Chapter 9 - Close Calls
The halls of the castle were dark and gloomy. In a few short weeks the night would bring with it cool breezes that would have students bundled in cloaks and hats. As it was, the castle was still relatively comfortable, this due to the warm nights September was offering at this time.
Harry breezed through the halls, Hermione in tow. They were less rushed than they had been an hour ago and the adrenaline of their daring night escapade had ridden away leaving both students sleepy.
Clack!
Harry and Hermione froze. Somebody was near.
"Do you think it's Malfoy?" Hermione whispered very quietly.
"He would have gone downstairs, not up." he whispered back.
Click! Clack! The steps were getting closer.
"Quick, this way," Harry pulled Hermione with him into an alcove behind a suit of armour. The shadows of the night cloaked them well.
The footsteps came nearer. From behind the statue they could see a shadowy figure coming into view.
"It's Professor Snape." Hermione whispered.
Snape walked leisurely, his cloak blowing behind him a few inches.
Harry and Hermione held there breath until he had passed them. After waiting a minute for good measure, they extracted themselves from there hiding place.
"What do you think he's doing up?" Hermione asked.
"Must be on patrol." Harry said.
"Or, he's noticed one of his students is out of bed." Lily added.
"Or he's noticed a student of his is out of bed." Harry echoed. "Either way we should get back to the common room."
"Alright, let's go," Hermione said and they made their way down the hall the opposite direction Snape had come from. They took a right turn and went for a few steps before coming to a large set of doors. Harry went to turn the knob, but it wouldn't budge.
"Locked." he said put out. "We'll have to go the long way around-" he stopped speaking abruptly. From down the hall, they could hear hurried footsteps.
"Sniff around my sweet, they can't be far now."
"Crap." Harry let out.
Hermione paled, they were going to be caught by Filch. Harry looked around but this hallway was devoid of statue's to hide behind.
"We need to get through that door, but-." Harry said. Hermione nodded and before Harry could finish she pulled out her wand, pointed it at the door and whispered, "Alohomora." With a click the lock opened. They opened the door and rushed inside. Before they could close the door, Harry was sure he caught a glimpse of Ms. Norris' red eyes.
Hermione watched Filch appear in the hallway through the keyhole in the door.
"Filch is there." Hermione whispered. "Harry?" She turned to look at Harry who had gone very still and was looking behind them with terror in his eyes.
"Harry what-" And she finished turning all the way around and found out exactly what.
Laying spread out on the floor, covered in mounds of fur was an enormous three headed dog. It's three heads were snoring softly. Drool was pooling out of it's mouths and pointed teeth could be seen.
"Eep-" Hermione let out a stifled scream. Stifled, because Harry clamped a hand over her mouth. Her breathing came out sharp and fast for a few breaths, before she calmed down enough for Harry to take his hand back.
Without speaking Harry pointed to the side of the hallway between the beast and the walls. There was just enough room for a person to get by. Hermione looked at him questioningly, before realizing what his intentions were.
She shook her head vehemently at him. 'Absolutely not,' she thought. Harry however shrugged as if to say, 'You can go back, I'm going this way.'
With careful footsteps, Harry edged toward the wall and began to tread lightly toward the side of the beast. He glanced back at her and nodded his head to indicate her to follow.
Hermione took a glance back through the key hole. Filch was still there and worse his cat was sniffing the ground and leading him towards the door. She gulped before glancing back at Harry. He was halfway by the hell-hound.
"Colloportus." she whispered, wand pointed at the door. At least Filch wouldn't be able to follow. Then she started after Harry, carefully putting one foot in front of the other, eyes never leaving the three headed dog.
Harry was now past the dog and slowly making his way to the door on the other side of the short hall.
Hermione was now as close as she would be to the beast. She watched in horrid fascination as it's one head nearest to her slowly breathed in and out. A small pile of drool dripped out of its mouth with each exhale, but rose back up with each inhale.
Looking closer she could see a small silver tag attached to a collar around it's neck. She bent closer to read it.
"Fluffy?" the disbelief of the name caused her to whisper it out loud. That was a mistake. One eye blinked open. At that moment she was sure her heart stopped beating.
"Hermione, what are you doing?" Harry hissed.
Very quickly she walked backwards making her way towards Harry. Fluffy's third head rose into the air and started to sniff. Then it started to growl and its other two heads woke up.
