Hogwarts, Hormones And Everything Else

Minerva McGonagall

"Ah, this is my lucky day!" Danielle cried, as she hugged Ron excitedly. "Max and I had two crups, actually they belonged to Mama and Papa before we were born. They were quite old when they died last year, but since Max and I were away at school, Mama and Papa decided not to buy more. They are so funny and are such loyal pets!"

"That's great," Hermione said, but Harry could see she looked a little doubtful. "Do you think one could get along with Crookshanks though? I hope we will be spending lots of time together this year.."

"I will find a young one and train it to be a friend to Crookshanks, I am quite good with training animals. And of course, Hermione, I wish to be often with you as well," Danielle looked very determined now, and Harry began to see she and Hermione were more alike than he had imagined.

It took about half an hour for Danielle to find the crup she wanted. Harry and Hermione wandered around the store from time to time, as Ron and Danielle sat on the floor, surrounded by the crups, who were thrilled to have all that attention. Finally, Ron called them back and Danielle held up the one she had chosen. Harry had to admit, it was very appealing looking, and certainly made a better first impression than Crookshanks had. As Hermione held the wiggling little puppy, it began to chew on her sleeve, but Danielle touched its head lightly and said, "Non!" in a kind but firm voice. The puppy looked at them strangely for a second then yawned and snuggled up to Hermione.

"This is the one!" Hermione, Harry and Ron said together. "The three of us agree on something!" Ron added. "Dani, you don't know this but you may have witnessed a first!" They all laughed and Danielle went to pay for her crup, and to watch the severing charm performed on its forked tail. Hermione went along to pay for the packet of dried spiders she'd gotten as a treat for Crookshanks. As Harry and Ron waited at the door, Ron sighed happily.

"Isn't she wonderful? I was sure she'd come in here and find some identical match to Crookshanks, but look what she found instead. 'Course, it won't be without problems. They are scavengers, but Danielle seems to be a good trainer."

Harry snickered, and commented, "She's managed to tame you pretty quickly, hasn't she. But really Ron, Danielle seems to be a great person, and it sort of feels she's always been with us. And if her dad is able to help clear Sirius, I'll owe her and her family a lot!"

Having completed their transactions, the four friends went down the street to Flourish and Blotts, where they found their books for the coming year, and Danielle found a book that told all about crups and the particulars of their training. "I have a book almost like this, I should owl home and have it sent back by our house elf, but I hate to waste the time. Oh, look, there is Adrian, but where is Ginny?"

The other three looked at where Danielle was pointing, and sighed. " That's not Adrian, Danielle," Harry murmured. " But you may as well get used to seeing him. That's the other Malfoy, Draco. Maybe he won't see us...."

Unfortunately, this turned out to be a vain hope. Draco did see them, and came sauntering over, wearing his usual sneer. "So the threesome has become a foursome? You must be my cousin Adrian's friend. What's a pure blooded witch, whose family has high French Ministry connections doing with this lot. Potty, the Weasel and ..... her! They aren't exactly the best people at Hogwarts. Weasley here couldn't even afford to take you to Hogsmeade for a butterbeer!" Then he looked Danielle up and down, while Ron, Harry and Hermione stood there, about to explode, and said in a smoothly madddening voice, "You're a good looking witch. Why don't you ditch these losers and come with me?"

Just as the other three pulled out their wands, they saw Danielle draw back and with a tightly clenched fist, she made contact with Malfoy's perfectly straight nose He went down onto the tiled floor of Flourish and Blotts. blood spurting onto his obviously brand new robes. As an employee from the store hurried over, she turned and said apologetically, as she also pulled out her wand. " Oh, sorry for the mess, we'll get rid of him right away!"

On the floor, Draco drew back, as if fearing she would curse him but instead she muttered, "Cleansivaus" at the floor and his robes, and " Temporus Injutarus" to Draco's face.

"Don't bother going and whining to your dear Mama and Papa," she said cooly to the bewildered Draco who was now attempting to rise to his feet. "The outward signs of what I did will be gone in a moment. Only the pain will remain." Moving her foot quickly, Danielle tripped Draco and he went down on his knees again. "You'll stay there until we're gone. And don't think of revenge. Your cousin may be a valued friend of mine, but I will do much worse than this to you if you cross me."

