Chapter 7

Out After Dark

That evening, Harry and I finished dinner quickly and bolted up to the common room to read more about the basic rules of Quidditch. Somehow, without even knowing how the game was played, we'd both managed to make the team. How was I supposed to be a Beater when I didn't even understand the dang game? Though, at least I had a year to learn how to play. Harry, on the other hand, had much less time.

Harry went up to bed at a quarter to ten. I stayed up, scribbling down some mindless answers on my Defense homework. I heard two pairs of footsteps come down the stairs. I didn't have to look up to know who plopped down on either side of me.

"We thought of an idea worthy enough for Snape's case," George said to my left.

"It's the best we've thought of yet!" Fred added enthusiastically. "First, we'll make a distraction from outside the dungeons. A big commotion—"

"Like a stink bomb—"

"Indoor firecrackers—"

"Possibly vomit."

"Then while Snape goes rushing outside, you come in—"

"You sneak this into his cauldron," George held up what looked like a tablet of some sort. "This will make the potion explode in his face. But wait! That's not the best part."

"That would be when the steam from the explosion triggers these," Fred displayed a handful of colored darts.

"I didn't exactly agree to be part of this plan, but what do those do exactly?" I asked him. Fred and George smiled mischievously.

"These, my dear Lydia, are set to squirt paint in the direction they are pointed when triggered—"

"And their direction is going to be directed at unsuspecting Severus," George finished.

"You're going to cover him in paint?" I simplified.

"And a potion, don't forget about the potion," Fred replied proudly.

I merely chuckled, trying to focus on my homework.

"Oh and congrats by the way. Wood told us about you and Harry," George added in. I smiled.

"I still don't even know how I didn't get expelled. McGonagall was furious," I said. Fred gave a casual wave of his hand.

"Minerva loves Quidditch more than she loves punishment," he said simply.

"Well, it looks like we'll be Beater partners next year, won't we, Fred?" I responded. He merely raised his eyebrows at me.

"I'm George, he's Fred," he corrected. I shook my head immediately.

"No it's true, I'm Fred, he's George," George added. It was the same trick they had tried to play on their mother, but I wasn't going to fall for it.

"No you're not," I replied, grinning.

"Oh yeah, how're you so sure?" Fred questioned, amused.

"I have a way of telling, it's really not that hard. You're Fred—" I gestured to the twin on my right. "And you're George." I nodded my head to the twin on my left.

There was a long pause between the two of them before they both sighed. "What's the secret then?" Fred asked, disappointed.

"Yeah, sometimes even our family can't tell us apart," George inserted, similar to his brother's tone. One corner of my mouth rose and I merely shrugged. I did have a way of knowing; it was rather simple. But for now, I'd let them try to work it out.

~o~

"What's this whole business about a wizard's duel?"

Harry sighed nervously. The morning after our first riding lesson, I accidentally slept through breakfast. Harry and Ron had just begun to tell me what occurred during the meal.

"Malfoy challenged Harry to a wizard's duel—it's basically just wizards sending curses at each other and stuff—nothing that serious," Ron explained to me.

Looking between my two best friends, I tried to comprehend. "So you two are sneaking out to go battle Malfoy in the middle of the night? Because he's too much of a baby to deal with a little spit at his bravery?"

Glancing at one another, Harry and Ron nodded together, guiltily. "Well obviously I'm going," I stated, not leaving them much choice for debate. That night, we headed for the trophy room where this charade was supposed to take place.

A voice stopped us. A voice that I always dreaded hearing. "I can't believe you're going to do this Harry."

One of the lamps in the room flickered on, lighting up the face of Hermione Granger. Ron frowned and commanded her to return to bed, but she ignored him. "I almost told your brother. Percy's a prefect."

My frustration with her brewed up inside of me. Despite sharing a room with her, I rarely talked to her. In fact, I actively tried to avoid talking to her. Though I quickly learned that once she got started on something, there was nothing to be done to sidetrack her. I was astounded by how nosy, how—infuriating she was.

