Chapter 7: Mudblood
A/N: In this chapter Harry has his first Quidditch practice and has a run-in with Draco and Snape. I cut it a bit short because I hit what felt look a good ending to the chapter and I wanted to post something a bit more quickly for you guys.
I've been getting several comments from people concerned about Ginny's death in the prologue. I'm not going to give anything away, but I will give a better explanation of this story. It's going to get dark. It's not going to be for the weak of heart. The title of the story is Love's Curse, and it's going to go into detail about the curse part of the soul bond. I'd originally come up with the idea for this story when I was reading other soul bond fics and thought "what would happen if one of the people in a soul bond were to die and the other survived"
Now I know that the fact that Ginny dies is going to turn off a lot of people. I myself would hate to read a Harry/Ginny fic that ends with Ginny dying. But don't worry! During the second book of this story one of the subplots will be about Harry and Hermione's work on a "Magical Plot Device" that Harry hopes will allow him to be able to change quite a few things, Ginny's death in particular.
As usual, thanks for all of the reviews and I hope everyone enjoys!
(None of these characters belong to me, they are the property of J.K Rowling. Any recognizable sections of this chapter come from chapter 7 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
The rest of the first week of school seemed to go by very slowly for Harry. Between Colin Creevey and Professor Lockhart, he felt like he was constantly ducking behind statues and into empty classrooms in order to avoid them. On top of that, Ron and Hermione were now bickering a lot more often. Mostly about Lockhart. Ron still thought he was completely worthless and Hermione continued to defend him. Not wanting to be like Ron and Hermione, he and Ginny had decided to simply agree to disagree on the subject.
Now that the weekend had finally arrived Harry had been looking forward to sleeping in a bit on Saturday, but that wasn't meant to be. Early in the morning he was shaken awake by Oliver Wood for their first Quidditch practice.
He left a note for Ron telling him where he was, and groggily headed down into the common room. As he headed toward the exit he noticed a familiar redhead asleep on one of the chairs.
"Ginny?" he asked while gently shaking her.
She jumped awake with wide eyes, glancing around wildly. She relaxed when she saw Harry.
"Oh, good morning Harry. Up awfully early aren't you?" she said while yawning.
"Why were you sleeping down here Ginny?" Harry asked.
"I couldn't sleep last night so I came down here, and I guess I must have fallen asleep. You didn't answer my question by the way. What're you doing up so early?" Ginny responded.
He indicated his Quidditch robes and Nimbus 2000, "Quidditch practice. Oliver decided that we need to get an early start on the season. Want to come along? Or do you want to go back to sleep? That chair does look pretty comfortable." He added grinning.
Ginny punched him in the arm. "Git. Yes I'll come along. Just give me a minute to change quickly."
She got up and rushed up to her dorm. Harry sat down on a couch and waited patiently. He looked up when he heard when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He groaned when he saw that it was Colin, and not Ginny.
"Hey Harry! I thought I heard someone say your name! Look what Iv'e got. I just finished developing it."
Harry looked at the picture Colin had taken of him and Lockhart earlier that week. He was pleased to see that the picture version of himself was resisting being in the frame.
"Ooh what have you got there Colin?"
Harry turned to see Ginny coming down the stairs while putting her hair up in a ponytail. She walked over and Colin excitedly showed her the picture. She giggled when she saw it.
"You don't seem very eager to be in the picture Harry. Do you think I could keep this Colin?"
Colin nodded and happily gave it to Ginny, who pocketed it.
"Alright I really need to get to practice. You coming Ginny?" Harry asked.
She nodded and the two started heading toward the portrait.
Colin eagerly scrambled after them. "Wait for me! I've never seen a Quidditch practice before! Weren't you the youngest seeker in a century Harry? Are you very good?"
And that was how the rest of the trip down to the Quidditch field went. Colin didn't seem to have an end to his tirade of questions for Harry and Ginny. Harry sighed with relief when they finally reached the Quidditch field and he left the two to go to the lockers. He was relieved to be away from Colin, but felt vaguely sorry for Ginny as he heard Colin continue to chatter.
A few minutes later he was almost wishing that he was having to deal with Colin instead of trying to pay attention to Wood's new strategies. After well over an hour, they finally left the locker room and took to the air. He felt the cool, morning air whip past his face as he pushed his Nimbus forward. Nothing made him feel more free than when he was on a broomstick.
