A/N: So so so so sorry that I haven't updated. To tell you the truth, once
the 5th book came out all other thoughts eluded me and I totally forgot
about the story. Then my comp broke down for a while and yada yada yada.
But I do plan on finishing this story. I would never abandon it. I know
exactly where the plot is going, but I just need to get there. Thanks so
much!
A/N 2: I would really like to thank everyone who reviewed. You don't know
how much it means to me to look in my mailbox and see a bunch of "author
alert. New review submitted" letters. They really brighten my day, even the
critiques. Now, back to the story.
Ch. 5 Detention
After Ginny had shut the door, Ron looked absolutely flabbergasted.
"Uh, Ron, um, are you all right?" Harry questioned.
"I don't.I can't believe she'd.how can.what the." Ron stammered as he gripped the armrest to his chair so tight that his white knuckles looked like pearls compared to his beet red hands.
"Ron, is Ginny right? You can tell me, mate." Harry persuaded.
"N-no! Of course not Harry! I just, I don't," But Ron couldn't deny it any longer. Ginny's revelation was like a crack in a dam, and soon enough, the dam burst.
"Oh, Harry, what am I going to do? If I wasn't such a prat and told her sooner, she wouldn't be mooning over some mushy, touchy feely bloke," Ron confessed, and he began absentmindedly running his hand through his hair.
"Well," Harry started with a grin twitching at the corner of his mouth, you could just tell her now, I guess."
"Now? I can't tell her now Harry, she's head over heels for this other guy. This is pathetic; I'm losing to a faceless admirer!" Ron began pacing the common room and then stopped in front of the fireplace.
"Well," Harry said exhaustedly, "I don't think we'll be getting any more work done tonight. Why don't you sleep on it, Ron?"
"I guess," Ron agreed, and they made their way up to the dormitory.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, Harry awoke and saw that Ron's bed was empty. He got dressed at top speed and hurried down to the common room to see if Ron and Hermione were down there waiting for him.
"Um, thanks Ron. Your shoes look nice today, too." Harry heard Hermione say and he stopped dead in his tracks to see if he could hear any more of their conversation.
"O-oh, you're welcome Hermione," said Ron who was rocking back and forth on his feet and staring intently at the carpet. "So," Ron started again, "how's spe- I mean, S.P.E.W coming along?"
"Oh," said Hermione looking shocked, "it's coming along alright, I guess."
"That's good."
After a long awkward silence, Harry couldn't stand it any longer and finally came down the remaining steps into the common room.
"Oh, good, there you are Harry. Well, I guess we'd better be getting on to breakfast, shall we?" Asked Hermione and they all proceeded through the portrait hole.
All during breakfast, Harry noticed that Ron kept glancing furtively towards Hermione, and then would quickly retreat them back to his cereal before he thought Hermione took notice, which was thoroughly unsuccessful.
"Harry, what is wrong with Ron today?" Hermione inquired while Ron had taken a quick stop to the loo before Potions.
"W-what do you mean, Hermione?" Harry asked while stifling a laugh.
"Well, I mean, it could be nothing," Hermione continued, "but, I don't know, it kind of looks like he's acting nervous around me; like I'm about to explode or something."
"Well are you?" Harry quickly asked before covering a laugh with a deep cough.
"Be serious, Harry! I know you know, so why won't you tell me?"
"You're right, I do know." Harry answered, but before Hermione could interject, Harry quickly added, "But it's not my business to tell you. If Ron wants to, he will."
"Oh, come on Harry, please?" Hermione pleaded one last time.
"I told you, it's not my place." And with that, Ron walked back into the hall with his hair unusually slicked back and wet.
"Did I miss anything?" Ron asked Hermione.
"Er, no, nothing. We'd better hurry or we'll be late!" Hermione quickly added, and they made their way to class.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well, well, if it isn't Potty, Weasel, and Mudblood, what an unpleasant surprise," slurred Draco Malfoy while on their way to potions.