Harry pulled Ron and me along, not bothering to answer her. By the look on his face, I could tell he was feeling just as annoyed as I was. She caught up to us once we had stepped through the portrait. I had to give her one bit of credit; she was determined. Annoyingly determined.

"Do you only care about yourselves? Do you want to lose all the points I earned us? It seems you don't care about Gryffindor, but I certainly don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup!" she ranted, fueling the aggravation bubbling up in my stomach. The three of us glared at her. She straightened, crossing her arms superiorly. "I just hope you remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow."

Hermione turned on her heel to reenter the common room. It was then when she realized that the Fat Lady had gone out on a little stroll, leaving the meddling girl stuck with us. She shook her head frantically in denial. "Now what am I going to do?" she shrieked.

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you followed us outside to nag," I stated flatly.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we've got to go; we're going to be late," Ron said, attempting to imitate my tone.

She had caught up to us within a matter of seconds. "I'm coming with you." She ignored my leer. "Do you honestly think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds the four of us, I'll tell him the truth and you can back me up."

I finally snapped. "Or how about this? How about I try out one of those memory charms on you and you forget all about who you are and what you were doing?"

"She'll probably still find some way to tattle on us," Ron grumbled furiously.

"Shut up, all of you!" Harry suddenly snapped. "I heard something."

The four of us stopped to listen; the sound that filled the halls was a soft breathing. For a second we were scared it was Mrs. Norris. But as we crept closer to the Gryffindor entrance, we noticed a sleeping figure curled up on the floor. Neville awakened as we approached.

"Thank goodness you found me! I couldn't remember the password!" he exclaimed rather loudly than we preferred.

"Keep your voice down, Neville. The Fat Lady's gone, so the password won't matter anyway," Ron told him sharply. Harry asked him how his arm was. It was no problem for Madam Pomfrey.

"Guys, we're running out of time! We better go if we want to make it," I informed them hurriedly.

"Wait, don't leave me! The Bloody Baron has already passed here twice! I don't want to be alone!" Neville exclaimed, frightened. I growled inwardly, but whirled around.

"Great, Hermione, you can stay here with Neville!" I suggested.

"I'm coming with!" Hermione retorted.

I exhaled slowly, trying not to completely lose my temper with the both of them. "You're only going to hold us back. Sorry you got locked out of the room, but that's not our problem. Okay?"

"Well, I'm sorry for your luck, but we're still coming with," Hermione said coldly, glowering at me. There was a moment of tension between us girls, which was eventually broken by Ron.

"Either of you better not get us caught—I'll learn that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell taught us about and use it on you!" Ron warned furiously. We finally left with Hermione and Neville in tow, much to our displeasure. We made our way quietly up to the third floor where the trophy room was located.

The trophy room was fascinating. The numerous trophies, cups, plates, shields and statues glistened in the dim light of the moon, making them glow beautifully. Good thing Malfoy wasn't here yet to ruin the splendor. Where was he anyway?

The time ticked by as we waited for Malfoy. I could only assume that he probably chickened out. The big wimp, I thought. Then, a voice came from the next room that caused all of us to jump.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they may be lurking in the corner," Filch muttered to his cat. We froze with fear. Silently, Harry beckoned us to follow him. We obliged, whipping around a corner swiftly.

Filch's steps got louder and louder even though we hurried in the opposite direction. He sounded close. Too close. At the sound of his footsteps, Neville started to run away but tripped, dragging both him and Ron down right into a suit of armor. The noise was so thunderous I'm surprised the whole school didn't wake.

I let out a frustrated groan as Harry yelled, "RUN!" The five of us sprinted at top speed, having no idea where exactly we were going. Though somehow, we halted near the Charms classroom—far enough away that Filch wouldn't know where we were.

