Harry Potter Year 4: Voldermort Returns
Chapter 11
When Harry awoke next morning it was nearly seven-thirty in the morning… much later than he was used to. He knew from the moment he woke up that boxing day was going to be a lot more relaxing than Christmas day and happily pulled himself into a comfortable sitting position on his bed. He then began to read the new charms book he had received from Severus. He kept reading until eight when he decided he should go out for the morning jog he had been skipping rather a lot.
It was, amazingly, dry outside. The air was cool on Harry's face as he jogged slowly around the grounds, picking his pace up at the very end. As he re-entered the castle and headed to the shower-room, he found his mind wandering back to his childhood Christmases. They had always been rather boring, much like any other day of the year – except perhaps a little more cooking as his aunt and uncle often held parties. He'd always enjoyed the brilliantly white snow that fell around that time of the year, though. Shame they didn't seem to get snow as much anymore.
After his shower Harry headed to the Great Hall for breakfast, not really expecting many people to be up so early on boxing day morning. He knew people tended to stay up late and enjoy Christmas – made even worse, of course, by the fact that there had been a special Ball the previous night. Therefore he was rather surprised to find Ginny sitting at – well, more like sprawled over – Gryffindor table.
"You're up early," Harry commented, spreading jam onto a piece of toast. Ginny, who was only half-awake, jumped at his voice.
"Couldn't sleep," she said, hiding a yawn.
"Oh?"
"Fought with Ron," she grinned. "He's still being a jealous arse."
"Of me?" She nodded. "Prat," Harry scowled. "What the hell is there to be jealous of?"
"I know," Ginny patted his arm sympathetically. "That's why we fought. You left the Ball early so I guess you missed it but I turned his hair pink in front of everyone and he didn't know how to counter it," she was struggling to hide a grin.
"You shouldn't sink down to his level," Harry shook his head at her with a small frown. "That'll… it'll just make it all worse."
"You didn't grow up with six older brothers, Harry," Ginny smiled slightly. "Fighting is what all siblings do– with the exception of Gred and Forge, of course, who never fight each other. Though they do prank the rest of us often enough to make up for it." Harry had to laugh at that, and very quickly found himself choking on his toast. "Careful, Harry," Ginny grinned, thumping him – rather hard, for a girl – on the back.
After breakfast Harry headed outside for a small walk where he found Viktor and Cedric standing by the lake. He was about to turn around and leave them in peace when Cedric noticed him and called him over.
"Hullo," Harry greeted them.
"Good night, wasn't it?" Cedric asked with a grin.
"It was alright, I guess," Harry shrugged. "I've always found the idea of Balls to be rather boring though. I'm not much of a dancer," he grinned.
"You made up vith your two friends though, did you not?" Viktor asked with a small smile. Secrets don't stay secrets for long at Hogwarts, Harry thought with a mental snort.
"Yeah," Harry nodded. Cedric's grin turned even wider as he gave Harry a friendly slap on the back.
"Good for you, Harry! Now you don't have to be lonely when the rest of us are busy."
"Lonely?" Harry scoffed with a playful smile. "I never was."
"Of course not," Cedric said, pulling a serious face while Viktor laughed at the playful banter between the two.
Cedric left half an hour later having promised to spend the day with Cho.
"He vorries about you a lot," Viktor remarked as soon as Cedric had entered the castle. Harry turned around to look at the older Bulgarian curiously. "I'm not sure he vould admit it to you," Viktor told Harry with a smile. "He always tells it to Fleur, Cho and myself. Especially when you fell out with your Gryffindor friends – he thought you would be lonely all the time."
"He is a Hufflepuff, I suppose," Harry smiled slightly. "Loyal and caring and all that – he's the perfect example. In the short time that I've known him he's proved just how much he cares for all his friends – he'd do anything for them."
"Yes, he vould," Viktor nodded.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Harry decided to sleep in Gryffindor Tower that night, so at eight o'clock he found himself sitting in the Common Room with Hermione and Ginny, reading the Charms book Snape had given him. A few chairs away he could see Ron sitting with Neville, Dean and Seamus, the redhead occasionally looking up at him with a thoughtful expression which irritated Harry to no end. Just spit it out, Ron.
"You're staring," Ginny's voice cut through Harry's thoughts.
"Huh?" Harry asked, startled.
"At Ron," Ginny grinned. "You were staring at him. Is there something we should know about?"
"No," Harry frowned at her and turned his attention back to his book.
"How large is that book?" Hermione asked him softly. "You've been reading for awhile now."
"Five thousand pages," Harry sighed. "Sev told me that something in here could help me with the Task, though."
"Do you want me to read for awhile?" Hermione enquired. "I've nearly finished all my homework."
"Sure, alright," Harry handed the book over to the bushy haired witch. "I've got some homework I need to finish, too. This book's become my obsession."
"We've noticed," Ginny grinned.
"You know," said Hermione thoughtfully. "I came across a book once on self-transfiguration. It's NEWT level, but you've been doing advanced spell-work for awhile now – you could manage it."
