Harry Potter and the Arithmetic Theory

SoraSummers

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance, Action & Adventure
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 27/03/2004
Last Updated: 18/01/2005
Status: paused

After he gets his O.W.L.S., Harry only takes five classes for his sixth year. But when he comes upon a sixteen year-old riddle over the summer, he decides to take Arithmancy. No one could have fathomed how much meaning the class would have...

Chapters

1. Chapters 1-3

2. Chapters 4-6

3. Chapters 7-9

4. Chapters 10-12

5. Chapters 13-15

6. Chapters 16-18

7. 19-21

8. Chapters 22-24

9. Chapters 25-27

10. Chapter 28

11. Chapter 29

12. Chapter 31

13. Chapter 31

14. Chapter 32

15. Chapter 33

16. Chapter 34

17. Chapter 34

18. Chapter 36

19. NOT AN UPDATE!!! Read for background info on the weapons tr

20. Sorry! A/N!

21. Chapter 37

22. Chapter 38

23. Chapter 39

24. The Cruelty of Fate

25. Chapter 40

26. Chapter 41

27. Chapter 42

28. Chapter 43

29. Chapter 44

30. Chapter 45

31. Chapter 46

32. Clearing The Air

33. Chapter 47

1. Chapters 1-3

A/N

Okay, first off, it has taken me forever how to figure out how to get this fic here, so the story is already on chapter 17. Because of this, I’ll be posting three chapters at a time until the story here at portkey is caught up.

Okay, the characters start off pretty close to cannon, but I kind of drift away as the story goes along. Sorry!

Sorry if the text is sort of weird, I’m still trying to figure everything out.

Alright! Finally, all characters, places, etc. belong to JKR and warner bros.

R/R!

******

Chapter 1

A young man laid flat on his aching back - due to numerous hours of forced physical labor - and stared at the yellow-stained ceiling of the smallest bedroom in #4 Pivet Drive. This was a boy that was either loathed or feared by every person in his town of Little Whining. They all believed him to go to St. Brutus’ - a school for incurable criminal boys. Oh how wrong they were.

The six-foot, green eyed young man did not in fact, attend St. Brutus’ like the population of Little Whining believed. This was a lie told by the young man’s Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, whom despised the boy with every essence of their being.

They hated him because if anyone ever found out what he really was, their blissful ‘normalcy’ would be vanquished. Harry Potter was probably the most un-normal boy in the world. He was a wizard, and a famous one at that. Everyone in the wizarding world knew of his story, how he was the boy who defeated he-who-must-not-be-named.

Harry snorted at the thought of that alias. The man’s given name at birth was Tom Marvolo Riddle - a fact Harry learned while saving one of his best friends’ - Ron Weasley, a tall, lanky freckled boy with fiery red hair - sister in his second year. Riddle had nearly killed him that night, but Harry had prevailed.

Before he learned this Harry knew of the man only as Lord Voldemort, the most evil wizard to ever live. He had murdered Harry’s parents when he was just one year-old, but then something extraordinary had happened. Voldemort had turned his wand on Harry and muttered the incantation ‘Avada Kedavra’ and for the first time in the history of the wizarding world - it had not worked. The spell rebounded upon the caster, and Voldemort fled, merely a shadow of what he had been before.

No one knew how or why Harry had survived, save two people. One, Harry’s Divination Professor Sibbyl Trelawney, did not remember the event, even though she had made the prophecy that predicted it. The other was the man the prophecy had been told to - Albus Dumbledore, the greatest sorcerer in the world.

And now Harry knew as well. The prophecy had explained it all. When Harry’s mother, Lily Potter, had given her own life to save him, it (in Harry’s mind) somewhat fulfilled the prophecy. The prophecy told of a young man born in the dying days of July, (Harry’s birthday was July the thirty first) whose parents had defied the dark lord thrice times, would be the only one who could defeat him.

Lily’s sacrifice gave Harry the time he needed to become an able enough wizard to defeat the dark lord. As a child there was no way he could have ever vanquished the man for good, but he was able to put Voldemort into hiding for ten years.

Since then, Voldemort had done everything possible to rid the world of one Harry Potter, but his plans had never quite worked. Except for one - in Harry’s fourth year (he would soon be entering his sixth) the dark lord successfully recovered his body. This was due to a potion including parts of Harry and Voldemort’s dead father (Voldemort had killed him) and also a piece of the traitor, Wormtail.

Harry sighed. Wormtail had been one of his father’s - James Potter - best friends at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, the school that Harry now attended. But for a year before his parents died the rat had been feeding information to Voldemort, ultimately resulting in his parents deaths.

Another marauder - the name the four best friends, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail), Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin - had died just a month before.

Sirius Black, or Padfoot, had died at the hands of his own cousin Bellatrix Lestrange in the Department of Mysteries battle the year before. It was after that that Harry learned of the prophecy.

Harry had told no one that he would die either a murderer or the victim of murder, not even his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

Harry winced when thinking of the latter. Because of him she had nearly died the year before, in the Department of Mysteries. Hermione was a beautiful (although she didn’t believe that herself), intelligent, nice, and caring young witch. Harry didn’t know what he would do if he ever lost her.

Harry’s thoughts were interrupted by a booming voice from downstairs. “BOY! GET DOWN HERE NOW AND TRIM THOSE BLOODY HEDGES!”

Harry groaned and slowly rose from the bed, an interesting chorus of mattress squeaks and back cracking following him. He stretched once again before leaving his room and walking down the stairs to the kitchen.

As he entered the spotless room (his aunt Petunia was very neat and orderly) he received a sneer from his cousin Dudley. He was perhaps the largest boy Harry had ever seen, he was gulfing down his bacon while sitting on two polyester chairs - his bottom was too large for just one.

“Hey Potty,” The whale-like boy said to him. “You better bring a few towels, it’s a scorcher out there. Better learn how to swim too, we wouldn’t want you to drown in your own sweat!” He laughed gleefully at what he thought was a great insult towards the fifteen (sixteen in a week) year-old wizard.

Harry rolled his eyes as he stalked past him into the backyard. “Then maybe you should do it Dudley, you obviously have loads of practice swimming.” He grinned at his slight towards his cousin, laughing aloud at Dudley’s confused face - the boy was to dense to even register that Harry had insulted him.

Whistling in tune with the wind, Harry grabbed the hedge-clippers from the garden shed and got to work. After nearly an hour of hard work, Harry collapsed onto a bench in the garden, sweat glistening and trickling all over his six foot frame.

Harry had bulked up somewhat over the summer, realizing that he needed to be strong physically as well as magically and mentally to defeat Voldemort.

Harry’s relaxation was interrupted by Dudley asking him a surprising question. “Who’s Sirius?” Harry’s eyes snapped open violently and he sprung to his feet, wand already in hand and pointed at Dudley’s face, which was now contorted in fear.

“THAT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! NOW GET THE BLOODY HELL AWAY FROM ME BEFORE I HEX YOU BACK TO GRADE SCHOOL!” Harry was fuming. He didn’t care that Dudley was asking an innocent question, Sirius’ death was still to fresh and painful for Harry to ponder upon.

“O-okay,” Dudley said in a squeaky voice not unlike Colin and Dennis Creevey and started back towards the house, still shaking in fear. Harry, even though his cousin had always been mean to him, felt bad.

“Dudley, wait.” He said, and the lad spun around, surprise now mixed with fear in his facial expression. Harry decided that he had to tell some one. Even if he didn’t like Dudley, it was like having a mountain troll on his chest, and he had to remove it. “Sirius, Sirius was my godfather.”

And so Harry told him everything, the pain in his chest recessing with each passing minute. He told Dudley everything. About Cedric’s death in fourth year, Voldemort returning to his body, all the troubles he had had in his fifth year at Hogwarts, the Department of Mysteries battle, everything.

After that he told Dudley - who was listening and staring at Harry in awe, obviously intrigued by the information - all about Ron and Hermione, his other friends, his horrid date and kiss with Cho Chang (a very pretty Ravenclaw the year above Harry that he had had a crush on ever since his third year but finally realized the year before that it definitely wasn’t meant to be), and pretty much everything in his life.

It was almost two hours later when he finished, the weight finally lifted from his chest. “Wow,” Dudley stuttered, suddenly in awe of his cousin. “I had no idea, I just thought you were a freak.” Harry grinned at him. “Well I’m not that bad, really.”

For the first time in their sixteen years together, Dudley gave Harry a genuine smile. “So,” He said with a strange tone and cocked head. “How long have you been dating that Hermoninny girl?” Harry looked at him dumbfounded. “Huh, Hermione’s my best friend. We’ve never dated. What makes you think we have?”

Dudley laughed, the first true one Harry had ever heard from him, and walked away, but not before replying, “You’re the smart one. You figure it out.” Harry stared at his retreating backside with a frown. ‘What the hell is he talking about? I don’t feel that way about Hermione, do I?’ Harry shook his head to clear the thoughts. ‘You aren’t following that trail Mr. Potter.’ Harry walked back to the house without another thought.

A week later Harry was awoken by a soft knock on his door. “Hey Dudley, come on in.” Harry mumbled, knowing exactly who it was. Dudley came in with a smile, hands behind his back. Harry smiled back at him. Over the last week he and Dudley had become closer than he had ever thought possible. Harry now thought of him as a brother.

Even though he felt this way, he was still surprised when Dudley pulled a present out from behind his back and handed it to Harry. “Here you go. Sorry it’s not wrapped, but I hope you like it. Maybe you can read it with someone else?” He raised his eyebrows twice with a smirk on his face. Harry through the nearest pillow at him. Dudley just wouldn’t leave the fact that Harry only thought of Hermione as a friend alone.

Harry looked at the slightly heavy book. An Advanced Study of the Theories of Physics. Harry rose his eyebrows in confusion, ignoring the three owls that had just flown into his window.

“I thought you would like this,” Dudley explained. “Because it’s all about why magic shouldn’t work, but obviously it does, and I thought maybe you could use it to I don’t know, like link the two together or something.” He shrugged and Harry smiled. “That’s actually a great idea Duds,” (that was Harry’s nickname for his cousin) “I think this could actually be kinda cool.” Dudley grinned and Harry turned to the owls that had flown into the room. One, a tiny, energetic owl that zoomed all over the room, was no doubt Pigwedgeon, Ron’s owl. Another was a dark shade of red, and was nipping affectionately at Hedwig’s feathers. Harry was slightly amused at this, Hermione’s new owl had never acted like that before.

The third was a simple brown barn owl, the type that most muggles (non-magic folk) saw in the forests and such. Harry figured it must be from the ministry. He froze. That meant it had his O.W.L. results. O.W.L.’s, or Ordinary Wizarding Levels, were the culmination of all that Harry had learned in his first five years at Hogwarts. He gulped and decided to open that one last.

Harry took the letter from Pigwedgeon and read (well, tried at least) Ron’s letter.

Dear Harry,

Hey, how’s it hanging! I hope you like your present - they’re Chudley Cannon tickets! We got special permission from Dumbledore and just the two of us are gonna go to the first home game of the season on September 14! I hope you’re as excited as I am!

Anyways, Bill finally proposed to Fleur. They’ve been dating for so long that it really wasn’t a surprise. Oh guess what? Charlie is going to be co-teaching Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid this year! It’s gonna be great! But why are they bringing in a dragon expert? Gulp.

The twins are the newest sensation in Diagon Alley, they’re pulling in about a thousand galleons a week now, and they’ve been having twenty percent forwarded to your vault, since you were their financer and all.

Harry paused. What? He couldn’t complain but he still didn’t think he deserved all that money. Cedric won that tournament, not him. He went back to the letter.

Oh yeah, and guess who lives like ten minutes away from here? Luna Lovegood! She’s actually pretty cool now that I’ve gotten to know her, but she’s still pretty weird most of the time.

Ginny’s been seeing a lot of Dean this summer, but its not so bad. Dean’s cool, so I guess I don’t really mind him dating my sister. It took me a while to realize that though.

Harry chuckled before continuing. Ron was more overprotective of Ginny than any one else he knew.

Oh yeah, and dad got a promotion! Now he’s a Senior Secretary to the minister! Second most powerful wizard in England! That Umbridge hag was tossed in Azkaban after everyone found out about what she did at Hogwarts, and dad got moved straight into her position. He still has to deal with my prat brother Percy though.

Harry sighed. Percy had always seemed so nice, but ever since last year his ambition had seemed to get the better of him. Harry didn’t know if the Weasley’s would ever forgive him.

Alright, well I’ve gotta go, we’re leaving for Romania now, we’re gonna spend Charlie’s last month there with him. I’ll see you on the Hogwarts Express!

Cheers!

Ron

Harry happily put the letter and the ticket aside. “Who was that from?” Dudley asked. “Ron, he gave me a quidditch ticket for the Chudley Cannons.” “Oh.” Was Dudley’s response. He knew all about quidditch now, but he was a little sore that he would never be able to play it.

Harry picked up the next piece of parchment, covered in Hermione’s untidy scrawl. “Who’s that one from?” “Hermione.” Harry ignored Dudley’s cat-calling and whistling then read the letter.

Dearest Harry.

How are you! I hope your summer hasn’t been to horrible. Ron said he was going to Romania, so I talked to my parents and Dumbledore, and they agreed that you can spend the rest of your summer at my house! We’ll pick you up tomorrow at noon. Don’t worry! My dad’s driving the Porsche, so we won’t make the Dursley’s mad.

I expect you’ve seen my present by now,

Harry rolled his eyes at Hogwarts, A History, Revised Edition on his bed. Only Hermione.

Stop rolling your eyes Harry!

He grinned. She knew him to well.

I should have made you and Ron read this a long time ago. Now maybe you’ll finally understand what I’m always pestering you two about.

Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then. Be ready at twelve o’clock sharp!

Love from Hermione.

“I told you!” Dudley yelled gleefully. Harry glared at him. “That’s a platonic love, Duds.” After all, that’s all it was, Hermione didn’t like him in that way, right?

Dudley sighed and exited the room muttering something about being blind under his breath.

Harry took a deep breath and reached for his O.W.L. results. The worn brown envelope scared him more than even Voldemort ever had. What if he failed all of his subjects? What if he had failed out of Hogwarts? Would he ever see Ron or Hermione again?

‘Don’t be stupid,’ Came Hermione’s voice from in his own head. ‘You know that you did good. You can face Voldemort and not this? Honestly Harry!’

He exhaled slowly and picked up the envelope. With trembling hands he pulled apart the seal and started to open his future.

Chapter 2

Mr. Harry Potter, below are the results of the O.W.L. exams you took last June. We hope that you did well, good luck!

Arthur Weasley, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister

Transfiguration - Written: E

Practical: E

Overall: E

Astronomy - Written: E

Practical: D

Overall: A

Charms - Written: E

Practical: O

Overall: O

Defense Against the Dark Arts - Written: O

Practical: O

Overall: O

History of Magic - Written: D

Overall: D

Potions - Written: E

Practical: E

Overall: E

Herbology - Written: O

Practical: A

Overall: E

Care of Magical Creatures - Written: O

Practical: O

Overall: O

Divination - Written: A

Practical: P

Overall: A

The O.W.L. scoring is as thus;

1 O.W.L. for a score of average or exceeds expectations, 2 O.W.L.’s for a score of outstanding. No O.W.L.’s are given for a score of dreadful or poor. Your scores are;

3 ‘Outstanding’ - 6 O.W.L.’s

3 ‘Exceeds Expectations’ - 3 O.W.L.’s

2 ‘Average’ - 2 O.W.L.’s

1 ‘Dreadful’ - 0 O.W.L.’s

Total - 11 O.W.L.’s

Congratulations Mr. Potter, you passed as #12 in your class. Below is a list of classes you may take next semester, please send return O.W.L. immediately;

N.E.W.T. Transfiguration

N.E.W.T. Charms

N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts

N.E.W.T. Care of Magical Creatures

N.E.W.T. Herbology

N.E.W.T. Divination

Advanced Weapons Training

Advanced Physical Conditioning

Please choose six of the above classes for your next year at Hogwarts. Special circumstances may be made after arriving. We hope that you have a good summer and that you enjoy the upcoming year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonogall, Deputy Headmistress

Harry stared at the list for a long time. 10 O.W.L.’s? That was awesome! But what classes would he take the next year. He could only take six.

Harry realized that without Potions he would now never become an auror. That left him somewhat put out at first, until he thought about it. ‘I’ve been battling a dark wizard - the darkest there ever was - for the last five years. I hate every minute of my time with Voldemort, so why on Merlin’s beard would I want to do that as a career? No, after Voldemort I’ll be done with dark wizards.’

So Harry looked at his list and checked off the obvious ones first;

Defense Against the Dark Arts

Care of Magical Creatures

Transfiguration

Now he had three more to choose. Realizing that he would never be able to defeat Voldemort with his wand, he decided to put down;

Advanced Weapons Training

That way he could maybe learn how to fight with a weapon and beat Voldemort that way.

He stared intently at the withered parchment, chewing on the end of his quill, trying to decide what else to take. ‘Well I get plenty of physical training from quidditch, so I can rule that out, I’m definitely dropping Divination, I never really liked Herbology, so that leaves…

Harry scribbled;

Charms

As his fifth class, and sent the owl back. He knew there would be no trouble with only taking five classes, he would probably be having Occlumency and Legillmency lessons anyway, combined with quidditch and Voldemort Harry believed that to be enough for one year.

He laid back on his bed, wincing at the spark of pain that traveled from the small of his back up to his neck, and once again stared at the moth-eaten ceiling.

In less than twenty-four hours he’d be at Hermione’s, and although he may miss Dudley a bit, he was still nothing compared to Harry’s best friend. Slowly, thoughts of Hermione still lingering, Harry fell into a deep slumber and slept for the next twelve hours.

He was awakened by a loud rapping at his door. “POTTER! GET OUT HERE AND CUT THE GRASS BEFORE YOU LEAVE! AND WHEN YOU’RE DONE WITH THAT HELP YOUR AUNT IN THE KITCHEN! AND THAT MEANS NOW!”

The boy-who-lived groaned and walked down the stairs and once again out to the garden to do his uncle’s bidding. He was relieved that his Aunt Petunia had finished the dishes before he had come in, so he dragged himself upstairs and took a well-needed long, cold shower.

By the time he got out of the bathroom it was already 11:37. He hurriedly packed all of his things; the spell books, his Firebolt (the best broom in the world), his father’s invisibility cloak, the Maurader’s Map (a map of Hogwarts created by Harry’s father and his friends that displayed the entire grounds and labeled every person (living or dead) by miniscule dots with their names by them), and other items that he felt were essential for his coming school year.

After packing, he lugged his trunk downstairs and waited for Hermione, while his Uncle Vernon dressed in his best (trying to intimidate) and his Aunt Petunia cleaned every nook and cranny of the house. Dudley rather, was very excited.

“I’ll get it!” Dudley squealed when the doorbell signaled Hermione’s arrival. Harry got there just as Dudley opened the door.

“Um, hi.” Hermione said nervously. She didn’t know that Harry and Dudley had smoothed things over. “Is Harry ready?” Dudley gave her an evil grin and nodded. “Yes, you must be Hermione. You’re just as beautiful as Harry said you were.”

Harry groaned at Dudley’s comment as he entered the doorway, but couldn’t help but notice Hermione’s reaction. Was it hope? No, most likely just surprise.

All that disappeared when she saw Harry. “HARRY!” She screeched, throwing her arms around him in a bone-crunching hug that Harry did mind one bit. “Hey there ‘Mione. This is Dudley, my cousin. We’re cool now, he’s like a brother to me.”

Hermione smiled widely and shook Dudley’s hand. “Nice to meet you.” She turned her attention back at Harry, bearing him down with her deep, chocolate eyes. Harry couldn’t help but notice how much Hermione had changed. She had obviously been tanning, and she wore very short shorts (they hardly covered her thighs) and a t-shirt that was probably made for toddlers, giving everyone a very nice view of her bellybutton and showing off her upper body, which was also a nice sight.

“Er, yeah.” He responded, tearing his eyes away from Hermione’s figure. Just then Vernon came to the door. “Well off you go then. You are staying over there for Christmas and Easter, yes?” Harry nodded, trying to hold back a laugh at his uncle’s obvious gawking at the Granger’s bright red 1996 Porsche. It was easily the most impressive car Harry had ever seen.

“Well okay then, I’ll see you next summer. Later!” He gave them a polite wave and walked to the car, Hermione helping him with his trunk. His hand brushed briefly up against hers, making them both blush and Dudley howl in laughter. Hermione shot Harry a quizzical look as they settled into the back seat. “What was that all about?”

Harry sighed in exasperation. “Dudley has this idea that we’re dating or that at least I want to go out with you. He just doesn’t understand that you’re my best friend. It would be like dating Ron!” He finished the sentence strongly, trying to hide whatever his voice may give away about something that he didn’t believe in, so then he frowned at himself, wondering why he felt the need to cover up his voice.

“Oh,” Hermione replied, her voice catching in her throat. Harry figured it was because she had just eaten a Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Bean. He also caught her parents exchange a knowing glance, but dismissed it. Hermione broke the awkward silence with a question.

“So, how did you and Dudley patch things up? I though you hated each other?” Harry shrugged. “I had a huge weight hanging over me, so I told him everything. About my parents, Cedric, Sirius, the battles, basically my entire life since I found out I was a wizard.”

Hermione grinned at him and threw her arms around him again. “Hermione, what-” It’s not that he didn’t mind, but Harry wondered why she was hugging him. She pulled away, blushing slightly. “Sorry Harry, I was just afraid that you were still upset about him, I’m just so happy that you got over it!”

Harry smiled at his best friend. “So, Hermione, how many O.W.L.’s did you get? I got ten. O’s in DADA, Charms, and Creatures, E’s in Transfiguration, Potions, and Herbology, A’s in Astronomy and Divination, and a D in History of Magic.”

Hermione beamed at him, obviously happy for Harry. “That’s really great Harry! I got O’s in everything but Potions and Runes, and I got E’s in those. So I got 18 O.W.L.’s.” She said this matter-of-factly, like it meant nothing. Harry gaped at her. “18 O.W.L.’s? Hermione that’s unbelievable! I’ve never heard of anyone scoring even remotely that high before!”

Now she blushed a little. “Well actually, my letter said that it was the highest score ever. But please don’t tell anyone okay?” She asked pleadingly. “I don’t want people gawking at me all year just because I did good on the O.W.L.’s. But anyways, what subjects did you sign up for? I’ve got Transfiguration, Arithmancy, DADA, Creatures, Charms, and that new advanced weapons training class.” Harry beamed at her. “I have all those minus Arithmancy. I figured I would just take five classes.”

Hermione’s eyes lit up and Harry spoke again before she could go off on him. “Look Hermione, between quidditch, classes, and Voldemort, I don’t really have time for anything else. Not to mention Dumbledore probably still wants me to take Occlumency with Snape. So I’ll still have a full plate.” Harry was glad to see that Hermione’s eyes had softened, and she smiled at him.

“Okay, so what do you want to do this summer?” Hermione smiled, pulling a piece of parchment out of her pocket, and unwrinkled it, handing it to Harry. “This is called the ‘Unsolvable Arithmantic Riddle’. I’ve been trying to crack it for months. Professor Vector says that it can’t be done, but I’m so sure it can. Maybe you can help?” Harry smiled and eyed the parchment.

0 0 G H 1 2

7 S 5 1 0 1

3 D D 2 0 9

1 G G S 3 3

1 V T M R 8

9 G H S 9 1

8 F B 1 A 0

0 P 1 R B 6

1 3 R M M 2

0 S V 1 2 1

D 1 V H P 1

M M 9 G H 9

T M R 9 P 9

S V B M 8 5

He frowned horribly. “Absolutely no idea. Sorry Hermione, I’m just no good at Arithmancy.” She sighed. “Oh well, I was hoping you could help because this riddle came about less than a week after you beat Voldemort as a baby.”

He just shrugged, not even noticing that she had used Voldemort’s name. She did it with ease now, having started saying the name last year. “Well, maybe you can teach me some Arithmancy, and we can crack it together!” He was trying to brighten her up, seeing in her eyes that she was disappointed. “Hey,” He said softly, looking deep into her eyes. “You’re the cleverest person I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. If anyone can crack this, you can.”

She smiled at his words, and Harry couldn’t notice how soft her eyes had gone, as if longing something. He shook the thought away and turned back towards the front. “So what else are we gonna do? Duds gave me a physics book that explains why magic can’t exist, so I thought we would go through that and maybe come to a few realizations or something. How does that sound?”

Hermione looked thoughtful, the same look she always had when she was about to rush off to the library and solve the latest riddle. She smiled at him. “That’d be great! Then we can do all kinds of muggle stuff to, you know, like ride bikes, go to the pool, watch movies, that kind of stuff.”

Harry was about to reply when Mr. Granger spoke up for the first time. “But before all of that, we’re giving you a present from me and my wife. That’s where we’re going now.” “Oh, Mr. Granger, you don’t have to-” “No! I won’t here it my boy! I understand that you haven’t been allowed any fun at all in that household, so now, it’s off to Old Trafford!”

Chapter 3

“Er, what’s an old trafford?” Harry asked stupidly. Mr. Granger looked like he was in shock but Hermione held her hand up to signal him not to say anything.

“Old Trafford is a football stadium. It’s where Manchester United plays, they’re our family’s favorite football team, kinda like how West Ham is Dean’s favorite ream. It’s funny actually, since today they are playing West Ham, but it’s not like they have a chance. Manchester United are one of the best teams in the world, and West Ham’s nowhere near their level.”

Harry stared goggle-eyed at her. “Why didn’t you ever tell us this before? Dean would have been thrilled to know that someone at Hogwarts loved football as much as he does!” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I expect that it was mainly because I didn’t want to get in a row with him over Man U vs. West Ham, so I never brought it up. I actually play football myself, in the summers. I was fairly decent in grade school, but I never was able to continue after I got my Hogwarts letter, but I don’t regret it. If I had to choose you or football, I’d pick you in an instant.”

Harry choked on the Bertie Bott’s Bean he was eating. “You, you mean the wizarding world, not just me right?” Hermione blushed crimson and turned away. “Um, yes, that’s exactly what I meant, I’m sorry.”

Harry chuckled. “There’s nothing to be sorry about Mione. It was just a slip of tongue.” “Yes, I suppose.” Was her dreamy response, reminding Harry of Luna Lovegood.

Not much was said the rest of the way to the football stadium, and nothing more until they walked to their seats (first row behind the visitors bench, just off center from midfield) when they saw a familiar face.

“DEAN!?”

Dean Thomas, a tall black boy that was in Harry’s house and year at Hogwarts spun around, obviously surprised to see them. He wasn’t as surprised as Harry and Hermione were though, for he was not only at the game, but he was dressed in West Ham warm-ups and looked ready to play.

Dean smiled at them and waved. “Hey guys! Guess what? I made the reserve team for West Ham this summer! I might even get to play today! Not as a starter obviously, but as a substitute! You guys will be rooting for West Ham of course-” He broke off, suddenly noticing Hermione’s #7 Manchester United jersey (David Beckham). “NO!”

Hermione smiled guiltily, motioning to her parents. “It was their fault Dean, they raised me as a Man U fan, sorry.” Dean scowled mockingly at the Grangers, who laughed heartily. Harry spoke up. “Hey Dean, if you’ve got an extra West Ham jersey, I’ll put it on and root for you!”

Dean’s face brightened immediately and he ran to his bag to pull out a jersey. Meanwhile Mr. Granger was clutching his chest with a hand, mocking a heart attack. “Hermione dear, now you know I could never have a son-in-law that was against Manchester United!” He and his wife laughed when Hermione flushed a deep shade of red, and it was even worse when Dean spoke up, after chucking Harry one of his extra jerseys. “Did I hear that right? So Harry, Hermione, you finally hooked up did you? We all knew it would happen, Seamus (a sandy-haired boy also in Harry’s year in Gryffindor) said that if you two weren’t together by the end of the year we would lock you two up in the Room of Requirement and throw away the key until you two finally hooked up. Have you told Ron yet?”

Hermione’s face seemed to be doing a great impersonation of Ron’s hair before Harry answered, “We’re not together Dean, we’re just friends, I don’t understand why everyone thinks differently, don’t you agree Hermione?” Hermione, unable to speak, simply nodded.

Dean shrugged. “Well whatever, I’ve got to get back to warm-ups though, so I’ll see you at school!” They both nodded and waved good-bye, no one mentioning Dean’s words for the rest of the time until the game started.

“And Nicky Butt with the ball in midfield, he lets fly a deep pass into the corner, and Beckham is there! Beckham, the Manchester captain, with a one time cross, will it find a red jersey? Yes, Ruuuuud Von Nistelrooy scores on after a brilliant set-up down the sideline, it all started back in goal with French International Fabian Barthez. He makes a brilliant save there on Jemaine Defoe, then gives a quick outlet to Paul Neville on the left side, he centered the football to Butt, whom put a beautiful ball over the defense and into the corner for Becks, and then a one-time cross to the head of the most prolific goal-scorer in the premiership Nistelrooy, and it is now one to nil Manchester United in the fifty-seventh minute of play!”

While West Ham had stayed with the champions in the first half, three quick goals put the game out of reach, but with ten minutes to play…

“Oh, and it seems that West Ham is going to make a substitution now, yes, it is the newcomer Dean Thomas, on for Jermain Defoe for his debut in the premiership. Thomas is a strange acquisition by West Ham, he will finish only the summer, and then play again around Christmas time for the club, while the rest of the year he attends an undisclosed boarding school, where we are sure he is the star of his football team.”

Harry and Hermione grinned at each other, Hogwarts didn’t even have a football team. Harry noticed that the breeze in the stadium was starting to get to Hermione, so he - without a thought about it - wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in tight, trying to warm her up a bit. She looked up at him and gave him one of her beautiful smiles (she didn’t need to say thank you, Harry could read it in her eyes) and snuggled her head into his chest while continuing to watch the game.

Harry loved the feel of her on his chest, her shoulders cuddled inside of his arm, but he dismissed it as being only because he was slightly cold as well, and her body warmed him up a bit.

Then Dean got the ball and Harry jumped up in his seat. “Come on Dean…” He muttered, wishing the best for his friend. “And Thomas on the ball now, he really has impressed these last few minutes. He’s looking for a man, NO! He beats one man, OH! And he split’s the Neville brothers, cuts By Silvestre, only the keeper to beat, he shoots!”

Harry held his breath as he watched the ball pound away from Dean’s foot and pelt the back of the net.

“And he scores! A brilliant goal for the youngster! West Ham’s top office has got to happy with that!”

“YEAH DEAN! WHOOHOO! THAT’LL SHOW’M! YOU’RE THE MAN! IF ONLY YOU COULD PLAY QUIDDITCH LIKE THAT, GRYFFINDOR WOULD BE UNBEATABLE! YEAH! Huh?”

Hermione had tugged on his jersey while chuckling softly into her hand. It was just then that Harry realized that the stadium was filled with 75,000+ Manchester United fans. In fact, it seemed he had been the only one cheering for Dean.

He just shrugged at Hermione, not caring, and yelled, “Yeah Dean! That’s my roommate!” Hermione burst into a fit of giggles while her parents tried to distance themselves from Harry, pretending not to be associated with him. It was then that he noticed the less-than-excited looks on the fans surrounding him.

He decided now was a good time to leave. “Er, maybe we should, um, you know, leave. Try to beat the traffic you know.” Hermione, holding her gut from laughing, nodded and took his hand, leading him out of the stadium with her parents in tow.

As they reached the gates a group of men, all wearing Man U jerseys, approached Harry. Harry realized at this moment that Hermione and her parents had taken off their jerseys so that it appeared they were all West Ham fans.

The biggest of the lot - obviously drunk - spoke up. “You better get out of here with that trash,” He motioned at Hermione. “Better go have your way with her, everyone else has.”

Out of instinct Harry whipped out his wand and pointed it straight at the man’s heart. “What the F*** did you just say!?” Hermione was pulling on his arm, trying to beckon him to leave the men alone, but he just brushed her arm away and stared the man down, who was laughing with his friends.

“What are you gonna do boy? Poke my eye out?” That statement created an uproar of laughter from the group, and Harry - ignoring Hermione’s protests - took another step towards the man. “If you don’t take that back I can say two simple words and you’ll be dead where you stand.” His voice was trembling with anger, the men just laughed harder.

Hermione, realizing Harry was on the verge of losing it, jumped in front of him. “Harry NO! You’d go to Azkaban! Just leave them alone! I don’t care, ley’s go NOW!”

Harry finally relented and slowly lowered his wand and started to walk away.

“That’s right kid, better go f*** that b**** before I do right here.”

Harry lost all sense of control and spun around, whipping his wand out. “MAXIMUS REDUCTO!”

“NO!”

Hermione’s scream was cut off by an explosion erupting under the men’s feet, hurling them all fifty feet into the air.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” Hermione screamed frantically, raising a slab of concrete to catch the men before they could plummet to their deaths. She succeeded in catching them before they hit the ground, all of the falling only a few meters before thumping against the concrete with sickening thuds. Hermione gently lowered the concrete to the ground and whirled on Harry.

SLAP!

Hermione’s hand came across Harry’s cheek with such force that he fell to one knee. “Harry how could you! They could have died! If I hadn’t intervened they would have! The ministry will be here any second! You could be expelled! I can’t believe I could have ever liked someone who is as reckless and stupid as you! You’re worse than Ron!”

Harry stared at her, flabbergasted. “Hermione, you, you like me? Like as more than a friend?”

She slapped him again as ministry wizards appeared on the scene. “LIKED! AS IN PAST TENSE! I DON’T KNOW IF I CAN EVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS HARRY! YOU ARE SO INFURIATING!”

With that she spun on her heel and stormed off with her parents nervously following in her wake. Harry just watched, unable to move.

‘She liked me? No liked. I really screwed up. What if she never wants to see me again? Damn it! I can’t lose her as a friend, it would kill me!’

“Mr. Potter!” Came a stern voice from behind him. He knew that voice. He grimaced and turned to face the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, who wore a triumphant smile on his face.

“Dumbledore can’t get you out of this one Potter! I have eight counts of attempted murder, along with use of magic by an underage wizard! Not to mention the fact that we’ll have to put a memory charm on at least a few thousand muggles who heard the explosion. Oh yeah, and there’s destruction of public property as well! I’ll have you in Azkaban for this Potter, mark my words!”

Harry fell back to his knees, unbelieving. It was all over. He would never go back to Hogwarts. He would spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. Hermione would hate him for the rest of his life. The boy-who-lived had just become the boy-who-died. He wouldn’t get the kiss, but he would never truly live again either.

Harry didn’t struggle against the wizards who took his wand and shot him looks of utmost sympathy. He recounted the entire story countless times, then sat down on a bench while ministry wizards flooded the scene, trying to restore peace.

He needed something to get his mind off of what he was about to face.

He could probably escape, just grab a wand and turn the nearest trashcan into a portkey, then live as an outlaw in Grimmauld Place for the rest of his life.

He shook his head. No, he couldn’t do that. He would be found eventually, and he didn’t want to live that way anyways.

No, he had gone through all of this last summer, when he had been attacked by the dementors. But that was different. He had been innocent then. He wasn’t this time. There was no way to get out of this. He would go to Azkaban for sure.

Harry cursed, running his hands through his hair. Because he lost his temper the wizarding world was doomed. Voldemort would have free reign of the world with Harry gone. He was the only one that could beat him, and now he was going to be gone. The wizarding world’s last hope was gone.

Harry angrily thrust his hands into his pockets, feeling a ruffled parchment in his hands. He pulled it out. It was the arithmancy riddle. He studied it, needing something to take his mind off things.

It had come out just a little while after his defeat of Voldemort, so maybe it had something to do with him? He sighed, looking it over. It made zero sense to him.

Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, symbol of the wizarding world, was going to Azkaban the day after his birthday. He snorted at the though, then gasped in recognition. He had just noticed something in the riddle. His birth date!

0 0 G H 1 2

7 S 5 1 0 1

3 D D 2 0 9

1 G G S 3 3

1 V T M R 8

9 G H S 9 1

8 F B 1 A 0

0 P 1 R B 6

1 3 R M M 2

0 S V 1 2 1

D 1 V H P 1

M M 9 G H 9

T M R 9 P 9

S V B M 8 5

Harry couldn’t believe it. His birth date was in the first column of the riddle! It had to be about him then! But what could it mean? Could it help him destroy Voldemort?

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft but stern voice from behind him.

“Harry.”

He spun around to see Dumbledore, shoving the parchment back in his pocket. He didn’t want to share the information with anyone other than Hermione.

Harry hung his head in shame. “I-I’m sorry Professor. I screwed up, I let the guy get to me. I don’t know what came over me. He was insulting Hermione and I-I, just couldn’t stop myself.” He saw a look of understanding flash in Dumbledore’s eyes as he continued. “I used the maximus reducto curse. They would have died if not for Hermione. I, I’ve totally messed up. Everyone will hate me now. Not that it matters, I’ll be spending the rest of my life in Azkaban anyways.”

He wept as he finished speaking. It was too much to handle. Dumbledore put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Do not worry Harry, Lupin is preparing your defense with Miss Granger as we speak.”

Harry shot his head up. “Hermione doesn’t hate me?” Dumbledore chuckled. “Far from it, in fact Harry. But that is not our concern now. Now I am sure that we can get you cleared of most charges, and I promise you that after your trial - which will be held tomorrow - that you will be allowed to return to Hogwarts. Although you may receive many punishments and be stripped of privileges while there.”

Harry sighed in relief. He trusted Hermione and Lupin with his life. If anyone could get him out of this, they would.

Dumbledore’s tone became mush sadder and subdued. “But Harry, I am afraid that there is nothing that we can do about tonight. I am afraid that you will have to sleep at Azkaban tonight.”

2. Chapters 4-6

WOW! The reviews and views at portkey are craziness! I’ve already got like a third of the views in one night here as I have in the last month in the other places this is posted! Thanx for the reviews, I love ‘em!

Not much happens in this installment, but I’ll probably put more up either tonight or tomorrow morning (depends on how anxious I am to get it all up here)

Okay, on with the story!

Cheers!

*****

Chapter 4

Harry could do nothing but force his neck to bend slightly in a terrified nod. He knew he would be seeing his parents and Sirius tonight, and the thought terrified him. There was nothing in the world that he feared more than dementors, and there was good reason for that. He had nearly been kissed by two of them, not to mention the one that got Crouch Jr. in fourth year, inadvertently causing him a rough seven months of misery.

Dumbledore, an look of sympathy in his eyes, nodded and walked away. A very nervous auror approached him with a pair of enchanted handcuffs.

“Er, um, Mr. Potter sir, I uh, well I’m really sorry but - well, I mean, I, did I say I was sorry? Uh, anyways, I’ll have to er, ask you, to, well, you know, um, put these on.” He extended the handcuffs, an amused an confused expression on his face, for Harry had broken out laughing.

“Just call me Harry. No problem, I know what I did and I’ll do my time for it. Don’t sweat it, I don’t hate you or anything.” The man took a very noticeable sigh of relief, and spoke again. “Okay, well Harry, these handcuffs are also a portkey. Once securely fastened around your wrists they will transport you directly to Azkaban, where a team of aurors are waiting for you.”

Harry nodded, and fastened the cuffs around his wrists. There was a pull at his navel and suddenly he was whisked forward, and he landed gracefully on the ground in Azkaban, smiling at his ability to stay on his feet.

Harry immediately felt the coldness and despair that filled the moist and musty corridors of Azkaban, but he smiled nonetheless, putting on a show for the - gasp - twenty aurors getting ready to escort him?

“Wow, you guys must think I’m really dangerous if you send this many people for me. I’m flattered really. Are you guys really that paranoid or is this another case of Fudge having a stick stuck up his ass?”

Harry heard a couple of muffled snorts in laughter at his joke, most of the aurors smiled at the boy-who-lived’s ability to handle the dementors home.

“Come on Potter,” Came a low, rasp voice, but with a hint of amusement. “We’ll show you to your cell, it’s in the ‘VIP area’ as we like to call it. It basically means that you’ll have the highest amount of dementors of any cell outside, twenty, to be exact.”

Harry snorted, succeeding in his attempts to stay cool and collected. “Please, I took down a hundred of them in third year by myself. I don’t think twenty will be so hard. Of course, I don’t have my wand this time, so it may be a little trickier. Oh well, I’ll just have to use the famous ’Potter charm’ I suppose. Melt their hearts with goodness you know. Then I can drink the water that comes from the iced-over hearts. That way I know that Fudge hasn’t poisoned it or anything.”

This got a few outright laughs from the aurors, but they stopped as Harry did at a cell containing a tall man with slick white hair, though he appeared rather sick from malnourishment and fright. Harry sneered at him.

“Lucius Malfoy.”

“Harry Potter.”

“Yeah, well, I just killed your son, so I’ll be in here for a few days.” Malfoy’s eyes widened at Harry’s lie. Harry knew that the man was to weak to realize that Harry was lying through his teeth.

“No…”

“Oh yeah, definitely yes actually. You see, he was fairly upset that I had gotten you thrown in jail, so after I killed Voldemort,” Lucius’ eyes widened in horror, Harry had to fight hard to suppress a laugh. Some of the aurors behind him, although they had flinched at the dark lord’s name, weren’t able to control their laughter, but Malfoy didn’t notice them.

“Yeah well anyway, he was trying to hex Hermione, you know, my muggle-born best friend, and she blocked his spells for a while before finally getting bored of it and stunning him. But that’s where I came in. No one messes with my friend’s and lives to tell the tale. Your son found that out the hard way. And now I’m here.”

Without another word he spun on his heel and walked away, the aurors around him chuckling softly at Lucius’ anguished scream that echoed throughout the entire prison.

Harry couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for what he told Malfoy, but his demeanor had changed. He had come in here scared that the dementors would suck all of the happiness away leave him sad and depressed. But somehow Harry had fought all of that away, and as he was locked in his cell for the night - twenty dementors staring him down - the nightmares didn’t come. Unbelievably - miraculously even - Harry’s purity of heart kept the dementors from harming him.

“Mr. Harry Potter, you will stand.” Harry stood, most all of his bravery from the night before vanquished and replaced with a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. Lupin gave him a smile of support from his left side, and Harry turned to his right and smiled at Hermione.

Much to Harry’s distaste, she did not return the smile, but instead gave him an icy glare that pierced his skin and struck his very heart. That look told him all he needed to know. She could never love him. She would never feel the same way about him that he felt about her. Harry had denied it for so long, but after the events of the day before, he could deny it no more.

He was in love with Hermione.

He could feel his heart breaking at her cold shoulder, but his attention was reverted to the banging of the gavel. Amelia Bones would be his judge, whilst Hermione and Lupin were his ‘lawyers’ so to say. There was no prosecution, the evidence would be presented and they would present their case accordingly.

“Mr. Potter, you have been brought up on many counts for your acts yesterday, so I ask you how do you plea for each?”

She gave him an icy glare and continued.

“For destruction of public property?”

Hermione answered, “Not guilty.”

Harry stared at her, dumbfounded. What was she playing at?

“Eight counts of attempted homicide?”

“Not guilty.”

Judge Bones was even taken aback by this, but she continued.

“Use of under-age magic?”

Hermione’s answer once again shocked the court.

“Not guilty.”

Bones nodded slightly. “The defense may present their case.”

Lupin stepped forward. “We will get the simplest out of the way first.” He pulled a sealed envelope out, Harry stared at it, pondering what it could possibly be.

Lupin handed the envelope to Madam Bones, who opened it curiously. Her eyes flickered over it for a moment before she allowed a slight smile. Her next words shocked Harry and the court. “In light of this evidence - which is confidential and may not be read to this court - Mr. Potter is acquitted of the charge ‘Use of Underage Wizardry’.”

The room gasped and Harry felt slightly better. ‘Well that saves a few years…’ He thought to himself with a smile.

Hermione stepped forward next. “As for the destruction of public property, I would like to bring your attention to article four, paragraph two of the Muggle relations handbook. It reads;

Due to the fact that the muggle prime minister and his government are separate from our own, than no law broken under their laws may be reflected and tried in the Wizarding court system.

“Because Mr. Potter,” Harry winced at Hermione’s formal use of his name. “Does not in fact, live under the laws of the muggle world, and that our world has no law against destroying muggle property, this court has no power to punish Mr. Potter for his actions, as the property he destroyed was that of the muggle kind.”

A surprised murmur rose throughout the courtroom. Harry couldn’t believe it. Was it possible that he could get off?

Madam Bones smiled again. “Cleared.”

Harry knew it would be okay now. He was two for two, and he was sure Hermione had the third one nailed as well, even if it was the hardest.

Hermione walked forward and took a deep breath. “Now for the third charge. After a simple Prior Incantatum spell, it was proven that the last form of magic used was the curse maximus reducto.”

Harry heard a fury of whispering and gasping break out at these words. He blushed brightly. They all obviously thought that the magic was much to advanced for a simple teenager to use.

“Upon further review, it has been proven that the spell had been aimed at the ground underneath the muggles feet, and not at them directly. Furthermore, this powerful display of magic demonstrates that Mr. Potter is more than capable of using the death curse, avada kedavra, but he chose not to, aiming to scare rather than harm. Mr. Potter’s power, amplified by the rage he felt at the time, was much stronger than he anticipated, the result hurling the muggles fifty feet in the air.” There were a few more gasps at this. Hermione held up her hand.

“Furthermore, due to speed of this trial, certain laws must be brought into light. Article seven, paragraph six of the Wizardry Judiciary System Handbook states;

In a trial conducted less than twenty-four hours after the initial crime is committed, the charges against the defendant may be in no way altered.

This means that the charges may not be changed, so Mr. Potter may not be brought up on the charge of Inadvertently Injuring Muggles. Therefore this court has no charges to hold against Mr. Potter.” She slammed her hand down on the desk as she finished, and Madam Bones smiled widely in spite of herself.

Harry tensed up, preparing for the worst…

“Cleared of all charges.”

Harry’s face split into a wide-mouthed grin, and he shared a tearful hug with Remus while the entire court cheered in ecstasy. He was cleared. He wasn’t going back to Azkaban.

Harry turned to thank and hug Hermione, but he was somewhat unsurprised to see that she was already gone. He sighed deeply, his heart in pieces so small they could fit through the eye of a needle.

He fled the courtroom in tears, only his closest friends knowing exactly why.

Harry arrived at the Granger’s house a few hours later, welcomed heartily by Mrs. Granger. “Harry, son, welcome to our home. Here, let me take those bags for you.” She took his trunk before he could protest. Hermione’s mother leaned in close and whispered, “Hermione’s in her room, second door on the left on the third floor. I know she still cares for you deeply Harry, you just have to make her see how you feel as well.”

Harry smiled and nodded, for once not denying the face that he was in love with his best friend.

He walked slowly to the staircase of the house, passing numerous family photos along the way. They were mostly muggle, but there was a random wizarding one thrown in every once and a while as well.

There was the photo of the trio after second year, and another of them after their fifth. There were a few muggle photos of Hermione and her parents on the beaches of France, one even had them at Normandy, the famous graveyard.

He smiled as he trudged up the blue-laden carpeted steps, savoring every part of the house as he did so.

Finally he reached Hermione’s bedroom. He was sweating profusely, never having been so nervous in all of his life. He gulped hard and knocked twice.

“Come in.” Said a cold voice that undoubtedly belonged to Hermione. Harry gulped again, he had never heard that voice directed at him before, it was usually reserved for Ron.

“Harry walked in and sat down next to Hermione on her bed. She wouldn’t look at him, so he cupped her chin in his hands and forced her to look in his eyes. He spoke.

“I’m not going to say I’m sorry for what I did Hermione, because I’m not.” Confusion flashed in her eyes briefly before they reverted to their natural state. He continued. “I will never be sorry for protecting you Hermione, I always have and always will. You are everything to me. Hermione, I should have said this a long time ago, but I was too blind to see it. Hermione, I’m in love with you.”

Harry let out a breath that he didn’t know that he had been holding. A look of sadness - not the emotion Harry had been hoping for - flashed through her eyes before she spoke, quietly and sadly.

“Harry, I don’t feel the same way about you anymore.”

Chapter 5

If Harry’s heart could broken any more, it did. Harry didn’t hold back, he let the tears come. The one and only girl that he would ever love didn’t feel the same way about him, and it was all his fault.

“I-I’ll get my things then. I-if you don’t want me here then I’ll leave, I can stay at Grimmauld Place for the rest of the summer. I-I’m sorry Hermione. I’ll leave you alone now, if you never want to speak to me again, I understand.”

Harry, trembling with tears, shakily rose to his feet and walked dejectedly to the door. He was stopped by a soft touch on his arm.

“Harry wait. Don’t go. You don’t understand.” Harry turned around, he sniffed a little and looked at Hermione quizzically, she seemed to be nearing tears as well.

“Harry, you are the only boy I will ever love. I could never feel the same way about anyone else as I do for you. But after yesterday, I-I just need us to be friends again, no matter how much it hurts. After a while, hopefully we can try to be something more. But you really hurt me yesterday Harry.” He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. “I know you did it for me, but it scared me Harry. You were there, but you didn’t see yourself. The only reason you’re not in Azkaban is because of a flurry of loopholes. You weren’t thinking. If I hadn’t caught those guys they would all be dead now, and-and,” Her voice began to crack. “And I w-would n-never have seen you again. I can’t let that happen Harry. To the world or to me. The wizarding world needs you Harry, and I - I need you too. But if you can’t learn to control your temper, then, well I don’t know what I’ll do. I can’t be with you when you’re like that Harry,” Her tears were flowing freely now. “I love you, but if you can’t control yourself I would have to leave you, never see you again. We would both be safer that way. Heart-broken, but safe. And I don’t want that Harry, and neither do you. So for me, for us, please don’t lash out at anyone like that again, not even Malfoy. If you do, I-I’ll leave. I’ll leave the wizarding world. I’ll leave everything for you Harry, because I love you. And that way we would both be better off.” She reached up and stroked his cheek.

“Please don’t make me leave you Harry, please. Do this for me, do it because you love me. I’m not in love with the Harry from yesterday, I love the Harry that’s right here, right now. So promise me Harry, that you will never do that again.”

Harry wiped away her tears and whispered, “I promise.”

Hermione smiled at him and they embraced, hugging each other with all of the might they could muster. After what seemed like hours they finally separated.

Hermione took a quick glance out the window and noticed that it had gotten dark. “Well, I think it’s time for bed Harry.” She extended her hand and smiled. “Friends?”

Harry smiled as he took it. “No, best friends.”

Hermione grinned back at him, and Harry retreated to the Granger’s spare bedroom. He entered his room and fell back on the bed, smiling.

Everything would be fine between the two of them, he just knew it. If he checked his temper, then he would be with Hermione forever.

He slowly drifted into the dream world, only one person occupying his dreams.

Harry woke up early the next morning, his body feeling much more rested and without the ach that he had been feeling everyday of the summer so far. He yawned and stretched his arms high into the air, grunting in a mixture of pain and pleasure at the stretch.

He walked over to the dresser that the Granger’s had put in his room and pulled out a pair of running shorts from the bottom drawer and pulling them on, shedding his nightshirt down the laundry chute.

Slowly he crept to the door (after securing his wand in the small holster in the belt that he went no where without, a birthday present from Moody. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!) and walked carefully across the hallway to Hermione’s bedroom. Being careful not to make the floor creak, he stopped at Hermione’s door and tested the doorknob.

Hah! Unlocked. Grinning, he silently walked into her room and came up to the side of her bed. She looked so peaceful, sleeping with one arm under her pillow and the other draped over her stomach. Her chest was slowly rising up and down, and Harry just stared for a moment, drinking in all of her beauty.

Finally he shook his head of those thoughts and he shook her softly. “Hermione, come on, wake up. We’re going for a run.” “Mmm?” Was the only response she offered, and Harry nudged her a little more urgently. “Come on, no time to be lazy, get up lazy.” “Noo, mummy, I don’t wanna wake up yet.”

Harry sighed. How would he wake her up? Then he got a brilliant idea. Slowly he crept back into his own room and pulled out his shaving cream, then returned to Hermione’s room with it.

“Harry son, what are you doing?” Harry froze at Mr. Granger’s voice, but he turned and gave him an evil grin anyways. He held up the shaving cream, and Hermione’s father chuckled. “Wait right there, I’ll go get my camera.” Harry nodded with a smile, and waited until Mr. Granger returned with his camera and a very tired Mrs. Granger. Together they crept into Hermione’s room.

Harry took each of the love of his life’s hands and sprayed a solid amount of shaving cream into them. Then he took Hermione’s bedside quill and tickled her nose with it.

She sniffed and moaned a little, then went back to deep sleep. Harry tickled her again, on the ear this time, and he had to try very hard to hold in his laughter when Hermione wiped a full hand of shaving cream all over the right side of her face.

Mr. Granger was holding his sides in silent laughter, while Hermione’s mom was somehow keeping a neutral face. Harry raised the feather and tickled the other ear, and Hermione rubbed another handful of shaving cream onto her face.

Harry almost fell over in a fit of giggles, but he was able to raise the feather again and tickle her nose, causing Hermione to rub the rest of her face with shaving cream. Harry couldn’t hold back anymore, he broke out in uncontrollable laughter, Mrs. Granger along with him, while Hermione’s father stayed up just long enough to snap a picture of the sleeping beauty, the flash waking her up.

“Huh, what time is it? Hey, Harry why are you laughing?” Harry just fell to the ground and rolled over in laughter. Hermione shrugged and brought her hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn. “What the bloody hell?” She withdrew her hand from her face as her parents fled the room, tripping over each other with laughter, camera still in hand.

“HARRY JAMES POTTER!” She screeched at him, leaping off her bed. “What did you do!?” Harry was laughing to hard to respond. “Oh, so it’s gonna be like that huh? Well let’s see what you think of this!”

She took a huge glob of shaving cream and smeared it into his face. Harry gasped and grabbed Hermione by the sides, tickling her mercilessly. “Oh! Harry <laugh> stop <laugh> please!” Harry stopped and pulled her on top of him, their faces suddenly inches apart.

There was no laughter now, and Harry wanted more than anything to kiss her, but he knew that she wouldn’t like that. There eyes were connected, and reluctantly, cursing himself for ever hurting Hermione, he pulled himself up and smiled at her.

“Come on Mione, throw on some running clothes and we’ll go for a run together.” Hermione, smiling at Harry’s ability to stop himself, nodded and shooed him from the room so that she could get ready.

Harry went to the loo and washed his face of all the shaving cream, then put the bottle back in his bag before going downstairs to wait for Hermione.

After a few moments he heard the stairs creaking and Harry turned around, his mouth falling open at the sight of his best friend. Hermione wore only a simple gray sports braw and running shorts that were less than twelve inches long. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she looked to Harry like everything that a girl should be.

Hermione giggled at Harry’s reaction and headed for the front door. “You coming?” Harry shook himself out of his stupor and grinned at his best friend, then followed her out the door.

The day was young, the sun still hidden behind the ocean of trees surrounding Hermione’s neighborhood. The weather was perfect, a little on the cool side, but after a few minutes the coolness would evaporate and leave them perfectly comfortable.

Harry smiled as he stretched, listening to the innocent chirping of birds and scurrying of leaves all over the street. He envied them all, they all had the ability to lead a perfectly normal and peaceful life, while he had to deal with the threats of Voldemort and the fate of the world on his shoulders.

“Alright, let’s get going!” Hermione said cheerfully, heading off towards a forest path behind her house. Harry followed her, and they ran mostly in silence the entire time, only speaking every once and a while about how nice the weather was or how they were elated to have no homework for the holidays due to the fact that no one knew who would pass what N.E.W.T.S. so the teachers could not hand out assignments until the school year started.

They were walking back into the house when Harry remembered the riddle. He slapped himself on the head and ran up to his room, leaving a very confused Hermione buttering their toast in the kitchen.

“Hermione,” He panted as he ran back into the room, riddle clutched in hand. “Do you think you could teach me Arithmancy?” Harry’s question seemed to take Hermione completely off guard. “Huh? What? I mean, yes, of course Harry, but why?”

Harry smiled and pointed to the riddle. “First column, the first seven numbers. Do they mean anything to you?”

Hermione studied the parchment, her eyebrows scrunching up in deep concentration. “Zero, seven, three, one, one, nine, eight, zero.” She shook her head in frustration. “No.”

Harry grinned. “Well they mean something to me.” Hermione’s eyes lit up, Harry continued. “Look at it in groups, zero-seven, aka seven, three-one, aka thirty-one, one-nine-eight-zero, Nineteen eighty. Make any sense now?” Hermione, looking absolutely furious with herself, shook her head. “No, do you mind telling me?” Harry sighed in exasperation.

“Hermione, it’s a date!” Her eyebrows rose in realization. “Seven Thirty-one Nineteen eighty, July 31, 1980! Hermione, that first column is my birthday!”

“Holy Merlin…”

Harry smiled at her. “Do you know what this means? This riddle is about me! Maybe it will fill in the holes that the prophecy left wide open!” He clapped his hand over his mouth after he said this. He hadn’t wanted to tell her about the prophecy so soon.

“Harry, the prophecy was destroyed. What are you talking about?” Harry was lost in her chocolate-brown eyes, and he sighed, he couldn’t keep the truth from her anymore.

“That was just a record, the true prophecy was told to Dumbledore, he finally told me what it was after the Department of Mysteries last year.” Hermione’s eyebrows went up in understanding. “So that’s why…”

“…I was so angry with him and distant from you and Ron. Yes, it was. And now I’m going to tell you.”

He recited the prophecy, and waited for Hermione to recognize what it meant. “But Harry, if that’s true then you have to…or either, no! Harry tell me it’s not true!” She had tears in her eyes now, and Harry nodded sadly.

“Yes Hermione, I either have to become a murderer or the victim of one. That’s how the war will end.” Hermione threw herself around him in a hug Mrs. Weasley would be proud of.

“Oh Harry, it’s just not fair! All of the things you have to put up with! Why does everything happen to you? Oh, Harry, I’m so sorry!” She hugged him even harder, tears flowing into his bare chest. “Don’t be sorry Hermione, it’s okay, really. I know my destiny and I’m prepared for it.”

Harry took a bite of toast, then changed the subject. “Hey Hermione, why don’t we go to the pool today? I haven’t been swimming in a while and I thought it would be fun. So what do you say?” She smiled at him, wiping her tears away. “I’d love to.” Harry opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the doorbell.

“Who would be here this early?” Hermione asked. Harry shrugged and they walked to the door, Harry fingering his wand. Hermione opened the door cautiously and burst into a fit of giggles.

A wizard trying to pose as a muggle stood at the front door. He wore a tight pink t-shirt that read ‘Girl Power’ on the front, and a pair of baggy jeans held up by a shoe string. Harry goggled at the man until he spoke.

“Mr. Potter, I presume?” Harry nodded. “I need you to sign here please, this verifies the transfer of all Sirius Black’s belongings that he left you in his will.”

Hermione gasped, but Harry, knowing this moment had been coming for a long time, nodded and signed the parchment, which vanished at his signature.

The man spoke again. “Okay now you have officially inherited the Black fortune of four million galleons,” Hermione gasped, Harry looked thunderstruck. What would he ever do with that much money? “You have also inherited one enchanted Harley motorcycle, the residence of #12 Grimmauld Place, and any and all items inside of it. Good day sir.” He nodded and apparated away, leaving Harry staring at Sirius’ flying motorbike.

He turned and grinned at Hermione. “Well I guess we know how we’ll be getting to the pool then.” She smiled back and ran upstairs to get changed.

Ten minutes later they were off, both wearing only their swimsuits (Hermione’s being an incredibly revealing strapless white bikini) and they rode to the local pool, as Hermione did not want to fly.

The bike was easy to handle, and they made it to the pool with no problems. No, the problems did not arrive until they walked onto the pool deck together. Harry was extremely angry with the fact that nearly every guy in the pool was gawking at Hermione, who just smiled and waved teasingly at them all while leading Harry to a couple of lawn chairs by the diving boards.

Hermione saw his clenched jaw and giggled at him as they sat down. “Now Harry, you know that you can’t go losing your temper here right? If you do…” She let the sentence hang, and Harry understood the point fully.

He sighed and was about to lay back on the chair when a group of teenage guys approached Hermione, ignoring Harry completely.

“Hey there,” Said a tall, black-haired blue-eyed stranger, eyeing Hermione in a way that made Harry feel very uncomfortable. “How would you like to come with us for some real fun? It doesn’t look to exciting over here with this loser,” He jerked his thumb at Harry, who tensed up, instinctively reaching for his wand hidden in the towel, but Hermione put a reassuring hand on his arm.

“Actually, I’m having a perfectly good time with Harry here. We were just discussing the harsh ramifications that England faced in the early thirteen hundreds due to their inept leadership. Perhaps you’d like to join us in conversation? I always do enjoy talking about the medieval times and the kings of the past, I find it so…exhilarating. Don’t you agree?”

The group of guys looked nervously at each other, that most definitely wasn’t the answer they were expecting.

“Er, no,” The big one spoke up again. “We were actually hoping you’d like to come to a party tonight, at my place. You know, I’ve got plenty of alcohol and pot, we were all just going to get wasted and have some fun. But I guess you aren’t the partying type are you?”

Hermione smiled and shook her head. “No I am not. I’d rather snuggle up on the couch with Harry and a good book any night than go to a party where I can have a bunch of drunk guys grope me and try to take my virginity.”

The leader of the little group did not like that response at all. His eyes glared menacingly at Harry and then again at Hermione. “I’ve got a better idea. How about my friends and I beat the living hell out of your boyfriend here and then I take you in the alleyway and you lose your virginity that way?”

Harry leapt in front of Hermione. “If you even attempt to harm Hermione you’ll force me to do something that we’ll both regret.” The menace in his tone was apparent to everyone. Hermione tried to pull Harry away, but he wasn’t backing down. Suddenly one of the guys in the group gasped.

“Holy hell, you’re Harry Potter!”

Harry wasn’t sure who was more surprised at this, him or the group of guys. The boy who had spoken spoke again in a hushed voice. “Byron,” He pulled the front guy back. “You know, you all know, what I am. And this guy is the most famous of my kind in the world. If you piss him off you’ll be dead before you can say ‘magic’.”

Byron eyed Harry suspiciously. “I dunno Bradley, he looks pretty harmless to me.” Harry snorted. “Really, I just got out of jail yesterday.” Byron spun to look at his wizard friend, who nodded. Harry grinned maliciously, fingering the wand that he now held in his hands.

“Uh, okay, we’ll just, g-go, then.” Without another word they left, and Harry let out a sigh of relief, and Hermione smiled at him, giving him a small hug. “Harry I’m so happy that you didn’t lose your temper, even though you did come rather close.”

Harry smiled nervously and pulled Hermione closer. She had no idea how close he had just come to losing her forever. If Bradley hadn’t been a wizard…

The rest of the day was without incident, and that night Harry and Hermione curled up together under a warm blanket and read Hogwarts: A History until they were both sound asleep.

Chapter 6

The next day (after the two of them both blushed brightly after realizing they fell asleep together) Harry and Hermione decided to pull out the physics book.

“Hmm, well according to this, energy cannot be created nor destroyed, and I know that many educated wizards have agreed with the muggles in this theory, and that magic is nothing more than us using this energy to create magic.” Hermione stated matter-of-factly after the two had read for about an hour.

Harry scrunched his eyebrows together thoughtfully. “Well, if that’s true, than why can’t the killing curse be blocked?” Harry asked no one in particular, delving deep into thought and expressing his thoughts aloud.

“If energy can’t be created or destroyed, then what happens to the energy used to kill someone? Or the magic that is used on anyone really? I guess the most logical conclusion is that magic is a transference of energy from one being to another. But energy is what makes life possible, so how could it possibly kill someone?”

Hermione stared at him, mouth hanging open slightly in awe. “Wow, Harry, that was really deep. I expect many scientists have been pondering that same question forever, but none of them exactly had the experience with it that you do did they?”

A light bulb turned on in Harry’s head. “Of course! You’re brilliant Hermione! That’s what happened when I was a baby. My mother’s protection saved me, and the curse that Voldemort used transferred some of his powers to me!”

Hermione gave him a strange, confused look. “I don’t understand.”

Harry turned and looked her dead in the eye. “Look, what happened to me proves that magic is simply the transference of energy. When the killing curse didn’t work, the energy couldn’t just dissipate, so it stayed with me! That’s why I can speak Parselmouth! That’s why I have so many of Voldemort’s traits! The killing curse uses all the powers someone possesses and turns them against someone!”

POP!

Another light went on in his head. “That’s how it kills someone Hermione! It overloads their system! There’s to much energy for the body to handle, therefore the brain and body shut down!”

Hermione’s mouth dropped in realization. “Oh my God…”

Harry was so desperately trying to figure out more of this puzzle that he paced the room, stalking back and forth, not even noticing that Hermione had left the room in a scramble.

When she came back she had to yell, “Harry!” many times before she finally got his attention, shoving a notebook and pen into his hands. At his confused expression she sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Harry, write everything you just said down. We need to keep a record of this, don’t you understand? You’re on the verge of making a major scientific breakthrough!”

He nodded and started to jot notes on the piece of paper.

Energy is not created or destroyed…

Magic is the transference of energy from one being to another…

Killing Curse kills by overloading body with energy…

He paced some more. “Okay, so we know the killing curse is simply using all the power one possesses to overload another person’s body and mind, the result being death.”

Hermione nodded eagerly, waiting for Harry to come up with more. “So, in theory, the only way to survive the curse would be to either have such little energy left that the curse fills you up with it but does not have enough of it to kill you -” Hermione gasped.

“Harry,” She whispered. “That means that the curse could-” “-Cure people who are on the verge of death, I know.”

Harry jotted down another excited note.

Curse could be used to kill someone with very little energy left in them…

Harry shook his head. “But that doesn’t really explain why all magic isn’t the same. If it’s just the transference of energy, why are there so many different spells and such that can be used for different reasons?”

Hermione’s eyes lit up. “Maybe…maybe magic isn’t just the transference of energy, but also the manipulation of it…”

Harry nodded excitedly.

Magic is both the transference and manipulation of energy…

“So by using different incantations, we are bending the energy to our will, making it do what we want it to.” Harry continued on Hermione’s train of thought, she replied with a nod.

“But all things must have a basis in energy in order to be manipulated. That’s why no one can resurrect the dead, because there’s no energy left, and therefore it cannot be manipulated to bring them back.”

Hermione nodded again, deep in thought.

“But then why can we transfigure a rock or other things like that. They don’t have any energy do they?”

Leave it to Hermione to point out the obvious holes in a theory.

“Well,” Harry began, racking his brain for answers. “Maybe they do. What if all things on this planet carried energy? What if humans are just vessels for energy, and when we die, that energy returns to the soil and the earth, and eventually moves onto another person, and another. Like a never-ending cycle?”

“Hmm…” Hermione said, concentrating hard. She finally spoke up after a long silence. “Well, that would make sense, wouldn’t it? All living things are vessels for energy, and all non-living things are…” “Where energy is stored?” Harry offered, resulting in a smile from Hermione. He returned it and turned back to the notebook.

All living things are a vessel for energy, allowing energy to move from place to place and circle the planet. All non-living things store energy, but why? And how?

The look in Hermione’s eyes told Harry that she was thinking the same thing that he was. They both sighed.

“Well, I guess we’ve reached a roadblock here huh?” Harry said, rubbing his temples. Hermione smiled and stood, walking over to him. “Yeah…” She whispered, putting his hands down and massaging his temples herself. Harry smiled and returned the favor, slowly rubbing the woman he loved temples in a very caring manner. He just wanted to make sure that she wasn’t feeling an ache in her head like he was from all of their hard thinking.

Her lips looked so inviting at that moment, but Harry knew that it was to early to act upon it. He had betrayed Hermione’s trust, and he wouldn’t do it again by making a move before she was ready. Instead he closed his eyes, swimming in the bliss that was the touch of Hermione on him, and he on her.

Slowly, reluctantly, they pulled apart, both knowing that if they didn’t stop they may go to far.

“So…” Harry said, trying to break the uneasy silence. Hermione giggled. “Yeah…” “You know Hermione, I was thinking of owling Dumbledore and asking if I could take Arithmancy this year, you know, so we can work that riddle out together.”

Hermione smiled at him. “That’d be great! And we’d get to spend even more time together that way!” Her cheeks flushed red after she said this, Harry suddenly took on a very serious tone, pulling her close to him.

“Mione,” He whispered in her hear, inhaling her perfume as he brushed by her, making her shiver. “I’m so sorry. Not for defending you, but for losing control. I screwed up Hermione, and you know that I’ll do anything I can to stop it from happening again.”

She sniffed into his shirt, slowly looking up to face him. “I know Harry,” She whispered, bringing a hand up to caress his cheek. “I overreacted, I really did, I’m so-” “No, Hermione,” Harry said urgently, looking deep into her eyes, which were starting to fill with tears. “You were right, don’t be sorry, please don’t be. Even if you did overreact, it still has been the best thing for me. For us.”

Hermione shivered at his last words. “If you hadn’t made me control myself then I would lose it again and again until it finally hurt someone that I love. Like you.”

Hermione wiped a tear away from her eyes and leaned in closer to Harry. “I know,” She whispered, her hot breath now on Harry’s lips, her face only inches from his. “But that won’t happen now, I trust you. I know you won’t lose your temper again, not even with Malfoy.”

Their faces inched closer. “I love you, Hermione,” Harry whispered, centimeters from her lips.

“I love you too, Harry.”

Their lips finally met, for the first time they experienced the sensation of a kiss together. They stayed that way, just kissing softly in the living room, for what seemed like an eternity. The notebook lay forgotten on the carpet, the television buzzing in the background.

They finally broke apart Merlin knows when, and just stood smiling at one another for the longest time. Harry knew from the moment they started kissing that Hermione would be the last girl he ever kissed. There was no doubt in his mind, and by the look in her eyes, Harry knew Hermione was thinking the same thing.

He smiled and pulled her into a tight hug, wanting the moment to last forever.

Finally they pulled apart, an awkward silence greeting them. “Okay, well, um, so what do you want to do today?” Harry asked, not in the smoothest tone he had ever used.

Hermione smiled at him. “I don’t know Harry, I just want to spend it with you.” She hugged him and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Well then, why don’t we go to Diagon Alley? We can get our school supplies and such. It’ll be our first date!” Hermione giggled at Harry’s statement and nodded her head.

“Okay, let me go freshen up a bit, then I’ll be back down and we can take your motorcycle.” Harry laughed. “What, are you going to go put on some of that perfume Ron gave you?”

Hermione gave Harry a disgusted look. “No Harry. I chucked that in the trash about a week after Ron gave it to me,” Her eyes shifted to the ground and she shuffled her feet uncomfortably.

“Harry, Harry how are we going to tell him?” She asked, tears starting to form once again in her eyes. “We both know that he fancy’s me, it’ll break his heart to see us together, you know that.”

Harry nodded, suddenly realizing all of the problems that this relationship was going to cause. “We’ll tell him together Hermione. I know he’ll take it badly at first, but he’ll come around eventually. But Hermione,” He took her hands and looked at her intently and seriously. “You have to understand that once Voldemort finds out that you and I are dating, you’ll become number two on his hit ‘people to kill list’. He’s going to try and use you to get to me, and I hope you realize that.”

