Breath of Fire

Satashi

Rating: R
Genres: Romance, Action & Adventure
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 4
Published: 08/01/2003
Last Updated: 22/04/2003
Status: paused

7th year at Hogwarts, Harry gets a dragon necklace who can talk to him. Lots of romance and a flowing storyline. Follow the gang as they go through their daily life at Hogwarts! H/Hr, D/G, R/L

Chapters

1. Day Break

2. Sunrise

3. Noon

4. Twilight

5. Nightfall

6. Moonrise

7. Wake (Start of Tournament Saga)

8. Rise

9. Walk

10. Run

11. Lay

12. Notes

1. Day Break

Harry grinned to himself as he stood. He was seventeen now, and it showed as he walked over to his window and let the owls into him room at the Dursleys. He had grown several inches over the years and now stood at six feet tall, towering over almost all his friends. Ron was one of the few that was still a few inches taller than him, but he was made to feel better by his other friend, Hermione, who only came to his shoulder.

Three owls sheltered in his room, mainly perching on his bed. With an apologetic look towards Hedwig, Harry gave the birds some owl treats while unloading their burden. After closing his window, Harry unwrapped the first package from Sirius. It was a small book and a letter.

Breath of Fire

By:

Satashi

Harry,

I hope you can use this book as much as we did. Happy Birthday

Sirius

Harry opened the book and read the first page, as the rest were apparently blank.

Welcome, Dear Reader! The book instantly greeted him in a scribbled handwriting that look like Sirius’ Behold, our greatest feat as to date!

Save it, Padfoot, another handwriting now just tell them how to work this thing.

Once again it changed. Don’t be so rude, Prongs. You always were quick to get to show off your newest gadget.

Sirius wrote again. Anyway, My good friend Prongs here made this with a little help from us. It’s a book that will tell you your friend’s thoughts!

Prongs was writing again. Just write the name of the person at the upper right hand corner of the page and BAM! You have thoughts!

A familiar handwriting here. Maybe Lupin? Take note that it will only work for people close to you. I’d get into how exactly this works, but I’m sure you’re not interested

Anyway! Prongs again. Take care of the book!

Yours in mischief

Padfoot

Prongs

Moony

Wormtail

Harry laughed and put it to the side to look at after his other gifts. The one from Hermione was light, so he went ahead and opened it, smiling at her pretty handwriting.

Harry,

Hey! How’s it going? I hope the people that call themselves your aunt and uncle aren’t being too mean to you? Well in two weeks we’ll meet at the burrow so hang in there! As for my gift, I can’t send it by owl; you’ll have to wait until you get here. But, until then, I sent you a picture that was taken on my summer vacation to a beach! I’ll tell you all about it when you get here!

Love from,

Hermione

Harry looked in the envelope and pulled out a picture. If he was expecting to see Hermione in her usual fashion sense, he was dead wrong. The picture was a muggle photograph, but still made a very large amount of mental images run through Harry's mind. She was kneeling in the sand, legs more apart than necessary, and both arms were bent at their elbows and behind her head in a stretch (Making her breast seem to draw attention) If that wasn’t enough to send the boy into fits, she was wearing a two piece bathing suite. No, not a bathing suite. It was floss, yes that’s what it was. The black fabric covered her nipples and little else. Her bottom could put a thong to shame.

Harry was still staring after a long minute before his mouth finally spoke his mind. "Oh. My. God."

Tearing his eyes from the picture, he set it aside and shook his head to clear it. Hastily, he moved to open Ron's present, pleased as several small packages slipped out of it. He snagged Ron's first, opening his gift to find a piece of clothing that seemed to fit on his arm of all places. Seeing the note, he read to see if it offered an explanation.

Harry,

Hey mate! Life treating you good? Hope so! Like my present? I saw it and thought it’d be just the thing you’d use. You don’t even know what it is do you? Thought not- but, hey, what are friends for? I’ll tell you before Hermione does. (Here Ron drew a little smiley face and Harry thought for a brief moment that he was in an AOL commercial gone horribly wrong). It’s a wand holder. Slide it over your arm and your wand into the sleeve that is on it. This way you can save time from reaching into your robe and fishing it from your pocket. Wicked isn’t it? Can’t wait to see you again. Happy Birthday!

Ron

Harry grinned and tried it on, pleased that his wand fit in it perfectly. At the flick of his wrist, his wand would shoot out and into his awaiting hand. With a huge smile, Harry opened the next present, this one from Ginny.

Harry,

Hiya! What’cha doing? Happy Birthday! I won’t bother you long because you’re probably ogling over that picture Hermione sent you (Yes I know about it and yes, I know you probably opened HERS first, didn’t you? Thought so.) Anyway, don’t think too bad thoughts- she is your good friend, if not more. I hope you like your present, I knew it was you the moment I saw it. Do you even wear necklaces? I hope so; I’ll be disappointed if your not wearing it when you come home. Just so you know, it has special powers, but I haven’t been able to tell what they are. I hope you do.

With love - and a little embarrassment-,

Ginny

Harry grinned at her letter and opened the wrapped present. A small necklace fell into his lap and he picked it up to examine it. The charm glinted in the moonlight, catching it perfectly. It was polished to perfection and contained one of the most beautiful design he had ever seen on it. It was a dragon perched on a dagger with it’s tail circling the blade and it’s wings stretched out as if to take flight. All in all, it was only three inches high and across, but he was sure it cost her most of her paycheck. She had gotten a job in Hogsmeade of all places.

Putting it on, he turned to Mrs. Weasley’s gift and grinned. It came with a short note that read "Happy Birthday, Harry" and a black silk button up Chinese shirt. Where she had gotten it, he wasn’t sure, but he awed at the white, gold, green, and red design of a dragon on it. Every now and then the dragon would look around, almost as if it was alive. Also, he found a cake she had baked for him and put it under his bed, under the floorboard, for breakfast the next morning.

The twins came next, and Harry found his eyes going wide and a grin plastering his face at the sight of it. An entire box of pranks and candy. A small note was attached to the top of the box.

To:

The co-owner of Weasley’s Stuff You Never Knew Existed and Things You Can’t Possible Live Without!

Enjoy the tricks, just don’t let Mum and Dad find out about them or we’ll all be in trouble! See you in a few weeks! (Hide the box in your trunk!) An explanation is attached to everything, so be sure and read what it does.

From:

Founding Fathers of SYNKEATYCPLW

P.S~ Some things are experimental, please write down if anything goes wrong.

Harry rooted through his new treasure for a few moments before breaking into a helpless fit of laughter. The twins made so many new things it was stupid. Rocking Rollers (which turned you into a perfectly round stone when you stepped on a staircase so you would roll down it), Insta kiss (which made you kiss the first thing in your vision, Male or female) and Harry favourite, Frantic Ferret (which made the user turn into a ferret and bounce a few times)

All in all it seemed to be a good birthday.

"You really racked it in, didn’t you?"

Harry spun on his heels. Looking around his room. "Who’s there!?"

"Me, of course."

"Who!?" Harry was slowly circling, wand already shot from his holster and into his hand.

"Not a very bright one, are you?" Harry suddenly realized that the sound was coming from his chest. Looking down, he saw the tiny dragon looking up at him. Her wings were retracted against her back and her tail left the dagger. After a hop and a few flaps of its wings, it perched on a frozen Harry's shoulder.

"Nice to meet you." The silver dragon told him, a small bit of smoke coming from its nostrils. "My name is Celestial." The voice was somehow feminine. "What’s yours?"

"H-Harry. Harry Potter."

"Well then, H-Harry," She joked up at him. "Nice to make your acquaintance."

Harry took a breath to calm down from the sudden shock of his necklace coming to life. "This must be the necklace’s magical powers." He mused to himself, looking at the dragon.

"Actually, I have many powers." Celestial explained up to him. "Would you like to hear a story, dear?"

Harry sat on his bed. "Sure." It would be nice to get to know his new friend at least.

"Well, you see, I was once a really big dragon, Over twenty feet tall!"

"What happened?"

The dragon sent a small-annoyed flame out of her right nostril. "Don’t interrupt, my boy," She scolded him much like Hermione would. "As I was saying, I was once known by everyone. That is until a powerful wizard came after me. His name was Voldemort." Harry opened his mouth to comment, but shut it almost as soon as it was opened. The dragon gave a nod of appreciation and continued her tale.

"I protected a village of wizards." She added. "I have been doing so for as long as I could remember. It could have been almost five hounded years I suppose." Harry's eyes told her that he was clearly impressed. "When I battled Voldemort, I managed to take a nice little chunk of his invading army, but I was weakened by steady attacks for a week. The last thing I can recall is being hit by a silver light and when I could think again, I was imprisoned in a necklace format."

"That must have been hard…" Harry spoke softly.

"It was, but I became used to it." Celestial agreed. "But we dragons take what is thrown at us with great stride. Soon I was able to work most of my magic again."

"What can you do?"

"Well, for one, I absorb magic from anything I touch." Harry visibly flinched at this. "Oh calm down dear, I only took enough from you to be able to talk again."

"Sorry for being rude," Harry began, a little weary. "But I don’t like the idea of something sucking my magical powers…"

"I store power, sweetie, not sap." She seemed to be smiling. "In fact, I have quite a bit from a girl named Ginny, who gave me to you. Would you like to feel?"

Before Harry could respond, his body suddenly started to tingle all over and the scent of strawberries filled his nose. His vision went a little blurry and a second later it was as if she could see Ginny’s hands putting the necklace in a little package. "I hope Harry likes this." Ginny spoke, sounding far away.

The feeling was cut almost as fast as it was given. "Well?" Celestial asked, with a smug sounding voice.

"Wow…" Harry was breathing harder than normal.

"I thrive off magical powers I take and store." Celestial went on. "Don’t worry, Harry, I have taken enough from you to be able to move and speak, but do you feel any drain?" He was forced to admit he didn’t. "I can give you back power at any time, but since you would have already recovered it, it would be like an extra boost."

"I like this."

"I’m sure you would, dear." Celestial agreed. "More shall be explained later, for now I need some rest." And with that, the dragon flew to her dagger perch and landed, tail winding down the blade. When Harry reached down to touch it, he felt warm silver, as if it had never been alive to begin with.

"What a weird night." He mused, sitting on his bed. A few moments later he was lying down and fast asleep, surrounded by presents of his closest friends.

~**~

"Wake up, Harry." Harry groaned lightly, rolling over in his bed and trying to get the light away from his eyes. "Come on, dear, wake up." The voice spoke again in his mind. Slowly Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes, reaching for his glasses and putting them on. The room was quite blurry. Blinking, Harry took off his glasses to clean them, but was surprised to find them in sharp focus.

"What the…?"

"Harry, sweetie, do you know nothing about dragons?" Harry looked down to his chest, where Celestial was still perched on her dagger. "Dragon powers rub off on people the bond to." She explained, but mouth not moving. Harry was going to ask, but she stopped him. "I can speak into your mind, Harry." She explained. "And I can hear your thoughts as you are hearing mine."

"My thoughts?" Harry spoke aloud, confused. "You can hear my thoughts?"

"Yes." She told his mind. "I decided that you was a nice young man last night and chose you as a friend. When I found out your vision wasn’t good, I gave you the vision of a dragon."

"Vision of a dragon…" Harry spoke again, this time in a whisper. He remembered studying about dragons with Hermione for the first task. The dragon’s eyesight was enough to spot a mouse from the air. Testingly, he looked at his hand, amazed at how detailed it was. "Wicked."

He heard a small giggle in the back of him mind. It seemed that Celestial was almost like a human female at times. "Shouldn’t you get down for breakfast?" She asked him.

"Huh? No, no I don’t go down for food, they bring it up here."

"Well, how nice of them."

Harry smirked just as a pounding was heard on his door and his aunt’s voice screeched at him. "Wake up boy!" She demanded, sliding a place with two pieces of toast on it under the door. "Eat!"

Celestial was taken aback at this. "What is this!?" She demanded, looking at the scarce food. "Do they not feed you more than that!?"

"Actually," Harry informed. "That’s more than I usually get. I’m not allowed out of the room for most of the summer. They caught me doing some small magic last week and I haven’t been out since."

"That’s absurd! You should talk to them about it!"

Harry bit into the burnt dry toast and chewed. "Nah, I’d just get yelled at some more. My real food is hidden under my bed." To prove his point, he removed the loose floorboard and pulled out some cake. "This is breakfast!" He cut the cake with a small plastic knife he had and bit into it. "Mm, dang this is good."

"I don’t understand, Harry, Why don’t you complain? Move out?"

"It’s my last year of school, Cecilia." Harry replied around a piece of cake, taking a liking to the nickname he just came up with. "I’ll leave in about two weeks and after that, will never have to come back." He could feel Celestial’s aggravation, but she didn’t comment on it anymore. "I never did thank you for the enhanced vision," Harry mused, licking his fingers. "Thanks."

"It was my pleasure, Harry, but why the nickname?"

"Ah, I just think 'Cecilia' is easier to say in conversation than 'Celestial', that's all"

"Well, that's okay then. I was just wondering because that's what my friends used to call me…"

~*Two weeks later*~

The doorbell rang, getting Vernon’s attention. "Who in blazes would be calling on us at eight in the morning on a Sunday?" He complained, walking to the door and opening it. "Whatever it is, we don’t want any!" He yelled.

"We’re here for Harry." Ron stated flatly, next to Hermione (who had rang the doorbell). The twins were behind them.

"He’s not going anywhere!" Vernon shouted, red in the face. "Not with any of you freaks!" The door slammed in their faces.

"Fred," Hermione grinned. "George." She added. "You’re up."

Fred grinned and took out his wand, swishing it like a conductor. "A one, and a two, and an Alohamora!"

George opened the door and stode in like he owned the place. "Terribly sorry for the intrusion!" He called out, walking past the kitchen where the family was eating. "No, don’t get up, I know my way around!" Dudley almost passed out, but Vernon stood, opening his mouth to yell at them some more.

"He said," Ron told, throwing a piece of candy into Vernon’s openmouthed. "Don’t get up!" And with that, Harry's uncle turned into a canary.

"Bloody nice shot!" Fred congratulated, patting him on the back.

Hermione ignored them and went up the stairs with George, who had to cast five unlocking spells on Harry's door before they could get in.

"Harry?" She asked, opening the door.

"About time," Harry grinned, leaning against the far wall. His room was stripped almost completely and his trunk was in front of him ,where he had one foot on.

"…Harry…?" Hermione stepped in slowly, looking at him. He was wearing a tight black shirt that clearly showed well-developed muscles. His arms were equally as muscled. The jeans he was wearing seemed to mold to his legs, showing that they, too, were defined. He wore a belt for a fashion statement and his necklace was on the outside of his shirt. Hermione walked up to him slowly and placed her hands on his chest, as if unbelieving that it looked like it did. Also she noticed that he wasn’t wearing his glasses and his hair was in long spikes, sticking backwards.

"Yeah, it’s me." He stated with a grin. "Don’t I get a hug? I haven’t seen you all summer!"

Hermione gasped as she was picked up like she was nothing and hugged against him. "Wow." She breathed, looking him over one more time. "What have you been eating?"

"Whatever it is, I want some!" Ron spoke, walking in the room. "Harry! Looking sharp man! Been exercising?"

"Something like that." He admitted; hugging Ron as well, quickly as to not destroy their manly image. "Shall we go?"

"Let’s shall."

~**~

Harry called over his shoulder to his panicking guardians as he left. "Bye guys! Thanks for the last seventeen years, I’ll never forget them no matter how I try!" He waved, lot looking. "I won’t come back, so don’t wait up!"

Harry put his trunk into the back of the van and opened the door for Hermione, letting her in before him. She giggled and said her thanks. When he was about to step in after her, Fred jumped in, followed by George. "Thank you, chap!" One of them said.

"Mighty fine boy, that one." The other added.

Harry smirked and then got in, letting Ron close the door behind him "Thanks for coming to get me."

"Anytime." Ron grinned.

Harry looked up at the front seats. "Thank you, Mr. , Mrs. Granger!"

"Don’t mention it, Harry!" It seemed they had decided to use Muggle methods as to blend in better.

As it turned out to be quite cramped, Hermione found herself to be sitting in Harry’s lap for the ride to the Burrow. She sat sideways, so her back was against the window and her feet were across Ron's lap.

"She’s quite the beauty." Celestial told him as Harry found his arms going around her waist and her’s over his shoulder to get more comfortable. "You’re girlfriend?"

"Nah," Harry replied, not thinking that it was out loud.

"What was that?" Ron looked

"I said that Hermione’s not my…-er, nothing Ron." Hermione gave him a weird look, and Ron just shrugged.

"You almost slipped up, sweetie." Celestial told him with a laughing voice.

‘Yeah, I know. Sorry, I’m not used to …thinking to you, I guess.’

"I tried to get you into the habit of it at your house, but did you listen to me? Nooo, You just wanted to learn some more magic from me."

‘Well, I have a dragon for a friend who shares my thoughts, so I thought I could at least learn some things from everything that you know.’

"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione ran a hand through his hair, amazed at how silky it felt despite the spikes. "You look like your really concentrating on something?" Her hand ran over the side of his face. "And where are your glasses?"

"Yeah, I meant to ask you about that too. Did you break them again?" Ron was looking interested. "You know Hermione can fix them."

"Er, I fixed them." Harry said lamely.

"Your glasses?" Hermione was eyeing him skeptically. "Harry, you’re not making sense."

"No, my eyes."

"Your eyes!?" Hermione gasped, grabbing his cheeks and peering into his green orbs. Well, orbs weren’t really the correct word for it anymore. When looking closely, Hermione could make out that his pupils were slightly thinner at the top, almost like they tried to form a cat’s eye. It was so slight, however, that no one would notice unless they were examining him like she was right now. "Harry…" she began slowly. "Did you cast a spell on your own eyes?"

Ron looked impressed. "Way to go mate!"

Hermione kicked him before turning her attention back to Harry, speaking gently to him. "Harry, what if you messed up? You could have really hurt yourself…" She looked scared and subconsciously rubbed her thumb across his cheek, making him blush.

"She likes you."

"Hush."

Hermione’s eyes went wide with hurt. " I.."

Harry quickly realized his mistake. "No, not you! I was talking to Cecilia!"

"Who!?"

"Er…"

Celestial sighed to herself. "Harry, Harry, Harry, what am I going to do with you? Hmm?"

Harry looked at her apologetically and used a bump in the road to draw her near so he could whisper in her ear. "I’ll tell you later." He said hastily and let her fall back after the jerk of the van was over.

"Sorry about that!" Mr.Granger apologized. "Pot hole."

"S’kay!" Ron replied, looking over at his friends.

~**~

Harry grabbed his trunk from the back of the van and let Ron help him with it as they walked to the burrow.

Harry grinned as Mrs. Weasley hugged him tight and welcomed him to his ‘home’. Ginny met him next and flung her arms around his neck when she saw that he was wearing the necklace.

"Welcome home, Harry." She whispered into his ear, holding the hug a little longer than necessary. Harry hugged her back tightly.

"Thanks for the necklace." He whispered back softly. "It means a lot to me."

"I’m glad you like it." They parted slowly and Ginny felt herself being let down onto the grass. She only came up to his shoulder as well. "Wow." She breathed, getting a good look at him. "You look… good."

"Don’t I?" Harry joked, winking at a slightly irritated Hermione.

Ron smacked him on the head. "Save it, Slowmeo, we need to get the things upstairs to our room."

"That’s ‘Romeo’." Harry corrected. "And I’m not flirting or anything."

"Whatever."

Harry turned to Hermione. "Was I?"

"I wouldn’t know." She replied indignantly, turning on her heel to follow Ron. "Was I?" He looked at a blushing Ginny, who was in shock staring at his muscles. "Oh boy…"

~**~

Harry stopped Ron as he exited the bathroom later that night. "Ron, wanna play a game of Wizard chess after I get dressed?" He had just gotten out of the shower and was only wearing a towel at the current moment. The towel and his necklace.

"Sounds fun, but I’ll decline tonight." Ron grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "Don’t pass out, mate." And with that, he went down the hall and down the stairs.

‘Don’t pass out?’

"He is referring to your room."

‘ Are you looking into the future again?’ Harry started to walk to his and Ron's room, wondering why the door was closed.

"I already told you, sweetie, I can’t do that."

‘Yeah, yeah, can feel the auras around people and feel emotions, I know. Still, it creeps me out how you’re always right.’

Harry opened the door to his and Ron's room and almost let his towel fall down from shock. Hermione was on his bed wearing one of his shirts that she probably nipped from his trunk. Candles were lit around his bed and there were a few plastic bottles on his nightstand. There was a smell of incense that made his head a little fuzzy with warm feelings.

"Hermione?"

Hermione smiled up at him. "Ready for your birthday present?"

Harry smirked. "I’m getting a strip tease?"

Hermione smacked him across the head when he sat next to her. "No you are most definitely not getting a strip tease!" She scolded him, amazed at how her hand hurt after she hit him. "I’m going to give you a massage!"

It clicked. "Oh yeah! You learned how over the summer, right?"

Hermione nodded, pushing him down on the bed. "Yeah, I did. That’s why I couldn’t give it to you through owl post."

Harry smiled and laid face down on his bed, turning his head sideways on a pillow. "I take it I won’t get many of these then?"

Hermione giggled and put some lotion on her hands. "I don’t think you’ll ever get another one, hon." She pulled on his towel to get it untucked from underneath him and laid across his backside, folded once so she could do all of his legs. "You know I don’t care about seeing each other without much cloths on after all these years, but… it’s still embarrassing."

"It’s just me, Herms." Harry comforted, blushing himself.

Hermione smiled gently down at him, placing her hot hands on his back. "It’s because it’s you, Harry." She whispered, rubbing. The lotion made his back feel comfortably hot, making him moan a little in pleasure.

"That feels really nice…" He mummer into the pillow.

"Doesn’t it, though?" She asked, smiling. "I read it in a book over the summer. I figured it would do you good after quidditch practice, but when I kept reading, it turns out that it’s more of a…sensual massage than one for relaxation…"

"Whatever it is, I like it…" Harry was already under a spell it seemed. His eyes were closed lightly and his breathing was slow. The muscles on his back were loose from her rubbing and he seemed perfectly at peace.

Hermione smiled to herself at the power she had over him. Just a little rubbing and he was already at peace. Truth be told, she looked up on how to give a massage just for him. After his nightmares last night year at school, it tore her apart from the insides out that she couldn’t do anything to calm him enough for a peaceful night’s sleep. True, the pair had ended up falling asleep together on the couch a few nights, giving Harry pleasant dreams while she was there, but that plan fell apart faster than it was made the morning that Colin had found them still asleep. He had taken several pictures before waking them up. The next day, everyone in the common room had found out about the two sleeping together. Boy that didn’t go so well…

" ‘Mione?"

Hermione blinked, realizing that she stopped when she went so deep in thought. "Sorry." She spoke, smiling gently down at his confused face, and before she could help it, bent down and kissed his cheek. "Close your eyes again."

"Hmm." He did just that and Hermione began to run his arms

"Can you believe that it’s our last year of school?" She asked, not expecting to get a reply. "I mean, after this what are we going to do? I was thinking of maybe getting a job teaching wizard kindergarten. Do you think I’d make a good teacher?"

Harry nodded lightly, still enjoying her touch too much to think of anything logical to say. "Sure thing ‘Mione."

Hermione ran a finger down his back, getting a shiver from him. "Turn over" she commanded in a soft voice that she didn’t remember having. Harry complied and turned onto his back, making sure the towel covered the important parts.

"My front too?" He asked, smiling at her.

Hermione blushed, but placed her wet hands on his chest. "Rather me not?" She tilted her head to one side and stuck out her bottom lip.

"By all means." Harry replied, pulling her to sit on his waist. Hermione complied, but arched an eyebrow after Harry took a sharp breath when she sat on his waist, above his towel. "H-Hermione!"

"Hmm?" She purred, stroking his chest. The incense was starting to cloud her mind and rational thinking wasn’t a thing she was currently worrying about.

‘Oh dear god, she’s not wearing anything under that shirt!’ Harry's mind was screaming. ‘Cecilia! What do I do!?’ Her hands were starting to make him feel a little more invigorated on his front.

"This is none of my business." Celestial told him with a sly tone to her voice. "Be responsible, Harry. I’ll talk to you in the morning." And with that, Celestial’s presence was gone. She had gone to sleep, becoming once more a normal necklace.

Harry groaned, finally giving into the pleasure of Hermione's hands and the damned incense that wouldn't stop clouding his mind. Hermione smiled down triumphantly at him.

~*Next Morning*~

"Ginny, be a dear and go fetch Harry and Ron would you please?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she put a plate of toast on the table.

"Sure Mum."

~**~

Ginny raised her hand to knock on Harry and Ron's door, but a voice caught her attention. Harry was talking to someone.

"Cecilia, I told you, we didn't do anything!" There was a pause. "I know, I know, I was responsible!" Another pause. "Yes, I know, you can feel it can't you?" and a third. "Ginny, I know you're out there."

Ginny sheepishly opened the door and poked her head in. "Whom was you talking to?"

Harry seemed to consider the question. "No one."

"Uh-huh, so you're hearing voices?"

He gave her his classic goofy grin. "Something like that, yes." She blinked at him. "Is that scrambled eggs I smell? Sounds tasty!" And with that, he walked to her, picked her up and lung her over his shoulder and carried her downstairs, laughing at her screeches and demands to be put down.

~**~

"You boys sure you'll be fine by yourselves?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking at the line of seventeen (and one sixteen) year olds in front of her. They were all in robes.

"Yes Mum." Ron, Ginny, and Harry answered at the same time.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione chimed in, elbowing a grinning Harry.

"Very well then, have fun in Diagon Ally. Be sure not to spend too much, understand?" She looked at Ginny. "Ginny, dear, I know you had a job over the summer break, but don't go spending all your savings at once, you hear me?"

"Yes, Mum." But her voice sounded a little annoyed.

"We better go then." Ron spoke up, grabbing a pinch of flu powder and tossing it into the fireplace. "Diagon Ally!" And he was gone.

~**~

Harry stepped out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron and smirked. "Ahh, feels good to be back in the wizarding world fully again."

Ron punched him in the arm playfully. "What, my house not enough wizarding for you?"

"Come on, boys." Hermione ushered. "We said we wouldn't dally around until after we finished our school shopping."

"Yes, Mum." Harry and Ron said smoothly at the same time, getting smacked by an indignant Granger for their troubles.

Ginny just shook he head and laughed.

~**~

"Hold still, Harry." The lady asked for the fifth time while measuring him. "If you don't hold still, I'll full body bind you!"

"Do it!" Ron grinned; getting measured himself for new robes. "I wanna see that!"

"Boys, behave!" Hermione growled, getting into her lecturing voice. "Let them do their job!"

"Lighten up, Hermione." Ginny laughed, poking her friend on the arm. They had been measured first, and in half the time of the boys. "Let them have some fun."

"Yeah!" Harry agreed, crossing his arms and looking over at them.

"That does it!" the lady said, pulling her wand. "Imobila!" Harry instantly went stiff from the neck down. "Ah, much better." The lady pulled his arm from his chest with the greatest of ease and it stayed wherever she moved it.

Hermione and Ginny were laughing heartily while Ron was doing his best not to laugh, in fear of moving too much and getting the same fate as his friend.

~**~

"I can not believe they had to stun you before they could measure you, Harry!" Celestial scolded him. "I did not teach you to behave in order for you to make me look bad!"

'Calm down, Cecilia!' Harry thought to her. 'I'm sorry, I'll be good, I swear. Besides, no one knows you are trying to teach me proper edict!'

" You'll thank me when you find yourself at a nice restaurant for a formal occasion and know how to act!"

'Please. Me? Formal? I told you about the Yule Ball didn't I?'

"No, but from the way you feel, I can tell you had a blast. Probably ditched your date and hung out with Ron, didn't you?"

'Ah, Cecilia, you know me all too well.'

"Harry, mate, come on!" Ron shouted at him. "You've been staring at that candy for the past five minutes, buy it or not, we need to get our books!"

Hermione grabbed his hand and lead him away. "Harry, you are not buying anything until we have all of our books."

"Sorry, Herms." Harry muttered, following her, noticing she hadn't let go of his hand. "But you don't have to drag me." Hermione flushed and tried to let go of his hand, but found that he didn't want to. "But you don't have to let go, either." He added as an afterthought, winking. Her flush turned to an outright blush as she laced their fingers.

"Come on." She told the ground, not looking at him. "We need our books."

"Lead the way." He teased.

~**~

Harry froze as he passed by a row of books. His eyes fixed on the single hardback book and no matter how he tried, he could not pull them away. "I want this…" His voice came out of his mouth, catching Hermione's attention. What had made her look was not the fact that Harry Potter wanted a book that wasn't needed for school, but it was the fact that his voice was feminine.

"Harry?" She asked tentatively. "Is something wrong."

"I need to get this." He replied, voice still light, sounding almost hypnotized.

"Harry!?"

As soon as Harry touched the book, he shook his head to clear it. With a fluid motion he de-shelved it and flipped to the front page. "Hermione, I think I'll get this too." He said casually, his voice his own again. With a slight nod, he closed it and handed it to her. "Hold this for me while I find my other books?"

Hermione nodded and took it from him, holding back a gasp at his eyes. They were fully like dragon eyes, but were quickly reverting back to normal. When he rounded a corner, she looked to see what had caught his attention so much.

Advanced Sorcery: A Guide to Dragon's Magic and How To Use It.

By: Orphen

"…Why on earth would he want a book a dragon magic?" She asked herself, putting her books down and flipping threw it. "These spells can't be done by a human…" Her eyes darted over the front page. "The brother book Dragon Bonding and How to Achieve It was published before this one, please read it before attempting anything in this volume."

Hermione closed the book and skimmed her hand over the rest of the section, finding the other book mentioned and placed it in her own stack. "You're up to something, Harry." She told herself. "I'll find out what it is."

~**~

"AlllllRighty then!" Harry spoke, opening the bags at the Burrow. "First up, robes!" He reached into the large back holding all their robes. "Size seven, female!"

"Me." Ginny grinned and held out her arm for her robe, but found it tossed into her face, over Harry's shoulder.

"Size nine, male!" Harry looked up. "That's Ron!" He tossed him the robe and pulled out another. "Size seven, male. My, my, must be mine." He put it over his shoulder. "Size six, female!" He held up the robe and looked from Ginny to Hermione. "What's the difference? You both look the same?"

Hermione blushed scarlet and snatched her robe, turning to put it on the couch where she would pile her other things. Ron came to his aid by whispering into his ear, low enough so no one else would hear. "Ginny's breast are bigger."

Harry flushed, getting a mental laugh from Celestial. "Oh…"

"Anyway!" Ron clapped his hands and opened the bag full of books, successfully turning Ginny's laughing face from Harry to him. "Standard book of spells, grade six." He handed it to Ginny. "Sevens for us three." He handed Harry two, in which he gave Hermione one. "Dragon sorcery?" There was a small pause. "Allo? Advanced sorcery, Dragon Magic and how to use it?"

"Harry!"

"Eh?"

"It's yours!"

Harry blinked. "No it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"Yes it is, sweetie."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot." Harry muttered, grabbing his book. 'Cecilia?'

Harry totally missed Hermione getting the brother book as he listened to his counterpart talking to him. "I got you to buy it." She explained to him. "It'll help you understand things from the human point of view that I can't teach you."

'Ah.' He thought, putting it down and grabbing another book chunked his way. 'Thanks I guess, but next time, let me know when you decide to take me over? It's kind of unnerving…'

"Sorry, sweetie, you're right of course."

Hermione watched Harry while Ron finished sorting out books and moved on to other random things like quills and parchment. She held a small smug look on her face. Yes, Harry was definitely acting strangely. 'Well, Harry,' She thought to herself, still watching him. 'I'll find out why you are so interested in dragons all of a sudden. It can't be because of a single necklace, even Ron could see that…She glanced at Ron. 'Well, maybe not Ron. He hasn't noticed anything at all yet…'

~~**~~

A/N: Don't know how long this will be, but I plan on continuing it on a regular basis. I'll try to make each chapter 23 pages (roughly 10,000 words), but because of this, I won't update every day. College started Monday (January 6th) so in order for me to set a realistic goal, I'll say this. New chapters will be posted one time a week, on Mondays (around 7:00 Central time). I'll have a few other 'fics up randomly throughout this series.

Please leave me a review so I'll know if I need to continue this. Chapter one was only about 6,500 words because I'm not sure if people like epics like this. Chapter 2 will be at least 10,000. If you want me to continue, please take the time to tell me so in a review. If no body tells me to keep going, I won't know if you want me to. In return for you taking time to review, I will make a promise that I'll keep updating as I said I would. Plus, I promise chapter two will be a lot better ^.~

2. Sunrise

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3. Noon

Harry sat up in his bed slowly, placing his head in his hands and taking long, quiet, deep breaths. He could feel the sweat running over his chest and arms. Slowly, after steadying himself, he looked up and into the eyes of his best friend.

"I'm glad you woke up." She whispered to him, stroking his cheek. "Your screams woke me up. I've been here for a while, but I couldn't calm you down…" Her voice was pained and if the candle could produce enough light, one could see a few tears running down her face. Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione hugged him to her. His head rested on her shoulder. "It's not fair." She spoke softly, stroking his hair. "Why should you suffer like this?"

Breath of Fire III

By:

Satashi

Harry chose not to say anything. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and started to cry. "Shhhh" She hushed him softly, still stroking his hair. "Just let it out. It's okay. No one will think any less of you." Harry buried his head deeper into her shoulder, and silently cried. Hermione held him to her gently. "That's right, just let it out." He nodded, but his tears were slowing.

After a moment, he pulled back and wiped his eyes on his arm, but stopped when she took his wrist in her small hand. She had a small hand towel, probably summoned from her trunk by his wand that was on the table by her. She looked into his eyes, asking permission. Harry nodded after a moment and allowed her to dry off the top part of his body slowly. He still didn't say anything, or protest her babying of him. It felt rather nice, in fact, after the horrid dream he had just went through.

When he was rid of the sweat, Hermione gently pushed him back down onto his bed. Even after being healed, he should take it easy for a few days. He had to repair a lot of damage to his body. It would be physically taxing for a while. After making sure Harry was lying down, Hermione retreated to her bed.

Harry sighed a moment and closed his eyes, trying to re-blank his mind. On top of it all, he had somehow kicked his covers off the end of his bed. It was also a little chilly. Hermione had enchanted their room to be cool a few days after they had set everything up the way they liked it. Hermione was one of those people who liked to be cool all the time. Of course he didn't protest. No matter how stylish, those robes got hot after a while…

Harry opened his eyes when he smelt pleasurable incense and felt warm hands on his back. Looking around, he saw his best friend sitting beside him, kneading his tight muscles of his back. "Close your eyes." She said after a moment. "Relax." He nodded lightly and rested his head back into the pillow, pleased to do so. The massage lasted ten minutes, and Harry felt immensely better. When the warm hands retreated from his back, he sighed happily- well content now. The lotion she had used was nice and kept his skin feeling nice and smooth. Although it was gone now, rubbed into his back, he still felt a little warm. The smell of incense slowly faded away, as did the light from the small bedside candle Hermione had lit as well.

Soon, he felt his bed shift and the covers make their way back over him, but with something extra. "Hermione?" He asked, speaking for the first time since he woke up. His voice was a little horse from the crying, making her give him a sad look.

"Close your eyes." She told him once again, placing a kiss on his forehead and on top of his scar. "I'll stay with you for tonight. I won't let anything happen to you." Her voice was soft and motherly. She wrapped her arms around him and placed her forehead against his. After a few moments, she felt him place an arm over her waist. "Sweet dreams, honey." She whispered, sneaking a kiss to his nose.

"Sweet dreams, 'Mione."

~**~

Hermione awoke slowly; opening her eyes reluctantly wondered vaguely of why the sun wasn't on her curtains like usual. When her vision came to her, she realized that the reason of why the sun wasn't on her was that the fact that Harry Potter had his arm draped over her middle. Thinking back, she remembered of what had brought her to his bed and sighed against his chest. Was he feeling any better this morning? A kiss to her forehead told her that he was, indeed, feeling better.

"Good morning." He greeted with a small laugh. "Sleep well?"

"Mm." She replied, happy that he was all right. With this burden off her mind, she let herself stretch out and arc her back. She instantly blushed and pulled away a little bit when she felt something touching her stomach when making the motion of bending her back. "Well," She stated, giving him her best 'I know everything' look. "It seems you are happy to see me."

He instantly flushed. "Hermione!" He almost shouted. "It's morning! I can't help it!"

"You were trying to take advantage of me, weren't you?" She accused, pulling the covers dramatically up to her chin. "Harry raped me!"

"I most certainly did not!" He laughed out at her constant and over dramatic sounds ("Eek! Eek! I lost my virginity! Eek! Help me!") "Hermione Granger, I think you raped me!"

Hermione instantly stopped her tirade. "Huh? Is that possible?"

He stopped to consider it. "Um, yeah?" He was hit in the face by a pillow and soon found the covers thrown over him and the corners quickly tied in a knot.

"I, Harry Potter," She told his struggling, bound figure. "Am going to take a bath. If you are good, I'll untie your sheets when I get back."

"Hermione Granger! You undo that knot this instant! I swear I'll rip out of these…Hermione? Hermione!"

~**~

"Harry?" Ginny asked, walking past him. "Shouldn't you be going to breakfast by now?"

Harry grinned lamely, shutting the door to his room with a small click. " 'Morning Ginny," He greeted before replying. "Hermione tied me up on the bed and I didn't get out until… that sounded bad, didn't it?"

"Uh-huh."

"Let me try again."

"Sure thing."

Harry walked back into his room and took a breath. Opening the door, he stepped out. "Oh, Hey Ginny!" He greeted, smiling. "The dangest thing happened this morning! Hermione jumped me and before I knew it, I was tied in a bundle of sheets with the corners knitted together so tight I couldn't undo them!" Here Harry laughed like it was the funniest thing on earth. "If Dobby hadn't came when he did, I might have been there all day!"

Ginny smirked to herself and shook her head." You are weird, did you know that?"

"I did."

She noticed he was carrying his shower supplies. "Going to bathe before breakfast?"

"No time, just going to shave. I'll take a bath after Care of Magical Creatures."

"Oh, can I watch?"

"Huh?"

"I like watching guys shave, It's interesting." She blushed a little, looking down.

"Yeah, sure." Harry shrugged and the two walked to the bathroom. "But don't you have Charms?"

"Wednesdays are pushed back an hour because of dueling club, so we can rest up. Remember?"

"Must have slipped my mind." Harry mused. 'That's why she didn't come up to untie me yet…'

"Anyway," Ginny paused as Harry stuck his head in the male Gryffindor's bathroom to make sure no one was in there. The sinks were separated from the baths anyway, but they more often than not streaked through there anyway. When Harry motioned for her to stand in the doorway, she did and watched him stand at the first sink, a few feet away. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About?" He put shaving cream on his face.

"Malfoy."

"What about him?" To her surprise, he didn't have much contempt in his voice. It just seemed he was slightly irritated talking about him so early in the morning. "He do something to you?"

"Oh, no, no… I just noticed that he had a very pretty ring on…"

Harry filled up the sink with warm water. "Ring, huh?"

"Yeah…" She watched him dip his shaver into it. "Aren’t you using your wand for that?" Harry shook his head, bringing it to his neck and (to her utter amazement) started shaving against the grain. "Doesn’t that hurt?"

"Nope." He made another sweep across his skin, making Ginny wince at how casual he was about it. "It's a Muggle Razor. Mach 3 Turbo, it doesn’t matter if you shave up or down. I got Sirius to buy them for me."

Ginny shook her head and ignored how weird he was in early mornings. "Anyway, the ring, it looked as if it was made out of the same metal your necklace was."

Harry cut himself deeply, but spun on his heels, grabbing her shoulders. "What!?"

"H-Harry!" She pulled from his grasp. "You're bleeding!"

"I don't care!" He snapped, before calming down. "The ring, Ginny. Are you sure it was the same metal?"

She shook her head and pushed past him, grabbing a washcloth and placing it on his cheek. "Harry, you'll scar if you let it be untreated. We should get it healed just in case. Your dumb muggle razor has three blades on it, it's really deep…"

Harry ignored her and continued to shave, getting done before surrendering to her plea and letting her drag him to the hospital wing. The way down was quiet, as nothing was spoken between the pair. Harry was more concentrated on talking to a voice that only he could hear.

'The ring, she said.' He thought to Celestial, 'That explains why he's changed. Could it be…'

"Another dragon? No, sweetie, I highly doubt that. There is a spell that changes living items into jewelry such as I have befallen, but not another dragon. The odds are too great."

'Then what…?'

"You said he hated muggles, did you not? But didn't he mention 'muggle methods' when you were on the train? Think, Harry, I don't lecture you for no reason."

Harry thought hard indeed. 'He has some ability to control the air around him, cutting off my ability to read emotion and auras… What can do that?'

"Only one thing."

'What is it?'

"Harry, dear, I'm not going to live your life for you. I'm only here to guide you. I'll lend you power and protect you until I can no longer… But your mind, Sweetie, is your mind. Use it to it's fullest. I'll help you store information, you seek after answers."

Harry growled, frustrated and spoke aloud in his state, forgetting Ginny was next to him. "Celestial!" He called her name. "Help me here, will you? It's changed Malfoy too much to over look!"

Ginny stopped, making Harry- who had been walking behind her- bump into her. This apparently made him realize his mistake. "Harry?" She ventured, looking at him oddly. "You are acting strange, you are. Is there something wrong?"

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Ginny, I have a headache. I'm going to go lay down."

"But-"

"Thanks for caring Gin, I'll be fine." And with that, Harry Potter turned, letting his robes bellow out behind him and catch wind as he walked, almost making it look like he was wearing a cape.

"But, Harry," Ginny said to herself, watching him leave. "We're already here…" Sighing, she walked into the Wing to see if she could get a headache potion herself. Harry was thoroughly confusing her now. Once inside, she noticed a few students standing around. Obviously a few had decided to train a little for the dueling club. With a shake of her head, she once again aided Madam Pomfrey.

~**~

Time flew for the people at Hogwarts it seemed. Already it was now a month into the New Year and the first Hogsmeade trip was already upon them. Harry and Ron were laughing and carrying on as they came from the seventh year boy's dorm. Even if Harry was a prefect now and had his own bedroom to himself, he was still found with his friends in their room almost all of his spare time.

Dean was talking to a girl in her sixth year, and after a few stutters and blushing fits, he found himself hand in hand with his new interest. Ron and Harry patted him on the back and congratulated him on finally asking her out. He managed a small "Thanks" before retreating out the portrait. Seamus made it public knowledge hew was going to meet a 'hot Ravenclaw chick' and he, too, went out through the portrait.

Hermione was next to come into the common room. She, however, did not look really happy. Instead, she walked up to her two best friends and offered an apology of being late. She then informed them that Lavender Brown was sick and she would be staying behind to look after her. Harry protested at first, but found himself submitting to her will after puppy dog eyes and a peck on the cheek.

In the background, Ron made a motion of popping a whip to show the rest of the common room just how whipped Harry was when it came to Hermione. Another pair of sixth years also demonstrated an act of one pulling the other, as if there was a connection between them. Also known as 'keeping him on a short leash'. When the two seventh years turned to see why everyone was laughing so hard, it instantly fell silent and seemed nothing was going on. Hermione smiled thanks up to Harry, missing the show of Ron air whipping the sixth year and making him lick his shoe to show just who the master was.

Obviously, it was Hermione in this case.

~**~

Harry and Ron walked down the hall in full casual attire. Harry sported jeans and a black shirt and black timberland shoes. He wore a cloak instead of robes that was clasped by a silver dragon clasp in the front. Ron was beside him with sneakers and jeans, complete with a green short sleeved shirt. His cloths, however, were covered by a casual robe given to him by Harry last year at Christmas. At about the time they passed the hospital wing, they spotted Ginny, still in full Hogwarts attire.

"Hey, Gin, you not going to Hogsmeade with everyone?" Ron asked, looking her over.

"Actually," She blushed, knowing what she was about to say would sound stupid to the boys. "I was going to the hospital wing…I'm curious at everything in it."

"Oh sweet Merlin, she's snapped." Ron said in shock, taking her temperature by placing his hand on her forehead. "Harry, mate, she's fallen ill to the Hermione disease!"

Ginny swatted at him, and tried again when she missed. Harry interrupted her next attack and spoke in a serious tone. "Stop. This is serious." He gave them both a stern look before turning to Ron. "We need to help her before it gets worse. Next thing you know she'll be in the library instead of outside in her free time!" His serious voice broke at the end and the boys started laughing.

"Mou! You two…" She cracked a small grin herself, however, and continued to go to the Wing.

~**~

Hermione paused a moment at Harry's trunk. She didn't really like lying to him like she did, but she had finished her book last week and knew that asking for his would result in much teasing on her behalf (As well as several questions on why she wanted it). Deciding that Harry would forgive her, she opened his trunk and looked for the book. Finding it on the top, she smiled. She was no stranger to rooting through his things, but normally it was for a nightshirt to wear or to play a joke on him.

She once had taken all of his ink because he refused to work on an essay until the day before it was due. After waiting till the last moment (when everyone else was asleep), he took out his quill and parchment, but could not find his ink. After letting him worry about it for several minutes, Hermione finally gave into her conscious and gave him back the ink, telling him that he should start sooner because you never knew when something odd might happen.

But since she almost never went into his trunk with the purpose of snooping, she still felt a twang of guilt. Deciding to go ahead and get it over with, she sat on his bed and flipped to the first page.

Now that you have successfully bonded with your dragon, it is time to experiment with all the things you can do. First, be sure you are in a well-vented area. Also, take note that all dragon magic makes the caster's eyes turn to that of the dragon he or she bonded with. These effects are temporary and caused by the combining of mental powers.

Dragon Breath

Requirements: Time to breathe in fully. Also, one must be threatened. A human cannot breathe fire, for lack of fire glands and flammable saliva. Breath attacks are fatal, as they contain the heat of a fireless breath of a dragon. Also sulfur is magically brought up, leaving the caster to have a bad aftertaste in his mouth. Getting the taste out will be at the end of the spell.

First thing is to note that…

Hermione sighed. Was this just a spell book? She needed information to confirm what she read in her first book. The way it was going, she would have to actually catch Harry in the act of doing something in order to prove that he had, indeed, bonded with a dragon. "Harry." She sighed, shaking her head. "You do some dumb stuff, but messing with bonds? Honestly…" She looked back at the book and read some more. " You are one of a kind, Harold James Potter… One of a kind…" She smiled and read on.

~**~

Harry tossed the box of sugar quills up in the air and caught it as he walked down the halls. He had bought them when Ron wasn't looking. Harry wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he loved sugar quills. The only downfall was the fact that they were 'girl treats'. Any guy sucking on a quill would be picked on for an entire week, as he learned from Dean's mistake in his fifth year. The poor boy probably never ate another quill again. In the muggle world, chocolate was a girl's best friend, but in the wizarding world, it was sugarquills. "At least in the Muggle world, guys could eat chocolate…"

"You say something?"

"Eh?" Harry turned to see Rose, a fellow Gryffindor girl in Ginny's year. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."

She eyes the box in his hands. "Sugar Quills?"

"Um…"

"Honestly, Harry." She teased him as they walked together to the picture of the fat lady. "You're such a girl."

"They're for Hermione!"

"Surrrrrre"

"Honestly!"

"Smirnoff Ice." Rose told the picture, making it open. "I won't tell anyone." She winked before walking into the room.

Harry smirked to himself lightly before walking in after her and to his room. He would stash them in his trunk before anyone saw them. It was kind of late now, having spent the entire day in Hogsmeade. Ron and him had missed the ride back to Hogwarts and decided to hang out a bit more before walking back via the secret passage.

Opening his door, he spied Hermione lying on his bed. "Hey Herms." He greeted, walking over to her. When she didn't reply, he quickened his pace. A closer inspection revealed that she was asleep. Chuckling, he realized that she had fallen asleep while reading. Not questioning on why she was on his bed instead of hers, he slipped the book out from under her and looked at it. Advanced sorcery. It was his book. Shrugging, he placed it back in his trunk and wrote it off as her not having anything better to do. Lavender was on the couch downstairs. Maybe she got tired of looking after her for a while.

Taking his chance, Harry buried his sugar quills in his trunk and changed into his night cloths. He took a moment to tuck Hermione in, scared he might wake her if he carried her to her bed. Satisfied that she was comfortable, he made his way over to her bead and climbed in. It was a little to soft for his liking, but made due.

