Updated as of 1/29/19
Outside, for flying practice, the students, a mixed group of the four houses but not all of the first years, were lined up in two rows with brooms by their sides. Fiona stood between Ron and Neville and, much to her dismay, across from Draco who kept smirking at her. Their teacher, Madam Hooch, came down the line. She had short hair and hawk yellow eyes.
"Good afternoon, class," she said.
"Good afternoon, Madam Hooch," the class said.
"Good afternoon, Amanda," she said to one of the girls before looking over to another student. "Good afternoon." She turned to the whole class. "Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. Come on now, hurry up. Stick your right hand over the broom and say, Up!" The students all started saying up. Harry's broom was the only one to flew into his hand on the first try.
"Wow!" he gasped with a grin. Hermione looked a bit annoyed that he'd gotten it on the first try.
"Up!" Fiona said and her broom flew into her hand on her second try. She glanced up to see Draco had also gotten his and he was, yet again, smirking at her. She rolled her eyes and watched Ron's attempts.
"Up! Up!"
"With feeling!" Madam Hooch instructed.
"Up. Up. Up. Up," Hermione repeated, trying different tones.
"Up!" Ron said in annoyance and his broom flew up and conked him on the nose. "Ow!" Harry laughed slightly. "Shut up, Harry," he groaned but then laughed as well. After a few more minutes everyone had gotten their brooms up.
"Now, once you've got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it," Madam Hooch said. Everyone mounted their brooms. "And grip it tight, you don't want to be sliding off the end. When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, and then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle...3...2..." She blew the whistle and Neville immediately lifted off the ground, without even pushing off, looking quite frightened.
"Oh..."
"Mr. Longbottom," Madam Hooch said.
"Neville, what are you doing?"
"Neville...Neville..."
"We're not supposed to take off, yet."
"M-M-Mr. Longbottom Mr. Longbottom!" Madam Hooch called after him.
"Down! Down!" Neville shouted. "Ahhhh!" he screamed as his broom soared away.
"Neville!" Harry and Hermione shouted.
"Help!"
"Come back down this instant!" Madam Hooch shouted but it was clear Neville had no control over his broom.
"AHH!" He soared through the sky his broom spun around before he hit a wall, bouncing along it and then swooping off. All the while, he was screaming. He began to zoom back towards the group of students. Hooch holds out her wand to stop him. "Help!"
"Mr. Longbottom!" Neville approached. The students scattered and Hooch dived out of the way.
"Fiona!" Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the way. Neville went through the scatter and up a tower.
"Ahhhh! Whoa! Ahhh!" He zoomed past a statue of a man with a sharp spear and his cloak caught on it. He was flipped off the broom and hung there. The students gathered around below him. "Oh. "Ah...help!" He wavered, then the cloak ripped, and he fell, catching on a torch, but then slipping out and falling to the ground. "Ahh!"
"Everyone out of the way!" Madam Hooch shouted as she ran through the group as they scattered. "Come on, get up."
"Is he alright?" Hermione asked in a whisper to Fiona who shrugged.
"Owowowow."
"Oh, oh, oh, oh dear. It's a broken wrist. Tch, tch, tch. Good boy, come on now, up you get." Draco reached down and grabbed Neville's Remembrall, which had fallen out of his cloak. Hooch began to lead Neville away with her. "Everyone's to keep their feet firmly on the ground while I take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing. Understand? If I see a single broom in the air, the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say, Quidditch," she warned before she left. Draco snickered.
"Did you see his face? Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he'd have remembered to fall on his fat ass," he said before laughing, his lackeys joined him.
"That's not yours, Malfoy!" Fiona snapped with a frown.
"Oh? Did you want it then?" he asked tossing it up in the air before catching it with a smirk.
"Give it here, Malfoy," Harry said as he walked up to him.
"No. I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find." He hoped on his broom and flew around group, then through them. "How 'bout up on the roof?" he asked before he soared up and hovered high in the air "What's the matter, Potter? Bit beyond your reach?" Harry grabbed his broom and started to mount it.
