THURSDAY 26th SEPTEMBER - 9:30PM
"We can't let whoever did this go unchecked," fumed Pansy. The group was still reeling from Astoria's story.
"You've got that right," agreed Daphne. "Framing my sister like that!"
Neville put his head in his hands, "Death eaters and singing curses, Ginny setting fire to a classroom and getting cursed, and someone impersonating Astoria Greengrass. We're only 26 days into the school year!"
"Has it really only been 26 days?" Blaise asked Dean and Theo.
"Time does seem to crawl in this place," Theo replied, exchanging a glance with Dean.
"Considering the chaos we've witnessed, it's like we've lived through an entire school year already," added Dean, a hint of disbelief in his voice.
Seamus crossed his arms, frustration etched on his face. "But we can't just sit around and wait for the next disaster. We need to figure out who's behind all of this and put a stop to it."
"We need to take a step back," Luna said, her gaze wandering as if lost in thought.
Harry furrowed his brow, puzzled. "What do you mean, Luna?"
She turned to him, her eyes thoughtful. "We're spreading ourselves too thin, Harry. We need to narrow our focus, tackle one thing at a time, and leave the rest for now."
Hermione sighed, "I agree with Luna. Too much is happening too fast." She thought of Bellatrix, who had disappeared after Astoria's story.
"So, do we focus on the curse on the school?" asked Hannah.
"Or do we focus on Ginny's new white hair?" Tracey asked, giving Ginny's hair a long look, as if she still quite didn't take it in.
"No, we focus on who the hell was impersonating my sister," injected Daphne.
"Maybe we should flip a coin," drawled Draco, reclining in his chair, clearly losing interest in the debate.
Jason watched as the group fell into chaos. Sometimes, Jason wondered how these guys got anything done. In fact, he was disappointed. Here he was, finally in the superstar group among the likes of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, and more, figuring out the school's latest mystery, and yet nothing was living up to his expectations. The only thing he had seen from these lot was discord and drama.
His disappointment deepened as Blaise, Dean, Theo, and Seamus jumped into the argument seemingly for the sheer fun of it. He would bet his entire "Moonlit" series (which was signed by Merlinia Everglow herself) that none of those four had read "Buildings and the Magic That Surrounds Them," like he and Sue had told them to.
Hermione probably had done it. She was amazing.
With a plan forming in his head, Jason decided it was time to assert himself. He had an idea, something that they might not approve of, but what other option did they have?
"You guys!" he shouted, but the arguing persisted. Undeterred, he sighed, drew his wand, and whispered, "Sonorus."
"YOU GUYS!"
The room fell into a startled silence, all eyes turning to him.
"Who's that again?" asked Draco, prompting a sharp elbow from Hermione.
"It's Jason Huntingdon. Draco, you've known him for 6 years now."
With the room's attention now somewhat directed his way, Jason seized the moment. "You all need to sit down," he commanded, earning shocked looks but compliance. Good start, Jason.
"Luna is right. We can't focus on everything happening right now. We should focus on one thing, and that should be what happened to Ginny."
Ginny perked up, appreciating the attention. "Thank you, Jason! Nice to see someone actually cares about me!" She shot a death glare at Harry, who shrunk in his seat.
Tracey, a step ahead, said, "Did I not just suggest we focus on that?"
"You only said that because you think this color is awful on me," Ginny shot back.
"You look better ginger!"
"First time she's heard that," snorted Draco under his breath, earning a hard whack from Pansy.
Seamus, finally emerging from his side conversation with Blaise, Dean, and Theo, asked, "What about the curse on the school?"
Daphne, impatient, reiterated, "And once again, what about my sister?"
"Whoever impersonated your sister can be found out if we focus on what happened to Ginny," answered Jason. "And as for the school, well, the curse isn't harming anyone—"
"Yet..." Theo mumbled.
"Thanks for that, Theo. As I was saying, the curse isn't harming anyone, but if it concerns you that much, there is someone who said she'd be saving Hogwarts this time," Jason hinted.
