Mmmm... I don't really have anything to say, which is probably good I guess, because I normally talk too much...
Chapter 8:
The bed somehow seemed harder than usual today. Terry rolled over to his other side to try to get a more comfortable position, but it did not work either. He did get some hours of sleep, but, for some reason, he woke up too early. Frustrated, he jumped out of his bed, glancing at his watch and was surprised to see that it was already 5:00 a.m. It seemed too dark outside to be this hour. Winter was approaching faster than Terry has anticipated.
He rubbed his eyes and started heading towards the bathroom. Once inside, he brushed his teeth and took a long, hot shower. He then put some clean clothes on and, since he had nothing else to do, headed down to the great hall.
It was the first time he has been there so early and was surprised at the eerie silence. It was completely empty, apart from one seat which was occupied by Hermione in the Gryffindor table.
She looked up as he sat down beside her, yawning loudly, 'nice hairstyle,' he commented, 'what's the occasion?'
What she did to her hair was not exactly a big deal; it was pulled back tightly in a high ponytail, but it made her look a lot better than she normally did when her hair was falling all over her face. It somehow made her look more athletic and…tougher, for some reason.
'No occasion,' Hermione replied, 'I'm just tired of my hair getting into my face all the time, so I just decided to do something about it. Why are you up so early?'
- 'Couldn't sleep. You?'
She let out a short laugh, 'I always get up this early, to learn all the stuff for the day's lessons,' she explained, 'Hey, did you decide if you're going to come to my house in the Christmas holidays?' She suddenly asked.
'I don't really mind,' Terry answered, 'I think Josh wouldn't mind, either, but we didn't get a chance to talk about it though, because we thought that Dean was listening.'
- 'Oh.'
'Heeey, good morning, everyone, it's a lovely day, isn't it?' Terry and Hermione both turned around to see Josh heading towards the Gryffindor table with a huge grin plastered on his face, 'nice hairstyle,' he added to Hermione, taking a seat on her other side.
'What are you doing up so early in the morning?' Terry asked him.
'Same as you- couldn't sleep. I had a good time listening to you turning around in your bed, but I was too lazy to get up when you did. I did, eventually, get up, because I thought that it would be a good time to do some training.' Josh answered.
'Training?' Hermione asked, quizzical.
'Oh, yeah, I forgot that you don't know. We do training every day,' Josh explained.
'Really?' Hermione looked surprised, 'what do you train in?'
'You know,' Josh answered, 'fighting.'
'Yeah, I figured it out myself,' Hermione said dryly, 'I mean what kind of fighting?' When both Terry and Josh looked blank, Hermione sighed, 'I mean, kung fu? Judo?'
'Oh,' Josh grinned, 'street fighting, only not the way everyone is used to. We kinda have some moves of our own'
Hermione snorted into her pumpkin juice, 'oh,' she said, laughing. Terry had no idea what she found so funny, but then, her face suddenly lit up, 'hey, you want me to join you? I already know all of the school books off by heart, so there's no point of me repeating them again and again and I don't have anything better to do.'
'No,' Josh said quickly, 'we don't wanna kill you.'
Hermione snorted again, 'I think it's me who should have been saying that,' she laughed, 'I'm black belt in karate, and I won seven competitions out of seven already. Shigamo is also teaching me some more forms of mixed kinds of martial arts.'
Josh and Terry looked at each other, surprised, 'oh, you never mentioned that before,' Josh said.
Looking bemused, Hermione answered, 'du-uh, no one's supposed to know about me around here, you're so thick.'
'OK,' Terry said, 'you can join us, but I wanna test you first. Let's go find an empty classroom.'
'Hey, I didn't even start eating,' Josh complained.
'Your problem,' Terry answered mischievously, 'we already finished.'
They went looking for an empty classroom and eventually entered room 37, which was on the first floor.
'So…' Hermione started, 'how do you usually start?'
'well, we just fight each other as if it's a real fight. That's the best way, but we usually end up with broken bones and stuff. Then we heal it with our wands.' Terry explained.
'Sounds barbaric, but good enough for me,' Hermione grinned, 'there's only one problem: you don't have your wands and I don't know how to heal.'
'Then we can just practice wandless healing,' Josh shrugged, 'Renaldo did it yesterday, so I guess I can do it, too.'
- 'Why do you keep calling each other these names?'
'Maybe we'll tell you later,' Terry replied, 'anyway, I want to test you first. Are you ready?'
Hermione seemed amused, 'sure.'
They both faced each other in a fighting stance while Josh was leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest, watching.
Terry had no idea what to do because he never fought girls before, so he waited for her to start. She did. It was a very short fight afterwards; Terry saw a blur of black robes and the next thing he knew, there was a tug on his arm and he was lying on his back on the floor, staring at Hermione unbelievably.
'Shame on you, brother,' Josh said, grinning, 'you let a girl beat you.'
Hermione seemed annoyed as she turned around, facing Josh, 'do you want to have a go yourself?'
Before Josh could answer, Terry said quickly, 'no, I want to have a go with him. It'll be your turn after that.' Hermione raised her eyebrows at him questioningly, but Terry just shook his head, 'I just want you to see what's it like with the two of us.'
Shrugging, Josh stopped leaning on the wall and stood up straighter, 'sure,' he said, 'only as long as you don't kick my ass,' he added mockingly.
This fight was a lot longer than the previous one. It ended with a burst lip and a few broken ribs on Terry's side, while Josh had a black eye, broken nose, and also a few broken ribs, which they always got during fights like those. It was Terry who won in the end, having Josh pinned down in a headlock.
'Shame on you, Josh' Hermione laughed, 'you let a boy who got beaten by a girl beat you.'
Josh glared at her, 'it's your turn now,' he said, trying to protect his broken male pride by looking confident, 'let's see if you're so clever.'
They started the fight after Josh mended his wounds wandlessly for the first time, which, like Terry, was not very hard for him. It was the first time Terry had watched such a good fight between Josh and someone else; they were both good, even though they had a different way of fighting. It looked like something out of a Jacky Chan movie, only Josh was pulling the stupid stunts Jacky would have pulled, while Hermione looked more professional. It was Josh who won in the end, pinning her down, 'shame on you, Hermione, you let a boy who was beaten by a boy who was beaten by a girl beat you,' he said.
'Whatever,' Hermione groaned, twisting a little, 'can you please let go of me?'
'Sure,' Josh released her hands and mock bowed to her.
Hermione smiled at him, 'you are good,' she said, but before Josh had a chance to feel proud, she added, 'for a brainless idiot.'
