A/N: Thanks to any returning readers, and I just want to offer an apology for the fact that it's been several months since my last update. My updates should become more regular now, considering that school's starting to wind down, and also I'm getting senioritis and so I don't care as much about school right now anyway. Whether a returning reader or someone reading this for the first time, I appreciate the time you took in reading this and would like to point out that it will take only 30 more seconds to write a review (please). Tell me whether you liked the story or not, and tell me what I'm doing wrong and what (if anything) I'm doing right. Thanks! :)
Chapter 11
Wily Wormtail
Harry wanted to yell in frustration at his own stupidity. He was really going to have to stop getting into situations like this. The question of the likelihood of Wormtail actually being Tonks in disguise crossed Harry's mind hopefully. He quickly discounted this line of reasoning on the grounds that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle could not also be Tonks in disguise so the entire argument fell through.
Harry glanced at Ron, who was just kind of standing there terrified, seemingly too shocked even to recover his wand from the pitch. "Pick up your wand!" Harry yelled, somewhat surprised that he was able to take command in such a stressful situation.
Ron bent down, but at the same time, Wormtail yelled "Accio!" summoning Ron's wand to himself.
At this point, Harry shouted, "Expelliarmus!" in the general direction of Wormtail. This caused Wormtail's wand to fly as did Ron's. Ron dove for his wand again, but as he was doing this, Malfoy yelled "Petrificus Totalus!" and Ron fell rigid to the ground.
Harry froze for a split second due to indecision regarding whether he should perform the reversal on Ron or disarm his adversaries first. He was almost at the point of giving into despair at the seemingly hopeless 4 to 1 odds when Crabbe and Goyle simply turned tail and ran for no immediately discernible reason.
Malfoy turned to watch their departure, his face so full of confusion, frustration, and anger at the desertion of his subordinates that he looked as if his head might explode. Harry decided that if he was going to act, he had to do it now before taking time to analyze the situation. Deciding that the disarming curse was a little bit trite at the moment, he shot a spell at Wormtail that caused him to develop a sudden and painful rash all over his body, figuring that this should distract him enough to render his wand at least temporarily ineffective.
At that point, Harry heard over his shoulder two female voices yell "Expelliarmus!" causing everyone in the general vicinity who had a wand at the moment to lose it. Harry began to search for his wand, which was harder than it would have been several minutes ago as the sky was rapidly darkening. Even as he was searching, Harry was extremely grateful for the presence Hermione and Ginny, whom he had determined to be the owners of the voices. That explained why Crabbe and Goyle had fled, apparently deciding that they did not have a shot in an even battle.
Pettigrew picked up his wand, but by the time he had, the girls were by Harry's side. Hermione quickly un-petrified Ron as Harry was struck with the realization that it had only been approximately one minute since he had arrived at the Quidditch Pitch but that minute had been one of the most interesting of his life. Things immediately got more interesting. Wormtail had just performed the counter-hex to that which Harry had dealt him, and immediately turned his wand on Malfoy.
He cursed Malfoy three different times before bolting away at a run, leaving Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny, looking at the fleeing form in just about as confused a state as any of them had ever experienced. Each were too stunned to launch curses at the fleeing form.
Malfoy was lying on the pitch unconscious from the rapid-fire magical beating he had just received. Hermione was the first to make sense of the situation, "Oh!" she said in the same "that was obvious" tone of voice as she would have used had she just realized the reason that one of her potions was a shade of orange instead of a shade of green, "Now Malfoy looks like the victim! We have to either take him to the nurse, or leave him here, but either way, it will be impossible to prove that Malfoy was the aggressor because people would be reluctant to believe that even Malfoy would be stupid enough to wander down onto a Quidditch pitch into a situation that would get him so badly hexed!"
"Yeah," said Ginny, "Malfoy's not stupid enough to wander unwittingly into a dangerously lopsided dual on a deserted Quidditch pitch at night, but apparently these two are!" She gestured violently at Harry and Ron.
Now, Harry was not completely stupid. He realized that what he had just done was absolutely dumb and that he should have known better than to trust Malfoy to have behaved honorably in a dual. But, for some reason, he seemed to think that it would not be a good idea to admit this to Ginny.
