—— ϟ ——
Noel's knee bounced up and down, waiting for Harry to wake up. The quidditch match had been a disaster, resulting in Harry ending up in the hospital wing after McLaggen had taken possession of the beater's bat.
She was grateful that she had painted her nails because she was sure she would've been chewing them up from the worry.
"He's going to quite alright, dear." Madam Pomfrey said as she wrapped his head with bandages. Noel nodded and rubbed her nose anxiously.
She waited until Madam Pomfrey had gone into her office so she could heal him herself. Her head had been pounding since she arrived. She sat at the edge of his bed and smiled smallish at the sight of his hair, sticking up everywhere. She placed her hands gently at either side of his head and let her body relax, the warmth of her powers taking away the chill of the room.
Harry lazily blinked, his eyes opened and groaned, his hand coming to his head. "What the fuck?"
Noel chuckled, making him smile at the sound. He gave her a lopsided smile, "Hi."
Noel couldn't help but laugh at his dopey expression. "Hello, cariad. Are you feeling alright?"
"Fantastic. What happened to me?"
"Cracked skull." Noel said unpleasantly, kissing him gently.
"I'm going to kill McLaggen." Harry grunted, trying and failing to sit up.
Noel pushed him down, "I jinxed him if that helps any."
Harry smiled and eased back down. "You did?"
"Of course I did. He nearly killed my boyfriend." Noel rolled her eyes.
They gazed at one another for a few beats before a cough made them look away.
"Glad you decided to drop in, mate." Ron said grinning. "Hey, Ginny stopped by earlier. She reckons you only just arrived on time for the match. How come? You left here early enough."
"Yeah... well, I saw Malfoy sneaking off with a couple of girls who didn't look like they wanted to be with him, and that's the second time he's made sure he isn't down on the Quidditch pitch with the rest of the school; he skipped the last match too, remember?" Harry sighed. "Wish I'd followed him now, the match was such a fiasco..."
"Don't be stupid," said Ron sharply. "You couldn't have missed a Quidditch match just to follow Malfoy, you're the Captain!"
Noel frowned, feeling out of the loop. "Why are you so interested in Malfoy? I thought you said Dumbledore told you not to worry about him."
"I don't believe him. Malfoy is up to something and I need to figure out what it is."
Noel stood up and looked down at him, "Don't be stupid Harry. I'm serious." She said sternly.
"Noel—"
"No, I won't hear it. I'm Head Girl... I don't see or hear and if I do I have to report it, so, shut your mouth." She finished off with a salute and walked out of the hospital wing.
After a while Madam Pomfrey came out of her office, this time wearing a thick dressing gown. It was easiest to feign sleep; Harry rolled over onto his side and listened to all the curtains closing themselves as she waved her wand. The lamps dimmed, and she returned to her office; he heard the door click behind her and knew that she was off to bed.
Harry sat bolt upright, his heart pounding, his bandage turban askew. He had the solution at last: There was a way to have Malfoy followed — how could he have forgotten, why hadn't he thought of it before?
But the question was, how to call him? Quietly, tentatively, Harry spoke into the darkness.
"Kreacher?"
There was a very loud crack, and the sounds of scuffling and squeaks filled the silent room. Ron awoke with a yelp. "What's going — ?"
Harry pointed his wand hastily at the door of Madam Pomfrey's office and muttered, "Muffliato!" so that she would not come running. Then he scrambled to the end of his bed for a better look at what was going on.
Two house-elves were rolling around on the floor in the middle of the dormitory, one wearing a shrunken maroon jumper and several woolly hats, the other, a filthy old rag strung over his hips like a loincloth. Then there was another loud bang, and Peeves the Poltergeist appeared in midair above the wrestling elves.
"I was watching that, Potty!" he told Harry indignantly, pointing at the fight below, before letting out a loud cackle. "Look at the ickle creatures squabbling, bitey bitey, punchy punchy —"
"Kreacher will not insult Harry Potter in front of Dobby, no he won't, or Dobby will shut Kreacher's mouth for him!" cried Dobby in a high-pitched voice.
"— kicky, scratchy!" cried Peeves happily, now pelting bits of chalk at the elves to enrage them further. "Tweaky, pokey!"
"Kreacher will say what he likes about his master, oh yes, and what a master he is, filthy friend of Mudbloods, oh, what would poor Kreacher's mistress say — ?"
Exactly what Kreacher's mistress would have said they did not find out, for at that moment Dobby sank his knobbly little fist into Kreacher's mouth and knocked out half of his teeth. Harry and Ron both leapt out of their beds and wrenched the two elves apart, though they continued to try and kick and punch each other, egged on by Peeves, who swooped around the lamp squealing, "Stick your fingers up his nosey, draw his cork and pull his earsies —"
Harry aimed his wand at Peeves and said, "Langlock!" Peeves clutched at his throat, gulped, then swooped from the room making obscene gestures but unable to speak, owing to the fact that his tongue had just glued itself to the roof of his mouth.
