(Alright, this is the second time that I've posted this, it never showed up
the first time, so maybe FF.N will not punk me out this time…..)
Sorry about the big delay in posting. I didn't realize so much time had passed. In case you didn't know, I was in Jamaica for a week and when I returned I was hit by a rough bout of depression in which my only friends were a bottle of Jamaican rum, cigarettes, and chocolate Riesens. And after that, my *new* car, I repeat, *new* car was in the shop for a week with my story notebook in the trunk. And I won't even tell you about my stupid plumbing problems….
It seems that whenever I go on vacation, everything goes bloody wrong when I get back. How is that fair??? Anyway, here we go with some POV's. these take place the day following the last round of fun and angst and lovey-stuff and center around the non-major characters (Ron, Harry, & Colin) and are in a sort of chronological order
Oh, and Mare, stand by--it's coming!!!
Sunday morning rolled into Hogwarts and found it oddly quiet. It seems that many of the students stayed up late the night before celebrating one thing or another and were for the most part sleeping in. We start our morning in the Gryffindor common room at about 6:30.
Hermione walked down the steps from the dormitories into the room. Even on weekends she was still on her weekday schedule, something that greatly annoyed her friends. If anyone were in there to notice, they'd notice that she wasn't as chipper as she almost always is, and on a closer examination they'd see that her eyes were red and puffy. Whether that was from lack of sleep or crying, or maybe both wasn't clear. She took her time slowly walking around the room looking at everything as if she had never been in here before instead of it being her home for most of the past four years.
She ran her hand over the backs of the chairs and admired the paintings. She turned and regarded the fireplace as if it were a strange creature. Finally she made her way over to her usual chair and sank in and sighed deeply. She ran her hand on the armrests and then up to her face and wiped her eyes. She sniffed a bit and stared into the fire.
Hermione reached into one of the many pockets in her robes and pulled out a handful of parchments. Some were quite worn it seemed, and maybe had had a tear or two spilled on them. Some were newer, but no less tear stained.
"Well, Hermione, you've been strong for everyone else these last weeks, so now can you keep it up for yourself?" she asked herself in a low voice. She cast her gaze on the top parchment for a moment and then again to the fire. "All this time, you've been able to focus on everyone else's problems. Now what?" she had no answer for herself. She again ruffled through the parchments, scanning over each of them for a second or two and then flipping past to the next.
Hermione's mind turned back in time to the day that she came home to her home and found her parents, well, changed. She saw in the horror of memory how they'd tried to bring her over to the dark side. She saw herself running out of the house and down the street. She ran on and on, finally stopping. These were the same things she'd seen in her dreams ever since that terrible day. She would often wake up and stifle screams, but thankfully the few she didn't were drown out by Mr. Chainsaw Dean Thomas' snores (ha- I'd almost forgot about putting him over there!)
She hid her pain so well that she could even hide it from herself from time to time. She simply couldn't get her mind around the fact that her parents had been turned into zombies or whatever they were now. She also never dealt with the fact that it happened. With all the drama around her with Harry and Colin and Ron and Draco, well, pretty much every boy in Gryffindor it seemed, she could bury herself in their problems and forget about it. Now that everything seemed normal again, she had to deal with it and she didn't think she could.
She got up and took another stroll around the room. She stopped by the window and watched the sunrise. As it cleared the horizon, she saw it would be a very pretty day. Usually the sight of the sunrise cheered her up but not today. She put a hand against the glass and then her forehead. After shaking her head, she headed back to her chair and sat again, retrieving the parchments as she sat. This time she actually read them.
Parchment 1
Dear Miss Granger,
Your parents have been placed in our care and we will do our best to right any wrong done to them by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You have my solemn promise that they will receive the best possible care. We ask that you not visit as of yet, though I know that may seem hard, it is our opinion that it would be for the best. I will keep you informed with timely updates of their conditions.
Thank you,
Doctor Victoria Free, Head Nurse, St. Mungo's.
The next parchment in her stack was dated a week later and was even shorter than the last.
Parchment 2
Dear Miss Granger,
I wish I had good news to send to you, but as of now there has been no change in your parents condition. We are sure that we will make breakthroughs in the immediate future. Rest assured, they will get better.
Thank you,
Doctor Victoria Free, Head Nurse, St. Mungo's
The next two were almost exactly the same. The only things different on them was the dates. The fifth was different though. It was a short note from Molly Weasley.
Dear Hermione,
I can only imagine how hard the last few weeks must have been on you. If things don't work out, and I'm sure they will, but just in case you are welcome to stay with us in the Burrow. You are almost family anyway. One more thing, I just want to let you know that if there is anything you need, don't hesitate to owl me. Anything, Hermione.
Take care of yourself,
Love,
Molly
She read through these many times, as if she was hoping to find a bit of previously overlooked good news on one of them.
As far as she knew, no one knew that she'd been owled by St. Mungo's as she'd asked them to all be discreet and sent to the Headmaster instead. The last thing she wanted was Harry and Ron and the rest to worry about her. She prided herself on being the strong and stable one, after all.
Hermione heard a door open on the steps above and feet begin to descend the steps. She quickly shoved the letters into her inner pockets and looked to her right. What she saw did make her smile. Dennis Creevey was coming down the steps. He was rubbing sleep out of his eyes and that made her imagine him in footy pajamas and carrying a teddy bear, just like a little boy on Christmas morning coming to the Christmas tree. He was nearly at the bottom of the steps before he realized she was there.
"Oh, good morning, Hermione. How are-" he stopped in mid-sentence as he saw how she looked. "Are you alright?" He asked quickly, and maybe a bit protectively.
