Hi again!
Varsitycheerleader - I am a huge fan of fluff and there will be lots in the story!
Chicanosurfer - Are you a mind reader? Harry will be learning sword fighting but not until later.
Thank you for reviewing!
The next morning, Hermione was the first one awake and she spent her earliest moments of the day waiting for their new rooms to dissolve and reality to re-assert itself. It took a while for her to realise that the rooms had not been part of her dream at all and she couldn't help but smile.
The group made their way to breakfast and sat with the other Gryffindor students who had been placed into pairs. Lavender and Parvati were gossiping happily on one side of the group while Neville and Dean were looking slightly apprehensive as they eyed their class schedule on the other side.
"What do we have first?" Harry asked with a bleary look at his timetable.
"We're all in Charms this morning." Hermione explained as she lent over to check the schedule Ginny held.
"We'd best get going, it's a bloody long walk." Ron mumbled around his last piece of bacon and Harry nodded as he stood.
"There's got to be a shorter way!" Ginny gasped as she clutched at the stitch in her side. Thanks to a non-cooperative staircase, they were late and had taken the last four hallways at a run.
"Sure, but... how do you bribe stairs?" Ron panted.
Once they had their breath back, the four students entered the classroom to find it newly decorated in a cheerful mint green that suited professor Flitwick's personality. The room was full of two-person desks, so Ron sat with Hermione and Harry sat with Ginny.
"Hello class!" Professor Flitwick greeted them all cheerily.
"Good morning professor!" They chanted in return. It was a habit ingrained in them from childhood and even though they were too old for it really, it made their Professor smile.
"It is lovely to see so many of you taking charms! I must say that I never thought I would be teaching ten pairs." He paused to let his bag float onto the desk as he took his seat. "Now with the Headmaster's plan for the year being... 'don't die', your charms assignment will be to research an appointed spell and to perform it if possible."
The class collectively let out a breath.
Ron shot a hopeful look at Harry and Ginny, which they returned wholeheartedly.
"I will call one person from each pair to the front of the class" Flitwick continued as he placed the increasingly familiar ancient purple book onto the front desk, "you will then sign your name at the top of the book and then that of your partner. The Book of Belonging will then tell you what you must do in order to complete your task, good luck!"
"Sir, why is the Book in use so much this year?" Hermione asked after she was sure Prifessor Flitwick had finished his explination.
"Well, it does seem to be Professor Dumbledore's favourite toy, doesn't it? I believe that one of the properties of this book is that it cannot be used at any time; it chooses to awaken itself and can then be used for any kind of matchmaking advice." The tiny professor winked.
"I didn't actually mean-" Hermione began as she blushed.
"Of course not, but Miss Granger the principle is accurate: the book does indeed 'match' things. Yesterday it matched pupils whose skills are compatible and today it will match areas of research to the pupils who may benefit from the knowledge."
"Now, let's make a start! Laura?"
"Yes Professor," a blonde girl answered. Harry vaguely recognised her and realised that she was a Hufflepuff, and that was why it took him a moment to recall her face, she must have been paired with a Gryffindor student to be in this class. Harry had simply assumed the pairs had been created within the houses but apparently not.
"If you would be so kind as to go first?"
Laura walked, a little hesitantly, to the book then wrote in it. After a few seconds, she looked up.
"The book says," at this she went white, "we have to research the I- Imperious Curse."
The class looked shocked but Flitwick smiled kindly at the girl,
"You are all old enough and advanced enough to cope with whatever the book tells you to research. Try not to be shocked by your assignments, I'm sure you will all do fine. Next please!"
And so the class continued with each pair being set a spell then leaving the room for the library. At last only Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny were left.
"And who is next?" Professor Flitwick asked.
"Do you mind if we go?" Ron asked Harry.
"No, not at all."
Hermione beamed at him; she had been dancing in her seat for the last half an hour as the other pairs were given a head start against her.
Hermione rose and signed the book with her name and Ron's.
'Well, hello again!' came the book's response.
'I trust you are working admirably with Mr Weasley?'
'Yes, thank you.' she wrote, smiling a little wider now.
'Good! Your futures are interwoven; you should not let him stray from you. As for the more pressing matter, I believe you would do well to investigate the fidelius charm.'
Harmonie's eyes sparked with interest and Ron let out a whimper
"It's going to be bloody impossible, I can tell," he moaned causing Harry and Ginny to giggle. They caught each other's eyes and blushed when neither could think of anything to say. Breaking their eye contact they each looked back at Hermione and sighed at themselves.
"We've been assigned the Fidelius Charm." Hermione explained, already glowing with curiosity. Ron, on the other hand, looked feint at this announcement
"Wonderful, Miss Granger and Mister Weasley. Please ask me if you are stuck, I'm a dab hand with that particular charm, if I do say so myself."
"T-Thanks." Ron stammered as Hermione linked her arm through his with wicked glee in her eyes.
"Don't worry Ron, dear, we only need to write ten scrolls." She sauntered off, dragging him with her until the meaning of her words seemed to make it through to him.
"Oh wonderful! we'll be done by lunch!" Ron said with so much sarcasm that even Hermione laughed.
"Glad to see you so enthusiastic," Hermione informed him with deep affection.
