Chapter 8: All These Things

I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from writing this whatsoever. The Harry Potter franchise is the property of Warner Brother's and J.K Rowling.

"Do you miss New York?"

"Sometimes. Definitely not the smell though. That shit could kill you if it was a hot enough day."

- Hermione Granger and Johnny Blaze doing patrols together late one night in mid-September 1996.

┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ 〈 ⏣ 〉 ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

He awoke to fire and brimstone, black smoke in the air, and a locked cell door in front of him.

So he wasn't actually awake then.

The scenery and layout were the same as before. There was another cell across from his and a staircase to the left.

But there were no pinhole eyes staring at him this time. Johnny was almost relieved. This was unlike any dream he had ever had before.

"Where am I?" He asked out loud to no one in particular.

"You're in his realm." A voice rasped in his right ear. He jumped and spun to look, but as he did, Johnny smacked his head on the floor of his room at Hogwarts.

"Fuck!" He swore loudly, standing up.

It didn't hurt as much as he thought it would, but still. What a terrible way to start his morning. It didn't really improve either as he got dressed and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He grumbled a hello to Snape and Dumbledore and waved at Hermione from his seat.

His eyes caught Draco Malfoy's boring into him from the Slytherin table. The pain in his head intensified.

"Your nose is bleeding, Blaze," Snape said from beside him, lazily taking out his wand and cleaning it for him.

"Thanks," he muttered, looking away from Malfoy.

What the fuck?

Breakfast was its usual delicious affair, but Johnny was so irritable and confused that he didn't eat much.

When the bell rang to signal the next period starting soon, he made his way out of the hall. There was a staff meeting scheduled for later in the evening during the free time period every year shared before dinner.

"Johnny, hey Johnny!"

He turned his head towards the person calling his name and smiled when he saw Hermione walking towards him. She was holding some books in her hands with the strap of her bag slung over her shoulder.

"What's up?" He greeted her just as they exited the hall.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to come with us on the next Hogsmeade trip. It's this weekend." She asked.

He remembered the last one he went to back in February very fondly.

"Yeah, sure, that sounds like fun." He said.

"Great!" She beamed. "Oh, and if you aren't busy, you could come down to the Quidditch pitch later. Harry's hosting trials and I'm sure he'd like all the support he can get."

Johnny nodded. "Alright, I'll be there. What class do you have now, by the way?"

"Oh, I have Arthimancy, why?" She asked.

"I'll walk you," he said like always, taking the books out of her hands.

"Thank you," she said, looking away. He could have sword her face was a little red.

Two hours later and he was making his way down to the Quidditch pitch to offer Harry some moral support as promised.

He'd only ever seen them play two on two matches at the Burrow, and while this was only a tryout, Johnny found himself a little excited to see it anyway. Especially a proper game in the future. He didn't have a lot to do here, so any distraction was welcome.

The field was huge, with the stands themselves pretty damn imposing as well. Three hoops stood tall above them all though on both ends of the pitch. A large group of students stood around in the center, and he could easily see Harry, who was standing in front of the assembled group.

His eyes found Hermione not too long after, she was sitting close by in the stands along with a handful of other spectators.

"Hey," he greeted as he sat down next to her. "Guess I'm just in time."

Hermione smiled at him in return. She was bundled up in a comfortable-looking knitted sweater and scarf.

"Aren't you cold?" She asked.

"Er, yeah," he said truthfully. He had his hands stuffed into his pockets. Since losing the Rider, Johnny no longer constantly felt warm, he'd completely forgotten that before coming out here in the wet and cold British mid-September weather.

Hermione laughed at him. It was almost a giggle, really, before taking out her wand and waving it at him. Immediately, the cold went away, and he felt normal.

"Thanks," he said, eyes a little wide. "That's great."

"It's a warming charm," she said.

"How come you didn't do that for yourself then?" He asked.

"I'd have to reapply it eventually," she answered, "it's much easier to just dress appropriately instead. Oh look, they've started."

Indeed they had. Though it barely lasted twenty seconds. A group of young boys that couldn't have been older than twelve mounted their brooms and rose up into the air. Almost all of them fell off within a few seconds, only one boy managed to stay up longer than the others and he was so surprised with his success that he crashed into a goal post.

The second group wasn't better at all. They were all girls who when Harry blew his whistle, merely fell about giggling and clutching one another. That girl from the train, Romilda Vane, was amongst them. When Harry told them to leave the pitch, they did so quite cheerfully and went to sit in the stands to heckle everyone else.