"Harry," Hermione whispered, then abandoned all pretence of stealth. "Open the door, now!" she yelled, and started to run.
Without missing a beat, Harry unlocked the door and swung it open. Hermione dashed through and Harry stepped through immediately and pulled it shut. A loud thump rattled the door. Harry held it shut and Hermione whispered the locking charm on the
door. They collapsed to the ground and took a moment to slow down their breathing.
"As I was going to say," Harry began. "before you opened the door…we are in the third floor corridor on the right side. Remember the feast?"
"The warning Dumbledore gave us," Hermione said, heart beating rapidly, remembering the Headmaster's words.
"Exactly."
"Next time, warn me faster!"
"There's going to be a next time?" he asked. He withered under the glare she sent him.
"Fluffy," Hermione said again, still in disbelief. "Who on earth named that..beast Fluffy?"
They thought for a moment.
"What do you suppose it's doing there anyway?" Harry asked.
"Didn't you see it?" she said, then continued on when he shook his head. "There is a trap door on the floor. "Fluffy is obviously guarding something."
"A mystery then!" Harry exclaimed with glee.
"Harry, absolutely not," Hermione said in horror. "We are not ever going back inside that room, do you hear me?"
"Alright, alright, calm down," he said quickly. "I didn't say we had to go in the room. I just want to know what's guarding."
"Fine," she said giving him a stern look. "But if I find you going near the room I'll report you to McGonagall."
With that she got up. "Now Harry Potter, I hope you know which way we go to get back to our room, because I am ridiculously lost."
She turned to look down at him only to find him staring into space.
"Harry?" She waved a hand in front of his face.
"Look Harry, I don't have time for games-"
But then he snapped to attention. "Down the hall behind the last statue, a hidden set of stairs leads up to the sixth floor. From there we can find our way."
Hermione was silent for a moment. She opened her mouth as if to say something but then thought better of it.
"Lead the way then."
Harry glanced at her uneasily, but got up and started off. They walked in silence until they got to the statue and stopped.
"Well?" Hermione asked.
Harry pulled out his wand and gave the statue three taps. They watched in amazement as it leapt to the side, revealing a narrow set of stairs behind it. They quickly ran up them.
"How do you always seem to know where things are?" Hermione suddenly blurted out as they were halfway up the stairs.
Harry stopped and paused for a moment before turning to her with a grin.
"And don't you dare lie to me," she said, "I want an honest answer."
The grin faded from his face and he looked uncertain. He brought his hand to his glasses and adjusted them. Then he sighed.
"I can't tell you."
"What do you mean you can't tell me?" She said.
"I mean, I can't tell you," he repeated.
"Does this have something to do with the voices in your head," she asked, sarcastically.
Instead of firing off a retort like she expected him to do, he looked startled instead, before covering it up with what looked like a forced smile.
"Haha it does actually."
"Very funny." Hermione said, though she wondered if perhaps he wasn't actually joking.
They came to the top of the stairs and opened a door that let them out into a hallway on the sixth floor. When they closed the door behind them, Hermione noticed that the hallway side of the door was camouflaged with brick to look like part of the wall.
"If you ever feel the need to go back down this way, tap your wand here, here and here," he indicated. "Of course, seeing how it leads to Fluffy, you may not want to take that route."
She shuddered, "No, definitely not."
They set off down the hall and found themselves at the main staircase and began walking up.
"I suppose you aren't going to tell me how you are so good at magic either?"
"I told you," he said, "lots of practice."
"Hmph," she sniffed, "I don't believe you. And you would have only gotten your wand less than two months ago. Nobody can learn that much magic in two months. "
"Well that may be true," he answered slowly. "But one does not need a wand to do magic. A wand is a great focusing device for magic, and it certainly makes magic easier to do." They got to the seventh floor and at last the Common Room entrance was in sight.
"But, by practicing without a wand, I've learned to focus my magic, harness it and wield it to my desire," he said. Hermione was listening to him and hanging off every word.
"Even so, I could only do the most simple of spells, creating a small amount of light to read by, or summoning small items. Sometimes I could even levitate objects."
They stopped in front of the Common room entrance.
"But then I got my wand and things changed. Suddenly that small amount of light I could create became blindingly bright. The first time I summoned an object with my wand it came to me so fast, it nearly took off my head," he chuckled and Hermione let out a stifled laugh.
