Chapter 25 – Crazy eyes


HG


It was raining once again when Hermione arrived at the platform with her parents. Due to the rain and heavy traffic, they just made it in time. Her eyes scanned the thinning crowd but couldn't find any of her friends between them. Then a familiar head popped out of a window from one of the train's carriages. Katie waved her over just when the train whistled. A quick kiss and a write to you soon later, she climbed up on the train. She was barely on the train when the doors closed just behind her and the train started moving without waiting another second, making Hermione stumble. She sighed in relief when she didn't hit the ground as a hand caught her elbow. She looked up to see it was Blaise who had caught her.

"Hi Blaise. Had a nice Christmas?"

"Not bad." He answered after he looked around the train. "Went skiing."

"Really?" Hermione asked surprised as she straightens herself. "Me too. Where did you go? We stayed in Sallanches in France."

"Charmonix. That's not that far from Sallanches, but ours was a wizarding hotel."

"Muggle." Hermione grinned. "I better get to the compartment before they start a search for me." She said looking over her shoulder.

"Let me help." He took her trunk in his hand.

"Are you sure?" She looked surprised at the Slytherin. When he nodded, they both started walking in the empty hall of the train. "Thanks for not letting me fall."

"My mum would have my head if I let a girl fall when I could've prevented it." A grin crept up on his face.

"Oh, and here I thought we were becoming friends." Hermione chuckled with a little shake of her head.

"We are." He whispered so quietly, she barely missed it. "I think we arrived." He stopped before he would appear through the window of the loud compartment, girls' laughter seeped out. He handed her trunk over and turned to leave. "See you in the library." He waved over his shoulder and walked away without waiting for an answer. "Hey, Diggory." She heard him say.

"Zabini." Cedric's voice answered from behind her. Before she had time to turn around to the Hufflepuff, he had wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up, twirling her around. She shrieked in surprise before they both started laughing. The noise they made, echoed through the hallway and the door of the compartment in front of them flew open. The whole group was squished together in the doorway.

"Hey, you two." Alicia's voice full of mirth, a grin on her face.

"Hi." Hermione pipped up as Cedric still held her in the air; her back against his chest.

"Hello ladies." His eyes flickered over the group in front of them. "And Lee." He chuckled as the boy's head popped above the girls.

"What's going on here?"

"Diggory nearly gave me a heart attack." Hermione mumbled with a smile as she started prodding him with his finger to let her go. Cedric rolled his eyes dramatically as he put her down.

"I just wanted to say hi." He snickered as she gave him a glare. "Hi."

Hermione's glare disappeared at the tone of his voice and a smile took its place. "Hi."

"Are you coming in?" Lee asked behind the girls.

"Since Alicia is here instead of peppering Gavin's face with kisses, I think I'll catch up with the boys." He laughed as ducked when Alicia threw a hard candy at his head. "Later, girls." He still laughed as he bounded to the other side of the train.

"Oh, he's gonna get it." Alicia said with a wicked grin, ready to follow him. But Hermione stopped her as she caught her arm. Alicia turned to her confused.

"An hour, remember?"

"Right, sorry. But after an hour." She rubbed her hands excited.

"Yes, after an hour you can scare off Cedric and Matt." Hermione laughed as she stepped into the compartment. Lee picked up her trunk and shoved it next to his before he pulled her next to him.

"Thanks." She smiled to Lee before she turned to the others. "So, how was everyone's break?" Hermione asked.


HG


And from that moment, the compartment wasn't silent for more than two seconds before someone else jumped in. All talking excitedly about what they did the last two weeks. Hermione was curious at how they all experienced the holidays as she leaned against Lee and listened to their stories, happy to be among her friends again. It was nearly three hours and the trolley full of sweets later that the group dispersed, going to their boyfriend or girlfriend, leaving Hermione and Katie alone.

"How long do you think it will take?" Katie asked, smiling. Hermione looked at her watch for a moment.

"Five minutes?" She grinned as she shuffled closer to the window, taking Lee's spot.

"I think the twins we'll be glad we're back; they were bored out of their minds."

"Bored? Fred and George?" Hermione asked incredulity.

"Yeah, didn't you get their letter?" She asked as she searched her bag for the letter.

"No, I didn't write anyone this break."

"Not even the twins?" She looked wide-eyed as she handed over the letter.

"No. We were staying at a muggle hotel, so it wasn't really possible." She answered as her eyes scanned the letter. She rolled her eyes as the twins exaggerated their boredom. "They can be such drama queens." She laughed as she handed the letter back.

They talked a little about the twins for a while and she just wanted to tell Katie about Gabriel when the door slid open again, revealing to no one's surprise, two Hufflepuff boys. Without waiting for an invitation, they walked in, and Cedric sat down next to Hermione, while Matt flopped down next to Katie.