"Doubt it," Harry shook his head. "The advanced spells I've been doing – well, they took me forever to get right. If I try and transfigure myself, what happens if I get it wrong? Transfiguration on yourself is ridiculously hard… that's why it was decided NEWT level in the first place."
"Hmm, I suppose you're right," Hermione nodded before she pulled the Charm book closer to herself and started reading it.
At eleven Harry headed to bed, saying he was tired. It wasn't a lie, really – he was tired. It was just that he could have stayed up longer. Being back in the Tower was a little strange, though, as he had gotten himself so used to the Marauder Quarters. When Ron came in half an hour later Harry ignored him, feigning sleep.
The heavy rain outside woke Harry up very early next morning. Stifling a groan, Harry pulled himself out of bed and dressed in baggy old clothes – some of the leftovers from Dudley's clothing – before heading outside. He was in a strange mood today and the rain didn't bother him as he started a slow jog from the doors up to Hagrids hut. By the time he'd reached the hut, Harry was soaked to the bone and shivering. Frowning slightly as he looked around the grounds, Harry set off on his jog again, trying to ignore the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach that was telling him something was wrong.
Should have listened to my stomach, Harry thought angrily as he pulled himself out of the lake. One minute he had been jogging by it, the next a small orange light had pushed him into it, soaking him worse than even the rain had. He had his wand out as he clambered out the chilly water, staring between the trees. I know you're there. His heart was pounding, his body numb. Uh-huh. Remind me never to go in the lake during winter. Concentrated as he was, he was able to notice a small swish of a cloak between the trees. Taking a wild guess at which direction the person was moving in, Harry shot a Stunner into the trees where a yelp told him he had just barely missed his target. Frowning at the unfamiliar voice, Harry brought up a small shield around him and inched closer, wishing he had the Marauders Map on him. It never even crossed his mind that moving closer might be a pretty stupid idea, so he was incredibly grateful when his shield blocked a spell that looked suspiciously like a body-bind.
"Pettigrew!" Harry spat in disgust, having caught a glance of the man's face as he moved behind another tree. "You bloody coward!"
"You don't know anything!" Peter shot back, anger and fear both mixed in his nervous voice.
"I know Voldermort's pretty pissed off with you," Harry said tonelessly, trying to find a way to aim for the rat Animagus. Whilst he was trying to do this, a bright purple spell came flying toward him from a different direction. His accomplice, Harry thought with a scowl as he dodged out of the oncoming spells way. Knowing there was no way he could take on two fully-grown adults, Harry started backing away, knowing he needed to find someone – anyone – hell, even Malfoy would be good right now.
"Oh no you don't!" an unfamiliar voice barked. "Crucio!"
After his lessons with the impostor Moody, Harry knew that nothing could block an unforgivable. Therefore, when he failed to dodge the curse, he knew his flimsy shield wouldn't be any help. He also knew from said lessons that the Cruciatus curse forced the victim to feel intense pain – much worse than most people ever had to face in a lifetime. Somehow, though, he hadn't expected it to be this bad. Even his visions, courtesy of Voldemort, weren't this bad. They were a numbed down version. As it was, Harry was silently screaming – one of the two Death Eaters had cast a Silencing Charm on him, undoubtedly to keep anyone from finding them – as what felt like thousands of tiny, poker-hot knives stabbed into him all over his body. He eventually managed to clamp his mouth shut, biting hard on his lower lip to prevent himself from giving Peter's accomplice exactly what he wanted. I won't scream, Harry thought desperately, even as tears started trickling down his face, mingling with the blood that was dripping from his lip.
The curse couldn't have been held for longer than thirty seconds, though it felt more like thirty minutes to Harry. As soon as it was lifted Harry lay in a panting heap on the ground, clutching his wand with a death grip. Despite the after-shock of pain still running through his body, of his numb mind and the nausea he was feeling, Harry forced himself to stand up. This is definitely my worst year at Hogwarts. Harry took a deep breath before casting spells in quick succession; disarming spells, stunning spells, body-binds, anything that came to mind. He didn't stop until he was purple in the face and was pleased to note he had stunned the 'accomplice', a middle-aged man with cropped, dark brown hair and had disarmed and caught Pettigrew with a body-bind.
"How does it feel to be the victim Peter?" Harry asked coldly before stunning the frozen man.
Having stunned both men – two grown Death Eaters, actually, a fact that made Harry feel a little proud – Harry was left pondering what to do. Obviously he had to find Sirius or Remus, but he didn't quite trust the two Death Eaters to stay stunned. He had a feeling that if he left them, they'd somehow find a way to escape. In the end, he decided to float both men up to the castle with him, hoping desperately that he didn't faint on the way there. With a silent Mobilicorpus, Harry set off towards the castle with the two men floating along behind him.
