Harry's Twin - Book One // Complete // Editing

Extremely Bushy Hair

Finally Hermione, Ron and I find Harry again. 'Where'd you go?' I ask.

'Yes, where have you been?' enquires Hermione. Ron just gives him a questioning look.

'There's a party in the common room, Harry. They're waiting on you,' I say.

'Harry, we won!' smiles Ron. 'Oh, and I gave Malfoy a black eye- and Neville, he tried to take on Crabbe on Goyle! On his own!' He smirks happily to himself. 'Way to show Slytherin!'

I high five Ron, earning a questioning look from Harry. 'Aren't you and Ma-'

'Yeah. But, Ron was provoked by him and his little entourage, so I let Ronnie hear teach him a lesson.'

'Okay. Anyway, let's find an empty classroom. Lydia, we can go up to the feast soon!' Harry starts looking into classrooms. We find one, make sure Peeves isn't in it and Harry tells us his story.

'I was walking back with Lydia when I saw Snape heading towards the Forbidden Forest. I made Lydia wait for the twins and go with them to the castle. I followed Snape into the forest. He was talking to Quirrell. He said something about the Philosopher's Stone, and something about Quirrell's "hocus pocus"- which I'm presuming is magic...' he pauses, thinking. 'And also that Quirrell wouldn't want him as an enemy... a beast of Hagrid's... oh, and they'll have another chat soon and hopefully by then Quirrell will know where his loyalties lay.'

We discuss it for a few moments. 'So, if we're right...' I begin. 'Dumbledore is using the dog to hide the Philosopher's Stone...' Harry continues. 'Snape is forcing Quirrell to help him get past...' I offer. Ron looks between us in amusement, Hermione in curiosity.

'I reckon there's more than just Fluffy to get past... enchantments?' Harry suggests. We look right into each other's eyes, knowing what each other is about to say. I nod, and he nods back, before we begin speaking at the same time, 'Quirrell has an anti-dark arts spell, and Snape needs him to tell him how to get past it!' we finish together.

Hermione suddenly looks scared. 'So, the Stone is only safe if Quirrell stands up to Snape?'

'It'll be gone by next Tuesday!' Ron chimes in.

-----

Over the next few days we kept an eye on Quirrell. He seemed to be getting paler, thinner, but he'd not showed signs of cracking yet.

We passed the third floor corridor a few times a day- sometimes on purpose. Each time we'd press our ears to the door, just to check Fluffy was still growling. And he was. Something else that hadn't changed was the way Snape swept around in his angry manner. Surely the Stone must still be safe.

I noticed that whenever Harry passed the Quirrell he'd give him an encouraging smile. Ron told people off for making fun of his stutter. I just acted as if I didn't know anything.

I was sitting in the common room one evening, completing my charms homework when I see a pile of books and extremely bushy hair heading my way. 'Mione?' I ask, slightly concerned.

'Lydia. I wanted to know if you needed help with your exam study and timetables? I could be your study buddy! Like in those teen movies,' she smiles, setting her books and timetable down opposite me. She catches my blank look. 'You've never watched a girly movie then?' she sighs. I shake my head. Of course I hadn't.

Hermione sits down and begins colour coding notes. Ron comes over, followed by Harry. 'Why do you need to study now? Exams are ages away!'

'10 weeks,' Hermione states sternly. She'd been nagging the boys to begin studying for a couple of days now. 'That'd be a second to Flamel.'

'Right, but we're not over six hundred years old, Mione.' Ron points out.

'Anyway,' Harry pipes up. 'What are you even studying for? Don't you already know, well, everything?'

'What am I even studying for? You're mad!' Hermione's eyes go wide. 'I should've started studying a month ago! I don't know what has gotten into me!'

Ron shakes his head and moves away. Harry follows suit and must've suggested talking to Neville, because that's where they were headed.

'I'll  help you study, Hermione,' I say kindly, although I already know I'll regret it. She looks at me happily, before going back to her notes.

-----

Unfortunately our teachers seemed to agree with Hermione, piling on homework, springing random quizzes on us, to make sure we remembered everything. We had so much homework- the Easter holidays were no where near as fun as the Christmas ones were. In fact, since the Quidditch match, I'd had barely any spare time to spend with Draco.

Hermione was forever reciting uses of this and that in potion making, and practising wand movements. Of course, true to my word, I practised and studied, too. Harry and Ron joined us in the library, with a yawn and a moan.

'Merlin, I'll never remember this!' Ron bursts out, while studying in the library. He stares out the window, arms crossed. I stare, too. There's a feeling of summer in the air. Due to this, I couldn't've been happier. I love summer.

I turn back to Hermione and begin reciting the uses of different things in potions like she'd asked me to, moments before Ron's outburst.

Harry was looking up a word for Herbology and Hermione was listening, very closely, to me reciting things. None of us stopped our tasks until Ron suddenly speaks up again. 'Hagrid! What're you doing in here?'

'Nothin', just lookin',' Hagrid replies shiftily. 'What're you three doin', then?' he asks, suddenly suspicious of us. 'Not lookin'  fer that Nicholas Flamel, are yeh?'

'Oh, no. We found out who he was ages ago,' boasts Ron. 'And what the dogs guarding. It's the Philosopher's Sto-'

Ron is cut off by my sharp kick in the leg and Hagrid's, 'shhhh!'

'Don't go round shoutin' about it! What's wrong with yeh?' Hagrid says sternly, as he looks around to check no one's listening.

'Actually we want to ask some questions. Can you answer them, Hagrid?' Harry asks, and before Hagrid replies Harry goes ahead. 'What is hiding the Stone apart from Fluffy?'

'I told yeh, SSSSH!' Hagrid hushes Harry. 'Come round to my place later. I'm not promising to tell yehs anything... just don't go rabbitin'  on about it to yeh friends. Students aren't meant to know, and they'll think I told yehs, o'  course.'

'Right, well, see you later then,' I smile. Hagrid shuffles away.

'What was he hiding behind his back?' asks Hermione.

Ron has obviously had enough of working, as he stands up and moves towards where Hagrid was. 'I'm going to go find out what section he was in.'

And so he does. A few minutes later he came back with a pile of books. 'Dragons,' he says, putting them on the table.

'Well, Hagrid had always wanted a dragon...' Harry says.

'He told us when we first met him,' I explain.

'But it's against the Wizarding law,' Ron's eyebrows furrow. 'It was banned in 1709 by the Warlocks' Convention... everyone- everyone in the wizarding world, I mean- knows that! Muggles would start to notice if we had huge dragons in our back yard. Plus they're dangerous, hard to control.'

'What about wild dragons? Surely there are some of those in Britain?' Harry asks.

'Yeah, of course there are. There's Common Welsh Greens and Hebridean Ridgebacks. Oh, the ministry don't have half a job covering them up! Our kind keep having to put memory charms on muggles, so that they'll forget.' Ron explains.

'So what on Earth is Hagrid up to?' wonders Hermione suspiciously.