"Yeah, I'm okay, Dennis, I just slept really bad last night."
"Your eyes sure are red. You're sure you're okay?"
"Yes," she said, giving him the Hermione smile, "I'm fine. I think it's just my allergies. All the rain and all, you know. Mold and things like that. Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah, like a brick. I woke up to my stomach growling though. I'm starving. It feels like dinner was years ago."
"Come to think of it, I'm rather hungry too, what do you say we go and get an early breakfast?"
"Sounds good to me. Let's go." Hermione put her arm on his shoulder and the two of them walked out the door. Dennis was bright red and he hoped Hermione didn't feel his blush heat up her hand on his shoulder. He grinned at her and she smiled back.
Almost an hour later, back in the fifth year boy's dormitories, a few people were getting rather annoyed with another's snoring.
"Dammit, Ron, roll over already!" an Irish voice moaned from under a pillow. Actually it was the only pillow left on that bed, the rest having already been thrown at the snoring Weasley.
"Give my pillow back, Seamus, you've already thrown yours," a rather Neville-ish voice called from under the covers.
"Ronald Weasley, I swear to Merlin that if you don't shut that off, I'm going to skin you!" Seamus nearly yelled. His only response was a loud, stuttering snore, the kind of was apparently a Ron special and which in the past years had been nicknamed 'the Weasley' and Ron's kicking off of his covers.
"I swear Seamus, I don't know which is worse, your yelling or Ron's snoring," Harry's voice called out from his bed.
"Well, if you have any other way to shut him up, feel free to add it to the pile," Seamus replied. "Never mind, I've got the best right now."
Seamus pushed back the covers and stepped out of bed. He climbed onto Ron's bedside table and looked back at Neville.
"No Seamus, don't do that!" Neville pleaded.
"Yes, it's time for the crazy Irish luchador to do his finishing move on the prone opponent." he grinned evilly at Neville and Harry. Seamus' father was an avid wrestling fan and Seamus loved it wildly as well, especially the crazy Mexican wrestlers.
"Seamus, he's going to kill you, you know," Harry said in his last attempt to reason with the mildly psychotic boy.
"Bah, El Shamrocko doesn't need your opinion, announcers." Seamus had slipped into his persona, El Shamrocko and was treating Harry and Neville as the ringside announcers. Harry and Neville couldn't help but laugh at him doing a horrible Mexican accent.
With a flip that was incredibly graceful and all-out cool, he leapt from the stand landed belly first on top of Ron. He quickly hooked a leg and counted and waited as Harry and Neville counted him the winner as Ron was waking up.
"Seamus, what the bloody hell are you doing?" Ron asked as Seamus jumped off him and started jumping around the room with his arms raised.
"The winner and still the Hogwarts champion….El Shamrocko!!" he called as he jumped.
"El Shamrocko again, eh?" Ron said as he was trying to get out of bed.
"Ron, don't kill him. You were snoring rather loud." Neville said.
"Oh, so the new way to stop someone from snoring is to jump on them as they sleep, is it? I see. I'll have to remember that," he said as he began chasing Ron around the bedroom.
Seamus dove under his bed and shimmied out as Ron dove after him. He continued to elude the redhead for the next several minutes. Finally Ron stopped chasing him, obviously out of breath.
"Fine. You get off this time. Next time, I'll have to take your belt as well as a piece of your hide."
"Oooh, Ron, that sounds like an exciting match. I might let you win that one."
"Hey!" Neville exclaimed.
"Just kidding, Neville."
"Seamus, you're, oh, I don't know what you are." Ron was a bit flustered at Seamus' innuendo. The other three boys were cracking up laughing, which of course made Ron more flustered.
"Hey, Harry, are you hungry?" Seamus asked.
"Well, now that you mention it, I guess I am."
"Great. Now take the redheaded chainsaw with you and go get some breakfast."
"What about you, Seamus?" Ron asked.
"Umm…nope not hungry," Seamus replied.
"Well neither am I," Ron told him.
"Okay then, Harry you go to breakfast and Ron can stay here and watch the next match."
"Next match?" Harry and Ron both asked at once.
"Yep. An underwear match between me and Neville here."
"Oh, you know what, I think I just heard my stomach rumble," Ron said, turning redder than he already was.
"What's the deal, Ron? Don't wanna watch?"
"No!! Come on Harry. Sunday mornings are always good - sausage, eggs, pancakes, maple syrup, come ON, Harry." Harry was led away by the arm by Ron.
"Alright, I'm coming, Ron, sheesh. Let's stop and get Colin."
"I'm coming, too," Seamus moaned after Ron, trying to make him redder still.
"Shut up, Seamus," Ron called as the door shut behind him
"Well, Mean Neville Longbottom, what do you think about all that?"
"Well, El Shamrocko," Neville said, giggling at being parodied to Mean Gene Okerland (sp?) "it was a great match."
"Glad you liked it. Wanna see my new move?"
"New move? What is it?"
"I'll show you." He slid back into bed beside Neville and wrapped an arm around him. "It's called the Snugglator."
"Ooh, I think I like this one, El Shamrocko."
"Good. I have a few more I've been working on. Think I should try them out?"
"If they're anywhere near as good as this one, why not?"
"Glad you're willing to give them a try. Here we go." Seamus leaned over and kissed Neville's soft lips. He stroked his face and pulled back. He smiled at Neville and gave him another short kiss.
"I submit, El Shamrocko, I submit," he said as Seamus backed away again.
"Good. Still the champion!" Seamus said as he pulled the covers over the two of them.
"Why'd you do that, Seamus?"
"So that Mare can't watch us, that's why."
"Who's Mare?" Neville asked.
