I think there might have been some confusion with the last update, if you haven't read chapter six yet, then go back and read it before reading chapter seven.
Chapter Seven: Cursed with a Case of Malfoy
"She can't ignore us forever, can she?" Ron asked, staring at Hermione seated five spots away.
Harry shrugged and grabbed some toast to spread marmalade on. "If Hermione had the ability to ignore us forever, she'd have stopped talking to us around second year," he said simply. It wasn't that he didn't care that Hermione wasn't talking to him; it was just that he didn't much feel like dwelling upon her behavior any more than he already had.
Ron gave Harry a frustrated look and then went back to staring at Hermione. "Hermione!" he called down the table.
She didn't respond and continued on talking to Neville like she hadn't heard Ron at all. Neville looked nervous and mouthed the word "sorry" to him while Hermione was taking a bite of food.
Ron let out a great sigh and flopped back in his seat. "We should've never done rounds together on Friday," he said dejectedly.
Harry didn't even look up from his plate of food. He'd had this conversation with Ron more times then he could count over the weekend. "I agree, but really Ron, must you bring this up again?"
Ron ignored the fact that Harry was sick of talking about Friday night, perhaps because of some sick need for self chastisement or perhaps (like Harry had been thinking for awhile now) because he was merely in love. "Why did you listen to me, Harry?" he asked firmly.
Harry sighed and finally looked up at Ron. "Because I'm an idiot," he said.
"You certainly are for listening to me! Hermione told us we would get caught and then we did and she got in trouble too! We're arseholes!" Ron looked positively deflated and Harry held back a snort.
"Ron, do you know how many times we've done something Hermione told us not to? Do you know how many times we've gotten her in trouble right along with us? A lot, that's how many. Every time it happens she stops talking to us for awhile, and she's given you personally the silent treatment loads of times. You argue with her a thousand times a day! Why do you care so much?" Harry stared at Ron with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
"She doesn't usually stop talking to me. She's really angry this time! I can tell!"
Harry raised an eyebrow, his face heavy with skepticism. "Whatever you say," he sighed, going back to his breakfast. He wondered if he should just tell Ron to ask Hermione out, but he also thought that it could possibly make things worse. Ron would probably deny that he fancied her and wait even longer to make his move.
"Well, she is," Ron said, on the verge of actually pouting. Oh yes, he had it bad.
"Ron, really, I'm sick of talking about Friday. We didn't intentionally get Hermione in trouble, and she knows that. Honestly, we only lost 20 house points. She'll be talking to us again by dinner, if not sooner, so drop it. It's just about all you've talked about, and I've had to deal with getting the blame from Malfoy all weekend for this mess. No more, please."
Ron turned back to his meal, looking disgruntled.
Harry, once again, returned to his own food. He hoped that Hermione would be talking to them before dinner, if only to shut Ron up. The three of them had gotten heavily chastised by McGonagall when she'd found them together on Friday, and she'd taken house points of course, but it was hardly the worst trouble they'd ever been in. Malfoy had come off far worse then Harry had. He'd not only gotten fifty points taken from Slytherin, but also two nights of detention with Snape.
The weekend couldn't have been over quick enough, and Harry was very glad it was Monday again, but Monday was Care of Magical Creatures and Potions, two classes with the Slytherins in one day. Harry was beginning to think that someone had cursed him with having to spend as much time with Malfoy as humanly possible. At least Care of Magical Creatures was with Hagrid and not with a teacher who blatantly favored Malfoy.
A couple of minutes found Harry and Ron walking across the grounds towards Hagrid's. Hermione was walking with Neville, Seamus, and Dean and Ron kept throwing glances at her. Harry quickly found Hagrid in an attempt to escape Ron's temporary insanity.
"Hello, Hagrid," he said happily when he came up beside him.
Hagrid smiled down at him. "Oh, er, hi, Harry," he said, stumbling through his sentence awkwardly.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "What're we doing today?" he asked apprehensively.
Hagrid fumbled and then dropped a little box of what appeared to be dried meat that he had gripped in his hand. "We're goin' ter be workin' with Jarveys," he said offhandedly, not meeting Harry's eyes. He bent down and took quite a bit of time picking the box back up. When he stood again, Harry could definitely see that Hagrid was looking a little suspicious.
Harry's immediate thought was, Oh Merlin, what sort of monster does he have now? "Hagrid…" he began, but Ron picked that moment to wander over.
"Mornin', Ron," Hagrid said quickly, thumping Ron on the back. "Where's Hermione?"
Ron gave a half-hearted shrug, but then answered, "Over there." He gestured over his shoulder.
