CHAPTER SIX- The Second Letter
Monday came around and Peggy was let out of the hospital. She still had bandages and the sling but was otherwise okay.
"I have a feeling I'll be having nasty headaches for a while." She laughed at breakfast.
"What kind of owl is that?" Hermione asked as the mail came and the black owl landed in front of Amy. It wasn't entirely black. There was a bit of white over its eyes, going down and meeting above its beak, sweeping under its eyes. More white near the bottom of its face and then a yellow underbreast. It stood about 20 inches tall.
"Spectacled Owl." Amy said, stroking its yellow and black breast. "Her name is Trixie."
"Oh no." Ron moaned as Pig flopped in mid-air and crashed into his breakfast. The package was now covered with eggs and mashed bits of potatoes. Pig seemed pleased with himself and began eating as Ron untied the package that weighed three times as Pig.
Harry laughed and looked at the letter Hedwig had delivered. It was from Sirius Black. A different owl delivered the Daily Prophet and a large brown barn owl delivered a second letter. Harry set the Daily Prophet and second letter aside and read the letter from Sirius, his godfather and also convicted murderer of 13 people. But Sirius was innocent.
Dear Harry,
How've you been doing? I'm fine. Sorry I haven't had a chance to write before this but I've been busy. You know, with Voldemort's return. As you know (but might not remember) I'm at Remus's house. When I'm finished, Remus wants to write something. Right now he's burning breakfast.
With this Harry laughed. He looked around to make sure no one was watching then continued to read.
I hope you enjoyed the watch I sent you for your birthday.
Harry had the watch on his wrist at that very moment. It was a Wizarding watch and very interesting. The inside was blank, no hands or numbers or anything. It didn't tell him the time unless he wanted to know. Then it would tell him and also tell him if he's going to be late for something, or if he has enough time to sleep in, ect;
How's Hermione and Ron? Tell them I said hi. I'll be around Hogsmeade later this month. There's a Hogsmeade trip on the 23rd, if you want to see me I'll be at the cave. See you then!
Sirius
With this Sirius's letter ended and Remus's begun.
Hey Harry,
Don't have much time to write. Hope you like the cards. Tell Ron and Hermione I said hi. See you soon!
Remus
Harry folded the letter up and stuck it inside his robes. He picked up the second letter when the last words of Remus popped in his head. 'See you soon'? Harry shrugged this off and looked down and nearly gasped. The envelope was dusky blue with a print of a lake and full moon. On the other side was neat printing:
From the desk of J. Potter
Harry stared at the letter in fear. J. Potter was writing him again.
"Harry?" Hermione asked as Harry began trembling slightly.
"Y-yes?" Harry looked up.
"Are you all right?" She asked.
"Oh uh. yeah. I uh." Harry stuck the letter in his bookbag and stared down at his breakfast, thinking. J. Potter.
Who on earth was J. Potter? Well, he'd find out later.
Harry opened the Daily Prophet and slowly began reading but the words didn't sink in.
***
The first class was Transfiguration and McGonagall seemed to be in a very, very happy mood.
"Good morning class." She sighed happily.
"Good morning, Professor." Some of the students replied. They learned about turning logs into dogs and McGonagall cut off earlier then normal.
"Now before you all go I have an announcement." She said, face glowing with happiness. "Due to overwhelming popularity of the Yule Ball." She said, fidgeting with her hat. "the staff has decided to. do some more balls. Dances. Those things." She said. There was immediate whispers. Most the girls seemed to be giggling. "The first one, the Fall Ball, will take place September 30th."
Now the class was definitely whispering. All the girls were giggling and quite a few boys turned to look at Amy and Rose. Rose took advantage of this to toss her curls back and flash her pearly whites. Amy, however, turned a deep red and hid her face behind a book.
"Attention. please pay attention." Everyone turned back to face McGonagall again but she was smiling and her eyes sparkled. "There will be a feast that starts at six-thirty, then the music and dancing at seven. There is a student committee to help and two of you have been elected to part of it." She said and there were whispers again "Miss Peggy Morlins and Miss Amy Robinson." She said. The two girls in question looked up. "You were on the dance committees back at your old school, right?" She asked.
"Yes Professor." They both chorused.
"Good. There are four students from each year, Fourth year and up. Which is what the dance is. For Fourth years and up. Class dismissed. Miss Morlins and Miss Robinson, please stay back."
Everyone but Amy and Peggy left. Harry took the longest and was the last of them to leave. As soon as he stepped out of class he was surrounded by ten or eleven girls, only a few whom he knew.
"Hi Harry." They all said.
"Um, hi." Harry said, confused and also backed up against the wall. He spotted Ron down the corridor, smirking. The next thing he knew he was being bombarded by names from the girls. "I, uh, hate to. sound mean or anything but I do have to get to Healing class." Harry said.
