Y'all are vicious. Damn. Some incredibly...intense messages as a review of last chapter. Allow me to clarify a few things. I only write this for fun, I'm sorry my spelling and grammar are atrocious. I'm much better with math problems. I only write this for fun, so, no, I'm not horribly concerned with furthering my career as a writer. I will be taking extra care in the future to check for errors.
Hope you enjoy this chapter more than the rest!
Harry raked a tired hand through his raven hair as he stared at the seemingly endless blend of reactions and ingredients that lay strewn across his notes. He let out a small sigh as he leaned back, allowing him to see all of the notes splayed out across his table.
Potions. Charms. Even a tiny bit of Defense Against the Dark Arts; it may have been his best class, but he still needed to pass the midterm to maintain his high marks. His eyes traveled to the window next to him to see the moon still close to the horizon. Good! That meant he would have plenty of time…
Harry kicked himself as he realized his mistake. The moon wasn't just now rising. It was setting. He had been studying all night. Looking up from his desk, he saw Neville quietly snoring atop cluttered mounds of Herbology notes. Daphne had left hours ago, insisting that if she didn't get at least four hours of sleep, it would be dangerous for her to be in public. Harry and curiously asked her what she meant, and she had only gained a sweet grin and patted his cheek.
"For your sake, Harry. Not mine."
The candle Harry was using for light throughout the night looked the same as when he had first lit it. Harry frowned deeply at the ever burning candle as if the un-melted wax was mocking his deteriorated state. His eyes were bloodshot as deep, dark bags formed under his eyes from his all nighter. The fervent sound of scratching on parchment brought his vision to the table next to him.
Hermione, seemingly totally un-phased by the amount of time she, Harry, and Neville had spent cramming in the common room, continued to scribble furiously in her notebook. Harry balked as he notice the small mountain of notes the girl had already taken, all neatly stacked and categorized by subject.
"Hermione." Harry called out to the girl, he himself intent on doing anything other than study. The bushy haired teen, however, paid Harry no heed. Oblivious, she simply finished her page before placing it on top of the stack and grabbing a new piece of paper to start the cycle over again. Harry, thinking she just hadn't heard him, asked again a little louder.
"'Mione. Hey. Hermione." he called. The girl's eyes didn't waiver, however, causing Harry to frown.
"Hermione? Can you hear me?" he asked loudly. Being ignored a third time, he grabbed a loose sheet of paper and crumpled it into a ball before throwing it at the girl.
"Hey!" she yelled in shock, turning to Harry in confusion.
"I'm talking to you!" Harry repeated frustratedly, only to be met with a confused look by the witch. Suddenly, Hermione reached to her ears and pulled a small black headband with two small buds around her ears from her head.
"I'm sorry," she replied apologetically. "I couldn't hear you. What did you say?" Harry stared quizzically at the oddly familiar device in the witches hands.
"Hermione," he asked in confusion. "Are those?..."
"Headphones?" the witch answered with a smile, proudly holding them up. "Yes! My parents got me a Walkman for Christmas this year! It's wonderful for studying!" As the which gushed over her gift, Harry walked over and gently inspected them in his hands.
"Dudley got a pair of these last summer, but I've never " Harry commented as he put them on. For a moment, there was silence as radio static resonated in the background before a loud voice soulfully yelled into Harry's ears.
"My mind's telling me no….but my body! My body is telling me yes!
Baby! I don't wanna hurt nobody!
But there is something that I must confesssssss….
Harry's eyes began to widen in disbelief as Hermione froze, hearing the song that was suddenly playing faintly from afar.
I don't see nothing wrong! With a little bump and grind!
Harry collapsed into hysterical laughter as Hermione gasped, desperately snatching the headphones off Harry's head. Harry steadied himself on the table, laughing so hard it was difficult to breath, as the brown haired girl blushed deeply and scratched the volume to mute, shoving the headphones into her skirt.
"It's! It's a station from the United States," she stammered out in an attempt explain, only for Harry to hold up his hands placatingly.
"Hermione, it's okay. I'm not judging!" he attempted to assure the girl who had buried her face in her hands. Harry grew a devilish smirk and sat down next to his friend.
"Though, I must say," he said quietly to her with a laugh. "I didn't peg you for an R. Kelly fan." Hermione groaned pitifully into her hands, absolutely mortified by the situation, much to the raven haired boy's amusement.
