Chapter Nine: One Crazy Pre-Christmas
"Potter, Weasley, Dalton! Stop acting like a bunch of first years and pay attention!" Professor McGonagall shrieked at the three boys who were having a sword fight with a bunch of Fred and George's prototype fake wands in the back of the class. Harry was holding a rubber chicken, Ron was still swinging a fake mackerel, and Xavier was staring dumbly at the fresh leek that he was holding. The class laughed at the three of them, and they all sat down in unison, faces turning red.
"You three are the most immature boys I have ever met. We should be trying to get ready for our OWL's and you three are hitting each other with rubber chickens and fish…" Hermione was starting to give them another lecture on their lack of focus on their studies.
"Ah, Hermione, you're forgetting about Xavier and the leek of death." Ron interrupted. He had been mercilessly beaten by Xavier and his leek when he had started the "sword" fight with Harry. Hermione had nothing to say to this, and muttered under her breath, and turned away and started paying attention to McGonagall again. After about five more minutes of class time, Professor McGonagall dismissed her students, and everyone filed out. As they walked to the Great Hall, Xavier was asking Harry what was going to happen at the upcoming D.A meeting.
"I think we are just going to review all of the things we have done already. Don't give me that look Xavier." Xavier was giving Harry a look of disappointment. "Just because you are fine on all the spells we have learned so far, doesn't mean a little review wont help."
"Fine, fine, you're the boss, Harry. And by the way Cho's been staring at you since we entered the Great Hall. If she were staring at me, it would be a death glare and not a smile."
Harry looked across the hall to the Ravenclaw table, and his eyes met Cho's for a brief second, and she smiled at him; before turning away and continuing to talk to her friends. Harry had no clue what to do about Cho. He had liked her for over a year now, but now that she was finally giving him attention, he was hesitant. The fact that she had gone out with Xavier, albeit briefly, made him unsure about what he actually now thought of her. Could he go out with a girl who just dated one of his best friends? Harry pondered this question for a brief instant, before he was brought abruptly back into the real world.
"Dude, you've been staring at your plate for five minutes now without eating or talking. I know the plates here are nice and all, but still that's still a bit excessive." Ron was laughing at Harry's sake as Xavier brought him back to reality. Soon everyone at the table was talking about their plans for Christmas. Xavier's parents were going to meet him at his uncle's house in London, and he was going to stay there for the break. Hermione was going skiing with her parents, and while Harry and Xavier thought this was cool, Ron laughed at the idea when Hermione explained to him and Ginny what skiing was. And Harry was invited to the Burrow for Christmas, and he was going with Ron and Ginny.
Harry was relieved to be leaving Hogwarts for Christmas. He had not been having a good year thus far. The only reasons he even stayed were for his friends and the D.A. But as he thought his friends were leaving without him, and most of the D.A was leaving as well, Harry was not looking forward to the Christmas break, until he was told he was going with Ron and Ginny back to the Burrow. Now he was excited for the Christmas holidays, and to be spending time with the closest thing he had to a family.
The conversation then turned to the fate of Hagrid. Everyone had been filled in by Harry and Hermione about his adventures over the summer, and the five of them were worried about him; after Umbridge's unfair inspection. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Hagrid would be put on probation, but they were all hoping that he would last the year without getting fired. Although Xavier didn't really care for Hagrid that deeply, only just meeting him a week or two ago, he understood the attachment that Harry and Ron felt towards him, through stories that they had told him over the course of the year.
"She can't fire him, yet. He hasn't shown us anything too dangerous. I just hope he doesn't bring a dragon or something to class. Then he's gone." Harry said to the group sadly as he picked at the last bit of food on his plate.
As the others around the table trashed Umbridge and talked more about the upcoming holidays, Harry's thoughts turned to Sirius, who would be alone for Christmas. This made Harry feel somewhat guilty for going to the Burrow, as he would be leaving his godfather alone on Christmas. It pained Harry to imagine Sirius alone in the dark halls of Grimmauld Place, perhaps eating Christmas dinner with Kreacher. Before Harry knew it, he realized that he was running late for the D.A meeting. He decided to have Xavier help him set up, and his friend accepted begrudgingly.
When they entered the Room of Requirement, Xavier started laughing hysterically, and Harry's face turned bright red.
"Wow, Harry. Dobby made these decorations nice for Christmas. Have a very Harry Christmas! Ha, that's pretty funny." The D.A room was completely different than usual, as Dobby had decorated for Christmas. The centerpiece of his decorations was a hundred golden Christmas baubles, each with Harry's face on it, bearing the slogan that made Xavier laugh so much.
"Yeah, yeah, very funny. Now shut up and help me take these bloody things down." Harry replied grumpily
"They're not bloody, they're Harry."
"That's not funny at all. Your joke quality is starting to slip. Now let's get these down before anyone sees them…" Harry and Xavier worked on taking the Harry-themed décor down, and just as they took down the last bauble, Ginny, Luna, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet walked into the D.A room. Luna was the only one of the girls that looked even remotely dry, the others were soaked from yet another Quidditch practice.
