Disclaimer: I do not assume to own Harry Potter. I only assume rights to the order of the words and to any new ideas I add and create.
Onto the story:
A few more seconds passed, "Harry you're hurt…" she said. Suddenly, the image sharpened inside her head as the boy spoke.
"Don't worry about me. Ginny, you need to get yourself out. Follow the chamber and you'll find Ron." Even with the image sharp once more, something that had never happened before, she saw the image turning to black. 'At least I know Ginny will be alright… I'm glad I could help her, even if this is the end… I wish… I could have gotten to know her… helped her before this…'
The phoenix knew that the boy was not even aware of thinking that last part. She had felt his grip on consciousness slip before he had finished. Inside herself, the phoenix felt a pull to the boy. This pull she had never felt before, but as more time passed, the feeling increased. Without even concentrating, she flamed to his side, seeing a phoenix she had not seen in a long time, crying on the boy's arm.
'Sister, it is your time.' She heard her brother trill as he flapped his wings and landed in front of her. 'For you to have come only means one thing. I have seen this one and I know he is phoenix kin, which you will see soon enough. I will see you again, sister.' she watched as her brother flamed away, leaving her and the boy.
She closed her eyes and felt his life force fading. Feeling her instincts take over, she opened her eyes and took to the air, flying around him as she began to sing phoenix reborn. Slowly, a golden glow began to shine from her, the glow growing brighter and brighter before it flashed once and a golden dome spread slowly downwards, surrounding the boy and preventing his soul from escaping his body. Slowly, she used her innate magic and pushed down, compressing the golden dome, causing it to anchor the soul to the boy's body once more. The dome flashed once more before it dispersed, even as she felt him regain consciousness.
She continued flying even when she saw him get up, but the song was near its end. Gradually, she floated downward, and upon landing in front of him, the song ended.
"You're not Fawkes…" she heard him name her brother as she stepped forward. She crooned in agreement then looked up into his green eyes. She looked through them, seeing his memories, his entire life, pay in front of her. She was saddened by what he had gone through, but knew that her brother spoke the truth about this one. Gazing deeper, she anchored part of her mind inside his own, a part which would let them communicate and share other thoughts and knowledge. Blinking once, she jumped onto his knee, calling softly for them to go. Though their completed bond, he could understand her, and would soon be able to call her mentally.
The phoenix crooned lowly as the boy, Harry, stroked her gently. Her wait was over; now the next journey in her life is set to begin.
Hermione smiled at how content Harry looked (something she had rarely seen before) as she turned back to her charms book, mentally practicing the wand motions and incantations. Even if she liked Harry, being second in class was beginning to annoy her, just a little. She was enjoying the challenge, however.
Harry Potter and the Flight of the Phoenix
Book Three, Chapter Three – Seven-way Trip to Hogsmeade
Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione stood at the entrance to the school as the first trip to Hogsmeade was about to go. Hermione was still getting her name checked off. It had been several months since Harry and Ginny had tried the patronus and in that time, Harry had managed to finally get a hand of the incorporeal patronus while fighting a dementor, but while Ginny was also able to create one, she wasn't able to use the boggart since it turned not into a dementor, but into Tom Riddle.
"Don't worry Harry, I'll grab you some sweets from Honeydukes," Ron grinned bundling up his jacket as the last few people were checked off on the list. "Looks like we are leaving, later mate!"
Harry smiled as Ron turned around and left, but frowned when he looked back down at Ginny who had her eyes downcast.
"Cheer up, I'll share some of what I get with you." Harry promised, making her look up quickly with a smile before they turned to go back up the stairs. Harry gave her hand a squeeze as they went up to the seventh floor. While the others were enjoying themselves at Hogsmeade, they were going relax in the warm common room.
"Harry, wait." Ginny stopped and Harry turned to face her. "Can we just walk around the castle for a bit? I… Don't feel like going back to the common room right now."
"Alright," Harry smiled as he took her hand and led her away from the portrait of the Fat Lady. He knew the real reason why she didn't want to go back to the common room, and he didn't really want to be stared at either. Walking around, they started reading all of the tapestries and portraits they came across.
Upon reaching a particularly interesting tapestry, Ginny paused and read it.