"It just…" she whimpered pitifully, "It helps me study." Harry gave his friend a quick one-armed hug to try and calm the poor girl as he stifled his own laughter.
"Hermione, it's okay." he assured her, reaching for the now silent headphones. "I'm just surprised you have some of these in here." Hermione, recovering from the embarrassing reveal of her music taste, pulled out the actual Walkman and showed it to Harry.
"It's actually fit in here really well. I charmed the batteries to keep their charge and amplified the range of the transceiver to the point where I get radio stations from around the world!" the girl finished proudly. Harry eyed the enhanced Walkman with a new found awe.
"That sounds…" he replied as he inspected the Walkman in his hand gingerly. "Hermione, that sounds bloody complicated. How on earth did you learn how to do this?" The witch blushed slightly at the praise, but simply shrugged.
"Oh, it wasn't that hard." she asserted, reaching into her bag and pulling out a small notebook. "I wrote most of the process down. I don't know why someone hasn't already worked this out, some things muggles use everyday would be wonderful additions here!" Harry could tell Hermione was setting up to start guiding him on a long and wordy journey, so he quickly cut the girl off.
"Midterms is not the time I need to be given more distractions," he interjected, "But once we're done, would you explain this more to be?" Hermione nodded vigorously, both in agreement with Harry's reasoning to post-pone the discussion and the request to learn.
"How's your studying coming?" she asked. Harry shrugged dejectedly.
"I mean, it's going?" he replied neutrally, walking back to his table and idly sifting through his notes.
"I'm just not getting potions. I keep thinking I'm almost understanding what reactions do what, but then I practice the answers and I'm always wrong." Hermione stood from her notes and walked over to the boy, peering intently over his notes..
"What don't you get?" she inquired. Harry shuffled through the papers before finding an example question.
"Here," he complained, "How am I supposed to know that Phoenix Ash can't be used as purge for a mixture."
Hermione blinked as she looked at Harry confused. She reached out and snatched a few pages of Harry's notes and began to read the meticulously. Slowly, a frown settled on her face.
"Harry, you copy my notes. Why are all of these answers wrong?" she asked. Harry just stared at her, not quite understanding the question.
"Wrong? What do you mean wrong? They're your notes!" he protested. Hermione nodded but pointed to a few points on the pages.
"They're my notes, but all of the answers are changed from what I wrote. Phoenix Ash can be used to purge any mixture." Hermione explained. The witch marched over to her own notes and pulled out the identical page and showed it to Harry.
"See?" she said, pointing to her copy. "I quite clearly state that they CAN."
Harry's eyes darted back and forth between the two notes, a growing sense of confusion building in him. He read his own notes, yet for some reason where it should say CAN, CAN NOT had been underlined in Harry's handwriting.
"But Harry," Hermione said slowly. "I would understand if you had accidentally misread something, but your notes are the exact opposite on every single key point."
Harry just blinked, staring at the pages in confusion.
"I know you can be daft," Hermione added, "But this is a bit much, even for you. When do you write these?"
Harry thought intently for a moment. "Usually in the common room, but sometimes when I don't pay attention in Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"I don't understand how this happened," Hermione began, "But give me your notes to look at and you take mine. I've already studied for Potions anyway and I don't take it until this afternoon. You've only got four hours left." Hermione collected up Harry's notes and walked back over to her table, putting her headphones back on and pouring intently over them. Harry was angry, and rightfully so, but he forced himself to stay calm. He would worry about this situation after his exams were finished. Hermione swish and flicked her her wand and Harry stared in horror as a stack of notes almost four inches tall made their way over to his table before plopping down in front of him.
Harry picked up the first page and whimpered.
The Unabridged Potions Notes of Hermione Jane Granger.
As Harry slowly pushed open the massive doors to the Great Hall, he gave a withering sigh of exhaustion. His hand throbbed, obviously protesting the twelve pages of essays it had been forced to pen in the past four days. Mental exhaustion and the effects of sleep deprivation beginning to stake their claim to his body, each step becoming more difficult than the last. The only thing keeping him going was the promise of food and a long, sleep filled weekend.
He reached the usual table and collapsed loudly into his seat. Hermione was already there, the stress of midterms apparent even on her. Next to her, though his face was buried pitifully into the table, Neville Longbottom mindlessly pushed his peas around on his plate.
