I had some more 'popular questions' this chapter and thought I'd address two of them. The first is whether or not Ron will be in the story, and the answer is yes, in time, he will be. Not for a little while though, at least not until the school year starts.
The other is a two-part question, will Hermione regain her memory and when will she and Harry get back together. As of right now, I know the EXACT point in time (in the story) that Hermione will remember her memory, and no, I'm not telling. I'll give you a clue that when and how it happens is basically the answer to the overall plot (aside from Tommy boy, of course). As for when she and Harry get together...well, you've already seen some sparks start to fly. I'll just leave it at the fact that it simply continues to get better. ::wink::
This is the chapter where we start to get the ball rolling. I'll give you all fair warning, the ball stops at the edge of a cliff in this one. Just letting you know. ::evil cackle::
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Chapter 5: The Good Old Days
Harry started slightly when he was disturbed from going over the lesson plan he and Hermione had developed for the sixth years by a knock on the door.
"Come in," Harry said with a smile, having a feeling who it was. The smile diminished slightly, however, when he saw that it was Dumbledore, and not Hermione, who was carefully closing the door behind him.
"You perhaps thought I was Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked amusedly as he sat on Harry's four-poster, seeing the slight fall on his face.
"Is it that obvious?" Harry asked with a chuckle.
"Love is quite obvious to all those around it," Dumbledore replied sagely. "I assume you are wondering why I'm here."
"The thought crossed my mind," Harry replied with a nod.
"Well, I wanted to see how you were doing," Dumbledore answered. "It has been only a few days since you've returned, and I wanted to make sure that nothing was amiss."
"Like what?" Harry asked.
"Dobby might have misplaced some of your belongings, perhaps," Dumbledore said with a shrug. "Remember, you are not Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived. To him, you are simply Harry Potter, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
"True," Harry acquiesced.
"So how have your three days here been?" Dumbledore asked. "Fairly good, I take it?"
"In truth, much better than I ever could have expected," Harry replied in earnest.
"Hermione has been very receptive, then?"
"To say the least," Harry answered. "In all the years I knew her, she was never as warm and open to strangers as she's been to me."
"Perhaps she was," Dumbledore said. "And you just didn't know it."
"She was with Ron and me for eighty percent of every day we were here," Harry replied. "When would she ever have had time to meet strangers?"
"She certainly got on well enough with Viktor Krum, did she not?" Dumbledore asked. Harry opened his mouth to reply and then realised the former headmaster had a point. "And just because she kept in contact with you and Ron every summer doesn't mean that she didn't meet people on her own."
"I suppose that's true," Harry said slightly downcast.
"Do not fret, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Her kindness and openness is one of her most astounding qualities."
"Yeah...I know."
"I think, perhaps, that you being the missing part of her soul that she has long searched for may also contribute to her warmness towards you," Dumbledore said with a smile.
"It's not like she knows my story or who I am, though," Harry countered.
"Who says she needs to know?" Dumbledore asked. "The fact of the matter is that you two belong together, and although her brain does not yet know you well enough to accept that fact, her heart is already heading down that path."
"Is there any chance that she'll ever remember?" Harry asked.
"I have been trying to get Fawkes to shed some light on things, but he seems to have his beak sealed on the matter for right now. I think if you asked him it might give better results."
"How could I talk to him?" Harry asked. "I don't know phoenix."
"I think you might be inaccurate in that assessment," Dumbledore replied. "You did, after all, understand the phoenix song in your fourth year when dueling with Voldemort."
"I suppose I did," Harry replied.
"You have the ear for it, being who you are," Dumbledore said. "If you try, you will understand it without effort."
"What do you mean, being who I am?" Harry asked.
"Given the magical aptitude and power that you have, does it really surprise you?" Dumbledore asked, although Harry thought it was slightly hesitantly.
"I guess not," Harry sighed. Dumbledore smiled.
"Good. Well now that I know everything is in order, I must be off," he said as he stood. "Now that Voldemort has returned, I feel it won't be long until his first attack."
"Will the Order be re-assembled?" Harry asked.
"Seeing that no one remembers Voldemort in the first place, I highly doubt anyone remembers the Order," Dumbledore replied. "But while I am here, I shall speak with Severus and see if he remembers any of it." Harry nodded. "Good luck, then, Harry."
"Thank you, Albus."
