Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters.
A/N: Sorry about that, prettyprincess. Captain Oblivious, I love reading your reveiws. Siria, you're good. Jaid Ziaen, I will address that. Thanks, Katjuska.
A Different You by Lina Shay
Chapter Seventeen: Making Sense of It All
The Ballroom was low-lit with dark green and blood red streamers hanging from the ceiling. At the far end of the room was a stage with a live band playing. The room was packed full of couples. Hermione smiled as Draco took her in his arms and they began to dance. It was a lovely slow melody and brilliant dancer. Hermione set her head n his shoulder as they swayed to the music. The moment made all her troubles and worries disappeared.
"Baby!"
"Oh dear!" Hermione groaned, looking up as Harry came toward them.
"So you and Malfunction are a couple now?" Harry asked, hands on hips.
"What's it to you?" Draco demanded.
"Nothing," Harry insisted, holding his hands up as if to surrender. "I couldn't picture a more well-fit couple."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at this. Was this really Harry?
"I wish you all the luck in the world," Harry smirked that strange sort of smirk that he use to give Hermione all the time. "Dance, kiss, and drink some pumpkin juice. I'm sure your evening will be ENCHANTING."
He smirked again and walked away. Draco and Hermione looked at each other. They were thinking the exact same thing. Harry was being much too pleasant. There was something seriously wrong here.
"Hermione, I think I'll look around for a bit," Draco told her. "Wait here for me."
Hermione gave his hand a squeeze, then let him go. She glanced about for something to occupy her moment without Draco. She saw the refreshment table and headed in that direction. She took a treacle tart and a glass of pumpkin juice, then decided to look about by herself. If there was something going on here, four eyes could find it better than two. Hermione slowly ate her tart, walking about and looking for anything suspicious.
"Minerva! Minerva!"
Hermione turned her eyes to Dumbledore, thrashing about as Pettigrew tried to give him a goblet of pumpkin juice.
"Drink up, Albus," Pettigrew insisted, shoving the goblet toward his mouth.
"No!" Dumbledore shouted. "Minerva!"
His looked right into Hermione's eyes. Hermione felt her heart suddenly beating very hard. What had happened in the corridor with Harry and Dumbledore rushed through her mind, along with when Harry told Draco and Hermione so pleasently to have some pumpkin juice. She looked down at her glass of pumpkin juice and remembered what Dumbledore once said to her, "See what's going on, and don't drink the pumpkin juice." She glanced over at the table where Pettigrew was handing out the glasses. He had this malicious smirk on his face as he handed a glass to Neville. All of a sudden, everything clicked. It all made sense.
"Dear me!" Hermione gasped, dropping her glass. "Neville!" she shouted, motioning him over.
Neville waved at her and began to walked slowly toward her. "What's up, Hermione?"
"There's something wrong with the pumpkin juice," Hermione insisted, snatching the cup out of hid hand.
"What? What are you talking about?" Neville muttered.
"Have you seen Draco?" Hermione asked, glancing about.
"Last I saw him, he was snoggling you," Neville shrugged.
"We have to find him before he has any pumpkin juice," Hermione said, heading off through the crowd. Neville tried to keep up, saying, "What's with the pumpkin juice?"
"I don't know," Hermione told him over her shoulder as she pushed through people. "There's something the matter with it."
"How do you know?" Neville queried.
"Dumbledore told me," Hermione insisted, spotting Draco sneaking by the wall.
"You listened to that old wack?" Neville snickered.
Hermione ran over to Draco and took his arm.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked, seeing Hermione's distress.
"She's mental," Neville informed. "No wonder she started hanging with us."
"Snape's done something to the pumpkin juice," Hermione told Draco.
Draco just watched her, waiting for her to go on.
"Think about it," Hermione began, "Harry comes up to us, two people he most assuredly despises, and wishes us luck, then tells us to drink the pumpkins juice. Just now, Pettigrew was trying to force Dumbledore to drink it. In fact, Snape's always telling Dumbledore to drink some pumpkin juice, isn't he?"
