Harry Potter Year 4: Voldermort Returns
Chapter 12
"Join the club," Harry sighed. He moved back slightly before Ginny noticed anything and that's when it hit him. The faint headache he had been developing on their journey back, 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 whipped around, aiming at Ginny.
"Stupefy!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ron asked furiously, sending a disarming spell at Harry. One of the first things Harry had learned from Snape, though, was how to avoid being disarmed. A very weak 'Protego' later, the spell had been reversed and Harry was holding Rons wand.
"Ron, stop it!" Hermione scolded, albeit a little nervously. "H-Harry's right. Something was wrong with Ginny."
"So he stunned her?" Ron bellowed. "Some friend you are," he spat as he glared at Harry.
"I happen to think I'm a rather good friend, actually," Harry said coolly. "At least I have reasons other than jealousy to excuse my actions." It was a low blow and Harry knew it, but he couldn't bring himself to care. His headache was steadily growing worse, and it was enough to make him wonder how he hadn't noticed it as soon as Ginny had came back from the toilets. Rubbing his head irritably, Harry tossed Rons wand back to him. "Someone cast the Imperius on her, Ron. I have a strong feeling it was Bella – why else would she have risked showing up in Hogsmeade? She probably wanted to use Ginny to get to me, or to find out how much I know about Voldemort's plans or – well, it could be anything."
"Oh," Ron said dumbly. "Er, I'm sorry for what I said, then."
"Forget it," Harry waved him off, sighing tiredly. He took a few steps back from Ginny in the hope it would help his headache and pointed his wand at her. "Mobilicorpus," he muttered, barely noticing the impressed look on Rons face. "Let's get her back to the castle, then."
"Where exactly do we take her?" Ron asked nervously as they reached the castle. Few students were around as the majority were in Hogsmeade and the first and second years tended to stay in the common rooms during Hogsmeade trips.
"Madam Pomfrey," Harry said without hesitation. Whilst they might have been better going to Sirius and Remus, or even McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey was also a logical choice and Harry badly wanted something for his head. The group was silent for the rest of the journey – even Luna didn't have anything to say. Madam Pomfrey was not happy to see them, to say the least.
"Always getting into messes, you lot," she said huffily. "Lay her on the bed, then." Harry carefully lay Ginny down on the bed before he collapsed onto a chair.
"She's only stunned, she'll be alright," Madam Pomfrey said after waving her wand over Ginny. "What have you done to yourself this time, Mr Potter? You looked awfully peaky."
"Headache," Harry gave the matron a very direct look and she nodded in understanding. "She was under the Imperius," he added, glancing at Ginny. "That's why I stunned her."
"It seems to be gone now," Madam Pomfrey frowned and turned back to re-test Ginny. "You must have cancelled it when you stunned her."
"Okay," Harry nodded.
"Do you know who cast the spell, Mr Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked him gently. "That's a very serious crime-"
"I have my suspicions," Harry cut across her. "And it won't do any good to tell the Ministry. She's an Azkaban escapee anyway."
"Alright," Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Don't move," she warned as she headed into her office.
"What's wrong with your head, Harry?" Hermione asked him softly. "Did Ginny do something under the Imperius?"
"No," Harry shook his head. "It's nothing."
"Funny how you got it around the same time that old hag got Ginny, though," Ron said nervously. Harry smiled slightly.
"If she's only stunned, how come Madam Pomfrey isn't reviving her?" Ron asked, glancing back at his sister.
"She probably wants to make sure the curse is properly flushed from her system first," Harry explained. "Even if she can't pick up on it with her wand, there's a chance it's still there. Lucky for us, a potion was created in the last war against Voldemort to help get rid of it." Harry rolled his eyes as his friends flinched, instantly regretting it as his headache seemed to worsen.
"I read about that," Hermione breathed, her eyes sparkling. "Didn't the old Hogwarts Potions Master create it?"
"Old Slughorn?" Harry asked. "Yeah, he did. Snape's told me about him."
"Of course, he would have taught Snape," Hermione nodded.
"I wonder if he showed as much favouritism as Snape," Ron scowled.
"In a different way," Harry nodded. "He didn't favour his House – he was head of Slytherin – and he didn't pick on those less talented, but he definitely had favourites…" Harry trailed off as he remembered what Snape had told him in his second year. My mum was one of his favourites.
"Harry!" Harry looked up and smiled as he saw Sirius and Remus coming towards him, Remus carrying a light blue potion. Madam Pomfrey was behind them, looking thoughtfully at Ginny.
"Drink this," Remus instructed as Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over Ginny and woke her up. Harry obliged, grimacing at the taste, a feat which caused both his guardians to chuckle. A moment later Ginny had done the same thing and was blinking around in confusion.
"What happened?" the younger Weasley asked with an extremely confused look on her face.
"Was anyone in the bathroom?" Harry asked her quickly.
"I…" Ginny frowned and closed her eyes, scrunching her face up in concentration as she thought about it. "I remember a voice," she said finally. "That's all, though. What happened?"
"Someone put the Imperius Curse on you," Ron told her. "Harry thinks it was…" but Ron trailed off, glancing uneasily at the adults.
"Bellatrix," Harry said softly. He turned to face Sirius and Remus, grateful for the lack of pain in his head now. "We saw her, when we came out of Honeydukes. She Apparated away, though."
"Bella was in Hogsmeade?" Sirius scowled. "It must have been something big, for her to risk getting seen there."
"Did I hurt anyone?" Ginny asked in a small voice, looking both upset and guilty.
"Nah," Harry grinned. "When we were heading back to the castle I figured out what happened and stunned you."
"You lot head back to your common rooms," Sirius told them firmly. "I think we ought to have a chat with Dumbledore," he said, directing the last comment at Remus.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
"You okay, Ginny?" Harry asked concernedly as the four Gryffindors reached their common room.
"Fine," came Ginny's rather unconfident voice. Harry shared a glance with Ron and Hermione before giving the password to the Fat Lady. The common room was emptier than usual, what with half the students being at Hogsmeade. Ginny quickly headed up to bed, claiming Madam Pomfrey's potion had made her tired.
