-Chapter Four-
The Buggling Curse
The first week back at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione spent most of their time fertalizing jabbergrass for Saddle-Backed Windairia's; golden creatures which had the head and body of a donkey, the tail of a tiger, and wings of a very large Hawk.
'D'you think Hedwig's all right?' Harry asked one evening in the Gryffindor common room. 'I haven't seen her since she delivered the letter from Sirius.'
'I'm sure you'll see her soon,' Hermione said matter-of-factly.
'Yeah, I suppose,' Harry agreed.
*
Next morning, when all of Gryffindor house were going down to breakfast, Neville was looking more pale and frightened than usual.
'Something the matter, Neville?' Hermione asked worriedly.
'N-n-no!' he stammered quickly.
'What's with him?' Ron asked Harry once they sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.
'Dunno...' he replied, when a rather large swoop of owls flew in; Hedwig being one of them.
She swooped down with a rather thick envelope, and placed it right in Harry's porriage.
'Gee, thanks,' Harry grumbled.
'Who's it from, Harry?' Hermione and Ron both asked anxiously.
'It's from Wood!' Harry answered excitedly. Oliver Wood used to be the Keeper for the Gryffindor house Quidditch team. But he graduated about a year and a half ago.
Dear Harry,
Hiya! Oliver Wood here. How are you?
I hope you get this letter; your owl seems pretty
Dependable. Anyway, I'll cut to the chase;
You know Katie Bell, correct? Well, I need you
To give her a message; tell her to STOP BUGGING
ME WITH HER BLOODY LOVE LETTERS! Also,
Tell her that (no offence, of course) she's not my type!
I get enough love letters as it is...(Harry sniggered uncontrollably at this remark) Anyways, keep on
Flyin' as well as you did when I was there with ya!
Take Care,
Oliver Wood
'Miss Granger! A word, if I may,' said Professor McGonagall incredudously.
'Yes, Professor?' Hermione questioned puzzledly.
'In my office, actually,' Professor McGonagall said. 'Follow me. Mr Malfoy, if you would do the same...' she added.
Draco and Hermione walked behind McGonagall all the way to her office.
'Sit down, please,' Professor McGonagall said quietly. Hermione said down in a leather armchair, that was next to another on which Draco sat.
'Is something wrong, Professor?' they both asked timidly.
'Well, it's like this,' she explained, 'you're both the top students in your houses. I know that technically, no one is allowed to be Head Boy or Girl until their final year at Hogwarts; however, I have talked it over with Professor Dumbledore, and we agreed to appoint you Head Boy and Girl none the same.'
Hermione and Draco gaped at her. 'Are you serious?!' they asked wide-eyed.
'Yes, Malfoy, Granger, I am quite serious indeed,' she retorted. 'You'll be taken to your new rooms in one hour. I suggest you use this time to pack your things.'
Hermione and Draco looked at each other, and nodded, both still unbelieveably excited about this change in events.
'I expect you back here in one hour. Is that understood by both of you?'
'Yes, Professor,' they said anxiously.
'That is all. You may go back to your common rooms now.'
Both of them got up, and left the room, walking quickly into an empty classroom to talk to each other.
'Can you believe it?!' Hermione asked shrilly.
'I know!' Draco grinned excitedly. Hermione suddenly went pale, and grabbed her chest; she could barely breathe. 'Hey...are you OK?'
Hermione fell onto her knees with shock, and tears welted out of her eyes.
'Hermione!' Draco gasped, dropping to the ground to see what was wrong, but she couldn't talk. With her last ounce of strength, Hermione pulled out her wand and spelt out the words: "Buggling Curse," before she passed out.
*
When Hermione awoke, she was in the Hospital Wing.
'Really, Mr Malfoy, I insist that you leave her to rest!' said Madam Pomfrey. 'Oh! You're awake!'
'How-long-was-I-unconscious?' Hermione whispered; she was unable to speak any louder than that.
'You were out for seven hours,' answered Draco. He looked as though he were about to pass out of shock. 'Please, try not to talk.'
'Uhn...my chest...' Hermione whimpered. Dumbledore came into the room with a glance at Hermione, then to Draco, and finally, to Madam Pomfrey.