"Sod off, ferret boy!" Ron interjected, tightly gripping his wand and taking a violent step toward Malfoy.
"Ron," started Hermione, "not now!" Hermione was quickly darting her eyes to Ron's left.
"Weasley," interjected Snape's voice from behind Harry, "that will be ten points from Gryffindor for your temper."
"But Professor, I didn't even."
"Silence!" Snape bellowed. "I will not tolerate being talked back to by a student! That will be another 5 points and I suggest you not step out of line again!"
With that, Snape stormed into the classroom with Malfoy laughing haughtily behind him.
"Ugh, he is terrible!" Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione while they slowly trudged into potions.
"I know, he thinks that he is so much better than everyone else," Harry whispered back.
"Quiet, you two, before we get into more trouble," Hermione whispered harshly as they took their usual seats at the back.
"You have the period to write a three foot essay on the properties and uses of moonstones. These will be graded by O.W.L standards so I suggest that you write exceedingly better than usual if you want to scrape up a pass," Snape bellowed while his eyes looked back and forth from Harry to Neville.
Harry couldn't help but notice as they all took out their books that Malfoy and his goons kept looking in his direction and laughing.
"He's probably still rubbing in the earlier incident," Harry thought to himself and started to scribble on his parchment thinking nothing more of it. After he had written over two feet, Harry lifted his head and began to rub his eyes. As he sat back to take a break, he looked around only to see Malfoy still looking in his direction. Malfoy would turn around, snicker, and then turn back around only to scribble furiously across his parchment.
"I bet he's come up with some sort of way to cheat off of Hermione," Harry thought.
"Time's up!" Snape roared. "Turn in your papers and quietly pack up your things."
Harry began to write as fast as possible to take up room while Hermione stood and rolled up her over four foot essay and Ron nervously scribbled something out.
"Potter! That's an automatic zero for continuing to write after time has been called, I suggest you not do that on exam day. You are dismissed!"
Harry angrily packed up his bag and stormed out of the classroom while throwing Snape an evil glare.
"Don't forget your detention Potter!" Snape yelled from behind.
"I can't stand him!" Harry yelled as they made their way to Transfiguration.
"I know Harry, but what were you doing for so long that caused you to not finish?" Hermione inquired.
"Oh, I almost forgot! Malfoy kept looking at us and then writing something and I thought that he figured out a way to cheat off of you," Harry told her.
"But that's impossible!" Hermione shouted. "I put anti-cheating spells on all my parchments so that couldn't happen. He must be up to something else."
"Well we better get to class before we're late!" Ron insisted.
"Ron?! Since when have you cared about school? I."
Hermione was cut off by Ron grabbing her hand and dragging her into the seat next to him.
Harry just stifled a laugh and sat down next to Hermione who shot him a glare.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You better get to your detention Harry or Snape will just give you another one," said Ron matter-of-factly.
"What in the name of Merlin has gotten into you today, Ron?" Hermione asked with a smile plastered on her face. "You've got school on the brain! I'm impressed." "Y-you are?" Ron asked with a deep blush slowly creeping on his face. "Well, I just figured that if I wanted to be an auror I should keep my grades up." He began to sit up and run his hands through his hair. Harry rolled his eyes and began to leave as he heard Hermione giggle and scoot closer to him.
~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Alright Potter, for your detention you must clean out all of the cauldrons without the use of magic. If they are spotless upon my inspection you will be free to leave." Snape told Harry.
Harry inwardly groaned at the sight of what seemed to be a mountain of cauldrons with slime and other colorful substances encrusted on them.
It took Harry five inspections by Snape before he could leave, and as soon as Snape sneered for him to go he practically fled from the classroom. As he was about to round a corner, Harry heard someone whimper and then the sound of a body landing upon hard stone.
"I told you Longbottom that if you so much as breathe a word of this to anyone I will find you and kill you myself."
