Chapter 8: Harry Potter and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good Very Bad Day

"Damn!" Harry swore. Today, for the hour he'd been awake for, had been horrible beyond comprehension. It seemed as if the whole world was against him. In fact, so far his entire time at Hogwarts felt like being back in the Dursley's closet 24/7 again. So far today he'd bashed his head against a cabinet, experienced another bloody dream of a triumphant Voldemort, forgotten it when he nearly strangled himself with his own sheets, found Pig's dropping all over the robes he was going to wear, stubbed five different toes six times, been run into by not only Hermione and Ron but Neville as well, and now this.

"Um, Harry, can I have the butter?" Ginny grimaced. No way was that stuff going on anyone's toast now. Such a waste. She was half tempted to keep it and later sell it on wizard's e-bay, but, as that looked a bit stalker-esk, she decided against it.

He handed it over, and she quickly placed it under several plates. There was some girl, at little way down the table, who was eyeing the butter with a curiously dreamy expression on her face. Hermione asked him kindly, "Not a good day so far?"

For a reply, Harry merely gave a loud groan. "Don't talk to me about 'not good days'. This sucks."

"Oh come on Harry. Everyone has bad days, and you seem to be a little off your quota for the beginning of the year. Buck up!"

"Did you just tell me to buck up?"

"Umm," Hermione blushed. Ron cut in. "Here Harry let me help you with that." He muttered something under his breath. A spray of cold water covered Harry's already well greased elbow. "Opps."

Dennis Creevey bounded over. Smiling at Harry, the third-year pulled a piece of toast and the accompanying knife. He began to eagerly remove the offending condiment from the robes and transfer it to his own food. He took a huge bite. "Thanks Harry, that was delicious. We seemed to have run out of butter."

Across the table, Hermione groaned. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Ginny was looking a bit green. Harry stood up. "Let's get going. Everyone have their schedules?" They all nodded. Harry reflected on how much like a dumb gang leader he felt. Bit like Malfoy and his idiot 'friends', really. Of course, when he thought of his father's 'gang' , it was easier to deal with. He'd heard that they were much better friends than anyone could ever hope to be, especially his dad and Sirius. Sirius… Harry quickly tried to mask his emotions as they all exited. Except for Dennis, who was still eating. Really, there was no need to alarm anybody, or to be force fed another slime potion to keep him from taking a leap.

"Hey, where's Ginny?" Ron was spacing, almost to a pot-head level, but he still was always quick to notice when his precious sister was gone. They turned, close to the door.

Ginny was back at the table. Clinging to her leg was the butter dish girl. "Please! Please! I'll pay you! Just tell me what you did with it!"

Ginny finally squirmed out of her grasp. "What are you talking about?" she panted.

"The butter! Where is it? I need it!" She spotted Harry as Ginny scrambled away. "Harry! Harry, I love you! Be mine!" Her face was red.

"Let's get out of here," Ginny gasped when she reached them. They fled.

The first class of the day, Charms, was relatively hazard-free. The worst that happened was Harry getting stabbed by Ron's wayward wand. It seemed to have a mind of its own (and psychopath's mind to boot) and had decided to cause as much pain as possible until Hermione froze it. This, though the wand had attempted to strangle its owner, made Ron strangely angry with her.

So, everyone arrived to Potions in a relatively quiet mood. Harry, however, was happy; he'd thought of a way to make Ron and Hermione talk to each other. But first, he had to find Kera.

Harry didn't have to wait long. Snape was strangely absent from his room, and as the students began to congregate outside, Pansy came to the door with a furious expression on her face. Why came soon after. First there were Crabbe and Goyle, dumb as ever, but more confused and lost. They didn't belong here anymore. Then, Kera came around the corner, talking with none other than Malfoy. Harry's eyes nearly skydived straight out of his sockets singing "My Bonny Lies over the Ocean".

Kera had her arms firmly over her bag, but she was giving a frustrated smile. Malfoy, on the other hand, was grinning. As they past Harry heard a brief snatch of their conversation. "Draco, is it that hard to understand? It's okay to crack jokes occasionally, but really, these teachers know a hell of a lot more than we ever will about their subjects, and we should try to listen. All you do is talk to Crabbe and Goyle."

"Hey, servant girl," he chuckled, "half the time I'm trying to explain what the teacher just said to those two, not telling them jokes." He put a hand lightly on her shoulder.

