Charter 4:

Midnight Meetings

I am not as mature as one might expect for a person who remembers their twenty-first birthday and while I am usually a very well behaved child, there are times when I completely loose it. I fall to the ground and bawl or simply refuse to do something, that normally, I wouldn't have any problem doing. Aunt Petunia was often at a loss as to how to deal with me on those days.

I spent the better part of two years, were the most I could do was waddle and talk in baby speak. The first few months of my new life I couldn't even speak, I could only cry. I could barely move my fingers during that time, let alone properly express myself. I mean just think about it a fully developed mind and all I could do was cry and mess my diapers. Unable to do anything, except dread the inevitable death of my parents at Voldemort hands. If it weren't for the calming charms my parents cast, I doubt I would be as sane as I am today.

With everything I've gone through is it any wonder that I'm a little immature at times. Two plus years were I had to rely on others for even the most basic of things. There are times when I barely feel eleven years old. Let alone the thirty I've technically lived.

If it was immature of me to spend the next hour or so after flying class ignoring Hermione than I felt I had good reason. I mean publicly fighting with a Malfoy, accepting a challenge to a midnight duel and dragging me in as her second. What was she thinking? I did not need more enemies, and yes Draco was most likely going to be an enemy in the future. That did not mean I wanted to make him my enemy now, no matter how time saving it might be.

I mean yes it was mean of him to take Neville's things, but maybe he was just going to give it to him later. I paused and rolled my eyes, yeah like that was going to happen. Still, was it my duty to help everyone with a problem, to stop every bully and right every wrong? I certainly didn't think so. Stopping Voldemort was already more responsibility than I wanted, that you very much.

I was in the Ravenclaw common room seated at one of the, sinfully comfortable, couches staring at my potions textbook. Hermione was seated next to me reading, or at least pretending to read, Advanced Charms: A Beginners Guide. I guess that's where she learned the summoning charm. Periodically she would look up and stare at me before sighing and going back to her book.

I looked around and, judging everyone sufficiently occupied, got up, motioning for Hermione to follow I headed up to our room.

"I am so sorry Alex, I didn't mean to drag you into this," Hermione said, obviously working herself up to a big apology. I cut her off before she could really get going.

"Whoa hold on, I'm not mad about being your second," I said, and I wasn't annoyed yes, mad no. "I am your friend. I got your back, from here to hell and back." I said seriously. "No, what I am annoyed about is that you got into a fight with Malfoy in the first place."

"Did you see what he was doing?" Hermione asked. Her hands were at her hips, Hermione's classic lecture pose.

"Yes I saw what he was doing. He's a Slytherin," and didn't that sound raciest, classist, House-ist? It was something. "He was trying to show how big and tough he is. It was exactly what I expected of him. What surprised me was you, if that shouting match had gone on any longer I thought for sure you were going to punch him." Which wasn't supposed to happen until third or fourth year. "Why would you go out of your way to antagonize him?" I asked, genuinely curious. My memories, which I was starting to rely on less and less as it became apparent that they were less than accurate, painted Hermione as a rule abiding person.

"Out of my way? He did it right in front of everyone!" Hermione said

"Yes, but how is that our problem? One of the Professors would have made him give it back. You didn't need to get involved." I said. Hermione flinched as if I struck her.

"And what was I supposed to do? Just let him get away with it, the Professors may have forced Malfoy to give it back but that would have stopped it from hurting Neville." She said tears leaking out. She absently wiped her eyes. I gave her a concerned look.

"This isn't just about Neville is it?" I asked. It couldn't be with a reaction this strong something had to have happened to her.

"Yes, no, I don't know." Hermione said, the tears were coming in a torrent now and she just looked at me. I stepped to her and drew her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry." I said softly.

"You don't even know what happened." Hermione said, barely able to talk through the tears. I squeezed her before starting to rub her back.

"It obviously hurt you. That's all I need to know." I said. Here I was getting mad at her and ignoring her for over an hour. Some friend I am. Hermione cried for a bit before pulling away slightly. I let go, still keeping one arm around her shoulders.

