Harry and Ron were walking with Dean Thomas and Hannah Abbot as they followed their supervisor towards Dumbledore's office. The 4 of them were talking excitedly about being back at Hogwarts for the week. They were there to do some additional training in the Forbidden Forest and sit in on a few advanced classes. They were all happy to be able to see all their friends again, though Harry and Ron were slightly nervous.
"Do you think they are going to be really mad at us?" Ron asked Harry.
"I don't know, mate. Ginny barely talked to us at all at Christmas. I can't imagine how mad 'Mione is going to be." They both grimaced at the thought.
"Why would they be mad at you?" Hannah asked.
"Well, we haven't been the best at keeping in contact with them." Harry said sheepishly.
"So you ignored a letter or two, i'm sure they will forgive you." Dean said with a shrug.
Harry and Ron shared a look and Hannah picked up on it.
"What?"
"Well, it's actually been more than a few letters. We haven't actually talked to them at all since school started, besides barely seeing Ginny on Christmas." Ron mumbled.
Dean gave them a sharp look.
"What!? You can't be serious?" Hannah exclaimed.
"Why haven't you talked to them?" Dean asked.
"Well, I don't know. We were just busy and I didn't really want to hear about Hogwarts. I mean, we just left there." Harry tried to reason.
"Yeah, and I know 'Mione fancies me and didn't want to tie myself down. I thought it would be easier to just not reply until I was ready." Ron said with a nod.
Dean and Hannah exchange a quick look at Ron's statement.
"So you think they are going to forgive you guys?" Dean asks, deciding not to share the information he knows about their lives.
"Well, of course! Hermione will probably yell at us, but then she will forgive us easily. Ginny will cave after 'Mione does. They can't stay mad at us." Ron says with an arrogant smile that Harry reciprocates, although he isn't convinced that it will be that easy.
"I guess we will see." Hannah says with a smirk.
They arrived at Dumbledore's office and their Supervisor, Justin Hutchins, said the password. They all walk up the spiral staircase to see Dumbledore sitting behind his desk and two boys sitting in front. They all rise to greet them.
"Welcome, Welcome! I trust you found your way with no trouble?" Dumbledore asked, motioning for them to sit in the empty chairs.
"Yes, your directions were spot on, Albus." Hutchins replied with a smile. "I appreciate you taking us in for the week."
"Of course. We are happy to have you here." He replied with a smile. "This is Blaise Zabini and Seamus Finnegan. They are 7th year prefects and will be your escorts to classes throughout the week."
Blaise and Seamus both moved forward to shake Hutchins hand. "Thank you boys, we appreciate the help."
"Not a problem sir. We are Granger's loyal servants, we go where she wishes." Blaise replied with a small smirk. Seamus just laughed. Harry and Ron perked up at the sound of their friends name.
"Miss. Granger is Head girl this year. Her and the Head Boy seemed to have inspired loyal servitude from their prefects." Dumbledore supplied at Hutchins questioning look.
"Seems like a good pair." Hutchins said.
"Oh you have no idea." Dumbledore replied with a twinkle in his eye. Seamus, Blaise, Hannah and Dean all chuckled at the Headmasters comment. Harry and Ron looked confused for a second.
"Hermione is Head Girl?" Harry asked.
Blaise rolled his eyes. "Yes, Potter. If you had bothered to even read any of her letters i'm sure you would know that." He drawled in a bored tone.
"That's none of your business, Zabini." Ron snapped. Blaise just raised his eyebrows in answer.
"Well, I'm sure you all are tired from your travels, and you have a big day ahead of you. Dinner has already ended so I took the liberty of having the elves deliver some to your tent. It should be there when you arrive. Breakfast starts at 6 and goes until 9, however your first class is Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall at 8. Mr.Finnegan and Mr. Zabini will be waiting in the Great Hall to escort you at 7:50." Dumbledore said, dismissing them.
