It's been a while (sheepishly rubs back of head). But, alas, real life does come first. In the daily, hourly schedule that I was forced to make due to the chaos in my life, there were no open slots for "Leisurely Writing Fanfiction". I've discovered that I have absolutely no time to write during the school year.

Breaks, however, I have time to write. So, at long last, I present Chapter 7 of Unfamiliar Territory. To the reviewers, especially the ones who make comments on my writing and have something to say other than the typical "update soon", I have read each one, and take everything you say into mind. I just had no time to respond to everything :(. To the followers/fav/alerters, thanks for popping emails in my inbox, otherwise I wouldn't get my butt into writing gear. And, of course, to Laura, thank you for being a great companion. I enjoy our conversations (even if I'm a little delayed in responding) and appreciate your editing.

Chapter 7: New Developments

It'll be for the better, they said. No harm will come to you, they said. What a bunch of bull—

Danny's mental cursing got interrupted by a branch scratching his cheek, the sharp thorns catching him off guard and leaving a long trail of blood across his face. The stinging pain made him hiss in annoyance, eyes briefly lighting up with a green hue.

His cold core nearly begged to be released, to have him allow the white transformation rings to glide over his body and replace Fenton with Phantom. Oh, he was so tempted—but he knew it wasn't allowed. Dumbledore had specifically warned him against revealing his ghostly persona to anyone or anything, including creatures in the forest. Information flowed around very easily; if anyone connected to Voldemort, regardless if they were human or not, were to spot him…not only would he be a new target, but the upper hand that Dumbledore had over the dark wizard would be lost. It was too much to risk.

Plus, the second he gave in, he'd be stuck dealing with Snape's taunts for days. Taunts of how he was weak without his ghost powers, about how he relied on them since he lacked the physical and mental competence to survive on his own.

Which would be somewhat hypocritical coming from someone who used magic on a daily, if not hourly, basis, but Snape wasn't one to care much about being fair.

He pumped his legs, willing himself to ignore the burn trickling across his body. With the amount of energy he was exerting, he was lucky he was half-ghost. No human would have lasted this long, sprinting around the dark Forbidden Forest away from a bunch of stick-up-their-asses centaurs.

He almost giggled at the thought of a stick actually getting stuck in that particular location, but an arrow landing in a tree trunk mere inches from his head reminded Danny what he was dealing with and motivated him to run faster.

For the love of—it had been an accident! One that could have easily been avoided had Dumbles and Sevy not manipulated him into "getting acquainted with the forest" and "seeing if creatures could sense his otherworldly gifts." Danny was starting to get the vibe that all they really wanted was to see how long he could last without using his powers.

Damn manipulative wizards.

It was all a miscommunication, honestly. Danny had been wandering around the so-called "Forbidden Forest" at midnight (unwillingly), when he came across a bow and arrow lying in an abandoned clearing. Out of curiosity and boredom, he had picked it up and began feeling it out by shooting some arrows into a nearby tree.

It was just a bow and arrow. He had assumed there was no harm done. It wasn't as if anyone had informed him that the Forbidden Forest was full of entities that Danny had only briefly heard about in fantasies or fairy tales. Entities that the bow and arrow might have…belonged to.

So how the hell, as someone who didn't know a single piece of information regarding magical creatures, was he supposed to know that the weapon belonged to the leader of a giant herd of human-prejudiced, territorial centaurs that would perceive his curiosity as intentional theft, thereafter gathering together to kill/stampede him to death?

Hm. He needed to sit down with Dumbledore one of these days. Really, would it kill the old man to have a list of safety precautions and/or warnings? Did everything in the wizarding world have to be completely unpredictable?

"You cannot outrun us, human!" a centaur bellowed. "You have trespassed on our turf and you shall pay!"

Knowing it would do no good, but doing it anyway, Danny screamed back, "It was an accident!"

But of course that did nothing to lessen the pace of the heavy hooves against the terrain. Danny was lucky for his small size; compared to the large, hulking forms of the centaurs, Danny was able to maneuver through thick vines and trees without much trouble. Without this advantage, he was sure they would have caught up ages ago.

