A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, school and a touch of writer's block made me late *bangs head on the wall*
Beta Note: This chapter was written days ago, I just take forever to beta- the penguins made me do it... the kangaroos too....
Anyway, here's the references: `pardon my French' is from Pay It Forward, as is the `rat-bastard' part (the character Kevin Spacey plays in it is awfully like our Sev.)
The `Expelliarmus' situation was taken from The Prisoner of Azkaban, `cept they did it to poor old Snape.
Also, a great big t'ank you to Chrissy, my illustrious beta - thanks a whole bunch :)
(Beta note: I luv you too hun! Note to self- look up illustrious... lol... I do know what that means don't worry!)
More heartfelt thanks goes out to the readers and reviewers of my fic - trust me, this wouldn't have gotten as far as it has without your support. ^_^
Disclaimer: Character names are J.K.Rowling's, though every other word on this page belongs to a chubby Indian teenager with her head in the clouds. (me, ladies)
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There She Goes, There She Goes Again
The Great Hall was buzzing with gossip. As with any school, the scandalous chitchat formed a grapevine through all the years, inextricably linking the students together. With Voldemort on the brain, most people found that the best way to take their minds off things was to indulge in the senseless rumours always to be found. The current question that was bandied about the hallways concerned all Gryffindors in particular.
Where was Hermione Granger?
"Where on God's green Earth could she be, Ron? I mean, we leave her to be demolished by Snape, our first mistake, I reckon, and then we forget all about her in the face of that row over Pansy Parkinson being found in bed with - "
"Will y'leave his name out of this, Harry, for cripes' sake, he's already being sent to Coventry for sleeping with a Slytherin," hissed Ron, who was extremely disgruntled at the thought of Hermione missing. "I'm dead worried about her too, an' all, but there's no need for that to be good reason to let our tongues wag. I mean, look at the vultures - "
He flicked his head in the direction of the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy and his goons were jabbering away, telling anyone and all who'd listen that he knew that whore Parkinson was a wretched little slut of a turncoat.
"You're right, Ron, bugger all." Harry was loath to admit this and ran his hand through his already untidy hair ruefully.
Ron thumbed his over-long nose at him and folded his arms across his chest. "Aren't I always," he grinned smugly. He turned to the right, an age-old habit, to where Hermione usually sat and caught himself. He sobered instantly and turned back to Harry. "Anyway, what d'you say to this - if `Mione doesn't turn up for breakfast, we'll go see McGonagall or even Professor Dumbledore."
Harry grasped at the ideal solution, guilt beginning to flow in his veins. "Best idea you've had in months, Ron. Honestly though, how could we have been so - ," Harry was cut off in mid-sentence by a lengthy shadow falling across the table. The hair on the backs of their necks rose, prickly with sensation, someone's looking at us...
Boring holes, with his keen, metallic-grey eyes, into the base of their skulls, more like.
"So where's the Mudblood then, Potty? Good to see you, Weasel, you can shut your absurdly thick mouth now, being a codfish really doesn't suit you." Draco Malfoy's sardonic drawl made both boys' faces redden and Harry's mouth twist in annoyance.
"What the fuck do you care, Malfoy, if you'll pardon my French." Harry stood up to match his height, reaching perhaps a couple of inches shorter than the silver-blonde boy opposite.
"Yeah, Malfoy, what do Hermione's whereabouts have to do with you?" demanded Ron, also getting to his feet, his lanky frame greeting Malfoy's. "Though, I swear, if you've got any reason to be asking, just you wait - "
"Funny, you Gryffindors seem to be overly fond of swearing. And why, may I ask, should I wait? Dispatching someone as pathetic as yourself, would be a job only to easy for me to complete. And unlike you, boys, I need not soil my own hands while doing so." Malfoy's insidious tone heightened Harry's mounting anger, while his lip curled at the thought of what he was leading the fools to. (Beta's Note: Sorry... I know it's in the middle of this fic... insidious is such a cool word! I only used it once though.... in a History Project last year when I said 'insidous libal' but i still think it's a really cool word. Yes I am a freaky loser.)
