Qwest back at last and I just want to say: Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry. I
know, I know. It's been like what? A month since I've last up dated. So
very, very, very sorry. Things always get busy around the holidays for me.
And I did warn you. I didn't plan to take this long to up date again,
but, well, things happen.
Anyway, here's 9. I think I'm about half through with this story. I'm guessing 15 chapters give or take a few. But we're almost there people. Pretty soon we'll hit that climatic high point and it's all winding down from there. But enough chit-chat from me.
You know the drill. Reviews at that end.
I don't own Harry Potter, but that doesn't mean I can't come up with funny little scenarios and toss him into them.
But before we move on, does anybody know how to font in ff.net. Please let me know if you do. And this isn't just for me. It's for all the authors of the world who can't type in bold or italicize or underline. Save us from this none fonting nightmare. Okay, now moving on...
Read and Enjoy ^_^
~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 9 Of Mice and Men
"Oh, hell. He's back." Harry said, breaking the sudden silence. It was so still in the Great Hall, Harry knew his comment must have carried. All of the faces turning to look at him were certainly proof enough.
Malfoy glanced at Harry and smirked that characteristic Malfoy smirk, before heading for his own house table. The blonde nodded at his house mates and they all broke out in a loud cheer. Throwing one last nasty sneer at the Gryffindor table, Malfoy sat down at his own on the other side of the Great Hall.
Harry rolled his eyes at the back of Malfoy's head and turned back to his breakfast. He didn't touch his fork, however. He suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. The silence in the Great Hall was slowly evaporating into a buzz of talk, students from all houses throwing covert glances at the Slytherin table.
"I can't believe it." Ron hissed. "Wasn't he sent away?"
"It's because Lucius Malfoy's been released from Azkaban." Hermione frowned. "I suppose it only makes sense that he sends for his son."
"So that's the infamous Draco Malfoy." Mindy said thoughtfully looking openly at the Slytherin table and the blonde boy that had just taken a seat there. "I'm curious to see what makes him so bad."
"What makes him so bad?" Ron exclaimed. "Didn't you see the look he just threw us?"
"You give the Slytherins dirty looks all the time, Ron." Mindy pointed out.
"Yeah, well, they deserve it." Ron retorted.
Mindy shook her head. "Don't you guys think this house rivalry is a little childish?"
"Childish?" Ron asked, staring at Mindy. "Just whose side are you on?"
Mindy frowned. "You know very well, Ron Weasley, I am a Gryffindor through and through. I'm just saying the animosity between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins seem a little...primary school-ish."
"Childish rivalry or no." Harry said. "Malfoy being back is not a good thing."
"That I can agree with." Ron said, nodding fervently.
Hermione nodded as well, still frowning at the prospect of having to share the rest of the school year with Malfoy.
"You too?" Mindy asked, looking at Hermione in surprise.
"You don't know him the way we do." Hermione answered simply.
"Oh. My. God." Ginny said, coming up behind Harry and finding a seat next to her brother. "I know you saw. I heard your little comment at the other end of the table, Harry. I'm surprised one of the professors hasn't come to give you a good talking to yet. But still, can you believe it?"
"I'm trying very hard to pretend he's not there." Ron said.
"He looks different." Ginny went on.
"It's his hair." Hermione said.
"Oh." Ginny looked back quickly and then turned around, hoping no one saw her glancing at the Slytherin table (although nearly everyone else was). "Yeah. It's not slicked back. And it looks longer."
"And blonder, if that's possible." Hermione said.
"He has a tan too." Ginny said, leaning in and talking to Hermione in a conspiratory tone. "And he's picked up some weight, not all scrawny and gangly like last year." She glanced sideways at her brother and then whispered. "He's actually very cute."
Ron, who had heard perfectly well what his sister had said, gave Ginny a look of utmost horror. "I hope I shall die if I ever hear those words come out of your mouth again."
Ginny grinned crookedly at Ron. "Everybody knows his ugly personality more than overshadows his somewhat handsome physic. But if you feel so strongly, Ron, the words shall never again cross my lips."
"Good." Ron said. "Just the thought of you even thinking..." Ron shivered. "Let's just talk about something else, okay. Like, what a great game we had yesterday."
Mention of the Quidditch match reminded Harry of the owl. He hadn't told Ron, Hermione, and Mindy about it last night. They were all so happy with the turn out of the match; he really didn't want to bring them down. But now seemed as good a time as any to talk about it. "I saw the owl again, during the match." Harry said. "I think we should work on the mouse thing soon."
Ginny looked at Harry curiously. "What owl? What mouse thing?" Her eyes widen in realization. "Oh, you guys are up to something, aren't you?"
Harry looked at Ginny. He had forgotten she was still sitting there. He had never meant to mention anything around her. "Er, it's nothing." He said.
Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. "Really? Nothing? I'll believe that the day Snape tells everyone he's really the tooth fairy."
Mindy smiled. "He may be. For some unexplainable reason a lot of the kids in potions think he wears pink tights under his robes."
Ginny glared at Mindy. "Don't try to distract me with disturbing images." She looked pleadingly at Hermione. "What's going on?"
Hermione looked back at Ginny and then at Harry and Ron. "We may as well tell her. If there's anybody we can trust, it's Ginny."
Ron nodded. "Alright then. But you're not getting involved."
"Sure." Ginny grinned triumphantly. "Now what's happening?"
Harry leaned in and told her everything that they suspected, from the owl feathers they had been finding to their decision to follow Pansy around.
"I can help." Ginny said immediately, as soon as Harry was done.
"I just said, you couldn't get involved." Ron frowned.
"You guys need me." Ginny insisted. "Once you're mice, how do you plan to find Pansy. You can't very well run around the school that way until you come across her. If somebody doesn't step on you first, Mrs. Norris will surely get you."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Mindy exchanged looks. Ginny did make a good point. "What do you suggest we do?" Harry asked, looking back at the red head.
"After you go all mousy." Ginny answered. "I carry you to Pansy. I get you as close as I can and then you guys take it from there."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "That sounds reasonable."
"And I won't be getting involved." Ginny added looking at Ron. "Not really."
Ron nodded. "That's true."
"Right then." Harry said. "We'll do it that way."
"We ought to choose a day to do this." Hermione said. "Maybe several. We might not be lucky enough to figure out what she's up to the first time."
Harry nodded. "How long do you think it would take us to work out the spell?"
Hermione shrugged. "Not long. A few days, if we focus on it."
"Alright." Harry said. "We'll work on the spell every night starting today and do it next Friday. Let's see how that goes before we make another day."
"Sounds like a plan." Ron said.
Harry nodded, then looked at Mindy. "Do you think you can stay out of detention for one week?"
Mindy smiled. "I'll be on my best behavior." She answered. "Unless Snape does something that really annoys me."
"Mindy." Harry said.
"And even then, I will ignore him." Mindy added. "Unless he really, really annoys me."
"Mindy, please." Harry said.
"And I will still overlook all of his horrible attributes." Mindy said, grinning. "Unless..."
Harry leaned over and gave Mindy a quick kiss on the cheek, which had the desired effect--she stopped talking.
That little blush worked its way across her nose, and she smiled brightly at Harry. "Well, I...I suppose we should be going. Defense Against the Dark Arts first. Let's go see how much trouble we're going to get ourselves into."
"If we're reading Tarot cards again, and Ron's doing the reading, probably loads." Harry said, pushing away from the table.
"I'm not that bad at reading Tarot Cards." Ron frowned.
"Yes, Ron, you are." Hermione said. She had had the misfortune of having Ron read her tarot cards. She should have died three days ago, bludgeon to death by a mad house elf with a smoked ham.
"Well, we can't all be brilliant at everything." Ron said, nonchalantly. "But at least I'm creative."
Harry laughed, following his friends out of the Great Hall, and forgetting for just a second (and only a second) that Malfoy was back.
~*~*~*~*
Saturday and Sunday passed in a blur. Mindy and the others had spent all weekend in the Room of Requirement working hard on the transfigurations spell (well Mindy actually pretended to work on the spell, often ending the transfiguration half-complete just to seem to be on the others' levels). To Mindy's surprise, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny (who had insisted on learning too, just incase she needed to make a quick get away) were actually getting quiet good. Hermione could become a flawless mouse in seconds. Ron was still having trouble growing fur. Harry couldn't seem to grow a tail. But Ginny was doing remarkably well for only a fifth year. It took her good deal longer than Hermione, but she too could become a perfect mouse. Mindy was actually a little surprised to see what they could accomplish when they put their minds to it.
The only trouble was they couldn't control the mouse's instincts. Every time they would become mice, they would scatter, probably looking for a nice wall to chew a whole through. Whenever this happened, Mindy would quickly change back and perform the reversal spell, snapping them out of the mouse world. Mindy was just very glad it wasn't mouse mating season (which occurred approximately every two weeks).
