Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

[Page 245 - Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.]

"I can't believe I actually did that." Ron groaned, looking like he just ate a slug, which he unfortunately had a first-hand experience of. Harry patted his back sympathetically, knowing exactly how he felt right now. "Should've encouraged them, or at least participate in Fred and George's pranks to throw more snowballs at his turban."

"Yeah, it's a real pity we didn't get a chance."

"If we could only go back in time and slap ourselves..." They stopped, slowly turning to each other at a disturbingly same pace, like a character would in a cartoon. As if they had practiced it in their spare time, they whirled around on Hermione in sync, their eyes practically sparkling in hope and excitement.

"Ooookay." She hesitantly inched away from them. Living with them for years now had her develop a certain instinct for danger, and that instinct was blazing like mad in warning. "I am having a bad feeling about this."

"Hermione, do you still have that time turner from our third year?"

"No, Harry. I already told you, I gave it back to Professor McGonagall who would've returned it to the Ministry." Rolling her eyes, she allowed herself a small smile of relief. So that was what they were on about. Thank Merlin they weren't planning to do anything reckless -

"How hard do you think it will be to break in to the Ministry, then?"

"What?!"

All heads swiveled around at the direction of the shriek, startled out of their focus on the book. The bushy haired teen blushed and ducked her head, meekly holding up her hand in apology. "Sorry."

"Everything alright, Hermione?" Remus, his caring nature and teacher instinct kicking in, reached out to gently hold her shoulder in concern, frowning as he did so.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She squeaked, her too bright smile dampened by the panic in her eyes. "Really, everything's great, nothing to worry about! You can, uh, just go back to the reading! Don't want to miss out Harry's little mishaps, do you?" She laughed nervously, and even without her wavering voice, Remus could tell she was lying or at least holding back something. Years of living with the Marauders enabled him with the power of sensing lies, after all. Not even James could hide something from him even if he tried his best, though that may be because of having to endure his antics for far too long.

"Who the hell is Quirrell anyways? Oi, Remmy, do you know who he is?"

With a last frown to the Gryffindor - who did her best to nod encouragingly and look innocent, despite the agitated twitching of her eye - he reluctantly turned to his friend, chastising for the upteenth time that day to not call him Remmy when he has a perfectly respectable name and why are you interested in the late professor, anyways? Of course that lead to an argument concerning the moral of intentional murder. ("I don't like the sound of him. If he hurt Harry in any way - although it seems unlikely, getting scared of his own shadow, that poor guy - I'll have to know who he is to hunt him down, don't I?")

After a through check that everyone had turned their attention back to the reading, including Remus who was in a rather heated conversation with Sirius, she whipped around to the two boys, hissing under her breath in fury, shock and almost hysterics coloring her tone. "Are you nuts? You can't be seriously thinking of breaking into the Ministry! Please tell me your joking, Ronald, or I swear I'll tell your mother about this."

"No, no, just hear us out for a minute, okay?" Ron gestured wildly for her to calm down, glancing behind him at her mother. Try as he might, to him, his mum would always be the scariest person to ever walk the face of the Earth. He wouldn't be even surprised if she killed Bellatrix herself in a fit of rage. "With the time turner, we would be able to travel back in time! We can't outright change the past, of course, I know that much obviously, but maybe we can drop some hints here and there or research for years without wasting a second in the present!"

"Yeah, and maybe we might find something to help us fight Voldemort - seriously? It's just a name, Ron - in the past!" Harry exclaimed in hushed tone, his excitement barely repressed. Hermione had to grin at their beaming expressions, so proud of themselves for thinking about it. It almost made her guilty for bursting their bubbles. Almost. But better to point out their errors than have them running around, creating disasters in the past, present and future.

"I'm sorry to tell you this but the time turner can only go back a few hours, a day at the most. Not to mention how complicated and difficult it is to be in the past without altering anything and just a tiny action, like stepping on a leaf, can change the future drastically! And you will still age so when we finally get to our original timelines, we would be older than our friends."

"Oh." A disappointed sigh. "So much for that idea than."

"It was creative." She offered, a weak attempt of encouragement. Suddenly, her gaze turned thoughtful, cocking her head slightly to the side as was her usual habit when in deep thoght. "Huh. Do you think the Author-"

"The author?"

"The one who wrote the book" She clarified, looking mildly annoyed at being interrupted. "Do you think he or she used a time turner to send that book to us? I mean, it's not too outrageous to think more improved versions of the time turner will be invented in the future which will allow its user to go years into the past..." She trailed off, blushing slightly at their intent stares. "It's just a guess. Probably nothing."

"No, that's bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, clapping her back. "You're a genius, Hermione!"

"It's just a hunch." She shrugged, trying to downplay it, but she looked rather pleased at the compliment.

"Big cheer for the brain of our team, eh?" Harry made a gesture of raising a toast, winking playfully. "But who do you think came here, then? Maybe it's you! Merlin knows you are the wisest out of us, so you would be able to come to the past without mixing up the past events."

"No, its more logical to think one of the adults came." She shook her head, immediately shooting that theory down. "Much more responsible and they'll know what to do better than me."

"Who's to say you aren't already an adult by then?"

"And you've experienced what's it like going into the past while they don't."

"Well, I'll be very curious to find out what I would become in the future. I'll make sure to ask what you two are up to as well." The trio laughed lightly, oblivious to the curious and somewhat fearful looks sent to their ways, wondering what they were scheming now.

[Page 245 - "Hermione, the exams are ages away." "Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."]

"But we're not six hundred years old." Dean deadpanned, unknowingly quoting after Ron. "How can you even start studying months before exam, anyways?!"

"Wait, you don't study it for months?" Came shocked exclaims from various parts of the Hall - though not all of them were from Ravenclaws despite the stereotypes - causing the Gryffindor to blink in shock. "I always study it for like, a week or something. Don't you?" He looked around desperately, not wanting to believe he was the only one in that studying habit. To his utmost relief, he was met with a sight of quite a lot of hands raised in the air.

"If you keep studying like that your grades will get lower and lower!" Emily protested, her brows pinched together into a tight frown. Obviously, she was still struggling to believe he had managed through the tests just by a week of studying. "The context gets more complex by each year and the sheer volume to memorize alone takes at least a week to perfect!"

"...oh? Well, I don't really, uh, perfect my memories. Just, you know, make sure I know most of it." Dean cut himself off with an audible click. Not meeting the incredulous stare of the Hufflepuff, he fiddled with the hem of his shirt, silently praying to every god in existence for someone - anyone - to get him out of the situation. His unexpected salvation came in the form of a very large arm snaking around his neck.

"I like him already! He's our kind of guy, don't you think, Sirius? Always told Remmy here he really shouldn't start worrying so much, and so early as well, but does he listen? No!" He shook his head disappointedly, oblivious to Dean squirmed uncomfortably in the loose headlock that he had formed absentmindedly. Sirius piped up, spreading his arms in his ever dramatic way, accidentally knocking Remus out of his seat in the process. "Beware you all adventurers who dare to venture into his path, lest you come between him and his studies!"

"Please don't drag me into this." Remus groaned into his hands, slouching even farther into himself as muffled giggles and snickers scattered throughout his former students.

"Aww, I love you, too, Remmy." Sirius cooed. He threw himself at him, his arms spread wide and his lips sticking out ready to plant a deep kiss. Instead, he was met with a hand square in the face, held at an arm's length by a very unamused friend. "Ummmph!"

