Disclaimer--Nothing here belongs to me. Most of this scene is from PoA and belongs to JKR, who is a MUCH more accomplished writer than me. They're for the love of the craft and intended only as flattery.
Author's Notes--This is getting to be a nasty habit...*grins wryly* I really ought to learn some patience. ("But I'm NOT patient! I've never been patient!" --Meg Murray)
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They had only just finished when the Portrait Hole opened and Harry, Ron, and Neville stepped through, broom clutched proudly in Harry's hand. Ginny drifted quickly that direction, far too interested to pass up the opportunity to get a good look at a Firebolt. All around her, people were talking very fast, asking where it had come from and if they could touch it...a few were even clambering for rides, and Ginny was almost tempted to join them...especially when she considered the possibility Harry would insist on coming with her. After the broom had been passed around and examined at every angle, people began to drift back to their conversations, books and games, leaving Harry and Ron in the center of the room. Ginny glanced over at the table where she'd left Hermione, and seeing she was still there, subsided into a corner near Lee to see what happened.
Harry and Ron looked at her, carefully not looking at them, her head bent over her homework in a manner Ginny could tell was a little too studious... she thought Ron and Harry ought to be able to tell as well, but...they looked at one another, seemed to reach some joint decision, and walked over to Hermione's table.
"So far so good," she muttered under her breath.
Lee snorted amicably next to her ear. "Playing Peacemaker, Gingersnaps."
"Gotta problem with that?" Ginny retorted good-naturedly under her breath.
Lee laughed almost soundlessly. "Are you kidding? If you can pull it off, the whole House will be in your debt...those three have been almost impossible to live with since they've been fighting."
"Well, cross your fingers, then," Ginny ordered lightly, watching intently as Harry held up the broom and Ron said something, gesturing expansively.
Hermione replied, something in her expression making Ginny think Ron had come uncomfortably close to insulting her. She fought the urge to hold her breath.
Ron took the broom from Harry as reverently-or, knowing Ron, perhaps more so, than if it had been his first child-and ran up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.
"Three minutes and no blood shed," Lee murmured beside her. "I am impressed."
"Shut up," Ginny hissed. "You'll jinx it!"
But things did look promising-Harry had sat down at the table across from Hermione and was studying her reports with every indication of civilized interest. And Hermione was responding with animation...
A long, pained bellow echoed down the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Most of the people still in the Common Room turned to see. Ron galloped into the room, looking very much like an outraged pony with his hair flying everywhere, his hands clenched in bony fists, and his nostrils flared. "LOOK," he shouted so loudly he would have been audible over the usual noise of the Common Room...all of which was currently absent.
" Tough luck, Snaps," Lee said, patting her back. "Jolly good try, though. Better luck next time."
Ginny elbowed him...but not that hard.
"SCABBERS!" Ron boomed, "LOOK! SCABBERS!" He thrust the sheet he was brandishing under Hermione's nose. It looked almost as if he were trying to force a ship's sail up her nose. Hermione must have thought so, too. She was leaning bemusedly away.
Harry reached out and took the sheet, and Ginny thought she could see a muscle in his face twitch just a little. "BLOOD!" Ron announced to the entire Tower before Harry could. "HE"S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"
"N-no" Hermione said, her tremulous whisper as audible as his shout.
Ron tossed something onto her paper and stalked away.
Hermione and Harry leaned over the paper, looking at something...then Hermione burst into wild tears and pounded up the stairs to her dormitory, leaving her books and papers behind.
"Whatever that was," Ginny said, needing to hear the words to make sense of them, "it's not good."
"No argument here," Lee agreed, rather unhelpfully. Ginny shot him a baleful look, and he threw up his hands and pretended to duck. She rolled her eyes, grinning at him in spite of herself, and gathered her nerves in both hands to go over and ask Harry what had just happened.
Fred and George beat her to it. "Harry," Fred said conversationally, "old bean, do you mind telling us just what that was all about?"
"Well...um..." Harry said, nearly as helpful as Lee.
"Yes, besides that?" prompted George.
"Scabbers is...um...missing..."
"We gathered that," Fred informed him dryly.
"And...there...uh...seems to be some blood on the sheets."
"Yes, yes, so Ron bellowed." George observed.
"Well...and...uh...Ron found some hairs on the floor."
"Ooh...fancy that." The twins were rolling their eyes at one another on either side of a very bemused Harry.
"He...Ron...thinks the hairs belong to Crookshanks-you know, Hermione's cat?"
"Ah."
"So...well..."
"Crookshanks ate Scabbers and Ron blames Hermione," Fred said, putting it all neatly into prose.
