Without Question
By Tien Riu
tien_riu@yahoo.com
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Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all characters belong to J.K. Rowlings. Plot (what little there is of it ^_^) and depiction of characters are mine. WARNING: The future of this piece of fiction contains slash/yaoi/shonen ai/homosexual relationships.
Reviews greatly appreciated, specifically on characterisation. The more I deal with non-main characters from the books, the more likely it is that I end up verging towards out-of-characterisation problems. So early warnings might be nice. ^_^
Author's note and response to reviews after chapter.
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Chapter Nineteen: Interlude
Luckily - for the sanity of the professors if nothing else - the first month at Hogwarts passed without further mishap. Well, other than several incidents later catalogued by one Colin Creevey and his younger brother and published in an amusing student-produced newsletter. Several copies were promptly confiscated by Professor McGonagall who - along with most of the faculty - spent one productive Sunday morning using it to catch up with the latest gossip.
One was a well caught picture of Hermione Granger's expression on entering the Library one afternoon to discover that Professor Flitwick had handed out one of his more infamous seventh year assignments. A hoard of ravenous Ravenclaws had descended onto the Library to denude its shelves the night before. It was said that the Gryffindor had been in tears (which was a lie - as the picture clearly showed, she had looked angry enough to cast stupefy on the nearby first year Ravenclaw sneaking away with the last copy of 'Ignatius - A Study of Fire').
There were several pictures - mostly from a distance - of Draco Malfoy fulfilling the terms of his punishment after classes as he gradually restored the pegasus herd (thus far, there had been fifteen retrievals, fourteen escapes and the colt was still featherless). Practical Care of Magical Creatures classes had been cancelled till the herd was recovered in its totality. Which might have explained how the fourteen had escaped but not why six pregnant pegasus mares would prefer the top of the Divinations Tower to the stables. The Weasley twins had been quick to deny any involvement - almost before Hagrid had started laughing at Sibyll Trelawney's expression.
Most of the incidents revolved, of course, around the varied (and many) accidents on the Quidditch Pitch. The trials for new players had aficionados in second year onwards on edge - and, as expected, in the Infirmary. The Wronski Feint, at last count, had been attempted a total of thirty-eight times - with thirty-seven and a half injuries. (The last because the Creevey brothers weren't sure whether it was fair to count Jeffrey Knights one broken leg as a whole injury considering all the others had ended up with multiple fractures)
It was Severus who noticed - much later - the lack of any mention on the usual Potter-Malfoy fights. Considering that battles between the two poster-boys for their appropriate Houses had made the first days of the new year so - enlightening - it would have been an understatement to say the faculty had expected outright warfare to be declared by Halloween.
However, Harry Potter was most often to be found avoiding the Weasley twins (still attempting to convince him to rejoin Gryffindor's Quidditch Team as Seeker), Ron (out for his blood for giving up the aforementioned position) and Hermione Granger (who, as Ron Weasley was busy running away from first year Hufflepuffs that year, had been roped into an early study schedule for his upcoming O.W.L.s). Draco Malfoy - in past years usually seen surrounded by his Slytherin peers and sycophants - was avoiding everybody.
It might have worried Severus - had he not already passed the shoals of worry, the rapids of frantic anxiety and been becalmed in apprehension. The research - conducted this time with Hermione Granger on stolen time via the time turners - continued, and with one month already gone, the news was neither good nor conclusive.
The rest of the school (or at least the rest of the school excepting the first years) might have noticed the sudden lack of coherency in the Granger-Weasley-Potter alliance - or the sudden declaration of peace on the Malfoy-Potter front if not for the 'Slytherin Incident'.
The Incident (as it was later abbreviated) was catalogued through a series of time-delayed shots been captured by Colin Creevey (who had been serving detention with Professor Severus Snape for attempting to take photos during class) the night most of the fifth year Slytherin class managed to detonate half the old potions storage closet, all of the seventh year potions class room and transfigure the ceiling and walls of half the dungeons transparent. All by accident - if Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson and Gregory Goyle were to be believed. Professor Snape, on discovering the destruction gave the entire class (excepting Draco Malfoy who had been out searching for the pegasus herd) detention until after the Christmas holidays. As it had been, at that stage, the latter end of September, even the Weasley twins were knocked out of contention for the year's longest and harshest detention. Suffice to also say, Slytherin House's points were reduced to negative marks and the fifth year Slytherin class were seen walking in a large group and avoiding the sixth and seventh year Slytherins (who were, so Colin Creevey quoted with a grin: "Not amused.").