Draco slapped his palm to his face, "You can't possibly mean her,"
"Anyone but her," moaned Pansy.
Harry groaned and sank further into his seat.
"Who are they talking about?" Theo was confused.
Blaise laughed loudly, "He's only talking about fricking Fay Dunbar!"
FRIDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER - 7:30AM
Harry didn't really have a solid plan for talking to Fay Dunbar. He would see her at breakfast and talk to her there, where he had witnesses and adoring fans, so she couldn't possibly try to murder him. He thought back to the conversation he had with Jason last night when everyone had left.
"But I just don't understand why it has to be me!" Harry had complained. Jason had picked him to go talk to Fay.
"You're Harry Potter; of course, I'd pick you," Jason argued back, exasperated.
"Jason, Fay Dunbar hates my guts."
Jason scoffed at him, "You're the hero of the wizarding world and the Boy Who Lived Twice. The only people who hate you are Death Eaters and You-Know-Who himself."
Clearly, Jason had missed the whole of fourth and half of fifth year. Harry sighed as he pulled his jumper over his head and spotted Ron glaring at him.
Clearly, Jason had also missed everything from the start of the year as well. Taking a deep breath, Harry headed for the door.
"Oi, wait for us, Harry!"
Seamus draped his arm over him, laughter in his voice.
"I want to see the show as well!"
"What show?" Harry asked as they descended the stairs.
"The show where Fay Dunbar beats the shit out of you, obviously," Dean replied.
"I thought you guys were on my side?"
"Yeah, but seeing your friends get beat up by someone shorter than them is always entertaining," Seamus chuckled.
"I need to get better friends," Harry sighed.
Opening the common room door, he was met with a resounding "NO!" too late. Gryffindors were scattered around the entrance, and Hermione and Ginny looked annoyed.
"Hermione, what's going on?"
"Try to move, Harry."
Attempting to walk toward her with Seamus and Dean following, Harry found himself unable to move after just two steps.
"A sticky jinx? What the hell?"
"This has Blaise and Theo written all over it," Seamus whispered to Dean.
(THURSDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER - 7PM - GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM ENTRANCE - APPROX 2 HOURS BEFORE EVERYONE BECAME FRIENDS AGAIN
Theo and Blaise, fueled by a mix of frustration and determination, made their way to the entrance of the Gryffindor common room while everyone was at dinner.
"They're going to pay for those damn crickets," hissed Theo as he and Blaise got out the potion they had been prepping all day.
"Theo... what if this all turns out to be a misunderstanding, and we make up with the Gryffindors really soon, and we've just revenge-pranked them with the potion we created," Blaise pondered.
Theo froze for a second, the potion tilting in his hand, then shook his head.
"Nah, that won't happen."
Theo poured the potion out, a subtle shimmer of magic settling over the entrance, concealing the trap they had just laid. Satisfied with their handiwork, Theo stepped back.
"Now if we did it right, the potion should come into effect by 6 am tomorrow and last all through breakfast,")
Dean clicked his tongue, "It was most definitely them."
"Someone from Slytherin clearly didn't get the memo that everyone's made up now," Ginny rolled her eyes.
"So what, is it only when you guys are arguing with Draco's lot that we should argue with Slytherins?" Fay yelled, glaring at Ginny.
"Dunbar, it is too damn early," a seventh-year complained.
"No! It's not fair. We've lost so many house points because those guys got into some petty argument with their new best friends!"
"It wasn't petty!" growled Ginny, her eyes flashing. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
Thank Merlin that everyone was stuck to the ground because Ginny was about to pounce on Fay, and Fay just looked downright terrified.
"Ginny!" admonished Hermione, "What's wrong with you?"
Ginny blinked, realizing the situation, and surveyed the varied expressions of fear on her housemates' faces.
"I'm so sorry," she breathed out, "I don't know what came over me."
Harry observed as a wave of quiet settled upon Gryffindor.
"So what do we do now?" he interjected, breaking the silence.
Hermione shifted her worried gaze from Ginny, "I sent a Patronus to Professor McGonagall; hopefully, she'll be here soon."
