"This is how we die, this is actually how we die," Ron stuttered, dragging his feet through the corridors. "Mum's gonna murder me!"
"That was so cool! I can't believe we flew all the way from London! It was so awesome!" Harry cheered, ignoring his friend.
"I can't believe you didn't get expelled!" Hermione lectured at breakfast the next morning.
"I know! We're so lucky Dumbledore wants me to do some weird thing. Otherwise, we'd be in France right now," Harry said, making a pile of toast his.
Hermione was all set to retort when the mail came in. Owls were zooming back and forth, dropping letters and packages all over the place. Errol, the Weasley owl, dropped a red envelope in front of Ron, causing him to swear and duck his head. Then, as if to add insult to injury, Hedwig dropped a matching one down in front of Harry.
"What are those things?" Hermione asked, confused yet again by wizard culture.
"Howlers. Hermione, you better join us over here," Fred said, pulling her away from the impending carnage of parchment.
Ron's was set to go first, apparently. The sounds of Molly Weasley tearing into her youngest son echoed across the walls of the Great Hall, filling in the silence left in the wake of its arrival. Ron turned as red as his hair and slid down into his seat as Molly threatened him not to set 'a single toe out of line' for the rest of the year. Finally, it shredded itself up and the letter ended. Then, the comedy routine continued. Harry's letter was obviously charmed to trigger after Ron's was through, most likely so they would both get the full effect. That was the theory…until Sirius' voice came booming from the red note in front of Harry.
"Harry James Potter," the letter said in Sirius' voice. "This is the most proud I have ever been of you! Stealing a car and flying all the way to Scotland. Only seen by seven witnesses. You've set a new pranking record, Prongslet! This will forever go down in history as the day the student became the master! In any event, this was to cheer you up. Hestia and Minnie consorted last night, without me, on punishments and it's been decided that you will do double whatever detentions Snape doled out last night. Have a great year and don't forget to win the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup this time."
Silence reigned in the wake of the letter shredding itself. The students didn't know how to handle the situation they found themselves in. Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff were unaware that one could actually be congratulated by Howler. The Gryffindors knew that it was possible, but Sirius usually sent them, straight to the common room after Gryffindor won a game. Finally, someone sneezed, then another student coughed and just like that, the spell was broken. Students went back to chattering over breakfast, making Harry, Ron, and their opposing Howlers the topic of their morning conversations.
"That was… horrifying. They aren't usually that loud after a game," Hermione said, not realizing that she had pressed herself into Fred's side to get away from the screaming.
"They're that loud, but we're usually celebrating, so it blends right in," Fred explained gently.
"Hermione, why are you almost sitting in Fred's lap?" Ginny said, only mildly trying to embarrass the older girl. Hermione blushed and scooted away. With that, they all turned to breakfast and their classes.
After Sirius, Frank, and Remus, anyone was going to seem like a poor substitute for a defense teacher. Quirrell certainly seemed to live solely to prove that point. After the summer's upset, Lockhart wasn't looking like an improvement. As Lockhart handed out a pop quiz about himself, Harry knew this year was going to be another horrid one.
Harry grew up hearing stories about Sirius being in a homicidal rage over Peter Pettigrew. Sirius had hunted down the family traitor. Sirius' actions had forced Peter Pettigrew to live in a house full of very loud boys as a rat for a time at least, having caused significant damage to the man's hearing. He heard stories of Sirius' frequent visits to Azkaban solely to beat the shit out of the man because Sirius had had a bad day. Harry had overheard revenge plots and murder plots and even horrible pranking plots, should Peter ever escape. Harry had never understood that level of passionate hatred… until he met Oliver Wood.
Oliver had woken the whole Quidditch team up at before sunrise, an unacceptable time in the Black household, where Harry, Rigel, and Adhara had been trained from birth to sleep in as late as they wanted. So, sunrise was a thing Harry didn't want to see. Yet here he was, half asleep on a bench in the Gryffindor locker room, listening to Oliver Wood go on about Quidditch plays and strategies. Alicia, Angelina, and Katie were laying on the benches, not hiding the fact that they were sleeping. Fred and George were definitely not pay attention, using the time to further their book of 'research' items. So Harry was left listening to Oliver drone on. For hours.
Finally, blessedly, Oliver led them out to the pitch hours later. They had missed breakfast, for sure, and now were in fear of missing lunch. They marched out into the autumn sun, ready to actually practice. Hermione, Neville, and Ron were in the stands watching, while a first year named Colin Creevey sat taking pictures and listening to Hermione explain the rules of play. Oliver, the great prat, seemed to think the kid was a spy, even though they shared a common room. Harry was about to defend the poor kid when he caught sight of Draco marching down to the field with six other Slytherin boys.
Oliver caught sight of them and they landed about the time that the Slytherins entered the pitch. Flint smirked, throwing a piece of paper at his feet.
"Clear out, we've got to train our new seeker. And get acquainted with our new brooms," Flint's smirk grew at the thought of upsetting Oliver Wood.
"Who's your seeker? What happened to Higgs?" Oliver asked, outraged.
