Chapter Five
Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Hermione refused to talk to any of us, which I for one didn't mind. My head still hurt, but this time from my lack of sleep, or my dreams, one of the two. I wasn't in a very talkative mood. Harry was busy filling Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts by Hagrid at the very beginning of the year. I learned quickly that the break-in at Gringotts had already taken place, and I had been totally oblivious to it. Oh well. Like I said before, I was not eavesdropping! But this is how their conversation went from there:
"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," Ron remarked.
"Or both," Harry said.
Not much of a conversation, but they were, of course, talking about what could possibly need such heavy protection. I knew they couldn't guess what it was and remained at ease.
Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again. And like I said before, Hermione refused to talk to us. As I sat there, not eating again, I plotted ways of getting back at Malfoy. I knew Harry and Ron were looking for one as well.
Well, it came in the mail about a week later. As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. I was just as interested as everyone else was, even though I knew what was in the package. I saw the look of amazement on Harry's face when the owls dropped the parcel right in front of him. It sent his food flying everywhere, which none of the owls around us, Pep being one of them, minded. They began nibbling away at it. Another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel. Luckily, Harry read the letter first.
As soon as Ron read the note he moaned enviously, "A Nimbus Two Thousand! I've never even touched one."
They then got up and quickly left the hall. "Where on earth are they going?" Hermione asked no one in particular.
"To unwrap Harry's new broom," I replied softly, then rested my head on one arm while I stroked Pep with the other.
"Broom?" Hermione inquired. Oops.
I sat up and looked at her. I tried to think of a lie to cover up what I'd just said, but nothing was coming to mind. I sighed. "All right, fine, since I've already said too much. Harry's the new Gryffindor seeker in Quidditch." Hermione's jaw dropped.
"But first years aren't allowed to play, are they?"
"Dumbledore bent the rules a bit. Look, don't tell anyone, okay? No one's supposed to know."
"Then how did you find out?"
I hesitated, then, "Toast?" I picked up a piece of toast and offered it to her. She shook her head.
"You know, come to think of it, you seem to know a lot about what's happening. Like when I tried to stop Harry and Ron from going out, you didn't want me to. You knew they were going to run into that three-headed dog, didn't you?"
I just looked at her. What was I supposed to say?
"How, though?" Then a horrible thought crossed her mind. "Dark magic." She gasped and scooted away from me. "Are you in league with You-Know- Who?"
I raised my eyebrows in surprise and then . . .
I laughed.
I shook my head with a smile. "No, I am not in league with Voldemort." She gasped again.
"You said his name!" She scooted farther away.
I rolled my eyes. "Hermione, fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself. You should know that, smart as you are." She looked at me skeptically for a while, but then scooted closer again.
"I'm not smart." I laughed again.
"Of course you are." We finished breakfast in silence.
Okay, we didn't actually finish breakfast, instead we decided to go up to Gryffindor tower: Hermione to scold Harry and Ron, me to see the broomstick.
We were still on the stairs when we saw the two boys, and Harry was just saying, "Well, it's true. If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team . . ."
"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking the rules?" Hermione said angrily from behind them.
Harry had been referring to Malfoy, who I was sure had just learned about Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand. I smiled.
"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" Harry told Hermione.
"Yes, don't stop now," Ron said, "it's doing us so much good."
Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.
"Don't you have somewhere to be as well?" Ron asked me. I smiled.
"Always." Then I began to follow Hermione. Near the bottom of the stairs I turned around again and said, "I hope you like your broomstick, Harry." I then continued to follow after Hermione. I shouldn't have said it, but it was too tempting.
Later, that night while we were all eating dinner, something embarrassing and unforgettable happened.
From across the Great Hall.
"Hey Courtney! Harry! I HAVE A SONG FOR YOU!" Oh God, no. It was Lisa. She was on top of the Slytherin table. The hall was growing silent to see what she was doing. "Laura! C'mon, you know this one!"
Laura too stood on top of her house table.
Lisa began, "This is for you Courtney and Harry, future Prom King and Queen!" There was a still silence as everyone, including the teachers, listened. For once I wished the teachers would intervene, but they didn't. Why didn't they?
Because Dumbledore told them about us, I thought.
"You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you!" She began to do a freaky tap thing across the table. Laura joined in. "You'd be like Heaven to touch. Oh, God, I want to hold you so much."
"Oh, God, no, no, no," I moaned. Harry looked at me, then at the twins. I buried my face in my hands. I could feel my cheeks becoming red.
"At long last Love has arrived, and I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you."
Snape walked in at that moment. I have never been gladder to see his ugly face.
"OH SHIT! Laura! This is where we run! The Calvary! SOS! SNAPE!" She bounded off the table, Laura behind her as they bolted towards the girls' bathroom.
I turned my head, and tried to ignore the fact that that had happened. But it burned in my mind while the students all roared with laughter.
Back in the common room that night, everyone was sitting around doing homework and laughing about what had happened. I knew that they would never forget, but I didn't know if they would let me forget it. Seven o'clock drew near and Harry left Gryffindor tower. In fact, he left the castle. He was going down to the Quidditch field to meet Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and their Keeper. I stayed in Gryffindor tower with Hermione. She had decided to talk to me again, which, now that my headache was gone, I was thankful for. She helped me out with my homework and kept me company.
