Hermione held Harry's hand and led him out of the dungeon room where the party had been taking place. She brought him all the way to a small chamber right at the end of the hallway, then beckoned for him to go inside.
"I can't go in there, Hermione," said Harry hoarsely. "That's a girls' bathroom."
"It's the dungeons, nobody ever uses this one," said Hermione. "Listen…I don't know if seeing Wormtail was what did it…but I just wanted to apologize for my behavior."
"What?" gasped Harry.
"I want to apologize," Hermione repeated, hanging her head low. "I was angry with you two, but that's no excuse for me to be hurtful. I-I'm really sorry."
Harry tried to remember what Sirius had said.
"Well, you did hurt my feelings, more than I think you know," he said slowly. "But I forgive you. Apology accepted."
"Oh, Harry…" Hermione finally looked up into Harry's eyes; brown met green, and he was shocked to find that tears were shimmering in her eyes like tiny diamonds. "Is there anything I can possibly do to make it up to you?"
"N-No," said Harry. "I-I mean, um, it's okay. Being friends again is…is enough for me."
The tears became more pronounced in Hermione's eyes.
"You don't need to cry," he said hurriedly. "I-I forgive you. And you know…I'm not blameless…we did break the rules, after all…"
"Well, maybe rule-breaking isn't all bad." Hermione gave him a watery smile. "After all, if it wasn't for rule-breaking, Remus would have had to be alone on the full moon, wouldn't he?"
"Yes," said Harry, smiling himself, "and I think it's against the rules for Sirius to nearly tear someone's arm off. But I don't think anybody minded watching that douchenozzle Wormtail suffer, do you?"
"You're so great, Harry," Hermione told Harry, laughing a little, and before he knew it, she had thrown her arms around his neck in a tight hug. His heart burst and he knew, he just knew that this was where he belonged. All the sadness, all the pain, it left him like a bird soaring up, up away off the highest tower, and the happy feelings that replaced it seemed to light the dungeon room as bright as a summer's day.
"Nobody hugs like you, Hermione," he told her; he just couldn't wipe the grin off his face.
"Give yourself some credit," she replied, smiling with her teeth. Harry was just about to maybe give her another hug when a horrible smell hit his nostrils.
"D'you…d'you smell something?" he asked, looking at Hermione, but she wasn't looking at him anymore. She was staring at something behind him, her mouth wide—and then she let out a terrible scream.
Harry whirled around. He had never seen one in person, but he knew what it must be.
"Mountain troll!" Hermione shrieked, running in the opposite direction, her arms over her head. How on Earth could a troll have gotten in? What were they going to do? The troll could surely bash their brains out with that club if it wanted to.
Hermione was backing into the wall, her face white. The troll was going after her. Harry grabbed one of the sinks the troll had knocked to the ground and threw it against the wall.
"Confuse it!" he yelled to Hermione, drawing his wand.
But she was paralyzed with fear. The troll turned away from Harry and started advancing on her again. Harry ran up from behind, took a great leap and clung to the troll's neck. The troll didn't notice Harry hanging there—but Harry had still been holding his wand, and in the confusion, the long stick of wood got shoved up the troll's nose.
Hermione, terrified, sunk to the ground. Harry looked at the wand that was still in his hand and suddenly he got an idea. He let go of the troll's neck and dropped to the ground, landing on his feet.
"Locomotor Mortis!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
The troll stumbled a little as the curse hit it, but it kept on moving. Then Harry remembered something Sirius had told them in Care of Magical Creatures class. Many magical creatures, like dragons and giants, had magic inside them that kept them protected from spells, especially spells attempted by first-years.
"Hermione, help me!" Harry shouted.
"Locomotor Mortis!" cried Hermione, pulling out her wand and pointing it at the troll. But she couldn't do it, either.
"Keep trying!"
