Harry Potter and the Battle of Hogwarts

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Chapter Eight

The Prickling of Pain and Plans

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The room was dark and cold, with water running down the nearest stone wall. Many robed figures stood silent in front of him, their faces hidden behind white masks.

“My loyal servants, I have called you here to discuss my latest plans to bring down Harry Potter,” Harry said, as there was an outbreak of approval from the group of hooded figures. “After finding a rat amongst our midst and disposing of it most appropriately, I have come to discover something of great importance.”

The crowd held its breath, all eager for the news. Harry smiled viciously, raising one of his long, pale hands. “I - wait a moment, I believe we have company,” he said in a low whisper, “Hello, Harry Potter.”

Harry awoke in a flurry of twisted bed sheets and a stinging scar. He fell off the bed in his haste, ripping down one of the drapes hanging around his bed in the process. Ron jumped awake after Harry yelped, hitting his sore wrist on the bedside table.

“Harry - what?” Ron croaked, looking down at Harry who was struggling to stand. “What're you doing on the ground?” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“I - erm, fell off the bed,” Harry said, which was true - after waking up from a vision. Ron scratched his head and squinted out of the window, where the sun was just rising.

“It's too early, go back to bed,” Ron said, lying back down. A few moments later, Ron's snores could be heard quite loudly in the otherwise silent dormitory. Harry stood shakily, his hand clamped to his forehead. His scar was throbbing painfully, as was his arm. He had forgotten to go to Madam Pomfrey the night before, and he was regretting it now.

After having a quick shower and dressing in his robes, he scurried down to the common room, hoping to have some time to think. No one was down there this early and he sighed in relief, sitting down before the extinguished fire. He sat staring at the black coals for nearly half an hour, his thoughts on Voldemort and what his newest plans could be. He was broken from his thoughts when Ginny Weasley appeared from the girl's staircase, still dressed in her pyjamas.

“Morning, Ginny,” he greeted her, watching as she sat in an armchair to his left. “You're up early.”

“I could say the same to you,” she said, yawning loudly. Harry grinned.

“Couldn't you sleep?” He asked softly, catching the faint bags beneath her eyes. She looked at him with a brief flash of annoyance in her eyes, before it was replaced with a blank look.

“No, I couldn't actually. Why are you up?” she asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, um - I couldn't sleep either,” he said, not feeling like relaying his dream to her. She didn't seem to believe him but didn't say anything, as the two of them sat in a comfortable silence. Slowly people drifted down from their rooms, some heading straight down for some early breakfast, or else sitting down to await their friends.

Hermione came down soon after, already dressed and looking full of energy. She took Ginny's spot when the redhead went to get changed.

“Good morning,” she said happily, grinning broadly.

Harry couldn't help but smile back and said, “Yeah, hi.”

“How long have you been up? I usually have to drag you and Ron out five minutes before class!” she said brightly. Harry smiled slightly.

“I couldn't sleep,” he said again, watching as Hermione's brow furrowed. But, she too, decided to remain silent. As Harry watched her, he remembered the talk he and Ron shared the night before, and he felt his stomach tighten painfully. What was wrong with him?

“Are you OK, Harry?” Hermione asked, a concerned look playing in her brown eyes. Harry pushed down the odd feeling in his stomach and nodded.

“Yeah, I'm fine. It's about time!” he said as Ron appeared at the bottom of the staircase, his robes wrinkled and a few centimetres too short.

“Shut up, Harry,” he said, glancing at Hermione. Harry noticed Ron's ear grow red and he felt a strange feeling grow in his stomach. He quickly stood up, getting both Hermione and Ron to stare at him.

“Where are you going?” Ron shouted at him as he strolled hastily across the Common Room.

“Oh - Hospital Wing, I need to get my arm fixed up before classes.” Harry said, reaching out to the portrait hole.

Behind him, he heard Ron say, “We still have two hours before first classes.” Harry didn't stick around to see Hermione's concerned look, instead he was walking briskly through the hallways, heart thumping painfully in his chest.