"Yes," Draco said in awe. "You reckon that's what making him loose his mind?"
"Snape is a master of potions," Hermione reminded. "And don't forget about what happened with Harry's mum."
"She went mad after she started dating Snape," Draco mused.
"Around the same time," Hermione corrected. "What if that's why she started dating him?"
"Poisoning girls to get dates, now that desperate," Draco smirked.
Hermione glared at him.
"All right," Draco began, "so Snape created a potion which makes you loose your mind. He poisoned Lily...why, just to get Harry?"
"I don't know if this happened last year for you," Hermione said, "but there's a prophesy about You-Know-Who. Only one can stop him. He knew it was either Neville or Harry. Here, apparently, he decided that Neville was it. But he couldn't just kill Neville and his parents. He had to kill his entire family, which it why the Death Eaters attacked Mrs. Longbottom and your mum. They were after Neville's gran. Maybe, You-Know-Who wanted to make sure that neither Harry nor Neville could stop him. That's why he got Snape to marry Harry's mum. If Harry was raised in the dark ways, he couldn't very well destroy his own master."
"Have I told you lately how amazing you are?" Draco told her.
"Second year, Snape must have put the diary in your bag to keep you from helping Neville and to resurrect You-Know-Who at the same time," Hermione went on. "He didn't, though, account for the fact that Neville might figure it out. And third year, he placed Pettigrew to get Neville. When McGonagal was killed, Snape realized how close he was to being Headmaster and a cover for Dumbledore's insanity. He took the opportunity to poison Dumbledore and blame it on McGonagal's death. Then, he set it up for Neville to become the fourth champion at the tournament, hoping Neville would win."
"But he didn't win," Draco added. "Diggory did, and no one saw him or the cup since."
"That cup was a portkey to where You-Know-Who was waiting to be resurrected," Hermione announced.
"All right," Draco muttered. "And now Dumbledore's trying to poison us all...just to get rid of Neville?"
Hermione bit her lip. She hadn't figured thus far. They had to be devising another way to resurrect Voldemort. Fourth year, Harry told that Voldemort was in a bundle that Pettigrew cared for. And his dream over the summer that had him waking in pain, was about Voldemort, Pettigrew and a snake.
"Remember that bottle we found in Pettigrew's office?" Hermione asked. "We thought it was for a baby."
Draco nodded.
"Couldn't it have been snake venom?" Hermione queried.
"Not a normal snake," Draco shrugged. "Maybe a snake with magic properties."
"Could it not sustain someone who is barely living?" Hermione posed.
"You mean Voldemort?" Draco asked.
Hermione nodded.
"The basket," Draco gasped. "All this time, Wormtail had to keep Voldemort near him."
"That explains my scar burning whenever Pettigrew walks by," Neville announced.
"And why Dumbledore was dangling the basket over the edge of the Quidditch field," Draco said, quietly. "And why Wormtail and Snape went so mental about it."
"It also explains the thing I've been seeing," Hermione told them. "It was at Hogwarts and now it's here, because they had to keep the supplier of the venom with You-Know-Who."
Draco, Neville and Hermione all stared at each other.
"So, what do we do now?" Neville whined.
"We've got to save everyone," Draco insisted.
"Attention!" came Snape's voice form the stage.
The music had stopped and everyone was facing toward Snape. Harry was by his side, smirking.
"We have a special guest who we would like to drink a toast to," Snape sneered. "Neville Longbottom."
Neville gasped.
"May he get what he deserves," Snape said, raising his goblet.
Neville swallowed hard.
"You don't have glasses," Harry observed. "Peter, get Longbottom, Malfoy and Hermione some pumpkin juice. We must all drink to Neville's future."
Pettigrew hurried over to them and handed them each a glass.
"To Neville," Snape said, staring down at them.
"To Neville," repeated the crowd, drinking from their goblets.
