Unofficial Portkey Archive

(A/N: I'm glad you liked the previous chapter. I'll tell you immediately, that I won't describe Hermione's detention with Snape, since it won't be something particularly important for the plot. I'll let you guess which kind of heavy detention she got, something like… cleaning thousands of dirty cauldrons, for example? The most important point now, regards Harry's troubles with Snape and Mark Evans' future. It's a long time that I don't say thanks to my wonderful BETA readers, IronChefOr and SarahLupin, without whom, this story would have remained in Italian language!! Enjoy the reading!)

Chapter 29. EVEN MORE TROUBLES

...
Loving each other just a bit
It's like drinking water
Easier
Than breathing.
You just need to look at me
And then
We're closer a bit more
And we'll never
Have fear, no, not anymore.
...
"Loving each other just a bit" by Lucio Battisti

That evening, Harry had to meet with Professor Snape for their usual Occlumency lesson, even though he didn't have any desire to do so.

Harry reached the dungeons in a bad mood. Not only he was still really worried about Mark Evans' fate, but now he was mad at Snape for the way he had treated Hermione that morning.

He stopped in front of the classroom and sighed deeply.

I have to keep calm, no matter what! he thought, before knocking on the door.

Knock, knock

"Come in!" the Potions Master replied, in his usual icy tone; Harry entered.

Snape was already standing in the middle of the room which was weakly lit by a few torches hanging on the stone walls. He was glaring at Harry with deep disgust, but Harry withstood the stare and moved right in front of him in a few quick steps.

"I strongly hope that tonight you won't disappoint my expectations, as you usually do, Potter. Now, we needn't waste any more time. Start to concentrate, deeply."

Harry stared at the teacher in resentment.

I don't care if I disappoint you, you clammy being! he thought before closing his eyes.

"Legilimens!"

Snape uttered the incantation and entered pressingly into Harry's mind, observing his memories. Harry tried with all his strength to resist, but he couldn't; he was too distracted by his worries and the anger he was feeling inside.

Snape was now easily reading Harry's mind and watched clearly a few scenes from his recent past. Harry found himself at Grimmauld place, busy unwrapping Hermione's present on Christmas morning. Then his memories skipped back and he watched himself silently crying by his parents' grave.

"No, I don't want it!" Harry shouted desperately, trying to repel the attack. He then felt a sharp pain in his knees and opened his eyes, realizing that he had fallen to the ground.

"You must concentrate more! You're letting me enter your mind too easily! Let's try again!"

Harry slowly stood up, panting. Before closing his eyes a second time, he glared at Snape with hate.

Harry immediately sensed Snape's intrusion and tried his best to block it, but he was not able to do so with enough intensity. As if he was watching a movie of his past projected onto a screen, Harry clearly saw the image of Mark Evans talking to him by the Forbidden Forest.

Now that you're aware that you're a Seer, wouldn't you like to talk to Sirius Black at least one more time? Then train yourself as much as you can and next time we meet, we'll go together to the Veil of Death and you'll be able to talk to Sirius.

"Nooo! Go away!"

Harry opened his eyes abruptly, panting heavily. He felt all of his anger exploding inside and realized that Snape was staring at him grimly with his mouth open.

"What was the meaning of Mark Evans' words? I demand an explanation, Potter!" shouted Snape furiously.

"I have nothing to explain!" Harry was even more furious, glaring at him in challenge.

"You've already disappointed Albus Dumbledore several times, but you don't care, do you? You've been plotting in the shadows with Mark Evans!"

Harry looked around the room in anger and stared at all the shelves filled with crystal vials. For a foolish instant, he seriously thought about throwing all of them at Snape.

"About what powers was he talking, let's see! You've just learned that there's the slightest possibility for you to become a Seer and you already feel invincible? You're just like your father was: an insolent, spoiled little boy!"

Harry couldn't hold it in anymore and shouted at the teacher with all his strength. "SHUT UP!" Snape frowned at him, deeply offended, but remained silent.

"You aren't worth half of what my father was!"

"How dare you answer me back like that! I won't allow such..."

"I've had enough of all of you! You just keep telling me what to do or not to do!" As Harry shouted, a few vials exploded as if someone had shot them with a rifle. He didn't immediately realize it, however, and continued shouting at Snape. "Then, you treat me like a stupid idiot and expect the impossible from me!"

Snape became even paler and needed a few seconds to regain control over himself. Then he slowly spoke again.

"You don't leave me any other choice, Potter. Your arrogant and unruly behavior can only be judged by the Headmaster in person."

But Harry didn't care. He would've even chosen expulsion over being forced to see Snape's face again.

Without even letting Snape finish, Harry rushed out from the classroom, slamming the door violently.

