Trekking upstairs
Harry had no intention of attending dinner. His anxiety at the upcoming discussion regarding his grades, alongside the general nausea that always accompanied too long a game of Gobstones, killed his appetite. Ron, on the other hand, had no intentions of skipping dinner, but the lengthy game of Gobstones had made him restless, and he wanted to be there for Harry.
"I can walk up with you to Ravenclaw, if y'want."
"I want." And the two began walking in companionable silence.
The walk up to Ravenclaw tower was more of a trek, really, because Hufflepuff Commons was in the basement, near the kitchens, and Ravenclaw Tower's entrance was on the other side of the castle, on the fourth floor. At least, today it was on the fourth floor. Entrances, like the majority of landmarks in Hogwarts, enjoyed wandering about the castle. When the year had began the entrance was by the Great Hall, but the eagle knocker grew bored and flew up a few flights of stairs.
"And you're saying Flitwick doesn't charm the eagle still? Professor Sprout sticks the barrels to the stone on a nightly basis to keep Peeves from locking us in!" Ron had listened to Harry explain why the walk was so much longer than it had been in September, and was now angry at the half-goblin not only for creating his friend's anxiety, but enabling the inconviencing of the entirety of Ravenclaw House.
"He claims that navigation is a life skill we can best learn young, while our brains are still plastic."
"What's plastic?"
"It's a Muggle chemical that makes up grocery bags and toys and is very flexible."
"Weird. My dad might've mentioned it a few times - he's an employee at the Ministry's Department of Misuse of Muggle Affairs or something like that. Stops the charming of biting teapots and shrinking keys and the like."
The two walked and chatted up two flights of stairs. Then they hit trouble. As Ravenclaw was in a tower, it's near Gryffindor, the only other tower renovated to be a living space. Therefore the boys were able to be walking in the same direction as one Hermione Granger.
"Hey Harry! Ron!" The girl ran to catch up with them, enthusiastic in a way that only heightened her impression as the severely lonely Gryffindor.
"Hey Hermione," Ron responded in a monotone. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff shared Defense, so Ron was well-acquainted with the girl's attitude and eagerness to correct other's mistakes.
Harry looked down at his ratty trainers, suppressing the urge to hyperventilate. If you act like she isn't watching, she'll stop, he thought, remembering the way his aunt used to watch him.
"Where are you two headed? I'm going to meet with McGonagall for the Muggleborn tutoring."
A silence ensued. Ron elbowed Harry after a few painfully awkward minutes, prompting the shorter boy to respond. "Ah! Uh, Ravenclaw Tower, Flit- Professor Flitwick's office. To discuss grades." There. Done. Not too hard, Harry thought to himself, willing away images of his similarly stuttered out answers to Uncle Vernon's questions. Uncle, Aunt, why did Hermione have to look and act so much like his aunt?!
Hermione was surprised by how- nervous, she supposed, the Boy-Who-Lived seemed. His reputation was nothing like interacting with him, she thought, before speaking. "Without dinner? Professor McGonagall provides food for the tutoring sessions, would Professor Flitwick do the same just for one student?"
"'m not hungry." And you're not in your cupboard, either, you freak, so stop acting like it, he angrily thought to himself. But the three of them had reached the end of the hallway, and instead of a staircase they were met with a door. A door eerily reminiscent of Harry's cupboard. "Where're the stairs?"
"Behind the door, probably," Ron responded, giving the handle a turn and tug. No response. He tried the other way. Also no response.
"Let me try!" Hermione shouted, bossily pushing the redhead away with her body before turning the knob. Again, nothing. "I learned a spell for this the other day - allhamora! No, wait, hang on, alohomora!" The door opened as she whipped her wand in the motion, as though she was directing the knob.
Hermione walked right on in, while Harry stayed behind just long enough to hear Ron mutter "Know-it-all," They had gone barely a foot when another door appeared, and again Hermione opened it using magic.
What appeared to be three huge, slobbering Black labrodors were chained up on the other side of the door. Harry moved closer, trying to see if the stairs were anywhere to be found. He was frighteningly used to dogs menacing him, and appeared to Ron to be entirely unafraid as he dodged sharp mouthfuls of teeth. Harry’s heart was in his throat, but fear could not make him forget the task at hand, which would also get him away from the dogs.
Hermione had been scared still. Harry, failing to find the stairs, ushered her out and shut the door, narrowly avoiding being bit. "Where'd the stairs go? Ron, did we make a wrong turn-"
"Stairs! There's a bloody Cerberus in the school, and this lunatic is still thinking about stairs?!" Ron exasperatedly talked to Hermione as though they were friends.
"How were you not a Gryffindor?" Hermione asked Harry.
Harry answered without thinking. "Professor McGonagall reminds me of my aunt, I'm scared of her, so the Sorting Hat decided that Gryffindor was a bad fit."
"You-" Ron sputtered, while the three finally found the stairs, which had reappeared. "You're not afraid when a three-headed dog is trying to make you his dinner, but McGonagall scares you?!
"Professor McGonagall," Hermione corrected. "And speaking of dinner, we're near Ravenclaw Tower. I need to go, I'm already running late, but thank you both for talking to me! Friends?" She held her hand out to the boys. Both shook it, Harry more bewildered than anything, before Harry stopped, answered the Eagle, and prepared to wait for Professor Flitwick.
"I can walk with you to tutoring?" Ron offered. He didn't want to be alone, not after the Cerberus run-in. Hermione nodded. There are some things you can't survive without becoming friends. Almost being attacked by a three-headed dog was one of those things.