Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of JK Rowling's other creations. They're used purely for nonprofit reasons here.
A/N: I had a so-so week, so I haven't been spending much time writing. I'm sorry if this is a little later than you would have hoped for, but I'm working hard and trying to get more done. ALSO, I have a one-shot little thing I plan on posting at some point. So when it does, you can look forward to that. Oh, and another chapter of this, too. Otherwise, happy reading and keep on reviewing.
00000000000000 Chapter 21: Welcome Back 0000000000000000
Harry woke with a smiling brown-eyed face less than a foot from his own. "H…Hermione," he garbled. The girl grinned and nodded excitedly.
"How do you feel, Harry?" she asked eagerly. He managed a weak and very tremulous grin. He was disoriented, at the very least, and his head was swimming and his mouth felt like sand paper.
"G-good," he said, still working on strengthening his voice. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Harry, don't you lie to me," she scolded without any real malice in her voice. Harry blinked a few times, trying to make himself look better.
"Where's?" he asked. Hermione knew what he meant without him even attempting to finish the question.
"Ron's with Ginny still," his friend explained. "She's recovering really well, and most of the others are all here, waiting for classes to begin Monday. They're letting Ginny stay awake most of the day now."
"'M glad," he said. He roughly cleared his throat, and suddenly felt a glass of water pressed into his hand. He struggled to sit up and managed without assistance before taking a deep drink of the water. "Thanks," he said, voice clearer now. Hermione smiled at him, but Harry could see the sadness and fear in her smile now.
"What's wrong?" he asked, worried. Hermione smiled and dashed away a tear from her eye. "Are you all right? You weren't hurt were you?" he demanded, alarmed.
Hermione choked on tears as she laughed. "I'm fine, really," she finally managed. "It's just…it's been so terrible these past few days…"
"I'm really sorry," Harry said. Hermione scoffed.
"Harry, I'm not mad at you!" she said. "I just…with Ginny hurt and you hurt and Ron feeling guilty…"
"Guilty?" Harry interrupted again. Hermione gave a weak shrug and tried to look less upset. It didn't work.
"Ron felt bad being with Ginny more than you," she admitted. "He felt terrible when he heard that you'd woke up without us there."
"Remus came by," he said. "I understood. And I was out two days…you couldn't know when I'd wake up."
"I know, it's just…" Hermione trailed off, and Harry stayed silent while she looked past him, eyes unfocused. "You have no idea how scared we were, Harry. Your shield caught Ron, Neville, and I, and then it sort of wavered when the train hit the ground…and then again a moment later… It faded when everything came to a rest."
She turned towards him again and stared straight at him. "Harry, there was blood all over the glass when Ron pushed me up through the doors. We couldn't use magic to get out because the Headmaster had set up heavy protection wards around you…we had to crawl right past you, Harry…"
Her voice reduced to a whisper as she spoke. "You were lying there with your eyes closed and a big gash across the left side of your face…and your arm was twisted under you and your shoulder was caved in…there was blood all over the place…"
She blinked finally, just once. "I thought you were dead, Harry. They wouldn't tell me if you were going to be okay, because they couldn't move you until everyone else was out. They were going to have to use strong stabilizing magic and several protection spells to get you out and to Hogwarts."
"I'm okay now," he finally put in, voice wavering. Had it been that terrible? "I'm sorry I scared you."
"You have no idea…it was like first year," she whispered. Harry blinked.
"First year?" he asked.
"When they brought you into the infirmary…you were covered in cuts and pale as a ghost…" she told him. "I thought you'd been killed. Back then, I'd never seen Dumbledore so grave."
"You never said anything then," he objected, feeling confused and inexplicably guilty. He hadn't meant to make his friends worry so much.
"You woke up and were fine," she said with a shrug. "I used to think Dumbledore was all-powerful back then, too. We all did. If he said you would be okay, I believed it."
"Well, I still didn't mean to get hurt," he assured her. "I didn't even think about the fact that I would get thrown forward when the train hit the ground. It happened too fast for me to prevent it."
"I know," Hermione said with a sigh. "I just wish everything didn't happen to you."
"Everything didn't happen to me," he said. "Ginny and a lot of others got hurt too, you know."
"Yeah," she agreed. "But…it's just…"
"What?" he pressed when she stopped.
"Well, you have so many close calls, all the time," she admitted. "There have been so many times over the years when you should have died, but, thank Merlin, didn't."
Harry couldn't help but wonder if that was somehow tied to the prophecy, but he couldn't ask Hermione about it. Not now.