He was momentarily distracted by a rapid, clicking sound that was coming from the stands. He turned his broom around to see Colin sitting with Ginny, and Ron and Hermione, who had apparently arrived while they were listening to Wood. Colin was standing up and eagerly taking pictures of Harry.
"Who's that Harry? Why is he taking pictures of us?" Wood asked as Fred and George pulled up next to them.
"That there is Colin Creevey. The founder and sole member of the Harry Potter fan club." Fred explained
"Although I think our sister would be willing to join." George added while indicating Ginny, who was trying to get Colin to stop.
"Hey I asked Ginny to come along. She isn't following me around like Colin is." Harry said indignantly.
"Ah yes, I'd forgotten how inseparable you two were." Fred responded.
"Think there's anything there brother?" George asked seemingly deep in thought.
"You never know."
"They are awfully young."
"Too true brother, but in the future..."
"Enough! We seem to have bigger problems right now than Harry's love life." Wood exclaimed, indicating the Slytherin Quidditch team making it's way onto the field.
The Gryffindors landed in front of the Slytherins and the two groups stood facing each other.
"What are you doing her Flint? I booked the field for today." Wood said angrily.
Flint grinned evilly and pulled out a slip of paper. "I've got special permission from Snape. We need to train our new seeker."
"You've got a new seeker? Who is he?"
Flint stepped aside to reveal a very smug-looking Draco Malfoy.
"When Draco here made the team his father was kind enough to donate these new beauties to us." Flint added indicating their brooms.
For the first time Harry noticed the brand new Nimbus 2001 brooms the Slytherin team was holding. None of the Gryffindors new what to say and Draco was looking even more smug, if that was even possible.
Harry noticed Ron, Hermione, and Ginny coming onto the field.
"What's going on Harry? Why aren't you guys practicing?" Ginny asked when they reached them.
"And what is he doing here?" Ron added while pointing at Malfoy.
"I happen to be the new Slytherin seeker Weasley. And everyone is just admiring the brooms my father bought for the team."
Ron and Ginny stared at the brooms with their mouths gaping, but Hermione just stood there with a slight smirk on her face.
"You really had to buy your way onto the team Draco? At least all of the Gryffindors got on the team on pure talent."
"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood." Draco spat back at her.
There was an immediate uproar. Flint had to dive in front of Draco to stop Fred and George from getting to him. Katie, Alicia, Angelina, and Ginny were screaming insults at him. Both Harry and Ron had gone for their wands, but Ron got to his first. There was a loud *bang* and a jet of green light hit Malfoy in the stomach.
The Slytherins backed off of Malfoy, who opened his mouth and gave a belch, causing several slugs to pour out of his mouth.
"20 points from Gryffindor, and detention Weasley."
Everyone turned to see Professor Snape coming onto the field.
"I thought there would be trouble caused Gryffindor, so I came over to check. It would appear that I was right."
"But Professor, Malfoy called Hermione a Mu..." Harry tried to say, but Snape cut him off.
"I don't care what Draco said, he didn't curse anyone, did he? I see you have your wand out as well Potter. I think you shall serve detention tonight as well.
He turned and headed back to the castle. The Slytherins followed, taking Malfoy, who left a trail of slugs behind them as they went.
"Git." Ron muttered.
Wood sighed. "Well I think that pretty much killed the mood for Quidditch. Everyone can go back to the castle, but but be ready to work extra hard next practice.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had been planning on visiting Hagrid that day so they started heading over to his hut. Harry noticed Colin rushing down the stadium stairs and turned to the others.
"Quickly! Follow me!"
He led them to the locker rooms and they quickly ducked inside. Harry could hear Colin calling his name, but fortunately he didn't check the locker rooms. After a few minutes they couldn't hear Colin anymore so they crept out and looked around. He was nowhere to be seen. Harry sighed with relief and led them to Hagrid's.
A few minutes later they arrived at Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. They could here Fang scrambling at the door and Hagrid struggling to move him aside so that he could open it.
"Hello you four. I was wondrin when you would visit me."He said when he finally got the door open.
He led them inside and they all took a seat around his table. Fang seemed to take a liking to Ginny and put his head in her lap. She giggled and started scratching his ears. Hagrid happily gave them tea, which they took, and a plate of treacle fudge, which everyone but Harry ignored.
"You lot seem pretty subdued. Did somethen happen?" Hagrid asked, noticing their melancholy.
