Unofficial Portkey Archive

Thanks so much for reviewing this story and others! I love reading the reviews! Sorry it took a while to get this chapter up, but I've been busy with school and work (I just started my senior year in college). I'm so glad you reviewed the first chapter, Esperanza and Aftertaste Of A Razorblade! There'll be more soon! This second chapter is partly based on a delightful dream I had a few years ago where I dreamed I was walking along with a group in a wooded area and we saw little rainbows among the fall leaves. I remember waking up feeling euphoric from that dream. That dream still stands vividly in my mind even today. Enjoy this piece and keep those reviews coming; I enjoy reading them as well as your stories too!

Voldemort's Demise

By: CNJ

PG-13

2: Gryffindor Retreat

Harry:

"...And so, after I'd reminded Neville to put the silencing charm before we said the password to go into the common room, Neville and I went in and found Greg Harriman and Felicia Moran trying to catch a cup of butterbeer from falling onto the floor," Ron told me as all of us Gryffindor students trekked through the wooded area of Quarry Grounds that Thursday afternoon. We'd had our password changed since last week and now use a silencing charm so others can't hear it. I was soo glad that this retreat wasn't postponed. My friends and I had all been in a bunch, but now Ginny, Cheria, and Hermione had moved toward the back of the group and were talking with Lavender Brown and a few other girls. Professors McGonagall and Hooch were chatting away somewhere in the middle of the group. Since Quarry Grounds is about two hours away from Hogwarts and almost in Wales, it was so far determined to be safe, since Voldemort had not been detected anywhere around Wales. It was an overcast afternoon with thick silvery-gray clouds and the leaves had all fallen off the trees and now made a fine crisp racket under our feet as we hiked along. They were still bright colors and covered the ground like a multi-colored huge carpet. Being the magical world, there were even more colors than the muggle world. On top of the usual brown, purple, orange, yellow, gold, and red, I saw some glittering metallic leaves, and even a few deep pink leaves. We passed a bush with its leaves still on, but in multi-colors and several of us crowed, Woooohhh... when we saw that it was shifting colors visibly right there. I gasped softly at the beauty of the bush. Slowly we walked on by as the bush changed from deep magenta to a bright red, then and orange, then a bright yellow. About a half hour later, it began to drizzle lightly. Several students pulled the hoods of their robes up, including Ron. I had my head down and was peering at a cluster of yellow ferns near the ground. I saw a small sliver of light, then a little streak and just as quickly, it disappeared and left a small round...rainbow. Oh... I mouthed, my eyes going wide. I had never seen a rainbow like that, not right on the ground. It made a small colorful circle and faded in an instant. It was gone so fast that I thought maybe it was my imagination. But I knew it wasn't when I heard Mintra McGonagall, Professor McGonagall's great-niece, squeal, "Ooooh, look, a rainbow right here by tree root!" Several of us peered over and sure enough, there was a nice round little rainbow right by a bare tree surrounded by metallic red leaves. It was soo beautiful!
"Hey, look another rainbow!" Hermione called and there were more wooo's by another clump of purple bushes. I gasped and Ron whooped when we saw another rainbow circle on the ground in front of us by a pile of gold leaves. They became more frequent as we walked on and hiked down a hill. By then the drizzle came down steadily and I was growing damp. It was delightful; rain has never bothered me. More whoops and squeals arose from the group as we spotted more rainbows among the bright leaves.
"Ohhh, this is so lovely, Ron," I was feeling really happy now.
"There are..." Ron grinned. "Heyy, look, there's one there..." Another rainbow circled a cluster of multi-colored ferns, which also changed colors rapidly. By the time we headed back to the lodge, the drizzle had slowed and it was growing dark. The rainbows faded when we reached the end of the woods and headed toward the lodge, a small stilted stone and wood building. We went in and got ready to eat.