"I had to learn how much force to put behind my spells. It took awhile to get used to, but I think I got it now. I'm not some super wizard, I'm just used of putting a lot of focus and power into my spells."
They turned to the portrait.
"A little young to be out on your own aren't you dearies?" The portrait asked sleepily.
"Maybe," Harry answered, "But we're alive." He said cheerfully.
"Barely," Hermione muttered.
"Anyway, Ms. Elaine we need to go in. Pig Snout."
The portrait swung open.
"We made it, " Hermione breathed happily, stepping inside.
"Sure did." Harry agreed following her as she went to the tall window to look at the night.
"There's one thing you still haven't explained," Hermione said turning to Harry suddenly.
"And what would that be?" he asked, a small smile on his face.
"You said you got...well...good at magic by practicing before you got to Hogwarts. But if you never did magic accidentally, and you were raised by your muggle relatives... how did you know magic existed in the first place?" She peered at him intensively and Harry's smile died a little.
"Well...we're screwed."
"Well.." Harry began, eyes darting around the dark common room as though looking for options. "I suppose I just always knew," he finished lamely.
Hermione looked at him skeptically, "Really?" She said flatly.
"Yeah," he said, smiling weakly.
"Alright then." She said, though the disbelief was still evident in her tone. "Well, I'm going to bed now," she paused before adding, "You should too. Goodnight Harry." And she swept away.
Harry stood and watched her make her way upstairs. "Goodnight Hermione." He murmured. He turned to look at the fire, it's dying embers giving a small area of the room a soft warm glow, and went over to sit on a couch nearby. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Is everything ok Harry?" his mom asked.
"Yeah it's just...do you think I should have told her?" He said after a minute.
"About us?" James asked softly. "It's your call son, always has been."
"If you want to tell that girl, we will support you hon." Lily affirmed.
"But you don't think I should." Harry said, putting a hand on his cheek and resting that elbow on his knee.
There was hesitance from both his parents before James spoke again.
"Hearing voices in your head isn't a good sign, even in the wizard world. Once you let something like that out, you can't take it back. Even if she, or whoever you tell believes you, things might still be complicated."
"Complicated how?" Harry asked.
"If you were to become...closer to that person and wanted to spend time alone together, there might be some...awkwardness."
"Er, how so?"
"Well er, James do you want to take this one?"
"Because she," James said. "Or he I suppose, would never know if they were talking to just you or all of us. And they might be uncomfortable sharing things with you because of that."
"Oh." said Harry quietly.
"You still get the last call on this," James said quickly. "If you think it's worth telling somebody about us, we're with you."
"Absolutely." Lily added.
"No you guys are right," Harry said getting up from the couch. "I should have thought of that actually. I might feel a little uncomfortable if I knew Hermione's mom or dad was in her head." Harry gave a short laugh. "How hypocritical is that? I have you guys in my head but the idea of someone else having the same thing makes me uncomfortable."
"It would make most people uncomfortable I imagine." Lily said.
"Well for now I guess I tell no one." Harry looked up at the clock on the Common room wall. It read 1:12.
"Well I'm going to bed. Wake me just before breakfast?"
"Of course sweetie." Lily said "Sleep well. And remember, we love you."
"We do." James said.
Harry smiled. "I love you too, mum and dad. Goodnight."
There might have been negatives to having his parents chained to him, Harry thought, but at moments like these he would be hard pressed to name any of them.
—
It seemed however, like Harry's parents would not be needed to wake him up after all. Harry felt like his head had just hit the pillow when he was being shaken awake.
"Mmm five more minutes, mum," he mumbled sleepily.
"Mum?" A young voice, that definitely did not belong to his mother answered.
"Er, not us sport."
Harry's eyes snapped open and landed on a slightly blurry face.
"Ron?" He mumbled sleepily, "What are you waking me up for?"
"We want to know how the duel went of course! So? How was it? Did you beat him?" Ron's voice had all the delicacy of a wrestling match taking place in a china shop. Harry held a hand to his head and moaned.
"Not so loud mate," and then, "What do you mean we?"
"Seamus, Dean and Neville." Ron said.
Harry leaned over to his nightstand and grabbed his glasses. Putting them on he could see standing behind Ron was the rest of the first year male Gryffindors. He threw off the blankets and got up and stretched.
"Well?" Ron asked eagerly. "Did you win?"