"Anyways," James nudged the Gryffindor a bit to grab his attention, his grinning figure looming over him quite ominously. "Are you a friend of Harry?" It was downright scary to watch his face turn from a bright and mischievous prankster to deadcalm and Dean wasn't embarrassed to admit he had almost wet his pants. As he always told Seamus, bravery and foolishly refusing to run away from the face of death when you still have a chance were completely different things after all.

"Umm, we're on a speaking term?" He squeaked out, too terrified to make it sound firm nor confident and honestly not really caring at the moment.

"Don't worry, I don't bite. Except for Sirius over there. He actually bit someone when he messed with our friends. Nearly ripped off his fingers, he did." He grinned, but the reassurance only sent even more chills down the Gryffindor's spine. "I just wanted to know if you're okay. I really don't want a kid around who's a two faced brat." A light scowl darkened his face, the unwanted memories forcing its way on to his mind. The day he realized the kid he'd considered his best friend was just after his family's money and fame had been had been the first time he got a taste of the real world. His parents, as loving as they were, did their best to provide everything he could want with unlimited love and care, but even they couldn't protect him from the anger and sorrow after the betrayal. He was really glad to meet Sirius and Remus, of course, and he knew they would always have his back. But ever since then, a sliver of treacherous doubt had always lingered in the back of his mind. He knew Harry had his fair share of betrayal and sorrow and he'd never forgive himself for not being there to help him. But now he was alive - he didn't know how or why but he was infinitely grateful for it - and he wouldn't let his son suffer the same thing if he could help it, not anymore.

"Oh, if you mean I'm here because he's the 'Boy-Who-Lived', then you don't need to worry about that Mr, uh, Potter." He stumbled over his words, but James merely nodded, encouraging him to go on. "I'm not really big on being rich or famous - from what I've heard so far, it sounds downright tiring and annoying - and, well, not to be offensive, but it's rather a bad time to support Harry for his fame what with the Minstry claiming he's delusional."

Dean winced, convinced he had just dug his own grave, and looked up carefully. He was throughly shocked, however, when he was met with the sight of him grinning widely and not the semi-sinister kind he had made before. "Relax, kid, I believe you. Sorry for being so straightforward," Sirius snorted near him. Unfortunately, he was still face planted on the hand of Remus, and a sliver of saliva shot out of his mouth, drawing an undignified yelp from the werewolf. "But I just had to check, you know, just in case. Can't have some bootlickers fawning all over my son, yeah?" He winked good-naturedly, patting the boy's back once. The Gryffindor grinned back tentatively, but nearly jumped out of his skin when a loud thunk! sliced through the air like a whip. Much to his relief, he soon found out it was not some sort of explosion by dead-but-not-so-dead parents to punish him for insulting their son but was in fact, Harry's head making a rather heavy contact with the table. The raven haired teen didn't seem to even notice the pain. Instead, he merely covered his face as if trying to convince himself that if he couldn't see the world, then the rest of the world won't be able to see him, too. It didn't work, of course. But since he was trying so hard, Dean decided against commenting on it.

"Oh, dear Merlin."

"Hey, no need to get embarrassed, now. That's just a tip of the iceberg of what I'm capable of doing in public without even batting an eye."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake - oh god, oh god, oh god - "

Harry kept moaning into his arms, which he had sought refuge in, burying his face in it and curling up into a small ball. It was clear he would rather be anywhere else than here, his face practically on fire from how red and hot it was. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel warm fuzzy glow in his stomach at seeing how his dad had looked out for him, but that still didn't mean he didn't feel utterly embarrassed by it. Honestly, he knew his family tended to be quite protective but threatening a friend? God, he wanted to crawl into a rat's hole. Preferably without any rat in it. After the whole Peter Pettigrew fiasco, he wasn't particularly fond of that particular four legged mammals at the moment.

Ron merely sniggered at Harry's discomfort - that prat. Maybe it was time to change his best friend, preferably to someone who actually sympathizes with him in these situations. Neville, perhaps? He was really nice and they did get along very well, especially these days what with the whole DADA and reading his life thing. Harry huffed, squinting at Ron who pointedly turned away from his glare and cocked an eyebrow at James.

"So if you want to check his friends who might be greedy bastards in disguise, why aren't you interrogating us?" He gestured at Hermione and himself, his feigned disinterest barely hiding his genuine curiosity.

"Well, I'm pretty sure sticking up to him for years despite the troubles he often get you lot into is enough proof that you're worthy of being my son's friend."

"Daaad!"

"James, stop embarrassing him! Apologize, now."

"Alright, alright." James yelped, keeping well out of the arms reach of the ginger witch, then held Harry's hands with his both hands and looked at him dead in the eye. "Harry, I am so sorry for being such a fabulous dad."

Needless to say, Sirius and a handful of other students nearly got hospitalized for lack of air from laughing so hard.

[Page 247 - "Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St -"]

"Do you want to get him into trouble?" Ginny threw up her hands, shaking her head in disbelief. "Shouting things like that in the library like that... honestly, if someone overheard you - which would be extremely easy, by the way, considering how quiet it is in there - they'll immediately think Hagrid told you that!"

"I didn't mean to..." Ron huffed, the tip of his ears reddening.

"Where were you when they were shouting out stuff like that, Hermione? One of your role is to make sure they don't do anything stupid!"

Zacharias Smith snorted, leaning back with his arms crossed in front of him. "Yeah, like we can trust her with that. She'll probably just jump in with them. Maybe keep nagging them and lecture about the importance of the rules while she's at it like a teacher's pet she is. Honestly, I don't know why so many people think she's the perfect student when all she's good at is stuffing things written on paper into her brain and annoy the rest of us constantly. Really, the Basilisk would've done everyone a favor if it had killed her off - ACK!"

A blinding burst of light, and he was on the ground, squawking and thrashing with his hands clutching at his face. For a while, nothing could be heard other than the Hufflepuff's desperate cries as they were frozen on the spot, trying to process what just happened and debating whether they should help him.

Hannah was the first to step forward cautiously, slightly concerned for him but not that much to immediately jump to his rescue. Even Hufflepuffs weren't that fond of him, either, believe it or not, due to his showing off in front of his peers but running away with flimsy excuses whenever he had to sacrifice his own gains. She was shocked when he had actually agreed to join the DA when she had been so sure he just came to listen to what happened at that day at the maze. But to actually see him sign his name even with the risk of Umbridge finding out had given her a bit of doubt about his bad reputation. Well, considering what he said a little while ago, it seemed he was going to keep his bad image.

"Hey, Smith, stop - ow! - moving for Merlin's beard and stay still! Ouch!"

"Oi, quit squirming!"

"Oof - does he even want help? He does know we're trying to help, right - ugh! That really hurt!"

With the help of two Hufflepuffs and two Gryffindors, they finally managed to secure him in a tight grip, one for each arm and leg with Hannah on top of his him, using all her body weight to keep him from lashing out suddenly - only to accidentally let go at the shocking sight in front of them.

"Is he alright?"

Colin peered over the older teens' shoulders, eyes wide in curiosity and a tinge of fear at the continued silence. The ever present camera wasn't in his hands, unfortunately, as he might've got quite a good blackmail material if he had.

"What in the world - ?!"

Lower part of Zacharias' face had been transformed into a pig's snout, the round nose constantly twitching and sniffing in the air like he was smelling for some delicious sweets. Thick red tongue rolled out of his mouth, bits of saliva dripping out much to their disgust and there were even some thick furs sticking out from his pink chin. Thick trail of snot ran down to both sides of his head from his enormous nostrils, narrowly missing his ears, which would have been unfortunate if it had indeed pooled in his ear drums. Warts in various sizes and colours covered his entire body, not a single smooth patch of skin visible. His eyes were screwed shut, more in fear than pain, afraid to open them and see what had become of his face.

