Friday, 13 November 1998
"I am going to murder you!" a voice snarled, echoing through the corridors.
Hermione, Ginny and Jada had just left the Gryffindor common room and were heading downstairs to have dinner in the Great Hall. They were late, which resulted in nearly empty corridors. The three girls exchanged a surprised look, turned a corner and halted abruptly.
Atop the Marble Staircase stood Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini, seemingly ready to launch themselves at each other's throats. Malfoy's face was slightly pink and his clenched fists trembled with anger. Zabini seemed much calmer, though the hateful glare in his eyes betrayed that he, too, was on the verge of losing his self-control.
"After all the hard work, after all those skipped meals and exhausting trainings, you have the gall to do this to me on the evening before the match?!"
"You watch your damn mouth, Malfoy," Zabini snapped back. "Stop being so pathetic about this, it's only Quidditch. If I remember correctly, you have someone suitable to cover for me."
Malfoy took a step closer to the dark-skinned Slytherin and whipped out his wand.
"Hey!" Jada yelled as she marched forward. "Put down your wand, Malfoy! You're not allowed to use magic in the corridors and you are well aware of that fact!"
The blond in question whirled around. "You would do well to mind your own business, Angela," he snarled.
"You're making it our business, Malfoy," Hermione said softly as she stepped forward as well. "You're the Head Boy, act like it. Put down your wand and go downstairs."
"Yes, Malfoy," Zabini hissed. "Be a good obedient little lap dog and let the Mudblood walk all over you."
"Malfoy…" Hermione said in a warning tone, trying to soothe him at the same time, knowing that the blond Slytherin was easily angered these days and would undoubtedly snap after a comment like this. Malfoy, however, didn't seem to even hear her and he raised his wand too quick for any of them to be able to interfere.
"MALFOY, NO!" Ginny shouted in a shaky voice.
A flash of red light briefly illuminated the corridors and Zabini flew backward down the stairs. If the Stupefy hadn't rendered him unconscious, the fall would have. The dark-skinned Slytherin rolled several times over and then laid motionless in an awkward angle at the bottom of the Marble Stairs.
"Oh... Oh... dear Merlin..." Jada whimpered in horror, her hands pressed against her mouth in shock.
Ginny's eyes had widened and she was staring repeatedly from Malfoy—who was shaking from head to toe—down to Zabini's motionless form, and back. The two sixth-year girls exchanged a look of pure concern before both of them rushed downstairs to check up on the unconscious seventh-year.
Hermione exhaled sharply in shock and briefly stared down at Zabini in worry before marching up to Malfoy, who was clearly already regretting what he had done. "Why do you always have to ruin everything for yourself," she hissed, though she wasn't angry.
"I had just talked to Professor McGonagall this afternoon to propose to her that we shouldn't have to stay in the Head's Tower if you behave accordingly. It took me little under an hour to persuade her and now you do this to ruin all my efforts for something you want!"
Malfoy didn't respond to her. Instead, he just stared at her with empty eyes for a moment before brushing past her and descending the stairs. He hesitated when he reached Zabini and the girls, but after a couple of seconds he resolutely turned and marched through the doors of the Great Hall.
Hermione ran down the stairs and kneeled down next to Zabini, who clearly had a broken leg and probably a couple of badly bruised ribs. Ginny and Jada had carefully moved his limbs back in their proper angles but both were too shaken to do much more. Hermione cast a few simple healing spells and splinted and bound his broken leg.
"That's all I dare to do right now," she said after releasing a fair amount of air to calm her nerves. "Let's get him to the hospital wing."
"What the bloody hell was he talking about?" an annoyed voice that neared them snapped.
"Calm down, Pansy, I'm sure it's noth—sweet Salazar!" another voice shrieked.
Pansy Parkinson and Tracey Davis hurried in their direction. Parkinson roughly pushed Ginny out of her way and kneeled down next to Zabini. Hermione was surprised by the amount of emotion she could read on the Slytherin girl's face. Normally, Parkinson's face was an emotionless mask, only displaying sneers and arrogant frowns.
"What the hell have you done?" she snapped at them.