***O***

In the Common Room, Ron and Hermione were finishing an essay for History of Magic while waiting for Harry to return. Around them, other students were sitting at the tables, chatting in low voices.

When Harry entered in a fury and headed up to his dormitory, everybody turned to stare at him, astonished, particularly Ron and Hermione.

"What the bloody hell is happening to him?" Ron asked puzzled.

Hermione didn't reply; she immediately closed her book, stood up, and rushed upstairs, climbing the steps two at a time.

When she reached the boys' dormitory, she hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open and entered. Harry was sitting by the windowsill, intensely watching the starry night.

Hermione slowly came closer, staring at him worriedly. Once by his side, she reached out her hand and squeezed Harry's, which was resting on the stone wall.

He turned to her, slightly surprised, as if he had only just realized her presence in the room, then turned again to the window. His face was sulky and tensed.

"What has Snape done to you this time?" she asked sweetly, but Harry didn't reply.

"You know him. His favorite pastime is being horrible to you!" Hermione was trying to make the situation less dramatic, but Harry was still staring at the night sky in front of him.

"Do you want to talk about it? Maybe you would feel better if..."

"I don't want to see him again!" Harry cut her off abruptly, speaking with extreme determination.

"Are you talking about Snape?" asked Hermione uncertainly.

"I shouted at him, and I think I used my powers without even knowing it! I'm going to be expelled this time, I'm sure of it!"

"B-but it couldn't be that serious! Even expelled?"

Hermione was staring at Harry in deep shock and he took his hand away from hers.

"Professor McGonagall should be here in a minute," Harry said resignedly, lowering his gaze as Hermione raised her hands to her mouth.

They remained there a few minutes in absolute silence. Then, Hermione patted him on the shoulder, trying to think of something comforting to say.

"Harry, I..."

Suddenly, her sentence was cut off by a sharp voice coming from Harry's trunk.

"HARRY? Harry, are you there?"

They both looked at each other, their eyes widening in surprise. Then, Harry realized what was happening; he rushed to his trunk and frantically started searching through his clothes.

When Harry finally managed to hold his two-way mirror in his trembling hands, he felt overwhelmed by a deep sense of relief. Mark Evans was staring at him, smiling, though his face was incredibly emaciated and paler than usual.

"MARK! Are you all right? I thought that you..."

"I'm fine Harry, don't worry. How are you?"

"I-I'm fine," replied Harry uncertainly.

"Please, listen to me carefully. I don't have much time and I must tell you something extremely important." Harry stared seriously at his cousin and when Hermione came to his side, they both waited for Mark to speak.

"Soon, we'll be able to complete the ceremony by the Veil of Death. Exactly one month from today, during the next new moon."

"Yes, but how..."

"Don't worry, I'll come to you. You should just train yourself for the magical rites and keep ready for the next new moon."

Harry nodded in silence.

"Now, I must go. Please, don't tell anybody about our plans, not even to Dumbledore. Goodbye!"

The image of Mark Evans disappeared in a vortex of fog and the mirror reflected Harry's image again.

"What do we do now?" asked Hermione worriedly.

Harry had suddenly forgotten all his troubles; Mark was fine and he felt his heart deeply relieved.

Knock, knock

Harry and Hermione turned to the door, where a very nervous Ron was standing.

"Um, sorry to bother you, but McGonagall is waiting for you downstairs, Harry. She has something to tell you."

Hermione's eyes widened and she turned to Harry, who slowly walked out of the room without saying a word.

***O***

"How could you dare shout at a teacher? I would've never expected such foolish behavior on your part, Mr. Potter! When Professor Snape told me about it, I couldn't believe him!"

Professor McGonagall was furious with Harry and was sharply scolding him in her office.

"Have you anything to say in your defense?"

Harry should have felt worried about what was probably going to happen to him, but quite to the contrary, he was in high spirits. He was now sure that Mark was fine and they'd probably meet soon.

"I'm talking to you, Mr. Potter!"

The acute voice of his teacher brought Harry back to earth.

"N-no, nothing, Professor," he replied lowering his gaze.

"I should expel you for this! However, I've good reasons for not doing so, at least not now."

Harry sighed in relief, but then she spoke again.

"Nevertheless, I think that a strong punishment is more than appropriate for this matter. Starting next Monday, and for a whole month, you're going to serve detention every evening after dinner, in my office."

"W-what? A month? But Professor, I..." protested Harry.

"I don't want to hear anything more from you, or you will stay in detention for two full months!"

Harry forced himself to not shout at her, particularly since it would have been completely useless.

"I wish you a very good night, Mr. Potter!" ended Professor McGonagall, sitting down at her desk.

***O***

As April arrived, lessons became even more taxing than ever before. Final examinations were approaching, and the teachers were demanding even more effort from their students.