'Barnabus the Barmy,' Harry thought, shrugging. Ginny laughed as she watched the portrait as Barnabus tried to teach trolls how to dance, the results of which were quite hilarious indeed. 'I wish we had someplace we could just pass the time together where we wouldn't have to worry about everyone looking at us.' Harry frowned, looking at Ginny.
Suddenly, he heard a scraping noise behind him and he turned, seeing a door grow out of the wall.
"Harry..? What just happened?" He heard Ginny ask as He started walking curiously towards the door. Pushing it open, he saw a slightly dark room, the main lighting coming from two small windows and a roaring fireplace on the other side of the room. In front of the fire was a small couch and in one corner of the room, a table and two chairs, with a few shelves of books against the wall. On the other side there was s short, raised platform running from one end of the room to the other and it appeared to be well padded.
"I don't know," Harry answered truthfully as he stepped inside, Ginny following behind. The door closed after they both entered and shrank away into the wall, but neither noticed. The two continued on, exploring the room and looking at the books available. It was small, but cozy and when Harry sat down, the couch was just as comfortable as the one in Gryffindor common room. Smiling, he motioned for Ginny to join him and a few seconds later she plopped down next to him with a grin. "I've never seen this room before."
Me neither, but I like it." Ginny grinned.
Harry looked back at the door, only to find it missing. "Ginny, where's the doo—" he was cut off, however, when the door started growing back into place, "Oh."
Turning back, he looked at Ginny before he heard the door beginning to shrink back into the wall again. "Cool."
Ginny merely smirked at his statement before turning back and looking into the fire, Harry joined her a moment later and she leaned into him as became their usual position. Harry untangled his left arm and gently draped it around her before leaning back against her.
"What do you think this room is?" Ginny asked as she looked around. As she said it, a table popped up from the ground besides the couch with a book on top, Hogwarts: A History.
Taking the book, Ginny opened it to a page that was bookmarked. Looking down at the titles she began to read, "The Room of Requirement. Also known as the come and go room for its ability to appear and disappear when someone in need is nearby. The room is said to appear with whatever a person needs at the moment, but whatever is conjured in the room cannot leave it."
"Wow," Harry said looking around before he finally understood, "Oh! I was wishing that we had a place to pass the time together without being bothered."
Ginny beamed at him as she put the book back on the end table and turned under his arm, wrapping her own around him as she settled against him again. "Thanks Harry."
"Any time," He said lamely, but she didn't seem to care.
They whiled away the hours talking to each other about random things, until they both decided to try casting their patronuses. Walking over to what appeared to be a dueling lane, Harry jumped when he saw the wall behind Ginny drop, revealing a dementor in a cage. The room itself, however, didn't seem to cool down with its presence. Grinning at Ginny, he pointed behind her at the dementor, "I guess that solves our problem."
Ginny grinned as she walked back to where harry was. "So what now?"
"I'll stay back and get ready to drive back the dementor with my patronus. Why don't you try to cast the charm with the dementor?" Harry suggested.
"Alright," Ginny agreed with a determined look on her face.
"On three then, One, Two, Three!" Harry said before wishing the cage open. The effect was immediate. As soon as the bars disappeared, the room was swallowed in cold, even Harry, who was all the way in the back of the room could see his breath. The dementor slowly advanced on Ginny before she seemed to regain her senses.
"Expecto Patronum!" Ginny called, trying to focus on the memory of Harry saving her from the Chamber and from Tom, but right as she said the incantation, the memory seemed to be ripped from her mind as the Dementor took in a long, rattling breath. Ginny fell to her knees as she saw Tom, but this time, she didn't pass out, and all of the times she blanked out came to her mind. The first time, when she strangled all of the roosters with her bare hands, using their blood to write the message and petrify Mrs. Norris, the time she managed to petrify Sir Nicholas and Justin… The memories continued until she saw herself writing the last chilling words, "Her chamber will lie in the Chamber forever," before walking to the chamber and feeling her soul being pulled from her, making her weaker and slowly black out, but not before seeing the young Slytherin student, open his mouth and hiss.
"Don't worry, you stupid girl, you won't be alone for long. Your family and Harry will join you soon," the specter of Tom spoke as darkness claimed her.
