The Later Years
Part III
By Sandry
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"Harry?" called Lupin. "Harry? Are you in? I need to talk to you!" There was no reply. Lupin unlocked the door magically, and there was Harry, lying bloody and mangled on the floor, with Voldemort was standing over him. Hermione was taking her last breath as Lupin stepped in. Lupin whipped out his wand, but it was too late. Hermione breathed her last, and then everything went dark. Lupin was blasted to pieces.
Ron woke up shivering. That was the nightmare he had every night. Harry gone, Lupin gone, Hermione gone. At least it wasn't real.
He went down for hot chocolate, and met Lupin, Hermione, and Harry in the hall. Ron breathed easier as soon as he saw them all alive. They talked and chatted together, and Lupin retired to his bed.
Then the three of them snuck off to Fred & George's office under the Invisibility Cloak. Fred and George were not disturbed (thankfully). They took 6 dungbombs from the caretakers' private store, and snuck off toward Slytherin House. They knew the passwords, because they were teachers, so they crept in, and they saw that everyone was gone to bed, and the Common Room was deserted.
Harry whipped his dungbombs, and tossed one into the dwindling fire. When the fire was lit tomorrow, the stench would fill the room. He put the other in the seat-cushions of the best chair in the place, which would be set off only when someone sat on it.
Ron decided to try a more direct approach. He snuck up to the room that branched off the boy's dormitory where Malfoy (he was the head of Slytherin) was sleeping. He put one in his trunk, fastened a muffler to it, and set it off. Now all of his robes would smell, and the stench doesn't wash out easily. The other was securely put in his sock drawer. Ron laughed quietly. What would Malfoy think when he woke up?!?!
Hermione, on the other hand, waited outside. She was her perfect self, and even large amounts of aging hadn't changed her conscience. She wasn't just about to get caught sneaking around Slytherin House! She was a teacher! Ron and Harry, however, were determined to get revenge on Malfoy for all the tricks he had played on them.
Just then Ron and Harry darted out. Their faces were flushed and their robes were sticking to their body. Hermione looked shocked and asked,
"What happened to you two?"
"We'll tell you as soon as we get back to my room," said Harry. "Someone might be watching us or listening to our conversation."
True to his word, as soon as they were safely locked in Harry's room, they started to explain.
"Well,"said Harry. "Ron was upstairs setting off a dungbomb, and the stench woke Malfoy up. He saw a shadow in the room, and whipped out his wand. He muttered Lumos and saw Ron's red hair. He gave a yell, and darted after Ron..."
"Let me tell now!" interrupted Ron. "Then, since he had chased me down the stairs to the Common Room, he saw Harry. Harry threw the Invisibility Cloak over us, and it fooled Malfoy, but not for long. We raced out of the Common Room and arrivevd by you. The secret door slammed in Malfoy's face, and he's unconscious. Harry raced back in to put a Memory Charm on him so he won't remember what he had just done."
"Too bad Lockhart isn't here!" said Harry. "As he always said, If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms. Boy, what a git he was!"
"He is not a git!" said Hermione shrilly. "He was a very talented, handsome wizard!"
"Oh yeah?" said Harry. "Remember the time he de-boned my arm?"
"Everyone makes mistakes!" said Hermione hotly, and then a grin spread slowly over her face. "Well, I really don't know why I'm sticking up for him. He was a suck-up, really. Now it's time for me to get back to bed. It's about 1:30."
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