"What the hell happened to me?! I'll sue them! I'll expel them right out of this school! This is a crime, an attempt of murder!"

He screamed, and screamed even harder when he took a peek and saw a pink... thing hovering in front of his eyes. The five who held him had to abandon their job to cover their ears, especially Hannah who was in the direct path of his yells.

"Bloody hell, is he even capable of shutting up?"

Ron scowled, but anyone who knew him well enough could see a tinge of smugness and glee from his eyes. Hermione frowned at him disapprovingly - but he could easily see she really didn't mean it - while Harry high fived him, clapping his back. Ron just shrugged at the accusing look from his mother, blinking innocently. "What? I haven't done anything. How could I perform, what, at least three hexes from what I can see - one which is rather complicated transfiguration - so fast?"

"He has a point, Molly."

James grinned, while Remus in the background made sure Sirius would not die from lack of air for the second time that day. Madam Pomfrey hurried to the wailing teen, all the while muttering about 'kids and their non-existing awareness of safety these days', and quickly waved her wand over him.

"Oh, do stop whining, Mr. Smith. These are just basic jinxes, except for the half-finished transfiguration into a pig, but none of these should cause you any pain at all. Miss. Abott, you can step away now."

"Right." Hannah nodded, stumbling backwards with her ears ringing, only Susan's firm grip keeping her from falling on her bottom. Apparently, deafening voice was one of the after effect of the combined jinxes.

"Here, sit down."

Hannah blinked, frowning up at the two faces hovering over her. Woah, was Smith's screaming so powerful that she was having a double vision?

"Oi, Hannah - "

"You okay?"

"Quick, how many fingers am I holding up?"

Oh, wait, that was just the twins. One of them raised three fingers at her - how rude, pointing at somebody at such a close distance - while the other checked her forehead. Hmm, she really should learn how to tell them apart, it was getting really tiring calling them 'one' and 'the other' in her head. Perhaps she could ask Harry? He did have a certain knack of knowing which was which and had proven himself far more observant than she had first taken him for, after all.

"Hannah? Come on, how many fingers?"

"Hmm?" Blinking, she squinted at the offending limb, which was blurred for some reason. How queer. The world itself seemed blurred, the edges dissolving out of focus, the colours overlapping each other. She was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be like that...

"Oi, Hannah! How many?"

"Three." The Hufflepuff scowled, batting away his hand. "And who are you anyways?"

"Oh, dear Merlin." The one holding up the annoying finger breathed out a soft curse, while the other - see? This was exactly why she needed their names and was his head on fire but he didn't look to be in any pain, perhaps the bottom of the flame wasn't as hot as its top? - scrambled to his feet, yelling on top of his lungs all the while. "She needs professional help! Madam Pomfrey!"

"Susan, who is he?" Thinking stressing it enough would help her understand, Hannah pointed one sitting across her. And blinked, letting out a surprised oh! as her finger met with warm flesh. A nose. And attached to it, a boy's face looking extremely dumbfounded and flustered that she found quite adorable. Giggling, Hannah poked his nose again, and let out another giggle when his wide eyes darted away from hers, looking lost and a tad bit scared.

Not that she really paid any attention to it. She was rather busy giving his freckled nose another poking.

"Your nose is so... so, squishy."

"Uh, thanks?" He squeaked. Heh, squishy and squeaky. Did that rhyme? She was pretty sure it rhymed. Squishy, squeaky, squishy, squeaky...

"There, now, what seems to be the problem?" Oh, the boy on fire was back! And a lady was waving a stick around her. Strange. The squishy, squeaky boy was gone , though. How rude. She liked his nose!

"Nothing to worry about, dear. Just a small side effect. She would be a bit drowsy for couple of minutes, but she would be as good as new. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go see the others."

And the stern looking lady was gone and a girl's face took her place. She looked... worried. But why was she worried? Maybe she was worried for the boy on fire. Did the fire spread to the rest of his clothes, now? Did a curtain get caught by the fire? Was she on the fire? "You alright, Hannah?"

"Yep! Good as new!" The Hufflepuff exclaimed happily, and, to further prove her point, proceeded to stand up and twirl around. Naturally, she fell face first onto the ground. "Oof!"

"Right, let's get you fixed up." Susan chuckled. Grunting, she pulled the humming girl next to her so her head rested on her shoulder. She almost lost her grip when Hannah suddenly flailed, her face lighted up by a sleepy grin. "Oh, I know you! You're the fire boy! Can I touch your nose? I wanna touch your nose."

"I think she means your hair, Fred." The ginger head nodded slowly, cautiously patting his head to confirm that, yes, he wasn't actually on fire. George, on the other hand, was just wishing she'd come to her senses soon. The outstretched finger poking his cheek was really starting to freak him out.

[Page 248 - "But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."]

"Guess my constant chatter finally paid off, eh?" Charlie grinned, but everyone knew his smile was too bright, too forced and had zero effect on lightening the mood. The Golden Trio were especially agitated, glancing back and forth between Hagrid's worried face and Umbridge's giddy look. All of them knew that if the book revealed that the half-giant had a dragon in his custody - which was highly likely - she would ship him straight to Azkaban.

Understanding the pleading gaze Harry was sending to her, Ginny turned to the nearest person to her - who happened to be Sirius - and started chatting away. "Hey, did you see that fashion magazine last week?

"Uh, I'm sorry, what?" Thump. Pained gasp. "Yes! Right, fashion, my favorite! Always wanted to be a designer, or a model. I certainly don't lack any looks."

"Hmm, maybe. You'll look good with a nice suit, I should think."

"I'll look good with anything! But not green, never that. Dulls my eyes."

Their constant - and rather ridiculous - conversation spread out after a beat of silence, the topic ranging from their diet to the reading sessions, and after ten minutes, one couldn't pick up anything properly as the sentences mingled with each other. Meaning, it was safe to talk about anything without worrying about a certain eavesdropping toad. A perfect opportunity that the three Gryffindors didn't miss.

"What're we gonna do?" Harry hissed desperately, mentally noting to thank Ginny later. "We can't let Umbridge get Hagrid!"

"I know, I'm trying to think - " Hermione bit her lips in frustration. Her hair seemed to puff up as if sensing her mood, and she forcefully tugged a handful of hair like she was trying to wrench open a door on the side of her head to pluck out an idea.

"Maybe we could, I don't know, burn the book?" Ron offered weakly, but was immediately shot down. "No, it didn't even say anything about Voldemort returning. We need it to prove he's actually back!"

"And you need to include us in your discussion."

Harry yelped, ungracefully falling into Ron in his haste to get away from the breathy whisper right next to his ear.

"Fred! You gave us a heart attack!"

"I'm not Fred, he is." George retorted, looking almost relieved and rubbing his cheek for some reason. He flopped down onto Harry's original seat without an ounce of shame, while Fred nudged Hermione to the side, slinging his arms around her who was too flabbergasted to even protest. Ron scowled at the two, gently helping Harry to sit.

"You see, if one plans to trick a professor-"

"Who's also a Ministry officer no less."

"-one simply cannot have a discussion about it without including us in it."

"Not to mention us, or have you really forgotten the members of your own club?"

Neville popped in, Fred scooting to the side to give him some space. "You have a whole army of trained wizards and witches under your command and you don't even consider us in the plan of yours? I'm hurt, guys, I really am."