"Maybe you should go talk to her, Hermione," Harry suggested worriedly as he and Ron sat down in front of the fire. Harry would talk to her himself, but boys weren't allowed in the girls dormitories. "This has probably reminded her of her first year."
"I didn't even think of that," Hermione admitted softly. "Poor Ginny. I'll go see her, then," Hermione glanced at the two before making her way up to Ginny's dormitory.
"D'you really think it was Bellatrix?" Ron asked in a hushed voice.
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I mean, c'mon – it's an unlikely coincidence, isn't it? Seeing her at Hogsmeade, and then Ginny being cursed. We should've headed back to the castle as soon as we saw her."
"I guess," Ron sighed.
"It's a shame we don't have any proof, though," Harry said softly. Then he snorted. "Not that it'd help. Voldemort would still get his dear little Bella out of Azkaban," he spat in disgust before taking in a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. "What I want to know is: what did she want Ginny to do?"
"Spy on you? Kidnap you?"
"Spy, maybe," Harry said uncertainly. "Definitely not kidnap, though. Voldemort was pretty pissed when he found out Pettigrew wanted to kidnap me 'early'. I certainly hope I'm not asleep when he decides to punish Pettigrew," Harry finished, almost frightfully. Ron gave him a sympathetic look.
"I reckon we should just be glad you figured it all out before Ginny did something," Ron said finally. "Anything Bellatrix wanted her to do couldn't have been good." Harry was only too inclined to agree.
Hermione came down half an hour later, joining the two boys beside the fire.
"She's asleep," the bushy-haired Gryffindor told them softly.
"How's she holding up?" Harry asked, equally as softly.
"I managed to cheer her up a bit," Hermione smiled slightly. "We should probably keep an eye on her for awhile, though – not spying on her, though!" Hermione finished hastily, correctly interpreting the look on Harry's face.
"What'd I miss?" Ron asked, glancing between the two nervously.
"It doesn't matter," Harry said after a moment's silence. "It's in the past now."
"Okay…" Ron still looked unconvinced, but he carried on anyway. "Well, I'm up for keeping an eye on her. We should probably ask Fred and George to, too. They're good at cheering people up."
"I'll bet," Harry muttered, causing his two friends to laugh slightly.
Ginny was still asleep at dinner time, so after eating their own meals the trio went down to the kitchens to get a plate of Ginny's favourite food from the elves. They left (or rather, Hermione left) it at her bedside with a heating charm on it for when she woke up.
"How're you getting on with the Second Task?" Ron asked later that evening as he and Harry played Wizard chess. Hermione was working on her Arithmancy homework.
"I'm no closer than I was before Christmas," Harry said, letting out an irritated sigh. "I guess it doesn't help that I've been reading less lately."
"What page did you get to?" Hermione asked, glancing up from her homework.
"Three thousand," Harry scowled. "It'd have been a big help if he'd told me what section it was at."
"Who?" Ron frowned. Harry glanced around to make sure no-one was listening before mouthing 'Snape'. He had to fight back the urge to say something snappish to Ron when he saw his friend hastily hide a scowl.
"I can read some more after this, if you'd like," Hermione offered, choosing to ignore Ron's action..
"That'd be great, 'Mione. Thanks," Harry smiled gratefully.
Ginny didn't come down at all that night leaving Harry (and Ron, who was being rather short-tempered as a result) feeling slightly concerned as he headed up early to sleep. He desperately hoped she was okay. He knew what it was like to have events remind you of a dark memory; it happened to him a lot. The tiniest thing could bring back memories of the Dursleys, or bring back that desperate need to cut himself… Harry let out a long breath and clambered into bed, pulling the covers tight around him. Don't think about that.
It was raining heavily again the next morning when Harry awoke at six am. He frowned slightly at the time as he had been hoping to have a bit of a lie in today, but dressed himself nevertheless and headed down to the common room. He was surprised to find Ginny down there, curled up on a chair and staring into the fire. He wasn't exactly quiet as he approached, so his concerned frown deepened when she didn't hear him coming.
"Ginny?" Harry asked, touching her shoulder gently. The effect was instantaneous; the redhead jumped and yelped like a frightened cat, pulling her wand out of her pocket as she did so. She had an unfocused look in her eyes as she aimed it at Harry's face. "Ginny!" Harry raised his voice slightly. "It's me – It's Harry."
"Harry?" Ginny blinked, and her eyes focused slightly. "Y-you startled me," she whispered, lowering her wand.
"You were pretty out of it," Harry said candidly.
"Yeah, I guess I was," Ginny agreed softly, dropping heavily back down onto the seat. Harry frowned and sat down on the arm of the chair, letting Ginny rest her head on his leg.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked her in a concerned voice.
"I-I don't know," Ginny answered brokenly. "I thought I was… I couldn't sleep properly, though. I kept seeing their faces. The teenage Riddle… and Bellatrix…"
"It's alright," Harry said soothingly, reaching down to stroke her hair gently as it seemed like the sort of comforting thing Mrs Weasley would do.
"Why do I feel like this?" Ginny asked him distantly. "I'm not an emotional person – I'm not weak. Yet this…"
"Is perfectly normal," Harry concluded gently. "What Riddle did to you was pretty bad. You coped really well with it, too… a lot of people would have needed therapy or something after an ordeal like that." Harry smiled slightly. He had learned the word 'ordeal' from Dumbledore, and he felt rather old saying it. He quickly turned his attention back to Ginny. What would Mrs Weasley do? "What Bellatrix tried to do was pretty similar – both of them wanted to take over your mind, in a way. Of course this is going to bring back memories." Ginny lifted her head off of Harry's leg, letting him see her exceptionally bright eyes, full of unshed tears.
"Thanks, Harry," Ginny whispered softly, sitting up properly so she could hug him.
Hermione and Ron were both up by half seven, which although with Hermione wasn't entirely unusual was a miracle with Ron. Each shot him a questioning glance when they found him still sitting on the arm of the chair, a summoned book in hand and Ginny leaning against his shoulder dozing lightly.
