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Author's notes: see bottom of the page

Resistance - part 7

"Malfoy!" Ron was beside himself. He strode over to where Malfoy was gasping for
breath and yanked him to his feet. He heard Harry call his name in between laughing,
but concentrated on the irate looking boy in front of him.
"What have you done?" Ron shouted in his face. "A laughing charm? Because
whatever you did you better undo it...."
"What are you talking about Weasel I didn't do anything!" Ron felt his face redden as
his anger increased.
"Don't try worming out of it Malfoy...."
"Ron, wait..." Harry choked out, getting control of himself. "He didn't do anything,
he just made me laugh is all."
"Draco Malfoy made you laugh?" Ron hissed at him, disbelieving. He watched Harry
take a steadying breath.
"Stranger things have happened, Ron." Harry held his gaze. Malfoy cleared his
throat.
"Well, lovely as this has been, would you mind letting go so I can find some people
worth speaking to?" Only too happy to oblige, Ron swung Malfoy bodily towards the
door sending him staggering, and he left with his trademark sneer.

Hermione walked over to Harry and peered into his eyes.
"Are you sure he didn't do anything to you?"
"Yes!" he said emphatically. He was still a little red from laughing, but she couldn't
see anything amiss.
"Hmmm, well, you should be more careful, Harry." He rolled his eyes at her, like he
always did when anyone worried. Hermione wondered if he did that just to irritate
people, because it certainly did that to her. She turned to Ron.
"And you, Ron, need to control your temper!" Another eye roll. When she raised an
eyebrow he said,
"Herm, I hardly expected him to be in here, did I?" She watched him turn to Harry
with narrowed eyes. "What was he doing in here, anyway?" He said this faintly
accusingly.
"He said everywhere else was full and I couldn't be bothered arguing with him."
"Everywhere else is full? Good, he can just sit in the corridor then can't he." Ron
flopped into a chair and scowled, and Hermione felt herself smile. She wondered if he
knew how protective he had become of their friend.

It took a while for Ron to calm down, but Harry managed to coax him into a game of
chess which totally occupied his attention. He stared at the board, waiting for Harry to
move. He didn't. Ron glanced up to see Harry staring out the door window with a pre-
occupied expression. Ron looked that way but there was no-one there. Hermione was
engrossed in a book, so he gave Harry an experimental prod.
"Earth to Harry?" He watched the green eyes blink, then focus back on reality.
"What? Oh, right, sorry."
"Where were you?" asked Ron.
"Oh, um, just thinking about who the new Headmaster could be." Ron saw Hermione
perk up out of the corner of his eye.
"Well," she said authoritatively, "It could be any number of ministry officials. The
last time it happened they just passed the position onto the deputy, but Professor
McGonagall already said she wants to keep teaching, so......."

Harry half listened to Hermione quoting from "Headteachers of Hogwarts - Warlocks
and Witches in Power", but his eyes strayed back to the door. He wasn't really sat
alone in the corridor, was he? Harry had an urge to stand up, just to see if there was
anyone sat on the floor out there. Realising Hermione was rounding off, he mentally
shook himself and tried to look attentive.

".....so it could be any of them. What do you guys think?"
Harry was saved from answering by the arrival of the food cart. Ron and Hermione
each got a stack of cauldron cakes and went back to sit down, arguing about how far
the train still had to go. Harry chose some cakes and a pumpkin pasty, and as he
handed over the money he suddenly whispered,
"Um, you didn't....er....pass, um, anyone out there.....did you?" Where did that come
from? he thought, feeling very stupid under the witch's gaze.
"I've been all down the train, dear. Are you looking for someone?" She said this very
loud and Harry felt himself go a bit red as Ron and Hermione stopped arguing to
listen.
"No, no, nobody. Um, thanks for the food." 'Smooth', he thought despondently, 'real
smooth'. The witch gave him a slightly confused smile then backed out of the
compartment. Ron and Hermione were still watching him.
"Everything ok?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, great, glad she turned up, I'm starving!" As if to prove this he threw the food
into an empty seat and tore the wrapper off the pasty, taking a huge mouthful. He saw
Ron shrug at Hermione, and they too started eating. Harry swallowed, he really wasn't
hungry, and told himself sternly to get a grip. It wasn't as if he cared of Draco Malfoy
was sat somewhere all alone. After all he deserved it. He was an obnoxious git. he
nodded his head to secure this opinion firmly in his head, as his eyes wandered back
to the door window.

