Disclaimer:
Blaise: Why do you always do this?
Draco: Do what?
Blaise: You know what! Don't be stupid!
Draco: What are you so pissed about?
Blaise: It's common courtesy to put the seat down after flushing something down the toilet, especially the author's dog.
Draco: That wasn't the author's dog?
Blaise: Then what was it?
Draco: It was the author.
So, as you can see, I had no opportunity to take anything illegally that belongs to the Harry Potter World.
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Author's Note: Wow it's been a while. Well, my summer dance classes have doubled because our company is going to be the lead company this upcoming year. Also, I've had band camp (make fun of me if you want) like almost everyday, so I've come home tired without any fuel to think about my fanfic. I haven't been completely neglecting it though, but All the Little Things is going through some tough time because I need to add some detail so the ending will make sense. Well, anyways, here are the thanks for the reviews. I want to get this up quickly for you guys, so I'll thank everyone individually next chapter if I up date quick enough.
Hope you enjoy reading!
……………………………………………………..
I can honestly say that this has been the most awkward position I've been in for a long time. We even had time to start a routine. Blaise would huff, I would scowl, Potter and Granger would look worried, Weasley swore under his breath, and the centaurs grunted. All in all, it was a very bad situation. I mean, how often do angry centaurs, a gigantic hairy thing, and five wizards who just had a near death experience in the same Forbidden Forest? This definitely is a cause for confusion.
"What's a Grawp?" I asked along with Blaise and the heard of centaurs after the longest pause in a century.
"That's a Grawp," pointed Weasel like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
We all looked at the Grawp in question. It was very hairy, and when I say hairy, I mean it. The only place not covered with hair was it's nose, which it probably uses to sniff out it's victims. Then again, it can't be too bad considering it hasn't eaten Weasel yet. He's the fat one. Plus, judging by the way Granger's facial expression was twisted into an admiration short of thing, it definitely couldn't be that bad.
"Never seen one of those in a textbook," said Blaise.
Blaise then made a move to get a better look at it, but thought better of it since the centaur next to him was holding a very pointy object. He sighed and gave a questioning look to Granger. He gave up after he noticed she wasn't paying attention to him.
"Actually-," started Potter before getting nudged in the rib.
Potter turned around and looked at his two tag-a-longs. To the normal person, it would've been an ordinary look, but to me, it seemed like an understanding was passing between them. Something was up. If the mob of centaurs and that grawp thing is a prank, then they better damn well pray that their disgusting, crimson windows are locked at night.
"Like I was saying, grawps aren't in textbooks. They…um…are very scarce and rare. I wonder what one is doing in the forest," he said in a strained voice.
"If it's not in your wizarding textbooks," started Temith, "then how do you know about it?"
That's exactly what I want to know.
"Well," started Granger with a slight quiver in her voice, "Hagrid is quite fond of the unusual types of animals."
"Me not unusual," protested Grawp, having a little difficulty pronouncing unusual.
Granger's facial expression switched from one of strained bravery to a fond expression. "I know Grawp," she said, making a motion to air five it.
Grawp air fived back. I knew I would laugh about this later. Creatures don't know how to air five, so she obviously had to teach it how to air five.
"Anyways, he found one in the forest in our fifth year. I'm not quite sure how he knows, but that's who I got my information from," she continued with a sterner voice.
If she was lying, she was damn good at it.
"Well, we can't very well ask Hagrid after that wheelbarrow and torch incident," thought Temith.
"I didn't mean to," said the birthday centaur indignanatly.
We all looked at the centaur who supposedly had a birthday today. I had a confused expression that clearly stated, 'What the hell was the wheelbarrow and torch incident?' It clearly was one of the secrets kept out of Hogwarts, or else I would've known what it was referring to. There better be a description of this incident, because I think this little piece of information could totally bring them down.
However, before I could open my beautiful mouth to ask, Blaise asked," What wheelbarrow and torch incident?"
I could feel the tension rise after that moment. Granger's shoulders tensed, Weasel got really red, and Potter gave me the 'death' glare that's supposed to make kids under the age of 10 crap their pants.
