MisMated
Chapter 3
The Reaction:
Monday, February 8th, 1997:
A pin could have dropped without a stir, dark and deep obsidian eyes noted neatly, raking across the Hall. Severus glanced bored at the Weasley child staring down at his plate, his eyes transfixed; the Granger girl biting down on her lip in worry with her eyebrows drawn downwards; Potter staring helplessly at his friend, his emerald eyes flickering uncertainly; Draco's face frozen, his eyes widened in shock, a look of disbelief placed within them; the other Professors' looks of amazement and surprise reflecting onto the children's.
The dark haired man raised a brow. He then reached out his hand and lifted his cup of wine, he took a sip, and returned it to its place on the table, the glass ringing just slightly as he did so; the shock broke. Whispers broke loose from the children's mouth, and murmurs from the professors', filling the Hall to a level of noise not reached before.
The Slytherins softly spoke words of spite and of it being a lie, but mainly showed indifference while still managing to show a slight spark of interest. The Hufflepuffs blinked confused, their unhurried minds not managing to grasp the situation clearly. Their gazes strayed over both the Gryffindor table and to their mentors. The Ravenclaws quickly thought back to reading of stray books, searching their memories for the discarded information they sought locked within their brains about Mortuus Veelas. The Gryffindor table, however, was in an uproar. Their confusion, disbelief, and anger struck their faces as they demanded the truth from their greatly trusted friend.
Seamus, a valued dorm mate, shaking his head unknowingly; Dean, loudly protesting the statement; Neville, cowering among the people while watching Ron out of the corner of his eye; Colin gaping at the mention of a Veela, Lavender, staring uncomprehendingly, as always.
The red-haired male became flustered and flushed a pale pink, his eyes never leaving his plate. He slouched in his seat, his elbows resting lightly on the table, his feet twitching now and then. Pressed between multiple people he drew his body to himself, trying vainly to withdraw from within their fold.
His two friends also crushed, but now away from him from when the rowdy crowd had shoved them carelessly aside, a change from their usual adoration of Harry, and their respect for Hermione. They struggled to push through the crowd back to their friend, but no one would budge. It was no use.
"Students!" Dumbledore commanded gravely, startling the whole of Gryffindor. Gradually they moved back from Ron, allowing Hermione and Harry to rush to Ron's side as he flushed.
"Take your seats," the Headmaster said, watching them as his took his own. "And all you need to know shall be explained to you. However, first you must calm yourselves."
Slowly the Gryffindor House returned to their previous seats, but murmurs remained. Slytherin had quieted, and were awaiting the explanation to come for their own purposes. Hufflepuff had immediately quieted upon the Headmaster's command, and Ravenclaw had done likewise. However, when Gryffindor did not quiet down on their own, the Ravenclaws took the task upon themselves.
Dumbledore nodded approvingly. "Now, I feel it would be best for your professors to be informed first. Afterwards your Head of House will drop by and explain the situation in full detail to you. For now, though, we shall finish eating. When all are done you are to retire back to your respective Towers."
It was now that Ron looked up at his fellow classmates and saw their glances, and some accusatory glares. His eyes narrowed in anger. And just why would they be upset about this? It wasn't them this was happening to. Did they feel betrayed? If so, for what reason? He scoffed and stood, gathering looks. He glared at them and left the Hall, Hermione and Harry following behind him.
Only one person noticed obsidian eyes that followed the redhead as he left the hall, but it was not in his nature to interfere.. at least so early. Dumbledore chuckled slightly, and when McGonagall gave him a questioning look, he only smiled back at her. She frowned at him, but left it alone. After all, she didn't want to become involved with his newest scheme if she didn't have to.
The Next Day.. Tuesday, February 9th, 1997:
"Ron, just ignore what everyone is saying!" Hermione said, sitting on a couch in the Gryffindor Common Room. "They don't know what to do so they're just making up nonsense! Honestly, you of all people should know this from all of the problems with Harry!"
"Hey," Harry protested meekly from his spot on the floor, "No need to involve me."
Hermione glared at him, then turned back to Ron. "And they're only scared of you because they heard the word vampire, and haven't bothered to look anything up!"
"Hermione, who does? Who honestly does that besides us, and maybe some of the Ravenclaws?" Ron asked, disgusted.
