Chapter 76
Ron gasped in shock as he looked at Hermione, who was now dressed in a tight white lacy top and a long black silk dress.
The outfit didn't leave much to his imagination and he saw more than he had ever expected.
Her bushy hair was slightly tamed but she looked like a rock star who has just returned from a ride with a motor bike.
She stepped up to Ron, lifted him up from the floor and placed him on a chair in the middle of the room.
When the music started, she licked her lips provocatively and Ron buried his face in his hands.
"Oh my god, she will be so embarrassed when I tell her about that tomorrow"
Fred and George got their camera ready and Hermione started to sing.
You don't have to be beautiful
To turn me on
I just need your body baby
From dusk till dawn
You don't need experience
To turn me out
You just leave it all up to me
I'm gonna show u what it's all about
While she sung she stood behind Ron and ran her hands down his chest. Now it was Ron's turn to turn crimson. In some places, you could barely see where his hair ended and the skin began.
You don't have to be rich
To be my guy
You don't have to be cool
To rule my world
Ain't no particular sign I'm more compatible with
I just want your extra time and your
Kiss
She then smacked him on his cheek.
Everybody around them was just gasping. Hermione's voice was awesome, now that she wasn't just singing along but really tried to perform.
Professor Dumbledore was humming the song while the twins were hopping up and down to the beat.
You got to not talk dirty, baby
If u wanna impress me
you can't be too flirty, man
I know how to undress me
Then she opened the top button of her top provocatively right in front of Ron's face and he dropped his gaze immediately.
I want to be your fantasy
Maybe you could be mine
You just leave it all up to me
We could have a good time
While Hermione continued the song, Severus wondered if it had been the right decision to appoint the Gryffindor the prefect's position.
When Hermione was finished, she quickly changed her clothes back to her usual outfit and sat down on the floor again.
Harry leaned in on his friend and chuckled "This is a side of dear Hermione, we have never seen before"
Ron just shook his head and said "What's gotten into her? Now everybody is going to think she's a scarlet woman"
Kayla, who was sitting next to Ron, just laughed "Don't be silly Ron. Nobody is going to hear about it. It's all just fun and game"
A quick glance in his brothers' direction however proved that this wasn't going to happen.
Then Mrs Weasley had interrupted the game and announced that it was shortly before midnight.
She handed out glasses of champagne and pumpkin juice to everyone and soon they started the countdown.
"5"
"4"
"3"
"2"
"1"
"Happy New Years" everybody cheered and the various couples kissed each other before they turned towards the others.
Ron had given Hermione a rather quick peck on the cheek, but his girlfriend just snorted and kissed him soundly.
Kelsey had just hugged Zara tightly. He somehow had a feeling that she didn't feel comfortable around the male species.
Tanya seized the chance of the moment and grabbed Sirius, who didn't expect anything, and stole a kiss before he could refuse.
Lily was still in James' arms when he cleared his throat.
"I would like to announce something"
Immediately everyone was silent and listened to James.
"In summer we will be welcoming a new addition to our family. Harry is going to be a big brother"
The few friends, who hadn't heard the good news yet, congratulated them and ruffled Harry's already messy hair.
Albus proposed a toast and wished a happy new year to everybody in spite of the bad prospects.
Sirius smiled broadly and called "A baby of two Gryffindors can't be anything but brilliant. It could only be more intelligent if I would be the father"
Just then, his head started to blow up until I was twice the normal size. The black-haired wizard grabbed his head and groaned.
"What is that?" James cried and went to his friend's side to help him steady his head.
Sirius glared at Snape, who stood a little further away in the corner.
"That was you" he spat and Severus smirked knowingly.
"End this crap right now" James flared up and growled at the potion master.
"Oh my friends, you can end that yourself. Just stop being such terrible show-offs then it will never happen again" Severus drawled.
"Oh you mean you did that to all of us?" Sirius gasped while he held his head.
"When will my head be back to normal again?"