Temith gave Blaise a slight glare before explaining the much-needed information. "Kemlo over there got mad and tried to attack those three in the wheelbarrow they were hiding in. Then, Mr. Weasley decided to grab a torch and fend him away, but Kemlo kicked his arm in frustration and sent the torch flying and Hagrid's hut on fire."
This reminded me of something. Last year, around the end of September, the oaf's hut had smoke coming out of it. Of course, I took the glory and said it was a Slytherin prank, but I never actually got where it came from.
"So the hut catching on fire last year wasn't a Slytherin prank?" asked Blaise.
He always has to ask first.
"Definietely not," replied the Weasel as if reliving the memory.
"So much for taking the glory in that one," I said dejectedly and slightly annoyed at how Blaise got to ask the questions before I did.
Everyone then decided to turn to me and give me confused/angry looks.
"Taking glory for that act was highly unintelligent," said Temith sharply.
After a couple of grunts of agreement from the centaurs, we settled into another awkward silence. It was almost painful. We've been in at least eight awkward silences today. I even tried inching away, but the centaur facing my back snorted angrily enough to make me cower behind Blaise. Blaise nudged for me to get up, and we resumed our awkward silence.
After a slight shift from the birthday centaur, or Kemlo, he said in a meek voice, "So I guess we should attack Grawp too?"
There were a couple of murmurs and a loud 'Yeah!' from the back of the herd before Temith said, "No. We don't know too much about the creature to attack."
Well, at least the brute was wise enough to see that.
All he has to do now is let us go. Who knew that by the end of the day, I'd be in the Forbidden Forest with the golden trio and an angry mob of centaurs.
I saw the centaurs head start shaking in a really weird angle, his mouth open four times, and his hands hit his ears a couple of times before saying, "Okay, we shall let you wizards go. Keep in mind this is not out of sympathy. I don't want you wizards in here unless the world is in grave danger again. Understood?"
"Understood," replied the trio simultaneously.
And, as you can guess, there was another awkward silence.
"Can us go now?" asked the grawp thingy, apparently oblivious to the tension filling the whole forest.
Granger gave him a stern look and shook her head.
"Please," it added sheepishly.
The centaurs nodded their consent.
Granger sighed in relief and looked at the creature sweetly. "Okay Grawp. Can you pick us up and bring us to Hagrid?"
"Okay Herhine. Me takes yous to Hagrid!" said Grawp happily.
Blaise and I had to snort at the way that thing couldn't pronounce Granger's name. We were having a good time making fun of that until that things huge hand came creeping towards us…
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
After Harry, Ron, and I got picked up by Grawp, the Slytherins just couldn't help having something to say.
"You're not seriously going to make us get on that-." Malfoy started with a sneer.
Grawp looked at them weirdly, his face almost daring us to say something mean.
"Nice thing," finished Blaise awkwardly. Everything involving us five was awkward these days.
"Sees! Me nicey thing!" Grawp said with triumph.
"Yes you are Grawp," I replied. I then looked at the two most infuriating Slytherins in the world. "And yes, I do expect you to jump up in his hand. It's the only way for guaranteeing a safe journey from the wolf-hounds."
Of course, Harry and Ron knew the wolf-hounds wouldn't come, but we had to scare them into trusting Grawp somehow.
"I thought there were no wolf-hounds. You said they wouldn't come bother us," said Zabini with an unmistakable shiver in his voice.
I inwardly groaned at Zabini's ability to remember information. This calls for a quick lie. "No, I only said wolf-hounds wouldn't come and attack Harry, Ron, and me. The hounds don't know you, so like the spiders, they won't give up fresh blood. Plus, Malfoy is getting incredibly porky so…"
"I am not fat mudblood. I have a way better body than your two boyfriends."
"You're only putting us down because you actually are fat and insecure," said Harry with a triumphant grin.
I glared at Harry for making it worse, but I did let him see the glint in my eye that showed him I liked his comeback. He winked back as Ron started making weird chortling sounds.
To my surprise and amusement, I turned back around and found Malfoy sucking it up and climbing on Grawp.