"She needed comforting," Harry explained softly, closing the Quidditch book with a quiet 'snap'. He flicked his wand, sending it zooming back up to his dorm before gently pulling himself away from Ginny, who woke up with a start. "Time for breakfast, Gin," Harry said, plastering a smile on his face. He offered his hand to her and she took it gratefully as the four headed down to the Great Hall.
After breakfast Ginny headed to the library with Luna, each claiming they had homework to finish.
"She seems happier today," Hermione offered after the redhead had left the table.
"Maybe talking about it helped her," Harry shrugged. "She was pretty down in the dumps when I found her this morning, though. I think it's safe to say she's a little unsettled – she said she couldn't sleep properly."
"D'you fancy her?" Ron suddenly blurted, his ears turning red as soon as he'd said it.
"Fancy her?" Harry repeated slowly, a frown etching its way onto his face.
"You keep spending time with her… and you're always comforting her – not that that's a bad thing, mind."
"Ron, she's like a sister to me," Harry said, giving his friend an odd look. "Of course I'm going to comfort her. I'd to the same to you, or Fred and George. Heck, I'd comfort any of my friends who needed it, too."
"She never comes to me for comfort," Ron said softly.
"She doesn't usually need comfort," Harry said evenly. He didn't really want to explain that Ron was usually rather bad at offering comfort… 'emotional range of a teaspoon' Ginny had said once. "I'm sure she'd have let you comfort her, too, if you'd been up early. It's more that I'm usually the one around when she needs it. I can assure you I don't fancy her… like I said, she's like a sister."
"If you say so," Ron sighed heavily. Harry shared a glance with Hermione who could only shrug unhelpfully in response.
The three headed back to the common room after breakfast where Harry continued reading his charm book whilst Hermione and Ron started on their Potions homework that Harry had completed nearer the start of the holidays. Harry lost track of the time as he read, his mind becoming absorbed in the numerous different charms. Eventually, one caught his eye – one that seemed oddly familiar. Eyes sparkling in hope, Harry quickly read the passage and slapped himself on the forehead.
"Crap!" Ron scowled, having knocked over his ink bottle in surprise at Harry's antics. "Harry! What'd you do that for?"
"Because I've been so damn stupid!" Harry slapped himself again before waving his wand over Ron's work. A simple incantation later and the spilled ink was back in the bottle. "The Bubblehead Charm – that's what Fleur said. Her spell was a variation of the Bubblehead Charm, which I meant to research – I pretty much forgot about it, though."
"I've read about that before," Hermione said, raising her hand to her mouth. "Just in passing… that's a NEWT level spell. Oh, I'm sorry Harry. If I'd remembered…"
"No-one's perfect, Hermione," Harry told her gently. "Don't worry about it. I think I made the bigger mistake – if I'd thought to research it…"
"How about both of you stop blaming yourselves?" Ron suggested with a roll of the eyes, causing Harry and Hermione to laugh.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
School started again the next day and Harry, as always, was the first one up. He smiled as he descended the stairs to the common room, pleased to see Ginny was still in her own dorm. He had managed to corner Luna yesterday evening just before his training with Snape and had asked her to keep an eye on Ginny. Luna, knowing all about Ginny's first year, had readily agreed.
Heavy rain lashed the windows as Harry strolled lazily through the corridors to kill time. He was tempted to go visit his guardians or Snape, but having talked to them only last night he wasn't sure what they could possibly talk about today. It wasn't as if anything had happened between nine last night and the present.
As he was passing a window, Harry happened to glance out and spot the giant form of Hagrid on the grounds. He watched Hagrid in the rain for a few moments before he carried on with a shudder. He definitely wasn't looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures today.
When, at seven o'clock, Harry became tired of walking, the black-haired boy headed into an empty classroom and pulled out his wand. He hadn't had much of a chance to practice the Bubblehead Charm last night and he knew he needed all the practice he could get if he was to cast the spell properly by the time of the Second Task. By the time he was ready for breakfast, all he had managed was to conjure a very weak bubble around a scrunched up ball of paper. His friends were already at the Great Hall when he arrived and Harry dropped gratefully into the empty space beside Ron, instantly grabbing some toast to help quieten his noisy stomach.
"Where've you been, mate?" Ron asked him after a moment.
"Here and there," Harry grinned. "I took a morning stroll around the castle. Very peaceful without all the students crowding them," he told them brightly. "Oh. I practiced the Bubblehead Charm, too," he added.
"How is it?" Hermione asked him.
"Hard," Harry bit into his toast and swallowed before continuing. "I'm seriously going to need all the practice I can get. Then I'll have to make sure I can cast that and a few other spells non-verbally."
"It's a lot of stress for a fourteen year old," Hermione said nervously.
"I'll cope," Harry shrugged. "I always do," he added darkly.
It wasn't until Harry was halfway to Divination with Ron that another thought hit him, nearly making him slap his head again. He managed to hold himself back before Ron noticed anything, though, and made a mental note to talk to his friends about it later. Thank you, Dursleys, Harry thought sarcastically.
Divination was as irritating as ever and Care of Magical Creatures left everyone soaked to the bone. Potions was okay, though. Ginny seemed almost back to normal at dinner, something that pleased Harry, Ron and Hermione immensely.
"Okay," Harry said finally, sitting down his fork and knife. "Do any of you lot know how to swim?" The three nodded, and Harry smiled. "I don't. The Dursleys never paid for me to get lessons…" Harry shook his head, forcing the thoughts away. "Anyway, I need to learn for the Second Task. Anyone feel like helping?"
And so, two hours later, the four Gryffindors were in the Room of Requirements with a large pool in front of them. They each clambered in, pleasantly surprised to find the water warm on their skin.
"Well, the first thing I got taught was to get used to the water," Hermione offered eventually. "The instructor had me go under the water several times to get used to having it on my face… then he had me open my eyes, to see if I needed goggles or not."
"I doubt the goggles part matters for now," Harry said matter-of-factly. "The Charm will keep the water away from my eyes." He did, however, go under the water, eventually opening his eyes. Hermione had charmed his glasses with the same water-repelling spell from last years Quidditch match, allowing him to see perfectly.
