"Bloody Hell guys, you're going to get 'Mione in trouble!" a loud voice jerked me awake. I woke up stiffly and blinked my eyes, slowly becoming aware of my surroundings. Something deliciously warm was underneath me, and there was an arm wrapped around my waist and another holding my head to someone's chest. I sat up slowly, using my arms to push myself up. George lay underneath me, looking tired and disgruntled.
"Ginny?" He said quietly, blinking sleepily. I smiled happily down at him before I rolled off his stomach. Ginny came up behind us with her hands on her hips. "You have like five minutes to get back to our room and dressed." She bent down and pulled my arm, jerking me so that I was standing up. I was still half asleep, but I did try and pull away. I wanted to at least give George a good bye hug. She started to pull me along but George stopped her. He got up off the ground and lunged after Ginny's retreating form, grabbing her arm and pulling her to a stop.
"Give me a minute to say good bye, okay?" Ginny hesitated but my pleading look convinced her.
"Okay, but hurry up!"
George pulled me back to his chest, crushing me in a hug. We stayed like that for well over a minute. I had no inclination of leaving, I wanted to stay safe and secure in his arms.
"I should probably fly you back." He finally said, his voice constricted. I nodded my head, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. It would be another month and a half before a Hogsmeade trip, another month and a half before I could see him again.
We flew back to the burrow in silence. He dropped me off to my room before Ginny had reappeared, so we had a few more seconds alone.
He gave me a searing kiss, holding onto me in desperate passion. I returned the kiss with just as much abandon, gasping heavily when he broke it.
"Hermione, I…" He started, his brows furrowed in concentration. He moved his mouth silently for a few moments, searching for the right words apparently. His hand was rubbing the back of his neck in a move I had noticed he only did when he was nervous."Be careful and have fun." He finally said, and then he dropped his arm and stepped back. He gave me one last half hearted smile before jumping back out the window. I got dressed as quickly as I could and ran downstairs. I packed my beautiful flowers up carefully, charming them so they wouldn't die. Now whenever I got to Hogwarts, they'd be ready to brighten up my room.
The trip to Hogwarts passed fairly quickly, I was worried about Malfoy not doing Prefect duties, but I figured he was just being lazy. Harry felt other wise. He wouldn't tell me about his opinion though, because Neville and Luna were in the same compartment. So when Harry didn't come back with Neville after their tea I began to get very worried. A feeling that only intensified when we arrived at Hogwarts with no Harry.
Could he not stay out of trouble for like five minutes? Ron didn't understand why I was so worried. He just figured that Harry had already headed for Hogwarts. I agreed to go ahead to the castle, but if I couldn't find him when we got there I was marching straight to Dumbledore.
Sure enough no Harry. I was getting up when I saw a patronus appear at the head table and Snape walk out of the hall. Merlin, what had he gotten into now?
About a half hour later, after the sorting ceremony, Snape came back into the great hall with Harry in tow. He practically ran the length of the hall, squeezing in between me and Ron so fast that I couldn't get a good look at him until he was sitting down.
"Where've you — blimey, what've you done to your face?" Ron said, recovering first. Harry's face was covered in blood, and his nose looked a little swollen.
"Why, what's wrong with it?" Harry asked, grabbing a spoon and squinting at his reflection.
"You're covered in blood!" I said, gasping at him. How had he not known he was covered in
blood? "Come here —" I said, grabbing my wand. I waved it and the dried blood disappeared.
"Thanks," Harry said grumpily, feeling his face. "How's my nose looking?" What in Merlin's name had he been doing?
"Normal," I answered, sounding anxious despite my best efforts. "Why shouldn't it? Harry, what happened? We've been terrified!"
"I'll tell you later," Harry said shortly.
"But —" I began, not wanting to just take such a short answer.
"Not now, Hermione," He said even darker, reaching for a couple of chicken legs and a handful chips, but before he could take them they vanished, to be replaced with puddings. Fine, he didn't want to talk in front of the others. Either way, I was finding out about this, I'd just corner him later in the common room.
Harry asked about the sorting he had missed, and if anyone had said anything interesting yet. We told him no, but we had hardly finished speaking before Dumbledore stood up to give the beginning of the year speech. His left hand had been badly burned by some sort of spell, I recognized the symptoms from a magic book I had read. He didn't speak about it though, and Harry hadn't any idea where the burn had come from. The most surprising news of the dinner was unquestionably the fact that Snape was taking over as DADA teacher. He dismissed us and I had to run to the head of the Gryffindors to lead the first years to the portrait hole, and Harry lagged behind so I didn't get to talk to him. I spent the rest of the night answering first years questions, so I never got a chance to talk to Harry.
It was only the first night back and already I was eager for a break.
