I do not own the rights to any of the characters that appear in my little story. Now I do not claim I can tell a story nearly as well as J.K. Rowling (if I could I'd be a millionaire). The best I can do is all I can offer. I hope that you will be entertained.

   

  

Holly Potter and The Mists Of Avalon

by Kim West

Artwork by Daphne Teal

Editing by Travesty Underscore

Pt. 3

     

A new day begins as we enter Diagon Alley, a marketplace for witches and wizards. It is a magical world of wonder, delight, and sometimes danger. You see there are things lurking within the shadows. Things that are both nasty and terrible. They have escaped from the wizard prison known as Azkaban. No, these are not mere prisoners who escaped; these are dementors, my friends. Vile creatures that torment prisoners by taking all positive spirit and hope away, and can swallow your very soul leaving you worse than dead. This is known as "The Kiss Of Death," and they will strike anyone at any time without warning. It matters not to them about such concepts of good and evil. The five dementors did strike only a few hours ago, a poor wrinkly old witch by the name of Roberta Prissywillow. Members of The Ministry Of Magic arrived on the scene.

"Poor woman never had a chance," said Perrywinkle.

His partner Grimmerfinch studied the woman, who was essentially just a living corpse at this point.

Grimmerfinch spoke softly, "Did she have any friends or family?"

"We're looking into it, but so far nothing. Most people we talked to said that she was just a crazy old bat that really made a nuisance of herself. Many of them think that she finally snapped when they found her like this."

"Good, let them believe that for now. I don't want people to start panicking."

Perrywinkle looked uneasy. "Shouldn't we warn people that…"

Grimmerfinch's eyes flashed. "That What? That five dementors are running loose and we can't control them, that even if we manage to find them we have no way of stopping them. Oh and don't forget for one moment that we will probably end up just like her if we happen to surround them!" Grimmerfinch yelled in frustration, "Is that what you were about to suggest?"

Perrywinkle looked down at his shoes. "No, I suppose telling the public wouldn't help matters much."

"The Ministry should have never used those things in the first place," said Grimmerfinch as he handed his partner a bit of a smoke.

*******************************

 

On to other parts of Diagon Alley, to be precise Flourish and Blotts. This is where many students buy school supplies such as black cauldrons, spell books, and potions. Not all of Hogwarts' young students came to shop however. Ginny Weasley, for example, had wondered off on her own, she had far more important things on her mind than mere shopping. She, instead, wanted to find somewhere private in which to try out a necklace -a certain necklace she just happened to steal…ah…borrow from Becky.

Ginny eyed the piece of jewelry in its protective case as if it were a p iece of candy. "It's not fair that Becky has such big round boobies and I'm just as flat as you please." Ginny then grinned. "Not anymore…now that I have you, MY PRECIOUS."

Ginny opened the case and put on the necklace. She didn't really notice anything, even though changes were certainly taking place. She definitely became curvy in all the right places. Her breasts grew until they were the same size as Becky's fine bosom; legs became slightly longer and more graceful; hips, thighs, and rear filled out rather nicely as well.

Ginny sighed to herself in a soft sexy voice. "Maybe the magic has worn off."

Just then, a light flashed and temporarily blinded her.

"Wow, your soooo pretty. I just had to take your picture. I hope you don't mind? I always seem to forget to ask before taking pictures. By the way, what's your name? Do you go to Hogwarts? I go to Hogwarts. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Colin Creevey. Did I already ask you what your name was? I'm sorry I forgot, it's a nasty habit of…"

"Wait! Please let me say something!" Ginny shouted at Colin.

The blond haired boy stood sheepishly in front of Ginny holding his prized possession in his hands which was his camera of course. He was never seen without the bloody thing. It was like it was a part of his body like an extra arm.

"Now then, did you just mention that I was pretty?" asked Ginny.

Colin stood silent and looked somewhat nervous.

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes. "You may speak now."

"Is this a trick question? I don't understand. A very pretty girl like yourself is wondering why I would say she's pretty?" Colin's eyes grew wide, "Are you a Weasley? Did Fred and George put you up to this?"

"I'm Ginny…Ginny Weasley, and Fred and George would never let me be part of one of their pranks."

"Ginny Weasley, you say?

"Yes, why do you look so confused?"

"You've changed quite a bit over the summer, that's all I've got to say."

