Thanx to all those who reviewed. By the way, I've had to alter some of my
previous chapters because I remembered that with Cedric gone Hufflepuff
needed a new captain too.
1 Plants and Dogs
Daphne and Lori had double Herbology with the Ravenclaws first, so they said goodbye to Harry, Ron and Hermione at the foot of the marble staircase, which they had to go up for charms, and headed out into the grounds. They were among the first to reach the greenhouses, and so they stood around nervously waiting. Soon they were joined by the Ravenclaws, who arrived in one group, listening attentively to a brown- haired boy telling a story about a troll he had once seen near his house, and how his dad had had to perform ten memory charms on muggle witnesses.
Then came Abigail and Kymberly Ellis, who looked really excited at the thought of their first ever lesson. After them came Sam Palfrey and Craig Simpson, who were explaining the rules of Quidditch to Mark Thomas, a muggle- born who had a brother in Hermione's class. Dane or something- Daphne couldn't really remember.
The last Gryffindors to arrive were Lara Wallis and Jake Cooper. Daphne and Lori had already made friends with Lara- she was more friendly than Abigail and Kymberly. Oh well, they had each other after all.
Lara and Jake made their way over to them. "Hi you two! This is Jake Cooper." Lara said, smiling at them. "We've known each other since we were six- we went to the same school. Didn't know he was coming here though. And his mum's a witch! Didn't know that either!"
Jake smiled. "Well I wasn't about to tell everyone was I?" He said indignantly. "Anyway, what do you think about Harry Potter becoming Quidditch Captain eh? Apparently he's a pretty good seeker."
Daphne shrugged. "I don't really know anything about Quidditch, but Hermione, my cousin, she says he's really good."
Jake eyed Daphne beadily. "Hermione Granger? Oh, I read all about her in Witch Weekly last year. My mum gets it delivered."
"Why was she in."? Daphne began, but she was interrupted by the arrival of Professor Sprout. "Good morning chaps! What are you waiting for? In you go." She said cheerily.
The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws turned and walked through the door into Greenhouse One, Daphne still wondering what on earth Hermione could have done to get her name in a magazine.
***
At lunchtime, Daphne and Lori walked into the Great Hall to find Ron eating alone. They went and joined him.
"Where's.?" Lori began.
Ron answered before she finished the question. "Hermione is in the Library, for a change, and Harry's just been called away to a meeting with Professor Dumbledore."
"What is the meeting about?" Asked Daphne, helping herself to beef casserole.
Ron shrugged. "I think it was about Quidditch, because it was the four Quidditch captains." He shrugged again. "So how were your first lessons?"
"Oh, well, Herbology was quite interesting, but I'll never get the dirt out from under my fingernails." Sighed Lori, grabbing some ham sandwiches.
"Transfiguration was good. McGonagall seems really nice." Added Daphne, pouring some pumpkin juice for her and Lori.
Ron looked at Daphne in surprise. "Really?" He asked in obvious surprise.
Lori rolled her eyes. "She's only saying that because she was the only one to turn her match into a needle."
Ron started laughing. "What?" Said Lori and Daphne together.
"Oh, it's just that, at our first Transfiguration lesson, Hermione was the only one to transfigure her match as well." He said, sobering slightly. "What happened- did she smile at you?" The two girls nodded, and Ron started chuckling again. "That's just what we need at Hogwart's-," said Ron sarcastically, "another Hermione."
Daphne kicked him under the table, and Ron shut up quickly.
"Anyway, " Said Daphne. "Ron- why was Hermione in Witch Weekly last year?"
Ron looked up with a baffled look on his face. "You what? Witch Weekly? She wasn't in- oh." His face suddenly cleared and he grinned. "Well it's kind of a long story. But as I've already finished." He pushed away his now empty plate and leant forward.
"Well, there's this reporter called Rita Skeeter and last year she tricked Harry into giving her an interview. Very persuasive is Rita."
"Why would she want to interview Harry?" Asked Daphne curiously. Ron and Lori looked at her blankly, and then Ron chuckled again.
