CHAPTER FOURTEEN: AND SO IT BEGINS

On Tuesday, after Transfiguration, Harri, Ron, Draco and Hermione walked down to Hagrid's Hut where they normally meet for Care of Magical Creatures, and got a huge surprise when they arrived. Hagrid was standing in front of his hut with what looked like a dead cow over his shoulder.

'Hagrid!' yelled Ron, Harri and Hermione, running to see him while Draco slowly followed them.

'It's so good to see you again, Hagrid!' Harri beamed.

'It's good to see yeh too, Harri. It is you, isn't Harri?'

'Yes, it's me. Can we come and see you during lunch?'

'Course yeh can.' Hagrid smiled.

'Can Harri's boyfriend come too?' Ron asked innocently.

'Course - wait! Yeh have a boyfriend? Since when?'

'Since after my Hearing. Where is he anyway?' Harri added, looking around to see where Draco had gone. 'I swear he was behind us when we came down.'

'There he is, Harri. He's talking to Neville,' said Hermione.

Sure enough, there was Draco, talking and laughing with Neville.

'What do yeh mean he's talkin' with Neville? All I can see is Malfoy – now that's odd, never thought I'd see them gettin' along.' Then after about a minute, understanding began to show on Hagrid's face. 'Malfoy, Harri? You're datin' Malfoy?'

'Yes, but he's different now. A lot has happened while you've been been gone, Hagrid. Draco Malfoy is no longer the "Prince of Slytherin" - '

'But he will be, when he marries Harri,' muttered Ron, smirking at Harri.

' - he doesn't bully anyone anymore, he spends more time with Gryffindors than Slytherins and the Slytherins all hate him,' said Hermione, ignoring Ron's comment, while Harri glared at him.

'He really is sorry for all that he did to you, Hagrid,' Harri said quietly, still glaring at Ron. 'That's probably why he was trying to hide.'

'Yeah, half the time Harri and Draco are glued at the hip,' Ron said matter-of-factly.

'Well, sure, why not? He can come with yeh,' Hagrid said finally. 'Ok' class!' Hagrid called to the rest of the class. 'We're workin' in the Forest today! Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark.' Then he started walking towards the forest.

'I don't think I want to know what prefers the dark,' muttered Draco, making Harri laugh as she took his hand in hers, leading the class after Hagrid.

They came to a small, dark clearing where they gathered around Hagrid, who threw the dead cow on the ground.

'Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat so all we have to do is wait,' explained Hagrid, to the sea of confused faces, though his explanation didn't help. All it did was lead to even more confused faces.

After a few minutes, Harri saw movement out the corner of her eye and turned to see the same horse-like creatures that were pulling the carriages. She quickly looked up at Draco, who had his arms around her waist, and saw that he was looking at the same spot as her, and then he looked down at her and whispered in her ear, 'What were you looking at?'

'You can't see them?'

'See what?'

Harri didn't answer him, instead she looked around at the rest of the class and realised that most of them couldn't see them either, except for Nott, who was watching the creatures, more of whom had just appeared, looking disgusted and Neville who looked terrified at the sight of them.

'Harri, are you all right?' Draco asked, feeling a bit worried about his girlfriend's behaviour.

'I think so,' she said slowly.

'Put yer hands up if you can see 'em?' instructed Hagrid.

Harri slowly raised her hand, along with Neville and Nott.

'I thought you would be able to, Harri,' said Hagrid, also noticing how comfortable Harri was in Draco's embrace.

'Excuse me,' said Draco politely, startling Hagrid, who had never heard him like that before, 'but what are we meant to be looking at or for?'

'Thestrals,' answered Hagrid, pointing to the dead cow, which the Thestrals were currently eating. 'Only people that have seen death can see them.'

'Then how come I'm only just seeing them now?' inquired Harri.

'What do yeh mean?' asked Hagrid, frowning slightly.

'Well, I saw my parents die, so shouldn't I have been seeing them since my second year, when I started taking the carriages?'

'Um, well -'

'Hem hem.'

Hagrid broke off and looked at one of the Thestrals, clearly thinking that it had made the noise.

'That wasn't the Thestral, Hagrid, if that's what you're thinking,' said Draco.

Hagrid looked up at Draco, who nodded towards Umbridge.

'Oh, hello!' said Hagrid.

'You received the message I sent you this morning, telling you that I would be inspecting your lesson today?' asked Umbridge, speaking in a loud, slow voice as though she was speaking to someone that didn't understand English.

'Yeah, glad you found the place all right. As you can see, or maybe you can't, can you see that we are doing Thestrals?' said Hagrid, friendly.

'Are you aware that the Ministry classify Thestrals as dangerous creatures?' Umbridge said, ignoring his question.