"We haven't done anything," Jada snapped back, crossing her arms defensively. "He and Malfoy had an argument and Malfoy Stupefy'd him down the stairs."
"What?!" Davis gasped, who was standing beside Pansy. "What did Zabini do?"
"Bail on the Quidditch team, from what I've caught," Ginny muttered bitterly.
"Well, whatever, we've got him from here," Parkinson said haughtily, seemingly trying to cover up the fact that she was quite upset.
"No, no, wait up," Jada said in a bossy tone. "You weren't there. I reckon Madam Pomfrey wants to hear what happened. Besides, Hermione's the Head Girl. She should probably take care of this."
Parkinson jumped up and glared at the sixth-year prefect. "I don't care about the sodding Head Girl! This is your fault to begin with," she snarled as she whirled around to face Hermione. "Aren't you always going on about Draco's responsibility? Where was your responsibility today, huh, Mudblood?! Aren't you, as a sodding Head student, in part responsible for what happens around you? You should have stopped him!"
"Watch your foul tongue, Parkinson!" Ginny spat angrily.
"Parkinson, if you don't want me to deduct points or give you a detention you will stop insulting me and you will help me levitate Zabini to the infirmary. Davis and Jada, could you two please go ahead to inform Madam Pomfrey? Ginny, you can help us make sure we don't hurt Zabini more than Malfoy already has."
Jada shot a reluctant glare at the Slytherin girl she was partnered up with but they left together without argument. Ginny glared down at Zabini's unconscious form and Pansy was opening and closing her mouth repeatedly, clearly wanting to protest but not wanting to lose more House points or risk a detention at the hands of the Head Girl.
After seemingly considering her options, the grumpy Slytherin whipped out her wand and stuck her nose in the air, waiting for her instructions.
Hermione sighed. "On the count of three," she told Parkinson. "One… two… three."
They both muttered the same incantation and moved their wands up, levitating Zabini off the floor. They started following after Ginny who opened the doors for them. They reached the hospital wing without any complications, and the door was opened by Nurse Wainscott, a young, black-haired woman who had been working as Madam Pomfrey's assistant for a couple of years now.
"Come in, come in, you can put him on the bed over there," she said in her soft voice, pointing at an empty bed. "Careful now, careful… That's it, well done."
"Madam Pomfrey is in the Great Hall, having dinner," Jada explained softly. "Nurse Wainscott said it was no trouble and that she would take care of it."
"That's fine," Hermione said. "Do you want to make up a report of what happened or should we wait for Madam Pomfrey?" she asked the nurse.
"I'll do it," the woman answered. "Right after I've mended his leg. It shouldn't take me but a moment." She started waving her wand around Zabini's leg while muttering the healing spells. After that, she moved on to his ribs and visible bruises, and a couple of minutes later she asked them what had happened. Parkinson sat beside Zabini on the bed, staring at the boy with a sad and worried look in her eyes, not listening to their explanation of the events.
"Alright," Nurse Wainscott said eventually. "I've got all I need. Madam Pomfrey will make sure this gets to the Headmistress so there will be no need to delay your dinner any longer. You may go now, but please be quiet when you leave, to not disturb the patients."
With that, she turned away, but before making her way over to the office she gently placed a hand on Parkinson's shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze. Much to Hermione's surprise, the pug-faced girl accepted this gesture of sympathy without a sarcastic sneer or disgusted shrug.
The three Gryffindors and Tracey Davis left the infirmary. The Slytherin girl made for the dungeons without another glance or word and disappeared out of sight while Hermione followed Ginny and Jada into the Great Hall. They sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table and quickly scooped some food onto their plates, trying to avoid the curious stares from their Housemates.
Hermione couldn't help but glance over at the Slytherin table every now and then. Malfoy was sitting in his usual spot with Nott and Greengrass, but they were all quiet for a change. Malfoy made a rather miserable impression, and Hermione wasn't sure whether it was because of what he had done to Zabini or because he was worried about the upcoming Quidditch match. She knew from Ginny that the Slytherin team was stronger than they had been in years. She herself had seen the way their Chasers passed the Quaffle to each other. With Zabini not playing, a substitute Chaser had to play, one that hadn't been training as much as the other Chasers had and didn't know the way the others played as well as he should.
