Here's the next chapter!

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Harry felt very heavy the next morning. Like all of his muscles had stopped working properly. He staggered down to the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione – who was giving him disapproving looks. As they reached the Great Hall entrance, they saw a large mass of blue and yellow coming towards them.

“Uh oh…” Hermione muttered. Harry frowned, trying to make out individual faces in the mass of people. Suddenly, a blue figure came flying towards him at amazing speed, colliding with him and knocking them both to the floor. A second later Harry gasped in pain as a magical charge ran through his entire body, causing his world to go black.

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“Nnn…” The world swam in and out of focus as Harry’s eyes adjusted to the light of the room. He was lying on an all too familiar bed, and every bone in his body was aching. A figure loomed over him, causing Harry’s reflexes to kick in. He tried to draw his wand, but it wasn’t in its usual place in his robes.

“Ah, you’re awake Mr. Potter. Good, now we can begin treatment. Mr. Turner has yet to awaken….” Harry frowned as more details started to register in his mind. He was in the hospital wing, and the figure was infact Madame Pomfrey, who was looking over at another boy – the boy who had collided with him in the hall.

“Turner…” Harry muttered. He knew that name.

“Yes. Have you met before? He’s caused a lot of trouble already this term…. Already been in here twice. Such a nice boy last year… but now?” She sighed. “I don’t know… all this new rivalry is so strange…” she shook her head, handing Harry a glass of pink liquid. “Here drink this. It’ll help your body recover from the side effects of the hex.”

“Hex?”

“Yes… I’m told that a Hufflepuff sent Mr. Turner hurtling into you with a rictusempra spell, just as another Hufflepuff cast a very nasty hex on him. As a result, the hex got transferred to you aswell, though Mr. Turner took most of the damage.” Harry remembered the pain he had felt when the hex hit him. If that was only a small amount of the hex, he didn’t want to imagine how much pain Turner must have felt.

He drank the pink liquid quickly, settling back into bed.

“What about my classes?”

“It’s been taken care of. You only missed Charms and double Potions today, and Miss Granger has agreed to take notes for you to study. No one blames you for this.” Harry nodded once, suddenly glad he’d been hit with a hex. Double potions on the first day back? What were the teachers thinking? “You’re not the only one to be caught in the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw crossfire. A small Slytherin boy got hit with the jelly-legs hex this morning. And Mr Malfoy got hit with a very strange curse that made his hair fall out… he’s refusing to leave until it grows back.” Pomfrey rolled her eyes. “I gave him a potion to help it grow faster…. But he’s being very childish about it… I should check on him now…” Harry nodded, holding back his laughter at imagining Malfoy bald.

After a few minutes, the boy in the bed next to Harry started stirring. He attempted to sit up, but fell back down in exhaustion.

“You should wait for Pomfrey to give you some potion before you start moving around.” Harry said sitting up to look at Turner. Turner managed to move slightly so that Harry could see his face. His eyes widened. Turner had amazingly bright blue eyes and light brown, almost blonde hair. His eyes seemed very tired, and he had a burn mark (probably still visible from yesterday’s duel) on his left cheek.

“Sorry about this.” He said, his voice very weak. “I didn’t mean to land on you.” Harry laughed.

“It’s not really something you could help. What’s your name anyway?”

“Billie… but everyone calls me Spark.” Harry frowned.

“Why?” Spark shrugged.

“No idea. My mum used to call me it because of my eyes… and everyone just sorta picked it up. I don’t mind… I hate my real name.” he sighed, turning his face away from Harry.

“What were you doing duelling more than one person at a time anyway?” Harry asked. Spark shrugged.

“Stupid Hufflepuffs gang up on you. They’re too weak individually… I guess we’re to blame though…. We said we could take on any number of them at a time…” Harry guessed that by ‘we’, Spark meant Ravenclaw. “I was just caught off guard by that stupid rictusempra.”

“So was I.” Harry said, grinning. Spark managed a small laugh, but was too weak to do much else.

“I REFUSE TO LEAVE LOOKING LIKE THIS!” Harry jolted. Malfoy’s voice carried clear across the room from a bed near the far end, surrounded by curtains.

“I’m gunna go see what that was all about.” He said to Spark, who nodded tiredly and closed his eyes. Harry got up, walking over to Malfoy’s bed. He darted past the curtain and burst out laughing at what he saw. Draco was struggling with a pair of scissors, trying to snatch them away from Madame Pomfrey, who was looking very annoyed. Draco’s hair had grown past his shoulder blades but parts looked like it had recently been hacked away.

Harry’s sudden laughter startled Draco, who let go of the scissors long enough for Pomfrey to wrench them away and put them safely in her pocket.

