Flying and Falling
Chapter Eight : Flying and Falling
Thoughts || “Dialogue” || Letters
The first-year boys dorm in Gryffindor had proved itself to be quite the source for gossip, much to the delight of both Pansy and surprisingly, but also not surprisingly, Blaise. But, being dragged to the Slytherin Quidditch teams try-outs did nothing to help Hermione nor Neville prepare for Thursdays flying lesson. When the group of first years finally went to explore the library, Hermione had combed through the shelves until she found a book titled Quidditch Through the Ages.
At breakfast on Thursday, hours before the flying lesson, Hermione’s eyes flew across the pages as she read the book for the seventh time - muttering the words under her breath at the same time.
“Hermione, dear,” Pansy said, drawing the girl from her reading, “You’re doing it again.”
“Oh, I am? I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise.”
“We know,” Blaise shot her a cheeky grin and received a mock sneer in return. Draco absentmindedly shushed the group. Absentmindedly, of course, because he was staring, quite obviously, at the Gryffindor table.
“Everybody shut up and look at the Gryffindor table. Weasley’s messing with Neville. He must have gotten something in the post. I’m going over to check it out. Vince, Greg. I want one of you with me and one of you to stay here. Anyone else who wants to come along can,” Draco quickly instructed. Vince and Greg put their heads together. After a moment, Greg stood up with a nod to Draco. Hermione, who had finished reading, stood up and grabbed her school bag with the book still in her hand. Daphne, Pansy, and Theo stopped their whispered conversation to look over at Hermione.
“I told Neville I’d let him read it again before the flying lesson. This just gives me an excuse to see him sooner. I have it checked out until Saturday anyways,” she explained with a shrug. Blaise took advantage of that moment to stand up and grab the over-packed shoulder bag from Hermione’s hand and sling it over his own shoulder.
"We need to get you a better book-bag, Granger," Blaise muttered, shaking his head in disbelief at how Hermione manages to carry that many books everyday.
If the four Slytherin first years had gotten stares for walking to the Gryffindor table, they hadn’t noticed. What they had noticed, however, sparked something inside all of them - Weasley taunting Neville with the fragile-looking globe he had only just gotten in the post.
“Hey Neville. Is Weasley bothering you?” Draco asked as he stood behind Weasley. Neville had been facing the Slytherin table, while Weasley and Potter were sat across from him with their backs to the snakes.
“Gran sent me a Remembrall. As soon as I had unwrapped it and figured out what it was, Weasley snatched it from me before I could figure out what I’m forgetting.”
Draco sneered condescendingly, “Figures. The Weasley Clan has far too many children for them to all have as good of manners as the Ancient and Noble Families. Learn how to respect your betters, Weasley.”
Hermione took a moment to glance down the Gryffindor table, to try and spot the other Weasley boys, but to no avail. When Ronald Weasley turned in his seat, Draco took advantage and snatched the Remembrall out of his hand, only to pass it behind him to Hermione. Just before Weasley could do anything, Professor McGonagall had appeared behind the Slytherins.
“Just what is going on here?!” McGonagall asked, glaring at the Slytherins.
“Malfoy took Neville’s Remembrall, Professor!” Weasley declared, eager to point the blame to someone other than himself, not realizing that it was no longer in the boys hands, but Hermione’s.
“Actually, Professor, Weasley took my Remembrall and wouldn’t give it back. Draco was just getting it back from him for me,” Neville explained, somewhat softly.
McGonagall huffed uncharacteristically before saying, “Ten points from Slytherin and Gryffindor for fighting in the Great Hall.”
Weasley and Potter both groaned, but Neville shrugged, grabbed his belongings, and stood up from the Gryffindor table.
The first year Court met up in the Entrance Hall, where Hermione handed Neville both his Remembrall and her library book with a small smile. He nodded appreciatively.
“Bye Neville, see you later.” Draco spoke for the other Slytherins.
“Yeah, bye guys. I’ll see you guys after lunch,” Neville sighed, heading up to whichever class the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first years had right after breakfast.
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the Slytherin first-years were joined by Neville as they were escorted to where the flying lessons were located.
“Alright snakes. Remember our second rule; don’t get caught. And make sure to get the better brooms.” Prefect Spiers, who had been chosen as escort, advised.
“Your help is much appreciated, Prefect Spiers,” Draco said, nodding his head to the Prefect. The others quickly copied his movements.