There came a sudden tapping at the window. I looked over and saw Pep waiting to be let in, so I opened the window. She flew in and landed on my homework. She didn't have a note or anything with her, so I assumed she had just come to hang out for awhile, maybe get some food. When I sat down she nibbled my finger affectionately. "I don't have any food Pep," I told her. She gave a disappointed hoot, but instead of leaving she made her way up my arm and perched on my shoulder to observe my work. I smiled and went back to my homework.
An hour later my brain was fried and I had another headache. I practically threw down my quill and stood up. Pep clung tightly to my robe to keep from falling. I stroked her a little to calm her down. She hooted wearily and fell back asleep. "I can't work anymore, Hermione," I announced. Hermione finished the sentence she was writing, dropped her quill, and looked at me as she said, "Me either." She stood up and we walked over to the fire together. The common room was crowded and many meaningless conversations were taking place. None of the comfortable chairs were available, so we remained standing. It had begun to get dark about half an hour before, and I knew Harry would be returning anytime now. Before he did, though, Hermione said she was going up to the dormitory, and I went with her.
We packed up our books and the work we had done and carried everything up the stairs and dumped it all on our beds. By now Pep was on top of my head, annoyed by the movement of my arm. I smiled as I got her down and sat her on my bed. Hermione picked up a book and began reading, so I got off of my bed and opened my trunk.
I had looked in it once or twice since the first night, but never completely. I glanced up at Hermione; she was engulfed in her book. I looked back down at my trunk and quietly began to take everything out of it. Spare robes, my hat, a cloak for winter . . . Same old stuff from before. But something told me to keep digging. I did.
Shoes, stockings, my cards from the chocolate frogs on the train. There was nothing new in my trunk, yet I kept digging. I felt sure that once I got to the bottom I would find what I was looking for, even though I didn't know what I was looking for. I kept taking things out; I nearly threw them out. What was I doing? This was crazy.
Suddenly, as I removed a scarf, two leaves fell from it. One was large, very large. The other looked like any other leaf you might find lying around. I picked them both up gently. I decided to take one at a time and laid the smaller one down. I then just sat and stared at the big one.
FLASH!
I threw the Lembas wafer to the ground.
"I'm sick of Lembas!" I burst. "Day and night, night and day! It doesn't even work anymore! I'm starving!"
"Courtney, calm down," Aragorn told me.
"No!" I screamed. "I'm sick of Lembas, I'm sick of darkness, I'm sick of- of walking, and I'm sick of you! You're always walking around yelling at me, putting me down. You don't care! And I don't give a damn if you care about me, but you should care about those helpless hobbits, about Lisa and Laura!"
"Courtney," Boromir began.
"No," I said. "My friends are out there somewhere, wandering around. I don't know if they're alive, if they're hurt. They may need me and I can't help them. Haven't you ever cared about anyone so much that it hurt?" I asked. Everyone was silent.
"Yes," Aragorn said softly. I fell to my knees beside him.
"That's how I feel about Lisa and Laura. I need them, they need me. We need each other."
"There's nothing else we can do, we're moving as fast as we can. You said it yourself, you're sick of walking. We all are. We are all tired and dead on our feet."
I tried to fight back tears.
"I'm not trying to be selfish here, and I am trying my best."
"Maybe your best isn't enough."
"Aragorn," Legolas said quietly.
"God, I can't take this anymore! What do you want from me?"
"Nothing you can achieve," Aragorn told me. "What do you want from me?"
"Something you're afraid to do."
"I do not fear anything, child." This was uncalled for.
"You fear your responsibility, and you know it," I told him coldly. "You may have more years, more knowledge than me, but at least I face my responsibilities. My friends need me, and I'm going to help them regardless of whether you help me or not."
FLASH!
A tear fell. I dropped the leaf that had at one time held the Lembas I hated with such a passion and covered my face. Why had he been so cruel? I really had tried my hardest.
I wiped my tears away and turned to the next leaf. I picked it up, afraid of what might happen.
FLASH!
We were all morphed Hork Bajir. Aldrea had decided to change trees and we were all jumping over. Lisa and Laura had both already jumped. I ran, but my fear overwhelmed me and I stopped. What happens if I fall? I asked shakily.
You'd have a long time to think about why you fell, Lisa told me.
Aldrea said, "Hork Bajir do not fall from trees."
Okay, I responded. I backed up, ran, and leaped. I fell. I made a grab for the branch, but it had already pulled too much weight. It snapped. I fell, completely out of control. I kept reaching out for branches, but the blades covering my body kept slicing them away. I tried to demorph as I fell. Finally, I succeeded. I was human again! Just as this realization came over me, I looked down and saw . . .
The ground.
I hit it with unimaginable force, I suppose my neck broke, and the world went black.
FLASH!
With a gasp I opened my eyes and saw the leaf in my hand. I threw it back into my trunk. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and looked back in the trunk again. Now, there was something I hadn't seen before. It was a book. I picked it up and turned it over to see the title. My breath caught, and I dropped it. I looked back at it.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
What was that doing here?
I picked it up and began to feverishly scan the pages. Page 170 was only half filled with words, and after that the pages were blank. What the . . .?
"Courtney, what are you doing?" Hermione suddenly asked me, and then she began to walk over. I chucked the book into my trunk with the leaves, threw a few things on top of them, and turned to look at her.