'Thestrals aren't dangerous!' Hagrid chuckled. 'Ok' if you annoy them, they might have a go at you…'

'Shows…signs of…pleasure…at idea of…violence.' said Umbridge, scribbling on her clipboard, while Hagrid quickly went to defend himself.

Umbridge spent the entire lesson twisting both Hagrid's actions and words to show him as a very incapable teacher. At the end of the lesson, Hermione was shaking in fury, while Harri was busy plotting revenge in her head.

'Well, at least we can get back at her tonight, with the DA meetin,' said Ron.

'Good point,' muttered Hermione.

-THE UNMASKED MYSTERY-

The DA meetings had been a huge success and Harri was proud of every single DA member and how much they had improved since they had started.

That night, Harri and Draco arrived early at the Room of Requirements and got a shock when they arrived. The Room had been decorated for Christmas with large banners bearing: HAVE A VERY HARRI CHRISTMAS. Harri was grateful that they had decided to come early, for they had just got the last of the banners down - it took a few minutes for Draco to stop laughing at the banners and the look on Harri's face - when the first of the members arrived.

'Is this the reason why you and Draco left early?' asked Hermione, looking around the room.

'No, I don't know who did it,' replied Harri, throwing a reproachful look at the banners.

That lesson, Harri had the members going over the Impediment Jinx and Stunning, and she continued to be impressed on how much everyone had improved, but she was most impressed with Neville. When they had first started, Draco was able to get him every time, if he wanted to, but instead he just stood there waiting for Neville to jinx him for most of the lesson. Now, Draco could take turns with Neville, for he knew that if it were a fight between them, Draco would win seeing that he was quicker with his wand. At the end of the lesson, Harri dismissed them with the promise of trying out Patronuses.

'We'll see you guys tomorrow,' Hermione said to Draco and Harri as she and Ron walked towards the Gryffindor Common room, while Draco and Harri headed towards the dungeon.

'Do you think they'll ever admit their feelings for each other?' Draco sighed, looking at Ron and Hermione's retreating figures.

'Yes, when they are able to admit it to themselves,' Harri replied knowingly, before changing the topic. 'Well, what did you think of Hagrid?' During lunch they had gone down to Hagrid's Hut and he told them about his journey to the giants.

'He is a big softie. I never thought someone like Hagrid would be a softie but he is. Anyhow, how do you suppose he got those injuries?'

'No idea. I just hope he hasn't done anything illegal or dangerous… more dangerous than usua,.' Harri added, catching Draco's raised eyebrows.

'Hmm, I'll see you tomorrow,' He bent and kissed her goodnight, but they quickly drew apart when a voice behind them said, 'Shouldn't you two hurry up and get to bed?'

Severus was walking up the corridor with a smirk on his face.

'Sorry Sev, night,' said Draco, before he headed in the direction of the Slytherin Common room.

'Have a nice night?' Harri asked Severus as they walked to their quarters.

'Yes I did, thank you.'

'So… will she become my Aunt?'

'Aunt?' Severus stopped dead, staring at Harri.

'Yes. Will you two get married?'

'Maybe.' Then, desperate to change the subject,t Severus asked her about her night.

'Yeah, it was fun. You should see how much everyone has improved. Being a good teacher must be in my blood. Oh, that reminds me, do you know if the Room of Requirements can self-decorate? Is it sentient?'

'If you are referring to those Christmas decorations, I had that house-elf Dobby put them up.'

'That explains a lot.' She went on to tell her uncle about the banners Dobby had put up.

'He must think really highly of you,' Severus said laughing, before he muffled a yawn. 'Right, I'm off to bed, night sweetie,' he said, embracing her and kissing her on the forehead.

'Night, Uncle Sev.'

That night Harri had the same dream about a corridor, only it was through the eyes of a snake. When she came to the end of the corridor, she saw a man sitting there, slowly falling asleep. When he caught sight of her, he jumped to his feet to attack, but she was quicker, plunging her fangs into his skin, sending blood everywhere. Then she looked down into the slowly dying man's face. Arthur Weasley would be dead before anyone found him, so she turned and slithered away to report to her master…

'Harri! Come on, sweetie, wake up! Harri!'

Harri abruptly awoke and ran to the bathroom, vomiting into the toilet. Severus quickly followed her making sure that she was all right.

'Harri?'

'Mr Weasley! You have to go and help Mr Weasley! He is hurt and he is slowly dying! At the end of the corridor that he was guarding!' Harri said, shaking uncontrollably.

'Okay, I'm going to call your grandparents, then I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing.' He left quickly before Harri could protest.

Minutes later, Severus was carrying Harri to the Hospital Wing, while she quietly sobbed into his chest. When they arrived at the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey was at Harri side in a second, giving her a potion to calm her down.

'What happened?' Minerva asked quickly, rushing to her granddaughter's side while Albus followed more slowly.