Thus, the school year continued, and life at Hogwarts reached as close to a routine as it could.
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Author's Note: Yes, a very short segment. I originally intended to release this with the next chapter after my exams were over.
However, in light of the shooting that occurred at my university on Monday - and the fact that I desperately need something to take my mind off what happened - I finished "Interlude" off and decided to release it now with the review responses.
Advanced apologies in case I miss anybody - I read all the reviews, but I have problems occasionally figuring out precisely which ones I've replied to in previous chapters.
deso - ~embarrased~ Fictionalley.org were right to postpone the 'publishing' of "Without Question". The brief read-through I've made keeps revealing more and more little problems throughout the piece. Irregardless of what other stories are like, so long as "Without Question" isn't perfect, it reflects badly that other people have read it. But thanks for the support anyway. I won't say that I wasn't slightly hurt that I was kicked back. Ah well - always room for improvement. ^_^
Fanny chan - admitedly, the Interlude is a fairly short read, but I hope this was soon enough for you. ^_^
mistykasumi - apologies for Chapter Seventeen's shortness. Hopefully Chapter 18 and 19 more than made up for it. ^_^
MiniMe - 0_0 (I'm a fan of your work! ... The more this happens, the more I'm shocked that authors *I*'m a rabid fan of read my work and actually *like* it... ~homage to MiniMe ^_^~)
Meanwhile - the Slytherins' reaction to Draco is of significance. As is most of what happens in the Interlude (though of course, which parts of the Interlude and how significant is another question all together ^_^).
AshFarley - I'll definately take you up on the beta reader offer. ^_^
In the meantime, you're fairly close to guessing future problems between Harry and Draco. While avoiding ruining future plot points, I will confirm that Draco is more or less obsessed with Harry. And that Harry's lack of thought over Draco is a significant point in all their encounters (and isn't just me being lazy and refusing to write overly much through Harry's eyes).
Sildstr - ~grins~ Thanks for reviewing again.
Bienfoy - Hey! Welcome back - haven't seen you in ages. ^_^
Erika - Ah, 'The Encounter'. There's a reason why I haven't mentioned it yet. It will come up - eventually. ~grins~
As for the building - well, after the 'Interlude' things start speeding up. Which is why I'm waiting till after my exams end before I'll start writing again.
VeronicaQ - "Without Question" is like real life? 0_o I would be so lucky. (~sigh~ Though my life briefly resembled a horrific version of Weiss Kreuz on Monday).
Kandra - You'll get to see what happens regarding Harry (not to mention Cho and Draco) and Quidditch in the next chapter. As for Hermione - ~grins~ she is completely and utterly bogged down in 'homework'. As is most of the Order students. You'll probably figure out which of the students are Order-linked simply by their general interest in sleep. ^-^
And - well, Chapter Nineteen brought the Harry/Draco action forward didn't it? ^_^ And as for the non PG-13 dream sequences I had to cut... Well - maybe one day. ^_-
Whisp - there's something wrong with the summary? ~winces~ I know, it does come across a trifle - puffed-up doesn't it?
Thanks for pointing out the Chapter Seven problem - I'm trying to find my copy of Chapter Seven so I can re-upload. ^_^ And also - in regards to the 'Wingardium Leviosa' spell: you're absolutely correct (!). I read the same message topic just after I wrote the chapter and my first thought was: "Yes! Suits my [censored for plot points]!" ~grins~ This will come up later, but I won't ruin the reason why I'm not saying more by saying more now. ^_^
Lizza - thanks for the bludger-beater points. ~winces in shame~ No wonder Fictionalley.org told me to fix these mistakes!
Gryph - Thanks for the review - and the characters are complex? [glows]
VenomZ - would you believe, you're the first Harry Potter fan to put me onto their Favourite Author's list? Thank you.
A/N: Review? Please? If only to point out plot holes? Or out-of-characterisation? Or if not tell me how much you loved it (this last because Sildtsr told me to stop asking for 'it sucks' messages ^_^)