After a short amount of time, the other Gryffindors finally arrived. The court, of course, had already lined up next to the brooms, with Neville stood across from Draco in the middle of the Gryffindor row.
Their instructor arrived shortly after the Gryffindors.
“Alright first-years. This is the second class I’ve done this week, which means that you are my second and final group of first-years. However, you probably don’t know who I am. My name is Madam Hooch. I coach Quidditch and act as the referee during the matches, and teach the first-years the basics to flying during the month of September. Now, everybody make sure to stand next to a broom.”
The Gryffindors took a break from glaring at the Slytherins and finally moved to stand in line with Neville.
“Stick your right hand over the broom and say UP!” Madam Hooch instructed from between the rows.
Hermione’s broom didn’t move up. It just rolled towards Daphne, much to her frustration. Neville’s broom didn’t even do that. Potter’s broom, however. Potter’s broom flew instantly into his outstretched hand, much to Weasley’s delight and Draco’s irritation. (“Saint Potter would be a natural flyer. I can’t seem to hold anything over him,” Draco would later say.)
Neville tried, and failed, for the second time trying to summon his broom.
“Neville, you need to really command your broomstick, otherwise it won’t deem you worthy enough to ride it and also won’t cooperate with you if you try to.” Draco advised his Gryffindor friend from across the patch of grass they were lined up on. Draco’s broom had also instantly flown up into his hand, albeit before Potter had even attempted.
“Spot on advice, Mister Malfoy. Take a point.” Madam Hooch praised, giving the Slytherin side something that might have been an attempt at a smile. It looked more like a grimace to Hermione.
Neville nodded his head and took a deep breath. With a stronger tone of voice he shouted, “Up!”
The whole Slytherin side congratulated Neville when the broomstick flew up to meet his hand, even if it did move a bit slow in the air.
Soon after Neville summoned his broom, Madam Hooch instructed them on the proper way to mount them. Hermione watched with narrowed eyes when Weasley and Potter grinned at one another while Madam Hooch corrected Draco’s grip in front of the entire class.
“That grip is outdated, Mr. Malfoy. Who taught you to fly?”
“My father taught me how to fly when I was younger, Madam, and it’s worked perfectly fine for me,” Draco replied with a hint of a sneer. Madam Hooch pursed her lips but moved on to look over the other boys.
“Right. Now then, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your broom steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle, now. Three… Two…”
Hermione watched Neville’s eyes dart between the Slytherins and their instructor. A looming sense of trepidation came over her just before Neville’s broom shot off the ground, with him holding on for dear life. A soft gasp sounded from the other side of Daphne and Hermione felt paralyzed when she saw Neville’s broom buck him off into a free fall.
The thud of Neville’s landing harmonized with the crack of his wrist as it broke on impact. Madam Hooch knelt beside Neville to examine him, and confirmed what the crack was for the rest of the class.
“Broken wrist. Come on, boy - up you get, it’s all right.” Madam Hooch murmured to him. Hermione saw Potter twitch. Madam Hooch turned to face the rest of the class.
“None of you is to move while I take this boy to the Hospital Wing! You can leave those brooms where they are or you’ll be out of Hogwarts before you can say ‘Quidditch.’ Come on, dear.”
Neville hobbled away from the class cradling his wrist to his chest with tears running down his face, lead by Madam Hooch, who had her arm around his shoulders.
As soon as the pair were out of earshot, the Gryffindor boys started laying into him.
“Did you see his face, the coward?” Weasley started.
“Why don’t you fall off a broom at that height and see how quickly you are to get back onto one after that.” Daphne hissed, showing everyone the ‘Ice Princess’ side of her.
“Oh, Greengrass, I never thought that someone like you would be into somebody like Longbottom,” Patil replied, giggling with Brown.
“Parvati, dear, do you really want to continue with that?” Pansy asked cooly, lifting an eyebrow at the girl, “After all, you know what I can do.”
“Hey! Look what I found! It’s that thing he got in the post!” Finnigan exclaimed, holding the Remembrall above his head.
“Seamus! Let me see it! I want to go hide it for him to find!” Weasley said with a nasty grin on his face.
“Oi, Weasel. Let’s play a game of catch yeah?” Draco sneered slightly, nodding his head towards the Remembrall. Weasley looked over at Finnigan, shrugged, then tossed the trinket to Draco, who caught it with ease. Draco smirked back at the rest of the Slytherins, and then turned it nasty when he faced the Gryffindors.
