Maybe I should have Harry make life altering decisions more often. Twelve reviews in one day...that's a record for me. Even though I'm including the flame in that. I was expecting a few people to complain/be sad about Harry's decision to quit quidditch, but I never expected that ALL OF MY REVIEWS save one or two would be of that nature. Therefore, I award pumpkin pie to Purple_Starz, who was the only one who actually saw the true purpose of his decision.
I said that I would explain the decision to have Harry give up quidditch, so here it is. His decision to quit quidditch was NOT a plot twist, it was NOT ooc, and the one thing that no one seems to understand is that Hermione DID NOT ask or force him in any way to quit. In both instances where his quitting was discussed (Chapters 13 and 18), Hermione clearly said that she was not asking him to quit. There is no hidden meaning or intent involving her. She meant what she said.
Let me reiterate that. She did not ask him to quit.
There, do we have that yet? Good. Harry quit of his own accord, because of HIS love for Hermione. As I'm sure many of you know, lots of fics use the premise that Harry cannot stand to see Hermione shed tears, this one more than not. I'll spoil a little bit and reveal that deep down Harry was getting sick of injuries, but that's all I'm saying that involves the plot.
And speaking of plot, his quitting IS relevant to the overall storyline, though the reason won't show itself until Part III (ok, so I said a bit more involving the plot, so sue me).
As for the action of him quitting being OOC, we need to remember that these are fics. Everything anyone does or writes about in the entire fandom world is technically OOC, unless someone miraculously duplicates one of the future books. JKR created, wrote, and owns the canon. Therefore, saying that his action is OOC is true, but not in the sense that you people make it out to be. As for the fact that it's fairly un-like Harry to do something like that...you have no proof. Now, if we were talking about...let's say...Ron, for example, THEN that would be skewing off on a tangent. Simply think of it like this. Harry's love for Hermione is greater than his love for quidditch (which I even mentioned in Chapter 3). Just remember, she didn't make him choose between them, he chose on his own accord. And since it's my story anyway, not much you people can do about it ;)
Now see! You got me rambling for a whole page of author's notes. Secretly, I'm willing to bet that half the people who read the story don't even read what I just wrote too lol. Cheers and enjoy the chapter!
And on an upside, I broke personal review records for Chapter 18. So thanks for that lol.
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Chapter 19: Their Worst Fear
Needless to say, the party that took place in the Gryffindor common room following the game was of legendary proportions. All the old banners that students had made over the years came out and were hung among the rafters of the room. Bottles upon bottles of Ogden's Finest were shipped in from the Room of Requirement to cheers and hurrahs from all the students (Hermione also begrudgingly partook in the imbibing of some of the alcohol). Even a few house-elves led by Dobby made an appearance to congratulate Harry and present him with an oversized flat-pan cake with, 'We'll miss you' written in emerald green frosting on it. A few of the students even started a petition to get Harry's number retired by the Gryffindor Team. They brought this to the attention of Professor McGonagal when she came to break up the party around 3 in the morning.
"I'll consider it," was the reply they got before she quickly cast sobering charms on everyone and demanded that they go to bed. Groans and whines filled the room at this, but the Transfiguration teacher was adamant, and before long everyone but Harry and Hermione had gone to their respective dorms.
"Er...hello Professor," Harry said, glancing around the common room which, now empty, looked as if a twister had touched down there.
"Hello, Potter," she said. "Don't you think as Head Boy and Girl you could've at least made the effort to keep the common room clean?" Both Harry and Hermione turned a slight red at this and proceeded to turn their gazes to their shoes.
"Sorry," Hermione mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Sorry," she said more clearly. "We all got caught up in the moment, what with Harry retiring and all." They looked up and saw a brief smile on McGonagal's face before it disappeared.
"Well, no matter," she said sighing. "I'll have the elves clean it up while you're asleep." Harry and Hermione nodded. "You two better get some rest. I expect that you'll need to be on your toes tomorrow after all the celebrating tonight." The two teens nodded and the deputy headmistress turned and walked out of the room through the portrait hole.