He knew he would tell Hermione and Ron was he was ready, but he also knew that he was nowhere near ready.
"Luck," he offered instead. Hermione regarded him a moment.
"Luck runs out."
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Welcome all, for another year,
At our wonderful, Hoggy Hogwarts.
Just in case you didn't know it,
I am a magical hat that sorts.
Usually I speak about four houses,
Each with traits that describe them best,
I tell you what you can expect to find,
In your new homes with the rest.
But this year is different,
This year I do not care
To tell you where you should be
Because dividing you is not fair.
I sang it last year, I warned you all,
And I'll do it until you listen,
Every year and in every fall.
I sort new students into their Homes
Every year I must divide this school,
Splitting students to their sides.
Forcing them to fit a mold
Their true nature, it hides.
It is dangerous, it is folly,
And I will warn you just once more
That I do not think that this rule
Is worth doing what I'm for.
It is my duty to sort you out,
And I cannot refuse,
But every year it gets worse,
With sorting, you stand only to lose.
I said know the perils, heed the signs,
Hogwarts is in grave danger,
And disunited Hogwarts lines
Will not be able to save our world.
I'm sure somewhere I'm requested
To say a bit about each place to go,
But I think perhaps we have invested
Too much into this senseless show.
Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff,
Slytherin, and Ravenclaw,
Four houses that should be together
In this war that ever closer draws,
I know you won't listen to me,
Wizards think they know
More than a tattered, battered hat
But I've had decades to grow
And I think that perhaps I do know.
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"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" Dumbledore exclaimed, as he did every year. "I am glad to see that all of the students that were on the Hogwarts Express have made it here today, and I would like to apologize again for letting something like that attack occur."
Harry watched the old man speak with only half of his attention—the rest was on the hall, full of students but certainly not as full as it had been previous years. There were gaps at the Slytherin table in the upper years, while there were gaps in the lower years of all of the other houses.
Dumbledore was speaking about the need for unity, about the fact that he was not all-powerful and attacks could and would happen, as had been proved. But Harry's thoughts weren't on the Headmaster's words.
Harry's thoughts were mostly on the Sorting Hat's warning song, which had been similar to its song the year before. He wondered just how much a hat could possibly know—but then again, it certainly was no ordinary hat. This year he knew that he was taking the warning more to heart. The hat didn't seem to say anything that didn't hold at least a little real warning.
"This past year has been difficult for many," Dumbledore continued, and Harry watched the man's blue eyes rove over the students, never pausing on any table. "I know that many of you have felt the repercussions of the growing strife, and I wish to assure you that Hogwarts is one of the safest places you can be. But, as I said a year and a half ago, Voldemort is back."
That sentence brought a crescendo of murmurs and whispers. Harry watched the younger, just-sorted first years look around with frightened eyes. Had he ever looked that innocent and afraid, he wondered? It didn't seem possible. "I will not ease your discomfort by avoiding his name," Dumbledore said after a moment. "Voldemort is nothing more than a word, a silly title that a terrible man has given himself. Fearing a word only increases your fear of the thing."
Dumbledore's eyes locked with someone in the hall, but Harry could not see who before Dumbledore's gaze turned onto him. "I would ask that you all exercise caution, especially after our disastrous return to Hogwarts. The derailment of the Hogwarts Express and the attack upon it just go to show that Voldemort is not planning to stay quiet for long. He wants power, and he will do all he can to get it."
Harry inclined his head just slightly, and Dumbledore smiled slightly but did not look away. "Voldemort will be defeated only if we present a united front. It is important that in these coming years we work together every step of the way, and I would ask that, in order to accomplish this, all of you work to overcome your prejudices and befriend ALL of Hogwart's houses."
Dumbledore was silent for several moments while the tables regarded each other nervously. Harry wasn't watching them though. His eyes had traveled down the head table to where a strange man sat. The DADA teacher, he assumed.
"On a more mundane note," Dumbledore finally continued, "the list of illegal items has been extended greatly to include every product currently on Weasley Wizarding Wheeze's order form. If you wish to see the complete list, it is available at Mr. Filch's office. The Forbidden Forest is strictly Forbidden as usual, and this year I would ask that no student travel alone on the grounds, nor step off of Hogwarts boundaries for any reason."
Dumbledore gestured down the table. "We also have another new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor; Professor Murkwater."
Harry looked over the man as he stood, noting mainly that the man's smile looked very forced, and his eyes were darting over the hall rapidly. Murkwater gave a small wave before sitting back down quickly.