The trip to and through the castle was painfully slow, made worse by the lack of students roaming the halls. The ghosts and Peeves weren't even around, leaving Harry feeling spookily alone. Probably because I've just been in a fight, Harry told himself. The castle itself isn't spooky. I've roamed it plenty of times when the corridors are empty. Nevertheless, Harry kept a tight grip on his wand, ready to cast a spell at the first sign of trouble – from the floating men (though he had their wands stashed safely in his pocket) or otherwise.
Harry made it, somehow, to the Hospital Wing without incident and immediately collapsed tiredly onto a bed. Madam Pomfrey, who had been using her wand to fix up the ward, bustled over to him with a shocked expression.
"What are you doing up so early, Mr Potter? And why, pray tell, do you have two unconscious Death Eaters withyou?"
"I went to bed early," Harry said irritably. "And when I went out for my normal morning jog I got attacked by those two," Harry pointed to the unconscious men.
"Lie still," Madam Pomfrey ordered, and Harry obeyed happily. It hurt rather a lot to move, after all. The Hogwarts matron didn't say anything as she waved her wand over Harry, but by the tightening of her lips it was obvious she wasn't pleased.
"Drink this," Madam Pomfrey told Harry, handing him a vial of purple potion summoned directly from her office. From the look on her face, Harry knew it would be wise to do as he was told, and obediently drank the potion. Barely ten seconds later, Harry found his vision going dark as he slipped into a comfortable sleep.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
He was flying Buckbeak, soaring around the grounds of Hogwarts. It was snowing and he had no jacket on, but he wasn't cold at all. Buckbeak's body heat was enough to keep him warm. Harry grinned and waved every time he passed a window and saw his friends. It was strange that they were inside when they could be out flying like him, but he didn't think about it too much.
The snow changed to large, hard hailstones that pelted his face and left small scratches while Buckbeak transformed into a large snake. Now Harry was falling through the air, clutching onto the snake for dear life. He was okay, though. They landed in the water, where the snake started swimming through it, Harry sitting on it like a boat. The snake didn't seem to like him too much, though, and soon went underwater, trying to drown him. Harry tried to cast a charm to help him breathe, but it wasn't working. He couldn't breathe… he was suffocating… his chest hurt… everything was turning black…
He opened his eyes to find himself in a poorly lit, dusty wooden-floored room. I've been here before. A large bookcase and several cabinets were illuminated by the small balls of fires floating around the room. He was gazing at the fire, his ever-faithful Nagini curled up in front of it, relishing in the warmth. A sudden knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
"In," Harry said coolly, a small smile appearing on his lips as a nervous Bella entered the room.
"Master," Bellatrix Lestrange dropped to her knees, bowing to him.
"I hope you have a good reason to disturb me, Bella," Harry said, his voice only marginally warmer than usual. Bella was a good girl, she didn't anger him too often.
"Indeed," Bella nodded, standing up again. Her nervousness disappeared as her confidence grew that her master would like the news that she held. "Pettigrew and Davies were caught," she told him. "They both attacked the Potter boy – he is in the Hospital Wing right now. The Ministry have collected them both and have them in holding cells at the Auror Department."
"Who were they caught by?"
"Well," Bella looked slightly nervous again, though she hid it well. "After Davies cast the Cruciatus on him, it seemed he went wild. He cast a lot of spells at one and managed to stun them both."
"Two of my followers were defeated by a mere boy?" Harry asked, cold fury evident in his voice. "They can stay where they are," he spat. "I will collect them eventually, but only after I have devised a suitable punishment."
"Of course," Bella nodded.
"I know how you like watching people suffer, Bella. I think I shall allow you to help this time."
"Thank you, my Lord," Bella bowed before exiting the room, leaving an angry Harry with only his dark thoughts for company.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Harry woke with a small gasp, sitting up and rubbing at his scar. The lack of Cruciatus spells meant it didn't hurt as much as useful, but it seemed simply viewing Voldemorts memories was enough to cause him an uncomfortable amount of pain. When the pain finally subsided, Harry became aware of two things. One, he was in the Hospital Wing again. Two, Sirius and Remus were sitting on either side of him with extremely worried faces. After a second everything came back to him; waking up early, going for a jog, being attacked…
"How long have I been unconscious?" Harry blurted out, startling even himself.
"Nearly two days," Sirius said in a low voice. "We were starting to get pretty worried."
"The Ministry have Pettigrew and his friend," Remus added.
"I know," Harry said, gazing at his bed sheets. Sirius and Remus glanced at each other, but didn't say anything about it. Finally, Harry took a deep breath and looked up at them. "I guess you want to know what happened, then."
"Only if you're up to it," Sirius said quickly. "If you'd rather wait - "
"Nah," Harry shook his head. "Okay – so I woke up early, not that unusual, and I decided to go out for a jog - "
"In the rain?" Remus pulled a face.
"In the rain," Harry smiled slightly. I thought he didn't mind rain. "I… it felt like something was wrong… I knew something was wrong, but I ignored it," Harry let out a miserable sigh. "I ignored everything you've taught me about listening to my instincts - "
"It's not your fault, cub," Remus patted his arm reassuringly.
