Harry let his robes billow out behind him as he watched the sun rise from the trees in the distance. His body was cold and his face hurt from the sting of the wind. At the current moment, he didn't bother to care though. His position was slack, as he had one leg hanging off the top of the castle while his other was bent at the knee and placed on the side wall. He was lying on his side on top of Hogwart's main tower. The area up here was flat, giving him enough room to lie comfortably. He didn't know if anyone else knew about this spot, as it could only be reached on broom. He had found it his second year after the chamber incident. The wind blew freely here, making it cold in the winter but on hot summer days, it was the best place to be in the entire castle.
His mood matched the weather today, however. Although it was Sunday and there were no classes, he didn't feel like having fun. The clouds seemed to respond to him in a way. They were dark and threatening. In an hour or so the sun would have raised enough to be blocked by the clouds. "Some sunrise." Harry said in a light, un-caring tone. "Even the weather has it in for me."
He sighed and rolled on his back, ignoring how hard and cold the stone was under him. He watched the clouds move above him as the sun rose and offered very little warmth. Slowly his mind wondered on why he was feeling like he was. Although he didn't want to think about it right now, the reason was still there. "They just don't understand." He spoke aloud to the wind. "Voldemort was there to try and raise terror, but instead made people cheer when he left… He will come back, I know it. Why can't they see that? He's mad, he'll attack… It's my fault. I'm the one who pissed him off… What if someone dies?"
His voice trailed off and was carried lightly by the wind. "Cecilia, what should I do…?" His face fell even more. "What can I do…?"
"Harry…"
"Don't say it's not my fault! Don't you dare say it!"
"…"
"I don't want to be congratulated." He said aloud again. "I don't want to be smiled at for it. I hate it. I don't want to be famous!"
"If you could make people happy and feel safe, would you do it?"
Harry stopped his ranting at the sudden question. "Yeah, you shouldn't have to ask that."
"Then do it. You're a symbol, Harry." Her voice was soft and caring. "You a living breathing sign that Voldemort can be defeated. When the people smile at you, take you picture, want to get your autograph, everything, Harry, they do it because you make them happy. You make them feel safe. YOU give them HOPE, Harry."
He didn't reply to her. Instead, he sat up and turned to look at the sun rising. He let the light hit him and the wind blow around him. "You know…" He spoke after a long moment. "No matter what happens the sun always seems to rise." He bent one knee and rested his arm on it. "Maybe I should learn from it. Tomorrow always comes, no matter if the sun's hidden behind clouds at some point. It's a sign that says that there is always a future… May be a future I can give to people too?" Celestial didn't reply, but he knew she didn't have to. "You're right Cecilia." He stood and took the full force of the sun's blaring light at him. "This is a new day. A day to move forward. If I must be a symbol for the people, so be it." He gripped his hand into a fist. "I'll show you, Voldemort…" He vowed. "This is the last year you will be able to terrorize this world. To make a world without fear, I must first tear down the old. Voldemort…" He glared at the rising sun and spoke the words of a warrior… of a savior. "I will kill you."
~**~
The month of November seemed to fly past the students. Harry trained hard with his friends for the upcoming tournament, which was only a month away now. Malfoy and Ginny seemed to spend more time together in the Circle when studying spells and dueling. Ron, Hermione, and Harry accepted it for the fact that the three of them worked best as a trio and the other two as a pair. Malfoy was known as an outcast at school now, and the second generation Marauders were starting to get a little worried about their partner. Well, some more than others, but the feeling was still there.
Ginny sighed when Malfoy walked into the hospital wing. His head was held high and he had a rather smug look on his face. When he got closer to her and she was able to make out his face more clearly, she noticed that he had a rather nasty looking bruise on his left cheek and his eye was almost swelling shut. Ginny walked a little to meet him and instantly took his hand when he was close enough.
"Honestly, Draco." She breathed, leading him over to a bed at the far end of the wing and pulling the curtains around them. "For someone who doesn't like people knowing he comes here sure gets into a lot of trouble." He gave her a lopsided grin when she put her hands on her hips. "Who was it this time? Harry? Ron? I told you not to duel when not in the circle!"
Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "And I don't, I told you that." She nodded, agreeing with him. "I got jumped by a few idiots on my way to the owlery, that's all."
"Who would do that?" She asked, putting some clear liquid on a cloth and touching it to his cheek, making him wince. "Don't be such a baby."