Hermione took a look at the Grim Reaper look-a-like named Harry Potter and forced a small smile.
"Well," she chirped, "At least it's over!" Harry's lips turned up in a mocking smile of agreement before picking up his knife and stabbing it into the pork chops on the plate with prejudice. Slow was the only setting that Harry's body was capable of functioning at, and some time later he had cut himself his first bite and moved his fork to his mouth. Chewing the tender meat slowly, he pointed a fork at the still zombie-like Neville.
"You alright, Neville?" he asked. Neville's head slowly shook back and forth on the table and Harry nodded solemnly, understanding the feeling. The trio ate in silence, no one particularly having the energy to start conversation for a quite some time before Daphne Greengrass walked up.
The blond girl held out her books arms length from her body before dropping them abruptly. The table rattled as the bang echoed throughout the hall though it failed to disturb the zombie-like state of their surrounding peers.. Hermione and Harry's heads slowly glanced to the source of the bang as Neville's head remained buried unflinchingly.
"That bad?" Harry asked as Daphne sat down next to the boy and rested her head on the pile of schoolwork.
"I hate schoolwork, Harry." she replied, turning her head towards the raven haired boy and pitifully pouting. Harry frowned in sympathy and began to scratch Daphne's back in an attempt to sooth the battle worn girl.
"I'm sure you did better than you though, Daphne!" Hermione cheerfully responded, forcing all of her enthusiasm out. The blonde raised her head, smiling at her new friends encouragement.
"It's so sweet the way you lie to people, Hermione. It's very Slytherin of you." she slyly replied. Hermione huffed slightly and turned her head.
"I had hoped at least someone would be pleasant!" she complained, earning a small laugh from Daphne.
"No, no. I'm sorry." Daphne apologized. "I'm just burnt out. How did your exams go?"
Hermione smiled at the apology, obviously having been waiting patiently for someone to ask.
"Well, I wasn't overly thrilled. I ran out of time on my tenth page for my Charms paper and I just wasn't sure if I adequately described the transfiguration process as it pertains to non-magical creatures. I was trying to tie in genetics to the mix, but I'm concerned that…"
Harry was broken from Hermione's rattling as he felt Daphne reach under the table and grab his hand in hers. Harry smiled slightly, nodding as his babbling friend, encouraging her to continue her dissertation. Shooting a sideways glance at Daphne, who had returned to resting her head on the school books, he raised an eyebrow at the girl who seemed to be mouthing something at him.
You. Me. Chamber?
Harry smiled, returning his full attention to Hermione, but gave Daphne's hand a tight squeeze in response. The girl smirked contently, pushing her books aside and eating happily.
"...But overall, I suppose I'll just have to see what Professor Flitwick thinks when he reads it." Hermione gushed. Harry, assuming the abnormally long pause at the end of that sentence meaning the witch had finally said her peace, flashed Hermione a bright smile as he nodded in agreement. Using the tip of his fork, he pushed a rather large piece of chocolate cake to the girl across the table to the girl.
"Sounds like you really did awesome, Hermione. Reward yourself!"
Hermione blushed lightly at the praise. Raising her own fork high she picked up the plate and dug into the cake, letting out a sigh of pleasure.
"Oh yes," she replied, taking her time with the cake. "I do deserve this."
Next to Harry, Daphne had pulled out a small piece of paper and had begun to scribble into it. Rising from her seat, she pushed the note into Harry's hand as she collected her things. Giving Hermione a wave and goodbye and shooting a pitying look to the still comatose form of Neville, she patted Harry on the head and strolled out of the Great Hall.
Flipping over the note, Harry fought a blush as he felt butterflies erupt in his stomach as he read the message's contents.
Go and take a shower, and bring blankets.
Hermione's eyes widened in mirth as she watched the blush form on Harry's face.
"Oh?" she call out suggestively. "Does Mister Potter have a romantic eve in store?"
Harry, fighting the blush off his face shook his head and leveled his fork at the girl.
"Shut it, you." he shot back, taking another bite of his meal. Hermione, however, would not be discouraged. Setting her arms up on the table and resting her face in her hands she locked her gaze on the Boy Who Lived, the allure of gossip hooking her.
"So...how are you two?" she began. Harry shook his head sternly and tossed his fork on the table, laughing nervously as he replied.
"Oh, no." he protested firmly. "No, no. We are not having this discussion." Hermione bounced like a petulant child, pouting at his answer.
