Disclaimer: All characters within this fic are, in fact, related to Harry Potter, as you most presumably guessed. Sadly, they aren't owned by me. So no sueing of myself, seeing as I couldn't pay you anyway ^^;
A/N: Sorry for the bit of a derth there of updates...^^; I got caught on one bit of this chapter, but I got it finished now, so enjoy! And thank you to my reviewers. Wouldn'ta written this much without ya!
Just Me and My Malaclaw...
"George, I need to study!" Hermione was reaching across for her book that George was keeping just out of her reach, a huge smile on her face. "You need to stop teasing me!"
"Oh, but it's so fun!" he replied, his grin just as wide. He pulled the book behind him, making Hermione lean against him now. They were all giggles in no time.
Fred just rolled his eyes as he opened the door to the 7th years boys dorm wide. "Get a room already..."
George and Hermione jumped as they heard Fred, but relaxed. "Oh, it's just you Fred...thought it was Lee or someone."
"Well, that's a lovely welcome, dear brother. I sure do feel appreciated..." Fred had picked up a book on his bedside table, sitting on his bed and reading.
"Fred...are you studying?!" George asked, incredulous.
"What? No, of course not! What are you thinking! I'm not THAT bored. This is for our...project..."
"What project?" Hermione interjected, looking between them. "What are you up to?"
"Just a little fun, Hermione! I promise, no one will get hurt...much..." Fred snickered at them. Maybe they were getting into one of those spats...
Hermione and George looked like they might, but they were interrupted by pounding feet up the stairs. Ron walked through the open door, with Harry just behind.
"Oi, we thought we heard 'Mione up here." He looked at George and Hermione, sitting on the bed together. "'Mione, what are you doing up here?"
"Just helping George study," Fred said quickly. "George's gotten awfully bad about it. Worse than me even." Fred held up his book, as if that would help support his story. (Which actually just made Harry and Ron look at him very oddly, not helping much at all.) Hermione and George, however, caught on.
"Oh, yes, well, he does need to study for his NEWTs." Hermione said, not too convincingly.
"Er...of course..." George picked up Hermione's book, leaning back on his bed.
"Oh..." said Ron, not sure what to make of this. "Alright. Well, it's almost time for Care of Magical Creatures. You don't want to miss it, do you?"
"Oh no! Of course not!" Hermione was up in a flash and out the door, running up to her dorm to get her own books before meeting Ron and Harry at the portrait.
"You ok, 'Mione? We haven't seen you as much," Harry asked.
"Well, I've...I've been studying! Our OWLs are right around the corner you know."
"See, Harry? I told you, studying. We didn't even need to ask." Ron had gotten over his initial shock of seeing Hermione and George sitting together like that. Things were just fine. Although it was odd that Hermione, a 5th Year, was helping someone like George, a 7th Year...
"Say, Hermione, why were you helping George? I mean, you are two years behind him, aren - "
"Oh, look, there's Hagrid, we'd better hurry or we'll be late!" Hermione ran out ahead of the boys, hoping Ron would forget his question. She really didn't want to come up with another lie for it. She couldn't even think of one!
"Hello, Hagrid! What are we studying today?" Hermione asked, as Ron and Harry caught up.
"Ah! There you three are. Thought yeh might be late." Hagrid turned to address the whole class, his voice booming out. "Today we're studying the Mackled Malaclaw. Now, you all need ter keep careful around these, 'cause if yeh get bitten, all yer luck will be bad fer a long time, and I don' think any of yeh can afford that what with yer OWLs comin' up." He turned while Ron looked at his friends.
"Malaclaws? Bad luck? Why do I get a sinking feeling that Hagrid's found another friend we need to stay away from?" They watched with some apprehension as Hagrid brought around a crate, similar to the Blasted-Ended Skrewts ones (which was already a sign of bad things to come)...
Inside were over a dozen lobster-like creatures scuttling about, light grey with dark green spots. Most of the class recoiled, very wary of getting bitten now. The trio looked in, mildly curious, but mostly just apprehensive. None of them really wanted any more bad luck than they ended up receiving anyway.
"Er, Hagrid, are you sure about the bad luck thing?" Harry asked.
"Sure? O' course I'm sure. Now, all of yeh put on yer dragon hide gloves and we'll get to know these lil' creatures."
Harry, Ron and Hermione surrounded their Malaclaw, looking like they'd rather run away. (Previous experience with Hagrid's choice of animals had taught them to be wary.) That is, until the Malaclaw curled itself up and sat on the ground.
"Is...is it taking a NAP?!" Ron asked, incredulous. Here they were, surrounding an 11 inch Malaclaw, dragon hide gloves securely on and wands ready, and it decided to take a nap.
Hermione walked forward, to look at it closer.
"I think it is..." Hermione reached forward, tentatively, when the Malaclaw jerked to life and rushed at her. With a small shriek she jumped back, holding her arms up. The Malaclaw bit her just above the glove before Ron got over and kicked the thing a good couple of feet away, where it calmly curled itself up again.