Professor McGonagall in particular was stressing everyone about human apparition, saying that she wouldn't allow anyone to fail the official examination.

Hermione had no trouble with it and Harry was already able to disapparate himself pretty well, though he still had a few problems apparating himself in the exact place he had in mind. Usually, he missed his mark by a few meters.

Ron, on the other hand, had absolutely no sense of orientation and kept apparating in the wrong place. He was a genius, however, compared to Neville, who kept splinching himself, only able to disapparate himself in pieces.

After his troubles with Snape, Harry had permission to quit his Occlumency lessons, which he thought was something really positive.

The bad part was that due to his detentions with Professor McGonagall, Harry wasn't able to continue with his secret trainings as much as he had wanted to. He was still wondering how it was possible for him to learn how to use his new powers and, most importantly, to get ready for the ceremony by the Veil if he didn't have enough time to prepare himself.

Two weeks had already passed by since Mark appeared in the two-way mirror and Harry hadn't been progressing. With the incredible amount of homework, he and Hermione had been really busy even during weekends. She had also tried a few times to convince Harry to tell Dumbledore about Mark Evan's plan, but he wouldn't budge. He didn't want to waste this last chance and was determined to hide the truth as long as possible.

Fortunately, detention with McGonagall wasn't too tough; he just had to write lines for the entire evening, even if it was equally mind-numbing in the end.

On a Friday morning in the middle of April, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Great Hall having breakfast. The two boys were busy in deep conversation about a new International Quidditch Team, the Blue Bradley.

"If you want to know what I think, Stocker is a pretty good seeker!" said Ron, but Harry didn't agree.

"You're wrong! They should have taken Williams instead!"

"Er, Harry?" Hermione interrupted and he turned to her.

"Could you get me some pumpkin juice, please?"

Harry nodded and he filled her glass immediately. He then turned to Ron again.

"I've followed Williams, and I can tell you that he would have been a better choice."

"You must be joking! Williams isn't even the half as good as Stocker is!" replied Ron, noisily chewing a bit of sausage.

"Harry? Could you get me some porridge, please?"

Hermione interrupted Harry a second time, but he didn't protest; he placed some porridge into a bowl and offered it to her.

"Why don't we talk about the beaters, then? I bet they're going to change both of them by the end of the first match!" continued Harry, getting excited in the conversation, but Hermione interrupted a third time.

"I'm sorry, Harry. My pumpkin juice is finished, could you please...."

"Oh, come on, Hermione! Why don't you stop it!" protested Ron, looking cross.

"Stop what?" Hermione asked simply.

"You're treating your boyfriend like a house-elf!"

Harry and Hermione stared at each other for a second; maybe Ron wasn't wrong after all.

"Do you think that I'm demanding too much?" she asked, uncertain.

"Well, just a bit," Harry replied. It was the first time he had had a steady girlfriend and he didn't know how he was supposed to behave around her. After all, his relationship with Cho Chang wasn't anything serious to which he could compare.

"Why didn't you say something?" said Hermione, frowning at him. "It's just that, at home, I've always seen my parents act like this. My father is a real gentleman with my mum!"

"Hermione, wake up! We aren't in the Middle Ages anymore! Nowadays, boys aren't prancing around and, above all, they don't take orders from girls!" Ron explained.

"Good morning to everybody!"

At that moment, Luna walked up to them. She was odder than ever, wearing a pair of earrings in the shape of huge yellow daisies. On top of her blonde hair she wore a colored garland made of wildflowers.

"Hi Ron! So we're going to meet tomorrow morning after breakfast, right?"

"Yes, Honey!" Ron replied, with a silly smile on his face.

"Please, don't be late as usual!" Luna scolded him, before happily returning to the Ravenclaw table.

When Ron turned to his friends, he realized that they were both laughing.

"Well, what's up with you two?"

"Nothing, nothing, it's just that... Oh, don't worry."

Hermione didn't point out the fact that he had just taken orders from a girl.

At that moment, hundreds of owls entered the Hall. Hermione got her usual copy of the Daily Prophet, while Ron received a letter from his mother. He kept staring at the letter, surprised that it hadn't been Errol delivering it.

Hermione read the first page of her paper and jumped in surprise.

"Oh, no!"

Harry moved closer and grabbed the newspaper in his hands, starting to read it aloud.

"REVOLT AT GRINGOTT'S: The Ministry of Magic had already suspected that the Goblins had joined the Darkness Army of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but now it is a certainty. Yesterday morning a group of armed Goblins revolted at the famous wizarding bank, destroying several security boxes. Most of the witnesses heard them reciting the name of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named before leaving the place. The most serious casualties have been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital. The Ministry has immediately arranged for expert Aurors to attend the bank and assess the damages."

The three friends stared at each other with their mouths open.