"I think the next part is floating, right?" Ginny asked thoughtfully.
"That's how we learned," Ron nodded his agreement. Hermione glanced at the two before closing her eyes, opening them a moment later to find a foamy float in front of her.
"Use this," she said, pushing the float over to Harry. "You need to hold on to it and get your whole body to float on the water surface. Once you can do that, we'll try it without the float."
They were in the Room of Requirements for nearly two hours before, wrinkled and exhausted, the four dried themselves and got back into their clothes. Harry had made good process, according to Hermione, and would be able to swim within a couple of weeks if they practiced every second day. Whilst Harry wasn't sure he liked the idea of extra stress, he was grateful to his friends for helping him. He would have looked like a right idiot if he had turned up on the 24th of February unable to swim. Harry bid goodnight to the others almost as soon as they returned to the Tower, tired beyond belief.
Harry didn't wake up until quarter to seven the next morning, yet more proof of how tiring learning to swim had been. Glancing over at Ron's snoring figure, Harry smiled fondly and pulled a book out of his trunk, deciding to wait for the redhead to wake up before he went down for breakfast.
The first class of the day was Charms. The lesson was fairly easy as it was a continuation of the previous lesson for those who hadn't gotten the hang of the Silencing Charm – a spell Harry had learned the previous year. He and Hermione focused on helping Ron, who seemed to be having a bit of trouble with it. When the bell went, Harry urged Ron and Hermione on, telling them he'd catch up in a minute. As soon as they were gone, he walked over to Professor Flitwick and took a deep breath…
"Sorry I'm late, Professor!" Harry apologised, skidding into the Defence classroom.
"Have a seat, Potter," Moody growled, giving no other acknowledgement. Harry did so, dropping into the seat beside Ron. He could tell his friends wanted to know what he had been doing, but didn't dare ask him during Moody's lecture.
"As I was saying," Moody said in a gruff voice. "Most variations of the Protego charm are not taught until OWL and NEWT level. A single mistake can result in you draining far more energy than needed, leaving you at a disadvantage…" Harry let his thoughts override Moody's words, having already received the same lecture from both Snape and Remus. The simplest variation of the Protego charm was a simple flick with the incantation, though there were several more advanced ones. Using fancier wand movements could create a stronger shield, though the strongest by far was 'Protego Maximus' which needed rather sharp, skilful wand movements and good concentration, as the caster had to imagine pushing all their energy into the shield. Harry was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard chairs scraping across the ground and realized they were supposed to be practicing the spell. Harry smiled as he, Ron, Hermione and Neville gathered into their usual group and started.
After a relaxing lunch, the trio headed towards the most boring class Hogwarts had to offer: History of Magic. The three slipped into their usual seats and Hermione instantly had parchment, a quill and ink out, ready to take notes. Harry and Ron simply slumped in their chairs, fully prepared to slip into 'daydream mode'. Hermione gave them disapproving glances but otherwise ignored their antics – indeed, she couldn't really say much as over half the class were currently doing the very same thing.
As Binns droned on, many students found themselves falling asleep. Harry usually tried to resist sleeping in Binns class, but he felt oddly relaxed, and a strange buzzing at the window was helping lull his mind into unconsciousness. It wasn't long before Harry felt his eyes drooping closed.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Harry was sitting in yet another new room. This one had a rich, deep purple-coloured carpet and several leather sofas. A large fire was burning, cackling away at one side of the room. There were no bookcases this time; indeed, aside from the sofas, the room was rather bare. The colours made it cosy, though. Not that Harry cared – he much preferred dark, cold colours. The location had not been his idea, though he was running out of houses. He had to swap every few weeks to keep from being discovered, and he did not yet have all his followers back, leaving several of his old safe houses out of the question.
A loud knock at the door brought Harry out of his musings and a moment later his most faithful, Bella, entered. She was soon followed by Pettigrew and Davies.
"We are sorry for the delay, My Lord," Bella said sincerely as she bowed to Harry. "Not everything went to plan. We ended up battling some of the Aurors."
"No harm done," Harry said coolly. "I daresay a few of my followers were getting restless. Perhaps this will help, for awhile." Bella didn't say anything and quickly left the room, leaving Harry alone with Peter Pettigrew and Billy Davies.
"You have disappointed me greatly," Harry said in a soft, cold tone as he fingered his wand fondly. "I should be able to trust my followers."
"M-My Lord," Peter stuttered. "W-we only w-wanted t-to help, My L-Lord."
"Silence, Peter," Harry said coldly. "If I wanted the boy early, I would have sent far higher skilled wizards than you. Both of you have brought unneeded attention to myself, and you are incredibly lucky I have a spy in the Ministry who was able to delay the Veritaserum interrogation or you would be dead by now." Both of the men in front of him flinched, though Peter was by far the most terrified. "However," Harry continued coldly. "As we are still safe, I think I shall settle for watching you suffer." An amazing amount of hate and anger, an almost impossible amount of hate and anger, rose up in Harry as he pointed his wand at his two followers. "Crucio!"
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Harry woke up and though he felt himself screaming, he couldn't hear anything. As soon as he had himself back under control he found Hermione's wand pointing at him, the look of concentration on her face showing she had cast a Silencing Charm on him. Seeing he was awake, she quickly lifted the spell.
"You okay?" Ron asked him in a low tone. "You started getting restless and we thought…"
"Thanks," Harry croaked gratefully. He certainly didn't want the whole class looking at him like he was psychotic.
"Do you need to go see Sirius and Remus?" Hermione asked softly. When Harry nodded, she turned to Ron and mouthed 'take him'. Harry rolled his eyes at their behaviour, but couldn't stop the feeling of gratefulness that rose up inside him.
"Er, Professor?" Ron called out nervously. The few members of the class who were still awake turned to look at the redhead curiously. Binns himself looked up in surprise, not used to his classes being disrupted.
"Yes, Mr Weasley?" the ghost asked.
"Harry's not feeling to great… would it be- er- alright if I took him to the Hospital Wing?"