"Neville, I - we can't possibly ask you to go against Umbridge! You're in a big trouble as it is with how DA's activities will be recorded in the book, and - "

"And it would be really great if we could go out with a bang." Susan cut in, looking far too amused at the trio's expressions. Hannah gave a cheery wave close behind her. Instead of sitting down, she swaggered over and rested her chin right on her friend's head, her arms loosely wrapped around her neck. She gave a sleepy smile at their incredulous looks while Susan merely adjusted her position beneath her, not even bothering to put up a protest. Clearly, she was still under the side effects of the pig-banshee scream. "It's like you said, Harry. We're already going to get expelled anyways, better do something worth it before our inevitable doom. Besides, we all know Hagrid and he deserve better than getting shipped to Azkaban after decades of keeping us safe from the horrors of the Forbidden Forest. Time to return the favor, yeah?"

"But-"

"If your next sentence consists any variation of why we can't help you, I swear to god, I'll strangle you myself, Boy-Who-Lived or not."

That did the trick. Harry scooted closer to Ron, almost sitting on his lap in his haste to put as much distance between him and the murderous Hufflepuff. "Glad that's settled then." Fred rubbed his hands together giddily. "Now, let's get back to planning to overthrow the Ministry, yeah?"

"We could rip out a page or two."

"When it's standing right in front of professors? No way. We're gonna get caught before we've even taken five steps."

"We could cause a big distraction." George offered, snorting as Hannah happily exclaimed, "boom!". "Shouldn't be much of a problem. I have some prototype joke toys right here. Would be nice to test them out at this chance."

"How about a dungbomb?" Fred suggested. He started digging into his pockets, his arm sinking right up to his elbow. "Hang on, I swear I put it right here somewhere - " a muffled crash. "Ah, bugger! See, this is why I told you we needed to enlarge our bags, not our pockets, Georgie. I can't find a single thing without knocking into everything!"

"Well, it wouldn't really matter if you can find it or not." Hermione cut in, quick to pull his arm out before his awkward position drew too much unwanted attention. "Us three in the book will try help Hagrid get Norbert to safety, and even you can't keep the chaos going through the whole chapter."

"Not to mention they could just reread the last paragraphs."

"So we have to talk Umbridge and the Minister out of sending Hagrid to Azkaban?" Susan made a face. "Doesn't sound too promising."

"Merlin, how are we going to do this?"

"Oh, I don't know, start by including the only dragon tamer in the room to the discussion?"

"Charlie!"

The older Weasley sibling winked. "The one and the only!"

"And don't forget me!" Bill grinned, smoothly wedging himself between the twins in one fluid motion. Blowing a kiss at Hermione's exasperated, "Where do you guys keep popping up from?", he slung an arm around Harry, effectively shielding him from the prying eyes. "'Sup, kiddos. What's the plan so far, then?"

"Nothing much. Their entire plan is just talking to Umbridge and the Minister and praying they'll regain enough common sense so they won't throw Hagrid into prison." Ron yelped at the sudden voice right next to his ear, accidentally knocking off Harry's glasses. "Ginny!" The said fourth year blinked innocently, Luna looking far too amused to his liking as she, too, somehow appeared out of thin air right behind him. "Heya, brother! Miss me?"

"So not much hope, then?" Fred brought them back on track with the ease of someone who'd lived too long with too many siblings. It was quite a usual thing for them to jump from one topic to another without a single moment of pause, leaving all those around them bewildered and scrambling to try to catch up.

"Well, I could, hypothetically speaking, be coincidentally positioned as guard for our dearest friend Hagrid if it comes down to it and the spells could fail by some bizarre misfortune and allow the guilty criminal to slip past."

"And none of your practice as cursebreaker has any part in it?" Bill spread his hands out, eyes wide and head cocked slightly to the side. "Me? Break a law right in front of the Minister's nose? Never!"

"Guess the prankster blood runs deep in your family then, huh?"

"Where do you think we learned about pranking in the first place?"

"...oh."

"But we can't just talk to the Minister." Harry protested. He would not let his friend, the first person ever to care about him because he was Harry, not the famous Boy-Who-Lived, be carted off like some serial killer right in front of his eyes. He couldn't. Even if Bill did manage to somehow break Hagrid out of jail, he would be forced to hide for the rest of his life. "I, I can't - I can't just let them - "

"Hey, hey, Harry, listen to me." Harry inhaled sharply, his bright green eyes jerking up to meet Bill's. "Calm down, alright? Breathe. That's it. Just do as I do, yeah?"

"But, Hagrid - "

"Is going to be absolutely fine." Bill stated firmly. At the younger teen's skeptical look, he sweeped his arm around at the group clustered around them. "Let's do a headcount here. Two greatest prankster in the century," the Weasley twins literally preened at that, their chests puffing out proudly. "One smartest witch of her generation," Hermione blushed. "Two extremely loyal and quite vicious Hufflepuffs," Hannah gave a giggly laugh as she realized he was talking about her. "One intelligent Ravenclaw who can solve any seemingly impossible problems in the most unique way," Luna merely smiled politely at that. "And, of course, bunch of Weasleys with a fiery temper and a locked on a single goal. Not to mention two of them is a dragon keeper and a curse breaker with some rebellious streak." Bill grinned, nudging Harry in the side. "See? There's no way anyone will get through us to Hagrid."

"Oh.. I, um - but this would mean going against the Minsistry. Are you sure - "

"Absolutely."

Harry blinked, taken aback by his firm statement. He ducked his head, a small blush creeping up his cheeks. "I - ...thank you."

"You're very welcome." Bill chirped cheerfully, not commenting on how thick and shaky his voice had sounded.

"Or I could come up with some laws about dragons." Charlie suggested. "Like, I don't know, a law that allows one to keep a dragon for a short amount of time if, uh, the person's trying to protect it?"

"You do realize pleading for the safety of a baby dragon wouldn't change the mind of the most bigoted person we've ever had the misfortune of meeting, right?"

"Not to mention it will backfire horribly if they find out we tricked them. I mean, they work in the Ministry for reason. They can't be that daft."

"Well, actually - "

"One of them's a Minister. Surely he knows the laws, I mean, he would've made some of them!"

"..."

"You know what? Forget it. Let's just get back to protecting Hagrid."

Harry felt Bill chuckle, the low vibration tingling his back from where it was pressed against the older Weasley's chest. As he watched the group continue to bicker and bounce around ideas at each other he could allow himself a small smile. Because he knew with these most brilliant and amazing people he could call his friends, there was no way anything bad could happen.

[Page 249 - "Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," ... "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."]

"She's got quite a bit of Slytherin in her." Daphne commented amusedly, absentmindedly nuzzling her sister's hair. "Perhaps Potter's rubbing off them, though I doubt Weasley would ever be that subtle."

"A Gryffindor is still a Gryffindor. Potter's no better than the rest of them. A filthy disgrace to the wizard kind, he is." Draco scoffed, his familiar haughty posture back in full force. Daphne shrugged in response. There was no point in bothering to reply when he was like this as they'd had the misfortune to experience. Honestly, one would think he had a crush on the Gryffindor from how he'd talk nonstop about him. Granted, most of them were insults but they could easily be taken as a childish squabble who didn't want to admit he had a feeling for the other. In fact, half of the Slytherin house were convinced the young Malloy was in love with the Gryffindor. Blaise had actually screamed at him to grow some balls and just ask him out already after hours of endless 'Potter Talk'. Draco had sulked for a week after that incident.

