Harry Potter: The Gathering Storm

Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I claim to own the copyrights for the characters in this work of fiction.

Warning: Adult language and situations.

THE GATHERING STORM

Chapter 1: Many Happy Returns

Harry Potter leaned back in the back seat of the car Mr.Weasley borrowed from the Ministry. He was sitting with Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Mrs.Weasley. Remus Lupin sat up front and Mr.Weasley was driving. They were on their way to King's Cross to catch the Hogwarts Express back to school.

Harry let the noise of Mrs.Weasley fussing wash over him as he relaxed and reflected back on how quickly the summer vacation flew by. His first few weeks were spent in silence and isolation at the Dursleys'. All the Dursleys had done everything they could to keep far away from Harry. They had obviously not forgotten the events of last summer. That had suited Harry just fine. He spent his weeks among the muggles completing his homework assignments and also used the time to seriously study the books Sirius and Lupin had given him for Christmas, Practical Defensive Magic And Its Use Against The Dark Arts. Harry had gotten through the first four volumes before he left to spend the rest of the summer at Grimmauld Place.

Harry was glad he had completed his assignments early because his work had really just begun. He was only given a few hours to settle in before members of the Order of the Phoenix began showing up singly or in pairs to tutor him. Mostly he was researching spells, but he was also tutored in more practical applications of the spells he already knew. Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks were in charge of helping Harry learn basic strategy and small group tactics. Harry was surprised that the Weasleys were not staying with him. It turned out that Fred and George were still living at home while they looked for a place of their own. Meanwhile, Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes was such a success; Ron had gone to work for the twins over the summer to earn some pocket money for Hogsmeade weekends. Hermione was on holiday with her parents in Spain so Harry was left alone to study for most of the summer.

Harry had received his OWL scores and through the help of Hedwig and Pig was able to find out that he and Ron had almost identical scores on their tests:

Transfiguration Theory: E Practical: O Overall: O

Charms Theory: E Practical: E Overall: E

Defense Against the Dark Arts Theory: O Practical: O Overall: O

Care of Magical Creatures Theory: O Practical: O Overall: O

Herbology Theory: E Practical: E Overall: E

Astronomy Theory: A Practical: P Overall: A

Divination Theory: A Practical: D Overall: P

Potions Theory: E Practical: O Overall: O

History of Magic: A

(Course scores: O=outstanding, E=exceeds expectations, A=acceptable, P=poor)

Harry and Ron had also picked the same NEWT level classes in preparation for auror training.

Hermione was quite pleased as she hadn't scored lower than an “O” on any of her exams. Harry had received thank you's from all his classmates that were in the D.A. with him stating that they had scored very well in their Defense Against the Dark Arts practical exams. No one was happier than Neville Longbottom and he and his grandmother had sent Harry an assortment of Honeydukes candies in appreciation for all his help.

It wasn't until the last week of summer vacation before Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Mrs.Weasley came to stay with him. It was during that week that one night while staying up late talking, Ron had asked if he, Harry, fancied Hermione. When Harry said he and Hermione were just friends, Ron floored him by admitting that he, Ron, did fancy Hermione and he wanted to know if that was OK with Harry! Ron was afraid that if something did develop between Hermione and himself that Harry would feel left out. Harry assured him that he would not feel that way. Ginny was ecstatic that Ron had finally had someone else to bother for advice with his love life. He had apparently been badgering her all summer for help on how to tell Hermione how he felt. After this conversation, Ron tried several times to get up his nerve to tell Hermione. Unfortunately, he was never able to get the words out of his mouth. Ron was beginning to fear that Hermione must think that the curse that he had been hit with a few months ago in the Ministry of Magic had not completely worn off yet.

With a jerk, the car stopped and they all piled out into King's Cross. Lupin secured four trolleys and everyone quickly loaded their assorted trunks and animal carriers and made their way towards platforms nine and ten. Harry noticed that with only two Weasleys attending Hogwarts this year they were finally not in a rush to catch the train. They quickly made their way to the magical gate to platform nine and three quarters and everyone passed through without incident.

Harry shook hands with Mr.Weasley and Lupin, and then received a final smothering hug from Mrs.Weasley. Ginny quickly found an empty compartment and she Hermione and Ron all quickly stowed their trunks, Crookshanks and Pig. With a quick “See you later” they all headed off to the Prefect car. Harry had just settled down to begin thumbing through Ron's latest copy of the Daily Prophet when there came a soft knock and the compartment door opened.

“Hey Harry, mind if we join you?” It was Neville, Seamus and Dean.

“Course not. C'mon in. Ron, Hermione and Ginny will be joining us later. Oh, thanks a lot for the candies, you know you didn't have to do that”.

“I know” answered Neville. “But without your help with Defense spells in the D.A. and Hermione's help in Potions, I never would have passed those O.W.L.'s! My Gran was so pleased. I can't wait to see ol' Snape's face when we both show up for his NEWT class!”

Harry smiled at the thought. “How was your summer, Neville?”

Dean brought out a deck of cards and they began playing four-way Exploding Snap. “It was great!” Neville began, “I was taking this …”

Just then, the compartment door slid open and there stood Draco Malfoy and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle looking even bigger than they did a few weeks ago. Crookshanks hissed from his carrier on the seat next to Neville who tensed as he stood to face the Slytherins. Harry subtly drew his wand but kept it hidden next to his thigh. Dean and Seamus looked at each other and rose as well.

“Well, well. Potter” drawled Draco. “I didn't think you'd have the guts to come back on the train after what you did to us in June”. Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles threateningly and checked the corridor to ensure no one was sneaking up on them.

Before Harry could respond, Neville growled, “Get the hell out Draco. We're not taking any of your crap this year, especially since you're no longer a prefect!”

Draco turned his venomous glare on Neville and hissed, “Watch your mouth Longbottom, or you'll be on your way to St.Mungos to stay with your parents!”

Harry wasn't sure exactly what happened next. Neville erupted into motion. There was a loud CRACK and Malfoy flew backwards out into the corridor and landed limply on the floor unmoving. Dean Thomas dashed over to Malfoy and bent down, grinning evilly. “Draco. Hey Draco. YOU GOT KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT!” He turned back to the compartment and sat back down to continue the hand chuckling.

“Holy shit!” said Seamus as he began to laugh.

Harry sat there stunned. “Neville …” Mouths still agape, Crabbe and Goyle turned to look at Neville who had straightened up from a fighting stance. Neville stepped towards them, they stepped back into the corridor and Neville shut the compartment door in their faces. They heard the two thugs move off to carry Draco back to their compartment.

“Like I started to tell you Harry, I took this muggle self defense class over the summer. I learned quite fast actually. The sensei, er teacher, let me stay late and taught me some advanced moves. It was quite fun.” Neville sat back down and checked on his toad, Trevor. Harry just shook his head and asked whose turn it was.

Soon a steady stream of students began to flow into the compartment. All of them were eager to hear the story of how Draco was knocked unconscious directly from Neville. For his part, Neville seemed uncomfortable being on the receiving end of so much praise from his fellows especially the other Gryffindors. The corridor soon became choked with anxious listeners as Neville told them over and over what actually happened. Some people had apparently heard that Neville had not only knocked out Draco but Crabbe and Goyle as well and the three of them were locked inside their own trunks. There were so many people in the corridor that the tea trolley had a deal of a time forcing its way through the throng. Harry had to push his way delicately through the listeners and then had an even harder time regaining his seat as he tried to balance all his purchases for himself and his friends in the prefect meeting.

Finally, Harry heard Ron's voice over the crowd. “Move along now. No blocking the corridor. Come on, move it. Oi! Seamus, I saw that! Go on. Back to your seats.” Grudgingly the crowd began to dissipate. Dean and Seamus went back to the compartment they were sharing with Lavender Brown, Parvati Patel, and Katie Bell. Ginny, Hermione and Ron were finally able to squeeze back into the compartment and take the seats Harry and Neville had been saving for them. The last person left after a final pat on the back for Neville and Ginny closed the compartment door.

Ron was already on his third cauldron cake when Ginny asked Neville what had happened and Neville was forced to tell the whole story once again. He kept shooting guilty glances at Ginny, Ron and Hermione, as if expecting them, as prefects, to reprimand him for what he had done. He finally relaxed when Hermione told him, “Don't worry Neville. As far as I'm concerned if I didn't see it then I can't prove it happened.” Ron mumbled something that sounded like “ditto” around the chocolate frog he had just jammed into his mouth and Ginny laughed at Neville's relieved expression.

“So since we already know ferret face isn't a prefect anymore, who's the new Slytherin prefect” asked Harry.

“Morag MacDougal” said Ginny. “He seems alright. At least he's not strutting around abusing the younger students like Malfoy.”

For the rest of the trip they all sat together speculating on who the new Defense Against The Dark Arts professor would be, what Gryffindors' chances were to win the House Cup this year, what Snape had in store for his NEWT classes, and if Firenze or Professor Trelawney would be teaching Divination this year.

It was dark out and Ron had already complained twice about being hungry when the Hogwarts Express finally began to slow down. The train eased into the school station and the students exited in a dark wave of black robes. They heard the now familiar voice of Hagrid calling the first year students to the boats and Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys all waved in greeting as he caught sight of them. Then they all hurried off to get into one of the coaches pulled by the school thestrals that would finally bring them to their home for the next few months.

The friends quickly made their way to the great hall and took their seats at the Gryffindor table. As usual, Ron was hopeful that the sorting ceremony would not take too long as he thought he was growing faint with hunger. Harry looked at the other returning Gryffindors when his eyes came to rest on Parvati Patil who was currently speaking quietly to Lavender Brown. Harry was just thinking that she had definitely become more beautiful since their so called “date” for the Yule Ball during their fourth year when Parvati turned to look at him and smiled. Harry flushed at being caught staring, but he smiled back even as he felt an unfamiliar feeling stirring in his stomach that had nothing to do with hunger. Harry turned away first and saw Ron quirking an eyebrow at him. Harry felt his ears burn. A moment later he realized that the first years had already been led into the Great Hall and the Sorting Hat had been placed on its customary stool and was about to begin this years song.

The hat stirred to life and began to sing:

I'm the Sorting Hat you see,

I'm here to take your measure,

To place you in your proper house,

Is my purpose and pleasure.

If Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw,

Is what you ought to be,

Or Slytherin or Gryffindor,

It is my job to see.

Your house will be your family,

As the seasons turn,

But hopefully your class lessons,

Will not be all that you learn.

Harry was listening to the song as he looked down the head table to see if he could identify the new professor. He noticed two things right away. Firenze was indeed still teaching at Hogwarts, this was obvious since Firenze was behind an elevated section of table he was sharing only with Hagrid. The second person he noticed was a young slightly built man of average height, brown hair swept casually across his forehead over a pair of sharp blue eyes. He was seated between Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick. Snape seemed to be making an effort to not look at him. The man was paying attention to the Hat as if he had never seen it before and this brought Harry back to the Hat's song that he had lost track of entirely.

So do your best on pitch or in class,

Wherever you may be,

But remember Hogwarts should be first and last,

In your loyalty.

I've sung to you,

I will not preach,

My jobs to sort,

It's not to teach.

My song's done so step up,

I'm ready to sort you now,

Don't be shy, hop on the stool,

And place me `pon your brow.

The sorting began but Harry paid little attention to it. He kept feeling his gaze drawn down the table to stare at Parvati's glistening hair, the curve of her neck as she casually flipped her curly tresses over her shoulder. He was just wondering if her creamy skin was as soft as it looked and if her lips would be even softer when he finally realized that not only was the sorting over, but the feast had begun and the table was laden with food. Harry shook himself as if out of a trance and finally realizing how hungry he really was, set to with a vengeance worthy of Ron.

The noise level in the Great Hall began to rise as the students finished eating and waited for Professor Dumbledor's yearly speech. Harry's gaze once again swept the staff table. “I guess that guy talking to Professor Flitwick is the new Defense teacher” stated Harry to no one in particular.

“Must be” answered Hermione. “He's the only new face at the staff table and I doubt Professor Firenze would be teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

“He looks young to be a professor” said Ron as he assessed the man over his shoulder.

“Well why else would he be there” asked Hermione.

“I didn't say …” Ron began in an exasperated tone.

“Here we go again” thought Harry.

Ron took a deep breath. “Sorry” he said in a softer voice. “I just meant he looked young. He's obviously here for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position”.

Ginny, Harry and Hermione stared at Ron as if he had sprouted a new head.

“What?” Ron asked defensively.

Hermione blushed. Harry bit his lip to not laugh. Ginny opened her mouth to answer when Professor Dumbledor stood up.

The hall became instantly silent and the Hogwarts Headmaster began to speak. “Welcome all of you to Hogwarts. For the new students, please be advised that Mr.Filch, the caretaker, has a complete and updated list of items banned from the hallways posted in his office. I urge some of the older students to review the new list as well. Once again I must stress that the Dark Forest on the edge of the grounds is still off limits. The Forest has become more hazardous due to events occurring in the past year. I urge you all not to take this warning lightly. Returning students will note that Professor Firenze is still with us. He will be splitting his teaching duties between Divination and Astronomy. We would also like to welcome our newest staff member who has come to teach at Hogwarts from the United States.” Some quiet murmurs began in the crowd and quickly hushed as Dumbledor continued. “Professor Frank Vigo will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts.” There was a polite smattering of applause and even more murmuring. “Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house team should contact Madame Hooch, as usual. Now then, usually we wind up the opening speech with the singing of the school song. There are some, however, who wish to skip this tradition and so instead I will simply wish you pleasant dreams.” The Hall erupted in a rousing cheer and Dumbledor looked taken aback by the response. He recovered quickly and smiled benignly as the students began filing out the doors to their dormitories.

Since Ron and Hermione didn't need to lead the first years to the dormitories this year, they were able to go to the Gryffindor tower with Harry. They took several short cuts through concealed passages and arrived at the portrait of The Fat Lady before most of their fellow students. Ron gave the password, jabberwocky, and the portrait swung open revealing a tunnel to their common room. Harry felt a tangible sense of being home. He bid his friends good night and went up the stairs to the room he shared with the other sixth years and climbed gratefully into bed.

Chapter 2: Beginnings

At breakfast the next day, Harry and Ron compared their schedules with Hermione's. Harry and Ron were both taking: Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Defense Against The Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures and a new class only offered at NEWT level; Evocation. Harry also had a Private Study period every Friday afternoon where he would be continuing his Occulmency lessons with Professor Dumbledor. Hermione had decided not to take NEWT level Care of Magical Creatures. Instead she was taking Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Everyone seemed excited about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and was eagerly awaiting their first class.

Their first class with the new professor was just before lunch. The class was eager to see what the new professor was like so the class settled themselves quickly in their seats. When Professor Vigo called the roll, Harry waited for the usual flick of the eyes up to his scar. It never came. “Welcome to NEWT level Defense Against the Dark Arts, my name is Professor Vigo. In the United States I work as a Federal Marshal in the ACD, Arcane Crimes Division, and I am currently on indefinite loan to the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts School to promote international wizard unity and more importantly to teach you to defend yourselves against Dark Magic.” Professor Vigo moved awkwardly around his desk to perch on its edge. He seemed to be having problems with moving in his robes. He adjusted them irritably and continued, “Many of you have probably heard someone say something to the effect of `There is no good or evil magic, magic just is. It is how the magic is used that makes it a Dark Art.' This is total nonsense. There are magical forces that can be used only for evil purposes. Can anyone think of an example?” Hands shot into the air. “Yes, Mr.Longbottom”

“The Unforgivable Curses” stated Neville firmly.

“Very good. Those are perfect examples of spells that are only capable of producing evil effects. Anyone else? Ms.Granger”

“Necromancy” Hermione said with a slight shiver.

“Excellent. Yes the corruption of the natural life cycle is definitely considered evil. Can anyone think of any others? Anyone? No? That's all right. The last example I was looking for hasn't been practiced in centuries so I'm not surprised no one thought of it. It is usually called Demonology, though this is a misnomer. It is not the study of demons, but the creation of a bond between an infernal and a witch or wizard. The infernal gains access to our world and feeds off its host's soul while its host receives some type of power that was specified when the bond was created. This type of magic is not only evil, it is self destructive. By opening yourself to the infernal you allow him to consume your soul and psyche from within. When you are no longer strong enough to resist, the infernal then seizes control of your body and is then free to spread destruction and chaos, as is their want.”

“There are the standard spells you've been learning which are not Dark Arts but they can be used with evil intent. This does not make the spell evil. For instance, transforming a quill into an anvil does not have an evil intent. However, if you had first thrown the quill at someone and then transformed it, the intention is obvious. These spells can be just as deadly as true Dark Magic.”

“So. What can you do about it? Someone is going to start flinging an assortment of spells at you to do you harm. What are your choices? Block, dodge, hide, or counter. Blocking is obvious. You simply conjure something to shield yourself. Of course you must be able to identify the spell coming at you to effectively block. You can try to dodge but this should not be your first choice unless cover is readily available. No matter how fast you are, someone will eventually be quicker and then you're done. Hiding is also obvious. Simply duck behind something. Countering can be tricky because it depends upon your ability to cast your spell before your opponent. Counter spells can reposition you to gain a strategic advantage; they can be a distraction like a flash of light or an illusion of some sort. They can be used for concealment and misdirection by creating multiple images of yourself or you can try for a quick strike with some kind of disabling spell to try to disrupt your opponent's casting.”

Defense Against the Dark Arts quickly became the most talked about class amongst the students. Professor Vigo had a directness that the students appreciated. He didn't look down on them or hold anything back because of their age. If you asked a question he was more than willing to answer. On top of that, because of the cultural diversity in the United States, Professor Vigo had dealt with a wide variety of Dark Arts as a Federal Marshal. His practical knowledge of defensive spellcasting granted him credibility the students could relate to. This was in complete contrast with Potions class. Professor Snape seemed to take it as a personal insult that Harry and Neville were both still in his class. Neville, who used to crack under Professor Snape's scrutiny, had gained a new confidence over the summer and was giving Snape less and less to criticize with each class. Harry just tried to keep out of the line of fire as often as possible.

Finally, the first week of classes was over. Homework was light and Harry was thinking about starting on his Charms essay as he entered the Gryffindor common room. He was coming back from his first Occlumency lesson with Professor Dumbledor and there was a low buzzing in his head. Harry noticed that Ron and Hermione had saved him a seat at the table where, much to Harry's surprise, they were both studying. Harry walked over to his friends to see what was going on. “Since when have you been so keen on homework, Ron? I mean here it is Friday evening and you're already at the books”, Harry looked to Hermione, “Are you sure he's not a doppelganger or something?”

Laughing, Hermione said, “No this is our Ron.”