Malfoy.
Harry pulled out his wand and pressed himself against the wall to make sure that he was out of sight.
"L-look Malfoy, what you're d-doing isn't r-right and you should s-stop," Harry heard Neville bravely counter.
"Aww, does the fat arse have a crush on the mudblood? How bloody adorable," Malfoy sneered. Harry heard two deep guffaws and the grip on his wand tightened.
"Petrificus Totales! There, that should hold him. Bye bye Longbottom, and remember our deal," Malfoy slurred and then Harry heard them quickly walk in the other direction.
Harry jumped out from behind the wall and said, "Finite Incantatem." Once Neville was released from the bind, Harry helped him up and asked what was going on.
"Oh, Harry, it was a big mistake. About a week ago I heard Malfoy telling some Slytherins that he wanted to play a trick on Hermione and so I pointed my wand at him and told him not to. Well, there were more Slytherins than I had expected and they bloodied me up before making me swear not to say anything or they'd do it again." Neville gulped and then started again. "Then he made come down to the dungeons every night to take verastiserum to see if I had told anyone. That's when you found me." Neville looked to the ground and began to kick it. "I really wanted to tell her before they could hurt her, but they beat me up pretty bad and I didn't know what to do. I'm really sorry Harry."
"That's all right Neville; it's not your fault. Let's hurry on up to the common room before we get caught being past curfew."
On their way up towards Gryffindor tower, Harry asked, "So, what was this trick anyway? Nothing bad has happened to Hermione all week!"
"Well, that's just it," Neville started, "it doesn't seem like a bad thing at first."
"So what is it?" Harry whispered as they got closer to the portrait.
"Well, it's Malfoy that's been sending those secret admirer letters to Hermione. He was planning on embarrassing her in front of the whole school Friday at breakfast. That's why I was standing up to him tonight."
Harry stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Neville.
"Hermione is going to be totally heartbroken," Harry said quietly as they entered the portrait hole.
"I know," Neville responded and they entered the common room.
A/N 3: So, who was right??? Anyone?? Well I hope you enjoyed the revealing of the secret admirer. Don't worry though, revenge is sweet! And next chappie is goooood! I will post it ASAP!! (No, really this time, lol!)
Ch. 5 Detention
After Ginny had shut the door, Ron looked absolutely flabbergasted.
"Uh, Ron, um, are you all right?" Harry questioned.
"I don't.I can't believe she'd.how can.what the." Ron stammered as he gripped the armrest to his chair so tight that his white knuckles looked like pearls compared to his beet red hands.
"Ron, is Ginny right? You can tell me, mate." Harry persuaded.
"N-no! Of course not Harry! I just, I don't," But Ron couldn't deny it any longer. Ginny's revelation was like a crack in a dam, and soon enough, the dam burst.
"Oh, Harry, what am I going to do? If I wasn't such a prat and told her sooner, she wouldn't be mooning over some mushy, touchy feely bloke," Ron confessed, and he began absentmindedly running his hand through his hair.
"Well," Harry started with a grin twitching at the corner of his mouth, you could just tell her now, I guess."
"Now? I can't tell her now Harry, she's head over heels for this other guy. This is pathetic; I'm losing to a faceless admirer!" Ron began pacing the common room and then stopped in front of the fireplace.
"Well," Harry said exhaustedly, "I don't think we'll be getting any more work done tonight. Why don't you sleep on it, Ron?"
"I guess," Ron agreed, and they made their way up to the dormitory.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, Harry awoke and saw that Ron's bed was empty. He got dressed at top speed and hurried down to the common room to see if Ron and Hermione were down there waiting for him.
"Um, thanks Ron. Your shoes look nice today, too." Harry heard Hermione say and he stopped dead in his tracks to see if he could hear any more of their conversation.
"O-oh, you're welcome Hermione," said Ron who was rocking back and forth on his feet and staring intently at the carpet. "So," Ron started again, "how's spe- I mean, S.P.E.W coming along?"