“You couldn’t leave it in a tree if your magic depended on it, Weasel. I think I’ll keep this for a while, don’t you agree? I’m much more competent than you are, after all.”
“Give it back, Malfoy. Longbottom’s not in your house,” Potter demanded quietly.
“With the way you’re acting, Neville’s not in your house either,” Blaise stated loud enough to cause embarrassment for the other house. Draco shot Blaise a quick look before grinning at Potter.
“If you want it so badly, come and get it from me,” Draco taunted.
Much to Hermione’s horror, Draco mounted his broom again and kicked off the ground quickly, shooting up like a bottle rocket. She turned and walked over to where Tracey stood.
“I can’t look. He’s an idiot. What if that broom bucks him off like Neville’s did? Madam Hooch specifically said not to move the brooms and here he is, flying through the air taunting Gryffindors.” Hermione started wringing her hands together anxiously. Tracey looked at her sympathetically. A collective gasp escaped the Gryffindors and Hermione looked over to see Harry Potter jumping onto a broom and shooting into the air after Draco.
“Oh, my God. What are they doing?!” Hermione asked faintly, sitting on the grass before her knees gave out. Blaise and Pansy walked over and sat next to her.
“‘Mione. Relax. Draco knows what he’s doing. He’s been flying since before he could walk.” Pansy comforted Hermione as much as she could while maintaining her public image.
“Yeah, he does all kinds of stunts now, in the Quidditch Pitch behind the forest on the grounds at Malfoy Manor. Drives his Mother up the walls, he does. But he knows how to control a broom. It’s like riding an Abraxan,” Blaise reassured. Hermione sighed and laid on the ground on her back.
All of the sudden, Draco appeared. He laid down next to Hermione, discreetly shoving the Remembrall in her bag, and rested his head on her stomach like he had been there the whole time.
“I saw McGonagall through a window and decided to get the hell out of the air, especially because Madam Hooch explicitly told us not to touch the brooms. I feinted throwing the Remembrall - I actually just threw a shiny rock I found - and I think Potter fell for it. I didn’t stay to look.” He explained quietly.
The Gryffindors all screamed, gasped or cheered as Potter dove to the ground on the broomstick. Somehow he managed to pull out of the dive quick enough to avoid crashing and caught the rock Draco threw. Potter looked at what he caught, realized he had been tricked, and looked around for Draco to glare at him, only for Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch to both appear and walk towards the first years.
“Mister Potter!”
“Oh shit!” Blaise whispered excitedly, exchanging grins with Draco.
“Never - in all my time at Hogwarts - how dare you - might have broken your neck!” Professor McGonagall shook, whether from anger or concern, nobody could tell.
“Professor! It wasn’t his fault - !”
“Be quiet, Miss Patil -”
“But Malfoy -”
“That is enough, Mister Weasley. Potter, with me. Now.”
The silence only lasted long enough for McGonagall to lead Potter out of earshot. Then, the dam burst and chaos erupted with the excitement from the Slytherins and ‘righteous anger’ from the Gryffindors.
In the end, it took Madam Hooch blowing her whistle half a dozen times before the first-years calmed down enough to listen to instruction.
“Well, considering there are two missing students, I don’t see a point to continuing the lesson today. If I decide to reschedule, there will be a message posted on the notice-boards in both Common Rooms. Class dismissed!”
If an unbiased on-looker had seen the way the two Houses exited the training grounds to go back to the Hogwarts Castle, they probably would have commended Slytherin on how well-behaved the first years are - especially in the face of their biggest rival house taunting them. Madam Hooch, however, was not an unbiased on-looker, so she did not.
The Slytherin first-years had closed ranks as soon as they left the training grounds, and didn’t open up again until they were inside the Court’s Room with the door closed and locked.
“Listen up everyone. We can’t keep running around in our entire group. It’s not efficient enough to get everything done,” Draco said, walking behind the old Professor desk. “Hermione, you got that note from Professor Snape and I know you still need to get those books he asked for, before class tomorrow. Theo needs to explore the library more - he keeps whining about it at night in the dorms. I imagine Tracey and Daphne want to go visit Neville, Vince go with them. I’d like Greg with me and Blaise, you stick with Pansy and Millicent.