She shrugged it off with a frown. "'Servant girl'? What is that, a pet name? Your girlfriend is watching us, you know." And she was. Pansy, next to the goon squad, could do nothing but helplessly glare.

"I suppose you're right, and maybe I don't give a damn," he replied, all the while not looking once at his other friends.

"Blimey," whispered Ron. "Kera-"

Hermione continued, "- and Draco-"

"-together?" They both looked at each other, and then remembered they weren't talking.

Snape strode up, opened the door, and told them to all shut up and get in. "Just get in partners," was all he said, before sighing, "Another year of all this." It was at the headmaster's explicit request that several students, in light of certain circumstances, be allowed into his class despite the 'Acceptable' they received. Two of his favorite students were on that special list. You win a few, you lose a lot.

Kera went in and sat next to Draco. Pansy was on his other side. There were only a set of two seats and one next to Kera. Intent on following through with his plan and completely ignore the disturbed feeling in his gut, Harry took the latter. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Potter?" Malfoy stared disbelieving. "Go back to your own friends. You can't sit here. Beside, what does a saint like you want with us evil Slytherin deamon children?"

Kera sighed. "Draco, don't be an idiot. Of course he can; there's a seat. Besides, you should work with Pansy," she told him firmly. Pansy looked at her with wide eyes. Draco raised an eyebrow. Kera turned to Harry, "Come on, Harry, sit down, and ignore the slimy ferret over there. He hasn't taken his happy pills yet this morning. I can work with you today; but I warn you, I probably know bull compared to you guys." Over her shoulder Malfoy muttered, "My happy pill tends to be getting away from my dear pookie." And vowed that would have to happen ASAP.

He sat, relieved and confused. Just like last time and the times before, Harry got a strange feeling that he should remember her from somewhere, and, for the first time, a feeling of danger. But she just gave him a smile, and he sat down. "So, everyone in here got an 'O' in potions?" she asked.

"Actually…" Actually, it had been a huge scandal. One of the graders, a batty old with named Miranda Berths had gone off her rocker and begun to down grade everyone she graded, claiming they were Death Eaters in disguise at a later date. So, Harry, Ron, and one or two other students who had been graded in Potions had been given the benefit of the doubt on their scores. He also had a suspicion that Dumbledore, in light of certain circumstances… well, that he'd put in a good word or two.

Once he had explained all of this to her She smiled. "Well, that's just weird. I mean, how could you guys be Death Eaters. After all, I've never heard of a recruit under 17. Shall we?" Both Malfoy and Harry looked at her oddly, but neither one decided to say anything. Snape had already put the instructions on the board. The potion for today was a truth serum, of sorts. It would make the drinker proclaim what their thoughts were, inventively.

"Lovely," grunted Harry.

"Yeah, sure," she replied.

The potion took about an hour to make. Oddly, between the two of them, it was one of the easiest things he'd ever made. It was neon green and humming slightly. Harry looked at it, untrusting. "Are you sure everyone else's are like this?"

"Yeah. Besides, Snape said it should look like toxic waste."

"Does toxic waste usually look like this?"

"You've never seen a movie before, have you?" She sighed. "Having fun, Draco?"

He just raised his eyebrows. She laughed and gave him a pat on the back. Harry glared. "Why do you hate him so much?" she whispered. She hated people who hated people for no reason. It got a little complicated occasionally, but heck, it was her dharma; to make the world a more friendly place. You had to act like that where she came from.

"Why do you like him? He's a jerk." This came equally inaudible.

"I'm friends with him, just like I am with you." She frowned.

"It's not the same. You'll just be another notch for him."

"Harry, drink your potion," was all she replied, but Harry was pleased to see her looking thoughtful. Maybe all those creepy Voldemort dreams weren't what they were cracked up to be.

Of course, he wasn't sure why he cared. So they liked each other. Big deal. Malfoy was a jerk, but if Kera had a thing for that sort of guy, why should it be his freaking problem? He had two interesting conversations with her. That didn't make them friends, and she still freaked him out, no matter what he was starting to think. Harry took a long swig of his potion, about the same time. Then he began to sing. "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. Let there be peace on Earth…" He looked around, and saw most of the class was in song as well.

Pansy was humming some sort of stripper tune and dancing around her stool with a horrified expression. Malfoy was softly singing "I'm Too Sexy" while doing the Macarena. Ron screeched, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", while Hermione sung, "Why do you do what you do to me baby," to him. One boy had the sound of a transistor radio coming from him. In the midst of it all, Kera had yet to drink her potion. "Drink it," Harry said around the words of his own song.

