AN: EEK! I'm so excited! One Chapter after this and I have officially completed a multi-chapter story! I've even started on the first chapter of Year 2 which I'm really excited about, it originally isn't my favorite book of the series but Serenity's relationship with both Ginny and Hermione just take it to a whole new level and I can't wait for you to see what I have in store for the girls!
I hope this chapter doesn't confuse anyone; it's more of a summary of what happened while Harry was unconscious with a few detailed incidents. I kind of struggled with it, and I'll probably go back to it later, if anyone has any ideas how to make it a stronger chapter I would really appreciate it!
Sounds of whispers pulled Serenity from her potion induced sleep, a hazy figure of what looked like Ron floated above her. At first she was confused, why was Ron in the girl's dorm room, and how on earth did he get in here?
She closed her eyes and rubbed them with both hands, her right one twinged with faint pain. It was the soreness in her arm that reminded her of what happened and woke her up completely, she winced a little as she pushed herself into a sitting position and blinked a bit when Hermione hurtled towards her and pulled her into a suffocating hug.
" 'Mione I'm fine" she mumbled.
Hermione pulled away and nodded, "I know! I know it's just… with everything that's happened…" her best friend trailed off with a small shrug and a weak smile unsure how to explain what she was feeling.
No words were necessary though, she understood exactly how 'Mione felt, they had accomplished an amazing feat, they should proud. Instead she felt battered and bruised, more thankful that they did make it than sastified of the accomplishment. "How long have I've been out?" she asked with a small yawn.
Ron nonchalantly shrugged, "Madam Pomfrey kept us both overnight I was allowed to leave this morning but she wanted the sleeping potion she gave you to wear off on its own. It's only noon now so not too long"
As soon as Ron had mentioned the sleeping potion the hazy memory of Professor Snape carrying Harry into the hospital wing emerged and caused her to slightly panic, "What happened to Harry, I saw Snape with him! Is he alright?"
Hermione and Ron shared a look before glancing over to her right side, there, three beds away lay Harry, completely out cold. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, she looked back to her other two friends, "what happened?" she hissed.
Hermione sat down on the edge of her bed, close enough so that she could hear her whisper, "It wasn't Professor Snape, it turned out to be Professor Quirrell. Dumbledore won't tell us what exactly happened, all I know is that he and Professor Snape made it to Harry in time to get him out alive, but he's been unconscious since and they don't know when he'll wake up."
Ron nodded, "Yeah, you should've heard Wood at breakfast all he's worried about is if Harry will be able to play in the Quidditch match tomorrow."
'Mione and Ren shared an eye roll at that comment; both of them knew that there was no way Madam Pomfrey would even consider letting Harry out of the hospital wing for Quidditch. Of course winning the Quidditch Cup was the last thing on her mind right now, all she wanted to do was get out of the hospital wing.
A good hour passed before Madam Pomfrey allowed her to leave, she had made her drink three more wretched tasting potions and informed her that though her wrist was completely healed she would feel some residual pain for the next few days.
The rest of the afternoon went by like molasses, the first thing Ren did after she got out of the hospital wing, besides showering that is, was find Neville to apologize to him. Both Ron and 'Mione told her that they had explained to Neville what had happened and he understood, but that didn't mean it sat right with her. Neville had been the second friend she had made at Hogwarts and she refused to let what happened that night change their friendship in any way. So she left Ron and Hermione with an unconscious Harry, sucked up her guilt and wrecked nerves and searched the grounds for Neville.
She found him at the greenhouses sorting through some herbs he had collected; he paused with his task and looked up as he heard her enter the room. "Hi Neville" she said quietly. He watched her wearily as she walked closer to him and sat down on the bench beside him, "I'm really sorry that I threw that jinx at you last night"
He didn't say anything as he turned back to his task before him, Serenity sighed, apparently he was angry than she thought, "I want you to underst…"
"I know Ren," he said interrupting her, "Hermione and Ron explained it all to me, I get it, I do. It's just…I guess it just bugs me that I know if you had the choice to redo it, you probably would have done the same thing even though you're my friend."
She swallowed a lump that suddenly appeared in her throat and tried to blink back the guilty tears trying to make their way down her face. It was an uncomfortable fact that he was right, she would have done the same thing and though she felt horrible that she had jinxed him, she didn't regret it. "You right" she choked out, "I would have done it exactly the same, I'm just really sorry it happened to you. Your one of my best friends Neville and I just want you to know that I would never cast a jinx at you just to be cruel."
Neville nodded his head, but still refused to look at her. "I know Ren, and I'm sure we'll be fine but right now I just…don't want to talk to you….I just need time."
Serenity nodded, the tears that she had struggled to keep at bay finally trailed down her face "alright" she mumbled as she arose from her spot and turned away to walk back to the castle as quickly as she could.