"Five sickles Potter and him ends up together."

"In the book or in real life?"

"Either." Blaise shrugged. "Doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Hmm, I don't know... Potter seems oblivious to the attention he's getting. At least, he doesn't think of it in a positive way..." Theodore trailed off, chewing his lower lip as he considered. "Ten sickles."

"Done." Blaise grinned, giving the other teen a firm handshake to seal the deal. "Just get your money ready by the end of the book. There's just no way none of them gets the hint and make a move."

"What're you two snickering to yourselves about?"

"Nothing!"

"Nothing you need to concern yourselves about."

Draco squinted suspiciously, and Daphne barely managed suppress her snort. They needed to do better than that or they'd be caught red handed.

"Daphne..."

Twisting her body to face her sister, Astoria tugged on her sleeve, a hint of whine in her voice. Without a further prompting - because no one could say no to her when she put on her puppy eyes - Daphne handed a galleon to Astoria, who immediately bounded over to the two boys and placed her bet on the two becoming a couple. She wasn't particularly worried she'd lose her bet, only amused how deeply engrossed her sister seemed to the pairing. 'Drarry', they'd apperantly decided to call them. Nice name, catchy and easy to remember. From the looks of it, the whole Slytherin house would join the betting by the end of the day, the whole school of Blaise decided to push it.

Well, she couldn't let such an opportunity go to waste now, could she?

Allowing herself a small smile, she approached the three, producing another galleon as she did so.

[Page 249 - If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything - except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.]

The trio winced, their posture hunched down in order to draw as less attention to themselves as possible. Of course, it didn't work as well as they would have liked. Though rest of their friends proved to be an excellent cover to hide behind from - each taking a refuge behind at least one Weasley by not-so-subtly twisting their body closer to them - they could still practically feel a burning hole being drilled into the back of their heads. They didn't need to look up to know that the intense glare was from a certain Potions Master.

"Oh, god, he's gonna murder us in our sleep." Ron shuddered, not daring to shift his gaze higher than where it was fixed on his shoes, lest he meet the murderous glare and spontaneously burst into flames and die. At least, he was pretty sure there was a spell for that, and he sure as hell wasn't going to test his luck. Subconsciously, he tightened his hold of his twin brothers, cutting off their air supplies as he had them in a rather vicious choke hold. Fred writhed, unable to usher up enough air for a shout of some kind while George desperately started hitting his younger brother's arm to get his attention, his face blue.

"He'd probably just poison us." Harry groaned, peeking out nervously between his fingers. Bill snorted, amused, when the teen let out a high pitched squeak and ducked behind him when he met Snape's glare. "Just a few drops in the dishes and no one would be wiser."

"Oh, be reasonable. He's a professor, he wouldn't kill us." Hermione huffed, but adjusted her position behind Luna and Ginny as well. The boys instantly caught her action, as well as her chewing on her nails - a nervous tick of hers - and immediately started moaning.

"We're doomed."

"We are dead. We are dead and they are not going to even find our bodies-"

"Yep. Hermione, you have a higher probability to survive so if you find me dead tomorrow, burn my body and scatter the ash across the Chudley Cannons game field. Or just mail it straight to the Chudley Cannons, I don't care. Or better yet, sprinkle it across the team poster or-"

"Ronald, don't be ridiculous. No one's going to die and I'm certainly not going to burn your body. We just made a mistake - "

"That will cost us our lives."

" - and everything will be revealed by the book so we don't have anything to worry about - "

"Yeah, destroy every evil plan of his! Don't let him get us, Harry!"

Harry arced a brow at her, the unspoken, you were saying?, practically written on his face. Hermione cringed, the heat behind the uncomfortable prick behind her head increasing tenfold as Justin kept cheering at the book. "Okay, so maybe we have to worry a little bit." She relented, cringing yet again as he let out another whoop.

"We're gonna die." Ron stated firmly, his eyes hollow and gaunt, staring off into space. Harry nodded grimly beside him as the whispers resonated around them, half of the school joining in the cheer. Which left Hermione torn between huffing angrily and wrecking her head for a spell to turn herself invisible.

[Page 250 - But he already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.]

"An egg?" Minister frowned. He darted a quick glance at the half-giant's bulky form, only to be blocked by Professor McGonagall. One stern glare and he hurriedly faced forward without another word. She was one of the only people - Lily Evans, Marauders themselves and each of their parents the only ones possessing the rare talent - who could shut the Marauders up, after all. But the tension still hung in the air, thick and suffocating.

"I'm sure it's nothing. Just some weird giant man-eating platypus, or something." Lisa offered.

"Giant man-eating platypus." Terry stared, one brow lifted up into a deadpan. "Sometimes I'm really concerned about your mental health. No, really, if there was a school therapist, I would've dragged you there like, ten years ago."

"But we weren't even in the school then."

"Exactly."

Harry let out a nervous chuckle as Lisa threw a frighteningly accurate punch right on his nose. But one look at Hagrid and the faint traces of smile were wiped off. Hagrid seemed to shrink into himself despite the sheer volume of his figure, and every time he flinched, Harry's nails dug into his palms in identical crescents of pain.

He'd seen Hagrid after he returned from Azkaban in his second year. Dark rings circled under his eyes that screamed of sleepless nights of tossing and turning. Hollow eyes that couldn't even muster up a spark of interest even when Harry brought up his meeting with Aragog in a vain effort to cheer him up. He'd come back to his usual-self after time of course, but Harry knew Azkaban left deep scars that still festered and burned beneath his friend's kind soul. It was a wonder he'd managed to attend to his duty as a gamekeeper during his third year with all those dementors floating around. In fact, Harry was pretty sure Hagrid hadn't been able to leave hut without Fang with him at all times.

And now he was going to get dragged back to the place of his nightmare. All because of that stupid book about his life.

His life.

How was it that he always managed to ruin everything for his friends?

A soft hand startled him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, you alright, Harry?" It was Bill, a slight frown marring his features as a stray lock swayed slowly in front of him. Harry nodded, his breath hitching slightly as he took in a deep gulp of air. "Y,yeah. Fine."

"Don't worry. I'm telling you, Charlie will be natural at this. Just trust him, yeah? He'll get Hagrid out of this mess in no time, no worries."

"Right." His mouth closed with a click. His stomach was churning and writhing in turmoil, nausea threatening to come up his throat, and Harry thought he would topple over in a dead faint any moment. But despite it all, he did trust Charlie. Trusted him and his friends that they'd save Hagrid, that they wouldn't let anything bad happen to him.

So he closed his eyes, praying that everything would work out fine, and waited for that dreaded sentence to come up.

He didn't have to wait long.

...what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback

"Aha!" Hagrid flinched. Umbridge jumped to her feet, shaking, a finger pointed straight at him like an arrow poised to strike. "Hiding an illegal dragon in your hut? Now what would've happened if it got away and attacked a student? Or a stray muggle? You have endangered the entire wizarding world for your own benefit, and broke one of our oldest laws. You will face a trial for such outrageous crime - "

"Actually, he hadn't."

"What?" Charlie smiled as he calmly met Umbridge's furious glare head on. Seeing the sheer intensity behind the blue gaze, Harry was suddenly reminded of the eyes of the Hungarian Horntail as it locked onto him for the first time and had to suppress a shiver. No wonder he'd survived so long living with dragons with only a few burns. He wouldn't be surprised if Charlie's animagus form turned out to be a dragon. It would certainly explain the dangerous and predatory aura the wizard let off so effortlessly, and it definitely won't be the weirdest thing that happened to him in his life.

