A/N Guys, guys, guys, tch tch tch. Show some love, please. Show some emotion xD. Anyway, I, again, have a stupidly-important exam in 10 days, so I guess I'm updating this early before giving you the next update, roughly, around march 20 maybe? Sincerest apologies! Enjoy reading!

Chapter 5: Common room chatter

Chapter 5

"You know, I'm not sure but I think this is going to be one of the nicest Halloween, we have lived through for quite some time" Ron commented from beside Harry, as they completed their essay on kappas in the common room.

Hermione had gone to the library to complete her essay on "Muggles of the 20th century and their inventions" for Professor Burbage while they both were trying to do something which they thought they were well rid of in life and would never have to do again- Homework.

"Not exactly, I remember that Halloween in our fourth year was-" Harry replied

" Mate, you literally got selected for a tournament of death that year, which culminated in Voldemort coming back, how the fuck do you think it was nice," Ron said with a grin on his face.

"Alright, point to Weasley," Harry conceded.

"Anyway, everything is going smoothly this time, right? I never thought I would say this but Finch-Fletchey, even in school is alright, innit?"

They had started to interact with more people, to increase their circle, something which they had not done last time, and regretted immensely.

"Macmillan is still a knob, though. Pompous ass, at least Percy's head boy"

" I think the puffs are alright now. I like Susan and Hannah, they are nice and, plus, I heard that one of the puffs play wizards chess!"

"Really, who? I hope they defeat you, you grandiose git"

Ron started laughing, which attracted the attention of the twins. Harry waved them off while glaring at the redhead, who tried to stop.

"Grandiose? Stay in character, you idiot. You are a 13-year old scarhead, not a 40-year old professor. I'm pretty sure that your vocabulary cannot entertain anything more verbal than 'shenanigans'" said Ron and started sniggering again.

"You know, Hermione might have said that we are kids and will act like it but you are still being an immature prat. Shut it!"

"Sally Anne-Perks is going to be defeated by me, a grandiose git." Seeing the look on his face, Ron became serious. "Okay, what's the update on the rest of them?"

"Who?" Harry said as he stared off to a corner in the common room, where Ginny Weasley and Demelza Robins were playing exploding snap. Harry was extremely nervous, knowing that his relationship with Ginny was very volatile at the moment because he was not yet sure whether he was out of that 'hero character' she always employed him in. They had talked a lot, relative to the previous timeline, but he still was not sure. Also, he was far too nervous. He couldn't reiterate that enough.

"The old gang. The ministry six. The freakin DA" Ron said, clearly exasperated. He followed Harry's line of sight and sighed, which caused the former to break out of his reverie.

"Forget that" He exclaimed, clearly trying to change the topic of discussion which was imminent." Have you noticed something weird"

Ron caught the thread.

"You mean the Malfoy situation. Yeah, I noticed he has been trying to find us alone, hasn't he? At first, I thought it was to ask you about that Buckbeak incident, but then why would he try to find me alone? I think he wants to tell us something."

"Hmm, you are right, I guess. I reckon we can talk to him tomorrow during snape's extra torture session" Harry grimaced.

"You know, I think it is time to use our knowledge to give the slimy git the taste of his own medicine. I say we actually focus on our potions lessons for a few months to make perfect ones. So that, if he makes a snide remark, at least we could bring back some of them with a bite?"

"You are far too cheerful for this. You need to sort out your priorities, mate. Remember, Halloween is coming. Along with a Hogsmeade trip….."

"Right, snuffles. You are going to try and contact him then when he tries to get in the common room. You need to stay under the cloak and convince him to not transform. Our plans will go to shit if any of the portraits on the wall see you with him and tell anyone."

They became silent when a large gaggle of giggling girls passed them on their way to the dorm and heard Lavender Brown whispering audibly "He asked me out to go Hogsmeade with him…"

"I know, and you are supposed to enjoy your day with Hermione?" Harry said with a grin to break the silence.

"You know fully well, there is more to do. I'm going to try and bring back some supplies for parties too you know and-"

They were rudely interrupted by a Gryffindor they didn't talk to but knew her name.

"Can you tell your muggle-born friend to not come into the dorms tonight?" said Lillian Moon. Ron did not like how she referred to Hermione distastefully.

"Why?" Harry said with gritted teeth. He had been wondering why Hermione didn't socialize with her and now he realized the reason.

