Chapter 10 is here! I just want to reiterate how much I appreciate all your reviews. They motivate me and makes me extremely happy, so THANK YOU!
Enjoy the chapter :)

"Harry! Calm down! So you're telling us that you overheard Snape threaten Quirrell?" asked John.

"I saw Snape going into the forest, minutes after I caught the snitch. He met with Quirrell there. They were talking about the Philosopher's Stone. Snape said something about not Quirrell not wanting him as an enemy. Quirrell looked petrified. There was also something about guarding. I think there are other things guarding the stone, and maybe Quirrell's defence is the only thing protecting the stone from Snape," finished Harry as the other 3 looked stunned.

"So, Snape's after the stone and Quirrell knows about this?" asked Ron.

"It seems like that, doesn't it?" replied Hermione.

A couple of weeks went by, but nothing happened. Hermione however had started worrying about exams. During dinner one day,

"So, how was your lesson with Snape?" asked Hermione.

"It was good, he taught me a potion. It's a potion that'll paralyze the drinker. It's simple but quite effective. I think he's warming up to me. He was quite happy by the end of the lesson. He even gave me Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Bean." replied John.

"I'm so worried about the exams, they're only 14 weeks away."

"Only?"

"Yeah, Only! I have so much revision to do," replied Hermione. She went on and on about how she had planned out her study to fit all the subjects and give all of them ample amounts of time. After dinner, when both of them were walking up the stairs to the common room, it happened.

"So, as I was saying, since there is so much to remember in History of Magic, I have planned to..." she stopped speaking after hearing a thudding noise. She looked back at John who had fallen on the stairs, his eyes were closed, his body was shaking, he looked like he was having a seizure. Panicking, Hermione ran to the common room, hoping somebody would be there. She found Percy and they both rushed back to the stairs to a motionless John.

"Please, don't be dead, don't be dead" muttered Hermione as she tried to check if John was breathing. Percy, who didn't know how to help John, did the next best thing. He called Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall confirmed that John was still breathing, and she had it arranged for him to be taken to Madam Pomfrey. The Gryffindor common room was silent. John wasn't exactly friends with everybody, but everyone knew him as the guy who stood up to Snape. A few of the first years like Parvathi, Lavender, Seamus, Dean came and talked with Hermione, mostly to find out what exactly had happened. She told anyone who came to meet her that he had collapsed on the stairs, but she knew that all of this had something to do with Snape. Ron and Harry were shocked when they found out about it. They were at the Great Hall when John had collapsed.

"What do you mean he fell?" asked Ron perplexed.

"We were walking up the stairs, I was just a few steps ahead of him. And then I heard a thud, looked back and he was shaking, his eyes were closed, he looked like he was having a seizure, he couldn't move, he didn't shout or scream, he just collapsed. I came here hoping to find someone, and I found Percy, he called for McGonagall, and John was taken to the Hospital Wing." replied Hermione.

"Hermione!" said Harry softly as he saw her eyes filled with tears. "John will be back soon. He probably just ate something funny."

Hermione wiped her tears and whispered, "This was Snape," she said. "He has poisoned John. I know it!"

"Snape? Why do you think Snape did this?" asked Harry.

"Before dinner, John was telling me about his extra class with Snape. Snape taught some potion it seems. John said that at the end of the class, Snape looked happy, he even gave John Bertie Bott's!" replied Hermione.

"When was the last time we saw Snape be nice to anyone?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"Exactly my point, what if he poisoned John using Bertie Bott's?" replied Hermione.

"Can we see him?" asked Ron.

"McGonagall said no, I asked her, she said no visitors till tomorrow morning!" replied Hermoine. With a heavy heart, worried and feeling helpless, the trio went to bed, praying that John will be fine soon.

They woke up the next morning and went to the Hospital Wing right away. To their utter disappointment, John wasn't there.

"Madam Pomfrey, where's John?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, we wanted to see him," added Ron as Harry nodded along.

"John? The poor boy was in a lot of pain. He's not here, he's been transferred to St Mungo's."

"St Mungo's?" asked Ron shocked.

"Yes," she replied.

"St Mungo's means bad. It's for serious injuries," remarked Ron to the confused pair of Harry and Hermione.

"I have missed you so much! Did you realize that these few months have been the first time you have been away from me?" she asked.

"I have missed you too!" replied John.

"So, how did you do it?" she asked.

"I didn't do anything! I just asked Severus to use all the hatred he has for me, and make a potion out of it," he replied. After a few moments, he asked, "So, any updates?"

"Nothing, well I couldn't find anything. As I told you earlier, Severus doesn't have a grudge against Harry. Well, not enough to make him kill Harry, anyway! And as to the other thing, I don't think Harry is in any trouble." she replied.

"And what about Daisy?" he asked. Just then the doorbell rang. The Smith's lived in a muggle part of the town, hence they had to live the muggle way.

"John, open the door, will you? And no magic!" she said and continued, "I have a surprise for you." John went to the door, opened it and saw a girl, about 10 to 12-year-old, brown-haired, taller than average for her age, standing outside holding a bag.

"Hi, you are?" asked John, confused.

"Hi, I am Daisy Taylor," she replied, equally confused. She looked up and down at John and then looked at the door number.

"Daisy, come on in," came the voice of Jane Smith from inside the house. Colour drained from John's face as he found himself gesturing at Daisy to come on in. John looked at Daisy and then at his Aunt, and all his fears came true.

"Jane! Can I have a word with you?" whispered John, angrily. Jane excused herself and went inside a room where John was pacing angrily.

"What on Merlin's name have you been doing?" asked John.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean!"

"Calm down! This is what we had planned ages ago," she replied.

"What is Daisy doing in this house?" asked John.

"She's a smart student, she's just here for some extra training from her teacher."

"Her teacher?"

"Oh! I think I forgot to mention, I am a teacher now. I teach muggles Math. It was a surprise to me when I found out, Daisy was a student in that very school." she replied, smiling.

"Are you going to tell me with a straight face that you didn't know? You orchestrated this whole thing," replied John.

"You wanted this, I have just made your life easier!"

"I didn't ask for your help. I wasn't even sure about this," he replied. Jane put her arm around John, kissed him on his forehead, and left the room.

"Daisy, sorry I'm late. That was my nephew, he just got home today," said Jane with a warm smile on her face.

"It's ok, Mrs Smith," replied Daisy. A couple of hours went by and John did not come out of the room. Finally, he heard footsteps going outside the house and voices that said "Bye". He came out of the room a few minutes after that, still looking furious.

"What were you doing inside?" asked Jane nonchalantly.

"Burying myself in anger and disappointment!" he replied.

"Don't be so dramatic," said Jane.

"Why are you doing this?" asked John.

"I don't understand your problem here. The reason you are here and not at Hogwarts is to meet Daisy, right? You got yourself poisoned for it, you asked help from Severus of all people, and now that you're here, you seem angry at me for making your life easier."

"I was going to watch her, not meet her. How do you think the conversation between Daisy and Harry will go down in the summer? asked John, but continued without waiting for a reply,

"Hey, Harry, I met a guy a few months back, his name was John, we became friends, and then he left randomly a month later," he said in his best impression of Daisy.

"Oh! That's odd, I have a friend named John too, he too disappeared from my class for exactly a month" he finished with an impression of Harry. After a moment's silence, he continued, "Now thanks to you, I can never ever be in the presence of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Daisy."

"Do you know how many people named John exist in this country? The answer is a lot. You'll be fine, don't worry!" she replied.

PS - Did you all like this chapter? These past 2-3 chapters have been quite difficult for me, but the hope is that the coming chapters will be quite dynamic... So, stay tuned!