“What am I doing?” he mumbled to himself as he stumbled down a staircase. `They're going to know something's up. I don't even have my things!' He thought with a groan as he turned down the corridor leading to the Hospital Wing. As he entered the familiar setting of the Hospital, he walked over to the office at the end of the room, and knocked loudly. Madam Pomfrey appeared, wearing a stern expression.

“Mr Potter! It has not even been twenty-four hours since your return and you're already in here!” the school nurse exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips. Harry grinned and shifted his feet.

“I did this before getting here. We didn't have enough time to fix it up before catching the train and I forgot to come last night,” he said as Madam Pomfrey directed him to a white sheeted bed.

“Sit here, Mr Potter. Can't you spend a year without making a trip here?” she said, inspecting his wrist. He winced when she bent it forward and the nurse tutted disapprovingly. “You have a slight fracture in the wrist and -” she touched his thumb and he gasped in pain, “- a sprained thumb.”

“I didn't know I hurt my thumb!” he said as she told him to sit back on the bed, before turned to go back to her office.

“Only you would be able to ignore severe pain, Mr Potter!” she called back with amusement. “Now, I have to get you to drink this potion -” she passed him a steaming goblet of red liquid. As he swallowed it, he felt it burning all the way down his throat, before it spread out along his arm. “- and this one.” She passed him a clear liquid this time, and instead, this one felt as if it had frozen his windpipe.

“You will need to wear this bandage for today, to keep the fracture in place for the potion to work. I would advise you not to go to your first classes -” Harry opened his mouth to protest, but the nurse shushed him, “- but I know you would disagree. Just let it rest, Mr Potter, we don't want any more damage done.” The nurse smiled warmly at him as he thanked her and jumped from the bed, making his way slowly to breakfast.

As he passed a group of giggling Hufflepuffs, his thoughts returned to Ron and, especially, Hermione. He didn't know why he felt so depressed about them becoming a couple. He could imagine Hermione feeding Ron at the Dinner Table. The two of them making there way into Hogsmeade. Holding hands as they walked to class. The thought of it made him want to punch something.

As he entered the Great Hall, the first thing he noticed was the distance between Ron and Hermione; a good three seats. Ginny was sitting next to Hermione, who was looking miserable. Harry made his way to Ron, who was staring blankly at his toast, face red.

“What happened, mate?” Harry asked him, sitting in the seat next to Ron. His friend looked up and passed Harry to where Hermione was sitting, before Harry could stop him, he had slammed his head down on the table, causing his goblet of pumpkin juice to tip over. “That bad, huh?” Harry said, righting the goblet and sponging up the liquid with a napkin.

“Worse,” Ron grumbled, trying to pull his hair out with his hands. “I asked her to walk with me down to breakfast, and she said yes. So, as we were walking down here, I pulled her aside and asked her if she wanted to go to the next Hogsmeade weekend with me.” Ron shook his head and groaned.

“What did she say?” Harry asked quickly, feeling as though butterflies were taking flight in his stomach.

“She said that we always go together; me, you and her!” Ron said, slamming a fist onto the table, his face, if possible, going redder. “Then I said that it would only be me and her, and she said `What would Harry do?'. I said that you would probably go with Dean or someone. She just said that it wouldn't be fair on you, even after I told her that you wouldn't care!” Harry nodded frantically.

“Go on!” he encouraged quickly.

“I asked her to go with me again, and she said no, that she would rather go in a group and that it would be better that we were just friends!” with that, Ron hit his forehead back onto the table, as Harry turned to look at Hermione. She was staring at him, and smiled as he waved. Her cheeks were slightly pink and her eyes a little red, but other than that she looked fine. Ginny smiled at him, and rolled her eyes at Ron who was groaning loudly.

Turning back to his friend he said, “C'mon, Ron. It's not that bad! Maybe she just needs time?” he said, although inside he was grinning. He didn't know why he was so relieved that Hermione rejected his best friend, but for some reason he was extraordinarily happy. The dream lay forgotten at the back of his mind.

