Chapter 12
-Harry's POV-
I rubbed my eyes as I yawned groggily; awake from the loud shriek of Hermione. Hermione had burst into the boy's dormitory room, yelling how someone had been hurt.
"Blimey Hermione, what could be so important at this hour? It's only 6:00 in the morning!" Seamus complained, rubbing his eyes like I was.
Hermione scowled at him. "Someone has been attacked in the middle of the night Seamus; I would think you'd be glad to know about this, since the victim is someone from Gryffindor!"
I bolted up from my bed. "Who?!" I looked frantically around the room. No one was missing. (Except for Neville, who was in the hospital wing.)
"Neville," Hermione said sadly (oh.), looking at the floor. "He was found all bloodied up by Filch in the seventh corridor. McGonagall wouldn't tell me much, but apparently, he was probably out in the middle of the night. No one knows what he was doing. And there was a big gash in his chest; he has lost a lot of blood. Madam Pomfrey said he has been transported to St. Mungos, but Madam Pomfrey doesn't know if he'll make it."
There were gasps all around.
"But… what was he doing out in the middle of the night? He should've been in the hospital wing?!" Dean said aloud.
But Hermione wasn't listening. She was staring furiously at Ron, who was still snoring away, oblivious to the conscious world. Suddenly, out of no where, she gave him a big swipe on the head, which made Ron jerk awake.
"What was that for?" Ron asked angrily, rubbing his head.
"One of our friends may be dying and all you can do is snore like there's no tomorrow!" Hermione snapped.
Ron's eyes widened. "Someone's dying?!"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Have the others explain it. I don't want to do it again. Maybe if you had woken up sooner…" Hermione trailed off about how Ron slept all the time and was a lazy as a swine. Dean and Seamus were sniggering in a corner. I grinned as Hermione left the dormitory room, who was heading off toward the library. Hermione and Ron were back to the way they were before! Er…Sort of.
Last night, Ron and I had a chat about being friends, and what had happened. Ron later said he would still like to be friends, despite with what happened. I told Hermione about it, and she agreed. We would still be friends. It might be difficult, but we'd get over it. After all, 7 years would be a large waste to just throw away.
I filled Ron in about what Hermione told us. Ron was in deep thought. "What if… What if Neville was up to something? What if… he was trying to kill you?!"
I looked at him exasperatedly. "Seriously, Ron. Why would Neville be trying to kill me?"
Ron shrugged. "Maybe he's under the Imperius curse!"
"It could be possible… But I doubt it. Neville would've had several chances to do so. Anyways, Voldemort's gone now isn't he?"
Ron winced at the word. "Well, yeah. I guess. Maybe he was out wandering around in the middle of the night innocently. But who was the attacker?"
I frowned. Whoever it was, I hope the attacker wouldn't attack anymore people.
Ron went on. "Anyways, now that we're friends again, and things are back to normal, sort of, (he gave me a look) Mum asked me to invite you and Hermione to the Burrow for Christmas break. We'll be leaving this afternoon. Since Hermione woke us up so early," he said, rolling his eyes, "we'll have plenty of time to pack."
The Burrow…How joyous it was to have fun once again, after all this insanity.
Ron and Harry awoke in the Burrow, excited at sight of the bulging stocking at the end of their beds.
"Merry Christmas, Harry," Ron said. Ron and Harry, though friends once again, still had some distance between them, more politeness.
"Merry Christmas to you too." Harry said, and he and Ron started at their hands uncomfortably for a few moments until Ron suddenly dove into his stocking, anxious to begin unwrapping his presents.
"Blimey! Look what Fred and George got me!" Ron said happily, holding up a Nimbus 2001. "Now I'll totally beat Fred or George in Quidditch…Unless they got themselves a Firebolt." Ron looked a bit disappointed at the thought. "They must be doing really good in their shop."
"Shops," corrected Hermione, who had just come through the door. "Mrs. Weasley told me they opened a store in Hogsmede. They're even thinking of branching their shops to other countries and cities! Of course, they'll have to make loads more money for that to happen. Looks like the money you gave them sure paid for it in the end, doesn't Harry?" Hermione gave him a small smile. After kissing him once, she went out the door.
"Blimey," Ron said, a little miffed, "I really need to get myself a girlfriend."
"Hey Alana," called Stephanie, one of Alana's sympathetic fans, "did you hear about he Hogsmede trip for students that haven't gone away for Christmas break?"
"Really? No, I haven't. When is it?" Alana asked.
"It's today! Students will be able to go in a few minutes."
"Oh, well, I was thinking we could go together, with Natalie and Amanda! That'd be sooo much fun!" Stephanie said, gleefully.
"Eh…I'll pass," Alana said, in a bored tone and a wave of her hand. Stephanie looked downcast.
"Why not? If you have other things to do, you could do them after-" said Stephanie, trying to persuade her, but Alana cut her off.
"I'll go, but I'd rather go and take time for myself…to think about what happened," Alana added with a loud sniff (Interestingly enough, her voice was suddenly soft and miserable like).
"Poor Alana," Stephanie said, giving her a big hug, not noticing the disgusted expression on Alana's face as she did so. "You take your time. If you need anything, just come and find us." Stephanie gave her a supportive smile and walked off.
Yeah right, like I'd really do that, thought Alana, checking to make sure she was really gone. Alana then set off for Flitwick's classroom, beginning the first step of her little adventure…
Molly had hustled and bustled everyone to the kitchen to get ready for dinner.
"Hermione, do you think you could take this to the table? Thank you dear- Ron no! Don't eat that! That's for dessert! And if you keep trying to eat more of it you won't get any later! Harry, please, go wash your hands; they're filthy! Ginny, could you take Crookshanks somewhere else?" Mrs. Weasley was saying, trying to bring order to the group.
At last, they sat down at the table, chattering and eating away happily.
"Oh! I had forgotten. Professor McGonagall sent me a message earlier! She said that Alana would be staying in the Burrow for Christmas break!" Mrs. Weasley announced. "Who is this Alana? Is she your friend?"
Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all raised their eyebrows.
"You could say that," Hermione said. "Did Professor McGonagall happen to mention why she is coming here?"
Mrs. Weasley thought, her eyebrows furrowed. "I think so… Oh yes. She said that Professor Filtwick told her that Alana had some sort of illness and needed fresh air. And where better to get fresh air than at the Burrow? Plus, McGonagall heard that Alana and Ron were quite close! -Ron stiffened-" Mrs. Weasley was beaming. "A new friend, how wonderful! Professor McGonagall said that she would be arriving- (Mrs. Weasley looked at a nearby clock) oh! Any minute now!"
And sure enough, bright green flames erupted in the fireplace, and out stepped a smiling Alana.
"Mrs. Weasley, thank you ever so much for your hospitality! I'm ever so glad to be here!
Author's Note- HI ALL:D Sorry I haven't updated in such a long while, but I hope this story would be worth it!