"There's got to be spell or something that can help with this." Hermione said, still trying to scrub whiskers that were no long there.
"There isn't." Mindy said. "It's something you just have to control."
"How do you know?" Ron asked.
"Oh. I tried to look it up already." Mindy answered quickly. "When I turned into a cat in Transfigurations, I had the uncontrollable desire to pounce Professor Lupin's robes. So I decided to see if there was anything that could be done about that."
Ron looked at her oddly, but Harry nodded, accepting the excuse as truth.
"So what do we do about it then?" Ginny asked, looking around nervously, as if she half expected some gigantic predator to swoop down on her.
"We keep practicing until we can control the mouse and not the other way around." Harry answered. "But not today. I think the mouse instincts are starting rub off on us."
Ginny nodded in agreement. "I'll probably be jittery for hours."
"At least you don't want to clean your whiskers." Hermione said. "Let's get back to Gryffindor tower. I still have homework to finish up."
Monday came, bright and chilly. The weather still wasn't right for snow yet, but that didn't chase away the cold. Mindy was very glad to be spending the morning inside, though Transfigurations passed quickly. Professor Lupin gave the students another opportunity to try and turn themselves into their chosen animals. Both Harry and Ron did 100% better their second time, completely becoming their animal of choice with only a few small defects. They each earned twenty points for showing the most improvement over a short period of time.
As it turned out, it was Care of Magical Creatures that proved the most difficult subject of the day. Though Mindy didn't immediately recognize trouble on the horizon, Harry, Ron, and Hermione saw it from a mile off.
"Hagrid's too happy." Ron whispered, as Hagrid came bouncing (or as close to bouncing as a half giant could get) from around his house, beaming at everyone. "You remember the last time he had that happy, goofy look?"
Harry nodded warily.
"He couldn't..." Hermione said, staring at Hagrid disbelievingly. "There's no way...no possible way..."
"All I'm saying is he's just too happy." Ron said, frowning.
"I have to admit." Harry said. "I am starting to get a little nervous."
"So what?" Mindy asked. "Hagrid's in a good mood. People have good moods."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at Mindy as if she knew nothing.
"Gather 'round class." Hagrid called to the assembled student. "I 'ave some'in special today. Mi'ty special." Hagrid turned and led the way around his house, towards the stalls.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged nervous looks before following. Mindy thought they were being ridiculous, but then, they did know Hagrid best. Maybe their worries were justifiable. And as she turned the corner and faced the stalls, she saw just how justifiable their worries really were. In the middle of one of the larger empty stables set a huge cage. Inside the cage slept a baby Hungarian Horntail dragon. Black-grey smoke wafted lazily from its nose as it did the equivalent of dragon snoring.
"A Hungarian Horntail. Is'n' he beautiful?" Hagrid asked beaming proudly at his baby dragon.
It was fairly apparent from the way the students stared, they didn't think so.
"Are...are you suppose to have...um...him?" Hermione asked, raising her hand nervously.
"Oh, yeah." Hagrid answered. "It took a bit 'o doing. But ah got special permission from Professor Dumbledore and tha Ministry ta have 'im. He's only for ma advanced classes ta see. So you'll know what ta do if you run across one in tha wild."
"I already know what to do." Ron said quietly to Harry. "I turn around and run in the other direction."
"Who kin tell me a bit about this type o' dragon?"
There were no immediate takers. Not even Hermione seemed to keen on answering, for fear Hagrid might try to "reward" her by allowing her to pet the dragon.
"They're mean." Harry said finally, eyeing the dragon suspiciously.
"Naw, they're not." Hagrid answered, grinning. "They're jus' mis'understood. Horntails are real friendly once yeh get ta know 'em. This one was born in a dragon sanctuary, so he's real used ta people being about. Yeh won't get ta play with 'im today, though. I don't want to wake 'im. He gets a little feisty when yeh wake 'im up from his nap. So we'll be building 'im a new nest. His old one's due for a change."
Hagrid walked towards a long table set up on the other side of stalls, the students following quickly, eager to put some distance between them and the sleeping dragon. Arranged across the table was an assortment of branches and bramble. Everything was covered in thorns.
"We're building a nest out of that?" Parvati asked, eyeing the thorns nervously.
Hagrid nodded. "Dragons tend ta like their nest rough. It don' bother them. Thick hides. Now yeh'll just want to arrange everything in a big circle like. There's no trick to it. Do as much as yeh can. I'll finish it up myself later. I know this lesson is a bit boring, but next time will be much better. Next time yeh'll get tha chance to feed 'im." Hagrid beamed at them, not at all phased by the expressions (anywhere from slightly surprised to utterly horrified) crossing the students' faces. "Well, get ta it." Hagrid said, happily before going off to check on his dragon.
They spent the rest of the class period trying to arrange the thorny branches and bramble into a semi-circle large enough to accommodate a baby dragon, and trying very hard not to become too scratched up from the thorns. The first they managed with a small amount of success. The latter they were not so lucky with.
"What do you suppose dragons eat?" Seamus asked as they walked back towards the castle.
"Us. I would think." Dean answered, picking at his blooded scratches. "Hey, you think Neville still has that plant the helps cuts."
Harry shrugged. "I haven't seen it."
"Neville's so lucky." Seamus said. "He gets to play with his plants all day and doesn't have to come to class. God, I wish I had a golden excuse like his."
"Neville isn't doing what he's doing to get out of class." Lavender said, frowning. "And he's not playing with plants. His work is very important. He's trying to save a kid's life."
"Sorry, Lavender. I wasn't trying to offend your boyfriend." Seamus said, rolling his eyes.
Lavender's face turned a shade that matched her name. "Neville is not boyfriend. We're just friends." She huffed.
"Then why are you always together?" Seamus asked. "Come on admit it. You two are sweet on each other."
"We hang out because we're friend and that's what friends do. You and Dean spend a lot of time together. Are you sweet on each other?" Lavender fumed.
"Naw." Dean grinned. "I only go for red heads."
"That was so disturbing on so many levels." Ron said. "That I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear you say it."
Seamus looked a Parvati. "Tell the truth, Parvati. Are Lavender and Neville together or not?"
Parvati glanced at Lavender then back and Seamus and shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about." She answered.
"And neither does he." Lavender huffed. "You don't know anything, Seamus Finnigan." And with that she stormed off, Parvati hurrying after her.
"That was uncalled for." Mindy said, frowning disapprovingly at Seamus. Though she had to admit, she too was little curious about Neville and Lavender's relationship. They had been spending a lot of time together.
"And Lavender's right." Hermione added. "Neville's work is important. You shouldn't down play it like that."
"Yeah, I know." Seamus said. "But still...Oh, forget it." He turned and head off as well.
Dean shrugged apologetically and followed after his best friend.
Ron looked at Harry, Hermione and Mindy and asked. "Is it just me, or does anybody else wishes they had a golden excuse like Neville?"
If Mindy thought Care for Magical Creatures was bad, Potions the next day was infinitely worse. Mindy had known the class might not go so well, with Draco being back. She had no idea just how badly things could go.
Draco had decided to set up shop not for from Harry and took any opportunity he could to make snide little comments to Harry. Mindy wanted so badly to turn around and turn Draco into something nasty, but she had promised Harry she would be on her best behavior. She kept looking to Snape, hoping he'd split the two of them up, but Snape was apparently so blinded with joy that his favorite student was back, he just couldn't see any of the horrible little things Draco was doing. He, of course, never missed it when Harry would turn around to respond to Draco. Before the lesson was half over, Gryffindor had lost forty-five points.
"My father's out." Draco was saying to Harry, while Snape was busy on the other side of the room. "Are you scared, Potter?"
"No." Harry hissed through clenched teeth.
"You should be." Draco went on, in that annoying taunting voice. "There's nobody to protect you, with your doggy friend dead and all."
Mindy saw Harry reach for his wand and she quickly laid a hand on his arm. "Don't, Harry. He's not worth the trouble."
Harry didn't look as if he believed her, but she saw his grip loosen on his wand.
"What, Potter?" Malfoy sneered. "I'm surprised at you. Letting your girlfriend fight for you. Oh, but now I see. That's how you've managed to stay alive all these years. You let somebody else do the dirty work, while you sit back and take the glory."
Malfoy grinned nastily at Harry, but Harry was doing a very good job of pretending not to hear or see him. Un-phased by this, Draco went on. "Geez, Potter you started young too, didn't you? First your parents, and then that Diggory kid and now your precious god-father. All dead 'cause of you."
Before Mindy could even register what was happening, Harry had lounged over his cauldron and tackled Draco. Both boys slid across the stone floor, before slamming into the wall. Harry had managed to get in one good punch before a stunning spell from Snape's wand put an end to the fight.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, POTTER!" Snape roared.