Harry, surprisingly, let a smirk spread across his face. "Speaking of sidekicks, where're yours? Lost, perhaps? Left little Draco to wander about on his own?" He leant over to Malfoy's ear and said, "You little rat-bastard, you're alone, just like you always will be, and as soon as we graduate, my personal dream will be to see you on the wrong side of Azkaban bars." Harry's voice had dropped a notch and was heartfelt with menace.
Malfoy flushed and his eyes narrowed to icy slits. "My, my, aren't we the typical brash Gryffindors today. And I just seem to recall saying that to another mindless fool - a female - "
A stronger, rather more dignified voice cut through his threatening diatribe, magically magnified and had an unheard-of edge of steel to it. All eyes in the Great Hall turned towards Professor Dumbledore. Malfoy, Harry and Ron halted their rising tête à tête. Each person present stopped short, oddly captivated by depth of emotion that seemed to be radiating from him. Paradoxically, his shoulders were hunched, yet his back was ramrod straight and his arms were held up in a gesture of appeal. Even the swirling galactical depths of the ceiling seemed to stop their drifting nebulae, just to hear him speak. And `speak' he did. (Another B/N.... SO MANY BIG WORDS!)
"Ladies and gentlemen, students, I wish to have your attention. Thank you. It has come to my attention, that unfortunately we have would-be rapists and thieves among our community." As shocked gasps and whispers ran rife through the Hall, he continued, his words suddenly clear to Malfoy. "Yes, I say thieves, because these disgusting persons have stolen a girl's confidence and her trust. As I have come to understand it, they just halted only moments before taking her innocence as well." Dumbledore paused for his words to take effect and looked over at Ron and Harry, the shock registering on their faces as they stood dumbstruck, the dawning comprehension starkly clear.
"Let me assure you that these perpetrators will be caught and not be spared. They will NOT get away with this outrage!" Dumbledore's voice crescendoed at this point, thundering with plain anger. "They will not only be expelled from here within a moment's notice of their identification, they will also be reported to the Ministry of Magic, where all Aurors and magical peoples will hear of their fall from good society. Their reputation will be tarnished beyond repair, and if they are of age, their bodies will rot in Azkaban."
At this, the Hall was impeccably silent, not a sound to be heard. Malfoy's face had been flushing darker and darker at the onslaught of Dumbledore's words, till it was almost purple. His eyes flickered from Dumbledore to the Hall entrance and back again. Thinking no one had noticed, and his fear apparent in his actions, he began to back out of the hall, slipping through the throng of students.
Fortunately, two people had their eyes very firmly fixed on his retreating form.
"Draco Malfoy, I suggest you do not take a single step further." Dumbledore's voice rumbled through the Hall, striking fear into the most innocent of persons, so ominous was his tone.
Malfoy, however, was having none of it. In full blown panic, he ran to the Hall doors, his long legs carrying him further away from justice until -
"MISTER Malfoy, if you take one more step, I shall not be responsible my actions, and believe me, any one of the Unforgivables come to mind for a criminal such as yourself. You will stay exactly where you are, unless you wish to experience pain. Rather a lot of it, actually." Snape's voice rang out through the Hall, clear as a bell and furious as all hell. Most students cringed in the face of Snape's obvious wrath and every syllable of his words held an undercurrent of rage and white righteous anger.
Malfoy pivoted slowly, turning to face the irate voice. His eyes locked with Snape's, shards of death-like noire against strangely calm grey-ice. Then, almost in slow motion, Malfoy's hand delved into the front of his robes, searching frantically for his wand...
"EXPELLIARMUS!!!" Draco Malfoy slumped to the ground, a trickle of red contrasting severely with the unnatural white pallor of his skin.
About ten or more different people had yelled the Disarming charm simultaneously, Snape, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Harry and Ron being confirmed parties of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Yikes! Sorry to be so abrupt, still churning out more, just wanted to upload some of it.
If you liked or hated it or couldn't care less, do give us a review - I live for `em, and when they don't come I kinda wonder if it's all worth it. ^_^
B/N: Next time I'll try not to have so manys B/N's throughout the story... I just couldn't help it!