Josh gritted his teeth while Terry squared up for another fight with Hermione, trying to hide his amused look. She won again, even though this fight was a lot longer than their last one because Terry was ready for her. Josh wanted to have another go with Terry, but Terry was exhausted and suggested that they went to the great hall again, so that by the time they reached the place, it was already 8:30, and it was packed with people eating and chatting.
They all tucked into their food, even though Terry and Hermione have already eaten breakfast. Josh looked ravenous as he ate at marathon speed and gulped down a whole glass of pumpkin juice in less than a second, pouring some down his robes and attracting lots of disgusted looks from fellow Gryffindors.
Josh started to cough wildly as he gulped too much pumpkin juice and Terry, grinning widely, hit him on the back stronger than necessary, making him cough even harder. Hermione frowned at Terry, but said nothing.
Their first lesson was a flying lesson. It was the first one after the one which has been cancelled and Terry noticed Hermione looking nervous. 'Hey, what's up?' he asked her, 'don't tell me you're also scared of flying a broom.'
'To tell you the truth,' Hermione said, 'I am. I mean, we're humans. Humans are not supposed to fly, they're supposed to stay on the ground, I mean, that's why we've got legs and not wings. I mean…' She trailed off as she did not know how to express what she felt.
Josh looked amused, 'I think I know what your problem is,' he told her, 'you're scared of heights.'
'I'm not!' Hermione said quickly, but it was too late for her because Josh has already picked the fear in her voice and started teasing her for the rest of the way to the grounds. Terry practically had to put his hands to his ears to block out their bickering.
When they got to the place where the lesson was supposed to take place, they saw Madame Hooch standing near a pile of old brooms. 'OK, everyone, gather round here,' she shouted to the group of people approaching. Everyone gathered around in a circle. 'Good,' Madame Hooch said, 'now, I decided to change the way I run my lesson. People who think that they can fly a broom, go and stand over there. The rest of you stay here.'
Everyone looked at each other to see who would go. Only four people went: Terry, Josh, Malfoy and Dean. Malfoy looked a bit bewildered at being the only Slytherin amongst the Gryffindors, especially because Terry and Josh were there. Josh kept grinning at Malfoy, but Malfoy kept it cool, with his usual sneering self.
'Right!' Madame Hooch shouted, shoving a broom at each of the boys' hands, 'everyone, I want you to look carefully at this demonstration. When I blow my whistle, kick off from the ground and do four rounds around the grounds. If you feel that you cannot go on, you can land your broom down here. On my whistle.'
She sounded her whistle and they all kicked off from the ground. At the beginning, everyone started flying normally. Terry was surprised to see that both Dean and Malfoy were better than he anticipated.
He felt the rush of excitement he always got when he was on a broom and, forgetting that Malfoy was his enemy, suggested that they all take a race. 'Up to that tree, over there,' he pointed at a faraway tree. The three other boys agreed instantly and they all started speeding towards the tree. In the end, it became a race only between Terry and Josh because Malfoy and Dean were much too slow for them, although Dean was a lot faster than Malfoy. Terry looked at Josh, who was a few meters ahead of him, and urged his battered old broom to go faster. In a few seconds, he was level with Josh. In a few more seconds, he was ahead of Josh. He almost reached the destination when Josh went zooming past him, laughing loudly and winning in half a millisecond. They laughed a bit, shoving each other in the air, until Dean and Malfoy arrived, neither saying anything. Terry had no idea what Dean's problem was. Sure, Malfoy acted like that because he was their enemy, but why was Dean looking at them with such a weird expression on his face?
All four boys started heading back towards where the group of students were waiting. 'That was very good,' Madame Hooch said, 'all of you. Only, Malfoy, the way you were holding your broom was wrong.' She showed Malfoy the way to hold a broom while demonstrating to the rest of the class. Malfoy seemed irritated, but said nothing.
It turned out that the pile of brooms on the floor was for beginners, which did not go higher than ten feet in the air. Madame Hooch said that the four boys could fly well enough and gave them a ball to do whatever they wanted during the lesson while she taught the rest of the students.
Terry, Josh, Dean and Malfoy headed off with the ball. Dean and Malfoy avoided everyone else's gaze and Terry was starting to get irritated with their behavior.
Josh, apparently, was also feeling the pressure of the silence as he spoke next. 'So…up to a game of ball?' he asked.
'Yeah! That's a great idea,' Terry answered energetically, expecting a reaction from Dean and Malfoy. They only shrugged. Terry looked at Josh, who was looking back at him. They both shrugged as well, having nothing else to do, mounted their brooms and kicked off from the ground.
Dean and Malfoy followed them and the four boys found themselves floating in the air, looking at each other silently. Josh, who was holding the ball, suddenly shouted, 'hey, Terry, think fast!' he threw the ball hard in the direction opposite from Terry. Dean and Malfoy looked confused, but Terry quickly zoomed towards the ball and caught it quickly in both hands, grinning triumphantly. 'Hey, that was a good one!' Josh shouted, 'try me now!'
'OK!' Terry shouted back, throwing the ball as far away from Josh as he could. Josh went zooming past him and caught the ball easily in one hand.
'Is that the best you got?' he asked, laughing freely. They continued throwing the ball to each other, noticing, but not caring, that Dean and Malfoy landed their brooms and started sulking in different corners.
About an hour later, after the lesson has finished and everyone has already gone apart from them, Madame Hooch called them down. As soon as they landed, they were shocked as she crushed both of them in one huge hug, 'you two are amazing! I've never seen anyone fly better than that at Hogwarts, not even Charlie Weasley, who could have made it into the English quiditch team,' she said excitedly, 'both of you, come with me. We're going to see professor Mcgonagal.'
Terry and Josh looked at each other in confusion. They had no idea why she wanted them to see professor Mcgonagal, but it definitely looked good. They started following her towards the castle quietly, not wanting to ask any questions in case they ruined her mood and she decided to send them to their next lesson, which happened to be potions.
As soon as they got to Mcgonagal's office, Mcgonagal looked murderous as she caught sight of the two boys, 'what have they done now?' she asked tiredly.
'What have they done?' Madame Hooch said excitedly, 'What have they done? They have just broken the record for the best eleven year olds to fly on a broom! I'm telling you, professor, these two boys are naturals! They have to be on the quiditch team- we have two chasers missing from Gryffindor. I wanted to ask you to bend the rules just this once to let first years join the quiditch team.'
Mcgonagal looked shocked, 'I really don't know,' she said doubtfully, 'these boys like to cause nothing but trouble, they should not be given a prize for it. Surely, you can find some more suitable candidates for that role?'
