Harry Potter and the Second Prophecy

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Chapter Five:

“Hurry up, you lot!  You’re going to miss the train!”

Mrs. Weasley ran through Kings Cross Train Station, followed by Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny, ran up towards the solid-looking brick wall separating platforms 9 and 10.  Looking up, Harry saw they had four minutes to board the train.  They wouldn’t have been that late, had Crookshanks not spotted a small poodle and torn after it.  It took the combined strength of Ron and Hermione to hold Crookshanks as Harry returned the poodle to the frantic owner.

“Alright, you three first and then I’ll come along with Ginny.”

Harry nodded and ran straight towards the barrier, quickly followed by Ron and Hermione.  He shut his eyes tight and ran in what he hoped was a straight direction.  When he opened his eyes, he was starring at the huge black and red Hogwarts Express on platform 9 ¾. 

Ron and Hermione suddenly appeared beside him.  The three hurried with their trolleys to a luckily open compartment.  Harry jumped aboard and Hermione and Ron hauled the trunks up to him.  Ron grabbed Hedwig and Pig and leaped onto the train.  Hermione helped Ginny, who had just come through the barrier with Mrs. Weasley, with her trunk.  She then slid Crookshanks into the train and gave Ginny a boost up, just as the train whistled.  Hermione jumped as the train started to move; Harry reached out and pulled her towards him to keep her from falling.

“Goodbye!  Have a wonderful term!” shouted Mrs. Weasley.

Harry gazed into Hermione’s eyes and she looked back, confused.  He then realized that he was still holding her.  He let go and cleared his throat with a nervous glance at Ron.

“Everyone on?  Good.” Harry slid the door shut.

Hermione was still staring at Harry, quite confused.  “Harry, you look shattered.  Did you, um, get enough sleep last night.”

“No, actually I didn’t.  I stayed up all night thinking about you…and other things…and you,” he thought.  But he felt like he should change the subject so he said, “Yea, I got sleep.  Do you have to go to the prefect’s meeting?”

“Oh yea… you know what, Hermione.  I didn’t get very much sleep last night.  Go on and I can hear what happened later,” with that said, Ron sat down, propped his feet up, put his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes to go to sleep.  He looked rather comfortable and pleased with himself.

“Oh don’t be ridiculous, Ron!  You have to go to the meeting to find out your timetable!  And you need to know all of your duties this year as Prefect!  And you must be curious as to who the new...”

“Hermione!”  Ron interjected.  “One: you can find out my timetable for me.  Two: you can find out who the new people are.  Three: we found out our duties last year.  And four:” Ron put on the most pitiful face he could pull, “please, Hermione?”

Harry could almost see the gears in Hermione’s head working as her face mischievously softened.

Hermione walked out of the compartment saying, “Fine, Ronald!  But I’m not going to make sure you get a good shift!”

Ginny left to find her friends leaving Harry with a “sleeping” Ron. 

Ron, upon hearing Ginny shut the door, suddenly sat up “Do you think that she meant that?”

Harry thought and said, “Yea, I’m pretty sure she did.”

Ron sat back again, “Na!  She wouldn’t do that.”

“Er, listen Ron,” started Harry.  “I know about you and Hermione, and you don’t have to hide it.”

Ron looked semi-surprised.  “Um, you do?”

Harry nodded and continued.  “You know you can tell me anything.  It won’t mess up our friendship.”

“Oh, I didn’t think about our friendship.  I just thought you might be a bit mad, you know?”

“Mad…er, why would I be mad?” Did Ron know?  Surely not…  “I mean I think that it’s great and I’m really happy for you.”

Ron now thought that Harry was delirious.  “Riiight…well if you know then what did you dream about?”

“Huh?  What are you talking about?”

“You know,” Ron said.  “That night Hermione and I talked, you were talking in your sleep.  What did you dream about?”

“That night you and Hermione ... ‘talked’,” said Harry.

“Yea, all we did was talk about you.  You woke me up with your moaning and Hermione was up and we decided not to tell you that we were talking about you in case you got mad.  I thought you said you knew all that.”

Ron’s words sunk in and it slowly dawned on Harry his stupid mistake.  “Oohhh…oh right, yea.”

“Harry, what did you think happened?” asked Ron, suspiciously.

“I thought,” but Harry thought better.  “I don’t know.  I, er, dreamed about that night about the, er, Ministry.  You know, and what happened.”  Harry felt bad for lying to his best friend, especially when he had just been mad at him for his own mistake, but he didn’t want to tell him about the prophecy; at least not now.

