Ready Or Not (Here I Come!)

Ready or Not ( Here I Come) - Chapter Five

"Y-you do have on your blue pendant? " Hermione asked in a voice that only had a slight tremor. When Harry nodded his head, she took a deep breath, took his hand, and said, "Let's go then."

"We're going too!" Danielle spoke up in a very definite voice, looking at Ron in a way that didn't leave any room for discussion. Ron still looked a slightly pale but he nodded, and they all followed Harry around to the back of the house.

"We'd better try to get in this way, in case Malfoy and some of his goons come by." He reached out to try the back door, and surprisingly, after only a few pushes the door creaked open . They found themselves in a room that might have been a kitchen in any other house but was mostly bare, except for a few cabinets and a dresser. "Whoever has been in here didn't cook or eat much, there's no stove or refrigerator. What a smell though!"

"Guess they sent out for meals and left their rubbish," Ron replied with a sickly chortle that sounded hollow in the mostly empty room. "Okay, let's go on, before I decide to turn around and run." Harry noticed Dani gripped Ron's arm more tightly, but he wasn't sure it was her own nervousness or because she was going to make sure he didn't bolt. As for Hermione, while he loved her touch, he found he had to give her the raised eyebrows, before he had no blood flow in that hand.

They made their way toward the front of the house, and soon were in the room where Harry saw the huge snake's skin. "I'm pretty sure I've seen this snake," he murmured, as much to himself as the others. "The markings look familiar. Yes, I saw it in my dream, before the World Cup, and when ... well, you know, at the tournament." Hermione's face was the one that turned pale now, but Harry suddenly realized something."Hey, we forgot something. Has there ever been a time when Voldemort was close that my scar didn't hurt? And I feel perfectly fine now. C'mon let's look at these newspapers."

They approached the pile of dusty papers, with relief, and when Harry reached out to pick them up, Ron yelped and pulled away from Danielle's hand. "It's only a medium sized spider, Ron," she scolded, but Ron refused to come any closer. Harry couldn't help grinning, as he heard Ron telling Dani the story of his teddy bear being turned into a great, hairy spider when he was a little boy. Instead of the scoffing reaction Hermione would have most certainly had, Dani took Ron's hand and said, "We'll wait for you outside. I'll make sure you get over this, Ron. How about some different memories?"

Harry and Hermione listened and grinned at each other as they heard Dani telling Ron he could now pretend the spider had turned into her, and.... "I didn't think they'd stay long," Hermione said, in an amused voice. "I know Ron truly does hate spiders, but I think those two would grab any excuse to go off for a snog fest."

Harry lifted one eyebrow and asked,' And we wouldn't?"

"Certainly we would. You just wouldn't need an old spider for an excuse. Now, these papers... look for a date!" They began to gingerly turn the pages, trying to find one that hadn't faded so much the date couldn't be read.

"They were here all summer, or at least part of the summer. I found one from May and August. And here's June and July!" Harry shook his head in amazed disgust! Voldemort, and most likely Peter Pettigrew had been here, practically under Dumbledore's crooked nose! Meanwhile, Fudge was denying any possibility the Dark Lord had returned, and the Headmaster was sending Hagrid, Snape and Sirius on some sort of searches.

"Oh, Harry, don't look that way!" Hermione's voice attempted to sound cheerful and sensible.. "They weren't here all summer, there aren't enough newspapers or mess. And we don't know Dumbledore isn't aware they were here. I mean, why warn anyone about not coming here? No one does anyway. He may be planning to report this at the same time Dani's dad and Monsieur Maas come here."

She now looked at him pleadingly, and he was reminded of the Hermione of the past, who had so often looked strained and worried over some threat to his safety. It was dusty and certainly not the most romantic of spots, but Harry reached over and pulled Hermione into his arms and held her tight, stroking her hair reassuringly.

"It's okay, Hermione. I'm not going to go off and do something crazy. Remember, things are different now.When I first came to Hogwarts, there were times when it didn't seem to very much matter whether he finally succeeded in getting me. But then, I saw I had friends, and a sort of family, with Hagrid, Sirius and the Weasleys. Now, I discover I have a friend who's a lot more than a friend, she's soft and warm and smells delicious. Besides, she's braver than any of the guys I've met here. I'm not saying our adventures are over, but we are going to be more careful."

Hermione's voice was small and slightly muffled, "But what about how trouble always finds you? I have a friend who's a lot more than a friend too. He's warm, sometimes he''s even hot! And he smells better than anything I've smelled anyplace, even when he's covered in mud and right off the quidditch field". Suddenly her head came up and she began to laugh." Besides, when is this new "careful Harry" going to appear. You sure didn't hesitate to come in here!"

"I am careful!" he protested."You'll see how careful I'm going to be, to take you right outside, over behind that thick hedge we saw on the way in and make sure you're not very dusty and no spiders are on you anyplace. I'll have to examine you very carefully, it will probably take a little while. If you start getting wiggly, I'll just have to hold you down and kiss you, until you decide to let me continue the examination!"

"Hmm, I think I saw a bit of dust on the back of your head. Maybe one down near your knee..I think we'd better begin this examination soon. We may even have to continue it with a visit to your newly discovered spot." As Harry began to nod eagerly, she added," Of course, I'll have to take most of my books. I've got so much studying to do, I don't........."

Hermione didn't get to expound on the work she had waiting for her, since Harry decided not to wait until they were outdoors to begin the kissing part of their plan. Things would have worked out well, if Dani and Ron hadn't been sitting where they were. Harry and Hermione tripped over them, sitting at the edge of the porch and all four wound up in a heap on the overgrown lawn. For a moment, Harry expected Ron or Hermione to begin one of their famous bickering sessions. The foolish looks on the faces of them all, plus the fact that they were in a tangle of arms and legs, made it impossible to do anything but lie there and giggle helplessly .