Hermione was still holding her arm when Harry and Ron sat down next to her (Ron had needed a few minutes to curse at the thing under his breath...) The bite didn't look too bad...and she didn't FEEL any different...
"Are you okay, 'Mione? Didn't bite you, did it?"
"Erm...yes, but it's not to bad, rea-" Hermione stopped as she was suddenly soaked head to toe. Seemed someone had tried to hex their Malaclaw, missed, and had hit the water collecting barrel at Hagrid's hut. And, what luck, it soaked Hermione head to toe and no one else.
"Wow...........guess Hagrid was right then...."
"Oh, be quiet, Harry..." Hermione wasn't too happy now. What was she going to do? She couldn't have bad luck! She was barely keeping up the pace now, let alone with bad luck!
Hagrid rushed over taking a look at Hermione's arm. Instead of having her take herself to the hospital wing, he told Harry and Ron to accompany her. After all, she was bound to meet something horrid along the way; she could use some help.
The trek up to the castle was in a sense, uneventful. Hermione only met with 3 holes they'd never noticed in all of their years at Hogwarts, and tripped flat on her face. Inside, Peeves made a spectacular entrance by spraying glow-in-the-dark paint-like-substance everywhere as soon as the trio entered. Luckily, Ron and Harry were only sparingly hit. Hermione was covered, and lo-and-behold, the paint-like-substance mixed with the water and turned into a glue-like-paint-like-substance, meaning she couldn't get it off no matter how hard she tried. After stubbing her toe on a suit of armor that she SWORE stuck it's foot out at her, they finally reached the hospital wing doors. Unfortunately...
"It's LOCKED!!! Why is the hospital wing LOCKED?!?!"
"Perhaps, Hermione, because Madam Pomphrey went out to pick up some supplies..." Harry said, matter-of-factly while reading a note posted on the door. Hermione glared at him, rather annoyed at this whole situation. She suddenly ran off to the dorms, ignoring Harry and Ron's spluttering about the rest of Hagrid's class.
After hitting the trick step and yelling incoherently at suits of armor she kept stubbing toes on. She climbed through the portrait hole, only to find Fred and George sitting on the couch in the common room on a free period.
"Hermione? Wha- what's wrong?"
"I don't want to talk about it." She said shortly, rushing up the stairs to her dorm. George glanced at Fred before trudging up to his own dorm, now somewhat depressed. Harry and Ron entered only to see George reach the top.
"What's wrong with HIM?"
"Ah, found out he was stuck with me as a study buddy," Fred said, more bubbly than anyone would expect. He was even humming! Which left Ron and Harry in a very odd state.
"...Do you understand any of this?" Ron asked, scratching his head.
"Nope. Not one thing..."
A/N: Sorry for the bit of a derth there of updates...^^; I got caught on one bit of this chapter, but I got it finished now, so enjoy! And thank you to my reviewers. Wouldn'ta written this much without ya!
Just Me and My Malaclaw...
"George, I need to study!" Hermione was reaching across for her book that George was keeping just out of her reach, a huge smile on her face. "You need to stop teasing me!"
"Oh, but it's so fun!" he replied, his grin just as wide. He pulled the book behind him, making Hermione lean against him now. They were all giggles in no time.
Fred just rolled his eyes as he opened the door to the 7th years boys dorm wide. "Get a room already..."
George and Hermione jumped as they heard Fred, but relaxed. "Oh, it's just you Fred...thought it was Lee or someone."
"Well, that's a lovely welcome, dear brother. I sure do feel appreciated..." Fred had picked up a book on his bedside table, sitting on his bed and reading.
"Fred...are you studying?!" George asked, incredulous.
"What? No, of course not! What are you thinking! I'm not THAT bored. This is for our...project..."
"What project?" Hermione interjected, looking between them. "What are you up to?"
"Just a little fun, Hermione! I promise, no one will get hurt...much..." Fred snickered at them. Maybe they were getting into one of those spats...
Hermione and George looked like they might, but they were interrupted by pounding feet up the stairs. Ron walked through the open door, with Harry just behind.
"Oi, we thought we heard 'Mione up here." He looked at George and Hermione, sitting on the bed together. "'Mione, what are you doing up here?"
"Just helping George study," Fred said quickly. "George's gotten awfully bad about it. Worse than me even." Fred held up his book, as if that would help support his story. (Which actually just made Harry and Ron look at him very oddly, not helping much at all.) Hermione and George, however, caught on.
"Oh, yes, well, he does need to study for his NEWTs." Hermione said, not too convincingly.
"Er...of course..." George picked up Hermione's book, leaning back on his bed.
"Oh..." said Ron, not sure what to make of this. "Alright. Well, it's almost time for Care of Magical Creatures. You don't want to miss it, do you?"
"Oh no! Of course not!" Hermione was up in a flash and out the door, running up to her dorm to get her own books before meeting Ron and Harry at the portrait.
"You ok, 'Mione? We haven't seen you as much," Harry asked.
"Well, I've...I've been studying! Our OWLs are right around the corner you know."