"I mean exactly that; Hagrid had not, in fact, broken any rule of any sort."

Umbridge's face broke into a snarl, as if all those of pink and giggles had been torn away to reveal something twisted and dark underneath. It was quite alarming, the first time Harry had seen her lose control of herself so throughly and he instinctively flinched back, somehow knowing that this woman could rival Voldemort himself in the terms of evil. She liked inflicting pain, even thrived in being able to do so, and unlike most of the Death Eaters, she honestly believed she wasn't doing any wrong. And that was what made her so dangerous.

Harry wasn't quite sure how he managed it, but Charlie held his ground, only the slight narrowing of his eyes any indication her outburst had affected him. "Is there something you'd like to say, High Inquisitor?"

"Mr. Weasley," Fudge interjected, wiping away a thin sheet of sweat on his brow. "Your claim has no valid evidence whatsoever. This half-giant," Hagrid flinched. Charlie's smile became more of a sharp baring of his teeth. "had intentionally put everyone's life in jeopardy by hiding an illegal dragon in his hut, a clear threat and danger to all students that had currently been in the school. He - "

"Exactly."

" - must be punished for - I, I beg your pardon?"

"He had the dragon in the school. The law concerning the regards of dragons were assured in place in fear of it accidentally exposing our society to muggles. However, in this case, the dragon was nowhere near muggles. Hogwarts is a school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. The dragon had been as far away from the muggles as it could have been. Unless, of course, the Minister was suggesting Hogwarts is not a secure environment for any magical beings and thus not fit for performing magic...?" Charlie trailed off with an owlish blink of innocent curiousity. Cocking his head to the side, he folded both hands in front of him and rocked back and forth on his heels, seemingly to politely wait for the other to reply.

Harry could see now that he was the older brother of the twins.

All those discussions - well, bickerings, if Harry was to be honest to himself - had paid off well, and Charlie deserved a freaking medal for delivering it so flawlessly. His friends were barely holding back their grins in check, and he was pretty sure Colin was trying to sneak one or two photos of the two gaping adults. Now if only their flabbergasted faces stayed that way..

"That may be." Fudge grudgingly accepted when it was clear Umbridge was in no state to put up a convincing argument that wouldn't result in curses and hexes flying about. "But it still does not change the fact that he'd endangered students' lives just to satisfy his wants!"

"Hardly." Charlie countered smoothly. "The dragon was no more than a mere babe as it had just hatched. Her teeth and claws would merely leave scratches that would be easily healed without a single trace of scar if attended correctly by our very much skilled medi-wtich." there, he nodded respectfully at Madam Pomfrey, who smiled back in return, a slightest hue of pink adorning her cheeks. Harry was starting to suspect he was enjoying the whole thing and seriously considered suggesting acting as his new career. At least, Mrs. Weasley would support it whole-heartedly if only to ensure a much safer environment for her son.

"The venom - "

"Is no threat to a human's life." Charlie cut off, shooting a sharp glare at Ron who'd snorted at that. "Therefore it does not change the fact that Hagrid had done nothing wrong to deserve any kind of punishment."

"He still broke the law!" Was it sad that the Minister himself had to argue with the logic a bunch of teenagers had thrown up in the last minute just to put a man in a jail? Cause Harry was starting to pity the man for looking so desperate now.

"Well, imagine the consequences that might've happened if Hagrid had not got that particular dragon egg. The 'mysterious traveler'," Apparently, Charlie was still put out that they hadn't told him the identity of the said man. "would still be in custody of it, and who knows where it might've ended up in. Hagrid taking the dragon under his protection was the best possible scenario that could've happened." He stated firmly, no doubt referring more to how Norbert might've been in the hands of a black market dealers by now if it wasn't for Hagrid.

"What about the school rules, then?" Ron swore. Umbridge seemed to have gathered herself and smiled down at Charlie, a manic gleam glinting in her beady eyes. "Animals are not permitted inside the school if not first approved by the headmaster."

Charlie's smile wavered. She'd hit the exact spot they hadn't been able to cover. And she knew she had them cornered. "Oh, really, you are going to criticize Hagrid when there's an army of magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest?"

"That may be so, but there are magical barriers that keeps the beasts from venturing near the school grounds. But this dragon, on the other hand, was clearly in the school, as you kindly pointed out." Jaw clenched, Charlie glowered up at her in unrestrained fury, a tinge of helplessness and desperation churning behind his dark blue eyes. "Well, Mr. Weasley?" prodded Umbridge, a wide grin stretching her lips. "Anything you'd like to add? No?"

"Oh, I don't think there is any need."

"You - what?"

"What?"

"Dolores, you yourself had explained quite well, I should think." Dumbledore smiled blandly at the dumbstruck expressioins. The twinkles increasing in its intensity as he watched Charlie scramble to regain his composure and act like he had been expecting his comment and was not at all shocked by the sudden remark.

"I, I am not sure if I understand." As much as they'd slandered his name, even Umbridge knew going against Dumbledore himself full on was a foolish choice.

"I mean that I have approved of action." Harry blanched, unable to process if this was truly happening. "I admit, it might have been a rather irresponsible action but in my defense, I've been hoping our dear resident dragon would provide protection from a certain... threat that had been posing to the school at the time. The idea came from Gringotts, you know, but except for the abuse of such poor thing. Of course, young mister Potter wouldn't have been aware of such decision on my part so it is no surprise it wasn't shown in the book, thus why Hagrid may be seemed as if he'd done this all on his own. Which would be quite unfortunate, but no need to dwell on the matter that did not happen, yes?"

"R-right! Exactly my thoughts." Flashing a bright smile that was tad bit too relieved, Charlie swiveled around to beam up at Hagrid who was nearly in tears. "Problem solved, yes?"

"Right you are, my boy." Dumbledore chuckled, effortlessly steering the attention back to the book and away from fuming Umbridge and gaping Fudge. With a last wink to Hagrid - who was being comforted by Professor McGonagall now - Charlie bounded over to his seat, giving an elegant bow to the thunderous applause. "That's my brother!" Bill whooped, tousling his hair with vigor.

"Oh, you made us so proud." Ginny feigned to wipe off a tear, laughing when Charlie threw a playful punch at her direction. "No, seriously! You were absolutely stunning. I've got to make you my lawyer or something."

"I dunno, how much are you gonna pay me?"

"I'm your sister!"

"Yeah, and how much are you going to pay me?"

It was Susan who burst into helpless laughter, then one by one, the others joined her, everyone doubling over in uncontrollable bursts of giggles as the last tension bled out and was replaced with ridiculous amount of glee and elation. They had defeated Umbridge and the Minister, Hagrid was safe, and they've won.

Harry grinned. As much as his life was messed up with all those insane maniacs running around trying to kill him, life didn't seem so bad anymore.

[Page 252 - Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured... "Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" said Hagrid.]

"He really does love his animals, doesn't he?" Lisa murmured, cocking her head to the side. "I mean, I knew he had a thing for looking after magical creatures, but this is way beyond expectations! Honestly, he should be in the Ministry for the Department of the magical beasts or something."

"Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." Terry automatically corrected.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She waved him off carelessly, easily ignoring his scowl. "I mean, there's no one else who's more enthusiastic about magical creatures than Hagrid, so it just makes sense to hire him, doesn't it?"

"Yes, there is." Charlie piped up, lifting his chin up as he met the two incredulous - and slightly fearful (as the look on the dragon tamer's face was bordering on mania) - looks square on. "Newt Scamander."