The fact that Harry was stunned and couldn't possibly answer didn't seem to register with Professor Snape. Mindy pulled out her wand and reversed the spell.
Snape whirled on her. "You don't do anything." He hissed.
"I was just..." Mindy started, but quickly stopped. The look in Snape's eyes told her he wouldn't take any nonsense, not even from her. She looked at Harry apologetically, but didn't say another word.
Harry stood slowly, visibly shaken, but definitely on the better end of deal. Draco remained on the floor. He appeared a little stunned, by muggle means. His head must have collided with the stone wall. Mindy thought it was possibly he had concussion. He certainly had a broken nose.
"Get out of my class, Potter." Snape said, dangerously quiet. Mindy was relieved when Harry didn't argue and instead walked slowly towards the dungeon door. "Go straight to Dumbledore's office." Snape added, in that same tone.
Harry nodded mutely and left the class.
"I'll...I'll take Draco up to Madam Pomfrey." Pansy said, nervously stepping around her cauldron and heading towards Draco.
"Get back to work, Parkinson." Snape snapped. "Everybody get to work. Anybody not working will receive immediate detention. Ms. James."
Mindy looked up surprised. "Um, yes?"
"See that Mr. Malfoy makes it the hospital wing." Snape answered. "And see about his head." He added quietly as he walked out of the class.
Mindy walked over to Draco, who was sitting up now, holding his head in both hands. "Come on, Draco." She said, lifting his face with one of her hands. The boy was too disoriented to argue or fight back. He was probably in a good deal of pain as well. Mindy had had some training as a healer in her earlier days, just after she graduated from Hogwarts. She never had any intentions of going into that field, but she thought it was good information to know. Students were always getting themselves into scrapes. She couldn't do anything about concussions or broken bones, but she could certainly stop the bleeding and clear Draco's head a bit.
Whispering a quick spell she knew would make him feel better, Mindy took Draco by the upper arm and pulled him to his feet. Still a bit out of it, Draco followed easily. Mindy caught Pansy glaring at her resentfully, but she ignored the girl. Instead she focused on shifting her weight so that she could walk properly while supporting a taller, heavier boy. Still supporting Draco, the two made their way slowly to the hospital wing. Mindy was very glad Harry wasn't around to see them. She knew exactly how this must look.
When they reached Madam Pomfrey's door, Mindy knocked lightly. The door swung open almost immediately, Madam Pomfrey on the other side.
"Oh, my." She exclaimed, taking one look a Draco. "What happened to you?"
"He got into a nasty spat with a stone wall." Mindy answered. "The wall won."
"Really?" Madam Pomfrey asked, not terribly surprised. "Have walls gone sour too. It's bad enough we get renegade suits of armor every now then, but now mean spirited walls. Well." She huffed. "Come on then, Mr. Malfoy, I'll get you fixed up."
Draco looked back at Mindy, his grey eyes clear of the fog that had laced them up to this point. "Thank you." He said, just before the door to Madam Pomfrey's office and examining room slammed shut.
Mindy blinked. Did Draco Malfoy just say thank you? Mindy had never heard the boy use those words before. Not even with one of his house mates. Rubbing the back of her neck, Mindy shrugged it off and headed back to Gryffindor tower to wait for Harry.
~*~*~*~*
"You slugged him?" Ron grinned. "That's brilliant. Gawd, I wish I'd been there to see it."
Harry had returned to the Gryffindor common room to find Mindy, Ron, and Hermione waiting on him. Mindy had told the other two what had happened. Ron took the news as the best he'd heard all year. Hermione on the other hand looked quite worried; Mindy mirroring her expression.
Harry was still sore where his shoulder had slammed against the wall, and his knuckles were a little cut up, but he had decided against stopping by Madam Pomfrey's. He knew Malfoy would be there, and that was one face he did not want to see. He could live with the injuries.
"It's not brilliant." Hermione frowned. "That was incredibly stupid, Harry. Malfoy probably deserved it, but...Just how much trouble are you in?"
Harry sighed. Professor Dumbledore was none to happy hear that Harry had been fighting, and when Snape stepped in his office, the situation went from worse to worser. "A lot." He answered. "I'm banned from all school activities for two months."
"Banned from all school activities?" Mindy asked. "What does that mean?"
"Well, no D.A. for one thing." Harry said.
"No D.A?" Ron frowned. "What are we suppose to do about Defense Against the Dark Arts? Professor Dumbledore can't expect us to learn anything from Professor Trelawney."
"That wasn't Professor Dumbledore's idea." Harry answered. "It was Snape's."
"Figures." Ron said rolling his eyes.
"Besides, it's only till the middle of January. I'll get the class back in plenty of time before the end of the year."
"What about Quidditch?" Mindy asked.
Harry smiled weakly. "I can't play, or even participate in the practices."
"What?" Ron asked. "That's crazy. You're the captain."
"This doesn't mean the Gryffindor team has to stop practicing for two months does it?" Hermione asked.
Harry shook his. "No. No. I'm the only one being punished. Listen, Ron. I need you to act as captain for the time, okay?"
"Me?" Ron asked. "Are you sure?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to miss a game, so I figure Ginny can replace me as seeker. We know she's good."
"But then we'll be short one chaser." Mindy said.
"We'll just have to find someone to fill in." Harry answered. "It'll be fine."
"What about evenings?" Hermione asked. "Do you have any detention?"
Harry shook his head. "I guess Professor Dumbledore decided no D.A. and no Quidditch was punishment enough. Snape didn't. He wanted me expelled."
"Aw, it's not like you killed the boy." Ron said. "Just did little damage. I hope you knocked him out, at least."
"Actually I think he did." Mindy said. "Draco did take a pretty bad hit on the head."
"Good." Ron grinned.
"Snape's not going to let you forget this. You know that, Harry?" Hermione said.
Harry nodded and leaned back against the couch. "I know." Harry looked over at Mindy and smiled. "Did I really knock him out?"
Mindy frowned. "I'm surprised at you, Harry. I didn't know you were so violent."
"You heard what he said to me."
"I know. I heard. I agree he deserved...something. Well, I would have just turned him into a wart or a pile of smoldering dung or something."
"Well, next time, I'll just let you handle it." Harry grinned.
Mindy smiled, then, looking very thoughtful, asked. "What about the Yule Ball? That's a school activity. Can you still go?"
Harry's smile faded. He knew this was going to come up. He had hoped not so quickly. "No. I can't go." Harry answered, feeling very guilty about it. The other bans he could live with. Breaking Malfoy's nose was definitely worth it, but if he had known he would have to miss the Yule Ball he might have acted differently. The Yule Ball would have been his and Mindy's first official date and he had ruined it. Worse of all, he had probably ruined her only chance to go to a ball at Hogwarts. "That doesn't mean you can't go." He said, hoping he could make it up to her. "If want to you ask somebody, I'll understand."
Mindy shook her head. "No. If I can't go with you, I don't want to go. We'll stay in Gryffindor tower. It'll be fun."
Harry wrapped his arms around Mindy. "Thanks for understanding."
"Of course." Mindy grinned. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't?"
"And what about Pansy?" Hermione asked, quietly.
"Our plans don't change." Harry answered. "We'll just have to be very careful. Snape got Professor Dumbledore to agree that if I get into anymore trouble during the next two months I get two weeks of detention with him."
"And that's bound to be painful." Ron said grimly.
"So we want get caught." Harry said. "Let's practice during our free period tomorrow and during lunch so Ginny can practice with us as well."
"Are you sure about this?" Mindy asked. "It may be better to wait until after your punishment."
Harry shook his head. "I think we ought to find out what's going on here as quickly as we can."
Mindy didn't look particularly happy with that answer, but she nodded her head in agreement.
The next few days passed quickly. Harry and the others worked on the transfiguration spell every opportunity they could find and soon were all able to become mice with out loosing control to the mouse's instincts.
Friday evening, just before the end of diner, they met in the Room of Requirement and prepared for their covert mission. While mice, they wouldn't be able to speak with each other. To remedy this situation, Hermione came up with a variety of complex whisker flicks and squeaks to convey various meanings; which, of course, no one (save Hermione) could remember. Harry decided it would be best if they just stuck together and kept their ears open. Both Ron and Mindy quickly agreed.
"Are you guys sure you'll be alright, not being able to talk to each other?" Ginny asked.
"We'll be fine Gin. Don't worry." Ron answered. "I just wish I could manage to grow some hair."
Harry reached into his book bag and pulled out his invisibility cloak. "Here, Ginny." He said, handing her the cloak. "Just incase you need it. I'd rather you not turn yourself into a mouse if you can avoid it."
Ginny nodded. "Thanks." She said, taking the cloak and stuffing it into her bag.
