry… I didn't mean it."
The boys ended up playing Bloody Knuckles for the rest of their night, and not once did they notice Theo and Delphi watching their game from afar.
Harrison felt a bit weird sitting in the stands and not out on the field for the first game back. But he was glad he didn't have to play in this weather, he didn't know how'd he manage in a thunderstorm. But he had to admit it was nice to examine the game, especially when Daphne came to sit with him, Draco and Blaise.
"Has Delphi been talking to you?" Harrison asked Daphne once she settled down beside him.
"Barely. Pansy asked her about her mom and she accidentally set the drapes around all of our beds on fire."
Harrison was going to respond, but he heard a loud whistle, and everyone around cheered. The match had started and Gryffindor and Hufflepuff shot upwards into the rain.
"And the teams take off — Gryffindor Chaser, Angelina Johnson takes possession of the Quaffle —"
"Have you seen Diggory play before?" Daphne asked, turning back to Harrison.
"Of course I've had. And compared to me, he's awful at it. Remember my first year? I caught it before he could even get a glimpse of the Snitch. I wouldn't be surprised if Hufflepuff lost against Gryffindor."
Daphne nodded before hesitantly adding, "He's good looking though."
Harrison frowned at Daphne. He was good looking too. He had attractive, green eyes, and a symmetrical face — all girls liked symmetrical faces! And his hair looked good on him. Diggory had to be a rat compared to him.
"He won't be so good looking when the Weasley twins bash him in the face with the Bludgers." Harrison grumbled, slouching in his seat.
"You have a lot of experience with that, don't you Harrison?" Draco asked teasingly.
"Ugh, shut up," Harrison groaned as he elbowed Draco playfully.
"Look at pretty boy Diggory go! Or should I say, look at pretty boy Diggory slow! Kendrick, Gryffindor's Seeker, is zooming across the pitch — he got a Nimbus 2001 over the summer as you can see-"
"JORDAN COMMENTATE THE GAME AND STOPPED TALKING ABOUT BROOMS!" McGonagall scolded him, as always.
"Sorry, Professor — Hufflepuff down by thirty, and I expect it'll be like that for a while — look at that Weasley twin go — hit Diggory right in the back — YEAH! DO IT AGAIN FRED, AIM FOR HIS FACE THIS TIME-"
"JORDAN!"
"Okay, that's the last time, I promise Professor," Lee blurted nervously. "What I really meant was; oh no! Hufflepuff Seeker, Cedric Diggory, got hit with Bludger — it would be a shame if he got hit in the face and had his nose broken beyond repair — anyways, Gryffindor scores and is now at forty points — Hufflepuff yet to score!"
"How come Delphi hasn't been talking to you?" Daphne asked Harrison this time.
"Well me and her got into an argument at practice earlier in the week. She was mad at me for genuinely being friends with Emery because of her status."
"But she's Halfblood. We're friends with most Halfbloods."
"Yeah, but she has muggle blood."
Daphne frowned and blinked a couple times, as if she was processing the information. "I didn't know that."
The game became harder and harder to watch as the rain became heavier and the sky became darker. The players kept flying into each other, obviously put at a disadvantage because of the rain.
Eventually, Gryffindor called a timeout and huddled together down on the rainy pitch. They were up by fifty, but it didn't really matter because they would lose if Hufflepuff caught the Snitch.
Wood was pointing at Kendrick dramatically, then to Fred and George then to the Hufflepuff team. It was impossible to know what he was saying.
Soon the match was back on and Harrison couldn't focus on the players for long. His eyes kept lingering behind the pitch. He didn't know why until he saw him. A man standing behind the pitch, observing the game from afar.
Harrison took his binoculars and zoomed in on the man. He was hooded, like the hood of the man in the forest. He looked away from the flying players and stared directly at Harrison, as if he saw Harrison looking at him.
"Do you see…" Harrison trailed off once he saw the man raise his wand. It was a familiar wand, and once Harrison examined it longer he realized it was Astoria's. The man's mouth moved as if he was saying: "Reducto."
