Harry sighed when he woke up. Today was Halloween. Like every other holiday, it had, at best, been just another day for him, and at worst, a day to be taunted and tormented (but then, most days were like that anyway). Now, though, there was the additional knowledge that his parents had died today. Well, tonight, anyway. Kind of sucked all the fun out of the day, even if he couldn't really remember them.
To make matters worse, Ron and Hermione were at each others' throats ... again. And Harry found himself in the unusual position of being caught between them. He'd never had friends before, and didn't quite know what to do with the situation as the two of them sniped at each other all the way to Charms.
Unfortunately, Ron got paired with her by Flitwick, a state of affairs that Harry knew would not end well. Not that he had much more luck, getting paired with Seamus, who always seemed to manage to set things on fire or make them explode. They were set to work on the Wingardium Leviosa spell, and while Harry waited for the inevitable bang from Seamus so he could have his turn at trying the spell, he heard Hermione's (rather penetrating) voice correcting Ron, and Ron's infuriated response.
Afterward, Ron couldn't seem to get out of class fast enough, and before Harry knew it the two of them were all but racing from the room while Ron sounded off. Harry turned and was about to read him the riot act when Hermione, head down, shoved past them both and took off at something that wasn't quite a run.
"Damnit, Ron! See what you've done! She was only trying to help! I know she gets bossy, and it can be a bit hard to take sometimes, but really! There was no call for that!"
Ron flushed a dull red. "She doesn't have to be such a knowitall, Harry!" He objected.
"Maybe not, but you don't need to be an insensitive prat, either!" Harry pointed out. "Look, she's really not all that bad. She's completely brilliant. Overly obsessed with school and studying, yeah, but she can be pretty nice if you give her a chance. I get the feeling she doesn't really quite know how to make friends. It happens a lot, in the Muggle world. Bright kids like her get treated like crap a lot of times." And the good knew Harry understood what it was like to be friendless and alone, so he was rather sympathetic to Hermione, and more than willing to overlook her faults. Too, he was (thanks to working with Snape and McGonagall all the time) more interested in studying and putting in an effort in their schooling than Ron seemed to be. But then, Harry knew Ron had ... issues ... where his family was concerned. Issues that baffled him, quite frankly, because the lot of them sounded brilliant, and Mrs. Weasley had been so nice to him at the station, but Ron seemed to feel like there was absolutely nothing he could do to distinguish himself from his brothers, so why try. "So just ... try to lay off a little? Humor her? I dunno, something like that. She doesn't mean to make it sound like she thinks you're an idiot."
Ron growled and grumbled, but didn't outright say 'no', so Harry decided to take it for a reluctant 'yes'.
Unfortunately, Hermione disappeared for the rest of the day, which caused Harry to give Ron a few rather accusatory looks.
And then it was time for the feast. Harry wasn't quite feeling all that merry, between the night's associations and Hermione still being (he had found out during the day) in the third floor girls' bathroom. He decided to sit near the doors of the Great Hall, so he could slip out if he wanted, without drawing too much attention to himself, and a long-faced Ron joined him.
They'd barely begun to eat when Quirrell came thundering into the room shrieking like a girl about a troll. Harry gave Ron a horrified look as fully half the school started to scream, and those closest to the doors bolted like hell. Harry and Ron joined them, but for an entirely different reason. Hermione! She was out and about in the school!
They dimly heard Dumbledore yelling, followed almost instantly by McGonagall, and then they were out of hearing range. They got to the third floor just in time to spot the troll shuffling into the girl's bathroom, and hear Hermione's startled scream, followed by the troll's bellow.
Both boys raced into the room, which, much to their horror, was already half-trashed, thanks to the troll's club. Hermione was scrambling back and forth, trying to avoid getting smeared into paste, but unable to get past the troll to safety. Harry and Ron immediately started yelling and throwing bits of debris. Harry even shot sparks off at the thing. Finally, they got its attention, but unfortunately, all the wild swinging it was doing kept Hermione pinned down.