Danielle then took Ron's arm, as he along with Harry and Hermione stared open mouthed at her. She bent and ripped a piece off the collar of Draco's robe and pointed to the basket she carried. "Just to warn you, I have purchased a crup, and he will be trained to recognize your scent. They are small but viciously loyal to their owners. Again, beware Mr. Malfoy "

Once outside the shop, Harry, Hermione and Ron were all talking at once, congratulating Danielle on taking care of Draco so swiftly, and asking her to teach them how to deliver that particular punch.

"You somehow don't look or act like a fighter, Dani," Ron said in wonder. " How'd you learn how to respond that fast? We were all going to get him, but you already had him on the floor."

Danielle shrugged and answered, "It was nothing. Just an automatic thing. One learns quickly to take care of oneself. Max was always all too ready to fight my battles for me, but I found I preferred to do it myself. And I will not listen to such things about my new friends, especially not from that, how do you say? Slime?

They all roared with laughter, as they headed down the street to meet the rest of the group for dinner at the Leaky Cauldron. Tomorrow would be there soon, and with it, the Hogwarts Express.

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The morning arrived and with it, a horrible rain. Harry remembered the rain that had soaked them last year when they arrived back at school, but usually the departure from King's Cross had been in nice weather, instead of this torrent. It wasn't going to be fun, getting all of their trunks loaded, not to mention the assorted animals.

He grinned when he remembered the looks on everyone's faces as the new animals had appeared. Fred and George had returned to the Leaky Cauldron with an owl, saying they really needed one, with the business they had in Paris and in Diagon Alley. Ginny had returned with a cat, well, something between a cat and kitten. At least this one hadn't jumped on anyone's head yet, and appeared to be more of a teenager than the full grown cat Crookshanks had been when Hermione purchased her. Still, it was a good thing none of them were returning with a rat.

Adrian had brought, surprisingly, a toad, but one unlike any they had seen before since instead of green it was a solid, deep red He had looked a bit embarrassed when he brought it out, but told them it was part of a family of Tomato Toads the French Malfoys had kept for years. They had all assured him it was fine, privately hoping this one would stay put better than Neville's Trevor.

Harry had always enjoyed staying at the Leaky Cauldron, but he hadn't spent such an enjoyable evening there before. Tom had provided the usual eight course meal and it was easy to see Mrs. Weasley was enjoying a break from cooking, though she did give Tom a few suggestions on the gravy and dessert.

After dinner he and Hermione, Ron and Danielle and Adrian and Ginny had gone upstairs exploring and found some attic rooms that were open. It really showed how much Hermione had changed when she had summoned her CD player and CDs from the room she was sharing with Ginny, and Adrian put a sound sealing charm on the room.

"I know I can't use them when we get back to Hogwarts, so we may as well enjoy them now," she said sheepishly, looking at Ron as if she expected him to make a sarcastic comment about her bringing something so un - schoolwork related back to Hogwarts. He didn't though. In fact, he said, hopefully, "Maybe we can take them out to the lake sometime, like after supper, before it begins to get cold."

They'd had a really nice time upstairs, talking about the music and even dancing, before each couple had inevitably drifted off to a dark corner. He and Hermione had more than made up for being shooed off to their separate rooms by Mrs. Weasley the night before. She had felt so wonderful in his arms, and they had spent enough time kissing so that he felt either of them could have given a class in the finer points. He remembered their agreement to go slowly, but things had definitely heated up, and he wondered which of them would bring up redefining "slowly" first.

It was probably a good thing Fred and George had discovered them, and filled the room with some new fireworks that were not only no heat, but no sound. It hadn't felt like it though, and even though the girls had been all admiration for the bursts of color that changed from reds to oranges, all through the spectrum of colors, Hermione had whispered "Damn! I thought we were really going to be left alone this time!" They had been teased about their reluctance to come out of their dark corner, until Hermione had threatened, with a giggle, to hex them all, and everyone trooped downstairs, laughing.