Madame Hooch looked incredulous, 'more suitable candidates? I can assure you now that there are none!' she said, 'and I know what I'm saying! I've been teaching for twenty five years and I have never seen anything like it!'
'I don't know,' Mcgonagal said again, 'maybe I should see them flying first,' she suggested.
'Are you doubting my professional career?' the answer came heatedly, 'I am not leaving this office till you give those two young angels permission to enter the quiditch team. If you don't, then I will go straight to the headmaster's office to make sure he gives them permission himself.'
Mcgonagal sighed, 'OK, fine,' she said, defeated, 'but take them to their lessons now. I cannot believe you think quiditch is more important than their future careers.'
Madame Hooch probably did not want Mcgonagal to change her mind because she strolled out of the office without another word.
Josh looked at Terry, eyebrows raised, 'err…are we supposed to follow her, or what?' he asked. Terry shrugged and they both went out of the door, hurrying to keep up with the overexcited creature. When they got to the door of their potions class, she told them to go inside.
'What?' Terry asked, alarmed, 'but you're supposed to tell Snape why we're late.'
Madame Hooch smiled, 'I know,' she said, 'I just heard that he is sometimes a bit… nasty…to Gryffindors, so I want to catch him red handed.'
Terry and Josh grinned at her, both thinking the same thing: they could never have gotten a cooler teacher. They both entered the classroom confidently. Snape's head snapped up as they entered and he stopped talking very suddenly, his face contorting into his usual sneer.
'So…' he started as they entered, addressing the whole class, 'as you can see, Mr. White and Mr. Locke here decided that they have much more important things to do than attending my lesson. Twenty points from Gryffindor each. Now, as you both probably think that your standards are much higher than this class, I will ask you a question of fifth year standard. If you answer wrong, fifty points will be taken away from Gryffindor and you will receive a whole week's detention. If you answer right, only twenty points will be taken from Gryffindor and you will not receive any further punishment. What is Gilloy's Drake and what are its main components?'
Terry grinned, 'Gilloy's Drake is a love potion, used to stimulate love not necessarily between a male and a female; it can also be used to make someone like a particular subject, or food,' he said. 'it's main ingredients are…' he recited all of its ingredients in alphabetical order.
'Fifty points from Gryffindor! Detention!' Snape declared.
'What?!?!! But I answered the question right!!!' Terry said, sounding as shocked as possible to make sure Madame Hooch could hear it.
'No, you did not,' Snape sneered, 'I asked for the main ingredients, not all of the ingredients.'
Madame Hooch decided to interfere at that moment, probably having heard enough, 'I think that would be a cause to give them more house points,' she said, 'and you did not hear the reason why they are late, so forty points will be returned to Gryffindor, because they have a very good reason, don't you, boys?' Terry and Josh nodded innocently, 'they are going to be the new chasers on the Gryffindor quiditch team, because they were doing enormously well in their flying lesson, so we're bending the first year rule just for them. Don't you think it's appropriate, professor?' she asked.
Snape looked ready to blow, but said nothing.
'What's more,' Madame Hooch continued, 'I don't think I awarded them points for their excellent work. Fifty points for each of you. Well done boys! I'll see you after this lesson in the quiditch pitch with the Gryffindor captain, Oliver Wood,' she said. Then she turned on her heels and went out of the classroom, waving at the class.
Snape's nostrils flared angrily, 'fine!' he said, 'but you still have detention for a week!'
'Oh, but professor,' Terry looked around in surprise as Hermione spoke in her sweetest voice from her seat which was, unsurprisingly, at the front of the classroom, 'I don't think they deserve it. After all, Terry just showed you how interested he was in your subject.'
This time, Snape's face turned deep purple as he tried to control his rage, 'fine!' he said, probably regretting the moment he told her that he was working for Shigamo. If he hadn't, she would not have been able to use him like that, 'fine!' he said again, trying to control himself, 'you can both take your seats.'
Grinning like mad, Terry went over to sit next to Hermione, while Josh sat on his other side, because Lavender Brown was sitting at Hermione's other side. The rest of the lesson went on pleasantly, with Snape stubbornly refusing to meet either of the trio's eyes.
'Can you remind me again why I have to come with you? I told you already, I hate quiditch!' the trio were heading towards the quiditch pitch after Terry and Josh practically begged Hermione to come with them. Hermione had no idea why they wanted her to come with them, but she secretly enjoyed the attention; she never had friends before and was wondering whether Terry and Josh counted her as a friend. She did not think it mattered, anyway, because she enjoyed being in their company nonetheless.
'Come on, Hermione, don't be such a moron,' Josh replied, 'it's just gonna take a few minutes. You can sit on the grass and read a book in the meantime. Now, you can't say no to that… I know that you want it.'
Hermione sighed, 'fine, fine, like I have any other choice,' she muttered, 'oh, and, by the way, I don't think that it's such a good idea to bring the brooms with you.'
'Why not?' Josh asked, looking at his nimbus two thousand, 'I can't stand the school brooms, they keep turning too much to the left and they start vibrating if they go too high…'
'No,' Hermione said, exasperated, 'that's not what I meant. I mean, brooms are not allowed for first years. Madame Hooch is going to know that you already had these brooms before you were given permission to get one.'
'Are you kidding me?' Terry said, speaking for the first time, 'that teacher is totally in love with us! I'm telling you, she likes us more than any other teacher likes you, which is saying something. How much do you want to bet that she doesn't say anything?'
- 'One cent. '
- 'No, that's too little, how about two?'
- 'Fine.'
They shook hands, then burst out laughing along with Josh. When they arrived at the pitch, Madame Hooch was already there with a tall, athletic looking boy, who was probably Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor quiditch team captain. He did not look extremely happy as he saw them.
'Are these the chasers you promised me?' he asked Madame Hooch, 'they are going to be down before the first five first minutes of the game. I mean, look at them! They are so tiny. They could get blown away by the wind.'
Madame Hooch looked angry, 'oh, you think so?' she asked, 'then I challenge you for a match against only one of them, not two. I guaranty you that you have no chance of beating either of them. Are you up for it, boys?' she asked, looking at Terry and Josh protectively.
Terry jumped up before Josh had a chance to say anything, 'of course I am! I wanna try first!' Hermione was not as sure as him that he could win against a much older, more experienced person, but she did not want to ruin his confidence, so she said nothing.
'Ok,' Madame Hooch said without asking Wood if he accepted the challenge, 'the first one to score ten times through the hoops wins.'