"Everybody ready?" Harry asked. He received nods all around. Nodding as well, he pulled out his wand and focused all of his energies on a tiny black and white mouse. He quickly whispered the words "'Metaus Soulesius'." Very rapidly he began to feel the changes. First, it was the stomach lurching feeling of falling. Harry closed his eyes, not wanting to see the floor suddenly rushing up to meet him. Then he fell to all fours as his legs and arms lengthened or shortened to the same length. He felt his thumbs receding and twisting around and prickly hair starting to grow all over his body. His ears elongated and floated to the top of his head. His tail was the last to appear. He was actually surprised to see that he had managed to grow half a tail. The mouse instincts began to buzz in the back of his head and he quickly squashed them down.
Harry looked around and spotted a light brown mouse to one side of him. 'Hermione.' He thought to himself. To the right of Hermione was a mostly naked mouse. A red peach fuzz covered most of the mouse's body, excluding the four feet. 'Ron.' Harry thought. A squeak on his other side caught his attention. He turned to see a silky, jet black mouse. 'Even as a mouse, Mindy's pretty.' Harry thought his whiskers flicking.
Sudden vibrations running through the floor told him, something very large was coming his way. It took him a second to realize it was Ginny, and he fought the urge to run away. Instead, he turned around to face her. Ginny said something as she kneeled down in front of the four little mice. Her voice was distorted and sounded much deeper than what it was. Harry's brain worked furiously as he translated the vibrations coming from her mouth into words. He managed to catch "...Let's go." Just as Ginny placed her hands on the floor, palms up.
Harry climbed onto the left hand, followed by Ron. Hermione and Mindy clamored into the other hand. Ginny lifted them slowly, which was still a little too fast for Harry. Ron squeaked loudly as he backed as close to the center of Ginny's palm as he could go. "Sorry." Ginny whispered apologetically as she put them into her pocket. Harry and Ron slid towards the bottom of Ginny's pocket as she began walking, where they found homework that should have been turned in days ago, broken quills, and a surprisingly large assortment of sweets. Ron allowed himself to slide all the way to bottom where he began to nibble through the wrapping of a chocolate bar.
Harry thumped Ron the head with a paw, to remind the other boy of who he was, then clamored back to the opening of the pocket where he could peer out. Ginny was making her way towards the Great Hall. Diner had just ended and students were filing out, heading towards their dorms. Ginny navigated the crowd, catching up with the Slytherin group. Soon Harry spotted the hulking back of Pansy Parkinson. Her book bag was open, as if she had taken out a book and forgotten to close it. Ginny quickened her pace, shoving her hands into her pockets as she walked. Harry clamored onto her palm again, followed by Ron, and Ginny lifted them out, not bothering to do it slowly or very carefully. Walking with a steady purpose Ginny rammed right into Pansy back, quickly dropping the four mice into the bag.
"Hey, watch it." Pansy barked, swirling around.
"You watch it." Ginny retorted, spinning on her heals and marching off.
The girl Pansy was with grunted something that Harry didn't bother with trying to translate, then the two started off down the hall again. Harry and Ron crawled over Pansy's books as they made their way to Mindy and Hermione. The four mice turned and climbed as high as they could, trying to reach the opening in Pansy's bag, where they could watch where they were heading in the halls.
Pansy stayed with the group of Slytherins she had been walking with, and Harry was beginning to think they were just going to wind up in the Slytherin common room. But then Pansy turned away from the group. "I have to go do something." She explained, waving. "I'll catch up."
She turned down a dark hall and headed deeper into the school. Harry's whiskers flicked with excitement as Pansy took corridor after corridor, often heading down halls Harry had never seen. 'Where is she going?' He wondered. Just when he was beginning think Pansy was walking circles, they came to a stop in the middle of a dark hall, next to an open window.
Pansy's eyes roved the darkness. "Are...are you here?" She called timidly.
"Of course I am, you fool girl. Do you have any news for me?" A voice answered.
Harry stretched as far as he could, trying very hard to see who was speaking, but the person remained in the shadows. He couldn't see anything; mice did not have the best of eyesight. He couldn't even try guessing the identity from the voice, since the mouse ears distorted the sound. What he could feel, however, was Pansy trembling. Who ever she was talking with, it someone she was very afraid of.
"No...No news." Pansy answered.
"What about that, kid? Is the nosey brat still alive?"
Pansy nodded. "Th-they're working on the cure. A lot of people think he may live."
"Damn. If that kid wakes up, he'll alert Dumbledore to my presence. I can't have him knowing I'm here before I'm ready." The voice paused, then said, "I suppose it's time to speed things up a bit."
"What are you going to do?" Pansy whispered.
"You know already."
"Yes, but, I mean, I-I don't think..."
"Of course you don't. That's why I tell you what to do. Lead him to me."
Pansy said nothing. She looked down, trembling even more.
"What's wrong? No stomach for death? I didn't think you would mind seeing him dead."
"I don't." Pansy answered quickly. "It's just..."
"Lead him to me, Parkinson. I'll take care of the rest."
Pansy sighed, and nodded mutely.
Just then the shadow wavered and began to shrink and every fiber in Harry's mouse body began to scream with panic. A gigantic black owl emerged from the shadows. The mouse's instincts kicked, overpowering whatever control Harry had. An owl was one of the most deadly enemies a mouse had and it was hard wired into the animal's very body to get away whenever that shadow past over. This owl was close, too close. Harry knew that the owl knew nothing of him and his friends, but the mouse didn't. The mouse thought an owl that close most certainly meant sudden and painful death and it had to do whatever was in its power to do to survive.
The mouse decided Pansy's bag was too high up. The owl could get him far too easily. And so it clamored over the edge, followed by three other mice and tumbled to the floor. It landed with a whack but was quickly back on its feet and running as fast as its little legs would carry. Harry was sure the owl had spotted him, but it didn't seem to have much interest in him. It flew off in the opposite direction before diving out the window. Harry didn't even try to take control of the mouse again, allowing its flight response to carry him far away from that hall, from Pansy Parkinson, and from the person talking of murder in the shadows.
~*~*~*~*~*
I was quite surprised at how many people wanted Draco to be evil. Well, evil is as evil does and Draco Malfoy shall be one evil dude. I promise, before the end of this fic you're gonna hate him even more than you already do. I'll tell you now though, he won't be a death eater; just a little annoying, yucky, boy.
Anyhoo, chapter nine is done. I'm working on ten even as you read this. Hopefully I should have it up soon. At least I hope it won't take me a month to update again. I know it's annoying when you're following a fic and the author just disappear. I'll do better. I promise. Well, here are comments to reviews:
Crookykanks: Sorry, I took more time to up-date.
Penny: Sorry you hate the vote. Since this is a quick feed back type system I just think its fun if the reviewers have a little say so in how the story goes. I just take the initial ideas everybody has and run a muck with them anyway. But thank you for your compliment. It makes me feel cheery.
Wolf : Am I so obvious?
Drax: Hey, don't make fun of their animal choices. Hermione was considering becoming an otter you know. And she was an abnormally small Sphinx. Magical creatures are still animals. Dragons would be off limits because they are great big lizards and Professor Lupin specifically told them to choose mammals. What would you have chosen for them—mammals only!
ping*pong5: Glad you're starting to see Harry/Mindy in a semi-positive light. Thanks for your comments.
On-A-Rainy-Day: Okay. I am so obvious. But of course you brilliant people would pick it up. I am so not good with rearranging names and making them not sound, well, stupid. But good work.
pottyaboutharrypotter: I would love a Draco/Ginny ship. I love Darco/Ginny romances, but unfortunately I don't think that will work in this fic. We'll see, though.
TeenTypist: You bet Malfoy's going to cause some trouble. And again, I am so freakin' obvious. Everybody is guessing my bad guy correctly. You see, that is why I could never write a good mystery.
superhpfreak: I think I answered your first question in the beginning A/N. As for how to font in ff.net, I'll go back up and type that in right now, excuse me please... Okay, I'm back. Now, about the pink tights...do you really want to know where I got that from? I'll tell you since you asked. I have this one teacher who reminds me of Professor Snape. (I mean stinking evil, and freakin' hard) One day a student caught a glimpse of his "socks", which were not socks but pink tights. Of course the student mentioned it, and everybody was like "Oh, my God, he's wearing pink tights." At which point our teacher decided to confess to the class that he likes to where little girl tights because they (and I'm quoting here) "hold my legs in". You can imagine the looks crossing our faces. Well, when real life turns out to be so darn interesting, it's only right to incorporate it into fiction. Now, does Snape where pink tights? Hmmm, what do you think?
Oh, now I know you're going to scowled me, but please be nice. And sorry, I made Draco cute (I just couldn't resist), but he's still evil. And not cool. Definitely not cool at all.
That is all the comments this time. So I will say good-bye for now, and see you next chapter. Oh yes, and review please. You can leave all your rantings about me and my horrible up-dating habits if you like. But please remember to mention something about the chapter.