Despite the rude awakening, Harry let a brief smile cross his face. Ron's enthusiasm could be infectious.
"Morning," Harry said nodding to Dean, Seamus and Neville.
"Mornin' mate"
"Hey Harry"
"Told him not to wake ya, sorry mate."
Harry nodded and turned to Ron. "Yes Ron, I won. Now I'll be grabbing a shower. If you want to know more you'll have to ask Hermione."
"Hermione?!" The boys chorused incredulously.
"What was she doing there?" Ron asked.
"She followed me," Harry said over his shoulder.
"Huh," Ron said when Harry left, "I never would have thought her to be the type to break curfew."
"Guess you don't know her as well as you thought." Seamus offered.
"Guess not," Ron said thoughtfully. "I've got to ask her about it!" he said suddenly. "Who's with me?"
—
Hermione was not having a good morning. The night before she had gone to bed later than she had in a very long time. Normally Hermione was in bed around 10. With a good book she might stay up till 11 or maybe 11:30 at the latest. Last night she had gone to bed around 1. She was an early riser, so she had to make sure she didn't stay up too late or she would regret it. Like she was now.
The sun was up and coming into the first year Gryffindor girls tower at an angle that put it's rays beaming onto her pillow. With a groan, she buried her head into her pillow, her tangled hair spilling around it. Normally Hermione enjoyed waking with the sun, but today she did not feel ready to get up at all. She tried to go back to sleep even though she knew it would be no use. She cursed that she had inherited her father's gene's. Dr. Granger was normally up no later than 6. With a huff she threw the blankets off and got up. Surveying the room she found that the other girls were still sleeping.
"Curse them." she thought, then snickered when she remembered that she was a witch and could very well curse them if she wanted to. She envied Lavender who could sleep through a train wreck. Deciding not to curse them (for now) she threw on a casual robe and decided to head down to breakfast.
"I hope Harry feels as lousy as I do." she thought, a little spitefully.
She made her way down the steps and was halfway to the common room entrance when an overly loud voice shouted her name.
"Hermione!"
She turned to see Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom and a couple other of the first year Gryffindor boys walking quickly towards her.
"What?" she said and grimaced when it came out more rude than she meant.
Ron clearly noticed the tone and hesitated for a second before he continued on.
"We heard you.. What happened to your hair?" he said, interrupting himself. She glared at him. She had completely forgotten what that would look like.
"I mean..er never mind. Harry told us to ask you if we wanted to know what happened last night."
Her eyes widened. Had Harry told them about Fluffy? Luckily Ron mistook her look for one of confusion.
"You know? The duel?" he said. "He said he won but he wouldn't give any details. He said to ask you though. You know, I never would have thought you would break curfew. Guess you're not a teacher's pet after all." he said grinning.
Hermione was at war internally. Ron was praising her for apparently breaking curfew, but she had gotten locked out of the common room because she was trying to convince Harry to follow the rules. It was infuriating. And yet there was a small part of her that wanted to let Ron and the other boys think that she might be willing to break the rules once in a while. She squashed it down.
"For your information, I only followed him, because I got locked out of the common room when I was trying to convince him not to go and duel."
"How do you get locked out of the common room?" Dean asked incredulously.
"Because Ms. Elaine," Hermione said the portrait's name sarcastically. "Decided to go for a walk."
The boys guffawed at her misfortune.
"Well that makes a lot more sense now." Ron said mirthfully, glancing at Seamus. "So how was the duel then?"
Hermione took a breath to calm down and think about it.
"Short." she said. "Malfoy shot a couple spells at Harry, but he just dodged them. Then Malfoy called him a coward and Harry then drew his wand. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and I had to shut my eyes. When I opened them, Malfoy's arms and legs were pinned together and Harry had his wand."
"Wow." the boys said.
"That's bloody wicked." Ron said. "I wish I could have seen that. Next time I'm going to go and watch."
"Absolutely not." Hermione cried. "If we got caught we could have gotten detention." she said fiercely.
"But you didn't." Ron said pointedly.
"Well we could have." she hissed.
"Whatever book worm. If Harry duels somebody again, I'm so there." he said, turning to the boys who nodded in agreement. "I'm hungry, let's get breakfast." As the boys left, Neville turned to her and gave her a sympathetic look.
