Snowball Fight
Hermione emerged from the Great Hall. It was the weekend before Christmas Break, and the ground outside was thick with snow. The air inside the castle and the halls was pleasantly warm.
However, if you stepped outside a hall or walkway into a courtyard, the air was frigid and extremely cold.
Hermione looked around for Ron and Harry. They hadn't been at breakfast, and she wondered what they might be up to. She began to walk along the sheltered walkway, looking into every courtyard she passed.
She peeked into a cobblestone courtyard. There was a carved stone fountain in the center, but all the water was frozen. The snow was criss crossed with footprints. Over in a corner was a group of Hufflepuffs, and a few feet away from then was a lone Slytherin boy, who was obviously eavesdropping.
With an absent-minded shrug, she turned to continue the search for her friends. Before she could take another step, something cold and hard hit the side of her head, breaking up upon impact. She gasped in shock as a small cold lump went down the collar of her robes.
Brushing off the snow, she turned angrily to see who had thrown the snowball. If that had been Harry and Ron under the invisibility cloak, they were in for it. But as she once again looked into the courtyard, she realised that the Slytherin boy was watching her.
He turned away quickly, greasy black hair swinging. Hermione stepped into the courtyard, not caring about the cold that hit her. She picked up a bit of the wet snow, and compacted it. She sighted carefully, and let fly.
It hit his shoulder squarely. The boy, confused, looked around. His eyes passed Hermione; she had a reputation for being quiet and studious. To help it along, Hermione pretended to be inspecting a snow covered bush. Finally he sighted on the group of Hufflepuffs.
They had seen it all, and were watching him and whispering delightedly. He leaned down, grabbing a handful of snow. He lobbed it at them, and they laughed as it barely went a foot. Apparently he had not seen much snow. Looking even angrier, he grabbed another handful, smushed it inbetween his palms, and threw it like a mini frizbee.
Suprisingly, it worked. It hit a boy with honey-blond hair right in the face. He spluttered, surprised. The Hufflepuffs retaliated, hitting the Slytherin unmercifully with a continued rain of snowballs. Hermione grinned.
Suddenly there was a muffled "Oof!" A snowball thrown hastily by a Hufflepuff had missed its intended target, and slammed into what appeared to be thin air. It slid the invisible solid object.
Hermione narrowed her eyes, and walked towards the patch snow, which she only now realised had two pairs of footprints leading up to it, and none going away. She heard a second sound, and she realised a few seconds later that it had been "Uh-oh."
A snowball hit Hermione in the side. She turned to look, but it had only been another stray snowball from the onsided fight between the Hufflepuff group and Slytherin boy. She heard a Hufflepuff yell an apology. Shrugging, she turned to continue on her way.
The snow now had two sets of footrpints that had not been there before, and which seemed to stop halfway towards open doorway to a sheltered walk running back towards the main staircase. She began to walk briskly.
New prints formed in the snow, along with muffled thumps. "You're not getting away!" Hermione called. She raced after the quickly receding footsteps. As she stepped into the walk, she realised that she couldn't see the footprints anymore.
Just then she stepped into a puddle, and grinned. Snow had built up on their shoes and the hem of their robes, and they were leaving a trail of water. She followed this until she reached the Great Staircase, where, apparently, they had realised the trail they were leaving and had wiped off their clothes.
Hermione trotted up the stairs, waiting patiently for the occasional staircase which was occupied by leading up to another floor. When she reached the painting of the Fat Lady, she recited the password. "Grindylows."
The Fat Lady woke with a start. "What?" She stammered. Hermione looked impatient, until she realised that if the Fat Lady had been asleep that Harry and Ron could not have entered the common room yet. At least, who ever had been wearing the invisibility cloak. But it was kind of obvious who it had been.
"Grindylows." The Fat Lady opened obligingly. Hermione stepped over the threshold and into the common room. She picked a cushy recliner with a view of the portrait hole, and sat. She occupied herself with a copy of The Daily Prophet which someone had left from the day before.
She didn't have to wait long. Pretty soon after she had sat down, the portrait opened again, and Harry and Ron stepped through. They had been talking urgently to each other. They caught sight of Hermione and fell silent. Carefully the walked towards the boys' dormitory.
Before they could go more than a couple of steps, Hermione got up and intercepted them. She tapped her foot, opening her mouth to speak. At that moment Colin Creevey burst through the portrait hole, accompanied with mutters from the Fat Lady.
"Professor McGonagall sent me with a message." Colin said, gasping. After a second he continued. "All students are to report to the Quidditch field." The common room errupted, and soon they were all streaming along the halls with the other houses.
When they reached the quidditch field, a full-blown snowball fight was underway.