Moody's Request
She didn't even realize that she was still carrying around the charmed galleon from her days of the DA until she felt something warm against her legs. She was in the library, once more trying her hardest to not go back to the Gryffindor common room for fear that she'd bare witness to even more heart-wrenching scenes as her best friends found love, when it happened. Not knowing what it was, she reached into her pocket only to find that the date on the galleon had changed and surprisingly, to that date, September 25th. Wondering why on earth Harry would ever call a meeting of the DA, Hermione gathered her things and went off to the Room Of Requirements. A few minutes later when she arrived, she opened the door to the room and got the surprise of her life.
"Happy Belated Sweet Sixteen, Hermione!"
Hermione stared in utter astonishment as the members of the DA, as well as a few of her other friends greeted her. From the banner, which was placed on the wall opposite where she stood, the "Happy Birthday," song could be heard singing away above everyone else's voices. Out of the crowd, Ron and Harry stepped forward with a tiara in their hands.
"Happy Belated Birthday, Hermione." Ron placed the tiara carefully a top her head.
Instead of repeating what Ron had said, Harry leaned forward and kissed Hermione on her cheek.
She stood there in shock and though others may have thought that it was due to the fact that she was surprised, the truth was completely opposite. She really wished that he hadn't kissed her. How was she supposed to continue hating him and pretending that he didn't exist, when he went around carelessly kissing her and having her feel the warmth of his lips against her skin, even when it had ended, afterwards?
And secondly, she couldn't believe that the boys- the same ones that had ignored her for a majority of the past month-had turned around and arranged for her to have a surprise party. It was a late one, she had to admit, but it was a party all the same. She wondered what had happened that had caused the sudden change. She didn't get the chance to voice this though, as from out of nowhere, Colin Creevey appeared ready to take a picture of the three. She had to wipe the tears from her eyes as the trio posed.
"Awe come on, Hermione," Ron hugged her once the photo had been taken. "You're supposed to be happy, not teary-eyed!"
Hermione laughed as she wiped her eyes for the second time. "The reason why I'm crying is because I'm happy, silly."
"Well enough with the tears then." Harry announced. "We have exactly two hours before we have to shut this thing down and we're going to have fun."
Hermione nodded, forgiving both Harry and Ron for the way that they'd been treating her in the past month, and smiled as her friends began to hug her. She even allowed herself to smile at Alexandria when she came forward. Yes, Harry liked her, but she hadn't exactly heard about him kissing her.
"Presents." Dean announced as he arrived with a pile of gifts. Neville led her over to a chair, which was set up to look like a throne and she laughed as he bowed before reaching for the pile and taking one off.
"This one's from me." He said almost shyly.
Hermione smiled at him wondering what he'd gotten her and to her surprise, found that it was a small ring with her birthstone on it.
"Thank you, Neville." She kissed him on his cheek and the others laughed as Neville blushed slightly and staggered back into the crowd.
One by one, the presents came, until it was time for Ron and Harry to present her with the one that they'd gotten her. She took the small box from them wondering what they'd gotten her, especially since it had seemed as if they hadn't been speaking to her for most of that month. Inside the box lay a gold chain with a locket. She opened it and found that there was a picture of Harry and Ron on either side of it.
"So that any boy friend you get will know who's first." Ron proclaimed after she'd thanked them. Laughing, she placed it around her neck and fingered the locket lovingly hoping that he really was right.
After the last of the wrapping paper was cleared away, they led Hermione over to the centre table where a large cake had suddenly appeared. Hermione had a sneaky suspicion that the house elves had been involved in the making of the cake, but decided not to scold Harry and Ron because had they actually tried to make the cake, she wouldn't even have dared eaten it.
"All right!" Ginny shouted over the noise. "At the count of three, we'll sing to the lady of the hour. One... Two... Three!" Even the banner joined in as they sang, though this time, it sang along in French and to a jazz beat.
When it was time to cut the cake, Hermione had no doubts in her mind that she was going to cut the cake with Harry and Ron and they stepped up immediately. After the cake had been cut and Katie and Ginny began to share out slices for everyone, Hermione took her slice and went back to her throne to eat with Harry and Ron by her side.