She shrugged innocently and took a long gulp. Kera sat for a little while longer, then, "ATCHOO!"

"That was it?" he forced the words out. Almost everyone was out of their seats by now.

"I can try again," she told him, and took another drink. She got up, and began twirling. "I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and gay!" Then, another sneeze. Next thing anyone knew, Kera had been picked up by some invisible force, a force that had deposited her on Draco. Snape strode over. "Are you two all right?" They both nodded. Kera landed with her head in Draco's lap, a position she quickly got up from.

Most everyone was back in control, and now they were all laughing; at Snape. His hair had turned a violent, hot, neon pink. He spun around, looking for the source of everyone's amusement, before realizing what it was. "Who did this?" he hissed.

A pale, black-haired Ravenclaw raised her hand. "Please, sir," she whispered, "it happened right after that girl sneezed. She pointed a shaky hand at Kera.

"Did you do this, Ms. Carutasu?" he turned on her, trying to stare her down.

She swallowed and shook her head. "I don't think so, Professor."

"You don't think so?"

"Well, I don't sneeze very often. In fact, I think this morning is the third day of my life that I've sneezed in. So, I'm not really sure."

"Ms. Carutasu that is the worst excuse I've ever heard. Can you fix this?" His voice was too calm, too soft.

"I don't think so."

"Fine. Detention, next Saturday. I want a fourteen inch essay on how what you experienced today was an example of the effects of truth serum, do next class. You're dismissed."

"Yes. A break," Kera smiled. So what if she had to do some friggin' essay? Whoever did that to Snape must have been bloody brilliant. Maybe she could try it some time.

"Why'd you sneeze?" Harry asked as they packed up. Hermione and Ron had disappeared, beaming at each other as they exited.

"Dunno. Guess I was thinking about sneezing. But, I swear I was thinking about my new wand. Oh well, maybe it was subconscious, or something. 'Let There Be Peace on Earth'?"

"Ron and Hermione."

"Oh, so that's the real reason you decided to work with me. I knew you didn't like me that much." She grinned and headed for the door. He caught up.

"What was with the other song?"

"I was thinking of the most random thing I could do. See you later, Sagi's Hope." She left.

Sagi's Hope?

Ginny ran into Kera at the library. Her brown head was bent over Snape's essay when she came in. She was in one of the smallest corner tables, away from the soft and quiet murmurings of everyone else. It was after dinner, and already growing quite dark. At the window next to her, a tree branch clattered against the window, reaching in vain for the soft glow of the lamplight. Ginny approached. "May I?"

Kera looked up; brow furrowed in concentration, then saw who it was. "Of course. I need a little break anyway before I dive into the conclusion." She was also trying to avoid thinking about today. Her classes had definitely gone well enough, but after Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Charms, Kera had been paralyzed by long and drawn out sneezing fits. There must have been several windows open, because violent winds always began to blow, scattering things everywhere. One time, even a window had broken, and, when Kera repaired it with sorcery, she felt so dizzy she almost collapsed with a terrible pain in her hands, a strange grim laugh ringing in her ears. She'd been found once by Draco, another time by some seventh year girl named Cho Chang, or something. Both times, she'd flatly refused to go to the nurse, but it didn't feel like her voice.

Ginny took a seat and began to remove everything from her bag. "I heard you're the reason Snape looks like a Drag Queen incognito." (A/N: I'm sorry, that was mean of me. Drag Queens are way too good looking to compare with him. WAAAAAYYYYY too good looking)

She smiled, then dropped it. "I guess. Did you also hear he gave me a detention because I wasn't actually sure if it was me or not?"

"It could have been worse."

"Yeah, but I only like to be punished when I know for sure that it was me that did it. Then the punishment is easier. Besides, I know that if it had been a Hufflepuff, or a Gryffindor, they'd be looking at a month. He plays favorites big time."

Ginny showed her a shrug. "Oh well; the other teachers do the same. I remember McGonagall caught me and Jeff Saunders from Ravenclaw kissing after hours last year; I got a night of detention, he got three. She said he'd led me on. Oh, I also heard from a pretty reliable source you're getting very friendly with a certain Slytherin. What are you doing with in ten feet of the pug-tastic girl?"

"Hey, if you're saying I'm even civil to Pansy, your source is on pot."

"What's pot- never mind, tell me later. What about Malfoy?"

