Among Other Things

Disclaimer: I do not own HP!

Chapter 7

The Burrow…

I am the sixth of seven children and I am not known for anything.

I do not have a brilliant job like Bill or Charlie, who works as a curse breaker and a dragon tamer respectively. I am not known for being a sycophantic kiss ass like Percy, or natural born troublemaker like the twins.

No, I am just Ron, average student, and sidekick of Harry Potter.

I am one of the crowd and I absolutely hate it.

During my childhood, I remember wishing that I had the fame; that I could walk outside and have the entire world looking at me. But, of course, it was just a dream.

When I finally went to Hogwarts, I wondered what the famous Harry Potter would be like. I wondered if I would be able to see the unknown power that defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I thought of him as some great hero.


But when I met him, I was disappointed. He was frail, tiny, and quiet. He was nothing like I had imagined.

And he was easy to take advantage of.

I never considered myself a cruel person, but when I met Harry Potter, everything changed. I made it my main goal to make him rely on me for opinions, advice and friendship. I ensured that he was always by my side, thus making myself the most important person in his life.

For several years, I rejoiced in the fame I received for being his friend, and I felt the power when I chose what we would do.

However, it was not enough for me.

I needed more.

So, in fourth year I split from Harry and began to actively take control of the house. I managed to get more than a few members on my side and I would have gotten further if it had not been for my brothers, Fred and George.

Practically in love with Harry, they did everything they could to support him. Some nights I discovered him sleeping in their dorm, rather than ours.

Eventually, the situation evolved into a civil war, and I knew I only needed one more thing to tip the house to my side.

That was when I discovered the relationship between Harry and Snape.

I could not believe it! Snape, our greasy, sallow, hook-nosed professor who hated Harry, was spending time with him.

An unusual amount of time, to be precise.

I began to stalk Harry in an effort to gather evidence, and discovered that what everyone else thought were detentions, were actually hours spent in what I assumed to be Snape’s private quarters.

I never actually discovered what it was exactly they were doing. I left that up to Professor McGonagall.

Once I had the routine down pat, I confessed my suspicions to McGonagall. This ensured that she stormed down to the dungeons right in the middle of one of the “detentions.”

I know they started a formal inquiry, but nothing came of it.

Snape was not fired, such a pity, and Harry was livid.

Naturally, Snape became more vicious and by the end of the term, the house had negative points.

And everyone blamed me.

I, of course, blamed Harry since he decided to remain the blushing virgin, instead of doing something illicit with the Potions Master.

What an unbelievable girl!

Really, who decides to wait?

It did not help either that the detentions were actually lessons on wizarding culture, or so Professor McGonagall informed me on my third detention of scrubbing cauldrons.

The third of many as I unfortunately discovered.

Moony’s Paw…

Laughing, Harry ducked a Rictumsempra and returned it with one of his own before ducking a Petrificus Totalus sent by Remus.

Fighting two against one was hardly fair, but Harry took to it immediately, ducking and rolling out of the way, as he sent hexes back at a quick fire pace.

He had only been here for a few days, but had taken to the daily routine with few problems. One of his favorite parts of the day were the multiple pranks and duels.

Naturally, he had started out the day with a potion slipped into their food, easily done since he was the only one capable of cooking anything.

Within five minutes of breakfast they both had pink hair.

That would not have been so bad if it was not for the fact that every time they tried to magically change it their hair became brighter. Needless to say, by the time they recovered from their shock, the both had neon green hair with silver glitter.

Very Slytherin, he had to say.

And such had begun their duel.

Harry took up position behind the couch as both men fired hexes. Although he was talented and could last for a while, he knew it was a matter of time before they beat him.

Ducking down after sending yet another hex, Harry missed Sirius’ significant glance to Remus and subsequent change into Padfoot.

He did, however, figure it out a moment later when the animagus jumped over the couch onto him, and began to tickle him on the sides and stomach with his paws.

Harry had always been extremely ticklish, which Sirius had discovered Harry’s first day here, so he could not come up with any defense as the animagus attacked. Which was why it was so easy for Remus to make boy surrender while Padfoot tickled him mercilessly.

Harry surrendered moments later. And then he gleefully informed them that the potion would not wear off until tomorrow.

As Harry slunk off to his room to grab his summer homework, the two Marauders scowled before flopping down on the couch.

“I cannot believe he pranked us,” Sirius sullenly muttered, the pride in his eyes showing exactly what he felt.

“Well, we did deserve it,” Remus mused, as he absently tugged at a lock of his positively Slytherin hair.

“No, we did not!” he hotly stated, sitting up straight in order to give a proper glare of death to his longtime friend.

Remus rolled his eyes. “You do not remember yesterday, when you charmed his clothes to capture and tickle him every time he passed the wardrobe?”

Sirius coughed. “Oh.”

“I swear, Sirius. Sometimes I think you will never grow up,” Remus laughed, admiring his hair in a hastily conjured mirror. He stopped as soon as he noticed Sirius’ raised eyebrow.

“Really, Remus? Well, at least I am not as vain as Narcissa!”

Remus dropped the mirror in surprise. “I am not vain!”