I got bombarded by Harry the next morning before I could even make it down the stairs to the common room. He started explaining about what had happened to him on the train (had he really thought it a smart idea to climb into a rack above the children of several known death eaters?) and that he believed Malfoy was now a death eater. Ron wanted to believe that Malfoy was just showing off, which was believable, and certainly something Malfoy would do, but that was an awfully big tall tale. Plus, I'd been having similar fears. Could Malfoy really be a death eater? It was hard to believe that the boy who had bullied me since I was eleven years old, the same boy that had been scared to death of going in the forbidden forest, that had been transformed into a ferret, that had even tried to sell us out to Umbridge, was actually capable of becoming a Death Eater. Sure, he had been far from pleasant, but he'd never actually hurt anyone with his acts.
I didn't want to believe it, I didn't want to think that someone my age could actually be one, but it was so extremely likely that he had joined.
As usual though, the day got worse as it went on. At breakfast I discovered that no one was taking Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, the poor fellow would probably think no one liked him and be terribly hurt, but there was nothing we could do for him. I got my schedule cleared as quickly as I could. I had Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Potions. I shot off to Ancient Runes for my first quarter and quickly began my day.
I had Ancient Runes with Dean Thomas, Michael Corner, Ernie MacMillian, Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, and, to my horror, Terry Boot. He sat next to me, despite my best efforts to get Dean to sit with me, and I promptly new this would not be a fun class. We were assigned a fifteen-inch essay, two translations, and two books on Runes. How were we supposed to do all of this as well as what the other classes assigned?
DADA was my next class, but I got to take it with Ron and Harry. Snape opened the door to let us in and everyone grew painfully quiet as we filed into the room. He'd redecorated the room with ghastly pictures of people that looked to be in terrible pain.
I pulled my book out of my bag out of habit and instantly regretted it when I heard Snape come up behind me.
"I have not asked you to take out your books," He said, closing the door and moving to face the class from behind his desk. I dropped my book back into my bag and stored it under my desk. "I wish to speak to you, and I want your fullest attention."
As if he ever had anything but.
"You have had five teachers in this subject so far, I believe. Naturally, these teachers will all have had their own methods and priorities. Given this confusion I am surprised so many of you scraped an . in this subject. I shall be even more surprised if all of you manage to keep up with the N.E.W.T. work, which will be more advanced." It was awful hearing him voice my own worries from earlier, but it did succeed in making me more determined than ever to actually pass all my classes with flying colors.
"The Dark Arts," He continued, "are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible." I recalled Harry's words from last year with shock, how odd that the two of them would sound alike.
"Your defenses," he continued, with no sign of stopping, "must therefore be as flexible and inventive as the arts you seek to undo. These pictures give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer, for instance, the Cruciatus Curse" - he waved a hand toward a witch who was clearly shrieking in agony - "feel the Dementor's Kiss" - a wizard lying huddled and blank-eyed, slumped against a wall - "or provoke the aggression of the Inferius" - a bloody mass upon ground.
"Has an Inferius been seen, then?" Parvati Patil asked in a high pitched voice. "Is it definite, is he using them?"
"The Dark Lord has used Inferi in the past," Snape answered with a sneer, "which means you would be well-advised to assume he might use them again. Now you are, I believe, complete novices in the use of nonverbal spells. What is the advantage of a nonverbal spell?"
A smile twitched my lips I shot my hand into the air. Novice indeed. I had spent the better part of last year practicing nonverbal spells, I was practically a master at them.
"Very well - Miss Granger?" Snape called on me only after making sure no one else was ready to answer.
"Your adversary has no warning about what kind of magic you're about to perform," I said, remembering what the text had said. "which gives you a split-second advantage."
"An answer copied almost word for word from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six," Snape said dismissively. "but correct in essentials. Yes, those who progress in using magic without shouting incantations gain an element of surprise in their spell-casting. Not all wizards can do this, of course; it is a question of concentration and mind power which some lack."
"You will now divide," Snape went on, "into pairs. One partner will attempt jinx the other without speaking. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in equal silence. Carry on."
I was paired with Neville, who tried to use Jelly-legs on me. I didn't even have to blink to repel it. was that all that this year would entail? Nonverbal spells? Would I not even learn something new in the classes?
"Pathetic, Weasley," I heard Snape say behind me. "Here - let me show you -"
I turned around in fright to see Harry whip his wand up faster than I'd ever seen anyone move,
"Protego!" He bellowed. His shield charm exploded before him and knocked Snape off balance. He slammed into his desk before standing up stiffly and glaring at Snape.
"Do you remember me telling you we are practicing nonverbal spells, Potter?"
"Yes," Harry said stiffly, still gripping his wand.
"Yes, sir." Snape snarled.
"There's no need to call me 'sir,' Professor" Harry said. I gasped in horror and my hand flew to my mouth. We hadn't even been back a day and Harry was already getting into trouble.
"Detention, Saturday night, my office," Snape growled, standing over Harry menacingly. "I do not take cheek from anyone, Potter . . . not even 'the Chosen One.'"
When would he learn to keep his mouth shut?