Author's Note: Thank you so much again, to all my wonderful reviewers.
Kim – the story's not exactly finished. It's even longer than ever before but yes, whenever there are updates, I do put them on HP.com. It's an even bigger thread now (thank god no one deleted it) – there's something like 41,000 posts on there now. Can you believe it?! I went to Leeds University which is a lot further up north the country than where I live. I live very near London normally. Bet you'll have loads of fun over here!
Everyone else – thank you so much, I really appreciate your comments!
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CHAPTER IV
The next day, the three students searched through Hermione's books, looking for the ingredients needed to make the Polyjuice Potion. The last and only time they had used it had been in their second year, once again to spy on Malfoy. They had suspected him of opening the Chamber of Secrets and the Polyjuice Potion enabled Harry and Ron to change into Crabbe and Goyle, the two people closest to Malfoy.
Eventually, they found the list of ingredients and method at the bottom of a pile of letters Hermione had received. She read through them; lacewing flies …. leeches …. fluxweed …. shredded skin of a Boomslang. She remembered the troubles they had gone through in order to get these ingredients the first time; they had had to steal them from Snape's private stores, and that, it seemed, was what was going to happen this time.
She quickly pulled out a chart that she had made in Astrology and worked out that the next full moon, when they could pick the fluxweed, was in fact that night. They would have to work quickly, she thought, in order to have all the other ingredients by that time.
As the trio discussed details, Hermione raised a question that neither of the boys had thought of. "Who are we going to be?" The three friends sat in silence whilst they considered the possibilities. It was quickly decided that Hermione should pose as Pansy; after all, she was his girlfriend and she had been the one who Malfoy had been discussing Ron with. They promptly debated whether or not Ron and Harry should also take it to become Crabbe and Goyle. It was decided that Hermione would take on the task; it would be too risky for Ron to find out information.
The lacewings, needing twenty-one days to brew, could be found within the next couple of days and the trio worked out that the potion could be ready in time before the last day of the month.
That day, Hermione begun to collect some of the ingredients that they needed. She and Ron remained behind after a Potions lesson and whilst Hermione asked Snape questions, her friend took some of the ingredients which he kept in a cupboard behind his desk.
Leaving the room, Ron sighed, exhaling loudly; "That was close. I was sure he heard me when I turned the door handle." Hermione laughed; she was sure that this was the last time she would ever have to make the potion. She shivered slightly as she remembered the last time she had taken it. By accident, she had used a cat hair unknowingly. The results had been disastrous and she had had to spent a week in the Hospital Wing.
Later that evening, she, Ron and Harry made their way towards Moaning Mrytle's bathroom. The room had remained out of use since they had been in their second year, although they had never been given a reason why. The three of them had constantly gone to the room during their years at Hogwarts when they had wanted some time alone, and knew that it would be deserted.
Hermione placed all the ingredients into the caldron which she set on one of the toilets. She left Ron to stir it while she read the method. Immediately a splashing gurgling noise could be heard from within the cauldron as the potion bubbled and changed colour.
With one final look at the brewing potion, they left the bathroom and made their way back towards the common room, planning what Hermione would say to Malfoy later that month. They agreed that they would all spent more time around Pansy and Malfoy so that they would understand how the two communicated. How Hermione would get Malfoy to explain what he was planning was much harder to work out. He would have already told Pansy by this time, and he would get suspicious if he was asked to repeat his plans.
Still unsure of all the details of the plan, the three friends continued to make the Polyjuice Potion, going to the bathroom every few hours to check on it. A couple of times, they had very close encounters with Snape, Filch and even Malfoy himself.
"Weasley, what are you doing?" Malfoy had said in an amused voice, having just seen Ron return from the girl's toilet. Enjoying seeing Ron turn red, he had continued, "kissing your Mudblood girlfriend I'll bet." Hearing these words had almost shocked Ron. By now, he had gotten used to Malfoy's constant use of the insulting word, but hearing his say it then he realised that he had not heard it for a while; in fact he hadn't heard it since she had officially become Head Girl. Maybe Hermione has finally been able to get a little respect from him, he had thought.
