Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, sadly, as if I did, HBP would have been different…
A/N: This is my response to a Challenge. It is named "HBP: The Redemption", by Talon Karrde, thus the story title. If some of you have read my other story "HP and the quest of the Horcruxes", you may find some similarities in some points. That's because being this one on seventh year too, I rearranged parts of my other story to fit the requirements of the challenge. As usual, if you read, please leave a comment, good, bad, the way you want, but leave it. It means a lot to me.
Relived Sadness
Next morning, Molly woke them up quite early. They were to go to Diagon Alley and buy what they needed for the coming school year.
Ron was still sleepy when he grabbed a couple sausages and then stepped into the fire for the Floo Powder trip.
This time Harry managed to get there without mistakes, and went with the others for a first stop in Gringott's to gather some money.
He convinced Ron and Hermione to accompany him down to his vault, while Molly went with Ginny to "Flourish and Blotts" and there he took a small amount of gold. Well, small if confronted with what was in the vault, at least.
"Blimey, Harry. In there there's enough gold for two lifetimes!" Ron commented.
"This is why I constantly try to share it with you guys. But you don't allow it…" Harry said, wistfully. He really did not care about money, and if he was able to make his friends happy, he would be happy too.
Then they reached Molly and Ginny in the bookshop.
There Harry kept roaming even after collecting all the books he needed for seventh year.
"Harry, what are you searching?" Hermione asked him.
"Something on Horcruxes" he said.
"I see. Well, maybe there' something in that section, over there" she pointed to him a secluded corner of the shop, where no customers went.
"Right. I'll go take a look" he said.
Minutes later, he joined her with a new book in his hands.
"I guess you found it, then" Hermione smiled at him.
He nodded, showing it. "Horcruxes and similar. Why and how to make them". "But where are the others?"
"Oh, Ginny needed new robes, so they went to Madam Malkin's. We can catch them there"
"No thanks. I've no need for new robes, and I'll avoid entering a dress shop if I can" he said. "Especially if one girl is trying robes, we could be stuck there for centuries" he joked.
She swatted him on the arm. "Git"
He grinned and taking her books too, led her to get some potions ingredients for his reserve.
"So, Harry, this is our last year at Hogwarts" she said, a bit sadly. "I know we will have lots of things to do this year, but are you still going to be an Auror after school?"
He sighed.
"Hermione, I don't want to think about future, and give myself false hope"
"Why is that?"
"Because I'm not gonna live to see next year" he said grimly.
"What an horrible thing to say, Harry" she said bringing her hand to he heart, scared.
"Hermione, I'm a seventeen years old boy. What chances do I have against Voldemort? Admitting I'll be able to destroy the Horcruxes, a final duel will be needed, and I'll have to kill him in it. I don't think I'll be able to"
"Of course you will. And we will help you along the way" she said, forcing him to look in her eyes.
He swallowed, seeing the determination they expressed. Maybe, with her on his side, he will really be able to.
"Here you are!" Ron called them.
"Hey, mate" Harry greeted him, happy for the change of subject.
"Mum and Ginny are still in there, but I couldn't resist. I had to go get an ice cream" he said. In fact, he had one in his right hand.
"Honestly, Ron, I thought I was dating a boy, not a pig" Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "You had breakfast not even two hours ago!"
"I'm growing" he said, and Harry started laughing. Soon Ron and Hermione joined the laughs too.
"Hermione, look, can you tell Mum me and Harry are at "Quidditch Quality Supplies"? At least we can use the time while waiting for them in a good way" Ron said.
"Ok, I'll wait with them then" she sighed, and walked away.
The two boys walked toward the Quidditch shop, and found a big crowd in front of it.
"What are they doing here?" Ron asked.
"Guess there's a new broom exposed" Harry answered. And right he was. In the main window there was on show the new Firebolt 2005, and all the Quidditch fan were ogling at it.
Inside, the two boys looked for glasses, gloves, and so on.
They were breezing trough a shelf of Quidditch robes that could be personalized at will, when Harry felt someone turning him from the shoulder.
"Mr. Potter! What a pleasure to have you in my shop!" the owner said. "I'm sure you've seen the new Firebolt 2005…"
"Yes, but I've a Firebolt already, and it is still perfect..."
"Oh, nonsense. We're the only store that has it in exclusive, and I would be more than happy to gift you with one for your coming of age, Mr. Potter"
"Really, I don't think…"
But there was nothing to do. Harry had to accept the new broom, and exit through the envious looks of the crowd outside.
They met with the girls in front of the Leaky Cauldron.
As soon as she saw the package, Hermione opened her mouth, but before she could utter a word, Harry cut her.
"Don't ask" he said brusquely.
