Chapter 15: The Dark Shnuga, and a Little Surprise

Hermione looked out of a window in the Gryffindor common room at the large orange circle that was the setting sun. She sighed as she thought of her lost friend. It wasn't fair Katy had to leave.

"Shhh… quietly!" Monica whispered. She had just sneaked in to the Gryffindor common room. She was holding Draco's hand, and leading him up the stairs to Hermione's dormitory. She succeeded, taking Hermione's misery to her advantage. Kat was next to sneak in. She walked up to Hermione and tapped her on the shoulder. Hermione jumped in her seat.

"AHHHHHH! Why must everyone scare me?!"

"Because it's fun to watch you yell and then not listen at all!" Kat answered with a smile.

"WHAT?! No it is not fun! I AM CARRYING A BABY FOR GOODNESS SAKE! ALL THIS STRESS COULD CAUSE BIRTH DEFECTS! DID YOU THINK OF THAT?!"

"Hmmm? I wasn't listening." Hermione frowned.

"WEEEEEEEEEEE!" Monica cheered as she slid down the banister, flew off the end, and landed on the mantle over the fireplace. "SQUIRE! GET IN HERE!" Chrissie suddenly popped out from behind a couch.

"Hello. I am Squire Chrissie."

"… We know." Hermione said flatly.

"Do you?" Chrissie asked, giving Hermione a sharp look.

"Uhh… I don't know and I don't care. This freakin' thing inside of me wont come out. It's been three days past my due date!"

"WHAT?!" Kat blurted.

"My due date."

"WHY WAS I UNAWARE?!"

"Dunno."

"Oh. Ok, I understand… TIME FOR LUNCH!" Kat turned and moved over to the portrait hole. She opened it and came knee to face with a small little boy. The boy was wearing a black shirt, black jeans, a black cape, and a black cap thingy with cat like ears that reached over his eyes. There were two small holes cut out where his eyes were so he could see.

The little boy had red hair, and had his hands on his hips with a proud look on his face. Kat bent down and came face to face with him.

"… What do you want, kid?" she asked dully. "I'm on my way to lunch."

"Allow me to introduce myself! I AM THE DARK SHNUGA!" the little boy cried out.

"AHHHHHH! HERMIONE! YOUR BABY SOMEHOW POPPED OUT AND GREW UP!" Monica yelled feverishly.

"No it hasn't. I can still feel it kicking…" Hermione corrected with a touch of disappointment in her voice.

"Oh… then… SOMEONE ELSE WAS PREGNANT WITHOUT US KNOWING!" Chrissie exclaimed.

"Ahem." the Dark Shnuga said.

"Maybe he's my kid…" Monica said.

"Nah. You ain' pregnant." Chrissie said.

"Ahem." the Dark Shnuga said.

"Maybe he's McGonagall's." Kat suggested.

"Could he be?" Hermione asked.

"AHEM! THE DARK SHNUGA HAS BEEN TRYING TO SPEAK! WHY HAVE YOU NOT ALLOWED HIM?!" BOOM! Was suddenly heard as Kat stepped on him with her arms crossed and her eyes closed.

"Be silent. The growed-ups are talking."

"Maybe he's imaginary…" Chrissie said.

"What kind of a word is 'shnuga' anyway?" Monica asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's babyish… HARRY! GET OUT HERE!" Harry walked out from behind Chrissie and jumped onto Monica's shoulders.

"HIHI! What's Harry needed for?" Harry asked.

"What's 'shnuga' in English?"

"Snuggle."

"… The Dark Snuggle?" Hermione said, trying it out on her tongue. Kat suddenly fell over.

"AHHH! IT TICKLED ME!" The Dark Shnuga then jumped up and landed on Kat's face.

"I am the Dark Shnuga and I have come to take over!"

"… The baby pen?" Monica tried to finish.

"NOOO! NEVER! THAT'S MINE!" Harry declared, running over to the blue baby pen in the corner and hugging it.