Pulling up the pink covers of Hermione's bed, he closed his eyes and inhaled her cherry scent that lingered on the sheets. He had become familiar with her scent over the years, but found that using the prefect's bathtub after her (too lazy to drain and re-fill), he personally knew exactly the smell she used and could pinpoint it in a room filled with ever perfume known to man in it.

Thinking back to his brief conversation with Rose, he smiled. Maybe he was like a girl in some ways.

~**~

Ron came through the common room door/portrait a little later, having gone down to the kitchens for the dinner he missed. The common room was empty, save a lone figure laying on the couch, staring into the fire. The fire was magically enchanted to not give off much heat, being it still wasn't quite cold enough outside just yet, and Ron found that at night, he was grateful for it. The fire was, more times than not, the only source of light late at night.

"Ron? What are you doing up so late?"

Ron looked at the figure, and realized it was Lavender. "Oh, hey. I hear you're sick. Doing any better?" He made his way over to her and knelt down beside her. Although they didn't talk too terribly much, she was still a friend to him.

"A little." She admitted. "It's just a virus. Should pass in two more days if I keep taking that god awful potion."

"Ah," Ron nodded. "The worst a potion taste, the better it is for you."

She laughed at him. "How true it is. Have fun in Hogsmeade today?"

"Yeah, loads. Wish you coulda been there."

"I wanted to be." She admitted with a sniffle. "I'm fresh out of Bart's every flavoured Beans. I love those things to death."

Ron quickly thought. Well, she was filling ill, and she missed the first Hogsmeade trip… What was a few beans between friends? "Here you go." He grinned, handing her his bag of beans. "I don't really need them. Why don't you take them?"

For some reason, Lavender found herself blushing. "No, I couldn't. Its common knowledge you love these things!"

"Yeah, well, sometimes giving them to someone is even better than eating them." He gently pushed it back into her hands. "Enjoy them."

Lavender smiled up at him and gave a small "Thanks."

It was then that Ron found a strange feeling in his stomach. "Hey, I gotta get going now. Get some sleep and all, you know." He took a step back and almost tripped over the table, getting a laugh from her.

"Silly Boy."

"Y-yeah!" He somehow managed to choke this out and make a run to his room and close the door behind him. "What the bloody hell was that all about….?"

~**~

"I can't say it was a pleasure teaching all of you…" Snape said coolly, pacing the circle of the dueling club. "If fact, quite a few of you disappointed me greatly." He looked around the audience, obviously stopping on a few people. "But, never the less, I have chosen the top thirty students who will participate in the Sorcerer's Circle."

Snape stopped suddenly and looked at his students. "Take note that these names are chosen from the number of duels you won, as well as the spells you cast. The Sorcerer's Circle will be the elite of the elite at Hogwarts. You thirty will be pushed to your limits in both physical and mental areas. After the first day, you will hate your professor. After a week, you'll wish you were never born. A month and you'll want to want to leave the wizarding world forever and forget the hellish training you'll go through. But." He clipped his heels military fashion as he turned to pace the opposite direction. "You'll make me damned proud when you fight a death eater."

Harry's world lurched violently. 'Did SNAPE just say he was proud of someone!?'

"When I call your names, please exit the room and wait outside. Your professor will meet you out there. Those of you who do not make it, you will train here with me. Ms. Chang! You graduated."

"Do you think we'll make it?" Ron asked Harry as names were being shouted and footsteps were made toward the door.

"I hope so." Hermione nodded. "I don't like the idea of being put through whatever it is he was describing, but anything is better than having Snape yell at me all day."

"Hermione," Harry gave a quirky grin. "You insulted a teacher, I'm proud."

"Virginia Weasley!"

Ginny was shocked. She didn't think for a moment she would be chosen. Walking to the door, she passed Snape, who had at one point made his way from the pit to just in front of the door. He handed her a small rolled up piece of parchment with a wax seal with the letters S.C. on it. "Thank you." Ginny said, taking it from him, but stopped when he didn't let go all the way.

"Death Eaters love girls." Snape told her in a hushed, but very serious tone. "Don't you dare get caught, Weasley!" With that, he retracted his hand harshly. "Now move, you're blocking the line! Draco! You graduated!"

"Wonder what he told her?" Hermione asked, fidgeting. Already half the students were called. "I'm betting it wasn't anything too nice. I-"

"Hermione Granger!"

Hermione beamed with pride. "See you out in the hall, boys." She winked and moved to the door, pride oozing in he steps.

Snape held out the parchment and let Hermione touch the other end before speaking. "Every sword needs a sheath." Before she could ask, he shouted out again. "Ron Weasley! You graduated."

Harry watched his friend go and bit back a smile. He was proud of his friends, but he had yet to be called. Harry watched as Ron paused at Snape, like everyone else, and saw Ron set his jaw and nod seriously. The next name was called out and, despite his will, he started fidgeting with anticipation. Dean had made it, as had Seamus. A boy by the name of Recca had also joined the team. A few more names were called and Snape looked up. "That is all."

Harry froze. 'No… No, I had to have made it…'

"But professor, you only called out twenty nine names?"

"Ah yes, I suppose that might of happened. Harry Potter."

Harry had to bite his tongue so he wouldn't growl. Snape had left him out on purpose just to get a rise out of him. This thought only made him madder, knowing that Snape's plan on him worked out fully. Muttering, he walked to Snape and tried to snatch the parchment from his hand, but found Snape was holding it tight, crumpling it.

"Harry," He stated so quietly he could almost not hear him. "for the last six years I had been Hell on you. When you go and face the death eaters, you will without a doubt be the best there is. To make a New World without fear, one must tear down the old. You will fight to the death. You will duel death eaters who will not think twice before casting the killing curse on you. You have chosen a side, now is the time to act. There is nothing glamorous about this. This is war. For the New World, can you kill, Harry?" He didn't let the boy respond. "I've seen your spells, and how you cast them. You're a brandished blade, Harry Potter. Show the world just what you can be when you are backed against the wall, as you have shown me these last six years." He was forceful with his words, as if he was trying to keep his dignity. "Now leave, your face is making me sick."

Harry was forcefully shoved out of the door and felt it clip his shoes as it was closed. Snape's voice was heard, even outside. He was clearly upset at having told Harry a compliment. "About time." A voice caught his attention, making him turn.

Harry's voice caught in his throat. "No…" He said, not able to mask his surprise. "You're teaching us…?" He slowly held up a finger. "You…?" A smile broke across his face. "All right!" The rest of the students cheered as well, celebrating their new teacher, minus a small few.

"Now, now." Their professor said, smiling. "Just because I was nice last time, doesn’t mean I won't be mean this time." A few students laughed, but he went on. "Many of you remember me as it seems, but just in case, I'll introduce myself." He pulled on his tattered collar to his black trench coat in a fashionable way. "I am Remus Lupin. Your Sorcerer's Circle instructor."

~**~

"First thing!" Professor Lupin stated, pacing in front of the students much like Snape did. "This class will be honing your tactical skills, as well as defending. That means you will be forced to knock away curses as well as hold your own. An example! Harry, would you please?" He motioned for him to walk up next to him.

Harry did as he was asked with a smile. When he was at the front of the class, he gave his professor an inquisitive look. "Me and Mr. Potter here will be giving an example of what you will be doing. At least one of them, but then again, I am getting old. Maybe I forgot a third thing." A few students chuckled at this. "Anyway, Harry draw your wand, if you please."

Harry nodded and got into a stance, holding up his right arm and pointing it at Lupin, palm open as if he were about to grab the snitch. "Ah, yes." Lupin nodded at him, eyeing the stance. "I've heard about your wand-less magic. I also know the secret behind it." He winked. "But secrets such as that are not meant to be revealed. Harry, if you would, please cast the disarming spell on me." He drew his wand.

A quick nod showed that he understood and Harry took a sharp step forward, slashing his hand. "Expelliarmus!" He shouted, feeling the blast shoot from his hand. It hit Lupin full force in the chest, but he did not lose his wand. Harry stood up straight, clearly impressed.

"That was a simple defensive procedure." Lupin said simply, holding his wand up so everyone could see. "It takes more than just a firm grip, but a piece of mind. Before I teach you this technique, please get into groups of five. This group will be your training group. I suggest pairing with friends who will help you, but be warned that you will hurt these people you team up with."

Harry shivered lightly, but nodded over to Ron, who nodded back, serious. The boys paired off and soon found Hermione with them. Each gave a small smile of support. A minute later, Ginny walked up to them. "May I join?" She asked, looking at them. Harry shrugged and Hermione smiled, pleased to have another girl with them. Ron agreed readily, not liking the idea of his sister being hexed by anyone other than himself.

"Now, does everyone have a partner?"

"Just about!" a few people called, quickly scattering together.

Ginny noticed a boy by himself. She watched as he approached a group of slytherns (Only six had made it), only to be pushed away. The boy held out his wand, but found himself staring point blank at five pointed at him. Realizing he couldn't win face-to-face with five people, he pocketed his weapon and walked away. "I'll be right back." Ginny said after a moment. Not giving them a chance to respond, Ginny rushed off to find the boy.

"This bites." She heard him say as she caught up with him. "They don't even care, knowing I'm the best one here..."

"Malfoy?"

Malfoy turned sharply, glaring. "What is it weasel!?" No sooner than the words escape his lips then did he look sorry for saying them. Ginny watched with interest as he looked like he was having a mental debate with himself. A moment later, he spoke. "I was mad." He said, meaning it as an apology, but not actually saying it. "What do you want?" Again he looked sorry for snapping.

"You aren’t paired with anyone." She told him ,stating a fact.

"Well aren’t you the smart one?" He quipped, annoyed. "Look, I don't need your pity, I-"

"Whom says I'm pitying you?" She retorted hotly. "I wanted to ask you to join us. Not because I'm pitying you, but because I've seen you duel. You're good and I want to be the best. I'll need you there to go all out on me. I know my friends won't."

Malfoy was taken aback. A moment passed and he subconsciously fingered his ring. "All right then." He said after a while. "I'll join you. Not like I have a choice anyway, seeing as how your group is the only one who doesn’t have five yet."

Ginny grinned at him. "Malfoy, you know, you try to be bad and all tough, but it doesn’t work when you think about what to say before saying it." He was about to reply, but she cut him off. "Come," She grabbed his wrist and started pulling him. " You're a nice guy on the inside, you just have to show it."

"She's right, you know." Came a voice in his head.

'Hush, Christina.'

~**~

"Guys, here's our fifth member." Ginny greeted with Malfoy in tow. "I think we all know him."

"Malfoy?" Ron gasped, in utter shock. "No! No way, nuh-uh, not a chance! Did I mention no!?"

"Not like I want to team with you, Weasley!" Malfoy spat, annoyed.

Hermione looked over at Harry, who was considering it. "Malfoy," Harry started, stepping forward. "I'll let you in on one condition."

He looked like he was about to retort, but stopped himself. Taking a deep breath, he visibly calmed. "Okay," he said after a while. "What is it?"

"Shake my hand."

Malfoy considered this, but a small voice in his head calmed him down enough from Ron's insults to think straight. "Sure." He said after only a moment's pause. "I can do that." He held out his right hand.

Harry held out his left. "With your left hand."

Malfoy paused. His ring was on his left hand. "Why my left?"

"You hold your wand with your left hand, don't you? I think it's only proper to greet you with your dominant hand."

Slowly, very slowly, He raised his left hand and grasped Harry's. A spark ignited and Harry felt his magical power being sapped from him. They shook one time and let go. Harry rubbed his hand and Malfoy fingered his ring.

"He's in." Harry then stated.

"What the bloody hell do you mean in!?" Ron demanded, putting an arm over his shoulders roughly and pulling him close so he could whisper into his ear. "Harry, why do you want him with us?"

"Because, Ron." Harry whispered back, just as harshly as Ron had. "We don't have a choice, and he's willing to work with us. For his pride, or reputation, I don't care. Dumbledor gives everyone a second chance, why shouldn't we?"

Ron glared at his friend a moment before pulling back and turning around. "Fine. He can join." He glared at Malfoy over his shoulder. "You're getting a second chance, but don't blow it. You're on thin ice."

"Hermione?" Ginny asked with pleading eyes.

Hermione nodded. "I don't like the idea, but if Harry and Ron can accept it, and you Ginny, then I guess I can. But one 'Mudblood' from him and I'm going to hex him so bad, people will speak of it more than the chamber!" Harry clapped lightly to show how impressed he was with her.

"Does everyone have a complete team now?" Lupin asked them. When no one spoke up against him, he scanned the room and saw six groups of five people. "Good. Next step is to choose a team leader and name of team."

"I think it should be Ron." Harry said immediately, nodding to him with his head. "He's best with strategies."

"Chess strategies." Ron corrected. "Fixed movements. You can think faster on your feet, you should be it. Or maybe Hermione?" He turned to look at the girl. "She knows more hexes and spells and counter curses than all of us put together."

Hermione looked kind of nervous. "I don't feel comfortable having four people under me…"

"Potter." Eight eyes turned to the speaker. Malfoy was looking away from them, at Lupin, while he spoke the word. Slowly he turned around and gave them a meaningful look. "I can beat the Weasleys and Granger without any trouble." He turned to Ginny. "And Potter can beat all of you as well…..And he beat me. He should be the captain." Once again, Malfoy turned away from them. Their duel had been drawn as a tie, but he had personally taken it as a loss.

Ron scoffed. "He has a point. Harry did beat me when we dueled." He crossed his arms. "Although I think I could take him down."

"We are not fighting each other." Hermione stepped in. "Malfoy made a good point. Harry should be the captain."

"Yeah."

Harry smiled lightly. "You guys really think so?"

"Yeah!" Ginny nodded, hopping a little. "You're the best Harry!"

"Heh, guess I have no choice then." Harry said, running his hand through his hair. "All right then, I'll do it."

"Alright!" They all, save Malfoy, chorused.

"Group one!" Lupin shouted above the noise. "Leader and name?"

Cho stepped forward. "I am the leader… And we're called "The Angels". " Her all girl group cheered as Professor Lupin wrote it down.

"Group two?"

A boy with long black hair stepped forward. He was dressed in a black Hogwarts robe, but it was tainted crimson. He also had on a green and black tie, showing he was a Slythern. " I, Vincent, am the leader, and we are the 'Dragon's Fang'. "

"Group three?"

A girl by the name of Ashley stepped up. "Ashley. We are the Blitz Team."

"Group four?"

Dean gave a whoop. " We're the N.W.O. Baby!" Several rounds of 'Sweeeeeeet!' rang through the group. Hermione and Harry snickered at them.

"Group five?" Lupin asked with a smile.

"Hanabishi Recca." A boy stated in a calm voice. "We are the Hokage."

Lupin nodded and then turned to Harry. "And Group six?"

Harry stepped forward. "I am the captain of this team."

A nod. "Have you chosen your name?"

Harry set his jaw. " We have." His group looked at him expectantly.

"And it is?"

"We are the Marauders."

~**~

Ginny watched as Harry and Hermione came in through the portrait. She sucked on a sugar quill while watching Hermione laugh at a joke told by Harry. She didn't feel jealous, she noticed. It had happened slowly, but the crush on the Boy-Who-Lived slowly died down over the years. Although she was still attracted to him, she found that that, too, was dying off . In fact, she was assuming she was over it all-together. The thought made her smile and bite her quill off to get more flavour. She eyed the pair as Harry grabbed Hermione and slung her over his shoulder and carried her up the stairs to their room. A grin played across Ginny's face. They were cute together.

~**~

"Har-ryyyyy!" Hermione whined, hitting his back. "Put me downnnn!"

"Say please?" Harry smirked, twirling a little and getting a shriek.

"Please!"

"Okay." He dropped her on her bed, where she landed with a light 'oof'.

"You're mean." She accused, looking up at him.

"Nah." He sat next to her and sank into the bed. She usually kept it so soft it literally almost molded to his body. "You're just fun to tease."

Hermione laughed and poked his knee. Harry had taken to sitting Indian style, while she still lay on her back, facing him. "I think you just like carrying me." She accused with a smile.

"You're as light as a feather." He replied, poking her stomach and getting a laugh.

"Don't get any ideas." Hermione's eyes twinkled at him. She sat up and grabbed his hand when he tried for another poke. "I'm too sleepy tonight." She patted his hand and slid off of her bed. Harry watched as she opened her trunk and rooted through it. "Harry, can I borrow another shirt?"

He groaned. "Hermione, you have like six of them already."

"Yeah, but I love your dress shirts. They make for the perfect night gown."

"Sure, sure." He kicked off of her bed and walked over to his trunk, pulling one out. "That's seven now. One for each night." A quick toss made his roommate happy. He watched her change into it with a small smile and a shake of his head. She really was too much to take sometimes.

When Hermione got the top buttons done, she turned back around to face her friend while talking. "If you ever want to wear my night cloths, just ask." She teased, buttoning them as she went.

"I don't think pink panties and a tank top would work for me." Harry said while sticking out his tongue.

Hermione laughed and left the bottom three buttons undone. She walked over to him and gave the boy a hug. "Thanks Harry." She grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, as long as your happy." He waved it off.

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. "Well you do get to see me prance around in my under-things. I think it's an even trade."

Harry inadvertently found his eyes trailing to just a little below her waist, where her flaming pink panties were still clearly visible. Shaking his head, he cleared the thoughts from his mind. "I think it drives me crazy more than makes it even," He replied with his eyes closed.

She smirked and walked up to him, touching his chest with the tip of her finger and running it up and down. "Aww, is Hare-bear a little upset?" She cooed in a mocking yet seductive voice. "Want Hermione to make it all better?" She pulled off his shirt quickly.

"H-Hermione!"

Ignoring him, she pushed him on top of his bed and crawled on top of him, letting him see a little down her shirt. Very slowly, she slid her body against his and straddled his waist, placing her hands on his chest. "Still think it's not an even trade?" She purred to him in a husky voice.

"I…. I…" He paused when he saw her face twitch. Looking closer, he realized that she snorted back a laugh. "Hermione!"

The girl couldn't take it anymore. She broke out laughing and rolled off of him. "Should have seen your face!" She called out in between gasp for air. "Priceless! Hahaha!"

Harry growled and tackled her, pinning the girl under him. A glare only made her laugh harder. "So I can play too?" He asked, undoing one of her buttons.

Hermione stopped laughing and took to a blush. "Harry, I'm sorry, it's just that.." Another button came undone. "H-harry!" The boy started laughing now. Realizing that he was getting revenge on her made Hermione a little mad. "You little!" Quickly thinking, she took advantage of him being shirtless and started to tickle him.

This continued for another four minutes before Harry fell back onto his bed. Hermione was laying on top of him now, shirt being mostly undone. Breathing heavily from all the laughing, Hermione propped herself up on her hands on either side of him. "You're too much fun." She teased him with a smile.

"As are you." He replied, grinning.

Suddenly the door opened up and Dean, Seamus, and Neville burst in. "Will you two please keep-" the group suddenly spied them. "It," Seamus's voice was failing him. "down?" He finished lamely.

Harry looked up at the half naked Hermione on top of him, added in the factor of him being half-naked as well. Multiplying the fact that both were breathing hard and divided the product of this by only one bed being occupied of two, he came to only one conclusion: "This… doesn’t look good does it?"

~**~

Lupin looked into the fireplace, watching the red and orange flames dance around. He let his mind wonder about the past events. Dumbledor had requested that he re-join the staff and work with him in the fight against Voldemort. He wasn't sure what his job would be at the current moment, however. Sirius would arrive soon to talk to him.

"Ah, hello Moony." A voice sprang up from the fire.

Lupin turned his attention to the face in the fire and grinned. "Padfoot, it's been a while."

"Yes, at least a month and a half. I get worried when we can't keep in touch."

The man in the chair sighed. "Yes. We need a way to communicate our plans more."

Suddenly Sirius grinned. "Hey, Moony? Remember the book of thoughts?"

"Yeah! We could duplicate it or something! Do you still have it?"

"Harry does…"

"I can request it tomorrow." He nodded.

"Moony, By the way…"

"Harry is fine, Padfoot." He said, getting a smile from his old friend. "He's changed a lot since I last saw him. New haircut, no glasses, grown at least a foot! Did you recommend working out? He has muscle now."

"Harry has written a few times," Sirius nodded in thought. "He sent me a picture of him and Hermione in a recent letter. He has a rather interesting necklace as well, doesn’t he?"

"I didn't get a chance to observe him too much in class, because no one is supposed to know of a connection between us all… Oh! Padfoot, you'll be so proud of Harry!"

"What did he do this time?" Sirius smirked. "He has gotten in more trouble than all of us combined, that one has!"

"His team name." Lupin told him with a quarky smile. "He named his team 'The Marauders'. "

"Did he now?" Sirius was looking rather pleased with himself. "Following in the footsteps of his father, he is."

"Of his Godfather, actually. He seems to love the colour black now."

"That's my boy." Suddenly Sirius turned serious. "Moony, we need to talk Seriously now. Try and get the book from Harry tomorrow. I also have your mission. I'm in a muggle house at the current moment so I can't talk long." He grinned.

Lupin laughed. Leave it to Padfoot to say that after chatting about nothing for five minutes.

~**~

Hermione rolled over in her bed lazily the next morning. Hugging her pillow close to her chest, she let out a content sigh as she woke up. Her vision was fuzzy at first, but a few blinks quickly cleared it. Sitting up, she let out a long yawn and stretched out, letting her shirt rise and show her stomach. Turning, she let her feet off the side of her bed and reached forward to pull the curtains aside. A cold rush greeted her a good morning. She shivered, hugging her arms.

Sliding out of bed and into her slippers, she walked to her nightstand and picked up her wand. A small charm was cast and the normally cool room became warm. She had just taken down her coolness charm and replaced it with a light morning warming one. Hard to believe it was already the beginning of November. Turning on the Wizard Wireless Network, she checked the local weather forecast. She listened to a few songs while picking out her cloths for the day and arranging her trunk so her long sleeved shirts and warmer clothing were on top.

Deciding on what to wear, she held it up in front of the mirror. A long sleeved tight red shirt with blue jeans. She would tuck her shirt in and wear a belt for a style rather than actually needing it. In fact, these were her favourite pair of jeans. They were cut low and very tight. It was a shame her school issued robes would cover it. She was sure she would look rather nice like that. With a smile she made a decision.

Hermione lit a few candles with the wave of her wand. The sun wasn't quite up just yet. She had grown accustomed to waking up early, and had begun using the time to take a nice long bath. She usually took a book with her to read and sat on the steps while soaking. A few times she met Harry in the bathroom as well. He had let her borrow his book on Dragons the day after he found her asleep on his bed reading it. Turns out she was worrying over nothing the entire time. He hadn't thought twice about it.

She smiled at the memory of him walking in on her in the bath for the second time. She had lost track of time and had staying in five minutes past her time while reading. When Harry showed up, he had stripped and hopped in without a second thought. At her screech of surprise, he only grinned and commented about her being a 'book worm' and took to swimming the bath. At the time she had laughed and went back to reading (being at a particularly interesting part about mindspeak between human and dragon). Although they had never seen each other naked before, each was getting more and more accustomed to being so close to the other.

In fact, just the other day Harry had found a bra of Hermione's lying out. He teased her about it and swung it over his head while keeping it out of her blushing reach. That was also the first time Harry found out her size. Hermione laughed at the memory. She was a 36A, and he teased her for days on end after finding out.

With a small chuckle, Hermione scribbled down a note for Harry telling him to dress warmly since a cold front had came in and the temperature would be dreadfully low today. Cloths in hand, she made her way out of her room and into the common room. She lit a real fire with her wand as she passed it to knock off the early morning chill for everyone else. Through the door and down the hall she went.

Upon reaching the prefect's bathroom, she paused for a moment to tell the password and gain entrance. She checked the names just in case someone else might of wanted an early bath, but found that she (once again) had it all to herself. She sat down her cloths and unbuttoned the nightshirt she wore, also known as Harry's dress shirt. She folded it neatly and placed it in the hamper labeled dirty, followed by her panties.

Picking up a towel, she made her way to the giant bathtub and turned on the sixth, thirteenth, and fifthteenth faucets, getting her favourite smell. The perfumed water was filling up the tub quickly; adding pink and purple bubbles as it went. When the water was at a suitable level, she cut them off with a wave of her wand. Sliding into the water, she started to swim a little before sighing contently and ducking under water.

~**~

Harry sat up in his bed grudgingly. He sat for a few moments, trying to wake himself up completely. This was helped by a large stretch and a pulling back of his curtains. Sunlight was drifting in, lighting up the room. He noticed a few candles were lit and smiled to himself sleepily. Hermione was still a mystery to him. He still had no idea how she could wake up so early.

"Morning, Sunshine."

He yawned again before replying to her. 'Hey-ya, Cecilia.'

"Sleep well?"

Harry picked up the note on his trunk and read it.

Hare-bear,

Dress warm today, hon. It's supposed to be cold because of a cold front moving in.

Hermione.

'Yeah, I slept all right.' Harry though, putting the note in his trunk and rooting for warm cloths. Deciding on a green sweater and his casual black jeans, he tossed his cloths on the bed and rooted around for some socks. After finding all of his cloths for the day, he picked up a book he had forgotten about. 'You sleep good, Cecilia?'

"Yes, I suppose. It's more like hibernating than sleeping, however."

"Yeah, I think you told me that once." He sat on his bed and placed his cloths beside him.

"What is that?"

"It's a book my Godfather sent me." Harry spoke aloud, opening it to the first page and reading it again. "I think I'll try it out."

"What does it do?"

"Lets me read thoughts." He snagged a quill and wrote Hermione's name on the top of the page. "And don't say anything about how it's 'rude' to intrude, 'cause you read my thoughts all the time." He felt Cecilia laugh a little. Words appeared on the page, in Hermione's neat handwriting. "Let's see what Hermione thinks about while in the bathtub, shall we?"

Oh Yes…oh, oh, right there… Yes… Oh sweet Merlin, yes! Mmmm….This feels so good…oooohhhh….

Harry slammed the book closed with a sharp blush shooting over his face. "Should I say something about this?" A voice asked him in his head. "Harry? Harry? Oh my god, we lost him…"

~**~

Hermione sighed and rinsed the shampoo from her hair and looked at the bottle of Herbal Essence. "And I never did believe those dumb commercials either!" She grinned and replaced the cap on it. "Now to dry it."

~**~

Hermione grinned, moving her wand over her hair once again. She had been doing this for almost an hour now and was almost done. Curiously, she looked over he shoulder to her clock on her nightstand. Seven ten. Harry had given her an odd look when she first came into the room. True, he never saw her come in with a towel in her hair either, but that was because she almost always started fixing her hair while he was in the tub. The look was still disturbing, though. His eyes were glazed and he had a look like he was really… enjoying something.

Shrugging, she looked back at the mirror. Harry would freak when he saw her. With a final stroke, she declared herself finished. With a careful shake of her head, she let her hair fall behind her, going well to the middle of her back. It was amazing how much longer it was when it was straight.

She couldn't keep the smile from her face. It had taken her a long time, and she would miss most of breakfast, but it would be worth it. With a grin, she applied a faint hint of muggle make up. A little eye shadow and a small touch of lipstick graced her face. She never really used make up but for some reason she had awoken wanting to look pretty today.

She smiled at her reflection. Pulling on her robes, she walked to the door and felt her straight hair fly out gracefully behind her. She would knock him dead today and tease him non-stop until he got a nosebleed from blushing too much. The idea made her smile and blush lightly.

Today she would up the anti in their little flirting game.

~~**~~

A/N: hope you enjoyed it. Next part will be posted the usual time on Monday afternoon. On a new note, me and my friend Michael have set up an online Anime store. We sell VCDs (Video CDs can be played on almost all DVD players and all computers.) of popular new anime. King Bandit Jing, Chobits, Onegai Teacher, Bluer than indigo, Inuyasha, Dragonball GT and Fushigi Yuugi is just a sample of our collection! If you want a series and we don’t have it, we’ll get it for you! Requesting Anime will take 3-4 days to confirm if we can get it. Japanese Audio with English subtitles. Please email Satashi@scifianime.com for questions or to place an order. Usually runs $15.00-$20.00 a series. Prices on longer series prices upon request. VHS Anime upon request as well. Mention this ad for a 10% discount!

Also, here's a little omake for you to celebrate the grand opening of S&M Anime! (Satashi and Miguel Anime)

~**~

The camera focuses on some rather nice looking New Balance shoes. It slowly moves up to reveal the wearer to also have on New Balance brand wind pants on. Going farther up, it shows a nice New Balance shirt and wind suit top with the "N" symbol on the chest of it

"Hello, everyone." Harry greets, taking off his Rayband sunglasses. "We have heard that some people think we have sold out advertising space in our current acting job in this fanfic. Well, let me assure you, this is just not true!"

~~~~~

"Nope." He made another sweep across his skin, making Ginny wince at how casual he was about it. "It's a Muggle Razor. Mach 3 Turbo, it doesn't matter if you shave up or down. I got Sirius to buy them for me."

~~~~~

Just then Ron came into the room. "Yo, Harry, Pizza's here!" Ron sat down the box and took out a slice, biting into it and making an "mmm" sound. "You know, I sure am glad Dominos delivers!" He left the box open so the name could be seen. "And that heat wave bag they use? Man, my pizza is always nice and hot!"

"Yeah!" Harry agreed, getting up to get a slice. "Would you like a drink, Ron? We have Dr Pepper here!" He took out two cans. "Nothing beats a nice cold Dr Pepper with pizza!" Sudden he gasped. "We don't have chips!"

~~~~~

Harry and Ron walked down the hall in full casual attire. Harry sported jeans and a black shirt and black timberland shoes.

~~~~~

"I have chips." Hermione said, holding up a can of Pringles. "And they're not greasy and crunched up like other chips, either!" Harry nodded in approval, but rubbed his head. "Something wrong, Harry?" she placed her hands on her hips. "Do you have another headache?"

"Yeah." Harry said after a moment. "That's when I usually turn to B.C. powder. It gets rid of my worst headaches in just minuets!"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, the other leading headache medicines take up to twenty minuets sometimes!"

~~~~~

"Honestly, Harry." She teased him as they walked together to the picture of the fat lady. "You're such a girl."

"They're for Hermione!"

"Surrrrrre"

"Honestly!"

"Smirnoff Ice." Rose told the picture, making it open. "I won't tell anyone." She winked before walking into the room.

~~~~~

"It's too bad You-know-who doesn’t get headaches like Harry does." Hermione sighed.

"Yeah, but Voldemort has other things on his mind… like killing and torturing." Harry spat. " With him on the lose, I'm glad that I have Met Life insurance."

"But don't they ask all sorts of questions?" Ron asked.

"It's simple." Harry replied to his friend. "I called them by their toll free number and answered three questions. I was approved in under twenty minutes."

~~~~~

Hermione sighed and rinsed the shampoo from her hair and looked at the bottle of Herbal Essence. "And I never did believe those dumb commercials either!" She grinned and replaced the cap on it. "Now to dry it."

~~~~~

"Wow, that is simple!" Hermione agreed. "I love simple things. That's why when I need to make a long distance call, and can't get to an owl, I dial 1-800-COLLECT. It's free for me and cheap for them!"

Harry grinned. "Save them at least a buck or two!"

"But I don't like committing to a company like that." Ron protested.

"That's the great thing about it!" Hermione squeaked. " There are no obligations. Just dial the 800 number, then one, and then who you're calling!"

"Sounds like a great plan." Harry said nodding. "I'll use it next time I have to get in touch wit Sirius. I hear he has a new cell phone."

Just then Dean walked into the room, chatting on his phone. "Can you hear me now? … Good!"

~**~

Legal stuff: I own none of the above, and I was not paid to say anything…yeah, not paid… not paid at all….hehe…suckers…

4. Twilight

Harry shoveled in another mouthful of scrambled eggs and bit into his toast almost at the same time. His friend Ron was literally fighting him for food of his own. The pair, completely forgetting there was an almost endless supply of food, were clashing forks and dancing around the plates in an attempt to grab the last sausage. The other students, used to this, went about their daily business. Dean was reading his Hogwarts newspaper while drinking coffee. Seamus was working on his homework due first period and randomly taking a bite of toast. Ginny was chatting with her girlfriends and Neville was simply eating and talking with a few friends.

"Hey, Tiger." A husky voice whispered into Harry's ear, making him almost choke on his cappuccino that he got Dobby to start making for him in the mornings. After the initial shock of things, Harry turned to view who had just graced his morning so lovingly by making him spill his drink on himself. What he saw definitely made it his worth while.

StraightHair!Hermione

"You look nice this morning." He mused, looking her over. "How long did that take you?"

"A while." She admitted, sitting next to him and nicking a piece of toast. Ron, seeing the distraction, shot his fork out to grab some more French toast, but found another fork in his way, snagging the last of it.

'Damn you, Harry…' Ron though, grabbing some more when it re-appeared. 'One of these days, I'm gonna… Ooh! Biscuits! ‘His mind turned to the new hot food and he preoccupied himself with them instead of his best friend.

"Hey Harry!" A new voice broke out, making the three best friends turn. Two Ravenclaws approached them, one male and one female.

"Um, hey." Harry greeted the girl that called to him. He desperately searched his mind for her name, but couldn't find it. He only recognized her face from one of his classes; Divination, and Harry was famous in that class for the amount of attention he spent in there.

"Um, I was wondering, if you was free, would you like to go out next Saturday?"

Harry's eyes went wide at this. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard the guy ask Hermione the same thing. "Umm," He began, looking to Ron for help. He was in a stage of shock as well. Seeing no help there, he turned to Hermione, who was facing him with a pleading look. "Er, sorry…" Harry began before realizing he didn't know her name. Quickly covering, he added: "Me and Hermione are going out next Hogsmeade trip, so we can't." Hermione looked like she could kiss him.

"How about this week then?" The male asked, not giving up. Hermione's eyes widened again.

"Er, I… well…" Seeing no help anywhere, she gave in to her own good nature. "Sure."

"Alright!" The male grinned.

"Harry?"

Knowing that he would look bad for turning her down after lying to her face, he nodded slowly. "Sure… I'm free…"

The girl smiled. "See you then." And with that, they both walked away back to their table.

"What was that about?" Ron asked the pair, shaking his head. Just then he noticed Hermione. "Whoa, Herms! You're a girl again!"

Hermione ignored this and turned to Harry. "Harry…"

He shrugged. "One date, I guess. Can't be that bad can it? We'll just take them to the same place, see each other, and being friends, want to double date. They did ask us at the same time, you know."

Hermione smiled at him. "You're such a bad influence on me. But oh well, where should we meet?"

"Um, I dunno. How about that nice place at the edge of town? I've always wanted to go there."

"Pour Duex?"

"Yeah, that place."

"That place is expensive." Ron commented, looking at the pair. "Always wanted to eat there once, but couldn't afford it."

Harry slowly smiled. "Guess a triple date is out of the question then…"

"Unless I take my sister who had a job over the summer and make her pay, yeah."

Hermione looked over at Harry. "Oh well…"

~**~

"Oh bugger!" Ron cursed as they walked to Care of Magical Creatures. "I've forgotten my Book!"

"You should pay more attention, Ron." Hermione joked, laughing. She was walking between the boys, an arm through theirs. Harry was carrying her books while Ron was carrying her second bag full of parchment and inks.

"Um, actually, Hermione…" He began slowly. "That book kind of had your homework in it."

'Uh oh' Harry thought.

"What!?" Hermione stopped walking, which in turn forced both boys to stop as well. "Ronald Weasley!"

Uh oh' Ron thought.

"Do you mean to tell me that you still have that because you were copying it rather than just looking it over, like you told me you was!?"

Ran flushed. "Um… yeah?"

She growled at him and took her arm from Harry's and grabbed Ron's one arm with both of hers. "You march right back to the common room and- no, wait, I'll go with you so you can't copy it as you walk." She turned to Harry. "Go on ahead and tell Hagrid we'll be a little late?"

"I'll just go with you," Harry started, seeing Ron's pleading face. "Class won't start for anotherrrrrr…." He looked at Hermione. She had the ' you better do what I say, Mister Man!' look again. "Like I was saying," He picked up again smoothly. "I'll just tell ol' Hagrid you two will be a little late."

When Hermione turned to Ron, he apologized by giving him a sympathetic look. "Okay, Ron," Hermione started, dragging him back the way they had just come. "Let's go."

~**~

Wednesday was one of Harry's favourite days of the week. Classes started an hour later than usual, and he had a rather nice schedule. Care of Magical Creatures at a very reasonable time of nine, followed by Herbology at eleven. He topped off his day with a Divination at two. All in all, he thought his Wednesday schedule was quite slack indeed. The only downfall was double potions on Friday.

Seeing Hagrid's hut, he walked briskly up to it and knocked. Hermione was right. It was rather cold out today. In fact, the leaves were already mostly fallen. 'Where did the time go?' Harry asked himself awkwardly. 'Already November? I mean, come on!'

Hagrid opened the door and beamed down at Harry. "'Allo there 'Arry!" He greeted warmly. "Come 'n, come 'n." He motioned for him to enter with a large sweep of his hand. "A bit early, you are."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, walking over to the fire. "Slack day, you know. Sorry I haven’t came by much lately. I don't know where the time goes. I feel like I just got here."

"It's be 'cause it be yer last year, Harry." Hagrid told him with a softness in his voice. "Gosh, I'll miss ye when yer gone! An Ron and little 'Ermione too!" He looked like he was about to tear up at any moment.

"Hey, hey," Harry thought fast, not wanting to see his friend get all emotional on him. "We'll be around. I was thinking of taking over Defense class, or maybe the dueling club! And, and, Hermione is great at charms! Maybe she'll want a teacher’s job as well!" This seemed to cheer up the giant somewhat. "Tell me about the new animals you mentioned in class last time?"

That did the trick. "Yes, yes, Harry you'll love these things!" Instantly he was a happy man again, once more regaining the twinkle in his eye. "Scale Shredders they are!"

"Scale Shredders…" For some reason Harry didn't like the sound of that. Something deep inside of him told him not to mess with them. Suppressing the thought, he spoke. "Hermione and Ron might be a little late today; they had to run back to the common room for something."

"Jus' as well." Hagrid spoke, walking over to the door. "We have time, would ye be wantin' ta see the little things 'fore class, Harry?"

He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Are they dangerous?"

"To dragons, yes." He nodded, clapping him on the back and ushering him out the door. "But to human folk like us, they are great pets!"

He shuddered. He knew all too well what 'great pets' to Hagrid meant. Usually it meant lots of burns, cuts, and bone mending for the rest of the class. Not being one to break his friend's heart by voicing his thoughts, he walked by the half-giant to the fenced off area. He hesitated only for a second when Hagrid opened the gate to the pen, and followed him carefully.

"There they be." Hagrid pointed at two things a few yards off. They looked like a cross between a worm and a scorpion. It had a weird looking neck and lots of teeth. Long teeth. Sharp teeth. "Oh, they look dangerous." Hagrid went on when Harry stopped cold in his tracks after seeing them. "But they would never attack a 'uman." Harry took a step back when one eyed him. Hagrid went on, not seeing this. "They're used ta skin dragons after they done passed." He explained. “So thar scales 'cn be used to make things."

Harry took another step back, suddenly scared for a reason he couldn't quite explain. Hagrid still continued to explain how a group of seven could take out a fully-grown and powerful dragon in a matter of minuets. They were used to keep dragons in check if they got a little too rowdy. The Scale Shredder started moving toward them, using their pointed legs and making small holes in the ground as he did so. Harry's mind kept repeating that they didn't hurt humans, but the look in the small eyes of the beast told him otherwise.

"Run!"

Harry jumped to the side as the Shredder leapt at him. He rolled three times before regaining his footing. Then, before he could react, the second Scale Shredder lunged at him and toppled him right back over. "Hagrid!" Harry shouted, trying to keep the gnashing teeth from biting off his head. "HAGRID!"

But Hagrid was too busy wrestling the first Shredder to help him. Harry heard the giant trying to calm down the animal, but to no avail. The Shredder on top of Harry was now using its feet to stab Harry. Although not deep, it still hurt like the dickens. Finally, after being hit just under his arm, Harry's hand slipped and the teeth made a mad chomp to devour its prey.

That's when Harry screamed.

The blast shook the ground under him. All he knew was he had to survive. Some deep instinct had told him what to do. He remembered learning how to do it somewhere, but he didn't know at the current moment. The Scale Shredder Hagrid was working with scampered off to the far end of the pen and the one that was on top of Harry was no where to be seen. There was a long trench in front of him that he didn't recall seeing a while ago. It went about ten yards in front of him and must have been at least a foot deep. Also he was very well aware of a horrid taste in his mouth that made him want to throw up.

A pair of large strong hands helped him to his feet. He could hear Hagrid ask if he was okay and what had happened, but when Harry tried to reply, he coughed violently and saw black smoke come from his lungs. After controlling his coughing fit, he steadily breathed out black smoke for almost twenty seconds. Also the increasingly bad taste in his mouth continued to make him want to hurl. "Bes' be getting' you to tha Hospital Wing." Hagrid spoke, helping him walk. Harry kept his eyes on the ground and his arms wrapped around where he had been punctured. His blood was such a dark red it almost looked black, and he could feel each individual part of his body that was hurt. Also he knew that he would be okay, that such wounds wouldn't pose a threat to him in anyway. But still, the taste in his mouth…

"Neville, would ye tell tha class, that I be late?" Hagrid asked the boy as they passed, almost up to the castle. Harry heard him reply in a positive way and told Harry that he would go check up on him after class.

~**~

"Harry?" Ginny asked, amazed. "Are you okay?" She took him from the big man and looked up at him inquisitively. "Hagrid, what happened?" She supported him by putting an arm over his waist and helping him into a bed, quickly magicking off his shirt. "And what is that smell?"

Hagrid was looking really guilty. "A Scale Shredder got a'hold of 'im." He told her with worry. "Will he be 'lright?"

Ginny looked over him. "He'll be fine, it seems." She said, sighing and placing a hand on her hip. "Honestly Harry, you're just a magnet for trouble aren’t you?" Harry grinned at her dumbly, still in some state of shock. "Hagrid, I'll take care of him now. Don't you have a class to teach?"

"Er, yeah, 'reckon I do. Be seein' you Harry. I'll visit after classes!"

"Yeah, yeah." Ginny started pushing him out the door, which was a rather humourous sight to behold. "He'll be fine, don't worry." When the door was closed, Ginny turned back to Harry and started putting a few potions next to the bed. "Hagrid and his crazy pets, huh Harry?" She asked with a smile, cleaning his wounds and watching him wince. "Oh don't be such a baby. You're just in shock; these will heal in a few seconds after I'm done. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but couched again. He grimaced tightly and looked rather sick. "You okay?" She asked him, sniffing. "What is that smell?" She sniffed a few more times and then looked at Harry. "Harry, exhale for me, please." He looked like he didn't want to, but gave up when he saw her eyes. Madam Pomfrey was teaching her well it seemed. When he exhaled, Ginny shot back and coughed. "That smells like sulfur, Harry!" she scolded him. "What on earth did you do to get sulfur in your mouth!?"

He gave a lame smile that looked more like an ironic smirk. Ginny sighed. "Anyway," She told him. "Stay there, I'm going to get the healing spells out so I can fix you up." She patted his head twice and left him after pulling the curtains closed around him for privacy.

"You okay?"

'I'm fine, but what happened?'

"Remember in your book? Dragon Breath?"

'Yeah?'

"Congratulations." She seemed quite proud. "You did it."

'Ugh, I'm gonna throw up.'

"No you're not, now hush. Honestly, You-" She stopped talking when he gulped hard. "You really are gonna throw up aren’t you?"

~**~

Hagrid was treated to a surprise when he got back to where his class was being held. There seemed to be a large group of people all standing in one spot. That could only mean trouble. Usually the Slytherns and Gryffindors stayed in a more or less group of their own. They only bunched up when there was either a fight, or someone hurt. Usually it was a combination of the two.

Running up to the group, he made his way rather easily to the center. Neville was on the ground, as was Goyle. Malfoy stood a few paces away with his wand out. Hermione was helping Neville to his feet. Taking it in, he observed the people. Goyle had a hex on him that was slowly but surely making him get hairier by the moment. Neville seemed to be okay, and Malfoy was looking a little queasy.

"Malfoy! Goyle! What did you two do?" He demanded, taking in his teaching role.

"Neville attacked me!" Goyle shouted, pointing. Malfoy just shrugged and pocketed his wand.

"Malfoy, did you curse Neville?"

"No."

"Then why is Hermione helping him up with you having your wand out?"

"Actually…" Neville said, drawing attention. "Malfoy hexed Goyle."

Hagrid looked utterly perplexed. He gave Hermione a look as if to ask for confirmation. When she nodded, he shook his head slowly. "Okay then. Explain." He said after a while. Neville told him he had told everyone that Hagrid was going to be a little late. When Goyle tried to climb the fence to get into the pen with the animal (Hagrid quickly told him it was a Scale Shredder), Neville pulled him back. Goyle took out his wand and shot something. Malfoy pushed him down and batted the curse and sent one back at him.

"Well ain't this sumthin'." Hagrid mused. "Goyle, go to the Hospital wing and get the hex lifted. You okay Neville?" When he nodded, he looked at Malfoy. He knew that his best friends hated the boy, but he still did something honourable. "And you?" Malfoy nodded, but started to look a little hot. He was starting to sweat lightly. "Good." Hagrid nodded and clapped his hands. "Today, we'll be looking at Scale Shredders! I had two, but one… well, let's just say there's only one now."

The class all gave questioning looks to each other and worried glances at the trench that still radiated magical power.

~**~

Ginny hummed to herself as she went to check up on Harry. It had been only a few minutes since she had treated him, but since there was nobody else in the Wing at the current moment, and Madam Pomfrey was away, she had time to kill. Reaching his bed, she reached to the curtains to pull them back when she heard Harry's voice.

"Cecilia," Harry said in a whisper. "Can't you get this taste from my mouth?" There was a pause. When Ginny was sure she had imagined it, Harry spoke again. "It's not funny, it taste horrid." Ginny peaked her head in through the curtains. Harry was talking to the necklace she had given him. "But still, it's… Ginny?" He looked at her. "Well, I'll be, you are watching me."

Ginny blushed a little from being caught. "Sorry, I just came to check on you. All healed?" Harry nodded, tapping his chest to prove it. "Good. Well, I think you've had enough fun with Hagrid today. I'll let you stay here until next period, but then you'll have to go."

"What about you?" Harry asked, blinking. "What do you mean 'let me go'?"

Ginny beamed with pride. "I'm 'working' here now."

"Eh?"

Ginny smiled at her confused friend. "I talked professor Dumbledore into letting work under Madam Pomfrey for school credit. Not only am I learning about this, but I'm also considered 'honourary staff'! Isn't that the neatest?"

Harry shook his head. "Only you would turn out liking something like this…"

She humphed at him and crossed her arms. "And what does that supposed to mean?"

He smirked. "Nothing, nothing… Anyway…"

"Anyway…" Suddenly they realized they didn't really have much to talk about. They were saved from their awkward silence later by Goyle, who burst in through the door. "I guess I better help him…" Ginny sighed and got up from the stool she had just sat on by his bed. "Bye."

"Yeah, bye."

~**~

Malfoy took a small step back to catch his balance. His breath was harsh and rigid, making it hard to breath. His skin burned like fire and his vision was getting blurry. Hagrid’s voice seemed to fade out as black dots flashed across his vision. Suddenly it felt as if sand was running all over his body, making him feel light headed. Somewhere in his mind, he was aware of a voice telling him his blood was moving erratically. He was informed of what spell was on him, what it did, and that he would be in serious trouble if he didn’t get it lifted. And soon.

Hermione looked over at Malfoy and had to bite back a gasp. He had pulled up his hood on his robe, covering his face and only leaving a little visible. He was incredibly red and his skin was flaming in rash. Letting her good nature overrule the fact that Malfoy was an enemy to her, she walked over to him and asked the question that had been bugging her for a little while. “Hey, you okay?” She asked it softly, so nobody could over hear her.

Malfoy didn’t answer. He simply stood, shoulders heaving and breathing so hard she thought he might keel over at any given moment. “Malfoy?” She tried again, putting a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. When she connected, he took a sharp intake of air through his nose and fell to the side. Acting quickly, she grabbed him to keep the boy from falling on top of her and taking her down with him. She found her arm over his shoulders and his around her waist. It was slightly uncomfortable, so she asked him again. “What’s wrong?”

“C-can’t b-breath…” He rasped out, hood falling back to reveal him completely covered in a deathly looking rash.

