Here's my new story:) It's called Circle of Friends, but there's another story on Portkey right now with that name, so I didn't want it to get confusing. The first part is an introduction. A long one at that, hehe...but I bet you won't complain. This takes place after 6th year....hope you enjoy it. Anyway, here's the story, please let me know what you think of it...
Chapter 1
A full moon was up high in the sky, giving the small town of Little Whinging a soft glow as everyone was tucked in their beds fast asleep. Privet Drive was quiet and the only noise you could hear was a soft breeze that rustled the tall tree branches, swaying back and forth as if they were dancing.
Harry Potter, freshly out of his sixth year, laid flat on his back on the comfort of his bed, like everyone else in
Number 4 Privet Drive, except he was awake. He stared at the ceiling as he twirled his wand between his fingers like a
drummer would do with his drumsticks. He grinned in the dark as he thought of the look on his Uncle's face when he
told him once he turned seventeen, he was allowed to do magic.
Only ten more days.
Harry's sixth year had been a month longer, since they had to stay and pass the Apparation test. It wasn't very hard to do, Harry got the hang of it rather quickly. He only messed up the first time and he almost fainted when he noticed his nose was gone. It was enough to scare him into trying a lot harder the second time. Hermione, surprisingly, had trouble doing it at first and he could tell it frustrated her to the fullest. Apparation was definitely not something you can learn out of a book. He had pulled her aside when she seemed ready to give up and hoped he could help in any way.
"Hermione, I know you....you're not going to give up on this," Harry said as he placed a hand on her back.
She was sitting on the grass, head down and holding back the tears. "I've never been bad at anything before...."
He snorted a laugh. "That's a lie, you are a very terrible flyer," he said teasing hoping to get a laugh out of her.
She looked at him and he could tell she was trying to keep a straight face but when he grinned brightly at her, she laughed and playfully pushed him. "That's not funny."
"Then why are you laughing? Look, Hermione, I know you can do this. Ron, is still having a few problems if that makes you feel better, last I heard his left ear attached firmly to his butt."
Hermione giggled. "Well, that does make me feel a little better." She then sniffed and wiped her tears before she stood up. "I'll go try again."
Harry stood up as well. "Of course you will."
She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks Harry."
Harry felt pride for his friend when he remembered she had passed the test after the first try. Ron, passed eventually
as well, but he was a good sport about it. "Hey, I'm just glad I passed," he had said to him when he
warily scratched his ear. "Does this look like it's on straight?"
Harry closed his eyes and started to reminisce all the events of sixth year. He thought about Quidditch and how his team won the Cup for the third time in a row. He thought about his classes and how much he enjoyed Tonks as their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and to his and everyone else's amazement she would be back the next year. It would be the first time a DADA teacher stayed for another year since Harry had been to the school.
He then thought about the DA meetings they had held. Dumbledore had strongly suggested that Harry still went on with the DA meetings, since it seemed to have helped due to the events of last June....that awful night at the Department of Mysteries. The night he lost Sirius. It was a tough year without him, but he got by thanks to his friends....especially Hermione. He wouldn't have lasted a month without her.
He never told Hermione or Ron about the prophecy Dumbledore had told him. He didn't want them to worry, especially Hermione, but at the same time he was dying to talk about it. He kept it inside though and of course he was an idiot to think that he could ever keep something from Hermione. Ron was one thing, he was more oblivious to things like that, but Hermione....she knew him and she was a very smart witch. "Harry, are you SURE you're okay?" she would ask him. "Harry, is there something you're not telling us?" Harry would brush it off and look annoyed and Ron would come to his defense and say, "Leave it alone, Hermione, stop interrogating him, you're just being paranoid." Harry would just avoid her eyes and pretend to go back to studying.
Finally, he couldn't hide it from her anymore. It was during Christmas and they were back at Grimmauld Place for the holidays with the Weasleys and everyone else in the Order. Minus Sirius. Whenever, Harry felt sad and missed Sirius he would always escape up to his own room, where Buckbeak still stayed. There were times he wanted to be alone with his thoughts and everyone respected that....well, everyone but Hermione.
