Chapter Eleven: Immaturity and a New Headmistress
Christmas break was over, and all of the students were returning to Hogwarts. As Harry got off the Knight bus with Ron, Hermione and Ginny, he could see a car driving up to the Hogwarts gates. Xavier jumped out of his car, locked it, pocketed his keys, and then shrank the car with a flick of his wand, and he placed the car with his keys in his jeans pocket.
"Hey everybody, how was the trip here? It sucked driving through the snow…" Xavier was yelling over the wind to the group departing the bus.
"It was… bloody horrible. The bloody bus kept pitching me onto the floor…" Ron yelled as he rubbed a red lump that was growing on the back of his head. As the five friends proceeded to the gate, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder hold him back. Startled, he turned to face Hermione, who waited for the others to get out of earshot, and then asked,
"So, Harry… How long have you fancied her?"
"Since the end of third year… You knew that. Why are you asking me this?" Harry answered quickly and defensively to her question.
"Not Cho, Harry. How long have you liked Ginny?" Hermione asked him with a hint of a smile on her face. Harry couldn't believe that Hermione knew. Harry had been hiding it very carefully. He assumed that everyone assumed that he still liked Cho.
"Damn, Hermione. How did you know? You're all good with feelings and stuff… but still damn…" Harry's face was starting to redden.
"The way you've looked at her for the last couple of months, Harry. I could just tell. I think I may have known before you even knew yourself. So when did you?" Hermione persisted with her original question.
"I know this may sound funny, but… I knew right as I was kissing Cho. It just didn't feel right. And then I thought about it for a while the next couple of days and realized that I in fact fancied Ginny, and not Cho." (Harry declined to mention that a lucky Galleon had helped him out a little bit in his decision making)
"Have you told Ron about how you feel yet?" Hermione asked
"Ahh… crap. I completely forgot about that. I was more focused on how to tell Ginny. But that is another problem. He'll probably react like how I reacted when Xavier told me he had dated Cho." Harry was starting to get worried.
"I'm sure that Ron won't actually take a swing at you, Harry…" Hermione said to Harry in an attempt to reassure him, but she thought to herself, "But what if Ron does hit Harry? I guess Xavier could step in… I just hope no one gets hurt… But on a brighter note, Ginny fancies Harry, and Harry fancies Ginny, so as long as one of them has the courage to tell the other one…"
Meanwhile, Harry was thinking back to that moment when he broke Xavier's nose. He realized that he had forgiven him because he saw a little bit of himself in Xavier's predicament. Both because of the Ron and Ginny situation, but also because if Harry didn't forgive Xavier, he'd pretty much be alone in England, and Harry didn't want him to go through a similar experience as Harry's childhood before Hogwarts, where he really had no friends. Both Harry and Hermione's flying thoughts were interrupted quickly when a shout hit their ears.
"What are you guys doing walking in back of us?" Xavier yelled to Harry and Hermione. They quickly ran to catch up to their friends, and soon they reached the warm castle…
"So this Occul-thingy that you have to learn… You have to take extra lessons with Snape? Damn, that really sucks. I feel for you man. I'd rather kiss Snape than take lessons with him…" Xavier added some sarcasm to his pity for his friend. Harry and Ron were filling Xavier in on the rest of their break. Ron had slipped in his dominance of Harry in chess, and Harry had punched him in the arm in response.
"Very funny, Xavier… I'm hoping these lessons won't be that bad… Snape's kind of greasy for my taste…" Harry muttered so Professor Trelawney did not hear him. The three boys were not paying attention in Divination as usual, but no one noticed.
"Hey Harry, two Galleons that I can bounce this crumpled piece of parchment off Neville's head." Xavier showed Harry the ball of parchment, and Harry was getting really bored, so he accepted the bet.
"Alright, you ready to pay me?" Xavier asked as he lined up his shot, and he threw the ball. It flew past Trelawney, but landed on Dean's head instead of Neville's, who was sitting to the right of Dean. Dean looked around, and threw the parchment back at Xavier, but missed and hit Ron. Soon after, Ron threw a parchment and hit Neville, instead of Dean.
"Now look what you did. You started a paper fight. And you owe me two Galleons… Bloody hell, Neville." Harry yelled as a paper ball thrown by Neville hit him in the face. Soon the Gryffindor boys were engaged in a full-scale paper war, but Trelawney was not pleased, and she screamed:
"ALL OF YOU, GET OUT OF MY CLASS, AND SEE YOUR HEAD OF HOUSE!"