Hermione didn’t like the Slythern, but he had saved Neville for some reason, and he was on her dueling team. Deciding she owed him one for at least helping her friend, she raised her hand. “Hagrid?”

Hagrid paused his talking to look over at her. “A question, ‘Ermione?”

“Um, I’m not feeling well,” She said timidly. “Might I go to the Hospital wing?”

Hagrid looked at her oddly, but caught the hint. She never skipped class, so she must have a good reason. Deciding to let her go and ask for an explanation later, he nodded. “Be sure to get the notes you missed.”

“Of course.” She said as if it was the most commonly known knowledge on the planet. “Malfoy, aren’t you going to check on your friend?” She didn’t let him answer, and helped him away while trying to make it look like she wasn’t.

~**~

“What’s the deal?” She asked him while almost dragging him with her to the hospital wing.

Malfoy looked up at her, but she suddenly found herself looking into the clearest crystal blue eyes she had ever seen before. On top of that, they almost looked like they were glowing. “Thank you.” He said in a haunting tone. His voice was almost… feminine. “Thanks for taking care of him. He’s sorry, but won’t admit it. He also says ‘thanks’.”

‘Wait a minute, ´ Hermione thought, looking at him, but found his head sagging again and facing the ground. ‘Is Malfoy referring to himself in the second person? This idiot is more trouble than what it’s worth.’

~**~

Ginny sighed in frustration when she saw Malfoy come into the Wing. “Geeze,” She put her hands on her hips. “It’s not even noon yet, what are you guys doing in that class?” Despite her outburst, she still walked over to them and helped Malfoy onto a bed. Hermione instantly walked over to Harry and slipped into the closed curtains around him. Ginny was about to protest, but sighed and shook her head. Turning her attention to the boy in front of her, she pondered his predicament. “You look pretty bad.” She told his dazed state. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.” She grinned as she left; knowing it probably irked him for her to tell him to stay put when he had to be helped in there to begin with.

She returned a few moments later with a needle and a few things next to it on a tray. She sat the supplies down next to him. “I have to put this directly into your blood so it’ll stop that rash from spreading.” She explained while sucking up some thick looking potion with the syringe. After looking into his scared eyes, she softened. “I won’t lie to you, this will hurt really bad… you want to take something that will numb your arm?” Malfoy tried to keep some of his dignity, but found that he couldn’t quite speak. “It’s okay.” Ginny said soothingly, picking up something else and making him drink it.

Satisfied that he kept it all down; she ran a heavily saturated cloth on his arm. He instantly found it to be numb. Ginny smiled happily to herself and picked up the needle. “Just a little prick and a little sting.” She said, grinning. She eased it into his arm and watched him grit his teeth. A full seven seconds later she took it out and put a bandage onto his arm. “That wasn’t so bad was it?”

Malfoy shook his head no, but was obviously in a great amount of pain. Ginny put the supplies up and seeing that Harry and Hermione were happily in conversation, she walked back over to Malfoy with nothing better to do. “It works fast, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.” He agreed, nodding. “Didn’t think he had it in him to do a curse like that.”

“It’s not that bad, but you, like the proud idiot you are, didn’t seek aid after words.” He opened his mouth to speak, but Ginny shushed him by putting a finger on his lips. “Malfoy, sometimes in life you have to let your pride go and do what’s right.” She took her finger back and smiled at him.

Malfoy sighed and lay back fully on his pillow. ‘This is so weird.’ He thought to himself while half heartedly listening to Ginny ramble. ‘Christina, why is she helping me?’

“It could be because she doesn’t like seeing other people hurt.” A voice whispered into his mind. “Unlike the people you are so familiar with, there are, in fact, people out there who like to help others with nothing being given in return.”

“Hmmmmmm…….”

“Huh?”

Malfoy opened his eyes. “I was thinking.”

“About?” She cocked her head to the side curiously.

“Things.”

“That doesn’t tell me much.”

“I’m terribly sorry.”

She scrunched up her eyebrows. “You don’t have to be mean to me, I don’t judge you, remember?”

He sighed. “But you give me one hell of a headache.”

“Thank you.”

“You take pride in arousing my emotions don’t you?” He spoke aloud, as if just realizing it.

“You always act so cold and mean.” She replied, picking up his hand and checking his pulse with her watch. “It’s nice to see you open up.”

“Tell me,” He judged his words. “Why? I’ve been no less than cruel to both you and your friends. Why should you give a damn about me?”

Ginny swatted his hand. “Don’t use that language with me.” He actually looked shocked and obviously made a mental note not to curse in front of her. “As for your answer, you talk in your sleep.”

“Wha-?” He simply looked amazed. “I do not!”

“Yes you do.” She bit back a laugh

“No I-” He stopped and shook his head. “What does that have to do with this?”

Suddenly Ginny softened and looked down. “You were crying…” She said after a while. “You called for help…” Slowly she looked up and into his shocked and humiliated face. “Draco, anyone who can dream like that needs someone to look after them.” He was about to protest, but she cut him off, realizing it was becoming a habit. “You push people away. Just once, maybe you should let someone in?” And with that, she stood and walked away.

Malfoy stared after her for the longest while. Finally, he brought a hand to his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I hate her. She gives me such a headache.”

“There, there, dear.”

~**~

“Ah, Harry, may I talk to you?” Lupin grabbed Harry’s shoulder as he passed by in the hallway later that day.

“Um, sure professor.” He agreed, looking worried. “Um, what did I do?”

This caused him to laugh. “Nothing, nothing, are you free now?”

“If you write me a slip so I can miss Divination?” He tried hopefully.

“Get to class and report to my office after words.” He grinned. “And could you bring the book of thoughts?”

“Er, sure.”

~**~

“I bet you’re wondering why I asked for the book, huh Harry?” Professor Lupin asked, holding it up and moving it slightly. When he received a nod, he went on. “You see, Sirius and me would like a way to talk to each other in real time without the need of a fireplace.” He sat down casually on his desk. “Would you terribly mind me borrowing this for a while until we can copy it magically? I would be a great help.”

“Yeah, sure.” Harry nodded. “By the way…”

“Sirius is fine, Harry.” He shook his head amusingly. “You two think so much alike it’s scary sometimes.” Lupin opened the book to the second page and smirked. “Haven’t used it much have you?” He read the two sentences just as Harry realized that the words didn’t erase. “Oh, my, my.”

“It’s not what you think!” Harry stood and held out his hands. “Listen to me! It’s, well, you see…” Suddenly it dawned on him that he couldn’t quite explain the situation without making Hermione look bad.

“You’re seventeen, Harry.” The old Marauder said, waving it off. “What you do is none of my business… although Sirius would sure like to hear about it…”

“Oh sweet Merlin…”

~**~

Professor Lupin looked at the six groups in front of him with a steady expression on his face. Slowly he walked in front of them. “Class,” He began as he walked. “I am pleased to announce that a decision has been made between the school board and myself.” A few murmurings came up at this, but Lupin kept going. “We are to hold a tournament here at Hogwarts.” The room fell silent. “What kind, you ask?” He grinned. “A Sorcerer’s Circle championship.” The class erupted into questions, but Lupin raised his hand. “Now, now, let me finish before you ask.”

“You see, class, there will be eleven rounds. Double elimination. You will fight other teams. Some rounds will be one on one, others may be team matches. It will start January. Now, specific questions, please?” Several people raised their hands, but he picked out Hermione. “Yes, Ms. Granger?”

She beamed at being first at being called. “Professor, what is the reason of this tournament?”

“A very good question.” He agreed. “The winners of this tournament will undoubtly be the best and most dangerous wizards in the school of Hogwarts. To the winners and runners up, jobs as aurours. Well paid jobs.” This seemed to satisfy her so he turned to another student. “Yes?”

“Privet or public?”

“Ah, yes,” Lupin nodded. “You will be fighting on the quidditch pitch. No, quidditch will not be cancelled.” This pleased most people. “But, the stage will be most different. You will fight on an enchanted stage. This stage will change shape to a different terrain for each match. You will not always fight an enemy on straight flat ground in the real world.”

“An example please?” Harry asked.

“Raise your hand before asking a question.” Lupin scolded in a firm yet understanding voice. Harry nodded, a little embarrassed but otherwise unhurt. “Let’s say, for example of course, you were to stand on the stage for your match. At first it will look like a large circular stone slab, but it will change five seconds before you start. It could be anything. From a forest, to a gauntlet, to fighting on clouds hovering several yards above the ground. You never know.”

Ron raised his hand and was called on. “How big is this stage anyway?”

“Big enough to not worry about being disqualified by being thrown off.” He confirmed. “Any other questions?”

“Yes, professor.” A female voice rang up. It was Cho Chang. “How do you win?”

“With the exception of being thrown off the ring, there are a few ways. Your opponent can become unable to continue, or be grounded for ten seconds. In the event that you fight off the ground, the first to touch the floor looses. Don’t worry; each match will state the rules.”

The students looked at each other, still a little unsure. “Fighting in a tournament in front of the entire school?” Harry whispered to Ron, who looked a little nervous himself. “I dunno, mate.”

“You’ll be fine.” Ron whispered back. “But I don’t know enough spells to cover myself. What if I get a stage I can’t deal with?”

“Please.” Harry grinned. “You and me never lose! We’ll work hard together and win this thing!”

Ron grinned and was about to respond when Hermione elbowed Harry and gave a quiet ‘shush’.

“There will be a Christmas ball to celebrate the start of the tournament. It will be held December twenty-fifth. Christmas night. The team captains will introduce themselves to the school and start the ball with a dance with the boy/girl he/she wishes.”

Harry groaned. ‘I hate dances.’ He thought to himself miserably. ‘I can’t even slow dance. I just barely got by with the single dance I had all those years back…’ Harry knew that his slow dancing skills needed work, but at least he had perfected the fast dance moves Ron had showed him over the summers. At least the twins were good for something. Partying all the time at clubs sure turned out to be good news for Ron and Harry; as they were taught the proper way to ‘pick up chicks’ by dancing cool.

The boy-who-lived turned to Ron, but found his friend in a daze, no doubt running over his L33T dancing Skillz in his head.

“Now!” Lupin snagged Harry’s attention. “That is almost a month and a half away, so let’s begin class with some new spells! Divide up now!”

The Marauders walked over to their training section. A blue haze went around them, blocking off a round 20 yards around them. “So what’s up first?” Ron asked, drawing his wand and stepping up to the white mark on the ground.

“Says here, the illusion curse.” Hermione said, reading from the Sorcerer’s handbook that Lupin issued out. “You know it?”

“I do.” Harry nodded, stepping up to the other mark.

“I don’t.” Ron sighed and walked over to Hermione to share the book.

“I do.” Ginny stepped up to replace Ron.

“I do as well.” Malfoy agreed, leaning against the wall with one knee bent and foot flat on the wall.

Seeing that Ron was looking depressed, Hermione smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know it.” She admitted, smiling lightly at Ron. “Ron, wanna study it with me while they practice?”

Seeing that his best female friend didn’t know it either, Ron smiled triumphantly. “Sure, Herms.”

Harry grinned at Ginny and bowed. Ginny bowed back with a smile. Since this wasn’t an offensive spell, Malfoy stepped up to a third white marking on the ground and took his bow as well. There was a pentagram drawn on the floor in red and each point held a mark. The three were standing in an almost triangle formation.

“Me first.” Ginny said with a happy voice. Gracefully she took her wand from her robe and held it in the air. “Triplues exceedious” A flash temporarily blinded the boys and when they could see again, there were three Ginnys before them. “Well?” All three chorused at the same time. “What do you think?”

“As if one wasn’t bad enough.” Malfoy smirked. Although sounding mean, Ginny knew that it was his own special way of saying he was impressed.

Harry, on the other hand, had no shame in clapping softly in congratulation. “Very nice, Gin. Flawless even.”

Malfoy held up his wand. “My turn,” He stated. A flash erupted and when it cleared, Ginny’s clones were gone and there were two more Malfoys standing next to him.

“As if one wasn’t bad enough.” Ginny said with a sickenly cute smile. Harry erupted into laughter while Malfoy looked quite amused at her.

“Dear Sweet Merlin, being around me is starting to rub off.” He said with a small lopsided smirk. “God help us all.”

Ginny beamed at him. “Did you just make a joke, Draco!?”

Harry looked amazed while Ron was considering beating him up for talking to his sister. Hermione was still reading, completely and blissfully missing the exchange. Malfoy was getting a little uneasy at the looks. “What?” He asked, looking back and forth at the people in front of him. His clones popped out of existence just as he crossed his arms. “I can’t make a joke that doesn’t involve Potter as the butt of it?”

Harry shook his head and, to his amazement, let out a small chuckle. “My turn.” He closed his eyes and crossed his arms at the wrist in front of him. There was a bright flash, followed by a yelp of pain. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the worried faces of his three best friends and a smug looking Malfoy.

“Well, well, mess up did we?” The Slythern asked, arching an eyebrow.

“You okay, Harry?” Hermione asked voice a little shaky.

“He’s fine.” Ron stated, helping him up. “Takes more than that to get Harry here down. Isn’t that right, mate?”

“Yeah,” He agreed, stammering over to sit down a moment. “Lost my concentration, that’s all it is.” He leaned forward and rested his head in his hands. “You guys go ahead, I’m gonna take a moment to gather my thoughts.”

“Sure thing.” Ron stepped up to the pentagram and held up his wand.

Harry closed his eyes and took in a steadying breath. ‘What did I do wrong?’ He asked his inner self.

“You tried to copy something of strict magical power.” His dragon friend answered him with amusement.

‘But… Malfoy’s ring…’

“If you would pay more attention, dear, you would have noticed he didn’t dupe his ring.”

‘Learn something new every day.’

“Yes, you do. At least you should. That last potions grade was embarrassing, Harry. I want you to study before you go to sleep tonight.”

‘Awwww’

“Don’t you ‘awww’ me, Mister Man. I refuse to do your work for you. I’ll teach you all the dragon magic you want but I will not let you cheat in your classes.”

“You okay, Harry?” Hermione asked, kneeling down before him.

Harry looked up. “Huh? Yeah, why?”

“You’ve been thinking for almost seven minutes now. We decided to just move on to the next spell for today. You up to it?”

“Yeah.”

~**~

Harry almost chocked on his cappuccino when he was reading the Daily Prophet newspaper on Friday morning. Groaning, he let his head fall and rest on the table in front of him, barley missing a plate full of eggs. Ron, seeing his friend down, did the first thing that came to his mind.

He snagged all the food he could get.

“What’s wrong Harry?” Hermione asked, looking over at him as she ate a bite of her toast. Instead of replying, Harry lifted up the newspaper. Hermione brushed off the crumbs from her hands on a napkin before taking it and looking at the front page.

Harry Potter goes on date!

It was confirmed yesterday that the famous Harry Potter has asked out a girl besides Hermione Granger. Sources say that Hermione, the unofficial girlfriendfriend of Harry Potter, is going out with a lad named Van. Apparently, Harry and Hitomi are going to be dining at Puer Duex, a fancy French restaurant on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Upon hearing this, the manager Akito reserved the best booth in the restaurant for-

Hermione sighed. “Can’t they even let you date without having Newspapers all over you?” Harry only groaned in response, not lifting his head.

“It’s okay, mate.” Ron said after swallowing his food. “At least you won’t have to wait in that long line of people waiting to get in. In fact, I hear there is a month waiting time for a reservation!”

Harry looked up at his friend with a dumb smile on his face. “Thanks, I feel so much better now.”

He nodded, glad he could ‘help’ him. “Anytime, mate. But before that, we got double potions today to get through. Hey! Maybe if Snape kills you, you won’t have to go on your date!”

The three best friends all turned to the Ravenclaw table, where there was an uprising of cheers and hoots. “Actually,” Harry said, seeing Hitomi and Van at the center of attention. “I have a feeling not even Voldemort could stop this date from happening…”

Ron, finally used to the name being said after six years, nodded. “Yeah. Sides, I don’t think You-Know-Who likes French cuisine.”

This earned him grins from all those around him.

~**~

As Harry had learned, when you don’t want time to speed up, it always does. Learning from experience, Harry went out of his way to make his day seem longer to him. This, of course, only proved to speed it up for him. At one time he was actually shocked when the bell rang to end his double potions block. Seeing as time was against him, Harry tried other manners to help him. Instead of participating in the pranks on first years, Harry went to the library with Hermione to try and get some studying done.

This backfired when Harry fell asleep and woke up almost two full hours later. Hermione apologized, as she was too busy reading her book to notice that he was asleep and not “Studying intently” as she had thought he was.

Yeah, like he would do that.

All in all, Harry soon found himself sitting on his bed with his knees bouncing in his nervousness. ‘This is getting absurd!’ A voice chided him. ‘Harry, dear, it’s a date for crying out loud. You’ve taken Hermione out several times!’

“That’s different.” He sighed, falling back on his bed and sprawling out. Hermione wouldn’t be back for another twenty to thirty minutes, so he was alone for a bit. “You know,” Harry said aloud to try and ease his nervousness by getting rid of the silence. “I don’t think I want to do this.”

Celestial un-mounted her dagger perch and stood on his chest. “You have to do it, you promised.”

Harry, intrigued at the moving figure in front of him, changed the subject. “Hey, how come you don’t move around like that more often?”

“Because it takes a lot of magical power to do this, and if I did it every day, you would—Harry! We’re not discussing me; we’re talking about your date!”

“I can’t even speak French!” Harry suddenly realized. “What if the menus—“

“I’ll take care of you.” Celestial promised him, spreading her wings and taking to the air, loving the feeling of the wind. “I can speak almost every known language.”

“Really?” He asked, sitting up and watching his friend fly around in a small lazy circle.

Celestial gave him an odd look. “Harry, dear, did you not find it odd for a dragon to speak to you in English in the first place?”

Harry gave her his lopsided grin. “Er, no?”

She sighed. “Honestly…”

~**~

“So… Potter is making an appearance out in the public is he?” The person mused as he sat in a large chair. “Such symbolism is not needed right now. Maybe I should turn this into my favour? Yes, yes that is what I shall do. Be ready, Potter, you fun ends tomorrow.”

~**~

Harry tucked in the silk button up shirt into his jeans as he watched himself in the mirror. “This is it.” He told his reflection in the full length looking glass in front of him. “No turning back now. How do I look?”

“Like a Muggle.” The mirror replied.

Harry paused. He didn’t realize that his ‘fancy dressing’ didn’t meet the terms of the wizarding definition. Hermione, being raised by muggle parents, never told him otherwise; as she dressed in pretty dresses and high heels. Certainly, dress robes were a school thing in their minds.

“Oh well.” Harry told the mirror. “If she doesn’t like it, there’s nothing I can do.” He slid his hands through his hair to try and style it more. The spikes clumped together and drooped a little. “I need a trim.” He mused. “It’s getting too thick.”

“You used to use your hair to hide your scar.” Ron told him, watching his friend get ready. “Now you display it for the world. That’s a little risky isn’t it?”

Harry smiled without humour. “I felt like a change.” He said, turning to let Ron look him over. “I didn’t think about going into public like that at the time. How do I look?”

“Like your about to date Hermione.” Ron told him without pause. “You really going through with this?”

“Have to.” Harry said, fingering his necklace.

“Harry, mate, you look good, but the necklace…. It clashes with the look. It’s too ‘gosh’ for the style you’re trying to pull.”

“That’s ‘Goth’, Ron, and I’m not taking it off.” Harry put on his black shoes and tied them tight. He didn’t like them too much, but his normal sneakers or timberlands clashed with the ‘civilized’ look he had going for him that night. “I guess I’m ready.”

“Harry, where are you going to put your pouch?”

Harry reached into his front pocket and pulled out a few golden galleons. “My pockets will be full, but it’s better than having it hang at my waist.”

Ron sighed. “That’s why you need your robe.”

“I never wear robes on dates!” the idea seemed to make him slightly offended. “You know that.”

“Harry the amazing muggle raised wizard who fights You-Know-Who as a past time! See him in action now at your local Puer Duex!” Dean, Seamus, and Neville all applauded Ron’s declaration as Harry walked out of the room.

~**~

“You look nice.” Hermione commented as Harry walked down the stairs and into the common room.

“This is a first.” Harry said with a teasing smile. “Hermione actually beat me in getting ready!”

Hermione gave him a knowing, yet teasing smile. “Well, I do tend to take more time getting ready when it’s someone I like going out with.”

Harry considered this. Her hair was bushy, and she was wearing a nice sweater and jeans like he was. Also there were no traces of makeup or any other charms to enhance beauty. On a closer note, Harry noticed she wasn’t even wearing her earrings that she always did when going out with him. “Hmmmm” Harry hummed, looking her over. “I would say that you look very lovely, but then again, you look just like you do every day.” He grinned. “So should I bother stating the obvious on how you always look nice?”

Hermione blushed. “Cool it, Romeo.” Hermione grinned while grabbing his hand and leading him to the portrait hole. “You’re dating someone else tonight, might want to save your corny one liners for later.”

“Right you are, Milady.”

~**~

Hitomi stopped leaning against the wall when she saw Harry approach her. “Hiya.” She called when he was within hearing distance. “Right on time.”

“It’s rude to keep a girl waiting, it is.” He replied with a casual shrug. “Ready to go?”

“I am.” She looped her arm through Harry’s completely missing the look on his face that told her he was a little uncomfortable with it. Also on the way out, she waved to several people.

~**~

“Welcome to Puer Duex.” A person in a wizarding equivalent of a tuxedo welcomed them when they entered the restaurant. He gave the pair a look over. The lady was wearing very nice dress robes while the male was more or less like a muggle. He was about to comment on the strict dress code of the place, but stopped when he saw the scar on Harry’s head. “Mr. Potter and Ms. Lang, I presume?”

“That’s us.” Hitomi proudly stated, a little louder than necessary. Many people looked up at this and a few whipped out cameras and took pictures. Harry, used to this, pulled his usual move of shielding his face and keeping his eyes closed. If there weren’t and good pictures of him, the newspapers wouldn’t put in the picture.

“Right this way.” The waiter said, motioning, but a voice made him pause.

“Harry!”

Harry turned to see Hermione, grinning like an idiot. Seems she was able to convince her date to take her here after all. “Hermione!” Harry returned her smile before looking back at the waiter. “Could we let our friends come in too?”

The waiter, already happy to be able to seat Harry potter, didn’t think twice before answering. “Why, sure.” He confirmed. “I’m sure nobody would mind if Harry Potter took a table?”

Several no’s answered him, showing that it was quite alright.

~**~

“Here you are, sirs.” The waiter said, putting menus down in front of them at a circular table for four. “My name is Vash and I’ll be your waiter tonight.” He was rather tall with flawless blonde hair. “May I get your drink orders?”

Harry pulled out the chair for Hitomi, and frowned a bit when Van simply sat down in his own. Hermione gave Harry a look that stated that she was clearly unimpressed with her date, but seated herself to save face for Van anyway. “Sweet tea.” Hermione said when she was seated.

“Yeah, I guess butterbeer is outta the question here.” Harry said, getting a small laugh from his group. “Same here.”

“Un-sweat tea.” Van said with a smirk. “With lemon.”

“I’ll have water.” Hitomi added at the end.

“Very well, be right back.” Vash said with a slight bow. He retreated, leaving the four alone. Across from Harry was Van and to his right was Hitomi and to his left sat Hermione.

“Nice guy.” Hermione mused, picking up her menu.

“Very.” Harry agreed, looking at his own.

“French.” Van stated simply, arching an eyebrow.

“It is.” Hitomi looked over at Harry. “Can you read it?” She asked a little worried.

“Kind of” Harry said. It wasn’t quite a lie. A part of him could read it. His dragon part to be more exact. Harry looked at the menu and blinked. When his eyelids were open again, he now had blue dragon eyes. “Ah, that’s better.” He stated under his breath. Thoughts quickly flashed through his head. “I think I’ll have the gâteaux de crabe.”

“Nice taste, Harry.” Hermione grinned. “I think I’ll have the same.” She arched an eyebrow at him and gave a look that said ‘we’ll talk about your language skills later, Harry.’

Harry gulped. He forgot about Hermione picking up on the fact that he would, in fact, never learn a different language on his own for no reason. His attention was quickly shifted to his date when she spoke to him. “Harry, what would you suggest…? I can’t read French?”

“Try the Gaine.” He said after a moment. “It’s spaghetti.”

“Ooh, sounds nice.” She beamed at him.

“I think I’ll go with the Lasagne.” Van said, placing down his menu and sliding his wand back into his robes. Harry gawked at him. He of all people should have thought of a quick translating spell. Sparing a glance over at Hermione, he saw he face that clearly informed him that she did the same when Harry had stated his order.

‘Geeze, I’m a dip.’

The waiter returned soon after words and took their orders. Harry ordered for both him and Hitomi and Van, seeing this, Ordered for Hermione as well. This got him back into good graces with his date and the pair soon started talking about random things.

Harry listened to his date half heartedly. He quickly found out that she was extremely self absorbed and rarely talked about anything other than herself. He wondered briefly why he even was there. She obviously didn’t want to know anything about him, probably thinking she knew everything from text books on him.

Finally, after several minutes of nothing about herself, she asked the first question to Harry. “So, it must be great to be you, huh? All the attention and fame.”

Hermione stopped in mid sentence when she heard this. She turned to Harry to see a shocked look on his face. Anyone who was anyone knew of the horrible nightmares Harry had, especially Gryffindors, who sometimes were woken by his screams. His pain was legendary, and even Dumbledore had toasted Harry on his bravery at bearing the weight that was thrust upon his shoulders in his sixth year.

Hitomi, completely not thinking about Harry’s feelings, asked another question. “I mean, battling You-Know-Who and being a hero. It must be great, huh?”

Harry stood abruptly, getting the attention of almost everyone around him. “Excuse me.” He said softly. “I’ll be right back.” And with that, he walked away to the restrooms.

Hermione looked down, knowing what must be going through his mind right now. Knowing Harry, he would do one of two things. A.) scream very loudly to help vent the anger and frustration that came with being the boy who lived, or b.) Sulk quietly for a moment or two convincing himself that she didn’t mean to upset him.

She was hoping for A, but knew that he would no doubtly go for the latter.

A loud scream came from the direction Harry went and Hermione’s eyes went wide. She instantly thought that Harry might have indeed vented his anger instead of brooding, but several more terrified screams followed the first. Van looked over at Hitomi, who returned his look.

“I-i-i-it’s him!” a voice cried in fear.

“Now, now, no need to get up.” A new voice came into hearing. It was dark. Evil. “Stay seated, please.” It was sarcastic and full of power and self awareness. It was cocky and dripped with venom.

It was Voldemort.

~**~

Harry looked up from the sink where he was washing his face and took in a sharp breath of air when his scar suddenly burned with fire. “He’s here.” He stated, standing to his full height. “Voldemort….”

Quickly he ran from the loo and back to his table. There he saw him. He was standing only a few feet away from his friends. The people around him were terrified to say the least. Each one seemed to want to run away as fast as they could, but for some reason did not leave their seats.

“It’s a spell.” Celestial whispered to him. “He’s paralyzed their waist down.”

Voldemort sat at a booth and crossed his legs smoothly, like he was some sort of ruler taking a throne. He showed complete confidence. Seeing Harry, he opened his mouth and spoke directly to him over the fretful weeping of the frozen people around him. “No need to be scared, Potter.” He said, motioning him over to the seat across from him in the booth. “I have no intention of killing you right now.”

“It’s a mind game.” Harry was coached. “Don’t let him psych you out. He’s doing this for public terror. Sometimes it’s worth than actual rampage. Do not let him psych you out!”

“Ah.” Harry said, walking past his friends. “I hear they have great hot tea.” And he sat across from him. He was aware of everyone looking at them, but paid no attention. “Tell me, Tom, what brings you here?”

Voldemort’s red eyes flashed in anger at the name, but he quickly suppressed it. “Well, Potter,” He said smoothly. “I think you would be better off in my services, after some thinking.” With this said, he looked over at a waitress who was forced to stand frozen in the same spot while all this took place right in front of her. “Some tea, if you will.” He waved his wand lazily and the waitress found that she suddenly had the urge to make some for him. She left as soon as her legs were able to move again.

“Me?” Harry asked, amazed. “Join you?” Suddenly he set his jaw. “Keep dreaming, Tom.” If Voldemort was upset at being called his real name this time, he did not show it. ‘Cecilia…’ Harry begged. ‘I’m worried… He could hurt anyone here… my friends are a target!’

“Let me take over”

‘What?’

“I wish to talk to him.” She explained, and Harry suddenly found himself taking the back burner of his mind. Although grateful for the opportunity to gather his thoughts, he gave Cecilia strict limits on what she could do.

“Why ever not?” Voldemort asked nonchalantly. The waitress sat their tea in front of them and suddenly found herself free of the control. Screaming in terror, she tried to escape, but found her self once again frozen in place. “You will make a fine death eater.”

Harry, under the encouragement of Cecilia, leaned forward and picked up the cup of tea and sipped it once before casually leaning back and resting his arms out across the top of the seat and crossing his legs. “Give up, Tom.” Harry waved the motion off with his free hand. “Why would I join someone weaker than myself? I mean, hell, you already failed to kill me six bloody times.” His dragon eyes narrowed confidently. “Shouldn’t you of learned who is superior by now?”

To say that Voldemort was angry would be an understatement. Infuriated would be closer to the target, but homicidal would be the best term. Black and red lightning snapped around him, making the tablecloth singe and his tea cup shatter.

“You spilt your tea.” Harry pointed out, motioning with his cup calmly and sipping it

“Tell me, Potter,” Voldemort grimaced. “Have you ever danced with the devil?”

Harry watched him over the rim on his cup, his blue dragon eyes blazing. “I haven’t.”

Voldemort stood, obvious that his plan of terrorism did not go the way it had planned. “I’ll let you live, as promised. But next time, I’ll finish what I started in the graveyard all those years back.” He turned and started to walk out, but Harry stood as well.

“Tell me, Tom,” Harry held out his hand, gathering energy into it. “What does it feel like to dance with the devil?” He thrust out his hand toward Voldemort’s back. “This is for the villagers you killed in front of me! Angel’s breath that I shatter!”

The spell shot through its intended target, as he had apparated away before it hit. Harry stood, panting. The spell had not only drained him, but all the magical energy that he had been storing for a while. Slowly, he sank to his knees and his eyes once again turned emerald green. ‘A little extreme.’ He thought to himself. ‘But I guess you’ve been waiting for that for years, huh Cecilia? Next time… just let me know that you’re going to convince me to fire a spell in a crowded restaurant before hand so I can stop you, okay? ’

“Harry Potter scared off You-Know-Who!” One guy suddenly cheered as he was able to move again.

Harry groaned as screams of triumph began. Hermione was now hugging him tightly and scolding him for being so reckless, while others were trying to lift them on their shoulders. He never liked being famous for something he didn’t have any control over, but once again he found himself in that situation.

Only he didn’t dare tell anyone his dragon friend was the one to do it.

“Three cheers for Harry Potter!” A voice rang when Harry was pulled from Hermione’s grasp and was now crowd surfing.

“Hip hip Hooray! Hip hip Hooray! Hip hip Hooray!” The crowd didn’t stop at three, however, and continued on with praise until they were all hoarse.

“I just want to go home…” Harry said under his breath, closing his eyes and trying to will away the people around him.

Hermione came to his rescue a moment later and somehow managed to get him down from the crowd’s hands. Giving him one last hug and scolding, she took his hand and pried him through the crowd of grasping hands and shouting people. When she reached the end of the group (which was now spilling into the streets), Hermione held up her hands and got silence soon after a random guy yelled for a speech.

“Harry’s a little tired now.” Hermione covered for him. He had his arm around her and was leaning more than he should be on her smaller figure. “The spell he cast took up some of his energy, and after studying all day at Hogwarts, he just need some sleep.” The crowd seemed to oppose this and shouts of a party were made.

“That’s enough!” A new man’s voice rang out. The crowd instantly fell silent again, now with several more people starting to circle around the restaurant to see what was going on. “Leave Harry Potter alone.” The voice said. Soon a male emerged from the crowd. He was wearing dark blue regal robes and had an air of importance around him. “I am Akito, the owner of Puer Duex.”

Akito walked over to Harry and clasped a hand on his shoulder. “Good work, Harry.” He congratulated. “I know you don’t want all these people to bother you, so I’ll hold them off. You get back to that school of yours okay?”

‘Finally,’ Harry thought, lifting up his head to smile at the man. ‘Someone who respects my wishes.’ He nodded before speaking. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

He smirked. “Just come back sometime, okay? I’ll always have a table open for you, not because that you’re Harry Potter, but because of you facing You-Know-Who and scaring him off. My daughter was in there tonight, Harry, and if something happened to her…”

“Thanks.” Harry nodded with a smirk. “That’s means a lot to me too.”

“Come on, Hare-bear.” Hermione encouraged. “Let’s get you back home, shall we?”

“Un.”

~~**~~

A/N: Ahhhhhhhhhh, feels good to have that chapter done. Truth be told, I didn’t think that I would get it done before Monday. 10,000 words sure is a lot. I hope that I can continue to keep it up now that College is gotten into full swing. I go from 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M on Mondays and 8 till noon on Wednesday and Thursday. Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Well, College is a lot harder than I thought it would be and it kicks my butt. Also I work a little on Tuesday and Thursday. Add that in with my Anime business (Now named T.M. Revolution Anime), and papers for class, My Japanese lessons, Algebra, U.S. History, Government, and people coming over to my apartment all the time, I don’t have much free time really. Also, I just bought Dead or Alive Extreme Volleyball. I’m guilty of playing it every chance I get. At least I get a good break. I feel refreshed after goofing off for a bit. Oh, I only play it for the volleyball. The half nekkid girls in bathing suits have nothing to do with it. Honestly…..really….ahhh…..Kasumi…

Next part should be posted on Monday afternoon, as usual.

~**~

Interesting things:

~This story was originally only going to be 5 parts, but now looks to be more around 7-10

~Chapter names:

Daybreak

Sunrise

Noon

Twilight

Nightfall

Moonrise

Midnight

Dawn

~This ‘fic was originally going to be written for NAPPA, because he requested one. About 4 pages into it, I realized that it wasn’t leading to what he wanted but I liked what I was typing so I kept on. This ‘fic is actually a fluke. ^.^

~Anime sources : This ‘chapter is jammed pact of them. I even have some people who are holding a contest to se who can point out the most! I’d like to give a shout out to them: This chapter is dedicated to you guys! Trigun, Nadesico, Orphen, Ranma ½, Escaflowne, Naruto, and a small Marmalade Boy rip was in this chapter. Brownie points if you can get them all!

5. Nightfall

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

6. Moonrise

Professor Snape mumbled to himself as he walked down the corridor to his room. A few slips of ‘Potter’ were heard mixed with a few curse words. When he reached his dorm, he tapped the door knob and said his password. Stepping in, he took off his long robes and tossed them onto the back of a chair. Holding out his wand, he let out a monotone “Lumos”, only to have his wand fall from his hand in shock.

Pink

It was pink.

Everything.

The stunned professor looked to his left. Pink. He looked to his right. Pink. Rage suddenly flared through him when he realized just what Harry and Ron must have been smirking about during class. With a deep breath, he let out his frustration in a yell “ Pooottteeerrr! Weasleeeeyyyyy!”

~**~

Harry sat up straight in his chair, book falling down onto the table. “Did you feel that?” He asked Ron, who sat in front of him, doing his homework as well.

“What, the chilling feeling of certain death and dismemberment?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

“Just checking.”

And they smiled at each other.

Breath of Fire VI

By:

Satashi

Harry jerked up in bed when he heard the insistent pounding on his door. Reaching to pull the curtains back, he peeked out just in time to see Ron burst into the room. “Happy Christmas Harry! Now, Presents!”

Harry smirked and shook his head lightly. “Sure thing, Ron. Just let me get dressed and I’ll be right down.”

“Right.” Ron nodded and retreated, closing the door.

Harry got out of his bed and slid his feet into the house slippers next to it. Grinning, he opened the dresser next to his bed and reached into it, pulling out a small box. He gave it a small toss into the air and caught it while making his way over to Hermione’s bed. “Herms?” He asked, pulling back the curtains a little to see her still asleep. She was sprawled on her back with her hair all over the place. Her night shirt was raised up, revealing her stomach and pink lacy panties. Seeing this seductive, enticing sight, Harry did the first thing that came to his mind: He bent over and pressed his face against her stomach and blew, making a weird sound and causing the sleeping girl to sit straight up and scream bloody murder.

When she finally calmed down enough to start breathing again, Harry bid her a “Good morning.” And held out the box while hopping to sit on her bed as well. “Happy Christmas!”

Hermione gave him a look, but soon turned her eyes to the small velvet box. Taking it from him, she grinned. “I wonder what it is?” She asked nobody in particular.

“Usually, one opens the present to find out.” Harry joked, with his lopsided smile. “Go on. I wanted to give it to you now instead of down stairs”

Hermione ignored his remark and opened the box slowly, as if to savor the moment. When the box was completely open, she allowed herself to look into it and gasp. It was the prettiest ring she had ever seen before. It was a small golden band and in a design of two intertwining hearts. In one of the hearts it had her birthstone, while the other held Harry’s. “It’s beautiful.” She approved with a smile. “I’ll wear it always.” To prove her point, she took it out of the box to put it on. Harry, having his own plans, took it first and slid it onto her finger for her and making Hermione blush. After a moment, she reached under her pillow. “I have something for you as well.” She informed, holding out a box.

Harry smiled brightly. “Thanks.” He took it and ripped open the wrapping. Hermione laughed at him, but then held her breath while he opened it. “Wow…” He took out a silver bracelet in shock. Its design was that of a dragon and it looped three times before the dragon’s mouth bit its own tail.

“It goes on your arm.” She explained, taking it from him and sliding his hand through it. The bracelet went past his elbow and came to rest on his bicep. “There, Perfect fit.”

“I like it.” Harry grinned, leaning forward and kissing her nose. “I’ll wear it always.”

“You better,” She joked. “It cost enough.” Hermione stuck out her tongue. “Besides, it supposed to have a magical power to it.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“It’s a type of dragon magic.” She told him with a grin. “I’m sure you can figure it out later.”

Harry’s mouth took to that of his famous lopsided grin. “I’ll try.”

Hermione hopped off of her bed and pulled on her pajama pants. “Come on, let’s go down stairs and see everyone else!”

“Yeah!”

~**~

“About time, Harry!” Ron greeted when he opened the door. “We didn’t wait for you.”

“Didn’t think you would.” Harry laughed, sliding down the rail of the stair way and running over to join his friend. The entire Gryffindor house was in their common room this Christmas morning. There was wrapping paper everywhere and people were all shouting and grinning at each other, thanking each person for their gifts.

Harry sat down in front of his pile and picked up the first present. It was Ron’s of course. If he opened another present first, Ron would never let him live it down. ‘Choosing another friend over me!’ he would say with a smirk. Harry shook his head and grinned, ripping open the paper. When it was off, he looked at his gift with a puzzled face.

“It goes on your shoe.” Ron explained, looking over at him. “Check it out.” Ron took the gift and held it. It looked like it would attach to the underside of his shoe after all. “You put it on the bottom of your shoe, and when you need it, stomp your foot,” Here Ron slammed it onto the ground and a small dagger formed at the tip of the shoe. “– and a dagger comes out the end. I know it’s a weird thing for a present, but,” Ron lowered his voice and whispered in Harry’s ear. “If You-Know-Who decides to attack you again this year, I’d rather have you some protection.”

“Thanks.” Harry whispered back before talking aloud again. “It’s sweet Ron! I love it, mate.”

“Knew you would.” Ron joked, slapping him on the back. “Thanks for the quidditch books too. The whole quidditch encyclopedia, how did you know!?”

“It was on sale.” Harry grinned, getting a laugh. Harry then turned to another gift, with no name tag. Knowing who it was from, he opened it up and took out two pair of nice looking sunglasses that were connected all the way across the front instead of having two different viewing lenses. Also the sides of the glasses curved and looked like they would be inserted into the ear. Blinking, he took out the letter attached.

Happy Christmas Harry,

You are now the proud owner of the Marauder Sun Shades. Put on one pair and give the other to your friend. On the right side of the glasses, you will see what your friend is seeing, and he what you are seeing. You can set the transparency of the view by turning a dial on the side of the glasses. This restricts the magical flow and will make it easier to see what you are really seeing. Also, you can hear what is going on with your friend via the ear piece. The middle part of the glasses will show you a compass that will guide you to your set destination. All you need to say is “Point Me,” and add whatever it is you want to find. The left side of the lens will show you what you would normally see, but has a tweak of the Marauder’s map. All you need to say is “Display status,” and it will show you the map. If you want to narrow it down, say “Simplify status.” And it will show you only your immediate area, as well as paths not normally seen. Seeing through walls and ect. will be at your disposal only if there is a path behind that wall. Sorry, Harry, You can’t spy on the girl’s changing room. Moony has those glasses, ask him if you want them!

~S.B.

“Sweetness,” Was the only word that Harry could think of at the moment. Putting them aside in a safe place, he turned to view his other presents. He received a new watch from Ginny, and a katana from Seamus (“Because they are cool!”). Neville and Dean had teamed up and got Harry a subscription to both Quidditch weekly and the Daily prophet. (“Hey now you won’t have to Steal Hermione’s!”)

Harry grinned at his friends and then picked up his last package, this one from “Moony”. Opening the package, Harry took a look at the cloths inside it. Picking up the note, he read the simple message.

Harry,

These were your Father’s.

~Moony.

Harry picked up an ash grey/black shirt and held it up. It was a short sleeve shirt that looked like it would be a nice fit on him. He then took out a jacket with sleeves rolled up all the way to the top and were frayed for looks. Also there was a pair of fingerless gloves with a stainless steel plate on them. Finally there was a pair of black jeans and a long red head band. Harry, wasting no time, put on the bandana and tied it to the back of his head. The two strands went well to the middle of his back, but he grinned anyway and put on the jacket and sun glasses.

“Looking sharp Harry.” Ron commented to him, giving the thumbs up sign.

“If you ditch your blue pajama pants.” Hermione laughed out at the poorly mismatched boy.

~**~

Harry looked over himself in the mirror and ran his hand threw his hair. “Think I should do something with my hair?”

“It looks fine, sweetie.”

“No, really, maybe I should.” Harry made it flat. “I could pull it back. It’s the dance, I should do something.”

“My, my, it has gotten quite long. How would you like it?”

“Just pull it back, let me see if I can put it in a pony tail or something.” Harry’s hair instantly fell limp and went to its former messy stage. Slowly it started to pull back and hang loose. “Cecilia, dear, I don’t know what I would do without you.” Harry tied his hair back with a black band he stole from Hermione’s dresser.

“I’ll never understand you humans, no matter how much I try.” She told him with a mental laugh. “Harry, you look like a girl.”

“I look snazzy.” He countered, pulling on his dark green robes. “Bond, eat your heart out.” Picking up his shoes, he walked to the door and opened it. Ron stood there, hand rose to knock with a weird look on his face.

“Harry, nice timing.” He said with a smirk. “You ready?” He looked over his friend. “Mate, you look like a girl.”

“I look snazzy.” Harry remarked, with a scoff. “And yeah, I’m ready.”

The pair went to the common room together and sat on the couch. Ginny sat between the two a few moments later and gave each a look. “Hey guys.”

“Hey, Ginny.” Ron muttered, looking across the room while waiting for his date.

“You look nice.” Harry greeted, looking over her dress. “Gin is actually in a dress, what do we owe the honours?”

“It’s a ball, you idiot.” She laughed at him. “Of course I’ll wear one.” Ginny looked over Harry. “Harry, you look like a girl with your hair like that.”

Ron snorted and Harry just shook his head. “You still haven’t told us who your date is yet.”

“You’ll see him when we get there.” She told him. “I’m meeting him at the dance.”

“Which starts in ten minutes.” Ron added in, looking at his watch. “Where are they?”

“Don’t have any patience?” A voice sprang up, getting their attention. The guys instantly stood and turned around to meet their dates. It was Hermione who had spoken, walking down the stairs slowly (as if not to loose her balance in her heels). “Lavender will be down in a tic.”

Harry was in awe. His date had her hair perfectly straight and flowing down past her shoulders. She wore a small silver necklace with a little heart on the end of it. Matching earrings were clad on her ears and she had the most elegant white dress on he had ever seen. It was form fitting and hugged her body down to her waist, where it loosened and flowed the rest of the way to her ankles. The girl tilted her head to the side, grabbing Harry’s attention and making him realize that he had his mouth open and still didn’t comment just yet. “You,” He began, frantically searching for words. “Look….great…..” He let out his lopsided smile that made girls swoon.

Hermione grinned. “Great huh? Just great?” She added with a cute tone to her voice. “Or gorgeous?”

“Gorgeous!” Harry quickly agreed, nodding like an idiot. “Very gorgeous.”

Hermione laughed at him and took his hand. “You look very nice yourself, although a little girly with your hair like that.”

“Okay, okay! I’ll take it out of the ponytail!” Harry groaned and ripped the band from his hair, making the spikes stick up instantly.

“Much better.” She cooed at him, ruffling his hair and making it its usual style. “You’re just not Harry without the messy spikes.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He muttered before looking at Ron. “We’re gonna go ahead and go. Cool?”

“Cool.” Ron nodded and watched the pair walk out of the room laughing a little. He shook his head lightly at the pair and then watched his sister leave as well; off to meet her mystery date. A few minutes later a noise called his attention to the upstairs. Looking up, he saw his date starting to walk nervously down the stairs. “Oh wow.”

~**~

“Hey, look, there they are!” Harry pointed at the pair walking to their table. Ron was wearing maroon dress robes and black slacks with a matching shirt. His date, Lavender, was wearing a matching dress that showed modest cleavage and fitted her form perfectly. The two met up with Harry and Hermione at their table and all smiled at each other. Ginny greeted her brother with a smile. He was about to ask about her date, but Dumbledore stood up to give his speech.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” He started, getting everyone’s attention. “Welcome to the Sorcerer’s Ball. We are here to wish the contesters the best of luck and all relax before the big show. I ask that all of you are backing your dormitories by midnight, and all seventh years by one. Now, please everyone raise your goblets and let us have a toast to the Sorcerers.”

The students raised their goblets in the air and nodded at the few people around them that were going to participate in the tournament. When the toast was done, a person stepped up on the band stand and picked up the mike. “Welcome,” He said, getting attention. “My name is Lars and I’m the lead singer of the band. I want to see some dancing out there, you hear me?” A few students whooped at him, making him smile. “Good, good, but first we’re going to play a slow number to get into the swing of things. Will the leaders of the teams come up at this time now?”

Hermione smiled at Harry and patted his hand before he stood. On the way to the stage, he started walking next to Dean and then Cho. The three gave each other nervous smiles and soon joined Vincent, Ashley, and Recca at the front of the Great Hall. Of course the house tables were moved out of the room completely and several small circular tables were scattered around the room, leaving the middle and front open for dancing.

“Hey guys.” Lars greeted, kneeling down and looking at them. “Don’t be nervous now, the limelight feels good once you’re used to it.” He winked at them, making all six visibly lighten up. “Now!” He stood. “When we start playing, I want each of you to walk over there and take your date’s hand.”

Harry turned to look over his shoulder and grinned when he saw Hermione waving discreetly at him. A Ravenclaw by the name of Fuuko was next to her as well as a few other people he couldn’t quite make out. The music started to play and Harry shook his head lightly to bring himself out of his little trance. He had completely missed the rest of the band coming up onto the stage.

Taking Dean’s lead, Harry started walking over to the line of people and took his respective date’s hand. Hermione smiled at him and gave him a reassuring look when he brought her close. “Relax.” She whispered to him. “We’ve danced a few times before, remember?”

“Not with the entire school watching.” Harry whispered back. “It was bad enough last time.”

“Shush.” She scolded him. “And don’t step on my toes either.”

Harry actually found himself smirking. “When have I ever?”

Hermione grinned and laid her head on his shoulder and letting him embrace her fully. The pair moved slowly to the music and was completely unaware of other people starting to dance as well.

Ron smiled at his date and held out his hand. “May I have this dance?” He asked in a smooth voice, making her laugh.