Temith sighed with annoyance. We apparently solidified his belief that all wizards are stupid, slow, and slightly sadistic. "We shall escort you out of the forest, to make sure nothing happens to our home."
"Okay," said Grawp in a happy voice. Apparently he was happy to see us. We hadn't visited him since the end of 6th year.
Temith sighed again. "Herd in formation behind that…"
"Nice thing," said Zabini before Temith could offend Grawp. The giant had the worst temper, especially when you actually inform him of the huge booger up his nose.
"Yes, behind that nice thing," agreed Temith with yet another sigh. "No one strays, which means no stopping for grass. That means you Golroy."
"Aw man!"
I rolled my eyes at his commands. Honestly, you'd think he was preparing to travel across the continent on foot. One centaur saw me roll my eyes and grunted at me. I rolled my eyes at the other centaur this time before turning the other way and getting out of the forest.
…………………………………………………………………..
After getting off that awful creature, at the edge of the forest, it left to go chase after a butterfly it saw. The centaurs were just standing there stupidly and waiting for us to get far enough away from the forest.
"I hope you have a happy birthday," said Blaise trying to be sincere, even though we all know he sucks at it.
"I don't think we should care," I said without thinking and more annoyed than ever.
The Golden Trio and Blaise looked at me like I was the murderous herd of centaurs. I shrugged back. If I don't care about people, I tell them. Granger should know that by now.
My thoughts were interrupted by a low growl.
"What did you just say wizard?" asked the Kemlo centaur in a low grumble.
"I said, I don't think we should care about your birthday centaur," I repeated icily, not aware of Kemlo advancing on me with an angry expression.
The before mentioned centaur then started to beat it's hooves against the ground. You could practically see the steam coming out of his nose, and his eyes turned this dark shade of red. It doesn't scare me though. The only reaction I had was staring back at it in amusement.
"Now he's gone and done it," I heard the Weasel whisper.
I rolled my eyes. These centaurs weren't going to hurt us. I don't even think they intended to when we were in the forest. Well, actually I did, but that's not the point. What are they so afraid of? We're out of the forest so these centaurs aren't a threat anymore…right?
"That wizard ruined his birthday," yelled a centaur in the back.
I saw the trio and Blaise back away from where I was standing. I only had time to give them a look of confusion before I heard a loud…
"AARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Draco, RUN!" screamed Blaise. "RUN FOR YOUR CLOSE TO BEING NON-EXISTANT LIFE!"
Despite Blaise's optimistic view of the situation, I did exactly what he told me. Fortunately, the oaf's hut wasn't to far away, so all we had to do was run to the other side of it. Granger, out of breath, pointed to the wheelbarrow positioned next to the hut. Apparently it was a sign for us to hide in it. We got in it just in time for us to miss Kemlo. The wheelbarrow was huge, so we didn't have much of a problem trying to fit in it…after Granger used a spell to make it roomier.
Once we were as settled as we could be, Potter said, "Look at what you did. I can't believe you went and upset a centaur! On his birthday no less!"
I glared at him and couldn't help but notice I was getting a clear view of that awful hut. I'm probably going to be in this wheelbarrow staring at it for a while, and that didn't comfort me much. The fact that Potter was across from me giving his 'death' glare with Granger and Weasley on either side of him didn't better the situation either. Blaise was next to Granger and couldn't stop staring at his and Granger's knee. I was about to think of it as a subtle romantic interlude before he hit her knee so she could move it and make more room for him.
Before she could say something to Blaise, I saw Potter peek out of the wheelbarrow and shush us. I could here grunting coming from behind where I was positioned, so I immediately quieted my breathing.
Once Kemlo left, I gave my long awaited retort. "Well, Potter, he probably left by now. Centaurs aren't known for their temper."
Weasley shifted slightly. "I wouldn't count on that."
"Guys, keep your voices down," chastised Granger.