"Shame Harry isn't here." He said with a grin. "He'd love it if someone doesn't know who he is."
"Harry's really famous." Whispered Lori.
Daphne stared at Lori and Ron. "He is? Why?"
"Well, um." Lori looked to Ron for help.
Ron thought for a moment and then said to Daphne; "When you went to Flourish and Blotts, you bought books for background reading, didn't you?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"Just a feeling. Was one of them, er, oh god what's it called? Um, oh yeah- Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century?"
"It was actually."
"Thought so. Well, you know you-know-who?"
"Huh?"
"The Dark Lord. He's, well."
"You mean Voldemort?" Lori and Ron both grimaced at the name.
"Yes." Said Ron irritably. "Well, can you remember how he, you know, how he was defeated?"
Daphne frowned. She did recall reading about it. Suddenly she remembered. "Oh! He tried to kill this baby and the curse backfired or something, wasn't it? Yeah- that was it, the Boy Who Lived, what was his name?"
"Harry Potter."
"Yeah! Harry Pot. Oh. My. God." Daphne looked up at Ron, who was looking deadly serious, and then to Lori, who looked just as serious as Ron.
"Wow, poor Harry." Daphne absorbed this shocking news for a moment and then turned back to Ron. "So what did Skeeter do?"
"Huh? Oh, well she made up every answer in her interview; he didn't say any of it. She made him out to seem a right little idiot. But she also interviewed other students, and one of them was Colin Creevey." Ron nodded down the Gryffindor table to where a tiny, mousey haired boy was eating.
"He said that Harry was never seen without his friend Hermione Granger. Dear old Rita said in her article that she was dating Harry." Ron shrugged.
"Is that it?" Said Daphne, slightly disappointed. She was expecting a bit more than that.
Ron grinned. "Not quite." He said.
"It was horrible, that article she wrote about Hermione." Said Lori suddenly.
"Did you read it then?" Asked Ron.
"Yeah, I always read Witch Weekly."
"What article?!" Demanded Daphne.
"Well, we were in Hogsmeade one weekend, and Skeeter was there. She'd just written this really horrible article about our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid. Hagrid's a good friend of ours, has been since the first year. Anyway, Hermione called her a fair few names, and, well, Skeeter decided to get her own back."
"What did she write?" Asked Daphne.
"Well, it was just after Christmas, and there'd been a Yule ball on Christmas day. And Hermione went."
"Did Skeeter write about Krum?" Asked Daphne with a frown. Ron looked very surprised.
"How do you know about him?" He said, amazed.
Daphne closed her eyes as if in pain. "I was staying with Hermione in the summer and dear old Vicky came to visit. Ugh, he is so annoying!"
Ron looked very pleased with himself all of a sudden. "Well, she went to the ball with him, and Skeeter used it against her, saying she was two timing Harry." He finished with a smirk.
"What are you so happy about?" Asked Lori curiously.
Ron grinned. "It's just that I've been trying very hard to get Hermione to admit Krum came to visit her in the holidays. Thanks Daph." He smirked again.
Daphne laughed. "Well, he did visit. And I spent an hour trying to teach him how to pronounce our names. In the end, I'm known as Diffanee, and Hermione's still Herm-own-ninny. He's so boring as well. He drones on and on, and you can hardly understand him half the time. God knows why she'd want to go to a ball with Vicky,- aren't those things meant to be fun?" She said, rolling her eyes.
Ron shrugged. "Well, he asked her, and she went. By the way, don't let Hermione hear you call him Vicky, trust me, I've been there." He said, gathering up his bag.
Daphne laughed again. "I know what you mean. She was slightly miffed."
The three of them made their way into the Entrance Hall, just as Hermione came down the marble staircase. She saw them and came over. "I was just coming to find.what's so funny?" She demanded as Ron started sniggering.
"Oh nothing. In fact Diffanee's just been telling me all about her stay at your house, Herm-own-ninny." Said Ron with a big grin on his face.
Hermione's eyes narrowed and she shot an icy glare at Ron. Before she could answer, however, a voice rang out across the hall.