“I learned my lesson last year. I'm not putting anything off if I can help it. If it weren't for Hermione I'd never have gotten as many OWL's as I did. And she was helping both of us as well as studying for more classes than us. I want to be able to pull my own weight at crunch time next year for NEWT's.” stated Ron with a determined look on his face.

Ginny had come over as Ron was talking and now she was staring at him as if her were a very interesting bug. “Who are you?” she asked as she poked a finger at him.

Harry and Hermione laughed and Ron looked sourly at his sister. “You'd do well to follow our example, Ginny. You've got OWL's this year you know.”

“You're not trying to pull a Percy and be Head Boy next year are you?” Ginny asked innocently.

Ron's face paled and he looked at his sister in shock. “Don't compare me to that git! I'll never be like him.”

“Just teasing, Ronnikins.” Ginny patted Ron's arm consolingly.

Harry just laughed and took out a quill, ink and some parchment. After retrieving some books from his bag, Harry set to work on his essay.

Chapter 3: Opportunity Knocks

It was the first Saturday in October and the Gryffindor Quidditch team, lead by the new captain, Katie Bell, had just finished practice. Harry was sitting on his bed rubbing a sore shoulder. A bludger had gotten away from Sloper, one of the new beaters, and clipped him. Harry was still playing seeker with Ron as keeper; Ginny, Katie and Dennis Creevey as chasers; and Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper were the new beaters. Ron walked into the room unsteadily, his face a distinct shade of green. Harry was on his feet immediately. “Are you OK, Ron?”

Ron's mouth started to move but no sound came out. He swallowed and tried again, “I uh. I just asked Hermione to go with me to Hogsmeade.” He looked at Harry expectantly, “On a date.”

Harry looked at him, waiting for Ron to continue. When it became apparent Ron needed prompting Harry said exasperatedly “And?”

Ron looked at Harry and said “She said `Yes'”.

“Well, that's good. Isn't it?”

“It's good, I guess. But … Harry, what are we going to do?”

“We? I'm not coming along” Harry laughed.

“You know what I mean,” snapped Ron.

Harry chuckled, “Yeah, I know. Look, just do what we always do, just without me. Be yourself and have fun. And, by the way, why exactly are you looking to me for advice? I mean MY track history leaves a lot to be desired, you know.”

Ron was finally regaining his normal color. “True” he smiled. “Well, no need to use up all my worrying now. I still have a few weeks to agonize over this until the trip. C'mon. Let's go down to lunch.”

At lunch, Ron and Harry found the Great Hall buzzing. They sat down at the Gryffindor table and Dean and Seamus came over to them grinning from ear to ear. “Did you hear what happened?” asked Dean.

“What?” Harry and Ron asked together.

“Professor Vigo was on his way to lunch and he ran into Peeves. You know how uncomfortable Professor Vigo is in his robes, well Peeves started taunting him. He got really vulgar but Vigo never broke stride. Peeves got so angry that he wasn't getting a rise out of him he tried to pull Vigo's robes over his head or something. I don't know what he was thinking.” Dean explained.

“What?” said Ron again.

“I was right behind him as it happened” Dean continued. “So Peeves grabs Professor Vigo's robes and all of a sudden Professor Vigo is like ten feet away pointing his wand at Peeves. He said something like Phasma Strictum and suddenly Peeves was surrounded by some kind of spherical cage of green light. He was screaming bloody murder as Professor Vigo dragged him, cage and all back to his office. It was awesome!!”

“Hey, while you're here, we should tell you about the party” began Seamus quietly.

“Party?”

“Not so loud” Dean and Seamus shushed. Seamus looked around suspiciously and continued, “Gryffindors only Halloween costume party after the feast in the common room. We already got the OK from Professor McGonagall. You can't use magic on yourself to change your appearance for the party. You have to have a real costume. And during the party, Dean and I have a little surprise for us sixth years.”

“What's that?” asked Harry.

“You'll see,” they answered together and laughing hurried over to speak to some other Gryffindors who had just shown up.

During the next week, Professor Anderson began lecturing the Evocations class on refining control of their spells. “What is it that makes for a good spell? Execution, concentration, and power.”

“Some spells need little power and little concentration. Lumos … Nox. Usually, the more complex the spell, the more concentration is required to master it, like animating a statue or transfiguring a human.”

“Knowing how to control the amount of power you put into a spell is vital and in a spell duel can mean the difference in surviving the encounter. A stunning spell or a disarming spell with no power behind it will not affect a strong opponent. He'll simply ignore your spell and counter with one of his own while you're vulnerable.

“Execution I shouldn't need to explain. If you don't do the spell correctly or you aim improperly, the spell may not work. Simple.”

“OK. Let's have a practical demonstration. Many of you probably already know the Stinging Hex; well this is a variation of that spell called Stinging Swarm. It will create a number of sparks that will shoot from your wand to sting a single target or, as you master the spell, multiple targets. Through concentration you can even change the path of the sparks to make them chase your target around obstacles. The amount of power you put into the spell will determine how many sparks you create. Again, as you master the spell you will be able to create as many or as few sparks as you want up to your max power.”

“I have set up targets (pewter cauldrons of water) on these tables. At this level of education I don't need to remind you that hitting anything besides these designated targets will NOT be considered an accident. I am fully capable of tracing any poorly aimed spells and the originator of said spell will be very sorry indeed.

Just like with the Stinging Hex, you snap your wand at your target. The incantation is `Effervo Mordax'. This is not a contest to see who can create the biggest swarm. Please try to keep your volley to between 3 and 5 for now. Think you're ready to try it? Line up here, half of you facing these targets, the other half facing those. Pick a cauldron and fire at will.”

This lesson, like most of the practical lessons, was quite fun. Everyone was able to keep their swarms down to around four sparks by the end of the period. The class did so well, in fact that Professor Anderson didn't assign them any homework.

Later that week, Harry was on his way back to the Gryffindor common room after dinner. He was alone because Hermione had gone to the library and Ron had gone to compare Quidditch playbooks with Katie. “All alone this time, eh Potter” a familiar voice drawled.

Harry turned, allowing his robes to billow out with his movement and mask the fact that he drew his wand. “What is it this time, Draco?” Harry asked defiantly.

Draco Malfoy, oddly enough, was also alone. Harry noticed that the bruise on his cheek from his altercation with Neville had finally faded. “Have I caught you at a bad time, Potter? On your way to a secret meeting for Muggle lovers?” he sneered.

Harry just stared at Draco. They were only a few feet apart and Harry could see the loathing on Draco's face. Draco opened his mouth but Harry cut him off. “Why don't you like me, Draco?” Malfoy rocked back on his heels he was so surprised by Harry's question. “And don't start that pureblood crap your father is always going on about. I know you're smart enough to not believe that. So tell me why.”

“I can't believe you don't know. Famous Harry Potter! The whole world revolves around you! Anytime something happens and you're involved you NEVER get in trouble `cause you're Dumbledor's favorite, aren't you? As far as most of the Professors here are concerned, Harry Potter can do no wrong.”

“Not according to Professor Snape.”

“Snape sees right through you, Potter! One day you'll …”

“OK, hold on. Have you ever tried to look at things from my point of view?”

“What?” asked Draco looking thoroughly disgusted. “Why would I … “

Again Harry interrupted “I'm famous `cause some nut job wants to kill me and keeps failing. I'm famous because that same maniac killed my parents and took away any chance I had at leading a normal life. Do you honestly think that I'm happy about all that?”

Draco stared at him and hissed, “You've ruined lives yourself Potter! Took away our House Elf, implicated my father as a Death Eater with absolutely no evidence … “

“Hold on! I admit that your father and I have bumped heads in the past and he's come out the worst for it. But that's not my fault. Look at the circumstances: you lost your House Elf because your father gave Ginny Weasley Tom Riddle's diary. You know who Tom Riddle is, right?” At Draco's nod he continued. “Well the diary contained a memory of Voldemort that possessed Ginny. It made her open the Chamber of Secrets and release a basilisk on the muggle born students. That was second year. Fourth year he was in the cemetery where Cedric Diggory was killed. Voldemort called him by name. Last year he led a group of Death Eaters that tried to kill me in the Ministry of Magic building. I did nothing to provoke those attacks. If anyone should be looking for revenge it's me!”

Draco was fuming and his face was flushed. He stood there listening to Harry and Harry could see he really didn't care what Harry had to say. Harry's voice softened “Listen, Draco. Remember Professor Lupin? Remember how obvious it was that Snape didn't like him? Did you know that they've hated each other since they were schoolmates here at Hogwarts? Did you know that Snape also hated my father, that's one of the reasons he hates me. That's a long time to hate over a trivial school rivalry, don't you think? I look at us and I see us acting the same way. Twenty years from now I don't want to hear the name `Malfoy” and have that kind of hatred swell up in me. Look, I'm not asking you to be my friend”, Malfoy snorted and Harry pressed on “I just want you to think about why you hate me. If you can come up with a good reason, fine. But it should be YOUR reason, Draco. Not something your father told you. If you can come up with your own valid reason for hating me then I'll just have to accept that you and I will be enemies the rest of our lives. But if you can't, then let's cut out this nonsense once and for all”.

The noise of other students approaching began to grow behind Draco. Harry could feel the hatred radiating out of him like heat from an oven. “Fuck you, Potter” and with that he turned on his heel and left.

Harry felt conflicting emotions about the encounter with Draco. He could only hope that Draco did think about their rivalry and would see how petty it really was. He, Ron and Hermione talked about it well into the night. Hermione was proud of Harry for trying to be the bigger person and try to smooth things over with Draco. Hermione, like Harry, thought that if Draco really thought about why he hated Harry he would see that it was all because of his father. Draco's father hated Harry and so Draco did too. At first, Ron kept saying that Harry should have hexed Draco when he turned his back but eventually he agreed that they would all just have to wait and see what happened next and that they would go from there.

Hagrid told Harry that he was proud of him as well when they went to visit him for tea the next day. Hagrid's pumpkins were growing enormous in preparation for the Halloween Feast. Ron, his mouth watering in anticipation of pumpkin pie, speculated that they were even bigger than last years. Ron tried to curb his appetite with some of Hagrid's rock cakes but they hadn't changed and were as hard as last years. In fact, they may have been last years. Hagrid, hearing Ron's stomach growling, wanted to cook lunch for them but they quickly begged off stating that they all had a lot of homework.

Chapter 4: First Times

Halloween. Gryffindor House had pulled out all the stops for Seamus and Dean's costume party and it seemed as if everyone was mashed into the common room. Butterbeer was flowing, people were dancing, and someone had spiked the punch. A Wizard Wireless was blasting tunes over the noise of the costumed crowd. Harry had to laugh at the odd mix of costumes and his fellow students' originality. A seventh year boy transfigured his robes into armor and was clanking around and challenging people to duels like Sir Caddogan. Colin and Dennis Creevey had dressed as House Elves using “Spock” ears and nose putty from a muggle joke shop. Dean Thomas was dressed as Professor Snape and every time he saw Harry he stalked over and imitated Snape taking points off for Harry doing things like breathing. Ginny Weasley was voted as having the scariest costume. She had come as Professor Umbridge, complete with mousey brown wig and pink cardigan. When she completed the masquerade with a “Hem hem” the room exploded in gales of laughter. Ron was dressed as a Chudley Cannon, Hermione came as Gandalf (and spent half the night explaining she was not Dumbledor, “Honestly, don't you people read?”), and Harry, who had procrastinated and didn't come up with a costume until last minute, was dressed as a dementor. He had put a temporary levitation charm on his trainers so that he could glide when he moved. Unfortunately, it was also like walking on wet ice and Harry had to be careful when he moved or was bumped so that he would not fall.

The party was epic. Dean and Seamus' surprise turned out to be a small bottle of firewhiskey. They couldn't figure out how to lead just the sixth year students off for a quick shot so they eventually just added it to the punch. As the evening wore on, the older students had to keep levitating the unconscious younger students up into their dorms. The youngsters had dropped either from exhaustion or from too much punch. Dean, as Snape, had just drunkenly told off Harry for being too short and had docked him 50,000 points. Harry laughed as he turned and caught Parvati staring at him from across the room. She was dressed as a wood nymph. Her skin was tinted green to match the strategically shredded gossamer wrappings she was wearing. She'd left her hair free to fall in gentle curls over her shoulder. Harry continued to look at her as he walked over. He had cancelled the levitation charms earlier when Neville had sent him spinning across the room by clapping Harry on the back before Harry had braced himself. She watched him come. “Hey Harry. Who are you supposed to be?”

“I'm a dementor” Harry replied fuzzily. He took another sip of punch. He scowled at the taste realizing there was now more firewhiskey in the punch than punch.

“I guess I'd better watch out then”, she teased, “or you might take me away to Azkaban.”

“Only if you're naughty” Harry teased back.

“Well, you're too late. I've already been naughty” she giggled.

“If you were very naughty I might have to punish you here, you know” he said as he leaned closer. He could smell her perfume, floral with a hint of musk. He pulled his cowl back to stare into her dark eyes.

“Ooooh really? What are you going to do, hmmm?” she whispered as she leaned closer.

“Steal your soul” then his lips were on hers. The kiss was soft and tentative.

Parvati looked once again into Harry's eyes. “I've been naughtier than that” she challenged.

Their lips met again and parted. Hot tongues probed. Harry brought his hands to her slim waist. He pulled her against him and began to slide his hands around to her back when someone shouted, “Harry!”

Harry turned around. It was Ron. It was obvious he'd had too much punch. “Harry! Where's yer broom?”

“Upstairs, why?”

“'Cause we're gonna play Quidditch! Go get it!”

“Ron, it's the middle of the night.”

“So? We'll fix it. Getcher broom. C'mon.”

Harry laughed, “No. Ron we can't fly in the dark. How will we see the bludgers and quaffle to say nothing about finding the snitch?”

Ron flailed a hand in the air dismissively. “We'll fix it, I promise. Now getcher broom.”

Harry looked around for a way to distract Ron. “Well, who else is playing?”

Ron started blearily at him for a moment. “What? Who else is playin'?” He turned unsteadily and pointed. “Neville'll play. Neville! Getcher broom!” Ron staggered off in pursuit of Neville. “We're playin' Quidditch!”

Harry turned back around but Parvati had left. He caught a glimpse of green disappearing up the stairs to the girls' dorm. Harry felt a tap on the shoulder. Oh what now? He turned around and blinked rapidly to bring Seamus into focus. “What's up?”

“Harry, help us with Ron”

Harry looked past Seamus scanning to see what Ron was up to now. “He's not still trying to get people to play Quiddich is he?”

Seamus laughed “No, he's passed out over there and Dean and I need help carrying his lanky ass back up to the dorm.” Harry and Seamus each grabbed one of Ron's arms and Dean unsteadily carried Ron'e feet. They carried him up to their dorm room, dumped him unceremoniously onto his bed, and closed the curtains on him to muffle his snores. Harry then collapsed into his own bed. The room was spinning gently and Harry was reminded of his boat ride across the lake when he first arrived at Hogwarts. Harry fell asleep quickly and dreamed of soft skin that smelled of flowers.

The next day was one of the worst that Gryffindor House had seen in a long time. Few students made it in time for breakfast and of those even fewer were able to eat. It seemed as though the whole house was hung over. This fact did not escape the notice of the faculty, especially Professor Snape who had all of his classes brewing especially foul smelling concoctions composed of the most repugnant of ingredients. More than one Gryffindor raced out of Potions with a hand firmly clamped over their mouth. Snape smirked with delighted malice whenever this happened and gleefully gave out zeros to all the students that could not make it through class. He also assigned twice the usual homework. By lunchtime Harry's head was pounding. Many of his fellow Gryffindors had gone to see Madame Pomfrey by now but Harry was able to force down a sandwich he didn't taste and that seemed to help. When the day was finally over, Gryffindor's table in the Great Hall was mostly empty for dinner. Most of the students were still unable to deal with solid food and they had decided to go to bed early.

The first weekend in November was scheduled as the first trip to Hogsmede. That Saturday, Harry opened the curtains of his bed to see Ron sitting on his own bed facing Harry. Ron was shaking and pale. “You alright Ron?”

Ron looked up at Harry with the face of a man who had just been sentenced to life in Azkaban. “Remember what today is?” Ron asked. Seeing Harry's puzzled expression he continued “Hogsmede … “, Ron seemed unable to continue.

“And” Harry prompted when he finally remembered, “Oh that's right. Today's the `Big Date', right?” Ron looked up at Harry with dread in his eyes. He tried to speak but seemed unable to make a sound. “Look, Ron. Just relax. If you're that nervous, just pretend I didn't have permission to go to Hogsmede, just like third year, and you and Hermione are there checking the place out for me. I mean, it's not like you've never been alone with her before.”

“That was different” Ron whined. “Oh Harry, I'm going to make a bloody fool of myself. I don't know what I was thinking.” Ron looked up at Harry hopefully, “I don't suppose you could go down and tell Hermione I'm too sick to go, could you?”

Harry dressed as he answered. “I could, but I won't. `Cmon Ron. Don't do this to yourself. If she didn't want to be with you, she would never have said `yes' when you asked her to go. Now stop being a whiney prat and get dressed. I'll meet you at breakfast.”

Harry went down to breakfast but Ron never showed. He was thinking of telling Hermione that Ron was sick but she didn't show up either. After a last piece of toast, Harry joined the line of students making their way to the Great Hall before setting out for the village. Ginny walked over from a group of fifth years. She smiled at Harry devilishly and asked “Well, where are they then?”

“I dunno”, answered Harry. “If they don't come soon, they may not be able to go at all. You know how Filtch is”.

“Do you think they chickened out?”

“No. Ron was a little nervous, but …” Harry stopped as he saw Ron and Hermione enter the Hall together. They both looked like Harry felt at the Yule Ball during his fourth year. Harry remembered the feeling that everyone was looking at him and talking about him, it was not a pleasant feeling. “There they are.” Harry and Ginny walked over to greet them. “Well it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day” Harry said in greeting.

“Yeah” Ron said. Hermione just nodded. They both avoided looking anyone in the eye.

Ginny and Harry exchanged a look, then Ginny said “This ought to be good. Well, I'm off. See you all later”. She then hurried back over to the other fifth years.

Harry turned back to Ron and Hermione, “Well I suppose I'll see you for dinner, then. Have a nice time.” Relax Harry mouthed to Ron as Hermione turned away. He then joined the line of students exiting school.

Once in Hogsmeade, Harry went places he was sure not to bump into Ron and Hermione. He wasn't exactly avoiding them; he just wanted them to not worry about him and just have fun. They deserved it after all the studying they had been doing. So far, Ron had been true to his word and had been studying every night. Harry had joined them, of course, and he had to admit he was doing much better in his classes. Harry went to the Owl Post and sent off letters to Remus, Tonks, and the twins, Fred and George Weasley. He felt pangs of guilt and sorrow looking at the delivery owls because he knew the one person he wanted to write to most of all was well beyond the reach of any owl. From there, Harry wandered aimlessly around the edge of the village and eventually worked his way around to the Shrieking Shack.