"Oh we'll escort you." Said about half of them. Harry groaned on the inside and headed towards Healing, still surrounded by the girls.
"Did you get the announcement, Harry?" Giggled a Fourth year Ravenclaw.
"Uh, what announcement?" Harry asked.
"The dance!" Exclaimed a Sixth year Hufflepuff.
"Oh. the dance."
"Excuse me, ladies- best friend coming through." Ron somehow pushed his way into the middle. "Harry what's all th. all um. uh." He trailed off, seeing a couple of girls smiling at him and battering their eyelashes. "Uh what.uh." Ron now lost his train of thought.
"Hi, Ron." Giggled a Fourth year Hufflepuff. Harry realized about four more girls had joined the crowd.
"Uh, hi." Ron said, going a brilliant shade of red. He suddenly got a coughing fit. At this, a bunch of the girls giggled which caused Ron to go redder.
"Okay, move it. You all have classes to go to! Go on!" Hermione pushed her way through, face scowling.
"Bye Harry! Bye Ron!" All the girls chorused as they left.
"Thanks Hermione. I thought I was going to die of heatstroke." Ron said but Hermione continued scowling.
"Honestly, the way some girls act." She huffed as they walked to class.
"What did they want?" Harry asked.
"Oh honestly Harry! They wanted you to go to the dance with them."
"What, all of them?" Harry asked.
"Ofcourse."
"What about that one who was smiling at me?" Ron asked.
Hermione groaned loudly. "Boys!" She snapped and stormed ahead.
"What's with her?" Harry asked.
Ron just scowled and shrugged.
"Hi guys." Amy and Peggy appeared.
"Hi. so, what are you going to do about the dance?" Ron asked.
"I'm on the music committee." Peggy said with a grin.
"And I'm on the decorating committee." Amy said. "There's a meeting tonight at 6:30." She added, tucking back some hair.
"Who are the other fifth years?" Harry asked.
"Um. Terry Boots of Ravenclaw and Draco Malfoy of Slytherin." Peggy said.
"What?! Malfoy is on the committee?" Harry demanded.
"Oh great, there's probably going to be monsters trained to eat Gryffindors." Ron grumbled.
"Malfoy's an all right guy." Peggy said, getting stares from the boys.
'What? Okay, you're a nutso. Stay away from me." Ron said.
"I'm partners with him in this class, remember?" Peggy asked as they walked into the Healing classroom. "Hi Draco." She said, seeing him.
"Don't talk to me, Gryffindor." He sneered. Harry and Ron looked at Peggy as if to say 'see?'.
Professor Amah was writing something on the floating blackboard and she smiled at them. "Okay, that's everyone I believe. Partner up!" She said. Harry went over to the Ravenclaw Sally-Anne Perks, Ron to Donnie, Hermione over to Seamus, Amy to Dean and Peggy to Malfoy. Sally-Anne was a nice girl but very quiet.
Amah waved her wand for the blackboard to flip over. She had drawn a plant on it, very realistic. "Anyone know what this is? Mr. Longbottom?"
Neville lowered his hand. "The Lojay plant." He squeaked.
"Very good Mr. Longbottom. Anyone know what potion this plant is put in?" She asked. She called on Amy.
"The Pepper-Up potion cause the plant has the ability to cure colds." Amy said.
Amah grinned and clasped her hands together. "I want you and your partner to search the grounds and bring back three of these plants each pair. First ones back get a special prize. Now. go!" She said.
"I know where at least one is." Sally-Anne said, smiling. Her blue eyes blinked behind her large, round glasses.
"Okay, let's go then!" Harry said cheerfully.
*** (As told from Peggy's view)
"Come on." I grabbed Draco's arm and dragged him out of the castle.
"Let GO of me, Gryffindor." He sneered angrily.
"I know where two plants are." I said.
"I don't care let go of me." I let go of him and pushed the doors opened. It was a cool, wettish day. I went down the steps and headed straight for Hagrid's hut.
"Come on, I want the prize. Don't you?" I asked.
"No. I don't care." He sneered.
"There!" I pulled up the Lojay plant and shoved it in Draco's hand.
"You're on the dance committee too, aren't you?" He sneered as we searched for more.
"Yep. Music. What are you on?" I asked.
"Decoration." He said.
"Amy's on that." I said.
"Do I even look like I care?" He demanded.
"Fine then. there's the second one." I pulled up another and after a while we found a third. We ran back to the castle and into the Healings classroom.
"First ones back!" Amah exclaimed and indicated us to put the plants on her desk. She fished two envelopes and handed them to us. "You can go." We left the classroom and opened them. They were 5 Galleon gift certificate for Honeydukes.