He proclaimed the name loudly and clearly, with a care and adoration like it was some sacred word that shoud only be uttered with the highest respect. Moreover, Charlie had his chest stuck out and a bright, giddy smile on his face, looking around the hall expectantly as if he was waiting for someone to start singing praises of him. Harry idly thought he looked like a proud mother parading around her son to brag about how absolutely perfect he was, completely undeterred of not-so-positive reactions around him. Apparently, this was not the first time he'd brought up the same subject. All Weasley family - including Arthur and Molly who became increasingly interested in the far away wall all of sudden - let out a groan and buried their faces in their hands all at once.

"He never shuts up about him." Ron whined, correcting Harry's mental image of proud mama bear Percy ultimate fangirl. Harry remembered a girl in the elementary school droning on and on about a famous celebrity he didn't quite remember the name of, always dragging every conversation back to her "true love" as she called it. No wonder Ron looked completely sick already.

"Don't let him talk." Ginny all but pleaded, her ears firmly blocked and her face screwed up in phanthom pain. "Whatever you do, never, ever ask questions or show interest in You-Know-Who."

"Who, Voldemort?" asked Harry jokingly, trying to goad some reaction out of her. She did set that one up herself, after all. To his surprise, Ginny didn't so much as glare at him for that, merely replying how he was so much worse in this situation.

"Who's Newt Scaman-"

"NO!"

The Weasleys all but shrieked, the twins going so far as to leap up and cover Neville's mouth desperately. But too late, Charlie had already launched into a full explanation.

"He's one of the greatest magizoologist ever lived!" He exclaimed, his face splitting into a wide grin that contrasted sharply to his siblings' pale face. "He traveled all around the world, observing and collecting information about all kinds of magical creatures that weren't even known to the world before. Some say he had a real, honest to god Thunderbird with him during his travels, and he even let him pet him! He's literally the stuff of legend every magizoologists ever dream of becoming and he even aided in the capture of Gellert Grindelwald."

"Oh, I know him!" Hermiond burst out, failing to notice Ron's utter look of betrayal. "He's the author of our textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!"

"Yes!" Charlie cheered, though whether it was for Hermione figuring it out or for finding someone to talk to was unclear. Harry, who quite remembered scribbling on his textbook whenever he got bored, shrunk onto himself and vowed to erase every doodles on it before anyone - namely, a rather muscly dragon tamer who was also head over heels in love with the said author - found out about it.

"Hagrid! You know about him, don't you?"

"Know 'bout him? Practically worshipped 'im since I was no more than a mere babe! He's a great wizard, right next to Professor Dumbledore himself!" Harry blinked. Hagrid to comparing someone to Dumbledore? It was practically unheard of. Hagrid must really respect this Newt guy, Harry thought as he watched Charlie bounce up to the High Table - much to the Weasleys' relief - and take a seat right next to Hagrid to continue gushing about Newt Scamander. Naturally, Charlie was positioned right next to the Dursleys, Vernon letting out a strangled choke when he got a clear look at his burn marks, no doubt believing he was a bad influence. Hastily pulling Petunia and Dudley behind him, he sent a distrustful squint in his direction, not that Charlie noticed. Dudley, on the other hand, seemed pretty intrigued in the concept of actual fire-breathing dragons, but didn't dare step out of his father's back, opting to just listen to their conversation.

"Thank Merlin." Ron muttered, looking at Hagrid with a strange look of gratitude and pity.

"Is he really that bad?"

"Oh, you've no idea." Bill grimaced, tugging sharply on his hair as if to rip away unwanted memories. "He's certainly whole lot better now, of course. Once, I walked into him reading love poems he'd personally wrote to a real-life sized dummy with a Newt Scamander's face taped on it. I still have nightmares-" He trailed off, shivering.

"And don't get me started on that time when Newt had replied to his letter." Ginny shook her head. "I couldn't sleep for a whole month because he kept squealing and sobbing every five seconds. Even mum had gotten sick of it after a while - and she was the one who'd encouraged him to write in the first place!"

"To be fair, Charlie would've driven all of us insane what with him moaning about wanting to write to his true love but chickening out because he was afraid of rejection."

"And not to mention poor Errol. I swear, his health worsened so much because Charlie kept bullying him to fly faster without giving him so much as a minute to rest."

"Riiiiight." Harry drew out slowly, slowly scooting away from the red-heads. "Are all fans like that?" Instead of giving an actual answer, Hermione burst into hysterical giggles. "What? What's so funny?" Harry demanded, dread and unease growing.

"Sorry, sorry. I, I just - no, not all fans are like that." Hermione amended, managing to rein in her amusement somewhat. Almost as in afterthought, she leaned forward until her face hovered right in front of Harry, a devious spark in her eyes. The teen jerked back, eyes wide, face flushed hot. "Wha - H-Hermione...?"

"No, not all fans are like that." A sly grin curled around her lips, and Harry held back a shiver, suddenly reminded that this girl had literally set a fire on a professor without getting caught. "But your fans are much, much worse."

A pause. Hermione barely contained her giggles fighting to bubble out of her chest as she watched his emerald eyes slowly widen as he processed what she'd just said. She knew how much he hated peoples attention and being reminded of his unwanted fame but really, how could she resist when he was far too easy to tease and his reactions way cuter than anyone had any rights to be?

"What?"

Harry all but shrieked and Hermione had to bite the inside of her cheeks to remain silent. "But - but I, I'm a fraud! I mean, they think I'm delusional, right? Because I said Voldemort was back - so, so they don't like me anymore - I'm not popular, at least, not-not anymore... right?"

"For now, yes." She nodded, grinning slightly when Harry perked up like a puppy seeing a treat. "Except, the book's going to reveal the secret, yes? So everyone will know the truth and you'd be even more famous than before." She effortlessly cut off his weak protests by listing all the things - defeating a mountain troll, battling hoards of Acromentalus, finding out the secret of the Whomping Willow, breaking out a wanted criminal by riding a hippogriff and so on - he'd achieved that will later be known in full detail. "Besides, I think people are warming up to you just fine, don't you think?"

And she was right, much to Harry's horror and relief. People weren't looking at him like one would look at a dog fully overcome with rabies. Rather, they were looking at him like some kind of movie character they liked. Harry wasn't quite sure if that was necessarily a good change.

"...what are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that since Charlie had a life-sized dummy he'd probably left behind him, what would've happened to it?" Hermione shrugged, deliberately drawing out each syllabus slowly. "Perhaps it was thrown away. Or maybe, just maybe, someone who had another fan girl crush, someone who had another fantasy of her own, took it and changed its face?" She coughed, Harry hearing a jumbled word that sounded suspiciously like "Ginny" through her coughing fit.

"What?" Ginny blinked, glancing back and forth between Harry's sickly gray face and Hermione's red one. "Wait, what did I miss? What were you two talking about?"

Harry choked.

Hermione fell out of her seat laughing.

[Page 253 - Malfoy had seen the dragon.]

"So that was what he was yapping about." Blaise snorted. "And I thought he'd eaten too much sugar."

Draco scowled, his cheeks flushed in pink. "Shut up, Zabini."

"Yes, Zabini, shame on you. Everyone knows if Malfoy's excited about something, Potter's always involved." Theodore paused, frowning. "Wait, does that sound too much like a pervert? 'If Malfoy's excited about something, Potter's always involved.'" He mulled it over, tapping a finger to his chin. "Hmm... no, a bit stalkerish?"