Hermione nodded. “I do know that Harry. But I love you, and I’m not going to leave you. If Voldemort tries to get you, he’ll have to get through me first. And you know how evil I can be, just ask Rita Skeeter.” Harry snorted at the name. Rita Skeeter was a journalist who specialized in ruining people’s lives. Hermione though, had her by the tail. She had figured out in fourth year that Skeeter was an animagi (a wizard or witch that can transform into an animal) and an unregistered one at that. Hermione had basically blackmailed her into writing a true story about Harry last year, and he knew that she wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

“Well the war’s as good as over then,” Harry replied with a smile, making Hermione flush red before turning to go get ready for their fist date.

A/N:

I know, I know, not a lot of people like the way I wrote Azkaban, but that’s just how I wanted it (it was meant for a bit of humor as well). I hope you liked the update as a whole though!

Next update will finally have the first duel!

Cheers!

3. Chapters 7-9

A/N:

Okay, so our first duel is in chapter 7 of this installment. I’ve long been told that duels are the best part of my writing, but unfortunately this is a short one, and not to exciting. Mostly just some fluff and a few new characters are introduced. R/R!

Cheers!

*****

Chapter 7

An hour later the couple stepped off of Harry’s motorcycle and into the Leaky Cauldron. The Leaky Cauldron was a famous place to wizards, and it was located in the heart of muggle London.

The broken down, shabby, old building fit right in with the exhaust-filled streets of muggle London. No one would have ever given the unimpressive building a second look - unless that person was a wizard of course.

They stepped inside of the building and the place was immediately quiet as night, it wasn’t everyday that they saw Harry Potter, much less see him holding hands with a girl.

Harry blushed and walked past all of the stares and whispers, meeting the inn-keeper Tom at the bar.

“Hey there Tom, could we get two butterbeers please?” Harry asked politely.

Tom smiled at him and replied, “Coming right up Harry.”

Harry and Hermione just talked quietly over their butterbeer, oblivious to the world around them. When finally finished, they went out the back alley and into the wonder that was Diagon Alley.

Hermione squealed in delight and pulled Harry over to Florish and Botts, the bookstore. “Harry, come on, we need to get our books, and there’s also a revised Hogwarts, A History coming out soon, and I want to figure out all of the details.”

“Okay Hermione,” Harry said, giving her a smirk. “I’m starting my watch and however long we spend in here we’re going to spend the same amount of time in Quality Quidditch Supplies.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and reluctantly agreed. Nearly an hour later, bags filled with books such as; Animagi Transformation, Advanced Arithmancy, Standard Book of Spells Grade Six, and Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, they finally left and headed for Quality Quidditch Supplies, but first stopped in at Ollivander’s.

“Hmm,” Hermione said curiously. “It says we need to stop by Ollivander’s to pick up our weapons for Advanced Weapons Training. I wonder what kind of weapon we’ll get?”

Harry played along with her, although he already had a pretty good idea of what weapon was in store for him, and it was laying in Dumbledore’s office.

“Ahh, Mr. Potter, and Miss Granger, I expected that I would be seeing the two of you in here.” Harry and Hermione exchanged a nervous glance, they both believed that Mr. Ollivander always seemed to know a little to much about everything.

“As you no doubt have guessed, Mr. Potter, your weapon awaits you at Hogwarts.” Harry smiled and nodded, giving Hermione an ‘I’ll tell you later’ look after she gave him a confused glance.

“But for you, Miss Granger, hmm, I believe, maybe, yes, this should do well…” The old, gray-haired man pulled a boomerang out from his storage area. Hermione looked at it curiously, but accepted it nonetheless.

The weapon glowed faintly after Hermione took it, proving that she was meant to be its owner.

“The boomerang is a powerful weapon, Miss Granger,” Ollivander said in an unnerving mysterious voice. “Only the greatest of wizards can master the use of one. I hope that you will be up to the task Miss Granger, because we have hard times ahead, oh yes, very troubled times await us indeed…”

Hermione hurriedly paid the man ten galleons for the weapon, and the two hastily left the shop. Harry had always gotten a bad vibe from Mr. Ollivander, no matter how nice he always seemed.

Their next stop was finally the Quality Quidditch Supplies store. Harry was in awe looking around the shop, just window shopping. He noticed a new broom that would be coming out soon, the WindScyther, but he refrained from buying it. Instead he purchased a book about all of the spells and enchantments that could be placed on a broom.

Hermione was ecstatic to get away from the Quidditch store, and hurriedly pulled Harry to the pet store where she had gotten Crookshanks, as she needed to buy the cat some more food and toys. Harry, making sure Hermione was well out of earshot, crept up to the counter and spoke in a whisper to the clerk.

“Hey, do you have any white-snow owls in stock?” The man gave him a curious look, and then nodded. “Yes actually, although we haven’t carried any since we sold our last one about six years ago,” Harry grinned to himself, knowing exactly where that owl was now. “We just received another one last week, would you like to purchase it?”

Harry nodded eagerly. “Please have it delivered to Hogwarts, Gryffindor Tower, on September 19. On a note attached to it, please write, Happy Birthday, From Harry.” “Okay, that will be forty-three galleons.”

Harry gladly paid the money and left the shop much happier a few moments later with Hermione, who was wondering what he was so glad about but decided to not ask questions.

A few minutes later they found themselves a few meters away from a small building with a statue of Peeves in front of it. There was a sign in front that read ‘WWW - For all of your pranking needs’.

Harry and Hermione grinned and walked into the store, forgetting that they were holding hands.

They were reminded the second they walked in and the entire store gasped. Around the place they saw Seamus Finnigan with Dean Thomas, the Patil twins Parvati and Padma, and Lee Jordan, a black, dreadlock-haired boy that head been in the same year as the Weasley twins. And there, behind the main counter, stood Fred and George Weasley, two of the greatest pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen, and each wearing an identical evil grin.

“Oh, honestly,” Hermione said, rolling her eyes at all of their lock-jawed friends. She turned to Harry, and they both smiled and brought their lips together in a sweet kiss.

The store erupted in cheers and Harry heard the most unfortunate sound of a camera clicking rapidly, and the couple turned to see Colin Creevey snapping away at their kiss.

Harry put a hand up to stop the noise. “Look guys, Ron’s still in Romania, and he doesn’t know yet, so please don’t tell him before we get the chance, alright?” He finished staring directly at the Weasley twins, who were still smirking evilly.

“Fred, George, don’t forget I already spent one night in Azkaban this summer when I lost my temper, you don’t wanna make it two, do you?” Harry gave them a wicked smile and they both audibly gulped before the shop returned to normal.

The two were, of course, bombarded by their friends with questions. “It’s about bloody time mate!” Seamus said in his accent that made the Patil twins go weak at the knees. “So when did you finally ask her?” Harry responded quickly, “I didn’t ask her really. It just sort of, you know, well happened.”

That answer seemed to please everyone, and Harry and Hermione were split apart by their respective sexes, everyone wanting to know how great a kisser the famous Harry Potter was, or how ‘hot’ as Dean put it, that the perennial bookworm Hermione Granger was under her robes.

Harry glared at him for this, and explained that they had done nothing more than kiss and that it would stay like that for a long time to come. This disappointed Dean, but he was promptly shut up when Harry asked him how good Ginny was within earshot of the twins, who both glared at Dean expectantly.

“Harry buddy, would you come here for a minute please?” George asked him, motioning him back to the ‘experiment’ room. Harry gulped but complied with little hesitation, giving Hermione a quick kiss on the cheek before following the twins back.

“Here you go Harry,” Fred said, shoving a small box of what looked like hollow balls into his arms. “Those are our latest invention, not even released to the public yet!” George’s eyes grew as he took over the explanation for his brother. “Each of those balls, when thrown on the ground and busted open, will temporarily transform into a living replica of any Hogwarts staff, ghost, or poltergeist.” George seemed to get even more excited as he continued. “We charmed them so that they would have the same personality of the person they transform into, although they only last for a couple of minutes, and they’re totally random as to who will pop out of them. It’s a great way to scare the bloody hell out of everyone in the astronomy towers after hours though huh?”

They both grinned as Harry tucked the box into his bag and they walked back out into the store. Harry immediately met up with Hermione and they walked off together into Diagon Alley, Harry refusing to tell Hermione what was in the box.

“Well, that’s all of our school shopping then,” Harry said as they walked out of Madam Malkin’s robe shop. “I reckon we go back to the Leaky Cauldron for a bite to eat, what do you think?”

Hermione pretended to think about it for a moment before replying in the positive, and they were making their way back to the Leaky Cauldron when Harry suddenly got a really bad feeling in his gut.

Without thinking he threw Hermione to the ground and yelled, “GET DOWN!” As a beam of red light flew over the top of them.

Harry quickly rolled onto his back and, pushing off the ground with his hands, flipped up to face an impressive-looking man in the middle of a now abandoned street.

The mystery man wore short black robes (Harry assumed this was so he could duel without having to worry about tripping on them) and a blood-red undershirt. The robes were sleeveless, and Harry looked at the man’s long, semi-muscular arms, and was fairly surprised to see that there was no dark mark on his forearm.

The man stood at roughly six-five, and couldn’t have weighed a pound over 170. He had the blackest hair Harry had ever seen, making his own raven-colored hair look like Christmas in Canada. Every inch of the white man’s body seemed to be busting out with muscles - none were huge, but all were more than enough to be intimidating.

Harry, wand pointed straight at the man’s heart, spoke first. “You aren’t a death eater, but your obviously evil. Who the ruddy hell are you?” The man’s clean-shaven face broke out into a wide grin, bearing teeth that the granger’s would have been proud of.

“My name is Kris Giggs, and no, you are correct, I am, not, in fact a death eater.” A few people in the crowd breathed sighs of relief, Hermione now had her wand drawn at Harry’s side. “But I am superior to them.”

That was all Harry needed. “Expelliarmus!” The man laughed and dodged the spell with ease. “Get the girl out of here Potter, she is not fit for a true duel.” Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but a quick look from Harry and she shut it, then walked over to the nearest bench to watch, nervously and angrily clutching her robes with her sweaty palms.

The man laughed again. “And now we begin, Mr. Potter.” With a flick of his wand, they were completely surrounded by an impenetrable magical barrier, now no one on the outside could help either one.

“Time to meet your parents Potter. Kriptify!” Harry’s eyes widened in horror as a beam of red light no smaller than three feet in diameter shot towards him. But thanks to his quidditch-honed reflexes, he was able to dive quickly to his right.

“Stupefy!” Harry gaped at Giggs, who simply waved his wand and evaporated the spell into thin air. ‘Well there goes half the energy theory’ Harry thought to himself, but he was quickly pulled from his thoughts when forced to dive left in order to dodge another kriptify, which Harry assumed to be a very powerful form of the normal stunner spell.

Harry attempted another stupefy, but Giggs only laughed and evaporated the spell again. “You’ll need something more powerful than that to get past me Potter! Imperio!”

Harry once again felt the sensation of not having a care or worry in the world, but he knew how to stop this. The voice was saying, come to me, come to me, and Harry, suppressing a grin, threw the spell off but followed the instructions as if he was still under the spell.

When he was only five feet from Giggs, he stunned the young man (he couldn’t have been a day over thirty) by raising his wand and yelling, “Expelliarmus!” The astonished man’s wand flew from his hand and into Harry’s. Outside of the magic bubble, Harry could hear excited cheers and whoops from the crowd, but Giggs only gave him an evil smirk.

“Very impressive Potter, very impressive, but it is time for this to end. Draconis Firius!” And with a backup wand that he had hidden in his cloak, Giggs sent a fire spell directly at the unsuspecting Harry, hurling him twenty feet back into the barrier and onto the ground.

Giggs laughed and he evaporated the outer shield. “Until next time Potter,” And he pulled a slab of rock from his robes, then muttered “portus” into it and disappeared.

The last thing Harry heard before passing out was Hermione’s terrified voice screaming his name…

Chapter 8

Harry opened his eyes groggily and tried to survey his surroundings. Everything was hazy and swimming in and out of focus. “Mmm,” Harry groaned in annoyance. “Glasses, where…”

Harry tried to move his arms around to look for them, but he found that they were far to heavy for that kind of movement. Luckily, someone slipped the glasses onto his face for him. Harry smiled when he saw that it was Hermione.

Or, at least he tried to smile, but he found that he was far to tired to make any muscle movements. Hermione grasped his hand tightly, tears of happiness flowing down her front.

“How…what, last thing I remember…” He was silenced by Hermione placing a soft kiss on his lips. “Shh, Harry, you’re gonna be okay now. You’re safe, here, with me.”

“Where, where is here?” Harry asked, the words not being quite as clear as he had hoped they would, but they conveyed the message nonetheless. Hermione smiled at him and held his hand tighter.

“You’re in St. Mungo’s Harry. You’ve been out for nearly two weeks, that duel with Giggs really took a lot out of you.” Harry stared at her in what he hoped was an expression of utmost disbelief. “Two-two weeks?” He croaked.

Hermione nodded and burst into tears. “Yes Harry, it’s been so long,” She sobbed. “I thought that I had lost you Harry. After Giggs left, I was so scared Harry, you were burned so badly, but the medi-wizards here treated them fairly quickly. I got you here as fast as I could Harry. Oh I was so afraid you wouldn’t make it!” She was sobbing hysterically into his chest now. “I-I can’t live without you Harry, I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. Oh Harry!” She pulled him into a tight hug. “I love you so much, promise me you’ll never leave me!”

Harry held on to her tight, wishing that he could hold her forever. “I promise Hermione. I love you.”

Harry was finally let out of the hospital some time later, only one day before he would be leaving for his sixth year at Hogwarts. He hadn’t had many people visit him, really only Hermione and her parents. When he asked about this, Hermione told him it was because they didn’t want news leaking that there had been a major battle with a non-death eater in the middle of Diagon Alley.

Ministry hit-wizards had arrived on the scene moments after it happened, and Harry was told that they issued a massive memory charm so that none of the spectators would remember the duel. In fact, all memory of Harry and Hermione having even been at Diagon Alley had been wiped, excluding the memories belonging to the shop clerks and Harry’s friends. He was told that this was all for his protection and that Dumbledore would be filling him in on the details when he arrived at Hogwarts.

So on September the first, Harry and Hermione, all possessions in tow, made their way through Platform 9 ¾ and towards the Hogwarts Express. They saw no sign of Ron, so they decided to take an empty cabin and wait for him. They wanted to get the news that they were together to him as soon as possible.

About five minutes after they were seated, Ron and Ginny came in. “Hey guys, we’ve missed you so much!” Ginny squealed, giving them both huge hugs.

Harry decided to get right down to business. “Okay Ginny, please leave for a few minutes, Hermione and I need to talk to Ron. Alone.” The message in Harry’s tone was clear, and the youngest Weasley sibling left without another word.

Ron sat down across from the two, eyeing them dangerously. “Okay, what is it?”

“Look Ron, I’m not going to beat around the bush here, so I’ll just come right out and say it.” Harry took a deep breath. “Hermione and I are a couple now Ron, and not just any normal one, we’re in love. You’re our best friend, and we wanted to tell you as soon as we could.”

Ron stared at them at a complete loss for words. Finally he raised one hand towards the door, and looked at Hermione. “Out. Harry and I need to talk alone.”

Hermione gulped and nodded, leaving quickly before the fireworks began. Harry quickly locked the door and put a sound-proof charm on it as well. He braced himself for Ron’s outburst, which came immediately.

“Damn it Harry! You know I fancied her! I was going to finally ask her out today! How could you do this to me!?”

Harry took a deep breath and replied. “Look Ron, some things happen for a reason, and Hermione and I-”

“NO! I don’t wanna hear it! You just have to have everything don’t you!? You’re the bloody famous Harry Potter! You have all the fame, the quidditch talent, you could have any girl in the wizarding world! You have everything! Now you have to have Hermione too!?”

Harry stood up in a rage. “Damn it Ron! You’re so thick! I don’t have a bloody thing! You have parents, brothers, a sister! I don’t have any of that! I would give up everything to have what you have Ron! You don’t know what it’s like to grow up with people that hate you! You’re so bloody lucky and you don’t even appreciate it! Hermione is the only thing I have in this world that I want! I could give a damn about everything else!”

Ron glared at Harry, but Harry noticed that his expression had softened a bit. “But why do you have to steal the one thing that I want right out from under my nose!”

The glass in the compartment shattered under Harry’s anger, but neither of them acknowledged it. “I didn’t steal her Ron! She was never yours! And she isn’t ‘mine’ either! She’s her own bloody person!”

Ron glared at him before spinning around and storming out of the room. Hermione and Ginny came in a few moments later, and Hermione winced at the sight of the broken glass. “That bad huh?”

Harry nodded and plopped down on the seat nearest him. “He’ll come around.” Ginny said, taking the seat opposite Harry and Hermione. She smiled at them sweetly as they cuddled together. “By the way, congratulations. We all knew that you two would end up together someday, we just weren’t sure when. In fact, I think Dean and Seamus had a pool going, I wonder who won?”

Harry and Hermione gaped at her. “Was it that obvious?”

Ginny giggled. “Yes, even when I still had my superhero crush on Harry I knew that you two would end up together. It was especially apparent after the Department of Mysteries, but there were signs before that.”

The couple looked at her expectantly. “Oh please, you guys are the smartest witch in the school and the most powerful wizard in the school as well. You two were so blind sometimes that it was funny.” She giggled again. “Hmm, let me see…well the biggest one was how you two always seemed to talk without words, you always seemed to look at one another and know what the other one was thinking. And then there was the whole thing in that battle. Everyone but Ron knew then that you two would be together. The way Harry clung onto your robes when we were in danger Hermione, how he made sure that you were the safest when we were in danger. When he left Ron being strangled to death with a girl he hardly knew and then was on the verge of a nervous breakdown when Hermione was hurt. It was just so obvious, it seems that the almighty trio were the only ones oblivious to it.”

Harry raised his eyebrows at Ginny. “The ‘trio’?”

Ginny giggled yet again. “Yeah, that’s what everyone calls you three. It’s like you’re some kind of untouchable club or something. I think it’s sort of catchy though.”

Harry and Hermione shrugged and snuggled closer as more of their friends came in. Luna Lovegood was first, and she gave Harry and Hermione an authentic smile when she saw them together. “Ah, it’s about time. I swear I thought that snorckaks were going to come back to England before you two realized what you had.”

She smiled and sat next to Ginny, pulling out a copy of ‘The Quibbler’ and reading it upside down, a dreamy expression on her face. Neville came in next, and was totally unsurprised to see the two holding hands and snuggling, he merely smiled at them and took a seat next to Ginny.

Suddenly Padma Patil came into the cabin, looking crossly at Hermione. “Earth to Hermione? Prefects meeting, remember?” She stopped and gasped when she saw Harry and Hermione’s intertwined hands. “Oh! Well sorry to break up the love fest but we’ve really got to go.”

Hermione, for the first time in her life, groaned at the prospect of Prefect duties and kissed Harry lightly on the mouth before leaving with Padma.

After a few moments of excited talk about quidditch and the sort, Dean and Seamus came in, both wearing smug expressions. “Hey there Gin,” Dean said, sitting next to her and giving her a quick peck on the cheek, causing her to flush red.

“Hey, look we can’t stay, but I just thought I’d let you know that I’m organizing a football team for Gryffindor, all of the other houses are getting one as well. I owled Dumbledore about it over the summer and he agreed. I’ve got to stay in shape for West Ham and all you know! So I was hoping you guys would play?”

Harry shrugged and nodded to him. “Sure, I’ll try it. As long as it doesn’t interfere with Quidditch that is.” Dean nodded excitedly. “Nope, it won’t. All our games will be on the quidditch pitch, we’ll even have a cup for it, just like quidditch!”

After a few more minutes of excited talk, Harry’s dorm mates left as Hermione returned, on the verge of tears. Harry quickly stood up and pulled her into his arms.

“What did he say Mione?” Hermione sobbed into his shoulder. “He-he said that he doesn’t want to talk about it and that he hopes I’m happy that I snagged the great Harry Potter.”

Harry felt his anger reach a boiling point, but he forced himself to be calm. “It’ll be okay Hermione. He’s just a little jealous, that’s all. He’ll get over it in time. You guys always have these rows remember? In a few days this will all be in the past and we’ll be the best of friends again, okay?” She smiled at her boyfriend. “Yeah, I know.”

Five of the sextet that had been at the Department of Mysteries battle just a few months ago spent the next few minutes playing various wizard games until a pretty girl that looked somehow familiar to Harry knocked on their compartment.

She came in and asked nervously, “Er, I know that you don’t know me, but I can’t find anywhere else to sit. Could I please stay in here?” “Sure-” “Hold on a minute.” Harry cut off Neville quickly, looking the girl over. She had that same build, the incredibly dark black hair, those striking blue eyes…

“Is your name Giggs?”

Hermione snapped to attention, suddenly recognizing the girls features. The young witch looked completely terrified at the two wands now pointed straight at her chest.

“Y-yes,” She squeaked. Harry’s eyes flared.

“I met your father a few weeks ago. I was in Mungo’s for three weeks!” The power and anger in his words scared everyone in the cabin, and the girl’s knees buckled as she fell to the ground in tears.

“I’m so sorry! I’ve never met my father! I was just told that he was a dark wizard and that he had left me on an orphanage doorstep when I was just a baby. I swear that I have nothing to do with him!”

Harry slowly lowered his wand, the girl’s tears draining away his anger. He slowly walked up to her and put his hands gently onto her shaking shoulders. “Hey,” He said softly. “I’m sorry, I overreacted. I had no idea, I grew up without my parents as well.”

He slowly rose to his feet, bringing the girl up with him, she had ceased crying now, and was trying to straighten herself up. “Okay, this is my girlfriend Hermione Granger,” He said, pointing at Hermione, who smiled and waved in return, her own wand back in her robes. He pointed to the rest of his friends in turn. “That’s Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and I’m Harry Potter.”

The girl gasped when she heard Harry’s name, but didn’t say anything. “Okay, come on, later I’ll introduce you to some more of our friends. We’re all in Gryffindor House, except for Luna, she’s in Ravenclaw. We were just about to start a new game of exploding snap, do you want in?”

The girl, who they found out’s name was Katrina, nodded and they played games and laughed and joked the whole rest of the way to Hogwarts.

“Firs’ years, firs’ ‘ears o’er ‘ere!” Came a very familiar voice, and Harry turned to wave at Hagrid, the Hogwarts game keeper who also happened to be a half-giant.

They made their way to the carriages that were pulled by thestrals - a type of horse that is only visible if the one looking at them has witnessed death before. Hermione grabbed Harry’s hand in support as he fought back the tears.

“Eww, those horses are ugly!” Katrina stated suddenly, causing all of them to turn and stare at her. “What?” She asked, a slight hint of nervousness in her tone.

“Um, Katrina, people can only see those horses if they’ve seen someone die before. Who did you see?” Katrina flushed red and looked at the ground. “Er, well, I don’t really like to talk about it.”

Not another word was spoken until the six were finally seated in the Great Hall, which was decorated just as spectacularly as ever. Ron finally came over and sat down next to Harry, swallowing his pride.

“Hey there mate,” Harry said smiling and pointing at Katrina who was nervously standing in the midst of many first years, even though she would be entering her sixth. “That’s Katrina Giggs, we met her on the train. She’s really nice.”

Ron’s mouth dropped at the sight of the beautiful black-haired woman, and Harry and Hermione shared a knowing smirk.

“Ackelry, Stewart.”

Came Professor McGonogall’s voice, officially starting the sorting ceremony.

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

The table nearest the Gryffindor’s exploded in cheers, and the ceremony continued.

The sorting went along quite normally until…

“Evans, Mark.”

Chapter 9

Harry snapped his head to see the young wizard after hearing his name. ‘No, there’s no way…’

There was. Mark Evans, a boy that had been bullied by Dudley for years, had come to Hogwarts. He turned to Ron and Hermione excitedly.

“I know that kid! He lives in Little Whining!” Hermione gasped and put a hand over her mouth in surprise, while Ron just shrugged non-caringly, obviously still upset by Harry and Hermione getting together.

“GRYFFINDOR!”

The hat’s voice echoed throughout the entire great hall, and the Gryffindor table exploded with applause. The young boy was very nervous at first, but his eyes lit up when he saw Harry beaming and waving at him.

“Mark! Come sit over here with us!” Mark smiled back at Harry and preceded to sit down next to him, receiving several jealous stares from the other first years.

Harry smiled at him. “Hey there, welcome to St. Brutus’!” Mark laughed nervously and looked around in awe. “So that’s why the Dursley’s hated you so much! Cuz you’re a wizard! I know they hate anything that’s abnormal, so obviously they’d hate you.”

Harry grinned at him and introduced Mark to all of his friends. “Well Mark, this is my girlfriend Hermione Granger, the red heads are Ron and Ginny, him with the black hair is Neville, the one with the sandy-blonde hair is Seamus, and the black one is-” “Dean Thomas!” Mark exclaimed excitedly, surprising everyone.

Mark hurriedly shook a very flattered Dean’s hand. “Oh, I love West Ham! I was at your debut when you scored that awesome goal against Man-ure.” At Mark’s alias for Manchester United Dean broke out into uncontrollable laughter and Hermione scowled at him.

“Hey, I happen to be a Man U fan, thank you very much. And you are to, aren’t you Harry?” Harry shifted uncomfortably under Hermione’s gaze and shook his head. “Er, no, I actually have to go with West Ham on this one. I don’t know anything about any football teams really, except that Dean plays for one, so they’re my fave I suppose.”

Hermione huffed but said nothing, and a quick kiss on the lips (they had still not done any kissing in the way of the French) she lightened up and listened to the rest of the ceremony over Dean and Mark’s excited chatter about how well West Ham would do this year in the Premiere League.

After the last student was sorted to Hufflepuff, Dumbledore rose to speak. “Alas, another year is upon us, and I have a few beginning of term announcements that I would like to make. First of all, all students should know that the Forbidden Forest is strictly out of bounds,” His eyes glanced over the trio when he said this, and the three grinned at one another, privately promising to venture in there on at least one occasion this year.

“Also, our caretaker Mr. Filch,” He motioned to a scary looking old man at the back of the hall, standing next to an equally terrifying cat. “Has asked that I inform you that the list of forbidden items has been increased to well over six hundred, and may all be viewed on his office door - or also in the Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes jokeshop in Diagon Alley.” This got many laughs from the crowd, all remembering the greatest troublemakers since the Marauder’s themselves.

“I would also like to announce, that in addition to the inter-house quidditch cup, we will also be holding a new inter-house football championship this year as well.” Dumbledore smiled as all of the muggle-borns erupted in loud cheers at this news, while many of the pure-blooded wizards wore confused looks upon their faces. The Slytherins didn’t look happy at all.

“Now, for one last thing, on a much graver note.” All the cheering ceased immediately as Dumbledore spoke. “As you all know, Voldemort has indeed, risen once again.” Many gasps were heard at the dark lord’s name. “I believe we all should show our appreciation to six of our own students who all walked away from a duel with ten death eaters last year.”

The room fell into a hush. They could probably guess three of the names, but were eager for the rest. “Firstly, Miss Virginia Weasley, showing great courage when faced with adversity.” A polite applause, Harry noticed that Draco Malfoy, along with his cronies Crabbe and Goyle, were absolutely fuming. “Also, Luna Lovegood, who showed a great mind to help a friend out of a dangerous situation.” There were surprised whispers and murmers along with more polite applause.

“Neville Longbottom, one of only two students to see the fight through to the very end, and also permanently blinding a death eater in the process.” Huge applause greeted Neville, everyone impressed at what he had done.

“Next, Mr. Ronald Weasley, for showing true friendship and courage.” Polite applause for Ron - he hadn’t done anything spectacular. “And also Miss Hermione Granger, who showed true loyalty and bravery despite her protests, and for keeping a cool mind during the battle, and ultimately helping the sextet find what they were looking for.” Applause and curious whispers followed Dumbledore’s statement, everyone wondering what they had been looking for.

“And lastly, there is no possible way to convey into words what Harry Potter did in that battle. He kept all of his friends alive, and endured a cruciatus curse for their safety,” A few people gasped, looking at Harry in awe, who was looking at his feet in shame. They didn’t know that he had also been on the giving end of a cruciatus curse as well.

“And also for once again, dueling with the dark lord and living to tell about it, that is after of course, dueling with the death eater Bellatrix LeStrange and emerging victorious.” Harry blushed brightly as the entire hall gaped at him in awe, unbelieving that he had won a duel with one of Voldemort’s inner circle.

“Harry also lost something dear to him at this battle.” Harry shot his head up and looked at Dumbledore, wondering whether or not he would tell them about Sirius. “Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black,” Many gasps and other various noises of disbelief rang throughout the hall. “As I was saying, Sirius Black, an innocent man condemned to 13 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, lost his life in the battle to save Harry and his friends. He was a great man, and although the Ministry will tell you that he was a murderer, I assure you that this is not the case. Sirius was a great wizard and a great man and friend to all those who knew him. I ask all of you to raise your glasses and drink to the man that was Sirius Black.”

Just like they had at the end of fourth year, everyone raised their glasses and spoke Sirius’ name, although many of them did so with a look of doubt still on their faces.

“And lastly, let the feast begin! Tuck in!”

With that food appeared on all the platters in the Great Hall, and the students dug into their plates excitedly. Most talking about the things that Dumbledore had said only a few moments ago.

“Wow Harry,” Mark said admirably as they started to eat. “I had no idea that you were such a great wizard. People must really like you around here.” Everyone in the immediate vicinity broke out into hysterical laughter.

“Yeah,” Seamus chuckled. “You could say that.” At Mark’s confused expression, Harry told him his entire life story, and Mark was in awe by the end of it.

After a few more laughs and joyful conversation, they finally left the Great Hall for bed, except for Harry, who headed straight to the Headmaster’s office.

“Ahh, Harry, I was waiting for you. Tongue Toffees.” At Dumbledore’s words the gargoyle sprang to life and they made their way into Dumbledore’s office.

The sorting hat had already been brought back and was placed on an old shelf that was nearly as old and ragged as the hat was. Harry eyed the huge telescope behind Dumbledore’s desk, as well as Fawkes, the headmaster’s pet phoenix.

Harry surprised Dumbledore by conjuring a chair for himself and sitting down, then waited for his mentor to take his seat behind his desk. Dumbledore smiled at him.

“Very impressive Harry, I am impressed. But I am afraid that our conversation will not be a pleasant one.” Harry fidgeted a little in his seat, but said nothing. “As punishment for your actions this August, you have been revoked as both Quidditch Captain and Gryffindor Prefect.” Harry opened his mouth to say that he was already neither of those things, but Dumbledore cut him off.

“I am well aware Harry, that you do not fill either of these positions, but you would have had it not been for the events of this summer. However, I will allow you to choose your replacements.”

“Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom.” Harry replied without hesitation. He knew that Ron was a brilliant strategist and would be great at conceiving new plays, while Neville was becoming a powerful wizard and was as responsible as any other person Harry knew.

Dumbledore nodded and smiled slightly. “Two excellent choices, Harry. I will allow you to inform your replacements tonight.” Harry nodded. “Now, I understand that you and Miss Granger have been working on a few things this summer, aside from your relationship?”

Harry blushed and Dumbledore chuckled a little, only stopping when Harry spoke up. “Yes, we have discovered that my birth date is in the ‘Arithmantic Riddle’ that was discovered a few weeks after my first defeat of Voldemort. We found this very important and I request that I be enrolled in Professor Vector’s N.E.W.T. Arithmancy class immediately.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

Dumbledore nodded again. “It will be done.” Harry took a deep breath and handed Dumbledore his notes on physics. “Hmm, a few good ideas in theory, but I am afraid that you are incorrect with your assumptions on the killing curse. It does just that, kill. It drains the wizard of all energy, rather than overflow it.” He shook his head sorrowfully. “No one knows where the energy goes, but I see that you have been making progress with it, and I daresay that you will eventually find the answer, and possibly even the cure.”

Harry both smiled and blushed at Dumbledore’s compliment. “But sir, then what happens when a spell is evaporated into thin air? I saw Kris Giggs do just that when I dueled him.” Dumbledore gave Harry a look of helplessness. “Yet another thing that I do not know Harry. I was not even aware of that spell myself until I heard what had happened in Diagon Alley.”

He shook his head sadly again. “I know nothing of this Kris Giggs, Harry. He never attended Hogwarts or any other wizarding school that I contacted, so I believe he was either privately trained or he trained himself. I believe that the latter is more probable, but I have no evidence to support this.”

Harry shook his head, hating the fact that he had now inherited a new enemy that he knew nothing about. “Professor, what about his daughter? Why was she brought here?”

Dumbledore sighed gravely. “I am afraid that we only recently discovered her magical capabilities, it was mere coincidence that she was discovered at the same time as her father made himself known.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Then again, perhaps not. Only time will tell Harry. Oh yes, and before you leave, I must give you some terrible news.”

Harry tensed up, ready for about everything except for what Dumbledore said next. “Your Firebolt was destroyed by Dolores Umbridge before the end of last term. I am truly sorry Harry.”

Harry felt the tears welling up in his eyes. His last link to Sirius, his firebolt, gone. Taken by the evil toad woman that had been the Hogwarts High-Inquisitioner the year before.

Harry simply nodded and left the room in a rush, finally allowing the tears to come. Sirius, his dead godfather, had given him that broom in his third year after his Nimbus 2000 had been destroyed by the whomping willow, which was where Harry found himself now.

‘Wait a minute…’ Harry thought to himself, staring at the huge tree whose limbs flapped fiercely at all things that came its way. The whomping willow, the tree that had revealed everything to Harry, the truth about Pettigrew and Sirius, where Lupin had spent his youth as a werewolf.

Harry smiled, maybe he wouldn’t lose his link at all. He transfigured a long stick (he had done quite a lot of reading over the summer) and used it to prod the knot at the tree’s core. “Reducto!”

A branch was exploded off the tree and landed at Harry’s feet, plenty big enough for his purposes. He smiled and turned back to the castle, carrying the branch over his shoulder and whistling, heading for his trunk in Gryffindor tower where a certain quidditch book he had bought in Diagon Alley waited for him.

A/N:

There ya go! Hope you liked it! Chapters 9-11 will go up either later today or tomorrow, once again depending on whether I can resist the urge to post everything at once.

Preview:

Big fight between Ron and Harry, a duel, some humor, and a few other surprises.

Cheers!

4. Chapters 10-12

Chapter 10

Harry certainly received a few odd looks as he happily walked back to the Gryffindor Tower with a large branch slung over his shoulder, but no one asked him anything until he was in the common room.

“Er, Harry, why do you have a tree branch slung over your shoulder?” Ron asked him from his place on the couch next to Katrina, where they must have been having a very enjoyable conversation, as Katrina was smiling profoundly. Harry motioned him over and they walked up to their dorm together, along with all the other sixth year Gryffindor boys.

“Okay guys,” Harry grunted as he laid the branch on floor and pulled out his quidditch book. “What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this room.” He eyed everyone, all of whom gulped and nodded. “Okay, last year, before she was kicked out, that frog-**** woman destroyed my firebolt.”

Ron gasped and cursed Umbridge several times, joined by Dean and Seamus. Neville looked at him in awe. “Harry, are you saying that you’re gonna-” “Yes Neville,” Harry answered before the question could be finished. “This is a branch I just blew off the whomping willow, and I’m gonna turn it into the best seeker’s broom in the world.”

The guys were all shocked by this, and Harry grinned at them. “I’ve got a book here that will help, and I should finish within a week or two. No one can know about this until our first practice, and then the whole school will know after our first match. Hermione is the only other person that will know about this, aside from Dumbledore and McGonogall. Don’t let anyone else in this room unless I say it’s alright. There are only perhaps a dozen people in this world that I trust completely, and you guys are four of them.”

They all smiled and nodded at Harry, grinning. “Is there anything that we can do to help?” Ron asked. Harry immediately shook his head. “No Ron, this is something that I have to do on my own. I’ll let you all know when I’m finished though, and maybe even let you all ride it.” Their eyes lit up in excitement. “Oh yeah, two last things,” Harry looked at Ron and Neville. “Ron, you’re the new quidditch captain this year and Neville, you’re the second Gryffindor prefect.”

The two stared at him, lost for words. “T-thanks Harry,” They said in unison. Harry just grinned at them. “You earned it. Now I’ve gotta go and find Hermione, then McGonogall and Dumbledore, so I’ll see you guys later.”

He bade them goodbye and went straight to the library, finding Hermione hunched over a large book. “Hey there Mione,” He said, kissing her softly on the cheek, causing her to blush and other students to whisper excitedly. “I have to tell you something,” He leaned in close and relayed the story to her, Hermione was fuming by the end of it.

“That hag! I can’t believe she would do that! But of course I’ll stay quiet Harry, I won’t even tell Ginny.” Harry nodded at her appreciatively and kissed her again before leaving for McGonogall’s office.

He arrived their a few moments later, having been slowed by Peeves, the school poltergeist, who had been hurling water balloons at him in the fifth floor corridor. Finally he reached the Transfiguration room (albeit a little wetter than he had been before he left) and knocked once before walking in.

Professor McGonogall, a strict old woman who could command a class with a simple glare, saw him and smiled sweetly. “Mr. Potter, to what do I owe this honor?” Harry smiled and responded, “Well I’m sure by now that you’ve heard that Umbridge destroyed my Firebolt last term.” McGonogall’s smile flipped upside down, the woman had nearly killed her the year before in a botched attempt to fire Hagrid. She simply nodded.

Harry continued. “Well I blew a branch off of the whomping willow and I’m going to create my own broom from it, and I promise that it will be a special one.” McGonogall smiled. “And I presume that you have come here to ask if broom-making is allowed by a Hogwarts student?” Harry took a deep breath and nodded. “It is perfectly fine, Mr. Potter. I do hope that you make something special, I really do adore that trophy.” She smiled as she looked at the Quidditch Cup that was perched on the corner of her desk. “Thank you Professor, I won’t let you down.” With this Harry nodded and left, only one stop left.

“Tongue Toffees.” Harry said, a hint of excitement in his voice as the gargoyle shifted and started to move upward. Harry jumped on and soon found himself once again in the Headmaster’s office.

“Harry, what may I do for you now?” Dumbledore asked politely, although Harry was sure that he already knew what he was going to say. “I would like permission to build my own broomstick sir.”

Dumbledore smiled and nodded at him. “Of course, and Harry,” He said as Harry had started to leave. “I have two more things to tell you. First,” He pulled the sword of Godric Gryffindor from its place by the sorting hat and gave it to Harry. “I believe you will be needing that for your weapons class.” Harry smiled and nodded as he accepted the sword.

“And also,” Dumbledore continued. “I wish for the DA to live on this year, but only for those whom accompanied you to the Department of Mysteries last June. They will all be targets now, and I will be enlisting quite a few friends to help you. You will study more spells, train as animagi, and learn to apparate, among other things.”

Harry nodded eagerly as he took it all in. He couldn’t wait to tell the others. “If there is nothing else Harry, then I ask that you please return to your dormitory and get some well deserved rest. You have a long day tomorrow.” Harry nodded and said a polite thank you before leaving for the common room.

Harry crashed into his bed without disturbing anyone about the DA that would be continuing, as he was much to tired for that. Slowly, he drifted into one of the best nights of rest he had had in a long time.

The next morning over breakfast Harry told Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville about the DA, and Ginny agreed to tell Luna the first chance that she got.

Halfway through breakfast McGonogall came by with course schedules, which Harry looked over curiously. “What do you have Harry?” Katrina asked him after she looked at Ron’s schedule over his shoulder.

“Er, I’ve got N.E.W.T. Transfiguration, Advanced weapons training, and N.E.W.T. Arithmancy today,” Ron gave him a strange look. “Harry, since when do you take Arithmancy?” Harry smirked at him. “Since I stayed at Hermione’s this summer.” Ron went a little green and didn’t say anything else.

“Then I’ve got N.E.W.T. Creatures and Charms tomorrow, then Charms and DADA on Wednesday, hey, wait a minute.” Harry said suddenly. “Who’s the new DADA teacher? I didn’t notice anyone new at the sorting last night, did you?” They all shook their heads.

A horrible thought struck Harry. “It can’t be…” “Snape?” Hermione offered with a grimace. “I surely hope not, now that I’ve dropped potions I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see him much this year.” Ron scrunched his eyebrows together thoughtfully. “Nah, I don’t think it’s Snape, I can feel it. I’m pretty sure it’s someone we already know, I’m just not sure who.”

Harry and Hermione stared at Ron, mouths agape. Ron grinned at them. “Hey, you’re looking at the only guy in the school that got an ‘O’ in Divination. Lav and Parvati were peeved when I told them.” Harry stared at him unbelieving. “But you’re terrible at Divination! How did you get an ‘O’?” Ron shrugged. “Apparently I have ‘the sight’.” They all laughed at Ron’s Trelawney imitation, and the conversation quickly turned to quidditch, eliciting a groan from Hermione.

“Now come on Mione, if I go to the library with you later, will you talk quidditch with us now?” He gave her an irresistible grin and she smiled back. “Okay then, so when are we gonna have tryouts captain?” Harry asked Ron with a wink. Ever since Ron had met Katrina he had been much more mature towards Harry and Hermione and their relationship. “Well I dunno,” Ron said, lowering his voice. “When do you reckon you’ll finish that broom?”

“A few days,” Harry whispered back, making sure they weren’t overheard. “I’ve already put a featherweight charm and an anti-theft curse on it. As of right now, if anyone touches the broom other than you, me, Mione, Dean, Seamus, Neville, McGonogall, or Dumbledore then they’ll get a nasty little shock that’ll knock them out for a few hours. Oh yeah, and I’ve got the body finished, and also a crash repellant charm and a wind resistance charm, so I can’t crash into another player and the wind won’t affect me. Oh yeah, and I also put an unbreakable charm on it as well, so it should be pretty much impossible to destroy now.”

All of the guys looked extremely excited, even Hermione was hanging on Harry’s every word. “So how fast will it be?” Neville asked, getting nods from everyone else that had wanted to know the same thing. Harry grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” They all groaned and Harry laughed before continuing. “There’s a speed charm on the broom right now, increasing its propulsion and power as we speak. I’m leaving it on until it wears off on its own, that’s the same way they make the firebolt.”

Everyone gasped. “Will it be that quick then?” Hermione asked with utmost interest. Harry grinned and shook his head. “Faster, it’ll outstrip the WindScyther by a good twenty to fifty kilometers an hour. I used a few ideas of my own to bolster the speed and power. It’ll also turn on a dime, I put a major agility hex on it. At two hundred it can make a ninety degree turn in under half a second. Man I can’t wait to try it out!”

The other guys nodded their heads in agreement. “What will you call it?” Dean asked in awe. This time Harry shook his head for real. “That, my friends, is something you’ll find out after our first practice.”

A few minutes later the group split for classes, Neville, Harry, and Hermione headed for Transfiguration while the rest went the way of Advanced Physical Training. Then they would all meet up for Advanced Weapons Training, finally going their separate ways afterwards with only Harry and Hermione heading to Arithmancy.

“Saint Potter! Got a mudblood girlfriend now do you? When my father gets out of Azkaban he’ll make sure you both meet your end.” Harry rolled his eyes and turned to face Draco Malfoy, flanked by his bodyguards Crabbe and Goyle.

Harry surprised the entire crowd watching (all hoping for a duel to break out) when he said, “For once I agree with you Malfoy. With an inept Minister of Magic like Fudge the dementors will surely hand Azkaban to Voldemort.” The students gasped at the dark lord’s name, and Harry stepped closer to Malfoy, a sneer crossing his face. “But hopefully I will meet up with your father again Malfoy. If he even as much as breaths on Hermione I swear to Merlin I’ll kill him, rather than stun him like I did last year.”

Draco’s eyes widened in shock. “That’s right Malfoy, I stunned your dear old daddy. Then I knocked your dear Aunt Bellatrix off her feet. After that I watched Dumbledore make a fool out of your dad’s mate Voldemort.” Harry leaned in close and said menacingly, so that the whole hall could here. “Or should I say your mate as well.”

Draco visibly flinched, but regained his cool demeanor and spat, “Are you implying what I think you are Potter?” Harry nodded. “Your damned right I am.” The pair looked at each other with utmost loathing before Harry finally spun on his heel and led Hermione to McGonogall’s class, leaving a hallway of students staring at Malfoy as he stalked away, wondering if it was possible that he really was a death eater.

After a rather uneventful class of turning seaweed into frogs, Harry and Hermione met up with the others outside of the Weapons room. Harry surveyed everyone’s weapons with an amused expression. Ron had a swallow, which was a sort of double-blade sword, Neville had two foot long blades, Dean and Seamus each had battle axes, while all of the other people in the class had different variations of swords and daggers and such.

“Alright class, everyone please settle down and take a seat.” The professor asked, and Harry gave him a once over. The guy was ripped. He had muscles bulging out all over his body, and had a few battle trophies on his arms and face from past skirmishes. The man eyed Harry, as he was the only one without a weapon - or so it appeared to the class.

“Mr. Potter,” The man said amusedly. “Would you like to tell the class why you are without a weapon?” Harry grinned and stood up, reaching his right hand behind his left shoulder and pulling the Gryffindor Sword from its invisible sheath and wowing the class with its glory.

The professor looked shocked. “Very good Mr. Potter, I see you have already mastered the stealth weapon curse, something we were to learn today. Tell me, have you ever used a sword, Mr. Potter?”

Harry shrugged. “Er, yeah. I killed a basilisk with this one in my second year.” Those in the class that had not been in the DA the previous year gasped. The professor nodded knowingly. “Yes, Albus told me to expect quite a lot from you. Tell me Mr. Potter, do you know to whom that sword belonged?”

Harry nodded, reddening a little, knowing that gasps were about to come. “Godric Gryffindor.” Harry guessed correctly, the class made another collective gasp.

The professor smiled and nodded, then motioned for Harry to sit down. “Alright class, my name is Professor Sora Summers. You may address me as whatever you wish, it does not matter to me. Now pair up, and we will learn the basic stealth weapon curse, as Mr. Potter has so excellently demonstrated. Oh by the way, twenty points to Gryffindor for your cleverness Harry.” Harry smiled and the Gryffindors whooped while Malfoy and the Slytherins scowled at him, the other houses not caring either way.

After a very interesting lesson in which only Neville and Hermione mastered the curse (each earning Gryffindor a further fifteen points) and a rather uneventful lunch, Harry and Hermione said their good-byes and made their way to Professor Vector’s classroom. Vector smiled at them as they came in.

“Ah yes, Mr. Potter. Dumbledore told me of the special circumstances, I hope that you will find this class to be of help.” Harry smiled at her. “I’m sure I will.”

Vector turned back to the rest of the class and spoke to everyone for the rest of the period about looking for signals and signs that may represent what the riddle is about.

As they walked from class later to the library, Hermione quickly bored Harry with her talks of wizard politics and how unfair they were.

“So Hermione, what do you wanna do for our first date in the library?” Harry teased her as they walked past Madam Pince, the librarian.

“I dunno, I thought maybe we could try and figure out more about that riddle or brainstorm some more about our physics theory, since we now know that some of it isn’t true.”

Harry nodded and for the next hour they made absolutely zero progress in trying to figure out some more about how physics related to magic. Hermione threw her books down in frustration, earning her a death glare from Madam Pince.

“Hermione, count to ten.” Harry joked as he saw that Hermione was starting to lose it. He laughed. “Come on Hermione, you can’t expect us to find the answer as quick as lightning do you?”

Hermione suddenly gasped and pulled a wrinkled old parchment out of her pocket. Harry stared at her.

“Of course!” She exclaimed, flattening the parchment out and tracing her finger over what Harry now recognized as the riddle they were going to work on. “Harry, a lightning bolt! Like your scar!”

Harry looked at the trail Hermione’s fingers made.

0 0 G H 1 2

7 S 5 1 0 1

3 D D 2 0 9

1 G G S 3 3

1 V T M R 8

9 G H S 9 1

8 F B 1 A 0

0 P 1 R B 6

1 3 R M M 2

0 S V 1 2 1

D 1 V H P 1

M M 9 G H 9

T M R 9 P 9

S V B M 8 5

Harry gasped. “Look!” He said, cutting the numbers into three sections. “First, my birthday, July 31, 1980.” Hermione nodded as he traced his finger further along the lightning bolt.

“Then,” His voice cracked. “1, 0, 3, 1, 1, 9, 8, 1. 10-31-1981. October Thirty-First, Nineteen Eighty-One. The night my parents died, and I defeated Voldemort for the first time.” Hermione grabbed his hand in support, and he smiled at her.

He pointed at the last eight numbers. “And 0, 6, 2, 1, 1, 9, 9, 5. 06-21-1995. June Twenty-First, Nineteen Ninety-Five.” He looked at Hermione, and he saw comprehension blossom in her eyes. Harry sighed in anger. “The night that Voldemort got his body back.”

Chapter 11

The next day was quite the eventful one for Harry.

“Well yeah, but you know, when a guy, well…” Lavender and Parvati giggled, they were talking about certain ‘mature’ topics at breakfast, so Harry turned a deaf ear to the gossip-queens and struck up a conversation with Dean.

“Oi there Dean, so when are we gonna be having those football tryouts?” Harry asked him curiously, smiling at Hermione as she sat next to him and started to strike up a conversation with Lavender and Parvati, each wearing identical evil grins.

Harry was brought away from that when Dean answered. “I thought we could have our first one this weekend, I’ll post up a note on the common room board. I wonder if anyone will be any good?”

Harry grinned at him. “Well, we all know you will be. I mean, who else at Hogwarts is a professional footballer?” Dean blushed slightly. His slight blush turned into a huge one when a few Hufflepuff muggle-borns came up to him eagerly with parchment and quills.

“Um, hi, Mr. Thomas! My names Suzy, and this is my friend…uh…Marcy. Um, I just wanted to uh, well um, tell you that I think you’re a brilliant footballer and I was wondering if maybe, I could well, have your autograph?” Harry started laughing hysterically and patted a crimson-faced Dean on the back. “Welcome to my world mate.”

Dean sent him a death glare as he grudgingly gave an autograph to a plethora of excited muggle-born girls. Harry smirked at him and returned to Hermione, who was fuming at a giggling Parvati and Lavender.

“Well if you’re so sure then why don’t you ask him?” Hermione rolled her eyes at the two and turned to Harry. “Harry,” She said annoyingly. “Lavender and Parvati told me that after dinner tonight, I should ask you for a Chile dog as desert.” She rolled her eyes at the two girls who were in fits of laughter, and Harry tried to cut Hermione off before she made a fool of herself, but he was to slow.

“So then Harry, will you give me a Chili Dog?” Ten words that would go down in history as being the most embarrassing thing that Hermione Granger would ever say in her life.

Parvati and Lavender fell off their chairs in laughter, Ron joining them a few seconds later. Dean and Seamus were howling and giving Hermione cat-calls, Ginny looked at her friend with a sickened expression of pity on her face, while the rest of the great hall, having heard what Hermione had said on a count of her saying it so loud, were in tears with laughter, at least the ones in the fifth year and up.

Hermione gave a red-faced Harry a look of confusion. “I don’t get it! What’s so funny about wanting a Chili Dog?” Harry’s blush deepened as the Great Hall exploded in laughter again, even many of the teachers trying to stifle laughs that the smartest witch in Hogwarts could be co clueless when it came to ‘other’ aspects of teenage life.

Harry took a deep breath and whispered exactly what kind of ‘Chili Dog’ Lavender and Parvati were talking about, and she went a shade of green that somewhat resembled the polyjuice potion they had taken in second year. Quickly Hermione’s embarrassment and sickness turned to anger, and she glared at the other two Gryffindor Sixth years.

The glare clearly told them not to mess with her innocence again, and the two visibly gulped before Hermione got up and stormed out of the Great Hall, Harry in hot pursuit.

“Hermione. Hermione! HERMIONE!” He yelled as he finally caught up to her, pulling her close to him, astonished that she was crying into his chest. “Hermione…” He said softly, trying to console her. She sniffed.

“Look,” He said, cupping her chin with his palm and forcing her to look into his eyes, using his free hand to wipe away her tears. “Lavender and Parvati were just joking Hermione. They were playing on your innocence. They didn’t mean to upset you like that okay?” She nodded sadly, her chestnut-brown eyes bring into his own emerald ones. “And I would never, ever, want to do that okay? But there is one thing we haven’t done yet that I’m anxious to try out.”

Before she could protest Harry’s lips were on hers, and as she kissed him back, Harry went into uncharted territory and slowly stroked her bottom lip, begging for entrance, and she complied. After a few minutes of this new experience (and taste) they broke apart, breathless.

“Wow,” Harry stammered, unable to find a word that could describe their kiss. “Yeah…” Hermione replied, before she put both of her hands behind Harry’s head and pulling him to her again.

They both lost track of time, only one things on their minds of the couple for the next fifteen minutes in the charms corridor. Finally, Harry looked at his watch (a new one that worked in the magical boundaries of Hogwarts) and gasped.

“Hermione!” He said urgently. “We’re late for Creatures!” She gasped and took his hand, together bolting down the halls of Hogwarts and out the front gates to Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid.

He gave them a knowing smile as they both ran up to the rest of the class, and that’s when Harry suddenly noticed in horror that Hermione’s hair was a complete mess from where his hands had been rummaging through it, and he was sure that his was the same.

Most of the class was either giggling or smirking at the two, while Ron looked about ready to retch all over the mysterious basket that lay in the front of class.

“Okay now that we’re all ‘ere, we can git started on what will be our sole project fer the whole yer’ an’ if we’re lucky maybe next ‘ear as well.” He pulled the blanket covering the basket away and the whole class gasped.

There, sitting in the middle of Hogwarts grounds, in something that closely resembled a picnic basket, were ten fully fledged dragon eggs.

Hagrid grinned broadly at the horrified class. “Well now, you all ‘ll be splittin’ inter’ groups of two an’ pickin’ a dragon egg to raise.” Harry instinctively grabbed Hermione’s robes, and she nodded in approval. Neville paired with Justin Finch-Fletchy (a Hufflepuff sixth year) Dean and Seamus paired together, as did Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson (a Slytherin girl that was nearly as bad as Malfoy himself), Ron and Katrina, and lastly Ernie Macmillan and Susan Bones (two very nice Hufflepuff friends of Harry’s who had both been in the DA the year before).

Shakily, Hermione rose a hand. “Yes ‘ermione?” Hermione took a deep breath and asked what all of the other students were wondering. “Hagrid, how are we possibly going to keep six dragons on Hogwarts grounds? There’s no where near enough room! It only takes about six months for a dragon to reach its full growth and power, and we don’t have any trained wizards here that can handle wild dragons!”

“Hey now, I think I may fit that qualification,” Came a voice from behind Harry, and he spun around, even though he already knew to whom the voice belonged.

The flaming red haired man grinned at them all. “I’m Charlie Weasley. I’ve worked with dragons for the past few years, and I’ll be helping you all tame them.” He gave Hermione a lopsided grin. “And I hardly think that the dragons will be wild Miss Granger,” “Mrs. Potter!” Dean coughed, causing the whole class to explode with laughter (aside form Draco and Pansy) while Hagrid and Charlie smiled at the beat-faced couple.

“As I was saying, the dragons will not be wild, as you lot will be raising them. Dragons are actually rather tame creatures when given a proper upbringing.” Hagrid shuffled uncomfortably for a second, no doubt remembering the Norbert fiasco in first year.

Hermione raised her hand again. “Yes Mrs. Potter?” The class exploded in laughter, and Harry scowled at Charlie.

Hermione, seemingly unfazed by the remark, asked, “But where will they stay? Where will they sleep? There’s not enough room on Hogwarts for them, and you can’t chain them down, that would be cruel!”

Charlie smiled at her softly. “The dragons will be given a pill at birth that will stop them from flying anywhere off of Hogwarts grounds, and anywhere within one hundred meters of the school. In case you didn’t know, the Hogwarts grounds cover ten square miles - they are just not all in use.”

Hermione nodded in understanding, and Hagrid beamed at the red-headed man before bringing the eggs forward to Harry and Hermione. “Okay ‘arry, you git the firs’ pick!” Harry nodded and picked up an emerald green egg, close to the same color as his eyes. He smiled at Hermione, she quickly returned it before hurrying through her textbook to find the name of the dragon.

Harry smiled at her, she looked so cute when she was working hard on something. He surveyed the rest of the class and saw that Draco had drawn a mustard-yellow egg, Ron had chosen one that was redder than even his own hair (that had no doubt been why he had chosen it), Ernie and Susan were beaming at their sky-blue egg, while Neville was eagerly checking over his and Justin’s rainbow egg.

The students were told to take the eggs into their dormitories and care for them like they would a baby for the next few weeks, and that once the egg started to crack it should be brought out to Hagrid’s hut immediately, and it would take a few hours to finally open (they also had a charm put on the eggs so that they know when they started to open in case they were away from the egg at the time).

Hermione growled in frustration as she marched up the stairs to Gryffindor tower before their next class, which would be charms with Professor Flitwick, a very small wizard that for some reason reminded Harry of a midget main character he had seen in the muggle movie ‘Willow’.

“Nothing!” She howled angrily. “There is absolutely nothing in any of our books that tells us what certain dragon’s eggs look like! Does that seem like an injustice to anyone else!” Ron shrugged and said absolutely the wrong thing at the wrong time. “Not as unjust as spew!”

Harry groaned and put his face in his hands as Ron and Hermione got into one of their bickering matches. “It’s not spew! It’s the Society for Promotion of Elfish Welfare! Why can’t you understand that some things like this are important to me!”

Once again, Ron said the wrong thing. “What? Is that why you chose Harry? Because he understands spew!?”

THWACK!

Hermione’s hand came across Ron’s cheek before he knew what hit him. He held his face in astonishment, staring at a fuming Hermione and a scared Harry.

“How dare you say that! I chose,” She made little air quotes with her fingers. “Harry because I love him! Yes, he understands me! He listens to my problems, he may not like S.P.E.W. but he doesn’t make fun of me for it!” Harry swore that he could see steam coming out of her ears, Ron looked about ready to wet his robes.

“Sometimes I wonder why I ever even put up with you Ronald Bilius Weasley!” With that she stormed off, leaving everyone staring at a now fuming and grumbling Ron. Harry tried to put a comforting arm on his shoulder, but he pushed it away angrily.

“Don’t even start Harry! If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be having these problems with Hermione anyway!”

Now it was Harry’s turn to be angry. He didn’t need to say anything as every pane of glass in the corridor shattered brilliantly, uttering everyone speechless. They hadn’t seen Harry truly lose his temper before, and now they were afraid they would see his power full blast.

But, surprising everybody, Harry simply clenched his fists together a few times and stared lock-jawed at Ron. “Come talk to me when you grow up Ron.”

With that he turned and stalked away, unintentionally shattering the ceiling lights in the process as he tried to control his anger. He didn’t know how he made it back to the common room, but when he did he found Hermione sobbing in a chair while Ginny tried to console her. When Ginny saw Harry coming, she nodded and left so that Harry could talk to her.

He walked up and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Mione,” He said weakly, and she sniffed a little, wiping away tears with her hands. “Mione, I’m really sorry about what Ron said, he just doesn’t understand you like I do. He can be a real prat, but that’s just who he is. After you left I put him in his place, so he shouldn’t be messing with us anymore until he grows up a little,” He paused, grinning slightly. “Actually, until he grows up a lot.” Hermione smiled back weakly at him.

“Harry, you didn’t, I mean, you didn’t lose your temper did you?” Harry shifted his feet uncomfortably a little and shook his head. “I didn’t hurt anyone, but I couldn’t stop from exploding every pane of glass in the corridor, it was just accidental magic.”

Hermione’s eyes grew large at the mention of his power, but she let it pass. “Okay,” She sniffed again before rising to her feet and taking Harry’s hand. “Let’s go to class then.” He shook his head and smiled before exiting the portrait hole and going down to the charm corridor.

Charms went fairly well, nothing but review on summoning and banishing charms. Ron avoided them for most of the class, only coming over once to hand them a pillow grudgingly. Harry didn’t know how long this behavior would last, but he hoped that wouldn’t be long.

The next day went reasonably well, and Ron turned out to be right in his prediction of the DADA class professor. When Harry and Hermione walked in together (Ron was still absolutely refusing to speak with either of them) they gasped in surprise.

“Professor Moody!” They exclaimed together, smiling at their one time professor (actually it hadn’t been him but rather Barty Crouch, an assumed dead death eater, in disguise) happily. He returned their smiles with a grunt and a look that clearly said, ‘Stay after class, I have something important to tell you’.

When the students were done filing in (Ron was so angry at the couple that he actually sat closer to Malfoy than Harry and Hermione) he addressed the class. “I am Professor Moody, as some of you may recognize form your fourth year. I guarantee you that I am not, in fact, Barty Crouch under polyjuice potion.” A few students smiled at this, Harry and Hermione being the most prominate, both letting out soft laughs.

“Okay, now that that’s settled, on to your lesson plans. Because of that disgrace of a professor you had last term,” All the students smiled, even Ron and Malfoy. “You will be doing almost nothing but practical magic in here, meaning little writing and a lot of using spells.”

The class whooped and cheered in a gleeful response. Mad-Eye gave them a wicked smile. “You will learn many new spells in this class, and master many old. I would like a few volunteers with first-hand experience in dueling to show us a few spells. So,” He clapped his hands together, surveying the room before giving Harry a slight smile. Harry groaned.

“Ah, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Weasley, could the two of you please come to the front of class?” They grudgingly obliged and trudged to the front. “Now, show me what you’ve got. DUEL!”

Chapter 12

Ron wasted absolutely no time. “Furnunculus!” “Protego!” Harry countered, sending the spell directly back at Ron, who was barely able to dodge it.

Harry allowed Ron to get up and dust himself off before raising his wand again. Harry noticed Ron giving Hermione a quick glance, and he groaned. Ron was going to try and prove that he was better for Hermione than he was.

Hermione looked terrified at what may happen, she was constantly clutching the desk in front of her. Malfoy had a look on his face that would suggest that Christmas had come early. Most of the rest of the class just had equal expressions of interest.

“Expelliarmus!” Ron bellowed, attempting to disarm Harry as he surveyed the room. Harry did a very acrobatic no-hand cartwheel and shot an identical disarming curse at Ron as he was halfway through, knocking his friends wand from his grasp.

Then Ron did something that surprised everyone in the room. Rather than retrieve his wand (which Harry would have allowed him to do) he let out a loud war cry and charged straight at Harry, he was going to try and beat him the muggle way.

Harry did the only thing he could think of and pointed his wand at the wall directly behind Ron. “Accio!”

Now the wall was much to strong to be pulled to Harry by a simple summoning spell, so, as Harry expected, the opposite occurred. Harry was pulled forward to the far wall by his wand, and he landed a swift kick on Ron’s knees as he passed him by, causing the red head to fall flat on his face.

Harry broke the connection before he slammed into the wall and whirled around to face Ron, wand at the ready.

“That’s enough! Accio!” Moody said, and Ron’s wand flew to him, and he handed it back to Ron, telling him to go back to his seat. Mad-Eye smiled at Harry. “Well done, Mr. Potter. Brilliantly done, if I do say so myself.” He turned to the class. “As Mr. Potter just demonstrated, some spells may be manipulated for other purposes other than their intent. For example, if Harry had used the banishment charm instead, he would have been thrown backwards - very useful when you have been forced to the ground by a death eater. Well done Mr. Potter, you show true potential in dueling, take twenty points to Gryffindor.”

The Gryffindor’s cheered (excluding Ron, who was still scowling) and Harry blushed a little before returning to his seat. He got a congratulatory peck on the cheek from Hermione, and Moody immediately spoke up. “No signs of affection in class, Miss Granger. Five points from Gryffindor.”

Hermione blushed while Draco snorted in laughter, and Moody started to lecture.

Harry zoned out at this point. What had possessed him to do that? He didn’t even think about it, it just happened! Harry had no idea that there was ways to use spells other than what they were meant for, although he had done just that. Harry realized that it must have been an instinct. Did that mean he had an inborn instinct for dueling? He shook his head in confusion and returned his gaze to Moody, who was lecturing on how he and a few other aurors had caught some rogue death eaters a few years after Voldemort’s downfall.

Harry hung back with Hermione after the class was over. “Mr. Weasley, would you kindly join us?” Mad-Eye said as Ron was leaving the classroom. It wasn’t really a question, and Ron came back in begrudgingly, staying as far away from Harry and Hermione as he could.

The ex-auror closed the door and put a locking and silencing charm on it. Then he turned both eyes (he had one magical eye that could see through solid walls and clothing) on the trio.

“The first meeting will be tonight in the Forbidden Forest. Make sure you notify the others. You will be training with myself, Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape,” They all groaned, and Harry could have sworn Mad-Eye’s lips curled up slightly in a smile. “Minerva McGonogall, and Tonks.

“You will be training in all categories, you will all become very able duelers, animagus,” Even Ron couldn’t help but grin in delight. “You will also be tactically trained as well as physically, you will also learn a large amount of new spells of both an offensive and defensive nature.” His eyes narrowed, (if that was a possibility with one magical eye, not to mention his face was so scarred already that it was nearly impossible to tell when he made a facial expression) and he looked at each of them in turn.

“Make no mistake lads, this is no auror training you’re going through,” Ron showed a distinct sign of relief, and Moody gave him a wicked smile. “It is much more intense. You will now be training for two hours every night from eleven o’clock to one in the morning,” Ron groaned, Moody ignored him. “And on the weekends you will be training five to six hours a day, always at night. It is best to train when you are tired, that way even caught off guard, you will be ready for a death eater attack.”

They all gulped visibly, and Mad-Eye continued. “But there is good news. All the staff is aware of this training, and as such, you will be excused from much of your homework duties.” Harry and Ron whooped in delight, Hermione groaned a faint, “Oh no,” Before Mad-Eye went on.

“But you will still be responsible for your tests and quizzes, and you must act as if you do your homework as well. You will turn in a charmed parchment everyday, which will appear like homework to the other students, unless of course you do decide to do the homework anyways.” Hermione’s face brightened, Ron rolled his eyes.

“In the common room you will pretend to do your homework when in fact you will be studying spells and curses for the Defense Association. So you will still be doing homework, only it will be for your survival, rather than your grades.” The trio shifted uncomfortably again, and Moody added one last thing before dismissing them.

He eyed Harry and Ron. “You two,” He said pointedly. “Will work out your differences by the meeting tonight. For every time the two of you show any dislike for the other, one hour will be added to the training session for everyone. Now you are dismissed. Eleven o’clock, tonight, behind Hagrid’s hut. You will reach your destination after about fifty paces northwest, use the compass spell. Here is another invisibility cloak,” He tossed them a silvery-white cloak, but the inside was blood-red so that it was distinguishable from Harry’s.

“You three can take Harry’s, and Misses Lovegood and Weasley, and Mr. Longbottom may use the other.”

Hermione asked the question that was on everyone’s minds. “Er, Luna’s in Ravenclaw, how will we get the cloak to her?” Moody smiled again and shook his head. “Not anymore. It was decided that Miss Lovegood be transferred to Gryffindor for the rest of her stay at Hogwarts. Her things have been moved already, and she will sleep there for the first time tonight.”

He nodded to them all. “Good day then, I will see the three of you tonight.”

Taking the hint, the trio headed back to Gryffindor Tower, not a word spoken between them. When finally approaching the fat lady, they gave the password, ‘bludger’ and walked into the crowded common room. Immediately, Harry turned to Ron.

“Let’s go to our room, we can talk in private there.” Ron nodded and Harry turned to Hermione. “You stay here, we’ll fill you in when we come back down.” Hermione nodded and gave them each a hug before immersing herself in Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six.

Harry was relieved to find the room empty and he quickly put a silencing and locking charm on the door, then turned to Ron. He took a deep breath and started.

“Ron, are you in love with Hermione?” Ron gave him an annoyed look. “Of course I am, why else would we be having this conversation?”

Harry ignored the rude tone of voice and continued, unfazed. “Why? What are your reasons? How do you know?”

Ron gave Harry a strange and confused look and said, “I dunno, I just am! I mean, she’s really pretty, and we’ve been best friends for like five years, and well, I just kinda realized one day that I was in love with her.”

Harry suppressed a smile. Ron was most definitely not in love with Hermione. Now Harry just had to prove it to him. “Ron, tell me, why did I go out with Cho?”

That was definitely not what Ron had expected. “Er, because you thought she was pretty, and uh, well she was always nice to you and stuff, and - oh.”

Harry grinned at him. “Exactly. I had a crush on Cho. I was never in love with her. I liked her for the same reasons that you like Hermione. And me and Cho didn’t work out to well, did we?”

Ron shook his head, but wasn’t going to lose that easily. “Then what are your reasons for loving Hermione?” He asked, although he knew this was an argument that he was going to lose.

Harry sighed. “Where do I start? I love everything about her. Sure, she’s pretty, and yeah, we’ve been friends for a real long time, but she’s so much more than that. I love the way her eyebrows scrunch together when she’s thinking hard. Or the way she always chews on her quill. I always find myself defending her, whether I realize it or not. When we met Grawp last year, I held onto her tight, afraid I would never feel her touch again. I didn’t realize it then, of course, but I do now in retrospect. In the Department of Mysteries, when we were cornered by the death eaters, without even thinking I pulled her close to me by grasping her robes, wanting her to be safe, even though there were others that were nearby and in need of protection. When she was hit by that curse - I, I almost lost it. I don’t even want to think about what could of happened if she died. Then this summer, it was like a constant stomachache without her around. Then I looked back at all of the people in the past. Rita Skeeter knew it, that’s why she pushed her story so much. Krum knew it, he even asked me about it. Cho knew it, I was defending Hermione without even realizing I was hurting her feelings. Then when I saw her in the courtroom at my trial, it was like, BOOM! I knew it. I was in love with her, and there was no turning back. That’s how I know that I love her Ron.”

Ron looked at Harry, mouth slightly agape, but he nodded his head in realization. “I get it now, I really do.” He sighed. “I don’t feel like that towards her like you do, I’ve just got a silly crush on her. Now that I know that, I guess I can move on.”

Ron grinned, and Harry returned it. His best friend was back. “So,” Harry said, grinning mischievously. “Do you know anyone who might like me?”

Harry grinned. “You know, that Luna Lovegood seems fairly smitten with you.”

Ron scrunched his face up in disgust. “Yeah, I noticed. But she’s so weird! I don’t think I could ever date someone like that!”

Harry glared at him. “Don’t judge a book by its cover Ron. Look at Hermione. Top of almost every class, spends all of her free time in the library, not all that into quidditch, but we both know how great she is. You should give Luna a chance.”

Ron’s expression softened and he nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I really am a prat. Maybe I will give her a chance. What’s the worst that could happen, we only end up as friends? I can deal with that.”

Harry smiled at his friend with a new respect and wrapped an arm around him, and they headed towards the door. “Ready to tell Hermione the good news?”

Ron smiled. “You bet. But don’t go snogging in front of me, that would really gross me out, you know.” Harry smirked at him and didn’t answer, making Ron groan.

They found Hermione nervously twirling her chestnut locks on the common room couch, Harry smirked at Ron and he immediately got the message. Ron put on an angry face while Harry plopped down next to Hermione with his face in his hands.

Hermione started sobbing immediately. “What happened Harry?” She cried, throwing her arms around him and holding him tightly. She didn’t realize that his shoulders were shaking in laughter and not in tears. He did his best to sound sad.

“It’s Ron. He-he just doesn’t understand. He thinks I’m stealing you away from him. He said he doesn’t want anything to do with either of us anymore.” Just as he said this, Ron walked by, slapping Harry across the head (Hermione most definitely noticed) and sat in a chair across the room, staring daggers at the two.