"Ooh the candy shop in Hogsmeade." I said.
'How would you know? There hasn't been a trip yet." Draco said, face twisted in a sneer.
"Ron and I had gone back a while ago and gotten a bunch of candy from Honeydukes but I wasn't about to say that. "Uh. Ron told me." I said.
"Oh, Weasley." He said and sneered. He put his certificate up and walked angrily off. I watched him leave and sighed. I felt so sorry for him. I shook my head and went to the common room. I was glad of the warmth. I had forgotten to wear my cloak and since it was wettish outside I was quite cold thanks to the stupid uniform. I couldn't believe I had to wear a skirt. Ugh.
***
Ron pushed his way through the thick crowd of girls surrounding Harry, Tuesday after lunch.
"Stop smirking." Harry said, scowling at Ron as he got to the center. There must of been at least 15 girls.
"Hi Ron." A bunch said. Harry grabbed Ron's arm and pulled him into a boys bathroom.
"Okay, how do they even know me? That's scary." Ron said.
"I don't know. Its annoying." Harry grumbled.
"Annoying? You got a crowd of girls following you everywhere you go." Ron said, waving his arms.
"So?" Harry asked.
Ron was silent a moment. "Can I have a few?"
"RON!" Harry shouted.
"Whaaaaaaaat? I just want to go somewhere with at least a small crowd of girls around me." Ron said.
"Just don't let Hermione know. Okay, I'm going back out." Harry took a deep breath and started to leave.
"Well?" Ron asked.
"Well what?" Harry asked.
"Can I have a few?"
Harry just groaned loudly and stepped out, back into the crowd of girls.
*** (Harry's point of view)
I took in a deep breath and opened the letter. I was sitting by the Common Room fire Wednesday night. I had put off reading the second letter until now but I had to read it. I had to. Besides, it was my first chance alone. All day Monday and yesterday I have been surrounded by girls.
"Here goes." I whispered.
Dear Harry,
That was all I had read first time. Now I could read more.
Dear Harry,
You don't-
Just then there was a loud BANG that made me jerk. I looked up to see a large amount of fireworks whizzing about Fred and George who were laughing. A blue one whizzed right under my nose, leaving purple sparkles. A red one rushed past my ear before crashing into the chess game Ron was playing against Seamus.
"Hey!" Ron snapped.
"Oh no. I was actually winning for once, too!" Seamus moaned as all the pieces got knocked to the floor.
Peggy shrieked with laughter as a purple one went in circles around her head.
Amy was grinning at a bunch of green ones whizzing wildly around her.
Hermione sighed heavily as a white one left gray sparkles in her hair.
A lot of people were laughing, including myself. Fred and George were grinning broadly as the room was showered with sparkles. Then small pillow dropped beside me. It then exploded and started crackling and popping loudly in my ears. I yelled in surprise and dropped my letter. A firecracker whizzed by and exploded, causing the letter to explode. I jumped up.
"Oh no!" I moaned loudly.
"Sorry, Harry." George called. I looked at the ashen remains of the letter and sighed heavily.
***
"So, did you have a hard time in Fourth year Charms?" Asked a Fourth year Gryffindor.
"I uh-" Harry began.
"Its not hard you're just stupid." Said her friend.
"That's no-" Harry began.
"Hi Ron." A bunch giggled as Ron somehow pushed his way through to the center. It was Thursday after dinner and Harry was trying to walk down the corridor to the library. He was surrounded by, at last count, 2 dozen but he had a feeling more had joined.
Ron suddenly went pale then his face rapidly turned red and he began coughing.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"One of the girls just touched my butt." Ron whispered in Harry's ear.
Harry snorted and began laughing. Ron was red and coughing.
"Hey! Move it girls. yeah I'm talking to you." Peggy and Amy walked through.
"What the heck is going on?" Amy asked.
Harry scowled. "Guess."
"Oh, the dance." Amy said and giggled.
"You have no chance." Snapped a 6th year Hufflepuff.
Amy scowled. "Shut up. I don't want a chance."
"I take it we're not exploring any passages." Peggy said.
"Move it, sister." A girl pushed Peggy out of the way and wrapped her arm around Ron's arm. Soon Amy and Peggy were pushed clear to the back of the crowd.
"Okay leave them alone! All you want is to go to the dance with them, not being friends!" Peggy shouted from the back.
"Shut up." A bunch of girls snapped. One of them called Peggy a very bad word.
"You little." Peggy hissed.
The girl at Ron's arm tightened her grip. "Uh." Ron said and managed to get his arm back.
"Make a path girls. That's right." A new voice called. Dumbledore shoved his way through and stood in front of Harry and Ron. "Go on girls, need to have a talk with Harry." He said.