Ginny looked down at herself and gasped. "I'VE GOT BOOBIES, REALLY BIG BOOBIES."

She smiled as she looked at the rest of herself. It had worked. The necklace transformed the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.

Ginny looked at Colin and simply shrugged. "Uh…well, I guess eating all the right kinds of foods and daily exercise certainly did the trick then? What can I say?"

As incredible as it may seem, Colin was apparently gullible enough to believe what Ginny had said, or was it, perhaps, the fact that Colin's eyes were suddenly focused on something else besides Ginny's newfound beauty.

"Oh my, that's a beautiful necklace you're wearing. Do you mind if I have a closer look? Perhaps even take a macro shot of it?"

Ginny scratched her head a moment; she wanted to say "no," that there was something rather dangerous about letting him have it. Try as she might though, she simply could not remember why boys should not touch this particular necklace, so she handed Colin her treasure for him to behold.

"This is incredible, it must be worth a fortune," said Colin as he began to glow pink.

Ginny watched as the blond boy began changing into a cute, petite girl with blonde curly hair. Ginny suddenly remembered why she didn't want Colin to touch Becky's necklace. She couldn't say anything now, it was too late. Colin's transformation was complete.

"Ah, do you mind if I had that back? I have to be…ah...some place…uhmm…right now," Ginny said somewhat nervously.

Colin Looked up and handed Ginny the necklace back. "Sure thing…uhmm…Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if we went on a date sometime?"

Ginny blushed. "Uh…not right away, Colin…perhaps in a couple of months."

Just as she was in the process of running away she noticed Holly, Becky, and Hermione heading right for her. "Oh no, this is defiantly not good," she thought to herself.

"Hey, isn't that your necklace that girl has in her hand? Hermione asked Becky.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY NECKLACE?"

"I'm sorry, Becky, I was just borrowing it. I meant to ask you, but for some reason it simply slipped my mind."

"Holey Cricket! It's Ginny!" Hermione gasped as she noticed Ginny's new form - gasped with a bit of envy I might add.

Becky was about to yell some more when Colin began taking more pictures. This time she pointed her camera in Holly's direction. The flash momentarily blinded everyone.

"Wow! Holly Potter! I'm sorry; I just had to take your picture. You may not remember me but I'm your biggest fan. My name is Colin Creevey and I go to Hog…"

"Hang on a moment! What did you say your name was?" Holly asked with unease.

"Colin Creevey, I'm Gryffindor just like you, but I suppose you wouldn't remember someone…"

"Ginny, you let him touch that necklace didn't you?" Holly accused.

"Uh…yeah…I suppose." Ginny said sheepishly.

"Oh my, you are in trouble now," Becky sighed, "When mum finds out you turned Colin into a girl she's really going to flip."

Colin looked down at her body just then. "I'm a what?"

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!"

Colin was so shocked at what she saw that she did the unthinkable. She let go of her camera. It quickly fell to the ground, breaking into tiny bits. It lay in ruin as it crackled and fizzled. Colin's eyes grew wide in shock and yes, in horror as well, over the sudden, tragic loss of her greatest treasure.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

The whole store could hear this scream. She continued to scream as she ran away. Everyone stayed clear of her apparent rampage as she went in search of her mommy.

"That went well." Holly said calmly.

Becky kicked the rubble a bit with her shoe. "Do you think it can be fixed?'

"There's only one way to find out," Hermione said as she pointed her wand at the broken camera, "I always wanted to try this spell I read in Film Magicians Weekly."

"Why would you bother reading that? You're not a film person." Holly said scratching her head.

"She'll read the ingredients off of a bubblegum wrapper if you let her. You know that as well I do." Becky replied smugly.

Hermione paid no attention to Becky as she flicked her wand.

"Cinematastic!"

Suddenly the pile of rubble became a small tornado as it whirled about the floor. After several moments, the tornado dissipated leaving a shiny new camera behind. It began to hop about the floor, and then it jumped high into the air, and then it landed in the waiting hands of a smiling Hermione.

"Uh…Hermione, I don't think Colin's camera was magical before." Becky said nervously.

"Well it certainly is now, isn't it?" Holly said as she watched the camera purr in contentment.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes. "You wanted me to fix the camera and so I did, besides I think it's rather cute now the way it is."

"What if the Ministry…"

"Oh please, whose father enchanted a certain car not too long ago?"

"Yes but…"

"And who took that certain car for a joy ride all the way to Hogwarts?"