"Oh, come on, Harry! You have to tell me!" the girl faux-whined. "You haven't told Ron, have you?"
"Haven't told me what?"
Harry and Hermione both turned sharply to find Ron Weasley standing awkwardly beside the table. He shifted awkwardly, holding his plate filled with food in his hands as he deftly voided eye contact with the two.
"May I?" he asked tentatively, motioning to the now vacant seat beside Harry. The raven haired boy's face remained neutral, but he nodded. Ron quickly set his plate down and began to eat pick apart his meal. Harry had expected the redhead to make the first comment, but as he stuffed his face it became clear that wasn't going to happen. Luckily for the table, Hermione was prepared to bridge the tension.
"How did your exams go, Ronald?" she asked curtly, obviously not one hundred percent comfortable with the tension remaining from the last time the trio had talked. The red head grunted in response, though he at least took a moment to swallow his food before replying.
"Horrible," he grumbled. "Bloody awful and school is awful and it sucks."
Hermione frowned, "Well. I hope you did better than you seem to think you did."
Harry had to fight to roll his eyes. Well that was riveting conversation. The table elapsed once again into an awkward silence, both boys eating their meals and Hermione staring between the two trying to gauge the situation.
"So, Harry," Ron suddenly spoke up, laying his fork down with a clatter. "Where'd you get that snake from in the lake?"
Harry clenched his fists slightly at the comment, but did his best to ease his grip.
"I didn't get the snake from anywhere, Ron. It saved us." he grit out tensely. Ron remained oblivious to the change in Harry's tone, persisting stubbornly on the subject.
"Well, I mean we all saw you riding it." he asserted. Hermione jumped quickly to Harry's aide.
"All the champions were on top of Lisgant, Ron. It wasn't just Harry." she rebutted. Ron looked at the both horrified.
"That thing has a name?" Ron whispered in disgust. Harry, however, had had about enough. Slamming his fist down abruptly on the table, he glared at the newcomer to the table.
"Ron," he growled, "I am tired. I am mentally exhausted. And most importantly I am in no mood to deal with you coming over here just to judge my behavior."
"If you want to stay, that's fine. But if you say one more word about the tournament, I'm standing up and leaving."
Ron opened and closed his mouth a few times, anger dashing in and out of his flush face. Surprisingly, at least to Hermione and Harry, Ron seemed to swallow his next sentence along with whatever rebuttal he had immediately come up with. The redhead returned to his food and idly began to push his food around.
"Uh, well," Ron slowly said, eyes glued to his plate. "I know a Hogsmeade weekend is coming up in a few weeks, and I was wondering you two were going to go?"
Harry inhaled deeply before nodding, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm going. So long as I don't have any other issues come up."
Ron, perking up at the non-hostile answer, turned to Harry with his expression brightened slightly.
"You think you two might like to meet up there? I've heard Zonko's just got crazy new sight glasses! Let you see things that have happened in reverse." the Weasley asked eagerly. Harry, however, replied in a much more tempered tone.
"I was planning on going with Daphne," he replied, much to Ron's obvious disappointment. The Weasley's face fell immediately as the redhead quickly turning to look at his meal.
"Oh, right." he muttered in reply. Harry awkwardly shot Hermione a desperate glance, looking for backup, but the witch could only shrugged in reply.
"But," Harry added quickly, "I'm sure we can meet up some time." Ron perking up slightly at that.
"I'll likely still be with Daphne, though." Harry quickly clarified. The redhead froze for a moment, realizing the caveat to his plan, but slowly began to nod.
"Yeah," Ron answered slowly, "Yeah, that's fine."
Harry gave a small nod as he stood to leave, having eaten his fill of dinner.
"Well then," Harry replied as Hermione and Ron both watched him stand. "We'll definitely be in touch before then."
Ron gave a small, timid smile and nodded in return.
"Sounds good, mate."
They didn't really talk about anything else after that, Hermione helping Neville to his feet and Ron leaving shortly after. As Harry walked out the door, he paused for a brief moment to expel himself of the unnecessary anxiety and stress the Ron situation caused him. He had certainly not expected the redhead to be the first to attempt to mend the rift that had formed between the two fourth year, but, for now, he really just didn't want to worry about it.
Right now, he was really tired and a very cute girl had told him to be somewhere.