"Wow…" Ron whispered to Harry, "Never seen her snap like that before…" The group of boys descended down the ladder, laughing at what had just happened. Xavier flipped two Galleons to Harry as they walked down the hall to Professor McGonagall's office.
"Xavier, you're knocking on her door since you started it…" Harry and Ron shoved their friend up to the door of Minerva McGonagall's office, and Xavier tapped the door twice.
"Mr. Dalton, why are you here… Ah I see you're joined by a few of your friends. Misters Potter, Weasley, Thomas, Finnigan and Longbottom." Professor McGonagall had opened her door, and Harry could see that her desk was covered in papers, but everything else in her office was neat.
"Lets see here…" the Gryffindor head of house waved her wand, and began to read the piece of paper that had appeared. "You boys are supposed to be in Divination. So why are you here?" McGonagall said harshly.
"Well, you see… Professor, I was attempting to dispose of my Divination notes, since I was taking notes and miswrote something. And I didn't want to get up and disrupt the class, or start using spells, which would also have disrupted the other students…"
"And this has to do with six Gryffindor boys being out of their scheduled class how, Mr. Dalton?" McGonagall was staring daggers at Xavier, and he began to get flustered.
"Well, I propelled my piece of paper towards a trash receptacle. And my throw was well… off target shall we say. It landed on the head of Mr. Thomas, who returned a projectile, which hit Mr. Weasley. So I was just trying to dispose of my trash. We all were. We just have bad aim that's all." Xavier finished and looked rather pleased with himself.
"That may be the worst excuse for acting out in class I have ever heard, Mr. Dalton. You are very lucky I have more important things to deal with right now. All of you back to your Common Room now, and stay there until the next class starts." Minerva McGonagall closed her door, and was shocked at how much Xavier Dalton was starting to remind her of another student she had taught and punished with many detentions. She smiled, and thought of how much Xavier was like Sirius Black. She wondered if anyone else in the school or the Order had noticed the similarities.
"Nice one, Xavier. That was bloody hilarious, watching you try to get us of trouble." Ron was mocking him.
"Well, at least it worked didn't it? And we've got half an hour free now. So you should be thanking me for my quick thinking, not making a joke out of it."
"Ok, whatever. You still sounded stupid though." Xavier muttered the password to the Fat Lady, who opened the portrait hole to Gryffindor Tower, and the six boys stepped into the tower.
"Mr. Potter, welcome to Occulmency lessons…" Professor Snape scowled at his student…
The next three hours turned out to be a blur for Harry the next day. All he could remember were the basics of the lesson, and the fact that Snape kept picking into his mind, and mocking his memories, both good and bad. Harry woke up the next morning with a killer headache, and then he puked into a bucket that was conveniently on the floor.
"Hermione told me you might feel like this after that. She said it should get better though." Ron was looking at his best friend with concern as Harry rummaged around his night table for his glasses.
"And what do you have planned for this beautiful Saturday morning?" Ron asked Harry
"I have some things to take care of. And I have to plan for the D.A meeting tonight. We are going to be doing Patronuses, so it'll be a fun meeting." Harry quickly got dressed and walked out of the dormitory.
Harry was skimming through a book that detailed the wand movements and theories behind casting a proper Patronus charm. He was skimming through it quickly to see if there was anything that Professor Lupin had failed to teach him in the third year that the D.A might need to know. As he read, he heard a familiar voice, one he was very happy to hear.
"Harry, do you mind if I sit here with you?" Ginny asked him.
"Of course, Ginny. Sit down. I'm just finishing preparing for the D.A meeting tonight. It's going to be one of the more fun meetings of the year so far.
"Here, Harry." Ginny handed him a package. "It's an Easter egg from Mum. They just got through Umbridge's mail screening."
"Thanks a lot, Gin." Harry looked into her brown eyes and smiled. He was happy that he could spend time with her, because he hadn't had a chance to in quite some time. She smiled right back and said:
"Harry, what are you so happy about?" She looked somewhat tense as she said this.
"Oh its nothing really…" He looked at her, and decided that he was going to tell her now, while they were alone and he had a chance to.