"How long ago was that?" Dean asked.
"Only a few minu-"
"NO."
"What the hell," a confused Neville looked at his friends and sighed, "Theo and Blaise?"
"Theo and Blaise," huffed Seamus.
(THE GREAT HALL - AT THE SAME TIME
Theo and Blaise shivered.
"You two okay?" asked Tracey.
"I can't help but feel our names are being dragged through the mud right now," Blaise shivered again.
Gasps were heard as an otter patronus made it's way to the falcuty table.
"Professor McGonagall, please can you come to the Gryfindor Common room entrance imeediatly," Hermione's voice rang out, "and bring Professor Flitwick!"
"What's that about?" Pansy asked as the two teachers made their way out of the grand hall.
Blaise and Theo's eyes widened.
"Shit," theo muttered. Draco eyed them.
"What did you two do?"
The two boys shrunk in their seats.)
SUNDAY 27th SEPTEMBER - 1:54 PM - OUTISDE HOGWARTS LIBRARY
Harry had no excuse now. No sticky potions or Quidditch practice to help him now. Only himself. And Pansy.
"I don't understand why I'm here, Potter," Pansy said disinterestedly, "You can't handle Dunbar?"
"Listen, Parkinson, Fay is... challenging. I need someone who knows how to handle her. You're a girl; surely you rank higher than her in whatever girl hierarchy you have going on in this school."
Pansy gave him a deadpan look, "You cannot be serious."
"Please, Parkinson, you owe this to me. You told Theo and Blaise to jinx Gryffindor!" pleaded Harry.
"I did not! I told them to get back at you guys for the crickets prank Dean and Seamus did! And they did it before everything was sorted out!"
Harry paused.
"Okay, yeah, that's fair enough."
"Potter, Fay may act like she hates you, but at the end of the day, you're the hero who saved us all. She won't really do anything to you."
"Fine. You're still coming in with me, though. If she's with her Mystery Incorporated gang, I don't want to be alone."
"What's Mystery Incorporated?"
"Muggle Reference, Parkinson. Merlin, how many times do we have to say it?"
As they entered the library, Harry scanned the room for Fay. It didn't take long to spot her at a table near the back, engrossed in a book. Luckily, she was alone. She looked up as they approached, annoyance flickering in her eyes.
"What do you want, Potter?" she snapped.
"Not even an acknowledgement?" Pansy grumbled, "What happened to your little Mystery Incorporated gang?"
Fay scoffed, "As if you actually know what that means, Pansy. As for my 'gang,' I sent them on a break. We've been researching since morning."
"How generous."
Harry sat down across from Fay, "Look, Fay, we need your help."
Fay slightly perked up, "With what?"
"With everything that's happened so far, it's become too much for us, and we need your help to, well, lighten the load."
Fay's eyes darkened, "So what, you and your new girlfriend have come to dump your leftovers on me."
"Keep it together, Dunbar; that's not what's happening," Pansy rolled her eyes, "You can keep your little crush on Potter going; we're not together." Fay reddened.
"We're not at all," injected Harry, opening his bag.
"We're here to give you all the research we've done so far on the singing curse," Pansy explained as Harry began getting out piles of Sue's notes. Fay's jaw dropped.
"You said you wanted to save Hogwarts, didn't you?" Pansy gave the girl a smirk, "Here you go, Fay Dunbar. It's all up to you."
Fay watched as Harry dropped the last of the research on the table and stood up, Pansy following him.
"Why are you giving this to me?" she asked.
Harry opened the door and grinned at her, "More important things to focus on, right now."
"Ginny, right?" Fay smiled sadly, "Well...Good luck!"
Pansy and Harry left the library. Fay put her head in her hands as music started.
"Don't wish, don't start
Wishing only wounds the heart
There's a girl I know
He loves her so
I'm not that girl" Fay sang.
From her desk, Madam Pince glared at the Gryffindor girl. Unfortunately, she had been told by Dumbledore that she couldn't punish students for singing in the library.
A/N
I'm not that girl (Reprise) - Wicked