Someone banged on the door so loudly that Harry jumped startled and Buckbeak, who was lying comfortably asleep on the end of the bed, became alarmed and flapped his wings before he fell over the bed. "Are you okay, Buckbeak?" Harry asked as he peered over the bed.
Buckbeak just slowly got up and ruffled his feathers angrily before stalking over to the corner and curled up to go back to sleep. "Harry Potter, open this door."
Harry rolled his eyes as he stalked to the door and flew the door open. "You made Buckbeak fall of the bed you know....couldn't you have knocked a little lighter?"
Hermione huffed as she bristled by him and sat firmly on the end of the bed, letting him know she was not going anywhere. Defeated, Harry closed the door and stood there facing her with his hands on his hips, almost challenging her. "What?" he asked firmly.
Hermione lifted her stubborn chin. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on."
Harry flew up his hands. "Nothing! I just miss Sirius, okay? It's the holidays and I miss him..."
Hermione's face softened but she still didn't let up. "Harry, I know you miss him and I know this is hard for you, but....I know that's not all that's bugging you."
Harry looked at her and felt his defensive walls start to crumble around him, knowing that eventually she would get her way and he would tell him. Why beat around the bush? Might as well get it over with. "All right," he said with a sigh as he walked over and sat next to him. "You want to know what I've been keeping from you and Ron?"
She nodded. "Yes, please...tell me."
"Don't tell Ron, Hermione...I mean it, I don't want him knowing. I'm only telling you, because you're already worried and I obviously can't hide ANYTHING from you....so promise me."
She now looked extremely worried but she only nodded and waited for him to continue. So he told her...everything on what Dumbledore had said that night in his office. He told her what the prophecy said and she had tears swarming in her eyes and the sight made his stomach drop. He hated seeing her upset. "Hermione....see now why I didn't tell you? I knew you would worry....oh please don't cry!"
She flung her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. "Harry, it will be okay....you'll be okay, I know you will."
"Hermione....you don't know that, we have to be prepared for both sides of the prophecy coming true."
"No," she sobbed and clung tighter to him. "I know you, Harry....you'll make it. You'll defeat Voldemort."
Harry smiled sadly when he realized she said his name without even flinching. "You're a very brave, witch, do you know that? And a stubborn one at that."
Hermione pulled away and laughed shakily as she brushed the tears away. "I'm not so brave, I just know what I feel and what's right. As for the stubborn part, yeah...one hundred percent stubborn."
Harry gave her an encouraging smile. "Why don't you go wash up, I think Christmas Eve dinner is almost ready."
"Do I really look that bad?" she laughed touching her face.
"No, you look just fine," he told her with a soft smile. "I just wouldn't think you'd want everyone to see that you've been crying."
"Good point," she said as she got up. "I'll see you downstairs."
"Hermione," Harry said before she could open the door. He got up and walked over to her and found himself leaning down to give Hermione a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks," he said in her ear before pulling her into a hug. "Thanks for being my friend.
One thing that changed during sixth year was his relationship with Hermione. The friendship he had with Hermione had
always been strong, but following fifth year, especially after he almost lost her, the friendship between them grew
stronger and they had definitely become closer. Ron was still his best friend...his best mate, but Hermione was
different. Hermione was like the air he breathed.....he couldn't live with out it, like he couldn't live
without her. He was becoming more and more protective of her, he was almost as bad as Ron.
Harry was tired and completely dirty from head to toe. He had just had Quidditch practice and during the middle of
it, rain began to fall from the sky. At first it was light, so Harry had kept the practice going, but slowly it grew
stronger and the next thing he knew they were in the middle of a complete downpour. Harry motioned his team down as
soon as he saw lightening and now he was soaked to the bone, tired and angry that their practice was cut short. The
game against Slytherin was only weeks away and they needed that win if they wanted the Cup.