The rest of the day didn't turn out any better, by the time she gotten back to the hospital wing to see Harry and meet up with Ron and Hermione she had heard all the school gossip that they had not shared with her, at least she had heard it from Lavender and Patel instead of someone else.
The girls had seen her near the entrance hall and rushed over to her. Lavender was the one who began her inquiry, "Are you alright Ren? We heard from Seamus who heard from Neville, that you and the others took on huge enchantments created by the teachers, and that you broke your arm."
Ren broke out in a grin and shook her head, "Don't worry I'm fine" she said. Happily enough with that answer they continued to inform her with things she had missed throughout the morning.
"Oliver Wood is adamant to win the Quidditch Cup, he said that we at least need one trophy for Gryffindor, you know, since there is no way we'll be able to get back all the points we lost this year" Lavender said.
Patel, who was walking beside her, nodded in agreement, "the best we could get is maybe second place"
"Who has first place?" Ren asked with a frown.
"Slytherin"
Her eyes widened, that had not been what she expected to hear and all she could say was, "Oh"
They continued to walk with her towards the hospital quietly after that. The knowledge that Slytherin won the House Cup seemed almost unheard of and definitely put another damper on the day, including since she also had a feeling that without Harry their Quiddtich team was not going to get that win. She sighed and waved to the girls before hurrying back inside the infirmary to visit Harry.
The stadium the next day was loud, and filled with excitement. It was the last Quidditch game of the year and the whole school seemed to be going all out in decorations and colors to support their teams; though the air surrounding the Gryffindor section seemed to be filled with desperation.
Neville still seemed a bit put off with her but sat with them none the less and soon they were joined with Seamus, Dean, Lavender and Patel, who, when was asked why she wasn't sitting with her twin, adamantly stated that she did have house pride and that sitting with her sister, who was a Ravenclaw, would probably lead to a fight; apparently they could be really competitive against each other.
It turned out that unlike Slytherin, who used fouls to win, and Hufflepuff, who just gave it their all, the Ravenclaw team was full of strategists. Anyone who knew Quiddtich could tell that they plotted each maneuver and the points they scored and since Gryffindor had power players the game lasted well into the afternoon.
In fact, much to Ren's amusement, Seamus started to get grouchy without lunch but kept refusing to leave the game. At one point in the peak of hungry frustration he turned to Dean and asked, with a loud whine, "Any sign o' tha snitch yet? I want ta go eat I'm starving!"
Dean shook his head and gave a resounding no without even taking his eyes off the game. It was a half hour later with the score 150 Gryffindor and 140 Ravenclaw when the Ravenclaw Seeker finally spotted the snitch and though the Gryffindor substitute seeker had speed it turned out he just wasn't fast enough. The students supporting the Ravenclaw team cheered enthusiastically, and being the good sports fans they were, the Gryffindors applauded.
Despite the loss of the game the day got better. Everyone was focused on relaxing and having fun, the twins even conned Ren into helping them steal a toilet seat for Harry, why they wanted to do that was beyond her but it cheered her up none the less as she watched Madam Pomfrey confiscate it angrily muttering something about hygiene and scoundrel twins. Other students gave her and Hermione Get Well gifts to take to Harry, Dean told them that a few students had tried to give the gifts to Ron, but that they never made it to the infirmary.
It was the next day that they received the best news yet; Harry had woken up. It took a little while to convince Madam Pomfrey to allow them in to see him, but eventually she relented. When they entered they could see Harry sitting up looking through his gifts, both she and Hermione raced over and flung their arms around him causing him to groan in slight pain. They let go instantly, "sorry Harry, we were just so worried" Hermione said sheepishly.
Ren nodded and sat on the bed next him, "We thought you…well when I saw Sanpe carrying you in here…"
"Snape did what?"
"He carried you here, into the infirmary. Oh Harry! We so worried!"
Ron sat down on the next bed over, "It wasn't just us who were worried. The whole school was, and everyone is talking about it."
"It's true" Hermione said softly, "Harry? What really happened?"
He looked at them and took a deep breath, "when I got in there it wasn't Professor Snape, it was Professor Quirrell"
"We know that, actually I think the whole school knows that" Ron said before wincing in pain as Serenity elbowed him to be quiet.
Harry smirked lightly in amusement before he continued his story, "Well, anyways, remember the Mirror of Erised and how it was moved? That was what they were using as the last enchantment. When I got inside Quirrell, well he seemed to be expecting me. He told me how it was him who jinxed my broom during the match, apparently Snape watch muttering a counter curse and when he jumped up after Ren light his robes on fire he knocked over Quirrell…"
"and broke his concentration" Serenity finished.
Harry gave her a smile and nod, "Yeah, oh and he told me that he was the one who let the troll in. The reason Snape had that limp was because he was suspicious of Quirrell and followed him to the third corridor where Fluffy got him."