“I say - we all split up to get what we want done - and then come back here say… half an hour to dinner. Since flying didn’t last the whole two hours it was meant to, we can use the leftover time and the study hall after that to get as much done before dinner, then report what we actually got done at the study hall between dinner and curfew.”
There was a chorus of agreement following Draco’s speech. The groups got together and quickly left the Court’s Room, all splitting away from each other at different points. Hermione, Theo, Blaise, Pansy, and Millicent all separated from the main group on the ground floor - the latter three to go to the courtyard and the former two to explore the Hogwarts library.
“Okay, Hermione. What books did Professor Snape ask you to get?” Theo asked, “I know the library pretty well so far, I should be able to help you.”
“Let’s see,” Hermione pulled out both the list and signed slip for the Restricted Section that Professor Snape gave her. “Moste Potente Potions, Advanced Potion Making - that one he asked for a specific copy of, apparently The Half-Blood Prince went to Hogwarts before he published that potions textbook I have, and wrote down all kinds of corrections in the margins. Obscure Artes of the Mind - that’s not a potions book though. I don’t know where I’d find that. Asiatic Anti-Venoms, that’s the last one.”
Theo whistled low. “Those are intense. I doubt you’ll be magically mature enough to even attempt some of those Potions in the first two books. But Moste Potente Potions and Obscure Artes of the Mind are both in the restricted section. I imagine that the specific copy of Advanced Potion-Making is in the Potions classroom - if it’s anywhere at all.”
“All right. Let’s go to the Restricted Section,” Hermione nodded. The pair walked to Madam Pince’s desk and showed her the slip signed by Professor Snape. She simply waved them towards the back of the Library.
“Let’s go!” Theo whispered excitedly, “I haven’t been able to sneak into the Restricted Section yet!”
Hermione placed the slip on a tray near the doors to the Restricted Section, and the slip was absorbed into it. The doors opened slowly, emitting a loud creak as they did so, and the two Slytherin first-years walked in.
“Okay well, Professor Snape didn’t specify what books we were allowed to check out on the slip we just lost. Let’s find the two and then look around a bit more to see if there are any other Potions books,” Theo murmured.
It took them long enough for the bell tower to chime half-past five to locate both books and another titled The Intricacies of Magical Culture that they both skimmed through briefly and agreed might help Hermione settle in better. After they left the Restricted Section, Theo dragged Hermione to the Potions section of the regular Library to find the other two books she needed. They couldn’t find the Advanced Potion-Making, but they found Asiatic Anti-Venoms and brought the four books to check out.
Hermione was reminded to return Quidditch Through the Ages before Sunday evening, and the two Slytherins walked out of the Library and returned to the Court’s Room.
“Do you want to look for the other book in the Potions classroom?” Theo asked, setting down the three books from the Restricted Section on the edge of the Professor’s desk.
“No, I think it would be better to go after dinner,” Hermione replied, “Actually, speaking of the Potions classroom - I almost slipped up and called this room the court’s room in Potions last week. Who knows what other Gryffindors would have heard me. We should come up with a name for the room that’s discreet enough to deter anyone who’s not us from wanting to know what it is. I called it the study room, but I dunno if that’ll work forever.”
“Hmm… Well, the upper years have the lounging areas in the Common Room. I know that our ‘Lounge’ is in the other room, but we could always just say Lounge when we talk about this room in general. I think, maybe without Neville around us. With Neville we can say study room, because Professor Snape outed us for studying as a court, so the Gryffindors now know that we study with Neville. Or we could just come up with a new name altogether. I say wait until everyone’s back before we actually write anything down,” Theo said, sitting down on the armchair behind the desk.
It didn’t take much longer for Daphne, Tracey, Neville, and Vincent to arrive. Neville’s arm was in a sling but otherwise he looked perfectly normal.
“Oh Neville! Are you alright? How’s your wrist?” Hermione asked, concerned.
“Oh yeah, I’m fine. Madam Pomfrey fixed it immediately, then spent 20 minutes lecturing me about the dangers of the school brooms. She wants me to wear this until I go to bed tonight, to make sure I don’t use this arm and disrupt the spell she used.”
The door to the court’s room opened and revealed Pansy and Millicent. When they walked through, Blaise appeared from behind the door and shut it after he walked in.