"I'm guessing Alicia scared you away?" Katie laughed. Matt nodded his head heavily.

"We held her off for as long as possible." Hermione grinned at Cedric.

"Thank you for that. But Gavin began to whine after… What was it?" He turned to Matt.

"After an hour and a half, give or take. He thought she might had forgotten about him."

"Wow." The girls said in unison as they snickered at a pouting Gavin, waiting for his girlfriend.

"Yeah, he's whipped." Matt laughed.


HG


Hermione was showing the others a few of the polaroid pictures she had taken during break and explained that muggle photographs don't move, but they have movies, which was a whole other explanation. She leaned closer to Cedric as she explained the photo of the youth bar in the hotel, making the others wish they had something like that in the wizarding world.
Then Hermione saw something in the corner of her eye, making her look up.

"Uhm, Digs." She whispered nudging Cedric next to her. Cedric looked to her with a crease between his eyes at her sudden change of tone. When he saw that her gaze was on de slide door, his eyes followed. Oaklee was standing there, behind the door, her eyes crazy as they were fixed on him and Hermione. Hermione took the photo out of Cedric's hand and shuffled at bit away from him, closer to the window. Katie and Matt noticed the sudden shift in the compartment and looked up from the photos in their hands.

"I guess she didn't calm down during break." Matt said as he got up and pulled the blinders down, shutting the girl out.

"Thanks, she was giving me the creeps." Katie sighed in relief.

"You? I think if she could do wandless magic, I would be jinxed right now, or worse." Hermione let out a nervous chuckle.

"You can take her." Cedric smiled as he nudged her arm. Even with the smile on his lips, she knew it bothered him the way the girl had reacted to him, to him just sitting with another girl.

Cedric changed the subject back to Hermione's pictures as he tried to lift the mood. The conversation quickly picked up speed when Katie and Matt gave their input, but Hermione was lost in thought, worried about the way the girl had looked at her, worried what she might do. The girl probably thought it was her fault Cedric broke up with her. And the crazy in her eyes made Hermione think she wouldn't just let that pass.


HG


When the train stopped at the Hogsmeade station, they put on their thick cloaks and scarfs because there was a thick layer of snow on the grounds. Hermione hopped off the train first and looked around the grounds. A long line of black carriages where waiting for them to bring them back to the castle. Hermione's eyes where so fixed on the snow-covered carriages, she didn't see the twins come up to her. And once again she was lifted from the ground. Fred had wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest. With fear of falling on the flattened slippery snow, she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly.

"You're choking me, little Granger!"

"Then stop twirling around before we fall!" She shrieked in his ear. Fred finally put her down on the ground, and both began to slide on the snow. While Fred fell headfirst in a fresh pile of soft snow, Hermione was being held up by George.

"Thanks, Georgie." She smiled as George pulled her against him, his arm around her shoulder. She wrapped her arm around his waist, enjoying the warmth he radiated as they looked down at the Fred, who was still lying in the snow. Hermoine knew the others had stepped of the train before she saw them as their laughter filled the air with the sight of Fred on the ground.

"First, you nearly choke me." Fred started. "Second, you almost made me deaf and third..." He said as he pushed himself up in a sitting position. "You made me fall." He had made a snowball without her noticing it and tossed a snowball right towards her face. Hermione was ready to duck but the snowball stopped about ten centimetres from her face.

"Mr. Weasley." Snape's voice chimed behind the group. Fred quickly clambered up from the ground, trying not to fall down again. "Attacking another student." He said as he walked up next to Hermione. His wand still pointing at the floating snowball.

"No, sir." Hermione interjected before Fred would dig his hole even bigger. The professor turned his eyes away from Fred to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "We were just playing."

Professor Snape looked to Fred, who nodded silently at him before he looked back to her. "Miss Granger, I wanted to talk to you about classes. Do you mind following me to the floo in the station."

"No, sir." She let her arm drop from George's waist and followed the professor to the little station. She looked over her shoulder to the others, who watched her with furrowed eyebrows disappear in the building with the potions' professor.

"We'll floo right into the office." He gestured for her to step into the fireplace. She nodded her head as she stepped in and looked around for a bowl of floo powder. That's when she noticed the professor with sparkling green dust in his hand. He threw it at her feet without uttering a word and she vanished into the flames.

She stumbled out of the fireplace, feeling dizzy. When the dizziness subsided, she was shocked to find herself in Professor McGonagall's office instead of Professor Snape's. Professor Snape walked out of the fireplace swiftly behind her.

"Take a seat, miss Granger." The professor said as they walked over to McGonagall's desk. They both sat down on one side of the desk as they waited in silence for Professor McGonagall to enter. Hermione's knee started to shake as she grew nervous, afraid she had done something wrong, to gather the attention of two professors.