For once it wasn't raining as the Express ground to a halt in Hogsmeade station. 'Well
for once my hair will stay straight', Hermione thought. 'Not that anyone's noticed it's
straighter,' she thought flippantly, then, glancing up at the back of Ron's red head she
caught herself, thinking, 'not that I care of course'. Ron was calling out to the other
Griffindor boys, so she turned to Harry, who was glancing all around the crowd.
'Probably looking for Cho,' she thought.
"Coming to the carriages?" she asked brightly.
"Yeah, yeah, sure." he said, not moving. She grabbed his arm and headed purposely
towards a waiting carriage. Ron ran up behind them, chattering about Dean's holiday
touring famous Quidditch grounds. Hermione scowled to herself. 'Not more bloody
Quidditch!' Harry climbed into the carriage ahead of her, and she saw him tense up.
She climbed in, looking over his shoulder.
"Oh hello Neville." He grinned at her. Harry had squished into a corner and Ron was
still chatting animatedly, apparently to himself. Neville turned to Harry.
"Hey Harry."
"Um, hey, look, sorry about before...."
"Forget about it, I understand." Said Neville. He was speaking with confidence, not
the quiet voice Hermione was used to.
"You do?" Harry sounded hopeful.
"'Course. You get that 'famous Harry Potter' garbage all the time, and Mum and Dad
are still getting used to you being a human being!" Hermione watched Harry smile,
relaxing from his tensed position, and they joined Ron in their praise of Quidditch.
Hermione smiled, pulling out her book, and muttered under her breath, "Boys."
Realising the had rolled her eyes, she suddenly felt content. 'Maybe the three of us are
still alike after all', she thought.

Draco was attempting, unsuccessfully, to block out Pansy Parkinson's incessant
whining. Apparently she had a terrible summer, and so of course wanted him to hear
every minute detail. He looked at the staff table. There were two new faces, he
assumed their new Headmaster and DADA teacher. He half-heartedly thought about
starting a bet going about what kind of psycho thy were, but decided he couldn't be
bothered. He had been listening to Pansy for what seemed like forever, having been
forced to sit with her on the train. His eyes roved the great hall, and he realised he was
looking anywhere but the Griffindor table. He purposefully looked over, sneer in
place, and was confronted with green eyes, which changed from vague interest to
glare as they met his. Draco turned his face away, attempting to listen to Pansy. A few
minutes later, he flicked his eyes back, but Potter was listening intently to Weasley.
The man on the stage suddenly stood up and walked to the dais.

"Excuse me, students." The hall went silent. The man continued. Ron took in his
appearance. The man looked only about thirty, with curly brown hair down to his
neck. He was average height, average build, with average brown eyes. Everything
about him said, 'dull'.
"As you are all well aware, Albus Dumbledore has retired, and we of course wish him
a long and peaceful time. My name is Professor Sebastian Biggs, and when the
Ministry offered me this position I of course, jumped at the chance. You may be
wondering about my credentials. I was deputy Headmaster of a small school in South
Africa, which closed at the end of last term due to unfortunate circumstances. As it
was a small school I tried to get to know all of the students under my care, which
meant they always felt able to come to me with problems. I want to try and follow the
same principles here, and so you may see me in some of your classes." Ron shared a
look with Harry, who had folded his arms and was glaring slightly at the teacher's
table.
"Anyway," said Professor Biggs, "I am sure we will get to know each other, and I
shall try to live up to my predecessors high standards. Before we all tuck into this
fabulous meal, there are a few announcements. Allow me to introduce your new
Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Dillard." The woman stepped
forward, smiling shyly. The total opposite of the man next to her, she had cropped
bright blond hair, curious bright eyes and an air of mischief. Ron noted several of the
older boys elbowing each other excitedly.
"Professor Dillard was also a teacher at my own school, and I trust you will make her
feel welcome. As you should already know, The Forbidden forest is out of bounds at
all times, and there is no magic in the corridors. Now, that's enough from me, so, with
great thanks to the house elves who prepared this wonderful spread," Ron saw
Hemione looking pleased, "let's eat!"

Ron turned to Harry, who was attacking the drumstick platter.
"He seems ok, bit dull maybe."
"I guess." Harry said, not looking up.
"Well, at least he looks sane, not like that Dillard woman." Said Hermione sniffily.
Ron glanced back at the woman.
"She has that look, like Fred and George get when they've been given a prank
opportunity. But, yeah, Biggs does seem sane."
"It doesn't matter if he's a complete loony, he's not......right." said Harry. Ron looked
at Hermione over his head.
"Harry, we'd all like Dumbledore to come back, but it's not going to happen, not yet
anyway. As long as this guy isn't trying to bump you off he's ok for now."
"It isn't only that. He's been chosen by the Ministry. Why? Because he probably
agrees with everything Fudge says. You didn't see Fudge last year, he looked
deranged. We can't trust him, so how can we trust this guy?" Ron watched Harry stab
the chicken viciously, then looked back at the staff table. He privately thought Harry
was over paranoid, but he had learned not to trust anyone completely at first glance.
Was this Biggs just a puppet of Fudge's?

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Author's notes: ok, must stop typing. No, really, my artwork is screaming to be done,
my English exam is like, this far away *makes tiny space between thumb and index
finger* and I have to find time to eat. Nice long chapter to keep you going, not idea
what's going on, but the characters seem to. Hope you liked it :) Oh and my books are
on loan, so I think I've spelt McGonagall and Griffindor wrong, but who cares! Oh,
and isn't it annoying when your spellchecker doesn't recognise 'Ron'?