Chapter Ten: Parties, Presents and a Coin-Flip
"Yo, Harry! It must be getting really boring in there all by yourself. Come out, dude." Xavier was yelling through the door to Harry, who had been trying to isolate himself from everyone since the visit to the hospital. Harry had heard Mad-Eye Moody tell Tonks and Remus that he was being possessed by Lord Voldemort.
"Xavier, you're really going about this the wrong way… Here let me try." Harry could hear Hermione on the other side of the door. Harry didn't know that they had came, but he wasn't that surprised that they had shown up after the events with Mr. Weasley. "Harry, please come out, we want to talk to you…" Hermione was pleading with him, and Harry finally relented.
"Alright, I'm coming out, but you really don't want to be near me, Hermione and Xavier…" Harry opened the door and stepped out into the hall, where he saw a finally smiling Hermione, a glaring Xavier, a confused Ron, and Ginny with a look that could kill on her face. She reminded him a lot of her mother when she had this look, and Harry could not bear to look into her brown eyes.
"Yeah, we know… You're being possessed by an evil dark nut. Ginny told us you've been shutting yourself away for the last two days. We don't care. We've realized by now that being friends with evil's number one target might carry some risks. But, hey, that's what makes life fun, aint it?" Xavier spoke for the group, and Harry was starting to see his point when Ginny whispered:
"Why have you been avoiding us, Harry? Especially me. I'm the only person that you know that has been possessed by Voldemort." Harry could see a single tear fall down her cheek, and Harry felt horrible.
"I'm sorry, Ginny. I wasn't thinking. I just didn't want anyone that I care about to get hurt." And in a whisper that no one could hear, he added, "Especially you, Ginny."
"Harry, have you ever blanked out for long periods of time? Have you ever ended up somewhere and not known how you got there?" Ginny asked Harry, who started thinking back. A smile came to his face as he realized that he couldn't think of a time when that phenomenon had occurred.
"Plus, you were thrashing around in your bed for about a minute before you actually woke up." Ron finally spoke for the first time since Harry had exited the room.
"And, if you ever pick up Hogwarts, A History, you will read it and realize that you cannot Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts." There was only one person in the corridor who had actually read that book, and she spoke reasonably to Harry.
"So, I'm not the weapon? Bloody brilliant…" Harry finally laughed for the first time since he had heard Moody's proclamation. He couldn't breathe as Hermione and Ginny rushed towards him and put him into a bone crushing hug. When he finally managed to surface for air, he shook Ron's hug, and Xavier gave him the typical half-handshake, half high five that only he gave Harry.
"Let's get some food guys, I'm really hungry…" Harry walked down to the kitchen, followed by his four friends, who were delighted to have him back.
Harry was sitting alone in his room, just thinking about the dilemma that had been troubling him for the past month or so. Should he choose Cho, his longtime crush, but who was close to a mental breakdown, or Ginny; the friend that he knew would be always there for him, but his best mate's sister. He knew he liked them both; a lot, in their own different ways. Cho's smile, Ginny's laugh. Cho's hair, Ginny's eyes. He didn't know who he liked best. But deep down, he knew he had to leave his room with an answer. Ginny or Cho? Harry sat for a good hour, and had made a list of parchment of positives and negatives for both of the girls he liked, and after an hour, re-read the list. Both girls were exactly even in positives and negatives. Harry cursed, he wasn't making it easy for himself. But then he heard a small voice in his head, saying, "Just flip a coin. You'll know what you feel when the coin chooses for you. Then you'll be sure of who you truly like best." Harry smiled, finally a solution. He rummaged through his pocket, pulled out a spare Galleon, and flicked it into the air. He looked at it when it landed, and saw which girl the coin had chosen. Harry then knew deep down who he liked best. He tossed the coin to himself, put it back into his pocket, and grinning walked out of his room, hearing Mrs. Weasley's call that dinner was ready in the background.