"Thank you," Hermione said before falling silent log enough that I thought she was done talking. "I, it's not something I like talking about but I was bullied a lot in school. At first it was small things and then I offered to do their homework. To get them to stop." She laughed, a harsh sounding thing that had no place coming from a child. "That was a mistake."

"And the teachers did nothing?" I asked. If they had stood by while my friend was being hurt, I would have to pay them a visit.

"Oh they did something alright. It didn't take the teachers long to find out I was doing the other kids homework for them. We all got in trouble, and when I tried to explain what had happened they said that we would all be punished equally." Hermione explained. I knew that there was only so much a teacher could do in situations like this but I was in no mood to care. "They stopped for a while, but once the teachers stopped paying close attention they started up again. This time I told my parents and Mom got me transferred to a new class." Hermione finished bitterly.

"That sounds like it didn't go as planned." I commented.

"No, no it didn't. Ms. Harrow was just mean and any time one of us did something even a little out of line she would punish everyone. Even if we had nothing to do with it." Hermione grimaced before continuing. "As if that wasn't bad enough Shane, one of the kid in my old class, had a cousin in my new one, Grace. She was a very, very, mean girl and she lived down the road from me. Daddy tried to talk with her parents but they didn't do anything. It got so bad that Mom was saying we should move. That was when I got my Hogwarts letter." By the end her voice had taken on a slightly awed tone. As if she still couldn't quite believe that this was real.

"So I'm thinking I visit you this summer. It'd be fun, we could do each other's hair and gossip and…" I went on for a few moments enjoying Hermione's increasingly incredulous face. It would also give me an opportunity to talk to a certain little girl about manners. Hermione's face went from confused to bemused as she figured out what I wasn't saying before she started shaking her head.

"While I would like you to come over, you won't do anything about Grace." Hermione said, looking very serious. I nodded already trying to decide what I would be doing to Grace when we met. Hermione didn't look convinced, "Promise me you won't do anything that will get you in trouble." I just raised my brow. "I mean it promise me."

"Fine I promise." I said, crossing my fingers.

"Good," Hermione said. We sat there for a few minutes before I got up and grabbed her advanced charms book. Upon which I cast the google charm.

"If we are going to do this we need to be ready. I think the disarming charm and the disillusionment charm are a good place start." I said. Hermione looked at me for a moment before smiling.

"Thank you." She said. I just nodded and handed her the book. Pointing out the spells. "These look useful."

"Well of course they are. It my idea we're talking about." I said in my best hoity-toity voice. Hermione giggled and I started giggling before long we were both on the floor laughing. When we finally got control of ourselves she said

"You know you're showing me how to do that spell right." I just started giggling.

888

We spent the rest of the day, skipping dinner, practicing for the duel. Thankfully flying was our only class that day. Our room was trashed by the time we left.

"Ok remember what we planned, disillusionment charm and then a silencing charm on our feet." Hermione said fretting. We were on the fourth floor waiting for midnight to strike and Hermione was really starting to panic.

"Of course I remember, we went over it nearly fifty times now." I said softly. It may be late, but that just meant that we had to be all the quieter. Hermione it seemed didn't quite grasp that. I cast the tempus charm. 11:40 "Alright it's almost time lets go." I got my broom out nodded at Hermione she nodded back and we got on the broom before casting the charms and hovering down to the third floor.

I maneuvered us into the corridor and settled us near the ceiling. I took a moment to see if anyone was around. Hearing nothing I took a deep breath and tried to sense.

Before getting my wand sensing magic was difficult. Notable exceptions aside, I would have to enter a near meditative state to get anything other than a vague background feeling of the ambient magic. Clearing my mind of all distractions, as anyone who has tried to meditate can tell you, is not easy. It like someone telling you not to think about a pink elephant. As soon as someone says that all you can think of is pink elephants. Thankfully I had a lot of time to practice.

That was before I got my wand. Now all it took a deep breath and a bit of focus and I could feel my surroundings, feel the magic. First was the slick feeling of the invisibility charm followed by the slightly numbing taste of the silencing charm.