Hagrid looked confused. "Why's she over…" but then he caught Harry's eye. "Are you three fightin'?" he asked accusingly.
Harry was quick to answer, not wanting Ron to begin ranting about Hermione again. "No, not fighting really. It's just that Hermione's not talking to us at the moment, we got her into trouble. Surely you heard about what happened on Friday, not that it's really any big deal."
"Yeah, Professor McGonagall mentioned it ter me when she… um…" Hagrid suddenly paused, looking awkward, "Why don't we get started on terday's work?" he said, swiftly changing the subject. "Gather 'round over here, class," he bellowed out to everyone.
Harry exchanged a puzzled look with Ron, who shrugged, and they followed Hagrid over to a bunch of tables set up beside the garden.
Blast-Ended Skrewt-sized wooden crates sat atop each table along with a box of meat, the same type Hagrid had been carrying. Harry looked at the crates warily, wondering what sorts of horrors lay waiting within.
"What are Jarveys?" he asked Ron quietly as everyone gathered around the tables.
"Is that what's in those crates?" asked Ron with interest.
"Well, that's what Hagrid said we'd be dealing with today. Do you know what they are?"
Ron nodded. "Yeah, but I've never seen one. I think they live underground mostly."
"What do they do?" asked Harry, still sounding nervous.
"They can talk; sound cool from what I've heard. Fred and George told me about them. They tried to catch one in their second year."
Harry nodded in appreciation, glad that he wouldn't have to fear for his life during today's lesson, when suddenly someone spoke up from behind him.
"That's not all they do," came Hermione's voice. "They're also very helpful with rodent control."
Harry and Ron both turned to face her, Ron on the verge of beaming.
"Are you talking to us again then?" asked Harry with a small smirk. Thank God, he thought to himself.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, I suppose so, although I don't think either of you deserve it."
"We're sorry, Hermione," Ron cut in hurriedly. "We were gits and we won't patrol together anymore."
Hermione seemed satisfied with Ron's response and she smiled at him, even if it was a bit tight-lipped. It seemed she finally had him reasonably trained after six years. Harry let out a snort of laughter.
"What?" asked Ron.
Harry shook his head in amusement. "Nothing," he said.
"Alright everyone, over here! C'mon over here!" Hagrid was beckoning the class toward him and everyone moved from the tables to gather in a circle around their Professor.
"Alright, so, terday we're gonna be takin' a look at Jarveys. Some o' yeh might know what they are?"
Hermione's hand shot into the air, along with a few other students.
"Seamus, do you know?" asked Hagrid.
"Aren't they rat-looking things that can talk?" asked Seamus.
"Well, they look more like big ferrets, actually," said Hagrid, and there was a collective giggle that seemed to course though the entire class as everyone turned their heads to look at Malfoy.
Malfoy's face and ears turned pink and he somehow managed to glare at every single person staring at him.
Hagrid cleared his throat loudly and Harry could tell that he was trying to hide his amusement, but failing miserably. "Anyway, yeah Seamus, they can talk. Mostly they only repeat things over an' over, often rude things, so don' take anythin' the Jarveys say to yeh too personally." He smiled around at everyone and then clapped his massive hands together.
"Right, well, we're gonna be learnin' how ter feed 'em and groom 'em terday. Jarveys can get real overexcited, so yer gonna have ter- erm- have partners fer this." There it was, Hagrid was sounding suspicious again. Harry wondered why on earth needing partners made Hagrid sound like he was almost dreading something.
"Well, I'll just… erm- pair yeh up then…" he continued, his eyes not coming anywhere near Harry's.
Harry, just like every time partners in classes were required, moved automatically towards Ron, and Hermione began walking over to Neville, but Hagrid called out her name.
"Hermione, why don' yeh work with Ron?" he asked hastily. "You two can take the Jarvey over at the table in the back there."
Harry, Ron and Hermione all exchanged looks of mild surprise. Why would Hagrid disturb their usual partner routine?
Ron shrugged and moved with a slightly perplexed-looking Hermione over to the table Hagrid had indicated.
Harry began walking towards Neville now, but Hagrid called out his name this time. Harry stopped and turned around. Hagrid's face had gone a little red and he looked like he really didn't want to say what it was he was going to say.
"Harry, erm… why don't you… er, go ahead and … work with Malfoy…" he stammered out, trying to sound cheerful.
Harry's mouth dropped slightly and he stared at Hagrid in disbelief. Everyone in the class looked shocked, Lavender even let out a small gasp of surprise. Surely Harry had heard wrong.
"What?" he asked flatly.
Hagrid pretended not to hear him. "You and Malfoy can, er, take that table over there."
Harry raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to protest furiously, but Malfoy beat him to it.
