Changing Sides

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

I had updated two chapters last time I updated. Accept my apology for the delay as I present the fifth chapter of this fic.

Chapter 5 : Expecting the Unexpected

Hermione was sitting on the windowsill in her bedroom at the Burrow when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said.

It was Ron.

"Hey," he said. "Have you done anything?"

"No," Hermione answered.

It had been two days since she received the letter from Harry and she had immediately went out and bought books from Flourish and Blotts like Harry had asked. She even had Harry's cloak on her bed, ready to send it.

Ron came in and sat on the bed. "Are you thinking about sending it?" he asked.

"I don't know. We know he's okay and even though we might not see him all summer..." Ron interrupted Hermione.

"Hermione, for all we know, when school begins again in September, he could be a brainwashed Slytherin who thinks Muggleborns are evil. We don't know what is actually going on over there... Wait. What is that?" Ron asked as he pointed to a speck flying towards the window.

"It's an owl, Ron!" Hermione yelled jumping up and opening the window. "It's Malfoy's owl!"

Ron jumped to his feet too. "What's he got, Hermione?"

Hermione took the rolled up parchment from the bird and opened it.

Crabbe,

Just checking in and wondering how you're doing.

Owl me later.

-Draco

"It's a letter to Crabbe from Malfoy?" Ron asked looking at the paper.

"I highly doubt that," Hermione said smiling and she took out her wand.

"Hermione ,we can't do magic outside of school," Ron warned her.

"I talked to Dumbledore and he said he would pull a few strings for us. He spent a few hours putting up an enchantment that doesn't detect underage sorcery around the Burrow!" Hermione said unable to contain her excitement.

"That's great!" Ron said.

"Yes, it is!" Hermione responded.

"Okay, let's stop this and start revealing what's on the paper!" Ron said.

Hermione pointed her wand at the paper and almost immediately the small note to Crabbe turned into a longer note from Harry. Hermione and Ron read it:

Dear Hermione,

I'm truly hoping that your lack of a response is because you're not sure how to respond to me. I was getting worried thinking that Malfoy found out. It was close, I was sending this one from my balcony and Lucius Malfoy came in and shot a very well aimed stunning spell at me. He read the note, to Crabbe, I mean and I told him that Draco wrote it and the owl just happened to stop on my balcony because I had food. He bought it but I'll have to be more cautious. But I'm writing mainly because I have some news. Malfoy can apparate. I don't know how or when this happened but he can. Their apparition zone ends right before you get to the forest near the Manor. If you come into the zone, supposedly alarms are raised. Malfoy was telling me how his father hates Muggles and Muggleborns and he set up wards to alert him if they step on the premises, so Hermione, try not to do that. Well, I hope to see you soon, let me know how Ron is doing.

Love, Harry

PS: I'm going to use a codeword so you know each time something I am able to send you is from me, kind of like Dumbledore did when telling us the password to his office. The codeword will be: Snuffles

"That's all a bit of random information, don't ya think?" Ron asked.

"No, Ron. It's all necessary," Hermione answered rereading the letter quickly.

"How is that necessary?" Ron asked.

"So, we know where we can stop," Hermione answered.

"Stop? What?" Ron was clearly confused.

"Don't you get it, Ron? Harry is telling us the area where we can go close enough to the Manor. I know that we can't apparate but there may be some way for us to send him a message and he even told us that he had a balcony," Hermione explained. "Come on Ronald. We're going."

"And where are you going?" someone asked from the doorway.

"Ginny," Hermione said. She looked at Ginny who was standing in the doorway leaning on the threshold. "Ron and I were just going to go flying."

"Ooh, can I go?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny, no offense, but it has been quite difficult for me and Ron to get on without Harry. We need a little time alone to get our mind off of him," Hermione said.

"Oh, I see. You're going to go look for him," Ginny answered. "Fine, go without me."

"What?" Ron asked nervously. "We don't even know where he is!"

"Are you sure Dumbledore didn't tell you?" Ginny asked mischievously. "That he's at Malfoy Manor and you can't get inside because of the muggle wards?"

"Ginny Weasley!" Ron shouted. "Stop listening at the door!"

"Make me," Ginny retorted.

"Ginny," Hermione said. "Please don't tell anyone where we're going. When we get back to school, I'll write two essays for you."

"Hmm," Ginny said. "That is tempting. Five essays."

"How about three?" Hermione asked.

"Fine, I'll hold you to that, Hermione," Ginny said. "My lips are sealed, for now." She stepped out of the doorway and pulled the door shut.

"Well, that was unexpected," Ron said.

Hermione nodded and put the box with Harry's cloak under all the books and omnioculars in a backpack and she handed it to Ron. "Take this. And take your wand," Hermione said pointing to the bed where Ron had just left his wand.

Hermione and Ron managed to sneak out of the house undetected and to the edge of their property.