"See, Harry? I told you, studying. We didn't even need to ask." Ron had gotten over his initial shock of seeing Hermione and George sitting together like that. Things were just fine. Although it was odd that Hermione, a 5th Year, was helping someone like George, a 7th Year...
"Say, Hermione, why were you helping George? I mean, you are two years behind him, aren - "
"Oh, look, there's Hagrid, we'd better hurry or we'll be late!" Hermione ran out ahead of the boys, hoping Ron would forget his question. She really didn't want to come up with another lie for it. She couldn't even think of one!
"Hello, Hagrid! What are we studying today?" Hermione asked, as Ron and Harry caught up.
"Ah! There you three are. Thought yeh might be late." Hagrid turned to address the whole class, his voice booming out. "Today we're studying the Mackled Malaclaw. Now, you all need ter keep careful around these, 'cause if yeh get bitten, all yer luck will be bad fer a long time, and I don' think any of yeh can afford that what with yer OWLs comin' up." He turned while Ron looked at his friends.
"Malaclaws? Bad luck? Why do I get a sinking feeling that Hagrid's found another friend we need to stay away from?" They watched with some apprehension as Hagrid brought around a crate, similar to the Blasted-Ended Skrewts ones (which was already a sign of bad things to come)...
Inside were over a dozen lobster-like creatures scuttling about, light grey with dark green spots. Most of the class recoiled, very wary of getting bitten now. The trio looked in, mildly curious, but mostly just apprehensive. None of them really wanted any more bad luck than they ended up receiving anyway.
"Er, Hagrid, are you sure about the bad luck thing?" Harry asked.
"Sure? O' course I'm sure. Now, all of yeh put on yer dragon hide gloves and we'll get to know these lil' creatures."
Harry, Ron and Hermione surrounded their Malaclaw, looking like they'd rather run away. (Previous experience with Hagrid's choice of animals had taught them to be wary.) That is, until the Malaclaw curled itself up and sat on the ground.
"Is...is it taking a NAP?!" Ron asked, incredulous. Here they were, surrounding an 11 inch Malaclaw, dragon hide gloves securely on and wands ready, and it decided to take a nap.
Hermione walked forward, to look at it closer.
"I think it is..." Hermione reached forward, tentatively, when the Malaclaw jerked to life and rushed at her. With a small shriek she jumped back, holding her arms up. The Malaclaw bit her just above the glove before Ron got over and kicked the thing a good couple of feet away, where it calmly curled itself up again.
Hermione was still holding her arm when Harry and Ron sat down next to her (Ron had needed a few minutes to curse at the thing under his breath...) The bite didn't look too bad...and she didn't FEEL any different...
"Are you okay, 'Mione? Didn't bite you, did it?"
"Erm...yes, but it's not to bad, rea-" Hermione stopped as she was suddenly soaked head to toe. Seemed someone had tried to hex their Malaclaw, missed, and had hit the water collecting barrel at Hagrid's hut. And, what luck, it soaked Hermione head to toe and no one else.
"Wow...........guess Hagrid was right then...."
"Oh, be quiet, Harry..." Hermione wasn't too happy now. What was she going to do? She couldn't have bad luck! She was barely keeping up the pace now, let alone with bad luck!
Hagrid rushed over taking a look at Hermione's arm. Instead of having her take herself to the hospital wing, he told Harry and Ron to accompany her. After all, she was bound to meet something horrid along the way; she could use some help.
The trek up to the castle was in a sense, uneventful. Hermione only met with 3 holes they'd never noticed in all of their years at Hogwarts, and tripped flat on her face. Inside, Peeves made a spectacular entrance by spraying glow-in-the-dark paint-like-substance everywhere as soon as the trio entered. Luckily, Ron and Harry were only sparingly hit. Hermione was covered, and lo-and-behold, the paint-like-substance mixed with the water and turned into a glue-like-paint-like-substance, meaning she couldn't get it off no matter how hard she tried. After stubbing her toe on a suit of armor that she SWORE stuck it's foot out at her, they finally reached the hospital wing doors. Unfortunately...
"It's LOCKED!!! Why is the hospital wing LOCKED?!?!"
"Perhaps, Hermione, because Madam Pomphrey went out to pick up some supplies..." Harry said, matter-of-factly while reading a note posted on the door. Hermione glared at him, rather annoyed at this whole situation. She suddenly ran off to the dorms, ignoring Harry and Ron's spluttering about the rest of Hagrid's class.
After hitting the trick step and yelling incoherently at suits of armor she kept stubbing toes on. She climbed through the portrait hole, only to find Fred and George sitting on the couch in the common room on a free period.
"Hermione? Wha- what's wrong?"
"I don't want to talk about it." She said shortly, rushing up the stairs to her dorm. George glanced at Fred before trudging up to his own dorm, now somewhat depressed. Harry and Ron entered only to see George reach the top.
"What's wrong with HIM?"
"Ah, found out he was stuck with me as a study buddy," Fred said, more bubbly than anyone would expect. He was even humming! Which left Ron and Harry in a very odd state.
"...Do you understand any of this?" Ron asked, scratching his head.
"Nope. Not one thing..."