"She's that girl who's peeking in our window, see?" Neville peeked his head out and saw a head at the window staring in. He waved at her and once she waved back he ducked back under the covers again.
"How long has she been there, Seamus?"
"Oh, for at least nine chapters now."
"Huh? Chapters? What are you talking about?"
"It doesn't matter. Now come over here."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ about 20 minutes later ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The two tossed back the covers and got out of the bed. Seamus waved to Mare again as the they grabbed their towels and clothes and walked hand in hand to the showers.
Once they emerged from the steamy bathroom (water steamy or sweaty steamy?) they dressed and headed down for breakfast. They took their time, enjoying being with each other. Their leisurely stroll broke the hearts of many a girl in the hallways, Seamus was quite fancied after. This made Neville even happier.
"I'm sure glad you're mine, Neville. I don't know how I'd gotten this far without you."
"Me too, Seamus. Me too." he broke the hand hold and put his arm around Seamus' neck and the hand over Seamus' heart and looked him in the eyes.
"It's yours. Forever," he said to Neville as it beat a bit faster. Neville smiled back.
"I love you, you know," he told Seamus.
"I know. And I love you." Seamus was looking into his love's eyes and not where he was going and he ran into someone rather unpleasant.
"Hey you stupid Irish fag, you and your stupid boyfriend need to watch where you're going." The drawl was unmistakable. Malfoy.
Seamus felt Neville recoil and shrink against his side after Malfoy spoke. "Oh bloody hell no!" he thought. "No one talks about him like that."
"Irish fag? Is that the best you have, Malfoy?"
"Seamus, come on, let's go," Neville urged.
"No, this piece of trash isn't going to insult you like that."
"Maybe you were deaf, Finnegan, but I insulted you as well," Malfoy snarled.
"Oh, I heard you, but I could care less what a person such as yourself has to say."
"Screw you, Finnegan," Malfoy said. "Take your idiot boyfriend on to breakfast and get out of my way."
Neville pulled on Seamus' sleeve but Seamus shrugged him off. "Sometimes I wonder why you're always so bitter, but then I remember the reason why."
"Oh really, and what is that, Finnegan?"
"It's because you always wake up a-l-o-n-e, alone, Malfoy. Alone." Malfoy was at a loss for words so Seamus went on. "You have no one, absolutely no one. Oh wait, there is Colin. No, I almost forgot, he went home with, who was that again Neville? I seem to have forgotten."
"Harry." Neville said very meekly.
"Oh yeah, that's right. Harry. He went home with Harry."
"Piss off Finnegan. Go to hell," Malfoy said as he stormed around the two. Seamus wasn't quite done yet.
"I, the Irish fag, will take my lovely, intelligent, sexy bombshell of a boyfriend to breakfast and you can go back to your daddy's choice in friends and pout, Malfoy." Malfoy shot him the finger as he stomped down the hall.
"You wish!!" Seamus called after and then turned back to Neville, who he saw was pale as a sheet. "Neville, are you feeling okay?"
"I, I hate him Seamus. He has scared the life out of me ever since first year. every time I get near him, I just freeze up."
"Well, that's going to stop. I'll not have him doing that anymore." he pulled Neville into a big hug and felt how the boy was still trembling a little. "It's alright, Neville. He's gone."
Neville finally got control of himself and started walking again. "Do you really think I'm sexy?" he asked as they reached the Great Hall.
"Is water wet?" was the reply and they stepped inside and made their way to the Gryffindor table. Instead of sitting down, Seamus picked his plate up and started walking back out of the Great Hall. When Neville didn't show any signs of following, he said to him, "Now is the part where you pick your plate up and follow me, Neville."
Neville started to argue but the look on Seamus' face showed there was no room for negotiation, so he picked up his plate and followed him. They walked past a bunch of curious students and out the front door.
"Here, sit on the steps. It's a lot more peaceful out here than the zoo inside."
"Ah, okay." They sat down and started eating. Seamus broke the silence a few moments later.
"Isn't this beautiful, Neville? The trees, the clouds, the grounds, everything?" Neville looked around before answering. He was right. It was a perfect morning. The sun was warm, the trees were in full color, and the clouds were wonderfully fluffy (just like this). "It is beautiful, Seamus."
"Do you know what makes it perfect?"
"What?" Neville asked back.
"Sitting here with you," Seamus answered and put an arm around his back. They sat there for quite a while, together, a picture of perfection.
(energy takes a time out to shovel some of the fluffy cotton balls away from the computer and chair before continuing.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Now on to Draco ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Draco left the encounter with Seamus and Neville feeling worse than before, if that was possible. He had been up well into the night trying to figure out the previous night. He lost Colin to Harry. That much he knew. What was bugging the fire out of him was why he cared so damn much. It was a game. A simple game. He lost. It didn't happen often, but it did happen. So why did it seem like there was so much more to it than that?
That pesky voice in his head tried to speak again, but he squashed it quickly. He knew exactly what it would say. He actually wanted to win Colin for himself, not to beat Harry, but for himself. The whole problem with that is that wanting it for that reason would make him gay, and Malfoy's most certainly weren't gay. Being gay was for lesser-borns like that Irish fag, Finnegan.
"If you're not gay, then exactly what the hell are you?" the voice asked before he could crush it again.
"I don't know, but I'm definitely not *gay*," he said, not realizing he spoke aloud. Many people were staring at him and he found that intolerable.
"What the hell are you staring at?" he yelled at a young Hufflepuff girl and her friends. They promptly ran off. He wiped a stray biscuit crumb from his robes with a frown and took the final turn to his common room in the dungeons. He flew into the common room and the people who had gathered in there parted like the Red Sea for him. Draco shot a few killing glances and went to his dormitory.