Harrison felt as if the world slowed down for a minute, everything was moving in slow motion. He had casted the spell, and aimed it right at the stands. He could see the ripple of white light traveling through the air, breaking through the heavy rain. It only sped closer and closer to where Harrison was sitting.
Harrison got out of his seat and took out his wand.
"Protego!" he yelled and everyone's attention snapped to him.
There was a loud bang and the Reductor spell exploded against Harrison's shield charm, destroying it immediately. Everyone in his stand screamed. The players in the sky froze to see the commotion.
"What was that-" Draco was cut short by another explosion, one that had hit the front of the stands, sending Harrison, who was in the front row, flying backwards.
Draco and Daphne ended up next to him, both of them looking around wildly.
"Sirius Black! It's him!" Harrison told him, gripping his wand. He sat up to see the front part of the stand had been blown up, the students that were sitting in the front were now in the second row, standing in between the seats occupied by other students.
"Sirius Black?" Daphne asked.
There was another loud explosion, but Harrison hadn't seen where it was. By this time, the match had paused as everyone in the air and stopped to watch the scene unfold. Everyone else was screaming and pointing.
"Where? Where is he?" Blaise asked, drawing his own wand.
"Evacuate the stands immediately! Go to your common rooms!" Dumbledore's voice boomed across the pitch and everyone made a rush for the stairs. Harrison let his friends go before him, but just as his foot was about to touch the stairs, he felt a cold gust of wind sweep him.
He suddenly couldn't move. The all too familiar cold froze him in place as the faint sound of his own cries made him choke on his air.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Forgive me! Please!"
Harrison shuddered as he heard his own cries that weren't really his own. He wasn't screaming, his mouth was dry and shut tight, but he kept hearing his scream play over and over again in his head.
He whipped around, already knowing what was behind him. A Dementor. It was advancing on Harrison, reaching his hand out just like on the train.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harrison said, but nothing happened. He wished the spell would work, he wondered how Lupin managed to do it on the train. He hadn't done anything special.
There was another loud explosion and another choir of girlish screams. The Dementor stopped advancing on Harrison and swirled around, facing the way Sirius Black was.
Harrison heard creaking and the stand began to shake. Harrison tried to walk down the stairs, but the stands began to fall, the bottom had been blown up, that's why Harrison hadn't seen the explosions.
As Harrison was falling with the stands, all he wished was that he did not die.
When Harrison woke up it was silent. Everything around him was blurry when he opened his eyes, his surroundings a blurry, white mess. There was a loud ringing in his ears that made him groan.
Harrison tried to move, but his body had something heavy on it, keeping him down. Had he died? Is this what the afterlife was like?
"He's awake!"
"Harrison! Are you alright?"
Harrison hadn't known who was talking. He groaned and tried to make out the blurs peering down at him.
"Are you sure he's awake? He looks half dead to me."
"Out of the way," a voice said and the blurs disappeared and a new one appeared. "You're lucky you're alive. Falling with a half of an stand collapsing on top of you. If Dumbledore wasn't our Headmaster, you'd be dead. He managed to slow you down before you died from the fall, whilst moving most of the stand before it smushed you."
Harrison didn't know who was talking or the relevancy of what they were saying; all he knew was that they were pouring something that tasted like leather, down his throat.
"There. Now he won't be muttering gibberish. And make sure he doesn't move much."
Harrison blinked a couple of times and he saw the too familiar ceiling of the Hospital Wing. Delphi, Theo, Blaise and Draco were staring down at him.
"Do you keep almost dying to scare us?" Delphi asked. She looked too numb to cry or to even be angry at him.
"No."
"They took an hour to find you under all the rubble from the stands. You're lucky you're still alive." Draco told him.
"How many bones did I break?"
"Around two hundred," Theo answered.
"But I've only gotten around two hundred."
"Exactly."
Harrison groaned as they suddenly realization of the duration of his stay at the Hospital Wing registered. "Christ's sake. I'm going to be in here forever."
