Note: I do not own Harry Potter! J.K. Rowling is the official
author of the Harry Potter books as you all know....
Chapter 3: Letters, Potions and Hunts Two weeks passed. There's only 3 days left before November starts, and 2 days before the huge Halloween feast. Harry and his friends just finished their History of Magic class and was now heading for the Great Hall for lunch. The students were busy talking about the upcoming Halloween feast on the 31st, where at the same time they would celebrate Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington a.k.a. Nearly Headless Nick's 504th deathday party. Professor Dumbledore decided to celebrate Nick's deathday party together with the whole school since he's been a Hogwarts Ghost ever since Dumbledore was still a student, and wanted it to be this way of thanking him for serving as Hogwarts ghost through the years.
The students were busy talking about the upcoming Quidditch match on the 2nd of November as well. It was the first match of the season wherein Gryffindor has to take on their mortal enemy, Slytherin. Gryffindor and Slytherin has new captains and both of them hate each others guts as well. Ron Weasley is the new Gryffindor captain and keeper while Draco Malfoy is the new Slytherin captain and seeker.
The Great Hall became more boisterous than ever.
"I can't wait! I want to see Gryffindor kick Slytherin's butt real hard!" Dean said pounding his fist on the table.
"Duh! Of course Gryffindor will! With a new captain and keeper, Slytherin wouldn't stand a chance."Parvati said beaming at Ron who was blushing furiously. "And we've got new players too...." Parvati added as she smiled at Ginny, Neville and Seamus.
Ginny had herself a position in the Quidditch team as a chaser; Seamus and Neville became Beaters although others may think that it's impossible for Neville to get on the team, he was able to manage it perfectly. Natalie McDonald and Dennis Creevy, both third years, were on the team too, both as chasers.
"And of course, the best seeker in the whole world!" Hermione said smiling at Harry who was a bit embarassed.
"So what does the new captain say about the upcoming match?" Dean said jokingly as he motioned his fist under Ron's chin, pretending it to be a microphone.
"Shut up, Dean" Ron said still embarrassed as he moved Dean's fist away from him. Dean laughed.
After a while, a gorgeous white owl came swooping down over the Gryffindor table, dropping something on Lavender's lap. It was only then that they realized that it was Lavender's owl, Magenta. Lavender opened the letter. Her mouth almost fell open as she read its contents. Parvati, totally clueless about Lavender's facial expression, asked what the letter was all about.
"What's wrong Lavender? What does it say?" Parvati asked curiously.
Lavender didn't answer, instead she handed the letter to Parvati. Parvati's curious look turned into disgust as she read the letter silently.
"What Parvati?" Hermione asked impatiently.
"What the hell..." Parvati said irritably. Lavender stared at her plate, frowning.
"Does either of you want to explain to us? We're not mind readers, hello?" Ginny snapped.
"Some girl sent a hate mail to Lavender."
"Hate mail?" Harry asked totally clueless.
"Why don't you read it to us...." Neville suggested.
Parvati cleared her throat and read the letter aloud.
To Little Miss Playgirl,
I just want you to know how pathetic you are! You're the filthiest girl I'd ever seen! Everyone knows it, Lavender. Everyone knows everything about you're attitude. Everyone knows about you're obsession with boys! They couldn't do anything but sigh disgustedly, the moment they heard about how you got into a relationship with 5 guys in your house at the same time but you just used them for money. You're the worst B**** ever! And now, you're coming after Draco Malfoy. I know, so that you could use him for money again right? So that you can manipulate him into giving you some gold and diamonds right? Get a life Lavender! No one deserves a pathetic girl like you! Loser!
From:
Why would I want to tell you?
Harry and the others were speechless. Suddenly, Neville tried to speak amidst the every awkward moment.
"Who......who could've sent that?" Neville asked curiously.
"I don't care who sent it! All I know is that whoever she is, she's the biggest dumbass I'd ever heard of!" Parvati said angrily.
"Yeah. I mean, she had the guts to send Lavender hate mail but probably had cold feet to write her name so that none of us can get back to her!" Ginny said irritably as well.
"But who could have told everyone false stories about Lavender?" Neville said curiously as he scratched the back of his head. "And why?"
"Isn't it obvious, Seamus? It's probably Pansy.....and Blaise! I thought we have talked about this before?" Hermione said irritably as she placed her hand on Lavender's shoulder for comfort.
Dean looked around. Almost everyone in the Great Hall were staring at Lavender, disgusted. Lavender was trying her best to hold her tears back especially in front of everyone.
"What's the matter with all of them? They're staring at her like a hawk!" Dean said irritably.
"Wait until I get my hands on Pansy and Blaise!Argh!" Parvati said with eyes narrowed.
"Chill out, Parvati." Ginny said calmly.
"Chill out? You're asking me to chill out? I can't chill out! They've insulted my best friend and if only I could do anything to get back at them...."
"We feel the same too, Parvati. But right now Lavender needs us. Let's not think about revenge for a while...that can wait." Hermione said still having her hand on Lavender's shoulder.
After a while, Magenta came swooning down the Gyrffindor table again, dropping yet again another letter on Lavender's lap. But this time it was in a red envelope. It was a Howler.
"Uh Oh..." Seamus said as he looked around the Great Hall to see if everyone was still looking.....and unfortunately, they were.
"Run for it, Lavender!" Neville said in a panicky voice. "I bet that it's worse than the first one! It's a Howler for goodness sake!"
But Lavender didn't listen. She carefully opened the red envelope and quickly enough, it shouted back right in front of her face.
"EWW! YOU'RE SO DISGUSTING! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE ACUALLY DONE THAT! NO ONE DESERVES YOU! GET LOST!"
Lavender's eyes were now clouded with tears. She stood up and ran away and out of the Great Hall. The Slytherins, especially Pansy and Blaise had a look of triumph on their faces. Parvati tried to run after her but Dean held her back. Lavender definitely needed some time to be alone to think.
After lunch, Harry and his friends headed for the greenhouses for their Herbology class. Professor Sprout taught them proper ways on how to remove stray vines and weeds on Hochu plants. Lavender didn't show up in the whole period which made her friends really worried, especially Ron. Ron and Lavender has not yet made out since their fight 3 weeks ago. Ron had plans of apologizing but he was afraid that Lavender might not accept his apology.