"Great— brilliant. Anyone else want to make this worse? Maybe get some pots from the kitchen and clang them together? Sing the school song at the top of our lungs? You know, anything to draw attention to ourselves?" I ranted angrily. Neville stared guiltily at his feet.

"S-sorry," he mumbled uncomfortably and miserably. I felt a twinge of guilt. Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut at times? Hermione ignored my rant. Instead, she turned her attention to Harry.

"You do know he tricked you, right?" Hermione said in a huff. "Malfoy was never going to meet you— he tipped Filch off that someone was going to be in the trophy room that night."

I wanted to retort something to her, but I realized she was probably right— as always.

"Let's go," Harry said.

But we couldn't catch a break. Peeves the Poltergeist shot out of the classroom in front of us and looked us over. As we attempted to quiet him, he started to cackle loudly. "Ickle Firsties wandering around at midnight. Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caught," he chuckled in delight.

"Peeves, shut up. We're hoping not to get caught," I snapped. His grin widened menacingly when he saw me. Twirling in a circle, he started to chant, "Black, Black, a murderous whack." His taunting flared my temper again.

"Peeves, get out of the way," Ron demanded, taking a swipe at him, which of course was a complete mistake on his part.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!" the Poltergeist belted. We jumped and scurried as far away from him as we possibly could, only to slam into a locked door. We grew frantic as we heard Filch's footsteps echoing towards us.

"We're done for!" Ron moaned nervously.

Hermione harshly shoved him out of the way. She pointed her wand at the bolted lock and muttered, "Alohamora." To my surprise, the door's lock clicked and swung open. We all dashed into the room to safety.

I turned my attention to Hermione. "Nice work," I complimented her. She muttered thanks under her breath, obviously shocked by my praise. We then pressed our ears on the door, listening to Filch's and Peeves' conversation. The unfriendly Poltergeist got under Filch's skin just about as much as he got under mine. However, thankfully, he did not mention to him where he'd seen us run off to.

"Filch thinks this door is locked," Harry broke in. "I think we're safe. What, Neville?"

When I turned to look at them, I saw Harry and Neville staring wide-eyed at something in back of us. Whirling around, I froze in terror.

Well… we discovered then why the third floor was forbidden.

The five of us stared into the giant eyes of a dog— and not just any dog. No, this dog's height and width expanded from ceiling to floor, wall to wall. Its three different heads growled at us, its eyes flashing madly and treacherously.

"Uh… nice doggy?" I tried, making the effort to not let the panic I was feeling seep into my voice. The dog's three mouths snarled directly at me. I gulped. "Right, not very nice. We'll just let you be. We're gonna leave now. Harry?" Harry's hand scrambled for the door knob and as fast as we could, we sprinted out of the room, down the corridor, and straight to the Gryffindor common room entrance.

"Where in the world have you been?" the Fat Lady questioned, stunned by our sweaty, red faces. Ignoring her question, Harry recited the password and we hurried into the room, plopping down in the armchairs. Finally, in the common room, we were safe. The only sound for a while was the five of us panting, regaining our breath and our minds.

"What the bloody hell are they thinking, keeping that… thing in the school?" Ron finally blurted. I replayed the dog's appearance in my head and shuddered. Never in my life did I want to see that dog again. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

"I love dogs," I started, grasping onto my diamond eyed dog necklace, "but unless I want to get out of class by breaking something— or dying— I'm never going near that thing ever again."

"None of you use your eyes, do you?" Hermione broke in, regaining her anger. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" Harry offered and I scoffed, amused. "I wasn't looking at its feet; I was too busy with its heads."

"No, it was standing on a trapdoor. It was guarding something." She suddenly stood, glaring at us. "I hope you're pleased with yourselves—"

"Oh don't worry your little head off, I, for one, am delighted," I interrupted sarcastically.

"—We could have all been killed," she continued as if I hadn't said a thing. "Or worse— expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

The remaining four of us stared after her, eyebrows raised, as we watched her stomp back up to the room I unfortunately shared with her.