"Well look on the bright side. Your skull is fine, your spinal cord is intact, your teeth are still shining and surprisingly your right hand isn't broken. And almost all of your rib cage is fine," Blaise told him, giving him a hopeful smile.
"And his jaw," Delphi added on, and all of his friends nodded simultaneously.
"Thanks. So the rest of my body is useless."
"Pretty much."
It was the worst three days of his life. He wasn't allowed to move at all as Madam Pomfrey focused on healing his bones. He had to take multiple potions that all tasted horrible. At least by the third day of his stay in the Hospital Wing, he was allowed to leave with only his left arm in a cast.
The next Hogsmeade Trip was canceled until further notice, Quidditch games and practice was also cancelled, and now Aurors patrolled the outside of the school and Hogsmeade too.
Harrison wasn't allowed outside his room or the Slytherin common room and was escorted to class by a teacher so Black couldn't get him.
A lot of people had been taken out of school as well. Their parents were scared their children would be a part of the next attack. The Daily Prophet became the Weekly Prophet, as Harrison would say because they kept talking about the same thing all week. Sirius Black's attacks at Hogwarts.
Dumbledore and the Ministry were getting scolded because they couldn't keep Sirius Black away from Hogwarts, nor have the Dementors catch him while he was so close.
The Quidditch match really put everyone on edge.
For Harrison, it was second year all over again — except he was the only one in any real danger.
"Harry," Delphi whispered to him one night. They were in the common room, finishing homework. Draco and Blaise were playing Bloody Knuckles, and Theo had decided to join them to quietly work on his Arithmancy homework with company around.
"Stop calling me that — what did you want, anyways?"
"I've just been wondering," Delphi sighed, lowering her voice so the other boys wouldn't hear. "You've killed someone before right?"
"Yeah," Harrison murmured. He paused and looked up at Delphi, giving her a weird look. "Why?"
"How did you feel when you did it?" Delphi asked, ignoring his question.
"Why are you responding to my question with a question?"
"Why are you responding to mines with a question?" Delphi countered.
Harrison glared at her and she didn't return one, working very hard to keep the innocent look on her face.
"I felt normal. Sometimes I feel angry because they insult me before they die, you know, get their last words out. Pity because they look so weak and it just makes you want to kill them more. But I never really remember how I really felt, all the… murders I've done blur together." Harrison looked up at Delphi and her eyes were unrecognizable. They were cold, no emotion in them, as if Harrison was staring at the eyes of her corpse.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine… thanks."
Harrison stared at her a while longer before looking back down at his work. He didn't force himself to think about Delphi's question, but he forced himself to forget about it.
It was probably a random question that appeared in her mind, he assured himself.
"Can I play?" Theo asked Draco and Blaise.
"We're in the middle of a game. We were going to head to bed after this game anyway." Blaise said before Draco could say anything. He turned his back to Theo and continued on with his and Draco's game.
"Okay," Theo said, but he looked quite awkward. "I'll just head to bed then. I bet the two meatheads couldn't go to sleep without seeing me return, night."
Delphi and Harrison waved him goodbye, Draco and Blaise were too engaged in their game to notice the boy leaving.
Delphi headed to bed soon after and Harrison wasn't eager to get into bed, he had been stuck in his room all month.
"You look miserable," Blaise said to Harrison, "wanna play?"
"I thought you were going to bed after that game."
"I've changed my mind," Blaise huffed, annoyed for some reason. He cleared his throat and said, "c'mon."
Harrison decided to play with them until they heard the common room entrance shift open. Emery walked in, she looked very tired, but once she saw the three boys she looked very surprised.
"Oh. I didn't expect to see anyone up," she murmured.
Draco and Blaise scoffed and returned to their game of Bloody Knuckles. They had taken a displeasure in Emery ever since Delphi told them about what happened at practice, Harrison however was indifferent about it still.
"Hi, Emery," Harrison greeted.