Harri quickly told them about what happened, and once she had finished, Albus quickly went to organise help for Mr Weasley, while Minerva hurried off to get the Weasley children. As soon as they arrived, Severus took an empty potion vial and turned it into a Portkey and the six of them Portkeyed to Grimmauld Place, scaring Remus and Sirius, who were have a late night hot chocolate, when they appeared.

'Wh-what happened?' asked Remus, while Sirius was swearing in the background because he'd spilt his hot chocolate all over himself.

'Fred? Can you take Harri up to her room, please? The rest of you should go to bed as well,' said Severus.

'Sure,' muttered Fred, taking Harri in his arms and carrying her to her room, no matter how much she protested. Meanwhile, the other three Weasley's all started yelling at Severus about staying awake until they heard news about their father.

'Then why don't you sit down and I'll make some more hot chocolate,' said Sirius, having finished his swearing rant.

A little while later, Fred came into the kitchen.

'Harri was asleep before we even reached her landing,' he said, accepting a mug of hot chocolate off Sirius. 'So, what happened? Minerva said that Dad was attacked,' he continued, after taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

Severus recounted the events that had happened that night and when he had finished Fawkes flew into the kitchen with a letter, which George quickly ripped opened and read aloud.

Dad is still alive. I am setting out for St Mungo's now.

Stay where you are. I will send news as soon as I can.

Mum

This letter didn't bring any joy to their hearts for there was still the possibility that Mr Weasley could die.

Harri was the only one that slept the night. When she awoke the next morning she was a bit disorientated, wondering why she was in her bedroom at Grimmauld Place, until she suddenly remembered having seen the snake attack Mr Weasley. She leaped out of bed and ran barefooted down the steps into the kitchen where Severus, Sirius, Remus, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny all were. When she rushed in, the Weasleys looked up hoping that it was someone with news regarding their father, before looking back down. Harri, noticing this look, realised that they had not heard anything. She went and sat quietly between Severus and Sirius.

An hour later, Mrs Weasley walked in, looking pale, but happy.

'He's going to be just fine,' she said, before walking over to Harri and embracing her. 'Thank you, Harri. If it hadn't been for you…' She trailed off and no one needed her to finish her sentence.

Harri only smiled in return before saying that she would cook breakfast while everyone rested, and when they protested she firmly stated that they needed to sleep, whereas she did sleep last night due to exhaustion. After breakfast, everyone went up stairs to have a nap, while Harri did the dishes, before she headed upstairs and sat on her bed, reading a book.

Once everyone was awake, refreshed from their nap and they'd had some lunch, Severus Flooed back to Hogwarts, while Remus, Harri and the Weasleys got ready to visit Mr Weasley, along with Moody and Tonks.

When they arrived at St Mungo's and were in Mr Weasley's hospital room, they saw that he was fine and he had to share his room with two other patients. Mrs Weasley was alarmed to learn that a werewolf had bitten one of the patients. Then the adults quickly sent the Harri and the Weasley children into the corridor to wait while they had a quiet word with Mr Weasley, regarding the incident. Unfortunately, for the adults, Fred and George had their Extendable Ears with them, which allowed them to listen into their conversation.

'…they searched the whole area but couldn't find the snake anywhere. It just seemed to have vanished after it attacked you, Arthur. What I don't understand is why You-Know-Who expected his snake to get in,' whispered Tonks.

'I don't think he was expecting it to get in. I think it was just sent as a lookout. Trying to get a better picture of what his facing. So, young Harrietta saw what happened?' said Moody.

'Yes,' replied an uneasy Mrs Weasley. 'When I spoke to Albus, it sounded as though he was expecting his granddaughter to have these… visions.'

'Well, we all know that Harrietta is no normal teenage girl. She has survived things that most adults can't survive, especially when it involves Voldemort!' said Moody.

'He seemed worried,' Mrs Weasley continued.

'Of course he is worried! His granddaughter is seeing things from inside his oldest son's snake. He thinks that he will have another Severus on his hands. He believes that Voldemort might try and earn Harrietta's trust and turn her against us the same way he did with Severus, and with Harrietta seeing things inside his snake, it makes her vulnerable to being possessed by him - '

Harri quickly ripped the Extendable Ear from her own and looked at her friends, who were looking at her fearfully.

Was this why her Grandfather wouldn't look at her any more, or have anything to do with her? Was he scared that she would break his heart like Severus had? countless questions swirled around Harri's head, none of which she would be able to get an answer to until it was too late.

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Written: February 2011
Updated: 24 June 2012
Beta: alex rider junkie

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. FAIR USE ONLY. I DO, HOWEVER, CLAIM SOME COPYRIGHT OVER HARRI SINCE SHE IS HALF BASED ON MY ORIGINAL VALKYRIE CHARACTER, PRINCESS HARRIETTA.