'Poppy, if I may borrow Mr Malfoy, please...' he said softly. Draco followed Dumbledore out of the room, and into the still halls. 'Now, Mr Malfoy, care to tell me what happened?'
'Well, Hermione and I were in an empty classroom, discussing our luck in being Head Boy and Girl, when suddenly, she just sort of held her chest, and collapsed on the ground,' Draco said awkwardly.
'Well, Mr Malfoy,' Dumbledore said slowly, 'I daresay, if you were the only other person in the room at the time, tell me, who else could have performed the curse on Miss Granger?'
'I-' he hesitated, then looked down at the floor. 'I don't know, sir. All I can give you is my word that I didn't do it.' Expecting the worst, Draco was definitely surprised at Dumbledore's next words.
'I believe you,' Dumbledore said calmly. 'But I need to know who did to the curse. If you have any leads, please tell me right away.'
'Yes, sir.'
'Oh, and, by the way, Mr Malfoy,' Dumbledore said abruptly, 'I believe you dropped something.' Draco looked beside himself, and noticed a cloak was laying on the ground.
'Oh, but...that's not mine,' Draco frowned.
'Well then, I suggest you ask Miss Granger. She very well may know,' Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. 'I shall be in my office if you need me. Good day to you!'
When Dumbledore had left, Draco picked the cloak up off the ground, and walked over to Hermione, who was laying down, staring up at the ceiling mindlessly, until she noticed Draco coming towards her, in which then she jerked her head in his direction.
'Wh-'
'D'you know who this belongs to?' he asked uncertainly, apparently worried if this question would somehow offend her or not. He handed her the cloak, and stared down at her, awaiting her reply.
'Oh, dear...Not good...' was all Hermione could manage to say. 'It-er-'
'Hermione, Honny,' Draco said soothingly, placing a hand on hers, 'you can tell me. I will not tell a single living soul; I promise.'
'Well, OK....but we have to be careful so no one overhears us, 'cos eavesdropping is very easily done these days,' she said in a voice that she hoped was fairly casual.
Draco shut the curtains around her bed. 'OK, now can you please tell me, Hermie?'
She looked up into his caring, love-filled eyes; those big grey pools that were once so cold and vicious, now only showing his love for her, and she suddenly couldn't help but tell him the truth.
'OK, it's...Harry's-'
'What?! But how could he get past us without us noticing him?!' Draco whispered loudly.
'You didn't let me finish!' she said. 'It's Harry's invisibility cloak!'
'Oh...' said Draco, now letting all of the pieces fall into place. 'But why would he hurt you? He's one of your best friends!'
'Unless he was framed!' said Hermione abruptly.
'Yeah, I suppose it's entirely possible. Who'd frame him, though?' Draco inquired.
'Let's ask him that,' Hermione said.
*
'Harry!' Ron called. They were currently climbing the winding staircase, to the seventh level, in which they were supposed to be in Divination.
'What?' Harry asked. 'This'd better be important, or we're going to be late!'
'Hermione! She's-in-the-Hospital-Wing-!' he panted.
'What?!' Harry yelled. 'Why? When??'
'This morning,' Ron whispered when he had finally caught his breath. 'Someone cast the Buggling Curse on her!'
'No way! Who?' Harry asked worriedly. 'Man oh man, is she OK? We should go visit her.'
'Yeah, do you think Professor Trelawney would mind? Her class is only a half hour today anyway,' Ron said. 'Besides, I hate that stupid old bat...'
'Let's just go see Hermione,' Harry said.
When they got there, Hermione was staring ahead of herself into space.
'Um...Hermione?' Harry asked. 'You OK?'
'Oh! Harry, Ron!' Hermione said loudly. 'Didn't notice you there...Sorry...'
'That's OK. How are you doing?' asked Ron sympathetically. 'We heard about you...well...being hit with the Buggling curse.'
'Oh, yeah.....That...Well, I get out of here tomorrow morning,' said Hermione in a depressed tone. 'What time is it?'
'It's-er-a quarter to five,' said Harry, checking his watch. 'So how are you feeling, though? Is your breathing normal and everything?'
'Please, it's not like I had a heart attack! I'm fine,' she insisted. 'Hey! Did you hear? Professor McGonagall made me Head Girl!'
'Seriously?! Congratulations, Hermione!' Harry and Ron said. 'Oh-we gotta go. Dinner's about to start. Sorry....Want us to bring you any dessert?'