"Shut up!" Draco hissed, his face beet red. Daphne also glared at him, her hands pressed tightly against her sister's ears. "Nott, if you keep wagging that filthy tongue of yours I'll gladly cut it out for you."

"Whoa, easy, Greengrass." Daphne bared her teeth, her wand poised to strike in a flash. Theodore yelped. Survival instinct kicking in, he ducked behind Blaise for cover, who immediately raised his arms in 'I'm unarmed' gesture. "Hey, careful where you point that! If you want him you can have him, geez. I'll even wrap him in pink ribbons if you'd like."

"Traitor!"

"Hey, better you than me."

Pansy snorted, then immediately slapped a hand over her mouth. Draco was - thankfully - facing away from her, still engrossed in the task of trying to strangle the other two Slytherins with the combined effort of Daphne. Thank Merlin. She didn't know what she would've done if he saw her snort like a pig. Snort! Oh, how disappointed her parents would be if they found out. She knew she wasn't pretty, quite painfully aware of it in fact, and she didn't have the dangerous and yet mysterious aura like Greengrass. She wasn't out-going or friendly or even smart like that mudblood Granger. Her grade was no where near the needed score to even think about working in the Ministry and her parents would never allow her to pursue any other careers that wasn't a high position in the Ministry.

So the only choice available to her was to be a good house wife. She'd spent years learning the proper etiquettes, the essential skills like cooking and sewing and how to act like a proper lady. But no matter how hard she tried, her pug-nose and the misshaped teeth stopped her parents and tutors from genuinely smiling. Oh, they thought she hadn't noticed but she had (because she wasn't stupid, no matter what they thought.) The frowns out of the corner of her eyes, the tightness in their smiles and the whispers and looks that haunted her every step.

She hated it.

She hated seeing the constant weariness in her mother's eyes. Hated hearing the deep sighs her father would always let out like the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders. She just wanted it all to end.

So she stole her mother's wand. Sitting in her bed with the door throughly locked and the wand pointed to her face, she screwed her eyes shut and focused on one thing. A girl that everyone would like. A girl who could make her parents proud. A girl who wouldn't be a disappointment.

Reaching for the swirling warm glow inside her that was her magic, she tightened her hold and pushed.

The world exploded in a burst of white light.

She remembered screaming, a panicked yell and painpainPAIN and then -

She woke up in a private room at St. Mungos. Her mother had cried that day - the first time she'd ever seen her break her stern demeanor - and made her promise to never, ever do that again, do you hear me Pansy? She did, if only to stop her gripping her shoulders so tightly. Her father arrived right before she sunk into a blissful sleep with his lightly trembling hand grasping her own.

(Distantly, she thought she remembered two heated voices yelling at each other - how could you let this happen and this is all your fault! - but when she woke up her parents were no where in sight so she wasn't so sure.)

After the healers assured that there wouldn't be any scars or side effects and of course no one will hear about this, sir, no need to worry, they returned to their home. Her parents had been extra careful to keep their tones light and smile at her the whole time.

She locked herself up in her room as soon as they arrived.

When she looked in the mirror, a pale girl with all to familiar pug-nose and beady eyes stared back at her. Pansy didn't know how long she stood there in front of the mirror, dark eyes drilling holes into the same face, the same mismatched teeth and pudgy cheeks and the croppy hair. The girl in the mirror stared back blankly, all hollow and gaunt and not a spark of light in her eyes. She broke the mirror, watched her reflection shatter into million pieces and stared down at the broken pieces stained in red with detached numbness.

Life went on.

She went to her etiquette lessons, attended the pureblood parties when invited, and acted like a proper lady.

Sometimes, Pansy wondered if she had actually died that day of stolen wand and pain and misery.

At least Draco was there. Draco had been the only one who didn't talk behind her back or outright laugh at her face. Oh, she knows how the rest of the school thought of her. The girl who hangs around the Malfoy junior like an abandoned puppy desperate for any kind of attention. She knew Draco didn't have any affection for her, and knew that all the kind stuff he did was probably only for his reputation and his own etiquette lessons. But how could she not fall for the blond boy who seems as alone as she is? The boy who is also torn apart in the desperate need to please his parents and the utter fear of failing?

Besides, being rejected isn't anything new for her. She could do this. Even if she would be left behind with her heart shattered and

[Page 259 - They'd left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower]

"You left the Invisibility Cloak in the tower."

"Uh...yes?" Harry offered meekly, avoiding the blank look Fred was fixing on him at all costs.

"You left the Invisibility Cloak in the tower." Fred repeated again, his tone as flat as his expression, staring down at the two Gryffindors without even blinking. George wasn't in a better shape. Silently gawking at the book with his jaw hanging open like a broken toy, he seemed to be in the process of scrambling up the remains of his destroyed brain. "You left the Invisibility Cloak in the tower."

"Oh, for god's sake!" Hermione snapped. She was not taking this whole thing well at all. Her most embarrassing mistake drenched up for the whole school to see, Ron - who had known of the incident but never had heard the details until now - laughing his head off right next to her, and, of course, Fred repeating the same mantra over and over again. "We heard you the first time, Fred!"

"You left the Invisibility Cloak."

"Oh, for the love of-!"

Hermione lunged, and it was only for Ron - who was still cackling like mad - and Harry's quick action that Fred's throat wasn't in the mercy of vicious hands of an embarrassed and murderous witch. "Fred? I really think that's enough."

Fred didn't hear them.

"You had Invisibility Cloak, the only way and protection for you to get back to your dormitories without getting caught and the means of doing anything without anyone being able to pin it down on you, and you left it at the tower?!"

"...yes."

With a whine, Fred turned towards his twin helplessly, flopping his arm towards the two as if he couldn't find the right words to express his feelings but wanted to let them know how dumb he thought they were. "They left the Invisibility Cloak in the tower." George blinked in reply, his eyes still fixed on the book and his posture rigid in shock.

"Alright, that's enough." James chuckled, gently prying away their hands from Hermione, who had calmed down somewhat now. "It's fine, lesson learnt. Besides, making mistakes is natural, nothing to be embarrassed about. Heck, even I made some mistakes when me and my mates first tried to prank someone. Hey, Remus, remember that time we tried to dye everyone's hair bright red?"

"Don't remind me."

"My hair stayed neon pink for days." Sirius shuddered, scrunching his face up at the memory. "And it puffed up like some freaking bomb dropped onto my head!"

Lily snorted. "It suited you." Sirius stuck his tongue out.

*peeks out nervously* Uh... hi? Oh my gods, I honestly can't express how terribly sorry I am for making you wait for such a long time for such rubbish of a writing. Honestly, I really really am sorry for the long wait and I don't have much excuse for myself except that my muse left me and I got attacked by a tsunami of things to do. Hopefully this chapter makes up to you but considering I'm not really happy with it either and am posting this just so I won't make you wait even longer, I'm not putting much hope in it.

I've tried to explore some characters' chemistry between them. I hope it doesn't sound so awkward or forced. I've tried my best but, well... Not my first language and everything. Oh, and for the record, I am completely against the idea that girls are only fit for being a housewife and should be graded based on their 'beauty'. I'm a girl myself and I'm really sorry that many girls are in the same position as Pansy in this story. 'Beauty' is not a thing that can be measured or judged and all of you should feel proud to be yourselves. It is none of your concern nor is it your fault if someone has a problem with how you look like.

Anyways, tell me what you thought of it and critical reviews are always welcomed! I'm not sure when I'll be able to update next but I'll try my best to do it as early as possible. Thank you everyone who has read, reviewed or favorited my story and please read and review!