"Yes, yes, off you go," Binns said distractedly. Ron took a tight grip of Harry's upper arm as the two stood up and with a whispered 'I'll be back' the two exited the classroom.
"What happened?" Ron asked Harry as the two worked their way slowly towards the Marauder Quarters.
"Voldemort got Wormtail and Davies," Harry told his friend, rolling his eyes at Rons wince and instantly regretting it as it made his dizziness worse.
"Ouch," Ron said sympathetically.
"Bloody ouch," Harry agreed candidly. The two soon arrived at a set of stairs and Harry winced as he looked at them.
"I can float you down, if you want," Ron offered.
"I'll manage," Harry shook his head. He pulled his arm out of Rons grip and worked his way down the stairs, feeling very pleased with himself as he reached the bottom without falling.
Thankfully, after the stairs they didn't have far to go and they soon arrived at the Marauder Quarters. By then Ron was supported most of Harry's weight and the redhead looked more than a little grateful to finally have arrived at their destination.
"Harry!" Remus was over to the two the instant Ron opened the door and quickly relieved Ron of the extra weight. "What – did you have another vision?"
"Yeah," Harry said in a dry voice, letting Remus lie him down on the sofa. "Where's Padfoot?" he asked, noticing the lack of his godfather.
"Talking with Dumbledore," Remus told him as he moved away to collect the potions Harry needed. "Get some rest now, cub," Remus told him gently after helping Harry swallow the potions. "We can talk about the vision later." Harry was only too grateful to comply as the potions made his head feel extremely heavy. He was asleep within a minute.
Harry awoke to find Sirius conjuring numerous brightly-coloured bubbles, successfully irritating Remus who was attempting to read a book on 'Transfiguration for the Advanced'. When a large, bright orange bubble came floating towards Harry's face he scowled at it and reached out to slap it, raising an eyebrow when instead of popping, it bounced off his hand.
"You're awake!" Sirius grinned. He waved his wand and all the bubbles flew over to Remus, not allowing the man to get off his seat.
"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, exasperated.
"How're you feeling, kiddo?" Sirius asked, ignoring Remus as he helped Harry sit up.
"Fine," Harry said, just barely holding back a yawn. "I don't think Moony's too happy, though."
"Spoilsport," Sirius scolded, but the smile on his face took the sting out of it. A minute later, all the bubbles were gone and Remus was able to join Sirius in sitting next to Harry.
"What're you so happy about anyway?" Harry asked his guardian curiously.
"Dumbledore finally relented," Sirius grinned. "I've been getting on at him for months, now, and I've finally gotten through to him. He says we're allowed to help you with this bloody Tournament… apparently he found some sort of loophole in the rules. Not that he explained any of that to me, of course."
"He couldn't have found it earlier, could he?" Harry scowled. "He waits until I've pretty much sussed out the Second Task."
"It isn't Dumbledores fault, Harry," Remus chided him gently, though the man was looking more at Sirius as he said it. The blue-eyed dog Animagus simply rolled his eyes.
"I know," Harry said softly. He let out a long sigh before looking up at his guardians. "I guess you'll want to know about the vision, now." His guardians nodded. Harry glanced down at his knees as he thought back to it, trying to remember something other than the pain of the Cruciatus Curse. He felt a comforting hand being placed on his shoulder, but wasn't sure whose hand it was. "Not much actually happened," he said eventually. "It was more punishment than anything. He got Wormtail and Davies back… he was pretty pissed off… I could feel his anger," Harry shivered. "I had no idea it was possible to feel that angry."
"Voldemorts a pretty dark person, Harry," Sirius told him gently. "He feels enough anger and hate for a thousand men."
"You can say that again," Harry rolled his eyes.
Harry's stomach growling nearly ten minutes later told him it was time for dinner. After spending a good five minutes reassuring his guardians he felt fine now, Harry finally bid the two goodbye and headed to the Great Hall for dinner. Ginny and Ron had saved a seat between them for Harry, which he took gratefully.
"You feeling better, mate?" Ron asked him, a hint of concern colouring his voice.
"Yeah," Harry smiled. "Just hungry," he added as his stomach growled. Even Hermione smiled slightly at this.
"You certainly look better," the bushy-haired girl smiled softly. "You were really pale before…"
"You could be too, if you-" but Harry bit his tongue before he finished, realizing he'd just make Hermione feel bad. "Let's just say being in Voldemorts head," he rolled his eyes at the winces of Ron and Ginny, "isn't exactly an enjoyable experience."
"I'll bet," Ron muttered.
"Hey," Harry said suddenly as the four headed back to Gryffindor Tower after dinner. "I never told you – Sirius and Remus can help me with the Tasks now! That's why Sirius kept going off to talk to Professor Dumbledore!"
"Really?" Hermione questioned curiously. "I thought-"
"He's found a loophole," Harry correctly interpreted Hermione's thoughts.
"Took him long enough," Ron grinned. Harry shrugged.
"At least he found one," Harry said softly. "Though I'll admit it would have been a hell of a lot easier if I'd had their help before, too."
"At least they can help you with the Bubblehead Charm now," Ginny said brightly. "And with whatever the Third Task is."
And help Harry the Marauders did. Sirius and Remus both added learning the charm into their training sessions with Harry and the results soon appeared; whilst he had yet to master the charm properly his 'bubbles' were certainly a lot larger and more effective. The next few weeks passed pretty quickly for Harry who spent most of his time trying to master both the Bubblehead Charm and some extra non-verbal spells. By the time the 18th of February, a Hogsmeade Saturday, rolled by he was eager to get away from the school and relax for a bit.
Fleur and Viktor joined the group of friends as they left the school on Saturday, the older students claiming they wanted to buy some new books. Harry knew from Cho, however, that the two were only really coming because they were worried about Harry after the mess with Bellatrix on the last trip. The thought made him feel warm inside. Even after having Sirius and Remus as guardians for the past six or seven months – and after having great friends for all his years at Hogwarts – he still found it hard to believe, sometimes, that people could care so deeply about him. The feeling didn't come as often, though, so Harry felt confident it would disappear completely one day. Damn you, Dursleys.