"So were you surprised?" Harry asked smiling.
"Very much so." She replied before taking a piece of the chocolate cake.
"Well good," Ron said while swallowing his cake. "Because I was getting a little worried there when you started to cry."
Hermione laughed. "You don't have to worry now. This was really nice of you two."
Harry and Ron shrugged as if it were nothing and soon everyone had settled down to eating cake and were talking animatedly. As Hermione looked around the room, she couldn't quite believe that everyone had actually turned up to celebrate with her. Even Cho Chang and Michael Corners had shown up, despite the fact that their exes were there. Seeing them all turn out made her want to cry again, but she willed herself not to, knowing that Ron would begin to worry about her once again.
Soon after, Luna appeared and asked Ron to dance as the sound of the Weird Sisters filled the room. Ron looked over at her to make sure that she was okay, before going off with Luna. Hermione was about to ask Harry something when she saw where he was gazing. Towards a corner of the room, Alexandria and Jaida stood talking and from the look on Harry's face, she could tell that he'd much rather be over there.
A hint of jealousy flowed through her veins, but she knew that it would be unfair to have Harry sitting beside her out of obligation rather than free will. Knowing that things weren't quite going to be the same, she tapped him on his shoulder.
"Why don't you go and ask Alexandria to dance?" She smiled. It was one of the harder things that she had to do in her life, but she did it anyway. When you loved someone, you did whatever it took to make them happy, even if their happiness meant that they were with someone else, no matter how much it hurt to watch.
"You wouldn't mind?" Harry asked sounding surprised.
Hermione shook her head as her eyes landed on Neville. "I think I'll go give Neville a heart attack by asking him to dance."
Harry grinned and leaned across to kiss her on her cheek before getting up and walking over to Neville. That was the second time that he'd done it and just like the time before, his touch had caused warmth to that particular area. Hermione tried her hardest to not think about it, and got up to go and ask Neville to dance.
"Neville," she tapped him on his shoulder.
He turned to face her. "Yes, Hermione?"
"Would you like to dance?"
She could tell that he was surprised, but then again, Neville had always been shy around girls, despite the fact that he had toughened up after his visit to the Department of Mysteries with them earlier that year in June.
"Sure."
Hermione smiled as she took his hand and led him over to the dance floor, just in time for a slow song to start playing. As if magicked, the lights suddenly dimmed, causing a rather romantic atmosphere. Hermione wrapped her arms around Neville's neck and they began to dance.
As they moved, her eyes roamed the dance floor and she saw various couples getting rather cosy, especially Harry and Alexandria. It was quite obvious from their body language that they liked each other very much and the little pang of jealously suddenly grew larger as she saw them kiss. Wanting to throw up, she closed her eyes and leaned her head against Neville's chest, trying her hardest to ignore the fact that the image of the two drawing their faces closer to one another was looming in the back of her mind.
After the dance ended, she stepped back prepared to thank Neville and retreat to a corner of the room where no one would notice her, despite the tiara that rested upon her head.
"Would you like to dance to another?" Neville asked hopefully.
Not having the heart to turn him down, Hermione smiled and nodded, thankful that the beat had picked up and that she wouldn't have to bare witness to another kiss between Harry and Alexandria again. Once the dance was over however, she politely excused herself and went over to get some punch.
"Are you alright, Hermione?" Ginny asked concerned. She had been talking to Beau over towards a corner of the room, but had excused herself after she'd seen the look on Hermione's face.
Hermione smiled faintly as she took a sip of her punch. "I'm fine, Ginny. Just a little overwhelmed."
Ginny looked at her wondering if she was telling the truth. She didn't get to ask another question though, because Beau had come over and ask her to dance.
Hermione watched as Beau whisked Ginny away wondering how things could have ever gotten so complicated. Just three months before, they'd all been great friends. When they weren't trying to get in as much studies for their OWLs as possible, they were laughing and enjoying life with one another, and now it seemed as if they were content with living life on their own and leaving her behind in the dusk. Even Ginny had been in two relationships, and she hadn't even been in one. Everyone had assumed that she'd been dating Viktor Krum but it was quite the opposite, they were just really good friends. Better than what she and Ron and Harry were at the moment, she would say.
