They turned around and raced over, where Hermione was kneeling, just visible behind the mound. They turned to look around and Kelly snorted. Harry had a hard time concealing his laugh. Hermione, Harry could tell, was desperately trying to hide a grin and look panicked.
Ron was stuck in the middle of a "Snow Hole", as Fred and George had named their creation. Like a sandpit, the Snow Hole gobbled you up, but unlike a sandpit, it spit you back out when it was through. Hermione was tugging Ron's hand, the only thing still above the surface, to try and get him out, when a little girl's voice rang through the grounds.
"Oh! Oh, Francine, they work! They really do!"
Another little girl ran toward the one who'd shouted. The first year who'd shouted was a rather small girl with auburn hair, and pointing excitedly at Ron. The girl who ran up, who Harry guessed to be the other's sister, looked very similar, and maybe a year older.
"Ah ha! He got caught in it! What a loser!" the girl called Francine said. "Never become an idiot. You got that, Sherry? I ain't gonna be related to no loser. You got it?"
"Uh huh!" Sherry replied, dancing on her tiptoes to see if there was any of Ron left.
But they'd gone too far.
"Excuse you?" Hermione bellowed, standing up to her full height and glaring down at them from half a courtyard away.
"You heard me, Mudblood!" Francine shouted.
Hermione took out her wand and pointed it at the two. Harry made a furious movement toward Hermione, trying to stop her, but Kelly grabbed him from behind and wouldn't let go until it was too late. "Accio! Accio!"
Harry turned around to face her, unbelieving. "You—"
"She didn't do any harm, Harry," Kelly said quietly as Hermione started telling off Francine and Sherry. "Now, come on. Ron—"
But Ron was no longer someone they could help. His hand, and the rest of him, was gone, deep below the snow. It was an eternal-long four seconds before he came shooting up from the snow and thirty feet into the air.
Kelly whipped out her wand and pointed it at Ron. As Ron started to fall, he fell slowly, and when he hit the ground, he was controlled by Kelly's wand.
"Thanks," Ron gasped.
"No problem," Kelly said.
Hermione was still telling off Francine and Sherry.
"How'd you do that?" Harry asked.
"Hmm?" Kelly asked, not understanding. "Do what?"
"You didn't say a spell. You got Ron to stop without saying a spell. Only advanced wizards and witches can do that," Harry said, gazing at her.
"I said a spell," Kelly said. "I just said it quietly. I guess you didn't hear me."
"Do you understand me?"
"Like I'm gonna listen to you!" Francine snarled.
"Detention!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Ah, shut it, Hermione," Kelly said. "Wengardium Leviosa!"
A snowball came whizzing from their right as Kelly's wand made it fly and hit Hermione upside the head. Francine and Sherry started laughing hysterically, while Harry and Ron tried not to even grin, for fear of Hermione's long lecture abilities. Kelly, however, was grinning explicitly and waiting for Hermione to stand.
But before Hermione stood, something else came up first. Hermione murmured something too quiet to hear, but a pearl-sized snowball flew up and hit Kelly in the face.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Kelly screamed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione burst out laughing. Neither Francine nor Sherry did, however—they were gone.
"Wengardium Leviosa!" Another snowball came pelting in Hermione's direction. Hermione hit the snow with a laugh, trying to avoid getting hit. Kelly made it turn around and aim for Hermione again as the know-it-all stood, but she jumped to the left and instead it hit Harry.
"HEY!" Harry yelled, wiping snow from his eyes. "Wengardium Leviosa!"
He aimed the snowball at Kelly, but she ducked it. Harry made it go back for her again, but she ran towards Hermione. The snowball, now coming towards Harry, just missed him as he moved to the right a bit, but instead the ball of snow hit Ron.
"HARRY…" Ron warned. He whipped out his wand and aimed a snowball at Harry, which Harry didn't duck in time.
And so a snowball fight began.
Harry walked upstairs, shivering, but delighted. He had snow in his hair, and because of which, he looked like a seventy-year-old man. His hands were numb, his cheeks and ears pink, and his lips were purple. Ron, Hermione, and Kelly looked very similar. They'd been throwing snowballs at each other all day, with the exception of meals.
They'd had a couple temporary teammates, but they hadn't stayed long. Ginny had come several times, but she could only stay for ten minutes before, as she said, "mischief called". Harry thought she had hired herself as the new Hogwarts Mischief Maker to carry on her brother's legacies. The Creevey brothers had stopped once, but Kelly "accidentally" pelted Dennis with every snowball she had, saying she'd thought it was Harry. Harry, having taken deep offense to this, chucked a snowball at her that hit her ear, making her deaf in that ear for twenty minutes.
"S… squat… squattleduck." Hermione shivered as the portrait hole opened. A warm gush of air hit them and they ran inside to the fire.
They silently fought over the best chairs near the fire, and finally Kelly got so sick of watching Ron and Hermione "fight" over the chair that she stood and moved down in front of the fire so Hermione could sit. Hermione looked disappointed; she'd obviously liked "fighting" with Ron. She sat, however, and enjoyed the warmth of the fire.
Harry got off his chair next to Ron and sat down next to Kelly as Hermione jumped toward Harry's now-empty chair. No one said anything, and Harry couldn't see what was going on behind him (and he was sure he didn't want to), but Kelly laid her head on his shoulder and he didn't push for her to get off. It was comfortable, sitting in front of the roaring fire, Kelly's head on his shoulder, a pleasant silence between them. Harry watched the fire flicker about, reaching out to him as though wishing to set his robes on fire.