"Hey, Harry… Presents!" Ron woke up yelling on Christmas morning. Harry felt around his nightstand for his glasses, and putting them on, had the face of his best friend slowly come into focus.
"Bloody hell, Ron! Did you really have to wake me up so early?" Harry looked at the clock in their room, it read 6:05 AM. "Guess I'm really not used to this whole Christmas thing yet…" Harry muttered to himself before getting out of bed. When Harry reached the Christmas tree in the hallway, he could see that Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny were already there.
"Merry Christmas, Harry!" They all yelled in unison. The room soon dissolved into a mass of wrapping paper as the five teens began to open their presents. Harry got a homework planner from Hermione, spellbooks for the D.A from Sirius and Lupin, a furry brown wallet with fangs from Hagrid, a model Firebolt from Tonks, candy from Ron, the usual jumper and pies from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and an English Quidditch team poster from Ginny. Harry reached for his last small box, and pulled out a gold rectangle, and looked at it quizzically. He picked up the note that was sitting on the bottom of the box, and began to read:
Yo, Harry:
Merry Christmas. I got you, Ron and Ginny matching gifts. In case you don't know, these are cell phones. I got them for you guys so we can all communicate. I already programmed the phones with everyone else's phone numbers to make it easy for you guys. Call me when you open this. I'll let you figure out the rest. By the way, I'm going to stop by later for Christmas lunch. I'm looking forward to the food. And tell the others thanks for the gifts.
Xavier
Harry flipped open his phone, and saw that the background was a picture of him,
Xavier and Ginny before the first Quidditch game of the season. Xavier and Ginny were wearing their Gryffindor colors, and Harry was wearing his Quidditch robes. Harry then saw a page titled contacts corresponding to a small blue button on the top of the keypad. He pushed it, and saw the names of his four friends pop up in alphabetical order. Harry scrolled down to Xavier's name, and pushed the green send button. Surprisingly to Harry, it actually worked, and Calling… Xavier was now flashing on the screen.
"That jersey you gave me is the shit, Harry. I love it, man." Harry smiled when Xavier answered the call. Harry had given Xavier a Red Sox jersey that allowed him to change the name and number on the back with a simple charm.
"The phone you gave me is pretty cool too. I'm still trying to figure everything out, but I'm not as clueless as Ron and Ginny. Hermione's helping them out. They love the phones, by the way. So how were the last few days?" Harry responded
"Good, real good. It was really nice to see my parents again. They were fucking pissed about me leaving, and my dad and I got into another fight. But we made up, and we're all cool now. They understand why I wanted to leave and get a fresh start, but they still wanted me to stay closer to home. My uncle is really chill about the whole thing, and my whole family is staying with him until I go back to school." Xavier was talking fast. Harry had never heard him say the reasons for coming to England, and Harry definitely did not know that Snape was the only other person who actually knew. Harry was about to ask him, but Harry knew that he should let Xavier tell him if he wanted, and not force him to talk about something that he wanted to keep hidden.
The two friends talked for about ten minutes before Xavier hung up, telling Harry he was getting in the car to drive over to Grimmauld Place. Harry walked back to the present room, where his friends were waiting for him.
"Thanks for the Broom Compass, Harry. Beats Hermione's homework planner by a longshot." Ron was smiling and holding his blue phone.
"Harry, I really like the locket. It's beautiful." Ginny hugged Harry and he blushed a little, but no one noticed. Ginny was holding her pink phone and wearing the gold locket that Harry had given her. The picture inside was of the two of them in the snow. Harry had gotten Colin Creevey to hide by the castle one day, and he took a perfect picture of Harry and Ginny walking back to the castle covered in snow.
"I really like the book, Harry." Hermione was holding her new Arithmancy textbook that Harry had gotten her, as well as the perfume that Ron had bought for her. When Harry saw the perfume, he had to stifle a laugh. It was obvious to him that Hermione and Ron had feelings for each other, but they didn't have the guts to admit it to each other. Harry saw Ron's gift as his admission, but the normally brilliant Hermione either didn't get it, or didn't want to admit it.