If the truth were told, the fact that Hermione had learned to laugh at herself was probably the best change possible. It sure made life more fun!
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When they arrived downstairs for breakfast, Mr. Weasley and Danielle's dad were discussing how to get to King's Cross most efficiently. Arthur had apparated to the Ministry of Magic already and returned with a car and driver from the Ministry. Gregg and Marielle had hired a car, and it was decided that all of the girls would ride with them, and since the ministry car was easily expandable, the boys and the excess luggage would go with Molly and Arthur.

Privately, Harry felt it was Mrs. Weasley's determination to have a last lecture time with all of them about staying out of mischief and danger, that made the traveling decisions! Even though Ron, Fred and George groaned, Harry thought he'd miss her lecture, since no one before had bothered to tell him to be careful. (In fact, the Dursleys would be more likely to urge him to go into the Forbidden Forest, if they had known of its existence!) He realized he'd never met Adrian's parents so Mrs. Weasley's farewell talk might seem a bit strong.

The trip to King's Cross went smoothly, so smoothly, Harry was beginning to worry. Things just didn't go smoothly for this group! Something was bound to go wrong, at any moment! As they unloaded, and Mr. Weasley and Gregg ran back and forth with huge black umbrellas, the hulking forms of Crabbe and Goyle, on either side of Draco Malfoy could be seen going through the barrier to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. It was amazing that even from the back, Crabbe and Goyle managed to look stupid and threatening.

Danielle and Adrian knew all about the Hogwarts Express, and the barrier to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, but they had nervous looks as they approached it. Harry, remembering his first time, whispered, "Just go up and sort of lean into it, but be ready to stand up quickly, as you go through! There goes George, watch him!" George, having now done this for most of his life, including the years he'd gone with Percy, Bill and Charlie before he'd actually boarded the train himself, was certainly an expert. He walked up casually, looking around as if awaiting the arrival of a friend, looking appreciatively at some of the girls walking by, then leaned against the wall and disappeared!

"Looks easy enough," Adrian exclaimed. "Come with me, Danielle." The others watched as the two new students walked casually up, Danielle pretended to be pointing to something and they stepped through. Everyone else walked through quickly and easily enough, but there was a hitch when it was time for the train to leave, and Danielle's dad suddenly decided it was time to deliver a few more warnings about wearing warm clothes, staying dry in the colder, damp English climate, and was Danielle sure she didn't want him to ask permission for their house elf to accompany her.

Danielle's face was quite pink with embarrassment, and Hermione and Ginny were unsuccessfully smothering their giggles, before Marielle had persuaded Gregg to let Ron and Harry close the windows to their compartment. She settled back on the cushions, looking as if she'd like to disappear into them, but everyone quickly became busy, playing Exploding Snap, and guessing about Gryffindor's chances for the quidditch cup this year. Harry saw Hermione and Ginny telling her how bad it had been for them, their first year trip, and realized he'd never much thought about that. Ginny had been the last of the Weasleys to go off to school, and Hermione's parents, as far as she knew at the time, had no idea what sort of world their daughter was entering

"When I think of it now, they deserve some sort of acting award," Hermione said. "At the time though, all I wanted to do was disappear, or have something come down and swoop them away. How Mom must have laughed, once I got away. I sure didn't laugh though. Ron and Harry made no secret of the fact that they hated me on first sight."

"Well, my parents didn't laugh!" put in Ginny. "They didn't get a chance to, since they came out of the station to find a missing car. Then dad's having an inquiry at work, about the car flying and Mum's sending a howler. Oh yes, it was marvelous, being the younger sister of that boy who not only flew a car into the Whomping Willow, but brought on our Mum's screeching all over the Great Hall at breakfast." she grinned at Ron and Harry who were pinker than Danielle by then.

"Er, sorry, Gin, I guess we didn't exactly make your first year easy. But I really did hate missing your Sorting! And Hermione, you've got to admit, you weren't exactly a fun person to be around then. And you sneered at my spell!" Ron looked sheepishly at the girls, and added, "But never mind, Harry and I have completely matured now. Besides, remember it was Dobby's fault we had to do that!"

Ginny pretended to fall to the floor in a faint, saying dramatically, "They- have- matured!" and after Adrian helped her to the seat again, they began to play a game. Ron was telling Danielle about the teachers, and Hermione seemed to have reverted to her old self. She had gone into a corner of the compartment and was immersed in her Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5. Harry sat down close to her, and yawned. "Don't suppose you have time for me now? All that new stuff to learn....."