"Oh," said Hermione looking shocked, "it's coming along alright, I guess."
"That's good."
After a long awkward silence, Harry couldn't stand it any longer and finally came down the remaining steps into the common room.
"Oh, good, there you are Harry. Well, I guess we'd better be getting on to breakfast, shall we?" Asked Hermione and they all proceeded through the portrait hole.
All during breakfast, Harry noticed that Ron kept glancing furtively towards Hermione, and then would quickly retreat them back to his cereal before he thought Hermione took notice, which was thoroughly unsuccessful.
"Harry, what is wrong with Ron today?" Hermione inquired while Ron had taken a quick stop to the loo before Potions.
"W-what do you mean, Hermione?" Harry asked while stifling a laugh.
"Well, I mean, it could be nothing," Hermione continued, "but, I don't know, it kind of looks like he's acting nervous around me; like I'm about to explode or something."
"Well are you?" Harry quickly asked before covering a laugh with a deep cough.
"Be serious, Harry! I know you know, so why won't you tell me?"
"You're right, I do know." Harry answered, but before Hermione could interject, Harry quickly added, "But it's not my business to tell you. If Ron wants to, he will."
"Oh, come on Harry, please?" Hermione pleaded one last time.
"I told you, it's not my place." And with that, Ron walked back into the hall with his hair unusually slicked back and wet.
"Did I miss anything?" Ron asked Hermione.
"Er, no, nothing. We'd better hurry or we'll be late!" Hermione quickly added, and they made their way to class.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well, well, if it isn't Potty, Weasel, and Mudblood, what an unpleasant surprise," slurred Draco Malfoy while on their way to potions.
"Sod off, ferret boy!" Ron interjected, tightly gripping his wand and taking a violent step toward Malfoy.
"Ron," started Hermione, "not now!" Hermione was quickly darting her eyes to Ron's left.
"Weasley," interjected Snape's voice from behind Harry, "that will be ten points from Gryffindor for your temper."
"But Professor, I didn't even."
"Silence!" Snape bellowed. "I will not tolerate being talked back to by a student! That will be another 5 points and I suggest you not step out of line again!"
With that, Snape stormed into the classroom with Malfoy laughing haughtily behind him.
"Ugh, he is terrible!" Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione while they slowly trudged into potions.
"I know, he thinks that he is so much better than everyone else," Harry whispered back.
"Quiet, you two, before we get into more trouble," Hermione whispered harshly as they took their usual seats at the back.
"You have the period to write a three foot essay on the properties and uses of moonstones. These will be graded by O.W.L standards so I suggest that you write exceedingly better than usual if you want to scrape up a pass," Snape bellowed while his eyes looked back and forth from Harry to Neville.
Harry couldn't help but notice as they all took out their books that Malfoy and his goons kept looking in his direction and laughing.
"He's probably still rubbing in the earlier incident," Harry thought to himself and started to scribble on his parchment thinking nothing more of it. After he had written over two feet, Harry lifted his head and began to rub his eyes. As he sat back to take a break, he looked around only to see Malfoy still looking in his direction. Malfoy would turn around, snicker, and then turn back around only to scribble furiously across his parchment.
"I bet he's come up with some sort of way to cheat off of Hermione," Harry thought.
"Time's up!" Snape roared. "Turn in your papers and quietly pack up your things."
Harry began to write as fast as possible to take up room while Hermione stood and rolled up her over four foot essay and Ron nervously scribbled something out.
"Potter! That's an automatic zero for continuing to write after time has been called, I suggest you not do that on exam day. You are dismissed!"
Harry angrily packed up his bag and stormed out of the classroom while throwing Snape an evil glare.
"Don't forget your detention Potter!" Snape yelled from behind.
"I can't stand him!" Harry yelled as they made their way to Transfiguration.