Harry walked slowly towards the house. His eyes misted as he remembered the first time he was ever inside it. It was the first time he met Sirius. Harry took off his glasses and swiped irritably at his eyes. Damn it! That's twice today. He took a deep breath and looked around. Someone in black Hogwarts robes was coming towards him. He put his glasses back on and saw that it was Parvati. She was smiling as she approached. “Hey” Harry said.

“Hi Harry” she said as she looked into his eyes and smiled. “What are you doing way up here?”

“Just walking and thinking. Enjoying being outside. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was walking. You?”

“You walked right past me and Lavender and you looked kind of blue so I thought I'd try to cheer you up.” She came closer to Harry.

A breeze caught a stray curl and blew it across her face. Harry reached up and pulled it away. She stepped closer and grabbed his hand. She paused for a moment, staring into his eyes. Then she pulled him to her and kissed him passionately. Harry's surprise was short lived as their kisses became more feverish. Harry wrapped his arms around Parvati and pulled her against him. His hands began to explore the curves beneath her robes as his tongue explored her hot mouth.

Parvati put her hands on Harry's chest and pushed him away breaking their kiss. “Wait. Do you think we could get inside?” she asked as she looked at the shack.

Harry looked at the shack and smiled, “Simple.” Still smiling impishly, Parvati took Harry's hand once again and pulled him around to the back of the building.

Later that afternoon, Harry was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling with a goofy smile on his face. It was still too early for dinner and most of the other students visiting Hogsmeade had not returned yet. Harry was about to head down to the Great Hall to wait for his friends when Ron came bouncing into the room. “Well, well, well. Look at you. Had a good time then?”

“Awesome! Brilliant!” Ron laughed. “Harry, you should have seen us. We hardly said a word to each other all the way to the village we were so nervous. It was pathetic. Hermione said something about going to Honeydukes so we headed that way. While we were browsing through the sweets I kept thinking, `I wish Harry was here to help break this awkward silence'. I looked over at Hermione and when she forced a smile on her face, I knew. She was thinking the same thing I was! I ran out of the store so as not to make a complete prat of myself and Hermione followed me. Once I got to the street I couldn't stop laughing. I finally recovered enough to tell Hermione what was so funny and she started laughing too.” Harry sat up and chuckled. “So there we are, in the middle of the street laughing like a pair of lunatics. Every time someone passed us and gave us a queer look, we looked at each other and just laughed harder. People must have thought we'd gone round the twist. Once we sobered up we went over to the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer and a long talk. After that we were totally relaxed and had a much better time.”

“So I wasn't the only one having fun today. Good. I was worried about the two of you. Are you officially a couple now?”

Ron's eyes sparkled with merriment, “Nope.”

Harry looked at his friend, “Well, you're going to see her again, another date I mean. Why are you shaking your head? What's so funny?”

Ron had his head in his hands as he sat on his own bed. His body was convulsing with silent laughter. “No, mate. We're not a couple and will not be going on any more dates,” he said smiling.

Harry was puzzled, “And this is a good thing?”

“Yeah, it's a good thing. Listen, when we went to the Broomsticks we went to a quiet table and talked. I mean really talked. I think it had to be the longest conversation we'd ever had about something besides you. We talked about everything. Life here at Hogwarts, life after Hogwarts, what our jobs would be, who we would try to keep in touch with, you know. It was very deep. It was … illuminating”. Ron smiled, “That's what Hermione called it, `illuminating'. We talked about how we felt about each other. You know, I don't think I ever really thought about how I felt for Hermione until just then. I mean I knew I had feelings for her, I just never thought about it long enough to identify those feelings” Ron lowered himself onto his side and propped up on one elbow. He paused for a moment, obviously remembering the conversation.

Harry leaned forward impatiently, “And?” he prompted.

Ron looked at him and continued, “Well, when I really thought about how I felt about Hermione, I realized that I loved her but that I'm not in love with her. Know what I mean?”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Harry said thinking of Ginny. “What about Hermione, how does she feel about you?”

“Well, she always felt we were friends, you know. She was willing to see if it could develop into something else but after our talk we realized that right now romance is out of the question.”

Harry smiled then and asked, “So you're friends then?”

“Right. Best friends even.” Ron sat up. “So, you said you'd had a good time. What did you do?”

Harry looked out the dorm window and told Ron about his travels through Hogsmeade. When he came to the part about the Shrieking Shack and Parvati, he looked back to see Ron staring at him intently.

“So,” prompted Ron as Harry paused. “What happened inside the shack?”

Harry blushed and Ron leaned forward eagerly. Harry took a deep breath and told Ron that once inside, he and Parvati couldn't keep their hands off each other. Robes and other bits of restrictive clothing were quickly removed as they continued kissing. Ron began chuckling softly as Harry continued. When he told Ron that Parvati had dropped to her knees and opened his trousers, Ron was staring openmouthed at him. Harry knew he was blushing. In fact, he was sure that if he had looked in a mirror right then his face would have been redder than Ron's hair. Harry paused trying to think how to express what happened next.

Ron seemed to snap out of a trance. “She didn't …” he began.

Harry nodded, “She did.”

Ron fell back on his bed with a whoop of laughter. He quickly righted himself and looked at Harry who was still blushing furiously. “How was she?” Ron asked with a devilish grin.

Harry looked at him with an embarrassed smile and said, “Brilliant.”

“You dog! It's always the quiet ones. You and Parvati, I never would have guessed.” Ron cast a sly look at Harry. “Does anyone else know?”

“I didn't tell anyone but you.” Suddenly Harry's eyes widened. “Ron, don't say anything to anyone, alright?”

“Huh? Why not? This is big news, Harry. Big, big news! Tremendous!”

“C'mon Ron! I get enough people talking about me behind my back as it is. The last thing I want is you adding fuel to the fire. What happened was just between Parvati and me and that's how I want to keep it for now, OK?”

Ron gave him a calculating look before nodding. Then he said, “Is it time for dinner, yet? I'm starving!”

Chapter 5: Insights

Gryffindor's first Quidditch match was against Ravenclaw. The match itself was rather uninteresting. The Gryffindor chasers, spurred on by Ron shouting out plays, totally outmatched the Ravenclaw team despite the fact that the Gryffindor beaters' ineptitude had just about no effect on the match. Ron was also on form though he didn't see much action. Early in the match, “Weasley is Our King” came floating out of the group of Slytherins watching the match but they quieted down as soon as they realized that they were only making Ron play harder. After about a half an hour, Harry caught the snitch granting Gryffindor House a crushing victory over Ravenclaw.

The Winter break was only a few weeks away. In the Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron were both engrossed in a game of Wizard's chess while Hermione looked on and restrained Crookshanks from attacking the chess pieces. Harry was feeling more confident in his chess playing. He found that he could apply all the strategy training he had received in Grimmauld Place to the game. He caught Ron giving him a strange look several times during the match. Harry was starting to feel more confident as he took Ron's second Knight. Ron stared at him for a long moment and then casually moved his Bishop, which had been lurking at the side of the board, “Checkmate” Ron said as Harry's king was pummeled into submission. Now it was Harry's turn to stare at Ron. Ron's Bishop had been in position for several moves.

“Ron”, Harry asked, “have you been holding back on me?”

“Me?” Ron squeaked. “Why would I do a thing like that?” Ron's ears began to redden.

“Well, that Bishop was in place four moves ago. Why did you wait until now to move it?”

Ron opened his mouth to answer, and then closed it again and he began to rock back and forth slightly. “I, uh, well …” Ron took a deep breath. “OK. I admit it. I have been extending the games a little.”

Harry stared at him smiling. “What's that all about? Did you think we'd never play again if you beat me too badly?”

Ron looked even more uncomfortable. “It's happened before. Charlie fancied himself quite a chess player and I played him one time and beat him in four moves. He never played chess with me again.” Ron looked up at Harry sheepishly.

Harry was grinning. “You dirty prick! Here I am thinking I have a chance now against you, especially after all the strategy lessons I received from Moody and Tonks. Instead, I find out you've been misleading me for six years. I'm astonished by your duplicity. That's pretty funny!” Harry laughed.

Ron looked shamefaced at Harry, “So, you're not mad?”

“No you git, I'm not mad. I think it's pretty funny. I just hope you realize that I am more determined than ever to beat you now”. Harry scooped up his defeated pieces and made a mental note to himself to check the school library for a book on Wizards' Chess.

Ron was still grinning as he gathered up his chess pieces when Ginny entered the common room, walked over to her older brother and asked, “So did you invite him yet?”

“What?” asked Ron distractedly as he continued to store his chess pieces in their case.

Ginny huffed at her brother and looked at Harry. “Harry, Mum wrote to us a few days ago and asked Ron to ask you to spend Christmas break with us at the Burrow. The whole family will be there, except Percy.” She hesitated for a moment then added, “Please say you'll come.”

Harry looked at Ron who shrugged. “I'd love to come for Christmas!” Harry exclaimed. He turned to Hermione who had just released Crookshanks, “Will you be coming as well?”

Hermione flicked a wad of paper for Crookshanks to chase and answered, “Unfortunately my parents want to have a quiet family Christmas this year. I wish I could come though. I'm not looking forward to spending the holidays with my cousins. The boys are too rambunctious and the girls are only interested in fashion and make-up. It's going to be a nightmare.”

Laughing at Hermione's plight, “I'll just send a note to Mum then telling her Harry is coming.” Ginny turned to Ron and said, “I'm going to send Pigwidgeon”.

Ron looked at his sister “Are you asking me or telling me?”

“Thanks Ron” Ginny laughed then patted him on the head and dashed upstairs to her dorm.

“Mental” Ron muttered. He looked at Harry “I'll put these away” he said gesturing to the chessmen and board. “Back in a tic”.

Hermione continued to play “fetch” with Crookshanks who was soon distracted by something under one of the chairs. He dropped into pounce position as Hermione said, “I'm glad you're not going to be spending the Holidays here this year, Harry.”

“Yeah, this place would be very lonely without you and Ron.”

“If Ron hadn't asked you to have Christmas with him, I was thinking … “, she trailed off.

Harry sat down in a chair beside Hermione and watched a blush begin to spread across her cheeks. “What were you thinking?” He grinned innocently at her.

Just then, Ron returned and Hermione said, “Let's go down to lunch then, shall we?” She quickly rose from her seat and hurried for the portrait hole.

“Excellent!” Ron exclaimed. “I'm starving.”

Harry stood puzzled for a moment, then shrugged and hurried to catch up.

The day was cold but not uncomfortably so and the sun was shining brightly so after lunch Harry and his friends decided to take a walk around the grounds. Bundled up in their heavy cloaks and gloves they made their way around the castle towards the lake. It was a bright crisp day and they were talking about what they thought Gryffindors' chances were to win the House Cup this year when Harry noticed a lone blonde figure at the lakeside skipping stones. Harry said to his friends, “Is that Malfoy?”

“I think it is” Ron answered, “But where are his baboon bodyguards?”

“Looks like he's alone” said Hermione.

Ron grinned, “Oh I've been waiting for a chance like this for six years” he reached for his wand.

Harry grabbed Ron's wrist and said “No wait.” Harry turned to Hermione and Ron. “I want to talk to him again.” Ron sighed in frustration and Harry hurried on “I know how you feel, Ron. Believe me, part of me would like nothing better than to pay him back for everything he's ever done to us but I can't help thinking … “

“What if”, Hermione said.

Ron looked at her puzzled, “What if what?”

“What if he was on our side?” Hermione said as Harry nodded.

“WHAT?” Ron blurted. He continued in a softer but more agitated tone “Are you both out of your minds? Why would we ever want to associate with anyone like him?” Ron put such vehemence into that last word it sounded like a curse.

“Just think what he could tell us about the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who” Hermione answered staring pointedly at him.

Ron smirked. “OK, that's a valid point. Hmmm. Yeah, I guess he would be a pretty good spy. The chances of that happening are …”

“Better than you think,” interrupted Hermione. “After what happened in the Ministry this summer his father has been positively identified as a Death Eater after denying it for fifteen years. All the influence his father used to have is gone. All the political contacts he made are doing their best to distance themselves from him right now so that they won't be associated with You-Know-Who, especially now that the Ministry has officially stated that You-Know-Who is back. So anyone close to You-Know-Who will be denying any connections with the Malfoy family because of this and they would have told their children to do the same thing.”

“I get it”, said Ron smiling now. “Just as Lucius Malfoy no longer has friends in the Ministry, Draco has no more support among the Slytherins.” Ron looked up to the clear blue sky with an angelic smile and said, “Thank you God.”

Harry smacked Ron on the shoulder in exasperation, “Nice.”

“What?” A more sobered expression came over Ron's face. “I just mean that now I don't feel like jinxing him anymore. I mean, why add injury to insult? This way I get to watch him squirm and I don't even have to lift a finger.”

Hermione chuckled as she rolled her eyes and said, “Oh Ron, you're hopeless.”

“Thank you” Ron replied and gave her a courtly bow.

Harry laughed with his friends for a moment. “I'm going to go talk to him”, he said. Harry held up a hand as Ron started to speak. “I know what you think, Ron. I just feel, I don't know. I can't explain it.” Harry sighed in frustration. “I think this will make him more dangerous instead of less dangerous. He's now an outcast probably desperate to prove his worth to the rest of the Slytherins. I think he'd do anything to be `top dog' again. If he blames me for all this, then I think eventually he's going to come for me. And when he does, he's not going to stop until one of us is dead. I never want it to come to that.” He looked at Ron and Hermione in turn. “I'm going to go talk to him,” he said more firmly. “I'll meet up with you later.” He then turned and walked towards Draco.

Chapter 6: Second Chances

As Harry approached, Draco threw a stone violently across the lake's rippling surface. The stone skipped four times before tumbling into the water. “Nice one” Harry said as Draco stooped for another stone.

Draco paused for a second then straightened. “What do you want, Potter?” he asked flatly.

Harry noticed the usual drawl was missing from Draco's voice. “Nothing. Just walking. You OK?”

Draco looked right into Harry's eyes. “Go away, Potter. I don't want to talk to you.”

“Just trying to help”, Harry murmured as he turned away.

“Help? I've had about as much of your help as I can stand.” Draco's whole body was now quivering with suppressed rage.

Harry sighed in exasperation, “I hoped that since our last talk …”

“Do you really want to know why I hate you?” hissed Malfoy. “My family can trace its lineage back over a thousand years; we're one of the oldest pureblood families in the world. My ancestors toiled to create the Wizarding World and to make it what it is today. Because of their efforts, those with the gift of magic can live free from muggle persecution. My father, as his fathers before him, worked to ensure that our family would always maintain the respect due us for those efforts. By keeping our blood `pure', we showed our pride in our ancestors and their accomplishments by ensuring that ALL of their descendants would be able to follow their example. After a thousand years of my family guiding the wizarding community, we are now being shunned by that very community we created and ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!”

“I'm not the one who told your dad to throw in with Voldemort …” Harry began. He was getting angry now too.

“On top of that”, Malfoy continued, “I was always told that because of my `pureblood', that I am better than any half-blood or mudblood. Better because of the history I have to draw upon. Better because I have lived as a wizard all my life and know my place in wizarding society. Then I come here to Hogwarts and I meet you and your friends: a blood traitor and a mudblood and you a half-blood. I was always expected to be better than you at anything having to do with Wizardry from flying broomsticks to casting hexes. Yet somehow one of you always managed to edge me out. You made your house Quidditch team our first year here. My father was furious when Dumbledor wouldn't bend the rules for me as well. Then I make the team second year but whenever we've played against one another you've always managed to beat me to the snitch. My father cannot accept that you, a half-blood, continue to beat me at a game that my family helped develop. Plus your friend the mudblood, Granger, outscores me in our classes. Do you have any idea how disappointed my father is with me? Do you know how much of a disgrace that this has made me in front of my family and the entire Wizarding World? I bet when you fuck up someone pats you on the head and tells you that everything will be alright.” Tears were streaming down Malfoy's face. He had stopped pacing, had thrown his cloak to the ground, and was now tearing his school robes off. He threw them to the ground as well pulled up his shirt and turned around. Draco's voice shook with rage as he said over his shoulder, “This is what happens to me when I disappoint my father!”

Harry's mouth opened in shock. There were faint scars crisscrossing Draco's back. Harry could tell that healing magic was used on them and he winced as he realized how bad the wounds must have been for there to be any scarring left. Even the scar left from the puncture wound on his arm he received from the basilisk in his second year here at Hogwarts didn't look as severe.

Draco pulled his shirt down and snatched his robe and cloak from the ground. He saw the look on Harry's face and hissed. “Don't you dare pity me you scar-headed freak! I deserved it. All of it for letting my family down.”

Malfoy turned to head back for the castle but Harry grabbed his shoulder to stop him. Draco didn't turn around while Harry said quietly, “No one deserves that. No one.” He took his hand off Draco's shoulder and watched him stride off feeling stunned and a little queasy.

Harry stood there staring into the steel grey depths of the lake. He was trying to assimilate this new revelation into Draco Malfoy's psyche but couldn't decide if this new element in their relationship was going to make reconciliation easier or harder. He sighed heavily, turned, and headed back for the Great Hall anxious to discuss what had just happened with Ron and Hermione. As Harry approached the doorway, he heard Professor Vigo's voice, “And it's deep too.” This was followed by a rather girlish giggling laugh that Harry could not identify. Just as he reached the door, Professors Vigo and Snape stepped outside. Snape was smiling and chuckling softly but his face instantly lost all traces of humor and quickly twisted into its normal sneer of contempt when he spotted Harry.

“Oh, hello Harry” said Professor Vigo with a cheery smile.

“Hello Professor Vigo, Professor Snape”

“Potter” Snape sneered. Harry noticed Professor Vigo give Snape an odd look.

Harry walked towards Gryffindor tower without consciously directing his steps. Was that Professor Snape laughing? Harry could not remember Snape being that friendly with any of the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. It was definitely turning out to be a very odd sort of day indeed.

Harry reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and before he was able to give her the password to enter the Gryffindor Common Room, she swung open and Parvati came out. She smiled when she saw him and said, “Just the person I was looking for.” Harry stepped back to let her climb more easily out of the hole behind the portrait and Parvati placed her palm on his chest and shoved him firmly against the opposite wall where she pinned him with a knee-weakening kiss. Harry stood there dumbfounded as Parvati grabbed the front of his school robes and started dragging him down the hallway. “Come on”, she said urging him to hurry.