"I did what I had to do!" he said defensively. "If I hadn't showed up here, Malfoy would know that he could just go around cursing people like Nelville in the hall without repercussions! Plus, he would have thought I was a coward!"
"And now he just knows that you're stupid!" countered Ginny angrily. "And I know that you're a liar! You said that you were going to tell me things before you did them from now on!"
Harry felt ashamed at the truth of this last statement, and so he offered what he meant as an apology. "Well, look, I felt like I had to go, and if you knew I was going you'd have come with me, right?"
"I suppose so," said Ginny, "If I couldn't convince you not to go."
"Well, I couldn't let you get involved in a situation where you might get hurt," reasoned Harry, once again, believing that he was apologizing.
Ginny took offense. "Wait, you figured that without me here, you could take Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle on, but with me, there'd be a problem?"
"Well, if you were here, maybe Malfoy would have set Goyle on you while Ron and I took on he and Crabbe. Or else maybe Malfoy could've cursed you to hurt me through hurting you…"
"So you don't think I can take care of myself? But you think Ron can take care of himself? What are you sexist?" asked Ginny, her face brightening to a shade similar to that of her hair.
"No I just…" his voice trailed off. He wasn't exactly sure how to explain. He wanted to protect Ginny. That had been the same reason that he had not told Ginny before he went off on his late night adventure that had landed him in a dual in Tonks' office. It wasn't because she was a girl, he usually told Hermione his plots. Maybe it was just the fact that after rescuing Ginny from the clutches of the basilisk in her first year, he felt that she needed protected. However, he realized almost immediately that if he had to have this feeling, it was not a feeling that he should have shared. This realization was reinforced by Ginny's immediate storming away.
"Let me come with you," said Harry, trying once again to be reasonable.
"I can take care of myself!" she yelled, and stormed off across the grounds.
Ron began rushing off after her, on the grounds that she really shouldn't have been running around alone with Pettigrew on the prowl.
Hermione stayed back and gestured to Malfoy saying, "We've got to take him up to Madame Pomfrey."
Harry walked with Hermione back to the castle as Hermione performed the levitation charm to allow Malfoy to trail behind.
"Now it's going to look like we did this to him," said Harry.
"Even if we don't take him, he'll say it was us, and it'll look more suspicious if we just let him out here. If we show some concern for his well-being, then at least it proves that we weren't out to kill him or anything. Plus, if we deliver him while he's still unconscious, then we get the first word and can say that we were acting in self-defense," argued Hermione calmly.
"Brilliant as usual," said Harry somewhat bitterly. "By the way, how'd you know to follow us down to the Quidditch field?"
"Guys never go to the bathroom together," said Hermione smirking a bit. Then, in a more serious tone of voice said, "Although now it looks as if I might have to escort you to the bathroom too, and wait outside for you to be done or something, because apparently you can't even be trusted to go to the bathroom yourself. You could have gotten hurt out there, and you really could have gotten Ginny, Ron, and I hurt too. If you really want to protect Ginny, the best way to do it would be to keep yourself out of trouble, because you know that if you get into trouble, she's just going to have to try to rescue you like she did tonight. You know, sometimes you're so irresponsible. I'd probably stop talking to you now if I didn't have to follow you around everywhere you go."
"If you don't think I'm worth talking to, why save me?" asked Harry bitterly, resenting the fact that he had just alienated Ginny and Hermione in one foul swoop.
"Well, even if you are stupid sometimes, you're one of the best opponents of the Dark Lord. Besides, even though going to the dual was stupid, at least you picked the right enemy. Malfoy was really mean to Nelville, and he's been horrible to me in Arithmancy these past few weeks."
"Well, if we're ever in a fair fight, I'll get him back for you," said Harry, glancing at the unconscious Malfoy, and cursing his sense of honor that prevented him from doing something terrible to him right then. "By the way, do you think Ginny'll ever speak to me again?"
"I'll talk to her on your behalf," Hermione said, "but I can't make any promises. By the way, I trust that now that you see that any fight Malfoy'll draw you into will probably involve Wormtail, you will not go into another dual without telling Ron, Ginny, and me."
"All right," agreed Harry, not anxious to be drawn into another unfair battle.