There was yet another awkward silence. You know, it's really hard being in a wheelbarrow full of tension and listening for a centaur in dire need of a psychiatrist all at the same time. But then again, after starting a fight with an apple, a book, and hand sanitizer, nicknaming Granger's butt, and throwing the Golden trio off the astronomy tower, this didn't seem too bad.
"He probably already left," I said after a while.
"Actually, ferret, you just upset the one centaur with an anger management problem. It's something about not getting enough milk when he was a baby or something, but, the point is, he's still searching for us, so you might as well be quiet," said Granger in choppy whispers.
I looked up, pondering why the world was so cruel and saw a wisp of orange and red. A torch wasn't to far out of reach. It might come in handy if he finds us. I know that the trio probably wouldn't want to burn the hut down again, but I'm not stupid enough to let go of a torch right next to someone's house, no matter how insignificant it may be.
"So how long are we stuck in here?" asked Blaise after another long tension filled silence.
"Well, we have to make sure he doesn't come around again," said Granger not bothering to check.
"We might as well make ourselves comfortable," said Potter, arranging himself so that Granger would have the honor of putting her head on his shoulder.
Blaise watched with a furrowed brow and gave a rude snort before situating himself as well.
I gave Potter and Granger a disgusted look before looking up again. I could be stuck with the Golden Trio for an hour or more. Do they have any idea how much fighting we can accomplish during that amount of time? A lot! This is ridiculous.
"I'm not staying in here with you lot," I said decisively. "I'd rather get caught."
I stood up and got out of the wheelbarrow with all the grace in the world. The trio's face went from a look of annoyance to a look of fear in five seconds time. Blaise all the sudden got fidgety and started unconsciously crumpling up his, and to her annoyance, Granger's robes.
"Coming Blai-?"
Before I could finish, I heard hooves stomping up against the ground.
"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"
I quickly jumped back in the wheelbarrow.
"Great job dumbass! Now get out of the wheelbarrow and let him chase you. I did not survive a war just to get killed in a wheelbarrow by an angry centaur who just got his birthday ruined by YOU!" yelled Potter.
I ignored him and looked around. I saw something earlier that was sure to help me out. Where was it? Maybe…Ah, the torch. I could fend him away with the torch. Yes, centaurs hate fire.
I got up and grab the torch and managed to tip the wheelbarrow over and make everyone land headfirst.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed the group before hitting the ground.
Everyone landed on a grassy area, which was good. If the truth ever got out, at least I could say it didn't hurt them to bad. Although, I can't say I felt sorry for the trio. I don't really give a damn if they got a concussion. Wait, Granger landed on a stony part. Is she still alive? She better be. I didn't intentionally try to kill her this time, so she better keep herself awake.
I was brought back to reality by the huffing centaur and Potter's slurred, airy, and pained yelling of, "Oh my gosh, he grabbed the torch!"
"Put the blasted torch down, Malfoy!" yelled Weasel. His yelling was slurred too, so I guess they both got a mild concussion.
Potter shook as if it would help him gain consciousness. He looked defeated and weary after a moment and could only sigh and say, "Oh, not another repeat."
I'm pretty sure I saw Granger trying to kick my shin before I turned around to face Kemlo. It was too late to put down the torch. There was already a glint in my eye, and I was determined to bring that annoying centaur down. I guess I have to teach it physically that I don't care about it's birthday.
Before I could do anything, though, Kemlo kicked my arm with his back legs and sent the torch flying and me along with it. Since we were all near the hut, the torch couldn't help but land on the roof, where all the straw and wood was. The roof immediately caught fire and sent sparks and smoke in every direction.
Damn, I promised myself I wouldn't be caught off guard.
"Oh shit, it's burning," Blaise said while trying to scramble himself away from the hut. He only managed to get a few feet away before lying defeated on the ground.
"No friggin' duh Zabini," said Potter trying to help Granger and Weasel up.
Of course, nobody really cared whether my arm was broken or not. Wow, it really hurts! That centaur was insufferable! What really pissed me off was the fact that it ran off right when the fire started. What a bastard. Wow, you'd think that my holy arm would be saved from all this.
"Get your ass up Draco. You don't have a friggin' concussion so get up!" yelled Blaise from his spot on the ground a few feet away.