The third group had a pileup halfway around the pitch. Most of the fourth group had come without broomsticks. The fifth group were Hufflepuffs.

"If there's anyone else here who's not from Gryffindor," Harry roared, who seemed to be getting seriously annoyed now, "leave now, please!"

There was a pause, then a couple of little Ravenclaws went sprinting off the pitch, snorting with laughter.

"Guess they were only here because of Harry's popularity." He said lowly to Hermione.

"They're all a bunch of hypocrites," Hermione said somewhat scornfully, looking up at him from the book she brought. "Last year they all thought he was mad, now half the school fancies him. To be fair, he's never been more fanciable but still."

Johnny raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean?"

Hermione blushed. "W-well... he's grown, hasn't he? And his chest is a bit broader than it was before..."

Johnny found himself frowning as she looked back down at her book. Harry was taller than him now, sure, but Johnny wasn't short, was he? And his chest was broad too...

Thirty minutes later most of them had stopped flying. Three girls and two boys, one he recognized as Ginny stood off to one side. Johnny had noticed the girls scoring a lot and flying pretty well (to him anyway) and the boys hitting the small black balls with their bats with frightening accuracy, maybe Harry had found some good candidates after all.

You wouldn't be able to tell it by how he was shouting himself hoarse at the many complainers though.

"That's my final decision and if you don't get out of the way for the Keepers I'll hex you," he bellowed.

Johnny noticed the stands filling up a bit now as both the new team members and rejected players take seats. More students came down from the castle before lunch started.

Ron looked like he was going to be sick, and the larger crowd certainly wasn't helpful.

He'd seen him play in the summer though, and he was good. It seemed that nerves were his problem.

Mercifully, none of the first five applicants saved more than two goals apiece. A taller boy that he saw talk briefly with Harry earlier saved four, but on the last one, he shot off in the opposite direction, completely missing the quaffle. Johnny looked at Hermione, who had her wand out but held low.

"Did you just-?"

"Shhh," she whispered sharply, not looking at him.

When Ron went up, Johnny was happy to see him save all five goals.

The crowd cheered and Johnny joined in. It died out quickly when he noticed the keeper that only saved four shots inches away from Harry, staring down menacingly at him.

He stood up warily. "Could be trouble," he said.

"Oh, Johnny don't," Hermione said worriedly. But he ignored her.

He made his way down to where Harry stood, talking to the other keeper.

"Look," Harry was saying, "I'm sorry McLaggen, he saved more than you."

"His sister didn't really try," the other one said menacingly.

"Rubbish," Harry replied, "that was the one he nearly missed."

McLaggen took another step forward, but Harry stood his ground. Impressed as he was with Harry's bravery, Johnny took this as a sign to step in.

"You lost fair and square," Johnny called out, he had to resist the urge to look at Hermione when he said this, "step away from him or we're gonna have a problem."

Just as McLaggan was turning around, no doubt to say something he thought was intimidating to him, he seemed to trip over thin air, landing in a heap at Johnny's feet. As he stood back up in front of Johnny, he realized their comical height difference. McLaggen was hilariously taller than him, but Johnny knew he could send the dick halfway down the field with one punch if he wanted.

Realizing that he couldn't hit someone that held almost the same authority as a teacher, McLaggan settled for an ugly grimace and stormed off, muttering what sounded like threats to thin air.

"Well done," Harry said to Ron, who was standing nearby. "You flew really well-"

"You did brilliantly, Ron!"

Hermione was jogging toward them from the stands.

Ron looked extremely pleased with himself and even taller than usual as he grinned at the team and at Hermione. Johnny felt a twinge of annoyance and he wasn't sure why.

After fixing the time of their first full practice for the following Thursday the four of them bade goodbye to the rest of the team and walked off.

"Where are you guys going next?" He asked.

"Hagrid's," Harry answered, "none of us have taken his class this year, we reckon he's not too happy about it."

"Hagrid's a teacher?" Johnny asked in surprise. As loveable and kind as he was, Johnny could not imagine Hagrid teaching.

"Care of Magical Creatures," Hermione said in answer.

"I thought I was going to miss that fourth penalty," Ron was saying happily. "Tricky shot from Demelza, did you see, had a bit of spin on it -"

"Yes, yes, you were magnificent," Hermione said, looking amused.

"I was better than that McLaggen anyway," Ron said in a highly satisfied voice. "Did you see him lumbering off in the wrong direction on his fifth? Looked like he'd been confunded."