Hermione's anger deflated as they left and she was left with a feeling of miserableness. Ron's comment about her being a book worm hurt more than she let on. She wanted to crawl back into her bed and be alone.
She turned around to leave and crashed into someone. Luckily that someone was quick to recover. He held and balanced them both before they toppled over.
"Woah." he said. Hermione looked up to see Harry.
"Sorry." she mumbled.
"S'alright." he said.
They suddenly realized they were still holding each other and quickly let go. Harry took in her down cast eyes.
"Hey are you alright?" he said concerned.
"I'm fine." she said looking away.
"That means she's not fine Harry."
"Yeah I kind of got that dad."
"Just checking."
"Hey listen, if this is about yesterday, I'm sorry you got dragged into it. I didn't mean for that to happen."
"No it's not about yesterday." she said and Harry could tell, that whatever she was upset about, wasn't because of anything he had done. Maybe he could cheer her up though.
"Hey listen, I've been thinking about what that trapdoor might be for," he held up his hands suddenly, "Don't worry I'm not going near Fluffy again if I can help it," he said grinning. "But I thought we could brainstorm a few ideas about what he could be guarding. I've already got a few myself."
"Oh really?" she said slightly intrigued. "Like what?"
"I'll tell you on the way to breakfast," he said enthusiastically. "I can't think well on an empty stomach."
"Ok." she said smiling.
Suddenly Harry got a confused look on his face.
"Er, Hermione…You know you hair is a bit uh..messy, right? I mean, not that I can talk," he said quickly," "My hair's always a mess, "
Hermione blushed and looked embarrassed. "I'll be right back."
—
"You can't be serious!" she said in disbelief, grabbing a biscuit.
"Well..why not?" he challenged playfully, taking a spoonful of oatmeal for himself.
"Because it's just..preposterous!" she said leaning her head forward.
"It's possible."
"So is winning the lottery." she retorted. "There is no way Albus Dumbledore is using an ancient guard dog to protect a goblet that produces a never ending supply of sweets!"
"Ah, but not just any sweets," Harry said pointing his spoon at Hermione for emphasis, "Sweets that make you all-knowing and wise, and have a side effect of giving one a luscious beard. Do you suppose I would look good with a beard?" he said thoughtfully.
"Definitely not." she said.
"Would that be to my Candy Goblet Theory or to me having a beard?" he said seriously.
"Both," she said rolling her eyes.
Harry and Hermione were in the Great Hall eating breakfast and discussing possible things that would be worth guarding with a three headed dog. Their ideas so far had consisted of a broomstick that was made entirely of gold, books that predated the first century, a wand that made the user unbeatable and now, a goblet that would produce a never ending supply of sweets. The type of sweets was undecided.
"Hmm," Harry said, "I suppose it might be a bit farfetched. Though I'm not entirely convinced on the beard."
"Hmph," Hermione said. "It's more likely that an ancient artifact is under protection."
"What's under protection?"
Harry and Hermione looked up to see Neville looking over at them. He seemed to have lost interest in a debate that was going on between Ron and Dean. The topic? Quidditch vs Football. Harry gave Hermione a look that said to be careful with how much information they gave out. They obviously didn't want to reveal that they had encountered Fluffy.
"We aren't sure actually," Hermione began and Neville slid down to sit beside Harry and listen. "But we think that something important is being hidden here at Hogwarts."
"Really?" he said eyes wide. "How come? And something like what?"
"The third floor corridor that's off limits," Harry said, looking around to make sure he wasn't overheard. "It just seems like it might be off-limits because there could be something hidden there. We were just trying to figure out what someone would hide there."
"Hmm," Neville thoughtfully, "I really couldn't say. Usually if wizards want to hide something, they would just put it in Gringott's."
"Huh," Harry said.
"Yeah nobody would want to break in there. Wouldn't want to think about what the goblins would do to you if you were caught," Neville shuddered. "Although," he said suddenly, "Did you hear about the break in?"
"There was a break in?"
"At Gringotts?"
Neville nodded. "Yeah, it was all over the Prophet back in the summer."
"Ask what was taken."
"What did they take?"
"Well that's the funny thing," Neville said, "The vault was broken into, but nothing was taken. Apparently it was emptied the same day, by some one who had access."
"Wow," said Harry and Hermione.
"That's unbelievable."
"Breaking into Gringotts is almost impossible."
