Title: Bloody Revenge
Author: Daredee
Spoilers: Post OoTP
Genre: Drama/Action/Adventure
Pairings: not really... mild Harry/Hermsy, Ron/Hermsy and maybe eventually Draco/Hermsy dunno, not really a romance, though there is some light hearted flirting
Summary: When Harry, Ron and Hermione discover some of the more sinister cognisant creatures of the wizarding world in a quest to further the war-efforts against Voldemort, they realise there's not use crying over spilt blood.
Not what you might think--- the crew are back for their seventh year at Hogwart's and already their classes are proving challenging- in and out of the classroom. The Ministry refuses to acknowledge that there's a war on and Harry and a new friend shed some light on the dark alliances being formed between Voldemort and other dark beings.
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CHAPTER ONE: An Interesting Transfiguration Lesson
"Who's that?" Harry asked Hermione loudly, pointing to a new girl wearing Ravenclaw robes in the front of their first transfiguration lesson of their sixth year at Hogwarts.
"Shh," Hermione protested softly, "She'll hear you."
The girl turned around and stared pointedly at Harry, before returning her gaze to the blackboard, and ignoring the rest of the class, who were throwing books and paper, making blackboard dusters and chalk float around the room, as well as transfiguring almost everything in sight, including a pair down the back who had attempted to transfigure each other into rats and only half-succeeded, each possessing a large pink tail and pointy ears.
"Well, who is it?" Ron questioned curiously.
"I don't know," Hermione replied, "I asked Padma, she's not in the Ravenclaw girls dorm. Everyone's been saying she's a little strange."
"How so?" Harry inquired.
"Well," Hermione paused, looking incredibly pleased to be the one to supply them with this juicy titbit, "Apparently she's got her own room to herself because she's a bit---" Hermione rotated her finger beside her temple, "Padma and the other girls seem to think she's into black magic, in with you-know-who. I don't know about that, she seems too young. But she is strange. Look at her- a total loner, and look at her hair."
Our female heroine wrinkled her nose at the dark ebony locks that cascaded down the girl's slim figure to just below the curve of her hips.
"She looks fine to me," Ron whispered to Harry.
The two boys laughed, their eyes tracing her curvaceous frame appreciatively.
"Well why don't you try to talk to her?" Hermione snapped suddenly, a little harsher than she had intended, "I've got a letter to write to Victor anyway."
"Fine then I will," Ron retorted, standing and ambling to the front of the classroom. He had grown into his lanky frame over the holidays and was in Quidditch training, his shoulders gradually becoming more muscular and his control over his limbs improved ten fold. In short, he looked a lot more like a full-grown wizard, than an unsure, magically gifted teenager and it appeared that this transfiguration had occurred from the inside out and not vice versa.
Hermione was not entirely sure what had occurred over the summer holidays, but both Ron and Harry seemed a lot more mature and a lot more comfortable with themselves. Harry had grown a lot taller, his eyes seemed greener and more alive, his vocabulary had improved noticeably, he was less inclined to pick childish fights with her and seemed more grown-up from the toes of his size 10 feet to the tips of his messy black hair.
Hermione wasn't sure she liked the changes in her friends. Sure, last year she had complained constantly of their immaturity and inability to understand or appreciate the feelings of others (especially her own), but now they were entirely too perceptive. She couldn't shake the feeling that both were toying with her almost-more-than-friendly feelings and her deep-set affection for them. She shrugged off the feelings and removed her letter from Victor, her eyes averting their gaze from Ron, who was now leaning against the girl's desk with a huge smile on his face and an undeniably flirtatious note in his voice, and focusing on the neatly printed words on the page in front of her.
