CHAPTER NINE
A/N - Okay, that last little plot twist was probably a bit surreal, but it has more than one purpose for the rest of this story, so read on and let's see what happens…
"Do you…ya know, feel any different?" Ron asked, lying on his side on his bed, facing Harry.
Harry laid back flat on his bed; from the distant, faraway look in his eyes, anyone could see that all was not normal. He shook his head slowly, "Not really…it's strange though, my head feels all…clouded up."
Neville, Dean and Seamus were already asleep; it was around midnight. Harry had returned at about 9 o'clock, and sat with Ron and Hermione in the common room. He had felt alright immediately after the half-hour…session, or whatever it could be called, and took comfort from Ron and Hermione's genuine concern.
He needed that comfort; it wasn't exactly a comfortable experience. For about half an hour Harry had sat there, with his eyes closed, as unfamiliar flashes of thought and knowledge swam through his mind. He was vaguely aware of David's presence in his head, and when he concentrated, he could see memories and recollections that had to be his. Harry didn't want to think of it as creepy, because in the long run it would help him to fight Voldemort, but it was a very personal experience. David knew things now about Harry that probably no one else did; not even Ron or Hermione. Harry was very uncomfortable with that, but David had told him that anything that came up, he'd keep to himself.
Harry had also been told that he would need to sleep on it, to give his mind time to rest and recover, before things would start falling into place. He hoped so, because right now he couldn't think up anything new he had learnt; if anything, he was having trouble hanging onto what he already knew.
Within minutes, he was asleep.
* * * * *
Harry dreamt that night.
It wasn't one consistent dream, either. Random moments played out in his subconscious…some of them memories, some of them too surreal to be defined as anything, some of them seemed real enough but Harry couldn't recognize any of it.
Hermione was in quite a few of them…so was Sarah…every time he saw them, Harry felt feelings that may or may not have even been his…but it felt the same.
Even in his subconscious, he recognized that David was in love with Sarah…that explained why he felt this way when she entered his dreams…but what about Hermione…?
His dreams began to focus on her; memories of their experiences together…the troll…the Chamber of Secrets…Sirius…the Yule Ball…setting up the DA…
Oh God…
Harry's eyes burst open. As the last dregs of sleep left him, his eyes and mouth were wide open in silent shock.
I'm in love with her.
* * * * *
As Ron went back to his trunk from the bathroom, he noticed it again.
Harry was humming to himself, for probably the fourth or fifth time.
Ron caught his eye, and Harry shrugged as he pulled on a T-shirt, "Sorry mate,"
Ron shook his head, "Do you even know any of the songs you're humming?"
"No, not until this morning," Harry said, casually. He'd expected to have a massive headache this morning, or else retain that clouded feeling in his head. But he felt fine…better than fine, actually pretty good.
"Looks like it worked, then," Ron remarked.
"Guess so," Harry said.
"You're not suddenly going to become this whole other person, are ya?" Ron asked, sounding every bit as confused as he looked.
Harry shook his head, "No, don't worry," he said, "I've only made sense out of a few bits of…I dunno, but I can tell what's mine and what's not."
"Okay…" Ron said, still confused.
"Come on," Harry said, as they both finished dressing.
They left the dormitory and made their way down to the common room.
"Finally," Hermione said impatiently, waiting at the foot of the stairs.
As Harry's eyes caught Hermione's, he felt that odd lurch in his stomach. Blimey, she is beautiful, he thought. Until now, he never really noticed, or had perhaps looked past that, but there it was.
As he realized he had probably been staring for too long without saying anything, he looked away as the three left for breakfast.
"Are you feeling alright?" Hermione asked, somewhat awkwardly.
"Yeah, not bad," Harry said breezily.
They walked in silence for a minute or so; Ron hung back a couple of paces, all of a sudden feeling very uncomfortable. What was going on with those two?
Harry started humming again; murmuring to himself, "We'll be fighting in the streets, with the children at our feet…"
"What's that?" Hermione asked.
"The Who," Harry answered.
"Oh," Hermione said, "My dad listens to them, I didn't know you did."
"I don't," Harry replied, "I'd never even heard of them before…"
"Before this morning," Hermione finished, turning to Harry, stopping in her tracks, "So, it did work."
Harry turned to face her, as Ron caught up with Luna further down the hall, "Yeah, I reckon it did."
Hermione's eyes found Harry's; once again, Harry felt uncomfortable and yet very not, at the same time. God, those eyes…
"Are you sure you're okay?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, why?" Harry said; his voice came out a lot quieter than it should have, almost a whisper…
"You keep…" Hermione said, trailing off, unsure of what to say.
"I'm sorry," Harry said, regaining his bearings, "I'm still…feeling a bit weird, and…I just noticed, you have nice eyes."
"Really?" Hermione said, almost out of embarrassment, smiling a little.
