| Chapter 19 - The Plan |
| Harry entered the commons room alone after he finished his dinner. He sat down on the large, red couch, waiting for Ron to come through the door. After about ten minutes of waiting, after many other Gryffindors had entered the room, Ron walked through the room. At first he didn�t notice Harry sitting on the couch, and he proceeded to walk towards the stairs. �Ron!� Harry called after him. Startled, Ron turned around and faced him. He gave Harry a nervous look, and then turned around, continuing upstairs. �Ron we need to talk!� Harry shouted, standing up and following him. He caught up to Ron, and grabbed his shoulder. Ron turned around angrily. �There�s nothing to talk about!� he yelled. �Look, Ron, I know why you�re mad,� Harry said in a calmer voice. �I just wanted to let you know that Hermione and I aren�t going to exclude you from things. Nothing�s changed, alright? We�re still�� Harry paused. Ron gave him a distressed look. �We always will be best friends, ok?� Ron looked at the floor for a moment, then looked back at Harry. �I know� I�m sorry, I�ve been acting like such a jerk recently,� Ron said. �I just couldn�t stand the fact that maybe you two were going to just toss me aside. This whole week has been horrible without you guys. I�ve been such an idiot.� �It�s ok, I�ve been acting really stupid too,� Harry insisted. �I should have just talked to you sooner instead of waiting so long. I mean, Hermione�s been the only one this whole time with her head on straight. I kind of feel bad for throwing her in the middle of this.� �Me too,� Ron agreed. An awkward silence filled the room as the two of them looked at each other. �So� no hard feelings?� Harry asked. Ron smiled. ��Course not!� he exclaimed. Harry grinned. He was glad that Ron and his friendship was so strong. �Finally!� came a voice from the other side of the room. Surprised, the two boys quickly turned their heads to the direction of the voice. Hermione�s head popped out from behind the other couch. �Were you eavesdropping?� Ron asked in a shocked tone. �Depends what you call eavesdropping,� Hermione said, smirking. �Personally, I like to call it �overhearing a conversation��� Harry rolled his eyes. Count on Hermione to make sure her plan follows through, he thought to himself. �Anyway, I know Harry�s been having some problems with Mrs. Figg,� she said more seriously. �I think he should try going through her office.� Harry and Ron gave her skeptical looks. �It�s only 9:45 now, so if you get caught outside the room, you can�t get in trouble! Remember, the curfew is only 10:30, so you�ll have about forty-five minutes to look around.� �I dunno, Hermione� I�m not so sure that�s the best idea,� Harry said. �Why not?� Hermione asked. �You know you wanna know what�s going on�� �Yeah but that doesn�t mean I want to go through her office!� Harry protested. �Look, Harry, just put your invisibility cloak on and take a quick peek in her room,� Ron suggested. �She�ll never know you were there if you do it right.� �So now you�re in on this?� Harry asked. �Great, well I guess I have no choice then,� he said sarcastically. �But I�m not staying there for more than 10 minutes� last time I had a really close call. I don�t need to be expelled from school.� �Fine� but we need to find out what�s going on with her,� Hermione said. �I�ll see what I can do,� Harry said, as he headed towards his room to get his cloak. How do I let them persuade me into this stuff, Harry asked himself. Even though he was curious, he didn�t feel like getting on Mrs. Figg�s bad side. He pulled his shimmering cloak out of his trunk, and brought it back downstairs.�Alright, I�m going. I�ll be back in less than 20 minutes,� Harry said reluctantly, as he threw the cloak over his head. Ron opened the door for him, and he climbed out carefully. Ron closed the door behind him, and he headed down the hall. Some of the older students were just coming back from dinner, but besides that the hallways were mostly empty. He walked silently down the hall, maneuvering around several crowds of students. After walking for a few minutes, he finally came to Mrs. Figg�s office. Quietly, he reached out and tried the doorknob. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. Checking around to see if anyone was around, he saw that the hallways were empty. He slowly crept into her office and shut the door behind him. |
|