'No, that's OK,' said Hermione softly. 'I'm not hungry much.'
'Well...OK, if you're sure,' said Harry. 'Let us know if you need anything, though. We'll come as soon as we can.'
'Thanks,' Hermione whispered.
'Oh! By the way, who is Head Boy?' Ron asked excitedly. 'I hope it's Harry!'
'Please, if it were me, I would have found out by now,' said Harry hurriedly.
'It's Malfoy,' said Hermione in what she hoped was a disgusted tone. 'Anyway, you guys can go down to dinner-I'll be fine. Don't worry about me.'
'Maybe we should just stay a little-'
'GO!' she said.
*
'Pass me a chicken leg, would'ja?' Ron asked at dinner. 'I am so starved, I could eat a Hippogriff or a Grindylow!'
'Potter, Weasley,' said a voice that they need not turn around in order to recognise, 'I need to talk to you about something.'
'And what would that be, Malfoy?' Harry spat.
'I found an-er-cloak today, when I was talking with Professor Dumbledor,' said Malfoy slowly. 'Granger seems to think it belongs to you.'
Harry picked up the cloak, and examined it.
'You stole it, slimebag!' Harry yelled, loud enough to attract some attention to their table.
'Please; if I stole it, why would I be giving it back?' Malfoy said, sniggering at the way Harry accused him of taking it right away.
'He's got a point there,' said Ron. 'But Malfoy, how did it just happen to fall into your posession?'
'I found it on the ground!' Malfoy snapped. 'Is that so hard to believe?'
'I believe you, Dracie-poo,' said a girl, approaching Malfoy from behind.
'Pansy, why don't you just leave me alone!?' Malfoy shouted at her.
'Sheesh! You don't have to act like you have a bug stuck up your ass,' Pansy remarked.
'Pansy, one more word out of your stupid mouth, and you'll be joining Granger up in the Hospital Wing!' Draco said. Pansy quickly back away.
'Anyway, like I was saying before, I found it on the ground, and Dumbledore suggested asking Granger for help, and, even though I hate having to tell you that I've worked with a Mudblood, she told me it was yours, Potter,' said Malfoy. 'Now, care to tell me why it would be there?'
'Er-I honestly don't know,' said Harry truthfully. 'It was locked away in my trunk all day!'
'Well, somebody's up to no good, then....' Ron murmered to Harry. 'Are you sure you left it there?'
'Of course I'm sure,' Harry whispered. Then he turned his attention back towards Malfoy, and smiled. 'Why don't you ask your friend, Pansy, where she was when the attack happened?'
'Oh, that idiot? Nah...She couldn't have-' but Malfoy stopped, and saw Pansy looking at a sheet of paper. 'I'll be back in a minute.' Draco hurried over to Pansy, and said 'Expelliarmus!' The paper was lifted from her hands, and into Draco's posession.
'What did you do that for?!' Pansy shrieked. Draco brought the paper over to Harry and Ron.
'Do these odd words mean anything to you?' he asked slyly. Harry looked down at the paper. There were seven odd names on it. It said:
Monday-Horn Whiskers
Tuesday-Boggart's Sweater
Wednesday-Wind Socket
Thursday-Blooberworm
Friday-Skitter-bee
Saturday-Bursted Blox
and Sunday-Whinky-plow
'Hey!' Ron and Harry said together, speechlessly. 'These are the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for the whole week!'
'Really? Well, those might be useful,' Draco said sarcastically. 'Basically, what I'm guessing Pansy did was record all of this weeks' passwords, snuck into Gryffindor Tower when no one else was there, used a spell to open your trunk, and used your Invisibility Cloak to do the curse on Her-I mean Granger.'
'And how do you know all this without actually being involved?' Harry said suspiciously.
'Dumbledore believes that I'm innocent-even ask him!' Draco snapped vigorously. 'Anyway, I have to go. I hope this is of some help to you, since your Granger's friend and all. Insult ya later!' and he took off.
*
Draco was on his way to Slytherin common room, when Sir Cadogan (Harry, Ron and Hermione had an enounter with this painting of a mental Knight before in their third-year) stopped him.
