"Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering."― Nicole Krauss, "The History of Love"
| George Weasley |
| Prisoner of Azkaban -Deathly Hallows part 2 |
| Sequel to 'S...
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DURING THE NEXT HOGSMEADE VISIT, Hazel, Fred, George and Lee decided to meet the Golden Trio at Hog's Head; a small pub on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. They did it mainly out of curiosity and a little bit due to the fear of Hermione contacting Molly Weasley to tell her the twins haven't exactly been the 'perfect students'.
Hazel kept her hand locked tightly in George's. The weather seemed to be getting colder as winter neared and the ginger haired boy was practically a walking radiator. When they reached the small pub, Hazel noticed a handful of other students already walking inside.
The warmth of the pub hit Hazel like a ton of bricks. She took her hat off almost instantly as George led her to the seats at the front, closest to the Golden Trio. Fred and Lee followed the couple, standing just behind them. Hazel smiled politely at Harry as his eyes looked around the room with a shocked expression; he clearly wasn't expecting so many people to come down.
"Hi, Harry," Neville beamed, he sent the spectacled boy a small wave as he sat on Hazel's right hand side. Harry smiled politely at the boy before his eyes went back to observing the room, "Hi, Hazel," Neville suddenly said, smiling shyly at the seventh year girl.
"Hi, Neville," Hazel smiled softly, "How are you?"
"I'm good, t-thank you. You?"
Before Hazel could reply Hermione suddenly cleared her throat, gaining everyone's attention, "Erm...Hi."
Everyone turned to look at her, however their eyes would dart to Harry every so often as the spectacled boy sat there, fiddling his thumbs nervously.
"Well, erm...You know why you're here. Well, erm...Harry here had the idea - I mean I had the idea," The bushy haired girl quickly corrected herself when she noticed Harry's pointed look, "That it might be good if people who wanted to study Defence Against the Dark Arts - and I mean, like, really study it, you know, not the rubbish Umbridge is forcing upon us - well, I thought it would be good if we, erm..." She looked around nervously, "Well...took matters into our own. And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing real spells--"
"You want to pass your Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.s too though, I bet," A female voice called out from the back of the group.
"Of course I do," Hermione admitted, nodding her head, "But more than that, I want to be properly trained in defence because..." She took a deep inhale, "Because Voldemort is back."
Hushed whispers suddenly filled the pub as the majority of the students widened their eyes with shock. Hazel couldn't help but snort at some of their behaviour over a name as one girl shrieked before falling out of her seat.
"Well, that's the plan, anyway," Hermione continued, "If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to--"
"Where's the proof that You-Know-Who's back?" A Hufflepuff boy questioned, his voice loud and aggressive. Hazel rolled her eyes out of annoyance when she felt George squeeze her hand comfortingly.
"Well, Dumbledore believed it--" Hermione tried to answer the boy but he interrupted her again, "You mean Dumbledore believed them," He snarled, nodding at Harry and Hazel.
"Who are you?" Ron asked rudely - before George could even mutter a word - glaring daggers at the Hufflepuff.
"Zacharias Smith," The Hufflepuff said, puffing his chest out proudly, "And I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes them say You-Know-Who's back."
"Look," Hermione sighed, "That's not really what the meeting was suppose to be about."
"It's okay, Hermione," Harry told her, his eyes fixated on Zacharias, "What makes us say that Voldemort is back? Well, the fact that we saw him," Hazel gulped nervously as Harry continued, "Dumbledore told the whole school what had happened last year, and if you don't believe him, you won't believe us, and I'm certainly not wasting my afternoon trying to convince anyone and I bet Hazel feels the exact same way."
Eyes suddenly turned to the brunette as she nodded, completely agreeing with Harry's point.
"All Dumbledore told us last year was that she got injured - or so you two say - by You-Know-Who and that you brought her back to Hogwarts. He didn't tell us how Lupin got injured," Zacharias' eyes suddenly turned to look at Hazel as George wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "I think we'd all like to know--"
"If you've come here to hear how Voldemort used an Unforgivable Curse on me, you've come to the wrong fucking place," Hazel suddenly said, she stood up her dark eyes locked on the Hufflepuff as her temper rose.
George suddenly stood up too, "If that's what you've come here for you better leave," He said, his voice eerily calm as both Hazel and Harry sent him an appreciative look. The ginger haired boy grabbed Hazel's hand as he sat back down, pulling her down with him.
An awkward silence filled the pub. Hermione opened her mouth to finally speak when suddenly Luna Lovegood interrupted her, "Is it true that you can perform a full body Patronus, Harry?"
"Yes, I've seen it," Hermione answered for him.
"Blimey, Harry," Dean Thomas muttered in a shocked tone of voice as everyone suddenly looked at the spectacled boy with interest in their eyes, "I didn't know you could do that."
"And he killed a Basilisk," Neville piped up, "With the sword in Dumbledore's office."
"Third year he fought off a hundred Dementors at once," Ron added, a proud smile on his face.
"And last year he really did fight Voldemort in the flesh," Hazel added, smiling reassuringly at Harry as he sent her a half-smile.
"Look," Harry sighed as he stood up, everyone's attention falling upon him, "It all sounds great when you say it like that, but the truth is, most of that was just luck--"
"He's just being modest," Hermione interjected.
Harry shook his head, "No, Hermione, I'm not," He told her firmly, "I didn't know what I was doing half of the time. I nearly always had help. Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, you make a mistake, you can try again tomorrow. But out there..." He gulped, "When you're a second away from being murdered...or watching a friend almost die right in front of your eyes...You don't know what that's like."
"You're right, Harry," Hermione said softly, "That's why we need your help. Because if we're going to have any chance at beating...Voldemort--"
"He's really back," Someone in the crowd muttered, causing Harry to nod sadly, "He really is."