As the potion continued to boil and change colours, life at Hogwarts continued as usual. Lessons were the same as usual; Snape was his usual nasty self, Professor Binns just as boring, and Professor McGonagall just as stern. Malfoy and Hermione had spent much of their free time together, discussing their duties as the Heads of the school.
Hermione, too, had noticed that Malfoy was no longer insulting her as much; his insults were now aimed more at Ron.
"Umm … Malfoy, you've changed … lately you haven't been quite as hateful as usual."
"Don't worry, I'm not going sweet on you," he smiled in her direction, "it's just … well, I've got other things on my mind at the moment." His eyes had a far-away look about them, and Hermione wondered what he had meant. She didn't ask, however, knowing that Malfoy probably wouldn't answer.
Quidditch matches continued as usual; as Malfoy had planned Gryffindor was to play Slytherin in the first match of the year. After Malfoy had written out the match order, Hermione had checked it over with her two best friends, agreed that it had been well done and had passed it onto Madam Hooch, the Flying teacher.
When she returned to the common room, she only had ten minutes to talk to her best friends before they had to join the rest of the Gryffindor team. She walked with them towards the Quidditch pitch, finding herself a good spot where she would be able to see them clearly.
Next to Professor McGonagall, Hermione could see the figure of Dean Thomas, getting ready to commentate the match. He had taken over the role from Lee Jordan the two years ago, and had thoroughly enjoyed it and refused to pass over the responsibility until he had left Hogwarts.
As the school filed into the stands surrounding the pitch, Dean cleared his throat before directing his wand at it and muttering the word 'Sonorus'. Seconds later, he introduced the game, his voice echoing throughout the whole field.
"Welcome, students and teachers, to the first Quidditch match of the year …. Gryffindor versus Slytherin," Dean Thomas said, enthusiastically.
"Here comes the Gryffindor team … Weasley as Keeper; Finnigan, Creevey and Creevey as Chasers; Patil and Brown as Beaters; and Harry Potter as Seeker." Hearing their introduction, the Gryffindor team pushed off from the ground and flew into the Quidditch ground. Amidst the cheers from that Gryffindor received from their own house, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, Harry could see Hermione in the teacher's stand, waving to them.
Flying his broomstick with only one hand, he waved back and looking to his right, saw that Ron was doing the same. As the cheers died down, Dean Thomas began again; "And for the Slytherin team … Bulstrode as Keeper; Parkinson, Baddock and Pritchard as Seekers, Crabbe and Goyle as Beaters; and Malfoy as the Slytherin Seeker."
It was blatantly obvious that Gryffindor had received the louder cheers, yet Malfoy led his team onto the pitch, grinning evilly at his opponents. As Madam Hooch made her way into the centre of the pitch, carrying with her the box which contained the balls, the two teams positioned themselves, ready to begin. However, no whistle was heard.
Harry leant forward on his broomstick, looking down to the ground to try and see what was holding up the game. Madam Hooch was saying something to Pansy Parkinson who had left her position at one of the goal-posts. Harry took this opportunity to look at his opponent's team. Both he and Malfoy had been nominated Captains for their Quidditch teams and had had the chance to choose their own team from the many students that now attended Hogwarts.
He noticed that Malfoy's team had only seventh-years and fourth-years. His own was similar, although he had introduced Colin Creevey, a sixth-year, as a Chaser. The two teams looked almost identical; both had two girls on the team and five boys, but it would seem that Gryffindor had an obvious advantage. Malfoy, relying upon their top-of-the-range broomsticks that his father had provided, had chosen a team made of the strongest, bulkiest people in his House. Earlier, Harry had almost laughed when he had learnt that Bulstrode was to be on his team; he was a rather large girl with a lot of strength, but not much agility. He glanced at her as she sat in front of one of the Slytherin goal-posts; she didn't look very comfortable sat on the thin broomstick handle.
