Harry Potter and the Galator
Chapter 26
What a Relief
Lavender nervously lay down on the mat and looked up at Ron. Harry knelt beside her and held out his hands just above her abdomen. He closed his eyes and tuned everything out except for Lavender. He felt her nervousness and anxiousness. He felt her being scared and worried. He imagined a smaller being and tried to focus on its feelings if any.
After a few minutes, Harry opened his eyes and got up. He offered his hands to Lavender to help her up and smiled down at her. Lavender didn't want to conclude what his smile meant. He was either smiling because he was going to be an uncle of some sort or he was smiling because it's a false alarm. She didn't know which.
"Well?" asked an anxious Hermione.
"You're okay Lavender. I didn't feel any other feeling other than all those bundled nerves you were in." Lavender sighed with relief. Ron walked towards her and wrapped her up in his arms. He felt relieved and disappointed at the same time. He knew he should be happy, but he couldn't help to feel a little excited finding out that he was going to be a father.
Harry hugged Hermione trying to imagine how he would feel if it had been them and not Ron and Lavender. He felt relieved that he and Hermione have not practiced any type of sex. This little scare with Ron and Lavender just made them more relieved and determined to wait until they were both ready for the responsibility.
"Thanks, mate. Don't what we would have done without you."
"Anytime."
"So, now are you ready to tell us or better yet show us what else you can do?" Hermione asked him. He smiled. He knew that was coming and he knew he couldn't escape it.
"Well, okay, but can we do it after dinner when Ginny and Neville are here? Let's study some potions first." Ron and Lavender were shocked. They never thought they'd hear Harry say he'd rather study than do something else. Hermione smirked at Ron and Lavenders expression. They looked at her with admiration.
"Oh, come on you two. Don't look at me as if I just performed a miracle. You know Harry wants to be an auror, and he has to do well in all his subjects especially Potions."
Harry held her around her waist and kissed her cheek and smiled at Ron and Lavender, "she's just a great influence on me."
"Must be love," Ron told them sarcastically and earned a slap on the arm from Hermione.
They started to study potions as soon as Harry got rid of the mat and the fixed the table and chairs in place. Ron, Hermione and Lavender were curious already at how Harry could do magic without the wand, they couldn't concentrate on their potions studies.
Harry felt their curiosity and anxiousness. He smiled to himself and kept on studying. He didn't let up and give in to their pleading glances. Instead he ignored them until they lost interest and turned their minds to their studies. He felt cruel, but he wasn't up to explaining himself twice. He'd figured he'd wait for Ginny and Neville since he had a way of finding things out accidentally anyway. Might as well tell him up front.
They were able to put a few hours of study time done before it was time for dinner. They left their books and bags in the room and went down for dinner. They met up with Ginny and Neville in the Great Hall. Ginny was a little flushed. They knew she'd probably just come from seeing Malfoy. They didn't ask. They were okay with Malfoy, they just didn't want to know details.
Dinner was uneventful except for Ron's ritual of stuffing food down his throat. He'd toned down a bit, but still ate with more gusto than the rest of them put together. Neville wanted to ask about what they were going to train about that night, but he knew better than ask. There were other ears around and they might be overheard. He decided to wait and find out.
Neville had really stepped out of his shell. He was becoming good with everything, even Potions his most dreaded subject. His thinking was also getting fit as any of them. He didn't let people make fun of him and was ready to stand up for himself and for his friends. He surprised a few people with his actions, but he didn't care. He was learning a lot from his friends, but most of all he was living up to what Gryffindor represents: bravery.
They returned to the common room before anyone else so that they could enter their room without being seen. As soon as they walked in they put their bags aside to ready for their training session.
"Okay, Harry. Spill it," Hermione told him. He was the most anxious. "We have a few hours before we make our prefect rounds. You'd better start and don't leave anything out." Ginny and Neville looked at her confused.
"What are you talking about Hermione?"
"This Ginny," he waved his hand and cleared the room. The table and the chairs disappeared instantly. They usually cleared it by levitating it to one side of the room, but Harry just removed it from the room.
Ginny and Neville's mouths hung. They were just as surprised as the others when they first saw him do something without his wand.
"Harry?" asked Neville nervously. "You didn't use your wand." He pointed out.
"That's what we've been trying to get him to explain all day," Ron told them. He explained how Harry conjured the mat, but did not include the explanation as to why he conjured it for Lavender. He just told them that Lavender need to lie down. Ginny knew about Lav, but Neville didn't and they didn't want to have to explain to Neville.