Ginny lay where she collapsed, sometime in between visions, breathing raggedly. She didn't even notice that Harry had successfully cast the patronus charm and drove the dementor back before wishing it away. She felt his warm arms as he lifted her from the padded floor and carried her to the couch where he sat her down and hugged her. The hug drew her focus back to reality and she looked up at him before the reality of everything that she did reached her and she cried.
"… okay? Ginny? What's wrong?" Harry's voice finally broke through the fog in her mind and it acted like a balm to her nerves. She tried to smile weakly at him, though it came as more of a grimace as she shivered despite his warmth.
She crawled up onto his lap and leaned against him before he asked her what was wrong again and for the first time since the chamber, she talked about what happened. Harry held onto her tightly as she explained what Riddle had made her do and how it felt at the end to have her consciousness ripped from her body after writing the final message in blood and Riddle's parting words, then knowing nothing but darkness.
Afterwards, Harry just held onto her as she cried into his chest, rocking her back and forth. After a few minutes, she managed to calm herself. 'Wait… Tom hissed at me as I blacked out, and after we left the chamber…' she thought, her eyes widening.
"Harry, say something in parseltongue," Ginny said quietly against his chest before leaning back to look at his face.
Harry looked at her for a moment questioningly before imagining a snake in his mind. "Why?" he asked, but upon speaking the question Ginny again burst into tears. "Ginny?"
"I-I can understand you," she barely managed to whisper. 'What if Tom put more than the knowledge of parseltongue into my mind?'
"Ginny, don't worry about it, you are you, he hasn't changed you or put anything in you," Harry said, seeming to read her mind.
"How do you know?" Ginny asked when she has calmed down enough to talk.
"Ginny," Harry said, waiting for her to look at him before continuing, "I know because I'm myself, and I can speak parseltongue."
Ginny's eyes widened slightly and her mouth formed an "o" as understanding flitted across her face before she gave him a large, genuine smile.
"Can you speak Parseltongue?" Harry hissed quietly at her, curious.
"I-I wouldn't know how…" she trailed off uncertainly.
"Try imagining a snake in your mind and wanting to speak to it," Harry coached.
Ginny screwed up her eyes and thought for a few moments before opening her mouth, "How's this?"
Harry grinned at her as she opened her eyes and she hugged him, before curling up against his chest again. Quietly they spoke parseltongue, Harry telling her some of the adventures he had in his first year, and soon noticed she had fallen asleep. Leaning back against the couch, Harry too began nodding off, the excitement of fighting off the dementor and helping Ginny finally catching up to him. His last thoughts before drifting off to sleep was the dementor, and what memory he kept reliving…
"Harry!"
A few hours later Ginny groggily woke up. The first thing that she noticed was the pleasant warmth enveloping her, the second, that she was sitting upright. 'What..?' Eyes flying open, she took in her surroundings and remembered what happened. Leaning back against Harry, she looked up and saw his face peaceful and vulnerable in sleep. She enjoyed seeing him like this, one of the few times she'd seen him unguarded. Just when she was considering going back to sleep she felt him stir.
"Harry?"
"Mmm… Mornin' Gin." Harry said as he slowly woke up from his nap. Ginny smiled brightly at her new nickname and gave him a hug.
"Morning. It's probably around afternoon now though," Ginny frowned before closing her eyes slightly, wishing for a clock. From the side of the fire a clock appeared, showing it to be time to be just after noon. Wishing they had food, Ginny frowned when nothing appeared. "I guess the room doesn't make food."
Looking up she saw Harry frown thought fully for a moment before speaking. "I guess that's something that the room can't make… Even if it could when we left, it would vanish."
Ginny nodded slowly in understanding then frowned, "I don't feel like going to the Great Hall though."
Harry thought a moment, "Well, I have an idea for that. Dobby?"
A second later a soft pop had Dobby appearing before them, "Master Harry Potter calls Dobby?"
Harry nodded, "Do you think you could grab me and Ginny some food from the kitchens and bring it back?"
"It would be an honor, Sir." Dobby said as he snapped his fingers and disappeared.
Ginny smiled widely up at Harry before giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Harry smiled as he wished a table in front of them and Ginny straightened out on his lap. Dobby appeared moments later with two goblets and two plates laden with food before bowing off with a pop. Grabbing his left hand with hers, Ginny squeezed if lightly before digging in, feeling Harry lean against her as he two began to eat. The two lightly talked about random things as they ate, wondering what Ron and Hermione were doing, and thinking of ways to sneak into Hogsmeade.