"Well, if looks could kill!" Ron and Hermione spun round to find none other than Remus Lupin standing in front of the oak front doors, several trunks levitating in the air beside him. The argument was forgotten in the light of seeing their favourite teacher again.
"Hello Hermione, hello Ron. It's brilliant to see you again." He said, smiling at them.
"Welcome back Professor! Thank you!" Said Hermione moving forward towards Lupin. He shook her hand.
"Thank you for what?" He asked.
"For coming back! Oh, and I'm sure Ron would like to thank you for interrupting our little argument and preventing me from severely injuring him." She replied happily.
"Yeah Professor, I'm eternally in your debt and all that." Said Ron over Hermione's head. Lupin laughed. "I've missed you and Harry. How is he?"
"Fine. He's the new Quidditch captain actually." Said Ron.
"Good for him! Did you hear that Snuffles?" Said Lupin. He looked down at the floor. "Snuffles? Where'd that idiot get to?" Lupin was looking around wildly. Hermione glanced up at Ron, who simply grinned and pointed over Lupin's shoulder. Bounding up the front steps was a huge black dog, carrying a large pink tulip in his mouth.
The dog stopped beside Lupin and looked up at him. "There you are, about time too. And where'd you get that flower?" He shook his head in disbelief.
Snuffles the dog padded up to Hermione and nudged the flower into her hand. Hermione giggled and patted his head. "Thank you Snuffles. Nice to, um, meet you."
Ron looked away to prevent himself for laughing, and Lupin rolled his eyes. "Come on you." He said, directing his trunks with his wand. He then saw Daphne and Lori, who were standing by the banister of the staircase, looking awkward.
"Professor Lupin, this is my cousin, Daphne Granger, and Leonora Malfoy, Draco's sister. They're both in Gryffindor." Said Hermione quickly.
Professor Lupin smiled at them. "I believe that you will be in my lesson this afternoon, so I'm looking forward to becoming better acquainted with you then." He looked at Lori thoughtfully for a second, and then started up the stairs, his trunks hovering in front of him and Snuffles at his heels.
Sorry if this is really long, but I had quite a lot of ideas! Please r/r.
1 Plants and Dogs
Daphne and Lori had double Herbology with the Ravenclaws first, so they said goodbye to Harry, Ron and Hermione at the foot of the marble staircase, which they had to go up for charms, and headed out into the grounds. They were among the first to reach the greenhouses, and so they stood around nervously waiting. Soon they were joined by the Ravenclaws, who arrived in one group, listening attentively to a brown- haired boy telling a story about a troll he had once seen near his house, and how his dad had had to perform ten memory charms on muggle witnesses.
Then came Abigail and Kymberly Ellis, who looked really excited at the thought of their first ever lesson. After them came Sam Palfrey and Craig Simpson, who were explaining the rules of Quidditch to Mark Thomas, a muggle- born who had a brother in Hermione's class. Dane or something- Daphne couldn't really remember.
The last Gryffindors to arrive were Lara Wallis and Jake Cooper. Daphne and Lori had already made friends with Lara- she was more friendly than Abigail and Kymberly. Oh well, they had each other after all.
Lara and Jake made their way over to them. "Hi you two! This is Jake Cooper." Lara said, smiling at them. "We've known each other since we were six- we went to the same school. Didn't know he was coming here though. And his mum's a witch! Didn't know that either!"
Jake smiled. "Well I wasn't about to tell everyone was I?" He said indignantly. "Anyway, what do you think about Harry Potter becoming Quidditch Captain eh? Apparently he's a pretty good seeker."
Daphne shrugged. "I don't really know anything about Quidditch, but Hermione, my cousin, she says he's really good."
Jake eyed Daphne beadily. "Hermione Granger? Oh, I read all about her in Witch Weekly last year. My mum gets it delivered."
"Why was she in."? Daphne began, but she was interrupted by the arrival of Professor Sprout. "Good morning chaps! What are you waiting for? In you go." She said cheerily.
The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws turned and walked through the door into Greenhouse One, Daphne still wondering what on earth Hermione could have done to get her name in a magazine.