'Halt-hic! Ist thou trying to make a break from the enemy force?' Sir Cadogan asked. By the tone in his voice, and the way he was slouching on his horse, he was definitely drunk.
'Er-who are you?' Draco asked.
'I?! I thinks not! The real question lay still; who are you?' he said merrily.
'Shuddup!' Draco muttered, and a beam of light bounced out of his wand and hit Sir Cadogan. It was a silencing spell.
Draco quickly raced to his common room, said 'Arvortave,' (the password) to the portrait outside the common room, and went up the staircase to his dormitory.
He quietly, but quickly, whipped out his Herbology book, and looked for a spell for conjuring sparkling white roses.
'Ah!' he said when he had found one. He took out his wand, pointed it at a vase (what Muggles apparently used to hydrate plants), and said, 'Growthermyteccine!' A few roses sprouted out of the vase, and Draco quickly sprinted up a few flights of stairs to get to the Hospital Wing.
'Hermione!' said Draco when he saw her.
'Oh! Hi, Draco!' she beamed.
'I brought you something...' he said, and brought out the roses from behind his back.
'Oh, wow! They're beautiful...' Hermione said. She sniffed them-they smelt like raspberry-scented perfume. 'Urgh, I wish I could get out of here...Have you any idea how annoying it is to have Madam Pomfrey checking in on me once an hour?? She won't let me do anything to occupy myself!'
'It's a shame,' Draco said sympathetically, and patted her hand. 'Anything I can do?'
'Yes, er-' she lowered her voice to no more than a whisper. 'Bring me my homework from today, so I can work on it.'
'Are you nuts?!' Draco asked. 'You need to rest, not do homework!'
'But I'll fall behind! Pleeeeeeeeease?' Hermione pouted.
'Oh geez! Fine, fine! Don't blame me if you tire yourself out, though...I think I have all the homework written down in my dormitory. I'll go get it,' he said.
On the way to his dormitory, however, he met Crabbe and Goyle; they usually hung around Draco whenever he went, before he had friends, of course.
'Uh-hey, Malfoy,' said Goyle. 'Uh-want us to come with?'
'No!' shouted Draco. 'I'm in a hurry!' He tried to rush past them, but they were so muscular, they just grabbed him by the shoulders to hold him back. 'Let me go this instant!'
'Not until you spill the beans, Malfoy,' sneered Crabbe. 'You've been acting weird lately; tell us WHY right NOW!'
'Hm, let me see here...' Malfoy pretended to be thinking, when really he grabbed his wand. 'Serpenta!' Two large snakes shot out from his wand, and wrapped themselves around Crabbe and Goyle, as they fell to the ground.
Draco used this opportunity to run into his Head Boy dormitory, which led into the common room of Slytherin.
In his trunk lay his spellbooks, dress robes, and ingredients for charms and potions. Then lay a book, in which he recorded all of his homework. He ripped out the sheet that had today's homework on it, and went back to Hermione.
'OK, this is your homework; Flitwick wants a Thinning Charm-it makes your hair nice and thin. Snape wants a Setting Potion-it changes the setting around you. Sprout wants you to manage some teenage croco-plants-nasty lil' buggers they are; one bit me today! And for Arithmancy class, all you have to do is explain why Muggles were so afraid of magic in the 16th century, and explain how they tried to banish witches and wizards,' Draco said, dumping a pile of books on her bedside table.
'Are they all due by tomorrow?' Hermione asked.
'No, of course not! The potion is to be finished by tomorrow, yes, but everything else isn't due until Monday,' he said. 'And if you don't finish everything by their due-dates, I'm sure the professor's will understand.'
'Thanks for bringing me the work,' smiled Hermione. 'I'll work on it right away. By the way, did you give the cloak back to Harry?'
'Yeah, 'course I did,' Draco said. 'Don't worry. Everything is under control. Oh! I almost forgot; I moved all of your stuff into your new room. Your dormitory is on the right, and there's a portrait in which you can enter Gryffindor common room.'
'Wow, thanks a lot,' she said. 'But really, I could have done it tomorrow by myself.'
'Nonsense! I won't have it,' he insisted. 'Well, I better go-some of the Professors are going to be wondering why I'm not in my common room by now...'
'OK, well, I'll be in class tomorrow, so no worries, right?'
'Right. Well, g'night!' Draco gave her a quick hug, then left.