Everyone then proceeded to grab a quick breakfast, and in the middle of the meal there was a knock on the door. Harry was the closest person to the door, and pulled it open to see the smiling face of Xavier standing in the cold, a small car in his hand.
"Is that…?" Harry asked him.
"Yep, that's the Mustang. I couldn't leave my baby in the cold, now could I? So I just shrunk it, and I'll deshrink it before I drive home later." Xavier stepped into the house and slipped his car into his jacket pocket. When Xavier pulled off his blue football jacket, Harry saw that Xavier was wearing the Red Sox jersey.
"Wow, Xavier. You would put your own name on the jersey first…" Harry snickered as he noticed that Xavier's jersey said Dalton and was number 25.
"Well, I think that it looks good. And plus it goes with the name and number on my football jacket. So have Ron and Ginny figured out the phones yet?" Xavier asked Harry as they walked through the house.
That question was answered as Xavier's and Harry's phones both rang simultaneously. Xavier's ring tone was some Muggle rock song that Harry did not know. Harry's was a song by the Weird Sisters that Xavier had put on for him. Ron was calling Xavier, and Ginny was calling Harry; and the siblings both said;
"Yes, we got the phones to work… All by ourselves, without anybody helping us." Harry could imagine Hermione's glare at not being credited. Both hung up, and the boys laughed.
"Guess they overheard your doubts…" Harry muttered to Xavier as they walked into the kitchen, where Ron and Ginny rushed to Xavier, thanking him for the phones. Xavier responded by thanking Ron for the chasers gloves and Ginny for the Weird Sister's music that she bought him. Xavier wished everyone in the room a Merry Christmas, and sat down to a plate of food shoved in front of him by Mrs. Weasley. The atmosphere in the room was as happy as Harry had seen at Grimmauld Place, and before he knew it, they were piling into Mundungus's "borrowed" car for the trip to St. Mungo's to visit Mr. Weasley.
After arriving at St. Mungo's, everyone piled into the ward where Arthur was staying, and he was thrilled that he had guests on Christmas. But before they could have any meaningful conversation beyond a Merry Christmas, Mrs. Weasley noticed something. "Arthur, why have your bandages been changed a day early?"
Mr. Weasley was clearly worried, as he responded slowly and with a fake nonchalance in his voice, "Well, the trainee healer, is interested in complementary medicine. Muggle remedies if you will. And well he had an idea, these things called stitches. Well we thought they might work…"
Mrs. Weasley's voice began to rise to near boiling level, and she responded, "Arthur, it sounds like that you were trying to sew your skin back together. Even for you that's incredibly stupid." At this the three teens with Muggle knowledge quickly fled the room, knowing what stitches were. Sensing an eruption from their mother, Ginny and Ron quickly followed suit.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA!?" they could hear Mrs. Weasley in full explosion now.
"Honestly, stitches? What was Dad thinking?" Ginny was shaking her head as they walked towards the tearoom.
"Well, stitches do work well on non-magical wounds. I guess there is something in the snake's venom that dissolves the stitches or something…" Hermione commented.
"Let's all get to the fifth floor, I'm thirsty." Xavier blurted out, and everyone looked at him.
After an interesting walk up the stairs, where an old wizard in a portrait accused Ron of having spattergroit, the group reached a landing. Thinking it was the fifth floor, Hermione walked to the landing door, when they saw a familiar face.
"Oh! It's Professor Lockhart!" Hermione squealed. The professor had not lost any of his good looks, but he did have a somewhat glazed look in his eyes. The pompous man still thought he had a fan following, and asked them if they wanted signed portraits. A Healer quickly found them, and the teens followed her and Lockhart back to his ward. They were there for a minute, before the Healer said something that made Harry really nervous,
"Mrs. Longbottom, leaving already?" Harry had no idea how to distract his friends so Neville could leave undetected. But before he could find a way he heard;
"Neville! Hey Neville! It's us. Ron, Ginny, Xavier, Hermione and Harry." Ron had shouted out to his friend.
