The Sleeping Beauty Curse

Chapter 1

May, 2000

"This is all Hermione's fault," Ron said to Harry with excessive gloom.

Harry opened his mouth to agree heartily, but shut it again when he caught sight of her expression. It said, quite clearly, that if he agreed with Ron out loud, he would not be long for this world. Besides, it wasn't entirely Hermione's fault, he thought, matching Ron's excessive gloom without even trying. If anyone was to blame, it was almost certainly Blaise Zabini. It was Zabini who'd swanned by Hermione's desk in the Magical Creatures Department first thing that morning, after all, and suggested that this would be the perfect way for the three of them to end their work day, didn't she think? Clearly, Hermione had been so horrified by the idea that she'd temporarily lost her mind and agreed on the spot. Possibly, too, she'd known that Harry would have done exactly the same. Even so . . .

"Oi, Harry! You agree with me, don't you?" Ron said, giving Harry a glare that indicated that his best mate better back him up or else.

Hermione sniffed. Meaningfully.

"Oh, I, er . . ." Harry said, and decided there was nothing to gain from agreeing with either of the pair of sods: whoever he sided with, disaster would follow. "Perhaps we should just get it over with," he said, one hand winding itself almost subconsciously tighter round his wand.

"Indeed," Hermione said, in a voice that suggested she was brooking no argument. "In fact, if you two stopped faffing around, we would already be finished and in the pub."

A spasm flickered over Ron's expression. Harry quite understood. Afterwards – well, after he'd popped back to the Auror Headquarters, very quickly – would be the pub, and a happy pint or ten and a life free from . . . what they had to do to earn the pint. But before the pub and the pint . . .

"This is, like, my worst nightmare," Ron said.

"Oh, really?" Hermione said without sympathy. "You'd better work on that. What will the other Aurors think of you when a boggart jumps out and, instead of it being the usual spider, it's Draco Malfoy, puckering up?"

Ron reflected on this, and Harry – despite the horror of the situation – couldn't stop his lips from twitching.

"They'll understand," Ron said eventually, pulling a face of disgust as he dragged his mind out of whatever hell pit it was occupying. "Wouldn't be surprised if everyone's boggart turns out to be snogging Malfoy after all this. It's not like we're the only ones who've had to go through this torment!"

"Exactly," Hermione said, giving her 'long-suffering' tone of voice another vigorous workout. "So, for goodness' sake, let's go and get it over with!"

Ron's face fell, and then contorted in a strange way – which Harry supposed was him girding his loins. "Right," he said, rather strangled, and then raised his chin in the manner of a man facing his doom head on. "Let's go."

^^^^^^

It was a bloody weird situation they'd found themselves in, Harry thought as they lined up outside the window of the red-brick, condemned department store that hid St Mungo's, checking if the coast was clear before they slipped through. Clear of Muggles, at any rate. The area was apparently free of reporters, but in Harry's experience all that meant was that they were better concealed than usual and the face he'd be pulling in the resulting front-page photograph would be all the more ridiculous.

"Come on!" Hermione hissed, and shoved first Ron and then Harry through – a little more violently than was really necessary, in Harry's opinion – before following herself. But before Harry could work himself up to complain, Hermione had already smiled at the Welcome Witch in reception and was striding in the direction of the third floor – Potion and Plant Poisoning – at a quick pace, without looking back.