"Are you sure we should be taking Harry's broom?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, he has a Firebolt. It is wicked fast and we might need that in case anything happens," Ron said. "Now get on."

Ron was already straddling the broom and Hermione carefully climbed on behind him and she put her hands awkwardly on his waist. "Hold on tight," he warned. He kicked off from the ground and Hermione immediately screamed and tightened her grip on Ron to an extreme.

They flew out over the countryside and thanks to Hermione's clever thinking, they cast a disillusionment charm on themselves to prevent Muggles from thinking they were seeing a flying broom.

"Do you know where you're going?" Hermione asked.

"I'm following my gut feeling," Ron answered.

Hermione smacked her forehead but when Ron made a sharp dive, Hermione put her hands back around his middle and buried her face in the back of his shirt afraid for her life.

Ron stopped the broom low to the ground in a bunch of trees and Hermione opened her eyes.

"Oh thank Merlin," she said and jumped off of the broom.

"Careful," Ron warned a little too late. As Hermione jumped off, her feet hit the ground and he knees gave in and she fell onto her stomach. "It can be a difficult adjustment."

"You're just saying that," Hermione replied as Ron pulled on her hands helping her up.

"Pretty much," Ron answered. He was still holding her hands. "Bloody hell."

"What?" Hermione asked turning around. "Merlin!"

Hermione and Ron both just laid eyes on Malfoy Manor for the first time. It was a huge house and it was white. There were a lot of windows and it must've been at least 3 stories tall.

"Kind of looks like the White House, doesn't it?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, it is a white house," Ron said.

"Never mind." She dug through the bag looking for Ron's omnioculars and pulled them out. "Here, Ron. Look through these and tell me what you see, try and stay hidden and don't get too close, we don't know what other enchantments the Malfoy's might have."

Ron took the omnioculars and looked through them as he leaned out from behind a tree. He was scanning the windows in the house for movement. Suddenly he gasped, pulled the omnioculars from his eyes and spun back around the tree.

"What?" Hermione whispered. "Did you see Harry?"

"Worse," Ron answered breathing heavily.

"Ron, what was it?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"I swear, it was Draco Malfoy staring out of the window in the middle on the second floor and he was staring right at me. Bloody hell," Ron said.

"Relax Ron. Give me the omnioculars and I'll look through them. You just take deep breaths," Hermione said taking the omnioculars from Ron who slumped down behind the tree facing away from the Manor.

Hermione was standing behind a tree looking to the left of it through the omnioculars. "I don't know, Ron. I don't see anyone. I think the curtains are even pulled shut," Hermione said.

"Well, they were open, and I swear Malfoy was staring right at me. It was so creepy," Ron said.

"Okay, Ron," Hermione said.

At that moment, an arrow was flying straight for Hermione. She shrieked and ducked behind the tree as the arrow sunk into the bark of the tree.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked panicky. "Are we under attack? Run, Hermione, run!"

"Ronald, stop!" Hermione commanded. Ron stopped. "We're fine, just an arrow."

"Well, where did that bloody arrow come from?" Ron demanded.

Hermione slowly poked her head around the tree and looked at the dark green arrow protruding from the trunk of the tree. She carefully pulled it out. "Ron, there's a note attached to it," she said.

"Read it," Ron demanded standing up.

"It says: 'Expect the unexpected,'" Hermione read.

Suddenly, another arrow hit the tree mere inches from Hermione. It was so close that in pinned her shirt to the tree. "Ron!" she yelled. Another arrow flew towards her and pinned the other side of her shirt to the tree. "Ron!" Ron came running over to Hermione. "Duck!" she yelled.

Ron dropped to the ground as another arrow with a note attached to it struck the tree where Ron's head had been. With maximum effort, Ron pulled the arrows out of the tree through Hermione's shirt.

She immediately ran into his arms. "Ron. That was so scary," she said. "Oh, another note."

Ron picked up the note and the arrow. "I'll read it," he stated. He cleared his throat. "It says: 'Don't let me see you here again or you won't see Potter again. DM.'"

"DM?" Hermione asked.

"Draco Malfoy," Ron and Hermione said at the same time.

"That bloke his right good aim," Ron commented upon seeing the holes in Hermione's shirt as they pulled their stuff together.

"Wait," Hermione said. She pulled out her wand and like Tom Riddle had done in their second year in the Chamber of Secrets when revealing his true self to Harry.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked.

Hermione was swishing her wand in the air. Up and down and curvy and side to side. She stepped back to admire her work as she ran to Ron and jumped onto the broom and the flew off.

Now, if you looked to the forest next to Malfoy Manor, you would see in gold, fiery letters, the words: Snuffles was here.

Well, I hope you liked that chapter. I was thinking of making chapters that involve something Hermione and Ron are doing and something that Harry is doing into one chapter, but that could be confusing. Let me know what you think about that idea, review and let me know.

Current Word Count: 9270

—Elizabeth