“Honestly Mr. Malfoy! You don’t want it short, you don’t want it long… nothing pleases you!” she snapped in exasperation. Harry grinned.

“Nice look Malfoy. Very retro.” Draco glared at him. “Turner’s awake by the way ma’am.” Harry said to the nurse. Pomfrey looked almost relieved to have a reason to leave Draco.

“Ah, finally. See to Mr. Malfoy will you Mr. Potter? I need to give Mr. Turner his medication. You’re both free to go though.” She pottered off before Harry even had a chance to answer. Draco just glared at him. Harry rolled his eyes.

“So why did you decide to hack lumps out of your hair?”

“None of your fucking business!” Draco snapped. Harry raised a brow.

“I was just asking…. No need to go all hostile.” Draco just averted his eyes to glare at the flood instead.

“I don’t want to look like him.” He muttered. Harry frowned. He hadn’t expected Draco to open up to him.

“Him? Your father?”

“Who else dumbass?” Draco sighed. “I don’t want to look anything like that bastard.” Harry blinked.

“I thought you worshipped your father.”

“Well things change!” Draco snapped. Harry thought for a moment before disappearing behind the curtain. He returned moments later with a pair of scissors.

“Here… I’ll cut it to the length it was before.”

“I’m not letting you near me with scissors!” Draco said, eyes widened in shock. Harry sighed.

“Just shut it Malfoy… or do you want to look like Lucius?” when Harry advanced on Draco again, there was no objection.

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“Well?” Harry asked. Draco was looking at his hair in a small handheld mirror.

“…it’ll do.” Draco sniffed, putting the mirror down.

“Right… I don’t suppose I’ll be getting a thank you…” Harry said, rolling his eyes. “I’m off… I’ve got work to catch up on.” He disappeared behind the curtain again.

“Potter!” Harry stopped. “Thank you….” He smiled before continuing out of the Hospital Wing. It wasn’t until later on that night that the absurdity of the whole event would strike Harry, and leave him restless and unable to sleep.

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The moment Harry stepped through the portrait hole into the common room, he was wrapped in a very tight hug.

“Harry I was so worried about you!” Hermione said, her voice slightly muffled where her face was pressed into Harry’s neck and hair. Over her shoulder, Harry could see Ron looking slightly put out at Hermione’s display of affection. She pulled away and looked him up and down. “Are you okay? No side effects? I’ve heard that hex can have nasty ones…” Harry blinked.

“Side… effects?” he shook his head. “Nope… nothing so far… Spark took most of the damage anyway.” Hermione frowned.

“Spark?”

“Turner…” Harry turned to Ron. “You know… the guy we saw duelling Hufflepuffs?” Ron half nodded, trying to remember.

“Billie Turner? A lot of people are talking about him…” Hermione said, moving to sit down in a chair by the fire. Harry followed and sat down next to Ron, opposite Hermione. “He’s like… the Ravenclaw version of you or Malfoy. He represents Ravenclaw as a whole… and is usually the one fighting.” Harry nodded, thinking. Spark did seem the type.

“What about Hufflepuff?” Ron asked. “Who’s their rep?” Hermione frowned.

“There doesn’t seem to be one. The Hufflepuffs just have smaller groups… usually 2 or 3 people… and they pick fights like that. I saw it quite a few times today. And the teachers are looking worn out already. Everywhere I go there seems to be duels taking place.”

“Well…” Harry sighed, sitting back and stretching. “I’m on Ravenclaw’s side. Spark seems alright.” Hermione raised a brow.

“Oh yeah? ‘Alright’ huh?” Harry felt heat rising in his cheeks. He knew that tone in Hermione’s voice… “I’ve heard Turner’s quite the looker… has he made a lasting impression on our Harry?” she grinned. Harry glared at her.

“I regret telling you I’m bi… now you think I fancy every boy I meet! Which I don’t! I just said he was alright!” Hermione laughed.

“I’m only joking… though judging by your reaction I think I may have hit a nerve…” not trusting himself to speaking again, Harry just continued to glare. “Anyway, the notes I copied up for you are over there.” She pointed to a table near the fire, where a neatly stacked pile of 5 or so pieces of parchment lay. “You should take a look at them… we have potions again tomorrow.” Harry’s heart dropped.

“What?! Again?”

“How do you think I feel?” Ron muttered, sighing. “I’ve already had it twice! You get all the luck Harry… getting hit by hexes…” Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

“I’d be more than willing to put a hex on you, Ron.” She snapped. “I’m off… but Harry, if you wake up tomorrow and your eyes are sort of… hairy… don’t worry, it’s just the hex effects.”

She left Harry looking wide eyed and scared.

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