"It stings!" He glared at her. "Damn, be gentler!" Ginny smacked him across the side of his head that wasn't injured. "Ow. Sorry, I forgot." He blushed lightly. "Not used to it."
"Just don't do it anymore, I'm tired of correcting you." Ginny finished on his face and blew on it lightly to help the sting. "Hurt anymore?"
Malfoy touched his cheek. "Nope." He moved to hop off the bed, but she stopped him.
"Not so fast, tell me what happened."
He shrugged with a slight frown. "Just some guys thinking they could get the best of me. If you hadn't noticed, I'm not very popular anymore."
"I think its better this way, no offence, but the people you hung out with aren't really people I would call 'nice', you know?"
The blond once again tried to hop off the bed and succeeded this time. "Yeah, I know."
Ginny grabbed the back of his robes. "You could thank me one day for helping you, you know."
Malfoy turned around and gave her a questioning look. "I should apologize."
"Huh? For what?"
"Because you have six Slytherns coming this way with nasty curses on them, and you got to take care of them." Ginny swatted at him playfully, but he caught her hand. Their eyes met for a second before Malfoy thrust a piece of paper into her hand and turned around and walked briskly to the door.
Ginny was too surprised to do anything other than watch him walk out for a moment. When she realized that she still hadn't read his note. Blinking, she noticed it was in an envelope that had her name on it. "Must be what he was going to use the owls for." She mused, opening it.
Ginny,
I know this is dumb and I shouldn't be doing it. I know your answer already but I am still asking anyway. Tell the truth, I don't even know why I'm still going to. Well, what I'm trying to say is, Will you go to the dance with me?
~Draco
Ginny blinked once, then again. Shaking her head, she read the note a second time, and then a third. "Draco asked me to the dance?" She asked herself, amazed. Suddenly she gave a small smirk. "That idiot. At least he could have asked me to my face…" Just then six people moved slowly and painfully into the hospital wing. Ginny smiled happily and walked to them, making sure to get a few potions to counteract Draco's more favourable hexes. "I wonder what I should wear?"
~**~
Harry knocked on the door lightly, getting an answer almost immediately. Professor Lupin grinned at Harry when the seventeen year old entered his office. "Welcome, Harry. Glad you could make it."
"Professor," Harry immediately began. "I swear it wasn't Ron and I who did it!" Lupin gave him an odd look. Harry immediately blushed. "Er, this isn't about that, is it?"
"Keep your mouth shut and you'll avoid a lot of misfortunes, Harry my boy." Lupin told him with a shake of his head. "Just like your father, you are. Always denying things before they are found out." Here Harry beamed at being compared to his father. "Actually, that's why I asked you to come." His teacher went on. "I found it when I got my old trunk delivered here. I had it re stringed and cleaned up for you."
Harry was confused. "Re-stringed, sir?"
Lupin nodded. "Yes." He pointed to a chair across from them. When Harry looked, he saw a guitar case. "It was your father's."
Harry walked over to it and opened the case. "Dad could play?"
"Oh yes." He agreed readily. "Very well at that. Lilly did love a good song. He learned how to play just for her."
Harry picked up the guitar and observed it. "I never knew."
"The Marauders played together a lot." He continued. "There are a few pictures in the case as well." Harry picked them up and looked at them while the werewolf continued his tale. "Prongs and I played the guitars. Oh, you should have heard how horrible we were at first. We almost got kicked out of the Gryffindor tower for all the bad sounds." He seemed happy in the memory. "Padfoot never learned how to play, but he had the mind of a master, I tell you. He could make a song up to anything."
"Sirius wrote lyrics?" Harry asked amazed. "I would have never seen that one coming."
"We even had a theme song."
"A theme song?"
"Yeah. We all got together and did it. Padfoot, Prongs, and I." Harry nodded, knowing that neither one of them wanted to mention the ex marauder who went by 'wormtail'. "Would you like to hear?"
"Yeah!"
Lupin took the guitar from Harry and played a few notes. "I'm out of practice." He admitted, looking down at the guitar. "Prongs, my friend, even when you're not around, it always seem your 'get-string' is in drop-D…" His eyes reflected a bit, but he blinked away the memories. "For old time's sakes…."
The chords were more heavy metal sounding than Harry thought they would be, but Moony kept going. "Padfoot sang." He said, still playing. "So if I'm not good, blame him for not giving me lessons."
And then he sang.