Once inside, he tossed his robes aside and climbed back into bed. He kept replaying the whole Seamus and Neville incident over in his mind. How Seamus' words hurt him so, he couldn't fathom, but they burned in his soul like a white coal. Gods, how he hated Longbottom. He took every opportunity to make Neville's life miserable. He hated Finnegan too.
He spent the next ten minutes or so trying to rationalize the last twenty hours and figure out what was going on with him. Every single answer he came to told him what he didn't want to believe. He seriously wanted Colin. He needed him. Desperately. And that made Draco Malfoy, the icon of perfection, gay. A fag. Like Finnegan, and potter, and Longbottom, and hell, an unlikely percentage of Gryffindor boys (ha). This final thought brought Draco to tears.
"I can't be gay." he started bawling into his pillow. The more he cried, the worse he felt. He might have been there crying for a good half hour before he began to calm down. He was down the last throws and the sniffles when the door opened.
"Uh, Draco, the guys downstairs said that you, um.." It was Crabbe. And Goyle behind him.
"Leave me alone."
"Are you crying, Draco?"
"No. Now leave me alone."
"Draco?" Goyle asked. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing is the matter. Now, just leave me alone, please."
"Something is wrong, Draco, why don't--" Goyle started but Draco interrupted him.
"Are you two completely deaf. Leave me alone. Got that? Leave me the *fuck* alone. Goodbye." he rolled back over and pulled the blankets over his head and began crying again. Crabbe and Goyle exchanged perplexed looks, neither having seen this side of Draco and both being quite scared by it. They stepped out of the room and had a short conference by the steps.
"Was he really crying in there?" Goyle asked.
"I think so. That probably isn't a good thing."
"Any ideas about what might have set him off?"
"With him, who knows. What do you think we should do now?" Crabbe asked.
"Stay here and make sure that everyone leaves him alone, that's what I think," Goyle answered.
"Sounds good to me." The two crossed their arms and stood guard by the door until Draco came out some time later, puffy eyed and rather surprised at his door guards.
About the time Draco had his little meltdown, Dennis found his friend Aidan and the two headed outside. The two had decided that this would be a perfect morning for a game of Frisbee, so they grabbed Aidan's and left. As they were down the steps to the main door, Dennis was telling Aidan about walking with Hermione to breakfast.
"…And on the way down there, she had her arm on my shoulder the whole time. And then when we got to the Great Hall, she sat across from me."
"Did you use silverware today, Dennis?" Aidan asked.
"Of course I did. I didn't want to look like a slob in front of her, did I?"
"No, only we get that pleasure, right?"
"Yes. No!" they laughed as they walked out the front door and nearly fell over Neville and Seamus who were still sitting on the steps.
"Hey, people sitting here, huh?" Seamus called as he helped Aidan back up.
"Sorry, guys. Didn't mean to."
"We know," Neville said. "Frisbee, huh? Have fun. It's a beautiful day."
"It sure is. Odd for this late, so we had to be out here. Who knows when it'll be nice again," Dennis said as they walked around the two and out on to the grounds.
"Kids," Seamus said.
"Ok, old man…" Neville laughingly said as they watched the two boys march across the grounds and start playing.
While they were walking across the grounds to the perfect Frisbee spot, Aidan asked, "Dennis? Does that bother you at all?"
"What's that, Aidan?"
"Well, the fact that Seamus and Neville are sitting on the steps holding hands and all."
"Does it bother me? Not really. It seems a little different, but not bothersome."
"What about your brother?"
"What about him? He's my brother. He likes who he likes and is how he is."
"Doesn't it just seem, well, odd?"
"Why would it seem odd?"
"Think about it. Remember how you were talking about Hermione a little while ago. What if Colin told you things like that about Harry?"
"Well, I don't think it would bother me. I'm not going to love him any less just because he's with Harry and not a girl."
"Do your parents know yet?"
"I don't think so. I think I'll wait for Colin to tell them."
"How will they take it?"
"I'm not sure. My mum will be perfectly fine with it, I think. My da, on the other hand, well, I don't know if he'll be too happy about it."
That seemed to quell Aidan's questions for a few moments and they tossed the Frisbee back and forth. Dennis broke the silence.
"Aidan, does it bother you? Is that why you asked?"
"I don't think it does. I just can't seem to get over seeing Seamus and Neville together, or Harry and your brother. I guess my brain just needs more time to get used to it. You two are almost like my brothers anyway, and everyone loves Harry…I don't know. I just don't want anything bad to happen to any of you."
"Why would anything bad happen, Aidan?"
"Don't you ever watch the news at home, or pick up a paper? Hogwarts seems to be a rather tolerant place, but most of the Muggle world isn't. Some people are beaten or killed just because of who they like. No other reason. Just because they're gay." Dennis seem as if he'd never considered this before and he looked shocked.
"Well, if they want to do something to Colin because he loves Harry, they'll have to go through me first," he said strongly.
"You know, Colin is really lucky to have you as a brother, Dennis."
"He sure is," he replied and they both laughed and continued frisbeeing.
There we go. Insights into some of the minor players' lives. I must say that the Seamus wrestling thing cracked me up as it came out of nowhere. It just seems to work great. I can see him watching the WWF and getting crazy. Mare, you just seemed to fit in perfect too. Another spur of the moment thing as well. I enjoyed doing the Neville/Seamus thing (or in digimon terms, a Seaville) so I'll likely do more. Poor Hermione. Marriage for Harry and Colin??? Hmmmm..hadn't considered that yet. Hang on a while. Okay, my hands are tired so I'm done for now.