Johnny caught Hermione blush, but Ron noticed nothing, he was too busy lovingly describing every save.

He felt that twinge again but mentally shook it off as they got to what must have been Hagrids home on the grounds. An admittedly cozy-looking hut with smoke coming out from the chimney.

Just then, he heard loud footsteps making their way through some fallen leaves. Hagrid had come striding around the corner of his cabin wearing a large flowery apron and carrying a sack of potatoes. An enormous boarhound was at his heels; it gave a booming bark and bounded forward.

"Oh," Hagrid said, "it's yeh lot."

The dog was jumping up at Hermione and Ron, attempting to lick their ears. Hagrid stood and looked at them all for a split second, then turned and strode into his cabin, slamming the door behind him.

"Oh dear," Hermione said.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said grimly. He walked over to the door and knocked loudly. "Hagrid! Open up, we want to talk to you!"

There was no response.

"If you don't open the door, we'll blast it open!" Harry said, pulling out his wand.

Johnny's eyes widened in surprise. Surely he wouldn't...

"Harry!" Hermione said, sounding shocked. "You can't possibly -"

"Yeah, I can." Harry cut her off. "Stand back-"

But before he could say anything else, the door flew open again and there stood Hagrid, glowering down at Harry. Even with the flowery apron, he looked very scary. Johnny stepped forward instinctively.

"I'm a teacher!" He roared at Harry. "A teacher, Potter! How dare yeh threaten ter break down my door!"

"I'm sorry, sir," Harry said, emphasizing the last word.

Hagrid scowled. "Since when have yeh called me 'sir'?"

"Since when have you called me 'Potter'?"

"Oh, very clever," Hagrid growled. "Very amusin'. That's me outsmarted, innit? All righ', come in then, yeh ungrateful little..." Mumbling darkly, he stood back to let them pass. Hermione scurried in after Harry, looking rather frightened.

The four of them took seats. The dog Hagrid owned made its way over to Johnny. He held out a hand to let the dog sniff him. After a few seconds, it seemed content to let Johnny pet its head.

He felt out of place here, despite his mission to go and save him last year, he wasn't as close to Hagrid as the trio seemed to be.

Johnny tuned out the tense conversation happening about how they didn't have space in their schedules. He looked out the window mostly, waiting for them to be done so they could head to dinner.

He found himself glancing at Hermione occasionally, still a little bit irritated from earlier.

His thoughts were interrupted as Hagrid abruptly burst into tears.

"Hagrid!" Hermione cried, leaping up, hurrying around the table the long way to avoid a barrel of maggots, and putting an arm around his shaking shoulders. "What is it?"

"It's... him." Hagrid gulped, his beetle-black eyes streaming as he mopped his face with his apron. "It's Aragog. I think he's dyin'... He got ill over the summer an' he's not gettin' better. I don' know what I'll do if he... if he... we've bin tergether so long..."

Johnny didn't know who Aragog was, but felt a little bit sad for Hagrid. Whoever they were, they seemed to be important to him.

Hermione just kept patting Hagrid on his shoulder. Harry and Ron had odd expressions on their faces.

"Is there - is there anything we can do?" Hermione asked. She ignored Ron's grimaces and head shaking.

"I don' think there is, Hermione," Hagrid choked out, attempting to stem the flood of his tears. "See, the rest o' the tribe, Aragog's family, they're gettin' a bit funny now he's ill... bit restive..."

Ron said something quietly to Harry that Johnny didn't catch.

"I don' reckon it'd be safe fer anyone but me ter go near the colony at the mo'," Hagrid finished, blowing his nose hard on his apron and looking up. "But thanks fer offerin', Hermione, iut means a lot."

After that, Hagrid seemed to cheer up a bit, and started acting more like the man Johnny knew him to be. They stayed long, when they started to head back to the castle, it was nearly dusk and time for dinner.

"I'm starving," Harry said once the door had closed behind them and they were hurrying through the dark and deserted grounds. Johnny felt the same. As they came into the castle they spotted Cormac McLaggen entering the Great Hall. It took him two attempts to get through the doors; he ricocheted off the frame on the first attempt. Ron merely guffawed gloatingly and strode off into the hall after him, but Johnny watched as Harry caught Hermione's arm. The three of them stayed back a bit.

"What?" Hermione said defensively.

"If you ask me," Harry said quietly, "it looked like McLaggen was Confunded this morning. And he was standing right in front of where you were sitting."