A minute or two of frantic ducking and dodging, tossing debris and (sadly, mostly entirely harmless) spells later, and then Ron, probably out of sheer desperation and frustration, bellowed out "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Harry wasn't quite sure who was more surprised when the spell actually worked, yanking the troll's club out of its grip ... Ron, Hermione, himself, or the troll. At any rate, Ron was so startled it worked he lost concentration and the club came crashing down. Right on the troll's head.
The troll went down like a ton of bricks, and for a moment the three of them stood there, staring at it stupidly before they got swept up in a case of more-than-slightly hysterical giggles.
And that's how Snape, McGonagall, and Quirrell found them, huddled together, half-hugging each other and half holding each other up as they fairly howled. To say Snape and McGonagall were less than pleased would be to vastly understate the case, but at least the looks on their faces managed to sober them up ... well, somewhat. Ron couldn't quite seem to keep from snickering quietly.
"Explain yourselves!" McGonagall all but shrieked.
Harry and Ron sort of stared at each other, and Hermione stepped forward. "It was my fault, Professors." She started.
At that point, though, Harry found his voice. "No it wasn't. Professors ... well ... Hermione wasn't at the feast. When Professor Quirrell came in and yelled about the troll, Ron and I realized she didn't know ... and I don't think any of the professors knew she was up here. By the time we got here, the troll was up here. If we hadn't run out of the Hall ... " Harry shuddered in horror at the thought of what could have, would have happened. He looked at Snape. "I know you told me to tell you if something came up ... but there wasn't *time*. We were sitting by the doors. By the time I'd have got to the front of the Hall ... "
Thankfully, both Professors seemed to be of a mind to not yell. McGonagall and Snape seemed to hold a silent conference before McGonagall nodded. "Twenty points each, gentlemen, for coming to the rescue of a classmate." She decreed. "And I think the three of you need to have a brief visit to the Infirmary to make sure you've come to no harm."
Snape eyed Quirrell like the man was a particularly offensive bug. "You stay here and dispose of the troll."
About the time they got to the Infirmary, the shakes started, as the full import of what they'd done, what they'd survived, and just how badly things could have gone hit them. Pomphrey bustled around them, fussing and scolding the three of them and the professors equally. Snape and McGonagall hovered, which Harry found a bit amusing ... and oddly comforting.
But then again, as much time as he spent with the two, he'd begun to see past their 'professor' personas. They were actually fairly similar in several respects, which probably explained how they got along so well (not that they let their students see that, obviously, but Harry'd seen more than a bit of it). Both were a bit on the perfectionist side, with rather dry senses of humor ... and kind of scary when they were angry. They also were both willing to go the extra mile to protect their charges (as witnessed by everything they'd done for him over the last two months). From there, though, McGonagall was an avid Quidditch fan, while Snape barely tolerated the existence of the sport as a way for kids to burn off excess energy. Snape was, by far, the quieter of the two, willing and able to spend hours in a surprisingly comfortable silence as he marked essays and Harry worked on homework. It was something Harry appreciated at times, since he still felt rather awkward around them both in private, as he just wasn't used to being the focus of someone's concern. Being allowed to 'retreat' a bit was appreciated. Fortunately, neither of them was pushing him to talk about the Dursleys. Frankly, the quicker Harry forgot they existed, the happier he'd be.
He, Hermione and Ron spent the night in the infirmary in adjoining beds. Sometime in the really early morning, they'd all been awake, and Ron had whispered over to Hermione. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I shouldn'ta mouthed off. If I hadn't ... "
Hermione gave a choked noise. "It's ok, Ron. Nobody knew there'd be a troll."
Harry grinned like a loon. It seemed his two friends were finally going to be ok with each other. They headed for the Tower as a trio, and were greeted by three Weasley boys, who nearly fell out of the entrance to the Tower when the Fat Lady moved aside. The next half hour or so was a confusion of explanations as the tale of the troll got told to what looked like the majority of the House.