"Just looking for something," I told her.
"Oh, what?" she asked, looking around at the mess. I glanced around me and grabbed my scarf.
"My scarf," I replied cheerfully. I then wrapped it around my neck and smiled. "It's cold in here."
"Oh, I suppose," she said, and then she turned and walked away. I rolled my eyes and, with a sigh, began packing everything back into my trunk. I would come back to the book later.
I had been at Hogwarts for two months. It hardly felt like I had been there for two weeks. Okay, this is a lie. It felt like I had been there two years. Make the best out of a bad situation, right? Classes were becoming more interesting, but still, it wasn't home.
On Halloween morning we all woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought we were ready to start making objects fly, something we had all been dying to try since he had made Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put our class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan, and Ron was partners with Hermione. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. While Hermione had warmed up to me again, she hadn't spoken to either of the boys since Harry's broomstick had arrived. I was partners with Neville. Something worried me about this.
"Now, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
It was more difficult than I had thought it would be. Neville and I swished and flicked, but our feather that we were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Not to worry, no one else's was either. Across the room, Seamus Finnigan had gotten impatient with his and Harry's feather and prodded it with his wand and set fire to it --- Harry had to put it out with his hat.
Ron, I saw, wasn't having much more luck.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
"You're saying it wrong," I heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing- gar- dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
"You do it then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.
Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Ron would eat his words.
Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.
"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone, see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of class.
As we all filed out of the classroom, I walked with Hermione behind Harry and Ron. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," Ron was telling Harry, "she's a nightmare, honestly."
Hermione, with tears in her eyes, walked quickly away from me and knocked into Harry in her hurry to get away.
"I think she heard you."
"So?" Ron said, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."
"She does have friends," I told him angrily. He and Harry stopped and looked at me. "You have absolutely no respect for anyone, do you? She's a better person than you, Ron. A lot better. You have absolutely no right to talk about her that way, you don't even know her!" I then hurried off to our next class, which Hermione missed, and I didn't see the impact I'd had on anyone. Hermione, in fact, wasn't seen by anyone all afternoon. On our way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry, Ron, and I heard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. I didn't see the boys' reactions, but just then we entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations surely put Hermione out of their minds. I couldn't forget about her that easily.
Everyone else sat down to eat, I simply piled a few things onto a plate and made to leave again. "Where are you going?" Ron asked.
"What does it matter to you?" I inquired. All right, yes, it was mean. I sighed and said, "Hermione needs to eat, doesn't she?"
"Didn't she say she wanted to be left alone?" Harry asked. Men.
"Let me handle this, okay?" Then I left the Great Hall.
I made my way along the corridors until I came to the girls' bathroom. I heard hurried footsteps and hid behind a nearby pillar. Quirrell hurried past me and I realized with a start why I had to get to Hermione, and quickly. I opened the bathroom door a crack, slipped inside, and let it shut. Too loud.
"Who's there?" Hermione's voice came from the nearest stall.
"It's me," I told her, walking over.
"Go away," Hermione mumbled. I sat the plate of food on the floor in front of her stall and stooped down.
"You haven't eaten all day, Hermione," I said.
"I'm not hungry."
"Hermione, tell me what's wrong."
"You heard what Ron said." A pause. "He's right."
"What? No! He was wrong, Hermione, do you actually think that?"
"Well, prove him wrong."
Why did she have to be so stubborn?
"Look, I know what you're going through. I used to feel the same way. I mean . . ." Okay, I had no idea what the hell I was going to say after that, so I cut right to the chase. "Hermione, the only reason he said that is because you've only shown him your not-so-pleasant side. If he could just see what I see, if everyone could see what I see, they'd love you. You're shutting yourself out, hiding behind your books. You just need to loosen up a little."
DOOM! DOOM!
Was I back in Moria?
Hermione was silent for a time, but then she said, "Name one person who cares whether I come out or not."
"Well, me for one, your parents for another," I replied. "That makes at least three."
There was silence from inside the stall, and then I heard a click and the stall door opened. There stood Hermione with a tear-stained face and trembling lip. Suddenly, she stepped forward and threw her arms around me. I returned the gesture, but the moment didn't last long.
"Let's go to the feast," I offered. Hermione nodded and we turned to leave, but there was something blocking our way.
A big, ugly, smelly something.
I heard a faint click and knew that Harry and Ron had just locked the troll in the bathroom with us. Humph. Like I said before, men.
The troll saw us, raised his club, and brought it down. I pushed Hermione aside while leaping for dear life myself and, with two high-pitched screams, we landed on opposite sides of the bathroom. Not knowing who to go after first the troll just kind of swung his club around hoping to hit one of us. He knocked a sink off of the wall over where I was and a stall down over where Hermione was.
Hermione was, naturally, the smarter one here. She kept backing farther and farther toward the back of the bathroom where the troll wouldn't be able to see her. I just sat there like an idiot. Lisa was right, I was dumb.
Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and there stood Harry and Ron. They were a bit shocked, to say the least, to see me there. They then spotted Hermione, shrinking against the back wall. The troll had decided to advance on her, and it kept knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.
"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.
The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.
"Oy, pea-brain!" Ron yelled from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it.
"Come on, run, run!" Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open wide with terror.