Harry went back to staring at his lesson plan as Dumbledore opened the door and stepped outside. The sound of voices reached Harry's ears as the door started to close, and so he tuned them out so he could continue his work.
"Here to see Miss Granger, I assume?" Harry vaguely registered that it was Dumbledore speaking as the door shut.
"Yeah," came the muffled reply. "I'm glad she took the job. It'll be good for her."
"Indeed it will, Ronald."
Harry's head instantly snapped up. Turning around, he looked at the closed door of his room and heard Ron knock on Hermione's. A moment later he heard her voice followed shortly thereafter by the sound of a door close. He immediately stood up and ran to his door, opening it slightly and peeking to see if anyone was out there.
He found Dumbledore staring at him with the familiar twinkle in his eye.
"Perhaps you should work out here," Albus said with a grin. "After all, being in a small room for too long can tire one's mind."
"Excellent idea," Harry replied, catching on. "I'll just and go and grab my work then."
By the time he returned to the teachers' common room, Dumbledore was gone.
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Harry sat in the common room with his eyes transfixed on the same spot of the parchment for about an hour before the door to Hermione's room finally opened. Pretending to check and see who it was, he turned his head around slightly and saw Hermione and Ron in a friendly hug.
"Oh. Harry," Hermione said brightly, seeing him. "I didn't see you there. How come you're working out here and not in your room?"
"Too hot," he quickly improvised.
"You could've opened a window," she suggested.
"Too stuffy," he clarified.
"You still could've opened a window," Hermione replied with a small chuckle.
"I just wanted some fresh air," Harry said almost pleadingly.
"And does opening a window not accomplish -"
"Hermione, leave the poor guy alone for Merlin's sake," Ron interjected with a smile. "I'm Ron Weasley, by the way."
"Harry Potter," Harry replied, standing up and extending his hand, which Ron shook.
"Harry's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Hermione said.
"Oh really?" Ron asked, amused. "They tell you about the curse that job has?"
"Ron!" Hermione hissed.
"I've heard of it," Harry replied with a smile. "Something like no one being able to keep the position for more than a year on end?"
"Since my first year, actually," Ron answered.
"Chap named Quirrell, right?" Harry asked, having some fun with this.
"Yeah..." Ron replied, slightly impressed.
"What happened to him again?"
"Disappeared," Ron answered. "Just disappeared one day with about a week left in the term. No one's seen hide or hair of him since."
"Pity, I would've liked to meet him," Harry asked, feeling that he might be able to learn a bit here. "What about the others?"
"Well there was this absolute nut we had in our second year," Ron said. Hermione smacked him on the arm.
"He was not a nut," she said. "He was just a bit...unbalanced."
"Only disappeared like Quirrell and came back not remembering who he was," Ron finished.
"Lockheart, right?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Ron replied. "Third year we had our best teacher of all seven, chap by the name of Lupin. He was a werewolf though, and when everyone found that out he had to resign."
"Ah."
"Poor bloke got murdered in his sleep a few years later," Ron said remorsefully, and Harry suddenly remembered the scene in the quidditch locker room where he had found Remus dead with the note threatening Hermione's life pinned to his cloak.
"Then we had some really bad ones," Ron continued, unaware of Harry's change in demeanor. "A psycho posing as the person who was supposed to be teaching us...then the Ministry sent someone over but she got chased away by centaurs...sixth year, the poor chap passed away in his sleep one night, and in our seventh year Dumbledore himself filled the position. Since then it's just been three simple witches or wizards who have all resigned after one year because they couldn't handle the students."
"Sounds like a tough job," Harry said.
"It certainly appeared so," Ron replied. "I hope you have better luck than they do."
"I hope so," Harry said.
"Harry, do you think I could borrow a quill from you for today? I want to get started on my seventh year lesson plan and my last one just broke," Hermione asked.
"Sure, let me go get one from my room," Harry replied. He walked over to his room and spoke the password when prompted, earning a gasp from Ron.
"You're a Cannons fan?" he called out while Harry was rummaging around in his room.
"Used to be at least," Harry replied, coming back out. "Here you are, Hermione."
"Thank you," she replied. "Now that you've sparked Ron's interest in quidditch, I'll leave you two gentlemen alone to have it out."
"All right," Ron said. "Take care of yourself."
"I will," Hermione replied with a smile before disappeared back into her room.
"You like quidditch, I take it," Harry asked, playing dumb.
