Dinner was a silent meal. Neville was right across the table from Ron and averted his eyes carefully from Ron's face. Ron didn't know what to do and concentrated as hard as he could on his plate of food.
Malfoy walked by just after Harry had finished eating. Harry got up and went to follow him. When they reached just outside the Hall doors, Malfoy turned to Harry and said, "Follow me into the Slytherin common room for a minute, will you?" Harry nodded and followed Malfoy again.
"Parseltongue," he told the password to the frowning lady and she swung forwards. Harry and Malfoy climbed into the hole Malfoy first. When Harry stepped into the room a couple of people looked up and frowned but didn't say anything since he was with Malfoy. Malfoy motioned for Harry to follow him into a corner of the room.
"O.K, Malfoy, what's this all about?" Harry asked. "Make it quick, Snape gave us a heap of Potions homework."
"This-Brother of Fate thing-well..." Malfoy seemed almost embarrassed.
"Yes?" Harry pressed.
"It's just too freaky! If Father found out I can tell you my chances of ever being a Death Eater-uh-oh," Malfoy realized his boo-boo too late. Harry had had his suspicions confirmed.
"It's alright, I knew that a long time ago," Harry reassured him.
"Why don't you try hanging with me, Crabbe and Goyle tomorrow?" Malfoy suggested.
Harry was about to call him mad but decided that would be rude. "We'll see," was his evasive answer. "See you tomorrow Malfoy." With that he turned and left. He made his way back to the common room quickly.
"No. I mean, honestly. Malfoy asked you to hang with him tomorrow?" Ron was incredulous. " You didn't say yes, did you?"
"I almost did... I just said we'll see. I didn't say yes. But..."
"You aren't thinking of doing it, are you?"
"Heck, I think I can stand it for one day. Besides, aren't you curious about what on earth they do all day besides look beautiful?" Ron sniggered.
"You got a point there. I guess it isn't that bad. But just don't sit next to them in potions. Then I'll have to partner-ugh-Goyle."
"OK." They sat down and began on their Charms homework. They each had to find two charms they hadn't learnt before and write a 20-inch essay on each of them.
*
When they woke up the next day, Harry found a small yellowish thing sitting on his bedside table and humming to itself.
"Hey, Ron! Got any idea what on earth this thing is?" he tossed it to Ron.
"Yeah, it's a Puffskein. Cute but they like sucking your bogies," Ron replied.
"I guess we can leave it alone. Let's get dressed and grab some breakfast. I'll see you at dinner tonight."
"OK."
Luckily, Harry had Quidditch practice that morning and the new captain, Lilian Sim, wouldn't let him miss it so he was let off Malfoy for a few hours. He circled the pitch looking for the Snitch and caught it after 10 minutes' hard searching. That morning Lilian's new training technique was to change roles. Harry had to be a Beater, Alicia was the Seeker, George had to be the Keeper and so on. Lilian herself was a fellow Beater. After a few minutes it soon became clear this was not a good technique to use, especially when Alicia got a black eye from a stray Bludger and George had let the Quaffle hit him five times as he hadn't seen it. Lilian had the Keepers toss Quaffles back and forth and practice their passing techniques and try to get the Quaffle past her ( she tried the Starfish with Stick technique and nearly fell off her broom) while George and Fred kept the Bludgers away. Harry was kept busy looking for the Snitch in all of this. When practice was finally over, Harry
changed out of his sweaty robe and went for Care of Magical Creatures class.
"I got some Billywigs for yeh today," Hagrid greeted his class. "These," he continued, setting a large box down on the ground of the field they were standing in, "come all the way from Australia."
"Here, each of yeh c'mere and get a Billywig." Hagrid opened the box and gave a Billywig to each student.
"Let them sting yeh. It won't hurt!" he added quickly, seeing the look on Neville's face. "It'll be fun."
One by one the students tried to make the poor Billywigs sting. Crabbe let go of his and had to catch it again. Malfoy and Harry each grabbed the other's Billywig and stuck the stings into each other. The startled Billywigs flew away and Malfoy found himself floating in the air, feeling rather dizzy. After a while he sank down to the ground as did the other students except Neville. He floated persistently and refused to come down however he was pulled. Finally Hagrid had to tie a string to his leg and lead him to see Madam Pomfrey straightaway.
"Who knew yeh'd be allergic to the little fellers?" Hagrid muttered as he pulled poor Neville after him. Malfoy sniggered but Harry wisely said nothing as Neville was led away. The sweaty-faced Crabbe just looked blank. He hadn't been able to enjoy the levitation and dizziness of the Billywig stings. Malfoy burst out laughing once Hagrid was out of earshot.
"Did you see that Longbottom?" Malfoy was hysterical. "Having to be led away on a string!"
"Malfoy, he was allergic," Harry interjected. Malfoy looked at Harry in amazement. He had expected Harry to laugh along with him. Crabbe and Goyle tried to look amazed too but the effort was too much for them.
"Yeah," Seamus Dean added. Hermione nodded.
Malfoy looked shocked. He passed on the subject wisely and sneered at the Billywigs instead, which were still buzzing around the place.
"You can get the same stuff from Fizzing Whizzbees too. No need of these," he grabbed a Billywig and threw it into a nearby bush.
The bell rang out from the castle just then. The students walked back to the castle. Next would be Charms class. They never got to Charms though.
Just then there was a brilliant flash of green light from Dumbledore's office and a high, cold cruel laugh. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, then dropped their bags and ran as fast as they could to Dumbledore's office, praying that the worst had not happened.