Hermione blushed. "Oh, all right then, I did it," she whispered. "But you should have heard the way he was talking about Ron and Ginny! Anyway, he's got a nasty temper, you saw how he reacted when he didn't get in, you wouldn't have wanted someone like that on the team."

Johnny's frown from earlier returned. It annoyed him more that she was right. Harry almost certainly did not want that asshole on his team.

"No," Harry said. "No, I suppose that's true. But wasn't that dishonest, Hermione? I mean, you're a prefect, aren't you?"

"Oh, be quiet," she snapped, as Harry smirked.

"What are you guys doing?" Ron demanded, reappearing in the doorway to the Great Hall and looking suspicious

"Nothing," Harry and Hermione said simultaneously.

He left them alone and walked up to the staff table.

Johnny didn't want to look anywhere but at his food. He didn't greet anyone. His day started off bad and it seemed it was going to end badly too. Why did it bother him so much? Ron was her friend long before he ever was, her doing something nice for him wasn't something to be upset about. She could have just been blushing out of embarrassment. It was stupid. And what did it matter if she liked Ron? Hermione was entitled to like whoever she wanted.

But even as he thought that he realized how stupid he was being. As Johnny picked at his food and determinedly did not look up from his plate, he knew why it annoyed him.

He had a crush on her.

Johnny felt weird.

He's had crushes before, silly ones in the brief time he attended a school, a very embarrassing one on a stagehand at the circus for a bit, but none of them felt like this.

God, he couldn't stop thinking about her. This was stupid, why did realizing he liked her mean every one of his thoughts had to be about her?

Even as he sat in the staff room awaiting a few other teachers and Dumbledore to show up, he couldn't think of something else. This meeting was important, an opportunity to make a good impression and lessen people's suspicions of him, and here he was thinking about her.

Only he and a few other teachers he didn't know the names of were there, but soon enough more and more started to arrive.

Snape took a seat next to him, looking utterly bored.

"Do these usually go long?" Johnny asked him, an unbidden thought of trying to catch Hermione on her patrols flashed through his mind and he internally cursed himself.

"No," Snape said, and Johnny thought he detected a hint of relief in his voice. "Mercifully, Dumbledore does not like to drone on with these things. I believe he secretly despises them as much as we do."

What a glowing endorsement of what Johnny assumed to be a bi-weekly or monthly thing, terribly boring but over quickly.

One by one more teachers started to show up. McGonagall, Slughorn, Flitwick. Finally, after the staff table made itself bigger magically to accommodate everyone, Dumbledore arrived.

"Hello everyone," he greeted with a smile. "I am grateful that you were able to take the time before bed to attend this meeting, I assure you, it will not run on too long or carry anything of major importance."

That was a relief, he supposed, to hear it from Dumbledore.

"Now, for this year's N.E.W.T. exams..."

He left the staff room an hour later traumatized.

Snape was by his side smirking at him.

"Just endless stuff about courseloads." He bemoaned. "Why did I have to come?"

"To make you feel included, I suppose," Snape said.

"I'd much rather be excluded, thank you," Johnny responded. He felt like his brain was going to melt. "He said it wasn't going to be long..."

"An hour isn't long for him."

"And you didn't think to warn me?"

Snape regarded him coolly. "I thought you could handle it... no matter." And with that, he walked off.

It only made Johnny more annoyed. Who did Snape think he was? Johnny could handle a lot of things, boring talks about nothing that pertained to him was not one of them.

He was muttering and cursing on his way back to his room when he bumped into someone, sending them to the ground.

"Shit," he said, "sorry." Johnny's alarm grew once he realized who it was. "Hermione! Are you okay?"

Hermione stood up and brushed her robes with her hands. She smiled at him. "I'm fine, but what about you? I heard you muttering all angrily. Are you okay?"

No, he wanted to say. But he didn't feel like bothering her with anything. Especially considering...

"Yeah, I'm good." He answered. She frowned at him. "What?" He asked defensively.

"Well - it's just, you know you can tell me, right? Whatever it is..."

He felt himself flush. Of course, he knew that... she held him up last year when he broke down for chrissake. Thankfully it was a little dark in the hallways due to it being late in the night.

"I-I know," he said, feeling incredibly stupid. Since when had he started stuttering around her? God, this was the worst. "What are you doing out here anyway?" He asked. "It's late."

"I'm on my patrol," she said, "usually I'd be doing them with Ron but he's begged off to do some late-night Quidditch practice with Harry so..."

"I can come with you," he said, perhaps a little too quickly.