“The Patil twins have been recruited into my spy network, and Hannah Abbott agreed to meet with me every week or so to exchange rumors. I’d say today was successful,” Pansy declared with a triumphant smirk on her face. “How did everyone else do?”
“Theo helped me find all but one of the books Professor Snape listed for me, and I let him join me in the Restricted Section to explore. I think we did alright.” Hermione motioned towards the stack of books between her and Theo, and the others all noticed the smug expression on his face. Blaise nodded, impressed.
“Neville was allowed to leave just as we got there, but he has to keep his arm steady to make sure the spell does what it’s supposed to do,” Daphne replied for her group.
“Does anyone have an idea of what Draco needed to get done?” Blaise asked, glancing at everybody in the group.
“Well he looked pretty smug about getting Potter into trouble, so I imagine he probably went looking for him to gloat.” Theo wasn’t looking at anybody when he spoke - he was busy making sure that the stack of books were perfectly lined up with one another.
“Shit,” Blaise muttered, “Of course he’d only want Greg with him. Weasley’s rat bit Greg on the train, didn’t he? And wherever Potter is, Weasley’s probably not going to be far behind him. We have to find Draco before he does something, well, Draco.”
“Neville if we walk with you to the Gryffindor Tower, can you go in and look for Potter and Weasley?” Tracey asked gently.
“I - uh… can’t remember the password, actually. Haven’t been able to since we got here. I normally go in with everyone else - so there’s never been a need for me to,” Neville admitted reluctantly.
Blaise’s face fell into his hands. Pansy sighed softly. The bell chimed distantly to signal 6 o’clock.
“Okay. So we have no idea where Draco is, there’s half an hour until dinner, and Neville has no way of getting into Gryffindor Tower without needing assistance. Who agrees that we should stop by Professor Snape’s office and see if he’s there and can help with at least one of the two issues?” Millicent spoke up hesitantly. The group hastily gathered all of the stuff they had lying around the room and left to find Professor Snape.
They checked the Potions classroom and Professor Snape’s office. Both were empty.
“Okay, you know what. Let’s just go put our stuff in our dorms and head to dinner. Vince, can you stay out with Neville? I’ll put your stuff away for you.” Blaise suggested, turning to the other boy.
“Yeah that’s fine. Here.” Vince handed Blaise his school bag and walked back to where Neville was leaning against the wall opposite the Slytherin Common Room Entrance.
“Traditionalist,” Pansy whispered to the wall. They were all getting odd looks from Neville, whose expression shifted to one of awe when the stone wall slid out and revealed the doorway to the Snake Pit. In record time, the first years entered the Common Room, walked to their dorms, put their stuff away, and met back at the Entrance. They were stopped by seventh year prefect, Terence Higgs.
“Why is there a Gryffindor outside the Entrance?” he asked, folding his arms over his chest and looking down at them.
“He’s with us. Neville, he…” Tracey couldn’t find the words.
“He’s been ostracized by his own House. Hermione met him on the train before she found Draco and Theodore, so Neville sat with us too. It’s no secret within our year that Neville’s one of our group. Professor Snape even gave Theo and Draco points for including Neville in our ‘study group’. You can trust us when we say he’s one of us.” Daphne looked Higgs right in the eyes and practically dared him to challenge her. Higgs raised an eyebrow at her as a result.
“If that’s true -”
“It is.”
“- and Professor Snape even gave you points for studying with a Gryffindor -”
“He did.”
“- stop interrupting me - then I guess he’s alright. He’s not allowed inside the Pit, though.” Higgs was now glaring at them all because of the interruptions.
“We wouldn’t bring him in without asking Professor Snape first. And only when it’s a last resort for Neville,” Pansy retorted, her tone like one of a protective mother. Higgs huffed, and let them out of the common room.
“Draco is nowhere to be found.” Theo spoke quietly to Vince and Neville. They were walking to Professor Snape’s private office together as a whole group.
They approached the door quickly, with Blaise and Pansy leading them, and Hermione’s apprehension about the whole situation grew with every step.
“Wait. No. Why are we asking somebody else to solve our problem? Draco’s in our House, in our year, and he’s our leader. We need to sort this ourselves. If he’s done something outlandishly idiotic, then we go to Professor Snape,” Pansy threw her arm out to stop Blaise. The rest of the group stopped behind them. “Let’s go to dinner. It’ll be easier to think when we aren’t all starving.”
