HARRY ¨POTTER AND THE MARK OF GRYFFINDOR

By Geena

Chapter 10: Sweet Sixteen

Because of all the excitement, Harry had yet to ask Hermione to be his partner for the Yule Ball. He kept finding excuses to postpone the inevitable, but by the first week of December he realised he couldn't afford to wait much longer. He mustered up his courage and went to look for her one Sunday evening. She had told them at lunch she would be spending her afternoon and most of the evening in the library, working on an assignment for Professor Flitwick, so Harry was sure he would find her there.

Much to his surprise the library was abandoned and Madam Pince told him she hadn't seen Hermione since right after dinner.

Thinking hard about where Hermione could be around this time, he decided to check with Hagrid.

The giant welcomed him warmly, but he hadn't seen Hermione either.

Walking back to the castle, Harry stopped by the Owlery in case she was visiting Hedwig. When he still couldn't find her, he walked up to the Hospital Wing, a slight worry starting to creep up on him. Madam Pomfrey said she didn't remember Hermione coming near the Infirmary all day and when Harry murmured something about asking Dumbledore she told him the Headmaster was currently away from Hogwarts.

This worried him even more and he quickly returned to the Gryffindor common room, hoping against hope she had returned there during his absence.

Lots of Gryffindors were sitting by the fire, engaged in games of exploding snap or wizard chess, but no Hermione.

He spotted Ron and Ginny in one of the corners, immersed in the letter from their mother they had received that morning.

"Ron, Ginny, have you seen Hermione ? I can't find her anywhere." Harry asked, unable to hide the despair in his voice.

Two red heads lifted up from the parchment.

"Huh ? No, I don't think I have, not since dinner anyway." Ron said. "She's probably still locked up in the library." He added and continued reading.

"No she isn't. In fact, I've searched the entire school and it seems like she has vanished." Harry's voice broke when panic caught up with him.

Ginny looked also a bit worried. She seemed to think really hard and was a little hesitant before she spoke.

"Didn't I hear you say Malfoy has it in for her ?"

Harry nodded. He didn't like the direction this was going.

"Well, it could mean nothing, but it's Malfoy's birthday today and I overheard Crabbe and Goyle talking to each other about the 'excellent surprise' they were having in stall for his party tonight."

"Party ?" Ron raised his head again.

"Oh, don't tell me you haven't heard Malfoy bragging about his birthday party ? He's been going on about it for weeks. Apparently only the senior Slytherins are invited and it's going to be very 'grown up'."

Now Harry was really alarmed. He got on his feet and headed for the door.

"Wait a minute Harry, you're not going down to the Slytherin common room, are you ?" Ron held him by the hem of his robe.

"Yes I am. He's got her Ron, I just know it."

Ron seemed to think Harry was overreacting, but he didn't know the entire story, he only knew about that time before the first Prefects meeting.

Ginny's eyes showed understanding when she joined them and encouraged Harry to go.

"Then I'll come with you." Ron decided.

Ginny wanted to come too, but Harry persuaded her to stay behind in case Hermione should come back.

Ron and Harry hurried down the stairs, not really knowing how they would be able to enter the Slytherin common room, but Harry was desperate enough to yell and scream until they  either let him in or the entire school population would be there to see who was making such a racket.

They got as far as the Main Hall, where they were intercepted by Professor Snape, who was coming out of the Great Hall together with Professor Palmer.

"Potter! Weasley! Where are you running off to ? The Gryffindor common room is the other way." He bellowed.

Harry and Ron came to an immediate halt. They relaxed slightly when they spotted Professor Palmer, but the fire in Snape's eyes made them feel very uncomfortable.

However, worry for their friend gave them the necessary courageous recklessness and Harry blurted out:

"It's Hermione, we can't find her and it's Malfoy's birthday." He said it to Professor Palmer and she didn't let him down.

Snape already started to say  "I can't see what …" but his wife intervened.

"I think I know why they are so worried, Severus. I told you about a certain incident, remember ?" She looked deep into his eyes and Snape seemed to recall something.