"All the marauders had a little bit of my potion and it will be effective for 3 months. Each inflation will last about 10 minutes, I assume"
He so enjoyed the terrified faces on the other wizards' faces before Sirius head shrunk to his regular size.
Soon they all said good bye and withdrew to their rooms.
----------------
Hours later, Kayla woke up because of loud screaming.
She sat up bolt right and groped for her wand, to identify the source of the noise.
"Lumos" she whispered and scanned the room for a possible intruder, but she only found Zara lying on the floor, screaming her lungs out.
Kayla then turned the light on and hurried over to the Ravenclaw.
When she touched her, Zara started striking out wildly.
"Get your dirty clutches off me, Malfoy" she shouted, while Kayla tried to catch her arms before she hurt someone.
"It's me Zara! Everything is ok; you're safe now" Kayla tried to calm her, but it was no use.
Thinking hard what would be the best thing to do, she decided to get one of the adults.
Carefully she left the room, after a last glance on Zara, who was cowering on the floor, shaking furiously.
Lily and James' bedroom was the closest, so she tried this one first but nobody answered when she knocked.
As she moved on to the Weasleys bedroom, she heard footsteps coming closer.
"What in the name of Merlin are you doing in the hallway in the middle of the night?" she heard the stern voice of Professor Wells.
"Excuse me, Professor. There is something wrong with Zara, I think. Can you please come and –"
Before she could finish her sentence, Kimberly had already passed her and was on the way to the girls' room.
When the potion teacher entered the room, she found Zara still lying on the floor.
We should have thought about that earlier, she thought angrily. Of course she would relive all that in her dreams tonight.
Kayla had entered the room and stood anxiously in the back while her teacher approached the Ravenclaw.
"Zara! This is Professor Wells. You are at headquarters and nobody is going to hurt you." Kimberly said with a firm voice. "Can you hear me?"
Zara stopped throwing her fists at the young teacher and looked at her awkwardly.
Kimberly however had the impression that the girl didn't actually see her. She reminded her of a somnambulist and didn't realize what she was doing.
Carefully she helped the girl off the floor and put her back to bed.
Zara didn't lie down; she remained sitting and stared into space.
The young Gryffindor approached her teacher and asked anxiously "She is going to be ok, isn't she?"
Kimberly turned towards the girl and when she replied, her voice sounded worried.
"Zara had to endure horrible things through the hands of the deatheaters. It will take a long time until she will be over it"
If she will ever get over it, she thought but didn't say it loud.
"I will encourage her to confide in someone when she feels strong enough to talk about it. It is always better to talk about things that bother you. When you keep it inside, it will gnaw on your soul"
Then she stroked the girl's cheek and Zara started to shiver.
"Oh my poor dear" Kimberly cooed as the young Ravenclaw actually looked at her and whimpered.
"Just let it out" The teacher said softly and tears started to stream down Zara's face.
"Help me, please..." she whispered, terror still edged in her voice, while she held on to Kimberly for dear life.
"I will get you a dreamless sleeping draught; that will make sure that you can sleep without any bad dreams."
Kayla smiled gratefully at her teacher, who softly pushed Zara back on the pillow, before she crawled into her own bed.
After Zara had drowned the potion, she went to sleep without any problems.
----------------
In the morning, she joined the others at the breakfast table.
Ron, Hermione, Harry and the Warren twins were already there when she arrived.
She chanced a glance at Kayla, who shook her head ever so slightly. Relieved that nobody knew yet what had happened, she sat down and filled her plate.
Hermione groaned and held her head while she sipped on her tea.
"I don't know who prepared the punch, but I'm sure there was more than just fruit in it"
Ron just chuckled and stated "I'm sure that Fred and George were involved in this. It looked too much like the after effects of the Yule Ball"
"Maybe Professor Wells can give you something for your headache, Mione" Kayla suggested. "Until then you might want to go back to bed"
"That's not possible, Kayla. I need to study. School starts again in two days and I have to start revising for my OWL's."
"But Hermione, OWL's won't be before June!" Kelsey said flabbergasted.