Hermione immediately shot up to her feet and marched over to Ron. The entire common room would have been scared of the impending fight if they hadn’t seen Harry shaking with laughter on the couch.

Ron gave Hermione her best glare as she walked up. “What do you want scarlet woman?” He said as rudely as possible, making Hermione flush red and Harry fall off the couch in hysterics.

“What’s my problem? WHAT’S MY PROBLEM? YOU! WHY CAN’T YOU JUST REALIZE THAT I DON’T LIKE YOU IN THAT WAY!” Ron smirked at her. “That’s not what you said last night in the astronomy tower.”

He winked at Harry as she whirled around, just missing Harry’s obviously amused expression. Now he wore one of anger. “What’s this all about ‘Mione?”

“THAT’S WHAT I’D LIKE TO KNOW! RON, ARE YOU TRYING TO BREAK ME AND HARRY UP!?”

Ron put on his best smirk face and replied, “Well, no, actually, I’m sorry Hermione, but Harry and I have to tell you something, right Harry?” At Ron’s wink Harry’s confusion went away and he grinned and walked over to Ron, draping an arm over his shoulder.

“Yeah, I guess it’s time to tell her about us, love.” Harry said, batting his eyes dramatically at Ron.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at them, not noticing the entire common room on verge of exploding in laughter. “Wait a minute…”

At these words Harry and Ron couldn’t hold it in anymore and broke into hysterical laughter along with the rest of the common room. Hermione was overwhelmed with emotions of anger, relief, amusement, and embarrassment, but finally amusement broke through and she started laughing along with everyone else.

“You prats!” She squealed at them, giggling and hurling a pillow at Ron. And the infamous Gryffindor Tower Pillow Fight began.

Harry and Ron jumped up and each grabbed pillows from the couch and took off after Hermione. “Ron! Harry! NO!” She screeched as the two started to pelt her with the pillows, showing no mercy. “Ahhh! Ginny, help!”

Ginny immediately jumped in and smacked her brother in the face with a pillow, knocking him on his feet. He grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her down, tickling her viciously.

“Oh, Ron! STOP!” She screamed through a fit of giggles. Elsewhere the pillow fight had reached dramatic stature. Feathers were flying all over the room as all the Gryffindor’s started to pelt one another with pillows.

The Creevey’s were hurriedly taking snapshots of all the fighting, especially when Seamus got pancaked by Parvati and Lavender as they pelted him time and time again. Dean was going at it hard with Neville, who’s jolly but chubby face was starting to trickle with sweat. Mark Evans was trading blows with one of his fellow first years, Harry was on top of Hermione, seemingly knocking her senseless with a pillow, when in reality there was just a simple charm on the pillow to make it look that way while Harry and Hermione snogged on the common room floor.

At some point, no one knew how, food got brought into the mix, and suddenly people were being hit by pillows drenched in honey and barbeque sauce. Feathers were starting to stick to people’s faces and clothing, but no one cared as they were all having so much fun.

No one noticed when a certain tight-lipped professor entered the room with a blonde haired former Ravenclaw wearing an amused and dreamy expression on her face, her recent Quibbler magazine forgotten in hand.

“Hem, hem,” McGonogall said loudly. Seamus turned to her frowning and said, “Do you need a cough drop Professor?” And then hurled a pillow at the Transfiguration Professors face, stunning her in the process while the rest of the room looked on amused and shocked at Seamus’ behavior, only a brave few daring to laugh.

After regaining her composure she said, “This is Luna Lovegood, formerly of Ravenclaw, she has now been transferred to Gryffindor. I hope you all give her the praise and respect that she deserves.”

She turned on her heel and looked like she was going to leave, but once at the portrait hole she said, “Oh, and one hundred points from Gryffindor for making such a mess. And three weeks of detention for Mr. Finnigan.” With that she left, and Seamus just shrugged and hurled his pillow at the nearest good-looking girl.

The fight raged on for hours until finally it was eleven o’clock, and six Gryffindor’s snuck out of the tower unnoticed by everyone under their invisibility cloaks.

5. Chapters 13-15

A/N:

Okay, the training finally begins! A few more surprises are in this one as well, just adds to the overall mystery of the plot…

*****

Chapter 12

Once outside the tower, Harry pulled the cloak off, causing Ron and Hermione (who were the two under his cloak, Luna, Ginny, and Neville were under the other) to gasp loudly.

“What are you doing?!” “We’ll get caught!”

Harry laughed at their antics, throwing the invisibility cloak over his shoulder suavely. “Guys, every teacher in the school knows that we are receiving special training from Dumbledore. Even Filch. The cloaks are just to get us out of the common room.”

He saw looks of realization dawn over both of their faces, Hermione’s accompanied by a blush. She was always embarrassed when she missed something so obvious. Harry thought she looked cute like that though.

Ginny, Neville, and Luna seemed to materialize out of thin air next to them after pulling off their own invisibility cloak. Silently, the sextet walked down to Hagrid’s hut, curious and excited for their first night of training.

When they got to the hut, Harry pulled out his wand and muttered, “Point me.” The wand spun and pointed to his left, so they headed left for fifty paces, then turned and went left another fifty, so they were now standing where they were supposed to start their training.

“DUCK!” Ron bellowed, and without thinking, Harry grabbed Hermione’s robes and pulled her to the ground next to Ron. Neville managed to get down quickly as well, but Luna and Ginny were hit by the stunners that had been fired at the sextet, rendering them unconscious immediately.

Harry made a mental note to never have fun at Ron for his Divination abilities ever again.

Harry jumped to his feet, pulling Hermione up with him, and together, the four remaining students yelled, “Lumos!” And all of their wands lit up, giving them feint visibility of the surrounding woods. They could hear people moving, but couldn’t see them.

Sighing, Harry raised his wand at the nearest tree and bellowed, “Inflamare!”

The tree immediately lit fire and around him, Harry could hear the others doing the same thing. Now they could see the shadowy forms of Tonks, Mad-Eye, and Lupin walking towards them, curious smiles on their faces.

“Interesting tactic Potter.” Moody growled, and Harry smiled, lowering his wand.

“Expelliarmus!” Suddenly Harry was thrown backwards and his wand sailed into a fuming Alostar Moody’s outstretched hand.

“CONSTANT VIGILANCE POTTER!” He bellowed, tossing Harry’s wand back to his owner. “Never lower your wand while in a duel! What came over you boy!?”

Harry gaped at him. “But you, you said, and I thought,” “Anyone could be trying to trick you Potter! What if I was Lucius Malfoy under a polyjuice potion? What then?”

Harry stared at him, lock jawed, and didn’t bother to answer.

“That is quite enough, Alostar.” Came the almighty voice of Albus Dumbledore, who had just, with one flick of his wand, ceased the burning of all the trees that had been on fire. He smiled at Harry.

“That was very impressive Harry. All great duelers will use their surroundings to their advantage. I am happy to see that you have already begun to learn that. Also, I am proud that you find such faith in your friends,” He motioned at Ron, who blushed, then at the unconscious Luna and Ginny.

“Apparently Misses Lovegood and Weasley are not quite at that level of faith yet. Enervate.” He pointed his wand at the two, who awoke immediately and blushed at all the faces around them, realizing that they had obviously done the worst out of the six.

“Now, for tonight, I will leave you with Tonks and Remus, and you may begin your animagus training. Good luck.” And with a swish of his cloak, he was gone. Moody mumbled something under his breath and left as well, leaving only Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Lupin, and Tonks.

“Okay guys, let’s make a circle shall we?” Tonks said, plopping down on the ground, Remus following suit. A few seconds later they were all sitting in a ragged circle. All eyes turned on Tonks.

“Okay, now we must find out what kind of animal you will become. Search your souls and fins the animal that is most like you, that you have the most experience with, that you understand the greatest.

Harry sighed and closed his eyes, although he already knew what his animagus transformation would be. By the way Tonks had said it, Harry had no doubt that when he transformed that he would become a serpent. He could speak to them, he had fought them, he understood them well, so he was unsurprised to see the image of a snake running through his mind.

Suddenly, Harry felt a quick flash of power, and he swore that he saw a dragon, but didn’t know what to make of it. Slowly he opened his eyes, and one by one, everyone else did the same.

Tonks smiled at them all and looked at Ginny. “Let’s start with you dear.” Ginny smiled slightly. “A kneazel.” “No surprise there,” Ron muttered, making Harry grin. Ginny had always been quite the cat lover, and she even acted like one on occasion.

Tonks smiled at her and turned next to Luna, who was, as always, wearing a dreamy expression on her face. “A Falcon.” Everyone looked at her in surprise, but Tonks said nothing and next turned to Neville.

He scrunched his eyebrows together and said, “A lion, but it wasn’t like one that I have ever seen before, it was like, somehow, more powerful.” Tonks and Remus exchanged a curious look.

“A Grynx?” Tonks said silently, and Lupin nodded. “That’s what it sounds like. Neville,” He said, returning his gaze to the once plump, accident prone boy, who now was only slightly overweight. Apparently the summer had been good to him. “You need to find all the information on Grynx’s as you can. They are an extinct magical lion, very powerful. I have never heard of anyone ever embodying one as an animagus before. You must be truly brave to have that form Neville.” Neville blushed while everyone else looked at him in a mixture of awe and happiness. Harry always knew there was something special about that boy.

Next it was Ron’s turn. He smiled broadly. “A fire drake!” Hermione gasped and Tonks looked astounded for a moment, but quickly recovered. “Very powerful, very fast, very dangerous. Of course it does represent you well Ron, with your flaming red hair, your love for flying, and you daring and bravery. You will do well as a dragon.”

Harry smiled at Ron, who was beaming with pride. Dragon animagus were very rare.

“And how about you Hermione?” Lupin asked, and Hermione blushed, replying quietly, “A Phoenix.” This time everyone gasped, except for Remus, who simply smiled and nodded. “The purest of all creatures, even more so than a unicorn. Also brave, loyal, and beautiful.” “Well that describes you perfectly,” Harry muttered in her ear, making her blush in delight at the compliment.

“And now for Harry.” Tonks said. Harry sighed. “Three guesses what.” “A serpent?” Hermione said, and Harry nodded bashfully, but then looked at Remus.

“Yeah, I knew it would be a serpent, but while I was viewing the snake, something strange happened.” They all looked at him in curiosity. Harry continued. “For a brief second, I saw a dragon, but it couldn’t have been a dragon. I mean, a wizard can only have one transformation, and this wasn’t any ordinary dragon, it was gold. As far as I know, no golden dragon exists right?”

Remus and Tonks looked puzzled, as did everyone else. An awkward silence broke over the group, finally ended by Remus. “Well you are correct Harry, on both counts. No wizard can have two animagus forms and as far as I know there is no golden species of dragon. Very strange indeed.”

Another uneasy silence swept over the group, only the rustling of leaves in the wind and an occasional stir of a wild animal breaking the silence peacefully from time to time.

Remus checked his watch. “Well, I reckon that’s enough for tonight. Why doesn’t everyone head back to bed now, and we’ll start your actual transfigurations tomorrow. You all are a very talented lot, and I would not be surprised to see you complete your first transformation within the next few weeks.”

He nodded to them all and they took that as their leave to go. Harry and Hermione let the others go ahead and they strolled through the forest, hand in hand, Hermione’s head snuggled into Harry’s shoulder, her bushy hair tickling his chin.

“Harry Potter,” Came a low, intellectual voice that Harry recognized. He spun around and smiled.

“Firenze! How are you? I heard that you were allowed back into the forest after Dumbledore came in here to get Umbridge last year! How are things?”

The centaur took a few more steps towards Harry, stopping only when he was within arms reach. Harry, even though he knew that Firenze was nice and harmless, unconsciously tightened his hold on Hermione. Firenze looked to the sky.

“It is beautiful, is it not?” He asked, motioning to the stars that hovered over the world, their beauty calming the night sky. Firenze continued. “The war is coming, Harry Potter. We have seen it in the stars, it is inevitable.”

Harry shuddered a little. Where was he going with this?

“I foresee a great gain for you, Harry Potter, in the near future, but I also predict a great loss. One may not come without the other. It is inevitable, the stars have foretold it, and it is your destiny. Good luck, Harry Potter.”

With one last glance towards the sky, Firenze left the two in a shocked silence. Hermione started to pull on Harry’s robes. “Come on Harry, you know that Divination is a load of rubbish. No one can predict the future.”

Harry eyed her carefully. “The prophecy?” She shifted uneasily.

“Well we can’t know that it is true, can we? I mean, there’s no proof?”

Harry did his very best not to become angry with her. “Hermione, what about the prediction in my third year?” Her eyes fell to the forest floor.

“I know, it’s just,” Her eyes welled up with tears. She looked him fiercely in the eyes. “I just don’t want it to be true. I love you to much to lose you!” She sobbed and threw herself into Harry’s arms. He shhhd her and said that everything would be fine, that Voldemort couldn’t touch him if he knew that Hermione was always going to be there, waiting for him.

Finally satisfied, they walked out of the woods, and were heading back towards the castle when Harry felt a strange tugging on his chest. “What the…?”

“What is it Harry?” Hermione asked, eyes filled with concern. Harry shook his head.

“I dunno, it’s just, I feel like something is calling to me.”

Hermione’s eyes widened in fear. “Voldemort?”

Harry shook his head again. “No, not that, this feels…I dunno, like, love, almost, only it’s not.” Hermione looked at him in utmost confusion. He grabbed her hand and started to jog to the tower. They didn’t have the invisibility cloak - Harry had let Ron take it - so they had to hurry inside before a student spotted them outside and started making rumors.

The strange feeling in Harry’s chest did not go away as they reached the common room, and suddenly, he knew what it was.

“Hermione!” He said urgently. “The egg! It’s opening! Hurry, go get it from your room!”

Hermione didn’t say anything, but nodded and ran towards her room, returning a few minutes later with the egg. They sat down on the couch, and Harry took the egg in his hands. It was still, but he could feel the power radiating inside of it.

“Harry,” Hermione said skeptically. “The charm isn’t going into effect, you know, the one that tells us when the egg will open? So I think we should-”

She was cut off as the egg started to vibrate. Harry smiled at it. “Come on buddy, you can do it. Just a few more shakes and you’ll be out of there. Come on, come to me.”

Hermione stared, mouth agape, at Harry. “Harry,” She whispered. He looked at her to show that he was listening. “Well first of all, the egg shouldn’t open for a few weeks yet. Secondly, I know I performed that charm perfectly, so I don’t understand why I can’t feel the egg opening. But thirdly,” She stared directly into Harry’s eyes. “Do you realize that you just spoke Parseltongue to the dragon egg?”

Harry was astonished. No, he hadn’t realized that. But his thoughts were cut off as the egg started to break apart. Piece by piece, the egg came undone, until finally, the dragon was revealed.

Hermione gasped, and threw a hand over her mouth. “Harry…” She whispered, although it was barely audible. Harry was at a loss for words, he just stared at the dragon.

The baby dragon composed completely of golden scales, with the eyes and tongue of a serpent.

Chapter 13

“How…?” Harry stared at the baby dragon, mouth agape, then realized something. “Hermione, we haven’t even given him a name yet!”

Hermione, too shocked to speak, simply nodded. Harry stared at the dragon, its golden scales glistening brightly. It looked just like any other dragon in its features, except for the eyes and the tongue - those features belonged to a snake.

Harry looked at the dragon, who, most incredibly, spoke to him. “Do I have a name, master?” Harry flinched at the dragon - just born and therefore should not be able to speak - and managed to choke out, “N-no, is there any name that you would like?”

The dragon hissed, not viciously, but almost…respectfully?

“I know of no names, I only came into being a few moments ago, I have intelligence, but not a name. Please, master, it is your duty to give me a name.”

Harry finally composed himself and shook his head. “First off, don’t call me master, my name is Harry.” The young dragon nodded his brilliant golden head in response. “As for a name, I will call you…” Harry went deep in thought, wanting to give a proper name to accommodate the creatures appearance and power, which Harry expected to be incredible.

Harry thought of the only name he could, something that represented the dragon. It was something Harry was always responsible for, as the dragon would be. It was also pure gold, just like the dragon, and it flew quickly and brilliantly, also like this dragon (Harry had no doubt that the dragon would probably become the strongest in the world in no time). And it was also powerful, in a manner of speaking, when in its environment.

Harry smiled at the beast. “Your name will be Snitch.”

Snitch gave Harry what he assumed was an approving look, and Harry turned to his girlfriend.

“His name is Snitch,” Harry said, smiling at Hermione, who was absolutely speechless - not a common event. “I dunno what kind of dragon he is, but I’d bet all my gold in Gringotts that you won’t find it in a book - I think he’s an entirely new species.”

Hermione gasped, but finally gained her composure, smiling at Harry. “That’s not saying much Harry, you don’t want any of that gold in Gringotts.” Harry laughed and whispered in her ear. “But then I wouldn’t have any money to waste on my beautiful girlfriend.”

She blushed, but nodded in understanding. Harry turned back to the dragon.

“I don’t know why, but I feel strangely drawn to you, Snitch. Do you feel the same way? Do you know why?”

The dragon hissed back his answer, “Yes on both counts, Harry. But I cannot tell you why, you will find out when the time is right, there is no other way. Until then, I will be simply your pet, your friend, and I will help you as much as I possibly can.”

Without missing a beat, Harry asked, “What do you mean, until then? What happens when I find out why?”

The dragon made a noise that Harry supposed was a laugh. “All in due time, Harry. Now, please, I am tired, it takes a great deal of energy to break out of an egg, and I need to rest. So let’s go to sleep.”

Snitch flapped his little wings and flew into the air, coming down on Harry’s shoulder, much like an eagle. Snitch dug his talons into Harry’s flesh, but amazingly he felt no pain, but rather a slight, tingling, pleasure, as if the dragon was an essential part of who he was.

Harry turned to Hermione, who was looking slightly peeved at being left out. “Hermione, basically Snitch just told me that I am his ‘master’ and that until I find out why I am so drawn to him - it is a him, I don’t know how I know, I just do - he will simply be my friend and help me with everything I do. I dunno how we’re gonna explain this to Dumbledore or Hagrid, but that can wait until tomorrow I guess. Right now, since he’s only about six inches long and four high, he can sleep in the dorms with us. But once he gets bigger he’ll have to move out by Hagrid.”

“I will not grow until you discover our connection. I will stay in this form until that time arrives.” Snitch hissed, and Harry looked at him in surprise before quickly repeating what he had said to Hermione.

Hermione’s eyes lit up in thought. “Harry,” She said. “Please, in our free time, let me see you speak with snakes and snitch here, and relate what you and they are saying to me, and eventually, perhaps I could learn the language! I could never speak it, of course, but I could understand it, so you could tell me important things with it and I’d understand. Wouldn’t that be grand!”

Harry nodded, never in doubt that Hermione could accomplish this feat, she was the most brilliant witch Hogwarts had ever seen.

Finally he sighed and stretched, just realizing how tired he was. He leaned in and kissed Hermione softly. “Goodnight Hermione, I love you.”

She kissed him back and replied, “I love you too Harry. Come get me before you go to Dumbledore tomorrow, I want to tell him this together.”

Harry nodded and turned up the Gryffindor stairway, taking the stairs one at a time and very slowly, contemplating going to sleep right on the spot. Stairs couldn’t be that uncomfortable, could they?

Finally he reached his room and crashed on the bed, Snitch curling up by his chest under the blankets. Harry smiled at the dragon and pet its head before drifting asleep and dreaming that there was a certain bushy-haired brown-eyed girl laying in bed with him rather than a dragon.

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Harry was glad to be the first awake in the morning - although he was still absolutely exhausted - as it gave him amble time to wake up Snitch and throw the invisibility cloak over him before heading to the girls dormitories.

He paused at the bottom step, frowning. He couldn’t go up there on his own, and Snitch was probably to weak from the previous day to carry him. He thought for a moment before grinning to himself. “Accio couch cushion!” The large pillow flew to him and he jumped on top of it, smiling at his brilliance.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” He said with a swish and flick at the pillow underneath him, and he drifted up into the air with the pillow, levitating himself up the stairs towards the girls dormitories.

As he was chuckling to himself he was suddenly hurled backwards be an invisible ward. Harry landed luckily on the pillow and didn’t get hurt from the fall. Apparently the wards were all over the place, not just on the stairs alone.

Harry could have sworn that Snitch was chuckling, or at least as close to chuckling as a dragon could be.

“Grab on,” He spoke in Parseltongue to Harry, who complied, frowning. Suddenly Harry felt a great rush of wind, and he was in the sixth year girls dormitory. He gasped in realization.

“You can apparate!”

“In a manner of speaking, yes, I can. Even with the wards on the castle. It is just another power of mine. I have many that will become known to you as we begin our journey to the truth.”

Harry was going to ask what the truth was, but decided against it and decided instead to walk to Hermione’s bed and gently nudge her awake. When that didn’t work, he grew an evil grin and softly pressed his lips to hers, knowing that she would wake up to that.

Hermione moaned a little as she woke up, but gently started to return Harry’s kiss as she realized what was going on. She smiled at them as they broke apart. “Mmm, I could wake up like that every day of the week.”

Harry grinned at her and pulled her out of bed. “Come on Mione, get dressed and meet me in the common room so we can go speak with Dumbledore.”

She nodded and started to head towards the bathroom when it hit her. “Harry, how did you get here? There are wards to stop boys from entering!”

He grinned and motioned to Snitch, who was perched on Harry’s shoulder. “Just one of his many talents.”

Hermione smiled and waved to Snitch. “Good morning Snitch.”

“Good morning Hermione.” Snitch replied.

“He said ‘Good morning Hermione’.” Harry translated, earning himself one last smile from Hermione before she vanished into the bathroom.

Quickly, Snitch disapparated (or whatever it was that he did) back to the common room. Harry swore loudly when he heard a surprised gasp from behind him.

He whirled around and stared at and astonished Mark Evans. It was Harry’s turn to gasp. How had he not noticed it before? He had the auburn-red hair, and bright, emerald green eyes.

It hit Harry again. Mark. Mark Evans. Harry’s mother’s maiden name was Evans. Could Mark possibly be related to him? How could he have never noticed this before?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Hermione coming down the stairs to meet Harry.

“Hi Harry!” She paused as she saw Mark. “Oh, hello Mark,” She said somewhat dejectedly. “What are you doing here?”

Harry answered for him. “I had just come down here with Snitch and he was here.” He turned to Mark. “Look Mark, you can’t ell anyone what you just saw, okay? Not even your best friends or your parents. Understand?”

Mark nodded weakly. “Okay then,” Harry said with a grin, and he spun Mark around so that he was staring directly at Hermione. Harry looked at her. “Mione, is it just me or does he look like someone that neither of us ever got to know?”

Hermione gave him a strange look, then gasped loudly. “Evans, Harry, your mother’s name was Evans! And Mark looks just like her! Apart from him being a boy, of course.”

This was news to Mark. “Your mum’s name was Evans?” Harry nodded slowly. “Well, it is a rather common name, perhaps it’s a coincidence?”

Harry shook his head slightly. “I don’t know, but we were just going to see Dumbledore, and I think he may be able to clear some things up for us.” Harry nodded to Hermione and they started to leave before noticing that Mark was frozen stiff.

“What’s wrong Mark?” Harry asked with concern.

Mark was able to stutter out the words, “Dumbledore…greatest wizard…in world…meet him?” Harry and Hermione smiled at each other and dragged Mark to the portrait hole.

“Come on Mark, he’s a great guy, he’ll be happy to meet you.” Not allowing for protests, Harry threw the invisibility cloak over Snitch - Mark was amazed when the dragon simply disappeared, but said nothing - who now flew over their heads, invisible to everyone in the school.

Well not to Mad-Eye, perhaps, but the Defense wing was on the other side of the castle. So Harry didn’t think they would have to worry about him.

“Tongue Toffees.” Harry said at the gargoyle, and it sprung to life, eliciting a gasp from Mark and knowing smiles from Harry and Hermione.

They entered the office and Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, working on something for the ministry. He smiled at the trio as the walked in.

“Ah, hello Harry, Hermione,” He said, intentionally using their first names, and he constantly asked them to call him by his first name as well. “And you, Mr. Evans.” He said, nodding his head at Mark, who was looking on in awe.

“Professor,” Harry said, getting Dumbledore’s attention. “There are a few reasons why we are here, one of them is this,” He seemingly tugged at the air above his head, but in reality he was pulling the invisibility cloak off of Snitch.

Dumbledore looked genuinely surprised at the golden dragon. “There’s more,” Harry said, turning to Snitch.

“Snitch, I’d like you to meet the most powerful wizard in the world, Albus Dumbledore.” He hissed in Parseltongue, furthering Dumbledore’s surprise.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Albus Dumbledore.” The dragon replied, and Harry translated, more for Hermione than for Dumbledore.

“He said it is a pleasure to meet you Professor. Well actually he said Albus Dumbledore.”

The aging professor nodded behind his long, white beard. “I assure you, the pleasure is all mine. Now Harry, I expect that there is something else going on here. Am I correct?”

Harry nodded. “Yes, there is.” He motioned to Mark. “I have noticed many similarities between myself, and Mark. Is it possible that we are related?”

Harry braced himself for the answer, Dumbledore frowned. “I do not know, I am afraid, but I see where your concerns lie, I will look into it.”

Harry nodded again. “Thank you Professor.”

As they turned to leave, Dumbledore stopped them. “As far as your dragon goes Harry, you will be allowed to bring it with you around the castle, to all of your classes, and without an invisibility cloak. I daresay that there is something very important about that dragon, Harry, and that it will surface itself when the time is right. I will inform the professors of the situation. You will tell the students the truth, there is no point in lying to them. That dragon is an unknown species, presumably the first of its kind. I hope that you discover just what it’s purpose is.”

He dismissed them after that, and Harry walked off, wondering just how important Snitch was going to be in his life, and in his fight with Voldemort.

Chapter 13

The next couple of days passed without much action, except for the usual Malfoy taunts (Harry was quickly learning to ignore them) and a great deal of questions about the golden dragon that seemed to be attached to Harry at the shoulder.

The dragon honestly went with Harry everywhere. All of his classes, breakfast, lunch, dinner, it always slept in his bed as well. It wasn’t that Harry disliked the dragon, in fact, Snitch was quickly becoming like a brother to him (in a weird, inter-species kind of way), but sometimes Harry just wished that the dragon would give him some time alone.

Finally, Friday night before going to bed, Harry voiced his ideas to Snitch.

“Look, Snitch, you know that you’ve been a great friend to me, and I truly do enjoy your company, right?”

Snitch replied instantly with, “But you would like more free time to spend with your friends, and it is somewhat annoying to have a dragon constantly following your every move?”

Harry looked at the dragon with a smirk, in only a few days the thing could already read his mind and finish his sentences. It had taken Hermione at least a few months (after the troll) for that.

“You know me too well, I’m sorry, but can you please give me some space?”

The golden beast made a sound that Harry had come to realize was a laugh. “I’ve been wondering how long it would take before you asked me that. Of course I will give you your space, I will from now on only accompany you when you wish it, I will spend most of my time flying around the forests from now on. Before you protest, please, take this…”

A bright, brilliant, golden light emitted from the young dragon, and Harry was astonished to see an equally brilliant golden orb float into his hand.

Snitch spoke, “This orb will allow you to speak with me telepathically, no matter how far apart we may be. To use it, you only need to touch it and I will be able to hear your every thought, and respond to them. Now…” Another brilliant flash lit the darkened room, and Harry (once his vision was restored) was astonished to see a leather glove with the orb in bedded now firmly attached to his hand.

“How…” Harry began, but Snitch cut him off.

“The bond we share is very strong, Harry, stronger than anything you could ever imagine. When the time is right, you will discover just how strong our connection truly is…”

He let the sentence hang, and Harry knew better than to ask for an explanation. He found out a long time ago that Snitch would never tell him anything about their connection until he discovered it for himself.

‘But how strong can a connection be?’ He pondered to himself, walking out to the forbidden forest with Ron and Hermione, ready to begin their first ever attempts to transform that night. ‘I mean, it can’t be any stronger than me and Hermione’s bond, but I feel like it may be, but only in a different way. It’s almost like he’s a part of me, he knows me so well. But Hermione’s like that as well. So what gives?’

Harry banished his thoughts quickly as they reached the meeting area. He smiled at the nervous faces around him. Everyone was nervous but excited to have their first go at becoming an animal.

“Good evening all,” Tonks said pleasantly, smiling at all of them. Everyone returned her smile, then turned to Professor McGonogall, who would be supervising them tonight, seeing as she was a kneazle animagus herself.

“Well let’s not beat around the bush here, and get straight to it. Miss Weasley, you first.”

Ginny gulped and stepped to the center of the circle that they had formed. The moonlight was shining brightly on her face, and Harry had to admit that she looked fairly beautiful. He grinned when he noticed that Neville had realized the same thing, although his reaction was a little different, his mouth opening slightly.

“Now remember Ginny, just imagine being the cat. Bring up all of the feelings and thoughts that revolve around your animagus form and bring them to mind. Nothing else should matter. Just focus on the kneazle, and the kneazle alone. Imagine the fur growing on your body, the shrinking down to size, get the picture of the cat in your head, then allow your body to conform to that image.”

Ginny nodded, taking all of the information in. Her eyebrows scrunched in concentration, she seemed lost deep in thought.

Then, she began to change. Hair started to sprout up all over her body, and she began to shrink. A tail sprouted from behind her, and then suddenly, it all stopped.

Ginny fell to the ground, exhausted, still in the middle of transformation. Harry couldn’t help but laugh aloud at the sight, soon joined by all of the others.

Ginny’s face was mostly covered in red fur, but a different, lighter shade than her normal hair, and it clashed horribly. She was hunched over as her spine was in mid-transformation when she had stopped, making her look somewhat like a hunchback. Her tail was only a few inches long, and looked horribly misplaced.

This was all not to mention that her clothes had not successfully melded into the fur that was the kneazle, so there were blotches of black robes and red fur all over her body.

McGonogall smiled at her and transfigured her back to her natural self.

“How are you dear?” She asked, slightly concerned.

Ginny managed a weak smile. “Tired, I felt like…just, like…drained.”

Lupin stepped forward and handed her a piece of Honkeyduke’s chocolate. “Eat this Ginny, it’ll make you feel better.”

She hurriedly took the chocolate and stuffed it in her mouth. “Fanks Froesscor.” They all giggled at her lack of manners, but no one said anything.

“Okay, you next, Mr. Longbottom.”

Neville nodded, and taking a deep breath, he stepped forward.

The effect was immediate. Neville’s arm and legs became powerful legs with strong paws and razor-sharp nails. His face flushed out in a bushy mane, and his clothes were replaced by brilliant golden fur.

His nose bulged outward, and the mane grew even larger. His eyes grew, and his teeth became like knives.

In less than a minute, Neville stood in front of them all on all fours, a fully-fledged Grynx.

Harry was stunned, as was everyone else. Neville, the shy, accident prone boy of years past, had just become the first of them to transform successfully. True, only one other person had tried it so far, but it was a great feat nonetheless.

After a few seconds in his form, Neville became very shaky and slowly returned to his normal self, a collapsed heap on the ground. He was sweating profusely, and looked like he could hardly move.

Moony hurriedly shoved a Honkeyduke’s in his mouth, and Neville started to come around.

McGonogall was shocked, to put it lightly.

“V-very impressive Mr. Longbottom.” She was clutching her chest tightly, Harry was afraid she may have a heart attack. “If only you put forth that much effort into my class I daresay you would be one of my better students, as it is obvious that you are already one of the most talented.”

Neville gave her a weak smile, and Harry was sure that he was blushing, but it was impossible to tell as his face was already red from the effort he had put forth.

“And you now, Miss Lovegood.”

Luna took center stage and started to concentrate…and concentrate…then she concentrated some more.

After ten minutes, she had only turned her hair slightly darker and her nose had become elongated. McGonogall gave her a reassuring smile after she saw the young girls dejected face.

“Do not fret about it, Miss Lovegood. Very few witches and wizards have the ability to become animagus. You have the ability, surely, but it will take some time to completely assume your form. I took at least a dozen tries myself before I got it right.”

Neville’s chest welled up in pride at the remark, but he tried to look like he wasn’t to excited that he had bested his head of house at her own game.

Luna took some chocolate and ate it while staring at Ron, a dreamy expression on her face.

Ron didn’t need to be told, he simply walked to the middle of the circle, which was now considerably larger due to the enormous form of his creature.

Ron closed his eyes in concentration, and he began to change. His face went dark red, and a snout and tail began to form. Ron’s hair seemed to meld in with his head, becoming dark, red scales.

His eyes began to change, they became the fierce red of the fire drake. Ron began to grow, larger and larger, until finally, he collapsed to the ground, completely spent, halfway through his transformation.

It took a few minutes for him to wake up, and he was greeted with concerned looks from his friends, but an appraising one from Minerva. He also got some chocolate from Lupin. Tonks was just smiling at him proudly.

“Very good, Mr. Weasley. It takes a great deal of energy and power to transform into a dragon. For your first attempt, you preformed admirably.”

Ron beamed at her, or at least he gave her as close to a grin as possible in his condition.

“You next, Miss Granger.”

Hermione shakily moved into the middle of the group, and looked at McGonogall nervously. “Um, Professor McGonogall, I was uh wondering, because my animagus is so completely pure and innocent, and only a pure and innocent person can become one…well I mean, I guess what I am trying to say is,” She gulped, blushing brightly. “Not that we would do it any time soon, because we’re so young, but,”

Harry shuffled his feet in nervousness as he realized what Hermione was going to ask.

“But, well, um, me and Harry love each other, and well, one day, well actually probably night, we’ll show each other how much we love each other, and well, um, would that affect me being able to turn into a phoenix? I mean, when I lose my innocence, do I lose my animagus form as well?”

Tonks and the rest of the sextet - excluding Harry - fell on the ground in hysterical laughter, while Lupin looked at Harry very uncomfortably. Harry and Hermione were both blushing, but staring at McGonogall who seemed at a loss for words.

“Well,” McGonogall started, sternness evident in her tone. “I expect that when you ‘lose your innocence’ it will be away from Hogwarts grounds.” Harry and Hermione blushed even brighter, while the others rolled around on the ground in laughter.

“But no, it will not effect your animagus transformation. Now, with that aside, please assume your form, Miss Granger.”

Hermione nodded, and without further ado, she began to change.

She shrunk to the ground rapidly, her skin and robes quickly turning to brilliant, red and gold feathers.

Her face immediately grew red and into a beak, more feathers forming all around her.

Within a few seconds, she had completely transformed into a phoenix. She tried flapping her wings a few times, but to no avail.

After a minute or so she transformed back into herself, smiling slightly, but a bit dizzy and she fell into Harry’s arms, who caught her.

“Thanks Harry,” She said with a seductive smile, forcing Harry to lean down and kiss her tenderly. Ron stifled a laugh while the others just gave them knowing smirks.

McGonogall decided against saying anything and motioned to Harry.

“You next, Mr. Potter.”

Harry nodded and took center stage, forming the image of a serpent in his head.

He felt the ground raise up at him as he transformed, taking an amazing amount of energy with it.

He experienced an eerie sensation of his arms and legs melding together and his ears melting into his skull.

He suddenly went blind, although he could taste the air with his tongue.

Before he knew it, he was shooting upwards again at a rapid pace, but he kept his snake form.

‘What was going on?’

He continued to rise, until he was sure that he was at least fifteen feet tall, and that his body was a further fifty feet long after that.

He felt massive fangs two feet long grow in his mouth, and suddenly he could see again.

He would have screamed if it was possible when he realized what happened.

He wasn’t just a snake, his animagus form was a basilisk.

And he had been staring Hermione dead in the eye when he transformed.

A/N:

Heh, sorry, cliffhanger huh? That’s just how the chapter’s are pread out I guess.

Preview - A new animagus idea, a dream, a death…

6. Chapters 16-18

A/N:

Heh, heh, here’s the next section, hope you like how I resolved the evil cliffhanger from yesterday. R/R!

*****

Chapter 16

Before he even knew what was happening, Harry was at Hermione’s side, completely transformed back to his human state.

“HERMIONE!” He screamed at her eagle-spread body. Tears overwhelmed him, and he didn’t bother to hold them back. Around him everyone was looking on in utter shock, everyone beginning to sob.

Harry leant down and kissed Hermione’s forehead. “Please, Hermione, tell me you’ll be alright. Please,” His last words were spoken in a mere whisper, and as he cried into her hair his hands brushed down the side of her neck.

Thump…Thump…Thump…

Harry readjusted his fingers on her neck, wiping away his tears. He felt it again.

Thump…Thump…Thump…

“She has a pulse!” Harry screamed, picking her up in his arms and fingering his glove with the embedded orb.

“I need you Snitch, please come, hurry…”

Less than a second later the dragon appeared in front of him. Ignoring the gasps from everyone surrounding him, he grabbed Snitch by the tail and spoke in Parseltongue, “Hospital wing. Now!”

He felt the familiar sensation of being rushed forward through the wind (as had happened the last time) and when Harry opened his eyes again he was standing in the hospital wing, clutching Snitch with one arm, and Hermione with the other.

Madam Pomfrey was looking at him, astonished, and Harry quickly spoke up, choking out every word.

“Please…Poppy…help…Hermione…please…tell…not dead…” Madam Pomfrey took Hermione and laid her in the nearest bed, then returned to Harry.

“Mr. Potter, I need you to tell me exactly what happened if I am going to be able to help her.”

‘To hell with keeping the true nature of the lessons a secret!’ Harry thought. “We were in the forest, practicing our animagus transformations with Moony, Tonks, and McGonogall,” The school nurse’s eyes widened in surprise, but Harry continued anyways.

“I, I transformed,” Every word was harder and harder to say. “In-into a basilisk,” Pomfrey gasped loudly, covering her mouth with both of her hands, fear and astonishment playing in her eyes.

“I-I was l-looking right at Hermione when I did it, but she still has a pulse, please tell me that she’s going to be fine.” His head was in his hands, and he was sobbing uncontrollably.

Madam Pomfrey rapidly did a quick check over of Hermione, and came back to Harry a few minutes later, relief easily depicted in her eyes. She smiled at Harry.

“She’s going to be fine Harry,” His heart leapt with joy. She was alive! He hadn’t killed her! Pomfrey continued. “She was just knocked unconscious, that’s all. How she survived the stare of a basilisk, I do not know, but she will be fine by morning.”

“I believe that I may be able to answer that Poppy.” Came a new voice from the entrance to the hospital wing. Harry turned to see the familiar face of an old man with a long, white beard and sparkling eyes.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and stepped towards the bed where Hermione lay, looking so innocent and peaceful in sleep. “I believe Harry, that while you did successfully turn into the basilisk, your eyes, or rather, the basilisk’s, had not quite yet reached their true power when you laid your eye on young Miss Granger.” His eyes sparkled dangerously. “But I daresay, that a few more seconds and your beloved Hermione would be in a never-ending slumber of death.”

Harry didn’t know whether to cry or smile, so he simply stood and threw himself around the headmaster in an intense hug. Dumbledore patted him on the back lightly before breaking the contact and turning to leave.

A sudden thought struck Harry. “Wait, Albus!” Harry wasn’t sure what had possessed him to call the headmaster ‘Albus’ but he ignored that and continued.

“Look, if that didn’t kill Mione, than it was like, an incomplete transformation, right?” Dumbledore nodded, confusion in his eyes.

“Yes, one could say that.”

Harry continued. “Then would it be possible for a person that is an animagus such as myself to intentionally do an incomplete transformation?”

Dumbledore frowned slightly, but nodded. “Yes, Harry, I believe that you could partially transform into the basilisk, but why, may I ask.”

Harry gave him a small smile. “So I could transfigure only my eyes?”

Understanding flashed through the headmaster’s eyes. He smiled lightly. “Ah, yes, of course Harry. And with your glasses, the stare would not kill, but rather petrify. A very daring and innovative idea, if I do say so myself. You will want to use this in battle, I presume?”

Harry nodded in conformation. Dumbledore smiled almost forcibly. “Although I am against most acts of hostilities Harry, I do agree with this sentiment. Yes, Harry I will inform Professor McGonogall and she can help you learn to do this. But Harry, you must be careful. Although this may prove a powerful weapon on your enemy, than it will be the same on your friend.”

Dumbledore left him with these words, and Harry thought for about half a second before deciding. ‘I’ll do it, Hermione and I’ll just have to come up with a charm to stop the basilisk stare from being harmful to our own forces while our enemies are petrified one by one without a clue of how it is happening.’

He smiled and returned to Hermione’s bedside, brushing a stray hair from her beautiful face. He leaned in and kissed her softly, then turned as he felt Pomfrey coming up behind him.

“Don’t even think about it Madam Pomfrey. I’m staying with Hermione tonight and that’s final.”

Harry then refocused his gaze to the love of his life, and Pomfrey walked away, this time without her usual protests and grumbling. Harry knew he wasn’t going to fall asleep any time soon, so he turned to Snitch, who was perched on Hermione’s bedside rail.

“Hey Snitch, do me a favor?”

“Of course.”

“Will you go to my dorm and bring me back my broom and the servicing kit? I think it’s about time that I finally put the finishing touches on it.”

The dragon dissaparated without a sound, and Harry turned back to Hermione, stroking her face lovingly.

“I love you so much it hurts Hermione,” He spoke from the deepest depths of his heart. “It hurts so much to see you in pain, even more so because it was my fault. Everything’s my fault Hermione, if it weren’t for me you wouldn’t have been dragged into this mess.”

He allowed himself a smile, knowing that Hermione would be snapping at him right now for suggesting that this was all his fault and that she wanted to be a part of this ‘mess’.

“That’s why I’ll never leave you. If I left you, I wouldn’t be protecting you, I’d be killing you. I have to stay close to you to make sure that you’re okay, even if I’m not,” He leaned down and put the most loving of kisses on her lips.

“Your life means more to me than mine does. I would die for you in a heartbeat, you have so much more to look foreword to than I do, and you deserve so much. I love you with all of my heart.”

He kissed her hand tenderly, then was snapped out of his stupor by Snitch returning with the broom and the servicing kit, along with something Harry hadn’t asked for - a photo album.

Harry laid the broom and the servicing kit aside, and looked at all the photos in the book, a smile playing on his face. He had no doubt whatsoever what he would do with his broom now.

He grabbed the broom by its handle and quickly muttered a simple incantation that turned the entire broom emerald green.

Next he used a copying spell to take one of the pictures out of the album, than a pasting and wrapping spell to secure the picture on the tail end of the broom, completely enveloping the part of the broom that would have been nothing but bristles in the muggle world.

Thinking of the muggle world, he charmed the photo so that it would be a stand-still, and unmoving. Harry had actually always preferred photos that way anyways.

Next he took out a thin, long, golden engraver, and turned his attention to the hilt of the broom.

In small, but easily readable, golden letters, Harry engraved the name of his new broom on forever.

The Marauder.

He turned the broom around so that he could see the back and grinned at the photo of his father, Sirius, and Remus, all beaming proudly at the camera.

He laid the now-completed broom to the side and crawled onto the bed with Hermione, adrenaline gone and the past few days lack of sleep finally catching up to him.

He wrapped his arm around Hermione, holding her close, and nuzzling his face deep into the back of her neck he fell into a blissful slumber.

It was a dark and stormy night, rain pelted the black robes of the death eaters that surrounded the dark lord, Voldemort.

The evil one spoke, “You are all here today because in just a few short moments, the dementors will leave Azkaban and join us in our fight for the eradication of all mudbloods on the planet.”

Surprised and happy murmurs rose from the crowd, and Voldemort shushed them all with a wave of his wand.

“Now, we will have some of our most loyal servants among us once again. All those lost in the Department of Mysteries will rejoin us in a few short moments.”

His eyes narrowed and he glared at every death eater in turn.

“Now we only need to rid ourselves of that pest Potter before we begin our reign. He is strong, I will not deny that, and he could be our undoing.”

A wicked smile spread across his face.

“No doubt Dumbledore has him in advanced training right now, but no matter, the plan is in motion, Potter has already began to fall for it. When he - POTTER!”

Harry flinched when he heard Voldemort hiss his name. The dark lord began to chuckle.

“Attempting to use my own mind against me, are you Potter? You are no match for me. You are a mere shadow of your father, and I did away with him with little difficulty.”

The death eaters snickered among themselves, and Harry began to speak, amazing even himself, through Voldemort’s lips.

“I would hate to see you rid the world of all mudbloods and half-bloods,” Harry sneered through Voldemort’s mouth. “Because then you’d have to kill yourself, now wouldn’t you Tom?”

Harry pulled himself from the man’s mind before he could be attacked in any way, shape, or form, and left Voldemort to deal with Harry’s accusations.

Would he lose followers if they knew that he was a half-blood? Well it couldn’t hurt to try.

Harry woke up slowly, taking a few minutes to remember where he was. When he saw Hermione smiling at him, her face inches from his own, he remembered the horrific night.

“Good morning Harry,” She said, giving him a gentle peck on the lips. “Mind telling me why we’re in the infirmary?”

Harry, as gently as he could, relayed to her the previous night. She was shocked by some parts of it, but she smiled in the end. Harry did not tell her about his littler heart-felt speech, though he had an inkling that Hermione knew he had said something anyways.

“So, anything else happen last night?” She said giggling and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. “I mean, we did sleep in the same bed together.”

Harry started to chuckle until he remembered the dream. He slapped himself hard on the forehead.

“No! The dream! I forgot! I have to tell Dumbledore!”

“Harry, what’s going on?” Hermione asked nervously, reaching out and stroking Harry’s cheek in concern.

He told her all about the dream, when he finished, she had a horror-stricken look on her face.

“Let’s go.”

Together they bolted from the hospital wing all the way to Dumbledore’s office. After yelling out the password, they ran into Dumbledore’s office, and spotted him behind his desk.

He looked up with sad eyes, and Harry realized that he already knew, but he also knew much more.

Harry gasped in realization.

“Who died?”

Chapter 17

Dumbledore gave them a sad, tired, and rather old look, as if his age was finally catching up to him. The great sorcerer sighed.

“I assume you already know of the breakout at Azkaban?” He asked, and Harry nodded.

“Yes sir, I dreamt it. I talked to Voldemort himself. He said something about a plan I had already started to fall for, and then he said that he would rid the world of all muggle borns and half-bloods. So no new news there.” He gulped, wondering how Dumbledore would take the rest of the news. “Then I called him Tom and said - so that all the death eaters could hear - that if he killed all of the half bloods he would have to kill himself. Then I left, of my own free will.”

To Harry’s utmost surprise, Dumbledore chuckled. “So now the death eaters are plagued with a thought of their master not being a pureblood as he claims.” Dumbledore let out a deep, sad breath, readjusting his glasses that had slipped down his nose.

“One piece of good news from last night, I suppose. The rest, as you may guess, is horrible.”

Harry and Hermione said nothing, only waited and stared, the firelight reflecting the determination in their eyes.

“There are at least twenty dead,” Hermione gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth. Harry grasped her hand in support.

“All of them, I am afraid, were friendly. We also lost five from the order.”

Harry held his breath, preparing himself for the worst.

Dumbledore continued. “Emmeline Vance, Dedalus Diggle, Hestia Jones, Horace Frances, and…” Dumbledore fiddled with the quill in his hands, twirling it between his fingers like a first year in History of Magic class.

“The fifth death, I’m sorry to say, was Bill Weasley.”

Harry sat down hard, not caring that there was no chair under him. Hermione fell right next to him and wept into his chest. Dumbledore eyed them both gravely.

“Mister and Misses Weasley have already been summoned, they will be here momentarily. I thought that you, Harry, should be the one to break this to them. You are the closest to the family, and although you did not know Billius as well as the rest of the Weasley’s I believe that the two of you were rather friendly acquaintances, no?”

Harry could only nod. He couldn’t believe it. Bill…dead. It was to much. Ron and Ginny would be crushed. Ginny especially, Harry knew that Bill had always been her favorite brother.

Hermione found her voice first. “But, but Professor Dumbledore, sir. Bill is a code-breaker, why, what was he doing in Azkaban?”

Dumbledore’s face fell even more, if that was possible. “Order business.” He barely whispered, and Harry and Hermione nodded in understanding.

Bill had died because he was in the Order of the Phoenix. That would not go over well with Mrs. Weasley.

A few minutes later, Ron and Ginny, both looking tired and bewildered, came into the room. Harry stood up and gave them each a solid hug, Hermione following his lead, did the same.

“What’s going on?” Ron asked, fear etched into his voice, as if he knew that the response would not be a favorable one.

Harry sighed. There would be no point in beating around the bush here. “The dementors left Azkaban, and took all the prisoners with them.” Both fire-headed wizards gasped.

Harry continued, tears falling freely. “Ron, Ginny, I’m so sorry,” He whispered, hoping vainly that maybe the news would be easier to take in a quiet voice. “Bill was killed.”

Ron’s eyes drooped in disbelief, but he knew the truth. He fell to the floor, face in his hands. Ginny was another problem altogether.

“NO!” She screamed, shaking her head violently while tears cascaded down her cheeks. “NO! NOT BILL! ANYONE BUT BILL! PLEASE TELL ME IT WASN’T BILL! HE WAS, HE IS, NOOOOO!”

She fell to the ground, and before anyone could help her, she started thrashing uncontrollably, foam appearing at the corner’s of her mouth, her face broken out in a cold sweat.

“No, not Bill,” She sobbed, a foot thrashing towards Harry. “Impossible,” She choked and foam spilled out of her mouth and down her chin. Harry and the others looked on, aghast at what they were seeing.

She continued to convulse on the ground, body parts writhing as if she was under the cruciatus curse. Then she spun over to the side and began to retch violently.

“Not Bill!” Retch. “Please, anyone but Bill!” She hurled again, covering the floor with her dinner. Harry turned away, he couldn’t watch anymore.

Ginny continued to writhe and retch all over the floor, steam nearly visible coming off of her forehead, before her eyes rolled up to the back of her head and she passed out.

“Ginny?” Ron asked, shaking her, uncaring of the filth that now covered his hands. “GINNY!”

His hands fell to her neck. “Oh Merlin, Professor Dumbledore, her pulse is so weak, and,” He leaned his ear to her mouth. “AND SHE’S NOT BREATHING!”

By this time Madam Pomfrey had rushed into Dumbledore’s office and to Ginny’s side. Dumbledore had obviously contacted her when Ginny started to convulse.

Immediately Pomfrey conjured a stretcher immediately, a very concerned and worried look on her face. “She’s having some kind of attack,” She spat out hurriedly, placing Ginny gently onto the stretcher.

“I’m not sure yet, but it could be a nervous breakdown, or simple shock, or it could be much worse.” She shuddered. “It may be Wizard Stress Meningitis.” This time Dumbledore shuddered, Hermione let out a small squeak, Ron’s face paled to a ghostly white.

“Huh?” It was times like these that Harry hated the fact that he was very ignorant of the world to which he belonged.

As she rushed the young Weasley from the room, she shot over her shoulder one of the worst things Harry had ever heard in his life.

“A wizard form of Meningitis. The brain becomes inflamed after a great loss to an individual with all of that certain witch or wizards potential magic. It overloads the brain and the patient begins to vomit their food, then the acids from their stomach, until finally blood is finally drawn in from the blood stream and is retched until there is to little blood left for the patient to survive.”

Harry was awestruck once again. Ginny was a very powerful witch - all of the Weasley’s were. If her magic was locked away in her brain…he didn’t want to think about it. But she was his friend, and he had to help her.

He turned to Hermione. “Come on Hermione, let’s go back to those physics notes. Maybe we can figure something new out to help her?”

Hermione sniffed and nodded. Harry, with one last sad glance to Ron and Dumbledore, took her hand and led her from the headmaster’s office.

They didn’t talk much on the way back to Gryffindor Tower. Harry’s thoughts were on the Weasley’s. they had never lost anyone in their family before. How would they take it? Would they pull out of the war? A horrible thought struck Harry. What if they took Ron and Ginny out of Hogwarts? What if they thought they were all doomed to die and they wanted to spend the rest of their lives in peace?

Harry was snapped out of his thoughts at the portrait of the Fat Lady. “Linkin Park.” Harry muttered the new password - some kind of muggle band or something.

They still did not speak all the way up to Harry’s room, where they found a very nervous Dean, Seamus, and Neville waiting for them. They all eyed him in question, and he answered their unspoken question, thinking it better to give them the truth right away.

“The dementors left Azkaban tonight and took the prisoners with them back to Voldemort.” Everyone gasped, Dean and Seamus both flinching at the name.

Harry sighed and wiped away his tears. “Upwards of forty people were killed. Bill Weasley was one of them.”

This elicited even louder gasps from the group, and Dean made to tear from the room to find Ginny, but Harry stopped him. “It gets worse. You all know how close Ginny was to Bill right?”

Everyone nodded. “Well, she had a sort of, attack after she heard the news.” He sighed deeply. “Pomfrey thinks she may have Wizard Stress Meningitis.”

This time Dean did bolt from the room, Neville close on his heels. Seamus just dropped back on his bed with his hands over his eyes, not saying a thing.

“Hey, Seamus, Hermione’s going to stay here tonight, alright? We have some work that we have to do.”

Seamus snorted and replied, “Yeah, just use a silencing charm.”

Harry would have torn Seamus’ head from his shoulders if he hadn’t known the boy so well. In Seamus’ view, there are two outlooks on the world. One, you can take everything seriously and do what everyone expects of you in a given situation. And two, you can take life as one long joke and find humor around every corner, making life fun and worth the effort. Seamus (along with the Weasley twins) obviously fall into the latter category.

Harry led Hermione to his bed and sat down on it, pulling the hangings closed around them. He sighed and laid back, and immediately Hermione jumped on him.

She kissed him hard and forcefully, her fingers intertwining roughly with the back of his untidy hair. Harry pulled her closer, breaking the kiss (which got a disapproving groan from Hermione) and began to kiss the nape of her neck, then again on the mouth.

They kept at it for a few minutes before Harry finally pushed her away, gasping desperately for breath. “We can’t do this now, no matter how much we want it, we aren’t ready. We also have work to do.”

Hermione reluctantly nodded, but threw herself into Harry’s chest, sobbing uncontrollably. “Harry, I-I don’t ever want to lose you!” She sobbed, her tears soaking a puddle straight through Harry’s undershirt.

He held her close as she continued. “Oh Harry, if my parents died, it would be ever so dreadful, but I would get through it, I know I would. Even with Ron, if he died, I could get over it eventually. But-but with you Harry,” She sniffed back her tears and looked into his eyes, cupping each of his cheeks in her hands.

“If you died, I couldn’t go on.” She cried again, pounding a fist into Harry’s chest, not caring whether Seamus could hear them or not. “You’re, like, a part of me. I can’t live without you. Don’t ever do that to me Harry. Please promise me that you’ll never die.”

Harry cried with her and pulled his face into her bushy locks, murmuring, “I-you know I can’t promise you that, the prophecy…” This only made her wail louder, reminiscent of the wails that Winky had let out back in their fourth year. He quickly decided to change tactics.

“But I can promise you that I will always be with you,” He caressed her cheek softly, calming her slightly. “Whether in body or in spirit, I’ll never leave you. If I ever die, I promise that I’ll always look over you. There’s no one else but you Hermione, there never has been, there never will be.”

Hermione, despite her tears, managed a genuine smile, gracing her already beautiful features with a brilliant glow. She leaned up and gave him the most loving of kisses.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

She smiled and kissed him again, and Harry eagerly returned it.

“Okay,” Hermione said, finally stopping the kiss. “Now for physics.”

“Er, wha? Oh, yeah, uh, physics.” Harry said in a voice reminiscent of Goyle, causing Hermione to go into a fit of giggles.

Harry smirked at her and pulled out their books. Hermione leaned her head back into Harry’s chest, twirling her hair in her fingers, and sighed. “All pain occurs in the mind…”

Harry gave her an odd look. “Huh?”

Hermione gave a sigh that said she had read this in some book. “I read that in a muggle psychology book over the summer. It’s also physiologically correct. As your brain is the only part of the body with the ability to think, nothing else can experience pain. When you say, get hit in the wrist by a bludger,” She smirked at him, but he just stared at her, suddenly very interested.

“Go on.”

She gave a pleasurable moan as she laid back against the backboard of the bed with Harry holding her tightly. “You see, the brain is too complicated to understand its own complexity. When you hurt your arm, the nerves there send a message to your brain, telling it that the body has been injured. The brain then relays a message back that says there is pain in that area, when in fact there is not, because only the brain can truly feel pain. So the brain, and no one knows how, makes us believe that there is pain in our arm when there is not. Do you understand?”

In response Harry pulled her to him and kissed her deeply. When they pulled away he was smiling broadly. “You’re brilliant Hermione!”

She smiled sheepishly, blushing a little, and responded with, “I know.”

Harry laughed and pulled her closer. “Don’t you see? The cruciatus curse!” Hermione’s eyes widened. “It’s not body control, but rather mind control. In fact, all magic must be a manipulation of the mind! If we can block the path to our mind from being manipulated, then we can stop any curse that is thrown at us!”

Hermione gasped, throwing one of her slender hands over her completely desirable mouth.

“And,” Harry continued, realizing more as he went along. “That means that the cruciatus curse, when used excessively, will manipulate the mind into not working at all, but it is possible to block, in fact, the energy could probably be drained out! Which means…”

Harry drifted off, seeing if Hermione would catch on. She did.

“Oh my God Harry!” She nearly screamed. “We could save Neville’s parents!”

Chapter 18

After a long night of going over theory after theory, and searching through many anatomical and physiological textbooks, Harry and Hermione were determined that they could bring Neville’s parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom, back to full health with a complex potion.

“Okay, we’ll need grafstain roots for the penetration,” Hermione stated in her know-it-all voice, but Harry didn’t mind that right now. He was too transfixed on the idea of helping Neville and how beautiful Hermione was.

“Then we’ll need some strango seeds for the swelling, and a few bronci horns for the actual cleansing. Then obviously we’ll need some charfrain to stop the blood loss, and finally we’ll need a few drops - four, I expect - of verinsium to expel all of the magic.”

She smiled at Harry. “We can do this, I know we can. So do you want to tell Neville then?” Harry grinned back at her and nodded.

Together they walked down the Gryffindor Boys staircase (eliciting a few strange looks from a couple of second years that were huddled around Basic Book of Spells, Grade 2) and out the portrait hole into the cold, drafty, corridors.

Harry pulled Hermione to his chest and wrapped his robes around her as she nestled her head on his shoulder. She wrapped an arm around his waist and they walked in peace to the hospital wing, where they found Dean and Neville, both their eyes dried up from tears, huddled together over Ginny’s bed.

“Neville, a private word?” Harry asked, and Neville turned to them with a perplexed look on his still slightly chubby face. Sighing at the sight of Ginny sleeping rather poorly on the bed, he got up and trudged over towards them.

Harry pulled him out into the hallway and smiled at him. “I have great news for you Neville, really great.”

The young man sighed in exasperation. “It’s about time we had some of that, I don’t know if Ginny will ever pull out of this, so I could use some good news right about now. What is it?”

Harry grinned at him and placed a triumphant hand on his shoulder. “Hermione and I were going through some books tonight and we figured something out, something big, huge. The best thing is that this involves you personally.”

Harry paused. Neville, very attentive for it being seven o’clock in the morning after a night in which he did not sleep, said, “Okay, you’ve got my attention. Now what’s this all about.”

Harry smiled broadly. “We’ve discovered how to make a potion that would cure your parents.”

These simple words were the greatest thing to ever grace the ears of Neville Longbottom. He did not look at them questionably, or like they were insane. He knew they would never lie about something this important. A wide smile spread across his face as his eyes filled up with tears of happiness.

“When, when can we make it? I’ll help in any way I can, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Hermione smiled at him. “I expect that the potion will take about a week to make, and then it will have to sit for a few days and be stirred regularly before it reaches its potential. Neville, you could have your parents back by Christmas.”

Neville gave them both grand hugs as he let the tears fall. “W-What do we need? The ingredients, I mean.”

Hermione started ticking them off her fingers. “We need grafstain roots, strango seeds, bronci horns, charfrain, and about four drops of verinseum. We’ll need to add the horns first, followed by the strango seeds, stir counter-clockwise for a few hours, then put in the grafstrain and stir four times clockwise, then let the potion sit for three hours and add four drops of verinseum. Finally we’ll need to continuously stir clockwise until the potion turns red, then switch to counter-clockwise until it goes emerald green.” She smiled at Harry, staring into his eyes.

Neville spoke up. “Done. I’ll start now, the sooner the better. I can find most of that in the students cabinets, and I guess I’ll have to get a note from Professor Dumbledore so I can have access to Snape’s ingredients for the verinseum. I’ll see you guys later!”

Harry smiled at the retreating boy’s back before returning his gaze to Hermione. He kissed her softly on the nose. “You are brilliant, you know that?”

She smiled back at him, kissing him on the cheek. “And you are a flatterer, you know that?”

She giggled and Harry replied, “Yes, I am.” They both fell into a fit of giggles and they reentered the hospital wing and made their way to Ginny’s bed, which was in the far right corner of the room.

Harry laid a hand on Dean’s shoulder and said in a soft voice, “How’s she doing?”

Dean sighed and leaned back, rubbing his blood-shot eyes. “It’s definitely WSM, it’s only a matter of time now to see whether or not she pulls through. I think she’s going to be fine, she’s so strong and all.” He sighed again, sadly this time, and lowered his head in shame.

“And I’m going to have to break her heart when she wakes up.”

Harry and Hermione were very taken aback at this. “Why?”

“Because when I was here with Neville all night, I came to some realizations. I’m not in love with Ginny. I mean, I lover her, as a friend, but that’s just it. She’s my best friend, nothing more.” He gave a low chuckle. “It’s sort of the opposite for you two, isn’t it? You guys were best friends first, fell in love later. We dated first, became friends later. Best friends.”

He looked pointedly at Harry. “She is my best friend, and I do love her, but I’m pretty sure that Neville is in love with her. You know what I mean?”

Hermione nodded. “Yeah, I love Ron, I really do, but I’m not in love with him. Where is he anyways?” She asked, just now noticing that their red-headed best friend was nowhere in sight, and he hadn’t been in the dorms earlier.

Dean shrugged as he turned away from them, applying a wet cloth to Ginny’s forehead. “I dunno, haven’t seen him at all. He never came in here. I wonder where he is?”

Harry frowned at the news. He hoped that Ron wasn’t doing something stupid.

A few minutes later they left for the Gryffindor common room, but Harry had no intentions of going back to sleep anytime soon. As they reached his room (after shaking off a group of excited third years that were convinced that Ginny had just battled You-Know-Who) Harry headed to his trunk and pulled out The Marauder. He turned and smiled at Hermione, taking her hand.

“Flying lessons.”

Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but Harry silenced her with a finger to her lips. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, so that they could not be overheard, “If you are going to be a phoenix animagus, you’re going to have to learn to fly. In fact, I think you should naturally be a great flyer if your animagus form is a phoenix. You just have to let go of your fear. Believe me, when you’re in the air, everything else disappears, it doesn’t matter. It’s you and nature up there, and I’ll be with you too. Come on, let’s go.”

He nibbled her ear lobe, making her giggle. She followed Harry out the portrait hole and down to the quidditch pitch. The breeze was strong, but satisfyingly warm and gentle to the touch. Harry pulled out his broomstick, and mounted it for the first time.

He flashed Hermione a brilliant smile and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “I’ll be back before you can say-”

“quidditch!” Hermione finished for him, bursting into a fit of giggles. Harry smiled at her, wondering why he had ever thought that giggling should be illegal. It was one thing when it was a group of friends hanging around the girl that he liked, but Hermione’s giggles were sweet and peaceful to his ears.

Harry kicked off the ground and flew straight up into the morning sky, spinning corkscrews in an upwards spiral. When he reached roughly two hundred feet (he had a charm that would make the broom warm up slightly when over an altitude of two hundred feet, and one that would cool it down if he dropped under ten) he looked down and spotted Hermione, who was waving up at him with a beautiful smile on her face.

Harry leaned forward on the broom and dove.

WHOOSH!

It was faster than he could have ever imagined. He was ten feet off the ground in less than five seconds. At ten feet he pulled up on the broom, and at five feet he was completely level with the ground.

Yep. The broom was brilliant.

He looped over and found Hermione, landing next to her. He dismounted the broom and handed it to her. “Your turn, love.”

She gave him a nervous smile and shook her head. She straddled the broom with Harry’s guidance, and finally she was ready to lift off.

“You’ll be fine Mione.” Harry whispered to her, nuzzling his lips into her neck. “Just let it overtake you, and before you know it, you’ll be having the time of your life.”

Taking a deep breath she kicked off the ground and shakily rose into the air. Grinning, Harry pulled out his wand and sent a gust of wind under her, forcing her robes to temporarily fly up, exposing her long, beautiful legs, both covered in her white undergarments, but it was a wonderful sight, nonetheless.

“Harry!” She exclaimed, trying to be angry, but her giggling gave her away. After that, she lost all of her nervousness and started to fly. By watching her, one could never tell this was her first true time on a broom. It was just as Harry thought, she was a natural.

After watching for about half an hour, a voice from behind Harry startled him. “Bloody hell, is that Hermione!?”

Ron goggled at the sight of his best friend pulling evasive loops and corkscrews trough the goalposts and diving straight at the ground, only to pull up at the last second.

Finally she came down, her smile brighter than the morning sun. “Harry, you were right! It was just so, so, natural up there. It was perfect!” She gave him a soft peck on the cheek before turning to face Ron.

“Good morning Ron. Are you okay?” She asked, hoping to Merlin that he did not go through what Ginny was experiencing in the hospital wing at that very moment.

He sighed and shook his head. “No, but I will be.” He grinned at his two best friends. “I was just in the kitchen, I had Dobby make me some pancakes and waffles,” He paused and grinned. “And eggs, cinnamon rolls, bacon, and a few other things.”

Harry rolled his eyes at him. “Pig.”

Ron scowled while Hermione giggled. “Yeah, that can be your new name, Piggy.” Her and Harry fell into a loud chorus of laughter while Ron just scowled at them. Harry finally regained his composure and looked at them seriously.

“You know what? We should do that. Nicknames, like Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs.” (He purposely omitted the name ’Wormtail’) “We can all do that like they did. We don’t have to have it relate to our animagus form though, unless we want to. That way when we’re talking about plans and such, we can use our code names and no one will know what we’re doing!”

Hermione and Ron looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded eagerly. “Okay, so Piggy it is,” Ron said, seemingly not embarrassed. “Then what will you two and the rest be?”

Harry looked at Hermione thoughtfully. “Well I think it would only be fair if we picked each others names rather than do it ourselves. So, Hermione…” He said slowly, twirling her around while looking up and down.

“You can be…how about…uh…hmmm…let me think…I got it!” His eyes sparkled dangerously in excitement. “Your name will be Scarlet - it’s a double meaning!” Hermione gave him a questioning look. “One, because your animagus form is red, and two, for scarlet woman!”

Ron fell to the ground clutching his stomach in laughter, while Hermione scowled at Harry.

“Fine. And Harry,” He looked at her through his tears of laughter, and he distinctly saw her smirk dangerously. “No kisses for a week!”

Harry gasped and pretended to be shot through the heart, clutching his chest in agony. “Oh, no, Hermione,” He said, his voice taking on that of a steamy romance novel’s tone. “Anything but that!”

She shook her head forcefully, trying not to laugh. Harry sighed in defeat. “Okay, now that that’s dealt with,” Hermione said, now returning Harry’s treatment and giving him the once-over. “Hmm, I think you will be called - Drake! Short for dragon, because you’ve always got that dragon hanging all over you!”

Harry smiled at her, fingering his glove that would call Snitch to him in a second’s notice. “Now, now, Hermione, Snitch is like a brother to me. But, Drake is a cool name, at least you didn’t say Draco.” They all shivered, and the mood was lost.

“Harry, do you really think that Malfoy’s a death eater?” Ron asked, and both he and Hermione looked at Harry expectantly.

Harry sighed. “Yeah, I do. And if he’s not yet, he will be eventually. He was born evil, that one.” Harry gave them a sadistic smile. “But if and when he does get the mark, it’ll be one of us that will end it for him!”

This lightened the mood considerably, and Harry threw his new broomstick over his shoulder as they walked back up to the castle. “You know Hermione,” Harry said. “You should tryout for quidditch this year. I think you’d do really well and I know it would help your phoenix abilities. And,” He said, creating suspense. “If you do, I’ll be making the entire team brand-new brooms this year after tryouts, so then you’ll get one of those!”

Ron whooped in the air at the news of a new broomstick. “That’s a bloody brilliant idea Harry! And come on Hermione, after watching you today, I have no doubt that you can make the team, probably as chaser, seeing as Alicia and Angelina both left last year. Come on Scarlet, whaddya say?”

Hermione sighed, thinking deeply, before turning and nodding to Ron. “Alright captain, I’ll do it!”

Harry and Ron both whooped again in happiness, and Ron immediately started hurling questions at Harry.

“So what’s the max speed Harry?”

“What are the turning capabilities?”

“What kind of durability and longevity will they have?”

“Can I help in any way?”

Harry laughed and did his very best to answer all of Ron’s questions about the brooms. By the time they reached the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry was exhausted.

“How can I be so tired when it’s only eight in the morning?” He asked no one in particular, but Hermione answered him anyways.

“Well, I know one way to make you feel better.”

Harry raised an eyebrow as Hermione sat on the common room couch, patting the seat next to her, beckoning him to sit down. He complied, and Hermione spread her legs and leaned against the armrest, smiling at Harry. He got the message and situated himself in-between her legs, the small of his back resting on her slender waist.

Harry felt as if he could stay there forever, but then it got even better as Hermione started to massage his shoulders. He groaned at the feeling of her small and soft hands on his neck and shoulders, working out all of the knots in those areas.

“Wow, Harry, you’re really tight.”

“Yeah, well I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

“Oh really, like what?”

Harry snorted at the absurdity of the question. “Hmm, let me see. First there’s this new relationship between us, then there’s training every night for our final battle with Voldemort, dealing with the deaths around us, making this broom, and - oh, mmm,”

Harry abruptly cut off when Hermione started massaging his lower back and trailing butterfly kisses all around his neck and shoulders. Unfortunately, there were quite a few younger wizards in the room, so Harry had to stop her, but not before reaching behind him and grabbing Hermione around the waist, whipping her in front of him.

Suddenly Hermione had her legs wrapped around Harry’s waist and her arms encircled his back until her hands finally came into the back of Harry’s messy hair, grasping it firmly. She pulled him forward and gave him a deep kiss before breaking away from him.

At that moment, Neville came bursting through the portrait hole, scanning the room for Harry and Hermione. He spotted them and came over to the couple, ignoring their compromising position, and smiled broadly.

“I’ve just come from Snape’s. Dumbledore gave me a note that said he had to give me whatever I needed, and that he couldn’t ask questions. He was right upset, he was.”

Harry and Hermione grinned. They wished they could have seen that event.

“Anyways,” Neville continued, suddenly jumping upright. “Come on, let’s get started on the potion now! If we do this right, we could get the potion to Mungo’s by Tuesday!”

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and skipped to the portrait hole, Harry and Hermione walking and giggling at his antics behind him, holding hands and snuggling close to one another.

Neville led them all the way to the dungeons, and for a horrifying moment, Harry thought that they would be brewing the potion in Snape’s office, but thankfully, Neville took a right down a corridor that Harry had never seen before, and entered a small potions lab.

On the table situated in the center of the room, lay all of the necessary ingredients, all in the order of which they would need to be added. Next to them stood a boiling gold cauldron, as of right now filled only with water (the constant that was first added in all potions).