"There was an, er..., incident at the Quidditch field with Malfoy." Harry replied after unsticking his teeth. The fudge had cemented them together momentarily.
"He called Hermione a Mudblood!" Ron added in outrage.
Hagrid's eyes widened. "He didn't."
Hermione seemed to be getting more and more frustrated. "But what does it mean? And was it really worth cursing Draco and getting detention Ron?"
"Hermione, Mudblood is a rotten term used to describe Muggleborns. Some Pureblood families, like the Malfoys, believe that wizards should keep their blood pure. They think that that Muggleborns somehow stole their magic from wizards." Ginny explained.
"But I didn't steal..."
Harry cut her off. "We know Hermione. Very few wizards actually believe this anymore. Mostly just families like the Malfoys."
"And yes, it was worth cursing Malfoy for. I'd do it again in a second, even if I knew Snape would see." Ron added.
Hermione quickly got up and gave Ron a hug, causing his face to flush a deep red. Harry and Ginny snickered and Hagrid gave them a knowing look.
"So Snape saw you do it." Hagrid asked.
"Yeah." Ron replied, pointedly ignoring Harry and Ginny's snickers. "And he gave me and Harry detention tonight. Harry didn't even do anything, he just had his wand out!"
"Well have you ever known Snape to pass up the opportunity to punish me unfairly?" Harry muttered.
"I be you'll have detention with Professor Lockhart, Harry." He'll probably jump at the chance ter be alone with ya for a few hours." Hagrid said.
"What makes you say that Hagrid?" Hermione asked.
"He was down here just a little bit ago. Seemed to want to mostly talk about Harry. I think I offended him when I said I didn't have any of his books." Hagrid replied chuckling.
They spent another hour enjoyably at Hagrid's before they decided to head back to the castle for lunch. As soon as they set foot in the entrance hall however, they heard Professor McGonagall calling out to them.
"There you are Potter and Weasley. No not you Ginny, I'm talking to your brother. Professor Snape asked me to inform you that your detentions will be served tonight at 8."
"What're we doing Professor?" Ron asked.
"You will be polishing the silver in the trophy with Mr. Filch." Said Professor McGonagall. "And no magic, Weasley - elbow grease."
Ron seemed to want to complain, but kept his mouth shut.
"And you, Potter, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail," Said Professor McGonagall.
Harry groaned. It seemed Hagrid had been right and Lockhart had jumped at the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with him."
"Hopefully this will teach you two to refrain from cursing other students. However, the rest of the Quidditch team informed me about the circumstances, so I think the two of you have also earned 20 points each. For defending a fellow Gryffindor." She gave them a rare smile before turning and walking off to the head table.
"Blimey. Who would've thought we'd get not rewarded and punished for attacking Draco." Ron said as they sat down to eat lunch.
"Hagrid was right Harry. Lockhart is probably looking forward to instructing you on how to properly respond to fan mail." Ginny added giggling.
Harry rolled his eyes. "I bet you're right. And I had better not find any fan mail from either of you two." he responded indicating Hermione and Ginny.
Hermione blushed and payed extra attention to her food, but Ginny just stuck out her tongue defiantly.
The rest of the afternoon went by quickly and soon it was five minutes to 8. Ginny and Hermione waved to Harry and Ron as they trudged out of the common room.
"So is there anything in particular that you want to do while they're gone Hermione?" Ginny asked.
Hermione shrugged, "Not really. I've got a potions essay that i need to finish so I'll probably do that. I'll just let Ron and Harry copy it when they get back since I'm part of the reason they won't be able to work on it tonight."
Ginny nodded, "I'm sure they'll appreciate that. My brother especially. Well, if you're going to be doing that, I guess I'll just head up to my dorm."
With that she got up and climbed the stairs to her dorm. She decided to write to Tom for a bit before going to sleep. She opened her trunk, took out the diary, and opened it on her bed.
"Hello Tom."
"Hello Ginny, how have you been?"
"I've been ok. I enjoyed my first week at Hogwarts. But Harry and Ron ended up getting detention while defending Hermione today."
"That's unfortunate, but at least they were loyal to their friend. Now, I've been meaning to ask you to do something for me."
Ginny was about to ask Tom what he wanted her t do, when she felt a slight pressure in her head. Suddenly everything went dark and she knew no more.
A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, but like I said, it just felt like a good spot to end the chapter.
Thanks for reading and please give me a review! They are extremely appreciated.