"Because we are having a party and we don't want it ruined with -and-rule-upholder's tirade. Do tell her." She then turned to Ron." You are also invited, if you want to come, Ronald". She walked away after showing Ron a sultry smile as Ron threw Harry an exasperated glance.

"What a bitch" they exclaimed at the same time.

Ron got up, with a steely resolve on his face."I'm going to the library. You nick some food and drinks from the kitchen, we are staying in the common room tonight."

Harry nodded as Ron walked out of the common room. He was going to follow him but Lee Jordan came up to him with a letter in hand and pointed to a departing owl outside the window," This came for you, Harry".

Harry muttered a quick thanks and walked out of the portrait hole.

Malfoy wanted them to sit with him in potions tomorrow.

Harry grinned and walked towards the kitchens.


Hermione had completed her essay nearly half an hour ago but was reluctant to go back to Gryffindor tower. She had heard Lavender and Lillian planning a party last night and knew that she was not welcome, neither in the discussion nor in the implementation.

She turned a page in her copy of Quidditch through the ages and sighed. She should have picked a better book to read. If anyone would have seen her, they ….but no one cared, did they? All four of her dorm mates were going to have fun while she had to find a pretense to stay away as late as possible and find a place to sleep. Megan had made it very clear with her snide whispers that 'it is a party, not a book festival' and even though Parvati stopped her a couple of times, she did not care that much to do anything. She had not eaten much at dinner, as she had arrived late and left when her best friends got up. She wasn't really hungry either. She just felt so….lonely. She wondered why Ron and Harry were friends with her. Lillian had exclaimed that she was their way of completing their homework but…

Her mental rambling was interrupted by a loud noise near the library counter. She strained to hear the conversation.

"..THIS IS THE LIBRARY, . YOU WILL MAKE SURE TO STAY QUIET HERE…"

"My apologies, Madam Pince. I just slipped at the entrance, needless to say, it won't be repeated.."

She marveled at the suave and charming way in which Ron pacified Madam Pince. This was sure evidence of how he really was from the future. It wasn't that different, to be honest from her Ron but there were subtle differences. They were pronounced months ago but it looked like the time-traveler merging with the current had finally tempered him, making him somewhat 13. They bickered frequently but he wasn't exactly an immature prat now. Not that she missed it, she mused.

In all her thoughts, Ron had reached towards the back of the library where Hermione was sitting reading. If he needed more proof that everything was not fine, it was the book in hand which she read. She had no interest in quidditch, in the near 30 years, he had known her.

He coughed to announce his presence and, instead of sitting in front of her as he usually did, he sat beside her.

She looked up from her book, her eyes glazed and turned red when she noticed that he knew. She coughed herself and tried to ask, in a prim voice, "Essay done?"

Ron humored her and answered, "No doubt about that. Instead of finding what to write, we had to limit what to write so that Lupin doesn't catch us. Anyway, what are you doing here till now, I'm pretty sure you have finished your essay since you are reading" He made a show of flipping the book in her hand.

Ron had an inkling that Hermione knew what her dorm mates were doing and had made it quite clear to her not to barge upon them. He still berated himself because aside from the surprising message from Moon, he and Harry never noticed it in their time at Hogwarts. It being how much Hermione was shunned in her dorm.

He remembered once when he had remarked to her, how he didn't even know all the people in Gryffindor in their year and Hermione had icily remarked that they weren't the type of people to be known. Of course, by that time, he could not have done anything, school was already over. Hermione might have termed such experiences as character building but he didn't care. He wasn't going to let it happen under his watch.

"I was jostling through. I-I...The dorm is going to be rowdy tonight anyway…" She was slowly turning red.

"Well, I, for one, am glad that you are not at her stupid party" She looked at him. "She asked me too but I am not going to go, because there is another party" She looked a little crestfallen. "For us."

It made everything worth it when she looked at him happily with her big brown eyes.

"Harry is nicking food and drinks from the kitchens. We are going to have a night out in the common room, near the sofas and the fireplace." He got up.

"Who else is going to be there? And the common room, but there will be a lot of people there? Also, I don't think I should, I have to get up early tom-" She said as she got up, trying to deflect from her obvious merriment.

Ron interrupted, " Don't fib, come on it will be fun." He clasped his hand around her's and walked out of the library.

She started giggling as they started running and Ron looked excited. She was excited too. A party! And that too with her and her friends!