Wood looked very reluctant, but he mounted his broom nonetheless, giving Terry the quaffle, 'you can start,' he told him.
Terry grinned, 'no,' he said, 'you have very small chances. I want to at least give you a headstart.'
Wood looked annoyed, but said nothing. He started flying with the ball towards the hoops, a bit uncertain as Terry was following without showing any signs of trying to get the ball from him. He threw it at one of the hoops uncomfortably, feeling stupid at having to play against a first year student, when Terry suddenly went zooming past him and caught the ball easily in one hand just before it went through the hoop, smiling mischievously.
From then on, the game went too fast for Hermione to notice anything. Terry was zooming around, toying with Wood. At one time, he scored from a very far position and Hermione found herself impressed at his skills. When the boys landed down, Terry has scored ten times while Wood scored nothing. Just the amazed look on Wood's face was worth it for Hermione to go there, but the look quickly disappeared and he smiled warmly at Terry, extending his hand;
'Congratulations!' he said, 'you have just entered yourself into the Gryffindor quiditch team. I think with you here there is no chance we're gonna lose, even if we have the worst seeker on earth!' He certainly seemed to mean what he said and Hermione thought that he looked as if he wanted to kiss Terry happily. 'I'm telling you, we're gonna win this year. We haven't won a single game ever since Charlie left, but you are going to make the difference!'
'Hey, what about me?' Josh said, 'I'm much better than him.'
Wood looked doubtful, but agreed to test him after a nudge from Madame Hooch. Josh was as good as Terry, only his match took much longer than the former one because he was showing off too much. When they finally landed, Josh having won ten-nil, Wood seemed just as happy with Josh as he was with Terry. He told the boys when their practice time was supposed to be and they all started heading back to the Gryffindor tower, chatting about boys' stuff.
Hermione followed uncertainly, but she suddenly realized that the boys completely forgot about her existence, so she sneaked off without them noticing, walking in the direction of the place she always went to when she had nothing else to do: the library.
She walked with her head down, thinking. She always did that, and it was her second favorite thing to do after reading. Thinking made her more relaxed, plus, it had the advantage of giving her new points of views for different things.
'Hey! Hermione!' Hermione turned around, surprised. No one ever talked to her in this school and it was highly unusual for someone to call her name, unless it was a teacher doing the register. She stopped in her trucks, turning around to see who was calling her. It was Dean. She had to fight very hard to keep the surprise from her face; she noticed that Dean has been acting a bit weird lately, and she also knew that she wasn't exactly on his list of favorite people, so she wondered what it was that he wanted from her.
'Erm… I just wanted to apologize,' he said, 'you know, for yesterday. The way I came storming in like that. I didn't realize anyone was there.'
'Oh?' Hermione said, unable to guess what he really wanted, 'that's OK, I didn't think about it at all.' she started walking towards the library again, but was surprised again as Dean fell into step beside her.
'So… why did you really stay up yesterday so late?' Dean asked casually.
Hermione wondered why Dean wanted to know that, but just answered coolly, 'why did you stay up so late yesterday? You were outside, we were in the common room. Being in the common room is not against the law.'
'You weren't in the common room,' Dean informed her, 'you were in Dumbledore's office.'
Hermione stopped walking, surprised, 'how did you know that?' she asked.
Dean stopped as well, 'that's none of your business,' he answered, his face a calm mask, 'but I want to know what's going on between you and Dumbledore. And the Potters,' he added as an afterthought.
'How the hell…' Hermione started, then caught herself as she realized that Dean was not at all what he seemed to be. He was, like her, an actor. And he seemed to know more about her than she felt comfortable with 'what do you want?' she asked suspiciously. She had no idea how he knew that Terry and Josh were the Potter brothers. He could not have listened to their conversation last night because Hermione has placed a silencing charm around them without the Potters noticing after Dean left.
Dean was quite for a moment. Then he took his wand out and pointed it at a more than surprised Hermione, 'I want you to tell me what's going on,' he said calmly, 'and don't think that I'm joking. I know some really good spells, which, hopefully, I will not need to use.'
Hermione was, of course, more than surprised at Dean's reaction, but she was far from scared of him, 'you do realize,' she said, 'that you are going to get stuck in detention for the rest of your life when Dumbledore finds out that you threatened me with a wand?'
'Not if I put a memory charm on you,' Dean answered calmly.
'You can't do a memory charm,' Hermione objected, 'they are too complicated.'
'Oh, yeah?' Dean smirked, 'watch me.' he backed her up against the wall, holding her arms on either side of her head.
OK, now he was starting to get on her nerves. What did he want to know those things for, anyway? Hermione looked him up and down, twisting her arms a little to test his strength. Then she just shrugged and kicked him with her knee, hard, in the place where boys really don't like to be kicked. She would not have normally done something like that, but she could not let Dean do whatever he wanted to her only because Shigamo told her not to attract too much attention to herself. There was a limit as to how far to push your act.
'URGHH, you bitch!' he yelled, letting go of her and clutching his wounded male area with both hands, groaning in pain. Hermione smiled at him sweetly. He glared at her for a few seconds, his face twisted in pain, then he punched her as hard as he could on the face.
Expecting this, Hermione blocked it, but it was thrown with such force that her hand actually hurt. 'So you want to play, huh?' Dean hissed, although he did look a bit surprised as Hermione blocked him.
Hermione could have just taken her opportunity and ran away towards the library at that moment, but she was really pissed off with Dean and she wanted to teach him a lesson. Her hand still hurt from blocking his punch, which was thrown with surprising force. She punched him in the face. He blocked, so she quickly aimed a flying kick at his head.
He spun around, trying to dodge the kick, when he suddenly let out a cry of pain. Hermione stopped, surprised, until she saw the blood rushing out of his arm. He has cut his arm on a nail which was sticking out of the wall, and it looked a lot worse than the cut Josh had on his back the previous day. Dean seemed to be biting his tongue to stop himself from screaming in pain; he held the wound in one hand and went into the nearest classroom as fast as he could. Hermione hesitated, but then decided to follow him inside to help him out.
Dean had his back to her as he removed his cloak. He then took his shirt off with difficulty and used it to wrap it tightly around his arm, to stop the blood flow. He somehow managed to tie the ends of the shirt with only one hand.
Hermione went forward hesitantly, 'Dean, look, I'm really sorry, do you want me to come with you to the hospital wing?' she asked, trying to sound calm. He turned around slowly, looking at her.
She hardly managed to hold back a gasp as he turned around; he was looking at her with a murderous expression and she could not help but notice the muscles he had on his chest. 'You are so predictable,' he growled, 'I knew you would come after me.'
