From a Cradle to a Grave

Chapter 23

Third Person Pov

"This is getting ridiculous," Harry said. "It's been two weeks. She can't keep this act up much longer."

"I don't think it's an act at all," Ron shook his head. "I saw her with Malfoy earlier, the two of them looked like they were having the time of their lives, bullying a bunch of second years."

"But how? We've known Hope for so long, and she's never been this way! No one is capable of changing so much that quickly," Harry said, sinking into his armchair in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"What do you think, Hermione?" Ron turned to the bushy haired girl sitting at the table next to them. "D'you reckon Hope's being serious? Or is she acting this way as a coping mechanism? You know, to avoid the fact that she's really a contestant in the Triwizard Tournament and stuff?"

Hermione didn't reply. Ron and Harry shared a worried look. Hermione had seldom spoken at all since Hope had yelled at the three of them to leave her alone.

"Let's just go to Potions," Hermione mumbled quietly.

The three students grabbed their schoolbags, and headed down to the dungeons. They arrived just in time to see Hope and Malfoy brutally shoving their way past a group of young Ravenclaws.

"Snape looks like he's in a fowl mood, doesn't he?" Ron said, trying to steer the attention of his two friends away from his sister.

"He's going to poison me, I know he is," Harry muttered. "He's been hinting at it for weeks, now. He's going to poison me, to see if the antidote I made works- And we both know the chances of me getting anything right in his stupid class are next to zero."

"Hermione, d'you think you can find a way to slip Harry some of the stuff you made while Snape's talking? Hermione?" Ron frowned.

"Sure," Hermione said, keeping her eyes glued on Hope.

Hope, on the other hand, didn't give the Golden Trio a second glance. She simply marched straight into the Potions room. For the past few weeks, Hope had been sitting all the way at the back of the classroom with her chair tilted back and her boots swung up on her table. Such behavior from any Gryffindor would warrant Snape taking away a few hundred points, of course, but it was a well known fact that Snape was extremely prejudiced for everyone in his House.

Hope had even gone so far as to start snoring with her legs hooked onto the back of the chair a Gryffindor was sitting on, and all Snape had merely done was frown slightly.

"Antidotes!" Snape shouted all of a sudden.

Harry blinked himself into focus.

"You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then we will be selecting someone on whom to test one..." Snape trailed off, his eyes lingering on Harry's face for a second too long.

What Harry would do to bring his cauldron down onto Snape's greasy head-

A knock on the dungeon door burst in on Harry's thoughts.

Colin Creevey entered the Potions classroom, looking quite frightened as he gave Hope a sideways glance. From the way his hand was shaking, Harry wondered if Colin was one of the students Hope had been tormenting earlier.

Colin's face brightened up when he saw Harry, and he beamed at him before turning to Snape.

"Sir- Sir, I'm supposed to take Hope Weasley upstairs," Colin said.

Snape stared down at Colin, causing the smile to completely disappear from the third-year's face.

"Miss Weasley?" Snape called in a rather irritated kind of voice.