"Hogwarts is supposed to be safe," Sirius agreed. "Of course you'd find it hard to believe something was wrong."
"After everything I've been through?" Harry scoffed. He let out another sigh before continuing, "well, I was near the lake when a spell hit me and pushed me in," he shuddered, remembering all too vividly how cold the water had been. He pulled the blanket tighter around him subconsciously. "After that… I threw a few spells, and when I realised who it was – and that I was outnumbered – I tried to get away…" Harry trailed off, not looking at either of his guardians.
"And one of them hit you with the Cruciatus Curse," Remus continued softly. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, cub. Stronger people than you have been unable to avoid it."
"Doesn't matter," Harry said tonelessly, shrugging off Remus' hand. "After that I just went mental with the spells, and somehow got them both. I didn't even pay attention to what I cast or where I aimed it… then I brought us all to the Hospital Wing, and that's about it."
"You should have seen Snape," Sirius smiled slightly, and Harry looked at him strangely. Did Sirius just say Snape's name without a sarcastic remark? Sirius rolled his eyes, almost as though he knew what Harry was thinking. "I may not like him, but… he was pretty pissed off. He – er – hexed Davies quite a bit before the Ministry came."
"Sounds about right," Harry nodded, a tiny smile appearing on his face. He sobered pretty quickly, though. "Look, I'm sorry for worrying you…"
"You don't need to apologise," Remus frowned.
"It's not your fault you got hurt," Sirius agreed, mimicking Remus' frown. Harry just shrugged. As if a light switch had been flicked in the Marauders' heads, their eyes flashed with understanding as each one glanced at each other. Dursleys. It was the Dursleys fault Harry always felt he had to take the blame for everything; their fault he felt bad for getting hurt.
A little more than an hour later, straight after the end of classes, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Ron all appeared at the Hospital Wing.
"We've been so worried!" Hermione rushed over to hug him, and though he accepted it, most of Harry's attention was on Ron.
"Still jealous of me?" Harry asked the redhead coolly. Ron visibly flinched and the tip of his ears darkened with shame.
"I – I'm sorry," Ron told him sincerely. "Hermione and Ginny have explained a lot, believe me. I just saw all the attention you got…"
"And forgot about the real me; the Harry who grew up with an abusive family and has bloody-thirsty maniacs running after him," Harry's voice was cold and he knew it. "What kind of an idiot can be jealous of something like that?"
"I got caught up in the moment," Ron said miserably. "I didn't think anything through… I became as bad as all those fans you hate."
"Yes, you did," Harry said, his tone warming back up to 'cool'. He frowned as he watched Ron, the way he moved. He really is sorry. "Just… don't do it again, alright?" Harry asked reluctantly. A faint look of happiness and relief lit up Rons face as the redhead nodded. "Next time I won't forgive you so easy. I need to know my friends are going to stick by me, not drift away because of petty things."
"I won't," Ron promised. "I know I was a prat. Ginny helped me see that." Harry laughed, which instantly lifted some of the tension.
Cedric and Cho arrived just as Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Luna were leaving.
"Hey, Harry," Cho said softly, hugging him. Harry just barely held back a roll of the eyes; do girls always have to hug?
"Hey, guys," Harry greeted them with a grin.
"You had us pretty worried, there," Cedric told him, thumping him lightly on the shoulder.
"You and everyone else," Harry sighed. "I'm - "
"Don't even try and apologise," Cho warned him sternly. He smiled weakly at her. "Have you made up with Ron?"
"Sort of, yeah," Harry nodded. "I mean, we're not ignoring each other any more. It's a start," he shrugged.
"It's good to see you getting your friends back," Cedric smiled at him.
"It feels good," Harry smiled back.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
When Harry was released on Thursday, he instantly made his way down to the Dungeons. Something that Luna had said during her visit about Snape was sticking in his head. "He was awfully worried, you know," Luna had told him, her usual dreamy face gone. "I don't think he likes visiting when your guardians are around. Or your friends, for that matter," her dreamy face came back as she adopted her 'thinking' look. "Maybe he's scared of us," she concluded at last.
Well, she was half-right. He didn't like visiting when his friends or guardians were around, and he felt guilty for forgetting that. He and Snape had drifted apart a lot this year, with their only meeting being during Potions lessons or training sessions. You prat, Harry scolded himself. Snape didn't want too many people to know exactly how close they were as, if Voldemort – well, when Voldemort – came back, Snape would have to be a spy again. If Voldemort knew how close they were, he would almost certainly get Snape to kidnap Harry.
Harry looked up with a start when he realised he was in front of Snape's door. Taking a deep breath and shaking his head, he knocked, waiting for Snape's 'come in' before he entered.
"Hello," Harry smiled slightly, sitting down in one of the chairs near the fire.
"Madam Pomfrey has released you at last, I see," Snape said, setting the essay he was marking down onto the desk.
"Yeah. I'm not looking forward to the next few days, though. Sirius and Remus are going to be overwhelming."