"I suppose you won't have to worry about tomorrow anymore," Jada said quietly after a while, addressing Ginny.
"No... I suppose not," the redhead replied, but much to Hermione's surprise she didn't sound smug or happy, but quite disappointed.
The doors of the Great Hall opened and Nurse Wainscott entered, walking straight up to the staff table. Hermione tensed a little when she noticed the worried expression on her face and kept watching as the nurse interrupted Madam Pomfrey's conversation with Professor Sinistra. Professor McGonagall, who was sitting next to the matron on her other side, leaned in to listen as well.
After a short while, the Headmistress rose and walked over to Professor Slughorn, who was seated a bit further down the staff table. The Potions Master seemed to choke on his pork chops and quickly took a gulp from his goblet as he searched the Slytherin table with angry eyes.
Hermione put down her fork and muttered an apology to Ginny and Jada before rushing out of the Great Hall and up the Marble Stairs. As much as she disagreed with the way Malfoy handled things earlier, she didn't want to see him being punished.
As she made her way through the empty corridors, she thought of the Slytherin Quidditch tryouts and the way she had seen Malfoy look genuinely happy for the first time since around the end of their fifth year. She suspected that Quidditch was one of the very few things that brightened his time here at Hogwarts, and now Zabini had ruined that for him.
Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Malfoy. He certainly was a gigantic prat, but she could tell that he was struggling enormously between being who he was and being who everyone else wanted him to be instead.
Today was truly a Friday the thirteenth for him, she imagined.
Saturday, 14 November 1998
"I can't believe you still have it!" Hermione laughed as Luna neared the Gryffindor table, wearing the lion hat that had become a rather well-known symbol over the years.
"Of course!" The blonde Ravenclaw smiled. "It still works, too!"
To prove her statement, she tapped her wand against the hat, which immediately let out the familiar realistic roar, startling a group of first-year Gryffindors who couldn't help but laugh when they saw where the sound was coming from.
"Luna! You traitor!" Orla yelled from the Ravenclaw table with a broad grin on her face, and Luna turned around and stuck out her tongue to her Housemate and friend.
Hermione smiled and motioned to the bench across from her. "Sit down, have some toast!" she offered.
"No thank you, Hermione, I've already had breakfast," Luna answered. "Grace is waiting for me, she wants to sit on the front row so we should leave early. I just wanted to show you the hat. See you at the game!" With that, she waved and skipped over to Grace Nutley, the slender, curly-haired Hufflepuff girl that was waiting by the entrance of the Great Hall.
Hermione turned her attention back to Seamus, Lavender and Parvati, who were chatting enthusiastically about the upcoming match and predicting the outcome. Ginny, Dean and the rest of the Gryffindor team were already down at the pitch to discuss their strategy. When breakfast was almost over, Jennifer and Pauline joined the three seventh-years to walk to the pitch, and outside, Orla and her friend Becky Arncliffe joined them as well. When they reached the Quidditch stadium, Hermione excused herself and quickly made her way to the changing rooms.
"—until we have at least a hundred points. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Ginny," Emily responded in a flat tone, indicating that she'd had to confirm this at least ten times before. The redhead sighed and dismissed the team when she saw Hermione standing in the doorway.
"Hey, are you okay?" Hermione asked.
"I suppose," Ginny muttered. "I'm so nervous, though. Harry never told me that being Captain is this stressful."
"Now you know where the horror stories about Oliver Wood come from," she replied with a smile. "I should go, though. I just wanted to wish you good luck. Don't forget to have fun, okay?"
The two Gryffindor girls embraced, and Ginny smiled gratefully at her after she collected her gear and the Firebolt that was standing against the wall. Hermione turned and left the Gryffindor changing room. She passed the other House's rooms and made her way to the stands. At the entrance of the visitors' stands, she slowed down and her smile disappeared.