"Hey that wasn't a joy ride I'll have you know!" Becky huffed.

"I agree, we nearly died at least twice on that little adventure." Holly added.

"Very well, I won't argue further on the subject." Hermione turned to face Becky. "Does the camera stay or do I turn it back into a pile of junk?"

The camera started to shiver and whine in a rather pathetic way. All eyes were on Becky at that moment.

"Please Becky! Don't kill it!" Ginny pleaded.

Becky grumbled. "Oh bloody hell! I can't take this anymore! We'll find Colin and give her back that thing, alright?"

Ginny smiled and hugged her sister, who slowly hugged back and smiled her own smile.

"You better find mum quickly before she finds out what happed on her own." Becky told Ginny.

Ginny nodded and soon she ran out of the store in search of her mum.

"I swear, that girl is becoming a bloody menace." Becky said shaking her head.

"I don't know, I'd say she's just trying to be more like her big sister." Holly replied with a bit of a smile.

Becky gave Holly a dirty look but said nothing.

"We better get moving if were ever going to catch up to Colin." Hermione told the others.

So the three of them headed off in the direction they last saw Colin when they ran into Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

Malfoy bowed to Holly. "Ah, if it isn't the lovely Miss Holly Potter."

Crabbe and Goyle laughed aloud and nearly fell to the ground.

Holly was seething with anger. "Out of my way Malfoy, or I'll knock your block off!"

Holly pushed passed Malfoy hoping that he wouldn't call her bluff. She wasn't sure she'd be able to take him in her current condition. All she wanted, at this point, was to get away from the teasing.

"No! Wait! Come back!" Malfoy called out.

"Grow up, Malfoy!' shouted Becky as she and Hermione chased after their friend.

Malfoy turned to face Crabbe and Goyle who were still busy laughing to notice that he was furious with them.

"YOU IMBECILIC BUFFOONS!"

Crabbe and Goyle stopped laughing.

Malfoy clenched his fists. "You made my poor, sweet Holly think I was mocking her."

His sidekicks looked at him as if they were a bit confused. I could not say whether they thought Malfoy had suddenly gone insane or that they simply were trying to figure out what imbecilic meant. Alas, the world may never know. In any case, Malfoy was defiantly frustrated at the turn of events. He knew that Holly would never trust him, and why should she? Malfoy had always been enemies with Harry, so why would things change now?

Becky and Hermione tried in vain to look for their fellow Gryffindor, but she was nowhere to be seen. Holly, in fact, had made her way into a dark alley. Did I say the word dark? Why yes, I believe I did say dark. Do you remember I mentioned something about five dementors roaming freely? Well, Holly managed, quite nicely, to find the very alley in which they were roaming freely. They, in turn, discovered her and promptly began moving toward her.

Holly backed away. "Oh no, this is not good."

She ran in the opposite direction as fast as she could. One of the dementors just missed grabbing her arm by a fraction of an inch. As she ran, she began to wonder why she had not fainted. In the past, as Harry, he would do exactly that whenever those nasty things came lurking near. Holly did not have time to ponder this because she was being surrounded by the dementors. People cried out in terror when they saw the creatures.

"Dementors!"

"Oh my! That poor girl!"

Becky and Hermione heard the shouts and saw their friend being surrounded. They tried to rush in and rescue her, but people in the crowd refused to let them.

"Let us go! That's our friend!" cried Hermione.

"She needs our help!" growled Becky.

One of the people holding them said," No dearies, it's too late for your friend."

Another added, "You'd only be throwing your lives away."

The dementors were upon Holly. One of them grabbed her by the arm but quickly let go, screaming in agony as it did so. Then red, glowing cracks of light formed on its hand. The red cracks soon spread, covering the entire creature's body. It flailed about until the red light expanded from its body for a moment, then, with a flash, it imploded taking the creature with it. The other four dementors suddenly backed off sensing that the tables had turned. It was they who had become the hunted. They tried to get away but found that they were frozen in their tracks; a bright light shone forth from Holly, engulfing the four as she floated in mid air.

She looked down upon them and said in a commanding voice, "Evil creatures of the night, be gone from my sight."

Inhuman cries rang out as the light simply faded the dementors into nothingness, soon after, the light faded and Holly slowly floated to the ground. The crowd let go of Becky and Hermione and they rushed to the side of their friend.