"Nice one," said Ron appreciatively, lifting Dobby into the air so that his flailing limbs no longer made contact with Kreacher. "That was another Prince hex, wasn't it?"
"Yeah," said Harry, twisting Kreacher's wizened arm into a half nelson. "Right — I'm forbidding you to fight each other! Well, Kreacher, you're forbidden to fight Dobby. Dobby, I know I'm not allowed to give you orders —"
"Dobby is a free house-elf and he can obey anyone he likes and Dobby will do whatever Harry Potter wants him to do!" said Dobby, tears now streaming down his shriveled little face onto his jumper.
"Okay then," said Harry, and he and Ron both released the elves, who fell to the floor but did not continue fighting.
"Master called me?" croaked Kreacher, sinking into a bow even as he gave Harry a look that plainly wished him a painful death.
"Yeah, I did," said Harry, glancing toward Madam Pomfrey's office door to check that the Muffliato spell was still working; there was no sign that she had heard any of the commotion. "I've got a job for you."
"Kreacher will do whatever Master wants," said Kreacher, sinking so low that his lips almost touched his gnarled toes, "because Kreacher has no choice, but Kreacher is ashamed to have such a master, yes —"
"Dobby will do it, Harry Potter!" squeaked Dobby, his tennis-ball-sized eyes still swimming in tears. "Dobby would be honored to help Harry Potter!"
"Come to think of it, it would be good to have both of you," said Harry. "Okay then... I want you to tail Draco Malfoy." Ignoring the look of mingled surprise and exasperation on Ron's face, Harry went on, "I want to know where he's going, who he's meeting, and what he's doing. I want you to follow him around the clock."
"Yes, Harry Potter!" said Dobby at once, his great eyes shining with excitement. "And if Dobby does it wrong, Dobby will throw himself off the topmost tower, Harry Potter!"
"There won't be any need for that," said Harry hastily.
"Master wants me to follow the youngest of the Malfoys?" croaked Kreacher. "Master wants me to spy upon the pure-blood great-nephew of my old mistress?"
"That's the one," said Harry, foreseeing a great danger and determining to prevent it immediately. "And you're forbidden to tip him off, Kreacher, or to show him what you're up to, or to talk to him at all, or to write him messages or...or to contact him in any way. Got it?"
He thought he could see Kreacher struggling to see a loophole in the instructions he had just been given and waited. After a moment or two, and to Harry's great satisfaction, Kreacher bowed deeply again and said, with bitter resentment, "Master thinks of everything, and Kreacher must obey him even though Kreacher would much rather be the servant of the Malfoy boy, oh yes..."
"That's settled, then," said Harry. "I'll want regular reports, but make sure I'm not surrounded by people when you turn up. Noel, Ron and Hermione are okay. And don't tell anyone what you're doing. Just stick to Malfoy like a couple of wart plasters."
Harry and Ron left the hospital wing first thing on Monday morning, restored to full health by the ministrations of Madam Pomfrey and now able to enjoy the benefits of having been knocked out and poisoned, the best of which was that Hermione was friends with Ron again.
She and Noel escorted them down to breakfast that morning, as they turned onto a seventh-floor corridor that was deserted but for a very small girl who had been examining a tapestry of trolls in tutus. She looked terrified at the sight of the approaching sixth years and dropped the heavy brass scales she was carrying.
"It's all right!" said Hermione kindly, hurrying forward to help her. "Here..."
She tapped the broken scales with her wand and said, "Reparo." The girl did not say thank you, but remained rooted to the spot as they passed and watched them out of sight; Ron glanced back at her.
"I swear they're getting smaller," he said.
"Lucy isn't that small. I've never seen them before. I hang out with Lucy and all her 12 year old friends far too much to not recognize them." Noel said, looking at the girl once more. "How peculiar." She murmured.
"Harry!" A voice shouted from behind them. "Oh, hi, Luna."
"I went to the hospital wing to find you," said Luna, rummaging in her bag. "But they said you'd left..."
She thrust what appeared to be a green onion, a large spotted toadstool, and a considerable amount of what looked like cat litter into Ron's hands, finally pulling out a rather grubby scroll of parchment that she handed to Harry.
"...I've been told to give you this." It was a small roll of parchment, which Harry recognized at once as another invitation to a lesson with Dumbledore.
"Tonight," he told Ron, Hermione and Noel, once he had unrolled it.
"Nice commentary last match!" said Ron to Luna as she took back the green onion, the toadstool, and the cat litter. Luna smiled vaguely.
"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" she said. "Everyone says I was dreadful."
"No, I'm serious!" said Ron earnestly. "I can't remember enjoying commentary more! What is this, by the way?" he added, holding the onion-like object up to eye level.