And before she knew it, he punched her with his undamaged arm. Hermione felt anger build up inside her, but before she could do anything, she saw a blur as Dean moved quickly, kicking her hard in the kidney. She doubled over in pain, gasping. He punched her again and, this time, she fell to the floor, vaguely noting to herself, too late, that he was trained.
He quickly got on top of her, sitting on her back and twisting her arms back in a painful angle, 'where did you learn to fight like that?' he asked her casually, as if it was a day to day conversation.
'Dean, what are you doing?' Hermione asked, 'let go of me!'
Dean got his wand out of his pants' back pocket, but, instead of pointing it at Hermione, he pointed it at the door, making it show whoever was walking outside so that he could get a warning. He then pulled Hermione roughly to her feet, 'stop struggling, you idiot,' he told her as she was trying to get out of his grip in vain. He was too strong for her.
He slammed her up against the wall and tied her hands tightly behind her back with the ropes he has just summoned. He spun her around to face him. 'why are you doing this, Dean?' Hermione asked.
'Why I'm doing this?' Dean repeated the question, face blank, 'I need to know what's going on between you and my father. The stupid old git wouldn't tell me anything.'
'I don't even know who your father is,' Hermione said.
- 'Dumbledore.'
- 'What?'
- 'Dumbledore's my father.'
Hermione was going to say something, but Dean quickly clamped a hand tightly over her mouth, listening intently. Hermione has heard it too; there were quick footsteps approaching them. 'Damn,' Dean muttered and, to Hermione's fury, dumped a piece of cloth which he produced from his back pocket into her mouth and tied a gag tightly over it. He then walked towards the door to see who was walking outside using the spell he cast earlier. Hermione craned her neck slightly to see who it was and was surprised to see Josh without his brother for the first time ever (not counting the time when Terry woke up earlier than Josh).
Josh stopped directly in front of the door and tried to open it. It was locked. Hermione realized that Dean must have locked it with his wand at the same time as she remembered that Josh did not have his wand, so was not able to open the door. To her surprise, however, Josh placed a hand over the lock and closed his eyes tightly. When he opened them again, he turned the handle and the door swung open.
Before Josh had a chance to look around the room, Dean came up from behind him and clutched his head tightly with his uninjured arm, banging it, hard, against a glass cabinet which happened to be near the door. The glass shuttered and bits of glass flew around, cluttering on the floor. Dean raised Josh's head and Hermione felt sick as she saw his face; it was completely covered with blood and his eyes were shut tightly to try to prevent glass from cutting into them. Dean moved his leg, making Josh trip down on the floor using the most basic judo move. He then crouched down next to him, banging his head repeatedly on the floor.
Before Hermione knew it, she stomped forward angrily and kicked Dean on the face as hard as she could. Dean stumbled back, surprised at the unexpected attack, just as the door swung open for the second time and Terry came storming in, shouting 'who the hell did that?' before he even opened the door. Hermione did not have time to wonder how Terry knew what was going on before he even opened the door because she was still too busy kicking Dean, who was trying to get up from the floor, but fell down every time before he even had a chance to get up as Hermione kicked him again and again.
She suddenly stopped as she realized that Josh, whose face was still covered with blood, and Terry were both staring at her with open mouths. Only then did she realize how strange it must have looked: both of her hands were tied up behind her back and she was gagged, but she was still kicking a boy, who was twitching painfully on the ground.
'Why did you stop, Hermione?' Josh asked her as she looked up, looking at Dean with hate, 'you can carry on. Just pretend that we're not here,' he advised.
Hermione made some angry noises through her gag and Terry went forwards to remove it. Without saying thanks, Hermione turned to Josh. 'Your Face!' she gasped.
'What about it?' Josh asked, either confused or feigning confusion.
'It's bleeding like mad!' Hermione informed him.
Josh put one hand to his face and looked at it as it was now covered in blood. Then he shrugged, 'yeah, it tends to happen if you decide to use it to break a glass.'
'That's not funny, Josh,' Hermione said, concerned, 'why didn't you heal it?'
'I don't think that'll be a very good idea,' Terry objected, 'the wounds can seal over the glass and I don't think it's very healthy if you have glass inside you body.'
'Oh. Then, what are we gonna do?' Hermione asked.
'You keep an eye on the idiot. I'll take Josh to the hospital wing,' Terry decided, 'you can tell us what's going on later. We'll be back as soon as possible'
'Hey, I'm not going anywhere near that place,' Josh rejected the idea immediately.
'No one asked for your opinion, brother,' Terry said firmly, 'you are coming with me even if I have to drag you there.'
Hermione looked at Dean, suddenly feeling scared at staying alone with him, 'he's trained,' she told Terry, 'he wanted to know something about us and Dumbledore.'
Terry also looked at Dean and realized for the first time that he was not wearing a shirt. He walked over to him, crouching down and holding his chin tightly in one hand. 'He doesn't look in any condition to hurt you,' he told Hermione, still staring at Dean's unfocussed hazel eyes, 'but if you just want to make sure…' he stood up and stepped hard on one of Dean's legs. A sickening cracking sound could be heard, but Dean did not make a sound. The only indication of any pain he was feeling were his white lips. Terry then took Dean's wand from his back pocket and handed it to Hermione, 'here, I hope this will make you feel more comfortable. Me and Josh are going now, is that OK?' he asked.
'No,' Hermione answered, 'I need you to untie my hands first.'
Josh walked over and untied her hands impatiently. Terry seemed to notice the uncomfortable look on her face because he said, 'don't worry about Dean, we'll heal him as soon as we're back.'
Hermione nodded and the boys both left towards the hospital wing. As soon as they were gone, Hermione slumped herself down on the floor, sitting cross legged and trying to calm herself down, shutting her eyes and putting both of her hands on her lap. Then she started to think. First, she had no idea how Josh knew that she was in that room. Second, she had no idea how Terry knew that Josh was in trouble before he even opened the door. She decided to ask them about it once she got a good chance to. She did this kind of thing all the time, just sitting, with her eyes closed, looking at nothing and just thinking. It made her relax.
But she could not relax now. She was being watched. She opened her eyes slowly to find Dean's hazel eyes staring at her. For some reason, her heart missed a beat for a second.
'What's the matter, Granger?' Dean asked, 'you look scared.'
Hermione glared at him, 'I'm not scared of you,' she lied.
Dean shrugged, 'you still didn't tell me how you can fight like this,' he informed her.
'Ever heard of karate lessons?' Hermione asked, 'I'm a karate champion. But, hey, as much as I hate to admit it, you're better than me, which is highly unusual. Where'd you learn to do that?'
