November Snow

t h i r t y - f o u r

"What are Slytherins doing in here?"

That was the first thing I heard when Juliette and I stepped through the door to the small wooden hut in Hogsmeade. The people we knew greeted us happily, but others, the first thing popped up in their funny little brains was what business us Slytherin girls had to do with this place at this time of the day. I even heard Ron and Hermione bickering in whispers the moment he saw us.

"Watch your mouth, Smith." Fred said "They're friends of Harry."

"Really?" A boy said, pointing at me "I saw her with Draco Malfoy."

"So what?" Juliette snapped "Being friends with Harry Potter doesn't mean we can't associate with our own house."

"Quit it!" Hermione said "We're not here to fight."

Everyone quieted down and turned their gazes back to the trio sitting in the front. I settled down by George and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder in a comforting manner. Juliette went standing next to Luna. Harry, Ron and Hermione shared nervous glances before the bushy haired girl stood up from her chair.

"Hi." She said nervously "So you all know why we're here. We need a teacher, a proper teacher. One who's had experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts."

"Why?" A boy I didn't know asked.

"Why?" Said Ron impatiently "Because You-Know-Who's back, you tosspot."

"So he says." That boy said.

"So Dumbledore says." Hermione defended Harry.

"So Dumbledore says because he says. The point is, where's the proof?"

"If Potter could tell us more about how Diggory got killed..."

"I'm not gonna talk about Cedric, so if that's why you're here, clear out now." Harry said, then turned to Hermione "Come on, Hermione. They're here because they think I'm some sort of freak."

"Is it true you can produce a Patronus Charm?" Luna said, all eyes on her.

Harry looked stunned by the Ravenclaw's action. Everyone's eyes turned back to him, now they were all looking so interested. I, of course, was one of the few people knowing that he could conjure a full-body Patronus. After all, I was the one suggesting Lupin to teach him.

"Yes." Hermione said "I've seen it."

"Blimey, Harry." Dean Thomas said "I didn't know you could do that."

"And he killed a Basilisk, with the sword in Dumbledore's office." Longbottom said.

"It's true." Ginny claimed.

Now the air was lifted. Everyone was suddenly taken back and became even more excited.

"Third year, he fought off about a hundred Dementors at once." Ron said

"I can't really say about that." I spoke up, they looked at me "I don't know well what he has fought, but I know well who he has saved. He saved Ginny and I from a Basilisk, he saved a friend from the Dementors, he saved Ron from under the Black Lake. I know Harry Potter can save people."

"Last year, he really did fought You-Know-Who in the flesh." Hermione said.

"Wait." Harry said "Look, it all sounds great when you say it like that... But the truth is, most of that was just luck. I didn't know what I was doing half of the time. I nearly always had help."

"He's just being modest." Hermione said.

"No, Hermione, I'm not." He said "Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow. But out there, when you're a second away from being murdered, or watching a friend die in front of your eyes... You don't know what it's like."