Peace out,
energy
Sorry about the big delay in posting. I didn't realize so much time had passed. In case you didn't know, I was in Jamaica for a week and when I returned I was hit by a rough bout of depression in which my only friends were a bottle of Jamaican rum, cigarettes, and chocolate Riesens. And after that, my *new* car, I repeat, *new* car was in the shop for a week with my story notebook in the trunk. And I won't even tell you about my stupid plumbing problems….
It seems that whenever I go on vacation, everything goes bloody wrong when I get back. How is that fair??? Anyway, here we go with some POV's. these take place the day following the last round of fun and angst and lovey-stuff and center around the non-major characters (Ron, Harry, & Colin) and are in a sort of chronological order
Oh, and Mare, stand by--it's coming!!!
Sunday morning rolled into Hogwarts and found it oddly quiet. It seems that many of the students stayed up late the night before celebrating one thing or another and were for the most part sleeping in. We start our morning in the Gryffindor common room at about 6:30.
Hermione walked down the steps from the dormitories into the room. Even on weekends she was still on her weekday schedule, something that greatly annoyed her friends. If anyone were in there to notice, they'd notice that she wasn't as chipper as she almost always is, and on a closer examination they'd see that her eyes were red and puffy. Whether that was from lack of sleep or crying, or maybe both wasn't clear. She took her time slowly walking around the room looking at everything as if she had never been in here before instead of it being her home for most of the past four years.
She ran her hand over the backs of the chairs and admired the paintings. She turned and regarded the fireplace as if it were a strange creature. Finally she made her way over to her usual chair and sank in and sighed deeply. She ran her hand on the armrests and then up to her face and wiped her eyes. She sniffed a bit and stared into the fire.
Hermione reached into one of the many pockets in her robes and pulled out a handful of parchments. Some were quite worn it seemed, and maybe had had a tear or two spilled on them. Some were newer, but no less tear stained.
"Well, Hermione, you've been strong for everyone else these last weeks, so now can you keep it up for yourself?" she asked herself in a low voice. She cast her gaze on the top parchment for a moment and then again to the fire. "All this time, you've been able to focus on everyone else's problems. Now what?" she had no answer for herself. She again ruffled through the parchments, scanning over each of them for a second or two and then flipping past to the next.
Hermione's mind turned back in time to the day that she came home to her home and found her parents, well, changed. She saw in the horror of memory how they'd tried to bring her over to the dark side. She saw herself running out of the house and down the street. She ran on and on, finally stopping. These were the same things she'd seen in her dreams ever since that terrible day. She would often wake up and stifle screams, but thankfully the few she didn't were drown out by Mr. Chainsaw Dean Thomas' snores (ha- I'd almost forgot about putting him over there!)
She hid her pain so well that she could even hide it from herself from time to time. She simply couldn't get her mind around the fact that her parents had been turned into zombies or whatever they were now. She also never dealt with the fact that it happened. With all the drama around her with Harry and Colin and Ron and Draco, well, pretty much every boy in Gryffindor it seemed, she could bury herself in their problems and forget about it. Now that everything seemed normal again, she had to deal with it and she didn't think she could.
She got up and took another stroll around the room. She stopped by the window and watched the sunrise. As it cleared the horizon, she saw it would be a very pretty day. Usually the sight of the sunrise cheered her up but not today. She put a hand against the glass and then her forehead. After shaking her head, she headed back to her chair and sat again, retrieving the parchments as she sat. This time she actually read them.
Parchment 1
Dear Miss Granger,
Your parents have been placed in our care and we will do our best to right any wrong done to them by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You have my solemn promise that they will receive the best possible care. We ask that you not visit as of yet, though I know that may seem hard, it is our opinion that it would be for the best. I will keep you informed with timely updates of their conditions.
Thank you,
Doctor Victoria Free, Head Nurse, St. Mungo's.
The next parchment in her stack was dated a week later and was even shorter than the last.
Parchment 2
Dear Miss Granger,
I wish I had good news to send to you, but as of now there has been no change in your parents condition. We are sure that we will make breakthroughs in the immediate future. Rest assured, they will get better.
Thank you,
Doctor Victoria Free, Head Nurse, St. Mungo's
The next two were almost exactly the same. The only things different on them was the dates. The fifth was different though. It was a short note from Molly Weasley.
Dear Hermione,
I can only imagine how hard the last few weeks must have been on you. If things don't work out, and I'm sure they will, but just in case you are welcome to stay with us in the Burrow. You are almost family anyway. One more thing, I just want to let you know that if there is anything you need, don't hesitate to owl me. Anything, Hermione.
Take care of yourself,
Love,
Molly
She read through these many times, as if she was hoping to find a bit of previously overlooked good news on one of them.
As far as she knew, no one knew that she'd been owled by St. Mungo's as she'd asked them to all be discreet and sent to the Headmaster instead. The last thing she wanted was Harry and Ron and the rest to worry about her. She prided herself on being the strong and stable one, after all.
Hermione heard a door open on the steps above and feet begin to descend the steps. She quickly shoved the letters into her inner pockets and looked to her right. What she saw did make her smile. Dennis Creevey was coming down the steps. He was rubbing sleep out of his eyes and that made her imagine him in footy pajamas and carrying a teddy bear, just like a little boy on Christmas morning coming to the Christmas tree. He was nearly at the bottom of the steps before he realized she was there.
"Oh, good morning, Hermione. How are-" he stopped in mid-sentence as he saw how she looked. "Are you alright?" He asked quickly, and maybe a bit protectively.
"Yeah, I'm okay, Dennis, I just slept really bad last night."
