Hey folks! Sorry this has taken so long to post. I have just recently been ungrounded from the internet! YIPPEE! Mothers can be very evil and destructive of a person's creative and social time! This is the last chapter that my friend Lizzy 101 and I wrote together, so R&R!

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Flyingthoroughbred

"Hermione! Ron!" Hagrid exclaimed when he saw them approaching.

"Hello Hagrid," Hermione said, smiling warmly. Hagrid smiled in return.

"Hey Hagrid," Ron said. Hagrid smiled again.

"Where's 'arry?" Hagrid asked.

"He's finishing his homework. Just like someone ELSE should be doing," Hermione answered.

"Would you just LEAVE it, Hermione!" Ron pleaded.

"Anyway," Hermione said, changing the subject, "We were wondering if we could have tea with you, Hagrid."

"Oh!" Hagrid exclaimed, as he stepped aside to let them in, "Of course! Of course!"

"Er….Hermione?" Ron whispered into Hermione's ear so Hagrid couldn't hear, "You know that Hagrid sucks at cooking….erm……everything?"

"I know. Just pretend to drink it, " Hermione whispered back.

"Better yet," Hermione called to Hagrid, "Why don't I fix tea for a change?"

"Hagrid, have you ever heard of an herb called Petradot?" Hermione asked him nonchalantly as she sat down at the table next to Ron with her cup of tea. Hagrid spluttered and coughed as he tried to swallow the tea he had gulped.

"Where did you hear of that!" he demanded as his face turned the color of a cherry.

"I read it somewhere, but the book didn't give details about it. I was wondering if you could tell me more about it," she replied innocently.

"Well, I don't want you to go poking around in something that young witches shouldn't poke around in," he sternly told her.

"I wasn't poking. I was just asking," Hermione replied to the harsh command with an innocent smile.

"Well, I know nothing of Petradot," Hagrid said stubbornly, although it was obvious that he did.

Hermione and Ron left the cabin and were walking back up to the castle when Ron turned and stopped in front of Hermione.

"What is Petradot, and how do you know about it?" he demanded of her.

"Petradot is an herb that has the properties to kill anyone who inhales the gases it produces. The herb itself makes a very good and very strong, healing tea. It can heal any wound and even bring someone back from the dead. Ironic isn't it?" Hermione told him, "To answer your next question, I got a book from the restricted section with Professor Snape's permission."

Ron stared at her slack-jawed. "SNAPE?" Ron demanded, "He, like, hates you!"

"I know, " replied Hermione.

"How? Why? When?" Ron gasped.

"I made a bargain with him three days ago that if he gave me the permission to get the book, I would not raise my hand for all of this month in his class," Hermione told him, shrugging.

"But this month is almost over," Ron told her, still stunned that she would even make a bargain like that.

"There are exactly two days left. That is the whole reason why I agreed to do it, Ronald," she told him as she stepped around him to continue walking up to the castle. Ron stared at her retreating back, open-mouthed, until his senses came back into his brain.

"Wait up!" he yelled at her back as he ran to catch up.

The pair walked into the castle, just as Dumbledore was coming down the stairs.

"Miss Granger! Mr. Weasley!" Dumbledore called to them, "What a pleasant surprise!"

"Hello professor Dumbledore," Ron and Hermione said in unison as they walked up to him.

" I was just on my way outside to see if Hagrid could deliver this letter and package for me, but alas, it looks like he is not in his cabin," Dumbledore informed them forlornly.

"We were just there, Professor Dumbledore," Hermione told him, "He said that there have been strange things happening in the Forbidden Forest lately and he was going to go ask the centaurs whether they have seen anything when we left."

"Well, Hagrid was my last hope," Dumbledore stated sadly, "It seems all of the teachers are caught up in some type of work or another and all of the owls are being used by students, I even sent Fawkes out earlier this morning myself to deliver something for me. Well, my package and letter will just have to wait."

"Maybe we could deliver it for you, Professor," Hermione volunteered, "We have finished our homework and have nothing else to do."

"Why thank you, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore emphatically thanked them, "If you follow me up to my office I will give you directions and set a charm on you to keep you safe."

As Hermione was walking off with Dumbledore, Ron grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Why did you volunteer me and lie to Dumbledore?" Ron quickly and quietly asked her, "You know I don't have all of my homework done."

"Because," Hermione answered just as quickly and quietly, "If I read the address on that package right, we will be going into Hogsmeade and I want to ask the apothecarian there where Petradot can be acquired and what other properties it has." She wrenched her arm out of his grip and started running to catch up with Dumbledore.

"I really think Harry and I have made a bad impression on her," Ron grumbled as he followed Hermione.