"Off through the new day's mist I run
Out from the new day's mist I have come
I hunt
Therefore I am
Harvest the land
Taking of the fallen lamb
Off through the new day's mist I run
Out from the new day's mist I have come
We shift
Pulsing with the earth
Company we keep
Roaming the land while you sleep
Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I've been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift, back to the meaning of life
Bright is the moon, high in starlight
Chill in the air, cold as steel tonight
We shift
Call of the wild
Fear in your eyes
It's later than you realized
Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I've been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift, back to the meaning of life "
Harry gaped as he played a rather difficult looking part.
"I feel a change…
Back to a better day…
Hair stands on the back of my neck…
In wildness is the preservation of the world…
So seek the wolf in thyself!
Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I have been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift
Back to the meaning of wolf and man"
"Hehe, still have it."
~**~
"I'm back." Harry said as he entered his room and put his guitar on his bed.
Hermione looked up from reading a book and smiled. "Welcome back. What did Professor Lupin need? Did he find out about you-"
"No, no, I wasn't in trouble." Harry waved it off and kicked of his shoes without untying them first. "He gave me my father's old guitar."
"Can you play?"
"Heh, no." He scoffed with a goofy grin. "I'm going to learn, though. If my father can do it, I'm sure I can to."
"Hmmmmmm." She went back to her book while he changed. "Oh, Ron said he was looking for you." She remembered. "Might want to visit him before you go to bed."
"All right." Harry pulled on his pajama pants bottom and walked out of the room shirtless. Hermione shook her head sadly when she heard a few first, second, and third year girls squeal at the sight.
"That idiot." But she smiled and bit her lip to try and keep it down.
~**~
"Yo, Ron!" Harry walked into the dorm without knocking and gave a short wave to his old room mates while walking to Ron's bed. "You said you wanted to talk?"
"Yeah." Ron motioned for him to sit on the bed. When this was done, he pulled the curtains around them. "I have a favour to ask of you." He whispered to his friend, looking more than a little embarrassed.
"Sure thing." Harry whispered back, leaning in a little bit. "Why are we whispering? You need the cloak? We should lay low after we just-"
"No, it's something else." Ron protested. "After what we just did, we should wait at least a month before stepping out of line." Harry nodded in agreement. "Anyway," Ron went on. "I have to ask you something."
"Shoot."
"Well, you know how the dance is like twenty days away?"
"Is it?"
"You git, yes!" Ron hissed. "Sweet Merlin, have you asked out a girl yet?" The dumb grin on Harry's face proved that he hadn't. "Listen, anyway, I want to ask you if you think Lavender would go with me?"
"Lavender!?" Harry shouted, surprised, before Ron could clasp a hand over his mouth. Neville and Seamus both looked over at the bed, but shrugged it off. Dean, however, kept an open ear out.
"You insufferable git!" Ron whispered harshly to him. "If they find out…"
Harry pried Ron's hand away and gave him his shit eating grin. "Lavender?" He asked again, this time in a whisper. "Way to go man, she's hot!"
"Coming from you, that's quite a compliment." Ron replied, but then went on before Harry could ponder that one. "Do you think she'll say yes?"
The boy who lived sudden turned serious. "Truthfully?"
Ron swallowed hard. "Yeah."
"Well, duh." Harry grinned again. "You're only the Ronald Weasley, one of the two people to ever pull a prank like we just did!"
"So that's a 'go for it' then?"
"You know it." Harry gave him a small wave. "I'll just be off then. Divination homework and all that." He moved to leave, but Ron grabbed his shoulder; making him turn.
"Could you ask her for me?"
"Oh, for the love of-"
~**~
"What did he need?" Hermione asked Harry when he came back in. She was on her back with her legs in the air, propped on one the pole son her bed. She was wearing one of Harry's button up dress shirts, black, leaving the top few undone.
Harry glanced over at her and quickly looked away. "Nice panties, Herms."
She squeaked and quickly jerked her legs down and thrust her hands between them, making her shirt cover everything. "Pervert!"
Harry jumped onto her bed and sank down in it. "Yes, but that's beside the point. Anyway, you have a date for the dance yet?"
Hermione sniffed, still a little irked at him. "No, why? Does Ron want to ask me out?"
"No, he's asking Lavender." Hermione's eyes went wide, but Harry went on regardless. She was practically bouncing up and down while waiting for her chance to ask about it while Harry talked. "What I'm wondering is if you'll want to go with me?"