"All of the educational decrees ordered by Dolores Umbridge last year have also been removed," Dumbledore added, almost as an afterthought. Harry had already known, but it was nice to be sure that he could once again play Quidditch.
"There is little else to be said, except 'Tuck in!'"
Harry couldn't help but notice that the cheeriness in Dumbledore's voice seemed a little forced.
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Since Ron and Hermione were once again prefects, and even Ginny was now a prefect, Harry found himself walking back to Gryffindor effectively on his own. There were some second and third year Gryffindors in several groups heading back towards the dorm, but no one that he really knew.
He slowed his stride even more, letting everyone get ahead of him. He wanted to be alone for just a bit, so he could think a little. He was seriously considering telling Ron and Hermione about the Prophecy sometime within the next few days, but he really didn't know how to say it. Did he just say 'hey, either I have to kill Voldemort or he'll kill me,' or should he work into it more gradually and hope his friends figured out the right questions to ask to get the answer from him?
He didn't realize just how far behind he'd fallen until a hand stopped him. He twisted around and stepped back, unbalancing, but even before he'd regained his footing his wand was out, trained on whoever had stopped him.
"Good reflex, Mr. Potter."
It was Professor Murkwater, Harry realized. The dirty-blonde of the man's hair was rather distinctive. "Hello, Professor," Harry said automatically, keeping his wand handy. He didn't know who this man was, and he sure didn't trust him yet. If he ever did.
"You shouldn't wander the halls alone," the man said. "Especially without paying attention to your surroundings."
Harry shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. "I've got a lot on my mind."
"I'm sure you do," Murkwater said. Harry stepped back.
"I—I'm heading back to my dorm now," he said. "Er—"
"Go," Murkwater said with a wave of his hand to gesture. Brown eyes locked with green. "Be careful, Potter."
"I will," Harry promised uneasily, looking away and turning to go. Murkwater did not say anything as he went to leave, so he hurried down the hall and around a corner as quickly as he could.
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"Could that prat have babbled on any longer?" Harry heard Ron's tired voice even from where he sat in the common room, reading about animagi.
"He just wanted to be thorough," came Hermione rejoinder. "And it's not like we have to listen to every word he says."
"What, you, Hermione, saying we don't have to listen?" he heard Ron respond. He looked up from his book as Hermione and Ron came all the way into the common room. They saw him wave and came over, smiling.
Harry smiled, too, until he saw Ginny come in alone, behind them, and head for her dorm immediately. "How are you feeling, Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry rolled his eyes, pushing Ginny out of his mind for the moment.
"Just as fine as I was this evening," he told her. "I feel great. I promise."
"At least you didn't have to listen to some Ravenclaw babble on and on about our responsibilities," Ron grumbled. Harry laughed, closing his book and setting it aside. He noticed Hermione's eyes scanned the title quickly, but she didn't say anything about it.
"Are there any new rules?" Harry asked. "Just in case we want to break them."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "A lot of security stuff," she said. "The Head Boy and Girl are both given a lot of information, I think, and they were both pretty nervous. I think they're afraid that Dumbledore's protection isn't going to be enough. Like with the Hogwarts Express."
"Well, I don't see why they shouldn't be scared," Harry said reasonably. "There's a lot of reasons to be afraid, but I don't think acting like it is going to help."
"I think you should know," Hermione began, then looked kind of hesitant.
"Go on," Harry said. Hermione sighed.
"Well, you got mentioned at the meeting," she admitted. Harry blinked, feeling a little confused as to why he'd be talked about at a prefect meeting.
"What for?"
"Well, the head boy thinks that we're in more danger cuz you're here," Ron stated, then rolled his eyes. "I mean, it's not like You-Know-Who wants to kill Dumbledore or anything."
Harry felt anger burning inside, and he pushed it down. His friends didn't deserve to have his anger taken out on them. "That's stupid. Where else am I supposed to go?"
"Don't get upset, please," Hermione asked him. "They're just stupid, and if Dumbledore knew he'd set them straight."
Harry wanted to ask whether they'd rather have the supposed only one that can kill Voldemort at school with them or not, but remembered quickly that that wouldn't make any sense to Ron or Hermione. "It's getting late," he said instead. He stood and stretched, picking up his book.
"Yeah, sure," Ron agreed, and Hermione didn't object. Harry saw Ron hesitate and grinned, heading up the stairs to the dorm. That would give Ron enough time to give Hermione a good kiss goodnight.
