For all the time Maribella had spent hating on Hermione, she found the girl was a really good ally to have. Ever since they had saved her from the troll, she had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules, and her presence was turning out to be really enjoyable. No longer did she chide and patronise them for every little mistake, and no longer did she purposefully avoid the boys' presence. Not only that, but Hermione was really understanding and accepting of Maribella 's condition. Maribella actually found it was easier to deal with it when she had Hermione by her side. Firstly because Hermione was much better at coming up with excuses to explain Maribella 's sickly appearance and sudden monthly disappearances than the girl herself, and secondly because having to carry such a burden alone had been hard. With Hermione's support, she was sure the next full moon would be much more bearable.
Apart from this new addition to their group of friends, Maribella 's life at Hogwarts didn't change much. Classes were going decently well (much better with Hermione), the food was excellent (always worth noting), and Snape was still as nasty as ever (no comments needed there- a simple 'yuck' will suffice). It was mid-November and much to Maribella 's joy, the weather was turning colder by the day. November also brought the start of the Quidditch season. The first game was on Saturday, and it would be Harry's debut as the new Seeker. The day before the big game, the four of them were spending their break outside in the courtyard, enjoying the freezing weather. A flame of blue fire which could be carried around in a pot had been conjured by Hermione, and the four of them huddled around it, talking, laughing, and even reading (surprisingly not Hermione but Harry). Unfortunately for them, when Snape spotted them sitting out there and started coming over, Hermione had to vanish the fire, leaving them sitting around a cold empty jar of jam.
"What's that you've got there, Potter?" Snape asked as he approached.
Harry showed him the jar. Snape narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow. Harry huffed and showed Snape the book he had been reading, Quidditch Through the Ages.
"Library books are not to be taken outside school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."
"He just made that rule up," muttered Harry angrily, as Snape hobbled away. "Did you notice he was limping?"
"Wonder what's wrong with his leg?" Maribella said.
"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," Ron grunted.
"Yeah," Harry agreed absently, standing up and staring at the direction Snape had just gone.
Maribella followed his eyes.
"Oh no. Harry, not this again," she said, standing up as well. "You're not going after him."
"Calm down, Mari," Harry said. "I'm just going to ask him if I can have it back."
"Now?" she asked, and Harry nodded. "But he's only just confiscated your book. There's no way he'll give it back."
"She's right," said Hermione, pointing towards the empty jar with her wand and lighting up a fire again. "Stay with us for a bit longer, Harry."
He reluctantly sat back down.
Hours later, he was restless.
"I'm going to get my book from Snape," he finally said, when the sun was already starting to set.
"I'll come with you, then," Maribella said immediately. Harry paused but nodded slowly.
"Rather you guys than me," Ron said, standing and moving to help Hermione as he did so.
"We'll meet you in the common room," Hermione said, and they left in separate directions.
"You're only coming with me to keep me in check, aren't you?" Harry asked, as they made their way to the staff room.
"Honestly, yeah," Maribella answered. "You have a sharp tongue and I don't trust Snape. I don't want you to get in trouble."
"Thanks, I guess," he said as they arrived. They knocked on the door and waited. There was no answer.
"Maybe he's not here," Maribella suggested.
"I'll just check," Harry replied. "Maybe Snape left my book here." He pushed the door ajar and peered inside for a few seconds. "Come see this," Harry whispered to Maribella .
Lucky for them, Snape was in there, with Harry's book. But so was Filch, and the two seemed to be deep in conversation. Snape was holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.
"Blasted thing," Snape cursed. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"
"Close the door, Harry," Maribella whispered. Unfortunately for them, the tone of her voice wasn't as calculated as Harry's, and she ended up saying it louder than intended. Snape's head snapped towards them.
"POTTER! Piccinni!" he bellowed, covering his leg at once. Maribella paled and Harry gulped.
"I just wondered if I could-"
"GET OUT! OUT!"
The two took off running, and barged into the common room. Hermione and Ron, who had been sitting close together going over Ron's Charms essay, looked up startled.
"Did you get it?" Hermione asked.
He showed them his empty hands.
"You both look like you've just seen the Bloody Baron. What's the matter?" Ron asked.
"Snape," Maribella whispered, leaning forward. "When we got to the staffroom, we opened the door a bit and saw Snape. Filch was with him, bandaging his leg. He was talking about how it was hard to keep an eye on all three heads at once."
"You know what this means?" Harry said. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him, I was right! And I'd bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to make a diversion!"
Hermione's eyes went wide.
"No- he wouldn't," she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."
"Yes, he would, Hermione," Maribella said. "I know people like him. He's evil."
"Just because he's more rigorous than most, it doesn't mean he's evil," Hermione easily countered. "Dumbledore trusts him."
"Rigorous? The man is downright cruel," Maribella answered back.
"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," Ron muttered. "I wouldn't put it past Snape."
"But what's so valuable that he'd risk getting caught and injuring his students to get?" Maribella pondered.