After Herbology, Harry and his friends were making their way up the marble staircase toward the Gryffindor tower.
"Where could she be? She never missed any class...." Hermione asked worriedly.
"Yeah...I'm really worried..." Parvati said.
"Why don't we split up and look for her?" Ron suggested.
"I never knew how cheesy you could get, Ron" Seamus said jokingly.
"That's a good idea. C'mon Seamus, let's look in the common room." Dean said as he and Seamus went inside the common room.
"Parvati and I will go to the Divination tower...." Neville said as he pulled Parvati's arms, motioning her to come.
"So where are we going?" Harry asked.
"The two of you look at the library. I'll go look for her at.....well....somewhere..." Ron said not quite sure about it.
"Somewhere? You're not even sure where to look for her?" Hermione asked
"I'll handle it, now c'mon we better be going now." Ron said.
"O...K...." Hermione said awkwardly. "See you later!"
"Good luck..." Harry said to Ron with a faint smile on his face.
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Harry and Hermione went to the library but unfortunately, Lavender wasn't there. Harry however, seemed to have found someone else. Standing beside a tall bookshelf was Cho Chang, who was smiling at him. Harry felt his stomach turn and he started blushing again. Soon, Cho called for him.
"Harry!" Cho yelled excitedly.
"Cho...h-hi..." Harry said nervously. Hermione started to feel uncomfortable.
"What's up?"
"Ah....well.....n-nothing...." Harry said still stuttering.
"I see...." Cho said in an embarrassed tone. She looked at the person standing next to Harry, completely puzzled. Harry who noticed this, decided to introduce both girls to each other.
"Oh...Cho this is Hermione, Hermione this is Cho..." Harry said as quickly as possible.
"Hi Hermione, how are you?" Cho asked nicely.
"I'm fine...it's nice to meet you..." Hermione said feeling awkward as she offered a hand to Cho.
"Harry.." Cho said as she let go of Hermione's hand. "Good luck at your match on Saturday."
"T-thanks..."
"Well.....I better be going now. See ya Hermione! Bye Harry!" Cho said as she waved a hand at Harry and Hermione and started walking out of the library then out of sight. Harry, who was still red, walked out of the library with Hermione who was walking ahead of him. She got quite irritable with what had just happened. Then, they decided to look for Ron, wherever he is....
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Ron looked for Lavender everywhere and has managed to find her in the most unlikely place ever......in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
"She came in running and locked up herself inside that cubicle..." Myrtle said as she pointed at the very last cubicle. "She's been there for hours..."
Ron walked slowly towards the last cubicle, with Myrtle floating behind him. He knocked at the cubicle door, nervously.
"Ah....Lavender....are you Ok?" Ron said nervously.
"Of course she's not! She's been crying!" Myrtle shouted.
"Shut---keep quiet Myrtle." Ron said. He didn't want to hurt Myrtle's feelings by telling her to shut up so he said 'keep quiet' instead.
"Ron?" Lavender said with a shaky voice as she opened the cubicle door. She was sitting on the floor, wiping her sore eyes from crying with a hanky.
"What are you doing down there? Get up..." Ron said as he offered a hand to Lavender to pull her up. Without hesitations, Lavender took Ron's hand as he helped her stand up. It's as if no fight happened 3 weeks ago and to think that Ron has not yet apologized to her------well, you'll see what happens.
"You've got everyone worried..." Ron said without looking at her.
Lavender stared at Ron. She quickly remembered that she's supposed to be angry at him.
"What are you doing here?" Lavender snapped with a sort of angry tone.
"Looking for you....everyone else is."
"I'm not supposed to be talking to you." Lavender said flatly to Ron.
"I know that......well....I haven't forget about.....about the argument we had and I.....I....have something....to....to give you." Ron said nervously as he reached for something inside his robes. He handed Lavender a box wrapped with a fancy purple wrapper. Lavender stared blankly at it.
"How sweet. You got her a present..." Myrtle teased. Ron ignored her.
Lavender gently opened it. She was so amazed to see a cute music box with a figurine of a fairy on top of it.
"T-thanks.." Lavender said uncomfortably.
"It's nothing. I just wanna apologize for what I said. I never meant anything! I didn't know what I was doing. I'm really sorry..." Ron said apologetically looking a bit stupid. Lavender had a faint smile on her face.
"Ahh....Sweet..." Myrtle said annoyingly. Ron and Lavender blushed.
After a few minutes of silence, Lavender wound the small key of the music box. As the sweet music played, the figurine of the fairy magically came to life and started dancing ballet. It was definitely more beautiful than a magic dust necklace, Lavender thought.
"Wow. It's really nice.....Thanks..." Lavender said still amazed. "Well....Ok. I forgive you. But.." she added. Ron gave a slight smile. "But you should promise not to do anything like that, not only to me but to anyone..."
"Promise..." Ron said sincerely. They both smiled at each other.
"Ahh...promises...." Myrtle said in yet another annoying tone.
Ron and Lavender walked together as they made their way to the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron felt extremely happy and was really blushing. Lavender felt a bit awkward. She never walked alone with Ron and she also couldn't understand why she felt that way. Finally, they reached the gryffindor common room and went back to their dormitories as soon as they entered, with smiles on their faces.
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- It was Halloween night. Harry, Ron and Hermione together with their friends made their way to the Great Hall for the big Halloween feast, plus the celebration of Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday.
"This is the day of revenge, Lavender." Ginny said triumphantly.
"We'll show Pansy that we're a lot smarter than she is!" Parvati said confidently as she held a goblet full of smoking potion on her right hand.
"That Truth Potion would be the only thing that would convince everyone that Lavender didn't do all those rubbish! Pansy will tell every living truth she knows if she drinks that! Even a few drops would do." Seamus said excitedly.
"If Hermione hadn't been our friend then we wouldn't know anything about it!" Neville said.
"She'll be doomed if everyone knew about her lies...." Ron said
As they were about to enter the Great Hall, Pansy, Blaise and a couple of Slytherin girls called for them not far behind.