He had been so involved in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed that Dean had begun to talk again, obviously in an attempt to interest the rest of the school while Madam Hooch finished talking to Pansy.
"And this year, it seems Potter has picked the perfect team," he winked at Harry as he said this. Harry smiled back; it seemed that each year, it was a Gryffindor who was chosen to be a commentator, and they had always been biased against Slytherin and towards their own House. "Weasley shows precise judgement when blocking Quaffles from the Slytherins; the Creevey brothers and Finnigan demonstrate their fantastic abilities when scoring and darting through the air, Patil and Brown block those Bludgers like no other could … the perfect team!" he exclaimed. "And the Slytherins," he continued, his voice taking a deeper tone, "well … the Slytherins … oh, look at that, Parkinson is returning to her post and the game shall commence."
Harry laughed at the perfect timing. It had been obvious that Dean had not been able to comment positively on Malfoy's team. Giving his team's captain a final thumbs-up, Dean began again, "And the Quaffles up - straight into Colin's arms – through Malcolm Baddock, through Graham Pritchard – goal-posts coming up – Keeper Bulstrode comes forward – and GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"
The cheers from the Gryffindors were matched only by the sounds of howls and moans coming from the Slytherins.
"Parkinson with the Quaffle – tackled by Seamus Finnigan who takes possession of the Quaffle – watch out for that Bludger – misses the Bludger – OOHHH – that had to hurt."
Harry looked at what he had been talking about. What he say below made him laugh, much to Malfoy's disgust. Crabbe and Goyle were sitting, still on their broomsticks, rubbing their foreheads. In an eager attempt to hit the Bludger, they had come too close and hit each other on the head. He looked back at Finnigan who was still tearing up the field.
"Past Pritchard – and he sco – no, stopped by Bulstrode – who's sent the Quaffle straight into Dennis Creevey – and the younger brother is making his way down the field – under Crabbe – over Goyle – this is the way to do it – and he puts it straight through the post – GRYFFINDOR, TWENTY; SLYTHERIN, ZERO."
Harry looked over at Malfoy; he had sunk down to the level at which Crabbe and Goyle were flying and was telling them something. No doubt he was convincing them to do something to one of his players. He'd keep his eye on them, he decided.
"Parkinson with the Quaffle – heading straight for the goal-post – Colin Creevey coming up behind her, no doubt waiting to take the Quaffle off her – what's this, Crabbe and Goyle now flying alongside her – they're closing in and – OUCH – Colin Creevey is sent soaring to the ground – quickly recovered and flying straight back into the game – both Creevey brothers on Parkinson's tail – will they make it? – NO – Slytherin score."
Just as he saw Malfoy grin at his two friends and raise his arms to celebrate the goal, Harry saw a gleaming golden shimmer of light near the ground. It was the Snitch. Pointing the end of his Firebolt to the ground, Harry held on tight. As he flew towards the ground, he sped up, putting all his energy into this; if he got the Snitch, the game would be over and Gryffindor would have won.
Barely aware of Malfoy right behind him, Harry held on. This is just like performing the Wronski Feint, he thought, except this time he had to get the Snitch. As he drew closer to the gleaming ball, he lifted one hand off his broomstick and got ready to pull upwards with the other. Leaning slightly further forwards, he pulled the front of his broomstick sharply upwards and closed his fingers around the small golden Snitch.
It was only then he realised that he had completely blocked out any noise when he had been concentrating. Suddenly his hearing came back to him at full volume; "And Harry gets the Snitch – GRYFFINDOR, ONE-HUNDRED-AND-SEVENTY; SLYTHERIN, TEN." Following his words, Harry heard an almighty roar; not only were the Gryffindors cheering his win, but so were the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, and the disappointed comments from the Slytherins were easily drowned out.
