A Trio of Serpents

49: Slytherin Inquisition

Look up frog under mushroom. You won't regret it.

Summary: The aftermath of Dumbledore's departure; O.W.L. exams are approaching

Harry wished he could share half of Remus' confidence that Dumbledore would return. It seemed as though Lucius Malfoy was here to stay. He certainly made himself at home and gave Draco free reign, making him a hundred times more unbearable than ever. Harry had to suppress the urge to hex him and the Slytherins that were on his side multiple times an hour.

But he managed it. Somehow. He did his homework with his friends in the library, making sure to not even allude to the past D.A. meetings lest he was overheard by the new Inquisitorial Squad.

It seemed as though everyone else was in a more foul mood. Ron muttered dark predictions under his breath in the hopes one of them would stick. Tracey would lash out if you breathed too loudly. Ginny scared her dormmates away for a bit of peace and quiet. Sid and Jayson had a row one morning that ended with the two not speaking to each other. When Harry next saw Jayson, he was sitting at the Gryffindor table with Logan with his back to the Slytherins.

Sid cast a longing glance over at his friend and settled down next to Harry with a heavy sigh. "His father wrote to him."

Harry closed his eyes briefly. He had yet to meet Jayson's parents, but every time they were brought up made him want to tear his hair out. "And what did he say?"

"Something ugly."

The next day, Draco came running out of the dorm yelling to his father that there was a dead ferret in his bed. But when they went back in to take a look, they didn't see anything and left trying to hide their confusion. Neither of them noticed Harry holding a very obviously out-of-place teapot.

Some time later, Jayson approached Sid and handed him a piece of parchment. Harry peered closer to see he had scrawled a picture of a frog that looked as though it was covered in mottled green crumbs sitting under a red mushroom while rain splattered above.

"Mossy frog," said Jayson as Sid stared at it. "You can get rid of it if you w —"

He broke off as Sid threw his arms around him. Harry half expected him to kiss Jayson when he drew back. "I'm framing it."

"Really? Even though the anatomy's kinda off?"

"It's adorable. Just like you." Sid booped him on the nose and sat back down like everything was normal.

Jayson blinked a few times, then sank into the chair next to him, his knee bumping into Sid's. "It took like an hour just to get the back leg right. Had to ask Kyra to help me out; she's way better at drawing..."

The whole time, Hermione had been rustling through her notes completely unaware of the pair making up. Aside from her usual fretting over the upcoming O.W.L.s, her homework, and prefect duties, she was also rather subdued. She had given Cho the counter-jinx, knowing Marietta wouldn't trust her to perform it herself. Cho had accepted and successfully removed the pustules, though none of the Ravenclaws wanted to be around Hermione if they could help it. Padma and Anthony refused to speak to her when patrolling. Not that Hermione was even in the mood to talk to anyone.

Once, when Pansy Parkinson approached her, probably intending to say something that would surely get her hexed, Hermione grabbed her by the shoulders, looked her in the eye, and said, very sternly, "Unless you know a good shortcut to memorizing goblin rebellion years, I don't want to hear it."

Eyes wide, Parkinson nodded and backed away as fast as she could.

"Get your girlfriend under control, Weasley!" she snapped at Ron as she passed. Ron just nodded and wandered over to Hermione.