Thankfully, nothing serious happened, unless you counted Draco Malfoy trying to start a fight with them at the Shrieking Shack. The group were, one again, making their traditional trip to Remus' old hideout when they heard a group of teens approaching them.
"Well, well, well," Malfoy sneered. "The Potty, the Weasel and the Mudblood. Mustn't forget the slut and the queer girl," he added, glaring at Ginny and Luna. He hadn't noticed Fleur and Viktor who had been walking around the building slightly – well, as far as was possible.
"Those names are getting old now, Malfoy," Harry said in a bored tone. "Maybe instead of terrorising the first years you could try putting your brain to use."
"At least I have a brain," Malfoy scowled at Harry.
"You learn something new every day," Ron quoted to Harry with a snicker.
"What was that, weasel?" Malfoy asked, face flushing as Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles menacingly.
"I do believe eet was a- what do you call eet?- a 'diss'," came Fleur's soft voice as she and Viktor rejoined the group. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle all paled simultaneously as they noticed the two older students.
"Come on," Malfoy said coolly to his cronies. "Let's get out of here before we catch a disease."
"Are they always so cowardly?" Viktor asked sounding slightly amused after the three Slytherins had left.
"Usually even more so," Ginny agreed with a smile.
This time, the group were one of the last groups to return to Hogwarts. Hermione had taken it upon herself to be a tour conductor, pointing out the attractions of the village for Viktor and Fleur and feeding them the dozens of facts she had learned through books. Whilst Viktor seemed genuinely interested, Harry could tell Fleur was only going along with it to keep Hermione happy, for which he was grateful. Harry, Ginny and Ron lagged to the back of the group having heard all the facts from Hermione before and soon began a game of 'I Spy'.
It was rather dark by the time they started heading back, and Hogsmeade was pretty empty. It was creepy, in a way, but Harry tried not to let it get to him. Even his luck couldn't be bad enough for something to happen two trips in a row, right?
Thankfully, they made it back to the castle without incident and, after bidding goodbye to Luna, Fleur and Viktor, the four cold Gryffindors headed up to their Tower, eager to warm up in front of the fire and finish their homework. Harry, whose mind had drifted back to the looming Second Task, ended up having Hermione do half his essay for him as he found it impossible to concentrate on it. Finally, he dropped his things with a sigh and stood up.
"I'm going to bed," he told them softly. "I- I can't think straight, not when the Task is so soon…" his friends simply gave him sympathetic gazes as he picked his way through the busy common room and up into his dorm. His dreams that night were of him battling giant undersea creatures as he fought to receive his wand from an evil Grindylow.
The next few days passed agonizingly fast as time once again became Harry's enemy. Despite being as prepared as possible Harry couldn't help but dread the ever-nearing Second Task. Oh, he didn't care if he won. He'd never wanted to be in the damn Tournament in the first place. He was worried about what would happen once he was underwater. He'd been fine whilst he was learning with his friends, but on a whole he wasn't too fond of water… especially cold water, as the lake was bound to be. Yet another result of his time with the Dursleys. Harry closed his eyes as he tried to push away the memories of his ice-cold baths as a child, wincing when he opened them to find Ron and Hermione gazing at him concernedly whilst the rest of the class carried on trying to transfigure their feathers. He'd been zoning out on them rather a lot lately.
Even pushing that aside, Harry had no idea what was inside the lake. The Giant Squid, Merfolk and Grindylows were all well-known creatures who inhabited the lake, but he was pretty certain there had to be a whole lot of other creatures in a lake as vast as the one at Hogwarts. Harry had resorted to learning numerous offensive spells and hexes in the hopes they could come in useful if he was attacked.
When the bell rang to signal the end of class Harry jumped rather high, causing Ron to snort. Hermione glowered at the redhead but Harry didn't mind too much. Harry was just getting ready to follow his friends out the door when Professor McGonagall called him back.
"On you go," Harry told his friends with a sigh. "I'll catch up," he reassured them before walking softly to stand in front of Professor McGonagall's desk.
"Yes, Professor?" McGonagall didn't reply for a moment, not even glancing up at him as she scribbled furiously on a piece of parchment. When at last she was finished, she looked up at Harry with an odd expression.
"Are you alright, Harry?" the head of Gryffindor asked, and Harry started at her using his first time. When Harry just looked at her blankly, McGonagall sighed and elaborated. "You haven't been doing as well in class and your homework is noticeably poorer than usual," she told him gently.
"I've been concentrating on the Second Task," Harry told her tonelessly. "Nothing's wrong, Professor, I'd just rather concentrate on surviving this Task than doing my homework properly."
"How are you doing with the Task?"
"Fine," Harry shrugged. "There's not much more I can do – I'm as prepared as I'll ever be. It's just hard to concentrate on other things."
"I see," McGonagall gave him a rare, thin smile. "In that case, off you go. I won't hold you back from your next class any longer."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
By the time Friday rolled around, Harry had began skipping meals again. He was careful to make up lies about getting food from the kitchens, not wanting to have his friends and guardians jumping on his back about it. Besides, as soon as the Task was over he fully planned on feasting in a celebration – and if that wasn't enough, Fred and George were planning on throwing a party for him, too.
After bidding goodbye to his friends and guardians, receiving hugs from the latter and his female friends, Harry left the school at five past nine and headed down to the lake where the other Champions, Madam Maxime, Karkaroff, Dumbledore, Ludo Bagman and- Percy Weasley?- were waiting. He didn't pay much attention as Ludo gave them a quick pep talk and only looked up when Ludo left with the other adults leaving the Champions to chat amongst themselves.
"Are you alright, Harry?" Cedric asked, peering down at him. "You look ill."
"I don't think any of us feel too great right now," Harry said, offering his friends a tight smile.
"'Arry's right," said Fleur, whose face had a definite greenish tinge to it.
"I had no idea how nerve-wracking these Tasks vould be when I entered the Tournament," Viktor agreed. The Bulgarian didn't look too bad; just a little paler as usual, as was Cedric.