Then he with his two best friends headed toward the Leaky Cauldron where they were to meet their examiner for their Apparating license.
He made them Apparate back and forth Diagon Alley three or four times, and when no one splinched or missed the target, he was more than happy to award them their certificates.
"My, aren't you Harry Potter, The Chosen One?" he said, after giving Harry his one.
"Yes, I am" he said, tensely.
"I'm really honoured to have tested you, Mr. Potter" the man said shaking his hand.
Harry nodded awkwardly then he went with his friends to meet Ginny and Molly and head back to the Burrow, before someone else stopped him.
Once at home, he explained the situation with the broom, and after lunch he, Ron and Ginny took turns in using it.
"You must admit it's quite an improvement to your Firebolt" Ron said, at dinner.
"Yes, but I did not need it. I'd a perfect Firebolt already" Harry said. Then an idea came to his mind. "Ron, I gift you my Firebolt"
Ron sputtered his soup. "What? Harry, really, I don't think…"
But Harry could be as persuasive as the shop owner, so in the end Ron accepted.
Then they gathered in the boys' room for their last night of memories.
"This is it, guys. Last year, and what we remember of it" Ginny announced.
"Ok, as usual I`ve got to start, right?" Harry said.
"Yes, you have , Harry" Hermione said, smiling at him.
He nodded. "Of course the thing I remember best is Dumbledore's death" he said, "but the pain is still too fresh in all of us to speak about that. So, this is another memory I will never forget"
"There was a loud bang and the bin behind him exploded; he attempted a Leg-Locker Curse that backfired off the wall behind Malfoy's ear and smashed the cistern beneath Moaning Myrtle, who screamed loudly; water poured everywhere and he slipped over as Malfoy, his face contorted, cried, "Cruci…"
"SECTUMSEMPRA!" he bellowed from the floor, waving his wand wildly.
Blood spurted from Malfoy's face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backwards and collapsed on to the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.
"No" he gasped.
Slipping and staggering, he got to his feet and plunged towards Malfoy, whose face was now shining scarlet, his white hands scrabbling at his blood-soaked chest.
"No…I didn't…"
He did not know what he was saying; he fell to his knees beside Malfoy, who was shaking uncontrollably in a pool of his own blood. Moaning Myrtle let out a deafening scream.
"MURDER! MURDER! MURDER IN THE BATHROOM! MURDER!"
The door banged open behind him, and he looked up, terrified: Snape had burst into the room, his face livid.
Pushing him roughly aside, he knelt over Malfoy, drew his wand and traced it over the deep wounds Harry's curse had made, muttering an incantation that sounded almost like song. The flow of blood seemed to ease; Snape wiped the residue from Malfoy's face and repeated the spell. Now the wounds seemed to be knitting.
He was still watching, horrified by what he had done, barely aware that he too was soaked in blood and water. Moaning Myrtle seemed to be sobbing and wailing overhead. When Snape ahd performed his counter-course for the third time, he half-lifted Malfoy into a standing position.
"You need the Hospital Wing. There may be a certain amount of scarring, but if you take dittany immediately we may avoid even that…come..."
He supported Malfoy across the bathroom, turning at the door to say in a voice of cold fury, "And you, Potter…you wait here for me"
…
"Apparently I underestimated you, Potter" he said quietly. "Who would have thought you knew such Dark Magic? Who taught you that spell?"
"I…read it somewhere"
"Where?"
"It was…a library book" he invented wildly. "I can't remember what it was called…"
"Liar" said Snape. His throat went dry. He knew what Snape was going to do, and he had never been able to prevent it…
The bathroom seemed to shimmer before his eyes; he struggled to block out all thought, but try as he might, the Half-Blood Prince's copy of "Advanced Potion-Making" swam hazily to the forefront of his mind…
And then he was staring at Snape again, in the midst of this wrecked, soaked bathroom. He stared into Snape's black eyes, hoping against hope that Snape had not seen what he feared, but…
"Bring me your schoolbag" Snape said "and all of your school books. All of them. Bring them to me here. Now!"
He felt stunned. It was like a beloved pet had turned suddenly savage. What had the Prince been thinking to copy such a spell into his book?
He took Ron's potions book, and then went to the Room of Requirements to hide his own. He found lots of wrecked things and books in there.
He ran flat out towards the bathroom on the floor below, cramming Ron's copy of "Advanced Potion-Making" into his bag as he did so. A minute later, he was back in front of Snape, who held out his hand wordlessly for his schoolbag. He handed it over, panting, a searing pain in his chest, and waited.
One by one Snape extracted Harry's books and examined them. Finally the only book left was the Potions book, which he looked at very carefully before speaking.