Not wanting to cry, Hermione took another sip of her punch and forced herself to smile at her friends as she tapped lightly to the beat of the song.
"Dance with me." Harry appeared without Alexandria at his side and stretched out his hand towards her.
Without a second thought, Hermione placed her half-empty cup on the table and took his hand. As soon as they got on the dance floor, the song changed to a slower one and once again, the lights dimmed themselves.
"I'm really sorry that we haven't been spending much time with each other." Harry announced as they began to dance.
Hermione nodded, noticing that they weren't dancing as close as he'd been with Alexandria.
"I promise that things will change." Harry went on.
Hermione looked up into his eyes wanting to believe, but not quite sure if she should. Instead of saying anything, she simply nodded with a half-smile. It was then, as she laid her head against Harry's shoulder, that she decided something. If it was the last thing that she did, things between the three friends would go back to normal.
*
The owls arrived on schedule the next morning with the mail and Harry, who was currently sharing himself some bacon, was rather surprised to see that a letter had in fact come for him. The parchment looked nothing like the one that Snape had last written on, and so he knew that it wasn't he who had written it. Curiously, he opened the sealed envelope and a white sheet of parchment fell out.
Harry,
Please meet with me in my office at the end of today's lessons, when the final bell has rung.
- Alastor Moody
Without glancing up at the Head Table, Harry folded the letter and placed it into his pocket. Ginny arrived with Beau Megghross by her side and they took their usual seats.
"Morning Harry." Beau said while reaching for the toast.
"Morning." Harry replied going back to his toast.
He'd been noticing that the two had been showing up for meals together and was beginning to wonder just what was going on. The last time that he'd checked, Ginny had been dating Dean Thomas, but since he was preoccupied with Lavender at the other end of the table, he supposed that they weren't together. As long as everyone but Ron knew about Ginny's friendship with Beau, Harry didn't really care.
"Where is everyone?" Ginny asked breaking his train of thought. Harry knew that she wasn't referring to Ron, as he had taken to sitting with Luna at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast and they'd sit at the Gryffindor table for lunch and dinner.
Harry glanced around their area of the table and realized that Hermione wasn't there. She was usually the first one down at the table because she liked to start off her day with The Daily Prophet but surprisingly, she wasn't there.
"I have no idea." Harry shrugged and went back to his eggs and bacon.
"Good Lord..." A few seconds later, Neville Longbottom looked up from the table and let out a loud gasp. Beau Megghross barely glanced up before returning to his conversation with Ginny, and Seamus, who was sitting at their end of the table, gasped as well.
"Is that Hermione?" He asked.
Hearing Hermione's name made Harry turned to look and what he saw made him drop his fork. There, walking over to the table as if nothing were the matter, was Hermione Granger in all her glory. Her hair was styled and straightened like the night of the Yule Ball, bouncing as she stepped, and she was actually wearing make-up.
He knew that this was a rather stupid observation, but she looked very much like a girl. There was an innocence about her, and a air of confidence that surrounded her as she came closer to the table. And now that he was staring at her closer, he could see that her uniform no longer lay flat against her chest. He watched almost hypnotized as the swellings bounced a bit with her step.
His throat suddenly went dry, and he reached for his orange juice. As she sat beside him, Harry could smell the perfume that she'd used and suddenly found himself ignited with the feelings for her that he'd long since buried when Cho Chang had walked into his life.
"Morning all." she purred before reaching for the eggs.
"M-Morning." Neville replied.
Harry had all but lost his speech and didn't even attempt to reply. It was a wonder that Hermione hadn't seemed to notice or acknowledged his blatant stares. And when he looked down and saw the peachy colour of her exposed flesh-a direct result from her robe pushing aside as she sat down-Merlin! He was suddenly thankful for his robes and their ability to hide the swelling in his crotch. Under the table, he felt as Ginny kicked his shin and looked away from Harry at her.
"Alexandria!" She mouthed.