"Harry, no!" Hermione protested. "You heard what Madam Hooch said! Besides, you don't even know how to fly," she pointed out right before he flew off after Draco. "What an idiot." Harry flew up in the air to hover across from Draco who was tossing the Remembrall into the air and catching it.
"Give it here, Malfoy, or I'll knock you off your broom!" Harry shouted.
"Is that so?" Harry made a dash for him, but Draco twirled around his broom in a 360. "Have it your way, then!" He threw the Remembrall into the air. Harry zoomed after the ball and speed towards a tower. Just as he was about to hit a window, from which McGonagall was working/watching, he caught it, and then headed back to the group. The students all cheered and ran to see him.
"Good job, Harry!"
"Oh, that was wicked, Harry." McGonagall appeared quickly and approached the group.
"Harry Potter?" she called loud enough to get his attention. "Follow me." Harry sullenly followed her as Draco and his goons snickered.
"Well, he's a goner," Hermione said shaking her head.
"Anyone up for a race?" Draco asked with a smirk.
"Haven't you done enough?" Fiona asked as she put a hand on her hip.
"Scared you'll lose, Gaunt?"
"Fiona, don't," Hermione said giving the girl a look.
"I'm not stupid," Fiona said. "I won't risk expulsion over him," she said before turning away from Draco who frowned.
…
Fiona and Hermione were sitting with two other students getting some help from a teacher when they saw Ron and Harry walking by.
"Oh, go on, Harry, Quidditch is great. Best game there is! And you'll be great, too!" Ron assured him. Hermione and Fiona jumped up to walk with them.
"But I've never even played Quidditch. What if I make a fool of myself?" Harry asked.
"You won't make a fool of yourself. It's in your blood," Hermione said. The two boys looked confused. "Follow me," Hermione said before she and Fiona walked off. Ron shrugged and the two followed.
The three approached a trophy case and Hermione pointed at a plaque of Quidditch players. One listed Harry's father, James Potter, as a Seeker. Harry's face lit up.
"Whoa. Harry, you never told me your father was a Seeker, too," Ron said.
"I-I didn't know," Harry said.
"See?" Fiona asked. "You'll be great!" she assured him holding onto his arm with a grin as she jumped up and down. He smiled at her and nodded.
…
The four were walking up a staircase a little while later. A railing pulled in and Hermione looked behind them at it, but continued walking up.
"I'm telling you, it's spooky. She knows more about you than you do," Ron said.
"Who doesn't?" Harry asked.
"Me?" Fiona suggested with a sheepish smile. Harry chuckled.
"I think you know the most about me," he told her with a smile and a nudge. The staircase suddenly shuddered and began to move causing the four to grab the railings.
"Ahh!" Ron yelped as Hermione gasped.
"What's happening?" Harry asked.
"The staircases change, remember?" Hermione asked. The staircase stopped attached to a new landing. Harry tapped Ron's arm.
"Let's go this way," he said.
"Before the staircase moves again," Ron agreed. They opened the door at the top of the stairs and walked into a spooky, dark room. "Does anyone feel like...we shouldn't be here?"
"We're not supposed to be here. This is the third floor. It's forbidden," Hermione said. Suddenly a flame ignited on a tall stone support. At that moment, the caretaker's cat, Mrs. Norris, came running in behind them.
"Let's go," Harry said. Mrs Norris meowed making the four jump and turn around. The cat meowed again, her red eyes staring at them.
"It's Filch's cat!" Hermione gasped.
"Run!" Ron shouted. The group started running down the hall, flames lighting as they passed. They got to the end of the corridor, to a door.
"Quick! Let's hide through that door!" Harry grabbed the handle, but couldn't get it open. "It's locked!"
"That's it, we're done for!" Ron exclaimed.
"Oh, move over!" Hermione exasperated as she pushed through and pulled out her wand. "Alohomora." The door unlocked. "Get in." They all rushed in.
"Alohomora?" Ron asked as he closed the door.
"Standard book of spells, Chapter seven," Hermione said. Fiona suddenly grabbed Harry's arm without looking at him and he looked at her then down at her hand.