"This is your copy, is it, Potter?"
"Yes" he said still breathing hard.
"You're quite sure of that, are you, Potter?"
"Yes" he said with more defiance.
"The one you got from "Flourish and Blotts"?"
"Yes"
"Then why" Snape asked, "does it have the name "Roonil Wazlib" on it?"
His heart missed a beat.
"That's my nickname"
"Your nickname" Snape repeated."
"Nickname?" Ron snorted trying to hide his laugh.
"Well, I didn't come up with something better, you know" Harry said, a bit put out.
"Yes, what my friends call me"
"I know what a nickname is" said Snape. He thought the man was going to probe his mind again, so tried to close it.
"Do you know what I think, Potter?" said Snape, very quietly. "I think that you're a liar, and a cheat, and that you deserve detention with me every Saturday till the end of term. What do you think, Potter?"
"I…I don't agree, sir" he said.
But in the end, it was decided that way. He would have to lose the last Quidditch match.
"I won't say you, I told you so" Hermione said, an hour alter in the common room.
"Leave it, Hermione" Ron said angrily.
He had never made it to dinner; he had no appetite at all. He had just finished telling Ron, Hermione and Ginny what had happened, not that there seemed to have been much need. The news had travelled very fast, and all knew. He had already endured fifteen minutes with an irate McGonagall who supported Snape's punishment.
"I told you there was something wrong with that Prince person" Hermione said, evidently unable to stop herself. "And I was right, wasn't I?"
"No, I don't think you were" he said stubbornly.
He was having a bad enough time without Hermione lecturing him; the looks on the Gryffindor team's faces when he had told them he would not be bale to play on Saturday had been the worst punishment of all.
"Harry" said Hermione, "how can you still stick up for that book when that spell…"
"Will you stop harping on about the book!" he snapped. "The Prince only copied it out! It's not like he was advising anyone to use it! For all we know, he was making a note of something that had been used against him!"
"I don't believe this" said Hermione. "You're actually defending…"
"I'm not defending what I did!" he said quickly. "I wish I hadn't done it, and not just because I've got about dozen detentions. You know I wouldn't have used the spell like that, not even on Malfoy, but you can't blame the Prince, he hadn't written "Try this out, it's really good" …he was just making notes for himself, wasn't he, not for anyone else…"
"Are you telling me" said Hermione, "that you're going to go back…?"
"And get the book? Yeah, I am" he said forcefully. "Listen, without the Prince I'd never have won the Felix Felicis. I'd have never known how to save Ron from poisoning, I'd never have…"
"…got a reputation for potions brilliance you don't deserve" said Hermione hastily.
"Give it a rest, Hermione!" said Ginny, and he was so amazed, so grateful he looked up. "By the sound of it Malfoy was trying to use an Unforgivable Curse, you should be glad Harry ahd something good up his sleeve!"
"Well, of course I'm glad Harry wasn't cursed!" said Hermione, clearly stung, "But you can't call that Sectumsempra spell good, Ginny, look where it's landed him! And I'd thought, seeing what this has done to your chances in the match…"
"Oh, don't start acting as tough you understand Quidditch" snapped Ginny, "you'll only embarrass yourself"
"Now, Ginevra, that was clearly uncalled for" Hermione said, visibly upset, remembering the fight.
"Yes, it was. As my reaction was. I should have been grateful that someone in the room was so smart to call me on my foolishness, instead of backing me up unconditionally" Harry said before Ginny could argue. "I was a prat and deserved your comments"
"Well, now, don't put yourself too low, Harry. Malfoy was cursing you, after all" the redhead girl said.
"So why don't the Aurors use that spell everyday, Ginevra?" Harry said, angrily. "After all they face dark wizards ready to curse them on a daily basis"
That shut the redhead up.
"Now, Hermione, it is your turn" he added to end the discussion. Back at the moment he had been glad Ginny had backed him up, but now he understood how painful her words should have been for Hermione. And how she was right, and he deserved far worse than her words for what he did.
Speaking of the girl, she blushed, and spoke.
"She said, in an unnaturally high-pitched voice, "Ron seems to be enjoying the celebrations"
"Er…does he?" said Harry.
"Don't pretend you didn't see him" she said. "He wasn't exactly hiding, was…"
The door behind them burst open. To Harry's horror, Ron came in laughing with Lavender by the hand.
"Oh" he said, drawing up short at the sight of Harry and Hermione.
"Oops!" said Lavender, and she backed out of the room, giggling. The door swung shut behind her.
There was an horrible swelling, billowing silence. She was staring at Ron, who refused to look at her, but said "Hi, Harry! Wondered where you'd got to!"