“Why yes, you may.” She returned. Each grinned at each other before walking out on the dance floor and starting to slow dance to the song as well. They danced close to Harry and Hermione, making quiet comments to each other about how close the two were dancing. As it seemed, Professor McGonagall was holding herself back. She clearly looked like she wanted to separate the pair. And they were prefects too! Honestly! Kids now a days…

Ginny looked around the room, scanning the people in her field of vision. So far she had seen neither heads nor tails of her date as of yet. Although her answer to his proposal had been nothing more than a smile and a nod the next day when they walked past each other, she was sure that he knew how to take it. The song was already half over now and she had started searching the moment it had begun playing and people stood up. Did he stand her up? Was she fooled by him? The red head suddenly felt very alone, and let her shoulders sag a little. ‘I was stupid to think he would actually want to.’ She thought to herself/ ‘He’s probably laughing with Pansy right now…’

“There you are.” A voice said, followed by a soft touch on her shoulder. “I went to your table after they started dancing but you weren’t there.” Ginny turned around slowly and looked up slightly. Malfoy was standing in front of her, looking a just a little more than slightly embarrassed. “Um, you did mean that nod as a yes, didn’t you?”

Ginny allowed herself a blush. “Yeah.” She said meekly, clearly embarrassed. “I went looking for you, I didn’t think you would…I mean…”

Malfoy sighed. “Look, I know I’ve been a complete prat to you all these years. I just didn’t know any other way to live.”

“And now?” She looked into his eyes, almost getting lost in their soft glow.

“Now,” He said softly, holding out his hand, palm upwards. “I have someone who teaches me how to live… and a girl who is willing to help.” Ginny blushed and placed her hand in his, gasping lightly when she swept into a bow and kissed it. “My lady,” He started. “Might you dance with me?”

‘Who would have thought…?’

~**~

Harry grinned to him self when the first song faded into the next without as much as a pause from the band. Hermione lifted her head from his chest and looked up at him with a small inquisitive smile. “What are you thinking about?” She asked up at him.

“Just how I’m not really nervous anymore.” He replied, looking down. “I mean, we have the tournament soon and everything… but now that I’m here at the dance, with you, it’s like I don’t care.”

“You’re such a sweet talker.” She was obviously impressed. When he blinked and gave her a confused look, she only laughed to herself. “Don’t worry, it’s a good thing.”

Harry pondered on what he said to get that type of reaction, but shrugged it off. Looking over Hermione’s head, he scanned the room for his friends to see who they were dating this particular night. It seemed that Dean was with a Ravenclaw again and Seamus was with a girl that Harry thought was in Hufflepuff. A moment later he saw Ron and Lavender dancing together. Ron was facing him and the pair gave each other the thumbs up behind their date’s backs.

Harry was about to turn his attention back to Hermione, but the next sight made him freeze completely. He heard Hermione ask what was wrong and felt her try to steady herself from his sudden lack of movement. “Malfoy…?” He asked aloud in a whisper without realizing it.

“Malfoy?” Hermione asked, looking up.

“Malfoy?” Ron mouthed out, obviously reading Harry’s lips. The red headed boy turned around then, just in time to see Ginny and Malfoy move into his line of vision. Ron’s reaction was clear. He didn’t like it.

“Oh no.” Harry groaned, quickly moving to stop it. “Hermione, I’ll be back in a tic. Be a good girl and get me some punch, would you, love? Thanks.” He walked briskly and made it to Ron just as he edscused himself from his date. “Yo Ron!” He said happily, draping an arm over his shoulders. “Want something to snack on? Me too, let’s go!”

Ron struggled against his hold, but Harry held tight, leading him away from the dance floor and over to their table. “Harry!” Ron kept his voice low, but clearly wanted to yell. “You saw that too!? I’m gonna kill him!”

“Look!” Harry said, grabbing his shoulders while he turned to leave. “Ron, listen!” His friend glared, but stayed out of respect for his best friend. “Ron,” Harry repeated in a softer tone. “I don’t really like it either, but look at it from Ginny’s view. In the circle, Hermione, you, and I have basically been working together, leaving them alone for an hour and a half two times a week. That’s not counting the time we all meet to practice. Also think about how he’s been acting. Not once has he done anything against us, and has even helped Neville out.”

Ron grit his teeth and took a breath. “But…” He looked at him. “She’s my sister!”

“I know that Ron.” Harry said, looking him in the eyes. “Its common knowledge me and Malfoy hate each other… but I sense something. Something has changed. I don’t know what, but it’s there. Also, I found out he ran away from home.”

Shock.

“Malfoy did?”

“I think he’s in hot water with Voldemort.”

“Harry!”

“Forget the dumb name for now!” Harry spat before calming. “Look, something’s up with him and as of now he’s a neutral unit. He’s changing into a good person, Ron. You already agreed on giving him a second chance, did you not?” Ron opened his mouth to reply, but closed it. Harry repeated himself to him softer. “Did you not Ron? Has he betrayed you?”

Ron shook his head. “He hasn’t… Not yet. I don’t trust him, but Ginny’s a big girl. I can stomach it for her, I guess. Balls are important to girls, right?”

Harry smirked. “That they are, my friend, that they are. Now, let’s get back to our girls, okay?”

“Yeah.”

“And Ron?”

“Yeah Harry?”

“It’s real cool how you’re taking it. Ginny will be proud.”

“Yeah.”

~**~

“Harry, you came back!” Hermione greeted him with a cup of punch. “I thought I’d have to find you!”

“Why do you say that?” He took said drink and drank a sip. “Hey, this is good.”

“Last ball, you danced once and then ran off with Ron.” She pointed out, giving him a look.

“Ah, yeah, I did do that, didn’t I?”

“You did.”

“I just had to, er; take care of something, that’s all.”

“With Malfoy?”

“How did you know?”

“You said his name before you ran off.”

“Ah.”

Hermione stomped her foot lightly. “Harry! Out with it!”

“Huh? Oh, sorry, sorry.” He took another drink of his punch and explained to her about how he saw Malfoy and Ginny dancing together and how Ron took it. He then went on to explain how he got him to calm down before trying to find her again.

“Well, I’m impressed,” Hermione praised him. “You did a good job keeping your feelings down like that. As for me, if Ginny sees something in him we can’t see, I’ll just have to take her word on it.”

“You’re mature.”

“I know.” She took his arm after setting her cup down on their table. “Come on; let’s dance again before the fast songs come!”

And so they danced together a few more times before the band broke out into faster songs, getting whoops from the guys as they quickly started dancing to the beat. Ron and Harry went to the buffet line and picked out a few random things while talking to each other about nothing in general. Their dates had gone to the bathroom, leaving them alone. Ron then asked the universal question: “Why do girls always go to the loo in groups?”

“Beats me.” Harry shrugged. “It’s kind of freaky.”

“I think they encourage each other.” Malfoy added in, walking next to them. “My date left me for girl.” He pointed out on the dance floor to Ginny and a girl who went by the name of Jessica dancing together to a complicated looking number.

“Ginny likes to dance.” Ron said airily, biting into a peeled orange. “You’ll be lucky to have her alone for three minutes. And if you do, she’ll talk you ear off. Just nod and smile”

Malfoy picked up a pear and bit into it. “Thanks for the advice. For a moment there I thought we’d have a little scuffle.”

Ron snorted. “Please, I’m more mature than that. I may not like you, but I know my little sister can take care of herself without me watching her back.” He shrugged. “Besides, even you aren’t dumb enough to try anything. What, with Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and I all watching you.”

Malfoy looked impressed. “I underestimated you, Weasley.”

Ron gave Harry a look, which made his best friend bite back a laugh.

“Hey, Malfoy!” The three turned to see a small group of Slytherns standing together. “What are you doing with the Gryffindors?”

Malfoy shrugged. “The rest of my years don’t care too much for me.”

“I heard that, but I didn’t know it was true.”

Harry gave Malfoy a look, to which he rolled his eyes. “Guys,” Malfoy moved his hand to Harry. “Harry Potter, Ron Weasley. Potter, Weasley, guys.”

“Nice introduction.” Ron said sarcastically.

The small group laughed and one of the girls spoke up. “Save me a dance, Draco.”

Malfoy waved lightly and the people departed. The three boys turned back to the table. Malfoy answered the question before it was asked. “Seventh years are mainly following Voldemort.” Here both Harry and Ron looked shocked that he said his real name. “From what I can tell, only a few others are in with the dark lord.”

“I’ll make a mental note.” Harry mused. “We need to talk about this later. Now’s not the time.”

“Agreed.”

Ron sighed. “I’ll be in too, guys. I’m not letting Harry fight on his own.”

“What is love? Baby don’t hurt me… don’t hurt me… no more!”

All three boys instantly started nodding their heads to the side as the song played, repeating the line. When a music break came in a few seconds later, all three started to turn around at the same time, still nodding their heads. Each held a cup of punch and took a slow drink all at the same time while somehow still managing the sideways nodding of their heads. Across the room a girl pointed at them and moved her finger in a beckoning motion.

“Me?” Harry asked pointing to himself.

“Him?” Ron asked, pointing to Malfoy.

“Me?” Malfoy asked, pointing to himself.

“Him?” Harry pointed at Ron

“Me?” Ron pointed at himself.

“Him?” Malfoy pointed at Harry.

“Him?” Ron asked, pointing also at Harry.

“It’s me!” Malfoy suddenly declared, walking out from the group and to the girl

“It’s you!” the two remaining guys chorused.

Malfoy danced nicely at first, keeping the head movement, but the girl soon got annoyed and left.

“What’s her problem?”

“Beats me.”

“Our dates are back anyway.”

~**~

Harry jumped onto the dance floor as a song he knew quite well started playing. Soon Ron was by his side and to both their amazements; Malfoy took the other side of Harry. All three took a step to the right, crosses over their left legs, and spun around. They then slid to the right, to the left, backwards, and then hopped once. When they landed on the beat and took another step, they found Dean to Ron’s right and Seamus to Malfoy’s left. All five stepped forward with their left leg and turned, once more dancing.

A circle came around the group, giving them room to dance. Ron and Harry stepped forward while the other three went backwards. They stepped, spun, and walked back between the other set, pulling a few more moves. Several girls started to cheer them on, but no other guys walked to the floor.

Slide to left. Take it back. Two hops, two hops. Left foot stomp, right foot stomp! Cha cha now! Criss cross. Criss cross.

Several more cheers erupted as all the moves went on beat and without a hitch. There was a short break in which a few girls joined their dates. Hermione stayed behind, but Ginny went to Malfoy and Heather to Dean. A girl that Harry didn’t know stood in front of Seamus. Lavender joined Ron.

Taking to the new partners, they formed an almost triangle formation; Harry at the main tip. Being partner-less, he lead the dance, pulling the more complex moves while the group behind did the basic partner moves. A minute later the song finally ended and everyone burst into applause.

“That was great!” Hermione squeaked, hugging Harry when she was able to. “Where on earth did you learn that?”

“Dance dance revolution, seven mix.” Harry smirked. “Dudley’s new ‘exercise method’. I played it when they left the house and I wasn’t locked in my room. Also-“

“Also, Harry told me how to do it.” Ron joined in, an arm around Dean and Seamus. “These guys know as well. As for the girls?”

“That… is a Secret.” Ginny stated, walking over to them with a grin plastered on her face and Malfoy in tow behind her.

“Malfoy, you may have been a jerk off for six years, but even I will admit when someone can dance well.” Ron smirked to himself.

“Coming from you, that’s as close as a compliment I’ll lever get.” Malfoy joked, making his date laugh.

“Boys boys, not now. I’m having a great time!” She turned to Malfoy. “Dance with me, Draco?”

“Sure, sure.”

Harry moved to wave, but Hermione grabbed his hand and lead him to the dance floor to join in the next slow song.

“It would be rude to leave them alone out there.” Ron said, bowing and holding out his hand. “My lady?”

Lavender laughed, shaking her head lightly. “You’re a goof ball.”

~**~

Harry pulled Hermione close to him while the song played. It was almost time for the ball to end now, and more than a few students had already retreated to the dorms. There was only one more dance rave with the guys, and that was only a few minutes ago. Harry had deserted his robes a while ago, as had most guys. He was also down to just his white undershirt and pants. Looking around, one would notice not a single guy was still wearing their full formal attire. It had gotten below formal after the first rave of dances.

“I like this song.” Hermione whispered against Harry’s chest softly. She had her head rested against him, reaching his shoulder with her heels on.

“Me too, now.” Harry replied in a whisper, using one hand to stroke her hair lovingly.

Hermione swallowed and looked up into his eyes. “Want to go back to the dorms?”

Harry nodded, before replying. “Yeah.” The two looked at each other for a moment before blushing. Hermione took his hand and lead him away from the dance floor and over to get their things. A moment later, they were walking towards the door.

“Don’t look now.” Malfoy whispered to his date, which was leaning on him. “But Potter and Granger are going oooooffffffffffff.”

Ginny looked over her shoulder and grinned. “Gee, I wonder what they are about to do?”

Malfoy was taken aback. “Hey, I was just kidding. Geeze, you know more about how the world works than you let off, don’t you?” Ginny only smiled up at him innocently.

“Why, I have no idea what you mean, Draco.” She winked and returned to his chest.

Ron had seen his best friend walk out of the ballroom without telling him goodbye and came to the same conclusion. He held a smile of knowing, but soon he turned back to his date and changed the smile to suit her. Lavender smiled back up at him while closing the small space between them and wrapping her arms around his neck. She laid her head on his chest and moved to the music without really trying to. Ron closes his eyes and rested his cheek on her head, getting a smell of her hair and grinning.

~**~

Harry felt the back of his legs hit bed and he stumbled back onto it, landing on his back with a playful Hermione on his front. She smiled down at him and pinned his hands to the bed. “I had fun tonight.” She told him softly, speaking with her nose touching his.

“Me too.” He replied, looking up at her with a small smile. “We should do it again.”

“Yeah…”

“Hermione?”

“Shh,” She shushed him softly. “Just kiss me…”

~**~

Malfoy looked down at Ginny with a small smirk. “Had fun tonight, Ginny. Maybe we could do something like this again?”

Ginny crossed her arms and smiled evily up at him. “You have to ask me out in person next time.”

Malfoy brought up a hand and scratched the back of his head, managing out a small, nervous, laugh. “Yeah, I’ll do that next time.” To his surprise she gave him a true happy look. “Ginny…” He began, as if unsure. “Why…no, never mind. I don’t need to know.”

She patted his chest in appreciation. “Let people in, Draco. You’ll find that not everyone will hurt you.”

“… You know what, Ginny?” Malfoy spoke confidently, but also had an air of realization about him. “Maybe you’re right.”

“Of course.”

He smirked again. “Well, see you tomorrow then.” He gave a two fingered wave and turned around.

“Draco!”

“Hm?” He turned sideways to look at her, but suddenly found the girl hugging him. “Ginny? Why are you clinging to me like a spider-monkey?”

“You’ve never been on a date before have you?”

“w-what?” He stammered out, shocked. “Of course I have!”

“Really?” She looked up at him.

“Well, that is…”

“After a date, you’re supposed to kiss the girl if you think she wants to.”

“You want to kiss me?”

“You’re supposed to find out by trying.”

Malfoy stood up straight and looked down at her. Slowly he titled his head forward, surprised to see Ginny close her eyes and part her lips slightly. He moved closer, but veered past her lips and brought his close to her ear, whispering. “I don’t kiss on the first date.” And with that he pulled back and gave her a pat on the head before walking away.

“Party pooper!” She called after him, getting that damned careless two finger wave again. When he was out of sight, she crossed her arms and stared at the stop where he turned for a moment. Then, after a moment, she let herself smile. He passed that test with flying colours.

~**~

Harry opened his eyes slowly; bring to him a blurry image of someone sleeping next to him. He blinked his eyes twice slowly and tried to bring his mind from the blurry effects of the morning. The view came clearer to him and he noticed that it was Hermione who was lying against him, sheets all the way under her arms, which were lazily draped around him. He also noticed how much he liked the way her skin felt against his.

Harry stopped a moment to wonder why he felt her skin. Looking at her curiously, he pulled the covers up a little and realized that she was, in fact, naked beneath them. ‘Did we…?” He thought a moment, and then shook his head to wake himself up fully. Memories came to his clear mind now. ‘We did. Oh my god, I slept with Hermione!’ Slowly his worried face became a small grin. ‘And it was fun, too.”

“Mmhhmmm…” Hermione moaned, stretching out a little and burying her head against his chest to let out a yawn. Her body molded against his, making his mind turn to that of a cold shower. When she lifted her head to look up at him inquisitively, Harry felt himself blush.

“Ah, you see, its morning and all, and…”

Hermione simply shook her head lightly, snuggling up against him. “Go back to sleep.” She told him, resting her head against his chest. “It’s too early, after last night.”

Harry blushed. She was still as keen as ever it seemed. “Sure,” He replied, draping an arm around her and realizing it was still quite dark in their room. Her breath was even against his chest, but the small movements she made told him that she was still awake. “… Hermione?” He asked softly, although there was nobody else in their room.

“Hmmm?” She was starting to drift off again, but still found enough consciousness to draw a lazy circle on his back.

“Last night was…”

“Amazing.” She finished for him, planting a small kiss on his neck before pulling back enough to look up at him. “Or were you going to saw something else?”

He smiled fondly down at her and kisses her lips. “No, I was going to say that…” He kissed her again. “I never asked you out. Will you be my girlfriend?”

Hermione smiled. “He asks after he steals my virginity.”

“Oh, I seem to recall it differently.” Harry informed her. “You went down on me.”

Hermione rolled him over and straddled his waist. “Did I?” She asked innocently, rocking her hips a little bit, making him groan. “I was going to go back to sleep, but since you asked me out, I guess I should give you my answer.”

“And that is?” He asked hopefully up at her, trying to look in her eyes, as the sheet had fallen off of her.

“I think you can figure it out.” She whispered huskily down at him, kissing him deeply. A few moments later, she let out a giggle and then a curt “Oh Harry...”

~**~

Ron opened the door to his dorm happily and closed it while he spun on his heels, singing loud: “La, da, da-da-da!” The seventeen year old red head took a step forward, then a step backwards, spun again, and danced his way over to Harry’s room. It took the boy almost thirty seconds to reach the door that could have taken a person about four to reach normally. This was explained by his dancing and few breaks to sing a lyric here and there. A few girls were laughing at him, but he didn’t mind it. Lavender kissed him last night and at the current moment all he wanted to do was rub it in his best friend’s face that he got a girlfriend before him.

Ron lifted his hand to knock, not wanting to burst in on Hermione naked or anything, but his hand froze when he heard a very clear and defined ‘Oh, right there’. The boy’s face fell and he placed his ear against the door. It was quiet for a moment, but then he heard a feminine voice yelp out. “Oh. My. God.” Ron whispered in shock.

“Yo, Ron, What’s up?” Seamus asked, looking at him. “Why is your ear against their door?”

Ron shushed him harshly and waved his hand in a way asking him to come over. Seamus shrugged and placed his ear against the door. “What is it?” He asked in a whisper, looking at the people giving them odd looks.

“Wait for it.” Ron whispered back with a grin.

Seamus pressed his ear harder against the door and gasped when he heard something very graphic. “Oh. My. God!”

Neville looked at the two and walked over, pressing his ear against the door when the two boys made room for him. His face went red and he grabbed the two boys by the collars of their robes, dragging them off. “Good grief, guys…”

“Neville, come on! It was getting good too!”

Seamus nodded. “I didn’t take Hermione for a screamer….”

~**~

Hermione laid her head on Harry’s chest and drew a circle lazily on his stomach. She kept her eyes closed, too embarrassed about what they just did to look at him directly. Harry lies on his back with a dreamy smile on his face and let his hand run through her hair. They hadn’t said anything since, but neither felt like they had to. The silence lasted a few more moments and Hermione found herself starting to slip off into the bliss of sleep while listening to his heart beat.

“Hermione?” He asked softly all of a sudden. The girl on his chest breathed a little harder, showing that she was listening, but too lazy to actually answer him. “I like you… a lot, you know that, right?” She nodded against his chest, making him itch a little from her hair. “I… just thought I’d let you know that I love you as well.”

Hermione smiled to herself and kissed his chest fondly. “Me too.” She replied to him, making it a point to snuggle up closer to him. “Me too, Harry. I love you too.” She felt his arms embrace her and hold her close. With a smile she closed her eyes and let herself fall asleep.

~**~

Hermione opened her eyes slowly and awoke from sleep the second time that day. With a yawn and a stretch, she looked around, noticing how strangely quiet it was. Also there was a serious lack of body heat. Pulling the sheet up to cover herself, she moved back the curtains surrounding the bed and peeked out, instantly getting a shock from a very off key note played by Harry. “That’s strange,” She heard him say, looking down at his guitar. “I could have sworn that was correct…” Suddenly he looked over at her. “Hiya, Herms.” He greeted with a smile. “Didn’t wake you up did I? I put a silencing charm on the curtains.”

That would explain it. “No,” She told him, looking him over. “I just woke up on my own.”

“Ah.” He played another note and sighed. Giving up, he stood and walked to the case and replaced the guitar into it. He was wearing some of his pajama pants. She then noticed that the top of the pajamas was laying on the night stand next to Harry’s bed. Snatching it, she retreated back into the curtains and slid it on.

~**~

~**~

“All right guys, listen up.” Professor Lupin said as he paced the front of the room. “As you all know, the tournament starts in thirteen days, right?” It was now January first and school was back in session from the winter break. “I know that you are all still used to sleeping in till noon and not doing any work, but now that school is back in swing and the tournament so close, I feel it is needed to work extra hard. Also, your N.E.W.T.s are coming up and you will have a hard time studying for your classes. Not to mention the ones of you that also play Quidditch and will be participating in the upcoming tournament…”

Harry was still in shock form the word N.E.W.T. Slowly he turned his head to Ron, who was looking quite the same as Harry. “That’s… this year, isn’t it?” The red head asked his friend, who only nodded his head lightly.

“Did you not study any?” Hermione asked, amazed. “I thought when I went to the library all the time, you would offer to join me, but I just assumed you were studying on your own!”

“I’m in trouble…” Harry whispered, scared. “Classes, N.E.W.T.s, Tournament, Quidditch….”

“Sucks to be us.” Malfoy quipped with a humourless laugh. “I’m in the same boat.”

“At least I won’t drown alone.” Harry snorted.

“Mr. Potter?”

Harry looked up. “Sir!”

“Your draw?” Lupin asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Um?”

“Draw a number to see which team you will be playing.” Ginny whispered harshly to him.

“Right, I knew that.” Harry insisted on his way up to the front of the room to stick his hand into the bowl.

“Our fearless leader in action.” Malfoy said sarcastically, crossing his arms, only to be elbowed by Ginny.

Harry pulled out a small slip of paper and opened it. “Two.” He declared with a smile. Professor Lupin nodded and wrote “Marauders” on the second line of the chart that was magically floating at the front of the room.

“All right, now that everyone has voted…” The teacher waved his wand, making the names randomly scatter around. Finally, after a few moments, they settled down in a chart like fashion. “Well, it looks like the first match will be between the Blitz team and the Marauders, followed by The N.W.O. and the Dragon’s fang. Then the Angels vs. Hokage.” He gave this time to sink in. “There will be one match every two weeks. That way we will have time for Quidditch one week and a round of the tournament the next.”

“That means the last match will be like… two weeks before we leave.” Harry calculated in his head. “Man, my schedule is like, packed.”

“You’ll be fine.” Hermione comforted, taking his hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze. “Quidditch won’t be bad, and you’ll have a complete week free before the N.E.W.T.s, so it’ll all work out fine. Besides, after our first match, we won’t fight again until…” She quickly calculated it. “Four weeks, that’s a month. Plenty of time.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I know I am.” She replied, looking around and giving him a quick peck on his cheek by standing on her tip toes. “Now, don’t complain anymore.”

“Sure, sure.”

“Harry!” Harry turned just in time to have a small paper back book smack him square between the eyes. Upon getting his senses back, a mad looking professor Lupin looked down at him. “Are you paying attention at all?”

“Yes sir!” She replied quickly.

“Then does it?”

“Err…” He so desperately wanted to ask ‘does it what, sir?’, but he held it to himself. “No sir, it doesn’t.” He quickly took in a sharp intake of air when Ginny stomped his foot. “It does sir, it does!”

Professor Lupin nodded. “Good. I thought you weren’t paying attention. Well, I guess I owe you an apology then.” Lupin turned and started pacing again. “Since Mr. Harry Potter agrees, how about the rest of you?” Several students nodded in agreement.

Harry looked over at Ginny and tentively moved his toes to see if they were still there. “What did I agree to?” He asked in a quiet whisper.

“Basically if it’s okay for the teams to pick their own fighters instead of being randomly selected.”

“Ah.”

~**~

Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron all laughed lightly as they made their to the common room. “So then,” Ron said, trying to catch his breath. “Me and Harry went into their room, and…and…” Ron started laughing too hard and Harry took it upon himself to finish it.

“We went into their room while they were asleep and magicked everything to be upside down but them. Even did a charm on the window to make it look inversed as well!”

Ginny continues it. “So when Fred and George woke up and say everything, they freaked for a bit before realizing it was revenge on the prank they played on Harry and Ron. That’s when I let Harry cast a charm on me that makes my personal gravity inversed. I walked into their room, upside down and on the ‘ceiling’ and told them it was time for breakfast.”

“You could hear the screams for miles!” Ron finished for Ginny, still trying to keep his laughter down.

Hermione shook her head and laughed herself. “Remind me never to make you boys mad at me.”

Harry draped an arm lazily over her shoulders and smirked. “What could we possibly do to make you mad at us?”

“Well, if you try and make me kiss Ginny again, we’ll be having a very unfriendly little chat.”

Harry grinned, getting a glare from both girls. “Oh come on!” Harry snorted, indignant. “Like I would get anything out of seeing my two best female friends snogging!”

Ron made a face. “At least snog a girl that isn’t my sister, ‘Mione.”

“Shove it, Ron.” Ginny crossed her arms.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione cut him off. “Harry, love, don’t get any ideas.” Harry closed his mouth and nodded lightly, clearly being caught in the act.

~**~

Harry opened his eyes slowly, already sharp and keen. The moonlight gave little view to him, but he scanned his room none the less. Slowly, very slowly, he pulled away from Hermione (who immediately started hugging a pillow). Sliding out of bed, he pulled on a shirt and grinned. Celestial was asleep, so she wouldn’t be accusing him of anything either. His door opened slowly and Ron peeked in, giving a thumbs up. Harry nodded and grabbed the two pair of sunglasses next to his bed and walked softly to the door.

Ron nodded at him and made a few motions with his hands, to which Harry replied in kind. Both nodded and crept to the common room, standing in front of the fire place. Harry handed Ron a pair of shades and slid the other on himself. Both boys muttered ‘Lumos’ at the same time. Instantly the room was shaded a greenish colour. Night vision.

“Display status.” They chorused again, making their left lens display a skin of the Marauder’s Map. “Simplify status.” They said, once again together, and the map shrank to a more clearly readable version. Harry turned his head and grinned when the map pivoted with him. “Let’s go.” He spoke softly, seeing Ron nod as he did so. Soon, they were both out the door and running down the hallways silently.

“What’s the plan for tonight?” Ron asked as they ran, cloaks billowing out behind them.

Harry smirked when the voice went directly into his ear, via the ear piece. “Simple, my friend.” He replied, turning down a hallway and then proceeding through an imaginary wall. “We’re going to try and get to the quidditch pitch to see what they are doing. The tournament starts soon and I want an advantage on what to expect.”

“Our fearless leader.” Ron smirked, as both boys hopped through a fake window and slid on the invisible slide that took them to the ground. “Point me, Quidditch pitch.” Ron said, making the compass on the visor he was wearing light up and spin once. HE heard Harry say the same thing. “Let’s go right, that way we’ll avoid Filch.”

Harry nodded. “Good plan.”

The two boys started to run again, ducking behind walls when they had to. When they were almost at the pitch, Harry suddenly found hands grabbing him and pulling him around a corner. When he looked he saw Ron giving him a nasty stare and tapping his glasses. Harry turned down the transparency of that lens and realized that there was a dot not far from them that said “S. Snape” above it.

“Snape?” Harry mouthed, getting a shrug. Shaking his head, Harry pointed to himself and motioned to the right and then pointed to Ron and to the left. Ron nodded and both boys tapped their wands (Harry having leaving his holder on his dresser) onto their glasses. Suddenly Harry saw himself in the right lens. Without helping it, he waved his hand, getting a large grin from Ron and was sure he had one two. It was fun seeing yourself.

The two boys split up and ran their own ways. When they were close to Snape, Harry picked up a rock that was lying on the ground and threw it. Snape’s head turned at the noise, allowing Ron to run past. When in the clear, Ron made a noise that drew Snape’s attention long enough for Harry to run by. When they were past, they met up either each other again and gave a silent high five.

Walking calmly now, the boys entered the quidditch pitch and gasped at the sight. There was a large stone slab In the middle of the field and several people walking around it. “Look at that.” Harry said, amazed. Ron nodded in agreement and both tapped their sun glasses and the extra visions vanished, leaving them with an uninterrupted view of what was going on. Several wizards were walking around, talking and setting things up. “Looks like they are putting it all together. The stones must transform to set the stage.

“Wicked cool.” Ron breathed, watching one large stone square turn into several trees and vines. “Look, the first stage must be a forest!”

Harry nodded, looking at another. “And the second has something to do with rocks.”

“You boys aren’t s’posed ta know that.”

Both of the Gryffindors whipped around, but only looked at the stomach of someone. Slowly looking up, they saw the face of Hagrid. “Um, Hi Hagrid.” Harry began slowly, unsure what to do.

“How’s it going? We’re kind of lost and…”

“Thought you’d spy on the tournament, did ye?” The boys looked down in shame as he continued. “And we went to so much trouble te be keepin’ people from findin’ out too, we did.”

“Sorry.” The boys said in unison.

Hagrid softened. Turning around, he then spoke gain. “If you leave before I turn around and don’t get caught, I rekon I can forgit seein’ ye.” Ron and Harry looked at each other and nodded, scampering off. “Ah, those two…”

~**~

“Just take the glasses, you said.” Ron scoffed as the portrait of the fat lady closed behind them. “We don’t need the cloak this time, you said.”

“Oh come on.” Harry turned and gave an exasperated sigh. “I didn’t think we needed it.”

“Yeah, well, next time we need to take it just in case.” Ron took off his shades and handed them to Harry. “Here you go. I’m gonna go to bed. We have classes tomorrow you know.”

“Yeah, good idea.” Harry took the glasses and folded the sides down. “We can plan our next task later.”

A nod. “Sounds good. G’ngiht then, Harry.”

“’Night Ron.”

~**~

Harry closed the door to his room behind him slowly. The door let out a soft ‘click’ behind him to show that it was indeed shut. Tip toeing across the floor, Harry took off his shirt and pajama pants. He allowed them to fall on the floor while on his way to his bed. Pulling the curtains to the side, he crawled in bed and looked to his pillows, only to have Hermione looking back at him. The two looked at each other for a little bit. She was sitting at the head of the bed with one of her teddy bears in her lap, arms wrapped around it. He was now sitting in front of her, giving her a worried look.

“Um, hey.” He greeted lamely. “What are you doing up?”

“Worrying my ass off about you!” She practically yelled at him.

‘Oh CRAP!’ Harry thought, worried. ‘She cursed, NOT a good sign!’

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for you?” She scolded him in a worried, scared, and angry voice. “I just woke up and you weren’t here! I didn’t know what happened to you! I was about to go to Dumbledore in the middle of the night!”

Harry looked down. “I guess I should have told you that Ron and I were going out, huh?”

Hermione softened. “Look, Harry, I was just worried. I know you like to sneak around and all, I don’t mind it after all these years, but usually I can’t tell when you do it or not. Now that we…I mean, that we’re sharing a bed nightly now, it worries me when I wake up and you’re gone…”

The young Potter let his gaze take on that of an apologetic look. “I’m sorry.” He said softly, moving over to hug her. “You’re right of course. Next time I swear I’ll tell you first.”

“Good.” She told his chest, hugging him. “I’ll forgive you then. Now, come back to bed.”

“Yes ‘mam.”

Hermione slid under the covers again and turned to her side, letting Harry lay behind her and wrap an arm over her side. She took his hand and held it with both of hers, moving back so they touched fully. Bringing his hand up to her lips, she kissed it and bid him ‘Good night.’ to which he gave her a kiss to the back of her head and whispered ‘Sweet dreams, love.”

~~**~~

A/N: Man that felt good to get out. I was so worried I wouldn’t reach my quota this week as well, but I did it! Friday I had to go to the doctor because of a stupid ear infection. After that I didn’t think I would be able to sit at my computer and type all of this (I’m mad dizzy at times because of my equilibrium being thrown off) but at least it got done.

This is turning out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. Wow, chapter 6… By my original plans, this would be the last chapter but I’m not half way through it yet… It’s amazing how things work, you know? I still don’t have many reviews yet compared to my short stories, but- hey- that’s life for you. A handful of people review this story every chapter, and I would like to take this time and give a special thanks to you guys. You know who you are ^.~

Anime Sightings:

Ranma ½: Quote from Manga

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen

That’s all really. I didn’t get to the parts I was going to use Slayer, Chobits, and Onegai Teacher for. Well, I guess that’s it. See you next week guys! Thanks for all the support ^.^

7. Wake (Start of Tournament Saga)

Harry grinned to himself as he brushed his teeth on Monday. So far it was a pretty nice day. The clouds outside were dark, but it still didn’t dampen Harry’s mood any. In fact, he rather enjoyed darker days. He loved to watch the rain and was often caught by Hermione sitting in the window sill while getting splashed with droplets. A snowfall would be nice before the tournament this Friday, however, and Harry was hoping for a shower of flakes. Rinsing out his mouth, Harry gave his reflection a grin and patted his face with a wash cloth. On his way to the bathroom door, he grabbed his from the towel rack on the way in and put it on on his way out.

Breath of Fire VII

By:

Satashi

Harry made his way to the great hall while finger combing his hair. When he was semi-sure they were in the usual spikes, he left it alone and strode down the hallways, letting his robe billow out behind him like a cape. Several girls waved at him on his way, to which he waved back or nodded with a smile. Upon reaching his destination, he scanned the room for his friends and found them sitting together near the front of the table, near the teachers.

“Hey guys.” He greeted, lightly smacking Ron on the back of the head while he sat down. Ron nodded at him while taking a drink of pumpkin juice. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing too much.” Dean answered him while eating. A few moments later the sound of several wings beating met their ears. The group looked up expectantly and snagged their mail as it was delivered.

Harry gave Hedwig a bit of bacon as a thank you and then proceeded to read the Hogwarts Press while Hedwig flew back off to the owlery.

The Christmas Ball celebrating the Sorcerer’s Circle went off without a hitch, writes Colin, The music was good and the food was superb as usual. Much thanks to the people who put in lots of time and hard work to make the ball a success for us students. The votes are in and the cutest couple has been voted on. The winners: Dumbledore and McGonagall.

Harry almost spit out his drink in laughter at the picture of the head master and the head of his house dancing to a particularly fast song. This one was definitely going to go into his scrap book.

Runners up include Harry Potter and Hermione Granger; Ronald Weasley and Lavender Brown. Amazingly, the trio’s tendency to be in the spot light turned them all into great dancers as well. The best one being Harry Potter as he led the gang in a free for all during the Cha cha slide.

The picture now showed Harry at the head of the triangle, busting a move with his friends behind him. Grinning, Harry skipped the rest about the ball and turned to the interviews section.

This week we interviewed Ron Weasley, member of the upcoming Sorcerer’s Circle tournament.

“Ron, you didn’t tell me you were being interviewed!” Harry scolded, looking over the paper at his friend, who was in the process of eating a biscuit.

“Hm?” He swallowed and waved him off. “It’s kind of embarrassing.”

“I guess I can understand that.” Harry considered, shrugging. “Oh well, congrats anyway.”

“Thanks.”

Colin: So, Ron, How does it feel to be part of the Sorcerer’s Circle?

Ron: Pretty good, I mean, we’re supposed to be elite, right? I bet my parent’s are proud. *grins *

Colin: That’s true. Do you think your team will go far?

Ron: Go far? Ha! We’ll win this thing!

Colin: Brave words. You that confident about winning? Do you think your teammates will do as well as you hope?

Ron: Harry never ceases to surprise me. We are known for being a team and I have no doubts he will deliver what is expected of him. Hermione is also one of the smartest girls in school. If anyone can make me confident, it’s her. Ginny… well she’s my sister; she has never disappointed me and never will.

Collin: What about Draco Malfoy? It’s no secret that your friends and he are worst enemies.

Ron: Malfoy isn’t being as big of a –expletive deleted- as he used to be, and is actually working quite well with us. I still don’t think we’ll be ‘friends’ any time soon, but Malfoy can hold his own and won’t be a weak link in our team.

Colin: Words of a true Wizard. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer and you hold the key to victory. Ron, I wish you the best of luck in the tournament.

Ron: thanks, Colin.

Colin: Summing up in one word, how can you describe your plans on winning?

Ron: …Strategy.

Harry clapped a hand on Ron’s shoulder and gave him a brief nod with a grin. Ron responded by returning his attention to his food, but held a smirk that showed he was proud of himself as well. Flipping the page, Harry looked at the interview with the teachers, this time being professor Flintwik.

“Hey Harry!” Hermione greeted, kissing his cheek as she sat next to him and getting a grin from all the guys around her. “Oh, go back to breakfast.” She teased them all. “You’re just jealous I don’t peck you on the cheek in the mornings.”

The males grumbled to themselves, but went back to eating and reading their mail like usual. Harry, however, smiled at Hermione and gave her a Daily Prophet that an owl dropped off to him for her. She took it with a smile and started to drink her latté while reading. Harry smiled at her

~**~

Ron groaned as they approached the tower to their Divination class. Hermione smiled and took her arms from her two guys’ and turned to walk backwards a little bit. “You boys should have dropped when I did.” She grinned at them and turned at the next corner, making sure to move in a cross between seductive and casual. The girl smiled to herself when she felt their eyes on her as she departed.

“Since when did Hermione walk like that?” Ron asked, unsure whether to be amazed, turned on, or just plain scared.

“You should see her in bed.” Harry said without thinking. “An animal.”

“…..”

“…Was that out loud?”

“An ANIMAL!?”

Harry looked at his watch. “Whoops, look at the time, we’re gonna be late!” And with that, he took off down the hall laughing.

“Yo, Harry, mate!” Ron called after him, trying to keep up. “Details man, come on!”

~**~

“At least admit she was great.” Ron asked/told Harry in a whisper while Trelawny talked about reading the ‘inner self’ and how to visualize it.

“Oh she’s great,” Harry grinned, also whispering, “She’s perfect.”

Ron smirked. “But an animal?”

Harry looked away. “Let’s pretend I never said that.”

“Oh no, man, if you lose your virginity before me, I’m sure as heck going to hear about it!”

“Potter, Weasley, would you demonstrate for us please?” Trelawny asked, making the two boys jump to their feet.

“Of course.” Ron stammered, looking at Harry in panic.

“Errrr….”

“Colour of auras.” One of Harry’s friends whispered helpfully up to them.

“Right.” Harry nodded. “Ron was just telling me how you are, er,” He paused a second and closed his eyes.

“Red, sweetie.”

“Yes, that’s right, red.” Harry continued, making Ron’s eyes go wide and getting an impressed look on Trelawny’s face. “You see,” He went on to venture. “Ron and I were discussing how this room makes us feel…”

“…Purple is what you are looking for, but I would say orange if you don’t want detention.”

“Orange. Yes, most definitely orange.”

Ron gave Harry a weird look, but quickly shifted it. “Yes, I feel that way too.” Ron added in, trying to play along smoothly. “We were in discussion about it, when you called on us. That’s why we were a bit surprised.”

Trelawny looked as if she had just gained two new favourite students. “Thirty points to Gryffindor!” She congratulated, obviously impressed. “Now, follow these boys’ example and write down your own ideas about your aura colours and turn in Wednesday. Weasley and Potter are exempted, of course, for telling us in class, as you all will be doing next meeting.”

‘Thanks, Cecilia.’ Harry thought to his friend.

“Next time I won’t help you out in class.” She scolded him. “I just didn’t want to see you embarrassed.”

‘Thanks Just the same, I don’t know how I got by without you.’

“Honestly, I don’t either, Harry. I don’t either.”

The bell rang then, signaling the end of the class. Ron immediately clapped his friend on the back and gave him the thumbs up. “Harry, my friend,” he began, “I don’t know how you did it, but I’m glad ya did it! Come on, let’s sneak off to Hogsmeade and I’ll buy you lunch!”

“Score! Come on, let’s grab the shades!”

~**~

Hermione walked into the room she shared with Harry, tossed her book bag beside her on the bed and then took off her shoes. On her way to the mirror, she stripped herself of her robes and untucked her shirt. “Harry?” She called out, suddenly realizing that he wasn’t snoring from his usual post-Divination nap. “Where arrreeeee yyyooooouuuuu?” Hermione gripped the curtains of Harry’s bed and yanked them back. “Found you! Huh?” On his bed was a folded piece of parchment. Confused, Hermione reached down and picked it up. After unfolding it, she read the words to herself.

Hermione,

Me and Ron did great in Divination today and even got our house 30 points! In honour of our good job in class, we are cutting charms and going to Hogsmeade to celebrate. I’ll bring you back some quills, love!

~Harry

“In honour of doing well you’re cutting class to celebrate!?” Hermione asked, amazed. “Harold James Potter, you are such an idiot!”

~**~

Harry waved good bye/goodnight to Ron as they parted at the top of the stairs. As it turned out, their little ‘lunch’ had turned into a ‘Let’s shop around!’ and then into an ‘I’ll buy us Dinner since you got Lunch’ and finally came down to an ‘Oh crap, we gotta get back!’

Opening the door to his room slowly, Harry crept in as silently as he could. It was pitch black inside the room, but his sunglasses had an illumination charm on them, making him able to see in the darkness. Slowly, Harry took off his jeans and then his shirt, pushing them into the corner of his room that doubled as his dirty cloths hamper. Now that he was in his usual sleeping attire, Harry wished his dragon friend a good night and took off his sunglasses. The room was immediately plunged into darkness. Harry felt his way to the curtains of his bed and pulled them back, only to see Hermione leaning back in the bed, reading by wand light.

“About time.” She said with a sigh. “I was wondering how long you’d be out there before getting in bed.

Harry sighed. “Should have known. You didn’t have to wait up for me, you know.” He hopped into his bed and sat next to her, placing an arm around her shoulders. “What are you reading?”

“Your dragon book.” She informed him, closing it after bookmarking her place. “Harry, we’re prefects, sometimes we’ve got to act like them you know?”

He considered it. “I guess you’re right. Hey! Just yesterday I took five points away from Hufflepuff because a first year pushed another kid down!”

Hermione arched an eyebrow. “And then what?”

He blushed lightly. “I taught the other kid how to do a tickling spell to get even…”

She sighed. “That’s what I mean, Harry, you’re too… too…”

“Irresistible?” he helped, tilting his head to the side.

“Yeah! And it’s… Harry!” She swatted at him, making him laugh and move out of the way. “I’m serious here! You need to start doing your job. The first years look up to you.”

“Yeah, ever since we stopped playing tricks on them.” That earned him a glare. “Oops.”

Hermione sighed. “I guess that’s just you. Playful, irresponsible Harry Potter.”

“You love me.”

“Somehow.” Hermione held up her wand. “Nox.” The light on her wand dimmed slowly and then went out all together. “Well we need to turn in now. Tomorrow we have a Sorcerer’s meeting and we’ll probably train a lot before Friday. Then we’re going to study for our N.E.W.T.S all together so we can help each other out.”

Harry smiled and got under the covers. “Wow, you always think ahead don’t you?”

“I try.” Hermione leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Sweet dreams, love.”

“You too, Herms.”

The pair snuggled close together and was soon in a deep slumber.

~**~

Hermione opened her eyes quickly when she felt a sudden jerk around her waist. Rolling over, she snatched her wand from the bed side dresser and shouted out “Lumos!”, only to be greeted with the terrifying sight of Harry Potter having one of his legendary nightmares. This one, however, seemed to be much, much worse than his others.

Harry gripped the bed sheets and pulled on them as his back arched into the air. He let out a horrid scream of pain and suffering. He pulled the sheets on their bed so hard they began to tear. Hermione tried to help him by embracing him in a hug, but whenever she got close he would yell again and jerk away.

Hermione yelped when she noticed that his eyes were wide open, but unseeing. Harry rolled off of the bed and landed on his knees, bending over and grasping his head with both of his hands. “Don’t!” He yelled terrified.

Hermione tried to place a hand on him, but Harry shouted again and spasmed as if hit by a spell. “Make it stop!” Harry suddenly whispered, as he curled into a fetal position, eyes shut tight. “Make it stop! Make it stop!” He shook his head violently a moment before calming down. Hermione once gain tried to reach him, but he started to talk again. “Move. Move. Move. Move! Move! Move! Move! Come on, Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! They are all counting on me! Move! Move! Move! Move! There’s no point to this so come on already! Move!”

Harry opened his eyes.

“Harry?” Hermione asked the boy as he slowly moved to sit on his knees and place a hand on his head, covering his scar. “Are you okay? Harry?”

“I saw it.” He spoke calmly. “I saw him. Voldemort. He’s going to attack...”

“Harry, listen to me.” Hermione gripped his shoulders and made him look at her. “It was a nightmare.” She took Harry’s hands into hers and gasped when she felt them. Looking down at his hand, she saw blood. Slowly she looked up to his forehead, where his scar was bleeding.

“Dragons can’t see the future.” He told her calmly. “But with my link with Voldemort and Cecilia’s power, we did it some how…” He stood and walked over to his desk, picked up a quill and started writing on a parchment. Hermione, used to this after a nightmare, went to her trunk and got out her massage oil and incense.

“We’re skipping a few classes tomorrow.” She informed him. “You are going to sleep in and I’m going to make sure you do it.”

“Hm.”

Hermione gathered her things and went to Harry’s bed. She set her things down and picked up a washcloth. Tapping her wand to it, she muttered a few choice words and was pleased to find it damp and cool. She walked over to Harry again and placed it on his forehead. His scar usually burned when he slept, but this was the first time it actually bled. He didn’t show any sign of realizing what she was doing, but chose instead to talk to himself.

Quite literally.

“Cecilia, he came in an open area with lots of people. The Quidditch pitch? Yeah, that sounds about right. Also there were banners. Lots of them. I can’t remember what they said… okay, yeah… And Sirius was there, as well as Lupin. They were next to each other. Sirius was wearing a black cloak with red lining. Lupin was wearing the same thing in grey…”

“Harry, love, can Cecilia remember your dreams?”

“No,” Harry replied, pausing a second to turn and look at her. “She can only see things in my mind, so…” Hermione arched an eyebrow, making Harry sigh. “I’ll tell you later, let me finish this.”

Hermione nodded and started to prepare her massaging things. A few minutes later Harry took out a second parchment and wrote a letter to Sirius on it. When it was done, he folded the two together and inserted them into an envelope. Standing, he stretched out. “It feels so much better after writing it down.” He informed her with a small smile. “It makes me feel better that I’m doing something about it.” The tired boy then lay on his bed, face down.

Soon he found Hermione’s warm hands on his back, making him moan. “You’re muscles are tight.” She told him softly, sitting on his waist and rubbing them a little more firmly. “Relax, Harry. It’s okay now. You did your part.”

“Yeah…” He agreed, taking a long breath. “You’re right… I guess it’s time I told you about Cecilia isn’t it?”

“Past time.” She confirmed, pausing a bit to Nox the lights; once again casting them into darkness. “Take your time.”

Harry nodded lightly, letting the incense dull his mind. “I guess you already know she’s my necklace.” He heard her reply with an ‘mmhmm’ before he continued. “You see, Cecilia was a dragon a long time ago. She looked after a village for a long, long time. Some time ago, not sure just how long, she fought against Voldemort. After holding him off for a while, he finally broke through her defenses and changed her into a necklace. She talks to me through some kind of ‘mind speak’.”

“Did she also change your eyes and hair and body?” She asked, rubbing his arms now, paying attention to every finger while she did so.

“Yeah,” Harry nodded into the pillow. “She takes my power from me and stores it. That’s how she can have enough power to move around and talk to me. However, when she teaches me magic, I have to use her power to cast anything that’s dragon magic. When I take power from her, it changes my body to suit its form. Hence my growth spurt and new muscles. She gave me dragon’s vision the day after we met. Sort of a meeting gift.”

“She sounds nice.”

“She is. Her real name is Celestial. I call her Cecilia as a nickname.” Harry paused a moment. “She said it’s nice to meet you.”

“Her too.” Hermione smiled. “Anything else?”

“Not tonight.” He pleaded. “My mind’s too buzzed for anything else. Just ask me questions later, okay?”

“Sure thing.”