He was just about to head up the stairs leading to the Gryffindor common room, when he heard two familiar voices. The first voice was Hermione's.
"Cho," Hermione said as she ran up to Cho who was walking towards the Great Hall. "Hey Cho!"
Harry walked over to the corridor and peered around the corner. "What do you want?" Cho asked in a rude and impatient voice. Harry scowled at her. Why he ever liked her he would never know.
"Um...well, I noticed that you weren't at the D.A meeting the other night and....I was wondering if everything was okay?"
"Fine," she snapped. "Just cause I miss one meeting doesn't make it the end of the world, I have a life outside of school, unlike you."
Hermione looked down at her shoes. "I didn't mean anything by it, I was just...."
"What are you going to do if I miss another meeting? Write the word "SLACKER" across my face in pimples."
"Hey, it's not my fault your friend ratted out on us, Cho," Hermione said getting defensive.
"Hermione, do yourself a favor and go to the library stick your nose in some book....where you belong. What Harry sees in you, I will never know..."
"What I saw in YOU, I will never know," Harry said as he rounded the corner making himself visible.
"Harry!" Cho shrieked as her face flushed in embarrassment. "I...I didn't know you were there."
"Obviously," he growled as he stood next to Hermione who looked extremely shocked and embarrassed as well. "You'll never be half the witch Hermione is. You may have the looks Cho, but with your attitude that's all you'll ever have. Just a pretty face. Hermione is not only pretty, but also a talented and brilliant witch! I'm very lucky to have her as my friend."
"Harry, I didn't mean..."
"You are no longer welcome to the D.A meetings," Harry said as he reached over and grabbed Hermione's hand.
"Oh, Harry no don't do that," Hermione pleaded. "It's okay."
"No it's not, I will not sit back and watch her rail on you like that."
"Fine, I don't want to go to the stupid meetings anyway," Cho cried flushed with rage. "Hope you two are just oh so happy with each other."
Anger surged through him when he watched her bounce off. "What a bi..."
"Harry!" Hermione gasped when she knew what he was about to say.
He shrugged. "Well, she is.....she had no right to say that stuff to you."
Hermione shook her head. "She's just angry with me, since you two didn't work out. She's jealous of me since we are so close."
"Still no excuse," he said angrily as he ran his fingers through his wet hair.
Hermione looked at him for the first time. "You look awful."
He laughed weakly. "Gee, thanks Hermione."
"Well, you do....why don't you go take a bath in the Prefects bathroom."
The thought of a warm bath right now was heaven. "I'm not a Prefect."
"And what am I? A nothing first year? I'll give you the password."
He sighed in appreciation. "Thanks, Hermione...you're a saint," he said as he tried to pull her into a hug
"Ahh, get away you can hug me later when you are not muddy and wet."
"Come on, just one hug?" he said playfully as he tried to grab her.
Hermione shrieked as she dodged out of his grasp. "Stay away from me, Potter or no bath!"
Harry pouted. "You are no fun."
Cho never showed up to another DA meeting after that and Harry was relieved. She had caused way too much tension and
trouble in the first place and the meetings went along peacefully without her. Well, at least it did for
awhile....until another member was forced to join the DA, under Dumbledore's orders.
Harry rode the spiral stairs up to Dumbledore's office in anticipation, since he had no clue why he was being
called up to see him. He was pretty sure he didn't do any rule breaking for quite awhile, so he was quite sure he
wasn't in trouble. Maybe there was more news about Voldemort and his army? Maybe more Death Eaters escaped from
Azkaban. He was anxious to find out and when he finally opened the door and stepped inside he was shocked to see
Dumbledore was at his desk and sitting across from it was Draco Malfoy.
"Ah, Harry....you made it, please...sit down next to Mr. Malfoy here and I'll begin."
Harry kept a wary eye on Malfoy as he slowly walked around and sat in the empty chair next to him. Draco was sizing
himself up as well and Harry couldn't even begin to know what this was all about. "Professor, what's going
on?"
"Well...Malfoy here has come to our side, Harry," Dumbledore said beaming.