"Hey Little Miss Playgirl!" Pansy said nastily. Blaise smirked devilishly.
"You know what Pansy? You're the most stupid person I'd ever met! How could you say all those things about Lavender?" Hermione said in rage. Students were starting to crowd around them.
"But all of that were true!" Pansy said trying to sound pitiful.
"Well let me see if everyone would believe you after this!" Parvati said as she threw the potion right on Pansy's face. She definitely had a taste of it since she started licking a few drops of it from her lips. Suddenly, Pansy had a look of seriousness on her face. Everyone watched curiously at her, as if waiting for something ferocious to come out. Then suddenly, Pansy spoke quickly.
"I'm a big fat liar..." Pansy said as everyone listened carefully. "I spread all those false rumors about Lavender..."she added. Blaise had her mouth open in shock.
"Why did you do that?" Dean asked.
"Because I'm jealous of her." Pansy said seriously. Lavender stared at her. Everyone did so too, looking irritably at Pansy. "I wanted everyone to hate her as much as I do that's why I said all those false stories about her. Blaise and I planned all those. Draco likes Lavender and it really pisses me off!" Pansy added. Everyone was scowling at her now. Parvati and Hermione had a look of triumph on their faces.
"How could you Pansy! You're such a loser!" said a very angry Ravenclaw girl. Everyone started yelling at her which caused so much commotion in front of the Great Hall. After a few minutes, Pansy went back to her original 'self'. Blaise explained to her what happened and Pansy couldn't believe she said all that. Dean and Seamus were grinning at each other as the other students were shouting words of hatred at Pansy.
"You're still a loser, Lavender!" Pansy said as she and Blaise ran quickly inside the Great Hall, followed by a couple of irritable students.
"Mission Accomplished!" Neville said as he gave a high five to Lavender.
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- THE GREAT HALL
Floating pumpkins and candles filled the hall's ceiling that evening. More food were prepared. The Hogwarts ghosts were floating and gliding happily around the Hall. Harry and his friends didn't hesitate to fill their plates with all the good food not even Parvati and Lavender who were always on a diet. After dinner, Professor Dumbledore stood up and spoke.
"Good evening, students. I hope you enjoyed the very heavy Halloween feast we just had. Now today, we wouldn't just be celebrating Halloween. We're also here to celebrate Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington better known as Nearly Headless Nick's 504th deathday." Everyone applauded. Nearly Headless Nick was floating happily beside Dumbledore. Dumbledore continued. "Now, we have prepared a special treat for all of you. Sir Nicholas and I decided to have a scavenger hunt for all of you. All of Sir Nicholas' Top 10 favorite things were hidden all around the castle. Now, what you must do is to look for the things listed on a piece of parchment Prof. McGonagall will distribute later on. This will be done by pairs. You can choose a partner from other houses. You may now start looking for your partners..."
The students went noisy again as they started looking for partners. Dean quickly jumped off his seat and went to the table were Padma was seated. Parvati agreed to be Seamus' partner. Colin asked Ginny to be his partner and not wanting to be rude or anything, Ginny decided to accept it. Lavender looked around. Soon, her eyes met with Draco's from across the Slytherin table. Draco was looking at her as if she was some kind of ice cream waiting to be devoured. Lavender felt uncomfortable. She didn't know what Draco's stare meant. Finally, she turned her back from Draco, still feeling a bit weird, and now, came face to face with Ron.
"Are you Ok?" Ron asked.
"Y-yes..." Lavender said slowly.
"Are you sure?" Ron asked curiously still.
"Yes." Lavender said confidently.
"Oh...."
There was a long silence. It always happens whenever Ron is having a hard time to tell Lavender something.
"So...." Lavender didn't know the exact words to say. She was never like that in front of Ron.
"So..." Ron repeated as his face went slightly pink. "I was just wondering if....." Ron stopped. He felt his heart beat very fast.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if....you......if you can.....be my...partner....if you don't mind. Not unless you're going with someone else already...."
"Oh....ah....sure...of course..." Lavender said as her face turned slightly pink as well. Ron smiled.
"G-great. Thanks..."
Finally, Ron's heart was back to its original pace again. Lavender, on the other hand, never felt awkward around Ron, not until that very moment.
Meanwhile, Hermione still haven't found a partner and felt disappinted once again when she saw Harry talking to Cho at the Ravenclaw table. Obviously, he's gonna ask Cho to be his partner, Hermione thought. She watched Harry and Cho, then suddenly someone called for her.
"Hermione!"
Hermione turned her back to see who it was. It was Neville.
"Neville." Hermione said.
"Can you be my partner?" Neville asked.
Hermione thought for a while. She glanced at Harry and Cho by the Ravenclaw table once more, then back to Neville again.
"Sure. I'd love to." Hermione said as cheerful as possible despite of the disappointment she feels.
"Thanks, Hermione!" Neville said excitedly. Hermione smiled. She glanced back at Harry and Cho who seems to be enjoying themselves. Hermione looked down on the floor, frowning. She never felt so insecure in her life.
After choosing partners, Prof. McGonagall began to distribute the parchments where the list of the things they have to look for was written. She also gave each pair of students a red sack which magically appeared in front of them. When everyone finally received their sacks and lists, Dumbledore again, spoke.
"All of you should be back at the Great Hall at 10pm with all the things inside your sacks. The pair who comes back first wins a prize. Now, let us begin the hunt!"
The students began searching the halls and rooms of the castle. Every student came climbing up and down the marble staircase to search every corridor in the castle. Hermione, still feeling disappointed, tried her best to act cheerful as she and Neville searched for a rotten lettuce tart an hour later. Seamus and Parvati had a hard time because Seamus kept on bugging Parvati about going out with him. Colin made sure that he'd take a picture of the stuff he and Ginny would find. Meanwhile, Ron and Lavender were inside the Charms classroom searching for an old leather boot. They didn't talk to each other that much, especially Ron. He always felt nervous and awkward around Lavender and for the first time, Lavender felt the same way.