I could tell yelling was making his head throb. I should know. Yelling isn't too fun for me either… well, except when I'm yelling at Granger…
"Get up Malfoy!" yelled Potter over the bright orange flames and the black smoke.
He managed to set Granger down, but then he tripped over Blaise and landed on his other side. I saw him grip his elbow and do a pretty good impression of a blind chimp, so I'm pretty much guessing that he landed on it. Plus, it didn't help much that Weasley landed on top of all of them.
I stopped watching the spectacle and grimaced in pain as I got up and tried to support my hurt arm. I started making a show of limping until I stood right in the reach of Granger's leg. I looked at their positions on the ground and decided to laugh about it later. They all looked like they were trying to make a really awkward (there's the dreaded word again) letter E.
I was about to lie down until something very infuriating happened. Of course it was by Granger. And do you know what she did? Well, let me tell you, it was very inhumane. Her aim was better this time though. Well, to put it shortly…
She kicked my bloody shin.
She was a little more conscious this time, and from what I could tell, the dizziness was subsiding, but that gave her no right to hurt a wounded man.
I fell to the ground with my hurt arm hitting the ground first. By this time, I had so much smoke in my lungs that it was almost too painful to yell out:
"OOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
It hurt like a million bludgers were being beaten into my arm at once. It was bad, and once again, she was to blame. In fact, she was to blame about everything that has happened to me this year that's gone horribly wrong. My lungs will probably end up black after this. I couldn't help it; I had to kick her back.
Although, it would've helped if I hadn't missed and gotten Potter instead.
"Ow, you stupid git!" Potter yelled, coughing a little.
"Shut up, Potter! I wasn't aiming for you!"
"Yeah, you and everyone else," muttered Potter sarcastically. Wow, Golden Boy is still feeling bitter about people trying to kill him.
"Harry, don't be mad at that," sympathized Weasel after a wheeze.
Finally, someone with some sense. I shifted the weight off my hurt arm and resumed being completely annoyed with this particular group of people.
Weasley turned his head slightly and continued. "Be mad at the fact that he was trying to kick Hermione."
I groaned while Granger gave a mumbled agreement to Weasel's statement.
Now, if I had been worried about what Potter was doing instead of trying to find a way to inform someone of our situation, I would've seen him kick me in the shin again.
"What is up with people trying to kick my shin?" I asked before clawing out with my good arm.
Weasel was, unfortunately, the recipient of the clawing.
"Stop it Malfoy," he groaned before trying to hit my head.
Well, unfortunately, that hit Blaise.
He did his fair share of cursing before trying to get Weasel back. Unfortunately, his blow landed on my head.
So basically, it just continued on like this for a couple of minutes. We should've been thinking about how to get some help. The flames and the smoke were devouring the hut, and so far, no one noticed. Like I said before, we should've tried to get over our injuries and get some damn help. Instead, we tried to hit someone but ended up hitting someone else. After they missed, the other person would then curse and start the cycle all over again.
By the end of it, I was in so exhausted that I just had to pass out. Before I did, I saw a huge man and another man with a huge beard…
……………………………………………………………………………………
I woke up to find Harry and Ron lying on either side of me in the hospital wing. Then sun looked like it was setting and was making the sheets of the hospital wing pretty colors as opposed to the usual crisp white. I tried to sit up, but my head started spinning and throbbing, so I had to lie back down.
I could barely see Ron turn over in his bed.
"Good Hermione, you're awake," Ron said a little too cheerfully.
Cheerful people annoy me when I just wake up.
I groaned and this time, I managed to sit up. I looked around at all the hospital beds a sighed. At least they were in clear focus.
"We've got to stop doing this," I concluded.
"For once, I agree," said the pained voice of Zabini from the row of beds across from us.
Before I had time to show my shock, Malfoy gave a groan.
"Oh, shut up Malfoy. You're the only one whose head didn't hit the ground," said Harry with a hint of annoyance. He then tried to sit up as well and eat his chocolate.