"Well," Daphne said teasingly, raising an eyebrow as she tapped her foot on the ground. "It's about time you showed up. It's not polite to keep a lady waiting, Potter."
Harry gave a nervous laugh as he closed the door to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom quickly behind him.
"Sorry," he replied apologetically, running a hand through his still wet hair. "Ron came and talked to us for a while after you left." Daphne tilted her head curiously at that.
"Oh did he? And what did Weaselby have to say?"
Harry bit his tongue and shrugged. "He wasn't that bad." he replied simply, stepping up to the faucet and rubbing the snake engraving gently.
"Hiya Hass Siiethhh."
The massive marble sink groaned as it magically shifted, exposing the dark tunnels of the Chamber of Secrets. Daphne made to jump down the tunnel, but noticed Harry hesitating.
"You coming?" she teased, earning a smirk from the boy.
"Last time I entered the chamber, I wasn't careful enough to double check I wasn't being followed." Harry gave the girl a wink as he whispered once more to the marble and the font began to close again.
"I'd be quick if I were you."
Smirking in triumph, Harry jumped down into chamber as Daphne gave a squeal, quickly jumping behind him before the entrance closed with a loud slam. The slide down ended much more comfortably than it had the first time Harry had come down, the pseudo-heir having the forethought to bring some spare pillows as a cushion at the bottom.
Harry held out his hand and helped Daphne to her feet and the two continued deeper into the chamber. The dark tunnels still sent chills down Daphne's spine when she looked at it. Massive serpents of wrought metal coiled through intricately carved stone in mystifying patterns. The water around the pathways lay still as glass, reflecting whatever dark moonlight trickled in from the gaping caverns above.
Daphne smiled as Harry gripped her hand in his. The two made their way towards the center of the cavern where Harry pulled the blanket he had come with from over his shoulder and spread it out on the floor. Lying down, he put his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling, a small smile forming on his lips as Daphne lay next to him, nuzzling into his arm.
"It's been quite some time since you've been down here, hasn't it?" Harry asked calmly, enjoying the peace of the cavern. Daphne nodded.
"Well it's tough, seeing as I can't speak Parseltongue and all." she joking replied, rolling her eyes. "But I certainly enjoy being here. It's very nice."
Harry nervously brought one of his arms down and wrapped it around the girl. He mentally debated pulling it away in embarrassment of his own attempt to make a move but was frozen in his motions as Daphne wrapped around his arm with hers and moved in closer to the Boy Who Lived.
"I especially like the company." she finished with a small smile smile. Harry's blood surged in his veins as an infectious grin spread onto his face. Neither of the two said anything for a long while, nervous words would ruin the moment forever.
Suddenly, an impulse jumped into Harry's mind; one he had never quite felt before. Unsure of what to do, he did the only thing that could come to mind.
He acted on it.
Turning his head slightly, He pushed his face into Daphne's hair. In the most un-Harry act of his whole life, he gave the girl a small kiss before returning right back to where he had been before. Harry couldn't see, but Daphne eyes had flown open at the small sign of affection, a bright blush quickly quickly spreading across her face.
"I like you, Harry." she whispered, griping tightly to his arm.
"I like you too, Daphne." Harry replied, pulling the girl in closer. The pair rested into a comfortable silence, mutually returned feelings bringing a deep calm upon the two.
"So now that exams are over," Daphne said as she stared into the starry sky that filtered through the caves above. "You know they're going to try and force you to compete again."
Harry pursed his lips as he replied. "Yeah, I know." he admitted, "I've figured that. I just wish I knew what I could do."
Harry gave a long, deep sigh. Sure, he and all his fellow champions may have agreed to 'boycott' participating, but even he wasn't so naive as to believe that the Ministry wouldn't do everything it could to ensure that there was a champion whether or not the champions all boycotted.
"I just wish I knew someone who understood magical contacts, because I haven't the foggiest idea how any of that works."
Daphne furrowed her brow in thought. "You mean like a solicitor*?"
"Yeah," Harry nodded, before frowning, "But I don't even have the slightest clue how those work here, honestly." Daphne thought intently to herself for a moment before an idea began to form in her head.
"I think I may have a solution." she said slowly, her mind racing. Harry raised an eyebrow, turning to look at her curiously.
"Oh?"
The blonde smirked, tucking her head into Harry's chest as she cuddle up next to him.