He nodded sternly and after telling Harry and Ron to stay where they were, he stalked off towards the dungeons.

Professor Palmer said she needed to get something and disappeared in the other direction.

Harry and Ron gave each other a baffled look, but Snape's authority made them rooted to the spot, not moving an inch to investigate any further.

They were rewarded for their patience when a few minutes later, both Professors returned from their respective directions.

Snape's eyes were blazing with anger.

"The three senior years are missing from the common room and the other students have no idea of their whereabouts."

Ron was about to ask how he could be so sure of that, but seeing the fury in the Professor's eyes was enough to convince him that even a Slytherin wouldn't dare lying to this imposing figure.

"Hold on a minute, I'll try to locate her." Professor Palmer said.

Harry turned towards her, almost forgetting she had been there too. Then he noticed the piece of parchment she was holding. A very familiar looking piece of parchment.

Before he was able to tell her how it worked, she tapped her wand against the parchment and muttered some unintelligible words. He was sure it was nothing like the spell he used to activate the Map. He reached out his neck and before the lines of the map were forming themselves on the parchment, he could clearly make out the words on top of it. It said:

'Hello Jess, up to mischief again ?

 Mister Prongs wishes you good luck!

Mister Moony would like to add you're looking lovely as ever.

Mister Padfoot agrees and blows a kiss.

Mister Wormtail thinks his friends are behaving like idiots again, but can't say he's any different.'

Harry's eyes grew wide when he saw the message from his father. Obviously Professor Palmer had known the Marauders really well if she knew how to activate the Map and there was even a special welcoming message for her !

A quick glance at Ron told him he was also stunned, though he was too far away to read what was on the Map.

"Ah, come over here Severus, do you know this room ?"

Snape took a look at the parchment and if he was surprised about it turning out to be a Map, he didn't show. He turned around instantly, his robes swishing behind his legs when he disappeared in the direction of the dungeons again.

"You two go back to your common room. Hermione will be there shortly, I promise."

Professor Palmer gave them an encouraging smile before she went after her husband.

"Did- did you see THAT ? She read the Marauders Map!" Ron exclaimed once she was out of hearing distance.

"Yeah, and the Map knew her too. Called her 'Jess'."

"No wonder Moony was worried about her, they must have known her pretty well to trust her with the Map."

"I guess so." Harry was still a bit overwhelmed and by the time they reached the Gryffindor common room he had turned completely silent, leaving it to Ron to tell Ginny all about Snape's anger towards his own House.

Only half an hour later Hermione turned up in the common room.

Most of the other students had retreated to their dormitories, so Harry, Ron and Ginny bombarded her with questions.

She still looked a bit shaken, but her eyes shone brightly and there were little sparks in them when she got to the part where she was rescued.

"I was sitting in the library doing my Charms essay and Madam Pince stepped out for a moment. All of a sudden, my wand was grabbed from my pockets and someone held my arms behind my back. It was Crabbe and Goyle. They gagged my so I couldn't scream and dragged me off towards the dungeons. Right before we entered an old dungeon classroom they called out 'Draco, come and get your present' and I knew I was in deep trouble. I was forced to go into the room, where they tied me to a chair. The celebrations had already started and I'm sure more than one Slytherin had had too much to drink already. The older Slyths kept throwing 'advice' at Malfoy and some of it was really disgusting. I kept hoping Dumbledore would find out about this, but then I remembered he hadn't been at dinner and I guessed he wasn't at Hogwarts. That's when I started to panic a little. My wand was lying on a table close to my chair and I had read about wandless magic during my Charms research. I knew it was possible by means of mind-control to get small objects to fly into your hands. Especially if it's your own wand, since there is a magical connection. So I tried to focus really hard and basically shut out everything else. That's why I hadn't even noticed when the room all of a sudden went silent."

She took a little moment to catch her breath and clearly enjoyed the anticipating looks on her friends' faces.

