Chapter Eighty-Five: The Substitute
That's when suddenly Harry and Draco came running around the corner and Draco instantly embraced Hermione as soon as he saw her. "Oh, thank God you're alright!" He exclaimed.
"You saw Him too?" Hermione questioned him with uncertainty.
"Saw who?" Draco wondered after letting go of her while arching an eyebrow at her, but Hermione quickly shook her head.
"Nobody, never mind." She told him.
"What were you doing up here anyways?" He asked her as a few moments of silence passed between them.
"Nothing, it's not important." She replied while biting her lip.
"Yes it is. You were going to jump weren't you?" He questioned her while Harry slowly backed away to give them a few moments alone together.
"But I didn't." She told him.
"That's not the Hermione Granger I know. The real Hermione Granger would not do something stupid like that when she has a wonderful family and friends that love her. Not to mention a boyfriend that would die for her." He told her.
"I'm sorry Draco, I just didn't want to get in the way." She told him while quickly turning her head away from him.
"Hermione, look at me." Draco instructed but instead she just looked down at the ground, so he gently guided her chin back over to look him in the eyes with his finger. "I love you. And I'm never going to stop despite what that prejudice old hag says." He told her as she stifled a laugh.
"I never thought that I would ever hear you call anybody else prejudice." She told him while he smirked back at her.
"Me neither." He told her before kissing her on the lips. "Now come on, we better head back before_" He began while grabbing her hand and slowly turning around and then coming face to face with a Gryffindor student by the name of Casey Valentine.
"Where have you been!? Dumbledore's going crazy and Umbridge really doesn't like being interrupted." She told them.
"Let me guess, that toad woman is Umbridge." Draco said as Casey slightly nodded back at him.
"Yep! And considering the fact that she treats us all like we're five years old, I honestly wouldn't be very much surprised if she puts you both in the timeout chair because of it." She said with a roll of her eyes.
"This year obviously isn't starting out well at all." Hermione said as she started walking back with them and Harry was following along behind them.
"Well, there is one good thing that's going on. Dumbledore just announced that instead of the house cup competition this year, Hogwarts will be putting on a charity fundraiser talent show to help Cedric's parents and the winner will also get to have a chance at their shot at fame." Casey explained with a rather sly grin as Hermione smiled and Harry came to a sudden stop.
"That's actually a really good idea isn't it Harry?" She questioned while turning back around to look at him as Draco and Casey did the same while Harry looked down at the ground. "Harry?" She questioned him again.
"You alright?" Draco inquired.
"Yeah, sorry." Harry began. "It's just that I keep dreaming about Cedric and I've always wondered since he died what exactly he believed in." He finished.
"Oh I wouldn't let that bother you. Diggory had a better shot of making it to the good place more than I do." Draco told him with a grin as Harry smiled back at him.
"You have just as much of a chance now though,.. if you keep your faith and have that attitude of yours in check that is." Harry told him while they finished walking back into the Great Hall together and that's when they came face to face with a man they had never seen before.
He had rather long thick black hair, even longer than Harry's father's hair was, but the most mysterious about him was that he had one amber colored eye and the other one was violet. He chuckled as they all stopped and stared at him. "Don't worry about my eyes, just because I look scary, and I was in Slytherin back in my day doesn't mean I'm dangerous. I mean, just look at your father and older sister. They were both Slytherins and they wouldn't want to hurt anybody if they didn't have to." He explained. "Oh yeah, and your friend Draco Malfoy is a Slytherin as well." He told them with a grin and a wink.
"Who are you and how do you know so much about my family?" Harry wondered.
"I'm Professor Blake Jordan but you can call me Professor J." He replied while sticking out his hand and offering it to them to shake. "I'm your temporary potions master,.. and if things go well between us,.. I could also be your future uncle Harry." He told him with another grin and a wink while Harry's eyes widened as he shook his hand.
"You're the wizard dating my aunt Petunia." He suddenly realized.
"You got it and the family isn't all that happy about it to tell you the truth. After all, I come from a family of purebloods, and they don't believe in mixed relationships." He explained.
"Tell me about it." Draco said as Hermione turned to look at him.
"The Weasley family are purebloods and none of them have that attitude." She pointed out.
"That's because they're so poor that they're desperate to get with anybody." He told her while Hermione simply just looked horrified.
"Draco!" She hollered angrily at him. "I can't believe you just said that! What have I told you about insulting my friends!?" She cried out as Draco grew silent before Hermione stormed off to the Gryffindor table.
"Now you've done it." Harry began. "You know, if you plan on marrying Hermione someday you really have to find some way to get along with Ron. Or at least coexist with him." He told him.
"Why should I? He wants to try and steal Hermione away from me. He has since I took her to the Yule Ball last year." Draco told him before Harry sighed and then took a deep breath. "Here comes another sermon from Saint Snape." He said with a groan and a roll of his eyes. "As I know that's exactly what you do before you start preaching."
"Only a tiny one." Harry replied while holding his thumb and index apart a fraction of an inch. "You know what you do when you love somebody?" He questioned him.
"Umm,.. we're a bit young for that mate. My parents would kill me if they discovered that I was fooling around." Draco responded while widening his eyes in complete and utter shock and horror.
"What!? No! I'm talking about free will! If you truly love somebody you give them the free will whether or not they want to be with you. Otherwise, it doesn't mean anything. Which is exactly why I don't believe in love potions." Harry told him.
"Right, I knew that." Draco responded as his cheeks went pink and Harry laughed.
"Sure you did." He told him before they both went back to their tables.