The Buggling Curse
The first week back at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione spent most of their time fertalizing jabbergrass for Saddle-Backed Windairia's; golden creatures which had the head and body of a donkey, the tail of a tiger, and wings of a very large Hawk.
'D'you think Hedwig's all right?' Harry asked one evening in the Gryffindor common room. 'I haven't seen her since she delivered the letter from Sirius.'
'I'm sure you'll see her soon,' Hermione said matter-of-factly.
'Yeah, I suppose,' Harry agreed.
*
Next morning, when all of Gryffindor house were going down to breakfast, Neville was looking more pale and frightened than usual.
'Something the matter, Neville?' Hermione asked worriedly.
'N-n-no!' he stammered quickly.
'What's with him?' Ron asked Harry once they sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.
'Dunno...' he replied, when a rather large swoop of owls flew in; Hedwig being one of them.
She swooped down with a rather thick envelope, and placed it right in Harry's porriage.
'Gee, thanks,' Harry grumbled.
'Who's it from, Harry?' Hermione and Ron both asked anxiously.
'It's from Wood!' Harry answered excitedly. Oliver Wood used to be the Keeper for the Gryffindor house Quidditch team. But he graduated about a year and a half ago.
Dear Harry,
Hiya! Oliver Wood here. How are you?
I hope you get this letter; your owl seems pretty
Dependable. Anyway, I'll cut to the chase;
You know Katie Bell, correct? Well, I need you
To give her a message; tell her to STOP BUGGING
ME WITH HER BLOODY LOVE LETTERS! Also,
Tell her that (no offence, of course) she's not my type!
I get enough love letters as it is...(Harry sniggered uncontrollably at this remark) Anyways, keep on
Flyin' as well as you did when I was there with ya!
Take Care,
Oliver Wood
'Miss Granger! A word, if I may,' said Professor McGonagall incredudously.
'Yes, Professor?' Hermione questioned puzzledly.
'In my office, actually,' Professor McGonagall said. 'Follow me. Mr Malfoy, if you would do the same...' she added.
Draco and Hermione walked behind McGonagall all the way to her office.
'Sit down, please,' Professor McGonagall said quietly. Hermione said down in a leather armchair, that was next to another on which Draco sat.
'Is something wrong, Professor?' they both asked timidly.
'Well, it's like this,' she explained, 'you're both the top students in your houses. I know that technically, no one is allowed to be Head Boy or Girl until their final year at Hogwarts; however, I have talked it over with Professor Dumbledore, and we agreed to appoint you Head Boy and Girl none the same.'
Hermione and Draco gaped at her. 'Are you serious?!' they asked wide-eyed.
'Yes, Malfoy, Granger, I am quite serious indeed,' she retorted. 'You'll be taken to your new rooms in one hour. I suggest you use this time to pack your things.'
Hermione and Draco looked at each other, and nodded, both still unbelieveably excited about this change in events.
'I expect you back here in one hour. Is that understood by both of you?'
'Yes, Professor,' they said anxiously.
'That is all. You may go back to your common rooms now.'
Both of them got up, and left the room, walking quickly into an empty classroom to talk to each other.
'Can you believe it?!' Hermione asked shrilly.
'I know!' Draco grinned excitedly. Hermione suddenly went pale, and grabbed her chest; she could barely breathe. 'Hey...are you OK?'
Hermione fell onto her knees with shock, and tears welted out of her eyes.
'Hermione!' Draco gasped, dropping to the ground to see what was wrong, but she couldn't talk. With her last ounce of strength, Hermione pulled out her wand and spelt out the words: "Buggling Curse," before she passed out.
*
When Hermione awoke, she was in the Hospital Wing.
'Really, Mr Malfoy, I insist that you leave her to rest!' said Madam Pomfrey. 'Oh! You're awake!'
'How-long-was-I-unconscious?' Hermione whispered; she was unable to speak any louder than that.
'You were out for seven hours,' answered Draco. He looked as though he were about to pass out of shock. 'Please, try not to talk.'
'Uhn...my chest...' Hermione whimpered. Dumbledore came into the room with a glance at Hermione, then to Draco, and finally, to Madam Pomfrey.