"Hi. Well, you should head to bed soon, Professor Snape usually comes in soon to check on everyone, to see if Sirius Black is lurking here again. Goodnight."
Harrison made sure to keep that in mind, the last thing he wanted was run into Snape at this time of night. He tried to end their game fast, which took longer than he wanted, but not too long.
"Last one back to the room has to give up ten galleons!" Draco said before breaking off into a run. Blaise chased after him, leaving Harrison behind with the mess of all their stuff.
He pulled out his wand and just as he was about to summon everything into his bag, he heard the entrance shift open, and threw himself behind the sofa, out of sight of whoever just entered.
It couldn't have been Emery because she had just left to bed, or maybe it was a Slytherin that snuck out.
It was silent, Harrison gripping his wand harder than ever. He listened closely to the person's footsteps as they approached the sofa he was hiding behind. Once Harrison was sure they were close, he launched upwards, jabbing his wand in the neck of the cloaked figure.
"What a pleasant greeting," the familiar, sarcastic, cold voice said.
They pointed their lit wand at Harrison, making him squint through the light and eventually lower his wand.
It was Snape who had come — just how Emery had told him not too long ago.
"Not scared I was Sirius Black, did you?" Snape murmured as he watched as Harrison pushed past him towards his stuff on the floor.
"Merlin, why do I keep running into you?" Harrison growled in Parseltongue, knowing he would regret it if he dared say it in English.
"Don't hiss at me!" Snape snapped at him.
"It was an accident," Harrison drawled, rolling his eyes at Snape. "I had said: I hoped you were Sirius Black. I want revenge for him breaking almost every bone in my body and attacking Astoria."
There was a long silence as Harrison collected his stuff by hand, too awkward to pull out his wand again.
"Why would you stay in the stands?" Snape suddenly asked.
"What?"
"Why didn't you leave when you had the chance?"
Harrison paused and turned around to look at Severus. It was only then did he realize he looked deadly serious, what he thought was just hurtful teasing were serious questions.
"I couldn't," Harrison admitted. "Because of the Dementors I just froze there."
"You froze because of Dementors?"
"Is that not what I just said?"
"I saw that you tried to attack it. What spell did you attempt?"
"The Patronus charm. I can't get it to work, I was thinking about asking Professor Lupin how he did it-"
"Why would you ask him?" Snape snapped.
"Why do you care anyways?" Harrison spat at him, ignoring his question. "Don't you have to be searching for Black under the chairs?"
"Very funny, but I am more concerned with you than I am with Black — I hope over these past two months you have come to realize the dangers Black imposes on you, and how he will be willing to do anything, just to get his wand at your head and finish you off. And I'm afraid there won't be any magical protection to save you from what Black wants to do to you."
"Black is coward! He attacked a little girl and blew up the stands from far away, almost killing others! And I don't need protection, Snape, I've been doing just fine on my own. I evaded the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time for longer than some of the most skilled Witches and Wizards who hide from him did. I've made it this far in life and I don't think some Blood Traitor will be the reason I die."
"Whether you think Black is a coward or not, he is a threat to your life and I do not care if you do not like me, I refuse to sit aside and watch you die to him."
"Hell, I'll be gone before he gets to me again."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not staying at Hogwarts the whole year, I'm leaving, for good, during Winter Break."
Those words seemed to raise a panic in Snape and his eyes darted up at Harrison. He took a step forward and insisted, "Your father won't kill you! He doesn't want to kill you, Harrison! You can't go, you are too important."
"You don't have to lie, Snape. I bet Voldemort is making you feed me these lies."
"I insist that I'm telling the full truth."
"Then why does Sirius Black want to kill me?"
Snape frowned and did not utter a word, knowing he couldn't. Harrison scoffed and was going to storm off, but Snape spoke.
"I will put you in even greater danger if I told you. I've wanted to — I wanted you to know why but I can't bring myself to do it. I can't willingly put you in more danger."