The party was going full flow even at midnight, when Percy tried and failed, to send them to their beds. They were joined by Ginny and the twins, and enjoyed a lot, drinking butterbeer and chatting. Ginny went up near one while the twins looked to pack up as they neared two. The conversation has drifted to Halloween, which was the day after tomorrow, and how different it was for muggles, as the Weasleys have never experienced the muggle festival.

" It's kind of a bummer that we don't Trick or Treat at Hogwarts…." Hermione wistfully said as she leaned at the foot of the sofa.

"Oh! That would be fun! I have never done it" said Harry, as he laid on the floor, having drunk too much butterbeer.

"What's Trick or Treat?" Fred asked as he got up and dusted his pajamas.

" You know, Fred, I feel like this is something we should be involved with" George chimed as he turned his attention from the chocolate frog in his hand to Hermione.

Hermione internally debated but replied, " In the muggle world, children go door to door knocking and collecting sweets on Halloween"

"That sounds delicious...and awesome" Ron grinned as he snatched the frog from George, who was distracted by what she was saying.

However, Fred had his priorities set, " So where does the Trick come in?"

Hermione eyed them with uncertainty.

George continued, "...we need to know...for experimental purposes…..and muggle studies…"

Hermione still looked uncertain but Harry didn't care. "Sometimes if the house gives out bad treats, they get pranked. Usually, a mixture of hurled eggs or toilet tissue"

The twins chimed, "Wicked" with matching grins, and bade them goodnight as they walked to their dorms.

Hermione however looked apprehensive and cuffed Harry on the back of the neck, "Damn it, Harry, you gave them ideas!"

It was going to be an interesting Halloween.


It was after some time when Hermione was dozing on the armchair and Harry and Ron had finished all the fizzing whizzbees and chocolates, Harry asked Ron, "So, what was she doing in the library?"

"What do you think? Obviously, Harrison, she was reading. duh," Ron replied, though with a grim smile on his face.

"Spill it, come on. Don't be shy" Harry goaded him, knowing fully well that Ron knew something.

"It's...not right, you know. We are her best friends. And always will be, but...how did we not notice that she was being bullied? After all that Malfoy and the Slytherins did to us, how did we not notice? "

Harry looked at the fireplace as Ron continued.

"It took you 7 more years, and that too, when she finally got drunk. And it took me till the sixth year when I finally knew and at that point, she didn't care anyway. We are horrible people, Harry….we don't deserve someone like her" Ron's voice started breaking.

They didn't realize that she wasn't asleep and was listening to everything, albeit a bit sleepy. Her heart lurched at what Ron said and she felt a surge of affection for him, but he was again going on the same path to self-blame. She urged Harry to say something, anything in her mind.

"Ron, mate, you are overthinking this," Harry said forcefully. "It isn't our fault. In our defense, our years at Hogwarts gave the both of us enough problems to stay distracted too."

Yes, Ron, he is right she thought

"How did she notice then? She always helped us, didn't she? You, after all those times when you did something noble but stupid. Me, before quidditch and during prefect rounds." He took a deep breath. "We need to be better, Harry," Ron said abruptly. " All three of us need to be for all of us because the world is going to get fucked up real soon. We would have to make a lot of decisions and that is going to cause some amount of trouble, some ounces of pain, and, certainly, some deaths. We can have many people to trust, but, for me at least, It's only you two to whom I can trust with my life, without a doubt"

Harry had listened to his monologue without interrupting but now found some glaring points of potential problems.

"Ron, she is just thirte-"

"WE AR- we are thirteen too," Ron said, trying to control his fury, which had become unhinged, in no part help due to the now empty flagon of butterbeer beside them.

"No, we are not. We have gone through a war and seen people die, she hasn't. No one here has" Harry replied whispering angrily.

"Think, potter, think. Why can't you understand what is happening? Our previous memories are not memories anymore, they are more like memories of memories, something like the memory you make by watching another in a pensive, don't you realize that."

Harry just stared at him, his eyes motioning him to continue.

" You remember right, in the state we left there? The fall of the ministry, Hogwarts and-" here Ron choked up"-the deaths?"

The other just nodded.

" We went to a medical clinic, right before all hell broke loose and we had to go underground?" A nod. " All three of us were classified with PTSD and immense emotional trauma. It made all us jumpy, constantly checking corners and sleeping with wands." Another nod. "We sleep fine now. I don't have nightmares and neither do you, not as frequently as they did, anyway" Ron said with a small grin.