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Hermione and Ron stood on either side of Harry as they made their way to Transfiguration. They both weren't talking to another, leaving the group in an uncomfortable silence. Professor McGonagall unlocked the door just as the bell rang, and the three of them made for the centre of the class. As expected, Harry was stuck in the middle of them, as the students all sat in the room. When everyone was seated and silent, the professor stood at the front of the room.

“Good morning class,” McGonagall started, her Scottish accent sounding in the room. “This year and the next are going to be the most difficult for any Hogwarts Students. This year, you will be starting your NEWT Level classes, sorted by your OWL scores. Everyone in this class has proved themselves highly capable of Transfiguration, all earning above Acceptable on your OWLs.

“The NEWTs at the end of next year will determine the rest of your future, so the classes you sit this year will go towards you Seventh Year Total Score. Any who fail anything more than once in this class, will leave and never return.” At these words, most of the class visibly gulped. Hermione was sitting on the end of her seat, eyes shining with a quill and parchment in hand. Smiling, Harry turned his attention back to the professor.

“This year will push you to your limits, and those with true talent will rise above all others.” Here, her eyes trailed to Hermione who immediately straightened up. With an uncharacteristic smile, she continued.

“Now, as I told you last you, this year we will be moving onto Human Transfiguration -” Professor McGonagall turned to the board as she began writing out an explanation on the topic. This was a signal for the class to get out there quills and parchment, and write down the contents on the board.

At the end of the class, they were assigned a two-foot parchment essay on Human Transfiguration. Ron was groaned loudly when they left the classroom.

“It's only been the first class of the day and we already have homework!” he grumbled loudly.

“I told you this year will be hard, Ron, and I'm sure the essay will be extremely easy as Professor McGonagall just gave us all the information we need on the topic!” Hermione said simply from Harry's other side.

“For you maybe, we're not all geniuses!” Ron said angrily. Harry smiled as they continued their squabble all the way to the Charms corridor. Everything was back to normal.

As soon as everyone was seated in Professor Flitwick's class, the tiny man took a stand on four large books so he could see everyone clearly. And just like Professor McGonagall, he started the class with a speech about the importance of their sixth and seventh years, and their NEWTs.

“This year will be difficult for most of you,” the professor started with his squeaky voice. “But I am positive all of you can pass my class just as you passed your OWLs. Every single one of you is capable of performing to your limits just as you have done over the years.” He gave Hermione a warm look, causing her to blush slightly. After the speech, he had them revising some of the older charms, such as levitation and the banishing and summoning charms. By the time, Lunch came around, Ron was complaining about the amount of homework they already had; Flitwick had assigned them an essay on The Difference Between Real and Conjured Objects.

As they sat down at the Gryffindor Table, Neville came and sat beside Harry as Ron was across the table from him and Hermione on his left.

“Hey, Neville.” Harry greeted his friend.

“Hi, Harry. I need to thank you for the DA last year,” Neville said horridly, cheeks red. “The only reason I got an E in my Defence OWL was because you taught me all that stuff last year!” Harry chuckled and slapped him on the shoulder, causing Neville to drop the piece of chicken he was holding.

“Oh, sorry! But you did it yourself and I bet you can do loads roe with your new wand!” Harry said truthfully. Neville looked to him in disbelief and embarrassment.

“You think so?” Neville asked pulling out his new Holly wand. His old one had been broken the year before in the Department of Ministries.

“Sure I do. Your grandmother didn't get angry at you, did she?” Harry asked nervously; it would be his fault if old Mrs Longbottom had went off at Neville, as it had been Harry who got him into the whole mess in the first place.

“She was at first, when she didn't know everything. Then when Professor Dumbledore told her what happened, she was really proud, and took me out straight away to buy another wand.” Neville said, stroking his and lovingly. Harry grinned.