Harrison sighed and looked at Snape, examining the solemnity in his eyes. They weren't like the eyes he saw the night he came to Hogwarts, or when he asked to get his permission slip signed. It made Harrison wonder how true Snape's words were.
"Fine. I believe you."
"I don't want you to believe me, Harrison, I want you to return home and realize how dangerous Black is-"
"I won't underestimate Black, but I'm definitely not returning home!"
"That is alright. I do want to talk more though, visit me whenever the Professors aren't on your back."
And with no more words to spare, Snape left.
"My parents wrote to me and said Astoria is better!" Daphne announced that morning at breakfast. Everyone near or who happened to hear, smiled, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Is she coming back to Hogwarts?" Draco asked.
"She wants to and my parents told her if she is fully recovered after Winter Break, she can return for the second term, but if she isn't she's staying home… permanently ."
"Is she still staying at Saint Mungos?" Theo asked her.
"Only for a little. She'll be home by Christmas," Daphne smiled slightly before she turned to Harrison, "and speaking about Christmas, I heard the trip is right before break. If you aren't still allowed in only the Slytherin common room, will you go with me?"
Draco and Blaise smirked at him, causing Harrison to smirk along with them.
"Of course."
Daphne smiled then turned back to her food to finish her breakfast.
The owls came fluttering in and Harrison caught his Daily Prophet and set it to the side, not bothering to read it. Delphi had caught her's and started reading it, scanning the pages rapidly. By what Harrison could see, she was unsatisfied with whatever she found — or whatever she didn't find.
She eventually threw it aside, the Prophet landing in some first year's food who didn't have the guts to say anything to Delphi.
She had also gotten a letter which she read, becoming visibly more angrier as she read. Her plate began to rattle and Harrison was scared she would cause an accident with her magic.
"What is it Delphi? Are you alright?" Harrison blurted out, sighing in relief once he saw the plate still.
"I'm fine."
Harrison knew Delphi was lying.
They had Defense Against the Dark Arts with Gryffindor that morning. Lupin hadn't asked Harrison for help in class yet, which was something the boy was rather looking forward to, but he of course had to wait for Professor Lupin to return to teaching — whenever that may be.
"Goodmorning Lestrange."
"Goodmorning Professor." Delphi greeted back, stalking over to her desk.
"Goodmorning Riddle." Harrison's eyebrows basically flew off his head at the sight of Professor Lupin.
"G-goodmorning Professor." Harrison stuttered, honestly surprised to see him back. "You're teaching us again?"
"Yes. I had fallen ill, but I'm fine as of now." Lupin assured him. Harrison nodded, a bit relieved he didn't have to see Snape as much now. He walked off, moving out of the doorway so the others could enter.
"Goodmorning Granger," Harrison heard Professor Lupin say. He turned around briefly to see Granger walking through the door, saying her own greeting to the Professor. He didn't mind her any longer and sat down on the desk next to Delphi, Blaise and Draco sat in front of them.
"What did you want to tell us Neville?" Harrison overheard Weasley ask Longbottom. They had sat to the other side of Harrison.
"W-well you c-can't tell anyone this," Harrison looked around to see if anyone else was listening in, but it seemed it was just him who was eavesdropping.
"I don't like the sound of this Neville," Hermione sighed. "It sounds suspicious, but go on."
"I would think twice about telling whatever you're saying to Hermione if it'll get you in trouble, she'll run to Professor McGonagall in five seconds," Weasley said harshly, earning a glare from Hermione.
"No I won't."
"I-its fine. I trust both of you, besides we hid a dragon together before so I don't think you'll tell Dumbledore I told you," Longbottom said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Remember when Dumbledore took me from the trip?" Weasley and Granger nodded. "He asked me questions I thought were odd. How I was doing in class, and my wand. Then he let me leave when the trip was done. I noticed he was watching me a lot after the Sirius Black thing at the Quidditch match and yesterday he told me about a Prophecy."
"A Prophecy? A Prophecy about what?" Weasley asked, but before Longbottom could respond, Professor Lupin quieted the class down.