"As they should be," Snape told him, an odd look in his eyes. When Harry glanced up at him, the Potions Master elaborated. "Tell me, Harry. How much do you know about the Dark Lord's followers?"
"Not that much," Harry replied honestly. "I know they like to torture people, but books on that subject don't exactly go into deep detail."
"No, I don't imagine they do," Severus nodded. "It is true that most like torture, yes. It gives them a high, much like muggle drugs do." Like my self-harm did, Harry thought sullenly. If Snape noticed the odd look that crossed Harry's face, he didn't say anything. "They tend to pick a target and stick with it until they are satisfied. That is to say, if Pettigrew and Davies have picked you as a target, they will keep coming after you."
"They're at the Ministry, though."
"They won't be for long," Severus shook his head. "The Dark Lord will get them back, and in any case they will not be the only ones after you. You have a lot of enemies, Harry, and I would not be surprised if more of the Dark Lord's followers decide they want revenge."
"That's just great, then," Harry said bitterly. "As if this Tournament and Malfoy's little gang isn't enough, I have to look over my shoulder for Death Eaters, too?" Harry spat out 'Death Eaters' in a very uncharacteristic manner.
"Yes," Snape said regretfully, coming over to grip Harry's shoulder in a firm yet gentle grip. "I have spoken to your guardians about it, now that we've realized just how much danger you may be in." Harry looked up at Snape curiously. It was a very rare occurrence that Sirius and Severus could talk to each other. "You needn't look so surprised," Snape said, a sarcastic smile appearing on his lips. "We can talk… about serious matters. We have decided, with your agreement of course, that perhaps extra training would not be a bad idea."
"I… yeah," Harry nodded, touched that Sirius and Severus had pushed aside their hate for each other in order to help him. "Extra training sounds good."
"I'll still teach you on Sunday evenings, mainly on spell work," Snape told him. "Black will be working on 'muggle fighting' on Tuesday evenings and I believe Lupin was going to work on magical theory and strategising on Thursday evenings."
"Strategising?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow – a trait that he had, in fact, gained from Severus in his second year.
"You think it seems a little too much for a fourteen year old," Snape said, smiling slightly. It was disconcerting, sometimes, how easily Snape could read him – easier, even, than his friends, Sirius or Remus.
"It's the sort of thing adults worry about in wars," Harry shrugged. "Or – well, Ron for his chess games. Is it really necessary?"
"If you're outnumbered by Death Eaters with skills far higher than yours, strategy will be one of the few things you have left."
"I guess," Harry sighed. He looked up at Snape with an odd, empty look in his eyes. "Is this what my life is going to become? All strategy and training – worrying if the next person I run into will want to kill me?"
"It's hard to say," Snape told him regretfully. "If the Dark Lord is indeed reborn then it's true that dark times are ahead."
"I'm sorry," Harry said softly. "I keep focusing on my own problems, don't I? What… what'll happen if Voldemort finds out you're not on his side?"
"It's perfectly alright for you to focus on your problems, Harry," Severus told him, neatly side-stepping Harry's last question. "You have more on your plate than a lot of adults ever face in a lifetime."
"Still, I'm not the only one being affected," Harry said, standing abruptly. "You know, I think I fancy a walk – some fresh air."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Of course, before he went into the grounds, Harry summoned the Marauders Map to him. I'm not going to make the mistake of being caught unawares again, he promised himself. He kept the map firmly in one hand as he walked around the lake, grateful that no-one was around. Snape had given him a lot to think about.
He was fourteen. Still a child. Too young by far, in most peoples opinions, to be dealing with half the things he was. He was entered in a Tournament solely so he could get hurt, he had several annoying little Slytherins after him and he had a Dark Lord and his followers thirsty for his blood. It was almost like the Angel of Death was stalking him, waiting for him to slip up. There were so many ways right now that he could be injured or killed…
A sudden movement on the map near the dot labelled 'Harry Potter' caught his eye, and Harry looked down quickly. Then grinned.
After tucking the map into his pocket Harry headed towards the Quidditch Pitch where he found, once again, Cho trying to teach Fleur how to fly. Fleur instantly dropped the broom she was holding when she saw him and rushed over to hug him, ever the over-affectionate friend.
"We've been really worried about you," Cho smiled softly. "It's good to see you up and about again."
"It feels good," Harry grinned. He summoned Fleurs dropped broom to him and handed it back to the French girl. "You trying to learn how to fly again?"
"Yes," Fleur nodded with a bright smile. "I don't think I'm very good at it, though."
"Nonsense," Harry scolded her. "Anyone can fly, all it takes is practice. Accio Firebolt!"
When his Firebolt arrived, Harry helped Cho tutor Fleur. The main problem was her low confidence, really. After correcting her grip and stance on the broom, the only thing holding Fleur back was her fear of falling off if she got too high.