The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was the nearest and had no way to escape. Now, I don't know why I did it, Harry was about to save Ron anyway, but I did what I did and it's all in the past now.
I gave a yell, pulled out my wand, and muttered a spell I had never heard before. Thick gold rope sprang from the end of my wand, wound around the entire troll's body, and fastened itself.
The troll, however, was relentless. It began to shuffle toward me. Great. Harry, however, didn't miss a beat. He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. This nearly knocked the troll off balance. The troll, of course, couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped --- it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils. Now there's something you don't see everyday.
Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.
Hermione, by this point, had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand and bellowed, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The troll's club raised a little, but not enough to come out of the troll's hand. It wasn't enough, why wasn't it enough?
"Ron!" I yelled. "Together!"
He nodded and we both yelled, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over --- and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and, considering it was already off balance, fell instantaneously.
The smile was swept from my face when I realized where the troll was falling.
I tried to move, but I wasn't fast enough.
With amazing weight and force, the troll pinned me to the ground. I heard and felt at least one of my legs crack, let out a cry of pain, and then fought for consciousness.
Everyone around me was getting to their feet. Ron's wand was still raised, and he was looking with amazement at the work he had done. Nevermind me.
It was Hermione who spoke first.
"Is it --- dead?"
"I don't think so," Harry replied, "I think it's just been knocked out."
"Help," I breathed with difficulty. Harry and Ron rushed over to get me out.
"Hermione, get my wand," Harry said. Then he and Ron, with astounding difficulty, lifted the troll's massive body enough for me to slide out with my arms. Once I was out of the way, the two boys let the troll fall again to the ground.
I reached for my leg as Hermione handed Harry his wand. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue. "Urgh --- troll boogers." He wiped the wand on the troll's trousers.
The troll gave a snort, we all yelped and jumped away, well, except me, and Ron's wand was back in the air.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked me.
"I believe my leg is broken," I replied. "If not both of them." Harry then helped me stand up, and I tested my left leg. Thank God, it was just in pain. "Thanks," I said.
A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made us all look up. We hadn't exactly realized what a racket we had been making, but naturally, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the bathroom, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.
Snape bent over the troll. He was fingering the rope when he looked up at me. I quickly looked away. Professor McGonagall was looking at Harry, Ron, and me. I don't think anyone had ever seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Actually, if not for the situation, it would have been quite comical.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" Professor McGonagall asked with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked over at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air, and Ron looked over at me. I looked down at the floor. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?" I saw Snape give Harry a swift, piercing look, which caused Harry to join my staring-at-the-floor party, and then it was my turn. Remember those dark tunnels I was telling you about? I looked into them and, let me tell you, there is no light at the end of those tunnels. I wished Ron would put his wand down now.
Then a small voice came out of the shadows.
"Please, Professor McGonagall --- they were looking for me."
"Miss Granger!"
Hermione, who had hidden in the shadows again, had decided to come out, whether because danger had passed or to save our butts, I don't know, but she came out all the same.
"I went looking for the troll because I --- I thought I could deal with it on my own --- you know, because I've read all about them."
Ron dropped his wand.
"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Courtney tied it up with rope, Harry stuck his wand up its nose, and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."
The rest of us tried to look as though this story wasn't new to us.
"Well --- in that case . . ." Professor McGonagall said, staring at us all, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"
Hermione hung her head. Harry and Ron were speechless, I was in pain.
"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," Professor McGonagall announced. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."
Hermione left.
Professor McGonagall then turned on Harry, Ron, and me.
"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."
"Professor, I think I should see Madam Pomfrey," I told Professor McGonagall. That's when her attention was drawn to my broken leg, which was at a very odd angle.
"Yes, of course," Professor McGonagall said. "Potter, can you escort her or shall I?"
"I will, Professor," Harry replied quietly. Then we all left. None of us spoke much until we came to the hospital wing. Ron opened the door, Harry helped me in, and Madam Pomfrey came bustling over.
"It's me again!" I grinned. Madam Pomfrey gave me a disapproving look and commenced fixing my leg. It only took a minute or so and, when Madam Pomfrey suggested I stay in the hospital wing that night, I refused.
"All right, but I want you to come by and see me tomorrow morning."
"Will do, thanks," I said, and then I limped up to Gryffindor tower with Harry and Ron. On our way back to the tower is when the talking began.
"We should have gotten more than fifteen points," Ron grumbled.
"Ten, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."
"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."
"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him.
"Oh, that's what that noise was," I said. The boys both blushed, but, to their shock, I began to laugh.
"How did you conjure up the rope?" Harry asked. I stopped smiling and thought.
"To tell the truth, I have no idea," I replied. We had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Pig snout," we all said together and entered.
The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for us. There was an embarrassed pause. Then, none of us looking at each other, we all said, "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.
I grinned as I ate. Hermione came over to join me, and then Harry and Ron walked over. It was finally comfortable for us to be together. Hallelujah! I couldn't wait to tell Laura I had followed orders!
And then I became uncomfortable. Orders? I had followed orders?
"Courtney, how's your leg?" Hermione asked me, bringing me out of my world of unnerving thoughts.
"It's fine, thanks for asking," I said. Then I smiled and went back to my food.
From that day on, from the moment we'd said "Thanks," we were all friends. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.
Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Hermione refused to talk to any of us, which I for one didn't mind. My head still hurt, but this time from my lack of sleep, or my dreams, one of the two. I wasn't in a very talkative mood. Harry was busy filling Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts by Hagrid at the very beginning of the year. I learned quickly that the break-in at Gringotts had already taken place, and I had been totally oblivious to it. Oh well. Like I said before, I was not eavesdropping! But this is how their conversation went from there:
"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," Ron remarked.
"Or both," Harry said.
Not much of a conversation, but they were, of course, talking about what could possibly need such heavy protection. I knew they couldn't guess what it was and remained at ease.
Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again. And like I said before, Hermione refused to talk to us. As I sat there, not eating again, I plotted ways of getting back at Malfoy. I knew Harry and Ron were looking for one as well.
Well, it came in the mail about a week later. As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. I was just as interested as everyone else was, even though I knew what was in the package. I saw the look of amazement on Harry's face when the owls dropped the parcel right in front of him. It sent his food flying everywhere, which none of the owls around us, Pep being one of them, minded. They began nibbling away at it. Another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel. Luckily, Harry read the letter first.
As soon as Ron read the note he moaned enviously, "A Nimbus Two Thousand! I've never even touched one."
They then got up and quickly left the hall. "Where on earth are they going?" Hermione asked no one in particular.
"To unwrap Harry's new broom," I replied softly, then rested my head on one arm while I stroked Pep with the other.
"Broom?" Hermione inquired. Oops.
I sat up and looked at her. I tried to think of a lie to cover up what I'd just said, but nothing was coming to mind. I sighed. "All right, fine, since I've already said too much. Harry's the new Gryffindor seeker in Quidditch." Hermione's jaw dropped.
"But first years aren't allowed to play, are they?"
"Dumbledore bent the rules a bit. Look, don't tell anyone, okay? No one's supposed to know."
"Then how did you find out?"
I hesitated, then, "Toast?" I picked up a piece of toast and offered it to her. She shook her head.
"You know, come to think of it, you seem to know a lot about what's happening. Like when I tried to stop Harry and Ron from going out, you didn't want me to. You knew they were going to run into that three-headed dog, didn't you?"
I just looked at her. What was I supposed to say?
"How, though?" Then a horrible thought crossed her mind. "Dark magic." She gasped and scooted away from me. "Are you in league with You-Know- Who?"
I raised my eyebrows in surprise and then . . .
I laughed.
I shook my head with a smile. "No, I am not in league with Voldemort." She gasped again.
"You said his name!" She scooted farther away.
I rolled my eyes. "Hermione, fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself. You should know that, smart as you are." She looked at me skeptically for a while, but then scooted closer again.
"I'm not smart." I laughed again.
"Of course you are." We finished breakfast in silence.
Okay, we didn't actually finish breakfast, instead we decided to go up to Gryffindor tower: Hermione to scold Harry and Ron, me to see the broomstick.
We were still on the stairs when we saw the two boys, and Harry was just saying, "Well, it's true. If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team . . ."
"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking the rules?" Hermione said angrily from behind them.
Harry had been referring to Malfoy, who I was sure had just learned about Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand. I smiled.
"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" Harry told Hermione.
"Yes, don't stop now," Ron said, "it's doing us so much good."
Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.
"Don't you have somewhere to be as well?" Ron asked me. I smiled.
"Always." Then I began to follow Hermione. Near the bottom of the stairs I turned around again and said, "I hope you like your broomstick, Harry." I then continued to follow after Hermione. I shouldn't have said it, but it was too tempting.
Later, that night while we were all eating dinner, something embarrassing and unforgettable happened.
From across the Great Hall.
"Hey Courtney! Harry! I HAVE A SONG FOR YOU!" Oh God, no. It was Lisa. She was on top of the Slytherin table. The hall was growing silent to see what she was doing. "Laura! C'mon, you know this one!"
Laura too stood on top of her house table.
Lisa began, "This is for you Courtney and Harry, future Prom King and Queen!" There was a still silence as everyone, including the teachers, listened. For once I wished the teachers would intervene, but they didn't. Why didn't they?
Because Dumbledore told them about us, I thought.
"You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you!" She began to do a freaky tap thing across the table. Laura joined in. "You'd be like Heaven to touch. Oh, God, I want to hold you so much."
"Oh, God, no, no, no," I moaned. Harry looked at me, then at the twins. I buried my face in my hands. I could feel my cheeks becoming red.
"At long last Love has arrived, and I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you."
Snape walked in at that moment. I have never been gladder to see his ugly face.
"OH SHIT! Laura! This is where we run! The Calvary! SOS! SNAPE!" She bounded off the table, Laura behind her as they bolted towards the girls' bathroom.
I turned my head, and tried to ignore the fact that that had happened. But it burned in my mind while the students all roared with laughter.
Back in the common room that night, everyone was sitting around doing homework and laughing about what had happened. I knew that they would never forget, but I didn't know if they would let me forget it. Seven o'clock drew near and Harry left Gryffindor tower. In fact, he left the castle. He was going down to the Quidditch field to meet Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and their Keeper. I stayed in Gryffindor tower with Hermione. She had decided to talk to me again, which, now that my headache was gone, I was thankful for. She helped me out with my homework and kept me company.
