All Hail the Dark Lord, Or Something Idiotic Like That

A New Friend pt6

A/N: Not my story! Original available on ao3

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"Merlin, this is all so strange," Ron grumbled as he and Hermione began walking to their Charms class. "I can't believe Harry's dating my brother!"

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"I wonder what your brother did for a living in the future," Hermione mused. "I didn't get a chance to ask."

"That's what you're wondering?" Ron asked with a disbelieving look at her. "What about what happened to my nerdy, prat of an older brother to turn him into that? Or, what actually happened to Harry and Lovegood? Or what that thing is that they're not telling us until we can protect our minds?!"

Hermione rolled her eyes but gave him a fond look before throwing an arm around his shoulders and steering him towards the classroom so they wouldn't be late. "We'll learn that last bit soon enough...I don't think we actually want to know what happened to Harry and Luna...it was clearly torture, and I personally don't want to know the depths of depravity wizards can sink to. If Luna didn't survive and Harry had to be placed in a medically induced coma for a while, then it was extremely bad."

"And, as for your brother, he was always very committed to what he viewed as right. He followed the rules and laws to the letter, to an extreme that made you call him a prat," she explained as Ron nodded in agreement. "He seems to be doing the same thing now, but his rules and laws are just significantly different. He's following some code he has...Harry's the chaotic one, but Percy is calculating and always has been. I'd be willing to wager the sorting hat considered Slytherin for him at the very least."

Ron grumbled but nodded. "We have to keep an eye on those two. I'm not saying I don't trust them in general, but I definitely don't trust them to not do something that will get them sent to Azkaban...case in point, DADA."

Hermione nodded. She was definitely getting the full explanation of just what that former DADA professor did and soon. "We will...plus there is Sirius in on it, Flitwick now, and probably Snape soon."

"Right on time," Professor Flitwick remarked when they walked into the classroom just as he was about to close the door. "Aren't you missing a member?" He raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked behind them.

"Er...Harry's not feeling well," Ron awkwardly said, scoping out a few empty seats.

Hermione nodded. "A past illness cropped up, and he needed some time. Professor Weasley is looking after him," she said, as significantly as possible without winking twice at the man.

Flitwick, for his part, gave the girl an eyeroll for her troubles. This was why teenagers should not be involved in plans for a revolution. "Thank you, Ms. Granger. Go ahead and take a seat you two so we can get started."

The tiny professor strode to the front of the classroom, and everyone quieted as he sternly looked at them all. "I realize this isn't DADA," he said, giving them all a very serious look. "This is Charms. However, we will begin this year working on dueling. Charms are not just for household use; they can also save your life and can be used offensively. I will not have you go out into the world and think that Charms can only be used to cook and clean with."

Ron looked at Hermione who raised an eyebrow and pulled out some parchment in interest. They were certain Flitwick didn't start with this lesson in the first version of their fifth year. "Now," he continued. "Before we begin with dueling, I want you to turn to your neighbor and come up with a list of five ways Wingardium Leviosa can be used to get you out of a situation where you are being attacked."

Ron turned to Hermione and smirked. "Troll club..." he grinned at her. Hermione wrote it down with a chuckle.