'Poppy, if I may borrow Mr Malfoy, please...' he said softly. Draco followed Dumbledore out of the room, and into the still halls. 'Now, Mr Malfoy, care to tell me what happened?'
'Well, Hermione and I were in an empty classroom, discussing our luck in being Head Boy and Girl, when suddenly, she just sort of held her chest, and collapsed on the ground,' Draco said awkwardly.
'Well, Mr Malfoy,' Dumbledore said slowly, 'I daresay, if you were the only other person in the room at the time, tell me, who else could have performed the curse on Miss Granger?'
'I-' he hesitated, then looked down at the floor. 'I don't know, sir. All I can give you is my word that I didn't do it.' Expecting the worst, Draco was definitely surprised at Dumbledore's next words.
'I believe you,' Dumbledore said calmly. 'But I need to know who did to the curse. If you have any leads, please tell me right away.'
'Yes, sir.'
'Oh, and, by the way, Mr Malfoy,' Dumbledore said abruptly, 'I believe you dropped something.' Draco looked beside himself, and noticed a cloak was laying on the ground.
'Oh, but...that's not mine,' Draco frowned.
'Well then, I suggest you ask Miss Granger. She very well may know,' Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. 'I shall be in my office if you need me. Good day to you!'
When Dumbledore had left, Draco picked the cloak up off the ground, and walked over to Hermione, who was laying down, staring up at the ceiling mindlessly, until she noticed Draco coming towards her, in which then she jerked her head in his direction.
'Wh-'
'D'you know who this belongs to?' he asked uncertainly, apparently worried if this question would somehow offend her or not. He handed her the cloak, and stared down at her, awaiting her reply.
'Oh, dear...Not good...' was all Hermione could manage to say. 'It-er-'
'Hermione, Honny,' Draco said soothingly, placing a hand on hers, 'you can tell me. I will not tell a single living soul; I promise.'
'Well, OK....but we have to be careful so no one overhears us, 'cos eavesdropping is very easily done these days,' she said in a voice that she hoped was fairly casual.
Draco shut the curtains around her bed. 'OK, now can you please tell me, Hermie?'
She looked up into his caring, love-filled eyes; those big grey pools that were once so cold and vicious, now only showing his love for her, and she suddenly couldn't help but tell him the truth.
'OK, it's...Harry's-'
'What?! But how could he get past us without us noticing him?!' Draco whispered loudly.
'You didn't let me finish!' she said. 'It's Harry's invisibility cloak!'
'Oh...' said Draco, now letting all of the pieces fall into place. 'But why would he hurt you? He's one of your best friends!'
'Unless he was framed!' said Hermione abruptly.
'Yeah, I suppose it's entirely possible. Who'd frame him, though?' Draco inquired.
'Let's ask him that,' Hermione said.
*
'Harry!' Ron called. They were currently climbing the winding staircase, to the seventh level, in which they were supposed to be in Divination.
'What?' Harry asked. 'This'd better be important, or we're going to be late!'
'Hermione! She's-in-the-Hospital-Wing-!' he panted.
'What?!' Harry yelled. 'Why? When??'
'This morning,' Ron whispered when he had finally caught his breath. 'Someone cast the Buggling Curse on her!'
'No way! Who?' Harry asked worriedly. 'Man oh man, is she OK? We should go visit her.'
'Yeah, do you think Professor Trelawney would mind? Her class is only a half hour today anyway,' Ron said. 'Besides, I hate that stupid old bat...'
'Let's just go see Hermione,' Harry said.
When they got there, Hermione was staring ahead of herself into space.
'Um...Hermione?' Harry asked. 'You OK?'
'Oh! Harry, Ron!' Hermione said loudly. 'Didn't notice you there...Sorry...'
'That's OK. How are you doing?' asked Ron sympathetically. 'We heard about you...well...being hit with the Buggling curse.'
'Oh, yeah.....That...Well, I get out of here tomorrow morning,' said Hermione in a depressed tone. 'What time is it?'
'It's-er-a quarter to five,' said Harry, checking his watch. 'So how are you feeling, though? Is your breathing normal and everything?'
'Please, it's not like I had a heart attack! I'm fine,' she insisted. 'Hey! Did you hear? Professor McGonagall made me Head Girl!'
'Seriously?! Congratulations, Hermione!' Harry and Ron said. 'Oh-we gotta go. Dinner's about to start. Sorry....Want us to bring you any dessert?'