Harry gave her a confused look and she rolled her eyes before discreetly pointing to the doors of the Great Hall. Harry looked over and saw that Alexandria and her sister were in fact making their way towards the Gryffindor table.
"Morning." They chimed sitting down. Alexandria sat on his other side and smiled at him before reaching for the toast. Suddenly, Harry began to feel guilty for his thoughts about Hermione, especially when she squeezed his leg under the table. But as he turned to answer the question that Hermione had asked, he found that once again, he couldn't stop thinking about the way that her hips suddenly seemed to sway in her robes, as loose as they were.
Sitting there between the two girls, Harry suddenly became confused. He had absolutely no idea as to what was happening to him and he vaguely wondered how boys like Beau Megghross and Draco Malfoy dealt with these sorts of situations on a daily basis. But by the looks of how the two boys were moving, it seemed as if they'd finally settled on one girl. As he chewed his eggs, Harry began to wonder if he could ever do the same.
*
"Pureblood." Jaida said the password before the picture of Salazar Slytherin and made her way into Draco's room. It was their free period before Arithmancy, and she was determined to get some answers from Draco about his sudden change in mood. He'd been acting strange lately, and she honestly wanted to know what was wrong.
"Draco." She called as she closed the door behind her. He hadn't been to breakfast and so she knew that he was in fact holed up in his room.
"I'm over here."
She looked towards where Draco's voice came from and found that he was lying on his bed, despite the fact that he was fully dressed. Draco made room for her as she walked over, and after stepping out of her shoes, lied down beside him and turned on her side so that she could face him. His cool grey eyes stared into her deep chocolate ones and Jaida watched as his hand came closer and began to stroke her hair.
"Draco, what's wrong?" She whispered. "Why didn't you come to breakfast?"
Draco stopped playing in her hair and shrugged. "I wasn't hungry."
"And last night?" She asked referring to the fact that he hadn't gone to dinner either.
Draco sat up in the bed and looked straight ahead. "I had homework."
Jaida sighed and sat up as well. "You're going to solve your problem by starving yourself to death?"
Draco turned to face her then. "I do not have a problem, Jaida."
"Really now?" She looked slightly amused. "Explain your sudden change of mood to me then."
She wanted answers and it was obvious that Draco was hell-bent on keeping his thoughts to himself. If she wanted to, she could find out what was wrong, but she wasn't one to resort to those methods unless she really had to. If Draco kept skipping meals and sulking around in his room as he'd done in the past three days, she knew that she might have to.
"If you don't want to talk about it, then just say so, Draco. But don't sit here and lie to me."
Draco looked over at her, his eyes searching hers as if trying to decipher whether or not she was worthy of hearing his thoughts, and then he gave a small sigh and Jaida knew that he was going to tell her.
"Have you ever thought about what's going to happen in the future?"
Jaida looked at him curiously. "The future? What about it?"
His asking about the future could mean many things, and she wasn't about to sit there and guess until she drew the right answer from the hat.
"The War."
She knew immediately what he was talking about, but she still didn't know why he was thinking about the War.
"How do you know which side is right?" He went on.
"Side?"
"Yes, side. I mean, how do we know that while one party is saying one thing, that the other party isn't saying the correct thing? Why do we even have to choose a side? And suppose the side that we choose turns out to be the wrong one, what do we do then? We can't very well run over to the other and tell them that we've seen the error of our ways, because we'd have already been branded then and they wouldn't want us. We'd either have to go into hiding for the rest of our lives or suffer.
Jaida sat back against the headboard and took in everything that he was saying.
"Are you thinking about becoming a Death Eater?" She asked after a while.
"I'm too young, aren't I?" He asked.
"But there are other ways to serve Voldemort without actually getting the Dark Mark. You know that and so do I. Are you thinking of becoming a Death Eater, Draco?" Jaida looked him in his eyes.
"Would you care?" He asked.
She couldn't believe that he'd asked her that question. If she hadn't cared then she wouldn't have come looking for him in the first place.
"Of course I care, Draco! How could you ever ask that?"
"Let me rephrase that," he looked her in the eyes. "Would you cast me aside if I became one?"
