Speak Up - Female Deaf Harry Potter AU

Animagus

The next morning Hari dressed as quickly as she could and hurried off to Gryffindor Tower, desperate to tell Ron and Hermione about Colin and Dobby. She couldn't find them anywhere. 

She decided to look for clues in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom about the chamber, but when she arrived, there were Hermione and Ron, huddled in a stall. She tapped Hermione on the shoulder.
"Hari!" she jumped. "You gave us such a fright - come in how's your arm?"
"Fine," Hari signed, squeezing into the stall, then she saw what they were doing. An old cauldron was perched on the toilet, and they had lit a fire beneath it. It was the Polyjuice potion. 'What?! I thought you said you wouldn't do it.' Hari signed, feeling betrayed.

"After Colin got attacked, it just well, Malfoy was in such a foul temper after the Quidditch match, and we think he took it out on Colin."

'If you want to do this,' Hari signed, furious, 'I wash my hands of it.' And with that she turned and left.

Ginny was distraught, and Hari was doing her best to comfort her, spending all her time outside of classes with her and the twins, still angry Ron and Hermione. 

Hari felt that Fred and George were going the wrong way about cheering people up. They were taking turns covering themselves with fur or boils and jumping out at people from behind statues, almost causing several heart attacks. Hari finally got them to stop, much to the relief of both students and faculty.

Other than Quiddich, Hari wasn't a very social person, she typically spent all her time studying, trying to get ahead on school work. She had gotten used to that practice when she was at the Dursleys, never knowing when she would be locked in her cupboard for anywhere from a day to three  weeks, missing school for all that time. She'd never gotten any sort of love or attention, and the overwhelming amount here off put her. So she spent her time studying and drawing. 

She remembered her first drawing, it had been in preschool, she'd drawn drawn three little beige and blond blobs and one little brown and black blob. She'd written, my femely on top and presented it proudly to Uncle Vernon, who had thrown it in the fire. All she'd wanted to do was make them proud, figuring the picture hadn't been good enough.

So she'd gotten better and better and better, but every time she had shown her work to one of them, they'd destroyed it. At about nine years old when she'd picked flowers for mothers day for Aunt Petunia and been yelled at, and given two hours extra of work, she given up all attempts to make them proud. Turning instead into the solitary person she was now, sitting alone in her cupboard whenever she could get away, just wanting to escape. Studying and drawing had been her only escapes, not even given a fictional book to read.

She had never asked for help, no one had ever seemed to like her anyway. Perhaps it had been because no one wanted to get on Dudley's bad side, perhaps because Uncle Vernon was well known, or perhaps, she thought to herself, perhaps she had just been that weird quiet kid with the unnatural dark skin. She thought about Hermione then, Hermione who had never had friends before Hogwarts as well, was it for the same reason?

• • •

In the second week of December Professor McGonagall came around as usual, collecting names of those who would be staying at school for Christmas. Hari stayed off course.

Ron, and Hermione also signed her list; they had heard that Malfoy was staying, which struck them as very suspicious, although Hari knew it was because his parents were going to Paris again. Ron and Hermione had decided that holidays would be the perfect time to use the Polyjuice Potion and try to worm a confession out of him.

• • • 

Hermione and Ron needed to steal ingredients from Snape, so during class Ron had to provide a distraction. Ron ducked swiftly down behind his cauldron, where they were making stinging solution, pulled one of Fred's Filibuster fireworks out of his pocket, and gave it a quick prod with his wand. The firework began to fizz and sputter. Knowing he had only seconds, Ron straightened up, took aim, and lobbed it into the air; it landed right on target in Goyle's cauldron....... Right as Hari was walking past to ask a question.