“I'm glad you didn't get in too much trouble then.” Harry said, turning back to his food. As lunch passed, many old members of the DA came over to him to ask about the next meeting. He told them all, that he would activate the coin when he decided upon a good time that didn't interfere with Quidditch Training or any other clubs.

When the bell went signalling the second last class of the day, Harry and Hermione broke off from Ron to head to Potions while he went to Divination with Firenze as his teacher. Professor Trelawney still taught classes but only those in third and fourth year. Firenze taught fifth, sixth and seventh years. Harry was dreading Potions as he hadn't yet talked to the Potions master, and wasn't planning to. At least I'm with Hermione he thought as they joined the line in the dungeons.

Severus Snape opened the door with a flick of his wand and the class piled in, taking seats as far away form the front as possible. Hermione and Harry were lucky to score seats at the back with a few Ravenclaws, while the Slytherin's filled up the rest of the seats.

“I see most I expected to pass have made it into NEWT Level Potions,” Snape said with a sneer while his eyes landed on Harry, “While some, have gotten in on pure luck.” Hermione clutched Harry's hand to make him stay silent. Harry startled them all by only raising an eyebrow at the towering slime of a man, and squeezed Hermione's hand in return.

“This year, I expect many of you will be leaving this class to never step into it again,” he said, glaring at Harry. “While others will be transported onto a stretcher because of their total lack of Potion Making Skills.” He looked to a small Ravenclaw girl that seemed to shrink under his gaze.

The class passed torturously slow, leaving Gryffindor twenty points down because Harry coughed when Snape was writing something on the board. As the bell went, Snape assigned them a two-foot essay on the properties of Sleeping Draughts, causing Harry to groan loudly.

“Potter, you will remain here for a moment.” Snape said with a glare as Hermione through Harry a piteous look as she passed through the door, shutting it behind her.

“You wanted me?” Harry asked plainly.

“You will show me some respect, Potter!” Snape growled as he stood up from behind his desk.

“You wanted me, sir?” Harry said, trying to keep from hexing the over-sized bat, and keeping his face blank.

“I have been forced to continue to teach you Occlumency, even though your miniscule brain is too weak to even grasp the first concept of the Ancient Art,” Snape hissed, glaring at Harry with his fathomless eyes.

“What?” Harry shouted, face contorted into anger and disbelief.

“Just as I said, Potter. The headmaster seems to think you are capable of learning Occlumency, even after your horrendous attempt last year that proved to be a complete waste of my time!” Snape said, flicking his wand at the door which swung open, revealing a startled Hermione. “I expect to see you in my office at eight o'clock Thursday evening. Don't be late.”

Harry stared furiously at the man before growling and storming from the room, his pact to keep his emotions in control squeezing straight through the cracks of the mouldy dungeon walls.

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- Disclaimer -

I do not own Harry Potter and never will.

G'day my fellow readers!

See, I had everyone worried about Ron and Hermione getting together for no reason! LOL. There won't be any Hermione/Harry action happening for a while, just Harry trying to figure out why he starts seeing Hermione differently and stuff. He really is a bit daft, isn't he? LOL. This chapter was a little boring, but it gave way for more things to come in future chapters. What, you may ask? You have to wait and see.

Also, I want to change the title of this story, because I now know how the ending is going to end (ah)! So, any suggestions will be helpful and I can say that the end will be a battle, but not in Hogwarts. So, it can be something like Harry Potter and the something/something, or just a simple title like Something,

So, I don't really know. All you do know is that it will be that this story will be a Harry/Hermione, have some visions and dreams (like the one at the start of this chapter), Wormtail is dead (YES), Sirius is alive (YES YES), Harry has to continue Occlumency with Snapey-Poo, Tonks is the DADA professor, the end will be a battle and something amazing will happen! (No, not really, I've just been watching too much of The Wild Thornberry's!) LOL. That show is so funny…haha.

Okay, I think I've rambled enough. Thanks for everyone who has reviewed so far and please review again!

Later Days…

DW