C-ya.
Review!!!
Anyway, here's 9. I think I'm about half through with this story. I'm guessing 15 chapters give or take a few. But we're almost there people. Pretty soon we'll hit that climatic high point and it's all winding down from there. But enough chit-chat from me.
You know the drill. Reviews at that end.
I don't own Harry Potter, but that doesn't mean I can't come up with funny little scenarios and toss him into them.
But before we move on, does anybody know how to font in ff.net. Please let me know if you do. And this isn't just for me. It's for all the authors of the world who can't type in bold or italicize or underline. Save us from this none fonting nightmare. Okay, now moving on...
Read and Enjoy ^_^
~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 9 Of Mice and Men
"Oh, hell. He's back." Harry said, breaking the sudden silence. It was so still in the Great Hall, Harry knew his comment must have carried. All of the faces turning to look at him were certainly proof enough.
Malfoy glanced at Harry and smirked that characteristic Malfoy smirk, before heading for his own house table. The blonde nodded at his house mates and they all broke out in a loud cheer. Throwing one last nasty sneer at the Gryffindor table, Malfoy sat down at his own on the other side of the Great Hall.
Harry rolled his eyes at the back of Malfoy's head and turned back to his breakfast. He didn't touch his fork, however. He suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. The silence in the Great Hall was slowly evaporating into a buzz of talk, students from all houses throwing covert glances at the Slytherin table.
"I can't believe it." Ron hissed. "Wasn't he sent away?"
"It's because Lucius Malfoy's been released from Azkaban." Hermione frowned. "I suppose it only makes sense that he sends for his son."
"So that's the infamous Draco Malfoy." Mindy said thoughtfully looking openly at the Slytherin table and the blonde boy that had just taken a seat there. "I'm curious to see what makes him so bad."
"What makes him so bad?" Ron exclaimed. "Didn't you see the look he just threw us?"
"You give the Slytherins dirty looks all the time, Ron." Mindy pointed out.
"Yeah, well, they deserve it." Ron retorted.
Mindy shook her head. "Don't you guys think this house rivalry is a little childish?"
"Childish?" Ron asked, staring at Mindy. "Just whose side are you on?"
Mindy frowned. "You know very well, Ron Weasley, I am a Gryffindor through and through. I'm just saying the animosity between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins seem a little...primary school-ish."
"Childish rivalry or no." Harry said. "Malfoy being back is not a good thing."
"That I can agree with." Ron said, nodding fervently.
Hermione nodded as well, still frowning at the prospect of having to share the rest of the school year with Malfoy.
"You too?" Mindy asked, looking at Hermione in surprise.
"You don't know him the way we do." Hermione answered simply.
"Oh. My. God." Ginny said, coming up behind Harry and finding a seat next to her brother. "I know you saw. I heard your little comment at the other end of the table, Harry. I'm surprised one of the professors hasn't come to give you a good talking to yet. But still, can you believe it?"
"I'm trying very hard to pretend he's not there." Ron said.
"He looks different." Ginny went on.
"It's his hair." Hermione said.
"Oh." Ginny looked back quickly and then turned around, hoping no one saw her glancing at the Slytherin table (although nearly everyone else was). "Yeah. It's not slicked back. And it looks longer."
"And blonder, if that's possible." Hermione said.
"He has a tan too." Ginny said, leaning in and talking to Hermione in a conspiratory tone. "And he's picked up some weight, not all scrawny and gangly like last year." She glanced sideways at her brother and then whispered. "He's actually very cute."
Ron, who had heard perfectly well what his sister had said, gave Ginny a look of utmost horror. "I hope I shall die if I ever hear those words come out of your mouth again."
Ginny grinned crookedly at Ron. "Everybody knows his ugly personality more than overshadows his somewhat handsome physic. But if you feel so strongly, Ron, the words shall never again cross my lips."
"Good." Ron said. "Just the thought of you even thinking..." Ron shivered. "Let's just talk about something else, okay. Like, what a great game we had yesterday."
Mention of the Quidditch match reminded Harry of the owl. He hadn't told Ron, Hermione, and Mindy about it last night. They were all so happy with the turn out of the match; he really didn't want to bring them down. But now seemed as good a time as any to talk about it. "I saw the owl again, during the match." Harry said. "I think we should work on the mouse thing soon."
Ginny looked at Harry curiously. "What owl? What mouse thing?" Her eyes widen in realization. "Oh, you guys are up to something, aren't you?"
Harry looked at Ginny. He had forgotten she was still sitting there. He had never meant to mention anything around her. "Er, it's nothing." He said.
Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. "Really? Nothing? I'll believe that the day Snape tells everyone he's really the tooth fairy."
Mindy smiled. "He may be. For some unexplainable reason a lot of the kids in potions think he wears pink tights under his robes."
Ginny glared at Mindy. "Don't try to distract me with disturbing images." She looked pleadingly at Hermione. "What's going on?"
Hermione looked back at Ginny and then at Harry and Ron. "We may as well tell her. If there's anybody we can trust, it's Ginny."
Ron nodded. "Alright then. But you're not getting involved."
"Sure." Ginny grinned triumphantly. "Now what's happening?"
Harry leaned in and told her everything that they suspected, from the owl feathers they had been finding to their decision to follow Pansy around.
"I can help." Ginny said immediately, as soon as Harry was done.
"I just said, you couldn't get involved." Ron frowned.
"You guys need me." Ginny insisted. "Once you're mice, how do you plan to find Pansy. You can't very well run around the school that way until you come across her. If somebody doesn't step on you first, Mrs. Norris will surely get you."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Mindy exchanged looks. Ginny did make a good point. "What do you suggest we do?" Harry asked, looking back at the red head.
"After you go all mousy." Ginny answered. "I carry you to Pansy. I get you as close as I can and then you guys take it from there."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "That sounds reasonable."
"And I won't be getting involved." Ginny added looking at Ron. "Not really."
Ron nodded. "That's true."
"Right then." Harry said. "We'll do it that way."
"We ought to choose a day to do this." Hermione said. "Maybe several. We might not be lucky enough to figure out what she's up to the first time."
Harry nodded. "How long do you think it would take us to work out the spell?"
Hermione shrugged. "Not long. A few days, if we focus on it."
"Alright." Harry said. "We'll work on the spell every night starting today and do it next Friday. Let's see how that goes before we make another day."
"Sounds like a plan." Ron said.
Harry nodded, then looked at Mindy. "Do you think you can stay out of detention for one week?"
Mindy smiled. "I'll be on my best behavior." She answered. "Unless Snape does something that really annoys me."
"Mindy." Harry said.
"And even then, I will ignore him." Mindy added. "Unless he really, really annoys me."
"Mindy, please." Harry said.
"And I will still overlook all of his horrible attributes." Mindy said, grinning. "Unless..."
Harry leaned over and gave Mindy a quick kiss on the cheek, which had the desired effect--she stopped talking.
That little blush worked its way across her nose, and she smiled brightly at Harry. "Well, I...I suppose we should be going. Defense Against the Dark Arts first. Let's go see how much trouble we're going to get ourselves into."
"If we're reading Tarot cards again, and Ron's doing the reading, probably loads." Harry said, pushing away from the table.
"I'm not that bad at reading Tarot Cards." Ron frowned.
"Yes, Ron, you are." Hermione said. She had had the misfortune of having Ron read her tarot cards. She should have died three days ago, bludgeon to death by a mad house elf with a smoked ham.
"Well, we can't all be brilliant at everything." Ron said, nonchalantly. "But at least I'm creative."
Harry laughed, following his friends out of the Great Hall, and forgetting for just a second (and only a second) that Malfoy was back.
~*~*~*~*
Saturday and Sunday passed in a blur. Mindy and the others had spent all weekend in the Room of Requirement working hard on the transfigurations spell (well Mindy actually pretended to work on the spell, often ending the transfiguration half-complete just to seem to be on the others' levels). To Mindy's surprise, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny (who had insisted on learning too, just incase she needed to make a quick get away) were actually getting quiet good. Hermione could become a flawless mouse in seconds. Ron was still having trouble growing fur. Harry couldn't seem to grow a tail. But Ginny was doing remarkably well for only a fifth year. It took her good deal longer than Hermione, but she too could become a perfect mouse. Mindy was actually a little surprised to see what they could accomplish when they put their minds to it.
The only trouble was they couldn't control the mouse's instincts. Every time they would become mice, they would scatter, probably looking for a nice wall to chew a whole through. Whenever this happened, Mindy would quickly change back and perform the reversal spell, snapping them out of the mouse world. Mindy was just very glad it wasn't mouse mating season (which occurred approximately every two weeks).
"There's got to be spell or something that can help with this." Hermione said, still trying to scrub whiskers that were no long there.