Hermione's eyes widened a bit, but if he wasn't mistaken, she seemed to be delighted. "That's great! Maybe with you around the older students will actually listen to me."

Johnny resisted the urge to frown. Was that the only reason she wanted him here? He wanted to groan. This kind of thinking wasn't helpful, whether it was true or not, she was his friend. Of course, he'd help her out.

Everything about this was annoying. He would much rather go back to when he was still oblivious about it all. Granted, back when he still didn't have it figured out, people were assuming they were a couple, like the lady at the library in Hermione's hometown. And when they were swimming at the Burrow, did it start then?

No, he realized, it didn't. It'd been when she had held him while he was crying. When he had impulsively tried to abandon them. Dumbledore wasn't around, the Order was idle, and everyday demons continued to roam the streets.

Now they were out in full force with Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and Johnny was stuck in this castle, worrying if a girl liked him back or not. It wasn't like he could help anymore though really, not without the Rider. And fuck, if that didn't make him madder. The one thing he wanted to be rid of for so long was exactly what he needed right now to be useful. Now when he had no intention to leave these people, the people that had become a family of sorts, he could only stand on the sidelines. He had killed Blackheart, yes, but he was just a pawn like Johnny. The prophecy hung over his head. How was he supposed to beat Mephisto like this? Yeah, it said he'd do it in the end, he'd win, but what would it cost?

Johnny glanced at Hermione as they walked down the hall, she was talking about something or other school-related.

Everything. He thought. It could cost him everything.

Tracey sighed as she entered the dungeons. An essay due on Monday for Snape, another one the following day for McGonagall. Flitwick hadn't assigned them anything yet, but the Charms professor hinted to them that one was likely to come sooner rather than later. This was worse than last year for their O.W.L.S.! The courseload was almost unbearable.

She wished Daphne would speak to her again, at least she'd be able to help, not that Blaise wasn't, he was half the reason she was still passing. Maybe she could go to Hermione...

The common room had a few people sitting around in it. Mostly students from the years below or above her that she didn't know personally. Tracey hesitated on going up to her dorm though, perhaps studying down here would be better.

In the end, it didn't matter. Before she could even choose a place to sit, the very reason why she didn't want to go upstairs made her own way down.

Daphne Greengrass, accompanied by Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and, of course, Crabbe and Goyle entered the common room.

Tracey was frozen on the spot. Her best friend had not reached out to her the entire summer, save a small letter explaining that she was forbidden to speak to her or Blaise ever again. Any attempts on Tracey's behalf to try and talk to Daphne were met with either insults or her being ignored.

Mercifully, they did not even deign to look at her or Blaise. They took the nearest seats to the fireplace, kicking out some of the students from lower years.

She and Blaise shared a look. Tracey had wanted to study with him for Transfiguration, but with Daphne and Draco so close by, she wasn't sure she'd be able to concentrate.

Going up to her dorm wouldn't work, boys weren't allowed. She could go to his maybe, but Tracey didn't see Nott with the others, so she assumed he was up there, especially since it was after dinner.

"I guess we can sit over there," Tracey said quietly to Blaise, pointing at the corner of the common room. Two seats with a table, perfect for them.

They took their seats and started getting out their Transfiguration textbooks and notes. From where she sat, Tracey had a perfect view of her former best friend. Daphne sat alarmingly close to Urquhart, who had joined them a few moments after they sat down. Pansy was laughing at something Draco had said, and while he smiled back in return, it looked forced.

A hum from Blaise took her attention away from them. He didn't seem annoyed though, he had a sad look on his face that was no doubt mirrored on her own. They both missed Daphne.

There was a laugh so girly that came from Daphne that Tracey would not have believed her capable of it if she hadn't seen her just do it. She felt disgusted watching Daphne grab Urquhart's arm. There was no way he was that funny. Or funny period, really.

A wave of sadness came over her. Were they ever really friends at all? Daphne was a pureblood, after all, she fit in more with these people. Was she just pretending? Did she merely feel bad for Tracey and took pity on her? Now that the Dark Lord was back, did Daphne realize there was no point staying friends?

No, she thought. Daphne had said in her letter that she wasn't allowed to speak to them. Her parents were Death Eaters, Tracey knew. This had to be an act, right? She just didn't want the rest of the house telling her parents she was still chummy with the people that helped Harry Potter.

Daphne looked over, so briefly that Tracey thought she imagined it. Their eyes met. At that moment, Daphne sneered, before looking back at her new friends.

Tracey swiped at her eyes. If Daphne was acting, she was bloody good at it.