"And I expect you know that as it seems I can't really trust you, I really will be watching you like Filch from now on, right?"
"Yeah, I know," said Harry in a tone so ashamed and defeated that Hermione couldn't help but feel sympathetic in spite of her anger.
Chapter 11
Wily Wormtail
Harry wanted to yell in frustration at his own stupidity. He was really going to have to stop getting into situations like this. The question of the likelihood of Wormtail actually being Tonks in disguise crossed Harry's mind hopefully. He quickly discounted this line of reasoning on the grounds that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle could not also be Tonks in disguise so the entire argument fell through.
Harry glanced at Ron, who was just kind of standing there terrified, seemingly too shocked even to recover his wand from the pitch. "Pick up your wand!" Harry yelled, somewhat surprised that he was able to take command in such a stressful situation.
Ron bent down, but at the same time, Wormtail yelled "Accio!" summoning Ron's wand to himself.
At this point, Harry shouted, "Expelliarmus!" in the general direction of Wormtail. This caused Wormtail's wand to fly as did Ron's. Ron dove for his wand again, but as he was doing this, Malfoy yelled "Petrificus Totalus!" and Ron fell rigid to the ground.
Harry froze for a split second due to indecision regarding whether he should perform the reversal on Ron or disarm his adversaries first. He was almost at the point of giving into despair at the seemingly hopeless 4 to 1 odds when Crabbe and Goyle simply turned tail and ran for no immediately discernible reason.
Malfoy turned to watch their departure, his face so full of confusion, frustration, and anger at the desertion of his subordinates that he looked as if his head might explode. Harry decided that if he was going to act, he had to do it now before taking time to analyze the situation. Deciding that the disarming curse was a little bit trite at the moment, he shot a spell at Wormtail that caused him to develop a sudden and painful rash all over his body, figuring that this should distract him enough to render his wand at least temporarily ineffective.
At that point, Harry heard over his shoulder two female voices yell "Expelliarmus!" causing everyone in the general vicinity who had a wand at the moment to lose it. Harry began to search for his wand, which was harder than it would have been several minutes ago as the sky was rapidly darkening. Even as he was searching, Harry was extremely grateful for the presence Hermione and Ginny, whom he had determined to be the owners of the voices. That explained why Crabbe and Goyle had fled, apparently deciding that they did not have a shot in an even battle.
Pettigrew picked up his wand, but by the time he had, the girls were by Harry's side. Hermione quickly un-petrified Ron as Harry was struck with the realization that it had only been approximately one minute since he had arrived at the Quidditch Pitch but that minute had been one of the most interesting of his life. Things immediately got more interesting. Wormtail had just performed the counter-hex to that which Harry had dealt him, and immediately turned his wand on Malfoy.
He cursed Malfoy three different times before bolting away at a run, leaving Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny, looking at the fleeing form in just about as confused a state as any of them had ever experienced. Each were too stunned to launch curses at the fleeing form.
Malfoy was lying on the pitch unconscious from the rapid-fire magical beating he had just received. Hermione was the first to make sense of the situation, "Oh!" she said in the same "that was obvious" tone of voice as she would have used had she just realized the reason that one of her potions was a shade of orange instead of a shade of green, "Now Malfoy looks like the victim! We have to either take him to the nurse, or leave him here, but either way, it will be impossible to prove that Malfoy was the aggressor because people would be reluctant to believe that even Malfoy would be stupid enough to wander down onto a Quidditch pitch into a situation that would get him so badly hexed!"
"Yeah," said Ginny, "Malfoy's not stupid enough to wander unwittingly into a dangerously lopsided dual on a deserted Quidditch pitch at night, but apparently these two are!" She gestured violently at Harry and Ron.
Now, Harry was not completely stupid. He realized that what he had just done was absolutely dumb and that he should have known better than to trust Malfoy to have behaved honorably in a dual. But, for some reason, he seemed to think that it would not be a good idea to admit this to Ginny.
"I did what I had to do!" he said defensively. "If I hadn't showed up here, Malfoy would know that he could just go around cursing people like Nelville in the hall without repercussions! Plus, he would have thought I was a coward!"