"Certainly not!" came his voice from across the circle of people. "I'm not working with Potter!"
"Yeh'll do as I tell yeh to, Malfoy," Hagrid said sternly, but he threw Harry an apologetic look.
Malfoy glared fiercely and Harry just continued to stare at Hagrid in complete shock. "But Hagrid- why?" he asked after a moment.
Hagrid shuffled his feet and stared guiltily at the ground. "I figure everyone needs a bit o' change every once in awhile," he said in a low voice, and then he moved right on to pairing up Lavender and Parvati.
Harry was cursed, there was no other explanation. He stood rooted to the spot, thinking that perhaps Hagrid would turn back to him and tell him that he was only kidding, but nothing of the sort happened.
It wasn't until Hagrid had paired up the entire class that Harry even moved at all.
"Erm, we can' start until everyone has a Jarvey," Hagrid said sheepishly to Harry and Malfoy.
Harry looked over at Malfoy, who was standing with his arms firmly crossed, looking at Hagrid as if he wanted to wring his neck.
"Erm, Harry… Malfoy?" Hagrid was looking at them expectantly.
So he really wasn't playing a terrible joke then. Harry stood in the same spot for another few seconds, mouth and body slack. But when Hagrid said nothing more, he shook his head one last time, unsure of what alternate universe he had landed in, before dragging his feet over to the only free table left.
Malfoy let out a very angry huff and glared hatefully at Hagrid for a moment before he too moved over to the table.
"This is ridiculous!" he said heatedly to Harry, and Harry found himself completely agreeing.
"Alright, now we can start," Hagrid said, once everyone was ready. He sounded relieved to be finished with pairing up the class. "Jarveys're really quite aggressive when they're bein' groomed, which is why we're gonna feed 'em first. Right, there should be boxes o' dried rat meat on all yer tables, some o' yeh might have gnome, but it don' matter, Jarveys'll eat either. Do yeh all have yer meat then?"
The class nodded as a whole and Hagrid grinned at them all. "Good, now when I tell yeh, take the lids off yer crates. Jarveys don' like the light too much, so don' be too quick ter put yer fingers inside. Once yeh've got yer lids off, go ahead and put in some meat, an' that should calm 'em down. Then yeh can come up here an' get some clippers ter trim their claws up."
There was another collective nod from the class. "Alrigh', go ahead an' open up the crates then."
Harry looked to Malfoy who rolled his eyes. Sighing, Harry reached forward and took off the lid of the crate.
"Oy, you overgrown pillock!" came a high voice from inside. Harry looked in to see a grayish-colored ferret, well, Jarvey, squinting up at him. "What d'ya think you're doing?!"
Harry stared at the creature in interest, and when he looked up, he saw that Malfoy was looking at it out of the corner of his eye.
"Put some meat in, will you?" Harry asked him.
Malfoy rolled his eyes again, but picked up the box of rat meat. "What are you, useless, Potter?" he asked as he opened the box and threw some dried rat in the crate.
Harry sighed and didn't even retort.
They both stood there as their Jarvey munched on its meat, taking turns throwing more into the crate. Every once in a while the Jarvey would spit out an insult, "You're a gigantic wanker! You smell like the loo! Don't come any closer you barmy bugger!" until it was reasonably settled down and simply glared up at them.
Harry went up to obtain some clippers from Hagrid who smiled at him cautiously before handing them over. Harry didn't glare really, but he didn't smile either.
When he'd gotten back to the table, Malfoy was having a little row with the Jarvey.
"You little twat!" he was exclaiming. "I most certainly do not have fat fingers!"
Harry snorted as he set the clippers upon the table.
"Shut up, Potter." Malfoy said angrily, but Harry just laughed even more.
Malfoy glared at him until his laughter had died out. "Are you quite finished?" he asked irritably.
"Yeah," said Harry. "Do you want to clip the nails or should I? I wouldn't want the Jarvey to think your fingers are sausages or anything."
Malfoy narrowed his eyes. "You're an arsehole," he said icily.
"No more than you," Harry replied simply, and then he picked the clippers up and went for the Jarvey.
"Your fingers are even fatter then the other one's!" the stupid animal cried out as it tried to escape Harry and his clippers.
Malfoy let out a low chuckle. "Maybe the brainless animal's not so bad," he said.
"Oh, shut it," Harry said, annoyed.
"So you can dish it out but can't take it? Is that it Potter?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "It's an animal, Malfoy. Hagrid said it would be rude, it's in its nature… kind of like other ferret-like creatures around here," he added under his breath. He was still trying to get the Jarvey to hold still but it continued to squawk insults and run around the crate. "Ugh! I thought feeding it was supposed to calm it down!" he exclaimed in frustration as the Jarvey wriggled its paw out of his hand for the fifth time.