None of them had an answer. They all went to bed with millions of questions in their heads. The next morning, Harry's big day was met with tired faces and tired kids. Luckily, Harry at least seemed to have some energy. He was restless, moving constantly around the breakfast table and twirling his food on a fork.
"Take a bit of toast, mate, go on," Ron said, pushing a plate closer to Harry.
"I don't want anything," the boy replied.
"Just a bite," wheedled Hermione.
"I'm not hungry."
"Harry, you need your strength," said Seamus down the table. "Seekers are always the ones who get nobbled by the other team."
"Thanks, Seamus," said Harry, scrunching up his nose as Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.
"Seamus is right, Harry," Maribella said. "You need to eat something or you'll regret it later in the match."
As Harry opened his mouth to tell her otherwise, Maribella quickly grabbed a buttered toast and shoved it in his mouth. It was easier than arguing with him about it.
"What was that for?" Harry said, coughing slightly. He glared at Maribella .
"Got you to eat, didn't I?" Maribella said cheekily. Harry merely rolled his eyes, probably so not to open his mouth and risk having her shoving more food down his throat. Soon after, it was time to leave for the game.
"Gryffindor versus Slytherin," said Maribella as she made her way to the stands with Ron, Hermione, Seamus, Dean, and Neville. "Biggest match of the year."
"I'll bet you two sickles Gryffindor wins, but Terence Higgs catches the Snitch," Seamus said.
"Are you betting against Harry?" Maribella asked, raising her eyebrows. Seamus shrugged apologetically.
"Higgs has been playing for longer," he explained.
"I reckon Harry has to be good to have gotten in the team," Ron retorted. "He got McGonagall to vouch for him."
Maribella murmured in agreement.
At eleven o'clock the match started. Although the seats were raised high in the air, it was still difficult to see what was going on, and many students had brought binoculars.
"Wish I had thought of that," Maribella muttered to herself.
Nevertheless, it was clear it'd be a great game when the two teams made their way onto the field. The crowd went wild, and Maribella saw Fred and George, who played as Beaters in their team, wave and send kisses to the stands. Maribella shouted like crazy while Hermione waved her little Gryffindor flag and the boys cheered, waving a banner they had made on an earlier occasion. Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the pitch, her broom in her hand. The two captains, Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint, shook hands and mounted their brooms. Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle, fifteen brooms rose up into the air, and they were off.
Maribella found it easy to enjoy the game, eager to see Slytherin be beaten. It was an exciting Quaffle was constantly going back and forth between the Chasers. The Bludgers were flying, directed by the Beaters. The Keepers were trying to keep the Quaffles from the goals. And the Seekers were circling up high above all the other players. The game was moving so fast, it was hard to keep up. Gryffindor had the Quaffle. And then Slytherin did. No, Gryffindor. Slytherin again. Bludgers flying. Gryffindor retaking the Quaffle. Lost to Slytherin. Attempted score. Gryffindor blocked. Gryffindor had the Quaffle again. And then:
"GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" Lee Jordan, the commentator, exclaimed. There was an uproar from the Gryffindors.
"Hello, yeh three," said a voice behind her. Maribella turned to see Hagrid waving at her, Ron, and Hermione.
"Hagrid!" they exclaimed in unison.
"I didn't know you were coming," said Hermione as they budged to make room for him.
"Wouldn' miss Harry's firs' match fer the world," Hagrid said, and then he brought up the large binoculars he had around his neck to his eyes. "No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"
"Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had too much to do yet."
And it was true. Harry was gliding over the game, looking for the golden ball. He did a loop a few times and dodged all the Bludgers that came in his direction, but that was about it.
"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying. "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers- two Weasleys and one Chaser Bell speed over toward- wait a moment- was that the Snitch?"
Harry had seen it! He dived downwards after the streak of gold, with the Slytherin Seeker not too far behind. Maribella screamed, shouted, and cheered along with her housemates (and frankly, three quarters of the school. No one wanted Slytherin to win). Lacking a flag or banner to wave around, she unwrapped her gold-red scarf from her neck and started swinging it wildly.
The two Seekers were neck and neck, but Higgs' Cleansweep 7 was no match for Harry's Nimbus 2000. The latter sped past the Slytherin, hand outstretched, almost there, almost there-
WHAM!
A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors- Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain, had blocked Harry on purpose, and Harry's broom spun off course, with Harry struggling to maintain himself on top of it. Maribella dropped her scarf in shock, and it landed under one of the seats further down.
"FOUL!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, cupping her hands around her mouth in an attempt to be heard over the crowd.
"Send him off, ref!" Dean yelled angrily.
Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.
"So- after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating-"
"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall, sitting to his left.
"I mean, after that open and revolting foul-"
"Jordan, I'm warning you-"
"Alright, alright. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor…"
"You tell 'em, Lee," Maribella yelled out, and then to her friends: "I'll be right back."
Maribella hopped down the stands two at a time. She bent down to retrieve her scarf from under one of the benches. Suddenly she heard gasps and shrieks.
"What's happening?" she asked to no one in particular. She stood up quickly, only to bang her head hard on the wooden surface of the bench she was under and fall flat on her face.