"I can't believe it! Now also the Goblins are by Voldemort's side!" commented Hermione, shocked.

Harry realized that Ron was still holding his letter in his hands, but after having read the article, he could already guess the contents of it.

"Come on, Ron, open it!"

The boy stared at the closed envelope, then opened it with trembling hands and read it to his friends.

"My dear Ron,

Ron raised his gaze in shock. He couldn't believe that his oldest brother was now fighting for his life.

Hermione stretched out her hand and grabbed his arm tightly.

"I'm sure that he'll be fine," she said, trying her best to comfort him.

***O***

That evening, Professor McGonagall let Harry go back to Gryffindor Tower earlier than usual. She was in really bad mood, most likely because of what had just happened at Gringott's.

As soon as Harry entered the common room, he immediately felt a tensed atmosphere. The parents of several Gryffindors were present at Gringott's when the revolt happened, and most of them were now at St. Mungo's Hospital.

Ron had chosen to close himself off in stubborn silence and was already up in his dormitory. Hermione was sitting alone on the sofa in front of the fireplace, absent-mindedly caressing Crookshanks' soft fur, her gaze lost in space.

Harry slowly went over to her and sat by her side.

"How's Ron?" he asked worriedly.

"Not really well," Hermione replied turning to him.

"I hope Bill will be fine," said Harry sadly.

"Me too," she added.

Harry looked around for a moment, realizing that the last two students had gone away, leaving the two of them completely alone. He started feeling a curious embarrassment and his heart began to beat faster.

Harry and Hermione had been together almost a month now, but they hadn't had much time left all alone like this. Between classes, homework, and detentions, they had reached the common room every evening completely exhausted and had always chosen to go to sleep.

Hermione's attention was captured by the fire, as Harry stared at her with intensity, trying to imagine what she was thinking in that moment.

Maybe she's expecting me to grab her hand, or to kiss her, Harry thought, becoming even more nervous and feeling his forehead sweat. He was still wondering what to do, when Hermione turned abruptly to him and spoke.

"It's been a long time since we've had the chance to be alone, have you noticed that as well?"

"Y-yes, you're right." Harry was feeling upside down, but she looked extremely quiet.

I'll try and kiss her, he thought, slowly getting closer to her.

Hermione had started staring into the fire again as Harry stretched out his arm toward her. After a certain hesitation, finally he managed to lay his arm on her shoulder. When Hermione turned to him, their faces were only a few centimeters apart. He was now able to smell her hair and light perfume, a mix between rose and vanilla.

Harry was already losing himself in her deep brown eyes, which were staring at him, full of emotion.

She's so beautiful, he thought, feeling his cheeks on fire.

Then Hermione closed her eyes and Harry did the same, trying to gather all his Gryffindor courage. He felt all his emotions overwhelming him and he kissed her sweetly, holding her tightly in a warm embrace.

Harry felt so happy, as if in that moment only the two of them existed in the entire world. He knew that he would have been able to give his own life for her, if necessary.

After a few minutes, Hermione pulled away and stared deeply into his eyes, smiling.

"It was about time!"

Harry wasn't able to reply immediately; his mind was still stuck and his heart was in tumult.

"Maybe we shouldn't stay here alone," said Hermione worriedly.

"W-why? We aren't doing anything bad, I think," Harry tried to reassure her, still hypnotized by her wonderful eyes.

"Maybe, if we were pretending to study, nobody would have anything to say."

Hermione's sense of responsibility was praiseworthy, but Harry's intention was to spend the rest of the night kissing his girlfriend.

Without even giving him time to complain, Hermione had already taken his school bag and was searching inside it.

"What is this?" she asked curiously, holding a black booklet in her hands.

"Mark told me to look at it. It's for the ceremony."

Hermione's eyes lit up abruptly.

"May I help you with it?"

"Well, I-I don't know if..." Harry replied vaguely, but she had already started to skim through a few pages and he had no other options left. Goodbye romantic evening! he thought, sighing.

"This chapter seems useful. Let's see, I'll read you what it says, `The ceremony by the Veil of Death is ancient and difficult to accomplish. The essential requirements are three: a very powerful Seer, a night of the new moon, and an object owned by the missing wizard. Moreover, a bowl of pure water, a flower, and a candle will be needed.'"

Harry was listening with deep attention to every word.

"`The Seer should stand in front of the Veil of Death, placing the necessary objects around himself; then he should stretch out his hands and visualize the missing wizard in his inner sight. The magical words are: Exis Lux Splendidus.'"

"It doesn't seem difficult!" commented Harry relieved.

"Wait! Listen what it says here: `The Veil of Death has the evil ability to attract whoever gets close to it; the Seer should be extremely careful not to...' Hermione raised her gaze worriedly and stared directly into Harry's eyes, `get lost for eternity!'"

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