"Make it hold still," Malfoy said, arms crossed over his chest again.
"I can't clip its nails and make it hold still at the same time! Grab it and hold
it down!" Harry said heatedly. Malfoy was such a prick.
He stared at the Jarvey with distaste.
"Malfoy!" Harry cried angrily.
Malfoy finally reached into the crate and quickly grabbed the animal round the middle.
"Thank you," Harry said sarcastically, and then he leant in underneath Malfoy's head to get to the Jarvey. "Hold- its- paw!" he said through clenched teeth.
"I can't see with your mop of hair in my face!" Malfoy exclaimed, but he managed to grab hold of the paw anyway.
"Good, now just stay right like that," Harry said, and he clipped the first nail.
It was an awkward position they were in. Harry's head was crammed up underneath Malfoy's face. One of Malfoy's hands was holding the Jarvey round the waist, while the other held the paw steady, and Harry's arms were all twisted up with Draco's, looped around them, but he didn't want to untangle himself in fear that the Jarvey would escape again.
He concentrated on clipping the nails, which was hard to do as the Jarvey kept wiggling and squirming, trying to get away. It was also spiting insult after insult now, each of them getting more and more offensive. "Okay, hold another paw," Harry said after a few minutes.
Malfoy let the one paw go and scrambled around for another, and it was then that Harry noticed that Malfoy was rather tense. His hands looked whiter and rigid and Harry wondered why.
"I'm not getting any younger here, Potter!" Malfoy said heatedly, his voice maybe a little higher then usual, though Harry couldn't be sure.
"Alright, alright," and Harry went to work on the Jarvey's nails.
Another few minutes passed, and then another few, and finally Harry was finished.
Malfoy was very quick to disentangle himself, and looked a bit shaken for some strange reason. Harry didn't comment. Who knew what issues the git secretly harbored?
"Hagrid, we're finished!" he called up to the front, and Hagrid came striding over to their table.
He bent and examined the Jarvey closely, looking at each of its claws. "Good job," he said happily, but still with a cautious note. "Just dump what's left o' yer meat inside the crate an' put the lid back on."
Malfoy dumped in the meat and Harry put the lid on the crate while Hagrid went wandering around the rest of the students, seeing who was finished.
Harry and Malfoy stood in silence, Malfoy with his arms crossed again and Harry with his hands in his pockets. He wondered when the silence between them had grown awkward instead of heated.
Finally, Dean and Seamus, who'd had a rather nasty Jarvey, declared themselves finished and Hagrid dismissed the class.
Malfoy ran off very quickly to join his friends and Harry made his way over to Ron and Hermione.
"Why the bloody hell did he stick you with Malfoy?" Ron asked with a dark look as soon as Harry was in earshot.
Harry returned the look. "I have absolutely no idea," he said, sounding annoyed. "I'm going to ask him."
Working with Malfoy really hadn't been too horrible, but Harry still wanted to know exactly why Hagrid, who disliked Malfoy almost as much as Harry did, would pair them up.
"I'm sure he had a good reason, Harry," Hermione said seriously. "Don't go getting on his case without knowing why he did it."
"Why do you think I'm going to ask him?" Harry asked irritably.
"I'm just saying," Hermione said, putting her hands up in defense.
Harry just stared at her for a second. "Are you guys coming with me?" he asked.
Ron and Hermione quickly nodded and followed Harry over to Hagrid, who was busy gathering the empty meat boxes.
"Hagrid, why did you pair me with Malfoy?" Harry asked very severely, sounding almost like a male McGonagall or even worse— Hermione.
Hagrid pretended not to notice Harry.
"Hagrid," Harry said warningly and Hagrid slowly turned to face him.
"I already told yeh, I thought it might be time fer a bit 'o change," he mumbled.
"And so you pair me with Malfoy?" Harry asked incredulously, not believing a word of what Hagrid was saying.
"Well, you boys're Head Boys an' all an' Professor McGonagall said that we should try an' do all that we could to help you two get along..."
"Who said that?" asked Harry murderously.
"Erm… Professor McGonagall," Hagrid repeated quietly.
Harry's eyes narrowed. Why would Professor McGonagall be saying things about him and Malfoy? "Are all the teachers talking about us?" he asked heatedly.
"Erm… there was a meetin', but-"
"There was a meeting? Are you all trying to figure out ways to make us get along?" Harry asked, getting angrier. What gave anyone the right to try and make him get along with someone?!
