On An Island In The Sun

On an Island in the sun Part 1

Harry was miserable, it seemed that everything that could go wrong in his life was happening. He'd been entered into a contest that didn't so much have winners as survivors, his best friend Ron along with half the school wasn't speaking to him, the Press was airing a distorted version of his personal life for all to laugh at, and to top it all of a couple of Hufflepuff girls had been giving him odd looks all bloody day.

"What's wrong Harry," Hermione asked sympathetically, "the Prophet again?" She couldn't believe that they could get away with printing such distorted stories about her best friend.

"Let's go to the library," Harry said. He rose from his seat and grabbed his friend by the hand. "Now."

"Okay," Hermione agreed with a shocked look on her face as Harry dragged her out of the Great Hall. "Harry," she said after he'd slowed down. "I'm always happy to go to the library but why are you taking me there now?"

"I just can't stand their looks anymore," Harry replied out of the corner of his mouth.

"Don't let them get you down," Hermione advised, "they don't know the real you. The Harry that I know would never enter this bloody contest. I know the real you and I trust everything you've told me is true . . . and I trust you to have asked for my help if you were planning to do it," she ended with a giggle.

"Not them," Harry groaned, as his eyes darting around the hall.

"Them . . . who?"

"Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones," Harry replied, "they keep looking at me."

"What kind of look?" Hermione asked with a grin. "You are a good catch you know . . . maybe one of them fancy's you," she added a tad nervously.

"I . . . I don't . . . I'm . . . maybe." Harry slowed down as he considered Hermione's idea. 'A good catch? I have most of the magical world against me, the friggin' looneys, how could I be considered a good catch?'

"But you don't think so?" Hermione sighed, maybe they'd manage to avoid any life threatening adventures next year.

"No, I don't," he said sourly. 'Probably some plot. I probably have a mole on my bum that means I'm destined to find and be bitten by some horrible creature while finding Helga Hufflepuff's garter belt.'

Hogwarts own resident seer stood up in her bedroom and began to speak, but slurred her words so badly that no one could have understood them anyway, before passing back out once more, having had far too many sips off her hidden flask with lunch.

IIIIIIIIII

The two Hufflepuff in question turned to regard each other with identical looks of mixed anticipation and nervousness. They'd spent weeks talking about it and days gathering up enough courage.

"He noticed us," Susan said calmly.

"Uh huh," Hannah agreed, "did you see the look on his face?"

"Yeah," Susan laughed, "I wonder what he's thinking?"

"Who knows how a boy's mind works," Susan said with a shrug.

"Yeah . . . you sure about this?" Hannah bit her lower lip. "It's an awfully big thing after all."

"I wrote to Aunt Amelia and she said that he's got the power and that Granger has the grades. I thought she was joking till I did a little research and found out it'd been done before."

"We could always go into the muggle world?" she ventured with a look like she'd bitten into something unpleasant. "I've heard that muggles don't care about .. . ah . . ." she trailed off, thinking it best not to admit it when there could be someone listening.