"Uh....have you seen it?" Ron asked awkwardly as he closed the cabinet beside him after checking it out.
"Not yet. I don't think it's here..." Lavender said as she got up from searching underneath the desks.
"Maybe we should---"
Ron was interrupted by a hoarse but provoking laugh. It was Peeves the Poltergeist floating at the door entrance.
"Not now, Peeves!" Ron said irritably.
"What a very rude boy!" Peeves squealed. "Found anything yet?"
"No." Lavender said flatly.
"Wait....I think I found what you're looking for.......THIS!"
Peeves started shooting them with his plastic water gun. Ron and Lavender got out of the room pissed and started walking fast along the corridors until Peeves' provoking laugh was no longer heard. As they made their way down the marble staircase, they came across Draco and Crabbe who were going the opposite direction. Draco stopped in front of Lavender. Ron looked irritably at Draco once again. Lavender's hands were cold and it started to sweat. She didn't know what Draco was about to do. Finally Draco spoke in a soft tone.
"You look nice.."
Lavender froze. She didn't know exactly what to do. Ron was staring back and forth at Draco and then to Lavender, watching them very closely like a hawk. Lavender gave Draco a faint smile. Draco smirked back at her and continued walking up the marble staircase with Crabbe behind him. Lavender stood there for a while. She didn't want to talk about it with Ron because she knows that he'll just argue with her again. After a while of thinking, she continued walking down the staircase with a very irritable Ron behind her.
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- An hour passed. The students were having a hard time looking for the second to the last item which is an old tree bark comb. Well the students were busy except for Dean and Padma, who were walking at the school grounds that night. They sneaked out of the castle while Prof. McGonagall was distributing the red sacks and started hugging and holding hands as they walked towards the grounds. Padma's sister on the other hand, already had tired and weak feet and finally, she gave up walking from one corridor to another. Seamus, being a gentleman as he is, gave Parvati a piggy back ride as they went back to the Great Hall without completing the things they have to look for. Meanwhile, Harry and Cho were searching at the History of Magic classroom. They talked a lot along the way. Harry never felt this close to Cho in his entire life.
"So have you been practicing for your match on Saturday?" Cho asked casually, smiling at Harry.
"Uh.yeah." Harry said blushing.
"I.see.." Cho said as she opened the drawer of the front desk. "Good luck..you're one of the best seekers I'd ever known---- even much better than myself."
Harry felt his stomach turn. Being complimented by his own crush was a very wonderful experience, he thought.
"You're a good seeker too." Harry said humbly as his face turned completely red.
"Thank you." Cho said smiling at him.
There was a long silence. Harry couldn't find the exact words to say to Cho. Cho on the other hand, felt a bit awkward. She was always nice to Harry but she felt very different at that very moment. Her heart was beating a bit faster than the usual which never happened before especially around Harry. The last time it happened was when she was with Cedric. Could Cho finally realized that she has feelings for Harry?
The long silence was broken by a sound of an opening door.
"Harry!" a voice called.
"Neville!" Harry greeted. Harry now moved his eyes towards Hermione, who was standing beside Neville. She was staring blankly at him. Harry never saw Hermione stare at him like this but he didn't mind it at all instead, he greeted him with a smile. "Hi Hermione!"
"Hermione!" Cho said cheerfully. Hermione smiled faintly at both of them. She definitely wasn't happy about the fact that they were going together.
"So have you found it?" Neville asked.
"Unfortunately, no." Cho said disappointedly.
"Great." Neville said impatiently. "Well we better go now. See ya later, you two!" he added as he waved a hand at Harry and Cho and started to walk down the corridor. When Hermione was about to follow, Harry suddenly called for her.
"Hermione." Harry said. Hermione looked at him without saying a word. "Are you alright?"
Hermione didn't say anything, instead, she answered him with a faint nod. After which, she walked out of the room and down to the corridors where Neville have gone not too long ago. Harry was worried. He didn't know what was wrong with Hermione. She never acted like that around him before. Harry thought that she might be ill or something and didn't want to tell him. But whatever the reason was, he definitely wanted to find out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- THE GREAT HALL
It was already 10 in the evening and everyone got back at the Great Hall just in time. Professor Dumbledore stood up in front of everyone, and again, Nearly Headless Nick floating beside him. But what caught everyone's attention was a rusty old trophy placed at the center of the faculty table. Finally, Dumbledore spoke.
"I hope everyone enjoyed this simple game we had for all of you. Sir Nicholas and myself are hoping to be doing this again next year."
"How exciting." Parvati said sarcastically.
"Now, we will be checking each sack. The pair who was able to find everything will be awarded something----special. Now..." Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling with excitement. He raised his wand and muttered: "--- Complius!"
Each sack was checked by Prof. Dumbledore alone and in not more than a minute, he finished. The sacks were magically disappeared by Prof. McGonagall. Prof. Dumbledore cleared his throat once again and spoke.
"We have a winner. Our winners will be awarded with a trophy made by Sir Nicholas himself." Dumbledore pointed at the rusty trophy on the table. Nearly headless Nick beamed at everyone.
"Now, I won't keep everyone waiting. Our winner is Mr. Harry Potter of Gryffindor House and Ms. Cho Chang of Ravenclaw!"
Everyone applauded. Dean and Seamus kept teasing Harry to death as he went in front to claim the so-called trophy. Hermione frowned even more. She just felt stupid when she had a sudden thought about Harry not noticing her at all. She always knew the reason why. 'She's attractive and I'm nothing compared to her.' Hermione thought as she, together with her friends, walked out of the Great Hall and climbed the marble staircase leading to the Gryffindor tower.
Harry of course, felt happy that night mainly because he just spent Halloween night with the girl of his dreams and that he got to know her better. Images of Cho started floating around his head again. Infatuation was what he started to feel towards Cho now. At that moment, all he thought about was her and nothing more-----nothing more that he seemed to have forgotten how concerned he was about Hermione's actions just a few hours ago that night, and that he wanted to know what was wrong with her.
Harry lay down on his four poster bed and closed his eyes. He was still thinking of Cho, and wanted to dream about no one else, but her.
End of Chapter 3
I hope you liked the 3rd chapter. I'll be working on he 4th one as soon as possible.