"No, we don't mind. Honestly, you'd think we dragged her along with us, wouldn't you?" Ron ranted. I shook my head in agreement with him.

"Well, I'm certainly not going back to the same room as her. I dunno about you guys, but I'm staying down here," I said, lying down on the couch in front of the fire that no one occupied.

"Don't blame you, mate," Ron agreed.

"But she was right," Harry said suddenly. "She may be insane, but she did see something we didn't— the dog is clearly there for a purpose. It is guarding something."

Ron and I looked curiously at him. "What d'you think it is?" I asked.

"Dunno."

A silence between us followed.

"…What was that thing?" Neville spoke up. Exasperated and exhausted, I plopped my head into a soft pillow.

~o~

We had settled quite a few things in the next few days. One: Malfoy had been trying to get us in detention or expelled. Two: the gigantic dog was definitely guarding whatever Hagrid had pulled from the vault. Three: Hermione was furious with us and refused to speak to us— not that any of us were complaining about that. It was just a bonus!

It was a week later that Hedwig, along with 10 other school owls, had swooped in during mail time, carrying a long and skinny package for Harry. The owls dropped it gracefully in front of him and swooped off.

"What d'you think it could be?" I asked, eyeing the strangely shaped parcel with interest. Harry shrugged and tore through his letter first.

I watched his eyes widen in excitement and I took the letter curiously.

"Do not open this parcel at the table. It contains—your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody…blah blah blah…first training session, seven o'clock..." I read excitedly under my breath. I looked back up at Ron and Harry, where Harry was grinning ear to ear and Ron's jaw was wide open in jealousy. "McGonagall sent you a new broom!"

"Not just any broom," Ron started quietly but enviously, "that's a Nimbus Two Thousand! Only the fastest broom in the world! I've never even touched one."

The three of us quickly darted for the common room, wanting to rip the wrapping off of Harry's present as soon as possible. Only Malfoy stood in our way. "Move it, Malfoy," I ordered, but he had already snatched the package straight out of Harry's hands. "Give it back!"

"A broomstick!" Malfoy exclaimed, tossing the parcel back to Harry. His expression was unpleasant, but fortunately desirous. "First years aren't allowed to have broomsticks. You'll be in trouble this time now, won't you Potter?"

I merely raised my eyebrows at him and crossed my arms superiorly. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he first discovered that Harry had made the team. Ron couldn't help but blurting out, "It isn't just broomstick, it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What you got at home, a Comet Two Sixty. Nice but not in the same league," Ron smirked at Harry and me.

"What would you know, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle!" Malfoy snapped. "You and your brothers must save twig by twig."

"Hey, Malfoy, I'd leave them alone if I were you," an Irish voice said. Jason stood closely behind Malfoy, making him seem much smaller and more vulnerable compared to the significantly taller 4th year boy.

"Yeah? What're you going to do about it, Ericson?" Malfoy sneered, trying to look menacing, but failing considering he didn't even come up to Jason's shoulders. Jason smirked.

"I happen to be very popular among the teachers. I could easily report you."

"Not before I report them." Malfoy had noticed Flitwick before any of us. Malfoy immediately took his chance. "Potter has been sent a broomstick, Professor!"

Much to Malfoy's horror and my delight, Flitwick beamed in joy and squeaked, "Oh yes! Professor McGonagall's told me all about the special circumstances! Now what model did she send you?"

The four of us all fought back laughter at the pure look of shock and terror on Malfoy's face. Harry sputtered out the answer to Flitwick's question.

"And he wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't for dear Malfoy over here," I jumped in with a mocking smirk thrown at the confused Slytherin. Harry, Ron and I —along with Jason in tow— headed off towards the dormitory.

"Well, it is true, Lydia," Harry agreed, once we had plopped on the couch. He turned to Ron. "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall, we wouldn't be on the team!"

"McGonagall really sent you that broom?" Jason asked in awe. Harry nodded gleefully at him. "She must be really desperate for Gryffindor to win this year. We all are, honestly."

