Harry Potter and the Unlikely Gryffindor

Days turned into weeks, and the first frost of winter had already come and gone, leaving the ground hard as granite; the perfect stage for the ivory ballet played out by the snowflakes as they fell, piling into gentle waves and hills over the school grounds.

Though, perhaps, the beauty of it was over shadowed by one of the students favorite activities dealing with snow.

*SMACK* "Hey!" *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* Ron dove down behind a snow drift, keeping his back to the curve. "We\'re seriously out numbered, mates. Hermine\'s got an arm like a bloody cannon!" He exclaimed, snow still clinging to the top of his cap. Harry laughed, making a pile of rather large snow balls as ammunition.

"Neville, you take the left, Ron; center, and I\'ll take the right. Everyone else, just throw at anything that moves! Take no prisoners!" The boys cheered as they each gathered an arm full of snowballs, preparing to pop out from behind the drift and pummel the girls.

Hermione glanced over the wall the girls had built with the snow, watching as Harry stock piled the boy\'s ammunition. She had a devious smirk on her face as she gathered an arm full herself. "Alright, we charge them and knock some sense into their heads. Make sure their soaked to the bone."

Hera laughed, giving Hermione a mock worried look. "I think I\'ve been a bad influence on you."

Hermione gave her a winning smile. "The boys beat you to it."

Hera\'s eye brows shot up, giving Hermione the once over like she had just seen her for the first time. "And here I thought you were all innocent. It\'s always the quiet ones." Hermione gasped, but before she could defend her honor as a maiden, Hera loosed an echoing battle cry and charged from behind the wall.

"Say hello to my little friends!" Hera hollered with the worst Italian accent she could muster as she caught Ron straight in the chest with a snow ball, laughing as he tried to get it out of his shirt before it melted.

Before anyone could do anything, all the girls had charged out and were ganging up on the boys, throwing snowballs indiscriminately at any boy they could find. But soon it deteriorated into a wrestle match in the snow with girls stuffing snow down the boys shirts and the boys afraid to retaliate, though some of the Slytherin boys and girls were getting a bit nastier with where they placed the snow.

It didn\'t matter who was winning, since everyone was throwing snow at everyone else. The laughter filled the streets of Hogsmead as the children chased each other, catching passers by unawares with a stray snowball or two.

Even Headmistress McGonagall was no exception, but rather than hand out discipline with deduction of points, Minerva instead chose to make a ball of her own and throw it at a young Gryffindor lad who was too shocked to retaliate.

Hera and Harry ran behind an outlying building, each carrying a hand full of snowballs. "I think I created a monster. Hermione thinks she\'s a machine gun. I think she got McGonagall a couple of times."

"Yea, but McGonagall made up for it." Harry laughed, watching as the teachers got in on the snowball war, laughing with their students as they pummeled each other silly. Harry sniped Professor Flitwick with a snowball to the back of his head, making the small teacher fall face first into the snow. Both ducked behind the building as Flitwick started looking around for the wielder of said snowball.

Harry, couldn\'t help but laugh as both him and Hera ran as Flitwick chased after them, his wand drawn. Apparently he was trying to get revenge on both of them by levitating them into a snowdrift. However, Flitwick was simply not in shape enough to run after two young people. He stopped where he was, dismissing them with a hasty wave of his hand. He was much too old for this, that was until he was smacked by no less than three snowballs, all hurled by members of the staff.

Harry and Hera collapsed behind a snow hill behind one of the buildings, laughing as they rolled on the ground, sprawled out on the snow. Hera laid on her back, catching snow flakes with her tongue, sighing softly to herself. Harry looked over at one of his best friends, a goofy smile still plastered on his face, his glasses rimmed with ice. Hera\'s hair seemed to disappear against the snow.

Harry\'s presence with Hera was no accident; after the dream, he had stuck to the Malfoy like glue, keeping an eye on her when no one else thought he was looking. He had decided not to warn her, since he wanted a clear shot at Snape when he came for her. If he came for her. For all Harry knew, he would bide his time until Harry thought he had given up, then snatch her away. "Hera, what\'s winter like in Texas?" Harry asked, watching the snow flakes fall. Hera propped her head up with her hands under it, watching the trees.

"Definitely not like this. The only time I remember getting snow was when I was around five, and even then it wasn\'t cold enough for it to \'stick\'. I do remember one year, around \'94, it was so warm we had a pool party on Christmas Day."

"Swimming? Outside? On Christmas?" Harry asked, not believing his ears.

"Yep, I think it was about 85° outside. Of course, that was after a summer of record breaking heat." Hera shrugged. "There are about two seasons in Texas: Summer and Not-Summer." Harry laughed, not seeing the snow ball Hera dropped on his face.