Chapter 3: Letters, Potions and Hunts Two weeks passed. There's only 3 days left before November starts, and 2 days before the huge Halloween feast. Harry and his friends just finished their History of Magic class and was now heading for the Great Hall for lunch. The students were busy talking about the upcoming Halloween feast on the 31st, where at the same time they would celebrate Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington a.k.a. Nearly Headless Nick's 504th deathday party. Professor Dumbledore decided to celebrate Nick's deathday party together with the whole school since he's been a Hogwarts Ghost ever since Dumbledore was still a student, and wanted it to be this way of thanking him for serving as Hogwarts ghost through the years.
The students were busy talking about the upcoming Quidditch match on the 2nd of November as well. It was the first match of the season wherein Gryffindor has to take on their mortal enemy, Slytherin. Gryffindor and Slytherin has new captains and both of them hate each others guts as well. Ron Weasley is the new Gryffindor captain and keeper while Draco Malfoy is the new Slytherin captain and seeker.
The Great Hall became more boisterous than ever.
"I can't wait! I want to see Gryffindor kick Slytherin's butt real hard!" Dean said pounding his fist on the table.
"Duh! Of course Gryffindor will! With a new captain and keeper, Slytherin wouldn't stand a chance."Parvati said beaming at Ron who was blushing furiously. "And we've got new players too...." Parvati added as she smiled at Ginny, Neville and Seamus.
Ginny had herself a position in the Quidditch team as a chaser; Seamus and Neville became Beaters although others may think that it's impossible for Neville to get on the team, he was able to manage it perfectly. Natalie McDonald and Dennis Creevy, both third years, were on the team too, both as chasers.
"And of course, the best seeker in the whole world!" Hermione said smiling at Harry who was a bit embarassed.
"So what does the new captain say about the upcoming match?" Dean said jokingly as he motioned his fist under Ron's chin, pretending it to be a microphone.
"Shut up, Dean" Ron said still embarrassed as he moved Dean's fist away from him. Dean laughed.
After a while, a gorgeous white owl came swooping down over the Gryffindor table, dropping something on Lavender's lap. It was only then that they realized that it was Lavender's owl, Magenta. Lavender opened the letter. Her mouth almost fell open as she read its contents. Parvati, totally clueless about Lavender's facial expression, asked what the letter was all about.
"What's wrong Lavender? What does it say?" Parvati asked curiously.
Lavender didn't answer, instead she handed the letter to Parvati. Parvati's curious look turned into disgust as she read the letter silently.
"What Parvati?" Hermione asked impatiently.
"What the hell..." Parvati said irritably. Lavender stared at her plate, frowning.
"Does either of you want to explain to us? We're not mind readers, hello?" Ginny snapped.
"Some girl sent a hate mail to Lavender."
"Hate mail?" Harry asked totally clueless.
"Why don't you read it to us...." Neville suggested.
Parvati cleared her throat and read the letter aloud.
To Little Miss Playgirl,
I just want you to know how pathetic you are! You're the filthiest girl I'd ever seen! Everyone knows it, Lavender. Everyone knows everything about you're attitude. Everyone knows about you're obsession with boys! They couldn't do anything but sigh disgustedly, the moment they heard about how you got into a relationship with 5 guys in your house at the same time but you just used them for money. You're the worst B**** ever! And now, you're coming after Draco Malfoy. I know, so that you could use him for money again right? So that you can manipulate him into giving you some gold and diamonds right? Get a life Lavender! No one deserves a pathetic girl like you! Loser!
From:
Why would I want to tell you?
Harry and the others were speechless. Suddenly, Neville tried to speak amidst the every awkward moment.
"Who......who could've sent that?" Neville asked curiously.
"I don't care who sent it! All I know is that whoever she is, she's the biggest dumbass I'd ever heard of!" Parvati said angrily.
"Yeah. I mean, she had the guts to send Lavender hate mail but probably had cold feet to write her name so that none of us can get back to her!" Ginny said irritably as well.
"But who could have told everyone false stories about Lavender?" Neville said curiously as he scratched the back of his head. "And why?"
"Isn't it obvious, Seamus? It's probably Pansy.....and Blaise! I thought we have talked about this before?" Hermione said irritably as she placed her hand on Lavender's shoulder for comfort.
Dean looked around. Almost everyone in the Great Hall were staring at Lavender, disgusted. Lavender was trying her best to hold her tears back especially in front of everyone.
"What's the matter with all of them? They're staring at her like a hawk!" Dean said irritably.
"Wait until I get my hands on Pansy and Blaise!Argh!" Parvati said with eyes narrowed.
"Chill out, Parvati." Ginny said calmly.
"Chill out? You're asking me to chill out? I can't chill out! They've insulted my best friend and if only I could do anything to get back at them...."
"We feel the same too, Parvati. But right now Lavender needs us. Let's not think about revenge for a while...that can wait." Hermione said still having her hand on Lavender's shoulder.
After a while, Magenta came swooning down the Gyrffindor table again, dropping yet again another letter on Lavender's lap. But this time it was in a red envelope. It was a Howler.
"Uh Oh..." Seamus said as he looked around the Great Hall to see if everyone was still looking.....and unfortunately, they were.
"Run for it, Lavender!" Neville said in a panicky voice. "I bet that it's worse than the first one! It's a Howler for goodness sake!"
But Lavender didn't listen. She carefully opened the red envelope and quickly enough, it shouted back right in front of her face.
"EWW! YOU'RE SO DISGUSTING! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE ACUALLY DONE THAT! NO ONE DESERVES YOU! GET LOST!"
Lavender's eyes were now clouded with tears. She stood up and ran away and out of the Great Hall. The Slytherins, especially Pansy and Blaise had a look of triumph on their faces. Parvati tried to run after her but Dean held her back. Lavender definitely needed some time to be alone to think.
After lunch, Harry and his friends headed for the greenhouses for their Herbology class. Professor Sprout taught them proper ways on how to remove stray vines and weeds on Hochu plants. Lavender didn't show up in the whole period which made her friends really worried, especially Ron. Ron and Lavender has not yet made out since their fight 3 weeks ago. Ron had plans of apologizing but he was afraid that Lavender might not accept his apology.