So Hermione finished her massage slowly for him in silence. When done, she noticed he was already asleep again. Gathering her things, she placed them next to the bed and sighed. “Poor boy,” she said, running a finger over his scar, flaking off some dried blood. “What kind of dream could be so bad that it made your scar bleed?” She let her hand trail over his jaw line before resting on his cheek. “Don’t worry, Harry, I’m here for you.” Hermione leaned down and kissed his scar. “And your friends are, too. We won’t let anything happen to you. Ever.”

~**~

It’s creepy how time flies when you don’t want it to. Harry was all too familiar with this phenomenon, and it once again was haunting him... Tuesday and Wednesday just seemed to fly right past him. Thursday went by in the blink of an eye and Friday was now upon him. The classes shot past, and he soon found himself walking down to the Quidditch changing room.

He was currently pulling on his gloves as he paced, making his teammates even more nervous. He had on his black shirt with the cut off jacket that Lupin had given him. Also he had on the jeans and red bandana that billowed out behind him while he paced. Of course Celestial was on his chest, held there by the silver necklace. To help calm his nerves, he thought back to talking to Sirius the night before. Professor Lupin had called him to his office that night and he was greeted by his Godfather’s face in the fire. Although they talked mainly about his nightmare, it was still good to see that he was doing okay.

“Calm down.” Malfoy said, glaring. “You’re creeping me out, Potter.”

“Save it.” Ron snapped. “The whole school will be watching. I’m kind of creeped myself.”

“It’s time, guys.” Ginny said, poking her head in the male changing room and cutting off any replies they might have made. The three nodded and began walking to the door, following Ginny and Hermione. A moment later they stopped at the door leading outside, waiting to be introduced.

Harry took a deep breath as he looked at the door in front of him. He had stood there many times before, but this was the first time he was going to be walking out instead of flying on a broom stick. To his right he felt Hermione take his hand and give it an uncertain squeeze. To his left he could hear Ron taking steadying breaths. Malfoy stood behind him, whispering random spells and strategies to himself. Only Ginny stood in front of him, looking at the door head on. Although she looked brave, he could almost literally feel the nervousness coming from all four of the seventh year students and the single sixth year.

It was time for the tournament to begin, and they were up first against the Blitz Team. The crowd could be heard from inside the small room, usually used for Quidditch players, clearly. The entire school was watching. Friday afternoon classes were cancelled and everyone showed up. The stands were never this full, not even for the Quidditch matches. The only time Harry could remember hearing so many people yell was the time he was in the Tri-wizard tournament. On the outside he could hear Professor Lupin’s voice announcing the beginning of the tournament. Swallowing, Harry looked at the door again and watched the bottom of it rise, showing light as it did.

Hermione gave his hand one last squeeze before letting go and walking out of the room. He heard Lupin announce Hermione Granger and the deafening screams that followed. Soon Ron’s name was called along with his sister’s. Even more people cheered them on as they joined Hermione. Next Malfoy’s name was called. Not many people cheered for him, but the crowd was still going wild with excitement. Finally Harry heard his name being called and he too joined his friends outside of the small room.

It was amazing. Simply amazing. The stands were somehow magically lowered for a better view of the field and there was a huge display in the air of the humongous stone slabs on the ground. The stage formed a perfect circle, but was so large Harry knew that not many matches would be won by a ring out. Taking his attention to the screen in the air, Harry pondered how it worked, but Hermione voiced her thoughts aloud. It was her reaction to being nervous. “It’s quite simple,” she said, looking at it. “Just a simple cloud with a light reflection spell on it. Kind of like a mirror.”

“Yeah, and I bet it will reflect us once we begin fighting.” Malfoy spoke, fingering his robes. “Man, all these people watching… As if Quidditch wasn’t bad enough…”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “You’re stage shy? What about all those games you played?”

Malfoy smirked. “Kicking your ass always got me through.” But it was said lightly, and the boy turned to offer an unsure smirk to his worst enemy turned partner. Harry returned the smirk with his own trademark lopsided smile.

“And their opponents, the Blitz Team!” A new voice rang out. Surprisingly it was Lee Jordan. Harry shook his head with a smile. He probably came to watch and ended up begging the head master to help do the play by play. With this thought, Harry turned to look at the crowd and realized that the stands hadn’t been lowered as he had originally thought; there was a whole new set of stands around the area. Which could only mean that this tournament was going to be viewed by more than just the school. Sure enough, when Harry looked, he saw the Weasley clan with a huge sign displaying all their names except Malfoy’s.

“The leader of the team,” Lee went on with his commentary, “is the lovely Ashley from Hufflepuff!” More cheers were called out as the girl walked to the platform as well. “Following is none other than the Ravenclaw Rebecca!” Another girl walked out and smiled, holding her hands in the air. “Look out because Gallows is coming out next! This six foot five giant is in the house of Hufflepuff!” All the girls in the stands seemed to call out his name at the same time, making the boy look down and blush. “Next are the brothers Jet and Kei!” Two more boys walked from the other side of the arena.

“Yes it’s a great day to open the first ever Sorcerer’s Circle tournament.” Lee went on while the two teams stood at opposite ends of the circle. “The rules are simple. You lose by either being knocked out of the ring or being knocked on the ground for ten seconds or more.”

“That does not include lying down voluntarily!” Lupin reminded good naturedly.

“That’s right, professor.” Lee nodded and continued. “The first match will be set in a cave stage. Spectators can look at the image above the area for a close up of the players. Please take note that once the contestants are in the area, they will not be able to hear what you are saying.”

Lupin took up then. “Special rules of this match are: if you lose your wand or are injured too badly to continue, you are out of the match. There is a thirty minute time limit. If it comes to it, the winner will be chosen by our judges.” Here the professor pointed to his right, where several teachers were sitting, including Dumbledore himself. “Contestants at your ready!” Ashley walked up the four stairs leading to the stone circle and stood at the rim. Her teammates cheered her on with the crowd.

“I’ll go first.” Hermione said, determined. She walked to the stairs and turned back to her friends, giving them a smile and a peace sign. “I won’t make you wait long.” And with that, she too stepped onto the arena.

“She’s brave, isn’t she?” Ron asked nobody in particular, but was amazed to find Malfoy answer him.

“I was wrong about her,” he said, not looking at anyone. “Maybe I didn’t give her enough credit.”

Ron nodded to himself, not looking at him. Ginny, however, smiled contentedly to herself and allowed herself to stand next to him, discreetly taking his hand with two of her fingers and giving a squeeze, showing that she was proud of him. Malfoy, however, didn’t show any signs of this other than a very light and curt nod.

The stage shifted quickly around her, giving her a queasy feeling. When it was done, Hermione opened her eyes to see what appeared to be the inside of a cave. There were transparent walls around her, showing where the ring ended. She looked across the field and was surprised to see a solid looking wall not twenty feet from her. It seemed that the area was completely shifted into a cave. No, a water side cave. The floor was completely covered in a clear blue liquid. Gathering her nerves, she stepped forward, cringing as the cold water soaked into her shoes and socks. The sound of dripping water was all around her, making her realize for the first time that she couldn’t hear anyone else. Taking a deep breath, she began to run into the cave.

~**~

“I thought the first match was in a forest!” Ron whispered to Harry when he saw Hermione through the transparent walls. “What’s with this?!”

“They are changing the stage with each match.” Harry suddenly realized. “Of course it won’t be the first thing we see! Ron, there are 5 stages set in there already. We only saw one of them!”

Ron slapped his forehead in frustration. “And we spent all that time learning how to navigate a forest for nothing!”

~**~

‘Okay, think logically.’ She thought as she navigated through the cave. ‘The area is inside the Quidditch pitch; therefore it can’t be too incredibly big. At my pace, assuming she is doing the same, we should cross paths soon. Somewhere about… here.’

Hermione ducked behind a large stone slab and pressed her back up against it. She could feel the cold water soaking into her back and realized that the rock was covered in water as well. There was a steady drip falling on it. Footsteps soon mixed with the sounds of dripping water, telling her that Ashley was on her way. When the footsteps stopped, Hermione judged the position and sprang from her shelter, yelling ‘Tidus’ as she did so.

Water shot from the tip of her wand and crashed into Ashley. Hermione grinned and pulled her wand back, stopping the flow. What she saw afterwards, however, made her grin freeze in place. Ashley was completely dry; a slightly damp shield was manifested in front of her. “Thundara!”

Hermione yelped as the lighting struck her and caused her to fly back several feet and into the stone wall. Being wet, she felt the tingling sensation of the shock long after it was over. Grunting in determination, Hermione got up and rolled over in time to avoid another spell of the same variety. With a flash of her wand and a short “Bendigous!”, Hermione sent a flash of rocks toward the other girl. Once again, however, a sort of curved shield appeared in front of Ashley, making Hermione’s attack useless.

“Expelliarmus!” The blast hit Hermione square in the chest, making her fly once again into the wall. The girl, however, still gripped her wand with a hold that was turning her knuckles white.

“That’s not going to work.” Hermione breathed heavily, forcing her wand to rise again. “Eathious.”

The ground under Ashley rocketed upwards, but the shield was transferred to her feet, stopping the stone spikes from imprisoning the blond woman. “Nice try, but I can control where my shield goes.” Ashley informed her, once more performing a spell. “Lundous!”

Hermione screamed as she felt the walls cave in on her. Falling to her knees, she brought her hands to her head and prepared for the impact. After a few seconds, her mind kicked in past her blind panic and she remembered that it was a sensory delusional spell that had been cast on her. Grasping her courage, Hermione stood and ran forward. The walls stopped moving, and Ashley was shocked enough to let her run right past her.

Turning, Hermione held out her hand “Nemus!”

Ashley quickly turned and put up the shield again. To her surprise, Hermione grinned and soon Ashley felt the spell crash into her from behind. “Wha…?” Slowly, the shield went down and Ashley found herself starting to fall asleep. With a slow turn, the blond saw Hermione’s wand wedged in between two rocks where she had just been kneeling. “You used your wand to deflect the spell…?”

Ashley fell and hit the ground, her wand rolling from her grasp.

“Hermione Granger wins the match with the sleeping spell!” Lee yelled out, using the power of magic to amplify his voice.

The walls and stone around her faded away slowly, allowing Hermione to once again see the outside world. The crowd was going wild, screaming her name over and over again. The Gryffindor retrieved her wand and started walking to her teammates as Ashley was helped off of the field.

“Great job, Herms!” Harry instantly congratulated, hugging her.

“Ow! Harry, that hurts!”

“Sorry.”

“Hey, ‘Mione,” Ron grinned, looking over her. “Loving the new look.

The abuse that she had taken, along with the lightning spell, had done quite a job on her. Her face was smudged with a few black marks and her hair was way out of control. The robes she wore were wet and clinging to her, along with her normal cloths as well. “Thanks Ron.” She slurred, sitting down. “I don’t feel so good.”

“In the freezing cold, no wonder.” Ginny stepped forward and cast a quick heating charm on her while Harry dried her clothes with a well thought out wind spell.

“The Marauders lead one to nothing!” Lupin shouted from the top box. “Next round contestants, please make your way to the arena!”

Ginny stepped forward. “My turn.”

“You sure you don’t want me to go?” Ron asked his sister, looking down at her. On the other side of the arena, Rebecca walked to the ring. “Ah, never mind, I can’t fight a girl as well as a guy.”

“So, what, you’re saying girls are weaker than guys!?” Hermione looked positively furious at the statement.

“No, no,” Ron covered smoothly. “You could kick my butt any day.”

This seemed to calm the chestnut haired girl down long enough for Ron to make a face at Harry, who quickly tried to stifle a laugh.

Ginny shook her head and walked up the stairs to the arena. Once at the top, she turned back to see her friends all grinning at her and cheering. Malfoy, however, simply met her eye and gave a light wave with the two forefingers of his right hand while his arms were crossed.

The arena shifted before Ginny’s eyes, and soon she found herself on an unsteady surface. Her balance was quickly lost and she fell onto her backside, looking dizzily up at the sky. “The rules for this match are simple.” The announcer’s voice came to her while she tried to stand up on what she suddenly realized was ice. “The first lady to fall into the water and completely submerge is the loser. Wand losses are acceptable and the player will only be out when either they are dunked or out of the ring.”

“Sounds fun.” Ginny said with a smirk.

“Ready!? FIGHT!”

Instantly the outside noise was cut off from Ginny’s ears and the sound of a harsh wind replaced it. The sky above them suddenly grew dark and snow started falling (not hard, but just enough to compromise vision and stability).

“Stabulus.” The bottom of Ginny’s feet grew small spikes that sank into the ice she was standing on. Surveying the arena, she realized they were more or less on what looked to be a frozen pond with more than ‘several’ holes in it. A better assumption would be water with a few floating blocks of ice on it.

Shaking her head, Ginny leapt to the nearest ice block and screamed when it tilted. Quickly she flailed her arms out in a windmill motion and regained her balance. “Dang!” She breathed, holding one hand to her chest and breathing.

“Eclosieptus!”

Ginny let out a sharp yell of pain when the block she was standing on exploded, sending her flying into the air. She found herself landing with a loud crack a few moments later. Her vision flashed with small black dots, making her mind go into medical mode. She knew she had hit her head a little too hard. With a quick spell, she could see again. Standing, she looked to see where her opponent was, but saw nothing but snow.

“En fuego!”

Ginny yelped as her feet started dancing to unheard music. Not a good thing when standing on a small, thin, sheet of ice on a pond. Thinking fast, she cast the anti curse and jumped to the next block of ice. The place where she had stood exploded into tiny chunks of ice. Ginny smiled as she twisted her body in the air like a cat, pointing her wand in the general direction where the attack had come from. “Firaga!”

Flames shot through the snow and a moment later, a female shrieked and jumped out of the way. Seeing her chance, Ginny ice hopped over to the other figure and landed on the same block of ice. “Rebecca.”

“Ginny.”

The two girls slowly circled as the ice block started to crack under their weight. Ginny attacked first, using her stabilization to her advantage. Quickly she was able to run the few steps forward needed to shove her opponent. Rebecca, however, saw a chance as well. Using her Sorceress’s hand-to-hand training, she grabbed Ginny’s hands and kicked her in the stomach. With the momentum sustained, Rebecca tossed Ginny over her shoulders.

Ginny’s eyes went wide as she realized what had just happened. There was a loud splash as Rebecca slid off the ice due to her own move. Ginny, however, realized that she had landed on a rather hard substance. It was solid and dry. Had she won and the ring turned back before she fell into the water?

No.

Ginny looked to her right, where she saw her opponent’s teammates. She was tossed out of the ring. Crossing her arms and giving the world her classic cute pout, she let out her frustration in a single, word. “Hmmph!”

“Ring out!” Lee called out, using his wand like a microphone. “But Rebecca also got submerged. Judges?” He, along with Lupin, looked to the judges, who just got out of a huddle.

“We declare it…” Dumbledore began, looking at the two females on the field. “A draw game.”

“Ah well, can’t win them all.” Rebecca said, wringing out her ponytail and walking over to her group. On the way she helped Ginny up and shook her hand, smiling. Ginny nodded back at her and gave her own smile. On her way to her teammates, she heard Jet ask Rebecca if she was all right and offer a few words of comfort. When she reached her group, however, all of them congratulated her soundly for doing so well. Ron, especially, was pleased with her and even gave her a hug. Harry patted her on the head and smiled, while Hermione was gushing over her choice of attacks and the spell for her shoes.

When things settled down a bit, Ginny stood next to Malfoy, who stayed in the same spot since she came back. Curiously, she looked up at him for his approval. In return, he gave a slight nod. In addition, much to Ginny’s surprise, he also gave her a side long glance and smiled a true, honestly proud smile.

She instantly felt her cheeks burn and turned her head.

“I’m up.” Ron declared, stepping forward before Harry had the chance to. “I’ll get us a win. If I do, then we win by default. Best three out of five, right?” Harry nodded at his friend, prompting him to continue. “Well then, I guess I better show them just what I’m made out of.”

“Better not.” Harry said sternly, making his friend turn with a hurt look on his face. Before Ron could say anything, Harry smirked and clapped his friend on the shoulder. “If you go all out, you just may kill them.”

Ron returned his friend’s smirk and placed his hand on Harry’s shoulder, opposite of the one Harry had on his. “I’ll try and take it easy on them.”

“You do that.”

The two young men then did a really spiffy looking ten second hand shake that ended with a loud “MARAUDERS!” Now prepped up, Ron leapt the stairs and looked across the area to see who his opponent was. A man by the name of Kei stood at the other end of the field. He was blond with sharp looking glasses and loose clothing. Ron nodded at him and got a nod back, showing it would be a good clean match.

“Hold this for me, will ya pal?” Ron asked, taking off his robes and tossing them off stage. Harry gave a small jump and snagged them out of the air. The older Weasley of the team was wearing a tight fitting long sleeve blackish blue shirt with matching fighting pants. At the current moment he was tightening the fit on dragon scale gloves that he got as a present from Charlie. All in all, he looked like quite the impressive fighter. Over the years he had gained muscle from the strain that being Harry’s friend seemed to come with.

“Ronald Weasley vs. Kei Smith! A straight forward one on one match up! The rules of this match are: Ten second down, ring out, wand loss, or surrendering. Ready!? FIGHT!”

Ron ran forward as soon as the words were said. As this was a straight forward match, the arena did not change for them and both could still hear the crowd cheering them on. It seemed like ages until the two boys clashed (as the arena was so big), but when they did, it was a show that Hogwarts wouldn’t forget for a long, long time.

Kei held out his wand, yelling out a spell that Ron didn’t quite hear. Instead of a hex coming out of the wand, however, a long whip emerged. The red head had little time to roll on the ground to avoid a crack of the whip. Ron did, however, think fast enough to throw out his legs and use his height to his advantage and trip Kei.

The Blitz team representative, however, was quick enough to pull off a hand spring and gain distance again. With another lash of the whip, Ron held out his wand and changed it into a sword with one magical word. The whip was sliced neatly in half and Ron charged forward, only to have an invisible wall erected in front of him.

Ron hit the wall full force, but regained his composure fast enough to side step a disarming charm from his opponent. Giving a quick spin, Ron lashed out his foot in a wide round house. Kei took the hit to his ribs and flew a good foot before rolling a few times. He, however, seemed to spin onto his feet and thrust out his wand, sending a small fireball at Ron, catching him full in the chest and forcing him to slide back several yards before stopping.

The two boys gasped for air while staring at each other. Ron had his free hand on his chest, covering the burn mark while Kei was clutching his ribs and leaning a bit to the side. After the five second breather, the boys ran at each other yet again and exchanged spells. Kei was first with his spell, shouting out a “Baksai tenketsu!” and making the ground in front of Ron explode.

The Marauder covered his eyes with his arms and charged through the explosion, surprising Kei enough to get in a good energy blast spell that sent him reeling. In mid air, Kei righted himself and formed a ball of magical energy in his hand and slung it at Ron, making him dive out of the way. Upon landing, another ball was released and clipped the red head on his leg, making him fall over.

Kei used a magical boost to make himself jump several feet into the air. At his peak, he transformed his wand into a whip again and began his descent to Ron, who was just standing.

“UP!” Harry screamed from the sidelines, successfully getting Ron to look into the air.

“Oh sod it all…” Ron said lightly as Kei’s whip lashed out against him. Gritting his teeth, Ron held out his arm and let the whip hit him and wrap around it. When the immediate pain was over, Ron grasped the whip and yanked it hard. Kei, not wanting to lose his wand, gripped his whip tightly; getting pulled as well. With a loud yell, Ron took his wand and aimed it right at Kei’ stomach. “EXPELLIARMUS!”

Kei gasped as the blast hit him, but quickly twisted his wand, making the whip encircle his wrist. The force from the blast sent him flying backwards and he felt his wrist pop with the strain. His plan, however, worked like a charm. Ron, still having the whip wrapped around his forearm, was pulled after him. Kei grabbed the whip with his free hand as they flew through the air and magicked it shorter. Next he twisted his body around so he was on top of Ron and kicked off.

Ron, under the new force of the kick, hit the arena floor and skidded a few times before rolling to a stop, arm hanging off the side of the stone floor. Kei also landed roughly and slid across the floor himself.

“Double down!” Lupin said from the top box.

“Counting now!” Lee added, starting to count while moving his hand in a counting motion.

“What the hell is that idiot teaching them in that class!?” Snape asked himself after seeing the melee moves.

“One! Two! Three!-“

“Get up Ron!” Hermione coached from the side.

“You can do it mate!” Harry added in loudly.

“SIX! SEVEN!”

“Ron!”

“EIGHT!”

“Kei is up!” Lupin shouted, getting their attention. The Blitzer ran toward Ron then.

“Uggghh….” Ron slowly got to his knees and looked to the side where Kei was charging. “Oh man…” He whispered, still winded from the attack. “No choice.” When Kei was about to push him off, Ron dropped, grabbed Kei’s shirt, and used the momentum to throw him out of the ring.

“Ring out!” Ginny shrieked, jumping on Harry’s shoulders and cheering.

“Match over!” Lupin called.

“Kei is the winner!” Lee continued for him. “What a close match!”

“What!?” the Marauder team, save Malfoy and Ron, shouted at the same time.

“Guys, he’s right.” Ron said, finally getting his breath back. “I was counted out before Kei was knocked out of the ring.”

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. He tried again, and then stopped a second time, finally he settled for kicking up grass on the field. It was true. Ron never did make it to his feet during the count.

“Hey, Ron…”

Ron looked over at Kei, who looked pretty roughed up. “Yeah?”

“Good fight man.” He held out his hand and Ron took it appreciatively.

“Ah. Next time I won’t go so easy on you.” He grinned

“Looking forward to it.” Kei returned the smirk before starting to limp his way back to his team members and getting glomped by a worried Ashley about half way there.

“Good match, pal.” Harry congratulated, putting an arm around him and helping him over to the stairs, where he sat down against them. “I’m impressed. You was all Jackie Chan on them!”

“Who?”

“It’s a compliment.” Hermione assured, giving Harry a weird look. “Ginny, I think his arm is hurt pretty bad…”

“No, it’s okay.” Ron waved them off with his good hand. “I’ll be treated after we win this thing.” He nodded at Harry. “Two more wins and we have it.”

“One win each and a draw.” Malfoy said aloud to himself. “Which means the first one to lose cannot win. But to be fair, both matches must be fought. What if the other team loses that one? It’ll be a draw game.”

“How about a two on two?” A voice called to them, drawing their attention to the area just above the stairs. Jet and Gallows stood there, looking at them with a smile. “Hell of a match, Ron!” Jet congratulated with a smirk. “I hope Harry and Malfoy can give us a good one too!”

“It sounds fair.” Harry said slowly, looking at the two challengers. “But I don’t know…”

“Draco and Harry won’t fight well together.” Ginny said a little nervously.

“It can’t be helped.” Malfoy started walking forward. “Come on Potter, it’s come to this.”

“Wait, I think we’ll need something if we’re going in on it as partners.” Harry suddenly said, looking to the castle. “Accio Marauder’s Sun Shades!”

~**~

“Two on two?” Lee asked Lupin in a whisper. “Is that okay?”

Professor Lupin nodded. “It’s fine, as long as both teams agree on it. “

A nod. “Okay then, let’s do it.” Once again he cast the voice amplification and spoke into his wand like a mic. “It’s been decided as a two on two match up! The Blitz team’s Jet and Gallows vs. the Marauder’s Harry and Malfoy!”

~**~

“What are these?” Malfoy asked, looking at the sunglasses/visor handed to him. “I don’t need eye protection.”

“Just put it on.” Harry said, tapping the glasses with his hand and whispering spells. “They’ll show us what we need to know. All out side artifacts are allowed.”

Malfoy looked at them and shrugged. He took a pair and slid it on. “Oh wow. No wonder you were always so good at sneaking around! With these, I could have…”

“I just got them.” Harry interrupted. “Only used them once and I got caught while doing it.”

“Guys!” Ginny broke up their conversation. “The match!”

“Oh, right.” Harry turned and walked up the stairs, followed by Malfoy. Their opponents were already at the other side of the arena.

“Rules for this match!” Lee shouted out like a professional, which he almost was. “Lose the wand, you lose the match! Lose consciousness, lose the match! Ring out, lose the match! Contestants READY!? FIGHT!”

The two teams rushed forward and into an instantaneous jungle. The sound from the outside was cut of as soon as the jungle was full around them.

“All right, they are splitting up.” Harry said, watching the dots on his map move. “I bet you anything they are going to regroup half way in to try and get us from both sides. They plan we’ll go straight.”

Malfoy nodded. “Let’s go left.”

“I think right would be a better place to start. Jet will be easier to take out.”

“Jet’s faster. Gallows will be a better target.”

Harry took a breath. “It’s a text book play.” He said calmly. “Take out the faster target first and they can’t give you trouble later.”

“But Gallows will fall easy!”

“Look Malfoy, I’m the leader of this team and I say we go after Jet!”

“You’re not the boss of me.” Malfoy countered. “I’ll be on the same team as you but I’ll be damned before I take orders from anyone anymore!” He pulled a rather large twig away from his face and looked back. “I think your plan will fail. Mine is a sure shot!”

“Not if we don’t work together!”

“Exactly. Let’s go left!” With that, Malfoy ran in that direction, jumping a fallen log and cutting through a little foliage.

“Malfoy! Sod it! I’m going right!”

~**~

“We are so dead.” Ron spat, kicking the dirt at his feet, making a little grass fly.

Ginny looked up at the large screen in the air, now split into four parts, and clasped her hands in front of her. “Draco…”

~**~

Harry jumped over a small brook on the ground and crouched behind a fallen tree, looking over it slightly to see the figure of Jet. His opponent was walking slowly, eyes scanning the area intensely. The shades on Harry’s face kept his figure outlined, flashing a ‘warning’ message where his compass normally should be. On the right side of his lens he saw Gallows, which meant that Malfoy had also found his prey. The only thing that bugged him was that in the time it took him and Malfoy to argue and find their intended opponents, they would have had plenty of time to regroup.

That could only mean one thing.

Harry jumped straight into the air as a magical blast hit where he was just standing. Jerking around, he landed in a one-armed hand spring and used the momentum to shoot into a tree. With a quick and well planned wind spell, he was able to climb high enough to gain a few precious seconds to think of what just happened. An image on his lens made him turnaround, however. He was now face to face with Malfoy. “I told you, you should have listened to me!” He accused, obviously mad. “We almost bit it back there!”

“Because you didn’t listen to me!” Harry spat back, poking his chest.

“I should have known better than to think we could be friends.” Malfoy glared at him, old hatred back in his eyes. “I gave you a shot and you’re not willing to cooperate!”

“Malfoy, you are the one being stubborn!”

The tree the two were standing on suddenly lurched, making the boys jump to safety. Harry used a wind spell to slow his decent while Malfoy grabbed a vine and slid down. When the two were on solid ground again, each shot a blast of energy towards the origin of the attack.

Gallows and Jet took cover behind the same fallen tree Harry had earlier. The two Marauders were forced to lay in a small trench with water in it, backs pressed against the moss covered dirt. “This is pathetic.” Harry groaned, seeing a few energy spells shot over their heads.

“No, you’re pathetic. We would have won by now if you listened to me! Geeze were you born this stupid or did you have to work for it!?”

Oh that did it.

Harry grabbed Malfoy’s collar and moved him so they were face to face. “Do you want to finish what we started last year!?” He yelled at him furiously.

“You’re still pissed because Slytherin won the house cup last year, aren’t you?” Malfoy accused, glaring. “Slytherin is better anyway!”

“Gryffindor!”

“Slytherin!”

“Gryffindor!”

“Slytherin!”

“Gryffindor!”

The two glared at each other a moment before each giving off their own little smirk. “Left!” Harry suddenly yelled, moving out of the way as a disrupting blast hit right where they once were.

“Right!” Malfoy suddenly said, once again moving with Harry to avoid the second shot. They then looked at each other and let out a war cry together. “Get’m!”

The two boys jumped from the trench and ran at their opponents. A blast shot straight for them, but both leapt to the side and rolled in perfect timing. Malfoy jumped into their air, getting a boost from Harry’s wind spell. With his new height advantage, Malfoy targeted Jet and grinned to himself. “Show them how it’s done, Christina! Holy Fire!” Blue flame surrounded Malfoy for a moment before channeling to his wand and blasting the frozen opponent.

“Don’t forget about me!” Harry yelled, holding out his hand. “Cecilia, Wind of the Faye!” The air around Harry ripped out behind him before shooting at Gallows. The pressure knocked him into a flaming Jet and then into a tree.

“Ha!” Malfoy snorted with a triumphant grin when he landed. “Take that!”

“Don’t forget that they have the title ‘sorcerer’.” Harry reminded, scanning the field.

Instantly Malfoy was serious again. “You’re right. They are no longer on my visor. Back to back.”

Harry nodded briefly and stood behind Malfoy, each slowly turning and looking around. “You see them?”

“Not yet. They must be hiding behind something really thick to jam our lock on them.”

“Either that or they realized what we were doing and put a blocking shield around themselves.”

“Jerks.”

“Heh, you said it. Above!”

The two leapt to the side as two more figures landed where they just were. Harry was blasted with a stunning spell while Malfoy suffered an energy blast. Both flew backwards a good six feet before falling and skidding to a halt. Unconsciously, the seconds ticked off in Harry’s mind while he struggled to stand. His body felt heavy and he knew that he lost his speed until he could shake the effects of the spell off of him. Looking over, he saw Jet and Gallows nod to each other and prepare another spell to finish them off. Groaning, Harry held out both of his hands, forming a shield around him. Jet’s spell fizzled on his shield, giving Harry the chance he needed.

Dashing forward, Harry moved his hand to the side and flicked his wrist, sending his wand into his hand. Jumping, Harry mouthed his spell out and a blade of wind formed at the tip of his wand. Gallows, however, reacted fast enough to draw up his wand and begin the disarming charm.

That’s when Harry’s world blurred.

Instantly he found himself to be moving so fast, his enemies literally looked like they were standing still. With ease, Harry slashed both of them with his wind sword. His feet touched the ground lightly, but the ground gave way under him, leaving two small dents. A blink later, he seemed to be at normal speed again. Turning, he looked at his opponents, pleased to find them both on the ground. His sword was pure concentrated wind. When struck, it would compress the air in their lungs, making them feel as if they were suffocating. A quick and effective way of downing an opponent.

Harry sheathed his wand back into his holster on his arm and turned to Malfoy, who looked quite smug. “Not so bad, man.” He told Harry, offering his hand.

“Not so bad yourself, Malfoy.”

“After six years, you think you’d learn that my name is Draco, you idiot.”

“And mine’s Harry.” He took the offered hand and shook it. They let go quickly and turned to look opposite ways while the trees around them faded and dissolved.

“Nice hair, Harry.” A voice whispered to him.

“Huh?” Harry reached to finger comb his hair, but gasped when he realized that it went well past his shoulders. “What the…”

~**~

“You did it!” Hermione screeched, jumping on him in a huge hug. “Way to go Harry!”

“Hey, save some for me!” Ron grinned, yelling just as loud and hugging Harry as well, soon followed by Ginny.

“It’s over! It’s over!” Lee shouted happily. “The Marauders won! The Marauders!” The stands were going crazy as they all flooded onto the field and formed around the ring.

Draco smirked to himself as he saw the people cheer for them. It was the first time the entire crowd was yelling for him, and it felt good. It was no secret on Quidditch, Slytherins booed everyone but themselves and everyone booed the Slytherins. Now, however, he heard many people shouting his name and screaming how well they fought. It didn’t just feel good. It felt great.

“Draco!”

Draco turned and smirked at Ginny. “Hey.”

“Great job!” She proclaimed as she leapt at him and gave him a hug in front of everyone.

“Hey, hey,” He started, actually blushing. “Everyone is looking!”

“I don’t care, you did wonderfully!”

“Yo, Draco!” Harry called playfully while the Blitz team walked over to them. “Better watch out for Ron!” Ron was too busy celebrating with Lavender, who had somehow managed to get past the crowd and onto the stage.

“Good game, guys.” Jet said when he reached them. “It was fun.”

“Yeah,” Agreed Rebecca with a smile. “I’ll work hard from now on.”

“Nice teamwork.” Gallows grinned at them.

“And strategy.” Kei and Ashley said at the same time, making them blush.

“Hey, you guys did great too!” Harry said, shaking Ashley’s hand. “I am proud to have faced you first.”

Suddenly Harry found himself lifted into the air by Fred and George. They all laughed while Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and surprisingly Draco were lifted into the air as well. Ron looked down at Charlie and Bill, who were keeping him up. “Glad you guys could make it.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, little bro.” Bill said with a wink.

“Yeah!” Charlie shouted over all the noise. They were now crowd surfing toward the door. “As soon as we heard they were letting people not in school watch the tournament, we came as soon as we could!”

“We’ll talk later!” Ron shouted as he was moved atop the crowd.

~**~

“Harry, when did your hair get so long?” Hermione asked him when they were in the changing room.

Harry ran a hand threw it. “I don’t know…When I was fighting, I suddenly felt like I was moving so fast… It was as if…” Harry’s eyes widened. “That’s it!”

Hermione blinked. “What’s it?”

“It’s so clear!” Harry continued as if she never spoke. “Why didn’t I see it before!?”

“See what before?” She demanded.

“Draco!” Harry told her as if it was obvious. “The way his hair got so long over the summer! Why when we talked on the rain, it seemed fast for me but hours for you! His ring! What did he call out? Christina? Yes, that was it! An angel! The blessed being that can alter time!”

“Time?” She echoed.

“Very well done.” Celestial congratulated him. “That young man’s helper is an angel put under the same spell as I was.”

Harry nodded. “That explains how he once beat up six Slytherins who tried to jump him that one time!” He looked at Hermione. “Ginny told me about it! Did you not notice how his hair always seemed to be getting longer? It has to be a side effect of time altering!”

“Kind of like how you don’t get younger when using a time turner, but you still actually age while you’re in the past?”

“Exactly.” Harry agreed, nodding and pacing. “He can’t go back in time, but he can alter the current state and make time flow faster around himself. As a side effect of moving so fast in time, his hair grows abnormally quick!”

Hermione looked proud. “I’m impressed, Harry. You figured that out on your own?”

He blushed lightly, holding his necklace. “Well, Cecilia helped me a little.”

“A little?” she asked his mind indignantly. “I all but told you! You just didn’t figure it out.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Harry waved her off. “Thanks anyway.” He grinned.

~**~

“Charlie, Bill!” Harry exclaimed, walking into the common room. “Fred! George! You guys made it!”

“It’s been ages since I’ve been in here.” Bill said standing and shaking Harry’s hand. “I wasn’t about to miss it.”

“We came for the tournament,” George (or was it Fred?) continued with a grin. “But we’re gonna party!”

Harry shook his head and laughed a little. “I’d love to guys, but I’m kind of beat. Jumping around like that and all. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Would, but we gotta leave before tonight’s over with. Dumbledore doesn’t know we’re here.” Charlie nodded at him. “But you’re welcome to come by any time and see me.”

“Thanks.” Harry grinned. “I just might do that. Nice seeing you again guys.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m turning in too.” Hermione stood. “I’ve had a long day as well.”

“’Night, ‘Mione.” Ron called, waving. “I’m gonna stay and chat with my brothers for a bit.”

“Nighty night!”

Harry smiled at Hermione and took her hand to lead her up the stairs, getting a few ‘ooh’s’ from the Weasley clan in the process. “Ah, shadup or I’ll teach you guys a lesson in manners!” Harry threatened them playfully.

“I’ll teach you something, Harry.” Hermione whispered seductively up at him with a wink. “There’s a reason I came with you…”

“Please, Teacher.” Harry grinned, pulling her into the room and closing the door.

“Harry!?” Charlie asked, amazed.

“The girls go nutters over him.” Ron sighed, shaking his head. “Quite annoying, really. I walked in on them once. Not a pretty sight let me tell you.”

“I don’t know which would be worse, having to hear them or being in potions class.” Bill laughed to himself.

“Potions definitely.” Ron answered his older brother. “Last time he made us clean our cauldrons out completely without magic, to show us dedication in our trade. By the all mighty Tuesday I hate doing that!”

The room full of read heads all had a good laugh at that before grinning and catching up together as a family.

~~**~~

A/N wow, about 11,200 words this time. Heh, I guess it’ll make up a bit for chapter five, huh? Sorry again about that one being so short. Anyway, let’s see. What’s new, what’s new… well I’m changing the names of the chapters a bit. After midnight will be this chapter: “Wake” followed by “Rise, Walk, Run, Lay, Sleep.” That’s 12 chapters in all. I’m assuming that should be enough to finish this up. Sleep may be an epilog, however. I’m not quite sure yet.

OKAY! Listen up guys; this is where you make your impact on this story! I’m holding a contest to see what stages the gang should fight on next. What you need to do, if you want to enter, is send an email to: Satashi@scifianime.com with the subject: BoF: Tournament Stages. In the subject of the email, tell me the type of field you want to see them fight on and any catches or cool things the stage can do. Don’t be shy, email as many ideas as you want. I’ll pick out quite a few of them, and give you credit in the authors notes at the end of the chapter ^_^. Don’t hold back, and let the ideas flow!

Also, I would like to take this time to say a very heart felt “Thanks” to everyone at Port key who has reviewed this story. 140 reviews as of right now….Guys, I don’t know what to say. I mean… thanks a lot. I don’t look at my story much there besides uploading so I didn’t think I had any reviews. Well, when I saw them, quite by accident, and I had 132 it was just…. Wow. Thanks guys, because of all of you, I feel motivated to write more and faster if at all possible.

A new shout out goes to Babygrrl, my new beta reader. I’m sure a lot of you noticed that my usual grammar errors and things were fixed this time. Thanks and credit goes to her! Domo arigato gozaimasu, Sempai! You made this fanfic that much better (if it was good to begin with :-p)

Next chapter will start by explaining Draco’s ring and powers, as well as giving a look at his life and just why he ran from his home and isn’t with Voldemort right now. I know some of you don’t really like Draco, or his pairing with Ginny, but he’s an essential part of this story and I feel it’s high time he gets some limelight and an explanation. Don’t worry, though, from what I have planned, even if you don’t Like Draco, you’ll still be entertained.

OH! And if I confused a few of you by the sudden switch of ‘Malfoy’ to ‘Draco’, it’s because that Harry now calls him by his first name after they because ‘friends’, and I feel it’s a changing point in his life. It’s just more dramatic this way :-p!

This was posted early as a Valentine’s Day gift. It’s not chocolate, but hey, I tried ^_^

See you guys next Monday! As in not this coming up ‘cause this one was posted early ;-)

8. Rise

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9. Walk

Harry tightened the strings on his shoes and stood up, tapping the tip of them on the ground to settle them. He picked up his robe from the bed and slid it on over his jeans and long sleeved shirt. The boy walked over to the table next to his bed and opened the bottom drawer. After shuffling around a bit he pulled out a medium sized pouch and opened it. It was full of gold galleons. Nodding, he pulled the two draw strings at the top and closed it. He then fastened it to his belt and slid on the Marauder Sunshades just because it was a bright day outside (and he thought he looked ‘snazzy’ in them). When he left his dorm, Ron smiled at him from the common room. His friend stood and gave him a high five as they met. On the way out, Ron put on the other pair of shades. The two best looking men at Hogwarts were on their way to Hogsmeade to get two very lucky girls candy.

At least, the two ‘lucky’ girls hoped it was candy. Last year they got something that changed them into kittens for several hours.

Breath of Fire IX

By:

Satashi

“So what first?” Harry asked, stepping out of the carriage and onto the ground. Ron followed his lead and stretched when he could.

“Dunno,” he replied, looking around. “I think we should shop for the girls first, though. That way we’ll have enough money for it.”

Harry nodded. “Sounds like a plan then.” They started walking down the streets, waving to fellow students and a few people they knew from the town. The people from Hogsmeade had gotten used to Harry over the last four years. Almost every week since his third year (well, fourth year since he had to sneak out his third year), he came to the town. No longer was he treated like a valued customer, but more like the traditional guest from Hogwarts. He no longer got free meals, or discounts at shops. It made Harry happy, though, since he was (for once) being treated like a normal person and not like a celebrity.

“How about flowers?” Ron thought aloud as he passed by a magical flower shop.

Harry paused and looked from him to the shop. “Flowers? We’ve never given girls flowers before. Besides, they are really expensive.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve never wanted to give flowers before.” Said Ron, blushing lightly. “I think she’ll like them.”

Harry considered this and nodded. “Sure, flowers it is then. They’ll be surprised.” The two boys entered the shop and started looking around. “Who you getting them for? Lavender?”

“Of course.” Ron agreed, looking at a very pretty flower, but jumped back when it tried to bite him. “Not this one, though.”

“You think Hermione would like roses?”

“Roses?” Ron looked at the pretty red flowers. “They are so… boring, they don’t shine, sparkle, sing, or anything! They just… die in a week’s time or so.”

“Yeah.” Harry picked up a vase of a dozen of them. “I think I’ll get them.” He smelt the first one he saw and grinned. “She’ll love them.”

“You’re nutters.” Ron shrugged and looked at some flowers that changed colours ever so often. “Now these are what a girl would like.”

Harry knelt down and inspected the psychedelic flowers. “Oh wow, check them out!” Ron laughed at his reaction. “But aren’t they a bit pricy, though?”

“No problem.” Ron took out a pouch of coins. “I’ve enough to cover it.” Harry opened his mouth, but closed it. Ron saw this and shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking. It’s okay. I have been doing odd jobs around Hogwarts for the students. I even tutored a couple of the first years.” Now Ron wagged his eyebrows. “I also bought stuff at Zonko’s and sold them at inflated prices.”

“Inflated by how much?” Harry snatched the pouch and peered in. “Ron!”

“A galleon for a canary cream.” Ron took it back.

“That’s highway robbery!” Harry whispered, shocked, amazed, and right damn proud of his friend. “You can buy them for a few knuts a piece!”

“Grand, isn’t it?” His grin threatened to split his face. “But one thing.”

“Huh?”

“Highway robbery? What’s that?”

~**~

Dean felt something poke his back, probably a wand. “Give me all your money.” A voice told him, pushing it harder on him. Dean swallowed, starting to panic, but stopped when he heard someone try to suppress a giggle. Turning, he saw Harry holding out his finger. “Bam.” He joked, blowing the tip of his finger like a gun, getting a laugh from Seamus.

“Hey Harry.” Dean said calmly before jumping on him and giving the lightning bolt scarred boy the nugiee of his life time. “Good to see you!” He shouted, rubbing his knuckles onto his head.

“Hey, hey, I give! I give!” He laughed at him.

“Hey guys.” Neville said, walking up to them. “Fancy meeting in a place like this.”

“Neville, buddy, chum, pal, mate,” Ron put his arm around him. “We’re in Zonko’s man; I’d be scared if we met anywhere but here.”

“Yeah, yeah, I still need some chocolate.”

“For that special someone?” Seamus asked, jumping on Neville’s back.

Neville tossed him off, and let Dean catch him. “If you must know, yeah.”

“How about this?” Harry asked, holding up a box of prank candy. “Guaranteed to make her love you or your money back?” The group all had a good laugh at that one.

“No, no,” Ron picked up another box. “Edible knickers! Chocolate flavoured!”

Dean snatched it from his hand. “Oh, I’m getting this!”

“I prefer strawberry myself.” Harry grinned, and ignored the looks that got him. “But I think I’m going to be serious this time. I had someone tell me to be.”

“Siriusly?” Ron asked, raising an eyebrow.

Harry nodded. “Sirius.”

“Serious what?” Seamus asked the pair.

“Siriusly, serious.” Ron smirked.

~**~

Sirius Black sneezed. “Someone must be talking about me…”

“Oh you’re just paranoid, Padfoot.” Lupin told him from the fire place. “Have you succeeded in the book yet?”

Sirius nodded. “Yeah, I have it copied. And I had to force the magic into a vial in the process.” He held up two test tubes. “We have to drink it at the same time and we’ll be able to talk telepathically, like we can in our animal forms.”

“Good work. I can come meet you in two weeks then. That’s the next full moon. Plus that way I can still announce the next match Harry will be in.”

Sirius nodded. “See you then.” A click was heard. “Crap, the people living here are coming home! I have to run!”

“Careful, Padfoot!”

“Always am!”

The green fire in the fireplace was snuffed out as Sirius ran to the kitchen and opened the window, jumping out.

“That’s weird, darling.” A female voice said, closing the window. “Did you leave this open?”

“I didn’t think so.” A male replied.

Sirius sighed and looked around before sneaking off. “Damn and I wanted to snatch some food, too…”

~**~

Harry grinned as he snuck up on Hermione and wrapped his arms around her, getting a squeak from her startled frame. “Happy Valentine’s Day, love,” he whispered, moving the vase of roses so she could see them. “For you.”

Hermione smiled brightly and took them. “Oh Harry, they’re beautiful!”

Ron watched the two love birds and shook his head at them with a grin. He steadied himself and walked over to Lavender, who blushed when she saw his approaching figure. “Hey Ron,” she said, biting her lip and looking at the flowers in his hand.

“Hey Lavender,” he began, trying to search for words. After a moment, he settled for a simple “For you.” And handed her the vase of changing flowers.

Lavender smiled brightly and accepted them. “Thank you.” She smelt them. “They’re lovely.”

“The only thing lovely here is you.”

She instantly went a darker shade of red. “Oh Ron…”

Harry grinned as he hugged Hermione. “Ron’s getting smooth over there. You hear that line?”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “It was cheesy.”

“And a lie.” Harry pulled back from her, enough to look into her eyes. “You’re the thing that’s lovely here.”

She melted. “Oh Harry…”

Ginny rolled her eyes at the lovey-dovey couples in the room and went back to reading her book. Well, she tried to at least. The moment she started to pick up where she left off, a brown school owl dropped a package on to her lap, as well as a note, before flying off. Blinking, she unwrapped the present and looked at it. A box of the most expensive chocolates on the market. ‘Who would send me this?’ she wondered, opening the letter.

Ginny,

Yeah, yeah, I’ve never given a Valentine’s Day gift before and all that stuff. But, well, here you go anyway. I saw them while just browsing, that’s all. Just thought, maybe, you might like them.

~Draco

Ginny bit back a smile. ‘You don’t ‘just so happen’ to see a box of this kind of chocolate in any store, Draco-hun, you have to specially order it.’ Just then a little, hastily written, section of the note seemed to stand out. She realized he had a P.S. written on it.

P.S~ Will you go out with me this Friday?

Ginny laughed and stood. “Ohhhh Haaaaaaaarry-sweetums!”

Harry looked over Hermione’s head and gave a her a look. “What do you want?”

Ginny hugged him from behind. “You know me oh so well! Can I borrow Hedwig?” She held up a note. “I need to reply to someone and don’t want to walk all the way to the owlery.” Harry had taken his bird to his room a few days before so he would be able to send out a few letters to friends, as well as friendly valentines as well.

“Yeah sure.” Harry shrugged. “He’s in my room.”

“Thankies!” She skipped up to the Prefect’s room and opened the door. Closing it behind her, she walked over to the bird in the cage and greeted him. “Hiya, Hedwig! Will you deliver a letter for me please?” Hedwig hooted at her to show that she wouldn’t mind it. “Thanks. Let me write it right fast.” She pulled out Hermione’s chair at her desk and started on her note.

Draco,

Thanks for the chocolate, I love it! Careful not to spoil me now, I’m not used to such expensive gifts .I’ll savour them for a while, I will. About tomorrow night; ask me again tonight at dinner in person and we’ll just see about it okay?

Bye-bye,

~Ginny

Ginny re-read her letter and nodded before folding it and giving it to Hedwig. “Here you go.” She said with a smile. “Take this to Draco Malfoy. I think he should be in the Slytherin common room.” The snowy white owl hooted and nipped at her fingers before taking off out the window. As an after thought, she walked to the window and called after her. “And hurry back, it may rain tonight!”

~**~

“Ouch.”

“Hold still.” Jena chastised her prefect roommate as she plucked another stray eyebrow hair. “You’re the one who wanted me to do this for your date tomorrow.”

“I said- ow- possible date. I don’t know if –ow- she’ll go with me or not.”

Jena smoothed over his eyebrows and debated plucking a little more. “You’re a sweet boy, Draco, but you need a little more confidence, you know?”

“Yeah, whatever. You almost done, Jena?”

“I think so.” She let him sit up and looked him over. “Yes, you look nice now. What you should do is . . .” She looked at the window were a snowy owl just flew in. “Oh, look at that!”

