The
morning of the Hogsmeade trip, Harry received a letter from Cho,
telling him to meet her in Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop at noon.
Harry, Hermione, and Ginny left the castle after breakfast and passed
the time until noon in Fred and George's shop.
"What time is
it?" Harry asked Fred.
"Eleven. Why? You got a
date?"
"Actually, I do." Fred turned around and
looked at George.
"With who?" George asked.
"Cho."
"Cho
Chang?" Fred asked
"Yeah."
"Oh I remember
her." Fred said "At least you got a relatively good looking
one."
"Excuse me?" Hermione said
"Hey you
gotta get them before the other guys do." George said
Hermione
sighed. "Boys." She turned to Ginny. "Don't you have
anything to say about that?"
"I have six brothers,
Hermione. I've learned to ignore it." Ginny said. "Actually,
sometimes I don't even realize that they said anything."
"Well
when you have brothers like Percy and Ron..." Harry said. Fred
and George laughed and went to help some customers.
At noon, Harry and
Ginny left the store. Harry headed toward Madame Puddifoot's, and
Ginny went toward the pet store to pick up her present. Harry could
see Cho inside the shop, but as Harry got closer, he realized that
she wasn't alone. Roger Davies was sitting with her. And he was
holding her hand. And he was leaning toward her to... Harry turned
away. Why did she want to meet with me if she's with him? Harry
thought. Just walk away, don't cause a scene. But Harry didn't listen
to himself. He walked into Madame Puddifoot's and stood next to their
table.
"What do you want?" Roger said
"I'd like
to know why Cho's here with you when she asked me to meet her here."
Harry responded.
"Maybe because she doesn't like you?"
"Boys!
Stop." Cho said. "Harry, sit down. I'll explain..."
"Umm
howabout no? It's too late to explain. I already know. If you wanted
me to leave you alone, all you had to do was say so." Harry
said. He walked quickly out of the store and headed back toward the
castle.
As he was going into Hogwarts, he could hear Ginny
calling from behind him. "Harry! Harry wait!" He didn't
wait. He went up to his dormitory and slammed the door in her
face.
"Harry?
Come on you can't stay in there forever." Hermione said. Harry
had kept himself locked in his dormitory for the rest of the
afternoon. "Come out and we'll talk about it."
"I'd
rather not." Harry said
"Would you like me to kill her?"
Ginny said
"No. I'd like you to leave me alone."
"Fine
whatever." Ginny said "We'll be down in the common room if
you need us." Harry listened to them walking away, and then got
up and followed them. "That didn't take too long." Ginny
said to Hermione. The three of them sat in silence.
"Are you
alright?" Hermione asked
"Yes I'm fine." Harry
said. He knew he wasn't going to be able to talk to them. But there
was someone that he could talk to. Harry got up and went back
upstairs to get his answering book. After searching for a while, he
couldn't find it. It wasn't in any obvious place. He checked under
and around his bed, and in his trunk, but it wasn't in any of those
places either. He went back to the common room. "Have either of
you seen my answering book?" he asked the girls.
"Nope."
Ginny said
"Answering book?" Hermione said
"Yeah."
Harry said
"No I haven't seen any answering books."
Hermione said. Harry sighed and went back upstairs.
"Where'd
you see it last?" Ginny asked
"If I knew that I wouldn't
be looking for it." Harry snapped.
"Alright.
Geeze..."
"Wait." Harry said "I had it with my
school stuff. I had it with me when I went to potions
yesterday."
"You didn't have it at dinner. I would've
remembered that." Hermione said.
"So it's somewhere
between potions and the great hall..."
"Did you take it
out of potions?" Ginny asked
"Yeah... wait... I dunno."
Harry said. He sighed. "I can't remember what I ate for
breakfast. You think I can remember that? And it was potions too. I
don't care what I bring out with me, as long as I get out."
"Maybe
Snape found it." Hermione said
"Which completely takes
away any chance I have of getting it back."
"Well... you
never know..."
"Hermione it's a marauder's answering
book. Written by my dad, Sirius, and Remus. Snape hates them. He'd
rather burn it than return it to me."
"So that's who the
marauders are." Ginny whispered
"What about Peter?"
Hermione said
"They deleted him after what he did to
Sirius."
"Peter who?" Ginny asked
"Peter
Pettigrew." Hermione answered
"He's dead."
"No
actually he's not." Harry said
"But..." Harry
sighed.
"Harry she doesn't know. She wasn't there."
Hermione said
"Remember Scabbers? That's Peter. He faked his
own death and ran away as a rat. He lived with your family until
Sirius saw him and broke into Hogwarts to kill him. He wasn't trying
to kill me, he was trying to kill Peter. But it didn't work and he
escaped, and that's the reason all hell has been braking lose ever
since." Harry said quickly and loudly. He pushed past the girls
and headed for Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was the only person
who could make Snape give it back. But he went the wrong way and
ended up on the 7th floor. He just wanted to be alone, and to get his
book back. Suddenly the room of requirement popped up, and Harry went
inside.
"You do know we're in
the quidditch final?" Ginny said. Harry had gone back to the
common room the next day.
"So?"
"So you need to
practice or Cho will catch the snitch before you." Harry must
have looked surprised, because Ginny said "You didn't know it
was against Ravenclaw?"
"No Ginny I didn't."
"What's
your problem? You're not normally like this."
"That
shows how much you know." She sighed dramatically. "Cry a
river, build a bridge, then do us all a favor and jump off it."
Ginny stood up and slapped Harry across the face. He touched where
her hand had hit and stood up. She started walking away. "You
better be glad you're a girl."
"What's that supposed to
mean?" she said.
"I don't beat up girls."
"Why?
You don't think we can take it? Oh that's right! You hang out with
girls like Cho, who have a hissy fit when they break a nail. Well I'm
not like that Harry. Go ahead. Try to hurt me." Harry sighed and
walked past her. "Oh now who's being the girl?" she yelled.
Harry turned around. He'd had enough of her. He was actually
considering punching her brains out, when Hermione stepped between
them.
"That's enough. Stop it. Both of you." Hermione
said.
"Hermione, move. Now." Harry said.
"No I'm
not moving."
"Have it your way." He pushed her out
of the way. She fell sideways onto a table and didn't get up. But
Harry didn't notice, because he was too busy giving Ginny the worst
beating she'd ever had. A few boys pulled them apart. Semus grabbed
Harry and pinned him against the wall.
"Have you gone mad?"
Semus asked. Harry pushed Semus off of him and ran up to his
dormitory.