After Herbology, Harry and his friends were making their way up the marble staircase toward the Gryffindor tower.
"Where could she be? She never missed any class...." Hermione asked worriedly.
"Yeah...I'm really worried..." Parvati said.
"Why don't we split up and look for her?" Ron suggested.
"I never knew how cheesy you could get, Ron" Seamus said jokingly.
"That's a good idea. C'mon Seamus, let's look in the common room." Dean said as he and Seamus went inside the common room.
"Parvati and I will go to the Divination tower...." Neville said as he pulled Parvati's arms, motioning her to come.
"So where are we going?" Harry asked.
"The two of you look at the library. I'll go look for her at.....well....somewhere..." Ron said not quite sure about it.
"Somewhere? You're not even sure where to look for her?" Hermione asked
"I'll handle it, now c'mon we better be going now." Ron said.
"O...K...." Hermione said awkwardly. "See you later!"
"Good luck..." Harry said to Ron with a faint smile on his face.
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Harry and Hermione went to the library but unfortunately, Lavender wasn't there. Harry however, seemed to have found someone else. Standing beside a tall bookshelf was Cho Chang, who was smiling at him. Harry felt his stomach turn and he started blushing again. Soon, Cho called for him.
"Harry!" Cho yelled excitedly.
"Cho...h-hi..." Harry said nervously. Hermione started to feel uncomfortable.
"What's up?"
"Ah....well.....n-nothing...." Harry said still stuttering.
"I see...." Cho said in an embarrassed tone. She looked at the person standing next to Harry, completely puzzled. Harry who noticed this, decided to introduce both girls to each other.
"Oh...Cho this is Hermione, Hermione this is Cho..." Harry said as quickly as possible.
"Hi Hermione, how are you?" Cho asked nicely.
"I'm fine...it's nice to meet you..." Hermione said feeling awkward as she offered a hand to Cho.
"Harry.." Cho said as she let go of Hermione's hand. "Good luck at your match on Saturday."
"T-thanks..."
"Well.....I better be going now. See ya Hermione! Bye Harry!" Cho said as she waved a hand at Harry and Hermione and started walking out of the library then out of sight. Harry, who was still red, walked out of the library with Hermione who was walking ahead of him. She got quite irritable with what had just happened. Then, they decided to look for Ron, wherever he is....
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Ron looked for Lavender everywhere and has managed to find her in the most unlikely place ever......in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
"She came in running and locked up herself inside that cubicle..." Myrtle said as she pointed at the very last cubicle. "She's been there for hours..."
Ron walked slowly towards the last cubicle, with Myrtle floating behind him. He knocked at the cubicle door, nervously.
"Ah....Lavender....are you Ok?" Ron said nervously.
"Of course she's not! She's been crying!" Myrtle shouted.
"Shut---keep quiet Myrtle." Ron said. He didn't want to hurt Myrtle's feelings by telling her to shut up so he said 'keep quiet' instead.
"Ron?" Lavender said with a shaky voice as she opened the cubicle door. She was sitting on the floor, wiping her sore eyes from crying with a hanky.
"What are you doing down there? Get up..." Ron said as he offered a hand to Lavender to pull her up. Without hesitations, Lavender took Ron's hand as he helped her stand up. It's as if no fight happened 3 weeks ago and to think that Ron has not yet apologized to her------well, you'll see what happens.
"You've got everyone worried..." Ron said without looking at her.
Lavender stared at Ron. She quickly remembered that she's supposed to be angry at him.
"What are you doing here?" Lavender snapped with a sort of angry tone.
"Looking for you....everyone else is."
"I'm not supposed to be talking to you." Lavender said flatly to Ron.
"I know that......well....I haven't forget about.....about the argument we had and I.....I....have something....to....to give you." Ron said nervously as he reached for something inside his robes. He handed Lavender a box wrapped with a fancy purple wrapper. Lavender stared blankly at it.
"How sweet. You got her a present..." Myrtle teased. Ron ignored her.
Lavender gently opened it. She was so amazed to see a cute music box with a figurine of a fairy on top of it.
"T-thanks.." Lavender said uncomfortably.
"It's nothing. I just wanna apologize for what I said. I never meant anything! I didn't know what I was doing. I'm really sorry..." Ron said apologetically looking a bit stupid. Lavender had a faint smile on her face.
"Ahh....Sweet..." Myrtle said annoyingly. Ron and Lavender blushed.
After a few minutes of silence, Lavender wound the small key of the music box. As the sweet music played, the figurine of the fairy magically came to life and started dancing ballet. It was definitely more beautiful than a magic dust necklace, Lavender thought.
"Wow. It's really nice.....Thanks..." Lavender said still amazed. "Well....Ok. I forgive you. But.." she added. Ron gave a slight smile. "But you should promise not to do anything like that, not only to me but to anyone..."
"Promise..." Ron said sincerely. They both smiled at each other.
"Ahh...promises...." Myrtle said in yet another annoying tone.
Ron and Lavender walked together as they made their way to the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron felt extremely happy and was really blushing. Lavender felt a bit awkward. She never walked alone with Ron and she also couldn't understand why she felt that way. Finally, they reached the gryffindor common room and went back to their dormitories as soon as they entered, with smiles on their faces.
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- It was Halloween night. Harry, Ron and Hermione together with their friends made their way to the Great Hall for the big Halloween feast, plus the celebration of Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday.
"This is the day of revenge, Lavender." Ginny said triumphantly.
"We'll show Pansy that we're a lot smarter than she is!" Parvati said confidently as she held a goblet full of smoking potion on her right hand.
"That Truth Potion would be the only thing that would convince everyone that Lavender didn't do all those rubbish! Pansy will tell every living truth she knows if she drinks that! Even a few drops would do." Seamus said excitedly.
"If Hermione hadn't been our friend then we wouldn't know anything about it!" Neville said.
"She'll be doomed if everyone knew about her lies...." Ron said
As they were about to enter the Great Hall, Pansy, Blaise and a couple of Slytherin girls called for them not far behind.