Okay, think Fenton, he focused, ducking under a low-hanging branch. Heavy, bulky centaurs. Tiny, flexible you. There has to be somewhere in this forest where they can't follow me.

It took him a few minutes of running through bushes and sidestepping thick tree roots on the floor to finally realize.

Oh. Duh.

While still sprinting away from the herd, his eyes scanned around for a moderately-thick, tall tree. For his purposes, he'd need one that towered above the forest, but was thick enough to endure some weight on it.

There.

Finding one, he frantically threw himself halfway up a moss-covered dense oak tree, climbing quickly up it and onto its high branches. Once settled comfortable on a branch, he risked a nervous glance downwards, smiling slightly when he saw the herd's angry gazes towards him.

"What, got something against trees?"

He knew they couldn't climb. They had arms and hands, sure, but their equestrian bodies were far too heavy and ill-proportioned to be lifted up. And as far as he could tell, there were no wings either.

A smirk threatened to form on his face until the leader (or who he assumed to be the leader anyway) called out, "We could break down the tree and force you here."

Danny gulped. He hadn't thought of that.

There was a momentary pause. The leader continued, "However, we do not believe in destroying the earth for our selfish reasons." The centaur stepped back, his dark eyes glaring straight at Danny.

"You are not worth our time to wait until you eventually pass out from starvation or dehydration. However, be warned: if you ever trespass again, we will kill you."

And with that threatening promise slightly echoing in the air, the herd left him. A few briefly stayed behind to grunt threateningly at him, but they followed their leader nonetheless.

It took about a half hour until Danny felt comfortable enough to climb down. His advanced hearing didn't detect any noises (well, centaur-related noises anyway, any other creature was fair game) and he didn't have a nervous pit in his stomach warning him something was amiss.

Upon reaching the ground he immediately headed back the way he came, using a compass his father had given to him a few years back to track his way. Running from the centaurs hadn't allowed for him to remember his path, but the knowledge that the castle was west-bound was enough to get by.

It didn't take long to exit the forest. Years of playing cat and mouse with Skulker had prepared him for a situation like this. He had been more cautious this time around, making sure to watch where he was going and avoid any creatures he spotted.

Danny spotted the Potions master right away. Part of him wondered how the heck Snape knew where he would end up, and the other part of him that was exhausted and tired couldn't give a damn. He trekked over to Snape, afterwards collapsing onto the ground. He huffed and puffed in exertion at Snape's feet, while the gaunt man merely sneered at Danny's humility.

"How was your…gallivanting in the forest?"

The question earned a glare from Danny.

"Well, you certainly surpassed our expectations."

"And…the reason…for all that was…?" the halfa panted.

Snape explained, "Before moving onto magical combat, Albus wanted to ensure that your natural abilities were up to par.

"Also," he added, "We wanted to see how well you could adapt to random, adverse incidents. This is the wizarding world. As you become more integrated, you will be constantly bombarded with new creatures, events, and pieces of information. Due to this, we must have you thoroughly prepared for any scenario should it arise."

Blue eyes blinked, a small realization dawning in them. "You set…that…whole thing…up."

Snape didn't answer, but the coy smile at the edge of his lips was answer enough. Danny was somewhat troubled by the fact that these wizards could so easily steal a bow and arrow from an unsuspecting centaur and set a trap like that. If they could manipulate a terrifying, powerful herd of centaurs into unknowingly "testing" his "natural abilities"…who's to say they weren't using Danny as a pawn?

"Are…we…" Danny managed between strangled breaths, "done…now?"

"Not quite yet," Snape responded. "Albus has another…experiment…he would like to try with you."

And judging by the maniacal gleam in Snape's eyes, Danny wasn't going to like it one bit.

Sure enough, Danny was not quite appreciative of what the headmaster had in mind.

As he dodged a rapid jet of red light by practically ramming his body into the tiled floor, Danny Fenton reconsidered his judgment of Dumbledore's sanity. Or any of the wizards' sanity, really. Was what they were doing even legal?

"Would—you—hold—still?" Snape seethed, grunting while he directed a nonverbal stunning spell at his charge.