"Wow," said Harry looked around. "We really ransacked this place, huh?"
"Yeah," said Hermione with a disappointed look on her face. "But I'm sure that tomorrow it'll be good as new."
"Well come on then," he said looking at her. "Let's get some sleep." With a small smile, Hermione grabbed his hand and they walked off to their respective rooms.
Sleep overtook each of them rather quickly, but for all the partying and the exhaustion of quidditch, Harry failed to drift into a deep sleep.
It was a different room from the last time. Harry was sitting in a chair by a dying fire, a snake lying peacefully next to the hearth. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, causing both figures to look towards it.
"Enter," Harry said. A tall man in black robes opened the old oak door and stepped through, closing it behind him.
"You called for me, my lord?" he asked, bowing at Harry's feet.
"Yes...." Harry hissed. "I have an assignment for you, Lucius."
"What is your bidding?"
"Wormtail has extracted a necessary piece of information," Harry said. "Begin assembling your death eaters to capture what we need."
"Yes, master," Lucius said.
"We still do not have the date yet, so for the time being, keep them...in shape."
"Is there anything else, master?" he asked after showing a slight smile. Harry thought for a moment.
"Hmm...fetch him for me actually," he said.
"Wormtail?" Malfoy asked. Harry nodded. Without raising his head, Lucius backed out of the room, though not closing the door this time. A moment later a rat scurried into the room as fast as its legs could carry it, and transformed into Peter Pettigrew.
"Y-y-y-es, my lord?" he asked, not daring to raise his head.
"Look at me, Wormtail," Harry said. He raised his head just enough so that their eyes met, and Peter visibly shivered. "You have done well."
"T-thank you, master."
"You have succeeded where others never would have, and for that, I am pleased."
"Y-yes, my lord."
"You will be in charge here while Lucius is away."
"You are too kind," Wormatil said, still in the groveling position.
"Probably," came the response. "Now leave me in peace." Peter backed out of the room and shut the door behind him as Harry took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair.
All of a sudden he felt an intrusion into his mind, and his eyes snapped open.
"Potter...," he hissed. "How nice of you to join me. How much have you seen tonight? Well no matter, thankfully I haven't shown you any details of what's to come...yet. But you must forgive me, I'm a bit tired tonight. Some other time I'll torture you with memories of your godfather's death again."
Harry instantaneously woke in a cold sweat, and sat straight up in bed.
"Harry?" Hermione mumbled next to him. "What's wrong?"
"I had another dream..." he said, fumbling with the covers. Instantly Hermione was fully awake and out of the bed.
"Well?" she asked when he didn't make a move to get up. "Are you coming?"
"I just...there was something different this time," he said. "Voldemort actually felt my presence and spoke to me." Her eyes widened at this revelation.
"What did he say?" she asked, after some hesitation.
"Nothing really, just that it didn't matter what I'd seen, because there was no way I could know what was coming."
"We should still go and see Dumbledore," she said pulling on her shirt. With a sigh, Harry got up and quickly got dressed before they left the Head Boy room.
Thankfully they didn't run into any late-night studiers this time, and made it safely to the headmaster's office without encountering anyone. This time, Harry didn't wait for an answer to do open the door after he knocked, he simply barged in and found Dumbledore feeding Fawkes.
"I take it you've had another dream?" he asked without turning.
"How did you know it was us?" Harry asked.
"Who else would barge into my office at this time of night?" the headmaster replied, looking at his twelve-handed watch. "My mistake, at this time of morning."
"Er...sorry," Harry mumbled.
"Apology accepted," Dumbledore said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Now, what happened in your dream this time?"
"Well I had summoned Lucius to me," Harry began. "I told him that Wormtail had gotten some kind of information, and to keep his team of death eaters in shape." At this, Dumbledore's expression grew grave, and he whispered something to Fawkes before the phoenix disappeared in a burst of flames.
Neither student spoke after this, and when it became apparent that they were too confused to say something, the headmaster broke the silence.