Prophecy? Why would Dumbledore tell Neville a Prophecy? And why take interest in him of all people, he was nothing special. Harrison was craving to hear this Prophecy, but he couldn't just ask Neville what Dumbledore had told him. No, he would have to overhear it again or trick Neville into telling him, but each idea was unlikely to work.
Harrison finally realized he was wasting his time. Why did he care? It's not like the Prophecy would be about him. Dumbledore probably told Neville he won't be a pathetic, fat ass for the rest of his life.
"Riddle? Are you listening?"
"Huh? My apologies Professor I was caught up in thought," Harrison quickly said, noticing the eyes on him.
"That's fine. I was asking if you would read for us. Page 122, please."
"Of course Professor."
Class went by like a breeze. Harrison was called on a lot which he supposed was Lupin's idea of helping him during class. After class ended, he made him, Delphi and Granger stay back which was weird.
"Please don't be alarmed, I can assure none of you are in trouble," Lupin said, which made Hermione sigh in relief. "Except for you Lestrange, I saw when you made Longbottom's book snap shut in his face."
Delphi snorted quietly, smirking at the reminder. "Sorry Professor. I lost control of my magic," she horribly lied.
Lupin gave her a scolding frown that all parents gave their kids, and eventually Delphi muttered an apology.
"Anyhow, you three are the best performing third years in my class-"
"A-are we getting a reward Professor? Or will there be some type of ceremony, like in my muggle school?" Hermione asked, interrupting Professor Lupin.
"You'd figure it out if you let him finish, Granger." Delphi snapped at her.
"Please, ladies," Lupin sighed and again Delphi and Hermione muttered apologies. "Since you three are the brightest in my class, I wanted you all to help around in Defense Against the Dark Arts."
But Harrison thought that was only supposed to be in between him and Professor Lupin. Why is he asking Delphi and Granger too?
"And you can see it as a bonding experience. We all could do with a few more friends during these times, right?"
He knew he wasn't supposed to care about the Prophecy, but the opportunity seemed too great in his eyes. Besides, he didn't have anything better to do for the next few weeks before he left Hogwarts.
Granger was bound to listen to Professor Lupin, it was her nature to suck up to every teacher. If Professor Lupin wanted them to become friends, then Granger would at least try with Harrison (not so much with Delphi) and once they became friends he could get close with Longbottom and have him tell what the Prophecy was.
Harrison didn't hide his smirk because it was appropriate for the situation.
"I understand what you mean Professor. Since all three of us are well performing, it only makes sense that we become close and try to help our peers," Harrison said, bracing for himself for whatever Delphi was about to say. He already knew she was going to say something.
"You can't be serious, Harrison," Delphi scoffed before turning to Lupin. "Professor, I don't want to work with Granger of all people!"
"Why not?"
"I don't like her!"
"Hermione you can go, but Harrison stand outside, I know you can't travel on your own."
Harrison and Hermione nodded, both of them glancing at Delphi before exiting the classroom. Harrison wasn't interested in listening in on Lupin and Delphi's conversation, he was more interested on swaying Hermione's emotions.
"Granger," he called before she walked off. Hermione turned around with an annoyed sigh, and tilted her head at Harrison. "What is it Riddle?"
"I won't pretend I'm going to like working with you," he said which made Hermione frown at him. He continued before she could talk, "So I'll tell you now that I'm looking forward to working with you Hermione."
"W-what?" she stuttered, looking very confused.
"I'm being honest. I missed hanging out with you," Harrison lied. "Maybe if everything goes right, we won't have to be sworn enemies again."
"You didn't seem to miss our friendship these past years, what's the sudden change for?"
"I couldn't show it, obviously. My friends would hate me. But now I have the perfect opportunity to tell you and I can't just pass it up."
"What about Delphini?"
"She won't know about it."
Hermione paused and put on her signature thinking face which meant she was thoroughly thinking about Harrison's offer. "I'm not your friend as of yet," she finally said which made Harrison frown. "You'll have to prove to me that you're sincere and you're not just doing this for some prank or some harsh trick."