The clock stroke ten o'clock and none of the four had moved. A dorm door shut upstairs and someone, who sounded like Hermione, yawned behind him.
"I think it's time for bed," Ron said.
"Yeah…" Hermione agreed, gently pushing herself off her chair.
"Hmm," was all Kelly said. She was staring at the fire, clearly having been enjoying the past hour at Harry's shoulder. Harry grinned. She slowly, reluctantly, lifted herself up and stood.
"C'mon," Ron said, walking over to the stairs with Hermione. They started whispering their goodnights to each other.
"Night, Harry," Kelly whispered.
"Night," Harry echoed.
Kelly grinned and lightly kissed him on the cheek. She started walking away and yawned as she neared Hermione. "C'mon, Hermione. I ain't waiting forever."
"Just a sec," Hermione murmured to her, but Harry heard it nevertheless. Kelly rolled her eyes and grinned at Harry, who hadn't moved.
"Going to bed anytime soon?" Kelly asked him.
Harry personally thought not, but still answered, "Yes." He added, "I'm waiting for Ron."
"Ah," Kelly said, leaning against a wall. She stood there for a minute before turning her eyes back on Hermione and saying, "C'mon, Granger. I wanna hit the sack. You see I, unlike you, cannot live off books. Sleep is a necessity in my life."
Hermione nodded. "Night, Ron." She kissed him on the cheek and started climbing the stairs with Kelly.
Neither Harry nor Ron moved for a moment, both reflecting on the day. Harry had thoroughly enjoyed the day and didn't want it to end yet.
"C'mon," Harry muttered, starting up the stairs, realizing there was no point to remaining the in common room.
"K. I'm comin'," Ron said, staring at the stairs where Hermione and Kelly had vanished.
Harry walked a few feet. Ron didn't move. "Now, Ron."
Ron still didn't move. Harry walked back down, grabbed Ron's wrist, and dragged him up the stairs and into their dorm. He was surprised to see Neville, Seamus, and Dean awake.
"So?" Dean asked.
"So what?" Harry asked, dropping Ron on the floor. Ron didn't move, and Harry lost confidence that his friend was still breathing.
"So what happened?" Seamus pushed.
"Happened?"
"In the common room!"
"What d'you mean 'what happened in the common room'?" Harry asked, knowing perfectly well what they meant.
"You know…" Neville said, and a grin spread across all their faces. "With Kelly and Hermione!"
"We saw you, don't lie," Seamus added.
"Yeah. We wanna know what happened, and there's no getting out of it," Dean said, grinning again.
"Um… we said 'goodnight' and went our separate ways?" Harry asked.
"Don't gimme that. If Ron's like that, we know a lot more happened than you're saying," Dean contradicted.
"Nothing happened," Harry lied. After all, it was only a kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah…" Ron murmured from the floor. "What Harry said. Everything happened." Apparently everything was a simple kiss on the cheek from Hermione.
Neville, Seamus, and Dean grinned and turned back to Harry. They didn't have to say anything for Harry to know what they were about to ask.
"I'm going to bed," Harry said before they could say a word.
As he changed, they badgered him with questions, but he refused to answer them. Ron finally got off the floor, at the pace of a snail, and walked to his bed. When Harry had said he was not going to tell them anything, and that was final, they went to try and get something out of Ron. Harry fell asleep listening to them hassle Ron into telling them something.
"It is ready."
"Good. If had not been, you would pay." A cold, high, familiar voice issued from Harry's mouth.
"Yes, Master. Malfoy and Dolohov have said they can handle the girls. Jugson has volunteered for the boy. I called the last," Bellatrix Lestrange said, smirking.
"Yes…" Voldemort said. "Yes, you would want him, wouldn't you?"
"Master, if you please, we wonder how we're getting there unnoticed?"
Voldemort and Harry smirked. "Leave that, Bella, to me…."
"GO AWAY!"
"What?" Harry jumped up in his bed. He was sweating slightly. If Ron hadn't woken him up, it would have been worse.
Dean, Seamus, and Neville were trudging back to their beds, looking put out. Ron didn't seem to have told them what had happened. The redhead looked over Harry's way, having been the only person to hear him. Ron looked concerned, but Harry only slightly shook his head. He didn't want the other's to hear. He'd tell Ron in the morning.
Harry rolled around in bed for hours. It is ready. What was ready? Who were Malfoy, Dolohov, Jugson, and Bellatrix going to handle? Where were they going? Questions rolled around in Harry's mind, and the first light of dawn had appeared before he fell asleep.
---
A/N:
How fun this chapter was. Lalala… again, I have little to say.
Um… school's starting tomorrow. My mum came in and told me to go to bed. I almost cracked up. Fourteen years, and that woman still doesn't know me. I won't be asleep until 2am. I have to wait for INUYASHA!!! (Everyone clap and applaud!), and I just recently got into Wolf's Rain and Witch Hunter Robin. I'm slightly lucky, I guess, that they're all in succession. I'm going to rearrange my sleep schedule, I think. I'll take some pills to make me fall asleep when I get home tomorrow, hopefully sleep through the day, and live through the night. That way I'll get to see all my favorite shows! Teen Titans… um… well, they're all reruns anyway. xD
Next chapter Harry has slight difficulty waking up, but when he finally does, they're off to Hogsmeade! Nothing really extraordinary happens in this chapter. The good stuff is the chapter afterwards. That's when all the action begins!
And I'm done for now, I think. Thanks for reading, and press that button below! You all know the one I'm talking about….
Riles