"Actually it happened the same day I went to Diagon Alley to buy my school supplies. The thirty first of July, my birthday." he said a bit shyly.
"Hey that's my birthday too," said Harry in surprise. "And I was there the same day."
Harry looked at Hermione. "Do you think it's possible that whatever's hidden in the third floor could be the same object that was moved from the vault at Gringott's?," Harry said questioningly.
Hermione thought about it. "It's unlikely. I mean we don't even know if the object, if there is one, actually ever would have been at Gringotts."
"Yeah but think about it," Harry argued, "Last year the third floor wasn't forbidden. So obviously something of value was brought here for this year. Why not back in the summer? And from Gringotts?" he crossed his arms.
She seemed to have no answer for that. "Alright so maybe it's possible that something was moved to Hogwarts from Gringotts," she gave in. "But it doesn't necessarily mean it was from the same vault that was broken into."
Neville looked back and forth between Hermione and Harry like he was watching a tennis match.
"Hmm" Harry thought.
"Ask Neville if he saw anything suspicious when he was in Diagon Alley." his mom said.
"Hey Neville, if you were in Diagon Alley the day it was broken into, you might have seen the thief. Did you see anything suspicious in the Alley? Or maybe near Gringott's?"
"Blimey," Neville said, "I never really thought about that. Well it was awhile ago.."
"Anything you can remember," Harry said.
"Well I actually was in Gringott's," he said, and Harry and Hermione leaned in to listen. "My gran brought me there for me to take some money out of our vault for shopping."
"Did you see anyone there?" Hermione asked. "Suspicious like?"
He shook his head. "Not in Gringotts. Actually the only person we ran into in there was Hagrid."
"Hagrid," Harry said in surprise, "What was he doing there?"
"I'm not really sure." Neville said thinking. "Actually my gran stopped him to say hi for a moment. He was leaving and we had just stepped inside. They didn't talk for long though, he said he was running an errand for Professor Dumbledore. Blimey, Harry maybe you're right. Maybe he was moving the object to Hogwarts."
Harry grinned and looked at Hermione. "See?" he said.
Hermione didn't look convinced, "Was he holding anything?" she asked. "Like a parcel or a package of some kind?"
"Well no, not that I remember," said Neville. "But then it could have been something small that he could fit in a pocket."
"Maybe it's an unbeatable wand then," Harry mused.
"Nobody would hide an unbeatable wand, Harry," Hermione said, exasperated. "They would just use it."
"Perhaps," Harry said. "I'll just have to ask Hagrid myself."
"Do you think he would tell you, even he did move something extremely secret?" Hermione asked doubtfully.
"He might. Hagrid was a friend of my parents. Maybe I could wean it out of him." he said. He stood up and wiped his face with a napkin. "I'm going to go write him a letter. See if I can get invited for tea or something."
"Good luck then." said Hermione
"Good luck, Harry," Neville said.
—
If Hermione had a bad morning, then Draco was having a worse one. He had been completely thrashed in a duel that had lasted a pitiful amount of time. He would have told Professor Snape that Potter had given him the small bruise he was now sporting, except he he didn't want to lose credibility amongst the other Slytherin's if word got out that he had coming out on the losing end of a duel with Potter.
'Nobody should be that good with a wand,' he grumbled to himself. 'And definitely not a first year.'
Draco had always considered himself a competent wizard. He had grown up in a wizarding household. He had attended functions and been introduced to several great wizards his father had known. He had even been instructed by tutors his father had hired for him. Potter had none of those things. And yet somehow, somewhere, Potter had learned to duel well enough to completely outclass him. The only solace Draco found was that Potter could probably out duel every first year student at Hogwarts.
'No shame in losing to the best,' was a phrase that came to mind.
He turned his attention back to what he was doing, which was trying to hide the bruise above his left temple. Using a pocket mirror he was trying in vain to find a hairstyle that would look good and hide his bruise at the same time. Unfortunately, many years of having his hair slicked back, had caused his hair to naturally sit back. The strands that he brushed over his face would sit for just a moment before springing straight up and falling backwards.
There was one solution he could do, though he was loathe to do it. He knew that sometimes girls would use makeup to hide skin blemishes; his mother did so from time to time. Problem was, he didn't have any makeup. If he wanted some he would have to ask one of the girls for some, probably Pansy. And that would lead to some awkward questions.
"Damn you to hell, Potter." he swore.