"Fee?" he asked quietly. He looked at her face to see her staring at something with wide eyes and her mouth open. Harry slowly turned his head to see what she was looking at.
"Filch is gone," Hermione said.
"Probably thinks this door's locked," Ron said.
"It was locked."
"And for good reason," Harry said. The other two turned to see what the others saw. There was a massively huge three headed dog sleeping in front of them. It began to wake and Fiona took a step back towards the door. It growled, yawned, and growled more as it noticed the intruders. The four screamed and Fiona pulled open the door as the others ran over. The three got out first before Harry pulled Fiona with them. They turned quickly to shut the door and had to battle against one of the dog's heads.
"Push! Push!" They got the door shut and locked before they ran.
…
The four entered the Gryffindor common room out of breath from running – up stairs – the whole way there.
"What do they think they're doing? Keeping a thing like that locked up in a school!" Ron exclaimed.
"You don't use your eyes, do you? Didn't you see what it was standing on?" Hermione asked.
"I wasn't looking at its feet! I was a bit preoccupied with its heads. Or maybe you didn't notice, there were three!" Ron exclaimed as they climbed the stairs to the dorms.
"It was standing on a trap door. Which means it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something," Hermione concluded.
"Guarding something?" Harry asked.
"That's right. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed...or worse, expelled!" she said to the boys before she turned and left, shutting the door to the girl's dorms behind her.
"She needs to sort out her priorities," Ron said. Harry nodded.
"Are you two okay?" Fiona asked.
"Still alive," Harry said with a nod. Ron let out a breath and shook his head.
"I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Fiona," he said before entering the boy's dorms.
"Goodnight, Ron," Fiona said. She turned to go to the girl's dorms when Harry grabbed her sleeve. She stopped and looked back at him.
"I'll be right there," Harry told Ron. Ron nodded before closing the door. "I know I could always ask you in the morning but… will you sit with me in charms tomorrow?" Fiona smiled. "It's just… you've either been sitting next to Ron or Hermione," he added as he looked down at his feet.
"Of course I'll sit with you, silly. I haven't forgotten about my favorite wizard," she said giving him a hug. He chuckled as he hugged back and ruffled her hair before letting go.
"Goodnight, Fee."
"Night, Harry."
…
The next morning after breakfast was Charms. Fiona, as promised, sat beside Harry who sat next to Seamus. Of course across from them were the Slytherin first years and a blond that still hadn't given up. Draco sent Fiona a quick smile to which she let out a sigh.
"Just ignore him," Harry said to her. Draco glared at him and of course Harry glared back.
"Follow your own advice, Harry. He's not worth it," Fiona said. Harry gave her a smile and nodded. Their teacher, Professor Flitwick, got on top of a stack of books since he was very short. Once he could see everyone he addressed the class.
"One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation or the ability to make objects fly. Uh, do you all have your feathers?" Hermione lifted hers "Good. Now, uh, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing, hmm? The swish and flick. Everyone."
"The swish and flick," everyone said with him while doing the movement.
"Good. And enunciate. Wingardium Leviosa. Off you go then," he said. Everyone started trying the spell.
"Wingardium Levio-saaa," Draco tried.
"Wingardrium Leviosar," Ron said before he whacked his wand around numerous times.
"Stop, stop, stop," Hermione said putting her hand on his wand to stop him. "You're going to take someone's eye out. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Leviosa, not Leviosar."
"You do it then if you're so clever. Go on, go on," Ron said. Hermione straightened up and swished her wand.
"Wingardium Leviosa," she said perfectly. The feather started to lift up. Ron put his head on his books dejectedly.
"Oh, well done! See here, everyone! Ms. Granger's done it! Oh, splendid!" Flitwick praised her. Seamus began incorrectly swishing at his feather.
"Wingard Levosa. Wingard Levosa."
"Well done, dear," Flitwick said to Hermione. Suddenly there was a loud boom as Seamus' feather explodes. Flitwick gasped. "Whoa! Ooh."