Hermione repeated the Leg-Locker Curse, and so did Harry. Then they both shouted it at the same time, and two spells did what one could not—Harry's curse hit the troll in the chest while Hermione's got its legs. The troll's legs snapped together and, like a mighty oak, down it fell to the floor. The whole chamber shook with its weight.
"Relashio!" Hermione shrieked. The troll's club was released from its grip; Harry ran forward, grabbed the club, and brought it down on the troll's head.
CRACK! The mountain troll was out like a light.
For a few moments there was silence; then Harry ran to Hermione and helped her up, pulling her into another hug. When they'd separated, Hermione was watching the troll.
"Is it—dead?" she asked hesitantly.
"I don't think so," Harry told her. "I think it's just been knocked out."
SLAM! The door to the bathroom flew open again, and Harry and Hermione looked up. Professor McGonagall had made her way into the room, followed by Snape, Quirrell, and…
"Harry! Hermione!"
The vicious, murderous, arm-mangling man they had known less than an hour ago was gone, and he had been replaced by what could only be described as a "mother hen". He grabbed both Harry and Hermione, squeezing them tight, as if trying to break their ribs.
"Sirius," said Harry, "I-I can't breathe—"
"Harry James, I would like to reach middle age without having a heart attack, if you please," Sirius gasped, his face white. "What—what happened here?"
Looking around, Harry noticed that Professor McGonagall looked angrier than he had ever seen her. Quirrell had sunk onto one of the toilet seats; he was whimpering and one hand was held over his heart. Snape was bending over the troll, looking it over in a scrutinizing way.
"They seem to have used the Leg-Locker Curse," Snape said slowly. "But how?"
"We both used it at the same time," Harry told him shakily.
"Again," said Sirius impatiently, "what happened?"
"I would like to know also," Professor McGonagall said sharply.
"Professor McGonagall…he was looking for me."
"What?" said all four teachers at once, swiveling around to look at Hermione. Harry was staring at her, too.
"I went looking for the troll because I-I thought I could deal with it on my own—you know, because I've read all about them."
Everyone, including Harry, looked at Hermione in shock.
"Harry saved my life with this troll," she continued, pointing at it with her wand. "He didn't have time to go and fetch a teacher. It was about to finish me off when he arrived. Harry stuck his wand up the troll's nose, we both used the Leg-Locker Curse on it, and then, when it fell to the ground, Harry banged it on the head with its own club and…well, it appears to be unconscious."
"Well—in that case," said Professor McGonagall, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"
Hermione didn't say anything, just looked down at her feet. Harry was incredibly grateful that she was covering for him; this, he supposed, was her way of making peace after their fight. It was more than enough.
"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," Professor McGonagall told her. "I'm very disappointed in you."
Hermione kept her head down in shame.
"As for you, Mr. Potter…" Professor McGonagall then turned to Harry. "I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. I award you ten points."
"Professor McGonagall, they took care of the troll for us," said Sirius. "Shouldn't it be twenty?"
Snape glared.
"Oh…very well, then," said Professor McGonagall. Harry knew she was only agreeing because Gryffindor was her House.
"You three go on," said Sirius to Snape, McGonagall and Quirrell. "I'll escort Harry and Hermione upstairs."
Professor McGonagall nodded, beckoned for Quirrell and Snape to follow, and all three left.
"All right," said Sirius once they had all left, standing imperiously in Harry and Hermione's path. "What's the real story here?"
"What…what do you mean?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Well, for one thing, you aren't dumb enough to try and take on a troll yourself, Hermione," Sirius began. "And as for you, Harry—I recognize that look on your face. I saw it on your dad's face every time he got into trouble, and that was a lot. You know, the 'oh-crap-I'm-in-trouble' look."
"Fine," said Harry. "Hermione took me in here to tell me she wanted to be friends again, and the troll followed us."
"Uh-huh," said Sirius, his arms crossed. "Look, I'm very glad you two made up and all, but next time can you not almost get killed? Oh, and Hermione—as a teacher, I'll give you those five points back, as long as you don't tell McGonagall. You didn't deserve to have them taken away, after all."