"Bye Harry! Bye Ron!" All the girls shouted as they left. Ron went red again.
"It happened again." He mumbled.
"Hello boys, seem to be the popular ones today." Dumbledore said.
"What was your first guess?" Harry asked. Amy and Peggy walked over.
"The hordes of girls around you." Dumbledore said.
"I want to know who did that!" Ron shouted at the retreating girls. "Wait, maybe I don't." He said after a moment.
"You wanted to talk to me, Professor?" Harry asked.
"No. I just said that to get rid of the girls. You seemed to be. wanting them gone?" Dumbledore asked.
"Oh." Harry said. "Thanks. I was" He added.
"Welcome." Dumbledore nodded and ran off. Literally ran off.
"What the-?" Ron demanded as Dumbledore ran down the corridors, his beard flowing behind him. He was also giggling at something. "Okay. I'm freaked out." Ron mumbled.
"I bet you are just loving this." Malfoy appeared, sneering at them.
"I'm not." Harry grumbled.
"Yeah, I believe that. Surrounded by hordes of girls 24/7."
"Go away, Malfoy." Ron snapped.
"So what are you red at?" Malfoy asked and Ron went even redder.
"Nothing." He mumbled.
"Bet you like this, too, Weasley. First time you could get ever a girl." He sneered. "You are so pathetic. Having to get Potter here to get your date for the Yule Ball." Malfoy said.
"At least my daddy doesn't have to pay for my dates." Ron snapped back.
"At least my daddy has the money for my date. Face it Weasley. You couldn't even get a girl if you paid someone. Oh wait, that'll never happen. The most you could afford is for her to nod at you while passing you in the hall." He continued.
Ron was getting redder and redder with anger. "Tell me, Malfoy. How can you come out in the daylight? Won't the sun kill you?" Ron demanded.
"Wow that was a good comeback. Did you think of it all by yourself or did you pay some- oh wait no. That last one couldn't happen."
"Malfoy you skinny little pale runt!" Ron snapped.
Malfoy got pink tints in his cheeks. "Shut up you over-grown, Muggle- loving, no brained, poor Gryffindor trash! I know how you could earn a little money. Sell yourself to the circus as a side-show freak."
"You're the side-show freak, Malfoy." Ron growled, clenching his teeth.
"Face it Weasley, your family couldn't get money even if your mother tried to sell herself on the street." Malfoy said.
Ron then exploded.
"YOU--------" He let out a long stream of cuss words, shoving Malfoy against the wall and punching him continuously in the stomach. "YOU BETTER ------- TAKE THAT BACK YOU LITTLE --------" Ron began slamming Malfoy against the wall. "TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW!" Ron screamed, shoving Malfoy against the floor and hitting his head back against the stone floor.
"Ron!" Harry and Peggy grabbed Ron's arms and pulled him back. Malfoy was laying, groaning with a small pool of blood under his head.
"Let go of me." Ron pulled his arms from their grips and walked off without another word. "I'll take him to the hospital." Peggy said quietly, helping Malfoy up. The back of his hair was no longer silvery-blonde, it was crimson with blood. He was crying silently in pain.
"Come on." Amy whispered, pulling Harry towards the common room.
*** (Ron's point of view)
"What made you attack him like that?" Dumbledore stared down his nose sharply at me. I scowled and didn't answer. "Ronald." He said.
"He." I trailed off. "He insulted my mother."
"Ah." Dumbledore said.
"What will his punishment be, sir?" Snape asked, glaring at me.
"Sixty points from Gryffindor. Detention for two weeks. Permission to go to Hogsmeade next trip denied." Dumbledore said. I just continued scowling and clenching my teeth.
"Sir. he hospitalized Mr. Malfoy!" Snape protested. I was sure he wanted me expelled. I didn't care if I was.
"Yes well I'm sure that will be enough punishment."
"What about that little son of a-" I stopped as Dumbledore held his hand up.
"See what I mean?!" Snape demanded.
"Mr. Malfoy has enough punishment."
'What happened to him?" I asked, eyes narrows.
"A gash in his head, broken nose, bruised ribs, sprained arm, gash in his side, and various cuts, scrapes, and bruises." Dumbledore said.
"That's it? That little ----- deserves to DIE!" I shouted.
"Mr. Weasley, calm down." Dumbledore said.
"See, sir? He'll attack young Malfoy as soon as he comes back to school." Snape said.
"I see." Dumbledore looked at me. "Would you?"
"Yes." I said, still scowling and clenching my teeth.
"In that case. Mr. Weasley I hate to do this but you're are suspended from school for a week."
"Yes, sir." I said.
"You'll leave tomorrow morning." He continued and looked rather upset.
"Can I go now?" I asked.
"Yes." I nodded and stood up and calmly walked back to the common room. Scowling. And clenching my teeth.