"You're wondering what I just sent Fawkes off for?" he asked. Harry and Hermione nodded slightly. "Tell me, what do you think Voldemort means when he says, 'keep the death eaters in shape?'"
"Oh," Harry said grimly. "Right."
"Please continue," Dumbledore said.
"Well after that, I...Voldemort, that is, had him fetch Wormtail for him, and he told him he was pleased." Harry said continuing. "Then I told him to leave. I mean he told him to leave."
"Is that all?" the headmaster asked.
"...no," he answered after some hesitation. "Voldemort felt my presence in his mind, and spoke to me."
At this, Dumbledore looked up at Harry, dread replacing the usual twinkle in his eyes.
"What did he say?" he asked.
"That it didn't matter what I'd seen, because there was no way I could know what was coming," Harry said. At this, the triumphant gleam that Harry had only seen that one night in the distant past after he told the headmaster about Voldemort's use of blood in the resurrection potion appeared in his eyes again.
"And that," he said. "Is why we have the upper hand." Harry and Hermione looked at each other following this statement.
"Sorry sir," Hermione said. "But what do you mean?"
"Simply because Harry probably does know what's coming," Dumbledore replied.
"How could I?" he asked. Instead of answering Harry straightly, the headmaster gave him another question.
"What about the dream you had a few months ago?" Harry snorted at this.
"And divination?" he asked. "You can't possibly expect me to believe that I Saw something."
"I actually think it's highly likely," came the answer. If there had been no joint that connected the jaw to the rest of the skull, Harry's and Hermione's would more than likely have been on the floor after that sentence.
"You must be joking," Harry said, finding his voice again.
"Not in the least," Dumbledore replied. "As surprising as it may seem, the Sight exists in everyone. Well, all wizards, at the least. It's those who learn to harness it that become Seers."
"But Trelawney said -"
"Professor Trelawney," interrupted Dumbledore, "while having produced two prophecies, is not a very gifted Seer. She may possess some form of the ability to harness the Sight, but cannot frequently do so accurately. She also has many incorrect beliefs, the idea that not everyone has some form of the Sight being one of them."
"So what you're saying is that I saw the future?" Harry asked. Dumbledore contemplated this question for a moment
"Maybe," he finally answered. "The day after your dream, I checked all sources of information I had, wizard and muggle alike. No one had gone missing that night. On the other hand you simply could've had a nightmare."
"So then," Harry said turning to Hermione. "It could've been you."
"I'm afraid that that is a very real possibility," the headmaster said. "But since Tom is of the belief that you do not know what his plans are, we can use this to our advantage."
"What ARE his plans then?" Harry asked, growing impatient.
"More than likely to kidnap Hermione. Don't forget she's still his main way of getting to you." Harry fell silent at this and didn't speak afterwards. "Surely you haven't forgotten that?"
"No," he said. "But I'd like to imagine it isn't true."
"Don't you dare start blaming yourself again," Hermione warned. Harry pulled her close into a hug at this.
"I won't," he said. "But I can't lose you."
"You'll never lose me," she said reassuringly.
"Perhaps it would be best if you went back to sleep," Dumbledore said.
"What do we do about this?" Harry asked.
"I will inform the rest of the Order what has happened," he said. "For now, all we can do is keep a close watch on our surroundings, and make sure anything out of the ordinary is reported." The teens nodded at this and left the office, neither saying (or thinking) anything until they were once again tucked underneath the covers of the bed in Harry's room.
"Please don't blame yourself for this," Hermione said, reading Harry's thoughts.
"It's really hard not to," he replied. "After all, you wouldn't be on top of his hit list if it weren't for me."
"If it weren't me then it would be someone else you really cared for," she said. "Like Remus."
"I suppose," he sighed.
"C'mon," she said snuggling up close to him. "There's nothing to be worried about."
"There's plenty to be worried about, according to Dumbledore," Harry said, putting on arm around her. "I'm not letting you out of my sight from now on." Hermione smiled and kissed him on the forehead.