Next to her, Harry was eyeing her warily. He was aware of a change in his female friend too. She was tense, on edge, constantly searching for verbal battles with Ron and himself. Her bushy hair had recently endured a long-overdue hacking and was now cut in a short, straight bob-style, which suited her facial features well. The top button of her robes, which last year had always been tightly fastened, much to the dismay of her female counterparts, who had never seen the need to button up their blouses, was now undone, her shirt collar laid open to reveal what was in Harry's friendly opinion, a very shapely neck and--- well, looking any further down would be more than friendly. The other changes in Hermione's appearance were subtler and neither of the boys realised the individual differences, although on the whole could see the variance from her old self. Her nails were manicured, her lips were glossed with a pearly lip balm that she insisted was purely sun protection, her heels had gained an inch, her earrings were larger: gold hoops adorned with real diamonds. All in all, she looked more feminine and more aware of how good she looked.
All three friends were able to spot these changes, but none made the connection with growing up. They were of course, in the second last year at Hogwarts, although none had yet realised, and each was becoming an educated and intelligent young adult witch or wizard.
At the front of the room, Ron was enjoying himself entirely. After being blown off by Ms-Ice-Queen, he had proceeded to taunt her relentlessly, encouraged by the enthusiastic whoops of the males present in the front rows of the classroom. Harry had left his seat beside Hermione to observe his friend's antics and was now a key part of the fun.
"So where are you from again?" Ron inquired sweetly.
"If you've ever looked up from your gutter in the slums," she replied coldly, "Then you would've heard where I was from when I informed you the first time."
"Watch out boys, this one bites," Harry grinned, "So what's your name Morticia?"
"Meredith," she replied tersely, "And I suppose you're the famous Harry Potter? Arrogance to match your ego to match your fame. You've got a full ensemble there Harry," she paused, "And by the way, I don't usually bite, but when I do, I bite hard," she glared, "So if you don't mind, I'll be returning to my transfiguration textbook."
"Ouch," Ron whispered, intentionally a little too loud, to provoke a rumble of laughter throughout the group of boys.
"I'll say," Harry replied.
"So Meredith," Ron began, "You like transfiguration then?"
"Yes," she answered shortly, "I would take great pleasure in transfiguring you into an amoeba living on a flea feeding of that smelly rat in your pocket."
"I'd be delighted to play a part in anything you took pleasure in Meredith darling," Ron drawled, to his almost immediate regret.
This statement was what gave Meredith that one last push over the edge.
"FINE!" she snapped, flipping out her wand and aiming it at Ron.
"Fierìagermen inmùs," she said clearly and loudly.
Before he had a chance to defend himself, his clothes fell to the floor, hollow apart from a small rat, poking through the sleeve of his Gryffindor cardigan.
"What did you do to Ron?" Harry gasped, grabbing Scabbers II before the rat had a chance to escape. (Scabbers II had been Harry's Christmas present to Ron, named because Harry had found him while snooping around Number 10, Privet Drive for a place to read the latest news the Weasley twins had managed to overhear from the meetings of the Order- a letter that had contained detailed information regarding Wormtail.)
Meredith rolled her eyes, "Turned him into a microscopic organism. Don't worry, it shouldn't affect his cognitive abilities, or lack thereof."
Hermione looked up from her letter at Harry's angry shout, "YOU WHAT?"
"I turned him into a germ."
She stood up and observed the scene playing out before her, trying to decide whether she should intervene and save her friends.
She sighed.
Boys.
"Well they got themselves into it, they can get themselves out," she decided, muttering to herself and reseating herself at her desk.
She removed her transfiguration textbook from her bag and began to peruse the notes for the day's class, ignoring the commotion at the front of the classroom.
"YOU TURNED RON INTO A GERM?" Harry yelled furiously.
"Yeah," Meredith replied coolly, appearing un-phased, "I did."
"YOU TURNED MY FRIEND INTO A GERM?"
"I believe this fact has been established."
"Seamus, hold Scabbers and Ron," Harry instructed, handing the rat to his classmate, "YOU SANCTIMONIOUS LITTLE BITCH."
"YOU SUPERCILIOUS BASTARD," she countered, matching his tone easily.
"YOU WANNA SETTLE THIS?"
"WOULD BE HAPPY TO."
"I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL."