He gave his hair one last look and finally decided to bite the bullet, as the muggles would say. He left his dorm and walked upstairs to his cool green common room in search of a girl. He hoped Pansy was around, she might not rub it in, like he was sure the other girls might. He spotted the backs of a couple girls that were about his height and casually walked over to them. He put a hand over his bruise like he was scratching his face
"-And I've looked at the schedule, but we won't have another until next Tuesday-"
"And you still don't know-"
"I told you..have no idea."
Draco could over hear them as he drew nearer. Unfortunately though, while they were in first year, none of them were Pansy. One blond haired girl turned around and spotted him.
"Can we help you, Malfoy." she asked cooly.
Draco almost winced. It was Daphne Greengrass and she was talking to Millicent Bulstrode. No doubt she thought he might spying on them.
"Um yeah," he said. "Have you seen Pansy?"
Daphne raised an eyebrow slightly. "She left already, went to breakfast."
Draco groaned. The last thing he wanted to do was go into the Great Hall looking like this.
Daphne seemed to notice his frustration. "Everything alright?" she asked.
"Yeah," Draco said quickly, "I mean, no. I mean," Draco leaned in closer and started talking in a lower voice. "Look I need a favour."
"What favour?" Daphne said speaking lower as well. Millicent looked on curiously.
"I need makeup."
Daphne raised both eyebrows and Millicent stifled a snort.
"For what?" she said incredulously.
"For this," he said irritably and pulled his hand away from his face.
Daphne whistled low.
"Woah, nice shiner. Did you you finally annoy the wrong person?" Daphne said amused.
"I walked into a wall last night," he said lying through his teeth. "One of those ones that pretend to be a doorway. So will you help me? Do you even have makeup?"
"Well of course I have makeup," she said haughtily. "But I'm not just going to let you put your grubby hands all over my make up set."
Draco fumed a bit and wanted to say that his hands were most certainly not grubby, whatever that mean't, but decided that getting into an argument might be counter-productive to getting her help.
"Fine," he said, "What if say, you put it on for me? Then I wouldn't have to touch it anyway."
Daphne looked at Millicent and thought about it for a moment.
"Alright I'll help you cover that up-," and Draco wanted to cheer before she added, "-on one condition."
Draco suddenly felt uneasy, "What condition?" he said nervously.
Daphne flashed an evil smile. "That you tell us how you really smacked your face."
"I told you," Draco said voice strained. "I walked into a wall."
"Yes you said that," Daphne said tonelessly. "I just don't believe you."
"That's really what happened!" he said voice rising.
"If you say so," Daphne said sounding bored. "Well I'm hungry, shall we go to breakfast Milly?"
"Lets." Millicent said grinning at Draco, and the girls started to walk away.
"I swear it," Draco called out, "I swear- ah alright I'll tell you!" he hurried towards them and Daphne and Millicent stopped walking and turned to look at him expectantly.
"Well?"
"I lost a duel ok?"
Daphne's eye's rose, "You don't know how to duel," she said disbelief in her tone.
"Yeah thanks, I know that, now."
Daphne seemed to consider this. "Alright," she said, "So who bested you?"
Draco huffed before mumbling a name under his breath.
"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that." Daphne said cheerfully.
"I said, Potter alright?"
"Ooh, no wonder you didn't want to tell us," Daphne said almost triumphantly, and Draco simmered.
"Now will you help me?" he said sounding quite frustrated.
"Hmm alright." Daphne said. She turned to Millicent. "Tell Tracey I'll be late to breakfast if you see her will you?" and she nodded.
"Now, let's fix up that eye."
—
Harry was whistling a happy tune as he walked down from the owlery. He had spent the morning writing a letter to Hagrid and had just sent it now. He knew from his parents that he could have walked down to the little hut on Hogwarts grounds and knocked on the door, but he felt it might be better to have a planned visit instead. He wanted to have time to hopefully draw some information out of him.
"Oh the rhythm of my heart," he sang to himself quietly,
"Is beating like a drum
with the words I love you rolling off my tongue."
His parents joined in with him, filling his head with a symphony of voices
"No never will I roam
for I know my place is home
Where the ocean meets the sky, I'll be sailing… Oh the rhythm of my heart…"
He (or perhaps one would say they) continued to repeat the chorus as he walked the stone path that led back to castle. Suddenly as he stepped into the castle, he was accosted by a set of twins with light red hair. They came at him from both sides and before he could think about escaping they were on either side of him. They each took a hold of his shoulders and walked along with him.
