Harry McGonagall - Raised by Minerva McGonagall

Chapter 4 - Protesting Against Snape

"Then why are you going out with him?" asked Padma.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, I didn't have a date."

-HM-HM-HM-

The next Potions class Harry had was the same as usual. No one but Harry and Hermione would look Snape in the eye, and every fifteen minutes or so, the Greasy Git would try to read one of their minds and get forced out, stumbling backwards. This caused him to take more points away as students chuckled at him. During this particular class, Harry noticed a small beetle flying in one of the corners.

-HM-HM-HM-

The day of Penny's date arrived, and she joined Harry and his friends at breakfast a little later than usual.

"Good morning, guys," she said.

"Morning, Penny," said Harry. "Is that a new outfit?" She smiled and nodded. "It looks real nice."

"Thanks, Harry."

"You really do look great," said Padma, "You'll knock Percy's socks off." Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Penelope, you're late," said Percy from behind them.

"What?" asked Penny, turning around to face him.

"You showed up here later than usual, so you won't be done with breakfast at your usual time. Which means that we won't have as much time in Hogsmeade. Do try and hurry up."

As he took off without another word, Hermione suggested, "You should tell him the date is off if he wants to act like that. He didn't even say what time he wanted to leave with you."

Penny sighed. "He, he just wants to spend time with me, and he's afraid we won't have time. I did show up fifteen minutes later than usual. He's just anxious for our date to start."

"If you say so."

-HM-HM-HM-

Fifteen minutes later, Percy and Penny were walking together toward the carriages. She'd let him hold her hand when he grabbed it as soon as she got up after hurrying through her breakfast.

"You really should work on your punctuality, Penelope."

"Just call me Penny."

"For example, I've never been late to any class for my entire Hogwarts career. I've worked hard and as a result always gotten the best grades, and now my prefect status." He stuck out his chest in pride. "It's not going to stop here, you know. I intend to be Head Boy. After that, I'll get a job in the Ministry of Magic, and rise up quickly through the ranks. I should be head of an important department before I'm thirty, in the perfect position to become the next Minister when Mr. Fudge decides to step down."

About half-way through this speech, Penny started tuning him out. They were now leaving the carriage as Percy continued bragging about what he was going to do.

"While wearing a prefect badge, we should be examples to the other students. I understand that during the troll incident, you left most of the Ravenclaw students behind when you were supposed to be leading them to Ravenclaw Tower."

"Three of the first years were missing, so I had to find them." She said, snapped back into the conversation by mention of the troll.

"But those three troublemakers got you to shirk your responsibilities to the other students."

"There were five other prefects with them."

"But there should've been six. You shouldn't have bothered with the students who refused to follow you."