"How did you do that?" asked a stunned Becky.

"I…think…" Holly murmured.

"Let's find someplace where we can talk, and you can get a bit of rest," Hermione said as she and Becky helped Holly.

Suddenly a curly-haired blonde broke free of the gathering crowd. She sped up to the three girls with wonder and awe in her eyes. She was quickly followed by a rather nervous, middle-aged woman.

"Holly! That…was…incredible!"

"Hi Colin, I'm glad your alright." Holly looked up at the woman standing next to Colin. "I presume you must be Colin's mother."

"Yes I am, and you must be Holly Potter. My son…uh…daughter idolizes you and from what I just saw I can see why."

Becky stepped forward just then. "Sorry about Colin turning into a girl and all, but it's not permanent. Colin should become a boy again in three months time; that is if he doesn't have…"

Hermione interrupted Becky at that point. "Hey! Colin, guess what I have for you!"

She presented Colin with her camera, which leaped into the air and landed quite safely in Colin's hands. She looked at it with the bright, shiny eyes of a child waking up Christmas morning to find the perfect present to love and cherish.

"This…is…how?"

Before anyone could answer she spun around to face Holly. "Please, can I take your picture with me?"

Colin's camera suddenly floated out of Colin's hands and positioned itself for the best possible angle it could manage. Meanwhile Colin had joined Holly's side and was smiling a big bright smile.

"Uh, sure", said Holly as the camera flashed.

"Wow, this is a neat way to take pictures," giggled Colin as the camera suddenly zoomed about taking various pictures of Hermione, Becky, and finally the crowd.

"Colin dear, don't you think that's enough pictures for one day?"

"Ah, but mom", Colin whined in the universal whine all children seem to make to their parents. Her mother simply smiled at her new daughter knowing that her child was happy, healthy, and safe. They both waved goodbye to the three girls.

Holly, Becky, and Hermione waved back for a few moments, but then they soon moved toward the crowd which had no intention of blocking their way. Somewhere in the deep, dark shadows lurked a figure. It was "He Who Must Not Be Named." He watched his dementors suffer defeat with ease, and I can tell you he looked worried.

"It appears I'm going to have to come up with some stronger allies if I am going to neutralize that little…" his words trailed off told as he watched Holly Potter leave.

The three girls made their way to Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. They sat down with ice cream. Becky and Hermione tried to order a huge amount of chocolate ice cream for Holly to consume, but she shook her head indicating that she did not want any.

"I want strawberry," Holly said firmly.

"But…what about…the dementors?" stammered Becky.

"Yes, you must counteract the effects they must have had on you." Hermione added.

"I'm just tired from the fight, but I'm not sick. Come to think of it, they did not effect me in the least," Holly smiled just then, "I didn't feel like fainting the entire time they were attacking me."

The three of them sat down at a table with their ice cream and silence grew as they began the task of eating. Holly had strawberry while Becky and Hermione had chocolate. In fact a great many of the crowd that had witnessed the defeat of the dementors had come into the parlor to order chocolate ice cream; everyone felt somewhat ill, While Holly might not have felt any effects from the dementors her friends definitely felt the need for healing powers that only chocolate seemed to possess.

Holly looked at her friends and sighed, "I suppose explanations are in order."

Becky snorted, "That's an understatement! No less than five dementors attacked you, and you simply wiped them out of existence. Yeah, I'd say that might need explaining."

"I honestly don't know how I managed that. One moment I was me, the next moment I became something more."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.

"Something happened to me when I was close to dying in the hospital. I had a vision of a woman who called herself The Goddess. She gave me certain choices about my future. She said something about joining her sisterhood, but at the time I had thought it was just a silly dream."

"So you think this vision had something to do with what just happed now?" asked Becky.

"It's a start, when we get to Hogwarts we can start researching this Goddess."

"You mean the Library; spending countless hours in there for what? Can't we have a normal school year for once?" pleaded Becky.

"Spending time in the Library should be a normal part of every student's school year. I'll have you know…"

"Hold on, I haven't told you everything about what happened to me out there just now."

"Like what?" asked Becky.

"Yes please, Miss Potter. I, for one, am extremely curious about this whole incident. After all, it's not every day a teenage witch manages to do what is considered impossible."

Holly turned to see Cornelius Fudge standing by her side with his arms crossed. Two other members of The Ministry of Magic were present as well. She did not welcome them in the least, because last year Fudge made it very clear that he thought Holly had lied about Voldemort coming back during The Triwizard Tournament.