'No, that's OK,' said Hermione softly. 'I'm not hungry much.'
'Well...OK, if you're sure,' said Harry. 'Let us know if you need anything, though. We'll come as soon as we can.'
'Thanks,' Hermione whispered.
'Oh! By the way, who is Head Boy?' Ron asked excitedly. 'I hope it's Harry!'
'Please, if it were me, I would have found out by now,' said Harry hurriedly.
'It's Malfoy,' said Hermione in what she hoped was a disgusted tone. 'Anyway, you guys can go down to dinner-I'll be fine. Don't worry about me.'
'Maybe we should just stay a little-'
'GO!' she said.
*
'Pass me a chicken leg, would'ja?' Ron asked at dinner. 'I am so starved, I could eat a Hippogriff or a Grindylow!'
'Potter, Weasley,' said a voice that they need not turn around in order to recognise, 'I need to talk to you about something.'
'And what would that be, Malfoy?' Harry spat.
'I found an-er-cloak today, when I was talking with Professor Dumbledor,' said Malfoy slowly. 'Granger seems to think it belongs to you.'
Harry picked up the cloak, and examined it.
'You stole it, slimebag!' Harry yelled, loud enough to attract some attention to their table.
'Please; if I stole it, why would I be giving it back?' Malfoy said, sniggering at the way Harry accused him of taking it right away.
'He's got a point there,' said Ron. 'But Malfoy, how did it just happen to fall into your posession?'
'I found it on the ground!' Malfoy snapped. 'Is that so hard to believe?'
'I believe you, Dracie-poo,' said a girl, approaching Malfoy from behind.
'Pansy, why don't you just leave me alone!?' Malfoy shouted at her.
'Sheesh! You don't have to act like you have a bug stuck up your ass,' Pansy remarked.
'Pansy, one more word out of your stupid mouth, and you'll be joining Granger up in the Hospital Wing!' Draco said. Pansy quickly back away.
'Anyway, like I was saying before, I found it on the ground, and Dumbledore suggested asking Granger for help, and, even though I hate having to tell you that I've worked with a Mudblood, she told me it was yours, Potter,' said Malfoy. 'Now, care to tell me why it would be there?'
'Er-I honestly don't know,' said Harry truthfully. 'It was locked away in my trunk all day!'
'Well, somebody's up to no good, then....' Ron murmered to Harry. 'Are you sure you left it there?'
'Of course I'm sure,' Harry whispered. Then he turned his attention back towards Malfoy, and smiled. 'Why don't you ask your friend, Pansy, where she was when the attack happened?'
'Oh, that idiot? Nah...She couldn't have-' but Malfoy stopped, and saw Pansy looking at a sheet of paper. 'I'll be back in a minute.' Draco hurried over to Pansy, and said 'Expelliarmus!' The paper was lifted from her hands, and into Draco's posession.
'What did you do that for?!' Pansy shrieked. Draco brought the paper over to Harry and Ron.
'Do these odd words mean anything to you?' he asked slyly. Harry looked down at the paper. There were seven odd names on it. It said:
Monday-Horn Whiskers
Tuesday-Boggart's Sweater
Wednesday-Wind Socket
Thursday-Blooberworm
Friday-Skitter-bee
Saturday-Bursted Blox
and Sunday-Whinky-plow
'Hey!' Ron and Harry said together, speechlessly. 'These are the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for the whole week!'
'Really? Well, those might be useful,' Draco said sarcastically. 'Basically, what I'm guessing Pansy did was record all of this weeks' passwords, snuck into Gryffindor Tower when no one else was there, used a spell to open your trunk, and used your Invisibility Cloak to do the curse on Her-I mean Granger.'
'And how do you know all this without actually being involved?' Harry said suspiciously.
'Dumbledore believes that I'm innocent-even ask him!' Draco snapped vigorously. 'Anyway, I have to go. I hope this is of some help to you, since your Granger's friend and all. Insult ya later!' and he took off.
*
Draco was on his way to Slytherin common room, when Sir Cadogan (Harry, Ron and Hermione had an enounter with this painting of a mental Knight before in their third-year) stopped him.