When they finished, the table and plates disappeared. Harry leaned back pulling Ginny with him and wrapped his arms around her. He didn't know why and didn't bother thinking about it, but he enjoyed this new closeness he had with her. It felt comfortable.
Looking at the clock again, Harry sighed. "Come on, we need to get up and face reality… Besides, Ron and Hermione should be back soon." Giving Ginny a small squeeze, he let go, letting her hop off before he stood and stretched.
Walking to the wall, he grabbed Ginny's hand as the door slowly grew from the wall.
Harry and Ginny sat in the common room, working on their homework, when the portrait hole opened, letting in the other students. The room was crowded by the time Hermione and Ron stumbled through. Harry and Ginny waved at the two as Hermione sat down next to Ginny.
"Oi, Ginny, shove off," Ron said when he reached the couch. He was still put off about Ginny hanging around their group.
"Ronald!" Hermione frowned as Ginny stood. "Ginny, don't. Ron can just find another…" she trailed off as Ginny simply hopped back and plopped down on Harry's lap, "Oh."
Ron's eyes bugged out when he saw his best mate blush lightly but wrap his arms around his little sister's waist. "What the bloody hell..?"
"You wanted me to move so you could sit down, so I did." Ginny shrugged before leaning back into Harry and closing her eyes.
Ron just stood there speechless for a few moments before sitting down, dropping his load of sweets on the table.
"So are you two dating then?" Hermione asked, looking at the couple on the other side of Ron.
"Oh, er…" Harry began before looking at Ginny for backup.
Ginny opened her mouth to speak, "No! My little sister is not dating anyone, especially not my best mate!" Ron said loudly, standing up again and facing the couple. "Why would Harry want to, anyway? She's not even interesting or pretty," he finished, saying what the other boys in the dorm had said.
"What has gotten into you, Ron?" Harry asked as he stood up to face Ron, keeping one arm around Ginny's waist. "You keep saying the same things. Why is it so hard to understand that I find Ginny interesting and that I think she is beautiful?"
Harry froze as Ron stared at him, a bewildered look on his face. 'Did I really just say that?' Looking down at the girl to his side as she beamed at him, even while blushing scarlet, he found that he really did. Her smile was beautiful and infectious as he grinned back before he saw Ron step forward, eyeing the two.
"I know you've had a crush on Harry for a long time, but giving him a love potion is going too far, Ginny."
"I didn't! How could you even suggest I'd do something like that?" Ginny asked outraged. At the same time, Harry's eyes narrowed, the edge of his sight seeming to burn with a golden hue as he felt his magic well up inside of his chest then he felt his anger pulse, and to his shock the pulse continued outwards, carrying outside of his body and knocking Ron backwards then down to the ground. Around them, the common room grew silent, everyone who felt the pulse trying to see where it came from.
Ron stared at his best mate's eyes in shock as the green seemed to be covered by a golden glow before quickly changing back to normal, his friend's face having morphed from anger to shock. 'What the bloody hell..?' He wondered yet again as he watched Harry shake his head.
"Y-you alright Ron?" Harry asked as Ron stood up, looking shaken.
"Yeah, but what was that?"
"I… don't know." Harry answered truthfully, looking around as everyone stared at him. Shifting uncomfortably, Harry quickly sat down, trying to sink into the couch and away from the stares. Ginny hesitantly took her seat on Harry's lap again as Ron sat in between the two and Hermione.
As the room went back to what they were doing, Hermione turned to him, "Are you sure you don't know? It can't be accidental magic, you stop doing that in first year after you learn to control your magic by using a wand. Not only that, your eyes had a gold light in them when the wave of magic came out."
"I'm sorry, but I really don't know, Hermione." Harry said, a bit uncomfortable. He really didn't know what had happened and it was scaring him just a little bit.
"Maybe we should see Professor McGonagall tonight at dinner then." Harry nodded and the group sat in silence for a while.
'I must have really scared her if she's going right to the professors without looking things up…' Harry mused, feeling slightly guilty, even though he didn't know what was happening to himself.
"I-I'm sorry mate," Ron said weakly, "I just took it a bit too far I guess. I couldn't… I still don't see what you see in my sister." He mumbled the last part.
