Finally! Here is the wonderful chapter 10; it is a little shorter then my other chapters but I promise to try and have the update out quickly.
Now to thank my wonderful reviewers!!!! (drumroll commence)
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NOW ON TO THE CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chapter 10 – Halloween, the Beginning
When Harry woke up the next morning the first thing that he noticed was that he wasn't alone in his slumber. Ron and Hermione were curled up on either side of him; both still deep in sleep.
Flushing at his reaction last night, the teen slowly disentangled himself from his two friends, feeling slightly guilty for using the two like two big teddy bears. Snorting softly at the visual Harry stretched in front of the fire and whispered a soft, "Tempus."
Green writing appeared in the air depicting the time as 5:30 AM; trying not to wake either the slumbering portrait or his slumbering friends Harry moved to bathroom. Almost reverently he basked under the streams of steaming hot water that pounded down on him from above and washed away some of the still present anxiety from the previous night.
Looking in the mirror Harry winced as he looked at the dark bruises still littering his chest. He was fairly sure that the ribs were healing wrong since sometimes he would get shooting pains in his chest.
Shaking his head he reapplied the glamour charms and resolved to deal with it later. As he exited the bathroom he could see Ron and Hermione both starting to stir from their positions on the couch. Their blurry eyes immediately turned to him as he appeared in the doorway.
Ron's hair was standing up in great cowlicks springing all over and Hermione's great mass of curly, frizzy hair was about three feet out from her head; Harry muffled a snort of laughter as he turned away. "Well bloody good morning to you too." Said Hermione snippily as she rose from the couch and walked towards the empty bathroom. A small smile at the rejuvenated teen in front of her belied the snappy words as she shut the door.
"Alright there, mate?" asked Ron from the couch. Harry looked at the redhead as he nodded his face suddenly changing into an angry expression as he began to pace and rant, "That....that GIT of a potions master, he...he pushes my buttons so badly! I can't help but be pathetic around him! I'm bloody better then that!"
With that he threw himself down on the couch watching as Isis began to stir in her portrait; he hissed an apology as her slitted eyes opened. Ron scooted over towards the other and leaned into the couch, "You're not pathetic mate, everyone has someone that just does that to them. I'm not exactly comfortable around Snape; hell, I'm bloody scared around the bastard. I'm pretty sure that Hermione feels the same way."
Harry sighed as he heard the opinion reiterated from the portrait on the wall as well, "I think that he may be suspecting something. He keeps giving us these odd looks as though he is looking for something; it is really disconcerting."
A fresh Hermione had exited the bathroom to hear the last part of the statement, "Oh, big words there, are you bleeding?" she teasingly mocked. Before either of the boys could respond her tone grew serious, "As long as we don't give him any reason to suspect something he will not go beyond his preconceptions for fear of being proven wrong about us.
Ron ducked into the now open bathroom as Harry looked admiringly at Hermione, just then he started as he looked towards the fire, "I completely forgot what day it is!"
The curly haired girl glanced quizzically at the dark haired teen, "Uhmm, right over my head there Bolt, what day is it?"
"It's Halloween, we have that bloody feast tonight!" exclaimed Harry as he hurried to dress as he looked at the time, "Well, this sucks bloody bad!"
Hermione clucked disapprovingly, "Really Harry, what wonderful grammar you have. Anyway, what is so bad about Halloween or a feast?"
Harry glared at her as he spoke, "Not only is this the day that my parents died and I had to go live with those bastard relatives of mine, it also means that we have to spend longer then usual in the great hall for some idiotic reason! All that damn glaring gets on my nerves."
"Well don't pout about it, there's nothing we can do except ignore the idiots in the hall."
"I...DON'T...POUT." Glowered Harry. "I just think it is a pointless holiday, truly pointless."
"Again, there's not much we can do about it, so I would advise you to hurry up and deal with it because we have all our classes today." With that Hermione yanked her curly hair into a high ponytail and put on her school robe on over a pair of black zippered pants and a silver shirt with black writing across it saying, WELCOME TO MY WORLD – PLEASE CHECK PRECONCEPTIONS AT THE DOOR.
With a sigh Harry came out from his small drapery enclosed bedroom, his dark hair pulled into a low ponytail and wearing a pair of black jeans and a button down emerald shirt with a black tee underneath.
Just as Harry was coming out Ron appeared from the bathroom with his vibrant red hair pulled back into a black leather wrap that bound it. He was wearing a long pair of dark blue jeans under a vibrant orange wizarding shirt that somehow managed to not clash but meld with his hair. A small edge of flames moved along the bottom edge of the shirt as though it would burn it in a moment.
The three had learned that it didn't really matter what they wore under their school robes because no one would ever bother to check that they were actually in dress code. It was an absurd system that they enjoyed taking advantage of.
The day went on fairly normally; Snape yelled at them in his class and gave Harry detention, and the three continued to exceed in all other subjects. It wasn't until the afternoon Herbology that had been changed to be with the Gryffindors that something happened.
Professor Sprout had forced them to break into groups of three to work with a plant as a group rather then an individual. Hermione, Harry, and Ron quickly formed a group while Neville ended up with two of his housemates; Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.
This was the one class where Neville seemed to actually feel confident in his abilities, and it was apparent in the way that he handled the plants. As Seamus roughly tried to repot the squirming plant Neville grabbed it before it could bite the irish teen. "Careful Seamus! The teeth are really sharp and it doesn't like rough handling; just plant it gently and it will go a lot easier on you and the plant." With efficient hands Nevilled quickly planted the small plant into the ground as the others watched.
At the end of class everyone filed out dirty and covered in planting soil from the squirming plants. Somehow Harry, Ron, and Hermione ended up right behind a large group of Gryffindors with Neville right in front of them. They could easily hear one of the arrogant ones begin to talk loudly and condescendingly, "You would think that he would learn to do as well in other, actually useful classes, as he does in Herbology. What a waste of a wizard; he has to notice that he doesn't have any friends."
The three Slytherins knew instantly who they were talking about and it was obvious that Neville figured it out as well because his pace quickened as he hurried back towards the castle. Hermione glared at the Gryffindors as they walked past; it was partly their fault that Neville didn't have any confidence.
In a low voice Harry spoke, "We'll find him later to talk, I think that it's time we had a chat with him and maybe actually give him some real friends instead of those idiots." Ron and Hermione nodded quickly in agreement as they headed off to finish the rest of their afternoon classes.