Holly simply smiled at Fudge and said, "It is a comfort to know that The Ministry keeps such control over their dementors these days."

Fudge looked rather furious at that comment. "You will come with me now, young lady. You will tell me everything you know, and you will respect your elders. Do I make myself clear?"

Holly stood up and faced Fudge. "Unless you are charging me with destroying those abominations that tried to attack me, I'm afraid I'm not going anywhere with you. Oh, by the way, Mr. Fudge, not that you would believe me, but your dementors were under the control of Lord Voldemort who commanded them to hunt me down."

Many wizards and witches who were listening intently to the conversation that Holly and Fudge were having let out audible gasps at the mention of the name Voldemort. Others choked on their chocolate ice cream.

Fudge's eyes flashed. "What proof do you have that he had anything to do with your attack?'

"I sensed his presence."

Fudge laughed. "You sensed him did you? Well finally some hard evidence."

"There's more, Voldemort is planning something big. If he isn't stopped, many people will die.

"You're determined to promote mass hysteria no matter what the cost. All you seem to care about is getting your blasted name in the paper"

"Miss Potter. Could we get a few words and pictures with you?"

Holly saw the photographer from the Daily Prophet who had taken her picture at the hospital. Apparently he had been promoted to reporter as well.

"Miss Potter has nothing to say at this time. She is being taken under protective custody until further notice," Fudge told the reporter.

"Yes, and against my will I might add," Holly said smiling.

The reporter quickly took down the quote and then snapped a picture in Fudge's direction.

"Is that true, Mr. Fudge?"

Fudge's face turned red. "Why no…of course not. Miss Potter misunderstood what we meant to say."

"Then I'm free to go then?" asked Holly sweetly.

"I…no…what I mean is…what if you're attacked again?"

"I think can take care of myself, but thank you for caring." Holly said as she was about to leave.

"How about answering some questions, Miss Potter?"

"I'm sorry but I've been accused of promoting mass hysteria in order to get my name in the paper. Any questions you may have; please refer them to Mr. Fudge. I'm confident he will tell you everything you need to know about this matter in a calm, professional manor."

Holly waved to an angry Mr. Fudge. He had no choice but to let her go. To do otherwise now would invite the media and public opinion to consider whether he might be better suited to an early retirement.

**************************************

Later that night both Ginny and Becky were to face the eventual wrath of their mum. Although Mrs. Weasley was rather upset when she found out what Ginny did to herself and Colin; she remained relatively calm. The Creevey Family had not wanted to make an issue of it which certainly made things less tense, however Ginny still received several hours worth of lectures, which she did not seem to appreciate in the least. Becky also heard an ear full about being more careful with her necklace. She promised she would keep it under lock and key from now on, which was the only way for her to keep the bloody thing. Any more mischief and the necklace would be taken away forever.

The days passed without further incident. The talk about what happened to Holly with the dementors had died down, but students at Hogwarts continued to avoid contact with her just the same. It was not until Malfoy's repeated attempts to woo Holly that students began to gradually think of her as just another student. Malfoy constantly pestered the poor girl and yet she hadn't done a thing to harm a hair on his head. Many figured they were certainly safe from Holly if she wouldn't even harm someone who obviously needed a good kick in the rear at the very least.

All this was minor of course, as the main news was the arrival of Viktor Krum to Hogwarts. Speculation ran rampant about what house The Sorting Hat would place him in. Viktor played in The World Quidditch Championship last summer, and even though he caught The Golden Snitch, his team managed to lose the match. Still, any house team who had him as their seeker would be a force to be reckoned with. Even Gryffindor talked openly about replacing Holly with him instead. She tried not to let this get to her by thinking of other things. What those things were she had no idea. She grew more nervous until the time had arrived. The Sorting Hat normally dealt with first year students the first night they arrived at the school, but Viktor being a seventh year was certainly entitled to his own Sorting Ceremony.

"Viktor Krum."

The great Hall grew silent as Krum walked up to the front of the room. Professor McGonagall placed the hat upon his head.

"Hah!...A foreign exchange student. Don't get too many of those," The Sorting Hat rumbled, "Ah, I know…Ravenclaw!"

The Ravenclaw Table went wild, they cheered as if they already won the house cup. Over at the Gryffindor table Holly was breathing a sigh of relief. She loved the game of Quidditch and really didn't want to give it up.