"So I suppose you think that's an award for breaking the rules?" Hermione fumed, stomping into the common room. I was in too good of a mood to get angry at her so I only scoffed.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" Harry said disappointed.

"Yeah don't stop now, it's doing us loads!" Ron replied.

"Yeah, my headaches are gone!" I added in.

Hermione stuck her nose in the air and stomped up the girls' dormitory. Unfortunately, we had no time to unwrap the broom… we still had lessons that day. And the day sure seemed to drag on forever. By dinner time, Harry, Ron and I were so anxious to see the broom that we sped right through dinner and bolted up to the common room where the broomstick was lying under Harry's bed.

Finally, at last, we opened the package. Out rolled the prettiest broom I had ever seen. I really only had the tattered school brooms we'd used during our flying lesson to compare them to; but nevertheless, this broom was gorgeous. Everything about it was sleek and shiny and new. Ron was practically drooling.

Harry headed off to his first Quidditch practice close to seven o'clock, leaving Ron and me to spend the evening wishing we were able to attend.

"I can't believe you got on the team too," Ron said to me, jealous. "Rotten that you have to wait a year though. I was hoping to try out next year, but all the positions will be filled."

"Cheer up. I'm sure you'll make the team at some point," I replied optimistically.

"Yeah," Ron agreed dreamily. "I think I'd want to be Keeper. When I play with my brothers, they always make me play Keeper. And then I can make Quidditch captain! Just like my brother Charlie."

I grinned. "Can you imagine it! Potter, Weasley and Black, all Gryffindor Quidditch stars!"

Harry came back later that evening, exhausted but ecstatic about his practice, and told us all about it.

~o~

Halloween morning smelled delicious. The aroma of the nearing Halloween feast was in the air and the school was buzzing in anticipation. And even better, in Charms we were practicing Levitation. We had gotten past most of the basics in our classes and were starting to learn actual magic. Flitwick had partnered me with Dean Thomas while Harry was with Seamus Finnigan; unfortunately, Ron ended up with Hermione Granger. They both looked equally displeased at this outcome.

"Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick!" Flitwick piped up, observing us from over his desk. He had to stand on a book just to see over it.

"Yeah, I'm swishing and flicking to my heart's content, and still nothing's happening," I muttered jokingly to Dean. Dean sniggered. He wasn't making much progress on his either. We both jumped at an explosion next to us, only to find Seamus's face black with ashes.

"No, you're saying it all wrong!" I heard Hermione snap. She was at it again. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa… not Levio-sa."

"You do it then, if you're so clever," Ron retorted. I looked over just in time to watch Hermione's feather float gently into the air. I exhaled. I was really hoping she'd mess up. But of course not, because she does everything perfectly. I seethed in jealousy as she received high amounts of praise from Professor Flitwick.

"It's no wonder no one likes her," Ron exclaimed once we had left the Charms classroom for the Halloween feast. "She's a nightmare, honestly!"

I was about to agree, but a beat later, someone brushed past me, knocking into my shoulder. It was Hermione. And she was crying. I felt a stab of guilt.

"I think she heard you," Harry stated, staring after her.

Ron frowned. "Well, she must have noticed she's got no friends."

"Ron! She was crying!" I cried. Ron tugged at his sleeve uncomfortably.

"At least she noticed," he muttered, though the guilt had started to show on his face. I stared after her retreating form and groaned loudly.

"I'll meet up with you guys later. I'm going to check on her," I told my friends, exasperated. I didn't exactly want to go looking for the bothersome girl, but my conscience nagged at me.

The problem was that I had no idea where she had gone. I pushed through students heading to the feast, looking for any possibilities. I stopped in front of one of the girls' bathrooms. There were several around the school, and she could be in literally any one of them. But it couldn't hurt to check. Creaking the door open, I glanced inside. I heard the sound of sobbing and briefly saw a flash of wild brown hair. By some luck, I found her.