"And I'll tell you all about it tomorrow," she murmured, arms wrapping around Harry. The Boy Who Lived felt his cheeks heat up as the slow rhythmic movements of Daphne's breathing began to lull him to yawn, exhaustion from the day finally taking it's toll. Tilting his head slightly, he gave Daphne another kiss on the head as he too slowly closed his eyes, darkness taking him.
Harry James Potter walked around Hogwarts with a positively shit eating smile plastered across his face. The sun was shining, the Hippogryphs were Hippogryphing, and damn he felt like he was walking on air.
Why?
Well...Honestly, he wasn't totally sure. He figured it was girls. Girls were just weird, Sirius had told him that much. But he was really starting to see why his Godfather insisted that women were his favorite part of being a bachelor.
Harry had woken up normally, apparently having fallen asleep in the Chamber again. However, as he rolled over, he had heard a low grunt next to him as he felt something move. His eyes slammed open as he slowly turned his head to see the familiar blonde headed girl quietly sleeping next to him, her hair draped messily across her face as she dreamed.
Harry had sat up for almost half an hour attempting to figure out the best way to wake Daphne up without angering the girl (Like most things in Harry's life, someone had neglected to give him the Instruction manual). Eventually, He had gotten Daphne to wake up. The young girl was initially quite crabby about being returned to the land of the waking, but seeing Harry's nervousness in the situation her expression had soften. As he escorted her out of the Chamber, the blond had turned to him right before they exited Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
"See you for breakfast." she whispered huskily into his ear before giving the raven haired boy a kiss and disappearing for the Slytherin dorms.
And thus, Harry was walking- No, strike that- skipping along on cloud nine.
He strolled into the Great Hall, forcefully pushing the massive doors wide open with a small flair. Scanning the large room, he found the usual suspects huddled around what had apparently become the 'Champion's Table'. Neville, Hermione,Daphne, Fleur, and, Harry was happy to note, Viktor had all huddled around the table. Their eyes were all eagerly watching Cedric, whom Harry noted was many tables away talking to a group of fourth year Hufflepuffs.
"What's going on?" Harry asked as he approached the group and took a seat. Hermione subtly pointed to Cedric while Daphne explained the situation.
"I think I found someone who might be able to help you with your legal problems." she smiled proudly, giving Harry a small wave and wink. Harry subtly attempted to spy in Cedric's direction with a curious look.
"Who is he talking to?"
"Susan Bones." Neville replied, awkwardly ducking his head as one of the Hufflepuff girls Cedric was talking to sent a suspicious glance his way.
"Susan Bones?" Harry asked, confused. "What's she got to do with any of this?"
"It's not her, per se." Daphne elaborated, shooting her boyfriend a smirk. "We're actually trying to get in touch with her Aunt." Harry shook his head, still not following the strategy.
"Wait, why the hell do we need Susan's Aunt?"
No one bothered to answer Harry as the table stared intently as a small redhead girl, blushing deeply all the while, nodded rapidly and stood with Cedric. The two walked back to the group and Cedric held out his hand to do introductions.
"Guys," he smiled, "This is my friend Susan Bones. She's agreed to set us up with a meeting with her Aunt, Madam Bones."
Harry's mind raced. Why did that name sound so familiar? Madam Bones. He knew he had heard it from somewhere. Was she an Auror or something? The redheaded Susan smiled brightly and gave a wave.
"Hello! Well, I know Aunt Amelia's really busy, but she always told me to floo her if I or my friends ever needed any legal advice!"
Aunt...Amelia?
Suddenly, Harry remembered where he had heard Madam Bones from.
Amelia Bones. The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Oh.
That Madam Bones.
So, I wrote the top note to this chapter when I had just gotten a rather sour pair of reviews as a private message. Since that point, however, I've been writing and watching NBA and drinking heavily, so I'm in a much better mood. I want to give a special apology to a few reviewers (Though not the PM ones, fuck you guys.) I am notorious for my inability to write anything with a respectable level of grammar. It's definitely the most challenging part of my writing. Jeez, you should see some of my drafts before I proof read them a few times. On second thought, I'd rather y'all not. One particular reviewer mentioned I butchered Fleur's name as 'Fluer'. You should have seen the embarrassment on my face as I read that! I am so, so sorry!