Monday came around and Peggy was let out of the hospital. She still had bandages and the sling but was otherwise okay.
"I have a feeling I'll be having nasty headaches for a while." She laughed at breakfast.
"What kind of owl is that?" Hermione asked as the mail came and the black owl landed in front of Amy. It wasn't entirely black. There was a bit of white over its eyes, going down and meeting above its beak, sweeping under its eyes. More white near the bottom of its face and then a yellow underbreast. It stood about 20 inches tall.
"Spectacled Owl." Amy said, stroking its yellow and black breast. "Her name is Trixie."
"Oh no." Ron moaned as Pig flopped in mid-air and crashed into his breakfast. The package was now covered with eggs and mashed bits of potatoes. Pig seemed pleased with himself and began eating as Ron untied the package that weighed three times as Pig.
Harry laughed and looked at the letter Hedwig had delivered. It was from Sirius Black. A different owl delivered the Daily Prophet and a large brown barn owl delivered a second letter. Harry set the Daily Prophet and second letter aside and read the letter from Sirius, his godfather and also convicted murderer of 13 people. But Sirius was innocent.
Dear Harry,
How've you been doing? I'm fine. Sorry I haven't had a chance to write before this but I've been busy. You know, with Voldemort's return. As you know (but might not remember) I'm at Remus's house. When I'm finished, Remus wants to write something. Right now he's burning breakfast.
With this Harry laughed. He looked around to make sure no one was watching then continued to read.
I hope you enjoyed the watch I sent you for your birthday.
Harry had the watch on his wrist at that very moment. It was a Wizarding watch and very interesting. The inside was blank, no hands or numbers or anything. It didn't tell him the time unless he wanted to know. Then it would tell him and also tell him if he's going to be late for something, or if he has enough time to sleep in, ect;
How's Hermione and Ron? Tell them I said hi. I'll be around Hogsmeade later this month. There's a Hogsmeade trip on the 23rd, if you want to see me I'll be at the cave. See you then!
Sirius
With this Sirius's letter ended and Remus's begun.
Hey Harry,
Don't have much time to write. Hope you like the cards. Tell Ron and Hermione I said hi. See you soon!
Remus
Harry folded the letter up and stuck it inside his robes. He picked up the second letter when the last words of Remus popped in his head. 'See you soon'? Harry shrugged this off and looked down and nearly gasped. The envelope was dusky blue with a print of a lake and full moon. On the other side was neat printing:
From the desk of J. Potter
Harry stared at the letter in fear. J. Potter was writing him again.
"Harry?" Hermione asked as Harry began trembling slightly.
"Y-yes?" Harry looked up.
"Are you all right?" She asked.
"Oh uh. yeah. I uh." Harry stuck the letter in his bookbag and stared down at his breakfast, thinking. J. Potter.
Who on earth was J. Potter? Well, he'd find out later.
Harry opened the Daily Prophet and slowly began reading but the words didn't sink in.
***
The first class was Transfiguration and McGonagall seemed to be in a very, very happy mood.
"Good morning class." She sighed happily.
"Good morning, Professor." Some of the students replied. They learned about turning logs into dogs and McGonagall cut off earlier then normal.
"Now before you all go I have an announcement." She said, face glowing with happiness. "Due to overwhelming popularity of the Yule Ball." She said, fidgeting with her hat. "the staff has decided to. do some more balls. Dances. Those things." She said. There was immediate whispers. Most the girls seemed to be giggling. "The first one, the Fall Ball, will take place September 30th."
Now the class was definitely whispering. All the girls were giggling and quite a few boys turned to look at Amy and Rose. Rose took advantage of this to toss her curls back and flash her pearly whites. Amy, however, turned a deep red and hid her face behind a book.
"Attention. please pay attention." Everyone turned back to face McGonagall again but she was smiling and her eyes sparkled. "There will be a feast that starts at six-thirty, then the music and dancing at seven. There is a student committee to help and two of you have been elected to part of it." She said and there were whispers again "Miss Peggy Morlins and Miss Amy Robinson." She said. The two girls in question looked up. "You were on the dance committees back at your old school, right?" She asked.
"Yes Professor." They both chorused.
"Good. There are four students from each year, Fourth year and up. Which is what the dance is. For Fourth years and up. Class dismissed. Miss Morlins and Miss Robinson, please stay back."
Everyone but Amy and Peggy left. Harry took the longest and was the last of them to leave. As soon as he stepped out of class he was surrounded by ten or eleven girls, only a few whom he knew.
"Hi Harry." They all said.
"Um, hi." Harry said, confused and also backed up against the wall. He spotted Ron down the corridor, smirking. The next thing he knew he was being bombarded by names from the girls. "I, uh, hate to. sound mean or anything but I do have to get to Healing class." Harry said.