"Well, Dumbledore said that we should-"
Harry cut him off again. "Dumbledore? Did he put you all up to this?"
"Well I wouldn' say 'he put us up to it,' he only said that- well, actually, ter be honest, I haven' talked ter Dumbledore me self. He's been so busy doin' things for the Order, and he even set up a place fer Grawpy in the forest, I just haven' talked to him much, but Professor McGonagall said that Dumbledore wants us teachers ter try an' get you two ter get along better." Hagrid look almost ashamed, but defiant at the same time.
Harry's eyes narrowed even further. "If Malfoy and I are getting the job done, then why does it matter?" he asked through clenched teeth.
Hagrid winced. "Yeh can see why Dumbledore would want yeh ter get along."
"No, actually, I can't."
"Well, if yeh look at it his way, then yeh could see it."
Harry crossed his arms. "Please, Hagrid, by all means, explain to me
what 'Dumbledore's way' is," he said, voice filled with mock curiosity.
Hagrid was looking a little stern now as he opened his mouth to speak. "If yeh look at it his way," he repeated, "then yeh could see that he's thinkin' of what's best fer Hogwarts, and both you boys."
"You're not giving me any answers here, Hagrid," Harry said rather rudely. Hermione gave him a look, but he ignored it. He was past caring about being polite and really felt like hitting something.
"Dumbledore knows that you two need ter get along fer all the houses ter stop bein' so… so…"
"Segregated?" Hermione offered.
"Yeah, that's the word," Hagrid said appreciatively. "If you two started gettin' along, then the other students might follow yeh."
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of," Harry said angrily, and he really believed it. "No one is going to do something just because we do, and it's ridiculous to think that Malfoy and I are ever going to get along anyway. It's a complete and total lost cause."
"You don' know how much everyone looks up to yeh, Harry! With you bein' who you are, an' Malfoy bein' as… influential… as he is, nothin' but good could come of it."
"But that's just the thing!" Harry cried. "It doesn't matter who I am or who Malfoy is! We cannot get along! It's impossible, impossible, Hagrid! No good will come of it!"
Hagrid waved his hand dismissively and accidentally knocked Ron sideways. "Oh, er, sorry, Ron," he said, and then he turned back to Harry. "Nothin's impossible," he said firmly.
"A lot of things are impossible," Harry said just as firmly. "It's impossible to bring people back from the dead, it's impossible to block the Killing Curse, and it's impossible for me and Malfoy to ever get along." Harry knew he was being a little immature now, but once again, he was past caring.
"Those are very different things, Harry, an' you know it!" Hagrid said gruffly. "An' this isn' just about Hogwarts either. Think of what good it'll do fer Malfoy ter be away from the Slytherins an' around you! He might change over to our side if he spends enough time with yeh!"
Harry's mouth dropped. "So Dumbledore's using me?" he asked incredulously. "He's using me to promote House unity and to try and get Malfoy to join our side?"
Hagrid looked as if Harry had just slapped him 'round the face. "How could yeh say somethin' like that, Harry?" he asked. "You know Dumbledore would never use yeh! You know that he only does what he thinks will bring the most good, an' if that means that you an' Malfoy have got ter learn ter get along, then that's what it means!"
Harry glared now. "This is all pointless," he said. "Hogwarts' students could care less what Malfoy and I do, Malfoy's never gong to change, and once again, Malfoy and I will never get along, ever."
Hagrid shook his head. "Yer just bein' stubborn, Harry," he said.
"Oh, well excuse me if I don't like that I'm being forced to be with the one person in this school who I cannot stand!" Harry was near shouting now. "What's going to be next? Is Flitwick going to suddenly have classes with Gryffindor and Slytherin? McGonagall too?"
Hagrid flinched again. "Harry, c'mon now-"
Harry cut him off again. "No, it's bollocks!" he cried, losing all composure.
"Harry!" Hermione let out, surprised.
"No, Hermione! I don't need people trying to rule my life anymore than they already do!" Harry nearly shouted at her, and then he turned back to Hagrid. "I'm glad I can count on you to take my side at least, Hagrid," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You're a real great friend."
"Aw, Harry, I- yeh know I wouldn' do nothin' that I thought was bad! And if Dumbledore-"
"See you, Hagrid, I have class," Harry said coldly, and he turned and began making his way up to the school.
Hermione and Ron gave Hagrid apologetic looks and then ran to catch up with Harry, leaving Hagrid looking crestfallen behind them.
"Mate, don't you think that was a bit…" Ron said.
"Harsh?" Hermione finished.
"I don't want to talk about it," Harry said stonily.
Ron and Hermione exchanged concerned looks, and they all three made their way to their Charms lesson in silence.
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