"So…what happened when you went upstairs?" Harry asked, as they left the girls' bathroom and headed up the stairs, out of the dungeons. "How did you know about the troll?"
"I was up on my way to the hospital wing when I saw Quirrell rushing past me," Sirius told them. "So I followed him into the Great Hall, and he told everyone there was a troll in the dungeons…Beats the hell out of me how he knew, but anyway, I went downstairs to evacuate any students who were left over from the Halloween party, and I didn't see you there, so I located you using this—" (Sirius, to Harry's shock, whipped the Marauders' Map out of the folds of his robes) "—and I got McGonagall to follow me, and Quirrell and Snape were hanging around so they went too and then we heard the troll roaring and the fighting and we knew what must have happened…I was so afraid I'd lost you."
"What about Wormtail?" Hermione said.
"We're going to tell Madame Pomfrey a dog bit him," Sirius told her, eyes gleaming. "But not which one."
Harry grinned.
…
When they got up to the hospital wing, Wormtail's arm was as good as new, and Aurors from the Ministry of Magic were due to arrive any moment. When Sirius arrived, he crossed his arms and looked straight at Wormtail, but Wormtail looked away.
"Oh, look, Wormtail," said Harry, who just couldn't resist. "It's the man who saved your life."
Wormtail didn't say anything. He couldn't; one of the Prefects had used Silencio on him.
That was when Ron came running into the hospital wing, too. Underneath the freckles he looked a little pale. He looked shocked at the sight of Harry and Hermione.
"The troll!" he gasped. "Did you hear about the—"
"Yes, we heard," Hermione told him, smiling. "And guess what? Harry and I are friends again!"
"That's…that's great," said Ron, looking surprised at them.
"Ahem."
Sirius, Harry, Ron and Hermione all turned around. There was a girl standing there, the seventh year who had lent Sirius her bra.
"Oh, hello, Holly," said Sirius casually.
"I've come for my bra back," said Holly, raising her eyebrows; then she snapped at Harry and Ron, "and you two can stop staring now, thanks."
Harry and Ron both quickly looked away. Holly's black cat costume was rather tight, so without her brassiere, not much was left to the imagination.
"Oh, you don't want that old thing, Holly," Sirius said, pointing at the bloodied remains of Holly's bra; he reached into his robes and took out some Muggle money. "Buy yourself a new one, on me."
"Thirty pounds!" Holly exclaimed. "This was almost exactly how much the old one cost!"
"I thought you didn't know how much anything cost in the Muggle world," said Harry.
"Well, I know how much some things cost," Sirius replied, shrugging.
"Thanks, Professor Black," said Holly with a flirty smile, and she left the hospital wing with a spring in her step, which caused Harry and Ron to both watch her (or, rather, one specific bouncy part of her) until she was completely out of sight. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sirius sat down on empty beds in the hospital wing and waited for the Ministry officials to turn up—and in about ten minutes, they did.
"Look who it is," said one of the Aurors, advancing upon Wormtail, who was still sitting in the bed. "Public Enemy Number One! Convicted of killing twelve Muggles with a single curse, breaking the statue of secrecy, framing someone else, a Death Eater…oh, and you're an illegal Animagus to boot. Tsk, tsk."
"You'd do well with a nice long stay in the stony lonesome, mate," said the other Auror, grabbing Wormtail's arm, the one Sirius had almost bitten off; he would have yelped in pain, but he was still magically muted.
"How long is he going to get?" Harry asked.
"Whatever the maximum sentence is, I'm sure," said a third Auror. "Like, three consecutive life sentences, maybe. One for his actual, miserable life, and the other two just because."
Wormtail looked very pale as the Aurors led him away.
"Let it be known that on Halloween 1991, a real douchenozzle was put away for good," Sirius said triumphantly. "He'll never get out of there."
They all exchanged high-fives, even Hermione. Madam Pomfrey looked exasperated.