"It's not my head you dim-wit, it's the skelegrow. Granger apparently cracked my arm open even more after kicking me," accused Malfoy while rubbing his arm. He really does have a flare for the dramatics doesn't he?
"Well, it would've been all well and good if you didn't have to reenact the wheelbarrow and torch incident," I said indignantly, trying to cross my arms over my chest. It ended up being too big of a task for my body to handle.
"You even knew about the incident after Temith told you. You knew not to grab for the torch," Harry said getting more and more annoyed. He then started abusing his chocolate by putting angry little teeth marks all over it.
I would've chastised him for that, but I was annoyed too. I might as well let him get his anger out.
"Well excuse me for not thinking clearly when an angry centaur who thinks I've ruined his birthday is trying to kill me!" Malfoy screamed.
"Exactly, you weren't thinking clearly!"
Malfoy got angrier and grabbed for the chocolate bar on his stand; smoke practically coming out of his ears after being in his head for a long day. Before he could throw it, however, Dumbledore and McGonagall walked in.
McGonagall gave an exasperated sigh after seeing the chocolate bar in Malfoy's hand and Harry's scowl. "Nice to see you all awake. Do I need an explanation?"
"Well," Malfoy started. "You see Professor, it's quite simple. We all got stuck in the Forbidden Forest by some stupid spell, and the centaurs made the hut catch fire."
McGonagall nodded slowly but unsurely and scanned the five of us. After a hesitant moment, she turned and looked at me.
I smiled and turned to look at Malfoy. "You know, if you keep lying, they might not believe you when something actually does happen the way you tell it."
Malfoy opened his mouth to retort but got cut off by McGonagall. "Thank you for pointing that out Miss Granger, but do you mind telling us what happened from your side of the story."
I smiled at my favorite Professor again. "Well, from what I remember…"
And so I went on to tell her everything from how we got knocked out in the Astronomy Tower, how we woke up in the forest, how we got Kemlo mad, and how we relived another wheelbarrow and torch incident. McGonagall's face was almost comical throughout the whole explanation. It ranged from narrowed eyes and pursed lips to wide eyes and a huge gaping mouth. Dumbledore, on the other hand, kept his face the same, but his eyes told us what he was thinking. The twinkle in his eye got the brightest when I retold the wheelbarrow and torch incident.
When I was done, McGonagall was going through the wide eyes and huge gaping mouth phase. "Did you figure out what happened to you during the time that you were knocked out?"
"I think you should ask those two for that one," offered Ron, finally managing to sit up.
McGonagall nodded with a stern expression on her sharp features. "Care to tell us Mr. Zabini, or should Mr. Malfoy take that honor."
"We didn't do anything," said the ever so stubborn Malfoy.
Professor McGonagall, in response to his comment, sat down and the nearest chair and sighed the heck out of herself. All the adults in my life have been sighing a lot lately.
"If I may Professor," said Dumbledore calmly before McGonagall had time to articulate anything else. "As much as I want to encourage your academic careers gentlemen, if you lie to me, I'm afraid you two are facing getting kicked off the Quidditch team."
Zabini's and Malfoy's eyes got considerably larger.
"You c-c-can't do that," sputtered Malfoy.
"That's n-n-not f-fair," continued Zabini.
They looked at each other in horror. After a couple of long seconds, Malfoy nodded in defeat.
Zabini took a deep breath and turned to face Dumbledore. "We flung them off the astronomy tower."
"YOU WHAT?" came the simultaneous yells of Harry, Ron, and me.
Zabini glared at us before continuing. "We didn't want to get caught, so instead of trying to maneuver through the castle, we flung them out of the astronomy tower onto a spongify bed."
We all stared in horror at Zabini, realization dawning on Harry's and my face. Ron was the only one with a confused expression.
"Well, is that why my legs have bruises on them?" asked Ron in awe.
Zabini then decided to join the exasperated sighing club. "No. You hit the balcony pretty hard on the way out. Not as bad as Granger. She could've hit a gargoyle on her…"
I turned pale white. Zabini and Malfoy could've killed me on a gargoyle.