"WHAT, RIGHT HERE, YOU WANT TO LOSE IN FRONT OF ALL YOUR CLASSMATES?"
"I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE."
"PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS POTTER."
Harry drew two gold galleons from his pocket and threw them on the desk in front of her.
"What, only two galleons?" she jibed, "Not that confident then are we?"
"I don't see you making any contribution," he replied quietly as he threw two more coins onto the pile.
Three of her own galleons joined the prize money.
"Then let's get to it," she suggested, jumping up and drawing her wand from her black robes in a dramatic flourish.
Harry quickly did the same.
They stood back to back, Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff stood beside, "Ok, you guys know the rules, when I say go, ten steps in the direction you're facing. When I say now, turn and perform your curses. Alright, 1-2-3 GO!"
"One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine-ten," Ernie counted the steps each took.
When they reached ten, Harry and Meredith paused.
"Ok guys, NOW!" Ernie yelled, ducking out of the way just as Meredith fired her first shot.
Harry dodged the blast, which hit an unfortunate bystander, who promptly began to cough up slugs. He murmured a curse of his own.
Meredith countered it with a defensive hex.
"RICTUSEMPRA," Meredith shouted. A beam of silver light hit Harry in the chest. He stumbled backward, chuckling.
"Serpensortia," he managed to gasp, his body still racked by laughter.
A black snake appeared at Meredith's feet.
"Get her," Harry hissed, slipping into Parseltongue.
The snake launched itself at the girl.
"IMPEDIMENTA!" she screamed, jumping onto a desk in fear.
The animal was frozen mid-air and fell to the floor.
Sensing their fight was equally matched, they simultaneously bellowed, "EXPELLIARMUS!"
Both wands flew into the air.
"ACCIO!" Meredith hollered, grabbing her wand and casting the spell before Harry had a chance to regain his own wand.
Both wands in hand, Meredith turned to Harry with a smug smile on her face.
"You ready to beg for mercy Potter?"
"I've fought Voldemort, I'm not about to surrender," he replied, backing away from her as she advanced.
She was the only one in the room who did not flinch at the mention of Voldemort's name.
"Ever wanted ballet lessons Potter?" she grinned.
He stared at her in confusion for a moment before she muttered, "Tarantallegra."
Harry's legs began to wobble immediately, dancing beneath him.
Smiling in satisfaction, Meredith turned to Seamus who was still holding Scabbers II and Ron.
"Drop the rat," she suggested.
Seamus complied and skidded to the back of the room, taking refuge behind Hermione, who
was still reading studiously, ignoring the actions of her classmates.
"Evanes-" Meredith had almost finished the charm that would cause Scabbers II to disappear when Professor Minerva McGonagall made an appearance at the door.
"WHAT ON EARTH?" the teacher yelled, her face turning and impressive shade of crimson.
Meredith trailed off and lowered her wand, frozen in place. Harry continued to dance, as the rest of the class sat, each of the young witches and wizards with the hand-in-the-cookie-jar look, except for Hermione, who was still rapt in her textbook.
"FINITE INCANTATEM!" McGonagall bellowed.
Harry's feet finally ended their dance and he stood dead still before the angry teacher.
"ALL OF YOU BACK TO YOUR SEATS!"
There was a quick scramble to regain their seats. Within five seconds, the entire class was seated, textbooks open, scrolls and quills ready.
"RIGHT," McGonagall addressed them angrily, "This entire class has detention," she hissed,
"Forget any lunch plans you had."
When no one responded to her glare, she continued, "I must say, I am surprised that this class would indulge in such childish behaviour," her eyes scanned the classroom, "Malfoy and Co. are skipping this class I presume," she observed, "And Miss Granger, where is Mr Weasley?"
Hermione blinked twice before looking up, "Oh, I believe the new Ravenclaw student transfigured him into some form of bacteria Professor."
McGonagall glowered.
"Then Harry and her got into some sort of dispute. I don't really know what happened Professor, I was too busy reading you see."