"It's not me who you should be apologizing to, Ron. You accused Ginny of needing a love potion for anyone to like her," Harry said a little heatedly, "She's not some annoying little girl who is chasing us, she's my friend and your family."
Ron grumbled a bit more, something that sounded like "Sorry Ginny," before he turned away and grabbed a chocolate frog. Ginny leaned back into Harry and looked up to his face. He smiled slightly at her before sighing and grabbing his transfiguration book, propping it open on Ginny's stomach and reading. Looking out of the corner of his eye, at Ron who had just grabbed and opened his divination book, he hoped this was the last time an argument like this happened. He didn't like arguing with his best mate, especially when Ginny was involved.
'Why doesn't he understand what a strong, amazing person she is?' He wondered before forcing himself to focus on his book with a small frown.
After dinner, the four walked up to Professor McGonagall as she was heading down from the head table.
"Professor, we were wondering if we could have a moment of your time… in private." Hermione took over, the others slightly nervous or exchanging looks.
Professor McGonagall looked between the students and nodded curtly before motioning to walk with her, "Come. We can use my office."
The four followed in silence, Ron and Hermione behind the Professor, and Harry and Ginny following. Along the way, Harry caught Ginny looking at him from the corner of her eyes, causing her to flush pink whenever their eyes met. Harry grinned a bit at how cute she looked when they suddenly stopped, facing an ornate stature of a Gryphon on the wall in the first floor corridor that they hadn't noticed before, surprising since they passed by it all the time to get to Transfiguration class. McGonagall stepped forward and whispered a password to the stone before it jumped aside, revealing a door. Upon opening it, the group stepped through into the cozy office space.
Looking around, Harry thought the office reminded him of Dumbledore's, only a bit smaller and decorated in Gryffindor colors.
"How can I help you four today?" the McGonagall asked when she sat down at her desk, motioning for the four to take seats across from her.
"Well, we were wondering if you knew anything about accidental magic after starting school." Hermione began.
If the professor was surprised by the topic, she didn't show it, "Well, as you probably well know, accidental magic normally stops happening after the first year or so of school, after the student learns to control their magic more properly." At their nods, she continued. "A more detailed explanation is that during a child's development, their magical cores, a reservoir of magical energy, grow exceptionally fast. Because of the amount of rest a young child has, the magical energy that is not used to replenish the expanding core is left inside the body but not restrained by anything. Because it is not contained as well, it can be pushed out to affect our world when strong emotions are felt. This is the normal accidental magic."
"So if we slept a lot, we would be able to do accidental magic again?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Supposedly you would be able to, but it would require you sleep most of the day, and then you couldn't use magic of any sort, whether it's recovering from exercise, an injury, or performing any sort of magic."
"But what about accidental magic after we go to school and learn to control our magic?" Hermione asked.
"Generally, there is none. There is wandless magic for those who have a lot of magical energy, as well as complete control over it, though most adult wizards lack the ability. There is also the rare case of someone's magical core shrinking from lack of use, where it shrinks, and the magical energy is left free-floating." McGonagall explained. Seeing the attentive faces of the four, she continued, "Both of these are of course on the opposite end of the spectrum as wandless magic requires much more magical energy to get the same effect because the energy dissipates without the wand as a focus. Now, may I enquire as to why you are interested in this topic and why it requires a private room?"
Hermione turned to Harry as if to ask permission to say what happened. After giving her a nod, she turned back to McGonagall, "Well, it's just… Harry performed accidental magic today in the common room. Not only that, but his eyes turned gold when he did."
McGonagall's eyes widened imperceptibly as she turned her attention to Harry, "Mr. Potter?"
"I-I don't know how it happened," Harry began, "I was angry at Ron for saying something stupid and felt my magic pull together then shoot out…" he finished lamely.
"Have you been able to do anything similar since?"
"I haven't tried," Harry said honestly, "Give me a moment."
At McGonagall's nod, Harry closed his eyes and focused, trying to remember how he felt when Ron had accused Ginny, that overbearing anger he felt when he had hurt her… At that, Harry gave a start, wondering where that thought had come from. However, that brought about the thought of protecting Ginny, and with that thought, he felt the familiar upwelling of magic into his body. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw the same burning gold at the sides of his eyes, and heard his head of house gasp. Looking around at her, his concentration slipped and he felt the magic recede back into himself, his vision going back to normal.