"Oh, it's a Gurdyroot," she said, stuffing the cat litter and the toadstool back into her bag. "You can keep it if you like, I've got a few of them. They're really excellent for warding off Gulping Plimpies."
And she walked away, leaving Ron chortling, still clutching the Gurdyroot.
"You know, she's grown on me, Luna," he said, as they set off again for the Great Hall. "I know she's insane, but it's in a good —" He stopped talking very suddenly. Lavender Brown was standing at the foot of the marble staircase looking thunderous.
"Hi," said Ron nervously.
"C'mon," Harry muttered to Hermione, pulling Noel by her hand when she looked keen on listening
"Why didn't you tell me you were getting out today? And why was she with you?" Was heard before they sped past them.
Ron looked both sulky and annoyed when he appeared at breakfast half an hour later, and though he sat with Lavender, Harry did not see them exchange a word all the time they were together. Hermione was acting as though she was quite oblivious to all of this, but once or twice Harry noticed her smirking at her porridge.
Noel walked down to the lake, Theo strolling alongside her. The weather was gorgeous and the two hadn't been spending as much time together as promised so they decided to hang out by the lake that day.
"Theo, have you noticed anything different or weird about Malfoy?" Noel asked, as she sat down.
Theo looked at the ground with slight hesitation before sitting, "Um, yes actually, but I reckon the whole school has noticed. He's not bullying first years anymore and didn't try out for quidditch. Also, haven't you noticed how sick he looks."
"He's always been pale."
"Pale not gray. Listen, I know why you're asking and I don't want to get involved, Noel. I've heard some sixth and seventh years talking about... him. They aren't even hiding it anymore."
Noel looked over the lake pensively. "I have a bad feeling."
"Yeah, well considering the fact that there might be an actual Death Eater in the school while our Headmaster does nothing about it, I too would be worried."
She rubbed her nose and picked the grass idly. "How are we supposed to feel protected when people are getting poisoned left and right under the nose of one of the greatest wizards to live? How am I expected to keep the kids safe when no one with higher power cares enough about us?"
"I don't know." He murmured.
"Noel!"
Noel and Theo both turned to her name. Lucy was running towards her, her hair whipping and getting in her face.
"Hey!" She smiled wildly, "I have so much to tell you."
She sat down in front of Noel who no kneeled so she could braid her hair while Lucy talked excitedly with her hands about what had happened in her charms class earlier in the day. Lucy had grown on the two teenagers and Theo didn't like people, but he could see why Noel was so worried, who was supposed to take of the little ones when everything goes to hell?
Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting by the fire in their common room. Harry was trying to wrack his head around and figure out a way to get the memory out of Slughorn before his next meeting with Dumbledore.
"I'm telling you, the stupid Prince isn't going to be able to help you with this, Harry!" said Hermione, more loudly. "There's only one way to force someone to do what you want, and that's the Imperius Curse, which is illegal —"
"Yeah, I know that, thanks," said Harry, not looking up from the book. "That's why I'm looking for something different. Dumbledore says Veritaserum won't do it, but there might be something else, a potion or a spell..."
"You're going about it the wrong way," said Hermione. "Only you can get the memory, Dumbledore says. That must mean you can persuade Slughorn where other people can't. It's not a question of slipping him a potion, anyone could do that —"
"How d'you spell 'belligerent'?" said Ron, shaking his quill very hard while staring at his parchment. "It can't be B — U — M —"
"No, it isn't," said Hermione, pulling Ron's essay toward her.
"And 'augury' doesn't begin O — R — G either. What kind of quill are you using?"
"It's one of Fred and George's Spell-Check ones... but I think the charm must be wearing off..."
"Yes, it must," said Hermione, pointing at the title of his essay, "because we were asked how we'd deal with dementors, not 'Dugbogs,' and I don't remember you changing your name to 'Roonil Wazlib' either."
"Ah no!" said Ron, staring horror-struck at the parchment. "Don't say I'll have to write the whole thing out again!"
"It's okay, we can fix it," said Hermione, pulling the essay toward her and taking out her wand.
"I love you, Hermione," said Ron, sinking back in his chair, rubbing his eyes wearily.
Hermione turned faintly pink, but merely said, "Don't let Lavender hear you saying that."
"I won't," said Ron into his hands. "Or maybe I will...then she'll ditch me..."
"Why don't you ditch her if you want to finish it?" asked Harry.
"You haven't ever chucked anyone, have you?" said Ron. "You and Cho just —"
"Sort of fell apart, yeah," said Harry.
"Oh don't ask Harry for any advice on how to break up with someone. He'd fall apart without Noel." Hermione teased.
Harry's cheeks tinted pink and ignored their snickering. "Sorry, I actually like my girlfriend." He rolled his eyes giving Ron a pointed look.
"I'll figure something out alright?" Ron said, rubbing his temples.