“That’s Harry’s owl.” Draco noted. “I wonder what he wants?” The boy held out his arm and let Hedwig perch on him. He snatched the letter and let Hedwig fly off again. Opening it, he scanned the letter and gave a half smile. “It’s Ginny. She wants me to ask her in person.”

“Draco Malfoy! Do you mean to tell me you asked her in a letter once again!?”

Draco flushed. “Um, yeah?”

She sighed at him. “What on earth am I going to do with you?” She pointed at him. “Tonight, I want you to ask her during dinner. Not before, not after, but during.”

Draco shook his head, waving the note too. “Whoa, whoa whoa! In front of all the Gryffindors!? I’ll be the laughing stock of the school!”

“You’re already the laughing stock of almost all of Slytherin anyway. Why not go for gold and let this girl know you are really serious about it?”

Draco paused a moment to think. After a while, he realized that asking her out in notes was pretty lame. “God, I hate you.” He told her. “Why do you make so much damn sense all the time!?”

She smiled. “It’s why I’m here, sweets!”

“Don’t call me sweets!”

~**~

Harry shoveled rice into his mouth at a pace that shamed even the fastest of eaters. When the bowl hit the table and someone thought he was going to actually breathe, he picked up a chicken leg and ripped into it. His best male friend was doing just the same, eating and scarfing down everything in site. They each took a long drink from their goblet and returned to inhaling their food.

“Harry, let’s go out this Friday.” Hermione said out of the blue, cutting her steak and putting a bite into her mouth with a fork like a civilized human being.

“Hmm?” Harry pulled on the chicken leg in his mouth, tearing off another bite. “Where to?” he asked, mouth full.

“You going to talk or eat?” She scolded him, making him pause and look embarrassed for a full three seconds before he turned and started eating again. “I should have known.” She sighed. “Harry, stop eating and talk to me.”

Harry obeyed her, letting Ron snag all the food he wanted. “Yes?” Harry asked after a drink and wiping his mouth. “You want to go somewhere? Hogsmeade?”

“Let’s go out for dinner tomorrow. We haven’t even been on a single date together yet!”

Harry considered it. “Yeah, you’re right. Hey, how about that nice place? Puer Duex? We have free meals there, remember?”

Hermione nodded. “Sounds nice.” She smiled at him. “Around seven?”

“Sounds nice.”

“Hey Ginny.”

Ron choked on his food and gasped, making Harry pound him on the back before he took a long drink to wash his food down.

Ginny turned to the voice and saw Draco standing before – or rather behind- her. “Hey Draco. What can I do for you?”

“Well,” he began, all too aware of the Gryffindors giving him looks. “I was just wonder, since you wanted me to ask you in person that is, if, maybe, you would like to, you know…”

“Know what?” She asked coyly, making sure to show him that she knew exactly what he meant. “Come on, out with it.”

“Well . . .” He could feel Ron’s glare on him. He looked for help somewhere else, but then remembered where he was; with Gryffindors. Swallowing, he let it out. “Gooutwithmethisfriday.”

“I’d love to.”

“You would!?” He coughed. “I mean, yeah. I’ll pick you up at your common room about seven thirty?”

Ginny nodded. “Yeah. I’ll see you then.”

Draco nodded. “All right then.” He turned and walked a few steps before looking over his shoulder. “Wear something fancy. I’m taking you to Puer Duex.”

“Where!?” Ginny asked, amazed. She turned to look back at him, but only saw the careless two finger wave as he walked away. She was also sure he was smirking. “Oh my gosh, that place must cost a fortune!”

“What place?” Hermione asked with a confused look. The trio had been too preoccupied helping out a strangling Ron to hear what Draco had asked her.

“Oh, nowhere,” she replied, thinking it best not to let Ron know that Draco was taking her to a place as fancy as that for their first date. Although he didn’t say anything about their growing friendship, Ginny was sure that he was keeping it inside for her sake. Standing up, she smiled. “I’m full,” she declared, stretching. “I have a foot of parchment to write, so I’m taking my leave.” There were a few ‘g’bys’ as she left, only pausing to pat her older brother on the head.

~**~

“Sure you don’t want to come, Ron?” Harry asked, tucking in his shirt in front of the mirror. “Hermione won’t mind a double date, I’m sure.”

“Can’t afford it man.” Ron waved him off. Harry was once again dressing in the seventh year boy’s dorm. “’sides, I didn’t make any plans with Lavender about it.”

“Well, the manager said I could always have free food there because I stood up to big bad Voldie, so I’m assuming it means my friends too. I’ll ask the manager tonight if it’s cool if you get food as well.”

“You’re a pal, Harry.”

“Yeah, I know.” He turned, “How do I look?”

“Muggleish, as usual.” Was the standard reply.

“Yeah, I look snazzy.”

“What is it with you and that word?”

“He heee!” Harry gave him a smile and turned to look into the mirror. He was wearing a fine silk long sleeved black button up shirt along with khaki pants and timberland shoes. He also had on one of Dudley’s old leather jackets that he had magicked, making it a perfect fit. His necklace clashed dreadfully with his outfit so he had told Celestial about his date and after a few good byes, he put it into his jacket pocket and instead wore a black choker beaded necklace. “Dang, I’m smooth.”

“Yeah yeah.” Ron picked up his Herbology book. “I’ll go ahead and start on that dumb essay we have to write. The next Sorcerer’s Circle match is next weekend, luckily. I’ll see you later tonight?

“Maybe, I’m not sure how long we’ll be out. If I’m lucky, maybe we’ll be able to go by floo to London and see a muggle movie.”

“A movie?”

“Yeah,” Harry replied, not stopping to think he didn’t know what they were. “Dare Devil is supposed to be real good. I hope it’s still in theaters, though.”

“Theaters?”

“Yup. We’ll I’m going to go meet her now. Take it easy.”

Ron shrugged the words off. “Always do. See ya, mate.”

Harry waved over his shoulder as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

~**~

“Hiya, Herms.” Harry greeted, seeing her already down stairs. “Wait long?”

“Just got here,” she replied, smiling. “Not three seconds ago.”

“Figured as much, girls always take so long to get ready…” He allowed his eyes the pleasure of looking her over. “Wow, you look very nice.”

Hermione looked down at her skin tight red dress. “I do hope its okay. I mean, this is a fancy place we’re eating at.” She looked at him and blushed when he grinned at her earrings and light touch of muggle make up. “You just going to ogle me or are we going to go?”

“Ogle.” He let his eyes trail to the cleavage of her dress, and let out a wolf whistle. Hermione quickly crossed her arms and glared.

“You, Harry Potter, are sleeping alone tonight.”

~**~

Harry looked at the restaurant as he stepped out of the carriage. Luckily the horseless carriages traveled back and forth between Hogwarts and school all day on Saturday. This was their means of getting back as well. He didn’t fancy a trip through that long tunnel from the back of Zonko’s.

Walking into the restaurant, Harry smiled at the waiter at the small podium at the door. “Table for two please. Name’s Harry. Harry Potter.”

The waiter noticed his scar and nodded with a smile. “Yes, we have been instructed to always keep a table open for you Mr. Potter. Please, right this way.”

Harry blinked, but followed him anyway. ‘Wow that was easy,’ he mused to himself, feeling Hermione take his arm in hers. Looking down at her, he got a smile and a wink. Harry grinned at her before making a stupid face and making her giggle. Such was the care free way of Harold James Potter.

“You’re table, sir, madam.” He moved his hand to show a nice looking booth. Next to it was a small wall divider with several nice looking flowers and other decorative plant life. “Here are your menus.” He continued when they were seated. “Someone will be with you shortly to take your drink orders.”

The waiter walked back to the door to meet another couple who had just come in.

“Two. We have reservations,” the man said with a grin.

“Name, sir?” he asked, looking at the list of tonight’s customers.

“Malfoy, Draco.”

A quick scan. “I’m sorry sir; I do not see your name on the list.”

“Are you sure?” He asked, stepping forward to look. “There it is, see?” He discreetly placed several galleons on the podium. The man looked at him indignantly for a moment. Draco frowned and opened his hand up more, allowing more pieces to fall with the others. The look on the young man’s face showed he was clearly upset about the amount for the bribe.

“Oh, yes sir, Mr. Malfoy. Sorry about that. Please, this way.”

Draco turned to Ginny and gave a small shrug. “Must be going blind.” He smirked at the waiter’s back. “He missed it first time through.”

“Oh hush, you bribed him.” Ginny took his arm and followed.

“Wha? Did not!”

She looked up at him and smiled. “You’re sweet.”

He felt his cheeks grow a little warm as he looked away. “Not really…”

~**~

Harry nodded at the waiter as he left and turned back to Hermione. “I hope nothing bad happens this time. Who would have guessed Voldemort liked French cuisine?”

His date laughed lightly at him and slid her foot next to his and played with the cuff of his pants. “I always thought he might like Chinese take out myself. Looks like the kind.”

“Hey, I love Chinese! Eat it all the time when I’m at the Dursley’s. I met the delivery guy once when he came to give food to Dudley. Turns out he’s a wizard working for the summer. He recognized me and since then he let me owl in orders with money and he would magic it up to my window.”

“Not abusing your name sake are we now?”

He chuckled. “I can’t help it. You know I don’t like to use it to my advantage, but, hey, they starve me at that place. The only time I can eat is at Hogwarts.”

“If you eat like that here, I swear I’ll…”

“Hey, hey, don’t worry don’t worry.” He held up his hands as if to ward her off. “I ate a lot before we came so I’ll just order a normal amount of food.” He looked at the menu. “Hmmm….”

“A normal amount of food?” she asked, looking over hers as well. When the waiter came over for their drinks a moment ago he had asked them to please not cast any magic. After the incident, they did not want any spells being cast in the restaurant. “And what might that be?”

Harry considered this a moment, hand on his jacket pocket over his necklace. “Everything on the left side looks good.”

“Harry!”

Harry laughed at her while some people sat down on the table next to them, just past the greenery. The two talked for a bit before ordering drinks and getting the menus. A moment later Harry heard a familiar voice. “I can’t read French…”

“It’s not too hard,” another voice said.

“Will you order for me then?”

“Um, yeah.”

Harry looked to his left and gaped at the part viewable through the leaves. ‘Draco?’

Draco laughed nervously and looked around to think a moment. It was then that he spotted the face of Harry, mostly covered by leaves. “Harry!?” he asked silently.

“Draco?”

“I… Have to go to the restroom right quick, I’ll be right back.”

“Hermione, excuse me for a moment?”

“Yeah.”

~**~

“What are you doing here!?” Draco demanded when Harry stepped into the loo. “Did Ron tell you to monitor me? Huh!? Did he!?” He moved up close to him, so their noses were almost touching. “SO help me, Potter, if you’re here to ruin my night…”

Harry took a step back and fought the urge to punch him. “Malfoy, you’re an idiot,” he told him, glaring as he put his hands in his pockets. “I made this date with Hermione, not even knowing you were coming here.”

“Oh!” He instantly looked embarrassed, but covered it quickly. “I see.” He didn’t apologize, however. “So, nice night for a date huh?”

“How did you get in?” Harry wondered. “I heard it was near impossible.”

“I had to sacrifice more gold than I would have liked, but I did it.” He gave a casual shrug. “I stole enough from my house that I can afford a few outings.”

Harry didn’t press the topic. “Well now that I know how you got here, I’m going back to my date.” He turned to leave. “See ya.”

“Harry, Wait!”

He turned, looking over his shoulder. “What is it?”

He clearly looked like he didn’t want to say it. “I need a favour.”

“A favour?” Harry eyed him skeptivly. “What kind of favour?”

“I need to know what Ginny likes so I can order for her.”

“Oh.” A grin slapped across his face. “Draco Malfoy is asking me for a favour,” he mused, making the boy in front of him cringe. “And if I don’t answer, he will look bad in front of my best friend’s little sister.”

Draco clenched his fist. “What do you want?”

“Oh nothing.” Harry replied. “Just knowing you had to ask is enough to make up for everything you ever did to me in the past.”

Draco gave him a clear look of meaningful death. “God, I hate you.”

“No you don’t. Anyway, get her linguine. She’ll love it.” Draco nodded and moved past him. “Oh, wait.” This time Draco turned around to look at him. “Make sure to get the white sauce, all right? The red is too spicy.”

Draco nodded. “Thanks.”

“Hey, anytime.”

The two returned to their respective dates, a little closer to friends than battle partners.

~**~

Harry placed a bite in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully, thinking about the question he was just asked. “I dunno, Herms.” He admitted. “I haven’t studied for the N.E.W.T. s as much as I would have liked too, but when I do study, you always keep me on top of things.”

“Don’t tell me you still haven’t studied any besides the time we spend together in the library?”

He blushed. “Um, no?”

“Harry, from now on we’re going to study an hour before we go to sleep. Every. Night.”

He sighed and picked at his food, no longer as hungry as he was a little while ago. “Yes ma’am.”

“We’ll start Monday.” She decided. “We fight after the N.W.O. and Hokage. That gives us a long time to work on things. Oh, and Harry, please try not to get into trouble, okay? Last night I wanted to study a little with you, but you were in detention. What was it again?” she asked, although she already knew.

“For ‘throwing an unauthorized party’ or something like that,” he mumbled, stuffing some food into his mouth to help ease the memory. “I had to clean things in the Hospital Wing. By the almighty Tuesday, I hate that.”

“Yes, yes, we know, we know.”

~**~

“Did you hear about Snape?” Ginny asked while they ate. “They say he’s really mad about all the hand to hand going on in the tournament.”

“I heard.” Draco agreed. “He’s a nice guy, he really is, on the inside, but way close-minded.” He considered this. “Like I used to be. I can see why he thinks like he does. I, for one, would have never even considered using a muggle method of doing something last year.”

“What made you change your mind?”

Draco turned the ring around his finger, a nervous habit he picked up sometime over the course of wearing it. “Let’s just say a friend forced me to see things in a different light.”

“A friend?”

“Yeah.” He let go of his ring and ate a bite of his food. “She helped me out a lot. Showed me that muggles can do things as well as we can. They may not be magical, but they are one smart race on some points. They invent things to work magic for them.”

“Magic? Muggles? No way!”

“Not real magic, so to speak… Let’s see, an example that I can use…I’m not real good at muggle things just yet, I just know a few that my friend told me. Ah, here’s something. You know screws? Both muggle and magical people use them to put things like, doors for instance, into walls?”

Ginny nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

“And how do we do that?”

“A turning spell.”

“Exactly. We wizards use our wands to point at things and make them work. Muggle have this thing called a ‘screwdriver’ they use to do it. They even have these special ones that turn on their own by using ‘battery power’, whatever that is.”

“Draco Malfoy, talking about muggles, I would of never seen it.”

He blushed. “Well, the point is, after realizing that even they have skill to invent things to help them when they can’t do something, I gained enough respect for them to go deeper into it. With a little prodding from my friend, I came to realize they are an equal race, and in some ways, better.”

“Better?” She prompted, loving that he was talking so much.

He went on. “Yeah. Did you know that if someone’s heart isn’t working right, they can put a new one in?” Ginny’s eyes went wide at this. “Yeah, we wizards can’t help that because the heart is too sensitive to be tampered with by potions and things. In the muggle world, they can have a donor give their heart to this ill person… And they do it too, out of pure goodness….of the heart, so to speak.”

Ginny giggled. “I see. No wonder Daddy loves learning about them so much.”

A nod. “And the martial arts are just… outstanding.”

Ginny giggled. “I love the Muggle Martial Arts class.”

“The MMA was a good idea. I know for a fact that dark wizards under Voldemort can’t do any hand to hand.”

“You know for a fact?”

“Er, well…”

She quickly changed the subject. “Thanks again for taking me here.”

Draco looked down at their plates, realizing they were done quite some time ago and he never realized it. “Oh, yeah. Yeah! It was my pleasure. I hope you liked it?” He motioned for the check and soon got it.

“I loved it. Next time, don’t spend so much money on me ,though. I don’t know how to thank you for it all. It’s kind of overwhelming.”

“I wanted to make a good first impression.”

The two stood up after Draco paid and left a nice tip. “Well you made it all right. Want to go out again sometime?” She took his arm and walked with him out of the place.

“Yeah. How about weekend after next, since the next match is this coming weekend?”

Ginny smiled up at him and nodded.

~**~

“Thanks for walking me to my room.” Ginny said, turning to look at him. They were in front of the picture of the Fat Lady now. “I had a wonderful time, Draco.”

“I’m glad.” He gave her a true smile, a rarity. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He took a step back to turn , but found Ginny’s arms around his neck and standing on her tip toes. Her eyes were closed and lips slightly parted. She looked so expectant, waiting for him to kiss her. And he did. On her hand after taking it away from his neck. Her eyes opened and looked fearful, as if she had done something wrong. Her mouth opened to speak, but she found one of his fingers was pressed to it. He was smiling brightly; after all, she had done this to him so many times before. “I’m not ready,” he told her truthfully. “I’m scared about these feelings, and I need some time to think on them some more, okay?” He gave her a pleading look now. “I don’t know how to love. You have to know that if we start dating.”

Ginny reached up and took his hand, kissing it. “I understand.” She brought her free hand up to run through his hair. “I’ll show you how, don’t worry Draco. I’ll stand by you and show you how to live a normal life, away from what you were brought up with. I just hope someday you can tell me how exactly you were brought up. I know it must have been hard…” She smiled at him one last time before taking a step back and telling the password to the portrait and going in.

Draco stood there for a moment, looking at his hand with a small smile. “How I was brought up…”

~**~

“Are you going to write, Draco-hon?”

‘Yeah.’ Draco took out a parchment and a quill.

“I’m glad. It really does help out. Don’t destroy it this time, you may want it for later.”

‘I don’t know about that, but if you insist.’

“I do.”

Draco thought about the words Ginny spoke to him. “My life…huh?” he asked aloud, lighting a candle and sitting by the window. His quill started to dance across the page, leaving neat handwriting. His thoughts formed into words and words into a natural rhyme as he went.

What I've felt What I've known Never shined through in what I've shown Never be Never see Won't see what might have been New blood joins this earth And quickly he's subdued Through constant pained disgrace The young boy learns their rules With time, the child draws in This whipping boy done wrong Deprived of all his thoughts The young man struggles on and on, he's known A vow unto his own That never from this day His will they'll take away What I've felt What I've known Never shined through in what I've shown Never free Never me So I dub thee “Unforgiven” They dedicate their lives To running all of his He tries to please them all This bitter man he is Throughout his life the same He's battled constantly This fight he cannot win A tired man they see no longer cares The old man then prepares To die regretfully That old man here is me You labeled me I'll label you So I dub thee “Unforgiven”

Draco looked at the parchment and smiled sadly down at it. “Am I such a loser?” He debated burning it, but shook his head. “Nah, it’s the past. I’ve beaten them now. I still have my will.” He folded the paper and slid it under the bed to his mattress. “They’ll never take my will.”

And he smiled.

~*two weeks later*~

Harry took a deep breath as he slid his hand into his glove and slowly let it out while smoothing the fit. He slowly inhaled through his nose again as he repeated the process with his other hand. A light wind blew through the room from the open window, making him shiver slightly. It was getting warmer, but still was a little nippy outside. Still, it was a flawless day for a fight and they all knew they had lucked out. Two weeks ago the Angels had taken on the Hokage and pulled out a nice victory over them. Now it was the Marauder’s turn. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Ron make an uneasy joke about how they should be able to beat the ‘girl team’, and get a nervous chuckle from Draco.

Harry slid the long bandana across his forehead and tied it in the back with a tight knot. It was time to fight.

Hermione took hold of Harry’s hand when he met up with her and smiled reassuringly up at him. It was the fourth match so far, and their second one to actually be in. The group knew what to expect and nodded to each other as the door in front of them opened. The crowd had only gotten bigger since their first match. Hogsmeade had closed its shops early today and were gladly responding to the invitation to watch the tournament. At least five majour newspapers had sent representatives to Hogwarts, and each had been given a special seat in a News section of the crowd.

The protective fields around Hogwarts had been increased more than ten fold. Each person allowed in was scanned by a professor to make sure no dark mark was detected on them. There were no chances being taken with the safety of the crowd. So far Voldemort hadn’t attacked while there was a tournament match, and Dumbledore made sure that he never did.

Harry heard his name being called and stepped out onto the field to meet his team mates. The crowd went berserk when he made his appearance. The boy-who-lived and publicly fought with Voldemort was about to test his skills against other people his age. Although both Harry and the students used to seeing him knew that he wasn’t nearly as skilled as other Hogwarts students, the general public didn’t care. All they thought about was that Harry Potter was going to duel.

And it served to irk him greatly.

Ron looked across the field and stone arena as the other door opened. Although far away, he could tell who was coming out before the announcer said their name. They had brought the Marauder sunshades with them from the start this time so they wouldn’t have to summon them from the castle like last time. Lee Jordan was once again doing the announcements with Remus Lupin. He was told that Lee had been given a manual of rules and specifics and given the position as an official speaker instead of a guest. Of course if Lee Jordan was somewhere, Fred and George wouldn’t be far behind. If the twins went to a grand event, you could be sure the entire Weasley clan was with them. Tonight was no exception. The large banner held by several people was once again hanging from the stands. It read: The Marauders! Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron & Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy! They had added his name in after reading Ron’s interview saying he was being tolerable and actually helpful. After seeing him work with Harry, the clan decided to give the boy a second chance as well.

“The Angels also won their last match,” Lee was saying as they walked onto the field. “The group consists of Cho, Nyssa, Julie, Yuki, and last but not least Samantha! Don’t let their good looks fool you folks; these lovely ladies are as sexy as they are dangerous! Don’t you agree, professor?” Lee turned to Lupin, giving him a wide grin.

“Er, nice way of putting it, Lee,” Lupin covered nicely. “But you are right about their skills. Both teams here tonight won their last match. Who will win tonight? Only time will tel1.”

Harry grinned nervously across the field at Cho, who was waving at him. Hermione, seeing this, wrapped both her arms around Harry’s right one. Cho blinked at the possessive gesture, but laughed when Hermione stuck her tongue out at her when Harry’s attention was elsewhere. Hermione giggled to herself and simply gave Harry an innocent look when he asked her what was so funny.

“Tonight’s first match has been pre-arranged for added challenge and entertainment.” Professor Lupin commented as the cheers died down and people started cheering for the dueling to begin. “First match will be a Muggle use only fight!”

“That’s right,” Lee added, looking at a piece of parchment in front of him. “Harry will face Yuki in a grassy field.” The arena changed to a grassy field with trees scattered around at random places. Also there were quite a few large rocks that were big enough to hide behind. “The rules are simple. Each contestant will be given a caster gun.” Two people started to walk to the teams and split up. They gave both Harry and Yuki what looked to be a revolver. “For those of you not familiar with a caster gun, Professor Lupin will explain. Professor?”

“Thank you, Lee,” He began. “A caster gun is a special gun molded after a Muggle revolver. Instead of using a substance known as ‘gun powder’ to fire a ‘bullet’, caster guns use a small magical casing to hold magical powder that shoots out a spell when activated. Each gun can hold six of these shells, and when activated, will draw magical power from the user.”

“Much more stressing than a normal spell through a wand,” Lee chimed in.

“Yes, I must agree. The contestants are given six reloads. They are four sets of energy blast, and a single set of fire and ice. Each set contains six shots.” On the field, Harry was looking at the bullets and the gun. “There will be no wands or any other source of magic other than the caster guns. Magical artifacts are still allowed to be worn by the participant as usual. Match is over when a player gives up. Magical walls surround the arena so no stray shots will hit the audience. Also, they will prevent rings out. Yes, the only way to lose is to give up. ”

“How do you use that thing?” Ron asked, looking the caster over. “Do you say a spell while pointing it?”

“You’re holding it wrong,” Hermione said, taking it from him. “You hold it like this.”

“You don’t need a gun.” Harry grinned, taking it from her. “No wands, huh?” Harry took off his arm guard and rubbed the skin there, feeling weird with the bracer not there. “Hold it for me Ron?”

“Sure thing.” Ron caught it as it was tossed to him.

“Six reloads,” Harry mused, looking at the gun and the eight sets of bullets next to him. Lee and Lupin were further describing the caster guns and shells, but he was more concerned on strategy since he already knew how to hold and fire a gun. “Gun’s already loaded. That means seven sets of six bullets. Forty-two shots.” Harry put the spare bullets into his pockets and made sure to separate the special ones. “Muggle methods. Heh, I wonder who thought of this kind of match.”

Hermione patted him on the head, standing on her tip toes. “Harry, love, being a successful wizard, one must know both wizard and Muggle ways. A wizard would die just as fast by being shot as a Muggle. But Muggles know what guns are, they know to fear them. A wizard would ignore it and be shot. However, if that wizard, you for example, knew what it was and how it worked; you could charm it not to fire or know to get out of the way.”

Draco nodded and walked up to them. “A few months ago, I would have called you an idiot after hearing that… but I know that it’s true. Muggles can’t use magic, so they defend themselves in different ways. Some of them are just as dangerous as our killing curses, and they can go to any convenient store and buy the killing instruments at their leisure. We are strictly forbidden to use certain spells…”

Ron smirked. “Malfoy, you’re getting smarter and smarter.”

“Harry!” Ginny scolded, grabbing the back of his sleeveless jacket and pulling on him. “Get up there already! They’re waiting on you!”

“Oops!” Harry turned and grabbed the sunshades from the redhead as he passed. After muttering a fast charm, he gave a quick wave and lopsided smile to his friends and took the stairs to the stage by twos. At the top, he stepped onto the grass and heard it crunch softly below him. The field was also magically charmed to be warm like a summer’s day as well. The two duelists looked at each other across the large field. Harry gave his trademark grin and slid on his glasses. The view was completely normal, as he had them set on a ‘single person mode’ which he liked to call it. In this setting, they acted as normal sunglasses. There was only one small tweak, however. At the lower left hand of the glasses, there was a number that read ‘42.

“READY!? FIGHT!”

Harry ran forward and shot three times, making Yuki jump to the side and take cover behind a tree. The number on Harry’s glasses now read ‘39’ and he was glad it worked. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about counting his bullets. His mind came back to the match as a yellow blast of energy shot too close to his head that he would have liked.

Taking cover behind a rock, Harry leaned over the side of it near the bottom to try and find his opponent. Harry didn’t think the Marauder’s Map in the sunglasses would be of any use on an open field like this but rather knew that it would have hindered his vision more than anything else. He would need to be able to see clearly if he was to aim using a Muggle like gun.

The ground next to his head suddenly exploded, leaving a sizable hole in the ground. Harry quickly retracted his head and placed his back against the rock, breathing heavily. “What the hell is she!?” He demanded. “A sharp shooter!?”

~**~

“Sharp shooter?” Ron asked, hearing Harry’s voice clearly thanks to the magic of the arena.

“Someone with really good aim,” Hermione informed him, biting her lip. “Come on Harry…”

~**~

Yuki took a deep breath and ran forward, out from behind her shelter. Harry rolled from behind the rock and knelt, holding out his gun with both hands. He shot twice, missing both times. Yuki got to the tree she was going for and hid partway behind it before shooting at Harry four times, grazing his right leg with the last.

Harry’s eyes went wide and he pulled himself behind a tree and looked down at his bleeding leg. “I’ve been shot…” He whispered, looking at the gash. “Damn that hurts… the energy blasts are like real bullets…” His eyes lit up. “Real… real bullets.” He reached into his pocket and took out a reload. “Here goes nothing!” Quickly he moved from the tree and threw the set of bullets over where Yuki was just looking up from a large rock that she moved to after Harry got behind the tree. “Take this!” When the bullets were close to her, he let loose the remaining bullet left in his caster gun. They met in air and a loud explosion followed.

Yuki felt herself being thrown hard to the right and heard her ears ringing loudly with a pestering high pitched sound. She landed harshly on the unforgiving ground and rolled several times before stopping. Yuki grit her teeth and made her Sorceress training shine through by rolling onto her stomach and clasping her gun with both hands as she lay on the grass. She shot at Harry four times as he ran to another large rock for shelter.

Harry groaned as he leaned against the rock and slid red bullets into his caster. “I was hoping for a quick win.” He breathed to himself as he loaded. “Underestimated her. Better not take any chances.” A shot hit the top of the rock, clipping off several small pieces of it and ricocheting off. “From that angle, she should beeeeeee…… THERE!” Harry jumped up and aimed at the tree where he thought she was hiding behind.

When the trigger was pulled, Harry felt a large wave rush over his body. From the end of his gun he saw a massive fireball fly forward and crash into the tree, setting it ablaze. Yuki, however, was at the tree next to it and shot twice at him, making him take cover. The tree stopped burning a moment later and looked as if it was never touched in the first place.

‘She’s so fast…’ Harry thought, gasping for air. The shot sapped a respectable chunk of his energy. ‘Without being able to cast the wind charm to pick up my speed, I can’t match her.’

“Don’t take any chances,” Celestial whispered to him. “Here is some of my power, go for it.”

Harry felt a sudden surge of dragon energy. “Oh wow!” Fully energized, Harry stood and held out his gun at arm’s length. “Dodge this!” He shot the gun five times, blasting away two trees and setting most of the ground on fire. When the last bullet was out, Harry let out a confident laugh. “Hah. No way could she avoid that.”

A monotonous voice came from his side. “Think again.”

“Wha!?” He tried to turn, but found a blast shoot his hand, making his gun fly away. “No!” He leaped backwards and avoided another shot and, somehow, managed to get hit by the next. She had fired six times and ran to reload.

“Harry? Are you okay!?”

“My side…” he wheezed out, gripping himself just below the ribs. “I got hit badly.”

“Let me see.”

Harry gasped for air and slowly brought his hand from his side to look at it. “Oh god…” he gasped steadily, looking at the blood on his hand and feeling sick.

“Harry Potter, do you give up?” Lupin’s voice rang into the area.

“No,” he wheezed out, clutching his side. “No, I don’t!”

~**~

“Give me those!” Hermione squeaked, grabbing the sunshades from Ron and putting them on. She quickly turned the dial on the side and saw a bloody hand on her right side. “Oh Harry…” Suddenly the vision was stripped from her as Ron took the shades from her face.

“No, you can’t look. The other team can’t either, and these carry voice. It would be cheating to use them.”

“But… but…”

Ron enveloped her in a hug. “He’ll be fine, have faith. I do.” Hermione sniffed against him and nodded silently.

~**~

Yuki smiled to herself as she loaded her gun with alternating ice, regular, and fire bullets. “Harry, Harry, Harry, you’re way too slow. You can’t win like that.” She turned to shoot at the rock, but found that she could see him from the corner of her eye. Quickly changing her aim, she turned and bit back a groan when he picked up his caster gun and hobbled behind a tree. “Nice, Harry. I didn’t think you would try and recover your gun without a distraction of some sort…”

She aimed her gun at the tree and fired, gasping as her power was sucked into the gun and a fireball came from it. The blast screamed to the tree Harry was at, but was cancelled out by a well placed ice blast from Harry. The shot from the boy was quickly followed by two regular energy blasts and another ice beam. Yuki responded by taking cover behind her rock and letting them all hit her shelter. The stone was now a block of ice, but that didn’t concern her. She once again moved from her spot and shot again, sending a normal blast, an ice blast, a normal, and a fire.

“Nice aim.” Harry said from behind her. She spun on her heels to see him, hunched over and clutching his side, in front of her. He held his gun with one hand and chuckled without humour as he shot six times. Thanks to his wound and one handed aiming, he missed most but landed a few shots that grazed her sides and leg. Yuki shot her last bullet at him, and hit his gun right when he fired the last time. Harry’s last bullet, ironically, hit her gun as well. Both flew from their hands in different directions.

The two looked at each other a moment as they caught their breath and recovered from the massive magical drain that the guns brought with them. “You’re bleeding.” Yuki said, looking at him.

“Ah.”

“It hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Ah.”

“Ready?”

He smirked. “Ah.”

The two of them grit their teeth and dived for the guns next to them. The guns were reclaimed in their master’s hands at the same time and they slammed the bullet clip into them at the same time. Both turned and aimed. Being so close, Harry raised his hand at the same time Yuki did and both grabbed the revolving chamber of the other’s gun and held the trigger so it wouldn’t move.

The two were in the exact same position; a stalemate in which neither could fire as long as the other wouldn’t move their hand from the chamber and trigger. Harry looked deeply into Yuki’s eyes as the guns shook from pressure of hands. Yuki returned his gaze with a fierce determination to prove that she could beat Harry Potter.

The guns both clicked at the same time as they gave way to the stress. The front of the gun clicked down, as if to be reloaded. The bullets already in the guns burst out from the force of it.

Both their eyes went wide.

Simultaneously they let go of the other’s gun and made a mad grab for the ammo. Each managed to get one single bullet and slam it blindly into the empty chamber. Moving again, they quickly aimed their guns at the other’s head and pulled the trigger at the same time.

Click

Click

Harry’s eyes were wide and pupils were dilated from fear as Yuki’s gun was shaking not an inch from between his eyes. On the other end, Yuki was gasping as Harry’s gun was the same length from her forehead. The hands not holding the guns were locked together, fighting to try and force the other down. The crowd was deadly silent as they watched them on the light reflecting screen in the sky.

The duelist were panting and sweating. They stayed like this for almost twenty full seconds, just breathing hard and looking into the other’s eyes. Then, once more at the same time, each pulled their trigger again.

Click

Click

Harry was near blinding panic now. His mouth was open and gasping air so fast he thought he might be sick. Yuki wasn’t any better off, but once again they took a breath and pulled.

Click

Click

Harry gasped in pain and forced down harder on Yuki’s hand. He succeeded in throwing her a little off balance before they did it again

Click

BAM!

Harry screamed in pain as he felt the magical energy bullet sear right through his arm and exit from his back. Yuki fell to the ground and both knew she would have won the match if Harry hadn’t managed to topple her before she fired. Harry now looked down at her warily and held his gun with a shaking hand. If he could pull the trigger and fire, he would win. Yuki closed her eyes. They both knew a winning shot would end the match and not actually kill the other, but she didn’t know if it would hurt or not.

Click

Yuki’s eyes snapped open and rolled out of the way as Harry fell to his knees. Quickly, the girl flipped open her gun and grabbed a bullet from the ground. Putting it in, she clicked the gun back up and held it to Harry’s temple. His gun was on the ground, and he was clutching his side with one hand and his shoulder with the other.

“Bam.” She said wearily, drained from the encounter.

“I give.” Harry managed a small smile before falling over unconscious.

“Harry Potter surrenders!” Lee shouted out into his wand, voice rebounding in the silent quidditch pitch. “Yuki wins!” All at once the crowd screamed in applause.

“Harry!” Hermione screamed, running onto the stage as it dissolved from the field. “Oh sweet Merlin, are you okay?” Tears were streaming down her face. “You idiot, it’s a game, a friendly duel! Why didn’t you give up?” She hugged him to her chest, crying. “You’re so stupid… stupid…”

Ginny gently took Harry from her and laid him down, looking him over. “The magical things.”

“Bullets,” Hermione corrected out of habit, not realizing it.

Ginny rolled her eyes “Bull- lets,” she said herself, pronouncing it slightly wrong. “Seemed to be charmed to make the wound easy to heal.” She poured some potion onto the wounds. “He’ll be fine in a few hours. He’ll be sore for a while, though.”

Hermione nodded to herself and looked up at Ron. He nodded and picked up Harry’s unconscious figure and carried him off stage, where Draco was waiting, arms crossed. “He did a good job,” he said, looking away. Ginny nodded and watched Ron lay Harry down next to the arena. Hermione instantly went and held his hand.

“I’m next.” Draco said, walking forward. “I’ll get us our first win.”

“Be careful out there, Draco,” Ginny told him, looking up. “And for Merlin’s sake, if you get hurt as bad as Harry, be smart and give up before you get yourself killed or something.”

Draco smirked and patted her on the head as he walked past. “No chance in hell.”

~**~

“What field will the next pair are fighting in?” Lee asked as the crowd cheered for the Angels and worried over Harry’s safety. Currently madam Pomfrey was observing him with Ginny standing to the side. Draco was at the steps, waiting.

“Glad you asked.” Lupin replied in an over excited voice. “But first, a word on Harry. I’m getting a message from Poppy as we speak.” A small owl landed and he took off the note. “Harry will be fine with a little rest, so don’t worry.” A collective sigh of relief was heard even over the cheers of fans. “Back to the next match,” He tried to make it sound as if he wasn’t deathly worried if Harry was okay. “Draco Malfoy seems to be the Marauder’s choice. On the Angel’s side…. Nyssa!”

Draco nodded at the girl across the ring, and got a nod back. The stage in front of them slowly started shifting and soon rose into the air. Draco titled his head back to look at the buildings slowly rising. “What in the…”

“The match will be atop the buildings in an imitation of New York City in America.” Lupin explained. “The buildings are ten feet tall, and the arena is charmed to move with them so there is no possible way of a ring out. For those of you who are close to the ground, the light reflection spell has been changed to be cast on the sides of the buildings near the base.”

Lee nodded and continued where his partner left off. “Also, each contestant will be charmed to jump incredibly high. To win you must both stay down for a count of ten, be knocked off and hit the ground (don’t worry, it won’t hurt at all), or lose your wand.”

“READY!? FIGHT!”

~**~

Draco jumped from his place in front of the building and got a right nasty surprise when he soared half way up the building, passing the screen that showed him jumping along the way. At the peak of his jump, he realized he was going to start falling, so he leaned forward and landed on a window sill on the building. Letting out a sigh of relief, he kicked off of his perch and continued to window hop until he landed on the top of the buildings.

“Why do I feel uneasy about being this high?” he asked himself, looking around at the close roof tops. They were no more than four to six feet between most of them. There were bigger gaps along the sides of some builds, where roads were probably meant to go. If the boy had ever been to New York, he would have realized just how close it actually was to it.

“It’s because you don’t have control of your height like you do with a broom,” Christina told him, making him nod. “She’s at the other end, just got up.” Draco set his eyes and leapt, easily clearing the building and landing on the next.

“Hey, I like this,” he breathed, running across the roof top and jumping to the next. “Come and get iiiitttttttttt Nyysssssaaaaaaaa!” he sang in a serious voice as he jumped. “Whoops!” He jumped a spell and landed in a hand spring, flipping back over and landing on his feet with a smirk and arms crossed over his chest; beaming proudly as if he had done the coolest thing in the world.

“Allo Draco,” Nyssa rhymed, landing on a water tower looking thing across from him. “Ready to fight?”

“She says after casting a spell.”

“It slipped.” Nyssa smiled at him, eyes laughing.

Draco gave the Slytherin smirk. “Think you can beat me?”

“I can try, although I must admit I don’t like heights.”

“Let’s do it then!” He held out his left hand. “Flames of justice!” His hand caught fire, making Nyssa gasp. The blue flames licked at his arm, but didn’t move past his wrist. Then, without a warning, it shot into his wand. “Blazing heat!”

Nyssa jumped from her perch and did a small flip in the air. She landed and jumped again. Turning to see what his spell had done, she was surprised to find the water tower she was just on was nothing more than a pool of quickly hardening metal. “Oh man, that would have hurt…”

“Bolts of heaven!”

Nyssa rolled as a lightning bolt crashed where she had been standing. She could feel the power tingle through the ground and shivered as it washed over her. The girl, however, was well trained just like every other member of the circle in the Muggle arts of kempo. She used this knowledge that only Professor Lupin had thought to teach them and pushed from the ground, spinning her legs, and righting herself to her feet. Just in time she pushed up from the ground and soared into the air.

Draco, caught off guard, barely missed the hex thrown at him. Looking up into the air, he realized that she jumped in such a way that her body was now right in the middle of the sun’s light. He made his way to the edge of the building and brought his hand in front of him to shade his eyes, but still didn’t see the movement she made because of the sun. The blond boy’s legs sudden clamped together and he teetered a moment before falling.

Draco grabbed hold of the ledge, but his wand fell from his grasp. Groaning, he let go of the ledge and fell after it. About a second later he realized just how dumb an idea that that was and forced his mind to run overtime as the windows blazed past him.

“Accio Wand!” He held out his left hand and forced his magic through his ring as he would with his wand. His wand shot to him and he quickly disenchanted his legs. His right hand moved out and caught the ledge of a window sill on the second floor of the building. “Sweet dancin’ sisters,” he mused as he dangled. “That was hella close.”

~**~

“Sweet Dancin’ Sisters?” Ron asked slowly, making sure he heard right.

“‘Hella’ close?” Hermione ventured, both turning to look at Ginny, who blushed and put her face in her hand, embarrassed on Draco’s behalf at the corny sayings.

~**~

Draco kicked off from the building and, with Christina’s help, remembered the Muggle book he picked up when he bought his school supplies. HE recalled reading about a group called ’ninjas’ and their powers that allowed them to defy gravity and almost all natural laws without the aid of magic. Setting his face, he looked at the other wall of the building he was heading toward.

Triangle jump.

Draco’s feet hit the wall and he brought his hand to it, almost as if he was clinging to it. Not even a second later, he kicked from it and went to the other building. He repeated the process almost eight times before he flipped and landed back on the building.

“Very impressive.” Nyssa clapped. “But not good enough.” She pointed her wand at him as he was standing up. “Petrificus totalus!” Draco saw the spell leave the wand tip and slapped it away with his left hand.

The crowd went silent at the maneuver, but the two on the field wouldn’t have noticed a difference even if a bomb was dropped just outside of the arena. Nyssa was looking at him in shock while Draco was gaping at his hands.

‘I can focus through my ring,’ he thought, looking at it. ‘Like Harry still uses his wand, but he isn’t holding it...’Experimentally, he looked at his hand and concentrated. A blue ball of flame appeared in his palm. “Oh hell yes!” He threw it at Nyssa, making her jump away. Draco ran at her, arm ablaze with blue fire and wand pocketed in his jeans.

“Auaris!” Nyssa pointed her wand, spraying several gallons of water at him.

Draco jumped the blast and flung several fireballs at her. They hit their mark and sent the girl flying across a large gap in buildings and crash through a window on the other side of the non-existent street belong them. The Slytherin leapt off of the building after her, but was blasted back by a rather strong disarming spell. He felt himself falling and realized he was too far from the other building to make a come back jump. ‘Am I going to lose!?’ he thought, watching the building windows once again flying upwards. ‘After I just learned what I can do?’

“Do you want to fly?”

~**~

Nyssa rolled on the floor of the building to put out the flames licking at her body. She had just managed to pull off her spell before resorting to patting out the flames on her. When free of the fire, she took a steadying breath and winced at the burns covering her. Grimacing, she stood up shakily and felt a little nauseated when her burnt skin stretched out again to support her weight. She hobbled over to the broken window and let herself out, standing on a fire escape that she somehow had missed on her way in. What she saw then would forever be engraved in her memory.

Draco was in the air in front of her, his toes slightly down pointed and his arms crossed at his chest. His eyes were glowing blue and two sets of ash grey angel wings were flapping every five or so seconds to keep him airborne. What was more, his hands were both on fire as well. She swallowed as he uncrossed his arms and formed two fireballs in his hands. “Give?” he asked in a voice almost like a girl’s.

Nyssa forced her mind to think clearly. She was a witch, he was a wizard. It was a spell. Nothing to be scared of. “No,” she breathed, jumping as the fireballs were hurled at her. She jumped from different window sills until they were both on the roof tops again.

“Miracle blast!” Draco/Christina shouted when his opponent was on the roof top. A beam shot from his out pointed finger and blasted a hole straight through the roof. Nyssa was shocked, but still had enough sense in her to shoot another spell at him, which he just batted away like a fly.

The Angel in the air flew down at her so fast he left an after image of himself in the sky. The next thing Nyssa knew was the feeling of the ground being cruelly ripped away from her feet as she soared into the air. Then, she felt herself falling. Panic over took her as she saw the buildings screaming at her at an incredible speed. “I give!”

Suddenly she found herself hugged into a strong chest and felt powerful arms around her. The fall stopped and she felt a slow flap of a breeze on her every now and then. Looking up, she saw Draco holding her. He no longer looked threatening, but she realized just how handsome he really was. He long whitish blond hair was flowing out behind him, long since out of his usual ponytail. His eyes looked down at her and his lips turned to the smirk that he always wore. The breeze hit her again and she realized that the wings were beating, making the wind move. Curiously, she moved an arm from his waist and reached to touch them, gasping at the silkiness of the feathers.

The ground met her feet and she heard the crowd was screaming as loud (if not louder) as they had when Harry had fought. She then realized she lost the match. With a sigh, she watched Draco fly over the field to his friends.

“Nyssa you okay?” Cho asked, reaching her.

“I think I’m in love…”

~**~

“Good job, Malfoy.” Hermione congratulated, smiling at him. “That was a really nice spell. Wings to fly instead of magic? Nice!”

“Bloody brilliant.” Ron corrected her. “I didn’t think you had it in you!”

Draco looked pleased with himself, but his face fell when he saw Ginny, not looking at him. He ignored Lee and Lupin going on and on about the match and walked over to the female redhead of the team. “Ginny?” he asked, getting a ‘Humph’ from her and making her turn from him completely. “What’s wrong? Ginny? Gin?” He placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh why don’t you go and touch Nyssa,” she sniffed, pulling her shoulder away from him. “You sure held her when you were in the air!” She turned again when he tried to look at her face. “Leave me alone! I hate you! Go to her! Don’t touch me! Don’t-“Ginny stopped screaming when she felt his arms around her waist and her back being pressed against his chest. She felt a feather-like flutter of a kiss on her ear.

“I don’t like her,” was all he said before releasing her slowly and turning to look at the group still celebrating over an unconscious Harry. “You told me to help people, so I did.”

Ginny flushed and looked at the ground. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He shrugged; making his wings shift as they slowly went into his back. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“Jealous!?” Ginny instantly looked up, face matching her hair. “I wasn’t jealous! Really!” Draco didn’t look at her, but instead gazed over the field with that damn smirk of his. “Draco Malfoy, I was not jealous of you! Honestly!” Her face, however, clearly told she was.

Hermione shook her head at the pair and walked to the stage. “I want to go next.”

“Win it for us.” Ron nodded at her. “Want the sunshades?”

“They really won’t help if we’re not fighting in teams.” Hermione smiled at him. “Thanks, though. Instead, could you pass me Harry’s necklace?”

Ron gave her a weird look, but did as he was asked. Harry didn’t protest, as he was still asleep by the ring. Hermione gave a curt nod in thanks and put it on.

“Helloooooo,” Celestial sang into her mind. “How are you this lovely day, Hermione? Don’t you agree that Harry is a stubborn boy who doesn’t know when to quit?”

Hermione bit back a giggle. ‘How is he?’

“Oh he’s just fine. I told you once before we can’t talk while he sleeps, right?”

Hermione nodded. ‘Yeah, that’s why I asked for you when I’m going out there. You can’t inspect him while his mind is asleep.’ The girl looked across the arena where Cho Chang was walking up the stairs.

~**~

“What’s up next, professor?” Lee asked, obviously making himself sound like he was way beyond simply interested.

“Why, I’m glad you asked, Lee!” Lupin replied, also over acting. “Next stage we have a swamp like arena. Thick fog and unsteady footing. It’ll take a clear and well thought out mindset to win this one!”

“Rules of the following match!” Several people cheered. “Wand loss, Ring out, and a special for this match only; no count downs – as you can use the fog to hide, and knock out!”

~**~

“Sure you’re up to this?” Celestial asked her, warily. “Maybe you should use the sunshades. It would help you greatly.”

‘But the point of the match is to be able to hide. It would be more cheating than helping in this scenario.’

“Honest words.”

Hermione smiled. ‘Thanks.’

“READY!?” The stage shifted quickly before them into a gross looking soggy grassy ground. There were a few trees scattered around, but it was mainly an open field. “FIGHT!”

Hermione ran forward, holding back a groan as her shoes sank almost an inch at each step. To top it off, there was now a thick magical fog that surrounded the arena. One could still see if they looked hard enough, but it was still highly annoying.

“Electrus!”

Hermione’s mind went into danger mode as she heard the spell being called out. It was a lightening spell that came from the wand tip rather than from the air. Listening as she had been trained to do, she heard the crackling of energy and predicted where the spell was coming from. She guess right, but when she jumped out of the way, she found her feet sink deeply into the sludge of a groud. “Ewwwwww……”

Jerking her feet out, Hermione ran in a half circle and saw her opponent, Cho, with her back turned. Taking advantage of it, she sprinted up to her and grabbed the girl in a choker hold. “Hiya, Cho!” she said into her ear. Her voice was happy, though.

“Hi, Hermione.” Cho flipped the girl off of her, but she landed on her feet. “Nice move.”

“Thanks, you too.”