"Oh we'll escort you." Said about half of them. Harry groaned on the inside and headed towards Healing, still surrounded by the girls.
"Did you get the announcement, Harry?" Giggled a Fourth year Ravenclaw.
"Uh, what announcement?" Harry asked.
"The dance!" Exclaimed a Sixth year Hufflepuff.
"Oh. the dance."
"Excuse me, ladies- best friend coming through." Ron somehow pushed his way into the middle. "Harry what's all th. all um. uh." He trailed off, seeing a couple of girls smiling at him and battering their eyelashes. "Uh what.uh." Ron now lost his train of thought.
"Hi, Ron." Giggled a Fourth year Hufflepuff. Harry realized about four more girls had joined the crowd.
"Uh, hi." Ron said, going a brilliant shade of red. He suddenly got a coughing fit. At this, a bunch of the girls giggled which caused Ron to go redder.
"Okay, move it. You all have classes to go to! Go on!" Hermione pushed her way through, face scowling.
"Bye Harry! Bye Ron!" All the girls chorused as they left.
"Thanks Hermione. I thought I was going to die of heatstroke." Ron said but Hermione continued scowling.
"Honestly, the way some girls act." She huffed as they walked to class.
"What did they want?" Harry asked.
"Oh honestly Harry! They wanted you to go to the dance with them."
"What, all of them?" Harry asked.
"Ofcourse."
"What about that one who was smiling at me?" Ron asked.
Hermione groaned loudly. "Boys!" She snapped and stormed ahead.
"What's with her?" Harry asked.
Ron just scowled and shrugged.
"Hi guys." Amy and Peggy appeared.
"Hi. so, what are you going to do about the dance?" Ron asked.
"I'm on the music committee." Peggy said with a grin.
"And I'm on the decorating committee." Amy said. "There's a meeting tonight at 6:30." She added, tucking back some hair.
"Who are the other fifth years?" Harry asked.
"Um. Terry Boots of Ravenclaw and Draco Malfoy of Slytherin." Peggy said.
"What?! Malfoy is on the committee?" Harry demanded.
"Oh great, there's probably going to be monsters trained to eat Gryffindors." Ron grumbled.
"Malfoy's an all right guy." Peggy said, getting stares from the boys.
'What? Okay, you're a nutso. Stay away from me." Ron said.
"I'm partners with him in this class, remember?" Peggy asked as they walked into the Healing classroom. "Hi Draco." She said, seeing him.
"Don't talk to me, Gryffindor." He sneered. Harry and Ron looked at Peggy as if to say 'see?'.
Professor Amah was writing something on the floating blackboard and she smiled at them. "Okay, that's everyone I believe. Partner up!" She said. Harry went over to the Ravenclaw Sally-Anne Perks, Ron to Donnie, Hermione over to Seamus, Amy to Dean and Peggy to Malfoy. Sally-Anne was a nice girl but very quiet.
Amah waved her wand for the blackboard to flip over. She had drawn a plant on it, very realistic. "Anyone know what this is? Mr. Longbottom?"
Neville lowered his hand. "The Lojay plant." He squeaked.
"Very good Mr. Longbottom. Anyone know what potion this plant is put in?" She asked. She called on Amy.
"The Pepper-Up potion cause the plant has the ability to cure colds." Amy said.
Amah grinned and clasped her hands together. "I want you and your partner to search the grounds and bring back three of these plants each pair. First ones back get a special prize. Now. go!" She said.
"I know where at least one is." Sally-Anne said, smiling. Her blue eyes blinked behind her large, round glasses.
"Okay, let's go then!" Harry said cheerfully.
*** (As told from Peggy's view)
"Come on." I grabbed Draco's arm and dragged him out of the castle.
"Let GO of me, Gryffindor." He sneered angrily.
"I know where two plants are." I said.
"I don't care let go of me." I let go of him and pushed the doors opened. It was a cool, wettish day. I went down the steps and headed straight for Hagrid's hut.
"Come on, I want the prize. Don't you?" I asked.
"No. I don't care." He sneered.
"There!" I pulled up the Lojay plant and shoved it in Draco's hand.
"You're on the dance committee too, aren't you?" He sneered as we searched for more.
"Yep. Music. What are you on?" I asked.
"Decoration." He said.
"Amy's on that." I said.
"Do I even look like I care?" He demanded.
"Fine then. there's the second one." I pulled up another and after a while we found a third. We ran back to the castle and into the Healings classroom.
"First ones back!" Amah exclaimed and indicated us to put the plants on her desk. She fished two envelopes and handed them to us. "You can go." We left the classroom and opened them. They were 5 Galleon gift certificate for Honeydukes.