"I'm serious Hermione. The only reason I started acting mean to you was because you ran off with Weasley and Longbottom when they were the ones giving you the hard time. I was the one who felt betrayed." Harrison relaxed slightly when he saw Hermione panic. If he made himself the victim, she was more likely to take him up on his offer.
"R-really? I thought- I'm so sorry. It was foolish of me. I knew you didn't like them because of what they said about me. I guess I didn't give you the time to forgive them, but I still don't trust you."
"I know why you don't, but I'm glad you're taking it into consideration. Seriously, I can't stand being mean to you any longer."
"What about Ron and Neville? Are you going to be mean to them still?"
"The amount of near death experiences I've had this year alone made me realize there are better things to do with my life rather than keep up some silly feud."
"I suppose so. Also I never got to tell you this, but I really hope your situation gets better. Ron and Neville do too, ever since you saved Ginny they've been grateful."
"I'm glad. I didn't save Ginny for them to like me though, I saved her because I was genuinely scared for her."
The door to the classroom opened and Lupin and Delphi stepped out, Delphi looked pissed off. She turned to Hermione, an unpleasant look on her face which made Harrison believe she was about to insult her.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I think working with you will be great," Delphi recited, as if she was being Imperioed to say it. She turned back to Lupin and he gave her a satisfied smile. It was obvious to Harrison he was the one obviously behind Delphi's uncharacteristic apology.
"I'll be looking forward to it." Hermione said tightly, obviously not true to her own words. She glanced at Harrison before walking off, probably to catch up with her friends.
"C'mon Riddle," Professor Lupin said, earning Harrison's attention. "Let's get you back to the common room before my next class starts."
"I'll be in the common room soon. I need to go and," she glanced up at Lupin before settling on saying, "do something."
"Alright."
Delphi turned the opposite way and stormed down the corridor, the opposite way Harrison and Lupin were going to walk. By what Harrison could tell, she was taking the long way to the Slytherin common room. She probably didn't want to walk with Professor Lupin.
"You seem a bit… distracted," Lupin mentioned as they began to walk.
"I've had a lot to think about," Harrison answered vaguely. It was silent for a few seconds before Harrison asked, "how come you asked Delphi and Granger to help too? I thought it was supposed to be in between me and you."
"W-well I was speaking with Headmaster," Harrison didn't like the sound of what Lupin was about to tell him. "I told him about my plans with you and suggested I get some other students to help along so you don't feel pressured or anything-"
"I would've been capable of handling responsibilities myself, Professor," Harrison politely cut in.
He was all of a sudden wary of the Professor, afraid that Dumbledore was manipulating this situation to get information out of Harrison and possibly Delphi. Or maybe he would ask Granger anything he heard Delphi and Harrison converse about.
"That's what I thought too, but he insisted… I couldn't refuse because he's the Headmaster of course."
"I see…"
"You don't mind, right?"
"Of course not!" Harrison assured him once he realized the sudden switch in his own tone. He switched it to Harrison who was overjoyed to do something. "Why wouldn't I like working with Delphi and H-hermione?"
Lupin smiled in relief. "I'm glad. I've noticed you and your group don't really like Hermione that well."
"Hermione is fine. We used to be friends… but after our first year we grew distant. My friend's hatred for her grew naturally since they're like Delphi —"
"Have to abide by the Pureblood rules?"
"Yes. Perhaps if Hermione hadn't ran off with Weasley and Longbottom, her presence wouldn't even be noticed. That and if she didn't present herself as a… know-it-all."
"And what about you Riddle?" Harrison frowned up at his Professor. "Do you have to follow these Pureblood rules?"
"I'm not exactly…" Harrison flustered as he thought of an answer. "Well no. I don't. My father he… he doesn't care who I like or dislike."
"And your father's beliefs?"
Harrison looked away from Lupin and saw that they were now in front of the Slytherin Entrance. He would use this as an excuse to leave his Professor.
