A/N: Just to warn anyone who doesn't like swearing…I say the "f" word in here a whole big one time (or maybe more, I don't remember)…don't tell me I didn't warn you!
Disclaimer: If you think I own them, well, you're wrong.
*** Thank you to Pineapplehead for reviewing! And by the way, I read your bio, and let me tell you that as a Yankee, there sure as Hell is such a thing as snow! LOL! Thanks so much for your review! Ronaldrose I'm glad you thought the memory was a nice touch, I thought it would be cute there! Thanks so much for reviewing! HogwartsHoe I'm glad you agree that the Parvati/Harry thing is kind of cute! It makes me feel good! Americanangel you are absolutely correct! I have to get you guys to keep coming back! Glad you have come back! Fredngeorgegirl hey there! Thanks for the review! Last time you reviewed you brought the song "Lady in Red" to my attention and I know exactly when I'm going to use it! I'm so excited! Thanks for the idea! Soupcann314 here's the chapter (or the beginning part) you were looking forward to! Thanks for the review! Lily Michelle no I'm not going to make it quite that easy! I'm enjoying being evil way too much! I promise you'll like this chapter! Thanks! Shaunna you're right…Mitch is a hottie. I had to have an original character that was a hottie! I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Hermiones-Twin there is a little tiny bit of innocent fluff (and it is very innocent) and I promise you'll like this chapter! Marjojo thanks for the review and also I wanted to tell you: this chapter is for YOU because you're an awesome reviewer and I appreciate your reviews so much! Enjoy! Vanilla Baby it is so great you're a fan of my story! It means so much to me to know you love it that much! It's greatly appreciated! And I like giving Seamus a shining moment…he deserves it. Danidancer I'm glad you thought the last chapter was good! Thanks for your review! And while you might think it's too bad I don't live in NY, I think it's too bad you don't live in MN! LOL!!! Thank you so much everyone for everything! I appreciate all your lovely reviews/comments and I seriously take every suggestion to heart! Thanks a bunch!
Chapter 32: A Fight, a Talk, and a Moan
Harry and Ron dismounted their brooms before the others had even reached their feet to the ground. Fred was hovering a few feet in the air, whispering something in his girlfriend's ear that was causing her to blush, giggle and send furtive glances everywhere, and then blush some more. Harry figured now wasn't the best time to interrupt Fred to find out about Natalie Pickett.
Ron was watching his other brother, who was currently going over the new moves they had learned with Dean while Alicia clapped and laughed when George got hit in the head with a bludger. George smirked and mocked bowed while floating on his broom.
"No Granger this evening, Weasel?" Malfoy's familiar voice drawled icily.
Ron's hand clenched and Harry's did too. "I suppose she finally realized you were the poorest person in the world…not only were you blest with a poor family but ugly looks too," he continue in a silky voice.
Ron turned slowly to look at the stupid git advancing upon the Quidditch pitch. His teammates were a good few yards behind them.
"Shut the fuck up Malfoy," Ron growled.
Harry's eyes devoured Malfoy with the ugliest glare he could manage.
Malfoy's primped eyebrows rose in sarcastic shock. "What was that you said Weasel?" he asked.
Ron took an imposing step forward and Malfoy took an even larger step backwards. It seemed as though the ferret was a bit intimidated. If Ron wasn't about to, Harry would have killed him on the spot.
"He said, 'Shut the fuck up Malfoy'," Harry repeated loud enough for those in the air to stop whatever they were doing.
Ron turned and openly gaped at his best friend who rarely swore, let alone saying that word.
Malfoy's teammates reached them then and he snorted, obviously feeling safer with his even uglier teammates at his back. He shouldn't have felt safer though. An angry Ron and Harry was nothing to mess with.
"He told you to shut the fuck up, Malfoy," Harry told the blonde boy. He took a threatening step forward, ready to beat the git's brains out of his pretty head.
Malfoy's evil grin hardly wavered and he continued to not look threatened by Harry's choice of words.
"And what are you planning on doing Potty? Don't you think your lucks run out by now?" Malfoy asked.
Ron and Harry took an imposing step forward together. "Why don't we find out and see Harry?" Ron asked.
Harry nodded.
The fight of a century began.
***
Three bloodied boys sat across from a fuming McGonagall and a too quiet Snape. Both had a murderous look in their eyes and Harry was sure not only would they be expelled from Hogwarts but from the wizarding world in general. There was no way they could get away with the fight this time. Bones were broken. Skin was torn. This was the worst fight anyone had seen in a long time. Professors McGonagall and Snape had made sure to let the threesome know that.
Harry alone had a broken nose. Ron's had a fractured wrist. Malfoy had broken three fingers on one hand alone.
Oh, and Fred, in a wild attempt to stop them, broke his big toe.
McGonagall turned her chin downward and her bifocals slipped down her nose. It was the sternest look they had ever seen from the already stern professor and Harry's blood chilled in his veins.
Snape continued staring them all down. Even Malfoy, a Slytherin, wasn't being treated special.
Finally the older of the two professors stood up. "I have never been more embarrassed of Hogwarts' students then I am right now." She set her glare at the three of them. "To think, in all my years of teaching, this is the worst, the absolute worst behavior I've ever seen is appalling!" she cried out.
Snape's upper lip curled and he looked as if he might say something, but McGonagall continued speaking in her shrill voice.
