Christmas break went by quickly after that, Harry and I had went back to being best friends once again, even Ron had noticed the change for the better in Harry and he seemed just as relieved as I felt.
Hermione had come back and was quite disappointed to hear that we still knew nothing about Nicholas Flammel... Sorry Hermione!
Along with this, Quidditch practice started up once more and I continued to go to every single one with Harry! The team was more lenient with letting me borrow their brooms, everyone was convinced that I would be their team's best chaser next year!
On top of this, Harry had begun telling me about the nightmares he had been having lately too, about his parent's death replaying in his dreams, over and over again. I was still scared to go to sleep every night as well...
The two of us soon found a near cure for the dreams that plagued us though, learning that a good day of training on the broom had greatly reduced both of our nightmares. We would often race each other when the professors weren't looking and Harry had been teaching me the moves Wood had been teaching the rest of the team during practices as well!
Needless to say, things were good! For a while at least... Soon after Wood brought with him some very bad news, it was about Gryffindor's upcoming game against Hufflepuff... Snape had petitioned to become this next game's referee!
When we told the news to the rest of our little group, Ron and Hermione's jaws dropped.
"You've got to be kidding! Everyone knows Snape won't play fair if he feels like Gryffindor is threatening the cup for Slytherin!" Ron would blurt out in disbelief.
"Not only that, but what if he tries cursing Harry's broom again!" Hermione would add in horror, doing very little to ease my worry for Harry that had formed in the pit of my stomach. "You just can't play, Harry!" Hermione would cry out.
"Pretend you're sick!" Ron would add.
"Or that you broke your leg!" I would add as well, trying desperately to find a way to get him out of playing in the game.
"Or actually break your leg!" Ron would vocalize.
"Whoa... That's a little too far..." I would reply with a frown.
"You guys know I can't do that! If I drop out we don't have a replacement seeker so all of Gryffindor would have to drop out too. Plus, everyone would just think I was too scared to face Snape anyway." Harry would say to the dismay of the three of us.
Before anyone was able to discuss or come up with any more ideas for Harry the portrait of the fat lady would swing open and in would hop Neville, falling flat on his face soon after.
"Neville! What happened!?" I would ask in concern, I was at his side in an instant.
"Malfoy happened" The boy would say in a muffled reply.
"Oh dear, it's the leg-locker curse, let me help you out Neville." Hermione would say soon after, with a few words and a flick of her wrist the boy would be free once more. I would have to tuck that counter curse away for future use, just in case.
"Thanks Hermione..." Neville would say glumly, taking a seat next to Harry who I could tell felt bad about the whole ordeal as he passed his last chocolate frog to the boy. "Oh! Thanks as well Harry, I'm gonna head to bed but d'you want the card?" He would ask having already unwrapped the frog and tossed the card on the table in front of them, it was another Dumbledore one.
"No thanks, I already have five of him." Harry would reply as Neville nodded to them and headed upstairs. Meanwhile Harry had picked the card up nonchalantly and was re-reading the back when suddenly his eyes widened... "I KNEW I SAW HIS NAME BEFORE!" He would cry out excitedly, pointing to a sentence on the back of the card.
Ron, Hermione, and I all looked at him confused, I leaned over his shoulder to read, "Nicholas Flammel! Professor Dumbeldore is famous for not only defeating Grindelwald but for his work on alchemy with Nicholas Flammel!" I would cry out in excitement.
Ron and Hermione would let out shocked gasps and the bushy haired brunette suddenly bolted out of her chair and ran upstairs, it wasn't long before she came back with a thick black book on alchemy.
"I never thought to look in here! It's been forever since I've picked this book up!" She would say excitedly, already flipping through the pages until she found what she was looking for.
The group listened in awe as they learned about something called the sorcerer's stone, something that could make any man rich beyond belief and immortal all at once, no wonder Professor Snape was after it!
With this information in mind, the four of us went to bed but I could hardly find it in myself to fall asleep.