The prefect's head perked up and she said indignantly "you can never start early enough!"
Her outburst had been a trifle too loud and she regretted it immediately, when he head started pounding again.
Maybe I should really get a tiny bit of rest, Hermione said before she abandoned her breakfast and left.
Zara had mulled over what her potions professor had said last night. Right now, she didn't feel like talking about her encounter with Malfoy to anybody.
She dreaded to go back to Hogwarts and look at the face of his insufferable spawn every day.
It was impossible for her to talk to Severus about it; no man could understand what she had to endure.
Maybe it will go away and I will forget about it, she thought, but a strong feeling inside her said that it was just wishful thinking.
The last two days went by in a blur of preparations and finally the 3rd of January had arrived.
Today they would return to Hogwarts.
It was the first time they wouldn't be going on the Hogwarts Express. The attack right before the holidays had scared so many parents that Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall had decided to bring the students back by portkey.
Dudley Dursley also had received one together with detailed instructions.
Harry had mixed feelings about his cousin coming to Hogwarts. A part of him appreciated the chance to pay back some of the terrible things he had done to him when they were younger.
Another part, however, wondered how terrible a Dudley could be who had been sorted into Slytherin.
Dudley Dursley and Draco Malfoy... this was going to be a nightmare.
They reached Gryffindor tower in the early afternoon and had time to put their belongings away before they headed down to the Great Hall for dinner.
When they sat down at the Gryffindor table, they recognized Remus bringing in the Sorting Hat.
After it had been placed on the stool in front of the teachers' desk, McGonagall rose from her chair and spoke.
"My dear students, I welcome you back after the winter break and I would like to inform you that we have a new student. His magical abilities have just been discovered, so he will spend the rest of this term to catch up. I expect from all of you to help him as much as you can"
Then she nodded and Remus led Dudley in.
"Dudley Dursley, please put on the hat so that you can be sorted" the DADA teacher said friendly.
Harry smirked when he saw Dudley's pale face. He looked so silly in his school robes and the pointed hat.
His cousin was obviously scared when he sat down on the stool and put the hat on.
Harry balled his fists and closed his eyes waiting for the hat to announce.
Please let him be a Hufflepuff, he thought.
The sorting seemed to take forever until the hat finally called out
"Gryffindor"
Ron's head spun around as he heard a dull thud right next to him.
"No...no...no...no...hell NO!" Harry howled while he banged his forehead on the table.
Dudley however ripped the hat from his head and threw it on the floor.
"I don't want to be in 'his' house" he yelled and pointed at Harry.
The atmosphere wasn't very relaxed at the moment. Normally every new student was welcomed with applause, but Dudley's obvious dislike for Gryffindor caused a very reluctant acceptation of his house-mates.
"Congratulation, Potter. Your house got another moron. I bet he can give Longbottom a run for his money" Malfoy drawled and the Slytherin table howled with laughter.
Professor McGonagall gave Dudley a stern look and her mouth was as thin as it could possibly get when she sent him over to the Gryffindor table.
Harry's eyes followed him as he found a seat at the table, further down his own row.
His cousin seemed less than pleased with the hat's decision and stared on his empty plate with clenched fists on either side of it.
Harry looked back up to the headmistress and his eyes fell on Snape.
A mischievous smirk was playing around his thin lips and Harry gave him a malicious look.
Then McGonagall addressed the student once again.
"I trust I don't have to repeat the rules; so please enjoy your meal"
With a final glance in the Weasley twins' direction, she sat down again and he plates in front of the students filled themselves.
Dudley's eyes widened in surprise when he spotted all the delicious food.
Harry kept a close eye on his cousin, who again proved the point that he was not just looking like a pig but that he ate like one as well.
He also recognized the whispering at the Slytherin table and all the pointing fingers.
"What did I ever do to deserve this?" Harry groaned. "Why couldn't he just leave me alone? Not only is he going to bug me at Hogwarts, but he's also in MY HOUSE"
"See it as an opportunity" Hermione said in a business like manner.
