Hermione, inevitably, woke up in a bad mood. Maybe it made her a coward, but she was rather glad that Lavender and Parvati had already left by the time she had woken up. She mentally chided herself - she was right, it wasn't her problem - and got changed
She wasn't the only one in a bad mood, however. Seamus came down from his dormitory at top speed, a scowl on his face and, when he came downstairs, Harry looked ready to strangle someone
"What's the matter?" she asked him and Ron "You look absolutely - Oh for heaven's sake"
She rolled her eyes. The twins had pinned a large poster on the notice board, over the Hogsmeade weekend dates:
GALLONS OF GALLEONS.
Pocket money failing to keep pace with your outgoings? Like to earn a little extra gold? Contact Fred and George Weasley, Gryffindor common room, for simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs. (We regret that all work is undertaken at applicant's own risk.)
"They are the limit" she said, pulling down the poster "We'll have to talk to them, Ron"
He stared at her
"Why?"
"Because we're prefects!" she said "It's up to us to stop this kind of thing!"
Far from her preferred reaction, Ron looked like he would rather die
"Anyway, what's up, Harry?" she asked as they walked down to breakfast "You look really angry about something"
Harry didn't answer
"Seamus reckons Harry's lying about You-Know-Who" Ron supplied
"Yes, Lavender thinks so too" she sighed
"Been having a nice little chat with her about whet her or not I'm a lying, attention-seeking prat, have you?" Harry snapped
Hermione raised her eyebrows
"No" she said "I told her to keep her big fat mouth shut about you, actually. And it would be quite nice if you stopped jumping down our throats, Harry, because in case you haven't noticed, Ron and I are on your side"
Harry went slightly pink
"Sorry" he said
"That's quite all right" she shook her head "Don't you remember what Dumbledore said at the last end-of-term feast?"
Clearly, they didn't, given the looks they were giving her
She sighed again
"About You-Know-Who. He said his 'gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust-'"
"How do you remember stuff like that?" Ron looked rather impressed
"I listen, Ron" she said, trying not to go red
"So do I, but I still couldn't tell you exactly what-"
"The point" she went on quickly "is that this sort of thing is exactly what Dumbledore was talking about. You-Know-Who's only been back two months and we've already started fighting among ourselves. And the Sorting Hats warning was the same: stand together, be united-"
"And Harry got it right last night" he cut her off "If that means we're supposed to get matey with the Slytherins-fat chance"
"Well, I think it's a pity we're not trying for a bit of inter-house unity" she said
The inter-house rivalry was only getting people hurt, anyway. They reached the Great Hall and, as they reached the doors, a group of fourth year Ravenclaws huddled together at the sight of Harry, looking scared
"Yeah, we really ought to be trying to make friends with people like that" Harry rolled his eyes
They all glanced instinctively at the staff table as the went into the Hall. Inevitably, Professor Grubbly-Plank was still in Hagrid's place, talking to Professor Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher
"Dumbledore didn't even mention how long that Grubbly-Plank woman's staying" said Harry, his mood seemingly falling further
"Maybe..." said Hermione
"What?" said the other two
"Well... maybe he didn't want to draw attention to Hagrid not being here"
"What d'you mean, draw attention to it?" said Ron, sounding amused "How could we not notice?"
They were interupted by Angelina Johnson, one of Harry's Quidditch teammates, marching over to him
"Hi, Angelina" he said
"Hi, good summer?" she said, and then without any pause, "Listen, I've been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain"
"Nice one" said Harry, grinning
"Yeah, well, we need a new Keeper now Oliver's left. Tryouts are on Friday at five o'clock and I want the whole team there, all right? Then we can see how the new personnel fit in"
"Okay" said Harry
Angelina smiled and left
YOU ARE READING
Hermione Granger and the Order of the Phoenix
Fanfic(book 5) As Hermione Granger flew away from her home back towards the magical world, she realised that this wouldn't be an ordinary year. No, this time the terrifying creatures that wanted her dead would be OUTSIDE the school grounds, as well as ins...