"Your eyes sure are red. You're sure you're okay?"
"Yes," she said, giving him the Hermione smile, "I'm fine. I think it's just my allergies. All the rain and all, you know. Mold and things like that. Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah, like a brick. I woke up to my stomach growling though. I'm starving. It feels like dinner was years ago."
"Come to think of it, I'm rather hungry too, what do you say we go and get an early breakfast?"
"Sounds good to me. Let's go." Hermione put her arm on his shoulder and the two of them walked out the door. Dennis was bright red and he hoped Hermione didn't feel his blush heat up her hand on his shoulder. He grinned at her and she smiled back.
Almost an hour later, back in the fifth year boy's dormitories, a few people were getting rather annoyed with another's snoring.
"Dammit, Ron, roll over already!" an Irish voice moaned from under a pillow. Actually it was the only pillow left on that bed, the rest having already been thrown at the snoring Weasley.
"Give my pillow back, Seamus, you've already thrown yours," a rather Neville-ish voice called from under the covers.
"Ronald Weasley, I swear to Merlin that if you don't shut that off, I'm going to skin you!" Seamus nearly yelled. His only response was a loud, stuttering snore, the kind of was apparently a Ron special and which in the past years had been nicknamed 'the Weasley' and Ron's kicking off of his covers.
"I swear Seamus, I don't know which is worse, your yelling or Ron's snoring," Harry's voice called out from his bed.
"Well, if you have any other way to shut him up, feel free to add it to the pile," Seamus replied. "Never mind, I've got the best right now."
Seamus pushed back the covers and stepped out of bed. He climbed onto Ron's bedside table and looked back at Neville.
"No Seamus, don't do that!" Neville pleaded.
"Yes, it's time for the crazy Irish luchador to do his finishing move on the prone opponent." he grinned evilly at Neville and Harry. Seamus' father was an avid wrestling fan and Seamus loved it wildly as well, especially the crazy Mexican wrestlers.
"Seamus, he's going to kill you, you know," Harry said in his last attempt to reason with the mildly psychotic boy.
"Bah, El Shamrocko doesn't need your opinion, announcers." Seamus had slipped into his persona, El Shamrocko and was treating Harry and Neville as the ringside announcers. Harry and Neville couldn't help but laugh at him doing a horrible Mexican accent.
With a flip that was incredibly graceful and all-out cool, he leapt from the stand landed belly first on top of Ron. He quickly hooked a leg and counted and waited as Harry and Neville counted him the winner as Ron was waking up.
"Seamus, what the bloody hell are you doing?" Ron asked as Seamus jumped off him and started jumping around the room with his arms raised.
"The winner and still the Hogwarts champion….El Shamrocko!!" he called as he jumped.
"El Shamrocko again, eh?" Ron said as he was trying to get out of bed.
"Ron, don't kill him. You were snoring rather loud." Neville said.
"Oh, so the new way to stop someone from snoring is to jump on them as they sleep, is it? I see. I'll have to remember that," he said as he began chasing Ron around the bedroom.
Seamus dove under his bed and shimmied out as Ron dove after him. He continued to elude the redhead for the next several minutes. Finally Ron stopped chasing him, obviously out of breath.
"Fine. You get off this time. Next time, I'll have to take your belt as well as a piece of your hide."
"Oooh, Ron, that sounds like an exciting match. I might let you win that one."
"Hey!" Neville exclaimed.
"Just kidding, Neville."
"Seamus, you're, oh, I don't know what you are." Ron was a bit flustered at Seamus' innuendo. The other three boys were cracking up laughing, which of course made Ron more flustered.
"Hey, Harry, are you hungry?" Seamus asked.
"Well, now that you mention it, I guess I am."
"Great. Now take the redheaded chainsaw with you and go get some breakfast."
"What about you, Seamus?" Ron asked.
"Umm…nope not hungry," Seamus replied.
"Well neither am I," Ron told him.
"Okay then, Harry you go to breakfast and Ron can stay here and watch the next match."
"Next match?" Harry and Ron both asked at once.
"Yep. An underwear match between me and Neville here."
"Oh, you know what, I think I just heard my stomach rumble," Ron said, turning redder than he already was.
"What's the deal, Ron? Don't wanna watch?"
"No!! Come on Harry. Sunday mornings are always good - sausage, eggs, pancakes, maple syrup, come ON, Harry." Harry was led away by the arm by Ron.
"Alright, I'm coming, Ron, sheesh. Let's stop and get Colin."
"I'm coming, too," Seamus moaned after Ron, trying to make him redder still.
"Shut up, Seamus," Ron called as the door shut behind him
"Well, Mean Neville Longbottom, what do you think about all that?"
"Well, El Shamrocko," Neville said, giggling at being parodied to Mean Gene Okerland (sp?) "it was a great match."
"Glad you liked it. Wanna see my new move?"
"New move? What is it?"
"I'll show you." He slid back into bed beside Neville and wrapped an arm around him. "It's called the Snugglator."
"Ooh, I think I like this one, El Shamrocko."
"Good. I have a few more I've been working on. Think I should try them out?"
"If they're anywhere near as good as this one, why not?"
"Glad you're willing to give them a try. Here we go." Seamus leaned over and kissed Neville's soft lips. He stroked his face and pulled back. He smiled at Neville and gave him another short kiss.
"I submit, El Shamrocko, I submit," he said as Seamus backed away again.
"Good. Still the champion!" Seamus said as he pulled the covers over the two of them.
"Why'd you do that, Seamus?"
"So that Mare can't watch us, that's why."
"Who's Mare?" Neville asked.