"MR POTTER," the Professor bellowed, "MS BLACK, FRONT AND CENTRE!"
Both smartly reported to the front of McGonagall's desk.
"What is going on here?" the teacher asked, her voice betraying her anger and animosity very quietly.
"Uh, well, you see Professor---" Harry began nervously.
"Mr Weasley was demonstrating the after-effects of being cursed with a Y-chromosome Professor," Meredith Black informed McGonagall matter-of-factly, "So I transfigured him into a germ. It's easily undone," she placed the rat on McGonagall's desk, "There, he's on this rat somewhere."
"Ms Black, you do realise that this misbehaviour will have serious repercussions?"
"Yes Professor, I understand that perfectly," she said, picking up Scabbers II and placing him amidst Ron's crumpled clothing. She quietly murmured an undoing spell. Ron filled out his clothes again and stood mouth gapping and eyes blinking in confusion, at the front of the class.
"Ms Black, thank you for returning Mr Weasley to his former state. Mr Weasley, please take a seat."
Ron slid into the seat beside Hermione and proceeded to inquire as to what had just occurred. Hermione rolled her eyes then briefed him quickly, before turning back to her work. Bored, Ron turned his attentions to the front of the room, where Harry and Meredith were still enduring the wrath of their Transfiguration teacher.
"And then we may have, ah, participated in a duel Professor," Harry confessed warily.
"A WHAT?"
"A duel Professor," Meredith confirmed.
"YOU HAD A DUEL IN MY CLASSROOM?"
"Ah, yes Professor," both responded.
"YOU DUELLED IN MY CLASS?"
"Yes Professor."
"FIFTY HOUSE POINTS FROM RAVENCLAW AND GRIFFINDOR! YOU PAIR, MY OFFICE, DETENTION, EVERY NIGHT, THIS WEEK!" she yelled through clenched teeth, "NOW TAKE YOUR SEATS."
"Yes Professor," they both mumbled, surveying the classroom for spare desks. The only unoccupied seats were side-by-side in the front row.
"I can't believe I have to spend every night this week with you," Meredith mumbled as they sat beside one another.
"We finally agree on something," Harry muttered back.
"Here's your wand," she pressed the wand against his thigh.
He took it without a word.
"Good fight by the way," she added.
"Thanks," he replied tersely, "You too."
"I get the feeling I will be tempted to kill you many times before this lesson is over."
"Then there *is* a mutual desire between us."
"Yes," she agreed, "A strong and passionate feeling of hate."
"Absolute animosity."
"Incredible irritation."
"Astonishing annoyance."
"Desperate death wishes."
"Mind-blowing madness."
"Fantastic fury."
"Real rage."
"Biting bitterness."
"Definite detestation."
"Eternal enmity."
"Authentic antipathy."
"Then yes we do agree on something."
"You are infuriating."
"So are you. I have never been so tempted to assault someone."
"Neither have I."
"Then the feelings between us are mutual."
"Yes."
"Maybe we can work something out."
"I guess."
The bell rang and McGonagall called for five minutes of silence before dismissing them.
"See you tonight," Meredith said to Harry as they made their way to the door. Catching Hermione's inquiring look toward Harry, she added, "In detention."
"I am dreading every moment of your company."
"As am I."
Meredith Black flounced out of the classroom leaving Ron, Harry and Hermione alone in the empty room.
"How is it that you infuriate a woman and end up with a detention date, whereas I end up as a microscopic organism?" Ron complained.
"Yeah, what's all this about Harry?" Hermione asked.
"We reached--- an understanding," Harry replied enigmatically.
Ron grinned at him and clapped him on the shoulder, "Way to go Harry. Wha'd'ya do? Suggest you relieve the sexual tension between the two of you?"
"Some potentially nuclear chemistry there," Harry joked.
Hermione regarded her male friends with a look of disbelief. How could they be so--- so--- so, well male?
"All of these things don't go together, one of these things just doesn't belong," she sang to herself softly.
She certainly felt out of place these days.
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