Harry smiled, before landing and returning to the changing rooms. He quickly changed into his Hogwarts robes and made his way towards the castle to try and find Hermione and Ron.
"That was fantastic, Harry," they greeted him as soon as they could get through the people that had gathered around him.
Harry, however, had other thoughts on his mind, "You know what we have to do tonight?" he reminded them. Tonight was the night that they had planned to use the Polyjuice Potion. Slipping away from the crowd around them, they made their way towards Moaning Mrytle's bathroom and looked at the potion.
"Oh, here," Harry said, remembering that he was holding a hair that he had taken from Pansy's robes before the Quidditch match. Hermione took a small plastic beaker, filled it with the potion and added the single hair. The potion in her hand immediately hissed and bubbled. Wanting to save it for later, Hermione put a lid on the beaker and placed it in a small bag she had brought with her.
"Now, to get Pansy on her own," she said, a determined look on her face. This part of the plan, it had been agreed would be left to Harry. He had told Pansy earlier that he wanted to see her to tell her something about Quidditch and she had agreed to meet him an hour after the game. He would go along, under the Invisibility Cloak, disarm Pansy and hide her until it was safe for her to come out again. This left him with only fifteen minutes now, to get to where he was meeting her, down a deserted corridor which was on the third floor.
Telling Hermione and Ron where and when to meet him, he left and soon found himself at the opening of the corridor. Looking at his watch, he saw that he still had five minutes left, so he didn't put the Cloak on just yet.
"Potter," she said, in a disgusted voice that didn't sound a lot unlike the one that Malfoy would use, "what do you want?"
Harry stumbled; he hadn't expected her to be early. Not thinking clearly, Harry raised his want as she did the same.
"Expelliarmus!" Pansy shouted loudly, just as Harry shouted the words 'Petrificus Totalus'. He watched as his spell hit Pansy; her legs sprang together and her arms snapped to her sides. She swayed and then fell over backwards, landing with a small thud. He was lucky that her spell hadn't hit him first, he thought, he would have been in trouble then. The spell he had used was one that he had only seen performed once, and that was in their first year when Neville had refused to let them leave the common room. Hermione had had to freeze him until they returned, for fear that he would alert a teacher.
He glanced towards both ends of the corridor; he could hear the hurried voices of Ron and Hermione coming towards him. Taking off her shoes and a small brooch that was pinned to her robes, Harry dragged Pansy into an empty classroom and hid her in a large cupboard in the corner.
As Ron and Hermione entered the room, he told them where Pansy was; she wouldn't come round for another twelve hours or so; Hermione should be able to find out lots by then. Bringing the plastic beaker to her lips, Hermione gulped half of the Polyjuice Potion that she had taken from the cauldron.
Hermione felt very strange as she swallowed the Polyjuice Potion. She felt as though she felt as though her insides were being eaten by live snakes, then suddenly she felt a burning sensation all over her body. This was different to what she had experienced last time, hopefully it was going fine. As suddenly as it had started, the pains stopped. She turned to look at each of her friends; they were both staring open-mouthed at her transformation.
"That was bloody brilliant," commented Ron, unable to say anything. Without saying anything else, Hermione kicked off her, now, too-small shoes, replaced them with Pansy's, pinned the brooch to her robes and, with Harry and Ron, left the classroom. Knowing that she didn't have much time, she said 'goodbye', telling them to wait for her return. Checking that she had the beaker with the remainder of the potion in, she made her way towards the common room.
As she stood outside the entrance, she muttered the password 'power-seekers' and pushed the door open. Once inside the common room, she noticed that it was much the same as the Gryffindor one, yet all the furnishings were green, instead of maroon.
"Oi, you," she froze as she heard a drunken drawl call her from her right, "come over here." A blond head poked up from over the side of the couch; it was Malfoy.