Harry regained enough of his wits to quicken his pace and ask, “Where are we going?”

Parvati released his robes and grabbed his hand instead. “It's a surprise”, she said mischievously.

She led him down several staircases and through a concealed passage to a familiar hallway on the fifth floor to the fourth doorway to the left of Boris the Bewildered. Parvati whispered “Country Garden” and the door to the Prefect's bathroom opened. Harry wondered briefly if the passwords for this room always sounded like air fresheners.

Harry wanted to warn Parvati that Moaning Myrtle might see them but she started kissing him and pulling off her clothes and he forgot what he was going to say. Parvati broke away from Harry long enough to run a hot bath, then they both shucked their school clothes and jumped in. There was a very brief water fight but Harry caught hold Parvati's wrists and pulled her to him. Harry's mind was reeling. Feeling Parvati's warm flesh against his, he just stopped trying to figure out what to do next and let her lead. Later, their energies spent, the two frolickers quickly dressed and went their separate ways. Neither heard the faint sobbing coming from the drain in the bath.

Harry pulled himself together and realizing the time, decided to head down to Dinner. No matter how hard he tried, Harry could not stop himself from grinning. He knew that if anyone saw him smiling like the proverbial cat that got the canary, they would know he had been up to something but he just couldn't make himself care very much. So, grinning like the village idiot, Harry entered the Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table and waited for Ron and Hermione to join him. Hermione. What would she think? Harry mused. He knew what Ron's reaction would be and he smiled wider at the thought. For some reason Harry didn't want Hermione to know about his relationship with Parvati. Harry couldn't really say why this was. He sat absently eating his dinner wondering why he was sure Hermione would be upset with him. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he jumped when Ron clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey Harry. Sorry, you OK?”

“Fine”, Harry choked. He grabbed for his goblet of pumpkin juice.

Ron sat beside him and Hermione sat opposite Harry. As they piled food on their plates and began to eat, Harry filled his two friends in on the conversation and resulting revelation he'd had with Draco. He also told them about his encounter with Vigo and Snape. When Harry imitated Snape's laugh, Hermione and Ron both doubled over and bit their napkins in an effort to retain some decorum at the dinner table. They were only partially successful.

Hermione sobered first and once she caught her breath started analyzing Harry's latest meeting with Malfoy. She reacted just as Harry knew she would. “This is serious, Harry. You should tell Professor Dumbledor”.

Surprisingly, Ron immediately agreed with her. “I think so too, mate. Maybe Dumbledor could get him into some counseling or something. At least his father is locked up and can't hit him anymore.”

“You'd think he'd be happy about that, but he's not. And he says it's my fault as well. This sucks. I actually feel sorry for the little slime ball.” Harry put his head in his hands, “I really shouldn't be complaining. At least no one has tried to kill me yet this year. That's got to be some kind of a record.”

“Nope, your record is two consecutive semesters”, Ron said smiling. “You still have one to go to tie”.

“That's not funny, Ron”, Hermione huffed. She placed her knife and fork neatly on the table, and delicately wiped her mouth with her napkin.

Harry caught himself staring at the linen as it brushed softly across Hermione's lips. He looked quickly up and down the table but he did not see Parvati. He glanced at Hermione, but she did not seem to have noticed him staring. He turned to Ron and caught Ron giving him an odd look. “You're right”, Harry said. “I think I'll go tell Dumbledor now while it's all still fresh in my memory.

Thank you for all the kind reviews.

Special thanks to harryherm84 who pointed out a spelling error.

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Chapter 7: Revelations

That evening, Harry was sitting in his favorite chair by the fire in the Gryffindor common room idly tearing apart an old quill and tossing the pieces into the fire. He had just returned from a quick chat with Professor Dumbledore where he had explained what Malfoy had shown him. Professor Dumbledore had listened quietly and once Harry had finished his story, he told Harry that he was going to inform Professor Snape immediately. Harry began to protest, but Dumbledore gave Harry a twinkling smile and assured him that Professor Snape had experience in this type of situation. Dumbledore also told Harry that he would not tell Snape that Harry told him about Draco's problem. Harry knew that he should be relieved that Professor Dumbledore would be taking care of things, but he was still very disturbed by what Draco had shown him. Harry suddenly realized that he had completely ruined his quill and disgustedly threw its remains into the fire. He got up, went upstairs to his dormitory, and sat down on his bed. He was just wondering when everyone would be back from dinner when Ron walked in.

“You look like someone pissed in your pudding.” Harry shrugged but didn't answer so Ron pressed on. “What did Dumbledore say about Malfoy?”

“He said that he was going to tell Snape and let him handle it”, Harry said.

Ron's face flushed and he had just opened his mouth to begin what Harry was sure would tirade against Professor Snape when the rest of their dorm-mates walked into the room.

Ron's mouth closed with a soft snap as Neville and Dean greeted him and Harry. Seamus paused at the doorway, looked out, then firmly shut the door and locked it.

Seamus turned to face the room, a jovial grin on his face, and called to Harry, “So you finally shagged Parvati, huh? Took you long enough.”

Harry turned a furious glance at Ron, but Seamus continued, “Oh, don't look at Ron, Harry. He didn't tell me, Lavender did at dinner just now. I'm sure you know by now that we're dating, don't you? Well she and Parvati are best friends so naturally they know each other's secrets. So, how was she? Is she a screamer? I always thought she looked like a screamer.”

Neville turned to Seamus, “You're serious? Shit! When did it happen?”

“Today, just before dinner,” Seamus answered.

“Who won the pool?” Neville asked.

“Lemme check,” Seamus said and crossed the room to his trunk and began to rummage around in it.

Harry was stunned, “Pool? What pool?”

Dean smiled kindly at Harry “The pool on when Parvati would pop your cherry, of course.”

“WHAT?” Harry looked to Ron who shrugged, then back to Seamus who had just emerged from his trunk with several pieces of parchment he began to pore over.

Neville laughed at Harry's expression and said, “We didn't tell Ron, Harry. We knew that he would eventually break and tell you.”

“How many people knew about this? How did you know? What the fuck?” Harry was starting to get angry now.

Seamus, still scanning parchment, said, “Calm down, mate. No worries. To answer your first question: all us guys in Gryffindor, and most of the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuffs as well. We never told those wankers the Slytherins. To answer your second question: we” he gestured to Neville, Dean and himself, “have known since third year that Parvati would be your first. When you asked her to the Yule Ball fourth year, we all thought that was it but, you let us down. See, Parvati is gifted at Divination and one of the first things she `saw' was that she was going to make you a man. She knew it would happen, she just didn't know when. Once I found out from Lav, I told Dean and he came up with the idea for the pool. It just sort of grew from there. Let's see…” Seamus was peering intently at the piece of parchment in his hand. “Oh no! That wing-nut Justin Finch-Fletchley won. Oh, he's going to be nauseating.”

Harry's face began to flush with anger. Dean said calmingly, “Easy, Harry. It was all in fun. We never meant for anyone to get hurt. I don't see why you're getting all bent out of shape. We've all been rooting for you. Actually, it's a relief to finally tell you.”

“And that's supposed to make me feel better is it!” Harry shouted as he felt rage coursing through him. “WHY THE FUCK AM I THE LAST TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MY OWN FUCKING LIFE?”

Everyone froze. Neville ventured timidly, “We never thought you'd be mad, Harry, honest.”

Harry stormed to the door blind with rage. He began tugging furiously at the door handle. “I have to get out of here!” he hissed pulling repeatedly at the door, his frustration rising.

Seamus stepped towards him. “Harry, the door's locked. Just calm down.”

Harry took half a step back from the door and made a slashing motion across his chest with his right hand. The dormitory door exploded with such force, their hinges were torn from the walls and went caroming down to the common room in a hail of mortar, dust and wood fragments. Harry ran down the stairs and out the portrait hole as all the other Gryffindor dormitory doors opened to see what was going on.

Ron, Dean, Neville and Seamus stood looking at one another stunned by what they had just seen. People began to appear on the landing to inspect the damage and speculate on the cause. Dean was the first to recover and said, “That could have gone better. Ron, maybe you should make sure he is OK. We'll explain this”, he gestured at the ruined doorway.

Ron walked stiffly across the room kicking debris out of his way. He stopped and turned “You three had better put your heads together and think up a way to make this up to him or I'll curse you and have you running backwards through the nearest cornfield naked.” Ron turned and pushed his way through the crowd to pursue his best friend so he missed watching the blood drain from his dorm-mates faces.

When he wants to be alone, why does he always go upstairs? Ron mused as he paused for breath on the long winding staircase. As Ron stepped into the Owlry, the crisp December air enveloped him and he felt as if he had just plunged into icy water. He shivered with the cold as he approached the crouching shadow before him. “Harry?”

Harry looked at Ron and sighed. “Yeah. Sorry I yelled.” Ron gestured to Harry's glasses, which were dangling limply in Harry's hand. “They fogged up”.

“You know, Harry, this really isn't a big deal.”

“I know. It's just, well, because it's me it will be a big deal. It'll probably be front page of the Daily Prophet tomorrow”.

Ron smiled, “Nah, they wouldn't run that story without a juicy photo. Witch Weakly or the Quibbler will probably run the story first.” Both Harry and Ron chuckled at the thought. “Look, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Parvati is hot! I wouldn't mind a quick romp with her myself. Just look at it this way, any guy who ribs you is just jealous and the same probably goes for the girls as well.”

“What? No way”, Harry said firmly.

“Think so do you? I bet plenty of girls here would have jumped, pardon the pun, at the chance at taking your virginity. You should really be grateful that you got popped by a major hottie and not a bull dyke like Millicent Bulstrode!”

“Ugh! I guess you're right. I just didn't want her to find out about Parvati and I like this.”

Ron looked intently at Harry in the darkness, “'Her' who?” he asked slyly.

“What?” Harry asked evasively.

Ron was sure that if he could see better that Harry would be blushing. “You said you `didn't want her to find out' that way.”

“I meant `them', you know, as in everyone. I would have really rather kept this private.” Harry sighed deeply again and asked, “Are the guys pissed at me for overreacting?”

“Scared shitless more like”, laughed Ron, “especially after what you did to the door. How'd you do that anyway?”

Harry thought for a moment. “I'm not sure. I was really pissed that the door was in my way and I couldn't get out. I felt trapped. I just wanted the door out of my way.”

Ron gave Harry an appraising look. “Well, if you figure out how you did it, let me know. Looks like a handy bit of magic.” Ron rubbed his arms and stamped his feet to restore circulation. “Things must have quieted down by now, let's go back to the tower. I'm freezing.”

“I guess so. I might as well get this over with. At least there's only one week of classes to go before winter break. C'mon, I'm cold too.”

Back in Gryffindor tower, the repairs to the sixth year boys' dormitory door were completed. Neville was the only one present when Harry and Ron entered. Neville walked timidly up to Harry and looking at his shoes said, “Harry, I am really sorry about this whole mess. I should have told you. If I had thought more about how you would feel, I would have. I just hope you can forgive me and we can still be friends.”

“No Neville, I apologize. I shouldn't have gotten so mad and overreacted. Look, let's just call it even.” He held out his hand to Neville. “Friends?”

Neville looked Harry in the face, smiled, and shook Harry's hand. “Friends”.

“Where are Dean and Seamus?” asked Ron as he changed into his pajamas.

“Oh, they're probably still in McGonagall's office. When Filtch saw the door missing he went ape shit and fetched Professor McGonagall. Dean and Seamus told her that they were scewing around and blasted the door by accident. I'm not sure she believed them. I wonder what she's going to do to them,” Neville stated, as he too got ready for bed.

Chapter 8: Is this Love?

Harry wanted to stay awake to apologize to Dean and Seamus for losing his patience, but he never made it. As soon as his head hit the pillow, Harry was asleep. He awoke the next morning to find that he had again missed his chance to say he was sorry for Dean and Seamus were already gone. So Harry dressed and went down to breakfast with Ron.

“Finally, our last classes before break, I hope we don't get too much homework for over the holidays”, Ron said as he piled kippers and eggs onto his plate.

“Good morning.” Hermione's voice came from behind Harry. Harry stiffened as Ron waved his spoon in greeting. He suddenly felt very guilty and was unable to look at Hermione even when she sat next to him and began munching on some toast. Harry suddenly felt as though he'd forgotten how to talk to her.

This is ridiculous. Harry berated himself as he followed his friends through the halls to their classes. Why do I feel like I should be apologizing to Hermione? As if reading his mind, Hermione turned to look back at him. Harry forced a smile onto his face but couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. They reached their first classroom and joined the queue waiting to enter the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Suddenly, Peeves appeared at the end of the hall. He began to float pompously down the hall calling, “Stand aside, there! Make way! The great Lord Vigo approaches!” He made shooing motions and rude gestures at the students that did not respond to him right away. Peeves was also taking great delight at shooting ink pellets at those that simply refused to move for him.

“Why all the shouting, Peeves? It's just Professor Vigo”, Dean asked from closer to the door.

Peeves rounded on Dean at once. “Do you have any idea of whom you speak so casually?” Peeves continued shouting as he moved right in front of Dean and he got so close, their noses were almost touching. “He is VIGO! You are like the buzzing of flies to him! You should …”, but at this point a shout cut him off.

“That's enough, Peeves” called Professor Vigo as he hurried to open the classroom door.

Peeves swept off his hat and performed an elaborate courtly bow, “As you command, milord”.

“Off with you and no mischief”. Professor Vigo walked into the classroom and Peeves straightened and set off down the hall, a maniacal gleam in his eyes.

Professor Vigo removed a large stack of papers from a drawer in his desk and began passing them back to the class. “I am handing back your papers on Ritual Magic but I see no point in starting anything new in our last class. Anyone with questions, please stay. The rest of you are excused, have a merry Christmas.”

It soon became clear that not receiving homework for the holidays was to be the exception and not the rule. Professor Snape took great pleasure in assigning them two rolls of parchment on the use of milkweed in healing potions. Professor Anderson had assigned them a paper on the difference between Conjuration and Evocation and even Professor Flitwick assigned them an essay.

Harry found that Ron had been right and only a very few people tried to tease him about Parvati. Hermione never said anything to him about Parvati either, even though Harry was sure she knew. She did share the same dormitory with Parvati, after all. Who knows what else she had heard. That thought had Harry blushing and avoiding Hermione's eyes for the rest of that day. Dean and Seamus seemed determined to avoid him until after the holidays so Harry stopped trying to track them down. They would bump into each other eventually. Parvati was always with Lavender, her sister Padma and one of Padma's friends so Harry was unable to speak to her alone about how she felt about “the Pool” as Harry had begun to think of it. Harry was almost happy to be leaving Hogwarts for a few weeks of pampering by Mrs.Weasley.

Classes were over and Harry had finally had a chance to apologize to Dean and Seamus the night before leaving Hogwarts. Apparently, Dean was going to be spending the holidays with Seamus and so they had decided to try to save some time by placing an enlargement charm on the inside of Seamus' trunk so that they could pack all their things in one instead of both of them lugging their own trunks down to the train. Harry had just walked in to the room to begin his own packing when the enlargement charm expired with a loud crack and Seamus and Dean's clothes exploded out of the trunk landing all over their stunned owners. Any bad feelings about the other night were sorted out as quickly as the scattered clothing and Harry felt better having gotten the whole thing off his chest.

The next morning was very busy. He and Ron kept coming across things that they had forgotten to pack and had to keep opening their trunks to make the last minute additions. Finally, they were on the Hogwarts Express on their way to Kings Cross. Harry was flat out refusing to give any hints on what his friends would be getting from him for Christmas when he saw Parvati walk past their compartment door and she was alone. Harry quickly excused himself and hurried after her. He caught up to Parvati just as she was about to enter a compartment near the back of the train.

“Parvati, wait” Harry called as she reached to open the door to the compartment. “I really need to speak to you.”

“What's up, Harry?” Parvati smiled. She had already changed out of Hogwarts robes and when she crossed her arms behind her back and leaned against the doorframe, her pink jumper conformed deliciously to her supple curves. Harry almost forgot what he wanted to talk to her about.

“Er,” Harry began intelligently, and then remembering his purpose, he plunged on. “Oh well, I was just wondering, I mean, I wanted to know if you had heard about what Dean and Seamus had done and I was wondering how you felt about it.” Harry felt the color starting to creep up his cheeks. He was finding it very hard to look her in the face and very distracting to look at her anywhere else.

“What are you … Oh, the pool!” Parvati exclaimed. “Yeah, I heard. Kind of hard not to since Lavender is dating Seamus and she's my best friend. It didn't bother me but I heard you were really pissed at him and Dean.”

“Well, not really mad about the betting I guess. I was just mad that here was just one more thing about my life that I would have preferred to keep private but everyone knew about it anyway. Sometimes it seems like I can't even take a crap without the whole world knowing how it smelled.” Harry grinned wryly but was finally able to meet her gaze. He stared at her for a few moments.

“Was there something else you wanted to ask me, Harry?”

“That obvious, am I?”

Parvati shrugged. “It just looks like you still have something on your mind.”

“I do. Um, this is going to sound really stupid.” Harry leaned closer and tried to ignore the allure of her perfume. “You and I, are we … a couple?”

Parvati looked at him strangely and crossed her arms in front of her. This caused some very distracting things to happen to Parvati's jumper. “I'm not sure I understand what you mean.”

“I mean are we a couple, you know, are we dating?” Harry blushed crimson.

Parvati silently mouthed, “Oh!” and gave Harry a calculating look. “Where are you going with this, Harry?”

Harry took a deep steadying breath and said, “Well we've sort of been seeing each other but we wouldn't have what I would call a relationship. Don't get me wrong, Parvati. I've had a lot of fun with you and I like you a lot but,” He looked into her eyes and seeing her anxiety he leaned forward and whispered, “I'm not in love with you.”

Parvati sighed with relief and covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. “I'm sorry, Harry,” she whispered back. “I'm not laughing at you. I'm just relieved because I thought you were going to say that you were in love with me. The thing is, I don't love you either. We were just messing around, you know. It was just sex, Harry. No commitment or emotional baggage attached.” She smiled. “Oh Harry. I didn't See that I would be your first love, I Saw that I would be your first lover. Big difference.”

Harry smiled back. “So we're not a couple then.”

“Does this mean we won't be getting together anymore?” Parvati asked giving him a calculating look.

“No, I don't think so,” Harry frowned. “I still feel funny about everyone knowing that we did it. But the main thing is that I only want to be intimate with the girl I'm in love with. Does that sound too old-fashioned?”

“And who is that?” Parvati asked as she leaned forward slightly in anticipation.

Harry looked at her sharply, “What?”

“Who are you in love with?” Parvati's eyes were alight with mischief.