"Ooh the candy shop in Hogsmeade." I said.
'How would you know? There hasn't been a trip yet." Draco said, face twisted in a sneer.
"Ron and I had gone back a while ago and gotten a bunch of candy from Honeydukes but I wasn't about to say that. "Uh. Ron told me." I said.
"Oh, Weasley." He said and sneered. He put his certificate up and walked angrily off. I watched him leave and sighed. I felt so sorry for him. I shook my head and went to the common room. I was glad of the warmth. I had forgotten to wear my cloak and since it was wettish outside I was quite cold thanks to the stupid uniform. I couldn't believe I had to wear a skirt. Ugh.
***
Ron pushed his way through the thick crowd of girls surrounding Harry, Tuesday after lunch.
"Stop smirking." Harry said, scowling at Ron as he got to the center. There must of been at least 15 girls.
"Hi Ron." A bunch said. Harry grabbed Ron's arm and pulled him into a boys bathroom.
"Okay, how do they even know me? That's scary." Ron said.
"I don't know. Its annoying." Harry grumbled.
"Annoying? You got a crowd of girls following you everywhere you go." Ron said, waving his arms.
"So?" Harry asked.
Ron was silent a moment. "Can I have a few?"
"RON!" Harry shouted.
"Whaaaaaaaat? I just want to go somewhere with at least a small crowd of girls around me." Ron said.
"Just don't let Hermione know. Okay, I'm going back out." Harry took a deep breath and started to leave.
"Well?" Ron asked.
"Well what?" Harry asked.
"Can I have a few?"
Harry just groaned loudly and stepped out, back into the crowd of girls.
*** (Harry's point of view)
I took in a deep breath and opened the letter. I was sitting by the Common Room fire Wednesday night. I had put off reading the second letter until now but I had to read it. I had to. Besides, it was my first chance alone. All day Monday and yesterday I have been surrounded by girls.
"Here goes." I whispered.
Dear Harry,
That was all I had read first time. Now I could read more.
Dear Harry,
You don't-
Just then there was a loud BANG that made me jerk. I looked up to see a large amount of fireworks whizzing about Fred and George who were laughing. A blue one whizzed right under my nose, leaving purple sparkles. A red one rushed past my ear before crashing into the chess game Ron was playing against Seamus.
"Hey!" Ron snapped.
"Oh no. I was actually winning for once, too!" Seamus moaned as all the pieces got knocked to the floor.
Peggy shrieked with laughter as a purple one went in circles around her head.
Amy was grinning at a bunch of green ones whizzing wildly around her.
Hermione sighed heavily as a white one left gray sparkles in her hair.
A lot of people were laughing, including myself. Fred and George were grinning broadly as the room was showered with sparkles. Then small pillow dropped beside me. It then exploded and started crackling and popping loudly in my ears. I yelled in surprise and dropped my letter. A firecracker whizzed by and exploded, causing the letter to explode. I jumped up.
"Oh no!" I moaned loudly.
"Sorry, Harry." George called. I looked at the ashen remains of the letter and sighed heavily.
***
"So, did you have a hard time in Fourth year Charms?" Asked a Fourth year Gryffindor.
"I uh-" Harry began.
"Its not hard you're just stupid." Said her friend.
"That's no-" Harry began.
"Hi Ron." A bunch giggled as Ron somehow pushed his way through to the center. It was Thursday after dinner and Harry was trying to walk down the corridor to the library. He was surrounded by, at last count, 2 dozen but he had a feeling more had joined.
Ron suddenly went pale then his face rapidly turned red and he began coughing.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"One of the girls just touched my butt." Ron whispered in Harry's ear.
Harry snorted and began laughing. Ron was red and coughing.
"Hey! Move it girls. yeah I'm talking to you." Peggy and Amy walked through.
"What the heck is going on?" Amy asked.
Harry scowled. "Guess."
"Oh, the dance." Amy said and giggled.
"You have no chance." Snapped a 6th year Hufflepuff.
Amy scowled. "Shut up. I don't want a chance."
"I take it we're not exploring any passages." Peggy said.
"Move it, sister." A girl pushed Peggy out of the way and wrapped her arm around Ron's arm. Soon Amy and Peggy were pushed clear to the back of the crowd.
"Okay leave them alone! All you want is to go to the dance with them, not being friends!" Peggy shouted from the back.
"Shut up." A bunch of girls snapped. One of them called Peggy a very bad word.
"You little." Peggy hissed.
The girl at Ron's arm tightened her grip. "Uh." Ron said and managed to get his arm back.
"Make a path girls. That's right." A new voice called. Dumbledore shoved his way through and stood in front of Harry and Ron. "Go on girls, need to have a talk with Harry." He said.
"Bye Harry! Bye Ron!" All the girls shouted as they left. Ron went red again.