"There isn't." Mindy said. "It's something you just have to control."
"How do you know?" Ron asked.
"Oh. I tried to look it up already." Mindy answered quickly. "When I turned into a cat in Transfigurations, I had the uncontrollable desire to pounce Professor Lupin's robes. So I decided to see if there was anything that could be done about that."
Ron looked at her oddly, but Harry nodded, accepting the excuse as truth.
"So what do we do about it then?" Ginny asked, looking around nervously, as if she half expected some gigantic predator to swoop down on her.
"We keep practicing until we can control the mouse and not the other way around." Harry answered. "But not today. I think the mouse instincts are starting rub off on us."
Ginny nodded in agreement. "I'll probably be jittery for hours."
"At least you don't want to clean your whiskers." Hermione said. "Let's get back to Gryffindor tower. I still have homework to finish up."
Monday came, bright and chilly. The weather still wasn't right for snow yet, but that didn't chase away the cold. Mindy was very glad to be spending the morning inside, though Transfigurations passed quickly. Professor Lupin gave the students another opportunity to try and turn themselves into their chosen animals. Both Harry and Ron did 100% better their second time, completely becoming their animal of choice with only a few small defects. They each earned twenty points for showing the most improvement over a short period of time.
As it turned out, it was Care of Magical Creatures that proved the most difficult subject of the day. Though Mindy didn't immediately recognize trouble on the horizon, Harry, Ron, and Hermione saw it from a mile off.
"Hagrid's too happy." Ron whispered, as Hagrid came bouncing (or as close to bouncing as a half giant could get) from around his house, beaming at everyone. "You remember the last time he had that happy, goofy look?"
Harry nodded warily.
"He couldn't..." Hermione said, staring at Hagrid disbelievingly. "There's no way...no possible way..."
"All I'm saying is he's just too happy." Ron said, frowning.
"I have to admit." Harry said. "I am starting to get a little nervous."
"So what?" Mindy asked. "Hagrid's in a good mood. People have good moods."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at Mindy as if she knew nothing.
"Gather 'round class." Hagrid called to the assembled student. "I 'ave some'in special today. Mi'ty special." Hagrid turned and led the way around his house, towards the stalls.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged nervous looks before following. Mindy thought they were being ridiculous, but then, they did know Hagrid best. Maybe their worries were justifiable. And as she turned the corner and faced the stalls, she saw just how justifiable their worries really were. In the middle of one of the larger empty stables set a huge cage. Inside the cage slept a baby Hungarian Horntail dragon. Black-grey smoke wafted lazily from its nose as it did the equivalent of dragon snoring.
"A Hungarian Horntail. Is'n' he beautiful?" Hagrid asked beaming proudly at his baby dragon.
It was fairly apparent from the way the students stared, they didn't think so.
"Are...are you suppose to have...um...him?" Hermione asked, raising her hand nervously.
"Oh, yeah." Hagrid answered. "It took a bit 'o doing. But ah got special permission from Professor Dumbledore and tha Ministry ta have 'im. He's only for ma advanced classes ta see. So you'll know what ta do if you run across one in tha wild."
"I already know what to do." Ron said quietly to Harry. "I turn around and run in the other direction."
"Who kin tell me a bit about this type o' dragon?"
There were no immediate takers. Not even Hermione seemed to keen on answering, for fear Hagrid might try to "reward" her by allowing her to pet the dragon.
"They're mean." Harry said finally, eyeing the dragon suspiciously.
"Naw, they're not." Hagrid answered, grinning. "They're jus' mis'understood. Horntails are real friendly once yeh get ta know 'em. This one was born in a dragon sanctuary, so he's real used ta people being about. Yeh won't get ta play with 'im today, though. I don't want to wake 'im. He gets a little feisty when yeh wake 'im up from his nap. So we'll be building 'im a new nest. His old one's due for a change."
Hagrid walked towards a long table set up on the other side of stalls, the students following quickly, eager to put some distance between them and the sleeping dragon. Arranged across the table was an assortment of branches and bramble. Everything was covered in thorns.
"We're building a nest out of that?" Parvati asked, eyeing the thorns nervously.
Hagrid nodded. "Dragons tend ta like their nest rough. It don' bother them. Thick hides. Now yeh'll just want to arrange everything in a big circle like. There's no trick to it. Do as much as yeh can. I'll finish it up myself later. I know this lesson is a bit boring, but next time will be much better. Next time yeh'll get tha chance to feed 'im." Hagrid beamed at them, not at all phased by the expressions (anywhere from slightly surprised to utterly horrified) crossing the students' faces. "Well, get ta it." Hagrid said, happily before going off to check on his dragon.
They spent the rest of the class period trying to arrange the thorny branches and bramble into a semi-circle large enough to accommodate a baby dragon, and trying very hard not to become too scratched up from the thorns. The first they managed with a small amount of success. The latter they were not so lucky with.
"What do you suppose dragons eat?" Seamus asked as they walked back towards the castle.
"Us. I would think." Dean answered, picking at his blooded scratches. "Hey, you think Neville still has that plant the helps cuts."
Harry shrugged. "I haven't seen it."
"Neville's so lucky." Seamus said. "He gets to play with his plants all day and doesn't have to come to class. God, I wish I had a golden excuse like his."
"Neville isn't doing what he's doing to get out of class." Lavender said, frowning. "And he's not playing with plants. His work is very important. He's trying to save a kid's life."
"Sorry, Lavender. I wasn't trying to offend your boyfriend." Seamus said, rolling his eyes.
Lavender's face turned a shade that matched her name. "Neville is not boyfriend. We're just friends." She huffed.
"Then why are you always together?" Seamus asked. "Come on admit it. You two are sweet on each other."
"We hang out because we're friend and that's what friends do. You and Dean spend a lot of time together. Are you sweet on each other?" Lavender fumed.
"Naw." Dean grinned. "I only go for red heads."
"That was so disturbing on so many levels." Ron said. "That I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear you say it."
Seamus looked a Parvati. "Tell the truth, Parvati. Are Lavender and Neville together or not?"
Parvati glanced at Lavender then back and Seamus and shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about." She answered.
"And neither does he." Lavender huffed. "You don't know anything, Seamus Finnigan." And with that she stormed off, Parvati hurrying after her.
"That was uncalled for." Mindy said, frowning disapprovingly at Seamus. Though she had to admit, she too was little curious about Neville and Lavender's relationship. They had been spending a lot of time together.
"And Lavender's right." Hermione added. "Neville's work is important. You shouldn't down play it like that."
"Yeah, I know." Seamus said. "But still...Oh, forget it." He turned and head off as well.
Dean shrugged apologetically and followed after his best friend.
Ron looked at Harry, Hermione and Mindy and asked. "Is it just me, or does anybody else wishes they had a golden excuse like Neville?"
If Mindy thought Care for Magical Creatures was bad, Potions the next day was infinitely worse. Mindy had known the class might not go so well, with Draco being back. She had no idea just how badly things could go.
Draco had decided to set up shop not for from Harry and took any opportunity he could to make snide little comments to Harry. Mindy wanted so badly to turn around and turn Draco into something nasty, but she had promised Harry she would be on her best behavior. She kept looking to Snape, hoping he'd split the two of them up, but Snape was apparently so blinded with joy that his favorite student was back, he just couldn't see any of the horrible little things Draco was doing. He, of course, never missed it when Harry would turn around to respond to Draco. Before the lesson was half over, Gryffindor had lost forty-five points.
"My father's out." Draco was saying to Harry, while Snape was busy on the other side of the room. "Are you scared, Potter?"
"No." Harry hissed through clenched teeth.
"You should be." Draco went on, in that annoying taunting voice. "There's nobody to protect you, with your doggy friend dead and all."
Mindy saw Harry reach for his wand and she quickly laid a hand on his arm. "Don't, Harry. He's not worth the trouble."
Harry didn't look as if he believed her, but she saw his grip loosen on his wand.
"What, Potter?" Malfoy sneered. "I'm surprised at you. Letting your girlfriend fight for you. Oh, but now I see. That's how you've managed to stay alive all these years. You let somebody else do the dirty work, while you sit back and take the glory."
Malfoy grinned nastily at Harry, but Harry was doing a very good job of pretending not to hear or see him. Un-phased by this, Draco went on. "Geez, Potter you started young too, didn't you? First your parents, and then that Diggory kid and now your precious god-father. All dead 'cause of you."
Before Mindy could even register what was happening, Harry had lounged over his cauldron and tackled Draco. Both boys slid across the stone floor, before slamming into the wall. Harry had managed to get in one good punch before a stunning spell from Snape's wand put an end to the fight.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, POTTER!" Snape roared.
The fact that Harry was stunned and couldn't possibly answer didn't seem to register with Professor Snape. Mindy pulled out her wand and reversed the spell.