“Nobody, I was speaking hypothetically.”

Parvati gave him a look that said she didn't believe him, “Sure Harry, if you say so.” She smiled suddenly and leaned forward to hug him. “Have an excellent Christmas, Harry” She kissed him on the cheek, opened the door behind her, and went in.

Harry walked back to the compartment he was sharing with his friends feeling as if the weight of the world was gone from his shoulders.

Chapter 9: A Very Weasley Christmas

Mr. and Mrs.Weasley ensured that Harry felt like one of the family so the next few weeks at the Burrow were some of the happiest times Harry had ever known. There was always something going on at the Burrow. Order members kept stopping by to wish Harry and the Weasleys “Happy Holidays”. Fred and George stopped by daily, though they were still busy running Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in Diagon Alley with Lee Jordan who was now a full partner. Charlie was still working with dragons in Romania but he was still able to come home for Christmas dinner. Bill also stopped by but he missed Mrs.Weasley's excellent Christmas dinner as he and Fleur were spending Christmas in France with her family.

Even with all the holiday bustle, Harry still occasionally caught himself beginning to withdraw from the festivities as he thought about Sirius. For some reason the holidays seemed to emphasize how much Harry missed his Godfather. Harry tried to shake these feelings off himself and when he realized what he was doing he would make a point of finding Ron and distracting himself in whatever it was Ron was up to at the moment. Harry was just happy that he was not spending Christmas at Grimmauld Place. He knew that it would have been impossible to not dwell upon the fact that his Godfather died to save him if he were stuck in Sirius' old house. Besides, Harry was not sure of what happened to Kreature but he knew that he would not have been able to tolerate the presence of the house elf.

The holidays passed swiftly. On Christmas morning, Harry was delighted to find that Dobby had come to the Burrow to exchange gifts with him. Unsurprisingly, they had each given the other mismatching socks. Ron had gotten Harry a new pair of Seeker gloves that were enchanted to be weatherproof, and Harry had gotten Ron high performance twigs and a re-varnishing kit for Ron's broom to improve its performance. They were both delighted and spent most of Christmas day adding the improvements to Ron's broom. The twins had given Ron and Harry samples of all their Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes products and Mrs.Weasley had made Harry a green Weasley jumper, Ron's was maroon again, and had also given them both an assortment of mince pies to bring back to school. Hermione had sent Harry a book on winning Wizards Chess strategies and a Quick-Flick wrist wand sheath for Ron.

After several weeks of fattening up, Harry was beginning to look forward to getting back to Hogwarts. Harry was afraid that if he were to stay with the Weasleys any longer he would no longer fit into his Quidditch robes and would have to resign as Seeker. But when it finally came time to pack up his trunk and get ready for the ride back to King's Cross, Harry found himself reluctant to leave the Burrow. Mr.Weasley had borrowed a Ministry car and Harry was escorted to the Hogwarts Express by his usual entourage.

Harry had just received a final hug from Mrs.Weasley and had just turned to climb onto the train when Hermione rushed over to meet him. “Hermione! Did you have a …”

“Harry,” she interrupted with a severe expression on her face, “you have got some explaining to do. After you find a compartment, be prepared to tell me exactly what you were thinking with your choice of Christmas presents. I'll see you as soon as the Prefect meeting is over.” She turned briskly on her heel and walked towards the front of the train.

Harry felt a pat on his shoulder, “There's still time to catch Mum and go back to the Burrow,” Ron teased.

“Nah, I was expecting this. Go on to the meeting. I'll save you both a seat.”

For the first time ever, Harry found a completely empty compartment near the middle of the train. He quickly stowed his and Ron's trunks and sat down and made himself comfortable while he waited for his friends to join him. When the tea cart came by Harry made sure to purchase extra cauldron cakes for Ron, as well as a large supply of chocolate frogs. Harry was leaned against the window and watched the passing countryside and listened to the rhythm of the train. He was just on the verge of falling asleep when Ginny, Ron and an agitated Hermione noisily entered the compartment.

Ron attacked the cauldron cakes with a groan of gratitude. Ginny busied herself with settling down all their animals and Hermione sat stiffly opposite Harry. She looked at Harry expectantly and said finally, “Well?”

“I know. You're mad because I bought you an expensive gift. Just hear me out, OK?” Harry took a deep breath, looked Hermione in the eyes and continued. “I bought you a broom for Christmas because I get a special feeling when I'm flying. I feel an exhilaration and freedom that I've never experienced before. It's like I've left all my worries behind me on the ground. On top of that, flying is just fun. I don't really know how to describe it. It's kind of like being a kid again and running around just for the pleasure of running. That's how I feel about flying. I just want to share that experience with you. I've only seen you fly in class and that wasn't much fun. Just Madame Hooch going over the basics. Now that you have your own broom, maybe you'll begin to see why Ron and I love Quidditch so much. Even if you still can't appreciate Quidditch as much as much as us, I still wanted to share this special feeling with you. Besides,” Harry grinned as he continued, “you can't be a proper witch without a broomstick. All the muggle pictures of witches show them on broomsticks, so I was just making sure you fit the stereotype. You should be happy I was able to talk Ron out of getting you a huge, wide brimmed, pointed black hat instead of the broomstick maintenance kit. He had one all picked out for you, you know.” Harry paused. He could tell by her softening expression that she wasn't really mad at him anymore. “Just let me take you flying. If after that you still don't think I should have gotten you a broomstick I swear I'll return it and let you pick out something you feel is more appropriate. OK?”

Hermione sat for a moment thinking, then she smiled and Harry's heart pounded. “All right, you're on. As soon as it's warm enough we'll go flying.”

“Excellent.”

“Now, I want to hear all about what you did for Christmas. Did you see any of the Order members? Was there any news about you know who?” Hermione leaned forward in excitement.

Harry smiled at her for a moment listening to her string of questions. When she finally paused, Harry began a long description, with many interruptions from Ron and Ginny to add details, of everything that had happened over the winter break. When he had finished, Hermione told them all about her muggle Christmas with her family. And so the train ride to Hogwarts passed rather quickly and soon they were clambering through the portrait hole to the Gryffindor common room and going up the steps to their dormitories to finish their unpacking.

AN: I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to post a review of this story. Your kind words have been very encouraging. Thanks!

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Chapter 10: Realizations

It was the evening of their second day back from the Christmas holidays. Hermione was alone in the Gryffindor common room sitting in her favorite chair by the fire when Harry entered through the portrait hole. He flopped exhausted from Quidditch practice into a chair beside her. “Where's Ron?” Hermione asked as Harry warmed himself at the fire.

“He and Katie are going over some new plays Ron and Charlie worked out over the holidays. I expect they won't be long,” Harry replied.

After a few moments of silence, Hermione looked at Harry's face and she saw more than Harry's usual exhaustion from a hard training session. There was a sad look in his eyes as he stared into the fire and Hermione thought she knew why.

“You miss him,” Hermione said without preamble.

“Who, Ron?” asked Harry as he snapped out of his reverie.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Sirius, you miss him.”

“I guess so” Harry answered with a sigh.

“Oh Harry. No one is going to think any less of you if you admit how much you cared for Sirius and no one will think you're being over-emotional either.” Hermione spoke very fast as if she were afraid that Harry was going to interrupt her before she had made her point. “I know I can't say `I know how you feel,' because it would be a lie. But I do know you're hurting, Harry. I just want you to know that I'm here for you. Ginny, Ron, Dumbledore, we're all here for you, Harry.”

Harry looked at Hermione as she choked back a sob. He didn't remember standing up or stepping closer to her before she was suddenly in his arms. Harry held her tightly to him. He didn't say anything, he wasn't sure that he could trust his voice at that point and he really didn't want to break down and cry on Hermione's shoulder. So instead, he just held her and took comfort in her embrace. As he stood there holding Hermione against him, he couldn't help but notice how warm and soft she felt in his arms. He noticed the clean smell of her hair and how it felt as it softly brushed against his face. This feels so right, Harry thought to himself. Harry was just starting to realize what that could mean when Hermione pulled herself away from him slightly and kissed him briefly on the cheek.

“What was that for?” he asked huskily. Harry wanted to touch the place where she had kissed him but he didn't want to let her go.

“I never thanked you properly for the broom. Thanks Harry,” she smiled.

Hermione's face was still very close to Harry's. He felt her breath on his cheek as she spoke and it sent goosebumps down his spine. He held her, feeling her warmth and the smooth curves of her body pressed against his. “You're welcome,” he answered his voice thick with emotion. Harry's heart was pounding in his chest, he was sure Hermione could feel it.

He leaned a little closer. Hermione closed her eyes. Softly, they kissed. Just a brush of his lips over hers. Then they pulled each other closer, their lips parted, and they kissed again deeper this time, their tongues entwining and gently probing. Harry tried to put all his feelings for her into that kiss. He was at once exhilarated and afraid of its intensity. He clung to her, as his feelings for her stormed over him and through him leaving him weak and unsteady on his feet. Reluctantly, they broke their kiss. Harry, feeling slightly dizzy, murmured “Wow.” Hermione giggled softly and to Harry's surprise he found himself liking the sound.

Harry had just decided that he needed to kiss Hermione again when Ron came stumbling through the portrait hole. Katie, who had closely followed Ron, playfully grabbed his bum as he tried to regain his balance. Harry and Hermione instantly sprang apart. Katie caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and waved in greeting. Seeing Katie wave, Ron waved blankly in their general direction. Katie fisted both her hands in Ron's robes, pulled him to her, and kissed him soundly. “Goodnight Ron,” she said and headed upstairs to her dormitory. Ron watched her go, grinning from ear to ear.

Once Katie was out of site, Ron rounded upon his friends and said, “Nice night isn't it?”

“What the heck was that all about, Ron?” Harry asked. Harry's voice trembled slightly as he recovered his composure but he was sure Ron hadn't noticed.

Ron looked puzzled for a moment. “Oh, um, Katie and I are a couple now. I guess.”

“WHAT? What happ… When did … How'd you …” Harry and Hermione were beside themselves.

Hermione grabbed Ron, though much more roughly than Katie, pulled him over towards the fire and shoved him unceremoniously into a chair before flopping into one opposite him. “OK, Ron. Tell us what happened, all of it. And we want details!” Harry sat down in a chair between them, an eager expression on his face.

“Well, we were in the changing room discussing some of the plays that Charlie and I worked on over break. Katie was trying to diagram the play as I described it to her and she had the path of one of the seekers arcing in the wrong direction. I got up off the bench and grabbed the chalk from her and corrected the path over her shoulder. She stepped back into me and I tripped over Dennis' boots again. You know how he's always leaving them out. Anyway, as I tripped, Katie and I got all tangled together and we fell in a heap. Luckily she landed on me so she wasn't hurt. I banged my head.” He turned then and showed them a lump on the back of his head. Hermione sucked her teeth in sympathy and Harry grimaced. Ron went on “So I'm laying there on my back with Katie on top of me and I'm trying to rub my head. Katie is laughing and asks me if I'm alright. I tell her I'm OK and she just stays there. So I ask her if she's going to get up and she asks me if I was sure I wanted her to. I looked at her for a minute and said that I was sure. So then she says if I want her to move, I'd have to move her. At first I tried to be gentle, you know, `cause she's a girl. Next thing I know we're wrestling back and forth all over the floor. Now I'm on top of her, right, and I'm about to stand up when she starts tickling me. We're chasing each other around the room in a huge tickle fight. I finally catch hold of her and manage to get my arms around her and I have both her wrists trapped behind her back. I've got her, right. So I ask her what she's going to do now and she leans into me, stands on tiptoe and kisses me.”

Harry just stared at Ron in shock, “Our quiet little Katie?”

Ron harrumphed. “Quiet nothing. That was one hell of a kiss. Turned my hair red, see?”

“But Harry's been back for ages. What took you so long?” Hermione asked innocently, though Harry noticed her eyes gleamed mischievously.

Ron blushed purple and murmured, “A gentleman never kisses and tells.” He grinned so wide it looked like he was trying to swallow his ears. “All I'll say is that I'll never look at the changing room the same way again. I may even thank Dennis for leaving his boots out.”

Chapter 11: The Big Question

The Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin usually had the whole school in attendance to watch these rivals battle for the Quidditch Cup. Unfortunately, Slytherin had lost to Huffelpuff and so they would need to beat Gryffindor by a very wide margin to still be in the running for the cup. So as the teams took the pitch there were fewer spectators for the match. This didn’t bother Harry at all. Instead he found it quite convenient as he was able to spot Hermione in the stands much faster than usual.

Harry was surprised that just seeing Hermione in the stands could make him so happy, especially since there was a new tension between them. For the past few days Harry had felt an odd lurch in his stomach whenever he saw Hermione. He wanted to talk to her about the other night but couldn’t bring himself to mention it. Hermione seemed to go out of her way to not bring it up in idle conversation but Harry hoped they would get a chance to talk soon.

Harry wrenched his mind back to the match. It was obvious that the Slytherin team was again going for size instead of skill in their clash with their rival house. Harry shook his head, this is exactly what Ron and Katie had been counting on. Little Dennis Creevey looked even smaller than usual compared to the flying hulks that made up the Slytherin team. Dennis wore a very determined expression and Harry was confident that his team had things well in hand.

Suddenly, Madame Hooch blew her whistle and the Bludgers, Snitch, and Quaffle were released. Dennis seemed to be everywhere at once, picking off the Slytherin passes and stealing the Quaffle from the Slytherin Chasers with the ease of a professional pick-pocket. Dennis used his size to his advantage, staying low over his broomstick and presenting the smallest possible target. Once Dennis was on a break-away for the Slytherin goal posts, it seemed as though no one could stop him. Slytherin’s defenses quickly crumbled and they had begun to resort to their favorite tactic of simply fouling and out muscling their opponents. Harry had spotted the Snitch and looked up to find that Malfoy was far out of position. The last time they had played against each other, Draco had marked Harry’s every move and had worked to block Harry from finding the snitch. This time, Draco had been searching the pitch with a rabid intensity, but it was too late. Harry dove for the elusive golden ball and by the time Malfoy had realized that Harry had seen the Snitch, Harry was snatching it out of the air and holding it above his head in triumph. Gryffindor fans poured onto the pitch to congratulate their team and to carry Dennis elatedly back to the Gryffindor common room for the victory party.

Harry changed quickly after the match. He wanted to get to the Common Room as fast as possible, not only to try to pull Hermione aside to talk but also to get away from Ron and Katie who were attached at the lips and oblivious to the annoyed looks their antics were causing from the rest of the team. Harry darted out the door and quickly made his way to the Gryffindor Common room. As he expected, the party was already in full swing.

Harry maneuvered his way through his housemates towards a lone figure sitting at one of the study tables with a pile of books. Harry’s stomach gave a pleasant lurch at the sight of her and he suddenly felt very self conscious. She looked up as he approached and gave him a brief smile before turning once again to her studies. He almost turned around and went back to the party. Instead, he took a deep breath and pulled out the chair beside her. “Do you mind if I sit here?” he asked uncertainly.

“No” she answered without looking up.

“Hermione I,” Merlin’s hairy balls, why is this so difficult? “I wanted to talk to you about the other night.”

She looked at him then and his mouth went dry. “It’s not going to happen Harry, so just forget it.”

Harry was crushed. He barely managed to croak out “What?”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Just because you fanatics went out in that cold weather to play Quidditch, it dosen’t mean that sane people are willing to go out flying.”

Harry felt a surge of relief. She thought he was going to try to convince her to fly her new broomstick. “It is cold but… “

“Oh no! I’m sorry Harry. I know how much this means to you but there is no way I’m going out flying until spring and you’re not going to change my mind.”

“OK, no broomsticks” he smiled.

“Good.”

“But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.” He had her full attention now. “I wanted to talk to you about what happened, you know, when we were talking about Sirius.” He glanced briefly over his shoulder and said, “Can we take a walk and talk about this somewhere a little more private?”

“All right then,” Hermione stated as she rose. She placed her books back in her bag and shoved it under the table. Harry led the way out the portrait hole trying furiously to think of how to say what he needed to without sounding like an idiot.

They walked side by side down the corridor and when Harry turned to finally speak to Hermione his mind went blank. He stood there for a moment looking at her expectant expression and then, looking her in the eyes he tried to swallow the lump in his throat and said, “Hermione I was just hoping to explain what happened the other night. I … we…”

“I understand, Harry. You were feeling very vulnerable and lonely. It was just a kiss after all.”

“No, it wasn’t,” he looked away from her, unable to meet her eyes, afraid of seeing pity there. “I had a long time to think about this over the summer and during winter holidays. There are things I need to tell you.” Before he could think twice about it, Harry had told Hermione all about the prophecy and how he would either murder Voldemort or be murdered by him. Hermione stepped towards him at this point but he turned away, determined to finish.

“You see, what I realized is that I had two choices. I could push everyone away from me so that Voldemort would never be able to use anyone else against me like he did last summer. Or I could do the opposite and depend on those I care about for strength and support. I can’t tell you how appealing the first choice looked as I sat alone in my room in Privet Drive, I was sure that would be the best course. If I pushed everyone away then no one would be close enough to hurt me and no one else would be in danger. I was determined to face him alone.” Hermione started to say something but Harry pressed on, “Wait, let me finish.” He looked at her then and smiled. “I was thinking about all the things I had done here at Hogwarts. The Sorcerer’s stone first year, the Basilisk second year, saving Sirius and Buckbeak third year, the Tri-Wizard Tournament fourth year and last year at the Ministry of Magic. I realized that without my friends I would never have survived any one of them and, more importantly, I need my friends if I’m going to beat Voldemort.”

Harry paused briefly and then turned to look into Hermione’s eyes. “When we kissed I realized something else. I realized that more than anyone, you have always been there for me. When the rest of the school turned their backs on me, there you were with a kind word and a stack of toast. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I need you, Hermione. I need you in my life. But what’s been burning in my mind since that night is that at the moment we kissed, I knew I had fallen in love with my best friend.”

Hermione’s mouth dropped open and she blurted, “You’re gay?”

Harry was rocked back on his heels. “What?” he managed to choke out a moment later.

“Well everyone knows Ron is your best friend and since you just said that you were in love with your best friend it’s only logical to assume you meant Ron.” Harry stared at her in horror as she continued. “Have you told him yet?”

Harry looked away from her in disbelief. His mouth was moving but nothing was coming out as he tried to formulate a coherent response. He couldn’t believe he had finally told Hermione how he felt and she had totally misinterpreted what he had said. He looked back at Hermione desperate to explain away her mistake and he noticed she had her jaw clenched and her lips pressed firmly together. “You’re teasing me, aren’t you?” he asked hopefully.

“Of course I am you great prat! Now hurry up and kiss me, I still have homework to finish.”