“Oh.  But I though you said ‘Dumbledore’-”

“Yea, I was at the part when Dumbledore came,” lied Harry, cutting Ron off.  Harry was utterly confused.  Had he just overreacted last night?  Was it because Ron had someone and he didn’t, or was it because that said someone was Hermione?

*

The usual plump woman came around with sweets around midday.  Sliding the door back, she said, “Anything of the trolley, lads?”

After loading up on Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, and other sweets, he and Ron sat debating about the upcoming Quidditch season.  Harry was in a much better mood, as it were. 

“I wonder if my ban has been lifted?” wondered Harry aloud.

“Of course it has, who listens to that old fraud now?” replied Ron, mouth full of a Chocolate Frog.

“Gryffindor is losing two chasers this year,” said Harry. 

“And unless anyone is replaced this year, then- ,” said Ron.

“Ron!  You are not going to be replaced!  You did-,” started Harry.

“I was talking about those beaters!  What makes you think that I was talking about me being replaced?  Hmm?” said Ron, spitting chocolate everywhere. 

“Oh, of course I didn’t say you were going to be replaced!  You just said last year that you might quit, that’s all.”  The last thing Harry needed right now was a fight.

“Well obviously I’m not going to quit- did you see that save I made last year?” said Ron, proudly.

“The one that you kicked with your foot while hanging of your broom?” asked Harry.

Ron reflectively sighed, “Yea…”.  Harry remembered Ron telling him that that particular save was an accident; Ron had fallen off his broom.

The compartment door slid open.  “Hi Harry!  Nice summer?”  Harry looked up to see Neville, Hermione, Ginny, and Dean. 

Hermione sat down across from an oblivious Ron and grinned.  “Ron, the Headboy or Girl will give us our assigned timetables at the start-of-term feast,”

“Brilliant.”

Harry changed his attention to Neville.  “Yea, same as always.  How was yours?” he said, throwing him a Cauldron Cake.  As everyone else sat down, grabbing various sweets, Harry noticed that Ginny and Dean were holding hands.

“It was great.  I got a new wand,” said Neville brandishing a shiny wand.  “Thirteen inches, mahogany, and a unicorn hair.  It works excellently!  You wanna see?”

Neville stood up and held out his wand just as the compartment door slid open.

“Expelliarmus!”

Neville’s wand flew from his hands and soared into those of Draco Malfoy.

“Look, Longbottom got a new wand.  Well I suppose he’d have to after what happened to his dad’s.  Tell me, Longbottom.  Was your Gran mad?”

Neville went pale, but he took a step forward. 

“Give it back Malfoy!”

Malfoy laughed.  He looked around the compartment and his eyes fell on Harry.

“I heard Dumbledore had to save you again, Harry.  Sounds like you can’t handle your own battles.”

“Yea, I bet you did hear about it,” Harry now stood up.  “Wasn’t your dad there?”

Malfoy scowled.  “Leave my dad out of this.”

“Why?  Because he’s in Voldemort’s inner circle and now everyone knows about it?”

“Shut up Potter!  I – I...”  Malfoy looked menacing.  “You don’t understand what it’s like to have a father like him.”

“No, because of him, I don’t understand what it’s like to have a father at all.”

Harry and Malfoy were now glaring at each other, their faces merely a foot apart.  Malfoy looked around the compartment again; at the pale, determined Neville, at Ron, who looked at a loss for words, but was still stood up in anger, at Hermione who was glaring daggers at him, and his eyes stopped at Ginny.

He whipped his head back at Harry.  “You have no idea, Potter.”

Malfoy looked at Neville’s wand and sneered, tossing it back, and left the compartment.

Neville and Ron sat back down, Ron grabbing a Chocolate Frog, but Harry stared into the empty corridor.

“Come on Harry,” said Ginny.  “He’s not worth your attention.”

Harry turned around, “Yea your right.”

“Maybe he’s not.  But you didn’t notice anything?” said Hermione.

“Notice what?” said Ron

“Crabbe and Goyle weren’t with him.”

“They probably realized what a spoiled bastard he really is,” Ron shrugged, looking out of the train window at the approaching castle.

~*~

AN:  Sorry!  Originally this chapter was a lot longer, but unfinished.  I really felt that I needed to update, so I cut a lot of it off.  The next update will probably be soon!