"Hermione? Are you okay?" I questioned cautiously. She jumped and looked up, startled. When she registered who had come to visit, her watery eyes narrowed.

"Go away," she snapped between her sobs. "I don't want to see you or either of your little friends."

But I only stepped closer to her.

"Ron shouldn't have said that. He was just being— Ron."

"Well he still said it!" she exclaimed. "Because it's true."

Awkwardly, I made my way towards her and sat next to her. I didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry. I'm not very good at this," I admitted.

"Good at what? Being a decent person," she spat. I looked down at my hands, trying to hide the hurt that my face showed. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."

"It's okay. You're right. Sometimes I'm not very nice to people. More often than I'd like, actually," I mumbled. Hermione had stopped crying and was staring at me intently instead. "If you want to know the truth… I'm a bit jealous of you."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "Jealous? Of me? But… you're funny, and pretty, and loads of people like you. I'm just… me. The annoying girl buried in her books."

I shook my head. "It doesn't feel like people like me. Other than Harry, coming here to Hogwarts is the first time in my entire life I've known what it's like to have friends. I grew up learning to defend myself and Harry from everybody, because… everyone was so cruel. My foster family, the kids at school, even the bloody neighbors. I just get so angry sometimes, and I don't think before I say things and I hurt people because of it."

Hermione didn't say anything. I couldn't tell if it was because she was angry at me, or interested in what I was saying. But nevertheless, I continued.

"Even in the magic world, I still feel like I have to defend myself— even though things are so much better here. You're better at magic than I'll ever be. People look at you and see a brilliant young witch. When people look at me, they just see a murderer's daughter. Like I'm a ticking time bomb waiting to explode."

"Wait… I've read a book before… Wizarding Crimes of the 20th Century… Black."

I watched the gears turn in her head as she made the connection. I was surprised she hadn't made it before. When she finally looked at me, I didn't meet her eyes.

"I'm really sorry we were so rude to you," I said guiltily. "Well, I guess I can really only apologize for me, but I hope you can give Ron another chance too. I know he can be a bit callous sometimes. But he's the first friend Harry and I have ever made."

There were a few moments of silence in which I wasn't sure if Hermione was going to say anything at all. Then finally, she spoke, "I'm sorry too. I know I can be a bit of a know-it-all. I just wanted to prove that even though I'm Muggle-born, I could be just as good at magic as everyone else."

I smiled, finally meeting her eyes. "Well, you did it. Trust me, you're the best in our year already."

Hermione smiled proudly at this, and I knew at once that I was forgiven.

"Come on, let's go to supper. It'd be a shame to miss the first Halloween feast," I suggested, standing and offering her my hand. She took it, giving my hand an additional little squeeze of thanks once we were both off the floor.

Everything would have been perfect… if it hadn't been for the giant monster blocking the doorway. We were both silent for a moment, just staring up at the ugly disgusting thing.

Finally I uttered, "Er, Hermione, you're the genius… what is that?"

"That, Lydia," she started, her eyes as wide as dinner plates and her voice trembling, "that would be a troll."

"Oh!" my voice sounded unnaturally high pitched. I hadn't known what trolls were or that they even existed. But this thing… It was terrible. It was twelve huge feet of weird and gross. The monster actually looked a bit dim-witted, but the giant club it carried in its huge hand definitely didn't. With a frightened glance at one another, Hermione and I darted for a hiding spot.

Squeezing onto each other's hands, Hermione and I squished into the corner, trying to appear as small as possible. The troll started towards us, smashing through sink after sink, nearing closer to where we were with each one. This is it, this is how I died.

A rock suddenly hit the wall, making a huge thunk. The troll halted a few feet away from the two of us, searching around the room for the source. I did the same, catching the eye of Harry and Ron from across the room. What were they doing? Now they were going to get killed too!