The four champions didn't talk much as they stood at the edge of the lake nervously avoiding the gazes of the students coming down from the castle to watch. Bagman had reappeared once to place some charms on them, but Harry hadn't paid much attention to what they were for. Before Harry knew it, Ludo was clearing his voice and with a muttered 'Sonorous' his voice could be heard all across the grounds.
"Welcome, everybody, to the Second Task!" Ludo said brightly and clearly with a large, silly-looking grin on his face. "All of our Champions are now ready for the Task, which will start when I blow my whistle. You will be able to watch them up there," Ludo pointed to a large screen hovering in midair which currently had four sections, each one displaying one of the Champions standing by the lake. Must have been what those charms were for, "and I wish you all the very best of luck," Bagman finished, turning to smile at the Champions. He pulled a small, silver whistle up to his lips and counted down in a booming voice before blowing it, a sharp sound that carried around the whole of the grounds. Barely even glancing at his friends, Harry quickly transfigured his clothes into a pair of swimming trunks, cast a Warming Charm on himself and cast the Bubblehead Charm on himself before diving into the murky water.
Harry kept his eyes closed for the first minute or so of swimming, trying desperately to push away the almost overwhelming memories of his childhood… freezing cold baths… being burned by the water…get a hold of yourself, Harry! Forcing his eyes open, Harry took a deep breath and, after checking he had a tight grip of his wand, continued on swimming.
It was a wonder any of the spectators could see the Champions, really, Harry thought. He was finding it pretty damn hard to see anything in the dark depths of the lake. He had barely been in five minutes and already he could hardly see anything; everything both in front and behind of him was pitch dark. Shivering slightly, he gave a whispered 'Lumos' and smiled in relief when a bright light appeared – just in time to show a lone Grindylow coming towards him. Thinking fast, Harry delivered a stream of boiling bubbles at the water-demon. The Grindylow let out a furious squeal as it's body turned red from the heat before swimming away from Harry, obviously deciding to pick on an easier target.
Harry didn't run into anything else for awhile aside from small packs of fish. The quiet darkness of the lake was starting to get at him, causing goose bumps to appear all over his body. When he realized he didn't know if he was swimming in the right direction or not, Harry whispered "Point me to my direction," before letting his wand float in front of him. It was a spell Remus had created in the last war against Voldemort and had taught to Harry during the Summer, explaining it would come in very handy. It was really just a variation of the basic 'Point Me' spell that would point the caster North. The wand spun to point North-East and Harry took his wand again before continuing on. The darkness seemed to go on forever, as did the defeaning silence… and then he heard it. A familiar melodic sound, calling out to him, leading him to where he needed to be.
'Come seek us where our voices sound'
Harry instantly redoubled his efforts, wanting to reach there as fast as he could.
'We cannot sing about the ground'
He had to reach there soon, right?
'And while you're searching, ponder this'
He really didn't like the water, even if he was mostly pushing away his childhood memories.
'We've taken what you'll sorely miss'
He hadn't even talked to Sirius and Remus about that. Well, to be honest, he hadn't thought about it much until the past few days.
'An hour long you'll have to look'
Well, no doubt he'd end up talking to them soon when he had nightmares again…
'And to recover what we took'
There! That looked like roofs, didn't it?
'But past an hour the prospects black'
Definitely. Oh, it was a village… he could see Merfolk with greyish skin, long dark green hair… bright, calculating yellow eyes…
'Too late, it's gone, it won't come back'
A Mer-village. He hadn't expected to find that, although he supposed it should have been obvious. He definitely seemed to be going in the right direction, though.
Harry was wary, keeping a tight hold on his wand as he swam past the Merfolk. It wasn't that they looked suspicious or dangerous, but their spears did look awfully sharp. He caught sight of a sudden movement up ahead and frowned when he saw a group of Merfolk gathered up ahead. He quickly swam towards them and raised an eyebrow when he saw four people tied up: Ron, Hermione, Cho and a little girl with silvery-blonde hair who had to be related to Fleur. The Merfolk parted to let Harry pass as he approached, and he glanced at the four people tied up in front of him. Fleur had to collect the little girl, obviously… Cedric would collect Cho, she was his girlfriend. Ron had to be for him – Ron and Viktor didn't get on well… does Viktor have a crush on 'Mione? Harry thought, a little surprised. Shaking the thought out of his head, Harry made a slashing movement with his wand and cut the rope that was holding Ron to the large, wooden pole.
The journey back was a lot harder than swimming down to the bottom. Whilst Ron wasn't an overweight person his height let him carry a lot of weight and Harry was struggling to swim them both to the surface. When he was barely above the village, he actually ended up dropping Ron as he saw a shark coming towards them. By the time he had grabbed a hold of Ron again and held his wand protectively in front of him, he realizing the shark was waving at him… with human hands. Harry snorted when he finally realized it was Viktor in front of him, the Bulgarian having transfigured his head into a shark head. Harry waved back to Viktor before carrying on, wanting to get out of the water again as fast as was humanly possible. It wasn't to happen, though.
Just as Harry started to see light above him he felt a pair of strong hands grab his ankle, soon joined by a pair of hands grabbing his other. Peering down, he found a group of Grindylows swimming towards him. Knowing he couldn't get rid of them and keep a good grip on Ron, Harry gave his friend one almighty push up before aiming his wand at him and using magic to send his friend up to the surface of the water where he would at least hopefully float rather than sink back down. That done, he groaned as he realized more Grindylows had attached themselves to him, their sharp fingernails cutting into his bare legs. Wincing as he managed to shake one of them off, Harry pointed his wand at them and used the same spell he'd used on the first Grindylow, being especially careful not to burn his own legs with it. It took forever, and Harry's legs were aching and bleeding freely by the time he was free, but he eventually got rid of them all and swam quickly up to the surface. Once there he removed the Bubblehead Charm and took in deep breaths of the cool air that felt so much better than the air generated inside the Bubblehead Charm.
After a moment he realized Ron was pulling him towards the land again.
"I can swim," Harry said quickly, pulling his arm away from Ron so they could swim faster. "When'd you wake up?"