Jaida leaned her head against the headboard and seriously thought about what Draco had just said. Her mother had known before she and her father had gotten married that he was a Death Eater, and a very loyal one at that, and even though she didn't approve of Voldemort, she'd gone ahead and said "I do". But the fact that she insisted that they move to Paris and that her father never mix business with their home life, and that she and her brother and sister never been exposed to the likes of the others and their children, showed that she didn't approve of what he was doing either. She knew that it pained her mother to have her father go off on anonymous assignments and how it tore her apart when they came for him when she was six years old and carted him off to Azkaban after finding out that he was a Death Eater. She didn't know if she could do the same, even if she did end up loving Draco as much as her mother had loved her father. She turned to him.
"I don't want you to become a Death Eater, but if you became one, then that would be your choice."
"But would you still want to associate yourself with me?" Draco repeated.
Jaida sighed. She didn't want to tell him the wrong answer and end whatever it was that they had before it had gotten a proper chance to start, but she didn't want to lie to him either and give him any sort of false hope.
"I don't know, Draco, but I do know that I wouldn't approve." She finally answered.
Draco nodded and leaned his head against the headboard and crossed his arms.
Jaida watched as he stared off into space knowing that he was thinking about what she'd said as well as whatever it was that was eating away at his insides. She knew that the question that he'd asked her was only one part of it, she just wished that he'd tell her the rest. She'd grown to trust Draco, and she didn't quite know if he trusted her as well. After what seemed to be five minutes to Jaida, Draco turned to face her.
"So you've chosen Potter's side then?"
Jaida sighed. "I haven't chosen anyone's side, Draco, I've just decided that I'm not going to go with something that I'm against. And I'm against Voldemort and everything that he and his Death Eaters stand for."
"Father's a Death Eater..."
Jaida knew this of course. Even if Draco hadn't told her before and she hadn't read the article of his capture in The Daily Prophet the summer before.
"As is mine."
Draco's eyes widened and she could tell that he was shocked. "What?"
"My father," Jaida repeated, "is a Death Eater."
"I heard what you said before, Jaida." He whispered. Jaida said nothing in response but chose instead to stare ahead of as he had done before.
Now he knew. She hadn't told anyone before, and yet she'd chosen to tell him. She supposed that it didn't matter anyway as he would have eventually found out.
"But you lived in Paris..."
Jaida nodded. "We lived in Paris and he had a flat in London, which he frequented."
"And yet you've chosen to go against everything that he believes in?"
Jaida nodded. "I have."
Draco nodded as well and resumed the position that he was in before. Jaida watched him for a while not knowing whether she should leave or go. She didn't want to leave him in his current state, and yet she knew that in the end, the decision would have to be his. After another few minutes had passed, she sat up in the bed. Draco's eyes turned towards her.
"Are you leaving?"
"Do you want me to?" She asked.
"No."
She nodded. "Then I'll stay."
Draco reached over and pulled her closer to him and she leaned her head against his chest. They lay in that position until it was almost time for Arithmancy, Draco deep in his thoughts, and Jaida worried about him.
*
As soon as the final bell had wrung and Professor Moody had dismissed the class, Harry took his time with packing up his bag as he waited for the last of the students to leave.
"Are you coming, Harry?" Alexandria asked.
Harry shook his head. "I've got to speak to the Professor about something."
She nodded before joining Neville and Ron as they exited the room. Finally, when it was just the two of them in the room, Professor Moody signalled him forward and the two made their way to his office. Once in, he closed the door and motioned for Harry to take a seat before his desk.
The room looked the same as it had in his fourth year with Dark Magic detectors scattered all over and as usual, his trusty goblet from which he only drank, lay on his desk amidst his pile of work. Harry wasn't sure why he'd been called to Moody's office, but he was almost sure that it had something to do with his failure to appear at Head Quarters that summer.
"Tea, Harry?" Moody growled.
Harry shook his head, wanting to get to the point of their meeting, and Professor Moody nodded understanding him all too well. Harry watched as he clambered over to his desk and sat down, his magical eye turning slowly as he did so. As he'd done on the night that they'd rescued him, Moody took out his eye and placed it in a glass of water. Harry watched with interest as it whizzed around staring at him every few seconds. After a while though, Moody replaced it, and Harry noticed that it started to behave like its old self.