There came a sudden tapping at the window. I looked over and saw Pep waiting to be let in, so I opened the window. She flew in and landed on my homework. She didn't have a note or anything with her, so I assumed she had just come to hang out for awhile, maybe get some food. When I sat down she nibbled my finger affectionately. "I don't have any food Pep," I told her. She gave a disappointed hoot, but instead of leaving she made her way up my arm and perched on my shoulder to observe my work. I smiled and went back to my homework.
An hour later my brain was fried and I had another headache. I practically threw down my quill and stood up. Pep clung tightly to my robe to keep from falling. I stroked her a little to calm her down. She hooted wearily and fell back asleep. "I can't work anymore, Hermione," I announced. Hermione finished the sentence she was writing, dropped her quill, and looked at me as she said, "Me either." She stood up and we walked over to the fire together. The common room was crowded and many meaningless conversations were taking place. None of the comfortable chairs were available, so we remained standing. It had begun to get dark about half an hour before, and I knew Harry would be returning anytime now. Before he did, though, Hermione said she was going up to the dormitory, and I went with her.
We packed up our books and the work we had done and carried everything up the stairs and dumped it all on our beds. By now Pep was on top of my head, annoyed by the movement of my arm. I smiled as I got her down and sat her on my bed. Hermione picked up a book and began reading, so I got off of my bed and opened my trunk.
I had looked in it once or twice since the first night, but never completely. I glanced up at Hermione; she was engulfed in her book. I looked back down at my trunk and quietly began to take everything out of it. Spare robes, my hat, a cloak for winter . . . Same old stuff from before. But something told me to keep digging. I did.
Shoes, stockings, my cards from the chocolate frogs on the train. There was nothing new in my trunk, yet I kept digging. I felt sure that once I got to the bottom I would find what I was looking for, even though I didn't know what I was looking for. I kept taking things out; I nearly threw them out. What was I doing? This was crazy.
Suddenly, as I removed a scarf, two leaves fell from it. One was large, very large. The other looked like any other leaf you might find lying around. I picked them both up gently. I decided to take one at a time and laid the smaller one down. I then just sat and stared at the big one.
FLASH!
I threw the Lembas wafer to the ground.
"I'm sick of Lembas!" I burst. "Day and night, night and day! It doesn't even work anymore! I'm starving!"
"Courtney, calm down," Aragorn told me.
"No!" I screamed. "I'm sick of Lembas, I'm sick of darkness, I'm sick of- of walking, and I'm sick of you! You're always walking around yelling at me, putting me down. You don't care! And I don't give a damn if you care about me, but you should care about those helpless hobbits, about Lisa and Laura!"
"Courtney," Boromir began.
"No," I said. "My friends are out there somewhere, wandering around. I don't know if they're alive, if they're hurt. They may need me and I can't help them. Haven't you ever cared about anyone so much that it hurt?" I asked. Everyone was silent.
"Yes," Aragorn said softly. I fell to my knees beside him.
"That's how I feel about Lisa and Laura. I need them, they need me. We need each other."
"There's nothing else we can do, we're moving as fast as we can. You said it yourself, you're sick of walking. We all are. We are all tired and dead on our feet."
I tried to fight back tears.
"I'm not trying to be selfish here, and I am trying my best."
"Maybe your best isn't enough."
"Aragorn," Legolas said quietly.
"God, I can't take this anymore! What do you want from me?"
"Nothing you can achieve," Aragorn told me. "What do you want from me?"
"Something you're afraid to do."
"I do not fear anything, child." This was uncalled for.
"You fear your responsibility, and you know it," I told him coldly. "You may have more years, more knowledge than me, but at least I face my responsibilities. My friends need me, and I'm going to help them regardless of whether you help me or not."
FLASH!
A tear fell. I dropped the leaf that had at one time held the Lembas I hated with such a passion and covered my face. Why had he been so cruel? I really had tried my hardest.
I wiped my tears away and turned to the next leaf. I picked it up, afraid of what might happen.
FLASH!
We were all morphed Hork Bajir. Aldrea had decided to change trees and we were all jumping over. Lisa and Laura had both already jumped. I ran, but my fear overwhelmed me and I stopped. What happens if I fall? I asked shakily.
You'd have a long time to think about why you fell, Lisa told me.
Aldrea said, "Hork Bajir do not fall from trees."
Okay, I responded. I backed up, ran, and leaped. I fell. I made a grab for the branch, but it had already pulled too much weight. It snapped. I fell, completely out of control. I kept reaching out for branches, but the blades covering my body kept slicing them away. I tried to demorph as I fell. Finally, I succeeded. I was human again! Just as this realization came over me, I looked down and saw . . .
The ground.
I hit it with unimaginable force, I suppose my neck broke, and the world went black.
FLASH!
With a gasp I opened my eyes and saw the leaf in my hand. I threw it back into my trunk. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and looked back in the trunk again. Now, there was something I hadn't seen before. It was a book. I picked it up and turned it over to see the title. My breath caught, and I dropped it. I looked back at it.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
What was that doing here?
I picked it up and began to feverishly scan the pages. Page 170 was only half filled with words, and after that the pages were blank. What the . . .?
"Courtney, what are you doing?" Hermione suddenly asked me, and then she began to walk over. I chucked the book into my trunk with the leaves, threw a few things on top of them, and turned to look at her.