"Oh it was brilliant! Snape stood there, in the middle of the room, his eyes scanning each and every one of those present. I could have sworn some of them were trembling. Then he stepped closer to Malfoy and his sneer was like I have never heard it before. He practically bored his eyes into Malfoy's and wished him a happy birthday. But oh Gods, the way he said it! There was sweat pearling on Malfoy's brow and his fingers gripped the back of a chair as if he was about to faint. Snape didn't even look at me all this time, but I'm sure he knew where I was. He picked up one of the empty bottles, sniffed it, glanced around the room again and whispered really softly: 'One hundred points from Slytherin. Malfoy, come with me.' That's when Malfoy noticed Professor Palmer was there and his face turned a dark pink. He didn't dare look at her and when the others left the room they had to pass by my chair, but they all averted their eyes."

Ron, Harry and Ginny let out a deep sigh of relief.

"It was so cool." Hermione beamed.

"WHAT ?" Three very confused Gryffindors spread their eyes in disbelief.

"Oh it was freaky at first and I admit I was pretty scared at one point, but honestly, you should have been there. Snape taking points from his own House, sneering at Malfoy like he has never done to us …"

"He has been terribly horrible to us in the past Hermione, aren't you forgetting that ?" Harry pointed out.

"Yes of course I remember, but this was so different. I was like… I don't know, like when he berates us it's like he's only doing it as a teacher, but this time it was personal and boy did it scare the hell out of those Slytherins !"

Ginny giggled and then Harry found himself almost envious of Hermione. She was right, he would have wanted to be there to hear Snape take points from his own House. A hundred ! But all the same, he was glad Hermione was back safely and there was no doubt that Malfoy would be staying far away from her from now on.

Late at night, Harry had difficulties to fall asleep. The worry about Hermione had got to him more than he thought and images of her tied to a chair in front of a drunk Malfoy kept haunting him. When he was tired of the tossing and turning he got up and went down to the common room. He wasn't really surprised to find Hermione sitting there, gazing into the died out fire.

"Can't sleep ?" He whispered.

She turned her head and smiled. "Neither can you, by the look of it."

He sat down next to her, waiting for her to talk about it. When she finally did, he let her spill it all out. It wasn't much different than she had told them before, but the joy of being rescued had pushed aside the stress of the time before. Now it was all coming back and she feared she would get nightmares if she went to sleep. They kept talking quietly for a while longer, when suddenly the portrait swung open and Professor Palmer stepped in.

"Hermione, I thought you might still be up. Harry." She nodded at Harry, appreciating his concern for his friend.

"I brought you a sleeping potion, just for tonight. You may find it easier to fall asleep tomorrow if you've had an entire day to work through things. This will help you tonight."

She handed her a goblet with a colourless liquid in it. No need to wonder where that had come from. Hermione smiled gratefully at her Professor and drank.

After the Professor had left, Hermione stood up to go to her dorm. In a split second Harry decided it was now or never.

"Er, Hermione, before you go to sleep, there's something I've been meaning to ask you for a long time."

"Yes?" She turned around to face him.

Harry took a deep breath and plunged in.  "Would you like to be my date for the Yule Ball ?"

He held his breath, crossing his fingers behind his back. Hermione smiled.

"Of course I want to go with you. But, wouldn't you rather go with Cho ? I'm sure she'd like to go with you too."

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't think I can do that. Every time I see her all I can think about is Cedric and I get all sad and stuff. Besides, I want to take you to the Ball." He grinned.

"It's a date then." Hermione said before she disappeared out of sight.

Harry felt like he floated up to his dormitory, carried by a million butterflies. He lied awake for most of the night, but it didn't bother him this time. He was very much looking forward to the Christmas Holidays. First of all because Remus and Sirius would be arriving and secondly, even more important, he would be taking Hermione to the Yule Ball.

He finally fell asleep when the first rays of morning light were already entering the dorm, a large grin spread on his face.

TBC

A/N: next: Remus and Sirius make an appearance, and Harry finds out about The Mark.