"The team looks horrid, Harry. At least your replacement is pretty good." Angelina smiled at Ginny as she said this, but then turned to Harry and frowned. Harry wanted to yell at his former captain; he was already mad enough about being kicked off the team without her making him feel guilty. As the other D.A members filed in, Harry noticed Cho staring at him, and his stomach leapt; though not as high as it usually did when she smiled at him. Harry turned away and addressed the group members.
"Hi everyone, thanks for coming. Since this is our last meeting before the holidays, I thought we should just review all of the spells we have worked on so far." Everyone seemed to agree with this, except for Zacharias Smith; who was quickly shut up by Fred and George Weasley.
The group quickly went into practicing Stunning spells, and Harry was shocked to see how much Neville had improved over the year. When they had started Stunning spells, Neville couldn't even cast the spell properly. Now he had progressed to the point where he could Stun a fully prepared Xavier. After Neville had unfrozen Xavier three times, Xavier got up and remarked, "Damn, Neville. You're getting good at this fast…"
Harry watched this exchange between his two friends with pride. He was able to help Neville realize his magical talents, by teaching him good spell casting technique. Harry was walking around the room, checking on people's progress, and correcting faulty technique. He kept trying to resist the temptation to walk past Cho a few times in a row, and as a result never went near her for the first half of the meeting. Harry finally realized that he needed to check on her progress, and so he walked over.
"I'm sorry Marietta, I didn't mean to make your sleeve catch fire." Cho had miscast her spell when Harry was on his way over.
"Cho, that was really good." Cho glared at Harry, who was obviously lying through his teeth. "I mean that one was lousy, but I was watching from across the room, and you are doing really well." Harry tried to save the previous statement
"It's just that you make me nervous, Harry." Cho said as her cheeks reddened, and Harry walked away back to where Ron, Hermione, Xavier and Neville were practicing. When Harry got there, he could clearly see Xavier's knowing smirk.
"Harry, your face is bright red, and you're smiling blankly again. What did she say to you over there? I was watching as Neville disarmed me again." Xavier whispered questioningly
"She said I made her nervous, or something like that." Harry replied sheepishly.
"So, are you going to make your move or not? After this meeting would be about the best time you could…" Xavier replied, as Hermione and Ron finally noticed the whispered conversation.
"I guess I should. I'll hang back at the end of the meeting and see what happens… Wow, this is scarier than the dragon I faced in fourth year…"
"I'm sure you'll do fine, mate" Ron had finally connected the pieces and figured out what Harry was sweating over.
After more practice, the meeting was over, and everyone started leaving. Xavier, Ron and Hermione left Harry to "clean up" the D.A room alone, and Harry could see that Cho was trying to separate from her friend Marietta.
"No, you go ahead…" After Cho's friend left, she started towards Harry. But when she was one step from him, she broke down into tears.
"What's wrong, Cho?" Harry asked sadly. His heart fell though the floor. She wanted to talk about Cedric again.
"It's just that if Cedric knew all this stuff, maybe he would still be alive. First he is gone, and then I thought I found closure when I met Xavier. But after I realized he was an arrogant git, I was back where I started."
"Cedric really didn't have a chance against Lord Voldemort. If he wants to kill you, you're in trouble. And plus, he did know all of this stuff. He was really good, that's how he won the tournament."
"I'm sorry Harry, talking about Cedric like this. You saw him dead. I think you just want to forget it. I really like you, Harry." Cho had finally stopped crying, and took another step towards Harry. He was frozen, and his brain was empty
"Look, mistletoe." Harry said stupidly. Cho laughed and she took another step towards him. They were now only separated by a few inches. Harry was looking into her eyes and nearly melted on the spot…
"Hey lover boy, how'd it go with my kinda ex? 99 of guys would have punched you by now, including yourself, but I'm happy for you? Wow I'm messed up…" Xavier stood up from his chess game that was going badly. Ron's rook was beating Xavier's queen and Xavier was nearing defeat. Ron was watching his conquest of Xavier's pieces with delight and initially didn't notice Harry walk into the Gryffindor common room about a half an hour after they left him alone in the D.A room.
"Well, uh we, well." Harry was sputtering. He honestly didn't know what to say. While he and Cho had kissed, Harry hadn't felt the magic that he had been expecting for the past two years. He wasn't sure if that meant that he hadn't gotten over the fact that Xavier had been with Cho, or that maybe Cho wasn't the girl for him. Harry was really confused about what to tell his friends. And plus, Cho's face was still wet from her tears before she had kissed him.
"Someone sounds like they just kissed someone else. I won't tell any names, but one of them has black hair and glasses." Xavier was laughing at Harry's obvious confusion, before he was interrupted by Hermione.
"Honestly, Xavier. You can be so blunt and immature at times. You of all people should understand what Harry's thinking right now. And you too, Ron. It's really not that funny.." She was glaring at both of them simultaneously somehow. Ron had given a triumphant fist pump for his friend's success, but now was on the ground laughing hysterically at Harry's stuttering.