Before her stood the Malfoys, accompanied by a young Auror from the Ministry. With a tightened knot in her stomach, she tried to move past them unnoticed, but she slowed down when the pair turned their heads and stared at her with a cold look.
"Ah, Ms Granger," Lucius Malfoy said in a soft, unpleasant voice as his eyes found her Head Girl badge. "I would tell you what a pleasant surprise it is to see that badge attached to your robes, but most regretfully I find it neither pleasant nor surprising."
"Lucius, please don't," Narcissa Malfoy said softly, though Hermione knew it wasn't a sign of kindness. The blonde woman's nose was slightly wrinkled in poorly suppressed disgust.
The Auror that accompanied them had been talking to someone and was now making his way back to them. His eyes lit up when he saw Hermione, and he enthusiastically thrust his hand towards her, which she shook hesitantly.
"Hermione Granger! It is such an honour to finally meet you! My name is Henry Jefferson. I've heard so much about you! Been working with Mr Potter and Mr Weasley, and Mr Longbottom of course. It's so great to finally see you in the flesh!" he rambled with a grin from ear to ear.
"Yes, she is a fine young lady, isn't she?" Lucius Malfoy said softly as he lifted his chin in an arrogant manner. "Apart from her obvious… shortcomings… of course."
It took a little while for the young Auror to understand that the convicted wizard had made a subtle dig at her Muggle-born lineage, but as Hermione watched Henry Jefferson's face redden, she concluded that he was slowly getting there.
"Mr Malfoy!" he sputtered, sounding aghast. "I wouldn't make such comments if I were in your position! Least of all in public! I'm afraid I'll have to file a report after the game!"
"He didn't mean it like that," Narcissa Malfoy said softly. "You must have misunderstood, isn't that right, dear?"
Lucius Malfoy shifted his cold stare from Hermione to his wife and back. "Naturally," he smiled, but the smile never reached his cold, grey eyes. "I would never dream of hurting Ms Granger's feelings."
"Don't you worry, Mr Malfoy, you haven't," Hermione countered with a forced smile that she knew must look very insincere. "Please excuse me."
With that, she made her way past them and up the visitors' stands. Once she reached the eleventh row, she saw the familiar messy black hair she was looking for, and the nasty exchange was pushed to the back of her mind.
"Harry!"
The boy she'd addressed looked up with a start and his grin widened when he saw her. "Hermione!"
She ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. After a short, tight embrace, they let go of each other and Hermione walked past him to embrace Mr and Mrs Weasley. After a short catch-up, she sat down next to Harry and grabbed his hand.
"It's so good to see you again," she said happily. "Please tell me you're able to stay for a while after the game has finished so Ginny gets to see you for a little longer than last time."
"I am, actually," Harry grinned. "We're visiting George after the match. I imagine Ginny wants to join us. What about you?"
"I'd love to, I miss him," she said softly before pausing briefly. "Speaking of missing a Weasley, where's Ron?"
Harry grimaced at this. "At work." She waited for him to continue, but when he didn't she concluded that they had probably had an argument about it. Not pressing her curiosity any further, Hermione just gave him a quick smile and turned her attention to the field where nothing was happening yet.
"Have you been using any of my gifts yet?" Harry asked after a while.
"Just the Map, during patrols," she answered. "It's more efficient to hide from Malfoy by just going up to my dorm instead of using the Cloak."
"Fair point," he agreed with a smile. "Ron told me that you slipped up and ended up telling him about the shared common room anyway. He was pretty angry about it."
Hermione sighed unhappily. "Yes, I've noticed that. Which is why I didn't want to tell him in the first place."
"He's too busy to worry about it now, though. We've been tailing Rowle and Yaxley, not the most pleasant task."
"Sounds dangerous," she muttered.
"You know better than anyone that we've been through much worse than this," said Harry with a small smirk. "Besides, tail work is boring. If we do our work well we should be invisible. Of course, we like taking risks..."
"That's not funny," Hermione said sternly, giving him a playful nudge.
The sudden loud cheering around them distracted them from reality and demanded their attention. A group dressed in crimson robes and a second group dressed in emerald-green robes appeared on the Quidditch pitch, circling the air above the field with great speed.