"Ginny… there's something that I have to tell you. I… I…" Harry was having trouble getting the words out, and Ginny was thrilled. She thought that she was finally going to hear the words she had been dreaming about since she was ten. When Harry James Potter finally admitted that he liked her, Ginny Weasley.
"I think that we are going to have to get out of here…" Ginny's heart was broken for half a second, until she turned around and realized why Harry had said this
"CHOCOLATE IN THE LIBRARY! OUT BOTH OF YOU! NOW!" Madam Pince, the Hogwarts librarian was yelling at them, and soon Harry and Ginny were running out of the library, as their books chased them and began to beat them over the head. Ginny and Harry spent the rest of the afternoon together, but Harry never found the right moment to tell Ginny his feelings for her. He wanted it to be special for some reason.
When Harry and Ginny walked back into the common room before dinner, Hermione shot Harry a quick look. Harry shook his head no, and Hermione smiled sadly. No one else in the room caught this exchange. Ron and Xavier were too busy playing chess to even notice the fact that Harry and Ginny had walked into the room together, after both being out the entire day. Harry was silently thankful for this and sat down next to Xavier, and whispered something in his ear.
"I think I know a way you can win this game…" Xavier laughed. There was no way he would beat Ron at chess. It just was not doable. But then Xavier noticed Harry sit down on a chair with Ginny, and soon Ron was quite distracted. He was trying to figure out what Harry and Ginny were doing and saying, and soon his chess play suffered. He was watching as Ginny laughed at Harry's jokes, and Harry had a goofy smile on his face the entire time. Xavier was catching up, taking one of Ron's rooks and his queen. But then Ron realized the whisper between Harry and Xavier had been to plan Ron's downfall, and the Gryffindor chess champion picked his game back up, and barely beat his friend. As Ron walked away, he stopped next to Harry, and said,
"Nice try. But it will take more than that for someone else here to beat me at chess. You of all people should know that." Ron frowned and went back to the dorms.
"It wasn't just a plan to have you loose at chess, Ron…" Harry whispered to himself, so that no one else could hear him.
But all animosity was forgotten as Harry and Ron walked down to dinner. Ron had thought the "chemistry" between his sister and his best friend had been a trick to make him lose a chess game. When Harry didn't deny this, Ron laughed and they soon got to talking about the D.A meeting that was going to happen that night.
"What's the meeting going to be on, Harry?" Ron asked him right before they entered the Great Hall.
"You'll just have to wait and see like everyone else. But I do promise it will be fun." Harry responded quickly, and Ron frowned. But all disappointment on Ron's part was quickly forgotten when he sat down and began shoveling food down his throat.
"Great job, Hermione." Harry yelled over the crowd. She was watching her otter Patronus float through the Room of Requirement. When Harry had began the lesson thirty minutes prior, everyone was excited at the prospect of making their own Patronuses. But after half the lesson, only Hermione had done it so far. The group was starting to get frustrated.
"Harry, I got one!" Cho Chang squealed in delight. Harry noticed a swan had joined Hermione's otter in floating over the students.
Just then, Harry felt a tugging at his pants. Looking down, he noticed someone that he didn't expect to see. It was Dobby.
"Master Harry, she's coming!" Harry immediately knew the danger. Someone had busted them. Umbridge knew about the D.A and was coming to capture them.
"Everybody RUN!" Harry shouted.
Xavier's POV
I heard Harry shout to run, and I ran over to him, and asked him what was up. He said that Umbridge was coming to bust the D.A. So I took off out the door. Being the first one out, I noticed the coast was clear for now, and motioned for everyone to follow. I knew that there was a secret passage behind a portrait down the hall. So I sprinted over to it, and jumped in. I ran through the passage, and exited near the library. I knew that I was in the clear now, since it wasn't even curfew yet, so I calmly strolled back to the common room. I was hoping that I was the last one back, and that all of us got out safe, but I wasn't going to get my wish. I could just feel it…
Ginny's POV
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Someone had betrayed us to that toad. I heard Harry tell Xavier, so I ran down the hall. There was a girl's bathroom nearby. But then I realized that Umbridge would probably look there. So I turned around and ran down the corridor left, because I heard voices coming from the right. Reaching a staircase, I ran upwards, and getting my bearings, I realized that I was by the Owlery. I walked into the massive room, and laid low there for about fifteen minutes, before I made my way back to the Gryffindor common room. I just hope Harry gets out safely. He stayed back, and I think he was the last to leave…
Ron's POV
Bloody hell. I followed a crowd out the door. People were going in every different direction. I knew that there was a fake wall that was actually an alcove that I could hide in while the trouble passed. I dove in just as I heard Umbridge yell "Don't let any of them get away!" I just hoped no one helping her knew about my hiding spot. I think me, Harry, Fred and George are the only ones who know…
No one found me. After I heard the voices die down and go away, I sprinted as fast I could back to the common room. I needed to know if everyone had escaped.