"I know Harry, but what were you doing for so long that caused you to not finish?" Hermione inquired.
"Oh, I almost forgot! Malfoy kept looking at us and then writing something and I thought that he figured out a way to cheat off of you," Harry told her.
"But that's impossible!" Hermione shouted. "I put anti-cheating spells on all my parchments so that couldn't happen. He must be up to something else."
"Well we better get to class before we're late!" Ron insisted.
"Ron?! Since when have you cared about school? I."
Hermione was cut off by Ron grabbing her hand and dragging her into the seat next to him.
Harry just stifled a laugh and sat down next to Hermione who shot him a glare.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You better get to your detention Harry or Snape will just give you another one," said Ron matter-of-factly.
"What in the name of Merlin has gotten into you today, Ron?" Hermione asked with a smile plastered on her face. "You've got school on the brain! I'm impressed." "Y-you are?" Ron asked with a deep blush slowly creeping on his face. "Well, I just figured that if I wanted to be an auror I should keep my grades up." He began to sit up and run his hands through his hair. Harry rolled his eyes and began to leave as he heard Hermione giggle and scoot closer to him.
~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Alright Potter, for your detention you must clean out all of the cauldrons without the use of magic. If they are spotless upon my inspection you will be free to leave." Snape told Harry.
Harry inwardly groaned at the sight of what seemed to be a mountain of cauldrons with slime and other colorful substances encrusted on them.
It took Harry five inspections by Snape before he could leave, and as soon as Snape sneered for him to go he practically fled from the classroom. As he was about to round a corner, Harry heard someone whimper and then the sound of a body landing upon hard stone.
"I told you Longbottom that if you so much as breathe a word of this to anyone I will find you and kill you myself."
Malfoy.
Harry pulled out his wand and pressed himself against the wall to make sure that he was out of sight.
"L-look Malfoy, what you're d-doing isn't r-right and you should s-stop," Harry heard Neville bravely counter.
"Aww, does the fat arse have a crush on the mudblood? How bloody adorable," Malfoy sneered. Harry heard two deep guffaws and the grip on his wand tightened.
"Petrificus Totales! There, that should hold him. Bye bye Longbottom, and remember our deal," Malfoy slurred and then Harry heard them quickly walk in the other direction.
Harry jumped out from behind the wall and said, "Finite Incantatem." Once Neville was released from the bind, Harry helped him up and asked what was going on.
"Oh, Harry, it was a big mistake. About a week ago I heard Malfoy telling some Slytherins that he wanted to play a trick on Hermione and so I pointed my wand at him and told him not to. Well, there were more Slytherins than I had expected and they bloodied me up before making me swear not to say anything or they'd do it again." Neville gulped and then started again. "Then he made come down to the dungeons every night to take verastiserum to see if I had told anyone. That's when you found me." Neville looked to the ground and began to kick it. "I really wanted to tell her before they could hurt her, but they beat me up pretty bad and I didn't know what to do. I'm really sorry Harry."
"That's all right Neville; it's not your fault. Let's hurry on up to the common room before we get caught being past curfew."
On their way up towards Gryffindor tower, Harry asked, "So, what was this trick anyway? Nothing bad has happened to Hermione all week!"
"Well, that's just it," Neville started, "it doesn't seem like a bad thing at first."
"So what is it?" Harry whispered as they got closer to the portrait.
"Well, it's Malfoy that's been sending those secret admirer letters to Hermione. He was planning on embarrassing her in front of the whole school Friday at breakfast. That's why I was standing up to him tonight."
Harry stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Neville.
"Hermione is going to be totally heartbroken," Harry said quietly as they entered the portrait hole.
"I know," Neville responded and they entered the common room.
A/N 3: So, who was right??? Anyone?? Well I hope you enjoyed the revealing of the secret admirer. Don't worry though, revenge is sweet! And next chappie is goooood! I will post it ASAP!! (No, really this time, lol!)