"Ow," she grunted, and then carefully lifted her head up to examine what had happened in the game. Once she took in the situation, she let out a gasp herself. Harry's broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. It jerked to the left and to the right, plumped straight down, and came quickly back up, clearly out of control. Maribella ran back up.
"What's happening?" she asked desperately.
"Did something happen to the broom when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.
"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark Magic- no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."
No kid…? Maribella thought, and then she realized. She seized Hagrid's binoculars and started frantically looking at the crowd, searching for someone in specific. And… there he was.
"Hermione, look," Maribella said to the girl, passing over the binoculars and pointing to the stands opposite them. Snape was sitting there the middle of, his eyes fixed on Harry, muttering non-stop under his breath. "See, I told you- evil."
"He's doing something- jinxing the broom," Hermione said.
"Give it here, let me see," said Ron, grabbing the binoculars. "Bloody hell! What should we do?"
"I don't-" Maribella started but was interrupted by Hermione.
"Leave it to me."
Before they could say another word, Hermione had disappeared. Several agonizing minutes passed. Maribella was terrified of what could happen to Harry if he fell. It was a huge drop.
"Come on, Hermione," she heard Ron whisper.
Finally, to Maribella 's immense relief, Harry's broom seemed to have settled, and he pulled himself back on it. Maribella sunk down in her chair, her legs weak. She didn't even realize Harry had made a dive until a second later when she heard him shouting from the crowd.
"I've got the Snitch!" Harry waved it above his head.
"What?" Maribella said, standing up at once. "When did that happen?"
"Did you not see it?" said Ron, excitedly. "Nearly swallowed the Snitch, he did."
At that moment, Hermione came back.
"Nice going, Mione!" Maribella exclaimed.
"Probably won us the game," Ron agreed.
"And saved Harry's life," Maribella added. "What did you do?"
"Set Snape on fire," Hermione gushed.
Maribella and Ron gaped.
"You didn't!" exclaimed the boy.
"Oh, but she did," Maribella said with a laugh. "Always knew your good-girl attitude was just a facade."
"It is not!" Hermione protested. "I just… made an exception." But she had a cheeky grin, and the trio laughed heartily. Together with the Gryffindors, they went to wait by the locker rooms, and when Harry came out, face still sprinkled with sweat, they all cheered.
"Harry!" Maribella pushed through the crowd, getting to Harry before any of the others could and throwing her arms around him. "Your little stunt with the broom scared the wits out of me." Maribella immediately regretted the decision to hug her friend when she felt Harry's damp arms hug her back.
"Still won us the game," Harry said with a grin.
"Congrats," she beamed then pulling back. "Right, well, you're slightly- ah- moist, so…"
"Am I?" Harry said with a laugh and then proceeded to grab her in a headlock, shoving her head under his clammy armpits. Maribella shrieked just as Ron and Hermione approached.
"Ease off, Harry," Ron said, and Harry let her go. "Great job, mate!"
"We knew you could do it, Harry," Hermione smiled, also moving to hug him tightly.
Hagrid then came up behind them.
"Yeh alright, Harry?" he said. "You deserve a strong cup of tea after tha' game. Me treat!"
More people high fived and congratulated Harry as they walked past. Twenty minutes later, Marcus Flint was still howling about the rules Harry had supposedly broken and Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the results to anyone who'd hear it. The quartet, however, heard none of it, as by that time he was already settled in Hagrid's hut, four steaming mugs of tea in front of them.
"It was Snape," Ron explained a while later as they discussed the game. "We saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you," he told Harry.
"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't noticed what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"
Maribella glanced at her friends, thinking about Halloween night and what she and Harry had seen the day before.
"We found out something about him," Harry finally told Hagrid, as if reading her thoughts. "He tried to get past the three-headed dog at Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."
Hagrid dropped the teapot.
"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.
"Fluffy?"
"Yeah, he's mine. Bought him off a Greek chappie I met las' year. A sweethear' once yeh get ter know 'im properly."
"Is he?" Maribella asked eagerly just as Ron scoffed. Magical creatures were among the most fascinating beings to exist in Maribella 's opinion. Also, Ron hadn't realized, but any extra information on Fluffy could help them. Egging Hagrid on was just what they needed.
"Absolu'ly," Hagrid said, with a fond look on his face. "Lemme know if yeh're int'rested, Mari. Maybe yeh two could meet. Not soon, though, I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"
Aha!
"Yes?" said Harry eagerly.
"Now, don't ask me any more," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."
"But Snape's trying to steal it."
"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."
"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" cried Hermione.
The afternoon's events certainly seemed to have changed her mind about Snape.
"I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid," the girl went on. "I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"
"I'm telling yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid in a tone that reminded Maribella just how intimidating the man could be. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all four of yeh- yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guarding, that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel."
"Ah-" Harry said, "so there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"
Hagrid looked furious with himself, and tea time was officially declared to be over.
Another one down! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter... finally getting to the climax of the story! Next chapter up will show a little more of Mari's home life.