"He wanted to focus on his studies. Fortunately, Malfoy here was able to impress us and, as a thank you, his father bought us all new brooms. Nimbus 2001 for all," Flint said.
"Draco, you're dad's in prison. How'd he swing this?" Hermione asked, curiosity evident in her tone.
"If you have enough money, you could send Draught of the Living Death to the Minister himself. Paying off a few guards for this is a cakewalk," Draco said with a shrug. "Doesn't hurt than I'm a better Seeker than Higgs, anyway."
"You can't be down here! I've booked it!" Oliver said, not at all on point.
"And Snape said we could use the pitch instead. We have written permission. Get lost," Flint's smirk didn't seem like it would ever disappear.
"But, he's bought his way on!" Oliver said, blindly waving at the brooms. "That can't be legal!"
"Oliver, stop. We had all morning and you wasted it. It's their turn," Little Katie Bell told him, pulling on his sleeve.
"Yeah, Oliver, run along. Let your little girl Chaser tell you what to do. Should have known Gryffindor doesn't have enough real men to fill a team," Flint taunted.
"Didn't realize you had something against girls, Flint. Guess the rumors from the snake pit are true," Hermione sneered, refusing to let Katie suffer injustice for her gender.
"Shut up, Mudblood," Flint said with a roll of his eyes.
Chaos broke loose. Ron waved his wand and shouted "Eat slugs!" Harry lunged at Flint, but was stopped as Draco shoved him away and sat on top of him. Hermione was shoved behind the Gryffindor Chasers in case spells started flying. No one had thought to keep an eye on the twins in the melee. Fred and George immediately flicked their wands at Flint and shouted "Eat slugs!" and "Bat Bogey!" at the same time.
Poor Ron was stuck puking up slugs because his broken wand backfired. Poor Flint was stuck puking up slugs while bats flew out of his nose. He was soon lying on the ground, gasping for air. Snape, sensing trouble for his snakes, billowed onto the pitch, flicking his wand and cancelling the curses on Flint.
"What is going on down here?" Snape demanded.
"Flint used the 'M' word. On a Gryffindor girl," Draco said, getting off of Harry. "As usual, the Gryffs we surround ourselves with go off half-cocked. And take the slug hex off of Weasley, Flint started this."
Snape complied, albeit hesitantly. "Flint, my office now. We do not conduct ourselves thusly in front of other houses. It gives them a reason to perpetuate rumors of darkness and intolerance. As for the Weasley boys, detention, I believe, is the punishment for hexing students out of turn."
"Scrubbing cauldrons after supper tonight?" Fred asked, his tone less cheeky than intended.
"We've only scrubbed seventy four this year. We'll never reach our record this way," George continued, voice sickly sweet with false humor.
"Why've I got detention? I hexed myself, isn't that punishment enough?" Ron asked, his face turning red from embarrassment. Snape considered this.
"Join your brothers for cauldron scrubbing after supper," Snape said, throwing his robes about and billowing away.
"Draco, what's 'mudblood' mean?" Hermione asked a few days after the incident.
"It's a really foul word for people who have muggles for parents. It means that whoever slings it about thinks that muggleborns shouldn't be allowed to have magic or wands or any of it; that they're magically inferior and won't have the ability to keep up. People who were raised right know that's a load of shite. People who were raised proper know better than to say it in mixed company. It's really rude and not at all true, as is evident by the fact that you're top of our year," Draco explained, hugging the witch.
Ginny walked in at that moment and saw the two embrace.
"Gin, what's wrong?" Draco asked, noting the tears in her eyes.
"Nothing. Nothing. Don't worry about me," Ginny said, waving him off and beating a hasty retreat.
"Hermione, is everything okay in the girls' side of the tower?" Draco asked, eyes glued to the door.
"I honestly don't know. I try to spend as little time as possible there. They take the whole 'friends with boys' thing a little weird, the jealous bints," Hermione said, eyeing the door herself.
"Try and keep an eye on her, yeah?" Draco asked.
"Of course. What are friends for?" Hermione replied.
Harry was off to the first of his detentions with Lockhart. Ron only had to help Filch out this one night for crashing into a stupid tree. At least, Harry had argued, it was a tree that everyone hates. It's not like he took out the precious Astronomy Tower. He was stuck helping Lockhart autograph photos and sending them out to 'adoring fans.' Harry spent hours addressing envelopes, feeling his disgust mount as he wrote out one for Mrs. Weasley, then one an hour later for Hestia. He couldn't believe the witches in his life. First, Hermione spent weeks obsessing over him, now this.
Not in a million years, Hest. Tell Padfoot hello~ Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry wrote on Hestia's phote. Hi Mrs. Weasley, tell Mr. Weasley hello~ Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry personalized Mrs. Weasley photo. You have to help me do homework now, Hermione~ Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry wrote on a photo and stuck into his bag for later. This would score him answers on at least three assignments. That was the angle he was working; anything to get him through this detention.
Finally, Lockhart dismissed him. It was well after midnight, so he headed straight for the common room using as many secret passages as possible to avoid Filch. Lockhart hadn't seen the need to provide a pass back to the common room, so Harry was improvising. He reached the common room uneventfully and went straight up to bed.
