Hermione was woken up the next morning thanks to Pansy, who was waking up the entire girl's dormitory by shaking them awake. Apparently, she had big news and couldn't wait until they were all awake to tell them.
"What in Merlin's name do you want Pansy?" grumbled Daphne from the other side of the room.
"So, I heard from Theo that Weasley, Finnegan, and Thomas went into the forbidden third floor corridor and survived! Apparently, they're all in the Hospital Wing, but they saved some weird stone thing from Professor Quirrell, who wanted to take it and run away with it. I guess that Quirrell has escaped now, and he won't be heard from again, because when he touched the stone all his magic was extinguished so now he has to live like Muggles," Pansy said this all very quickly. As she recited her story, Hermione could feel the blood draining from her face. All she hoped was that the Gryffindors wouldn't get credit for this issue.
"Well, they might get some points for saving the stone from Professor Quirrell," Millicent replied as she rubbed her eyes, "But we're bound to win the House Cup. We're over 160 points above them."
The girl's dormitory all nodded at her statement. Hermione stood up and excused herself. She wanted to go shower and inform the boys of the news before they headed to the Great Hall for one last meal at Hogwarts for this term. Their first year was nearly over! She couldn't believe it. Hermione quickly showered and got dressed in her Slytherin robes, before she headed outside to wait for her brother and Draco. To her surprise, Draco and Harry were already out there waiting for her. She looked at their faces, which wore matching dumbfounded expressions.
"I assume you heard then?" Hermione questioned.
"How did they get past Fluffy and all those enchantments? I would've thought that they would have been harder to get past but now that those three idiots got past them, I'm going to assume that it was easy to get to the Stone," Harry said quite loudly, before getting shushed by Hermione and Draco simultaneously.
"There is nothing more than I would like to see points taken off, but I have a bad feeling about the feast," Draco mumbled as he sat back and folded his arms.
Hermione and Harry nodded, and quickly changed the subject. They were looking forward to going home. It was going to be a fun summer for them, they knew it. Hermione was excited to spend over a month with her Muggle parents, and Harry was excited because he had already been invited to several other Slytherin's houses and manors to spend the night, play games, and play Quidditch. Draco had as well. Draco was also planning on asking his father for a broom so he could try out for the Quidditch team the following year. One of the Chasers was graduating and Draco wanted to be a Chaser. He also hoped that Harry would practice and try out with him. Harry loved playing Seeker when it was just the two of them.
Since Severus had given Harry a broom for Christmas, Harry was planning on becoming very speedy on it over break, after all of his chores were done of course. However, both Hermione and Harry were looking forward to spending time with their mother. There were still so many unanswered questions. How did Severus and Lily have an affair right under James' nose? How did James not know that Lily was having an affair? Why didn't Severus and Lily simply marry beforehand instead of Lily marrying James?
These questions often got Hermione left deep in thought. She didn't dare ask her parents because she knew that those were very personal topics. Hermione had fallen into her deep thoughts again and was snapped out of them to Harry and Draco waving their hands in front of their face. They told her that it was time to go to the Great Hall for the feast. It had been nearly 2 hours that Hermione, Harry, and Draco had sat on the sofa in front of the fire and went through mental lists to make sure that they had packed everything necessary.
The Slytherins left the dungeons and walked towards the Great Hall. There was an air of happiness, as they were expecting to win the House Cup for the eighth year in a row. The Slytherins wanted to appear unified so they traveled in a giant pack to the Great Hall, where they finally sat down and admired the green and silver banners and decorations that hung around the hall. They were nearly half an hour early, but they conversed among themselves to keep themselves entertained. Only when Severus came around to speak with them did they quiet down.
"Congratulations, Slytherins. Well done this term. I am looking forward to seeing most of you return next term for even more potions brewing and I expect that we will win the House Cup again next term. I wish you a pleasant holiday and I bid you farewell." With a curt nod to the waves that the Slytherins were sending his direction, he turned on his heel and walked towards the staff table, where he took his spot next to Professor McGonagall, who was looking quite sour.
Nearly 10 minutes later, they heard the clink of metal hitting glass from the head table and the Hall went silent. Professor Dumbledore stood and raised his arms to address the student body.
"Another year gone! I wish you all well with your examination results and look forward to seeing you when your return in the fall for another term. Before the Feast begins, the House Cup needs awarding. In fourth place, Gryffindor, with 312 points. In third place, Hufflepuff, with 352 points. In second place, Ravenclaw, with 426 points. Finally, in first place, Slytherin, with 472 points."
The Slytherin table erupted in cheers and happy smiles. Even Severus had a small smile disguised as a smirk upon his face. He was clapping fairly quickly compared to the remaining professors at the head table. The applause continued for only a few seconds before Dumbledore spoke again.