"Yeah," Harry said, simply, "so…yeah, sorry about that."
"No, it's alright," Hermione said, shaking her head, still smiling a bit.
"Come on," Harry said, nodding his head towards the Great Hall, "I'm starving."
Hermione followed slightly behind, the pleased look on her face not fading away one bit…
* * * * *
In class that morning, Harry noticed he was somehow sharper; he was still learning these techniques for the first time, but he was picking it up quickly, even more than he already was. When they entered the room, David had kept a respectful distance at the front of the class. Harry could understand why; although David apparently hadn't retained any of Harry's memories or knowledge, he was still privy to his thoughts. And that could make things awkward, at least for now…
Sarah Campbell was there as well; she was watching from the front of the class, pretty much. Harry noticed her give advice to a couple of Hufflepuffs, and it did look like she knew what she was talking about. Had she learnt how to duel herself, or had she read David's mind? Harry would never know that, but that had to be one close relationship…
Hermione had noticed Harry's progress, and regarded it with cautious optimism. What if there would be some unknown side effect? What if this…whatever it was, changed Harry's personality. He still looked and felt and sounded like Harry…maybe she was being silly. But what Harry had said, about her eyes…no one had ever said anything like that to her before. It felt really nice, but Hermione had never been able to picture Harry saying that kind of thing without a lot of prodding. Then again, he did trip over his words a bit…
Oh knock it off, you're being ridiculous!
During the course of that morning, Harry pulled off a perfect Dagonet Leap, even with a back-flip in midair to land behind Hermione, as he had stood facing away from her to simulate an attacker coming from behind. He also established quick proficiency at the various arrangements of the Arthurian Offensives, a series of quick, inter-related spells and jinxes designed to flow one after the other, and also began to develop skill at a wandless form of the Disarming Spell, using only his outstretched free hand.
All the while, Hermione noticed Harry's confidence growing. If nothing else, it was a welcome sight.
Towards the end of the class, however, that confidence was tested.
Neville had been working with David this morning, owing to odd numbers; someone had been taken ill. As Neville cast a pretty fierce Freezing Spell, he stumbled. The icy blue blast flew right over David's shoulder…right in Harry's direction.
As Harry was facing away, Hermione was frozen herself in horror as she caught it out of the corner of her eye. Time seemed to slow to a crawl…but Harry seemed to know it was coming. In a flash, he bent over and twisted his torso around, the spell flying over his head, missing by inches. It collided with the stone wall harmlessly, and Harry straightened himself, his wand pointed straight at Neville, as if it was instinct.
The whole class had frozen; suddenly, all eyes were on Harry.
David noticed intently the way that Harry had manipulated his own standing position to avoid the contact…he wondered how much Harry's mind had been able to assimilate…
In a flash, he nudged Neville aside, and leveled his own wand at Harry, "Heads up!"
David wordlessly shot a Disarming Spell at Harry; Harry swung his wand across himself as if it was a baseball bat, the spell ricocheting upwards off his wordlessly-conjured Shield Charm.
Before Harry could breathe, David leveled to fire again, but this time Harry saw the fraction of a second that David needed. He threw out his left hand, using the force of a wandless Disarming Spell to throw off his aim; David's Jelly-Leg Jinx shot into the ground.
David retaliated instantly, leveling his aim and firing the Body Bind Spell, audibly. The grey-silver bolt came right for Harry's torso…
Without conscious thought, without reason, Harry gripped his wand with both hands, swinging it up diagonally across his chest in a defensive stance…
…a green-white blade of pure energy shot from the tip…
…the bolt struck the swinging blade, shattering in a flash of light.
The entire class was silent. That whole exchange had lasted about three, maybe four, seconds.
Harry seemed to regain a sense of where and who he was. He stared in open-mouthed marvel at the humming, pulsating blade of light conjured from his wand. It's green outline matched that of his eyes…of the Avada Kedavra curse used to kill his parents…
"Woah," Ron exclaimed in awe, breaking the silence of the class, albeit for a second.
Harry was only now aware of the eyes on him, especially Hermione's. He lowered his wand, recalling the command in his head to disarm the blade, a command he knew he had not known before. It retracted into his wand with the same snap-hiss David's had made before, after he had fought Macnair.
"Class dismissed," David said, trying to keep the astonishment out of his voice.
As the class slowly began to gather and leave, in several small groups engaging in excited, animated conversation, Ron, Luna and Hermione moved over to Harry.
"Mate, that was bloody brilliant!" Ron said.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.
Before Harry could answer anyone, the sound of running footsteps along the stone corridor outside the classroom could be heard, quickly approaching.
Tonks burst into the classroom, panting for breath.
"Tonks!" David said, nearest the door, moving quickly over to his Ministry partner, "Are you alright?"
"Yes," she nodded quickly, still struggling for breath, "Listen, we've caught a break. We need to move on it. Now!"
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