"I think we're going to need another feather over here, Professor," Harry said slowly turning his head to look at Flitwick.
"Oh, Harry," Fiona said when she saw the black soot on his cheek. She took the edge of her sleeve and started to wipe his face clean.
"Fee," he whined quietly as his cheeks went pink.
"You wanted to sit next to me," she reminded him in quiet singsong. Ron started snickering as Harry frowned. Harry nudged Fiona who nudged him back with a quiet giggle.
…
Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus were walking through a courtyard after Charms. Fiona stayed behind to ask the professor a question about their homework assignment.
"It's Leviosa, not Leviosar. She's a nightmare, honestly! No wonder she hasn't got any friends!" Ron said loudly. Hermione bustled past, sniffling.
"I think she heard you," Harry pointed out with a grimace.
…
That night, Halloween night, in the great hall everyone was eating candy and Jack O'Lanterns decorated the ceiling. The normal chatter filled the room as thunder boomed above from outside.
"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Parvati Patil said that she wouldn't come out of the girl's bathroom," Neville said. "She said that she'd been in there all afternoon...crying." Ron and Harry exchanged glances.
"What did you two do?" Fiona asked with a frown as she turned to them.
"I didn't do anything," Harry said quickly putting up his hands in defense with wide eyes.
"I-I didn't know she was right there! I didn't mean for her to hear me," Ron said.
"What did you say?" Fiona asked.
"He said it was no wonder Hermione doesn't have any friends," Dean said. Fiona shook her head as she got up and left the room.
"Thank," Ron said to Dean.
Fiona started towards the stairs when suddenly Quirrell ran towards her from the grand staircase .
"M-Miss G-G-Ga-Gaunt! T-T-Tr- Go T-T-To your d-dorm! T-Troll! D-D-Dungeons!" he managed to stutter out, out of breath from running.
"Troll?" Fiona blinked.
"G-Go!" he waved his arm frantically before running to the great hall. Fiona shook her head. She wasn't going to the dungeons so it would be okay if she didn't go to her dorms right away.
Fiona entered the girl's bathroom and could hear Hermione still crying softly. She walked in slowly and approached the stalls.
"Hermione?" she asked. The girl suddenly went quiet. "Are you okay? I'm sure Ron didn't mean what he said." Hermione stayed silent. "You do have friends."
"No, he's right… I don't."
"Well, hey… what about me? I'm your friend, aren't I?" Fiona asked. The girl sniffled.
"You are?"
"Of course I am! If I wasn't your friend would I be standing here?"
"I guess not," Hermione said. Fiona pushed open the stall as Hermione wiped her eyes.
"Hug?" Fiona asked as she held up her arms. Hermione nodded and the two hugged. Fiona rubbed her back comfortingly. "Boys are just stupid," she said making Hermione chuckle and nod. The two pulled away and smiled at each other. Fiona turned around to open the stall but immediately closed the door again, as quietly as she could, and turned to Hermione with wide eyes. Hermione's eyes widened as well. "Troll," Fiona mouthed out.
"Troll?" Hermione mouthed back. Fiona nodded.
"It was supposed to be in the dungeons," she whispered as quietly as she could. Fiona turned and slowly peeked out just in time to see the troll lifting its club about to smash the stalls. "Get down!" Fiona turned and pulled the other girl down, putting her body over hers, just before the wood above them exploded. The two screamed as they held onto each other. Suddenly Ron and Harry ran into the room.
"Hermione, Fiona, move!" Harry shouted. The two started to crawl forwards but the troll smashed the remaining stalls.
"Help! Help!" The boys started throwing wood pieces at the troll.
"Hey, pea brain!" Ron shouted. He threw a piece and hit the troll on the head. Fiona pulled Hermione from the remains of the stalls and the two crawled to under the sinks. The troll saw them and went to smash them. Fiona pushed Hermione one way before moving back the other way right before the sink between them was smashed to bits.
"Ahhh! Help!" Hermione screamed as she held onto the pipe of the sink she was under.