As it took a step towards Harry, Ron shouted, "Oy, pea-brain!" and threw a metal pipe right at its shoulder. It didn't even notice. But this gave me just enough time to spot a path towards the exit. I tugged on Hermione's hand, but she stood still in terror and shock. Harry came over to try and help. It was no use.

"Why did you guys come? Now you're both in danger too!" I cried at Harry.

"We couldn't just leave you two in here alone! We heard about the troll in the Great Hall and we knew you and Hermione didn't!" he yelled. Before I could reply, the troll roared and charged at Ron. In return, Harry did something unexpectedly brave. He jumped on the troll's back.

I couldn't see anything that was happening except for the troll trying to shake Harry off. I hadn't seen where Ron had gone and Hermione had sunk to the floor and was now watching the scene with a disgusted expression. I soon discovered why.

I only noticed Harry's wand up the troll's nose when the troll had been knocked out by its own club. Thanks to Ron and the Wingardium Leviosa charm, the troll was out cold. Maybe even dead.

"It's not dead, it's just knocked out," Harry informed, yanking his wand from the troll's nose with a look of revulsion. The four of us stared at it in shock. Had we, four first years, just taken on a troll and survived?

We jumped when the doors burst open. In came Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell. Quirrell nearly passed out when he saw the troll sprawled in the middle of the bathroom floor. Snape bent to inspect the troll and McGonagall glared at us, angrier than I had ever seen her before. I thought it was underserved; we hadn't asked to be attacked by the beast!

"What on earth were you thinking?" McGonagall yelled furiously. "You could have been killed! Why in the world aren't you in your dormitory?"

"Hermione wasn't feeling too well and I went to check on her before—" I started to explain, but Hermione cut me off.

"No, I was feeling fine. They were looking for me only because I went looking for the troll," Hermione lied. McGonagall's anger turned to utter shock. I didn't blame her; it was unfounded. Hermione Granger was lying to a teacher? I didn't believe it to be possible.

"I thought I could deal with it on my own— because, you know, I've read all about them," she continued. "If Lydia, Harry and Ron hadn't found me, I'd probably be dead. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its club. Lydia was just trying to protect me. They didn't have time to go fetch help; it was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Hermione met my eyes and we smiled at each other, subtly. For the first time, I felt a rush of affection for the girl. She would really risk getting into trouble for us? Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

"Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a fully grown mountain troll by yourself?" McGonagall scolded. She bought the story. Hermione stared at her feet, not in shame but in order to look convincing. Harry and Ron were rendered speechless.

"Five points will be taken from Gryffindor, Miss Granger. I'm very disappointed in you. If you are not hurt, head off to the Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing their feasts in their houses," McGonagall said. Hermione left immediately. Now it was our turn.

"Well, I'm impressed," she started. I looked up in surprise. "I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could take on an adult mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points and Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

Without another word, the three of us left. Halfway there, Ron finally spoke. "We should have gotten more than fifteen points." I rolled my eyes. House points didn't seem like much of a priority right now considering I'd nearly died.

"Ten, since she's taken off Hermione's," Harry reminded him. There was a pause.

"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron reluctantly said. "Mind you, we did save her."

"Her and Lydia might have not needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with them," Harry said. I raised my eyebrows at this.

"We might have not needed saving if Ron wasn't so mean to her in the first place," I reminded accusingly.

"Yeah, I guess that's fair," Ron said guiltily. At least he acknowledged it. "How is she? You know, after you talked to her and stuff."

"I think she forgives you."

Ron seemed to look a little relieved.

The common room was packed when we entered. It also smelled fantastic, considering everyone was still enjoying the Halloween feast. It wasn't until then that I realized how hungry I really was. Hermione was waiting for us at the door. Between Harry, Ron and Hermione, there was an awkward moment in which they shyly thanked each other.

Smiling, I took Hermione's arm. "Come on, you can join us," I offered. Bashfully, she smiled and Harry and Ron did the same. The four of us went to grab plates and dig into the holiday feast together. From then on, Hermione became our friend, bringing the much needed brains to our group.

~o~