"Not that! HOGWARTS!" The Dark Shnuga corrected.

"Not before I have lunch, you're not." Kat said, as she picked up the Dark Shnuga and put him in the baby pen. "Now stay there until I get back." she turned and left the room with the others. The Dark Shnuga meanwhile tried to reach the top of the pen to climb out, but failed. He fell back and started to cry so loudly the windows broke.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Well, time to set up shop." Chrissie said, as she stood up from the Gryffindor table. Hermione quickly looked up at her.

"… What shop?"

"My shop."

"What kind of shop?"

"An Air Shop, out in the corridor. Can you believe all the money lost out there from the people who breath the air? I'm going to go out there and CHARGE THEM!" Chrissie grinned sinisterly and walked out of the hall. Monica shook her head in disapproval.

"I told her the lake is a better place to set up shop… Much more air out there. She'd be rich in a second."

"But that's insane. You can't charge air!" Hermione protested.

"Yes you can! It's easy!" Monica replied.

"But the trees make the air."

"One step ahead of you. Chrissie's donating some of the profit to some foundations."

"Impossible! HOW COULD SHE HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT?!"

"She didn't. I did. BWAHAHAHA!" Monica cackled. She smiled at Hermione, and then turned around and walked away.

"Ka-… Kat?" Hermione asked. She was about to talk to her friend, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"She finished eating." Harry informed her, before he stood up and left her too.

"And where are you going?"

"The big circle room with the shnuga person!"

"I'm coming with you."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know more about the kid."

"Why?" Hermione threw a chicken bone at Harry's forehead.

"Because I said so!"

"AHHHHHHHHHH! THE PAIN! MY SCAR!!!!!!!!"

"YOU FREAK! It's only the bone! WHY MUST YOU DO THIS EACH TIME I INFLICT PAIN ON YOUR FOREHEAD?!"

"No… IT HURTS! Badly! I can't stand it! RAAARRR!" Harry started to squirm, holding his forehead with his hands. He started to foam at the mouth, when Hermione saw the scar flash green. This time, she hadn't cause Harry's pain. Not ALL of it at least….

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Hey… He's still in the thing!" Monica pointed out as she arrived at the Gryffindor common room. Kat was naturally already there, standing over the baby pen, watching the Dark Shnuga.

"If you're so powerful, how come you can't get out?" she asked.

"I have my flaws…" replied the Dark Shnuga irritably.

"Ohhhhh…. LIAR!" Kat shouted. She quickly reached in to the pen and pulled out one of the teddy bear's sitting in the corner. She raised it above the Dark Shnuga threateningly. "TELL ME WHO SENT YOU!"

"Me! NOW GIVE IT BACK! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Meh, I SUPPOSE you're story checks out… LIAR!" she yelled again. This time she yanked out the bottle of milk the Dark Shnuga was holding.

"NOO! OK! OK! I surrender to your height… just… put them down gently… and I'll answer your questions. 'K?"

"Answer first. Tell me, what are you?"

"I'm the essence of two things. Darkness and Childhood."

"Fused together?"

"Not the two things. Just some of their essence. The force it so great though, I have been blessed with extrao-… extrotne….. powerful powers."

"I see…" Powerful powers… hmmm… I could use him… BE KIND TO HIM, KAT! "Yes, I suppose you're alright then. But I can't have you take over Hogwarts."

"Whyyyyyy?" whined the Dark Shnuga.

"Because it's tooooooo small for someone like you!"

"… No it's no-" Monica began, but she was cut off and Kat pushed her out the window.

"Gee, I never thought of it like that…" said the Dark Shnuga.

"Listen kid, let's me and you talk." Kat led out the Dark Shnuga into somewhere else to discuss matters of world domination.

Meanwhile, Hermione had managed to sneak by unnoticed and was just entering her dormitory. She saw Draco still in there.

"What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.