"Hey Little Miss Playgirl!" Pansy said nastily. Blaise smirked devilishly.
"You know what Pansy? You're the most stupid person I'd ever met! How could you say all those things about Lavender?" Hermione said in rage. Students were starting to crowd around them.
"But all of that were true!" Pansy said trying to sound pitiful.
"Well let me see if everyone would believe you after this!" Parvati said as she threw the potion right on Pansy's face. She definitely had a taste of it since she started licking a few drops of it from her lips. Suddenly, Pansy had a look of seriousness on her face. Everyone watched curiously at her, as if waiting for something ferocious to come out. Then suddenly, Pansy spoke quickly.
"I'm a big fat liar..." Pansy said as everyone listened carefully. "I spread all those false rumors about Lavender..."she added. Blaise had her mouth open in shock.
"Why did you do that?" Dean asked.
"Because I'm jealous of her." Pansy said seriously. Lavender stared at her. Everyone did so too, looking irritably at Pansy. "I wanted everyone to hate her as much as I do that's why I said all those false stories about her. Blaise and I planned all those. Draco likes Lavender and it really pisses me off!" Pansy added. Everyone was scowling at her now. Parvati and Hermione had a look of triumph on their faces.
"How could you Pansy! You're such a loser!" said a very angry Ravenclaw girl. Everyone started yelling at her which caused so much commotion in front of the Great Hall. After a few minutes, Pansy went back to her original 'self'. Blaise explained to her what happened and Pansy couldn't believe she said all that. Dean and Seamus were grinning at each other as the other students were shouting words of hatred at Pansy.
"You're still a loser, Lavender!" Pansy said as she and Blaise ran quickly inside the Great Hall, followed by a couple of irritable students.
"Mission Accomplished!" Neville said as he gave a high five to Lavender.
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- THE GREAT HALL
Floating pumpkins and candles filled the hall's ceiling that evening. More food were prepared. The Hogwarts ghosts were floating and gliding happily around the Hall. Harry and his friends didn't hesitate to fill their plates with all the good food not even Parvati and Lavender who were always on a diet. After dinner, Professor Dumbledore stood up and spoke.
"Good evening, students. I hope you enjoyed the very heavy Halloween feast we just had. Now today, we wouldn't just be celebrating Halloween. We're also here to celebrate Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington better known as Nearly Headless Nick's 504th deathday." Everyone applauded. Nearly Headless Nick was floating happily beside Dumbledore. Dumbledore continued. "Now, we have prepared a special treat for all of you. Sir Nicholas and I decided to have a scavenger hunt for all of you. All of Sir Nicholas' Top 10 favorite things were hidden all around the castle. Now, what you must do is to look for the things listed on a piece of parchment Prof. McGonagall will distribute later on. This will be done by pairs. You can choose a partner from other houses. You may now start looking for your partners..."
The students went noisy again as they started looking for partners. Dean quickly jumped off his seat and went to the table were Padma was seated. Parvati agreed to be Seamus' partner. Colin asked Ginny to be his partner and not wanting to be rude or anything, Ginny decided to accept it. Lavender looked around. Soon, her eyes met with Draco's from across the Slytherin table. Draco was looking at her as if she was some kind of ice cream waiting to be devoured. Lavender felt uncomfortable. She didn't know what Draco's stare meant. Finally, she turned her back from Draco, still feeling a bit weird, and now, came face to face with Ron.
"Are you Ok?" Ron asked.
"Y-yes..." Lavender said slowly.
"Are you sure?" Ron asked curiously still.
"Yes." Lavender said confidently.
"Oh...."
There was a long silence. It always happens whenever Ron is having a hard time to tell Lavender something.
"So...." Lavender didn't know the exact words to say. She was never like that in front of Ron.
"So..." Ron repeated as his face went slightly pink. "I was just wondering if....." Ron stopped. He felt his heart beat very fast.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if....you......if you can.....be my...partner....if you don't mind. Not unless you're going with someone else already...."
"Oh....ah....sure...of course..." Lavender said as her face turned slightly pink as well. Ron smiled.
"G-great. Thanks..."
Finally, Ron's heart was back to its original pace again. Lavender, on the other hand, never felt awkward around Ron, not until that very moment.
Meanwhile, Hermione still haven't found a partner and felt disappinted once again when she saw Harry talking to Cho at the Ravenclaw table. Obviously, he's gonna ask Cho to be his partner, Hermione thought. She watched Harry and Cho, then suddenly someone called for her.
"Hermione!"
Hermione turned her back to see who it was. It was Neville.
"Neville." Hermione said.
"Can you be my partner?" Neville asked.
Hermione thought for a while. She glanced at Harry and Cho by the Ravenclaw table once more, then back to Neville again.
"Sure. I'd love to." Hermione said as cheerful as possible despite of the disappointment she feels.
"Thanks, Hermione!" Neville said excitedly. Hermione smiled. She glanced back at Harry and Cho who seems to be enjoying themselves. Hermione looked down on the floor, frowning. She never felt so insecure in her life.
After choosing partners, Prof. McGonagall began to distribute the parchments where the list of the things they have to look for was written. She also gave each pair of students a red sack which magically appeared in front of them. When everyone finally received their sacks and lists, Dumbledore again, spoke.
"All of you should be back at the Great Hall at 10pm with all the things inside your sacks. The pair who comes back first wins a prize. Now, let us begin the hunt!"
The students began searching the halls and rooms of the castle. Every student came climbing up and down the marble staircase to search every corridor in the castle. Hermione, still feeling disappointed, tried her best to act cheerful as she and Neville searched for a rotten lettuce tart an hour later. Seamus and Parvati had a hard time because Seamus kept on bugging Parvati about going out with him. Colin made sure that he'd take a picture of the stuff he and Ginny would find. Meanwhile, Ron and Lavender were inside the Charms classroom searching for an old leather boot. They didn't talk to each other that much, especially Ron. He always felt nervous and awkward around Lavender and for the first time, Lavender felt the same way.
"Uh....have you seen it?" Ron asked awkwardly as he closed the cabinet beside him after checking it out.