Just behind me, waiting patiently, was Hermione. She smelt of books, like Hogwarts, and feathers. The taste of passion, barely contained, was nearly over powering. Surrounding her though was fire, my skin was hot and sweat started dripping from my brow. Hogwart's magic was of course omnipresent. The ink and books and power, so much power. None of that was what I was trying for, so I put them out of my mind and reached.

Down the hall, not far from where we waited was a feeling of both life and death. Intertwined yet distinct from each other. Guardian and jailer, the Cerberus. The Cerberus had a similar feeling to the Hogwarts ghosts, yet much more dynamic. The ghosts felt chained and stunted as if it was a struggle to simple be. The Cerberus felt at home. Odd.

While my ability to sense magic had increased by leaps and bounds, my ability to interpret individual spells as anything other than there, was something I was just starting to practice with. That said, the Cerberus and the room it resided in were covered in spells. Each spell was intertwined with its neighbor, there wasn't a square inch of that room that didn't have a spell on it. Distantly beyond the room I could just barely sense more spells.

I pulled back, I had the information I wanted. If the philosopher's stone was here, and it seemed as if it was, the obstacles from the movie were just the tip of the iceberg and the Cerberus was not going to be a push over either. Good, wouldn't want this to be easy for Voldemort. I tilted my head hearing voices, Malfoy and a girl.

"He actually showed," I muttered disbelievingly, I had expected him to sic Filch on us. It's why I insisted on the invisibility spell. If Filch did come for us we would just float away and he would never even see us. I set us down a little ways from the stair way. We watched as Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson, surprisingly enough, walked up.

"See Pansy, I told you the mudblood would chicken out," Malfoy said triumphantly. Beside me I could fell Hermione bristle at the insult. I put my arm on her, I wanted to hear them talk. Pansy may have been described as pug faced in my last life, and I could see a little of that now, but there was something not right about the smile she wore. She looked at Draco like he was an amusing pet, a far cry from her usual portrayal as a simpering money chaser.

"You did indeed Draco." Pansy said, apparently agreeing with him. Her eyes though were moving, settling on something just long enough to dismiss it as unimportant, before moving on. She closed her eyes for just a moment and when she opened them she was looking straight at Hermione and I. "How long should we wait for them to show?" The smile that had never left her face, grew just a little.

There are two ways to stop a spell, three if you counted waiting for it to run its course. The first was to drain it of energy, this was difficult as it required you to actively drain the magic powering the spell and that could be very dangerous. As spells were sensitive things and draining it to fast or to slow could result in it blowing up in your face.

The second method, and by far the most widely used, was the dispelling charm. Or rather the basic dispelling charm, finite incantatem, and its various derivatives. Which destabilized the foundations of a spell. You'd think that this would be more dangerous than draining a spell but, well magic.

Hermione and I used the dispelling charm at the same time. Coming into view at the simultaneously. We had spent an hour earlier getting the timing right.

"Draco! Good to see ya. I see you brought Miss Parkinson, is Goyle feeling under the weather?" I asked brightly. Draco started slightly, but Pansy just kept smiling.

"Did you really think I would just back down, Malfoy?" Hermione asked. Giving Pansy an uneasy look. Good she saw it too.

"I didn't think you had it in you Granger. I'm almost impressed." Draco drawled. "Potter," Draco nodded at me. "Pansy's here because, uh…" He paused a moment looking confused.

"I'm here because I wanted to see Draco in action," Pansy cut in, she attempted a sycophantic voice but couldn't quite manage it. Draco ate it up,

"Yes Pansy wanted to see me teach Granger some respect for her betters." Draco said. Pansy nodded. I narrowed my eyes and shared a glance with Hermione. I nodded at Pansy while maintaining eye contact with Hermione. Watch out for her. Hermione looked confused before nodding.

"Well I think it's time we got started don't you," I said. Draco apparently agreed because he and Hermione got into position, Pansy and I moved to opposite sides of the hall our arms held carefully at our sides. No need to start a fight over a misunderstanding.

"The rules are simple. First one to be disarmed three times losses. If you are incapacitated before the third disarming your second can take your place or your second may forfeit for you." Pansy said, for once not smiling. "Do you understand the rules?" Draco and Hermione nodded. "Begin."