"She's that girl who's peeking in our window, see?" Neville peeked his head out and saw a head at the window staring in. He waved at her and once she waved back he ducked back under the covers again.
"How long has she been there, Seamus?"
"Oh, for at least nine chapters now."
"Huh? Chapters? What are you talking about?"
"It doesn't matter. Now come over here."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ about 20 minutes later ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The two tossed back the covers and got out of the bed. Seamus waved to Mare again as the they grabbed their towels and clothes and walked hand in hand to the showers.
Once they emerged from the steamy bathroom (water steamy or sweaty steamy?) they dressed and headed down for breakfast. They took their time, enjoying being with each other. Their leisurely stroll broke the hearts of many a girl in the hallways, Seamus was quite fancied after. This made Neville even happier.
"I'm sure glad you're mine, Neville. I don't know how I'd gotten this far without you."
"Me too, Seamus. Me too." he broke the hand hold and put his arm around Seamus' neck and the hand over Seamus' heart and looked him in the eyes.
"It's yours. Forever," he said to Neville as it beat a bit faster. Neville smiled back.
"I love you, you know," he told Seamus.
"I know. And I love you." Seamus was looking into his love's eyes and not where he was going and he ran into someone rather unpleasant.
"Hey you stupid Irish fag, you and your stupid boyfriend need to watch where you're going." The drawl was unmistakable. Malfoy.
Seamus felt Neville recoil and shrink against his side after Malfoy spoke. "Oh bloody hell no!" he thought. "No one talks about him like that."
"Irish fag? Is that the best you have, Malfoy?"
"Seamus, come on, let's go," Neville urged.
"No, this piece of trash isn't going to insult you like that."
"Maybe you were deaf, Finnegan, but I insulted you as well," Malfoy snarled.
"Oh, I heard you, but I could care less what a person such as yourself has to say."
"Screw you, Finnegan," Malfoy said. "Take your idiot boyfriend on to breakfast and get out of my way."
Neville pulled on Seamus' sleeve but Seamus shrugged him off. "Sometimes I wonder why you're always so bitter, but then I remember the reason why."
"Oh really, and what is that, Finnegan?"
"It's because you always wake up a-l-o-n-e, alone, Malfoy. Alone." Malfoy was at a loss for words so Seamus went on. "You have no one, absolutely no one. Oh wait, there is Colin. No, I almost forgot, he went home with, who was that again Neville? I seem to have forgotten."
"Harry." Neville said very meekly.
"Oh yeah, that's right. Harry. He went home with Harry."
"Piss off Finnegan. Go to hell," Malfoy said as he stormed around the two. Seamus wasn't quite done yet.
"I, the Irish fag, will take my lovely, intelligent, sexy bombshell of a boyfriend to breakfast and you can go back to your daddy's choice in friends and pout, Malfoy." Malfoy shot him the finger as he stomped down the hall.
"You wish!!" Seamus called after and then turned back to Neville, who he saw was pale as a sheet. "Neville, are you feeling okay?"
"I, I hate him Seamus. He has scared the life out of me ever since first year. every time I get near him, I just freeze up."
"Well, that's going to stop. I'll not have him doing that anymore." he pulled Neville into a big hug and felt how the boy was still trembling a little. "It's alright, Neville. He's gone."
Neville finally got control of himself and started walking again. "Do you really think I'm sexy?" he asked as they reached the Great Hall.
"Is water wet?" was the reply and they stepped inside and made their way to the Gryffindor table. Instead of sitting down, Seamus picked his plate up and started walking back out of the Great Hall. When Neville didn't show any signs of following, he said to him, "Now is the part where you pick your plate up and follow me, Neville."
Neville started to argue but the look on Seamus' face showed there was no room for negotiation, so he picked up his plate and followed him. They walked past a bunch of curious students and out the front door.
"Here, sit on the steps. It's a lot more peaceful out here than the zoo inside."
"Ah, okay." They sat down and started eating. Seamus broke the silence a few moments later.
"Isn't this beautiful, Neville? The trees, the clouds, the grounds, everything?" Neville looked around before answering. He was right. It was a perfect morning. The sun was warm, the trees were in full color, and the clouds were wonderfully fluffy (just like this). "It is beautiful, Seamus."
"Do you know what makes it perfect?"
"What?" Neville asked back.
"Sitting here with you," Seamus answered and put an arm around his back. They sat there for quite a while, together, a picture of perfection.
(energy takes a time out to shovel some of the fluffy cotton balls away from the computer and chair before continuing.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Now on to Draco ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Draco left the encounter with Seamus and Neville feeling worse than before, if that was possible. He had been up well into the night trying to figure out the previous night. He lost Colin to Harry. That much he knew. What was bugging the fire out of him was why he cared so damn much. It was a game. A simple game. He lost. It didn't happen often, but it did happen. So why did it seem like there was so much more to it than that?
That pesky voice in his head tried to speak again, but he squashed it quickly. He knew exactly what it would say. He actually wanted to win Colin for himself, not to beat Harry, but for himself. The whole problem with that is that wanting it for that reason would make him gay, and Malfoy's most certainly weren't gay. Being gay was for lesser-borns like that Irish fag, Finnegan.
"If you're not gay, then exactly what the hell are you?" the voice asked before he could crush it again.
"I don't know, but I'm definitely not *gay*," he said, not realizing he spoke aloud. Many people were staring at him and he found that intolerable.
"What the hell are you staring at?" he yelled at a young Hufflepuff girl and her friends. They promptly ran off. He wiped a stray biscuit crumb from his robes with a frown and took the final turn to his common room in the dungeons. He flew into the common room and the people who had gathered in there parted like the Red Sea for him. Draco shot a few killing glances and went to his dormitory.