***
At lunchtime, Daphne and Lori walked into the Great Hall to find Ron eating alone. They went and joined him.
"Where's.?" Lori began.
Ron answered before she finished the question. "Hermione is in the Library, for a change, and Harry's just been called away to a meeting with Professor Dumbledore."
"What is the meeting about?" Asked Daphne, helping herself to beef casserole.
Ron shrugged. "I think it was about Quidditch, because it was the four Quidditch captains." He shrugged again. "So how were your first lessons?"
"Oh, well, Herbology was quite interesting, but I'll never get the dirt out from under my fingernails." Sighed Lori, grabbing some ham sandwiches.
"Transfiguration was good. McGonagall seems really nice." Added Daphne, pouring some pumpkin juice for her and Lori.
Ron looked at Daphne in surprise. "Really?" He asked in obvious surprise.
Lori rolled her eyes. "She's only saying that because she was the only one to turn her match into a needle."
Ron started laughing. "What?" Said Lori and Daphne together.
"Oh, it's just that, at our first Transfiguration lesson, Hermione was the only one to transfigure her match as well." He said, sobering slightly. "What happened- did she smile at you?" The two girls nodded, and Ron started chuckling again. "That's just what we need at Hogwart's-," said Ron sarcastically, "another Hermione."
Daphne kicked him under the table, and Ron shut up quickly.
"Anyway, " Said Daphne. "Ron- why was Hermione in Witch Weekly last year?"
Ron looked up with a baffled look on his face. "You what? Witch Weekly? She wasn't in- oh." His face suddenly cleared and he grinned. "Well it's kind of a long story. But as I've already finished." He pushed away his now empty plate and leant forward.
"Well, there's this reporter called Rita Skeeter and last year she tricked Harry into giving her an interview. Very persuasive is Rita."
"Why would she want to interview Harry?" Asked Daphne curiously. Ron and Lori looked at her blankly, and then Ron chuckled again.
"Shame Harry isn't here." He said with a grin. "He'd love it if someone doesn't know who he is."
"Harry's really famous." Whispered Lori.
Daphne stared at Lori and Ron. "He is? Why?"
"Well, um." Lori looked to Ron for help.
Ron thought for a moment and then said to Daphne; "When you went to Flourish and Blotts, you bought books for background reading, didn't you?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"Just a feeling. Was one of them, er, oh god what's it called? Um, oh yeah- Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century?"
"It was actually."
"Thought so. Well, you know you-know-who?"
"Huh?"
"The Dark Lord. He's, well."
"You mean Voldemort?" Lori and Ron both grimaced at the name.
"Yes." Said Ron irritably. "Well, can you remember how he, you know, how he was defeated?"
Daphne frowned. She did recall reading about it. Suddenly she remembered. "Oh! He tried to kill this baby and the curse backfired or something, wasn't it? Yeah- that was it, the Boy Who Lived, what was his name?"
"Harry Potter."
"Yeah! Harry Pot. Oh. My. God." Daphne looked up at Ron, who was looking deadly serious, and then to Lori, who looked just as serious as Ron.
"Wow, poor Harry." Daphne absorbed this shocking news for a moment and then turned back to Ron. "So what did Skeeter do?"
"Huh? Oh, well she made up every answer in her interview; he didn't say any of it. She made him out to seem a right little idiot. But she also interviewed other students, and one of them was Colin Creevey." Ron nodded down the Gryffindor table to where a tiny, mousey haired boy was eating.
"He said that Harry was never seen without his friend Hermione Granger. Dear old Rita said in her article that she was dating Harry." Ron shrugged.
"Is that it?" Said Daphne, slightly disappointed. She was expecting a bit more than that.
Ron grinned. "Not quite." He said.
"It was horrible, that article she wrote about Hermione." Said Lori suddenly.
"Did you read it then?" Asked Ron.
"Yeah, I always read Witch Weekly."
"What article?!" Demanded Daphne.
"Well, we were in Hogsmeade one weekend, and Skeeter was there. She'd just written this really horrible article about our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid. Hagrid's a good friend of ours, has been since the first year. Anyway, Hermione called her a fair few names, and, well, Skeeter decided to get her own back."