"Now that's not so bad, is it?"
"Not really, I guess," he said with a smile.
"You guess?" she huffed.
"Fine, I know," he replied grinning.
"Better."
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Although everyone in the Order was keeping an eye out for suspicious activity, no one saw anything out of the ordinary happen in the following weeks. A few death eaters had been caught trying to torture muggles (the most notable of the captures was the day after the dream, the Order thanked Harry greatly afterwards), but that wasn't out of the ordinary considering the current situation.
Classes were progressing normally, although the workload was increasing since NEWT's were approaching, and Ron made a point of gloating about his ghostly status one night in the common room while Harry was doing homework.
"I'll tell ya," he said from over Harry's shoulder. "It really pays to be dead. Not having homework is a godsend."
"Do you mind?" Harry asked as he scribbled a sentence for his charms essay.
"Oh fine," Ron said with a smile as he floated over to the couch and drifted into a seated position. "Did you hear about the Hogsmeade weekend that's coming up on Saturday?"
"Hmm?" Harry asked as the last of the students made their way upstairs to bed.
"They posted an announcement for it in the Great Hall today," Hermione said from her seat by the fire. "Didn't you see it?"
"Er...." Truth be told, Harry had been paying attention to the smell of strawberries that was coming from Hermione's hair when they had entered the Great Hall for their meals that day, and hadn't noticed the big group of students gathered around the announcement board.
'Well I'm glad you noticed it,' she said silently. 'It's a new shampoo.'
'How come I didn't see it in the shower?' he asked. Ever since their return from the past, they had taken to showering (and frequently doing more) together every morning in his bathroom, so she had moved all of her toiletries in there immediately following their arrival.
'I charmed my old one,' she replied. 'It made more sense than going out and spending money.' Harry couldn't help but chuckle at her ingeniousness.
"Are you two talking to each other in your heads again?" Ron asked, having witnessed the facial expressions they made during the silence.
"Yeah," said Harry resuming his writing.
"Stop doing that already!" Ron said. "I want to know what you guys talk about if it's a secret." At this, Harry put down his quill and turned to face the ghost.
"No, you don't," he said with an evil grin that would've made the Marauders proud.
"Ugh!" exclaimed Ron shivering. "I really don't need those images planted in my mind, thank you very much.
"You and Harry's mom have something in common, then," Hermione said, blushing slightly.
"I'm not going to ask," Ron said.
"Well, I'm done with this," Harry said tiredly as he rolled up his work. "I'm going to go put this in my room. I'll be back in a minute." Hermione and Ron nodded as he made his way up to the Head Boy's room and placed his work on his dresser. Sighing, he glanced at the Marauder's Map which lay on the top of his trunk. He walked over to it and grabbed it before heading back down to the common room.
"What's that for?" Ron asked as Harry took a seat on the couch next to him.
"Felt like doing some old fashioned spying," he said after he activated the map. "Besides, it can't hurt to keep an eye on things."
"Suppose not," Ron said. "Well let's see then, who out and breaking the rules?"
Ron and Harry had fun for half an hour or so, especially seeing couples of students in hidden places in the castle. Hermione couldn't help but chuckle to herself every once in a while at the way the boys were behaving as if they were thirteen again.
Finally, they decided to pack it in. Harry was just about done folding up the map when a movement on the parchment caught his attention. Flipping the map open so he could see the name of the person, he saw the one thing that he hoped would never grace the pages of the Marauder's Map again.
Peter Pettigrew was currently in the Great Hall.
"Ron, Hermione, you need to come with me right now," Harry said getting up from the couch and drawing his wand.
"What are you -" Ron began, but quickly silenced when Harry showed him the map. Hermione, who was wondering what was going on, walked behind the ghost and glanced over his shoulder, before her eyes widened and she too drew her wand.
"We have to go," Harry said. "Now." Without another word, the three of them sped off out of the common room and into the hallway.