"Tomorrow is a full day so get your rest tonight and make sure you eat plenty of breakfast. You all have Transfiguration first, and then a double Potions lesson. After that you will have lunch and then we are going into the Forest with Hagrid for a few hours. After that you will have free time to do what you wish, but remember this is a work trip and I expect all of you to act professionally the entire time we are here. Is that understood?" Hutchins said. They all nodded in agreement, arriving at their tent at that moment.
"Good. Now everyone to bed." Hutchins said with a nod, disappearing behind the flap separating his room from their bunk beds.
*The Next Morning*
Harry woke up to an empty tent, besides Ron snoring in the bunk above his. He looked at his watch to see it was already 7:15. He quickly woke up Ron and they got dressed and made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast.
"You think Hermione will be at breakfast?" Ron asked.
"I hope so. I'd like to see her before class. Im guessing she is going to be in every class we sit in on given that they are all the advanced ones."
"Yeah, thats a good point. Better to get the lecture over with."
They arrived at the Great Hall and walked in to see it mostly empty. There were a few groups of people at each table. They walked towards the Gryffindor table and saw Dean sitting with Seamus, Ginny, Neville, and Luna. Hannah was over at the Hufflepuff table with a group of girls.
Seamus and Dean were talking while Ginny and Neville were listening to Luna tell a story. The boys exchanged a look, nervous about how Ginny will react to them. They took the seats across from Dean and Seamus, Harry sitting next to Neville. Luna was on the other side of Neville and Ginny was sitting across from him.
"Morning everyone." Harry said timidly. Neville and Luna greeted them good morning with small smiles and then returned to their conversation. Ginny ignored them completely.
"Eat up boys, you only have about 5 minutes before we need to leave." Seamus said. Ron wasted no time in filling his plate and shoveling food into his mouth. Harry started eating as well and looked around the hall to see who else he recognized. His eyes immediately landed on Draco Malfoy at the Slytherin table. He was sitting with Blaise and Theo Nott. Draco and Blaise were laughing and Theo looked to be sulking. Malfoy grabbed an apple from the table and then stood, motioning for Theo to do the same. Blaise started walking towards the Gryffindor table while they headed for the doors.
"We should get going Luna." Ginny said, standing and grabbing her bag.
"Yeah, I need to be heading to the greenhouse too." Neville said, standing with the girls. "Later guys." He said to the table as they walked towards the door. Harry watched as they passed Blaise and Blaise smiled and said something to Ginny with a wink. Ginny just laughed and walked past him. She called out to Draco and Theo and they stopped to wait for them and then the whole group left the hall together.
"Since when is Ginny friends with Slytherins?" Harry asked Seamus. Seamus just gave him a weird look and shrugged.
"Everyone ready to go?" Blaise said as he approached the table. They nodded and all got up, meeting Hannah at the doors as they made their way to class.
"So it will be just me going with you all to potions after since Seamus isn't in the class. We have about 30 minutes in between and everybody usually hangs out in the courtyard, so thats where we will go. I know you guys could get to these classes on your own but Dumbledore insists on an escort since you guys aren't actually students, at least for the first two days." Blaise said as he led the group through the corridors.
"Sounds good." Dean said. "I heard theres a quidditch game on Friday?"
Ron and Harry perked up at that.
"Yeah, last one of the year. Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. Should be a good match."
"Do you play, Blaise?" Hannah asked.
"No, I don't. Too much of a risk to my perfect face." He said with a wink and teasing smirk in her direction. Hannah laughed. "Besides, Draco has the team practicing like crazy this year, theres no way I would have time for that."
"Malfoy is Team captain then?" Dean asked. Harry and Ron just kept to the back of the group listening.
"Yeah, i'm not sure how he does it." Seamus answered. "With the course load he took this year, Head Boy duties, Quidditch, and spending time with his girlfriend, he must be exhausted all the time. Just two of those things would wear me out."
"It's just during the season though, and you know Hermione helps a lot. He definitely couldn't do it all without her." Blaise added.
"True." Seamus said, nodding his agreement. Ron snorted.
"Of course Malfoy gets Head Boy and makes Hermione do all the work. What a git." He said, Harry nodding along with him. The rest of the group just exchanged small looks and continued on.