Then again, legality didn't mean much when it came to human-ghost hybrids, unfortunately. Particularly ones who had a secret identity and whose existence had not yet been noticed in the wizarding world.

"Would—you—stop—assaulting me?" Danny panted back, voice dry with scorn.

Before, Snape had led him to a mostly-empty dungeon at approximately two in the morning, the only items in the room being empty suits of armor that outlined the walls. Though Danny wasn't completely familiar with the castle's layout, he knew wherever Snape brought him was private and far enough away from sleeping students.

Danny had been wary enough when he agreed to "test out" magic on an ectoplasmic creature, i.e. himself. Being half ghost, thus also being constantly on the run from ghost hunters and scientists, Danny was thoroughly frightened by the concept of experimentation. He had seen enough of his parents' basement to have nightmares about being captured for the rest of his life.

His expectations had been to take it slow; to start out with simple, harmless spells and gradually move on to the bad boys. Yet, the second the door closed behind them, Snape wasted no time in raising his wand and screaming "Stupefy!"

Luckily, years of fighting ghosts had allowed him to transform quickly enough to hover towards the ceiling, out of the spell's path.

And then Snape had flung spell after spell at him, none of which were absorbed or blocked by his ghost shield. Danny had assumed that, similar to how the box ghost was unaffected by Umbridge, all it took was simple intangibility to phase through the spells.

His theory had been proven wrong immediately when Snape aimed "Descendo" at him and, in spite of his current intangible state, Danny was pulled by an unknown force that made him collide into the ground.

By that point, Danny was becoming very, exceedingly aware that magic held more of an effect on him than he previously assumed.

He flew all over the room, avoiding the endless amount of spells shot his way. A corkscrew here, a roundabout there—it was like dancing a ballet, but much more dangerous and probably much less graceful on his part. He had to admit: despite Snape's sleezy appearance and sluggish pace, the man knew how to fight with magic. Danny couldn't really decipher the intention of each spell or what they were designed to do, but the aura of power from them was unmistakable.

"Bombarda Maxima!" the Potions master shouted out, this spell seeming more intense than some of the others. Right as it was about to hit Danny head-on, he split his extendable body in half, reforming only after the spell created a giant explosion behind him.

He really needed to start learning this magic crap.

"Piertotum Locomotor!"

Danny reflexively dodged the attack, the beam of light hitting a suit of armor behind him. The half ghost turned to the spot where the spell had disappeared, a smug grin on his face.

"You know Sevy, I think someone's aim is a little off."

The sneer that came across Snape's face turned Danny's grin into a deep frown.

"On the contrary, ghost child."

The halfa opened his mouth to complain about the all-too-familiar nickname, but froze upon hearing a strange, metal-screeching noise behind him.

"What did you—"

Too quickly for him to turn around, something heavy tackled Danny to the ground. The wind got knocked out of him, and it took a few moments of waiting for air to fill his lungs to recuperate.

He blinked in confusion, dazedly realizing his attacker was one of the suits of armor surrounding the perimeter of the room. There were dull aches up and down his body from hitting the ground so hard. As his mind recovered, he phased through the armor, groaning at the pain this action caused.

"You see, Mr. Phantom," Snape spoke as he neared Danny, not even hiding his leering smirk, "Were you knowledgeable on the subject of magic, you would know that the spell I just cast is not a spell meant to harm an offender. Directly, at least."

Danny grunted, then decided to momentarily sit on the ground and rest for a minute. He sat himself a couple of feet from where the armor was still positioned, wary of it coming alive again. Snape watched his heavy pants, the expression on his face a cross between amusement and condescension.

Danny regarded his onlooker with a smoldering glare, before asking stiffly, "Was that really necessary?"

Rather than directly answer, Snape countered, "We now know that ghosts are more susceptible to magic than we presumed, do we not?"

Rolling his green eyes, Danny grumbled an incoherent response and looked away.

Snape stared at him, stoic now, and monotonously stated, "Our testing is not done here."

"Oh to hell it isn't!" Danny screamed, standing up, "In just one night I've ran a track marathon in some creepy forest, earned my name on the hit list of a bunch of crazy centaurs, and then forced into combat. No way. I'm so done right now."