'My father hires a private tutor to give me lessons every day,' Dean answered shortly. He seemed surprised at himself for having told her that.
'Dean Thomas, Albus Dumbledore.' Hermione said thoughtfully, 'how can he be your father if he has a different surname?'
Dean looked at her calmly, 'originally, I was supposed to wipe your memory off, which is why I told you what I did. Now that I'm not sure that I will be able to do that, what makes you think I'll tell you?' he asked.
Hermione looked at him thoughtfully, 'mmm… you do look a bit similar to Dumbledore. You even have the same expressions as him,' she said.
For some reason, Dean grimaced as she said this, but his look suddenly changed and he looked threatening, 'I didn't ask for your opinion, Granger,' he said, 'we wouldn't have even been having this little chat if your little idiotic friend didn't break my leg. You shouldn't be feeling so safe only because you have the Potters around you.'
Pursing her lips, she looked at him for a second, when an idea suddenly occurred to her. She started walking towards the other side of the room, behind him, where he could not see her.
'What are you doing?' Dean asked, alarmed. Having someone behind you while you were vulnerable was not exactly a very comfortable position.
- 'None of your business.'
She reached inside her robes, pulling her wand out and putting a silencing charm around her so that Dean could hear nothing . She then pulled the two way mirror from her robes and called Shigamo's name very clearly. It took a few minutes, but Shigamo's face suddenly appeared in the mirror, his eyes puffed up.
'Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you were sleeping. What time is it where you are?' Hermione asked in Japanese as soon as she saw him.
'It doesn't matter, doesn't matter,' Shigamo mumbled, 'what is it?'
Hermione told him everything that has just happened, not dropping away any single detail. By the time she finished, Shigamo looked wide awake and his eyes held a mixture of emotions; anger, disbelief and thoughtfulness. His anger was obviously directed at Dean, for what he did to her.
'So…' Hermione started, 'do you think he really is Dumbledore's son?'
'I'm not sure,' Shigamo answered, 'I'll say there is a chance of about eighty percent that he was telling the truth. About the Potters… I really fear for their safety. Try to find out if they are willing to stay here during the holidays.'
'Terry said that he didn't mind, but he has to consider it with Josh,' Hermione said.
Shigamo nodded, 'it's better than their last answer,' he commented, 'anyway, do you mind if I go back to sleep now? I don't think that there is much I can do from where I am now.'
'Sure,' Hermione answered ironically, 'get the rest you need. I have to stay here with a semi-lunatic.'
Smiling and shaking his head, Shigamo said, 'that's my Hermione, always complaining. You know, I think I spoilt you too much.'
'Whatever,' Hermione answered, 'bye.' She put the mirror back into her robes and broke the silencing charm, leaving both her and Dean's wands behind and moving once again to stand in front of Dean with a smile on her face, the same smile she always had on after she talked to Shigamo. Somehow, talking to him gave her more confidence and she felt much less scared than before.
'What are you smirking at?' Dean asked, looking alarmed at Hermione's sudden change in attitude, 'what did you do back there, anyway?'
'What's the matter?' Hermione asked, the smile never leaving her face. She took a few steps closer to him, 'you are not scared of me… are you?'
Dean snorted, 'why would I be?' he asked.
'Maybe because I was the one who rearranged your face to make it look the way it does now?' Hermione suggested. And she was not exaggerating; Dean had a busted nose, a black eye, and a few more purple patches on his face. She thought that he looked quite attractive, especially with his shirt off, but she was not in the least affected by it. She has seen lots of attractive guys in her life, and they were all idiots.
Dean reacted quickly; he could not get up with his broken leg, of course, but one of his hands and one of his legs were perfectly fine. He used one of his hands to yank both of her feet off the floor, swishing her off balance. He then used his healthy hand to hold both of her hands tightly behind her back and the injured hand to search inside her robes for his wand. All he found was the two way mirror, which he threw back over his shoulder, thinking that it was just a normal mirror and muttering something under his breath which sounded suspiciously like 'girls.'
Twisting in his grip angrily, Hermione shouted, 'you idiot! Let go of me! You can't do nothing, I left both our wands behind your back and Terry and Josh are back in a few minutes.'
'No,' Dean hissed in her ear, 'do you think I came to all this trouble for nothing? Do you think I'm bored?'
Hermione tried to free her hands, but Dean's grip was like steel. Her fear suddenly came back again, like an ice hand gripping at her heart. Dean was too strong for her. He could easily snap her neck right then, if he wanted to. A wave of tiredness suddenly swept over her and she felt like slumping back against his chest and letting him do whatever he wanted to do with her. But she could not do that. That's what Shigamo told her all the time, not to show any weakness.
'Look, Hermione,' Dean was trying to sound reasonable, 'I don't want to hurt you. Just tell me what you know and I'll let you go and everyone will be happy.'
'You don't want to hurt me, huh?' Hermione laughed ironically, 'you are the one who's hurt. Look at the state of you! You are not in a condition to make any threats.'
Dean twisted her thumb back and Hermione had to fight back a sudden gasp of pain. He leaned over so that his lips were just inches away from her ear, 'think back to what you said, because I think you got something wrong,' he whispered, 'I can make threats whenever I want to.'
'What makes you think I know anything?' Hermione snapped, 'I don't have any business with Dumbledore.'
As soon as the words left her mouth she let out a real gasp of pain as there was a sickening cracking sound from her thumb. 'One finger down, nine more to go,' Dean said casually.
Hermione gritted her teeth in pain. What was taking Terry and Josh so long? They should have been back about half an hour ago and, if Josh's condition was that bad, Terry could have come back alone.
Dean was waiting for some kind of reaction from her. When she only stayed quite for about five minutes, he held her second finger in one hand, 'I'm gonna have lots of fun if you are going to go on like this,' he said lazily and smiled as he felt her body tense up against him.
Fortunately, Terry and Josh chose that moment to come back. When they spotted Hermione and Dean on the floor, they immediately started towards them, but Dean quickly held Hermione's head in a dangerous position. 'Stop!' he suddenly shouted, 'or I break her neck!'
He was serious. Hermione knew that he was serious. Shigamo has taught her that move once and she knew that her neck was more than likely to snap if she made the slightest movement. Terry and Josh, however, had no idea of the severity of the situation because they both did not look very concerned, even though they stopped and looked at Dean uncertainly.
'Hey, brother, what do you suggest we do to that psychopath?' Terry asked Josh casually.