They excitedly got right to work, making sure that every instruction was followed to the most minute detail. After a while, right after they had added the grafstain, the most infamous person to the Gryffindor house walked in to the room.

“Hmph! There’s something you don’t see everyday, three Gryffindor’s doing actual work. It’s a wonder how you ever win the house cup with such riffraff as yourselves. An orphan, a muggleborn, and a boy who isn’t even recognized by his own parents.”

Harry had to hold Neville back from attacking the potions master. As calmly as he could, Harry said, “Will you please allow us to brew our potion in solitude, Professor? It is very complicated and we need the utmost concentration to complete it to our desired result.”

Harry swirled the potion a few times, making sure that he didn’t do to much, or the potion would be ruined. He smiled at Hermione, who grinned back, happy that he had kept check of his temper.

“Twenty points from Gryffindor for public displays of affection!” Snape said sharply.

“But it’s the weekend, we aren’t even under your jurisdiction right now, you can’t do that!”

“Another ten for your cheek Miss Granger. I suggest you tell your little muggleborn her place Potter, before she gets herself into trouble.”

With that Snape turned with a swish of his cloak and made to exit the room. But Harry wasn’t going to let him get away with that.

No one, no one, insulted Hermione like that, not even a professor.

Harry took a deep breath and took a step forward, speaking to the slimy potions professor before he could make his escape.

“Not so fast, Snivellus.”

*****

Okay, sorry for the cliff hanger, but it’s not as bad as yesterday was is it??? Look for the next update tomorrow!

Preview:

Some words exchanged between Harry/Snape, some H/Hr fluff (honestly that’s just sort of a given now isn’t it?), a few new spells, and FOOTBALL!!! (english style mates!)

7. 19-21

A/N: Okay, here’s the next update. Thanx to all my faithful readers, I really like reading your reviews, it’s one of my favorite parts of writing the story! We finally get to some football in this installment, it’s pretty funny actually. R/R!

*****

Chapter 19

The greasy haired potions master whirled around so quickly that his robes knocked a flask from the shelves, shattering it and its contents all over the dungeon floor.

“What did you say Potter!?”

“You heard me Snivellus,” Snape flinched angrily at the name he had been endowed with by the marauders back in his own school day. Harry didn’t care. He was verbally attacking a teacher, but he wasn’t going to take Snape’s crap anymore, and he was going to let him know it right here and now.

“Look Professor,” Harry began, reverting once again to a tone of respect for talking to a teacher. “I don’t like you, in fact, I loathe you, and I realize you probably even hate me worse, but I’m not going to let you be so unfair to Gryffindor’s anymore.” Harry’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Especially my friends.”

He paused, but Snape didn’t say anything. He just stood at the doorway, mouth agape, apparently no student had ever spoken back at him like this before.

“You are the most unfair Professor in the entire castle. McGonogall is the head of Gryffindor house, but she rarely takes points from Slytherin unless someone really deserves it. Flitwick and Sprout are the same way, they only take points when someone is truly deserving of it.”

He narrowed his eyes at the potions master. “You, on the other hand, take points away from Gryffindor for breathing wrong. Or if we try to help someone - even a Slytherin - with their potion, you take away points for showing off. Then when we don’t help and that person screws up, you take away points because we obviously thought that we would look better if they screwed up.”

Harry rolled his eyes and let out a low laugh. “Please Professor, honestly, you’re pathetic. And now we have you right where we want you.”

Snape’s eyes flashed dangerously while Hermione and Neville’s became clouded in confusion.

Harry glared at the most loathed man in Hogwarts. “All I have to do now is throw a few well selected ingredients into a cauldron and stir, then we’ll have ourselves a pensieve. Then Dumbledore can see just how nice you are, why with calling me an orphan and mocking Neville for having parents who for now cannot remember him.”

If Snape noticed that Harry had said, ‘for now’ in regard to the Longbottom’s, his face didn’t express it.

Instead he spoke in a low, threatening tone. “Are you threatening me Potter?”

Harry actually did laugh this time, throwing his arms up in exasperation. “Has it really taken you that long to figure out? I’ve been ‘threatening’ you for the past five minutes!”

Snape knew that Harry would be true to his word on showing a pensieve to Dumbledore, so he spun once again and stormed from the room. But not before saying, “You truly are James Potter’s son. Every bit as cocky and arrogant as he was. And we all know where that led him.”

Harry snorted at his words and turned back to Hermione and Neville. Neville was beaming at him, proud that someone had finally stood up to Snape; while Hermione was trying to give him an icy glare to show that she didn’t approve of his attacking a professor, but the amusement on her face gave her away.

“That was brilliant Harry!”

“I can’t believe you said that Harry!”

Neville and Hermione said simultaneously. Harry grinned at turned to Neville.

“Thanks Neville.”

Then he shifted his gaze to Hermione. Taking a few steps towards her. He gave her the puppy-dog face. “Come on Hermione,” He pouted, sticking out his lower lip. “You know that I only gave him what he deserved. He’s needed someone to pull him off his pedestal for years now.” He puckered his lips and leaned in towards her, making smacking noises. “Come on Scarlet, am I forgiven?”

Hermione’s glare began to falter, but she shook her head defiantly as Harry leaned in towards her. “Hey now, I said no kisses for a week, didn’t I?”

Harry grinned as he tackled her to the floor, laughing aloud at her surprised squeal of laughter. “Harry!”

He continued to make puckering noises all around her face and ears, but never actually touched his lips to her skin. No, he was going to make her kiss him.

Neville looked over the golden couple of Hogwarts, smiling. Anyone with two eyes and ears could tell that the pair would be together forever.

On the ground in front of Neville, Hermione was getting restless. She wasn’t stupid. She knew what Harry was doing, she wasn’t the cleverest witch Hogwarts had ever seen for nothing.

On the other side of the couple, Harry could tell that Hermione was breaking down, it was in her eyes. They were both oblivious to Neville standing directly behind them, and Harry knew it was only a matter of time before Hermione grabbed the back of his head down and snogged him senseless.

After a few puffs of air into her ears and eyes, and a finger tracing her cheeks, Hermione couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Harry groaned in satisfaction and triumph when Hermione pulled him down and smashed his lips to hers, her tongue immediately seeking entrance into his mouth, and he quickly granted her access.

After a few moments of their snogging, Neville cleared his throat to let them know he was still there.

Harry broke the kiss and turned to Neville, smirking. “Hey Neville, you might wanna leave now, cuz I’m gonna do some things to Hermione that you probably don’t wanna see.”

Without waiting for an answer, and ignoring Hermione’s surprised gasp, he once again crushed his lips against hers, and they stayed that way for a long time after Neville had exited the dungeons.

A few hours later, Harry and Hermione came back to the Gryffindor tower, hair sticking out all over the place, robes wrinkled and displaced, and both looking like they had gone ten rounds with Dudley Dursley (only without the bruises).

Lavender and Parvati giggled and pointed at them as they walked in, while many other Gryffindor’s smirked at them with knowing smiles. The both turned to Neville, who shrugged.

“They tortured it out of me. I said I left just as Harry was discarding Hermione’s robes…”

“He did not!”

“I did not!”

They yelled simultaneously, blushing furiously.

“For your information Neville,” Harry said. “All we did was snog for a while, nothing more.”

The common room broke out into a fit of laughter. Hermione, ignoring them, once again addressed Neville. “And the potions about ready. We put a never-ending charm on the potion spoon, so it will stir continuously until morning, then it should be ready.”

Neville nodded eagerly and then left the common room, presumably going to visit Ginny. Harry spotted Ron sitting on a couch by the fire, and he and Hermione walked up and sat on the chair opposite him, Hermione sitting in Harry’s lap with her legs draping over the side of the chair.

“So how’s Ginny doing?” Hermione asked seriously, hoping for the best. “She’s better. Pomfrey says that she’ll pull through just fine, it’ll just take a few days before she’s back to full health. But I have some great news that I just heard from my dad,”

Harry and Hermione looked at him expectantly and eagerly.

Ron continued with his trademark grin. “After the breakout last night, the Wizengamot officially sacked Fudge, and dad was elected as temporary minister!”

Harry and Hermione both smiled widely at their red-headed best friend. The Weasley’s deserved more than any other family in the entire world, in Harry’s opinion.

“And,” Ron continued, regaining Harry and Hermione’s attention. “He hasn’t made this public yet, but his first formal act will be post-humously award Sirius with a full pardon and start the hunt for Wormtail and strip him of his Order of Merlin.”

Harry was excited, but frowned in thought. “But Ron, how will he prove this to anyone? No one will believe him, will they?”

Ron gave Harry a serious gaze. “Well that all depends on you Harry.” Harry gave him another confused look. “Dad wants to make a pensieve of your memories to show the public. Not only that night in the Shrieking Shack, but also the Tri-Wizard Tournament and Department of Mysteries. Believe it or not, there are still people who don’t believe that You-Know-Who has really come back.”

Harry thought on it for a minute. ‘It would clear Sirius’ name, confirm the return of Voldemort, and point out many death eaters that may have not been caught yet. And the price is nothing but an invasion into my privacy. Well, that’s an easy choice then!’

“I’ll do it.”

Ron grinned happily. “I knew you would say yes Harry, I told dad you would. He’s sending an official to get your memories tomorrow and then he’ll present them publicly with a specialized pensieve-amplifier to an entire crowd. He’s not saying what the press conference is about, only that it will clear up a few mysteries of the past.”

Harry nodded while Hermione grasped his hand and kissed him on the cheek in support. Harry smiled at her and returned the kiss.

Hermione sighed happily. “You know, we need to get Piggy a girlfriend.”

Her and Harry started giggling while Ron blushed furiously.

“Hmm, who do you think Harry? I think that new Katrina girl is pretty nice, don’t you?”

Frowning, Harry shook his head. “No actually, there’s just something about her, I dunno, just something that’s - off.” Harry finished, not really knowing what he was talking about.

Ron nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I know what you mean Harry. I know there’s something that she’s not telling us, but that we’ll find it out soon. I think it has something to do with her father. I can’t be sure, but I think she may know where her father is or who he is, or at least more than she’s telling us anyways.”

He shrugged, blushing slightly. “Besides, thereissomeoneelseihavegotmyeyeon.”

Harry and Hermione grinned at each other knowingly. “What was that you said Ron?” Harry asked with a smirk, knowing full well what his red-headed best friend had said.

Ron blushed even deeper. “I said that I already have my eye on someone.”

Hogwart’s golden couple smiled broadly at their mutual best friend. “So, who is the lucky girl? Or are you gonna make us guess?” Hermione asked, beaming with delight. Now she knew why Lavender and Parvati liked talking about boys so much. It was fun!

Ron looked like a chameleon, his red face and hair nearly completely blended in with the scarlet background of the Gryffindor common room.

“Lua…logoo…” Ron stammered, unable to speak coherently in light of his obvious embarrassment.

Hermione, who in Harry’s opinion was enjoying this a little to much, grinned at Ron, craning her head towards him. “What was that? I don’t think I picked up on that last one. Come on, who is ickle Ronniekins desperately pining away for now?”

Harry couldn’t help but laugh at Hermione’s antics. She was so funny sometimes. That was just one of the plethora of reasons that he loved her.

“Luna Lovegood.” Ron mumbled quickly again, still blushing brightly.

Harry grinned, he knew that was the answer the entire time, but it was fun watching Hermione goad it out of him.

“Well, Piggy, there is always the DA meetings, you could ask her afterwards you know.” He grinned maliciously as he saw the dreamy eyed, blonde haired fifth year stride into her new common room.

“Or you could ask her right now. Oi! Luna! Over here, Ron’s got something to tell you!” With those words he took Hermione’s hand and together they fled the room and ran up to Harry’s room, giggling maniacally.

When they reached the sixth-years dorm they found it empty and crashed onto Harry’s bed together. Harry slipped one arm around Hermione’s waist and laid the other on top of her curly brown locks, which now rested on his chest.

Harry yawned loudly. “Hmm, I’m tired Mione. Sleep with me?”

Hermione shot her head up and looked at Harry with a mixture of shock and confusion. Harry, realizing what she thought he had meant, laughed softly.

“Not like that, scarlet woman,” Harry said with a grin, and Hermione’s face changed to a look of mock anger.

“I am not a scarlet woman.” She spoke with conviction, reminding Harry of a stern McGonogall. Then her expression softened and she sweetly placed her lips to his. “I happen to only have my eyes on one man.”

“Who? Krum?” Harry asked with a smirk, receiving a pillow in the face for the remark.

“No silly! That’s gross! You’re the only one for me, for now and forever.”

“I dunno,” Harry said skeptically. “I think I’m gonna need some convincing.”

Hermione grinned and kissed him softly and lovingly. “Does that help?”

Harry nodded, pulling Hermione once again down onto his chest. “That’ll do. Now let’s sleep, ever since this training started I’ve been like the walking dead. So tired.”

Hermione’s only answer before falling asleep on Harry’s chest was, “Mmm, me too. I wuv you.”

Harry snickered a little at Hermione’s less-than-perfect speech. He kissed the top of her forehead.

“I love you too.”

Chapter 20

Harry awoke a few hours later, still with Hermione laying on his chest. He smiled into the chestnut curls before pushing the young woman off of his chest and raising out of the bed to stretch.

It was then that he realized the tryouts for the football team were the next day, Sunday. Harry had lost track of time with waking up early and brewing the potion and then napping with Hermione. By looking out the stained glass window of the Gryffindor boy’s sixth year dormitory, he saw that the sun was setting and figured that it must be somewhere around eight o’clock in the evening.

Hermione began to stir on the bed and Harry sat down next to her, stroking her hair lovingly.

“Come on Mione, time to get up. We’ve got training in an hour.”

“No training. Sleep now. Train later.” Hermione mumbled as Harry began to shake her awake.

“Well, okay, but you know, tonight is when we start to learn some new hexes and such because the two of us mastered animagus training so quickly. Moody told me earlier that he’ll be training the two of us today because we’re so advanced.”

Hermione grinned into her pillow. “Liar. We’ve only transformed once apiece. And, don’t forget, you almost killed me the last time you transformed, so I wouldn’t say that you’ve mastered it quite yet.”

Harry smiled and laid down on the bed directly on top of Hermione, pressing up against her and kissing her neck. “Mmm, true, but we are the most advanced, and Moody said that if we can both hold our transformations for five minutes tonight, that he’ll start us in on hexes.”

Hermione stared at Harry, seemingly trying to find the truth in his eyes. Finally, she succumbed and said, “Okay, but I’ll never be able to get up with you laying on my stomach. I swear, you way a ton. Do you lose weight when you transform into a basilisk?”

“Oh you’ll pay for that one Granger!” Harry exclaimed, moving his fingers down to her hips and tickling her unmercifully.

“Oh! <laugh> Harry! <laugh> Stop!”

“Nope, not until you say boys rule and girls drool!”

Hermione managed to sigh in exasperation through her desperate giggles. “Honestly Harry! This isn’t Homeward <laugh> Bound! I’m not <laugh> going to <laugh> say that!”

“Well okay then!” Harry said, and he increased his torture, tickling her ten times as hard.

“Oh! Fine! Boys <laugh> rule and girls <laugh> drool!”

Harry laughed and rolled off of her. “Spoken like a true scarlet woman!”

Suddenly Hermione rolled herself over and strattled him, pinning his chest to the bed with her hips. “HAH! I’ve got you now Potter!”

“I don’t think so!” Harry retorted, and pinched Hermione’s bottom.

“Oh!” She yelped, jumping up involuntarily. This gave Harry all the time he needed to squirt out from underneath her. He scrambled off the bed and smirked at her.

“Do you still got me now?”

Hermione scowled at him and rubbed her backside. “Ow. That really hurt Harry!” She said, almost convincingly.

Harry gave her a Fred and George like grin. “Want me to kiss it and make it better?”

Hermione blushed crimson and Harry laughed, strutting his chest out and walking out of the room in pride. “Harry 1, Hermione 0!”

Hermione scowled at him but got up and followed him down the stairs and into the boiling common room. “Merlin! It’s Early September! Do we really need the fireplace blazing like that?”

Harry just shrugged and plopped down on the couch, pulling a copy of Quidditch Weekly off the stand next to it. He flipped it open and thumbed through a few pages while Hermione snuggled up next to him.

“Hey! Hermione, look at this!”

He pointed to an article on page 9.

Oliver Wood Named To The Full Team

Puddlemore United announced today that they were moving reserve keeper Oliver Wood - two years out of Hogwarts, where he played quidditch with the-boy-who-lived as team captain - to full team duties, and his first full team match will be against the Chudley Cannons on September the 14. Bradley Whitford, manager for Puddlemore, had this to say about the young keeper.

“Oliver has really impressed in practice as well as in the reserve team games, and also in scrimmage with the full team. This is a move we have long debated since our now reserve keeper, Fabio Bartetho (a one time French international hero in the world cup), started to show a lack of form in our early matches. We are confident that Oliver will step up and play to his full potential.”

The Scottish heartthrob was unavailable for comment, but as this reporter has seen first hand, Wood is anything but just a pretty boy goaltender. He was instrumental to the Gryffindor team that won the house cup in 1993.

We can expect great things from Wood, just one of the few young stars to have come from Hogwarts in the last few years. Other now-professional Hogwarts alumni that played either with or against Wood are: Marcus Flint (Chaser, Applebee Arrows), Angelina Johnson (Chaser, Whinbourne Wasps), Alicia Spinnet (Chaser, Puddlemore United), and many others. Wood is the first of these alumni to make the full team.

For further information on past Hogwarts alumni, see page 12.

“Wow, isn’t that brilliant!” Harry exclaimed. Hermione nodded, trying to pretend that she was interested.

“Yeah, good for Oliver. He really deserves it.”

Harry knew that Hermione didn’t particularly care for quidditch talk, so he hastily changed the subject.

“So do you wanna maybe head down to the meeting now? Get a head start on our transformations?”

She sighed and shrugged. “Sure, I’ll just get my cloak.” She stifled a yawn with one of her petite hands and headed for the girls dormitories. “I’ll meet you back here in five minutes.”

Harry nodded and jogged back up to his room to retrieve his own cloak.

Five minutes later Harry met up with Hermione in the common room, and, taking her hand, walked with her out to the forbidden forest where they always had their training.

“So how long until Ginny can start training again, do you think?” Harry asked conversationally, attempting to kill some time, for he knew the walk to the meeting place would take a solid fifteen minutes.

“Hmm, I expect that she’ll be up and about by Monday, though I doubt if she trains until Wednesday.” She looked up in thought. “I wonder when the funeral for Bill will be held. We’ll have to leave for that, won’t we?”

Harry nodded sadly. “Yeah, I suppose it should happen before too long. The sooner they get closure, the better. My guess is that the Weasley’s will at least wait until Ginny has recovered…so…probably next weekend sometime. Hopefully it won’t interfere with the quidditch game Ron and I are going to…but if it does, well some things are just more important.”

Hermione smiled at Harry’s maturity and laid her head on his shoulder as they walked in silence the rest of the way to their meeting spot.

Unsurprisingly, the clearing where they trained was unoccupied when they arrived there. “Hmm, so, do you wanna go first or me?” Harry asked, tossing his cloak over a low branch on a sycamore tree.

Hermione shrugged. “I’ll go first, I suppose.”

Harry nodded and Hermione took a few steps away from him before starting to change. She attained the form much quicker this time, and was able to fly for the first time up onto Harry’s shoulder. He smiled and stroked Hermione’s feathers while she rubbed her head into his cheek lovingly.

After a few moments, Hermione fluttered off of Harry’s shoulder and on to the ground, where she changed back into a very wobbly-legged Hermione.

“Woah, I got ya,” Harry said as Hermione tripped forward and fell into his arms.

She smiled up at him. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

He gave her a passionate kiss, lasting until only the need for oxygen forced them apart. Harry grinned at her looking deep into her chocolate eyes, loving the fact that he could see a perfect reflection of himself in them.

“Erm, Hermione, do you have protection?”

Harry swore he heard something rattle in the bushes nearby, but ignored it at the look on Hermione’s face. He rolled his eyes at her.

“Honestly Hermione, guys are supposed to be the perverted ones. I meant for your eyes. So you know, when I transform, you’ll be able to look at me without being petrified or dying?”

Hermione blushed and nodded. Harry once again thought that he heard something from the bushes, but ignored it. He had a pretty good idea who it was anyways.

“Erm, yeah. That spell I used, in third year, the quidditch match, you know, the one where you…”

“…fell off my broom. Yeah, I remember. Will that charm work against a basilisk’s stare though?” Harry asked, hoping that this was not just a hypothesis but an actual fact.

Hermione nodded confidently. “Yes, the charm provides a magical barrier for the eyes, blocking all things that may obstruct vision. It also blocks any spells that may come through, as was demonstrated in 1847 when Phinneli Cornchav-”

“Ooookay, Mrs. Dictionary. I get the point.” Hermione scowled at him. “Just do the charm and I’ll transform, then we can practice hexes when Moody gets here.”

Hermione nodded, and pointing to her eyes, said, “Impervious!” Then nodded to Harry to show that she was ready.

Harry took a deep breath and focused on the snake. He felt an immediate change as the air around him suddenly got cooler, but pleasurable to his skin. He was suddenly able to taste the air with his tongue, and his fangs began to grow. His eyes went black as they transformed and while they did so he shot up in the air, becoming a fully-fledged basilisk.

Finally he could see again, although there was a yellow tinge to it and it was not very well focused, he could still make out the form of a grinning and waving Hermione in front of him.

He hissed and said, “I love you.” in Parseltongue. Hermione smiled. Although she was far from fluent in understanding the language, she was intelligent enough to gather what he had said.

Harry slid up close to her, flicking his tongue through the air. Finally he came to a rest a few feet from Hermione, and he shot his tongue out, licking her outstretched palm.

Hermione giggled a little and walked the rest of the way to Harry and laid her head on his coiled up body, her skin smooth against his rough scales.

To the casual onlooker it would have been a most incredible and horrifying sight. There is a beautiful young woman leaning back on a gigantic fifty foot long serpent, and they appeared to be getting along brilliantly. If Colin or Dennis Creevey had been there, they would have snapped a photo the instant they stopped screaming at the sight of the type of monster that had nearly killed Colin in his first year.

After a few relaxing moments Harry transformed back to his usual self and kissed Hermione on the nose, though he felt a bit tipsy while doing so.

He then turned to the bushes. “Oi! Tonks! You can come out now!”

There was a gasp and some stumbling until Nymphadora Tonks tripped and fell face first into the clearing some thirty feet away from them.

She got up and dusted herself off sheepishly. “Wotcher Harry.”

She gave the an evil grin. “For a minute there I thought I was going to see some things suitable for PlayWizard Magazine!”

Hermione blushed deeply, but Harry kept his cool and simply shrugged. “So when is Moody getting here? We were hoping to start on some hexes today.”

Tonks shrugged uncaringly and responded, “Any minute now, in case you didn’t realize Harry, you were in that basilisk form for a solid thirty minutes! The rest of the group - minus Ginny, of course - should be here shortly.”

Harry nodded and sat Indian style on the forest ground, Hermione in his lap, while they waited for the others. Harry couldn’t help but gaze at the sky, remembering the words that Firenze had said…

“I foresee a great gain for you, Harry Potter, in the near future, but I also predict a great loss. One may not come without the other. It is inevitable, the stars have foretold it, and it is your destiny. Good luck, Harry Potter.”

What had he meant? A great gain, but a great loss as well? What could he possibly gain? Knowledge? Power? And lose? Friends? Hermione? Or had the loss referred to Bill?

‘No, that can’t be it. I liked Bill, but it wasn’t a great loss to me. No, it would have to be someone close, like one of the people in our training group, or Lupin, or Dumbledore. But will the loss outweigh the gain? Or vice versa? Will anything even happen?’

“Divination is a load of rubbish, you know that Harry!” Came Hermione’s voice from somewhere inside his head. A year ago he would have agreed with her, but now…

Harry sighed, shaking his head. No, he didn’t want to think about the prophecy right now. He had other important matters to attend to, as Mad-Eye had just arrived with the others.

“Well then,” Mad-Eye said in his gruffly old voice. Harry privately wondered whether his voice box was scarred like the rest of his body was. “Let’s get started. You two,” He looked pointedly at Harry and Hermione. “Are coming with me, we’ll be learning some spells with Kingsley tonight. You other three will continue your transformations with Tonks and Minerva, when she gets here.”

Moody nodded his head towards the far side of the clearing and the couplet followed him to where Kinsley Shaklebolt, a long, dark haired man of fairly decent build was sitting on a rock, wand at the ready.

He spoke nearly as gruffly as Alostar. “I assume the two of you already know the basic stunner spell, stupefy. Do you not?”

They both nodded knowingly.

“Good. Then tonight you’ll be learning the more advanced stunners, good to put an enemy out cold for hours or even days at a time.” Harry and Hermione exchanged a nervous glance. “Don’t worry though, enervate will work just as effectively, no matter which stunner is used.”

He stood up and pulled out his wand, aiming into the seemingly empty forest. “Now, for the first one. You just thrust out your wand, snap your wrist up slightly, aim and yell, Rictify!”

A brilliant jet of red light, about the circumference of a baseball, shot from the end of his wand and into the trees.

“Now, your turn.”

They nodded and both pulled out their wands, going through the wand motions together, and at the same time, bellowed, “Rictify!”

Identical jets of red light shot out of their wands, though noticeably paler and thinner than Kingsley’s had been. The seasoned auror looked at them in awe, then to Mad-Eye, who simply shrugged. “I told ye they had talent.”

Shacklebolt nodded slowly. “Yes, but it took me nearly an hour to get the result they got on their first try! And not to be arrogant, but I’m no slouch!”

Hermione beamed with delight, while Harry shifted a little uncomfortably. ’Great, there’s another thing I’m not normal at.’

After about ten minutes, both Harry and Hermione could both perform the spell as well as Kingsley. “Okay then, moving on,” Shacklebolt said, clearly impressed. “I believe you have personal experience with this one Harry.” He waved his wand in a tight clockwise circle, then jousted it forward, crying, Kriptify!”

A much larger beam of light shot from his wand, this time the circumference was likely to a basketball. “Very powerful. Unblockable by protego, though a more advanced shield spell may deflect it. Why don’t you two try that one now?”

Kingsley had to sit down for a moment after Harry and Hermione had both mastered the spell only thirty-five minutes after learning it. “Incredible…” He muttered, looking aghast at Harry and Hermione. “Have you two ever considered the career of aurors? You would be the most brilliant team.”

Harry shrugged. “I considered it, but I decided against it this summer. I’ve been fighting like an auror my entire life, and I hate having to do battle and the like, so I don’t think I’m gonna do it. And Hermione here,” He nudged her in the ribs with an elbow. “Is too smart to be an auror. She’ll probably end up in a courtroom somewhere. Ain’t that right Scarlet?”

Hermione shrugged. “I suppose. I just really want to make a stand on the rights of magical creatures. They are treated like slaves! Goblins, house-elves, half-breeds, they’re all treated so unjustly! It’s not fair to them and I’m determined to make everything better for them.” She stuck her nose up in the air with dignity, and Kingsley sighed in defeat.

“Very well, very well. But if you two ever change your minds, be sure to floo me - you could be the best auror team that the ministry has ever seen.”

After another hour of using the two stunner spells, Kingsley called them to a stop. “Okay, that’s enough for tonight lads. I think I’m gonna have to rewrite my schedule for the two of you, I may be teaching you the sword spell before long.”

Hermione frowned while Harry looked intrigued. “The sword spell?”

Kingsley smiled at them. “One of the world’s most powerful spells.” He drew his wand out and spun it in a difficult maneuver. “Blazar acuzar!”

Harry gasped as a beam of blue light erupted from the wand and stayed there, in the shape of a sword, glowing brilliantly. “This baby,” Kingsley said, slicing the air a few times with his newly created sword. “Took me a year of intensive training to learn. It’s pure light, and it cuts through anything. Only came into being back in 1978, a wizard by the name of Gavin Darklighter came up with it after watching some muggle movie. War of Space, or something like that.”

Harry and Hermione shared a grin. Now that he thought about it, the sword did resemble a light saber rather closely.

“Only the best of wizards dare duel with this spell. If one is not powerful enough, the sword will dissolve after a few minutes, and the wand will be rendered helpless for nearly an hour afterwards, making them an easy target.”

He sliced at a tree branch, and it cut off without resistance. The power was incredible.

Harry couldn’t wait to show Malfoy that one the next time he threatened Hermione.

Chapter 21

Harry awoke the following morning with butterflies of excitement floating in his stomach. ‘I’ve never really played football before, I wonder if I’ll like it as much as quidditch?’

He groaned while stretching his arms and legs out as far as they could go before detaching themselves from his body. He swung his legs over the side of his four poster and looked out the window.

The sun was just rising, producing a faint reddish tint to the grounds of Hogwarts. Harry grinned, knowing that Colin and Dennis were probably out there snapping away at the sunrise.

Yawning, he trudged his way into the bathroom and fumbled around a bit before finding his glasses, then, putting them on, stared at his reflection in the mirror.

He had grown a little over the summer, and his shoulders were now more refined, though far from muscular, than they had been the year before. His hair was just as untidy as ever, and Harry ran one hand through it before picking up his toothbrush and attacking his teeth furiously.

When he was done washing up, he rummaged through his trunk, carelessly tossing random clothing all over the room, until he found a decent pair of shorts and a light t-shirt that he could play in.

Harry then walked down to the common room, and was unsurprised to see most all of the muggle borns already down there and stretching, getting ready for tryouts.

He smiled and walked up to Hermione, who was lacing up her shoes. His smile turned to a frown when he saw the soles of her shoes. “Hermione, why are there little plastic things sticking out the bottom of your shoes?”

Everyone in the immediate vicinity chuckled lightly at Harry, Hermione giggled and rolled her eyes. “These are my football boots Harry. The plastic things are called ‘cleats’, they help gain more traction on the ground for when I may cuts and such.”

“Cuts?” Harry asked, confused. “I thought this sport wasn’t violent. Why would you want to cut somebody? And how do your shoes help with that?”

A few of the surrounding footballers looked at Harry in disbelief, Hermione didn’t even grace him with an answer. “Honestly Harry, come on, let’s get to the pitch, I expect Dean will be starting the training soon.”

A few minutes later Harry was standing with about thirty other hopefuls on the quidditch pitch, while Dean eyed them all over. Dean clapped his hands together and began to speak.

“Okay, so here’s the rub. This obviously won’t be able to be like any normal football league, as we only have four teams. Also, this will be coed, and the rules state that there must be, at the least, a three to two boy to girl ratio on the team, and at least four ladies must be on the pitch at all times. There can be more of course.

“Well, as most of you probably know - at least I would hope so - there are eleven players on the pitch at a time, I’ll decide our exact formations after we have a set team and have practiced for a good amount of time.

“The team will consist of twenty-four players, that way we can play full-game scrimmages in practice. Although there will be twenty-four players, we will only dress seventeen for a game, most likely the substitutes will be one reserve goalkeeper, two defensemen and midfielders, and one striker.

“Those that don’t make the dress team will have to sit in the stands with everyone else, unless they are an assistant coach or something. Obviously, I will not be able to coach because I will be spending the majority of my time on the pitch, so someone else will have to fill in that role.

“Okay, now, for the tryouts. I’ve spoken with those whom will be heading up their respective positions. So, all those that will be trying out for midfield and forward, please come over here with Hermione and myself. Those going out for defense will be with Jack and Kirke. Goalies will try out with Ron.”

Harry cast a surprised look at his fire-headed best friend. Ron had never played football before, so why? - oh, yeah. Dean knew as well as anyone that Ron was a special kind of Seer, meaning he didn’t make predictions, but he knew some things that would happen before they did. Perfect trait for a goalkeeper in any sport.

The groups split up, and Harry immediately felt out of place. He knew nothing about football, so he decided to go with Hermione’s group, as at least there he would know the people he was with.

There were twenty students vying for either a striker or midfield position, and Harry suddenly felt that this wasn’t such the grand idea after all.

Oi Harry! Here ya go!” Came Dean’s voice from behind him. Harry spun around just in time to see a football (kicked by Dean) fly straight into his nose, snapping the bridge of his glasses and sending him sprawling into the grass.

The surrounding students exploded in laughter, and Harry tried to laugh along with them, but the pain in his now-sliced-open nose was making that difficult.

Hermione giggled and fixed his glasses with a wave of her wand, and wiped the blood off his face with a towel, kissing the wound. “There, all better now.” She said, placing the glasses once again over his eyes. He smiled and turned back to Dean.

“Okay, to be a midfielder or forward, you have to be in the best physical condition of all the positions. Ideally, you should be able to play the full ninety minutes without needing a rest.”

Dean frowned a little before continuing. “Unfortunately, ninety minutes is a little much for most people our age, so the games will be forty minute halves instead. Well, first things first, we’re going for a forty minute run around the campus. Let’s get to it!”

A lot of the hopefuls groaned, but complied nonetheless. Harry grinned. At least running for forty minutes was something that he knew he could do.

About an hour later (Dean had tricked them into running a full hour) all but two of the players were back to the pitch. “Okay, I guess we are in fairly decent shape then. Let’s split up and do some ball work then, shall we? Just practice some juggling, settling, and one touch passes for about the next twenty minutes. Find a partner and get to it!”

Harry immediately sought out Hermione and pulled her with him to be partners. They got a ball from Dean and began to practice.

Harry was in awe of how great a player Hermione was. She would easily flick the ball from foot to foot, thigh to thigh, for minutes at a time without allowing the ball to touch the ground. (She called this ‘juggling’)

It didn’t take Harry long to realize he wasn’t really cut out for football. Hermione had started tossing him the ball, telling him to lightly trap it with his thigh and then pass it back, but it just never seemed to work out that way. Harry kept on bouncing the ball high into the air, and his passes rarely found Hermione’s feet.

Hermione was biting her lip to hold back her laughter at Harry’s horrible attempt to play football. She finally fell to the ground in a fit of laughter when Harry attempted to flip a ball up to his thigh after Hermione had given him a soft pass, and only succeeded in smashing the ball hard into his private area.

“Umph! Shut it Hermione!” Harry said, falling to his knees and clutching his wounded pride. Hermione laughed and lightly chipped the ball up into Harry’s forehead, forcing him to lose his balance and fall on to his back.

Hermione crawled over to him and patted him on the chest, grinning. “I’ll go tell Dean that you’d rather just help coach than play, Harry. Okay?”

Harry nodded and responded in a high-pitched squeak. “Sure!”

Hermione giggled and took off to find Dean.

Harry lay on his back in the grass, just soaking in the morning sun, until Dean came over, grinning at him.

“So, girlfriend to good for you there Potter? Too ashamed to play now so you wanna help coach instead?”

Harry glared at him. “You may school me on a football pitch Dean, but I can still hex you back to diapers!”

Dean gulped slowly, his grin fading slightly. He sighed and offered a hand to Harry, which he took. Dean quickly pulled Harry to his feet. Dusting himself off, Harry let out a long breath and asked, “So whaddya want me to do Dean?”

Dean’s smile grew large again. “Since you obviously know nothing about the wonderful sport that is football, you will be the physical training and punishment coach. You get to go around and make sure no one’s goofing off, and then you set up the physical aspects of the practices; you know, like sprints and push-ups and stuff.”

A broad grin broke across Harry’s face. “Oh yes, I definitely except. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find Hermione.”

Dean laughed and gave him a knowing grin before Harry sprinted off in Hermione’s direction. He found her juggling the ball by herself near one of the goal boxes. He smiled at her and watched as she played with the ball, just waiting for an opportunity.

Hermione finally got bored of juggling, and she kicked the ball to Harry, who didn’t move, and allowed the ball to hit him in the stomach.

“Granger!” Harry said in an angry coach voice. “As your punishment coach I order you to drop and give me twenty press-ups for deliberately kicking the ball at a coach!”

Hermione dropped her jaw in disbelief. “You can’t be…”

“…serious! I tell you I am! Another twenty for your cheek Granger! Now get down and start before I add on more!”

Hermione scowled and dropped to her belly, doing slow press-ups, still scowling at Harry, who was laughing like a hyena. When she was finally done, she rose to her feet and glared at Harry.

“Don’t give me that look! I’m your coach and you’ll treat me with respect!” It took all the control Harry could muster to not fall to the ground in a fit of laughter. He and Hermione both knew that he practically owned her now while on the pitch.

For the next hour Harry enjoyed walking around the field criticizing everyone and punishing those who made mistakes. Everyone laughed when Harry made Dean do fifty sit-ups for hitting a shot high, but they shut up when he turned on them and said they should not laugh at the misfortunes of their teammates, and assigned all of them a lap around the pitch.

Harry used this time to talk with Dean. “So whaddya think Dean? Who are you liking for the team now?”

He looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. “Well, Hermione’s a given. She’s incredible. I like Kirke and Sloper in the back as well, and Ron could play for England in goal. That whole Seer thing is an awesome advantage.” He rubbed his chin. “Lavender will make a decent midfielder, so will Parvati. I don’t think they will be starters though, unless we need them to keep the percentage up.

“Most of the first through third years are hopeless, with the exception of that Mark Evans. He’s got talent for an eleven year-old, but I’m concerned that he’ll get hacked at too much and be seriously hurt. Carlos Bocanegra will be a great left-back, and I think I’m gonna be putting Eddie Pope on the right. Sloper will sweep and Kirke will stop. So our defense is set. I’m liking DeMarcus Beasley for the outside left, and then probably John O’Brian on the left. I’ll probably put Lav in the middle with me. And up top we will have Hermione and Freddy Adu - he is unbelievable. Reminds me of a young Pele.”

Harry shook his head in agreement. “Yeah, that sounds good, except we’ll need two more ladies on the pitch.”

Dean sighed. “Yeah, I know. I sucks.”

Harry looked thoughtful. “Well, you could put Shannon Box in for O’Brian on the right, and that big girl, Chastain, can be put on the right back. Then we can just circle them in and out as the match goes on.”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I was leaning towards as well. Okay, here they come!”

The team had just finished their lap around the quidditch pitch (it was roughly one mile) and they looked expectantly at Harry and Dean. Dean cleared his throat.

“Okay then, that’s it for today, we’ve seen all that we need. A full list will go up on either Monday or Tuesday on the message board. Look for it, and good luck!”

Harry walked back to the castle with Hermione, and they were nearly to the gates when Neville came flying to them out the front entrance.

“The potion’s ready! Dumbledore said we could portkey to St. Mungo’s tonight!”

*****

A/N: Now that’s not a bad cliffhanger is it? No, I’ve done much worse. I know the whole potion thing went by to fast, sorry, I just couldn’t help it. Like always, I hope you liked the new installment! R/R!

Preview:

An unscheduled trip to Hogsmeade, a reunion with the Longbottom’s (will the potion work?), a duel, and a few other surprises.

8. Chapters 22-24

A/N: The fate of the Longbottom’s! It’s a bit of a tearjerker, so beware!

*****

Chapter 19

“Tonight!?” Harry exclaimed, aghast. “Wow Neville, first we were thinking that this would be a good Christmas gift, but now you’re getting them back this week!”

Neville beamed, nodding vigorously. “Yeah, we can get the okay to give them the potion tonight, the Mungo’s chief owes Dumbledore a favor, then we’ll give it to them both, they’ll sleep all night, when they wake up they’ll remember everything and their brains will be normal, and gran will be there, and some of my parents old friends and other people and if the potion works well we’ll probably get an order of merlin and that’ll be cool and I’ll be able to talk to my parents and then I can see them for real and I hope they like me and I dunno what they’ll do when they get out and-”

“Whoa, slow down Neville,” Harry said grinning. “You’re rambling there, we get the picture. Are you sure that you want us to come there with you?”

Neville looked at him like he was insane. “Are you joking? Of course I want you there! If it weren’t for you guys I’d never have gotten them back! I owe you so much!”

Harry laughed and threw his hands up in protest. “No, no Neville, you don’t owe me anything.” Harry’s eyes grew wide, realizing he had something else to tell Neville as well.

“Neville,” Harry said slowly, displaying the importance of what he was about to say. He glanced around and motioned to a nearby gardening shed. “Let’s go in there real quick, there’s something you need to know.”

Neville gave him a confused look, as did Hermione before she realized what he was going to say, and she nodded approvingly with a smile.

They made their way into the shed (it was rather beaten down and probably hadn’t been used in years). Harry turned to the door, pulling out his wand, and put a silencing and locking charm on the entrance. Harry eyed the nervous looking Neville powerfully.

“What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this room.”

Neville nodded slowly in response.

“Okay, you remember that prophecy we were tricked into obtaining at the Department of Mysteries last year?”

“The one I broke?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, but that was only the record of the prophecy, the actual prophecy was told to Dumbledore, and he still has it in a pensieve.”

Neville’s eyes widened, realizing that he was going to be let in on a huge secret.

So Harry told him the story, all about the prophecy, who it involved, and what it entailed. By the time Harry was finished, Neville’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

“So, it could have been either of us?” He asked, astounded that he could have been the boy-who-lived instead of Harry. Harry nodded. “Well, then, and I don’t mean to be rude, but why did he chose you? After all, you are a half-blood and I was a pure blood, not that that’s better or anything, but isn’t Voldemort all concerned with pure bloods?”

Harry was surprised that Neville had used the dark lord’s true name, Voldemort, but he covered it quickly. Harry gave him a weak smile. “Because Tom Marvolo Riddle, the man who became Lord Voldemort, had a wizard mother, and a muggle father.”

Neville’s jaw dropped. “Lord Voldemort is a half-blood!?” Harry nodded, and Neville gave a small laugh. “Well, I wonder what his followers would say to that? He’s one hell of a hypocrite then isn’t he? Saying the whole world should be nothing but pure bloods. What a load of rubbish! He’d half to kill himself!”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, and unfortunately, none of his servants are brave enough to question him on it.” Hermione gasped at this.

“Harry!” She said rapidly. “What if we wrote an anonymous column to the daily prophet about that! Just a quick note asking for an inquiry into whether or not he’s a pure blood! Even if they can’t prove it it’ll still start and uproar, even in Voldemort’s own troops! Some of his death eaters may even leave him!”

Harry nodded, wondering why he had never thought of this earlier. “Yeah,” He said slowly, thinking. “We can look into it while we’re at Mungo’s tonight, in fact,” The wheels started to turn as a plan formulated itself in his mind. “We can get the press there tomorrow morning for the results of the potion, and then we can make that announcement as a side note.”

Neville was the one to point out the obvious. “Uh, Harry, where are we gonna get a reporter on such short notice, and why should they believe us?”

Harry turned and smiled at Hermione, who was grinning back. “I’ve gotta go write a quick letter, I’ll see you back in the common room!” With that Hermione ran from the shed and left Harry and Neville alone to walk back.

“So, you guys are pretty serious huh?” Neville asked, looking at Harry.

He smiled. “Yeah, we are. I love her, and she loves me. There’ll never be anyone else but her. Ever.”

Neville nodded. “So, are you gonna ask her to marry you then?”

Harry stopped in his tracks, Neville walked a few paces ahead until realizing Harry was no longer with him, then circled around to come back. “Did I say something wrong?”

Harry shook his head slowly. “No, but, why would you suggest marriage so early?”

Neville shrugged. “Well, we’re in a war now, and the six of us, you know, you, me, Hermione, Ron, Luna, and G-Ginny. I doubt if we all make it through alive, we’re pretty much becoming the front line for the war. So if I were you guys, I’d wanna get married as soon as possible.”

Harry took a moment to take in the words. It did make sense. However much he didn’t want to think that Hermione would die, he couldn’t deny the fact that it was possible. Harry was sure that Hermione felt the same way. He smiled to himself, realizing the obvious choice. He hadn’t got a birthday present to go along with owl for Hermione yet anyways.

He turned to Neville. “You know what, you go back to the common room. I’m gonna head to Hogsmeade for a while.” Neville grinned broadly. “I’ve got some shopping to do.”

Neville waved him good-bye and Harry turned back to the entrance of the castle. “Accio Marauder!” He bellowed once he had reached the grounds, and his new broomstick flew into his outstretched palm a few seconds later. He boarded it and flew to Hogsmeade.

It only took about five minutes to reach the only fully magical settlement in Britain. (Due to the fact that his new broom was probably the fastest one in the world) When he landed, he walked the streets until he found what he was looking for.

Jorsten’s Jewelers

Harry smiled and walked into the store, a bell signaling his presence. An old woman came out and smiled at him from behind the counter. “How may I help you son?” She asked in a polite, business-like tone.

Harry lowered his eyes to the floor and shifted uneasily. “I’d, er, like to by an engagement ring actually.” The lady looked at him questionably, and Harry finally met her gaze. She gasped, obviously realizing who he was.

Harry explained himself. “Look, I’m the number one target in this war, and my friends are right up there with me. I dunno how long any of us are gonna live, so I want to do this soon so that everyone will remember me and Hermione as we were - husband and wife.”

The shop clerk nodded slowly. “And I assume that you don’t want this story to leak out?” Harry nodded. “Well obviously, I won’t tell anyone. Now, may I help you choose a ring?”

Harry nodded again. “Yeah, Hermione won’t want anything fancy, but she’ll want it nice. She always says that she loves my eyes, so I guess an emerald would be the best choice. I don’t want it to big though, is there anyway I could get an adjustable charm on it, so that Hermione can change it to the size that she wants?”

The shop keeper nodded while pulling out a beautiful emerald ring. It was perfect. Hermione would love it. “I’ll take it.”

The witch smiled at him. “Okay, that will be fifty-seven galleons, six sickles, and four knuts.”

Harry gasped in shock. He hadn’t brought any money!

The old witch laughed. “We have a direct flu to Gringott’s in the back, would you care to use it?”

He breathed out a sigh of relief and responded a quick affirmative and the old woman led him past all of the beautiful necklaces, bracelets, and earrings and into a dusty room that was occupied solely by a large fireplace. ‘I’ll definitely be coming back here again,’ Harry thought with a grin.

“Here you go sonny, just walk into the fireplace and you’ll be immediately transferred to Gringott’s. You won’t need any flu powder or anything, it’ll just whisk you straight away when you stand in it properly.”

Harry walked into the fireplace and stood in the middle of a magical circle, and immediately he felt himself being whisked away (just like the flu, only without it) and he landed less-than-gracefully on the floor of another fireplace in Gringott’s.

Harry made his way to the head goblin and asked, “Er, could I please get some money out of my vault? I believe my key is still here.”

The goblin looked over him slowly. “Griphook! Take Mr. Potter to his new vault, number 912!” A smaller goblin nodded and beckoned Harry to come over to where he was by a cart that would take him to his vault.

Without a word Harry was whisked away to his vault at breakneck speed. The journey was much quicker this time, and when they reached his vault, there was a great surprise waiting him.

A huge Norwegian Richback Dragon sat in front of his vault.

Harry was expecting problems, but the dragon saw Griphook and moved to the side, laying down sleepily. Harry assumed there must be some kind of charm that radiated off of the goblins that told the dragon they were meant to be there.

Harry was torn from his thoughts when the vault door was opened. His jaw dropped. There were tens of thousands of stacks of galleons. The room had to have been at least the size of a football field, nearly all covered in galleons, with some sickles and knuts there as well.

“Would you like you vault statistics, Mr. Potter?” Griphook asked, seemingly eager to share the facts, as his voice had a slightly lighter tone than that which goblin’s usually employed.

Awed at the site, he could only nod. “Mr. Potter is currently in possession of, 8.6 million galleons, 1.2 million sickles, and .85 million knuts. In total, this adds up to approximately 9.31 million galleons. How many do you wish to withdraw?”

Harry stuttered for a moment. “Uh…well…l-let’s see…I g-guess I c-could u-use some spending m-money.” The goblin chuckled, and Harry looked at him thoughtfully. “Is there anyway I could get, like, a checkbook or something? That way I don’t have to come here all the time, I can just write out the amount at the store?”

The goblin eyed him for a moment in confusion, then finally nodded in understanding. “Do you mean you wish to obtain a Gringott’s Instant-Purchase Quill? It is an enchanted quill that you only need to write the amount of money needed, and the precise name of the store for the money to be transferred to, on a piece of parchment? The quill is charmed so that only the person who purchases it may use it, and is accepted world-wide, only in the magical world, of course. The charge for one is one thousand galleons.”

Harry nodded. “I’ll take one. Could I get it right away?”

The goblin nodded and they returned to the cart, taking off to an unknown destination for the quill.

About thirty minutes later, Harry appeared back in Jorsten’s Jeweler’s with the quill in hand. The old lady saw him and smiled.

“My, my, you must be quite the wealthy young man to own one of those.” She smiled sweetly at him.

“Er, yeah, you could say that.”

She smiled at him. “Ah, I remember when your father came to buy his own girlfriend a ring, very similar to that one you have there.”

Harry looked up from the parchment in astonishment when he finished writing the balance transfer on it. “My dad bought his ring here? When? How?”

The lady chuckled. “He was just the same as you are, though I don’t doubt you have much more money than he did. Did anyone ever tell you how your father made his fortune?”

Harry’s ears perked up at this. He loved finding new things out about his father. “No, do you know?”

The lady sighed sadly. “No, I am afraid I do not. Quite the mystery, it is. I was just hoping that you knew.”

“oh.” Harry responded. He left the joke stop shortly afterwards, and after making a few more important stops, flew back to the castle on his broomstick.

He didn’t want to be caught by Hermione, so he flew straight to his dorm window, which was thankfully open, and he settled inside of it.

“Harry?”

‘Damn.’ Harry turned to see Ron sitting on the edge of his bed, looking at Harry expectedly.

“Well? Where were you? What were you doing?”

Harry sighed. It’s not like he could hide this from Ron forever. He pulled the box out of his pocket and tossed it to Ron.

Ron opened it and gasped. “Harry!” He grinned. “How are we gonna break it to Hermione?”

Harry laughed and threw a pillow at his red-headed best friend. Ron joined in the laughter and tossed the ring back to Harry. “So when are you gonna ask her?”

“Her birthday.”

Ron groaned and rolled his eyes. “You know, you can’t just propose to her every time you can’t think of something to give her for her birthday.”

Harry tossed another pillow at Ron, which he caught easily. ‘Damned Seer’ Harry thought with a smirk. Harry jumped up and headed for the door, motioning at Ron. “Come on,” He said to Ron’s look of confusion. “Let’s go save Neville’s folks.”

Ten minutes later they were standing in Dumbledore’s office, getting ready to leave. “Harry,” Dumbledore asked forcefully. “I believe you flew to Hogsmeade without permission today, may I implore what the reason for that was?”

Ron and Neville snickered while Hermione gave him an aghast look. “Harry! How could you! There are people all over looking for you! What if-”

“Hermione, please stop.” Harry cut her off and returned his gaze to Dumbledore. “Hmm, I don’t want certain people in this room to know why, so,” Harry grinned. “So you can use legilmens on me and I’ll use occlumency to show you the image of what I was doing!”

Dumbledore nodded, smiling. “Very well. Legilmens!”

Without warning, Harry was seeing flashes of memories.

Sirius in the Shrieking Shack…

NO!

Sirius falling through the veil…

Urrg! Harry you can do this….

Hermione being hit from Dolohov…

Come on…

Him and Hermione sharing their first kiss…

Yes, getting there, come on…

His conversation with Neville…

Almost…

Purchasing the ring in the jeweler shop…

Finally the memories were gone, and Harry wobbled for a moment before righting himself. Dumbledore smiled. “Very well Harry, but you still must be punished for your actions. Therefore you will be having a one half-hour detention every Friday evening with me for the rest of the school year.”

Harry stared at him. It wasn’t that bad was it?

Dumbledore smiled. “Which is where we will help you with you occlumency.” Everyone in the room grinned. Dumbledore was the coolest Headmaster anyone could ever ask for.

“Now, if you will all take a hold of Fawkes here, we will go to St. Mungo’s.”

Everyone did as they were told and suddenly Harry was being whisked away to the greatest magical hospital in the world.

Chapter 20

Harry landed with a thud in the opening hall of St. Mungo’s Hospital. The hospital was bristling with activity, witches and wizards running every-which way doing their business.

But there was only two people Harry cared about at the moment. “Come now,” Dumbledore said, leading the way past the front desk (everyone ignoring the looks of awe people were sending them, it wasn’t everyday that a witch or wizard got to se both Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore walking down a hospital corridor) and to the left wing of the hospital.

The Longbottom’s had been moved so to avoid any unwanted attention (which Harry was grateful for, he didn’t know what he would do if Lockheart saw him and started pestering him for autographs again) during the procedure.

They finally reached a small room in the last hallway of the left wing, passing many curious portraits and patients along the way, and they stepped inside, Neville clutching two vials to his chest as if his life depended on them.

Inside they found Frank and Alice, both staring aimlessly out the window, and Neville’s grandmother in a rocking chair nearby, her face lighting up when they came in.

“Neville dear, you told me it was important to meet here tonight, but I don’t understand,” She glanced at everyone in the room. “Why must we be moved and why are all of these people here?” She smiled at them reassuringly. “Not that I mind of course, I’m only curious.”

Harry smiled and nodded to Neville, who stepped forward and held out the two vials of potion. “Gran, Harry, Hermione, and myself created a potion in the last few days, and we’re sure that it will relieve the tension in mum and dad’s brains,” His eyes welled up with tears. “They’ll be okay again.”

Grandma Longbottom dropped her jaw, unable to make a coherent sound. Finally, she spoke, eyes sparkling with tears and hope. “Dumbledore,’ She whispered. “Is this true?”

The wise old man smiled and nodded. “Yes, Alicia, it is true.”

The old lady broke into sobs and hurled herself at Neville, hugging him with all of her might. “Oh Neville!” She sobbed. “I’m so proud of you! And your parents will be as well, of course!”

Neville began to cry as well, and Alicia preceded to give a hug to everyone in the room. When she was done, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

Finally, Neville pulled out the vials and handed them to his parents. “Please, drink up and you’ll feel better in the morning.” He grinned a little, loving how true that statement was.

His parents, whom cared about nothing, shrugged and drank the potion down without a second thought (not that they were capable of thought in the first place). A few minutes later they were sleeping peacefully in their beds.

“Okay, I guess me and gran will stay with them over night.” He smiled at his grandmother. “And gran, if they start to sweat and thrash in their sleep, that’s a good thing, it means the potion is kicking in. So don’t worry.”

His grandmother smiled and waved to everyone who left at that moment. Harry sighed when they were back in the hallway. “So I guess it’s to the meeting now huh,” Harry asked somewhat dejectedly.

Hermione perked up. “Ooh, yeah, is Kingsley going to be there? I would love it ever so much to learn a few more of those powerful spells!”

Ron nearly fell to the ground in laughter while Hermione looked confusedly at her boyfriend, who was only able to hold back his laughter out of fear that Hermione would use one of these new spells on him tonight.

“What did I say?”

Dumbledore broke in. “It is no matter. Come now, we need to get to the meeting. I would be ever so upset if we were late!” He finished with a twinkle in his eye.

Harry and Ron fell to the ground in laughter, clutching their stomachs. Dumbledore was chuckling to himself, seemingly pleased with his joke. Hermione Just stared at him, beet-faced, mouth agape for a moment. She wasn’t sure if it was wise to retort at a wizard of Dumbledore’s stature and power.

“Yes, well,” She said, walking with a smile. “I’m surprised you even let us know about the training tonight, rather than keeping it a secret.” She finished with a smirk, and Ron and Harry were almost too surprised to laugh.

‘That one was a little below the belt, but funny, nonetheless.’ Harry thought, and he started to chuckle.

“Ah yes, Miss Granger. I may have well kept it a secret, but I feared it may interfere with your study schedule.”

Hermione blushed again and once again Harry and Ron were clutching their sides in laughter. ‘I should put this in my pensieve,’ Harry thought. ‘I don’t ever want to forget this!’

“Would that be the study schedule you set up for me in fourth year, when my grades dropped slightly, or the one I set myself in fifth, which raised my marks considerably?”

Ron and Harry had to hold on to one another to stand. This was just to great.

Dumbledore smiled mysteriously. “I believe the latter, because that one has the allotted ‘Harry’ time in it as well.”

Now both Harry and Hermione blushed, and Ron was beside himself with laughter. Finally they reached the area where they would portkey out.

“Will you all grab onto this please?” Dumbledore said, pulling an Occlumency book out of his pocket. “It will transport you straight to your meeting location.”

They all nodded and took hold of the book. A few seconds later Harry was once again being pulled forward through space until he finally landed next to Hermione in the Forbidden Forest.

“Kriptify!” A voice bellowed, and Harry set straight into action. He grabbed Ron and Hermione’s robes, roaring, “Afrio!” He had his wand pointed at the ground, and the banishing charm flung the trio fifty feet up into the air.

“Dissando! Dissando! Dissando!” He bellowed, tapping each of their heads with his wand as he did so, disillusioning them.

“Break up! Accio!” Harry used the summoning charm to pull himself onto the nearest tree. From his new vantage point, Harry could see the shady forms of Mad-Eye Moody and Kingsley sulking on the ground.

“Where did they go! They couldn’t have dissaparated!” Kingsley said. Moody only grunted in response. Once they split up, Moody heading towards Harry and Kingsley towards where Ron and Hermione were hiding, he broke into action again.

Jumping from his tree, he landed softly behind Moody, using a quick and quiet banishing charm to push himself up slightly before he hit, allowing him to softly drop. Before Moody could react, Harry bellowed, “Visione obscure!”

The spell hit the seasoned auror in the middle of the eyes as he spun around, now looking dizzily, as Harry had put a double-vision hex on him.

“Impressive Potter,” He growled, then he yelled, “Fuera onsando!”

Harry felt an invisible curse hit him, but he felt nothing. He waited until he could get a good shot in, then bellowed, “Kriptify!”

A split second later Moody yelled the full-body bind jinx, and Harry was horrified to see that while he had yelled the incantation for the ultimate stunner, the wand had cast the double-vision hex again.

Moody’s jinx flew straight through Harry’s curse and hit him square on the chest. Harry fell flat on his back in defeat.

Moody came over and loomed over him, smiling. “Very good boy, just not good enough.” Harry couldn’t answer, he just looked at Mad-Eye in confusion. The old man laughed. “Fuera onsando, much like priori incantatum, only much more useful. It causes the wand to cast its previous spell no matter what the incantation or wand movement. Dead useful, it is.”

Moody waved his wand and released the ropes binding Harry’s arms and legs, then offered him a hand up. Harry took it, yelling, “Stupefy!”

The stunner caught Moody dead in the chest, and he was instantly knocked out. Harry grinned and revived Moody, but not before muttering, “Audoblo intenso,” increasing the sensitivity of Mad-Eye’s ears.

Harry grinned at Mad-Eye as he woke. “CONSTANT VIGILANCE!”

Mad-Eye winced and held his ears, scowling for a moment at Harry before giving him a small smile. “Very good Potter, I see I’ve been getting through to you. Now let us go and find the others without any more hostilities, yes?”

Harry nodded and followed the old man to where Kingsley and Hermione were, dueling. Ron was knocked out at Shacklebolt’s feet, but the seasoned auror didn’t seem to be able to get the better of Hermione. Harry grinned and leaned up against a tree muttering to Moody, “Where’s the popcorn when you need it?” Moody gave him a toothy smile as they watched the duel.

“Kriptify!” Roared Kingsley, desperately trying to catch Hermione off guard. She daftly side-stepped the stunner, inching closer to Kingsley.

“Urrggh! Petrificus Totalis!”

“Protego!”

Kingsley’s full-body jinx was sent back at him, and Hermione took the time that Kingsley used to dodge the rebound to morph into her phoenix form and fly quickly behind him and revert to herself. She spun to disarm Kingsley but he was to fast.

“Blazar acuzar!” He bellowed, swinging his light blade swiftly to Hermione, and stopping it inches from her neck. She sighed and put up her hands in defeat.

“Okay, you guys win, I guess.”

Kingsley gave a triumphant smile and whooped while Hermione revived Ron and Harry went over to see how they were.

“Don’t get so excited just yet Shacklebolt,” Moody growled.

“Oh yeah, and why’s that?”

“Because a sixteen year-old girl with one week of training just pushed you to your limits in a duel. Potter here did the same to myself before I got him. You’ve been an auror, for what, ten years?”

The large black-haired auror’s smile faltered to nothingness. “Well when you put it that way…” He said, sounding embarrassed. Harry and Hermione exchanged identical smirks.

Moody clasped his hands together. “Alright, when Lovegood gets here with Tonks and Lupin her and Ron will continue their animagus training, and tonight Harry and Hermione, you will be practicing new spells with Kingsley and myself.”

An hour later Harry was yawning as he blasted a clay pot into a thousand pieces and then repaired it. Then he did it again. And again. And again. Apparently Moody wanted them to ‘perfect every aspect of the spell’. so after using stupefy for twenty minutes, they had moved on to rictify and then kriptify. Now they were using reducto and reparo repeatedly until Moody felt they had had enough practice.

After another hour of practicing the blasting curse, then the ultimate blasting curse, maximus reducto, they had finally gotten into something new.

“Now Miss Granger, Mr. Potter, the next spell you’ll learn is the most difficult of any we have taught you yet. It is called the ‘Inanimate Life Curse’. It temporarily transfigures inanimate items - such as a coat rack or statue - into a living being that will obey you’re every command. I believe you have seen this in action, Mr. Potter.”

Harry looked at him, perplexed, for a moment before recalling that night in the Department of Mysteries. ‘So that’s the spell Dumbledore used,’ He thought. ‘Without it, I’d be dead right now.’

Harry smiled and nodded. “Yeah, Albus saved my life with it.” Once again Harry found himself at ease using the headmaster’s name without even realizing it.

Moody smiled. “Yes, that is it exactly. Now, watch this.” Mad-Eye waved his wand up once, saying, “Fracen,” Then back down while saying, “Comparen,” He finally brought his wand up in a spiraling motion and completed the spell, muttering, “Trido.”

He turned and smiled, the small figurine he had been using as a target moved wherever his wand pointed. Moody sighed. “It’s about the only thing we’ve got to fight the killing curse. Just move an object in the way to take the blow. Fracen Comparen Trido is all we’ve got.”

Harry and Hermione shared a knowing glance. They were still trying to figure out a counter-curse to it. If they could cure Neville’s parents, why not stop the killing curse?

The next hour was spent of Harry and Hermione unsuccessfully trying to use the Inanimate Life Curse. Moody told them not to worry and that no one gets it on their first night of trying. He just told them to practice it during the day and they would eventually get it.

They got to the common room after a three and a half hour session completely exhausted. “Uhhh,” Harry moaned, collapsing on the common room couch, Hermione right next to him. “I’m not moving.” Harry stated. He was much to tired to even think of going up to his dormitory.

“Mmm, me too.” Hermione said, nuzzling her face in Harry’s chest while wrapping her arms around his middle. Harry did the same, kissing his girlfriend softly on the forehead.

“Night Mione. I love you.”

Hermione didn’t answer, as she was already asleep. Harry groaned inwardly, realizing that they had classes the next day and that they would be getting up extra early to visit the Longbottom’s, and then that night he would be making his pensieve.

Harry didn’t feel that he had the right to complain though, or that he even wanted to. The Longbottom’s were cured, he wanted to see them wake up. His pensieve would set straight everything that had been perceived wrongly in the last few years.

He smiled. He may be having long days, but at least they were good ones. With this he fell into a peaceful slumber.

Chapter 21

Harry woke up early the next morning to find that Hermione had already gone. He sat up quickly and immediately regretted it when a spark of pain shot up his legs, through his back, down his arms, and into his neck.

He moved one leg to try and make it more comfortable but then…“Ahh!” He yelped, frantically twitching his leg to make the pain go away. “Cramp!” Moving his leg around wildly didn’t sever its purpose though, as soon he had a cramp in his neck as well.

Harry groaned and was on his feet, dancing frantically to make the cramps go away. He heard a soft giggle come from behind him. “Geez Harry, I didn’t think there was going to be a ball this year.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Shut up Scarlet. Will you give me a massage? Please? I really need one.”

He turned around to see Hermione scrunching her nose at him. “Okay, but go take a shower first, you’re all smelly.”

Harry smirked at her as he walked by to the boys showers. “Yeah, and who did I sleep next to last night? I guess the smell just rubbed off then.” He slammed the bathroom door behind him before Hermione could come up with a retort.

Whistling, he walked to the shower and pulled off his robes, stepping into the hot water that now cascaded down his entire body. It was early enough that no one was awake yet, so Harry enjoyed the peace and quiet of the Gryffindor shower room until he heard the bathroom door open.

“Oh Harry,” Came Hermione’s voice, and Harry slipped on the wet ground beneath him and fell.

“Ow!”

He heard Hermione chuckle and a quick movement. He peeked his head out of the shower to see Hermione giving him a mischievous grin, Harry’s robes in one hand while her other rested just above the lever to flush one of the toilets.

Harry immediately noticed his dilemma. There was no way to escape the water inside of the shower as the space was to small, and he couldn’t step out lest Hermione see him naked. He gave her a scared look. “You wouldn’t…”

She gave him an innocent smirk. “You shouldn’t have called me smelly.” And she pulled the lever down, immediately flushing the toilet and making Harry feel like he was bathing on the sun.

“OWWW!!!” Harry screamed, and he heard Hermione giggle uncontrollably. The water was unbearable. Oh he would get Hermione for this. So he did the last thing she ever would have expected him to.

He stepped out of the shower, completely starkers, and walked straight over to Hermione, who was now gaping at him, unable to speak. Harry was very comfortable with his body, it was only Hermione after all, she would be seeing him like this eventually anyways, so he cranked up his courage and went through with it.

He smirked at Hermione when he reached her, pulling the towel out of her hands and drying his hair off with it, then wrapping it around his waist. “Thanks for handing me my towel Hermione,” He said simply, then picked her up in a bone-crushing hug, pressing his soaked body up against her clean and dry clothes.

She gasped, “Harry!” As he whirled her around in a circle before finally setting her back down on the ground, just as wet as he was in her school robes.

He smiled at her and left the bathroom, smirking to himself while Hermione followed in his wake, unbelieving of what he just did. “Harry,” She began, but Harry cut her off.

“I know,” He said, smirking at her. “You feel bad that you’ve seen me completely starkers and now you want me to see you starkers too, you can show me tonight, if you want.” He grinned and took the steps up to his dormitory three at a time, leaving a stricken Hermione behind.

Ten minutes later he was back downstairs on the Gryffindor couch, moaning in pleasure as Hermione worked her delicate hands through all of the knots on his back and neck. “Mmm, Hermione. Has anyone ever told you that you could be a masseuse?”

Hermione sighed and leaned into him, trailing a few butterfly kisses along his neck. “It just feels better to you knowing that I’m the one doing it. Listen Harry, about this morning, and tonight, I…”

She was cut off by Harry’s laughter. “Mione, come on, I was just joking. I know you’re not comfortable doing that, I’ll wait as long as you want before you let me see you starkers.”

He felt her smile against his back. “Yes, I suppose. You know that I want to wait until marriage to have sex, right?” Harry groaned but nodded his head. Hermione lowered her voice to a more seductive tone. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other things we could do…”

Harry stiffened noticeably as a shiver ran down his back. He spun around to face her. “Are you saying that you want to…”

He was silenced by Hermione’s finger over his lips. “Shh, I love you Harry, and I want to show you that, but I want to wait to go all the way until marriage. Until then…” She gave Harry a very seductive smile, and he gulped loudly.

“O-okay H-Hermione. Why d-don’t we talk about this later, okay?”

She nodded and they rose from the couch and walked to Dumbledore’s office together, ready to go see Neville’s cured parents. While on the way out, only one thought was on Harry’s mind, ‘Thank god for baggy robes as a school uniform…’

*****

Twenty minutes later Harry was walking hand in hand with Hermione through the drafty corridors of St. Mungo’s. Ron had slept in at the castle, and it seemed that nothing could possibly wake him, so they left him there and traveled to Mungo’s with just Dumbledore.

When they entered the room, Neville looked up from his chair and beamed at them, while his gran smiled softly. “They were thrashing and sweating all night Harry,” He said excitedly. “They should wake up any second now. I’m so excited!”

Harry laughed. If anyone else had heard this conversation, they’d’ve thought that Neville was insane for being excited that his parents had thrashed in their sleep all through the night. Only a select few knew that that meant the Longbottom’s were going to be cured.

After a few moments of excited talk, Alice started to come to in her bed. “Huh? Where, am I?”

Her mother sprinted to her bedside as fast as her scrawny old legs could take her. Tears were flowing freely down her face. “Do you know who I am?” She had a tone of utmost hope.

Alice snorted. “Of course I do. I only had to live with you for seventeen years. Where am I mum?”

“ALICE!”

“MUM!”

Cried Neville and his gran, both of them throwing themselves on top of a very confused Alice. “Mum, who is this boy? And why is he calling me mum?”

Neville began to cry hysterically while his gran tried to explain the situation. “Alice, dear, you were attacked by a band of death eaters, the Lestranges, Barty Crouch Jr., they-” She choked on her words. “they tortured you into insanity. You’ve been insane for sixteen years. But you’re better now.”

Alice gaped at her mother. “Are you sure I’m the one who needs to be in Mungo’s? No, it can’t be! Frank and I were going to visit James and Lily’s grave tomorrow. Then we were going to go over our notes, try and figure out why Sirius betrayed them, no, I don’t believe it!”

Harry stepped forward. “I’m sorry Mrs. Longbottom, but it’s true.”

Alice spun her head to face Harry and gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth. “No, it can’t be…Harry? Harry Potter?”

Harry nodded grimly and lifted up his raven-black hair, revealing his lightning bolt scar. Alice gasped as tears began to well up in her eyes. “Oh Merlin…”

Neville wiped away his tears and stepped up to his mother. “Please mum,” He sobbed, hugging her. “Please tell me that you know it’s me. Please mum, I’ve wanted to talk to you, to know you, for so long. Please tell me you know who I am.”

Alice looked Neville over, her face scrunched in concentration. She framed his face in her hands, looking at him deeply. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she pulled him into a fierce hug. “NEVILLE!”

“MUM!”

There wasn’t a dry tear in the house, everyone crying at the reunion. Soon enough, Frank awoke from his bed next to Alice. “The bloody hell is going on here…” He started, then he gasped when he laid his eyes on the person nearest to him…Harry.

“J-James?” Harry’s eyes welled up with tears and he shook his head, once again lifting his hair out of the way. Frank gasped again. “No, impossible…Harry? But how? You must be sixteen by now, you were just a baby the last time I saw you a few months ago…”

“Frank, dear, I think we’ve missed a lot,” Alice said, pushing Neville forward. “Look Frank, he looks just like you…”

Frank had tears falling freely now. “N-Neville?”

Neville nodded, eyes filled with free-flowing tears. “DAD!” He flung himself around his father in a fierce hug, which the elder Longbottom returned with vigor.

As they separated, Frank wiped his eyes and stammered, “B-But I don’t understand. Are you really here? Are you using a time turner? And, wait…” He took in his surroundings. “Why the bloody hell am I in a hospital?!”

Alice laid a reassuring hand on top of her husbands. “Honey, this is going to be tough to absorb, but it is the truth.” She took a deep breath. “We were torture by Crouch and the Lestranges Frank. We’ve been trapped inside our own minds in this bloody hospital for sixteen years.”

Frank glanced all around the room before finally laying his eyes on Dumbledore. “Explain.”

For the next three hours Dumbledore explained, in explicit detail, everything that had happened since they had been rendered insane. Harry and the others jumped in at various points to help explain things better.