They finally reached the classroom and walked in. Everyone was sitting around and chatting before class. Harry and Ron immediately spot Hermione at one of the tables at the front of the room. She was eating an apple and scribbling on the parchment in front of her. Draco was sitting at the table next to her and seemed to be trying to grab her attention. Blaise walked to the front and sat in the empty seat by Draco while Seamus took the empty seat by Hermione. The boys watched as Draco said something to her and she shot him a glare and he put his hands up. She turned back to her writing and Blaise laughed.
"Alright class! We have some guest today, as i'm sure you all already know." McGonagall said, grabbing everyones attention. "Go ahead and partner up and sit in the two empty tables in the back, you four. This lesson will be focused on partially transfiguring oneself into a tree or bush. This will be beneficially to know as an Auror as it will allow you to blend in completely to your surroundings outside, while remaining mentally conscious."
"Partially transfigure professor?" Seamus asked
"Yes, Mr. Finnegan. Can anyone tell me why it would be important that this transfiguration is only partial?"
Draco and Hermione's hand both shot up.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" Draco shot a smirk at Hermione, who rolled her eyes, before turning towards the professor.
"It would have to be a partial so that the person could still remain consciously in-tuned to their surroundings. If the transfiguration was complete, the person would just be a tree, which would make a terrible spy. Also, they wouldn't be able to transfigure themselves back to normal, they would need someone else to hang around to do it for them, which defeats the purpose."
"Very good, 15 points to Slytherin. Now, the incantation is on the board as well as the correct wand movement. Practice first on your partner and then once I deem it satisfactory, you and your partner will switch off practicing on yourself with the other keeping watch for mistakes. Begin!"
Everybody was in motion moving the tables out of the way.
"Well at least that hasn't changed." Ron said to Harry, motioning towards Hermione in the front.
"What do you mean?"
"It looks like 'Mione and Malfoy still hate each other. They were arguing when we first walked in." Harry just nodded.
They started working on the spell but weren't getting very far. Harry managed to turn Ron brown several times and Ron had managed to give Harry leaves for hair, but nothing more than that. They decided to take a break and observe how everyone else in the class was doing. Hannah and Dean were having better luck, managing the appearance of bark. They looked towards the front of the class where Hermione was. She had successfully transfigured Seamus into a tree-like person. He turned himself back to normal and the two high-fived before turning towards Draco and Blaise and stuck their tongues out at them. The two boys seemed to scowl at them before continuing to practice.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley. How are you two fairing?" McGonagall asked, coming up behind them.
"Uh, well, we are having some trouble." Harry replied sheepishly, pulling at his collar. McGonagall gave a curt nod.
"Very well. Show me your progress and i'll see what I can do to help."
McGonagall continued to work with Harry and Ron until the end of class, both of them only marginally improving.
"I expect you both to be practicing this over the course of this week." She said to them, giving a stern look before turning and addressing the class. "Alright students! That's it for today. We will be continuing this lesson on Wednesday. Miss. Granger, Mr. Malfoy, please stay behind for a minute."
The class streamed out of the door, sans Hermione and Draco, and headed straight towards the courtyard. Harry and Ron followed the crowd.
"Did you find it weird that Hermione didn't seem to look at us once in class?" Harry asked.
"Im sure she was just too focused on work, you know how she can get. Hopefully we will see her before potions." Ron answered resolutely. They wondered into the courtyard and found Neville sitting on a bench reading a book.
"Hey Neville, what are you reading?" Harry asked, sitting next to him on the bench.
"Oh hey Harry, Ron. It's this wicked book about all the most dangerous plants in the world. Malfoy gave it to me for Christmas."
"Malfoy got you a Christmas gift?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Yeah, of course." Neville said with a nod. "So, how is the Auror program?"
Harry and Ron excitedly started telling Neville about their training. They were so absorbed in their stories that neither of them noticed Hermione walking into the courtyard with her head buried in a book, with Draco's arm wrapped around her shoulders.