"Welcome to the opening game of the Quidditch season! I'm Duncan Inglebee and I'll be your Quidditch commentator for the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin!" shouted a boy through the microphone.
"For Gryffindor, I present to you: Weasley! Robins! Thomas! Peakes! Coote! Taylor! And finally: Mallory!" The people in the Gryffindor stands cheered loudly once more, thrusting their banners in the air and waving their flags.
"And for Slytherin: Malfoy! Hanley! Robinson! McGruder! Morcott! Rowland! And playing as the substitute Chaser instead of Zabini, Daryl Morden!"
"Malfoy's the Captain for Slytherin? Are you kidding me?" Harry yelled angrily at this announcement, trying to be heard over the loud cheering coming from the Slytherin stands.
Ginny and Malfoy, as the Captains, both walked up to the middle of the field and shook hands rather roughly. Ginny's face was a mask of pure determination, but so was Malfoy's. Madam Hooch walked up to them, carrying the crate that contained the Quidditch balls. Once she opened it, the Bludgers immediately took off in different directions. A tiny spec of gold shot up in the air and disappeared out of sight instantly.
The Quidditch referee held the Quaffle in both hands. "I want a nice opening game," Madam Hooch barked. "And by nice, I mean clean. Please mount your brooms."
Ginny and Malfoy did as she asked. After a short moment, in which the entire stadium seemed to hold its breath, the grey-haired witch threw the Quaffle in the air and all fourteen players immediately moved rapidly through the air across the field.
"And the Quaffle is in possession of Michael Robinson! He passes to Hanley, and back to Robinson! Morden is nearing the Gryffindor goalposts and Robinson passes him the Quaffle—oooh! Intercepted by Weasley! What a strong move!"
Hermione held her breath as Ginny threw the Quaffle at Demelza, who in turn passed it back to Ginny, who threw it at Dean. Dean sped up, clearly seeing an opportunity, and he threw the Quaffle at Slytherin's left goal, but the Keeper—sixth-year student Hortense Rowland—managed to just block the goalpost in time with the back of his broom, a move Hermione had seen him do during the tryouts.
"Man, he's good!" Harry groaned.
"I'm no Quidditch genius but that is probably why Malfoy picked him," Hermione replied cheekily, a comment that was rewarded with a huff and a ruffle through her hair, though Harry was grinning happily.
"If only our boys could see this!" Mr Weasley exclaimed excitedly. "They would think twice about not letting her play with them now!"
Hermione and Harry laughed at his prideful tone and Mrs Weasley joined in, even though she seemed a bit nervous about watching her daughter shoot through the air with great speed.
The match went on for half an hour without any of the teams scoring points, and Harry grew restless. "I've seen the Snitch four times already," he grumbled, speaking like a true Seeker. "Why isn't anyone doing anything?"
"Ginny ordered Emily to stay put until they'd scored at least a hundred points," Hermione told him. "I don't know about Malfoy, but he might be doing the same."
Harry nodded thoughtfully as he turned his head to stare at Malfoy, who was nothing more than a motionless green speck high up in the air. "Hmm. Possibly."
Dean intercepted the Quaffle when Morden tried to pass it to Robinson, and after successfully passing it to Ginny she made the first goal by pretending to aim for the middle goalpost to move the Keeper away from the left ring, leaving it unguarded so she could score. Three Houses started cheering loudly and the supporters in the Gryffindor stands started chanting Ginny's name.
By scoring, the Gryffindor team seemed to have damaged the Slytherin Keeper's confidence, and soon they were leading with fifty points to zero. Malfoy was angrily barking instructions to his teammates which seemed to work wonders for him: in the next five minutes they managed to score three times, rapidly closing in on Gryffindor.
The game intensified. Ginny was now also forcefully pointing around the field, giving her teammates instructions. After she managed to score one more time, and rather impressively at that, one of the Slytherin Beaters seemed to have had enough and forcefully smacked a Bludger in her direction, hitting her squarely in the stomach. Ginny's eyes widened and after a couple of unbelievably long seconds she slid off her broomstick and tumbled down.