"And what opportunity would that be" Harry snarled and gesticulated so much that he knocked over his glass with pumpkin juice.
"The opportunity to show your cousin his place." Hermione replied, while she used her napkin to stop the juice from dripping on the floor.
"Hermione's right, Harry. He was the one that bullied you your whole live, now you can do just the same to him" Ron said excitedly, but only received a pitiful look from his girlfriend.
"This is not the way I meant it, Ron. This is an opportunity to show Dudley how wonderful the magical world is and how much fun it is to study. You could help him with his studies, Harry and it would be a wonderful chance for you to revise for our OWL'S" Hermione said cheerfully.
Harry and Ron just gasped at her in shock.
"I'm sorry, Hermione, but you're just worldly innocent. There's no way in the world, Dudders would ever take good advice from me. Just because he's some sort of a wizard all of a sudden doesn't mean that he has changed" Harry spat. "He is and always will be the fat and bullying git that he was the past 14 years"
Hermione heaved a sigh and returned to her food.
Everybody was catching up on how the others had spent the Christmas time and soon Harry had effectively banned his cousin out of his mind, at least until the dinner ended.
Then when they were about to leave, Dudley walked up to Harry and said cheekily "This guy right there told me you would show me to my room"
"This guy is Professor Lupin, our Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, and I expect some more respect from you" Hermione said in her best McGonagall-voice.
Harry just beckoned his cousin to follow him and they left the Great Hall.
"Hello I'm Neville" their fellow Gryffindor introduced himself friendly to Dudley as he joined his friends in the entrance hall.
Dudley just ignored him and followed Hermione.
Neville looked slightly crestfallen but Kelsey engaged him in a conversation about his holidays as they ascended the marble staircase.
The many turns confused Dudley thoroughly. He wasn't able to pay attention to the directions, Hermione was providing him with, because he kept jumping back and forth every time a portrait called out for him.
When they made the last turn and walked up to the portrait of the Fat Lady, Nearly Headless Nick floated through the wall and greeted the students.
"Welcome back at Hogwarts!"
Then he turned towards Dudley and bowed slightly, which caused his almost decapitated head to wiggle terribly.
Dudley let out a squeak and dashed behind a suit of armour.
"Come back here and say hello to Sir Nicholas" Harry called unnerved and grabbed his cousin by the wrist.
"Yes get away from me!" the suit of armour squealed indignantly. "Your dirty paws make me all greasy"
The others stifled their laughter with more or less success as Dudley jumped from behind the suit of armour and approached the ghost.
"Why are you all so... see-through?" he babbled confusedly and fidgeted with his robes.
Now nobody could hold on any longer and they broke out into laughter.
Dudley looked angrily at each of them in turns before his eyes fell on Nearly Headless Nick again
The ghost looked pitifully at the boy and introduced himself.
"I'm Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, the resident ghost of Gryffindor house" he explained and was immediately interrupted by Ron, who turned to Dudley and said "We call him Nearly Headless Nick"
The ghost sniffled indignantly and said "Before you ask why they call me nearly-headless, let me show you how this morons ruined my chances to become a member of the Headless Hunt. They just couldn't decapitate me properly."
Then he grabbed his head and flapped it to the side.
Everybody but Dudley had seen the show quite a few times already, because the Gryffindor ghost enjoyed re-enacting his own blotched beheading on previous occasions.
Dudley however felt his dinner rise up his throat again as he spotted the half-inch of sinew and skin that connected the head with the body.
His face paled even more as Nearly Headless Nick led his head snap back and secured it with the ruff.
"It took them 45 hits with a blunt axe and the still didn't get it right" he stated disappointedly before Harry pulled his cousin further towards the portrait.
"Password" the Fat Lady said with a bored voice as the students approached her.
Hermione stepped forward and said "Caterpillar". The Fat lady nodded friendly and opened the portrait hole.
The prefect was a little surprised that the Fat Lady was again guarding the entrance again. Wondering what happened to Perseus, she stepped through the hole.