Unfortunately, they were only halfway to the Great Hall when the dot labeled 'Peter Pettigrew' suddenly moved and quickly sped out of the castle onto the Hogwarts Grounds. Not ten seconds later was he off the map.
"Damnit!" Harry cursed, slowing his pace.
"What?" asked Hermione coming up behind him.
"He left," Harry said showing her and Ron the map. Ron sighed.
"Well, nothing to do but go see Dumbledore, then." The other two nodded and they changed their course towards the stone gargoyle, but as they approached the statue, it jumped aside and Professor Snape came out followed by Dumbledore.
"Ah," the headmaster said seeing the map in Harry's hands, while Snape merely gave a small scowl. "You may come with us." Without speaking, the five of them went off towards the Great Hall, and when they got there, Filch was standing inside holding Mrs. Norris.
"Well Argus?" Dumbledore asked.
"I didn't see 'im, headmaster," the caretaker growled. "But Mrs. Norris saw him as a rat, scurrying out of 'ere onto the grounds." The aged wizard nodded at this.
"I assume," he said turning to the three students. "That you saw Peter on the map?" Harry nodded and handed it to him. He lowered his half-moon spectacles to look at it for a moment.
"Hey...wait a minute," Filch said. "Tha' map is supposed to be in my office!"
"You honestly didn't notice it was gone before now?" Ron asked, eyes wide. "My brothers nicked that thing in their first year!" Filch let out a low growl at this.
"Well it doesn't look like we can do anything to catch him now," Dumbledore said. "Do we know why he was here?" The other five people remained silent at this, causing the headmaster to sigh. "Very well. Then for the time being all we can do is remain on high alert. I believe this is yours, Harry," he finished, handing the map back to him.
"You aren't going to let 'im keep the thing?!" Filch exclaimed.
"I see no reason in keeping it from him Argus, especially since he uses it to help with his Head Boy duties." Filch grumbled at this. "Well now, if there's nothing else to be discussed, let's all head back to our respective places of residence then, shall we?" They all walked out into the Entrance Hall, and Filch stalked off with his cat, murmuring something along this lines of, 'How that damn kid got to be Head Boy...' while Dumbledore and Snape each walked off in opposite directions, leaving the three students standing there alone.
"What do you think?" Hermione asked.
"I have no idea," Harry replied looking at the map, which was now devoid of names on the grounds except for 'Hagrid' which was currently in his hut. "Whatever it is, it can't be good."
They re-entered the common room a few minutes later and sat down on the couch to think. Because they were the only ones up, there was relative silence in the room with the exception of the occasional crackle from the fireplace until Ron spoke up.
"So, I'm not going be around for a while after Thursday," he said.
"How come?" asked Hermione, startled from her thoughts by that statement.
"Remember a few months back at that Order meeting, Dumbledore asked to talk to me afterwards in private?"
"Oh yeah," Harry said. "We've been meaning to ask you about that."
"Well Dumbledore wants me to try and get the ghosts to fight on our side," Ron said. "Said he's asked, but they've always said no in the past. Something about, 'The dead do not care about the worries of the living,' or something like that."
"So he wants you to represent us?" Hermione asked.
"Kinda, I'm leaving with him to go and try to talk them into it," he replied. "I don't know how long I'll be gone. Just wanted to let you guys know."
"Thanks," said Harry. "Does Ginny know?"
"I told her earlier and sent a letter home to the family yesterday," Ron said. "Everyone seems okay with it."
"Well we wish you the best of luck, Ron," Hermione said.
"Thanks," the ghost replied. "I get the feeling I'm going to need it."
=====
The rest of the week passed without another incident, and the Saturday trip to Hogsmeade was soon upon them. Harry and Hermione hadn't been going on the scheduled trips, as there was frequently quidditch practice scheduled on Saturdays. However, with Ron gone, Harry decided to give the team a break from practicing for the finals and decided to go into the village with Hermione instead. Ginny had also needed to stop in the town for something, and the two Heads quickly agreed to letting her tag along.
"Wow, they really rebuilt this place good, huh?" asked Harry as they walked into Honeydukes.
