Chapter Eight: Two From Each House

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter, and am not getting money for this.

A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait, but before you bombard me with complaints, I do have an excuse. Well, this time. A helicopter crashed into a power line in Cable, Wisconsin not long ago, and fell into the lake, killing its three passengers: the pilot, a thirteen year old boy, and his mother. The boy was Andrew Thomas Stockwell, a boy whom I've known since first grade, and I've been paired with since then because of our higher-level English, science, and math classes. This resulted in shock, grief, forgetting about the fic, lack of inspiration, and utter loss of ambition. It's taken a while to get on track after the freak accident, which shocked a lot of us into realizing how much is at stake, but I think I've got it. Life must go on. And so shall this fic. So, once again, sorry, and please bear with me. Thanks. Oh, and thanks to my wonderful betas. I really don't like this chapter at all, and it was more spit out than written, but please bear with me. The next one is much better, xD.
-Scarlett

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Hermione paced back and forth on the platform in front of the staff table as students filed in, talking about the encounters and fight in the hall. The ceiling of the Great Hall showed an overcast sky, threatening to rain, rays of sun not even up yet. She sighed as she saw students sitting down at their separate tables, segregating themselves just like they were used to.

"Soronus," she said, pointing her wand at her throat.

"Students!" Several students jumped as the Great Hall immediately fell quiet at the sound of her voice.

"Where's Dumbledore?" someone shouted out when the realized the staff table was empty. Immediately, the entire hall was whispering, talking, and, soon, yelling.

"Students!" Hermione cried again, trying to catch their attention. "That is why we're here!" A hush instantly fell over the room.

"I have recently discovered that the staff of the castle are no where to be found," she told them, emitting a gasp from many students' lips. "The house elves are gone, the teachers are gone, Filch is gone, and- you may have noticed this on your way here- but the portraits are also gone."

"That's what felt wrong, Harry!" Ginny gasped.

Hermione felt the students growing restless and paused for a second to let that sink in. "We don't know why, and we don't know how; there are no notes, no clues that we've found. There are dangerous things in the hallways that we need to be protected from. We need people to do laundry, and sweep the floors. We need people to set charms and wards in the common rooms and halls. We need people to cook our meals. We need people to figure out why the teachers are gone. We need to figure out how these dangers got in, and what we can do about them. We need to stay together, to work this out. We need someone to take charge, and we need a council," she told them, and raised a hand to stop the murmurs. "We need two people from each house to be elected. Keep in mind that this is not a popularity contest! We need you to pick the most responsible people. I will give you ten minutes to chose."

With that, Hermione stepped down and set off towards Gryffindor table.

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The Slytherins looked at each other, most with confused looks on their faces.

"The entire Hogwarts staff is gone? Is that why we're out of bed so early, Draco?" Pansy purred.

"I can't believe they'd just get up and leave!" Blaise exclaimed, shaking his head.

"Alright, we need to chose two people for the council," Theodore reminded them; Draco smirked.

"All stand who would like to be on the council," Draco said, standing himself. He watched as Millicent Bullstrode, Crabbe, Goyle, Daphne Greengrass, and Blaise stood up.

"Crabbe, Goyle, do you even know what a council is?" Millicent demanded.

They looked at each other and shrugged before sitting down, eliminating two of the six self-proclaimed candidates. Blaise and Draco faced Daphne and Millicent before Daphne sat down.

"If you guys want to be part of the council, that's alright with me," she said with a shrug.

When neither of the three sat down, Draco turned and faced the Slytherin table, and told them how to vote.

"Raise your hand if you want to elect me," he said, counting the hands. "Now Blaise…. alright, and now Millicent. Okay, it looks like Blaise and I will be the new council members, thank you."

Millicent sat down with a humph and muttered something about sexism as she glared at the two boys, who were too busy smirking at each to notice.

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Students were still murmuring about the turn of events at the Ravenclaw table until Lisa stood up.

"You all heard Hermione, and what she said was right. We need a council to organize everything, and we need to choose two people from Ravenclaw."

With a swish of her wand, a small slip of parchment and some quills appeared in front of everyone.

"Write down one person, and only one, who you'd like to see on the council, and you may not write yourself. Keep in mind what Hermione said, this isn't a popularity contest, your best friend won't die if you don't write them down. Write down who you think has a leadership role, and is responsible enough to take this part," she explained before sitting down to scribble 'Terry Boot' on her paper. Moments later she summoned the slips to her, and sorted them into piles.

"Looks like I came in first, Terry came in second, and Mandy, you came in close third. So Terry and I will be the Ravenclaw representatives. Thanks, you guys," she said with a smile before sitting down to wait for Hermione's next announcement; she was the obvious leader of them all.

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The Hufflepuffs looked nervously at each other, quietly thinking about what was going on, and what was going to happen.

"Well, I suppose we should chose two representatives," Susan said, breaking the silence. Her words were followed by nods from either end of the table.

