Disclaimer- The great JK has not only the privilege of a new baby boy (many congrats from the fanfiction world!) but also of owning the brilliant characters used here.
A/N- Look, I really am alive! Whether you are or not from the shock of my posting the last chapter is another thing. Hope you enjoy!
Reviews- Be sure to drop me
a note at the end of the chapter. Were the characters 'in character'? Was
my writing awful? Tell me.
Silencing Train Ride
When Harry had stepped through the Muggle barriers 9 and 10, he was greeted by both Ron and Hermione. They stood just underneath the sign announcing its welcome to Platform 9 ¾. They stopped their avid chat abruptly as they watched him draw near.
With strained smiles, they each took position beside him and pushed their luggage trolleys towards the scarlet train. They each piled their belongings into the same compartment, going in after it.
Harry collapsed into one of the seats, and after they each cast a side long look at each other, Ron and Hermione sat across from him. He surveyed them in mild confusion, shaking his head and looking out the window to ponder his god father's criminal status.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Ron and Hermione elbow each other in the side between long intervals of silence. Just as Ron threw her a particularly hard jab, Hermione stood. "Oh!"
"Erm.. Sorry."
Hermione disregarded Ron with a wave of her hand and perched on the edge of the seat, leaning towards Harry with excitement. Ron seemed rather puzzled, shaking his head and staring at her as though she was suddenly sporting a Slytherin robe. Harry turned his full attention to her. "What is it, Hermione?"
She squealed with delight and fell against the hard back of her seat.
"Guess who'll be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
Harry looked back out the window and muttered darkly, "Snape?"
It seemed fitting, with all the horrid things happening of late.
Hermione ignored the comment and continued. "I wasn't supposed to tell you. Even I'm not supposed to know, but in my Prefect letter.."
"PREFECT LETTER?"
Ron had jumped from his seat. "You're a bloody.. prefect, now?" He spat out the word as if it were something particularly vile.
She frowned. "Why, yes. I was quite surprised, of course. But it is fitting, don't you.." She trailed off, noting Ron's angry glare.
"Really, Ron.. You shouldn't use such foul language. That's the sort of thing that may cause me to take off points. Imagine! From my own house!"
Ron rolled his eyes and plopped back on the seat beside her. "Exactly what I'm talking about." He looked to Harry, whose gaze had been drawn away from the window by their argument. "We won't be able to get away with anything this year!"
"And rightfully, so!" interrupted Hermione in a shrill voice.
"What's right about it? Doing in your own friends? You have to promise, right here and now, that you won't be taking any points from us."
Hermione's eyes widened, and she seemed about to say something quite nasty, when in a calm voice, Harry asked, "Who's the new Defense teacher, Hermione?"
She took in a deep breath, and with a nasty glare at Ron, she turned to Harry with a rather pleasant smile. "Sirius."
Harry blinked at his friend, unable to say anything. Ron groaned and placed his head in his hands. "Great, a delusional prefect! We won't have to even do anything to lose points."
Hermione huffed, "I am not delusional. When I saw his name on staff list of the pre.. Hogwarts letter I received, I sent an owl to Dumbledore, asking why he made such a choice. After all, most of the Wizard world thinks Sirius to be.."
"We know that, Hermione," shot Ron, rudely.
"Well?" asked Harry, tactfully deciding to ignore Ron. Hermione did the same.
"He explained that I, being your friend and a prefect, was the only one who actually saw the real identity of our new professor. He'll be teaching using a Polyjuice Potion, so he'll look just like a regular non-convicted Wizard."
She frowned. "Well, not quite regular."
"Why?" asked Harry suddenly, looking quite pale. "Doesn't he realize how dangerous this could be? If someone were to see him.."
"Harry, I'm sure Dumbledore will make sure he's perfectly safe. Besides it's for your protection.. Oof! Ron!"
She looked towards Ron who had just kicked her left shin. She began to blush upon seeing his angry expression and immediately began to try to fix her mistake.
"I, of course mean.. the protection of.."
It was too late, Harry had already stood and was glowering at them both. "My protection? I don't need to be protected. I survived a duel with Voldemort last term! Has everyone forgotten that?"
Ron stiffened and Hermione clasped her hands tightly in her lap.
"It's all my ruddy fault everyone's in danger. It's all my fault they're dead."
Hermione blinked away approaching tears while Ron swallowed hard, turning a bit red in the face. Trying very hard not to raise his voice, he said, "It's not, Harry. It's.. You-Know-Who's fault. He killed them."
"BECAUSE OF ME!"
"Yeah, but if you hadn't drove him away when you were just a baby, think of all the others that would be dead!" Ron's struggle to keep his voice down seemed to had been forgotten.
Harry shook his head. "That was my mum." He choked on the last word.
"I 'spose it was her during first year too, then? Y' know, when you fought him off from getting the Stone? What about when you saved my little sister? Or last term.." Ron stopped.
"When I killed Cedric Diggory."
Hermione, in a faltering voice, said, "You didn't kill him, Harry. You told us what happened."
Harry sat back down and looked out the window. "He didn't have to come with me."
Ron looked about to retort but Hermione pulled at his sleeve. Muttering something about "no good stubborn idiots", he sat back on the seat.
The rest of the ride passed in silence, interrupted only when Snack Trolley came around. Even then, no one budged from their seats. Though Ron eyed the chocolate frogs rather greedily, no one bought anything and she left with a sympathetic survey of them all. Shortly after, Hermione left to change into her school robes. Ron cast a cautious glance at Harry as before they began to change as well, but Harry seemed to be ignoring him. Hermione returned with her Prefect badge pinned firmly on her breast, only to tell the silent boys that she was needed up front.
As the train halted, finally reaching their final destination, Ron seemed to gather up all his courage to utter just one word. "Harry?"
Harry stood to leave the compartment. "Yeah?"
Ron faltered, and after seeming to
run a thing or two through his head, he shrugged and buried his response
of "Never mind" in a rather timely cough.
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