I love a good cliff-hanger! ( I think we all know what happened to Dumbledore though) Review please! And if you already know what happened, don't worry, Dumbledore won't stay dead for long. Dang! I ruined the surprise )
Malfoy walked by just after Harry had finished eating. Harry got up and went to follow him. When they reached just outside the Hall doors, Malfoy turned to Harry and said, "Follow me into the Slytherin common room for a minute, will you?" Harry nodded and followed Malfoy again.
"Parseltongue," he told the password to the frowning lady and she swung forwards. Harry and Malfoy climbed into the hole Malfoy first. When Harry stepped into the room a couple of people looked up and frowned but didn't say anything since he was with Malfoy. Malfoy motioned for Harry to follow him into a corner of the room.
"O.K, Malfoy, what's this all about?" Harry asked. "Make it quick, Snape gave us a heap of Potions homework."
"This-Brother of Fate thing-well..." Malfoy seemed almost embarrassed.
"Yes?" Harry pressed.
"It's just too freaky! If Father found out I can tell you my chances of ever being a Death Eater-uh-oh," Malfoy realized his boo-boo too late. Harry had had his suspicions confirmed.
"It's alright, I knew that a long time ago," Harry reassured him.
"Why don't you try hanging with me, Crabbe and Goyle tomorrow?" Malfoy suggested.
Harry was about to call him mad but decided that would be rude. "We'll see," was his evasive answer. "See you tomorrow Malfoy." With that he turned and left. He made his way back to the common room quickly.
"No. I mean, honestly. Malfoy asked you to hang with him tomorrow?" Ron was incredulous. " You didn't say yes, did you?"
"I almost did... I just said we'll see. I didn't say yes. But..."
"You aren't thinking of doing it, are you?"
"Heck, I think I can stand it for one day. Besides, aren't you curious about what on earth they do all day besides look beautiful?" Ron sniggered.
"You got a point there. I guess it isn't that bad. But just don't sit next to them in potions. Then I'll have to partner-ugh-Goyle."
"OK." They sat down and began on their Charms homework. They each had to find two charms they hadn't learnt before and write a 20-inch essay on each of them.
*
When they woke up the next day, Harry found a small yellowish thing sitting on his bedside table and humming to itself.
"Hey, Ron! Got any idea what on earth this thing is?" he tossed it to Ron.
"Yeah, it's a Puffskein. Cute but they like sucking your bogies," Ron replied.
"I guess we can leave it alone. Let's get dressed and grab some breakfast. I'll see you at dinner tonight."
"OK."
Luckily, Harry had Quidditch practice that morning and the new captain, Lilian Sim, wouldn't let him miss it so he was let off Malfoy for a few hours. He circled the pitch looking for the Snitch and caught it after 10 minutes' hard searching. That morning Lilian's new training technique was to change roles. Harry had to be a Beater, Alicia was the Seeker, George had to be the Keeper and so on. Lilian herself was a fellow Beater. After a few minutes it soon became clear this was not a good technique to use, especially when Alicia got a black eye from a stray Bludger and George had let the Quaffle hit him five times as he hadn't seen it. Lilian had the Keepers toss Quaffles back and forth and practice their passing techniques and try to get the Quaffle past her ( she tried the Starfish with Stick technique and nearly fell off her broom) while George and Fred kept the Bludgers away. Harry was kept busy looking for the Snitch in all of this. When practice was finally over, Harry
changed out of his sweaty robe and went for Care of Magical Creatures class.
"I got some Billywigs for yeh today," Hagrid greeted his class. "These," he continued, setting a large box down on the ground of the field they were standing in, "come all the way from Australia."
"Here, each of yeh c'mere and get a Billywig." Hagrid opened the box and gave a Billywig to each student.
"Let them sting yeh. It won't hurt!" he added quickly, seeing the look on Neville's face. "It'll be fun."
One by one the students tried to make the poor Billywigs sting. Crabbe let go of his and had to catch it again. Malfoy and Harry each grabbed the other's Billywig and stuck the stings into each other. The startled Billywigs flew away and Malfoy found himself floating in the air, feeling rather dizzy. After a while he sank down to the ground as did the other students except Neville. He floated persistently and refused to come down however he was pulled. Finally Hagrid had to tie a string to his leg and lead him to see Madam Pomfrey straightaway.
"Who knew yeh'd be allergic to the little fellers?" Hagrid muttered as he pulled poor Neville after him. Malfoy sniggered but Harry wisely said nothing as Neville was led away. The sweaty-faced Crabbe just looked blank. He hadn't been able to enjoy the levitation and dizziness of the Billywig stings. Malfoy burst out laughing once Hagrid was out of earshot.
"Did you see that Longbottom?" Malfoy was hysterical. "Having to be led away on a string!"
"Malfoy, he was allergic," Harry interjected. Malfoy looked at Harry in amazement. He had expected Harry to laugh along with him. Crabbe and Goyle tried to look amazed too but the effort was too much for them.
"Yeah," Seamus Dean added. Hermione nodded.
Malfoy looked shocked. He passed on the subject wisely and sneered at the Billywigs instead, which were still buzzing around the place.
"You can get the same stuff from Fizzing Whizzbees too. No need of these," he grabbed a Billywig and threw it into a nearby bush.
The bell rang out from the castle just then. The students walked back to the castle. Next would be Charms class. They never got to Charms though.
Just then there was a brilliant flash of green light from Dumbledore's office and a high, cold cruel laugh. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, then dropped their bags and ran as fast as they could to Dumbledore's office, praying that the worst had not happened.
I love a good cliff-hanger! ( I think we all know what happened to Dumbledore though) Review please! And if you already know what happened, don't worry, Dumbledore won't stay dead for long. Dang! I ruined the surprise )