"Oh my God!" Hermione shouted, hoarse with worry, as she jumped up and stared at her friend as she was slowed down by Madam Hooch's Arresto Momentum and placed gently down on the ground. Next to her, Harry was shaking from head to toe as he stared at Ginny with wide eyes. Mrs Weasley clutched onto her husband's arm and had her face buried in his shoulder while Mr Weasley patted her on the arm, staring down at his daughter in shock as well.
Madam Pomfrey rushed onto the field and revived Ginny before healing her injuries. Soon after, she was ready to get back on the Firebolt. Madam Hooch was yelling at McGruder, the Beater that had aimed his Bludger at Ginny, and Gryffindor was given a penalty, one that Ginny insisted on taking herself.
"And Weasley is back up in the air, ready for her penalty!" Duncan Inglebee announced enthusiastically. "That was a nasty foul from Slytherin, but if I know her at all, Weasley is more than ready for payback time! Looks like she's going for a Finbourgh Flick—AND SHE SCORES! Gryffindor is leading with sixty to thirty!"
The Gryffindors started chanting the sentence Weasley is our Queen, something the older Slytherins didn't seem to appreciate, but a wide grin appeared on Harry's face. Suddenly Malfoy sped up and dived downwards, and Emily shot a helpless glance in Ginny's direction, clearly torn between doing what Ginny had ordered her to do and not letting Malfoy win. Finally, she decided to rush after Malfoy. She was closing in on him but she wasn't nearly fast enough to be able to beat him and his expensive broom to the Snitch, something the Gryffindor Beaters seemed to realise, too.
Jimmy seemed to be fighting an inward battle, probably still shaken about the fact that he had hit Emily last time, but Ritchie rushed to the closest Bludger and smacked it in Malfoy's direction. It hit the tail of his Nimbus 2001 and Malfoy quickly clutched his broom with both hands to avoid falling off. Emily seemed to gasp in surprise but recovered quickly, speeding up again and stretching out her right arm as far as she could…
"AND TAYLOR HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS WITH TWO-HUNDRED-AND-TEN POINTS TO THIRTY!"
Hermione and Harry jumped up and embraced each other in celebration, as did Mr and Mrs Weasley. After cheering and celebrating for a while, the supporters started leaving the stands and Hermione rushed after Harry to meet Ginny downstairs.
After quite a while, members of the Gryffindor team appeared from the changing rooms. When they saw Harry, they rushed toward him, greeting him enthusiastically. Emily blushed brilliantly when he complimented her on her first catch. At last, Ginny appeared in the doorway, smiling brightly at Harry before running up to him and hugging him tightly. She then moved to her parents, both of whom started checking up on her to make sure she was all right after the Bludger incident from earlier.
"Hi there, Ginny!"
Hermione whirled around at the familiar voice and saw Valmai Morgan standing near them, smiling brightly at Ginny who was staring back at her idol with a baffled expression on her face.
"I can't believe you actually showed up!" she exclaimed excitedly after a few seconds.
"I said I wanted to see you play, didn't I? And Slughorn was more than right, you are a great player!" Valmai said happily. "When is your next game? I'll see if I can bring Gwenog, surely she'll agree with me."
Hermione dragged Harry with her to the exit of the stadium and started explaining why one of the Chasers of the Holyhead Harpies was here to watch a Hogwarts Quidditch match, and she smiled at the proud expression on his face. Then, from the corner of her eye, Hermione noticed Malfoy leaving the changing rooms and move in the direction of where his parents were waiting for him.
The young Auror held his distance to allow them some privacy, and much to her surprise, Lucius Malfoy didn't scowl at Malfoy for losing. Instead, he stepped forward and briefly embraced his son. Malfoy allowed this and smiled at his father when he let go again, before tightly embracing his mother.
"Will you look at that, dear old Lucius isn't just a bitter and demanding man," Harry muttered darkly.
"You knew that he actually cares about him," Hermione murmured softly in response. "He didn't abandon Voldemort and the Death Eaters for nothing after all, in the end."
"I know you're right," Harry sighed, "but I just can't help but feel like there are always ulterior motives when it comes to that man."