Other than that, this is just an extended author's note so I can finally find my story in the 30k+ section! I've been working on another project fairly intently for the past few months, but I don't intend on releasing it until i've got at least four chapters written. The Perks ended up being a lot less….violent and dark than I had originally intended, so I'm channeling most of my angst into this other tale. There's also a Batman/Harry Potter crossover burning a hole in my hard drive I might release as a one off. No Batman characters, but their traits imposed on some fun HP characters, so maybe look forward to that.
Only 308 words left until I've finally hit that magic sweet spot, so I actually think I'm going to post that HP/Batman teaser. Tell me what y'all think whether or not I should continue it.
With a muffled crunch, Walden McNair's body slammed into the cobblestone alleyway ribs first. His skeletal mask dissipated into mist as the whole of his concentration flooded to the multiple ribs cracking against his lungs. He weakly began to shuffle his legs, desperately trying to distance himself from the cloaked figure standing calmly in the alleyway before him.
"I won't," McNair wheezed as he spat out a chipped bit what felt like a tooth, "Tell you anything, you freak."
The hooded figure didn't reply as it slowly kneeled down next to the bleeding man. McNair's mind screamed for his legs to move, but as the cloaked figure wrapped his hand around McNair's ankle, his leg muscles refused to respond. With a jarring tug, the figure pulled McNair jerkily towards him before speaking.
"How many more bones do I have to break before you tell me what I want to know?" the man spoke. His voice sent a chill through McNair's spine, but he sneered in response.
"I said you can go fu—"
Snap.
McNair howled into the night as his foot assumed its new inward facing position. The cloaked man brought his hand up to McNair's shin and let it rest there.
"I hate breaking shins." he neutrally droned, his hand tightening around the hinge of McNair's leg. "They're always the messiest part of the leg." McNair's eyes quaked in horror as he desperately tried to squirm his way out of the man's grasp. His attempted escape, however, seemed to shift what delicate balance had been going on in his chest cavity as a blinding pain filled his vision.
"Wait!" he cried as the pressure on his shin began to intensify. "What you want! I'll talk! I'll talk!" The figure loosed his grip ever so slightly on McNair's shin as the death eater fought back stinging tears.
"Much better." came the mocking reply from the cloaked figure. "Two weeks ago, Nott kidnapped twelve students out of their cars from the Hogwarts Express. Where are they?"
"Surrey." McNair wheezed, barely able to breath at the pressure building in his chest. "He took them to Surrey in a house off the northern hillside. It's disguised to look like muggle factory."
The hooded figure smiled darkly..
"Thank you for your cooperation." he replied before raising his hand high to know McNair out cold. "Now then—"
The man was cut off as, with a thunderous crash, a body came flying through the brick wall just behind the duo. As the dust from the blast settled, McNair and the hooded man were able to make out the broken, bleeding corpse of Dolotov Avery collapsed against a wall as the sound of giggling came from the hole.
"Oppsie!" Came a sweet voice from inside the hole. Suddenly, a woman in tall black combat boots stepped out from the hole. Her long brown hair was pulled tight into twin pony tails on either side. She wore a short skirt, identical to a preoccupation Hogwarts uniform with a white button down, short sleeve shirt on top. Her shirt, McNair noticed, was dyed red with fresh blood and what appeared to be specs of grey matter.
"Puddin'" the voice exclaimed sorrowfully. "I know you said don't kill anyone but he just kept talkin' and talkin' and blah, blah, blah!" the woman explained, making exaggerated talking gestures with her hand before finishing in a violent smack of her fists as she walked up behind the cloaked man and wrapped him in a hug.
"Please don't be mad at me!" she cooed as she rubbed her face into the man's back. The movement and contact, however, served only to accidentally pull the man's hood off. Short, jet black hair fell messily in all directions as two emerald green eyes shot wide at the reveal of his identity
McNair's eyes, however, we transfixed to the lightning bolt shaped scar on the man's forehead.
He stared back and forth between the girl, whom he was sure looked familiar and the distinctive marking of the man no one could ever forget.
"Granger?...H-Harry Potter?"
Harry's eyes narrowed and, in a flash, his wand was inches from McNair's face.
"Dammit, Hermione." Harry growled, obviously annoyed, "I told you to keep it quiet this time."
Moments later, a blinding white light erupted from Harry's wand as McNair heard the Boy Who Ran whisper, 'Obliviate'.
Then, everything went dark.