"Just looking for something," I told her.
"Oh, what?" she asked, looking around at the mess. I glanced around me and grabbed my scarf.
"My scarf," I replied cheerfully. I then wrapped it around my neck and smiled. "It's cold in here."
"Oh, I suppose," she said, and then she turned and walked away. I rolled my eyes and, with a sigh, began packing everything back into my trunk. I would come back to the book later.
I had been at Hogwarts for two months. It hardly felt like I had been there for two weeks. Okay, this is a lie. It felt like I had been there two years. Make the best out of a bad situation, right? Classes were becoming more interesting, but still, it wasn't home.
On Halloween morning we all woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought we were ready to start making objects fly, something we had all been dying to try since he had made Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put our class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan, and Ron was partners with Hermione. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. While Hermione had warmed up to me again, she hadn't spoken to either of the boys since Harry's broomstick had arrived. I was partners with Neville. Something worried me about this.
"Now, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
It was more difficult than I had thought it would be. Neville and I swished and flicked, but our feather that we were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Not to worry, no one else's was either. Across the room, Seamus Finnigan had gotten impatient with his and Harry's feather and prodded it with his wand and set fire to it --- Harry had to put it out with his hat.
Ron, I saw, wasn't having much more luck.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
"You're saying it wrong," I heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing- gar- dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
"You do it then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.
Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Ron would eat his words.
Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.
"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone, see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of class.
As we all filed out of the classroom, I walked with Hermione behind Harry and Ron. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," Ron was telling Harry, "she's a nightmare, honestly."
Hermione, with tears in her eyes, walked quickly away from me and knocked into Harry in her hurry to get away.
"I think she heard you."
"So?" Ron said, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."
"She does have friends," I told him angrily. He and Harry stopped and looked at me. "You have absolutely no respect for anyone, do you? She's a better person than you, Ron. A lot better. You have absolutely no right to talk about her that way, you don't even know her!" I then hurried off to our next class, which Hermione missed, and I didn't see the impact I'd had on anyone. Hermione, in fact, wasn't seen by anyone all afternoon. On our way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry, Ron, and I heard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. I didn't see the boys' reactions, but just then we entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations surely put Hermione out of their minds. I couldn't forget about her that easily.
Everyone else sat down to eat, I simply piled a few things onto a plate and made to leave again. "Where are you going?" Ron asked.
"What does it matter to you?" I inquired. All right, yes, it was mean. I sighed and said, "Hermione needs to eat, doesn't she?"
"Didn't she say she wanted to be left alone?" Harry asked. Men.
"Let me handle this, okay?" Then I left the Great Hall.
I made my way along the corridors until I came to the girls' bathroom. I heard hurried footsteps and hid behind a nearby pillar. Quirrell hurried past me and I realized with a start why I had to get to Hermione, and quickly. I opened the bathroom door a crack, slipped inside, and let it shut. Too loud.
"Who's there?" Hermione's voice came from the nearest stall.
"It's me," I told her, walking over.
"Go away," Hermione mumbled. I sat the plate of food on the floor in front of her stall and stooped down.
"You haven't eaten all day, Hermione," I said.
"I'm not hungry."
"Hermione, tell me what's wrong."
"You heard what Ron said." A pause. "He's right."
"What? No! He was wrong, Hermione, do you actually think that?"
"Well, prove him wrong."
Why did she have to be so stubborn?
"Look, I know what you're going through. I used to feel the same way. I mean . . ." Okay, I had no idea what the hell I was going to say after that, so I cut right to the chase. "Hermione, the only reason he said that is because you've only shown him your not-so-pleasant side. If he could just see what I see, if everyone could see what I see, they'd love you. You're shutting yourself out, hiding behind your books. You just need to loosen up a little."
DOOM! DOOM!
Was I back in Moria?
Hermione was silent for a time, but then she said, "Name one person who cares whether I come out or not."
"Well, me for one, your parents for another," I replied. "That makes at least three."
There was silence from inside the stall, and then I heard a click and the stall door opened. There stood Hermione with a tear-stained face and trembling lip. Suddenly, she stepped forward and threw her arms around me. I returned the gesture, but the moment didn't last long.
"Let's go to the feast," I offered. Hermione nodded and we turned to leave, but there was something blocking our way.
A big, ugly, smelly something.
I heard a faint click and knew that Harry and Ron had just locked the troll in the bathroom with us. Humph. Like I said before, men.
The troll saw us, raised his club, and brought it down. I pushed Hermione aside while leaping for dear life myself and, with two high-pitched screams, we landed on opposite sides of the bathroom. Not knowing who to go after first the troll just kind of swung his club around hoping to hit one of us. He knocked a sink off of the wall over where I was and a stall down over where Hermione was.
Hermione was, naturally, the smarter one here. She kept backing farther and farther toward the back of the bathroom where the troll wouldn't be able to see her. I just sat there like an idiot. Lisa was right, I was dumb.
Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and there stood Harry and Ron. They were a bit shocked, to say the least, to see me there. They then spotted Hermione, shrinking against the back wall. The troll had decided to advance on her, and it kept knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.
"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.
The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.
"Oy, pea-brain!" Ron yelled from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it.
"Come on, run, run!" Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open wide with terror.