"Are you two coming?" Mr Weasley called out loudly. "If we go now we can still make it to St. Mungo's before lunch is over. I don't know about you, but I am starving. They should introduce that wonderful thing that they do at Muggle sports games... What are they called again? Ah! Hotdog vendors!"
Laughing at Mr Weasley's enthusiasm, they all made their way back to the castle where Professor McGonagall was waiting for them. She smiled when she saw Harry and the Weasleys and greeted them warmly before taking them up to her office, where they would use the Floo Network to get to the Wizarding Hospital.
Before long, they all arrived in the reception area in one piece, even Harry, who was still rather nervous about using the Floo Network. One of the Welcoming Witches greeted them and led them to the new ward that had been arranged specially for people who needed treatment because of events directly related to the Second Wizarding War.
"George has his own room," Mrs Weasley told them over her shoulder as they made their way through the clinical white corridors. "He hated it at first, but they allowed him to, well, change some things," she continued, frowning thoughtfully, and Hermione suspected that she didn't really approve of the freedom they had given him.
"He quite likes it now and they say he's doing much better every day. Ah, here we are." They halted in front of room three-four-three, and Mr Weasley opened the door after thanking the Welcoming Witch for guiding them.
The inside of the room didn't look like a hospital room at all. It was an amazing mixture between the Gryffindor dormitories and Fred and George's old bedroom, and Hermione couldn't help but smile. She had been really worried for George's progress. Her mother had once been in the hospital for a month, and she had told her and her father that being in a clinical hospital room made everything seem so much worse than it was. This room, however, was homely and comfortable, and Hermione instantly understood why George was feeling better, despite everything.
Ginny immediately ran up to her brother, who was sitting on the couch in the corner of the room, bent over a plate filled with eggs and bacon. He was accompanied by Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson and the three of them were having lunch. Hermione was relieved to see that George was smiling — not the forced smile she was used to by now, but genuinely smiling. He got to his feet just in time to catch his little sister and welcomed Ginny with open arms, lifting her from the ground and moving her from left to right and back.
"Hey there, little one," he greeted her softly with a wide grin.
"Hey, Georgie," Ginny murmured, blinking rapidly to hide her tears.
George put her down with a smile and then looked up at Hermione, who was smiling too. He opened his arms and she walked up to him to embrace him. "How are you doing, Head Girl?" he asked with a slight smirk. "Please don't become a female Percy."
"Don't worry, I won't," Hermione answered softly, knowing that Percy was still a delicate subject around the family, despite George's humorous attempt to keep things light-hearted.
After George had embraced Harry and both his parents as well, they sat down on the couches and chairs around the fire, having lunch and catching up with George, who seemed to be doing quite well. Ginny told him about her match and about Valmai Morgan, impressing not only her older brother but Quidditch-fanatics Lee and Angelina as well.
Later, Mrs Weasley quietly informed Hermione and Ginny that George was only doing well when he was surrounded by people and that he was still very depressed on his own. Lee and Angelina took turns in staying the night, something that she and Mr Weasley appreciated a lot as it really comforted George, even though he wouldn't openly admit that to anyone.
The most depressing thing about the visit was that sometimes George would pause mid-sentence, and they all knew that it was because he was waiting for Fred to finish it. It was something they had done for many years and the Healers had said that it could take many years until George would break that habit, if he would break it at all. Knowing this, the silences weren't as awkward and George was fairly quick to continue the sentences himself.
Another thing was that he would sometimes look around anxiously, as though he was looking for someone. When the realisation hit him again, the sad look on his face was so painful that Hermione could have sworn that her heart had broken at least a dozen times that afternoon.
Around five o'clock, it was time for her and Ginny to get back to Hogwarts, something that was quite a harsh reality for the youngest Weasley to accept. At five-thirty, she had finally said all her goodbyes and Mr Weasley escorted them back to the reception area while Harry and Mrs Weasley stayed with George. They both briefly embraced him before stepping into the familiar green flames that would transfer them back to Hogwarts.