HPHPHP
Once the trio had been seen by Pomphrey and collapsed into a much-needed sleep, Severus and Minerva retreated to her office. She headed straight for the hidden supply of Ogden's Finest she kept on hand for when things got especially trying between the Gryffindors and Slytherins, or when her Lions pulled something particularly hair-raising. She didn't bother asking him if he wanted some, as she knew he never drank. Not only did it remind him of his father, but loosening inhibitions had been a very, very, very bad idea for someone who needed to keep so many secrets. Instead, Severus indulged himself in a cup of particularly soothing tea.
"Here's to surviving the next seven years with those three in the school, if this is any indication of how things are going to go." Minerva said, raising her glass. "Good lord. They beat a troll, Severus. A troll! With first-year spells!"
"I am more concerned with how the troll got to the third floor from the dungeons." Severus commented. "It's rather a long trip."
Minerva sighed. "You do have a point." She agreed. "And I *still* can't believe that despite having heard the troll was in the dungeon, Dumbledore wanted to send everyone to their common rooms! Half the school would have been at risk at absolute best. As things turned out, they all could have been!"
"Thank you for forcing wiser heads to prevail in that matter." Severus said, lifting his cup. "Especially as it kept Quirrell under everyone's eyes."
"You're still convinced he's a danger?"
"More than ever. I do not know what is going on, precisely, but I do know that he is a danger. He has claimed in the past to have a ... gift ... with trolls." Severus told her.
That made Minerva narrow her eyes. "Has he? And yet he flees from one? Rather interesting, and I fear I'm beginning to agree with you. Something is not quite right." Then she sighed. "And I fear Dumbledore has invited it into our midst. I must confess to being grateful that you have decided not to hate Harry, Severus. If the boy's to have any hope of a somewhat normal scholastic career, he's going to need the both of us on his side."
"I have begun to come to that conclusion." Severus agreed with a sigh. "I had built him up in my mind to be James reborn. Imagine my surprise when the only traces of the man is the boy's hair, of all things."
"An understandable mistake, Severus, considering the enmity between you and the Marauders. Speaking of which ... have you had any luck tracking down Remus?" Minerva asked.
"Not yet. The wolf's buried himself in some god-forsaken corner of the planet, apparently." Severus said. "I've used the delay to good effect, and we've got enough potion to last quite some time. IF the man can be found."
Almost as if to taunt him, a tired-looking tawny owl swooped into the room, bearing an envelope. It landed on the arm of Severus' chair. Severus sneered at it. "Damn it. He would be found tonight." He snatched the letter from the owl, and dismissed it before cramming the letter in a pocket.
"Not going to read it?"
"Not at the moment." Severus told her. "It can wait for morning."
Minerva looked at him as if to say 'when you're hopefully in a better temper', a look Severus ignored. "I plan on taking him to the Hollow Saturday." He made a face. "Most of the pilgrims will be long gone by then, and he can visit in relative peace."
Minerva nodded. "It's well beyond time he was allowed to visit their graves." She agreed. "And as he's finally completely closed the gaps in his education between the Muggle world and ours, I'll be starting to tell him about the Potters next week. Do you know yet if the Manor is habitable?"
"Unfortunately, no. Apparently, after the attack, the manor shut itself down. I couldn't even find it, despite knowing approximately where it stands." Severus was less than pleased about that.
Minerva sighed. "I was afraid of that. The oldest families' homes have a huge number of defensive measures surrounding them. I imagine only Harry will be able to get the place to reappear at this point, as he's the heir and sole surviving member ... but we might be able to find out about the elves, at the least. Talk to the ones in the kitchens. They will be able to find out, through their network."
Severus nodded. The elves had been a bit further down on his list than the manor itself, so he hadn't yet approached the Hogwarts elves to find out if they could discover whether the Potter elves had survived. After a few more moments, he finished his tea and got to his feet. "I have patrols." He said. "I'll see you at breakfast." and with a last nod, he headed out.
Different Halloween