Snape whirled on her. "You don't do anything." He hissed.
"I was just..." Mindy started, but quickly stopped. The look in Snape's eyes told her he wouldn't take any nonsense, not even from her. She looked at Harry apologetically, but didn't say another word.
Harry stood slowly, visibly shaken, but definitely on the better end of deal. Draco remained on the floor. He appeared a little stunned, by muggle means. His head must have collided with the stone wall. Mindy thought it was possibly he had concussion. He certainly had a broken nose.
"Get out of my class, Potter." Snape said, dangerously quiet. Mindy was relieved when Harry didn't argue and instead walked slowly towards the dungeon door. "Go straight to Dumbledore's office." Snape added, in that same tone.
Harry nodded mutely and left the class.
"I'll...I'll take Draco up to Madam Pomfrey." Pansy said, nervously stepping around her cauldron and heading towards Draco.
"Get back to work, Parkinson." Snape snapped. "Everybody get to work. Anybody not working will receive immediate detention. Ms. James."
Mindy looked up surprised. "Um, yes?"
"See that Mr. Malfoy makes it the hospital wing." Snape answered. "And see about his head." He added quietly as he walked out of the class.
Mindy walked over to Draco, who was sitting up now, holding his head in both hands. "Come on, Draco." She said, lifting his face with one of her hands. The boy was too disoriented to argue or fight back. He was probably in a good deal of pain as well. Mindy had had some training as a healer in her earlier days, just after she graduated from Hogwarts. She never had any intentions of going into that field, but she thought it was good information to know. Students were always getting themselves into scrapes. She couldn't do anything about concussions or broken bones, but she could certainly stop the bleeding and clear Draco's head a bit.
Whispering a quick spell she knew would make him feel better, Mindy took Draco by the upper arm and pulled him to his feet. Still a bit out of it, Draco followed easily. Mindy caught Pansy glaring at her resentfully, but she ignored the girl. Instead she focused on shifting her weight so that she could walk properly while supporting a taller, heavier boy. Still supporting Draco, the two made their way slowly to the hospital wing. Mindy was very glad Harry wasn't around to see them. She knew exactly how this must look.
When they reached Madam Pomfrey's door, Mindy knocked lightly. The door swung open almost immediately, Madam Pomfrey on the other side.
"Oh, my." She exclaimed, taking one look a Draco. "What happened to you?"
"He got into a nasty spat with a stone wall." Mindy answered. "The wall won."
"Really?" Madam Pomfrey asked, not terribly surprised. "Have walls gone sour too. It's bad enough we get renegade suits of armor every now then, but now mean spirited walls. Well." She huffed. "Come on then, Mr. Malfoy, I'll get you fixed up."
Draco looked back at Mindy, his grey eyes clear of the fog that had laced them up to this point. "Thank you." He said, just before the door to Madam Pomfrey's office and examining room slammed shut.
Mindy blinked. Did Draco Malfoy just say thank you? Mindy had never heard the boy use those words before. Not even with one of his house mates. Rubbing the back of her neck, Mindy shrugged it off and headed back to Gryffindor tower to wait for Harry.
~*~*~*~*
"You slugged him?" Ron grinned. "That's brilliant. Gawd, I wish I'd been there to see it."
Harry had returned to the Gryffindor common room to find Mindy, Ron, and Hermione waiting on him. Mindy had told the other two what had happened. Ron took the news as the best he'd heard all year. Hermione on the other hand looked quite worried; Mindy mirroring her expression.
Harry was still sore where his shoulder had slammed against the wall, and his knuckles were a little cut up, but he had decided against stopping by Madam Pomfrey's. He knew Malfoy would be there, and that was one face he did not want to see. He could live with the injuries.
"It's not brilliant." Hermione frowned. "That was incredibly stupid, Harry. Malfoy probably deserved it, but...Just how much trouble are you in?"
Harry sighed. Professor Dumbledore was none to happy hear that Harry had been fighting, and when Snape stepped in his office, the situation went from worse to worser. "A lot." He answered. "I'm banned from all school activities for two months."
"Banned from all school activities?" Mindy asked. "What does that mean?"
"Well, no D.A. for one thing." Harry said.
"No D.A?" Ron frowned. "What are we suppose to do about Defense Against the Dark Arts? Professor Dumbledore can't expect us to learn anything from Professor Trelawney."
"That wasn't Professor Dumbledore's idea." Harry answered. "It was Snape's."
"Figures." Ron said rolling his eyes.
"Besides, it's only till the middle of January. I'll get the class back in plenty of time before the end of the year."
"What about Quidditch?" Mindy asked.
Harry smiled weakly. "I can't play, or even participate in the practices."
"What?" Ron asked. "That's crazy. You're the captain."
"This doesn't mean the Gryffindor team has to stop practicing for two months does it?" Hermione asked.
Harry shook his. "No. No. I'm the only one being punished. Listen, Ron. I need you to act as captain for the time, okay?"
"Me?" Ron asked. "Are you sure?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to miss a game, so I figure Ginny can replace me as seeker. We know she's good."
"But then we'll be short one chaser." Mindy said.
"We'll just have to find someone to fill in." Harry answered. "It'll be fine."
"What about evenings?" Hermione asked. "Do you have any detention?"
Harry shook his head. "I guess Professor Dumbledore decided no D.A. and no Quidditch was punishment enough. Snape didn't. He wanted me expelled."
"Aw, it's not like you killed the boy." Ron said. "Just did little damage. I hope you knocked him out, at least."
"Actually I think he did." Mindy said. "Draco did take a pretty bad hit on the head."
"Good." Ron grinned.
"Snape's not going to let you forget this. You know that, Harry?" Hermione said.
Harry nodded and leaned back against the couch. "I know." Harry looked over at Mindy and smiled. "Did I really knock him out?"
Mindy frowned. "I'm surprised at you, Harry. I didn't know you were so violent."
"You heard what he said to me."
"I know. I heard. I agree he deserved...something. Well, I would have just turned him into a wart or a pile of smoldering dung or something."
"Well, next time, I'll just let you handle it." Harry grinned.
Mindy smiled, then, looking very thoughtful, asked. "What about the Yule Ball? That's a school activity. Can you still go?"
Harry's smile faded. He knew this was going to come up. He had hoped not so quickly. "No. I can't go." Harry answered, feeling very guilty about it. The other bans he could live with. Breaking Malfoy's nose was definitely worth it, but if he had known he would have to miss the Yule Ball he might have acted differently. The Yule Ball would have been his and Mindy's first official date and he had ruined it. Worse of all, he had probably ruined her only chance to go to a ball at Hogwarts. "That doesn't mean you can't go." He said, hoping he could make it up to her. "If want to you ask somebody, I'll understand."
Mindy shook her head. "No. If I can't go with you, I don't want to go. We'll stay in Gryffindor tower. It'll be fun."
Harry wrapped his arms around Mindy. "Thanks for understanding."
"Of course." Mindy grinned. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't?"
"And what about Pansy?" Hermione asked, quietly.
"Our plans don't change." Harry answered. "We'll just have to be very careful. Snape got Professor Dumbledore to agree that if I get into anymore trouble during the next two months I get two weeks of detention with him."
"And that's bound to be painful." Ron said grimly.
"So we want get caught." Harry said. "Let's practice during our free period tomorrow and during lunch so Ginny can practice with us as well."
"Are you sure about this?" Mindy asked. "It may be better to wait until after your punishment."
Harry shook his head. "I think we ought to find out what's going on here as quickly as we can."
Mindy didn't look particularly happy with that answer, but she nodded her head in agreement.
The next few days passed quickly. Harry and the others worked on the transfiguration spell every opportunity they could find and soon were all able to become mice with out loosing control to the mouse's instincts.
Friday evening, just before the end of diner, they met in the Room of Requirement and prepared for their covert mission. While mice, they wouldn't be able to speak with each other. To remedy this situation, Hermione came up with a variety of complex whisker flicks and squeaks to convey various meanings; which, of course, no one (save Hermione) could remember. Harry decided it would be best if they just stuck together and kept their ears open. Both Ron and Mindy quickly agreed.
"Are you guys sure you'll be alright, not being able to talk to each other?" Ginny asked.
"We'll be fine Gin. Don't worry." Ron answered. "I just wish I could manage to grow some hair."
Harry reached into his book bag and pulled out his invisibility cloak. "Here, Ginny." He said, handing her the cloak. "Just incase you need it. I'd rather you not turn yourself into a mouse if you can avoid it."
Ginny nodded. "Thanks." She said, taking the cloak and stuffing it into her bag.