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I am not!”

“Are too!”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

“Are not!”

“Who’s being childish now!?”

“You are doing the same thing!”

“Lowering yourself to my level then?”

“I am not!”

“Are too!”

“Are not!”

“As if you had far to go!”

“Hey, I am way more mature than you are!”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

Upstairs, Harry rolled his eyes as he heard yet another duel beginning. Well, he would definitely stay out of this one.

Besides, he had homework to finish before Snape made a visit in a few days. It had taken some time to convince Remus and Sirius to allow the Potions Master to come, but eventually they had listened to his reasons.

At wand point.

Harry was pretty sure that if he had not had Snape’s help over the last few years, he would not have survived.

Adjusting his bag, Harry decided to go to the library instead. There it would be quiet and hopefully somewhat peaceful.

Moony’s library, he decided, had to be one of the best. The walls were painted in a soft blue color that reminded him strongly of the sky, and the chairs and desks were made of some of the darkest wood he had ever seen.

It was truly beautiful to behold.

It gave off a warm, homey feel that made Harry never want to leave.

The best, however, had to be the ceiling to floor shelves filled with every book imaginable. Remus said that he had inherited most of the collection from his parents, and the rest was donated by Sirius.

Smiling, Harry randomly chose a Potions book and flipped through it. He noticed that even though it was Remus’ least favorite subject, he had been forced to have a teacher who had only encouraged famous students, he took care of the book.

The spine was not bent, nor the pages, and there was a ribbon, used for the purposes of marking one’s place.

Harry put it back before picking up a Potions Compendium, jointly published by the Potions Guild, and placed it on a nearby desk.

A quick search produced two more books he would need for his essay. With a small sigh and an absent fingering of his messy hair, he began the six-foot essay assigned by his most demanding professor.

Though McGonagall came in as a close second.

Bulgaria…

Hermione Granger stretched and sighed happily.

Finally.

She was completely done with all her assignments and it had only taken two weeks to do them. Of course, she may have to redo her Charms essay, since she had not included all the various ways certain charms could be casted and what their effects could be to the caster.

Undoing her ponytail, Hermione ran a hand through her no longer bushy hair to ease away her headache. It had taken some convincing by both her parents, but Hermione had finally consented to using a hair potion, not Sleakezy’s since a liberal amount had to be used every day, but a special ordered one.

This hair potion only had to be applied once a week and would work no matter how many times her hair got wet.

She was ecstatic.

Her hair was now low maintenance and it looked brilliant. A win-win situation she was sure.

Hazel eyes reflecting the sunlight, Hermione glanced at the window to see her boyfriend, Viktor Krum, practicing on his private Quidditch Pitch.

During the year, Viktor had asked her out and after she had finally agreed, it had taken two months, he had asked her to stay with him at his mansion during the summer. Her parents had agreed, reluctantly, given the condition that they came along as well.

Thankfully, everyone was getting along famously, and Hermione could not be happier.

Well, she could actually.

In truth, she was quite worried about Harry, since she had not heard from him in a few weeks. And she knew better than to send an owl, since there was no telling what his relatives would do.

She had learned from experience to just wait until he sent word, no matter how long she had to wait.

“After all,” he had laughed. “If I am captured you would know almost immediately. And my relatives will not kill me They know what the consequences would be.”

Hermione frowned at the memory.

Sometimes she hated the world with what it was doing to her best friend. She hoped that when everything was over he found some sort of happiness.

Especially with the way Dumbledore and Ron, the people that were supposed to love him, decided to treat him.

At the thought of Ron Hermione scowled.

She had seen the way he tended to treat Harry and had done her best to prevent it over the years. She had even, in some small part of her mind, hoped that Ron would change his ways, and when he did he would finally look at her.

She held on to that until last year when Ron had instigated a formal inquiry into Professor Snape’s actions.

She had not thought for a minute that he had done it to protect Harry.

No, he had done it to end the weird relationship between Harry and the professor.

It had started with Potions and wizarding culture lessons, but it had slowly developed into something more. She knew that they both regarded each other with a certain degree of affection.

Harry, she knew, thought of the dungeons now as a sort of refuge, and the professor as someone he could to talk to whenever something was bothering him.

Hermione knew that with time the relationship would develop into a romantic one, and when it did she would give her full support. Frankly, she was happy at the thought that Ron was finally away from Harry, but at the same time saddened by the thought that he had thrown away what could have been a potential lifelong friendship.

For a time, Hermione stared out the window and thought of better times and a better future.

She was sure that someday it would happen.

Eventually she was startled out of her daydream by hands on her shoulders and a kiss on her cheek. Blushing, Hermione smiled and looked up at Viktor, whose dark eyes were filled with happiness.

“Done already?” she asked.

“Yes, ve haf finished for today. I haf come to take you to dinner.”

“Alright,” she said, standing up and stretching once again; she chose to ignore his appraising eyes.

“Let’s go.”

As they walked through the Krum mansion, she wondered what it would be like to live here year round.

To be married…

At that thought, Hermione blushed and then spent the rest of the walk refusing to tell Viktor exactly why she had.


End of Chapter 7! Please review!!