Ignoring Danny's tirade, Snape said, "You seek answers. And in order to discover these answers, you must make sacrifices. Even if it involves physical or emotional pain."

The ghost hybrid stared at Snape oddly, somehow feeling that that piece of advice wasn't referring to the current matter at hand. Not sure how to respond, he muttered awkwardly, "Uh...sure...right..."

Snape then swiveled around, his cloak swishing dramatically due to the momentum. Immediately, Danny's stomach felt heavy with guilt. Grease head may have been annoying at times but...he was wise, of that Danny was positive. And he had a sinking feeling his wisdom stemmed from some misfortune in the past, something of the emotional nature.

Trauma had that effect on people. He would know.

As he stood there pensively, watching Snape make his exit, Danny belatedly realized that the potions master had just effectively avoided Danny's wrath by evoking his sympathy. Again.

Dammit, why does Snape always make me feel so freaking guilty?

"Shall we retreat to our quarters or would you prefer to stand there idiotically all night?" The jab halted Danny's thoughts, and suddenly that sympathy converted to annoyance once again.

"If it means not having to walk next to your clearly unhygienic hair, then maybe I will."

"As tempting as that option is, I unfortunately would rather avoid being charged with kidnapping a co-worker."

"Aw, Sevy, you upgraded from calling me a nuisance to calling me a co-worker. I'm touched!"

"You have five seconds before I close this door and lock you in there."

Danny sighed wistfully, "Damn, and risk missing out on breakfast? Fine, I'm goin', I'm goin'..."

They bantered like that back and forth until they reached their parting point in the hallways, one corridor going further down into the dungeons and the other which would eventually lead to the astronomy tower.

"You know, Severus, sometimes I think we'd be a pretty awesome married couple. If I wasn't already married, that is. And wasn't straight. Has England legalized gay marriage yet?"

Snape didn't even dignify his remark with an answer, instead speed walking down the hallway and muttering obscenities under his breath. Danny observed his departure with a grin deciding that, whether Snape agreed with it or not, they would be friends by the end of this year.

Perhaps not the kind of friends that had touchy-feely heart-to-hearts together and gave each other hugs all the time, but friends nonetheless. Without Mister "T.F.—as in, 'Too fine!'", Danny needed someone to nag at, particularly someone he could exchange witty banter with.

And considering the rest of the school were either petrified of him or convinced he should be locked in a mental asylum, Snape would have to do.

Besides, the man clearly had no companions here, aside from his confidante/boss Dumbledore. If there was one thing Danny hated, it was seeing someone lonely.

Just you wait, he thought, casually strolling in the hallway. You'll open up. One day. And maybe then I can invest in some shampoo for you.

The next day came much too quickly to Harry's liking, and he could tell his fellow suitemates felt the same way. Everyone groaned at the harsh beams of the sun trickling into the room. While stretching his arms over his head, Dean said, for the first time since Harry arrived at Hogwarts, "Mornin' mates."

Each in turn mumbled some sort of greeting, aside from Ron who rolled back over and buried his head beneath the pillow. "We're going to have to deal with everyone's gossiping crap today aren't we?" he whined, voice slightly muffled.

It took a minute for Harry to recall the events of the prior evening: the Box Ghost, hitting it with a Patronus charm, Danny Fenton, the unconscious students…

With a grimace, Harry responded, "Like we haven't been doing that already." He twisted his legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood up, working out the kinks in his joints. Across from him Neville was already out of bed, yawning while picking his uniform out for the day.

"Well who's to say anyone even knows about it?" Neville asked. He promptly received a few disbelieving looks.

Harry responded, "Not to be pessimistic, but nothing in Hogwarts is ever a secret."

Well, almost nothing anyway, Harry mused to himself, thinking of the Order.

Seamus, who like Ron was still buried beneath his pillow, wondered out loud, "So what do we do?"

Those whose heads weren't stuffed under pillows shared unsure glances. Eventually, when it was obvious no one had an answer, Neville offered, "Uh, try to ignore it and make the best of the day?"

Finally throwing aside his pillow, Ron remarked, "Neville, have you ever considered not being annoyingly optimistic?"