"That's right, you guys haven't been here since last year," Ginny commented, as Harry and Hermione nodded. "Yeah, apparently Dumbledore gave them enough money to rebuild the shop and get all their stock back. I kinda like the new place, actually."
"It's still wonderful," Hermione said as Harry paid for a small box of chocolate frogs. "Ready to go?"
"Sure thing," he said and the three of them walked out onto the main street.
A lot had changed since the battle that had taken place there nearly a year before. All of the buildings were standing upright instead of crooked like they used to (something that Dumbledore had helped pay for after all the damage that had been done), and the road was now cobblestone instead of dirt, giving a better overall feeling to the place. Harry was disturbed from his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"So this is vat the place looks like," Krum said. "I haff never been here before."
"Professor," said Harry extending his hand, which Krum shook. "You've never been here before?"
"No," he replied. "But I needed to stock up on parchment, so I'm heading over to that shop now."
"What a coincidence," Hermione said. "We're heading over there too."
"We are?" asked Harry, not having been notified of these plans.
"Of course, I need a new tip for my quill; all the homework we've been getting has made it extremely dull."
"Oh all right," Harry said. "I assume you're with Hermione on this, Ginny?"
"Yeah, I want to pick up a present for my friend," she said with a wink. "It's his birthday soon."
"Oh, do you haff a suitor?" Krum asked, making Harry suppress a laugh.
"Mmmm, maybe," Ginny said in a girlish voice. Harry had to hand it to her, she and Draco had done a remarkable job of keep their relationship a secret. To the best of his knowledge, no one aside from him, Hermione, Ron, and Dumbledore knew of it. They walked over to Scrivenshaft's and entered.
Hermione and Ginny walked off towards the quills, while Harry and Viktor walked over to where they kept the stacks of parchment.
"So," Viktor said, "How are things?"
"The same," Harry said, as the bell to the shop rung to signify someone had come in. He turned to look and see who it was, but no one was there. Perhaps someone had simply left the shop. "Big ol' madman out there trying to off me and the ones I love."
"Yes..." Krum said. "Speaking of which, how are you and Hermy-own-ninne?" Harry couldn't help but chuckle.
"We're doing great, I'm just worried that someone is going to try and hurt her to get to me."
"I'm sure you von't let anything happen," Krum said as he selected a parchment and took a stack about a foot thick with him. At the same time the girls came around the corner of the aisle with their purchases.
"All set?" asked Harry.
"Mm hmm," replied Hermione. The four of them walked up towards the register where there was a man in a black cloak waiting for the clerk. When the clerk didn't show up for five minutes, Harry's curiosity got the better of him.
"Excuse me," he asked. "Do you know where the clerk is?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," came the cold voice of the stranger. Harry knew that voice. He quickly reached for his wand but it was too late. Lucius had already cursed him and Krum with a simple 'Petrificus!' and there was nothing he or his professor could do but watch as four other death eaters came from the back room and stunned the girls.
"You gave us quite a runaround on the train," Lucius said to Harry as his minions tied rags around the girls wrists and were portkeyed away. "But you failed to protect the mudblood and the weasel this time." He turned to Krum. "A pitiful excuse for a quidditch player, anyway." He turned to leave as his remaining death eaters apparated away.
"You would think," he said. "That it would've been harder to capture her. Apparently Dumbledore is starting to slack off a bit. Pity that you won't be able to hear her scream during her death." With that he disapparated, leaving Harry and Krum stranded alone in the shop.
A few minutes later, Dumbledore burst into the shop followed by a majority of the staff, and quickly freed Harry and Krum from their petrification. Harry didn't remember much as Filch and Snape lifted him off the ground and carried him out of the shop, only the word that escaped his mouth as they re-entered Hogwarts.
"Hermione..."
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That's it. I know it was a little short, but there wasn't anything that needed to be said other that what
happened. Nothing else to say right now, hope you enjoyed it. Look for the next chapter next week. Until then, let your
speculation rule your mind.