Once inside, he tossed his robes aside and climbed back into bed. He kept replaying the whole Seamus and Neville incident over in his mind. How Seamus' words hurt him so, he couldn't fathom, but they burned in his soul like a white coal. Gods, how he hated Longbottom. He took every opportunity to make Neville's life miserable. He hated Finnegan too.
He spent the next ten minutes or so trying to rationalize the last twenty hours and figure out what was going on with him. Every single answer he came to told him what he didn't want to believe. He seriously wanted Colin. He needed him. Desperately. And that made Draco Malfoy, the icon of perfection, gay. A fag. Like Finnegan, and potter, and Longbottom, and hell, an unlikely percentage of Gryffindor boys (ha). This final thought brought Draco to tears.
"I can't be gay." he started bawling into his pillow. The more he cried, the worse he felt. He might have been there crying for a good half hour before he began to calm down. He was down the last throws and the sniffles when the door opened.
"Uh, Draco, the guys downstairs said that you, um.." It was Crabbe. And Goyle behind him.
"Leave me alone."
"Are you crying, Draco?"
"No. Now leave me alone."
"Draco?" Goyle asked. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing is the matter. Now, just leave me alone, please."
"Something is wrong, Draco, why don't--" Goyle started but Draco interrupted him.
"Are you two completely deaf. Leave me alone. Got that? Leave me the *fuck* alone. Goodbye." he rolled back over and pulled the blankets over his head and began crying again. Crabbe and Goyle exchanged perplexed looks, neither having seen this side of Draco and both being quite scared by it. They stepped out of the room and had a short conference by the steps.
"Was he really crying in there?" Goyle asked.
"I think so. That probably isn't a good thing."
"Any ideas about what might have set him off?"
"With him, who knows. What do you think we should do now?" Crabbe asked.
"Stay here and make sure that everyone leaves him alone, that's what I think," Goyle answered.
"Sounds good to me." The two crossed their arms and stood guard by the door until Draco came out some time later, puffy eyed and rather surprised at his door guards.
About the time Draco had his little meltdown, Dennis found his friend Aidan and the two headed outside. The two had decided that this would be a perfect morning for a game of Frisbee, so they grabbed Aidan's and left. As they were down the steps to the main door, Dennis was telling Aidan about walking with Hermione to breakfast.
"…And on the way down there, she had her arm on my shoulder the whole time. And then when we got to the Great Hall, she sat across from me."
"Did you use silverware today, Dennis?" Aidan asked.
"Of course I did. I didn't want to look like a slob in front of her, did I?"
"No, only we get that pleasure, right?"
"Yes. No!" they laughed as they walked out the front door and nearly fell over Neville and Seamus who were still sitting on the steps.
"Hey, people sitting here, huh?" Seamus called as he helped Aidan back up.
"Sorry, guys. Didn't mean to."
"We know," Neville said. "Frisbee, huh? Have fun. It's a beautiful day."
"It sure is. Odd for this late, so we had to be out here. Who knows when it'll be nice again," Dennis said as they walked around the two and out on to the grounds.
"Kids," Seamus said.
"Ok, old man…" Neville laughingly said as they watched the two boys march across the grounds and start playing.
While they were walking across the grounds to the perfect Frisbee spot, Aidan asked, "Dennis? Does that bother you at all?"
"What's that, Aidan?"
"Well, the fact that Seamus and Neville are sitting on the steps holding hands and all."
"Does it bother me? Not really. It seems a little different, but not bothersome."
"What about your brother?"
"What about him? He's my brother. He likes who he likes and is how he is."
"Doesn't it just seem, well, odd?"
"Why would it seem odd?"
"Think about it. Remember how you were talking about Hermione a little while ago. What if Colin told you things like that about Harry?"
"Well, I don't think it would bother me. I'm not going to love him any less just because he's with Harry and not a girl."
"Do your parents know yet?"
"I don't think so. I think I'll wait for Colin to tell them."
"How will they take it?"
"I'm not sure. My mum will be perfectly fine with it, I think. My da, on the other hand, well, I don't know if he'll be too happy about it."
That seemed to quell Aidan's questions for a few moments and they tossed the Frisbee back and forth. Dennis broke the silence.
"Aidan, does it bother you? Is that why you asked?"
"I don't think it does. I just can't seem to get over seeing Seamus and Neville together, or Harry and your brother. I guess my brain just needs more time to get used to it. You two are almost like my brothers anyway, and everyone loves Harry…I don't know. I just don't want anything bad to happen to any of you."
"Why would anything bad happen, Aidan?"
"Don't you ever watch the news at home, or pick up a paper? Hogwarts seems to be a rather tolerant place, but most of the Muggle world isn't. Some people are beaten or killed just because of who they like. No other reason. Just because they're gay." Dennis seem as if he'd never considered this before and he looked shocked.
"Well, if they want to do something to Colin because he loves Harry, they'll have to go through me first," he said strongly.
"You know, Colin is really lucky to have you as a brother, Dennis."
"He sure is," he replied and they both laughed and continued frisbeeing.
There we go. Insights into some of the minor players' lives. I must say that the Seamus wrestling thing cracked me up as it came out of nowhere. It just seems to work great. I can see him watching the WWF and getting crazy. Mare, you just seemed to fit in perfect too. Another spur of the moment thing as well. I enjoyed doing the Neville/Seamus thing (or in digimon terms, a Seaville) so I'll likely do more. Poor Hermione. Marriage for Harry and Colin??? Hmmmm..hadn't considered that yet. Hang on a while. Okay, my hands are tired so I'm done for now.
Peace out,
energy