"Bad news Holly, it looks like you're still our seeker," George Weasley chided.

"Just be glad we're not the ones who have to fly against him," Fred Weasley added.

Holly smiled. "I love challenges. You should know that by now."

The following days began to fall into a somewhat normal routine for Holly. Attend classes and be stalked by Malfoy. Go to the Library and be stalked by Malfoy. Go to Quidditch practice and have Malfoy gawking at her the entire session. It was getting to the point where the only moments of peace were in the girl's restroom and the Gryffindor Common Room.

"I'm telling you, I think I'd rather have a Malfoy who hated my guts than one who keeps following me around like a lovesick puppy." Holly said as she paced back and forth.

"You know you could try to maybe…"

Holly interrupted Becky. "Don't say it. Don't ever say it to me or anyone else. The very thought of me and him….UGHH!…YUCK!"

"Perhaps dating another boy would help you get rid of Malfoy" Hermione said causally as she was reading a book.

"Yeah boys can be quite nice if you give them a chance," blurted Becky

Both Holly and Hermione looked at Becky as she said this. She stood there kind of wishing she hadn't opened her mouth just then.

Holly smiled. "I was wondering when you would bring this up."

"Wha..what do you mean?" Becky tried to say innocently.

"Oh come clean already. The whole school knows you and Neville have been seeing each other." Hermione said with a certain smugness.

"We have not…I mean…it was…"Becky sighed, "Oh bloody hell. Yeah I'm seeing Neville. He's really a sweet lovable teddy bear when you get to know him, a bit on the clumsy side of things, but still a sweet boy."

"Oh, you have it bad for him," Hermione said grinning.

"We think you and Neville make a smashing couple. We we're curious just how serious it was," said Holly.

"He's asked me to go with him to the dance next Friday. I really want to go with him."

"So what's the problem?" asked Holly.

Becky wouldn't answer, though she turned pale and sad.

"I think I know. Your time as a girl is just about up, isn't it", Hermione replied.

"Yeah…It .is," Becky said almost in tears, "I don't want to go back to being Ron Weasley. It's hard to think of myself that way."

"Perhaps if you and Neville would…"

It was Becky's turn to interrupt Holly. "No, I couldn't do that to Neville. If I'm with someone, it should be for the right reasons. I don't want to ever look back and wonder if I did it because I just wanted to stay female."

Hermione went over to hug Becky. "Look we will find a way for you to stay the way you are if that is what you want."

"YES! PLEASE! ANYTHING!" Becky exclaimed hugging back with all her might.

"Alright then, you can stop squeezing me. I need to breath now," Hermione said to a very grateful Becky.

********************************************

While this was happening let us now consider Draco Malfoy for a moment. Everyday he was being rejected by Holly. He was becoming a laughingstock around school. Even Crabbe and Goyle stopped hanging around him. Malfoy was beginning to get desperate; he just had to find some way to make Holly fall in love with him. That's it; make her fall in love. He would go see Snape and get a potion to make Holly fall in love. Malfoy quickly headed for Snape's office. He knocked on his door.

"Yes, what is it?" asked Professor Snape as he opened his door.

"Uh…Professor Snape?"

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy what can I do for you?"

"You see sir, I have this problem and I was wondering if you could help me?"

Snape smiled and straighten up a bit. "Depends on what you want, my dear boy."

"I want to make someone fall in love with me."

"Ah well, just make sure you're the one who's bewitching her mind and not the other way around." Snape said with a toothy grin.

Malfoy looked confused. "Why would I want to be bewitched?"

Snape shook his head and sighed. "Never mind, who may I ask is the girl you wish to control?"

Malfoy blushed. "Holly…Holly Potter, sir."

Snape's smile quickly faded. "Let me get this straight. You want Holly Potter to fall in love with you?"

"Yes sir, can you help me?"

Snape cleared his throat, "First of all it is against school policy to inflict spells or potions on students and or faculty against their will. Doing so may result in immediate expulsion. Second, Holly Potter has many friends who will notice any drastic changes in her behavior. Miss Granger's overdeveloped brain would easily figure out what happened and have you in Dumbledore's office in no time. And speaking of Dumbledore, he has gone to great lengths to protect Potter. I would suggest not making him upset with you."

"But I'm in love with her," pleaded Malfoy.