"Sure, sure... so, Library?" Ron sighed and waved hopelessly at Ginny and Harry before they opened the door to the hallway.
After they left, Ginny was called to the front
'Last but not least, Ginny?' The book formed words before she had written her name: it must have known who was in the class.
'I hope not'
'I know not, you will never be "least"'
Ginny smiled and Harry winked at her from across the room.
"He has grown to see you for who you are Ginny, you must realize that. Your love will be returned."
Ginny positively glowed with happiness at this statement.
"I want you and Harry to investigate the "Iunctura Anima" charm. It is very rare so you need only write two scrolls of parchment but you must perform the spell if the opportunity presents itself. Happy hunting!"
Professor Flitwick's smile had been a little more forced when he had heard the name of the spell they were researching.
"I have to say, it isn't one I'm overly familiar with... but I'm sure you'll do admirably." He had tried to assure them.
When she crossed the room to where he waited, Harry took her hand without thinking after he had passed Ginny her bags. It was as they walked to defence and she told him what the book said.
"It doesn't sound too bad," she said hopefully,
"Yeah, but the "happy hunting"? Do you think it's trying say that we'll have a job finding information?" Harry asked as they rounded the last corner before the Defence classroom.
"That's what I was thinking." Ginny admitted. For a moment she seemed to loose her optimism, buts he squared her shoulders and turned back to harry, "Oh well, we'll manage!"
Seeing her throw herself into the challenge made harry all the more determined not to let her down: they would do this. Together. The Book had paired them for a reason, after all.
They arrived at defence early and were pleasantly surprised to see that Professor Flitwick had beaten them there.
"Magic," He assured them as they looked questioningly at him.
"Before we begin, many of you are aware of the rise in Deatheater activity. I have been asked by the Ministry of Magic to report to you all that Lord Voldemort has indeed returned, but that there is no cause for concern."
Professor Flitwick let the class control their outrage.
"The same press release again?" Someone sighed.
"Will Fudge ever say anything helpful?" Dean Thomas wanted to know.
"they sent that news every week over the summer." Neville sighed and Ron and Ginny both nodded; all wizarding residences had received the news.
"Naturally I disagree, but what do I know; I'm just a teacher." Professor Flitwick told them and then began the lecture.
Harry felt the stab of guilt for his participation, however unwilling, in Voldemort's return, then the overwhelming sadness for all the lives lost including that of Sirius. Again he couldn't stop the flow of his thoughts... from the Ministry to Voldemort to Sirius and the Veil...
He was pulled out of his desperate thoughts by Ginny's hand on his arm and her whisper of:
"That sounds fun, finding an animal!"
"Sorry, what did you say Gin?" he blinked and her concerned face came into focus before him. Her eyes were such a beautiful shade of brown.
She smiled at the use of her nickname then said;
"There's a list of our names at the front. All we do is find our name and there is an animal written next to it, we have to research the animal and if possible, find it for the project."
"Oh? So... it's not the Curses that we're working on? That's what they said at the feast, wasn't it?" Harry pushed his glasses a little higher up the bridge of his nose.
"Honestly, Harry, did you fall asleep?" Hermione chastised lightly. "Our lessons will be on the curses and the homework is about animals: that will be the topic after the work on Dark Cruses and Enchantments is complete."
"Still... working on a whole essay without a class to help?" Ron sighed. "It sounds..."
Hermione glared at him.
"Actually yeah, that does sound like fun!" Ron amended hastily. The group smiled and went to the front of the classroom to see the animals they were meant to research.
The list read:
Ron Weasley - phoenix
Hermione Granger - black fox
Ginny Weasley - unicorn
Harry Potter - golden gryffin
"That's one good thing," Ron sighed after the end of the class.
"Oh?" Harry turned to his red-haired friend as the girls fell in step behind them.
"Well, at least I know where to find a phoenix."
"Fawks." Harry grinned as he realised. "You know what I don't understand? What is a Black Fox? I haven't heard of them."
"Beats me." Ron shrugged.
"Shockingly, it's a fox" Hermione called from behind them.
"That makes sense." Ron smiled.
"And I'm guessing it's black?" Harry asked with false innocence.
"Good guess. It's coat is black apart from the tip of its tails and its eyes." Hermione explained.
"Tails? Plural?" Ginny asked.
"I think so." Hermione blinked and they could almost see her reading the book in her mind's eye.
"Oh wait, I think I do remember something... wasn't there that story ... don't the foxes control the winds? So it's one tail for each wind?" Ginny tried to remember the stories her mum used to tell her before bed.
"Maybe?" Ron thought for a moment. "That does ring a bell."
"What worried me is that we have to try and get close to these animals, when they won't be used to people like Fawks is." Hermione looked at harry with mischief clear in her eyes, it seemed that she was thinking along the same lines as him.
"Spotted that, did you?" She grinned.
"You have a way around the problem?" Ginny asked.
"Well..." It took a lot of Harry's concentration not to let his voice waver as he continued. "Taking a lesson from Prongs and Padfoot when dealing with Moony..." He trailed off as Ron caught on and laughed.
"Really? You think we can?"
"I've been thinking the same thing," Hermione nodded, just as thrilled as the boys were with the idea. "Ginny, as far as I can tell, there's only one way we can do it safely: we have to become animagi."