"Well, someone has to be!" he defended weakly, cheeks tinged a light pink color.

Off-handedly, Harry said, "Hey, Ron." When the redhead turned his head to face him, he pointed out, "Hasn't breakfast just started?"

As expected, the words suddenly motivated Ron to jump off the mattress and scuttle around, earning some sniggers from the rest of them. Personally, Harry was just as reluctant as Ron was to dealing with the gossip they were sure to come across, but he'd rather not bring tension among the five of them. Especially since, as it currently stood, they were the only students (along with Hermione) from the class that weren't currently knocked out in the infirmary. If they wanted to survive the thousands of questions and pestering thrown their way, they'd have to stick together and deflect everyone as best as they could.

While everyone else went about getting ready and finishing up, Seamus approached Harry quietly and, when it appeared no one was paying any bit of attention, muttered, "I'm sorry."

Harry blinked at the apology, eyes regarding Seamus blankly. From behind him, Dean approached the two of them and added, "Me too."

He looked between the two of them, eyes scrunched up.

"I guess we realized yesterday that in times like these we can't bail on our friends. Sorry mate. Had no reason to get riled up."

As if to include him in the explanation, Seamus nodded his head to Dean, who had gone back to quietly making the bed.

Harry stood in silence before nodding, a tiny smile gracing his features. "Okay."

"So we're good?"

"...Yeah. We're good."

Afterwards they acted as if nothing happened, though some of the bitterness that had been plaguing Harry for the past few days suddenly lifted. Seamus and Dean appeared visibly less tense, and if Ron or Neville noticed anything different they didn't voice it.

Once the five suitemates were all prepared, they put on their most neutral expressions and took off, ready for the battle ahead. By a stroke of luck no one was occupying the Gryffindor common room, saving them from having to face their fellow housemates. Harry knew it wouldn't be that pleasant all day, but felt a rush of relief flood through him regardless.

The corridors were the real problem. Right as they turned a couple corners and descended down a few stairs, occupants of the main hallway turned their heads and gaped, turning to their friends to whisper secretly.

"I don't like this," Ron mumbled nervously, "I really, really, really do not like this."

"Oh for the love of—"

But before he could finish his complaint, Harry suddenly knocked into someone and promptly fell on his arse from the collision. Eyes closed in a wince, he didn't get a chance to peek at the other person, but he heard them scramble up from the floor.

Great. I As if I'm not already on the hit list of nearly all of Hogwarts…

He stood up, avoiding eye contact by staring at the ground. Sighing, he finally faced the person he ran into, ready for an angry outburst or glare—

Only to freeze at the sight of Cho Chang's innocent eyes.

Bloody damn it, Harry inwardly cursed. Of all the times to bump (literally) into Cho, did it have to be now? He looked desperately to his comrades, but they had already detached from his side, walking briskly away from him. Harry swore to get revenge later before putting his attention on Cho and forcing a smile on his face. "Cho! Ah...Sorry about that…how are you?"

His crush-since-last-year smiled sweetly, albeit nervously, sending a burst of butterflies in his stomach. Half of him was overjoyed that, in spite of all the nasty rumors floating around about him, Cho hadn't immediately shown any signs of hatred towards him. Even despite the fact that he was kind-of-sort-of involved in her boyfriend's death (Or, uh, ex-boyfriend now, he supposed).

The other half of him wished that she had despised him. She certainly had the right too. He would rather endure her blaming him for Cedric's death and loathing him than being shown kindness. Kindness just made him feel guiltier than he already felt about the whole ordeal.

He ignored that train of thought to better look at Cho, take in her features. She was still Cho Chang, beautiful and pristine and doe-eyed, as always. Her hair was still a silky black and her bangs were elegantly cut, giving her a more mature look. Yet, Harry noted the smaller details that were...different. Like the bags under her eyes. The paleness to her skin. An extremely petite figure that signaled a lot of weight loss.

It was safe to say Cedric's death had hit her. Hard.

Her brown eyes searched his, while her lips pursed uncertainly and her lips drooped into a frown.