"Just try not to think about it," Harry told her patiently as he hovered on his broom beside her. "Just keep flying and try to forget how high you are. First time I flew I was pretty focused on getting a Remembrall back that Malfoy stole, so I didn't have a chance to think about how high I was – otherwise I would have been terrified."
At five the group headed up to the castle for dinner – Fleur was going to sit with Cho – rather reluctantly. Fleur was getting better, and the three had been having a lot of fun.
"Why don't we do that again tomorrow?" Cho asked as they reached the Great Hall.
"What time at?" Harry asked brightly.
"Noon would be good, would it not?" Fleur asked them softly.
"Noon it is," Harry grinned. Just before he entered the hall he turned back to the girls. "We should see if Cedric and Viktor want to join. I think they'd be a lot of help, too."
Ron and Neville had saved a seat between them which Harry took gratefully. Hermione and Ginny sat opposite the three boys, with Luna sitting at the Ravenclaw table.
"Did you have fun?" Ginny asked brightly.
"Yeah, I did," Harry said after swallowing a mouthful of potato. "Fleur's getting a lot better. She'd make a good chaser if she got over her fear."
"Sirius and Remus are looking for you," Hermione told him suddenly, as if she had only just remembered. "They mentioned talking about your training - "
"Snape mentioned that earlier," Harry nodded. "I'll go see them after this, I guess."
"What did the Professor say?" Hermione asked.
"I'm getting more training, thanks to what happened," Harry said flatly. "I'll still get it off him on Sundays, but Remus is gonna help me on Thursdays – guess we'll be starting tonight – and Sirius on Tuesdays."
"Good," Hermione smiled.
True to his word, as soon as Harry finished his dinner he went to the Marauder Quarters to see Sirius and Remus. Thanks to his time with Cho and Fleur, he wasn't as focused on 'dark thoughts' and was able to put a real smile on his face as he entered the room.
"Just the man we wanted to see," Sirius beamed as Harry plopped himself down in front of the fire.
"Snape already talked to me about the extra training," Harry said before either of his guardians could start on some lecture about it. "I'm all for it. If something like… that… happens again, I'll need more than 'sheer, dumb luck' on my side next time," he said, quoting McGonagall's words from his first year. Sirius and Remus looked a little put out with Harry already knowing, but got over it pretty quickly.
"Right-o, then," Sirius plastered a smile back on his face. "I've got a book I need to read, so I'll let you two get on with it."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
When Harry went to bed that night his head was buzzing. Remus certainly wasn't going lightly on him; he'd jumped right into it. Not that Harry minded; he'd rather Remus worked him hard… that was the only way to learn good and fast, after all. His dreams that night were all over the place; one minute he was staring at a rainbow in the middle of a thunderstorm and the next he was watching two hippopotamuses playing chess.
Harry was awoken rather rudely the next morning by a flash of pain in his scar that caused him to cry out slightly. Thankfully, he didn't wake anyone up, and the pain was gone within thirty seconds – though the feeling of dread wasn't. The pain in his scar had been accompanied by a flash of happiness, which Harry knew to belong to Voldemort. And anything that makes him happy is a very, very bad thing for the rest of us. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind as there wasn't much he could do without a vision to show him why Voldemort was happy, Harry pulled on his clothes and went to the Room of Requirements. A large garden appeared there for him to run in, as he wasn't quite ready to start going outside for his morning jogs yet – even if there wasn't anyone else that would attack him this early in the morning.
By the time he'd finished his run and had a shower, many more students were starting to awake – Ginny being one of them.
"Ready for breakfast?" the redhead asked him brightly, sitting her book down.
"You're rather cheerful," Harry commented as he led them out of the common room.
"Had a good dream," she grinned. Harry let out a snort.
"Are you playing Quidditch again today?" Ginny asked as the two ate breakfast.
"Yes," Harry said, coughing as he had swallowed his juice rather fast. Ginny grinned and thumped him on the back.
"You choke an awful lot, you really should be more careful," she teased.
"Shut it, you," Harry grinned to take the sting out of his words. "So why'd you want to know about Quidditch?"
"Could I join you?" Ginny asked, suddenly nervous. "I mean, it's okay if you'd rather - "
"Yeah, you can join us," Harry assured her. "The more the better, really. Besides, I've never seen you fly properly."
"Alright," Ginny smiled. "What time is it at?"
"Twelve," said Harry. "We're going to help Fleur for a bit then race each other. If you want to play with the Snitch, we usually do that on Saturday mornings so long as it's dry."
At noon the two Gryffindors headed out to the Quidditch Pitch where they found they were the last to arrive.
"Ginny wanted to join in," Harry told them all as he gave Ginny a reassuring smile.
"Okay," Cho smiled warmly at the redhead, as the two had talked before.
"Up you get then, Fleur," Cedric grinned. Fleur scowled at the Hufflepuff but nevertheless, she sat on the broom and took off, hovering ten feet off the ground.
"Let's work on getting you higher today," Cho suggested. "We'll all fly with you, that way if you do fall – though I very much doubt you will – we can catch you." Fleur nodded nervously, and the rest of them took that as their cue to lift off the ground.