Hermione's POV
I saw Xavier run out first, followed by Ginny and Ron. Harry was trying to get everyone out. I was one of the last to leave. Looking once more at Harry, I went to the girls bathroom nearby. I could hide there. Right as I closed the door, I heard Umbridge tell Millicent Bulstrode to check the bathroom that I was in. Thinking quickly, I stood on the toilet and locked the stall door, so it looked like no one was there from the outside of the stall. She walked in, paced through a couple of times, and walked out. I was safe. Once I could not hear Professor Umbridge screaming orders anymore, I poked my head out the door, saw the coast was clear, and went back to the common room.
Xavier was the first one back to the common room. He ran up to the boys dorm first, hoping that Ron and Harry were there. Frustrated that they weren't, he ran down by the fireplace, and saw a familiar red-headed girl enter through the portrait hole.
"Ginny, have you seen any of the others? I haven't" Xavier yelled down the stairs and slid down the banister towards her.
"No I haven't, I thought I was the first one back until I heard you yell… How did you escape?" She asked him quickly, out of breath from running back from the Owlery.
"Secret passage Harry showed me. You?"
"Harry… he took the fall for us, didn't he?" Ginny asked, tears coming to her eyes. What would Harry do if he was expelled…
"I'm sure he's fine…" Xavier was trying to comfort her, and then Ron ran in.
"Xavier, Ginny! Are Hermione and Harry back yet?" Seeing his sister's tears, Ron knew. When Xavier shook his head sadly, Ron sat down on one of the couches by the fire.
"Well we should wait for them, shouldn't we?" Ron asked, and the others nodded. After about five minutes, Hermione walked into the room, and noticed Harry wasn't there.
"He was the last to leave wasn't he?" Ron asked her
"Of course he was. That's just who Harry is. I just hope he didn't get caught…"
"Should I go back out and look for him?" Xavier asked the group. He and Ron started to get up.
"NO. You two will not be doing such a thing. It's past curfew. And he wouldn't want you risking it." Hermione responded.
"The Map!" Ron gasped. He had a thought. They could check where Harry was. They just hoped Harry didn't have the Marauder's map on him. Ron sprinted up to the boys dorm with Xavier, and they returned shortly after, Ron triumphantly holding the blank parchment.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good…" Xavier whispered, and soon the map was filling itself in. "Shit, oh shit that's not good. He got nailed…"
Ginny, Hermione and Ron looked closely at where Xavier was pointing. In Dumbledore's office, they could see dots for Umbridge, Harry, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, Percy Weasley, Marietta Edgecombe, and Aurors Kingsley Shacklebolt and Dawlish.
No one spoke as they watched the map. After about fifteen minutes, Dumbledore's name disappeared. Everyone filed out of the office, and they saw Harry's dot rapidly moving towards them.
"It's all my fault!" Harry shouted "Dumbledore took the fall. Because the sheet said Dumbledore's Army!" Harry ran in, and Ginny grabbed him and hugged him tight. She was just glad he was okay. Not realizing her brother was watching her, Ginny held Harry close for almost a full minute, and he hugged her back.
Harry felt a little better, but realizing Ron was there, let her go, and he sat down on the nearest chair.
"What happened, Harry?" Hermione asked him. Harry then recounted the whole course of events in Dumbledore's office. Fudge interrogating him, Kingsley saving them by wiping Marietta's memory, and Dumbledore's fight and flight. When he finished, Hermione whispered sadly.
"This is bad. Really bad. Umbridge is going to be the new Headmistress. And who knows what kind of government backing she'll have now…"
AN: I know this is a really large gap between updates. But I forgot about this story and just found it the other day. But I am going to finish the story so stay tuned.