"What?!" Harry said in shock as he glared at Draco.
"Deaf, Potter?" Draco smirked.
"Professor, you can't be serious!" But the look on his face told Harry that he was dead serious.
"Draco has told me he wants to help the ministry in capturing the Death Eaters and of course, Voldemort."
Harry wanted to protest. He wanted to yell and scream at Dumbledore for being too trustworthy. He didn't trust Draco, not one bit! "Draco has informed me that his father, who is still in Azkaban, has been pressuring him to become a Death Eater, however Draco has different plans."
"I'll bet," Harry muttered.
"You will accept Draco into the DA meetings," Dumbledore told him.
"What?! But...but professor, that's very secretive and..."
"Very necessary," he cut him off. "You have to understand Harry, that once word gets out that Draco has joined our side, Voldemort will feel very betrayed....and you know what he does to those who have betrayed him. He will try and kill him and Draco will be just under you on his target list. You and Draco will be in danger more than anyone else. I can't stress enough on the importance of you two working together....and trusting each other."
Harry had to hold back a snort of laughter. Fat chance.
"Now....you two are dismissed and Harry, you can let Draco know when the meetings are and how to get to the Room of Requirement. And Harry....trust me on this."
He nodded. "Okay, Professor."
Harry and Draco both got up and walked out of his office and neither said anything until they were completely out of his office. "Look, Malfoy. I don't trust you..."
"And you think I do, Potter?" he shouted back. "I certainly not keen on the idea of joining your little army, I don't hold well into taking orders from you."
"Then why bother....and don't think for one second I buy this crap about you joining our side. If anything, I believe you're spying for Voldemort."
"I don't care about, Voldemort anymore!" he yelled back.
Harry was taken back at first on how he called him by his name. "Well, excuse me, Malfoy, but I'm not going to trust you overnight."
"Do you actually think that I would want to end up like my father....rotting in Azkaban? No, I have different plans, I'm a good wizard, Potter and I can definitely do better on my own. I will not take orders...from you or Voldemort!"
Harry had to admit, he did prove himself, but it took a long time for Harry to trust him. The first DA meeting he came to was a disaster, since so many people were against him being here. He had only told Hermione and Ron in advance that he was coming and Ron didn't like it one bit. But like Harry, he trusted Dumbledore so he would stand by Harry in this decision. Even if he didn't like it.
Also, Draco had found a new Weasley to pick on...Ginny. Harry had paired them up one time at a meeting, since he knew Ginny could handle herself well. They were sending curses left and right at each other, even when Harry had blown the whistle to stop, they were still going at it. It took them awhile to break the two apart. Through time though and patience, they learned to work together without cursing each other left and right. They became more civil....still hated each other, but were civil.
It was Easter Holiday weekend when Draco first proved himself loyal to their side. Most of the students were gone and Draco stayed behind, along with the trio and Ginny. Harry was walking out of the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione, when they saw Ginny and Draco standing close together, talking about something.
Ginny all of the sudden pushed Draco, before she turned and fled down the hall. "What did you do to my sister?!" Ron asked angrily.
"Back of Weasley," Draco snapped at him and then ran off after Ginny.
Harry and Ron looked at each other before both nodding. "Let's go follow them," Harry said and they ran after them, with Hermione following close behind him. They saw Draco run outside the double doors into the night and Harry had to quicken his pace, since Draco was a fast runner. They saw him run across the grounds and towards the lake where Ginny was now standing.
"Wait," Harry said suddenly as he stopped holding out his arms for both of them to stop. "Let's just wait....see what happens."
"Like hell," Ron growled.
"Ron...no, just wait," Harry insisted. "We're right here if Draco tries something funny."
Harry then went back to watching them closely. They were talking...about something he didn't know since they were too far away, but he could tell Ginny was upset about something and Draco was....was he trying to comfort her? No....couldn't be. He then saw him put a hand on her shoulder and then saw Ginny slowly lift her head up to look up at him.