"This is very interesting Mr. Potter, but I must confess I am out of my league in this. I will speak to Professor Dumbledore and perhaps he can help you. Now, if that is all?"
Days came and went, and as the school year ground on, the quartet forgot about Harry's outburst of magic in favor of classes. Harry was continually excelling in his classes in practical wand work, beating Hermione only slightly due to her excessive studies and practicing.
Harry and Ginny continued to practice the Patronus charm, but despite what memories they chose, they still could not produce fully-formed patroni. Harry's was closest, as his incorporeal form began to take on a decidedly animalistic shape. Gryffindor's first match of the season was against Ravenclaw and was set to be played next weekend, as this coming weekend was another Hogsmeade weekend to the delight of most third years. Harry merely sighed as he sat in the last charms class of the week. As much as he enjoyed the last Hogsmeade trip with Ginny in the Room of Requirement (something they decided to keep to themselves for now), all of the stories from his friends had gotten him worked up about going someday. Given his relationship with the Dursleys at the moment, however, he didn't think it likely to happen anytime soon.
"Mr. Potter?" Professor Flitwick called, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Sorry, yes professor?"
"Please stay after class is finished." Flitwick said before turning to a pair of girls and showing them the proper motions for the cheering charm. Harry sighed, but it was his own fault in a way. They had been practicing the charm for two classes and he managed to complete it on the third try. Afterwards, Professor Flitwick had told him to either practice ahead or walk around to help others, but he had just sat around for the first half, thinking.
'At least he didn't take house points,' Harry mused, even though he wouldn't think the tiny old wizard would normally. Standing up Harry helped some of his fellow Gryfindors and the odd Hufflepuff as they mastered the charm. When the bell ran to begin the weekend, Harry packed slowly and when the last students left, he walked slowly to the front of the room.
"You wished to see me, professor?" Harry asked.
"Yes, I've been talking to Remus, and despite his predecessor's… Lack of ability, we think he had the right idea about forming a dueling club," The short man said happily.
"Erm… What does that have to do with me, sir?" Harry asked slowly, trying to figure where he fit into it.
"I've spoken to Remus and Minerva, and we decided that it would be better to have it be more of a student organization with the staff as sponsors. We've decided to invite all of our promising students to a dueling tournament to decide the leadership positions and since you've shown some extraordinary talent in the practical portion Defence Against the Dark Arts, as well as Charms and Transfiguration, we thought we should invite you to try."
Harry was speechless, "Th-thank you, sir. I would love to try," he stammered out.
"Good, the tournament is in one week's time at seven. If you find any spells you'd like help with feel free to ask me or any of the other three, we'll be glad to assist you."
"What?" Hermione almost screeched when Harry told them what happened at Flitwick's over breakfast the next day.
"Way to go, mate!" Ron cheered as Ginny gave him a quick congratulatory hug.
"You know there's going to be seventh years there, too," Hermione stated.
Harry frowned. He'd been so caught up with being nominated that he hadn't even thought of that. Suddenly he wasn't looking forward to the tournament as much.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll help you with finding useful spells," Hermione said quickly, digging out a piece of parchment and quill, "I know a few that should be useful already. You can probably look them up when we go to Hogsmeade."
Harry kept his face neutral, hiding his disappointment from showing. He had almost forgot that it was going to be a Hogsmeade weekend, and he didn't really appreciate the reminder. As if sensing his darkening mood, he felt Ginny lightly grabbed his hand under the table and gave it a small squeeze. She was going to be stuck in the common room working on her homework, which she had procrastinated heavily on.
After waving his friends off after breakfast, Harry walked up to Professor Flitwick and asked him about some of the spells that Hermione had given him.
"Oh, good, you've been looking up spells," he smiled, "Come, I can show you a few of them and you can practice in my classroom."
A few hours later, a sweaty Harry, feeling slightly more confident in dueling, walked out of the charms classroom. He felt better having almost mastered the basic shielding charm, a stunning spell and a few other non-lethal spells, some of which the Professor himself had created. Heading back to Gryffindor tower to talk to Ginny before starting his own research spree (some of the spells had given him inspiration), he was suddenly pulled into a classroom.