"Oh Harry, Harry, Harry." the one on his left began.
"We thought we had an understanding," the right twin said. It was Fred and George, Ron's brothers Harry noticed.
"Indeed," the left twin said. "And yet here we are."
"Not even finished one month into the term, we might add."
"And what do we hear, but Harry Potter somehow managing to rescue fellow Gryffindor Longbottom."
"From a potions accident that could've had deadly consequences."
"And then saves him yet again."
"From what might have been a horrific broomstick accident."
"Now Harry we understand you are new here, but we did have a deal. Didn't we George?"
"I thought I was Fred?"
"No today you're George, you're Fred tomorrow."
"Ah right."
"Yes, well…like we were saying, we had a deal didn't we George?"
"To right we did."
"That if you were to perform ahem, any unexplainable, life-changing, heroic acts of magic, we would be hauling you in for questioning."
"Yes and undoubtedly pranking would most definitely ensue.
"We would owe it to the male population of Hogwarts."
"You would?" Harry said.
"Absolutely. After all if you are going to be gaining all the attention of the, shall we say fairer sex, then we need to make sure that the ladies understand that you are as mortal as the rest of us blokes are."
"It's only fair."
"Indeed, this way the rest of us blokes have a chance to woo our lasses."
"Alright," Harry said scratching his head. "Are you telling me I'm to be pranked mercilessly unless I tone it down or something?"
"Well," the one calling himself Fred began, "Whilst we were plotting and preparing."
"To prank you silly."
"It just so happened that our ickle brother Ronniekins."
"Mentioned that you were bit of a natural on a broomstick."
"I believe his exact words were, Harry could probably fly backwards, better than half the seventh years could fly forwards."
"We thought at first that he was exaggerating."
"He does that sometimes."
"But then we heard the same thing from from the other Gryffindor first years."
"Heck we overheard some Slytherin first year girl, talking about how well Potter could control a broomstick." Fred said with a wink.
Harry blushed slightly "Is there a point to this?" he asked.
"It just so happens that there is." George affirmed.
"You see the Gryffindor Quidditch team happens to be without a Seeker right now."
"It is a roll that was filled until last year by our own brother Charlie."
"Oliver Wood.."
"Our new Quidditch captain."
"Has yet to find a replacement for Charlie."
"Indeed, Quidditch tryouts were held last week."
"And poor Ollie was so dismayed by our uh, hopefuls, that he told them he would post the results in a week in the common room."
"It's been over a week now and Oliver has yet to post such a notice. It looks like he's going to have to pick some fourth year kid."
"You mean the one that didn't know which end of the broomstick to hold?" Fred asked.
"That'd be the one." he answered
"Indeed things are looking bleak."
"Unless of course you step in." George said.
"Indeed, from what we hear you might actually have the talent to give Gryffindor a fighting chance."
"There is also the added benefit that as a fellow teammate we would manage to forget your previous transgressions as a prodigious student of magic, that manages to make the rest of us blokes look inept."
"Quite right, all planned pranking against Harry would be ceased if he becomes a member of the team and ensues Gryffindor's continued glory on the Quidditch field."
"So what say you Harry?" George asked. "Are you willing to become Gryffindor's newest seeker?"
"Well," Harry began, "It seems you have left me with no choice. I humbly request a tryout for our house team at your earliest convenience."
"Excellent." The brothers said together.
"Meet Oliver on the Quidditch field at 1 o'clock." Fred said clapping him on the back.
"Now I do believe we have work to get to."
"Quite right, those Slytherin's won't prank themselves."
"Best of luck Harry."
And with that the twins took off.
"Well alright then." Harry said. "Did I just get blackmailed into playing Quidditch?"
"I think you did. You know, in my day we actually had to tryout for the team." his dad teased.
"Ah stuff it dad," Harry said, "I will be trying out."
He heard light laughter in his head. "Maybe, although I'm pretty sure the tryout it just a formality."
"But give it your best shot anyway," his mom said. "I want my boy to work hard even if he's guaranteed the spot anyway."
"I will mom," he said. "And do you know how weird it is to hear you talk about me in third person? We share a body for goodness sake!"
Whatever answer she would have given was drowned out by James' barking laughter.