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When he was sure that Ron had fallen asleep, snoring quietly on his bed, Harry threw back his covers and slipped out of bed. He silently tip-toed out of the dorm room and down into the common-room. Since it was only a little past midnight now, there were still a half-dozen students in the common room, mostly seventh-years. But Harry was looking for someone in particular.
He had to wait, curled up on a sofa, for an hour before she emerged from her dorm, obviously trying to avoid any possible contact with him. He stood up, forcing himself to confront her.
"Ginny, we need to talk," he said aloud.
She started badly, whirling towards him with wide hazel eyes before relaxing. Some. "We don't need to—" she started, but Harry cut her off.
"We do," he said. "Now. This can't keep up like this."
Ginny sighed and nodded, and he waited for her to come over to the couches before sitting down again. She sat down across from him, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. "What do you want to talk about, Harry?" she asked warily. Harry sighed.
"I didn't get a chance to visit you in the hospital," he said first. "I wanted to."
"I was fine," she said. "Ron and Hermione were there a lot."
"I didn't mean for you to get hurt," he said. She blinked at him.
"It wasn't like you ordered the attack," she said. Harry noticed that she didn't say that he hadn't been the reason for the attack.
"Ginny," he said, trying to stay patient with her. "I'll understand if you don't want to talk to me or be friends with me or whatever, but every time I see you dart away in order to avoid being in the same room as me, I feel terrible."
Ginny reddened. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm trying."
"I can't help who I'm related to," he told her gently. She looked up at him with haunted eyes.
"My nightmares changed for a bit," she said. "For a while, instead of Riddle being in that diary, it was you."
"I'm sorry," he said, feeling inexplicably ashamed.
She shook her head. "Don't be," she said. "It's stupid, I know…but whenever I see you…it's like looking at Riddle."
"I'm not him. I'm not even that closely related," he tried. She sighed.
"I can't help it," she said. "What am I supposed to do?"
"You trusted me for four years," he said. "Why does that have to change?"
Ginny looked down at her knees, then up again. Her eyes were brimming with tears, and Harry got up and moved over next to her. She stiffened, then suddenly started to sob.
Awkwardly, having never really experienced either end of a situation like this, he put his arms around her. He thought she would try to pull away from him, but instead she turned towards him, burying her face into his chest, sobbing hysterically now.
He didn't know what to do really, so he just held onto her while she sobbed, hiccupping every now and then. She shook and sobbed for five minutes before she got it back under control and looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes.
"I'm s-sorry, Harry," she said. "I never meant to be so cold."
"It's all right," he assured her. She continued to look up at him with a tear-stained face, and before he could react, she'd stretched up a little further and pressed her lips to his.
He was frozen with shock, wondering what Ron would think if he came down, and wondering just why Ginny was doing this…he thought she had a boyfriend, didn't she?
He didn't have long to wonder in frozen shock before Ginny pulled away, a sad expression on her face.
They stared at each other silently for almost a minute.
"That was weird," Ginny said softly. Harry could only nod. The kiss hadn't felt like anything to him…even Cho's had meant more.
"I don't think…" he started, but Ginny cut him off with a nod.
"It's like kissing my brother or something," she said, looking conflicted. "I guess I'll just keep on dating Dean."
"Agreed," Harry said, relieved. While Ginny was a nice girl, and a nice person, he'd never really considered going out with her. She was like a sister to him.
"I've gotta get to bed," Ginny said finally. Harry gave her a last squeeze before letting her go.
"Are we okay now?" he asked. Ginny nodded.
"Yeah, yeah we are," she said, then smiled at him for the first time since she'd learned of his ancestry. "Goodnight, Harry."
"G'night, Ginny," he said.
She turned and went up the stairs to her dorm, and Harry sighed and stood up, feeling odd.
Feeling like a big brother, he realized. He smiled. It felt good.
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Harry walked along the path very carefully, keeping his eye out for any danger. The trees were close in on both sides of him, and it was threatening to rain. A harsh and chilling wind was slashing down the path, and the dirt under his shoes was soft and loose.
It was much too dark to see anything but ominous shapes, and Harry nervously kept going, wanting to reach the path's end.
Several times, he thought he heard a rustle that wasn't caused by the wind, but each time he whirled around there was nothing behind him. Unnerved, he started to run forward, throwing all caution to the wind. He needed to get to the end of the path. He needed to escape whomever or whatever was haunting his steps.
In an instant, he'd burst out of the forest and onto a hillside that sloped up in front of him.
Up until it stopped at the sheer stone walls of a gigantic castle.