A/N: Sorry about that, prettyprincess. Captain Oblivious, I love reading your reveiws. Siria, you're good. Jaid Ziaen, I will address that. Thanks, Katjuska.
A Different You by Lina Shay
Chapter Seventeen: Making Sense of It All
The Ballroom was low-lit with dark green and blood red streamers hanging from the ceiling. At the far end of the room was a stage with a live band playing. The room was packed full of couples. Hermione smiled as Draco took her in his arms and they began to dance. It was a lovely slow melody and brilliant dancer. Hermione set her head n his shoulder as they swayed to the music. The moment made all her troubles and worries disappeared.
"Baby!"
"Oh dear!" Hermione groaned, looking up as Harry came toward them.
"So you and Malfunction are a couple now?" Harry asked, hands on hips.
"What's it to you?" Draco demanded.
"Nothing," Harry insisted, holding his hands up as if to surrender. "I couldn't picture a more well-fit couple."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at this. Was this really Harry?
"I wish you all the luck in the world," Harry smirked that strange sort of smirk that he use to give Hermione all the time. "Dance, kiss, and drink some pumpkin juice. I'm sure your evening will be ENCHANTING."
He smirked again and walked away. Draco and Hermione looked at each other. They were thinking the exact same thing. Harry was being much too pleasant. There was something seriously wrong here.
"Hermione, I think I'll look around for a bit," Draco told her. "Wait here for me."
Hermione gave his hand a squeeze, then let him go. She glanced about for something to occupy her moment without Draco. She saw the refreshment table and headed in that direction. She took a treacle tart and a glass of pumpkin juice, then decided to look about by herself. If there was something going on here, four eyes could find it better than two. Hermione slowly ate her tart, walking about and looking for anything suspicious.
"Minerva! Minerva!"
Hermione turned her eyes to Dumbledore, thrashing about as Pettigrew tried to give him a goblet of pumpkin juice.
"Drink up, Albus," Pettigrew insisted, shoving the goblet toward his mouth.
"No!" Dumbledore shouted. "Minerva!"
His looked right into Hermione's eyes. Hermione felt her heart suddenly beating very hard. What had happened in the corridor with Harry and Dumbledore rushed through her mind, along with when Harry told Draco and Hermione so pleasently to have some pumpkin juice. She looked down at her glass of pumpkin juice and remembered what Dumbledore once said to her, "See what's going on, and don't drink the pumpkin juice." She glanced over at the table where Pettigrew was handing out the glasses. He had this malicious smirk on his face as he handed a glass to Neville. All of a sudden, everything clicked. It all made sense.
"Dear me!" Hermione gasped, dropping her glass. "Neville!" she shouted, motioning him over.
Neville waved at her and began to walked slowly toward her. "What's up, Hermione?"
"There's something wrong with the pumpkin juice," Hermione insisted, snatching the cup out of hid hand.
"What? What are you talking about?" Neville muttered.
"Have you seen Draco?" Hermione asked, glancing about.
"Last I saw him, he was snoggling you," Neville shrugged.
"We have to find him before he has any pumpkin juice," Hermione said, heading off through the crowd. Neville tried to keep up, saying, "What's with the pumpkin juice?"
"I don't know," Hermione told him over her shoulder as she pushed through people. "There's something the matter with it."
"How do you know?" Neville queried.
"Dumbledore told me," Hermione insisted, spotting Draco sneaking by the wall.
"You listened to that old wack?" Neville snickered.
Hermione ran over to Draco and took his arm.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked, seeing Hermione's distress.
"She's mental," Neville informed. "No wonder she started hanging with us."
"Snape's done something to the pumpkin juice," Hermione told Draco.
Draco just watched her, waiting for her to go on.
"Think about it," Hermione began, "Harry comes up to us, two people he most assuredly despises, and wishes us luck, then tells us to drink the pumpkins juice. Just now, Pettigrew was trying to force Dumbledore to drink it. In fact, Snape's always telling Dumbledore to drink some pumpkin juice, isn't he?"