"And now he just knows that you're stupid!" countered Ginny angrily. "And I know that you're a liar! You said that you were going to tell me things before you did them from now on!"
Harry felt ashamed at the truth of this last statement, and so he offered what he meant as an apology. "Well, look, I felt like I had to go, and if you knew I was going you'd have come with me, right?"
"I suppose so," said Ginny, "If I couldn't convince you not to go."
"Well, I couldn't let you get involved in a situation where you might get hurt," reasoned Harry, once again, believing that he was apologizing.
Ginny took offense. "Wait, you figured that without me here, you could take Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle on, but with me, there'd be a problem?"
"Well, if you were here, maybe Malfoy would have set Goyle on you while Ron and I took on he and Crabbe. Or else maybe Malfoy could've cursed you to hurt me through hurting you…"
"So you don't think I can take care of myself? But you think Ron can take care of himself? What are you sexist?" asked Ginny, her face brightening to a shade similar to that of her hair.
"No I just…" his voice trailed off. He wasn't exactly sure how to explain. He wanted to protect Ginny. That had been the same reason that he had not told Ginny before he went off on his late night adventure that had landed him in a dual in Tonks' office. It wasn't because she was a girl, he usually told Hermione his plots. Maybe it was just the fact that after rescuing Ginny from the clutches of the basilisk in her first year, he felt that she needed protected. However, he realized almost immediately that if he had to have this feeling, it was not a feeling that he should have shared. This realization was reinforced by Ginny's immediate storming away.
"Let me come with you," said Harry, trying once again to be reasonable.
"I can take care of myself!" she yelled, and stormed off across the grounds.
Ron began rushing off after her, on the grounds that she really shouldn't have been running around alone with Pettigrew on the prowl.
Hermione stayed back and gestured to Malfoy saying, "We've got to take him up to Madame Pomfrey."
Harry walked with Hermione back to the castle as Hermione performed the levitation charm to allow Malfoy to trail behind.
"Now it's going to look like we did this to him," said Harry.
"Even if we don't take him, he'll say it was us, and it'll look more suspicious if we just let him out here. If we show some concern for his well-being, then at least it proves that we weren't out to kill him or anything. Plus, if we deliver him while he's still unconscious, then we get the first word and can say that we were acting in self-defense," argued Hermione calmly.
"Brilliant as usual," said Harry somewhat bitterly. "By the way, how'd you know to follow us down to the Quidditch field?"
"Guys never go to the bathroom together," said Hermione smirking a bit. Then, in a more serious tone of voice said, "Although now it looks as if I might have to escort you to the bathroom too, and wait outside for you to be done or something, because apparently you can't even be trusted to go to the bathroom yourself. You could have gotten hurt out there, and you really could have gotten Ginny, Ron, and I hurt too. If you really want to protect Ginny, the best way to do it would be to keep yourself out of trouble, because you know that if you get into trouble, she's just going to have to try to rescue you like she did tonight. You know, sometimes you're so irresponsible. I'd probably stop talking to you now if I didn't have to follow you around everywhere you go."
"If you don't think I'm worth talking to, why save me?" asked Harry bitterly, resenting the fact that he had just alienated Ginny and Hermione in one foul swoop.
"Well, even if you are stupid sometimes, you're one of the best opponents of the Dark Lord. Besides, even though going to the dual was stupid, at least you picked the right enemy. Malfoy was really mean to Nelville, and he's been horrible to me in Arithmancy these past few weeks."
"Well, if we're ever in a fair fight, I'll get him back for you," said Harry, glancing at the unconscious Malfoy, and cursing his sense of honor that prevented him from doing something terrible to him right then. "By the way, do you think Ginny'll ever speak to me again?"
"I'll talk to her on your behalf," Hermione said, "but I can't make any promises. By the way, I trust that now that you see that any fight Malfoy'll draw you into will probably involve Wormtail, you will not go into another dual without telling Ron, Ginny, and me."
"All right," agreed Harry, not anxious to be drawn into another unfair battle.
"And I expect you know that as it seems I can't really trust you, I really will be watching you like Filch from now on, right?"
"Yeah, I know," said Harry in a tone so ashamed and defeated that Hermione couldn't help but feel sympathetic in spite of her anger.