"Everybody ready?" Harry asked. He received nods all around. Nodding as well, he pulled out his wand and focused all of his energies on a tiny black and white mouse. He quickly whispered the words "'Metaus Soulesius'." Very rapidly he began to feel the changes. First, it was the stomach lurching feeling of falling. Harry closed his eyes, not wanting to see the floor suddenly rushing up to meet him. Then he fell to all fours as his legs and arms lengthened or shortened to the same length. He felt his thumbs receding and twisting around and prickly hair starting to grow all over his body. His ears elongated and floated to the top of his head. His tail was the last to appear. He was actually surprised to see that he had managed to grow half a tail. The mouse instincts began to buzz in the back of his head and he quickly squashed them down.
Harry looked around and spotted a light brown mouse to one side of him. 'Hermione.' He thought to himself. To the right of Hermione was a mostly naked mouse. A red peach fuzz covered most of the mouse's body, excluding the four feet. 'Ron.' Harry thought. A squeak on his other side caught his attention. He turned to see a silky, jet black mouse. 'Even as a mouse, Mindy's pretty.' Harry thought his whiskers flicking.
Sudden vibrations running through the floor told him, something very large was coming his way. It took him a second to realize it was Ginny, and he fought the urge to run away. Instead, he turned around to face her. Ginny said something as she kneeled down in front of the four little mice. Her voice was distorted and sounded much deeper than what it was. Harry's brain worked furiously as he translated the vibrations coming from her mouth into words. He managed to catch "...Let's go." Just as Ginny placed her hands on the floor, palms up.
Harry climbed onto the left hand, followed by Ron. Hermione and Mindy clamored into the other hand. Ginny lifted them slowly, which was still a little too fast for Harry. Ron squeaked loudly as he backed as close to the center of Ginny's palm as he could go. "Sorry." Ginny whispered apologetically as she put them into her pocket. Harry and Ron slid towards the bottom of Ginny's pocket as she began walking, where they found homework that should have been turned in days ago, broken quills, and a surprisingly large assortment of sweets. Ron allowed himself to slide all the way to bottom where he began to nibble through the wrapping of a chocolate bar.
Harry thumped Ron the head with a paw, to remind the other boy of who he was, then clamored back to the opening of the pocket where he could peer out. Ginny was making her way towards the Great Hall. Diner had just ended and students were filing out, heading towards their dorms. Ginny navigated the crowd, catching up with the Slytherin group. Soon Harry spotted the hulking back of Pansy Parkinson. Her book bag was open, as if she had taken out a book and forgotten to close it. Ginny quickened her pace, shoving her hands into her pockets as she walked. Harry clamored onto her palm again, followed by Ron, and Ginny lifted them out, not bothering to do it slowly or very carefully. Walking with a steady purpose Ginny rammed right into Pansy back, quickly dropping the four mice into the bag.
"Hey, watch it." Pansy barked, swirling around.
"You watch it." Ginny retorted, spinning on her heals and marching off.
The girl Pansy was with grunted something that Harry didn't bother with trying to translate, then the two started off down the hall again. Harry and Ron crawled over Pansy's books as they made their way to Mindy and Hermione. The four mice turned and climbed as high as they could, trying to reach the opening in Pansy's bag, where they could watch where they were heading in the halls.
Pansy stayed with the group of Slytherins she had been walking with, and Harry was beginning to think they were just going to wind up in the Slytherin common room. But then Pansy turned away from the group. "I have to go do something." She explained, waving. "I'll catch up."
She turned down a dark hall and headed deeper into the school. Harry's whiskers flicked with excitement as Pansy took corridor after corridor, often heading down halls Harry had never seen. 'Where is she going?' He wondered. Just when he was beginning think Pansy was walking circles, they came to a stop in the middle of a dark hall, next to an open window.
Pansy's eyes roved the darkness. "Are...are you here?" She called timidly.
"Of course I am, you fool girl. Do you have any news for me?" A voice answered.
Harry stretched as far as he could, trying very hard to see who was speaking, but the person remained in the shadows. He couldn't see anything; mice did not have the best of eyesight. He couldn't even try guessing the identity from the voice, since the mouse ears distorted the sound. What he could feel, however, was Pansy trembling. Who ever she was talking with, it someone she was very afraid of.
"No...No news." Pansy answered.
"What about that, kid? Is the nosey brat still alive?"
Pansy nodded. "Th-they're working on the cure. A lot of people think he may live."
"Damn. If that kid wakes up, he'll alert Dumbledore to my presence. I can't have him knowing I'm here before I'm ready." The voice paused, then said, "I suppose it's time to speed things up a bit."
"What are you going to do?" Pansy whispered.
"You know already."
"Yes, but, I mean, I-I don't think..."
"Of course you don't. That's why I tell you what to do. Lead him to me."
Pansy said nothing. She looked down, trembling even more.
"What's wrong? No stomach for death? I didn't think you would mind seeing him dead."
"I don't." Pansy answered quickly. "It's just..."
"Lead him to me, Parkinson. I'll take care of the rest."
Pansy sighed, and nodded mutely.
Just then the shadow wavered and began to shrink and every fiber in Harry's mouse body began to scream with panic. A gigantic black owl emerged from the shadows. The mouse's instincts kicked, overpowering whatever control Harry had. An owl was one of the most deadly enemies a mouse had and it was hard wired into the animal's very body to get away whenever that shadow past over. This owl was close, too close. Harry knew that the owl knew nothing of him and his friends, but the mouse didn't. The mouse thought an owl that close most certainly meant sudden and painful death and it had to do whatever was in its power to do to survive.
The mouse decided Pansy's bag was too high up. The owl could get him far too easily. And so it clamored over the edge, followed by three other mice and tumbled to the floor. It landed with a whack but was quickly back on its feet and running as fast as its little legs would carry. Harry was sure the owl had spotted him, but it didn't seem to have much interest in him. It flew off in the opposite direction before diving out the window. Harry didn't even try to take control of the mouse again, allowing its flight response to carry him far away from that hall, from Pansy Parkinson, and from the person talking of murder in the shadows.
~*~*~*~*~*
I was quite surprised at how many people wanted Draco to be evil. Well, evil is as evil does and Draco Malfoy shall be one evil dude. I promise, before the end of this fic you're gonna hate him even more than you already do. I'll tell you now though, he won't be a death eater; just a little annoying, yucky, boy.
Anyhoo, chapter nine is done. I'm working on ten even as you read this. Hopefully I should have it up soon. At least I hope it won't take me a month to update again. I know it's annoying when you're following a fic and the author just disappear. I'll do better. I promise. Well, here are comments to reviews:
Crookykanks: Sorry, I took more time to up-date.
Penny: Sorry you hate the vote. Since this is a quick feed back type system I just think its fun if the reviewers have a little say so in how the story goes. I just take the initial ideas everybody has and run a muck with them anyway. But thank you for your compliment. It makes me feel cheery.
Wolf : Am I so obvious?
Drax: Hey, don't make fun of their animal choices. Hermione was considering becoming an otter you know. And she was an abnormally small Sphinx. Magical creatures are still animals. Dragons would be off limits because they are great big lizards and Professor Lupin specifically told them to choose mammals. What would you have chosen for them—mammals only!
ping*pong5: Glad you're starting to see Harry/Mindy in a semi-positive light. Thanks for your comments.
On-A-Rainy-Day: Okay. I am so obvious. But of course you brilliant people would pick it up. I am so not good with rearranging names and making them not sound, well, stupid. But good work.
pottyaboutharrypotter: I would love a Draco/Ginny ship. I love Darco/Ginny romances, but unfortunately I don't think that will work in this fic. We'll see, though.
TeenTypist: You bet Malfoy's going to cause some trouble. And again, I am so freakin' obvious. Everybody is guessing my bad guy correctly. You see, that is why I could never write a good mystery.
superhpfreak: I think I answered your first question in the beginning A/N. As for how to font in ff.net, I'll go back up and type that in right now, excuse me please... Okay, I'm back. Now, about the pink tights...do you really want to know where I got that from? I'll tell you since you asked. I have this one teacher who reminds me of Professor Snape. (I mean stinking evil, and freakin' hard) One day a student caught a glimpse of his "socks", which were not socks but pink tights. Of course the student mentioned it, and everybody was like "Oh, my God, he's wearing pink tights." At which point our teacher decided to confess to the class that he likes to where little girl tights because they (and I'm quoting here) "hold my legs in". You can imagine the looks crossing our faces. Well, when real life turns out to be so darn interesting, it's only right to incorporate it into fiction. Now, does Snape where pink tights? Hmmm, what do you think?
Oh, now I know you're going to scowled me, but please be nice. And sorry, I made Draco cute (I just couldn't resist), but he's still evil. And not cool. Definitely not cool at all.
That is all the comments this time. So I will say good-bye for now, and see you next chapter. Oh yes, and review please. You can leave all your rantings about me and my horrible up-dating habits if you like. But please remember to mention something about the chapter.
C-ya.
Review!!!