"Yes," Draco said in awe. "You reckon that's what making him loose his mind?"
"Snape is a master of potions," Hermione reminded. "And don't forget about what happened with Harry's mum."
"She went mad after she started dating Snape," Draco mused.
"Around the same time," Hermione corrected. "What if that's why she started dating him?"
"Poisoning girls to get dates, now that desperate," Draco smirked.
Hermione glared at him.
"All right," Draco began, "so Snape created a potion which makes you loose your mind. He poisoned Lily...why, just to get Harry?"
"I don't know if this happened last year for you," Hermione said, "but there's a prophesy about You-Know-Who. Only one can stop him. He knew it was either Neville or Harry. Here, apparently, he decided that Neville was it. But he couldn't just kill Neville and his parents. He had to kill his entire family, which it why the Death Eaters attacked Mrs. Longbottom and your mum. They were after Neville's gran. Maybe, You-Know-Who wanted to make sure that neither Harry nor Neville could stop him. That's why he got Snape to marry Harry's mum. If Harry was raised in the dark ways, he couldn't very well destroy his own master."
"Have I told you lately how amazing you are?" Draco told her.
"Second year, Snape must have put the diary in your bag to keep you from helping Neville and to resurrect You-Know-Who at the same time," Hermione went on. "He didn't, though, account for the fact that Neville might figure it out. And third year, he placed Pettigrew to get Neville. When McGonagal was killed, Snape realized how close he was to being Headmaster and a cover for Dumbledore's insanity. He took the opportunity to poison Dumbledore and blame it on McGonagal's death. Then, he set it up for Neville to become the fourth champion at the tournament, hoping Neville would win."
"But he didn't win," Draco added. "Diggory did, and no one saw him or the cup since."
"That cup was a portkey to where You-Know-Who was waiting to be resurrected," Hermione announced.
"All right," Draco muttered. "And now Dumbledore's trying to poison us all...just to get rid of Neville?"
Hermione bit her lip. She hadn't figured thus far. They had to be devising another way to resurrect Voldemort. Fourth year, Harry told that Voldemort was in a bundle that Pettigrew cared for. And his dream over the summer that had him waking in pain, was about Voldemort, Pettigrew and a snake.
"Remember that bottle we found in Pettigrew's office?" Hermione asked. "We thought it was for a baby."
Draco nodded.
"Couldn't it have been snake venom?" Hermione queried.
"Not a normal snake," Draco shrugged. "Maybe a snake with magic properties."
"Could it not sustain someone who is barely living?" Hermione posed.
"You mean Voldemort?" Draco asked.
Hermione nodded.
"The basket," Draco gasped. "All this time, Wormtail had to keep Voldemort near him."
"That explains my scar burning whenever Pettigrew walks by," Neville announced.
"And why Dumbledore was dangling the basket over the edge of the Quidditch field," Draco said, quietly. "And why Wormtail and Snape went so mental about it."
"It also explains the thing I've been seeing," Hermione told them. "It was at Hogwarts and now it's here, because they had to keep the supplier of the venom with You-Know-Who."
Draco, Neville and Hermione all stared at each other.
"So, what do we do now?" Neville whined.
"We've got to save everyone," Draco insisted.
"Attention!" came Snape's voice form the stage.
The music had stopped and everyone was facing toward Snape. Harry was by his side, smirking.
"We have a special guest who we would like to drink a toast to," Snape sneered. "Neville Longbottom."
Neville gasped.
"May he get what he deserves," Snape said, raising his goblet.
Neville swallowed hard.
"You don't have glasses," Harry observed. "Peter, get Longbottom, Malfoy and Hermione some pumpkin juice. We must all drink to Neville's future."
Pettigrew hurried over to them and handed them each a glass.
"To Neville," Snape said, staring down at them.
"To Neville," repeated the crowd, drinking from their goblets.