"Yes, well done Slytherin. However, recent events need to be accounted for. First, to Mr. Seamus Finnegan, 50 points, for his clever work with Professor Sprout's giant Devil's Snare." Hermione's smile faltered. "To Mr. Dean Thomas, 50 points, for being clever enough to riddle out Professor Snape's potion riddle." The rest of the Slytherin table became slightly discouraged. "To Mr. Ronald Weasley, 60 points, for the best game of chess that I have heard of in decades." Hermione's smile disappeared altogether.
"They're tied with us," Hermione whispered, clearly upset. The Slytherins no longer looked happy. They looked hurt and betrayed. Yet, the Gryffindors frowns had become smiles and eager looks.
"And to Mr. Neville Longbottom, 10 points, for the courage to stand up to his friends when it is necessary. If my calculations are correct, we require a change in decoration! Congratulations Gryffindor!" Professor Dumbledore shouted out to the Hall as he clapped his hands.
"But we earned it," Harry whispered, very upset by the events that had occurred not even a minute ago.
Severus was looking murderous at the white-haired man in the golden chair. His students had earned the House Cup! The three Gryffindors had won the House Cup simply for being witty. Dumbledore had favored his house! This was unfair. As he looked at the discouraged and shocked faces of his students, he felt a rush of anger swoop through his veins. The Headmaster would hear of this next term. There was no doubt of it.
To keep his appearance, he began a slow clap for Gryffindor House. Minerva was silently crying, slow tears running down her face. This only made his anger worse. He spent the remainder of the meal being a sarcastic arse and ignoring those who tried to talk with him. His anger was no longer suppressed and was fairly evident. Only when the students left the Great Hall to walk towards the Hogsmeade station did he sweep out of the Hall. He slammed every door that he walked though and was simply trying to get home. His daughter wouldn't be there, as Mr. and Mrs. Granger were meeting her at the station, but the Lucius would be bringing Harry back home to him and Lily. Severus only took 5 minutes to shrink his things before he flooed back home to the arms of Prince Manor's Mistress.
Harry, Hermione, and Draco had shut themselves in a compartment and pulled down all the shades that blocked others from looking in on them. They were shocked and angry, and were sulking because of it. While they had been happy that Neville got some points from Dumbledore, they felt that losing the House Cup over one event had been ridiculous. They had worked all year for that moment and it was taken from them in less than a minute because Dumbledore wanted to favor his own house. As the train pulled away from the station, they started to talk quietly among themselves.
Hermione had just received a message from her father telling her to stop sulking and that it would be okay. So, she pulled out a book and immersed herself in Little Women, her favorite muggle book. This helped to pull Hermione out of the emotional hole that she had fallen into, while Harry and Draco played with Hermione's chess board. Nearly an hour had passed when they heard a knock on the door. The trio looked at each other and shrugged before Hermione pulled the door open. It was Neville. He looked very awkward indeed.
"Hi, guys," Neville said. "Can I come in?"
"Sure, Neville," Hermione said. "Also, we want you to know that we aren't mad at you for what happened this morning. It wasn't your fault. Although, will you tell us how you earned those points from Dumbledore? We were so happy for you when he called out your name.
Neville let out a sigh of relief. "Basically, Ron, Seamus, and Dean started walking out of the common room late last night, I think it was close to midnight. They were trying to be quiet and failed, because they were whispering to each other. I hid in a chair with Trevor on the arm because, you know, he's my pet."
The compartment was silent, although the Slytherins were eagerly anticipating the next part of Neville's story.
"They noticed Trevor, and that's when I stood up to confront them. My heart was beating so fast, because I knew that they were faster than me, and that they I wouldn't have a chance against them if they tried to do anything to me. I basically said something along the lines of 'You can't go out again, you'll get Gryffindor into trouble again.' They told me to shut up and that I didn't know what I was talking about."
Hermione gasped. "They did not!"
"They did," Neville nodded. "So, I told them I would fight them. I got in my stance and they used Petrificus Totalus on me, and I fell backward. I got a bruise on my shoulders from when I fell. They laughed as they left. They didn't even apologize to me! Then Professor McGonagall found me an hour or so later, and unfroze me. She then went looking for Professor Dumbledore and I guess they went down to the Stone. Madam Pomfrey checked me out, and she said I was okay, so yeah."
"I would have given you more points Neville," Harry said. "You did a very good thing sticking up to them. I'm proud of you!"
Neville beamed and they each told each other stories of their exams and how well they thought it went for the remainder of the trip. By the time they arrived at King's Cross Station, the black cloud that shrouded their moods had dissipated and they were laughing as they drug their trunks off the train.
"Have a good holiday, Neville!" Harry shouted to him as Neville crossed over into the muggle world. Harry and Draco said goodbye to Hermione as she left with her muggle parents, and walked over to where Lucius was standing.
"Hello boys. Did your exams go well?" They nodded in response. "Very well! We shall head back to Malfoy Manor, and Harry, you will floo back to Prince Manor from there. Follow me."
The two boys followed the long blond-haired man through the platform barrier into the Muggle World. It was going to be a wonderful summer.