Their reactions were priceless. They were both astounded, but somewhat relieved when they were told the truth about Sirius. Frank had shook his head and said, “I just couldn’t believe that Sirius had done that. All the evidence pointed to it, but, I just was unable to fathom how Sirius could have betrayed the Potter’s. Now I know.”

They told them all about the tri-wizard tournament and Voldemort’s rebirth, which sent them both to tears, though they were proud of Harry for surviving a duel with the dark lord.

They cried when they were told of Sirius’ demise and the Department of Mysteries Battle. Finally everything was told, and Frank Longbottom looked at Hermione strangely.

“Okay, I know that you,” He pointed at Harry. “Are James and Lily’s son. That’s Dumbledore obviously,” He said, jerking a thumb at the old wizard. “This her is my boy Neville,” He gave his son a manly hug. “And that is my mother-in-law,” He said, pointing at Alice’s mother.

He looked pointedly at Hermione. “Who are you?”

“I’m, I’m Hermione Granger,” She replied in a squeaky voice. Frank frowned at her.

“Granger huh? I don’t remember any Granger’s in the old Order. Do you Alice?” His wife shook her head.

“Oh!” Hermione said quickly. “I’m a muggle-born. I’m in the same year as Harry and Neville. Harry’s been my best friend ever since first year and now,” She gave Harry a nervous grin.

Harry pulled her to him and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. “And now she’s my girlfriend.” He said with pride, beaming at Hermione. It was evident to anyone watching that they were very much in love.

The moment lasted for quite some time until Dumbledore cleared his throat. “I believe that we now need to think of an appropriate way to reintroduce the two of you into the public. Any ideas?”

“I’ve got one,” Hermione said pointedly. Everyone turned to stare at her. “Well, Harry’s going to make this big pensieve, so why not reintroduce them at that event?”

There was a murmur of agreement in the room, and Harry squeezed Hermione’s hand to show his support. She beamed at him and laid her head on his shoulder.

It was decided that they would announce the Longbottom’s return that Wednesday night right after Harry’s pensieve showed. They also believed that this was a good way to secure Arthur’s position as the Minister of Magic.

Harry and Hermione (Neville was going to stay with his parents for the day and start to get caught up with them) portkeyed back to Hogwarts right around lunchtime.

They walked into the great hall together and found a seat at the Gryffindor table next to Ron and Katrina, who were laughing happily and obviously enjoying one another’s company. Harry and Hermione smiled at them as they sat down.

“Where have you two been all day?” Katrina inquired. “You missed a great transfiguration lesson!”

Hermione spoke up quickly, casting a quick glance at Ron. “We were visiting some old friend’s of Harry’s parents at the hospital. They’ve been sick for a while but they’re all better now.”

Harry grinned at Hermione’s ability to tell the truth and give no information away. Ron was smiling broadly, as he had obviously understood the cryptic message and now knew that the Longbottom’s had been cured.

“Yes, well, that’s nice.” Katrina said, sounding a bit put out. “But we learned a little about metamorphagus in McGonogall’s today, and guess what?” She paused for suspense, grinning madly. “I have metamorphagus abilities! Isn’t that grand!”

Harry gave her a smile and nodded, while Hermione responded with a plethora of information about metamorphagi and all about how much she had read about them.

Harry turned to Ron and they talked quidditch for the rest of the lunch period before finally leaving for Advanced Weapons training, desperately awaiting the days ahead, particularly Wednesday.

*****

A/N: Hah! No cliffhanger this time! Okay, there’ll only be one more 3 chapter installment before it calms down and I start only putting up one chapter at a time as I write them. Also, I got a horrible report card, so I’m grounded during the week now, so the update’s are gonna slow down, probably only two or three a week.

Preview: The next generation of marauders, but they may not be who you think, a large-scale duel with an unexpected guest and an unexpected outcome.

9. Chapters 25-27

A/N: Here’s the new installment! Like I said, things are gonna slow down from here on out, and this is the last three chapter installment, from here on out it’ll be one chapter at a time. R/R!

*****

Chapter 25

After Weapons training (they had finally gotten to start using their weapons) Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked back to the common room, Hermione and Ron having one of their traditional bickering contests.

“I told you that if you took a swipe at Dean, even just for fun, that you would get in trouble!” Hermione scolded.

“No you didn’t!” Ron retorted. “You just said that it would be a bad idea and the teacher would look down on it!”

“URRGGHH!” Hermione yelled. “That’s practically the same thing!”

“No it’s not!”

“Yes it is!”

“Well you should have explained it better than!”

“I’m not your mother!”

“Then stop acting like her!”

“SHUT UP!” Harry roared, breaking Ron and Hermione’s attention from each other and onto him. He rubbed his temples furiously. “You’re giving me a migraine!”

Not another word was spoken between Ron and Hermione for the rest of the walk back to the tower. When they got to the common room Ron stormed off into a corner mumbling something about a Transfiguration essay.

“Hey Dean, Seamus, where ya going?” Harry asked as he saw his two fellow Gryffindor sixth years head past him and towards the portrait hole. “Oh, we were gonna go play some football and quidditch. I promised I’d practice beater with Seamus if he played football with me. Do you guys want to come?”

“No!” Hermione said quickly, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Ignoring Harry’s questioning look, she continued. “We have something we have to do.”

Dean and Seamus shrugged and left, leaving a confused Harry looking confusedly at a nervous Hermione.

“So, what are these plans we’ve got?” He asked her.

She gave him a nervous smile. “Well, Dean and Seamus are going out to the pitch right?” Harry nodded, not grasping the point. “And Ron is doing homework…”

“Yeah…” Harry said, wishing she would get to the point.

“And Neville’s spending the day with his parents…” She bit her lip lightly.

“And…?” Harry asked, starting to get annoyed.

“Well, do you remember our, er, conversation this morning?” Harry’s eyes sparked up. Hermione saw this and grinned. “And now no one will be in your room for a long time…so…”

Hermione giggled when Harry grabbed her hand, finally getting the message, and rushed up to his room with her. They entered it together and slammed the door shut, each putting every imaginable locking and silencing charm they could think of on it.

When they were done, Hermione smiled at him seductively, laying back on his bed. She motioned with one finger for him to come over and join her. He did, crushing his lips against hers on the bed.

*****

Two hours later Harry and Hermione walked back downstairs holding hands, each wearing an identical satisfied grin. Harry believed that the last two hours had been the greatest of his life.

Ron saw them coming down the stairs, somewhat confused at the looks on their faces. Realization dawned on him and he blurted out, “Did you two just shag!?”

Harry and Hermione turned beet red as every head in the room turned to look at them eagerly. Parvati and Lavender were practically drooling in anticipation.

Hermione glared daggers at Ron, Harry was to embarrassed to speak. “No Ronald Bilius Weasley! We did not shag! I can assure you that Harry and I are both virgins! Are you satisfied now!”

Ron, not ready to back down after their earlier fight, retorted, “Well you were locked up in that room for two hours! What the bloody hell else would you have been doing!”

Hermione was radiating in her anger. “There are other things couples can do to show they love each other than shag Ron!”

Parvati piped up from the other side of the room. “Oooh, like what, chili dogs?”

The common room exploded in laughter and Hermione, tears of anger and embarrassment streaming down her face, stormed from the room. Harry glared at Ron after she ran out.

“Why do you always need to push her buttons Ron?”

Without waiting for a reply, he fled the room in search of Hermione. Ron was his best friend, he loved the guy, but sometimes he could be really dense.

Harry found Hermione sobbing outside by a tree next to the lake. Harry didn’t say anything, he just sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her, placing a delicate kiss on her temple.

Hermione’s sobs dissolved quickly, and she was now only sniffing sadly into Harry’s chest, Harry lovingly stroking her hair.

“Hermione?”

Harry turned around to see his red-headed best friend standing nervously behind them. He smiled at Ron and rose to his feet, kissing Hermione softly on the cheek. “I’ll wait for you two in the common room.”

Hermione gave him a small smile and nodded, then turned to Ron. “Do you wanna take a walk around the lake?”

He nodded and they left together, presumably trying to work out their differences. Harry hoped that the bickering would stop after tonight. But he’d best not get his hopes up…

Harry walked back to the common room in solitude, and he was surprised to see that the room was rather empty, excluding the other Gryffindor sixth years, Parvati, Lavender, Luna, Dean, Seamus, and Neville (he had apparently gotten back to the castle since the fiasco).

It was Neville who spoke up, his voice quivering in fear and anticipation. “So, where are Hermione and Ron?”

Harry yawned and rubbed his eyes. “They’re taking a walk around the lake, trying to sort out their differences.”

There was a collective sigh from the Gryffindor’s. “So is, Hermione…okay?” Parvati asked, seemingly on the brink of tears. “I feel really bad, I-I shouldn’t have said that, all I did was make it worse.” She started sobbing while Lavender patted her on the shoulder.

“It’s okay,” She said, kissing her best friend’s forehead. “I’m sure Hermione isn’t mad at only you, isn’t that right Harry?”

He nodded. “Yeah Parv, she didn’t even mention you when we were out by the lake, only Ron. You were just sort of like the last straw. Don’t worry I’m sure that she doesn’t hold any ill will towards you for it.” He smiled reassuringly and the moment was finished, everyone knew that it would be fine.

“So,” Seamus said, wearing an evil smirk. “You will give us the details tonight before we go to sleep, right?”

Harry groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. “A gentlemen never tells.”

Dean snorted. “A gentlemen never does whatever the bloody hell you did to Hermione up there!”

Everyone laughed, Luna much harder than the rest. “So guys,” Harry said, grinning as he plopped down in the nearest loveseat. “You obviously know all about me and Hermione’s love lives, how about all of you?”

The next full half an hour was spent with excited and joyous conversation of each Gryffindor sixth year. It seemed that Parvati was seeing a ‘Brad Pitt cute’ Ravenclaw fifth year, while Lavender was going to the first Hogsmeade weekend with a Hufflepuff seventh year prefect.

“So Luna, how’s it going with you and Ron?” Harry asked, grinning.

Luna gave a dreamy sigh. “Oh, my Ronald, he is so shy. But he is very cute, don’t you guys think?” Lavender and Parvati nodded eagerly. Dean and Seamus scowled at them.

“What, and I’m the male equivalent of Marietta Edgecomb?” Seamus asked in mock anger.

Parvati giggled at his outburst. “No Seamus, I happen to think you are very handsome.” Lavender and Luna nodded in agreement, while Seamus blushed and Dean laughed.

Neville was shifting uneasily, obviously not wanting to bring up the person of his affection. Lavender ruined it for him.

“So who is it that you fancy Neville?”

He whimpered a little and cast a pleading glance at Dean, who was chuckling softly. Dean spoke up. “Neville’s got a thing for Ginny.”

Lavender and Parvati gasped, while Luna nodded her head, as if she knew it all along. “But Dean, you’re dating Ginny!”

Dean smiled and shook his head. “I am now, but when she wakes up,” They all cringed, feeling bad for Ginny who was still sleeping in the hospital wing. Dean sighed. “When she wakes up, I’ll give it a few days until she’s totally recovered, and then I’m going to break up with her.”

Lavender and Parvati gasped again, then looked somewhat angry when they noticed that they were the only ones that seemed surprised by this news. “Hey! How long have you guys all known this!” Demanded Lavender, hands on her hips while Parvati had her arms crossed in front of her and was nodding in agreement.

Dean shrugged. “I had a long talk with Neville about it the night she went in there. That’s when I realized that I love her but I’m not in love with her,” Parvati and Lavender gasped, but their expressions softened slightly. “Then Harry came in to see how she was doing, and I told him then. I told Seamus as soon as I got back to the dorms, him being my best mate and all.”

He smirked at Lavender and Parvati. “If I had told the two of you, then the whole school would have known about it before Ginny did!”

Lavender and Parvati blushed and grinned guiltily. Parvati spoke up. “Then let’s make a pact,” Everyone turned to look at her. “A pact that we’ll get together, just the nine of us sixth years, at least once a week to have fun together and such. A pact that we’ll tell each other everything about our lives, even after Hogwarts. A pact that we’ll all stay the best of friends forever.”

Harry looked thoughtful at the offer. It did seem to be a good idea, but Harry wasn’t sure if he could tell them everything.

“Count us in.”

Everyone turned to the door to see Hermione grinning broadly at them, Ron smiling and nodding his consent at her side. They came and sat next to Harry, Hermione sitting next to him and nodding in approval.

Harry smiled, he would tell them everything. “Okay,” He said, looking pointedly at Dean, Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati. “We’ll share everything with one another. There’s a lot about us that the four of you know nothing about though,” The four looked at him in interest.

“If we do this, I’ll tell you everything about us and about Voldemort,” A few people cringed. Harry turned and smiled at Hermione. “Can you make another sheet, with that jinx on it, like you did with the DA last year?”

She smiled and nodded, then ran up to her room to grab some parchment and put a jinx on it. Harry turned back to the rest. “In order for us to do this, we’ll make a pact, and we’ll be a group of sorts, we can even give ourselves a name.”

They all smiled at this. “On this parchment you’ll have to write your name, and then next to it, you have to write, ‘I am not afraid of Lord Voldemort.’”

The four not currently in the DA gulped, but nodded. Harry smiled. “Okay, now first I wanna hear you all say it aloud. Dean, you first.”

Dean took a deep breath and said, “I am not afraid of L-lord V-vold-derm-mort.” He let out a great sigh when he finished, and Harry clapped him on the back.

“There ya go buddy! Okay, how about you go next Ron.”

Ron nodded and, without hesitation, said, “I am not afraid of Lord V-Voldemort.” Harry smiled, knowing that was the first time his friend had ever been able to say the name.

“Neville?”

“I am not afraid of Lord Voldemort.” He said, flawlessly and without even a hint of fear in his voice.

Harry grinned and turned to the next person. “Luna?”

She yawned lazily. “I am not afraid of Lord Voldemort.”

By the time the rest of the sixth years had finished saying ‘I am not afraid of Lord Voldemort’ (Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati had said it rather shakily) Hermione had returned with the parchment.

“Okay,” She said merrily. “You all agree to keep everything you hear within our group to stay in the group, and not to tell anyone, even your parents or boyfriends?” Everyone nodded. “Okay then, sign here.” She put the parchment down, putting on her own name and writing, ‘I am not afraid of Lord Voldemort’.

When everyone was done signing, Seamus was the one who broke the uneasy silence and asked the question they were all dying to know. “So what happens to the one who breaks out pact?”

Hermione gave him an evil grin. “They’ll make Marietta Edgecomb look like the cover girl for PlayWizard Magazine.” Everyone gulped and nodded, vowing to themselves to never break the contract.

“Okay then, I guess it’s time you guys learned everything in the wonderful life of Harry Potter.” Harry said, eliciting a few grins from his friends. “I’m telling you now, there are some things that I’m about to tell you that less than five people on the planet know. Things that Voldemort wants, and would do anything to get.”

Everyone nodded, Harry knowing full well that only one person in the room knew everything that he was going to tell - Hermione.

Over the next four hours Harry filled them all in on his adventures from first year through the present, as well as his abusive times at the Dursley’s. Everyone was awed at the information they were getting, and all were very proud of Harry, Hermione, and Ron for their exploits. They were also proud of Luna and Neville as well as Ginny when they heard about the Department of Mysteries.

“Finally,” Harry said, now with only the prophecy left to tell. “There is one last thing I have to tell you. Only Neville, Hermione, Dumbledore, my cousin Dudley, and Lupin know about it.”

Ron looked directly at Harry, a hurt expression on his face. “Sorry Ron, I just never got the chance to tell you. It’s about the prophecy…”

Over the next twenty minutes he gave them all the details of the prophecy, and all of what it entailed. Harry observed the room when he was finished. Lavender and Parvati were crying softly on each other’s shoulders. Dean and Seamus were shocked, unable to do or say anything. Luna was wearing a dreamy sort of pity look on her face. Ron no longer looked upset, but horrified.

“You are all targets of Voldemort,” Harry said quietly. “If any of this information gets out, it could mean not only my death, but the destruction of the wizarding world as we know it.”

Harry let this sink in for a while before taking on a more cheerful tone. “Okay, so my dad and his friends called themselves the marauder’s. What do we call ourselves?”

Everyone looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to think of a good idea. Hermione spoke up softly. “How about The Victors? We’ll win through Voldemort, adversity, what’s supposed to be impossible. We’ll be victorious in everything.” She gave a small laugh. “I guess Harry, Ron, and I have been victors for a long time now. So whaddya say?”

She put her hand in the middle of the makeshift circle they had made. “Victors to the end?”

Harry smiled and put his hand in. “To victory.”

Ron and Neville followed suit. “Victors to the end.” They said in unison.

Luna put her hand in. “Anything for my Ronald. I’ll be a victor too.” Ron blushed a little, but said nothing.

Parvati and Lavender put their hands in to complete the circle. “Victors forever.”

Harry smiled around at his friends. They were the nine people that would bring down Voldemort, probably ten when Ginny awoke, as they couldn’t leave her out, she was already to far involved.

He knew these were the people that he could trust with his life, and they were all true friends that would be with him to the end.

He would never be alone, his friends would always be there for him, and he for them.

Chapter 26

Tuesday morning at breakfast, all nine of the sixth years sat with each other, all wearing knowing smirks.

“So,” Lavender said, starting conversation. “Tonight, will we all go to the training session then? Should we stay after in DADA and tell Moody?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, I guess that would be best.” He grinned at them. “We should get Tonks and McGonogall out there today, and you four can start on your animagus training.”

Dean, Seamus, Parvati, and Lavender all squealed in glee, though Dean and Seamus looked somewhat embarrassed after their outburst. Harry just smiled at them. “We also have to get you guys some nicknames, like me, Ron, and Hermione have.”

“Ooh, what are your names?” Lavender said, interested.

Ron choked out between mouthfuls of toast, “I’m Piggy.”

Parvati giggled. “I wonder why,” She whispered under her breath to Lavender, who started to giggle with her.

“Hermione’s Scarlet,” Harry said, and the others gave him knowing looks, all remembering the scarlet woman remarks of fourth year. “And I’m Drake.”

Lavender scrunched her nose up. “Ew, I don’t like that one much, it sounds to much like Draco.”

Everyone else nodded in agreement, but Harry just shook his head. “Well, Hermione thought that it would be fitting with how Snitch was always following me around everywhere and such.”

“Hmm,” Seamus said, looking Dean up and down. “There’s only one possible nickname for our football showoff here,” Dean blushed. “We’ll just give him the name of what he thinks he is - Pele!”

The others nodded eagerly in agreement, Harry thought it was a brilliant idea. “I do not think I am Pele you stupid Irish Leprechaun!” Dean retorted, laughing at his own remark. Now that Harry thought about it, Seamus was rather short, and kind of looked like the leprechauns they had seen at the World Cup in their fourth year.

“I am not a leprechaun!” Seamus said, flushing red in embarrassment.

“Well it looks like you are now Seamus, Hey!” Hermione giggled. “We could call you Rumplestiltskin!”

Her and Dean clutched their stomachs in laughter, while the rest looked at them questionably. They had all had a wizard upbringing, and knew nothing of the Rumplestiltskin legend.

“Yeah, but Rumplestiltskin is too long, let’s shorten it.” Lavender said thoughtfully.

Parvati giggled. “Yeah, I know, how about Rumpy!”

Everyone exploded in laughter, Seamus turning beat red. “You’ll pay for that one Patil.” He said dangerously.

She only giggled and slapped him on the shoulder. “I’m so scared, Rumpy!”

Everyone laughed again, Seamus joining in this time. People from the other tables were starting to look at them questionably, while Dumbledore was looking at them with a knowing smile.

“So who still needs a nickname?’ Hermione asked skeptically.

Harry spoke up. “Maybe we should wait to see what their animagus forms are before naming them?” He suggested.

Hermione gave a small smile. “Yes, that sounds good, so you two are off the hook, for now.” Parvati and Lavender nodded. “But Neville, on the other hand,” The young man winced. “Is not. So what do we have for our favorite Longbottom?”

“I know!” Dean said, glancing at Hermione. “He’s a grynx animagus right, like the most powerful of lions,” Hermione nodded, grinning. “Hmm, so what name do we give to the king of the lions…”

Hermione giggled. “Simba!”

Dean and Hermione once again broke into a fit of giggles, while everyone else watched them bemusedly. “Another muggle thing huh?” Neville asked, though he didn’t seem to mind the name at all. Dean and Hermione both nodded, still grinning.

*****

The nine of them had fun calling each other by their new nicknames all day long, giggling madly at the off looks they got for them.

Finally they reached DADA class, and after a lecture on the uses of healing spells, the nine of them hung back to speak with Moody.

“There something you lot need?”

“I told them everything Professor. These guys are my best friends and they know more about the war now than even you do. I just wanted to let you know that they’ll be joining us in training from now on, we’ve formed sort of a little group. The nine of us, and Ginny. That’s all you really need to know.”

Harry said this without a hint of remorse or doubt. It wasn’t a question, he wasn’t asking. He was telling. Moody gave him a smile of respect.

“Dumbledore told me that this may have happened, doesn’t miss a trick, that man.” He smiled at them. “Okay then, you lot know that spot. Ten o’clock tonight, don’t be late.”

They all smiled and said that they’d be there, then left together. Everyone pretty much had the same classes, only a few of them having to break apart for classes like Runes or Arithmancy.

Finally it was 9:30, and Harry motioned to the others in the common room that it was time to go. “Come on guys, and don’t forget your wands, you’ll probably need them. Moody likes to surprise us sometimes. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!”

The others laughed and left through the portrait hole unquestioned by anyone, there weren’t many seventh years and all the younger kids believed that the older students had the privilege of going out after hours. This was good because there was no way to fit nine people under two invisibility cloaks.

They made their way down to the Forbidden Forest, Lavender and Parvati chatting about what kind of animagus they would be. Finally they reached the edge, and they all went in, with only a small squeak from Lavender at the notion of spending a few hours in the forest.

Harry stopped them all a few steps into the forest. “Okay everyone, we’re gonna put the disillusionment charm on ourselves so that it will be harder to hear us, I’m also going to use the Sound Blender Spell, so our movements will just sound like part of the forest, and not out of place. Whether or not Moody has a trap planned for us, we’re gonna go after him anyways.”

Everyone nodded eagerly and put the spells on themselves, making them the ultimate group of commandos. Harry silently split them into groups of three, with group leaders of Harry, Hermione, and Neville. Harry had Dean and Seamus in his group, Hermione was with Rona and Luna, and finally Neville was paired with the gossip twins.

Hermione’s group (being the strongest collectively) headed straight up the middle towards where the meeting was while the other groups split, Harry’s going right while Neville’s flanked on the left.

Sure enough, Harry spied Moody laying in wait about twenty meters from the meeting spot. He motioned for his group to stop, and hoped that Hermione had noticed Mad-Eye. Harry was sure that Kingsley was on the other side, where Neville’s group was.

Harry turned to Dean and Seamus and motioned with his hands for them to go around about fifty meters and then double back. Harry was sure that in the formation Moody and Kingsley were in, that there was one more person in the middle of them, waiting for the attack, and he would be the most powerful. Knowing that Moody and Kingsley were two of the ministry’s best auror’s, that only left one possibility for the third ambusher.

Dumbledore.

Harry silently climbed a tree a few meters before he reached Moody, then, using a combination of silent banishing and summoning charms, he maneuvered himself directly behind the unsuspecting auror.

Using a long branch as support, Harry slowly lowered himself down, hanging to the tree by the crook of his knees, and pointed his wand at Moody’s back, only a few inches away.

“Kriptify.” Harry said in an almost inaudible whisper. Moody didn’t stand a chance. With a mild thump, Moody slumped to the ground, and Harry passed him triumphantly.

He made his way to the clearing, making sure to stay out of sight. His eyes scanned the area, not seeing Dumbledore. The old man had once told him that he did not need a cloak to become invisible, so Harry assumed he must be under some kind of enhanced disillusionment charm. He waved to where he knew Dean and Seamus would be and gave a thumbs up, wiggling his branch a little so that they would see him.

“Longbottom! Stupefy!” Came Kingsley’s voice, and Harry, who was staring intently at the clearing, saw a few leaves ruffle where Dumbledore had moved. He grinned to himself.

Meanwhile, Neville had bellowed the shielding charm and deflected Kingsley’s attack. Kingsley was set to attack again when…

“Stupefy!” Came Parvati and Lavender’s voices. Harry grinned, Neville had caught the seasoned auror off guard by attacking him, then Lavender and Parvati had snuck up on him and stunned him. Brilliant.

He saw Hermione’s group enter the clearing, and the movement that Dumbledore made to intercept them.

“Revalo!” Harry bellowed, sending the revealer curse directly where he knew Dumbledore was, catching the old man off guard and revealing him to Hermione’s group, who wasted no time in attacking.

“Kriptify!” The three voices yelled, and at the same time came Dean and Seamus’ voices, “Stupefy!”

Then Dumbledore did something amazing. He conjured a huge silver shield and absorbed all of the attacks. The shield glowed red and burst, sending a shockwave of energy out in a circle around him, complete with aftershocks.

The defense caught Dean, Seamus, Luna, Neville, Parvati, and Lavender all off guard and they were immediately knocked out. Ron had managed to fling himself out of the way while Hermione had transfigured herself into a phoenix and taken flight.

Harry seized the opportunity and leapt from the tree, rapidly taking on his basilisk form. Before Dumbledore could react, Harry had wrapped himself around the old man, not crushing him, but holding him securely.

Harry let out a hiss of victory, but it was short lived as he suddenly found himself bring shrunk back down into his human form. He mentally cursed himself. ‘How could I be so stupid!? Of course Dumbledore’s got a spell to revert an animagus to their original form! Remus and Sirius did it to Wormtail in third year!’

The old man smiled down at Harry, who was now paralyzed under the full body bind, then returned his attention to Hermione, who was flying overhead and Ron, who was running towards Dumbledore, trying to distract him.

Hermione flew into Dumbledore’s face, forcing him backwards. At the same time Ron shot a stunner at Dumbledore, but blocked by Hermione, he didn’t see it until it was to late.

The phoenix flew up just as the stunner reached her, and Dumbledore was helpless to stop it. The stunner knocked him to his back.

Ron was jumping in joy while Hermione reverted back to human form and threw herself around him, kissing him on the cheek and congratulating him for stunning the most powerful wizard on the planet.

They quickly revived everyone else, dragging Kingsley and Moody into the middle next to Dumbledore. They took their wands and celebrated merrily before finally waking them up. Harry grinned at the three as they finally came to.

“We win.”

The nine of them cheered in ecstasy, while Moody and Kingsley looked at Dumbledore in astonishment.

“Unbelievable,” Kingsley stammered. “Dumbledore, Potter actually got you?”

The old man smiled and shook his head. “No Kingsley, I am afraid not. Harry nearly did get the better of me, but I got him in the end. No, it was Mr. Weasley who got the final shot in.”

Mad-Eye’s jaw dropped and Kingsley looked at Ron in awe. “Unbelievable…” He stammered again.

Dumbledore spoke. “But yet, he could have not done so without the aid of young Miss Granger here, who also saw it through to the end of the battle.” Hermione beamed in pride. “And yet, she may have never gotten the chance to distract me if Harry here hadn’t wrapped me up in his basilisk form.”

The two aurors gasped. “Don’t worry, I kept my eyes closed.” Harry said reassuringly.

Ron spoke up. “Hey, I may have gotten the final blow in, but we would have never even made it to Dumbledore without Harry’s Disillusionment and Sound Blender spells. They let us sneak up on Kingsley and Moody, then Harry revealed Dumbledore from his invisibility thing, and the rest was well, you know, they told you.” He paused to let it sink in. Harry felt a welling of pride build up for his best friend. Ron could have taken all the credit for himself, but he decided to spread the wealth.

“I do have a question though,” He said, looking at Dumbledore. “How the bloody hell did you conjure up that shield? It was brilliant!”

Dumbledore smiled softly at them, and said, “All in due time Ronald, now, let us get to work, shall we?”

For the next hour Harry practiced hexes and curses with Hermione and Neville under Moody and Shacklebolt’s scrutiny until they were perfect. Tonks and McGonogall had shown up and were working with the others on their animagus training.

Two hours later Parvati and Lavender threw themselves on Harry, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. Hermione, who knew they meant no harm, giggled at them.

“Oh thank you so much for letting us in your group Harry!” Lavender squealed, hugging him.

“Yeah, if you didn’t, we’d have never become animagus!”

Harry laughed at them. “So what kind of animal are you guys?”

They beamed at him. “Unicorns!” They screamed in unison, hugging each other.

“Ooh, they’re so pretty!” Parvati squealed.

“Yeah, and their my favorite animal!” Lavender yelped.

Harry smiled at both of them before turning to Dean and Seamus. “So what are you two gonna be?”

Dean puffed his chest out proudly. “I’m gonna be a cheetah!” Harry immediately thought that it was a perfect form for the footballer. A cheetah was fast, intelligent, all perfect characteristics of a footballer.

“How about you Seamus?” Seamus shivered, looking uncomfortable.

“I-well, uh,” Harry frowned, what could be so bad.

Seamus bit his lip nervously. “Well, my form is a thestral!” Everyone gasped. “I know, I mean, the animal that embodies death! Who wants a form like that?”

Harry gave Seamus a reassuring pat on the back. “Look on the bright side, a thestral form is dead useful. Very few people will be able to see you, you would be great for espionage and such.”

This seemed to cheer him up a little, and Harry bid them all goodbye at the castle gates, he now had to go to Dumbledore’s office and create his pensieve.

Chapter 27

Harry made his way to Dumbledore’s office, arriving at nearly the same time that the headmaster did. “Tongue Toffees.” The man said, and the gargoyle sprang to life, creating a staircase to the headmaster’s office above.

Harry silently followed the staircase and the impending oak doors beyond, finally coming to rest in Dumbledore’s office, portraits snoozing loudly on the walls, Fawkes purring quietly on his perch in sleep.

Harry saw it on the corner of the desk. A small, simple basin with a silver gleam coming from it. Harry remembered the first time that he had seen the pensieve, in this very office, back in his fourth year. Then he had seen a stream of court scenes that were memories of Dumbledore. Today he would be feeding his own memories to the pool of shimmering silver light.

Without a word, instinctively knowing what to do, Harry pulled out his wand and touched it to his temple, remembering back to that fateful night in the shrieking shack.

It started when he came in with Hermione…Ron slumped to the ground in a corner, and there, at the far end of the room, was Sirius Black, the murderer. But then events of the past and present had come to light…Remus had come in…then they discovered the truth about Scabbers…Snape almost ruined it all, then he was knocked out…next Peter was sprouting up from the ground…finally it showed Wormtail’s escape.

Harry removed his wand and placed the memory into the pool, swirling it in with the silvery mixture. Then he placed the wand to his head yet again.

It was the end of fourth year, he and Cedric were arguing over who should take the cup…they were in the graveyard, Wormtail running towards the…Cedric was laying on the ground, spread eagled, dead…Harry was tied to the gravestone by Wormtail…the potion was brewed…Voldemort was revived…Riddle taunted Harry, then gave him his wand, and prepared to duel…they dueled…Harry through off the Imperious Curse…the wands connected…the ghostly echo’s of Cedric and Bertha, and the muggle Frank Bryce, and then his parents emerged from the wand…he was running, running for the triwizard cup and Cedric’s body…he accio’d the cup, and was whisked back to Hogwarts…

Once again Harry removed the wand and placed the memory in the pensieve. He nodded to Dumbledore to say that he was alright and then continued.

He was in the Department of Mysteries, they were searching for Sirius…they finally realized that Sirius wasn’t there…Harry picked up the prophecy…the death eaters came…they talked, threatened Ginny…Harry pulled Hermione forward, subconsciously protecting her…they were running through the rooms, dueling the death eaters…Hermione was knocked out by Dolohov…Ron had the brain wrap around him…Ginny was stunned in the face…Luna was hurled across the room, knocked unconscious…Neville was stabbing MacNair in the eye…Harry was cornered…Neville was put under the cruciatus curse…the order came in…Harry ran from the scene, blasting Lucius Malfoy in the process…the prophecy was broken…Dumbledore arrived…Sirius was killed by Lestrange…Harry ran after Bellatrix in a fury…Harry was using the cruciatus on Bellatrix, she screamed and fell back…Voldemort appeared…Dumbledore saved Harry again…Harry was possessed…Voldemort grabbed Bellatrix and ran…

Harry gasped and sat down quickly, exhausted and afraid. He looked at Dumbledore in horror. “There’s things, things that…I don’t…can’t…no one can see…”

Dumbledore frowned at Harry, giving him a slab of chocolate. He turned to the pensieve and stirred it, peering in, trying to see what had upset Harry so much.

After a few moments, Dumbledore pulled away from the pensieve and sat next to Harry. “I see…”

“P-Professor…I-I’m s-sorry. It was just…I just…”

Dumbledore gave Harry a penetrating stare. “You know that the use of an unforgivable curse on another human being is punishable by a life sentence in Azkaban?”

Harry nodded sadly. Dumbledore sighed. “With Arthur as Minister, I believe we can overlook this incident as a temporary breach of insanity, coupled with the fact that you were dueling a known powerful death eater that you had just watched murder your godfather in order to save your own life. Do not fret Harry,” He said calmly, watching Harry twitch in his seat repeatedly. “You will face no punishment for this, but if you want to save Sirius, and have it known that he has died a hero as well, you must allow everyone to see this entire pensieve, we cannot pull thousands of people out of it all at once.”

Harry gave him a small nod. “I understand.” He looked up at his mentor, the old man’s eyes looking off into space, as if searching for a memory. A sudden thought came to Harry.

“Sir, have you ever used an Unforgivable Curse?”

Dumbledore’s eyes found Harry’s, and that was all the answer he needed. Yes, Dumbledore had used one before, the killing curse. Harry could almost see the event, Dumbledore and Grindelwald dueling in the midst of Germany. They attacked ferociously, Grindelwald sending unforgivables every which way, trying to catch the much younger and swifter Dumbledore off guard.

“Crucio!” Grindelwald screamed, hurling the hex at Dumbledore. With a wave of his wand Albus conjured a silver shield that deflected the attack.

“Frontanum!” Dumbledore countered, and the spell gave the dark lord a hard, invisible push backwards.

“Is that all you’ve got Dumbledore? The prodigal muggle lover cannot even use a simple Unforgivable Curse? You are weak Albus, to weak. I alone have the power to rule over both the muggle and wizarding worlds! Avada Kedavra!”

Once again Albus merely waved his wand and immediately turned a near by statue to life, throwing itself in front of the killing curse and deflecting it away from the wizard.

“I will not deny that you are intelligent, Adolf, starting your racism within the muggle community first before transcending the bridge to the magical world, and after which you had conquered our world, you would have betrayed your loyal muggle followers, bending the entire world to your will.” Albus shook his head. “I cannot allow you to do that?”

The dark lord laughed. “You’ll have to kill me first! And you can’t do that can you? You are doomed, Albus. Your nobility is your weakness.”

Dumbledore saw his opening and took it. “And your overconfidence is yours! Avada Kedavra!”

A green jet of light shot from Dumbledore’s wand, covering the distance between Grindelwald and himself in a heartbeat. The man did not even have time to be surprised before he was slumped on the ground, dead.

“Adolf, I am sorry, truly sorry. Your greed and spitefulness have driven you too far. From both the muggle and wizarding worlds you are vanquished. Incendio!”

The robes Grindelwald were wearing caught fire, as did the flesh of the dead man. Albus watched sadly as the man burnt to a crisp in a small fire in front of him.

Suddenly, two German guards came upon Albus and the burning heap that had been their commander. “Obliviate!” Albus roared, rendering the muggles’ minds.

He spoke sadly. “You will tell your men, and the Americans when they come, that your leader murdered his wife, then took his own life. You two set the body on fire before the Americans could take it away and revel in their pride. That is what happened here.”

And with a whisk of his cloak, Albus Dumbledore was gone.

Harry sat back hard in his chair, sweat trickling down his forehead, aches in all his muscles, but most noticeably he had a searing headache.

“Hitler?” Harry asked incredulously. “Grindelwald was Hitler? How many people knew?”

The old man smiled and shook his head sadly. “Your legilmency seems to be progressing rather well Harry. Yes, Grindelwald and Hitler were one in the same. But I, and now you, are the only two that know of this grand secret.”

Harry gaped at him as he continued. “There was a war raging in the muggle world as well as in our own. I began to put the pieces together after the first two years of attacks in the muggle world. I seemed to be the only one that had even noticed the other war, no wizard or witch seemed to care of anything other than the war that was currently looking in our face.”

He shook his head again. “I confronted him in the muggle world, confirmed to myself that they were the same person. I could not allow the onslaught of the wars continue. I finally confronted the man in Germany, and you know the rest from there.”

“I’m assuming you don’t want me too tell anyone else, right?”

Dumbledore shook his head. “No, I have carried this secret for to long. You may tell the Victors, Harry, but no one else. It will be nice to finally share this information with more than just myself.”

Harry wasn’t surprised that Dumbledore had found out about the Victor’s, after all there was the whole duel that had only ended a few short hours ago.

“Is that all sir?”

“Yes Harry, and please, do call me Albus.”

Harry smiled. “Right. Goodnight Albus.”

“Goodnight Harry.”

Harry left the room and made his way back to Gryffindor tower, thinking about the next day. They would leave at night, he supposed, just in time for the nine o’clock showing of Harry’s pensieve at Diagon Alley.

They had decided to use Diagon Alley as the place to show the pensieve because it was the best place they could think of to gather a large group of people. Hermione had written Rita Skeeter a few days earlier, telling her to meet them at the pensieve showing for an exclusive interview with Harry.

Although Harry knew that Skeeter would ask some unfair questions, he knew that with Hermione at his side he could handle anything. They would announce that they were actively engaged in a serious relationship, but nothing more.

Harry grinned when he though of the word ‘engaged’. In just a few weeks he was sure that Hermione and him would be engaged to be married. Today was September the ninth, and Hermione’s birthday was on the nineteenth. He would take her out for a romantic night in Hogsmeade, then propose to her in a way that no one would expect.

Before he knew it Harry was standing at the portrait entrance to Gryffindor Tower. “Papercut.” He muttered and the fat lady’s portrait opened without a word, giving him access to the Gryffindor common room where Hermione was waiting up for him.

“Hey there,” She said, smiling at him from over her book on the couch. Harry smiled and walked over to her. He sat down next to her and threw an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close.

“So what are you reading?”

“It’s called ‘Where the Red Fern Grows’. it’s a muggle novel about a boy who wants to hunting dogs so he works for an entire year to save up the money. Then he finally gets him and trains them, and the book is about their adventures.”

He smiled, kissing her cheek. “How does it end?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Well I haven’t finished it yet you dolt!”

Harry grinned at her. “Sorry, how was I supposed to know that you have never read it before? You must’ve read ‘Hogwarts, A History’ about fifty times by now.”

She smirked at him. “Thirty-two, to be exact.”

Harry laughed and threw his head back against the couch. “Oh Scarlet, what will I ever do with you?”

“Well I dunno,” She said, laying her book down and smiling at him seductively. “What do you want to do to me?”

Harry leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. “This,” He moved to her cheek. “And this,” He moved further down to kiss her neck. “And this,” He moved to the hollow of her throat, smiling at the slight moan that escaped her throat.

“Psst, Dean! Get Colin! They’re gonna shag! We can send the pictures to PlayWizard for millions!” Hissed a voice from the stairs. Harry and Hermione broke apart to glare at Seamus, who was smirking at them from the stairs.

“Oh drat, I guess we were found out.” Dean said, snapping his fingers.

“Well now, what’s going on here?” Came a new, sweet voice from the portrait hole.

“Ginny!” Jumping from the couch to run and embrace her best female friend. “When did you get out of the hospital wing?”

Ginny returned her hug enthusiastically and replied, “Just now. I woke up a few hours ago, and Pomfrey just let me out now. So what have I missed?”

Dean came down the stairs and gave her a good hug, kissing her on the cheek. “You missed your brother stun Dumbledore in training today, that was pretty cool.”

Ginny’s jaw dropped. “I don’t know what’s more surprising. Ron stunning Dumbledore or the fact that you even know about the training.” She grinned for a second. “Never mind, no contest. Ron stunning Dumbledore for sure!”

They all laughed before Ginny became serious again. “So how much exactly did I miss if Dean now knows about our training?” She crossed her arms determinedly.

Hermione sighed and tugged Ginny by the arm. “We’ll tell you everything in bed. Come on, you can use one of the extra’s in our dorm. Goodnight Harry,” She pulled him close and kissed him passionately on the lips.

They were both grinning madly as they pulled away. “Goodnight Hermione,” And he pulled her in for a similar kiss, this time it lasting much longer. When they pulled apart Seamus and Dean were smirking at them while Ginny rolled her eyes.

“Come on, let’s get to bed.” Harry said, walking up the stairs.

“What Harry, no kiss for me?” Seamus asked, his voice rich in his homeland accent.

Harry laughed and went to his room, rolling his eyes at the lip-smacking sounds that Dean and Seamus were making behind him.

*****

A/N: Okay, I know the Hitler thing was stupid, but it was all I could come up with, after all, Grindelwald was defeated around the same time as WWII ended, so…

Preview: A night of surprises for the wizarding world. How will they take it? Will they believe Harry? And also, a late night dinner study session for Harry and Hermione. Will they discover anything new?

Cheers!

10. Chapter 28

A/N: I know I forgot to add the Skeeter interview in and pronounce that Voldemort was a half-blood, sorry! I’ll do it sometime in the next few chapters instead. R/R!

Cheers!

*****

Chapter 28

Harry was constantly twitching about and anxious the entire day leading up to the pensieve showing. He couldn’t sit still in class and was very animated at lunch.

“Harry, if you don’t calm down I’m going to make you study for my N.E.W.T.S. all weekend!” Hermione threatened him as she became annoyed by his excited antics.

Harry looked at her in horror. “Now Hermione, I may be a little over eccentric today, but that’s just cruel and unusual.” He smirked and she hit him playfully on the arm

“Hmph! I wasn’t planning on doing nothing but studying, but since you obviously don’t want to spend time with me, I guess I’ll do it on my own.” She gave him the sweetest looking pout he had ever seen.

Harry threw his arms up in defeat. “Okay, I’ll calm down, and I’ll help you with your N.E.W.T.S. tonight. Kay?”

She smiled at Harry as Ron sat down next to them. “Yeah Harry, we could make a dinner out of it! Hmm, what do you want to eat though?”

Ron smirked at her next to them. “How about tuna?”

Harry and Hermione glared at him, while everyone else laughed. Dean patted Ron on the back. “Good one there mate!”

Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to her Arithmancy homework, still grasping Harry’s hand under the table. Harry peered over her shoulder to see the assignment. “Hey, when is that due anyways? I haven’t started mine yet.”

Hermione spun her head around and glared at Harry, who immediately tensed up. She pointed at the large clock on the side wall of the great hall. “In about ten minutes! Are you procrastinating again? You told me that you had all of your homework done!”

“Er, well, I, uh…”

“No Harry! Don’t try and sweet talk your way out of this one! And no, you can’t copy mine, maybe this will teach you a lesson!”

Harry looked down for a minute before glancing back up at Hermione. “I’m sorry Scarlet, I should have done it over the weekend.” He gave her a smile and puckered his lips in front of her. “Forgive me?”

Hermione giggled despite herself, pushing Harry away after placing a quick kiss on his cheek. “Okay, but next time there’ll be consequences!” She said, trying and failing to sound threatening.

Harry grinned and said, “Well I better be careful then, cuz I wouldn’t want to be forced to face the wrath of Hermione!” He finished with his hands in the air in mock surrender.

She giggled at him and spun in her seat, leaning back so that she was leaning on Harry’s chest with his arms encircling her. “You better believe it.” She said softly, pinching his earlobe and making him cry out in brief pain.

Fifteen minutes later Harry was shifting uneasily in his seat as Professor Vector stared him down. “Do you have good reason for not doing your homework, Mr. Potter?”

Harry began to open his mouth to say that he actually did, but then he remembered that everything he had been doing was a secret. Then he realized that Hermione had all the same responsibilities that he did, and she had still gotten her’s done. He lowered his head in shame. “No Professor.”

Hermione gave him a small smile for being honest, but whatever happiness may have stemmed from that was squashed when Vector spoke again. “Nine inches of parchment on why triangles are useful in arithmetic sequences and theories, due no later than Friday.”

Harry grumbled a, “Yes Professor,” before averting his gaze and instead looking out the window at absolutely nothing. There were a few scattered snickers throughout the room but they quieted down quickly as they got into their lesson plan.

Hermione was staring at Harry expectantly as they walked together, hand in hand, from the classroom an hour later. Harry saw her face and smiled. “I’m not going to complain about it Hermione,” She smiled brightly at him, and he continued, “But I may have to ask for your help with it tonight.”

He turned to see her smiling at him, and she snuggled into his shoulder, beginning to speak. “So what do we want for supper tonight? How about something romantic?” She smiled at him for a moment before bursting into giggles. “Oh I don’t care Harry! We can just eat anything, like a pizza or something. Do you think Dobby would make one for us?”

Harry nodded and Hermione sighed, smiling at the distance. “Well that’s settled then. I can’t believe Ron. Tuna. Honestly, doesn’t he know that I hate tuna? Why would he ever suggest something like that? Sometimes he-”

Harry coughed to hold back a laugh, Hermione was the cleverest person he had ever known, but when it came to teenage analogies, she could be a bit daft.

The rest of the day Harry’s thoughts kept drifting to the impending announcement that night. How would they react? Would they deny the truth yet again? Would they think that he was just trying to get the attention focused back on him again?

Harry’s thoughts and doubts were rendering him senseless by the time that he was in Dumbledore’s office, waiting for the portkey he was holding (along with Hermione and Dean, the rest of the Victors were holding different portkey’s, anything from an old copy of the Daily Prophet to a quaffle being used) to activate and whisk him away to Diagon Alley, where his pensieve would be shown to the wizarding population, clearing Sirius’ name.

Hermione gave him a small smile, winking at him as they were suddenly whisked forward and through the unpleasant sensation that the portkey trips always brought along with them.

Harry landed with a thud, barely managing to keep his footing, and gasped at the sight before him. There was not an empty spot in the alley. It seemed that nearly the entire wizarding population of Britain had shown for the event.

Arthur smiled at Harry and the Victors as they arrived, he had obviously been waiting for them. “Are you ready Harry?” Harry nodded and the minister of magic smiled. “Okay then, let’s get started shall we?”

Mr. Weasley pointed his wand to his throat and muttered, “Sonarus.” Then said, in a loud, commanding voice, “Wizards and witches, may I have your attention please?” The noise surrounding Diagon Alley was immediately cut off, everyone focusing their attention on the stage and the pensieve projector on it. “What you are about to see will amaze you, some of you may not even believe it all, but it is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

Harry heard Hermione snicker next to him as he grinned. Leave it to Mr. Weasley to use a muggle saying in a time like this.

“Everything you are about to see came straight from young Mr. Potter’s memories, into this pensieve,” He pointed at the glimmering silver substance on the stage, a few people gasped.

“With no further ado, here are Mr. Potter’s condemning memories!”

A bright flash lit the sky and the shrieking shack filled the sky.

It started when he came in with Hermione…Ron slumped to the ground in a corner, and there, at the far end of the room, was Sirius Black, the murderer…

People gasped loudly, many of the men and auror’s on his case grunted angrily at the man that had eluded their capture for so long.

But then events of the past and present had come to light…Remus had come in…

A few confused and surprised sounds were heard, as was an occasional angry growl of, “Werewolf!“

then they discovered the truth about Scabbers…

A few people screamed as Peter Pettigrew was proved to still be alive. Harry noticed with amusement that some women fainted. Auror’s on the case were stunned beyond words.

Snape almost ruined it all, then he was knocked out…next Peter was sprouting up from the ground…finally it showed Wormtail’s escape.

More angry groans and whispers about what else could possible be revealed.

It was the end of fourth year, he and Cedric were arguing over who should take the cup…

There were gasps of recognition, Harry saw the Diggory’s begin to spill tears, but watch nonetheless.

they were in the graveyard, Wormtail running towards them…Cedric was laying on the ground, spread eagled, dead…

Sobs broke out all over the alleyway, Amos Diggory was sitting on the ground with his face in his hands, crying, while Mrs. Diggory wept silently next to him.

Harry was tied to the gravestone by Wormtail…the potion was brewed…Voldemort was revived…

Screams of horror rocked the night, many more women fainting dead away when the saw Riddle emerge once again, more powerful than before.

Riddle taunted Harry, then gave him his wand, and prepared to duel…they dueled…Harry through off the Imperious Curse…

Gasps of excitement rang through the crowd, Harry reddened as he saw many awed expressions thrown his way.

the wands connected…the ghostly echo’s of Cedric and Bertha, and the muggle Frank Bryce, and then his parents emerged from the wand…he was running, running for the triwizard cup and Cedric’s body…he accio’d the cup, and was whisked back to Hogwarts…

Tears were falling from nearly every witch or wizard in the vicinity, many casting sad glances at the Diggory’s, but none daring to speak to them.

The sky shifted once again…

He was in the Department of Mysteries, they were searching for Sirius…they finally realized that Sirius wasn’t there…Harry picked up the prophecy…the death eaters came…

Many people gasped yet again and threw terrified looks at Harry and his friends while others simply watched the scene in awe.

they talked, threatened Ginny…Harry pulled Hermione forward, subconsciously protecting her…they were running through the rooms, dueling the death eaters…Hermione was knocked out by Dolohov…Ron had the brain wrap around him…Ginny was stunned in the face…Luna was hurled across the room, knocked unconscious…

Everyone was looking at the young wizards who had obviously not faired so well with sad eyes, as if silently saying sorry to them.

Neville was stabbing MacNair in the eye…Harry was cornered…Neville was put under the cruciatus curse…

More screams from the crowd, Harry cast an apologetic look at Neville, who was shifting uncomfortably under all the attention he was receiving.

the order came in…Harry ran from the scene, blasting Lucius Malfoy in the process…the prophecy was broken…Dumbledore arrived…Sirius was killed by Lestrange…

Sad cries were heard throughout the crowd. Harry though it was somewhat funny that these people had hated this man an hour ago and now they were mourning his death. Harry would have laughed had his eyes not been spilling out tears of sadness while Hermione hugged him tightly in support.

Harry ran after Bellatrix in a fury…Harry was using the cruciatus on Bellatrix, she screamed and fell back…

Harry gulped visibly, but stayed composed. There were no outcry’s or gasps, only silence, the most uncomfortable silence that Harry had ever endured. He dared not look out into the crowd for fear of seeing their expressions and succumbing to unnecessary tears. Voldemort appeared…Dumbledore saved Harry again…Harry was possessed…Voldemort grabbed Bellatrix and ran…

The sky faded back to nothing but darkness, and the crowd stood in an awed silence at what they had witnessed. It started slowly, but got progressively louder and louder as one person clapped, and then another, and another, until finally, the entire crowd was in an uproar of applause.

Harry took this uneasily, while Hermione beamed at him, kissing him on the cheek. “Look at them Harry,” She whispered delightedly, caressing his cheek in an attempt to cheer him up. “They believe you, they believe in you, Harry. They’re all behind you now.”

Harry smiled at her and kissed her soundly on the lips, making her giggle softly and the crowd to go into an even greater uproar at the new news that Harry Potter had a girlfriend.

Arthur let the cheers continue for a few moments before once again muttering the voice magnification charm and addressing the crowd. “Good people, this is not all, but I assure you, Sirius Black will be post-humously cleared of all charges, and Peter Pettigrew will be stripped of his Order of Merlin, First Class.”

He paused and smiled. “Speaking of the Order of Merlin, we have three young Hogwarts students deserving of a third class honor for a memory potion they have recently developed.” Excited whispers once again consumed the crowd as Harry turned bright red, while Hermione and Neville smiled in glee.

Arthur continued. “Will Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter please step forward.”

The crowd exploded as Arthur handed each of them a plaque signifying their achievement. Arthur smiled and turned to the crowd again. “Now, you may wonder, who this potion was created for,” Murmurs of interest spread like a plague throughout the crowd.

Arthur turned to a nearby door, grinning broadly. “Alice, Frank, if you would kindly step outside now.”

The crowd screamed in surprise as a fully-cured Frank and Alice Longbottom took center-stage and smiled at the crowd, waving to all of their old friends - those who hadn’t fainted anyways.

Frank stepped forward as Alice embraced her son, the witches and wizards watched the scene tearfully. Even if they hadn’t known the Longbottom’s personally, most of them knew of their story.

Arthur spoke again, “I would also like to announce that Frank and Alice Longbottom will be, starting tomorrow, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professors at Hogwarts. Alastar Moody has already resigned his post and will once again be actively working at bringing down the dark lord.”

He paused to allow the stunned cheers come from the crowd. Harry, though shocked at this revelation, smiled inwardly to himself. Now Moody would be able to completely focus on their training, the whole returning to bringing the dark lord down thing was true, just not in the way that everyone thought it was.

“That is all for tonight, my fellow wizarding friends. May you all go home and celebrate this wonderful news. Be careful, and goodnight.”

He took the sound enhancer spell off of his wand and spoke again to the Victor’s. “You lot can go back to Hogwarts now, don’t stay up to late now, eh?” He finished with a smile, but that faltered when he saw the scowl on his wife’s face.

“But you had better not be doing anything illegal tonight, that would be very wrong, very wrong indeed.”

Harry and Ron exchanged a knowing smirk, then Dean leaned in and whispered, just before the portkey whisked them back to Hogwarts, “I sure hope Hermione doesn’t have you whipped that badly at that age Harry.”

“Ow!” Dean said a few seconds, holding the back of his head, after they were safely back in Dumbledore’s office. He spun to see Hermione glaring at him.

“Just cuz you said that right before we portkeyed doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t retaliate Pele!”

“You know, beating on boys is a sure sign of a scarlet woman, Scarlet!”

“Better than acting all macho to overcompensate for something Dean!”

“Oh yeah! Well you’re…” Dean squinted his eyebrows in concentration. “You’re - really short!”

“Oh yeah! And you’re scruffy-lookin’!”

“Who you callin’ scruffy lookin’?”

“Okaaaay,” Harry broke in, grinning. “I know how that scene ends, and I don’t think I wanna see that!” He turned to Hermione. “Hey, I thought that you only bickered with Ron?”

“What? Are you jealous?” Hermione said, giving him a sly smile.

“Hmm, I dunno, maybe I’ll need some reassurance on your part?”

Hermione grinned and leaned into him, quickly kissing him on the lips. Nine voices groaned, “Get a room!”

The couple blushed brightly, then Harry smiled at the others. “Okay, but then where would you guys sleep?” Harry smiled in satisfaction at seeing Ron and Seamus turning a little green, while Dean looked sicker but not in color. Harry laughed to himself.

‘Why do we call blacks ‘colored’? Us Caucasians are green when we’re sick, blue when we’re cold, and red when we’re angry. And we have the nerve to call them colored!’

Hermione rolled her eyes at everyone and pulled on Harry’s arm, none of them seeming to notice the very amused Hogwarts Headmaster smiling at them all, eyes twinkling, in amusement.

“Come on Harry, let’s get our books and such, then we’ll go to the Room of Requirement.”

Ignoring the cat-calls, they left the room after bidding Professor Dumbledore good-bye and half an hour later found themselves in the room of requirement.

‘I need a room to study and work, but in a romantic gesture.’

After walking past the area that he knew lead to the Room of Requirement three times, a large door materialized itself. Grinning at Hermione, he pushed it open and walked in.

There was a grand bookshelf in one corner of the room, as well as a two-seater desk and a large assortment of quills and parchment. On the other side of the room there was a loveseat facing towards a brilliantly lit fireplace, as well as a dinner table set for two, complete with roses and wine.

“I reckon we eat first, work later. What do ya say?”

Hermione answered by smiling and walking over to the dinner table, waiting for Harry to pull out her chair for her. He grinned and walked to the table, pulling out his own chair, looking directly at Hermione, and sat down. “Are you waiting for something?” He asked with a smirk, earning a glare from Hermione.

He laughed and with a flick of his wand the chair scooted back for her, beckoning her to sit in it. She grinned and sat down, giggling slightly when the chair whisked her forward a few inches so that she was seated at the table.

Harry poured two bottles of wine and said, “So, what do we drink to?”

“The Longbottom’s” Hermione replied, raising her glass.

Harry smiled, tapping her glass with his. “The Longbottom’s.”

Harry and Hermione talked animatedly for the next few minutes over various topics - none related to quidditch or school work - until Dobby apparated into the room.

“Harry Potter sir, Dobby has brought Harry Potter Harry Potter’s food sir. Dobby cooked it himself sir. Is there anything else Dobby can do for Harry Potter or his Hermione?”

Harry grinned at the house-elf as Dobby set the pizza down on the table while Hermione muffled a laugh. “No Dobby, that’s all thanks.”

Dobby bowed slightly and snapped his fingers, dissaparating back to the kitchens. “He’s an odd one, don’t you think?” Hermione asked him.

“Yeah, but you like him, because he’s a good spokesperson for spew!” He grinned at her as he finished, receiving a glare for his actions.

Hermione’s expression softened almost as suddenly as it had appeared, and she smiled at the pizza on the table. “Hmm, so romantic Harry. Wine, roses, and pizza.”

They both laughed before digging in and significantly raising their cholesterol count for the day. About an hour later they were sitting at the desk in one corner of the room, books spilled all over the desk for Harry’s paper.

“Hermione, are you going to tell me what’s wrong or will I have to torture it out of you?”

Harry had noticed that Hermione was constantly frowning while becoming lost in thought, staring out into space for five minutes at a time. His curiosity had finally gotten the better of him, so he spoke his mind.

“Well, I’m just thinking, do what if there were triangles hidden in our riddle. Wouldn’t it make it easier to figure out? If they exist, I mean.”

Harry looked thoughtful and pulled a crinkled old parchment out of his pocket and laid it on the table. “I brought this along in case something came up. We’ve got the lightning bolt design, so is there any way to manipulate it and split the riddle into triangles?”

Hermione scooted closer to him and peered over the parchment. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Hermione squealed, “Yes! Right there! Like this!”

0 0 G H 1 2

7 S 5 1 0 1

3 D D 2 0 9

1 G G S 3 3

1 V T M R 8

9 G H S 9 1

8 F B 1 A 0

0 P 1 R B 6

1 3 R M M 2

0 S V 1 2 1

D 1 V H P 1

M M 9 G H 9

T M R 9 P 9

S V B M 8 5

“If you connect the ends of the bolt like this, then you get these numbers!” She excitedly wrote them down. “Zero - five - two - three, and one - nine - nine - eight. Another date!”

They smiled excitedly at one another, until Harry frowned after observing it closer. “Hermione, this date is May Fifth, Nineteen Ninety-Eight. That’s next May! Is this, I mean, could it be another important date in me and Voldemort’s future?”

Hermione nodded slowly. “Yes…I expect so. Look, the two lines connect your birth date with your parent’s…death date…and finally with the date of Voldemort’s rebirth. I’d say that this date is when the conflict is resolved! Harry - it must be a prophecy of sorts telling you when your final battle with Voldemort will take place!”

She traced the lines with her finger again. “Look, now the riddle is divided into quarters. I would expect that two of the quarters pertain to you, while the other two pertain to Voldemort. What they say though…I dunno.”

Harry smiled and pulled her in close to him. “It’s okay Hermione, that’s good enough for now. We can figure out the rest later.” He grinned at her. “But right now that loveseat is calling my name, so why don’t we go over there for a while?”

*****

A/N: There it is, I hope you liked it! There may be another chapter tomorrow, but I’m not sure yet. After that, nothing until mid next week or possibly later.

Preview: An old friend reappears, a duel, a quidditch match, a funeral (maybe) and finally, Snitch reappears!

11. Chapter 29

A/N: Sorry for the major delay, but it’s hard to write while you’re grounded! Thanks for the reviews, keep ‘em comin’! Happy Easter!

Cheers!

*****

Chapter 29

Harry and Hermione walked into the Great Hall for breakfast hand in hand the next morning, and made their way immediately to the far end of the Gryffindor table where the rest of the Victor’s were chatting away excitedly.

“Morning,” Harry said with a yawn, taking a seat next to Ron while Hermione sat on his right, leaning her head on his shoulder as she ate her toast absent-mindedly.

“Morning,” Came the reply of most of the others. Harry noticed that Neville and Dean were exchanging nervous looks with one another, and wondered what it was all about until he saw Dean constantly glancing at Ginny uncomfortably.

“Erm, Furball, could I talk to you alone for a moment please?” Dean said, and the whole table tensed. Ginny - oblivious to the fact that Dean was getting ready to break up with her - followed him happily out into the hall.

When they were gone, Harry raised an eyebrow to Ron. “Furball?”

Ron shrugged. “You know, cat animagus, cat lover, acts like a cat all the time, Furball just seemed to fit right.”

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement, realizing that the name fit her perfectly. He then pointed with his fork at Parvati and Lavender. “So what name do we have for the gossip twins?”

Lavender smiled happily. “Well because I’m a Unicorn animagus, I got stuck with the name Yuni, you know, just short for Unicorn, and I thought it sounded pretty.”

Harry smiled and turned to Parvati. “So what’s your name?”

Parvati turned and scowled at Seamus, who smirked back at her. “Hey, when you named me Rumpy, I told you I’d get you back!” He turned to Harry while Parvati looked away pouting, arms folded across her chest. “Well I figured that since Lavender and Parvati are inseparable, if one uses the first part of the word ‘Unicorn’, than the other should use the second part.”

He puffed his chest out proudly. “The name fits her personality also, in my opinion. Don’t you think so…Corny?”

Parvati flushed red while the others giggled at the absurd name. Hermione nodded her head towards Parvati between giggles. “Yes, I think it suits you very well, Corny!”

*****

Harry was surprised when he arrived at the meeting that night to find not Mad-Eye or Kingsley, but only McGonogall and Tonks. “Wotcher Harry,” Tonks said with a wink as they walked up to them.

Hermione was the first to speak the question on all their minds. “Where are Kingsley and Shacklebolt tonight?”

“Oh, Moody had to sign some false documents to make it look like he was returning to being a full-time auror. Kingsley went with him and they were going to do some research for a week or two before coming back and teaching you all. So until then, we’ll be focusing solely on your animagus transformations.” McGonogall replied, holding up a hand to stop Hermione’s impending question.

“Yes, Miss Granger, I know that you and Mr. Potter have become very advanced in your animagus transformations, but you still have not perfected them. Not to mention, I believe Mr. Potter,” She turned her head to look at Harry. “Had the idea of performing an intentional partial animagus transformation. A very interesting idea indeed. You and Miss Granger will be working with me tonight whilst the rest of you continue your training with Nymphadora.”

Tonks stared daggers at McGonogall’s back as she walked off with Harry and Hermione while the rest of the victors came up to her.

“Okay, you first Miss Granger. I want you to assume your phoenix form, then fly a circle around the area,” She motioned a circle with her finger around the enclosed meeting area. “And I want to hear you attempt to sing the phoenix song.”

Hermione’s eyes widened at the mention of the song. “Is that…possible professor?” She asked in an awestruck voice. “I mean, can I really sing in animagus form?”

McGonogall gave her a tight smile. “I would have thought that your little run-in with Mr. Potter’s animagus form last week gave you the answer to that?”

Hermione blushed and nodded, then focused on her phoenix form. Harry smiled at her as her face grew out into a beak and her brown locks turned red and then transformed into feathers. Her body shriveled up as her torso shrunk, her arms scrunching inwards as they became wings.

After only a few short seconds, Hermione had completely transformed. She flapped her wings a few times and flew upwards and around the encircled area. Lavender and Parvati pointed and squealed in delight, waving excitedly at Hermione while Dean and Seamus looked on in awe. Ginny, Neville, Ron, and Luna exchanged knowing smirks, having all seen her transform before.

Hermione finished her circle and landed on Harry’s shoulder, then opened her beak to sing. A pleasant melody erupted from the small firebird, but it was no where near as soothing as a normal phoenix cry.

Harry got a sudden inspiration and leant down gently, plucking a sharp rock off the ground. He showed the rock to phoenix-Hermione, who looked at him with what Harry assumed to be a confused expression, and then brought it to his skin and sliced a small cut on the top of his forearm.

He winced at the pain, but then turned to Hermione and smiled, offering the arm to her. The phoenix, in obvious understanding, leant over and began to cry on the wound. There was a pleasurable tingling sensation, and slowly, after perhaps twenty tears, the wound was completely healed.

Harry smiled at Hermione as she flew off of his shoulder and landed gracefully in front of him, then transformed back to a very tired Hermione. “That was pretty good Scarlet,” Harry said with a grin.

Hermione gave him a small smile as she leaned into him for support, which he gladly gave. McGonogall smiled at them amusedly before offering her input. “Yes Miss Granger, that was most impressive. Your flying was flawless, beautifully done.” Hermione beamed, although it hurt her to smile as she was so tired. “However, your song still needs much improvement, as do your healing tears. But most of all, you need to raise your endurance. I would suggest a lap around the quidditch pitch every morning, as well as a few laps in the pool before bed and you should get your endurance up fairly quickly.”

McGonogall pursed her lips thoughtfully. “As of now, I would say that you could hold your phoenix form for perhaps two hours. Very good yes, but the greatest of animagus can hold their forms for days at a time, and I expect the two of you to become some of the best wizards there ever have been, so I will be very strict in my criticism.”

She turned to Harry, and Hermione took the opportunity to beam at the praise. “Mr. Potter, if you will.”

Harry looked at her oddly for a moment. “Er, professor, I transform into a basilisk, so don’t you need to protect yourself?”

The Gryffindor Head of House made an impatient movement with her hands. “No, Dumbledore has warded the area so that your stare will not be lethal, or even harmful, to anyone. Now, transform! And don’t revert back until told!”

Harry nodded his head and he immediately shot upwards into the air, feeling a sickening sensation as his teeth grew immensely as his jaw bone disappeared. Suddenly his arms and legs were gone, and only a long, slimy tail remained.

Harry threw his head back and let out a mighty roar in Parseltongue. “Snitch! Where are you buddy? I’m stuck as a snake for a while, and I’d like to have someone to talk to!”

Almost instantly, Snitch appeared in front of him, eliciting a gasp of surprise from McGonogall, and a grin from Hermione. Or at least he though that it was a grin, the basilisk’s eyesight wasn’t the greatest.

“Harry, how are you? I was just admiring the view of the lake, as I do every fortnight. We have not spoken in many days, is there anything that I may be able to assist you with?”

“Hmm,” Harry replied, thinking. “Well you could tell me what this ‘connection’ between us that you’re always talking about is. It’s really starting to annoy me that you know what it is and I don’t”

The gold-plated dragon chuckled. “No Harry, that is information that you cannot know. Our connection will be discovered to you only when the time is correct. Then you will know the true extent of our powers.”

Harry tried to frown, but found that it was impossible to do so without a jawbone. “Our powers? What do you mean, ‘our’ powers. Do I have more that I don’t know about yet?”

“Alas, I fear I have spoken to much,” Snitch replied. “I must make my leave now before I allow you to much information. You are not strong enough to know the extent of your power, Harry Potter. If you tried to use this power, you would die.”

With that, Snitch disappeared and Harry felt anger rising inside of him. Why was he kept in the dark about everything? What were these powers? How could they possibly kill him? Was there magic out there that was too powerful for a wizard to use? Was it possible that he could someday use these powers? Would these questions ever end?

Harry was in a foul mood ten minutes later when he was signaled to revert back to his human form. He felt slightly dizzy and tired, but was able to support himself without much trouble.

“What did Snitch have to say?” Hermione asked interestedly.

“Never you mind.” Harry snapped, not realizing the rudeness of his tone. Hermione gave him a penetrating glare and grabbed hold of his arm like a mother in labor, pulling him forcefully into the forest, away from prying eyes.

About fifty meters in, Hermione turned around with tears in her eyes. She caught Harry completely off guard by slapping him forcefully across the face.

Harry cupped his cheek in his hand to dull the pain while staring in disbelief at Hermione, who was rigid with anger.

“Don’t you ever take that tone with me again Harold James Potter!” She was literally shaking with anger, her tears pouring without any sign of being wiped away. “I love you Harry and I don’t ever want you talking to me like that ever again.” She moved her hand up to stroke his cheek where she had hit him.

“I realize what Snitch told you probably upset you, but it could not have possibly upset you more than your tone with me upset me.” She wiped away her tears now, sniffling. “I love you so much that it hurts me to see you in pain, and it hurts me even more to put you through pain like I just did. But I don’t ever want to hear that tone of voice from you again, you have no idea how much it hurt. It was as if you didn’t even care that I existed, and if you ever left me…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence as she began to sob uncontrollably. Harry pulled her to his chest, horrified at what he had done to her, angry with himself for making her feel this way. Before he knew it, he was crying himself.

“I’m so sorry,” He whispered, kissing her forehead. “I was just being stupid, and impulsive. I was mad at Snitch and I took it out on you. I had no right to do that, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll never make you feel this way again.”

Hermione looked up at him and smiled through her tears. She leaned in close to him, Harry could feel her hot breath on his lips. “That’s all you needed to say Harry, thank you. I love you.” She leaned in the rest of the way and kissed him full on the lips, sealing his apology.

They broke apart some time later, both desperate for air. “Now tell me Harry. What was it that Snitch said?”

Harry quickly relayed the entire conversation to her, hoping that she would have an idea. She smiled lightly, getting that look in her eye that Harry knew all to well.

“I guess we’ll be spending some time in the library then, huh?” Harry said before Hermione could, eliciting a smile from his soon-to-be-fiancée. they kissed again briefly before returning to the anxious group.

There were multiple sighs of relief from the adults and the Victors when they saw Harry and Hermione walking back with smiles, hand in hand, snuggling against each other.

“Well Mr. Potter,” Professor McGonogall said when everyone returned to their previous activities. “That was a very good transformation, flawless, I’d say.” Hermione beamed at Harry in pride. “I do believe it is time for us to attempt your partial transformation. But this will have to wait until tomorrow, as we are out of time for tonight.”

They smiled at the professor and took their leave, wanting a nice, quiet stroll back to the castle, just the two of them.

*****

The next day and the second weekend of the school year passed uneventfully, Harry was still unable to transform only his eyes, though he was making progress. Frank and Alice were possibly the best DADA professors they had ever had, and were without doubt the most fun. Even the Slytherins had a hard time admitting that they disliked the couple.

At noon on Monday, Harry and Ron were sitting excitedly in the headmaster’s office, each clutching a Chudley Cannons ticket. “The tickets will activate as portkey’s in 4...3...2...1...”

With an uncomfortable pull at his navel, Harry was whisked away to Chudley and the Chudley Cannon’s professional Quidditch stadium.

Harry stared in awe at the pitch, the sky a perfect bright blue, the grass greener than Harry had ever seen. He and Ron excitedly found their seats amidst a cloud of Cannon supporters.

“Hello, witches and wizards, and welcome to the fifth fixture of the season featuring the Applebee Arrows versus your own Chudley Cannons!”

The announcer paused to allow for all of the cheers. “And here come the Arrows; Connelly, Avery, Masterson, Johnson, Heskey, Smith, and Shearer!”

Mild clapping came from the sparse Arrow supporters.

“And now, you’re very own, Chudley Cannons! Larsson, Frieberg, Henderson, Highfill, Kennedy, Witt, and Kickhaaaam!”

The crowd exploded and a few short moments later, the game began!