When they returned to the Headmistress' office, Professor McGonagall was sitting behind her desk. She looked up and smiled at them as they entered the office and dusted off the dirt from their clothing. "Welcome back, girls," the Professor greeted them as she continued on with her writing. "I imagine there won't be any need for you to head downstairs to the Great Hall; I expect that the Gryffindors have raided the kitchen already."
Hermione smiled as she followed Ginny out of the office. They made their way up to the seventh floor in silence. The redhead was trying to act cheerful, but Hermione knew that she really wasn't, and she understood that perfectly well. She was missing Harry already, too, and leaving George again hadn't been easy either.
When they reached the Fat Lady's portrait, she was chatting with her friend Violet. Once they caught sight of Ginny, they instantly turned their attention to her. "Why, if that isn't our little champion!" the Fat Lady exclaimed.
"Heard you did great out there on the field," Violet added excitedly, clearly fishing for Ginny's summary of the game.
Ginny forced a smile on her face, not hiding that she wanted to go inside quickly. "Thanks. Um, Capite Leonis."
"Alright, alright," the Fat Lady muttered, making sure to show her disappointment before swinging open to allow them in.
Inside the Gryffindor common room, quite a party was going on. There was food from the kitchens everywhere and all Gryffindors seemed to be in a great mood. When Ginny entered they started cheering loudly and Hermione couldn't help but laugh at their enthusiasm, realising that they must have really missed Quidditch last year.
"Relax, you all," Ginny snorted in amusement. "It was just the first match, we haven't won the Cup yet!"
"It's not just that, silly!" Pauline exclaimed. "Don't you think we've noticed Valmai Morgan in the stands? She came to talk to you after the game!"
"You're going to be famous!" second-year Nina Chibbar squeaked.
"She already is, stupid!" fourth-year David Hamblin yelled. "She's Harry Potter's girlfriend after all!"
Ginny's face turned bright red and she quickly made her way over to her friends, who were all smiling proudly. Hermione followed her and much to both their relief the party quickly resumed from where it had left off. She decided to stay for a while, for Ginny's sake, even though she was rather tired. Lucky for her, the majority of the Gryffindors seemed to realise that winning one match wasn't exactly a reason for a grand party.
Around nine o'clock, things calmed down, and Hermione decided to head back to her own common room to finish her Charms essay before calling it a night. She quickly made her way down to the sixth floor and entered the Head's Tower through the portrait hole. As soon as she set foot in the common room, she halted abruptly. Malfoy was there, still wearing his Quidditch robes. He sat on the floor in front of the fire, drinking some kind of liquor. A knot tightened in her stomach again and Hermione couldn't help but feel sorry for the Head Boy once more.
"Hey," she greeted him softly. He didn't respond, but the twitch in his shoulders showed her that he had heard her. "Are you okay?" she pressed after a while, having noticed the nearly empty bottle of Blishen's Firewhisky.
"What do you care, Granger?" came Malfoy's soft response. "You won, didn't you?"
Hermione walked up to the armchair closest to him and sank down. "I was just wondering whether the staff was hard on you for what happened yesterday," she murmured. "I mean… clearly what you did was wrong, but I can imagine why you were upset."
"A week's worth of detention and a final warning," he answered, sounding incredibly dejected. "Spread the word, would you."
"Malfoy…"
He turned and faced her over his shoulder, and Hermione was immensely taken aback by his bloodshot eyes. He had clearly been crying, and that realisation floored her.
"Granger, stop trying to impersonate the noble King Arthur," he said softly with a weak sneer. "Zabini's fine. Gryffindor won the match. All is well. Now, please, go to bed or something." He turned back to stare at the fire and gulped down the last bit of his Firewhisky.
Aware of the fact that he was truly feeling miserable, Hermione decided to leave him alone and retreat to her dormitory. As she ascended the stairs, she briefly wondered where this overwhelming sense of sympathy came from, but she quickly dismissed it, concluding that it must have been from spending the day with George and witnessing Ginny have a hard time after they left.
She really hoped that by tomorrow morning everything would have gone back to normal, because feeling sympathetic toward the misbehaving Head Boy wasn't exactly part of her plan.