Harry coughed and gathered his own snowball, threatening Hera with it as she started building her own as the impromptu fight descended into a ball of laughter as both fought to cover the other with as much snow as they could, their fight taking them down the embankment and into a deep snowdrift with a muffled thud. The two were still laughing as they continued their match in the snow bank, making it look like something was burrowing beneath the snow. Finely with a leap, Hera tackled Harry to the ground, the hard packed snow above them like an igloo.

But before they could register their position, Hera was suddenly jerked up through the snow by her clothing. Harry dug himself out of the snow, catching Hera by her ankle, holding on as she was levitated over to the other side of the embankment closest to the Shrieking Shack.

Harry knew who it was before he stepped out from behind the oak, his wand raised as he directed the pair to the ground about two meters in front of him. "Snape," Harry ground out, watching the former Hogwarts Professor turned Death Eater with hatred burning in his eyes. He ignored the pain radiating out from his scar, focusing on Snape as he drew his wand, pointing it toward the object of his hatred.

"Oh, that\'s what Snape looks like," Hera said as she brushed snow off of her clothing, watching the heated stare between the two. "I take it there\'s some bad blood between you two?" Hera stayed calm. If Snape had wanted to kill her, he would have done so in the snow bank and no one would have been the wiser.

Snape looked over at her, a sneer on his face. "Ever the observant one."

This only caused Hera to grin. "Yep, that\'s me, observant. By the way, what exactly does who ever you work for want with me?"

Snape refused to answer, in stead he divided his attention between the two. Harry he could read like a book. Hera on the other hand, he had no idea what she was capable of. Well, he did know that she was capable of casting a powerful Protego. That in itself was a feat since he could barely cast one himself. And two, he knew that she was capable of casting effective spells without a wand. Which was rare, but a trait of the Malfoy family, if somewhat uncommon.

\"Alright, be that way.\" Hera said, reaching into her sleeve and taking out her wand, the darkness of the wood a stark contrast against the white of the ground and sky. Snape narrowed his eyes. Ebony with Phoenix talon. Dare he ask what Phoenix gave the talon? Now this was an irony. Harry\'s wand; Holly with Phoenix feather, and Hera\'s; Ebony with Phoenix talon; and both were in the same house together?

Snape had never known a Gryffindor to posses a wand made out of Ebony, only Slytherins. And too, his own wand was made out of Ebony, carved with flowing runic symbols with a core of Basilisk fang. Hera\'s wand, however, was carved with thorny vines, with a particularly large thorn making up the hilt. He wondered what Ollivander was thinking when he made it.

Ebony was not associated with healing, but could the thorns suggest something else? All this went through Snape\'s mind in an instant, his keen dark eyes assessing everything about his opponents before they themselves knew that they were up against.

\"Harry?\" Hera asked softly, watching as the dark wizard debated with himself what to do next. \"I\'m gonna need you to...scream...like a little girl.\" Before Harry could protest, Hera was already pointing her wand at him. \"Wingardium Levosia!\" And with a toss of her wand, threw Potter across the embankment and smack into the front of The Three Broomsticks, bringing the snow ball fight to a complete halt.

\"Snape...\" Was all Harry muttered before falling to the snow, knocked out completely.

\"So you are a Malfoy after all.\" Snape said, raising one of his eyebrows. \"Dare I ask what that was for?\"

Hera chuckled, taking her gloves off, letting them fall into the snow. \"That, was so he could get help, because I know I am seriously out gunned.\"

Snape harrumphed, smiling shrewdly. \"At least you have some sense, girl. Now, I would hate to have anything happen to you before my Master had the chance to speak to you.\" He said, making an exaggerated bow with his hand held out. \"Your wand?\"

Hera agreed, handing Snape her wand. \"You gonna tie me up?\" She asked suggestively, putting her wrists together, wiggling her fingers.

\"No need for that, my good lady.\" Severus cooed, smiling as sweetly as he could bare to, holding one of her wrists tightly. \"Apparate.\" And the two disappeared into the snow.

------------------------

\"They were right here!\" Harry called out, picking up Hera\'s gloves. \"He took her to Voldomort.\" Harry said, looking up at Headmistress McGonagall, still nursing a sore noggin and bruised ego.

He had wanted more than anything to string Snape up by his toes and put him through some serious pain. Not that he intended to use one of the Unforgivable Curses, but it would have been satisfying in its own way to watch him squirm.

\"Oh dear.\" McGonagall said softly, looking in all directions for any clue as to where they had gone. \"They must have Apparated. I don\'t know of any place he could have taken Hera. But we\'ll find her somehow.\" McGonagall said, wringing her hands in distress. \"Teachers! Get the students back to the castle and into their Common Rooms, Immediately! There\'s been a kidnapping!\"

Harry stared down at Hera\'s gloves, puzzled as to why she had left them in the snow, under the tree. It was strange, since she hated what the cold did to her hands. He sighed, turning back toward Hogsmead, rejoining the group that was heading back to Hogwarts, still holding the black leather gloves in his hands.