“Larsson to Frieberg to Larsson, ooh, nice feint there, he drops the quaffle to Highfill, she shoots! No! a brilliant Qualdger attack by Arrows beater Masterson, he knocked the quaffle off course by hitting it with a bludger! Connelly on the ball now…”

Harry was up and screaming a few minutes later, getting amused looks from the spectators around them and uncontrollable laughter from Ron. “ARE YOU BLIND??? THE SNITCH IS RIGHT THERE! CAN’T YOU SEE IT??? NO! WRONG WAY! COME ON! YES! NOW YOU SEE IT!” The Cannon seeker veered the opposite way of where the snitch was.

“NO! YOU STUPID GIT! THE SNITCH IS THE OTHER WAY! OH BRILLIANT! NOW IT’S GONE! SOME SEEKER YOU ARE! I WOULD HAVE GOOTEN THAT ON A HOGWARTS SCHOOL BROOM!”

Harry sat back down in his seat angrily, most of the people around him laughing earnestly, Ron beside himself and in tears from laughter. “Harry, that was hilarious! The look on the seekers faces! And you saw the snitch while they didn’t! Priceless!”

Harry didn’t think it too funny though, and twenty minutes later he was up and yelling again, pointing at the snitch frantically! “COME ON! MALFOY COULD CATCH THAT THING IN HIS FARRET FORM!” Ron fell over in laughter again. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE IT??? DO YOU NEED A SIGN THAT READS ‘SNITCH IS HERE’???”

It was almost four hours later when the Applebee seeker caught the snitch, Harry unable to say anything on the count of his throat being hoarse from screaming.

Ron wiped his eyes as the people around him left, grumbling about how if the teenager in the stands had been seeker they would have won the match four hours ago. “Well, we lost, but that was priceless! Happy birthday Harry!”

“Birthday present? I was under the impression that your birthday was in July, Potter. But no matter, I can give you a late ‘present’ as well.”

Harry spun to see the man standing behind him.

“Giggs.”

*****

A/N: First Cliffhanger in a while eh? I hope you liked it, especially the quidditch part where Harry was screaming at the seekers lol, I loved writing that. R/R!

Preview: A duel (duh!), a bed in the hospital wing becomes occupied, some late-night studying, and fluff, of course.

12. Chapter 31

A/N: Okay, here’s chapter 30. I meant for the duel to last longer, but I decided to cut it short, hopefully you liked it all the same! That bone-breaker curse is not of my invention (though the incantation is) it comes from the great fic ‘Harry Potter and the Acceptance of Fate’ on fanfiction.net. It’s a great read, everyone should check it out. R/R!

Cheers!

*****

Chapter 30

“Tell the friend to go,” Kris said, waving a hand dismissively at Ron. “You wouldn’t want yet another meaningless death on your conscious, would you?”

That had hit home on Harry. His eyes burned with a fury that had never been before seen. Somehow, miraculously, Harry was able to put a stopper in his urge to kill the man on the spot (maybe this was enhanced by the fact that he knew that he couldn’t kill him) and simply smiled at Giggs, casting a quick, triumphant look at Ron.

“This friend, happens to be the only person I know that has ever stunned Albus Dumbledore, in a fair duel. What makes you think that you could defeat him?”

“Ah, yes,” Giggs said with a malicious grin. “I believe you are referring to the ten on three your precious ‘Victor’ group fought against Albus, Alastar, and Kingsley? Yes, ten on one, as Alastar and Kingsley were both out of the fight early, is not exactly what I would call a fair duel.”

He gave a wicked smile at the astonished faces on Harry and Ron’s faces. “Oh yes, I know all about your precious club, and you’re precious mudblood girlfriend Potter.”

He said the word ‘mudblood’ with so much malice that it made the hairs on Harry’s hand stand tall.

“Katrina!” Ron spat angrily. “That conniving b***ch sold us out! I knew she was rotten from the off!”

Harry cast him an unsure glance. “We never told Katrina about that battle Ron,” Harry said slowly, a wave of intense realization hitting him. “Only thirteen people know about that battle. That can only mean one thing…”

Ron gasped as the realization hit him as well. “A traitor…”

“Yes, well, it would be no fun telling you who the traitor in you midst is, now would it? It is certainly not that good for nothing daughter of mine, as Mr. Potter so kindly pointed out.” He gave them a wicked grin. “Now show me what you’re made of. Kriptify!”

Harry reacted quickly, shoving Ron forcefully away from him and in turn propelling himself backwards. The spell came within centimeters of Harry’s nose, he could feel the cool breeze left in its wake, but it passed by with no harm done.

Harry made a quick spin, then kicked off a seat and leapt high in the air, bellowing, “Stupefy!” Ron had shot the same spell at the same time, but Giggs only laughed, and with a quick flick of his wrist, unfortunately to quick for Harry to recognize and memorize, the spells vanished.

“Come on Potter! You can do better than that! Expedimus draconis!”

Harry had no time to react as the phoenix-fire spell caught him in mid air, hurling him backwards over the grandstand and down to the quidditch pitch below.

“Damn! Accio!” Harry screeched though an anguished scream, his very flesh burning under the intense flames. He used the summoning spell to pull himself back up to the duel, where Ron was desperately trying to fend off Giggs.

“Frontaga!” Giggs yelled, catching Ron unprepared. What happened next made Harry’s stomach lurch. There was a sickening crack in Ron’s arm where the spell had hit, and Harry watched, horrified, as Ron’s bone splintered and cracked, forcing itself through his skin in a nasty compound fracture.

Giggs gave an evil grin to Harry before finishing Ron off. Diffindo slythano mortis!” Harry winced as a red flash erupted from Giggs wand, slicing Ron’s flesh open in a deep cut from his lower leg up to his torso. Ron managed to screech once in pain before passing out, blood oozing recklessly from his untamed wounds.

“Hmm, Dumbledore must be losing his touch, being stunned by such an unworthy opponent. Never mind, your turn now Potter. Tropica rebado!”

Harry was unable to dodge the oddly colored hex, and it caught him straight in the chest, making him stumble backwards slightly. At first Harry felt unaffected, but that quickly vanished as he realized that his body temperature was starting to rise, his body breaking out in an uncontrollable sweat.

“Dissindo.” Harry rasped, pointing at his own head. He needed to find shelter quick before he died of a heat stroke.

“Not getting away that easily Potter! Kriptify!”

Harry was able to get out of the way of the stunner, and thinking quickly, he whipped out his wand and thought, rather than spoke, accio, and was able to hurl himself up fifty feet onto an overhead balcony.

He fell to his knees, seeing stars in front of him, before he was finally able to gasp, “Afraccio,” On himself, giving him a wave of relief as the coolness passed over him, only to have his temperature rise again. Once again he used the spell, and his temperature started to rise until it stopped abruptly, the spell finally wearing off.

Finally cured, he whipped his head over the balcony to see Giggs with his wand held over the helplessly beaten and battered form of his best friend. He was just in time as well, as he was able to catch what Giggs was yelling.

“You have five seconds to show yourself Potter, or the Weasel dies. Four seconds,” Harry jumped from the overhang and landed softly (aided by the banishing spell) a hundred meters behind Ron and Giggs.

“Four seconds,” Harry was at a dead run towards Giggs’ back, his sounds silenced with a charm. “Three seconds,” Harry was to far away, he wouldn’t make it in time. “Two seconds,” Harry accio’d the ground behind Giggs, pulling himself within ten meters of him.

“One second,” Harry frantically picked up a Chudley cannons brochure and muttered, “Rapidamente portus.” “Too late Potter. “Avada Kedavra!”

Just in time Harry hurled the brochure at Ron, hitting him before the killing curse could, and his best friend was whisked away to Hogwarts. The killing curse exploded the ground in front of Giggs, sending tiny pieces of pavement up into his eyes. “Arrgghh!”

“Kriptify!” Harry bellowed victoriously, but somehow Giggs managed to fling himself out of the way.

Spinning on his stomach, still partially blinded from the pavement that had struck him, Giggs yelled, “Diffindo slythano mortis!”

Harry, who was stunned at seeing Giggs react so quickly, caught the spell on his upper forearm. “AAAHHH!” He screeched in a high-pitched, woman-like voice as he felt as if he had been sliced open with a knife.

Thinking quickly, Harry ripped off part of his cloak and wrapped it around his bleeding arm, muttering a quick sanitary charm that should help with the bleeding.

Finally he turned his eyes back on Giggs, who now sported a nasty gash over his eyelids, but seemed to be seeing just fine. “Very impressive Potter, very impressive. But I wonder how you can keep up with this? Blazar acuzar!”

“Sh*t!” Harry spat, seeing the three foot blade of black energy erupt from the tip Giggs wand. “Gotta beat fire with fire. Blazar acuzar!” Harry yelled, praying to Merlin that he got the wand movement down correctly.

Harry was rewarded when a bright emerald light shot out of his wand, somewhat resembling the Gryffindor Sword. “F**k yeah baby!” Harry yelled triumphantly, bringing his sword of energy to bear down on Giggs, who laughed.

“Ahh, I see Granger has taught you how to use your sword,” Harry frowned, Hermione had taught him nothing of the sort. “Now let’s see how well you handle it!”

Harry rolled his eyes despite himself, finally catching on. “Very funny Giggs. Now let’s see who’s the better swordsman!” At this Harry brought his blade down in a right to left slash taught to him by Professor Summers.

Giggs only laughed and parried the blow with ease. He then brought his own blade up in a complicated twirling slash aimed at Harry’s heart, but Harry managed to duck and roll while stabbing his sword in an upward direction, barely re-directing the blow inches over his left shoulder.

“Now I see good old Sora has been teaching you a few tricks boy? Too bad I taught him everything he knows!” Harry was momentarily stunned by this news, and was not able to completely block Giggs next blow, which landed a painful slice on his already-injured shoulder.

Harry winced in pain but held his ground, grasping the hilt of his wand in a powerful two-handed grip. He dove forward and feinted an upward slice, and instead opted for a cut at Giggs right arm.

Giggs saw this coming a mile away, and when Harry turned to make his cut, he put his black blade straight through Harry’s upper thigh.

“AARRGGHH!” Harry screamed, involuntarily leaping back and off of the blade, making the wound even worse. In the intense pain Harry’s sword faltered and shut off, emitting an emerald cloud of smoke before rendering itself useless.

Now Harry was slowly seeing tunnel vision, he could literally see his peripheral vision getting smaller as darkness began to creep in from the corner of his eyesight.

Gritting his teeth in pain, Harry did the only thing he could think of, now that his wand was useless. He caught Giggs completely by surprise and tackled him to the ground, feeling a sick pleasure in hearing Giggs skull make a loud thud against the ground.

The man’s sword evaporated just as Harry’s did, but Harry ignored it for now and concentrated on the punching bag that was now Kris Giggs’ face. He got a solid two or three hits in before Giggs scrunched his legs together and kicked Harry in the stomach, hurling him back a few feet and forcing a hard landing on his bad leg.

Harry immediately collapsed and vomited blood all over the ground. Giggs was looking at him strangely as he limped over to where Harry lay in a heap on the ground. He was dead. Harry knew it. He was completely defenseless and Giggs would kill him right here and now.

“Potter, you have fought gallantly,” Giggs said, standing over Harry’s bruised and beaten body. “As both of our wands have faltered, this duel is a draw.” Harry looked at him in shock. “Don’t act so surprised Potter, that is how a duel is completed. Both of our wands have been rendered useless, fair and square. We will meet again, Potter. Until then…”

A silent pop and he was gone. But Harry didn’t see this, as he had already blacked out…

*****

Harry woke up with his vision blurred by a ticklish chestnut-brown substance. It took him a minute to realize that this was Hermione’s hair, and that he must be back in the Hospital wing at Hogwarts.

He groggily shifted his body so that he was sitting up, wincing as his muscles ached from the movement. He looked down and smiled at Hermione’s sleeping form, stroking her hair gently.

Harry leaned back against the backboard of the bed and lost himself in thought. Who was Giggs, exactly? He was no doubt the most powerful wizard Harry had ever faced, next to Dumbledore, of course. There was no record of the man anywhere, and he knew so much about Harry and the Victors, it was unnerving.

There had to be a snitch. It was the only explanation. But who could it be? There was no way it was Ron, Hermione, or Neville. It was not even possible for it to be one of them. He doubted that Ginny could betray her friends like that, so she seemed unlikely as well. Luna, though he did not know her well, just didn’t seem to fit the description of a spy.

Harry trusted Dean and Seamus with his life, he had known them both for six years, and there was no way that they would betray him.

Lavender and Parvati were the ones that he knew the least about. And they were both gossips, and somewhat airheads as well. Could one of them possibly said something and given away information without realizing it?

But to who then? Katrina? Giggs certainly didn’t seem to like his daughter, but it could very well have been an act. Giggs was somehow getting information out of the school, but Harry had no idea how.

He groaned in frustration and slammed his fist down on the hard nightstand. The sudden noise woke Hermione with a start.

“Harry?” She said, almost in disbelief. Harry shook his head in conformation, not that she needed it. “Oh Harry!” She sobbed, wrapping him in a tight embrace. “I was so afraid that I was going to lose you.”

“Shh, it’s okay Scarlet, I’m not going anywhere. I’m here for you, for now and forever.” Hermione pulled her head up from Harry’s chest, smiling at him. He wiped away her tears with his thumb and kissed her softly on the lips.

It was then that he remembered about the traitor. “Hermione,” He said urgently, looking at her intensely. “Look, Giggs, when we dueled,” Hermione’s eyes flew open in shock, but Harry ignored it. “He knew things about us, about the Victors.”

Now Hermione’s eyes grew very large. “There’s a traitor Hermione, but I don’t know who it is, I can’t pinpoint it.”

Hermione shook her head in defiance. “No Harry, none of the Victors have betrayed you. Everyone signed that paper, we watched them. Believe me, that charm was perfect, I’m sure of it. If there was a traitor, we’d know.” She looked back at Harry with concern.

“You said you battled Giggs?” Harry shook his head in confusion. “You’re sure? Because everyone thought that you and Ron got in a duel, because they found him on the quidditch pitch, two inches from death, and they found you a few hours later, in the same condition, right at the spot where he portkeyed. The auror’s assumed that you two had gotten into some kind of argument and dueled one another.”

Harry stared at her, mouth agape. “What? How could they think that? Ron’s my best friend! We would never go at each other like that! Not now that we’ve sorted out our differences! Where is he? I have to talk to him!”

Hermione looked at Harry teary-eyed. “He’s in St. Mungo’s, in the critical ward,” Tears started to spill out over her cheeks. “Oh, Harry! They don’t think he’s going to make it!”

Harry sat back hard against the bed. Ron dead? No, it wasn’t possible, Harry wouldn’t let another friend die because of him. “He’ll be fine,” He said to Hermione, but he was secretly saying it for himself. “I know it.”

He saw Hermione’s tearful expression, but something else was there as well. What was it? Guilt? Shame?

Harry gasped. “Hermione, you…you believed them, didn’t you? The auror’s. You actually thought that Ron and I would duel!” He was angry now, his voice rising to an accusatory shout.

Hermione broke into uncontrollable sobs and turned away from Harry. “I’m sorry! I didn’t want to believe it Harry, I really didn’t. But all the evidence was there! He had slices all over his body, and the last spell you had used was the light-sword spell, it all added up!”

“Oh yeah! Then how the f**k did they think he portkeyed back to Hogwarts huh? Think he made one while he was knocked unconscious? Bull****! And you, I can’t believe you believed them, Hermione. You know us better than anyone else, and you actually bought into their story.”

“I’M SORRY!” She screamed, trying to look Harry in the eye, but he stubbornly averted his eyes. “What else was I supposed to think? All the evidence pointed towards you and Ron having a duel! There was even a witness that said he saw you shove him to the ground!”

“THAT’S BECAUSE GIGGS WAS SHOOTING STUNNERS AT US! I’LL BET THEY DIDN’T SEE THAT DID THEY?” Harry was fuming and he was making Hermione cry, but right now he didn’t care. “Hermione, I love you, with all my heart, but right now, I don’t want to talk to you. I need some time to digest this. And you better bloody well go and apologize to Ron as well.”

With this Harry turned his head and lay back down in the bed, signaling that the conversation was over. He heard Hermione leave in tears, and he felt bad about it, but he felt that she deserved what he said to her.

How could she, of all people, think that he and Ron had had a duel? And what was going to happen when the reporters got a hold of this? ‘Oh Merlin,’ Harry thought. ‘Last time I fought Giggs I was out for about a week. I was probably out even longer this time. Damn!’

A realization had just come to Harry. ‘If I’ve been out for more than five days, then I missed Hermione’s birthday!’

*****

A/N: I hope you liked the chapter! I know I had fun writing it! I love writing duels more than anything else, and most people tell me that they are my strongest point in my writing, so that’s cool. There were a couple of interesting twists, no? it’ll be a while for them to be resolved though!

Preview: Harry makes the trip to Mungo’s to see Ron, will Harry and Hermione make up?, Harry begins to do something without telling anyone - not even Hermione.

13. Chapter 31

A/N: Okay, here’s the real Chapter 31, I mislabeled the one from last week and I’m too lazy to fix it, sorry. There’s really not much substance to this chapter, basically a lot of fluff but it does have a few important scenes to the story.

Cheers!

Chapter 31

“Ninety-nine bottles of firewhiskey on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of firewhiskey,” Harry muttered to himself, staring at the ceiling of the hospital wing.

He hadn’t been allowed out of the bed on a count of the six inch hole in his upper thigh. Giggs’ sword had apparently gotten a good chunk of his leg that magic couldn’t repair overnight. His leg ached with pain every waking second, but he had long ago gotten over the pain, three days of constantly putting up of it did that for him.

“Hey, Katrina, are you awake?” Harry asked, glancing to the bed on his right.

Katrina gave out a soft chuckle, then immediately winced. She had told Harry that a few hours after they had brought him in, she was ambushed from behind and sent down a flight of stairs by Malfoy. The Amazing Bouncing Ferret-Boy had denied this, of course, and snaked his way out of punishment.

“No one could sleep with your singing going on, you’re about as bad as Elton John.”

Harry gagged on his own saliva. “Oh come on! I’m not that bad, am I?” He could almost see Katrina roll her eyes.

“You know Harry, I’m sorry for what my father did to you. I really am.”

Harry groaned. They had been over this at least a dozen times already. “It wasn’t your fault, so don’t apologize Katrina. You aren’t your father, no matter how much you may think you are.”

She gave a snort of amusement. “Yeah, I only look just like him, I have his attitude, oh, and apparently I am ‘honorable’ just like he is. Honestly Harry, how can you call that man honorable? He tried to kill you!”

He shook his head in confusion. “He could have, but he didn’t. It’s so confusing, I mean, he duels me, then we knock each other’s wands out of the battle, he has the perfect opportunity to just throw me off the grandstand or something, and he doesn’t take it. He just says it’s a draw and dissapparates. He just wants to kill me in a straight duel, not in a cheap way, and I have to respect that.”

Katrina sighed, a small smile pulling at the corners of her lips. “One day, I’m sure, you’ll find out just why he wants to kill you. And maybe, that day, I can find myself as well, and put my father behind me.”

Harry grinned and returned his gaze to the ceiling. “Ninety-eight bottles of firewhiskey on the wall, ninety-eight bottles of firewhiskey…”

*****

The next morning, Harry and Katrina were allowed to return to their common room, Harry scowling the whole way on his crutches, complaining that the arm padding wasn’t very soft and that he was getting bruises on his armpits.

They were nearly halfway back when they ran into none other that the ferret-boy himself. “Malfoy.” Harry said icily, Katrina reflecting his words in a glare.

“Potter. And little Giggs. Poor baby falls down a flight of stairs and cracks her ribs.”

“Yeah,” Harry snorted. “And I wonder why she fell, I’m sure you know Malfoy!”

There was a look of unmistakable confusion on Malfoy’s face for a fleeting moment, but he quickly covered it with a smirk. “Wouldn’t you like to know, Potter. I’m glad Giggs wasn’t able to finish you off Potter, I’ll do that myself.”

What Harry did next surprised both Malfoy and Katrina. He laughed. “Yeah right Malfoy,” Harry said, wincing as he clutched his sides in laughter. “You wouldn’t last two minutes with Giggs, I guarantee it.” Draco’s eyes flashed dangerously.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Potter. I can handle myself well enough in a fight. You couldn’t take me, Potter. To beat the dark arts, you have to know the dark arts.”

Harry’s eyes grew wide for a second, but he quickly regained his composure. “I don’t need to know the dark arts to deflect your curses Malfoy.” He spat, turning on his heel and walking off with Katrina. He heard Malfoy’s disgusted grunt and footsteps heading the other direction, and Harry was glad that the ferret couldn’t see his face.

‘I wouldn’t need to know the dark arts to beat Malfoy, but I would to beat Voldemort.’

“Hey Katrina,” Harry said, suddenly coming to a stop near a rather gruesome painting of the goblin rebellions.

“Yeah Harry?”

“Go on without me, I’ve just realized something that I have to do.”

She gave him a penetrating look, but asked no questions and walked off to Gryffindor Tower with a wave. Harry returned the gesture and then immediately ducked out of sight, casting the Disillusionment charm on himself when he was sure that he was completely alone.

Smiling grimly to himself, he headed towards the library.

*****

Harry had missed Hermione’s birthday. The second night he had been in the hospital wing had been it, and Hermione had come flying in, grinning ear to ear, and thanked him profusely for the owl. She had then preceded to tell him excitedly that Ron was going to pull through, and apologized sincerely for her assumptions.

Now Harry was waiting on the quidditch pitch, nervously fingering a small velvet box in his right hand, which was hidden away in the pocket of his robes.

He saw the love of his life walking towards him, positively glowing in the moonlight. She looked a goddess, the moon and sun should be bowing to her will, nothing could compare to her beauty. Harry was too entranced by her to even notice that she had begun to speak to him.

“Yeah, so, I caught Snape and Malfoy snogging in the dungeons earlier. They were both dripping with this love potion and couldn’t keep their hands off one another,”

This brought Harry back to reality. “Ugh, Hermione, you have a sick, sick mind, you know that?”

She grinned and kissed him softly. “Yeah, but you love me for it.”

Harry gulped as butterflies skyrocketed throughout his stomach. “Come on,” He said, taking her hand. “I want to show you something.”

Hermione straddled the broomstick in front of Harry, leaning back against him. He kissed her softly on the top of the head and shot off into the sky, and over to the lake, where the moon reflected brilliantly off the glassy surface of the water.

“Hermione, turn around and look at me,” Harry whispered, praying to Merlin that she would say yes. Hermione complied and turned around, now straddling the broomstick and facing Harry.

The reflection of the moon in her eyes made her even more beautiful than before. Combined with a slight, brisk, cool breeze that blew through her chestnut locks softly, and the plain fact that she was his Hermione, took his breath away.

Finally gaining his composure, Harry spoke to the most wonderful person the world had ever seen. “I love you Hermione,” He started, and she smiled sweetly, making Harry once again revel in her beauty.

“But we’re at war, and, as much as I try not to think about it, some of us aren’t going to make it,” Hermione’s expression had hardened, but Harry put a finger to her lips before she could interrupt.

“If you or I don’t make it, I want the world to know how much we cared for each other. I don’t want them to look at you and see Harry-Potter’s-girlfriend-at-his-time-of-death. I want them to see something more. I want them to know that we were something more.”

Hermione’s eyes had started to tear over, making her look absolutely adorable. His hands shaking violently, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the box, now holding it in quivering hands.

“Hermione, I love you. For now and forever, in life and in death, I will always be here for you. Nothing can ever change that. So Hermione, I ask you, will you make me the happiest and luckiest wizard on the planet? No - I’m already both of those things, I became that when we started to date. Now, I just, well, there’s only one more thing I could ever ask for.”

Harry smiled at her, flipping the box open. Hermione gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth as tears ran freely down her cheeks. “Hermione Jane Granger, will you marry me?”

Hermione, bringing her eyes back up to Harry’s, smiled the most innocent, sweet, and beautiful smile ever known to mankind. “Yes.” She whispered, smiling broadly, tears of happiness flowing down her cheeks.

Harry let out a breath he hadn’t realized that he had been holding, the leant in and gave her the most passionate kiss of their relationship, a kiss that she returned with just as much passion. They stayed there, suspended over the lake, kissing passionately and lovingly, long into the night, knowing that no matter what happened, they would always be in each other’s hearts.

*****

A few days later, Harry was amazed at how little of the school population knew about the engagement. Hermione wore the ring proudly around the corridors, but no one seemed to notice it; and this suited Harry and Hermione just fine. They didn’t want to be bothered non-stop with questions of their engagement.

The Victors had figured it out immediately of course, Hermione had told Harry that Lavender and Parvati had demanded to see the ring only seconds after she was in her dorm room. Ron and Neville had already known, of course, and Dean and Seamus were unsurprised at the news.

Outside of the Victors, it seemed that only a select few people had noticed the engagement. Dumbledore and McGonogall knew, though they had never confronted the couple about it. Katrina had figured it out as well, though she still gave Harry some strange looks for his trip to the library.

But it all proved too good to be true, as they both knew it would. They were practicing stunner curses in DADA class, Harry, Hermione, and Neville (who had now joined Harry and Hermione in learning hexes after he had mastered his animagus transformations) when Malfoy ‘accidentally’ stunned Parvati while she wasn’t looking.

“Oops,” Malfoy said with an innocent smirk. “Guess that one got away!” Parvati had woken up by this point (apparently Malfoy’s hex wasn’t all too powerful) and got in his face about it.

“What? You need to stun a girl from behind, when she’s defenseless? Why don’t you try to beat me in a proper duel?” Harry smiled proudly at the flash of determination in Parvati’s eyes, noting Malfoy’s surprised expression before he gave her a satisfied smirk.

“Too bad we’re in class, Patil,” He spat. “Or I’d be sending you to the hospital wing looking nearly as miserable as Potter’s mudblood.”

Harry whipped out his wand, ready to hex Malfoy to hell, but Hermione squeezed his hand and walked forward briskly. Harry wondered what she was doing, noticing that she was twirling the fingers of her left hand suspiciously.

Without warning, Hermione slapped Malfoy hard across the face, slicing his cheek open. Harry realized what Hermione had been doing was moving the ring around to afflict the most pain possible on the insufferable ferret-boy. Malfoy fell to his knees, clutching his cheek in agony.

“What’s wrong Malfoy?” Hermione asked sarcastically. “Embarrassed that a girl injured you? Now what’ll you do? Go tell your father? Oh wait! He’s a convicted death eater, so he doesn’t have any power over anybody anymore does he? In fact, I’ll bet you don’t even know where he is, because if you were questioned for his whereabouts, you would crack immediately and tell them everything from his location to his favorite pair of underwear!”

Harry and Ron were laughing hysterically behind Hermione, although both were clutching themselves in pain from the wounds that Giggs had inflicted on them. Malfoy was furious, but he was beaten, and he knew it.

Without a word, he fled the classroom and headed for the Hospital Wing. “Now, now Miss Granger,” Frank Longbottom said, clicking his tongue. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to deduct thirty points from Gryffindor for your behavior.”

Hermione hung her head in shame, but nodded. “I will also be taking fifty points from Slytherin for Mr. Malfoy’s language and threats.”

The Slytherins broke out in an outrage while the Gryffindor’s grinned. “That’s favoritism!” Pansy Parkinson shrieked. “She obviously used a curse on him! How else could she have made Draco bleed?”

Hermione gave her a proud smile. “Oh, that. Well, I happened to hit him with my engagement ring.”

Pansy’s jaw dropped along with the rest of the mouths in the room that had not already known of the engagement. Harry and Hermione only smiled, knowing now that within twenty-four hours the entire wizarding world would know of their engagement. But they didn’t care, they were in love and now everyone was going to know it.

Frank and Alice, who were smiling at the couple and chuckling softly at the rest of class’ astonishment, finally spoke up. “Well now, we still do have another fifteen minutes of class to fill up, so why don’t you go back to your stunning hexes and maybe a few exploders as well.”

Frank smiled at his wife and addressed the class. “Yes, or anyone who would like to go to the library and research some more spells may do that as well.”

Harry immediately took this opportunity to go to the library, unfortunately Hermione came with him, so he couldn’t read the books that he had planned on. Harry and Hermione put their heads together over a joke-jinx book that they were sure had been worn thin from Fred and George for a few minutes until it was time for them to get back to the common room for their homework.

By the time Harry and Hermione had returned from dinner that night, the entire school knew of the engagement.

“Is it true?”

“Wow! You’re so lucky!”

“Can I see the ring?”

“When are you setting the date?”

Eventually the couple retreated to Harry’s room, and laid on his bed together to escape all of the prying eyes and questions. Harry groaned and said, “So, what do you think the prophet will say about this tomorrow? The-boy-who-lived snagged by perennial bookworm? “Secret love affair between the-boy-who-lived and girlfriend Hermione Granger finally goes public after three or more tantalizing years?”

Hermione giggled and swatted Harry’s arm playfully. “Oh, Harry,”

“Oi! Will you two save that for the honeymoon!?” Came the voice of their Irish friend a few beds over. “First you’ve got the groan, then the giggle, and finally the ‘Oh, Harry,’ Why don’t you two just put up a sign that says ‘Do Not Disturb: We’re busy shagging’?”

“Put a sock in it Seamus!” Hermione yelled, doing her best to throw a pillow at him, but missing horribly.

“Wow, good thing you don’t play quidditch Hermione, you’d throw the quaffle in the wrong hoop!”

Harry rolled his eyes and turned to face Hermione, who was biting her lip nervously. “What’s wrong ‘Mione?” He asked, stroking her cheek lovingly.

“Oh Harry,” She said, looking like every word was a struggle. “I know how much you and Ron want me to play quidditch, but with N.E.W.T.S. and football and all these extra Victor training sessions, I just don’t think that I’m going to have time for quidditch. So please Harry, don’t be upset with me, but I’m not going to try out for quidditch this year.”

Harry looked at her, somewhat dumbstruck at her words. “Hermione, how could I ever be angry with you over something as trivial as this? I know that your studies are more important to you than sports ever will be, of course I’m not angry with you.”

Hermione let out a long breath and smiled, leaning in and kissing Harry on the nose. “Okay then,” She said smiling. “I guess it’s time for me to get back to my own dorm. I’ll see you tomorrow Harry.”

“Goodnight ‘Mione.”

Harry waited for about twenty minutes after Hermione left, then he got up, pulled his invisibility cloak out of his trunk, threw it on, and headed towards the library.

A/N: Okay, so did you like it? Drop me a review and let me know. Also, yeah, I know I forgot to writ in that Ron had come back, and that Harry was off his crutches, among other things, but I’m not perfect, if you’ve noticed I’ve screwed up quite a lot in this fic and have left some plot holes, though thankfully no one has really pointed them out to me. No more previews from here on out, it kinda does kill the suspense, even though this installment wasn’t a cliffhanger. Expect another chapter up on either Tuesday or Wednesday, seeing as I don’t have to go into school until late on those days. If a chapter doesn’t go up one of those days, it’ll probably be next weekend when one goes up.

p.s. anyone see Freddy Adu score his first professional goal yesterday? I did! It was awesome! Well, not the goal itself, that was just a pathetic breakdown in the defense, but just the fact that he score was awesome.

Cheers!

14. Chapter 32

A/N: New chapter finally, and it’ll be the last one for a while unless I do a lot of writing over the next two days, though I’m not sure if I’ll have practice or not for track, and actually I’m leaving Friday, so, yeah, uh, don’t expect anything until probably Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest.

*****

Chapter 32

Quidditch tryouts were fast approaching, and Harry was as eager as anyone else for them to arrive. Although they already knew that they had a seeker, Harry, a keeper, Ron, and one chaser, Katie, they still needed two beaters (both Kirke and Sloper had called it quits) and two chasers.

Harry was fairly confident that Ginny Weasley would take one of the open chaser positions, but he wasn’t sure about any of the other positions. He knew that Dean and Seamus were going to be going out for the beater positions, and both Creevey’s were trying out for chaser.

The day of tryouts, Harry was astonished to see the massive turnout. Aside from Dean and Seamus, there were six other hopefuls for the beater positions, none of which Harry knew very well. A further ten students had shown up for the position of chaser. There were also a select few kids going out for the reserve keeper and seeker positions.

“Okay,” Ron said, speaking to all of the hopefuls. “My name is Ronald Weasley, and I’m the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain this year.” A surprised murmur came from the crowd, they had obviously been expecting Harry as captain.

“There are only three of the seven positions on the team that are currently filled. Seventh year Katie Bell is our lead chaser, Harry Potter will be our seeker, and I am the keeper. The rest of the spots are up for grab.”

Excited whispering broke out yet again. “Before we get started, I will be telling you exactly what we are looking for. From the chasers, speed and agility are of the foremost concern, while you need to have very good accuracy and vision as well. From the beaters we expect accuracy, strength, and also great field vision. The best players will not necessarily make this team.”

The crowd looked at him in confusion. “Teamwork is of the utmost importance in these positions. Alone, my brothers Fred and George would be solid beaters, but nothing more. As a team, they were the most exceptional beaters that Gryffindor has seen in many years. It takes more than talent to make this team, there is no room for arrogance, we win as a team, and we lose as a team, there is no other outcome. If you are a brilliant chaser, but do not play well together with the other chasers, I am sorry but you will be put in the reserve squad, which will consist of the same amount of players as the full squad.”

He clapped his hands together as he let this all sink in. “Now, all chasers will please go over with Katie Bell, while all of the beaters will go with Hermione,” He motioned at her. “Hermione is one of the best flyers in the school, but she will not be joining the team, she has better things to do with her time, but she will help occasionally. The beaters job will be to try and hit Hermione with a bludger, no small feat, believe me. Everyone will be paired with every tryout before the day is done, and we will select the best tandem as the new beaters. Off you go then.”

He watched as the beaters took off after Hermione, then returned his gaze to the chaser. “You lot will be doing the same thing, being paired in every possible combination, and will attempt to score against me and those trying to snag the reserve position. So go on up there and warm up.”

After they left, Ron turned to Harry and the three kids that would be trying out for backup seeker. “You lot will be put through a series of tests by Harry here,” He grinned at his best friend. “Do not feel bad when Harry beats you badly, and he will, mind you, he is one of, if not the best seeker in all of England, and he also commands the fastest known broom to wizard-kind, it is of his own creation. Being a seeker is not all about catching the snitch, as you will soon find out.”

Ron nodded and left, leaving Harry to smirk at the seeker hopefuls. “Come on, we’re going to be having some…fun.” The others gulped and kicked off the ground with Harry, heading up towards the goal posts.

When they had all arrived at the goal posts, Harry turned, smiled, and said, “Follow me.”

With that, he took off like a rocket at the ground, pulling up in plenty of time for the others to make it out of the dive, immediately going into a corkscrew towards the other side of the pitch. Not bothering to look back, Harry dove again, this time cutting it a closer to the ground, but pulling up easily nonetheless.

He then flew straight towards where Hermione was dodging two beaters, who looked like a horrible team, and literally flew a circle around one beater before spiraling back down towards the ground.

After this Harry zoomed directly towards Ron’s goal hoops, and did an easy figure eight through each loop before heading off towards the stands. Harry swerved in and out of the grandstands, then swooped down and into the construction area below.

He popped up and down through the wooded area, easily dodging the wooden support beams. He heard a loud snapping noise and a muffled yelp from far behind him, and smiled sadly, knowing that one seeker hopeful had just bit it.

Finally Harry pulled out of the supports and flew back to where he originally started at the far-side goalposts. He sat there, straddled on his broomstick, for about forty seconds before the first seeker hopeful made it back, then a further minute until the next came, and third did not come at all, he was being attended to by Madam Pomfrey at the point where he had run into the wooden support beams and fell off his broom.

“Okay, very good so far, I only lost one of ya,” They both smiled wearily, sweat glistening on their foreheads as they panted breathlessly.

“Your next test will be with the bludgers. We’re gonna give Hermione a short break and have the beaters give us their best shot,” He paused for dramatic effect. “All at once. There’ll be ten bludgers out there, and all the hits will be aimed at you two while Hermione and I watch and laugh at your unfortunate position. Don’t worry though, you’ll only be in the flying zone for a few minutes. That last test was to show your agility and endurance, this one tests your agility and your ability to cope with being hit. If you are hit with a bludger, I want you to continue flying like nothing happened. I have had to catch the snitch with a broken arm before, and if you want to be a seeker, you’ll do the same.”

They both gulped and Harry caught Hermione’s eye, motioning for her to start the exercise. She grinned and complied, then flew over to hover next to Harry, kissing his cheek.

“So how go the beaters Scarlet?”

Hermione shrugged. “Dean and Seamus are probably the best pair. Nothing like Fred and George, but good, nonetheless. Only one other pair hit me, but that was by chance. I got this really nasty bruise on my - OH!”

Harry winced as he watched one of the young seekers take a bludger to the family jewels. The boy looked about ready to pass out, but he continued. “Wow, that sucks,” Harry said, shifting himself uncomfortably. “That hurt me just watching it. I can’t imagine what - OUCH!”

Harry exclaimed as the other seeker took a bludger to the jugular. He looked at Hermione who was wincing and rubbing her neck softly. She turned to Harry. “I think we should call this before someone gets killed, Harry.”

He shook his head sadly for a moment. “No, I wanna see them go a few more minutes in pain, and then I’m going to release a few snitches for them.” Hermione gave him a stern look, but nodded anyways.

About five minutes later, Harry called a stop to the slaughter and beckoned the two boys over to him. “You guys tired, hurt, and hungry?” They both nodded, and Harry grinned, emptying his pockets of ten golden snitches. “Good, you can rest after all of these are caught. They’re charmed so that once you catch them they’ll turn a color, Blue for Brian, Red for Greg, and fall to the ground. Let’s see who can catch the most.”

The two boys nodded and took off after the elusive snitches, leaving a chuckling Harry in their wake. After about an hour of flying between the different areas, checking to see how everyone else was doing, Harry saw that there were only two snitches left, both boys had caught four apiece.

He flew over to where Hermione was still training the beaters. “Oi! Dean! Seamus! Get two bludgers and your bats and start pelting them at those seekers out there, work together!”

They both nodded and eagerly set off to beat up on the little kids, seeing as the two that were left were both mere third years. Harry watched with great interest as both seekers dove after the same snitch - neither realizing that there were now two beaters gunning for them - and then laughed as they veered apart in fear when a bludger came zooming through the middle of them, nearly hitting the snitch.

One of the boys though, was able to twist around on his broomstick and continue his dive for the snitch, snagging it a few feet off the ground. Harry had little time to admire the catch when his attention was turned to the other seeker pursuing the snitch by the short side left goal hoop, catching it as he flew through and out of the hoop.

Harry groaned, realizing that they had tied. They both flew up to him now, looking very nervous. “Okay, I dunno who it’ll be yet, it’ll go up on the common room board along with the rest of the team next week. But know this, you two could easily be the starting seeker in at least two of the other three houses.”

Harry smiled as he saw their faces light up at this, and watched them take off to go get changed so they could eat and rest, wondering how he could ever choose between them.

Harry flew over to the other side of the pitch where Ron and Katie were overseeing the chaser and keeper tryouts. “How’s it looking over here?” Harry asked, hoping for some good news. Katie spoke up first. “Well, Ginny Weasley is a lock, she’s been excellent, and works well with everyone. I do like her partnership with Luna Lovegood, they’ve made some great plays together, but on the whole I don’t think Luna is really into the game much, she just sits there in this dreamy state all of the time. So I think I’ll be putting her in the reserves and Ginny will fly with Colin Creevey and I on the first team. Dennis Creevey will be another reserve, as well as Mark Evans, he’s fairly good for a first year.” She paused. “Nothing on you, of course.”

Harry nodded and turned to Ron. “How goes the keeper tryouts captain?” Ron shook his head in disgust. “Terrible, a few noteworthy tryouts, but none that I would want on a first team. I’ll go with Brianna Scurry probably, she’s a fourth year, and she was most likely the best, and she also has nothing else that conflicts with quidditch in her schedule.”

Harry nodded, covering his mouth with one gloved hand to stifle a yawn. “Sounds good. I’m gonna go fetch Hermione and turn in. oh yeah, looks like Dean and Seamus for the new beaters, just to let you know.”

Ron nodded and patted his best friend on the back, casting a nervous glance at Katie. “Alright, get out of here, we’ll all be done relatively soon. We’ve got cards with the guys tonight, Room of Requirement. Right?”

Harry nodded and gave a thumbs up as he spun The Marauder around and headed towards Hermione, who was busy struggling with the bludgers, trying to force them back into their cages.

“Well what do we have here?” Harry asked in a mocking tone, trying not to laugh at Hermione as she writhed on the ground as a bludger attempted to buck her off so that it could be free. “The smartest student in Hogwarts wrestling on the ground with a bludger? What they would say.”

Hermione managed to get the maniacal ball into the box before turning at Harry. “Yeah, well that bludger sure can be a pain sometimes.”

“Yeah,” Harry responded, smirking. “But you like the challenge, don’t you?”

She grinned at him. “Yeah, I like constantly showing it who’s boss.”

Harry grimaced a little before retorting. “Hmm, you know, some bludgers don’t like it when they’re manhandled like that.”

“Yes, but this one will put up with it no matter what.”

Harry took a step closer to her. “And why is that?”

Hermione smiled as she closed the distance between them, catching his palm and rubbing circles on it with her thumb. “Because without me, it would have no direction, no discipline, it would never knock another person off their broom, it would just be constantly beaten on.”

Harry smiled as he placed his forehead on her’s, savoring the feeling of her hot breath on his lips. “It can’t survive without you.”

She brushed her lips against his for the briefest of seconds. “No, it can’t. and I’d be lost without it as well.”

Finally they kissed deeply, loving the fact that they would always be there for each other, that they completed one another. They had not only passionate love, but companionate love as well. They completed each other. And they both knew it.

*****

‘Come on, Harry, focus, you can do this…’ Harry told himself repeatedly as he once again tried to transform nothing but his eyes into those of a basilisk. Harry felt his head begin to grow, and he cut off with a groan, allowing his head to return to its normal size.

“Potter, maybe, well, just maybe this idea is not possible?” Professor McGonogall said, eying Harry wearily. It was late at night, and Harry had been continuing his attempts at partial transformation. Neville and Hermione were watching in interest, neither voicing their opinions.

Harry shook his head violently. “One more try, and then I’ll call it a night.” McGonogall sighed in defeat and waved her hand at him.

“Go on then,”

Harry nodded and scrunched his face up in concentration. ‘Don’t imagine the basilisk, but just the eyes, come on, get that image out of your head, just imagine the eyes, imagine the stare, the petrifaction, you can do it…’

Harry realized as he coaxed himself that possibly if he thought not only of the basilisk’s eyes, but also of the after effects, the petrifaction, the fear, everything.

Slowly, Harry felt his eyes twitching, not growing, but shifting, becoming stronger, not in a vision sense, but in a sense of power. He was doing it, he could feel it. Slowly his eyes completed their transformation.

Harry snapped his head up and opened his eyes. McGonogall gasped along with Hermione, while Neville looked at Harry with a grin. “I guess it is possible Professor,” Harry said before reverting himself back to normal. He was grinning broadly now, knowing that he could now do this at will, it was just a matter of perception.

“That was brilliant Harry!” Hermione squealed as she flung herself in his arms, holding him tight. “Your eyes, they were amazing! They were positively glowing green! But the wards flicked, like they were protecting us from the glare! You did it!”

Harry held Hermione tightly and proudly, but internally frowning to himself. ‘My eyes stayed green? But the basilisk’s eyes were red? Is there more to my eyes than I thought? Maybe this transformation was only the beginning!’

*****

A/N: Okay, not really a cliff-hanger, just a sort of makes-you-think kinda thing. So please R/R! all comments, good and bad, are welcome!

15. Chapter 33

A/N: Long time no see, huh? This chapter totally sux, but oh well. R/R!!!

Chapter 33

Young Love

By: Rita Skeeter

Now, two weeks after the shocking revelation that none other than the-boy-who-lived, the savior of the wizarding world, had become engaged to long time friend and stunningly beautiful muggle-born Hermione Granger, the Daily Prophet has been given an exclusive interview with the young couple. The soon-to-be Potters (no wedding date has yet to be set, but rumor around the school says it may very well be over Christmas Holiday’s) requested your’s truly specifically for their interview. So with no further ado, here is the interview I conducted with the young lovers.

Rita Skeeter: Hello Harry, Hermione. It has been a long time, has it not?

Hermione Granger: Yes, last time we met was in fourth year, I believe.

Harry Potter: Yeah, I remember, you were always bugging me for an interview.

RS: Yes, well, um, a good reporter always needs to buzz around for the best possible information.

HG: <laughing lightly> Yes, you are very good at buzzing around for the details aren’t you Rita?

RS: Yes, well, now on to the story of the year. You two are engaged now, yes?

HP: Yes! We are engaged, it’s not a rumor, it’s true. <He turns and gives a loving smile to his wife-to-be> Whew, it feels great to finally get that one off my chest.

HG: Yes, you have no idea how annoying it can be to be constantly questioned about it. That’s one of the reasons we decided to give this interview.

RS: Okay, now that that is out of the way, Harry, when exactly did you propose to Miss Granger?

HP: <smiling, presumably from the happiness of the memory> Well I had originally intended to ask her on her birthday, but most unfortunately, I was - unable to ask her then, I was in no condition.

RS: I presume this was the time that you spent in the Hogwarts infirmary after your duel at the Chudley Cannons Quidditch Match?

HP: Yes.

RS: Could you give us any details of that duel?

HP: <long pause> I don’t believe that is the subject of this interview, so I have nothing to say about it other than, no, I did not duel with my mate Ron Weasley, we were dueling a man that is to remain unnamed.

RS: I see…now back on topic, Miss Granger, how was the proposal? Was it perfect?

HG: <smiling> Yes, I couldn’t have asked for more. It was so romantic, and sweet. <she looks at her fiancée, who blushes>

RS: So now, for the question of the century, why so soon? How are you sure that you two are ‘meant’ for one another?

HG: You can’t really describe what we have…it’s just…perfect.

HP: Yeah, we always seem to know what the other is thinking, we sort of complete one another.

RS: <frowning slightly in confusion> Complete each other? How?

HG: Well…it’s hard to explain really, but I’ll try my best. Harry and I are very similar in our personalities, we like a lot of the same things. But where we differ in our interests, the other one sort of fills that in. do you know what I mean?

RS: <still confused> No, I’m sorry, I think I may get the basic concept though. Do you have anything to add Harry?

HP: Yes, well, what Hermione’s trying to say, is where one of us may have a fault, the other is there to fill the void. What I lack in motivation for studying and schoolwork, Hermione knows how to get me to fix that. Like what Hermione doesn’t understand about quidditch, I’m there to show her. What one of us can’t do alone, the two of us can do together.

RS: Hmm, yes, I do believe I understand now. Like in the game of chess, where a castle may only go horizontally and vertically, it is limited. A bishop may be able to go diagonally, but is limited to that. Together, they create the queen, which is not limited at all.

<the two youngsters share an amused glance before breaking out in laughter>

HP: I’m sorry, it’s an inside joke. But yes, that’s correct, that’s exactly how we feel.

RS: Okay then. So now, why so soon? Why not wait until after Hogwarts.

HP: <his face suddenly serious> Hermione and I are in the forefront of the war against he-who-must-not-be-named (Potter actually spoke the name in this instance, something only few wizards or witches in the world are brave enough to do, including the headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore) and neither of us know if we’ll make it out alive. We want the world to know how much we loved one another if one of us should not make it.

RS: <nodding in understanding> I understand. How do you feel about this war Harry, Hermione? Why would two young children such as yourselves be at the forefront of it?

<the two share a look, apparently speaking without words, but only by knowing the other’s facial expressions>

HP: Well…I don’t think we can give you much information there, except for the fact that we will be in this war and we will be on the front lines and he-who-must-not-be-named (once again the abomination’s name was spoken) will be defeated.

RS: You seem very confident that you-know-who will be defeated.

HG: We are, unlike he-who-must-not-be-named (once again the dark lord’s name was spoken, this reporter was mildly shocked that such a young girl had the courage to say the name, but then I would expect nothing less from the future Mrs. Potter) we have something to fight for.

RS: And what might that be?

HP: <smiling at Hermione> Each other. Love, friendship, and everything in-between. He-who-must-not-be-named (the true name was spoken) has no one that loves him, or cares for him. I almost pity him for that. His death eaters do not like him, they loath him, but they love the power that he brings to them. In return for their service, he gives them power. As he-who-must-not-be-named (by now I was nearly getting used to hearing the dark lord’s name being used) once told me, ‘There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.’ That is the motto that the death eaters live by, they believe in it, but I do not. They think only ‘pure blood’ wizards are worthy of having power. <Harry smiles wickedly and looks me dead in the eye> Are you ready for a real bombshell?

RS: <excited> Yes, very much so.

HP: <grins> Let me tell you a small story then. A young man, Tom Riddle, met a woman one night in the small town of Little Hangleton. He loved this woman and eventually she bared his child. Before the baby was born though, this woman revealed to Tom that she was a witch, and that it was likely that their soon-to-be-son was going to be a wizard. The man was scared of the idea of wizards and witches, and he promptly fled, leaving the woman and the unborn baby. The baby was born sometime later, and the mother died in childbirth, but not before giving a name, Tom Marvolo Riddle.

RS: How sad.

HP: Yes, but that is only part of the story. So Tom is raised in a muggle orphanage, where he is picked on and abused by the other children. Tom begins to resent them for this. Then, when he’s eleven years old, he gets his Hogwarts letter. Tom was sorted into Slytherin and became the most brilliant student the school had ever seen. But this wasn’t enough for Tom. He wanted power, he wanted revenge on the father that left him to a horrible ten years at a muggle orphanage, as well as revenge on the children of that orphanage. When Tom graduated, he fell deeply into the dark arts, undergoing many dangerous, magical transformations until he was near-immortal. Not even the killing curse could kill him. This was when he went back to Little Hangleton, and murdered his father and his family. After this, Lord You-Know-What (the name was once again spokes, but the daily prophet does not allow that word in it’s publishing’s) was born.

RS: <in shock> Wow, that is quite some story Harry.

HG: <smiling at fiancee> Yes, it is. Ironic isn’t it? The man who is known as the biggest pureblood advocate in the world is only a half-blood himself.

RS: Yes, very ironic indeed. But it seems we have swayed from the original topic of your engagement. Have you decided whether this will be a large wedding or a small one?

HP: Oh, a small one for sure. Only our very closest friends and family will be invited. The service will probably only have perhaps fifty to one hundred people in attendance.

RS: I see, have you two decided on a date?

HG: Well, we aren’t too sure yet, but most likely we’ll have it over Christmas vacations.

RS: Where do you plan on having it?

HP: <smiling mysteriously> Wouldn’t you like to know?

<we all laugh>

RS: So are we going to be expecting any baby Potter’s anytime soon?

<they both blush brilliantly at the question>

HG: Um, no, definitely not until after he-who-must-not-be-named (the true name was spoken yet again) is defeated. It would be completely unfair to a child to grow up while its parents are fighting in a war.

RS: So you are both saving yourselves for marriage then?

HP: <frowning> I don’t believe that’s any of your business Rita. Or anyone else’s for that matter.

RS: Very well, a good reporter knows when she has pushed too far. That’s all the questions I have for you. So good day then.

<Harry and Hermione nod politely and the interview is finished>

So there you have it, fellow wizards and witches, reported by yours truly, we now have all of the answers of the world’s most famous couple that everyone has been dying for. I hope that you all enjoyed the interview and I believe we all wish Harry and Hermione a long, lovely marriage.

Harry sighed slightly as he put the newspaper down. They were in mid-October now, and after getting fed up with all of the rumors surrounding their relationship, Harry and Hermione finally sent Rita Skeeter an owl promising an exclusive interview. They agreed that if Rita wrote a nice article, all fact and no fiction, that they would sign a wizard’s contract to never tell Rita’s secret, as long as she promised to never write anything derogatory about them again.

The article was excepted as well as could be hoped for, finally killing all the rumor’s and crushing many young Harry Potter groupies dreams. Hermione stopped getting hate mail from all of the jealous women in the wizarding world, and girls stopped coming up to Harry in the hallways and explaining to him why they were better for him than Hermione.

But the big bombshell of the interview, the fact that Lord Voldemort was only a half-blood, brought out an outrage in the wizarding world. All of the pure-blooded families that had been supporting what Voldemort was doing by getting rid of the mudbloods and half-bloods were suddenly at a loss for words that their hero was a fraud.

Harry was sure that this article had caused an outrage in Voldemort’s ranks, he had felt his scar burning over the last few days, no doubt caused by Voldemort murdering those who had risen to oppose him once they had learned of his heritage.

Hermione sighed next to him, her head resting on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it Harry, no matter what we do, there’s still going to be people that hate us for being together. So there’s no use in getting all worked up about it.”

Harry smiled and looked at his fiancee, knowing that she was right. “Yeah, I know. So, you have any interesting stories for me today?”

“Hmm,” Hermione said thoughtfully. “Well before transfiguration today some third year Hufflepuff came up to me and asked if I would help her make a love potion, because I obviously had experience at it.”

A few weeks ago, this statement would have sent Harry off the edge, but now, he was used to this sort of thing. He laughed. “So what did you tell her?”

“Nothing, I just laughed and told her that I’ve never brewed a love potion in my life and that I was sorry that I couldn’t help her. I just said that the best way to win a man’s heart is to always be there for him.”

Harry smiled at her. “Well isn’t that the truth.”

*****

A few days later Harry found himself in the tunnel of the Quidditch stadium, ready to come out and lead his team to victory over Ravenclaw.

“Okay guys, now listen up.” Ron said, and instantly all eyes were on him. “Ravenclaw has nothing on us, we all know that. We are stronger in every position. I just want to see a lot of precision passing, and watch for that long ball that Seymore likes to throw from his goal hoops every once and a while. Davies is pretty decent as a chaser, but the rest of them are nothing to worry about.”

He turned to Harry. “Harry, you know Cho’s out to get you, so you better watch your back out there.”

Harry nodded, understanding what Ron was saying. Things between the two of them had never really been mended after their breakup the year before. Cho was certainly not happy about the engagement, so she was sure to be playing rough today.

“Alright team, that’s it. Now let’s go take our first step to the quidditch cup!”

A/N: I rpomise the next chapter will be better, I just haven’t been in the writing mood lately, so sorry.

Cheers!

16. Chapter 34

A/N: Well here’s your first quidditch game, I hope you like it! Oh yeah, and there’s some fluff thrown in there as well…

*****

Chapter 34

Taking in a large sniff of the cool breeze that enveloped the quidditch stadium, Harry straddled his broom and kicked off towards the open skies. The crowd screamed in delight as the new announcer, Kerry Wood, the first-year brother of legendary Gryffindor Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood, announced the starting line-ups.

“And the biggest surprise today is that Harry Potter is no longer riding his faithful Firebolt, as it was destroyed last year by that frog-woman,” Harry noted with a smile that McGonogall did not berate young Kerry for this snippet. At the surprised gasps heard from the crowd, Kerry continued with a grin.

“He will instead be riding a broom of his own creation - The Marauder! It’s a true mystery how brilliant of a broom this will be but we will find out soon. Harry Potter has only lost but one game in all of his Hogwarts days, and it was an iffy loss as it was, Potter was unconscious on the ground when the snitch was caught by the late Cedric Diggory.” He paused for a small moment of silence. Though they had a formal moment of silence at Hufflepuff’s first game the year before, they still found it necessary to honor his name when necessary.

Kerry started talking again in a flash. “Harry has been the most successful seeker this school has ever seen, even Charlie Weasley has been quoted to saying that Potter is far better than he ever was. Also-”

“Kerry, would you kindly focus on maybe some of the other players biographies while we wait for the balls to be released?” McGonogall said, clicking her tongue impatiently.

Kerry cleared his voice and muttered, “Oh yeah…um…well, that Cho Chang is okay I suppose…” His eyes lit up and his voice got bigger. “But she sure is one of the best looking girls in the school!”

Most of the crowd either laughed or rolled their eyes, and before McGonogall could berate him further, Madam Hooch had come to the middle of the field. “Oh! And the chasers take their positions, as do the beaters - Gryffindor now boasting two new beaters - sixth years Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan - as replacements for the fabulous Weasley twins. Speaking of Weasley’s - Ron is still strong between the hoops, and apparently Ginny is a very adept chaser, and along with veteran Katie Bell and the ever-energetic Colin Creevey, the Gryffindor’s seem to once again be the team to beat this year.”

“Kerry, could you at least pretend to not be completely biased in this game?”

The young Wood groaned. “But the Gryffindor’s are so much more interesting - oh! Hooch has released the snitch, and now the bludgers, and finally the quaffle is up - and the game begins!”

Harry immediately took to flying over the field of play, watching intensely for the snitch, while listening to the young Gryffindor’s surprisingly brilliant commentary. “The quaffle is taken by the veteran Bell in true Gryffindor fashion. She gives Ravenclaw captain Roger Davies a quick nip and tuck slip, and she’s free heading towards the left hoop!”

The crowd roared as Katie streaked to the opposing team’s hoops. “And here she comes, Ravenclaw keeper David James positioning himself securely in front of the left goal-hoop, Katie Bell streaks up - and she passes by! No! She hurls a backward pass to a speeding Ginny Weasley by the far right hoop, James has no chance - GOAL TO GRYFFINDOR!”

The Gryffindors all cheered and Harry did a quick fist pump before once again looking for the snitch. Cho was trailing him closely, but eventually she came up and flew next to him.

“So things with you and Hermone are quite good I hear?”

Harry was surprised not only at the question, but at the sincerity of her voice. Harry gave the only answer that he could. “Yes. I lover her and she loves me. That’s all there is to it.”

Cho sighed next to him. “I only wonder, had I not been so horrible last year, do you think we could have ever had that?”

Harry was taken by surprise again and looked at her questionably. “Honestly Cho, no, I don’t. one way or another I was always going to end up with Hermione. I dunno how long I’ve lover her, it just took me till this summer to realize it.”

Cho’s face had reddened next to him. “So what are you saying? That I wasn’t good enough for you? You honestly believe that ugly, pathetic perennial bookworm is better for you than me?”

Harry was shocked to say the least, he was about ready to give Cho a literal death stare when he held back, trying to keep his temper. “Goodbye Cho.”

He dove away from her and into the fray of chasers. He couldn’t retaliate on Cho illegally, so he sped in front of one of the Ravenclaw beaters, hoping to draw his attention.

Cho followed him of course, presumably trying to irk him more and improve her minute possibility of beating Harry to the snitch. What she didn’t know was that while on a broom, Harry was an even quicker and more cunning thinker than Hermione. She also didn’t know that Harry’s broom was unbreakable.

Harry sped towards the ground, looking to the crowd like he was trying to shake Cho off, which he could have done easily, but he held back so that he could have a bludger hit towards him.

Harry grinned as his wish was granted. “Harry! Bludger on your left!” Screamed Colin Creevey from above him. Harry gave a wicked grin to the young chaser and waited…waited…Cho was still trailing him…finally the bludger was within ten feet, and gasps were heard throughout the crowd as Harry swung his legs off the broom and pulled his broom level, swinging it with all his might at the bludger.

His efforts paid off, and with a loud crack the bludger was sent flying at Cho. An even louder crack was heard when Cho’s perfect little nose broke when the bludger came into contact with her face.

Harry immediately dove to catch her before she fell, succeeding before she hit the ground, and laying her down gently, he whispered, “Don’t you ever speak ill of Hermione or any of my friends ever again.”

He wasn’t sure if she had heard him on the count of her being unconscious, but he was sure she got the message.

Over the loud speaker, Kerry was crying with mirth. “BLOODY BRILLIANT! THAT WAS THE MOST AMAZING TRICK I’VE EVER SEEN! INCREDABLE! DID YOU GET A PHOTO OF THAT DENNIS? THAT IS A PLAY THAT WE WILL BE SEEING OVER AND OVER FOR YEARS TO COME!”

The Gryffindor’s were all cheering hysterically while the Ravenclaws fumed in anger, most of it coming from the fact that they knew what Harry did was perfectly legal.

“And now after that incredible display of talent, back to the flow of play, where Gryffindor leads 40-10, Ravenclaw seeker Terry Boot was able to sneak one by the amazing Ron Weasley, who has already amounted twelve saves!”

Harry still had not spotted the snitch, but he flew back to his stationary position while Cho was taken care of down on the field. Ravenclaw had called a time-out, obviously, and Harry used that time to check for the snitch.

He only felt a slight twinge of guilt when Cho finally flew back onto the field - as far away from Harry as humanly possible - with a large brace on her nose. She was sporting a black eye as well.

“Okay, now that Cho knows who’s boss-”

“Kerry!”

“Okay, sorry, jeez, anyways, Ginny Weasley on the quaffle. She ducks under Boot, gives a quick pass to Colin - that little mouse has some speed, let me tell ya! Creevey streaking towards the hoop, Davies closing in…Colin pulls a textbook corkscrew flip, he’s behind the goal hoops now, he shoots through the right hoop and hurls it behind him, James no where in sight…GOAL TO GRYFFINDOR!”

Ten minutes later Harry still had yet to see the snitch, but he caught sight of a hint of gold and a blue robe on a broom behind it. “D*mn!” He yelled, and took off towards Cho and the snitch.

“Oh! And Cho is behind the snitch! Now we get to see the first true test of Harry’s broom and - wow!” The crowd was in a stunned silence as Harry caught up to Cho in a matter of seconds.

“That is the fastest broom I have ever seen! Incredible! Harry Potter just pulled back 200 meters on Cho -who is riding a Comet 300, the newest line - in less than three seconds! And now he’s pulled ahead! Cho looks on in disbelief as Potter closes in - YES! He’s caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins 220-30!”

Harry immediately turned to the stands and spotted Hermione scurrying to the ground fighting the crowd, leaving many wincing people in her wake. Apparently she had developed one mean elbow over the years.

Harry saved her the trouble and flew straight to her, she saw him coming and grinned, and he picker up in his arms and circled the crowd.

“Hey you,” Hermione said grinning, as she hugged him tightly.

“Hi, so do I get a celebratory snog?”

Hermione grinned and leaned in, stopping centimeters in front of his lips. She sniffed a few times and scrunched her face up in disgust, then pulled back with a smirk. “You’re all stinky, I’m not kissing you until you get a shower.”

“Aww, okay, but I dunno if I can wait that long. Care to join me?” He grinned at her as she made her traditional McGonogall face.

“I’m not that easy, Mr. Potter.”

Harry pouted and stuck his tongue out at her playfully.

“Oh yeah, very mature Harry, sticking your tongue out and all.”

He smirked at her and retorted with, “I didn’t hear you complaining last time I stuck my tongue out at you.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and succeeded in making Hermione give a deep blush.

“Er…well, um…that was a er, different situation…”

“Ooh, nice save Scarlet.”

She glared at him again, and he laughed before pressing his lips to hers. She resisted at first, but eventually she succumbed and returned the kiss with all the passion that she could, neither of them caring that the entire student body was watching them from below.

*****

The party in Gryffindor Tower that night was brilliant. Dennis had had the pictures from the match developed already, and Dean and Seamus had enlarged the one of Cho being bashed in the face to banner size while it was charmed to say different things, the favorite being (and Seamus was very proud of this discovery) ‘Take that Cho the hoe!’

A few hours into the party, Dean and Seamus came into the common room (they had left unnoticed an hour earlier) with a crate of firewhiskey. “One each for everyone on the team!” Dean announced excitedly, throwing Harry the first bottle.

He popped the top off and was about to down a gulp when Hermione went to scary mode. “Harry Potter! If you think for one moment that I’m going to sit here and allow you to drink that UNDER AGE, IN SCHOOL, then you are sorely mistaken! Get rid of that right now Potter!”

Harry, who had faced Voldemort four times in his life, and come away from all of them alive, had never been so scared in all his life as he was at Hermione’s glare at that moment.

He quietly shoved his bottle to an eager Parvati, while lowering his head. “Yes maam.”

Dean and Seamus fell to the floor in laughter while Ron made loud whipping noises behind them. Hermione turned her glare to them.

“Well at least Harry has a girlfriend to be whipped by you insufferable gits!”

That shut them up, and it was Parvati, Lavender, and Ginny’s turn to laugh uncontrollably.

Hermione rolled her eyes at all the antics and turned her attention back on her fiancée. “Come on Harry, let’s go upstairs and away from this madness.”

He quickly agreed and they started to ascend the stairs to the boy’s dormitory when Neville, of all people, yelled after them, “You better make it a quickie cuz I’m tired and I wanna get to bed soon!”

The common room exploded, even more so when Dean added, “What? With Harry it’s always a quickie!”

Hermione locked her jaw as she continued up the stairs, firmly grasping Harry’s hand, while his other one, unbeknownst to her, was up in the air behind him, giving Dean and Neville a solid view of his middle finger.

Harry and Hermione finally reached Harry’s dorm and collapsed on his bed. Hermione grinned mischievously at him as she crawled on top of him, playfully nipping at his ears and planting a few chaste kisses on his mouth.

“Now for that celebratory snog…”

*****

A/N: Well it was short, but I can’t go on about quidditch forever, although I do promise that the next one’ll be longer.

17. Chapter 34

A/N: Hey, I finally got a quick one up, eh? Now that the summer is approaching, the updates will be much quicker (well, after finals and such, which for me are May 18 and 19), like how I used to be. (I wrote my first ever fan-fic in five days on another site. It was called ‘Harry Potter and the Gryffindor Sword’, horrible next to this one, but I was proud that I was able to sh*t out 40,000 words in five days.)

Okay, there’s a bunch of references from my favorite pieces of ‘literature’ in this chapter, as well as a few plot devices. Enjoy!

Cheers!

Chapter 34

“OH MY GOD!”

Harry woke up with a start and immediately flushed a deep red, hurriedly pulling his bed sheets over his face - as well as Hermione, who was laying topless next to him, her face buried in Harry’s neck while her hand was located somewhere south of the border.

Harry winced when Hermione awoke, her embarrassment of being caught like that making her clench her fists in anger. Not a good thing for Harry who had had a rough night with her only a few hours before.

By now Ron, who had been the one to open the curtains, had rushed from the room making gagging noises, but Harry had an inkling suspicion that he wasn’t just messing around. If he ever saw his best friend in that position…Harry shook the mental image away and turned to Hermione, who was neatly blending in with the bed sheets in her embarrassment.

“Is he gone?” She asked, voice quivering.

“Yeah,” He gave out a low laugh. “Bet ya twenty galleons he doesn’t believe us when we tell him that we’re still both virgins.”

“No bet,” She replied warily, sitting up and stretching before retrieving her clothing that was scattered all around the area and getting dressed in haste. She gave him a quick kiss before fleeing the boys dormitory and leaving Harry to the prying eyes of Dean, Seamus, and Neville.

“Come on guys, there’s more you can do in bed than just sex, I swear on my Marauder that Hermione and I haven’t crossed that line yet, we’re gonna wait until we’re married.”

A few of them nodded and Harry shrugged, throwing some pants and his cloak on as he got up. “Well, we’ve got weapons today, right? Summers said that he was bringing in a few specialists today, so let’s get some breakfast and get the ruddy hell over there!”

*****

After a short-lived and rather embarrassing breakfast (Parvati and Lavender kept glancing at Harry and Hermione, breaking into fits of giggles each time) the Victors all made their way to Weapons, all but Ginny were in the class.

They all took their seats and were somewhat surprised to see three other men standing in the room with Summers, all bearing a different weapon. One man looked to be in his late teens, had violently bright, spiky yellow hair, and had a powerful looking, long, thick sword draped over his back. Harry gulped, realizing that this would be the guy that he would most likely be fighting against. He was dressed in a blue suit of some kind, and his eyes glowed with some sort of green substance.

The man standing next to him was much less intimidating, as he couldn’t have been more than a few years older than the students, if any at all. What was intimidating was the double-edged sword that he held in his hands, a v-shaped blade at each end, both glowing a beautiful sea-blue. He wore a red bandana over his head that partially covered his midnight-blue hair, a color Harry had never seen on a man before. He wore simple trousers in red and blue, but Harry got the feeling that he was much more dangerous than he looked.

The third was a huge man bearing an axe as large as Harry’s torso. Harry immediately thought that the man must be a half-giant, but he had never seen one that was so…ripped. Muscles bulged from every curve of his body, and he was dressed in very tight and small golden warrior clothing, which just amplified his muscles even more.

“Okay guys, once our fourth guest gets here-”

“Sorry I’m late!” Came a high pitched voice from behind the class along with the sound of a door swinging open.

Every guy in the class’ jaw dropped, except for Harry, who turned and gave his girlfriend a quick kiss, assuring her that he was invested in her and only her. Hermione smiled back at him, and nervousness she may have had completely vanished, and she laid her head on Harry’s shoulder, sighing softly.

The woman walked towards the front of the class, all eyes following her. She wore unbelievably revealing clothes, a small white shirt that could have easily fit a runt in the Creevey family, and small biker shorts that didn’t extend more than five inches past her waistline. She had a beautiful face and long, brown hair that reached to her lower back.

Every guy in the room groaned when she went up to the yellow-haired man and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.

Professor Summers smiled and returned to the class. “How nice of you to show up Tifa,” The brunette blushed a little but nodded. “Well everyone, this is Tifa, you can refer to her as trainer Tifa or Professor Tifa, or just plain Tifa. In fact, I don’t think anyone here minds what they are called.” The four guests nodded their head in agreement.

“Very well, Tifa here will be your practical self-defense teacher. She will be teaching you all in hand-to-hand combat. Who would like to volunteer?”

Before anyone could react, Malfoy scurried to the front of the class to meet the bombshell brunette. Sora chuckled. “Good luck Mister Malfoy.”

Draco smirked at the Professor, obviously thinking that he could easily handle a girl. Tifa gave him a sort of small nod, then lifted her hands in a fighting stance, slowly hopping up and down from one foot to the other.

Draco charged in like a moron, giving a war cry, which was abruptly cut off when Tifa took one step forward, ducked easily under Draco’s blow while swinging one foot around to take out his legs, and then coming up in a strong uppercut with her right fist and hitting Draco in the stomach before he ever even hit the ground.

Draco collapsed to the ground, panting and wheezing for breath, clutching his chest while the rest of the class roared in laughter, many of the guys silently thanking Draco for being the fastest to center-stage.

Tifa gave them all a beautiful smile, then turned back and went to her spiky-haired boyfriend. Sora cleared his throat and continued. “Well, Tifa’s fiancée here is the greatest swordsman in the land, you can call him Cloud. We’ll pass with the demonstration, we need to get to our little demo that’s coming up soon.”

All those at the front of the class grinned while the class started whispering excitedly. Sora nodded at the blue-haired man. “That man is Serge, the only swallow master known to man.” Serge gave a small smile and the girls swooned.

Sora chuckled a little before pointing out the largest man in the room. “That there is Kongol, last man of the long-lost Gigantor race,” Hermione gave a small gasp. “He is a master with the axe and he also is very good at handling and controlling dragons.”

The class stared in awe as the Kongol grunted, apparently his way of saying hello.

“Okay then, just to show you how powerful technique is over power. Kongol, Serge, please take up your weapons, Cloud, good luck. When either Cloud has been dealt a fatal blow, or both Kongol and Serge have been defeated, this fight will be over - don’t worry -” He said to the scared looks on all the young wizards and witches faces. “The room has been charmed so that the weapons may do no physical harm, when they come into contact with skin, they will only pass through and leave a mark - completely non-painful. Now, begin!”