"Harry," he heard a familiar voice say as he was turned around.
"Fred? George? What are you two doing here?" Harry asked.
"We've heard about your Hogsmeade situation—"
"—From ickle Gin-Gin—"
"—When we asked her why you were still in the castle—"
"Hang on, I didn't see you two at breakfast, how did you know I was still here?" Harry cut them off.
Fred smiled at George, "Right smart this one—"
"—Doesn't miss a trick, does he, oh brother of mine—"
"Harry," they said together, startling him because he was expecting them to go off on another tangent.
"We want to introduce to you to—"
"—one of the secrets to our success." George finished, handing an older-looking piece of parchment.
"Er, thanks?" Harry asked, looking the parchment over before looking back up at the two.
"The Marauder's Map."
Harry was just about to comment that it didn't look like a map when Fred turned to George, "George, if you will?"
"Certainly," George said, taking out his wand and tapping the parchment, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Before him ink quickly spread out from where the wand touched the parchment and Harry was amazed to see a map of Hogwarts appear.
"Took us near a fortnight to discover that—"
"—time well spent, that—"
"But how did you get it?"
"Nicked it from Filch's office—"
"—first year, mind."
"Passages, leading out of Hogsmeade, ickle Harrykins," Fred said, noticing Harry tracing what looked like a corridor underneath the school.
"You'll want to be careful with these four, mind. Filch knows about them—"
"And this one behind the mirror is collapsed; nobody can get through it anymore—"
"—We recommend using this one—"
"—the one-eyed witch passageway—"
"It'll take you straight to Honeydukes Cellar."
"Thanks," Harry said, wide-eyed, looking over the different areas.
"Just remember, when you are done, say 'Mischief managed,' otherwise anyone can read it."
"We'll leave you to it." Fred said, giving George a grin as they walked out. Harry watched as they made their way to the third floor then midway down the third floor corridor towards the object displayed in that corridor. Suddenly they both popped out of existence, moments later to appear walking through the tunnel and away from the castle.
Folding the map to the seventh floor, he found the map extended even to the common room, showing a few people there, including one "Ginny Weasley". Harry grinned before tapping the map and muttering "Mischief managed," watching the ink lines quickly fade away.
Making his way up to the seventh floor, Harry stowed the map and entered the common room, walking over to greet Ginny. She was still working on her homework, only about halfway done, but he managed to pull her to an empty corner and show her the map.
"Harry!" She hissed when she saw what it did, "Don't you remember Tom Riddle's diary?"
"But it's not the same Gin," Harry countered, "I'm not writing in it, and it just shows where people are, see?" he finished, pointing to where they stood in the common room. "Look, Colin's about to enter the tower."
They tuned when they heard the portrait hole open and sure enough Colin Creevey entered. Harry turned to Ginny with a grin but she was shaking, a frown on her face.
'How can he be so dense? What happens if it starts to control him? I don't want him to get hurt.' She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she jumped when she felt Harry wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"Ginny, Fred and George said they've been using this map since their first year, and nothing's happened to them," Harry said and felt Ginny relax slightly.
"Alright, it's just…" but she couldn't finish. She was Harry's friend and didn't want to make things awkward by saying too much.
"It's alright Gin," Harry said and pulled her into a quick hug, "If you don't want me to use it I'll just give it back to Fred and George. I'm sure they have a better use for it with all of their pranks."
'He'd give it up, just like that? His only chance to go to Hogsmeade?' Ginny thought in wonder, but immediately felt guilty. "N-no, it's fine… you keep it, just… be careful."
Harry walked carefully and quietly down the third floor corridor, nose against the map, as he made his way to the one-eyed witch statue. When he was standing in front of it he saw ghostly words hover over it, reading 'Dissendium!'
Shrugging, Harry looked at the statue and whispered, "Dissendium!" Hearing shifting stone, he walked quietly around to the back of the statue where the hump had fallen through, revealing a hole in the back. Looking at the map and seeing the corridor was still deserted, Harry took off the cloak and shoved it inside his bag, whispering "Mischief managed," and stowing the map with it before quickly crawling into the hump.