. Finally, Danielle managed to say, "I had heard you three were close but this is far too much! Perhaps we should all begin kissing with our eyes open?" She managed to slide out from under Harry's shoulders, and the others pulled apart too. They were a smudged and grass- covered group until Hermione pulled out her wand, and produced a couple of brushes for their hair and clothes. After a few swipes,(though Harry didn't bother bother with his hair), and a clean up with some damp cloths, everyone headed back down toward the village.

Harry looked around and grinned. What were the chances of he, Hermione and Ron hooking up with members of the opposite sex again, all at the same time? And Danielle and Hermione were very different, in every way except one very helpful thing. They didn't play the kinds of games with the way they felt that Harry saw going on all around him. Unfortunately, these pleasant thoughts were disturbed by the appearance of Draco Malfoy and a small group of other Slytherins.Even though Malfoy had his arm linked with a girl Harry recognized as a sixth year, his eyes still raked over Hermione and Danielle insolently. Then he actually reached across toward Dani, making Ron give a growl of anger and Danielle take an instinctive step backwards.

The Slytherin just laughed,and sneered, "You've got grass in your hair, that's all. Poor little new girl, someone should have told you Weasley can't afford to take you anyplace but to some field of weeds." Harry and Ron both made a lunge for the blonde boy, but it was too late. Hermione, sensing trouble, had slipped away and come up behind Draco, all set for the rude comment she knew he'd manage to come up with. When he didn't disappoint, she gave him a hard kick from the rear, sending him sprawling right in the spot Danielle had conveniently dropped a huge cup of pumpkin juice. His face, hands and the front of his shirt went right into the sticky mess that combined with the dirt do make an orangeish sludge.

Harry and Ron howled with laughter, and even Draco's Slytherin friends snickered. The sixth year girl, who had previously been holding his arm now looked disgustedly at Draco and said quickly, "We ought to be getting back, you're a mess and you'll soon have flies all over you, with that stickiness. How could you just fall over like that?"

The Gryffindors heard Malfoy sputtering in anger and protest as the group from Slytherin moved off, careful to keep some distance between themselves and a rapidly drying Draco. Flies were beginning to follow him, and as he swatted them away, the sticky Draco Malfoy turned and gave them a venomous look. "You'd better watch your backs, I won't let this go. And you, Danielle, had better wake up before it's too late. There's nothing about you that belongs with them, you'd be better off realizing that now, and save yourself."

"And what's that supposed to mean, Malfoy. She doesn't belong with a slime like you!" Ron's voice shook with anger, and Harry could see he'd turned pale under all the freckles. This was getting bad, even for a Malfoy encounter.

Draco shook his head, and said mockingly, "Going to sic the girls on me again, Weasley? I'm sooo scared!" He pretended to shudder and continued coldly, " I never said she did, She's nothing but a child, and I like women. But her family's as old and pure blooded as mine, and not a bunch of red haired whiners, living in a house that's about to fall down. Maybe you're after some of what's been transferred to her Gringott's vault, along with her...."

There was no holding Ron back this time and truthfully no one tried. His long legs quickly covered the short distance the Slytherins had walked, and Malfoy and Ron were soon rolling about in the dust, grunting loudly as they attempted to punch each other. Harry wanted to jump in too, but Ron seemed to be doing okay, and even Hermione seemed to realize this fight had been coming for years. Malfoy's comments about Danielle were just the final thing it took.

Suddenly a shadow loomed over them, and Harry, like the others, looked up to see Hagrid standing over them. After seing it was a fair fight, he was relieved to see Hagrid didn't immediately lean over to part Ron and Malfoy, He had an idea it would have beeen different if the positions had been reversed, but Ron was currently sitting over Malfoy.He managed to get in a fair punch before Hagrid moved him off and helped the blonde boy to his feet.

"Don' wanna know what's bin appenin' here, but yeh'd best clean up and clear out. Yer both a bit the worst fer wear, and if I'm not mistaken, none o' yeh would be wantin' Dumbledore ter hear the' full details. C'mon, I said move!"

Ron's lip was bleeding slightly but aside from that, he was mostly just grubbier than he'd been before although he was panting. He had a big grin though, and Harry could immediately see why. Malfoy's ordinarily perfect hair now stood up in all directions and he was totally filthy, not just grubby. Then there was the matter of his left eye which was going through a rapid color change. He seemed about to say something, but Hagrid didn't look as if he was in the mood for argument.At last, the group from Slytherin really left, and the Gryfffindors and Hagrid followed, a bit behind.

"I'm not sayin' what yeh did was right or wrong, but yeh'd best keep it down a bit about this fight. If it hadn't bin a fair one, and Malfoy didn' realise he couldn' a won, th' git 'd be owlin' Malfoy, senior as soon as he hit the castle. But 'e's bin beaten and beaten fairly, so let that be enough fer yeh."

No one could really argue with that, even Ron, who didn't especially crave a Howler from his mother for fighting. Anyway, he seemed content with the cleaning up Dani was giving him as they walked along. Hermione had managed to produce a chunk of ice, wrapped in a towel, and Dani was also applying this to Ron's lip. Ron would probably be getting in more fights, after seeing how sympathetic Dani was, Harry thought to himself with a smirk.

Malfoy was a slimey git, but he couldn't help wondering what he'd meant about Danielle not belonging with them. It made no sense, and the hat hadn't hesitated to put her in Gryffindor, unlike himself. But then, no one knew the hat had hesitated with him either. He wasn't entirely surprised to hear Hermione whisper in his ear, "Get out your invisibility cloak when we're back. I think it's time to ask my mom some questions.."

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