"Okay, will you all calm down," Harry told them. He conjured up some pillows for them to sit on. "Have a seat will you."
"Show off," commented Hermione but with a smile indicating she was joking with him.
"Okay, I've just perfected this skill a few weeks ago. Yes, I can perform magic without my wand. There are still thinks I can't do, but I am still practicing. I have also practiced a little leaping, but not with my own body. I can make items leap from one place to another, but that's about it." He took one of their books, set it down on one side of the room. He closed his eyes to concentrate. He pictured Hermione's lap in his mind. He imagined the book being on Hermione's lap. As soon as he heard Hermione squeal in surprise at the weight of the book, he opened his eyes.
"That is about the extent of the leaping I could do accurately. Anything bigger or human, I haven't tried yet. I've also been perfecting my healing skills and have been working on my instrument."
"Your instrument?" asked Lavender.
"Yeah, Merlin says it is part of the training that has been passed down from generations to generations. We don't do it here at Hogwarts, but I am sure he will allow me to train you if you want when I am ready to pass on the knowledge. It's old magic that supposed to open up the magic within yourself. I'm sorry I can't do those with you yet."
"Can you teach us wandless magic?" asked Hermione.
"Well, I could try, but I don't feel I am qualified."
"Hermione, you're forgetting one thing. We may not be able to do that because we're not related to Harry." Ron explained. He knew he had limitations as a wizard, but as he'd already promised himself during their animagus training, he would become the best he could be even if he's not a direct descendant of Merlin.
"That part I am not exactly sure, Ron. I didn't ask Merlin. I will ask him next time I see him. I will let you know."
"Wow," was all Ginny could say.
"I'll say," seconded Neville. "So, what are we going to learn today?"
Harry smiled at him. He was so eager to learn now. No longer the shy boy he'd first met. He felt good knowing that he had somehow helped him be that way. "Well, I suppose we could start with deuling again. It's time to try to direct your jinxes and hexes at an actual adversary rather than a willing participant. So let's pair off."
Lavender and Ginny were paired and Ron and Neville were paired. Hermione was paired with Harry at his request. He wanted to train Hermione harder than the rest of them. He knew that her status as his girlfriend would put him into more danger than the others. He wanted her to be fully prepared.
She walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the lips. "That's for being truthful with us. I love you."
"I love you too. Are you ready to jinx me?"
"Yes."
"Okay, everyone start." He watched the others progress as he shielded the jinx that Hermione was sending his way. He had his wand in one hand and would use his other hand to place the shielding charm on Hermione. He needed to test his shielding bubble and it had to be done without her knowledge. He planned to just keep it on for a few minutes so that he could test it, then he'd remove it to make sure Hermione can defend herself without the shield.
He sent Hermione some jinxes, but they would bounce off. He smiled at his success. He was sure that his friends would be covered as well as the shield stayed up. He was just worried about the unforgivable curses. He took the shield down while he kept blocking her hexes.
Hermione was getting frustrated. None of her hexes were landing on Harry. He anticipated all the moves she was going to make. She sent out all the hexes she'd learned from jelly legs to temporary blindness that Harry taught them. She was breathing hard from running around trying to avoid the jinxes that Harry was throwing at her. It also irked her that he wasn't even breathing hard and he kept restoring the others when they were jinxed by their opponent.
"Okay, enough!" Harry yelled out. "You were doing well. You all had your jinxes down right, but I want you all to anticipate what your opponent will do before they do it. You are all stuck into thinking about what you're hex you're going to say next that you leave yourself open to a jinx."
They were all out of breath except for him, but they listened and nodded as he told them what they were missing and what they needed to work on. He also told them they needed to keep up their exercises to keep up their stamina. He dismissed them and walked out with Hermione to attend to their prefect duties.
"Okay, tell me. How come you weren't even out of breath when were dueling?" He chuckled and thought about all the training he had gone through with Merlin.
"Oh, love. If you think I am bad, you should see what I have to go through with Merlin. We're in a room. I've climbed mountains without a rope. I've been to a Marshland, swimming against a very strong river and a whole slew of things I don't have the heart to put you through."
"But Harry, if it will help us."
"No Hermione. It's not that. We don't really have a place to train like that and the time to train like that. Maybe some day when I can leap us all in our dreams you can train with Merlin as well" That made Hermione excited. She would be ecstatic if she could meet Merlin.
"That would be great. You'd better practice leaping a bit more then?"
"Yes, love. I am definitely practicing. I would love to be able to leap to wherever you are when I think of you." She blushed a little.