Harry had never seen it from the outside. Before, he had always been in its interior, wandering its hallways and rooms. He had never seen the thick stone walls that now loomed ahead of him, rising up from the ground like gigantic cliffs.
But his attention was soon drawn to the group on the hillside. Dark-robed figures that stood in a circle. There was someone on the ground, but Harry could not see who it was from where he stood.
He tried to get closer, but no matter how much he tried to climb the slope in front of him, he kept sliding back down it. It was as if someone was forcing him away from it, and he finally gave up and let the invisible force push him back to the end of the path.
And then lightening cracked and the rain began to pour down in great torrents, turning the loose dirt to mud in a matter of minutes. Harry struggled through the mire, trying to figure out just what he was supposed to be doing, and stumbled into the side of some wooden building.
Lightening lit up whatever he'd hit, and he realized that a very small wooden structure stood in front of him, with something written under the overhang.
He waited, shivering with cold, until lightening struck again, and read the words as fast as he could.
A warning to all who travel here,
Who wish to force their way,
Entrance is granted only
To those who pay.
The Key to entry is not what you think,
Nor is it what you hold.
The doors will not open for anyone,
To let you in from the cold.
It took five different cracks of lightening in order to read this all, and afterwards Harry stared at it, confused. What did it mean? To get into the castle, you needed a key…but it wasn't a key like a real, metal, key. Or…
The second stanza was too ambiguous for him to figure out now. He needed a key, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be a conventional metal key. Or maybe it was. He wasn't sure. All he did know was that he needed to remember this and write it down.
Just as soon as he woke up.
He curled under the edge of the building, trying to stay dry while he waited. He never could seem to wake himself up from these…whatever they weres…but that didn't mean he had to wander around in the rain waiting for it to happen.
But then there was a dark shape. Another, another, and another.
All around him. Advancing.
He flattened against the wall behind him, pressing himself against the wood as best he could. He hoped they hadn't seen him.
But then lightening flashed and he knew he had to have been illuminated by the bright light. His enemies had been, giving him long enough to see black cloaks and white masks. Death Eaters…and he was circled.
He raised his wand, determined to fight even if this was just some sort of dream. "Get back!" he shouted, then tried to dart sideways, away from the building.
A red blast hit next to him, knocking him back towards the center of the semi-circle. He struggled on hands and knees to get to his feet, but the mud sucked and pulled at his body and he couldn't seem to drag himself free.
It was as if the mud was dragging him downwards, twisting around his arms and legs and keeping him from pulling free. The Death Eaters were advancing too fast for him to fight back, but they hadn't attacked again. They just watched him, white masks stretching and twisting out of shape as they coldly watched the mud sucked him under.
And with a last gasp he was engulfed in darkness.
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"HARRY!" Ron shouted. Harry screamed and sat up, tangled in his sheets so much that he unbalanced and would have rolled off the bed if Ron hadn't grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the center of the bed. "You all right, mate?" Ron asked, concerned.
Harry gulped several times, breathing hard as he remembered the mud closing over his head. He looked around with out of focus eyes and saw several pale faces staring at him. He'd woken up everyone in the dorm. "I'm okay," he said. "A nightmare. Just a nightmare."
Ron watched him a moment, and Harry looked away. "You sure, Harry?" he asked. Harry nodded.
"This time, I am," he said. No need to mention that he'd been having this recurring whatever ever since his birthday. "What time is it?" he asked.
Ron grimace. "Three in the morning."
Harry groaned, lying back down. "Sorry I woke you all up," he said.
He heard Ron laugh a few times, but he'd already closed his eyes again, feeling exhausted now more than when he'd went to bed.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts, everyone," Ron said.
Harry heard several chuckles before he slipped back into a completely dreamless sleep.
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A/N: Well, I despise my attempt at a Sorting Hat song, and I have to say that my poetry attempts suck. I don't usually care about making things rhyme, but JKR does in her sorting hat songs, so I tried. If anyone has anything better they'd like to contribute, or even any suggestions at all, I'd love them.
I'd like to post an apology for asking for reviews so much. I've gotten a lot of negative comments about asking for them so much, so I'm going to stop. Review/don't review as you see fit. I just hope you're enjoying the story.
On a good note, I already have five pages of the next chapter typed, since I was going to put it in this chapter but decided to move it. So it's coming along and will hopefully be out next weekend. I'll make up for my lateness eventually, when I post at the part where I already have a few chapters done.
Thanks for reading,
--Miss Laine