"This is time travel, Harry, and that too permanent, not some 5-hour journey. I think Hermione here is right, and we really are thirteen, just with a lot more-"

"-stuff in our brain?" Harry completed with a snort.

"Yeah, right," Ron agreed.

"What about...the memory that the dementors instigated," He asked in a small voice.

"about...James?"

"Yes"

"Triggers," Hermione said abruptly, causing both of them to flinch and jump. Harry knocked his foot on the pouffe while Ron banged his head on the flagon, causing his nearly-empty bottle of butterbeer to drench his head.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sorry, Ron are you alright? " Hermione got up towards Ron and put his head onto her lap." Oh no, it's going to bruise" She took out her wand and muttered a spell to fix it back.

"Yes, be sorry, for eavesdropping, how much did you hear?" Ron said, but with a grin.

"Not much" replied Hermione, though her face told them a different story.

" Well, explain what you said and sleep while I help Ron wash the butterbeer out of his hair and change"

"Well, I'm not sure" She started as she absent-mindedly ran her hand through his ginger hair." I think certain places and people may cause you to remember really traumatic events. As dementors cause you to remember such things, they act as indirect triggers"

"Oh, makes sense. Well, Hermione, I speak for both of us, when I say that we want to punch Lilian Moon, or maybe prank us. Is it alright with you? " Harry asked.

"Oh, you don't need to do this for me!" She said.

"Don't be daft, we are not doing this for you, we are doing this because she is a pain in the arse" Ron said from her lap, though his blue eyes communicated the obvious sentiment.

"Also because she flirted with Ronald here," Harry said with a grin.

"Ahh, that was irritating and something which I could live without" Ron grimaced as he got up. "Goodnight, Hermione, and we expect you to be asleep when we get back. You need to sleep or you will burn yourself out." Ron said sternly, though he ruined it by grinning at the end.

"Okay," Hermione said with mock exasperation. "Goodnight, you both."

"So, I got a letter from Malfoy…" Harry started as they made their way to the bathroom.


"Potter, Weasley." Draco nodded as they sat together.

"No jibes today, Malfoy?" Ron said with a grin.

"Ron, come on mate." Harry turned to Draco." You need to say something nasty, or else it will look suspicious"

" Really, Potter. Don't sit too close to me. Don't be afraid, the dementors can't get you here" Malfoy said with a snide grin. "I don't know why but this isn't that fun anymore" He whispered to them.

"Anyway, we need to meet. I need to tell you something that is very important." Harry and Ron looked at each other as Draco continued. " You tell me a place and time, preferably tonight." They nodded. "Another thing, you can't tell granger"

Ron started but Draco interrupted him, " Believe me, please. Do what you want to after you know but only you two, not her, not now. And it's an emergency." His eyes conveyed the message too.

They both had a silent conversation before Harry said " Okay, we will send you a letter."

They worked in silence after that only exchanging a couple of barbs before the class got over.


They walked towards the tapestry of Globhud the Grime and found an odd sort of group behind it- Draco Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass, and Tracy Davis.

"Wow, Draco, don't you ever stay without your entourage" Ron joked.

" Weasley, this is important and I know for a fact that you would want to know it," Daphne said properly, with her icy eyes.

Harry however had different reservations, " Draco, you didn't tell us that we will be meeting anyone else than you"

"Potter, all three of us are involved here. Something bad is going to happen tomorrow" Draco replied.

"How apocalyptic " Ron said sarcastically.

" It's regarding Granger, Ronald," Tracy said and that silenced Ron, who understood from her grave expression that something was not right.

"Alright let's go, blindfolds on," Harry said with a flick of his wand as they walked towards an empty stretch of a corridor opposite to the tapestry of Barnabas the troll teaching trolls ballet.


A/N So, I know that it looks like more of a filler chapter, but I'm trying to set up a lot of things without making it too obvious. We will definitely get to know the plan in the next chapter and depending on the other interactions, the horrors of Halloween will be unleashed in the next two chapters.

I hope you liked this chapter!

In response to someone asking how old I am, I am 17 and in the last year of my schooling.

Review of Reviews

buford12: Thank you! I loved that you like this and my imagination xDD. I have a lot of stuff set up, which, truthfully makes me giddy. I just hope I can do justice to the plot in my head by writing it better. I guess a lot of side characters will be involved here, as I love writing from different perspectives.

Please follow, favorite, and review. How about this, at least do any one of them. Come on!

Bon Nuit et Au revoir