"Well, anyone who actually has brains would look it up, don't you think?" Hermione snapped. "Its not as if Headmaster Dumbledore and the staff gave a lot of information. Its only to be expected that everyone would be curious. I don't know why you're doubting that."
Harry choked on the muffin he was eating, and Ron quickly whacked him on the back before turning an accusatory stare at Hermione. "You see, even Harry knows how ridiculous that idea is! No one's actually going to look anything up, they're just going to believe I'm some murderous creature that's going to drink their blood if I get my hands on them! And you're supposed to be the smart one," Ron grumbled angrily.
"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, affronted, "What did you just say?"
"Nothing," Ron said quickly, sighing. "Hermione, I'm sorry, but that's not the way people are. They believe anything they hear, and to be honest, I do the same most of the time. Think back over the years, back to second year when everyone thought Harry was the Heir of Slytherin. Once they heard that they took it for the truth."
"But we were just in our second year!" Hermione protested weakly.
"Yeah, but not everyone who believed it was in their second year," Harry stated softly.
"Well.." Hermione frowned, "Maybe if we spoke to Headmaster Dumbledore we could get his approval for the DADA professor to do a session about Mortuus Veelas," she paused to look at them. "Then everyone would have the correct information. Its worth something, right?"
Ron scoffed lightly, but agreed. "Yeah, I guess so."
"So.. should we go see him now then, guys? We still have a little bit of time before we need to go to Herbology," Harry pointed out.
"So let's go."
And they did.
"Starbursts," Hermione said quietly to the statue guarding Dumbledore's office. After seeing Ron and Harry look at her funny she explained that their Headmaster was branching out into muggle candies. They shook their head, but didn't say a thing because they knew how absurd he could be.
The gargoyle slowly opened, revealing the spiral staircase to them. Harry smiled mischievously suddenly, and began to dart up the stairs. Ron and Hermione looked after him confused before they started running after him. When they reached the top Harry turned around and simply said, "Beat you."
Ron gaped at him, while the Headmaster approached from behind Harry, chuckling. "Now, now," he said, eyes twinkling. "For what reason are you racing on the stairs?"
"Well, sir, we.." Hermione trailed off, and finally ending her sentence. "We thought it was important to see you, and running up the stairs was quicker than walking?"
Dumbledore laughed. "Its fine, my dear. If you ask me," he said softly, learning towards her as if to tell a large secret, "It always has been a bit boring with everyone just walking up the stairs. I would run up them myself, but with my age, I think I'll leave it to you younger ones."
Hermione blushed slightly while Dumbledore straightened up. "Well then, why don't you come in?"
The Headmaster quickly ushered them in, seating them in the plush chairs. He offered them tea, but only Hermione accepted. Ron sat, twiddling with his fingers, looking anywhere but at the Headmaster. Harry did likewise, but left out the twiddling of fingers, and Hermione calmly sipped her tea, appearing to be in thought. Suddenly a scraping sound snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked up. It was a glass bowl, filled with candies.
"Lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly.
"Um.. no, thank you," Hermione said.
"Lemon drop?" Dumbledore repeated to the two boys.
They also declined.
He shrugged and took one for himself. "Well, seeing as all three of you have come to visit me, I must assume it is something of importance," he smiled slightly. "What matter is troubling you three?"
"Well, sir," began Hermione. "Its about Ron. Or, rather, about how the rest of the students are reacting to the news about him."
"Ah, yes, I see." Dumbledore stroked his beard in thought. "And you were hoping I might be able to help?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes." Hermione paused briefly. "We were hoping to still the fear of our classmates by educating them on Mortuus Veelas. It would be an appropriate subject for Defense against the Dark Arts to cover, plus it would maybe help them to understand the situation, even if there isn't much information on Mortuus Veelas. Please, we'll find all the information ourselves; Professor Catter (1) won't have to do a thing!"
"That sounds terrific," the Headmaster said brightly. "I'll inform Professor Catter at once that you three have volunteered to teach the classes one day about Mortuus Veelas. Which day would you like to teach the students?"
"Wait, do you mean you want us to teach them? All of them, as in every class?" Ron asked, surprised and just a little displeased.
"Why, that's sounds like a wonderful idea, Mr. Weasley. Thank you for offering to do so," Dumbledore beamed.