"So Harry," Moody said leaning across the table to face him. "What, might I ask, is your worst fear?"
It seemed to Harry that fear was to be his theme for the year as he never failed to mention it in any of their classes, and he'd heard Ginny talking about it as well. Without hesitation, however, Harry sat up in his seat and admitted to his Professor what he knew that he'd already known.
"Dying at the hands of Voldemort."
Moody nodded and sat back. "Thought so."
Harry watched as he fumbled with a few objects on his desk before revealing a rather thick text.
"It is the Order's intent, young Harry, that your worst fear is never realized." Moody flipped through the pages of the text before handing it to Harry. "That is why you have been called to my office this afternoon."
Harry nodded and examined the cover of the book, wondering how something as simple as this could save him from dying at Voldemort's hands.
So You Want To Work With Muggles, Eh? Well Here's 101 Things About Them That You Should Know
Harry looked up at the Professor after having read the cover of the text. "I'm sorry, Professor, but there must be some mistake."
"If you want to be an Auror, Harry, you're going to have to learn the most important lesson of your life." Moody leaned over once again. "Never judge a book by it's cover."
Suddenly understanding, Harry opened the cover and found that it wasn't a book on Muggles, but rather a book on Dark Magic. The more pages he turned, were the more Dark Objects and Spells that he found. A few he already knew from his classes, but a majority he'd never seen before in his life and knew that under normal circumstances, he would never have been allowed to.
"I don't need to tell you that you should never be caught with this book in public places, nor anywhere near anyone from the Ministry, now do I?" Moody asked.
Harry looked up from the page that he was reading and shook his head.
Moody nodded and continued. "Your assignment, Harry, is to read the first chapter of this text and familiarize yourself with the Spells as well as Objects found within it. When we meet again in my office on Tuesday, you are to be ready to try a few of those Spells and to see how a few of those Objects work. Is that understood?"
Harry nodded, not quite understanding what Moody was trying to say. Seeing his confusion, Moody went on.
"I've been assigned by Professor Dumbledore to guide you through your journey of this text and to make sure that you can, if the situation ever arises, be able to use what is found in there to your advantage."
Harry nodded suddenly understanding everything. Never mind that it meant that he'd be using all of his free periods doing homework in the library because between Moody, Snape and the pending Quidditch practices, most of his evenings would be booked.
"I'm sure that you already know why there is the need for all of these classes."
Harry nodded. "I do."
"And I'm sure that you are going to take them seriously, otherwise this whole thing would have been fruitless." Moody went on.
"I understand."
"Good!" Moody growled jumping to his feet. "Because I'm going to say this and only once. When He wants you Harry-and that could be very soon-you're going to have to be ready."
Harry nodded.
Moody gave a grunt and continued. "Learn to overcome your fear, Harry. Because if you don't, it shall be you who'll make it a reality."
Harry stared at the professor, taking in all of his words as he did so. This was no longer a joke anymore, the Prophecy had been made and whether or not Harry wanted it to happen, it had to be fulfilled.
It was either he who would die and seal the world's fate as doomed, or he be as prepared as he could so that Voldemort and his Death Eaters could be stopped once and for all. It was now, or never.
*
She wasn't changing herself for him, despite what Ginny had first thought when she'd been approached by her that afternoon in the library. She was changing for herself really. She made the decision after her party that she was going to start living for herself for a change and not for others.
From the time that she was old enough to remember, she'd been doing it. Running around behind her parents and making sure that they ate on those stressful days when they ate on those stressful days when they tended to forget. Doing Harry and Ron's homework for them so that they wouldn't get kicked out of school. Rescuing Harry from whatever mess he happened to get himself into. Helping Ginny realize the difference between love and idolization. Giving Harry advice on girls during his fifth year when he tried to court Cho.
She could think of a million situations where she did things for others and it had become so routine that she automatically thought of how her actions would affect others, and not herself. Being selfless is a good thing, but there comes a point when you have to start doing things for yourself, make your priorities become something of importance.
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