He slid down a stone tunnel, something reminiscent of the Chamber of Secrets, before falling down onto soft earth. Pulling out his wand, he held it up and muttered "Lumos!" lighting up a small patch of the earthen tunnel. Turning back to the tunnel, he saw that it was too steep to climb back up, 'I guess they forgot to mention that…' Harry thought as he turned back around and began walking to the other end. Just as he thought of that, he remembered, 'Oh, Aura.'
Suddenly before him the fire bird flared into existence, trilling a greeting before quickly landing on his shoulder because of the lack of space.
"Hey girl," Harry greeted as he continued walking again, "What are you doing here?"
Aura nuzzled his cheek before trilling 'You called me, silly.'
"I can call you in my mind?" Harry watched Aura trill again in agreement, 'You can hear my thoughts?'
Aura agreed again. They continued to walk and before long they reached some worn stone steps, leading upwards. Harry mounted them, going up a few steps until he reached what looked like a stone trapdoor.
"Sorry to brush you off, but I don't think I can sneak in with a phoenix on my shoulder; it would kind of stand out," Harry said as he stroked Aura one last time before she sang a goodbye note and jumped, flaming away.
Harry put down his bag and took out his invisibility cloak, butting it on again before shouldering the bag. Pushing up on the trapdoor, he looked around, seeing boxes and barrels full of candy and other items. Pausing to listen, he didn't hear anyone and so quickly climbed up the rest of the stairs and lowered the trapdoor down again, slightly surprised at how seamlessly it joined with the other tiles. 'Then again, it wouldn't be a secret passageway if anyone could see it.'
Looking around, he saw a wooden staircase in the corner and quietly made his way up it. Cracking it open, he saw he was behind the counter that the owner was currently manning the cash register. Quickly slipping out, he walked to the edge of the counter and quickly made his way to the door, luckily not running into anyone. Walking out into the open streets, Harry spotted Ron and Hermione heading towards him. Deciding now might be his last time to surprise them, he quickly made a few snowballs and waited for them to come closer. Right as they passed him, he picked up a pair and pelted them before grabbing the other two and running to the other side as they quickly turned around, pelting them again. Harry grinned as they turned back again in the mostly deserted street, seeing nobody.
"Who's there?" Ron asked as Hermione took a step closer to him. Deciding to play nice, Harry flipped back his hood and grinned as Ron relaxed. "Harry, what are you doing here, mate?"
"Harry! You're not supposed to be here, you don't have a forum!" Hermione huffed, apparently still a bit put off by the snowballs.
Harry looked around and took off his cloak when he saw nobody watching. "Fred and George told me about a secret passageway," he answered, deciding to keep the map to himself for a while. He fell into step besides Hermione.
"They never told me about a secret passageway," Ron griped "and I'm their brother!"
"Harry, you can't stay here, if you're seen, you'll get into trouble!"
"Lighten up, Hermione, it's the last trip before the Christmas hols," Ron said. Hermione huffed but stopped complaining. "To Honeydukes then?"
They set off for the store and Harry entered, this time fully visible into the bustling shop. He hadn't been outside long, but it was nice to get back into the warmth of the store.
"We just came from Zonko's, we can go there again if you want or try some of the other stores," Hermione offered as they browsed the aisles. Harry picked up a few of the larger chocolate bars, a box of sugar quills and some fizzing whizbees, and, showing caution, got Rom to buy them for him, after giving him the money. After the other two bought their candies, they headed out down the street, pointing out the many stores.
They ended up going to Odin's Odds and Ends for Harry to pick up a few things (this time paying for himself), Dervish and Banges for more magical gear, and an outlet of Flourish and Blotts to pick up a book for Hermione, and one on moderate dueling spells.
"Come on, Harry, haven't you bought enough already?" Ron griped as they stepped out of the bookstore, "Come on, I'm hungry, let's go to the Tree Broomsticks."
Having finished shopping for everyone, including getting a few other items, Harry had no objections and together the three walked over to the pub…
A/N: My eternal gratitude for the creator of my shiny new HTML converter, BetaProgrammer. It has made transitioning to SIYE fast and easy, and I cannot thank him enough for that.
A/N: Took longer than I was hoping but I did manage to get it by the weekend. Next chapter, dueling… Won't make any promises, but this chapter promises to be fun to write, so hopefully it will be posted in the not so distant future. As always, feel free to leave a review.