The class watched in awe as Cloud smirked and stepped forward, Tifa leaning back against the wall smiling knowingly while Kongol and Serge closed in on him nervously.

Kongol gave a war cry and dove in, swinging his axe in a high overhead blow while Serge charged in behind him, one point of his swallow pointed forward.

Cloud looked like he was toying with children as he brought his sword up in a block to the big man’s axe, and catching his blade in the crook of one of the axe’s blades, he pivoted on his right foot and kicked off the Gigantor with his right, twisting his sword with incredible technique and flipping over the back of the giant, ripping the axe from his grasp and sending it flying across the room.

He slashed his blade clean through the huge man’s neck, and flung his right foot out behind him to catch the unsuspecting Serge in the face.

Serge’s nose broke under the impact and he stumbled back, giving Cloud his window. The amazing swordsman was nothing but a flurry of arms as he held a two-hand grip on his sword and attacked the young Serge mercilessly, never letting up on his attack.

Cloud threw a vicious combo of a downward slice, which Serge countered by cutting upwards with his swallow and spinning, using the momentum to hurl the other end of the swallow at Cloud.

Cloud saw this coming a mile away and dove down to the ground with his hands, and caught the end of Serge’s swallow with his feet in an acrobatic headstand. Serge tried to reverse the swallow and slice Cloud from his pelvis to his throat, but Cloud, knowing that this was the only attack available to Serge, kicked off of the swallow and spun sideways, and the blade missed him by inches, while the momentum of the swing caused Serge to trip forward.

His fall, had this been a true duel, would have been ended on the end of Cloud’s sword, which now was thrust through the young man’s midsection. Somehow Cloud had been able to flip out of his handstand and end up on his knees while putting his blade in the exact location where he knew Serge’s momentum would take him.

Cloud withdrew his blade and nodded at Serge, then at Kongol, and retook his place next to his girlfriend Tifa.

Sora smiled and looked at his awestruck class. “Now don’t go having any delusions of grandeur, Cloud is the best swordsman there has ever been. He has slain dragons, a corrupt Soldier from the past, but that is his story to tell.”

Harry was astonished to see the blond man in tears, being comforted by the voluptuous Tifa while she mouthed something while nodding her head.

‘That’s odd,’ Harry thought, as he read the woman’s lips. ‘What would air have to do with anything?’

“Now,” Sora continued, snapping Harry out of his daze as he tuned back in on the weapons master of Hogwarts. “Those using swords will be with Cloud, those using axes will be taught by Kongol, those of you with swallows are with Serge, while the people whose weapons promote small hand-to-hand combat, such as knives or nun-chucks, will be with Tifa. Finally all those with long range weapons are with me.”

The class split evenly into many groups, Harry finding himself in a small group of four; it was just Cloud, Harry, Malfoy, and Katrina Giggs. He glanced around and spotted Ron standing with Serge, Dean and Seamus with Kongol, while Parvati, Lavender, Neville, and Hermione were talking animatedly with Professor Sora Summers.

“Okay, what do the three of you know about your weapons?” Cloud asked them in a deep, manly voice that showed no emotion. Apparently ‘Cloud’ was not an emotional person.

Harry held his up. “This is the Gryffindor Sword, but it’s also known as ‘The Sword of Bravery’. It belonged to Godric Gryffindor.” Cloud nodded his head as he examined the sword, and turned to face Katrina.

“This is the Yun-Harla,” Cloud raised his eyebrows but said nothing. “Rumor’s got it that it comes from a distant land. It’s actually organic, an actual, living sword. It bonds with it’s owner - me - and together we fight more powerfully.”

Cloud cleared his throat and turned to Draco, who smirked and pulled out a long, sharp blade. “This is the Masamune.”

“No it’s not.” Cloud interrupted sharply, peering at the sword. “I destroyed the masamune myself, after taking care of it’s owner of course. The masamune is stuck in the very lifestream of this planet, it will never return. Only one known thing has ever ventured into the earth’s core and lived to tell the tale.”

“What was that?” Harry blurted, not realizing that his question may be rude.

Cloud gave him a tight smile. “Me.”

Harry’s mouth formed an ‘o’ and he shut up, while Draco fumed next to me. “Well if this isn’t the masamune, then what is it? I swear, when my father hears about this-”

“He won’t be able to do anything about it,” Cloud interrupted forcefully. “What you have is nothing more than a relic, a remake of the sword. It is powerful nonetheless, but nothing compared to the Masamune.”

“So what is your sword called?” Katrina asked, but something in her eyes lead Harry to believe that she knew more about it than she was letting on.

Cloud gave her a quizzical expression before answering, “The Buster Sword. I received it from a dying friend, the first friend I had ever had.”

Harry took a glance at Ron, not able to imagine what he would go through if he lost him. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Now let’s see what you’ve got!”

Harry nodded and rose his sword, trying to not show any fear at the obvious master. Cloud struck with an overhead cut immediately, and Harry threw his blade up to parry and succeeded, but Cloud didn’t release the pressure and Harry’s arms began to tremble under the strength of Cloud.

Suddenly, with no idea of how it happened, Harry was on the ground with a sword stuck threw his stomach. “What in Merlin?” He stammered, and Cloud gave him a small nod.

“You did well to defend yourself, but you need to pay more attention to my movements, aside from what I do with my sword. You were so preoccupied with parrying my blow that you didn’t even notice when I kicked out your knees.”

He turned to Katrina, shook his head slightly, and then came to Draco. “You next.”

Draco nodded, and without any warning sliced his sword at Cloud. The spiky haired man, with reflexes like a Kneazle, had his sword up in the blink of an eye, and easily parried the blow with a loud clinging noise. Next he took a step towards Draco, who was struggling to keep Cloud’s sword from breaking through, and elbowed the blonde-haired Slytherin hard in the nose.

Draco staggered back in pain, and then found himself with a slice mark across his neck. Had this been a true duel, Draco’s head would be lying on the floor.

He gave Draco a slight smile. “You give no warning, very good. I do not believe completely in honor, in the end, if you are dishonorable, you are still the man breathing while the other is dead. Who is the winner? You are.”

Draco smirked at Harry, obviously intending to make a slight at Harry’s bravery and honor. But Cloud cut him off. “But you have weak technique. True, your parry was textbook, but that sword is far too heavy for you. The man I destroyed who held that true sword, you actually look somewhat like him, was one of the strongest yet agile men in the world. You are much too weak for a sword like that. You need to strengthen your body if you ever wish to duel efficiently with it.”

The smirk was no where to be seen now, which gave Harry a small satisfaction. Cloud turned stone-faced to Katrina. “Giggs, now it is your turn.”

She nodded and brought her odd-looking sword up. It was an actual plant, only it was hard as steel and seemed to work well with Katrina. She smiled and rose it. Surprising both Harry and Draco, Cloud took the initiative and struck first.

Katrina rose her blade in front of her and spun, knocking the Buster Sword aside while she got herself positioned behind Cloud. She tried to slice through his upper-body, but it was to no avail as he had already ducked.

Without even looking down, Katrina leapt in the air and over Cloud’s sweeping kick that he had defeated both Draco and Harry with. Cloud immediately brought his sword behind him on a diagonal slant to block Katrina’s next blow, then, stunning everyone, he pivoted on the sword, driving the blade into the ground as he lifted himself up and flipped atop of Katrina’s outstretch blade, touching one foot on the sword before flipping backwards and landing a hard kick on Katrina’s face, sending her flying backwards.

Cloud hurled his sword at Katrina even before she hit the ground, and the blade stuck through her stomach and into the floor beneath her.

Katrina sighed in defeat, holding her nose to help stop the blood and tossed it back to Cloud. He spoke. “You are strong, you know your strengths, and your weaknesses. I only have one piece of advice for you. It is not bravery if you commit the act in cowardice.”

Harry was blown away by his words. ‘What in Merlin does that mean?’ A quick glance at Draco told him that the young man was thinking the same thing. Katrina nodded with a tight smile, and looked thoughtfully at the wall, as if contemplating the words. Apparently she had gotten the message.

“That is all for today. I will leave you now. We’ll meet again next week.”

Cloud left with these words, leaving a very confused Draco and Harry in his wake, as well as a thoughtful Katrina.

*****

A/N: No doubt some of you are confused right now. But some of you may have gotten some of the plot twists there. I highly recommend playing the video games Crono Cross, Final Fantasy 7 (hey, I can put Tifa and Cloud together if I want! :p ps, did you catch the aerith reference?), and The Legend of Dragoon, the last one being the greatest video game of all time.

I hope you guys liked that chapter though, lol, Mister_Midnight, I’m sure you got at least a few of the references! I dunno about you other guys though.

R/R!

18. Chapter 36

A/N: Here’s the newest chapter. No fluff! It’s about time I did one of these! Oh yeah, quick update highlighting the four video game characters I introduced will be put up soon as well.

Cheers!

*****

Chapter 36

Twice a week for the next few weeks, Harry, Katrina, and Draco had their training with Cloud. Harry and Draco were starting to come along, and had even learned to somewhat respect one another. Oh they hated each other, very much, but at least they had started to acknowledge the other’s skills.

Harry hated to admit it, but Draco was a damned-good wizard, and he was making strides in his swordsmanship as well.

But Katrina, Katrina was on a whole different level. She may not have had the magical power that Harry and Draco did, but she was by far the best out of any of them with a sword.

Now it was the beginning of November, October having been a rather uneventful month, and Harry finally had the first peaceful Halloween that he could ever remember.

“Draco, Harry, now attack Katrina. Work together, you have to get past your mutual dislike for one another if you are going to be able to defeat her.” Cloud told them, once again in his deep, thick voice that gave no emotion. In fact, the man rarely ever showed emotion at all, except for when there was a whisper of the word ‘air’ and then his eyes would tear up for a moment before he continued on.

He had never hesitated to call Harry and Draco by their first names, but he seemed to dislike Katrina for some reason. He always called her ‘Giggs’, something that she had become very annoyed about, and soon the hatred became mutual between the two.

Katrina was also the only one that could somewhat hold her own against the sword master, by holding her own, that meant last longer than thirty seconds. Harry had no idea where the man had learned all of his skills, he had offered no knowledge of his past, and brushed aside all questions pertaining to his personal life.

He was so young, 19, Harry finally discovered after a few weeks of prying, so how could he have ever gotten so powerful? There was also something strange about the man, and all of the other trainers as well. None of them carried wands, and he had never seen them use magic. What could this mean? Were they muggles?

Harry snapped out of his thoughts and brought his sword to full height, and with his peripheral vision noted that Draco had done the same. Katrina eyed them both closely, waiting for their attack.

Harry saw Draco flex a muscle in his swinging arm, and broke into action. Because he knew exactly where Draco would attack, Harry tried to maneuver his blade into a position where Katrina could not block it.

Katrina easily parried Draco’s blow, but that was to be expected. With her living sword out in front of her, Katrina kicked back with amazing agility and caught Harry’s sword hand, sending the Sword of Bravery hurling across the room.

A quick step back and she had sliced neatly threw Harry’s torso. He sighed and sat back against the wall to watch Katrina finish up Draco within the next few seconds, finally turning to Cloud when Draco had joined him, having a neat mark trailing from his inner thigh to the opposite earlobe.

“I like to see that you anticipated Draco’s movements well, Harry. K-<cough> Giggs is just too well trained, but in time you will be at that level. Draco, you may have lasted longer, but that was because your movements put Harry in peril. Look past your pride and work with Harry efficiently, that is the only way the two of you may ever defeat Giggs.”

It was not lost to Harry that Cloud had finally almost spoken Katrina’s name, perhaps she was finally breaking through his barriers. He chanced a glance at Malfoy, who sneered back at him. Harry returned it with just as much venom. Cloud just didn’t understand that there was a major war occurring right now, and Draco was in with Voldemort while Harry was with Dumbledore. Of course, he couldn’t prove that Draco had joined Tom Riddle’s forces, but he was dead sure that he had.

Sighing, Harry turned and surveyed the rest of the room. Ron was desperately trying to defend himself against Serge, who was swinging and hacking his swallow with such speed and precision that Ron’s body seemed to be completely covered in the red slash-marks.

He also saw Hermione and Neville teaming up and Tifa, only to have their butts thoroughly whipped each time. Dean and Seamus were the only ones to have successfully gotten a blow on one of the trainers, but their overall record against the Gigantor Kongol was about a million to one.

The class ended a few moments later, and Harry hurried outside with Hermione, Ron, and Luna. There was a Hogsmeade weekend coming up soon, and Ron had confided in Harry that he was finally going to ask Luna out for a date.

“Erm, Luna, can I ask you something?” Ron asked abruptly. Harry grinned at Hermione and they took this as their leave, hurriedly making an excuse to go to the common room.

A solid twenty minutes later, Ron and Luna walked into the common room, grinning madly. Harry smiled at them. “So what are the two of you doing this Saturday?”

The blushing that came from this question answered all questions they may have had. “Well we can double-date then, how about that? We like to stay away from Madam Puddiefoot’s, but we usually have a great time just looking at the joke shops and having some butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks. What do ya say?”

“That would be lovely,” Luna answered dreamily. “But we have to look out for the Chrifen Hourdots, they’re all over the place this time of the year. My father said that they like to wreck havoc on young couples.”

Harry forced his eyes to stay on Luna, against the powerful urge to roll them upwards. Hermione stifled a laugh with a cough, while Ron blushed and didn’t say anything.

They were all looking for a distraction when Katrina came into the common room. A sudden idea came to Harry.

“Katrina!”

The straight-haired black Gryffindor Sixth Year turned to Harry and smiled. “Yes?”

Harry stood from his position on the couch and approached her. “My friends and I have this sort of…group. We train together for the war against Voldemort and -”

Katrina laughed. “You mean the Victors?”

Harry looked astonished, Katrina just rolled her eyes at him. “Please Harry, the entire school knows about your little group, even if we don’t know what you do. I really only know what you call yourselves cuz I heard Parvati let it slip once while she was talking to Parvati.” Harry considered, realizing that this was all probably completely true and possible.

Katrina continued. “So what is it then? You want me to join?”

Harry nodded, they sure could use her swordsmanship.

Katrina surprised him by shaking her head. “No, I hardly know any of you Harry, and I don’t want to join the war against Voldemort.”

Harry was taken aback by her words, but respected them nonetheless. He nodded. “Okay, if that’s how you feel then I won’t burden you with questions. But can you at least help me with one thing?”

She raised an eyebrow but nodded carefully. “Perhaps.”

Harry gave her a nervous smile. “Well, can you…you know, help me with my swordsmanship? I mean, you’re incredible at it and lord knows I need the help for when I face Voldemort, I need all the help I can get.”

Katrina shifted a little. “Are you sure you want help from me? You hardly know me!”

Harry considered her for a second before responding. “Yes, true, but I feel…like I can trust you. Do you know what I mean?”

Katrina shook her head slightly, tears forming in her eyes as she slowly shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

Without another word she ran off to the girls dormitories and left a very confused Harry Potter behind her.

*****

“Alright Ron, you ready?”

“You bet your sorry little ass I am.”

Harry grinned at his best friend and rose his sword, while Ron raised his swallow. They were in the Room of Requirement, just the two of them, to see who the better swordsman was.

All special spells were in place, of course, so neither of them could be injured by their weapons in this duel.

Ron struck first, an overhead blow intended to slice Harry’s shoulder. Harry side-stepped the blow and swept upwards with his own blade, but Ron had continued his downward strike so that the opposite end of swallow was now pointed upwards and glanced Harry’s blow aside.

Harry was about to cut at Ron when a searing pain in his forehead sent him to the ground.

“AARRGGHH!!”

A small group of cloaked men walked in stealth up to a house located in muggle London. The house was somehow familiar…

As they neared the house the men passed the mailbox located in the front of the driveway, one word clearly written on its side…

Granger

“Potter! He can see this! I can feel him!”

Harry woke up abruptly, drenched in sweat. “Harry! What’s wrong?” Asked a very concerned Ron Weasley.

“GO TO DUMBLEDORE! VOLDEMORT IS ATTACKING THE GRANGERS!”

Ron paled and bolted from the room, not asking questions.

“Snitch! I need your help! Now!” Harry hissed, touching his wristband. The gem glowed gold and Snitch emerged from it, looking expectedly at Harry.

“The Granger’s house. Now!” Harry didn’t stop to think that Snitch couldn’t have possibly known where the house was, but within seconds, Harry was standing in the driveway, looking at the backs of the death eaters.

“MAXIMUS REDUCTO!”

Harry blew the driveway into a million pieces, sending the death eaters flying into the air. Harry stunned them one at a time as they came down. He managed to get nearly all of them, not caring how injured most of them were by the fifty foot fall.

One man managed to evade the stunning. In a quick movement the two immediately shot a disarming spell at the other, knocking their wands away. Harry had no time to go after his wand as the man immediately charged him with a long, slick, saber.

The death eater’s mask fell away to reveal Lucius Malfoy. Harry grimaced but was able to bring his own sword (he thanked Merlin that he had been clutching it when Snitch had transported them) up in a block to save himself from being decapitated.

Lucius immediately brought his sword in a sideways sweep, and Harry had to spin and deflect the sword to his left. Before he could react Lucius was attacking again, and Harry was forced to defend.

Harry couldn’t tell exactly what was happening, but he knew that he was being driven backwards into a trap. But he was powerless to stop it.

“Avada Kedavra!”

Harry heard the voice of Bellatrix Lestrange but was powerless to stop it. Praying for a miss, he continued to block Lucius’ swings, and saw a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye.

There was a loud thump behind him, and a million golden feathers shot out into the dark of night.

Snitch had taken the curse for him.

Harry fought back tears as he continued to defend himself against Malfoy’s relentless attack.

He never heard Lestrange’s muffled gasp as she was hit from behind with a curse, and then apparated away with a soft pop.

He blocked yet another slice but wound up on his back, his feet swept from under him. He stared up in horror as Lucius brought his sword down…

Clang!

Malfoy’s sword was knocked to the side as another had come into contact with it. Harry rolled away and saw flashes of steel glistening in the moonlight, and pained moans from Malfoy as his arms were sliced open by the superior swordsman, who was holding a long, oddly-shaped sword.

Malfoy disapparated suddenly and Harry followed the blade from the tip of the sword to the hand that held it, then up the arm and to the face of his saviour.

His jaw dropped.

A man with jet-black hair and a muscle-bound body looked back at him.

Kris Giggs had saved his life.

*****

A/N: And the plot thickens. How’d you like it? Leave me a review and let me know! It’s great motivation! (not to mention an ego booster. A good friend of mine, lady cassie, author of Harry Potter and Dumbledore’s Feint - a must read (check the recommendation section at kindred spirits) has named her ego iago. I think I may go with bob for mine. Good and impersonal, not to mention there’s the movie ‘what about bob’ that’s about psychology, so it comes from that as well. Who knew that the meaning behind bob could be so insightful!)

R/R!!!

19. NOT AN UPDATE!!! Read for background info on the weapons tr

A/N: I understand that a lot of people were confused by the last chapter. Let me attempt to remedy some of this.

Cloud - Main character from the game Final Fantasy 7. As a boy he had always dreamed of growing up to be in Soldier, and become the next great warrior, like Sephiroth. Cloud left his hometown (leaving Tifa behind, though they weren’t close) and joined the military. He never made it into Soldier like his best friend Zack, who became Sephiroth’s partner. To make a long, long story short (and skip all the untrue flashbacks) Sephiroth was a good guy who went insane when they reached their destination in Cloud’s hometown, where he was reunited with Tifa. Sephiroth murdered Tifa’s father, and then Tifa tried to confront him. Sephiroth sliced her across the chess and sent her down a flight of stairs. Zack came in and ran past Tifa to confront Sephiroth. Sephiroth makes quick work of Zack, he tells his dying words to Cloud. Some sh*t goes down, and Cloud confronts Sephiroth. Sephiroth stabs Cloud through the chest, but miraculously Cloud turns the tables and throws Sephiroth to his death. Many years pass and a clone of Sephiroth starts killing people. Lots more stuff happens and eventually Cloud duels Sephiroth in the very lifestream of the planet. Cloud wins once and for all, but the destiny of the world is a topic still heavily debated. Some say that the humans were destroyed, some say that they were not. We’ll only know the truth when Advent Children comes out.

Tifa - Knew Cloud as a child, grew to love him as a man. Cloud was seemingly in love with Aeris, before her untimely death (still to this day the greatest plot twist ever in a video game). As the game progressed Cloud and Tifa came closer, and shared a night together before the final battle. What they did overnight is still up for debate. Cloud saves Tifa’s life after the final battle and says something about knowing where to find Aeris. This clouds (no pun intended) Cloud’s feelings even more. Who did he love? We may never know.

Kongol - Basically a huge giant who realized the error of his ways and joined the good guys. He really didn’t have much character to him.

Serge - a young man, dead in one world and alive in another. He is haunted by a dream of him murdering his friend, Kid. After many dream sequences (all replaying the exact same dream) we finally come to the present and witness the dream become reality. Very moving sequence (followed by the most impossible battle ever - I don’t think it is possible to win, I think that you have to lose).

That’s basically it. Their backgrounds won’t come into play in the story, just some nifty little one-liners for fun. They will be of help to Harry and some others in the story as well. Who these others are, you’ll find out later.

Keep an eye and an ear out for these references - they’ll have bearing - mostly foreshadowing - to the plot. There are Star Wars references as well, and I’ll be throwing some more in later as well from other works of literature that I happen to like.

The next update should come soon, perhaps tomorrow, if not, most likely Thursday.

Cheers!

20. Sorry! A/N!

A/N:

Sorry! No update, and there probably won’t be one for a while.

I’ve been visiting a few shipper sites lately and have finally determined to write an essay on the harmonian ship, using everything I possibly can from cannon and outside references. I will also be putting in all of the heron and chocoloteer ’evidence’ and why it can be shot down with more than a simple ’b/c it’s funny’ or ’it just shows that they’re friends’ like they use against all of us. Needless to say this is gonna take me a LONG time, and I dunno when I’ll be writing again.

If you’d like to help, just send me an e-mail (it’s in my profile) and we’ll see what we can come up with. (I’ll be sure to give credit to everyone that helps me.)

Once again, I’m SO sorry that this isn’t an update, but rather the opposite, telling you all that there WON’T be an update for some time to come.

Sort of ironic isn’t it?

Cheers!

21. Chapter 37

A/N: It’s about bloody time I got this up! I’ve had this chapter and the next one (which will go up tomorrow) finished for quite some time now, but my computer’s gay, so I haven’t been able to post it. But here it is now!

*****

Chapter 37

Harry could only stare, unblinkingly, at the man who had twice attempted to take his life, but had just now saved it.

Giggs shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Harry wasn’t sure what to do, so he said, “Er, thanks.” Then slapped himself on the forehead. How dumb had that sounded?

The man gave a small chuckle and nodded, then they fell again into an uneasy silence, only the crickets of night and ruffling of leaves making sound. Harry gazed at the man’s sword and gasped. It was the Yun-Harla!

But that was impossible, how? Harry thought, and took a deeper glance at the sword. No, it wasn’t the Yun-Harla, but very similar to it. It was alive, just like the Yun-Harla, but on closer inspection Harry noticed that the colors were different, as well as many of the grooves on the sword.

Giggs was scratching his left shoulder uncomfortably, having seen Harry’s interest in the sword, seemingly waiting for an inevitable question.

“How, I mean…Katrina has a sword just like that, but…not the same…confused…” Harry stammered, looking at the man that he had five minutes ago considered his number one enemy next to Voldemort.

Giggs chuckled nervously, slicing the air a few times with the blade. “This is known as the Yun-Yammka, a real beauty, isn’t she?” Harry could only nod. “It was carved from the coral reefs of Yuuzan’tar, a remote island filled with magical beings who love life, and cherish it, but ironically, being classified as magical creatures they exist outside of magic, and cannot use it, much like muggles. I’m sure you have seen this sword’s brother, the Yun-Harla, with my…daughter. There are others that are similar, but these two seem to be the greatest, I left the Harla for my daughter when I was forced to abandon her.”

Harry noticed the hurt in the man’s eyes and asked sympathetically, “So, I mean, why did you leave her? Who was her mother? Why haven’t you ever come back for her?”

Giggs gave him a grim smile. “It’s…complicated, to put it lightly. I’m sure that one day I will be reunited with her, and hopefully I can live life to the fullest with her after that.”

Harry was puzzled still, but didn’t press, instead he nodded his head, pretending to understand.

The uneasy conversation was broken when three loud cracks echoed through the night. Harry hurriedly got to his feet and spun around to see Moody, Lupin, and Tonks surveying the scene, seemingly panting for breath. They must have been very rushed to get out here.

“Maximum blasting charm,” Harry explained, motioning to the unconscious death eaters. He grimaced. “Bellatrix and Lucius got away, Malfoy almost took my head with him. If it weren’t for Kris here,” He jerked a finger at the black-haired blue-eyed man behind him. “I’d probably be dead.”

The three nodded just as a few more people portkeyed in.

“HARRY!” He was nearly knocked to the ground when Hermione threw herself on him in a bone-crushing hug, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist and holding on for dear life.

After a few moments she let go of him and smiled over his shoulder. “Hello Snitch,” She said with a wave.

Harry spun around and his jaw dropped at the sight of his golden-scaled dragon, looking completely unharmed.

Harry was unable to think further on this when he heard Ron’s voice. “You!”

His red headed friend made a beeline for Giggs, but Harry held him back. “Relax Ron, it’s okay. He saved my life.”

Ron looked at him incredulously for a moment, but seeing the sincerity and truth in Harry’s eyes, he nodded and backed off. Harry was slightly startled to see Serge, Cloud, Kongol, Tifa, and Professor Summers all standing on the driveway as well, next to the Hogwarts headmaster and Harry’s head of house, Minerva McGonogall.

“It’s been a long time Kris,” Serge said, smiling from ear to ear.

“Has it?” Cloud said mysteriously, and everyone looked at him in confusion, whether it be from the simple fact that they all seemed to know Giggs or wondering what the hell he was talking about Harry didn’t know.

Giggs shrugged and nodded to them all. “Too long, anyways. It’s good to see you, everyone.”

Harry and Hermione shared a silent look, and it was Hermione who spoke up. “Um yeah, well, now that that’s over, would someone mind telling us how you all know one another?”

Kongol gave a booming chuckle. “Ahh, Kongol went to school with these men and woman. Friends of Kongol for long time, they have been.”

Harry was only even more confused now. Giggs remedied that. “They’re muggles Harry. Tifa, Cloud, Kongol, Serge, Sora, they’re all graduated from the Seed Academy with me a few years ago. It’s a place where the most elite hand-to-hand combatants are trained. As you can guess, Cloud graduated at the top of our class, with me right behind him.”

The trio was stunned. They all knew each other? From school? How did this fit into everything?

Giggs looked to the stars and sighed. “All in good time Harry, all in good time.” With a soft pop he dissapparated, leaving everyone else unsure of what to do or say.

The silence was broken by a light cough from the Granger’s porch. “Good evening all,” Mr. Granger, Hermione’s father, said nervously. “It’s great to see you Hermione, and you as well, Harry, but may I ask, what are you all doing here?”

*****

After a long night of explaining exactly what happened and obliviating all the muggles that had witnessed the duel (excluding the Granger’s, of course), the trio finally found themselves back in the Gryffindor Common Room.

“What a night huh?” Ron said to no one in particular. “Kris Giggs shows up and lo and behold - he’s decided that he wants to save us, not kill us.”

“Did I just hear something about my dad?” Came an interested voice from the girl’s staircase. The three of them all turned their heads to see Katrina walking towards them, one hand covering her mouth in a yawn while the other one held a book.

“Yeah,” Harry answered her, rubbing his eyes and patting the place on the couch next to him. Normally a girlfriend would be very jealous of this gesture, but Hermione knew full well that Harry had eyes only for her, and there was the fact that she was snuggled up close to him, her head on his shoulder, as well.

Katrina took the invite and sat next to Harry, giving him a prying look. “So you say my father didn’t try to kill you this time?” She spoke with no emotion, just like her father. Harry was stricken by how similar she was to her father, excluding the whole evilness part. But even that wasn’t for sure right now.

Harry sighed. Why couldn’t anything be taken at face value in his life? “Yeah, I saw the Granger’s house being attacked, so immediately I got Snitch and he did his weird-apparation thing and we were at the Granger’s. I took most of the death eater’s by surprise, but Voldemort was already gone at that point. The only ones I didn’t get were Malfoy and Lestrange. I fought Malfoy with swords, and I eventually he got the better of me, but before he could take a finishing swipe at my head your dad jumped in and blocked him.”

Harry rubbed his hands together over his face in a mixture of emotions. “But why would he do that? He’s tried to kill me twice already, and come damn near close to being successful. Anyways, after that your dad fought Lucius for about thirty seconds before he got the best of him, and Lucius took off.”

Next Harry gave a shrill laugh. “It seems that your dad went to school with those guys that are tutoring us in Weapons class. Something like SeeD, I think.”

Katrina nodded. “Yeah, I know. Cloud pulled me aside the other day and told me all about it.”

Harry and the others were startled by this. Ron blurted out what was on all their minds, “But Cloud hates you!”

The young Giggs laughed. “Not as much as you’d think. But anyways, I’ve got to get to bed, I dunno why I couldn’t sleep earlier.” She yawned, then smiled. “But it looks like I can now. Goodnight all.”

With a parting wave she left for the girls dormitories, leaving a slightly shaken Harry, Ron, and Hermione behind her. Harry shared a glance with Hermione, wondering exactly what Katrina was referring to. Hermione scrunched her face up in response, and Harry knew that she was thinking the same thing. He gave her a small shrug, and by the look on her face he knew that she didn’t think it as minor an occurrence as he did.

“I really wish you two wouldn’t do that,” Ron said, breaking Harry and Hermione from their silent conversation, each giving him a quizzical look. Ron rolled his eyes. “The way that you two talk without words and such, it gets really annoying when I’m sitting her watching your conversation and have no idea what you’re talking about. But whatever, you obviously don’t care. I’m tired, I’m going to sleep. I’ll see you both in the morning.”

With that he spun on his heel and stormed off to the boys dormitories, leaving Harry and Hermione shell-shocked behind him. “Er, well…maybe when he has what we have, he’ll stop being jealous?” Harry offered.

Hermione sighed and shook her head. “I don’t get it, I mean, I thought he was past this? I thought he said that he was fine with us being together? And he’s got a girlfriend now doesn’t he? Why would he be jealous?”

Harry could only shrug. “No idea, and well, technically Luna’s not really his girlfriend, they’re just going to Hogsmeade together. But whatever, he’s gone now, so here we, all alone, in the common room, late at night, with no distractions…” He let his sentence trail off with a suggestive wink, and Hermione grinned at him.

She pulled Harry on top of her as they smashed their lips together in a passionate kiss, and they stayed that way for a long time into the night, all thoughts of Ron and Voldemort no longer on their mind.

*****

It was a few days later when they finally got to their first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. Harry was very excited, and it showed as he waited at the base of the girls stairs with Ron, both anxious about their dates.

“Oi! Luna! What’s taking you so bloody long up there? We’re gonna miss the carriages at this rate! And they’ve got free turkey legs in there today!” Harry shook his head and laughed at his friend’s remark.

“Always thinking with your stomach aren’t you Piggy?”

“Shut up Drake.”

Harry rolled his eyes, and returned his focus to the stairs, not commenting on his nickname. In all truthfulness, Harry didn’t care much for the name. It reminded him far to much of Draco Malfoy, the person who Harry hated probably third or fourth most in the world, right behind Voldemort and Wormtail, as well as Snape and Bellatrix Lestrange. He didn’t like Draco’s father to much either.

Harry smirked to himself. ‘Draco thinks he’s my arch-nemesis. Ha! I’ve got so many more important people to worry about, but he’s got all his sights and hatred on me. It’s kind of sad, really.’

That thought had him smiling when Luna, Ginny (her and Dean were going to Hogsmeade just as friends, and nothing more, along with Neville - Harry wondered what may happen there), Parvati, Lavender, and Hermione all came down the stairs, looking cute all bundled up in their winter cloaks and Gryffindor scarves.

Parvati and Lavender (who had each broken up with their boyfriends of a few months ago, then gotten new ones, and broken up with them as well) were going with Seamus, all as friends. Though Harry noted that he had seen Lavender taking one or two longing glances at the sandy-haired Irishman over the last few weeks.

Katrina had opted to go stag, despite the protests of all the girls. They all wanted to make her a part of the Victors, bringing their number to an even ten (though that wasn’t the reason) but she for some reason stubbornly refused to join the group, saying that she didn’t deserve to be in it. This baffled everyone, but after a few weeks they finally gave up on it. Katrina just seemed to be the kind of girl that liked to be on her own. Parvati and Lavender were insistent that she had a secret boyfriend though, as she was always disappearing late at night, and no one knew where to.

“Hey there beautiful,” Harry said with a smile as Hermione ascended the stairs and walked over to him. She blushed slightly and gave him a chaste kiss on the mouth.

“You know, you already have me Potter, you don’t need to resort to flattery,” She told him, grinning, knowing full well that she loved the flattery just as much as Harry loved to give it to her.

Harry grinned back and said, “I know, but flattery is what gets me the things that all of our friends don’t get to see,” He finished the sentence with a smirk, and that quickly turned into a grin as Hermione’s face went as red as a stunner spell, and the rest of his friends gave him sickening looks.

“Not an image I wanted in my head before I go on my first date Drake,” Ron replied, and a few people giggled.

Then Lavender, giggling, piped up, “What’s that about head Ron?”

Now the room went into an all-out uproar in laughter, even Hermione joining in. At least she did know that innuendo.

Everyone left the school in a much lighter mood, laughing and making jokes at one another’s expense. When all nine of them crammed into one carriage to go to Hogsmeade, Seamus was dismayed, as the last one to get in, that there was no where left to sit. He spun around in angry circles until Parvati said, laughing, “Why don’t you sit on your rumpy?”

Seamus scowled at her while everyone else exploded in laughter. He eventually just smirked at them all and sat himself right in Lavender’s lap, who immediately flushed a deep shade a magenta. Harry noticed that a slight twinge of jealousy flashed through Parvati’s eyes before she too, joined in all the laughter.

Everyone said their good-bye’s after they departed the carriage, all shaking their heads at Luna’s parting comment. “Everyone remember not to drink more than four butterbeers today, because it’s the first Saturday of November and if you do it will mean bad luck for the rest of the month. My father told me that a groppledunk scaper came to him in a dream once and told him that. Have a good day then.”

Harry took Hermione’s hand and lead her through all of Hogsmeade, making sure to stop at every store that he could find. He felt a sort of sick pleasure when he saw Cho Chang walking with her group of friends with a brace over her nose.

What he wasn’t expecting was for her to come up and talk to him. “Harry,” She said nervously, obviously scared of what she was about to say.

“Yes?” Harry answered impatiently, wondering what in Merlin’s beard he was doing listening to this girl after what she said about Hermione.

Cho took a deep breath, then let it out before talking. “Look Harry, you have to know that I didn’t mean those things I said about Hermione at the quidditch game,” Harry snorted and looked away, not believing her.

But Cho didn’t back down so easily. “Please, you have to understand, I - I know that you’re a much better seeker than I am,” ‘Well there’s one thing you’ve got right’ Harry thought to himself angrily. “So I thought that the only way I could beat you was by distracting you, and the best way to do that would be to insult your fiancee.”

Hermione stiffened next to him, and Harry felt her hand squeeze his a little tighter. Cho continued. “Look, I’m sorry, I really am, but I honestly didn’t mean those things I said about Hermione,” Cho looked to be near tears at this point, and Harry, getting a sudden inspiration, narrowed his eyes slightly and reached out, probing her mind with the Legilmency skills that he had been learning from Professor Dumbledore.

He didn’t hear the rest of Cho’s pleas, for he was too astonished to think anything for a moment after he realized that she was completely sincere. After deducting this, he smiled at her and put up a hand to stop her rant. “It’s okay Cho, I believe you,”

Hermione shot him a quick look, and she read his face quickly, instantly understanding what he had done. She smiled warmly and turned back to Cho.

“It’s okay Cho, I forgive you also. Oh - and please tell your friend Marrieta that I’m sorry about the pimples, if she needs me too I can take the curse off.”

Cho dropped her jaw in disbelief for a moment before nodding with an ear to ear smile. “Thank you, you have no idea how much that means to me. I’ll tell Marietta what you said, but she did get those pimples hexed off, it just took the strongest medi-witch in all of England to do it for her.”

Hermione blushed at the compliment, then smiled at Cho, elbowing Harry in the ribs.

“What? Oh - yeah. Er, Cho, I’m sorry about hitting that bludger at you, I was just really mad and-”

Now it was Cho’s turn to put up her hand. “No, don’t apologize, it was quite alright. The move was completely legal, not to mention it gives me something new to work on when I go to professional quidditch tryouts next year.”

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at her. “Any team would be lucky to have you Cho. Well, if you’ll excuse us, we need to be buying some Christmas presents. So we’ll see you later then!”

After a friendly wave, they departed, and Harry and Hermione began their Christmas shopping. They had decided to buy everything together and give things out as being from the both of them, rather than buy things separate.

For Parvati and Lavender, Hermione had owled her mother and ordered a year-long subscription to a muggle girl gossip magazine, something called Cosmo. For Dean Harry had snuck out one night and in a muggle video store, bought a muggle video called ‘100 greatest football goals of all time’, and he used his ‘celebrity status’ to get a signed photograph of the Irish National Quidditch Team, signed by all the players.

For Neville he and Hermione had gotten him a gag-gift of a popular muggle book series that a wizard had gotten hold of, and wrote one for wizards, entitled, How to Improve Your Spell Aim for Dummies.

He and Hermione had bought an adorable baby kitten for Ginny, (much better looking than Crookshanks in Harry’s opinion, but he didn’t say that), and for Ron - well they were still working on Ron.

Harry laughed aloud as they passed a bookstore towards the end of the town. “Look Hermione - 101 Reasons to be Afraid of Werewolves. Do you think Remus would like that?”

Hermione grinned and they walked into the store together. Hermione immediately pulled Harry into an aisle and fiercely pressed her lips to his. Harry was confused but satisfied at first until he saw what Hermione had obviously seen.

Kris Giggs was at the counter, purchasing a book entitled. The Most Horrible Dark Curses that are not Considered Unforgivables. Harry watched him closely as Giggs paid for the purchase and dissapparated on the spot, apparently not wanting to be seen.

Harry then put forth all his passion into the kiss, which lasted a few more minutes until Hermione pulled away, breathless. “Has he gone yet?” She whispered in his ear, so as not to be overheard.

Harry smirked at her. “Oh he left ages ago,”

Hermione tried to glare at him but couldn’t so instead she gave him one last quick kiss before they went and purchased the book for Lupin. Then Harry thought of something. If Giggs had bought that book…

“Hermione,” He said suddenly, letting go of her hand. “You go ahead without me to the Three Broomsticks, there’s something I need to do.” Harry felt very, very guilty about it, but he used his legilmency to push her mind into agreeing with him, and he breathed a small sigh of relief when she nodded.

“Okay,” She said, standing on her toes and giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. “I’ll meet you there in say, half an hour?”

Harry nodded and watched as she left and was lost in the crowded street, then he turned back to the bookstore and, feeling guilty again, swiped the same book that Giggs had purchased, knowing that he was underage to buy such a book, and he didn’t want it known that Harry Potter was studying the dark arts.

Knowing that he had some free time before he was going to meet Hermione and the others at the three broomsticks, Harry charmed the front and back covers of the book to resemble a quidditch book temporarily, and he sat down on a bench and read, horrified, of some of the worst curses ever known to wizard kind.

*****

A/N: Okay, now for the bad news. I really don’t like where my story is going. I’m way to far from cannon for my liking, so there’ll only be about fifteen-twenty more chapters before I wrap this all up. The final battle will be in one HUGE epilogue, with plenty of character deaths, both victors and death eaters alike. R/R!!!

22. Chapter 38

A/N: Here’s the other update! The next chapter is about seven pages in the works, and should be finished soon. Then next fic I write will unfortunately not be able to be posted here on portkey, b/c while I’ll try to stick as much h/hr in there as I can, it’s not gonna be about them, but rather about Sirius from the time he told james to switch secret keepers until the time that he falls through the veil, with a possible epilogue of his funeral. Anyways, hope you like the update!

*****

Chapter 38

“What’s wrong Harry?” Were the first words out of Hermione’s mouth when he walked into The Three Broomsticks.

Ginny, Neville, and Dean were sitting at one table, laughing animatedly about something, while Lavender, Parvati, and Seamus sat at the table next to them, the two girls flirting shamelessly while Seamus was on the receiving end of many jealous glares of other guys in the bar.

Lastly there was Luna and Ron, who seemed to be having a great time with each other, but not showing any signs of affection, which Harry thought rather odd, and Hermione, who was looking at him in concern.

Hermione came up to him and put a hand to his forehead. “Are you feeling alright?” She asked him softly, her concerned face reminding Harry of an angel.

Harry knew he couldn’t tell her the truth, so he tried his best to lie to the one person who knew him better than any other being on the planet. He put a hand to one of his temples and massaged it gently. “Headache,” He grunted.

Hermione smiled and put her forehead to his, brining her hands up to massage both of his temples. It was Harry who was on the receiving end of all the glares now. Hermione leaned forward, and putting her head gently on his shoulder, whispered, “You can’t fool me you know. But obviously there’s something you aren’t telling us that bothers you. I’m sure you have your reasons Harry, but remember, we all love you, and when you are ready, you can tell us anything.”

Harry sighed, burying his face into the crook of his fiancée’s neck. “I know ‘Mione, I know. I promise, when I’m ready, you’ll be the first to know.”

Harry felt her smile into his shoulder, then he brought her face to match his, and kissed her softly, receiving cat-calls from Dean and Seamus while the rest of the men in the restaurant looked on in envy.

“Oi! When you two are done snogging over there we’d like to eat lunch at some point!” A few people laughed - Luna the most prominent - and the young couple blushed furiously, taking their seat at a table with Ron and Luna.

“So what did you two do today?” Harry asked Ron, who shrugged.

“You know, the usual. Zonko’s, Honkeyduke’s, the quidditch supply store, Luna even dragged me into that bookshop on the far side of town…”

“Now now Ronald, you know that you liked that bookshop just as much as I did.” At Ron’s furious blush after Luna’s statement, Harry and Hermione grinned.

“Uh oh Ron, snogging in the bookstore? What would your mother think about that?”

Ron stared at them, aghast. “You wouldn’t!”

Before they could answer two voices came from their side. “No, but we would!”

Ron spun around and gasped in horror as the twins, who must have been stocking up at Zonko’s for the day before returning to Diagon Alley, stormed from the store, clutching their sides in laughter.

“NO!” Ron yelped, and tore after them, a hysterical Dean, Seamus, and Harry right behind them, while the girls all sighed and rolled their eyes.

They were all outside in the drop of a hat, but the twins were no where to be seen. Then a loud, shrill voice came from behind them, petrifying Ron as onlookers stopped to watch.

“RONALD WEASLEY!”

They all turned around to see a fuming Molly Weasley behind them.

“M-mum, I, wh-what are you, huh?”

Harry winced for his best friend when the next words came out of his mother’s mouth.

“HOW COULD YOU! SNOGGING IN A PUBLIC BOOK STORE? I THOUGHT I BROUGHT YOU UP BETTER THAN THAT RONALD!”

Ron’s eyes were wide with fear, his knuckles white. The rest of the street, Dean, Seamus, and Harry included, were beside themselves with laughter, even if they did know that it was wrong.

“AND YOU HAD BETTER BE DOING NOTHING MORE THAN SNOGGING YOUNG MAN! IF YOUR FIRST CHILD’S NAME IS MACEY - SO HELP ME MERLIN!”

Everyone howled with laughter, knowing that the only bookstore in Hogsmeade was Macey’s Books. Deana and Seamus had tears of laughter running down their cheeks.

“WHAT’S NEXT RONALD? HONKEYDUKE’S PERHAPS? OR MAYBE ZONKO’S? OH WAIT - HOW ABOUT CHURH! THEN YOUR FIRST CHILD’S NAME CAN BE MARY!”

Half the surrounding crowd was on their knees in laughter, any decency to be embarrassed for the poor boy completely forgotten. Harry didn’t know how Ron and Luna would ever live this down.

Suddenly though, Molly Weasley’s image began to flicker and smoke, until it slowly disappeared. Fred and George, wiping tears away from their jovial faces, stepped out top the crowd.

“Thank you everyone - our latest invention - Motherly Love! Just a small capsule and it takes the image and voice of the mother of your target. Then all you’ve got to do is stay out of sight and speak into this-” Fred held up a small speaker phone proudly, which he then shrank and slipped in his front shirt pocket. “And the image will last for about five to ten minutes, repeating everything you say! Pick them up at Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes, number ninety-three Diagon Alley! Five sickles a piece, or buy a pack of five for a galleon! Thank you once again, and have a great time with your shopping.”

The crowd cheered loudly while Fred and George beamed, until finally they left and the cheering went down, and everyone returned to their daily activities.

The nine of them (the girls had come out upon hearing Mrs. Weasley’s voice) walked back into the Three Broomsticks, everyone still chuckling except for Ron, who was scowling and blushing furiously, and Luna, who didn’t seem to care.

“It’s alright Ronald,” Luna said, patting him on the arm. “I once had a frog-nosed skipper jump into my blouse once in the middle of Diagon Alley - it caused quite the scene!”

She started to laugh hysterically again, the rest joining in mainly because of the absurdity of the statement. But Ron, Harry was glad to notice, had calmed down somewhat. He leaned over and kissed Luna lightly on the cheek.

“RONALD WEASLEY! NO SNOGGING IN PUBLIC!” Seamus screamed, sending the entire bar into hysteria once again, even Ron joined in on the laughter.

About an hour later, when they were all done eating, Harry and Hermione bade farewell to the rest so that they could finish their Christmas shopping.

“Hmm, so we still need…” Hermione began to tick things off her fingers. “A real present for Neville, something for Ron, and I still have to get something for my parents,”

“And I need something for Dudley.” Harry finished, and Hermione smiled at him.

“Anyways, I already know what I’m making for Ron - a broomstick, I just need to add a few more things to it, Neville I think we should head to the greenhouse for, we could get your parents some quidditch robes or something,” He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes.

“Okay, I’ll leave your parents to you, and for Dudley - I’m still not to sure yet. How ‘bout we split up and meet at the greenhouse at the edge of town in about forty minutes?”

Hermione smiled and nodded, then gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving.

Harry turned and first made his way to the quidditch supply shop, picked up those things necessary for Ron’s broomstick, then he wandered the streets, wondering what he could possibly get Dudley.

Harry knew that Dudley liked to box, so he was hoping that he could maybe find something along that line when he came across a physical training store. Harry shrugged and stepped in, wondering if he would find anything useful.

He walked around the store for a few minutes before gasping at the sight of the perfect present.

There was some kind of magical boxing device, where it was consisted of only the upper body, which could be modified to age and weight class, and talent level. It would float around and punch back as one tried to hit it, basically like a real boxing match, except that the thing had an unbreakable charm on it, and the gloves were charmed so that while they landed blows, they did no damage, only a small shock each time the person boxing was hit.

It was all packed easily into a tight package that Harry was sure Hedwig could handle, so he bought it immediately and tucked it under his left arm, checking the time. He immediately took off in a dead sprint when he noticed that he only had a few minutes left until he was supposed to meet Hermione.

He made it just as Hermione walked up, smiling at him. She saw that he had been running and leaned into him, giving him a small sniff. “You need a shower Harry, you’ve been running haven’t you?”

Harry shrugged and smirked at her. “I’ll take a shower if you’ll join me.”

Now usually this comment made Hermione blush, and that always made Harry feel great because he had the upper hand, but this time she smiled softly and replied, “Hmm, maybe I will.”

Harry was floored by this comment and couldn’t utter a coherent sound until they were well inside the greenhouse, looking for a good plant for Neville.

“Hey, look at this,” Harry said, pointing out a small magical cactus, entitled, ‘Humphrey Bogart’.

“Interesting,” Hermione said, reading the inscription. “It says that the spines from this cactus can be transfigured into long-lasting quills, and once a week it when watered it gives off an aroma that can be used as some of the best cologne and perfume in the world. But it takes a skilled Herbology expert to handle it.”

She turned to Harry, who smiled. “We’ll take it.”

*****

About an hour later Harry and Hermione had finally made their way back to the castle, and were somewhat surprised to find the common room completely deserted.

“Well, I’ll hide the girls presents in my room, as well as Dudley’s, and you can take Humphrey and Ron’s broomstick up to your room. That way no one’ll find the presents they aren’t suppose to, A’ight?” Harry asked, finishing the last word with a strong American accent, getting a giggle from Hermione.

“Okay then, I’ll see you back here in five minutes.” She placed a quick kiss on his nose and they retreated to their respective dormitories, hid the presents, and then met back in the common room.

As soon as they were both back, Harry seized the opportunity and pulled Hermione to him, kissing her hard while picking her up by the thighs so that she wrapped her legs around his waste.

After a while he broke their kiss and smiled at her. “Now how about that shower.”

Hermione bit her lip for a moment, and then smiled. “Alright.”

Needless to say, the next half hour was some of the best time either of them had ever experienced, though they still kept their promise to keep their virginity until they were married, however hard it was to do so.

*****

It was a warm, sunny winter’s morning the next weekend, as Gryffindor would be playing their inaugural football game of the season, against the Hufflepuffs.

Dean was sure that the team would have no problems winning the match (and neither did they, because Dean could literally run circles around everyone on the team) but that didn’t stop him from being slightly nervous before the match.

“Hello all and welcome to the first ever football match in Hogwarts history, Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor!” Boomed the voice of Kerry Wood, who would be both the quidditch and football announcer this year.

“For those of you who don’t know, football is to muggles what quidditch is to wizards. There are two teams of eleven players, and the object of the game is to, using only their feet, put the ball in the back of the opposing team’s net. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands in this wonderful sport.”

There was a loud cheer from all the muggle-borns and many half-bloods, while the purebloods, even many Slytherins, looked on in interest.

“And now, for the Hufflepuffs, goalkeeper Jon Busch, defenders Cory Gibbs, Steve Jolley, Danny Califf, and Ryan Nelson!” The goalkeeper and four defenders ran out onto the field, clapping their hands above their heads.

“And midfielder’s; Kylie Martino, Cristina Henderson, Stephanie Kline, and Caroline Jones!”

Another loud roar as they all took the field. “And forwards Ernie Macmillan and Zacharias Smith!”

Finally the Hufflepuffs gave one last roar, and it was the Gryffindor’s turn to be announced.

“And now, for the Gryffindor Lions!”

A roar equal to that of a hurricane swept through the crowd.

“And here they are now, Weasley, Kirke, Sloper, Bocanegra, and Pope!”

More cheers from the Gryffindor stands.

“And in the midfield we’ve got Beasley, O’Brian, Brown, and DEAN THOMAS!”

The crowd roared at Dean’s name, and Harry gave him a small smile before the future world all-star footballer took the pitch. He knew exactly how Dean felt.

“And finally, up top, we’ve got Granger and Adu!”

More cheers, many for Hermione simply because she was Harry Potter’s fiancée, but a lot more for Freddy Adu, as he was the youngest player on any of the teams, and an American to boot (though rumor had it that he was born in Ghana, and then moved to the United States at age seven after his father won a lottery).

“Now the players are set, Hufflepuff will start with the ball, our honoree referee Bradley Shoemaker has his whistle in hand - and the game begins!”

“Ernie Macmillan on the ball, dribbling through the midfield - oh - he tries to take on Thomas one on one…BIG mistake! Dean Thomas on the ball now, slicing through defenders like butter. He makes one cut - now two, Freddy Adu makes a run - he beats the offsides trap, Thomas puts the ball into the first years path - OH! Too cheeky! Freddy Adu scores on a brilliant backheel flick. He overran the ball intentionally, and fooled the keeper with a powerful back heel slotted into the far side netting. One to zero for Gryffindor!”

The crowd exploded, even those who had no idea what was going on or what a back heel or an offsides trap even were - at least they knew what a goal was.

“So in only the third minute of play, the mastery of Dean Thomas in the midfield and classy finishing of Adu up top has given Gryffindor the advantage. Now let’s see if they can hold on!”

The match was rather back and forth in the midfield for the next ten-odd minutes, until…

“And Cristina Henderson on the ball, she’s pancaked by Thomas and Brown, Brown steals it! She shoots off towards the goalpost like Crabbe and Goyle after crab cakes!”

“KERRY!”

“Only joking Professor, only joking. Back to the match, Lavender streaks through the midfield - a shame that she can’t be streaking in the sense that I’m thinking of-”

“WOOD! Call the game or I will pull you off the microphone!”

“Oh, and now a through ball to Adu, he gets the ball in the corner, a nifty little step-over, goes by Nelson, he puts the ball across, it’s over Granger’s head, Thomas is breaking to the far post! He’s all alone! It’s a tap in! Goal to Gryffindor!”

Dean grinned and put one finger up in the air, wagging it a little before spreading his arms and pretending to fly the length of the end line before pumping his fist in triumph before being trampled by his teammates, the first one being Hermione, throwing him a huge hug!

“Oh - and look at that! Potter may not be the only one getting chili dogs anymore!” The crowd roared in laughter at Kerry’s comment, and the young boy had to jump out of the way of McGonogall as she tried to take the mike from him.

About twenty minutes later and an uncountable number of McGonogall’s berating of Kerry, Gryffindor struck yet again.

“And it’s Thomas on the ball in midfield, he’s looking for an outlet, Granger’s streaking down the middle - does he see her? YES! A lob over the central defense, the goalie’s come out - and - oh! What a goal! A one time volley from twenty yards out pops over the keeper and dips just under the crossbar! Three to nothing for Gryffindor!”

A few minutes later the Gryffindor team was al huddled on a patch of grass near the visitor’s goal box, chatting about the match thus far, and how they would prepare for the second half.

“Alright guys, this is how it seems to be panning out right about now,” Dean said, addressing everyone. “Their backs aren’t good with the through balls, a well timed run will beat them every time. I wanna try something new though. Next time Hermione’s got the ball within thirty yards of goal, I want Beasley to make a scorching near post run. Demarcus is easily the fastest guy on the field, he can leave anyone out there in his wake. Hermione - don’t even look for him or wait for his run, when you’re within thirty yards, just put the ball on the ground to the corner of the eighteen, and Beasley should get to it all alone.

Other than that, just keep making runs like we have been and we’ll be fine. Eddie and Carlos - keep pushing their wingers outside, they don’t seem to be too good at the long ball. Ron - well, just pick a good song and play it over and over in your head cuz it doesn’t look like you’ll be seeing any action today,” Dean smirked. “Not like you ever get any anyways, so you should be used to it.”

The team howled in laughter, and Ron chuckled along with the, blushing slightly. Finally the second half came, and the Lions got straight to work, covering the midfield well and controlling the flow of play.

“And now it’s Patil with the ball in the middle, who recently came in to give Thomas a breather. She plays a long ball to Granger, who deftly settles it with her chest - though I’d imagine it can’t be to difficult with all the padding she’s got there-”

“KERRY!”

Wood completely ignored McGonogall and started to say excitedly, “And Hermione spins and puts a blind ball to the edge of the eighteen, Beasley is running in, he’s only got one touch - YES! Goal to Gryffindor! Thomas nutmeg’s the Hufflepuff goalkeeper Busch, and Gryffindor adds yet another insurance goal. Though I do believe one would have proven to be more than enough-”

“Kerry…” McGonogall growled, warning him not to take sides.

Gryffindor started to play there reserves for the rest of the match, just passing the ball thoroughly throughout the midfield, and netting two more goals - one by Parvati and the other by Mark Evans - before the game was finally over, a six to nothing route for Gryffindor.

After a few words of congratulations from Dean to the team, Harry and the others made their way back to Gryffindor tower, ready to party the night away.

“You know that you will not be drinking any firewhiskey don’t you Harry?” Hermione asked him on the way there, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

“Oh come on ‘Mione-”

“No you will not!” She said firmly, with fire in her eyes.

Harry drooped his head. “Yes maam.”

Just then Seamus walked by them in a coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like “Whipped!”

Hermione took no notice of this and smiled. “Good, and then you can give me a massage later as well.”

Harry grinned at her at this statement. “Oh really, where do I get to massage you at?”

Hermione smiled back at him seductively. “Use your imagination.”

Harry gave a low whistle and for the first time in his life, couldn’t wait for the party to be over.

As he fell asleep that night, Hermione’s form snuggled with him under the covers with the sheets drawn around his four-poster, Harry wished that they had a football match everyday.

*****

A/N: Okay, the next update may even be tonight, but don’t count on it, it’ll probably be out tomorrow. But after that…I dunno how long it’ll be. So enjoy the frequent updates while they last!

Cheers!

23. Chapter 39

A/N: Can’t think of much to say…here ya go!

*****

Chapter 39

“Come on Potter, you aren’t trying hard enough. Remember, think the spell, don’t say it. Feel the magic, feel the energy, bend it to your will, words only focus what you want to happen, all you need to do is think about what you want to happen you don’t have to say it. Now Potter-”

Harry gritted his teeth in frustration and determination. They were in the beginnings of December now, and Harry was attempting to cast spells silently, without incantation. After he mastered this, he would be attempting it without wand movements, then finally without use of a wand at all.

This was all on Dumbledore’s orders, of course. The headmaster felt that Harry could become the greatest of all wizards, and that for him, nothing, was out of bounds.

So once again Harry squinted his eyes and concentrated on the clay pot in front of him. They were all in the Room of Requirement, it had been largely expanded so that the nine Victors as well as McGonogall, Dumbledore, Moody, and Kingsley were in there, training for the war.

Moody was currently helping Harry while Shacklebolt had the task of training Neville and Hermione with their wand blades, McGonogall was with Lavender, Parvati, Dean, and Seamus, working on their transformations. Although Harry couldn’t tell, apparently Seamus’ thestral transformations were a lot of fun to watch for those who had not seen death.

According to Lavender random body parts of his would start disappearing, it was sometimes an arm or a leg, even his head once. One time Lavender told Harry that Seamus’ pelvic area had disappeared first, and when he asked her about why she was looking at that particular body part in the first place, she blushed and stuttered incoherently for a while until the first opportunity to take leave came to her.

Dumbledore was helping the more advanced animagi, Ginny, Luna, and Ron, who were all close to their full transformations, but not quite perfect yet. Ginny was able to transform to a kitten and hold the form for hours at a time, but when she reverted back, she would cough up fur balls for an equal amount of hours afterwards.

Ron was having trouble maintaining his massive fire drake form for long stretches of time, although other than that he was fine. Professor Dumbledore told him that he needed to do a lot more physical labor to crank up his endurance, and therefore told Ron that he had to run five miles every morning and do one hundred press ups and three hundred scrunches every night.

Luna was the closest to perfection out of all of them, easily attaining her raven form, but, in Ron’ words, looking like a ‘Drunk Percy on Cleansweep 5 Broomstick’ while in the air. Dumbledore told her that she needed to go flying every night on her broomstick and practice her balance before she would be done.

While not registered, so as not to alert Voldemort to their powers, Harry, Hermione, and Neville were fully-fledged animagus, able to transform at will and hole their form for as long as need be.

“Come on Potter,” Mood y growled at him after another failed attempt at blasting the clay pot. “You’re wasting my time here, now-”

“Won’t you just shut up!” Harry said, turning to Moody and magically flashing his eyes at him, wishing that he would shut up.

Moody opened his mouth to retort, but no words came out. He dropped his scarred jaw (or what was left of it anyways) in shock, as Harry did the same.

“Um…Professor Dumbledore?” Harry said loudly, trying to be heard over the loud hum of Neville and Hermione’s wand blades.

The old man looked over his moon spectacles at Harry. “Yes Harry?”

He pointed at Moody, who was cursing hotly, but with no sound coming out of his chapped lips. Harry shrugged. “I was sick of him yelling at me so I turned on him and told him to shut up, flashing him with my eyes. He opened his mouth - probably to scream at me - and, well, as you see, no words came out.”

Dumbledore smiled and waved a hand simply, restoring Moody’s voice. “Ungrateful…doesn’t appreciate his own power…stupid…” The ex-auror mumbled, eliciting a small smile from Dumbledore.

Harry stared at the old man, aghast at what he had done. “But, Professor, I…don’t…how?…no idea…all I-”

“Harry, Harry,” Professor Dumbledore said, motioning with his hands for Harry to be silent. “You have discovered, however inadvertent, your power of wandless magic Harry. Although all wizards may do a simple spell without a wand, or maybe slightly more complicated ones with a wand but no incantation, you, Harry, have the power to do nearly any spell with only a thought, making a wand almost insignificant to you. You will still use one of course, until you have become completely accustomed to your wandless magic.

“However, you must not use your wandless magic lightly, Harry. An attempt at too much power could destroy you, Harry. Be careful in your usage of it.”

“B-But sir,” Harry stuttered, in disbelief of what he had heard. “You said I have discovered how to do my wandless magic. Er, what exactly did I discover? How did I do it?”

There was an amused and knowing twinkle in the man’s eyes. “Look to your mother for help Harry. The secret to your magic lies in the strong connection that you share with her, that part of you which resembles her the most. But not your heart Harry, although you are similar to your mother in that regard, but something else, something simpler. Do you know of what I speak, Harry?”

‘What I have in common with my mum? I thought I looked like my dad! But what could it - wait! My eyes! I have my mother’s eyes!’

“My eyes sir?”

Dumbledore gave him a proud smile, then nodded and walked back to where he had been training the others. Harry grinned and turned to Moody, who raised his wand.

Harry let his wand fall from his grip, and Moody struck. “Stupefy!”

‘No, stop, protect yourself, protego, now!’

“Umph!”

Harry was brought back to reality by a loud gasp, and he looked to where Moody had been standing, but now laid sprawled out on the floor, stunned by his own spell.

“That was bloody brilliant Harry!” Ron said, mouth agape, from across the room. The other Victors nodded in agreement.

Harry smiled. “Thanks.”

*****

Like most other things in magic, Harry picked up his ‘eye magic’ as Seamus called it, rather quickly. Within a few weeks, just before Christmas Holidays started, Harry could perform most simple spells without a wand, although he could still not produce a stunning spell or anything powerful without losing consciousness.

Harry was finding small uses for this everyday, both for his daily routine, but also in battle. While dueling with swords in Weapons class, Harry had mastered the ability to send a simple heating hex at hi opponents hands, causing them to sweat a lot, and then that coupled with a silent wingardium leviosa would usually be enough to cause his opponents a slip of the sword, giving him the time he needed to attack and win a duel.

There were also more practical uses for this, like giving Malfoy’s elbow a slight push every time he went to take a sip of his pumpkin juice, and watching in glee when the ferret boy spilled juice all over himself.

Three days before the end of the term, Dean Thomas busted into the sixth year boys dormitories (it was the last Victor card night before the holiday’s) with an excited grin on his face, and a large envelope in his left hand.

“Hey Dean, what’s up?”

He gave them all a big smile and pulled eight slips of paper out of the envelope. “West Ham tickets! December the thirtieth, 3 o’clock, at Anfield! We’re playing Liverpool! These are my Christmas presents for you!”

He excitedly handed out one ticket to each of them in turn. “I talked to coach a few weeks ago, and these just came to me by owl post this morning. These are field seats! You’ll be able to sit the sidelines and watch the game, isn’t that great!”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and it was Lavender who spoke up next. “Hey guys, since we’re all going home for the holidays,” She cast a smirk at Harry and Hermione. “Or at least going to our girlfriend’s house, and we won’t be seeing each other until we get back, we should all exchange gifts tonight. Whaddya say?”

There was a slight murmur of agreement, and thirty minutes later everyone was once again piled into the sixth year boys dormitory, this time with all presents accounted for. Rather than wrapped, most of the presents were just under an invisibility spell.

“Okay, so let’s just go one at a time, make it last longer,” Hermione suggested, and without waiting for conformation or approval, she looked at Harry and smiled. “Go on Harry, you can do the honors.”

Harry returned her smile before opening his present - just by looking at it and forcing the paper off without a wand. A couple of the guys laughed while the others rolled their eyes, muttering things like ‘showoff’.

The first present was from Parvati and Lavender, they had gotten him - a quidditch book on famous seekers. So the ceremony went on, and one by one everyone opened their presents. Neville got enough plants to create his own greenhouse, but he loved them all, especially Humphrey Bogart. Apparently he had been planning on buying a magical cactus for quite some time.

Parvati and Lavender pretty much got a flurry of make-up and other girly items, and though confused at first, they were elated when they were told exactly what the Cosmo magazine was.

Dean got pretty much everything there was to get as far as football goes, including tickets to the Champions League final that would be at the beginning of the summer.

Seamus received a lot of presents from Weasley’s Wizarding Wheeze’s, including a sample box sent by the brother’s themselves, though he did enjoy the Irish Nation Team poster, joking with Dean that now he had a sports team poster as well, and his was better because it moved. Then Dean shut him up by mentioning that he (Dean) was actually in the team picture he had.

Ginny loved her kitten, and immediately gave Harry and Hermione bone crushing hugs. “I’ll call her Harmony,” Ginny announced, beaming at the cat.

“Why Harmony?” Harry asked.

“Because it’s a combination of your names, Har - for Harry, mony - for Hermione, put them together, and you get Harmony!”

Ron received mostly quidditch books, coaching strategies, a stand alone chess set from Dean that would let him play against artificial intelligence at a multitude of different difficulty settings, but his favorite present, by far, was The Firedrake.

Ron had whooped for joy when Harry unveiled the fiery red broomstick, made specifically for goalkeeping so that while it did not have great long distance speed it had excellent acceleration and maneuverability, all it needed to be a goalkeeper’s broomstick. It was also unbreakable like Harry’s Marauder.

Hermione received a miniature library of her own in books, but was slightly disappointed in Harry’s gift, an Ancient Runes book. Seeing her crestfallen face, Harry leaned in close and whispered, “You’ll get your real present tonight.” That seemed to brighten her up a bit, though she couldn’t for the life of her think of what it could possibly be.

Harry got a new pair of quidditch gloves from Seamus, charmed to always stay warm, a history of Britain’s most famous quidditch teams from Ron, Neville had given him a new breed of owl treats that he had created in the Herbology lab, these treats not only tasted better to the owl but they were nutritious for it as well (he had gotten Hermione the same thing for her own owl, Emerald - though Harry had still not been able to figure out why she had named her snow-white owl that, every time he asked she rolled her eyes at him and said that he must be as dense as Ron if he couldn’t figure it out)

Ginny had given him a bagful of Fred and George’s tricks, complete with the new Mothery Love tablets. Harry couldn’t wait to use them on kids in the Astronomy Tower after hours.

Hermione had bought him a watch much like that that the Weasley’s, with nine hands, one for each of the Victor’s, and many different areas, ones for ‘quidditch’ ‘football’ ‘class’ ‘sleep’ ‘mortal danger’ and the one that he hoped to never see, but knew that he undoubtedly would before the war was over - ‘Dead’.

*****

Two days later they were on the train home, well, for Harry he was leaving home and going to the Granger’s for a time, but everyone else was going home.

Somehow they managed to fit all nine of themselves into a single compartment, and then ten when Katrina came along. After many a failed attempt at playing exploding snap (Dean had adamantly called the games to a stop after he singed off one of his eyebrows, a problem that Hermione easily fixed), they resorted to doing nothing but talking the rest of the way.

“So where are you going for the holiday Katrina?” Parvati asked in a polite tone. “Surely you aren’t returning to that orphanage, are you?”

Katrina let out a breath and looked to the floor. “My father is going to meet me at the station. He contacted me and said that he wanted me to spend the holidays with him.”

The silence in the compartment was astounding. There wasn’t a word spoken until the sliding door opened to reveal…Draco Malfoy.

He sneered at them all. “What, get a group discount for staying in one room? Why, I knew the Weasels were poor, and of course, the mud bloods are useless, but-”

“Malfoy,” Katrina interrupted, surprising everyone. “Why don’t you go practice falling down, I’ll be there in a minute.”

The Victors exploded with laughter, and Malfoy’s face turned a brilliant shade of red, and, unable to think up a reply, left in a huff.

A few hours later, they all arrived at the station, saying their good-byes until it was only Harry, Hermione, and Katrina left. Hermione’s parents had arrived, but Harry and Hermione had decided to stay until Kris arrived.

Harry started to think the situation over his head, and as he did, he came up with a starling idea. Could it be…

“I’m sorry Katrina, but if your father doesn’t show up, you could come with us?” Mr. Granger said, smiling at her, which made Katrina blush and look to the ground.

Hermione was looking at Katrina thoughtfully, until a shocked expression came across her face, followed by one of understanding.

“No…” Hermione said quietly. “Her father’s already here.”

*****

A/N: How’d you all like that cliffe? I know I loved writing it! Ha! The next chapter may be a while, I dunno how long though.

Cheers!

24. The Cruelty of Fate

Don’t kill me! This is just an author’s note!

A few of you expressed interest in reading the new fic that I have started, but cannot be posted here because it has minimal harry/hermione. Well, I decided to put up the link here.

The story is called The Cruelty of Fate. It is about the marauder’s from when James Potter was told the prophecy until the final marauder dies.

For those of you wondering, yes, there WILL be harry/hermione, but only in passing. It will only be viewed a couple of times looking from the outside in, with little actual page time with the two together.

If you wanna read it, follow the link, and feel free to post a review for it on my reviews for this story. If you are a member of cosforums, then you don’t need to post a review here, but rather at my thread over there. Or you could read it and not review at all, it’s up to you.

Cheers!

25. Chapter 40

A/N: Well, here’s the revelation of the Giggs mystery! I hope you like it! Also, expect chapters from here on out to be shorter and more to the point, with a helluva lot less fluff and much more action!

*****

Chapter 40

At Hermione’s words, Katrina gave a small smile and nodded. Harry scrunched his brows in thought, wondering what was going on. Giggs wasn’t there, Harry would have seen him by now! Unless…

Harry’s eyes flew open as a flurry of memories returned to him…

Katrina was laying in the bed next to him when he awoke, his body still aching in pain. When he asked later, she said Malfoy had pushed her down a flight of stairs…

*

A flicker of confusion flashed through Malfoy’s eyes, before he replaced it with a smirk. “Wouldn’t you like to know Potter.”

*

“Harry!” Hermione squealed, waving at him from over where she was sitting with Katrina on the Gryffindor common room couch. “Katrina is showing signs of being a metamorphagi! Isn’t that great!?”

*

Katrina dueled as well as her father…

*

Cloud didn’t hate her as much as they thought…

*

“It’s been a long time Kris,” Serge said, smiling from ear to ear.

“Has it?” Cloud said mysteriously.

*

The truth hit Harry so hard that he had to take a step back to keep his balance from the dizziness that had invaded his head.

“No,” He murmured. “Impossible…”

“No Harry,” Kris Giggs said, now standing in the spot that his ‘daughter’ had once occupied. “Nothing’s impossible.”

Harry couldn’t believe it, all that time…of course Katrina…or Kris…or whoever he was didn’t want to join the Victor’s, the charmed parchment would’ve given him away.

“You-You’re the same person…” He muttered, still trying to comprehend it all. “How - who? Who are you?”

Kris smiled sadly, shrugging his shoulders. “I am who I am. Raised as a muggle, didn’t discover my magical talents until I was two years into my SeeD training. There I trained myself, night and day, in all seasons, upwards of eighteen hours a day,”

Harry nodded shortly, a question that had been plaguing him for months burning him up inside. “Why did you try to kill me?”