"Sure, just let me finish this.... oh sorry, Harry, you look tired, come put your head in my lap, I won't read too long."

'Not if I have anything to say about it,' he thought, as he rested his head on her legs, and after a moment let one arm drop and began rubbing her leg. She moved her book to look questioningly at him, but didn't tell him to stop, and soon he felt her fingers caressing his neck and ear, and she bent over to kiss him lightly, then a little more deeply, then they both jumped as something soft hit them!

"What the....?" Harry said, looking around, and saw Ron had thrown one of his robes at them, and was grinning. Then he noticed everyone else had left the compartment.

"What happened to the others?" Hermione asked, attempting to tidy her hair. "We aren't there yet, I know."

"I could tell you they got embarrassed and left, but... the cart lady's out there, if you two can come up for air long enough. Danielle's going crazy, buying everything. She said they don't have the sweets we have here, and she's never even heard of chocolate frogs. Why didn't you ever send her any of this stuff, Hermione?"

Before Hermione could answer, they heard a scuffle in the hall and a crash. When they dashed out, it was hard to know how to react. Adrian was glaring at Draco, who was standing there with his fists clenched, and Crabbe and Goyle were on their hands and knees, grabbing sweets from the overturned cart. Danielle and Ginny were also glaring at Draco, while trying to help the plump witch who brought around the cart to her feet. Hermione raised her wand and shouted "Accio, food!" and all of the things Crabbe and Goyle were grabbing flew to her, and landed neatly in a box she had grabbed from the cart.

Harry also raised his wand with a quick "Stupefy!" and Draco's goons lay there, arms and legs in the air. "What's going on here?" he asked. "Had to send your little friends to get sweets for you, Malfoy? What's wrong, Mummy and Daddy forget to send you with your usual thousand galleons?"

"How's he gonna buy his friends then?" Ron asked innocently, as if asking whether they'd be arriving at Hogwarts soon, or whether the rain had stopped.

There were snickers from the group, but Draco seemed to have recovered his composure, and drawled. "Ah, so that's why you wound up with this pathetic excuse for a group of friends? Dad couldn't send you off with more than two knuts?"
He then turned to Adrian, and with his usual delightful sneer, remarked, "You're a disgrace to the name Malfoy, and everyone will know it even sooner since you're taken up with that red headed beggar Weasley girl! I should have expected this, we haven't mixed with your parents in years. Father said he knew your father shouldn't have married that-"

There was another crash, this time from Adrian's fist sending Draco through a door, and landing him on top of a pile of cages of angry owls. He rose to his feet in an amazingly short time, but not before he'd been clawed by several owls, and feathers were scattered through his hair.

"I'll....." he said menacingly to Adrian, but Harry interrupted.

"You'll what Malfoy? Maybe you oughta learn how to walk before you start wandering around on a moving train. All I saw was you falling through the door, and onto that pile of poor, unsuspecting owls. " He looked around the group, and everyone nodded, except Crabbe and Goyle, who seemed to be planning to lie there the rest of the trip to Hogwarts.

"I'll be contacting your fathers, when this trip is over," the witch with the cart said firmly to Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. "This cart's going to need repair, and some of the food has been ruined. Everything was going along peacefully, these children were just buying their sweets until you three came along!"

After glaring forcefully, and a few mutters of "You wait." the Slytherins disappeared back down the corridor, leaving the witch to thank Harry and the rest for their help.

"You must be quite a champion at the Summoning Charm, to be able to take food from those piggy boys!' she told Hermione, and insisted she take several extra packs of chocolate frogs. Hermione thanked her and passed them on to Danielle. The remainder of the trip passed fairly quickly, as they discussed what Draco and his goons might decide to do next.

"I just hope that hat doesn't put me in the house he's in, just because I'm a Malfoy. Draco will eventually manage to injure me, one way or another, or get me expelled." Adrian looked a little worried, now that the moment of confrontation had passed. Then he brightened up. "I have always been taught that it was their branch of Malfoys that disgraced the name. I see no reason to change that opinion now."

Ginny patted his arm and told him he would surely be in Gryffindor, and they heard the train begin to slow.

Looking out, they saw the castle coming into view and finally, they were back at Hogwarts!