'Halt-hic! Ist thou trying to make a break from the enemy force?' Sir Cadogan asked. By the tone in his voice, and the way he was slouching on his horse, he was definitely drunk.
'Er-who are you?' Draco asked.
'I?! I thinks not! The real question lay still; who are you?' he said merrily.
'Shuddup!' Draco muttered, and a beam of light bounced out of his wand and hit Sir Cadogan. It was a silencing spell.
Draco quickly raced to his common room, said 'Arvortave,' (the password) to the portrait outside the common room, and went up the staircase to his dormitory.
He quietly, but quickly, whipped out his Herbology book, and looked for a spell for conjuring sparkling white roses.
'Ah!' he said when he had found one. He took out his wand, pointed it at a vase (what Muggles apparently used to hydrate plants), and said, 'Growthermyteccine!' A few roses sprouted out of the vase, and Draco quickly sprinted up a few flights of stairs to get to the Hospital Wing.
'Hermione!' said Draco when he saw her.
'Oh! Hi, Draco!' she beamed.
'I brought you something...' he said, and brought out the roses from behind his back.
'Oh, wow! They're beautiful...' Hermione said. She sniffed them-they smelt like raspberry-scented perfume. 'Urgh, I wish I could get out of here...Have you any idea how annoying it is to have Madam Pomfrey checking in on me once an hour?? She won't let me do anything to occupy myself!'
'It's a shame,' Draco said sympathetically, and patted her hand. 'Anything I can do?'
'Yes, er-' she lowered her voice to no more than a whisper. 'Bring me my homework from today, so I can work on it.'
'Are you nuts?!' Draco asked. 'You need to rest, not do homework!'
'But I'll fall behind! Pleeeeeeeeease?' Hermione pouted.
'Oh geez! Fine, fine! Don't blame me if you tire yourself out, though...I think I have all the homework written down in my dormitory. I'll go get it,' he said.
On the way to his dormitory, however, he met Crabbe and Goyle; they usually hung around Draco whenever he went, before he had friends, of course.
'Uh-hey, Malfoy,' said Goyle. 'Uh-want us to come with?'
'No!' shouted Draco. 'I'm in a hurry!' He tried to rush past them, but they were so muscular, they just grabbed him by the shoulders to hold him back. 'Let me go this instant!'
'Not until you spill the beans, Malfoy,' sneered Crabbe. 'You've been acting weird lately; tell us WHY right NOW!'
'Hm, let me see here...' Malfoy pretended to be thinking, when really he grabbed his wand. 'Serpenta!' Two large snakes shot out from his wand, and wrapped themselves around Crabbe and Goyle, as they fell to the ground.
Draco used this opportunity to run into his Head Boy dormitory, which led into the common room of Slytherin.
In his trunk lay his spellbooks, dress robes, and ingredients for charms and potions. Then lay a book, in which he recorded all of his homework. He ripped out the sheet that had today's homework on it, and went back to Hermione.
'OK, this is your homework; Flitwick wants a Thinning Charm-it makes your hair nice and thin. Snape wants a Setting Potion-it changes the setting around you. Sprout wants you to manage some teenage croco-plants-nasty lil' buggers they are; one bit me today! And for Arithmancy class, all you have to do is explain why Muggles were so afraid of magic in the 16th century, and explain how they tried to banish witches and wizards,' Draco said, dumping a pile of books on her bedside table.
'Are they all due by tomorrow?' Hermione asked.
'No, of course not! The potion is to be finished by tomorrow, yes, but everything else isn't due until Monday,' he said. 'And if you don't finish everything by their due-dates, I'm sure the professor's will understand.'
'Thanks for bringing me the work,' smiled Hermione. 'I'll work on it right away. By the way, did you give the cloak back to Harry?'
'Yeah, 'course I did,' Draco said. 'Don't worry. Everything is under control. Oh! I almost forgot; I moved all of your stuff into your new room. Your dormitory is on the right, and there's a portrait in which you can enter Gryffindor common room.'
'Wow, thanks a lot,' she said. 'But really, I could have done it tomorrow by myself.'
'Nonsense! I won't have it,' he insisted. 'Well, I better go-some of the Professors are going to be wondering why I'm not in my common room by now...'
'OK, well, I'll be in class tomorrow, so no worries, right?'
'Right. Well, g'night!' Draco gave her a quick hug, then left.