“Maybe if you had eaten more at lunch you wouldn’t be so hungry,” Blaise muttered under his breath. Pansy glared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes.
“Shut up Blaise.” Pansy walked away from Professor Snape’s office - and the group - and towards the hidden passageway that would take them to the Grand Staircase. The rest followed her.
Draco and Greg arrived in the Great Hall at exactly 6:30 with smug grins on their faces.
“What did you do, Draco?” Theo asked curiously.
“I challenged Potter to a wizard’s duel. Tonight. At midnight. In the trophy room. I named Greg as my second, and Weasley jumped in and said he would be Potter’s. Potter hadn’t a clue what I was talking about, it’ll be the easiest wizard’s duel ever -”
“I’m sorry, you did what now?” Pansy hissed, staring icily at Greg, who gulped nervously. “Are you actually dumb?”
“For your information, Pansy, I’m not. I thought you knew me better than that if you actually thought I was going to risk my own skin and reputation just to get some petty revenge on Potter.” Came the smooth response from Draco, drawing Pansy’s attention away from Gregory.
“I spoke really loudly about hearing that somebody planned on being in the trophy room at midnight tonight when we walked past Filch on our way to the Common Room to put our bags away,” Draco continued before taking his first bite of dinner.
The whole group seemed to collectively sigh at Draco.
The next morning at breakfast resulted in all 10 of the Slytherin first-years sighing from the disappointment of seeing Potter and Weasley grinning at one another the next morning at breakfast. Hermione noted, however, that Neville looked as if he hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep that night. He also seemed to drink at least five cups of tea that Friday morning.
Draco and Hermione weren’t the only students who had received packages that day. If their sweets boxes earned them envious looks from students from other Houses, then the very-obviously broomstick-shaped package that Potter received had everybody turning green.
“Isn’t that… that looks like a broomstick. Who got a bloody broomstick sent to them in the mail?” Draco asked incredulously, reminding them all how Quidditch-obsessed he was. The group collectively drew in a breath when it landed in front of Potter, who removed the package from the owls’ legs.
“Un-fucking-believable. Of course Potter would get a bloody broomstick in the bloody mail. Never mind the rule that clearly states ‘no first years are allowed their own brooms’ on the bottom of every bloody Hogwarts acceptance letter.” Draco stood up immediately once he had figured out the fastest route to get to Potter - passing the Great Hall doors rather than the Head Table like they did last time - leaving his unfinished breakfast, school bag, and sweets box, behind.
“Oh for the love of bloody Merlin,” Blaise groaned. Silently, he ushered Vince and Greg to follow Draco while grabbing the sweets box and both of their bags before following them. Hermione, having a feeling of dread come over her, signalled to the rest of the group that she was going with them and grabbed a stack of buttered toast and her own bag.
Hermione walked quickly between the Slytherin table and the wall behind her, balancing the stack of toast precariously, and managed to catch up with Blaise as he caught up with Draco, Vince, and Greg inside the Entrance Hall.
“Seeing as none of us actually finished our breakfast, I brought toast to eat on the way to Herbology,” she explained quietly, watching Draco show Vince and Greg how to pose just so in order to block the stairway when Potter and Weasley appear.
Soon enough, Potter and Weasley did appear, both wearing shit-eating grins when they looked at one another. Hermione, wanting to wipe their smiles off their faces, did her best impression of Professor Snape’s attitude during that first class and sneered condescendingly at the pair.
“Look, Blaise. Look how common they look with those expressions they're wearing. All because Potter got his first parcel in the post,” she mocked, her voice taking on a sickly-sweet mocking tone. Blaise looked at her sharply for a moment before he shifted his body to complement her tone and expression. She is carrying a stack of toast after all, and can’t cross her arms over her chest.
“It’s almost as if Potter’s never gotten one before. How… hmm… I can’t say charming because, quite frankly it isn’t… how… how sad.”
“Yes all right, you two. We aren’t the ones that broke the very specific rule that states first years aren’t allowed to have their own brooms. Oh don’t look so surprised, Potter, it isn’t exactly wrapped discreetly, now is it?” Draco sneered and opened his mouth to continue when Weasley chose that moment to speak.
“It’s not just any old broomstick, Malfoy. It’s a Nimbus Two Thousand!” Weasley bragged.