"It looks like we've arrived," Harrison announced, ignoring Lupin's questions. "I'll see you later Professor."
Lupin looked disappointed but did not say anything as Harrison said the password and walked into the common room.
Harrison met up with Blaise and Draco in the and barely a minute after Delphi arrived too.
Blaise and Draco were both curious about why Lupin held them back and Delphi had no problem telling them about how Professor Lupin wanted them to work with Granger.
There was not much to do that day especially since they couldn't leave the common room because of Harrison. They just decided to draw on parchment paper and pass it around to each other, each turn they added something new. By the time they finished they created something that had the body of a dragon, but had Vampire fangs and a trollish head. People would cower in fear if the thing ever came to life.
"If this thing came alive, how'd you go about killing it?" Delphi asked to no one in particular, but she seemed to be looking for Harrison's answer by the way she glanced at him.
"Well I'd go for it's head, obviously," Draco drawled. "Once the thing is decapitated, I'll just get out of it's way before the body can fall on me."
"But it has a troll head," Blaise pointed out, placing his finger on the head of their monstrosity. "They're necks are thick, how are you going to decapitate it?"
"W-well I would… um. I don't know."
"I'd do it the smart way," Blaise claimed. "I aim for its wings because it'll be the easiest part of their body to destroy, plus it won't be able to fly at me and will probably be bleeding. Either I can wait until it bleeds to death or I could open it's wounds wider and kill it faster."
"What would you do Harrison?"
"Surely it'll be weighed down by it's head and won't fly well, so this thing would be pretty slow. If I find a way to keep its head low, then it won't be able to move, maybe I'd restrain it to the floor or something. Instead of going for it's neck, I'd probably try cutting it open from it's body and letting it bleed out until it dies.
"And how about you? How would you defeat it?" Draco asked Delphi. She silently pondered her answer for a couple of seconds. "I'd let idiots like you three defeat it for me."
"Classic Delphi, letting others do her dirty work."
"Well I would actually let Harrison defeat it because he had the smartest answer. Besides, he has the most experience with killing, right? I bet killing this thing would be no different from killing someone."
"I do have a lot of experience, but I could kill you with one simple spell," he explained, playfully pointing his wand at Delphi. "This beast will definitely have me thinking about a bunch of spells to kill it."
It was only after their conversation did Harrison notice how odd Delphi's questions were. It was about killing — again, and Harrison wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or she was asking these sorts of questions on purpose. He really just hoped it was coincidence.
Harrison wasn't sure if he was the only one to notice Delphi's odd behavior the next couple of days. She kept asking about Voldemort and murder, at first it was too subtle for Harrison to notice or assume anything, but as her questions became less vague, he finally concluded they were all not coincidences.
One night, as they were leaving the Astronomy tower after a long lesson, Harrison pulled Delphi aside once their friends weren't looking.
"What the hell?" Delphi asked tiredly, jerking her arm away from Harrison's grasp.
"What the hell is up with you? You keep asking me these questions about murdering people," Delphi slouched, "you aren't thinking about murdering someone, are you?"
"Forget about it, Harrison," she dismissed. "I was just asking, you're just thinking about it too much."
"Don't be a liar."
"I'm not."
"Yes you are. Who do you want to kill? Is it Granger?"
"No."
"Longbottom?"
"No!"
"Emery?"
"I don't want to kill anyone, Harrison!" she yelled at him. "Now shove off!" She tried to walk away, but Harrison casted a shield in front of her, sending her stumbling back.
"Why are you lying?" Harrison asked again. Delphi didn't face him, trying to ignore his pestering to the best of her abilities. "Do you want to kill me? Draco, Blaise? How about Theo-"
"Sirius Black!" she finally yelled, overwhelmed by his questions. "I want to kill Sirius Black."
Okay so update on the rewriting process. I have a few more chapters to rewrite before I'm satisfied and I'd rather post them all together than apart, so the old chapters are still the same.