It took a little while but Harry eventually became comfortable not only with Hermione but also with other people knowing that they were a couple. He had one bad moment when the day after he had told Hermione how he felt, Seamus walked into their room and said, “So Harry, you finally asked Hermione out?”

Neville sat up at the news. “What? Nobody tells me anything. When did that happen?”

“Yesterday after the Quidditch game”, Seamus had laughed.

Harry paled. “If I find out you have another pool going … “

But Seamus was shaking his head and interrupted in protest, “No. No pool, Harry. We swear”, he looked over at Dean who was nodding emphatically in agreement and maneuvering for cover behind his bed. “Lav and Parvati cornered Hermione in their room last night and wormed it out of her. They saw how pale you looked when you dragged her away from the party and they also saw you two holding hands when you came back in. They put two and two together, and came up with … love!” As he said this last word, Seamus folded his hands under his chin, put an enraptured look on his face, rolled his eyes and batted his lashes. Everyone laughed and Harry threw his pillow at Seamus who easily ducked out of the way.

The Slytherins, lead by Pansy Parkinson, had some choice words to say about Harry and Hermione being together but Harry found that he really didn’t care what they thought. Malfoy was strangely silent, but Professor Snape had given Harry a disgusted sneer when he saw Harry and Hermione holding hands as they waited to enter his class. Harry gave him a ‘you’re just jealous’ smile and strolled past the sputtering git. The jibes quickly subsided when it became obvious that they were having no effect whatsoever.

January made way for February without much change in the weather. Harry was in the Common Room studying. He smiled as he looked over at Hermione who sat hunched over methodically scratching precise little characters in her Ancient Runes essay. Ron was off studying with Katie, unless they were fighting again. In the few short weeks they had been dating, Ron and Katie had fallen into a cycle of breaking up then making up. Harry had to admit that there was a lot of passion in their relationship, though. When they were in a make up period, they were unashamed in displaying their affections for one another. They were often found snogging in the halls. They were equally unashamed when they fought, which they did with equal enthusiasm.

How different from his own relationship, Harry reflected. Harry and Hermione were much more discreet. Holding hands while walking through the halls or a chaste kiss before class was about all they would do in public. Anything more intimate was kept private, not that there was much more Harry thought. Harry had let Hermione determine how far they went physically when they were getting frisky. He sometimes suspected that Hermione had some kind of timetable she was following. So far he had not gotten past the barrier of clothes she wore under her school robes. Harry wanted more but he was willing to wait. It just wasn’t that important to Harry. He was happy just being with her.

Valentines Day was coming up and Harry had been trying to think of something special he and Hermione could do together. The problem was that Valentines Day fell on a Wednesday this year. Not the most romantic day of the week but Harry was sure he’d think of something. He just needed to work out a few more details and then he’d have a talk with Dobby in the kitchens.

Chapter 12: The Blues

Hermione had noticed Harry’s anticipation and had been teasingly pestering him for an explanation all week. Harry would just laugh and say, “You’ll see soon enough” which just made her more determined to find out. Harry held out though and when he kissed Hermione ‘good morning’ on Wednesday he told her he had set up something special for lunch and he wanted her to meet him at the Room of Requirement. She shot him a bemused smirk which made him chuckle and add, “Trust me.”

Harry had spoken to Dobby on Monday and Dobby had agreed to help him. Agreed? The house elf had literally quivered with delight when Harry had asked for his help. By the time Harry was finished outlining his plan, Dobby was bouncing with glee and assuring Mr. Harry Potter that Dobby would take care of everything. Harry had checked on Dobby’s preparations last night. Everything was ready.

Harry found it hard to concentrate on his classes that morning. But he somehow managed to get through Charms and Evocation without injuring himself or anyone else. Finally it was lunchtime. Harry practically dragged Hermione up to the Room of Requirement. They were slightly out of breath as they reached the door. Dobby must already be inside Harry thought. He smiled at Hermione and said, “This is my surprise” and he opened the door. Harry wasn’t sure what Hermione was expecting but her gasp let him know she was pleased. The door had opened into a shaded loamy earthed forest enjoying a bright spring day. “The classroom that was set up for Professor Firenze gave me the idea. There should be a pond a little way in. Dobby should have set up our picnic there. Happy Valantines Day, Hermione.”

“Oh Harry, it’s beautiful,” Hermione said as she stepped inside.

Harry took her arm and led her towards the pond and their lunch. When they came upon the setting where they were to picnic, they both stopped for a moment at the sight. A large red blanket with gold trim was laid out on the short green shoots of new grass. A light simple meal of sandwiches and fruit was on a tray at the edge of the blanket next to which sat a silver bucket containing ice and a pitcher of pumpkin juice. A smaller silver tray held several bottles of butterbeer and a selection of miniature pastries. A short distance away, a sheltered pond twinkled in the sunlight. Unseen birds called greetings to one another in the trees. “Its lovely,” Hermione breathed.

Harry silently agreed with her. He took her hand and led her to the blanket. Harry was just about to flop down and help himself to a sandwich when he realized that Hermione had removed her robes and was now taking off her trainers and socks. Harry looked at her puzzled for a moment and she said, “That pond looks inviting. Care to join me?”

Harry shucked his robe, trainers and socks. He rolled up his trousers and jogged over to catch up with Hermione who had already started to wade out into the water. Harry stepped tentatively into the refreshingly cool water. The bottom of the pond was covered with large flat stones that were thankfully not slippery. He looked up to see which direction Hermione had gone and a terrific splash of water drenched him from head to toe. Harry wiped off his glasses and saw Hermione a few feet away holding her wand and doubled over with laughter. Harry drew his wand with mock seriousness. “Oh you’ll pay for that, my dear,” he said as he began stalking forward. With a squeal of laughter, Hermione turned and ran. The chase was on!

Several minutes later, winded and dripping wet, Harry and Hermione made their way back to the blanket. When they got there, Harry removed his jumper and hung it over a low tree branch to dry. “That’s a good idea” Hermione said and followed suit.

She didn’t stop there. Her blouse and skirt quickly followed her trainer into the branches. Harry’s mouth went dry as he took in the sight of her dressed only in her powder blue bra and panties. He quickly removed his shirt and trousers and quickly hung them near his trainer. He turned to find Hermione staring at him unashamedly. “You’re so beautiful”, Harry whispered.

They stood for a moment smiling at each other. Then they reached out for one another and melted into a passionate embrace. Harry held Hermione to him fiercely. Somehow they made it onto the blanket without falling. Once there they became, if possible, even more impassioned. Harry tossed his glasses aside and ran his hands over Hermione’s skin and marveled at its softness. His caresses became bolder and his hands roamed freely over Hermione’s delicate frame. Hermione’s hands were equally busy exploring his body. The feel of her hands on his neck, his back, his chest were making him giddy with desire.

They kissed for a few moments more, then broke apart with quiet giggles. They unashamedly ate their lunch as they were. Harry could not help but stare at Hermione as they ate and chatted. He was sure that she had never looked more beautiful than she did at that moment. Her hair was slightly disheveled, cheeks still slightly flushed from their romp through the pond and her eyes sparkling.

They were soon back in each others arms. Kissing, touching, nibbling. Harry found Hermione making a sound like a cat purring as he nibbled his way up from her collar bone along her neck and up to her ear. The sound made him bolder and he ran a hand from her hip over her stomach and up to cup one of her firm breasts. Detecting no signs of resistance, Harry decided to press his luck. As he kissed her, he maneuvered so that he was on his back and Hermione was partially on top of him. Slowly he ran his hands over her back pulling her to him and kissing her deeply. His trembling hands reached for the catch on her bra. He kept expecting her to pull away but she didn’t. Harry was trying to unhook this last restraint that kept him from the glory of her breasts but the garment just wouldn’t cooperate. He pulled. He twisted. Nothing worked. He knew it would only be a matter of time before Hermione became agitated by his fumbling. He wondered where his wand was and weather or not he could cast a spell discreetly enough for her not to notice. He concentrated as hard as he could while Hermione was softly biting his neck and murmured, “Alohomora”, into her hair.

“What did you say?”

Harry immediately abandoned his attempts to remove Hermione’s bra. “Oh er, nothing” he stammered.

Hermione propped herself up on one elbow and looked down at him. “Well, it sounded like you said something.” She kissed him then suddenly. “Thank you for making today special.”

“You’re welcome, Hermione.” He stared into her brown eyes as he reached out to cup her cheek and pull her to him. “I love you”.

“I love you too, Harry”

Those words echoed in Harry’s mind and he missed whatever else Hermione had said to him. He just wanted to stay there forever, with her. But Hermione obviously had other plans. She stood up and began checking to see if their clothes were dry.

Hermione dressed quickly and Harry, remembering that their classes were not over for the day, stood and dressed as well. By the time they made it to the door, Harry was feeling a deep sense of disappointment in the pit of his stomach. One last kiss and they opened the door to return to class. “I left my books in the Common Room,” Harry said. “I’ll meet you in Transfigurations.”

“Ill wait …” she began.

But Harry stopped her. “There’s no sense in both of us being late. Go on, I’ll catch up.” Hermione smiled, kissed his cheek and left for class.

Harry never made it to Transfigurations class. In fact, he had no idea how he had made it back to his bed. He lay there in a fetal position gritting his teeth and just hoping to survive the alternating agony and nausea. Harry was no stranger to pain but this was an entirely new experience. He hurt but he had no idea why. Harry had thought at first that he was suffering from a malicious hex someone had hit him with but quickly discarded the idea when he realized that no one had been anywhere near him when the pain began. So Harry lay in his bed hoping that he could speak with Ron before things worsened. Luckily, the pain had begun to diminish after a while but even so he hardly noticed when the door opened and Ron softly called, “Harry, you in here?”

Harry opened the curtains on his bed just enough to see Ron, “Yeah.”

Ron closed the door, crossed the room and sat on the edge of his bed facing Harry. His face was tight with concern. “Are you OK, mate? Do you want me to get someone?”

“No!” Harry groaned as a jolt of pain lanced through his abdomen. “I don’t want anyone else to see me right now.”

“Is there anything I can do? What’s the matter anyway? Hermione was going spare when you never showed for class. We thought you got jumped by Malfoy or something.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” there was a note of panic in Harry’s voice now. “All I know is that I just want the pain to go away.”

Ron leaned forward, “Well, where does it hurt?”

Harry flushed and looked at his friend. “It feels like I was kicked, you know, in the worst place.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to help you down to the Hospital wing?”

“Look Ron,” Harry stated in an irritated tone. “I can’t go down there to see Madam Pomfrey. What do you want me to do, whip out my wedding tackle when she asks me to show her where it hurts?”

Ron smiled suddenly. “OK, calm down. No hospital wing. I think I know what’s wrong. Tell me, where did you and Hermione go for lunch?”

“We went on a picnic in the Room of Requirement.”

“Uh-huh, and you guys were fooling around?”

“Yeah a bit.” Harry was getting irritated again. “What’s your point?”

“Look I’m not trying to pry, Harry. I’m trying to help you. Just bear with me. Let’s see, how do I put this nicely? Did she, I mean did you, you know?”

“No. What’s that got to do with it?” Harry groaned. He looked up at Ron to see him standing and facing away from him. Ron’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. “What? What is it?”

Ron turned and wiped a tear from under his eye. “You, my friend, have got a severe case of Blue Balls.”

Harry groaned, “What do I do? Can you help me?” Harry curled up tighter in agony.

Ron shook his head and stepped further away. “You’re my best friend Harry but there’s nothing I can do about this. Unfortunately, at this point there’s nothing to do but wait. It’ll go away eventually.”

There was a sudden knock on the door. “Ron, is Harry in there? Harry, are you OK?” Hermione called.

Harry’s eyes widened in panic and he tried to sit up but the sudden movement caused a new wave of pain and nausea to sweep through him. He collapsed back onto the bed groaning. “Ron, help me.” Harry hissed desperately.

“Do you want me to tell her what’s wrong with you?” Ron asked softly, an evil grin on his face.

“Ron, please!”

“OK, OK. I’ll think of something” he whispered. He walked over to the door and quickly stepped through closing the door behind him.

Harry heard the murmur of Ron and Hermione’s voices, but try as he might, he couldn’t make out what they were saying. A few moments later, Ron came back in and knelt beside Harry’s bed. “I told her you have a stomach virus and that you’d already been to see Madame Pomfrey who told you to rest and have plenty of fluids. Don’t worry Harry. You’ll be fine in an hour or so.” Ron was smiling again.

“You’re not going to tell anyone about this, are you?”

Ron smirked at Harry, “Of course not, don’t be a prat!”

“Thanks Ron. I owe you one, I mean it.”

“Can I get you anything before I go? Ice? Books? Drink? Hooker?” Harry grunted and Ron moved to the door. “I’ll be back to check on you later. Hang in there, mate. You’ll be OK.” Ron walked out closing the door on Harry’s pained moan.

AN: I usually do not leave these notes and maybe I should but I had to thank everyone who took the time to review the story so far your words are very encouraging. Thank you! I also want to let you know that I am gratified that many of you share my sense of humor (evil chuckle) and I hope that I can continue to surprise and delight you with this story. ‘Nuff said.

Chapter 13: Maiden Flight

Harry winced as he entered his dorm room as quietly as he could. All his efforts were in vain, Seamus and Dean had waited up for him. He shuffled for the sanctuary of his bed as quickly as possible.

“John Wayne,” Dean said as he looked Harry over appraisingly.

“Nah, the Duke has a cooler walk than that. Ben Johnson, maybe,” chuckled Seamus.

Neville looked up from his Herbology book, “What are you two on about?”

“Fuck you guys! Not you Neville,” Harry croaked as he eased himself into his bed. He settled himself as delicately as possible.

The curtains on Ron’s bed had been closed but as Harry finally settled himself on his bed, Ron’s curtains opened. “Not again,” Ron said seeing Harry’s grimace.

“Thanks for keeping quiet, Ron” Harry hissed.

“I didn’t say anything, I didn’t have to. This is what, the third time this week you’ve been like this?” Ron sighed in exasperation. “Just tell her, Harry. She’ll understand. This is Hermione, you know. She’s probably read a book about it.” He turned his head and smirked at the sound of Dean and Seamus laughing together quietly. He sat up leaned towards Harry and whispered, “Don’t listen to those guys. Seriously, if you don’t tell her, I will. I can’t stand seeing you in pain like this.”

Ron’s face was oddly tense as he finished and for a moment, Harry thought Ron would actually tell Hermione about Harry’s little problem. Then a thought struck him. “My concerned friend.” In a more sarcastic tone Harry continued, “Who just happens to also be the Keeper of our Quidditch team and who couldn’t possibly be more concerned that his team’s Seeker will not be able to compete at his optimum level for the upcoming Finals, could he?” Harry smiled.

Ron sat back and clutched at his chest feigning shock, “I’m hurt that you would even suggest such a thing.” Ron smiled as well and straightened up. Dropping his voice once again to a whisper he said, “Seriously, tell her. Pleasant dreams.” He gave Harry one last smirk and shut his curtains.

Harry swung his legs into his bed and closed his curtains. He lay for a moment thinking if he should tell Hermione or not. That would be one hell of a conversation. Listen, Hermione. We can’t snog for too long otherwise I’ll get all worked up and my balls will hurt. Harry groaned in embarrassment just thinking about it. He quickly decided that some things were better left unsaid. He pushed the idea out of his mind, performed his mind clearing exercises and quickly fell asleep.

Harry was as happy as he’d ever been in his life, even with his little problem. The weather seemed to be effected by Harry’s good mood and it began to look like there would be an early spring this year. As the days got warmer, Harry began to put pressure on Hermione to go flying with him. Hermione would not be budged; she simply refused to be swayed by Harry’s gentle coaxing and kept insisting it was still too cold to fly. Harry was beginning to think that she was trying to put off their little excursion for as long as possible. For the life of him, Harry just could not figure out why.

Harry wasn’t the only Hogwarts student who looked longingly out of classroom windows at the sea of budding greenery. Dean had even tried to start an impromptu football game one particularly beautiful day. Many students had decided to take their lunches outside to eat on the school grounds so there were dozens of potential players. Dean had transfigured his pencil box into a serviceable football and then spent over an hour trying to explain to the assembled wizard born why football was played without magic, wands, or hands and only one ball. It was a disaster.

It was the week before the Easter holiday when the first green shoots emerged from the dark furrowed soil of Hagrid’s garden. In Potions class, Harry and Ron had actually managed to brew a perfect Darkvision Potion without Hermione’s help. They were all suitably impressed. Neville, however, was not so lucky. This time, Neville’s concoction melted his cauldron, ate through the table, and bored a sizeable hole in the stone floor before Professor Snape vanished the mess with a sneer and a casual wave of his wand. Neville was given detention for Friday night which meant that Neville would miss the Hogwarts Express back to Kings Cross and would have to stay at school over the holidays. This wasn’t really a bad thing since the Gryffindor Quidditch team and many of their most dedicated supporters were staying for the holiday as well.

Hermione would also be staying at Hogwarts over the holiday and because of the unseasonably fine weather Harry was finally able to talk her into flying with him on Friday after dinner. Hermione seemed less than enthusiastic but Harry thought she might just be a little nervous. Harry was so excited about finally going flying with Hermione that the rest of the week’s classes passed in an excited blur.

Friday was, as expected, another beautiful day. At dinner, Harry noticed that Hermione was only picking at her food. He told her that they didn’t have to go out flying, he was sure that they could find something to do. Hermione smiled and relaxed a little but stated that she had to admit that she was excited about flying her very own broom for the first time. She said she was just a little nervous because Harry was such a good flier and she didn’t want to make a fool of herself. Ron suddenly decided to be helpful and ask where they were going to fly. When asked why he was interested, he said that he and some of the other DA members wanted to be on hand in case someone needed a cushioning charm. Harry gave him a sour look, Hermione slapped him playfully on the shoulder and Katie led Ron away by the ear before he made a bigger arse of himself.

Having been denied his fun teasing Harry and Hermione, Ron turned his attention to Neville who was sitting at dinner in stony silence. He had detention that evening with Snape and Ron was unable to lift his spirits. Neville soon stood and left, “to get it over with,” he’d said. He shuffled along the Gryffindor table with the air of someone being led to their doom. His housemates called encouragements to him as he passed.

After dinner, Harry and Hermione went to their dorms to change from their school robes and then met in the common room with their broomsticks. Harry’s Firebolt was very similar to Hermione’s new Sparrow 420 in looks but since the Firebolt was a racing broom Harry would have to remember to take it easy and not zip around like a dragonfly on speed. They walked hand in hand downstairs and out the Great Hall. They had decided to start on the Quidditch pitch since there would be no obstacles to worry about and then go exploring from there if they felt like it.