"As soon as my head got above water," Ron told him. "What took you so long? I was awake for nearly ten minutes before you came up! I would've come down, but I don't have my wand on me…"
"It's okay," Harry assured his friend. "A group of Grindylows caught me by surprise." His friend frowned slightly but didn't say anything as they had just reached the grounds again. Harry eagerly pulled himself out of the water, glad to be escaping it.
"You're bleeding!" Ron gasped, staring at Harry's legs. Huge gashes covered them; the cuts were apparently worse than Harry had originally thought.
"They had sharp nails," Harry said by way of explanation as Madam Pomfrey hurried over to them and bustled them inside a First Aid tent.
"Sit still," Madam Pomfrey ordered as she pushed Harry gently onto a bed. Harry rolled his eyes as he obeyed. The Hogwarts matron waved her wand over Harry a few times before tapping each of his legs, healing the cuts instantly – though his legs were still a little sore.
"They'll be painful for awhile," Pomfrey explained. "There isn't much I can do for that, I'm afraid. Now drink this up – both of you," she ordered, handing them both some Pepper-Up Potion. The effect was instantaneous; Harry felt most of his energy returning to him. After checking there was nothing else that needed fixing, Madam Pomfrey left the tent to wait on the other Champions.
"What's Percy doing here?" Harry asked, turning to Ron curiously.
"Apparently old Crouch has been off work ill," Ron said with a grin. "I think it's more like he's too ashamed to show his face – first he finds his son has been posing as a teacher at Hogwarts and then he was forced to get rid of his House-Elf."
"He got rid of his House-Elf?"
"Yeah, dunno why though," Ron shrugged. "Percy's been taking over for him at work, though, since he was Crouches personal assistant. 'If anyone knows how Crouch likes things done, it's me'". Harry had to laugh at Ron's impersonation of his older brother but it soon died when a rather tired looking Fleur entered with the little girl.
"Sit," Pomfrey ordered, having followed the two in. The two girls obeyed, sitting side by side on one of the beds where Pomfrey tended to Fleurs injuries and, as with Harry and Ron, gave them Pepper-Up Potion.
"Ze Grindeelows attacked me," Fleur explained after Madam Pomfrey had left.
"They got me, too," Harry smiled. "Fierce little buggers, aren't they?"
"Yes," Fleur nodded. "Gabrielle, zees ees 'Arry Potter and Ronald Weasley-"
"Just 'Ron' will do," Ron said in a loud voice, causing the other three occupants to smile slightly.
"'Arry, Ron, zees ees my leetle seester, Gabrielle."
"Hello," Harry said brightly, and Gabrielle blushed slightly.
It wasn't long before Cedric, Cho, Viktor and Hermione arrived and, after the newest arrivals had been treated by Madam Pomfrey, they were all led outside to where the judges were conversing amongst themselves and the Merfolk. When the Champions arrived, Dumbledore – who appeared to speak Mermish – finished the conversation off quite suddenly and Bagman turned to beam at them all. His voice already had 'Sonorus' cast on it – or, perhaps, he had never removed it – and he began speaking, his booming voice echoing slightly around the now silent crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Bagman boomed. "The judges have reached a decision. As Mr Potter was the first to return with his hostage and arrived back within fifty-six minutes, he receives fifty points." Bagman was forced to break off here as most of the crowd cheered loudly. Harry felt his stomach drop. Full marks? I don't want to be in first place! Bagman's loud voice brought Harry out of his thoughts again.
"Miss Delacour was second to return and arrived within fifty-nine minutes, therefore we award her forty-eight points." The crowd cheered again before Bagman continued. "Mr Krum was third and arrived three minutes outside the time limit, therefore we award him forty-two points," the crowd cheered again, "And Mr Diggory arrived last, nearly six minutes outside the time limit. We award him forty points."
Bagman held a short meeting after the Task again to give them the needed information on the Third Task – not that they learned much.
"The Third, and final, Task will take place on the 24th of June," Bagman informed them brightly. "You'll find out the specific details of it precisely a month beforehand – the 24th of May, that is. For now, all I can safely say is that it will be easier in some ways yet more challenging in others than either of the first two Tasks. Now, I believe that's everything out of the way… if you'll excuse me, I believe Albus wants a word."
Despite the Pepper-Up Potion he had been given by Madam Pomfrey, Harry felt exhausted after the Task and was more than ready for a nap. Telling Ron to apologise to Fred and George for him Harry left with Sirius and Remus who each held one of his arms to keep him steady.
"You've been skipping meals again," came Sirius' voice. It wasn't a question. It was a statement.
"I was too nervous to eat-"
"I'm not going to get mad," Sirius cut across him softly. "We're going to have to get you fed up again, though. You'll end up catching something if you leave your body weak like that during winter."
"I thought Moony was the clever one," Harry grinned, and Sirius mock-scowled.
When they reached Marauder Quarters Harry dropped gratefully onto the couch, not even wanting to make the effort to his own bedroom. After glancing at Sirius, who shrugged unhelpfully, Remus conjured a blanket and wrapped Harry tightly in it.
"Sleep well, cub. You did a great job today."
"Yeah, we're proud of you, kiddo," Sirius ruffled Harry's hair gently before pressing a light kiss to his head. "What's that muggle saying? Oh, right- sweet dreams."
Chapter 12 : ) It's not betad; Roxy's been rather busy with school lately. Sorry for the delay... and sorry, Roxy, for not waiting longer. I just badly wanted this chapter up, like I explained in the e-mail. : )
The whole story is complete. It's just a matter of getting the final chapters (there's fifteen in total) betad and posted. If anyone wants to help out in betaing the final three chapters- give Roxy a bit less work to do- let me know.
As always, don't forget to R&R. Hopefully the next chapter will be up quicker. : )
Edit; just so you know, I did try to add 'three big spaces' between new paragraphs for easier reading. In fact, I tried three times. Every time, though, the 'big spaces' disappear as soon as I save the fricken thing. So, naturally, having spent 20 minutes trying to get it to work, and failing miserably, I'm not a happy bunny. Therefor, tough luck, you're going to have to deal with everything being clumped together. I tried, FF doesn't want to cooperate, it isn't my fault. End of.