"Harry!" Fiona screamed as she put her hands over her head. Harry got out his wand. He ran forward as the troll drew his club back, getting ready to attack again. He grabbed the troll's club and was lifted up.
"Whooa! Whoa, whoa!" He landed on the troll's head, and was hurled forward, then back, until his wand went up the troll's nose.
"Ew." Ron grimaced. The troll snorted, and whipped around.
"Whoa, whoa whoa!" The troll got Harry off its head and was holding him by one leg, upside down. It geared up its club and swiped at Harry but he pulled himself up, then down. The troll swiped again. "Do something!" Harry shouted before pulling himself up again.
"What?" Ron asked looking around. The troll swiped again.
"Anything! Hurry up!" Harry shouted. Ron grabbed his wand. Under the sink, Hermione waved her hand.
"Swish and flick!" she reminded him.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" The club was lifted out of the troll's hand and hovered above its head. The troll looked up, confused, just as the club came crashing back down. "Cool." It hit the troll's head and the troll wavered, then dropped Harry, who crawled away backwards, and came crashing down, hard. Harry stood as the two girls approached carefully. Their robes were covered in ceramic dust and shards and were slightly damp from the broken sinks.
"Is it...dead?" Hermione asked.
"I don't think so. Just knocked out," Harry said. He grabbed his wand which was covered in goo. "Uggh, troll bogies."
"Nice job, Ron," Fiona said, slightly out of breath. Ron gave her a smile right before McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell came rushing in. They all gasped at the scene.
"Oh! Oh, my goodness! E-Explain yourselves, both of you!" McGonagall ordered the boys.
"Well, what it is..." the two started.
"It's my fault, Professor McGonagall." The teachers, and Fiona, Ron and Harry, gaped. The two boys exchanged a look.
"Ms. Granger?" McGonagall asked.
"I went looking for the troll. I'd read about them and thought I could handle it," she said as she looked at her feet. "But I was wrong. Fiona tried to convince me not to but I didn't listen... If Harry and Ron hadn't come and found us...we'd probably be dead."
"Be that as it may...it was an extremely foolish thing to do." Harry looked at Snape's leg which had a large cut on it. Snape noticed and covered it up, glaring at Harry. "I would have expected more rational behavior on your part, Ms. Granger. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgment. Miss Gaunt, perhaps you can try a little harder to keep your friends from danger," she said making Fiona flinch and look down. "As for you two gentlemen I just hope you realize how fortunate you are. Not many first-year students could take on a full grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. Five points...will be awarded to each of you." The two boys smiled. "For sheer dumb luck."
"No points from me?" Fiona asked. The boys gave her wide eyed looks.
"Would you like points to be taken?" McGonagall asked as she gave the girl a sharp look.
"No ma'am," Fiona said quickly.
"Oh! M-Miss Gaunt? Your l-leg!" Quirrell exclaimed as he pointed.
"Oh my…" McGonagall said. The four students looked down to see Fiona's left leg was bleeding; her knee high sock and the flesh beneath it had been cut through by a piece of the sink when it had broken. Harry's eyes widened but she gave him a small smile. She looked back towards the teachers and noticed the suspicious look Snape was giving her.
"I'll escort her t-to the hospital wing," Quirrell said giving the other two professors a twitchy smile. McGonagall nodded before she and Snape left. "Perhaps you ought to go..." Quirrell said to the other three. "M-might wake up...heh," Quirrell said motioning for the student to leave the room. He leaned closer to the troll. The troll roared in its sleep "Ahh! Hehe..." he quickly followed after the students.
…
The trio waited up for Fiona, in the common room, to come back from the hospital wing. She came in missing her sock with a bandage around her calf.
"I'm alright," she said to them. "You didn't have to wait up."
"It's my fault you got hurt, Fiona," Hermione said as she stood. Fiona shook her head.
"It's the troll's fault," she said.
"Or who ever let the troll out in the first place," Ron pointed out.
"Thank you two for saving our lives," Fiona said.
"Yes, thank you," Hermione said.
"What are friends for?" Harry asked with a smile. Ron nodded making Hermione smile.