"What did she write?" Asked Daphne.
"Well, it was just after Christmas, and there'd been a Yule ball on Christmas day. And Hermione went."
"Did Skeeter write about Krum?" Asked Daphne with a frown. Ron looked very surprised.
"How do you know about him?" He said, amazed.
Daphne closed her eyes as if in pain. "I was staying with Hermione in the summer and dear old Vicky came to visit. Ugh, he is so annoying!"
Ron looked very pleased with himself all of a sudden. "Well, she went to the ball with him, and Skeeter used it against her, saying she was two timing Harry." He finished with a smirk.
"What are you so happy about?" Asked Lori curiously.
Ron grinned. "It's just that I've been trying very hard to get Hermione to admit Krum came to visit her in the holidays. Thanks Daph." He smirked again.
Daphne laughed. "Well, he did visit. And I spent an hour trying to teach him how to pronounce our names. In the end, I'm known as Diffanee, and Hermione's still Herm-own-ninny. He's so boring as well. He drones on and on, and you can hardly understand him half the time. God knows why she'd want to go to a ball with Vicky,- aren't those things meant to be fun?" She said, rolling her eyes.
Ron shrugged. "Well, he asked her, and she went. By the way, don't let Hermione hear you call him Vicky, trust me, I've been there." He said, gathering up his bag.
Daphne laughed again. "I know what you mean. She was slightly miffed."
The three of them made their way into the Entrance Hall, just as Hermione came down the marble staircase. She saw them and came over. "I was just coming to find.what's so funny?" She demanded as Ron started sniggering.
"Oh nothing. In fact Diffanee's just been telling me all about her stay at your house, Herm-own-ninny." Said Ron with a big grin on his face.
Hermione's eyes narrowed and she shot an icy glare at Ron. Before she could answer, however, a voice rang out across the hall.
"Well, if looks could kill!" Ron and Hermione spun round to find none other than Remus Lupin standing in front of the oak front doors, several trunks levitating in the air beside him. The argument was forgotten in the light of seeing their favourite teacher again.
"Hello Hermione, hello Ron. It's brilliant to see you again." He said, smiling at them.
"Welcome back Professor! Thank you!" Said Hermione moving forward towards Lupin. He shook her hand.
"Thank you for what?" He asked.
"For coming back! Oh, and I'm sure Ron would like to thank you for interrupting our little argument and preventing me from severely injuring him." She replied happily.
"Yeah Professor, I'm eternally in your debt and all that." Said Ron over Hermione's head. Lupin laughed. "I've missed you and Harry. How is he?"
"Fine. He's the new Quidditch captain actually." Said Ron.
"Good for him! Did you hear that Snuffles?" Said Lupin. He looked down at the floor. "Snuffles? Where'd that idiot get to?" Lupin was looking around wildly. Hermione glanced up at Ron, who simply grinned and pointed over Lupin's shoulder. Bounding up the front steps was a huge black dog, carrying a large pink tulip in his mouth.
The dog stopped beside Lupin and looked up at him. "There you are, about time too. And where'd you get that flower?" He shook his head in disbelief.
Snuffles the dog padded up to Hermione and nudged the flower into her hand. Hermione giggled and patted his head. "Thank you Snuffles. Nice to, um, meet you."
Ron looked away to prevent himself for laughing, and Lupin rolled his eyes. "Come on you." He said, directing his trunks with his wand. He then saw Daphne and Lori, who were standing by the banister of the staircase, looking awkward.
"Professor Lupin, this is my cousin, Daphne Granger, and Leonora Malfoy, Draco's sister. They're both in Gryffindor." Said Hermione quickly.
Professor Lupin smiled at them. "I believe that you will be in my lesson this afternoon, so I'm looking forward to becoming better acquainted with you then." He looked at Lori thoughtfully for a second, and then started up the stairs, his trunks hovering in front of him and Snuffles at his heels.
Sorry if this is really long, but I had quite a lot of ideas! Please r/r.