"Best sport in the world," Ron replied. "You play?"
"Used to," Harry said. "I haven't been on a broom in years, though."
"What?!" Ron nearly shouted. "Why not?"
"Been living as a muggle for the past three years," he replied.
"Why on earth would you do that?" Ron asked.
"I was in an accident," Harry said, which wasn't entirely untrue. "After I recovered I found I actually liked living like that quite a bit."
"But how could you survive without quidditch?" Ron asked, more to himself than Harry.
"I suppose I could learn how to play again," Harry said with a chuckle. "Shake the dust off the Firebolt and see if it can still fly like it used to."
"You have a Firebolt?" Ron asked in awe. Harry nodded. "That broom's still the fastest in the world, you know."
"Wouldn't surprise me," Harry said with a chuckle. "It flies like a bullet."
"D'you think...maybe...maybe sometime I could have a go on it?" Ron asked.
"Sure, why not," Harry said. "Not today though, after you leave I need to talk with Hermione about finishing our lesson plan for the sixth years."
"She's been happier in the past few days than I've seen her in years," Ron said, looking over his shoulder at her closed door. Harry wasn't really sure how to respond to that. "You know what happened with her, right?"
"Er...Dumbledore told me she had some depression problems," Harry said hesitantly.
"That's putting it nicely," Ron said. "She -"
"Wait," Harry interrupted, feigning ignorance. "Should you be telling me this? I mean, wouldn't she want to keep something like this private?"
"Yeah...you're right," Ron said with a sigh. "Sorry about that, I have a tendency to ramble on without thinking sometimes."
"Don't worry," Harry said. "It happens to the best of us."
"My point is that her face lit up like it hasn't lit up in ages when she saw you just now," Ron said. "Don't go hurting her."
"I couldn't if I wanted to," Harry muttered.
"Hmm?" Ron asked.
"Nothing," Harry said quickly. "Just a bit surprised."
"It is rather surprising," Ron said thoughtfully. "She stayed away from people for so long...and you can just get her to open up to you with a snap of the fingers."
There was a sizeable pause in the room while the two men sat there thinking about the words that had just been spoken.
"I just met you, Harry," Ron said. "But I feel like I can already trust you."
"Thank you," Harry replied.
"Don't hurt her. She's already been broken and repaired once. If she breaks again...I don't know if we'll be able to put her back together." Harry nodded solemnly at this. "Well, I have to be off. My wife is expecting me home soon."
Harry balked.
"Your wife?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, she's the editor for the quibbler," Ron replied. "You'll get to meet her before the term starts, she loves to come up here and get interviews with all the teachers. Helps increase sales to the parents of first years."
"Okay," Harry said, not quite believing what he was hearing. "Have a good day, then."
"You too, Harry," Ron said, shaking hands with him. A moment later Harry was staring at the portrait hole that his former best friend had just walked through and shut. Sighing, he walked over to Hermione's door and knocked.
"Just a second," came her voice from the inside. "Oh, Harry," she said with a smile. "I didn't expect Ron to be gone so quickly. He loves quidditch more than anything else in the world."
"Even Luna?" Harry couldn't help asking as she let him in. Hermione stopped and faced him.
"How do you know about her?" she asked.
"He told me that she comes up and interviews all the teachers before the term starts," Harry shrugged. Hermione looked at him for a moment, then nodded and closed the door.
"I bet if you asked him to choose between Luna and quidditch, it would be a tough decision," she said with a smile.
'And food,' Harry thought to himself.
"So what did you want?" Hermione asked.
"I was hoping we could finish up that lesson plan," Harry said. "I was going over it just now and I think that we're getting somewhere with the animation idea."
"Well it's pretty much a given that they should learn to animate objects," Hermione said. "I teach them how to animate, you teach them how to defend with them. Seems quite good, don't you think? Harry?"
But Harry was no longer paying attention to her. His eyes were fixed on a spot outside her window way off in the distance. She turned to look at what he was staring at and saw, in the diminishing sunlight, a tiny speck of green just over the mountains.
Without warning Harry started to convulse and collapsed, clutching his forehead. His only words were, "There's been an attack. Get Dumbledore," before he lost consciousness.
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Eh? Eh? Edge of cliff or not? Don't worry, things start to get interesting from here on out, and next chapter, the
biggest bombshell yet comes crashing down. Stay tuned!