Hermione opened with a disarming charm, casing Draco to step lightly to the side while sending a bright red stunner towards Hermione. Hermione blocked with a hastily cast protego. The stunner slammed into it driving Hermione to her knees the stunner dissipated but the shield fell too. Leaving Hermione open to the stunner coming right behind it. Hermione fell forwards, unconscious.

"Remember Potter you can only revive her or take her place." Pansy said, her smile firmly in place. I grunted an affirmative and moved over to Hermione, dispelling the stunner. Hermione jerked up.

"Are you good?" I asked, giving her a concerned look.

"I'm fine," Hermione answered shortly. Jumping to her feet and motioning me back to the wall. I looked at her for a moment before heading back.

"First point to Draco, are the two of you ready to go again?" Pansy asked and at their nods she said "begin."

Hermione waited for Draco to make the first move this time. Draco must have been waiting for her to start because they stood there for a long moment simply looking at each other. At some unseen signal they both sent out stunners. Hermione dodged to the left, having learned her lesson for their last exchange, and Draco jumped to the right.

After that the fight, duel, really got started. Hermione would send stunners and disarming charms. Which Draco would dodge and he would return fire with stunners of his own. It was surprisingly intense. They weren't moving that fast nor was their spell work that impressive, being first years this wasn't surprising. But they kept moving and sending out spells at every opportunity. Draco obviously had some training but Hermione managed to keep up.

It wasn't until nearly five minutes in that Hermione managed to catch Draco with a well-placed tripping jinx. Casing him to fall forward slamming his nose into the cobblestones. Hermione's stunner reaching him just after he hit the floor. I swear I could hear his nose crack.

Pansy looked at me her smile almost touching her ears, before she schooled her face into a more reasonable look. She nodded at Draco looked at me until I motioned for her to go to him. I turned to see Hermione leaning against the wall gasping for breath. I walked over to join her.

"That was amazing Hermione, I think Draco may have to call this a draw." I said as I moved besides her.

"Thank," She paused to gasp in more air. Her face was slick with sweat. "You."

I turned to look over at Draco, to see if there was going to be another round, and saw Pansy standing over him. He was breathing and his nose looked fine. "Draco can't fight right now but, as his second, I'll be taking his place." Pansy said, looking far too eager for my liking. The broken nose and stunner wouldn't have left him unconscious, did she do something to him?

"I'm sure that's not necessary. They both got a point I think we can call this a draw." I said, really not wanting Hermione to fight her. At this point I didn't want to fight her either.

"No, gasp, I want to finish this." Hermione said, still struggling to pull in air. She had used a lot of magic in the last ten minute and, when she went to push off the wall, she got half way through before falling back into it.

"See, she wants to finish this," Pansy said, her smile mocking.

"Hermione you can barely stand, if you try to fight her you will lose." I said trying to reason with her.

Hermione got a stubborn look in her eye and before I could say anything she said "Then you fight her."

"I think that's a grand idea," Pansy said. Was it just me or had her teeth gotten sharper when I wasn't looking.

"I think that's a bad idea, you can barely stand and Draco needs medical…" I said, before Pansy interrupted me.

"If you don't want to duel you just have to surrender." Pansy smile was less sharp and more amused now. Thankfully. Seriously, those teeth were weirding me out. I looked over to Hermione hopefully. Seeing the stubborn set of her brow. I sighed, yeah that's what I thought.

"If you don't finish this I, gasp, will," Hermione, said, gasped, whatever.

"You can't even breathe, let alone fight, Hermione," I said. At her glare I relented. "Fine."

"Excellent," Pansy said, and there's the teeth. Joy.

I really did not want to fight her, but if didn't Hermione would and she was in no position to duel. So unless I wanted to stun Hermione myself I would have to duel Pansy.

As we got into position I kept my eye on Pansy. She seemed hungry, for lack a better word. Her eyes never left mine, thankfully soul gazes could not be initiated by eye contact between two wanded magic users our magic's too tame, even when Hermione began the match. Was purple a natural eye color?