"Next stop: the sky," Cho grinned.
They managed to get Fleur to fly up to the top of the stands and to do a steep dive before they let her have a break. Fleur sat, rather gratefully, in the stands whilst the rest of them took turns racing. Harry was rather surprised when Ginny bet Cho in a race and even more so when she tied with Cedric and Harry. Viktor, of course, easily out-flew all of them.
"You're pretty good," Harry praised Ginny when the two headed back to the castle.
"Why thank you, Harry," Ginny grinned. "You're not too shabby yourself." Harry rolled his eyes and laughed.
As soon as the two had reached the common room and sat down Ron came bounding over to them with a bright smile.
"Hogsmeade trip next weekend!" he told them happily.
"So soon?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "Makes sense, I guess. Some of the shops will be having January sales, won't they?"
"Christmas sales," Hermione explained to Ron. "Muggles call them January sales."
"Oh, right. Well, yeah – that'll be why. They've always done it. First week in January you get a Hogsmeade trip."
"Well I'm not complaining," Harry grinned. "Some time away from the school sounds good to me."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
And so next weekend Harry was up early, feeling thoroughly excited about the upcoming Hogsmeade trip. He'd be going with Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Luna again, which was bound to make it more fun – Viktor and Fleur were going with Cedric and Cho. The rain was heavy outside, so Harry felt it was safe to assume their usual game of Quidditch was cancelled. Letting out a disappointed sigh, Harry picked up his Charms book – he still hadn't finished it – and headed down to the common room, wanting to read a little before everyone else woke up.
He arrived to find Ginny sitting on an armchair, staring sightlessly into the fire he jumped, having forgotten she would have been joining in the Quidditch today.
"Morning," Harry said brightly, plopping his bum down on the arm of her chair. She jumped and had her hand halfway to her wand before she realized who he was.
"Don't startle me like that," Ginny scowled at him.
"Sorry," Harry apologised, not sounding sincere at all. Ginny's scowl deepened as he opened his book and began to read.
"When does breakfast start?" Ginny asked eventually.
"Officially? Seven."
"What do you mean 'officially'?"
"I mean that you can have breakfast any time you want," Harry said, not lifting his gaze from the book. "The house elves will make you food any time you want if you go down to the kitchens."
"You know where the kitchens are?"
"Yeah," Harry frowned and glanced up at her. "You don't?"
"No," Ginny shook her head. "Never had any need for them, really. I'm not an early riser, and Fred and George can usually get whatever food we need for parties and stuff."
"C'mon then," Harry grinned. "It's time you visited our favourite little elves."
The corridors were eerily silent, but this didn't bother Harry too much – not this time, anyhow. Ginny seemed a little uncomfortable with it, though.
"I could always set off a load of bangs," Harry offered with a grin. "Or call Peeves – he's the master noisemaker."
"I think I'll survive," Ginny commented dryly. "Are we nearly there yet, though?"
"Nearly," Harry nodded. Nearly three minutes later they arrived at the portrait of the fruit bowl. Harry tickled the pear and they entered.
Dobby and Kreacher instantly bustled over to them, soon followed by half a dozen other elves.
"What can we's get for Harry and Miss Weasley?"
"Toast is good for me, thanks," Harry grinned at Dobby. "Ginny?"
"Err, toast is good," she said nervously. Barely ten seconds later they were being ushered over to a table with a large plate of toast and a jug of pumpkin juice.
"Thanks, guys," Harry grinned at the elves.
"It is no problem at all to serve sir and madam," one of the elves bowed.
"If sir and madam need anything else all theys have to do is ask we elves," another beamed.
"We will," Harry assured them.
"They're…. very effective," Ginny said faintly as the elves bustled off to leave them on their own.
"Why d'you think I come here so often?" Harry grinned and took a bite of his toast. "Anything you want, they'll do. Want some food? Fine. Want a mess cleaned up? They can do it with a snap of the fingers."
"Wow," Ginny breathed. "Mum always said she wanted a House Elf, but I never bothered to learn much about them."
"Just warn her to get a good one," Harry grinned. "Take Kreacher for example. I'm the only one who gets along with him – Sirius hates him, and Remus isn't all that fond of him either."
"What's it like living with a House Elf?" Ginny asked him curiously.
"Annoying, sometimes," Harry shrugged. "I get that they basically live to work, but I feel bad making them do everything. Besides, the way I grew up… I'm using to doing a lot of chores, but Kreacher barely lets me lift a finger. I have to argue with him to be allowed to cook."
"Lucky you," Ginny smiled. "I hate cooking." Harry just rolled his eyes.
The two took their time eating the toast – which had some sort of charm on it to prevent it turning cold – whilst they talked about anything and everything, each enjoying the fact that they could talk to each other again. In the end, they didn't leave the kitchen until nine o'clock. Hermione and Ron were at breakfast, so they headed back to Gryffindor tower to play some Exploding Snap while they waited.
