The Gryffindor Royal - Year Two

Chapter Nine

The next morning, (Y/N), Ron, Hermione and Harry were in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, this time to finish up the Polyjuice potion. "Again?" Hermione asked in regards to Harry telling them what happened last night with Colin. (Y/N) felt a stab of guilt she couldn't explain when she heard that Colin had been Petrified. She dozed off lightly on Ron's shoulder, unaware of why she was so tired. She knew she'd gone to bed rather later last night, but she'd done it before with no such effect.

"-of course! Don't you see? Lucius Malfoy must've opened it when he was at school here." Ron said. His shoulder jerked when he mentioned Lucius, causing (Y/N) to wake up. "Maybe he's told Draco how to do it." Ron suggested. (Y/N) rubbed her eyes and moaned in exhaustion, sitting down next to Harry. "Maybe. We'll have to wait for the Polyjuice potion to know for sure." Hermione said, pouring in whatever ingredient was required. "Enlighten me: why are we brewing this potion in broad daylight... in the middle of a girls' lavatory? Don't you think we'll get caught?" Ron asked.

Hermione and (Y/N) shared a look. Every girl who'd come to Hogwarts within the last 60 years or so knew the story. "No," (Y/N) said, rubbing her eyes again. "No one ever comes in here." Hermione agreed. "Why?" Once again, Hermione and (Y/N) glanced at each other, just that this time their eyebrows shot up into their hairlines. "Moaning Myrtle." They said simultaneously. "Who?" Ron asked, as the ghost herself came out of a stall.

"Moaning Myrtle," Hermione repeated, as though she thought Ron simply hadn't heard her properly. Harry nearly jumped when he saw the ghost behind Ron. "Who's Moaning Myrtle?" Ron asked, clearly confused. "I'm Moaning Myrtle!" Myrtle said in her high-pitched, rather annoying voice. Ron backed up against the wall behind him, terrified out of his wits. Myrtle flew up above the centre of the ring of sinks, giving (Y/N) a pointed look as she did this. "I wouldn't expect you to know me, who would ever talk about ugly, miserable, moping Moaning Myrtle?" the ghost said with a sob.

"I think she's answered her own question, hasn't she?" (Y/N), now more awake, whispered to Harry, who merely nodded, still trying to process the fact that there was a teenage ghost at Hogwarts. Myrtle screamed in a shrill voice, then drifted past them and slammed herself headfirst into a toilet, causing the water to splash around the stall. "She's a little sensitive." Hermione said simply, when Ron glanced at them all. "You think?" (Y/N) asked, causing Harry and Ron to laugh weakly. Harry's arm was thankfully back to normal, and he even managed to haul a half asleep (Y/N) up, then steer her through the halls.

"Did you not sleep last night? You came in awfully late." Hermione said, shaking (Y/N) to make sure she'd heard what she asked. "Wha-yeah, came in late... I was filling in my diary entry." she said absentmindedly. "What's so special about that diary anyway? I swear you spend more time with it than us." Ron said, leading to a good-natured argument between the twins as to who (Y/N) spent more time with.

• • • • • • •

With the total Petrifications coming up to two victims, Dumbledore gave Lockhart permission to start a duelling club, which would teach the students how to fight with wands. Dumbledore also suspended his private lessons with (Y/N), when he saw how much of a toll they'd taken on her. "Just know, Miss Weasley, my door is always open." Dumbledore had told her before she left his office for the last time.

Now, it was the first duelling club meeting. Students crowded around a narrow stage, talking amongst themselves until Lockhart showed up. "Gather round! Gather round," he said loudly, walking to the middle of the stage. "Can everybody see me?" he asked, not waiting for anyone's response. "Can you all hear me?" (Y/N) leaned back against the wall, as far from the stage as she could get. "Sadly, I have to answer yes to both those questions." She said loudly.

Lockhart either didn't hear her or made the smart choice to ignore her. "Excellent," he said, smiling his famous smile. "In light of the dark events of recent weeks, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little duelling club to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves, as I myself have done on countless occasions."