The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was the nearest and had no way to escape. Now, I don't know why I did it, Harry was about to save Ron anyway, but I did what I did and it's all in the past now.
I gave a yell, pulled out my wand, and muttered a spell I had never heard before. Thick gold rope sprang from the end of my wand, wound around the entire troll's body, and fastened itself.
The troll, however, was relentless. It began to shuffle toward me. Great. Harry, however, didn't miss a beat. He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. This nearly knocked the troll off balance. The troll, of course, couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped --- it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils. Now there's something you don't see everyday.
Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.
Hermione, by this point, had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand and bellowed, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The troll's club raised a little, but not enough to come out of the troll's hand. It wasn't enough, why wasn't it enough?
"Ron!" I yelled. "Together!"
He nodded and we both yelled, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over --- and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and, considering it was already off balance, fell instantaneously.
The smile was swept from my face when I realized where the troll was falling.
I tried to move, but I wasn't fast enough.
With amazing weight and force, the troll pinned me to the ground. I heard and felt at least one of my legs crack, let out a cry of pain, and then fought for consciousness.
Everyone around me was getting to their feet. Ron's wand was still raised, and he was looking with amazement at the work he had done. Nevermind me.
It was Hermione who spoke first.
"Is it --- dead?"
"I don't think so," Harry replied, "I think it's just been knocked out."
"Help," I breathed with difficulty. Harry and Ron rushed over to get me out.
"Hermione, get my wand," Harry said. Then he and Ron, with astounding difficulty, lifted the troll's massive body enough for me to slide out with my arms. Once I was out of the way, the two boys let the troll fall again to the ground.
I reached for my leg as Hermione handed Harry his wand. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue. "Urgh --- troll boogers." He wiped the wand on the troll's trousers.
The troll gave a snort, we all yelped and jumped away, well, except me, and Ron's wand was back in the air.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked me.
"I believe my leg is broken," I replied. "If not both of them." Harry then helped me stand up, and I tested my left leg. Thank God, it was just in pain. "Thanks," I said.
A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made us all look up. We hadn't exactly realized what a racket we had been making, but naturally, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the bathroom, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.
Snape bent over the troll. He was fingering the rope when he looked up at me. I quickly looked away. Professor McGonagall was looking at Harry, Ron, and me. I don't think anyone had ever seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Actually, if not for the situation, it would have been quite comical.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" Professor McGonagall asked with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked over at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air, and Ron looked over at me. I looked down at the floor. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?" I saw Snape give Harry a swift, piercing look, which caused Harry to join my staring-at-the-floor party, and then it was my turn. Remember those dark tunnels I was telling you about? I looked into them and, let me tell you, there is no light at the end of those tunnels. I wished Ron would put his wand down now.
Then a small voice came out of the shadows.
"Please, Professor McGonagall --- they were looking for me."
"Miss Granger!"
Hermione, who had hidden in the shadows again, had decided to come out, whether because danger had passed or to save our butts, I don't know, but she came out all the same.
"I went looking for the troll because I --- I thought I could deal with it on my own --- you know, because I've read all about them."
Ron dropped his wand.
"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Courtney tied it up with rope, Harry stuck his wand up its nose, and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."
The rest of us tried to look as though this story wasn't new to us.
"Well --- in that case . . ." Professor McGonagall said, staring at us all, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"
Hermione hung her head. Harry and Ron were speechless, I was in pain.
"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," Professor McGonagall announced. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."
Hermione left.
Professor McGonagall then turned on Harry, Ron, and me.
"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."
"Professor, I think I should see Madam Pomfrey," I told Professor McGonagall. That's when her attention was drawn to my broken leg, which was at a very odd angle.
"Yes, of course," Professor McGonagall said. "Potter, can you escort her or shall I?"
"I will, Professor," Harry replied quietly. Then we all left. None of us spoke much until we came to the hospital wing. Ron opened the door, Harry helped me in, and Madam Pomfrey came bustling over.
"It's me again!" I grinned. Madam Pomfrey gave me a disapproving look and commenced fixing my leg. It only took a minute or so and, when Madam Pomfrey suggested I stay in the hospital wing that night, I refused.
"All right, but I want you to come by and see me tomorrow morning."
"Will do, thanks," I said, and then I limped up to Gryffindor tower with Harry and Ron. On our way back to the tower is when the talking began.
"We should have gotten more than fifteen points," Ron grumbled.
"Ten, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."
"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."
"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him.
"Oh, that's what that noise was," I said. The boys both blushed, but, to their shock, I began to laugh.
"How did you conjure up the rope?" Harry asked. I stopped smiling and thought.
"To tell the truth, I have no idea," I replied. We had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Pig snout," we all said together and entered.
The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for us. There was an embarrassed pause. Then, none of us looking at each other, we all said, "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.
I grinned as I ate. Hermione came over to join me, and then Harry and Ron walked over. It was finally comfortable for us to be together. Hallelujah! I couldn't wait to tell Laura I had followed orders!
And then I became uncomfortable. Orders? I had followed orders?
"Courtney, how's your leg?" Hermione asked me, bringing me out of my world of unnerving thoughts.
"It's fine, thanks for asking," I said. Then I smiled and went back to my food.
From that day on, from the moment we'd said "Thanks," we were all friends. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.