"I nominate Justin," a fourth-year said after a moment of thought. Justin stood up and looked around, fidgeting with the bottom of his shirt nervously.

"I'll nominate Hannah," Eleanor Branstone said timidly.

"And Ernie!" someone else added.

"How about Susan?"

"Alright, alright, I think that's enough," Justin said as Hannah, Ernie, and Susan stood up. "Do any of you not want to be in the council?"

The four students looked at each other and Susan sat down.

"I don't think I'd be up for it," she admitted with a small smile before yawning.

"I'd be alright with it," Ernie said with a shrug, and was followed by a nod from Hannah.

"Alright, I want to know who wants Hannah to be part of the council by a raise of hands," Terry said, counting as hands went up.

"How about Ernie?" he asked as he counted the hands again.

"And me? Alright, alright," he said, totaling the votes. "Sorry, Ernie, but I guess Hannah and I will be a part of the council."

"That's alright, Terry," Ernie said with a smile. "I feel safer knowing you two are on it anyways."

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At the Gryffindor table they had decided right away. Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lavender had been nominated for the position, but Hermione had won by unanimous vote the first time, probably because of the leadership she'd shown earlier and her reputation. She'd smiled and blushed a bit when she'd seen the raise of hands, and was very pleased. Even though she had expected to be chosen, she hadn't imagined it would be unanimous.

"Okay, well, we still need a second council-member," she reminded them, and they took another vote, with Hermione out. After a quick count, Hermione smiled.

"Looks like Harry's our new Gryffindor council-member. You think the other houses are ready?" she asked, fiddling with the sleeve of her sweater; she hadn't bothered to put on her school robes, although almost everyone else had.

"I'm sure they are," Harry said, coming to stand by her side. He put a hand on her shoulder to calm her nerves. "Don't worry. We've got this under control."

"I certainly hope so," she said, looking at him over her shoulder. "I don't know what'll happen if we don't."

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Hermione walked from her table up to the staff table, and the hall immediately fell silent.

"Does anyone need more time?" she asked, looking around. When it was obvious no one did, she continued. "Will the representatives from Slytherin please make their way up here?"

Blaise and Draco stood up and sauntered over to Hermione, where she reached out her hand and shook theirs. Draco hesitated, but when Hermione sent him a glare no one but he could see, he quickly shook her hand and took his own back.

"Congratulations, Blaise and Draco," she said with authority. "Now will the representatives from Ravenclaw please come forward?"

Lisa stood up and started towards the table when she realized Terry wasn't following. "Terry!"

"What?"

"Get up here!" she hissed at him.

"Oh!" Terry leaped off the bench, but caught his foot and landed face down on the floor, causing a nervous laughter to sweep the hall.

"Uuh," he moaned as Lisa turned around and reached out a hand to help him.

Hermione smiled as they approached. "Glad to see you two up here," she said as she shook each of there hands. Terry scratched his head as he blushed and moved off to the side.

"How about Hufflepuff?"

Hannah and Justin made their way to the front without any injuries, and were soon standing next to the other five council members.

"And Harry and I are the Gryffindor part of the council," she announced as Harry stood up.

"Is there anyone else you'd like to see on this council?" she asked, looking around. Lavender Brown stood up wearily, as did Padma Patil.

"Lavender?" Hermione asked.

"I would like to see Ginny Weasley on the council," she announced to the room with confidence. Ginny smiled and blushed a bit as a chorus of "yeah" swept the table.

"Who disagrees with this?" Hermione asked fairly, and when no one but a couple of Slytherins raised their hands, she motioned for Ginny to join them.

"Padma? Who do you want up here?"

"I think Mandy should be up there, too."

"Does anyone disagree on this tenth person?" Hermione asked, scanning the room. Most people were still half asleep, and this time no one raised their hands.

"Come on up, Mandy," she told the girl. "Now if everyone will just relax for a few minutes, the council will figure out how to deal with the food and wards. No one leaves the Great Hall, I don't want something to happen to them. Now, if the council will follow me." Hermione motioned for a door on the side of the wall, where Harry, Fleur, Cedric, and Viktor had disappeared through three years before.

The council entered a chamber filled with deep red plush chairs and pillows, matching drapery on the walls, a dark mahagony table, and dim lighting. There were two low couches without armrests on either side of the table, both draped with a blanket and pillows. Two more couches were behind the others on an elevated platform, and were just the opposite, and a fifth couch sat opposite the door on ground level.Draco immediately sat down on one of the three couches and was followed by Blaise. Hermione and Ginny sat together on the fifth couch, and Harry sat by Justin on the third ground-level couch.

"All right," Hermione started when everyone was seated. "I think we should separate the students into teams, but the question is: what teams? We'll definitely need a cooking team, and a team to put safety wards on the rooms, especially after what happened this morning."

"We're going to need a team to do the laundry," Lisa pointed out from her position above Harry. "And a team to clean up after meals and in the dormitories. We can combine those into one."

Hermione nodded and started writing on a summoned piece of parchment.