"Harry!" Hermione gasped as he tugged on his shoulder. "Look, over there!"
They saw from the line of the trees a dark figure emerging with their wand pointing at both Draco and Ginny as it inched closer to them. "Come on!" Harry yelled and the three of them ran as fast as they could to help. His first thought was that it was a trap, that Draco led Ginny there, knowing a Death Eater would be waiting for him. But that thought vanished when he saw Draco spin around to the Death Eater once Ginny screamed and saw him yank Ginny behind him. Draco had his wand out pointing directly at the man cloaked in black. "Stay away!" he yelled. "Leave us!"
Harry stopped suddenly out of breath, his wand out ready to help, but they still were far enough back to where they were unnoticed. "Have your wands ready, guys....Hermione, go and find help."
"I'm not leaving you here!" she whispered.
"Hermione, you can help us by going to find Dumbledore....please Hermione, hurry."
She hesitated for awhile but then finally nodded. "Okay," she said and fled back to the castle.
"Draco....what are you doing," the man hissed. "This is not how it was planned."
"I don't work for you," he yelled. "Or Voldemort!"
"How dare you speak his name!" the man said angrily. "Crucio!"
Draco dropped to his knees in pain, clutching his head as he curled up on the ground. "Draco!" Ginny yelled as she fell next to him, wrapping her arms around him.
Harry and Ron didn't waste another second, they had their wands out as they ran towards them. "Stupefy!" Harry yelled and the Death Eater barely managed to avoid the spell and had to fly to the ground in order to do it.
This gave Harry and Ron the chance to run to Draco and Ginny. Ginny slowly helped Draco get to his feet, who still weak, but managed to point his wand to the masked Death Eater who was now getting to his feet. He saw four wands pointing at him and knew he was outnumbered. "This isn't over....The Dark Lord will here of this, Draco...you have betrayed him."
"Go ahead...tell him, make sure he knows that I want nothing to do with him."
"You're a fool.....and a disgrace to your father," he said and then whipped around before trudging back into the forest.
Harry started to go after him but Draco held him back. "No...let him go. He has a message he needs to give to Voldemort."
Harry looked to the trees and then back at Draco, who was still staggering due to the affects of the curse. "You need to get to the hospital wing."
"I'm fine," he said bluntly.
"No, you're not," Ginny said who had an arm around his waist so he wouldn't fall. "Stop being so stubborn."
"Me? Stubborn? I'm nowhere near as stubborn as you....didn't I tell you not to come out here....I told you, to trust me, but did you? Noooo...."
"Oh hush up, or I'll drop you right here....Harry, take his other side, he can barely walk."
"Humiliating," Draco grumbled as he let Harry take his other side. "Completely humiliating."
"It's not so bad, Malfoy....least you didn't faint," Harry said with a slight smirk. "And Malfoy?"
"Yeah?"
"Welcome to the good side."
Draco grumbled out a harsh laugh. "Yeah....thanks."
And from then on Harry Potter now trusted Draco Malfoy with his life.
Harry sighed as he looked over at his clock which told him it was almost three in the morning and sleep still
hadn't found him. Thoughts and memories were flooding his mind too much and it was keeping him awake. So much had
happened....so much had changed in one year. If someone told him that he would become friends with Draco Malfoy, he
would have laughed in their faces. But, he was a friend now...and even kept in touch with him this summer and recieved
a few owls from him. He was staying at the Order of Phoenix, along with Ron, Hermione and Ginny to name a few. Seems
like everyone was there, except him. He knew though now why he had to stay here, so he would no longer complain. He
missed them though...all of them, especially Hermione.
He closed his eyes and cleared his mind, so that sleep would hopefully overtake him. His breathing became steady and his body started to relax. He was so close to falling asleep he almost didn't hear the tapping on the window. He heard it the second time and jerked awake as he grabbed his wand. Still dazed from falling asleep he looked around the room blindly. The tap came again and he spun around to the window and his jaw dropped.
Hermione's face was plastered against the glass.