"Whew, I am so happy that Halloween was quiet this year. Why can't it be quiet every year?" Harry commented on the morning of November first. "I mean, the worst thing that happened was the deathday party and that wasn't that bad."
Ron and Neville shrugged their shoulders as Hermione turned to them, forcing them to focus on last minute studying for Herbology. Mandrakes were turning out to be harder than they thought.
Slytherin versus Gryffindor dawned bright and early that November Saturday. Oliver tried to pep the team up with talk of being better on their brooms, but no one was buying it. Finally, he threw his hands up in the air and told Harry, "Catch the snitch or die trying."
Draco nodded to Harry as they stood across from each other, waiting for the snitch to be released. They made faces at each other, finding it easier to pretend this was a grudge match at the Burrow and not a key factor in the race for the cup. As they took the air, Harry was able to see the difference a 2001 made over the 2000 for flying. They spun around the pitch, looking for bits of gold in the sky. Suddenly, one of the bludgers broke loose from the game and started stalking Harry. Harry, for all his part, dodged this way and that, trying to avoid being hit. Fred and George were made aware of Harry's plight, so they started circling him, batting the bludger out of the way. This caused the Slytherins to score several goals is close sequence. Finally, Oliver called for a time out.
"We only have two options: keep going like this or forfeit. We forfeit this and we forfeit the cup. What is it?" Oliver asked.
"Fred, George, you need to back off. I can't see around you to catch the snitch. I'll have a better chance if you just take care of the other bludger and let me run from this one," Harry said, grabbing the twins by their shoulders. They nodded their agreement and gameplay resumed.
Draco looked concerned that Harry had a bludger for a stalker. At least Romilda Vane shaken off by going to the library. In his concern, he missed the snitch hovering just behind him. Harry, however, didn't, so he shot off like a bullet straight at Draco. Draco dodged to avoid getting hit, but Harry's bludger took them both out, causing them to land painfully on the ground.
With one hand, Harry held up the snitch, declaring Gryffindor's unbelievable win. His other arm was throbbing painfully under him. Draco groaned from his place next to Harry. He looked like he was about to pass out and, judging from the blood around his left eye, that was a real possibility. Gilderoy Lockhart beat any and all responsible adults to the scene, resulting in Harry's bones disappearing and Draco's wound gushing more blood. Snape violently shoved Lockhart to the side as McGonagall rushed to the scene. She conjured stretchers and took the boys to the Hospital Wing. Hestia, seeing this, herded Remus, Sirius, and Narcissa in the same direction.
Once in the hospital wing, the adults caught sight of Madame Pomphrey tutting around the boys, shoving potions down their throats.
"Madame Pomphrey, if you would kindly make a record of their injuries, I will be contacting the Black family lawyer on behalf of both boys, no matter what Sirius says," Narcissa said, putting on her 'lady of the manor' face.
"You have my full support as head of house," Sirius said immediately, causing Hestia to roll her eyes.
"What's the damage, Poppy?" Remus asked kindly.
"Vanished all the bones in Potter's arm. He also managed to increase blood flow from Malfoy's wound instead of stemming it. Incompetent arse; I haven't the foggiest how he managed Ravenclaw all those years," Pomphrey responded to her favorite charge of all time.
"I see. That'll do. Keep them overnight? We'll revisit lawyers after we've cooled off. Now, boys, behave. I'll know if you haven't been," Remus said, ushering a protesting Sirius and Narcissa away.
"Well," Harry said hours later as the boys lay in darkness. "This is going to be a long night. Too bad there's nothing to break up the monotony."
Soon, the term came to an end and they were headed home on the Hogwarts Express for another relaxing Christmas. Ginny was eager to see her best friend Marly again. The train ride seemed endless to the 1st and 2nd years. Finally, they pulled into Platform 9 ¾. Ginny rushed off the train to find her family, and all their friends.
"Marly!" Ginny cried running up to the younger girl.
"Hey, Ginny," Marly said, then she turned back to her conversation with Atria. Ginny felt her heart break at the sight. She realized that she was well and truly alone in the world.
"Hey, Gin, what's the matter? You look sad," Draco asked, pulling the girl into a comforting side hug.
"Nothing, don't worry about it," Ginny said, steeling herself for the holidays.
Gabs: So… you may have noticed that Dobby is missing a bit… and so is the basilisk. That's okay, we'll get there again. It's fine, you'll live through this.
Kat: Or that we glossed a TON. Chill, we got this. Don't you trust us?
Gabs: No one trusts us, not even my sister with her dog. Why should these people trust us with the fate of an 11 y/o fictional girl.
Kat: People trust me with real 12-13 y/os… I do have a degree for it.
Gabs: So do I, in fact I have more certs than you do for a variety of ages.
Kat: Yes, but I have a steady job. Alright, no more I am better than you. We own nothing. Trust us. Review. We love reviews! And we have enough written to send some teasers your way!
Gabs: And we've made a loop. Good job team. As always, we own nothing even slightly recognizable. Just, like, an FYI.
XOXO
Gabs and Kat