"It happened again." He mumbled.
"Hello boys, seem to be the popular ones today." Dumbledore said.
"What was your first guess?" Harry asked. Amy and Peggy walked over.
"The hordes of girls around you." Dumbledore said.
"I want to know who did that!" Ron shouted at the retreating girls. "Wait, maybe I don't." He said after a moment.
"You wanted to talk to me, Professor?" Harry asked.
"No. I just said that to get rid of the girls. You seemed to be. wanting them gone?" Dumbledore asked.
"Oh." Harry said. "Thanks. I was" He added.
"Welcome." Dumbledore nodded and ran off. Literally ran off.
"What the-?" Ron demanded as Dumbledore ran down the corridors, his beard flowing behind him. He was also giggling at something. "Okay. I'm freaked out." Ron mumbled.
"I bet you are just loving this." Malfoy appeared, sneering at them.
"I'm not." Harry grumbled.
"Yeah, I believe that. Surrounded by hordes of girls 24/7."
"Go away, Malfoy." Ron snapped.
"So what are you red at?" Malfoy asked and Ron went even redder.
"Nothing." He mumbled.
"Bet you like this, too, Weasley. First time you could get ever a girl." He sneered. "You are so pathetic. Having to get Potter here to get your date for the Yule Ball." Malfoy said.
"At least my daddy doesn't have to pay for my dates." Ron snapped back.
"At least my daddy has the money for my date. Face it Weasley. You couldn't even get a girl if you paid someone. Oh wait, that'll never happen. The most you could afford is for her to nod at you while passing you in the hall." He continued.
Ron was getting redder and redder with anger. "Tell me, Malfoy. How can you come out in the daylight? Won't the sun kill you?" Ron demanded.
"Wow that was a good comeback. Did you think of it all by yourself or did you pay some- oh wait no. That last one couldn't happen."
"Malfoy you skinny little pale runt!" Ron snapped.
Malfoy got pink tints in his cheeks. "Shut up you over-grown, Muggle- loving, no brained, poor Gryffindor trash! I know how you could earn a little money. Sell yourself to the circus as a side-show freak."
"You're the side-show freak, Malfoy." Ron growled, clenching his teeth.
"Face it Weasley, your family couldn't get money even if your mother tried to sell herself on the street." Malfoy said.
Ron then exploded.
"YOU--------" He let out a long stream of cuss words, shoving Malfoy against the wall and punching him continuously in the stomach. "YOU BETTER ------- TAKE THAT BACK YOU LITTLE --------" Ron began slamming Malfoy against the wall. "TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW!" Ron screamed, shoving Malfoy against the floor and hitting his head back against the stone floor.
"Ron!" Harry and Peggy grabbed Ron's arms and pulled him back. Malfoy was laying, groaning with a small pool of blood under his head.
"Let go of me." Ron pulled his arms from their grips and walked off without another word. "I'll take him to the hospital." Peggy said quietly, helping Malfoy up. The back of his hair was no longer silvery-blonde, it was crimson with blood. He was crying silently in pain.
"Come on." Amy whispered, pulling Harry towards the common room.
*** (Ron's point of view)
"What made you attack him like that?" Dumbledore stared down his nose sharply at me. I scowled and didn't answer. "Ronald." He said.
"He." I trailed off. "He insulted my mother."
"Ah." Dumbledore said.
"What will his punishment be, sir?" Snape asked, glaring at me.
"Sixty points from Gryffindor. Detention for two weeks. Permission to go to Hogsmeade next trip denied." Dumbledore said. I just continued scowling and clenching my teeth.
"Sir. he hospitalized Mr. Malfoy!" Snape protested. I was sure he wanted me expelled. I didn't care if I was.
"Yes well I'm sure that will be enough punishment."
"What about that little son of a-" I stopped as Dumbledore held his hand up.
"See what I mean?!" Snape demanded.
"Mr. Malfoy has enough punishment."
'What happened to him?" I asked, eyes narrows.
"A gash in his head, broken nose, bruised ribs, sprained arm, gash in his side, and various cuts, scrapes, and bruises." Dumbledore said.
"That's it? That little ----- deserves to DIE!" I shouted.
"Mr. Weasley, calm down." Dumbledore said.
"See, sir? He'll attack young Malfoy as soon as he comes back to school." Snape said.
"I see." Dumbledore looked at me. "Would you?"
"Yes." I said, still scowling and clenching my teeth.
"In that case. Mr. Weasley I hate to do this but you're are suspended from school for a week."
"Yes, sir." I said.
"You'll leave tomorrow morning." He continued and looked rather upset.
"Can I go now?" I asked.
"Yes." I nodded and stood up and calmly walked back to the common room. Scowling. And clenching my teeth.