"We'll need a team of researchers," Harry suggested. "We'll need to know about any dangers we might face, and we need to figure out why the staff left."

"Yes, yes. Is there anything else?"

"What about a team that'll be ready to battle another skrewt, or something?" Hannah suggested.

"Good idea," Hermione told her, "but I think everyone should be ready, and all of us could do that. So we've got four teams… good. That means ten people a team, right?" The council nodded.

"What about us?" Draco pointed out. "Do we just sit here on our lazy asses all day? Not that I'm complaining." Blaised laughed along with Draco.

"We'll help out wherever we're needed, and oversee things," Lisa told him as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Needless to say, that set him back a little bit.

Before Draco could reply, Hermione interrupted.

"Okay, I think that's all we need for now. Let's go have them sign up." Hermione stood up and the rest followed. She explained the teams to the students, and had them go into different corners of the hall for each team, with one in the middle, and soon each of the teams held ten people, and they'd chosen a leader for their group.

Lavender stood up for the cooking committee, which consisted of her, Neville, Millicent, Colin Creevy, Susan Bones, and five other students who had been ushered over when they didn't know where to go. Ron stood defiantly for the team to build the wards. Seamus, Dean, Luna, Parvati, Ernie Macmillian, Anothony Goldstein, and Jimmy Peakes stood behind him, all some of the top students in charms. The research committee was already getting tips and outlines from Hermione, who, no doubt, would be down there most of the time. Padma had taken the lead role there, and led a group of students who were usually organized, and were willing to follow directions and read footnotes. The team that would clean stood with a sulky look on their faces. The group consisted of Pansy, a girl named Orla, Crabbe, Goyle, Romilda Vane, and five other students. It seemed that most people in the last group had been pushed together in order to make all the teams even.

Moments later Hermione had already started shouting orders right and left. The cooks were sent down immediately to start on breakfast. Hermione decided to send Ginny down with them to help if anything crossed their paths, and to see if she could figure out the charm the house elves used to make the food appear on the tables in the Great Hall. The researchers were handed out outlines that Hermione had made before the fighting had started outside the Great Hall an hour or so ago. They didn't need coaxing from Hermione to get them running to the library, followed by a grumbling Blaise, who was their appointed protection. The cleaning committee had been divided up into two teams to gather the laundry and clean the common rooms, and had eagerly accepted Hannah and Mandy for defense and help when they were sent off. The wards team was last in the Great Hall.

"All right," Hermione told them. "We need to decide where to set up the wards, and we need to rank the rooms of highest importance. Any ideas?"

"I think we ought to ward the rooms we'll be in the most, so that means the common rooms, great hall, kitchens, and library," Harry said sensibly, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"I've already started the wards in here," the bookworm said triumphantly. "I only did the doors though. But I'm pretty sure another skrewt that size would be able to make it in."

"Why don't we split up into teams of four for now?" Ron suggested. "Each team can go to a common room and secure that. That way we'll at least have the common rooms secure by this evening."

"Good idea," Lisa added, with her own thoughts. "I can help them with that. Will you go, too, Mandy?"

"Sure," Mandy mumbled, already falling back asleep. "I'll go with."

"Justin and I will go, too," Terry said, speaking up.

"Well, it's settled, then," Hermione said with a smile. It was nice that at least some of the students could think on their own…

"Let's go!" Ron said enthusiastically, enjoying the attention of group leader, as he rushed out the door, his group following him.

"That leaves us," Harry said, leaning on a table as he looked at his two companions. Hermione looked ready to faint. Her eyes were red and her hair frizzier than normal, the bags under her eyes not helping the matter. Draco looked sleepy, but not quite as bad. There were bags, but his eyes weren't half as red, and his hair, of course, never got frizzy. Harry was sure he looked just as bad, and his hair terrible.

"Well, if you don't mind, Hermione, I think I'm going to go help Ron in the Gryffindor common room," Harry said in a daze.

"Sure, sure," she said, shaking herself in an effort to wake up. "Maybe I'll see if they have coffee or something in the kitchens."

"Coffee?" Draco asked.

With a sigh, Hermione said, "Nevermind."

She stood there, leaning against the staff table, wiping her weary eyes as Harry strode through the stoors, flinging them both out in the dramatic flair of the dream world he was already drifting off into. Looking at those doors, Hermione was transfixed. They seemed to trigger a memory… in her daze, it took a moment to realize what it was.

"Oh, shit," she groaned, falling to the floor.

"What?" Draco asked, shaken from his own reverie by Hermione's unusual cursing.

"We forgot something."

"No, I think we covered everything."

"No, no, it was something big," she told him, burying her face in her hands.

"Tell me, then," he demanded.

"Remember Fred and George?"

For a brief moment just long enough to stand out, her question was lead by silence.

"Oh. Shit."

"Yeah. That's what I thought."

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A/N: Thanks to the reviewers: Arden Ranger, Rose Mitzkah, Sienna, Kaichai, Lauren, and Juliana, you guys make me world go round.