~**~

“This is an outrage!” Snape shouted, seeing the exchange on the screen. He was one of the judges today, sitting next to Dumbledore himself. “Albus, did you see that? Lupin is not teaching them magic! He’s teraching them…Arts!” He said the last word as if it was an insult to the entire magical community. “Clearly he is not doing his job!”

“Now, now, Severus,” Dumbledore said calmly. “I approved the teaching of Muggle Martial Arts as long as spells were still learned. The classed were split and the martial arts class was completely voluntary. However,” he took his eyes from the magical screen/cloud in the air showing the furious cat fight on the field and turned to him. “Every single sorcerer and sorceress signed up for it, so we made it a regular class and put it down as extra credit. Don’t worry, they are still learning as much magic as they are use of their bodies.”

Snape kept a growl to himself, but could not keep his words from being whispered under his breath. “Muggle means are a waste of time in comparison to real magic…”

~***~

Hermione put up a shield to deflect the next attack and successfully deflected the spell. Following up, she gave a flick of her wrist and sent her flying back a few feet before landing and skidding in the sludge of a ground. Cho ‘ewwwww’ed at this, but stood up, more disgusted than hurt. “Hermione, that was uncalled for!”

Hermione laughed in reply. “But it was fun!”

Cho held up her wand and two throwing stars appeared before her, hovering in the air. “It’s time we got serious.” She watched the stars spin in the air. “They are enchanted to paralyze whoever they hit.” She flung her wand forward, sending the stars to Hermione. “One scratch and you lose!” Hermione simply dropped to the ground to avoid them, and barely had a chance to move when they immediately changed course to hit her. The stars sank into the ground where she had just been. “Did I forget to mention that since this place is so foggy I put a heat seeking charm on them?”

Hermione rolled a few times before jumping to her feet and running away from the following stars. She then leapt to the side, making the projectiles fly past her. She turned on her heels and began to run where she had come from. She saw Cho’s figure slowly come into view through the fog.

‘I won’t fall for that.’ Cho thought, grinning as Hermione ran toward her. ‘Going to jump at the last second to make them hit me, are you? Well, I can stop that.’ The raven haired girl cast a quick no jumping zone spell in front of her. ‘Let’s see you dodge now.’

Hermione grimaced. ‘Are you sure?’

“Trust me.” Hermione grimaced, but ran forward anyway.

Cho smirked as Hermione got close enough to make her move. What happened, however, shocked her. Hermione’s image was there, then gone the next. “Apparation!?” she cried. “But she doesn’t have a license!”

The next thing she felt was two sharp points hitting her in the chest and stomach. The world slowly faded into black as she fell forward, wand dropping from her hand as she did so.

~**~

“Where did she go!?” Ron shouted, running onto the field as the fog cleared as Lupin and Lee talked about the winning of the match.

“Did she Apparate?” Ginny asked, looking around.

“No.” Draco said, calmly walking up to them. “She tricked her.” He pointed to the ground, where Hermione’s head was emerging.

Her hair was sopping wet and muddy. Ron helped her out of the slimy water and laughed as she coughed out the grimy liquid. “Don’t tell me you fell in while running to her?”

Hermione grinned sheepishly up at him.

“What a way to win.” Ginny laughed, patting her on the back.

“Told you so,” Celestial spoke into Hermione’s mind.

Hermione coughed some more, feeling like she would be sick. ‘Next time you tell me a sure-fire way to win, I am _not_ listening to you.’

“I said you would distract her and win, I never said anything about staying clean.” The dragon’s voice was laughing.

~**~

Harry groaned and leaned forward, gripping his side and his shoulder. “Owww…”

“You’re up.” Ginny commented, kneeling next to him and placed her hand on his forehead. “Good, you’re not feverish, that means the medicine worked.”

“Where am I?” He took Ginny’s hand and moved it from his forehead. “My head hurts.”

“No surprise there.” Another voice chimed in. “You got hit pretty bad.”

“You can’t say much.” Another voice, Hermione’s, told the first. “Ron, you idiot, you’re worse than Harry.”

“Huh?” Harry blinked a few times and realized he was in the hospital Wing. “What about the match?”

“It ended yesterday.” Ginny grinned as Harry looked over at Ron, who was in a bed next to him. “You should have seen the matches. I lost mine, but Ron here made up for it.” She smiled at her brother. “Fought in a sand arena like an ancient Egyptian tomb. Lasted well over three hours.”

Hermione looked over at Harry and scoped him over for the thousandth time, making sure he was okay. “Yeah, and Ron kept on fighting, even after he got hurt really bad. I don’t think anyone sees this as a friendly competition anymore. It’s now win or nothing.”

Harry laid back in his bed and looked at the ceiling. “Ah.”

“I’m going for a walk.” Ginny said, patting her brother and Harry on the head as she left. “See you later guys. Harry, you can go to the common room tonight. Ron, you need to stay in here for a night.”

“Sure.”

~**~

“You always come here?” Ginny spoke softly, standing next to a tree and watching the sun set.

“Not really.” Draco was leaning against the tree, sitting down with one knee bent and the other leg straight in front of him. On his bent knee was a book with a piece of parchment on it. A quill was in his hand.

“You writing something?” she asked, bending over to look over his shoulder.

Draco opened the book and placed the parchment into it before she could read. “I was, yeah.”

“Don’t mind me.”

“I do.”

“That’s mean.”

“I come here to think.”

“The sunset is beautiful,” she said, changing the subject. “I love how the colours all melt together, don’t you?”

“Wouldn’t know.” He stood and turned. “I’m colour blind.” Ginny gasped lightly and immediately wished she could take back her words. Draco looked at his ring as he walked away. “Not even an Angel’s blessing can make me see, unless I find an emotion strong enough to match the desire.”

“What does that mean?” Ginny asked in a small voice as he walked.

“One whose heart cannot love can’t work all of holy magic. The healing is beyond my grasp.” He was almost to the castle doors, but Ginny could still hear him. “I don’t know how to love.”

Ginny watched the doors close and turned to the place where he had been sitting. “What’s this?” she asked, bending over and picking up a stray scrap of parchment.

Its like I'm paranoid, looking over my back

Its like a whirlwind inside of my head

Its like I can't stop what I'm hearing within

Its like the face inside is right beneath my skin

Here we go again. the pain I feel isn't real, but only in my mind.

But I find myself in places with names, but not faces.

My memory races at speeds, hundred degrees.

My soul, it bleeds. devil must have planted the seed?

Now it feels like my backs against the wall, I'm taking the fall...

Whenever I call, nobody's responding at all

But I don't know who I could trust... They're screaming my name...

Dear God, I need somebody to help me out of the flame

The sun goes down

I feel the light betray me

The sun goes down

Its like I’m paranoid..

I feel the light betray me

The sun...

~~**~~

Okay guys, I know I disappointed a lot of you. Last post the chapter wasn’t even done, and I couldn’t even get it out in time like I had hoped. Well, this added edition was only a thousand or so words long. The tournament is getting harder to write and is taking up more space than I originally thought. It’s hard to move with the story line when a round in the tournament takes up almost 6,000 words, ya know? Well, I can’t promise next Monday will bring in a new chapter, but I’ll try. Thanks goes to my beta reader as usual.

Till next time.

10. Run

A/N: Since life is treating me like it caught me in bed with its only daughter, I have not been able to keep my promised 10,000 words a week quota. Instead I have decided to update every 4-7 thousand words, as I see fit. This may mean an update every other day or maybe 1 a week or maybe 2. Life is like that, you know? Thanks for waiting while I sort through life as a college freshman. Heh, Ramen noodles get old after a while, ya know? ^.^

Chapter 9 was updated at the same time I posted this, so you might want to check it out if you haven’t.

~~**~~

“Sir, everything is going as planned. We will be ready to proceed this coming Saturday night.” The man spoke, voice hollow from years of lost emotions. Wormtail bowed before his master and waited for the response.

“Excellent.” The voice of Voldemort replied. “Make sure they are ready.”

“Sir.”

Breath of Fire X

By:

Satashi

“Well what do you want me to do?” Ron asked throwing his hands up. “We’re not even good yet. I can’t just come up with words to this.”

Harry sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. I just want to have something cool, that’s all.”

Ron waved his hand and two small light beams appeared in his hands, which he spun like drumsticks. He moved his hand down and a straight line appeared in mid swing, making a noise.

“Magical drum set?” Hermione asked, stepping into the room.

“Yeah, I had mum to send it to me from home. It’s cheap, but it does what it’s supposed to.” Ron agreed, while playing a small solo.

Hermione looked from Harry (who was holding his guitar) to Ron. “What are you two going to start a band or something?”

“Yeah.” They both replied at the same time.

Hermione waited a few moments before letting out her feelings on the subject. “Hahahahaha!”

~**~

Harry stood in the spray of the shower, head titled slightly forward, letting the hot liquid rush over his tired muscles. On the outside of the shower room, Hermione was swimming around in the huge bathtub for prefects. Their dirty cloths were in the hamper and their clean ones on the bench by it. One would have thought it was a normal day, but there was one slight alteration; Harry’s quidditch robes.

Yes, the time had finally come where quidditch members would once again be taxed. Their bodies pushed hard and skills sharpened. The captain of the team held no sympathy for the two members who were in the sorcerer’s circle. Harry was pushed harder to make up for time lost while practicing charms, hexes and muggle martial arts.

Harry Potter, for this reason, had been in the shower for almost half an hour now. The room was full of steam and his tired muscles were now relaxed. Prefect, N.E.W.T.s, MMA, SC, and quidditch. This surely was a lot to place all on the shoulders on one teenage boy, but there were a few others in the school who knew what he was going through. They, with the assistance of Hermione, had formed a study group at night to help catch up on anything they might not understand. Tonight was cancelled, however, because of the Hogsmeade trip. Almost the entire school was going to head out. Even first and second years would leave the castle on a special field trip to see a master wizard show off some fancy spells.

“Harry, you almost done in there?” Hermione called out to him, peeking her head past the slightly cracked door. “Wow, it’s steamy in here.”

Harry looked up and leaned back, pulling the shower curtain back enough to title his head out of. “Hey, it feels good in here.”

“Sure it does,” she agreed, not really looking at him. “But you promised me lunch today and I skipped breakfast.”

Harry gave her his lopsided grin and leaned out, taking her hand and pulling her toward him. “We can wait a little longer, can’t we?”

“Harry!” She spoke in an alarmed whisper. “In the shower?” He arched an eyebrow at her, making her blush. “We can’t. You know that. What, what if we get caught!?”

“Making out in the shower, nothing wrong with that is there?”

“What if someone comes in?” She asked again, still red.

“They won’t. Come here beautiful.” He tugged her, making her fall against him. A kiss cut off all other protest.

~**~

Draco yawned as he pushed open the prefect’s bathroom door. “Man I’m sleepy.” He spoke to himself, rubbing his eyes as he eyed the empty bathtub. A few subs were still on the bottom, as if it was just drained. “I think I’m going to take a shower today…”

~**~

Ron looked at Harry and then back to Hermione. After a few more glances, he looked over at Ginny, who seemed just as confused as him. She in turn, looked at Draco, who was sitting on the other side of her. Draco refused to make eye contact with anyone, especially Harry and Hermione. The five were on their way to Hogsmeade in a horseless carriage. Although normally there would be lots of talking and joking and jabs at each other from the three guys, today was silent.

“So, Harry, took a long shower this morning.” Ron said, trying to fill in the total lack of words. “Quidditch practice is a killer, eh?”

“…”

Hermione looked even redder than before.

“What did I say?” Ron asked his sister, getting a shrug. The awkwardness of the ride was soon thankfully over as the group made it to their destination and stepped out. “I’m going to, um, go shop around.” Ron waved lightly before walking off; thinking that whatever it was that went on would fade over the course of the day.

“Wait!”

Ron turned to see Harry trotting over to him. “I’ll join you.”

The red head nodded, assuming he needed some time away from the girls and Draco. “Sure. Let’s go.”

~**~

Harry’s head jerked to the side as a loud explosion snagged his attention. “What the…?”

“Death Eaters!” Someone shouted out, fleeing in the opposite direction of the explosion.

Harry gave his friends a weird look. “They wouldn’t…”

Another explosion rang out.

“They did.” Ron said grimly. The next thing they knew they were running through a sea of people, pushing past villagers and young children...

“There!” Ron pointed at a small group of three people. They were wearing black wizard robes and a white mask. “Expelliarmus!” The hex shot from his wand and hit the center man, making him fly backwards a few feet. The red head caught the wand that flew at him gracefully and smirked as the people running suddenly stopped and looked at them.

“It’s Harry Potter!” A girl cried out. “And Ron! We’re saved!”

The two death eaters were helping their fallen friend up at the moment. Harry took this time to speak to the people around him. “Why are you running, huh!?” he demanded of them. “Scared? That’s fine.” He set his eyes on his opponents. “But sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to.” He held out his hand. “All of you guys protect the women and children.” The death eaters were now all standing. “ Windaga!”

The blast of wind sent all three into a wall, making them pass out from the force. Ron nodded at Harry and snapped the wand he held. “You guys take care of them.”

“Ron!” Ron turned to look in the direction Harry was facing, but found himself hit by a spell and sent flying far away. Harry glared at the person who cast the spell. “You’ll pay for that.”

~**~

“Attacking Hogsmeade…” Cho whispered under her breath as she broke a wand she was holding. A group had already surrounded her and tied up the death eater she just took out. “What kind of idiot would attack a wizarding town?” She looked in the direction of the building that was on fire. She was in it when the fire charm was placed on it. “You-know-who must me losing his touch.”

“Cho!”

Cho turned, seeing Recca and Ashley from the Hokage and Blitz teams. “Hey guys. Guess you know what’s going on.”

“You’re calm about this.” Ashley said, giving her a look.

“Watch out!” Recca tackled Cho, and turned so he would take the fall. The space she was just standing blew apart in dust and small debree. “Locomoto mortis” he said as soon as he could, making the death eater fall from the rooftop and land roughly on the ground.

“Imperio!”

Ashley suddenly felt very warm. ‘Kill them....’

“Oh man…”

“Cho! Keep Ashley busy!” Recca turned to the death eater. “Diffindo!” The charm hit its mark and the mask covering the older man’s face was split open, falling to reveal his face. “Well,” Recca said, walking around him. “I don’t know who you are, but I’m sure one person in this crowd does.” He moved his hand around, showing the several people who stopped running in panic to watch the Hogwarts kids take on this threat.

The man glared. “Crucio!”

Recca jumped into the air, spun and landed on his toes, already springing into a lunge before his opponent had any chance to retaliate. Three punches later, he was out cold.

“Cho…?”

Cho looked up at Ashley, who was on top of her, wand at her throat. “Oh thank Merlin.” She breathed out, letting herself relax.

“Up you go.” Recca said, lifting Ashley up and then helping Cho to her feet. “You girls go help some of the people hurt and try to get that fire out. I’ll try and find some other Sorcerers and let them know that these people don’t have any training against martial arts.” He nodded at them. “And don’t let anyone not in the Circle fight. We don’t stand a chance if we use magic against magic.”

~**~

Harry bit his lip as he was flung against a wall. He felt it cave under the pressure and then found himself skidding across the floor as bits and pieces of sheetrock and wood hit around him. Slowly getting to his feet, he looked out the new window that he had just created and, steadying himself, leapt out of it.

“Harry, would you like to know why I’m named Ryoko?” The blue haired lady asked, perched on a building across the street. Her eyes went red as small wisp of smoke started to gather around her. “It’s because I can summon spirits from anything under the sun.”

The ghost like wisp flew at Harry, but was easily deflected. “Looks like you need to get some real power.” Harry taunted, coving the fact that his back was killing him from his previous fall. “Such tricks can not defeat me.”

“They can also be used like this.” Ryoko raised her hand and the wisp gathered in front of her, soon forming into a large demon.

“What the…?” Harry breathed out as the transparent being formed in front of him. It looked like it was made of smoke, but had four glowing red eyes and claws for hands. Its feet looked as if they couldn’t do any damage because of the smoke body, but the stones under it were cracked from an insane amount of weight it must have. “This is not good…”

~**~

Dean ducked under a spell and ran in close to the death eater that had shot it. Throwing a punch, the man doubled over and set the boy up for an uppercut, which he took full advantage of. The mask was thrown off and he lay unconscious on the road. Several people cheered for him, but his victory was short lived as a shout of “Crucio” taught him a new meaning of the word ‘pain’.

“Dean!” Seamus shouted, running up and landing a drop kick on the person holding the wand that was cursing with energy. “Sodding bastard!” He raised his hand and slammed a punch on the new man’s face and then stomach, before returning to his face.

“I’m okay.” Dean coughed out, weakly standing with the help of another Hogwarts sorcerer student. “Just caught off guard.”

“They can’t defend against Muggle Arts.” Recca said, stepping up to them. Behind him was a third death eater, mask removed and bound by a spell. “Let’s split up and find others who are fighting. Avoid all spells being cast, they play dirty.”

“Right.” The two other boys nodded.

~**~

Ron sweep kicked a man in black robes and, somehow, managed to jump straight into the air to avoid a hex. He landed neatly on the fallen death eater’s stomach, making him cough, spit blood, and pass out. Turning to see his new opponent, Ron set his face in a frown. “It seems they small fry are getting taken out.” Ron taunted, moving his hand in a beckoning motion. “You must be one of the leaders.” He smirked. “Care to take me on?”

“Avada kedavra!”

Ron leapt to the side and ran forward, hand posed as to punch. His fist met air, however, as the man he was fighting seemed to apaprate behind him, clipping Ron with a blast of energy that made him fly forward into a group of scared spectators. “It seems you bunched me with this group of losers.” The man spoke through his mask. “I’ll warn you not to make that mistake a second time.”

The red head male was struggling to his feet, wiping blood from his nose as the man went on talking. “They call me Jandor.” He informed, voice cool. “I will be your executioner.”

Ron’s body seemed to blur at the speed he put on. The next moment, his fist was in the gut of Jandor, making him double over and receive a round house to him temple. “My name is Ron.” He spoke, mimicking Jandor’s voice. “I will be thwarting your dumb ass.”

~**~

Ginny danced to the side of a spell that was shot at her and immediately moved in the other direction to avoid another. Draco then appeared behind the two men firing at her and caught both of them in a blazing blue fire before they could turn around.

“You’re late.” Ginny pouted at him as Hogsmeade citizens moved to apprehend the fallen people.

“I ran into a little trouble.” He replied.

“And you’ll soon find more, boy!” A new voice called out as Draco found himself flying through the air. His body crashed into a large granite pole in front of a fancy looking house. Blood escaped him his mouth as he slid down it.

“Draco!” Ginny ran to him and helped him up. “You okay?”

“A few broken ribs.” He said through grit teeth, looking at the tall man walking forward at him though hazed eyes. He was wearing a long black cloak and a solid black mask. The long haired teenager then smiled at Ginny. “I’ll take him; you go help people who are hurt.”

“But-!”

“Ginny!” He said firmly. “You’re a great fighter, but you’re healing skills are what is needed right now.” He stood up, mouth in a tight line. “Go. People need you.” Draco’s school robes were unclasped and took flight in the wind blowing. His hair floated behind him as he lunged forward and met him in a grip lock.

“Give up boy.” The man growled at him. “You’re a hundred years too young to take me on.”

“Father…”

~**~

Harry jumped onto the top of a house, narrowly avoiding a rather powerful swing from the monster he was fighting. “Aim between its eyes.” Celestial whispered to him in his mind. “That is where the power is being concentrated.”

Harry nodded, jumping into the air and dodging a few more attacks. Wind was blasting under him fiercely, keeping him afloat. He used this power to make a suicidal dive to the monster, wand called into his hand and a sword of wind coming from it. “Take this!”

The summoned demon seemed to attack out of nowhere, slamming him hard on his side with a large hand. Harry hit the ground roughly and bounced twice before stopping. “This…” He whispered through the pain. “Is not my day…”

“It would appear so.” A voice said behind him.

Harry weakly rolled over to see who had spoken to him. “Who..?”

“Polly juice potion really is a wonderful thing.” The voice spoke, helping him up with a small healing spell.

“Sirius!?”

“Shh, not so loud.” He told his godson. “I heard about this attack when I was spying. Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.”

Harry stood, now more confident about himself. “All right. We’ll talk later. Right now we have some business to take care of.”

~**~

Ron set his face in a frown as he avoided yet another Crucio spell sent at him. Obviously what made the death eaters so strong was their total disregard to the wizarding rules of restriction. “Stay still damn you!” Jandor shouted, casting another hex, which made Ron suddenly feel very sluggish.

“I… can’t move.”

“Yes, that is the idea.” Jandor commented, stepping up to the frozen boy who was in mid stride. “How do you feel now? Crucio!”

Ron screamed in pain as he felt the lightening like energy course through him. Glass ran through his veins and fire licked his flesh. ‘It’s not real pain.’ He told himself as his voice kept yelling. ‘It’s not real.’ The people watching could only hold their breath and cover their ears, too scared to make any move to stop it. ‘Ron!’ His mouth closed tightly, refusing to yell anymore. ‘Ron! Pull yourself together!’

Ron’s mind shot to all the times Harry saved his life. ‘You’re not some weakling!’ He told himself as the pain increased. ‘You’re Harry’s friend because you know you can handle the danger it brings!’ Ron opened his eyes. ‘So show it!’ He grit his teeth. ‘Prove that you are worthy of being called his friend. Prove you can protect people like he can!’

Ron screamed.

“What!?” Jandor looked in shock as Ron stood up straight, green crackling energy all around him. “Impossible!”

“Is it?” Ron asked, calmly walking forward. “What is magic? The manifestation of one’s will to make someone else perceive it and its effects.”

“What are you talking about!?”

“The Imperious Curse can be over come through power of mind.” Ron told him, still walking. “And the Cruciatus Curse can be overcome through willpower. When I realized that it was all in my mind, and my actual physical body wasn’t being hurt, it was easy.” Ron slammed a fist into Jandor’s stomach. “Is that all the power you have, Jandor?”

The death eater leader slowly sank to his knees, and then fell forward, eyes rolling into the back of his head.

~**~

Draco smirked evilly as he flip kicked his father over him as he fell back. Lucius, however, landed quite neatly on his feet with the help of a balancing spell. “Impressive.” He spoke calmly. “Is that what they teach you at that school of yours? How to use pathetic muggle means of defense?”

“No, I chose to learn.” Draco shot back, glaring.

“Draco, you poor foolish boy.” His voice dripped with sarcasm and hate. “The lord will give you another chance. Come, return the ring and you will be welcomed back into the fold!”

“Back? I was never a part of it!”

“Then, what is on your arm, boy? Surely not the dark mark you received when put under the Cruciatus curse the first time that night?”

“What mark?” Draco asked slyly, pulling down his sleeve to show a bare arm. “You mean the one that I took off?”

“How!?”

“Go tell Voldemort to go fu-“

“Draco!”

‘Hehe.’

“Die, boy! Avada Kadavara!”

Draco did the classic Sorcerer jump to avoid the spell, and pulled a nice twist in his body, angel wings shredding his shirt as they came from his back. Midnight black feathers flew around them as he glared. His long blondish white hair turned to a deep shade of red, so dark it almost matched his wings. “You want me back so much?” He asked voice light and feminine. “Then come and get me.”

“Fool!” Lucius held out his wand. “Crucio! Avada Kadavra! Hari Kari! Explosion!”

Draco batted away the first curse, dodged the second, and sped forward. By the time the last curse was called, his face was only a centimeter from his father’s. “Is that all?” he asked him as the older man staggered backwards.

“The ring is controlling you, boy.” He told his son, eyes wishing death upon him. “You’re not yourself.”

“Who says we aren’t working together?” Draco’s voice seemed to be his own, but that of Christina as well. They spoke at the same time, perfectly in sync. “Our powers are too much for you. This attack was a failure.”

Lucius chuckled twice before throwing his head back and laughing full force.

“I don’t see what’s so funny.” The two voices spoke at the same time.

“Hehehe...” Lucius put his hand on his face, still laughing.

“He’s gone crazy…”

“You think the point of the attack was to terrorize?” Lucius suddenly asked, voice hard and cold, no longer having any traces of laughter in it. “Poor pathetic boy, can you not even think!?” Draco set his face stern and emotionless. “The lord would not attack unless he had a reason. Why else would he send such weak people with only three leaders of the attack?”

Draco’s eyebrow twitched lightly; the only expression that showed he heard.

“Figure it out, boy!” And with those words, he appareted away.

Draco turned and began to walk away, but saw his reflection in the glass of a building. The area he was in was deserted, as they had all gathered to help put out the fires of the two or three buildings damaged. What he saw made him smirk. On his face he had a triangular strip on both sides of his cheeks and his hair flew back in strands and spikes. Black wings that could carry him into the air if he wanted. “So this is the result of an Angel and a black heart?” He looked into his glowing blue eyes. “Heh.”

He turned and walked away.

~**~

“That was surprisingly easy.” Harry spoke, watching the body of the demon he was fighting fade away. Turning, he looked around. “Where is Ryoko?”

“You don’t have to worry about her.”

Harry blinked. “Eh?” He looked over at Sirius. “Why not?”

“Watch out!”

“Because she is behind you.” Harry gasped as he felt two hands grab his head. The next thing he saw was lightning flash before his eyes and the sound of his godfather saying that, “Yes, it truly is amazing what polyjuice potion could do.”

“Voldemort…” How? How did he find out Sirius was a spy? That he was his Godfather….

Harry potter blacked out.

~**~

Ginny looked up at the burning building as she was casting a small healing spell that he learned from madam Pomfrey. Although potions and such were the main healing properties of magical medicine, certain spells could slightly mend bones and cure burns. Also, there was a high class spell that could even close cuts and make blood flow better. She, luckily, understood enough to be able to cast that very spell. Now, after doing it several times, she was glad of her knowledge.

“Is everyone okay?”

Ginny turned and gaped up at Draco. He looked like some sort of astral warrior. Biting back questions that might strike a nerve on his appearance, she forced herself to look back at the building. “There may be more inside.”

“My baby!” A woman suddenly cried as there was a small explosion of glass and collapsing wood. “My baby is still in there!”

“I’ll go.” Draco flapped his wings, sending ash grey feathers flying.

Ginny picked up a feather and blinked at it. “Weren’t they black?”

The people outside waited with their breath held when Draco flew through a window. The woman who had called out for her baby was chocking on tears as she struggled to breathe as she waited. Almost thirty seconds had gone by since he went in. The window of the three story building was being looked at by all eyes. Slowly flames took over the window and there was an eary quiet that took place. It was shattered next by the sound of wood breaking and another small crash.

“No!”

Draco then suddenly appeared, jumping from the window as it, too, collapsed. He beat his wings twice before landing softly. “Your baby is fine.” He held out a small bundle in sheets. “Don’t worry.”

“Thank you…” She took the child and looked at him, eyes shining. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you!”

Ginny watched as the people cheered for him, not letting him walk away. Slowly she smiled as she watched people pat his shoulders and congratulate the boy. She then noticed that his wings were slowly fading to a less grey and more whitish colour. ‘They react to his feelings and mood.’ She realized with a smile.

“Draco!”

The boy turned to Ginny, and ever so slowly, a smile came to his face. “Hi.”

She grinned and walked up to him, placing her arms around his neck. “You’re sexy like that.” She told him before standing on her tip toes and planting a kiss on his lips before he could pull away. Several people cheered for their new hero and his getting a kiss from the other hero who had saved so many of them today. After a few moments Ginny slowly pulled away. “How was that, Draco?”

“Tasted like ash.” He admitted, borrowing Harry’s lopsided smile.

“Heyyyyy….”

Everyone laughed.

“Geeze, that was cheesy.” Recca said, sitting with his back against an unharmed building, watching them. He was covered in black ash from head to toe, complete with dirt and a little blood.

“I swear.” Cho agreed, arms crossed and frowning. She too was covered from her fights. “And here we are with all of these people.” She jabbed a thumb back at the fifteen plus death eaters, moaning in pain and agony. “Where’s my kiss?”

Recca looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh don’t even think about it!”

“Humph. Spoilsport.”

~**~

“Harry!” Hermione shouted, running up to the boy and shaking him. “Harry! Harry! Speak to me! Harry!”

Harry groaned and slowly sat up with her help. “Ugh, my head…”

“Harry, what happened?”

“I… I don’t know…One thing I was fighting and the next, someone got me from behind.” He stood. “I’m okay now. Are the death eaters caught yet?”

“Yes, they were all rounded up. Almost twenty in all. Recca and Cho are taking care of it. Ginny and Malfoy are helping with repair of buildings and any hurt.”

Harry nodded. “Good. Come on,” He helped her up. “Let’s go see if they need our help.”

~**~

“So this is the power of the ring?” Voldemort asked, watching a pennisive of Lucius’ mind. He froze the play on it and walked around a frozen image of Draco, leaning forward in flight an inch from the ground. “Interesting indeed.” He examined the hair and the wings. “Almost a complete transformation. However, it is not full just yet…”

The play continued until it came to the part he wanted.

“Who says we’re not working together?” The lord froze it again.

“Working together, eh?” He pondered, inspecting the glowing blue eyes and triangular black strips on his cheeks. “I estimate only a fifty percent bond with the ring.”

“What does that mean, my lord?” Lucius spoke for the first time.

“It means, simpleton, that he will only get stronger in time. If allowed, he will be as strong as a star seed, if not more so. Tell me, Lucius, have you ever fought an angelic warrior before?”

“No, my lord?”

“I have.” Voldemort spoke. “The battle lasted over a month, and that was because she was savoring it. If she had been serious, not even I would have survived.”

“My lord!?”

“I did not lose; I bound her with a spell that would…Oh.”

“Lord?”

“Something has just come to my attention.”

“Sir?”

Voldemort laughed without humour. “I should have known. I have only cast that spell twice. Once was with a dragon and the other on the angel. I thought it would turn them into a chunk of metal or silver. Obviously I was wrong.” He smiled darkly. “Lesson learned. Inspect battle fields after done to make sure the spells do what you think they will…”

~**~

“It would appear that the time has come to take a stand against Voldemort.” Dumbledore spoke, casting his voice across the multitude of people. They were in the town square of Hogsmeade, a few hours after the attack. It was getting dark now, but lights were set up hastily for this matter. “We must unite our powers and stop this rain of terror once and for all.”

“Yeah, but how!?” One person asked from the crowd.

“I’m afraid a war is going to take place.” Dumbledore said sadly, eyes losing their twinkle. “I fear the only way to stop it is to make sure Voldemort is killed once and for all…”

Quite a few people mumbled at this, but the speaker went on after it quieted down a bit. “These students were the main cause of the arrest of the twenty three death eaters that attacked.” He moved his hand, motioning toward the several chairs that were up on the small quickly put together stage. “Most of you know them from Hogwarts’ Sorcerer Circle. Others know them as friends. We all know them as the brave few who took action when others were in danger.” Several people cheered at these words, making the students blush.

Dumbledore moved his hand to ask for silence, and was granted it. “These students know how to act, and don’t hesitate when time calls for it. Will you follow their example? Will you protect your loved ones?”

“You bet I am!” A man screamed, calling attention to himself. “Come on guys! You-know-who won’t stand a chance if we all bond together! What do you say!?”

“YEAH!”

~**~

“Harry?” Hermione asked, looking over at him as he sat on his bed. “Are you okay? You’ve been…kind of spacey ever since the attack today. Is anything wrong?”

“Eh?” He looked up. “No, I’m just kind of tired, that’s all.”

Hermione looked skeptical, but accepted it non-the-less. “Okay then. Should we go to sleep then?”

“Yeah.” Harry sat on his bed and waved. “Sweet dreams.” And then he closed his curtains.

“….Harry?” Hermione looked at the closed curtains sadly a moment before walking over to her bed and laying down in it, pulling the ribbon that held open her curtains and letting them fall. The brown haired girl sighed as she sank into her soft mattress. ‘Is something wrong?’ she asked herself, hugging her pillow. ‘You can talk to me about it, you know.’

~**~

Harry sat up. Three in the morning now, perfect for what he had in mind. Swinging his feet out from under the covers, he slid out from his curtains and glanced around the room before moving to the door and slinking out. The boy looked both ways before leaping from the balcony and floating down to the common room, where he then flew (toes almost dragging the floor) to the door and literally went through it.

Glancing around, he took off down the hallways, leaning forward and flying a few inches from the ground. Turns were made sharp as he explored. ‘Where is that stupid door?’ he asked himself as he flew. ‘It should be around here somewh- Ah ha!’

Harry landed without a sound and looked at the stone gargoyle in front of him. Reaching into his pajama pants, he pulled out a wand and tapped it to the stone, prepared to crack the password.

“Harry!” Harry turned quickly, coming face to face with Ron. “What are you doing man?” He asked, looking at him strangely.

‘Why is he wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night?´ Harry pondered, looking over him.

“Not even under your cloak? You could be caught!”

“Cloak?”

Ron sighed. “You must have been hit harder than you thought man.” Run put his arm around his friend’s shoulders. “Let’s go back. You need to rest. Tomorrow you need to go to the Wing and get examined.”

“I’m fine.” Harry threw off his hand and stalked off on his own.

“Geeze, what’s up with him?” Ron asked himself as he walked away.

“Guess we’ll go back together after all, huh?”

Ron turned and smiled at Lavender. “Sure. Close call. Harry would never let us live it down if we were caught out like this.”

~**~

“Hey Harry.” Ginny greeted wrapping her arms around his neck in a friendly/ playful good morning hug. “Ron tells me you need your head examined. No surprise there, we’ve known it for years.”

The Gryffindors are the breakfast table laughed merrily at the joke, making the boy glare at them. “I’m fine.” He shifted, giving a clear sign for Ginny to let go. “I don’t need you pestering me about things that you don’t know about.”

Ginny looked hurt, but smiled anyway with a weak laugh. “Sorry then.”

Ron looked at his sister, who was silently picking at her eggs. It was clear she was upset. “Yo, Harry mate, want to play some quidditch after breakfast?”

“I have something to do.”

Ron looked over at Hermione for some help, which she quickly gave. “Oh come on, it’ll help you relax.”

Harry glared at her. “I said I have something to do.”

“Don’t be so mean about it, Harry.” Ginny spoke, giving him the glare that made even Draco learn his place.

“Sod off.” Harry stood and walked away, sticking his hands into his wizarding pants.

Ginny watched him walk away and slowly felt tears ring up in her eyes. “What did I do?” She asked nobody in particular. “I was just trying to help…”

“It’s okay…” Hermione comforted her, watching Harry’s retreating figure.

Suddenly on the other side of the great hall, a loud clang could be heard. Looking over, they saw Draco stand and stalk after Harry.

“You think he heard?”

Ron frowned. “Knowing Malfoy, he was probably listening. He has a habit of glancing at Ginny during meals.

~**~

“Potter!”

Harry turned and smirked at Draco. “Yeah, Malfoy?”

“What is up with you man!?” He demanded, swinging his arm in frustration. “You go apologize to Ginny right now or I swear I’ll…”

“You’ll do what?” Harry challenged with a confident air. “Fight me?”

Draco glared. “I might.”

“Bring it.”

Draco walked past him and stopped. “I don’t need to waste my time on a loser like you.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

Draco turned his head slightly sideways to look at him. “I could beat you without using ten percent of my power.”

“Liar.”

“You’ll never know.” He started to walk away then, but soon fell to his knees after a shout of ‘crucio’ behind him. “Cheeeee…..” He closed his eyes and gripped his robes, fighting down the pain.

“Harry!” Suddenly the pain was gone and he was able to cough and gasp for air. As soon as he could, he turned to see Ron holding Harry’s wrist and pressing them against the wall. “What the bloody hell are you doing!?”

Harry snorted and kicked Ron in the shin, making him let go. “Looks like I have no other choice.” He took off into a run back to the great hall. ‘Damn, he made me reveal myself.’ He thought as the doors broke open. All four tables turned to see Harry literally fly forward down the middle. “Prepare to die old man!” He raired back his hands and formed two large balls of pulsating raw magical energy.

Dumbledore simply raised his hand and formed a shield around him, blasting back the offensive force and making Harry fly back several feet and land smack on his back.

“Harry!” Hermione ran to him, but was shoved away. She tried desperately to hold onto him, but only succeeded in ripping off his necklace as he made another attack. This time, he was subdued by a collective effort from the teachers. ‘Cecilia?’ she thought, scared. ‘What’s wrong with him? …Cecilia? Celestial!?’ She looked at the necklace. “It’s a fake!”

~**~

“Ughhh….” The sound escaped the man’s throat as he woke up from a forced sleep. “Wha...” His mouth was dry and his wrist hurt. He vaguely realized he was hung from some type of shackles. “Where…..where am I…?”

“Ah, the boy wakes.”

Harry weakly brought up head. “Vole…..mort…?”

“That is what they call me.” He replied calmly. “It seems you are not as strong as I gave you credit for. I put too much effort into capturing you.”

Despite his situation of not knowing where he was or even how he got there, Harry smiled. “Took you long enough, didn’t it? Put a little more effort into it and you could have saved a year or two. Hehe...”

“Still the smart eleck, eh, Potter?” Voldemort asked, looking at him with his slitted red eyes. “I’ll have you know that I-“

“Lord Voldemort sir!”

Voldemort turned. “Can’t you see I’m busy!?” He yelled, pulling out his wand and pointing it toward the person who just barged in on them. From the new light in the room, Harry could tell he was in some sort of stone cell. There was a window high on the far right wall and a wooden door to his left, where the man came in.

“My lord, Ryoko has been discovered!”

Voldemort growled. “I should have known better than to trust such an important job to that hot headed little….No matter, we still have the real Potter here. The assassination didn’t work out as to plan. She knows we won’t come for her.”

“Sir. Should I tell the others to eliminate all her data, sir?”

“Yes, do that.”

“Sir.” The man bowed and left the room, leaving the two alone again.

“You took me hostage and replaced me with a spy?” as asked, impressed. “Nice plan. Too bad it didn’t work. I’m a hard person to copy.”

“The spell copied you down to your exact skin tone.” Voldemort snapped.

“Yeah, but did you make my hair right? Did you think to make the person wear mostly muggle clothing? Did you put in my personality, Tom!?”

“Silence!” Voldemort slapped the boy.

“Hehe….What was that?” Harry asked, amused. “Did a mosquito just bite me?”

“Boy!” Voldemort punched him in the stomach and hit hi macros the face.

“Hehe… that tickles.”

Voldemort glared at him. “Crucio.”

Harry’s eyes went wide as the pain hit him. His mouth was open and he knew he was screaming, but he could hear nothing but the searing pain in him. Green lightening scrambled through his body, coursing in his blood, making it boil. His mind demanded release from the pain, but he could do nothing but endure it.

‘Hang in there Harry.’ A voice told him, worried but still confident. ‘Something like this won’t beat you!’

Harry closes his mouth and grits his teeth, refusing to scream anymore. The pain, however, did not stop for a long time afterwards.

“My my.” Voldemort said, amused. “Two full minutes under the curse and you’re still alive? Not one of my men can last over twenty seconds, and here you go, disproving all known magical laws and facts.” He watched the panting, sweat covered teenager in front of him. “Won’t you reconsider joining me? This of all we could create. Or destroy. Causing the countless deaths of millions. It will be grand.”

Harry took a steadying breath and lifted his head to retaliate. However, in his hazed and pain stricken mind, he could only come up with a muggle line he heard throughout being beaten on my Dudley and his bully friends. “Yo mamma!”

Voldemort didn’t understand exactly what he meant by saying his mother, but something about the gleam in his eye told him it was something that was meant to make him mad. For this reason alone, Voldemort once again held out his wand. “Crucio.”

~**~

“I must say that that was the worst assassination attempt I’ve ever seen.” Snape said, looking at the blue haired girl in front of him. “Was your only mission to kill Dumbledore?”

“Maybe.” She replied sarcastically.

“That doesn’t matter.” Lupin said, looking over at him. “Tell me, Ryoko, Where is Harry at this current moment.”

“Take a wild guess.”

“With Voldemort obviously.” He sighed. “Ryoko, will you cooperate with us? If you do, the court will go easier on you.”

“Go to hell.”

Snape snorted. “So original.” Reaching into his pocket, he took out a vile of a clearest white mixture. “Don’t worry, Lupin. I have wanted to try out this new truth potion for a long time now.” He grabbed Ryoko’s cheeks with his right hand and squeezed. “Unfortunately, it appears to be extremely painful and mind raping… Get my drift?”

“I….I’ll talk…”

~**~

“Harry? Harry are you awake?”

He groaned, trying to shift, but remembered he was hanging. ‘Stupid little…. He could at least cuff me to the ground you know?’

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’”

‘Yeah, I’m awake. Nice to see you too.’

“We need to get out of here.”

‘I agree.’ Harry looked around the small cell. ‘How about the old fake sick and take out guard when he comes in?’

“Personally, I don’t think they could care less if you’re ill.”

‘Good point.’ He racked his mind for some ideas while Celestial fed him her stored up power. ‘I’m glad you can do that. I feel a heck of a lot better now.’

“It’s the least I can do for draining your energy constantly.”

‘Okay. How about I make a lot of noise and when the guard comes in to shut me up we take him out?’

“You use your wand for spells.” She told him gently. “It’s not with you.”

‘What about Dragon’s Breath?’

“You would bring down this entire place on top of you.”

‘…Yeah, I knew that.’

“Sure you did sweetie.”

‘If only there was some way… Yes!’

“Hey! Hey guard!” He shouted out before Celestial could ask him what his plan was. “You better run fast because I’m about to escape and I’m not in a happy mood!”

The door opened and in came a man dressed in a dark robe. “Oh? Just how are you going to do that?” He stood in front of him and crossed his arms. “I don’t see how you could possible manage what you claim.”

“Oh?”

“I think you’re too cocky.” He drew his wand. “A quick crucio will take care of that.”

Harry kicked his unbound foot forward and connected with the man’s hand, sending the wand flying. Using his other foot, he placed his shoe on the man’s shoulder, using it as leverage. Quickly, before the man could realize what was going on, Harry slammed his right foot against the wall, making a blade slip from the end of his shoe. “Now.” He brought the blade to the man’s neck, using his other foot as a balancer. “How about getting me down?”

~**~

“My house!?” Draco asked, alarmed, as he quickly stood up. The chair he was sitting on tipped back from the sudden movement.

“That’s what she said.” Professor Lupin confirmed. “Why would he be brought there, do you know?”

“We have a rather large basement.” Draco said dryly. “Complete with bars. A few places on the walls look like windows, so the person would think they were not under ground. That way they wouldn’t think of a house in a town.”

“I see. How well guarded is this place?” Draco gave a light smirk. “This won’t be easy will it?”

“It will with me there.”

“Oh no, you’re not coming. This is too dangerous.”

Draco frowned and opened his mouth to reply, but someone else beat him to it. “I thought this was a time we were to join together?” Turning, Draco saw it was Ron who spoke. “Professor, you know as many passages in this castle that leads out as I do. I’m going if you say I can or not.”

“And me.” Hermione spoke from beside him.

“And me.” Ginny agreed.

Draco turned. “You know I will.”

Lupin sighed. “I should have known…” He looked at them. “Ron, get the cloak. Hermione, Ginny, you two are going to be the head group. You’re faster than the guys. Hermione, wear the shades. I’ll wear the other pair.” The teenagers all gave bright smiles. “Since we’re out of Hogwarts for this, the shades will give a line art of whatever area you are on. It’ll be rough, and no secret passages will be revealed, but it will show us where people are and allow us to stay in contact.”

Draco looked at them all .”You know this will be hard. My house is huge and crawling with death eaters.”

“Yeah.”

“So?”

“I’m getting my Harry back.”

“I agree.”

Draco stared at them a moment before closing his eyes. “Heh.” He smiled at the ground. ‘So this is what friends are for, huh?’

~**~

Harry looked around a corner slowly and ducked back behind the wall when a guard walked past. Seeing his chance, the boy darted behind him and clipped the person at the base of his neck, knocking him out. Dragging him to a dark corner, Harry let him lay there and continued on his way out of the dungeon or whatever it was that he was in.

Rounding another turn, Harry came face to face with another death eater. Having no other choice, Harry gave him a swift punch to the stomach before he could call for help. A right hook later, he too was out cold. Harry sighed and drug him out of the way. So far nobody knew he had escaped. As long as the people behind him didn’t wake up and do some kind of alert spell, he would be okay.

The boy ran a few steps up and then a few back down. This continued for a few minutes before he realized he was in the exact same place he started at. “This place is a maze.” He thought aloud to himself. “This sucks.”

~**~

“This is your house!?” Ginny shrieked in a whisper as the group snuck up to the gates around the Malfoy manor.

“Was, yeah.” Draco replied, glaring up at the place he hated so much. “Trust me, it may look big and fancy but on the inside, it’s dark and cold. A real bad feeling always hangs in the air.”

“Shush.” Lupin told them, leaning against the stone gate. “Ginny, Hermione, you two are the fastest among us. You go and take out the people guarding the entrance on the gate. Remember, be silent.”

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

~**~

Harry groaned as an alarm sounded. It seemed like his sneak time was over and now the entire house would be looking for him. Choosing another door at random, Harry broke through it and gasped when he realized there was a stairway in front of him. Running up it, he found another type of door on the ceiling. Jumping, He managed to grab a hold of the ring that would normally be pulled to open it. His weight, along with gravity, broke the lock and he found himself staring into a starry sky. ‘YES!’ his mind screamed as he leapt out of the dark dungeon and onto grass. ‘Finally, I’m out!’

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? An escapee, huh?”

Harry slowly turned and came face-to-chest with someone. The boy-who-lived bent his neck back and looked up at who had found him. The person was at least eight feet tall and built muscular. “Hi.” He tried lamely, as if he didn’t just bust out of a death eater nest.

“Hi.” The man replied with a grin. “I don’t suppose you’ll calmly go back down would you?”

“’Fraid not.” Harry replied, taking a few steps back to distance himself from the man.

“Looks like we’ll fight then.” The man cracked his knuckles and then his neck. “My name is Cho.” He informed, getting into a fighting stance. “I was recently hired by Voldemort to work for him.”

“You said his name.” Harry noticed, also crouching into a stance. “And your accent….”

“I’m from Hong Kong.” Cho told him just as he threw a black object at the boy.

Harry reacted fast enough to catch the object, and then realized it was his wizard wand holder, complete with his wand. “What gives?” he asked, putting it on but keeping his eyes trained on the man.

“I don’t fight dirty.” Cho snorted. “I’m working for the dark lord for the money. I need it for my family back home.”

“Then why must we fight!? You can get a job as an auror! You can fight for good!”

“Cho!” Harry and Cho looked sideways at a group of seven or eight death eaters, all wearing mask. “Cho!” The man called again. “We’ll take it from here, no need for you to-“

“Shut up!” Cho demanded in a voice that clearly spoke confidence and authority. “Me and Harry here shall have a little fight.” He looked over to Harry. “If you win, I’ll let you go.”

“And if you win?” Harry asked, once again getting a serious look on his face.

“If I win, you’ll go back to your cell.”

“Agreed.”

“But…”

Cho glared at the death eater that went against him, and all of them backed off at the look.

Both once again crouched. It was then that Harry noticed the man also wore a wand holder on his right arm. This fact became insanely obvious as he reared back his massive fist and punched, sending a gigantic ball of magical energy flying at him.

Harry barely had the time to drop to the ground and roll under the blast. Quickly getting to his feet, he made a dash forward and threw a punch. His eyes went wide as a hand twice the size of his caught the attack easily. He was even further surprised by the sheer amount of lack of power it took to throw him into the wall, cracking it.

His mind blazed with pain as his body registered the cracked bones. Celestial quickly calculated the damage done. “Your ribs all have a hairline fracture, try not to take any body hits or they’ll break. You hit your head pretty hard and your internal organs almost all have bruises.”

‘Okay…Ow.’ Harry thought as he scampered to his feet. Shaking his head, he cleared his mind and held out his hand. “Sword of Light that I do Release!”

The blast of whitish blue energy whipped across the space between the two fighters so fast Cho didn’t have a second to think of a defense. Taking the blow full on, he let out a grunt as he flew back and dug a trench in the ground with his body.

Harry sighed and sagged to his knees. “That spell takes so much energy…..”

“Then you shouldn’t have casted it.”

Harry’s eyes went wide as he heard the voice. Cho was walking to him with a smile on his face. “Quite a punch, though. I’ll feel that one for weeks.”

Harry couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips. “You’re a tough one, you are.” He felt dragon energy flow into him from his necklace. “Truthfully, I can only shoot that spell twp more times before I’m drained.”