His question elicited a small gasp from the Granger’s and a nod of agreement from Hermione.

Kris had the decency to blush. “Pride, nothing but pride, Harry,” The man shook his head in disbelief of himself. “I wanted to know if I could defeat you as, behind Voldemort and Dumbledore, you seem to be one of the most worthy opponents. But then I got to know you, masquerading as Katrina - this is my true form, by the way, there never was a Katrina - I realized how foolish I was being, blinded by my ambition.”

He let out a long sigh, as if a huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. “That’s a mistake I won’t allow to continue. We’ll see each other again Harry, I promise you this. I’ll help you, we’ll make sure that you are ready for Voldemort when the time arrives for you to destroy him. Until then, good luck, Harry…”

With a soft ‘pop’ Giggs dissapparated and left a rather shaken Harry and Hermione behind,

“Great start to the holidays, huh?” Harry asked rhetorically, laughing nervously.

“Yeah,” Hermione responded, before shaking her head, as if to thro the thoughts off of her. “Well com on then, let’s go!” And with a soft peck on the cheek for Harry, Hermione took his hand and followed the Granger’s to the family car.

*****

“So, er, Mr. Granger, how’s Manchester United been doing this season?” They were all piled in the car, and had been for quite some time now. Harry, trying to distract himself from the musty temperature of the car as well as the smell of spilt soda stained into the carpet.

“Oh, we’re doing just fine,” Hermione’s father replied joyfully. “That Ruud Von Nistelrooy is tearing up the charts, no one can keep up with him in goals. Our defense has been solid, so naturally, we’re leading the league by seven points.”

Harry nodded slowly, unable to think of anything else to say. Instead he resolved to laying his head on his fiancée’s shoulder and trying to get some sleep.

Hermione smiled softly when she felt Harry’s head come into contact with her shoulder. She just loved being close to him, and sighing contently, she took his hand, intertwining her fingers with his, before laying her own head on Harry’s black mop of hair.

Within minutes, they had both fallen into a deep sleep.

*****

Christmas at the Granger’s was quite the affair for Harry, he couldn’t for the life of him, now a week into the vacation, of a dull moment he had had. Christmas had been grand, Harry awoke on that morning to a pile of presents under the tree, though to him the best part of it all was seeing Hermione in her pink, fluffy bathrobe that she liked to use as sleepwear while she was home. She looked absolutely adorable in it.

Harry had received the usual rock cakes from Hagrid, which were immediately disposed of, a bag of tricks from Fred and George, a new foe-glass from Moody, a book on powerful spells from Kingsley, a traditional Weasley sweater, and, from Hermione’s parents, a full wardrobe of Manchester United clothing, as well as a special permission pass to leave the Hogwarts premises on every game day for Man U, so that he and Hermione could portkey to Diagon Alley and watch the game in The Muggle’s Pub.

Remus was the one that wowed him to no end. Harry curiously the package from the werewolf, and was astounded to find a ten-way mirror set. These mirrors were the same as the one Sirius had given him the year before, only this time there were ten of them linked together, all on one frequency, and all for the marauder’s. Harry and Hermione hurriedly inscribed the names of all the Victors into the backs of the mirrors and pocketed their own.

Finally Harry got around to giving Hermione the gift that he had been waiting to give her since the night all the Victors had exchanged presents. Hermione stared at him in anticipation, having waited for this moment for the better part of a full week now.

When she got the box, Hermione lost all sense of maturity and ripped the paper away and opened the box hurriedly, unable to constrain her excitement. She pulled out a small, gold and scarlet locket, and when she opened it, her eyes pooled with tears of happiness and love.

There, on one side of the locket, was a picture of herself, standing out on the quid ditch pitch with Emerald perched on her left shoulder. On the other side was a widely grinning Harry, Hedwig perched on his shoulder, nibbling at Harry’s right ear.

The writing on the front - gold side - of the locket was simple and sweet, however corny it may have been.

“Owl Love you Forever.”

And on the back, inside of a heart with an arrow shot through it, read,

“H+Hr”

Harry was regarding her nervously, praying to Merlin that she liked it. “I know the inscription’s a little stupid, but-”

“Oh shut up Harry! I love it! I love you so much!” And apparently either forgetting or not caring that her parents were in the room, she leapt on top of him and kissed him fiercely, though at least conscious enough to keep her hands away from inappropriate places.

The kiss was broken after a few short moments, and Harry wrapped the chain around Hermione’s neck, while she beamed, face glowing like that of a lumos spell in a darkened doorway. Her parents shared a smile with one another, recognizing the pure love that radiated from the couple, no doubts in either of their minds that their daughter had truly found the love of her life.

*****

Hermione was playing with her new necklace cheerfully as she walked through the tunnel of Anfield Stadium, dressed in a heavy warm-up West Ham jacket and tight-fitting jeans. Harry was dressed in similar attire on her left, only preferring baggy jeans rather than tight-fitting ones.

The rest of the Victors were there as well, and Harry had taken the opportunity to hand out all of the mirrors, which everyone was elated to receive.

Dean of course was on the field warming up, and Harry thought privately - though he may have been biased - that Dean looked like the best of the bunch. He was elated for Dean along with the others when he was told by the coach that he was in the starting line-up for the day.

All nine of the other Victor’s sat on the bench, which they were grateful had heaters underneath them. Hermione sat in Harry’s lap, content with her position, while Lavender sat on Seamus’ with Parvati right next to them, and on her right, Neville and Ginny, who were comfortable sitting next to one another, even if their relationship plans had not worked out.

Apparently her and Neville had tried a date, and afterwards, they held no doubt that they would never be more than just great friends.

The last two, Ron and Luna, sat on the furthest right, simply holding hands and leaning into one another.

Soon enough, the game began!

West Ham, as good as they were, and as well as Dean played, were just no match for the power offense of Liverpool, who were armed with the prodigy Michael Owen and young star Steven Gerrard, as well as many others.

It was already two to nothing thirty-four minutes into the first half, when Dean got his first chance.

“Rickman with the ball now, he takes it up the sideline, and drops it for Harris. Harris takes a quick glance up field and lets fly a lob for Griffiths…he plays it off the head, into the path of Dean Thomas! The youngster jukes a defender, he’s twenty yards from goal, takes a shot! No! A brilliant save by English international goalkeeper David Seaman, that’s why he’s one of the best in the business lads. But still a good attempt from the youngster.”

The game got a little ugly for Dean and his buddies after halftime, it was obvious that they did not have the stamina to trade blows with Liverpool. Dean played well, in Harry’s opinion, creating a few chances and getting off another decent shot, but he was finally subbed for in the seventy-ninth minute, after a stellar performance.

West Ham went on to lose horrendously, 5-0, but everyone at least had fun, and the coach congratulated Dean on his performance after the game, telling him that he couldn’t wait to get him to full-time duty.

The rest of the holidays went without action, at least none that was of importance to anyone other than Harry and Hermione, excluding an excited owl that Dean had sent them after New Years, telling them that he spoke with Dumbledore and the West Ham coach, and they agreed to let him portkey out for all of the games, though he could not attend practices.

Harry and Hermione were happy for him, as was everyone else. It was nice to have good things happen to good people during a time where innocents were dying without cause.

*****

Okay, so who saw the Giggs thing coming? Anyone? Anyone? …Bueller…Bueller…lol. Just to clarify Owl love you for ever = I’ll love you forever, you know, owl=I’ll, stupid I know, but I thought it was sort of funny. Dunno when the next update will be, but my other fic is taking precedence right now, so it could be a while…

Cheers!

26. Chapter 41

A/N: Okay, I know, it’s been over a month, but I got it up!!! I know a lot of you are ready to kill me, sorry for the serious lack of updates, but I have been very occupied with my other story lately.

Okay, how about this irony? I wrote the first bit of this chapter about ten minutes before I read the truth about Mark Evans on JKR’s website. And this comes in the chapter where I am trying to get more on line with cannon. <Shakes head at the unfairness of it all> So screw it anyway, Mark is important in my story, even if he won’t be in JKR’s.

I promise the next update will be quicker!

Oh, and on a side note, never, EVER go see the movie kill bill. Oh my god was that horrible, hugest waste of two hours in all my life.

Anyways, onto the story.

Go Cubs!

*****

Chapter 41

Finally the new term was upon them, and Harry wished he could be back to the carefree holidays. Unsurprisingly, Katrina – well, Kris, actually – did not return for the second term. It was the first night back, when the Victors were all up in the common room late, drinking butterbeers, when the question finally arose.

“Has anyone else noticed that Katrina wasn’t here today?” Ginny asked, perking the interest of everyone in the room. Most heads turned to Harry and Hermione expectantly, as they all knew that they had been the last to see her.

Harry sighed. “He’s not coming back, not that I know of. And that’s all I’m saying.”

Harry noticed with amusement that while Neville and Luna’s eyes grew large, no one else seemed the wiser. Of course, that didn’t mean they missed the wording.

“Er…Harry mate, I think you just said ‘he’.” Ron stated confusedly, giving Harry a bewildered expression.

“That’s because I did. Anyways, Dean, when’s your next game for West Ham?”

*****

For some reason, Harry couldn’t sleep that night. He tossed and turned, but couldn’t rest. What was keeping him awake? Voldemort? No, that couldn’t be it, his scar wasn’t burning.

Growling in frustration, Harry threw the covers of his four-poster off of himself and groggily walked down the stairs to the common room, where he could think by the fire. The stairs groaned under his weight as Harry descended the stairway, where he was met with the unsuspected sight of Mark Evans sitting on a loveseat by the roaring fire, clutching a letter tightly to his chest.

“Oi there Mark, what’s that you’ve got?”

Mark seemed a little shocked initially, but managed a weak smile when he saw Harry. He motioned for him to come over, and Harry complied. Without a word, Mark handed him the parchment, obviously wanting him to read it.

Taking the letter with a mixture of confusion and curiosity, Harry turned his eyes from the young blonde Gryffindor to the parchment in hand.

To Mark,

I have invested myself deeply in the mystery of your bloodline, and I arrived at a satisfying conclusion. Mark, your father’s name is Bradley Evans, as you no doubt already know. Your father’s grandfather was Gerald Evans, a well-known muggle actor – an actor also known for being quite a ladies man. In his escapades, unbeknownst to him, Gerald gave birth to a son, named Earl Evans, the last name was given by the mother in memory of the father that Earl would never know. Late in Gerald’s life, he settled down with a kind muggle woman, and they produced another son, Gregory Evans, whom you know as your grandfather.

Neither your great grandfather or your grandfather – or any member of your family, in fact, knew of your grandfather’s brother, Earl.

Earl, I am sorry to say, is no longer with us. He was killed in a death eater attack many years ago, because his daughter, Lily Evans, was engaged to one of Voldemort’s archenemies, James Potter.

That is where the blood connection between yourself and Harry Potter lies, you had grandfathers that were brothers, although neither knew that the other existed. So, as you no doubt have realized by now, Harry Potter is your second cousin.

I do hope that this resolves all of your questions, as I daresay I cannot offer any more information, as there is none to give.

Sincerely,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Harry rose his eyes from the letter, smiling from ear to ear. Mark returned the smile, and before they knew it, they had enveloped one another in a bone-crushing hug. Harry put forth fifteen years of having no family into that hug, squeezing with all his might, only letting go when he was afraid that he may suffocate his cousin.

Harry took a step back from Mark and beamed at him. “You’re the only blood family I have.”

Mark laughed and shook his head. “No I’m not, you still have my parents and grandpa to meet, but I guess I’ll have to do until then.”

Harry laughed and sat down on the couch nearest the fire, patting the seat next to him for Mark. Turning, his body free of any form of fatigue, he smiled at Mark. “So, you know all about my history Mark. Tell me about yours.”

It was a night of many laughs, and a few tears, but one of the greatest in Harry’s life. For once, finally, he had what he had always wanted – a conversation with a member of his own bloodline.

Of course, talking with Mark had its drawbacks. One of them being a rather sore ribcage where Hermione had been elbowing him all day long during class. “Harry! You aren’t going to become a better wizard by sleeping through our lessons!”

In response, Harry, not ever raising his head, waved his hand at the plastic bottle on the table in front of him and instantly transfigured it into a plastic stag. Hermione didn’t talk to him for the rest of the day.

Harry’s conversation with Mark had been…intriguing, to say the least. He had learned all about Mark’s family…his family…and could not wait to meet them. Mark had apparently been terrified of Dudley ever since he was little, but had finally gotten even with him this year when he used an accidental emotional burst of magic to turn the whale of a child into a pig, literally. Dudley’s memory had been wiped, naturally, so this was the first Harry had heard of it, and it made him laugh heartily.

Of course, without being able to talk to Hermione, Harry had nothing to do for the night, their traditional snogging session in the boys’ dormitory obviously canceled. Instead he decided to take his Marauder out to the quidditch pitch to let off some steam.

It was a cool, winter night, as it was still early January, and snow had blanketed the quidditch pitch, making it a beautiful sight to behold. Harry shook off the beauty of his surroundings and instead took off towards the goalposts, twirling and corkscrewing the entire way.

Flying had always been bliss for Harry, and it always would be. Of all the things in his life, Harry cherished only his private time with Hermione more than private time with his broom – quidditch broom.

Of course, there was always one thing that could ruin his day – Draco Malfoy. As the pale-faced ferret rose to Harry’s level, Harry wondered if the boy constantly spied on him just so he would know the perfect times to piss him off.

“Potter.”

“Ferret.”

Malfoy sneered at the nickname he had been christened with ever since Barty Crouch – who had been masquerading as Professor Moody at the time – had transfigured him into the furry animal in Harry’s fourth year.

“So, I heard you and your mudblood got in a little tiff.”

“For someone who supposedly hates me so much you sure do seem to take an interest in every aspect of my life.”

“Well it is somewhat difficult to avoid the gossip surrounding the all-famous Harry Potter.”

“Seems that you are quite interested in that gossip you hate so much if you followed me out here.”

“I’d never follow you anywhere Potter.”

“You see to do a lot of it in quidditch.”

Malfoy’s face reddened in anger, while Harry smirked. It was always fun to get the best of Draco Malfoy.

“Care to put a bet on that Potter?”

“What?” Harry asked, confused.

“If you are such a brilliant flier, and apparently you think you can duel as well, why don’t we have ourselves a little air-duel?”

“Are you insane!?” Harry screamed at him. “If one of us fell from our brooms, we would die!”

Draco rolled his eyes. “You really are a dolt, aren’t you Potter? Haven’t you ever heard of a cushioning charm? So what of it? First man to fall from his broom loses.”

“Don’t think you can goad me into an ego contest Malfoy, I could care less about it. I don’t need to prove myself better that you, I already know I am. Here’s your proof.”

With that Harry turned tail and flew back to Gryffindor Tower, not allowing Malfoy the pleasure of provoking him into a fight. Hermione would be proud. Harry smiled at the thought, which made his return ride all the more sweet.

Harry gave some thought to what Draco had said over the next few days, and came to a conclusion. Once again, the ferret had inadvertently helped Harry. Dueling on broomsticks was something that Harry would have never thought of, but would be very useful in combat.

So he confronted Dumbledore with the idea. “Very well Harry,” The old man replied, a twinkle in his eyes. “I have a few acquaintances in that area, I’ll owl them and we’ll see what we can do.”

That had been nearly a week ago. Since then, Harry had made-up with Hermione, even if their ‘fight’ wasn’t all that dramatic. She had forgiven him for his fatigue the moment he told her about his late night conversation with Mark Evans.

The rest of the Victors, however, were more interested in their upcoming dueling on broomsticks lessons. Harry had taught them all how to create a great broomstick, and all were in the making.

Parvati had christened hers The Unicorn, while her partner in crime Lavender had opted for The Cosmo. Their Irish friend had named his broom after his homeland, calling it The Leprechaun. Neville’s was aptly named Mother Nature, while Dean took a comic route and named his after a popular muggle movie, naming the broom The Spaceball. Ginny had The Fiery Feline, while Ron still had his Christmas present, The Firedrake.

Hermione had received many groans and rolled eyes for her broom, but she didn’t care. Her broom, The Green Eyed Monster, was christened after her favorite emerald-eyed Gryffindor.

Dean, being the comic that he was, immediately pointed out Hermione’s reasoning. “Come on guys, we can’t be too harsh on the girl,” He had said this almost sincerely, earning him many odd looks. “I mean, we all named our brooms after our favorite things, right? Well, obviously, Hermione’s favorite thing to be between her legs is the Green Eyed Monster, so…”

His sentence was cut off when Hermione hurled a pillow at his face, blushing furiously. Harry’s face had gone bright as well, but no one seemed to notice, as they were all rolling on the floor clutching their sides in laughter.

An owl flew into the room just then, dropping a letter at Harry’s feet. “What the…”

Harry picked up the parchment and read it quickly, a smile blossoming on his face as he got further along.

Harry,

As I told you before, I have contacts that are experienced in the art of Broomstick Dueling. I have contacted them and they will be here tomorrow, at nine o’clock sharp, on the Quidditch Pitch for your first day of training. You will have two meetings with them a week, and three with the Order members for your dueling training, with now two days of rest. I believe you can tell the rest of your friends this, as I know doubt am sure they are in the room with you now and know of the impending situation. Good Luck.

Sincerely,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Everyone was on the field at nine o’clock sharp the following night, ready for their first day of training. Only Harry and Ron were on specialized brooms, the rest were on regular brooms, as their specialized ones were not yet ready.

“Okay everyone,” Said one of the two men who would be training them, a tall, handsome man with dark black hair and a trim figure. “My name is Biggs, and I will be your main flying instructor, while my mate Wedge here,” He patted the other man, who was a bit shorter, and not necessarily dashing man, but whose eyes held a deep pool of experience that made the girls swoon. “…will be teaching you the finer points of dueling while flying. Take it away Wedge.”

The man smiled and stepped forward, looking at each Victor in turn. “Dueling on broomsticks in one of the most dangerous types of dueling there is. At and moment a strong gust of wind or an ill-fated lightning bolt could end your duel without a shot ever being fired. I’ve seen many of my friends die over the years in battle, it is no easy feat to win a fight in the air.”

He let the seriousness of their situation sink in before starting with the lesson. “Okay, the first thing you need to learn is the Broxal Charm. It gives your broomstick a long-lasting protego effect, allowing you to misdirect and block spells by using your broomstick as a shield. Now the incantation is…”

For the next hour, the Victors learned all kinds of techniques and abilities on the broomsticks. Ron and Harry were far ahead of the rest, but it could have been partially due to the fact that they were both riding superior brooms also.

The entire session went very smoothly until the end.

“Hey, you’re name’s Thomas right?” The man called Wedge asked of Dean as they were preparing to go, who shook his head in confirmation. Wedge gave him a small smile. “I flew with your father, a great duelist, he was, great with a broom and a wand.” Wedge bit his lip, lowering his eyes. “I saw him die, taken down from behind by a death eater during the first war. If you ever want to talk about him, I’m here for you.”

Dean looked positively shell-shocked. “W-What are you t-talking about? I-I’m a muggleborn, my dad lives at home with me mum. H-How can you say that he is dead?”

Wedge regarded the boy carefully. “What’s that son? No, you look just like your father, I knew him, and he died in combat. Same battle as Porkins, what do you mean your father is a live?”

A single tear dripped from Dean’s left eye. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” His voice was barely over a whisper. “My father’s not dead, he’s at home, with my mum…”

Wedge’s eyes widened as the truth hit him. “Oh Merlin…she never…you didn’t know?”

*****

A/N: Nothing like a nice little cliffhanger to welcome you back to my story huh? Please read and review! I’m in like, major review withdraw since my other story didn’t get the response I had expected for it…but oh well, hopefully I’ll start getting some readers over there as time goes on

27. Chapter 42

A/N: See? I told you the next one would come out quicker! Anyways, in this chapter we go more in depth with Dean’s background and start to work a little harder on the Riddle, as well as other things.

Go Cubs!

*****

Chapter 42

“A-apparently not,” Dean answered, another tear leaking down his face. “SO WHY DON’T YOU THE BLOODY HELL TELL ME!”

The rest of the Victors looked on in shock and sadness. Dean’s father was not his biological one? Dean wasn’t a muggleborn? What did it all mean?

“Son…you may want to sit down for this.” Wedge replied, looking very emotional.

Obviously, this was the wrong thing to say. “YOU’RE NOT MY FATHER! DON’T CALL ME SON! APPARENTLY THE MAN I THOUGHT WAS MY DAD HAS BEEN LYING THE WHOLE TIME AS WELL! I’M NOBODY’S SON! I’M JUST A COMMON BASTARD!”

With that, Dean stormed off with a primal cry, everyone staring in his wake with mixtures of fear and sadness written across their faces. Harry looked around, not knowing what to do. He saw Seamus, Dean’s best friend before Ginny, shake his head, then point at the girl in question. Ginny, tears flowing freely, nodded after sending a cold glare at Wedge, and tore after Dean. Hopefully she could reach him, because it looked like no one else had the ability.

Wedge, on the other hand, was stuttering non-coherently at the ruckus he had caused. Harry didn’t blame him – the man hadn’t known any better. But he wasn’t about to bake cookies with him over Easter holidays either.

“I guess training is over then,” Biggs replied half-heartedly. “We’ll see you all again in a few days.”

With solemn nods, the Victors left the quidditch pitch for their common room, no one knowing what to say, only hoping that Ginny did.

Harry wasn’t about to go back to the common room and face the trials that awaited there, so instead he and Hermione left for the library, to work on something that they had been putting off for far to long – the riddle.

“It says here that it is common for abbreviations to be in these riddles, and one-letter abbreviations are used for many different words that may be important to a riddle,” Hermione said as she flipped through a few pages of an Arithmancy book. “It is also common for these riddles to be divided apart – well we know that already – each section holding it’s won significance, usually and area or an item of significance.”

She closed the book with a sigh, rubbing her temples tiredly. “Well, let’s check it out shall we?”

Harry nodded, and then pulled out the riddle, which had been scribbled all over with their constant discoveries on it.

0 0 G H 1 2

7 S 5 1 0 1

3 D D 2 0 9

1 G G S 3 3

1 V T M R 8

9 G H S 9 1

8 F B 1 A 0

0 P 1 R B 6

1 3 R M M 2

0 S V 1 2 1

D 1 V H P 1

M M 9 G H 9

T M R 9 P 9

S V B M 8 5

“So that’s what we know.” Harry said, frowning at the parchment. “I guess we can divide it into four sections, the dates split it into triangles. Now we just have to figure out what it all means on the inside.”

Hermione frowned, her brows scrunched together in thought. “I think…maybe it is a double riddle?”

“Huh?”

Hermione licked her lips as she studied the parchment. “Well, I mean, it is most likely about both you and Voldemort, and because your date is at the top, and his at the bottom, I believe the top two triangles pertain to you, while the bottom two pertain to Voldemort. Each half probably tells what whoever it refers to needs to do to prepare for the battle.”

Harry thought on it for a moment, and then nodded. “Okay, it’s the best idea we’ve got, so I say we go for it.”

He traced the symbols with his finger. “Well then, there are two groups. The first one is

G H 1 2

__ 1 0 1

___ 0 9

_____ 3

“So let’s try and break that down.”

Hermione cast a nervous glance at Harry, who nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure GH stands for ‘Godric’s Hollow’, the twelve is probably a street address. I don’t know what the others are though.” He frowned in disappointment.

“Well,” Hermione spoke up. “Perhaps the 101 isn’t a number, but rather a symbolism, you know, 101 means fear and such.”

Hermione sighed at the look on Harry’s face and continued. “1984, it’s a novel. From that novel came the idea that the number 101 was associated with fear.”

Harry looked at Hermione in awe, making her blush. “It’s common knowledge Harry, honestly.” She blushed again before continuing. “Moving on, we know it has something to do with fear in Godric’s Hollow…” Her voice trailed off as she realized what she was saying.

Harry caught on as well. “Obviously I have to visit the place where my parents died. But what about the nine and the three? Can’t be a date, there’s no year. So what is it?”

Shaking her head, Hermione sighed. “No idea, so let’s move on to the next part, maybe that will help?” Harry nodded, and Hermione read out the next symbols in order.

“Okay, here goes, this one’s a bit longer…

S

DD

GGS

VTMR

GHS

FB

P

“Well, a few of these seem to be rather obvious, now that we see them in this perspective…” Hermione said, glancing at Harry, who nodded agreement.

“Yeah, I’m sure that VTMR stands for Vanquish Tom Marvolo Riddle, and I thin that GGS stands for Godric Gryffindor’s Sword. Perhaps the only thing I can kill Voldemort with is the sword?” Harry looked at Hermione hopefully, but her shrug didn’t encourage him.

“Perhaps,” She responded, peering once again at the letters. “The letter ‘S’ almost always is used to represent the word ‘sacrifice’, in Arithmancy, so it would seem that You have to sacrifice whatever DD is to receive the Gryffindor Sword – which I do not understand as you already have it – then use that swords power to Vanquish Riddle – ah! Perhaps the sacrifice will give the sword the power to vanquish Voldemort, and it won’t work before…GHS is then most likely the location where this will take place…Godric’s Hollow…something. FB is most likely standing for ‘Final Battle’, but I don’t know what the ‘P’ is for. Perhaps Potter? I dunno.” Hermione looked very apprehensive as she finished, a look that did not go unnoticed by Harry.

“What’s wrong Hermione? It looks like you don’t understand or like something.”

She shook her head. “It’s nothing…forget it. Anyways, the crux of this entire Riddle is, you have to brave your fears in Godric’s Hollow, then through a sacrifice you’ll obtain the power to vanquish Voldemort in the final battle. I know we are missing some stuff, but that seems to be the point of it. But what could the sacrifice be?”

Trying to change the train of thought, Harry suggested, “Why don’t we do Riddle’s side now, maybe it will help?”

Hermione waved a hand at him dismissively. “No, it won’t matter, there is nothing we could do about it anyways, and it would be a waste of time. But the sacrifice…DD…what could it be…” Suddenly she gasped, throwing a hand over her mouth, eyes widening in fear.

Harry caught on almost immediately. “Dumbledore…”

*****

Still shaken over the riddle, Harry and Hermione made their way back to the common room just before curfew, to find Dean sitting by himself in a corner, his eyes bloodshot and cheeks stained. Harry shared a quick glance with Hermione and she nodded, pecking him on the lips before retreating for her dormitory. Harry would talk with Dean alone.

“Hey there Dean,” Harry said uncomfortably, sitting across from his distressed friend. “Talk to me.”

Dean looked up at Harry, unsure of what to do, he didn’t seem to want to talk, so Harry spoke again. “Look Dean, I know what it’s like to keep things bottled up inside, I’m a seasoned pro at it. Believe me, it’ll help to get it all out in the open.”

Sighing, Dean looked up and spoke. “It…it’s like I don’t even know who I am anymore. Who am I?” Dean’s voice cracked as he said this. “I’m not a wizard, I’m not a football player…I’m…I’m just a scared kid who doesn’t know what to believe.”

Harry’s heart broke for Dean, it really did. He was in so much pain. “Dean…I know that was tough, finding out like that. Merlin knows I don’t know what it’s like to go through that, I don’t know how you feel, but I can relate. I never knew my father either Dean, and I was never told the truth about my parents until I was eleven. But then I found people that loved me, like Ron and Hermione. Your stepfather loves you Dean, even if you aren’t his blood. Your mum loves you too. I’m sure they thought they were acting in your best interests. Nobody’s perfect, Dumbledore made the same mistake with me, and because of that, combined with my own recklessness, my godfather died. They were wrong, yes, but they didn’t tell you because they care about you. Hopefully you’ll be able to understand that sooner rather than later. It’s not wise to be angry with the ones we love Dean, it crumbles the heart, and without out hearts, we have nothing.”

Standing, Harry walked over and put a comforting hand on Dean’s shoulder before turning and heading back for the boys dormitories. Just before he reached them, Dean spoke up again.

“Harry?”

Turning his head slowly, Harry looked back at his friend. “Yes?”

“Thanks.”

*****

By the next broomstick dueling lesson, which Wedge and Biggs referred to as ‘dog fighting’, Dean was feeling much better. After the conversation he had with Ginny, and then Harry, he realized that his parentage didn’t matter as long as people still loved him. That didn’t stop him from trying to find out as much about his father as humanly possible though.

He and Ginny had also once again become an item. Whether or not Dean had truly loved Ginny before their first break up, there was no doubt that he loved her now, and vice-versa. Neville had no qualms with this either, and it seemed that the trio of them was stronger than ever. But today was an exciting one for the Victors, as they all had their brooms ready to go.

“Hey Hermione!” Dean called out to her before they took off. “If you need more practice, I’m sure your Green Eyed Monster won’t mind if you put him back between your legs tonight!”

Hermione scowled, but Harry laughed, he was just happy to see Dean back to his usual self. Dean, Harry had to say, had a very impressive looking broomstick. The Spaceball was black with holographic white spots on it to represent the stars. He had also charmed it to randomly spew out quotes from the movie, such as, ‘I see that your Schwartz is as big as mine.’ And ‘She’s changed from suck, to blow!’ Harry personally thought this was hilarious, and most of the others agreed with him.

Hermione’s broom was solid, emerald green, The Green Eyed Monster displayed in gold across the sky. Parvati’s Cosmo was bright pink, with red lip spots scattered all over it, and Lavender’s Unicorn looked as beautifully mythical as the creature itself. Seamus had a gold and green mixture color scheme for his Leprechaun, and Ginny’s Feline was well…interesting. But not nearly as interesting as Luna’s Full Moon, which was dark blue and covered with miniture pictures of mythical beasts that were mythical even to wizards. Neville seemed to be riding on a piece of nature, which went well with the name of his broom, Mother Nature.

Everyone cast the special shielding charm on their brooms as they rose into the air, today they would be dueling for the first time, with weak color beams of light that would paint a rider, signaling that they had been shot. Harry found it very difficult to maneuver and use his wand at the same time, but managed well nevertheless. He shot down Parvati only a few seconds after the duel started, then pulled up a corkscrew flip that put him on the tail of Neville, who went down quietly.

Harry chanced a glance around the pitch, where Ron had gotten Lavender with a good maneuver, and Hermione had knocked out Dean – which put her in position for an easy shot from Ginny. Harry saw Luna streaking straight at him, and he smiled, feeling a thrill for a head-to-head duel. Luna fired a quick shot that Harry dodged with a Sloth Grip Roll, and while in the middle of his flip, Harry fired upwards and nailed the Quibbler heir tight between the eyes.

He spun around to see that Ginny had made easy work of Seamus, and it was now down to only Harry, Ginny, and Ron. Ginny and Ron streaked at Harry at once, Ginny firing a quick shot to Harry’s abdomen. Harry twisted on his broom and swung the stick in a defensive position, deflecting the beam away from him and catching an unsuspecting Ron in the chest.

But Ginny, sneaky little devil that she was, had planned that all along, and swooped under Harry before he could right himself, and ended the duel.

“That was good, very nice for a first outing, I was particularly impressed with Ginny, you combined tactics with power and defense, using Harry to get rid of your brother for you, and then using Harry’s defense against him to take him out, very good indeed.” Ginny blushed while the others applauded, but Harry was doing so only half-heartedly, thinking about the awkwardness of fighting with wand in hand.

It was as if a light bulb suddenly went on in Harry’s mind, as he decided that he knew exactly what he was going to do. He grinned, not really listening to the rest of Wedge and Biggs speech. He would definitely have the advantage next time.

*****

A/N:

Okay, there’s your first real taste of ‘dog fighting’, I hope you liked it. I also wrote in my first little bit of angst with the Dean convo, which I am particularly proud of. Please leave me a review, let me know how you liked it!

Go Cubs!

28. Chapter 43

A/N: Well, I was bored at midnight, so I figured, why not? So here’s the first update for AT in two months. Enjoy!

*****

Chapter 43

Harry didn’t waste any time getting to work that night, immediately drawing the curtains around his illustrious four-poster and beginning to whittle away at his Marauder. He wasn’t planning on telling anyone about the modifications he was making, at least not until he had already slaughtered them all in training the next night.

The process really only took a few moments, and Harry was able to fall asleep with the blissful thought of lighting up all of his friends the following night.

*****

It was too bad he had to sit through a double-potions lesson with the Slytherins as the last class that day before their dog-fighting lessons.

“Today you will be brewing the Granite Potion. The instructions are on the board. You have two hours. I trust you will all be able to complete the potion in time,” He gave Neville a slimy smile, “though it may take some longer than others.”

Neville, however, was no longer the little boy to be pushed around, and he wasn’t stupid either. With no blush or even recognition of Snape’s insult, he started in on his potion and was one of the first to complete the complicated coagulation.

Harry, on the other hand, was so wrapped up in his thoughts of the impending dog-fight that he would partake in in a few hours didn’t even realize when he had wasted the first ten minutes staring off into space until Hermione slightly nudged his arm to snap him out of his comatose-state.

Unfortunately, this did not go unnoticed by Snape. “Granger! Potter! No helping one another! You both will receive zeros for the day, now leave my class and expect a visit from your Head of House regarding cheating.”

Harry, enraged, stood up a bit to quickly, knocking his cauldron all over the floor (thankfully it was nearly empty) in his haste to retort. “That’s so unfair! You practically give Malfoy the exam beforehand, why isn’t that cheating?”

Snape, now livid, leered at Harry, who was ignoring an irate Hermione who was covering her eyes with one hand while her head shook at Harry’s inability to control his temper. “Detention Potter. Unless you have something else to add?”

“You can shove your - ow!” Harry broke off when Hermione dug her fingernails into his palm, making Snape’s smirk grow yet again.

“Hmm, it seems that at least Miss Granger is intelligent enough to not talk back, but I cannot have her injuring my students like that, ten points from Gryffindor for attacking a fellow student, Miss Granger, and five each for a public show of affection - you’re holding hands.”

“Yeah Snape? Well holding hands is a lot more action that you’re ever going to be getting so why don’t you go -” but what Snape should go do was cut off, as Hermione had cast a silencing charm on Harry and dragged him out of the classroom.

“Honestly Harry!” She said in a huff, her cheeks reddening in a way that Harry found incredibly attractive. “Thanks to your stupid day-dreaming and temper, you have a detention and Gryffindor lost twenty points!” She grabbed her hair in frustration. “Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

Harry, only slightly ashamed, responded with a classic dumb-boy-not-thinking-about-what-he’s-saying answer. “Er…you know you look really hot when you’re angry?”

Hermione gaped at him for a second before growling in frustration and stomping off, presumably to Gryffindor Tower, without another word.

“What did I say?”

*****

Harry didn’t see or hear from Hermione again until they all met out on the quidditch pitch later that night for training. Harry couldn’t help the small smirk that was playing on his lips as he walked up to his friends, something that didn’t go unnoticed by his friends.

“Oi Harry, what’s the smirk for?” Seamus asked, grinning.

“Yeah,” Dean continued, “Hermione’s looking pretty flushed too, what have you been up too all day since Potions?”

“Well I dunno Dean, seems Hermione’s speechless, but I bet ya that it was Harry who was tongue-tied!”

The duo began laughing louder than a New Orleans man on Mardi Gras while the others looked on in mild amusement.

Harry and Hermione ignored the two of them, instead focusing on Biggs and Wedge. “Alright, why don’t we just get right down to it, eh?”

Putting on game faces, everyone began to straddle their brooms and get ready for flight, while Harry grinned madly. “Coming Harry?” Ginny asked as she took flight next to her boyfriend.

He nodded and pulled out his wand, holding it next to his broom. “Conjecture mobulus.”

To everyone’s astonishment - except Harry’s - a slot opened up in Harry’s broom, allowing the wand access, and the two bonded like father and son at a football match. Now he boarded his broom, and took off into the air.

“Let’s dance.”

Curses started flying, but Harry kept himself restrained until he found a good opportunity. He flew in behind Dean, who immediately started juking and corkscrewing in an attempt to get out of the way, but Harry stayed on target and bellowed, “Fire!”

To the astonishment of everyone in the vicinity of the quidditch pitch, a bright red jet of light shot out of the point of Harry’s wand, painting Dean from behind.

“Oh mother fu-”

“Language Ron!” Hermione chided before taking a shot at the red-head from the side. Ron, being much more skilled on a broom than Hermione, easily dodged and swerved, coming up right behind the bushy-haired fiancée of Harry potter and taking her out of the fight.

In the meantime, three other Victors had fallen victim to Harry’s infusion of his wand into the broom. It gave him an insurmountable advantage over everyone else, he had the ability to aim and shoot while making evasive maneuvers as well as the fact that his shots were much more accurate and easier to pull off.

Needless to say, Harry had ended the duel in less than ten minutes, and was afterwards bombarded with questions. An hour later, they had all taken to the air with the same modification on their brooms that Harry had, making the fighting much more even, but Harry was still able to easily pull out the victory.

Sweaty and tired from training, Harry collapsed on his bed that night after chucking all his clothes to the foot of his bed. He did a quick cleansing charm on himself before his eyes gave up on him and he fell into a deep slumber.

*****

A/N: Sorry about the lack of depth and absence of importance or plot in this chapter, but oh well. I dunno when the next update will be, could be in two months, might be next week, we’ll see. I’m just gonna keep dragging this fic along tooth and nail, it will probably be finished eventually.

Alright, so hit me up with a review, you know I love’em! Oh yeah, and everyone that likes funny-offensive lyrics and rap music has to go out and but Hooray for Boobies by Blood Hound Gang, as well as One fierce Beer Coaster by the same band. Great albums! And after you’ve listened to them, check out my new fic, Harry Potter and theBLOODHOUNDGANG (though the name will probably change soon, just look for my name as the author) and listen to the songs as you read the chapters, it’s pretty funny!

Go Cubs!

29. Chapter 44

A/N: Here’s another chapter. Sorry if things seem a bit choppy, I really don’t remember where exactly in the story I am, so let’s just say it’s…oh…March or so. That way I don’t have to deal with Valentine’s day (unless I did already and forgot about it :p)

So this chapter will start out with light-hearted non-important stuff before we dive into the actual story line later. That’s right! I said story line, meaning plot! Believe it or not I actually do have one, it just hasn’t made an appearance in the last few months. Speaking a few months, that’s all this story really has left, at which point I will most likely start up a sequel.

New edition: Just for some additional humor, I’m gonna throw a Blood Hound Gang one-liner in the AN at the beginning of each chapter. I’m gonna keep the rating PG-13 though, even if BLG is definitely a NC-17 band. I mean, it’s only one line!

Blood Hound Gang, Hooray for Boobies, Track 4, Three Point One Four;

“You know what I really want in a girl? Me.”

Alright, that’s enough chatting for today, on to the story!

*****

Chapter 44

Grass crunched and water sprayed upwards in trails, marking the place where a person had just been on a wet and young Saturday morning in March. Today would be Gryffindor’s last Football match, against Slytherin. Both team’s were undefeated, and this match would decide the championship.

The Slytherins, though they did not like the sport because of it’s muggle-relations, were rather good for the simple fact that they did not like to be beaten at anything.

Harry watched his the team warm up with his arms around himself, protecting him from the brisk breeze that was carrying a chilled wind throughout the entirety of the Hogwarts grounds.

Harry was fairly confident that Gryffindor could win, after all, they did have Dean Thomas, who played professionally, and Freddy Adu, who was a prodigy, and Hermione could hold her own as well.

Even though he was the team discipliner, Harry always seemed to find himself in the same position that he was now; staring at the grasshoppers leaping from blade to blade of green grass rather than watch his players leap for head balls while Dean and Hermione crossed in swingers and out swingers into the penalty area from various positions.

A whistle brought Harry’s attention from the ground to the players on top of it, his cheeks reddening as he realized that the game had begun.

“And it appears that Slytherin is going to continue its trend of taking cheap shots at their opponents while the oblivious referee is busy elsewhere.”

Kerry Wood, who was yet again announcing (and would be doing all of the quidditch announcing as well), earned a stern glare from McGonagall at the statement, but he had long since learned that she wouldn’t do anything about it, the students loved the kid too much.

The game was brutal. Slytherins were pounding Gryffindor’s into the ground left and right, all while Dean was telling his team to keep their cool. A straight-up brawl almost occurred in the 33rd minute though, when Dean stood up a Slytherin forward.

“And here comes Ackerly down the pitch - what a moron, he’s actually going to try and take on Dean Thomas one v one - and - OH! Stuffed! Thomas says your like Santa Clause on a treadmill, you ain’t goin’ nowhere!”

A mini fight erupted between the two players, with both receiving cautions in the end. But the mood had been set, and the match was a rocket ready to explode.

“Granger down the side, makes a nice slice to beat one defender - nutmegs another, backheel pass to Thomas, he hit’s a one-time in swinger to the far post - Evans is unmarked - GOOOAAAALLL!”

The crowd erupted as Wood went on. “And the geniuses of Slytherin apparently forgot all about little unMark’ed Evans, and he puts a cross from Dean Thomas straight into the back of the net. One to nothing Gryffindor!”

The game remained rather tight for pretty much the rest of the game, the Lion’s staunch defense not letting anything through whatsoever. It wasn’t until the 89th minute - at the last possible moment - when the Slytherins finally lost it.

“And Steve Astro on the ball now…he’s going forward…oh! And Keeper Weasley takes it right off his feet. Too bad. And Weasley goes to - whoa!”

Astro had apparently had enough and shoved Ron from behind, eliciting a reaction from the larger student. Ron, apparently without thought, turned with a balled fist and drove it upwards into Astro’s jaw.

“Holy Merlin! What a right hook from Weasley! One-hit KO! You know, I once KO’d twenty Astros in a single outing…”

But whatever Kerry may have said from there on out wasn’t heard, as the benches had emptied and there was now a mash-pit of wizards and witches fighting the muggle way in the middle of the pitch.

Harry ran into the fray, desperate to find Hermione, and get her out, without causing any trouble. He didn’t want either of them to get hurt.

He found her face to face with a Slytherin boy, a furious look on her face as she showed him her ring.

“You think I could help you bust a nut huh? Sure! How about this!” Before the poor kid could react, Hermione had driven her foot up into the kid’s crotch, effectively sending him to the ground in agony.

Harry bit back a laugh and pulled Hermione away from the writhing kid and back to the castle, away from the chaos outside.

Needless to say, Gryffindor was awarded the Football Cup, with eighteen red cards and twenty-two yellow being handed out, the game was called early, and Dumbledore told Dean that there would be no football tournament the next year, which Dean reluctantly agreed to. The sport brought forth way to much antagonistic actions between the houses, mostly because half the students didn’t even know what a football was.

It was great while it lasted, but Harry decided that he would rather watch Dean play professional football anyways.

*****

Later that night, Harry and Hermione were huddled over a certain piece of parchment cluttered with letters and numbers, no closer to figuring the whole thing out than they had been a month ago.

“Some things…they just…” Hermione groaned, pulling at her hair. “I just don’t understand…and no one can help…”

Harry laughed, landing a soft kiss on her cheek before putting forth a suggestion. “You know Hermione, why don’t we take a little field trip to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow? I’m sure they have a record of the theory somewhere, and maybe we’ll be able to question whoever discovered it or wrote it or whatever. It couldn’t hurt, could it?”

Hermione considered for a moment and nodded. “I don’t suppose so, except for the fact that if McGonogall finds out she’d give us a month of detention for leaving school without permission…”

“-but that’s what makes it fun, isn’t it?” Harry cut her off with a grin, knowing that she couldn’t resist it and she would break down.

“Oh…okay Harry. We’ll leave after breakfast tomorrow. But we better not get caught!”

*****

Breakfast was a humorous affair the next morning. Harry and Hermione kept eyeing each other and grinning, while Ron was oblivious to it all. Dean and Seamus were cracking jokes every five seconds, making everyone laugh.

But the best part came right after Neville came and sat down, a sort of dreamy expression on his face. “What’s up with you Neville?” Seamus asked him, interested.

“Oh nothing much, I just got a date for the next Hogsmeade weekend, that’s all.” The guys exploded and started patting Neville on the back and congratulating him while he told them all about this seventh year Hufflepuff that he had asked to Hogsmeade.

“So an older woman, eh chap?” Dean said, getting a nod from Neville. Dean grinned. “Well you know what they say, women are like dog shit, as they get older they’re easier to pick up!”

All the guys howled in laughter, tears brimming their eyelids and then spilling out while the girls all looked at Dean with a great look of disgust.

Harry nearly wet himself laughing, but stopped immediately when Hermione glared at him with a you’re-not-getting-anything-tonight-if-you-don’t-shut-up look on her face. Dean, Harry noticed, was on the receiving end of a very similar look from Ginny. Coughing to try and erase the mental image of the girl he thought of as a sister doing anything of that nature, he got up and left the table, Hermione following him.

After a quick trip to Gryffindor Tower to retrieve the parchment containing the riddle, Harry and Hermione snuck out one of the many exits of the castle to Hogsmeade.

*****

From Hogsmeade they created a…rule-bending portkey…and found themselves at the phone booth in front of the Ministry of Magic. They stepped in, Harry dialing the code, and waited for a response.

“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Will you please state your names and purpose?”

“Erm…Harry Potter and Hermione Granger…umm…Research?”

“Very well,” The perfectly mechanical voice toned back to them, the chirping cutting off as a clanging began from the coin return slot, signaling the arrival of their badges.

Cling Cling.

Harry picked up the badge, fearing the worst.

Harry Potter

Research Mission

He rolled his eyes and handed the other badge to Hermione; she mimicked his actions.

“Honestly, can’t they come up with something else?”

Whatever Hermione’s response may have been was cut off as they were both whisked away to the Ministry of Magic. Harry landed with a thud, keeping his feet firmly on the ground, while Hermione, not being so lucky, ended up on the ground below him.

He smirked at her. “Aren’t I supposed to be the one that lays under you?”

In response Hermione kicked upwards and caught Harry squarely in the groin. He fell down with an oof and Hermione stood back up, a triumphant smile on her face. Harry winced and rolled back, pressing his hands to the ground, and with a push jumped up from his back and landed on his feet, right next to Hermione.

She gave him an appraising look before heading forward to the Directory Desk. After checking in their wands, Harry and Hermione were redirected to the Arithmancy Department.

Upon arriving at the office doors to the Department that rivaled The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office in terms of size and importance, Harry and Hermione were greeted by a young witch with a smile. “Hello, how may I help you today?” She asked them warmly.

Hermione took the initiative. “Hi, we are doing research on a riddle from a few years back - nineteen eighty, to be exact - and were hoping that you might be able to help us with it?”

The witch smiled and nodded. “Sure, we have an archive of every riddle ever recorded for the past four hundred and seventy-two years. If you will give me the first three digits of your poem, I’ll be able to find it for you.”

Hermione did so and the witch disappeared for a moment before coming back. “The riddle you requested information for is already in your position, yes?”

Hermione nodded.

“I am sorry, but there is no further information on the riddle other than that which is written down.” The woman blinked a few times as if trying to refocus her eyes, and continued. “The riddle has been translated many times and it is most certainly correct,” She said in a flat tone, answering a question neither of them had asked or had planned on asking. “that is all of the information I can offer. Good-bye.”

The woman twitched a little as her eyes swam around the room; Harry and Hermione took this as their cue to leave, and they did.

“That was…” Harry began, but was interrupted by Hermione.

“Utterly useless! And…strange.”

*****

It was much later that week that Harry found himself in the Room of Requirement, after one of Snape’s detentions. The slimy git had made Harry mop every dungeon used for classes with no magic. Now Harry was used to mopping from his time with the Dursley’s, but what Snape made him do was immoral. There were fifteen in-use dungeons, each of them taking at least twenty minutes to mop, even for someone as experienced at it as Harry.

Now Harry did what he had been doing behind everyone’s backs ever since Christmas. The room was dark and musty, with pale targets lined up all around the edges as well as the center; some were stationary while others moved like leaves in the wind.

Taking a deep breath, Harry pulled out his wand and waved it in a complicated maneuver, taking aim. “Kriksudo!”

Purple light - an indicator of very dark magic - shot from his wand and pierced one of the targets, melting it into an unidentifiable puddle of…stuff.

“Salzikendo!”

“Prothemis!”

“Mrandef!”

“Lonvibar!”

He shot multitudes of dark spells every which way around the room, satisfied with his progress. It had taken a while, but Harry had finally mastered quite a few dark spells. He told himself that it was so that he would be prepared for whatever Voldemort might throw his way; and it started like that, certainly. But now…Harry found himself enjoying the power that the spells gave him. The power to melt something, or incinerate it, with the use of only one word. For some reason, it made Harry feel good, it was a great way for him to relieve stress.

Taking another deep breath, Harry tried something that he had never done before, although he had pondered on the idea. Dark magic was powerful in itself, but what if the incantations themselves were spoken in Parseltongue? Not only would an opponent not know what was coming (barring them being a Parseltongue themselves), but if one combined a dark language with a dark spell, just how dark would the result become?

Taking a deep breath, Harry had the room conjure a brick wall.

Raising his wand, he screamed the incantation of a dark blasting charm in Parseltongue.

“Sracius Salicie!”

The resulting explosion picked Harry up off of his feet and hurled him twenty feet across the room, slamming him into the opposite wall. Harry took a moment to stand, and groggily rubbed his eyes, picking his glasses off the ground and putting them on.

He looked over to where the brick wall had been and his jaw dropped to the floor.

There was nothing left of it.

In the middle of the room there was a pile of dust, nothing more.

*****

A/N: Okay, there ya go, a chapter that actually has plot points in it! Woo-hoo! Dunno when the next chapter will be up, but keep an eye out for it! Hit me up with a review if it fits your fancy!

Go Cubs!

30. Chapter 45

A/N: Here we go with more of the plot again, hopefully the rest of the story will be like this, though I promise I will try and continue the comic relief as the story gets more serious.

On another note, I’m not going to make a sequel to this fic, so instead the final confrontation with Voldemort will happen in this fic, so let’s all pretend that the date in the riddle that says something about Harry’s seventh year actually means this one instead. A’ight?

On yet another note, I do think I’ll be writing another fic after this one, but it’ll be post-Hogwarts. I’ll use some of the same ideas from this fic in that one, I’ll let you know more when I get closer to writing it.

One Fierce Beer Coaster, The Blood Hound Gang, Track One, Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny:

“She’s the one that’s speechless I’m the one that’s tongue-tied, she’s thinkin’ holy mackerel I’m thinkin’ tuna on the side!”

*****

Chapter 45

“What’s wrong Harry?” Hermione asked for the thousandth time the next day, when Harry winced at the slightest bit of contact. His back was very raw from the impact he had with the wall the night before, and it was causing him pain with every step.

“Slaczious.” Harry muttered in response, testing Hermione’s ears in Parseltongue and cunningly trying to change the subject.

“Look Harry,” Hermione scolded him. “You may not want to tell me what’s wrong - and yes, I do know what you said, ‘nothing’ - but don’t treat me like I am some nobody who can’t tell when you’re hurting or hiding something. You know you can trust me with anything, and it hurts when you keep things from me, especially when you’re in pain because of it.”

Harry immediately felt guilty for keeping this information from Hermione, but he couldn’t tell her, she wouldn’t understand, no one would. If Hermione knew what he was doing…she would go to Dumbledore immediately, and the headmaster would find some way to stop him.

Honestly…it wasn’t like he was hurting anyone. It was just a good way to relieve stress and learn about the dark arts at the same time. How else would he be prepared to fight the dark curses if he didn’t know them himself?

Hermione took the hint that Harry wasn’t going to tell anybody what was wrong so she decided to drop the subject for the time being. Instead they were now in Weapons class, Harry having his ass handed to him on a silver platter by Cloud while Hermione was mauled by Tifa.

Harry knew that he was getting better with a sword, but no one was anything close to the skill level that Cloud was at. Harry figured he was well above-average; but he didn’t really care as long as he could beat Malfoy every time, which he could.

Harry also enjoyed the fact that he more or less knew why ‘Katrina’ was no longer in the class and Malfoy didn’t. Anything he one-upped the Slytherin prick on was a good thing.

Although his classes were going fairly well in all subjects, it was March, and that meant Hermione had started to get on both him and Ron to start studying for their end-of-year exams. Ron, like always, told Hermione that she was nutters and ignored her every time that she tried to get him to study.

Harry on the other hand was more than willing to spend time alone with Hermione, whether it be for studying or something different, just for the simple fact that he could be with the woman he loved.

The one class that Harry was needing every last bit of help he could get in was Arithmancy. Though he may have been dealing with a great riddle with a fair amount of success; he had a lot more trouble with the actual in-class practical work.

And that lead him to where he was now; in the library with Hermione, looking over their Arithmancy notes. “Honestly Harry, it just isn’t that hard,” Hermione told him in the tone she took whenever she couldn’t understand why some people were a lot dumber than she was. “Just combine the numbers, interpret the letters and symbols, and it’ll be easy!”

Harry, tired of work, resorted to flattery. “Wow Hermione, smart and beautiful. How did I ever land you?”

Hermione blushed, a small smile playing on her lips. “Oh Harry…”

Yes! She’s been distracted! Now to put the quaffle through the hoop!

“I love you Hermione.”

Her smile broadened as her face flushed an even deeper shade of red. “Oh Harry…I love you more.”

Harry grinned. “Yeah…you probably do. I’m so desirable and everything.”

Hermione laughed and swatted at Harry’s arm playfully, their notes forgotten.

Damn I’m good.

“You know Hermione,” Harry began. “We’re engaged and all, but we haven’t really talked about setting a date. Do you know when you want it?”

Hermione smiled and nodded, seemingly prepared for this question. “Yes Harry, we’ll have it as soon as you defeat Voldemort. I want you to have something to look forward to.”

Harry decided it wouldn’t get him anywhere to point out that he may not be alive that long to get married, so he bit his tongue. Besides, he understood what Hermione was trying to do, giving him something that Voldemort did not have.

A reason to live.

*****

“Slaciete!”

“Mracsienece!”

“Flasacsica!”

Harry was yet again in the Room of Requirement, firing curses every which way in Parseltongue. He was starting to be real damned good at it. Harry had always been one to be modest, but he knew the truth behind his power; he wasn’t stupid. He knew that these curses he was shooting would most likely rip a man in two pieces if they connected.

But, he wasn’t planning on using them on any men, any time soon.

Well, maybe if he was provoked. That would make it okay, right?

*****

April came with no new developments by Voldemort, which Harry found deeply disturbing. The date on the riddle gave him about a month to figure everything out…or else, well, he didn’t know what else.

Harry was walking from Charms to Defense class with Ron and Hermione when they heard a familiar drawl drift their way.

“Look, if it isn’t Potter and his pathetic mud blood. Oh - and I almost didn’t see you there Weasel - then again your best friends haven’t been paying you much attention lately either have they? So I suppose you’re used to feeling neglected, especially with a pathetic excuse for a family like yours.”

Ron spun so quickly one would have thought he was facing that direction the entire time. But Harry was a bit distracted by what Malfoy had said. Had he and Hermione really been ignoring Ron that much?

Malfoy, knowing there were no teachers around, fired a quick curse.

“Dransienso!”

Hermione gasped - but Harry, thinking quickly jumped in front and bellowed a counter-curse, in Parseltongue. “Prasciten!”

Malfoy’s spell rebounded with such force that it threw the blonde boy far across the hallway and through a wooden door, into a seldom-used broom closet.

Feeling rather proud of himself, Harry turned and smiled at Ron, who was looking at him in awe. Hermione’s reaction, however, was much different.

“Harry,” She said sternly, her eyes gleaming. “Where did you learn to counter a dark curse?”

31. Chapter 46

A/N:

Hey all, surprised? Yeah, so, I got bored, figured, what the hell, and decided to go ahead and write a chapter just for the hell of it. What’s it been, like 2-3 months?

Well whatever, anyways, enjoy, and don’t forget to review; if the reviews weren’t there this fic would’ve been discontinued a LONG time ago!

*****

“Uhh…er…well the thing is…um…yeah,” Harry responded, looking sheepish. Hermione’s icy glare seemed to penetrate his skin and freeze his very heart; not that he would ever admit that to anybody.

“I’m waiting!” Hermione said impatiently, clucking her tongue and tapping one toe on the ground. For being a young bookworm, weighing at most 110 pounds and not a hair taller than 5’6” (though her hair probably made her look even taller than she really was), Hermione could be very intimidating.

By now a myriad of students had filled the hall, glancing anxiously from Malfoy’s crumpled form on the floor to Harry, who was mouthing wordlessly like a goldfish out of water.

Due to the swarm of students, Professor McGonogall had found her way into the hall, gasping at the sight of the pretty-boy ferret moaning and groaning inside a broom closet - but not for the same reasons most students did so.

As the aging Transfiguration Professor fussed over the injured Malfoy (Harry thought she did a pretty good job of actually pretending that she cared) a light cough behind him made Harry aware of the Headmaster’s presence.

“Perhaps we should be heading to my office, Harry. You may tell me all about what has just occurred when we arrive.”

Without waiting for an answer - mainly because anything outside of a positive response was not going to be accepted - the old man turned with a whisp of his cloak and lead the way to the esteemed Headmaster’s office.

Three corridors, two flights of stairs, and a stone gargoyle later Harry was sitting in a conjured chair across from the man he had admired his entire wizarding life.

“So Harry, what transpired you to attack Mr. Malfoy in the Charms corridor today?”

“I didn’t attack him!” Harry defended, “he attacked me; I only used a shielding charm and it rebounded on him! I can’t be reprimanded for defending myself can I?”

“Is that so?” Dumbledore asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Let me see your wand then,”

Harry did as he was told, handing the wand over to the headmaster. Dumbledore studied it for a moment before performing a few quick charms, his face changing from happiness to surprise to disappointment.

The old wizard handed Harry his wand. “Now Harry, obviously, yes, you were only defending yourself, but now I must ask; where did you learn the spell that you used? I will assume you are aware that it was a dark curse, yes?”

Harry nodded; Dumbledore sighed.

“So Harry, let me be the detective, as they say. This summer you became aware of a riddle prophesizing your imminent battle with the dark lord. You knew you needed to begin training. As you trained, you realized that the spells you were being taught could only go so far; therefore, you decided to dabble into the dark arts, because they are what Voldemort is most adept at, and you believe that by knowing what one is fighting against, one can defend oneself to greater effect.”

Harry, realizing that Dumbledore had probably known this would happen all along, wasn’t all to surprised. He only offered a nod in response.

Dumbledore sighed again, pulling off his glasses to clench the brim of his nose before returning them to his face.

“Very well Harry, you hold your own fate in your own hands. I may not condone your actions entirely, but there is no way I believe that I could stop you from practicing these arts.”

Now Harry was surprised, unable to utter a word, he nodded, something he seemed to be doing a lot of lately.

Dumbledore raised an arm towards the office door. “You should best be on your way then, Harry. Be careful; the dark arts are not something to be messed with easily; you must think of the consequences that your actions could bring to those around you, as well as yourself.”

Harry began to walk to the door, stopping only when Dumbledore’s voice invaded his ears again. “I once taught a boy much like you Harry; extremely talented, orphaned, and loyal to his friends. He was a prefect, a model student and child. He was fascinated by the dark arts; he did not use them at a young age, but he studied them, learned the specifics, until he realized something. He could use the dark arts, but use them for good; and that would make it just. So in his second year he secretly practiced them, used them sparingly, until he grew to be the school’s expert on them. He never cursed a student, nor harmed one; nobody thought him able. But he continued using the arts; just as you are, and eventually he changed Harry; He became Lord Voldemort.”

*****

Harry was mulling over what Dumbledore had said to him all the way back to Gryffindor Tower, where Hermione was certain to confront him. He knew the professor was right, he could tell that he was changing, he just didn’t know what it was until now.

If he were to destroy the dark lord with dark arts, a new lord would be born; the said lord being himself. He couldn’t allow that to happen, he cared to much for those around him.

Finally he reached the common room, muttering the password to the fat lady and entering, not at all surprised to see the entire Gryffindor portion of the DA waiting for him.

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but Harry stopped her with a raised hand. “Don’t worry about it guys, I know what I did and I’ve thought about it; I don’t need you to tell me what is right.” Harry got a gleam in his eyes that could be described as nothing less than angelic. “Lord Voldemort will go down, but I’m not going to beat him at his own game, I’ll beat him at mine.”

*****

A/N:

Yeah, I know, extremely short, right? Oh well, too bad, it’s just not much fun writing this anymore, you guys are the ones keeping the story alive, not me. Review enough and keep my ego high, and hopefully I’ll be able to fulfill your wishes and actually complete this story.

Until then…

Later Player

32. Clearing The Air

Oh boy, I don’t wanna even think about how much some of you are gonna hate me for posting an author’s note, especially because the chapter was corrupted the first time I tried to post it, but I thought I’d try to clear the air a bit.

A lot of you, no doubt, are wondering why I can’t find the time to write a little Harry Potter on the side of whatever it is that I do on a daily basis, am I right?

Well, the truth of the matter is, I am currently writing a novel, something that is taking up massive amounts of my time, and every time I try to get back to AT, a new idea hits me, like the whole quidditch cup thing.

I do know how this story ends, and I do really plan on finishing it up at some point, it’s just tough with all of the other stuff circling around in my head.

For those of you that may wonder how serious I am about this book I’m writing (it’s called ‘The Imminence of Fate’) I’ll just give you a bit of description about it. It is part one of a three book set, entitled ‘The Trilogy of Fate’ and revolves around two boys as they travel the world searching for truth.

It starts out simple -- the boys come across a body in the woods by their home, the only identifying marks upon it being a golden nameplate round his neck and a shruiken lodged inside the throat. Time passes and the boys hold this secret to themselves…until someone comes looking for the lost man. Curiosity sets adventure into motion, but it doesn’t take long until their search for truth evolves into a quest to find the true Fate of man itself, and whether it holds prosperity…or destruction.

Anyways, so that’s what’s been eating into my AT time, so if you’re ever in a bookstore a few months from now and see a book entitled ’The Imminence of Fate’ with a description close to that which I just gave you, at least you’ll know all the delays in AT were worth something (and yes, I have had a few people read the thing for real, and have had publishers contact me about it, but I’ve done nothing so far in those regards…basically I’m trying to say ’this book is for real’ without sounding arrogant, but oh well…).

Oh yeah -- but I have started writing the next AT chapter, by the way, it’ll be up maybe tomorrow, maybe later, just depends how long I intend to make it.

Hope you guys have a better understanding now,

Player aka SoraSummers

33. Chapter 47

A/N: I’m really sorry about the wait, not to mention the major technical problems I had uploading a stupid author’s note (and further ones that made me re-write the chapter 2 bloody f*cking times!), but finally now I can give you all the next chapter.

There’s only a few more left, everything is gonna come into focus now, it’ll all sort-of make sense at the end, and it definitely will not be a happy-go-lucky ending either.

Anyways, Read and Review!

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After Harry’s proclamation the night before that he would beat Voldemort without resorting to the dark arts, he got straight to work; and the first thing he needed to figure out was that godforsaken riddle.

He knew what the dates meant, he knew a few of the abbreviations, he had even written it all down, along with what he still had to figure out.

My birthdate…the date Voldemort attacked me…the night we are prophesized to fight again. Three lines that divide the rectangle into four section; two of each pertaining to me and Voldemort. Logically, they should stand for the same thing.

My first triangle is…

GH12 -- probably Godric’s Hollow 12...where I lived when I was a year old, where my parents were killed and I became famous.

101 -- most likely it means fear, some kind of fear of mine…

09 -- no idea

3 -- no bloody clue

My second triangle…

S -- stands for sacrifice most likely, the next line meaning who does the sacrificing…

DD -- Dumbledore. I just can’t think of any other possibility…I don’t wanna believe it, but it has to be true.

GGS -- Godric Gryffindor’s Sword. Now, according to Arithmetic Theories, this should be the acquisition I acquire for the sacrifice, but I already have it, and there was no sacrifice! What does it mean?

VTMR -- The ‘TMR’ has to mean ‘Tom Marvolo Riddle’. ‘V’ probably stands for ‘Vanquish’.

So literally, my second triangle says…

Dumbledore’s sacrifice grants me the Godric Gryffindor Sword, and I use that to vanquish Voldemort.

This means that this is the action; the first triangle has to be the place. I know the part about Godric’s Hollow, I know the part about fear -- probably just means Voldemort -- the ‘09’ and ‘3’ must have some kind of location significance…

I dunno…damn it! None of this makes sense with that bloody sacrifice thing! Shit! Maybe dissecting Voldemort’s side would help…

If only I had paid more attention in Arithmancy class maybe I would remember…hold it…memory…

“Hermione!”

Hermione, who was snoozing quietly next to him, woke up with a start. “Mmm…Harry…what is it?”

“Hermione, do you remember a few days ago when we talked to that Theory keeper, and she acted all weird and stuff?”

Hermione, still in the process of waking up, nodded her head slowly, oblivious of the stray paper that was stuck to her forehead.

“You trust me, don’t you?”

Hermione removed the paper and looked at him quizzically. “Of course I do Harry, I love you. What kind of silly question is that?”

Harry took a deep breath and pulled out his wand. “Okay, then trust me on this, I have an idea. I’m going to erase your memory partially of information pertaining to the riddle; and I want to test a theory. I’ll restore your memory, of course.”

Hermione looked a little scared, but slowly nodded her head, clenching one hand in a fist to hide the fact that it was shaking. “O-okay Harry, I trust you.”

He smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss, pressing his chapped lips against hers. He leaned back, concentrated, and tapped Hermione on the head, whispering, “Obliviate,”

He had to concentrate very carefully to make sure that he did not mess up the spell, and destroy Hermione’s memory, turning her into another Lockheart. Luckily, he had been taught the practical uses and theories for the spell many times, and did not have much trouble casting the spell effectively.

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, then shook her head once and looked back at Harry, her memory gone. “Hi Harry…what were we talking about again?”

Harry looked deep into her eyes as he said, “We were talking about the Arithmetic Theory,”

Hermione’s eyes glazed for a moment before she said, “What are you talking about? What theory?”

Harry sighed, looking down at his hands. It was all beginning to make sense now…but he had to be for sure. “You know Hermione, the one about me and Voldemort, about our imminent battle and everything?”

Hermione looked at him quizzically, “What in the name of Merlin are you talking about Harry?” she asked, her tone flat, eyes swimming around the room, seemingly unable to focus on Harry in front of her.

Harry sighed, knowing his thesis to be correct. He tapped Hermione on the head again, restoring her memories. “Harry! What happened? Did you find out what you needed? Harry…”

She saw his downcast look and grabbed one of his hands, trying to get a look into his eyes. “Tell me what’s wrong…”

But Harry wasn’t there to answer at the moment, he was back in the Ministry of Magic, remembering his last trip there on a ‘research mission’…

Upon arriving at the office doors to the Department that rivaled The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office in terms of size and importance, Harry and Hermione were greeted by a young witch with a smile. “Hello, how may I help you today?” She asked them warmly.

Hermione took the initiative. “Hi, we are doing research on a riddle from a few years back - nineteen eighty, to be exact - and were hoping that you might be able to help us with it?”

The witch smiled and nodded. “Sure, we have an archive of every riddle ever recorded for the past four hundred and seventy-two years. If you will give me the first three digits of your poem, I’ll be able to find it for you.”

Hermione did so and the witch disappeared for a moment before coming back. “The riddle you requested information for is already in your position, yes?”

Hermione nodded.

“I am sorry, but there is no further information on the riddle other than that which is written down.” The woman blinked a few times as if trying to refocus her eyes, and continued. “The riddle has been translated many times and it is most certainly correct,” She said in a flat tone, answering a question neither of them had asked or had planned on asking. “that is all of the information I can offer. Good-bye.”

The woman twitched a little as her eyes swam around the room; Harry and Hermione took this as their cue to leave, and they did.

“That was…” Harry began, but was interrupted by Hermione.

“Utterly useless! And…strange.”

There was really no debating it now, it had to be true. But what did it mean?

“Hermione, do you remember that day when we visited the Department of Mysteries on a ‘research mission’ a few weeks back?”

Hermion, momentarily surprised by the shift in subject, nodded her head. “Er…yeah Harry, what about it?”

“She was memory charmed Hermione…that’s why I just did that to you, and it proved me right. The witch was memory charmed, and I doubt you need two guesses as to who did it.”

Hermione’s eyes grew wide, “Voldemort…”

Harry nodded. “Yeah…but that’s not even the strange part about it. The question is why? What could that lady have possibly know that we did not? There couldn’t have been much, certainly not enough to elicit her memory being wiped, so then, what was it, ya think?”

Hermione’s eyebrows were scrunched together in thought, contemplating the situation. “What if…what if…well, what would have happened, if she wasn’t memory charmed? She would have gone to the backroom, brought out the riddle, and then --”

“Wait a minute,” Harry cut her off, an idea striking him. “What if she was memory charmed because…if she did go back there…she wouldn’t have found the riddle?”

Hermione looked at him quizzically. “Huh? What do you mean Harry? They have a record of every recorded Arithmetic Theory, the only way she couldn’t have found it would be if it was…” she gasped, looking at Harry, his meaning clear.

Harry nodded his head. “Unless…it wasn’t real. Unless, the riddle was a faux, a fake, intended to get me to walk to Voldemort. Unless the riddle was nothing more than a trap.”

Hermione gasped again, but knew what Harry said to be true, they could both just…feel it.

“Well, Harry, actually…this could be a good thing, a very good thing.”

Harry looked at Hermione as if she’d grown a second head. “Okay, just hear me out,” she said. “Voldemort did this to trap you, right? He probably set this up after the Department of Mysteries last year, he created the riddle -- which would explain the inconsistencies, Tom Marvolo Riddle never took Arithmancy -- made sure it fell into our professor’s hands, and that she thought it was an old Theory, so it found it’s way to us, he knew we would crack it, because it wasn’t very difficult; that’s another inconsistency we should have picked up -- what made us think that two Hogwarts students could so easily figure out a riddle that baffled Ministry experts for years? And then there was the ‘DD’ instead of ‘AD’, the use of a muggle symbolism that he knew we would catch, but there are no muggle symbolisms in Arithmetic Theories, the list goes on and on.

“But, what Voldemort doesn’t know is that we figured him out. And why would he think that we could? He fooled us in first year, in fourth, and in fifth, so why not in sixth? But we got him this time, and we know the when and where, so now he’s the one that’s gonna get set up.”

Hermione grinned at him, grabbing Harry’s hand. “Come on, let’s go tell Dumbledore, then we can figure everything out from there.”

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“…and that’s about it.”

Harry and Hermione were both sitting in Dumbledore’s office, finishing with their story about what they had discovered.

Dumbledore smiled at them, eyes twinkling, “Very, very good job, Harry, Hermione. You two may have just given us the knockout punch we need to destroy Lord Voldemort. We must plan this very carefully, and in utmost secrecy. Tell only those that you trust, and we will have a meeting to discuss tactics in three days time. Be weary, very weary Harry. We do not want to make the same mistake your parents did. A traitor could spell the end of us all.”

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A/N: Finally, you guys have no idea how infuriating that chapter was to write, my computer kept closing my Microsoft Works program in the middle of it and I would have to start over, I ended up having to save the damn thing after every paragraph to make sure I didn’t lose it all.

I know the resolution of the riddle was not what everybody was hoping for, but not something many of you were expecting either, and that’s what I was going for.

Next chapter will be ‘the meeting’ where they will discuss tactics and decide how best to trap Voldemort and bring him down. After that we’ll have the actual final battle, and a closing chapter. So probably only three more left!

Read and Review!

Sora