She slid off the desk. The little flock of golden birds continued to twitter in circles around her head, so that she looked like a strange, feathery model of the solar system.
"You shouldn't leave Lavender waiting outside" she said quietly. "She'll wonder where have you gone"
She walked very slowly and erectly towards the door. Harry and Ron were glad nothing had happened.
"Oppugno!" came a shriek from the doorway.
Harry spun around to see her pointing her wand at Ron, her expression wild: the little flock of birds was speeding like a hail of fat golden bullets towards Ron, who yelped and covered his face with his hands, but the birds attacked, pecking and clawing at every bit of flesh they could reach.
"Gerremeoffme!" he yelled, but with one last look of vindictive fury, she wrenched open the door and disappeared through it."
"Childish behaviour it was, don't you think Hermione?" Ron said, feigning to be offended.
"Oh, come on, Won-Won" she said in her perfect imitation of Lavender, and all started laughing. Then she kissed him quickly.
"OY! Get a room, you two!" Harry teased them. "Now, Ron, if you are able to detach yourself from your girlfriend's lips, you may want to tell us your memory"
"Ok. Guys, this is sad, but I reckon it is right to remember it"
"Harry, he and Hermione filed into seats at the end of a row beside the lake. People was whispering to each other. It sounded like a breeze in the grass, but the birdsong was louder by far. The crowd continued to swell.
Cornelius Fudge walked past them towards the front rows, his expression miserable, twirling his green bowler hat as usual. There was Rita Skeeter, who had a notebook in her hand. There was even Dolores Umbridge.
The staff were seated at last. There was Scrimgeour looking dignified and grave in front row with Professor McGonagall.
Merpeople gave their tribute with singing, Hagrid walked slowly up the aisle between the chairs. He was crying quite silently, his face gleaming with tears, and in his arms, wrapped in purple velvet spangled with golden stars, was Dumbledore's body. Ron looked white and shocked. Tears were falling thick and fast in both Ginny and Hermione's laps.
Hagrid seemed to have placed the body carefully upon a table. Now he retreated blowing his nose quite loudly, like a trumpet. Many looked scandalised, but the four teens knew Dumbledore would not have cared.
They looked as the half Giant joined Grawp at the last row.
A little tufty-haired man in plain black robes had got to his feet and stood now in front of Dumbledore's body. They could not hear what he was saying. Odd words floated back to them over hundreds of heads.
There was a soft splashing noise, and they noticed the Merpeople had come to listen too. They remembered Dumbledore crouching at the water's edge two years ago and chatting with the Merchaiftainess.
The centaurs came to pay their respects too, coming out of the forest. They did not move clearly in the open, but Harry could see them standing quite still, half hidden in the shadows.
The little man in black had stopped speaking at last and resumed his seat. They expected more speeches.
Then several people screamed. Bright, white flames had erupted around Dumbledore's body, and the table upon which it lay: higher and higher they rose, obscuring the body. White smoke spiralled into the air, and made strange shapes. The next second the fire had gone. In its place there was a white marble tomb, encasing Dumbledore's body and the table.
There were some more cries of shock when a shower of arrows soared through the air, but they fell far short of the crowd. It was the centaurs' tribute. They saw them turn tail and disappear back into the cool trees. Likewise the Merpeople sank slowly back into the green water and were lost from view."
All of them were crying once again when Ron finished his telling.
For some time no one spoke.
Then, sniffing once more, Ginny did.
"I guess this leaves me with my memory to tell" she tried to lighten the mood.
The others nodded.
"Well, here it is. Not exactly proper for the moment, maybe, but it is my fondest memory of the year"
"Harry looked around; there was she, running towards him; she had a hard, blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her.
After several long moments, or it might have been half an hour, or possibly several sunlit days, they broke apart.
Harry grinned down at her and gestured wordlessly out of the portrait hole. A long walk in the grounds seemed indicated, during which, if they ahd time, they might discuss the match"
"Oh, very nice" Hermione cooed teasing them, who both blushed. "I really did not think you had it in your system to kiss a girl in front of so many people, Harry, you know" she said then.
Harry simply smiled, while Ginny looked up at him almost adoringly.
"So, what did you do during that long walk?" Ron inquired.
"It's not your business, Ronald Billius Weasley" Hermione said glaring at him. "Or would you like to tell us all what you did with Lavender too?"
He reddened and shut up.
After some time, they went all to bed. All but Harry, who went for a walk in the garden.
He was nervous. Next day, a new adventure was to start, but more of that, he wondered why he felt like he would not kiss Ginny, if he were in the same situation right at the moment. Something was changing in him, but he still couldn't put his finger on what. After some time, he went to bed.
After all, they were to have an early start next day, as they were to reach King's Cross to board the train.
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