“Well then.” Cho smiled back. “Let me show you my special attack!” He moved his hands to his side and almost instantly a ball of black and red magical power formed. “Magic can be used to do many different things.” He spoke as the ball grew larger. “In Hong Kong we are trained to use our bodies to fight and our magic to back us up. That is why I am being paid so much. No one else around here knows how to fight…”

Harry steadied himself with a defensive shield. “Energy blasts are more effect than a curse, I think.”

“Ah.” Cho agreed. “No sample my power!” He thrust out his hands and sent the ball forward. “Renses kokoru ha!”

The blast cracked against Harry’s shield, making his feet dig into the ground. A few moments later he knew his shield could not last against the energy and then leapt to the side, getting his legs clipped as the shield broke. Harry rolled a few times on the ground before springing back to his feet. “Nice.” He admitted. “But such power...”

“I can only do it once more.”

“That’s what I thought.” His eyes narrowed, but a smile played at his lips. This was a nice fight, and it excited him to fight someone who did spells he never saw before and could obviously fight hand to hand as well.

“Let’s see who’s more powerful.” Cho offered, also smiling. The death eaters on the side were discussing things amongst themselves, most of which were along the lines of how out of line Cho was. “Your magic power against mine.”

Harry set his feet. “Ah! Sounds fun!” The dragon energy flew into him, leaving Celestial drained.

Before anymore words could be said, Cho shot out his attack. Harry grit his teeth, amazed at how fast the energy was gathered. ‘He can’t win.’ Cho thought as the magic ripped from him. ‘His attack cannot win against mine. It’ll swallow his power whole and still hit him.’

“Sword of Light!” Harry called, holding out his hand. “Rapid fire!”

“What!?”

The bluish white rip of energy flashed around Harry as the ball of power shot from him. The power of Cho, being so close, was blasted fully but not destroyed. The second blast ripped from Harry’s body a half second later, this one going straight through Cho’s magic.

Cho’s eyes went wide as the blue magical energy slammed into him. Harry, however, was still hit by Cho’s blast, sending him reeling.

~**~

“Where is he?” Hermione demanded as Draco and Ron took off the invisibility cloak.

“He’s not in the dungeon.” Draco replied, thinking. “He must have escaped.”

A loud blast shook the room they were in. “That’s got to be him!” Ginny shouted, running to where the noise came from.

“Ginny, wait!” Lupin called, but was forced to chase after the girl as the rest of his group ran out as well.

~**~

Harry slowly got up and shook the dirt from his hair gently. “Owww….” He moaned as he stood and looked around. “That hurt.”

“It sure did.”

“Cho!?”

Cho took a few steps forward and smirked. “I’m not out yet.”

Harry smirked back. “You used all of your magical powers.”

“But you’re drained as well. We couldn’t light up a room if we tried right now.”

“Ah.” He agreed. The magic part of himself was completely drained.

“We are normal men for a while.” Cho stated. “But the fate of you resides on this battle.”

“Yeah.”

“So we can’t quit now.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever fought on a Razor’s blade?”

“Huh?” Harry blinked in confusion. Celestial was too weak to talk to him, so he was forced to ask himself. “Explain.”

Cho reached into his boot and took out two daggers. He then walked over to Harry and stabbed one into the ground. Turning, he stabbed the second not far from it. “We each put one foot on the blade.” He said, sitting down and taking off his boots. “You cannot move that foot, no matter what. If you do, you lose.”

Harry watched Cho as he stood and placed his right heel onto the blade of the dagger in the ground. Well, they were daggers to a man of Cho’s size, but to Harry they almost looked like short swords. “Okay.” Harry finally said, kicking off one shoe and then lifting the other foot and pulling it off and tossing it over his shoulder. He walked to Cho and placed his right heel against the other blade. Each was close and had their left leg bent at the knee for balance. As it was, their kneecaps were touching.

“Ready?”

“Ah.”

“Go!”

Harry instantly started attacking with everything he had. Punch after punch was landed on both of them as they fought. No defense was put up, but they both didn’t care. It was their pure power and will that would decide the winner of the match.

A sharp right hook rocked Harry to the side, but he quickly countered with a hard shot to Cho’s stomach, making him grunt as his foot dug onto the dagger it was resting on. Harry’s own foot was cut deep, but he no longer felt the pain from it. All that mattered was getting the big man to fall down.

Cho’s eyes went sharp all of a sudden, showing Harry that he was about to do something that would finish their game. He saw it coming, but did could do nothing to stop it. Cho’s head reared back right before it was slammed onto his.

“That’s it!” A death eater watching shouted. “Nothing is harder than Cho’s head! He’s won!”

Stars shot across Harry’s vision and he felt himself get woozy. He was sure his skull had a fracture from the blow, and knew that Cho’s did too. Harry felt himself swerve backwards, but he forced himself to not fall down, suddenly realizing the pain his foot was in. Cho, however, looked at him a moment right before smiling and his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

Cho hit the ground.

“Never underestimate the power of my hard head.” Harry said woozily, pulling his foot from the blade and sitting down. He instinctively tied his sock around the wound to stop the bleeding.

“Get him!”

Harry’s head snapped u pas the group watching them ran forward, wands out. “NO!”

“expelliarmus!”

“diffindo”

“Fernunculus”

“Impedimenta”

“Reducto”

Five of the death eaters were floored by the attacks, and the two left were so confused by what just happened, they didn’t have a chance to realize Cho had woken up and was on his way over to them. “Didn’t I say he could go if he won!?” he demanded before grabbing their heads and cracking their skulls together, making them pass out.

“Harry!”

Cho turned to see a group of people he didn’t know surround the boy he just fought. “You’re something, Harry.” Cho said to himself, turning and walking toward the opening in the gate. “You taught me that there are better people out there. Maybe I should earn money in a more honest way…”

~**~

“Thanks… for coming and getting me.” Harry said as Lupin carried him piggy back style to town where their carriage was waiting. It was well past one in the morning and everyone felt tired from the ordeal.

“You would have done the same for us.” Ginny answered with a smile.

“We’d never leave you, mate.” Ron confirmed.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” were Hermione’s words of choice.

“What happened?” Lupin asked, ignoring the others.

“They know… about Sirius.” Harry said softly. “Wherever he is, you have to get him out of there.”

Lupin nodded and turned a serious face forward. ‘Sirius. This is Remus, where are you?’

Draco looked at the group for a moment before turning back to see in front of him. If he had gotten in trouble he knew no one would risk their lives to save him. These people were so close they didn’t even think twice about it. In the back of his mind he was aware of Ginny taking his hand and holding it, but his thoughts were more along the lines of defining friendship and how it was different then what he thought it was. Every time he was with this group, he always gained so much to think about…

~~**~~

A/N: If anyone watches Yu Yu Hakusho, you’ll know where I got one battle from this chapter. Many apologies go out to Jandor, Paladin of righteousness, for using his handle without permission. On a bad guy at that! In return, this chapter is dedicated to all my friends on Battle.Net.

Like I said before, I will finish this fanfic. I know updates have been sparse lately but don’t worry, I WILL finish it. Although I may have to cut out one of the Marauder’s battles. I haven’t decided yet. If I do, I’ll make make an extra chapter after the fic is finished about the battle if it was skipped. Right now I just want to get this thing finished. I’ve had the ending planned for a while and I’m itching to write it.

Please review.

Untill next time!

11. Lay

A/N: not beta-ed yet. I just wanted to put this out quickly as an apology for making everyone wait so long for chapter X. 20,000 words in 4 days, I hope that can make up for the delay.

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~~**~~

Harry rolled over in his bed and groaned lightly. Although he had been fully healed by Madam Pomfrey, he was still asked to stay in the hospital wing overnight and part of the next day so he could be tested for any type of drugs or mind altering spells. Harry, of course, agreed to it (although none- too thrilled about the idea) and soon found himself unable to sleep.

�Still awake?�

Harry turned to the side and looked around. �Who�s there!?�

�Shush! You�ll get us caught.� Came another voice, this one female. A second later, two people came into view as a cloak was thrown off of them. �Hey Harry.�

�Hermione, Ron! You two��

�Brought cookies.� Ron finished for him, jumping up on the bed and making himself at home. Harry sat up and crossed his legs, making room for Hermione as well. The red head of the group put down a plate of cookies in the middle of the bed and Hermione sat down three glasses of milk and took the tops off of the cups.

Breath of Fire XI

By:

Satashi

�I don�t know what I would do without you.� Harry said, grinning like an idiot as he snagged a chocolate chip cookie and took a bite. �Mmm�.. Freshly baked?� He took a sip of milk.

�Dobby made them when we told him we were going to see you.� Hermione explained. �He knows we always do this when one of us has to stay all night for no reason.�

�Speaking of no reason, you sure you�re okay?� Ron asked, looking him over. �You exhausted your magical powers didn�t you?�

�Kind of.� Harry admitted, reaching to his right and grabbing his wand. �Lumos!� a dull yellow light came to his call, pathetically lighting a little area around him. �Nox.� The light quickly as snuffed out. �I�ll have to recover my energy before I can do anything else.�

Ron nodded and talked around a bite of a cookie. �So, mate, what happened while you were there?�

�Yeah.� Hermione agreed, leaning forward and snatching a raisin oatmeal cookie. Dobby never had any quarrels about making three different types of cookies for his friends. �They didn�t torture you or anything did they?� Harry gave her a small lopsided smile, which made her bring her hand to her mouth. �Oh no��

�I never knew how the death eaters took out so many places, or got away with the things they did.� Ron spoke during a small silence. �I always though, �hey, it�s a group of ten people, surely a group of fifteen aurors can take them out, right?� But when I actually fought against them�.� I mean I know they cast the forbidden spells but��

�Never knew they called them out so easily, huh?� Hermione finished up for him, getting a nod.

�The way has started.� Harry spoke, idoly biting a cookie. �I was going to be the first to die. That would have destroyed moral for everyone.�

�Yeah��

Ron sighed and took a drink. �That�s not the point right now.� He grabbed another cookie. �A toast to getting our best friend back in one piece.�

�Cheers!� His two friends gladly accepted the toast and change of subject.

�Thanks for coming guys.� Harry told them after a bit. �Means a lot to me to have such great friends.�

�Ah, whatever. You just wanted cookies!�

Hermione laughed at Ron but nodded at Harry at the same time. �We should be getting back, though. It�ll be a rough day for all of us. Harry will be pestered about what happened until Madam Pomfrey-�

�Or Ginny�

�Or Ginny,� Hermione added with a laugh. �And then the people will come to us to find out anything they couldn�t get from Harry.�

�Come visit me sometime okay?� Harry asked, watch the two stand and hop off his bed.

�Sure thing, mate.� Ron whipped the cloak over him.

�Oh, Hermione!�

�Yeah?� she paused before stepping under with Ron.

�Would you wear this for me please?� He held out his necklace. �I�m weak on power and��

�Sure.� She took it and Ron blinked at them.

Harry nodded at him. �You�re not an idiot Ron.�

He smirked. �If you weren�t going to tell me, I wasn�t going to pry.�

Hermione looked between the two. �What did I miss?�

Ron shook his head. �After all these years, your still underestimate how I can pick up on things.� He nodded to the necklace. �The sudden change in looks, the new magic, Harry talking to himself, his refusal to take it off unless you�re wearing it� It wasn�t that hard to figure out that the necklace was what caused it all. Besides, Harry rarely wears a necklace unless he�s on a date.�

Hermione beamed up at him. �You impress me every day, did you know that?�

Harry grinned as Ron laughed and draped his arm over her with the cloak. �Let�s get out of here.�

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

Harry looked up from his book when the curtains around his bed slid open, revealing Ginny to him. �Hellooooooo nurse.� He teased, getting a light smack on the head. �Can I leave yet, doctor?�

�Nope.� Ginny answered, looking at the clipboard by his bed. �You have to put up with me for a while. Classes are done for the day so I�m doing my Wing duties.� She held out a thermometer. �Say �ahh��

�Ahhh� he held open his mouth and let her place it under his tongue. �Good boy.� She patted him on the head, making him glare. �You hurt anywhere?� Harry shook his head �no� before she went on with the questions. �Are you tired, any aches, a weird feeling, or mind feel hazy?� Harry shook his head negative to all of them, making her smile. �Good.� She reached for the thermometer and he let her pull it from his mouth. Looking at it, she grinned. �According to your build, height, grades in class, and all that junk, this tells us how full your magical powers are.

�Normally a person can�t exhaust their magical energy, but it can still be done if pushed far enough. Kind of like how the body gets weak after too much work or exercise, the mind gets weak from too much stress that comes with magic.�

Harry nodded in a way that meant that that much was obvious, but clearly did not understand a thing she just said. �So am I okay or what?�

�You need help, just not the kind I can offer.� She teased, tapping his head.�

�Hey!�

Ginny laughed and dodged a swat from his hand. �Anyway, you seem to be about one third of your �normal� self. Keep in mind that being �normal� doesn�t mean being at your peak. Casting spells in school all day and doing homework and such drains your powers still. You won�t be �full� until you go home for the summer.� Harry gave her a weird look, to which she laughed. �I read it in the book.�

Harry laughed lightly and shook his head. �So I can�t leave until I�m �normal�?�

�You�ll never be normal, Harry.�

�Ginny! Come on!�

She laughed. �Sorry, sorry. I just never get a chance to tease you. But yes, that�s right. Stay in bed, blah, blah, blah, drink lots of fluids, blah, blah, blah, you know the drill.�

�Yeah yeah. Take it easy and don�t do anything stupid. Madam Pomfrey tells me that every time I see her.�

�Yup.� Ginny scribbled down something on the clipboard. �You can leave to go get dinner, but that�s a few hours away. Bed rest until then. Visitors for one hour now.�

Harry grinned. �All right! Is Hermione out there?�

�No making out in the hospital Wing!�

��Spoilsport��

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�So there we were�� Ron said, as the people around him at the lunch table leaned in. �surrounded by at least fifty death eaters.�

�There were seven, Ron.� Hermione corrected as she ate her sandwich and talked mentally to Celestial.

�Okay, okay, seven of them.� Ron went on. �Anyway, they were armed to the teeth! Swords, nun chucks and all that! And each one had at least three wands!� Hermione raised an eyebrow, but kept silent that time. �And then, out of nowhere, there was this huge thundering sound!� Here Ron smacked the table, making the first years jump in shock. �Harry was fighting this giant person with blue hair that was in a Mohawk! He deflected Harry�s attacks and slammed him against the wall!�

�Oh no!� a small girl gasped before blushing at her outburst. It was obvious she had a crush on Harry� Her and every other first, second, third and fourth year girl in Gryffindor. It was a known fact they al adored both Ron and Harry.

�And then I jumped in and saved the day!� Ron added, making half the girls sigh in admiration.

�Ron.� Hermione said, crossing her arms and resting them on his head while leaning over him. �Honey, didn�t you knock out one of the death eaters before we all scrambled out of that place while we were still alive?�

�Which brings me to my point.� Ron said to the boys of the group. �As long as you�re running faster than the person beside you, you�ll be okay.�

�Ron!�

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�Oh come on Herms.� Ron said while they walked to the hospital wing. He was carrying her book bag over his shoulder and she had an arm through his in a friendly manor as they walked. �It�s not like I lied to them... Well, not too much!�

She sighed. �Ron, you�re too much sometimes.�

�I know.�

Hermione punched him in the arm with her free hand, getting a laugh. �You�re so full of yourself!�

�I rule, I know.�

Hermione rolled her eyes as they walked to the hospital wing door. �Better watch out not to hit your head, Ron.� She smirked. �With my high heels on and your ego, we may not make it!�

�Hermione!�

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�Hey Harry!� Hermione greeted, giving him a quick peck on the forehead. �How are you?�

�Good and you three?� He asked his two best friends.

�Good.� Ron answered, hopping up on the bed.

�Fine, and �getting there�� Hermione replied, fingering the necklace out of habit when she talked to it. �You too terribly bored?�

�Extremely.� He agreed, moving his legs so Hermione could sit on the bed as well. �Ginny�s taken to teasing me non-stop lately, though. Really quite annoying. I mean, I knew she could talk your ear off but man��

Hermione laughed while Ron just shook his head. �Figured you�d be bored, so I brought this.� He held out his small portable chess set. �A good game will make an hour or so fly by!�

�All right!�

�And I knew he would do that so I brought my books to study while you two goofed off.�

�That�s our Hermione.� The boys both chorused at the same time.

�Not dead yet, I see.�

The trio turned to see Draco standing by the bed. �Malfoy?� Ron asked, amazed.

�Just want to�make sure he would be okay, you know, for the upcoming match we have in a few weeks, that�s all.�

Harry smirked. �I�ll live, Draco.�

The boy nodded once before turning and walking away, pausing to speak to Ginny for a moment, and then leaving the Wing.

�That was weird.� Hermione spoke aloud, looking at the door. �Who would have thought he�d worry about you of all people.�

�I can�t help but take a little offence to that!� Harry replied playfully.

�Oh hush; you know how I meant it.� She humphed and opened her book, hopping off the bed in favour of a chair to sit in.

�More room for us.� Ron grinned, letting the pieces fall.

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�Finally.� Harry breathed a sigh of relieve as he walked out of the hospital wing. �I�m starving!�

�Harry!� Lupin greeted, walking over to him. �Could you come to my office for a bit?� He saw Madam Pomfrey out of the corner of his eye. �It�s about your assignments you missed.�

Harry sighed. �Professor, I�m really hungry right now, could we-�

�You missed a lot Harry.� Lupin said in a firm tone.

Harry took the hint. �Yes sir, now�s okay.�

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�Sorry about that, Harry.� Lupin said as they sat down in his office. To Harry�s surprise there was a large amount of food on several platters on the desk. �I asked the house elves to make us a small snack while we talked, but this one named Dobby seemed to make a little too much��

�This is a small snack for me.� Harry grinned, grabbing an apple and eating it in almost five bites. �I�m starved!�

Lupin shook his head. �Yes, I know how you eat.� He watched him shovel down the food. �I wanted to let you know Sirius has made it to safety.�

�All right!� Harry cried out around a mouthful of bread. �When can I talk to him?�

�Personally? In a few days.� Technically, any time you want.�

�What do you mean?� Harry actually slowed down his inhalation of food, showing he was confused.

Lupin tapped his head before handing Harry the book of thoughts. �We copied it and transfused the power into a vial of liquid. Now me and Sirius can talk to each other in our minds, almost like we can in our animal forms.�

�Your Animal forms can talk mentally?�

�Yeah. Don�t ask me how because it�s complicated. We used those principles to create this book.� He nodded to the thought book. �I also wanted to ask you if you heard anything while being captured. Ryoko has already been sentenced and is in Azkaban.�

Harry shook his head Voldemort was only there for a bit. He put me under the cruciatus curse and then left. I escaped a little later thanks to Ron�s Christmas present, the dagger in my shoe.�

�I see�� Lupin folded his hands together and looked at Harry. And how are your nightmares?�

�

�I haven�t had a bad one since that time I saw the future.�

�Harry, it wasn�t the future, it was just something that meant to tell you something. Besides, Sirius and I don�t own any cloths like the ones you mentioned us wearing.�

��yeah��

�One more thing that has been bothering me� It�s Malfoy.�

�Draco or Lucius?�

�Draco.�

�What about him?�

�I�ve seen his Angel Wing transformation, and I have heard by a few people in Hogsmeade of a person who had Feather wings and looked like a demon, but helped people� is there anything about him that you should tell me? I know it was Draco. The other people don�t know him, that�s why it hasn�t gotten into the press yet.�

�Draco is� well��

�Are you sure you can�t tell me?�

Harry sighed, knowing that Lupin could read him too well. �I promised I wouldn�t. I can tell you he�s on our side, though.�

�That�s good enough for now I suppose.�

�Thanks.�

�Now, about the work you missed��

�Oh man��

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�Welcome back Harry!� The common room shouted as he walked through the portrait. Several people gave him hugs or shook his hand, congratulating him on escaping He-who-must-not-be-named.� Some of the younger Gryffindors begged for stories of his adventures, and a few girls were all clinging for him.

�Haryyyyyyy!�

The boy who lived looked up to the stairs, where Hermione was leaning over the railing. �Welcome back, love.�

Harry grinned up at her and the public announcement of the pet name. �Hiya, Herms. Miss me?�

The first year girls all pouted at the love of Harry�s life and went to go do other things while he walked to the stairs, waving over his shoulder to his friends.

�You okay?� She asked, giving him a hug before they went into their room.

�Yeah, peachy.� He replied as he lay on his bed without getting changed. �But I�m tired. Even after being in the hospital Wing all day. Just walking to the tower and answering all those questions. Geese, I�m beat.�

�Well, you did tax both your body and mind not too long ago. You�re still too weak to even wear Celestial.�

Harry gave a small lopsided smile. �How is she?�

Hermione paused a moment before replying. �She�s worried about you too.�

Harry sat up and looked at the necklace. �Don�t worry, Cecilia, I�ll make it.� He could make out a small grin on the Dragon�s face. She was still probably too weak to move around freely still.

�Anyway,� Hermione began before taking off her shirt and rummaging threw her things. �I want to get some sleep.� Her pants followed and she picked up a night shirt. She was about to put it on, but felt hands snake around her. �Harry! No! You�re too tired, we need to rest�� A blush shot over her face. �Shouldn�t you be tired from that 2 minute Crucio spell you were under?� Suddenly her legs became weak and she gave in to him. �I swear, the closer you come to death the more turned on you get later�.�

����������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������� ~**~

Hermione sighed contently as she snuggled up closer to the person in her bed. Even though she was half naked, very tired, and dazed from just waking up, she felt like it would be a good day. Giving her boyfriend a kiss to the chest, she slid away from him and padded over to her trunk and picked out her pajama cloths and put them on, laughing lightly at last night. Harry had fallen asleep in the middle of a kiss.� She thought it was funny, but if she told him, he would probably be embarrassed about it.

Singing to herself, she got her bath things ready and walked to the prefect�s bathroom. Setting the taps, she striped herself of the cloths and slid in, pulling her hair into a tight bun so it wouldn�t get wet. �A nice hot bath with a good book.� She spoke aloud, shifting the dragon necklace so it went down her back instead of annoying her up front.

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

Hermione looked to the door as she heard it open. Harry stepped into the bathroom and gave her a small smile and a wave before putting his cloths on the shelf. Hermione was sitting against the corner of the bath in a place specially designed to be able to stretch out while sitting down. In her hand she held a book entitled �Advanced charms and how to perfect them.�

Harry slipped into the hot water and sighed contently. Taking a breath, he dived under and swam around until he was forced to come back for air. �I swear Herms,�

�Hm?� She hummed, showing she was lending him an ear.

�One day, I�m going to steal some of that gillyweed or whatever it was called to grow some gills and I�m going to soak in the bath underwater for a full hour.�

�That�s nice, dear.�

Harry rolled his eyes. �You�re not even listening to me.�

�Mmhmm.�

�Hermione, Draco just walked in.�

�That�s nice.� She turned a page in her book and kept reading.

Harry swam up to her and blew in her ear, making her shrug a little before returning to her paragraph. Grinning, Harry snatched the book and pushed back before she could grab him. �Harry! Give that back!�

�No.� He laughed as she tried to jump and grab it. �Ooh, bouncy, bouncy!�

�Pervert!� she accused but tried to grab the book again. �Come onnnnnn!�

�Kiss me.�

�Wha?�

�Kiss me and I�ll give it back.�

�Harold James Potter, you are so weird.�

�Pucker up, Buttercup.�

Hermione rolled her eyes. �Promise to give me to the book?�

�Kiss me.�

Hermione sighed and swam a step or two over to him before pecking his lips. �There, now give me the book.�

�I lied.� He tossed the book to the side of the bath and started tickling her.

�Harry! Haha, stop! I mean- haha- it!�

�Lighten up Herms.� Harry told her happily. �I could have died a day ago, lets goof off for a day to celebrate!�

Hermione finally managed to pull away. �Okay okay, we�ll goof today. Tomorrow we study, though.�

�okay.� He kissed her nose. �I want to do something.�

�What?� she raised an eyebrow at him.

�This.� Harry disappeared under the water before she could reply. A moment later she felt him come up under her and lift her over his shoulders.

�Harry!� She cried out, trying to find some way to steady herself.

�Going down.� He told her playfully, falling backwards.

�Harr-� Her plea was cut off as she went under the water, lost in the suds.

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

Ron looked up from his meal when his friends sat in front of him. �Hey guys.� He greeted with a nod before going back to inhaling his food.

The Hogwarts Press landed in Harry�s lap a few moments later, catching his attention. Hedwig hooted at him and flew off after a scratch to her neck. �Blitz Team beat the Hokage.� Harry mused, looking it over. �I completely forgot about the fight when I was captured.�

�Same here.� Ron thought aloud, snatching the Tournament section of the ever growing Hogwarts Press. �Wow, pretty rough. They had two 2-on-2 matches and then a 1-on-1 to settle it.�

�Who�s going next?� Hermione asked as she began to drink her pumpkin juice.

�N.W.O. and the Blitz team� Ron replied. �Whoa, tough break, two matches in a row.�

�Don�t forget Quidditch.�� Harry informed, looking over the rest of the newspaper. �This upcoming week is Gryffindor verses Hufflepuff.�

�At least we don�t fight again for at least a month.� Ginny thought aloud as she passed them and claimed a seat next to Hermione. �Good morning guys.�

There was a collective greeting for Ginny before everyone went back to eating and reading, talking about random things that went on.

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

Harry bit back a yell of pain as a bludger clipped his backside. Quickly straightening his grip on his trusted (if not a bit outdated) Firebolt, Harry righted his position and grinned to himself as the Snitch flew right in front of his face. Reaching out for it, he felt the wings flutter under his hand, but the glory was stolen from him as Allan, the new Hufflepuff seeker (a third year) flew madly and tried to grab it himself. This resulted in both loosing sight of the snitch.

�Aw man!� Allan groaned, �I could have sworn I would have caught it!� He angrily batted at the air.

�Hey, calm down.� Harry coached to the newcomer. �This is your first real game, right?� Allan nodded at him. �You don�t know how the snitch reacts to different on comings. The best, and almost only, way to grab it is directly from behind it, above, or below. Try it from the side and it�ll feel your hand on the wings and zip away.�

The two flew into the air and kept an eye out. �Why are you telling me this?�

Harry shrugged as he let his eyes scan. He still let Hermione Wear Celestial whenever he was playing. With his dragon vision and the power of the necklace, he would always know where the snitch was. Cheating wasn�t one thing Harry liked doing. �It�s your first time out here competing.� Harry told the person next to him. �I�ve done it for seven years. I want to win, but I�m still a seeker at heart. I like to give advice on something I know about.�

�You�re a lot different than I thought you would be.�

�Don�t believe what you read in text books.� Harry replied just before diving straight at the ground.

�Hey!� Allan roared after him, catching up on his Nimbus two-thousand and three. �I see it too!�

The pair raced straight to the ground at an alarming speed, Snitch just out of their reach. �When in doubt.� Harry spoke aloud, more to himself. �Do something reckless!� Kicking forward, Harry jumped forward and kicked his shoe from his broomstick�s front. With this new reach, Harry easily snagged the snitch. With his other hand, Harry grabbed his broomstick and pulled just hard enough so he wouldn�t kill himself when he hit the ground a few seconds later.

Harry came in at an odd angle and bounce two times before losing his grip on his broom. He then skidding across the grass and into the sand pit below the scoring rings. After coming to a stop, he looked up weekly to see Allan above him, looking down. �Geeze, no wonder you almost always win!�

Harry gave him a weak lopsided smile. �Let me tell you something about winning.� He said lightly as Colin Screamed out that Harry had indeed caught the snitch. �Winning hurts like hell.�

Allan couldn�t help the laugh that rang out then. A few moments later the Gryffindor team surrounded him and helped him up, getting a few pains of protest as they did so. Allan flew over to his team mates and shrugged helplessly. They, in kind, all congratulated their new seeker on the daring dive he did to try and win it for them.

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�So doctor, will I live?� Harry asked Ginny as Ron carried him piggy back style to the hospital wing. Hermione laughed lightly, but Ginny sighed.

�I swear, you and Draco make up fifty percent of all the injuries I�ve ever had.� The door to the hospital wing opened and they walked in. �Madam Pomfrey? Harry �idiot- Potter is back again!�

Madam Pomfrey walked up to them as Ron deposited his friend lightly on a bed. �Harry!� She greeted it�s been almost three days since I saw you, I was wondering if you left school or something!�

�Nah,� Harry grinned as he was scanned over with a wand. �Hermione here has kept me in the library almost all week.�

�Well, miracles do happen.� Ron spoke airily.

�Hardy-har-har-har.� Hermione rolled her eyes. �Is he okay?� She asked, referring to Harry and ignoring the other comments made by Ron.

�Oh he�ll be fine. Just his usual Quidditch injuries. You know, ninety percent bruised and banged up.� He gave him a potion. �Drink this and take it easy for a day and you�ll be as good as new.�

�Thanks.� Harry pinched his nose and gulped down the vinegar tasting potion he was given. �Ahhhhh� He licked his lips, playing like he enjoyed it. �That hit the spot.�

�Considering you threw up the first time I gave it to you.� Pomfrey smiled at him. �Now get out of here, I should have a dozen or so people complaining about bludger injuries after the parties die down.�

�Thanks, bye!� Harry slid from the bed and walked gingerly to the door. �Those potions never work fast enough��

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�Hermionnnnnneeeeeeeee��� Harry leaned back in his chair. �I�m booorrrrreeeeddddd�.. Can�t I go play now?�

�No, we still have another half hour.� Hermione replied easily, writing down something on a piece of parchment. �You�ll thank me when the N.E.W.T.s comes.�

Harry groaned and leaned back forward, looking back at the book on potions. �Snape�ll fail me anyways��

Ron gave him a small grin over the top of his Transfiguration book.

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�All right!� Dean shouted as he entered the Common room. �N.W.O rules baby! Sweeeeeet!�

�Congratulations on beating the Blitz team.� The first year Steve shouted out over the ruckus.

�Keep this up and we�ll have to fight soon.� Harry grinned, putting an arm around Seamus� neck and giving him a nuggie.

�Ah, we�ll beat you any day!� Seamus pulled out of it and turned it into a headlock on Harry. �Give up!?�

�Ha ha, I give! I give!� Seamus let Harry go and the two grinned at each other and did a few playful jabs.

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�I can�t believe there are only three more months until the N.E.W.Ts!� Harry exclaimed at the library table. It was around seven at night, but the table held at least twenty five, if not thirsty people on it. �Where did the time go?�

�Right out the window.� Ken, a seventh year Ravenclaw, said without really paying attention. �Yo, Ryu, how do you do this?� His friend looked at the book before taking out his wand and showing him how to transform a non living thing into a bird.

�This is rough�� Ron said worriedly; hand in his hair as he looked over his transfiguration book as well. �There�s no way I can do this.�

�Sure you can.� Hermione encouraged, leaning over to look at what he was having problems with. �It�s easy. You just need to remember��

Harry sighed at his Divination book. Knowing neither Ron nor Hermione would be of help, and Celestial was already asleep after a long day of sorcerer training, Harry knew he would be on his own. Sighing, He scanned the long table for anyone who also had a Divination book out. Finding one, he got up and walked over to the girl. �Hey.�

The girl jumped lightly before blushing at him. �Hi.�

�I�m Harry.� He said, sitting in front of her.

�I know. I�m Lina.� She replied, still somewhat shocked Harry Potter would be talking to her. She wasn�t the prettiest of girls after all.

�Lina, are you good in Divination?� He asked desperately, not noticing her embarrassment at being around him. �I�m lost.�

�Huh? Yeah, sure, it�s my best class.�

�Really!?� He suddenly smiled happily. ��Cause I suck at it! Will you help me?�

She laughed. �Sure. What do you need help on?�

Harry looked slightly embarrassed. �Um, all of it?�

Lina gave him a small smile. �Come on now, really.� The way that Harry kept that lopsided smile on his face told her that he wasn�t kidding. �Oi! It�s three months until the test and you really don�t understand any of it!? Ho did you pass until now!?�

�Easy, I just predicted Voldemort�s-� Lina gasped at the name, but Harry continued as if nothing happened. �Attacks and when he did, she passed me. It won�t work on the N.E.W.Ts, though��

�Okay, but this will take a while.� Lina realized that he was just a student having problems, like anyone else. �Turn to page forty, that�s where we can start.�

�Okay.�

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�I see you made a new friend.� Hermione said as they got ready for bed. �Lina, right? From Ravenclaw?�

�Yeah.� He agreed, pulling off his robes and chunking them over his shoulder into his dirty cloths corner. �You would like her, she�s really book smart.�

�I�ve ran into her a few times at the library.� Hermione admitted as she picked up the top half to Harry�s favourite pajama set. �She�s really shy and doesn�t have many friends. Not really outgoing.�

�Kind of like you was back in first year.� Harry mused to himself, putting on the pajama pants. The two looked at each other and laughed at their appearance.

�Yes, I suppose so.� Hermione sat on her bed and laid back. �She�s like me in some ways�� He voice trailed off at the end.

�Jealous?� Harry asked, sitting at her feet and looking over at her.

�Me? Jealous? Ha!� He arched an eyebrow at her, making her sniff. �I know you would never cheat on me, but a girl can still worry, right?�

Harry laughed and lay on top of her, supporting himself with his arms on either side of her. �Don�t worry.� He bent down and kissed her neck, getting a purr.

�If I worry more, do I get another kiss?�

Harry laughed deep in his throat.

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�Go-od mor-nig!� Harry sang/spoke as he walked into the seventh year dorms, greeting his friends. He was fresh out of the shower (having taken one in the Gryffindor bathroom instead of the prefects, as Hermione was having a before breakfast study group with a few girls in the tower) �Good morning to you!� he pointed to Ron. �And you!� Seamus. �And you and you!� Dean and Neville blinked.

�Why are you in such a good mood?� Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.

�I dunno!� Harry grinned as he put on his pants and jumped, pulling them up. �Do I seem happy� he tossed the towel into Ron�s hamper. �To you?�

�You�re bouncing around like your Richard-freaking-Simons.� Seamus informed him

�You do seem abnormally light hearted this morning, Harry.� Neville chipped in.

�Maybe it�s because I had the time of my life last night!� Harry beamed. �Twice!� he smacked Ron with his shirt before putting it on. �And once for this morning.�

Dean leaned forward. �You had sex with Hermione!?� He shook his head. �Three times? No way.�

�Not sex, but something just as good.�

�And you came in here just to brag about it?�

�Yup!�

Realization hit Seamus� eyes and he shook his head. �No way. Hermione? Never.�

�Wanna bet?�

�Oh like I�m going to bet money on something you can�t prove.�

Harry grinned and looked to the wall that would connect to his room.

Ron quickly shot up on his bed. �You recorded Hermione�s thoughts in the book, didn�t you!?�

Instantly the group of friends darted to the door in hopes of getting the book from the prefect�s room. �No! No, I didn�t! GUYS!�

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�Morning!� Hermione called happily to her friends at the breakfast table. �How is everyone today?� She sat down with a smile.

Neville blinked a few times, looking up at her. Leaning over to his side, he whispered to Seamus. �Does she look like she�s glowing to you?�

Seamus looked over to Ron, who was also blinking at the cheery greeting. Upon closer inspection of his friend, Ron noticed something. �Hey Hermione��

�Hmm?� She hummed happily as she took a drink of orange juice.

�Is that a hickey on your neck?�

Hermione spit out her drink and grabbed her neck. �No! Of course not! Why would you think that!?�

�Ewwwwww�..� Dean and Seamus chorused at the same time, wiping spewed drink off them. �Gross!�

The other people around the girl laughed heartily, making her blush deep crimson.

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�Oi, Harry, are you sure we should do this?� Ron asked as they ran through the underground passage to Hogsmeade. It was Wednesday, which meant both Harry and Ron were free for most of the day. Having nothing better to do, they decided to go to Hogsmeade. Upon hearing that, Harry decided to make it go a step farther and proclaimed they would sneak into Muggle London by flu.

�Sure I�m sure.� Harry replied easily as they ran. The faster they made it to Hogsmeade, the longer that could stay in London.

�This is insane.� Came another voice, following them.

�No one asked you to come, Malfoy.� Ron quipped, but didn�t sound as if he was annoyed. Although still on a last name basis, he respected him enough to make Ginny happy.

�No, I mean this passage! I never knew��

�Oh yeah,� Harry jumped a pot hole in the ground, as did Ron. Draco almost tripped in it, not being as familiar with the passage as the other two. �This is just our favourite one. You should see the other 3.

�There are four!?�

�Well, one is under the whomping willow.� Ron mused. �And the other caved in. So in reality there are two. This just happens to be the best.�

�You really have to let me borrow those glasses sometime.� Draco mused as they slowed down. �Now what?�

�We�re there.� Harry replied, opening the trap door. �Now the fun part. We got to sneak out without being seen.�

�Harry!?�

Harry turned, just in time to see Fred�s face. �George?�

�Fred.�

�Fred?�

�No, I�m George.� Came another voice.

�Using the passage I see.� Came Fred�s voice.

�Hey guys.� Ron peeked his head out. �You never told me you got the job offer here.�

�Started today.� George grinned, helping them out of the trap door. Draco jumped up on his own. �You three off to stir up trouble.

�Oh yeah.� Harry grinned. �We�re going to muggle London!�

�We can help you there.� Fred smirked. At the look on Ron and Harry�s face, he raised an eyebrow. �Thought you three would be the first to sneak into London while you were at school?�

�Well��

�Yeah, actually.�

�Amateurs��

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ~**~

�I don�t bloody believe it.� Ron said as he looked around. �Who would have thought the ministry never found out about the un-used flu network opening in Hogsmeade!? It took us straight here!�

�This is muggle world, huh?� Draco asked, looking around. �What now?�

�First, we get cloths.� He took out his wallet and counted his money. �I have enough to get Draco some jeans and a shirt. You can pay me back later.�

The three began walking down the street. Draco got a lot of stares from people at his choice of clothing. It was already warm and the seventeen year old boy was wearing all black and a robe on top of it. Harry had put his robe in Zonko�s cellar, as did Ron. He was clad in blue jean shorts with an untucked black shirt and his necklace. He wore his normal New Balance sneakers and ankle socks. Ron was sporting a maroon tank top that showed off his developed arms. He also wore shorts, but had on sandals. He kind of looked like a surfer. Luckily there was a lake nearby at the edge of town, so he wasn�t given any looks (save a few girls)

�Let�s go in here.�

�The GAP?� Draco asked, walking in. �Weird name��

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�I feel like an idiot.� Draco growled to Ron as they walked around. He was now clad in black skateboarding shots as well as a green tee shirt that had the sleeves �torn� off to give the frayed look. Around his neck he wore a black and dark green beaded necklace and brand name sunglasses covered his eyes. He had his robe tied around his waist, making it look like a jacket. A little odd considering the warm weather, but still passed off easily as a fashion statement.

�You look like a skater boy.� Harry grinned, trying to be sure to make it sound like a very good thing. �With the pony tail you�re kind of punkish too.�

�And that means�?�

�You look cool.� Ron answered. �You don�t hang out with Harry for years without learning a few things about muggles.�

�And the first rule of that issssss?� Harry asked, looking at him.

�Keep everything wizarding away from site and don�t refer to it or say �muggle��

�Exactly.� Harry nodded, looking at Draco. �You do the same. Keep your wand in your pocket and cast no, I mean no magic. Don�t even mention it.�

�Right.� Draco shrugged Harry away from him. �I�m not an idiot.� Suddenly something caught his eye. �Hey, look, someone is trapped inside that box!�

�It�s a T.V. Harry said, rolling his eyes. It shows movies and such. Entertainment.�

�Cool, what�s that?�

Ron sighed. �A radio. Like out wireless.�

�And that!?�

�A skateboard.�

�A skateboard, huh�.?

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�This is great!� Draco shouted out, as the three skateboarded through the street, getting many angry shouts. Even though the streets were practically empty (being as how most were still lat work), the few people scattered around gave the three �punks� a glare when they passed.

�Now what?� Ron asked, kicking the ground and getting next to Harry. All three had taken to the boards with relative easy; being as how they balanced on a broomstick like it was second nature.

�We hit an arcade and blow all of the money we got transferred!�

�What�s an arcade?�

Ron and Harry grinned.

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�Are you sure this isn�t magic?� Draco asked, looking at the massive arcade/fun land place they were in. It was called �Ultra Zone� or something like that. In the back was a laser tag arena.

�Nope.� Harry grinned as he looked around. This is an arcade.� He dropped his voice really low. �While our kind researched potions and new spells, the muggle word uses �science� to make things. This is an entertainment part of that �science�.�

�I see.� Draco and the rest put their skateboards by the entrance and walked around. �Weasley, you�re used to this?�

�Huh?� he looked back after getting tokens for a bill. �Yeah. Harry takes Hermione and me places like this all the time during the summer.� He pointed to his left, where a Dance Dance Revolution game was. �That�s how I learned to dance, when the twins didn�t teach me.�

�You should see Hermione.� Harry grinned, walking up to them. �She doesn�t fast dance in front of people, but here she�ll cut up like you wouldn�t believe!�

�Granger?� He asked, amazed. �No way!�

�Shall we?� Ron asked, holding up a token.

�Let�s shall!�

Draco watched as the two stood on the machine and put in their tokens. �Show me your best moves!� a voice suddenly called out. After a second, Draco realized the thing they were standing on had said it. �Show me your best mosh!� Intrigued at the device, Draco stood next to them and observed. �Heavy mode! Rocking!� the two looked through the list of songs and selected one. �Into the Night! Keep dancing baby!�

Draco stepped back as the screen the two were looking at started flashing with arrows, to which they dances to on the pad they were standing on. �By the three goddesses�� Draco muttered, watching. �Will wonders never cease!?�

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�I�m getting kind of hungry.� Ron said after a while.

Draco was currently playing (and actually doing pretty good) Street Fighter EX3. ��Me too, actually.� He admitted just as he lost a very close round against M. Bison. �Damn it!� he slammed his hands on the controls. �I swear, this thing is rigged!�

�Let�s go get some food.� Harry said, pulling Draco away from the game that taunted him with �Don�t give up now! Continue!?�

Harry shoved Draco�s skateboard onto his chest, making him forget about the game the now proudly flashed �GAME OVER!� in big red letters.

�How about that hamburger joint?� Ron asked as they skated outside and down the sidewalk.

�Maybe something a little more... appropriate since this is Draco�s first time out in the world by himself?�

Ron grinned. �Pizza!�

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�This is good?� Draco asked, looking at the large pizza placed in front of him. �You sure?�

�Yup.� Ron took a slice, making the hot cheese stretch out. A quick swipe with his hand grabbed it and took it with him.

�What does it do?�

�Do?� Harry asked, grabbing a slice. �It doesn�t do anything. You just eat it.�

�It doesn�t turn you into an animal or something?�

�No.� Ron answered, taking a bite.

�It doesn�t explode inside your stomach?�

�Nope.� Harry ate some.

�You just� eat it?�

�Yup.� They both answered at the same time. �No charms to make it taste better, nothing that keeps it warm, nothing to add different flavors. Just down home good food.�

Draco took a slice and held it in his hands, blowing on it a bit to cool it. With one last look at the pair, he took a bite. �Ow! Hot!�

Harry laughed. �Cheese stick to the top of your mouth?�

Draco nodded, grabbing his drink and chugging some without even thinking. �Ah, that�s better�.hey this is good.�

�It�s called Dr Pepper.� Harry nodded, drinking some Sprite. �It�s a carbonated drink, that�s why it looks like bubbles are in it.�

�I see.� Draco nodded, eating some more pizza. �This is nice.�

Ron rolled his eyes. �Was I that bad?�

Harry smirked. �You were like a kid on Christmas morning the first time me and Herms took you out. Quite embarrassing really.�

Ron looked offended. �Hey! I was only fifteen!�

Harry, and to their amazement, Draco laughed.

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�So that�s what a �movie� is.� Draco mused as they walked out of the theater after just seeing The Matrix. I didn�t know people could do that!�

Harry laughed at him. �It was a movie, my friend.� Draco was about to tell him that he knew that, but Harry continued in a lower voice. �Remember how I told you that muggles use science to do things?� Draco nodded at him. �They can edit what they video tape to make it look like that.�

�So people really can�t jump buildings, fly, or fight like that?�

�I�m sure we could if we had the right spell.� Ron interrupted. �But Muggles, no.�

�We should get back.� Harry stated, looking up at the sky. �I�ll get dark soon. We need to show up for dinner so nobody thinks anything about not seeing us all day.�

�We just ate, man.�

�Trust us.� Ron put his hand on Draco�s shoulder. �It�s a Long walk, remember?�

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But it, in fact, turned out to be a relatively short walk. With their skateboards, the group made it back to the fireplace and into Hogsmeade in record time. Running to Zonko�s and ignoring the strange look on their clothing, they made their way back to the back of the store and grabbed their robes. Draco bit back an embarrassed look when he remembered he had his around his waist.

Now clad in wizarding looks once again, the trio slid into the cave and ran back towards the school.

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�Hello guys.� Hermione greeted them as they walked down the hallway. �On your way to dinner?�

�Er,� Harry thought of something to say. �Actually, I need to �drop off some stuff in my room first. We�ll be down in a bit.�

�Oh nonsense.� She told him, looking her arms through her two �boyfriends�. �Come on, Malfoy, Ginny will be happy to see you. You have been gone all day.�

Ron gave Harry the �We got to keep our robes on so no one will see our cloths� look, to which he nodded. Draco, it seemed, was aware of this as well.

The trio and the tag along friend-in-making entered the Great Hall a few moments later. Their friends waved to them as they walked along. Draco big them a farewell with a cut nod and made his way over to his table.

�Hey Draco.� Jena greeted him, patting the place next to her.

�Hey Jena.� He greeted weakly, making sure to cover his cloths with the robe he was wearing.

�Aren�t you hot?� one of the girls next to Jena asked, raising an eyebrow. �You can take off your robe after classes, you know.�

�Um, I�d rather not�I, er, spilled something on my shirt��

�I can fix that, sweets.� Jena said, taking out her wand. �Let me see.�

�Don�t call me sweets!�

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Harry ate lightly, sweating a little as he did so. The great hall was rather warm that night thanks to a warm front that was passing through. Ron didn�t look any better. Running through the stuffy passage didn�t help them any either.

�Are you two okay?� Hermione asked, worried. She was sitting between the two like usual, giving them a worried look.

�Yeah,� Lavender added, placing her hand over Ron�s forehead. �You look a little hot, dear. Why not take off your robe for a bit?�

Ron looked over at Harry, who knew first hand what it was like to wear muggle clothing at Hogwarts. The only reason he kept his robes on was for Hermione. She knew he didn�t wear shorts unless he was going outside to Hogsmeade or a marauding trip. Pair that with the fact Ron didn�t want to take his robes off (Being a �pure blood� family and not wearing muggle cloths), she would scold them for hours about sneaking off during school�..especially when they were supposed to have been In the library studying with her.

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�I thought I was going to suffocate!� Ron exclaimed as he pulled off his robes when they were in the seventh year dorm room.

�Better than having Hermione yell about �lack of responsibility�� Harry replied, pulling his off as well.

�You�re lucky I don�t scold you.� Celestial told his mind. �You are so irresponsible.�

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Ron grits his teeth as he was blasted by another lightening spell. Instead of crying out, however, he ran forward and jumped on the peak of a random rock jutting out of the ground. With his new height advantage, He had a clear view of Goyle, who was below him. Landing a sharp kick, the Slytherin boy passed out easily and the mountain region around him faded.

The red head moved weakly to his team mates and nodded at them as they congratulated him on his fight. The score was most definitely not in their favour. One more win by the Dragon�s Fang group and the Marauders would lose� and they still had two more fights to go if they were going to win. This was th

12. Notes

Authors notes: Sorry for the delay, but I decided not to post chapter 12 in parts. The reason behind this is, it would take away from the emotions I’m trying to put into the next to last chapter. Yeah, there will be 13 chapters. Chapter 12 will focus on the last days at Hogwarts and chapter 13 will be…..well, Harry has an unkept promise doesn’t he? He’ll have to fix that. I have about 4,500 words of chapter 12 written as of right now, but I’m not sure how long this chapter will be. Depending on how I want to end this story (I’m juggling 2 ideas) , this chapter may be 10,000- 20,000 words. If I chose the other ending it’ll be 7,000-12,000. Still not sure of which I’ll use, but that’s part of life I guess. I’ll post chapter 12 as soon as it’s done. I’ll see everyone then. *bows*