They walked out onto the pitch and Harry immediately mounted his broom and kicked off. He hovered in place about ten feet above the ground and waited for Hermione. Hermione had worn jeans as she thought sitting astride the broomstick would make her more stable than sitting sidesaddle. She mounted her broom and with a deep breath kicked off and rose unsteadily to meet Harry.

At first, they stayed low and flew slow circles around the pitch. Harry noticed that Hermione was gripping her broomstick so tightly that her knuckles were white so he tried everything he could think of to get her to relax. Harry finally asked her if she was afraid of falling off. She replied with a scornful glare.

“I don’t know why you’re afraid to fall,” Harry called to her. “You’ve seen me fall plenty of times and nothing really bad has happened to me.”

Harry was right; Hermione was quite a good flier. She just lacked experience and confidence but she seemed to be getting the hang of things. It was time for a little showing off. Harry suddenly swung in close to Hermione, gave her a playful swat on her pert little bottom, and called “Tag!” as he sped off. Moments later, they were streaking around the pitch in a game of tag and laughing like loons.

aH

Their game had taken them away from the Quidditch pitch and high over the Forbidden Forest. The sun had already set and it was starting to get too dark to fly safely. Harry and Hermione flew hand in hand, their faces flushed and smiling. They had just turned to head back towards the castle when a dark blur came arrowing at them from out of the night sky.

Harry squinted at the shape, “What is that?”

Then he heard Ron’s voice, “Haaaaarrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” The shape plunged suddenly and collided with the closer of two other dark shapes skimming the tops of the trees that neither Harry nor Hermione had noticed. Ron impacted with the closer shape with a sickening crunch ramming one of two people coming towards Harry and Hermione on broomsticks. They twisted violently in mid-air, and then they disengaged. One shape stayed on his broom. The second fell, arms and legs flailing wildly, and crashed through the forest canopy. The two unknown shapes converged and continued on their way. It was obvious by their size that neither of them were Ron.

Harry didn’t even remember drawing his wand. He cast the first spell that came to mind. “EFFERVOMORDAX!” Harry bellowed and the night was suddenly lit by a hundred hissing white sparks that shot unerringly to strike at the two figures. One of the two unknown wizards grunted in pain, the other was able to erect some kind of shield that the swarm of sparks splashed against harmlessly.

Hermione had not been idle. As Harry drew breath to cast yet another spell at the fleeing figures, the bright red streak of a stunning spell shot from behind and above him and slammed into a hastily erected shield around the wizard Harry had hit.

The two black cloaked figures never slowed as they lowered themselves on their broomsticks and flew in the direction of Hogsmeade as fast as they could. They were moving fast but Harry knew he was faster. “Hermione, see if you can find Ron. I’m going after them.” Without waiting for an answer, Harry pulled his broom around and rocketed off in pursuit. In the gathering darkness Harry could barely see the black shapes in front of him but he knew he was gaining on them. As he closed on his quarry, Harry pointed his wand at the closer of the two targets and blasted off three quick stunning spells. Before any of the spells could hit, Harry heard the distinctive CRACK of a wizard disapparating and suddenly both broomsticks were rider less and drifting gently towards the forest. Harry cursed under his breath as he turned to head back to Hermione.

When Harry turned around, he was surprised to see several beams of light dancing over the treetops. As he got closer, he saw that Hermione wasn’t alone in her search for Ron. Harry recognized the voices of several of his classmates all calling Ron’s name.

Harry flew up to Hermione who was very agitated. “What’s going on? Is Ron OK?”

Hermione turned to Harry, “We can’t find him. Oh God, Harry! What if he’s hurt? Do you think he’s alright?”

Harry looked down at the trees, “Ron’s tough, he’ll be OK. We’ll find him.”

Suddenly, there was a clamor of voices asking Harry what was going on. Dean, Seamus, Ginny, Katie, and Colin and Dennis Creevey all flew over to Harry speaking at once. Asking if he was OK. Asking if he had caught anyone and asking if he knew who it had been. Before Harry could even begin to sort out what was going on, a commanding voice cut through the night, “Quiet down, quiet down. Is everyone all right?” It was Professor McGonagall sitting stiffly astride a broomstick of her own. Seeing that no one was hurt, she turned her broom around and said, “Everyone follow me back to the school grounds immediately.”

“But Professor,” Hermione began, “Ron’s lost in the forest.”

“Members of the faculty will continue the search for him Miss Granger. Now hurry along, all of you.” With that she led the students back to the school grounds where she landed stiffly beside Hagrid’s house.

Hagrid was outside with Fang, crossbow in hand. “Ev’ryone OK?” Seeing the students all nod, Hagrid turned to Professor McGonagall. “Professor, me and Fang’ll find Ron.” He turned to head into the forest but stopped suddenly and cocked his head as if listening. “What is that?” Fang’s bark boomed out and Hagrid quickly silenced him. Then they all heard it. Something was crashing through the forest coming towards them. Something big and moving fast.

The darkness was suddenly lit by a jarringly bright light that burst from the nearby trees. The source of the light quickly followed smashing through the underbrush at the edge of the forest and rushing towards the gathered faculty and students. Hagrid and Professor McGonagall stepped protectively in front of the students and the turquoise Ford Anglia skidded to a halt a few feet away. The driver’s door opened and Ron stepped out looking like he just lost a fight with a rosebush. He grinned, “Evening troops. Did we get ‘em?” he asked.

“Ron, you asshole! Are you alright?” Harry asked him. Harry looked over at Professor McGonagall and added, “Sorry Professor.”

“No need Mr. Potter. Now that Mr. Weasley has decided to show up, he can join you and Miss Granger in Professor Dumbledore’s office. Mr. Longbottom and Professor Snape are already there. This has been a very eventful and confusing evening and I’m sure the Headmaster will need to speak to all of you to get everything sorted out.” Professor McGonagall turned to the rest of the group, “Hagrid, there is obviously no longer any need for you to venture into the forest tonight. As for the rest of you, back to Gryffindor House. Come along then, back to the castle.” They all said good night to Hagrid and as they turned to follow Professor McGonagall they heard the Ford crashing its way back into the forest.

Harry turned expectantly to Ron as they entered the castle, “What’s going on? What happened to Neville?” Harry whispered.

“Dunno,” Ron whispered back. “When I saw Neville he was in a panic. He kept yelling for help and that he had been attacked. I figured if someone had broken into Hogwarts, they must be after you so I summoned the Marauder’s Map to see where you were and then jumped on my broom and flew to the rescue. I have no idea what happened to Snape.”

“Harry,” Hermione whispered, “do you think it was Death Eaters?”

Harry shook his head, “I have no idea but I think we’re about to find out.”

Professor McGonagall had spoken the password to Professor Dumbledore’s office and the gargoyle moved aside to reveal the rotating stairway. As they rose, Harry could hear muffled voices speaking excitedly and all at the same time. Professor McGonagall knocked twice on the door to Professor Dumbledore’s office, then opened the door and stepped inside. Ron, Harry and Hermione followed.

There were more people in Professor Dumbledore’s office than Harry expected. Neville sat in a chair by Professor Dumbledore’s desk a forgotten teacup cradled in his hands. He looked very pale and there was a vacant expression on his face. Professor Snape was sitting in a chair beside Neville with a nasty cut on his forehead that was being tended to by Madame Pomfrey. Snape scowled as they entered, Neville didn’t react at all, and Madame Pomfrey took one look at Ron and insisted he sit down at once in a chair she conjured. She told Ron that she would take care of him after she was done with Professor Snape. Professor Vigo stood over by the fireplace. He was having a hushed conversation with Professor Dumbledore but they broke off quickly as Professor McGonagall conjured chairs for everyone.

“Thank you, Minerva. Is that everyone?” At her nod Professor Dumbledore continued, “Well we’ve been able to trace the route of our uninvited guests but we are still not exactly sure of their intentions. Apparently Honeydukes was broken into and the couple who live above the shop and run it have been murdered. The three intruders then went into Honeyduke’s basement and through a concealed trapdoor which opened into a tunnel leading here to Hogwarts. Specifically to a statue of a one eyed humpbacked crone along the third floor corridor. They must have done this while most of the school was at dinner for they then made their way unseen to the dungeons where they attacked Professor Snape in his office. Luckily for Professor Snape, Neville had arrived for his detention before they got there. According to Neville and Professor Snape, the three intruders blew open Professor Snape’s office door and started blasting curses at Professor Snape. Neville was able to knock Professor Snape out of the way of the spells but as he fell Professor Snape’s head struck the corner of his desk and he received the cut the Madame Pomfrey has just mended.”

Professor Dumbledore turned a twinkling smile first to Neville, then to Madame Pomfrey. “While Neville was defending himself and Professor Snape who was dazed by his injury, the energies used in the ensuing spellbattle alerted Professor Vigo that something was amiss. As he went down to the dungeons to investigate, the three intruders turned to escape. Neville was still in pursuit of the trio and at this point he was shouting for help.”

Professor Dumbledore turned to Ron, “I think this is where you enter the story Ron. You heard Neville shouting?”

“Yes sir. I heard Neville yelling for help, so I went to see what was wrong. He told me three people in black cloaks and Death Eater masks had attacked him and Professor Snape and that they were still somewhere in the castle.”

“What were you doing down in the dungeons, Mr. Weasley?” Snape demanded.

“We were, I mean I was...,” Ron squirmed uncomfortably in his chair and it had nothing to do with Madame Pomfrey treating his wounds.

Snape fixed Ron with a cold stare. “Yes, Mr. Weasley,” he prompted.

“What difference does it make why he was there, Severus?” Professor Vigo asked coming to Ron’s rescue. “The idea that Ron would be helping those who attacked you is absurd.”

Snape turned a cold stare on Professor Vigo but before he could say anything Professor Dumbledore settled himself in his chair behind his desk and asked, “What did you do then, Ron?”

“Well I figured if Death Eaters were involved then Harry was probably in trouble. I knew that Harry and Hermione had gone out flying on their broomsticks so I told Neville to find you, Professor. Then I ran back to Gryffindor House. Dean, Seamus, Ginny, Dennis and Colin were in the Common Room so I told them that Death Eaters were on the grounds and after Harry. I ran and got my broom and went out the dormitory window to try to warn Harry before the Death Eaters got him. Everyone else followed as fast as they could.”

Professor Dumbledore nodded, “That explains the broken window in Gryffindor Tower.” Dumbledore then looked over to Professor Vigo. “While Ron was rallying his classmates, what happened on the stairs?”

“As I was going down the stairs, the Death Eaters were on their way up. They must have heard me coming. Their attack surprised me and I was only able to stop one of them before the other two escaped out into the main floor. Once I had secured the intruder, I had hoped to bring him to you, Professor, for interrogation but it seems the prisoner had other ideas. He said something like, ‘The Dark Lord will have his vengeance on the one who has betrayed him.’ Then there was a crunching noise and he just ... died. I don’t know how he did it. There was no way for him to cast a spell. He must have had a poison capsule in his mouth when I caught him. He was so young, what a waste.”

“Have we identified the body?” asked Professor Dumbledore.

“Yes, Headmaster. His name was Marcus Flint. A former student of my own house who graduated a few years ago.” Snape answered.

Professor Dumbledore gave Snape a sympathetic look then asked Harry and Hermione what they had seen. Once they had told their story, Dumbledore said, “The two surviving Death Eaters must have known that they would not be able to escape Hogwarts the same way that they entered. We know from our search of the grounds that the school’s broom shed was broken into and a pair of brooms was stolen. I would say that it would be safe to assume that the Death Eaters stole the broomsticks to make their escape and while trying to get far enough away from Hogwarts to Disapparate they ran into Harry and Hermione quite by accident. I do not believe that Harry was one of their targets. Had he been, I’m sure that they would have been better prepared to ambush him as they made their escape.”

Professor Dumbledore sat in thought for a moment then surveyed the room and said, “I think that the immediate danger has passed so you,” he turned to look at Ron, Neville, Hermione and Harry in turn, “may all return to Gryffindor House. Tomorrow we will see what can be done to secure this new passage out of Hogwarts so that the events of this evening do not repeat themselves.”

Chapter 14: The Storm Breaks

Clearly dismissed, Ron led his fellow students out of the Headmaster’s office. As soon as they had all stepped off of the moving staircase, Ron turned to Neville. “You saved Snape’s life?” he asked incredulously. He leaned close to Neville and sniffed noisily as they set off down the corridor. “Well, you haven’t been drinking. Did he use some kind of enchantment on you? What happened?”

Neville seemed to come back to himself. He wasn’t as pale as he had been while sitting in Professor Dumbledore’s office. He shrugged and looked at Ron, “It seems like a dream, you know. It all happened so fast. I still can’t believe I did all that.”

“Did what?” Ron prompted impatiently.

Neville grinned shyly and said, “You’re never going to believe me.”

“Of course we will, Neville” Hermione said.

“That’s right. We know you’re good in a fight. We all saw how you handled yourself in the Ministry last year.” Harry added.

Ron threw an arm around Neville’s shoulders and said, “That’s right. But this time there were only three of them. So come on. Spill already.”

“All right,” Neville began. “Well, I went down to Snape’s office for my detention. He was all ready for me.” Neville scowled at the memory, “I knocked on his office door and he told me to come in. I walk in and I see he has a huge barrel of rats pickled in some foul smelling liquid. He handed me a small knife and tells me that I have to remove the liver from every rat in the barrel then I have to squeeze the juice out of the livers into a flask on the worktable next to his desk.” Neville shivered in revulsion. “I hate rats but there was nothing to do but get started. Snape told me I had to juice every rat in the barrel before I could go. I reached in and got to it. I didn’t want the git to know how much it disgusted me so I just figured I’d do it quick and get it over with. I was looking around his office as I worked looking for a distraction, you know, to keep my mind occupied when I hear muffled voices outside the office door. Snape must have heard it too because he started to walk past me to the door. The next thing I know the door blasts open and Snape staggers back towards me. I see three dark figures wearing Death Eater masks leveling their wands at us through the smoke so I threw the rat I was holding at them and as I ducked down I kicked Snape’s legs out from under him with a quick foot-sweep. He falls and bangs his head on the desk and gets knocked silly as three spells tear past overhead. I could see their legs from where I was under the worktable so I start blasting spells at their legs. I don’t even remember what I was casting.” Neville gave a small laugh, “I don’t even think I hit any of them. I look over to see if Snape is OK and I see him trying to sit up. There’s all this blood running down his face and I guess I panicked. I started yelling for help as loud as I could. The three Death Eaters turn and run so I start chasing them, still yelling and looking to hit them with a Stunner or a Trip Jinx. They run down the corridor blasting spells over their shoulders so I have to keep dashing for cover so I couldn’t catch up with them. They made it to the stairway and that’s when Ron came out into the corridor with no shirt and something on his face.” Neville turned to Ron with a puzzled expression, “What was that you were wearing?”

“Diving goggles and a snorkel,” Ron murmured.

Harry raised his eyebrows as he turned to Ron and asked, “What were you wearing those for?”

Ron blushed crimson and said, “I’d rather not say.” He looked around nervously and said, “Um, Neville. Do you think you could leave that part out of the story the next time you tell it? In fact, I would consider it a personal favor if you never mentioned it again, OK?”

Neville grinned cheekily at Ron and said, “A nod’s as good as a wink to a blind bat. Grin grin. Wink wink. Nudge nudge. Say no more.”

Ron nodded his thanks to Neville. “Well, I guess we all know what happened from there. Neville went to find Dumbledore and I flew to your rescue. Good triumphs over evil and Harry even managed to stay out of the hospital wing. Smells like victory to me.”

They had finally made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady so Ron gave the password and stepped aside. “Ladies first.” Hermione stepped through into the Gryffindor Common Room followed by Harry then Ron and finally Neville. They were stopped just beyond the hole by what looked like their entire House. Everyone started talking at once asking what had happened and if it were true that someone had died.

Harry took the opportunity to put the spotlight on someone besides himself for a change and shouted for quiet. When the assembled crowd finally quieted down, Harry told them that since Neville and Ron were the two heroes of the day that they would tell everyone what happened. He then pulled Hermione over to a relatively quiet corner for a quick chat while Neville and Ron were peppered with questions from the curious students.

Seeing that they were being ignored now that Neville had started his narrative, Harry turned a concerned expression to Hermione. “I hope that tonight’s events don’t keep you from flying anymore. I was having a really good time with you out there.”

Hermione smiled and said, “I was having a good time too. You helped me to relax and I admit flying with you was a lot of fun. I’m beginning to see why you enjoy it so much.”

“So we’ll do it again sometime?” Harry asked hopefully.

“Definitely,” Hermione answered with a grin.

Harry was so relieved that she had a good time he pulled her to him and gave her a long and passionate kiss. Blushing and panting slightly, Hermione whispered, “Harry, not in front of everybody. What will they think?”

“Who cares?” He kissed her again. “Besides, no one even noticed.” They turned then and saw that Harry was right. No one was paying them the least bit of attention. Everyone was staring at Ron and Neville who were telling their stories to their enraptured audiences with obvious glee.

As the holidays passed, Ron and Neville were asked to tell their stories over and over again. Neville was a little self conscious at first at being the center of so much attention but he seemed to gain more confidence after Luna Lovegood heard him tell the story, called him a hero and kissed him. Ron on the other hand had no problems being in the spotlight. He told and retold his part of the story with obvious relish. Harry and Hermione were both happy for him. Ron was finally being sought out for something he did rather than because of his being friends with Harry.

It was obvious that the students felt that Neville and Ron were heroes; it was harder to determine what the faculty thought. Not one of them mentioned the incident until the rest of the students had returned to school. Professor Dumbledore gave a speech at dinner the night everyone returned. He explained that Hogwarts had been infiltrated by Death Eaters and that a teacher had been attacked. He also explained that one of the invaders had been caught and had taken his own life to avoid interrogation. Professor Dumbledore mentioned that the invader was a former student but he did not mention Marcus Flint’s name. It was a very somber speech where Professor Dumbledore expressed how much of a tragedy it was for someone so young to lose their life. He went on to say that it was Voldemort’s corrupting influence that destroyed that person’s life and how they would all need to be more open and tolerant of one another if they were to bring about Voldemort’s defeat. After Dumbledore’s speech, Neville wouldn’t tell his story to anyone and Ron was so moved that he dropped all embellishments from his tale and would only give a very uninteresting account of what he had done.

The only teacher who seemed affected by the events that occurred over the holidays was Snape. It was obvious by the way he glared at Neville and Ron that he was not at all impressed by their actions. He constantly loomed over them during class criticizing their every move, asking them questions they couldn’t possibly answer and sneering at them when they answered incorrectly. He assigned so much homework during the week following the holiday that Harry and Ron barely had time to practice for the Quidditch finals that upcoming weekend.