"Yes, now about Ron!" She grinned from ear to ear. "Really? Lavender?"
Harry frowned a bit. "Oi, come on now. At least pretend to act like you're interested in me asking you out to the dance."
"Oh, Harry, you're so cute sometimes." Hermione patted his head playfully. "You know I would say yes."
"Yes, well, it's just that... What are you looking at?"
"You need to tweeze your eyebrows."
"Huh?"
~**~
"Ow! For the love of Behemaut! " The door to the prefect's room opened so hard the door slammed against the wall. Everyone in the common room jerked their heads up in surprise, only to see a half dressed Harry Potter run from his room, skid because he tried to stop too fast, and ran into the seventh year's dorm.
A few moment's later the sound of "Harrrrrrryyyyyyyyy!" met their ears and Hermione, also half dressed, ran from the room and knocked on the door. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! C'mon! Open up!"
On the other side of the door, Harry had his back pressed up against the door with wide eyes. "Don't let her get me." He whispered in a scared voice. "Please, I beg you…"
Ron looked up. "Didn't you just leave?" He teased, grinning.
"It hurt so bad, I couldn't let her do my other eyebrow!" He said in a mad panic. "Don't let her get me!"
Seamus got close to Harry and looked at his eyebrows. "You let her pluck your eyebrows?" Harry nodded lightly. Just the Seamus just realized what was going on. "She only did one of them."
Ron leaned over his friend and propped an elbow over his head. "Yeah! It looks like a baby caterpillar chasing after its momma!"
Harry lunged forward. "Hey!"
When the door was no longer barred, Hermione opened it up and grabbed Harry's foot while he was in mid leap. The poor boy slammed against the ground and was starting to be drug out of the room. "Guys!" He called. "Help!"
The door slowly closed and the boys shivered as they heard Hermione laugh and the screams of Harry potter.
"Poor guy…"
~~**~~
A/N: Ossa! Orra Satashi! I know most of you are looking at the screen going "WTF!?" right now, but let me explain why this chapter is so darn short. Fist off, I'm having a heck of a time keeping my scedual straight. My room mate's little bro came over for 2 days and I didn't have a chance to write while he was over. The next day, my older brother came over for a night. I didn't write then either. Already that's three very important days which Iwould usually get 6,000 words out in. To top off things, I just had three test today. Government, Japanese 2, and Algebra. My mind is fried and I want to sleep until Thursday. In order to apologize for lack of writing (as my brain is still over cooked) I'm gonna talk to a few reviewers here.
everpresent: The reason Harry is hiding Celestial is for his own personal privacy. Hearing voices in your head is never a good thing, and having an artifact that saps your magical energy to be able to continue 'living' is also something they probably wouldn't like. Fear not, though, all secrets must come to an end sooner or later. ^^ The bedroom sharing? Come on, it's meant for prefects, the rule obiding people like Percy and such. Just enjoy the idea :- p
Zaz: Ph33r mi M4D L33T 5killz! I know, leet (1337, L337, L33T, 133t, ect.) is spelled many different ways. I'm spelling it like Largo says it in Mega Tokyo ( www.megatokyo.com ) L33T.
Ran and co.: Yo guys! I hope you know about Chobits and Onegai Teacher because they are coming up next chapter! Also look for a little Kenshin and Bandit King Jing! Long live Anime freaks!
Beloved: Hey girl, sup? Thanks for the great reviews. As to why people can speak Japanese? 'Cause Harry introduced his friends to Anime back in 5th year. *nod nod * They buy from me personally ( Shameless advertisement space) T.M. REVOLUTION ANIME! Email me at TMRevolution@scifianime.com for questions or request. We can get almost any series you want for the price that is just right! (end advertisement) Anyway, I don't think I'll be doing anymore CCS for a long time, gomen. The Marauders were James and co.'s group name. Also, Black is a colour for magick users. Witches wear colours that help them cast/channel magical energies. Black is simply every colour together, which makes it the most practical to wear while doing magick. There is nothing 'satanic' or anything dumb like that about people who wear all black. Harry wears it in the fanfic just because it looks cool ^.~
DJ: Thanks for all the reviews!
Bessorla: Thanks for the words of confidence, it kept me going thus far.
And everyone else: You guys are just as important! Thanks a bunch!
Sorry again to not have my usual 10,000 words. I really did try as best I could to get it done. If I can, I'll try to make the next chapter longer but as of right now it's not looking good at all……
~Satashi