"I've been better," she answered. Her voice was subdued, much more than usual. Yet, there were no signs of anger or disdain.

Harry rubbed the back of his head, unsure where to go from there. He felt like he owed her something, but what could he possibly say to compensate for Cedric's death? 'Oh, sorry about your boyfriend. I didn't mean to drag him into my crazy life where everyone around me gets killed.'

Fortunately for him, she didn't bring up Cedric.

"How was your summer?"

Not that the topic of his summer was much easier to discuss.

"Er…it was okay. Nothing exciting happened." Except for being attacked by dementors and almost getting kicked out of Hogwarts.

"Have you had a good start to the school year yet?"

"Still a little too early to tell, but I hope so."

The tension within Harry's shoulders relaxed somewhat. Though the questions were mundane, she voiced them with actual interest. In fact, he hadn't detected any bitterness in her tone. Harry had imagined this conversation going downhill fast, but Cho treated him with courtesy and steered clear from any topics regarding last year.

Thank God.

"I heard that your class got caught up in something...bad. Is everything okay?"

Harry swallowed nervously, unprepared for the conversation to turn in that direction.

Yep, everything's just jolly! No need to worry, everything will be all right; I'm sure someone will fill you in later—

He almost blew her off, but one glance at the genuine concern on her face and Harry knew he couldn't lie.

"It was nothing, really. Just some silly old ghost—"

"A ghost?"

Had he been in his right state of mind, perhaps Harry would have realized that everyone in the hall had quieted down, all of them hanging carefully onto Harry's next few words, teachers included.

"I'm not sure, actually. It, um, was powerful. And capable of hurting us. Called itself the 'Box ghost'."

It was moments like these that Harry truly resented his lack of social skills. Could he be any more awkward?

Cho's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"That sounds so...weird. Is everything okay? I heard a lot of people were sent to the infirmary."

"Yes, of course. The professors came in and then Danny fixed—"

He halted halfway through the sentence, seeing Cho's eyes widen at the mention of "Danny". He could already see the gears turning in her head, probably making some weird connection between the box ghost and the ghost-hunting professor that even he had yet to discover.

Merlin, why did he just tell her all of that? All he had to do was give a polite apology and walk away. Instead he had stood there, rambling away all this unnecessary information and starting on a topic of conversation that could have easily been avoided.

"Um, well, I should get going. Y'know, breakfast and all. I think my friends are waiting for me," Harry said, trying to excuse himself from her as kindly as possible.

For the first time since Cedric's death, Harry watched Cho smile. It was small, more of a sad smile than a real smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Yeah, me too. Maybe I'll see you around."

Heart practically combusting in his chest, he stuttered, "Y-yeah! See you later." Skipping the goodbyes, he rushed towards the great hall, ignoring those staring at his most likely bright red face. He wondered how it was that he had stood up against Lord Voldemort with no problem, but when faced with Cho, made a blundering fool of himself.

Harry reached the Great Hall quickly, and he smartly dashed straight towards Ron and Hermione, not wanting to acknowledge the hundreds of heads that turned in his direction, eyeing his trek to the Gryffindor table. Even his housemates were watching him carefully, and the clear separation of Ron, Hermione and the Weasley twins from the rest of the house (or, at least, those not unconscious in the Infirmary) was impossible to miss.

"We need to talk," he stated, sitting next to Ron and blatantly ignoring the presence of the twins sitting across the table.

"I'll say," one of them said jovially. "First day of the American bloke being here..."

"...and there's already a ghost attack!" the other exclaimed excitedly.

Ron, while picking at his food, muttered in annoyance, "It wasn't a ghost."

"Oi! Fred, d'ya hear that? Ronnie-kins says it wasn't a ghost!"

"Not a ghost?" Fred banged his hands on the wooden table. "Preposterous!"

"Clearly it must have been Santa Claus," George said in a matter-of-fact tone, earning a snicker from Harry and an angry look from Ron.

Fred suggested, "Or maybe a toilet monster. Ron could've blown up one with that romp he made the other day; thing probably became alive and came back for revenge—"

Momentarily glancing at Ron's ever-reddening ears, Hermione cut in with narrowed eyes, "Don't you two have classes?"