Kera looked at the redhead. "Why do you guys call him that? I know he doesn't like you, but Ginny, that kid is alone in his House's year. He's the only one who actually thinks. He hangs out with total morons who will probably get into fistfights at least once a week when they leave school. His dad's a bastard, his sister's a bitch, and his mother can hardly get out from under either of their thumbs. And then there's Pansy-" Kera's voice was getting a bit high-toned.

"Okay, okay," she held up her hands. "I get it; tender subject. Harry did say you seemed close."

Kera rolled her eyes. "He's someone to talk to."

"Okay, we'll drop it. So, did you hear about Neville and Cho?"

She looked at her. "Who?"

"Neville Longbottom and Cho Chang. Neville's a friend of mine, and Cho and Harry have a history. My brother walked in on them in an empty classroom during break, and found them practically sucking the lips off each other!"

Kera grimaced. "Was Harry mad?"

"Well… he was, a little bit, until Neville told Hermione. He was so excited. It turns out, Cho father got bitten by some sort of strange, hybrid pixies, and was in the hospital with strange symptoms. Cho ran into Neville there, and she was so happy to see him. In fact, it turns out that they've been seeing each other ever since then. It was really sweet, and everyone's really happy for them."

Kera nodded. "Good luck to them, then."

Suddenly, a sharp gust of wind blew a particularly sharp branch into the window. It broke with a loud crash. Cold air clawed at both girls, making their muscles harden and their teeth clatter together. "Ginny, it's repairo, right?" she asked right next to her shorter friend. Ginny nodded and Kera exclaimed, "Repairo!" The shattered glass flew back into place and fixed itself once more.

"Thanks," said Ginny. Kera sneezed in reply.

They both began to collect their respective papers. Then, Ginny gasped, "Kera, your paper!"

Next to her, a small orange glow had merrily sprung up at the corner of her essay. It burned happily, just waiting for the chance to gorge on all the delicious food surrounding it, first chance it got. But, Kera refused to let that be an option. She seized the paper and blew as hard as she could. With a sigh of regret, it left this world. But now, her paper was singed to a recognizable point. "Crap, I can't hand this in to Snape now."

"Just repair it. It only got one or two words; a repairing spell of some sort should bring them back with the paper," Ginny told her helpfully. "Good thing Madame Pince didn't see that flame."

Kera gave her her most grateful smile, and then too late began to repair it with sorcery. Before she could stop herself, she was flung into a sea of dizziness and pain from which there seemed to be no escape. It rushed through her and she felt it slam her down on the ground. She felt like vomiting until there was nothing left inside. Faintly, she felt Ginny feeling her forehead and asking, "Are you alright? Should I help you get to the infirmary?"

Kera shook her head vehemently. She wasn't sure why, but something inside was screaming that if she was taken to the infirmary everything would only get worse for her. Still, she knew that the next best thing was to at least rest. "Ginny," she said, trying to sound as normal as possible, "I just need to get back to my common room. Can you help me?"

Ginny nodded, and she tried to ignore the pain as she was helped up and out. Once in the hall, however, Ginny paused uncertainly, looking at her charge. "Kera, do you know how to get to the Slytherin common room?"

Kera shook her head. "Not from here. If we can get to the Great Hall, I'm pretty sure I can take it from there."

But, once at the Great Hall, Kera didn't have to lead. Draco Malfoy, accompanied by his cronies, came around the corner. "Weasley? Kera? What are you two doing together? And," he noticed how Kera was half slumped up against Ginny, "what's wrong with Kera?"

"I don't know," Ginny tried to keep insane laughter out of her voice, which was much harder than it would have seemed. She couldn't believe ferret boy even remotely cared. "She almost fainted in the library, but doesn't want to go to the infirmary. She asked me to get her back to your common room."

He nodded. His face was twisted with sympathy, admiration, lust, and indifference. "Well, you're in luck. I can take her from here. It's probably a hard enough load for you, anyway." He came up, close enough to Ginny to kiss her, then bent slightly and swooped up Kera. Luckily, he was taller. With the half conscious girl in his arms, he nodded, and turned around. Crabbe and Goyle followed, more confused than ever.

Once they were out of hearing range of anyone, he smiled enthusiastically and told the fast-fading Kera, "You, are my new best friend. You should have told me you were that friends with Ginny." His heart was pounding and her red hair filled his mind. "I've got a plan, Kera, and I know you'll be glad to help."

It was a subtle command the unconscious kid didn't hear.