'Oh, I have some ideas,' Josh replied. As soon as he said that, Dean's grip on Hermione loosened and Hermione turned around in surprise to see Dean floating in the air behind her. He floated like that for a few seconds, until he was suddenly flung back hard onto the table, collapsing onto the floor unconsciously.
Josh helped Hermione to her feet, 'are you OK?'
'OK?!?' Hermione screamed, 'THAT FUCKING SON OF A BITCH BROKE MY THUMB!' she exploded.
Her screaming probably woke Dean up after being unconscious only for a few seconds, because he suddenly stirred slightly on the floor, 'you deserved it, you bastard,' he croaked weakly.
Josh looked at him, incredulous, 'I can't believe he's not out yet. I don't mind finishing the job…'
'Not now,' Terry interrupted, turning to Hermione. He walked towards her and examined her thumb, concentrating on healing it. 'what did he want?' he asked when he finished.
'No,' Hermione said heatedly, 'you answer my question first! What the hell took you so long?'
Terry looked uncomfortable, 'well,' he started, twisting his thumbs together, 'Madame Pomfery kind of… insisted that I stay with Josh and I… I didn't know that he would attack you.'
'OK, whatever, apology accepted,' Hermione said, even though there was no apology, 'that bastard over there claimed that he was Dumbledore's son, but he still wanted me to tell him things about Dumbledore.' She explained.
'He's not Dumbledore's son, then,' Terry said.
'Oh?' Hermione said, 'why not?'
- 'Because if he was, Dumbledore would have already told him everything. Dumbledore's son would not go around trying to get information about his own father from strangers.'
'That's a good point,' Hermione mused, 'but what makes you think that Dumbledore would want to tell his son about the things he has done?'
'That's a good point as well,' Josh said dryly, 'but why don't we ask him instead of trying to guess?'
They all turned to look at Dean expectantly. Dean shrugged, 'I have no idea what you lot are talking about. Dumbledore never told me anything except that you three were dangerous and that Hermione was sly, so I thought you might know something. I mean, I needed to know. He wouldn't tell me anything.'
Hermione suddenly blanched. 'What did you say he said about me?'
Dean looked confused, 'he said that you were sly. Not that I agree with him; you are a total idiot.'
Ignoring the last statement, Hermione muttered, 'did he say anything else?'
Dean smirked weakly, 'why do you want to know? Is it important to you?'
Hermione turned to Terry (it was too hard talking to Josh without receiving any unnecessary comments), 'I think… what if he knows?'
Terry looked surprised, 'I can't see how he could know. Just think back to something you might have did or said which might have made him suspicious.'
'I… don't know,' Hermione answered uncertainly, 'I can't talk near him anyway.'
'Fine,' Terry said, 'we could… Josh, what are you doing?'
Josh was sneaking his way towards Dean with an axe in one hand. He stopped short when he heard Terry's voice, 'I…err… nothing, nothing, I didn't mean to do anything.'
Hermione looked incredulous. 'What the hell are you doing? Where did you get that axe from, anyway?'
- 'I…'
- 'You better answer quickly.'
- 'Fine! I transformed your mirror into this axe. I found it on the floor, over there, but it was just for the fun of it! I didn't mean to do anything with it, honest!'
- 'Mmm… not even chop Dean's head of?'
- 'What? This thought never occurred to me! I mean, OK, maybe I wanted to use it to threaten to cut his head off, but not to really do it. I mean, why would I?'
- 'Maybe because he is the reason for the big scar you currently have on your chin?'
'What??' Josh suddenly yelped, 'I have a scar??' he started walking towards Dean with the axe again, 'I'm starting to have second thoughts about not chopping his head off.'
'Not that I have any objections,' Hermione said, 'but can I have my mirror back? Try to find something else to contaminate with his blood.'
Josh sighed, transforming the axe back into a mirror and handing it to Hermione, 'thanks anyway,' he told her, 'it was fun watching his face.'
Hermione turned to look at Dean, curios; his face has developed a very interesting color. It was, if possible, even whiter than Hermione's parents' teeth (they were dentists) but his lips were curled back in a sneer. 'you wouldn't have had the nerve to do it, anyway,' he told Josh.
'Yeah,' Josh answered, 'just like you wouldn't have snapped Hermione's neck.'
Hermione was not very sure that Dean was not capable of doing it. In fact, she was sure that she was going to die while Dean held her in that position. Just moving the wrong muscle in the wrong time could have meant her doom. She shuddered as she thought about it.
Terry turned to Hermione. 'Do you believe what Dean said?'
Hermione nodded. Dean did seem to tell the truth.
- 'Good. Because I think that we should let him go now.'
'LET HIM GO? Are you crazy??? He almost killed Hermione!' Josh shouted as soon as the words left Terry's mouth.
'Yes. And we should also heal him, so that he doesn't have to go to the hospital wing and answer questions. You see, I don't think he will tell anyone what happened, because it could get him into serious trouble and I am not like Dumbledore, who doesn't even know what he wants from himself. We wouldn't get any information from Dean, anyway, so there's no point in keeping him,' he said calmly.
Josh still looked unhappy, but he said nothing because he knew that what Terry said was logical. Hermione also seemed to agree with what Terry has just said.
As soon as this was settled, Terry started heading towards Dean. 'No,' Dean said, 'you're not touching me!'
'Stop being such an idiot and at least thank me for wanting to heal you,' Terry snapped. He started with his face, which was the easiest place to begin, and made the dried blood vanish when he finished. Dean was looking at him with narrowed eyes, but now that he saw that Terry really did want to heal him, he did not struggle as Terry pulled the leg of his pants up, healing his broken leg. Terry then moved to his other leg and then got up to his feet when he was done.
'Don't think that I would have normally done that,' Terry told Dean sneeringly, 'I would have gladly broken the rest of the bones in your body. I just don't want you to have to explain to other people what happened. I don't feel like going to Dumbledore's office again and I know that you wouldn't tell anyone anyway, would you?'
Dean looked at Terry blankly for a second. He then stood up in a way which made him look as if he was planning on attacking them any minute, but his whole body suddenly relaxed and he was smiling at Terry, 'no, I wouldn't,' he said, 'but that's only because I have my own reasons. By the way… you are the sanest, too.'
Terry raised his eyebrows, 'what?'
'I was in Dumbledore's office, under an invisibility cloak,' Dean explained, 'I saw everything that's happened.' Then he suddenly gave a gasp of pain as he moved too abruptly and clutched his arm, which Terry did not heal.