"You know she said start right? That means the spells can start flying." I said, going for levity as I tried to think of a way to end this quickly.

"Ok," was all Pansy said, before she started walking towards me. I just stared for a moment. This was a magical duel that usually meant magic, not a walk slowly towards me duel. Still if that's how she wants to play this I can oblige her. Keeping a close eye on her, on the lookout for the slightest wand movement, I fired a stunner. It nearly hit her before she swerved out of the way, never missing her stride. I sent a stunner and two disarming charms at her, each of them got close but, without missing a beat, she dodged each one.

I started backing away firing as many spells at her as I could. None of them hit. At this point I was practically running in reverse trying to keep my distance from her. When I tripped on my robes. Somewhere between falling and hitting the floor I lost consciousness.

I woke to find Hermione standing over me. A concerned look plastered on her face.

"Did I win?" I asked.

"Ah, not quite." Hermione said. I sat up and saw standing maybe twenty feet down the hall was Pansy, arms crossed and a smirk on her face. I felt a flash of annoyance, I was well aware I was no match for Voldemort, yet, but to not only lose, but to be so utterly humiliated by a first year, was galling to say the least. Pansy's smirk, if anything got bigger. Oh that's it I am taking you down a peg little missy. "If you want we can just surrender now."

It looked like my performance against Pansy had dulled Hermione's resolve. Too bad, because, though I may not have asked for it, I was the bloody chosen one and I was not going to be humiliated by an arrogant side character with delusions of grandeur. "No way, I'm going to finish this!" I said, no, swore as I stood.

"Still want to fight, do you?" Pansy asked, looking mildly impressed. Though how she managed to look impressed while keeping her smirk firmly in place, I don't know.

"Just get in position." I said, glowering. I knew this was a bad idea. I knew that I should just give up while I still had the chance. I knew the chances of me winning were slim to none. I just didn't care. Pansy laughed. I glared her before motioning to Hermione to start the match.

"Begin," Hermione said.

I threw my arm forward and into a jerky wand movement, chanting "Magnus glacies." Magnus Glacices was a spell I had seen a fifth year casting the week before. It was supposed to make a spire of ice grow under your opponent. When I first started practicing it all I could make was short, foot tall, hunk of ice. Now though I could make a three foot spire. Large enough to injure, if it hit. That was the beauty of the spell though, once cast, it took a split second for the ice to form. Long enough for Pansy to move away, if her previous performance was anything to go by.

Thus allowing the secondary effect of Magnus Glacices tocome into play. When cast Magnus Glacices also formed a thin covering of ice for nearly six feet in every direction. When Pansy dodged she would slip on the ice, unstable and unable to properly react I would send a stunner at her to render her unconscious. It was a good plan, a great plan, if I said myself. Backwards, forwards or sideways, if Pansy had dodged in any of these directions I would have had her dead to rights.

Regrettably, Pansy had other ideas. Just as the ice spire was forming she tensed her legs and jumped, launching herself into the air. I stared, uncomprehendingly as she went higher and higher. I noticed her shoes glowing, she had magic boots.

I shook my head and started to bring my wand up, when Pansy waved her wand and I was hit with a tremendous force. Slamming me off my feet and onto the floor.

I laid there dazed, distantly I heard Pansy land. I was about to try and stand when Pansy appeared, placing her legs on either side of me she kneeled down. Her wand, she placed just before my eyes its tip glowing red. "Give up?" Pansy asked, her smile tremendously amused. Looking from the wand to her face for I moment I responded.

"Yes."

"Good," Pansy said. She stayed there a moment just looking at me. Before putting away her wand. Just as she started to stand up, she paused and gave me a serious look, before leaning forward and pressing a quick chaste kiss to my lips. She pulled back, a genuine smile spreading across her face. "See you later ice queen." She said standing, and walking over to Draco and spelling him to float behind her, before walking out of the corridor.

"Oh god, oh god, please no!" I begged, stating to panic.

Hermione seemed to snap out of her stunned state. Before running over and asking, "What's wrong, are you ok? Talk to me."

I was in no position to respond. "Not a yandere, please not a yandere." I muttered over and over.