"Friends of yours, dear?" Harry heard Mrs. Longbottom ask Neville, who nodded. He and his grandmother walked over to the gang, and Mrs. Longbottom stuck out her hand to Harry and said regally, "Ah, yes, you must be Harry Potter. Very nice to meet you." Harry shook her hand quickly, and she turned to Ron and Ginny and again spoke. "And you two must be Weasleys. Good people, good people." She turned to Xavier next, and stopped for a second.
"Name's Xavier Dalton. American exchange student from Los Angeles Academy of Magic. I'm a good friend of Neville's as well. I'm in the same year as him, Harry and Ron." Xavier spoke quickly before Mrs. Longbottom need ask for his name.
"Wait, Neville. Who have you been visiting? We were visiting Professor Lockhart." Ron blurted this out after Xavier was done introducing himself, and soon Neville's grandmother went into a long lecture about the sad fate of Neville's parents. Harry felt more and more horrible for his friend as the lecture went on, and thankfully, they managed to escape the ward after she was done.
"Hey, Harry! Toss me another butterbeer will ya?" Xavier yelled across his uncle's basement to Harry. Harry frowned, but tossed his friend a bottle, and Xavier caught it, and took a swig of the sweet drink.
"And Smith scores again for Puddlemere bringing the score to 90-20, with the Chudley Cannons trailing yet another game." Ron groaned as his team continued to fail. Xavier's parents and uncle wanted to meet his new friends, so most of the Gryffindor fifth, sixth and seventh years were all in Richard Dalton's basement, listening to the Puddlemere-Chudley Quidditch game over WWN.
Richard Dalton, Xavier's uncle, was a jolly and humorous old man, and Harry thought that Xavier got his knack for badly told jokes from his uncle. Xavier's father, John, was slightly shorter than his son, and had the same messy hair. Xavier's mother, Susan, was a short woman who had Xavier's eyes and general facial shape. Harry liked both of Xavier's parents as soon as he met them. Interestingly enough, Xavier's personality was more like that of his uncle than either his mother or his father.
"And Hass of Puddlemere catches the Snitch. What a phenomenal catch there. No hands on the broom. He stole the game there as Chudley's seeker was about to catch it. The final score is 160-20. Puddlemere improves to 4-2. The Cannons drop to 1-5. That's it from us here at the pitch…" Ron turned off the radio in disgust, and threw his Cannons hat across the room in anger.
"Everyone, let's really get this party started! Let's do something fun." Xavier yelled as he was opening yet another butterbeer. Hermione, Ginny, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell suggested truth or dare, and the game quickly begun.
Almost everyone was picking truth at the beginning of the game, except for Xavier, who accepted Fred's dare to kiss George. Xavier managed to do it, and he and George made it fake-romantic, getting cheers from the rest of the group. Ron's fear of spiders was next to be revealed. Hermione was forced to tell everyone that her favorite hobby was reading a new academic book, which Fred, George, Ron and Xavier all laughed at. And then the question was posed to Harry from George.
"Ahh. Harry. Truth or Dare?" Harry definitely did not want to take his chances with a dare, and so he responded truth
"You're a coward, Harry." Xavier muttered, and Harry punched him in the stomach lightly.
"So, tell me Harry, do you fancy anyone right now, and are they in this room?" George asked with an evil grin on his face. Harry felt like he had been the one punched in the stomach. He looked around, and found Ginny looking at him with an odd, almost anticipating look on her face. Harry looked at her quickly, before he flushed red, and looked down, saying,
"Yes… and yes."
AN: I know I took really long with this last update. But I finally got my life in order so updates are going to come faster. And Harry takes more risks as a result of Xavier's influence, like the coin flip for example. Canon Harry would not have done that, but my Harry is slightly changing from his new influences.