"Now, I don't care who started it; it doesn't matter," she continued angrily. "The point is none of you ended it," she finalized bitterly. "Whatever is going on between the three of you, I don't care. I only advise you to get over it," she said in a low, scarily stern voice.
Snape nodded.
McGonagall whirled around and went to look out the window. She continued looking out the window even as she spoke. "Now, it is out of our hands; the Headmaster will be here shortly to determine your fates." She whirled back around and leveled a stare at Malfoy. "He will determine all of your fates. This has nothing to do with money." Malfoy visibly squirmed as she said this.
If Harry and Ron weren't apart of this situation, they both would have felt they had finally reached a victory, but as it was, they felt even sicker. If Lucius Malfoy wouldn't be able to get his own son out of possible expulsion, Harry and Ron were surely doomed.
The door of McGonagall's office flew open and Dumbledore majestically stepped inside. The cane he used wobbled slightly under his weight. The sight of him stilled the breaths of the students.
"Minerva, Severus, would you mind if I spoke alone with these boys?" he asked.
Both professors nodded curtly and exited the room swiftly. Snape's black robes billowed out after him.
Dumbledore made his way across the room to stand next to McGonagall's desk. His students looked up at him, feeling ashamed and undignified all at once. Harry may not have been taught not to fight, but he knew right from wrong; Ron knew that if he was expelled his mother would never forgive him; Draco feared his father's wrath at that instant if he was to be expelled.
"I must say," the old wizard began slowly but steadily, "I am quite disappointed in you. In all of you," he clarified carefully. He took an honest look into each face. "I understand you have your differences and I can respect that but I cannot respect, nor tolerate, what happened today at the Quidditch pitch."
They all hung their heads. All three pairs of ears were searing red with embarrassment. Dumbledore saw this and took pity on the young men.
"You are not to be expelled today," he told them truthfully. He had never planned on expelling them; indeed, he hadn't expected punishing them either. Their shame was enough of a punishment, he felt.
"Go to the Infirmary and have Madame Pomfrey look at your wounds," he said.
Instantaneously, three heads snapped up and looked at their elder curiously.
"You are not to be punished; your embarrassment is enough. Go to the Infirmary now," Dumbledore instructed.
"Yes sir," they said in unison with their heads hanging even as they exited McGonagall's room. Dumbledore chuckled beside himself. He remembered what fifteen was like.
***
Hermione rushed right back to the Infirmary when George and the rest of the Quidditch team told her what had happened. Parvati was napping and so Hermione went there alone.
She wasn't surprised to find all three boys there; well two boys and a ferret. She immediately rushed to Ron's side.
Upon seeing her, Ron smiled.
Hermione sat down on the edge of the bed and took in the sight of her boyfriend. "Dear sweet Merlin, Ron! What could possibly have provoked you into fighting with Malfoy?" she asked. It wasn't said with disbelief or stunned anger. Rather there was a hidden tone of worry in her voice.
"Easy," he replied. "It was Malfoy that provoked me into fighting with Malfoy," he said.
Even though she tried not to, Hermione laughed. "I should want to hex you back into the 18th century, but seeing that you have a fractured wrist I don't think that would be such a great idea. They may not have invented a spell to fix a fracture yet," she finished with a gleam of laughter in her eyes.
Ron gasped dramatically. "Do my ears deceive me? Is there actually something Miss Hermione Granger doesn't know?" he teased gently.
She blushed a little bit and smacked him lightly in the arm. He feigned soreness and she laughed again.
As their laughter died down, Harry interrupted from the next bed. "Alright, now that I'm going to be thoroughly sick…what did you do while we were…at practice?"
Hermione gasped and slapped her forehead, narrowly missing Ron's chin with her hand as it flew upward. "I cannot believe I forgot! Parvati and I came down with Seamus and Neville to see Lavender. Seamus told her how he feels!" she exclaimed excitedly.
"What?" Harry asked, shocked.
"I know! It didn't work…or at least Lav hasn't woken up yet but it's a start. I think I'll research it a little after I leave you two," she told them.
Ron looked to the bed that was full with a still quiet Lavender. "Do you think it worked?" he asked.
"Would you three shut up over there?" Malfoy grumbled. "Some of us are trying to sleep."
"It's not even eight o'clock yet Malfoy!" Ron protested.
"So?"
"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry said from his bed.
"I'd like to see you make me," Malfoy sneered.
"I would, but I can't move," Harry returned angrily.
Hermione realized she was caught in the crossfire of a continuous fight but sat there dumbly. What else was she supposed to do?
"You'd move if you really wanted to," Malfoy said.
Ron's hands tightened around the white linen of the sheets. He would not lose his temper. He absolutely would not lose his temper. He lost concentration when a weak moan bounced off the walls of the hospital wing.
All four of them looked at each other curiously; their fight forgotten, and then looked to the different beds.
Lavender was thrashing about wildly.
How did you like that? Sorry that she's still not quite awake…but she will be in the next chapter. I promise. Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks!
*** As a side note, please pray/light a candle/meditate/whatever-it-is-you-do for the Allied forces in light of the war…and not only for the Allied soldiers but also the innocent Iraqi lives that will be lost. Remember, it is not Iraq we are against, but Saddam Hussein. I apologize if this request has offended you.
Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. Same world.
~ Wayne Dyer