"Well...yes."
"There goes the Tower."
From the grim silence in the room, George's joke was all too serious.
Author's Notes--This is getting to be a nasty habit...*grins wryly* I really ought to learn some patience. ("But I'm NOT patient! I've never been patient!" --Meg Murray)
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They had only just finished when the Portrait Hole opened and Harry, Ron, and Neville stepped through, broom clutched proudly in Harry's hand. Ginny drifted quickly that direction, far too interested to pass up the opportunity to get a good look at a Firebolt. All around her, people were talking very fast, asking where it had come from and if they could touch it...a few were even clambering for rides, and Ginny was almost tempted to join them...especially when she considered the possibility Harry would insist on coming with her. After the broom had been passed around and examined at every angle, people began to drift back to their conversations, books and games, leaving Harry and Ron in the center of the room. Ginny glanced over at the table where she'd left Hermione, and seeing she was still there, subsided into a corner near Lee to see what happened.
Harry and Ron looked at her, carefully not looking at them, her head bent over her homework in a manner Ginny could tell was a little too studious... she thought Ron and Harry ought to be able to tell as well, but...they looked at one another, seemed to reach some joint decision, and walked over to Hermione's table.
"So far so good," she muttered under her breath.
Lee snorted amicably next to her ear. "Playing Peacemaker, Gingersnaps."
"Gotta problem with that?" Ginny retorted good-naturedly under her breath.
Lee laughed almost soundlessly. "Are you kidding? If you can pull it off, the whole House will be in your debt...those three have been almost impossible to live with since they've been fighting."
"Well, cross your fingers, then," Ginny ordered lightly, watching intently as Harry held up the broom and Ron said something, gesturing expansively.
Hermione replied, something in her expression making Ginny think Ron had come uncomfortably close to insulting her. She fought the urge to hold her breath.
Ron took the broom from Harry as reverently-or, knowing Ron, perhaps more so, than if it had been his first child-and ran up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.
"Three minutes and no blood shed," Lee murmured beside her. "I am impressed."
"Shut up," Ginny hissed. "You'll jinx it!"
But things did look promising-Harry had sat down at the table across from Hermione and was studying her reports with every indication of civilized interest. And Hermione was responding with animation...
A long, pained bellow echoed down the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Most of the people still in the Common Room turned to see. Ron galloped into the room, looking very much like an outraged pony with his hair flying everywhere, his hands clenched in bony fists, and his nostrils flared. "LOOK," he shouted so loudly he would have been audible over the usual noise of the Common Room...all of which was currently absent.
" Tough luck, Snaps," Lee said, patting her back. "Jolly good try, though. Better luck next time."
Ginny elbowed him...but not that hard.
"SCABBERS!" Ron boomed, "LOOK! SCABBERS!" He thrust the sheet he was brandishing under Hermione's nose. It looked almost as if he were trying to force a ship's sail up her nose. Hermione must have thought so, too. She was leaning bemusedly away.
Harry reached out and took the sheet, and Ginny thought she could see a muscle in his face twitch just a little. "BLOOD!" Ron announced to the entire Tower before Harry could. "HE"S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"
"N-no" Hermione said, her tremulous whisper as audible as his shout.
Ron tossed something onto her paper and stalked away.
Hermione and Harry leaned over the paper, looking at something...then Hermione burst into wild tears and pounded up the stairs to her dormitory, leaving her books and papers behind.
"Whatever that was," Ginny said, needing to hear the words to make sense of them, "it's not good."
"No argument here," Lee agreed, rather unhelpfully. Ginny shot him a baleful look, and he threw up his hands and pretended to duck. She rolled her eyes, grinning at him in spite of herself, and gathered her nerves in both hands to go over and ask Harry what had just happened.
Fred and George beat her to it. "Harry," Fred said conversationally, "old bean, do you mind telling us just what that was all about?"
"Well...um..." Harry said, nearly as helpful as Lee.
"Yes, besides that?" prompted George.
"Scabbers is...um...missing..."
"We gathered that," Fred informed him dryly.
"And...there...uh...seems to be some blood on the sheets."
"Yes, yes, so Ron bellowed." George observed.
"Well...and...uh...Ron found some hairs on the floor."
"Ooh...fancy that." The twins were rolling their eyes at one another on either side of a very bemused Harry.
"He...Ron...thinks the hairs belong to Crookshanks-you know, Hermione's cat?"
"Ah."
"So...well..."
"Crookshanks ate Scabbers and Ron blames Hermione," Fred said, putting it all neatly into prose.
"Well...yes."
"There goes the Tower."
From the grim silence in the room, George's joke was all too serious.