"I know exactly what he's thinking, but it's still freaking hilarious." Xavier responded to Hermione's criticism with a statement that caused her to glare at him again.
"It took you long enough, Harry. Two years and you finally pulled it off. So did you ask her out?" Ron's laughing had subsided, and he could finally speak coherently.
"No. I didn't ask her out…" Harry answered truthfully. He knew that everyone would be really confused about why he didn't ask her. But the truth was that Harry was not really sure that he wanted to. As he thought this, he cast a quick glance at Ginny, who was laughing at something one of her friends had said to her.
"Harry? You are going to ask her out, right?" Hermione was looking at Harry with a knowing look on her face.
"I don't know, maybe, I'm not really sure. But I am going to bed right now…" Harry walked out, still stunned about what had happened between him and Cho. Harry climbed the stairs to his dorm, and quickly fell to sleep after getting into his bed.
"Ron! Your father. He's been attacked!" Harry managed to yell this out before he vomited onto the floor. Ron rushed over to Harry, while Xavier and Neville ran out of the room, presumably looking for a teacher of some sort.
"Harry, it was just a dream…" responded Ron wearily. It was late at night, and he was tired.
"No, this was a vision. I could just tell I was there… by the pain in my scar…" Harry lowered his voice so Seamus and Dean couldn't hear him. Harry glanced over to where Seamus and Dean were whispering and glared. They probably thought he was a nutter, but he knew he was right.
"Ron, your father was attacked. I don't know how, why, or where, but he was attacked…"
"Potter, Longbottom and Dalton said you had a dream or a vision…" Professor McGonagall had entered the dormitory, followed by a winded Neville and Xavier.
"Ron's dad has been attacked… I'm sure it wasn't a dream…" Harry responded desperately. Mr. Weasley needed help fast or he would die.
"Very well, Potter. I shall take you to see the headmaster." McGonagall said and continued, "Weasley, you should come true. Dalton, Longbottom, Finnegan, Thomas, not a word about this to anyone, especially Professor Umbridge. Understood?"
The other boys agreed, and Harry and Ron followed their Head of House out of the dormitory, towards Professor Dumbledore's office.
"Harry, describe your vision for me. What viewpoint were you in: were you a bystander, or were you involved in the attack?" Professor Dumbledore asked Harry in a soft voice once they had all sat down in the kindly headmaster's office. Harry then told Dumbledore everything that he had witnessed in his vision, and Dumbledore looked over to two of the portraits on the wall and said, "Everard, Dilys, you were listening?"
Everard was the one who responded affirmatively, and Dumbledore continued, "Arthur Weasley has been attacked. Please make sure he is found by the right people. Dilys, can you keep watch from your Ministry portrait?"
Ron was flabberghasted, "How do you know where my father is? Not even Harry knew, and he was there."
"Mr. Weasley, your father has been injured in his work for the Order of the Phoenix. That is why I know exactly where he is. Those portraits are near him, and they will be able to get help for your father."
"Albus, they just wheeled him past my portrait in St. Mungo's. He is still alive, but it doesn't look good." Dilys had returned to her portrait first.
"Thank you, Dilys. Minerva, get the rest of the Weasley's. I will be sending them and Mr. Potter to Grimmauld Place. It's much closer to the hospital than the Burrow.
After all of the Weasley's had arrived in Dumbledore's office, and the plans to Portkey to Sirius's house had been finalized, Dumbledore still wanted to talk to the children, to reassure them; and also to gain more information on Harry's visit. But there was no time…
"Professor Dumbledore, sir, Umbridge is coming! I tried to make up some excuse for Harry and the Weasleys being gone, but she's on her way here!"
"Thank you, Mr. Dalton. Now get back to your dormitory before she finds you. I wouldn't want you getting a detention for a good deed." Dumbledore responded to a wheezing Xavier, who had sprinted all the way from Gryffindor Tower to warn about the approaching Umbridge.
"Alright everyone gather around the Portkey, and I'll send you off." Said Dumbledore quickly. The next fifteen seconds were chaotic in the headmaster's office, as the Portkey took off, Xavier ran out through the door, careened down the hallway, and Professor Umbridge burst into the office, and the headmaster acted like nothing had happened. The toad like D.A.D.A teacher left Dumbledore's office a few minutes later, trying to figure out how the children managed to leave the school from under her watch.
"He's going to be alright! We can visit him in the afternoon." Mrs. Weasley burst into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, beaming at the good news of her husband's survival. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George and Sirius had been sitting around the table throughout the night, anxiously waiting for news on Mr. Weasley's condition.
"See, I told you that he would be alright…" Harry whispered over to Ginny. Harry had been trying to reassure her most of the night that her father was going to make it, and everyone in the room was ecstatic. Ron downed his entire butterbeer in one swig, and Fred and George jumped up and started dancing on the kitchen table. Sirius and Harry stood up and silently left the room to allow the family to celebrate together.
AN: Sorry about taking so long again… but my schedule has been horrible lately. But I've already started the next chapter, so that will be up in a few days. Hope you continue to read the story, and don't be afraid to drop a review with what you think.