Beta Note: This chapter was written days ago, I just take forever to beta- the penguins made me do it... the kangaroos too....
Anyway, here's the references: `pardon my French' is from Pay It Forward, as is the `rat-bastard' part (the character Kevin Spacey plays in it is awfully like our Sev.)
The `Expelliarmus' situation was taken from The Prisoner of Azkaban, `cept they did it to poor old Snape.
Also, a great big t'ank you to Chrissy, my illustrious beta - thanks a whole bunch :)
(Beta note: I luv you too hun! Note to self- look up illustrious... lol... I do know what that means don't worry!)
More heartfelt thanks goes out to the readers and reviewers of my fic - trust me, this wouldn't have gotten as far as it has without your support. ^_^
Disclaimer: Character names are J.K.Rowling's, though every other word on this page belongs to a chubby Indian teenager with her head in the clouds. (me, ladies)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There She Goes, There She Goes Again
The Great Hall was buzzing with gossip. As with any school, the scandalous chitchat formed a grapevine through all the years, inextricably linking the students together. With Voldemort on the brain, most people found that the best way to take their minds off things was to indulge in the senseless rumours always to be found. The current question that was bandied about the hallways concerned all Gryffindors in particular.
Where was Hermione Granger?
"Where on God's green Earth could she be, Ron? I mean, we leave her to be demolished by Snape, our first mistake, I reckon, and then we forget all about her in the face of that row over Pansy Parkinson being found in bed with - "
"Will y'leave his name out of this, Harry, for cripes' sake, he's already being sent to Coventry for sleeping with a Slytherin," hissed Ron, who was extremely disgruntled at the thought of Hermione missing. "I'm dead worried about her too, an' all, but there's no need for that to be good reason to let our tongues wag. I mean, look at the vultures - "
He flicked his head in the direction of the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy and his goons were jabbering away, telling anyone and all who'd listen that he knew that whore Parkinson was a wretched little slut of a turncoat.
"You're right, Ron, bugger all." Harry was loath to admit this and ran his hand through his already untidy hair ruefully.
Ron thumbed his over-long nose at him and folded his arms across his chest. "Aren't I always," he grinned smugly. He turned to the right, an age-old habit, to where Hermione usually sat and caught himself. He sobered instantly and turned back to Harry. "Anyway, what d'you say to this - if `Mione doesn't turn up for breakfast, we'll go see McGonagall or even Professor Dumbledore."
Harry grasped at the ideal solution, guilt beginning to flow in his veins. "Best idea you've had in months, Ron. Honestly though, how could we have been so - ," Harry was cut off in mid-sentence by a lengthy shadow falling across the table. The hair on the backs of their necks rose, prickly with sensation, someone's looking at us...
Boring holes, with his keen, metallic-grey eyes, into the base of their skulls, more like.
"So where's the Mudblood then, Potty? Good to see you, Weasel, you can shut your absurdly thick mouth now, being a codfish really doesn't suit you." Draco Malfoy's sardonic drawl made both boys' faces redden and Harry's mouth twist in annoyance.
"What the fuck do you care, Malfoy, if you'll pardon my French." Harry stood up to match his height, reaching perhaps a couple of inches shorter than the silver-blonde boy opposite.
"Yeah, Malfoy, what do Hermione's whereabouts have to do with you?" demanded Ron, also getting to his feet, his lanky frame greeting Malfoy's. "Though, I swear, if you've got any reason to be asking, just you wait - "
"Funny, you Gryffindors seem to be overly fond of swearing. And why, may I ask, should I wait? Dispatching someone as pathetic as yourself, would be a job only to easy for me to complete. And unlike you, boys, I need not soil my own hands while doing so." Malfoy's insidious tone heightened Harry's mounting anger, while his lip curled at the thought of what he was leading the fools to. (Beta's Note: Sorry... I know it's in the middle of this fic... insidious is such a cool word! I only used it once though.... in a History Project last year when I said 'insidous libal' but i still think it's a really cool word. Yes I am a freaky loser.)