"NOTHING, HICKLES!" he replied quickly, as if to cover up something.

"Hickles? WHAT KIND OF A PET NAME IS THAT?! … HAVE YOU BEEN SNIFFING PILLOWS AGAIN?!?!?!" Draco stepped out of the shadows with a pillow tucked under his arm.

"I CAN QUIT ANYTIME I WANT! Anyway, what's this about your due date? Kat told me."

"Oh… that… heh…"

"Why didn't I know?"

"Shh… come here…" Hermione said. Draco walked over, puzzled. Hermione bent down and whispered in his ear.

"I lied, I thought I could trick the baby into coming out. The plan failed… Maybe it's asleep right now…"

"Why are you whispering?"

"In case it hears…"

"Makes perfect sense."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"MY SCAR! MY SCARRRR!" Harry shouted in agony. He had managed to make it to the Gryffindor common room and was rolling around on the floor. Hermione had left him alone in the Great Hall.

"SHUT UP FOR GOODNESS SAKE, HARRY! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M THROWING WATER BALLONS ON UNSUSPECTING PEOPLERS?!?! THIS TAKES DELICATE CONCENTRATION!" Adele scolded. She was at the open window, a pile of water balloons at her side. Kat and the Dark Shnuga were in the corner with papers all around them. Chrissie and Monica then burst in from one entrance or the other, you pick.

"WE HEARD THE ALARM!" Chrissie said, pointing at Harry.

"VOLDEMORTS NEAR!" Monica added.

"He is?" asked Adele. "I thought Harry was doing that to clean the floor…"

"WE MUST PROTECT OURSELVES!" shouted Chrissie. She ran over to the door and put a penny in front of it. "Hahaha, that should keep him out…"

"What about your store?" Monica asked.

"No one's willing to pay! But I forced it out of'em… hehehe…"

"Well… that's sad."

"Ya… now what do we do?"

"I dunno."

"HELP! SOMEBODY GET HERMIONE'S SUIT CASE!" Draco yelled.

"Why?" asked Kat with mild interest.

"Her water broke!"

"I know, it does that everyday when she pees…" Adele said as she through a water balloon. "Bwahahaha…."

"NO! THE BABY'S COMING!"

"GASP! TO THE HOSPITAL!" Monica declared. She and Chrissie ran to the door. They tried to open it, but just couldn't.

"Oh, right, the security precaution." Chrissie remembered. She put the penny in her pocket, and then she and Monica flew out the door. Adele watched them fly on their brooms in the direction of the city.

"Wow… they're fast… TAKE THIS!" she through a water balloon at one of them. It hit, and the broom and rider caught fire, then started to fall down into the forest rather quickly. The Forbidden Forest then caught fire too. Monica and Chrissie then appeared at the entrance with their brooms.

"HURRY UP!"

"Wait... But then… who did I hit…"

"Probably Dumbledore. Anyways, HURRY!" Hermione and Draco slowly came down stairs.

"A fine time for my baby to realize what I said… WHY DON'T YOU REALIZE I WANTED YOU TO COME OUT THIS MORNING?!" she complained.

"To the hospital it is! Shnuga, get the plans! AND OFF WE GO!" Kat yelled. Monica and Chrissie joined her. Adele and Harry were about to leave when Hermione stopped them.

"Wait.. Adele… Harry. Please. Get Katy to the hospital…" she asked sadly. Adele looked at the sincerity in her eyes.

"Ok… Come on, Harry." she grabbed him by the collar and led him down the stairs. Hermione heard his screams of pain.

"Bloody hell… if he thinks that scar burns just wait till I recover… I have some punishments to catch up on…" she muttered. Draco led her out of the room, and shut the door. He led her down to the brook shed, and put her on one. Kat would drive the one where he sat in the baby seat. Hermione took out with effort, and up into the moonlight towards the hospital. She suddenly began to think about things. Mostly about how in a few hours she would see her baby… The joy it would bring. She couldn't wait.