Snape sighed, "Let me give you some advice. All women are poison. Many marriages and relationships have ruined men's lives. Trust me; I know what I'm talking about. Oh, it starts out innocent enough, but then they ask and later demand for things. They want rings, dresses, trips to France, and even CHILDREN! It never ends, because no matter how much you give them, they always want more."

"Holly's not like that."

Snape laughed out loud. "Oh yes she is, my poor deluded boy. Potter has become one of them; there's no doubt about that. She hasn't done a thing and she already has you wrapped around her little finger."

"I don't care what you say. She and I are meant to be together. I just know it."

"A water-buffalo has a better chance with Holly Potter than you do. No offense of course," said Snape as he tried hard not to laugh again.

And so Malfoy must content himself with stalking Holly Potter for the time being. As for Holly, she had been looking forward to visiting Hogsmead for the weekend break. It was a chance for many of the students to get away from the school and hang out at the wizard village. It was also an opportunity for some to arrange dates to the upcoming dance next Friday. Becky for example went off with Neville extra early so they could plan out their big date. This left Holly and Hermione to themselves for the day, which meant avoiding Malfoy while at the same time trying to have fun. Holly took her invisibility cloak to throw him off the track. This was quite effective in making Malfoy extremely frustrated. Somehow this made Holly feel better about her situation. While running around Holly and Hermione did meet up briefly with Becky and Neville. The two were holding hands and smiling as they approached.

"Well it looks like you two are having a grand time together," Holly said smiling.

"Yeah it's been positively dreamy." Becky said as she hugged Neville.

"Uh…Holly, Viktor Krum was asking about you. Have you seen him?" Neville asked.

Holly shook her head. "Why no, I haven't. I wonder what he could want with me."

"Who knows, the guy barely says anything at all at school, but he did seem intent on finding you," Neville replied.

Neville and Becky made their farewells and they were once again off having fun together.

"So you want to get some butterbeer and have a bit of a rest?" asked Holly.

"Sounds good to me," Hermione replied nodding her head.

The two girls headed off to seek refreshment at the local tavern. They ordered their drinks and sat down at a table to drink them. As they did so Malfoy showed up at that moment. Holly looked somewhat upset when she saw him standing next to her.

"Leave me alone, Malfoy."

"Please, my love…"

"Don't call me that. We're not a couple and never will be one. Get that through your head."

Holly stood up and was about to leave when Malfoy took hold of her arm.

Holly's eyes flashed. "LET GO OF ME NOW!"

"Please, what do I have to do to get you to like me?" Malfoy pleaded.

Malfoy felt a powerful grip on his shoulder. He let go of Holly as he cried out in pain. As he recovered he spun around to see Viktor Krum.

"You vill treat the young lady vith respect," Viktor told Malfoy as he held his wand in Malfoy's direction.

Malfoy wanted to say something but knew he didn't have any sort of advantage. He grumbled as he rubbed his sore shoulder and slowly made his way out of the tavern. When he was gone Holly turned to face Viktor.

"I want to thank you for helping me just now."

Viktor shuffled his feet for a moment and looked down. "You are velcome…I…I vill leave you now."

"Wait, I was told you wanted to see me. Please sit down with us and we can talk."

Viktor looked into Holly's eyes. "It vould be inappropriate for me to ask you after vat has happened to you."

Holly smiled. "Nonsense, ask me anything you want. I'll even treat you to a butterbeer. It is the least I can do."

Viktor bowed. "I accept your kindness. I vas vondering if you vould mind attending the dance vith me?"

This was something that Holly was not expecting at all. She thought about it for a moment and felt she could not refuse Viktor. It would crush his ego, and it was obvious that it took a lot for him to express himself in front of a girl.

"I would love to go to the dance with you."

Viktor smiled a big smile. "Thank you…I…ah…I did not vant it to look like I vas taking advantage of this situation. In your eyes I did not vant you to think I vas like Draco in any vay."

Holly giggled out loud. "Trust me Viktor; you are nothing like Draco Malfoy. You're far too sweet to be anything like him."

Viktor bowed again and was off to get some refreshments.

"So it looks like you may have a new boyfriend." Hermione grinned.

"Hold on, it's only one date. That doesn't make him my boyfriend."

"We'll see, time will tell." Hermione said as she sipped her butterbeer.

 

This ends part three of this story.

  

  

  

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