Ron's eye began to twitch. 'And just which House were you in again?' he thought in annoyance.
"Hm.. I know! How about a week from today? That would be next Tuesday then."
"That sounds.. fine, sir." Harry said uncertainly.
"Wonderful! Well, you should be heading to Herbology now, shouldn't you?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, sir. Thank you very much," Hermione said politely before leaving, the two boys following behind her.
"Let me guess," Ron said as they went down the spiral staircase. "We're visiting the library tonight."
Hermione smiled. "Of course."
"But what about our homework?" Harry protested lightly.
"We'll do that first," she replied. The two boys groaned in unison while Hermione rolled her eyes in amusement.
"Come on, hurry, or else we'll be late!" She said, beginning to walk at a faster pace.
"Heaven forbid," Ron said mockingly, also increasing his pace. Harry just shook his head and walked between the two.
"Alright, class, I want a two foot essay on the properties and uses of both Calendula and Blessed Thistle for Monday!" Sprout shouted at her retreating students, shaking her head while muttering under her breath, "This Valentine's ball is going to be hell."
"I wonder what she meant by that," Ron frowned.
"Wonder what who meant by what?" Harry asked.
"What?" Ron gave Harry a strange look.
"You said, 'I wonder what she meant by that.'" Harry explained.
"Oh," Ron said in realization. "Professor Sprout said that this Valentine's ball is going to be hell."
"Maybe she doesn't like the work the professors have to put into the balls," Hermione suggested. "But it isn't any of our business."
"Of course not, Hermione," Ron mockingly agreed, beginning to grin. "Right Harry?"
"Of course!" He also agreed, laughing as he and Ron ran ahead and away from the wrath of Hermione.
"Get back here!" She yelled after them, laughing herself. "We need to go the library!"
"Never!" Ron shouted back.
Of course, Ron and Harry ended up being herded to the library even against their protestation. Hermione had went through the rows of books on mystical creatures - "Honestly, it was only five rows!" - Ron and Harry following behind her so that for every book she thought could be useful, she could pile up in their arms. When she was finally satisfied for the moment they dropped them onto a table with a large thud, earning them their first glare from Madam Pince for the day.
During the first hour they completed their homework, Hermione helping the boys. After that they spent almost three hours reading through the books and taking down notes. Hermione noticed that there was a surprising large amount of information on Mortuus Veelas, compared to what she thought would be available.
"The only bad thing is, though," she sighed, "that most of this is speculation, and isn't proven."
"Hey, maybe we could set the record straight," Harry said. "You know, after a bit."
"Perhaps," Hermione said dejectedly. "Well, give me your notes, why don't you? I'll organize them tonight, after supper. Tomorrow we can continue looking for information. Actually, Ron, will you check out the books we haven't looked through yet? It'd probably be better to have them on hand than to always have to find them on the shelves."
"Sure. Here," he said, thrusting his notes at Hermione. "I'll do that now."
"Thank you," she replied.
"Here you go, Hermione," Harry said politely, giving his notes to her. "I need to do something before supper, so I'll meet you two there."
"Alright," she agreed. "Good-bye, Harry."
Hermione packed up the notes, and shut the open books that were resting on the table. She created a stack of tombs, and then began to put them away. When Ron returned he helped, and then the two headed to supper.
"Where's Harry?" Ron asked.
"He had to go do something," Hermione commented. "I don't know what; he didn't say."
Ron paused. "Oh."
Hermione sighed. "What is it now, Ron?"
"Well, I was just wondering.. is this really going to work?"
"Yes, it will," Hermione said forcefully. "It will work, Ron."
He knew she was trying to comfort him, but he also knew she was lying.
"Okay," he said, pretending to believe her. "Okay."
(1) - Professor Catter is the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.
Note: I'm not sure if I will be continuing this story. I might, but I'm not sure. Any updates will probably take a few months. Thanks to duj for pointing out I had put Ginny in my story, even though I took her out of it. So that means, yes, this chapter was up earlier, and then taken down to fix that and a few other things. The reason it was not posted soon after (it has been a month) was because I was thinking on if I want to continue this story. I am still interested in it, but I'm not sure if I can do the plot justice, and I'm a bit confused on what to do for a few things. I'll try though, really. Thank you.