"That… actually makes a lot of sense" Hermione said thoughtfully she glanced back at Harry and urged him to continue.
"Well I was standing there trying to figure out how to find the stone without Quirrell noticing, and I thought 'if I look in the mirror I'll see what I want most in the world, so I can see where the stone is hidden'. But before I could do it Quirrell started talking to himself. He couldn't figure out how to get the stone and suddenly I heard this other voice telling him to use me"
Both Ren and 'Mione gasped, "No!"
Harry nodded his head, "it was so weird and frightening; he had already told me earlier that he was trying to get the stone for his master…"
Ron's eyes widened, "you mean You Know Who?"
Harry nodded his head again, "Yeah. So, he pulled me over in front of the mirror and asked me what I could see. I knew I would have to lie; I couldn't let him get it, so I told him that I won the House Cup for Gryffindor, but really I saw myself holding the stone and then dropping it into my pants pocket, and suddenly it was actually there! In my pocket!"
"Wicked!" Ron said in amazement.
Serenity stared at Harry, she could tell the story was far from over and from the look on his face, the uneasiness there, whatever had happened next scared him, "something else happened, didn't it Harry?"
He looked at her and knew that she could tell, he slowly nodded his head and swallowed the bile that he could suddenly taste. "That voice I heard, it knew I was lying, it said he wanted to speak to me face to face. I had no idea what was going on not even as Quirrell began to take off his turban. He turned around and on the back of his head was this other face! It had these beady red eyes and slits for nostrils. It began talking to me when I realized I was actually seeing what was left of Voldemort!"
Both Ron and Hermione gasped in fright, Ren's eyes widened, that was certainly not what she had expected to hear!
"He told me he had been living off of Unicorn blood and other people. He needed the Stone to create another body and he knew it was in my pocket. He had Quirrell come after me and when he yanked my wrist my scar burst into pain, and Quirrel began to scream. It was so weird it was like he couldn't touch me and every time he did his body just seemed to turn to dust and that's when I passed out."
They didn't know what to say to him after that, they just sat in silence. Hermione was the one who asked him if he knew why Quirrell couldn't touch him, and he told her about how his mother's unconditional love protected him form Voldemort.
Serenity sat there unsure what to say, it was really a terrifying and yet amazing story, suddenly she thought of something, something that had happened a while back, she bit her lip from giggling, but a snort got through. Hermione shot her a angry glare and Harry looked at her in shock that she was laughing at him, even though she wasn't. "Harry?" she asked as calmly as she could, "did Quirrell have You Know Who on the back of his head the whole year?"
"I guess, he said he met him while he traveled the world and had been there since. Why?"
This time she couldn't keep her giggles in, even though it seemed cold of her to laugh, she looked at all her friends with giddy mirth in her eyes, "Oh Merlin Ron! Do you know how much I love your brothers right now?"
Ron rolled his eyes annoyed, "what do they have to do with this?"
She giggled again, "Don't you remember what they kept doing to Quirrell during winter, with the snowballs?"
"Yeah, they charmed them to bounce off the back of his head…so what?"
At that statement Hermione's eyes had widened and her mouth dropped in shock she looked at Ren, "you mean…" and at Serenity's nod both girls had burst out into giggles.
Harry stared at them confused, "why is that funny?" he asked, because really he couldn't understand why they would laugh after he told them such a serious story.
Ren wiped away the tears that had appeared from her laughter and looked into his eyes with glee, "Harry, they threw snowballs at the back of Quirrell's head! That means they were hitting You Know Who!"
Both boys stared at them in shock and wonder, neither could really laugh because that idea was just too insane.
"Oh my Merlin" Ron mumbled in slight awe, "only my brothers" and for the first time since his scar had started hurting Harry laughed.
AN: Huh. I was going to put the feast in here but I actually think that this is a good ending for this chapter; well I guess I know how the last one will start!
Diamondgirl13- Thank you! I was a little confused by your review so I'm going to cover all my bases ;) If you meant sequels; Yes, I am planning on continuing Serenity's adventure through all seven books. If you really meant duels as in dueling wizards, of course! I find the first book to be more introductory than action but as everything progresses there will most definitely be tons more action taking place (duels included)!
Mayakon- Thank You Sooo Much! It really made my day when I read your review and I am so glad you like the story! I've found many stories that I just have to finish despite how late is and to know that mine was like that for you just made me giggle happily ;)
Psychoyoshi79- I'm glad you thought it turned out all right, honestly I spent the whole time as I was writing that last chapter (cause I think that is where everyone tends to turn OC's into Sue's) thinking, 'okay if she does this it's way to cheesy, or that's to cliché, and well crap that'll make her a Mary Sue'. So I'm really glad that you thought it was done well and that I've kept her a true OC!