The twins simultaneously scoffed at the question.

"Us?

"On time?"

"For class?"

They burst into hysterical laughter, and even Harry couldn't resist letting loose a chuckle. Hermione however was less amused, and stood from her spot haughtily.

Head raised slightly, she said in an even voice, "While you two attempt getting yourselves kicked out of school, I'll be in class." And with that she walked away, leaving Harry to wonder what class, exactly, she was going to.

He leaned over to Ron's ear, murmuring, "Isn't our first class in an hour?"

His best friend shrugged, pulling out his time table and reading down the list. "Yep. Charms with Ravenclaw, starting at 10."

"So where's she going?"

"Harry, you ought to know by now that no one ever knows what Hermione's doing."

Harry mulled over that curiously while the twins looked extremely mischievous from the other side of the table.

"George, do you reckon she was challenging us—"

"To get kicked out? Why, Fred, I do believe she was."

Without so much as a farewell, the redheads bounded out of their seats, cackling evilly down the hall. Ron grumbled curses under his breath, waiting till they exited the room to inform, "They've been asking about the Incident all morning."

He then turned to stare at Harry and asked curiously, "So what happened between you and Cho?"

Blushing in embarrassment, Harry redirected the topic. "Where did the others go?"

"Got scared off by my two wonky brothers before you came in. You didn't answer my question—"

"Has anyone heard anything about the students in the Infirmary yet?"

That topic of conversation seemed to hold Ron's attention, seeing as the redhead paused in his complaining and adopted a curious look on his face. Slowly, he responded, "No...not yet. I haven't heard from or seen anyone."

They sat in silence for a moment before Ron mused, "I wonder how they're going to play Quidditch..."

Harry sighed. He hadn't even thought about Quidditch—and he was one of the key players. Maybe the fact that he wasn't preparing for the games and feeling excited was a sign that he needed a distraction. Badly.

Later, he decided, he would pick up his Firebolt and go flying. For now, Harry finished his breakfast with Ron in comfortable silence.

When people started filing out of the Great Hall some time later, Ron asked, "Ready to go?"

Harry nodded, setting down his utensils and gathering his books. With his mental and physical exhaustion clouding his attention, he didn't notice Danny Fenton at the staff table, who had been watching his every move with curious eyes.

Harry knew his bushy-haired friend was up to something when Hermione came to Charms class after him and Ron. She had nearly missed the curfew, and Harry knew her too well to let it go as merely "running late". Because for Hermione Granger, "late" did not exist in her vocabulary.

It didn't help her case when she sat towards the back of the room with a smirk on her face.

Hermione never sat in the back. And she most definitely never smirked so mischievously.

Unfortunately, the start of the lesson ruined any chance of speaking with her; so Harry just faced forward and took down notes, figuring she'd fill them in later.

The lesson passed by quickly for once (perhaps due to the majority of the Gryffindor students missing), and Harry started when Flitwick clapped his hands and informed them that class was over. He scrambled hurriedly, hoping to catch Hermione, but a swift turnaround left him disappointed.

Now, in addition to arriving late, sitting in the back, and smirking evilly, she was intentionally ignoring him and Ron.

He contemplated discussing her weird behavior with Ron, but decided against it last minute. Ron was right. Hermione was on a mission; and Hermione on a mission was no one to be messed with. She'd tell them sooner or later what was going on.

At least, so he hoped.

This was my longest chapter to date. *claps excitedly*

It was especially difficult for me to write the second half of this. I never really liked Cho, and had to rewrite that whole section multiple times before I finally felt moderately content. If anyone has any criticism, please let me know.

While I can't promise that the next update will be relatively soon, I can say that I'm planning on editing the first few chapters and deleting/fixing things so that they make sense. That being said, those caught up won't have to reread anything to understand what's going on. However, if you do go back, there might be some new material added/possible scenes deleted. Not sure when this will get done…but we'll see.

IMPORTANT NOTE (sort of): If you're ever curious about the status of this story…I will have a story report at the top of my profile you can check. I don't plan on abandoning this, but updates will most likely be extremely slow in the future.

Until next time-

-Amanda