-♥--♥-
After learning the new information on the stone, the days seemingly flew by and before any of us knew it, it was game day! It was Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor and Harry had confirmed that he would indeed be playing.
I was nearly as nervous as Harry was about the game starting but with a bit of reluctance I walked Harry to the Gryffindor Quidditch tent and wished him and the rest of the team good luck, Fred and George ruffling my hair in response.
After swatting the twins away and giving Harry one last wave goodbye I would head up to the bleachers where Ron and Hermione had saved me a seat.
"Alright, let's hope for the best... And don't forget that curse!" I would say on approaching my two friends.
"Yeah, yeah, locomotor mortis," Ron would say in reply much to Hermione's satisfaction at him finally remembering the leg-locking jinx just in case.
"Guys, it's starting!" I would cut in nervously, pointing out to the field where Snape now stood surrounded by the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor Quidditch players, my nerves only started to calm slightly when, to my surprise, I spotted Professor Dumbledore in the crowd!
This would at least allow me to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing with the headmaster here, nothing too terrible could happen to Harry! I would keep a close eye on him just in case though...
Soon enough the whistle would blow and the game had started! The group of four (including Neville at the moment) would all be on the edge of their seats, that was... Until someone bumped us all from behind and began speaking some very unkind words about the Gryffindor team, of course being none other than Malfoy...
"Anyone want to make bets on how long Potter can stay on his broom this time?" The blonde would sneer, Crabbe and Goyle sharing smug smiles with one another, why were they in the Gryffindor booth with us to begin with?
"You know, I think I figured out how they choose people for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, they just pick the people they feel bad for!" Draco would laugh, "You see first there's the Weasley's who have no money, and then there's Harry who has no parents, I wonder why they haven't accepted you yet Longbottom, you have no brains!"
Draco's snippet about Harry made me angry enough to snap my attention away from my friend for a second, my temper flaring worse than Neville's who was red in the face at Draco's last comment.
"You know, Draco, we've been practicing a new jinx lately, I don't know how but suddenly we got this brilliant idea to learn the leg locking curse! Ya know, just in case something happens to Harry again. We could really use someone to practice it on though! Maybe you could help us out?" I would say, tilting my head at the boy with a grin.
That shut the blonde up real quick, "Y-you wouldn't! You don't have the guts to try something like that on me!" He would say with a slight stutter and possibly... Was that a look of hurt in his eyes? No... It was probably just a look of surprise.
"Don't test me, Draco." Was all I said in response before turning back to the game at Hermione's shout of excitement.
"Look at Harry! What's he doing!?" Hermione would shout, pointing a finger at Harry who was going into a miraculous dive, I was too transfixed to notice that Malfoy had carried his squabble on with Neville and Ron now that he had lost my attention.
I would spot a glint of gold in front of Harry as the boy dived and my look of horror would quickly change to a grin. "He's after the golden snitch!"
Just as it looked like he would hit the ground, Harry would pull up at the last second, his broom missing the ground below by less than an inch, he would cry out in triumph after as he raised a clenched first, a pair of golden wings sprouting from between his fingers.
The entire Gryffindor house would let out a roar as the commentator cried out (much to Snape's dismay) "HARRY'S GOT IT AGAIN! HE'S CAUGHT THE GOLDEN SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"
As seemingly every Gryffindor at Hogwarts flooded the fields to celebrate, Hermione and Neville would go off to the nurses wing with Ron who was sporting quite the black eye and bloody nose. Malfoy, who honestly looked worse, had already been carried off by his two goons as soon as the match ended.
I had wanted to congratulate Ron on getting some good hits on Draco but was interrupted by an elbow to the ribs from Hermione before I had the chance too.
From here, I decided to go wait for Harry by the broom shed, knowing he would have to put his Nimbus 2000 away before returning to the Gryffindor house party.
As I waited though, I would spot Professor Snape and Professor Quirrel headed in the same direction, Snape made eye contact with me for a split second and his eyes narrowed.