“Yes, well. It’s not yours though, is it Weasley? You couldn’t afford even half the handle. I suppose you have to save up twig by twig, you and your brothers.” Draco cut in.
Professor Flitwick saved Weasley from more embarrassment when he appeared at Draco’s elbow.
“Not arguing, I hope, boys?” he asked.
“Potter has a broomstick, Professor Flitwick,” replied Hermione quickly.
“Oh yes! That’s right, Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances,” said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Potter. “What model is it?”
“It’s a Nimbus Two Thousand, sir.” Potter grinned, “It’s really thanks to Malfoy that I’ve got it.”
Potter and Weasley made their way to the staircase to go to their Common Room but paused when Hermione spoke up.
“I can’t believe Weasley was bragging about another boy’s broomstick, in front of me, a girl. That’s so impolite,” Hermione said, handing Draco a few pieces of toast from the Great Hall.
“Well how could he have known? He’s the sixth child of seven and the youngest son. If the older children weren’t taught proper manners, why would the younger children be taught manners?” Draco replied, “besides, Father says they live in a hut like the half-giant down at the edge of the Forbidden Forest does. We can’t hold them to the same standards that we hold ourselves to.”
“Even Muggle boys are held to higher standards than Weasley is.” Hermione sighed. Blaise laughed at that.
“Well that’s surprising. I guess we can start saying the Weasley’s are inferior to everybody, now, including the Muggles.” he commented, holding open one of the doors that leads outside.
“Pansy would love that.” Draco mused thoughtfully.
“Yes, I imagine she would.” Hermione replied just as thoughtfully.
They caught up with the rest of the group on the way to Herbology, including Neville, who still looked absolutely shattered.
"Neville, were you up all night?" Hermione asked, concerned.
Neville groaned, "Don't even get me started. I have an update for Theo and his board. But there isn't enough time right now so you'll all have to reign in your curiosity until our next study hall."
Hermione looked over at Theo, who looked ecstatic and heartbroken at the same time. It was quite jarring.
"But Neville! You can't just tease me like that! I won't be able to focus on anything now, you know that." His words came out almost as a whine.
"Oh Pansy, you'll be delighted to hear this," Blaise began, making eye-contact with Hermione before giving the raven-haired girl his full attention. Pansy looped her arm through Blaise's, who allowed her to slow them down to allow more time for gossip.
"Our darling Hermione told me that even Muggle boys are held to a higher standard than Weasley the Youngest seems to be, isn't that delightful."
Pansy whipped her head to look at Hermione and motioned for her to join them with her free arm. Hermione obliged, and found herself holding onto Pansy's other arm.
"Did you really? Do tell, Hermione." Pansy grinned, slightly too sharp to be anything but predatory, and Hermione grinned back.
"Oh yes. He was bragging about another boys broomstick, didn't you know. In front of me. A girl. He simply has no manners and I told Blaise, even Muggle boys know better than that. At least they respect us girls enough to hold their tongues, most of the time. But even the Weasley's of the Muggle boys know to be ashamed and apologise when something they didn't want overheard, gets overheard by a girl."
To anyone who didn't know better, and even those who did, Pansy suddenly looked like she was plotting a murder. Which, to be fair, she was. A murder of Weasley's social standing, but a murder nonetheless.
"Give me a week and no girl will talk to him for the rest of his life."
After a Double Herbology class, the first years had a short 'study' break before lunch, but all that was able to get done in that time was everybody cleaning themselves up after spending two hours in the greenhouses. Lunch was a somewhat quiet event, if one could ignore Theo's increasingly outlandish theories about why Neville was up all night.
"I bet he was up all night because he found a secret room filled with Devil's Snare, and Weasley was the only one who had access to his wand but because it's Weasley they were stuck there for hours and nearly got eaten because he couldn't remember the spell Professor Sprout taught us last week."
"Theo. There's no way Neville would let himself suffer and get stuck in Devil's Snare with Weasley the Youngest and Potter for hours and not perform the spell himself or tell either of them the spell." Blaise retorted.
"Okay fine. Well... then they found a magic mirror or something and got charmed into standing in front of it all night."
"Theo!"
"Ugh! Fine. If you want me to be boring then they probably were chased by Filch and Peeves all night because somebody (Theo says this with a pointed look at Draco) told Filch that somebody was going to be trapezing around the trophy room at midnight."