Terry looked at him with narrowed eyes, 'if you think that telling me that is gonna help you get into my good books then you're awfully wrong. Oh, and, by the way, you got the cut on your arm from a nail which was sticking out of the wall, nothing else. I'm not gonna heal it.'
Dean said nothing as his features suddenly turned into an impossibly calm look. He walked towards the side of the room where his cloak was lying on the floor and picked it up, swiping it over his bare shoulders gracefully and holding it up to his chin so that it was impossible to tell that he was not wearing a shirt underneath. He shot Terry one last long look, then walked out of the door without another word.
For some reason, Hermione felt a wave of relief wash over her as Dean left the room. She noticed Terry and Josh exchange looks and folded her arms over her chest, leaning against the nearest table, much more at ease now that Dean was not there. 'So, Josh, can you tell me how you knew that I was here?' she asked the question she's been bursting to ask right from the beginning.
Josh leaned down to sit on the floor, resting one arm on his knee lazily, 'I don't know,' he said, 'I mean, I thought you'd be here because this is the room where we trained yesterday. Terry didn't want to come with me, so he just waited for me in the great hall.'
- 'So why did he come here in the end?'
'This is something we were planning to tell you,' Terry answered, 'it's kinda hard to explain. I mean, I have no idea what it is myself. Me and Josh can talk to each other in our heads- I think it's telepathy. Anyway, Josh called me for help telepathically, saying that someone was attacking him from behind, which is how I knew to come here. Not that there was any need for it,' he added with a smile, 'you were doing a pretty damn good job yourself.'
'Hardly,' Hermione said, 'Dean was really good. We couldn't have taken on him if you couldn't do wandless magic. He told me that Dumbledore hires a private tutor for him, but that's not the point. I don't think that telepathy is possible in the wizarding world- I never heard of it and, trust me, I know a lot. I think we should do some research about it in the library…' she trailed off thoughtfully, putting her hand up unconsciously to remove a strand of hair from her face before remembering that her hair was already pulled back. 'So, did you decide if you're going to stay over in Christmas?'
The boys both looked surprised at Hermione's question, which had nothing to do with what they were talking about, but Josh answered nonetheless. 'Well,' he said, 'I wouldn't mind, but I didn't talk with Terry about it.'
Hermione smiled, 'I did,' she said, 'and he wouldn't mind either.'
Josh looked at Terry, confused, 'hey! When did you have a chance to talk to her about it when I wasn't around?'
'Why are you asking? Are you jealous?' Terry laughed, then, seeing the annoyed look on Josh's face, he put his arms up defensively, 'hey, relax, it's nothing. I mean, we talked about it this morning when you were too lazy to get up.'
'That's great,' Hermione said, genuinely happy at their decision and ignoring their bickering, 'oh, there's only one more thing. Terry, remember when you told me that you're going to tell me why you call each other these names?'
'Yes,' Terry answered, but before he had a chance to say anything else, Josh interrupted with a sly grin on his face;
'We'll only tell you on one condition,' he said.
Hermione looked at him suspiciously, 'that doesn't sound good.'
'It isn't,' Terry said, smiling mischievously, 'at least, not for you,' he added as an after-thought.
'I knew it!' Hermione shouted, then she looked at Terry, 'hey, how did you… wait a second,' she said suspiciously, 'did you just talk to Josh telepathically?'
Terry looked impressed, 'yes, actually. How did you figure it out?'
- 'it was Josh who suggested to tell me whatever it is you want to tell me at one condition. You weren't supposed to know what it is.'
'Well, you're quick,' Josh said, 'anyway, back to business… we'll only tell you if you come flying with us on Saturday.'
'What?' Hermione said, being caught off guard at the unpredictable statement, 'no, no way! I don't know how to fly! I hate heights!'
Terry smirked, 'we don't have to tell you anything…'
'Oh, come on,' Hermione said, 'don't be so evil!'
Terry made a move with his hand as if he was zipping his mouth shut.
'You're so insensitive,' Hermione said, faking getting hurt, 'you're trying to blackmail me!' she looked at the boys hopefully, but they both looked as if their mind was set. She sighed, 'fine, fine! I hope you're happy, but I guess I should warn you now that if I die you are facing a very painful death by an anonymous someone.'
'Sounds fair…' Terry said thoughtfully, 'so, a deal is a deal, I guess I should tell you…' he told her everything, with Josh adding things which Terry forgot to say in the middle. When they finished, Hermione was gaping at them with an open mouth;
'Wow,' she said, unable to think of anything else to say, 'so… you just took care of yourselves for the past three years? I mean, you are too young! And you were probably… only nine years old when you ran away from the orphanage. That's so irresponsible! I can't believe Charlie Weasley actually agreed to help you! He shouldn't have!'
'Why not?' Terry asked.
- 'Because… because… you were too young to take care of yourselves!'
'We did fine by ourselves so far,' Terry said, 'and I know that neither of us would have gone as far as we did if we stayed at the orphanage. We would have still been poor, waiting for a foster family, and we wouldn't have even known that we were brothers. We at least know now who we are, which is much better than our situation before we ran away.'
'Well…' Hermione started, 'you do have a point, and I think you are right, but it was all just luck. Just think about what would have happened if you somehow lost your job. You wouldn't have had anywhere to stay and you couldn't return to the orphanage.'
Josh waved his hand dismissively, 'nah, we would have been fine,' he said, 'we can take care of ourselves. The worst thing that could happen was that we had to sleep rough.'
'Yeah, and you could have gotten mugged,' Hermione said.
Josh laughed, 'everyone around Powell Place knew us. We were both feared and respected by everyone. There was no way anyone would have mugged us!'
'You never know what kinds of people there are out there,' Hermione argued.
'Hey, could you two shut up? You're giving me a headache!' Terry complained, then he turned to Hermione, 'we did what we did and we got to where we are now. We shouldn't be thinking about what could've gone wrong.'
'Yeah, I guess you're right,' Hermione agreed, 'hey, I'm starving. Is anybody up to going up to the great hall?'
Terry and Josh both agreed and they all started to head towards the great hall, talking about everything. Hermione couldn't help but think about how comfortable it was to talk to them. It seemed like the most natural thing on earth and it gave her the best feeling she had in a very long time. A feeling of belonging.
I don't know about you, but this is totally my fav. chap! I'm not planning on totally changing Hermione's personality. Maybe I'll just make her less of a nerd, but she's still gonna be the clever one who knows everything.
Anyway, Dean was supposed to be the kind of mysterious guy. I don't really know if I succeeded in making him that, but I love his character anyway. Please, review, but no criticism! (Unless you find any spelling mistakes- I deserve to be blamed!)