Harry, surprisingly, let a smirk spread across his face. "Speaking of sidekicks, where're yours? Lost, perhaps? Left little Draco to wander about on his own?" He leant over to Malfoy's ear and said, "You little rat-bastard, you're alone, just like you always will be, and as soon as we graduate, my personal dream will be to see you on the wrong side of Azkaban bars." Harry's voice had dropped a notch and was heartfelt with menace.
Malfoy flushed and his eyes narrowed to icy slits. "My, my, aren't we the typical brash Gryffindors today. And I just seem to recall saying that to another mindless fool - a female - "
A stronger, rather more dignified voice cut through his threatening diatribe, magically magnified and had an unheard-of edge of steel to it. All eyes in the Great Hall turned towards Professor Dumbledore. Malfoy, Harry and Ron halted their rising tête à tête. Each person present stopped short, oddly captivated by depth of emotion that seemed to be radiating from him. Paradoxically, his shoulders were hunched, yet his back was ramrod straight and his arms were held up in a gesture of appeal. Even the swirling galactical depths of the ceiling seemed to stop their drifting nebulae, just to hear him speak. And `speak' he did. (Another B/N.... SO MANY BIG WORDS!)
"Ladies and gentlemen, students, I wish to have your attention. Thank you. It has come to my attention, that unfortunately we have would-be rapists and thieves among our community." As shocked gasps and whispers ran rife through the Hall, he continued, his words suddenly clear to Malfoy. "Yes, I say thieves, because these disgusting persons have stolen a girl's confidence and her trust. As I have come to understand it, they just halted only moments before taking her innocence as well." Dumbledore paused for his words to take effect and looked over at Ron and Harry, the shock registering on their faces as they stood dumbstruck, the dawning comprehension starkly clear.
"Let me assure you that these perpetrators will be caught and not be spared. They will NOT get away with this outrage!" Dumbledore's voice crescendoed at this point, thundering with plain anger. "They will not only be expelled from here within a moment's notice of their identification, they will also be reported to the Ministry of Magic, where all Aurors and magical peoples will hear of their fall from good society. Their reputation will be tarnished beyond repair, and if they are of age, their bodies will rot in Azkaban."
At this, the Hall was impeccably silent, not a sound to be heard. Malfoy's face had been flushing darker and darker at the onslaught of Dumbledore's words, till it was almost purple. His eyes flickered from Dumbledore to the Hall entrance and back again. Thinking no one had noticed, and his fear apparent in his actions, he began to back out of the hall, slipping through the throng of students.
Fortunately, two people had their eyes very firmly fixed on his retreating form.
"Draco Malfoy, I suggest you do not take a single step further." Dumbledore's voice rumbled through the Hall, striking fear into the most innocent of persons, so ominous was his tone.
Malfoy, however, was having none of it. In full blown panic, he ran to the Hall doors, his long legs carrying him further away from justice until -
"MISTER Malfoy, if you take one more step, I shall not be responsible my actions, and believe me, any one of the Unforgivables come to mind for a criminal such as yourself. You will stay exactly where you are, unless you wish to experience pain. Rather a lot of it, actually." Snape's voice rang out through the Hall, clear as a bell and furious as all hell. Most students cringed in the face of Snape's obvious wrath and every syllable of his words held an undercurrent of rage and white righteous anger.
Malfoy pivoted slowly, turning to face the irate voice. His eyes locked with Snape's, shards of death-like noire against strangely calm grey-ice. Then, almost in slow motion, Malfoy's hand delved into the front of his robes, searching frantically for his wand...
"EXPELLIARMUS!!!" Draco Malfoy slumped to the ground, a trickle of red contrasting severely with the unnatural white pallor of his skin.
About ten or more different people had yelled the Disarming charm simultaneously, Snape, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Harry and Ron being confirmed parties of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Yikes! Sorry to be so abrupt, still churning out more, just wanted to upload some of it.
If you liked or hated it or couldn't care less, do give us a review - I live for `em, and when they don't come I kinda wonder if it's all worth it. ^_^
B/N: Next time I'll try not to have so manys B/N's throughout the story... I just couldn't help it!