Finally, at noon, the group of five stood in line, waiting to be checked over by Filch. The rain had calmed down to a slow drizzle now, nothing like the way it had been pouring when Harry and Ginny had awoken, something which Harry was grateful for. The journey to Hogsmeade seemed to take no time at all as they all teased other, telling jokes and poking fun at random things. It's good to have them back, Harry thought with a smile.
They stopped for their traditional visit to the Shrieking Shack before moving on to Honeydukes – Ron's idea, of course. The redhead bought enough sweets for a herd of elephants, but the group, used to this, didn't comment. The sweet shop happened to be opposite an alleyway, which was the first thing Harry noticed as they exited the shop. The second thing he noticed was that a very familiar woman was standing in it, an odd look on her face. When her gaze caught Harry's, her expression turned to one of deep hate. When she raised her wand, Harry dropped his bag of sweets and grabbed his wand firmly, shocking his friends who had yet to notice Bellatrix. In an instant, though, they each had their wands out, too, and Bellatrix realising she was outnumbered sent Harry one last dirty look before turning on the spot and Disapparating.
"She has some nerve, showing up here," Ron scowled as Harry picked up his bag of sweets.
"Wonder what she was doing," Harry pondered aloud.
"She wanted to attack you!" Ginny said nervously. Harry shook his head, though.
"If she wanted to attack me she had the perfect chance before we noticed her."
"Harry's right," Hermione said softly.
"Perhaps some Wimburgles were chasing her," Luna offered. Harry kept his face straight for all of two seconds before he started laughing.
The group was extremely cautious after that, but they didn't run into any more trouble. They browsed the shops easily and bought a large amount of joke items – or, in Hermione's case, a lot of books – before heading to the Three Broomsticks for a quick Butterbeer before they headed back to the castle.
"I love this stuff," Ron grinned as he drank the warm liquid.
"It's not the only thing you love," Ginny scowled at him. "Honestly. Do you know how wrong it is to see you staring at Madam Rosmerta like that? It's disgusting!"
"At least it's not the other way about," Luna put in. "I think it would be far worse if Madam Rosmerta was crushing on Ron."
"That would be pretty wrong," Hermione wrinkled her nose slightly.
"I'm sitting right here, you know!" Ron said through clenched teeth.
"How could we forget?" Ginny muttered under her breath. Harry frowned at Ginny's sudden change of mood, but wisely kept his mouth shut. "I'm going to the loo," Ginny said, standing up. "I'll be back in a minute."
A minute soon turned into three, and three soon turned into six. The group carried on talking to each other, trying to pretend they weren't worried… even if Ginny really did only ever take a minute in the bathroom. Time ticked on and Harry started contemplating sending one of the other girls in. After Ginny had been gone for nearly ten minutes, Hermione stood up to go find her… just as the redhead finally arrived back.
"Sorry," the younger girl apologised. "I had to help someone out."
"Who?" Ron frowned.
"A witch," Ginny shrugged. "Didn't find out her name." Harry frowned at Ginny. Something's not right. He looked her up and down, trying to suss out why something felt wrong, but he couldn't find anything. From the looks of it, he wasn't the only one who felt something was wrong. Starting to feel a little uneasy, Harry finished his Butterbeer in one go and stood up.
"How about we head back now?" The rest of the group were only too happy to agree.
The feeling of something being wrong only increased as they trekked back up to the castle. Harry glanced at Ginny, making sure she was out of earshot, and moved closer to Hermione.
"D'you feel it?" he whispered in her ear. She nodded worriedly, glancing at Ginny out of the corner of her eye.
"I don't think it was helping someone that held her back," Hermione whispered back. "Something happened, I just don't know what. I feel like I should, though… like it's really obvious."
"Join the club," Harry sighed. He moved back slightly before Ginny noticed anything and carried on walking in silence. Even Ron wasn't making his usual jokes or sarcastic attempts at conversation. The further they walked, the more Harry's headache seemed to increase… wait, headache? An idea suddenly came to Harry, but he wasn't sure… it made sense, but who would risk it? Of course… Bella… I knew she was up to no good! It all made sense to him now… the headache he'd been slowly developing, the difference in Ginny. The empty sort of look in her eyes… I'm so stupid! Harry flicked his wand out discretely, though it got Hermione's attention, and whirled around. His wand was aimed at Ginny as he murmured one simple word.
"Stupefy!"
And here's chapter 11. Big thanks, as always, to my beta - Roxy!
The chapter isn't as long as I wanted, but it'll do XD Chapter 12 is, I believe, currently sitting in Roxy's inbox and chapter 13 is complete. I'm halfway through the second-last chapter of the fic... I'm not exactly sure how to feel about that XD.
Mmm. I'm starting up a new website that's all to do with my writing. You'll be able to view my other works (fanfiction and original), get graphics (eh. forum avs), offer/recieve help, etc. I'm still working on a lay for it, but I've got a temporary index up if you wanna check it out - starrydollz(dot)com/writing.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, don't forget to R&R!