"L/N, why are you standing about out here and not with the others?" The professor would say in his cool tone, glancing behind him I noticed that Quirrel looked even more terrified than usual, did Snape have something to do with that?
"Oh, uhm, I'm just waiting for Harry is all..." I would reply uncertainly, only making the black haired man's frown deepen.
"I see, well the two of you should run along quickly, you'll miss out on all the... Festivities..." He would reply before adding, "You also haven't given me an update on those night terrors in a while, I expect a report tomorrow." He would reply coldy, but his eyes shifted to Quirrel uncertainly for a second before returning to their normal impartial stare.
"Y-yes sir, I'll make sure to do that" I would reply, praying that would be enough for the professor to move on.
Luckily it was, but I saw the two men go in an odd direction as they left, almost as if they were headed for the Forbidden Forest...
"Y/N!" I would hear a familiar voice from behind me, turning around to spot Harry who had a big grin on his face.
"O-oh! Hey Harry!" I would say, trying to reciprocate the smile but failing ever so slightly, and of course Harry noticed, his grin fading to a concerned frown.
"Is everything all right..?" The boy would ask, setting his broom down.
"Y-yeah, I mean... I don't know? I just had an encounter with Professor Snape and Professor Quirrel..." I would reply, his eyes widening.
"What'd he say, you're not in trouble are you?!" Harry would chime in quickly, his concern only growing.
"N-no, he just told me to run along and enjoy the festivities and that I should give him an update on the nightmares I've been having tomorrow. They went off in a strange direction after though... Like, towards the Forbidden Forest?" I would say, uncertain of myself.
"He went with Quirrel to the Forbidden Forest?" Harry would ask in shock, "We should follow them! Can you remember the exact direction they went?" He would ask, unlocking the broom shed and passing me one of the school brooms.
"Are you sure about this Harry?" I would ask slightly concerned as I took it from him. "They went off that way." I would say, pointing in the direction of the forest.
"Yeah! C'mon!" My friend would say, mounting his Nimbus once more and shooting into the sky, I had no choice but to follow him!
The two of us circled the forest for a moment before finally spotting the cloaked figures, gently landing on a tree a small distance away but close enough for us to overhear the conversation going on.
"Well? Have you figured out how to get past Hagrid's little mutt? We need Flammel's stone" Snape would snap at Professor Quirrell.
"B-but, Severus..." He would stutter out, I couldn't tell if the man looked more afraid of his surroundings or more afraid of the man looming in front of him.
"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell." Snape would state with a sneer.
"I-I don't k-know what-" Quirrell would try saying only to be cut off once more.
"You know very well what I'm talking about" The black haired man would say.
"N-n-no, I don-"
"Very well." The intimidating professor would reply, "I'll give you a few more days to decide where your loyalty truly lies, but know I will be back." He would say curtly before turning on his heels and storming out of the woods.
Quirrell was frozen stiff from fear but we had no time to linger and make sure the man was okay, we needed to tell Ron and Hermione this news immediately!
"Harry... I-I think that Snape and Quirrell might be the two men from my nightmares... I think Snape is the one trying to get into my head..." I would reply with a shudder, did that mean he had known I was lying to him about my dreams this entire time? I didn't dare think of such a thing.
"I think this definitely confirms that Snape is the one after the Sorcerer's stone!" Harry would reply, mounting his broom once more, "C'mon Y/N, we need to get out of here immediately." He would say and with that we would fly back quickly to find Ron and Hermione.
"Harry! Y/N! Where have you two been!?" Hermione would cry out.
"You've nearly missed half the party! We deserve to celebrate, we won!" Ron would say soon after.
"You guys don't understand, we need to talk immediately!" I would say through labored breathing, the two of us had run all the way back to the common room after putting away our brooms.
And with that, the two of us would burst into the story of our recently discovered news.
"So Snape is part of this all!" Hermione would say in shock.
"And the only way the stone stays put is if Quirrell of all people stands up against Professor Snape!?" Ron would chime in, dread washing over all four of us.
"We're doomed..." The quadruple would say in unison.