"I think that's enough," said McGonagall, saving me from hearing anymore. "So, to get another close to impossible story straight, you two knocked those three out, threw them off the astronomy tower onto a spongify bed, tried to make Mr. Potter fart to attract an angry mob of centaurs to kill them in the Forbidden Forest-."
"Well, not originally, but the mob came anyway," added Zabini.
McGonagall rolled her eyes.
"The centaurs came anyway, and then a grawp creature came, Temith let you leave the forest unharmed, but you managed to cause trouble anyway? Mr. Malfoy, I can't believe you insulted Kemlo, who by the way has an anger management problem-."
"We kind of figured," said Blaise.
McGonagall rolled her eyes again and continued. "You insulted Kemlo, on his birthday, and started another wheelbarrow and torch incident which, by the way, you knew about. You two are hereby expelled-."
"You can't expel us!" cried an outraged Malfoy.
Dumbledore held up his hand to silence Malfoy. Malfoy sat back and tried to cross his arms to show his annoyance. He ended up feeling the pain of the skelegrow potion.
"As I was saying. You two are expelled from Quidditch the rest of the year," continued McGonagall.
"But it's our last year!" protested Zabini.
"You tried to kill those three. You're lucky I don't put you two in Azkaban!"
That shut the two Slytherins up considerably. Zabini had gotten paler with a horrified and outraged look, and Malfoy looked pained and tired.
"Also, you will be rebuilding Hagrid's hut by hand," added the professor.
"WE"RE WHAT!" the Slytherins asked simultaneously.
I had to try very hard to conceal my amusement. This is the best punishment they've gotten so far because of us, and we didn't even try anything this time.
"Rebuilding Hagrid's hut," McGonagall repeated. "No arguments, or else it will be much worse. Now, I should leave you five to your rest." She turned to Harry, Ron, and me. "You three feel better."
We nodded in appreciation before they left.
Unfortunately, Zabini and Malfoy were still sputtering angrily.
"How come when you guys pull a prank, we get blamed and ridiculed. Then, when we decide to pull a prank, we get blamed and ridiculed," said a frustrated and seething Malfoy.
"Cause you guys suck at coming up with pranks," Ron replied like it was obvious.
"That question was rhetorical idiot," Malfoy snapped nastily.
"Whatever, I'm not the one who got blamed for anything," Ron retorted, actually being able to cross his arms.
I stared at Ron and got jealous at the fact that he could actually show his annoyance. I looked at Harry and Malfoy, and it seemed like they were in no mood for talking. I can't say the same about Zabini though.
"Haven't you noticed that when McGonagall retells everything that we did, she makes it sound way stupider and outrageous than what I originally thought it would sound like," observed Blaise.
"Actually, the only thing I noticed was the fact that the way Malfoy broke his arm was almost the same way he broke it in third year…only Kemlo can't fly," I said trying to hold back my giggles.
Zabini, surprisingly, only nodded in agreement. He then tried to lie back down but ended up hitting the backboard instead.
He groaned. "Like you said before, Granger, we've got to stop doing this."
I nodded, surprised at the easiness of our conversation. Yeah, he really did have a concussion. I opened my mouth to tell him so, but I thought better of it.
Another long silence followed, but this time, it was a comfortable one. We ate our chocolate in peace, Malfoy completely forgetting to throw his bar at Harry. We were about to drink our dreamless sleep potions when Blaise asked another question, much to our annoyance.
"Have you guys noticed that we always forget to use our wands in these situations?" he asked nonchalantly, looking at each one of us pointedly. He than gave us all a nod and drank his potion.
Malfoy, Harry, Ron, and I reached into our pockets and groaned, feeling the tips of our wands poking the tips of our fingers.
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Author's Note: So how was that. This was the first major case of writer's block I've had with this story. I didn't know if Grawp should play that huge of a role in this story just yet. Oh, and if some of you didn't get why Harry didn't tell the truth about Grawp, it's because Blaise and Draco don't know about him. So anyway, I tried to get in some sort of interaction and hints between Granger and a certain Slytherin (which ever one you think I leaned towards is up to you). So, R and R.