"Not yet. I don't think it's here..." Lavender said as she got up from searching underneath the desks.
"Maybe we should---"
Ron was interrupted by a hoarse but provoking laugh. It was Peeves the Poltergeist floating at the door entrance.
"Not now, Peeves!" Ron said irritably.
"What a very rude boy!" Peeves squealed. "Found anything yet?"
"No." Lavender said flatly.
"Wait....I think I found what you're looking for.......THIS!"
Peeves started shooting them with his plastic water gun. Ron and Lavender got out of the room pissed and started walking fast along the corridors until Peeves' provoking laugh was no longer heard. As they made their way down the marble staircase, they came across Draco and Crabbe who were going the opposite direction. Draco stopped in front of Lavender. Ron looked irritably at Draco once again. Lavender's hands were cold and it started to sweat. She didn't know what Draco was about to do. Finally Draco spoke in a soft tone.
"You look nice.."
Lavender froze. She didn't know exactly what to do. Ron was staring back and forth at Draco and then to Lavender, watching them very closely like a hawk. Lavender gave Draco a faint smile. Draco smirked back at her and continued walking up the marble staircase with Crabbe behind him. Lavender stood there for a while. She didn't want to talk about it with Ron because she knows that he'll just argue with her again. After a while of thinking, she continued walking down the staircase with a very irritable Ron behind her.
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- An hour passed. The students were having a hard time looking for the second to the last item which is an old tree bark comb. Well the students were busy except for Dean and Padma, who were walking at the school grounds that night. They sneaked out of the castle while Prof. McGonagall was distributing the red sacks and started hugging and holding hands as they walked towards the grounds. Padma's sister on the other hand, already had tired and weak feet and finally, she gave up walking from one corridor to another. Seamus, being a gentleman as he is, gave Parvati a piggy back ride as they went back to the Great Hall without completing the things they have to look for. Meanwhile, Harry and Cho were searching at the History of Magic classroom. They talked a lot along the way. Harry never felt this close to Cho in his entire life.
"So have you been practicing for your match on Saturday?" Cho asked casually, smiling at Harry.
"Uh.yeah." Harry said blushing.
"I.see.." Cho said as she opened the drawer of the front desk. "Good luck..you're one of the best seekers I'd ever known---- even much better than myself."
Harry felt his stomach turn. Being complimented by his own crush was a very wonderful experience, he thought.
"You're a good seeker too." Harry said humbly as his face turned completely red.
"Thank you." Cho said smiling at him.
There was a long silence. Harry couldn't find the exact words to say to Cho. Cho on the other hand, felt a bit awkward. She was always nice to Harry but she felt very different at that very moment. Her heart was beating a bit faster than the usual which never happened before especially around Harry. The last time it happened was when she was with Cedric. Could Cho finally realized that she has feelings for Harry?
The long silence was broken by a sound of an opening door.
"Harry!" a voice called.
"Neville!" Harry greeted. Harry now moved his eyes towards Hermione, who was standing beside Neville. She was staring blankly at him. Harry never saw Hermione stare at him like this but he didn't mind it at all instead, he greeted him with a smile. "Hi Hermione!"
"Hermione!" Cho said cheerfully. Hermione smiled faintly at both of them. She definitely wasn't happy about the fact that they were going together.
"So have you found it?" Neville asked.
"Unfortunately, no." Cho said disappointedly.
"Great." Neville said impatiently. "Well we better go now. See ya later, you two!" he added as he waved a hand at Harry and Cho and started to walk down the corridor. When Hermione was about to follow, Harry suddenly called for her.
"Hermione." Harry said. Hermione looked at him without saying a word. "Are you alright?"
Hermione didn't say anything, instead, she answered him with a faint nod. After which, she walked out of the room and down to the corridors where Neville have gone not too long ago. Harry was worried. He didn't know what was wrong with Hermione. She never acted like that around him before. Harry thought that she might be ill or something and didn't want to tell him. But whatever the reason was, he definitely wanted to find out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- THE GREAT HALL
It was already 10 in the evening and everyone got back at the Great Hall just in time. Professor Dumbledore stood up in front of everyone, and again, Nearly Headless Nick floating beside him. But what caught everyone's attention was a rusty old trophy placed at the center of the faculty table. Finally, Dumbledore spoke.
"I hope everyone enjoyed this simple game we had for all of you. Sir Nicholas and myself are hoping to be doing this again next year."
"How exciting." Parvati said sarcastically.
"Now, we will be checking each sack. The pair who was able to find everything will be awarded something----special. Now..." Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling with excitement. He raised his wand and muttered: "--- Complius!"
Each sack was checked by Prof. Dumbledore alone and in not more than a minute, he finished. The sacks were magically disappeared by Prof. McGonagall. Prof. Dumbledore cleared his throat once again and spoke.
"We have a winner. Our winners will be awarded with a trophy made by Sir Nicholas himself." Dumbledore pointed at the rusty trophy on the table. Nearly headless Nick beamed at everyone.
"Now, I won't keep everyone waiting. Our winner is Mr. Harry Potter of Gryffindor House and Ms. Cho Chang of Ravenclaw!"
Everyone applauded. Dean and Seamus kept teasing Harry to death as he went in front to claim the so-called trophy. Hermione frowned even more. She just felt stupid when she had a sudden thought about Harry not noticing her at all. She always knew the reason why. 'She's attractive and I'm nothing compared to her.' Hermione thought as she, together with her friends, walked out of the Great Hall and climbed the marble staircase leading to the Gryffindor tower.
Harry of course, felt happy that night mainly because he just spent Halloween night with the girl of his dreams and that he got to know her better. Images of Cho started floating around his head again. Infatuation was what he started to feel towards Cho now. At that moment, all he thought about was her and nothing more-----nothing more that he seemed to have forgotten how concerned he was about Hermione's actions just a few hours ago that night, and that he wanted to know what was wrong with her.
Harry lay down on his four poster bed and closed his eyes. He was still thinking of Cho, and wanted to dream about no one else, but her.
End of Chapter 3
I hope you liked the 3rd chapter. I'll be working on he 4th one as soon as possible.
