The Bogart's Rejection
by Erin Griffin
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Er... Hard to explain, so read it. (T'isn't very long, promise)
Rating: PG
Summary: The 'missing' scene of chapter seven of the Prisoner of Azkaban, inspired by Ron asking Hermione what the bogart would have looked like for her if she had to fight it, and of course being me, this was my first idea.
Disclaimer: JKR owns the Harry Potter gang, I am just playing with them for a little bit as I cannot sleep and need something to do.
Author's Note: No real spoilers, but it is set in chapter seven of The Prisoner of Azkaban, where the students learn to fight off a bogart. I like making Neville a somewhat hero of a story, so forgive me if he a little out of character. Written in the course of an hour tops with no beta reader, so forgive me. All mistakes are mine.
...And then 'Crack!', there was the bogart spider Ron had conjured, walking toward Hermione, then the legs rolled into itself and standing before her was Ginny, Ron Weasley's younger sister, now in her second year of Hogwarts. "I don't love you, Hermione," it echoed throughout the room. "I will never love you... I will never love you. I will never- I will- never love you... love you... I will never love you..." Hermione froze, and Lupin as well as the rest of the class looked over at the best in their year, wondering what was going on, then looking at Ron, who seemed paler than when he faced the spider. "I hate you, Hermione."
"AAAH!!" She screamed suddenly, covering her ears and seeming to duck under the harsh words the bogart was saying, the shadowy words getting louder.
"It's not real!" Harry wasn't sure where the scream had come from, but he felt he must help his friend, as clueless as her actions had left him. Obviously, Hermione feared rejection from Ron's sister, but he wondered exactly what that meant. Was Hermione in love with Ginny Weasley? Harry felt that didn't matter. What mattered was the look of utter agony that was on Hermione's face, and he hated seeing her that way. He was starting to wonder if this was that 'something' that Ron had mentioned earlier that Hermione wasn't telling them.
"Say it, Hermione! Say it!" Was that Lavender's voice Harry heard?
"It's not real! Hermione, listen to me! IT ISN'T REAL!" Other shouts of encouragement rang about the staff room, and Hermione wasn't listening to them. All she could seem to hear was the words Bogart Ginny was saying to her. Professor Lupin had his wand at the ready and seemed prepared to get the bogart back into the wardrobe, when Hermione screamed again over the words Bogart Ginny Weasley was throwing at her.
"NO! REDDIKULUS!" As if a cartoonist was creating the scene, a black mark appeared over Ginny's eye, making it look like a pirate patch, a checked line appeared on her cheek, making it look like drawn stitched face, and the black squiggled over Ginny's lip, giving her a thick mustache, one worthy enough to make Harry's uncle Vernon jealous. Hermione fell to her knees, as if they had given out on her, and she held her head in her hands. The class seemed unsure of the scene, but Seamus let out a nervous chuckle, and some others joined in. Then Neville stepped up to it as if to save Hermione from the bogart's smug stare and locked eyes with the image of Ginny, whose red hair turned greasy and black. The bogart was Snape once more. Neville seemed determined to save Hermione from the Bogart Snape as Hermione had helped him in front of the real one.
"You scare no one. HA! Reddikulus!" Bogart Snape donned the volture hat, the faux fur scarf and handbag, and, giving Hermione one last look, exploded. There was silence in the room at first.
"Excellent work, Neville. Honestly, well done!" Professor Lupin searched his ratty pockets and came out victorious with a Chocolate Frog, which he duplicated with a spell to pass around the class.
"I'd really like to learn that spell," Ron muttered to Harry, but got no response to his small joke like he normally would.
Neville knelt in front of a shaking Hermione, who had tears streaming down her face. "It is gone now, 'Ermione. You've faced your fear already, so when it really comes, it can't be so bad. Look at me." Hermione, in her humiliation, slowly looked at the pudgy faced boy as another tear fell down her cheek, and she wiped at it hastily with her robe sleeve. "Thanks to you, I don't think I'll be so afraid of him. From now on, Snape will be wearing a skirt when he's in a particularly bad mood. From now on, whatever Ginny says to whatever you feel for her... you've faced it. You will not die. You are the strongest and smartest of all of us, and you will move on. Trust me. Please."
"Thank you, Neville." Neville gave Hermione his Chocolate Frog, a parting pat on the back, and one last look of concern before he went to talk to Professor Lupin, who was still congratulating students for standing up to the bogart. Ron took a couple of steps towards Hermione and extended his hand to help her stand. He said nothing, and the three of them left class after Lupin awarded points to Gryffindor house for every person who faced the bogart. After going back to the classroom to get their bags, they walked in silence, and even Harry couldn't feel bad for not getting a chance to fight the bogart in that time before Ron said, not looking behind them at the sulking Hermione, "You know, my sister isn't the type to hate anyone." For a boy who would have normally gotten weird or angry, these were comforting words, and Harry was proud of his best friend for making an effort. When there was no answer, he looked behind them just as they had reached the stairwell going towards the dungeons to find her gone. Again. "Honestly, she must have forgotten something again. With all those classes she's taking, she'll lose her 'ead by weeks end-"
"Harry, Ron." They looked at Hermione, who was coming up the stairwell, waving her hand (loaded down with a fairly large book) wildly. Puzzled, he didn't know how she was doing it. If it weren't for he fact that there was a rule against magic in the corridors, Harry would have swore Hermione grew a mischievous side while on summer holiday and was doing it to drive the boys batty. She seemed in a bit of a better mood though from before; the redness and tears seemed to have completely left her face, and both boys figured she would rather pretend nothing happened in the staff room, which was all well for Ron and Harry, as what they had all witnessed was all too strange to comprehend. If Hermione didn't want to acknowledge it, that was fine with them. 'But,' Harry wondered, 'what would Ginny say once she hears this from others in the house?' Harry knew that gossip would spread faster than the Chicago fire, and word would get to her by dinner time. He could only hope all hell won't break loose until after he'd gotten a good bite to eat, as he was starting to feel his stomach beg for another Chocolate Frog. Whatever ended up happening, he hoped it came with a happy ending. He also hoped that he wasn't sucked into the drama along the way, but knew that one way or the other, he would be.
End
(I know that the ending was sort of off, but remember, Hermione had the Time Turner, and the way I had it, she hadn't yet gone to Lupin's class when she met them on the stair well.)