All of Harry and Ron’s spare time was spent in the library that week. Their only consolation was the fact that whenever they were there they invariably found Malfoy seated at one of the worktables surrounded by ancient dusty tomes and scraps of parchment. Ron was thrilled to see their old nemesis rooting through ageing grimoires. Malfoy was always there before they arrived and never left before they did. The dark circles under his eyes were silent testament to the long hours of research Malfoy was putting into his assignments. Without Hermione’s help, Harry and Ron would never have had the time to complete Snape’s essays. Even though Hermione steadfastly refused to help them write the essays Snape had assigned about when you would use powdered Hydra’s tooth versus the whole tooth, or why you needed to add exactly half an ounce of Delquiff sap to Happy Juice, she did provide them with a list of books to use as references which cut down their research time considerably.

It had rained off and on during the week but Saturday was sunny and clear if a bit breezy, perfect weather for the Quidditch Finals. The Gryffindor House Team was very excited. They were all feeling very confident since the only way they wouldn’t win the Quidditch Cup would be to lose this final match to Hufflepuff by over 200 points. Hufflepuff put up a valiant fight but the outcome was inevitable due to Ron’s performance as Keeper and Dennis’ aggressive and reckless handling of the Quaffle. The match soon became one sided and it was almost a relief when Harry caught the Snitch. The only notable event was that after catching the snitch, Harry, instead of joining his teammates on the ground, flew over to Hermione who was watching from the stands and kissed her in front of the entire school. Hermione blushed prettily in embarrassment but that didn’t stop her from almost pulling Harry off his broom as she returned his kiss.

The elation at winning the House Cup quickly dissipated due to two unrelated but equally depressing events. First, Professor Snape made his feelings about Gryffindor’s victory quite clear. It was assumed by the Gryffindors that Snape felt that it was adding insult to injury for him to have had to endure having his life saved by Neville followed by Slytherin’s abysmal performance on the Quidditch Pitch. He piled abuse, detentions and extra assignments upon any Gryffindor that was unlucky enough to draw his attention. There was a rumor that Snape wanted to give Neville a month of detentions but he didn’t want it to look like he was keeping Neville close for protection.

The second sobering event was Katie breaking up with Ron. Ron came into their dorm room one evening looking as if he had just heard that the Chudley Cannons were being disbanded. Apparently Katie had told Ron that she wanted to be able to see other people since she would be graduating this year and Ron still had another year to go at Hogwarts. Ron was crushed. Harry and Hermione went out of their way to try to cheer Ron up. Ginny offered to try to fix him up with a friend of hers that Ron had once said was cute and even Dean and Seamus didn’t have the heart to rib him.

It was a quiet night in the middle of the week and Harry, Hermione and Ron were in the Library working on yet another Potions essay. Ron was in particularly poor spirits. He seemed on the verge of breaking down in tears but his pride wouldn’t let him admit to his friends how upset he truly was. Ron finally stuffed his books and unfinished essay in his bag and dashed out of the Library stating that he needed some fresh air.

Harry turned to Hermione and saw a concerned expression on her face that mirrored his own. “I’m going to make sure he’s OK. See you in the Common Room later?” Hermione nodded and he kissed her cheek briefly before he left. On his way out of the Library, Harry noticed Malfoy sitting alone at his usual table toying with a glass prism and a cruel smile on his face. Harry just assumed that he had seen Ron hurry out and was laughing to himself over Ron’s troubles.

Harry began his search for Ron in the kitchens. Ron hadn’t had much of an appetite lately and Harry was hoping that hunger had driven him there. Harry was on his way back to his dormitory so that he could locate Ron on the Marauder’s Map when he spotted Ron just leaving the Great Hall through the main entrance. Harry hurried after him hoping that Ron was just headed out to see Hagrid. Though Harry made it outside shortly after Ron, Harry saw that Ron was quite a distance ahead of him. Ron’s long legs were quickly carrying him across the grounds in the direction of Hagrid’s house, but at the last moment Ron turned and headed into the Forbidden Forest instead.

Harry ran to catch up with Ron but Ron must have heard him because he increased his speed as well. Harry was getting frustrated at Ron’s behavior and was about to head back to the castle when he saw Ron turn and wave for him to follow. That’s odd. Harry thought. He knew Ron wasn’t particularly fond of the forest, especially since their encounter with Aragog and his children in their third year. Ron continued to tramp along the vague forest trail and then quite suddenly, he left the track and headed deeper into the trees. Harry was thankful that the moon was full, it was providing enough light that he could easily see Ron’s hurrying figure ahead of him. Exasperated, Harry finally called out, “Ron, where the hell are you going?”

As if on queue, Ron stopped. As Harry approached he saw that Ron was standing on the other side of a small clearing. He turned to Harry, smiled, and vanished. Harry took several cautious steps into the clearing and was just about to call to Ron again when suddenly, a voice drawled from off to his left, “Hello Scar-head. Expelliarmus! “

Harry was knocked to the ground by the force of the spell. He stood quickly and as he spun around he saw Malfoy perched on a fallen tree smirking at him. Malfoy looked around, “It’s really quite desolate out here, you know. Just the place really.” Malfoy saw Harry scanning the ground searching for and not finding his wand, “Oh you thought that this was going to be a fair fight? Don’t be stupid. You can yell for help if you want to, you’re deep enough in the Forbidden Forest that no one will hear you”.

Harry looked around warily. “Look, Malfoy, don’t let Voldemort cont...”

“Voldemort,” Malfoy cut him off, “has nothing to do with this you arrogant son of a bitch. This is personal!” Malfoy hissed the last word with unexpected vehemence. “I am about to show you, Potter, what makes Purebloods better than the rest of you lowborn scum. You see, I’ve cast a spell that is going to ensure that I will never have to suffer your presence ever again.” There was a low feral growl that seemed to come from a particularly dense shadow between two trees. A shadow, Harry realized, with a pair of bilious green eyes agleam with malice and hunger. Malfoy followed Harry’s gaze and smiled. “Ah, speak of the devil.”

Something lumbered from the shadows, a piece of midnight straight out of a nightmare. The shape was so black that Harry was unable to make out any details of the beast as it hunched closer. It was vaguely ape-like with stunted legs and long gangling arms ending in huge wickedly curved talons. Harry felt a chill run through him and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. The shape that was lurching towards him was horrifying. Its muzzle opened to reveal row after row of wickedly sharp teeth that seemed to glow in the moonlight as it gave a low gurgling snarl. The beast went into a crouch and gathered itself to spring.

“Scared Potter?” Malfoy drawled.

Harry started to back away from the shape. “Malfoy, you can’t let this thing attack me. People will notice you’re missing. They’ll know...”

Once again Malfoy cut him off, “But I’m not missing. I’m right where I’ve been for the past hour.” As if on queue, Malfoy’s image flickered. Comprehension flooded Harry’s mind. Malfoy must have read the expression on his face. “That’s right, just a spell. Just like the one you followed out here.” Malfoy’s image grinned wider. “Good-bye Potter” and Malfoy’s image splintered into a thousand dazzling prisms of light.

The creature chose that moment of distraction to strike. Momentarily blinded by the canceling of Malfoy’s spell, Harry sensed the shape coming toward him and he dropped backward onto the ground covering his head with his arms. Razors of ice ripped across his chest tearing a scream of pain from him. He rolled to his feet and turned to see the beast land with fluid grace and spin to face him. It brought its claws to its mouth and licked the blood, his blood from them. It was making a phlegmy wheezing noise and Harry realized with a shudder that it was laughing at him.

Something inside Harry changed at that moment, he was suddenly furious. Was this his destiny? The most powerful Dark Wizard in a century failed time and time again to kill him and now he was going to be killed by a classmate with an overdeveloped schoolboy rivalry? No. Rage poured through him, white hot and blinding. No. The beast sprung towards him unnaturally fast, its claws reaching for his heart. No. Harry raised his hands before him, an instinctive gesture to ward off the attack. No. The beast screamed in bloodlust. No. Harry screamed his rage into the night. “NOOOOOO!” A blinding flash of light and the sensation of floating on air, then darkness.

AN: Well, this is the final chapter. Thanks for sticking it out until the end; I hope you enjoyed the ride!

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Chapter 15: Aftermath

Darkness. Warm comforting darkness. I’m safe here. Harry thought to himself. Safe. Safe from what? Is something after me? Then the thought came, Voldemort! He’s the one who’s after me. Is that why I’m here? I have to get away. He’s going to find me. Harry tried to stir and became vaguely aware that he couldn’t move his arms. A part of his mind realized that his arms were tied down. Then he became aware that it wasn’t just his arms, he couldn’t move at all. Memories came to him then. Memories of being tied to a headstone. No, I’ve got to get away. I have to move! Harry’s eyes snapped open.

Bright light blinded him and he blinked repeatedly, desperate to see where he was. Moments later his eyes adjusted to the brightness but he could still only see a bright blur. He wasn’t wearing his glasses. Harry tried to take stock of his situation. He was on his back in a comfortable bed but he seemed to be tied down. He felt very weak, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness. He looked around and saw mostly white around him. There was, however, a dark shape close to him. That brought a moment of panic as Harry remembered being attacked by a dark shape in the Forbidden Forest.

Then he realized that the shape was much smaller and as he squinted to try to see it better, he saw that it was more brown and ... fuzzy. Harry started to test the strength of his bonds but he was so weak. The brown shape beside him stirred and then he heard, “Harry?” It was Hermione’s voice and he relaxed at once. “Harry you’re awake! Oh Harry we were so worried!”

Harry tried to speak and only managed a weak croak. He swallowed and tried again. “Can’t see” he rasped.

“Wait, let me get your glasses.” He saw the shape draw closer and he felt Hermione’s soft touch at his temples as she slipped his glasses in place. Then he was staring at her pale tear streaked face.

“Where?” His voice was getting stronger.

“It’s OK, Harry. You’re OK. You’re in the hospital wing.”

“Why can’t I move? What happened?”

Hermione’s face was tight with concern. “You’re hurt, Harry. Your hands are badly burned so Madame Pomfrey put you in restraints to keep you from damaging them any more. Do you remember what happened to you?”

Harry thought for a moment but only remembered darkness. “No, I can’t remember. I remember being in the library with you and Ron. Then I remember following Ron and then ... then I woke up here.”

Hermione touched his face tenderly and sobbed, “Oh Harry. I thought we’d lost you.” She looked up from his face and dried her tears. “I have to let Madame Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore know that you’re awake. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.” With that, she opened the white curtains surrounding Harry’s bed and stepped out of his sight.

Madame Pomfrey arrived first and she explained to Harry that he was brought to the hospital wing with his hands badly burned. Oddly, the burns seemed to resist her attempts at magical remedies so she had only limited success healing them. Because of this, both of Harry’s hands were heavily bandaged to keep them immobile while they healed. Madame Pomfrey could not explain why Harry felt so weak but now that he was awake she was sure that he would make a speedy recovery.

Before Harry could ask her what she meant by “Now that you’re awake,” Madame Pomfrey was replaced by Professor Dumbledore who closed the curtains around Harry’s bed with a flick of his wand and sat down so that they could have a private chat.

Professor Dumbledore smiled down at Harry and asked how Harry was feeling. Harry responded that he was feeling fine except that he was a bit tired. Professor Dumbledore nodded and asked Harry what he remembered about his accident. Harry told Professor Dumbledore everything he could remember. He was in the Library with Ron and Hermione and had left to follow Ron. He had found Ron in the Great Hall and followed him out to a clearing in the Forbidden Forest. Once there, Ron vanished and Harry was attacked by ... something. Harry didn’t know what to call it but he tried to describe it as best he could. He made no mention of Malfoy. For once he agreed with Malfoy, this was personal. He didn’t want Malfoy to think that he needed Dumbledore to fight his battles for him. When Harry was finished, Professor Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled as he asked if there was anything else Harry remembered. Harry suspected that Professor Dumbledore knew he was holding something back but Harry said he couldn’t remember anything else right now and Professor Dumbledore didn’t press him.

Professor Dumbledore then told Harry what had happened after Harry had blacked out. Dumbledore wasn’t sure what exactly had happened between Harry and the conjured beast, but whatever it was expelled a tremendous amount of magical energy, which explained why Harry felt so drained. The resulting explosion had been clearly heard in the castle and had even knocked loose several panes of glass in the lower windows. As Hagrid was closest to the Forest, he was the one who found Harry. Hagrid had said that he found Harry in what looked like the epicenter of a bomb blast. Harry lay at the bottom of a smoking crater fourty feet across and roughly ten feet deep. The trees around the crater were smashed flat in concentric rings for a further fourty feet from the edge of the crater. Hagrid thought Harry was dead at first but when he realized that Harry was still breathing, he scooped Harry up and ran with him back to the castle as fast as he could. Hagrid brought Harry to the Hospital Wing and Madame Pomfrey set to work immediately to try to heal Harry’s charred hands and the slashes on his chest. Harry had been in a coma since he was brought back to Hogwarts three weeks ago.

Harry was stunned. He had no idea that he had been unconscious for so long. No wonder Hermoine had looked so relieved when he had opened his eyes.

After Professor Dumbledore secured Harry’s promise that they would talk more about this later and that Harry would inform him if he remembered anything new, Professor Dumbledore cancelled his privacy charm and allowed Madame Pomfrey to continue Harry’s treatments.

The next day Harry was feeling much better and Madame Pomfrey told Harry that he was allowed to have visitors as long as they came in small groups and that they didn’t get him too excited. And so began a veritable flood of visitors beginning with Hargid, Ron and Hermione. Hagrid was so happy that Harry was awake he soon had to excuse himself to hide his tears of relief.

Left alone with his best friends, Harry soon told them the same story he told Professor Dumbledore about what had happened in the Forbidden Forest. Ron gave Harry a look that made it obvious that he knew Harry hadn’t told them everything. He started to ask Harry a question but snapped his mouth shut instead and stood glaring at Harry from over Hermione’s shoulder. Hermione didn’t react to Harry’s story at all and Harry suspected that she would interrogate him at another time.

All of Harry’s friends came to visit him over the next couple of days. All of them tried so hard to keep Harry in good humor that he quickly became annoyed by their over cheerful attitudes. Harry knew that they meant well and so he lay there and laughed at their silly jokes and thanked them for coming to visit. He soon became very frustrated that Madame Pomfrey refused to allow him to leave his bed until his hands were healed. Harry was sure that without Ron, and especially Hermione, he would have gone mad from boredom.

Ron came to see him often, usually bringing a chessboard and pieces so that he and Harry could play Wizard Chess as Ron kept Harry updated on Hogwarts gossip and Ron’s tattered love life. Ron even showed up every morning to help Harry wash up and dress. Harry wasn’t thrilled with the idea of Madame Pomfrey helping him with these tasks so he was very grateful for Ron’s help.

Hermione hardly left Harry’s bedside. She was always there to help him in a thousand little ways. Straightening his sheets, fluffing pillows, helping him eat, and just comforting him with her presence. Harry was glad that she was there for but day by day he became more and more frustrated that he couldn’t even hold her. The Hospital wing was greatly lacking in romantic atmosphere. Harry wondered if Hermione felt the same.

One night after dinner and after Ron had left them alone; Hermione asked him what he wanted to do that evening. As usual she had brought Harry’s school books and an assortment of simple diversions. Before Harry could stop himself he said, “Hold you.”

Hermione looked at him and raised one eyebrow quizzically, “What was that?”

Harry sighed his frustration and said, “I just want to hold you. And maybe ... kiss you.” Harry wasn’t sure how he expected her to react but he was very surprised when she smiled mischievously and drew her wand.

Harry watched in anticipation as Hermione cast several charms on the curtains surrounding Harry’s bed. When she was finished she turned to him with an impish smile and said, “Scoot over.”

“What?”

“Scoot over and make room for me,” Hermione said quietly still smiling.

Harry shifted on the bed making room for Hermione. The bed was narrow and not really big enough for two people so their bodies pressed together as Hermione removed her robes, pulled back the sheets and slid into bed with Harry. Harry put his arms around her as she settled in next to him. He pulled her close and breathed in her scent which smelled faintly of lilacs. Tenderly Hermione cupped his cheek as she lowered her lips to his and kissed him.

The kisses started gentle and tentative but soon, Hermione was aggressively exploring Harry’s mouth with her tongue. Suddenly, Hermione threw her leg over Harry’s hips and pulled herself on top of him. Harry’s concern that she would feel how excited he was by this move was quickly replaced first by surprise, then by desire as she began to grind against him.

She arched her back suddenly, pulling her chest away from his but her mouth continued to devour his. She reached between them and violently tore open Harry’s pajama top. Harry heard the buttons skitter across the floor. She pressed against him again and began kissing and biting his neck and chest. Harry wished desperately that he was able to use his hands as Hermione trailed her tongue across his chest to his nipple. Her hands were everywhere and when she slid off of him her hand trailed down his chest, past the drawstring of his bottoms and suddenly she was gripping him through his pajamas.

“What are you doing?” Harry groaned between feverish kisses.

“Why? Do you want me to stop?”

“No.” Harry couldn’t believe this was the same girl he had been dating for the past few months. She was never so aggressive. “What’s got into you tonight?”

“Tonight you’re mine, Harry. Mine to do with as I please and there’s nothing you can do about it.” She released him then and Harry felt her jerk the drawstring of his pajama bottoms. She sat up only long enough to pull them down past his hips fully exposing his straining flesh then she lay beside him again, took him in her hand and began a rhythmic stroking.

Harry’s eyes rolled in pleasure and his breath rasped in his throat. Hermione began kissing him again on his chest and neck and finally moving up to capture his mouth as the pace of her hand increased. She had a wild look in her eyes that only served to inflame Harry’s passion. Harry couldn’t believe how good she was making him feel. He wanted it to go on forever but he knew he was not going to hold out for much longer.

“Oh God, Hermione,” Harry hissed between breaths. “I’m gonna, gonna ...”

“Shhhhh.” She kissed him as his entire body tensed suddenly and then he erupted in pulse after pulse of pleasure that was more intense than anything Harry had ever felt before.

He panted as he laid there, his mind reeling from what Hermione had just done to him. He was vaguely aware of her murmuring something softly and then she pulled his pajamas back in place and tied the bottoms and rebuttoned his shirt. He opened his eyes and stared in mild shock at Hermione’s pleased smiling face.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Harry laughed softly.

Hermione’s impish grin was back. “If you liked that, Harry, just wait until your bandages come off.”

Harry smiled and kissed her as she leaned forward. Harry wasn’t sure what the future held for him but after this year he was certain that his life had become a whole lot more interesting.

END.