"Theo that's probably exactly what happened." Draco said, not turning away from his conversation with Pansy and Daphne. "That was the whole point of me not getting caught. Obviously we won't know for certain until we actually get the chance to talk to Neville and get the details."
Theo huffed, clearly unhappy that the 'boring' theory is the most likely one to be true.
"I need to swing by the lounge before Potions. I want to swap my books out and grab the ones Professor Snape had on the list he sent me just in case he wants to talk to me after class about it." Hermione said, having finished eating her food.
"That's fine. I'm finished eating so we can go together." Blaise said, standing up and holding his hand out to assist her.
"Thanks, Blaise."
The pair took the secret passageways into the dungeons and Hermione took out her Herbology stuff, stacking the book and parchments neatly on the desk she'd commandeered as her own, grabbing the two Potions books she checked out from the library. Taking a few extra minutes to make sure everything was organised in her bag how she liked it, they met the rest of the group outside the Potions room.
"Where did you two run off to?" Draco asked. He was leaning against the wall across from the door to the classroom with his arms crossed.
"I did say before we left that I needed to swap my books out and grab the ones Professor Snape recommended. You were too busy talking to Pansy and Daphne to hear me, I guess." Hermione shrugged, taking her bag from Blaise.
"And as I was finished eating and had nothing better to do, I went with her. We all know the horror stories of lone snakes in the halls of this school." Blaise chimed in, leaning against the wall opposite from Draco, matching his stance.
"We were discussing which one of them would have the most success in being taken seriously by the older students as our other year leader." Draco grumbled, clearly put out about Blaise and Hermione wandering around the school together.
"Did you come to a decision?" Hermione asked, genuinely curious. She glanced at the two girls in an attempt to discern the answer.
Before they answered, they could hear the clamouring of the Gryffindors making their way to the Potions room.
"We'll have a group discussion after class. No time to talk now." Daphne replied, adjusting her stance and facial expression. The Slytherins closed rank and lined up behind Draco just as the first Gryffindors - Finnegan and Brown - turned the corner. It wasn't a minute after all the Gryffindors arrived that Professor Snape's classroom door burst open with a crack. Unfortunately, in Hermione's opinion, the Gryffindors were lined up on the other side of the door and nobody got hit.
Despite the double Potions class, they focused solely on the ingredients and procedures for brewing a Forgetfulness Potion. Hermione, being the over-achiever she is, copied the information on the board word for word before opening both books she bought in Diagon and comparing the three recipes. Once again, the recipe Professor Snape wrote on the blackboard seemed to fall in between the two in terms of details, ingredients, and effort.
Confidence and brevity... How do I confidently demand that Professor Snape allows me to take up some of his spare time for me to simply want to sate my curiosity. Obviously I have to prove I'm right and there is a difference. Evidence to back up my theories... But how?
"Miss Granger, stay behind. Class dismissed."
Hermione packed up her books and parchments neatly in her bag, and sat patiently for the last of the students to leave. Her friends muttering that they'd wait for her outside as they passed her table.
"So?" Professor Snape asked, leaning against his own desk and staring right at Hermione.
"I found all of the books on the list you sent me, except the Half-Blood Prince's copy of Advanced Potions-Making. Theo theorised that the most likely place for it would be in this classroom. I brought the Potions related books with me today." She answered succinctly, pulling the two books in mention out of her bag and placing them on her table. Snape stood and walked over to the table, picking up the book on the top of the stack, Most Potente Potions. Waiting with bated breath, Hermione almost missed it when his eyes flicked to a cupboard in the corner of the room.
Standing up herself, Hermione made her way to the cupboard where lo and behold, a few spare copies of Advanced Potions Making lay. She grabbed all three of them, being extra careful with the battered copy. Opening that one first, she was pleased to discover the writing in the margins, and crossed out ingredients for various potion recipes with alternatives suggested. Flipping through it carefully, she found written on the back cover "Property of the Half-Blood Prince".
"I found it, sir." She called, putting the other two books away and carrying the battered copy back to her table.
"See if that teaches you something. Now, I'm sure the gaggle of children outside my door are losing patience waiting for you. Dismissed."
"Yes sir, thank you."
Professor Snape was correct, of course. Theodore was making quick work of wearing down the stone floors of the castle in his swift pacing.
"Finally! Neville has news. Let's go!" He all but dragged Hermione to the passageway leading to their room, the rest of the group following in tow.