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After we ate, we sat in a circle in the main room and pondered the question of where we'd see ourselves ten years from now. There were a lot of interesting answers, including auror, news reporter, pro Quidditch, etc. Ron saw himself either in pro-Quidditch or working in the Ministry like his dad. I saw myself either in music or teaching. I haven't really decided if the instruments I'll play will be magical or muggle. Mum played the violin and the bariol, a wizard/witch instrument in several groups before she turned to teaching music. I've taught myself to play the bariol, the piano, and the violin these past few years. My great-aunt Miranda tells me I've inherited Mum's musical talent. Hermione is planning to either go into teaching or be a news reporter. The next activity was everyone dividing into their years. All of us seventh years were on one end while the first years were on the other. Each year got a different thing to reflect on and the seventh years were to reflect on what was the most life-altering experience of our almost seven years at Hogwarts.
"Mine's kind of easy," Ron spoke up. "I could say the floo-jacking last year, but I think it was more when I became the Quidditch captain last year."
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow as I peered at my friend.
"Well...I think I've become more responsible and honed in on my Quidditch skills more, not to mention becoming better organized." We all chuckled at that. Bit by bit, all of us went around. Mine somewhat easy, yet complicated.
"Cedric's death at the end of the fourth year and that summer afterward," I said. For the first time, I told the rest of the seventh-year Gryffindors the harrowing experience I'd had coping with the loss of Cedric, a bit of what I'd endured with my aunt and uncle, the Dursleys, told them I'd run away after one fight too many with my Uncle Vernon, then found out about my great-aunt Miranda, who I hadn't known about. Thank the Merlin's stars she could take me in and I never had to return to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia again. Aunt Petunia is Mum's sister and is a muggle. She was jealous of Mum and bad-mouthed her almost constantly and she and Uncle Vernon were often cruel to me. They had a son, Dudley, whom they spoiled rotten. It turned out that Uncle Vernon had actually gotten guardianship of me illegally. I found this out back in my fifth year. Aunt Miranda had been cursed with a memory-loss charm, which took her several months to recover and by the time she did, Uncle Vernon had falsely claimed his family to be my only living relatives and even had a false death certificate made out in Miranda's name, so Dumbledore and McGonagall thought she was dead. Of course, the Dursleys never let on where they were living, so for a long time, Miranda had no idea where I was in London, which is a huge city. For that fraud, Vernon got six months in jail. I've also heard that Petunia and Dudley stayed with some neighbor of theirs since Petunia doesn't have a career. Who knows where they are now, except not on Privet Drive anymore? I've not seen them since I ran away from them the summer after my fourth year and I have no desire to see them again. I'm so glad I have Great-Aunt Miranda back, who's much kinder and more understanding. The two of us have formed a close bond and now I go home to her for holidays and summers. I'm really going to miss her next year when I go away to college. Hermione then added something about her younger sister, Aileen, who is nine. It turned out that Aileen is also a witch. Their parents are muggles.
"...so, Aileen has two more years to go before she gets her letter," Hermione finished. It's something of a Hogwarts tradition for many witches and wizards in the London area to get their letters around their eleventh birthdays accepting them into Hogwarts and giving them a list of supplies they need to get for their years at Hogwarts. I sure remember getting mine. I was living with the Dursleys then and of course they didn't want to let me go and hid my letter. More letters came and finally, Hagrid, Hogwarts' groundskeeper, came to pick me up. That had been another life-altering experience for me.
The night wound down as we got back into our large group. We then said the Gryffindor chant. It's about courage and dignity and staying united in the face of all obstacles and using good to overcome evil. The part I like best is, may all of us stand courageous in the face of turmoil and when we fall, get back up and continue moving. We then trickled to bed. It was growing windy and several of us whispered little things back and forth before drifting off to sleep.

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It must have been a few hours later when I found myself awake. I felt a tenderness in my forehead and my hand automatically went up to my scar. It felt sore. Sitting slowly up, I looked at the clock. 2:19, it read. It hadn't hurt since last spring with the floo-jacking incident. Could Voldemort...? I worried, my throat dry. I sat for a few minutes, but only heard the wind. The pain didn't get worse to my relief, but it stayed steady for a while, a dull ache. I clutched at the scar, feeling worried little lines wrinkle the middle of my forehead and slowly got out of bed and peered out the window discreetly. Nothing unusual out there. Grabbing my wand, I held it out, murmuring the spell to have it detect any other presence besides us. None.
"Harry...?" Someone whispered. I jumped nervously, then let out my breath to see that it was Madame Hooch. "Are you all right, darling?" She just come out of the women's bathroom and was on her way back to bed when she'd seen me.
"I..." I touched my scar again. "I'm..." I swallowed, my throat still dry. "...not sure...my scar's sore..."
"Oh...dear," Madame Hooch put an arm around me and she and I headed back to the end room where she shook McGonagall awake.
"What...?" McGonagall sat up and put her glasses on. "Is everything...? No, I think not." She got up and I followed them as they slowly walked down the hall.
"Maybe we should contact the aurors..." Madame Hooch told her. McGonagall nodded, then using a nearby fireplace, contacted several of them. Several of them apparated and Madame Hooch whispered, "Why don't you go on back to bed and we'll see that everything's all right outside." I nodded and did. I didn't sleep, however, until Madame Hooch came in and whispered that they'd detected no one outside. Two of the aurors, however, would remain on the grounds to insure that everything would be all right, at least for the rest of this retreat. I hoped it wasn't Voldemort back again. By then the pain in my scar had faded. I just felt slightly dizzy and drifted off to sleep.